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chillyfeetsteak · 6 months

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5 pieces of animation that knocked my socks off in 2023

TMNT: Mutant Mayhem

My favorite thing about this movie is how different it looks compared to most of the things coming out of mainstream animation right now. A lot of the rules that studios like Disney have laid out about what makes a character design appealing are ignored here, and it is so refreshing. They’re also doing all kinds of cool and interesting things with the rendering style and effects animation. I loved watching this.

Scott Pilgrim Takes Off

When I was younger I read the comic and enjoyed the movie a lot, but haven’t thought about these characters much since. I was expecting some cool animated fight scenes and a fun cast-reunion from this series, but not much more. We got that, but we also got some really thoughtful, funny, meta writing that showcases the supporting characters in a novel way.

Nimona

I’ve cried all three times I’ve watched this movie. When I’ve talked to the people who worked on it it is so clear that it was an incredible labor of love, both to the people who will be changed by it and to animation itself. It elevates the comic in every way while still being loyal to the source material. And it is a miracle that it was finished and released at all after Disney initially axed it. It feels extremely special.

Blue Eye Samurai

After Primal’s second season last year, I have been hungry for more adult animation that isn’t primetime sitcom. This show scratched that itch in a very satisfying way. It utilizes beautiful 3D animation that mimics traditional Japanese screen prints to great effect. Set in Edo-period Japan, it includes themes on race, gender, imperialism, colonialism, and revenge. Maya Erskine is incredible as the protagonist, Mizu.

Scavengers Reign

I have been following @charleshuettner on tumblr for ages, so when I saw he had a show coming out I was psyched. I have long been a fan of his design sensibilities and weird animations. Scavengers Reign exists in the overlapping space between sci-fi and horror. One of my favorite things about it is that it kept surprising me: obvious writing decisions that other shows would have made are continually waived in favor of unexpected and compelling character choices. It doesn’t talk down to the audience, and it doesn’t pull its punches. It is also absolutely beautiful.

Honorable mentions/other recommendations: Spider-Man: Across the Spiderverse, Adventure Time: Fionna and Cake, Star Trek: Lower Decks (season 4), Invincible (season 2)

#i really love my industry and it hurts me to see it suffering rn #i want to share my love of this craft as best i can

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boyfridged · 1 year

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Regarding Jason's pre-crisis characterization, would you say that he really is just a carbon copy of Dick or did he eventually grow into his own character in the span of his run time? Also, would you recommend it to a Jason fan to read about his pre-crisis days?

i don't think pre-crisis jay has ever been a carbon copy of dick actually! i know it's a popular opinion but frankly speaking, i think people who say that either have not read his pre-crisis run at all or have not cared enough to understand the story.

the fact that pre-crisis jason’s origin and background (in major ways, but not 1:1, that’s also a misconception) mirrors that of dick was not “lazy writing” and it’s not some sign of the general silliness and carelessness of the editorial of the times. it was very much a conscious, well-thought-through decision.

let me break this down (so that it doesn't become another essay):

to make it clear before i get into anything else: jay's background being so similar to that of dick is actually a way to set up a story about their differences. despite sharing so much experience, there are some key variables in both their origins and personalities that the writers clearly wanted to bring readers' attention to. i will circle back to it later.

i reckon a lot of dc fans who never actually got to read these issues have this misconception that the death of the pre-crisis todds was an exact parallel to that of the flying graysons. however, jason’s parents do not die in a way that dick’s parents do; in fact, joseph and trina todd die while aiding dick in an investigation after he requested their help (this is also why dick later says that he would take care of jason have bruce not offered; he feels guilty for their demise.) this is a deeply fascinating concept tbh, because the todds are like collateral damage to vigilantism; sacrificial lambs, and dick is responsible for it, leaving another orphan on the scene. it's a full cycle!

it was also a smart way for jason to enter the narrative this way because it gave him a link to his predecessor. unlike post-crisis, jason’s first contact is dick, which makes sense, because it’s a story about robin (as a disclaimer: the way post-crisis alters it is also sensible for the plot it tries to convey; but these are two various storylines, approached from a much different angle!)

and pre-crisis jay is a very much different character from dick since day one. dick projects on him vehemently, giving him the robin mantle (once jay tries out different identities btw), which jason accepts as a gesture of love but also dreads. he struggles with the concept of vigilantism from the start, while everyone around him assumes that this is simply the way things go because his circumstances are so similar to that of both dick and bruce. he has a seriously tough time trying to reconcile with the concept of dual identities. he questions bruce's motives and actions a lot more than both dick in his early days and post-crisis jason. he stares numbly at the wall after his first patrol. he voices his concerns.

here i also want to say, that while i absolutely do think everyone should read these stories, and there are some storylines that can be incorporated into post-crisis jay canon, it doesn't hurt to consider which of them do not fit into it at all.

post-crisis and pre-crisis jay have completely different backgrounds, and since pre-crisis jay has been brought up in a rather safe and stable environment, as i mentioned, he's much more confident in questioning bruce. on the contrary, post-crisis jay seems to be so delighted to be having an adult at all that his faith in batman is almost absolute (for most of his robin run at least.)

as i said, pre-crisis jay is also much more aware of the duality of the vigilante life. as a former performer, he says that it feels disappointing to know that none of the people whom he helps will know his name, and he is used to having an audience (he is aware that it is a selfish sentiment.) this is not a thing that post-crisis jay considers at all.

i also imagine that post-crisis jay would never tell bruce the (famous) words that he would be perfectly happy to be just his son and not his sidekick (which he does pre-crisis); not because the truth is different but because he doesn't fully comprehend that it's an option. post-crisis robin jay's compartmentalisation is barely existent if at all; bruce "gave him" robin even before he took him in, so the roles of a son & sidekick are almost one and the same for him, which is why i'd say the events of a death in the family occur at all (he "failed" as robin -> he runs away to find another parent).

and well. pre-crisis jay actually has friends. his world does not begin and end with his role as gotham's protector and hope. speaking of which, he also does not possess the same passionate relationship with gotham as post-crisis jay does.

there are of course many traits they share – i'd say they both have even more sympathy for criminals and an even stronger of belief in rehabilitation than bruce does. they are also both, in a way, a victim of the cycle in the family and projection – bruce (and pre-crisis, dick) assume that the way of dealing with grief is to go out into combat, which is not necessarily true for them. but ironically, i think, it's post-crisis jay who remains more innocent and is easy-going in the way he initially settles into the role.

ultimately, i think all batfamily fans should read pre-crisis robin jay's run because it's perhaps the only run that takes adoption and the topic of legacies seriously. and it's before the editorial and writers decided that batman having a child was lame, and that robin's role was just CA, so bruce is truly parenting. while pre-crisis bruce is much more of a sweetheart than post-crisis bruce is, so it may not all seem "realistic" for contemporary characterisation, it still gives a good idea of what a plotline about bruce being a parent could and should look like. i'm not going to lie to you, post-crisis jay's run feels seriously loveless compared with pre-crisis. pre-crisis, there's plenty of family tensions, and at times it appears that no one in this damn family understands each other, and yet there's so much fondness and care and desperate declarations of belonging. pre-crisis jay's story is genuinely, from the very beginning, a story about a child whose parents die entangled in a vigilante's investigation and who is thrown into a family of vigilantes, projected onto from all sides, and who tries to fill in shoes he never truly asked for in the first place. but dear god is there tenderness there. is there self-awareness and a serious attempt to conceive what taking over a mantle of a sidekick means. yeah. much more than it is in post-crisis.

