#i just love the idea of milo being a physical dude

[agentplutonium]

Headcanon that Milo's thing he does is physical touch. He is always finding ways to touch those he cares about, but subconsciously. He would put a hand on your arm/shoulder/back to comfort you, always offering hugs when he feels like they're needed. He will do the same thing if he gets all protective too. He would also step in front of someone as protection as well, becoming a wall. When he's joking around, you will get hit playfully. When he's greeting someone there's always some kind of touch, if not a hug. It's just ingrained in him. Whenever Sweetheart brings it up or points it out, they always get the same answer. Milo doesn't even realize he's doing it half the time, and when he did stop and think about it he just knew that he liked giving people physical reassurance of his care.

[passanima]

rewrite of “mars needs moms”

there’s so much that went wrong in this one it’s hard to rewrite. normally i’d redo it completely but that would take too long and defeat the purpose of just using what’s here and making it better. so i’ll try to diverge as little as possible... but oof

since the internal logic is their biggest problem it’s what i’ll focus on

1/ change the reason why the martian dudes are rejected. the movie tells you it’s because they waste all their time dancing and hugging and it’s wrong for martians to act like that... but you later learn martians are naturally loving creatures and it’s their cold upbringing that change them. the villain of the movie wants order and obedience so it makes sense for her to shape people that way... but then why exclude the dudes? there also seems to be way less guys than girls, and it’s never commented on, so idk if it happens naturally or if it’s lifestyle (survival) that cut their number

so make it instead that being born male makes you a minority on mars. guys are smaller and weaker than girls, and it’s this physical difference that make them useless in the eyes on the villain, and the reason why they’re abandonned as babies

2/ not something i’m gonna touch really but why... do martians have two sexes? they do not reproduce sexually or at all really, babies popping out of the ground. so. what are the different sexes for? other than making them more human-like... which, boring.

3/ story goes like this: every 25 years babies pop out of the ground, and the martians having no “marternal instinct” (or time and interest) don’t want to raise them, so they kidnapp human mothers to extract their parenting skills (which kills them) and program it into nanny-robots. but the robots can only be used once, so every 25 years they kidnapp (and kill) someone new

this is... an impressive level of nonsense, so instead. they kidnapp more than one human at a time and force them to raise their babies. to keep it similar enough and the stress level up, the martians still kill the humans when they no longer need them (when the babies are old enough)

the villain want martians to grow up in a way that’s easy to manipulate so that might seem like a bad idea but the fact that humans are very different from them + do not speak the same language + propaganda against them could make it so martians grow to feel superior to the humans who raised them and feel no remorse when those die

4/ enters ki. a martian that finds beauty in human culture. her character stays the same as she appear in the movie, but her role is amplified. while she finds humans fascinating and secretly learned their language (well, english) she didn’t fight to protect her human-nanny (possibly because she was too young when that happened) and feels guilt. when she meets the main character, milo, and hears he’s here to save his mom, she decides to help him

5/ with these changes, milo’s mom is no longer asleep for the whole movie, and has her own view on the situation, as she’s forced to take care of the baby martians with the others human moms (and in this ver they’re all moms, not because dads don’t take care of their kids, but due to the explanation on martians views on genders)(aka men are weaker and useless)(which they must assume is the same for human men)

6/ as for gribble... i understand the point of his character, as sole human milo meets on mars, and adult that helps him. but the way they wrote the man and the space they gave him was a waste of time. he’s annoying and at time is given more importance than milo, which sucks. also pretty sure he’s the reason ki is under-developped. so he can still exist as a survivor of last kidnapping 25 years ago who now lives with the abandonned martian dudes who he’s friends with, but his role will be smaller. also, in those 25 years he will have learned the martian language, it’s silly the writers didn’t make that happens. even if you want nothing to do with some people, if you live with them for 2 decades you’re bound to learn their language!

7/ also no romance between gribble and ki. it was terribly written and didn’t have time to happen anyway. griggle “falling” for ki simply cause she paints and ki “falling” for gribble because he can change colors (blush)... those don’t even work as reasons.

8/ milo ends up saving all the moms thanks to ki’s help (and a bit gribble and the martian dudes) and revealing the truth to the martians: that the villain lied and manipulated them (tho that part didn’t make sense either...) and that they once all lived together, without abandonning the men, and raised the children with love. it’s also discovered that while physically weaker, men martians have other set of skills they’re good at that the women aren’t so much, proving they need everyone to create a self-sufficient society (no more kidnapping since they don’t even need the help)

9/ should have put that in the beginning, but change milo’s family structure to a single parent household. the dad wasn’t even present in the movie, and since the focus is on milo’s relationship with his mom it would just make the script stronger if they had no one else to rely on. when milo hurts his mom, he feels even worse about it because he knows she works hard for the both of them and she didn’t deserve that. also give the mom a better (more understandable) reason to “snap” at milo, as she’s already exausted.

10/ end the movie on martian society being reformed, and have ki go live with milo and his mom, as she wants to know more about the earth. maybe she has technology to help her pass as human, or as hinted at the end, martians show themseves to human and cohabitation can start. possibly they also bring back the martian baby milo’s mom raised for a bit anyway, milo got two moms and a sibling now (imagine the rescue took more than a day)(the other moms get to go home too of course)(gribble stay on mars like og and not because he found a girlfriend, just cause he lived there 25 years and sees it as home)

11/ movie becomes about “what makes a family” and not just milo’s slow (too slow) realization of “wait i love my mom actually” like he legit had a moment of realization in the movie WHILE on a dangerous mission to save his mom... the writting i swear

[thewickedmerman]

My Redesigns of The Specialists

Well, since I finished with the Winx Club girls and The Trix, I figured it was time to do my redesigns of The Specialists. However, not all of them are going to be just powerless fighters. I felt it would be more fun to make their team be made up of fighters, fairies, and sorcerers. Plus, they get to have their own transformations too. The fighters get transformations similar to the Power Rangers/superheroes (Because it makes no sense for there to be an emergency and they just rush off to change clothes, which is an INSANELY dangerous time waster), the fairies will have transformations similar to the Winx Club themselves, and the sorcerers will have transformations similar to the ones from Miraculous Ladybug (Honestly, I don't know what to think for the sorcerers). Why? Because it's so much more fun that way.

Sky

Well, I got the most BORING of the boys out of the way, so that's something. For his design I used Eric's body from The Little Mermaid, the face of Derek from The Swan Princess (Or at least from a specific poster), used his second hairstyle from the show because it suits him better and look less like a surfer dude, and I used the uniforms The Specialists get in the later seasons because it's BADASS. Plus, considering that Eraklyon is related to geology, it makes sense to have some armor that looks like stones. I did change the shade of blue to match his signature color, which is sky blue (I mean, it's in his name). He is the prince of Eraklyon and the son of a sorcerer and a fairy, but they still loved him despite that he had no magic. However, that made them even more protective of him since he was a child and there was a threat of him being kidnapped and held for ransom by Yoshinoya. So Sky's best friend/squire, Brandon (Who is a fairy and has magic to protect himself and Sky) was to switch places with Sky for public appearances and in school, so that no one would know who Sky really is. The only ones who knew the truth were the royal family, the castle staff, members of the royal court, and Diaspro & her parents (Who Sky was betrothed to since they were babies). Despite having no powers, Sky refused to be helpless and studied fighting hand-to-hand combat and weaponry. Sky is a boring character but could be good if put in the right hands. Give him flaws, have him held more accountable for his actions, none of the bullshit conflict that happens with him and Bloom from seasons 4-8.

Brandon

For his design, I used the face of Edward from Enchanted, the nose of Rameses from The Prince of Egypt, the eyes of Joseph from Joseph: King of Dreams, and the body of Bolin from The Legend of Korra. I've always questioned what race Brandon was supposed to be coded as because he seemed pretty ambiguous. Was he just white but with a tan? Was he Middle Eastern? Was he Filipino? Was he Hispanic or Latino? I saw someone say he was Middle Eastern and pointed out some areas in the Middle East where they have lighter tan complexions, dark brown hair, and similar features to him. So I thought for some representation, I would go with the Middle Eastern coded option. I made him a little darker than he was in the original show by giving him Flora's skin color from the original show (Since I gave her a darker skin-tone in my redesign of her), sharper eyes, and more Middle Eastern looking nose. I didn't want to use Aladdin's nose because the noses of Aladdin and Jasmine were a little too exaggerated the same way that the noses in Lilo and Stitch were too exaggerated (Polynesians don't have potato noses). I also wanted to show some body diversity by giving him a plus-sized body. NO, Bolin's body isn't fat but it's very much plus-sized. Brandon was a fat little boy growing up because he was just built differently. However, as he got older and started training, he bulked up. He's still plus-sized but is also muscular. You're probably wondering why I decided to make Brandon a fairy. I don't know but it just works. He is the fairy of geodes! I got that idea from Diaspro's fairy form and powers. They come from Eraklyon, so the magic in that world must be related to geology. So he's basically an Earthbender lol. But his powers are rooted on rocks, stones, gems, ect. so it's no wonder his body is so solid like a rock. I also modeled his wings after Diaspro's, which I noticed are solid instead of transparent like other fairy wings. I figured that must be part of the geology themed powers. As for his costume, I based it on one of the background fairies that were seen during the destruction of Bloom's home planet, Sparx. It just looked like it suited him. He and Sky have been friends since they were little and he is Sky's squire. He's the son of one of the palace guards. Since Sky was in danger of being abducted since he was a little kid, Brandon was made to pretend he was the prince for Sky's protection. Brandon's parents were dead against it, but the king demanded it. However, it was ultimately Brandon who decided to do it, even if his parents disapproved of putting their son in danger. You may ask, how would people believe that two white parents had a brown son? No idea! I guess they just said he was naturally tan lol.

Riven

For Riven's design, I gave him the face/head of Proteus from Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas, the body of Shang from Mulan, and the eyes of Gaston from Beauty and the Beast. For his outfit, I didn't want to just give him the same outfit as Sky but with a different color because I wanted more individuality. So I gave him the outfits that were worn by Nex and Thoren (Sky's cousin). They looked less heroic and epic as the outfit I gave Sky, which suits Riven's more roughish nature and how he hasn't had an easy life compared to Sky (More on that later). It also has a bit of a low-key bad boy vibe to it. I still stayed true to his signature color, magenta, while making sure it didn't clash with his magenta hair, and giving him some purple to match his eyes. And I just had to give him an angry look on his face because it's Riven, so of course. Riven is my absolute LEAST favorite of the specialists. Sky may be boring as hell but Riven is ANNOYING as hell. He's poorly written, has terrible development, is always an asshole for no reason, has no backstory to justify the way he is, doesn't really change, and his relationship with Musa is absolutely toxic. In my version, I give him a backstory and better character development. His backstory is that he was born to a father that was a sorcerer and a mother that was a fairy while he was born without the ability to perform magic, which was a MASSIVE disappointment to his parents. They neglected him, emotionally abused him, and on occasion physically. This makes his actions and attitude all the more understandable. He's a show off because of how he never really got attention growing up from his own parents and is trying to make up for it, as well as prove that he is capable of great things and isn't useless just because he doesn't have powers. He's angry and a hothead but has more of a secret gentle side that he sometimes shows, MUCH MORE than the original Riven, which helps make it more understandable why Musa would have a crush on him. His emotional baggage also made it easier for Darcy to manipulate him, even giving him some magic (But takes it away when she dumps him). His backstory also gives him a reason for why he lashes out at his fellow teammates. In my version, Brandon is a fairy and Timmy is a sorcerer, so they can perform magic while he can't. He especially resents Sky because of how he was also born with parents that could perform magic while he couldn't but was still given love and attention despite this. It made him VERY angry and jealous because of how Sky manage to have parents that adore him, despite being born unable to do magic, while Riven had neglectful and abusive parents because of his inability to perform magic.

