#theyre easily linked and powerful when used together but i also think its way more fun to use those vibes separately

[beatcroc]

i was thinking about this again and actually what it is is he just needs to be a freak. i dont care about his temperament or intelligence or intentions or anything he just has to be a weird little beast, both by nature and on purpose

i realize most takes on fakie are some combo of the above in varying ratios but i'd like to see what aspects folks most enjoy

[binqtop]

mistichi time *smirk emoji*

THIS IS REALLY REALLY LONG I ENDED UP TYPING SO MUCH SO I HAD TO PUT IT UNDER A READ MORE

      Okay so two months after the ending of Vento Aureo, Jotaro gets contacted by the Speedwagon Foundation telling him about how Giorno is now a mafia boss and has all this power now and there’s no way Jotaro’s gonna agree to go speak to Giorno himself so he asks Koichi.

      Koichi’s like yea of course Giorno’s a good guy we’re friends I’m glad he reached his goal I wonder how he’s doing! Anyway a few days Koichi arrives to Italy and realizes he has no clue where Giorno is, and neither does Jotaro or the Speedwagon Foundation. So Koichi does what he did when he first met Giorno, he asked around. Koichi doesn’t really get all the mafia stuff so he didn’t realize how suspicious it is for someone to be asking about the location of a mafia don.        He goes back to where Giorno went to school and finds out Giorno just kind of disappeared and they’re not sure where he is. A few days have passed at this point and he’s frustrated when this guy is like “Hey I heard you were looking for Giorno Giovanna?” and Koichi’s like oh hell yea thanks man who are you. Guess what it’s Guido Mista himself doing bodyguard stuff because he’s planning on killing Koichi because he believes it’s some enemy trying to assassinate Giorno or something. Koichi gets in the car with Mista and Koichi’s kind of tense because Mista refuses to any questions about Giorno. Mista drives Koichi to some empty house and Koichi’s like hey wait a minute and gets kicked to the floor and now he has a gun pointed at his face that’s a big uh oh.        One hand holding Koichi at gunpoint and one hand holding a phone, Mista calls Giorno. At this moment the Sex PIstols are out because they’re really curious about Koichi. Mista and the pistols assume Koichi isn’t a stand user because he didn’t bring out his stand or fight back or anything. Mista’s talking to Giorno and all the pistols float on over to Koichi to look at him because “Mista doesn’t need us he’s literally 2 meters away from this guy he can shoot short distance fine lol.” And Koichi looks up at them and is like “Oh um hello” and the pistols are all like SHIT he can see us they’re about to go back to Mista and tell him but then Koichi’s like “Aw you guys are kinda cute are you that Mista guy’s stand?” and the pistols are like oh he called us cute that’s new we like that and start chatting it up with Koichi.        Meanwhile Mista is freaking out because Giorno told him who Koichi was and Mista’s apologizing profusely to Giorno for threatening to kill his friend. He hangs up and is about to apologize to Koichi when he sees the Sex Pistols sitting in his hands and on his head just chilling and he’s like “What the fuck are you doing!” anyway the reason the pistols were so chill to Koichi is because Mista didn’t really want to hurt him because he looks nice (callback to when Josuke introduced Koichi as a friendly/nice looking guy). Mista then helps Koichi up and is driving him to Giorno’s mansion place thing idk and he’s apologizing and freaking out the whole time and Koichi’s straight up thinks it’s funny bc Mista was so serious and scary before and he’s actually just like a puppy. Also you KNOW you’re fucked when your stand gets attached to a person. Mista has no clue he was catching feelings on day one.

okay i just realized ive typed so much about how they met and not anything else so im going to just type out a ton of random stuff and headcanons

Giorno wants Mista and Koichi to have a friendly relationship and wants to get rid of the negative association since their first meeting was a huge misunderstanding. So Giorno was like I am so smart I will send them on a mission together. And then he does that many more times. Koichi joins Passione and he helps a lot with interrogation since he’s very patient and kind and can calm people down and make them feel comfortable enough to talk but he can also use his stand for torture and he can be a rudeboy bitchass so Mista gets to see both of those sides and is like awooga! humina humina!!!!

once mista realized he had feelings for koichi he wanted to impress him and stuff and started actually bathing and using deodorant and also being more impulsive and trying to save koichi’s ass in missions which usually ends up with him shooting himself on accident and koichi saving mista’s ass

it took koichi a while to realize he likes mista because koichi’s first and only relationship (yukako) did not go well and let him traumatized so he was scared and once koichi realizes his feelings for mista he starts getting nervous and easily flustered

also Koichi is good with paperwork stuff and sometimes helps Giorno since Koichi’s older and Mista’s just sitting there in the office watching them like “wow koichi is so smart awooga humina humina :)”

Koichi also helped plan out the stone mask destroying stuff between the Speedwagon Foundation and Passione bc he’s kind of the one link they (the foundation) have to Passione. So then Fugo comes back and he’s like what’s up and Trish is like Mista has a crush on Koichi and he’s actually bathing and he’s doing stupid stuff to impress him and it’s really funny. Trish came back to stay in the mansion because she wanted to take a break from touring, form a friendship with Fugo, and also get a front row seat to the Mista and Koichi pining show.

Fugo, Mista, and Trish hang out with each other and Fugo and Trish always poke fun at Mista for being head over heels for Koichi and then he’s like “Okay but what about you and Giorno, huh, Fugo??? And Trish you can’t say SHIT when you have that big of a crush on Shelia.” and then they all realize theyre disasters and will never be able to confess n shit

meanwhile Giorno and Koichi are chilling and being like “Yea I really like Mista” and Giorno’s like “Oh that’s nice :)” bc once he realized mista and koichi liked each other he sent them on more missions together more often. And then Giorno’s like “Yea I may or may not have romantic feelings toward Fugo.” and Shelia’s sitting there like “Yes I want to kiss Trish can I please leave now I thought you wanted me here to do work not talk about crushes.”

i dont actually know how they get together theyre probably chilling on a bed going over paperwork that they have to do because of a mission and then they talk about their feelings and its super awkward because theyre both awkward but they end up going on a date and they kiss or smth idk?

[red-elric]

so ive read fruits basket like twenty times, and over the last couple of years i noticed that, each time, i was drawn more and more to the characters of kimi and momiji, and identified with them in a way that was really confusing to me because i didnt really think i *actually* had a very similar personality to either of them? (discord friends may disagree but, well, this whole post is going to be about people and characters who change up their personality to be more likable.) i got all introspective about it and finally came to a conclusion about their characters that i subconsciously knew already: the key similarity between the two of them and myself is the way we very carefully layer subtle personality masks for ourselves to protect ourselves and to seem more approachable and likable without actually being vulnerable to other people. (other characters in furuba do this a lot too--key examples that come to mind are tohru, kagura, and yuki--but i care more about momiji and kimi so this is about them.)

to clarify a bit what i mean by this, ill start with a personal example. ive always been pretty good at remembering people’s names, especially if i think theyre cool and want to become friends with them, but i noticed around middle school or high school that people subconsciously find it intimidating/stalkerish if you know their name and they cant remember yours, especially if youve only met once. on the other hand, if they *do* remember your name, and you admit to not remembering theirs, they feel empowered and sympathetic to your situation; and if neither of you remember the other’s name, you have a moment of solidarity that can lead to a more relaxed relationship. so, i started pretending to have a manageable amount of trouble remembering the names of people i wanted to be friends with. the first two or three times that i meet someone, at some point i will use “clarifying their name” as a conversation starter, ie: “you’re....[], right?” or “is it []?” this is a small effect of a pattern of behavior i tend to follow: feigning incompetence to gain trust and camaraderie. is it manipulative? absolutely, but harmlessly so. its directly derived from my own social anxieties, but its a relatively healthy way to feel more connected with my peers and to stop feeling ostracized by people who resent me for being “smarter” than them--something i struggled with a lot in my youth. momiji and kimi dont put up the *same* masks as myself, but they are both rather adept at maintaining their own masks, and are both incredibly socially perceptive in the same way that i am: they analyze people’s reactions to their behavior and sculpt themselves to get the reaction they want.

lets take a look at what this means for kimi. surface level, kimi seems pretty cookie cutter--sure, shes a little chaotic, but she fits quite nicely into the femme fatale/dumb blonde trope (even though shes not blonde). but did you know that shes actually at the top of her class? its subtle, but to me its always been obvious that shes actually incredibly intelligent and constantly manipulating people to suit her needs. there are easy examples of this, of course: flirting with a teacher to get a new whiteboard, anyone? but there’s one scene that’s always spoken volumes to me about her character, and that’s the one-off joke where kakeru starts to say some “secret” about her, clearly joking, and she immediately shuts him down by cutting him off with “don’t say unnecessary things!” and elbowing him in the side, all while still smiling cheerfully. the subtlety of this is that, with her reaction, she’s actually imitating their audience: yuki. it’s yuki she doesn’t want to know about whatever kakeru knows, so she shuts down kakeru in a way we’ve seen yuki yell at kakeru whenever kakeru makes idiotic jokes. the physical attack, the angry smile, accusing kakeru of saying something annoying, but that doesnt really matter; none of these are particularly characteristic to kimi, she causes as much chaos as kakeru on a good day, but they’re incredibly recognizable to yuki. her reaction is familiar to yuki, and it invokes an assumption that kakeru is making a lame joke, not trying to reveal one of her deepest, darkest secrets, and it works because yuki would react completely differently if kakeru tried to tell someone about *his* secrets. yuki doesnt pursue the subject further, kakeru bounces back easily and doesnt give it a second thought, and kimi is safe. so, we can tentatively say that kimi has a habit of reflecting other’s expectations to hide her true self.

now, is this one scene enough on its own to prove this idea? of course not. however, when we view her actions as a whole we start to see a pattern. we see several instances where kakeru will say something stupid and kimi will listen, encourage it, or say something just as stupid back; it’s only when he tries to reveal something about *her* that she shuts him down. we see subtle signs of genuine anger when he tries to reveal her secret: the overly violent jab, the tensed vein/angry eyebrows, etc--not very characteristic for happy-go-lucky, flirtatious kimi. and, of course, we have several examples of how she manipulates a) men into buying things for her, granting her favors, leaving their girlfriends for her, etc; and b) women into feeling inferior to her, feeling aggravated with her, and thinking she’s incredibly troublesome but knowing that they can’t argue with the men about it. overall, its not a far stretch at all to think she’s manipulating everyone around her to avoid revealing information about her true self: a proud, intelligent woman who enjoys causing chaos, but is also very manipulative and controlling to the people around her and hates being vulnerable.

