#rose has a puppet theme :P

[c4tsc4pe]

<|°_°|>

[cup1dt3a]

Do you still accept requests?

How would it be if the human reader has a little brother or sister who watches Wally's show, and well the reader like a good big brother the reader takes care of them and watches along with them, well what if Yandere wally falls in love with the reader, what would happen?

Tysm for the request this is the first one I’ve ever had for a story! And ofc! My request are always open unless stated otherwise. Also I mainly just do gender neutral!readers so the reader will be gender neutral!

” It’s starting! It’s starting! It’s starting! Come on you slow poke!”

“ Ow! Ok ok! Geez how you so strong for a seven year old?”

You muttered as your younger sister tugged you towards the Tv. Eyes gleaming with pure enchantment as the cheesy theme song of the puppet show they loved to watch. You being the good older sibling you were would watch it with them since your parents were too busy most of the time to watch the show with her.

“ Eeeeee! Look it’s Wally!” You cheered as the colorful puppet appeared on the screen.

“ Yup they’re your favorite huh?” You asked them with a chuckle to how excited they got.

“ Of course they paint very well and they look so cool!” They exclaimed while the puppets talked away.

As the show went on you just watched away with your little sibling. Sure it was just another little kids show but you had to admit the character designs were just so well done and amazing.

“Now what should I paint today?” Wally asked on the big screen looking towards the audience.

“ A rainbow rose!” They jumped.

“ A DANCING BLUE FLAMINGO!” You shouted just to mess with them seeing them angrily huff.

“ As if he’d paint that. Wally is so much more mature than that!” They crossed their arms as you giggled.

“ What an excellent decision! A dancing blue flamingo!” He cheered.

Your sibling ate their words with a pitiful glare as they looked up at you sticking your tongue out at them. You both watched the episode making a few jokes here and there to upset them. It was all fun in games for you two. It’s not really like your parents were ever around either. Sure it sucked but at least you weren’t alone as much as you wished but fuck it they’re fun to be around so why not.

You had put your little sister to bed a while ago. At least 2 hours ago and decided it was time to check on them due to their nightmares they have. As you went to their room you had heart their voice outside the room along with another’s voice it sounded familiar but you knew it wasn’t one of your parents. As you hurriedly walked over to where you heard the voices your heart beat fast. Rushing as faster than you ran to check on who the hell was talking to your seven year old sister.

“ Yeah! _____ loves that too!” You happily said as you turned to corner in a panic.

“ Mhm! You’re so helpful little one but I think it’s off to bed with you now. Go on sweet dreams little dreamer.” Wally said on the big screen with a smile and tilt to his head.

“ Oh geez. What are you doing up watching TV?” You sighed in relief.

“ Wally wanted to talk with me. And I didn’t want to be rude!” They replied looking up at you while you took them to bed holding their small hand.

“ Ok but next time Wally wants to “talk” with you tell him ____ said no.” You told them playing into their little fantasy.

“ Fine…Can you watch Welcome Home with me tomorrow still?” They sad with puppy dog eyes.

“ Yes yes. How about after work we go have a little sleep over in my room sound good?” You asked as they nodded with excitement.

As you went back into the living room you had noticed the TV was still on with Wally staring at you. Well it looked that way but as he silently stared you hadn’t noticed how much larger his smile got before you shut it off with a big yawn.

You had been having to take your younger sibling to work with you. It’s not like you wanted to but it’s not like you had a choice either. Because your parents were never home and your sister was to you get to be alone either way. Plus your boss was ok with it since they would bring their own kid to work. They would play together with each other a lot and we’re friends so it was a win win either way.

“ You having fun with charley?” You asked as they nodded playing with the other’s action figures.

It was getting late so you had to remind them to start wrapping things up. They sadly agreed upset it was the end of your shift before they remembered about your sleep over with them. They had said their goodbyes and hugged any other friends they had before you had left. They had skipped as they held your hand back to the apartment. You then came upon a display case of old TV’s they all displayed Wally.

“ Look! Loook! It’s Wally he’s waving at us! Hiiii Wally!” They jumped with glee waving at the puppet on screen.

Indulging your younger sister you also waved greeting the puppet before walking away with your younger sibling. Not noticing the out of order signs or the way the puppet had followed you both with its head.

” Sleep Over! Sleep Over! SLEEP OVER!” They chanted as you popped the popcorn and got a few apples for them too.

You both went back to your room rolling your eyes as they dashed over towards your room. You also has a TV in there to watch your own shows other than Welcome Home. Such as more horror shows and adult shows because you didn’t want to accidentally influence them with inappropriate things or have to answer the embarrassing questions of theirs.

“ So let me guess Welcome Home?” You guessed without a doubt as they exclaimed a gleeful yes.

You then set the Tv up to play the show as they started to munch on some popcorn. She then started to try and aim it at your mouth every time missing but you still encouraged them to keep trying until one lucky shot they finally got it in your mouth.

��� Wooo! I did it!” The cheered bounced up and down.

“ Good job little dreamer!” Wally clapped on point as if he was congratulating your sister with you.

“ Thanks Wally it was so cool right?” They asked expecting an answer.

“Oh why it was very cool! You think you can do it again?” He asked with a tilt to his head.

You sat there in concern as the two talked observing as they spoke to each other.

“ How are you doing that?” You asked them with a slight shake to your voice.

“ Doing what…Omg you’re so dumb just talk to him like any other person ____! ____ can be so dumb sometimes right Wally?” They asked looking over to the puppet.

“ Now that wasn’t nice? You should apologize to ____ they must feel very sad now.” He told the small child.

They hurriedly apologize just as the puppet asked. He was a puppet. He couldn’t have known your name. Your little sister isn’t smart enough to even think of a prank like this. They’ve been doing this. This has been going on for weeks! Finding them in front of the TV talking to the puppet with glee.

“ ____? You ok?” She asked you tugging on your sleeve with concern for your silence.

“ Yes, Yes I’m fine…So wally how long have you two been talking.” You asked in disbelief still pale.

“ I think the second day you both watched the show! You’re such a good sibling always going on with the little dreamers antics you almost make me envy you with how cute of a sister you have.” They replied.

That’s not part of any script. This wasn’t normal!

“ Yeah! Wally would ask me to go and talk to him about you!” they said with a smile on your face while yours remained pale.

“ Yes I couldn’t help myself and they always sneaked up late at night for a snack and mischievous little thing they are started to just talk to me. I couldn’t help but ask about you. Always so hard working and kind to the little one.” You dreamily sighed.

“ Uh huh.” You said.

You felt sick. How could you not have noticed this!? How did you let this slide for months? Are you that neglectful? God you’re almost as bad as your parents! Your little sibling has been talking with some puppet who sounds obsessed with you as they go on and on about how perfect you are. You had noticed your sister start to yawn cuddling up on the bed. You took her to her room as soon as she passed out wanting to have your own conversation with the puppet. As you came back there he stood int the dark screen with that sinister smile peering into your soul.

“ What exactly have you been asking of my little sister?” You asked him with a slight grit to your teeth.

“ Just about you. Your likes, interests, hobbies, insecurities…. Everything about you really!” He stated.

“ Why though?” You asked feeling insane for doing this.

“ Because you’re all I can think about. All I ever dream about! All I ever want. Just look at yourself. So perfect so free like a song bird.” He sighed looking as if he was drooling.

“ You’re just so perfect. I love and want everything to do with….Why are you trying to turn the TV off?” He pouted with a tilt as you tried to turn your Tv off.

“ No No! My sweet dreamer you’re finally acknowledging me! I won’t let you stop now! We’ll be together forever! Just me you and your sister!” He gasped getting closer to the Tv.

“ YOU CANT LEAVE ME! I LOVE YOU! I LIVE FOR YOU! I BREATHE FOR YOU! YOU CANT LEAVE ME NOT AGAIN!” He cried out smooshing his face to the TV.

The screen then constantly displayed love me on it over and over again while the puppets eyes shook. “ Please love me! I need you!!I promise I won’t harm them at all just please keep listening to me! I need you!” He yelled banging onto the screen.

You had no idea what to do or to listen to him as he constantly cried out of any ounce of your attention. Almost like a touch starved animal.

“You…promise?” You asked as he nodded smile growling bigger by the second. What have you done?

Tysm again for the request they are open! Hope you’re all having a good day/night or that it gets better!

Part 2 ( Enjoy<333)

Sincerely- Cup1dT3A💌

[homestuckreplay]

acrobatically fucking pirouetting off the handle so hard i turn into my best friend

(page 607-614)

9/7/2009 Wheel Spin: Sburb Lore Verdict: i fucking wish :(

9/8/2009 Wheel Spin: Character Switch Verdict: HELL YEAH JOHN’S BACK !!!! :D

A couple of shorter updates compared to the bumper 13 pages on September 6, but it’s all relative, and would be silly to complain about.

The narration on p.607 tells Dave, ‘It is time to face your destiny.’ In the short term, this obviously refers to the trap that Dave’s bro has set up for him, but it also gets me thinking about whether destiny more broadly will play a role in this story, and if so, what Dave’s might be. On p.293, GG – who appears to have knowledge their friends don’t share – theorizes that saving the world is John’s destiny. Nannasprite in her exposition refers to John’s ‘purpose’ (p.427) but it’s left very unclear whether this is a fantasy-novel style Prophesized Destiny, or just a result of John choosing to play Sburb.

I think this might be intentionally vague in the story right now, either to allow for readers to theorize, or because Hussie hasn’t yet decided the exact nature of the story. However, when destiny is a theme in fantasy, a chosen one's destiny is usually to defeat a great evil. I think it'd be neat if Dave's destiny was actually to defeat Bro once and for all - probably the most evil character we've seen yet, and certainly the one who's most affected Dave's life - which would make this line on p.607 end up looking really prophetic and bringing things full circle.

I am wondering just how many Smuppets Bro owns, and what the turnover rate is like. There’s at least 20 in the puppet pile Dave’s stuck in, and a lot of them get sliced in half. Bro needs these for work and has a large collection to draw on at any time, but they’re regularly getting destroyed, so logistically I am imagining a large crate of a couple hundred Smuppets showing up at the apartment each week, which is a horrendous thought. No wonder they are in Dave’s dreams. The ‘puppets per square meter’ and ‘new puppets per day’ are probably much higher numbers than the equivalent for harlequins or wizards in John and Rose’s houses. If these decorative choices represent sources of alienation and anxiety for the kids this could suggest that Dave’s mental state is even worse than that of his friends.

Also I think that if Bro really wants to be Jigsaw so bad he needs to put some variety into his traps. Puppets every time is nowhere near as creative as the saw traps in the movie.

Page 611 repeats a Dave-Rose Pesterlog from p.522. I like when this happens – it clarifies where we are in the timeline, as well as giving the characters equal importance while showing both perspectives. Earlier when Dave referred to himself as ‘enrobed in chafing, wriggling god fucking damned puppet pelvis’ I did think he was exaggerating for effect, and was just describing the puppet-strewn living room with an overactive imagination. Reading this for a second time knowing that Dave is being extremely literal is very different – it feels like someone begging to be taken seriously and failing, instead of someone committing to the mutually constituted bit.

Dave’s bro referencing Sweet Bro & Hella Jeff – ‘where doing it man where MAKING THIS HAPEN’ – on a sinister note pinned to the crawlspace hatch with a weapon feels really insidious. Taking this piece of art that Dave made and is proud of, and turning it into something threatening, is upsetting to me. What does Dave get to have for himself? Is there an aspect of his life that his bro doesn’t twist into something evil? Does Bro know about Dave’s friends, and if so, does he work them into his schemes too? And yet it’s effective despite all this – it does provoke Dave into action, jumping up and escaping the puppet prison, leaving Dave’s story on the cliffhanger of what exactly Bro wants to ‘make hapen’ as we smashcut to John.

I am very excited to see what John and Rose get up to and I hope it is not famous last words to say that it will surely be less disturbing than what is happening with Dave. At the very least, I feel lighter and freer knowing that I don’t have to think about Dave’s bro for a few days.

[lazyrants]

Pixel TV (prod 212)

Original airdate: February 15, 2007

Story by Magnus Scheving

Written by Noah Zachary, Mani Svavarrson, Magnus Scheving

Directed by Jonathan Judge

Executive producers - Magnus Scheving, Ragnheidur Melsted, Raymond P. Le Gue, Mark Read, Brown Johnson, Kay Wilson Stallings

Starring Magnus Scheving, Stefan Karl Steffanson, Julianna Rose Mauriello

Puppeteers - Gudmondor Thor Karason, Jodi Eichelberger, David Matthew Feldman, Julie Westwood, Sarah Burgess

If someone randomly asked me to name the ninth episode of season two of LazyTown, it'd take me forever to remember what it was. So, Pixel TV is pretty much unknown to me.

The episode begins with Sportacus going to his screen, and Pixel is on his screen, telling him he's live in four seconds. Sportacus tells the camera that LazyTown is always moving and so are we. Then he does a buncha cool moves.

In his house, Pixel is managing his antenna and is talking to the LazyTown people on his TV screens. He's set up a LazyTown TV channel with good moves, good food and go, go, go! Stephanie will be doing Sportscandy, Bessie and Milford will be doing news, Ziggy and Stingy will be doing their cooking show (probably the funniest segment), and Trixie's doing a talk show (that's why she called Loud Girl).

Everyone has LazyTown TV, even Robbie, and for some reason, the LazyTown theme song plays on his television. He changes to Bing Bang, he changes to Sportacus eating, he changes to Pixel. And at the end of it all, he says.. 'they have their own TV show?!' and doesn't he know it.

Robbie decides if they can have their own TV shows, he can too - since he's handsome, talented and smart. If you're so smart, try actually coming up with a plan that works. Anyways, he has a mini TV that fits on his arm, and now it's time for Stephanie's show. He says he needs a disguise and goes to.. an empty purple box. It makes more sense when you see all his disguises being dropped via a chute.

Colours is performed, and that song really annoys me because mid-way through there is a random cut to Sportacus. I am all for Sportacus scenes, but I'm also all for LazyTown songs. During the song, Robbie steals almost all her Sportscandy, leaving one strawberry. LOL.

Due to that, she cannot make her Sportscandy Rainbow Smoothie (for some reason she keeps on breathing during every word. Sportscandy *sigh* rainbow smoothie.) & Pixel is going to switch to the news so he gets into his Rob R. Robley costume.