Timmy

For his face/head I used some old concept design of Milo from Atlantis: The Lost Empire and the smile, eyes, and body of Aladdin. I went with Aladdin's body because of how Timmy wouldn't be as masculine as the others but wouldn't be lanky. Aladdin has some muscles on him but he's not super built. I also gave him freckles because it's just too perfect for him. His outfit was tricky because of how I had to find a way of making him look like a sorcerer but also incorporate it with technology to go with his powers because of how he is the Sorcerer of Technology. For his scepter, I went with Tecna's Mythix wand, with some adjustments. Redheads look surprisingly really good in the color yellow. I decided to make Timmy a sorcerer because of how I feel it suits his personality. He's not as action-oriented as the other guys but more intellectual, even though he still fights. Imagine how amazing he'd be with technology with magic. He'd excel! No, I don't have him being from Zenith like Tecna but from another technology planet, though one that isn't considered as high up as Zenith. So this makes him feel a little intimidated by Tecna, that and him having a MASSIVE crush on her. He always is trying to prove that he is capable and isn't just some weak nerd. Out of all of the specialists, he's one of my favorite, if not my number one favorite. He's just absolutely awesome with how much of a dork he is.

Helia

Helia was the one that I was looking the most forward to doing a redesign of because of how I made him a fairy. Out of all of the Specialists, he's the one that really benefits the best from being made a fairy, especially when I got to his Believix and Enchantix. He has more of a feminine personality while still proving he isn't a wuss but rather a badass, despite being a pacifist. This gives him layers and depth beyond just being a typical good looking hero. Plus, his hair is just AMAZING! I used the body of Mako from The Legend of Korra, the eyes and nose of Shang from Mulan, and the head/face of Little Creek from Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron. I also gave him Brandon's skin tone to make him look more brown instead of just a light Asian. His outfit is very feminine but also clearly meant for a man because of how it's kind of toga looking. But I did his toga in a way that looks more Asian inspired instead of Greek inspired. Plus, this look suits his chill and relaxed personality. I made his outfit salmon pink with some orange because those colors just look so good on him and just suit his character. I made him the fairy of art, the same way that Musa is the fairy of music. So he can make art literally come to life, turn things like paint into ropes, can control paper (Particularly when in an origami shape), create portals, can jump into paintings to hide, and you get the point. Basically, his powers are awesome!

Nabu

And now we've come to my favorite of The Specialists, Prince Nabu. First of all, I want to make VERY CLEAR that in my version, Nabu DOESN'T die! That was a bunch of BULL CRAP! I mean, he's introduced in season 3 and then close to the end of season 4 they kill him off? Not to mention that out of all the boys, they chose the darkest one, who was also the love interest of black woman! She ended up having to suffer more than any of the other girls because of this. Not to mention that in season 5 they tried to replace him with a brown (But much lighter) man with terrible blonde hair and a terribly bland and boring personality to match, Roy. Then when that didn't work, they did a dumb love triangle in season 6 where the white man that has a personality mixture of Riven and Brandon, Nex. Yeah, all of this is TOTALLY not racist! And that's coming from a white man. Also, I wanna also point out that Nabu is NOT black! He is Indian, so he is coded as South Asian. Now that we got my rant out of the way, for his design I used the face/head of Naveen from The Princess and the Frog, the body of Flynn Rider from Tangled (I wanted to use Naveen but there wasn't a base of him to use or a tasteful nude picture of him), and the eyes of Esmeralda from The Hunchback of Notre Dame. I also chose to keep his super long single braid instead of the two shoulder blade length braids he had in season 4. Why? Because it just looks SO MUCH better and is more badass. Non-white men just look amazing with long hair. He is still a prince but he doesn't come from Layla's planet, Andros. Why? Because that planet is water themed and his powers aren't related to water. His powers are illusions and healing, so it only makes sense that he comes from another planet, especially when the rules of Andros are black while Nabu and his family are Indian. He and Layla are in an arranged marriage, which she refuses and their relationship still goes the same way it did in season 3. Except, I'm having them meet during my Sirenix story line because that season would be about Layla, due to it being water themed. He still went by a disguised name, Ophir before revealing his true identity once they fell in love. So I'm giving true respect to the Sorcerer of Healing and Illusions.

And now for Brandon and Helia's Believix!

Just like the girls, Brandon and Helia are getting Believix and Enchantix forms. For the Believix forms I took inspiration from @teawithlemonacid, who did some fanart of The Specialists as fairies. I did make some adjustments of my own but still did take inspiration from that artist, so credit where credit is due. As I said when I did the girls with their Believix, the way they earn their Believix is pretty much the same way they earned their Charmix in season 2. They have to believe in themselves and overcome a personal struggle. I also took liberties with the Believix aesthetic because of how I want the fairy looks to be more timeless rather than dated-looking.

Brandon's Believix

For Brandon's design, I gave him a new hairstyle because if the girls get new hairstyles for each new fairy form, so do the boys. I gave him Nex's hair, apart from those dumb looking sideburns. I embroidered some stoned onto his outfit because of how he's the fairy of geodes. Since I also decided to have his race be Middle Eastern, I decided to incorporate some of that into his look as well. I gave him some curled toed shoes and some Middle Eastern inspired accessories. That was hard because of how most Middle Eastern jewelry are women's jewelry. I gave him Tecna's Mythix wings because they just really suit him for some reason. As for how he earned his Believix, well he had to overcome some hidden resentment he had for Sky that was starting to show during a trust exercise. He resented that he had to put his life on the line for Sky ever since they were kids. That really effects a child when they are having their lives in danger in order to protect someone else. Yes, Brandon did agree to do it in order to protect his friend but he also knew that if he didn't do it that he and his parents would be in trouble with the King and Queen. Sky's parents didn't really show much concern for Brandon's safety and that caused more resentment because Sky didn't really say anything to his parents about their poor treatment of his friend. Sky could tell something was up and it was only when Brandon stopped bottling up his feelings that things started to get better. It was emotional and difficult but Brandon felt better when he finally let it all out. It was then that he earned his Believix.

Helia's Enchantix

homeworldHelia's Believix was A LOT of fun to do. I loved getting to have his hair loose because it looks amazing. I didn't make too many changes to the outfit I modeled this after. I love how the gold has a paint-like feel to it. It really adds to his powers being art based. I used Flora's prototype Bloomix wings for his Believix wings because they just seemed to suit him. I also had the magic coming from his hand looking even bigger and more powerful than it was during his Magic Winx form. The way he earns his Believix was different from how others earned their Believix. instead of mainly being an emotional struggle, it was also a physical struggle because he had to overcome his passive nature. He has a lot of power but he holds himself back because of an accident that happened when he was a kid. Because he didn't restrain himself, a friend of his got badly hurt. The friend lived but his parents wouldn't allow him to be friends with Helia anymore. After that, Helia kept to himself, chose not to be aggressive, and wouldn't live up to his true abilities because of that accident. His grandfather, Saladin (The headmaster at Red Fountain), has been trying to break him out of it and live up to his true potential. It was only when his friends, specifically Flora, were in danger that he finally overcame his passive nature and started using his full power. This caused him to earn his Believix.

And finally for Helia and Brandon's Enchantix

We have come to Helia and Brandon's final transformations, Enchantix. Just like the girls, they must earn theirs by saving someone from their homeworld by making a big sacrifice. The boys were hard to do, due to how there wasn't really anything for me to go off of. However, I think I managed to do a pretty good job. I also wanted to have them be in revealing outfits just like the girls. I mean, fair is fair, after all. Let me know what you think.

Helia's Enchantix

For Helia, I wanted to do something that had an Asian influence to it that also showed his art powers being influenced. I gave him something that was very flowing to go with his sensitive and feminine personality while also having a rainbow theme to go with his powers. I didn't use the colors of the rainbow because I didn't want him to just look like a Pride themed look, which ended up looking awkward and busy when I first attempted it. So I limited the colors to the ones in his wings to make it look better. I still wanted to include his two main colors, salmon pink and gold while still making the rainbow colors pop. I went with a very Asian inspired hairstyle, which actually shows both of his eyes. The eye that is usually covered is actually blind, which goes with the childhood backstory I gave him that helped him earn his Believix, which will also play a part in earning his Enchantix, which I will get to in a little bit. I felt it would show him embracing himself while also showing the Asian culture. I took some liberties with the jewelry because of how most jewelry is meant for women, which is why most male looks are boring. I tried to butch up his shoes to make them look less girly and making the gems resemble a paintbrush. For his wings, I used Stella's Mythix wings because they look like a rainbow, which really suits Helia. I made his powers in his hand the biggest and strongest they've looked out of all his fairy forms. As for how he earns his Enchantix, I had him save his old childhood friend, who Helia had accidentally caused to become permanently blind because of his powers, which also caused Helia to become blind in his right eye. He had seen him but was avoiding him because of his guilt, despite his old friend trying to reach out to him during this time. He saves his old friend from an avalanche that was caused by The Trix, specifically Stormy. Helia not only almost died but his wings were crushed, so he wouldn't be able to fly. He said that he lost his friend once because of something he did and wasn't going to lose his friend again when he could do something about it. However, it was due to this sacrifice that he was able to earn his Enchantix and gain a new and MUCH stronger pair of wings. Not only that, but he had his old friend back after all this time. Helia apologized for what he did to his friend when they were kids, but his friend forgave him and said he missed Helia.

Brandon's Enchantix

Brandon's Enchantix was even more difficult than Helia's because of how Brandon's not as feminine as Helia. I took some inspiration from Tynix because of how Brandon's powers are related to geodes. I made his vest and best/waist thing look like diamonds. I even incorporated gems into his sash. I took major liberties with jewelry because Middle Eastern (Which is the race I decided Brandon is) jewelry is very limited in jewelry for men, at least from the google search I did. I love the one sleeve look I gave him with his emerald vest/armor. I even gave him some gems on the bottom of his pants. I gave him very Aladdin looking pants, only without the crotch being so low lol. I gave him the hairstyle of the character Thoren from Winx Club and Stella's Tynix wings. The way he earns his Enchantix was by saving Sky from being eaten by one of Valtor's minions, causing Brandon to be eaten instead. This cause Brandon to earn his Enchantix and his powers were enhanced to where he could destroy the creature from the inside. This earned him not only his Enchantix, but also finally getting respect from Sky's parents, who, AT LAST, apologize for how they treated him. Yeah, this is simple but you get the point.

ENJOY!

Credit for the character bases goes to SelenaEde, Credit for the backgrounds goes to SparxGuardian, credit for Helia's Believix wings goes to darkfairyofmadness, and credit for the Enchantix wings and Brandon's Believix wings goes to AstralBlu. All of whom are on DeviantArt.

[aqua-murphys-law]

i can feel it falling (timber)

Rating: G Warnings: None Summary: A look at what inspired Milo not to give up on the possibility of Zack becoming his friend, the day they first met.

A/N: When I fell back into the Dwampyverse fandom, I foolishly said that I didn’t know if I was gonna write anything for MML. I really should’ve known better. So here’s a little something inspired by @wiz-witch‘s post here!

