#to her adult cousin. she did see it as ‘logical’

[kingcunny]

Ever think about how EVERYONE was cool with the idea of Viserys marrying Laena and no one mentions her age? Rhaenyra's like "if he has to", Mellos and Lyonel are giving him big thumbs up, Alicent says "I bet she'll be great", Rhaenys and Corlys are both seeing this as logical...

Only Otto mentions it. And he's wanting Alicent. And only Viserys hesitates over it... because he would prefer Alicent.

when viserys is talking to lyonel about it and he does that little head shake after “she will mature.” almost a sort of ‘you dont get it’

i think when viserys went out to meet laena, go on that walk in the gardens with her, he had the most intense deja vu. he had gone on almost this exact same walk with aemma when she was this age. 12 years ago. hes a grown man now and aemma is dead. but here she is again, same age as when he met her, time has passed for him but not for her. and i think that freaked him out. he didnt want to go through that again.

also says something that viserys puts so much stock in ottos opinion. asking for his advice outside of the small council (essentially saying his IS the small council as far as vis is concerned). and even though everyone else is telling viserys marrying laena is the right option, having otto back him is all he needs to decide to go for alicent instead.

[hermesmoly]

An underrated Kronides dynamic we don't often talk about is Hestia & Poseidon, or more rather Poseidon's one-sided proposal towards her:

Homeric Hymn 5 to Aphrodite 18 ff (trans. Evelyn-White) (Greek epic C7th - 4th B.C.) :

"Nor yet does the pure maiden Histia (Hestia) love Aphrodite's works. She was the first-born child of wily Kronos (Cronus) and youngest too, by will of Zeus who holds the aigis,--a queenly maid whom both Poseidon and Apollon sought to wed. But she was wholly unwilling, nay, stubbornly refused; and touching the head of father Zeus who holds the aigis, she, that fair goddess, sware a great oath which has in truth been fulfilled, that she would be a maiden all her days. So Zeus the Father gave her a high honour instead of marriage, and she has her place in the midst of the house and has the richest portion. In all the temples of the gods she has a share of honour, and among all mortal men she is chief of the goddesses. Of these three Aphrodite cannot bend or ensnare the hearts."

First of all good move on Zeus to respect his elder sister's wishes (regardless of the type of ruler you see him as he was very fair in this situation), second it's interesting seeing the word sought, like it was a stubborn request on Poseidon's (and Apollo's) part up until Zeus gave his verdict. Also interesting is the supposed timing of these proposals, considering Apollo is his fellow rival it implies Apollo was an adult/old enough to seek Hestia out. If they sought Hestia at the same time, does that mean that a.) Poseidon wasn't married to Amphitrite yet? (In one way that's logically impossible if Triton's daughter Pallas is Athena's childhood friend, which implies Amphitrite and Poseidon married early enough to have Triton to be old enough to have Pallas) Or b.) that he was already married but would be willing to divorce Amphitrite if Hestia had said yes?

I like to think that Apollo and Poseidon's proposals happened in different time periods, Poseidon during or after the Titanomachy (in which Hestia just said no/would think about it and just never responded) and during Apollo's proposal is when Hestia asks Zeus to let her be a virgin goddess. (It just seems weird to me if a Poseidon- especially a married Poseidon- would just seek Hestia's hand out of the blue with no hint of intentions before, unless he specifically did that to compete with Apollo though that seems unlikely.)

It leaves me just asking why Poseidon wanted to marry Hestia. I personally think he wanted to marry her because he had a crush on her (the same way a kid would have a crush on an older girl in movies) and that he was a littleee bit jealous that Zeus and Hera were lovers/married and wanted a sister-wife for himself (which yes, incest is ew but this is greek mythology we HAVE to abandon the "incest is bad" metric when it comes to gods. Most of the gods during the Titan era married their sibling/cousin so Poseidon may have had a similar mindset).

Also kinda interesting that Poseidon loved Hestia and Demeter and was able to respect Hestia's wishes but not Demeter's. Smh bro.

[brujitaadinbo]

I'm posting again after a while; I was watching The Mandalorian, all seasons, again (sorry, I can't help it)

And I think I can answer some of the questions that "haters" of season 3 or the series have tried to bring up about "why if Bo Katan regrets her behavior before, she doesn't cry or they don't talk about Satine ??

For a start; I feel that in this season 3 the time of the series format passed very quickly, too quickly, to the other past seasons. This absolutely did not help the plot much, which was somewhat lost. BUT….

First, Bo has definitely been shown in very sensitive ways this season 3, it is not necessary for her to cry too much to realize that she appears sad, disappointed in herself and tired.

IT IS OBVIOUS that the pain of her past, her sister and her entire career are shown through symbolism, the Kryze castle, the throne, when they destroy said castle, all that, everything bad that she did or that she step, he leaves with the fire, with the destruction of those icons and symbols of his past.

The destruction of the saber that separates the Mandalorians and causes Bo Katan to lose herself in her power, Guideon himself talks about those talismans, all those symbols of power and empowerment that they show us must be destroyed because Bo Katan is a brave, confident woman. , formidable, just as Din Djarin tells her, she doesn't need any of that to stand out and she's going to prove it.

Although we are strong women, we also have our weaknesses, but true power, the empowerment that enriches us, is what makes us strong through our loved ones, our people, acting correctly and that makes us feel satisfied.

When he decides to walk with Din and Grogu it is because although they have not done things correctly, they are also looking for a way to fix the disasters and do it as best as possible. Din started this job and knows that Bo Katan is the one for Mandalore. she resurfaces, she is the daughter born of this place, she has sacrificed everything, she is the one who most deserves this opportunity. It bothers me a lot when they only pigeonhole their relationship as “somewhat forced”, “meaningless” or not “romantic” at all, sorry but… it doesn't have to be romantic, on the contrary, it is appreciated that it is. because their connection is emotional, their connection goes beyond something physical or superficial and they have worked on it to create a pure bond, a bond that takes them to something beyond if they want to give themselves the opportunity, they are partners. , they go hand in hand together, not at the wrong time, not as a competition, but as a journey for both of them, so in Plazir 15 that is the message they want to give us from these two Mandalorians.

Love in SW doesn't have to be shown with flowers or silly romantic quotes or stuffed animals. Love is demonstrated in subtle acts such as caring, saving, protecting, guiding, advising, consoling, something very human but that can also happen in any other galaxy and is real.

And I'm sure that the path of these Mandalorians will unite again, without the need for bombastic scenes, weddings or silly things. Love blossoms in them and we will know how to see it.

The fact that this green child has crossed their paths as a new hope, it is obvious that love seeks to stay in this new nucleus.

It also bothers me when they talk about Bo being pigeonholed as a mother or wife and that is misogynistic. Let's see the panorama clearly, at no time is there talk of "maternal instinct" because that would be pigeonholing us women and here in The Mandalorian 3 it never happened. That since season 2, both Din and Bo can be seen and notice that parental sense, the impulse or parental instinct to protect the child, is logical and normal because we all have developed that instinct, adult humans, taking care of the little ones, for love, affection, affection, responsibility, etc. Between brothers, cousins, family, father, mother or children, even with our pets, because we are sensitive, empathetic and sociable beings and it is scientifically proven.

That Bo becomes attached or has affection for the child is because Grogu is nice, he has earned his place in Bo's heart and because the two have a connection, it does not affect anything in the story or characters, on the contrary it contributes. And that's not why she is pigeonholed as a mother, there is nothing wrong with motherhood because it exists because it is okay if you want to live it or not and Bo Katan can do it if she wants to or not, it is her decision. But she can be a mother figure, she can be a figure of respect for Grogu, affection and appreciation, a guide and an important part of his life. She can serve something else and not just war and combat. He can do so many things and his knowledge of war should not limit him.

I really appreciate that they gave this interaction to the main characters. No matter what happens, I take away the best messages from the series and this season.

I hope the rumors about "it's the last of The Mandalorian" "Bo Katan will no longer appear in the movie or he will die" "There will be no more Din and Grogu material"

be that, just false rumors I await you with much love to Din, Bo and Grogu.

this is the way.

[kindoffruity]

Smitten - Chapter Two - Aonung's POV

Summary: Aonung is Neteyam's biggest fan and no matter how strong he is, Neteyam is baby.