momiji is in some ways similar, and in other ways very very different. most people--especially characters in the story with him--tend to put momiji in this “sweet, innocent child” box. it’s not just his height--his fashion, mannerisms, outlook on life, etc are all very reminiscent of someone much younger than he is, and people tend to *treat* him like he’s much younger than he is. even if they know intellectually that yes, momiji is significantly older than he appears, it’s very easy for the older sohmas to treat him as a troublesome but still loved younger sibling--someone to be taken care of, not taken too seriously, someone lovable. i’ve seen several people point out that part of *why* momiji does this is because he subconsciously feels that hes not allowed to act like an older sibling (to momo), so he acts as a younger sibling in an effort to get a similar sort of familial bond without overstepping the boundaries that his family instilled in his mind, and i agree. i believe momiji has a habit of feigning youth to more easily bond with the people he loves. his childish actions and behavior make him easier to deal with, and also give him a little more leeway to do things that would normally frowned upon if he appeared older, ex: sleeping in a bed with tohru, wearing a girl’s uniform top to school, taking any chance he can get to be physically affectionate with people, indulging in sweets and candy, etc.

two things draw momiji’s true personality out of its shell: his growth spurt, forcing people to acknowledge his actual age, and the breaking of his curse. late game momiji, to me, has always seemed bitter, tired, and sarcastic, as opposed to the sweet, energetic, and sincere front he’d put on for most of the series, which is very interesting to me. of course, you’d normally *expect* someone who’s gone through as much as momiji to *be* bitter, tired, sarcastic, etc; however, when he puts his child-like mask on, it’s easy to pretend that he’s this loving, saintly child who bears no ill will towards anyone, who can be knocked to hell and back and still stand back up to smile again. and i do think it’s true that momiji has an incredible capacity for forgiveness and love, but there’s also no denying that he has a limit, and we can see that during his first conversation with akito after his curse breaks. this, i think, is the most raw, true representation of momiji in the whole story; momiji has lost his link with the family he made for himself in the zodiac, he’s been physically forced to grow out of his persona, he’s finally seeing that his primary abuser is really not so powerful after all, and he’s forced to finally confront the fact that, while his curse, the thing that caused most of the troubles in his life, is broken, the impacts it already had on his life won’t magically go away. momiji in this scene seems completely disconnected from akito, who is still caught up in the curse, still desperately trying to hold everything together; in his lowest moment, we can finally see momiji, not as an all-forgiving saint, but as someone who just wants to start over. he’s not happy that his curse ended; id even go as far to say that momiji, out of every zodiac, is the one who most wishes it was still around, for the bond that it gave him with the other zodiacs and as something he could pin the blame on for his family struggles. which is why it is so sad to me that his was among the first to break.

now, yall probably know by now that i am a momimi bitch, so lets talk about them together. most of the people i see shipping them--and i fully admit, this is how i started shipping them--simply just say “same energy,” make a few cute headcanons about how they’d use each other for clout, and call it a day. this is perfectly fine. however, here at Overthinking It Inc., we take it a few steps deeper. personally, i have a hard time getting invested in a ship unless i can see how the characters compliment each other, how they help each other grow, and how they could genuinely enjoy each other’s company enough to pursue a romantic relationship. it took a little bit of obsessive extrapolating, but ive finally figured out just *how well* momiji and kimi compliment each other.

momiji, at the end of furuba, is going through a metamorphosis. he’s been forced out of his childish persona and into the life of an adult rather quickly, and he takes the opportunity to try to become more true to himself. we can see, in the last few chapters, the beginnings of bounds of growth; however, i imagine that there is a significant “awkward” period in his growth. judging from what i know about his character, i believe he would, in his effort to be more honest and confident, overcompensate a bit; he would become overbearing, intense, perhaps even oversharing. he might have a tendency to try to figure out what’s “wrong” with his friends and family, might always be trying to “fix” everything. i could easily see him, in fact, develop a bit of a selfish attitude (albeit rooted in kindness--it is, after all, still momiji); in his journey to stop letting people walk all over them, i believe he might become prone to walking over people himself. he’d have no idea where the lines are, where someone’s limits are, because he never had the chance to test them out in his youth, and because the people in power in his life (his parents and akito) never respected anyone else’s limits. enter kimi: tough, walled off, and incredibly secretive, though she tries to hide it. momiji, with his social perceptiveness, would notice at some point how difficult it is for her to form genuine, emotional connections with others, and would feel the urge to help her, to draw her out of her shell, not realizing that she doesnt necessarily want to be understood, nor that she’s (now entering headcanon territory, be warned) *scared* of those kinds of relationships. she’d take it, for a while, but there would come a time when she’d snap. this would do wonders for helping momiji figure out where the boundaries are, and how to be more aware of other people’s wants and needs (and it is something that tohru, reserved little wallflower that she is, would never be able to do for him).

kimi, on the other hand, has not quite started developing her character at the end of the manga. i like to apply all sorts of believable anxieties onto her: maybe she regrets not having an easy connection with other girls, like she does with boys. maybe she refuses to believe in the familial structure (that momiji idolizes). maybe she’s so used to playing the part of the homewrecker that, when she finally realizes that she’s found something or someone she truly loves, she doesn’t know how to handle it, and always worries that somebody’s going to take it away for her. maybe she views connections with others, or vulnerability, as a weakness, something that could be used against her, and tries to do everything she can to wall people off and hide her true feelings. well, good news for her, momiji is the resident king of loving family structures. family is something he truly loves and understands, from how much he’s admired it from afar, and been grateful for the family he’s made for himself in hatori, tohru, and the other zodiac. he’s well primed to help her understand what a true family is like, that real love is a good thing, not a scary thing, and that it’s okay to be vulnerable sometimes. this big, sweethearted doofus who somehow managed to see how much she was struggling under the many layers of masks that she hides beneath? there’s no way kimi wouldnt fall for him. and she, this girl who challenges everything he believes in, teaches him valuable lessons about how far is too far, and is basically the most fun person he’s ever met? there’s no way momiji wouldn’t fall for her.

i believe the two of them would start things off as almost a play; theyd portray a satire of the ideal male and female celebrity couple rather easily; theyd lean into the standard boy and girl roles almost ridiculously so, drawing attention to the absurdity of the standard relationship and somehow flirting through it. kimi, as we know, likes to pretend to be this helpless, flirtatious, “i couldnt possibly do anything on my own, oh whatever shall i do O3O” caricature of the feminine “ideal” to draw men in; momiji, i feel, would respond to that with a dorky, happy-go-lucky, “i can help you with that, miss ; )” caricature of the masculine, “ideal” gentleman, just for fun. theyd put on a show, for each other, for their peers, and for themselves, but they would eventually run into some troubles (detailed above). things would be tense, but theyd keep up their personas--why would they *ever* admit to their flaws to the outside world, theyre perfect? their friends would notice, of course, but wouldnt be able to do much about it; in the end, the only people perceptive enough to read through the bullshit of one is the other. theyd come to an understanding--spoken or unspoken (with the subtleties of their relationship, its not unreasonable that they could change their entire perspective of their relationship with just actions, not direct words or conversation)--and shift back into their previous, flirtatious relationship, except its different this time. because now, they understand each other, they love each other, theyre practically reading the other’s mind, and theyre perfectly in tune. rather than putting on masks to hide from each other, they wear one together to hide from the world--but, they think, that’s probably enough.

[sodasyrup]

I love,,,,, domestic lava au... You should do more of it. I'd love to know more about reka and monty too!

BWAAA...

Okay as I said it’s an au with kittie (6kuro) so I’m gonna grab the things it said and I said lmao

warning its a LONG disjointed post bc im too tired to make. a good post fdhghdf

lovelypeaches08/28/2019cole and kai would settle down real late like....in their late thirties because they want to keep their children as safe as possible, being elemental masters and having enemies and all

at first wu wants them to fight longer and shit but hes OLD so who cares and theres probably conflict on thatbut kai and cole are old enough to realized they dont have to be controlled

so they get married, symbolically if anything, because they've been dating for probably a little over a decade now and known each other even longer, AND been living together for the same amount of time

theyre the first of the ninja to settle down, and they buy a small house in a village thats maybe an hour away from ninjago city

the tininess of the house is made up for by the largeness of the yard, where cole likes to garden, especially fruits and vegetables

cole works as a stay at home free lance artist, doing stuff like commissions, book covers, comics, etc for moneykai does something that puts his charisma to use, probably something in business that lets him advertise and talk a lot..he could never settle down for a stay at home job or anything, even with all his thrilling ninja stories

they have enough money from donations and awards to thrive off these jobs, and ninjago probably pays them kind of like retirement

cole cooks for kai so he always has a meal ready when hes home, so then kai cooks on the weekend

anyways, they have two kids, about 3 years aparti haven't figured them much out yet, but kai and cole cook and bake with themcoles parenting style is very protective and rather spoils them, while kai lets them do whatever as long as its not immediately dangerousthey balance each other out well, so their kids grow up loved and well rounded

lovelypeaches08/28/2019coles always buying them sweets and treats and Kai pretends to be annoyed but thinks its really cute

the kids go to a small school on the outskirts of ninjago city, and get asked about their parents a LOT. they kind of like the attention but it gets irritating

moving on to the other ninja who also start to settle down,jay doesnt really want kids, so he passes on his powers with ~science~ or something, but only when hes a lot olderhe does engineering at borg industries or something, and he messes around a lot but gets away with it bc hes the blue ninjahes like kai and coles kids Fun Uncle, since he lives in a big apartment in downtown ninjago city, with a bunch of cool techkai and coles family often take elongated road trips therejay thinks hes a cool relative but besides being super lenient hea actually kind of embarrassing lol

nya settles down a bit later than the rest of them, because she wants to live her ninja days to the fullesti could go on about my domestic samurai au but her and pixal have a kid who gets nyas water powersnya is much more eager to train her kid than cole and Kai are (they want to start properly training thwir children when theyre like 16, much to wus disappointment)nya doesn't force anyrhing on her kid but she doesnt protect her kid from the fact they'll have to train sooner or latershes determined on still changing the world, so she's a strong political leader, with innovative ideas who doesnt approve of ninjagos government and wants to change it for the betterShe also lives in downtown, but isn't as fun as jayher kid is younger than kai and coles, but kai and coles kids look up to them because they're very independent and skilled! their mom is also super cool, but not in a silly way. she rocks leather jackets and drives her kid around on a motorcycle

lovelypeaches08/28/2019zane is tricky for me...i like to imagine him sticking with lloyd to being a ninja or whatever, since hes going to be alive a lonnggg timehe also wants to respect wus wishes, so he teaches students and fights alongside lloydhe does so much less however, and finds a lot of time to visit his friends

kai and coles kids are shy around him at first, him being a nindroid whose still a ninja, but hes so much nicer and softer than expectedhe always brings them presenrs and enjoys quality time with them, so he's basically their favorite uncle

now lloyd continues his master training, to become the next master after wu dies. hed be the one to guide the next generation of elemental masters as well as their parents in training thembut don't worry, he gets a break too, since the other ninja help him out. hes much less burdened then wu was in the later years of his lifeok thats all i think