#thank you for opportunity to talk about pre-crisis #because. truly from the bottom of my heart. it's such a good run. SO SO good.#back when dc used to say things that were true and beautiful #<- old man (23) getting sentimental over good ol' times (he wasn't even alive back then.)#dc #jay.zip #jay.txt #jason todd #core texts #pre-crisis

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captainofthetidesbreath · 2 years

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Y'know, I don't actually think Taliesin is presenting Kingsley as more competent than Fjord, Kingsley is simply much more confident. (And in the reverse, Travis isn't presenting Fjord as less competent, just more self-doubting.) The difference between them is how they see themselves and how that affects how they work, and their views of themselves heavily filters how we're seeing them here.

The entire thing is that Fjord is suffering a massive crisis of confidence and is struggling under the weight of self-doubt. Jester remarks to him that he needs to be confident, Fjord is so paralyzed by a simple question that he desperately asks the answer from Melora (then freezes mid-attempt to interpret it), he second-guesses his correct assessment into an incorrect one, he nervously seeks constant assurance from someone else on whether an idea is a sensible or good one.

Fjord is trying to transition into a new period of his life, and it's slammed him with an incredible amount of imposter syndrome. It seems that the lack of clear end goals and sudden lack of structure is making this difficult. (We've all joked Fjord has ADHD, well, lmfao.) He is openly displaying the intense self-doubt he's experiencing, which in turn is not inspiring confidence in those around him, which viciously cycles. That pervasive self-doubt is actively disrupting his ability to do, well, literally anything. It's like trying to make your hands stop shaking, so now they shake worse, making you totally incapable of that simple task that you normally can manage, even excel at.

Kingsley is nothing but confidence. He probably has never had enough personal setback nor enough life experience to fear failure. He's even so confident that he razzes Caleb about teleporting off-target. A not insignificant chunk of Kingsley's commentary is simply nonconstructive criticism, nitpicking, telling Fjord to do something Fjord was about to do or already did, snark for the sake of looking clever, or missing that Fjord is debilitatingly dissociative—so it tends to sound more put together, and criticism is easy where doing is hard, possibly just all sound and fury as they say, remains to be seen. Kingsley is untested in the role but he talks fast and big, that much is true.

Taliesin has spoken about how he plays characters who think of themselves in relationship to the world in a very specific, very wrong-headed way, and that extends very much to Kingsley. I think Kingsley has the same problem that Percy did: he believes he is the smartest, most competent, most adult person in the room because he knows approximately four things and is incapable of being anything less than overconfident.

As far as it seems to me so far, the difference is that they are opposites in experience (Fjord sailed for many years, Kingsley for six months) that are inversely proportional to their current levels of confidence (Fjord lost confidence in his ability to make even minor decisions, Kingsley apparently does not doubt himself for any reason). It's a difference, as far as I can tell, specifically born of their perceptions of themselves, and whether that perception affects their ability to work, rather than objective assessment of their relative ability and potential.

We're largely seeing Kingsley and Fjord through the lenses of how they see themselves.

#Critical Role #Kingsley Tealeaf #Fjord #Fjord CR #Fjord Stone #Critical Role things #Critical Role spoilers #CR spoilers #cr meta #Mighty Nein Reunited #posting this at the worst time but that's what morning reblog is for

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fonulyn · 3 months

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*slides in here* I hear you have a problem/dislike when people give Leon alcoholism in their portrayals of him and would like to hear more about your thoughts on this. I usually think of him as someone who struggles with it solely because in the original re2, he misses his first day in Raccoon City because he was too drunk/hungover, or so I've been told. That's the main reason I think he struggles with alcoholism, and seeing him drinking get put on screen in every adaptation just further solidifies the idea to me. Tell me everything you think?

okay so first of all, the thing is, being an alcoholic and sometimes drinking, or even sometimes using alcohol as a bad coping mechanism, are not the same thing. not by a long shot. and there is literally nothing suggesting that Leon can't function without alcohol or that he does that continuously all the time. having a drink after a rough mission or a rough day at work? i think he's deserved one. and I think people jumping from an adult having a drink to alcoholism without a second thought is too damn extreme.

he missed one day of work because he was hungover. it's just not enough data to draw from to say he does so with any sort of regularity. he was also 21, and who hasn't made shitty decisions at 21? dude just went through a bad breakup cut him some slack lol.

secondly! how much does he actually drink?

he doesn't drink in re4. he doesn't drink in re6. he doesn't drink in Degeneration. he doesn't drink in Infinite Darkness. and I only saw Death Island once but I don't think he drank in that one either. (he drinks water in Darkside Chronicles :'D do we count that?) and even in re2 his drinking is only mentioned in the og backstory. so saying his drinking is put on screen in every adaptation is exaggerating it a lot.

he has like one sip from a flask in Damnation and then a shot at the end, so I'm hesitant to even count that. he only gets drunk in Vendetta and the og re2 backstory so... twice. his alcohol usage is probably more sensible than mine :'D in Vendetta he also made sure that he was on vacation, tucked away from everyone else, so he could get drunk in peace, which is like the most responsible way to do it. so his drinking has only ever negatively impacted his life in ...the og re2 backstory when he was 21 and just went through a bad breakup.

also! to be clear! i am not saying people can't make a work of fiction and make him an alcoholic there! I've done it too! if it's the story you want to tell then don't let anything stop you. that's the beauty of fanworks, you get artistic freedom lol.

what I have a problem with is people claiming Leon canonically is an alcoholic and anyone who disagrees is flat out wrong. and people who claim it often don't even seem to realize that sometimes drinking =/= alcoholism.

i'm very tired so idk if this covered everything lol but here's at least a summary of it.

