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trkstrnd · 11 months

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Neurodivergent 126 anon here. I'd love to hear your thoughts on tarlos and Mateo!

hi anon i cannot believe i didn’t see this sooner but i would love to give you in depth examples of my opinions!!!

disclaimer: i am not a medical or psychiatric professional. do not use my posts or statements as means of diagnosis or medical advice. i am simply a person who struggles with mental illness/neurodivergence and am headcanoning characters that make me happy/that i relate to!!

that being said!! yes!!

mateo:

i firmly believe that mateo is autistic just based off of his social awareness. i know he’s canonically dyslexic, which, according to a quick google search, is strongly associated with autism. also, canonically, he’s an outcast, people look down on him, think he’s stupid, or slow, when really, he looks at things incredibly literally. i think we really see this in 1.07, with his struggles with his exam, finding a safe person inside a safe space and heavily relying on that routine of answering questions with marjan, then being thrown into a completely different situation that he was expecting just to panic. plus, when he got in there, the captain asked him if he needed anything to drink and mateo answered honestly, which got the sentiment of, “it’s sarcasm, einstein.” which is such mateo wasn’t even wrong to assume. in situations like this, before, he’s had people who cared, and he is trying his hardest to relate back to the past experiences he’s had, since most of the time he’s flying blind socially.

plus, mateo is really bad with the non-verbal communication as well. the main time i think about this is the last scene with the 126 in 3.18. when the boys were going to announce that they were engaged, but everyone figured it out before hand, EXCEPT MATEO, because to him, there’s nothing different. it’s just a 126 hang where people want to talk beforehand. he constantly has to be clued in.

plus, he was raised a loner, easily influenced by the actions of others. he feels incredibly strongly but doesn’t know how to express it and reach out. all of this was with marvin. messy room, bad actions, not being able to handle grief, being a “problem child.” they’re all autistic traits.

mateo, to me, is almost textbook autistic, but lmk what y’all think!!

tk:

truthfully, i haven’t done as much research on adhd as i have with asd, but from what i’ve read, it fits for tk very well. i honestly think part of it is why he gets along with carlos so much. tk is very all over the place, except for when he’s working or passionate about something. he’s able to fixate on one thing, and let all the others go for those moments (work, foosball, lou). he also tends to let things in his personal life show much more. he wears his heart on his sleeve. when he was upset owen was depressed, his mom’s passing, his sobriety being tested, issues with carlos, all manifest in places that there should be complete focus, but he has trouble focusing his attention on something unless it is the most important thing to him in that moment, which it often isn’t.

also, he’s impulsive!! i mean, who takes home a lizard from a guys leg?? he often does what he thinks is right no matter the circumstance, like in 2.08 when he goes for the alarm, 1.03 when he follows marjan into the corn despite judd’s orders, the bar fight in the same ep, 2.01 going after the person with the crossbow almost alone until judd offered backup, stealing a firetruck to find his dad, walking out on carlos, pushing carlos when he had nowhere else to place his anger at the situation, breaking up with carlos, you get my point. he struggles with emotional regulation and it manifests in impulsive behavior.

plus, he sucks at sleeping. ex: 3.13, 3.18.

okokokok

carlos:

boy oh boy have i saved the best for last because there’s a REASON i kin him ok.

all rise for the president of autistic carlos nation: me.

carlos is closer to what common folk would call ‘mildly’ autistic (which is not a term i indorse. everyone has different needs and they do not dictate the severity of a disability!!!) he has lower support needs, and because of this, when he was younger and he voiced them to his family, he was met with the cold shoulder.

look i will be a gabriel reyes defender until the day i die and i will never forgive tim for what he did to my favorite dad ever but this is not to say he didn’t have faults because he did!!! and they have a lot to do with how carlos’s autism presents itself.

many people with lower support needs go undiagnosed for years, and because of this they fall into this pit of isolation from their friends and family, and sometimes, themselves. carlos was constantly being reprimanded for being too soft (likely intense, overwhelming feelings, when he was younger. meltdowns.) he didn’t get the support from his family that he needed, so he isolated even more, leading him to believe there was something wrong with him. he couldn’t get along with his sisters because of the age gap, his dad constantly cared for him but in a way that made carlos second guess every decision he made, from coming out to joining apd.

again, he stayed pretty much a loner through childhood. in school, he said all he had was iris, and his shame and mask forced him to make the decision he did when they graduated. he married her because he needed to keep himself from being the burden he perceived himself as for /having needs/.

autistic people tend to take things literally, jump to conclusions. he never asked his parents how they felt after he came out. he just assumed they hated him and tried to soothe that by marrying iris and disregarding himself once again.

it’s why every time he expresses a need, it’s in the form of an argument, or when someone else is upset with him, he brushes it off because his feelings don’t matter because they never have. he masks so much that he almost broke up with tk because he kept brushing off his frustration (2.04), and he held his tongue for so long that he exploded and sounded like an anshole (3.13). he didn’t even tell tk he didn’t want kids until the issue was forced, and i want to highlight how good tk is for him because carlos didn’t run away from the discussion and let tk have whatever he wanted, he recognized the conversation as the collaboration it was!

he has an intense need for routine, he stims all the time (hand rubbing), he tends to have explosive bouts of emotion from masking so long, and he only truly opens up to tk. tk takes care of all of the social stuff, too! carlos’s entire friend group is tk’s friends. tk talks during catan, socializes, while carlos takes on the big, rehearsed speeches.

getting to see him open up with the right person over the last four years has been an absolute delight, and i cannot wait for more.

anyways that’s all for now! if you have any questions about these or others feel free to ask, and if you’re curious about my other neurodivergent 126 hcs, you can check them out here!!

i will forever believe in autistic carlos thank u

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hazbinbossbrainrot · 2 years

Text

🔥 Blitzo Buckzo 🔥 (Pronounced “Blitz”)

(As a child >>> Blitzo)

Theme song: Another Bites The Dust - Queen

Goals:

• Seek affection and intimacy (TBA)

* In a relationship with Stolas (TBA)

• Gain fame and recognition across Hell from his assassination business (ongoing)

• Gain self-respect and the respect of his peers

Fave quote:

“Sorry, I fucked your husband.”

— Blitz upon his first encounter with Stella (🤣)

S2:

“Do I know her. She’s my SISTER fucknut!”

— Blitz to Moxxie after he asked if he knew Barbie

Basics:

Ring(s):

• Greed (via Cash Buckzo)

• Lust (via Tilla >>> theorised)

• Pride Ring >>> moved (?) to build I.M.P from the ground up

Species: Demon (imp)

• Succubi (Tilla >>> theorised)

• Imp (Cash)

Type: Butch 💪🏻 (95%)

* Can very rarely be seen being feminine 💅 (10%)

Height: 5ft tall

* Blitz is actually taller than average imps which are around 2-3ft tall >>> most likely is a part incubi on his mother, Tilla’s, side

* However Crimson, Moxxie’s dad, (2x03) is almost the same height as Blitz, but just that tad bit shorter which has to put him around 4ft

Zodiac sign: Aries ♈️ (theorised)

Age(s):

• 8 or 9 years old >>> 2x01 “The Circus” (flashback)

*If Stolas was 11 or 12 years older and it had been 25 years later, that would have to make Blitz 33 or 34 years old

• 28 or 29 years old >>> -5 years ago >>> 2x02 Seeing Stars (flashback)

• In his 30s ( a generous give or take 🤣)

RP (Tixel):

30 years old >>> (Chapter 2: The Outcast)

35 years old >>> (Chapter 3: Dead to Me)

45 years old >>> (Chapter 9: The Crosshairs)

Status: Single (CC)

* Stuck in a situationship with Stolas (currently)

* Rumoured that Stolitz will in a (committed) relationship with at the end of season 2

Sex: Male

Sexuality: Pansexual

Relationship Type: Polyamorous (open)

Sex type: Dominant (which makes sense given Blitz’s personality both in and outside of the bedroom 😆)

* But is secretly a switch and wants to be dominated by Stolas

* Had been dominated by Chaz which was too rough; enough for Blitz to scream out “chill the fuck out”

Occupation(s):

• Founder of I.M.P (currently)

* Employer of M&M and Loona

• Loo Loo Land clown (formerly)

* Coworkers >>> Fizzarolli & Barbie Wire (formerly)

AU:

King of the Ars Goetia (alongside Stolas)

Flaw(s):

Obsessions:

* Horses >>> enough to be considered a “furry”

* Moxxie & Millie’s relationship >>> to the point of stalking them in their own home

• Philophobia (Fear of love)

* May feel distant from people potential romantic partners and may even be afraid of them

ie: hence why he keeps Stolas at an arms length, despite craving intimacy, and ideally wants a stable relationship an official relationship with him (as Moxxie said in 1x06 “Truth Seekers”)

(That would actually be interesting to see in S3 (confirmed) after Stolitz get together officially; I think that season would be about their relationship and actually overcome their problems as a couple — lol not at ALL like M&M 😂)

• Lacks emotional intelligence

* Usually rage and aggression is Blitz’s first reaction in ANY given situation (depending what’s happening and who he’s talking to 😂)

• Dyslexic (confirmed)

* Stated when Blitz spelt “steal” as “s-t-e-e-l” and “stuff” as “stuf” in 2x02 shortly after Octavia cracked his password (1-2-3-4) to his safe

• Workaholic >>> would be the type to focus on work to not want to deal with personal issues or to “blow off steam” (💥🔫)

* Loona told Blitz that he wasn’t her “real dad” (in 1x03 “Spring Broken”) which made him state that he needed to go and “kill something” to avoid the conflict with his daughter

• Insomnia >>> confirmed in 1x07 & 2x02

Theory: Loona also has the “Sleep Pillz” app so she can help Blitz out or track his sleeping schedule or whatever 😂

• Stage fright >>> full blown panic attack in 2x02 (witnessed by Stolas)

• Alcholic

Type: Emotional drinker (1x08)

AU:

* Stolas can help Blitz get to by creating a portal to the constellation of stars

• Undiagnosed ADHD (unconfirmed)

• Attachment insecurity (avoidant)

Kinks:

• Being praised (I think it’s a common thing amongst families and their dysfunction to have such a kink especially if the child had been neglected and hadn’t received any sort love from their parents)

• People’s names

ie: Truth Seekers - he had called Stolas by his name 3 times within a minute

• Desk fantasy (cuz come on what employer who has an office of their own doesn’t fantasise about this 🤣)

• Being a bottom

* Slightly canon given the way Blitz got excited over Stolas’s dominance in 2x02

• Calling people “Daddy / Mommy / Parent”

* Depending on what their gender is, whether it be cisgender or non-binary of any gender

• Human forms (via Verosika or Stolas)

• Plotting a revenge kill

RP:

* Was brainwashed by Royce to take away his dominant nature, so Blitz had no choice but to be a sub

Romance(s):

• Moxxie & Millie Knolastname (sexual attraction)

• Stolas of the Ars Goetia (formerly >>> TBA)

After 2x04 finale, in future, after recognising that Blitz doesn’t love him, Stolas may be more platonic about his feelings towards the latter

Stolas has the plan to obtain the Asmodean Crystal — to give to Blitz and let him go without having to share the grimoire — he just needs to meet up with Asmodeus in 3 days time which is now postponed due to the the former being in hospital

* Boyfriend (2x12 >>> theorised)

• Striker (sexual attraction) (?)

* Blitz is most likely no longer attracted to him ever since Striker had almost killed Stolas to the point of needing to get to a hospital

Wait until he finds out who the client was 😬

• Verosika Mayday (ex-girlfriend)

RP:

Turf Wars (Tixel):

Stolas of the Ars Goetia >>> (husband)

Royce Sinclair >>> (Brainwashed)

Lerato >>> One night stand

Chaos Gods (Blitzika):

Verushka Mayday >>> (attraction; temporarily)

Stolas of the Ars Goetia >> (crush)

Chloe Lovelace >>> (crush)

Verosika Mayday >>> (wife)

A Second Chance (Sterosika):

Verosika Mayday >>> (ONS; not by choice)

Stolas of the Ars Goetia >>> (husband)

Stuart Mayday >>> (former attraction)

Beth Eldritch >>> (attraction)

* Mother of Seviathan & Helsa Elderitch

Weakness(es):

Kids (unless he has to kill them for work)

Spelling >>> texting (probably prefers to call or use voice over and use it as a strength)

I.M.P >>>> will be tempted by any offer so he can expand and gain fame for his business

• Example: Striker’s offer to Blitz of “killing the unkillable” in Moonlight Harvest Festival (1x05)

PTSD (Tixel; RP)

• Provoked by Royce’s emotional manipulation and fucking with Blitz’s head by pretending to be — his husband — Stolas

Blitz’s disrespect (sometimes when he’s mouthing off, to the wrong sort of people, it can turn the situation — especially for his work — hostile; sometimes much to Moxxie’s annoyance)

Attachment insecurity (semi-confirmed)

Horses >>> to the point of obsession

Stage fright (confirmed >>> 2x02)

Family >>> personal or work

Stolas’s human form (🥵)

Abandonment issues

Unpredictability

“Truth gas”

Strengths:

Business

• Can throw in a free deal if client is upset (ie: 1x01) and is an expert in killing people that they want I.M.P to kill

youtube

Semi-immune to tranquillisers

Sex (really good at it)

Unpredictability

Likes:

• Babying, embarrassing, & grossing Loona out (as parents do 😂)

• Stalking Millie and Moxxie (only because he’s lonely and is envious of their relationship)

• Horses >>> anything related to that; movies; toys; etc

• Challenges & bets (and winning them 😂)

• Moxxie and him having daddy issues

• Trying to reconnect with with Barbie

• Homeless people

• Musical theatre

• Shooting TVs

• Iced coffee

• Mondays

• Drawing

• Murder

* Blood

Other:

Stolas’s human form

implied in 2x02; even though Blitz didn’t say anything it’s clearly evident in his body language:

* Winks flirtatiously at Stolas in the audience

* Affected by Stolas flirting with him

* Sweaty and swallowing hard

* Blushing deeply

• Hanging out with Fizzarolli (formerly)

• Starting his own circus (formerly)

• Pirates (as a kid)

• His daughter

• Money

• Sex

AU:

Stolas’s dominance

* Most likely the ONLY person Blitz will allow to dominate him since Chaz (of course)

Dislikes:

• Stolas's explicit advances (formerly >>> TBA)

* soon Blitz won’t have to deal this anymore post 2x04

• Fizzarolli living out his childhood dream of becoming a successful performer

• Being referred as anything more than a “plaything”

• Anyone else having sex with both Moxxie and Millie

• His twin sister wanting nothing to do with him

• Verosika reminding Blitz of how they broke up

• The idea of dying alone and being partnerless

• People pronouncing the “o” in his name

• People making a big deal about stuff

• His office walls being destroyed

• Being interrupted with a client

• Anyone flirting with Loona

• Doing bodyguard work

• Stolas being in danger

• Being looked down on

• Loona being upset

• People bad at sex

• Stolas’s wrath

• Criticism

Other:

Males flirting with his daughter (as any overprotective father would of their daughter 😂)

Stolas’s overprotectiveness and babying over him (which is ironic because Blitz does it to Loona 😂)

Being referred as NOT Loona’s real dad (derogatory)

Racism; particularly when it’s directed towards imps

People deadnaming him; by not dropping the “o”

The I.M.P walls being damaged

Loona going to the human world

* without him or his permission

People talking shit about him

Showing his vulnerability

Stolas pinching his cheek

Stolas being upset

Deranged clients

Being broke

AU:

• Anything Ozzie’s related - because of the traumatic memory of what happened between when him and Stolas were on their so called “date” 😭

• Any members of his family being endanger; whether it’s his personal one or “work”

• Loona’s parents coming back to take their daughter back (if they haven’t died; which is every foster guardian’s fear 😈)

_____________________________________

Friends:

• Millie (employee & former babysitter for Loona ?)

• Moxxie (employee & former cellmate)

• Loona (employee & daughter)

• Joe & Lin (Millie’s parents)

• Stolas (TBC)

Enemies:

• Striker (temporary friend)

* even more hostile towards him for physically hurting Stolas and putting him in hospital 😈

• Employees of C.H.E.R.U.B.S

• Employees of D.H.O.R.K.S

• Fizzarolli (ex-coworker / best friend)

* Rob-Fizz (ex-coworker)

• Verosika Mayday (rival)

* Verosika’s posse

AU:

• Stella (inevitable)

Other:

• Hound (former & current employee)

Status: Role play

Chazwick Thurman (one-night-stand)

Barbie Wire (former coworker)

Wally Wackford (acquainted)

Cash Buckzo (former boss)

Loo Loo (former coworker)

Loona’s babysitter (2x03)

Unnamed therapist

Eddie (victim)

Ars Goetia family:

• Stolas (ongoing affair)

* For business currently (but hopefully will turn more personal around S2 (end) and S3)

• Stella (acquainted)

*Both in the pilot and in episode 2x01 “The Circus” of the same scene but different perspectives

• Paimon (acquainted; temporary owner)

• Octavia (acquainted)

Hazbin Hotel:

Katie Killjoy (idol)

Rosie (idol)

Affiliation(s):

I.M.P

S.S.F (Working for Royce)

Format: Role play

• The Four Horsemen (Worked for Valentino & Alastor)

Format: Role play

AU (standard):

Prince of Ars the Goetia (with 💍 Stolas 💍)

Status: inevitable

RP: (Blitzika)

Prince of Ars the Goetia (with 💍 Verosika 💍)

________________________________

Family:

Mother: Tilla Buckzo (✝️)

(twin) Sister: Barbie Wire

(adoptive) Daughter: Loona Buckzo

AU:

Husband: Stolas of the Ars Goetia (inevitable)

(step) Daughter: Octavia of the Ars Goetia (inevitable)

(biological) Daughter: T.J. of the Ars Goetia (OC)

Other:

Work:

“Child”: I.M.P (the building itself 😂)

“Work” brother: Moxxie Knolastname

* Also is T.J.'s “godfather” & substitute uncle

Surrogate mother / “godmother” / aunt: Millie Knolastname

Status: For T.J. to have that little bit bigger family in exchange for those Blitz had cut off from his life

Estranged:

Father-in-law: King Paimon (inevitable)

Numerous nameless siblings-in-law (inevitable)

Father: Cash Buckzo

(twin) Sister: Barbie Wire

RPs (Tixel)

Axel x T.J. (OC) = Tixel

(1#) Son-in-law: Axel of the Ars Goetia

Grandson: Axel “A.J.” Junior of the Ars Goetia

Deadname: Angel

Granddaughter: Abria of the Ars Goetia

Pronounced: “Aria”

(2#) Son-in-law: Rimon Shiv (N/A)

Grandson: Shiv AKA “Vish” Shiv

Granddaughter: Azrael Shiv

(illegitimate) Son: Nikolas “Wire”-Mayday (via Verosika 😈)

Granddaughter-in-law: Snow Dust (via her marriage with A.J.)