I wish I’d had it done in time for MML’s 4th anniversary but such is life. Reblogs/comments would be greatly appreciated, and a good response will let me know whether I should write the other one-shot ideas I’ve got. Hope you enjoy! - Aqua

(Click here to read on A03 for extensive tags!)

~*~

Milo approaches the bus stop with a bounce in his step.

It’s been a relatively light morning so far. There was just one bird nesting in his hair when he woke up, and it relocated to the backyard without much fuss. He got through both of his showers without slipping, getting soap in his eyes, or breaking the water system (the second shower was because the garbage disposal spewed breakfast scraps back up at him, but still, that could’ve been worse).

He even gets to the bus stop before Melissa, only a few boys from school present. It takes a couple seconds before he hears shoes scuffling away from him, which isn’t surprising. It’s very rare for him to actually end up on the bus, but when he does, it makes for an… eventful ride. He can’t fault them for being cautious, since it’s looking more and more like it might actually be one of those days-

“What’s that all about?”

That’s an unfamiliar voice.

Milo turns to the speaker. It’s a boy around his age, dark-skinned with frizzy black hair. He’s dressed simply in a yellow shirt and jeans, a red backpack at his sneakers. He’s looking at Milo with confusion, and something akin to concern.

“Oh, you’re new here,” Milo realizes. It’s strange for someone to transfer schools after the start of the semester, but stranger things have happened. He sighs good-naturedly, going on to explain, “I’ve got a bit of a reputation.”

The boy blinks before amusement tugs at his mouth, and he quirks a brow. “So what are you, a tough guy?”

That might be teasing, Milo’s not sure. “Oh, I don’t think anyone’s ever called me tough,” he says. And this is really pressing his luck, but he can’t help being polite and offers his hand. “I’m Milo.”

The boy actually takes Milo’s hand, and smiles when he does it. “I’m Zack.”

Of course, the other boys at the stop immediately urge Zack against it, but Milo isn’t fully paying attention. He instantly commits Zack’s name to memory because if there’s one thing he’s learned, it’s that knowing his classmates’ names helps soften the blow when he accidentally lands them in the hospital for the first time.

Despite the warning, Zack doesn’t let go right away. His hand is warm, and a little bigger than Milo’s. Mostly softer than Milo’s too, but unexpectedly calloused in telltale places, like he plays a guitar of some sort. That’s interesting.

“So what exactly is this reputation?” Zack asks, seeming more curious than concerned now.

Milo tilts his head. “Well, people have used the J-word, but you know what they say. Sticks and stones can damage your vital organs, so always wear body armor.”

The original meaning of the phrase is still implied. As a Murphy, harsh words are extremely low on his list of things to worry about. At least, that’s how he tries to keep it. It’s not that words don’t affect him at all, he just has steps he takes to prepare himself for them, like he would for any other unpleasant event. Just as he wears body armor to protect against physical harm, he protects his feelings under his carefully crafted demeanor.

Lots of people think his cheeriness is default, but in reality, it’s a conscious choice. It’s his emotional armor. Words hurt him less if he chooses to be upbeat and optimistic, rather than let himself despair. That just creates a negative feedback loop, which doesn’t help anything.

Before Zack can inquire further, Melissa shows up to the stop. Milo gets preoccupied by their conversation and forgets that Zack’s still waiting on an explanation until he interjects. But right as Milo is about to elaborate, Murphy’s Law kicks in.

Milo has just enough time to slap his spare helmet onto Zack’s head before they turn and run. And it is both of them; Zack’s taken off without any prompting- he didn’t freeze like so many people do for their first disaster, that’s good. He’s screaming quite a bit, but that’s to be expected. And more surprising is that Zack’s keeping pace with Milo. Not many people can match his speed when he’s going full-tilt like this.

“-wait, why aren’t you screaming?!” Zack demands suddenly.

Milo’s intrigued. Most people who get caught up in his Murphy’s Law don’t have the presence of mind to question why he’s calm while being chased down the street by some devastatingly heavy object.

“I find it doesn’t help,” he answers simply. “Just hurts the larynx.” While he runs and talks, part of him is absentmindedly planning his next move, and he adds, “hand me that bungee, and you’d better hold onto my backpack.”

Milo winds up his throw. Even as Zack exclaims, “Wait, what?” he feels the other boy grab on as instructed, and then they’re up in the air.

Zack maintains his hold while they flip, and when the bungee snaps and drops them on top of the drainage pipe. He’s strong, Milo notes with pleasant surprise. More impressively, Zack doesn’t go careening off of the spinning cylinder- he manages to stay upright beside Milo. That’s a rare skill, for sure. Maybe he’s taken log-rolling classes, for whatever reason. Or, he’s just exceptionally quick on his feet. An athlete, maybe.

“That bungee was definitely defective,” Milo comments, if only to fill the space.

Zack offers no reply, even as Milo sends Diogee home. The pipe takes them through a road barrier, down a rocky incline, through a wooden fence, off of a thankfully low cliff, and into a shallow pit of mud. They barely have time to blink the mud from their eyes before the pipe falls down after them, and Milo tells Zack to scooch over- which he does with little hesitation.

They fit neatly through the center of the pipe, and a wave of mud sends them up to the top.

Zack glances over at Milo, his sudden stillness probably due to shock. “… the J-word wouldn’t happen to be jinx, would it?” he ventures.

Even though he knows it wasn’t used maliciously, Milo can’t stop himself from flinching. He brushes it off with a laugh, though it comes out slightly apologetic. “Yeah, that’s the one.” He pulls himself up onto the rim of the pipe, offering Zack his hand.

Miraculously, Zack accepts his help, and they climb over the edge and drop into the mud below.

Milo wipes his face off with a towel from his backpack. “I have EHML,” he explains. “Extreme hereditary Murphy’s Law. You know, ‘anything that can go wrong, will go wrong.’ Around me.” He studies Zack with a hint of apprehension, the other boy doubled over to catch his breath. He doesn’t look angry or upset or scared, but Milo can’t always tell.

“Well,” is all Zack says. “Alright, then. How are we gonna catch the bus?”

Milo blinks, handing Zack the towel. “Whenever stuff like this happens, the driver usually gives me a few minutes to make it back in case it’s something light. If we hurry, we should be able to get there in time.”

Zack cleans his face and gives the towel back to Milo, brows raised. “Lead the way, I guess.”

Well, indeed. Milo leads the way, and Zack follows.

~*~

Naturally, they miss the bus.

Zack’s definitely in some kind of shock now. He doesn’t even scream when the oil spill in the rock quarry goes up in flames. Milo gently suggests that they go through the woods instead. And then the shock seems to wear off when they’re beset by a pack of hungry wolves.

Shock and panic can interchange remarkably quickly, in some people.

While Milo knows from experience that wolves do, in fact, love peanut butter, Murphy’s Law isn’t yielding anything today. One of the wolves lunges at the same time he tosses the sandwich, and it gets thrown right back, sticking to Zack’s shirt. That elicits a shrill scream from him, and Milo has to fight the urge to cringe. This is not a great first impression, even by Murphy’s Law standards.

At this point, Milo’s pretty sure that the presence of the sandwich has no bearing on the wolves’ desire to attack them, but he grabs a stick and peels it off anyways, if only to try and save Zack’s shirt from being stained too badly.

They escape by scrambling up a tree, but the situation is complicated by the presence of an irate beehive.

A wolf with a beehive stuck on its face is a new one. Luckily, Zack continues to demonstrate remarkable survival instincts, such as ‘dodging when a wolf with a beehive stuck on its face lunges at you’ and ‘running when a wolf with a beehive stuck on its face gives chase.’ He’s keeping up well enough, though he might be starting to fatigue because he lags slightly behind Milo. And he’s still screaming a little, but Milo isn’t holding that against him.

In the end, they don’t escape the wolf so much as they accidentally plunge through an open manhole. But it’s not a high fall, and Milo’s not one to look a gift horse in the mouth. Or, to look a sewer in the open manhole.

Milo lands on his feet in the middle channel, which is fortunately shallow. Zack crashes in right behind him.

“Here,” Milo hands Zack a headlamp from his backpack, “these will help us navigate in the dark.”

Zack’s voice follows him after a moment. “Dude… if and when we get out of here, I’m gonna have to go my own way. No offense, I just can’t handle all of… this.”

Milo’s heart trips inside his chest. He wants to protest that Zack has, in actuality, handled everything just fine. Truly, even Melissa would be impressed, and he’s sure she will be when he regales her with the story later today. But he knows that isn’t the crux of the matter.

“A- all of what?” he asks quietly, his voice wavering slightly despite his best efforts.

The answer is painfully obvious as a raccoon leaps out at him from a pipe, sailing over his ducked head and disappearing into murky sewer water. Milo grips his backpack tighter and keeps walking.

“This cyclone of calamity that follows you everywhere you go!” Zack exclaims in disbelief, his voice echoing in the tunnels. “How do you live like this?!”

Milo supposes this was inevitable. It’s not often that someone gives him a chance- usually it’s something like this, a new kid who doesn’t know any better- but it always ends the same way. He accepted long ago that Melissa would be his only school friend, and he’s okay with that.

Right now, they’ve reached the point where Milo will say he understands and apologize for putting Zack in danger. He’ll get him out of the sewer and part ways, only seeing Zack as much as school demands. Or less than that, if Zack decides to switch schools and get a restraining order. That’s happened before. But really, this is where Milo should ‘cut Zack loose,’ if he’s speaking metaphorically.

Except.

Except Milo doesn’t want to.

It’s a bizarre sensation. He’s never put up a fight before, whenever someone decided he wasn’t worth all the danger associated with Murphy’s Law. He almost lost Melissa that way, and was incredibly fortunate she decided to choose him. Typically, it’s easier for everyone if he just accepts it without complaint, and he doesn’t like making a scene. But this time, every part of him is rebelling against the idea.

He really, really doesn’t want to lose Zack. Zack, who’s fast and strong and quick on his feet. Zack, who has good instincts and knows how to trust them. Zack, who willingly followed Milo all this way despite knowing about his EHML. He doesn’t come across people like Zack every day.

Right now, it’s just him and Zack in a dark tunnel. There’s no one else around to worry about, no judgmental looks or scolding words. No one to tell Zack that he shouldn’t be around Milo. So maybe, this time, Zack can really decide for himself. Maybe, deep down beneath the knee-jerk fear reaction, he feels what Milo does, and knows that leaving would be the wrong choice.

Maybe Milo can fight for this.

So instead, Milo asks, “How do you live like that?”

Zack’s voice is hesitant. “What do you mean?”

“I mean,” Milo turns around, frustration nipping at him because it’s always so hard to put these things into words, “you wanna live like those other kids? They took a bus to school today. A bus! Does that seem like more fun to you?”

That really doesn’t say everything he means. It doesn’t say ‘I think you’re amazing and destined for so much more than an ordinary life’ or ‘I feel better with you by my side so please don’t go.’ But none of that comes easily to Milo, so it’ll have to do.

Zack stops and thinks about it. Really thinks about it. Milo holds his breath.

“Hm. Alright,” Zack says simply. He hops over the middle channel, landing next to Milo on the other side. Closer than most people are willing to get if they don’t have to. He shoves his hands in his pockets and looks at Milo expectantly. “Where to next?”

Milo is almost stunned by the sheer relief that washes over him, but he pushes through it. “Well, there’s a loose grate up over here to the left,” he says, turning around to resume walking. “I’ve been here before.”

“Of course you have,” Zack says, and it actually sounds fond.

Milo’s heart is running now, though he’s not sure why.