#anonymous #ask and i shall answer #re answers

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collapsedsquid · 10 months

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Once upon a time, it was decided that many public sector pay settlements would be decided by an independent pay review body. This seemed reasonably sensible at the time; it de-politicised the question and allowed for the possibility of unpopular decisions being made without being subject to too much public pressure. Once upon a time, it was decided that anti-inflation policy would be assigned wholly to the independent central bank. This seemed reasonably sensible at the time; there was pretty good economic theory in support of the idea that we’d get better outcomes if things were handed over to a body that could commit to policy over extended periods and wasn’t subject to the electoral cycle. Once upon a time, it was decided that the overall level of tax and spending should be subject to a fiscal rule. This seemed sensible to a lot of people at the time. To be honest pissed me off mightily and I have been complaining about it ever since, but the idea was that nobody trusted politicians and it was better to tie their hands and maintain confidence of the markets so that they wouldn’t sneakily run up the national debt. You can see that all of these things are, at some level or another, excuses. In the forthcoming book I call them “accountability sinks” – they are ways to avoid the unpleasant aspects of having to make a decision, by creating a system to which undesirable public feedback can be directed and dissipated. [...] It's sort of an aristocracy of excuses. You can sort of see how people get alienated from politics and inclined to vote for populists. To be honest, a dictatorship by ChatGPT no longer seems like it would be so much worse. The overpowering political theme of my adult life has been a retreat, on the part of those with power, from any idea of making a decision and living with it.

#more and more people are saying it

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doubledyke · 3 months

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Who do you think is more active and who is more passive in eddeddy? (when they are adults of course)

i'm not a relationship expert so take all of this with a grain of salt. but my opinion, based on their very general personalities is that overall edd is more active and eddy is more passive. not a shocking revelation by any means. but honestly they might kind of trade those roles back and forth depending on the issue.

i think edd would prefer and genuinely enjoy being the one to handle the Big Stuff. things like finances, appointments, insurance, home improvement and maintenance (the boring structural stuff), etc. not that eddy is totally incompetent, or that edd doesn't trust him, but he has a particular way of handling things and wouldn't be able to rest worrying that something was late, missed or that even a minute of rumination was spared before a big decision was made.

same with cleaning. eddy appears to be a fairly tidy person already, based on his childhood room, and he'd inevitably pick up some of edd's habits once they've been living together. so they keep a very neat home in general, but when it comes to the use of any chemical stronger than idk maybe a lysol wipe, edd handles it. eddy accidentally making mustard gas is such a funny image in my head.

of course, eddy's active in meal planning and preparation while edd is passive, eating whatever eddy makes, brings home, etc. edd's very much the person who feels hungry but never knows what they want to eat. left to his own devices he'd subsist on water, plain oatmeal and like... a string cheese. or just ignore his hunger entirely. so he's happy to let eddy take charge and have fewer decisions to make throughout the day. plus, eddy's a great cook, so it works out.

eddy's also in charge of aesthetics, whether it's home decor or helping edd expand his wardrobe. eddy's a maximalist, while edd's a minimalist, so they butt heads on a lot of things. but eddy's a brat and manages to get his way about 85% of the time. their living room is giving:

minus the dog cuz they don't own pets (til ed moves in with his ratties 💚)

if it was up to edd, he'd own exactly 5 of his signature hats, 4 pairs of shoes (formal, casual, utility, and of course his house shoes) however many pairs of underwear and socks come in a value pack, 3 pairs of sensible pants, 2 pairs of shorts, 3 long sleeve shirts, 5 short sleeve, and so on. no logos, no wild patterns or colors, no frills. eddy wonders how he lives like this. it's not necessarily that eddy dresses edd, but gives him more, interesting options to choose from at the very least. they have been known to coordinate outfits from time to time too. embarrassing.

i imagine eddy being the more active one when it comes to entertainment, specifically planning date nights or vacations. he knows edd's stress tells and is quick to intervene with the suggestion that they go out or take a weekend trip together.

when it comes to relational issues, it's reasonable to assume that either of them might be passive or active depending on the matter at hand. they both come off as the passive aggressive type, but eddy's perhaps a bit more...aggressive. more likely to blurt out what he's thinking without much sugar coating. if it's really serious, edd will dance around the issue, hemming and hawing, or even ignore something entirely. only for a while, since his passivity comes back to bite him in the ass when his annoyance reaches a boiling point and he lashes out in one way or another. he's learning to be more direct but it's a process.

i know it seems like i think edd is more passive but overall i'd say it's a good mix between them, and that eddy's slightly more passive. cuz he knows and trusts that edd will take care of the really important stuff and that every i will be dotted, and every t crossed. he's happy not to have to make those decisions, too much pressure. and edd needs to have control over those major things and is fine with letting eddy take charge of things that add some much needed enrichment to his life and their life together. he would very easily let that kind of stuff fall by the wayside otherwise.

shout out to @eddbedandeddy who influenced a lot of these and other headcanons i have regarding edd & eddy's relationship.

but yeah that's about it. i don't know what words mean so sorry if i don't get everything right. but it's fun to share ed-canons so take it for what it is i guess.

#text

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woodelf68 · 7 months

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LOKI 2.4

I don't see why they can't keep Dox in Holding forever; they had no problem pruning Lokis into the Void for forever. >.>

Dammit, Sylvie, it would have taken OB and Victor five seconds to sign each other's copies of the TVA Guidebook; could you not let them have their brief moment of fanboying joy?

OB's explanation of the Loom is very helpful here; it reminds me of the Doctor on Doctor Who explaining sciencey things to his companions on screen so that the kiddies (and adults, lol) at home could understand what was going on. (Okay, so the TVA as a TARDIS, discuss. Look at all those long corridors its got for running in!) I loved OB's "...the backlog of branches that was created when someone...*looks accusingly at Sylvie* ...killed He Who Remains and released all those branches and ruined my life." (Aw, come on, OB, you're out of the basement now! You're making friends and meeting admirers of your work!)

Loki claiming that the little figure in the model was clearly not him so why did he have to be the one to 'hoof it' and lob the throughput multiplier into the Loom? Well, Loki, you have very long legs and can run fast, also tradition has been established that your character is the one who gets sent to do the hard jobs for others; just be glad you're not being asked to steal Surtur's flame and doom Asgard this time around. (Of course, your decision to abscond with the Tesseract has already caused the TVA to erase the Asgard of your timeline, people and realm both, so...uh, never mind, pretend I never said anything.)

MOBIUS AND HIS PIE AGAIN. I SWEAR TO GOD THAT THE TVA LACES THE PIE WITH DRUGS TO KEEP ITS WORKERS DOCILE AND HAPPY WITH HAVING NO LIFE OUTSIDE OF WORK AND POSSIBLY ACTS AS A CONTINUAL DOSAGE OF SOMETHING THAT KEEPS THEM FROM REGAINING THEIR MEMORIES? MOBIUS CAN'T GO TOO LONG WITHOUT ANOTHER SLICE OF PIE BECAUSE HE'S EXPERIENCING THE WITHDRAWAL SYMPTOMS OF AN ADDICT. I was so happy to hear Sylvie call him out on his pie-seeking habits and his refusal to try to find out any information about the timeline he was pulled from. Like sure it might hurt to remember a family whom he'd lost, but I'd rather honour the memories of loved ones by remembering them than being too cowardly to do so.