My commentary now

little boy whos like 3 and super wide eyed and excited and loves pink (when he foudn out zane at one point had a pink gi he asked if he could get one too)older girl around 6 whos a big daddys girl and loves to garden with cole and make mud piez

the little girl is the fire em - she had temper issues linked to autismz which they worked through her with early and never thought of it but she has a big passion for gardening they mistook for elemental connection when rly she just LUVS IT

little boy is em of earth - hes a natural born leader and stubborn, wide eyed and excitable. again bc they worked w both their kids about their tempers and such they never realized he was just naturally good at keeping his composure. also a lot like jay keeping morals upnaturally strong but both their kids are and i hc the super strength doesnt come in until peubertyz

shes a bit of a late bloomer with em powers but one day their little boy accidentally makes a pot hole inside the kitchen bc he was excited over zane cookingthey took too good of care of their kids and his true potential was simple bc he was a litol kid which was im going to live my best fcuking life with friends and family *rips a hole in the ground

kai and cole are the gross sappy parents that trade kisses n their kids are like thats DISGUSTING youre DISGUSTINGLY IN LOVE

Kittie pointslovelypeaches08/28/2019YEAYEYAYAYYEYAYAYEoh god the little boy is part scenecorelikenot full on scene but like punk y2kwhich is a part of scenealso at first cole and kai are super concerned being a ninja will be as mentally damaging and ack as it was for them at times, but lloyd and zane are genuinely good mastersbutnot to get sadbutwhen tragedy does happen somehow, since neither Lloyd nor zane can ease that, cole and kai are so good at helping their kids e thatthey help them recover from it without downplaying their kids concerns and feelings amd give good advice and loveand make being elemental masters a lot easier for their kids than it ever was for them

me again.....

they always get so fucking scared thokai custom makes weapons for themarmor too he spends hours upon hours making sure its perfect and even prays over them to keep their kids safe

anyway when kai n cole visit w them (idk if theyr just adopted at their current age or like.... adopted as babies or surrogate or?? idk but) they visit lloyd and kai softly says "Look! its uncle lloyd" and lloyd starts SOBBING hes just fucking bawlinghis eyes out and when kai offers to for lloyd to hold him lloyds just like are you suure arre eyyuuu thherye so smsmm all kaiii are yoruur suureee thheyrey babbeises

nya is hesitant but ends up being a really good aunt, i meanshe took care of kai /j

zane is a fav uncle and hes always making sweets for them jay is. also sorta a fav bc where zane comes jay follows and jay has a sweet tooth and also makes Cool Toys + hey wanna prank your dadsalso im dramatic and likekai and cole sitting down and having a convo about master wubc he was sorta a shitty mentor and they really REALLY dont want their kids going through any self confident issues nor over stressing bc theyr KDISeventually kai and cole talk to master wu and actually has wu face his terrible practice towards kids and wu accepting he was.............................a bad 'parent' in a senseblebleblelelelelelellekai works but cole absolutely watches over any training when wu is there at first but lloyd is the master now and lloyd is like..........................i dont want kids to go through what i went through kai is like i trust you but also i will murder every single one of you in this dojo if you ever hurt my little girlim doing what i do and taking an au and running im sorry ghdghdfhJACK RAMBLES....their son refuses to wear shoes he lieks dirt on his feet they never really think much of it but its actually really comforting for him to feel the earth under his feet and feel stablethey think its just a stim thing maybe? theyr unsurebut! turns out him Element(also a fear of heights)lloyd tries to be a serious master but hes a big ol goof and can easily be manipulated

ironically.......its the lil boy who often is like HEY!!!!!!!!!!! WE GOTTA TRAIN!

kai and cole agree not to tell anyone what theyre thinking of naming their little boy until he arrives so when the day comes kais holding this tiny little boy and holds him out gentlyand lloyd is already EMOTIONAL because this is a BABY and lloyd softly asks his name n cole cuts in like "hes named after a really brave dude, montgomery. but we're thinking monty as a nickname"lloyd, choking up:(hc garmadons first name is montgomery)

the girl is Reka which means sweet in maori (a personal headcanon for cole) and shes their sweetheart

lovelypeaches09/04/2019bhrnrng this is in domestic au but col and kai teachign their kids instrumentscole and reka wud play piano duets togetherand monty doesnt like instruments much but he likes to singlike a LOT he belts out a song for everythinghe just lieks his own voice

burdletutt09/04/2019HNGGG HFHMONTY LOVS BEING LOUD

lovelypeaches09/04/2019YEAAAHhes like the type who makes a song for everythingmonty voice we rr goinggg to the parkkkkk and the grass isss.........GREEENNNNNNN and there are LOOK THERE ARE SQUIRRRELSSSS and a playground and the skyyyyy isssssssssssss...*deep inhale* BLUEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE1E!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!kai and cole: you are literally so talented

jay tries really hard to be the Cool Uncle at firstbut Monty just :^TReka gives him an awkward chucklewhen jay stops being Cool ™ hes goofy and thats when they start giggling and liking him more

[royal-kard]

soft bias tag ~

i was tagged by @curledlife​ thank you angel!!

Who is your bias?

i don’t really have a bias in kard, so i guess i’ll just answer for all of them?

What made you notice them?

b.m -  his height first of all, the dude is a skyscraper. also his deeeeeeep voice got me!

somin - her elegance in performance and in the mvs. she just look so put together.

jiwoo - her voice! there’s something about her singing voice that is really pleasing to my ear. tbh i thought she was kinda scary at first, but she is also such a sweetheart.

j.seph - i thought he was really pretty when i fist saw him. then, when i first heard him rap, I really liked his flow.

What is your favorite thing about them?

b.m - his heart. he is one of the softest people, and he has so much love. i love that he is so happy to share that love with his members, his friends, and with us. he really is such a beautiful soul.

somin - her laughter. it’s so bright and bubbly just like her. it’s that kind of laughter thats infectious. when she laughs its like the room lights up even more.

jiwoo - her ability to maintain chill at basically all times haha. she is just the coolest kid on the block, and her responses to things are always the best.

j.seph - his sense of humor is my absolute favorite!! he is funny, silly, and he’s not afraid to show that side of himself. 

Who would initiate skinship more?

b.m - he would? he’s very affectionate with people he’s friends with, so even if its just his arm around the shoulder or a touch every so often, he would be the one initiating that. 

somin - again, i think she would probably be the one to initiate it. it would probably be mostly arm linking though.

jiwoo - we would be even. jiwoo isn’t too into skinship from what i’ve noticed, and neither am i. 

j.seph - he would. hands down. he seems to be the most keen on initiating some soft of physical contact with people. so yeah it would be him. 

Who would hog the blankets more?

b.m - he seems like he would take the blanket, but then, he would wake up in the night and cover me up because he saw that he took it all, but idk his sleep habits so idk haha

somin - i think she would have them. not that i mind tbh, but to me she seems friolenta, so i would let her have the blankets.

jiwoo - i think we’d be even on this one too? 

j.seph - i can see this kid rolling himself into a burrito with the blankets, so im gonna have to say he would take them all. 

Who would be more clingy?

b.m - him. he’s got that vibe.

somin - i think maybe me? it’s probably me.

jiwoo - definitely me. she doesn’t come off as clingy in any sense of the word.

j.seph - him. like b.m, he just gives off that vibe. and i don’t mean in the overly obsessive clingy way. both of the boys would just check in with you, make sure you’re doing alright more frequently than the girls. i think it’s because theyre older and they really just wanna look out for and protect the people they care about. the girls would be much more chill. 

Who would be more easily flustered?

ME. 

What cuddling position would you two have?

b.m - I. WANNA. BE. THE. LITTLE. SPOON. can you imagine being enveloped by by matthew??? that would be the best thing in the world?? because he always looks so warm and cozy!!! i would feel so safe like that...wow im gonna go cry now haha 

somin - her head would be on my lap as i run my fingers through her hair. is that a cuddling position? probably not. but i’m gonna make it one. why? because i can, and because this would be the way we would spend lazy sundays. 

jiwoo - again, not really cuddling, PERO we’d lay down with our backs touching.  there’s not a lot of physical contact, but just enough to know that the other person is there. it’s comforting and comfortable.

j.seph - id love to just relax and lay my head on his chest. listen to his heartbeat. one of his arms wrapped around me too. it would be so nice. seriously folks just thinking about this is... a lot. 

What colors remind you of them and why?

b.m - red. he’s so full of passion and drive for all the things that he does. he’s also got this type of personality that has such a powerful impact. also he looks super good in red.

somin - pink. there’s always such a softness to somin. i know that she’s fierce and powerful, but she is always such a soft soul. she has a lightness to her that the color pink reflects.

jiwoo - indigo. a cool tone for a cool person. the color fits the mysterious, chic vibe that she has, but it’s also a calm color. much like jiwoo, the color indigo is a soothing color. 

j.seph - yellow. j.seph is such a bright person. he can be serious, but he always a bright aura around him. he takes things with stride, and just continues to smile. the color yellow suits that joyful and playful personality of his! 

Which season would you like to spend with them?

i’d want to spend winter with all of them because it’s my favorite season, but I feel like B.M is more a summer dude, Somin is more like spring as is J.seph, and Jiwoo is an autumn/winter gal to me. but i wanna spend winter with them!