When Stephanie turns the camera on (she films and and has her own TV show.. remind you of a blue elf?), Milford doesn't talk. Pixel tells him to go. He asks, 'Go where?' 'You're on!' 'On where?' Haha. I love this season. Then Stephanie tells him the camera is on and to start reading the LazyTown Good News - Three butterflies on the sports field, and new flowers. This town would be so peaceful if it wasn't for Robbie. Speaking of Rob, he shows up with a fan, that blows away his wig and notes.

It's even funnier when you think that someone who was helping write this episode (I'm guessing Mani) said 'Let's give Milford a wig purely to blow it off.' XD! Now, Robley takes his place (Bessie is visibly angry, showing that she doesn't like him purely to use him).

So he announces a buncha lies - Sports Candy makes you sick and all sports has been outlawed forever. By Pixel's request, Stephanie switches over to Bessie's weather show. But Rob takes that pole thingy Bessie's holding and grabs it so hard she falls.

Rob says 'let's take a look at the weather' & signals for Stephanie to pan the camera up. Once she does, he says 'let's take a look at the weather' once again. WHY IS THIS FUNNY? WHY IS STEFAN SO FUNNY?? He takes off the birds, suns, clouds & adds a bunch of storm and rain, telling everyone it's too dangerous to go outside so they must stay inside doing nothing. Now Trixie's doing her yap show.

She's supposed to have a guest, but doesn't then she starts yelling at Pixel about how she needs a guest. Considering the fact he set up an entire TV channel, I think his brain can comprehend it, Loud Girl. Robbie disguises himself as her guest - some apparently famous dude called Purple Legend. Trixie yells at Pixel as he told her they were gonna have interesting guests (PL got steamrolled!), and PL says he eats ice-cream, cookies and candy all day, sleeps till noon, and Trixie says those are both boring. So, PL jumps on the chair out of anger! LOL!!

Trixie says if he's so interesting, he should do something like sing or juggle or DANCE, and he decides to do some weird Irish leg dance or something. Trixie is laughing. LITERALLY.

PL purposefully bumps into the camera, ending the show since the camera broke. And they switch over to Ziggy & Stingy's cooking show, but for some reason, Stingy can't say anything. He tells Ziggy to introduce the show, which he does. They are going to make a castle with apples, and Stingy tells us the ingredients are apples (WOWZA!), 50 of them. Ziggy corrects him by saying fourty-nine since he's eaten one. But they're interrupted by Chef Robert, who cancels them both.

And he is making the most delicious food in history of food - the sugar candy chocolate candy ice-cream gooey-ooey yummy cake. The ingredients - 2 bars of chocolate, a ridiculously excessive amount of sugar, and the candy. The worst part is that he doesn't even take the wrappers off the chocolate bar, or the lollipops off their sticks. Ziggy says it looks delicious but unhealthy.

Robert asks if he's a chef who went to cooking school wearing a big white hat. The answer is of course, no, and he yells at him to go away. The next step is to put the mix in the fridge, but he steps on an apple he threw on the ground, slips and falls, and now the mix is on his head. Slapstick moment.

Anyways, Steph and Trixie managed to get the camera up and running, and now comes the best of all - Bessie's puppet show. I'm being sarcastic, this sucks.

(During it, Pixel complains since this is being broadcast worldwide.) Robbie sees the puppet show, and he says 'Puppets, now they've gone too far!' LOL. He decides now he has to stop the TV station once and for all, and he does that.. with a gorilla outfit. And the way he does it? Instead of scaring him into stopping it, he CLIMBS UP PIXEL'S ANTENNA AND SHAKES IT.

The TV's now all glitchy and stuff, but he shakes too hard and almost falls down. Luckily, Sportacus appears (where ya been dude?) to save the gorilla. Milford is going live with LazyTown Good News. This is sure to make headlines! Milford asks the gorilla what he's doing up there, and he RESPONDS with 'I'm breaking this antenna forever!' But when he falls, Sportacus attaches a hook to Pixel's roof, causing it to open so the gorilla lands in his house. Once he does, the head falls off, and it's revealed that Robbie was doing all this nonsense instead of .. just.. not watching TV.

It turns out well in the end as Milford tells everyone it's just Robbie, Sportacus goes back, & Stingy films Steph doing the Bing Bang. No Sportacus power jump unfortunately. In the lair, Robbie is attempting to forget about the day with ice-cream, but a news report about the day is played on the channel.

And he yells. THE END!

8/10 - Great plot, funny dialogue!

[alexesguerra]

Oracle of Pluto: A 55-Card Exploration of the Undiscovered Self Oracle of Pluto: A 55-Card Exploration of the Undiscovered Self Contributor(s): Houdeshell, Aubrey (Author) , Ides, Rose (Illustrator) Publisher: RP Studio ISBN: 0762483601 Physical Info: 1.59" H x 5.49" L x 3.74" W (0.87 lbs) 112 pages Rose Ides is an artist based in San Francisco. Her work is playful, whimsical, and often mystical, and has been featured in multiple collaborations. Aubrey Houdeshell is a professional tarot reader, astrologer, and shadow worker through her business Graveyard Roses. Her mission is to make spiritual work accessible and digestible to everyone, and her readings center on personal transformation and empowerment. Before turning to the mystical world full-time, Aubrey was a full-time writer and editor for non-profits. She resides in South Denver with her husband. Get in touch with your deepest self through the process of shadow work in this vibrantly illustrated oracle deck and guidebook set. Shadow work--the exploration of the darker side of oneself and the world--is often misunderstood. It is not about hiding in the darkness, but instead about a rewarding process of self-transformation unlocked by understanding all facets of yourself. In The Oracle of Pluto artist Rose Ides and author Aubrey Houdeshell use Plutonian archetypes to guide the user through the process of shadow work. Whimsical illustrations that nod to shadow puppetry enhance the process of unearthing this other side of ourselves, allowing for potent transformations for seekers of all kinds. This set includes: 55 full-color oracle cards. These vibrantly illustrated cards (3 X 5") depict images of hands projecting shadow puppets of archetypes like the Crow, the Tiger, and the Spider. A 112-page paperback guidebook. This enclosed guide will help the user get in touch with their undiscovered self through the themes of self-awareness, shadow, transformation, empowerment, evolution and integration. Magnetic closure case. This durable magnetic closure case is perfectly sized for travel or display, and holds the paperback book and cards securely in dedicated sleeves.

[melanielocke]

Book recommendations: Retellings part 2

As I said in my previous book recommendations about retellings, there were far too many to put into one post, so I made a second also featuring retelling. Remember how the first one featured a sapphic Sleeping Beauty retelling? This post features two sapphic sleeping beauty retellings. And yet the three different sapphic sleeping beauty retellings are all very different and unique stories.

I'll start with Briar girls, the first of the sleeping beauty retellings

This one is not well known, I think, but I did enjoy it and it's sapphic. I'm honestly not sure if the characters are people of color but the author is.

Lena was cursed before she was born, and her touch is deadly. Interestingly, there's another book on his list that starts with the same premise. Lena has lived in fear and isolation her entire life and because of a mistake she recently moved to a new village. In the village, people are disappearing into the forest called the Silence and sometimes go back having gone mad. One night, Miranda appears from the forest, a girl from Gather, a city in the Silence where magic exists. She's on a quest to defeat the tyrannical rulers of the city, and offers to help Lena break her curse in exchange for help against the tyrannical rulers. To defeat these rulers, they'd need to wake the sleeping princess, which is where the sleeping beauty part comes in. This is a less traditional retelling, the major characters don't really follow the sleeping beauty characters, but the sleeping princess is a pretty major plot line.

Also by this author: Shatter the Sky duology

The Bone Spindle is the second sleeping beauty retelling, and follows two main characters in the first book.

Fi is a treasure hunter who loves books, ancient ruins, and mysteries. She goes on adventures alongside her sometimes partner Shane, a tough warrior axe lesbian.

During their explorations of old ruins, Fi pricks her finger on the bone spindle, which connects her to the ancient sleeping prince Briar Rose. Now she has no choice but to go on a quest to find and wake the prince, with magic, witch hunters and bad exes trying to stop her. And there's a mysterious witch that shows up sometimes, but they can't trust, and Shane might just end up falling in love with her.

This is the first in a trilogy, with book 2 coming out in February, and I'll have to reread book 1 before book 2 comes out because I don't remember enough. I think there's a cw for past abusive relationship for Fi, with the ex playing a big role in one section of the book.

Now for something completely different, Pride by Ibi Zoboi

This is a contemporary retelling of Pride and Prejudice set in a modern day afro latine community.

Zuri Benitez lives in "the hood", but the neighborhood she knows is rapidly gentrifying. The newest inhabitants are the Darcy family, a wealthy Black family with two teenage sons. Darius Darcy is this book's version of mr. Darcy, whereas his brother Ainsley is based on Mr. Bingley. Zuri instantly hates the Darcies, even as her older sister Janae is falling for Ainsley, but she and Darius are forced to find common ground.

This book is a hate to lovers romance, especially Zuri really hates Darius at first, but also deals with themes like gentrification and cultural identity. I loved how all the different P&P characters appear in this one and how many plot points are adapted to fit a modern day afro latine story.

Next up is Dark and Deepest Red by Anna Marie McLemore

In the Netherlands we have a big theme park called the Efteling which is based around stories and primarily fairytales. The oldest part is the fairytale forest, which has buildings and talking and moving statues and puppets depicting various fairytales. As a child, I loved the dancing red shoes, which is based on a fairytale that I didn't know at the time, but is about a girl who puts on red shoes and then can't take them off and is forced to keep dancing.

This book is a retelling of that fairytale. It is split up in two parts, one set in modern US and one set in Strasbourg in 1518.

In 1518, a strange sickness starts affecting the women of Strasbourg. A dancing plague that forces women to dance until they drop dead. Lala is a Roma woman hiding her cultural heritage in a time where it was legal to kill Roma. In public, she goes by the name Lavinia and explains her darker features by telling people she has Italian heritage. When the plague worsens and rumors of witchcraft arise, Lala becomes a suspect.

In the modern day story, Rosella comes from a latine family of shoe makers known for their red shoes. When she puts on a pair of red shoes, she can't take them off again. The only person who could help her is Emil, a Roma boy whose ancestors were blamed for dancing the plague in Strasbourg.

I love this author's writing, and have read two other books by them, both of which are magical realism. I think this one might count as magical realism too. Not all the strange events and magical happenings are explained in the end, so that might leave readers unsatisfied, but I think it was a conscious choice here. At its root, this is a story about racism, both in the 1500s and modern day. I also really liked that Lala's love interest Alifair is a trans boy who lives in the 1500s. Alifair is sort of adopted by Lala's aunt, whom Lala also lives with, so if you don't like those kinds of relationships, I wouldn't recommend this one.

Girl, Serpent, Thorn by Melissa Bashardoust starts out a bit similar to Briar Girls

The protagonist, Soraya, was cursed and her touch is deadly. This book has been mentioned as sleeping beauty inspired, which would give us a fourth sapphic sleeping beauty retelling, but very loosely, and I couldn't really see it. It is, however, a retelling of a few stories from the Shahnameh, the Persian book of kings.

Soraya is the princess of Atashar and twin sister of the Shah, but she has spent her life in isolation, scared that she might hurt someone by accident if they came too close.

When her mother was young, she found a girl trapped in a net, and freed the girl. Then she encountered a div, a demon who told her she'd just freed his prisoner and as a punishment he would curse her daughter.

When the Shah's army captures a demon, Soraya sees an opportunity to find out if there's a way to break her curse, and learn more about why she is the way she is.

She makes some decisions that lead her to paths she never could have imagined, discovers the truth behind what really happened to her, and that her curse might really be a gift.

This story is about loneliness, and the early part especially feels heavy with how lonely Soraya is, and how much her curse weighs on her. Her complicated relationship with her mother, who may not have told her the truth about her curse, was very interesting and I loved Parvaneh, the div girl who was captured by army.

Lost in the Never Woods by Aiden Thomas is a retelling of Peter Pan, set in a small coastal town in I think Oregon

Five years ago, Wendy Darling and her brothers disappeared. Several months later, Wendy turned up again with no memory of what happened to her, but her brothers stay gone. Now, children start disappearing and it might be connected to what happened to Wendy.

One night, she almost runs over an unconscious boy who turns out to be Peter Pan, a boy she told stories about but never realized was real. Peter tells her he needs Wendy's help to find the missing children, or they might disappear forever like her brothers.

This was an interesting take on Peter Pan, focusing primarily on Wendy and Peter Pan, with Peter's shadow as an antagonist. Wendy was a soft but strong main character, and I think the trauma of losing her brothers and not knowing what had happened was handled very well with lots of care and compassion.

Also by this author: The Sunbearer Trials, Cemetery Boys, both of which I covered before

The last book on this list is In Deeper Waters by F.T. Lukens

Prince Tal has spent most of his life hiding away in the palace to keep his forbidden magic secret. At sixteen, he finally gets to go out on a coming of age tour across the kingdom. After two days, they discover a burning ship abandoned on the sea, and on it a prisoner.

Tal instantly feels a connection to the boy, Athlen, but not longer after his rescue Athlen jumps into the sea and disappears. But a few days later he runs into Athlen again on land, very much alive. Then Tal is kidnapped by pirates holding him for ransom, and Athlen migh be his best chance of escaping.

This is a romantic fantasy retelling of the little mermaid, with Tal as the prince from the fairytale. It's not very long and the world could have been more developed, but the focus is mostly on the adventure and romance between Tal and Athlen.

Also by this author: So this is Ever After, which I covered in retellings part 1

Upcoming: Spell Bound, which will be about rival magicians with an m/nb romance, coming april 2023

@alastaircarstairsdefenselawyer @life-through-the-eyes-of @astriefer @justanormaldemon @ipromiseiwillwrite @a-dream-dirty-and-bruised @amchara @all-for-the-fanfiction @imsoftforthomastair @ddepressedbookworm @queenlilith43 @wagner-fell @cant-think-of-anything @laylax13s @tessherongraystairs @boredfangirl16 @artist-in-soul @bottomdelioncourt @ikissedsmithparker

[littlemisssquiggles]

RWBY Musings #77: The Puppet Who Wanted to be a Real Girl. Is Penny Polendina really back?

jade-rosepine asked “ While I didn't mind penny and all, I can't help asking; what was the point of bringing her back? I mean yeah wasn't beyond the realm of possibility. Only thing I could think of was to make ruby be forced to make a difficult choice - kill a friend to keep her from being used by the villians (she is still a robot and could, theoretically, be hacked by a way more advanced virus. Basically the cyber-version of brainwashing or possession!) OR let her live and be a slave to the baddies?”