I have to agree with the point I saw raised in another post of 'WHY do they have to fix the Loom? Surely all the multiple timelines managed to exist just fine on their own before it was created?' Also, hoo boy, did Loki's speech about how you can't free a people and then leave them to look after themselves remind anyone else of Asgard's justification of being the ruler of the Nine Realms? Keeping a military presence on those conquered worlds? AND NO, LOKI, YOU'RE NOT A GOD, YOUR DAD TOLD ME SO IN A BIT OF THE SACRED TIMELINE YOU DIDN'T GET TO EXPERIENCE. Although this time at the TVA is Loki's post-Thanos period when he was claiming the same thing in the Sacred Timeline, wanting to be a 'benevolent god'. So...that actually ties in.

Um -- do we all agree that Miss Minutes looked orgasmic watching everyone (except Brad) be crushed in the cube thingie?

(Was Loki pruning himself related back to the time slipping thing? I still don't really understand what the point of that was.)

OB: But if I reboot Miss Minutes, we'll lose the magic dampeners in the TVA!

Loki and Sylvie: THIS IS THE OPPOSITE OF A PROBLEM!

Oh hell yeah, Bradley, prune that bitch! I HOPE YOU END UP IN THE VOID WITH A HUNGRY ALLIGATOR, RAVONNA.

Kudos to Timely for sensibly asking if it's safe before sticking his head inside some alien machinery and not just blindly following instructions.

LIGHT! BEAUTIFUL LIGHT IN THE TVA! I don't care what this means as long as I can properly see what's going on!

Oh. Oh shit. Spaghettification is what's going on, huh. *Salutes Victor Timely* May you get the afterlife you hoped for, sir, you died a noble death. Guys. Guys, stop staring into the blinding radioactive light; I'm sure that's not good for your eyes.

And...what a cliffhanger; it's like FINALLY all the pieces are falling into place and the story is getting to someplace exciting. That was a good episode; I hope it keeps up this pace next week and something good happens if the Loom is going pear-shaped. I gotta try to remember to watch this on Thursday for a change.

@delyth88 -- finally felt inspired to make a long reaction post! (And my stupid computer glitched about 2/3 of the way through and I had to rewatch what I'd already seen to remember what I had been commenting on! I blame the TVA.)

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eastgaysian · 1 year

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Sincere question: I don't understand your reaction here: "also the fact i had to look up lottie's actress to be like wait is she mixed. it's just a bit silly to me tbh" . Are you saying the show should have explicitly discussed her ethnic background? Is it because you think her possible powers are related to her being Maori, or like in general it should have been more obvious?

this is a complicated one to answer because i feel like i have to go macro -> micro to get all my thoughts out sensibly. but we'll get there i promise

the genre of survivalist fiction, more specifically the deserted island/stranded in the wilderness narrative, is racially loaded. sometimes this is patently obvious, ie robinson crusoe and the character of friday, but even with a cast of entirely white characters the concept of uninhabited and untamed wilderness (which the white characters either tame or are degraded by) is tied to colonialism*, as is the tension between what is viewed as civilized or uncivilized behavior, good christian morality vs primitive/barbaric 'savagery', etc.

(* this isn't necessarily constant throughout history/a global context but is absolutely a part of this genre and the american context of yellowjackets)

yellowjackets seems to promise a deconstruction of the genre by focusing on the psychological horror angle with a diverse cast of teenage girls, as well as reflecting on how the trauma of that event would carry on into life after rescue. and like, i like it! i think it's fun to watch, it succeeds at entertaining me. but i really think it drops the ball when it comes to examining the racial implications of this kind of story.

it's clear that there's some degree of thought and significance put into taissa as a Black female character: her conversation with van about Black characters dying first in horror movies, the conversation with that potential donor who feels entitled to her trauma because of All She's Done For You People, her being the first Black female senator of new jersey.

...so what exactly are we supposed to make of the fact that she has an Evil Personality that first emerged after the crash, who eats dirt and bites people and makes shrines with broken dolls and dog heads, just lurking under the surface waiting until she loses control? the other characters are definitely psychologically disturbed, but the regression to this 'wild' state is extreme and reserved for taissa. why? it doesn't critically examine or deconstruct the ways in which the behavior we view as 'feral' is racialized. at best it's thoughtless, at worst it's actively engaging in racist tropes.

on the other hand you have lottie, whose racial identity isn't brought up in the text, but is at least a consistent casting decision for teen/adult lottie and her parents. the role she fills of being converted (to a point?) and baptized by a devoted white christian girl and then becoming an occult mystic who communes with the wilderness and wears deer antlers to try and lead a ritual human sacrifice is extremely racially loaded. i wouldn't have been irked by the lack of acknowledgment if this wasn't her role. but because it hasn't been brought up and it's not critically examined, i'm not sure whether the show wants me to think her possible powers are related to her being māori, and either way the implications are really troubling to me.

i'm not #cancelling the show i'm just disappointed by what feels like a huge oversight with regards to the racialized aspects of the genre. narratively i also think the build up of the maybe-supernatural elements was kind of all over the place which doesn't help but that's not really here nor there. it just doesn't sit well with me!

#mingbox #yellowjackets

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silverwhittlingknife · 6 months

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Hi, hope I don't bother you but I wanted to ask if you're read World's Finest: Teen Titans? I've seen your Tim vs Dick's Nu52 characterization post, and I thought maybe you could he interested in the way Dick is characterized there

Hi anon <3 This is so funny because I actually was SO CLOSE to adding an addendum to that post that said "Waid's Teen Titans is good though" sdfdsfds #samehat

Yeah, I like World's Finest: Teen Titans! I have quibbles sometimes, because I have my own versions of every character that live in my heart and so I can quibble about anything, and although I know comics time is eternally the present there is something that is a little jarring to me personally about reimagining Dick and the Titans being teenagers in the modern world of extremely online social media, and there is a part of me that just refuses to accept it. But that's not Waid's fault! It makes logical sense to update them.

And fundamentally, I feel like Waid has the kind of sensibility that I like. I appreciate that he's letting the characters fight and have interpersonal conflict; I like the story structure - mostly the teens but also sometimes the adults and the byplay between them; and I do indeed love that his version of Dick feels like a team leader and argues with Roy a lot. <3 I actually find Dick's characterization - plus just the general willingness to let characters squabble a bit - so refreshing that it compensates for when there are things I'm less keen on. Like, look at this beautiful moment:

And THEN!!! Roy and the others call him on the secret-keeping and Dick's all... you know what, you're right, and makes the executive decision to tell them who he is!! <333

Back in post-Crisis, Mark Waid also wrote Flash 81-83 and The Flash + Nightwing, both of which are Dick & Wally teamup issues that I love, and which also have the nice vibe where... like, the characters feel like friends who love each other and argue; I believe that they're vigilantes. I like his style.

WF:TT isn't quite catnip for me yet - maybe because I'm more attached to Dick-the-adult? - but I like the comic's throwback vibe and hope it keeps going. (And I hope it's successful enough to influence Dick's characterization elsewhere.)