Mild warning: This chapter has a teensy bit of violence, not much though. Also, this is my Avatar universe so what I say goes. It's not cannon-compliant at all.

Smitten - Chapter Two - Protect - Aonung's POV

Most people knew not to mess with Aonung, being the chief’s son usually gave him enough stature to not be bothered with. Though that logic didn’t apply to other eldest sons of chiefs. To elaborate more on the situation at hand, Aonung had to think back to what he could have possibly done wrong to end up here. 

It had been a few hours earlier at the center of the reef when a few ilus had rode in with them a select few young adults from the neighboring Ta’uni clan.

It wasn’t determined as a threat, the clans were more like cousins if anything, so it didn’t gather the attention of many people besides Aonung and Tsireya. 

“Welcome,” Tsireya greeted happily, she was usually too welcoming for Aonung’s liking. He felt a bit uneasy as they all chatted, Aonung recognized one of the males in the group had received their Iknimaya and had their first tattoo. He had just recently completed his coming of age ceremony. 

Aonung completely missed the name of pretty much everyone in the group, he knew they were here for something. 

“Enough with the small talk, what is it you want?” Aonung spat, he was usually the one to speak his mind freely regardless. 

“Excuse my eldest brother, he usually isn’t this rude.” Tsireya apologized for him, smacking his arm. Aonung looked unamused as he stared at the outsiders. 

“I have come to seek the sea princess, I am a man worthy of being her mate.” 

Finally, Aonung thought to himself. He knew they wouldn’t have rode from another reef to their home just to sit in a circle and be friends. 

“No,” The siblings spoke in unison, “How dare you insult my sister by thinking because you completed your Iknimaya you could come here and ask for her hand.” Aonung knew he had no right to his sister, and as much as he hated Lo’ak this would easily be a downgrade. 

Some more words were exchanged, Aonung could admit, most of those words weren’t nice. He couldn’t remember specifics but he did know the altercation had gathered some attention and at some point, someone had swung first, not him though, he learned his lesson last time with the Sully’s. 

Next thing he knew, he had tackled the unknown Ta’uni member and a full on fight had broken out. He could hear Tsireya practically weeping in the back and only really pulled out once he heard Tonowari, his father, shout. 

He pulled off, knuckles bruised, a busted lip but surely he looked a lot better than the other who scrambled to his feet and retreated with his friends. 

Perhaps that was Aonung’s mistake, he had chosen to walk away like his father had asked rather than to finish the fight. 

—-------

Aonung had been looking for a cave that would remind Neteyam of home, it had a large pool of water, near the ocean with a good amount of sand, and a mix of trees. It almost seemed like a small rainforest only a few minutes away from the reef. 

Not far behind him were the Ta’uni boys from earlier, this time they had brought a few more men with them.

“Take the ropes off and fight me like a man.” Aonung called out, his voice echoing in the cave walls. He had been ambushed, even though he was clearly stronger than most of them they had the element of surprise and he had only been one to their group of six. 

“There isn’t even a need to fight, look at you, we could just leave your pathetic self here and no one would come for you.” 

Aonung glared, wriggling in the ropes that had bound his wrists and ankles together, he had gotten pretty beat up in the midst of everything. A multitude of bruises adorning his stomach and legs where he had been kicked and punched, his hair had been ripped out of his bun letting his curls out in a messy frame around his face. 

“Take these ropes off and see just how well I can fight. You needed six men to take me down, I can handle you like nothing.” Aonung licked the blood from his lips, his body flexing as he tried to break out of the burning rope. 

A knife was pulled out and Aonung finally thought the other was going to release him so they could have a real fight except the unsharpened part knife was pressed against his neck, “You talk too much.” Aonung quieted his mouth trying to think of how he could get out of the situation. He was outnumbered, tired, and frankly his whole body ached from the group having attacked him. 

“That's good, be quiet.” 

In the midst of the silence, there was a loud screech from an unknown animal, the group all looked up and around nervous with the unfamiliar screech. 

“Is that.. An Ikran..?” The knife was dropped and the leader turned to process what the large Ikran had been doing, it had been circling the cave from above with loud screeching and then it suddenly dropped down and flew right past the group knocking a few of the Ta’unui clan members off their feet. 

“Why would an Ikran be near the reef- Where is your rider?” 

There was very visible panic as they tried to stand guard from the large creature.

Aonung snorted, behind the bruised lips and jaw was a smirk, “Not even Ewya will help you out of this one..” 

As if Aonung predicted the future, Neteyam had leaped out of hiding with his bow and arrow- and the cute waist belt Aonung loved so much. 

Neteyam had smacked the leader directly in the face with the bow, clearly taking him by surprise as fell back. Neteyam landed on his feet directly in front of Aonung, dropping down in a stance over Aonung’s legs, his blade out and ears pointed back as he hissed in a threat to the group. 

“What is a forest na’vi doing here- how barbaric-” A few hushed whispers and insults that stirred Aonung up but his focus was immediately brought to Neteyam.

Everything else happened too fast, Aonung didn’t even get a good look at Neteyam but he looked at his posture and immediately knew Neteyam was angry. Neteyam was fast, the bow had been placed by Aonung’s feet and Neteyam had taken off. 

Aonung could only sit helplessly and watch as his boyfriend had dragged every single member of the Ta’uni’s. Aonung winced as he watched Neteyam grab the smallest member and practically toss him like he was nothing, knocking him into the wall and unconscious. 

Neteyam was strong.

 Aonung could let out a dreamy sigh as Neteyam had defended him, even as Neteyam drop kicked and slammed his bow at the back of someone’s head- Aonung could only think about how his body made every move look graceful. 

“I think I am in love..” Aonung muttered quietly as he stood there tied up, he knew Neteyam could handle it himself otherwise he would have freed him. 

Neteyam was bouncing around, barely breaking a sweat when Aonung noticed someone about to sucker punch Neteyam from behind, Aonung’s feet were moving on their own and he pushed his shoulder and head into the unnamed attacker, his hands may have been tied up but he wasn’t going to just let Neteyam take that hit for him. Aonung rolled off with a grunt, his hair sprawled out around him as he tried to push himself up with only his feet. 

“Ma’Aonung!” 

Aonung hadn’t been expecting that, nor did he expect for Neteyam to break his bow across the back of the last member of the group. 

Aonung grunted and finally was able to push himself up to his feet, panting a bit with strain as he was finally able to take a look around. Neteyam had single-handedly taken out six guys by himself and was literally unscathed. 

Despite the fact that Neteyam had no injuries he looked like he was about to start crying, “I thought I lost you..” Neteyam spoke but it was in english and Aonung couldn’t understand him at all. 

“Are you okay? Did you get hurt- Why are you crying?” Aonung tried to wriggle out the rope on his wrists, finally they were cut off revealing deep dark bruises. Aonung was more concerned with inspecting Neteyam who had ripped through the group like they were nothing. 

“I am fine! Look at you! I should have been there sooner!” Neteyam cried out and Aonung sighed softly, grabbing him and pulling him for a tight hug. “Look at me, I am fine. You came just in time, I knew you would come.” Aonung said softly, being extremely gentle with Neteyam. 

The group had gathered themselves and limped out, absolutely baffled that such a monster like that would need consoling after nearly killing them.

From the top of the cave Lo’ak and Tsireya watched, they had arrived mere minutes before, “Neteyam is scary when he’s angry.. He walks around like the perfect child but his temper- Awful.” Lo’ak had only been there long enough to see his brother bash his bow into someone’s back but that told him everything he needed to know. 

“I think they are very cute together, Lo’ak don’t you think?” Tsireya said softly, her arm wrapped around his, she looked up at him with large eyes and Lo’ak felt inclined to agree with her.

“Nope, did you see my brother? He single handedly took down all those guys. Where was yours? Tied up like a princess- Hold on! FISH LIPS WATCH THOSE HANDS!” Lo’ak shouted. 

Aonung had only been hugging Neteyam, sure his hand had ended up on his lower back, it was a given. Aonung looked up, tensed, hearing the shouting, “Why are they here…” He grumbled.

Tsireya gasped, ducking out of sight and smacking Lo’ak’s arm. “Hush they saw us! We must go!” She pulled Lo’ak away fast. 

.

.

.

.

[vi-who-sims]

Gilmore Girls: Mini Legacy Challenge

Hi everyone my name is Vi, this mini legacy challenge is based on one of my favorite television shows, Gilmore Girls. I tried to play it as close to the story as possible but added a few twists.