Grandson-in-law: Samael Beaufoy (via being engaged to Abria)

(great) Grandson: Claudius Beaufoy of the Ars Goetia

Wife: Royce Sinclair (via emotional manipulation 😈)

(imminent) Daughter: Marianne ‘Mare’ Buckzo

Son: Sylas Sinclair

RP 2: (Blitzika)

Blitz x Verosika = Blitzika (Before breaking up)

Status (RP): Blitz is to deal with his feelings for Stolas and everyone else cock-blocking — much to his ongoing chagrin because of it — him because it would be the “end of the world” sort of thing

• Also may be falling out of love with Verosika since of the ridiculous accusations and had been giving him grief about the Chaos Gods “Stolitz” plan

Status (Alt): Stolas dies a heroic’s death leaving Blitz custody of Octavia just like he had promised him and falls out of love with Verosika — breaking up with her because of the same reason as (up above ⬆️) — and falls in love with Chloe, Verosika’s cousin, 😈, but still helps the latter out with child support and still co-parent’s with her

Wife: Verosika Mayday (RP)

(adoptive) Daughter: Loona “Wire” (OG)

Mother-in-law: Verushka Mayday (RP)

Father-in-law: Asmodeus (?) (RP)

Cousin-in-law: Chloe Lovelace AKA Evil Iris (RP)

Blitzika children (biological):

• Evika Mayday

• Tilla Mayday (an alternative version of T.J. the Stolitz hybrid but still honouring Blitz’s late mother)

• Astaroth Mayday (in honour of Astaroth of everything that he had done for Verosika and Blitz in “Blitzika: Chaos Gods” role play)

Other:

Coparent: Stolas (for Loona ✝️)

Coparent: Verosika (For Evika, Astaroth, & Tilla Mayday)

Mini RPs:

Disowned:

(Coparent) Daughter: Octavia of the Ars Goetia

Chaos Gods (alternative):

(adoptive) Daughter: Octavia of the Ars Goetia-Buckzo

• If Stolas died in the ‘Chaos Gods’ war’ and had asked Blitz to adopt his daughter to avoid Octavia being in custody of Stella

Wife: Chloe Lovelace-Buckzo (alt)

Daughter: Alloy Buckzo

Mother-in-law: Carmen Lovelace (estranged via Chloe)

Father-in-law: Ruben Lovelace

Sister-in-law: Mirabelle Lovelace

Sister-in-law: Jocelyn Lovelace

Uncle-in-law: Asmodeus of Ars Goetia

Aunt-in-law: Verushka Mayday

Cousin-in-law: Verosika Mayday

Other:

Sister-in-law: Calitzzo of the Ars Goetia >>> RP

Nephew: Nero Elderitch >>> RP

________________________________

Nicknames:

• B (by Loona)

* hand written message from the episode “Ozzie’s” (I’m assuming at this point ‘B’ is probably for 'Blitz’ because that would be weird if she called her dad'Boss' out of work hours. I mean if she really wants to, she can, I guess 😂)

• Blitzy (by Stolas)

Formerly >>> post 2x04 (?)

* My Little Impish Plaything

* My Big Dicked Blitzy

* My darling Blitzy

* My Little Imp

* Darling

* Blitz

• Fuckstain (by Verosika Mayday)

• Mr. O (by the St An’s and nurse)

• Filthy Wrathian (by Sloth civilian)

• Fire Toad (by Sloth civilian child)

• Sir (by Moxxie, Millie, & Striker)

• Blitzy (by Striker & Stolas)

• Dad (by Loona >>> 1x08)

• Little Devil (by Martha)

• My Man (by Vortex)

• Bingo (by Doc)

• B (by Millie)

• Bossman (by Striker)

* Rodeo Clown

• Boy (by Cash Buckzo)

* Son

• Little Bastard (By Beelzebub)

* Imp Boy

• Blitz/Blitzo (by Barbie Wire)

* Shithead

AU:

• Stepdad (by Octavia)

* Step-Boss

* SD

• Dad (by Loona, T.J., & Octavia)

More so for the former in front of Thunder to prove a point by calling Blitz “Dad” but refer to her biological father by his actual name - or even take it one step further and call Stolas by his paternal name deliberately to hurt the hellhound 😈 😆

* D&D (Dad & Dad)

When talking or referring to both Stolas & Blitz (⬇️)

* D1 (OG) & D2

* Dads

• My other half (by Barbie Wire >>> familial way)

• Prince Blitz of the Ars Goetia (by the Goetia staff & citizens via being married to Stolas)

* My Dark Lord 2# (by Asmodeus)

* Your Higness (by the guards)

* King Blitz (Alarik >>> RP)

* His Majesty

• My Loving Husband (by Stolas)

• Boss-Dad (by Loona; rarely)

• Blitzo (by….)

* Angel Dust (AU — alternative 😆)

* St An’s Receptionist

* Fizzarolli (young)

* Verosika Mayday

* Fizzarolli (adult)

* Young Stolas

* Octavia (AU)

* Barbie Wire

RP:

• Blitz The Bloody Bloodhound (by T.J.)

• Shitzo (by Angel Dust)

* To Stolas about Blitz

• Boy-toy (by Octavia)

• Fucktard (by Kiki)

• Steve

________________________________

Abilities:

Natural:

• Prehensile tail - his tail can support his whole body by hanging himself upside down as a kid in “The Circus”, similar to a possum

• Fire resistance - like the rest of his species Blitz can not be harmed by fire in the living world and had told Martha “that’s not how it works” when she attempted to set him and Millie on fire

• Night vision - like most imps Blitz has the ability to see in the dark

Skills:

• Weapon mastery - Blitz is a sharpshooter and is extremely proficient with various of weapons and favoured firearms and is often shown brandishing his own golden percussion pistol

• Driving efficiency - Blitz is usually the one driving on I.M.P’s business trips

• Disguise - Blitz, Moxxie, Millie have countless of different disguises to use to go into the human world

* Although if Stolas joins I.M.P as a full time member they could be spelled into a human

Unique:

Purring - Shown to be able to purr like a cat, during the two times he follows Moxxie and Millie into their bedroom during the pilot and The Harvest Moon Festival, respectively.

________________________________

Appearance/ personality:

(As an adult):

Blitz has crimson skin with white blotches of various sizes that cover parts of his forearms, chest, and his tail, as well as most of the right side of his face.

He has black spines on his head and upper back, as well as on his tail, which ends with a triangular point (that resembles similarly to the Devil’s tail) that has a black spot at the tip.

the imp’s tail moves determining how he’s feeling in the moment (sort of like when a dog’s tail wags back and forth to show that they’re happy)

He has fairly broad forearms and hands, pointed feet with boot-like heels, and a long, narrow head, out of which extends large, curved, black and white striped horns.

His eyes are red and his sclera are yellow, which are lined with a thick circle of black. Has sharp yellow pointy teeth and red forked tongue that resembles similarly to a snake’s.

Blitz wears a tattered slate-gray collared coat with red buttons down the breast, black knee-high boots and elbow length black, fingerless gloves, featuring large, rounded, yellow decorations on the upper side of them.

Primarily his voice changes depending on the situation and who he’s actually talking to. For example:

When he’s angry his voice will go higher (almost to the point where it’s classified as screaming 😂) and throw in a few fast-paced expletives

When he’s feeling vulnerable or serious his voice drops a few notches lower than his usual excitable OTT demeanour

When he’s happy, as I said before above, he primarily likes to pick on people (Moxxie in particular) and pretty much feels like nothing can ruin his day, until it actually does)

As seen in Seeing Stars (2x02) Blitz is to be revealed to be physically athletic — when Stolas sees the fire behind him

Accessories:

He wears a red skull charm around his neck (that he most likely got from his mother)

(As a child):

In pictures of him in his youth, it is shown that Blitzo lacked the white blotches on his body that he has in adulthood, and, as a teenager, he wore braces.

He also lacked the back spikes under his nape and on his back, as well as the two stripes near the tip of his tail that he has as an adult.

How would you describe Blitz’s personality?

* Bitter (only when he’s with people that aren’t as close to him. But that doesn’t include people he cares deeply about; like his friends and family of one)

* Dominate (in everything he does, and, yes, especially even when in comes to sex 😂)

* Loyal - as seen in 1x05 — Moon Harvest Festival— when Blitzø turned down Striker’s tempting offer in order to protect Stolas 🥰

* Bias - as seen in the “pilot” episode, when his daughter made a mistake, who nearly had killed everyone on the I.M.P team.

* Overprotective of Loona (especially when it comes to his daughter and males flirting with her)

* Babyish >>> towards his daughter

* Expressive (facial)

* Family orientated

* Temperamental

* Unprofessional

• Impracticable

* Foul-mouthed

* Undisciplined

* Disrespectful

* Manipulative

* Effervescent

* Hypocritical

* Workaholic

* Bombastic

* Egotistical

* Flirtatious

* Sardonic

* Comedic

* Sadistic

* Insecure

Others: (rare)

* Anxious (particularly when it comes to sentimentality; which is not his forte when it comes to feelings)

* Protective (towards friends & family particularly when it comes to his daughter or Stolas 😏)

* Paternal (towards Octavia & Loona only)

* Any sort of affection for Stolas >>> 2x02:

- ‘Boyfriend / husband banter’

- Sweating

- Blushing

2x03:

N/A

Complained about Chaz’s poor performance in bed & how he’s not rich (this seems to me like he doesn’t want anyone else but Stolas 😉)

2x04:

• Guilty (publicly)

* After Stolas told him that he’d be at the hospital for a while but he could visit him. Blitz didn’t respond to his text, it was most likely due to self-condemnation for not taking the kidnapping seriously and Stolas getting wounded because of it

• Platonic (selectively)

* This is proven in both scenes by being paternalistic with Loona when it came to her anxiety about her hellbies shot and also friendly with Stolas and wished him to get better with a :( at the end of his message

(Now that I think about it they’re both people that Blitz really cares about. Interesting… 😏)

• Feminine

* Whilst Blitz was talking to Moxxie in 2x03 , he had this feminine stance at the mention of getting out and returning to his daughter before the babysitter killed him — metaphorically (?) 😆 — for being late

* After Blitz and Loona were called by the doctor the former dusted his coat in graceful way, which was so uncharacteristic of him to do (ISTG he’s practicing his elegance for Stolas 😜)

• Fearful

* Blitz became slightly alarmed when he was told that Stolas could get physically hurt ; on the level of losing a loved one , whether that’s a boyfriend or husband

• Respectful (selectively)

* In 1x06 Blitz had a reverential expression on his face when he saw Stolas came to save him and I.M.P

* Blitz is also pretty much 95% attentive to Loona and the 5% being his eccentric-self and grossing her out (as parents do, to embarrass their child, I guess 🤣)

2x05:

• Cooperative (selective)

* Seen when Blitz was less hostile towards Barbie and was more compassionate with her, on that brotherly level

(As a child):

* Happy-go-lucky

* Sentimentalist

* Optimistic

* Sensitive

* Visionary

* Innocent

* Nervous

* Playful

Other (Influenced by Cash):

• Stealing

* Only had really stole the treasure (from the Goetia family) and the grimoire (respectively from Stolas)

• Manipulation

* Emotionally

• Selfishness

• Vulgar

• Lying

________________________________

Trivia:

* In the episode “Ozzie’s” is the second time Blitz displayed how shattered he was after his and Stolas’s so-called “date”

• By his admission, the "o" in Blitzo's name is silent. "Blitz" is also the German word for "lightning".

• In "Loo Loo Land", he remarks how the "o" has been silent since his resignation from his job at the titular circus.

• Those whom Blitz used to know in the past, such as Verosika Mayday, Fizzarolli (by extension, Robo Fizz), and Wally Wackford still pronounce the "o" at the end of his name. In the case of the former two, who are now on bad terms with Blitzo, they pronounce the "o" intentionally, knowing that he now actively dislikes it.

• Brandon Rogers described Blitz’s involvement with showbizz as a passion that he fell out of.

* In "Murder Family", there is a poster in his office titled "The Blitz Show", implying he had his own routine along with being part of "The Amazing Imp Twins". Robo Fizz makes a possible reference to this when he pokes fun at Blitzo for previously having had, as he describes it, a lazy and unfunny show that no one laughed at, at Loo Loo Land.

• In "Murder Family", it is revealed that Blitz goes to therapy and that his therapist apparently "finds him gross".

• In "Truth Seekers", it is revealed that Blitz is a college dropout.

* It also revealed that he took so many tranquilizer darts that he became semi-immune to them.

• It is shown in "Ozzie's" that every physical photo of himself, hanging on the walls of his apartment, has his own face crossed out with black, seemingly deliberately. Interesting enough, he is shown to have kept pictures of his past on his phone without any erasure of his own face.

* It is also revealed that his phone's lock-screen is a picture of his own drawing of himself riding Bombproof.

• While Blitz regularly pushes himself (often physically) into the personal lives of others, ironically, he doesn't appreciate it at all when others so much as pry into his own personal life.

• Blitz is implied to be an atheist, or at least comically cynical in his ideas of a God, as he jokes, "Huh, I guess there is a God!", when informed that the human child Moxxie accidentally shot was their right target, after all.

• Blitz can purr like a cat; this can be heard when he is secretly watching Moxxie sleep during the pilot, and once again in "The Harvest Moon Festival".

• In "Loo Loo Land", it appears that he keeps Martha's eye in a jar as a memento of that job.

• Blitz shares two similar traits with Loopty Goopty; those being that he and Loopty are both voiced by Brandon Rogers, and that they both dislike it whenever anyone mispronounces their names.

• Blitz loves horses, almost to the point of obsession, and even owns toy horses. This obsession may have been the final straw for his romantic relationship with Verosika Mayday, who finally broke up with him after he maxed out her credit card to purchase horse riding lessons. In "C.H.E.R.U.B", he also spends all the money Loopty Goopty paid him to kill Lyle Lipton on a toy horse named "Mare-ajuana", which is covered in gems.

• His love for horses dates back as early as his childhood as shown in "The Circus".

• In one of his Voxtagram posts it can be inferred that Blitz is pansexual. His behavior and dating history on the show are very much reflective of this, however, as the service and its affiliated accounts have been confirmed as not officially canon, it is currently not confirmed if he identifies with the specific label.

• It is revealed in "The Circus" that Stolas had developed a crush on him when the two were still kids, specifically during the former's first witness of his performance on his birthday.

* It is also foreshadowed in a flashback how Blitzo's career path had turned to murdering people rather than starting his own circus, when his younger self stated how he found blood "cool".

Blitz & Stolas’s “transactional fucking” lands on every 14th month

• Apparently according to Loona, in 1x06, if Blitz uses ZERO euphemisms, NO swearing, NO sexual innuendos then it means he’s serious

(well if Stolas ever dates Blitz he better watch out for the lack of these signs 😂)

Other:

1x06:

• It has shown that Blitz can have the capability to be vulnerable (very rarely and to a point) as seen in “Truth Seeker” and is seen comforting Moxxie and told him:

“You know my name. Use it.” - Blitz, 1x06

* During the drug trip, for Blitz, it’s canon that obviously he is both traumatised, psychologically by his insecurities and a small part of him that feels guilt about the people he had interacted and had been ridiculed by; Verosika, Fizzarolli, Striker, and even Moxxie

Not saying that he was ridiculed by Moxxie, who just wouldn’t do that to his employer, but still probably knew subconsciously that he was doing the wrong thing by him.

