#it's so cute that you all call me marcia lol

[marciabrady]

Hi Marcia! I read your meta about Snow and Aurora's ages and it was very well thought! I wanted to ask you about how do you view the issue of Ariel's age? Unlike Aurora and Snow who are timeless or 16 in a fantasy world where it was the age of majority for young women, Ariel was written much like a very modern teenage girl. I remember that in the DVD commentary both Mark Henn and John Musker stated that they wanted Ariel to feel more like a real teenage girl in aspects like wanting to grow up but still being innocent or even in details like her fawning over Eric's statue, which Musker made the comparison of a teenage girl fawning over her favorite rock star poster in her room. She was also partly inspired in Alyssa Milano who was 16 at the time to model her physical appearance (alongside Glen Keane's wife and Sherri Stoner who were both adult women). Because of that, many people have issue that she married at age 16, because many feel as if an actual high schooler got married. I still don't buy it, because I remember in a magazine that Ron Clements said that through the movie Ariel grows from a teenage girl to a young woman and Glen Keane stated that her story is that about a teenage girl becoming an adult, in other words, her story is one of coming of age, but what do you think about it?

Thank you so much for letting me know how you experienced my thoughts! The Ariel topic is a very divisive one but, as always, I have an opinion about it lol

So, I can definitely tell you've done a ton of research from all the references you listed! I totally agree that there's an argument to be made about The Little Mermaid, in some ways, being a coming of age story for a young girl but I always felt it was more of an allegory for the gay experience and found the former take just substitutes as the straight, sanitized version of this. With the original author being LGBT and Howard Ashman adapting it, there's so many gay allusions and parallels that go over so many people's head, and it's so much more than just a straight woman who doesn't fit into her society. The inclusion of Ariel being sixteen, like in Aurora's case, was a nod to the original fairytale (though in most versions I'm almost certain that the mermaid is fifteen), and the film admittedly suffers from slight tonal issues because it's caught between being a fairytale and the newer shift to intentionally making stories more modern (despite the fact that the previous films all had timeless storytelling, I think every generation just thinks they're reinventing the wheel; I remember reading interviews Lesley Ann Warren did when the '65 Cinderella came out and she was claiming it was a much more realistic and modern take on Julie Andrews's Cinderella and, in retrospect, Julie's seems to emerge as the more realistic and modern one).

I think saying Ariel is sixteen does give the audience insight, as I mentioned in a previous ask with Snow White, of how much less...cynical she is about the world around her. She isn't blind to the horrors that humanity is capable of committing, but she has such an untainted view of life, especially in comparison with Triton, and she's his direct foil when it comes to the storyline of the film. I, personally, still take this with a grain of salt though because it's undoubtedly a fantasy film and the reason that we're clutching so tight is because 18 is the legal age of consent in our modern times, in America, but even if this was a super literal take...16 would've been the age Ariel would've gotten married anyway in the time she comes from? That's not even counting what the age of consent would've been in Atlantica or in Triton's kingdom, and those rules are probably different than ours. Besides, we don't know how much time passes between Triton turning Ariel into a human and the wedding happening. Also, nothing is sketchy about her and Eric's relationship because it's impossible that he's more than two years older than her, which still places their relationship in a healthy dynamic in terms of consent.