I hope you enjoy it. :)

◈ Basic Rules:

Gender is not really specific to any of the generations, although I will specify what gender is recommended/what the gender is in the show.

◈ Generation One: Lorelai “Trix” Gilmore the First

You’re Lorelai “Trix” Gilmore the First a very modest woman. Born into a rich family you’re determined to keep that money in the family. Even if that meant marrying your cousin… well second cousin.

Traits: Proper, Self-Assured, Lazy

Aspiration: Mansion Barron

Career: Stay-at-Home Parent

Gender Recommended: Female

Rules:

Start in a home worth 50,000 Simoleons

Marry your “second cousin” (keeping the Gilmore last name)

Have at least 1 boy and 1 girl child

Become a widow when your Heir becomes an adult 

Move across the “world”

Reach level 6 of the Parenting Skill

Reach at level 3 of Mansion Barron Aspiration

Optional:

Complete the Mansion Barron Aspiration

Reach level 10 of the Parenting Skill

Reach the top rank of Vampirism

◈ Generation Two: The Richard Gilmore

Growing up you were very close to your mother and always did your best to make her proud. You always did well in school and ended up at a prestigious university thanks to your hard work. At university, you met the love of your life and knew she was who you wanted to spend the rest of your life with. The only problem… your mother doesn't approve and tries to get you not to marry her.

Traits: Overachiever, Materialistic, Ambitious

Aspiration: Successful Lineage

Career: Business: Management Branch

Gender Recommended: Male

Rules:

Always get A’s in school

Graduate College with Honors

Go to Britechester for Communications

In your last semester of University, you meet the love of your life (they must be mean and a snob)

Marry your lover although your mother doesn’t approve

Have a falling out with your mother (never reach the red)

Don’t talk to your mother again until your child is a teen

Have only 1 child

Fall out with your child when they runaway as a teen

Reach level 7 of the Logic Skill

Reach level 8 of the Business Career

Reach level 3 of the Successful Lineage

Optional:

Complete the Successful Lineage Aspiration

Max Logic Skill

Reach level 10 of the Business Career

◈ Generation Three: Lorelai Gilmore the Second

Growing up you were the only child. Your mother was overbearing and mean at times but you brushed it off until your teen years. You were never of fan of the frivolous life your parents lived. You were fine just hanging out with your boyfriend at home. Although that leads to a baby. Being a pregnant teen is bad enough but having your parents fight with you over your baby caused you to leave home for good.

Traits: Slob, Goofball, Good

Aspiration: Serial Romantic

Career: Run an Inn (Use 4 Rent)

Gender Recommended: Female

Rules:

Argue with your mother growing up never become more than friends.

Never have more than 2 friends in your childhood

As a teenager date one of your childhood friends

Become pregnant as a teenager

Drop out of high school

Break up with your boyfriend in your third trimester

Runaway from home with your child is an infant

Move to a small town and live in a one-room house until you are halfway through young adulthood

Become best friends with a Sim in the small town

Run an Inn together that you buy when your child is a teen

Don’t date until your child is a teenager

Reconnect with your parents when your child is a teenager

See them once a week from then on

Reach level 8 of Parenting Skill

Reach level 4 of Entrepreneur Skil

Reach level 6 of Comedy Skill

Reach level 3 of Serial Romantic Aspiration

Optional:

Reach level 10 of Parenting Skill

Reach level 5 of Entrepreneur Skill

Reach level 10 of Comedy Career

Complete Serial Romantic Aspiration

Have your Inn reach 5 stars

◈ Generation Four: Lorelai “Rory” Gilmore

Growing up you were raised by a single mother doing her best to make the two of you survive. You did have much contact with your father and you honestly didn’t miss his presence. You spent most of your time studying and having your nose in a book. You always excelled in school but this caused you not to fit in even from a young age. You only had one close friend in school and didn’t talk to many people until high school. Although many people were 

Traits: Overachiever, Genius, Bookworm

Aspiration: Academic

Career: Writer: Journalist Branch

Gender Recommended: Female

Rules:

Reach level 8 of the Research and Debate Skill

Reach level 7 of the Writing Skill

Reach level 8 of the Journalist Skill

Reach level 3 of the Academic Aspiration

Only had one friend all through elementary school.

Read at least 4 books a week

When becoming a teenager visit your grandparents once a week

Halfway through your teen years, you switch schools to a fancy private school for genius’ (make one of their everyday outfits as a school uniform)

Always have an A in school

Graduate high school as Valedictorian

After “switching schools” you meet a boy who is new to town and you immediately fall for each other. You date for a little while but break up.

After breaking up go to a high school party and kiss a boy from your school.

Get back together with your ex for a short period of time until you meet someone new (a bad boy)

Have a fling with the bad boy but never make the relationship official

After you graduate high school you go to your Grandfather’s alma mater Britechester University for Communications

At University you meet a party animal who instantly falls for you and does everything he can until you give in

Date him until you graduate college where he proposes to you and you say no.

Right before you become an adult woohoo with your college ex and your bad boy fling.

Those woohoo's lead to pregnancy

Optional:

Max Writer Career

Complete the Academic Aspiration

Reach level 10 of the Research and Debate Skill

Reach level 10 of Writing Skill

Read one book every day

Never know who the other parent of your child is

◈ Generation Five: The Baby

You’re raised by a single mother with lots of love to give. You saw your grandparents and great-grandparents once a week and formed a good bond with them. You were extremely close with your grandparents. Spending so much time with your grandparent their creativity rubbed off on you. This caused you to fall in love with art.

Traits: Outgoing, Art Lover, Unflirty

Aspiration: Painter Extraordinaire

Career: Freelancer Career: Painter Branch

Gender Recommended: Male (gender is unknown but I feel a male sim fits)

Rules:

Reach level 2 of the Photography Skill

Reach level 7 of the Painting Skill

Reach level 3 of the Painter Extraordinaire Aspiration

Paint at least 3 times a week

Get nothing higher than B’s in school

Become best friends with your grandparent

Always be at least good friends with your parent

As a teen become curious about your other parent

Ask your parent about it

When your parent doesn't have answers you go searching

Although you get stuck at a dead-end

Become a 3 Star Celebrity by selling paintings

When you become a 3-Star celebrity your other parents see your last name and reach out

Find out who your other parent is

When you tell your parent you guys get into an argument

Your parent comes to terms with your findings after a while

Get to know your other parent and form a relationship with them (and your siblings if the parent has other kids)

Optional:

Reach level 5 of Photography Skill

Reach level 10 of Painting Skill

Complete the Painter Extraordinaire Aspiration

Paint 5 times or more a week

Become a 5-Star Celebrity

[loquatenjoyer69]

WRT the Shinobu vs Seiji paying Ban poll, this made me think about how Ban would actually get money, and given that Matoba (Seiji) made it sound like the Ban family was a branch of the Matobas or in some other way part of their clan, I don't think Ban was like a contracted employee or anything like that...

I imagine the way it works is that exorcist families that are under the protection of another clan obviously gain the benefit of the power of the head family being used to protect them, and in return they offer their own powers, resources, and probably money. Additionally the Matoba family (or clan?) probably like (searching for words)...when they receive or hear about exorcist job opportunities, they list them or in some other way make them known to the community, it seems like (based on Natori saying he takes job assignments from the Matobas in the Cousin arc though I should look at the raws again to see what he actually says...).

I wonder if they primarily keep this within the clan. I think that would be the more logical move, because then any money that was made from that job would in part come back to them if one of their own family members didn't take on the job. It would be weird if the clan was just handing out free jobs to outsiders, unless taking a job from them involves agreeing to pay them a cut, which I could also see happening... But it still seems like you'd want to keep that stuff mostly within the clan, if only as another benefit and incentive to stay with the clan.

This raises the question of why Natori was given the assignment for Mitsuru but it's not hard to come up with plausible explanations about that so it's not that concerning to me.