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voidcat · 2 years

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a/n: scara/reader modern au drabble? idk man I should be STUDYING not thinking about hand feeding him baklava or making fun of him for failing to eat local foods

Perhaps mother was right, you shouldn’t have agreed to staying in the dorms and taken up her offer instead.

“Rooming with someone else will take some chores off my shoulders! And it’ll be closer to classes too.” That extra 20 minutes of sleep surely wasn’t worth dealing with him of all people.

From the corner of your eye you watch the most recent subject of your annoyances, humming something to himself in the kitchen, the sounds of cupboards, utensils and jars reaching you all the way to the living room.

Whatever he is cooking smells good, you admit with a bitter taste to yourself. Sure you made the idiotic choice of being a proud fool and refuse further help from her, wanting to handle things more on your own but at the very least, you could’ve asked around about him.

Then again, he did seem pretty alright. Decent speech and manners, appearing to care about order and hygiene, sounding respectful enough– it’s ironic how you fell for the ‘respectful and sensible young adult’ act when you know and experienced it first hand.

The melody of his humming switches to something else, much softer and serene now, it catches you off guard. You’d never take him to be one to enjoy such tunes, you wonder where this song is from.

The gentle hum coming to an abrupt halt and realizing he staring dead into your eyes, you realize only then you have been staring for a while.

Why did you not ask the twins, or that ginger gopnik about him before moving in? They seemed to know almost everyone in the campus somehow.

With a roll of your eyes, you redirect your focus to the book before you. You can only hope this will be your biggest and only regret for the year and every other decision you make for the remainder will go swift as the wind.

Laughter erupts from Kunikuzushi, filling the entire space as you stare at your bowl in horror, the jar still in your grip.

Agreeing to a lunch of his suggestion though on mutual agreement you both would prepare in your own ways, he was already being a bother making snide comments at everything you added and didn’t add, how you did it and so on…

“What is that thing?” He says with judgement in his voice, as you give the jar a shake. “Curry.”

“Darling, have you heard of curry blocks or using a spoon– or are you just this incompetent in the kitchen?” you can hear the amusement in his voice as he watches you open the lid, slightly tapping at the jar’s bottom as you watch the spice fall into the bowl.

“No thank you,” you begin with a singsong voice, “eyeballing is just fine–“ the words die in your throat as a huge load of curry fills the bowl.

And to your horror Kunikuzushi only stands there drinking in your expression, clutching at his stomach and not even bothering to stop his tears.

For the following weeks you’re not allowed to do anything in the kitchen unless he sees you use measure the ingredients you add, few more months pass and by then it’s all under the rug. Chances of him forgetting the curry incident is very low but he doesn’t tease you as much anymore, though he still mocks you for all your precious ‘that’s how we do it.’ claims, “so that’s why your cooking always gave me a stomach ache.” “Have you considered you just have weak intestines instead?”

For the earlier part of your living situation with Kunikuzushi, the two of you kept to yourselves.

One by one his attitude would show, only to be met with yours, to the point Ajax jokes about putting two goats in the same room only to earn glares from you both.

Where you had an order to yourself, he found it messy, moving around your things to make space for himself when the other half of the couch was perfectly empty.

Most of the things he did, you were aware it was to get on your nerves– what a sad life he must be living to tormenting you become his entertainment.

So you fight fire with fire, feign innocence with a twirl of your hair sometimes, sure there are times you can be messy but you had caught a glimpse into his room, he has no right judging how you live.

Somehow with time, it falls into a routine. What first begins as having extra tea or coffee left and neither of you being fond of wasting food, you make each other offers through gritted teeth.

Having your meals become joint is a mess in and on itself though, him clearly struggling with sumeru cuisine and how to eat some of the meals whereas you share a similar problem with inazuma’s, some of the food just not to your taste, too cold and all that.

when one is too occupied with studying or a project that seems to be draining the life force out of them, the other begins acts on instinct, beverages and food that'll help placed near them in no time. first it is nutrients offered, and next, company.

it becomes the norm at that point to have Kunikuzushi sit down next to you with a book, or just his phone in hand, occasionally stealing a glance at you, reprimanding you if he catches you procrastinating. "if you need to look something up that badly, tell me and i'll do it for you– until then, give me your phone."

every single time, you huff and groan, yet every single time this works.

and Kunikuzushi finds out why people offer hugs when they cannot do anything else as his thoughts eating away at him disperse when he feels your arms wrapped around his form.

you admit it too late to his liking, in the future, that you aren't fond of physical contact yourself, let alone initiating it on your own– but it has worked, and still works as wonderfully as the first time, though he no longer stands straight like a stick and instead melts back into your arms.

you learn over time that despite his attitude and personality, Kunikuzushi is quite nice. Behind the front he puts up, he is as gentle as that song he hummed once long ago.

"Fine! If you won't eat it yourself, i'll make you– just– open up!"

Kunikuzushi dodges your hand, and the little cube you seem to be holding, ignoring your frustrated sighs. "I said no, you daft, cat-obsessed freak. I am sick of you and your weird food–"

A corner of the dessert in your hands smears the corner of his mouth, much to his chargin, a victorious smile already blooming on your face when you notice him slowing down upon contact.

"One bite or I'll go out drinking with Ajax."

At the mention of the skyscrapper sized carrot, Kunikuzushi halts. You wouldn't dare, not with him, not when tonight is movie night.

"What?" you tilt your head, as if reading his mind, "think I'm bluffing? Dear, we have played that game countless times before, you should know I am serious right now."

Agreeing to your weird card games was another grave mistake on Kunikuzushi's part, or tagging along with you to game nights and get togethers with those fools you call friends and laugh around so much.

Though you did have a point, if there is one thing he gained, it is the ability to spot whether you are bluffing or not– seeing the shocked expressions on everyone else's face whenever the two of you referred to one another with poison laced terms of endearment was just the cherry on top.

It was the norm for the two of you at this point. To tease and annoy nonstop, knowing the other party has no malice behind their words, it was fun, trying to get the other to flush first, or hurry back to their room with a slam of their door.

Kunikuzushi began to wonder sometimes if you thought about him.

With a roll of his eyes, he lets out a sigh, eyes cast to the side, arms crossing in front of him. "Fine, you no-good of a roommate."

Waiting a second for more remarks to come, only for him to stay silent, you beam, leaning towards him again. Could you not move your hand with a force, you were getting sticky pieces of your weird dessert all over the couch!

"But–" he puts up a finger in front of your nose, stopping you, "one bite, as agreed." you nod at his words, "and I am choosing the movie for tonight."

At that, your nod comes to a stop, seeming to contemplate, you nod again, "Deal. Now open up." and bring the dessert to his lips.

A golden cube-like dessert, with some greens in the middle. From the looks, Kunikuzushi can tell this is one of those desserts with 'sherbet', mentally preparing himself for a toothache.

Staring at him with big eyes, your face is too close to his, he can feel the warmth of your breath getting mixed with the dessert's scent.

When he bites into it, he doesn't expect it to crunch. Your vacant hand immediately bolting up to hover under the dessert to catch any excess pieces of the layers from falling onto your legs.