I think Mark and Glen and the directors, and even Jodi's, take on Ariel is valid but I think the most important, when examining artistic intent is Howard Ashman's, as he and Hans Christian Andersen, are the creators of Ariel. Jodi even says that she mimicked Howard's reading of the lines and, if anyone ever loves Ariel, it's because of Howard Ashman's take and how he coached her. Everything about Ariel comes from Howard, and I think the reason we never see Ariel in the sequels the way she is in the original film is because of the loss of that fundamental gay perspective. So, yes, technically Ariel could just be seen as a realistic teenager who's coming into her own but I personally see her as someone who's learning to live life in a society that oppresses her, against all odds, and in the face of a family that doesn't understand or accept her. It's about Ariel discovering herself and finding her place in the world and I think it's safe to say these things could be true about any teenage girl, and I think it's a great diversion for directors who want to make a film marketable to middle America and generally present it as more acceptable, but those things are so much more true to the gay experience and community. How do you live in a world where you constantly have to hide yourself, change who you are, lie to your family for your own safety, feel like an outsider? Where the life you want is seemingly accessible, but also out of reach? How that move, which will in so many ways be validating and help you feel like a participant in life as opposed to a prisoner, will at the same time give you a new life and love and family, while completely alienating you from everything you've ever known and is dangerous and can cause you to lose everything- even your own life? Does having a voice matter that much if you're stifling yourself and who you are on a daily basis? Or is the voice of authentic self-expression more important? I swear, I could talk about this forever, but to answer your question, I think the teenager coming into her own take is fine (and Ariel being sixteen...again, she came from a different time when people got married much younger, Eric wasn't that far apart from her in age, and we don't know how much time passed between her becoming a human and the wedding), but I ultimately think it's the story of a gay person finding their place in the world and having to navigate through life alone and risking everything to be able to live authentically. There's a reason the Disney studios credit Howard with "giving a mermaid her voice."

#ask #anonymous #it's so cute that you all call me marcia lol #also the alyssa thing is definitely credited and publicized a lot but alyssa didn't really make it to ariel's final design #disney often does things like that to draw more mainstream buzz for a character #like audrey hepburn was the inspiration for some concept art but she ultimately wasn't the physical source of aurora's look and nothing #of her made in the final form of what we see in sleeping beauty #so that's kinda another instance

[pictureinme]

hcs for taking care of cillian charcters when they’re sick & when you get sick in return?

thank you thank you for this! i decided to put a few more characters for this, i love the concept LOL

patricia 'kitten' braden

» she is the epitome of 'woe is me' when she's sick - pillows upon pillows, tissues everywhere, a hand upon her forehead as she wears her most extravagant nightgown... she has appearances to keep up! » she requests you to dote on her every need - spoon-feeding her soup, putting on her favorite records and lighting the loveliest of candles when the overhead light is just too much to bear » once she recovers, you've fallen just as ill - she apologizes PROFUSELY for making you kiss her constantly, but how could she abstain from you?! » she cooks for you, making sure you're getting every single nutrient to heal fast - picture soups full of veggies, assorted fruit, and, frankly, disgusting smoothies because she read about it in cosmo

neil lewis

» honestly pathetically arrogant, let's be real - swears he's just fine, tries to keep running the store but he sneezed on a copy of 'dr. strangelove' a customer was trying to rent and lucien kicked him out (for everyone's benefit) » once you have him at home, he wears three masks and gloves, spraying everything down with lysol for fear of getting you sick - the only thing he accepts from you is little snacks and the meds he forgot » you somehow get sick despite his best efforts ... even though he did make you throw out all of his various tissues - he immediately goes to webmd with whatever symptoms you present & definitely micromanages your meds schedule » asks marcia and her husband for advice, but only kind they've got is related to their little bundle of joy - they do, however, send him back home with a fuck ton of goodies for you to wake up to from your sickly nap

emma skillpa

» hides her sickness from you as long as possible, to the point of her passing out mid cleaning - luckily you catch her, and she is beyond embarrassed. "oh, please don't worry, i'll be back on my feet in no time!" » you carry her up the stairs, laying her on her bed, and she can't help but swoon at your control of the situation - she tells you exactly the things she needs, sometimes attempting to get out of bed herself to get them. she already has some soup frozen in the ice box, so all you have to do is thaw them » she goes full emma mode when you've fallen ill after taking such good care of her - calls your place of work, telling them you've fallen deathly ill and need a week off (what a gem she is). makes sure you drink every last bit of soup, no ifs or buts » genuinely does not let you leave the bedroom for the entire week, even if you've already recovered by that point - spends time with you, of course, but she has lots to do around the house! maybe being held captive by emma wasn't so bad, hm?