Who would bake the cookies and who would steal the batter?

b.m- we would probably both bake the cookies, but he would steal the batter. i don’t like eating the batter like that tbh baking would probably be so fun with b.m though because he follows the instructions, but would probably toss in some interesting ingredients.

somin - we’d probably both end up making each other cookies. we make them at the same time, but individually, so we’d probably be so focused in making them that the batter would remain intact! 

jiwoo - mmmm i would bake the cookies while she sat at the counter and watched? she’d probably dip her finger in the batter to try it a couple of times, and give her opinion on the taste though!

j.seph - no cookies would be made. he wouldn’t be tasting the batter, but playing with it? like smearing it on my cheek or nose, and then i would have to retaliate, and then minutes later there would be no batter left haha 

Which one would make bad puns and how would the other react?

b.m- he would make all the puns (good and bad), i’d just laugh because he never really has any truly bad puns 

somin- i’d definitely make all the bad puns. i think she would just do what she does with the boys and cringe and smack my arm lol

jiwoo- it would still be me making all the bad jokes. jiwoo would probably just stare at me or walk away (but would crack a smile... she loves bad puns i know it)

j.seph- he is the king of all jokes and silliness, so it would definitely be this boy cracking all the puns. i wouldn’t be able to help myself, and i can 100% guarantee that i’d be crying of laughter.

Who would want to adopt 50 dogs and cats?

all of us. 

Which one of you would nearly burn down the kitchen to try to microwave a poptart and who would come to the rescue?

...i don’t microwave pop tarts so, if any of them do, it would be them lol. i’d come and help them out though!! 

Who likes to lean over tall railings and who pulls them back?

(I have a fear of heights so...I am not leaning over any tall railings anytime soon.)

b.m- you know as free spirited and wild as he seems, matthew is very careful so perhaps neither of us would lean over the railings. if he did though, i’d grip onto his shirt so tight to pull him back. 

somin- for sure neither of us would be leaning over any railings. we’d be so far from the edge appreciating having only solid ground beneath us.

jiwoo- jiwoo would probably get kicks out of looking over the railing. she’d probably tease me by leaning over it a couple of times, and just looking back to see my reaction (she’s a bit of a daredevil lol) so it would be me taking her away from the railing. 

j.seph- he would lean over the railing out of sheer curiosity, but he would lean too far, so i would definitely be pulling this kid back.

What would watching a horror film with them be like?

b.m- he’d probably be calm for the majority of it, but he seems like the kind of person whose body would jolt when they get scared, but he wouldn’t scream. he would try to laugh off the scary moments, and crack jokes to make it all seem less terrifying. he’d also cover your eyes and keep you tucked in his arms to make you feel less scared too.

somin- screaming our head off together. possibly in tears. why did we start watching this horror film? who knows! but now we’re too scared to move, and the remote seems to be nowhere in reach sooo... we are stuck. probably clinging to each other for dear life. someone would have to come turn off the tv for us, but then we’d probably scream if we saw them just because we’re already terrified.

jiwoo- depending on the film, she’d probably be laughing at some parts, but she’d definitely get scared as well. she’d probably grip your arm real tight when she got scared, but i think she would try to brave through the film. she’d focus more on the logical things in the film. if it has a storyline, she’ll focus on the details of the story to distract her mind from what might be coming up.

j.seph- so he apparently doesn’t get scared easily, so he would probably be chill throughout the film. he’d probably tease you about the scary parts, but not in a mean way. it would be more in a ways that downplays the horror, so you feel better. although, if there’s a really scary part, he’d probably give a little jump, and ,if you called him out on it, he’d try to play it off or just bluntly be like ‘oh that was surprising.’ (im thinking of that tour avatar video haha)

Who would be the chessy flirt and who would be the smooth flirt?

(i can’t flirt)

b.m- HE WOULD BE THE CHEESIEST BOY ON THE PLANET. HE ALREADY IS.  I think he would like to think that he’s a smooth flirt, but he’s so cheesy. He’d be so gushy and what not, but it’s so fitting of who he is because he’s so full of love and energy. he has to shower the person he likes with that love. he has to. it definitely works for him. though, i think he’d also be the person to say very deep and serious things and end up flustering the person.

somin- the shy flirt (im adding my own categories here) she exudes confidence on stage, but just seeing her gush about hyuna I can already see that shes a shy and giggly flirt. she showers the person she likes with compliments and positivity, and she’s so soft around them. also if she really likes them she’s gonna be super giggly around them and a blush will always be on her face.

jiwoo- she’d be smooth, but with a little hint of awkwardness? she’d probably give an awkward first liner, but then she’d save herself by saying something incredibly smooth. from that moment, she be the smooth talking queen. she’s really witty, so you’re most certainly gonna be charmed by her sweet talking skills.

j.seph- he’d be like an awkward/shy flirt. he’d really try to impress, but it wouldn’t come out the way he wanted it to. there’s the good chance that he would just start giggling instead of actually saying anything. he’d probably try to crack jokes as well ( this would be his strongest point when it comes to flirting haha), but everything would work for him because, even if he thinks everything came out in an embarrassing way, its actually super endearing. 

Who is more competitive?

they’re all competitive, and im competitive. so all of us. i think b.m would probably be the only one to “lose.” the others would really want to win (especially j,seph) 

Who would have to be given reminders (remember to eat, don’t forget your keys, etc)

they’re all so busy with tours and stuff that i think i would have to remind them to eat, and to take their wallets/phones/etc. but on days when they’re not as busy:

b.m- if he’s working on producing something I would probably have to remind him to eat, and to sleep ( get off ig too). he seems like he falls into his own world when he’s focused on something, so we need to keep him healthy

somin- i think she would be pretty good keeping herself on track in terms of meals, but she would definitely need reminders on what to take during a trip or when going out for the day.

jiwoo- idk why i feel like she’s just on top of everything. i think it’s because has a very independent vibe to her, but i think she would be reminding me about things, if she isn’t busy.

j.seph- he’d probably need reminding about where certain things are, idk why i get the vibe that he misplaces things, but in the most obvious places. also just regular reminders about what’s happening (my poor bub seems lost sometimes)

Who sends memes and who sends cute things like “i miss you” texts at 3 am?

b.m- we’re both sending memes, but he would definitely send cute messages. or post cute messages through ig or something like he does for the members. he’s a good morning/ good night text person. also he’d send a lot of photos of him making cute/silly faces i think. also gym photos showing you his progress, and what his next goal is.

somin- i’d send her some memes, but the cute messages are all her! they’d be full of emojis ( hearts, bows, animals, everything) she’d also probably send photos of things that she’s seen that remind her of you. also get ready for photos of se ah!

jiwoo- both of us would be sending each other memes. she’s got a funky sense of humor! she would also send videos/photos of the other members messing around with some a+ caption. also aside from memes,  she’d send pictures of tani.

j.seph- he’d send you some cheesy messages. probably wouldn’t send memes, but he would tell you jokes he came up with or he’s heard that he hasn’t told you yet. i’d probably send him memes only to see his reactions because i bet you they would be funny! i think if he were drunk or tipsy he’d send some long loving message at three am (it would be him rambling about how much he loves you and misses you and what not, but it would be cute).

so yeah that’s that! this was so long, and if you read all of this you are a superstar!

im gonna tag: @somin @sominbiased @oliviahei @allofmylovelove @fensi @jsephology @jeonjiwwoo @jiwoojisoo @sujiwoo @hiddenkard4 @babykard and anyone else who wants to do it!

[scowiosis]

Thanks for responding with your thoughts!

I can imagine the stress frightknight would be under trying to babysit danny cause dannys not the type to just sit down and do nothing; he’d definitely go out and try to figure things out for himself and be “on the run” from fright knight, who, probably in a panic, lets clockwork and pariah know dannys escaped; so then clockwork and pariah, in an attempt to find danny (and of course danny escapes and causes problems right when theyre about to make a move), make an entrance in amity park and everyone’s going crazy cause there are two god level entities in the vicinity

Im wondering if that would get the GIW active at amity and complicate things further which ultimately leads to the ghosts being treated better, but up until that point its chaos and maybe danny almost gets “killed” again by the ghost hunters (whether its the GIW or the fentons or the red huntress) leading to some very interesting responses from clockwork and pariah?

You’ve mentioned danny being killed by ghost hunters a few times; whats your take on what might’ve happened or why ghost hunters were trying to kill pariah and ended up killing danny instead?

The observants taking advantage of a “bad” situation seems much more likely; im thinking that their future sight of the current timeline cant get into specifics the way clockwork can and they probably only sees the bigger events that occur; maybe it takes several of them and more power to “see” more of the timeline and they function more as beings that can “see” situations that occur using an oracle of sorts? Cause they dont seem to have the ability to see the future in the same way as clockwork or as easily

The ancients working together to regain power over the realms would be so interesting too; do you think theyd get rid of the observants completely or just change things up so the power is spread more evenly?

I see the observants and clockwork as beings that need each other in a way; the observants see what will be; clockwork sees what can be; by working together they can build a future that is prosperous for all; but the observants got power hungry (not all of them) and started manipulate things instead of following the oath of not acting; i imagine that their obsessions are related to control or order in some way since they seem to be part of some kind of law upholding organization; in a way the observants exist to balance out the chaos of the realms

I love the idea of clockwork and pariah adopting jazz; i can imagine shed be confused but just accept that this is her life now; shed probably be worried in the beginning with how overprotective clockwork and pariah are being considering they may not have let danny leave the ghost zone for a while; maybe shes the one who helps danny to escape, and when fright knight tries to attack her thinking shes an enemy, danny stops him and fright knights at a loss cause its harder to stop their escape when he cant actually harm them and hes a warrior not a baby sitter so he doesnt quite know how to handle what to do in that situation

But after getting to meet dannys new? Old? Parents shed realize they mean well and, actually, this is the best dannys looked since he started high school so she starts to trust them but also lecture them on parenting cause dannys not just a ghost but a human too and they have to account for his human needs; pariah and clockwork would no doubt see a lot of value in keeping jazz around if it means that their son is better taken care of and happier with her around

Danny getting more powerful is always fun; i think since he acts more like pariah that he’d probably balance it out with getting powers more related to clockwork and space obsession danny is Good

So with space being used as a way to tell time in the past it kinda makes sense; and space and time are linked; he already has an ice/cold core and space is cold; and comets are made of ice sometimes; and hes fast (like a comet) so it all comes full circle there

My head has been on blast with ideas after reading your post about danny being clockwork and pariahs kid reincarnated; there is so much potential with that

Clockwork and pariah being mad at the observants cause they had to have known that danny was their kid reincarnated and must have blocked clockwork’s sight so he wouldnt realize that danny is his kid so he would actually end up killing danny, but danny reminding him so much of pariah made him reconsider and also after losing a kid he wouldnt dare take the life of one if he could avoid it

Of course the observants would need a reason to want to have danny killed and maybe its cause they knew that if he wasnt, that theyd be found out and murdered so they keep trying to get him killed and are hostile towards danny in most interactions; maybe the even staged the whole thing that lead to him becoming evil so that theyd have a reason to have danny killed?