Giving it a chew and letting its taste spread on his tongue, Kunikuzushi realizes the greens are pistachio and finds the sweetness of the sherbet not bothering him unlike those fried dough bits you made him try once.

Without a second thought, he leans in for a second bit, uncaring for your surprised yet amused laughter beginning to fill the room. Only when his lips make contact with something too soft and warm to be that cube you were holding, that he realizes he ate it in no time and almost bit your fingers.

When you shake your index at him "what happened to not biting the hand that feeds you, where have your manners gone to, Kuni?" he doesn't bother with a reply, knowing he brought this onto himself long ago.

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shallowseeker · 5 months

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You've shared some things about seeing Jack as a baby as being ableism and I was wondering where you stand on this issue?

I'm assuming this is about the poll I shared. I think where I land right now on this particular issue: I assume the most charitable view I can. Escapism is the point for a lot of folks, so I try not to begrudge them that.

Some other, more rambling thoughts:

1. Jack had a longer anticipation phase: Unlike Amara and Emma, who are also supernatural born-adult cosmic entities, there was a longer anticipatory phase with Kelly, where we were excited about her pregnancy and anticipating her baby.

We journeyed with Kelly through being anguished over her decision-making and bonded with Cas over buying diapers etc etc. We also got to know Kelly (and Kelly's parents) way more than Emma or Amara's human parents. I think this attenuates some of the fandom preferences. NOTE: (Amara refers to herself as a child when she came to earth, saying of Crowley, "He tried to control me when I was a child." So I think the prodromal phase to her primordial emergence isn't as cut-and-dry as we'd like either.) But the thing with all of them is their growth is clearly presented as abnormal and outside the scope of a typical "human" experience. They are all characterized by their powers and their massive, massive intake of information. They all overshadow human sensibilities with their vastness, and over power them by leaps and bounds.

Simply put, they're much much much higher on the food chain, and that causes intense anxiety in their human relationships, something AU Michael keys into for Jack in The Spear:

via @spnscripthunt

Jack was afraid Michael was right. That he'd grow into thinking of his familial loyalties the same way we humans think about hamburgers or clothes.

I'm also thinking of this quote:

"As exquisite as the natural world is, however, there exists a violent underbelly that, for some reason, mostly goes unnoticed...In point of fact, the survival of any one species depends entirely on how successfully it's able to willfully kill--and usually eat--its neighboring species. Even human vegans and vegetarians survive by the demise of plants. Moreover, if you're wearing clothes as you read this, you're wearing death." -Randall R Scott from Entanglement is Not Spooky

In physics, the word information is closely related to microstates and probabilities. In some limited circumstances information is functionally similar to entropy. However, information is no substitute for knowledge and experience. I think the cosmic entities have way, way more information than humans, but not always more wisdom, so the power imbalances aren't super cut-and-dry. (This is why I write Jack-Harper like this.)

In fact, I think humans can naively latch onto the "perceived" playfulness and strangeness of the cosmic entities as a means to ease the anxiety of the inherent, extreme power imbalance. (Example: sexual inexperience is not a meaningful indicator of "innocence" when the same character is also an experienced war mongerer and cannibal. For a human to assume that is silly. Naive.)

///

2. The Jack infant pushback analysis is helpful for me: I've found the ableism analysis really helpful for delving into Jack's own perspective of who he is, how he relates to and moves through the world, and how he is perceived by others.

Simply put, I like it.

I'm a weirdo, (I test around 21-23 on the autism quotient, around your average chess champion), but that's a long way from having enough autistic traits to say what is or isn't ableism on this issue.

Even if that's not your primary mode of viewing Jack, I found it helpful for viewing Jack, not as a fanon wish fulfillment (though wanting happiness for character is, as I said above, completely understandable) but instead as a complex character all on his own.

And for that, I love how it tickles my brain. I'll start tagging it #complex jack and #culture hero jack if that helps!

///

3. Is baby Jack my favorite thing? No. But I've decided to focus on just...writing more actual Jack meta instead.

I want to emphasize the complexities of his role as WAR SON and the idea of his effervescence as at least partly defensive performance (a la analogous to performing!Dean). He's a pretty sassy mofo; Kelly Kline is too.

I think a lot of his interiority being similar to Mary is fascinating. (They are both child soldiers.)

I also like how the TFW dads’ views on Jack are often analogous to how they view themselves.

So you'll find I write a lot of that kinda stuff instead.

///

4. Culture hero Jack: I think if I had to characterize where I'm at with Jack as a character, I get the most mileage out of the Born-Sexy-Yesterday trope (Like Vision from the MCU) and Culture Hero myths (which often features babies born as adult males who are at war with their murderous God!grandfathers).

It's not to say that's better or more right. I just dig it. You'll find that I write and share what I find personally compelling.

There are a lot of opinions that I find well-argued that...simply don't do anything for me right now. Sometimes it's a vibe I'm just not feeling, sometimes it's a topic I exhausted in my youth and am just extremely played out on.

For now, I just focus on the ones that do it for me. :-)

Sorry that got rambling.

I hope that answers your question and makes you feel open to me sharing some of this stuff without feeling like maybe I'm bashing you if you enjoy that content? Anyway... :-)

#ask #jack stuff #complex jack #amara #emma winchesters #fandom wank #for blocking purpose only #this isn't wank at all #i eat what i like #there are plenty of analyses i think are great but don't share cause they just don't do much for me anymore #and i don't overthink that!#culture hero jack

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furious-mango · 7 months

Text

Top tier simping post

or "Why Horatio is the deepest and most underrated mphfpc character"

Horatio appeared twice in A Map of Days and Conference of the Birds /don’t remember exactly, this two fused together in my head/and literally starring in last ten chapters of The Desolations of Devil's Acre.

He has more context in his few chapters of presence than anyone else has in six books!

His contradictory feelings for H, the decision to protect the children by prioritizing their lives over his own even though he doesn't have to actually. The consequences are for adults [yeah, Jacob?], so Horatio loses his arm while saving kids. None of other characters were injured equally.

[i remember that Fiona lost her tongue but she still can speak somehow]

Horatio is responsible and has a strong sense of duty. He's also the only person in the damn series who speaks straight without being inappropriately mysterious. Jacob needed it. I needed it.

Horatio is stoic, strong and golden-hearted mentor figure im not sure about father figure i see him more like teacher / mentor

/// i already posted about this alternate ending so please check this out!

I also like Sharon. And I'm upset that nothing is known about him at the end of tdoda...

Another one thing I want to specify:

Horatio's appearance

We have this picture in book and i like it BUT he was described in the text as blond so—

He looks so young my poor little meow meow;;

— so I immediately associated him with Nanami Kento from Jujutsu Kaisen anime

Nanami-san is sharing same character features [stoic, strong and golden-hearted mentor figure]. He's calm and responsible. ALSO! he’s wearing glasses completely covering his eyes almost all the time.