Squiggles Answers: 

@jade-rosepine​ Whelp I was going to save this bit for my musing on the first episode of RWBY V7, but since you brought it up, I might as well voice my thoughts here. I’m going to be honest with you, fam. This squiggle meister has mixed feelings about Penny’s return.

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Heart of Machine

In the past, I was a big fan of the idea of Penny being rebuilt and returning for the Atlas Arc. However back then, I liked it under the pretence that she wouldn’t exactly be the same Penny Polendina that we all met back in V1. I figured she’d be an entirely different character and the justification for her being this way was so that the plot could’ve allowed for Ruby Rose to finally have some semblance of closure since it’s been shown throughout previous seasons how much Penny’s death has affected her emotionally.

As a matter of fact, as evidenced by her ‘Indomitable’ moment in V6, Penny’s death (along with Pyrhha’s and the events of the Fall of Beacon) are still a visible mental block to Ruby being able to fully utilize her Silver Eyes. Since Ruby was shown to still have much growing with mastering her unique power, I was hoping that part of her arc for this season would be coming to terms over her loss over Penny as I was certain being within her old friend’s home kingdom was bound to bring back memories of their time together.

Now I’m not so sure whether or not closure with Penny will still be in the cards for Ruby. It’s not he fact that Penny returned that troubles me. It’s the fact that she returned and is presumably supposed to still be her old self but fixed now. I’m sorry but I’m just not actively buying that at all. I mean, like you, I get that this feat wasn’t entirely impossible to do given that Penny was a robot and technology can be easily repaired; especially in a kingdom as technologically advanced as Atlas and especially by the hands of Pietro Polendina---the man who was literally described as the Greatest Mind in the kingdom. So yeah, Penny returning--- totally could have seen that coming. But that don’t mean I’m not heavily suspicious about it knowing these writers.  I still feel like there’s something’s awfully fishy about this whole plot twist.

This brings me to my hunch about Penny 2.0. I don’t believe that that’s Penny. I mean, she is her. She looks like her (albeit with a more updated design that is reminding me a lot of Bach Do’s design of her from her RWBY 3.0 art series). Talks like her and of course, acts like her. But I feel like this version of Penny is merely a shadow of the soul she once was. I still feel like the old Penny that Ruby befriended perished at the Fall of Beacon and what we’re seeing now before us is just a copy mimicking the behaviour of its original predecessor.

When Penny 2.0 first appeared, after getting over my initial shock and excitement of seeing the character again, I couldn’t help but shake this icky feeling in my gut that something was off about the new Penny. I know the series is trying to get me to think that Penny is back here but…I don’t know. I’m not entirely buying it. I feel like something is awry about this and not even her bright and shining smile in the opening is enough to quell my lingering suspicion. I can’t help but feel like something is going to happen to Penny…again.

Perhaps your theory will be correct here Jade. Perhaps it will be a case where Arthur Watts creates and implants his strongest computer virus yet into Atlas’ system which not only corrupts all the Atlesian Battle Droids in Atlas but all technology within the whole kingdom; Mantle included. This is inclusive of Penny 2.0 and possibly even Pietro Polendina’s mechanical wheelchair which goes haywire and knocks the poor old soul man off of his seat leading to Maria Calavera having to defend him and help him to safety.

Perhaps it will come down to Ruby having to fight an infected Virus Penny 2.0. However I don’t think Ruby will be forced to kill Penny. I think a moment like this will boil down to what’s stronger---hardware and programming or the soul.

It was stated back in V2 that Penny is the first (and possibly only one) of her kind. The first artificial lifeform to produce an aura. As we know, aura is described as the manifestation of one’s soul. Penny is supposed to be a soul within the body of a machine. While her body may be synthetic, at her core, she is supposedly human or the closest thing to it.

And since the V7 opening hinted at love being a major theme for this volume, it makes me wonder if we’re going to get a potential moment where a mind-controlled Virus Penny tries to harm Ruby but in the end, it’s the strength of the profound friendship shared between both girls that ultimately allows for Penny to combat the virus corrupting her machine software with the love she feels in her soul for her dear friend. Y’know love conquers all.

I wouldn’t even be too surprised if it’s a case where Penny ends up sacrificing herself to put a stop to Watts’ tyranny. Like Penny uses her core to cause a chain reaction that obliterates Watts’ powerful virus.

Dr. Polendina mentioned in the first episode that the only reason he was able to fix Penny in the first place is because Atlas was able to salvage her core from Amity Arena. Penny’s core is obviously an important part to her. I’m assuming it’s the part of her that contains the soul that’s keeps her alive. So no matter how many times Penny’s body is destroyed, so long as her core is still intact, she can be brought back. Why mention that little detail at all if it wasn’t going to be relevant later, ey?

What if … Penny’s core does eventually get destroyed. If that gets obliterated, then Penny---or at least the version of her that Ruby knew and loved--- will be gone for good this time.

I feel like the V7 finale could set up for a Terminator II type of conclusion where the machine our protagonist has grown to know and love over the course of their story is forced to sacrifice itself for the greater good of saving our hero from a dark fate. I feel like should your headcanon be made reality in the canon, we’re likely to see Penny sacrifice herself on the grounds that this time, there’s no coming back.

I can imagine Penny’s core being used as the key to stopping Watts reign over Atlas and this time, Ruby is allowed to do what she couldn’t do back in Vale. Not only would she get to save Penny but she would also get to officially say goodbye to her friend and tell her how much she loved her before tearfully watching her give herself up for the purpose she was built to do---save the world.

That’s how I’m more seeing things going down for Ruby and this newly rebuilt of Penny for their shared storylines this season. As per usual, these are only my headcanons here and I can very well be very much wrong in my prediction. But nevertheless, for now, I’m leaving this thought and theory on the table.

Then again, I’ve also gotten ahead of myself here.

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More Machine Than Man

Now that I’ve discussed how I figured Ruby and Penny’s story may conclude for V7, allow to me to voice my views on the build up to it.

As I’ve said, I feel very off about Penny being back. While I’m relishing in seeing her again, I also can’t feel a sense of this is too good to be true; y’know what I mean?

I feel like this is all a set-up. Like right now, both the audience and our main gaggle of heroes are left to believe that Penny had returned and she’s all good as new---almost like she never died at all, right?

But I feel like there’s a catch to that. I feel like at some point, in a later chapter of V7, Ruby is going to have her chance to spend some quality time catching up with Penny. At first, things seem pretty normal between them. They’re both laughing. Swapping stories…having a grand ole time with their heart to heart girl talk…only for Ruby to notice something quite off about Penny.

Like I have this scene imagined in my head. A scenario in which Ruby is supposed to head back down to Mantle to hang out with Penny P who’s finally have some free time to catch up with her old friend and desires to take Ruby on an official fun tour of Mantle---the nicer parts that is.

As a matter of fact, let’s say Penny invites the whole squad---JNPR_RWBY down for a night of fun and dancing down in Mantle with her and father. Pietro did mention in the first episode that he’s been working on shows that dance. Given his enthusiasm, dancing must’ve been one of Pietro’s favourite pastimes prior to losing function in his legs. So maybe, at some point, since the kids have all been working hard with their huntsmen duties and training, Pietro decides to treat them all to a nice of entertainment.

 Imagine if …Pietro and Penny take the group to an old fashioned Mantlese Carnival which is basically RWBY’s version of Mardi Gras with a big parade of bands with nonstop musical entertainment.

I was kind of hoping that our heroes would have reunited with Team FNKI while they’re in Atlas. But it doesn’t seem like they’ll be present at all for this season. Unless, it’s a case where our heroes run into them while out with the Polendinas.

Resuming my Mantlese Carnival idea, let’s say after the group finished watching the parade, the Polendinas lead them to an old-fashioned snazzy little joint whose taste in jazz music is as sweet as its food.

I couldn’t help but be reminded of jazz music and the blues by Pietro Polendina’s design and the way he talked. His sense of fashion is giving me mega New Orleans type of vibes. Like he walked straight out of the set for the Princess and the Frog.

Anyways, like I said, our heroes are treated to a night of music and dancing by the Polendinas but while out and about in Mantle, they also happen to run into none other than Neon Katt and Flynt Cole.

Like imagine the group enjoying a nice performance by a local jazz band in Mantle only to find out that one of the musicians is Flynt.

Neon is also there to either show Flynt support (as my headcanon is that the two are dating) or perhaps she’s part of the performance with him as a singer as she and Flynt deliver a sort of Jazz/Blues rendition of Neon’s classic theme. Why not, ey?

After briefly exchanging pleasantries and catching up with their ole pals from Vale, Flynt and Neon invite everyone to an underground Mantlese rave. So unfortunately for Pietro and Maria (who was his date/company for the night), the younglings end up ditching the old folk for a night of partying. Not that they minded. Even Penny was allowed to join the group at the rave.

So as promised since V2, Neon and Flynt take JNR_RWBY plus Oscar and Penny out partying. As a side note, I’m not sure if Oscar would even be allowed to set foot inside a club given his age as a minor. Like I can just imagine Oscar, innocent as ever like the country munchkin that he is, walking up to the club bouncer only to be immediately barred from entering for being both underage and looking the part. Like would you believe Oscar is actually his age given his short stature and baby face?  

As a matter of fact, the only way I can see Oscar being allowed inside of a rave is if a) he faked his age by having one of Flynt and Neon’s friends hack into Atlas’ s system and alter his birth date by two years (since I’m imagining Atlas using electronic ID scans that instantly verifies a person’s personal records by just scanning them on the spot) or b) Flynt and Neon pulls some strings to have Oscar allowed in as they’re known regulars of the club. Why not?

So the group are out having a grand ole time, and while enjoying themselves Ruby and Penny sort of skedaddle for a bit up to a private place where they can just talk to one another. Since y’know…it’s been so long since they shared a chat since one of them was presumed to be dead and all. Anyways, it’s during their talk that Ruby noticed something peculiar about Penny’s behaviour.

She keeps recalling memories of times she and Ruby shared in excruciating detail. But that’s not the part that threw Ruby off. No matter how many times the Silver Eyed huntress attempted to deviate the conversation and get Penny to talk her more about how she’s been doing since what happened at the Vytal Festival, Penny kept reverting back to recanting the same stories.

The hunch I had in mind here is: What if…Penny 2.0 is actually a copy of original Penny. Rather than being a soul mimicking human nature from within a mechanical body, it’s more a machine operating purely from memories that were transferred to it from its old former self.

When we first met Penny, while the implications of her being an humanoid were clear as day from the instant she first bumped into RWBY (I mean I certainly called that she was a robot from day one), you could also still tell that there was something remotely human in nature about Penny. I got that sense the first time Penny revealed to Ruby that she wasn't a real girl. You heard the strong tinge of genuine sadness in her voice as she said it which was what made her friendship with Ruby all the more pure. Their bond was wholesome and important to each other inspire of only knowing one another for a short space of time.

And when Penny died in V3, you didn't feel as if it was a machine being destroyed. You actively felt like a character---a real person died. We, as the audience, got to feel the same sense of sadness that Ruby Rose felt watching her dear friend die before her very eyes after failing to save her in time.

Ruby failed to protect Penny (and eventually Pyrhha too) which was what made her answer to Maria’s question in V6 all the more meaningful.

She wishes to master control of her Silver Eyes, not just for the sake of being able to vanquish the Grimm but for the sake of protecting the people who matter most to her---her friends and family. The people who love her as much as she loves them.

This also kind of presents another reason why I’m conflicted on Penny’s return. Penny being back all fixed and good as new as if the Fall of Beacon didn’t happen kind of puts a bit of a damper on Ruby’s trauma as a result of what happened. It’s one of those things that made me question why show Ruby suffering from flashbacks of her friends’ deaths just to have said friend return good as new.

As we saw during her ‘Indomitable’ moment in V6, thinking about Penny and her death caused Ruby to lose focus. Yes Ruby managed to summon her light to petrify the Leviathan. But not before using Jinn to buy her some time so she can concentrate and let’s also not forget that Ruby’s power didn’t work.

While she succeeded in petrifying the Leviathan, she failed to kill it. This to me was a clear indicator that Ruby hasn’t full mastered her unique power and still has much to grow. A detail that I was relieved the CRWBY kept since I never felt like Ruby’s indomitable moment was rightfully earned so it almost felt like a waste of a good moment, in my opinion

I’m probably in the minority here when I say this but I actually disliked Ruby’s Indomitable scene from V6. As I said, it wasn’t properly earned and that took me out of the whole moment.

Instead of watching Ruby go through an arc of learning to fully master control of her newfound abilities, struggling at first but also learning more about herself and her heritage in the process building up to this grandiose moment where she finally perfects her power.

Instead we spent two whole seasons with our little red rose being written to be rather neglectful of her eyes, never once further questioning its mysterious origins; not even when in the face of the very person who told the last person who first told Ruby about her eyes.

Ruby learnt about the Silver Eyes from Qrow during the finale of V3. Qrow, on the other hand, said he learnt about the Silver Eyed Warriors from Ozpin. Ruby had her chance to ask Oz for more on the Silver Eyes at any point during V5 or even V6. Instead the Writers have her question everything but her Silver Eyes…despite showing her using it again later in the season during the Battle of Haven.

It is such a darn shame that Maria Calavera was only brought in for V6. I honestly feel like her character and role as Silver Eyed mentor to Ruby should’ve been better utilized as early as V4. 

Instead I was left feeling that Maria’s presence in Ruby’s development was made irrelevant especially by the end of V6 when Ruby had her big brain idea to use her Silver Eyes on the Leviathan…despite having zero prior training. I don’t think that’s how progress is supposed to work? 

And let’s not forget the fact that Ruby has only known Maria for only four days since the entirety of V6 (and the start of V7) only took place over the course of four days in RWBY’s timeline.

So yeah, Ruby’s Mastery of her Silver Eyes has much more groundwork to do and I have a feeling the Writers brought Penny back to aid with that

Did they necessarily have to though? No not really. As a matter of fact, Penny 2.0 unfortunately falls into the ball park of how the Writers brought back Neopolitan in V6 for me. While it’s nice to see Penny again, I didn’t honestly need her back especially since her death was framed in such a symbolic way to the plot in terms of how it affected Ruby’s character these past few seasons. Now I’m left questioning what the whole point of all of that was.

Listen, I’m not trying to imply that bringing Penny back was a terrible idea on the Writers’ part. I’m more saying, I don’t 100% buy into it. Not exactly.