Then theres finding out what really happened that caused danny to get killed in his past life and getting justice for that

Im thinking that pariah’s more of an ancient than a ghost of a person since hes with clockwork; his obsession would probably be something related to justice and order and having his kid die? With an obsession related to justice? It would make sense for him to go to the extreme with it and seek vengeance and justice for his child

The potential for this whole thing to be orchestrated by the observants who saw that, if the timeline continued as it was with pariah having a good reign as king, that theyd lose power and, cause they didnt want that, they had planned on killing pariah but, as you stated, that fails and they realize that killing the kid would grant them the same effect and going for that or maybe danny wouldve died cause he tried to protect his dad? Depends on how old he is when he’d died; i think you said he died young so theres the guilt potential if he wasnt old enough to have his own persona yet (like a toddler or elementary school child) but then there’s also the guilt potential if hes a rebellious? Or reckless? Kid whos trying to get the attention of his (too busy) parents so when he catches the attack on his dad of course he tries to stop it and dies and then theres the potential for parental guilt due to this

In the later scenario, it’d actually be better if the observants didnt plan to kill the child and, because it happened, they realized they could take advantage of the ensuing fallout that ultimately leads to pariah dark being sealed away, the observants retaining their power, and clockwork being so focused on his duty and his grief that he doesnt really try anything to stop them

The observants potentially having a hold over clockwork due to some oath form the past would add to the plot and make it so its not just easy destruction; pariah having to redeem himself to the allies he turned against and no longer having the power of the crown or ring of rage would also be important for creating a fun and interesting plot

I love the idea of danny just going with the flow of it cause his core makes him trust them; there was a fanfic i read a long while back where danny was the reincarnation of a prior heir to the ghost throne and how he had started getting dreams that felt like memories or had things that occurred that reminded him of certain things from his past life; im almost wondering if this would be a fun addition to this au or if he’d be too young to have memories at all from his past life

Then theres the other ghosts realizing theyd fucked up big time which is hilarious cause on one hand, angry pariah and clockwork, but also danny wouldnt let them harm the other ghosts so theyd obviously relent for their baby boy; but maybe there’d be some kind of camaraderie that occurs due to this? Maybe skulker helping them uncover the truth or something like that? Idk yet

But the whole plot with the fentons??? That’s gonna be crazy and no doubt stressful for danny cause on one hand, his parents are all he knows even though he knows they arent the best; but on the other hand, clockwork and pariah treat him well and he feels safe with them and something about them is so familiar and he doesnt quite understand it; im wondering if maybe his appearance will change now that his core is connected to his parents? Then theres the ghost biology stuff to consider; is he absorbing ectoplasm from his parents now that the connection is there? Does he gain powers that his parents have due to this? Does he get more powerful now that his ghost half is eating properly?

And when he learns whats going on?? That’s gonna be a lot for him to digest; of course danny wants to help his parents again but theyre wayyy more protective this time around so danny, being who he is, will most definitely get into shenanigans that he shouldnt be getting into which both stresses out clockwork and makes pariah proud cause hes so much like pariah even if he doesnt remember everything

Dani getting added into the mix later on and clockwork and pariah being ecstatic about it; then that creates the question of how are ghost children formed? Their two ancients formed of ideas; is it something that happens cause they wish for it and the ghost zone answers their wish? Is it a sharing of ectoplasm that forms another being that they nurse until it forms into its own being?

And of course, with the fentons being as they are and clockwork and pariah not being cool with it, there’d be the anxiety that danny would have to go through with managing how to handle that whole scenario and being conflicted about what to do; im sure jazz would be involved with this in some way or form as he figures out how the family situation is going to be after this

Id love to hear your thoughts on this!! Also, are you planning on writing a fanfic about it?

No pressure if you dont want to respond!

Hey there! Thank you so much I’m glad you like the AU idea. Sorry I am not planning on writing a fic on this AU sorry.

Yeah I thought that somehow Clockwork’s sight being blocked, like the Observants saw that and put all their effort into making sure that one detail could not be seen, like instead just being static.

The observants would probably want Danny out of the picture because if CW and Pariah find out about him being their kid then that would encourage them to work together again and be a united front and if they worked together again all the other ancients could follow and all the ancients together against them could overthrow them (It’s why they were most definitely not so sad about Pariah going mad the first time after all CW was broken after losing his son and husband and defiantly less inclined to ’act out’ and all the other ancients split apart and the observants were still in power)

I don’t think they’d have been able to interfere and act on making Danny into Dan but definitely saw that one future and pointed it out to clockwork the one who could interact and try to make sure he’s taken care of and pushed very very hard for CW to ‘take care of it’ him not was worrying but…. CW met the boy and didn’t realize so they didn’t think there was a way for CW to realize, both parents met him and didn’t realize they must have gotten off scot-free…and then Vlad did the core thing.

YES! Pariah being a ghost of order/justice is so good him losing his Kid pushing his obsession his domain/powers to the extreme and him becoming a tyrant that is such a good idea.

I defiantly pictured Danny being a toddler or very young child killed in some almost assassination against Pariah…which would totally feed into that justice/order obsession or even protection obsession.

(Or perhaps Ghost Hunters which would make things so interesting with the Fenton’s)

I think the observants didn’t plan but totally took advantage of it like I said before it fractured the ancients and ensured their continued position and power…. It’s why they didn’t exactly warn either parent about what they observed or the possibility.

 Oh clockwork having a vow to the Observants is so interesting, and that fic sounds really cool.

Oh yeah all the other ghosts realizing and freaking the FUCK OUT, they would totally help Pariah and Clockwork out and please Phantom tell them not to kill us…please.

Oh yep the Fenton thing would be very awkward (Especially if it was ghosthunters who killed Danny before) he’d defiantly develop different powers maybe completely different from both parents (He could have space powers maybe that would play into the space obsession Danny AU’s) I think he was already much more powerful than an average ghost or halfa but the core connection definitely speed the powers up.

Yeo all of this would be a lot for him, but at least now support structure to help him with everything, 2 very overprotective parents (Overprotective being an understatement) ….and fright knight stuck as babysitter/bodyguard, Fright Knight is stuck keeping Danny out of shenanigans and that is a full-time job and if he wasn’t already dead he would have died of the many heart attacks Danny has given him.

Clockwork is stressed but overly fond because yeah Danny is much like Pariah and him but also stressed out because oh god he’s so much like Pariah and him. Pariah is the parent whose told your son got into a fight and asks did he win? (Although either way he would obliterate whoever fought his son)

Yep Dani getting to the mixed would be so fun. Not sure about the ghost thing maybe core’s mixing between mates?

I can see Jazz somehow getting adopted by Pariah and CW to, her looking over the political state of the infinite realms and coming up with ideas.

Thanks the ask sorry if I didn’t answer everything I’m so glad you like this AU idea =)

[professor-abeloved]

For the ship breakdown.. It's so cliché and others will most likely ask the same, but JakexMC? Any gender!

this is a lil late but thanks anon!! using my masc presenting mc, eli de loyola!! tbh i was expecting this since it’s the most popular endsum ship lmao. 

(sidenote: i should probably say that i don’t rly do f!mc/jake because it’s…the most popular ship in the fandom haha. it’s nothing personal, and i bet your f!mc & jake are adorable together, but you don’t need me when there are so many people who would kill for the chance to make content for it yanno? idk if this is making sense lol)

((sidenote 2: i’m not taking anymore ships for this ask meme either adkfglds tho the link is there in case anyone wants to reblog it!))

SEND ME A SHIP AND I’LL BREAK THEM DOWN

How did they they meet?

the plane ride to la huerta where eli called jake “hotness” because he panicked and can’t flirt for shit. jake was so amused, especially since eli stuck to his guns and continues to call him “hotness” despite the situation afhbsjdhfnd

Who developed romantic feelings first?

jake did!! despite the fact that he tried so hard not to, he fell for eli’s enthusiasm, his heroic nature, the way he can keep up with and understand jake… and the adorable way he cannot flirt for shit.

eli doesn’t know how to deal with Feelings so he was in denial for the longest time lmao

Who is their biggest “shipper?”

diego currently holds that title

When did they have their first kiss and under what circumstances?

tbh in canon, they kissed in each other’s arms as they fellow below the waves… but i hc that their first kiss happened waaay before that when eli couldn’t deal with his feelings and jake was being adorable annoying so he ended up grabbing the front of jake’s jacket and kissing him

they made out for a bit before eli came to his senses and ran away (and continued to run and avoid jake, which really hurt him and fuled his ‘mc should stay away because i don’t want to get attached and/or hurt them’ shtick #ILoveAngst)

Who confessed their feelings first?

jake when they slept together for the first time

What was their first official date?

eli says its smth mundane like a date in the coffeeshop, but jake considers their first date the first time he took eli up in a plane (this is in a happy angst free au shush)

How do they feel about double dates/group dates?

idk i feel like jake wouldnt be fond of them and eli dont really curr

What do they do in their down time?

idk i feel like theyd go flying a lot if jake gets his own plane (courtesy of aleister who has inherited rourke industries idk man just let them be happy)

What was the first meeting of parents as an official couple like?

i hc jakes parents as dead & at first jake didnt make a good first impression on eli’s aunt tho ‘cause she didn’t appreciate his snark lol

What was their first fight over and how did they get past it?

their first fight was when eli went with #TeamSean to get shit done instead of partying with sila jake because 1) he feels like its the right thing to do and 2) he’s avoiding jake (this is after their first kiss btw.) 

and tbh at first jake’s angry bc he thinks sean is like idk Forcing eli to go but then eli gets mad (he’s a sean stan no matter who he’s dating js). the stress of the whole island situation as well as his feelings for jake cause him to say shit he regrets. jake’s understandably hurt by it, and he makes it into a bigger fight (because he’s looking for excuses to detach himself from eli) lol