* In theory, — from what he had witnessed from stalking M&M — he actually does want a relationship with Stolas (around 1x06; where I think he started to have some feelings for him) but didn’t / doesn’t know how to get there (even if Blitz had their positions in hierarchy is still a current problem)

‘You are afraid of intimacy, Sir, and yet you crave it. Are you afraid the missus and I will have had enough of it as well?’- Hallucinogenic Moxxie to Blitz

youtube

2x02:

• Blitz can actually be seen scared of Stolas (depending on the situation; ie: 2x02 “Seeing Stars”

• Blitz suffers from stage fright (which can actually lead to a panic attack) and it probably had something to do with Cash who was the cause of it:

* “Are you trying to crush my dreams like my dad did?” Blitz to Moxxie in the pilot episode

• Whilst texting Mille Blitz nicknamed Stolas to “Stols” (when you nickname someone it’s really more for those who are friends, family, and lovers not really for one night stands 😏)

• Because of the type of work Blitz does he has an athletic build (6-pack included)

• When threatened Blitz’s warning signs are:

* Tail rattles like rattlesnake’s

* Spikes rise upwards

* Hisses like a cat

2x03:

• In Moxxie’s flashback, stated by Blitz, that needed to relieve Loona’s babysitter

• Blitz complained about Chaz’s performance in bed because he secretly has feelings for Stolas and knows he can’t get any better than that 😈

• Chaz was a little bit too rough with Blitz enough for him to tell him to “chill the fuck out”

• It’s implied that Blitz had seen Shrek when he said “we’re doing a Shrek”; which makes sense since donkey turns into a horse in one

2x04:

• Blitz’s ringtone for Stolas had changed from a man screaming in agony to a bird tweet

• Blitz was the first one (besides the paparazzi & the medical team) to catch a glimpse of Stolas’s tailpiece (🪶) before anyone else could, especially out of the I.M.P crew, and was rushed into the ER

• At the end of the episode Blitz was deeply concerned — on a boyfriend / husband friend level — about Stolas’s condition and was surprised that he could even be physically hurt

* Despite everything that happened between them at Ozzie’s Stolas texted Blitz saying that he’d be in hospital for a while due to recovery (probably for the next two episodes or more) but he could visit him, but when he hadn’t texted back, shows that Blitz likely harboured some guilt for not taking the kidnapping seriously and Stolas getting hurt because of it.

• According to Brandon Rogers his favourite line of Blitz’s so far is “He can get HURT?” from 2x04

• In 1x08 Blitz’s ringtone for Loona is a small dog yapping (which is the same as the one for I.M.P)

* At the end of the episode Blitz — who was in a drunken state — slurred out the names Moxxie, Millie, & Stolas 😏

2x05:

TBA

2x06:

TBA

2x07:

TBA

2x08:

TBA

2x09:

TBA

2x10:

TBA

2x11:

TBA

2x12:

TBA

S3:

TBA

S4:

TBA

#brandon rogers (primary)#michael romeo ruocco #brandon rogers #blitz buckzo

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flying-elliska · 3 years

Text

Headcanons for ADHD characters Masterlist

I was asked for this a while ago and I feel this is a good discussion subject because the canon representation for ADHD is kind of abysmal and is often a caricature or a joke.

usual disclaimer, I'm not a therapist, this is not a diagnosis tool, just for fun, etc etc...basing this on my own experience/knowledge with ADHD and meeting a lot of ADHD people IRL. I'm going off the main symptoms first (inattention and/or hyperactivity, restlessness, impulsivity, problems with emotional/focus regulation, daydreaming, messiness, hyper-focus, fidgeting etc) and then looking at character traits that are not a necessary symptom but often associated (substance abuse and addiction, need to please, sensitivity to rejection, compassionate and creative, thrill seeking, very imaginative, charming and witty or withdrawn and shy or angry and irritable, whimsical and fun and a bit child-like, out of the box thinker, self esteem issues, unstable life, comorbidity with anxiety and depression, very intense feelings, functions better with adrenaline/in an emergency, disregard for rules and problems with authority OR extreme compliance, codependency, perceived as weird, clever in an atypical way, problems in school, extremely good at one specific thing, etc)

Also I found this list with actual canonical representation

BOOKS :

The 'fits to a T so I'm seeing it as my personal canon' list :

note : doesn't mean that the authors actually meant to create representation but it's very likely they at least got inspired by people who did have ADHD (even when the diagnosis itself did not exist) and explained it with 'it's just their personality' OR the story happens in a setting where the label doesn't exist as such. also not meant to be exhaustive.

- Helen Burns (from Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë) One of Jane's school friends from the start of the novel, fits the inattentive type to a T : she can't seem to focus or learn her lessons, is constantly daydreaming, describes herself as messy and careless, forgets rules, and is easily distracted. She talks constantly about her own 'defective nature' and seems very sensitive to criticism but incapable of changing. She doesn't defend herself against the nuns' harsh punishments as she thinks she deserves them. She's presented as kind-hearted and compassionate, almost too good for this world, and hyperfocuses on her faith. Apparently sb even wrote an academic article on this. She dies so it's not super fun representation but it is interesting to see in an older book, to push back against the idea that ADHD was invented yesterday by Big Pharma lol.

- Grantaire (from Les Miserables, Victor Hugo) Part of the student revolutionary group Les Amis de l'ABC and resident skeptic, does not believe in the cause but is fixated on the group's idealistic leader (and yeah it sounds very gay, they die holding hands, there is a lot of Symbolism). He spends his time ranting about things that are only vaguely connected, is described as brilliant but incapable of sticking to any one profession or hobby, is an alcoholic, has a creative streak (was a painter at some point), likes wandering around the city, has massive self-esteem issues and is a general mess but does seem to care about his friends. This is not a very flattering portrayal as Grantaire is described as morally deficient but again, interesting in an old book. ADHD!Grantaire is a popular take in the modern fandom (i was in it before I was diagnosed it brought up a lot of Things) and it's very cathartic to see him get actual therapy in fic lmao.

- Luna Lovegood (from the Harry Potter series) JKR sucks but this is probably the most high profile case of a possible inattentive ADHD character so I didn't want to leave it out. She's a daydreamer, she is a big space cadet and seems to live in her own world, she has a very out of the ordinary sense of style, she's bullied for being weird, but she's also very kind and perceptive and cares a lot about her friends, and good at coming up with out of the box solutions. I wouldn't call it good representation, she's described as a wacko whom a lot of characters find cringeworthy but she's also pretty heroic, so. And she does seem to hyperfocus on magical creatures. Plus her father could also have it (and it runs in families).

- Jasper Fahey (from Six of Crows duology, Leigh Bardugo) Part of a young group of thieves with a heart of gold, he's a charmer and a compulsive gambler who quits college and incurs debts so massive he stops talking to his father out of shame. He's also an extremely talented sharpshooter and the scenes where he describes how the whole world slows and the rush of adrenaline when he is shooting sound like hyperfocus to a T. He's a loyal friend but also quite dependent on Kaz, the leader of the group, to keep him in line. He's witty, messy and he likes danger. His boyfriend later in the series, Wylan, is dyslexic and the way they learn to accommodate each other's issues honestly makes them one of my favorite couples ever. I need to reread these books and I am so stoked for the series I hope they do Jasper justice.

- Julian Diaz (from Cemetary Boys, Aiden Thomas) Love interest of the book, introduced as the 'high school resident bad boy', energetic motormouth who can't sit still and actually very endearing, has issues in school and gets bored easily, main problem is that he's a ghost...sort of. The whole thing was very cute and I love that Julian's personality is described as fun and attractive instead of annoying (which is, if you haven't noticed already, a pattern).

- Evie O'Neill (from the Diviners series, Libba Bray) She's a flapper in 1920s New York who ran away from her boring little town to make a life for herself ; she's a party girl and an impulsive thrill-seeker who hates standing still and is always looking for excitement to 'fill the void'. She craves fame and attention and pretty things, she can be a loyal friend but is also frequently self-centered and forgetful, she's street smart, resourceful and very charming and witty. She's also grieving, drinks too much and is definitely depressed. She's obviously meant as an archetype of the era, caught between trauma and excess, but it does come over as very hyperactive ADHD as well. Her powers to read objects also really pinged me as a good metaphor for the ADHD tendency to be overwhelmed by details.

The 'bit more of a reach but there's a vibe' list :

- Emma Woodhouse (from Emma, Jane Austen) Frequently cited as a character with ADHD, I didn't come up with this one but she fits. She's daydreaming, easily bored, has flights of fancy and hyper-focuses on matchmaking, is a bit impulsive and thrill seeking, clever in an unconventional way, described as a bit immature, mix of caring and self-centered.

- Ronan Lynch (from the Raven Cycle, Maggie Stiefvater) Ronan just has Neuroatypical Vibes, even though it's not entirely clear what, and I've seen people label him all sorts of things which is very valid. As for ADHD, he's restless, impulsive, likes to Go Fast and do street racing, he has very strong emotions he doesn't know what to do with, and big self esteem issues esp. at the start, is very all or nothing with people, snarky, drops out of school to be a magic farmer, problems with authority, looks like a scary mean goth but is actually a big softie (but like, with a few people), pulls shit out of his dreams. Is kind of dependent on his best friend at the start too.

- Sherlock Holmes (from the eponymous series by Arthur Conan Doyle) Again a character who has been diagnosed with all sorts of things. The biggest ADHD vibe for me is 'my mind rebels at stagnation' and the way he needs drugs to function outside of the thrill of a case, and the way he hyper-focuses on information he needs to be a detective while completely ignoring common knowledge. Also sort of dependent on his best friend Watson and isn't great at social interactions. Doesn't care much about upholding social conventions either. The RDJ adaptation is the one that has the most ADHD vibes to me.

- Harley Quinn (DC Comics/Movies) Big codependency issues (that's arguably the thing she's most known for) and sadly people with ADHD are often prone to getting into abusive relationships. It depends on the story too but she's very energetic, zany, impulsive, she likes shiny things and bright clothes, she's fun and chaotic and likes to break the rules, she's a criminal but she does seem to have a heart, she's also frequently immature and rash, etc.

What are your headcanons ? I would love to hear if you have some so I can add them to the list. I'll make a TV/Movies list soon.

#adhd #actually adhd #adhd representation #neurodiversity #media representation

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winryofresembool · 4 years

Text

Things We Lost in the Fire, ch 6

aka Caleo uni au

Fic summary: Calypso starts studying at a new university, but to her annoyance her new flatmate is a loud mouthed mechanic who also likes to sneak his dog in whenever. But as she learns to know him better, she realizes they might have more in common than what she first thought. Eventually, even the darkest secrets come out…

Chapter summary: Calypso gets a makeover.

Characters in this ch: Calypso, Annabeth, Piper, Leo

Words: 3233 (a long one :O)

Genre: romance & hurt/comfort

Warnings: none

previous chapter / next chapter / AO3

...

“So, Greek is your native language? That’s so cool!” Annabeth exclaimed as she and Calypso were on their way to a nearby mall to purchase new things for the new semester. “I’ve been trying to learn Ancient Greek just for fun but it’s harder than you’d think, I’m not very good yet.”

“Yeah,” Calypso nodded understandingly. “I’ve been living here since I was about 10 so I’d like to think that my English is fine now – apart from the accent – but it took me half a year to actually start speaking English in the class when I started school here… And I was homeschooled during my high school years so it was hard to maintain the language skills. It’s nice to be able to communicate with other students face to face now,” Calypso said with a sad undertone that Annabeth didn’t miss.

“You were homeschooled?” she asked with surprise. “Any special reason for that?”

Calypso didn’t know what to answer to that. The truth was very hurtful and she hadn’t ever told anyone about it, much less someone she had known less than a week. That’s why she tried to smooth it out as much as she could when she answered: “Um… My father seemed to think it was a safer option than going to a public school.” She shrugged. Annabeth didn’t ask more questions, probably thinking that her answer seemed acceptable.

“Makes sense. I’ve done a lot of studying at home too, mostly because I have ADHD and dyslexia so learning isn’t as easy to me as it is to some.” That information surprised Calypso.

“But… Sorry for the assumption but to me you seem like the type who always wants to be on the top of her class.”

“You guessed right.” Annabeth smiled. “But it hasn’t been an easy road. I have had to try a lot of learning methods before I finally found some that worked for me and made it easier for me to focus. Luckily these days there are a lot of audiobooks and other options for dyslexic learners so… it’s not so bad.”

“Right,” Calypso said. The conversation ended because they had finally arrived at their destination. Calypso had brought very little with her into her new home - just the most essential clothes and other everyday items - so there was plenty she needed. However, she also needed to figure out where to get more money once she was done with the shopping. She had some savings on her bank account thanks to helping her dad with his business (mainly stuff like paying bills and writing emails on his behalf) and because a dead relative had left her some money in her will, but those would only last for a couple of months. She had considered her options and one of them was opening an online shop where she’d sell things she’d herself made, from clothes (she was pretty handy with both knitting and sewing) to decorative objects such as jewellery and ceramic pots. The issue with the latter option was that she had no place to make them; the room she currently had was too small and Leo probably wouldn’t be thrilled if she turned their common area into a workshop.

“So,” she turned to Annabeth as they were checking a display at a bookstore. “This might be a bit of a random question, but do you have to work to pay for your studies?”

“Oh, yeah, I do!” Annabeth answered. “My dad would have helped but we’ve never been that close and I don’t feel it’s fair so I give children art classes and sometimes tutor them in various subjects. It also helps that I live together with my boyfriend so we can split our bills…”

“You said earlier that he’s a swimmer, right?” Calypso remembered from their earlier conversation. “I used to know one who I think is pretty good these days. But I haven’t kept in touch with him for a couple of years.”

“Oh? What’s his name?” Annabeth inquired. “I might know him?”

Calypso was about to answer when she suddenly spotted a couple of people she knew in the crowd outside the bookstore. She inhaled sharply and pulled Annabeth farther from that direction, hiding behind her.

“No, no… that can’t be… how would they know…” she muttered to herself.

“What’s wrong?” Annabeth asked, trying to see what had caused Calypso’s reaction.

“I… just saw some people I don’t want to find me. It’s a long story. But we should go.” Calypso said as quietly as she could, nodding towards the entrance of the mall.

“But we just came here…”

“I’m sorry!” Calypso bit her lip. “I really don’t want him to see me. We can go to some other place.”

“Fine,” Annabeth agreed, still glancing to the direction where the mysterious person had been. “There’s another shopping center nearby.”

Once they were safely outside, she asked: “What was that about?”

“I wish I could tell you but I don’t want you to get involved in this mess…” Calypso said, wrapping her arms around herself protectively. “But this is bad, they might have a clue I’m here… I don’t know what they’d do if…”

“You don’t make any sense now,” Annabeth noted bluntly. “But OK, someone is looking for you and you don’t want them to find you. I know we haven’t known each other long, but you can trust me. I’ll help you out if you need it.”

“Thanks,” Calypso said gratefully. “Right now, the farther I am from those people, the better.”

“What are we waiting for, then?” the blonde girl tugged on her sleeve and started running like a little child. “Let’s go!” she said, smiling as she ran farther from Calypso, and she couldn’t help but follow her.

…

In another shopping center Calypso spotted a hair salon, which gave her an idea. She figured that if she looked different than before escaping her childhood home, the men who worked for her father would have a harder time recognizing her. That meant a new haircut, new clothes, and possibly different kinds of make-up too. She didn’t usually use a lot of products on her face – mascara and lipgloss were her go-to make-up items – but maybe Annabeth would be able to help her with that.

“I… should probably use my money on more important things, but do you happen to know anyone who’d be willing to give me a haircut? And maybe even help with dyeing it?” Calypso asked while looking at the ads on the wall of the hair salon.

“You want to cut it?” Annabeth eyed her long, caramel colored hair that had been braided. “I thought it looks so pretty now.”

Calypso mumbled something about wanting to start kind of from a clean slate in a new place, not wanting to go too deep into her reasons.

“I understand.” The other girl nodded. “As for your question, yes, I happen to know just the person! My friend Piper McLean is quite experienced in that field because one of her sisters is a hairdresser and she taught Piper to cut her hair. She’s helped me sometimes too!”

“Piper?” The name reminded Calypso of something. Then she realized that she had heard Leo mention a girl named Piper the other day. “That is not a very common name here, is it? I mean, I think my flatmate knows someone called Piper too…”

“Now that you mention it, I think it might indeed be the same Piper,” Annabeth realized. “She does talk about Leo sometimes; apparently they are good friends. Somehow I’ve yet to meet him, though.” Calypso from a couple of days ago might have said that Annabeth really hasn’t missed much, but something had changed after the conversation with him the other day. She no longer felt annoyed simply by the mention of his name, and even though she didn’t really want to admit it, there was a part of her that wanted to know more about him. Something bad, apparently related to fire, had happened in his past that he kept inside him, and when Calypso thought about it, she couldn’t help but feel for him… She too had lost a lot. But then she shook her head because now was not the time to get stuck in her past.

“Maybe you will meet him if you come to our flat at some point; he’s home working a lot,” she answered instead.

“Maybe!” Annabeth said enthusiastically. “I’d like to know what all the fuss is about because somehow I seem to have a lot of connections towards him. First my boyfriend, then Piper, and now you too.”

“Small world, huh?” Calypso smiled. Annabeth agreed and after they paid for their purchases she proceeded to call Piper to ask if she’d be willing to help a friend out. Piper had nothing against that. They decided to meet up at Leo and Calypso’s flat in a few hours because it was closer to their current whereabouts than Annabeth and Piper’s homes.

...

About two hours later, Calypso’s wallet was notably lighter, but she had gotten herself a new, pink everyday dress, a jacket, shoes that matched the dress, a light blue shirt, some make-up products (for which she had had to ask the shop assistant’s help) and henna hair dye. She had debated on her color options for a good while, but ended up on the orange-ish because it wasn’t too far from her own hair color (she didn’t want too radical changes when she was dying her hair for the first time) and she also liked using natural, organic products when possible.

“Thanks for coming with me!” Calypso told Annabeth happily when they were finally back at her flat. “You were a big help.”

“No big deal,” Annabeth said back. “I’m always happy to help a friend. Not that you needed it a lot.”

“I meant more than just shopping wise,” Calypso said, looking down at her feet. “I don’t know how I would have reacted if I had been alone when…”

Annabeth understood she was referring to the strangers who had frightened her.

“You still don’t want to talk about that?” she asked carefully.

“I’d rather not,” Calypso shook her head. “It’s… a part of my life that I’m trying to leave behind me.”

Annabeth narrowed her eyes. “Can I ask you one question, though? You know those guys and they know you? And they’re searching for you?”

