#idk if this really means a lot in any sense but its just really cool and ive never um gotten this much attention before

[jamisonwritestf2trash]

YOU GUYS-

[thousandyearphantombunker]

"just give them an aac device!"

"just teach them sign language"

"body language and facial expressions alone are good enough for communicating what you need"

Nonononono f*!k off. Stop acting like nonverbal people have easy solutions to their lack of verbality. Not everyone can use an aac device- some people struggle with spelling or can't spell at all, some people have motor skills issues that makes typing a nightmare that takes a long time, some can't articulate themselves without outside help. Learning sign is hard if you again have motor skills issues or struggle to make facial expressions that convey what your feeling (flat affect applies to more than just a person's voice- some people really struggle to make facial expressions and have stilted or strange body language- you people can understand why autistic people get burnt out from masking all day- you know often having to control their body language and make certain facial expressions etc yet you can't understand why nonverbal autistics can't just learn sign- a language very heavy on facial expressions and expressive body language?) also again spelling and motor skill issues are a pain and also a lot of families with deaf or nonverbal children refuse to learn sign for said children and I'm sorry in day to day life I haven't met many people who speak sign- yeah you can move to a community with a lot of deaf or nonverbal people that use sign but that's not always possible and its very limiting. And do I even have to explain the third one- autistic body language is confusing to neurotypicals and I hate the stereotype that its just so blunt and obvious/better than neurotypical communication- maybe that's what its like for you and your 'smart sheldon cooper/Wednesday Addams' style autism but not every autistic person 'says exactly what they mean' often times autistic people struggle with semantics and articulating sentences that make any sense! and all these misunderstandings surrounding stimming are annoying to!- spinning can be a 'happy' stim but it can also mean your overwhelmed or understimulated, a lot of people with autism have voices that lack inflections, mix that in with being unable to use words and no it does not help communicate their needs- f!*k off with acting like its easy not all autistic people who are nonverbal can spell, not all autistic people w are nonverbal have good motor skills and body language alone is never enough to convey a persons needs. Before anyone comes after me yes Sign is body language but its also actual symbols and can convey full thoughts and ideas and sentences and also body language is hard for a lot of autistic people to convey like stated above.

Not every form autistic communication is being 'logical' and unoffended because 'we're just more logical than those superfluous, shallow neurotypicals that let their feelings control them and are never direct about what they want-we value facts and logic unlike those butthurt neurotypicals' and being overly blunt- no a lot of autistic people find that communication is messy and the ways they can communicate are ineffective and your 'logical, facts dont care about your feelings' style of communication isn't as amazing as you think it is. Stop speaking over nonverbal autistics- their is no real perfect solution to them not being able to speak. And I'm gonna say it- while not all nonverbal people are low functioning or high support needs or whatever the new term is-being nonverbal is a massive disadvantage and having your disability be visible like that is scary in many situations and being unable to communicate your needs can make it impossible to meet your needs-

[greyedian]

uh oh part 2: I just read House on Emberflit Alley and... man I need to stop reading this stuff, bc it's just genuinely good. It's like... retroactively ruining the only storyline in s2 that I kinda liked :(

uh oh chat I just read Viktor and Jayce's league bios and I like it more than what season 2 did with them... like A LOT more

[wasyago]

how do you choose colors?? i love your color choices and wanna know how you do it

oookay, i don't actually know what i am doing with colors 90% of the time, but there are some guidelines that i follow, so, i hope this will be useful ":3

so. one of the main things that i use almost all the time is complimentary colors! a very cool very useful thing, good for everything. complimentary colors are the ones that are opposite each other on a color wheel. a proper color wheel, not the one that drawing apps use, because that one most of the time has the colors distributed wrong 😔

the thing about complimentary colors is that they make each other stand out more. so if you use them in equal amount and saturation they will fight for attention and don't look as good. another thing is that if you put gray on one complimentary color it will appear to have changed the hue to its pair. uhhh its hard to describe with words, but just try to fill a canvas with one saturated color and draw something gray on it, its an optical illusion of sorts.

so uhhhhhh, what im trying to say is, complimentary colors compliment each other (wow), so using them for accents and shadows and backgrounds will generally make both stand out and look better? idk, here are some examples so it hopefully makes more sense

and so you change the amount of color, it's saturation, hue, warmth, tone, other smart words, and it changes the feeling of the picture! as you can see i really like my greens and reds, they're almost in every picture, but it still looks different (hopefully). if you can't full on change the color of something, if you have a set design for example, bringing the complimentary color in shadows and highlights or background works too! try different things see what's for you!

and, of course, using complimentary colors doesn't mean you can't use any other color! its more like, complimentary colors establish this connection that's pleasing to the eye and everything else is whatever you want it to be! i also have no idea about using more than one pair, generally one is enough but technically it works?

i also try not to use more than 3 main colors for a piece, like, blue-red-yellow but no green, or green-blue-yellow and no red, and stuff. (key word is "try" of course lol) this has nothing to do with the color wheel, just uhh general color balance? but this is about um, "clean" colors. you can absolutely use all 4, if one of them appears different because of the lighting and stuff? again, its hard to explain color with words. plus it all depends on a style, its not a rule, that's just how i do it

and then all the things outside of theory, like, don't use black and gray for shadows, it looks dirty. a lot of artists don't use pure black at all, but i just can't help it i like it too much. i try not to use pure white for things like clothes and eyes and other things that are in-universe colored white. its fine for highlights but for everything else i usually use grayish yellowish color, it looks much more pleasing. things that are closer are more saturated and have more contrast, things that are far have less saturation and less contrast. things that you want to attract attention should have more contrast, and the other way around

aaand i think that's it? all that i can remember at least

[doyouevenshipbr0]

examples of atla live action’s attempts to be more feminist and how they actually had the opposite effect and/or hurt the integrity of the show

already talked about katara and pakku. does not make sense that she did not have a master. point blank. just because something sounds empowering (ie katara saying “yes. and ur looking at her.” after zuko asked if she found a master) doesn’t mean it automatically is. there still needs to be logic and katara “being her own master” defies logic imo im sorry!

katara in general. she has no ferocity here which to be very honest i dont think is fully the writers’ fault. some of the blame goes on them but the actress for katara just delivered alllllll of her lines w the same exact mild tone. katara is overly motherly. she is bossy. she is passionate. she is nurturing. she is emotional. THERE IS POWER IN THESE THINGS!!!!! why would we take away her spark?!?!?!

i loved live action suki. however, i LOVE the line in the original when her and sokka part ways and sokka says “i treated u like a girl when i should’ve treated u like a warrior.” and suki says “i am a warrior” *kisses sokka on the cheek* “but im a girl too.” THAT LINE WAS SO PERFECT like lemme say it again there is POWER IN FEMININITY! there is no shame in that!!!!! why does this show wanna take that away so badly. at one point live action suki says something like “im not just a warrior, im a kiyoshi warrior” and before she parts ways w sokka she thanks him for showing her some of the world or something like that. which was fine but i just love the simplicity of the original. a girl can be a warrior and have a crush. why do we have to change that?

this is a small one and it doesnt REALLY matter, but i cant help but think they changed this to be more “feminist” which is just dumb. yue isnt betrothed? well she was but she broke it off? and hahn (her ex) isnt a huge dick? i mean it wasn’t the worst thing and i didnt really mind it but i was just kinda like ?????. feel like yue being betrothed tied into her sense of responsibility and foreshadowed the sacrifices she will make for her people. so. feels rly weird that they changed it. i think it was to show more women agency which is always cool. but in the original, yue finally gets her agency by becoming the moon spirit. that should be the end of her character arc. idk. a weird change that seemed unnecessary.

sokka not being sexist. honestly i think the live action did a good job at omitting this while not REALLY making it feel like something was missing. with that being said, something was still missing lol. once again, its apart of sokka’s character. i feel like everyone has already expressed their hate for this so ill just leave it at that.

i am a TAD indifferent on the women of the northern tribe joining the forces during the fight. on one hand i cant lie i smiled bc obviously i love water bending and i love women so there was definitely apart of me that was happy to see that moment. however. it was kind of giving like in endgame when theres that random shot of all the women superheroes in one frame so the movie could have a “slay queen. we are girlbosses:)” moment. like it just felt a little empty and it wasnt the feminist battlecry they thought it was. these women have been healing their whole lives. why would they be any good on the frontlines of a fight? they never learned combat skills! HOWEVER, when we see them, its mainly just them reinforcing the walls so like. that makes enough sense. im cool w that.

i know im dwelling but as we know i hold atla in the highest regards. it does a lot of things perfectly imo. and one of the things i think it does PERFECTLY is its treatment of female characters. literally the only thing i can think of that i dont like is when team azula beats the kiyoshi warriors and ty lee says something like “u are NOT prettier than us” NDBSKSJDJ like ok that was weird. but anyways. it irritates me how the live action kind of seems to have this pov that says “the original was good, but there were some ideas and plots that were outdated so we changed them to keep with the times” like they’re fixing something that was broken if that makes sense. when in actuality, i think atla’s representation of women is perfect and timeless. it was relevant and powerful in 2005, and it is equally as relevant and powerful in 2024. there was nothing about its feminist themes that needed to be “fixed” or “updated”.

[creatingblackcharacters]

hi! Sorry if this ask ends up a bit unfocused/poorly worded, it kinda randomly came to me and my mind is a bit scattered (maybe brain fog idk) its really hard to phrase things the way I want to

Basically, as a nonwhite with skin issues I wanna see represented and represent in my own work, I was thinking about how despite both often being falsely stereotyped as unhygienic, I can't think of many examples of Black characters with skin conditions like acne/eczema. (And a lot of that is bc ppl refuse to represent acne even with white/nonblack characters beyond jokes)

The main question I have is that, obviously, the intention to represent acne well would hopefully prevent it from playing into stereotypes about Black ppl being unhygienic (bc acne just Happens Sometimes yknow) but I still wonder if there's specific stereotypes that exist when it comes to depicting Black characters with acne

Like, mainly in a way that's like. A white character can be insulted for their hair and that's mean but usually a relatively small thing, but if you were to write a Black character being insulted Abt their hair would have a lot more baggage that the writer would need to acknowledge bc of the history of it.