I honestly feel there is going to be a catch with this. The Writers can’t have Penny’s death still affecting Ruby only to just magically have that trauma and mental block magically disappear now that she’s back in the picture. They’re not gonna do that, right? 

They’re not gonna undo that big detail established in previous seasons, right?  I mean…it’s not like they’ve done things like this before, right?

Nuh uh. Not buying it. Hence my theory on Ruby having a moment with Penny 2.0 only to realize that she’s not exactly all good as new as she was proclaimed to be.

Either that or it’s a case where even though Penny is back, Ruby herself can’t seem to look past the past.

She can’t seem to shake the haunting fact that she once saw her friend die before her very eyes because she failed to help her. Like I’d figure that that memory would still remain as a nightmarish lingering thought in Ruby’s psyche. Right?

Like imagine this scene. A scenario where Ruby and Penny are out exploring Mantle together, catching up only for Penny to be called back to the line of duty when another alert of Grimm attacking the city blares it ugly head. As Penny flies off to do her thing, Ruby follows her below on foot determined to help her out. When Ruby finds Penny, she arrives just in time to see her down a couple of Saybers from attacking a couple of fleeing civilians.

Ruby calls out to Penny. Penny, in turn, spins around to wave to Ruby. But while Penny is distracted greeting her friend, she is neglectful of one stray Sayber that suddenly comes in from behind and slashes Penny straight through the chest.

Ruby looks on in complete horror as Penny 2.0 is once again cut down in front of her; the nightmares of her decapitation at the Vytal Festival resurfacing. And for a moment, Ruby freezes on the spot. She doesn’t even react as the same Sayber charges at her.

But before the Sayber could get to Ruby, it’s killed before it could lay a bloody talon on her. As Ruby looks up  slowly from her daze at her saviour , she sees that it was Penny. In spite of her damage, Penny was still functioning enough to protect Ruby.

Let’s say, for the sake of the scene, the rest of the heroes---JNR_WBY plus Oscar were down in Mantle too and overheard all the commotion from the emergency alarms; all seven huntsmen and huntresses arriving at the scene to aid with the rescue. 

Let’s say the others had seen what happened to Penny and immediately came to her side to quickly gather up her severed parts to take her immediately to Dr. Polendina so he could repair his daughter. 

As the others handled Penny, let’s say…Oscar approaches Ruby as he noticed the disturbed expression on her face. Oscar urges Ruby on the matter of them taking Penny to her father as quickly as possible. At first, Ruby reacts like she didn’t hear Oscar; apparently too lost in her own wild thoughts. It wasn’t until Oscar gently touched Ruby’s shoulder did she finally stir out of her stupor. Long story short, the heroes manage to get Penny 2.0 to Pietro in time. 

After studying her injuries, Pietro reports to everyone that Penny was going to be fine. She may be off duty for a couple of days given that he’ll need time to repair her. 

But beyond that, Pietro assured the group that Penny was going to make a speedy recovery; much to the relief of the heroes. But in spite of hearing the good news, this doesn’t serve to uplift Ruby’s mood and her bothered expression of deep concern is still apparent on her face. Even as JNPR_RWBY depart from the Polendina residence to return up to Atlas. 

As the group look to head back home, Oscar is the one to take notice of Ruby’s awkward silence. 

 I say Oscar of all people rather than her teammates or Yang since it’s been highlighted before that when Ruby is feeling pressured or looks distressed in some shape or form, Oscar is quick to pick up on that.

He’s also been shown to act out on trying to help Ruby in this type of emotional scenario. This is why should we ever get a moment like this in the canon, I can picture it being another prime chance for the Writers to show Oscar being an emotional crutch for Ruby.

If a scene like this ever comes to pass in the series, the way I see it going down is Oscar confronting Ruby again about Penny and the two sharing another heart to heart moment where he gets her to open up about her true feelings. I’ve been itching for another V5 Dojo-esque scene between the Rosebuds.

I’d love to see another example of Oscar helping Ruby through another emotional rut; particularly if it involves Penny.

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So to conclude…

I guess the main point I’m really trying to get at here with this musing post is that I don’t believe Ruby’s arc revolving around her grievances about Penny’s death is over. Even with her being back in her life.

It can’t be. Just because Penny was repaired and has returned doesn’t instantly erase the fact that she did die nor does it erase Ruby’s memory and clear trauma over it.  At least, I hope that’s not how the Writers are going to portray it. Ruby’s thing is that she sees Penny as a real girl. She sees her as a person. But Penny isn’t entirely a real person.

She possesses a soul of her own, yes (and I’m curious to learn the origins of said soul) but she’s also a machine. Her body is fake but at her core, she is a living being. Sort of---really need an origin episode on how Penny was created and where Atlas and Ironwood got the soul that’s a part of her.

Did it come from the Relic of Creation? Was Penny an unexpected by-product of the Relic’s power; brought to life by an experiment tested by Ironwood using the Relic of Creation? 

Is the Relic of Creation the RWBY equivalent of the Blue Fairy from Pinocchio? Is the being of the Relic of Creation inspired by the Blue Fairy from Pinocchio? 

Who knows? These are all questions I’m looking forward to this season answering for me.

But in the meantime, in regards to Ruby’s bond with Penny, We got to see Ruby grow to care for Penny as a person and what’s interesting to note is that Ruby has always valued Penny as more human than machine.

Keeping that in mind, picture if part of Ruby’s story with Penny for V7 is her leaning to accept that Penny isn’t a real person. This is why I like my theorized scene of having Ruby witness Penny 2.0 being cut down again; highlighting she’s still not over what happened at Beacon. Imagine if that creates an issue for Ruby where she actively feels uncomfortable at the thought of losing Penny time and time again since she can’t handle watching her friend getting destroyed in spite of the fact that she’s a machine that’s built to protect humanity.

I know this concept probably sounds rather farfetched based on how I’m describing it. However, that’s how I’m choosing to look at it; for now. Perhaps the story for this season might change my mind on that. We’ll see.

Anyways, that’s all I have to say on this subject matter for today. For the most part, I hope I managed to answer your question, Jade. As usual, please let me know if I did. I’m always open to hearing other FNDM fam members thoughts on my thoughts on my thoughts.

Similar to you, this squiggle meister is also left pondering why the Writers’ brought back Penny. It’s actually kind of sad that I have to question it. If I wasn’t so skeptical over the CRWBY Writers’ writing decisions given their recent track record then I wouldn’t be questioning this decision so much.

Right now my theories are my best bet at understanding why this decision was made for the plot but that don’t mean that that will be the case in the canon. I’m praying there is a good narrative reason for Penny’s return and that it wasn’t done as a gimmick to hype up the fans for the new season---y’know bringing back another fan favourite character just because they thought it would be quote, unquote, ‘cool to do’.

I didn’t like that that was the rationale for Neo’s return, as mentioned in the V6 DVD Commentary, and I’d be equally peeved if that was the rationale for Penny’s. Then again, maybe I’m getting too ahead of myself here. We’re only one episode into V7 so let’s not jump the gun. Let’s just be patient and wait and see what the rest of the season brings, ya?

Until then, hope you at least enjoyed my new musing post.

More Squiggles’ RWBY Content

 ~LittleMissSquiggles (2019)

[the-prince-and-the-thief]

//Y’all I hope you like text walls, because that’s what yer getting

|| The Basics ||

Name: Goro Akechi

Nickname(s): Detective Prince, Crow, Black Mask

Age: 18 (20 in some AUs)

Species: Human

Religious Belief: Not religious, would probably smile and nod if you said god deserved a shot in the head. 

|| Personal ||

Sins: Lust / Greed / Gluttony / Sloth / Pride / Envy / Wrath

Virtues: Chastity / Charity / Diligence / Humility /Kindness / Patience / Justice (He questions why chastity is a virtue but admits to being a virgin) 

Primary Goals In Life: Depends on the AU. The usual answer is “Make my dad’s life hell, then kill myself”. In the Amnesiac AU, his goal is just to regain his memories, as he knew he was working on something very important with Wakaba before the loss of his memories. In the Post-Game AU, he’s just trying to figure out what to do with his life. 

Languages Known: Japanese, some English (he’s not great at it but he tries.) 

Secrets: MANY. His whole life is a lie  Also he’s gay. He’s trying to keep that a secret but even some of his fangirls have figured it out. 

Quirks: Names everything in his house, obsessed with animals and pets but only has a roomba, gets distracted while talking easily and just starts rambling, gets much more formal when nervous, forgets to eat but when he does he eats p much everything, never seems to gain weight no matter what he eats, his hands are super sensitive so he almost never takes off his gloves, overthinks everything.

Savvies: Logic, deduction, investigation, planning, athletics, biking, bouldering, academics. 

|| Physical ||

Height: 5'10″

Weight: 141 lbs

Scars/Birthmarks: None. 

Abilities/Powers: A... a lot. Driving shadows berserk, Wild card abilities (multiple personas, etc), also he’s a very good detective despite uh, initially basically being rigged into his position. 

Restrictions: He’s weak to curses, both in the literal metaverse sense and the metaphorical sense. He really doesn’t handle the negative well-- criticisms, anger, sadness, etc. He is desperate for positive attention and craves love, to the point he’ll do stupid, stupid stuff to obtain what he wants. He has serious trust issues and mental health problems. Also, he’s not as free as he’d like in any aspect. His job and his conspiracy work basically make him a puppet to adults, while his reputation prevents him from being more open with himself and living normally, and his fangirls make it difficult for him to move about the city freely. He’s in a gilded cage. 

|| Favorites ||

Favourite Drink: Coffee. (In terms of alcohol, a Kahlua iced coffee.) 

Favourite Pizza Topping: I can see him liking Margherita pizza and pesto pizza a lot. 

Favourite Color: Beige. YES REALLY. Second favorite color is wine red. 

Favourite Music Genre: death metal He’s not picky, but classical or instrumental stuff is nice! He really likes the work of Yuki Kajiura!

Favourite Book Genre: If it is a book that isn’t a textbook, he will read it. He actually likes fantasy and sci-fi books with deep lore, but he doesn’t have a lot of time to read them. He has a secret love of romance novels because they’re the closest he’ll ever get to romantic interaction.

Favourite Movie Genre: He actually doesn’t watch a lot of movies. Romance movies though. He cries over romance movies. 

Favourite Season: Spring~. It’s the perfect season to go out and do things! 

Favourite Butt Type: He doesn’t care as long as it’s cute and perky. Ren’s. Ren’s butt basically. 

Favourite Swear Word: Judging by the game? Shit. 

Favourite Scent: Vanilla. His shampoo is vanilla scented. He likes the scent of coffee a lot too. 

Favourite Quote:  He’ll say it’s some deep philosophical quote from something obscure. He’ll say that. But. His favorite quote is “I am the rose that slashes evil”. He really likes Tuxedo Mask. 

|| Fun Stuff ||

Bottom or Top: Bottom mostly, but he’d probably switch every once in a while. 

Sings In The Shower: Only when he’s in a really good mood. So almost never.

Likes Bad Puns: Will shoot you if you make one in his presence. 

Morality: Lawful / Neutral / Chaotic / Good / Gray / Evil (the crossed out ones are the real ones) 

Build: Slender / Scrawny / Bony / Fit / Athletic / Herculean / Babyfat / Pudgy / Obese / Other.

Favourite Food: He doesn’t actually know! He does like sweets a lot though, and genuinely does love pancakes. Despite being something of a glutton/gourmet/foodie, he doesn’t really pay much attention to what he’s eating most of the time-- mostly because he barely eats. 

“Boss” Theme Music : Will Power

Their Opinion On The Mun: "She seems like a reasonable enough person, however... if she could stop calling me... any of the things she calls me... I would greatly appreciate it.” He’s being nice he hates my guts. 

|| The Basics ||

Name: Ren Amamiya

Nickname(s): Renren, Frizzy Hair, Joker, Whatever insult Akechi feels like calling him at the moment. 

Age: 17 (19 in some AUs)

Species: Human

Religious Belief: He’s not religious but he would say Satanism to troll people. 

|| Personal ||

Sins: Lust / Greed / Gluttony / Sloth / Pride / Envy / Wrath

Virtues: Chastity / Charity / Diligence / Humility /Kindness / Patience / Justice 

Primary Goals In Life: Dependant on the AU. He considers reforming society to be extremely important in all of them, though. It’s more a matter of what he decides to focus on. Default, his main focus is on the phantom thieves. Black Gloves Ren’s ultimate goal is to free Akechi from the rigged game they’re playing and give him true freedom and happiness. Post-Game Ren’s goal (which he’s embarrassed admitting) is to get into politics so that he can campaign for human rights (especially LGBT rights and criminal justice reform), and one day making it so he can one day marry the person he loves. (He also wants to propose to Akechi literally the second gay marriage is legal in his country, either in public or private.) 

Languages Known: Japanese, English (Black Gloves speaks it fluently, the others are about as good as you’d expect a Japanese high schooler to be at English). 

Secrets: Only really applicable to Black Gloves Ren. I mean, aside from the whole being a phantom thief thing. Black Gloves Ren is hiding that he remembers the timelines because he thinks nobody will believe him. 

Quirks: Basically unreadable most of the time. His poker face is godly. He flirts a lot, but if you flirt with him he’ll absolutely lose it. Cats seem drawn to him. Tends to bring up earlier conversations much, MUCH later at the worst time possible. A huge troll always. 

Savvies: MAX STATS BOYEEEEE, athletics, is being a cocky little shit a savvy? Because that. Making coffee, cooking, somehow getting the top grades in school without ever studying, out-gambitting major conspiracies.

|| Physical ||

Height: 5'9″

Weight: 145 lbs (yeah he weighs more than Akechi. It’s mostly muscle.) 

Scars/Birthmarks: Idk why but I can see him having a mole on his right shoulder. I have no good reason for this. My brain just says “yes, this would look good.” 

Abilities/Powers: Wild Card abilities. 

Restrictions: Much like his persona, he’s weak to bless. By which I mean his luck is total ass. Nothing goes right for him, no good deed goes unpunished, and if it weren’t for his sheer skill and the people around him, he’d basically be totally fucked always. Also, he’s kind of a criminal on probation and whatnot. 

|| Favorites ||

Favourite Drink: Coffee.

Favourite Pizza Topping: “Pineapple and anchovies.” Ren. Ren. Now is not the time to troll. He actually doesn’t care. 

Favourite Color: Beige. Black and dark gray. “Like my soul.” REN PLZ. 

Favourite Music Genre: He likes things like Jazz and Rock. 