“I… I don’t know what they were really doing here. It could have been a total coincidence. I mean, only you knew we were going to be at that mall so it feels impossible that they would have known…” Calypso rubbed her forehead tiredly.

“You’re not trying to run away from the police or anything? Sorry, I just had to ask.”

“No, no!” Calypso lifted her hands in front of her defensively. “They are from my dad’s company… it’s complicated.”

That was Annabeth’s cue to stop asking more questions. She figured that Calypso would tell her with time if she let it be. The atmosphere started getting a bit awkward so both of the girls were relieved when Annabeth’s phone rang and Piper announced she was waiting at the front door. Calypso let her in.

“So you’re the famous Calypso!” she exclaimed the moment she saw her.

“Famous?” Calypso asked, her eyebrows raising.

“I just meant that Leo has talked quite a lot about you,” she grinned cheekily. Calypso couldn’t help but notice that the girl was very pretty, with mysterious multicolored eyes and brown hair that suited her even though it was cut unevenly. She secretly hoped that she had made it look like that on purpose and it didn’t show her real hair cutting skills.

“He has?” Calypso asked. “I bet he’s said nothing good about me…”

“Oh, don’t worry,” Piper replied, “he may seem a bit rude on the surface but I promise that he’s actually much nicer than what he looks like. Just awkward around new people. So, no, he hasn’t said anything that would make me hate you.”

“That’s a relief, especially since you’re supposed to use the scissors near me soon,” Calypso attempted to joke and to her relief Piper laughed at it.

“Anyways, as I’m sure you already know, I’m Piper.” She shook Calypso’s hand. “I hope you don’t mind me coming into your flat even though we are just meeting right now.”

“Oh, no problem!” Calypso reassured her. “I trust Annabeth’s judgement on friends.”

“Not Leo’s, though?” The corner of Piper’s mouth raised with amusement.

“Uh…” Calypso rubbed her neck. “We’ve had a slightly weird start but I think we have made a bit of progress in the past few days, though.”

“So he has talked to you like he promised?” Piper asked.

“Well, however you take it. The fire alarm started acting up yesterday and he fixed it. And I did learn some new things about him meanwhile,” Calypso confessed.

“Such as?”

“Either he’s really afraid of the voice of the fire alarm… or then the thing that causes it,” Calypso said vaguely, trying to see from Piper’s reaction if she knew something she didn’t.

“His home burned when he was a child,” Piper revealed. “He was only 8. It was pretty traumatizing for him so you’d probably do well if you didn’t ask about it. He’ll tell you more when he’s ready.”

Calypso could relate to that feeling because she had literally only moments before told Annabeth that she wasn’t ready to talk about her background.

“He mentioned something about a fire the other day but he was pretty vague about it… But anyway, that explains why he wasn’t thrilled when I was going to use the matches…” Calypso noted and the other two hummed in agreement. To lighten the mood, Piper decided to change the subject:

“Anyway, I believe I came here for a makeover, so maybe we should get started!” she said happily, gesturing towards the items she brought.

…

A couple of hours later, Piper had performed her magic and Calypso looked almost like a different person. Her hair, which used to reach her bottom, was now shoulder length and orange-ish instead of caramel blonde. Piper would have agreed to cut a fringe as well, but Calypso refused. The brunette was also a rather skilled make-up artist (she didn’t wear a lot of make-up herself, but her mother was extremely enthusiastic about all things beauty related and had taught her from a young age. Piper claimed she’d be proud if she saw her now) and she taught Calypso some simple tricks to do her everyday make-up. Turned out she didn’t need much: her skin was naturally smooth and her eyelashes long and dark. To complete the look, Calypso put on her new dress, and the other two girls cheered when she showed them it.

“I’d say mission successful!” Piper exclaimed, clapping her hands. “Even my mom would approve.”

“You think so?” Calypso asked shyly, still trying to get used to her new look.

“Definitely,” Annabeth agreed as well.

“Can I offer you something as a thanks?” Calypso suggested. “Coffee? Tea? Juice? I think I have some pie left from the other day as well unless Leo has stolen it…”

“Tea sounds good,” Piper nodded approvingly and the girls moved into the common area.

“Leo doesn’t seem to be home?” she asked Calypso when she started boiling the tea water. “And here I thought he’s always here building something.”

“I think he mentioned something about a sparring session…” Calypso shrugged. “I didn’t ask more about that.”

“Oh yeah, sometimes he and Jason and a couple of other friends do that but I know Jason wasn’t going to go anywhere today, he has a deadline for an assignment…”

The girls were still wondering the mystery of Leo’s whereabouts when keys started clinging by the front door and soon it opened. A smile spread on Leo’s face when he recognized Piper who sat on the kitchen counter.

“Speaking of the devil, there he is,” the brunette stated before Leo had time to say anything, making the boy confused.

“Pipes, what are you doing here? How did you get in?”

“I was with Calypso and Annabeth, duh,” she answered, gesturing at the two girls that Leo hadn’t noticed until that moment.

“I didn’t know you knew Calypso,” Leo stated before turning his attention properly to the two other girls. First he nodded at Annabeth who was sitting by the dining table and started introducing himself: “Hi, I’m Le...wow”

“What?” Annabeth snorted but didn’t get a reply because Leo had finally noticed that his flatmate looked very different from before. In a good way.

Calypso was frozen in her spot with a teapot in her hand, blushing when she felt Leo’s stare at her. But Leo didn’t notice that. He noticed how the make-up brought out her almond shaped eyes (Leo wondered how he had never noticed before that they were so dark brown that they almost looked black), how the dress she was wearing reminded him of one his mom had worn often during the holidays, and how the short hair curled cutely from the ends, tickling her jaw a bit. If he was honest with himself (which he tried hard not to be), he had previously thought she couldn’t possibly be prettier than she already was, but clearly he had been proven wrong. He had to bite his lip to not curse out loud (because he would NOT have a crush on his flatmate).

“Well? What do you think?” Piper asked when the silence that had fallen into the room was about to get awkward. “We had a small makeover here.”

“I… uh… she looks… good?” Leo stammered, feeling the heat rise all the way to his ears. In reality, he had to gather all his willpower to stop himself from using all the extravagant words he often used to describe his work (usually as a joke). Because he did like what he saw, he couldn’t deny that no matter what.

“Good? Calypso, his ears say otherwise. I’ve never seen them that red.” Piper teased.

“Shut it, Beauty Queen. “ Leo mustered the most burning expression he was capable of making.

Piper didn’t care. “Just so you know, Calypso, he’s used that name as a joke since we learned to know each other, so don’t think that he thinks of me that way. I have a boyfriend.” Calypso smiled at her awkwardly.

“Yeah, and sometimes I don’t get why Jason stands you. Estas loca.” Leo shook his head before withdrawing into his own room.

“Aww, he goes for Spanish when he’s nervous, Cal. I think you really made quite an impression,” Piper laughed, not caring about Leo’s reaction.

“Was that necessary, though?” Calypso asked, feeling almost as flustered as Leo a moment before.

“Don’t worry about it. We just like to make fun of him.” Piper shrugged. “He won’t be mad long.”

“But…” Calypso started, not knowing what to make of Leo’s reaction. Had he really liked her new look? Why had he gotten so flustered? Finally, she decided she must have been overthinking it. “Uh, never mind. Anyway, thanks for the help, Piper. What do I owe you for this?”

“Nothing. But please invite me over more often. I think we are gonna have fun together!”

#caleo #leo valdez #calypso #heroes of olympus #percy jackson and the olympians #trials of apollo #my fics #caleo uni au #let me know what you think!

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rctribvtns · 4 years

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〔 JAIME LORENTE, 23, CIS MALE, PYROKINESIS 〕╰ ANDRÉS SERRANO just came over half - blood hill . you know , the child of HEPHAESTUS who was claimed three months ago ? i’ve heard chiron say that he is INQUISITIVE & RESOURCEFUL , but if you ask the aphrodite kids , they’d say they’re HOT-HEADED & STANDOFFISH . i’d say they remind me of grease stains on dark coveralls, text messages left on read for 3-7 business days, stargazing on a tailgate in the heat of summer, and nicotine kissed lips , especially since they’re NEUTRAL/AGAINST THE NEW CABINS .

hi there, hi there, hello there !! my name’s c, i’m old as hell from the AST time zone, and this is my trash son andrés. i’m going to keep this brief bc i’m allergic to intros but even as i say that, it’ll probably end up being a four paragraph essay. apologies in advance.

the signs were always there, but he ignored them. call it naivety or ignorance, but everything was explained away with rational responses. his mother couldn’t see the monsters, so she always assumed it was the work of an overactive imagination. when he started struggling to read languages, he was misdiagnosed dyslexic and flunked out of public school — a system that failed him. his lighter always seemed to light, even though it was at least five years old, but he never thought anything about it. you forget, after a while. no one questions the how’s and why’s things simply work.

he was raised by a single mother. they never had much money, but they had an abundance of family; he was an only child but his aunt, uncle, and six of his cousins lived next door for most of his young life. he never really felt like he suffered, not having his dad around, because he had a strong support system in other ways.

he started working for his uncle when he was 17. he might have struggled to read but he was a genius when it came to working on cars. he had almost a sixth sense when it came to cars, especially on how to fix them up, and he was a quick study when it came to learning the tricks of the trade. the pay wasn’t spectacular but he knew the chances of getting a better job, or any job, without his high school education was pointless. he made the choice to focus on what he was good at, not the many things he wasn’t, for the sake of his own sanity. IT SURE AS HELL MADE HIM HAPPIER.

THEN CAME THE CLAIMING

imagine you think you know who you are. you have these ideas about yourself, these beliefs, and then someone bursts in like the kool aid man and tears that certainty away from you. when he was claimed as the son of hephaestus, he thought it was a joke. he’d laughed, said there was no friggin way, and had been shocked and pissed when he found out it was true. in his mother’s defense, she’d never known about the truth of his father. it was as much a shock for her as it was for him.

at camp half-blood, andrés isn’t sure he really belongs there. he got used to his life, liked it too for the most part, and this ‘demi-god’ business feels like some kind of get rich quick scam. all in all, he’s inherently distrustful — especially with the people who are his ... siblings ? a man’s got only child syndrome, wyd.

PERSONALITY

he’s used to really only being around family, or people he trusts, so completely out of his element he comes off pretty standoffish. rude, maybe, or anti-social is also very possible. when he likes you, he makes sure you know ... and he can be a flirt when he wants to be.

yes, he does have the infectious denver laugh. if you want to know what i mean, click here. ( warning: possible spoilers for la casa de papel / money heist )

he’s a very tactile person. his hands are always doing something, whether it be running through his hair, rubbing at the back of his neck, tapping against the inside of his arm, or playing with things in his hands. he also doesn’t make eye contact with people very often because he finds it uncomfortable. when he knows you, trusts you, then you might see that change.

he’s got a trigger for lying and hates liars. if he catches you in a lie, especially a big one, there’s going to be trouble.

he’s not the sort of person who jumps into relationships. the few serious ones he ever found himself in probably came about from one night stands that just never ended. no strings, no grand declarations of love, just ... low maintenance relationships. he’s kind of an intense guy — also pretty guarded — so i feel like many of his relationships and friendships are shallow because people don’t want to stick around long enough to unlock the level 45 tragic backstory. he’s used to being underestimated, or written off because he’s poor and dumb, so while it makes him mad ( and he might pop off ) he also expects it.

he has a very short fuse and a wicked temper. it isn’t that uncommon to see him taking his frustrations out on walls, or the old boxing bag they had back at his uncle’s. he doesn’t punch people so much, not unless they’ve really done something to deserve it, but he does find comfort through aggression which is a Choice TM.

ANYWAYS YEAH SO I DID WRITE A 4 PARAGRAPH ESSAY. IF YOU WANNA PLOT WITH MY DEVIL CHILD, HMU ON DISCORD @ jack the reaper#1764

#ambrosia:intro #// did i repost just to add the graphic?#// maybe so #// it looked ugly trying to add the photo into the text post #// so whatever love me

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windstar27-blog · 5 years

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Inu X Boku Secret Service (Anime Review)-{First Review}

Ok. Here is my first real attempt at a real detailed (somewhat) anime review. I may make youtube versions of these reviews, if they work out well. Please keep this in mind: I am dyslexic, and as such, my grammar and punctuation are far from stellar. But, I do try my best. Please have patients with me. Review: This anime is from 2012- For Anime: I focus on the art (but not animation or the animation studio), music & sound, characters and story. For Manga: I focus on the mangaka (sometimes), art, characters and story. Review for InuxBoku SS (Anime): My opinion on the opening: “I like it. A lot. It shows the connection between the characters without spoiling much of anything. It tells a story of its own. Indicating that the characters were reincarnated over and over again and are still connected through all of that. Instead of a red string of fate- a red airplane is used to connect the two main characters. In my opinion, a lot of thought went into it. They use numerous camera angles, and several art styles in their animation. They also use light and shadow in thoughtful ways. As for the song: It took me some time to get use to it. I didn’t start liking the opening much until the anime was almost over. On the second watch through: I still liked it a great deal. The lyrics (you would have to look up the translation- as I don’t feel like posting them here) to the song (called “Nirvana” by MUCC) match both: The feel of the anime, and the relationship between the characters (especially the 2 leads).” Characters (I will just mention the main cast): Ririchiyo Shirakiin: She is my favorite of all the characters. Mainly, this is because she is similar to me. Like Ririchiyo, I can be difficult: my shyness, depression and just plain awkwardness causes this. This causes issues between myself and others. That aside- about her characteristics: She is the main character. Without getting TOO into the issues that would be spoilers: She is 15 at the start of the story. Soushi Miketsukami is her secret service agent that she had assigned into her when she moved into Maison de Ayakashi (Ayakashi Kan or Ayakashi Hall)- which she moved to, in order to be alone. That did NOT work in her favor. Ayakashi Kan is an apartment complex where half-blooded youkai reside. They work to protect each other from full-blooded demons. This girl is in CONSTANT distress about not being able to properly communicate with those around her. She always second guesses her actions and words; several times and can sometimes become quite a basket-case when worrying about something she has said or done after the fact. This is MOSTLY due to the fact that she was severely abused by those around her, while she was a child. When she arrives at Ayakashi Kan she meets Renshou (another part youkai, like herself - whom she had known as a child) who is a few years older than she is. After that, Chiyo met his secret service agent: Nobara. Then she met and befriended (awkwardly) Karuta. A girl who was about her age, who was also a SS agent at the housing complex. Chiyo later met and befriended others. Though, she was only able to befriend them because they were pushy or stubborn and would not take: “leave me alone” for an answer. Left to her own devices, she would have likely lived alone for the rest of her life. She is the first (and only) character in Japanese anime and manga to be classified as a tsunshun instead of tsundere because she gets depressed (shun) instead of becoming loving/affectionate (dere) after behaving initially (tsun) cold (and sometimes even hostile) way. Soushi Miketsukami: At first, my main impressions of him were: He’s an annoying doormat. It’s likely that I thought of him like that because my personality is SO similar to the heroine’s and…. That’s what she seemed to have thought of him. Though; It took much longer for me to start liking him, than it did for her. And she liked him far more than I did, at the end of the anime: lucky for him. He is descended from the 9 tailed fox demon, like Chiyo and the others at Ayakashi Kan, he is an atavism (a throw back) to his demon ancestor. Because of that. He shares the soul, personality (though his ancestor was likely NOT a doormat) and the appearance of that ancestor. He is one of the most powerful human born demons at Ayakashi Kan. Aside from being a doormat- he is generally polite, gentle, a bit perverted and somewhat manipulative. He has a soft spot for women, Chiyo especially. Extremely subservient: he blindly follows her orders (sometimes begging for an order or abuse of some sort, much to her horrified dismay) like the loyal dog that everyone wants to kick. He puts Chiyo’s life above his own. He has a sad past- like Chiyo he was abused by his family- though in a different way. Soushi was more neglected than battered, as she was. He has dual-colored eyes (Heterochromia iridium). One being blue, the other being gold. Renshou Sorinozuka: He is my second favorite. Renshou is a boy of about 17-18. Very good-looking and lazy (though he prefers laid-back). He is considerably darker skinned than the others. And has a “tattoo”-like birthmark running from just under his left eyebrow, to his jaw and down his throat. He also has a related birthmark on his left bicep. He is part Ittan-Momen youkai (a cloth monster). His secret service agent is Nobara, a yuki-onna…. But, she hates men. Of any sort. Which is unfortunate, because he appears to have some feelings for her. He treats Chiyo (Ririchiyo) like a little sister. Considering that they knew each other as children, and he is only a few years older than she is, that is understandable. Her SS Agent: Soushi Miketsukami calls him: “Big-Brother”. Nobara Yukinokouji: She is Renshou’s SS Agent at Ayakashi Kan. Nobara is a Yuki-Onna (A snow Woman). She greatly dislikes men. And has a…. Extreme fondness for the females in Ayakashi Kan. She does not seem to be in love with any of them. Just interested in their…. Assets: She loves fashion and girls. She wears glasses, and has white/blonde hair that falls to her shoulder blades. In her free time she likes to see adult magazines with beautiful women, and she shares and discusses those with Sorinozuka: That’s one thing that interests the both of them. She often does exhibit a very focused and straightforward demeanor (despite what I previously stated), although she will also occasionally participate in some of the group’s silly antics from time to time. Banri Watanuki: He is the same age as Ririchiyo and Karuta. Banri is a Tanuki atavism youkai and his personality is somewhat like Ririchiyo’s in the fact that: he often says the opposite of what he really means. He is most often impulsive and very outspoken. Watanuki labels himself a “delinquent”- Though he is really anything but. He is a childhood friend of: Karuta, Soushi, Natsume and Kagerou. Although, for the last 2 he was more like a play thing, than a “friend”. He hates Soushi and considers him his “rival” because the fox called him “Cute” in their youth. Watanuki never forgave Miketsukami for that. The Tanuki is in love with Karuta, and is easily (understandable) frightened by Kageru. Karuta Roromiya: She is the same age as Watanuki and Ririchiyou: 15. Karuta is the SS Agent for Kagerou- however he is rarely in Ayakashi Kan. So, she is often left to her own devices. She is ever hungry and curious. Soft spoken as well. Even though she seems spaced out, she is quite clever and well knowing about important things. She is the atavism for a Gashadokuro (starving skeleton) who passed its blood down the line in her family. As such, she can take on the form of a massive skeleton and can do quite a lot of damage when she needs to. Zange Natsume: Natsume, just like the others, is a half youkai. He is a Hyakume (100-eyed demon). He is the SS Agent for Watanuki and likes to tease him and play tricks on the Tanuki. Natsume has an overly cheerful personality and knows more than he lets on, most of the time. He wears a headband with bunny ears. Natsume is particularity fond of Soushi- Calling him: “Sou-Tan” in an affectionate manner. He has reddish hair and wears a bandage over part of his face to hide extra eyes. In his youkai form, he has eyes all over his arms and an eye in each palm of his hand. Kagerou Shoukiin: He is Karuta’s partner and the former master of Soushi. He is also Ririchiyo’s fiancé. She has no feelings for him, and he does not seem interested in pushing the issue. The man can often be bossy, blunt, arrogant, eccentric and narcissistic. He usually addresses the other members as “pigs”, “animals”, “human toilets” or “bitches”. A total sadist who goes on and on about S&M….. He can be QUITE annoying to all (Other characters and the viewer). Note: I won't go into the ships (canon or otherwise)- because that would be getting into spoiler territory. If I do youtube reviews, I MAY try to go a bit into spoiler territory. But, I'm not promising anything. As for the story itself: The anime is mainly there to draw your attention to the manga. The mangaka: Cocoa Fujiwara died a year after she finished the manga for this series. She died from complications with an illness. So, the manga IS finished. However, the anime is NOT. The 12 episode anime covers about 9.5 of the chapters. The first 18 chapters of the manga are actually the prologue- so the anime does not really get into the story much at all. I liked the anime, and I am reading the manga, however, I am personally finding the manga a bit boring. So, I am slow at reading it. What the anime DOES do: it introduced the main cast and side characters, and show us some of their personalities. It’s a fun watch. There really are no major conflicts, though because it only covered half of the prologue. Ririchiyo and Soushi are the focus, and how their relationship grows, is as well. They have to overcome their insecurities together. If you watch the anime, it may leave you feeling satisfied with that, or it may leave you wanting to read the manga. wanting to read the manga. Though, it did not compel me much to read the manga, I was curious. Others may see it differently. The manga was in a shounen demographic (shounen, shoujo, josei, seinen- none of them are genres. I find it really annoying when they are used as such. They were labels (changed into genres in the west) for the demographic that they were marketed to) magazine- so it is considered a shounen. Though, it feels more like a shoujo when you read the manga or watch the anime. The ending: Each episode features a different “character song”- most of them bored me. I really liked the one from episode 7: “Taiyou to Tsuki” by Renshou’s CV: Yoshimasa Hosoya & Nobara’s CV: Youko Hikasa. Otherwise, they weren’t really all that interesting visually or musically to me. Often part of the episode continues after the ending song/credits. So, you shouldn’t just stop the episode and go onto the next one, if you are bored by the ED. Just skip past it.