~*~

As they scramble their way through the construction site, Milo can’t help but think that they make a good team.

He knows he’s letting himself get too attached, too quickly. At the end of this, Zack could very well change his mind. Or maybe tomorrow, or after a week. Maybe his tolerance of Murphy’s Law has a limit. He wouldn’t be the first.

But they’re incredibly in-sync, for having just met not even a half-hour ago. They don’t even speak as they navigate the various hazards together. Zack seems to be relying on his instincts and cues from Milo, and they escape unscathed, floating down the river on the detached bed of a dump truck.

After they avoid the wolf (again) and Milo sends Diogee home (again), Zack climbs over to sit next to him, leaning back on his arms. His hand is close to Milo’s knee, close enough that their hands would be touching if Milo put his down. And the way Zack’s looking at him right now… his heart’s acting up again. Maybe he should get checked for arrhythmia.

“You know,” Zack starts, “I don’t know if it’s the adrenaline talking, but I’m starting to feel like we can handle anything that comes our way.”

If that’s how adrenaline makes Zack talk, Milo certainly doesn’t mind it. It’s not often that someone else is doing the reassuring, unless it’s Melissa or his family. And the confidence Zack says it with is an incredible thing. Even if it is just adrenaline.

Of course, now that Zack’s gone and said something like that, Murphy’s Law can’t resist the opportunity, and a massive tidal wave appears out of nowhere to carry them out of the river and straight off the edge of a cliff.

This time, Zack doesn’t scream. They plummet silently for a couple seconds before he turns his head towards Milo, almost casually, and says, “Well, maybe not anything…”

Milo would laugh at that, but then they faceplant onto the dome of an alien spacecraft and suddenly have other things to worry about.

~*~

Somehow, they end up at school on time and unscathed.

Zack thinks he might not have fully processed everything yet, because he feels… surprisingly okay. Considering what happened. But really, it seems silly to freak out and make a huge deal out of it when they’re both perfectly fine.

Aside from missing lunches, that is, but the redhead sitting in front of him- who he recalls as Melissa- has that covered. They don’t have time for formal introductions before the teacher comes in and begins class, but context clues tell Zack that she’s Milo’s only friend. And from what he can piece together, she orchestrated a betting pool to ensure they’d have something for lunch in the event theirs were destroyed.

So she’s either psychic, or stuff like this happens often.

That gets filed under ‘things to think about later,’ next to everything else that just happened. Right now, he has to focus on getting oriented to his new school. Which is… actually pretty boring, compared to this morning. Meeting his teachers, figuring out his schedule, finding his locker… it’s crazy to think he was stressing about this stuff just last night.

He gets strange looks here and there, and catches a few murmurs of, “Someone better warn the new kid” and “Wonder how long that’s gonna last” that make him… oddly indignant. He doesn’t like the feeling that his new classmates are judging his choice to stick by Milo.

He also doesn’t like the attention he’s attracted from Melissa. She’s nice enough, but he catches her staring at him sometimes, this intense look in her eyes, like she’s trying to puzzle something out, and it gives him the creeps.

Someone remind him not to get on her bad side…

If something’s up, Milo’s oblivious to it. He’s happy to help Zack around to their classes, and never falters under the stares or whispers or occasional small mishaps that occur. And they are small; nothing else that happens that day can compare to their crazy morning.

Which is perfectly fine by Zack. No complaining here.

The relative calm gives him a chance to actually get a good look at Milo- something that was neglected in all the terror. He’s deceptively average at a glance; pale, brown hair, brown eyes. An ever-present smile on his face. His outfit’s a little odd; shorts, sweater vest, loafers. And Zack quickly finds out that Milo’s backpack isn’t just a regular school backpack that happens to contain a random assortment of items.

Milo wears it nonstop throughout the day, never stashing it under his desk or in his locker. Not even during lunch. That also gets filed under ‘things to think about later.’

Along with the fact that Milo has a lot of scars. Like, a lot.

Zack remembers the conversation at the bus stop, but in the light of day it’d been easy to overlook. Milo’s so pale, the faint marks don’t show up that much until they’re under more contrasting light. And again, they aren’t running for their lives, so Zack can take the time to notice the dozens of scars on Milo’s arms, knees, and face.

Some are small pockmarks, some are lines of varying thickness, some are patchy blotches. Some of them look surgical in nature, while others Zack can’t even begin to speculate about. After their morning together, it’s not hard to imagine why Milo’s acquired so many scars in his short life, but it’s… sobering, to say the least.

Today wasn’t the rule. Milo gets hurt a lot. Like, a lot.

And so Zack’s starting to think this morning was actually really lucky, all things considered. Part of him wants to reconsider his decision. Not so much out of fear that he’ll get hurt, but because he’s not sure he can handle seeing Milo get hurt.

But then Milo catches him staring once. Their eyes meet briefly before Milo’s cheeks flush and Zack looks away, his stomach flipping like it did when they were freefalling together, and he already knows he’s in for the long haul.

~*~

Melissa doesn’t get a chance to speak to Milo alone until lunch, when Zack excuses himself to the bathroom and their little three-person table becomes its usual two-person table.

Milo, who had been excitedly recounting the morning’s events for her, suddenly falls silent as soon as Zack’s out of earshot. He looks up at her apprehensively, fidgeting with his hands, and Melissa already knows what’s on his mind before he says anything.

“So, uh, what- what do you think of him?” he asks quietly.

Melissa tilts her head, considering. She hadn’t thought much of the guy at the bus stop, simply recognizing that he was a new kid and thus didn’t know not to stand that close to Milo. She’d been surprised to see Zack stuck with Milo through all that happened, and seemed none the worse for wear.

“It sounds like he handled himself well,” she concedes.

Milo nods enthusiastically. “Yeah, he really did. I was very impressed.”

“I can tell,” Melissa says, amused.

Milo laughs sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck. Is that a blush? “I just, I know we haven’t really hung out with other people in… forever. I didn’t mean to have this whole adventure with him, without you, it just happened.” His expression sobers. “And- and I like him, and I think he’d be a good fit for us, but if you don’t, then just say the word. I’ll understand.”

Then he gives her that little smile of his, the one that’s sad at the edges like he’s already expecting a certain answer and has resigned himself to it. The one he uses whenever he’s apologizing for some Murphy’s Law related incident. The one that makes her want to shake him and say, “It’s not your fault, you deserve better.”

Over the years, some people have tried to stick around Milo just for the spectacle of it. A chance to see what the deal with the ‘disaster kid’ was (particularly back when Diogee was allowed to accompany Milo to school as his service dog). They didn’t care about Milo as a person.

And worse, Milo never caught on. He really thought someone was giving his friendship a chance, and was crushed when they inevitably decided it wasn’t worth the risk.

It only happened a handful of times before Melissa established herself as “someone you do not want to cross” and people were too scared to try it anymore, but it took a toll on both of them. Milo’s convinced that he’s destined to go through life alone, with no one but Melissa at an arm’s length away.

And Melissa’s instantly suspicious of anyone who shows an interest in Milo. Admittedly, she might’ve jumped the gun a few times, and chased off potential friends who could’ve actually had good intentions. After all, some people genuinely did try to be his friend, and just couldn’t handle Murphy’s Law. Mostly new kids like Zack. But whenever someone who already knew them started getting closer, Melissa’s defensiveness quickly deterred any further advances, before she even knew whether they were sincere or not.

Those are acceptable loss margins in her opinion, if it meant Milo didn’t have to suffer another heartbreak.

But she knows he’s lonely. More than others would think, and probably more than he’s willing to admit to himself. The two of them are close, but one person can’t be someone’s whole world. He’s always wary of putting too much on her, so she knows there are holes she isn’t filling.

If she’s being honest, it might be nice to have someone else around to help handle the Murphy mayhem. From what she’s heard, Zack is plenty capable- and that’s without any prior experience. She could do worse for someone to take under her wing. Plus, she hasn’t gotten strange vibes from him yet, regarding Milo. He seems genuine.

And Milo really seems to like Zack. Probably more than he’s willing to admit to himself.

So much so, in fact, it speaks volumes that he’d break this budding friendship if she asked him to. It scares her, sometimes, how much of Milo’s heart she seems to hold. They’ve won each other’s trust and loyalty a thousand times over since they first became friends, but all she really did in the beginning was show him some basic kindness. That’s all it took for him to decide he was devoted.

The wrong person could really abuse that.

… Zack better not be the wrong person.

“He’s in,” Melissa decides.

The way Milo’s face lights up almost makes all her worries go away.

Almost.

Zack will have to watch himself around her. If she gets a single whiff of any funny business from him, he’s done, and she’ll make him regret ever switching schools.

But even Melissa has to admit, the soft way Zack looks at Milo when he returns to the lunchroom and Milo happily waves him over makes her think she probably doesn’t have anything to worry about.

Probably.

~*~

[gameimagines]

You are a WRITING DEMON, I can't remember the last time I saw such a good writer on an imagine blog and not ao3! Forgive my complete lack of originality or ideas, but could I request hcs for Milo, Piers and Leon with uh... An s/o that likes to play cat-and-mouse? Like, enjoys egging them on or playful teasing, all in good spirit, nothing really mean? Thanks for your time! xoxo

Requested by: this incredibly sweet anon! ily 💓

Fandom: Pokémon SWSH

Notes: dUDE!! Thank you!! (*´꒳`*) You’re very sweet. Also, I really liked this request. To everyone else who submitted - don’t worry! I’m knocking out the headcanon requests and then I’ll move to the scenarios/drabbles. Thank you for your patience! 💘💘💘

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Milo, Piers, and Leon with a teasing s/o

Milo

Like a Magikarp out of water when it comes to his s/o’s playful behavior

Don’t get me wrong he adores it, just like he adores every other thing about you, but when it comes to responding Milo’s pressed for options

Milo isn’t one to poke fun and so when others tease him he just laughs it off

He’s very mild mannered, so it’s hard to get much of a rise out of him

His normal responses are to laugh (as previously mentioned), blush, or grin sheepishly. Rubbing the back on his neck is another classic Milo response

If it really embarrassed him, he’ll hit you with a: “Aw, love don’t say that!”

Taunts that can get a rise out of Milo: tell him that he went easy on that last gym challenger (he probably did if his opponent was giving their all, but he was hoping his choice it wasn’t obvious), joke that the farm Pokémon get more attention than you do (don’t say this TOO often or he’ll worry it’s true), or point out how buff he is (Milo furiously blushes every time)

I mean, you know he’s big. Milo knows he’s big. Everyone with eyes knows he’s big. But hearing his s/o comment on his physique in a flirty tone just makes his heart race! Especially if you lay a hand on one of his biceps while saying it. If you compliment his appearance in public he’ll be even more embarrassed.

“Oh, heheh. It’s just from working on the farm.” “Yeah but, wow Milo. You’re pretty easy on the eyes.”

Milo.exe has stopped working

Piers

The least phased by his s/o’s teasing

In fact, I’d be willing to bet Piers often reciprocates your banter with some taunts of his own. He’d like a partner that’s a bit witty

Like Milo, Piers is also kind of difficult to get much of a reaction out of. He’s normally rather laid back and isn’t really bothered by jokes made at his expense. Doesn’t really laugh at them but he’ll give a snort or a small smile

Some things that are totally fair game to jab at: his hair (honestly, he looks like a zigzagoon), team yell/his gym trainers (call them groupies), his outfit (leather jacket + heels with the spandex shorts? I’m calling the fashion police rn)

Don’t poke fun at the popularity of Spikemuth, Marnie, or his gym leader career. Piers is sensitive about those things and won’t respond kindly

Banter between the two of you can go on for as long as you’ll tolerate it

“Your head looks like a skinned Zigzagoon. I can’t look at it anymore.” “Hmm? Seemed like you had fun running your fingers through it last night.”