My question is if you, or anyone else w relevant knowledge, are aware of any stereotypes/history that would be similar l, in the sense the portrayal of a Black character with acne (or similar) would need to be more cognizant of than a nonblack character with acne would need to be?

And thank you so much for your time + effort running this blog!

Huh. No, actually! At least, not to acne specifically. It's usually on "ugly" white characters. Vitiligo is starting to make more of an appearance, so that's been kind of cool. That really just made me think!

Naturally there's going to be stereotypes of dirty skin because "brown" (there was a whole ad in China that showed a Black man going into the laundry and a white guy coming out. That was a wild one). But I don't think I've ever actually seen acne on Black skin addressed in media. It would be nice, bc my acne is one of my biggest insecurities, fr (i'm a picker too, so the psychological warfare from my own face is crazy).

As I always say, you can't stop anyone from misunderstanding if that's how they already feel. All you can do is write to your best, and you don't write in those stereotypes, such as not making them want to be lighter or "less dirty". But I hope someone with better knowledge will input!

[vivisols]

what’s the fizzyfaz theory

OK SO! THE FIZZYFAZ THEORY... THERES A LOT OF THINGS CONNECTED TO FIZZYFAZ. LIKE. A LOT A LOT. NOW I MEAN IT WHEN I SAY BE PREPARED BECAUSE THIS IS. A LOT LMAO

in fnaf security breach there are cans of fizzyfaz that you can collect right? theres also this message that goes along with them!

interestingly enough, this message mentions grape, lemonade, and cherry fizzyfaz. however, while you can get grape fizzyfaz in game, you cant actually get plain lemonade or cherry. there's only orange, sour lime, pink lemonade, as well as grape, which is strange. theyre mentioned in the message, so where did normal lemonade and cherry go? well before we get to that, lets take a look at the fizzyfaz flavors that we can actually get in game!

quite obviously glamrock branded! for freddy, we have orange, for monty, we have sour lime, for chica, we have pink lemonade, and for roxy we have grape.

considering what we know about the glamrocks, we can start to deduce what each flavor might mean about each bandmate personality wise, as its obvious that theres some tie in with their marketed personalities.

(the rest of it is under the cut for everyones sanity)

freddy makes sense as orange because he's sweet and mellow. monty makes sense as sour lime because he's more of a rebellious cool guy. chica makes sense as pink lemonade because she's also sweet, though she's even moreso than freddy is. and roxy makes sense as grape because she's cool and different like monty, though she is be shown to be sweet at times (as in with Cassie in ruin)

these four flavors seem pretty normal right? theyre obviously color/flavor coded to each member of the glamrocks. however the actual flavors that were chosen in game have always stuck out to me for one reason.

THEYRE ALL CITRUS EXCEPT FOR GRAPE. lemon, lime, and orange are all citrus fruits. strange, right?

now you could always argue that it is fazbear is making these things, and that it's cheapest to produce like idk. a base citrus flavor and then add the additional flavors accordingly. but then why is roxy's and ONLY Roxy's grape flavored instead of being another citrus? grape is a pretty weird flavor to pair with 3 citrus flavors. hold on to that for now.

plus, roxy has another connection with distinct and stand-out fizzyfaz flavors. she specifically has an advertisement for her own type of limited edition cola flavor.

no other animatronic has advertising in game for any limited edition flavors. just roxy which really peaked my interest! wouldn't they do a promo with every glamrock? ok well, maybe since its limited edition the other glamrocks' special flavor runs have already ended and hers just wrapped up/is about to.

but wait, theres even more to do with roxy and fizzyfaz.

in help wanted 2 in the staff bot food prep mini games for el chips and the kitchen, you can serve four flavors of soda. orange, sour lime, pink lemonade, and.... sodaroni. aka not grape fizzyfaz.

ISNT THAT WEIRD??? not to mention how specifically in the theater version of food prep, theres no fizzyfaz at all. instead, we can serve exotic beverage, dj music man's techno-cooler, chicachug, and.... sodaroni again.

isn't that weird? the theater is also an interesting choice for the final food prep level to take place in considering that it's clearly not the most popular attraction, as well as the fact that we're in a whole mall with multiple food stands. you can argue that it's also one of the few places with a kitchen, but i believe that this choice was made on purpose for a different reason.

after all, who is tied to the theater as well as the only character to actually talk about fizzyfaz in game?

thats right.

THE DAYCARE ATTENDANT.

I mean i was gonna tie them to this somehow! the connection is obvious!!

like… theres a soda dispenser in the ACTUAL DAYCARE ITSELF.

theres also numerous ones outside and in the theater lobby. interesting, right? so much soda promo in the daycare area, yet they dont even serve the main soda brand of fizzyfaz in the theater food prep level... how interesting.

and now for something ive seen literally no one talk about. in the theater basement theres a room with the purple stars painted on the walls outside. inside that room, sitting on a filing cabinet under gold balloons that spell out ‘5TAR’ as well as a sundrop poster, theres ANOTHER soda dispenser. yet instead of one of the fancy digital ones, it's just a simple soda dispenser like we see in the kitchen above.

interesting choice for a soda dispenser location, right? there aren’t any others in the theater basement. just this one.

let’s take a look at this room. specifically the vanity.

there’s a flower pot, a trophy, some makeup brushes, and interestingly enough, a whole nail polish stand with a variety of colors. the uniqueness of this whole room makes me think that it’s meant to stand out. not to mention the fact that there’s a connected bathroom with two stalls in it. after all, the other rooms are just standard dressing rooms.

maybe i’m just reaching here, but i think that this was a theater staff break room, as well as some kind of animatronic prep room for sun and moon’s performances. they used to be the theater bot, after all.

so sun and moon have obviously been around for a while, as evident by all the wear and tear they have. plus in the tales from the pizzaplex books the daycare is mentioned to be an attraction that was built later on. it wasn’t there when the pizzaplex first opened.

but the theater was.

and since the out of place soda dispenser was in a room in the theater basement, there’s a chance that it served fizzyfaz.

cherry fizzyfaz.

i may just be grasping at straws here, but cherry… kind of fits the DCA really well. i mean, it isn’t a citrus fruit like the glamrocks (minus Roxy) have. sun has red and yellow pants, moon has red eyes, and they both have red ribbons with two bells around their wrists. the overall theater is pretty red too.

besides the overall red coloring of the theater and the red on the DCA, the cherry flavoring would fit sun and moon pretty well too! cherries can be either sweet or sour, and are often a balanced mix of both, which would be a nice tie in to sun and moon’s good and evil double act in the theater!

so when the daycare got built and sun and moon were transferred over from the theater, the cherry flavor likely got pulled or discontinued. probably because the theater wasn't as popular as fazbear wanted it to be. and thus in help wanted 2 in their food prep minigame, there was no fizzyfaz. they lost fizzyfaz privileges from management when they were moved to the daycare LMAO

and there we have it. sun and moon are the probable answer for who the cherry fizzyfaz flavor belonged to.

but what about lemonade fizzyfaz?

well, lemonade has a much easier answer. it’s a citrus flavor too, of course. and every bowling alley i’ve ever been to has served an abundance of lemonade lmao

so YEAHHH it’s probably Glamrock Bonnie’s flavor. i mean, he's got a yellow star on his chest, a yellow bass, and yellow sunglasses. plus blue is the opposite of yellow...

though... personality wise, we know basically nothing about the guy other than he was maybe probably laid back considering how bonnie is in fazbear and friends. and lemonade is a pretty chill drink. i mean glamrock bonnie also died and was possessing all the wet floor bots or stuff in ruin and like theyre yellow too or something idk....

with this lineup the band would still have 3/4 citrus flavors, with... two lemonades. interestingly. and tbh i think that the majority of citrus is potentially the most important factor in this theory.

i mean freddy, chica, and bonnie are the OGs. the MAIN THREE from fnaf 1 days. so ofc they'd all be similar flavors (even if there are two lemonades... no idea what fazbear would have been cooking with that one lol) and yeah, foxy is an OG too, but he wasn't actually part of the main band until later on lol

yet in security breach, we don't get a glamrock foxy. we get roxanne wolf, who is an entirely new character, so it makes sense for her to not have a similarly citrus flavor.

grape is the only one mentioned in the message that you can actually get in game. and if the lemonade and cherry have been discontinued since bonnie was decommissioned and sun and moon were moved from the daycare to the theater, then...

it's clearly been a while. and if it's been a while and there's still grape fizzyfaz, which would make no sense for foxy to have (as the statue of him in kids cove is nowhere near purple) then roxy has been around for a while. and if she's been around since the dca was in the theater, then she never replaced foxy!!!! wild and crazy am I right

and yes! you could also argue the opposite and that bonnie's flavor was cherry while the dca's flavor was lemonade, which likely makes more sense.

the DCA has yellow as both sun and moon, with sun's overall coloring and his pants and stuff, and the stars on moon's pants and the bells on both of their wrists. and lemonade can be sweet or sour. like their act. and fazbear pulled it because nobody really cared about the theater or just plain lemonade fizzyfaz as opposed to the cool pink lemonade chica had.

plus bonnie is more red than yellow, with his reddish-pink jumpsuit and his red eyes. and cherry could maybe work for him? again, we barely know anything about his personality... then when he got decommissioned, they replaced his unique cherry flavor with another citrus to cut costs.

though we really have no way of telling which was the real flavors for each of them or if they even were flavors that were produced at all!! after all, the message says 'COPY FOR APPROVAL', so lemonade and cherry might have been scrapped all together....

this is all just speculation from yours truly, since im such a big flavored drink fan and i really want more people to talk about the fizzyfaz... ,:3c

and now onto my next theory, which is that the DCA is the real one have to killed glamrock bonnie...