Favourite Book Genre: B O O K. He’ll read pretty much anything. 

Favourite Movie Genre: He’s not particular. He just likes watching movies in general. Obviously though, he loves heist/criminal/thriller stuff. 

Favourite Season: Winter. He likes snow and cold. 

Favourite Butt Type: “Same as Sir Mix-A-Lot” Ren, why do you know that song???? 

Favourite Swear Word: Fuck. Preferably said quietly. 

Favourite Scent: Coffee. He also likes the scent of curry, but he wouldn’t want to be surrounded by it all the time. 

Favourite Quote:  “Where is the real you?” 

|| Fun Stuff ||

Bottom or Top: He likes being a top but he’s also a massive masochist so, honestly, it’s 50/50.

Sings In The Shower: No, but he’ll hum. 

Likes Bad Puns: “I am the pungeon master, here to punish evildoers.” 

Morality: Lawful / Neutral / Chaotic / Good / Gray / Evil 

Build: Slender / Scrawny / Bony / Fit / Athletic / Herculean / Babyfat / Pudgy / Obese / Other.

Favourite Food: CURRYYYYYYYYYY. It wasn’t his favorite food before going to Tokyo, but it is now. It just has a lot of good memories for him. 

“Boss” Theme Music : Last Surprise

Their Opinion On The Mun: "Heh. She’s fun. I’ve never seen someone who pushes Akechi’s buttons as much as I do.” 

Tagged by: Stole

Tagging: All yall

[theonyxpath]

In advance of the upcoming release of Chicago by Night, please enjoy these story hooks from the upcoming Chicago Folios stretch goal:

V5 Chicago Folio illustration by Michael Gaydos

Dearest Club Member

We would be delighted to see you at the annual Evening of the Flesh this coming month. We, the Black Roses, will be arranging the meet-up this year, and can truly say, it will be even bigger, even better, and even more interesting than in years prior. We have special playtoys we cannot wait for you to get your hands on, and I am sure they will happily oblige your every desire. If not, we will make them — like we always do.

Per our code, this event must stay strictly confidential. We wouldn’t want any disturbances to ruin our night (no one could forget last year’s near slip-up). This year’s theme will be “The Blood”, so please dress accordingly — think of something that reminds you of what gives you life. Perhaps, a red dress? Maybe a burgundy tie? Even shoes count! As long as your appearance channels that which we all burn for.

The guests this year will be young, so please be on your best behavior. We don’t want to scare the poor things, at least not until reach the end of our little ordeal. After all, they are not used to the ways of our club. Still, they did not earn their blood, and make better meals than anything else.

Remember, you can always bring a plus one. But make sure this individual is ready for all the fun controversies we will be embarking on. Most importantly, they will have to keep quiet. We don’t want a certain royalty to hear about our games.

We look forward to seeing you,

The Black Roses

Exclusive Invitation

Cast: Annabelle (Chicago by Night, p. XX), Karyn Stanislava (p. XX), The Black Roses — a secret society within a secret society

What Happened:

Every year for the past decade, a group known as the Black Roses assembles in Chicago for a debauched party in which they enjoy every pleasure flesh and blood can give. Though many such parties take place across the States, the Black Roses’ events are a special kind of depravity, as the members of the secret group test each other’s Humanity and attempt to tease the Beast to the surface with every sinful act.

Though rumors of the Black Roses have extended beyond Chicago’s boundaries, few know the identities of vampires within the club. The Toreador Black Rose known as Karyn Stanislava is only known because she often organizes the more palatable entertainments and has to coordinate with other vampires to hire gifted retainers and Kindred-aware security. Karyn is sworn to silence on the matter of the remaining names on the guest list, and it’s possible she doesn’t even know them. The club insists its members wear masks and are forbidden from uses of their vampiric Disciplines (at least from using them on each other) when the Black Roses come together.

The group name implies a largely Toreador society, but Annabelle has voiced her displeasure with the vulgar club for its acceptance of diablerie. An invitation found from the last session discusses feeding from the young, which turned out to be thin-bloods imported into the city, one of whom escaped.

The Prince would like this group shut-down completely; while a secret society for now, the longer the festering debauchery remains contained, the worse the explosion when someone finally penetrates its shell.

What Could Happen:

•       A member of the coterie receives an invitation to attend a party with the Black Roses and finds themselves in an exclusive soiree where no sins are off-limits. Thoughts fly to the debased practices of the Sabbat and the Church of Caine, and any vampire experiencing these “pleasures” runs the risk of falling to their Beast.

•       Annabelle recruits the coterie to infiltrate the Black Roses’ next party, reasoning that if everyone remains masked, they should find doing so no trouble at all. The party is horrific in every way, compelling vampires with higher Humanity ratings to burn the whole thing down before leaving. During the party, it’s possible one of the members of the coterie might discover a known (and ostensibly humane) Kindred is one of the other guests. Keeping their identity a secret is enough to command a boon or gain a Contact, though that vampire might subsequently become an antagonist.

•       One of the coterie’s thin-blooded associates disappears, with rumors abounding that the Black Roses are snatching up thin-bloods for party food. Annabelle tips the coterie off to Karyn Stanislava’s location, giving them the opportunity to get even or gain information.

Attribute Focus: Social

Karyn Stanislava

Clan: Toreador

Sire: Hathaway, “The Menshevik”

Embraced: 1930 (Born 1907)

Ambition: Make the Black Roses more impressive year after year

Convictions: Never let them know your true power

Touchstones: Arturo — loyal, long-time retainer

Humanity: 2

Generation: 9th

Blood Potency: 2

Attributes: Strength 2, Dexterity 2, Stamina 2; Charisma 4, Manipulation 4, Composure 2; Intelligence 2, Wits 4, Resolve 3

Secondary Attributes: Health 5, Willpower 5

Skills: Athletics 3, Melee 2, Stealth 1; Animal Ken 2, Etiquette 4, Insight 2, Intimidation 1, Performance 3, Persuasion (Seduction) 4, Subterfuge (Innocence) 5; Awareness 1, Finance (Investments) 3, Medicine 1, Politics 1

Disciplines: Auspex 2, Celerity 2, Obfuscate 1, Presence 2

Help for Hire — Warehouse Rebuild

Several able-bodied and robust younger people are needed for a complete rebuild of my warehouse in Lincoln Park. The warehouse was previously used to store auto-parts but has been empty since 2001. It is now needed for a new project, and therefore, I seek help to spark life into the old halls once again. The warehouse refurbishment needs to be ready in a very short span of time. In order to be a part of the project, you need to meet certain requirements:

•       You will need to be available sixteen hours a day every day for two weeks. This may seem intense, but I need this job done as soon as possible. You will be paid very well for your time and effort. Therefore, I seek individuals who do not have immediate family to attend to and are currently unemployed.

•       You will need to be between the ages of 18 and 40.

•       You will need to be in a physically good condition to perform the job. My only requirement is you are not currently sick.

•       You cannot bring any cellular devices or means of communication. This is simply because I need your full attention while you are here, and I do not tolerate sloppiness or distractions.

These requirements must be met for you to seek this position. In return you will get:

•       Full housing and accommodations during your two weeks. A trailer with everything you need, including kitchen and bath will be available to you.

•       $50/hour + an additional $10/hour during night and weekend shifts.

•       A starting bonus of $1,000 with a signed work contract.

If this catches your interest, please contact me on the enclosed cellphone number or send a letter to my PO Box. My personal assistant will be answering your calls during daytime since I am often busy or out of the office. I will be available for brief questions or any other inquiries typically from 9 PM – 11 PM, as I will be in office.

Kind Regards,

Amelia Locke

Seeking Employment

Cast: Amelia Locke (p. XX)

What Happened:

It’s a simple enough sounding ambition: Amelia Locke, childe of Joseph Peterson, wants to create a new Elysium.

She has the property, which was an old warehouse near Lincoln Park gifted to her by her exiled sire. Now, she just needs to figure out what to turn it into. Her lover, Tatyana, suggested a club, but there are already plenty of those in the city. She’s reached out to Annabelle and Kathy Glens, who suggested a gallery or an auditorium, respectively, but neither prospect appeals.

This vampire journalist is hard-nosed but willing to listen to ideas. All she needs is a good one. Something that might leave a new mark on the Chicago map. It’s the kind of enterprise any aspiring Camarilla vampire might get behind.

What Could Happen:

•       The coterie provides Amelia with financial backing for whichever venture she decides to undertake. Doing so earns them Amelia as a one-dot Mawla, but the investment takes a long time to yield results as the Ventrue’s many advisors suggest everything from a theatre to a board game café.

•       The coterie attempts to directly influence Amelia’s decision, living their fantasies through her. Unless they’re subtle, she rebukes any attempts at control and becomes a one-dot Adversary for each member of the coterie. She’s not interested in being someone’s puppet. If they are subtle, they may convince her to invest in a business that matches their interests.

•       The one idea Amelia hasn’t considered but would gain the backing of the Hellenes and the Tremere of the city, is a new city library. It would appeal to her journalistic desires, and if other vampires get their way, could even provide a secret study and reading room for Kindred texts. It wouldn’t make a massive splash on the social scene but would provide a place of quiet contemplation for vampires of the city.

Attribute Focus: Mental / Social

[balkinbuddies]

We’re celebrating July 4th with  the ALAN Review article entitled “Where Are They Now? Remembering Our Most Popular Young Adult Authors.”

     An article written by Don Gallo appeared recently in the Summer 2019 issue of The ALAN Review entitled “Where Are They Now? Remembering Our Most Popular Young Adult Authors.” Among those remembered were four authors with whom I worked very closely during my years at HarperCollins and, with Don Gallo's and the ALAN Review's permission, I'm including those remembrances on the Balkin Buddies blog:

     Here they are in  the order they appeared in the article:

Paul Zindel [Tied for first place with S.E. Hinton in 1988]*

    Paul Zindel's death in March 2003 ended the brilliant career of a unique individual. Not only did he win a Pulitzer Prize for Drama and an Obie Award for Best American Play in 1970 for The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds (1965), but he was also one of the earliest writers in the field of contemporary literature for young adults. The Pigman, published in 1968, is still one of the most well-known and widely taught novels in the genre. He followed The Pigman with My Darling, My Hamburger (1969); Pardon Me, You're Stepping on My Eyeball (1976), The Undertaker's Gone Bananas (1978); Harry and Hortense at Hormone High (1984); and other novels with attention-getting titles. His writing revealed how well he understood teenagers, believing that “adolescence is a time for problem-solving – for dealing with the awesome questions of self-identity, responsibility,  authority, sex, love, God, and death” (Gallo, 1990, p. 228).

     In addition to Gamma Rays, this versatile author wrote a number of other plays, including And Miss Reardon Drinks a Little (1971) and Ladies at the Alamo (1975), as well as a number of movies and television scripts that include Up the Sandbox (1972), starring Barbara Streisand; Mame (1974), starring Lucille Ball; Runaway Train (1985), starring Jon Voigt; Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking-glass (1985), with a cast of 50 stars that included Red Buttons, Ringo Starr, Scott Baio, and Shelley Winters; Babes in Toyland (1986), starring Drew Barrymore and Keanu Reeves; and A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court (1989), starring Keshia Knight Pullman. During those years working in Hollywood, Zindel associated with numerous movie and television actors and became good friends with Walter Matthau who lived in the house next door.

     In his later years, Zindel, always knowing what would appeal to teen readers, turned from realistic fiction to monster/horror books, such as The Doom Stone (1996), Rats (1999), and Night of the Bat (2001) – all of them filled with suspense and action and all selected as Quick Picks for Reluctant Young Adult Readers.

     Zindel reveals a lot about himself in his 1987 autobiographical novel, The Amazing and Death-Defying Diary of Eugene Dingman, except that the fictional Eugene grows up in Bayone, New Jersey, while Paul grew up on Staten Island, New York. Of his teen years, Paul says bluntly: “I was an awkward freak.” More about Zindel's early life, family, and adventures can be found in his autobiography, The Pigman and Me (1992), which was named one of the 100 Best of the Best Books published for teenagers during the last part of the twentieth century.  In 2002, the American Library Association bestowed upon Paul Zindel the Margaret A. Edwards Award for lifetime achievement, and later that same year, he was presented with the ALAN Award for his contributions to young adult literature.

M. E. Kerr [Tied for fourth place with Robert Cormier and Katherine Paterson in 1988]*

     Writing under the pseudonym of M. E. Kerr, Marijane Meaker was one of the earliest authors to gain notoriety in the YA publishing world with Dinky Hocker Shoots Smack!, published in 1972. Among her 20 popular novels are Is That You, Miss Blue? (1975), I'll Love You When You're More Like Me (1977), Gentlehands (1978), Him She Loves? (1984), Night Kites (1986), the Fell series (1987, 1989, 1991), and Deliver Us from Evie (1990). Kerr has always chosen to write about differences in people, “understanding them....trying to make sense of it all, never losing sight of the power love lends.”

     In an interview published in Teenreads, she explains her motives: “I was very much formed by books when I was young....I was a bookworm and a poetry lover. When I think of myself and what I would have liked to have found in books those many years ago, I remember being depressed by all the neatly tied-up, happy-ending stories, the abundance of winners, the themes of winning, solving,  finding – when around me it didn't seem that easy. So I write with a different feeling when I write for young adults. I guess I write for myself at that age” (“M. E. Kerr).

     Marijane Meaker began her career in publishing after she was unable to sell any of her stories to magazines. She presented herself as Ms. Meaker, a literary agent with six clients, and sent out her own work under various pseudonyms, male as well as female. One was a middle-aged female teacher writing true confessions (at $300 a story); another was a young college woman selling to magazines, such as Redbook and Ladies Home Journal; a third “author” told a story, titled “I Lost My Baby at a Pot Party,” about her child wandering from a house where a saleslady was pitching Teflon pots. Along the way, a Gold Medal Books editor convinced her to write a novel about sorority life, for which she earned $4,000 a book at a penny a word. This very resourceful writer also published two or three adult mysteries a year under the name of Vin Packer, and other novels were penned as Ann Aldrich and Laura Winston. Her books for children are published under the name Mary James. “A lot of my stories,” she says, “sold well enough for me to enjoy trips to Europe, an apartment off  Fifth Avenue in New York City in the 90s, and a Fiat convertible.”