Which one is more easily made jealous?

jake lmao. although you’d expect eli to be more jealous (since he’s already tsundere af) eli is merely amused when someone flirts with jake (tbh he’d be likely to give em a high five HAHA @ yvonne)

What is their favourite thing to get to eat?

whiskey. idk. i feel like jake’s a meat person tho

Who’s the cuddly one? What their favourite cuddling position?

eli is more cuddly asgfdsas he used to be big spoon, but then jake wanted to try so now they jetpack

Are they hand holders?

yeah first chapter pa lang, holding hands na awow

How long do they wait before sleeping together for the first time? What’s the circumstances?

they stop being babies about their feelings and sleep together the night before the watchers come (that is to say, they come before the watchers do bfhdkjsk why am i allowed to be online)

Who tops?

they switch it up a lot but also consider power bottom jake pls and thank

What’s the worst first they’ve ever gotten into?

hmm maybe about jake not attempting to clear his name and not returning to the US idk

Who does the shopping and the cooking?

they feel like a Take-Out kind of couple lmao. but they shop together bc jake just gets the bare essentials and eli cant cook a romantic dinner with just one (1) can of tuna wtf jake

Which one is more organized and prone to tidiness?

i feel like theyre both messy, but jake has a System to get his shit while eli is just… kalat

Who proposes?

diego proposes for both of them HAHA legit he deadass plans a romantic dinner for them and hands jake a ringbox and has jake propose, which he happily does so

but seriously if diego hadn’t intervened it probs wouldve taken 20 years before either of them even mentioned proposing dnfdksasdsja

Do they have joined Bachelor/Bacheloette parties or separate?

joined and then there’s a bit about jake and stripping and pilot uniform soooooo

Who is the best man/maid of honour? Any other groomsmen or bridesmaids?

es gang as groomsen and bridesmaids, diego is eli’s best man and idk sean is jake’s (since i hc them to get close after the events of ES)

Big Ceremony or Small?

small

Do they have a honeymoon? If so, where?  

costa rica HAHAAHA

Do they have children? How many?

jake doesn’t seem like the type to want kids, but eli really loves taking care of people, so they compromise and get a dog HAHA. the dog doesn’t like jake at first (since jake is,, like a cat lmao)

but here comes one incident at their home (cant decide where they live yet lol) where eli isn’t home & the dog sniffs out a fire which gives him and jake time to escape… but then the dog gets stuck somewhere and jake curses but goes back to save it 

and the dog finally warms up to him afterwards!! jake pretends to act like he isnt fond of the dog but his mouth kind of twitches into a smile after he loudly complains about the dog drool on his face (after the dog licks him in greeting aww)

[heyitscmei]

so i see theres some theory talk floating around

but this post isnt really to do with theories so much as characterization

i had a whole thread over on twitter but ill just copy and paste some thoughts here in regards to one particular post ive seen floating around and some posts linked within im not trying to start fights or anything, im just expressing some thoughts of my own which is why im not linking to the post in question anyways

just a reminder, keith isnt a good liar so unless he became a good liar in the time that shiro was gone, i sincerely dont think he was lying to shiro when he told him that the team needed him

but whether or not he became a good liar or not, one thing is certain based on what weve been shown:

keith is a capable leader, but he still hasnt quite grown into the role yet

keith still hasnt quite learned how to pick his battles

thats why i dont think its quite right to say that hes more capable of a leader than shiro with time, he could be thats something even shiro himself saw in keith: potential 

however something thats been made clear to us is that keith still needs to learn a little

shiro on the other hand, has experience being in a leader role hes the garrisons golden boy, the pilot of the kerberos mission and he was the head of voltron for a reason black chose him for a reason

he is capable he is a role model for keith keith tells shiro that the team needs him that he cant do it and isnt as good of a leader as shiro because its what he believes to be true

keith is honest and straightforward he knows hes lacking and he doesnt try to pretend that hes a perfect leader he KNOWS hes still struggling between doing what he WANTS to do and doing what he SHOULD do - with accepting that the things he wants to do arent necessarily good for the team to be doing

hes grown immensely in the time he has been leader, but hes not the leader they need to defeat lotor not the way he is right now and he KNOWS that

as for shiro... i can agree that maybe leading voltron gave him control something that hed been robbed of in his captivity but i also dont think that hes the type to really let things like betrayal or jealousy or whatever cloud his vision shiro from the start has always seemed to put their purpose before himself hes never given the impression of being a selfish enough person to have issues over who the leader is he seems more likely to be the type to think 'if this is what it takes, well do it this way'

i think hes being genuine when he says hes glad the team didnt lose sight of things in his absence because thats just how he is hes glad that his absence didnt become their undoing because hes only one person winning the war means saving a lot more than that hes proud of them for that because thats shiro thats what hes like selfless but driven

not once has he ever complained about being thrust into this war even though hes got more than enough reasons to complain because he sees this mission and he knows its for the greater good he knows first hand how bad it can be he wants to spare people from that its like hes selfless to a fault so i dont think he actually has any issues with feeling left out or feeling as though hes the odd one out from the team if that were really the case, i dont think hed guide from the castle as easily as he is theres no reservations or hesitation he doesnt seem to think 'im not part of this anymore' so much as 'im part of this, but in a different way from usual'

keith is so willing to step aside for shiro because ultimately he still believes wholeheartedly that shiro is most suited to lead

keith has never cared about claiming or holding onto the leader position

now in the interest of explaining why i dont think the reasons the OP of the post mentioned that make shiro a bad leader dont actually make shiro a bad leader, i addressed each reason individually so 1) in regards to when shiro tries to carry lance outside after lance protects coran from the bomb

why does he do it? well its not a good idea to leave an injured teammate alone, for one for two, if the explosion was within the castle, its pretty reasonable to think the castle isnt safe either ultimately, while the castle is big, you dont want to be cornered in the very place that the galra are likely to infiltrate

what are the galra after? the lions where are the lions? in the castle where will the galra be going then? the castle so where do you not want to be with your injured teammate? the castle

not to mention, without the crystal, the castle is generally nonfunctional the chances of lance being okay are ultimately greater if shiro gets him out of the castle at least, its a risk shiro is willing to take

why tell pidge to come back when shiro will have the easier time getting lance to safety? not to mention shiro is already there with him its not like he could tell when exactly pidge would be done sending coran and hunk off theres also no telling how long it would take for pidge to get to them its not a wise decision to just stay put inside the enemies main target while knowing the team was so separated

tell allura to come back? let keith check the arusian village by himself? thats not a smart idea either we know that it was ruse to separate them, but the team didnt know that at the time dramatic irony

so from shiros perspective, its better if allura and keith go to the arusian village together because at least they have an ally to watch their backs in the event that something is wrong you dont hear that a village is under attack and assume it wont be dangerous safety in numbers    

2) regarding shiro and his decisions about when to fight and when not to fight

its worth mentioning that first and foremost, shiro never makes a decision that he doesnt wait for the others inputs on hes not the type to force them to do something if the majority disagrees with his decisions

but a very important thing about being a leader is knowing when to choose your battles this is especially emphasized in s3 however, whether to fight or retreat hasnt always necessarily been dependent on whether the odds are in their favour or not

one such exception is when they decided to take on zarkons command center

shiro knew that keith was right when he said theyd be bringing zarkon exactly what he wants he wasnt ignoring him shiro was the one who said himself that the odds would be against them even in season 1 it isnt as though he suddenly changed his mind what changed was that they had allura

and allura is a lot more than just a part of the team shes the altean princess shes the true leader of the entire damn war shes too important for them to lose

things they lose if they lose allura? - the ability to wormhole, thus reducing their mobility by a great deal - a key figurehead in the war and the person who best handles the talks and meetings with the other planets

not to mention that she has powers all of them lack, including coran

someone like that isnt exactly easily replaced

shiro said it himself when the others reminded him he was the one who said they shouldnt take on zarkons central command at first they had no choice but to attack zarkons command center

they had to try because, the way he probably saw it, the war was as good as lost if they didnt save allura anyways

in s2 when zarkon manages to keep finding them, keith says they can fight that they should fight (this is actually considered a flaw that he needs to overcome, and is addressed in s3 - he needs to learn to choose his battles) but shiro says that they dont stand a chance against zarkon and his entire fleet

again, he didnt just suddenly change his mind and hes not being hypocritical in any way he explains why they cant because keith doesnt know how to pick his battles yet

they pull back, because shiro doesnt yet see a chance for them to come out of the battle victoriously theyre not prepared yet

later when shiro says that they will be attacking, its different its on their terms its not him listening to keith because he suddenly saw an error in his own judgement or whatever this is shiro acknowledging that there is an advantage to be gained this way they have a chance here that isnt more likely to leave them all dead thats called picking your battles

shiro isnt a bad leader for it in fact, its exactly what will make keith a better leader in s3

3) regarding shiro and keith and leadership 

shiro does not have 'a lot of nerve' to tell keith that he has to control his emotions if hes going to lead

shiro is well aware of the fact that sometimes, when youre put into a position where youre responsible for not just yourself, but a whole team of people, you cant let your judgement be clouded by emotions sometimes the things you have to do are not always the things you want to do

its true that keith is rational and can make smart decisions, but in the context of when shiro says this to keith its because he acknowledges that keith still lets emotions cloud his vision sometimes and the scene prior was one of those times you cant lash out at your team you have to talk to them properly thats the kind of thing shiro is trying to have keith understand

(and for the record, the decision to attack zarkons command center was not a decision that seemed to be based on emotion. at the time they attacked, shiro was not aware of the control zarkon still had over the black lion, so he couldnt have been scared of that and sure he might have been scared about what would happen to himself, to allura, to the team, but it was a risk they had to take because allura is too crucial to their mission - thats not an emotional decision its a smart one)

but hes not saying "dont be like me" to keith when he says keith has to control his emotions hes saying this because he acknowledges that keith has potential but he also acknowledges that his potential is still hindered by things that keith needs to work on and overcome

also, keith going against zarkon was not emotionally driven it was more likely keiths idea of a way to gain a huge advantage in the war no emperor to lead automatically means that the opposing side is weakened substantially

it wasnt necessarily the right thing to do either keith had no idea of what zarkon was capable of (pick your battles - going in blind isnt exactly advisable and coran even TELLS him not to do it. coran has been shown to have known more, which is a given considering he was present 10000 years ago)

also shiro doesnt have blind faith in keith for a long time now, canon has been hinting that shiro and keith have a backstory shiro knows keith better than anyone else because the rescue from the garrison was very clearly not their first meeting ("its good to have you back", “its good to be back”)

also the insinuation that shiro is not fit to lead because he has ptsd... yikes i dont think i need to elaborate on why exactly that implication is yikes-worthy

its true that keith displays leadership potential early on in the show but this doesnt necessarily mean that shiro isnt a good leader and that keith is automatically better

shiro isnt perfect, but hes a great leader canon has told us time and time again that keith has to grow into the role