To borrow “Galar” dialect, he can be cheeky

One sure fire way to make Piers blush is tender compliments

Kiss his pale knuckles, look him dead in the eye and tell Piers how much he means to you. The singer will use his free hand to cover the blush spreading across his face and pointedly turn away. Piers will mutter out a thanks - you got him

Leon

The easiest of the three to mess with

That being said, Leon is still fine with good natured roasts. And to be honest, the man needs to be made fun of from time to time. Too many people kiss up to the Champion, Leon could use someone who brings him down to earth

Unfortunately, no matter how many times you, his mom, or the paparazzi point it out...Leon just can’t see that his battle outfit is hideous

But please, fight the good fight and continue to taunt his fashion sense

Leon’s pretty playful himself. He’ll tease you back

If he doesn’t have a retort, Leon will just scoff and jovially challenge you to a Pokémon battle. DON’T sarcastically say “yes”, any agreement - no matter how disingenuous - will result in Leon throwing out a Pokémon

If you joke that other regions have stronger champions and even gush about how tough a specific one is (“Wow, Cynthia took down 5 challengers this week. How many did you defeat? One?”), Leon will get jealous. Probably try to do something cool or recall an impressive match he had recently to impress you

Leon’s teasing is typically more physical and affectionate (if you catch my drift)

He’s the type to pretend to go in for a kiss, wait for you to close your eyes, and then just grab something behind you. He’ll act clueless. “What? Was there something you wanted, love?”

[hellomynameisbisexual]

5 Ways That Bi Erasure Hurts More Than Just Bisexual People

December 2, 2014 by Milo Todd

This year, Bisexual Awareness Day/Celebrate Bisexuality Day was on September 23rd.

That same day, the National LGBTQ Task Force thought it’d be a good idea to post an article entitled “Bye Bye Bi, Hello Queer,” in which leadership programs director Evangeline Weiss said “she is ready ‘to say bye bye to the word bisexuality.’

She said it does not describe her sexual orientation, and she encouraged readers to cease using the word as well as she felt it reinforced a binary concept of gender.

Let me drive that home a little more. The National LGBTQ Task Force not only thought it would be a good idea to publish an article insulting, misrepresenting, and forsaking the bisexual letter in their own name, but did so on Celebrate Bisexuality Day.

Rude.

And a fantastic example of the constant, ongoing erasure bisexual people have to deal with. This one just happened to be incredibly blatant.

What happened as a result of that article? People got pissed.

People got so pissed that the Task Force not only removed the article from their website, but posted in its place this non-apology (it keeps being referred to as an apology, but I’m not so easily pleased): “Having listened to a wide array of feedback on the timing and content, we recognize that this blog offended people. For this we sincerely apologize. It has been removed.”

In other words, “Sorry you got pissed off. Hopefully you’ll shut up if we take it down.” Which, as far as I can tell, isn’t much of an apology for a blatant disregard of an entire community of people.

Misunderstanding of the bisexual community has been the crux of biphobia’s history and the ongoing battle to erase bisexuality from the LGBTQIA+ community.

It’s a scary time to be bi, especially when your lesbian, gay, pansexual, and queer siblings and allies are calling for your blood simply because they’ve fallen victim to the mainstream agenda without realizing it. (Say what?! Jump to #5.)

It’s time for a change.

It’s time for all of us to properly understand one another and to — hope of hopes — become allies for our incredibly similar endeavors. To help initiate that friendship, I ask you, dear reader, to go through the following three steps.

Step 1: Look below. If I’ve played my cards right, virtually every reader should find at least one category with which they identify.

Step 2: Approach your designated section(s) with an open mind, an unprejudiced heart, and a desire to further enhance your own community/ies. It’s difficult for people to learn new things and see different views if they automatically approach them with resistance, which is often the case with bisexual topics.

Step 3: See how bi erasure hurts you as a person and, while you’re at it, likely hurts the people you care about. Because it really is happening.

So here are five ways in which bi erasure is hurting people of layered identities.

1. Female-Identified People and Feminists

Bisexuality is one of the only non-monosexual* identities currently recognized in the English-speaking world. If bisexuality is kept underground, it suppresses our limited, precious resources for open discussion about non-monosexuality. This hurts female-identified people and feminists regardless of their sexual orientation.

To this day, female-identified people can’t get a fair shake. Pay is unequal, birth control access is limited, and objectification is a daily thing. Non-monosexual women in particular are often not taken seriously because they’re seen as sluts, greedy, or unable to make up their minds.

Also, the general fetishizing of women is particularly intensified in the bisexual realm by (straight-identified) men, turning the very act of women’s sexual freedom, empowerment, and self-expression into nothing more than something for male gazes. (This is most often seen through the relentless prompts for female-female-male threesomes and masculine catcalls in bars when two femme-appearing women make out.)

By participating in or casually allowing bi erasure to happen, we’re ignoring the specific plights and abuses of bisexual women, thereby contributing to the ongoing problem of female inequality, objectification, and silence.

As feminists, we can’t pick and choose which women to fight for. The complexities of womanhood — and all of its cultural suppressions — are an all-or-none deal.

*Note: Non-monosexuality usually refers to someone who is interested in more than one sex or gender. (In other words, somebody who isn’t gay, lesbian, or straight.) Another way to say “non-monosexuality” would be “polysexuality” to help keep it from sounding negative.

2. Male-Identified People and Male Liberationists*

Just like with female-identified people and feminists, bi erasure hurts male-identified people and male liberationists regardless of their sexual orientation.

Allow me to make this pretty basic: Men continue to be fed the message that being gay is bad. Being gay means you’re not really a man, which means you lose your dude membership and the bulk of your male privilege. And since gayness equals the slightest shred of attraction to or intimacy with another male, all manners of bromance must be squashed.

In short, many guys live in a state of silent terror in this regard.

Bi men are afraid of being banished from the world of lady-loving, gay men are worried about losing all of their connections to hetero land, and nothing is worse for a straight man than being called a fag.

Constant monitoring, constant filtering, constant stress: Is this really the kind of world we guys want to keep living in?

By being able to talk about bisexuality — remember: one of our only non-monosexual identities — male-identified people can begin to break free from the masculine ideal.

Bi talk helps bridge the gap between being a man (straight) and not being a man (gay) and realizing, hey, having some manner of attraction to or intimate interaction with another guy is totally okay, masculinity unscathed.

Gay men can begin to regain their identities as men, bi men can finally start coming out, and “fag” will lose its strength as an insult from one straight man to another.

*Note: Male liberationists are more or less seen as allies to feminists and vice versa. Both will argue that patriarchy is bad, but while feminists talk of how it’s bad for females, male liberationists talk of how it’s bad for males. Examples include the inability to romantically or sexually love another male, the emasculation of men of color, and the physical, verbal, and mental abuse that comes from society’s expectations to be stereotypically masculine.

3. People Who Identify as Trans Sexual, Trans Gender, Genderfluid, Genderqueer, or Gender Non-Conforming

This one’s pretty easy. Some people on the trans spectrum identify as bisexual. But then they’re told they can’t or that it’s an insult to their trans siblings because bisexuality is believed to be trans-exclusive.

The problem with bi erasure is it adds to the ongoing problem of cis people — LGQ or not — telling trans people what to think. Cis people have a bad habit of thinking they need to speak for people on the trans spectrum even when trans people are quite capable of speaking for themselves. This is even more frustrating when it comes from a community supposedly meant to support them.

Despite the personhood for which they’re continuing to fight, trans people can receive backlash from the lesbian, gay, and queer communities as their identities and bodies are turned into political battlegrounds.

Sometimes, they’re used without consent by some cis individuals so that points can be made for non-trans-specific agendas, and sometimes they’re ironically used in the attempts for cis identities to help better the trans worlds.

For instance, automatically dismissing bisexuality as trans-exclusive and guilting any person on the trans spectrum that wants to identity as bisexual, if I may make so fine a point.

As blogger Aud Traher writes, “If you want to support trans people like me, don’t erase me or speak over me or cause me harm out of self-righteous biphobia. Look into yourself and deal with that internalized biphobia and then help others get over theirs. Don’t advocate for the destruction of a community in the name of ‘saving’ it. And, especially, don’t do it in my name.”

4. People Who Identify as Gay, Lesbian, or — Yes — Straight

Quite simply, it makes gays and lesbians (and straight people) look bad, too.

Bisexual people get a bad rap for apparently upholding the gender binary by saying they love only (cis) men or (cis) women, but isn’t that pretty much exactly what gays, lesbians, and straight people are saying when they identify as gay, lesbian, or straight? That they’ll only love either (cis) men or (cis) women?

But where’s their rampant backlash from the rest of the community for upholding the gender binary? I’m just sayin’.

Even when these groups extend their definitions to include trans people and people on the gender non-conforming spectrum, it’s often still as long as those trans people exhibit some manner of gender representation that falls into the lover’s category of desire.

Now, I’m honestly not trying to rag on gays, lesbians, or even straight people. They have as much right to identify how they want as anybody else. And there’s nothing wrong with feeling primarily attracted to only, say, cis or trans men if your brain simply tells you that you only like guys. That’s fine. Go ahead and do that. I’m not saying you can’t.

What I am saying is you can’t be spewing bi hate or letting bi erasure slide because 1) it’s incredibly one-sided and unfair, and 2) in the end, it’s making you look bad, too.

What do you think will happen if bi erasure is a success? You’ll be next, dears.

*cue Jaws theme*

5. People Who Identify as Queer, Pansexual, or Another Fellow Non-Monosexual

In late October, Lizzy the Lezzy — who I quite enjoy, by the way — shared a photo on her Facebook timeline explaining sexuality in terms of guests at a BBQ.

This would be all well and good if it didn’t include a glaring misconception about bisexual people, especially when compared to pansexuals. While bisexual people were defined as getting both hot dogs and hamburgers, pansexuals were defined as getting hot dogs, hamburgers, “and a salad.” Oops. What year is this again?

I’m going to make something very plain to you, dear reader: Bisexual people don’t just love (cis) men or (cis) women. That’s not how the ballpark definition goes. The “bi” in “bisexual” does not indicate a binary. Well, okay, it does indicate a binary, but probably not the one you think.

Instead of “bi” meaning a love for only cis men or cis women or otherwise putting men and women at two opposite ends of a spectrum, “bi” means a love for identities bisexual people identify with themselves and identities that they don’t.

Or, as the popular Robyn Ochs definition goes: “I call myself bisexual because I acknowledge that I have in myself the potential to be attracted – romantically and/or sexually – to people of more than one sex and/or gender, not necessarily at the same time, not necessarily in the same way, and not necessarily to the same degree.”

Look at that very closely. That’s still a binary. That’s still “bi.” And there isn’t a thing wrong with it, no exclusion to be seen.

When compared with the general concepts of pansexuals and queers, our orientations suddenly sound pretty darn similar: We love everyone.

Bisexual people get a bad rap for apparently being transphobic. While we’ve already seen a little bit in #3 as to why we aren’t, I want to further drive the point home here. A large portion of the transphobic accusations toward us come from the queer and pansexual communities, which in turn seem to derive from some serious misinformation and misdirection by the mainstream.