[digiblueslush]

OMG MORE THOUGHTS I literally have so many deep analysis-obdervational thoughts and they're all so complex but I can only explain so many. Here is one about Dan and Phil tho lolz

this became 4x the initially intended length, so cut for convenience and a tldr: Dan and Phil are great, other couple's/relationship content is icky to me, I feel out of place when it comes to irl friends and their relationships, Dan and Phil are great because they're both individuals and a unit at the same time, and I don't feel there is a side to be picked. Dan and Phil are great because they are best friends and not just a romantic or sexual unit. Dan and Phil are great because they are Dan and Phil and they aren't trying to fit any kind of mold. Dan and Phil are just great.

The blurb that is directly about DNP is blue if you only want DNP yappage :3

I find it kind of interesting the way I (and probably some amount of others) feel about Dan and Phil as a "unit" compared to literally any other couple. Cuz ok, not gonna lie but I really hate watching couples YouTube channels or other social media things in any direction. If it's trying to be sexy or something I hate it, if it's trying to be funny, I hate it, I hate those videos where couples do those tests on each other even if it ends well, it sends such an icky vibe my way. I usually really don't like those sappy/wholesome couples videos, but every now and then there's one thats nice (but usually because it has ties to something else that I really like). I dont know if it's just something so overdone or if I feel like I'm seeing something too personal or if its just overall bad, but I just really don't enjoy it

I don't have many friends, nor many friends in relationships, but I've observed even then that I feel out of place for lack of better phrasing. I find the crush phase fun cuz it gives me an excuse to a. Hype up my friends and b. Tell them they're being stupid and overly worried, and I also love seeing them get all excited about something. And I like hearing about the initial couple weeks of a relationship too when new things are being unearthed about both people, but past that I just feel, awkward I guess? I usually know one person as a friend, and the other as an extension of the friend, and I only talk to the other person as such, but sometimes if a friend is complaining about something their partner said, if I say no they had a valid point, I feel like I'm being a bad friend, but it's untruthful if I say my friend is always in the right. I already never know what to do in social situations and adding in another person that I basically all I know about them is their highs and lows and when they're picking a friend up just completely shot putts my social processing to the moon. Out of all of the relationships I have observed with friends, there has quite literally only been 1 where it doesn't feel awkward for both conversations with one or the other and both at the same time, and that couple is basically if Dan and Phil were lesbian stoners lolz. Idk if this part makes sense lolz I rambled for wayyyy too long. (And also I don't mean that if we do talk more personally that I don't want to hear about your relationship if you're in one. If it is something you're excited or upset about and you want to talk to me about it I am quite literally all ears, I am very nosey lolz. It might just be poor experience with past friends as well, but I may need more or less thorough descriptions of things and a general what's cool what's not cool to bring up)

Getting back on track tho, I think Dan and Phil and so great because I am able to see them as individuals as well as a unit. None of their content is about whatever they have going on, and even though we all know what going steady 400 year old tortoises means, I could see very similar content being made by 2 actually just best friends. I think that's another reason why they're so great. A lot of times with publicized relationship things, it is so, SO focused on the romantic or sexual aspect that people forget that so much of a relationship is just doing best friend things. I'll leave my identity and existential and social concept crises out of this, but realistically (I'll specify, I'm not talking about unhealthy or toxic relationships) relationships are mostly just existing in the same space together, seeing something that reminded you of them and showing it to them, jokingly insulting them, and doing things together. Nobody is constantly wearing fancy clothes and professing their love. It feels just so natural and simple. They're able to exist as Dan Howell and Phil Lester, AND exist as Dan and Phil, and having it not be just one side or the other, yet they're still connected enough that even when I watch one of them as an individual more than the other one, I don't feel like I'm being placed into this "Dan is better" "Phil is better" box that most other relationship things put me in, and I can equally praise and insult them both :3

Ramble over DAMN I was like "this is gonna be a short one" and tis not a short one -_____- oh well. WHAT CAN I SAY the autism, Vyvanse, no school no not for fun/personal projects going on deluxe wombo combo going on is going on HARD lmao

[pinazee]

Bounty Hunters!

I just find it so adorable when a kid has bright ass food stains on them. Its like the essence of childhood or something more poetic haha also, this might sound insane, but this is the first ep i could feel that shawn and gus had been friends since childhood. Possibly because they’re nearly wearing the exact same shirts and at the same steps so the parallel is a lot more obvious. Like it just clicked in my brain or something.

I just really liked this shot. That is all.

Shout out to James and Dulés’ stunt double

This is one of those times i don’t envy actors. This looks so uncomfortable. Also, i can’t decide if it’s naivety or arrogance that Shawn would think he could go into this bar and be okay?? I guess you can assume that Shawn knew Tancana would stop them before they caused any serious damage but that one guy was about to hit him with a chain, and its one thing to go into this on your own, its another to bring your friend with you.

A+ scene work from Corbin Bernsen here lol

This is what I do to get my dog to stop eating her toys. Doesn’t work with her either.

One of the few times Shawn kind of loses it with Gus and has to recollect himself haha. Like he’s been frustrated sure, but he usually applies some sort of manipulation. But i really like this scene because usually its Gus thats frustrated with Shawns behavior.

Sidenote: about the super sniffer. I don’t think its that he can smell things others can’t, because Shawn usually points it out and can recognize it, i think the super sniffer is that Gus can break the smell down and put a name to it. Like the gardenias in the perfume, the ginger blossoms in the kangaroo paste. Shawn just knows its kangaroo paste. Idk, i had to think about it at least haha

What a goof. But also, ive started watching Gus while shawns doing his breakdowns and he’s like miming beside him haha if i see it in a later ep i’ll gif it.

Its kind of insane that Bird hands over Tancana and this supposedly alleviates Juliets guilt? Like i get the line she says we all make mistakes as a way of saying Juliet’s forgiven herself, but um, she didn’t really do anything. I wish instead they would have had Shawn notify the cops where he’d be, have lassie ignore him per usual, but let juliet take off on her own (against orders) and save them from bird that way (possibly at the parking garage). This way we can see that she can still rely on her gut and it isn’t handed to her by shawn, kind of like the If You’re So Smart ep, when he solved her case and its somehow a win for her. Its still a sweet gesture that Shawn was cool semi-risking his life (and gus’s for that matter) so she can “save” them and get her good reputation back, even if it doesn’t quite make sense haha

The near kiss was perfection! I think a full kiss would have been too soon, particularly because Juliet was pretty vulnerable just then and it wouldn’t feel right. But the fact that it made juliet nervous enough to start dismantling her gun like she’d been doing all day- fantastic way to gain insight into to her mind and give us the audience hope that the ship would exist. She seems pretty conflicted about him (i think mainly because she doesn’t date coworkers?). I mean, from her perspective, she only know him as immature, irresponsible to a degree, who relentlessly flirts, BUT at the same time is incredibly kind and fun. I would have some hesitation too. Being kind and fun will only get you so far, in my book at least. I also need someone i can rely on to do the boring grown up stuff so im not solely responsible and Shawn just doesn’t come across as someone who can do that (yet). And not to spoil it, but in the bank robbery ep, we learn Juliet likes them mature.

okay. I don’t think this is going to be a popular opinion (just to prepare you mentally) cause i believe everyone loves this scene, and don’t get me wrong i love it too, i just think it doesn’t quite fit in the ep? Like i know shawn was flirty with jules the whole time, and he’s trying to impress her, but it was always jokey and they didn’t really have a solid heart to heart moment, and it pulls away from what Juliet was going through. I think if he’d consoled her a bit, let her know that a mistake is inevitable and assuming that she wouldn’t make any was setting her up to fail, that she was still the smartest, and bravest cop on the force and she should remember that the next time that voice in her head says differently, then he could maybe go for the kiss. Maybe. I think I would’ve preferred it if he’d just consoled her and she was the one who went to kiss him but changed her mind at the last second and thats how we get close talking. Because she wants to kiss him, but at the end of the day she’s pragmatic.

(I just want to quickly add that i by no means think i can write these better. This is just fun for me to put my own little spin on it. I also know other factors go into making a show (time, budget etc) so there are things writers wanted to include that would have improved their eps but said factors forced them to make changes. I don’t want these little opinionated changes i’d make to come across as mean spirited or arrogant. They’re more like responses to a writing prompt if that makes sense.)