(also the reason keith follows shiro and not the other way around: shiro changed his life. shiro is a positive person in his life and keith both trusts and relies on him because shiro didnt give up on him. this is why he follows shiro)

shiro doesnt "hold him back" shiros done nothing but push keith forward and support him keith would be insulted if someone thought shiro was any less than his biggest supporter (”if it wasnt for you, my life would have been a lot different”, “shiro is the only person who didnt give up on me -  i wont give up on him”) shiro showing keith reason and explaining why they cant follow through on some of the things keith wants to do isnt "holding him back"

its true keith sees a lot of good stuff in shiro but the same is true for shiro to keith its mutual and shiro tells keith he wants him to lead voltron not because he doesnt want keith to follow him and wants to follow keith instead he tells keith this because shiro acknowledges that sometimes in war, things happen he could die and hes had some close calls he wants keith to lead because he knows he can trust keith to lead the team he knows that if keith leads, even if hes gone the team will be left in capable hands hes been trying to nurture that

4) in regards to keith stopping pidge from leaving and shiro stopping keith

keith is right about pidge putting two people over the universe however shiro is right about how you cant force people to be part of the team you dont nurture bonds that way you dont build a team that way

why? how do you expect to build a functioning team if a member is reluctant to be part of it

personally speaking, when i dont want to do something i dont end up doing the thing as well as i could be and im unhappy doing the thing the whole time

thats not good for the team shiro knows this and so, if pidges mind really cant be changed, he wont force her to stay also, paladins can be replaced and im sure shiro knows that considering when they first met allura, she asked them what happened to the blue lions paladin they know there were paladins before they know that they are not the first they are not the only paladins

it wouldve set them back, but if they really needed to, theyd look for a new green paladin to take pidges place you cant fight a war with someone who isnt willing to fight a war

also to say that shiro doesnt care about finding the holts as much is just.. first of all, weve established that shiro puts their purpose first im more sure that he wants to find them and just knows they dont have the time to put all their focus on finding two people when a universe is at stake

whether they have to find a new green paladin hinges on pidge, but hes not going to force her to stay besides, forcing someone to stay and fight a war... it doesnt sound like a good idea, ultimately keiths heart is in the right place and he has the right idea, but theres more to being a leader than telling people what to do its a job that requires understanding, especially for the people within the team

its true it wouldve been dangerous for pidge, but shiro is a recently escaped captive from the galra empire this, in addition to who he seems to be as a person... i think the last thing he wants to do is keep someone somewhere against their will and force them into doing something

and shiro telling keith he wants him to lead wasnt him trying to force the role on keith he was trying to give voltron the biggest winning chance in the event that he would be unable to lead them (for obvious reasons considering theyre fighting a war)

and thats about everything i have to say but im just leaving these here to organize some of those thoughts its kind of a mess but i tried to address everything i order as best as i could

[tumblunni]

HEYO! oh man now my friend helped me get all inspired again for working on my Cathedral Tower Defense game so WOO lets have another long post of miscellaneous ideasies for storyness! may not be very coherant tho cos i am super tired and ill! but happy!! THANKS SUMMON-DAZE FOR BEING MY ULTRA BESTIE

* Okay now I am super sure that I’m gonna let you choose the gender of the protagonist! And I wanna keep it so that their name is Amity either way, cos that’s kinda stuck in my mind. Surname Amity, player gets to decide the first name, but people will still be calling you Amity a lot at first cos you start off all awkward and formal with everybody. You’re a newcomer to this cathedral town and nobody knows whether to trust you, from their perspective you’re this dangerous person theyre forced to accept just because they need you to help protect them, whether you’re good or bad. They’re all worried what price they might have to pay for this, trying to figure out how to minimize the damage if you turn on them... and its not like they’re bad people for being untrustworthy, they’re just scared people huddling in a church and trying to keep their families safe at any cost. So try and prove your worth to them, and help them learn to protect themselves too, and make this ramshackle settlement into a real home! ....anyway, where was I? Oh yeah, gender selection is a good! And it could be relatively easy to impliment too, cos of the situation. Doesnt even necessarily have to be a menu or anything, it could just be like sir amity/lady amity/master amity. Cos you’re this paladin knighto, itd make sense for them to ask for your title. And it could just be like a shot of protagonist’s badass silhouette in the gateway of the cathedral and then you get the dialogue choice to pick your identity, and its all Super Cool~!

* It also actually gives me more of an idea of what i could do for their design, like I dunno maybe they have some sort of face-concealing helm or headdress or something. I was just thinking of them being dressed like a generic nun or princess but maybe emphasize more on the knight aspect instead of the holy part? So like anyway, maybe they have a very all-concealing outfit and that could be the framing of the first scene instead, its like *pulls off the mask and you’re into the character selection screen* Orrrrrr maybe there doesnt need to be any magical setup for a gender selection and it can just be a menu before the first scene starts XD Or maybe you have a cool face-concealing helmet thing anyway, like all three gender options just have a different one, lol

* More random magical names i got via the cool name generator site summon-daze linked to me! Dunno if I’ll actually use any of these but im writing them down here so i dont forget. Berebath, Betnia, Amurziz, Jetre, Miemahl, Semdach, Batxahl, Sidefarch, Botolohn, Vausach, Thammoch, Droibhal, Lekonach, Zeidhal, Tieloch, Rabrohm, Maesur, Smoiroch, Baelbuhr, Axoth, Jige, Chushou, Hukru, Nejeget, Roucu,  Jinah, Aujus, Yekoth, Nugresah, Israfel, Jabriel, Tabris, Douma

* Also I’m remembering Jade Cocoon and how I liked that the different ‘families’ of monsters shared naming traits. Like how all those weird snake/slug cutiepies that i loved best were nushab, rashab, etc etc. And tamatoch and somethingtoch and so on. I think there was at least one where the modifier was a prefix too? I dunno why i’m talking about this, but there you go. I just think if i wanna do full original made up names for demon species then i wanna make em stuff that just... feels like that. I dont actually wanna make like five different elements of each one tho, i wanna have only one per element and then they have like two different higher level finalized forms. Like, the human characters can have two job classes each and the demons can have two specializations within an element. That helps me think about how to limit it down to four or five elements, if we can combine common fantasy elements together! And yeah I was thinking it’d be cool if the demon ‘job classes’ could have their own evolving appearances and new names!

* Thoughts for the ol elemental groupings! The only one I really have finalized is grass + poison = same thing. Florin, why u always the character that gets developed faster than everyone else XD And I’m thinking giving them their own made up names would make it easier! Like how in SMT you have spells being stuff like ‘media’ and ‘agi’ instead of cure and fire. But here (hopefully) it’d be easier to memorize cos its just the element names that’re fantasy words, and the attacks themselves would be a little more self explanatory. i just think it’d work cos like... the idea i had of rock and fire being one single demon type, you could just call that magma. But i mean, what can you call plant + poison? Except.. like.. plant. Cos poison is reasonably often a grass type skill anyway. And i mean, game creators dont often worry about making sense, what with how ‘grass’ is the common element name when thats just one plant in a million. I cant stop thinking about that now I’ve noticed it! I legit thought grass was a synonym for plant when i was a kid, i learned to read from pokemon yellow... ANYWAY IM GETTING OFFTOPIC AGAIN The other idea I had for groupings was fire + non-elemental together? I was just thinking like... aura. Non elemental/physical attack as a ‘magic’ could be fighting spirit! And thematically speaking it tends to be shown as fire effects in anime, i guess XD But then i couldnt put fire with rock and that means I’d have to redesign malachi again. his design ended up looking more firey than rocky :P Another idea is maybe darkness + non-elemental together? like, interpret non-elemental as ‘void’. Or light and dark could be together actually, that could be an interesting way to do it, instead of having them opposing. Like maybe the elements could be colours! Grey element, able to specialize into white or black but neither is any sort of ‘good and evil’. And then the rest could be like green or like.. instead of red maybe fire could be bronze and thats why it has rock skills too? or man, maybe rock and metal could be one element and fire could be grouped with something else. And would water and ice be too ordinary and boring? do they already kinda count as one element? should I throw in something else? GAHHHHHHH