Anyway so as for whether or not Seiji or Shinobu pays more, I guess I don't know that Seiji really paid Ban since I don't think Ban was like employed by Seiji personally. And whether or not he is paid by Shinobu depends on what his reasons are for following her and what the nature of their relationship are. Like, is he following out of loyalty and making money off of jobs they do (if they still do exorcism...they have to get the antiques budget from somewhere right? How successful is Shinobu's writing career)? Is he loyal to her and she's financially compensating him, meaning she makes enough money off writing to support another adult, or she still somehow has access to Matoba money (did she make a separate bank account when she left, did she sell a bunch of her old stuff, how does banking in this situation work actually...)? Is he literally employed by her for some purpose such as bodyguarding, antique hunting, menacing...? Do they both earn money and split it evenly? Does he have a side job? Who can say...

[thejakeformerlyknownasprince]

Character Ages in Animorphs Fic

In response to a few questions on my Eleutherophobia fic series, I wanted to spell out the logic of the character ages I’m using.

Jake is 13 when the war starts, 16 when it ends.  This one’s canon: in #53 he says “I was just thirteen when I started. I’m sixteen now.”

Tom is 16 when the war starts, 19 when it ends.  This is an educated guess.  In MM4, which is set at the same time as #1, “Tom” borrows his mom’s car and drives it across town, apparently legally.  So presumably he’s at least 16 when the war starts.  But Jake also says “Tom was going to live out the rest of his years till his eighteenth birthday locked in his room” if their parents found out he’s got a “handgun” (dracon beam).  So at least 16, but not much older, if there are “years” before he’s 18.

Rachel is 14 when the war starts, 17 when it ends.  This one’s pure speculation, but.  The reason I headcanon Rachel as a few months older than Jake is how she sees him early on in the war.  In #2 especially she seems to look at him like a little brother: “Jake is like me, being a little crazy... It bothered me that he was a faster diver than I was.” Later, when she tries to protect him by getting him to leave, she says “Sorry Jake, this time I’m the boss” and tries to dump him off, confirming with a fake plea and “If he had lied to me, he would answer now” — and then she’s shocked that he did lie and didn’t answer her.  Unlike the others, who start the war looking up to Jake for various reasons, Rachel dismisses him as a potential leader at first, and only gradually comes to respect him enough to follow his lead.  As somebody who grew up friends with many of my first cousins, I can relate to the struggle to see the ones younger than me as adults, even the ones that are within months of my age.  Throw in Rachel’s relative level of maturity, grasping almost immediately that “They’ll probably [kill] me but at least they’ll never find out about the rest of you” (#2) in contrast with Jake’s view (according to Marco) that the war is “some video game” (#1), and I just think it fits the characters.

Eva is 36 when the war starts, 39 when it ends.  More speculative still!  However, I like the idea of Eva coming from a relatively traditional gender role: we know she’s Catholic (Visser) and immigrated at a young age (#20).  We also know she’s “incredibly beautiful” (#15) with “shampoo-commercial black hair” (#30) and she had a somewhat troubled marriage to a genius astrophysicist (#15) where she did almost all of the housework and childcare (#5).  She’s also physically fit enough to climb mountains and sail sailboats unassisted.  So I headcanon Eva being younger than Peter, married by 20 and with a kid by 23, and having a pretty traditional marriage — Peter with the only income, Eva a full-time parent — before Edriss shows up.

Anyway, Jake’s literally the only character with a canonical age, and K.A. Applegate has said that there were no attempts to plot a coherent timeline for the series, so I don’t think that any of these are the One True Way to interpret Animorphs.  They’re just my preferred interpretations.

[e-adlirez]

Why are you this ick about the friendship things in the books? I mean, for a book series that aimed for preschooler shouldn't it be expected for the books to have a lot of corny messages about friendship and love? Like, I feel like you gave way too many expectations for a silly kid series

Okay yeah that's fair, maybe my expectations for the series is holding the bar a bit high, and it might just be a me thing (I could never get into MLP for the life of me)

But hear me okay

The reason I don't like the power of friendship being mentioned in the books is because it clashes with what I've seen of the series so far.

See one thing the books did very well was allow you to imagine that the girls are grown-ass adults in university. They are very good at selling the bit that the girls are adults, without infodumping the crap out of it. For the best look into how this is done, see graphic novels 1-4, as well as the main books that were done in the older artstyle. The way the books are written allows you to really believe these girls as grown adults-- there are occasions where the books' age sticks out a bit... too much, but most times, it's smooth sailing, and the girls are very believable as adults.

Case and point: I got into the books when I was eight years old, and one thing I appreciated and still appreciate about the older books is the fact that the immersion is on-point. The books are rated 6-10, but only in terms of the language level (it's short and easy to read is what I'm saying). The plots of the books are well-written, and most importantly, the books do not treat you like a kid as you're reading. You'd be surprised how valuable that is nowadays,,,

Even the friendship bits in the older books worked hard to sell the bit in a way that it fits with how the stories are written, which is very grounded and realistic, actually (minus the cheese puns):

The girls gave Thea a fancy jade and called her "the keeper of our friendship"? Friendship bracelet logic, which is a very valid logic. Colette's cousin mentions the girls' friendship? Well yeah, it makes sense in that scene because she's hosting a fashion walk, and the girls literally carried and were kinda the reason why Julie's finals project wasn't completely scrapped; that part where the friendship bit is mentioned is literally the perfect moment for a cheesy-ass speech. (There's a really good one in non-English Shipwreck too but that's a story for a whole 'nother day.) The way the plots are written is very down-to-earth and grounded, and the inclusions of the friendship bits back then reflect this. This was the way the bar was set for me, and thus it's how I judge the later books.

As the series progressed, things got more explicit with the age range. Nothing atrocious, but you could tell things were getting more and more openly kid-friendly. You know it's progressed when more than a handful of people mistake them for being highschoolers instead of grown-ass adults in university.

There is still action, and there is still adventure and shenanigans that you get fully immersed in, but if you're like me, you would be happily immersed in the adventure, trying to solve the mystery alongside the girls, but also hoping and praying to your holy deity of choice that a friendship bit doesn't come up in the year of our Lord 2024.

Only to die inside when it is brought up and the delivery sounds so blatantly sugary it can give you a cavity. The kind that hurts to see stick out like the sorest thumb.

So yeah, my standards might be high, but my standards are high because I've seen the series reach that bar before, and I know they can do it again. I am mentally ill for this franchise dammit /affectionate

[weirdthoughtsandideas]

Early Signs

It is time for day 3 of my pride prompts! This time, it is Early Signs!

We'll meet our favorite headcanoned lesbian as we get to learn some signs she was into girls way before she came out.

Read on ao3 or under the cut.

When Yamila Sanchez was one year old, there was a boy at her daycare that everyone joked was her boyfriend. This was because they shared a mattress at nap time, and also traded pacifiers once. In retrospect, it’s kind of odd to ship children that still crap their pants on the regular together. Maybe they shared a mattress at nap time because the daycare had a small budget and all the children shared mattresses. And maybe they traded pacifiers because they were 1 years old and loved to put things in their mouths, and so they curiously wanted to try out the other one's pacifier. By using the logic that there would be something “romantic” between two toddlers, the same thing could have been said when one-year-old Yamila on the regular went up to kiss the face of another one-year-old girl at her daycare. But that was instead seen as her just being “affectionate to her friend”. And I mean, she was 1, so that was probably what she did, but it was interesting the girl was seen as a friend and the boy that she spent less time with was joked to be her “boyfriend”.

When Yam turned four, she got asked by her aunt who she was going to marry when she grew up. She said she wanted to marry Stephanie from Lazytown. She was so pretty in her pink hair and Yam always sang and danced along whenever she saw her on screen. As she told her aunt that’s who she wanted to marry, her aunt laughed.

“Oh, Yamila, but isn’t there some cute boy in your preschool group you’d like to marry?”

“Nope!”

Her aunt chuckled and turned to the other adults. They all were sure sooner or later Yam would get a crush on a boy. 

When Yam was six, she played with her barbies in her room. She had several barbies, and one Ken. Ken was sitting in the corner of the room, and he was naked. Yam had taken off his clothes and put them on a barbie. In her pretend play, one barbie had taken his clothes because she was pretending to be him to fool his girlfriend. Yam laid down on her belly, as she held up the two barbies. 

“You look different!” the girlfriend barbie exclaimed.

“I just ate something, that’s all,” the barbie in Ken’s clothes replied. 

“Oh, ok! Kiss me!”

“Of course, babe.”

Six-year-old Yam felt something rush inside her as she slowly made her two barbies kiss. She didn’t know what it was… but she liked it.