jackson rippner

» cannot STAND being sick, especially with the delays in his job that could occur - however, he very much enjoys you doting on him like his little caretaker. he can't resist playing house » makes sure you attend to his every need, especially while wearing a cute little outfit (nurse costume unnecessary, but not out of the question) - "come on, do a little spin for me, it's the least you can do. i'm a sick man who needs his meds from his oh so sexy wife!" » you falling ill was not in the itinerary, but he loves how cute you look bundled up in the sheets - he pokes fun at you, but still gets you all the stuff you need » if he has to leave for a job in the middle of your sickness, he leaves you with a nest of items you could ever possibly need, as well as an on-call doctor he knows for... reasons - "i'll just be a few states away, but if shit gets serious, don't hesitate to call my burner. yes, i need it for this job, i don't know why. please stop asking so many questions."

jonathan crane

» you can barely tell he's sick for the first few days, but you notice the redness around his nose - when you bring it up, he immediately shoots you down. "darling, if i was sick, i couldn't be doing my job, now could i?" » meanwhile, the next time you see him, he's passed out in his office chair with tissues stuffed in his pocket like a lapel. you bring him back to your place so he can properly rest - he wakes up confused, but silently grateful for the glass of water and medicine you placed on the nightstand next to him » having him stay at your place got you sick pretty fast, and you couldn't believe how he was surviving with the level of congestion you're having - he stays home from work enough to dote on you in his own special way, taking note of your symptoms to properly take care of you » he only goes to the office a few times to bring you back some high doses of medicine you couldn't get over the counter at a cvs, so you could heal as fast as possible - "i know the pills are bigger than normal, but you only have to take them once a day for the rest of the week. don't be such a crybaby."

#patricia braden x reader #kitten braden x reader #neil lewis x reader #emma skillpa x reader #jackson rippner x reader #jonathan crane x reader #cillian murphy x reader

[bamboobrat]

succession s4 e5 recap: swedish elon and his logan roy tribute band

time is a flat circle and we are back to ken hyping himself listening to rap, driving to the office.

anyone feeling nostalgic yet?

he is immediately caught off guard by the fact that roman and shiv are already there.

also he seems like the worst boss ever.

i really don't like ken when he is not hitting rock bottom.

(there is a movie about a sleeping robot in a cave that takes up too much time in this episode. let's not get into all that)

the old guard checks up on the CE-bros before their trip to norway.

matchy matchy<3

turns out mattson wants them all there (why wouldn't he?) so THE GANG IS GOING TO NORWAY! lets bleed the swede!*

*as a norwegian, i approve this message

mortality has set into team krank, as they put on compression socks before the flight.

krank is not here to have fun. krank has no young mistress to impress. krank is serious.

shiv has noticed ken's leaks to the media from last week because she is boss. it's the comeback we've been waiting for.

but most importantly, she is waging a very important war against tom and his stupid new sneakers:

the sibs say they can kill tom for her. that's brotherly love.

hugo is not having a good time.

i am tho.

gerri rallies the troops by shitting on europeans.

yes mommy tell me i'm weak because i have free healthcare! sit on my face

gerri for CEO. always.

they accurately depict what it is like driving in norway:

(this is why i don't have my licence)

the gang arrives in the motherland and it's beautiful, but rainy (so authentic) and are all like WHY THESE WOOD CABINS SO SMALL?!

ironic because jeremy lives in fucking denmark.

anyway, whatever this is:

I DO NOT APPROVE!

the trip up to mount olympus is interrupted by con saying he can send a picture of their dead dad to the group chat.

nobody wants to see it.

also, marcia is putting logan in a kilt like the fucking bay city rollers and con had to cancel a room full of working class whites in cleveland. the sacrifice.

they give con carte blanche for the whole funeral thing, which is probably a terrible decision.

the funeral is going to be one big campaign rally, i'm serious.

the others have to settle for a nice lil scandi brunch spread. what a hard life.

i don't say this often, but i would be hugo in this scenario, piling onto my plate like it's nobody's business.

karolina has a cute lesbian moment.

she says something in swedish at some point, but let me tell you, i understand swedish and i didn't even pick up on it. no shade to dag, but lol.

hugo doesn't understand how ski jumping works.