[qoldenskies]

Do you have any writing tips? Especially for characterization/dialogue :>

uhhhh i am not a professional so take this with a grain of salt. here are things i think about a lot at least

i dont have any solid ideas on how i get my prose to be Like That, i am not super confident in it, but a thing ive tried to focus on it rhythm. this goes for dialogue too; if it sounds clunky in your mouth, unless its supposed to, it might be a sign to change it up and rephrase a little.

really long paragraphs are really, really, really really hard to read. fics that consistently have paragraphs that go beyond like 6 lines are borderline unreadable to me. i stick it out sometimes but a lot of the time the sight of a fat fucking Block will just make me click out immediately

its also always good to be punchy imo. i mean it depends on what style you're going for but i notice some of the best lines from my writing are just simple, single sentence-paragraph statements lmao

false starts and filler words are what i notice the most when it comes to stuttering, which is a thing pretty much everyone does unless they're speaking very intentionally (i keep it in mind for characters who are motormouths especially because our brains move faster than our mouths do sometimes). especially when people are stressed, they'll usually start with a sentence fragment and then say something completely different because they just found a better way to rephrase it <- its probably the thing i utilize the most. in general though people repeat words more than they t-t-talk l-like t-t-this, and even when i write more dirrect stuttering dialogue i try to make it. idk consonants i guess? sorry idk if this is helpful

i script a lot of my scenes before i write them out, which usually helps me keep things well-paced. i really only include action in the scripts when its in the midst of an action scene or if its relevant to the conversation in some way (or if i just have an idea and want to keep it in mind)

TAKE NOTES WHEN YOU GET IDEAS

save all your cool ideas for your active in progress story instead of storing them away for later. got a line of dialogue or an interaction that you want to put SOMEWHERE? see if you can fit it into your multichapter first, it might help you with ideas. more will come to you in the future with your later projects!!!

you dont need to plan everything out meticulously, most parallels in cw came to me in the midst of me writing them. the motif with raph and donnie and doors was a complete accident, as a good example. it fucks hard though lmao

also when plotting out multichapters i think in what i want to progress before anything else, so there's a sense of direction. with cw it was mostly what parts of cl i wanted to address, although i originally planned to make note of shelldon in like chapter fucking three and then it didnt happen until seventeen LMFAOOOOOOOO

okay thats all i got. im not a good advice giver .... im sowwy

[ju1cyfru1t]

Gotta respect and love another writer who’s a cool writer and a minor!! Fellow writer, I present to you.. A REQUEST. I don’t really request often, cause it’s my job to make ‘em, (excuse my lazy ass, i CANT do them as much as you do cause you somehow have amazing motivation to do so??), but besides that-

How about some little sister headcanons?? Or just little sibling headcanons about reader being the most cutest thing ever, but also the most surprising turtle ever- Say sneaking up on her brothers not purposefully and scaring them, or just overall knowing a whole lot about a certain math problem Donnie has troubles on?? Idk but- Have fun with this, and remember to continue be awesome!! <33

your wish is my command 🧞‍♀️ and tysm for the request! I rlly hope you like it. <3

rottmnt x sister! reader

little sister hcs

Rise! Splinter, Raph, Leo, Donnie, Mikey, April x fem! sister! Reader

sister between the ages of like 12-15, fem! reader, PURELY PLATONIC AND FAMILIAL, contains swearing, hehehehehehheee

Splinter (SORRY HIS IS SHORT)

- Splinter is such a girl dad and always wanted a daughter. you cannot convince me otherwise.

- You best believe if you were to ever start dating someone ALL of them are interrogating your partner. All of em: the boys, Splinter, and April.

- You absolutely have special privileges w/ Splinter. like he is letting you get away with things your brothers don’t and giving you almost anything you ask for

- ^ bc like…you’re just a little girl. his little girl. his baby. LIKE COME ON NOW-

- he truly believes you could NEVER do anything wrong

Raph

- they are all hella protective over you but he is the MOST protective over you (he’s the oldest, you’re the youngest; it just makes sense, ok?)

- when training, he really holds back and goes easy on you even if he doesn’t need to bc he couldn’t imagine hurting you in any way. to him you are precious and fragile

- iffy about letting you go on missions and patrols even if you’re absolutely ready

- ^ it’s not that he doesn’t believe in you, he’s just worried about what could happen

- Carries you :D

- Lectures you but just because he cares and he makes sure you know that he isn’t trying to be mean

- ^ apologizes profusely if his temper does get the best of him

- Yells at Leo for messing with you

- Anytime you’re in battle, he tries his best to keep you behind him if he can

- Heaven forbid you like Ms.Cuddles show

- He absolutely cannot say no to you like it just physically pains him

- Since Raph’s the oldest, he TRIES (key word TRIES) to handle all the important *cough* talks (puberty, s3x, all that fun growing up stuff) but he struggles 😭😭😭 ends up asking April or Donnie to handle it (but shouldn’t Splinter really be handling that???)

- dotes on you like you’re the cutest thing he’s ever seen

- reminds you all the time that he’s proud of you

Leo

- he tries SO hard to be the “cool” brother

- will always claim and brag that he’s your “favorite,” regardless of its true or not

- teases the shit out of you all the damn time like I wouldn’t blame you if you socked him in the throat

- but he just picks on you bc he loves you

-^ and while this is true, he would NEVER let anyone besides him and your brother make fun of you in any way

- (Almost) always has faith in you. he understands what it’s like to feel like no one trusts you and he doesn’t want you to feel that way

- Listens to all the drama and hot gossip and agrees w/ you on everything. If you’re beefing with someone, SO IS HE.

- ^ that bitch Chloe who told you your shirt was ugly is 13. So what? He doesn’t gaf they are BEEFING

- teaching you things he probably shouldn’t be- NOT IN LIKE A WEIRD WAY, but like how to get away with shit and be sneaky and stuff

- there for you if you need a shoulder to cry on. might not be able to give the best advice depending on your problems, but he will hold you and let you cry if that’s what you need

- calls you ‘sis’

- not the best influence 😭

- If you confide in him secrets you haven’t told your other brothers he is weeping tears of joy that you trust him like that

- also dotes on you

- competitive as hell when you play any kind of game

Donnie

- if you’re a human, he’s (begrudgingly) driving you and picking you up from school. I mean, what kind of brother would he be if he let you walk the dangerous streets of NYC by yourself?

- fr though imagine your classmates faces when you pull up in that big ass turtle tank

- Regarding school, the best to go to for help with homework/schoolwork

- ^ and listen, he tries his best to be patient with you. that’s all I’m gonna say 😭

- Donnie doesn’t really treat you much differently than he treats your brothers, just a little bit more careful and EVER SO SLIGHTLY more patient with you

- will let you hang out in his lab while he works on something if you swear up and down on Splinter’s life you will not break, touch, or LOOK at anything

- If you want an honest, unbiased opinion he’s the brother to go to

- Ole Donatello is not the best at showing he really cares for you and loves you with words and actions, but just know he does and would never let anything happen to you

- Carries you on his back like he does with April

- Lectures you as well but just because he wants you to be safe and not do dumb shit (not as gentle as Raph tho)

- If Raph can’t, he’s the one protecting you and shielding you during missions

Mikey

- actually the “cool” brother (Leo remains hella jealous)

- since you two are the youngest I could imagine you’d be pretty close

- always wants to try new things with you: snacks, video games, recipes, pretty much down for anything

- invites you to watch YouTube with him if you’re bored

- If you’re a turtle mutant like them, he’ll ask to paint or add stickers to your shell and plastron

- cooks for you when you’re hungry

- if you attend, he makes sure you always have an after school snack + packs your lunch

- if you’re ok with it he is super affectionate with you

- Lets you vent anytime you need to about anything! He’s always going to be there for you and is the most compassionate of your brothers.

- You, Leo, and him doing stupid tiktok challenges and trends at 2am

- Believes in you no matter what. So, so supportive of any dreams or goals that you have. :)

- hypes you up

- beware of Dr.Delicate Touch and Dr.Feelings

- reminds you often that it’s ok to be emotional and vulnerable

April

- of course she’s best friends w/ all of you but you guys have special sleepovers where it’s just the two of you (which your brothers probably crash if they’re bored)

- ^ obvi calls them “girls night”

- (Varies depending on your species(?)) the one to be the most helpful when you’re body starts changing and you go through puberty because let’s be real your brothers don’t know shit (except Donnie MIGHT know a little bit)

- you can always trust her with secrets or just things you don’t want your brothers to know, like you can talk to her about ANYTHING

- let’s you complain and rant about the dumbass shit your brothers do ALL THE TIME (NOT IN A MEAN WAY I LOVE THEM I SWEAR 😭)

- ^ lmao she totally joins in and agrees w/ everything you say about them

- def let’s you borrow from her if you want (accessories, clothes, jewelry)

- GOING ON ADVENTURES TOGETHER

- Mayhem LOVES you

[gaybd1]

So my favorite character in The Brothers Sun is Taiwan. Like yeah Taiwan has its own shows and movies but it just feels Different to see Taiwan in a big international/American show! It’s SO cool actually and so um here are some thoughts I had and things I Noticed about different Taiwan scenes and things in the show idk

Episode 1

the opening shot of Taipei tells us this is a Thursday- the top of 101 is green and is a different color every day of the week

that corkscrew-shaped apartment building we see Charles living in is kind of an urban legend here in Taipei. They say it’s the most expensive place to live in the city, that each apartment has its own swimming pool, and that there’s an elevator specifically to bring cars up to display in your living room. No idea if the interiors look like that for real though

I was gonna say it’s pretty crazy he has an American-style oven in Taipei bc nobody does but actually in that apartment… yeah he probably would

afaik there’s not a way to (“legally”/officially) stream any of those famous British baking shows here rip

I do wonder if they actually filmed the opening scene in the corkscrew building or if they just really pay attention to detail because the skyline seen out the window matches up to what it would really look like from that part of the city

the shoes, I mean we all know about shoes-off houses but yeah

豆漿. Soy milk. Yeah

They definitely eat Hi-chews in one of these scenes

Episode 2

It makes way more sense for the guys to have snuck out for shaved ice as kids than youtiao… I’m just saying… like would *I* do that yes but it’s usually just like. A thing you eat with soup or breakfast

Episode 3

“Are you sure you can handle-“ “the heat? I’m from Taiwan.” lmfao BITCH Taiwan has some of the blandest cuisine I’ve ever tasted (he does think it’s too spicy tho lol)

“Keelung. A fishing village just north of Taipei.” Okay like I can see how the older generation would call it that but it’s actually a whole ass city…

Episode 5

Not a Taiwan thing but the Maotai made me laugh. It’s like the Coca Cola of Chinese baijiu and imho it’s just as awful as every other brand

Episode 6

ok the episode that made me want to make this list

the Costco shit IS funny because vitamins, baby formula, that’s all the good stuff you want to bring back from abroad BUT actually we have Costco in Taiwan and can easily get a lot of that stuff? This concept imo would fit a lot better for China than Taiwan. It’s still very much a thing to load your suitcase up with baby formula on the way home to China, and there’s actually a huge smuggling business bringing it in through Hong Kong but I digress

Idk why I’m happy to hear Changhua and Douliu mentioned in an American TV show… Seriously, I don’t know. They’re kind of like nowhere places I’ve never even been. I just feel like everyone’s grandparents live there.