When Yam was nine years old, she was playing The Sims 2. Her cousin had shown her how you could make your sims “woohoo” - which meant that they got under the bed covers and did what Yam understood as the thing you do to have children. It was a whole cutscene and everything. 

Yam had only used this to make her sims have babies, but today was gonna be a different experience. She had created a household of two girls. Best friends, who shared a house together. She built up their friendship a lot, and clicked on the options you could have when talking. One of the options was… flirting…? 

Yam thought you could only flirt when it was a man and woman. But you can flirt when it’s two girls?

She decided to try it out. Indeed, the same animations as when it was a man and woman played out as the two girl sims started flirting. Then came the option to kiss. Yam looked around, as if she didn’t want anyone to see, and then she clicked on it. It tickled inside of her as she saw the two pixelated girls kiss. 

Then it hit her… could it be possible to…? 

She took both girl sims to the bed. She clicked for the options.

Yes. They could woohoo.

She didn’t know why, but she had never felt this curious and excited in her entire life. Her heart started beating faster as she clicked on the woohoo option, and watched the cutscene play out…

When Yam was 12, she was at a birthday party at her classmate’s house. She chatted with Jimena, Jim for short, who was her best friend. She had known Jim for years, but they hadn’t become best friends until they ended up in the same class in middle school. 

The birthday girl decided to call everyone over for a game of truth or dare. Yam always thought that was a fun game. This was because the truths and dares she’d have to do were all silly and funny. But today, as they spinned the bottle and it ended up on Yam, things got different.

“Yam, truth or dare?” the birthday girl asked.

“Truth!”

“Okay… who do you have a crush on?”

What a boring question. Yam had a good answer. “No one!”

“Don’t lie,” the birthday girl said. “Everyone has someone. It’s not possible to have no crush. You do have one, you just won’t admit it.”

“But… I don’t. I really don’t.”

“Stop lying!”

“Yam never lies,” Jim said. Yam smiled at her. 

“You’re her best friend, Jim,” another girl said, “Can you tell us who Yam’s crush is?”

Jim looked at Yam. “She… has not told me.”

“See, she has one that not even her best friend knows about.”

“No, no! If Yam had a crush, she’d tell me! We tell each other everything!”

“Yes… yes, I would.”

The other girls sighed in defeat. Yam was relieved they didn’t pester her about this anymore.

When Yam was 18, she came out as a lesbian to everyone she knew. The reactions were different depending on the person.

“Oh! How fun!” some of them reacted.

“You are?” some others reacted.

Some of them even said “Wow! I never would have guessed!”

There were some early signs. But maybe only Yam herself thought they were obvious.

[thattargboy]

What’s your perspective on the fight at Driftmark?

Short answer: I don’t blame Aemond (or. I blame him a little because disrespect, but the kid lost an eye so he gets sympathy points), I especially don’t blame Rhaena or Baela, they did nothing wrong 🥰. I kinda blame Luke and Jace because they were the ones with the knife, but mostly their parents because why was no one watching these kids???? Should there not have been a guard outside their rooms or something????

Very long and repetitive answer: I understand that as soon as Laena died Vhagar was a free dragon, and “technically” Rhaena had no claim over her. That doesn’t change the fact that she was an eight year old girl who has just lost her mother (who had ordered that dragon to kill her and that definitely factors in), so I understand why she felt entitled to try to claim her and why she hadn’t attempted it yet.

So yeah needless to say, claiming Vhagar during the night of the funeral was very disrespectful on Aemond’s part. Does it make sense why he did it? Absolutely. He was like 10 (?12?) being bullied by his big brother and his nephews and he wanted to prove himself by claiming the oldest and biggest dragon in the world because It Be Like That, and yeah he was technically right in like that Rhaena “should have” tried to claim Vhagar. But like I said. Eight year old girl at her mom’s funeral. And also Rhaena understands what it feels like to feel inadequate over lacking a dragon so really Aemond what’s your play?

Also we have no idea that Vhagar would have even accepted Rhaena if she did try to claim her, but honestly I think she would have. No real reason there other than vibes so feel free to disagree.

Ultimately, Baela, Rhaena, Luke and Jace should have gone to guards or their parents if they thought something was going on with Vhagar but then again they were kids so I don’t blame for not doing so, and I think we all have taken something into our own hands when we kids that we should have went to adults for (I do however blame their parents for not having anyone watching them and instead banging on the beach at his wife’s funeral). But like. They weren’t being watched and they took things into their own hands, like kids do, and they reacted very emotionally and got into a fight (and no, 4v1 is not fair, but also they are all like 12 and under. I know y’all have seen playground fights like that in your youth. If they were older I’d be like oh yeah fuck all four of them), like kids do.

And honestly if Aemond didn’t lose an eye I probably would just be like “haha little shit got what he deserves,” because like. Not to sound like Bobby B here cuz fuck that guy but. Kids fight. It’s a thing they do because like emotional regulation is undeveloped and all over the place. It’s over. (Thinking about it because that scene was an obvious parallel to the one in GoT, making that comparison with Cersei and Alicent is both genius and fills me with rage)

But to get back on track, Aemond did lose an eye, and y’know permanent mutilation and a scuffle between cousins (and uncle/nephews) are two very different things.

Jace never should have brought the knife and honestly for once I can’t really see the kid logic there. I guess I can compare it to like being a kid and thinking you hear a burglar and instead of waking up your parents you grab a bat (okay now I’m seeing the kid logic, Jace you’re free to go. Still why did he even have a dagger in the first place kid’s like 9???)

And then there’s Luke, who I’m giving some leniency because he’s the youngest, but again even a 7 year old knows better then to cut a boy’s eye out.

Like yeah from his perspective Aemond was about to brain his brother with a rock so yeah I kinda get it. But us as viewers are not 7 year olds in the middle of a fight, and we could see that Aemond was not moving, and really Luke should have been able to see that too but also, need I say it again? A kid in the middle of a fight. I honestly kinda thought it looked like Aemond was gonna put it down but no one else seems to think that so I’m just gonna assume I’m wrong

Ultimately what I think the problem was no one was punished. Back to sounding like Bobby B because obviously none of the kids should have tortured (or sharply questioned) or lost an eye as compensation (really girlie, charging with his knife is iconic but very stupid). But to bring it back to the playground thing, if that was fight in an elementary school all of those kids would have been getting in trouble.

Instead Viserys threatened his wife and children over the truth. So. Yeah. Fuck all the adults in that situation.

(Also I do understand and sympathize with both Alicent and Rhaenyra in that scene. Alicent’s son has been made permanently disabled and no one is on her side not even the child’s father, it makes sense that she kinda snapped, and yes even though it is the truth, calling her children bastards puts their lives and their inheritance in danger, of course they’re both going to try and protect their children it’s what mothers do. Understandable and sympathetic, and even justifiable doesn’t mean they were exactly in the right however.)

Westeros needs some sort of man price, at the very least Luke should have been made to apologize (and then apologize again when he’s older and actually means it instead of laughing at the pig) and in a world where we got more episodes and they emphasized that this is a family we’re watching tear itself apart I would have liked to seen Aemond at least try to put water under the bridge with Rhaena and only Rhaena (and maybe Baela but she wasn’t really involved) when they’re older.

(Like maybe if we got to see Aegon and Helaena’s wedding, and Rhaenyra’s family was invited. That could’ve been cool.)

All that said (and sorry for saying so much), the way everything played out makes sense and I wouldn’t change it except like I said with like older Aemond and Rhaena attempting to make amends before shit hits the fan.

[psychomorphary]

I just realized that since I'm now 30, I only have 8 more years until I hit the age when my mom died. It hit me like a freight train.

I know that it's not a death sentence for me. Logically, I know that. But emotionally, I'm kind of panicking.

She died suddenly from childbirth complications when she was carrying my sister. I am also childfree and got sterilized, so I'm definitely not going to die how she did.

She died when she was 38. That age always seemed old and very far off to me. But now, having turned 30, I've realized that 38 isn't old AT ALL. It's probably at least partly due to trauma, but hell, I still don't really feel like an adult. I still feel really young, and I used to think 30 was old! 38 is nothing; my mom still had so many years ahead of her!