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chargebeat-blog · 6 years

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I know you mentioned denki as a teacher at UA before!! Tell us more ❤ what was his first day like? Does he have any favorite / memorable students? Has he ever messed up? What's the craziest thing he's done as a teacher? How does he feel being back at UA but in the position of mentor now and not mentee? What made him decide to become a teacher? And more whatever you think of marinya!!

oh sam, you poetic land mermaid, blessing me with headcanon prompts. my angel. my everything. my father and my son

SO!! in light of breaking it the fuck down right here right now, i’m about to get fucking lengthy as shit with this, so i’m tucking it under a cut to avoid clogging up the dash.

ready steady go!!

01. what was his first day like?

his very first day teaching at UA was the first and last time he was ever punctual in his entire career.

he didn’t sleep at all the night before, something he would continue to do every year thereafter since he gets way too excited about the first day ( he’s excited to see all the students! excited to see all their new quirks and watch them grow throughout the year, even if he’s got a very little part to in it himself. )

he was about 25 when he started teaching, so still fairly young and baby - faced to his previous teachers aizawa, present mic, and midnight when he ran up to greet them in the teacher’s lounge. despite being a full - grown adult who’d long since grown into his body at that point, they all still very much saw him as the sporty kid who was always falling asleep or playing idol games on his phone in class, being loud, asking dumb questions, pulling pranks on those who should never be on the receiving end of them; their sparkplug troublemaker.

he ended up eating lunch with aizawa his first day as a means of calming his nerves, and it just sort of become a regular thing after that ( this is also the last time he actually remembers to bring a lunch ). seemed aizawa still had a lot to teach him at his adult age; mostly things that he’d already been trying to teach him for ten years now, like not skateboarding in the hallway and remembering to actually put some food in that motormouth.

02. does he have any favorite / memorable students?

i had actually joked around with @praisemade about this once, but — since denki’s terrified of spiders, i figure one year he walks in on the first day to find that there’s a girl in his class who just … has a giant spider for a head, legs and all. and he proceeds to lose his everloving goddamn mind every day thereafter.

she’s very polite and very timid, despite her grotesque appearance up top, although denki just seems to find that all the more unnerving when he’s lecturing and looks over to see her giant fangs twitching sweetly in interest. he’s so fucking scared every time, like. he isn’t mean to her or anything, of course, but every time he shoots his gaze over to her desk or she approaches him during office hours with a question about the homework, he does a noticeable little jolt and seems to suddenly procure a light stutter.

BUT! besides our sweet little spider girl, there is one other student that stands out to him, and that is, of course … KAMINARI SEI, his baby sister that he’d kill everyone in the room and then himself for!

denki started teaching at 25, so by 27, he ended up getting his own little sister in his class, who would be freshly 15 in this verse and who applied for the general studies course. she doesn’t have any intentions of becoming a hero herself, but rather follows in the interest of becoming a medical professional like her mother one day. denki, being lightly trained as a medic himself, fully supports this, as he would with anything she decided to do with her life.

sei grows up to be just as quiet as she had been as a child, and kind of a super sleepy girl, too; eyes always half - lidded, voice low like it’s on the verge of a yawn every time she opens her mouth. most people would not ever believe she and denki were blood related were it not for the matching streaks of black in her light blonde hair.

he invites her over frequently for dinner since he knows that their parents aren’t home very often, which she takes him up on about 1/3 of the time. unlike her big brother, sei doesn’t mind the silence at home and actually prefers it so that she can study in peace; denki used to lose his mind in those four walls whenever no one was around with him, which was often, hence why very little studying ever actually got done as a kid.

his bias for his sister isn’t largely obvious to the rest of the class, since routine leaves him kinda dry most days and that just ends up matching her everyday personality — so it’s not to say that he’s outright smothering her or anything. if they’re being cute, it’s kind of through a secret language that they’ve always had between themselves, which is just more intuitive than not. despite being years apart, they still get each other.

03. has he ever messed up?

depends on the context! in terms of grading, he’s definitely either marked things incorrect that were actually correct or accidentally entered a student’s grade in wrong to give them a much higher score than they earned a couple dozen times. knowing this, he tries to be more careful and go a little slower, but, y’know. reading the same thing over and over and over and over again tends to make you wanna hurry up and pile through it, especially when you’re a high school teacher living in japan and especially when you’re also a pro hero on the side and especially especially when you’re KAMINARI DENKI, chaotic adhd / dyslexic angel.

if he has a partner living with him in this time, he might occasionally bug them every couple of minutes to proofread something for him or double check to make sure he’s reading a word on a student’s essay correctly, and even then he only does so if he’s really been struggling for a while, as he hates to feel like he’s being a bother. ( he tends to come with a lot more anxiety at this age, if you can even imagine. like … john - mulaney - accidentally - getting - a - prostate - exam - trying - to - get - on - xanax levels of anxiety. )

04. what’s the craziest thing he’s done as a teacher?

denki had a bad habit of smoking throughout his college years and still does so every so often when he’s stressed. one time he came to class with a cigarette tucked behind his ear unknowingly, and when pointed out by a student, he proceeded to go “oh”, pull it out, and straight up eat it without second thought.

05. how does he feel being back at UA but in the position of mentor now and not mentee?

it feels … good. like, really really good. like the kind of shit where it doesn’t hit you right away that you’re exactly where you’re meant to be, and when it finally does, it’s kind of in the middle of doing something super mundane, like grading papers or buying a milk out of the school vending machine and it’s just … an overwhelming sense of relief and satisfaction in the fact that you actually did something super right with your life, and for denki, that means everything. getting to feel that for the first time after his lifelong struggle to find where he fit in actually brought him to tears. luckily no one was around to witness this, but i can say with ease that even as hard as his job might be, denki is very complacent in his choices and wouldn’t change a thing.

also, he likes getting to boss kids around now and throw chalk at their heads for sleeping in class.

06. what made him decide to become a teacher?

simply put, a 2 AM revelation in the living room of his college apartment, sprawled out on the couch whilst staring idly up at a waterstain on his ceiling that was just barely being highlighted by the salt rock lamp across the room. that sort of depression vibe.

as i stated before, denki struggled a lot in his first few years of college. time management was nonexistent as ever. close friendships were distanced and a little awkward due to an overwhelming amount of anxiety. cooperativeness slimmed down to near - nothing; he started off on a high, partying often and enjoying all of college to its fullest, but that gradually sloped down to him barely ever reaching out to people anymore as he started failing what bare minimum class he was taking. adult life was terrifying him, and he felt like he was being held underwater at every single point of the day; compared to the rest of his friends and classmates, he saw himself as a failure.

he began smoking heavily — especially after quitting the soccer team he captained in lieu of trying to catch up with his schoolwork — and became much more erratic and short in personality. didn’t joke around as much and ghosted people more often than not, which was a huge red flag coming from a guy who couldn’t bear to leave anyone on read.

ended up skipping most of his classes in the mid - semester, and what very few he did pull himself together to go to, he slipped out of halfway through. everything was heavy and he was too depressed to actually focus anymore.

spent a lot of time off campus to avoid being seen by friends, going to the city to fuck around for an afternoon, or just hopping on a train with no real destination in mind and staying there til it looped back around and spat him out back home.

needless to say, he was stuck. and it stayed like that for a good while.

only in the middle of his second year, exhausted from having to retake all the classes he’d failed in the first year, did he ever try to actually do something about it. only because the anxiety had already run him threadbare to the point of just … feeling absolutely nothing, not even fear anymore. empty space. like he was both the jar and the thing locked inside it.

so he had a long sit with himself in the wee hours of the morning, textbook open across his chest while he lay half - dead on the couch, not processing a single word of what he’d been reading and re - reading for twenty minutes. he thought about what few accomplishments he had in life: graduating high school and just barely managing his quirk for the first time. he thought about his family, who he’d been uncharacteristically cutting off to spare them from seeing what he’d melted down to. he thoughts about how much he missed his friends and how he genuinely couldn’t remember what his own laugh sounded or felt like. he thought about all the people he wanted to help as a pro hero one day. he thought about UA.

and then he got around to thinking about aizawa. aizawa, who denki witnessed not once, but twice immediately sacrifice himself for the safety of his students firsthand. aizawa who, even in the mess of the world tearing itself down around them, held strong for the sake of protecting his class and fulfilling his role as their teacher. aizawa who made every student his personal responsibility in and out of school hours. aizawa who denki never saw anything special in for so long and often quite feared, now coming to him in mind as a completely different side of the moon.

denki spent a long part of his teenage years being kinda pissed off at UA for failing its duties to protect them, for watching them undergo that trauma and proceeding to do … well, really nothing about it, in his eyes. he wanted more closure than what was given. he wanted healing, not just an apology and a promise to do better next time. they were just supposed to get up and move on because that’s the way of heroes, and in that regard, UA disappointed him heavily.

for a long time, he didn’t see any reason to forgive the staff for that negligence.

only when he thought about aizawa again did it occur to him that his teacher had done everything in and out of his power to change the future that was almost ripped out of their hands every time they faced a villain. how aizawa had been an unexpecting personal hero to him the entire time, a revelation that sort of began to connect a lot of dots that had been floating in denki’s empty headspace all those years. things made sense where they never used to. aizawa’s personal goals were never concise, and suddenly denki found that they never needed to be; his goals were stated in his actions of reaching out to his kids where others didn’t. he went above and beyond what was ever expected of him as a teacher.

to denki, aizawa stood out in his mind as the true plus ultra UA had been training them to be the entire time, albeit 2 years too late. and he wanted to emulate that in his own life. he wanted to help people in whatever way he could, and perhaps that didn’t just mean saving people from burning buildings or giving a thumbs - up to a passing camera; he wanted to help young minds especially, save them from everything he and his classmates went through growing up, be one of the hands that guided them to a safe future, someone who never turned his back on anyone ever again.

he wanted to be a teacher, and he wanted to be a teacher at UA. he wanted to be everything aizawa was and then some; the plus ultra of plus ultra.

so, that was a good start.

it was enough to get him out of bed for the first time in a long time and actually start to reach out and seek the help he desperately needed, which was only the first step in his personal healing process, but a big one nonetheless. everything from there on was just tiles finally falling into place; changing his major, studying long hours, finally attending and actually passing the correct courses.

denki may not have ever ended up telling aizawa this — or at least he hasn’t found any real reason to just yet — but that man really did end up saving him over and over again in ways he wasn’t even aware of.

and thaaaaaaaat about covers it for the general questions there, so all i really have left is these small tidbits and whatnot!

07. denki still very much skateboards in this verse. sometimes he will actually skateboard into the school and down the hallways if he’s running late ( but, like, casually. not in a hurry ) and aizawa has to repeatedly reprimand his thirty-year-old ass for it.

08. given the hectic schedule japanese teachers are subjected to every day, denki handles most of his patrols as a pro - hero at night. 7th period ends at 4:10 and most students are gone by 4:30, but he stays until about 5:30 - 6 for open office / tutoring hours. if he doesn’t have any papers to grade or weekly lessons plans to write up, then he’s usually ready to go by 8 pm after a light dinner and keeps his patrol up til midnight ( or later if there’s trouble ). gets home within the hour, showers, and is hopefully in bed by 2 am, only to have to wake up for school again at 6:30.

as you can imagine, he sleeps in on most days simply because he’s so exhausted all the time; also the reason for him being late to class almost every single day. his homeroom students are used to it by now and the class rep usually knows to start the morning without him by taking attendance and opening up the lesson plan he keeps out for them since, well. he’s at least a little self - aware.

this is also why he tends to only wear his hero costume on the very first day of the new school year, because it takes too long to gear up in the morning when he’s sleeping in. he also just prefers the comfort, despite his adult costume looking fresh as fuck — so he usually rolls in wearing a loose v - neck under an oversized cardigan, floods, and high tops.

09. following this, he also has a pair of readers that he wears often! they’re thin - wired and circular, like this. he hangs them off the neck of his shirt when not in use, but occasionally slips them onto his head and very legitimately thinks he’s lost them after that.

10. he keeps in contact with his graduating class from highschool! every single one of them. they tend to run into each other on the field a lot anyway, but he also tries to set up drinking or dinner plans with a few of them each week even though he himself isn’t too heavy on drinking.

11. he’s very spacey as a result of long - term brain damage over the years of literally frying his brain. the more minor side of that is that he forgets important assets most days, like his wallet or lunch or keys, or leaves the faucet running all day and jacks his water bill. sometimes he doesn’t know where new scars or bruises came from. sometimes he buys himself a strawberry milk, only to walk into the room and see that there’s already 2 unopened strawberry milks on his desk that he forgot he’d just purchased.

he manages to be as chipper as he can be throughout it, but it’s hard to pretend something that challenges your everday life isn’t doing exactly that. it takes him a couple extra seconds to process anything being said to him and he ends up repeating himself often. his conversational skills are a bit of a mess and he tries to keep himself short and concise as to not only avoid irritating / confusing the other person, but also just to make it easier on himself since he stumbles over words a lot where he was once much more verbose. this especially leaves him very reluctant to be interviewed by the media, which is again a shame, since he used to love the limelight.

a lot of these symptoms aren’t horribly unlike those of someone with early onset dementia. luckily they don’t seem to be worsening, as he’s since learned to controlled his power and hasn’t had an instance of short - circuiting in years, but every so often …

#smashkick #forgive any typos? i dont know how to read #⟨ v. ⟩ pro hero.#⟨ hc. ⟩

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georgiannazc-blog · 4 years

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the dyslexic advantage

If several typical people were asked what dyslexia is, it is very likely that most of their responses would sound something like this: “dyslexia is when you mix your letters up”, “dyslexia is when you can’t spell”, and “dyslexia means you can’t read.” These responses are all incorrect beliefs and assumptions of dyslexia. Dyslexia is a learning difference and brain variance that is far more common than most people believe. In fact, studies show that one in five people are dyslexic (Brennan). This number is much larger than most people would assume. Because dyslexics are scattered throughout the human population, it is important that people become educated on what exactly it is, especially our teachers so they can help the coming generations of dyslexics reach their potential. Diving far deeper into the subject than most people even attempt, one can discover what dyslexia truly is and how to better accommodate and advocate for themselves if they are dyslexic, for others who are dyslexic, or for their dyslexic students.