Even the way they film Mama Sun on the plane. Like the Mandarin music in the background with the announcement for Taoyuan airport… to me it feels specifically like a transpacific flight to Taiwan lolol but that’s definitely like a bias probably

Okay not to be SO nitpicky but so when she looks out the window on the plane to see Taipei 101 etc I’m not sure about that? The airport is actually in another city and I feel like I usually come in around and over the ocean or something?

But WOW the taxi scene my favorite scene it’s SO visceral and SO Taiwan… the street, the lights, the Cosmed/Mos Burger/7-Eleven, the street noises, like I can FEEL Taiwan through the screen and HER FACE taking it all in I WANT TO SOB

The temple, beautiful like this episode makes me believe Michelle Yeoh is Taiwanese lol

I appreciate the viscerality of the night market shots too but it seemed a bit empty

Okay so Mama Sun’s mom is super rich too based on where she lives which I guess it makes sense. But what I am curious about is the story about why they’re speaking Cantonese because Taiwan has a lot of languages but that’s not one of them like officially at all. I wonder if there’s a character backstory there or they just like. Didn’t want to bother teaching Michelle how to speak Minnan or something

The cemetery too is so fancy, I mean it fits but wow that’s expensive real estate

In the hospital scene, Taipei 101 is lit blue out the window, making it a Friday. Has everything in the show so far happened in only 8 days?

Episode 7

“Last night the Boxers made their move” 101 says it’s Tuesday for anyone keeping track

I LOST it at the Foodpanda driver assassin the first time I saw this… So Taiwan

Big fancy church in Taipei? I know they exist but I’ve never seen one in person (like 2%? of the country is Christian)

A mom bringing back tea as a souvenir from Taiwan? 100% real

Episode 8

RAW is a real restaurant in Taipei. It’s very fancy and very expensive and had I think two Michelin stars. I don’t know ANYONE who’s actually been there lol

[hosuuuus]

why does writing make u sad? are ppl being mean? pls don’t put any pressure into ur writing like its just a bit of fun. but like if its makes u sad then that can’t be helped. sending hugs x

was thinking of filtering my answer for a bit, but ahh screw it. personal blog anyways. if i say anything too raw or bitchy or kinda ..eh. i'll either delete in the morning, or just learn from it.

cw: rant. might delete later but ive been frustrated. (if my tone gets snipppy it's not you anon!! love you love you lots anon and im sending you the biggest warmest tightest hug on earth ;3;!!! you're so sweet <3)

Anyways anon i think that's why I want to stop. Exactly because it's supposed to feel fun. but it's not anymore.

I think I miss the times when my blog felt like i was just talking to a few friends online, bounce off each other's ideas, and then that. now that, that was fun.

but overtime, I guess with how other ppl saw how i bounced off everyone's ask with a full on yap session, they prolly think that i'd work always like that. Not to sound like im being specific about it, but I guess there are times where I can feel ppl just send in something short, and they sleep with the thought that the next day, I just barfed out a whole entire drabble for them ready to read. Like as i've said... some version of freaking chatgpt.

not even a damn please

just straight up

"this character doing this."

like okay that's it.

not that I don't appreciate anons sending in ideas and their thoughts, I really do. But there's a difference in the feeling you get when... let's say I've brought out some baked strawberry pie, and people have a slice and they like the pie and ask about it's filling, ingredients, if i have anymore strawberry or pie recipes planned.

versus someone just taking a slice, and instead of saying they like it or at the very least ask about it, the first thing they just go is

"when are you going to make oreo cheesecake."

or.. something like that? do i make sense??? ugh.

which okay the first few times, just ignore it right? who cares lol, it's your blog. do what you want. don't mind that. write for you, and the people who actually show they care.

but when you get spammed the next day with a few more asks like that, it does get a bit tiring when that's all your greeted with.

and i guess im confused about my feelings on it because my blog somehow feels overwhelming with ppl, but at the same time it feels like it lacks... ppl. which is so weird to say, but i do feel that way anyways. it's like the more people find out about it, the more empty it feels.

And idk, it's even worse when I've also said i kinda grew a distaste for strawberry pie now, and the very first thing, THE VERY FIRST THING i receive after i just post saying something like "hey i think im gonna take a little break from strawberry pie now.. it kinda makes me feel sick from the smell" is 6 more asks the very next day saying

"omg can you make more strawberry pie? i just found out about your strawberry pie. heres a list of more strawberry recipes."

like every single time.

and yeah. honestly i just choose to ignore these things. literally plug my ears and go on a break. vacation mode and all that. it's my blog, ill write when i want, ill make strawb pie when i want.

But i just can't help but long for when i actually felt like im talking to people and they're actually like talking to me. pie or no pie. the pie was just an extra. and i actually felt GOOD about giving my pie sometimes because people have made it clear that they loved it, and they really like it! and there's a connection because well... i like making pie now for you guys! i made it for my tastes, but its nice that it suits your tastes as well! :) ! yay!! i love the vibes going on, you guys are cool.

just gonna say it honestly: i miss feeling appreciated. i miss feeling like a friend, who just so happens to write/bake pie, and people get excited and say so when i tell them I have something I want to share.

because now all it feels like is the only way i can ever talk to people again is if i pick up those damn strawberry pie recipes and show up with a whole tray of it.

And as much as I want to think "oh you don't have to do that.", it's so undeniable how it's all they ever care about.

Like the only time people ever want to talk to me is when i make strawberry pie again. and which okay maybe that's an oopsie on my part because that's all my blog was about in the early days.

but the funny thing is, the FUNNIEST thing to me is: it's so damn rare to see people comment about my strawberry pie, despite the fact they've made it abundantly clear that's all they're here for.

"blah blah blah you shouldn't complain at least people are showing trying out your pie. there are some people out there who can barely get ppl to get into their stuff"

i am. im thankful, never forget that. I hold each and every person who atleast tried some of my stuff dear to my heart. I would go more insane if i just held all these thoughts on my own and got ignored. I love that I've gotten some really nice and lovely people to talk with!!! and i love that im even moots and even friends with them til now!

but i guess im so frustrated because: how many times do writers have to act nice and shy about "hey uh... if you guys liked my work maybe you can leave a little uh.. thing? a little note just saying you kinda like it? even an emoticon is fine :-) if not totally understandable haha."

I think my frustration is doubling over because it's not just me, i just don't like seeing anymore fellow writers or artists who work so hard, so so hard, and so lovingly into their craft, and have to act nice about asking for appreciation from time to time. measly crumbs of comments when they deserve so so much more than that.

because as much as we want to preach the "write for yourself" thing, there's still an undeniable sense of gratitude and loyalty authors/writers will always have with their audience. so sure, maybe we''ll throw a bone, you liked my stuff, i like your stuff, we bounce off each other, everyone's happy!

but holy shitttttttttttttttttt do people make u feel like sometimes that that's all you're good for.

which makes you get into this weird limbo wherein:

we are here for your strawberry pie and just your strawberry pie. will we grab a slice right in front of you, every time you make strawberry pie? yes.

will we ever talk to you and tell you that we like your pie, maybe even thank you sometime for the effort or even say how it tastes good?

fuck no.

in fact, how about we just ask you when the next batch will be. or how about we just ask you to make another one right here right now. we want one with a bit more whip cream.

Can we at least say please?

...no.

and its soooooooooooooo so funny too because when i stop making strawberry pies. im sure by now some people will just go:

"that's alright,.. at least we know what it tastes like. we'll just put your strawberry pie ingredients into some other writer, or some other machine and ask them/it to make the pie for us."

which makes me feel ??? i don't know?? because i stopped making those pies, but somehow. for some reason. they're everywhere. which i don't know if i should feel happy and grateful because "wow i guess ppl really like the pie...?" but then again, they make it very very VERY clear that:

we just like the pie. not you.

[bisnes-socks]

i said i might do more in depth thoughts of stephanie and so i did.

the first post was a bit rushed but many of the points very much still stand, this post i guess is just trying to make the same points a bit better and deeper. so idk how much of a musical analysis this is, and how much i'm just trying to put vibes and feelings into words, but here goes.

i said in the first post how i like that the structure isn't the usual verse chorus verse chorus - well, actually it kind of is that, but the chorus doesn't feel like an obvious chorus, because they only play it twice and it's not the same those times. there is almost a pre-chorus like feeling to it, and then the song ends in what could have been a bridge, if the song was longer. this song to me feels like a part of something bigger, and that's why i'm super excited to hear in the context of the full album. with that being said, i still think it works super well on its own as well, i really love the vibes.

the early 2000's brit rock and indie rock influence, such as arctic monkeys or black kids, is still quite obvious to me, but so is the 80's influence as well, like orchestral manoeuvers in the dark was the first one that came to my mind. then again, the 80's influence on early 2000's brit rock and indie rock in general is also pretty obvious, so i think influences in music in general should always be seen as a spectrum, rather than fixed, separate points. everything is always influenced by things that came before it, and what we can name as an influence on something will always depend on where we've heard a specific style or flavour or spice in music first.

it's a different sound than what we've heard from them before. i don't know if this makes any sense to anyone other than myself, but to me, the sound on this song is the sound of a collective more than the sound of the band. what i mean by that is that there are so many elements in the song that are not straight forward band instruments, or instruments that are in their usual line up. this sound is produced by five professinal musicians working as a collective, rather than five band members playing their respective instruments simultaniously. does that make any sense? i don't know, but it's how i feel - like there could be more people on this song than there are. but i think the best songs always do sound like all of the people who made it, not just one or two.