Aging is a funny process. It'd allowed me to start processing my childhood trauma. It's allowed me to see it from different angles. It's allowed me to see my mom's death from an adult's eyes: a tragic, tragic death. It lost a mother, sister, wife, cousin, friend, etc. A YOUNG woman died and lost any chance to do anything more with her life.

I'm almost at the age she was when she died. I have a whole ass family and life now! I have a loving husband, three cats, and a dog. We have a house, a home, a family. My mother had all of that, and she was gone in the blink of an eye.

It makes me realize just how valuable and promising her existence was, how someone just trying to live their lives can just be snuffed out like nothing. Just how valuable life is, how much I don't want to lose what I've built for myself.

It also makes me realize just how terrified I am of hitting age 38. How terrified I am that I'm going to end up alone.

I am thankful for weed. It's given me the ability to process my childhood trauma without completely losing my mind in emotions.

EDIT:: I also feel like I've made more progress than my mom in regard to mental health struggles. She definitely had generational/childhood trauma herself, and she was an alcoholic. I'm pretty sure as a child, she learned to ignore your problems and emotions and just do drugs about it instead. She didn't get to the point of processing and unlearning any of that before she died. I still struggle, but I'm I've definitely made a lot of progress. I know I've made more progress than her, and I'm proud of myself. And I'm not shaming her at all. I know she had her demons, and tragically, she couldn't fight them off before she died. But I'm still proud that I'm living on, carrying her blood through my veins, and I've grown. I think wherever she is, she's proud of me for that.

[eirasummersart]

Merry Christmas 💕🎄

Hello~, for the ask prompt~ 8-9-11 for Szi,Yuuki, Oriol and Dalia 👀?

Refering to this.

Merry Christmas to you too, thanks for the ask 💕 I took a bit longer than I wanted to answer this, sorry. It's also quite long, so that's partly why. But here it is! Long post ahead~

8. How old were they when they stopped believing in Santa?

Since we don't know how fae age works I'll just use our human years instead klhasklfh

He was 10. A bit later than most kids, since his parents did their absolute best to keep the wonder alive in him for as long as they could.

9. How did they stop believing in Santa?

That was also the age when he started getting bullied at school and having less and less friends and more enemies. And some of the kids that disliked him saw him so happy talking about Santa and wanted to ruin it for him 😢 He was really upset that whole Christmas. But for the next one he had already understood why his parents "had done that" and why it was important. And from then on he firmly decided to keep the ruse around any children he might ever encounter (specially his little siblings).

11. Do they have any special traditions?

Yes, he and his family do~ There's a big spring in the forest next to their home where their ancestors have been going for centuries. They go during all holidays, including during Christmas. It's such a pure fresh water that it helps them replenish their magic and feel stronger (since they're river fae). During summer time visits they do go in the nearby pond to swim, but in the colder months they just put their hands under the sping and let the water flow over them for a little bit~

8. How old were they when they stopped believing in Santa?

He was 8 years old.

9. How did they stop believing in Santa?

Nothing too special. His twin sister heard it from someone in class who learned it from their older cousin. And well, she had to tell him too lmao. She was quite ok with it, but Yuuki cried for a while after learning of it. (He calmed down once his parents assured him they'd still get presents anyway).

11. Do they have any special traditions?

Not sure if this would count as special tradition? But the few weeks before Christmas day he works really hard to make something handmade for all his family and close friends. Now that he's in NRC he makes something for all his close friends and Grim~ And eventually, his bfs.

8. How old were they when they stopped believing in Santa?

Like with Szi, we'll just go with human years saklfhsa

He was 7 years old.

9. How did they stop believing in Santa?

He just figured it out himself. After seeing how the adults acted and aplying some basic logic to it. After asking his mom she told him the truth outwardly. He felt a bit betrayed about it and felt like he needed some "compensation". So that year he ruined Santa for all the kids his age that lived in his town lmao. He just went around telling everyone. He calmed down after that and stopped doing it tho the next year XD

11. Do they have any special traditions?

Where he lives it doesn't ever snow, but, as a kid, he really really wanted to make snowmans like he saw in media and books. So his mom had to think of something and created with him a "wood and leaves" snowman that time. It ended up becoming a tradition and they make one each year 😌 Although in the later years, Oriol adds way too much to it and makes it all automated and mobile, it greets people who pass by their house and it spooks them lmao.

8. How old were they when they stopped believing in Santa?

She was 9 years old.

9. How did they stop believing in Santa?

Being the youngest of three, her parents and her sisters did their best to hide the truth from her and always make it such a fun enjoyable experience for her. It took a long time for her to discover the truth. Just one day, since almost all her classmates knew the truth already, they just mentioned asking the presents to their parents normally and she was confused. And soon they all explained to her how it worked.

She was a bit disappointed, but she took it quite well and didn't mind much. What she liked most was all the time with her family, so having them also be the ones behind the presents wasn't that bad~

11. Do they have any special traditions?

Yes, so many! They all go together a week before Christmas to buy all the presents (hidding when it's for a family member). They also go together to ice skate a few times during the holidays. They always plan a big Christmas party with all their relatives over at their big house, everything decorated and fancy, with formal dresses and all. They also do play board games every night after dinner, all together. It's just all family time~

---

That's all! If you read until here, thank you so much <3

I am actually still accepting more of these if anyone wants to send more. Christmas day might be today, but it's still winter holidays for a week so~ Feel free to send some more C:

[xaospoiesis]

06.26 / Funeral season

When I was a kid, a bunch of people died at around the same period. I dubbed it “funeral season”. I think it lasted years, a lot longer than my brain can understand.

One of those people was my grandfather. My memories of him are all linked to disease. He had prostate cancer, I had no idea what that was, other than it made him so ill that I once went to see him at the hospital but couldn’t physically be in the same room so I had to see him through a window. I waved, he waved back. He went back home after that, I think he was on hospice care, a nurse would come, but the rest of the time my grandma, ever so devoted to him, would care for him.

He died on a sunny day, during the summer I think. 2004. I was 10. We were in the garden playing, I had said good morning to him and he had said it back. The sun wasn’t down yet that he was gone. My father announced it to my sister, my cousin and I. Such a direct way too. It was the first time someone I knew died. My sister screamed in surprise and I watched how birds came out of the trees. I didn’t cry. I didn’t even feel sad.

All I’ve ever seen grandpa be, was ill. The rest of who he was, has been told to me through stories, very sparse, of how he was grand, important, intelligent. What a man to follow behind, what a standard to reach. I’ll never reach it. I don’t want to reach it.

Because I’d only remembered him sick, in hospitals, in wheelchairs, the smell of his hospital ward (that one I remember the best, I catch a whiff of it on people sometimes, randomly, it’s been 20 years and I can still remember), in my ten year old mind, it was a logical conclusion. All the meds, all the care, the doctor appointments, they had to say it was getting worse for him. I put all of that together. Adults where I was born don’t tell children a thing. They’re meant to exist only outside of the sphere of adulthood, not “real people” yet, objects, in a sense, belonging to someone. Objects don’t get to be sat down and explained to and comforted. I don’t think I needed comfort anyways. Not for grandpa’s death. I expected that.

But I didn’t feel sad. Other people did. Said so. My dad asked before the burial if I wanted to see him, I said no. I felt guilty for doing so. But I didn’t want to see his corpse. It wasn’t grandpa anymore, just the envelope. I didn’t want to see grandpa without grandpa being there. I didn’t cry then either.

I think I cried once, by forcing myself to. Because I felt abnormal for not doing so. I cried for not crying. For feeling a bit off. Not human enough, maybe something was wrong with me. So I cried for that and used it to fake some semblance of grief. Told myself “I’m so sad, I’ll miss you grandpa” it was a lie, but I was thinking maybe some higher power would see that and not be mad at me for not being truly sad, maybe I’d fool it. It was the middle of the night, no one saw, no one heard. The next day I claimed I had cried to my cousin, she nodded in approval. I did well.

--------------------

My childhood friend drowned at the beach during a family barbecue. The news came all the way to our house. It’s a really small island where I was born. Everything is known so fast. I saw her family get in the car that morning, I waved goodbye to them. After her death, none of them were ever the same. Her sisters, her father, her mom. The baby boy that came later never got to know her or how she was really funny, really bold, or how watching Bridge to Terabithia reminds me of her.

She drowned. I was distraught. I didn’t cry. Her I genuinely grieve. I think I’ll grieve her forever. Quietly.