     M.E. Kerr's novels for teens have won multiple awards, including a Christopher Award in 1978, a Golden Kite Award from the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators in 1981, a California Young Readers Medal in 1992, the Margaret A. Edwards Award from the American Library Association in 1993 for her lifetime contribution to young adult literature, the Knickerbocker Award for Juvenile and Young Adult Literature in 1991, the ALAN Award in 2000, and the Golden Crown Literary Society Award for her groundbreaking works in the field of lesbian literature in 2013. In 1996, Long Island University awarded her an honorary doctorate.

     A collection of her short stories for teens – dealing with dating, love, race, bigotry, homosexuality, self-love, and  acceptance – titled Edge,  was published in 2015. And Highsmith: A Romance of the 1950s, a memoir recounting Meaker's relationship with famous mystery writer Patricia Highsmith, was published in 2003. Still writing at the age of 91, Meaker recently completed a novel about gay life in New York City during the 1940s and how she became a literary agent for her own work. It's titled Remind Me, based on the lyrics of an old song from that time written by Jerome  Kern and Dorothy Fields (1940): “Remind me / Not to find you so attractive / Remind me that the world is full of men.

Katherine Paterson [Tied for fourth place with Robert Cormier and M. E. Kerr in 1988]*

     Born in Qing Jiang, China, in 1932, the middle daughter of missionary parents, Katherine Paterson has lived in a variety of places, from Tennessee, Virginia, Maryland, and New York City to China and Japan, where she was a Presbyterian missionary. She now lives in Montpelier, Vermont.

     Her highly regarded novels include The Sign of the Chrysanthemum (1973), Of Nightingales That Weep (1974), Master Puppeteer (1975), and Rebels of the Heavenly Kingdom (1983), but she is known best for Bridge to Terabithia (1977), which won the Newbery Medal in 1978; The Great Gilly Hopkins (1978), which won the National Book Award in 1979; Jacob Have I Loved (1980), which won the Newbery Medal in 1981; and Park's Quest (1988), which made The Horn Book Fanfare Honor List in 1988. Published in 1996, Jip, His Story won the Parents' Choice Story Book Award and the Scott O'Dell Award for Historical Fiction in 1997. In 2006, Bread and Roses, Too won the Christopher Award and was a Bank Street Best Children's Book of the Year, a Notable Social Studies Trade Book for Young People, a Parents' Choice Gold Medal historical fiction book, and one of Voice of Youth Advocate's Top Fiction for Middle School Readers.

     Paterson has also authored several autobiographical books about her writing, including Stories of My Life (2014), and is a coauthor of Consider the Lilies (Paterson & Paterson, 1986), a nonfiction book about various plants of the Bible that she wrote with her husband, John.

     Over her long writing career, Paterson has also received a long list of awards for her body of work. Among them are the Kerlan Award from the University of Minnesota (1983), the ALAN Award (1987), the Hans Christian Andersen Medal for Writing (1998), the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award (2006), the Laura Ingalls Wilder Award (2013), and the Massachusetts Reading Association Lifetime Award, along with writing awards from Germany, France, and Sweden. In 2000, she was declared A Living Legend by the Library of Congress, and for 2010-2011, Paterson was the US Ambassador for Young People's Literature. She is also the recipient of more than a dozen honorary degrees, including ones from Vermont College of Fine Arts, the University of Maryland, Hope College, and Washington and Lee University.

     Paterson's latest novel is My Brigadista Year (2017), set in Cuba in 1961 during the literacy campaign that made Cuba a fully literate nation in  one year.

Robert Lipsyte

     The author of The Contender (1967) turned 80 years old this spring, as his ground-breaking novel passed the 50-year mark in print. Lipsyte is also the author of One Fat Summer (1977), Summer Rules (1981), The Brave (1991), The Chemo Kid (1992), The Chief (1993), and Raiders Night (2006) for teens, and for young readers, The Twinning Project (2012). Lipsyte's list of publications for teenagers isn't especially lengthy when compared to those of some authors who have been writing for the same length of time, but that's because writing books for and about teenagers is only one kind of work he has done especially well. He has also published a number of short stories, essays about sports issues, and biographies of several sports celebrities, such as Muhammad Ali, Jim Thorpe, and Michael Jordan, as well as several nonfiction books for adults, including Nigger, with Dick Gregory (1964), the African American satirist; Sportsworld (1975/2018); and Idols of the Game (1995). As the author of The Contender, one of the very first realistic novels about contemporary teenagers, Robert Lipsyte was honored with the Margaret A. Edwards Award by the American Library Association in 2001.

     And that's not all. Among other things, Robert Lipsyte has been a highly respected columnist and prize-winning sports reporter for The New York Times, a correspondent for the CBS television program Sunday Morning with Charles Kuralt; the host of his own award-winning television interview program, The Eleventh Hour, on New York City's public television station, WNET Channel 13; author of a television documentary series about sports; and the Life (Part 2) series for PBS-TV on subjects of interest to older people. He is also the author of an entertaining memoir, titled Accidental Sportswriter (2011).

     In addition to speaking at a lot of high schools, Lipsyte recently has been flying to North Carolina for a week at a time to teach at Wake Forest University, which he says he enjoys very much. He continues to write a monthly column, mostly on local politics, for his hometown weekly, The Shelter Island Reporter, which he says “gives me as much pleasure as the old Times' column.” He also occasionally writes about sports and politics for a site called Tomdispatch, which distributes to a batch of leftish publications like The Nation and The Guardian. If that's not enough, after his cameo on the O.J.: Made in America documentary film (Edelman, 2016) that won an Oscar, he gets called often to pontificate on various TV documentaries, most recently on one about Sonny Liston, three on  Muhammad Ali (including one by Ken Burns), and another on that “hard year” 1968.

     Meanwhile, this very busy author has been promoting the film, Measure of a Man (Scearce, 2018), starring Donald Sutherland, based on One Fat Summer, Lipsyte's 1977 novel about a bullied teen. View the trailer at https://trailers.apple.com/trailers/independent/measure-of-a-man/. “I have toyed with a new YA novel,” he claims, but where will he find the time?

     *Based on the list of 169 authors' names Mr. Gallo sent to 41 present and past officers of ALAN in 1988, asking them “to identify the most important and popular YA fiction writers of the time and to add other names of writers they felt were as important.” Due to space limitations, he “limited this investigation to the top 30 authors included on that 1988 list.”

     The ALAN Review   Summer 2019

     Reprinted with permission from the ALAN Review and Don Gallo.

     I hope you enjoyed this excerpt and get to read the entire article. Personally, I feel honored to have worked with such incredibly talented authors as well as with all the amazing people at ALAN.

     For information on Balkin Buddies, be sure to visit our website or blog.

Catherine Balkin, Balkin Buddies

[momestuck]

Epilogues: Meat ch 1-8 [Epilogue 1]

I’m eating so you get one more of these before I try to salvage a bit of work from today.

We’ve read through the whole of the ‘Candy’ branch of the story. It went places! Spoilers for it below.

Somehow Jane turned into a fascist dictator, Karkat became a heroic resistance leader, a whole lot of ships were made and broken, Dirk killed himself but somehow it was fake (???), John went through multiple existential crises and a failed marriage, Jade destroyed Dave and Karkat’s relationship but ultimately got with Dave, Gamzee was brought back to perform a ‘redemption arc’ and was generally awful but ultimately ended up getting sexually assaulted and then murdered by Vriska, let’s not forget that the cast had three entire fucking babies and one of them ran into her own namesake... and Obama was there. And that’s not even covering all of it...

But that was all in a universe that was ‘inconsequential’; it was in a bubble disconnected from ‘canon’, spread out on the event horizon.

Now we wind the clock back, and consider what happens if John chooses on that day to go forth, recruit a group of other selves from elsewhere in Paradox Space, and fight Lord English, as ‘canon’ dictates he eventually must...

Chapter 1

This one is in second person, and features narrative prompts, which was also true of the first chapter of Candy.

This time, John eats the meat in a really gross way, manages to not puke everywhere, says awkward goodbyes, writes a bunch of letters, and fucks off back into Canon(TM).

Not a lot to say about that! P much what we expected. Wonder where he’s gonna end up?

Chapter 2

I pretty much expected them to dive straight into Canon, but no, in fact similar plots as the first one seem to be abrew. We meet Dave and Karkat - no Jade here, this time - as Dave breaks the news of Jane’s presidential bid.

So, Dave proposes, Karkat should run against her. Which was a possibility floated in the other story... it does feel rather like, at this point, whatever V said, I might have read them in the wrong order.

Dave brings up Obama as a reason he’d want to see a good president - Obama who, in Dave’s timeline, got killed by meteors before he could ‘fix the economy’. Which I guess makes his appearance in the other branch a little less of a non-sequitur, though still fucking weird don’t get me wrong!

DAVE: or maybe not... maybe there was like an escape hatch in the white house that led to his own secret presidential session of sburb

DAVE: what if hes just chillin there now

KARKAT: DAVE, I THINK WE’VE COVERED YOUR “OBAMA’S SECRET SESSION OF SBURB” THEORY WELL ENOUGH ALREADY.

So the Obama chapter was all payoff for a very long term brick joke? This is not the revelation I expected to be having in Meat.

Anyway, Dave basically explains how scary it is to have the human government in charge of troll reproduction, echoing Karkat’s words back at him. Apparently the way the whole weird eugenic system got put in place was that, before Kanaya arrived with the Mother Grub, the government reproduced trolls exclusively ectobiologically.

The other issue is... The Economy. We get a little note that, indeed, this is an alchemy-based post-scarcity economy:

DAVE: ok if shit goes sideways i guess we arent gonna see like raggedy turtles and pauper chess men standing in bread lines or anything

DAVE: thats just the nature of alchemy-based post-scarcity economies the depressions tend to be pretty mild

DAVE: but it will still be bad

DAVE: a healthy economy is fuckin IMPORTANT

DAVE: if for no other reason than it protects the societal context for what it means to be fucking rich, like us

So uh what do they spend money on... I guess there’s services, those can’t be alchemised (except for the fact that ludicrously advanced robotics exists?). someone actually has to work the alchemizer...

Anyway most of this chapter is... electoral strategy.

DAVE: consorts overwhelm the other kingdoms in sheer numbers but due to unscrupulous gerrymandering, all kinds of fucked up voter suppression policies and some electoral “counterbalancing” measures to account for their ridiculous population growth rate their voting power per capita is kind of pathetic

DAVE: also its hard to drive turnout

DAVE: this may come as a shock but legions of easily distracted low information amphibians primarily concerned with eating bugs and farming god damned mushrooms arent the most politically motivated demographic

The chapter ends with Dirk calling Dave... to... cut off his head. Yeah. That joke again.

OK, this sure is a direction. Welcome to Homestuck Electoralism Edition I guess. They probably won’t have quite as many kids?

Chapter 3

John apparently has a specific list of retcon interventions, apopros of Rose. The first is to appear on the battleship during the three year journey in the non-canon, pre-retcon timeline, open a fridge containing Aradia and Gamzee (god I’ve forgotten so much), and take the ring that Aradia is holding (which ring is that again?). Then, John decides to shove Gamzee back in the fridge.

> Do everyone a favor and put an end to his preposterous narrative relevance.

You wisely decide that this clown will lend nothing valuable to the narrative whatsoever if he is allowed to remain outside of your childhood refrigerator. You put both hands on his chest and shove him into the fridge where he belongs. He goes easily, issuing only a pair of weak honks in protest. You slam the fridge shut and resolve to never think about Gamzee Makara again.

So... we’re going with that, huh.

I’ve said enough about the Gamzee Issue already perhaps. But I guess I thought they were going to do more than to bring Gamzee back mostly to mock the idea of ‘redemption arcs’, and ‘punish’ him some more for being a bad character.

Chapter 4

John interrupts two other retcon-Johns, one trying to cancel out the other, a Dave, and a grimbark Jade during some of the shit that happened when Jade got mind controlled or whatever... it’s been a long time...

Dave’s the first recruit, along with Jade. John gives him a rather half-assed explanation about why, after several years of ‘boring adult lives’, they need to go and fight Lord English now.

Chapter 5

Back to the real story: Dave and Karkat’s electoral bid.

Dirk has apparently been... playing the heel in televised rap battles to Jake’s face so that Jake’s endorsement of Jane’s political candidacy would be more effective. Yeah.

Also he disagrees with Dave on fiscal policy. The cad.

He has a rather weird conversation of alternately discouraging and encouraging Dave and Karkat’s opposition. Then, to round out the chapter, V and Cephied deliver... an entire stanza of Jake’s rap. Oh boy.

At the end, Dirk... tranquilizes Jake (????????) to take another call from Rose.

This is the ‘real’, ‘canon’ storyline now? Oh Homestuck.

Chapter 6

John’s assembled a group of god tier kids in his back garden. The alpha and beta kids are present, but there are no trolls.

There’s a rather uncomfortable moment (for the reader, as well as John) when young Roxy hits on adult John.

You weren’t prepared to get passively hit on by the Definitely Not Legal version of a girl you used to have a crush on at the age she was when you first met her, only a few hours after you watched the Actually Legal version of her engage in passionate hand-holding with her possibly aromantic skeleton alien monster girlfriend.

‘Legal’, really!

Anyway, John feels rather strained watching this rather rushed rehash of the reunion scenes from the original comic. He wonders about the ethics of all this...

You wonder. Do you see these teen versions of your friends as “real”? Are you treating them, at Rose’s behest, as simple puppets? Doing your part to insist they fill friend-shaped recesses in an essential plan to stabilize all else that can be considered important, a distinction no longer applying to them? Do you care at all about whatever fate it may be that you are sentencing these children to? Are you becoming as complicit in the fatalistic evils of Paradox Space as Lord English himself? Are you becoming a monster, John Egbert?

foooof i mean he’s not wrong! let’s call them the ‘child soldiers’ from here on out...

Chapter 7

Time to catch up with Rose. We finally learn what’s wrong with her: she’s ‘ascending’, taking on the full burden of the ‘ultimate self’.

The same is also happening to Dirk, but he is somehow more resilient to it. So that’s what Obama did to Dave, huh.

Also this puts the prompt ‘Dirk: Ascend’ before his suicide in a rather different light.

The pieces are thus falling into place: this is why Dirk was building a Rosebot. Quite possibly the Dirk and Rose who were flying away from Earth C in the Candy timeline actually entered it out of this timeline, which would explain how Dirk was alive.

Chapter 8

Time to see the full events of Caliborn’s ‘Masterpiece’.

This is all Caliborn dropping an extremely corny buildup:

CALIBORN: BUT NOW. THE TIME HAS COME.

CALIBORN: FOR EVERYONE TO SHUT UP ABOUT HOW GREAT MY MASTERPIECE WAS.