Stylish... handsome man...

All right, all right, I'll stop simping! Just one more thing! His way of speaking sounds a little mechanical, so the voiceover suits Horatio, too

youtube

And lastly, the wise words of a wise man.

youtube

You've fased several life-or-death situations. But that does not make you an adult.

#mphfpc #horatio mphfpc #mphfpc horatio #jacob portman #a map of days #conference of the birds #the desolations of devils acre #miss peregrines home for peculiar children #jujutsu kaisen #nanami kento #Youtube

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lurkingshan · 8 months

Text

I gotta be honest, I am struggling with Absolute Zero right now, which frustrates me because I love the premise and the vibe and I really wanted to love it. @bengiyo noted that I am getting to the point where I’m actually kinda mad about this drama, and it’s true! For me it’s all down to the same core issue: the show needs to get a better handle on its main character.

Similar to last week, throughout most of this episode I had no sense of what adult Suansoon is thinking as he continues to functionally date teen Ongsa. Is he thinking about future Ongsa, his actual partner who he has abandoned in a dire health situation, at all when he touches teen Ongsa, hugs and gropes him, brings him to his apartment and cuddles on the bed with him? Does he actually realize he is an adult and Ongsa is a kid and this is all super inappropriate? I do not know, because there is zero indication on my screen to tell me what’s running through his mind as he continues dating Ongsa while also making vague gestures towards connecting with his own teen self.

We’ve now spent three entire episodes with Soon drifting around in the past with no clear sense of what he’s doing or why. It’s a lot of story time spent just to get back to where we started in episode 1. And it would feel worth it if I felt like I knew what Soon is thinking or planning or had any sense of his motives with teen Ongsa, but I don’t. Throughout this whole episode it felt like I was being kept at arms length from the main character and his thoughts while being forced to watch him do things I don’t understand.

And then, right at the end, we finally hear from Soon about what he wants to do, when he tells Ongsa he is from the future and he came back to “correct the past” so that teen Ongsa and teen Soon will never meet. And that was such a big record scratch for me, because it does not comport with his actual behavior. If his intention is to keep them apart in the hopes that not being together will prevent Ongsa from being in an accident, why did he approach and date Ongsa? He has already made Ongsa fall in love with him, and now he wants to say never mind actually, don’t meet me and I’m just gonna bounce back to the future and hope we’re both alive and not together in the new alternate reality I am creating. Does he know Ongsa at all? Of course he is not going to listen to him. This plan makes no sense. And he only finally told Ongsa anything at all because he was forced to; how was any of this going to work?

And even before I get to dissecting his nonsensical behavior toward teen Ongsa, I don’t have any sense of how or why Soon arrived at this plan in the first place, because the show has not let us into his mind at all. Future Ongsa is not dead, and Soon does not have any idea of how his recovery is going because he’s not there. What makes him think changing their future is necessary? Why is he so convinced it’s their relationship that is the important variable to prevent the accident rather than any number of other things? His motives here just were not set up properly.

This is getting very ranty so let me just cut to the point: I am open to a narrative about a Suansoon so overwhelmed and dazed by trauma that he goes back in time and starts mucking around doing foolish things with no real sensible plan, if this is in fact what the narrative is trying to accomplish here. This is the bread and butter of time travel narratives and can be very compelling when done well. But that requires giving the audience some insight into why he is making these choices, what is driving his decisions, and how he intends to make things happen. And we are just completely missing that insight in this show.

#shaking my fist at the sky and yelling NEW SIWAJ WHY #we were all rooting for you.gif #absolute zero #thai bl #shan shouts into the void

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stesierra · 10 months

Text

WIP INTRO: STITCHES AND MEMORIES

Title: Stitches and Memories

Genre: Adult fantasy

Setting: the Kingdom of Ritalia

Pitch: Antea is hunting her father, who ripped apart her mind, left her for dead, and vanished twelve years ago. His motive for murder might explain why everyone wants to kill her now. If only she knew what that motive was.

Tropes: authoritarian state, medieval dystopia, fallen democracy, magical seizures, chosen by the gods, daddy issues, parental betrayal, you can't handle the truth, monarchy is evil, cat boys, not your grandma's dragons, sweet romance, chronic pain, partial amnesia, 30-year-old MC

Story:

Antea's father ripped her mind apart, left her for dead, and vanished twelve years ago, and all she's wanted since then is to find out why. When she's evicted from her tenement on her thirtieth birthday and shunted into a hospice for the homeless, she meets Jedan, a man whose magic can track her father. The sensible thing to do is stay in the capital. Her father's attack left her with a lifetime of convulsions, and she's not healthy enough for a long journey. Hunting her father across the kingdom of Ritalia would be madness. But it might take madness to find answers.

Antea ditches her job as a maid and sets out into the countryside on her father's trail. But when she wakes a long-forgotten goddess, the mage her father once served places a death sentence on her head. Now her convulsions are the least of her worries. Waking the goddess stirs magic inside of Antea, revealing secrets and lies that might explain her father's deeds. Lies that might shift the balance of power in the kingdom or topple it altogether. As the notables of the land compete to control or kill her, finding her father starts to look like suicide. A less reckless woman would turn back, but Antea is willing to die to get her answers.

The Characters:

Antea- Our main character. She's just turned thirty. Twelve years ago, her father destroyed her mind and some of her memories. Her black hair also turned metallic gold on that day. Why? She has no idea. There's a lot about being eighteen that she doesn't remember. She's in constant pain and has seizures whenever she tries to remember.

Jeden- The Love Interest. He's chosen by the Lion Goddess as one of her champions. As her champion, he has special abilities, such as tracking people. Maybe he can find Antea's father. Basically a cat boy. Adorable.

Reza- the bastard daughter of the king and, due to the remnants of Ritalia's constitution, the rightful heir. On the run from her murderous father, who wants his lawful children to inherit. Desperate women sometimes make terrible decisions.

Vilsel- a former constable who dedicates his life to protecting Reza. A bad man. There are no good constables.

Antea's father- Antea loved him once. And he adored her. She was the most precious thing in his world.

Doval- Master of the One Hundred (the kingdom's mages) and the constables. Antea's father used to work for him as a mage, so why does he want her dead?

King Ratiden- This fucker rules the kingdom.

Worst Comment from a Beta Reader: I have wiped this from my mind. But the critique partner made me put this aside for three years and I'm still embarrassed by it.

Status Check: Fourth draft (122k words) and available for beta reading but only by mutuals who are really excited about it.

First chapter here.

No more will be posted but you can volunteer to read it.