For the record, queers and pansexuals are cool. I like them. But the fact of the matter is that the misconception of the “bi” in “bisexual” as meaning an attraction to only (cis) men or (cis) women — and therefore upholding the gender binary — was created and imposed upon bisexual people by the mainstream. You know, the people that want the gender binary to stick around.

And some queers and pansexuals ate the propaganda they were fed? That’s terrifying. It starts to show just how large and sneaky the mainstream’s gender binary monster truly is.

By defining and erasing bisexuality on the grounds that it upholds the gender binary, pansexuals and queers are not only reinforcing the binary they so sorely wish to dismantle, but they are losing important focus on where the problem actually resides: the mainstream’s insistence to force the gender binary on non-mainstream groups such as bisexual people.

Further, holding bisexual people responsible for the abuse they’ve suffered is simply wrong. All that’s doing is blaming the victim. But, by recognizing and respecting bisexual people as they truly are, bisexual people can not only help dismantle the gender binary and put a new definition on the concept of the spectrum, but finally be allowed to team up with pansexuals and queers to crush mainstream abuse on non-mainstream identities.

Doesn’t that sound nice? I think it sounds nice.

TL;DR

Dear non-bisexual identities, please stop shooting yourselves in the foot and then wondering why you’re missing toes.

We’re here for the same reasons you are: for the right to love whoever we want and for the right for others to do the same.

So let’s finally be friends. We’re never going to get anything done if we keep spending our time putting each other down.

[soupcorvus]

OKAY SO I JUST WATCHED/REWATCHED (i had seen about four episodes before watching through the whole playlist again) POKÉMON: TWILIGHT WINGS AND WOW (my thoughts are below the cut, i have many of them) ((SMALL SPOILER WARNING FOR POKÉMON: TWILIGHT WINGS!! i don’t spoil a lot but there’s a decent amount in there about smaller things))

-everyone knows this but this series is gorgeous, like it looks fantastic, you’re free to disagree with me but i just don’t understand why you would, it’s just visually stunning hhhHhh okay i’m gonna move on now before i end up making this all about the visuals

-these short episodes fleshed out some of the trainers like the games never managed to, in my opinion the games did about the same amount as twilight wings when it came to characterizing leon, sonia, and hop, and i think the games did better in some places with characterizing bede, piers, marnie, and raihan (i’m really sad that we barely got to see piers and marnie in twilight wings but i guess they did get their time to shine in the games so i can’t really complain that much).

i’m happy we got to see development and a more full-fledged character for bea, nessa, allister, and oleana, i never really liked oleana and then episode 5 (“assistant”) came along and called my opinion wrong in several different ways, which i’m very happy about. i’m still sad we barely got any milo, kabu, gordie, or melony, but hey sometimes that’s just the way things are 😔

oH I ALMOST FORGOT TO TALK ABOUT AVERY, CLARA, AND MUSTARD LET ME DO THAT REAL QUICK! starting with avery, when he showed up in my game at the station i was like “mm, i see what you’re going for and it’s not for me” and i still don’t like his outfit that much, but his personality (which i think he lacks in the games, judging from what i’ve seen) (no i didn’t get the dlc) makes up for it! they didn’t give us much for clara, but she was cute, kinda funny, and then there’s mustard, who i liked (but he says “leon, my boy” so often, i consider it funny but also like,, you can just call him your boy without saying his name we know his name), he seems really cool and fun, leon my boy out of 10, all of them were fun to see, and i’m glad that peonia/nia and peony only got brief cameos because that’s really all we needed of them here imo

-some of the emotional beats really hit for me, especially in episode 3 (“buddy”), i’m not gonna get into me projecting onto a fictional sheep creature but i feel like that sentence on its own says it all so moving on! second on the list of episodes that made me super emotional is probably episode 2 (“training”), just seeing bea push herself super hard and seeing her pokémon know that she needed to take a break while she was just putting her body through more and more intensity was just heartbreaking, like when her machamp had to physically hold her back to keep her from pushing rocks out of the way because it knew it would probably harm her?? ow dude that really made me feel something

and then there’s the finale, which got me a different kind of emotional, as in happy stimming and grinning like an idiot, it just felt like the creators were giving you some kind of payoff for playing the games and like it was made specifically for people who played the games, sort of like a love letter, idk if other people felt this way but it made me really happy, especially because swsh weren’t well-received games, and yeah there was definitely a far-more-than-noticeable amount of issues present within those games, but they did have good parts too, and everything that made the games good and lovable being wrapped up into a neat little package for you to appreciate personally makes me super happy

-every scene has a very good amount of atmosphere and realism to it, they did a great job conveying the idea that wow, this is its own world and it functions like it, no matter how little of this we see in the games, and as someone who’s currently working on world-building myself, this is such an inspiration to me

yeah i think that’s all i have to say about it for now (unless you ask about how i feel about the visuals, then you will hear about how i feel about the visuals)! thanks for reading <3

[turffieldstadium]

For the Valentine's Day Alphabet could I ask for A, D, and P for Milo, Piers, Rose, and Raihan?

A already done for Milo, D already done for Rose, and A and D already done for Raihan!!

A: AFFECTION. How does your muse show affection?

Piers isn't as physically affectionate as some of the other guys - a hair ruffle here, a touch on the lower back there - though he doesn't mind if his partner enjoys frequent touching. He isn't all that verbally affectionate either, but he's fond of pet names for his partner. In terms of love languages, Acts of Service and Quality Time are his jam. He much prefers doing things for his partner to make their life a little easier, and just hanging out together, each doing their own thing. If he's feelin it, he'll write some lyrics/a poem for them.

Rose is Big on touch and just straight up being a sappy old man. He's at the stage where any long-term relationship is The One for him, so why not go all out? He'll wax poetic to them on live television he doesn't give a shit if all of Galar thinks he's a Fool. Also cause he's got that monee he likes spoiling his partner and buying them whatever tf they want. He knows he can't just win true affection that way though, and if his partner's uncomfortable being gifted so much stuff, he'll dial it right back and focus on showing his love in other ways.

D: DATE. What is your muse's ideal date? Where / Who with / etc?

Milo loves just being with his partner, so honestly he's cool with anything they wanna do. Literally they could just watch a fishtank all day and he'll still be swooning. If they ask him to pick the date location/activity, he kinda just defaults to a picnic with his Wooloo. It's something nice, calm, quiet (for the most part), and for just the two of them (for the most part). But again, he's happy doing what his partner wants, providing it isn't terribly dangerous (like sprinting through the Wild Area with a Tsareena on their ass seriously why are they so violent).

Piers is all or nothing tbh. Either stay at home to watch bad Netflix movies or go jam tf out at a concert, he has no in between. He's easy to persuade though; if his partner wants to do something else, he's more than happy to go along with it. Going out for a meal? A classic, why not. Wild Area tour? As long as it's foggy or raining, he's game. A movie? He'll most likely fall asleep but he likes listening to his partner recap what he missed.

P: PARTNER. What does your muse look for in a partner? Looks / Personality?

Milo likes people who are kind, above all else. He doesn't have the time to deal with someone who's just plain rude, and he doesn't like people who act that way without reason. He has a lot of responsibilities too, so someone who'll help out or be fine to sit and talk with him while he does his chores is a big plus, so they can still spend time together even when he's busy. And naturally, he's a very affectionate guy, so he'd like a person who's cool with him being a sap.

Piers likes either someone who's just as introverted as him, or someone who's a complete extrovert but respects his boundaries. He's a tired depressed dude who willingly walks around looking Like That and generally doesn't care what people think of him, but a potential partner criticising his appearance never sits well with him. Above all he wants someone he can be himself around.

Rose prefers people who understand that he's a busy guy, and there'll be a lot of times he just can't make time for them. It sucks yeah, but he really prioritizes Galar over everything else. Also a person who respects him, but doesn't treat him as some Super Famous Celebrity Dude cause that shit gets old and annoying fast. Also also someone who'll hear his dumb fuck ideas (coughs Reenacting The Wholeass Darkest Day Event) and be like 'dude wtf'.

Raihan likes people who don't take any shit and can sass back as good as he gives. Obviously he'd love to plaster his partner all over his social medias, but if they're camera shy, he'll be content with just one picture to keep as his phone wallpaper. Someone who likes to show off their affection too, cause he wants to feel loved damn it. Also someone who’ll be his big spoon.

Valentines Alphabet requests are CLOSED

[northcountryprimitive]

North Country Primer #7: Raymond Morin, Pittsburgh. PA

Originally published at North Country Primitive in May 2015

The seventh installment in our North Country Primer series features Pittsburgh-based guitarist, Raymond Morin, who many of you may also know as the head honcho of the excellent fingerstyle blog, Work & Worry, a key inspiration for our own humble efforts. While Work & Worry has gone on the back burner for the time being, Raymond has been finding plenty more guitar-related activity to keep him busy - as well as repairing and building them as part of his day job, he is also organising regular gigs for like-minded musicians passing through Pittsburgh and, alongside David Leicht, playing as one half of acoustic duo Pairdown - more of which below.

Tell us a bit about yourself and the musical journey that took you to a place where you concluded that playing an acoustic guitar on your own was a good idea...

I grew up in an old mill town in northeast Connecticut, pretty removed from anything interesting.  I initially started playing music just because it was something to do when the weather wasn’t conducive to skateboarding.  My girlfriend at the time - now my wife - had a guitar sitting under her bed, and I asked her to show me some chords.  Her dad jokes that because he originally taught her the chords that she passed on to me, he’s the one who basically taught me everything I know!   I originally put down the pick back in my band days, when I played in a sort of chamber-pop group called The Higher Burning Fire.  I guess my initial thought was that it would distinguish the sound of my playing if I picked with my fingers and came up with the most physically demanding chord shapes I could think of, stuff that I couldn’t imagine other guitarists going to the trouble to execute.  As I developed as a “fingerstyle” player, I came to the logical conclusion that not only could I play somewhat orchestrally on my own, but there was a tradition of doing this thing on acoustic guitars, which had their own exotic appeal, and travelled a lot more easily than electrics plus amps. What has influenced your music and why? I loved alternative and college rock in high school, R.E.M., Morrissey and The Smiths, Jane’s Addiction etc, but I always had Simon & Garfunkel and Bob Dylan rattling around in my head, from when my parents used to listen to the oldies radio station on family trips.  I got really into indie and post-rock for a few years after high school, stuff like Unwound, Fugazi, Tortoise, June of 44, Boys Life, etc.  When I started playing acoustic guitar and fingerpicking more, I started digging deeper into the older  stuff, in addition to writing my own songs, and naturally found my way to my longtime favorites: Bert, Davy, John Renbourn, Martin Carthy, that whole generation of players just never ceases to enthrall me. So in addition to the records that I was listening to, I was lucky enough to befriend a few players over the years that have continued to have a massive influence on the way I play and perceive music.  The first is a great friend of mine named Matthew Goulet, who I met when I lived in Boston.  I was a year or two into exploring British folk and blues music, and Matt had all of that stuff down cold, but was also an exceptional ragtime picker.  As a guitarist, that was a big door to have someone open for you!  Within a couple days of meeting Matt, I knew that I would never be happy until I learned to play like him, and I’ll be damned if I’m not still trying.   The second biggest influence on the way that I think about guitar playing is probably Milo Jones, a criminally under-known guitarist from Boston and another good friend.  I can’t begin to describe how deep Milo’s music goes, he’s a very accomplished player and singer who has a pretty unique vision, a harmonic sophistication that’s unrivaled in the “solo guitar dude” world.  More rooted in jazz, I guess.  His YouTube videos are great, and you can listen to a ton of his recorded music on his Bandcamp page. The biggest influence is my ongoing partnership with David Leicht. We play as a fingerstyle duo called Pairdown.  When I first moved to Pittsburgh and met Dave, we were both plying our wares as solo singer/songwriter types, he was fingerpicking just a little bit… I think initially we both just liked each other's lyrics, and we just got on really well together.  In the time I’ve known him, Dave has become a real master at composing for the acoustic guitar, and it’s a huge challenge for me coming up with parts that are worthy of being attached to his songs.  He has also become a fantastic fingerpicker in his own right.  He can play Ton Van Bergeyk’s Grizzly Bear for crying out loud.  That ain’t easy. What have you been up to recently? Well, I have a young daughter who is at the top of the priority list these days.  I manage and do repairs at a musical instrument shop called Acoustic Music Works here in Pittsburgh, so that’s the full-time gig.  It’ll be three years ago this summer that I started learning to build acoustic guitars, so that takes up a lot of my time, just exploring that and honing that craft.  I’m very fortunate to have access to a lot of insanely nice acoustics at my job, stuff like Collings and Bourgeois, some fancy luthier-built stuff and my share of old Martin and Gibsons, so I take a lot of notes. Since I started at AMW, I’ve also been presenting a lot of guitar-oriented concerts at the shop.  When I was writing about guitar music for workandworry.com (still online, but kind of dormant these days, with everything else going on) I got to speak to a lot of these guys whenever they had a new record in the works, and now I’m able to give them a cool place to play when they’re on tour.  Pittsburgh is not exactly known as a raging guitar soli town, you know?  But we have a good time, and I’ve been able to get cash into everyone’s pockets, which I know wasn’t the case at a lot of the places that these guys and gals used to play when they passed through.  If you’re reading this blog and are planning a tour that passes through Pittsburgh, feel free to hit me up about a gig at raymond@acousticmusicworks.com. Other than that, we’re currently gearing up to record a new Pairdown LP, which is very exciting.  Some of our best guitar-work so far, for sure, but also some of our coolest songs.  We have a couple real epics on our hands, some real dynamic tunes that have lots of twists and turns… so we’ll probably record that starting this summer sometime, maybe early in the fall.  