i thank the writers for putting this joke in there, even if literally no one other than random scandi people will get it.

it's like the opposite of danny boyle's the beach<3 give back to the community<3

roman enters negotiations and puts his fingers in the caviar.

you think i didn't notice? after all this time, you must know i notice everything.

the CE-bros make the village elders proud, as mattson offers 187 per share as long as he gets ATN.

also, gerri does a second take looking back at roman. these are the crumbs i am destined to live on, i guess. roman doesn't want to give up ATN tho, probably because 1) his dad wanted ATN 2) his dad told him he wouldn't make it at pierce and belongs at ATN 3) he is, somehow, the most rational of the siblings right now????

speaking of rational: how are we feeling about the shiv/mattson potential here? i honestly have zero objections.

shiv is like fuck yeah, sell ATN, that shit is toxic.

agreed, but who gave mencken an open line to ATN-meetings? sounds like something logan told cyd to do during one of those late night calls.

"even dad had a line" rings true zero percent. pass.

get rid of atn. word is, they don't even have tucker carlson anymore? just keep a sweater, much less racist.

we get some important leo dicap representation:

and greg is the bringer of all that is exposition, telling us there is a kill list with 8 to 9 names, ever evolving.

now, as most readers of these recaps would know, i would like to avoid spending any time on greg whatsoever (made even more poignant by the recent rumors about nick), however, this must be one of the best exchanges of dialogue ever made:

greg: da fam shiv: da fuck

that's all.

tom tells the swedes that americans don't care about the rest of the world and it's funny because it's true.

and alex being like "you're ALL related?!"

i see you, succession writers, i see you.

mattson calls waystar a parts shop and has a good take on right wing media:

"i dont think news for angry, old men works"

instead, he opts for bloomberg grey: simple, cheap, huge, ikea'd to fuck. i do love ikea.

he calls the sibs a tribute band which is harsh. even for a scandi, it's fucking harsh.

anyway, SAUNA! SAUNA! SAUNA!

GERRI. IN. SAUNA! (chant with me)

i will never forget what the succession writers took from me.

krank out here just chilling.

i've never shipped anyone more.

we are introduced to ebba. i can tell i'd have more to say on this in any other situation, but it just feels weird (all norwegian know each other, i guess).

anyone else here for the shiv/mattson dynamic?

i'm sorry, i kind of ship it????

ken wants to tank the deal and roman immediately calls him out on his destructive bullshit:

and then immediately caves.

"i think we are good at running the ship" they say after doing it for approximately 24 hours.

i wish i had their confidence.

also, pinky can't dance, according to ken, so they keep shiv out. meanwhile, she gets cozy with lukas, who asks her about her marriage (bad) and tells her he sends liters of blood to ebba (also bad).

shiv shows us why she is paid the big bucks for political advice:

we don't see the end of their night, so i'm just going to assume they fucked. because she's worth it.

also, talking up gerri and karolina? girlies stick together<3

big bi vibes here. huge. idc if she's pregnant and drinking.

meanwhile, the CE-bros use greg to leak that the negotiations are souring. why would you trust greg with anything?

in an attempt to fuck the deal, the CE-bros show a terrible film to the swedish team, as if being scandi doesn't mean you've sat through enough terrible cinema already....

we get the strangest fight in tv history:

lol @ us for thinking this was an important moment for the two of them and then it's a fight about white sneakers and fat earlobes.

i sure hope shiv fucked lukas.

roman receives a photo of his dead dad and it doesn't really put him in the right place to negotiate with mattson:

ouch.

leave it to kieran to make an emmy-worthy speech across from alex skarsgaard peeing.

the plan was: tank the deal, but in a subtle way. what they did: try and tank the deal, but in a not very subtle way. did the deal tank: no.

i hope you understand.

the question is, if a deal collapses in the woods and no one hears it, is it a SEC violation?

mattson ends up offering 192 per share. karl jizzes his pants.

shiv gives the little spelunker tom a lil treat, telling him to fire cyd.

then she asks him out?

and ignores him again because she is taking a call from mattson?

idk my dudes, but i'm into this shiv comeback.

mattson seems happy and flirty and i sure as shit hope this goes somewhere.

as long as it doesn't involve liters of frozen blood.

i have a feeling it will be all good vibes until he learns about her pregnancy. there's always something rotten in the state of denmark (or norway, or sweden, but it's all the same).

the waystar-team receives the kill list after the offer and it's very stressful for a few people who made themselves suffer through a session in the sauna:

not on the kill list: karolina gerri tom because shiv fucking did the thing!!

oh, and karl and frank are on the kill list, but i think they are just fine.

maybe the real treasure was the compression socks we made along the way.