* Ideas for the multiple religious groups aligned with each element! I��m thinking I want one of them to interpret the setting’s absent god as two deities. like, every perspective on this deity is a wildly different character, this one is just even more so! they’d see malahat (tentative name) as two people, but kinda more like a shared soul that can manifest as either a male or female form. But there’d be ambiguity and debates in the mythos over whether this is actually a genderfluid god, or if its ‘twins who were cursed to never exist at the same time’, or various other variations on the story. I wanna make it like real life, where even within (for example) catholocism, there’s different sects and different translations of the same text. And where there’s predjudice against minority groups and people like to twist their faith to ‘justify’ it, even when parts of the original tale could easily justify treating those people with kindness too. So there’d be some followers of the twins religion who are very openminded to LGBTQ people, and historically anyone trans was able to hold a unique position as a priest, being treated as someone blessed by god. But like in norse mythology, this wasnt necessarily a sign that society was 100% okay with LGBTQ people. Its kinda depressing to read about how trans women and gay men were considered the only people able to become a specific kind of witches, but also how you kinda HAD to take this one safety net in society to stop people from making you an outcast. It was like ‘make them fear me so they dont fuckin kill me’. You had to become a medicine person and at least claim to believe in these magic powers, you had to be blessed by the gods to prove you were like.. one of the good ones. Otherwise its like youre saying the gods made a mistake when they made you, or youre choosing to be a deviant against nature. i can only imagine how terrifying it must have been if you believed in that religion and had to like.. be forced to go against it and leave society, or be forced to lie about being chosen by a god for a higher purpose, while believing that any moment you might get struck down for lying. And then I read in other history books about how the concept of homosexuality was far different in that old society too, how male-on-male sex was accepted at sea as long as you were the dominant one and you were forcing something unwanted onto a lesser shipmate as punishment. Like ugh, rape being more socially accepted than consensual LGBTQ relationships! I guess the only solace is that we can never be 100% sure how much of historians’s theories are correct and what might have changed in retellings of history, but honestly I can believe the past is this fucked up when the present is already fucked up in different ways. BUT ANYWAY I wanna explore those themes in my story maybe. And I wanna do more research into the subject to make sure I’m doing it justice, even though its a very sad subject that might be quite stressful. Maaaaan, I remember how I used to obsess about researching norse myth as a kid, it was one of my first Special Interests and I really wanted to see all the different reinterpretations of Loki and write my own fanfic/adaptation/vaguely inspired original story about What If He Stayed A Good Guy. Man I had soooo much sympathy for the poor sod. I mean it depends on the retelling whether he was always evil or whether he was like a comedic neutral ally to the gods who just abruptly becomes evil and gets killed off without remorse in the final story. And gahhh he’s like the biggest LGBTQ bastion in the whole mythos, and how can I not feel sympathetic?? When we get all these stories about him being a literal genderfluid shapeshifter and giving birth to half of his children and just like seriously its like The Story Of the One Trans Man In Homophobic Transphobic Valhalla and he was probably meant to seem Bad and Funny and whatever but im gonna sit here and grumpily cling onto the idea that he was deliberately written as trans, or that if these gods actually do exist out there somewhere then Loki would support me. *pout* I just have a lot of good memories of how this was like the first sign of me realizing my own gender, back when I first learned about Loki in school and then devoured every damn history book about the dude. And got in a million internet pissing matches about how innacurate the marvel version was XD Also it sucks that we like to believe that modern times are always 100% more enlightened in every way, yet its modern adaptations that always censor out the bits about him shifting gender identities and getting pregnant once. ... man this has gone offtopic too much, im really tired but seriously its funny how teenage bunni had NO CLUE they were nonbinary, no clue why they got so obsessed researching gender-defying mythological figures and historians who created gender neutral pronouns in the 1800s. i was so supernaturally oblivious, holy shit...

[athena29stone]

5 Reasons to Try a Whole Novel Approach in Your Classroom

Ariel Sacks on episode 185 of the 10-Minute Teacher Podcast

From the Cool Cat Teacher Blog by Vicki Davis

Follow @coolcatteacher on Twitter

Ariel Sacks, author of Whole Novels for the Whole Class, shares five reasons to try a whole novel approach. She also explains how this approach works and some advantages for teachers.

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  Below is an enhanced transcript, modified for your reading pleasure. For guests and hyperlinks to resources, scroll down.

***

Enhanced Transcript

5 Reasons to Try a Whole Novel Approach in Your Classroom

Shownotes: www.coolcatteacher.com/e185 From Audio File 185-Ariel-Sacks

Vicki: Today we are talking to Ariel Sacks about Five Reasons to Try a Whole Novel Approach in the Classroom.

Whole Novels for a Whole Classroom: a Student Centered Approach by Ariel Sacks

Now she does have a book on this topic, and I know that you’ll probably find it intriguing. So Ariel, help us understand — what is a whole novel approach?

What is a Whole Novel Approach?

Ariel: Ok, so the whole novel approach is really kind of like a workshop approach to a whole class novel study.

Instead of the teacher leading the students through all of the novels, bit by bit, students receive the novel, they receive the schedule, and then they receive a lot of individualized support to actually read the book independently. Or partners or small groups, kind of depending on the needs of the students.

So some students will finish way ahead of the deadline and some students will really use every moment of it, perhaps listening to it on audio.

Then when students finish at the deadline… We meet up, and we come together for student-driven discussion, where the students decide what we talk about.

We go back into the text. We re-read sections together. We investigate it and get to a deeper meaning, in all the ways that are wonderful about class discussions and whole class novel study. But it is really different because the teacher moves into a facilitator roll.

How do You Motivate Students to Read with This Approach?

Vicki: So what do you say to those who say, “They won’t read a chapter! How are they going to read a whole novel?”

Ariel: Right. So, I do get that question a lot.

Once you switch the focus to the students-supporting-students reading process, and really conferencing with them and being very open about where each student is a reader, and giving them the support that they need… They do read!

And they read much more than when the teacher is front and center. And the students can rely on the teacher to do the reading and interpreting for them. But those supports are really key to making sure that students do their reading.

Vicki: So what’s your first reason to try a whole novel approach in your classroom?

Reason #1 to Try a Whole Novel Approach: You’re Tired of the Traditional Model of Teaching Literature

Ariel: My first reason is just maybe you’re just sick of that traditional whole class novel study.

There’s so much wonderful work being done out there with choice reading, genius hour, project based learning.

And then, maybe you love whole class novels because there are really amazing things that can happen when a group of students reads together.

But you go back to teaching a whole class novel and it’s back to the traditional. And you find yourself bored. So you want to try something different.

Vicki: It’s a new way, so we can try something different and see how it works!

Reason #2: You Are Struggling to Have Enough Time for All of Your Novels

Okay, what’s the second reason?

Ariel: The second reason is time.

One of the big pitfalls of the traditional whole class novel study is that eat an entire marking period.

When teachers feel that students need to grasp every point that they see in the novel, and the teachers need to oversee that and help them through that bit by bit. It takes forever!

So that can lead to burnout, and when I say “burnout.” I mean getting burned out on that particular book.

So by the time it is finished, you never want to look at it again. But also, you’re not reading enough books throughout the year. You get the feeling that kids are stagnating.

Then when students finish at the deadline… Okay, so you can go faster. What else?

Reason #3: You Want More “Real” Reading

Ariel: Well, my next reason is you want more real reading.

So we kind of touched on this before, but I do think in the traditional model there is a lot of “fake reading” that happens.

Students will look for the answers to the teacher’s questions in the text, but they’re not actually reading through the text. They’re not actually experiencing it.

Another thing that happens — even for the student that is reading along and doing exactly what the teacher is asking for — sometimes the experience gets really chopped up. So it’s taking way too long, and it’s almost (I’ve actually had students tell me this) — It almost becomes hard to pay attention to the story, because they’re doing so much, in addition to actually reading. With the whole novel process, they’re really privileging that story experience. And trying to support that.

Vicki: That makes sense! I remember reading Jane Eyre in high school. Fantastic teacher, but I got so into it that I read it in three days. And then it was (discussed for) another eight weeks. It almost made me not like the book — except I liked it so much.

What’s next?

Reason #4: To Bring in More Student Voice and Agency

Ariel: So, next is student voice, for teachers who want a classroom that really welcomes student voice and gives students a lot of agency in their learning.

Students have voice in how they respond to the novel. They decide what’s important in the text. We do this through a very open forum of annotating during the reading process.

And then when it comes to those discussions which happen after all the students finished the reading, those are entirely student-driven so I do put on a facilitator role. It’s not a Socratic seminar where I sit back and just watch it unfold. But they’re deciding what we’re going to talk about. It’s really powerful.

Vicki: So you’re there, deciding what you’re going to talk about?

How Do We Direct the Conversation to Cover the Content When Students Are Leading?

So let’s say you’re an AP teacher, and you know that certain things are going to be on the AP test.

How do you direct the conversation, when you know there are certain things that need to be covered? Or do you let them have the conversation, and then redirect them?

Ariel: I definitely start by letting them have the conversation.

I think it’s really important for them to feel what happens when they have that power.

Nine times out of ten, let’s say I’m doing several discussions with different classes throughout a day. So every discussion begins in a different place.

But nine times out of ten, because of the power of the book itself and the literature, they will find themselves going to some of the same places in a natural way.

And if they don’t — if there are things that I know are really key — I do have tricks to have them pay attention to something. But (I do this) without really taking away from them — without jumping right into it and without taking away that experience.

Vicki: Ok, what’s our fifth?

Reason #5: to Have Fun

Ariel: The fifth is fun. It’s not boring. I can actually read the same text with students many years in a row, with many different classes. And every time different things come out of it.

Even though I said the literature will lead students in certain directions, the shape of those discussions are unique every single time.

Also, who kind of “comes out of the woodwork” in those discussions is really interesting.

We do it in half groups, so every student gets a more intimate experience.

So it’s a task for class, and every student gets more talking time. And the students that were empowered by the actual, authentic reading experience and come prepared for the discussion will speak way more than they may normally speak in class.

And they will share ideas with their classmates and amazing connections and moments come out of that. So it’s stays fresh. And that is because of the students.

Vicki: Ariel, tell us the title of your book.

Ariel: The title of the book is Whole Novels for the Whole Class: A Student Centered Approach.

Vicki: Okay, and we’ll link to it in the show notes because there are lots more ideas about how to do that.

You know, it’s hard to cover in ten minutes, but there are tricks and tips for facilitating conversations for helping kids read.

And if all you do is the traditional version, why not try the whole novel approach?

You might be surprised.

Bio as submitted

Ariel Sacks (arielsacks.com) has thirteen years of experience as a teacher of English Language Arts in New York City public schools in grades seven through nine. She writes about teaching and education issues on her blog at Education Week (http://blogs.edweek.org/teachers/whole_story/), and supports teachers around the world to implement student-centered methods, most notably the whole novels approach. She is the author of Whole Novels For the Whole Class: A Student Centered Approach (arielsacks.com/book). She is a co-author of Teaching 2030: What We Must Do For Our Public Schools–Now and in the Future, and was featured in the book Teacherpreneurs: Innovative Teachers Who Lead Without Leaving.

She studied progressive pedagogy at Bank Street College of Education, where her mentor and longtime collaborator, Madeleine Ray, first introduced her to the whole novel concept. She is a member of the CTQ Collaboratory (www.teachingquality.org) and an advocate for teacher voice in education and leadership of the profession.

Blog: arielsacks.com

Twitter: @arielsacks

Disclosure of Material Connection: This is a “sponsored podcast episode.” The company who sponsored it compensated me via cash payment, gift, or something else of value to include a reference to their product. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I believe will be good for my readers and are from companies I can recommend. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.) This company has no impact on the editorial content of the show.

The post 5 Reasons to Try a Whole Novel Approach in Your Classroom appeared first on Cool Cat Teacher Blog by Vicki Davis @coolcatteacher helping educators be excellent every day. Meow!

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