CALIBORN: AND THE TIME IS NOW AT HAND...

His laughter turns into a low, cracked gurgle. It spikes towards you in waves, distorts and pitches low. He is beyond pleased with himself, and with the line he is about to deliver.

CALIBORN: FOR YOU ALL TO *BECOME* MY MASTERPIECE!

We need more organs to give that the proper level of scare chord...

End of Epilogue 1

Well that explained at least some of the wild horseshit we experienced in Candy, I guess.

So somehow this is all according to keikaku, which is to say Dirk’s design - he fancies himself as an engineer, putting each piece in its proper place. Rose isn’t entirely in on it, but she will be. We still don’t know why Dirk’s doing this, why he needs Jane to be president, why he’s ultimately going to need a new SBurb session...

As for themes and stuff... this just felt like ‘setting the board’. Rather hastily, even though it’s a full eight chapters. Compared to the emotional heft of some of the stuff that happened in Candy, anyway... this is all plot.

[watchilove]

Jacob & Co. chose no other than one of the Opera Godfather as a gift bestowed upon the charity gala, for good reason. This timepiece takes pride of place among the brand’s collections. In 2019, Jacob & Co. entered into an agreement with Paramount pictures and gained the right to use and deploy The Godfather franchise into its own collections. The first result of this unique and inspiring partnership was the Opera Godfather, a musical, high complication timepiece of striking design. It plays The Godfather’s main theme on a music box integrated into the rotating movement with triple-axis tourbillon. Furthermore, this piece is designed to be a reference, a tribute and a memory capsule dedicated to the cult classic movie, which is turning 50 this year. Elements of the movie’s theater poster, set, costumes and overall narrative are integrated into the piece’s design, such as the rose Don Corleone wears at his daughter’s wedding, the puppeteer strings depicting the atmosphere of manipulation and betrayal of the movie, and a violin, used as a crown. This collection, by its sheer ambition and scope, has zero equivalent on a market crowded by generic designs and overwhelmed by vintage inspiration. This 1/1 Opera Godfather was housed in a rose gold case surrounded by transparent sapphire crystal. It differs from the core collection model, which currently carry a 300 000 € MSRP, by its wide red rose inlaid on the piano that’s part of the movement. https://www.instagram.com/p/ChdPZ9iLpm6/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[homestuckreplay]

Gamer Grandma Gits Gud!

(page 419-421)

7/30/2009 Wheel Spin: Captchalogue Lore Verdict: INCORRECT

7/31/2009 Wheel Spin: Parent Bad :( Verdict: EXTREMELY INCORRECT - true answer: Grandparent Good :)

There's an absolutely overwhelming amount of stuff in only three pages and LOADS to say, so I'm going to bullet point this to keep this as brief as possible because I try to write these posts within the timeframe of a single Mountain Goats album.

Rose + Dave

Those notification bubbles above the computer really exist, in Sburb at the very least! Rose knows that Dave is wearing those stupid shades confirmed.

The command is 'Rose: Pester John.' and Rose only half obeys this - she pesters, but it isn't John. Always cool to see characters push against commands, and to have expectations subverted for the reader.

Dave acknowledges that his bro might be taking puppet irony too far, and it's Rose he chooses to tell this to, explicitly saying 'don't tell John.'

Dave's bro's ventriloquist rap doll haunts him in his dreams?? This is definitely a normal sibling dynamic and definitely not something that's going to end up being super important given the general theme of the characters having dolls in their house.

What are Dave's bro's websites and are they anything like Dave's? Does Rose think Dave's bro is cooler than he is? Is this a sticking point in their friendship?

'I suspect he is preoccupied with the fact that he just had a bucket of water dumped on his head by the ghost of his dead grandmother, who also happens to be dressed like a clown.' Fucking insane thing for Rose to say. No wonder Dave has no idea what to make of it.

John + Nanna

Nannasprite is the coolest ever. Lots of her wisdom clearly comes from being a game NPC, but she dispenses it in such a grandmotherly fashion.

Nannasprite is also the most powerful character because she never has to retrieve her arms. She has one all the time, while everyone else is sometimes drawn without them.

Very interesting dynamic that John doesn't remember his nan from before she died, and is essentially getting to know her for the first time in gamesprite form.

Absolutely hilarious bit that Nannasprite pretends not to know what a computer is.

Dad + Imps

The imps on p.421 are both clown themed and have the same bodies, but different color schemes. One is a shale imp exactly like the one John thought - the other could be a different flavor of imp who drops different loot?

John is 'a fine young man just like [his] father' according to Nanna. I sure would love to know what Dad was like when he was young.

With the new knowledge of the strife portfolio, can we assume Dad uses both cakekind and broomkind? Possibly other fatherly household objects too?

Dad was kidnapped by 'the forces of darkness,' which doesn't sound very good. The imps seem like really low level enemies though, and not deserving of this title. Who do they work for? In D&D, imps are very low level fiends who serve devils and archdevils, and I believe this comes from Christian mythology. But imps aren't typically evil in and of themselves, just mischievous lackeys, so something bigger is happening.

The Lore!!!!

The Medium - makes me think of an artistic medium, as in a type/category of art or the material used to create art, or of a medium/middle between light and darkness or good and evil.

The Incipisphere - from incipient, 'beginning to happen or develop' + sphere, a uniform three-dimensional round shape. This is interesting, because the place is 'untouched by the flow of time' but also has just come into being with the beta release of Sburb and also 'somewhat paradoxically, almost has' existed apart from it. This works because I too have had older relatives tell me confusing stories that don't make logical sense.

John is not inside a computer or digital space, the computer served as a portal to a different physical space (which is also a ring of pure void). Computer (or fiction in general) as portal to another world is a common metaphor that is being made literal here.

Sburb probably dictates how much gamesprites know and how much they're allowed to tell the player. To what extent is Nannasprite 'pre-programmed' and to what extent is she making her own decisions? Is the lore she gives John completely reliable?

[lazyrants]

Little Sportacus (prod 206)

Original airdate: September 26, 2006

Story by Magnus Scheving

Written by Magnus Scheving, Mani Svavarrson, Noah Zachary

Directed by Magnus Scheving

Executive producers - Magnus Scheving, Ragnheidur Melsted, Raymond P. Le Gue, Brown Johnson, Kay Wilson Stallings

Starring Magnus Scheving, Stefan Karl Steffanson, Julianna Rose Mauriello, David Kristjan Olafsson

Puppeteers - Gudmondor Thor Karason, Jodi Eichelberger, David Matthew Feldman, Julie Westwood, Sarah Burgess, Ronald Binion, Emily Decola

Little Sportacus - another Sportacus themed episode! Sweeett!

The episode begins with Sportacus getting a letter from ten year old Tommy - 'What stuff did you do when you were ten?' He says his favourite game was dodgeball! (When I was ten, I loved dodgeball too!!)

Then at the end of the game (he cartwheels and flips and rolls to dodge the ball, awesome!) he catches the ball in his hand. Meanwhile, Robbie is in his lair, shaking with a bowl of popcorn in his hand, yelling 'It wasn't me!!' Possibly, having a nightmare about getting framed? Then he wakes up, and says that was a great nap. He grabs some chocolate.

But he is distracted by the sound of a rubber ball.. bouncing. Stephanie is walking with a basketball and she stops to tell her uncle what a wonderful day it is. Milford says it's a great day to do some yard work.

This is the exact type of scene to have 'Upphaf' from Latabæ as background music, and it does.. until Ziggy rides his bicycle without his training wheels. Stephanie tells him to use his brakes, and whaddya know? He hasn't learned how to do that yet. So, he's in trouble. And we all know who to call when Ziggy is in trouble. Sportacus - whose crystal beeps. Ziggy is headed straight for the ice-cream stand, and he doesn't worry. He does the exact opposite until he gets a bit closer. Sportacus throws an anchor's hook up to the airship.

Then he attaches the other side of the anchor to a hook of the ice-cream stand. Then with no effort (come on, he's Magnus Scheving) he LIFTS UP THE ICE-CREAM STAND. But that's not it - Ziggy's still riding, so Sportacus goes down the rope. Ziggy is about to crash into Milford's bush when Sportacus stops the bike.. with his yoyo.

Then Sporty aerobics over to him and checks if he's all good. Robbie decides to use his periscope, but a running Stephanie startles him and he hides. Milford asks why Ziggy was going so fast. He was trying to ride his bicycle, but he says he is just too little. Sportacus says that you learn more when you're little. After he leaves, Robbie wishes Sportacus could be a teeny tiny child so he didn't know anything. But that's impossible. Or is it? So, he goes to build his newest invention, and it can change your age.

He tests it on a bird and brings him back to an EGG. That's like bringing Sportacus back to an fetus - that won't work. So he adjusts it a bit and now it works perfectly. Meanwhile, Sportacus is doing some skipping from here and there. Robbie's disguise is.. a bush. Behind him. Wow. Sportacus hears the leaves rustling and stops for a few seconds, then continues. Anyways, once Sporty is distracted, Robbie tries to zap Sportacus.. but he keeps moving side to side. Then he finally stays in one place, and bam! He is ten years old again.

Fun fact - Little Sportacus is voiced by a girl. Anyways, he runs over to Ziggy and asks for his help. But he doesn't believe him until Ziggy says he has a super-secret nickname only Sportacus knows. Then Sportacus whispers it to him - 'Mr. Fluffy Bunny Pants'. I don't know why that was kept a secret - if I got a rabbit I'd name it that! Also shocked Ziggy is even funnier then confused Sportacus.

Ziggy thinks the rest of the kids would freak out if they saw Sportacus like this, so Ziggy goes to Pixel's house and asks for some drip to borrow. It is delivered in an orange package. So, anyways, Sportacus puts it on, and Ziggy tells him to just act like himself. Then he does a 360 spin and that super cool hero pose with his arms. Ziggy then corrects himself - act like a kid. Then he occupies him with a ball so he is bound to do the exact opposite of what Ziggy JUST said.

I love this season, but it seems that Ziggy doesn't think enough sometimes. He learns the lessons, moves on and does something ridiculous. Well, this is only one dumb Ziggy moment I can name. He's cool the rest of the season. Anyways, he goes to start figuring out what happened to Sportacus. Meanwhile, Stephanie spots Sportacus just standing on the court. She asks who he is and he does the 360 epic superhero spin xd1!!!!111oneone. He says Spob as he already started to say his real name (but forgor he wasn't supposed to). The two shake hands, and Stephanie wants to play a game. Spob says he is out of practice.

Stephanie passes the ball to him which nearly makes him fall (come on, Sportacus!!) then he passes it back. Stephanie starts dribbling the ball, and then they perform Time to Play. As the song ends, Stephanie is suspicious of how good Spob plays. She rips out a page of her diary and it flies away. Sportacus is on the move - he does the signature move, cartwheels and jumps to catch it in mid-air.

As Stephanie figures out it's Sportacus, Ziggy comes riding on the court. He accidentally says 'Hi, Sportacus!' and he corrects himself by saying gibberish (genuinely funny!!). Anyways, after they clear up that Steph knows Spob is Sportacus, she asks how it happened. Sportacus said if only someone was around when it happened. Ziggy says there is a way to find out so they go to Pixel's house. Stephanie tells them it's Sportacus but they don't believe her. He power jumps to prove it is him.

So then Ziggy asks Pixel to check the cameras earlier today. They see the bush behind them move before Sportacus is zapped. They say they have to find out where that bush is from. Using Pixel's drone camera. The drone is controlled with a remote control, and the kids see a leave trail. So, they follow it and it leads to Robbie's lair. Stephanie follows it and she mistakes it for a dead end, until she leans on the door and falls down.

She gets up, climbs the ladder and opens up the chute to Robbie's lair. Meanwhile, Robbie himself is deciding to celebrate the success of his plan with a nap. But the kids have showed up. Pixel's drone is hovered down into the lair. Another trail of leaves leads to.. Robbie. Napping. Ziggy wants to control the drone so he snatches it from Pixel and gets it stuck in between two of Robbie's microwaves. Sportacus calls for a rope from his airship and decides to go down. He ties it to his waist and Stephanie holds it. He dives down!

Sportacus unties himself. Meanwhile, the drone starts shaking along with the table. On the table is that little baby egg. It almost rolls off but Sportacus dives to catch it. Even when he is facing a serious problem he still saves someone, no matter how small their trouble is. The dive wakes up Robbie, and he starts chasing him around the table. Then Sportacus kicks the drone.

The kick is reminiscent of Bruce Lee's flying kick in 'The Big Boss'. No surprise as Sportacus re-enacts Lee's nunchuck routine from Enter the Dragon in 'Double Trouble' and 'Great Greens'. Maggi admits he watched Lee as a child. Anyways, the drone starts flying towards Robbie's face and he falls to the ground. He continues to chase him after he gets up. Using his wits (and the throwing of a baby egg to distract him), Sportacus flips onto the platform. Robbie asks how he did that, and he said he practiced. The kids cheer. Robbie runs up the staircase and Sportacus walks on the rails. Robbie dives to catch him, Sportacus flips, and Robbie falls. Epic and also kinda funny.

Sportacus sees his clothes in one of the pods (iiittt's the LazyPod Podcast!! XD. Go listen to it though, Mark Valenti hosts it and it's epic) and he figures there must be a way to get it. Oh yeah, Robbie stole them while they were performing 'Time to Play'. He pulls the lever and is back in costume. Sportacus flips off to the machine but Robbie blocks him. Then after he cartwheels back Robbie says it'll destruct in ten seconds. Sportacus says that's all he needs. Then he throws the egg, slides under Robbie's legs, and presses the button. Fricking liar. He needed TWELVE seconds! But time is Lazy in LazyTown, so technically he needed eight seconds. Missing the point - he is back to normal again. Sportacus notices it's going to blow. Robbie comes flying out the lair!

And he lands on Milford's bush. Everyone notices it's Robbie Rotten. Anyways, probably because of the power of one apple bite, Sportacus is a-okay. He gives Pixel the drone. Ziggy tells Sportacus he learnt an important lesson today - you're never too little to learn and if a bush comes at you with a fishing rod and an umbrella, run. (I checked behind myself to see if there was a bush with a fishing rod and umbrella. No joke. Why am I like this?) They all laugh and sing Bing Bang. Robbie is still chillin when the egg hatches.

The bird says 'Mama!' and Robbie says 'ME???' then he pats the bird (in the extended version of the episode). Then a cartoony circle closes in on the bird and fades into the credits.