If one in five people are dyslexic, that means that there must be some commonly known and famous dyslexics. According to dyslexiaonline.com, the list of famous dyslexics includes but is not limited to Winston Churchill, Albert Einstein, Steve Jobs, Andy Warhol, Alexander Graham Bell, George Washington, Babe Ruth, Walt Disney, Stephen Speilburg, to name a few (Levinson Medical Center for Learning Disabilities). Those are some very impressive and historically significant people in the world. People who often think of dyslexia as unintelligence, should note that these significant figures are dyslexic, and excel because of their dyslexia, not in spite of it. The strengths they have as dyslexics are often major reasons why they are successful. The New York Times shows that 35% of entrepreneurs are dyslexic. (Crosby Carroll). Although this is an impressive statistic that shows a correlation with dyslexics and businessmen/women, the New York Times also shows that 45% of the prison population is dyslexic (Crosby Carroll). That statistic shows how far society has to go in progressing towards change. This high percentage could be because dyslexics are often treated poorly within their school systems, so they begin thinking they are incapable, stupid, and worthless, which could end up causing much greater problems later on in life. Patricia Lee Hodge, who is a former teacher with specialized training in Specific Learning Difficulties and Dyslexia, explains that teachers should focus on their dyslexic student’s strengths. Students are more likely to be successful later in life if teachers begin to focus on their strengths at an early age (Hodge).

In order to change the way dyslexia is thought about, one must understand some of the most common myths about dyslexia and why they are untrue. First, dyslexia is often thought of as a problem to be corrected, much like poor eyesight. Even the reputable site, WebMD, regards dyslexia as a habit a child will grow out of (Brennan). Other people and websites consider it a condition to be fixed with proper medication. The truth is, there is no “cure” for dyslexia, nor does there need to be. It is not a problem to be fixed and if someone has it, it is impossible for it to go away (“Debunking the Myths about Dyslexia.”). Second, people often regard dyslexia as an arbitrary moment of confusion, or a “dyslexic moment.” Contrary to this idea, it is not possible to be temporarily dyslexic. Your brain cannot alter its biological wiring to ever acquire or grow out of dyslexia (Hymas) Third, Dyslexia is often regarded throughout the education system as a result of a student not trying hard enough. This is not true because the dyslexic brain does not learn by the conventional method, the same way the average brain does not learn like that of the dyslexic. It is not a matter of effort, it is just because their brains process information differently. The movie, Night School, is a good example of how society believes this myth about dyslexics. The movie did so much damage to the dyslexic world and the current issues the world is facing. In Night School, the character played by Kevin Hart discovers that he’s dyslexic ("Night school"). The remainder of the movie shows Kevin Hart’s teacher pushing him to “try harder and focus more.” This is completely false because dyslexia is not a problem of effort or focus. The misconception about a lack of effort could stem from the fact that sometimes dyslexics try to take on a new reputation of “class clown” to override their current reputation of stupid and slow. This is because it is easier to be the kid who is funny than the kid who is stupid and it’s easier for a kid to show little effort because if they aren’t trying then they can’t be viewed or thought of as stupid. Another misconception is that dyslexia is always a negative thing. People do not believe that dyslexia has any advantages and it is often synonymous with laziness, stupidity, or unmotivated behavior, instead of it’s positives. However, there are inherent gifts that come with dyslexia. The Yale Center for Dyslexia and Creativity states that, “dyslexia is an unexpected difficulty in reading in an individual who has the intelligence to be a much better reader. While people with dyslexia are slow readers, they often, paradoxically, are very fast and creative thinkers with strong reasoning abilities.” (“What Is Dyslexia?”) Society will never understand the dyslexic mind if its goal is simply to understand the challenges that accompany it. Dyslexia will always be a disability until the benefits are truly realized.

If all those are examples of what dyslexia is not, then what is dyslexia? The website, The Dyslexic Advantage”, defines dyslexia as, “a structural brain variation that changes how one recognizes, processes, and organizes information. This genetically inherited variance can also affect the learning process. This difference is as simple as the subtle distinction between a right- and left-handed person. While dyslexia results from a biological difference in the brain, its outward manifestations differ amongst dyslexic individuals. Due to the difference in brain organization, persons with dyslexia will process language in different regions of their brain. Dyslexia may inhibit learning to read, write, and spell despite average or superior intelligence, The dyslexic brain possesses significant strengths in skills specific to the right side of the brain, such as creativity, visual-spatial skills, problem solving, mechanical functions, and general intuition. For the same reasons dyslexics struggle with certain tasks, they excel at others—not in spite of the dyslexic brain, but because of it.”

Madalyne Hymas, who is a dyslexic advocate and passionate artist, wrote an interesting article that compares a well known controversy to dyslexia, in hopes to better help others understand dyslexia. The controversy is over the color of a dress in a photograph. This went viral on the internet because people were very adamantly seeing the dress as a certain color. Some people saw a dress that was black and blue, while others saw it as white and gold. Once people saw the dress and it very obviously seemed one set of colors to them, it was extremely hard for them to see how others could possibly see the other set of colors. The comparison explains that there is no one right way to see the dress, but that it is simply a difference in the way the brain perceives it (Hymas). This is similar to how the dyslexic brain works. It is not wrong, it is just different. Dyslexics have many strengths that go unrecognized because they are not the most common way to think.

Another very good example for explaining how dyslexics might think is the example of holding a spoon up in the air. When it is held in the air with the stick part pointed upwards, it is, obviously, a spoon. When the stick is pointed forward, it is still a spoon. One can orient the spoon any direction and most people would still recognize the object as a spoon. Dyslexics wonder why when a letter such as “b” is flipped, it becomes a new letter. The dyslexic brain thinks this way, it is hard for them to understand why when the physical orientation is flipped, the meaning and purpose of said letter changes. This is the same with many letters, such as M and W, lowercase b p q d, and n and u. A dyslexic once described to me that when a teacher would ask her what letter she saw, she always wanted to reply with, “well which way do you want me to see it” (Hymas).

The dyslexic who told me this is my older sister, Madalyne. Madalyne is a graphic designer and artist in New York, she has worked for many major brands such as Michael Kors, Tory Burch, West Elm, Bath & Body Works, and more (Hymas). She also makes and sells unique fine art. Madalyne grew up believing she was stupid. Madalyne was told by teachers that she was handicapped, they were shocked when she got into college, and they often asked very offensive questions regarding her dyslexia. Despite my parents consistent and honest efforts to help her feel as smart and capable as they knew she was, the education system still won. This is why we must educate our teachers.

So how does the education system fail dyslexics? The language used fails dyslexics. Imagine how one would feel as a student being labeled as learning disabled or being told they have a “learning disability”? Even if one was confident and liked learning would they feel capable? Dyslexia is not a disability, it is purely a difference. Because there are less dyslexics than non-dyslexics, it is easy to label the minority as the disabled ones. We must remember that this is not the case. We need to change our vocabulary. If we could shift our vocabulary, it would do a lot to help those with dyslexia not feel deficient. Words like diagnose, disability, cope, intervention, all imply inadequacy. How else could someone feel, other then dumb, when these are the words being used to describe them? Let's start using learning difference instead of learning disability.

Even though the dyslexic population is much larger than most people know, 20% is still a minority. This is why we must help dyslexic students in the general education system by providing the proper resources. Teachers should be educated on what dyslexia is so they can properly help their students. As previously stated, a shift in vocabulary will make a large impact. Along with this, teachers must allow their dyslexic students with proper help, such as, allowing their students to have their tests read to them, understanding that dyslexic students might be embarrassed to read out loud in class, and being willing to adjust assignments for their dyslexic students should they need to.

The most important thing we can do for the next generation of people with dyslexia is to help them understand the whole perspective of their dyslexia; strengths and weaknesses. It is also important to help dyslexics learn how to communicate about it to others, their classmates, teachers, neighbors, friends, and bosses. It is by promoting honest and positive messages about dyslexia that the conversation can change from a negative one. Let us change the way we think about dyslexia.

Bibliography

Brennan, Dan. “What Is Dyslexia? What Causes It?” WebMD, WebMD, 23 Mar. 2019,

https://www.webmd.com/children/understanding-dyslexia-basics.

Crosby Carroll, Mary Beth. “The Reality of Dyslexia: Millions Struggle.” The New York Times,

The New York Times, 12 Feb. 2012, www.nytimes.com/2012/02/13/opinion/the-reality

-of-dyslexia-millions-struggle.html.Levinson Medical Center for Learning Disabilities.

“Debunking the Myths about Dyslexia.” Dyslexia Help at the University of Michigan, http://

dyslexiahelp.umich.edu/dyslexics/learn-about-dyslexia/what-is-dyslexia/debunking-common-myths-about-dyslexia.

Hodge, Patricia Lee. “A Dyslexic Child in the Classroom.” Dyslexia the Gift, https://www.

dyslexia.com/about-dyslexia/understanding-dyslexia/guide-for-classroom-teachers/.

Hymas, Madalyne. “A-DRESS-ING DYSLEXIA.” The Advantage. cargocollective.com/

TheAdvantage/A-DRESS-ING-DYSLEXIA. Accessed 18 September 2019.

Hymas, Madalyne. “THE DYSLEXIC ADVANTAGE - Madalyne - Graphic Designer.”

Madalyne, madalyne.com/THE-DYSLEXIC-ADVANTAGE. Accessed 21 September 2019.

Hymas, Madalyne. Personal Interview. 8 October 2019.

Lee, Malcolm D, director. Night School. Universal Pictures, 2018.

“What Is Dyslexia?” Yale Dyslexia, http://dyslexia.yale.edu/dyslexia/what-is-dyslexia/.

YouTube, YouTube, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eObtEDWj4EU.

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jackcowboyhero · 7 years

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Tagged by @pandolfo-malatesta a million years ago and not answered until now, whoops :p

The Ultimate Newsies (1992) Tag by @a-pair-of-new-shoes

1. How did you first get introduced to the movie? A group in my freshman college dorm got together to show it for one girl’s birthday—I came in somewhere between “Carryin’ the Banner” and “Santa Fe” and MY LIFE CHANGED FOREVER :p

2. What were your first impressions of the movie? I’d been wanting to go work on a dude ranch for 4-1/2 years before seeing the movie, so to come in (like I said, right before Santa Fe) and see a character who wanted to get away and go West, I was hooked right away. But I saw it in early October, and my friends decided that we were going as the boys for Halloween, and we made a paper as a prop that ended up being popular and continued as a subculture for all four years of school…so we went 0-60 in the space of a few weeks, and I was in way over my head before I realized what I’d gotten into. I don’t regret it. :p

[[The rest is under a cut, because DON’T GET ME STARTED ON THIS MOVIE]] :p

3. If you could pick one favorite character from the movie, who would it be and why? Jack. Like I said, the Western thing was the reason I first paid attention to him, but it’s been so much fun exploring who he is and how different backstories and futures could fit into his canon--I’ve been writing him for so long that he feels like a brother or something. It’s definitely the deepest I’ve ever looked into a character!

4. If you could pick one favorite actor (as a person regardless of how you feel about their character) from the movie, who would it be and why? Christian Bale is the only one I’ve really seen in anything else, but I honestly can’t think of an actor I don’t like in Newsies. So many child actors come across as precocious or canned, but the boys are so natural in this one—Luke Edwards did SUCH a good job as Les, which unfortunately none of the stage Les-es I’ve seen have been able to match :( I was just watching the movie commentary, and they were talking about how they focused on getting kids who hadn’t really sung or danced before and played up the rawness of it, and I love that approach. They all did such a good job.

Also, can we just talk about all the subtlety in this movie?! SO MUCH is said with body language (the boys, always) and facial expressions (Sarah on the roof) and little, “insignificant’ moments (the Jacobs parents when talking about David going back to school), and that’s what makes this movie so much fun to explore, and I think part of why so many people put so much time into fleshing out these side characters—there’s actual meat there, if you pay attention!

5. Favorite Newsies moment from the film? All of them. :p Some of the scenes I watch over and over, though, are the visit to Brooklyn, the rooftop scene, and the victory scene—so many characters to analyze!

6. Favorite song/dance number and why. “Once and For All.” It’s so intense! It was my “TIME TO GET THIS PAPER DONE” song in college, and since this movie led to my friend and I guiding tours of a print shop, I like the printing press part :)

7. Do you ship any characters in the movie? If yes, which ones? Jack/Sarah, but with the stipulation that at the end of the movie, Jack’s not ready for a serious relationship. He’s more interested in finding a family, and although he and Sarah are definitely attracted to each other, I think it’d take quite a bit of time for them (mostly Jack) to figure things out and become ready to settle down. (I talked more about Jack/Sarah, and ships in general, here.)

It’s worth noting that I definitely buy Jack and Sarah NOT ending up together, though, too! Either way, I think he learns a lot from her, in general and in terms of what relationships are and should be.

8. What are your feelings on Sarah’s character? When I first saw the movie, I thought she was weird because she was so underdeveloped, and everything I looked up at the time was against her. But as I watched the movie more, I started noticing what she did in her limited time, and how she became involved in the strike and balanced Jack out, and I love her—she’s usually one of the more challenging characters for me to write, but I have fun with it! The biggest shift I’ve seen in the fandom from 2010 to now is that people appreciate her now, for herself, and not just in relation to whether or not she should end up with Jack.

9. What are your opinions on the Broadway musical version? First of all, I’ve got to say that I’m so glad the musical introduced a new audience to the story (many of the people I’ve made friends with online came in through the musical). The cast is obviously so talented, and I enjoyed seeing the tour live and the filmed version (twice) in theaters.

That being said…I’m not a huge fan.

I feel like, despite all the relationships and ideas that the movie explored, it was very tight and focused—like Christian Bale said, it’s about the strike, but also about Jack and David’s relationship (whether or not you ship them, it’s about Jack finding a family through Dave, and about David gaining confidence, and both of them growing as leaders.) But in the musical, Davey’s almost an afterthought, and despite the heartbreaking scenes with Crutchie, it’s not really focused on him, either. There’s a ton going on, but it’s missing the intensity of the movie—some of the most intense and emotional scenes (the visit to Brooklyn, the visit to the Refuge, the scab scene) are either missing or watered-down.

And, both Katherine and Davey make fun of Jack’s dream. Sure, they’re human, and they’re hurt, and maybe that makes them harsh—but when Jack teases Katherine for wanting to be a reporter, she ends up on the front page, following her dream and proving herself. I’m not saying Jack has to end up in Santa Fe, but—as someone who fell in love with the movie because of its focus on dreaming and not giving up—it irritates me to see them tear down Jack’s dream with no consequence. That’s not the kind of support I’d want in a relationship and/or friendship.

Finally, like I said above, I liked the rawness of the movie. I know you need trained singers/dancers for a Broadway show, and I know the subtleness that movie cameras can pick up won’t work when you’re in front of a crowd, but I liked the more combat-oriented dances and how natural the movie actors seemed, compared to precocious Les-es and fancy spins on newspapers. This isn’t a criticism so much as a personal preference :)

Overall, I think pandolfo-malatesta hit the nail on the head: “Watching the filmed version was like someone coming into my house and replacing family members with younger versions and making generally small but entirely noticeable changes to dearly-held traditions.” As a separate story, the Newsies musical is okay—but compared to the movie, it’s just Not The Same.

All that aside: stage!Medda is AMAZING. They got rid of the vaguely cougar-ish aspects of movie!Medda, and the way they wove together Medda, Roosevelt, Pulitzer made so much more sense than in the movie, where T.R. just kind of shows up. (Although, in defense of the real T.R., he loved his wife way too much for me to believe he and Medda were a Thing!) I like that Pulitzer got a song (if you’re making a musical, the villain HAS to have a song!), and the songs in general are so beautifully arranged—even though I still like the movie lyrics to Carryin’ the Banner and King of New York better! :p

10. Favorite adult in the movie and why. Esther Jacobs. She fascinates me—I want to see her mothering Jack! I want to hear about her and Mayer! I want to make up headcanons about her family in Poland! (Just kidding, I’ve already done that.) :p

11. Is there anything you consider as canon in the Newsies universe, even though it might not be stated in the movie? At this point, I sometimes have to stop and try to remember what’s actually canon, because I’ve been building up the jackcowboyhero universe for so long, and reading so many other people’s headcanons and stories, that I forget what’s actually stated and what isn’t!

The biggest “general” one, though, that I see the most often in the fandom, is that Dutchy is dyslexic. I’m not sure who started that one—maybe @david-jacobs-would, whose headcanons are generally amazing?

12. What message has Newsies left with you that you love? YOU CAN’T LET ’EM BEAT YA.

Tagging: the people I’ve met through this movie, @twofoxes, @seize-the-davey, and @absinthe-terminus, but whoever else wants to should do it too!

#From the Editor

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brokenmusicboxwolfe · 4 years

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It turns out that I STILL have a lot of long winded text posts sitting in my drafts unfinished. Time to dump ‘em .... because I hate just deleting ‘em.

This one feels extra unfinished. It was a late night ramble that started with watching a subtitled movie, wanders through the quirks if brain wiring, and fades out with me straying into thoughts on my isloation.

Late night writing is a BAD idea! LOL

Wanna know something funny? I find myself forgetting I’m watching a subtitled movie while watching a subtitled movie!

I know I’m not the only one. Mom once argued with me about a movie we had recently watched, insisting it had been in english. I finally proved we only had a subtitled copy, but she still remembered it as being in english.

Weird how the brain works. Once the meaning is understood voices become about inflection, not words.

Unfortunately, this means I have never learned one word from all the foreign language movies I’ve watched. You know, I used to watch the other language dubs of familiar movies, say something like Star Wars that I have literally memorized, and hoped it would help me pick up a few words. Never works.