That day, after the news reached us, my father came to pick us up. We went for a drive. We didn’t talk. Adults didn’t tell children things. Maybe it was to remove us from all the other adults talking about funeral arrangements already. On the drive, a single ambulance went by. Normally, it’d go to the hospital the other way, since it was closer. This ambulance was headed to the other hospital, the one closed to where we all lived. I didn’t dare talk. I didn’t ask my dad. But something in my chest assumed. She was in there. Or just her corpse. Without her in it. I didn’t look back once it passed by, I couldn’t. My chest hurt a little. I really didn’t want it to be her, any of it to be true. I didn’t cry but everything after the ambulance is a blur. I don’t remember much after that.

Other deaths, other silences.

And I keep thinking, now, if they had tried cpr (it wasn't taught up until my sister entered middle school around 5-6 years alter), maybe, just maybe she would still be around. Or maybe she wouldn't. It's not like what-ifs can change anything.

[sillylittlenbylesbian]

You're somewhere that I can't reach

(at least not yet)

I have a fear of blood. As kids, many of us have had the fear of needles and even some adults have it. It’s not the needle itself that I'm scared of because I can tolerate pain. It’s the blood.

Now, blood is not exactly a pleasant sight to see. It makes many people queasy and frankly many might have phobia around it. For me, it wasn’t always this bad. 

The fear is related to my past. A past that still haunts me and I want to move on from it. 

My family on both mum’s and dad’s side are not the best people. Neither is my father but that’s a whole other can of worms. Frankly speaking, I can only trust my mum and one cousin from my family. Anyone else is just a nuisance and that is to put it kindly.

There was however one other person that I used to love very much. My mum’s mum. That is my maternal grandma. She was a kind hearted woman and pretty much the victim of circumstances and society. Women in her times didn’t have much liberty and freedom and more frequently the victims of domestic abuse and what not. It wasn’t any different for her. But even in those circumstances, she used to bestow kindness. She loved me very much and so did i love her. 

Sometimes the pain that one feels emotionally can manifest in myriad different ways and sometimes it can appear as a deadly disease with no cure. 

I’m not a doctor and I won’t claim to know anything about medical sciences, however life really hit her with a final blow after all the traumatic experience in her family life she had been through. 

My grandma got cancer. And every year after her diagnosis, I kept on feeling I was losing her slowly. I don’t know what would have been better. For her to go abruptly or the slow process of deterioration she went through. And this is simply for my own selfishness. 

Logically, an abrupt end would have spared her from all the pain she been through. But obviously that’s something I didn't want.

You see, I’m a coward. And this is not belittling my feelings or anything. I’m a coward because I had no power in me to face reality. I wanted a fairy tale ending. Of her getting cured by some miracle. And for 5 years after her diagnosis, she actually lived. For which I’m eternally grateful by the way.

But cancer is something that can come back any time. And frankly we can do nothing about it. 

The second time she didn’t make it. I was in college completing my bachelors degree when I got a call from mom saying grandma had passed away. 

I didn’t go to the funeral. I didn’t want to believe it. If i don’t see it, then it doesn’t become real for me, right?

I wasn’t delusional but obviously some part of me wished I was.

Some weeks before her passing, I had holidays going on and I had visited her. She wasn’t doing great that time. Her body was so thin I could see the bone structure very clearly. Many times she would cough blood in a handkerchief. (Hence the blood phobia)

I remember singing songs for her and she held me in her arms so very gently just like she used to when I was a toddler.

When I was leaving, she was standing at the window saying goodbye to me and I could see her getting misty-eyed as she did. Deep in my heart, I somehow knew at that moment that that was the last time I would see her.

It’s a struggle to continue on without the ones you love. It's almost as though my heart bleeds every time someone leaves me. Be it death or just simply break up. The pain is more or less the same. 

So what can one do in a situation like this? 

I’ve let this feeling sit by for quite some time now. And I won’t let it control me anymore. I’m taking my power back. And in order to do so, I’ll write a different ending.

In this new story, my grandma is flourishing. She’s fit as a fiddle. She tells me bedtime stories just like she used to. And we both go to sleep together at night. When I wake up, I see her still sleeping with a smile on her lips. I gently try to wake her up but her body is cold. I get worried and call my mum. My mum calls the doctor but we already know what has happened. My grandma has passed away peacefully in her sleep. I’m heartbroken but there's solace in the fact that she went peacefully and without any pain in her sleep.

This is my way of taking back my power and not letting this issue linger any longer. I know I can’t change what happened. But I can create my own endings. And even though they might be purely a figment of my imagination, they give me power to heal, to move on, to live life again without any restrictions.

[the-single-element]

The Feast of Mary, Mother of God

Good morning, and merry Christmas.

In most years, the Sunday after Christmas is a celebration of the whole Holy Family, and its strange inversion of power structures and hierarchies which provides us a blueprint for escaping the curse of original sin.

But today, the eighth day of Christmas – the "octave" of Christmas – falls on a Sunday, and we instead zoom in on Mary herself, and her strange situation.

Imagine what that year must have been like, for her. Pulled along inevitably by event after event, like a riptide pulling a person out to sea: the Annunciation, her marriage to Joseph (who, miraculously, understood and accepted her mystery pregnancy), her visit with Elizabeth, her journey to a barn in Bethlehem, and then to the Temple in Jerusalem, and then to Egypt to escape Herod's paranoia.

When she told the angel Gabriel "I am God's servant; may everything you have said about me come true" – when she accepted as a gift the opportunity to be part of the Messiah's coming – could she have known what she was really signing up for? Could she have imagined the swords that would pierce her own heart, as Jesus would go on to court controversy, provoke the good and evil in his listeners' hearts, and die in agony and disgrace?

But she was always a thoughtful person. Trying, against all odds, to understand what God was doing with her life. We hear, repeatedly, of Mary "pondering", "reflecting in her heart" upon what she'd heard and seen: the message of the angels, and the shepherds, and the Magi, and the prophets who met her in the Temple. Somehow, she was able to ride that riptide current, letting it pull her along where she needed to go. Perhaps that penchant for reflection, for seeking the meaning behind the mess, was what got her there.

Of the people from Jesus's nativity, she's the only one who made it into his adult life, long enough to provoke his first public miracle. Long enough to witness the Resurrection. Long enough to receive the Holy Spirit.

Elizabeth's child John – Jesus's second cousin – didn't make it. "John was the greatest of the old order", but his role was to fade away so that the new order could arrive. We hear nothing of Joseph; we consider him a saint, but it's possible he, too, died too soon to see the Kingdom come.

So what can we learn from her example?

I think the first thing is this: simple obedience is not enough. It's not even the point. We, like her, have the opportunity to become citizens of the Kingdom... but if we see it as an opportunity, then we can take advantage of the further opportunities. As we are pulled along by the current, sometimes into situations we don't understand, we'll have the opportunity to reflect on them in our heart, and use it to come to a deeper understanding of the world in which we have chosen to live, which can only be understood by embracing a deeper logic than that of our old world.

And the second is a joyful message, appropriate for Christmas: this road leads somewhere wonderful. This riptide is not drowning us, but pulling us into an undiscovered country, which we might yet discover, and even might – as Mary perhaps did – enter alive, physically, in our bodies.

She may have been Θεοτόκος – the mother of God – but she herself wasn't God. She was human, strictly, and her special advantages only went so far.

For her, bringing Jesus into the world was only the beginning.

Where she went, we can follow.

[britcision]

(UGH I WROTE A BIG LONG THING AND TUMBLR FUCKING ATE IT SO YOU GET WHAT YOU GET)

Kara wanders into the first class not really expecting to find anything.

Clark had come to her, telling her he’d heard something he was sure was Kryptonian, but couldn’t quite parse it. He’d garbled the pronunciation along with the syntax, but still pulled a startled laugh from her

Because that? That certainly wasn’t the Kryptonian Clark spoke, formal and slightly clinical. Kara was pretty sure Clark didn’t understand half the swears, and was mildly surprised he’d pinged it as Kryptonian at all

But it probably wasn’t. There were only so many phonemes, and Kara had had that painful experience often enough; a phrase in a language that sounded just too close to home, but always meant something else here

Clark had pulled out the university directories though, pointing to a series of classes on Alien Cultures from the same building. And then he told her he couldn’t be the one to check it out

He wouldn’t Know like she would. Wouldn’t be able to tell if this was on the level, and didn’t want to get his (or his sons’) hopes up in case it wasn’t

He needed her to go. To tell him if it was any good. And Kara knew damn well what he was doing.