What are you listening to right now, old or new? Any recommendations you’d like to share with us? This would be a good time to score some cool points, but I’m afraid my music listening has no agenda, rhyme or reason behind it.  Lately it’s lots of Mastodon, First Aid Kit, Sturgill Simpson, John Renbourn, Steve Gunn, Phil Ochs.  I got to hear what I believe are the final mixes for the new James Elkington / Nathan Salsburg duet record, those guys are incredible.  Their first one, Avos, is easily one of my favorites from the current generation of guitar players, and Nathan’s solo stuff is nothing short of breathtaking.  I’d recommend that anyone who wants to hear great guitar playing listen to Milo Jones.  I also love LOVE the ragtime playing of John James, and Stefan Grossman has been reissuing James’ Kicking Mule LPs on CD over the last couple years.   The guitar nerd bit: what guitars do you play and what do you like about them? Is there anything out there you’re coveting? My main guitar is a custom by Trevor Healy, who builds acoustics and electrics in Easthampton, MA as Healy Guitars.  It’s called his RM model, it’s a small jumbo (16” lower bout) and this particular one is 25” scale, with an Adirondack spruce top and Cuban mahogany back and sides.  I’ve had this guitar for over three years now, it sounds wonderful and it just gets better and better, all the time.  Your readers might now Trevor from the Beyond Berkeley Guitar CD that came out on Tompkins Square a few years ago, he’s a great fingerpicker in addition to being a great luthier.   I also recently built myself a ladder-braced L-00 sized guitar, a copy of the new Waterloo WL-14 that Collings came up with.  Those are based on the old Kalamazoo KG-14s that Gibson built for the catalog/department store market during the depression, something like a $15 guitar at the time.  Mine is a really dry sounding guitar, with a very quick and immediate response.  It’s great for the really snappy ragtime and country blues stuff, but honestly pretty much everything sounds awesome on it.  It has a really chunky “V” neck, which scares off a lot of people, but I love it. I’m around hundreds of brilliant guitars all day at work, so a certain amount of self control is required.  One day I’d like to build myself an OM-45 out of one of the sets of Brazilian rosewood that I have, or better yet, have Trevor build it! Banjos: yes or no? For sure!  Corn Potato String Band from Detroit just played at my shop a few weeks ago, and they had a two-banjo version of “Nola” played in harmony… totally blew my socks off! What are you planning to do next? I’ve got a bunch of guitar building commissions and other projects lined up, pretty much through the end of the year, so between that and the new Pairdown record getting recorded, I’ve got my work cut out for me.   What should we have asked you and didn’t? Nah, I’ve gone on plenty.  Thanks, keep up the good work!

Pairdown have a Bandcamp page here. You can read Work & Worry here. Meanwhile, you can find out more about Acoustic Music Works here.

[spnife]

91 question tag

Tagged by @vanillabeanniall​ and then @uswntinharmony​

More below the cut bc that’s how I roll

the last – 

1. drink: Arizona Tea

2. phone call: my mom

3. text message: my mom - she sent me two climbing videos. Or I sent them to me, from her phone

4. song i listened to: What a feeling, but I was asleep (i checked the music app just now), so the last song I remember hearing is Ray of Light by Madonna

5. time you cried: wednesday. First day of school was today so it was some stress

have you ever – 6. dated someone twice: yeah

7. been cheated on: yeah. I became friends with the guy though. Similar tastes I guess???  (( Actually I blocked him on snapchat last year bc he was talking some bs on his story but in eigth grade he wasn’t awful))  She lied abt it though and then talked to me two years later and still lied like okay

8. kissed someone and regretted it: no ragrets

9. lost someone special: not really

10. been depressed: fuck hell yep

11. gotten drunk and thrown up: no. I had like a sip of beer on a trip but it was just to mess with a dude while he was in the porta potty

list 3 favorite colors – 12. light blue

13. orangish pink

14. dark purple

in the last year have you – 15. made new friends: heck yeah. I switched schools and found a really good group of people there already. It’s been alright

16. fallen out of love: not in the last year. gotta be in love first

17. laughed until you cried: probably but I don’t remember rn

18. found out someone was talking about you: I think? I found out parents were saying nice things about me. Mean wise maybe? I’m not really sure. Probably

19. met someone who changed you: at least one. a teacher last year

20. found out who your true friends were: i think? 

more –  21. kissed someone on your facebook? alas, i do not have a facebook

22. how many of your facebook friends do you know in real life? see 21

23. do you have any pets? A super sweet black lab named FeeBee, a kitten named Mulder and a cat named Milo, and a hedgehog named Wembly

24. do you want to change your name? i like my name. My last name bothers me sometimes bc dad stuff but it’s gotten better

25. what did you do on your last birthday? I had a chill day at school, got a nice car, got a card from all of the kids on the climbing team. One of them said “Wow Coach Ella, you only have two more years til you can drink,” like i’m sorry kid I’m only 16

26. what time did you wake up? 7. first day of school

27. what were you doing at midnight? crying and putting school stuff in my backpack and watching VEEP

28. name something you can’t wait for: to keep getting better at climbing, the Harry Styles concert on oct 11, my birthday on oct 13 bc it should be fun and I hope I’ll get another card from the climbing team bc they’re all lovely

29. when was the last time you saw your mother? today

30. what is one thing you wish you could change about your life? i want to know that I’ll be able to be happy

31. what are you listening to right now? watching Raising Hope

32. have you ever talked to a person named tom? yep

33. something that is getting on your nerves? I keep getting anxiety while I’m at climbing practice and that’s one of my most comfortable places. it feels like im going downhill with climbing even though I know im getting better

34. most visited site: netflix

school –  35. elementary: i loved my elementary school. every teacher i had was amazing, small school in austin and a good community and i still talk to my friends from there. so when i moved to the new school in fifth grade and depression was already showing up, the differences made it literally hell. it was awful. i didnt like my teachers and i didnt know people

36. middle: 6th grade was hell, 7th grade was even fuckin worse, 8th was still pretty bad. All the worst years of my life so far, and tbh it’s gonna be hard to top them

37. high: better than middle school but thats a really fucking low bar. like incredibly low.

38. college: planning for ACC for two years to get base courses, dream school UT in an engineering major. I love the school and the program there, but I worry if I could barely get through middle school, how tf am I supposed to survive college. Also it didn’t feel great when I was talking to a friend and I was like “yeah ut is tbh my dream school, if I can get in” and she was like “oh that’s one my last choice colleges” like fucking okay love you thanks for telling me that makes me feel real good about my intelligence and how you view me

me –  39. hair color: brown

40. long or short hair? shoulder length

41. do you have a crush on someone? yep. according to a friend i am “so gone for this girl” but um. oka y what if she doesn’t like me? I feel good around her though and she likes being around me and we work well together I think. She’s lovely and I wouldn’t want to make things weird by asking her out if I don’t know she feels that way too.

42. what do you like about yourself? I am able to figure things out and I work with kids really well. I’ve also been getting better at climbing again so I’m proud of myself for that

43. piercings? just my ears

44. blood type: lol yeah like i know?

45. nickname: ellallalala is something I’m getting from people at the new school, and I’ve had some climbing nicknames over the years but Coachella is sticking. I coach and my name is Ella it’s great

46. relationship status: nope

47. zodiac sign: libra

48. pronouns: she/her

49. favorite tv show(s): always sunny, parks and rec, my name is earl, curious george

50. tattoos: soon

51. right, ambidextrous, or left-handed? right

first –  52. surgery: i had one on my pelvis in 2013? i was in preschool and it was for this weird group of veins on the side of my leg. We’d always called it a birthmark and after the surgery the scar looked like a sunset over water but the sun is purple (still looks like that it’s rad) and the first time someone showed me a birthmark i was like??? Um no thats just a little dark bit of skin?? my birthmark is purple what is this shit

53. piercing: ears

54. sport: rock climbing. found it early and still love it

55. vacation: no idea

56. pair of trainers: first i remember are a PAIR OF DORA LIGHT UP SHOES

current –  57. eating: nothing

58. drinking: arizona tea

59. i’m about to: finish my arizona tea

60. listening to: the episode ended so me typing and the clock my great grandmother gave is

future –  61. waiting for: me to feel alright

62. want: to like what i’m doing and to know i’m able to be happy doing it. I wish I could just skip to being married with kids and a dog and everything.

63. married: oh for sure

64. career: astronaut has always been my dream career but with this level of anxiety it’s probably a no go. I am not over it. I’m def gonna cry abt it in a couple of minutes bc thats how it goes, ya know. The last astronaut I talked to though said “the biggest disqualifier is not applying” so i’m still going to try my hardest. I also love engineering and physics and space and science and education and would love to be a librarian, so we’ll see

your type – 
 65. hugs or kisses? depends

66. lips or eyes? eyes, i guess. There’s more character there

67. shorter or taller? in my head i’m always like oh taller but really it doesn’t matter. as long as i can be little spoon im good to go

68. older or younger? doesn’t matter

69. nice arms or nice stomach? tummies are cute i guess. 