I can focus on words to get meaning, and actually can figure out things in languages I don’t know without subtitles, but I can’t seem to start with meaning to get words. The brain goes “Oh, I understand! No need to mess about with all those tricky syllables then...” and zones out.

Hmmm, you know how my only academic weakness growing up was my inability to spell and how despite my reasonably large vocabulary I struggle to pronounce anything without hearing it? That double whammy that means I have a much smaller usable written/spoken reservoir of words than what I understand, and they might connect with my language learning peculiarities. I wonder if there is a quirk in my wiring that was masked by “reads far above level” comprehension skills. It seems like there is static when it comes to aspects of language that involve sounds.

OMG! I just thought of something! I always have remembered words as shapes, like whole words like images. Often spelling would be about trying letters until they fit the shape. It occurs to me the visual trumps the auditory with me, which reminds me of my father.

Working in the shop my father would often get frustrated trying to explain something, miming grabbing it out of his head and tossing it to me while grumbling he could see it in his head. It would drive him nuts sometimes. You know, now that I think of it, the spelling and pronunciation thing was his achilles heel too.

Now he was a brilliant guy, and not just in engineering. It’s not that words were a “problem” exactly. He read tons, knew languages, and could write well (admittedly scientific style, and not “flowery” as he called the other end of the literary spectrum). People outside the family would never see it, just like you probably don’t notice the words I’m not using because I can’t get them close enough for the spellcheck to recognize.

My brother is dyslexic and as a child he struggled to learn to read at all. Oh, he grew up to be a top student and is a computer programmer that also has a degree in chemistry, so it didn’t exactly stop him, but it was terrible for a while. He failed first grade (or was it second) because he just couldn’t read, this super bright kid with a huge blind spot.

That gets noticed.

But what do you make of a girl that has the highest grades in the english class BUT is also the worst speller? What of a girl that turns in essays that wow her teachers but is careful to “dumb down” the words to ones she can pronounce if she might have to read it to the class? What of someone that loves reading aloud to her family, and is great at it, until she comes across a word she hasn’t heard where she fumbles entirely?** What of the girl that can decode a written text in an unfamiliar language but can’t speak in a language she studied for two years (and aced the tests in)?

That doesn’t get noticed.

Which is fine. Why should you? My grades were great and I was sorta considered the “smartest” kid where ever I was. (”smartest” is a bullshit concept to begin with, but don’t get me started).

But geez, it’s funny how long it took me to realize the common source of my language stumbling blocks. After the school sent me for a hearing test when I was little I was officially declared “fine”. I disagreed, insisting I thought there was something “odd” about my hearing,that I didn’t hear things the way others did...

Which makes me wonder about my inability to sing or dance....and that my father was exactly the same. He would never sing or dance, to Mom’s frustration. Now I love music, and he did too, but I always felt it sounded a little different to me than others. Read a review of music and I have no idea what they are talking about. Pop meanwhile had intensely obvious atypical reactions to music, finding some that others find grating to be soothing while beloved music could be like fingernails on a chalkboard for him...

I dunno, is there an auditory equivalent to something like variable color sensitivities? Not exactly like color blindness. I mean, I think I hear the sounds it just the brain interpretation of them. Lost in translation, so to speak...

You know, much as I loved my father with all his quirks, I do wish I hadn’t inherited so very many. Eccentic oddities don’t do well in these parts. He had the advantage of family where our weirdness fitted together. I refuse to ever fake who I am, but it would be nice to have a few areas of “normality” to stand a chance of belonging anywhere.

When Pop was sick I told him he had to try not to die because I wouldn’t have anyone to talk to. It wasn’t proximity but the fact we “got” each other. At the time I actually thought there was a chance I’d still find a place I fit, someone that would “get” me. But I kinda doubt it now.

** Prime example is me reading The Lord of the Rings aloud for my father. Caradhras became officially “that damn mountain!” instead because I just couldn’t turn the letters into sounds. This was just before I had the movies as reference. I could read it now....

#rambles #brain #my brain #language #brains

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firstpuffin · 5 years

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A life of boredom; I hope people can gain strength from this pt 1:

One thing that I hear again and again about people with mental illness or learning disabilities or even just with a far from ideal situation is that they feel alone. I’ll say first of all that I’ve never felt like this; I’ve never felt alone and I’ve never felt like a disappointment or like I’ve let down my parents. But I imagine that it would feel terrible.

So I figured I’d put my rather boring story out there. It’s not one of success or any great tragedy; all things considered it’s been a pretty dull existence. But if it can help someone feel like they aren’t alone then maybe it’s worth it.

Also, I have no time to research a proper article.

This entry is going to be more of a background to who I am and what I had to live with, with an actual sequence of events coming later. Nothing particularly bad ever happened to me, but there were a lot of smaller things that built up; you know what they say about straw and the camel’s back.

I don’t really want to focus on the bad, I had a lot of good too. But you remember the bad, don’t you? While the good fades away.

So first of all, I was originally inspired to write this when I realised that when I graduate from university this coming May, it will be exactly ten years since I graduated from high school. This is astonishing for a number of reasons: one, it doesn’t feel like ten years at all and two, I still feel like I’m sixteen years old. A sixteen-year old who can drink and who maybe should have accomplished more by now.

There are other reasons why it feels wrong; I knew my best friend back in first school but we parted ways for middle school and by some holy shit level chance ended up in the same high school. And yes, we didn’t do the elementary to primary school thing; I only discovered that was even a thing during high school and I didn’t understand what it was. I went to three different schools and didn’t transfer once. But anyway, me and my pal have been pals constantly in the thirteen years since then; he introduced me to manga and to so many video game series and stuff. It’s also been roughly eleven or twelve years since I fell out with who had been up until then a constant in my life, but that’s for later.

It doesn’t feel like I’ve done much of anything, at least not anything of worth in those ten years. Not until I came to university.

Background: I am the youngest child in a family of four, my brother knowing what he has wanted since he was a child and worked constantly towards it. I would try to copy him and fail miserably. I looked up to him as someone who could do everything that I couldn’t.

My dad was a straight-forward thinker who comes across to new people as stern and scary, but in reality he’s basically a big teddy bear (not in that way; in the more traditional sense). You just need to get past that cold facade first.

My mother was overbearing but it was out of love rather than some other kind of twisted motive. I hesitate to talk too much about this lest it comes off badly, but it is a prime example of how the best intentions can go awry. She wanted me to be a child and so didn’t insist on making me do chores and instead did everything for me, so I never learned to be independent. Whether it was something to do with my combination of learning disabilities or just me as a person, I just let her do so. One of my greatest joys at university has been the independence, or more accurately the requirement to do everything myself. I love the cleaning the washing, the cooking.

Oh my god, the cooking. I loathe food. Or at least I used to, I’m still not a fan. I now think I know why, but the original guess was that because I had rhinitis (think year long allergies; specifically a blocked nose) and couldn’t smell anything, that I couldn’t taste things correctly. I now know that being dyspraxic can mean an oversensitivity of the senses; like taste and touch. My dyspraxia meant that I disliked most strong-tasting foods. Or really food in general. Sure there were a few things I liked, like burgers or pizza, but no curry, no shepherd’s pie… really nothing with a sauce or herbs. Or onion. Or mushy textures. Or mixed textures.

Guess what foods my family loved. Everything I hated. Mealtimes were the worst, I dreaded them. I genuinely feared going out to eat. And you know what made it worse? The complete and total lack of sympathy. I was fussy, I should just deal with it. There are children starving in Africa. So I did. I learned to eat things I hated for every meal, even when my peers would refuse to eat what they kinda maybe slightly didn’t like.

But now I live alone and I have slowly increased the meals that I do actually enjoy, or at least don’t dislike. And it’s amazing. I don’t have to fear mealtimes anymore.

Also, my parents didn’t do Christmas. Or Easter. Or Halloween. Or birthdays (although my mom tried to work around that). And Mom avoided fairy tales because she knew of their dark origins. You know, screw the current cheerful version of Cinderella; the older versions had body mutilations *gasp*. Bodily mutilations that…are not… in the current versions…

Mom meant well, but most of my Disney knowledge comes from the Kingdom Hearts series. So that’s weird.

And I’m actually kind of relieved that we never did Christmas, that holiday is a freaking mess.

So what else? Well just for a bit of background, I don’t and never did experience sexual attraction. This may seem like an odd thing to mention but do me a favour and look around; sex is everywhere! And it’s very confusing to a kid who doesn’t even know what it means to be or to find someone attractive. Over time I’ve learned to see what is aesthetically pleasing, but that’s just the viewpoint of an artist. It was very hard for me thanks to that; and even harder when during high school, events made me think that I was bisexual (it was high school, who didn’t think they were bi?). I’m not going into them because I still don’t understand what was going through my head, but eventually I realised that I wasn’t technically bi, because I didn’t experience attraction. I now say that rather than being attracted to males or females, it’s more that I’m not not attracted to them.

It’s weird, it’s confusing and hopefully you can understand why things were difficult for me. I’d be talking to my male friends when all heads turned to follow a shapely ass (I don’t get the appeal) and I would be wondering if they were listening to me (they usually weren’t). Still, it got some amusing responses from people who couldn’t understand.

Next, I didn’t have a passion like my brother, I had no motivations to encourage me to work and even worse, I was smart enough that I could coast through school with acceptable grades and the constant nagging that “I had potential”; although I suspect everybody hears that. Still, with no skills to speak of and no motivation, I just lived. Without purpose. I kinda still do. The only reason I have any goals at the moment is to keep occupied.

As a child, Mother was scared to let me go out, so I played the few video games that we had, watched the few television channels that I could, and read. Hoo boy did I read. My parents were keen on reading and so provided book after book and despite my dyslexia, I was soon waay above my peers. I was reading adult novels (no, not that kind; although one or two of the sci-fi books may as well have been) when I was in middle school (roughly around 9 and 13 years old; I can never remember). I firmly believe it was the reading that helped me overcome my dyslexia and look at me now, learning to write fiction and non-fiction and studying language. Of course, I have no social skills to speak of, so being able to go out might have been helpful.

I was also dyspraxic, but somehow I didn’t find this out until just a few months ago. Like seriously, I can’t blame anybody for this because it’s so extreme in its weirdness. My parents knew, adults I grew up with knew, even my brother knew; so how did I not? My assumption is that being dyslexic, I got the two very similar sounding words mixed up and for some reason people only focused on my dyslexia. It’s also pretty clear that my parents knew nothing about dyspraxia so that probably didn’t help.

But the dyspraxia was a huge issue for me. I couldn’t play instruments like my brother or friends, because I didn’t have the motor skills; I couldn’t do sports because I would kick a football in 180 degrees from where I intended, and when you can’t kick a football your classmates hate you to an unreasonable degree, no doubt due to living in a football-oriented culture (which is probably worth another article all by itself) and you begin to hate sports; I couldn’t draw like my brother (like seriously, he can do everything I ever wanted to). I had no motivations, no goals and I never tried because I couldn’t do anything anyway.

This is going to be controversial but do you know what made things even worse? My parents were religious. Christian to be specific, but they go by “The Church of God” like literally every fucking religion so I can’t tell you exactly which denomination. They didn’t believe in hell so I was spared that trauma, and my parents always tried to be open about things like homosexuality (“we hate the act, not the people”) so all in all things could have been worse. But it was a small church with very few children and it wasn’t long before it was just me and this one boy. And it was so, so boring. There was literally nothing to keep a child entertained and we weren’t allowed to walk off. I ended up literally walking in circles around the edge of a room again and again and a-fucking-gain for hours. Thankfully I enjoyed walking but I think people started to realise there was a problem.

I also wouldn’t get out of bed on Saturdays (because yes, the sabbath is actually on Saturday) and that definitely formed a weird habit. It’s pretty clear that I was depressed and so my parents eventually relented and let me stay at home. They were (and still are) convinced that I will return to the fold one day (I’m actually a hardcore atheist at this point). But that bad sleeping habit continued.

So that’s the start. I was a kid with a technically undiagnosed learning disability that conditioned both my mind and my body, and that always sucks. I had people around me who were motivated and goal driven and worst of all, who were talented! And I struggled to do anything. Without goals, without motivation, and with a mother who was willing to do literally everything for me, I effectively did nothing. On top of that, I developed clear signs of depression that have since gotten worse, and worse over time.

As I said though, things weren’t all bad. My parents loved me. None of us were particularly ill. I don’t know how many people I grew up with who had parents who had split and were uncaring. My hometown is full of people who have no desire to further themselves, who are happy to do nothing. I’m very lucky with my family.

Even if my brother is a snarky asshole.

#first puffin #biography #life lessons #coping with mental illness #yeah like anyone cares #thosetagswilldofornow

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martadwatson · 6 years

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All that glitters: Meet jewellery designer Nigel O’Reilly

Remember the name: Mayo-based goldsmith Nigel O’Reilly is set to compete with top luxury houses around the world. Annmarie O’Connor gets up close and personal with his dazzling creations.

Goldsmith Nigel O’Reilly.

Dazzled. That’s how I feel sitting with goldsmith Nigel O’Reilly and his collection of signature gemstone rings. I’m trying on a showpiece entitled Dante’s Zircon, which boasts 344 coloured diamonds and sapphires, and a 14.56ct rare orange beryl, before I’m introduced to Seed Takes Flight, a behemoth of 931 diamonds, sapphires, rubies and garnets and a 14.8mm golden South Sea pearl. I guess he wanted to start me gently.

“These are my ‘let’s see how far I can push it’ pieces,” O’Reilly tells me. Although I’ve just met him, this somehow doesn’t surprise me. At 36 years old, the Claremorris native is just starting to get his big break. Meetings with couturier Don O’Neill, the jewellery editor of US Vogue and The American Historical Museum on 5th Avenue, are just some of his diary entries for the next few weeks.

Seed Takes Flight

Not that he takes any of this for granted. Disarmingly unassuming, his backstory is a testament to the alchemy of drive, passion and Shaolin-like focus.

“When I was in school, I was very dyslexic,” he says of his childhood. “Luckily, my mother was teaching me at the time and she knew that I wasn’t lazy or stupid, but I literally just couldn’t get anything in.”

With that, O’Reilly pursued the Leaving Cert Vocational Programme, which allowed him to use his hands and do project work, one of which was a case study on a jeweller. Inspired by the career path, but, having no idea how to go about becoming one, he chose, instead, an apprenticeship as a precision engineer/toolmaker working in the high-tech field of vascular surgery.

“I loved that discipline of it,” he admits. “You’re working toward microns, so there’s no discrepancy whatsoever. When I got more confident in the work and I had more spare time, I started making up rings on the lathe, probably when I should have been working. It’s been years now, they won’t give out to me,” he jokes.

A signature ring, Dante’s Zircon, which boasts 344 coloured diamonds and sapphires and a rare orange beryl.

What started as an interest soon became an obsession. In 2006, he applied for a two-year intensive course in jewellery making run by the Design and Crafts Council of Ireland in Kilkenny. With no art background, he spent a year on a bench in his room creating portfolio pieces for his interview submission. The bet paid off.

“You couldn’t imagine how exciting it was to be educated in something that you love doing…. The thing I loved about the course in Kilkenny was that it wasn’t arty. You have to learn how to make something before you can learn to design something. That’s what we did. We’d sit there soldering the same piece hundreds of times just to get it right and that takes a certain calibre of person just to stick with it. I would be there from 8am and I wouldn’t leave until 10pm.”

It was on this course he met his mentor, the late goldsmith and gemstone cutter Erwin Springbrunn.

“When I found out that he lived only 40 minutes away from my home, basically every weekend I could, I’d drive down to him. Then I started working full-time with renowned goldsmith Rudolf Heltzel in Kilkenny. He didn’t want to take on an apprentice either, but I just kept turning up.”

O’Reilly continued pushing the boundaries of his craftsmanship and, in 2009, he accepted an opportunity as a diamond-setter in Stockholm. He and his wife Tracy lived there for two-and-a-half years, with Nigel honing his skills in reputable jewellery houses in London and Antwerp.

“We had our first child in Stockholm and we moved home to Ireland 11 weeks later. Everyone was telling me I was mad to move back. It was the middle of the recession, but to move to Mayo, the middle of nowhere, they couldn’t see it.”

He proved the naysayers wrong — again.

“My house is right beside Knock airport, a half an hour away, so two weeks after moving home, I flew to London. I had a few contacts built up from my days in Stockholm and I was working for six of the biggest houses on Bond Street. That’s basically how I built up my workshop, by doing trade work for all those businesses.”

In 2012, O’Reilly set up a small studio in Foxford and followed, in 2017 with his current ‘by appointment’ studio in Castlebar: A luxe space (part consultation room; part workshop) where clients can discuss having bespoke jewellery made and also view Nigel and his team at work.

Nigel’s studio in Castlebar.

As I take in the minutiae of his eight-piece show collection, selection of earrings, and engagement rings, the respect for his trade and technical excellence is evident. I turn one of the rings upside-down and spot a ‘honeycomb’ design inside its base — “it’s special for the person that’s wearing it. They are the only one who knows that’s there” — while a green tourmaline beauty hides set diamonds underneath the stone to make it catch the light. Simply incredible.

More incredible still is that each of these showpieces is unique – made with stones cut by his dear friend Springbrunn, who passed away two years ago. “I had a huge selection of his work. They were just sitting in the safe and I was like: ‘OK, you have to do something. You have to push it.’ It was quite emotional, since he passed away and every stone I had was the last there was going to be, so I had to make a piece that was fitting, because the stones are pieces of art in themselves and you have to try and take that and make even more art out of it.”

To think, people told him nobody would appreciate this kind of work in Ireland. When O’Reilly tells me that he wants to be a collectable goldsmith, I’m already certain of his future success. Never say it can’t be done. This man will prove you wrong.