like i said in my first post, the drums are super interesting in this one. the drum machineness of it all, the super 80's style drum fills, the percussive details of little pings and pangs that decorate the track, that's all something that hasn't been super typical in pop or rock music recently, and harkens back to the 70's, 80's and also the early 2000's indie scene. it's super interesting to listen to, and i can genuenly recommend taking the time to listen to the track a couple of times focusing on just the drums and percussion.

in fact, i'd recommend listening to the track (this track and honestly just songs in general) several times, always choosing a different instrument or element to focus on, because there is a lot of cool stuff going on in this song! vocals and lyrics often take the main focus, but i always find it worth it to carefully listen beyond the lyrics.

the drum parts are also just genuenly fun. the drums and the bass make it a very dancable song, which again, it's both very 80's and very early 2000's to make super bop-y, dancable songs with sad or dark lyrics. the contrast is quite yummy to me. it also brings a vibe to the song i really really love. it reminds me of a quote about movies, about how drama movies should always have a little bit of comedy in them, because that's how real life is. there is always always both light and dark, sadness and happiness present in everything. crying and laughing all at once. that's the vibe of the song to me, and it's brilliant.

the song has so many layers to it, it's honestly brilliantly mixed: there's something happening in almost every direction, every distance, so to speak. and so many different synth sounds! sharp strikes here, notes held there, runs here, backround walls there. take a moment to find them all, it's super rewarding and again, genuenly fun!

the vocal delivery is also a cool contrast with the musical aspects. the voice doesn't convey a lot of emotion, on purpose i think. he sounds a bit numb and detached, and the music being so whimsical with all of its details and decorations, it's just a really cool juxtaposition.

and at the end, repeating the lines about love and happiness not being built for people like me, with the guitar playing the same melody, when the vocal line and the guitar line go out of sync and he starts repeating the lines to a different rythm, i think it highlights the juxtaposition even more, it's like.. it's like he's not even listening to the whimsy of the music anymore, but getting carried away in his own head by the lines. and repeating them in an almost monotoe way.. i just think it's a brilliant way to deliver the emotion behind the lyric.

but the song ends in the major key whimsical runs on the keyboard with a very fun percussion rythm, and so i think ultimately the mood left behind by the song is quite positive. it's melancholic sure, a bit angsty yes, but at the same time it's not a depressing feeling. 

like i don't know how else to put it, but the whole song is like. everything is going to shit in your life, but you're on a walk and the leaves are super pretty colours and the weather is just perfect, and you breathe in fresh air and it's like. yeah everything is kinda fucked but right in this moment, right at this minute, it's all kind of.. okay. and for a split second you can imagine a future where things are less shit. where maybe happiness and love are built for people like you.

[thebindingofpillo]

Heaven, Hell and everything in between!! As usual I did not proofread any of this, so if you find any mistakes you have full permission to execute me uwu and if you ever need some claryfications I am always ready to answer some asks!!

Anyway, this is the RAU universe. The RAUniverse, if you will. We have Earth, Heaven, Hell and the Void (which is not a really-real dimension but we’ll worry about that later). Every dimension exists as separated from the others. There are ways for angels, demons and human souls to travel from dimension to dimension, but these are few and far between (and I’ll explain better later, in the Bridge section). Every single dimension was created by God, even Hell.

Earth (a.k.a. our dimension)

Humans live here. The physical plane basically. Created by God, as well as everything else. Not really much to say about this! It’s the world as we know it, with all its good and bad. Note: the name Earth does not mean that only the Earth is part of the physical realm! Space and places outside planet Earth also count. You will not reach Heaven by going really high up into the sky, sorry :(

Heaven

Very nice place. It has three tiers, one reserved for humans, one for angels and one for God. At the center of Heaven there is the Garden of Eden, uprooted by God and then placed into a different dimension after Eden (the angel) deserted their post on Earth. To this day, Eden has no idea that the Garden has been transplanted into Heaven (they could know of they wanted to, because they’re omniscient, but they’re actively refusing to think about the Garden at the moment), but that’s not really important here.

Human tier When a human dies, their soul crosses the Bridge (more on that later) and if they’re considered worthy they end up in Heaven. The human parto of heaven is pretty neat, even if I’m still a bit short on the imagination side. I liked the idea from Supernatural where people constantly relive the best day of their lives but idk seems a bit too boring. The basic idea is that Heaven is a place where humans feel their best all the time. If they were plagued by illness, now they’re hale. Everyone is living again in the best possible version of themselves (with like, some caveats, like if your ideal version of self is a furry then tough luck sorry). But yeah, Heaven is the bestest place in the universe where you can bask in God’s light and grace until the end of days. Humans cannot travel through the tiers -- this was put in place by God once he uprooted the Garden, He made it impossible for humans to access it and even put a whole tier of angels between it and humanity for good measure — but that’s not really a problem since heaven is pretty nifty. It is possible, however, to visit other people in the human sphere! So you can always hang out with your pals. The only human who can travel to the Garden is Enoch/Metatron, and that’s just because he was turned into an angel when he ascended.

Angel tier Angels live here. It’s kinda like a city (the Silver city??) but angels don’t really spend a lot of time here, they’re always moving in and out of the various spheres to do God’s bidding, fight demons, and other cool stuff. While humans are confined to the outer sphere, angels can freely travel through all the different layers of heaven, and access the garden, and converse with God directly. While angels do not need rest in a physical sense, it’s always nice to have a little place for themselves where they can wind down after a long century of work. I am still not sure about the design of the city itself (I kinda thought of it like a giant hive suspended in the clouds). Each angel has their own little cell but they can visit eachother.

The Garden of Eden (God is here) The innermost tier of Heaven. Before the Garden, only God lived here, sitting on a throne and surrounded by His angels. The Garden was on Earth before (hidden in a long lost valley, surrounded by very high mountains I think), but after Eden dipped to go live with humanity, God didn’t want anyone stumbling onto the Garden by mistake, and instead of sending another angel to pick up Eden’s slack, He decided to just pack everything and take it home, where He could watch over it Himself. His throne is still somewhere in the Garden, but God is much less inclined to sit on it lately, deeply preferring spending time tending to the plants, keeping them nice for the eventual return of humanity. When’s that exactly supposed to happen? Nobody knows, not even his closest advisors. Not even Apollyon. If asked, the Great Creative will just say that He’s waiting for humanity to “prove itself worthy again” but nobody really knows what that means. Anyway the Garden is b i g. It’s more like a beautiful lush forest rather than a garden, where the trees always give fruit and the animals never attack humans. Everyone lives in peace and harmony, it truly is the bestest place in the universe. The human layer of Heaven is already the best place in the universe but in the Garden humanity will reach a higher state of existence (the details are still fuzzy tho, I need to figure out stuff).

Hell

Hell actually started as an empty place to house human souls who were not worthy of Heaven. It was basically a dark, cold desert, stretching on into infinity. Literally nothing in it but darkness and cold, it was the furthest place away from God’s grace. It began to change only when Lucifer fell. With him, came the rest of the fallen angels and the thing rapidly devolved into a shitshow. Soon the fallens started torturing humans, discovered the power of the human soul, eventually the place became the fiery pit of suffering we know today. Important to keep in mind: Lucifer and his minions are NOT punishing humans. In God’s mind, being far from Heaven is enough punishment for humanity. Demons however, either hate humans (the most perfect of God’s creations), need human souls for power, or straight up do not care about them at all. Most demons either use humans are sustenance or guinea pigs to torture. Slightly more than animals.

Human tier This tier is the closest to what Hell looked like before the demons came. It’s a rocky, endless land, devoid of light, shelter and anything that’s even remotely good. The only difference between this and the “old” Hell is the temperature: now the desolate desert inhabited by humans is scorching hot, warmed by billions of fires lit by demons and fallen angels. There is no repose for humans here, every waking moment is spent trying to escape demons or being tortured by them. Time is also pretty fucky in Hell, especially for humans! A single day on Earth can last a lifetime in Hell. Demons and fallen angels aren’t really affected by this (especially the most powerful ones) but humans can easily lose themselves in this. Humans in Hell could theoretically travel between the different layers, but nobody really wants to because Hell is shit and there’s demons everywhere. The demons that concentrate in the outer layer are the less sapient ones, little more than beasts roaming the lands and slaying human souls whenever they find them.

Demon tier A great sprawling city, absolutely chaotic, growing ever bigger with no rhyme or reason, as its inhabitants try to constantly expand their influence beyond its borders. Demons (and fallens) usually stay here but they’re capable of travelling between the various layers of hell, and they do so quite frequently to bother humans. Not so much to bother Lucifer though, he lives pretty isolated in the middle of Hell. Not that he minds. Anyway, the middle tier is where most of the action happens. Intrigues, backstabbings, alliances, they all happen here. Demons generally don’t like one another, so they’re always trying to kill eachother and gather more power. I guess humans-turned-demons also stay in this city, but I don’t really know if they even exist at this point. I’ll need to think about it.

Lake of ice (Lucifer is here) Innermost layer of Hell. It is said that after being cast out of heaven, Lucifer’s fall was so terribile that he got stuck into the ground, and that’s why he cannot move from the center of Hell. Despite the rest of his kingdom being a fiery inferno, the devil sits there embedded in a completely frozen lake, the ice reaching up to his chest. He cannot move or leave the place, but his Aspects (Satan, the Fallen etc. are kinda like his avatars) can move freely to get shit done for him. IMPORTANT: Satan, Lucifer and Fallen are essentially the same person. They’re kinda like a hive mind, with Lucifer controlling their bodies, but that’s not super important here. As said before, the center of hell is completely frozen over. Not even the fires from the demon city can reach there, in fact, demons actively refuse to come near their boss. Not that he minds, Lucifer doesn’t really feel the need for company, and through his Aspects he can perceive/feel whatever he needs. The city actually seems to move further and further away from him, with the oldest buildings constantly being abandoned in favour of newer ones further out. There’s not really much to say about here! It sucks. The only thing that could be considered “living” is Lucifer’s body, and that’s not really doing much anyway. I will say tho. When Judas went to hell (because he did) he ended up here. I’ll let you ruminate on that one.