70. sensitive or loud? i don’t know

71. hook-up or relationship? right now relationship and at some point relationship but ask me a couple months ago and it would have been different

72. troublemaker or hesitant? both. troublemaker with a lot of decisions but in fun ways, but hesitant when it comes to talking to new people that i want to be good friends with. and asking people out

73. kissed a stranger? yep. on a bet

74. drank hard liquor? had some jack daniels mixed with coffee and it tasted like cinnamon toast crunch

75. lost contact lenses/glasses? my glasses always turn up

76. turned someone down? yeah. accidentally on a few though lol. As i had a crush on someone i went out with for a little while last yeah legit three other people liked me and i guess im oblivious bc i had no fucking idea

77. sex on first date? depends

78. broken someone’s heart? i don’t think so

79. had your heart broken? yes but in a friendship way along with the relationship. it goes back to the you should kill yourself stuff

80. been arrested? nope

81. cried when someone died? no one i’ve known closely has died. My great-great grandmother died when i was fiveish but she was really old. There have been a few suicides at my old school (i switched 2 months before end of last year) and those hit hard, just knowing that there are so many people here dealing with that stuff and me relating to it. I didn’t know the people well but we’d spoken and I knew them some, but I had some friends who were much closer and really affected

82. fallen for a friend? yeah

do you believe in –  83. yourself? i try

84. miracles? shit happens, and sometimes it’s good

85. love at first sight? who am i to say tbh

86. santa claus? no

87. kiss on first date? if i like them

88. angels? no

other –  89. current best friend’s name: skip

90. eye color: hazel

91. favorite movie: i dont know im tired and want to cry sort of so maybe i shouldnt think about this stuff as much when im already stressed im going to go drink more tea and eat some soup

Anway

I’m tagging anyone who reads this far. gotcha

[frazzledsoul]

So I recently had an unofficial binge watch of most of the third season of Gilmore Girls and

Why did I suddenly stop watching this show in late 2002 for no apparent reason? I mean, it was made for me. There is an episode with dueling Edgar Allen Poe impersonators and a magic cat! If that isn’t my type of show, I don’t know what is.

As much as I love season 5 and the better moments during season 6, there’s definitely value to watching this show before my ship set sail and everything got so complicated. The show was sweeter and more innocent then and it was easier to appreciate it as a whole. It was also a lot easier to like Rory when she was in high school.

Various thoughts on this mini binge:

The technology gap isn’t as obvious to me as it was a few years ago when I sat down with my DVD copies of the first two seasons, but I do have to chuckle at everyone running around with pagers when they already have cell phones. It’s so quaint.

Lorelai’s drama about which Ivy League school Rory is going to be manipulated into attending is so silly. There will come a time in the near future when she’s going to be grateful this is the biggest drama she has to deal with in her child’s life.

There are two major, major continuity gaps that popped up in the revival that are glaringly apparent in 3.18 (the episode with the inn fire, the dueling Edgar Allen Poes, and the magic cat). ASP wrote this episode, so she can’t blame it on any of the other writers. One of them involves Luke meeting Nicole’s parents and witnessing an extended conversation about yup, surrogacy contracts. Luke is distracted by his current parenting (via Jess) woes and it’s been twelve years so we’ll let that one pass, but it really makes no sense that he would remain totally clueless about how that kind of thing works years later. 

The second one involves how long Michel has known Lorelai. He clearly states in this episode that it’s only been five years (which is two years before the series began, when Lorelai was 30). However, in the revival Lorelai clearly details that they first met when she began working at the front desk and he told her she shouldn’t wear a Thompson Twins T shirt to work. The scene Lorelai recalls had to take place when she was in her late teens/early 20s, as it makes no sense that it would take her 13 years to work up to the front desk and become manager 2 years later or that she would be able to buy her house 3 years before she made it to the front desk (and the Thompson Twins T shirt is obviously a tip off that this event happened long before then, as Lorelai would have been 30 in in 1998). I know I’m probably the only one who noticed this, but would it have killed ASP to hire any continuity experts to check for this stuff? The loss of Michel is pretty key to Lorelai’s plot in the revival and even if they stuck with the correct timeline, they still would have been working together for close to two decades.

When Lorelai was talking to Rory about having a few “three night stands” in the revival, she was totally referring to Alex, wasn’t she? The dude just disappears and no one seems to care.

That said, romantically Lorelai is all over the place this season. Christopher, Max, Alex, Luke. She’s got all of her bases covered and yet at this point her story’s mostly about Rory and Rory’s man drama and college choices. The show wasn’t at the point where it could really be about something else yet. So let’s take the guys one at a time, shall we:

Christopher.  Lorelai spends the earlier part of the season distraught over Christopher and the fact that they missed their one big chance to have a relationship again. I’m only mentioning this because I think after this incident it was never really the same with him for Rory or Lorelai again. Rory could never really forgive him for showing up to be Gigi’s dad when he failed her in so many ways. Lorelai could never really be as starry-eyed about him after this: yes, she does give him another chance eventually, and commits to him when she shouldn’t have, but it was too late by then: he’d already failed her, and she’d been with Luke, and had known it could be a lot better than Christopher was ever capable of.

Max. I kind of wish we had gotten to see Max in the revival. They had a perfect opening with Rory and Paris returning to Chilton and it wouldn’t have opened up another love triangle situation, because Lorelai wouldn’t have been there. I would have loved to see him stable and with a wife that suited him and actually loved him (and maybe some kids). Max, like Dean, was a nice guy who just wasn’t right for Lorelai, and it would have been nice to see that he ended up with a nice life away from it all, like Dean did. It’s so sad that the last we see of him is being physically threatened by Lorelai’s presence while she pursues him solely because she’s bored with her current quasi-boyfriend (when she remembers he exists, that is).

Alex. It’s now occurred to me that Alex is basically Lorelai’s version of Rory’s Paul in the revival and I’m kinda creeped out. Well, at least Alex didn’t seem to take it any more seriously than Lorelai did.

Luke. Luke spends this season as lovesick and silently devoted to Lorelai as ever, but halfway through he seems to decide that it’s not going to happen and he’s just going to move on. I’m not really sure what Nicole was doing with him, though. He seems a lot more willing to go on excursions with Nicole (the skiing trip, the cruise) than he was with either Lorelai or Rachel (in both cases, they both stuck pretty close to life in town) but at the same time denies he wants to commit to her at all. He seems to always be looking for reasons to confirm that Lorelai might be a tad interested. When Lorelai tells him about the dream, it’s clear that he’s looking for what might else might be in there that she’s not telling him. And when he’s with her at Rory’s graduation and asks if she’s sure that it’s really a good idea for him to go on vacation with Nicole “despite everything”, he’s practically begging her to give him any little sign of hope.

All that time, he still was hanging onto that horoscope. Even after he married Nicole, he never let go of it. All she had to do was say the word and Nicole would be history.

Ugh, these two.

I kind of want to talk a little about the kids subject, since the season opens with Lorelai dreaming she’s pregnant with his babies and the one time they discuss the subject before they actually get together is in this season. I don’t think the dream was as much about Lorelai really subconsciously wanting the babies as it was about wanting someone who would actually support her and take care of her and her family (ie Rory), and that was never going to be Christopher. It was always Luke. I don’t think Lorelai knows it at this point: for her part, she is clearly jealous of Nicole, but she hasn’t thought it out any farther than that.

When Luke brings the subject of kids in the dance marathon episode to Lorelai it really comes out of left field. What does she care if Luke makes a few snarky comments about Sookie and Jackson’s suitability as parents? She’s not his girlfriend: she’s not remotely thinking about having kids with him in reality. Of course, that’s the exact reason he brings it up. He doesn’t want Lorelai to dismiss the notion of giving him a chance on something even as remote as him never wanting kids. But it doesn’t sound to me like it’s something either of them are longing for. I’ve heard lots of talk that their conversation about kids in the revival was empty and meaningless as opposed to this earlier conversation, and I think that’s silly. While it’s a cute moment that obviously implies that they are meant to be together eventually, it just doesn’t compare to a conversation where they discuss their life together and Luke flat out says that he considers Rory his daughter (and that he doesn’t need a son because he has Jess). He and Lorelai didn’t need a traditional family of their own because they already had one.

What I think some fans miss when they get wrapped up in the fact that Luke and Lorelai never had kids of their own is that even at the moment of this earlier conversation, Luke is already a parent. He really, really tries with Jess, albeit imperfectly, and he fails. Maybe it wasn’t possible to reach someone as angry and confused as Jess was. Maybe if Luke had been more proactive in making sure Jess actually finished high school on time, he would have succeeded. But it’s so sad to me to see Jess beg and beg that deadbeat father of his to let him stay with him because he can’t face life back home. But Luke was the only real father that Jess had, and his good influence ultimately paid off, even if not right away.

(And seriously? We were supposed to watch a spinoff series on Jess and his dad? I’m glad it never happened. I think it would kind of lessen all that Luke tried to do for Jess.)

I think too that we see that Luke really is Rory’s actual dad in this season, if only intermittently. Christopher makes a big deal about Rory forgiving him at the beginning of the season, but he’s got little to offer her. He can’t even show up for her graduation. But Luke is there, and he even cries: he’s jubilant at all of her college acceptance letters: he’s very overprotective when it comes to Jess. He was always there for her, no matter what.

(Luke must be a living nightmare for April’s boyfriends, though. Even his own relatives weren’t good enough for Rory, and we can see that overprotectiveness with April start to flare in season 7.).

Jess really does not come off well to me in this season. In fact, I remain confused as to why so many people remained in love with Jess Mariano for years after the way he ends things here. Jess polled as Rory’s favored boyfriend for years, and I believe the affection many people had for him is a major reason why Milo is so beloved on This Is Us (of course, the fact that Jack Pearson is a flawless human specimen has a lot to do with that, but I think that affection did transfer over). Jess lies to Luke, betrays the trust he has in him, and flunks out of school for no apparent reason. He tries to get Rory to have sex with him, avoids her, and then leaves town without a word for either her or Luke. And this is after beating up Dean, having Luke takes responsibility for his own mess, and ruining Rory’s chance to go to prom. I know he was a sullen, rebellious kid who never wanted to be there and had basically been abandoned by both of his parents, but he had a lot of good people in his corner pulling for him and wanting him to do better. I think the guy he turned into in the revival is a sweet, loyal, dependable guy who would make a great mate for Rory if she ever gets her shit together. We can kind of see him becoming that person in his later appearances in the series. But that is not who he was by the end of season 3.

Lane’s plotline kind of falls flat to me: it seems so twee and backward, even for a show like this. Dave is cute and patient and adorably awkward, but the kind of shenanigans Lane is pulling with him at this point are ridiculous, considering that she’s nearly an adult. I just couldn’t accept him as a real love interest, and I’m not sure he was any more suited to Lane than Zach eventually was. Dave started off perfect: Zach clearly never was, and he had to work to become the kind of person that would be good for Lane. I don’t really see Dave fitting into the kind of hipster mom/dad unit that Lane had settled into by the time of the revival. So I guess the guy is sweet, but I’m not getting it. At least she got a chance to go to prom, though.

The fact that Lorelai is willing to give up her dream of buying the inn solely so that Rory can fulfill her dream of going to an Ivy League school and not have to burden her parents again makes me love her so, so much. I mostly focus on the shipper stuff when it comes to this show but ultimately it is about one woman’s self-sacrifice for the sake of her daughter and I think we see this so much this season. Lorelai can be selfish and infuriating and we do see that a lot of the time, but she’s more than willing to dig her heels in and make the hard choices when it counts. In a world of Shonda Rhimes dramas and decadent superhero shows, we really need that sometimes.

And if you don’t cry at Rory’s tribute to her mom during her graduation speech, you soul is blacker than even mine and there is no hope for you.