Credit for (modified) WIP intro format @sleepyowlwrites

@anonymousfoz

@moremysteriesthantragedies

@elizababie

@sm-writes-chaos

@bellascarousel

@palebdot

@hyba

@da-na-hae

@macabremoons

@the-dragon-chronicler

@teacupsandstarlight

@vorskra

@wrenofthewords

@amostdelectablescribbler

@space-writes

#Stitches and Memories #wip intro #writing #writeblr

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archetypal-archivist · 1 year

Text

A Kinder World AU- Part 6

Wilbur and Tallulah’s House

masterlist

Wilbur never intended to have kids. After leaving home at eighteen, Wilbur spent several years wandering the world, making his way by busking and doing odd jobs to make ends meet. With his only reliable point of human contact being the letters he and his dad, Philza, sent to each other, he grew lonely and ended up having a series of one night stands. This came back to bite him and Tallulah was born, then thrust into his arms as the tired mother left, never to be seen again. Wilbur decided this course of fate was perfectly fine with him so he picked a place he’d never traveled to, bought the cheapest house he could, and set about building a life for himself and his daughter. Tallulah and Wilbur adore each other but he’s is often away for long stretches at a time, traveling to distant locales to earn money and satisfy his inherited thirst for adventure. As such, Tallulah had to grow to be very independent very quickly, although now that Philza is in town, she’s receiving more regular adult supervision in her life. It’s an adjustment but she thinks she likes spending time with her abuelito.

1) Wilbur and Tallulah don’t actually live in the same house. Given that Wilbur is often up at odd hours picking away at his guitar as he writes new music, he wanted Tallulah to be able to sleep soundly without him disturbing her. As such, he lives in a small side house with naught but a bed, some storage, and a postage stamp bathroom to his name. Tallulah lives in the main house and she’s much more comfortable, with her part of the property containing the standard kitchen, bathroom, two bedrooms, living room, etcetera. Wilbur left most of the decoration there to his daughter’s whims, and it’s a good thing that she’s a sensible little girl because beyond an abundance of pink, the interior is surprisingly tasteful. The one place where it’s obvious that an 8 year old did the decorating is Tallulah’s bedroom, which is fit for a fairy princess, glitter included.

2) Given how often Wilbur is out of town, Tallulah is the only one with keys to the main house. Anyone who wants to get in has to go through her, although she’s very kind and all too eager for company so she tends to let anyone who asks into her domain. She’s pretty much the definition of a latch-key kid, often home alone for long periods of time and expected to take care of herself. When she was much younger, Wilbur took her along to concerts and busking trips but it was difficult and dangerous to travel with her so as soon as he could, he promised to leave her home where it was safer. The responsibility of such a decision is debatable but Tallulah holds no grudges and Wilbur means only the best when it comes to his precious daughter. Once Philza moved to Quesadilla town, he quickly took Tallulah into his care anytime Wilbur was away and she has found herself guiltily enjoying the attention far more than she ever liked being alone. Chayanne is more than happy to hold a grudge for her sake, anyway.

3) Tallulah’s front yard is a perfect place for hide and seek, hopscotch, tag, and many other childhood games the Quesadilla children adore. Given that Wilbur often isn’t home, there’s no one to watch the yard except for Tallulah herself and she’s more likely to join in than berate any of her friends for sneaking away for a day of play. Wilbur has brought home a ton of sidewalk chalk for her so the bricks are often covered in brilliant doodles of flowers and cake and the things Tallulah loves most. On cold winter nights, sometimes Wilbur will drag out some firewood and a big metal barrel and they have a bonfire and roast marshmallows and sliced apples over the flames.

4) Since the house was bought on the cheap, it didn’t come with a lot of things that are usually standard in a home, including electric climate control and running fresh water, and many of the things it did have came installed in weird ways. To heat the house in winter, Wilbur and Tallulah gather around the fireplace in Wilbur’s cabin and to cool down in summer, they open the windows and let the sea breeze in and lie on the floor in the shade. Water is run through a big desalination tank in the basement and carried up to the kitchen in buckets, old-school style, and to prepare Tallulah’s bath, Wilbur boils up big pots of water and uses the house’s dumbwaiter system to haul them up to the bathroom on the second floor. In order to turn on the gas stove, one must first turn on the gas with a nozzle outside and it turns off automatically after thirty minutes so sometimes midway through cooking something, Wilbur has to run outside and turn on the gas again and then run back before dinner burns. Tallulah had no idea houses weren’t normally like this until Philza and Missa started caring for her regularly, but she loves her home all the same- it gives her house “character.” Wilbur knows his house is insane but the price tag was even more so and he’s never been one to say no to cheap shit. He blames his dad for that trait.

5) Tallulah’s room is right at the very top of the house and Wilbur spared no expense or bit of effort when he decorated it for her. It’s got a big canopy bed fit for a princess, (secondhand) silk sheets he hand-dyed pink, more stuffed toys than one could shake a stick at- the list goes on. The quality of some of these things is a bit debatable given that wherever Wilbur couldn’t afford something, he did his best to make it and his skills outside of baking and music are questionable sometimes, but Tallulah loves it all. Her dad gave her the bedroom of her dreams and he worked so hard to do it that even if it were a literal garbage dump she’d love it anyway- and it’s definitely not, as even Leonarda is a little jealous of her bedroom. The one thing that could be said is that sometimes... it’s almost a little too big. Before Philza came, when Wilbur was away, her only option would be to pull up a stool, crawl into bed alone, and sing herself a lullaby before trying to sleep. On the days when Wilbur had been gone long enough for the other parents to be concerned, she’d sometimes get to sleep over at Rubius’ or Quackity’s, but it was never quite enough to break her loneliness. The introduction of Philza and Chayanne to her life was one of the best things to ever happen to her, though she never says anything as such- Tallulah knows her dad is trying his best and she loves him too much to break his heart like that.

6) There are lots of pretty shells that wash up on the beach by Tallulah’s house, and sometimes even live hermit crabs, which she makes sure to rescue. Indeed, she has a whole tank of pet ones in her room including the first one she ever collected, Agustin. She’s painted little designs on each of their shells and to keep herself entertained, she’ll sometimes sit on a towel in the sand and play her flute, watching for more perfect shells to wash up so she can collect them. She likes to have back-ups in case any of her pet crabs ever need to switch to a larger home.

7) During the wave of flu that struck the town and hit the children especially hard, Wilbur had to leave for a concert that had been scheduled months in advance that he couldn’t put off. Heartbroken and terrified, he asked a very feverish Tallulah what he could get her to convince her live until he could get back and bring it to her. She asked for white roses and Wilbur sets out, determined to bring her back the biggest bush he could. Missa regretfully also has to leave during this period, having come back sometime before Tilin went missing, so Philza, freshly home after his own trip, has to deal with two very sick children until Wilbur returns... Which takes a while. Indeed, Trump and Dan die and Mariana spills something to Las Casalona’s bartender that he really shouldn’t have before he comes back, by which time all the kids are fully recovered. Still, Tallulah had never felt more relief and joy than when she sees her daddy walk up the pier to her house, a potted rosebush taller than she is in his arms- and a second, smaller one stuffed into his guitar case on his back.

#qsmp #a kinder world au #mc #tallulah #wilbur soot #quackity smp #my writing #townscaper

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