The Bridge

There are multiple passages to traverse the Void but The Bridge is by far the safest one. That’s why it’s reserved to human souls! Constantly patrolled by angels, no demon could ever hope to get close to this place. When a human dies, their soul (made by god) gains access to the godly dimension thanks to their guardian angel reporting back to Azrael (archangel of Death) so that they can pass on. This process is almost immediate. Once dead, the souls finds itself at The Bridge. Which is exactly what it is, it’s a bridge baby! Souls need to cross it to get to heaven BUT the Bridge itself is a little finicky. The Bridge is a reflection of the human that will cross it, and it can drastically change in length and form. Eg: A virtuous soul’s bridge will be on the shorter side, look and feel like a normal bridge. A bad person’s bridge can stretch on into infinity, feel more unstable and maybe even be painful to cross. The Bridge can be made of fire, or blades, it can be a single rope dangling over the abyss, very easy to fall from. If a human soul falls from the bridge (it happens! Especially with very evil people, or the ones who think they don’t deserve heaven) they will end up in Hell. Someone might even choose to not cross the bridge at all and jump directly into Hell. So far, only Judas did. His guilt was so big that the Bridge didn’t even manifest. Time is also fucky in here too! A Bridge can be crossed in mere minutes or take years (even centuries!). Now, The Bridge is not the only way to travel through the Void! There are multiple passages on Earth, in Hell and Heaven, but they’re not as safe or guarded as the Bridge, and sometimes they might close or end up nowhere at all. The position of these passages is kept strictly secret, especially the ones that end in Hell, so that angels can use them to spy on demons. Using these passages takes a lot of energy too, so usually only the most powerful angels/demons can travel through the Void without problem. Travelling through the Void outside of the Bridge can be extremely fast or incredibly slow. It depends on how powerful the angel/demon is - Michael can blink through the Void in less than a second, while a less powerful angel could take more time. Very powerful angels/ demons can even create passages themselves! Another way the humans can travel through the Void is by falling off the Bridge, when they end up in hell. This passage is also guarded by angels and ends up at the Bridge anyway, so demons don’t really try to use it.

The Void

Okay the Void it’s pretty difficult to explain. It’s basically a big nothing into which all the dimensions float (kinda) and there’s absolutely nothing in it. While the other dimensions are, the Void is not. Like all the other dimensions, it is infinite, and occupies every space between Earth, Heaven and Hell, however big or small it may be. It’s not like the Abyss (that’s inside Apollyon) where all the residues of previous Creations are crammed inside a writhing to be let out, the Void is still. There’s absolutely nothing here to writhe, it’s a completely inert space. Or rather, there should be nothing. Something is stirring in the depths of nothingness, but nobody (just God Himself and Semjaza) really knows about it. That something is Delirium, although in the AU it doesn’t really have a name.

Delirium This might change in the future because it’s still a bit fuzzy around the edges, but basically Delirium is like a huge blob of unimaginable proportions that lurks inside the Void. It’s not sentient, or at least doesn’t have any real thoughts aside from existing in the Void and consuming to survive. Everything it touches gets destroyed and made into more Delirium, but in the Void there’s really nothing to touch so it just folds onto itself forever, not really doing anything. How did Delirium come to be? This part at least is decided: God’s Power of Creation is so strong that it reverberates through all dimensions, even the Void, bringing life where life shouldn’t exist (this is also why Lazarus keeps coming back: he was brought back to life by God, and His power is so big Lazarus’ soul can never stay dead). Delirium is basically the result of eons and eons of God making and remaking the universe: all that residual energy is still present, kinda like the Big Bang radiations. Important to note: Creation is a cycle! Gods makes the universe and then with the Apocalypse He resets everything and makes a new universe from scratch. The remains of the previous universe are locked in the Abyss (which is different from the Void!) inside Apollyon. Delirium is not any of these remains, it’s a completely new life form that was born out of the energy God uses to make and remake the universe over the millennia.

[ghostflowerhotpotch]

Has it ever occurred to you that since Gwen hasn’t had a mother figure for the majority of her life and from the beginning of ATSV its kinda shown she’s been craving that type of guidance or even affection when she sees Jess for the first time, do you think that once the dust is settled between her and Miles and she finally gets to properly introduce herself to his parents, do you think that Rio can not replace Gwen’s mother but atleast fill in that gap in some way where she’s able to get some of the guidance she’s been looking for. Idk I just feel like the dynamic between the two could be interesting once they both get along with each other, hopefully this makes sense to answer.

Ohh this is interesting.

Now, hope you don't mind, but Gwen and Jess situation is something I wanted to talk about for a while, so, I will use your comment to talk about this.

I will do the Rio part too, but knowing myself, there is a chance that would end in a second post because I talk too much.

Let's go!

Now, do I think is this a joke? Yes, but I also think Gwen means it.

And look, this is not to say that you necessarily need to have two parents to raise a kid, I personally believe that one parent, if they provide the necessary attention and care to the child or children, could be an amazing parent and not let their kids feel like they are missing anything.

However, as discussed on this post, I mentioned why while George isn't a bad dad, sadly he is not the best parent for Gwen.

And here I also discussed why Gwen's mental health is a bit of a mess.

But to not sent people to do homework, let's give the cliff-notes version.

George is trying to be a good father, however between his job and his refusal to understand nuance, he has accidentally pushed Gwen away; even if maybe this could have been resolved if she talked to him in a normal situation, the fact that he did what he did in the beginning shows she was scared for a reason.

So that means Gwen has a gaping hole in what a role model and parent should be, since she needs more support. Of couse her Spidey identity is important to her (in fact she leans too much into it,) and having no one to help her on that complicated path doesn't make the situation any easier.

Enters Jessica Drew.

You know I found extremely telling that when Gwen sees Miguel, she is cracking jokes and not really taking his professionalism crap seriously; yet when Jess comes kicking ass with her motorcycle and she looks at her like she has seen the light.

Perhaps it had to do with her realizing this failed artist is more problematic than she expected, or the fact that Miguel was quickly disposed of by something she saw from a mile away; while Jess came putting the bad guy on a grinder and maneuvering a bike like nobody's business. Needless to say, Gwen is DEFINITELY impressed.

Once again, this plays almost like this is a dream come true for Gwen.

She hides it well for most of the movie as well as the previous one, but the reality is that underneath that cool exterior, this is a teenage mess with so much angst she is giving my teen self a run for their money.

Just like she craves companionship in the form of Miles as well as other spiders, she probably wants someone who can tell her everything is going to be okay or what they should do. Again, we may forget sometimes, especially with superhero movies where protagonists need to be competent despite their age most of the time; but Gwen is 16, 17 at the most; and has been handling this stress and turmoil for at least 3 years. That's a lot.

Top it with her dad not being able to emotionally support her, and the fact that she wants a mom becomes less a possible commentary about not nuclear families, and more of a likely possibility because the first 20 minutes of the movie gave us LOTS of material to show how mess up this is.

I think is a testament to the situation that she doesn't default to Peter B or Noir in the first movie, nor Miguel; she only seems to be interested in learning from someone when she sees Jess.

Is funny, but is also very painful to hear for me, as if you ask me she said it completely straight, and this just shows how much help she needs.

Granted Gwen said that accidentally and probably wouldn't have said it if thought about it first, but the fact that it slipped says a lot.

She desperately wants someone like Jess in her life, and to top it off, she probably wants that person as a maternal figure; probably someone to ask about techniques for defeating baddies and also who could talk about feelings without this person defaulting to work as a copy mechanism.

Feel free to call me crazy for getting so work up about a joke, but if I am honest other interactions really make me sell this idea for me.

Now let's talk Jess.

Literally what other reaction she was going to have.

We really never hear a definitive answer to the question, but I also think Jess didn't think too hard about it for a reason.

I am planning to go through some scenes of Gwen and Jess to dig deeper into their mentor/not-mom situation, but let's start with this.

Do I think Jess should have adopted Gwen? No, not at all.

Look I am a sucker for found family and adoption tropes, and I would had love nothing more than for Jess to give one dirty look at Gwen's dad, tell her she would be there for her, and take her away to a good home. That is not what happened, and I don't blame her.

She is on her way to having her own kid, she needs to be spider-woman and to top it all off, she seems to be kind of a second in command in a really big operation, where your boss is your friend who is also way too into his job and she probably is still there partially to make sure Miguel doesn't completely lose it. She has a lot on her plate as it is, adopting a traumatized teenager is a lot of work that shouldn't really be her job.

Do I think that means she has no responsibilities to Gwen? No, not really.

And this is largely why.

Okay, I will try to not go over every moment with them, as this is more about explaining their situation than a deep dive of every instance of their relationship, but this is a good kicker for the situation.

Jess immediately takes an interest in Gwen for the organization, now while I can understand that she based this purely on her abilities, I think a part of it was the comment Gwen made earlier. I think she sees in her someone who needs a steady hand and some support.

As a mentor.

This is going a bit ahead on the post, but let's establish that 1) This exists, and 2) Jessica got that idea EXTREMELY quick all things considered.

Here is where the responsibility part actually kicks in.

No, Jess doesn't have any responsibility to Mother Gwen in any way, regardless if Gwen needs one or not (she does,) but the moment she not only started to argue for her to have a spot in the organization, to take her in when the things in her universe technically imploded (which they are marginally responsible considering they came to clean this means and they only did it thanks to Gwen,) She implicitly accepted to look after her.