– Nigel O’Reilly: 094 900 4994; www.nigeloreilly.com

Source link

from Diamonds & Jewelry Consignment Shop https://sellringsonconsignment.com/top-posts/all-that-glitters-meet-jewellery-designer-nigel-oreilly/ from Sell Rings On Consignment https://sellringsonconsignment.tumblr.com/post/179495001213

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hellopipski · 7 years

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Hello!

Hooray! The blog birthday celebrations continue as we are very lucky to have Cerrie Burnell with us today! Many of us recognise Cerrie from her work on Cbeebies, but did you know she is also the author of a stack of books? Including these picture books (beautifully illustrated by Laura Ellen Anderson)

Cerrie has also written a series of chapter books based on a character called Harper who lives in the City of Clouds. Along with her beloved cat Midnight, and a flying umbrella, Harper whisks readers off to magical adventures.

Furthermore, Cerrie writes plays, and recently adapted Snowflakes into a play for children which was performed at the Oxford Playhouse in December 2016.

Hi Cerrie! Was writing for children something you’d always wanted to do? How did your first book come about?

I’d always dreamed of being a writer, but it was a dream that in one sense felt incredibly real, and in another seemed impossible. Before I began working for CBeebies I’d written a children’s play and when I had my daughter and discovered there weren’t enough diverse stories being told, that was motivation to do something about it. So I wrote Snowflakes.

Did you have any particular favourite books as a child?

I’m highly dyslexic, so I couldn’t until I was almost ten. I was lucky enough to have an amazing mum who read to me every night, so my world was still enchanted by Enid Blyton’s Faraway Tree, Alice in Wonderland and the startling light and dark of fairy tales.

What is the most important thing to you in your writing at the moment?

I think all writers want their work to be the strongest it can be, regardless of when its written. I’m interested in keeping the magical elements that can make a story feel classical but with a strong focus on reflecting the diverse world we live in.

Tell us about your part in the CILIP Carnegie/ Kate Greenaway awards!

Hosting the Carnegie awards was actually very moving. It’s a big day event, with a lot of kids in the room so you have to keep it snappy and upbeat, whilst remaining empathetic to subject matters tackled with in the books. I was incredibly proud to be part of it.

Your Harper series has really taken off! Can you tell us about Harper: What kind of character is she?

Harper is a girl with a rare musical gift, she can play any instrument by ear. She is calm, courageous in quiet and focused way and is untune with the world in a delicately magical way. In the first book HARPER AND THE SCARLET UMBRELLA all we know is that Harper lives with her Great Aunt Sassy and cat Midnight in a Tall Apartment Block full of creative families.

When Midnight goes Missing Harper discovers the Scarlet Umbrella and soon learns it can fly. Together with her friends and a pile of instruments she sets of to rescue her cat (and all the other missing cats) only to discover something much stranger…

You are so lucky to have Laura Ellen Anderson illustrating your Harper books! What was it like when you first saw the illustrations?

Laura is an amazingly intuitive and generous illustrator to work with- not to mention fast and of course gifted. Seeing the pictures for every book we have done together has been a complete wonder to behold.

Did you have to change anything for the US editions?

My U.S Publishers Sky Pony have just been wonderful. Harper will be published in thirteen territories, so I have complete trust in all of my overseas publishers. There is even a German Audio book!

Have you developed any tricks for yourself to get in the zone for when you’re switching between writing picture books and your Harper books or playscripts?

My life has always been fairly chaotic, so switching between age groups or projects comes quite easily. Being dyslexic, I think I carry all the stories I’m working on in my head simultaneously – alongside all the ones I’m yet to write!

Many thanks to Cerrie for taking time during the summer break to answer these questions. We look forward to reading more of your stories!

1st September 2017

More about Cerrie:

You can

read more about Cerrie in this recent Guardian article!

find Cerrie on twitter as @cerrieburnell

watch this video from the Scottish Book Trust!

or watch this video from Waterstones

Thanks for visiting 🙂

Pippa Wilson @hellopipski

The Inside Story with author Cerrie Burnell Hello! Hooray! The blog birthday celebrations continue as we are very lucky to have Cerrie Burnell with us today!

#Cerrie Burnell #Laura Ellen Andersen

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georgiannazc-blog · 4 years

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information about dyslexia

Brennan, Dan. “What Is Dyslexia? What Causes It?” WebMD, WebMD, 23 Mar. 2019, https://www.webmd.com/children/understanding-dyslexia-basics.

Upon searching dyslexia on Google, one of the first sites that I came across was this article on webmd.com. I decided to dive into this article to see what kind of information this seemingly reputable site was conveying to others. Most of the things that the site said seemed correct. For example one of the first things stated was, “Kids who have (dyslexia) are often smart and hardworking.” Is it great to know that some websites are clear that dyslexia is not linked to stupidity, because oftentimes being viewed as dumb or stupid is one of the greatest challenges that a dyslexia faces. Another interesting statement was, “Kids with dyslexia often have normal vision and are just as smart as their peers. But they struggle more in school because it takes them longer to read.” It is interesting that this site observes that while dyslexic children are just as smart as their peers, they struggle in school. This is one of the biggest issues for dyslexics because the school systems do not teach in ways that dyslexics learn. While dyslexics are a minority, one in five people are dyslexic and 20% is still a large portion of young kids. We must be able to alter our education systems to also teach in appropriate ways in which students can also learn as well as other students. WebMd also says that Dyslexia is different for everyone. This is a good piece of information because there are different types of dyslexia that people often do not know about. While this is good information, the site also said that in some cases, “children aren't able to fully outgrow dyslexia,” this is poor information because dyslexia can never be outgrown, nor should it need to be.

“Debunking the Myths about Dyslexia.” Dyslexia Help at the University of Michigan, http://dyslexiahelp.umich.edu/dyslexics/learn-about-dyslexia/what-is-dyslexia/debunking-common-myths-about-dyslexia.

This article titled, “Debunking the Myths about Dyslexia” on the website, dyslexiahelp.umich.edu is a very helpful piece because it uses easy-to-read bullet points about dyslexic myths and then explains why they are wrong. One of the most important myths to debunk is, “Smart people cannot be dyslexic or have a learning disability.” The site debunks this by saying that there is no connection between dyslexia and intelligence. This can be a tough concept for people to grasp, as dyslexia is most often wrongly associated with dumbness.

Another myth they debunked is that dyslexia is rare. They estimate that about 17-20% of people are dyslexic which is not a small number. They continue by stating that some people have extreme cases while others could have more mild forms. Nonetheless, dyslexic is NOT rare. A myth that is largely believed by most is that dyslexia can be outgrown. This is false because dyslexia is a brain variance, and you cannot just outgrow it. It is proven that dyslexia will extend for the whole period of adulthood and throughout their whole lives. The fact that people believe that dyslexia is a medical diagnosis is a myth because even though dyslexia deals with the functions of the brain, it is not something that doctors diagnose because, “they don’t have training in oral language, reading, writing, or spelling assessment and diagnosis.” Furthermore, there is no perscription or pill that will help dyslexics. These are important myths to be broken because many people still believe these things about dyslexics today. This site will provide me with many important facts that will be helpful in my paper.

Eide, Fernette. “Dyslexia and Discrimination – The Problem of Dyslexia as 'Disease'.”Dyslexia DyslexicAdvantage, www.dyslexicadvantage.org/dyslexia-and-discrimination-uk-sperm-bank-rejects-dyslexic-donors-due-to-disease/. Accessed 18 September 2019

This was an interesting article done by the website, The Dyslexic Advantage. This website is, overall, a very credible source for articles and information about dyslexia. Dr. Fernette Eide wrote this article. Eide is a well-known name in the world of dyslexia advocates. She is a doctor of medicine and has spent many years researching dyslexia. I chose to use this article in particular because it shows an example of how poorly we, as Americans, are educated on dyslexia. It uses the example of a sperm bank that rejected a donation from a dyslexic man because of his “disease.” Using this article, I can give an example of discrimination against dyslexics. People should certainly not deny dyslexics from being able to donate sperm, because in fact, some of the most important and intelligent figures in history were successful because of their dyslexia. This discrimination is based on the false beliefs that dyslexics are dumb or unintelligent, which is completely untrue. In fact, dyslexia is a major strength for those who are. Because of their dyslexia, some people are more talented in spacial awareness, making artistic activities come quite easily. Because those strengths are not often recognized to the world, situations like the one addressed in the article are still happening even though they should not. I believe this article will prove how far we still have to go in educating others about dyslexia and its inherent advantages.

Hodge, Patricia Lee. “A Dyslexic Child in the Classroom.” Dyslexia the Gift, https://www.dyslexia.com/about-dyslexia/understanding-dyslexia/guide-for-classroom-teachers/.

This article is on the dyslexia.com website which titles its website, “Dyslexia the Gift.” This particular article is done by Patricia Lee Hodge, who is a former teacher with specialized training in Specific Learning Difficulties and Dyslexia, and parent of a dyslexic child. This is an insightful article to read because it focuses a lot on the emotional barriers dyslexics face in the school system. She explains that “proficient reading is an essential tool for learning a large part of the subject matter taught at school.” Because proficient reading is a major struggle for dyslexic students, they receive lots of hurtful criticism from their peers. This can result in intense bullying and can cause trauma for the student. The article explains that once a student loses confidence and self esteem, it is extremely difficult to help them continue to learn because they feel as though they have already failed. Almost as important as being able to teach, a teacher must be able to understand the problems that their dyslexic student may face in the classroom environment. Hodge concludes that in order to be able to teach students properly, the teacher must view the student as a “whole person.” Someone who has both strengths and weaknesses. This can sometimes be difficult to do because dyslexics often struggle with things that seem to come very easily to other students. Being able to realize that each student has areas of struggle can help the teacher in aiding dyslexics. Teachers should then acknowledge the specific struggles of their dyslexic students so they can integrate specific strategies into their daily teaching that will target and help the dyslexic. She also explains that we should focus on their strengths. Students can be praised for the things they do great at and would be more likely to be successful later in life if teachers focused on their strengths at an early age. This article has great information to include in my paper because it targets the emotions that accompany the learning difference and how to deal with them.

Hymas, Madalyne. “A-DRESS-ING DYSLEXIA.” The Advantage. cargocollective.com/TheAdvantage/A-DRESS-ING-DYSLEXIA. Accessed 18 September 2019.

I love this article by Madalyne Hymas, who is a dyslexic advocate and passionate artist. The article compares a well known controversy to dyslexia. The controversy is over the color of a dress in a photograph. This went viral on the internet because people were very adamantly seeing the dress as a certain color. Some people saw a dress that was black and blue, while others saw it as white and gold. Once people saw the dress and it very obviously seemed one set of colors to them, it was extremely hard for them to see how others could possibly see the other set of colors. The comparison explains that there is no one right way to see the dress, but that it is simply a difference in the way the brain perceives it. This is similar to how the dyslexic brain works. It is not wrong, it is just different. Dyslexics have many strengths that go unrecognized because they are not the most common way to think. We may think that dyslexics are a minority, and while they are, they still take up 20% of the population and that is a large amount of people. This comparison can clear up any confusion people might have about what exactly dyslexia is. I think that using this dress comparison in my paper will help me get my point across more clearly because it applies something that is concretely obvious to dyslexia which is a hard scientific concept that can be hard for people to visualise.

Hymas, Madalyne. “THE DYSLEXIC ADVANTAGE - Madalyne - Graphic Designer.”Madalyne, madalyne.com/THE-DYSLEXIC-ADVANTAGE. Accessed 21 September 2019.

This website was created by Madalyne Hymas. This page showcases much of the information on dyslexia that I will use in my paper. The site features many statistics and facts that will help me throughout my research. These statistics and facts include things like how many people are dyslexic, how many entrepreneurs are dyslexic, famous people who are dyslexic, etc. These are vital pieces of information when trying to comprehend dyslexia. It is important that people understand just how many people are dyslexic and how many famous and important people are successful because of their dyslexic strengths. The piece is also interactive and invites the viewer to move letters to show that a letter can be a different letter when it is oriented differently. For example, when a “b” is flipped upside down, is becomes a “p.” It can also be flipped to become a “d” or a “q.” This was very interesting to me because I have never thought of letters like that, but it makes sense that a dyslexic who was very spatially aware would be able to orient letters differently to view a letter in those different ways. She also uses an “o” and a “w’ and “m.” With these letters that can be manipulated into different things, Madalyne invites the viewers to see how many different words they are able to create with the shifting the letters. I have previously explained the author, Madalyne’s, credibility. She is a dyslexic who has researched the topic and she is an advocate for dyslexics to get the proper understanding that they need in the school system.

Hymas, Madalyne. Personal Interview. 8 October 2019.

I plan on interviewing Madalyne Hymas through FaceTime on October 8th, 2019. I chose Madalyne because she is a dyslexic who travels to speak to audiences about dyslexia in hopes of redefining the way people think about it. Madalyne is a big time artist who is based in New York City. She has not only overcome many prejudices, misconceptions, and cruelties about her dyslexia but she has found out how to use her dyslexic strengths to her advantage. It is because of her dyslexia that Madalyne excels as an artist and graphic designer. Her dyslexia gives her enhances abilities to process information and see things spatially, as one would need to do in art and graphic design. Madalyne has discovered that these strengths of hers are not common for those with a non dyslexic brain. Madalyne has also created a large art installation about dyslexia that has toured the United States and was even featured in The Smithsonian. The installation showcases information, gives facts, shows misconceptions about dyslexia. It is also interactive, as the viewer is invited to move certain letters and see them from a different perspective. I think that Madalyne will provide me with her personal experiences that will enrich my paper with credibility and real life experience. I hope to tap into the reader’s pathos by showing a real life example of a dyslexic who has struggled in school and with misconceptions. I believe that her knowledge will help me learn about the topic and will enhance my paper.

Lee, Malcolm D, director. Night School. Universal Pictures, 2018.

The movie Night School, the character, Teddy, played by Kevin Hart gets fired from his place of work and needs to go back to school in order to get a GED and get another job. He enrolls in night school to discover that he’s dyslexic. The remainder of the movie features Teddy’s teacher, played by Tiffany Haddish, pushing him to “try harder and focus more.” Letters appear to float around Teddy at multiple points in the film. In the conclusion of the movie, The movie, Teddy “overcomes” his dyslexia and is successful in getting his GED. Night School, is a good example of how society believes many myths about dyslexics. The movie did so much damage to the dyslexic world and the current issues we are having. Perhaps the most damaging part of the film lies in the very plot, where Teddy is pushed by his teacher to focus and try harder. This is completely false because dyslexia is not a problem of effort or focus. The misconception about a lack of effort could stem from the fact that sometimes dyslexics try to take on a new reputation of “class clown” to override their current reputation of stupid and slow. This is because it is easier to be the kid who is funny than the kid who is stupid and it’s easier for the kids to not try because if they aren’t trying then they can’t be viewed or thought of as stupid. I will use this movie as an example in my essay because it shows what most of the world believes about dyslexia, as recently as a year ago. Of course, if this is what the media is putting out for people to view, dyslexics might believe these things about themselves too and this could bring about a lot of shame, where there shouldn’t be any.

“What Is Dyslexia?” Yale Dyslexia, http://dyslexia.yale.edu/dyslexia/what-is-dyslexia/.

The Yale Center for Dyslexia and Creativity gives some background on dyslexia stating that, “in 1896, a doctor in Sussex, England, published the first description of the learning disorder that would come to be known as developmental dyslexia.” The doctor continues that the boy is intelligent and quick at games but struggles in his ability to read. The article says that 20% of the population is dyslexic,. This number is far greater than I believe most people think. Dyslexics take up 80-90% of those with learning disabilities. Some weaknesses the article points out is that dyslexics often struggle to spell words correctly, read fluently, learn another language, etc. These difficulties have no connection with intelligence. In fact this article states that, “dyslexia is an unexpected difficulty in reading in an individual who has the intelligence to be a much better reader. While people with dyslexia are slow readers, they often, paradoxically, are very fast and creative thinkers with strong reasoning abilities.” I found it interesting that they state that people with dyslexia have an intelligence that should mean they are much better readers, because most people believe that because of their inability to read, dyslexics are unintelligent, which is far from true. I love that this site defines dyslexia by pointing out it’s strengths rather than purely it’s weaknesses. Even in the very early discovery of dyslexia, the doctor stated that the dyslexic child was “intelligent.” It is important that we speak about dyslexia with the same level-mindedness about it’s strengths and weaknesses.

YouTube, YouTube, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eObtEDWj4EU.

This video on understanding Dyslexia is a very insightful piece where Dr. Christopher Walsh discusses the psychological brain variation in which dyslexia is. After researching Christopher Walsh, I discovered that he specializes in pediatrics, neurology, and genetics. He studied and got his degree at Harvard Medical School. Because of his prestigious resume, I feel that Dr. Walsh is a great source of information about dyslexia. Dyslexia is genetic and if one family member is dyslexic, chances are very high, if not certain, that other family members are also dyslexic. He explains that it was difficult to study dyslexic brains because when you look at children's brains, they are all different. To combat this issue they decided to study the brains of dyslexic kids to see what they have in common and what dyslexia could be caused by in the brain. He also explains why reading is such a difficult thing to learn, and one of the hardest things our brains do. Unlike walking and talking, which we do when we are young, reading requires us to use so many different parts of our brains at one point. Reading involves a large amount of processing because you have to, “see the words, we have to parce them, we have to sort them, we have to understand them, we have to synthesize them into concepts, and then we have to do all that very quickly while our eyes are scanning across the page. Dyslexics seems to struggle to do these processes quickly. When reading dyslexic’s eyes move too fast for the brain and the brain can’t keep up. This is why dyslexia is defined as a brain processing difference.

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