Making it seem like she was doing him a favour, so she didn’t have to go for herself.

Jon was a better manipulator when he was two years old, but Clark wouldn’t ever think of it that way. He thought he was being kind

She made herself annoyed about it anyway to keep the hope from slipping in.

She’d even come early, hoping to get a look at the professor before things begun, and was mildly disappointed when the man himself ran in a grand total of ten seconds before class began

For all he’d pass for Clark in a heavy fog (tall, broad shoulders, black hair and blue eyes) he was so visibly, painfully human. Even if his heartbeat was a little slow

It would have been so nice to find another Kryptonian. Just one other person who remembered their home world. But this was probably nothing, she reminded herself, settling in and missing most of his introduction as she fell into a funk

And was violently snapped out of it by a short, sharp phrase she’d never thought she’d hear again. Fast, easy slang, and then the grinning man translated it to English, and picked some modern slang to match

Kara herself probably wouldn’t have translated it to “have you considered getting good”, but the snickering of the students around her suggested this guy was bang on

The sense of kinship, of being able to share the meaning of a phrase from her home with a whole room of young adults was… well. She hadn’t felt anything like it

And the young professor, Fenton on her hastily checked schedule, kept going

He had sketches of buildings from so far away that the light of their destruction hadn’t even reached Earth. Different architecture styles that would never be built again

He had art, and not just the museum images that had been saved for Kal, there was graffiti, posters, recordings of songs (the quality wasn’t great but Kara couldn’t have cared less)

He had her home, the world she remembered, fashions from the highest class down to the casual daywear most of the population wore

Kara found herself blushing as she remembered the various “alt” styles her preteen self had gone through before deciding on her own. Before she’d been sent where she wouldn’t see any of it again

But it was here now

Kara didn’t realize she’d started crying until the boy next to her pushed a box of tissues across, and she almost asked him why

Superman wasn’t mentioned once

And Kara loved Clark, she did, but the way every conversation about her home, about her culture always turned to him, the cousin she could never share it with…

And she knew it was because this was his home. These were his people, and he was the logical touchstone for any of them.

That didn’t lessen the ache, only noticeable now that it was soothed

Someone asked, of course, at the very end where Professor Fenton - Danny, he corrected one student, with an awkward blush that made her realize how young he was - was taking questions

“What about Superman?”

Danny gave the girl a kind smile, tapping the screen that still showed his last slide

“These lessons are about Krypton, not Kryptonians on Earth. They’ve already had to learn and adapt to an alien culture, so it’s only fair we learn about theirs in return.”

A gentle reprimand, and reminded Kara of something else. The course wasn’t all Kryptonian, but it got a good chunk. Three weeks, six lessons in total, and she would come to all of them

Woe betide any alien invasion or jumped up supervillain that tried to get in her way

The next class would be about food, and Danny was promising to bring in the closest approximations he could to some of the popular foods from the major cities

Street food. Gods it didn’t matter if it was even anything Kara had had before, had ever liked, she would come for all of it

She’d never realized how much she had missed the gritty, day to day parts of home

Kal had fine art, music from great composers, all kinds of videos tucked away to show him his world, but that wasn’t what Kara had lived

She’d just been a kid, a stupid teenager, taking things for granted until she could never have them again

But now… she might

Danny was also offering adjusted recipes for anyone who wanted to try and help him turn the next class into a potluck

Kara didn’t join the rush to the front, students grabbing eagerly for printed recipe booklets, or the steady flow of students leaving the hall

She just sat, breathing slowly and deeply and working her way back to some kind of composure

She couldn’t trust herself to move without breaking something, to speak without shaking, and the professor had almost finished packing up by the time she trusted herself to try

And then he had paused at the end of her row, a gentle, sad smile on his face

“It can be an emotional topic. Realizing just how much was lost,” he said softly, without judgement

He couldn’t know who she was

Did students often cry in this class? Did other people cry for the world, the cultures, the people, all of them now long dead?

Gods Kara hoped so

It was too much to bear alone

She stood carefully, holding out a hand to shake

“Kara Zor-El.”

She watched Danny’s eyes widen, the moment of surprise, and her heart ached. He didn’t recognize her, not herself, but her name… he recognized the Kryptonian

It felt like such a stupid thing to miss, but remembering that there had once been a whole world, so many more people like her that she could never know all their names…

He took her hand gently, almost tenderly, like he was afraid he might break her and Kara almost laughed

“I am so sorry, Kara Zor-El,” he told her softly, and she believed him. That he might actually, truly know the weight of her loss

Even if it wasn’t his too, there was someone else who had seen Krypton, seen its people, and knew they were worth remembering

“It was a wonderful lecture,” she said quietly, and normally the raw emotion in her voice would have embarrassed her, but she just didn’t have it in her to care

Danny beamed at the praise, giving her hand a gentle squeeze. Barest pressure, like she couldn’t crush his bones to dust by accident. Like she was actually as close to crumbling as she felt

“That means more from you than anyone in the world,” he told her sincerely, and she laughed at that. And then he added, “will you be back Thursday?”

She nodded immediately, no matter what else was on her schedule, it could wait. Then she paused.

“I will. I… might bring my cousin. I don’t know if we’ll say anything…” she trailed off, not sure what to say, but Danny was already nodding, diving into his bag

She’d barely noticed he was still holding her hand until it was cold with his absence, but then he pushed a handful of paper into her hand

“No obligation of course, for either of you, but… well, you may like this. Some of the early drafts from my cook weren’t exactly safe for human consumption, and we did have to make some substitutions, but I have a friend in Botany who’s been having real success with some of the Kryptonian and Tamaranean spices, so… that’s the more authentic version.”

He was rocking back and forth on his feet, and Kara just. Stared at him. For a long moment.

Then glanced down at the pages in her hand, and stared at him all over again.

That was written Kryptonian. Hand scrawled, messy and quick, in handwriting not her own and she couldn’t let her grip clench, couldn’t let her hand close and crumple this beautiful, wonderful thing

“How fluent are you?” She asked, her voice now little more than a whisper, and Danny gave a self deprecating little laugh

“Well, not perfect… but I have an affinity for dead or nearly-dead languages. That isn’t my writing though, mine’s basically illegible,” he explained quickly, and Kara gently stroked the sheets flat

A small smile pulled at her lips, something she hadn’t thought of in years.

“It’s funny,” she said, then cleared her throat, continuing in more of her usual tones, “Danny is short for Daniel, yes?”

Danny winced, and there was a story there, but she was lost in the memory

“Yeah…”

“I don’t know if you know this, but… there was a god of death on Krypton. Not a major deity, but… his name was Dan-El, the bringer of balance,” she explained with a wry smile, wishing she could remember more

Dann was smiling again though, and had clearly made his own connections

“I actually didn’t know that… I don’t suppose you’d want to talk more about your home?” He asked gently, snapping Kara’s attention back to his face

“In Kryptonian?” She asked in return, and watched the way his smile made his blue eyes shine

“Whenever you like,” he assured her, pulling out a card and a pen and nearly dropping his bag to juggle all three and still write a number on the back of his card. “You can get me any time with this number, or come by my office, or… anything. Any time, and I do mean that. I would love to hear anything you have to say.”

Something tugged in Kara’s chest, a warmth and a hope she hadn’t felt in ages. Fuck, her own Kryptonian was probably rusty, and that was just wrong

She’d have to teach the boys to speak it more. Teach them the swears their dad wouldn’t know

Maybe they’d want to take the class too

**

Clark was instantly enamoured with Danny and his classes too, and Kara attended every lecture

Even if they had been scripted and the subject matter never changed, she worked her way through them and would have come back every year

But Danny shook things up

Brought different samples, switched things around

And one day, when they’d known each other for a few years and she had come to know Professor Manson from Botany (Kara still had a black thumb, but Sam could make even Kryptonian plants flourish in Earth soil)…

Supergirl and Superman started to come in for guest lectures

Short DPXDC Prompts #649

Danny teaches an Astronomy & Alien Culture class in Gotham University. He knows far more about said cultures than the average professor should know. Almost as if he has first hand experiences on the planets he talks about.