Okay here is where we need to talk a bit about tropes.

When you have protagonists that are teens or kids with powers, is inevitable that they will need to deal with dangerous stuff that no sane adult would let a real kid do, but is fiction so you kind of have to suck it.

This is a trope that I found kind of lazy even when I was part of the age demographic; which is why stuff like The Owl House with Eda was refreshing.

She was also a Mentor who was also not very responsible as a guardian, but she ended up growing into one, and even if she failed to protect her apprentice, she did try her damnest to do it.

Jess is not Eda, and she doesn't need to be, except that this story has proven to be aware that they are still teens.

Jess clearly recognizes this isn't fair for Gwen. We also see something like this in the first movie, with Peter B worried about Miles can or can't handle, while still letting them do stuff you wouldn't catch me letting my little sister get away with; they know that there are somethings someone at that age shouldn't just be handling on their own.

And Jess isn't exactly ice-cold about Gwen.

Jess took interest in Gwen's potential quickly, she looked after her, and quickly went to try to calm her down and support her during a very high tense and stressful moment. Even here is Gwen the one who ultimately moves away, not Jess, proving she could had try to stay close to ensure she was okay.

And this is something that shows that it kind of sticks.

While considerably harsher here than in her introduction scene, Jess is showing that despite her annoyance with Gwen, she still likes her. She never thought her relationship with Miles shouldn't be a reason not to have her on the team; she trusted a mission in the universe despite that, and also calls Gwen her star pupil, which I don't was sarcasm.

She also gives her an hour to fix this, which even if not much, is more than she could have given her.

I am not saying that Jess didn't look after Gwen, or didn't care about her beyond what she could do for the organization, however, it wasn't what Gwen needed.

Let's circle back to responsibility,

Jess is aware of what happened with her dad, she knows what Gwen lost, and she can probably imagine that a kid that lost her identity and her world like that on just one night can't be doing okay; yet nothing shows me she ever did anything about it.

Here is the thing, Jess doesn't need to be Gwen's mom, but she can't just insist to have her and be her mentor, and don't think about checking on her in something other than her kicking-ass abilities. Even if she doesn't want to deal with it, she should have either seen how to make her father see reason, or lock her in the room with the spider-man psych.

Considering how things go in this movie, neither thing happens.

And it feels more painfully obvious when you see how much Gwen tries to appeal to her emotionally.

In a vaccum, none of these are a big deal, but the more I think about it the more heartbreaking this is for me to watch.

This is why I find these to be such a big deal: Gwen doesn't like to do emotional shit.

I know, I probably repeated that more times than I can count; but let that sink in contrast to what's going on.

After Peter died, she decided to not have any friends because she couldn't deal with the grief, with Miles only getting past that rule because they are both spiders plus chemistry. And even then, when you see Miles asking if she is going to talk to her dad, she decided to crack a joke and brush the idea as swiftly as possible.

When her dad tells her about the break in the spider-woman case, she tries to brush it off with false enthusiasm at first, and then when she gives a more honest response is more out of bubbling annoyance that truly her trusting him with something.

She isn't baring her heart open in these moments though, let's not have it twisted; however, she is trying to use emotion as a way to appeal to Jess, which is not her first move with most people in general. Even when she is not actively giving her an in-depth explanation, in each of those moments she is giving the emotional context as to why this is so hard.

"You never got too close to someone?" -> "This person is important to me and this is hard for me, wasn't it for you?"

"But my gut says-" -> "I know this looks bad, and I can't explain how, but this isn't right, trust me."

"Tell him he is wrong!" -> I don't really need to explain this one, do it?

She continuously looks up to Jess to hear her out, and to understand what she is going through; she sees her and expects someone who can connect with her on that level and care about it.

But that's not what Jess does, because she is not her mom, she is her mentor.

For the most part, when Gwen tries to appeal to Jess emotionally speaking, Jessica shuts that idea down fast.

Now, I am going to preface this by clarifying that in real life, a mentor would probably check emotionally on the kid they are mentoring if only for the fact that when you are in charge of a kid, you should look after them. Fiction however is another ballpark, and technically speaking, a mentor shouldn't need to be doing something that is the job of the family.

A good mentor would probably understand their apprentice position and listen, since regardless of your years of experience, you can't just underestimate people or you will inevitably be surpassed. However, Jess isn't trying to be anything like that; she wants to teach Gwen her way, and her way says that emotions are kind of on the way. So regardless if it isn't what Gwen needs, she will insist on that.

I think there can be a way to accept emotions but also don't let them cloud your decisions, yet again, Jess is not interested in that, and I Gwen actually have normal, supportive parents (or even just one,) I wouldn't be so hung up about this. But she doesn't and Jess knows this.

Superhero or not, Gwen is just a teen, and shouldn't need to be living this, especially because I freaking doubt this is a canon event or something; with the resources they have, and the people they have on board, I can't believe there isn't a way they could have talk to Captain Stacy and made him see reason.

But they didn't, because they are more worried about spider-man duties than whatever is going on to the person under the mask, and for them, this is just what comes with the territory so you have the suck it up. Even if this is perfectly avoidable once you think of it.

That's something that I had been thinking about a lot while doing my post on the organization as well as the one with Gwen falling in Mumbatthan. The spiders are stronger together, and in general working as a team gives them not only better chances at saving people, but also helping with the stress they have and being there for each other. That isn't the goal of the organization though.

Miguel's mission is to preserve the canon and to put people from other dimensions back into their respective ones, anything else is probably secondary to him. Sure, if someone asks for help from another Spider I don't think he would stand in the way; except if it is a canon event, which in that case, he will probably say to people to suck it up.

The pain they have, the trauma they are suffering, while being together helps it was never the end goal to help with that, and there is no regard in avoiding said pain. This is a job first and foremost, which is the attitude Jess has.

Gwen is not her kid, or even a young student, she is a coworker; one that she needs to guide a bit, but her subordinate at the end of the day.

Sometimes the waters get muddier, on both sides if I am honest.

I will touch a bit on other scenes, but I wanted to bring up this one in particular because there is something that feels a bit more mother-daughter than it probably has any right to show.

Now I will be the first to admit this may be a me thing, I can be very formal in real life and that goes double with people who are older than me and in a position of power over me, the only exception to that rule is my current boss because he is the mythical creature of being a manager who remembers employees are people too.

Gwen is not like that, she jokes and doesn't give too much of a shit regardless if you are Miguel or a bad guy. However there is something in the way Gwen acts that feels she wouldn't be phrasing stuff like this if it was Miguel on the other side; again, back to her using emotion as a first resource rather than as a lashing effect of her anger.

Jess, while being kind of no-nonsense overall, is also not the most formal, because this is the spider society and Miguel had the bad luck to be the only straight-laced one while everybody else tries to be a comedian for the most part. But there is a way that she talks to Gwen that for me feels kind of like her not fully keeping this professional either.

I can't fully put it into words, so feel free to not make seriously on this one, but there is something about the way Jess is commenting on the situation that reminds me more of a mom than any of my bosses.

Then we have scenes like this.

I am sorry but this part really first like is a discussion between mother and daughter, even with contexts the way the scene delivers gives that energy.

This isn't exactly wrong by itself, nor is it truly that surprising. The boss I mentioned before had also mentioned off-topic that me and my other coworker (who is a couple of years older than me,) are almost like his kids, and we share an age range. However he doesn't try to parent us really, and even if some of the comments are very much 'now listen to me kids' he quickly remembers we are adults and would drop topics or decisions we made that I know wouldn't be his reaction has been one of the kids that are actually kids.

It probably has more to do with the way they talk and see people younger than them that any parental feelings, and none of this is really inappropriate.

Nonetheless, the fact that Gwen craves that motherly bond makes these interactions hurt all the more for me.

Gwen may not be under the illusion that Jess is her mom, but she's subconsciously looking up to her, and the fact that Jess acts like this, even if by accident, just feels into that mentality. The mentality Gwen has that maybe Jess will listen this time, that she will take into account her feelings and her opinion in her decisions; but she continues to not do that.

For the most part.

Is a bit hard to see with the resolution I have, but when Gwen is kicking and screaming while been taken by the machine, Jess's gaze goes in another direction.

I am sorry if this is feeling repetitive, I know this post is a long one (which is funny how this post created another 2 just so those topics wouldn't be here.)

What I am trying to say with all of this, is despite Jess' insistence this is just work, that Gwen is just her pupil and she can only do so much; Jess continues to have a soft stop for Gwen that let's her get away with things. Is kind of ironic how Miguel said Gwen was a liability for her feelings for Miles, yet couldn't even consider how feelings in general would get in the way, considering Jess assigned this mission to Gwen (which then she fumbled the bag and led to the Spot becoming an actual menace,) give her a second chance, and then apparently let her go.

(It is possible she is looking for where Gwen is going to tell Miguel, but I doubt it.)

I fully believe that by the third film, Jess will probably end up either switching sides or just letting Gwen do what she wants, and even if is the first scenario I think it would be via Gwen that happens.

But to wrap things up, if Captain Stacy is not enough as a parent for Gwen because he can't do that role properly, Jess isn't good enough as a parent for Gwen because she doesn't want that role, regardless of if she sometimes kind of acts like it.

I think their relationship is fascinating, and I would love to explore more of this connection in some way; if only because the complicated nature of it makes it all the more interesting for me, but in a nutshell, is this:

Jess: I wanted an apprentice, you wanted a mom. Gwen: Well I guess we are both disappointed.

(Sorry I couldn't help myself, OOF I wish I could draw well enough for this.)

Now, with my thoughts on Rio, I could probably put them on this post because is not that long, but it will probably feel off with all this commentary I had been making, so it would be in another one.

If you got this far, congrats on your patience, and thank you for reading!