10/10 - I liked that episode a lot!! Season two has started amazingly. Two episodes in a row with a full rating.

[safrona-shadowsun]

About the Mun...

Tagged by: @zookeeper-cielsy and @adorablestitch okay I'll do this because you're all adorable!

Tagging only if you want to!: @mremaknu, @darbiebot, @aranyaphoenix, @halenvar, @s-p-giffy, @preachersooc, @viceofalltrades, @curiouscodex, @themadamelioness, @puppet-master-jihye, @asharri, @braedensunstorm, @asharinhun, @musingsofamute, @aegisofstars, @duraxxor, @leavenohoofprints, @anierous-sunblade, @whimsicallyart and anybody else if you want to!

Name/Nickname: Saf, Saffy, Anna, and sometimes even...Tess.

Gender: Female Height: 5′4″ Hogwarts House: Pottermore told me Slytherin, but I say Ravenclaw. The sorting hat and I must have words. Favorite Animal: I like cats mostly. Hours of Sleep:  Somewhere between 5-8. More hrs sleeping some days if I can manage it, especially if I have managed very little sleep. Dogs or Cats: Cats definitely. Number of Blankets: 2, more during the winter. I need to wrap myself like a burrito or bust.

Dream Trip: Anywhere really. I'm long overdue for a long road trip somewhere.

Dream Job:  A commissioned artist with a reliable income. Time: 9:20pm (Eastern) Birthday: Feb 14th Favorite Bands: I like a lot of different music, but I couldn't say I have a favorite. Favorite Solo Artist: Same. I love powerful vocals, but I don't have a favorite these days.

Song Stuck In My Head:  The cover of "Ordinary World" originally done by Duran Duran made for The Evil Within 2. My husband plays it ritually at least once a day since I've started watching walkthroughs of the game.

Last Movie I Watched: Wonder Woman! Last Show I watched: An episode of The Gifted. I watch a lot of Youtube actually if anything. When did I create my Blog: Apparently this blog has existed since July of 2012 >.> What do I post/Reblog:  This blog is mainly an RP blog for my Sin'dorei Courier and Warlock, so I usually post what is in relation to that. Alot of wine, some dark magic, fitting quotations, inspirations, and Rp, all pertaining to Safrona. Ooc posts are actually rare. Last thing I Googled: What the name of 'The Gifted' was, because I completely forgot the name of the show...hahaha. Why I chose My URL: It's pretty self-explanatory, as it's my character's name. Original intent: I always meant for this blog to be a Warcraft related blog, but originally I had thought I would just be posting more art in relation to my Warlock, and take more of an audience role in watching people interact with each other's blogs. Boy did that change...

Other Blogs:

@taciturnip-up  -- Main Ooc Blog @gravekeeper-anna @lay-sister-rose @delaurac @echoesofthelight @danseofdeath

Followers: On Saf's blog: 940. I'm not worthy /bows Lucky number: Don't have one. Favorite Instrument: I love the sound of the cello, and it's probably Saf's favorite sound too. Probably just made her a Blood Elf for the Eversong theme. *snickers* What am I wearing: A gray hoodie, work slacks, tennis shoes and a red plush blanket... Nationality: Half Filipino and Caucasian. Favorite Song: Iiii dunno.

Last Book I Read: Probably something in the series of A Song of Ice and Fire. I've been trying to restart The Graveyard Book again by Neil Gaiman, as I've heard it's supposed to be becoming a movie...woo.

[pirirps]

Piri’s Ultimate List Of Horror Recs (2017 Version)

my go-to compilation of ever single horror/horror-related media i’ve ever enjoyed, including slashers, paranormal, thrillers, creature features, and much, much more 🎃

note: this list has trigger warnings but i am operating under the assumption that you are okay with the standard level of explicit sexuality, vulgarity, violence, and gore present in mainstream horror

horror

original nightmare on elm street series, but especially 1, 3, 4, 6, and freddy vs. jason (tw for implied pedophilia and explicit child murder, tw for rape in #6)

friday the 13th (original and remake)

honestly all the friday the 13th sequels are A Treasure but if you want The Core Canon watch 1-3

my bloody valentine (original)

psycho (original) and tbh all its sequels (tw for sort-of-kind-of incest vibes)

psycho ii and psycho iv are my favorites because (1) meg tilly is adorable in psycho ii and (2) psycho iv has a harley quinn/norman bates cameo and nobody can convince me otherwise

child’s play, child’s play 2, bride of chucky, maybe some sequels after that idk i haven’t seen them yet :(

scream franchise

not the mtv scream series

i mean s1 is decent but there are definitely other horror shows that i would recommend more (will show up later in this post)

1-3 are the best, 4 is worth watching if you really like the characters but as a concept the series has p much run its course by then

tw for rape mentions in scream 1 and 3

predator

peeping tom

kenneth branagh’s frankenstein (tw for a graphic depiction of death in childbirth)

james whale’s frankenstein

bride of frankenstein

the phantom of the opera (1925)

the phantom of the opera (1989) (tw for mild body/surgical horror, general grossness; personally speaking, this is one of my all-time favorite phantom adaptations, because 1. robert englund as the phantom hello oh my god, 2. although it’s much more of a slasher movie than a gothic romance, it does an amazing job of portraying the tragedy in erik’s backstory and his attraction to christine, without implying that he is entitled to christine’s affection and that her love will magically fix him, as some phantom adaptations do)

the phantom of the opera (1943)

alien franchise

the wolfman (2010)

darling (tw for rape)

house on haunted hill (original and remake)

final destination franchise

medium raw: night of the wolf (tw for pedophilia and child murder)

the babadook

the final girls [horror comedy]

the shining (tw for implied child abuse)

the cabin in the woods

hellraiser (tw for incest-y vibes for very brief periods of time)

heathers (tw for eating disorders, suicide, everything high school kids are insensitive assholes about)

from dusk til dawn

an american werewolf in london

the guest

it follows (tw for dubious consent)

nightwatch (tw for implied necrophilia/descriptions of necrophilia, self-mutilation)

re-animator (tw for rape, pedophilia mentions)

carrie (original) (tw for child abuse, religious iconography)

the remake had some interesting like... subtext/imagery but other than that it was pretty *wet fart noise*

the awakening

the craft

the blair witch project

honestly i loved the book of shadows: blair witch 2 bc it kind of parallels the crucible but i can admit that objectively it is Terrible

elvira, mistress of the dark [spooky comedy]*

american mary (tw for rape, (consensual surgical) genital mutilation)

fright night (original and remake)

jaws

listen. this is a horror movie. it was a horror book before that. it was specifically written and later adapted for the purpose of scaring and entertaining people. real life is nothing like this. real sharks are nothing like this. there’s nothing wrong with this movie scaring you but there is everything wrong with using this movie as an excuse to advocate for the wholesale slaughter of animals. sharks are quite possibly the most graceful and beautiful creatures on this earth and i will personally fight anyone who says otherwise

halloween franchise

1-5 are the best imo but no matter what skip #3 because it literally has nothing to do with any of the other movies

not the rob zombie remakes, those are awful

let the right one in [swedish (?) film, watch with subtitles]

rosemary’s baby (original)

night of the living dead (original)

28 days later

suspiria

silent hill (tw for child molestation)

crimson peak (tw for incest)

the lost boys

interview with the vampire

the ring

one missed call

the raven (2012)

repo! the genetic opera

teeth (tw for rape, incest, it’s??????? about a girl who literally has razor-sharp teeth in her vagina and it’s a very tongue-in-cheek commentary on religious repression???? so idk like it’s a wild ride and i love it but watch at your own discretion)

american psycho (tw for rape, general misogyny)

sweeney todd

speaking from experience, this is much better live, the movie sucked out all the fun and humor that wasn’t literally written into the lyrics, so i recommend watching the original broadway cast on youtube or something

there’s also a 1936 movie which i haven’t seen so i can’t speak to its quality BUT i would recommend it on the basis of it being made before the musical was created and thus being based more directly on “the string of pearls” novel which is where the sweeney todd urban legend was originally documented

abott and costello meet [insert universal horror monster here] [spooky comedy]

little shop of horrors (original and remake) [spooky comedy]

the last man on earth (1964)

adapted from the same book i am legend (2007) was adapted from but the last man on earth stays much closer to the original book imo

c. h. u. d.

ghostbusters (1984 and 2016 versions)*

ghost ship

sick girl (tw for bugs, pregnancy horror)

misery (tw for torture)

puppet master series (tw for rape, nazism)

the haunting in connecticut

zombieland**

jurassic park series

lizzie borden took an axe

wolf creek (tw for rape)

it (1990, 2017)

i have........ some nitpicky issues about putting it on this list, because neither movie adaptation really did justice to the whole concept of “derry itself is an extension of an eldritch horror and the real scary part of the story isn’t the clown, it’s the horrible violent tragedies that have repeatedly occurred and then been dismissed throughout derry’s history, leaving the entire town in a large-scale sort of cycle of abuse” so ????????????? idk like i truly do recommend reading the book as well as seeing the movies for The Whole It Experience(TM), but i totally get that not everyone is gonna do that

the 1990 version tells more or less the complete story, but because of that it didn’t have time to include a lot of fun details

the 2017 version only tells the childhood portion of the story, which leaves it time to include fun details. i was really hoping to see more of derry’s backstory or more development on mike and stan as members of marginalized groups -> how that influences their life in derry, but we didn’t get much of that? mike’s importance to the losers (researcher, somewhat of a skeptic/hardass at times to keep the others together) was removed, his healthy family dynamic was removed (mike, richie, and possibly stan are the only characters in the book with healthy family dynamics, somewhat underscoring the concept that derry itself is trapped in a cycle of abuse), and derry’s history of racism is never touched on aside from the kids mentioning “the fire at the black spot” a couple times in passing. overall it was a fun movie and you can tell everyone making it had a blast but compared to the book it’s like. mmmmmmmmmmmmm

BASICALLY what i’m saying here is that the book is really deep wrt social issues, and while neither movie really touches on those concepts in-depth, they are still good horror movies on their own and ofc a part of american pop culture

house of wax (1953)

marnie (tw for rape, abuse and coercion in a marriage dynamic, animal/pet death, graphic depictions of psychological abuse, graphic depiction of a violent death involving a child)

cabin fever (tw for sickness horror/body function horror/unsanitary horror, occasional slurs)

mega shark vs. giant octopus

i don’t even have a real reason for listing this i just can’t believe it exists and i want the whole world to know

texas chainsaw massacre (1974), texas chainsaw massacre 2, texas chainsaw 3d

ju-on: the grudge

phantoms

the plot is pretty ehhh imo but the effects are great; rose mcgowan is gorgeous as always, peter o’toole’s character is great, and ben affleck’s character lowkey has some batman circa arkham knight vibes going on. also, liev schrieber becomes a tentacle monster. i couldn’t make this shit up if i tried y’all

vamps*

this movie. this movie

krysten ritter and alicia silverstone are a couple of vampires, sigourney weaver is their hot mess of a vampire mom, dan stevens is krysten ritter’s boyfriend, wallace shawn is van helsing but he’s basically just vizzini: vampire hunter au and it’s GOLD

it’s literally the cutest and funniest vampire media i’ve ever seen in my life as well as one of the most detailed when it comes to vampire lore i cannot recommend it enough

bram stoker’s dracula

death becomes her**

what we do in the shadows**

disturbia

frankenstein (2004 miniseries, more like a 2-part movie than a tv show)

flatliners (1990) (tw for drug use, uncensored depictions of cadaver dissection)

the cabinet of dr. caligari

the limehouse golem (tw for sexual assault and csa)

repulsion (tw for sexual assault)

the trial (1962)

*spooky comedy: a comedy movie with a spooky premise that i am categorizing with horror movies due to the genre overlap, but that lacks the intense violence, gore, etc. of a horror movie

**horror comedy: a spooky comedy that does not lower the level of violence, gore, etc. that is standard in a horror movie

thrillers

stoker (tw for incest, has a scene in which the protag’s mother verbally abuses her)

m [german film, watch with subtitles] (tw for themes of pedophilia/child molestation/child murder, but it’s worth noting that the whole point of the movie is to condemn and demonize pedophilia)

also one of if not the very first detective movies

nightcrawler (tw for rape)

the vvitch/the witch/however the fuck it’s spelled

rear window (1954)

zodiac

hannibal lecter franchise (tw for cannibalism, obviously)-- the silence of the lambs, hannibal, red dragon, manhunter

manhunter is adapted from the same book red dragon is (red dragon) except manhunter was made before anthony hopkins became The Iconic Hannibal Lecter(TM) so it focuses much more on will graham and francis dolarhyde

hannibal rising is worth watching for gaspard ulliel’s performance but the book was much better

the hannibal movie adaptation changed the ending of the hannibal book while still maintaining a really good and really compelling storyline so the book and movie are definitely both highly recommended by me

gone girl

shutter island (tw for asylum horror)

pan’s labyrinth

tiger house

the champagne murders

the plot and pacing are a little ehhh; in my opinion there was too much tension buildup between characters and not enough actual plot development. BUT, anthony perkins is in it so it’s worth watching if you love him like i do

documentaries

cropsey (documentary on child murders)

urban legends (another documentary, by the same people, talks about how real-life crime affects the american psyche and lives on as urban legends/horror tropes)

the poisoner’s handbook

h. h. holmes

nightmares in red, white, and blue

his name was jason

never sleep again: the elm street legacy

american ripper [currently ongoing tv series]

television/youtube

bates motel

ahs s1 (tw for... literally everything)

slasher

similar basic premise as ahs, but imo ahs is v exploitative and builds the plot on violence and vice, whereas slasher builds the violence and vice on the plot

supernatural (LISTEN........ LISTEN....................... conceptually it’s the bees knees okay)

penny dreadful (tw for constant explicit sexuality, religious iconography/sacrilege, asylum horror)

criminal minds

bbc broadchurch

bbc river

bbc sherlock but literally only ep. 3.4 “the abominable bride”

rosemary’s baby (2-part made-for-tv movie)

unedited footage of a bear

marblehornets

true detective

frankenstein (2004 miniseries, more like a 2-part movie than a tv show)

tbs’ search party

podcasts

the black tapes podcast

small town horror

alice isn’t dead

king falls am [spooky comedy, more sci-fi than horror but there is One Episode that positively screams “love letter to 80s horror movies” so i can’t leave it out with good conscience]

limetown

welcome to night vale [spooky comedy]

the dark tome

video games

until dawn

outlast series

five nights at freddy’s

dead by daylight

bioshock