#succession #succession hbo #succession spoilers #succession season 4 #kendall roy #jeremy strong #roman roy #kieran culkin #shiv roy #sarah snook #j. smith-cameron #gerri kellman #david rasche #karl muller #frank vernon #peter friedman #tom wambsgans #matthew macfadyen #hugo baker #fisher stevens #eili harboe #ebba succession #alexander skarsgard #lukas mattson #greg hirsch #nicholas braun

[amtrak12]

Lucifer Rewatch Liveblog: 1.02

We’re doing it again! And again I am so nervous about it. And also trying to stop myself out of embarrassment -- not the liveblogging part. No, just watching the episode in general. Who are you embarrassed by, Amber? Who’s going to judge you for what you’re watching in your own home? NO ONE! GET OVER YOURSELF!

Anyway. Ep 2. The paparazzi ep, which I only know because I’ve already rewatched it once. But after this, I don’t remember anything about S1 so we’ll get to be surprised together about what plot pops up next. :P

And.... *plays*

All evangelical street preachers are terrible. But I hate this faker just as much as the real ones. I'm on Lucifer's side here. He deserves the Devil face.

It's so cute when Linda thinks this Devil stuff is all a metaphor. Simpler times, right, Linda? ;)

Healed from feelings of humanity -- *Marcia Brady face* Sure, Lucifer.

OMG that was a Crazy Ex-Girlfriend billboard in the background! CRAZY EX-GIRLFRIEND SIGHTING!!! :D :D :D

Chloe is the absolute worst at being sneaky ROTFL

Aw. Give it a year and Maze and Chloe will be roomies :) Tell them that here and they'll both threaten to punch you lol

Lucifer once again completely fails to register that Chloe is playing him. Such a dumb-dumb (affectionately mocking)

(Chloe is just as ridiculous, though, thinking Lucifer would be wearing a bullet proof vest as part of his everyday wear. Granted, I’m sure she’s down to the dregs as far as plausible explanations go for how Lucifer could walk away unharmed after being shot multiple times. But also we saw Chloe get shot while wearing a bullet proof vest in S3 and she still got knocked back and knocked out for several minutes, which, through internet osmosis, I’m fairly certain is realistic with how bullet proof vests work in real life? So are you even still in the dregs, there, Chloe or are you now pulling straws out of your butt just to grasp at them?)

I was curious about who on the force would still call Chloe with a tip, but then I realized it was Dan lol. That makes sense.

Chloe easily follows Lucifer's lead even after telling him no. She only pretends to have self control. :P

*snorts* That look from Dan is 20% annoyed Lucifer is hanging out with Chloe and 80% pissed because he had to listen to Trixie talk for hours the other night about a two minute run-in with Lucifer where she gushed on and on about how awesome Lucifer is. ROTFL

"Is this the fight you want to pick?" -- It'll be nice when Dan gets a new refrain cause repeating himself two eps in a row is both annoying and very 'in case you missed the pilot, here's a quick recap' which is equally annoying.

Hi Amenadiel! (said with Trixie cheer) It will be nice when you get a new refrain too. Which happens sooner than I remembered because I rewatched the finale too last month for fic research and he was pretty much regular Amenadiel already which was... shocking. I could’ve sworn that took longer.

(Speaking of shocking, let me tell you, my first time through the early eps, I was FLOORED to realize Chloe and Dan were only separated in S1. I was under the assumption they were divorced the entire run of the show! I didn’t realize they were still married in the beginning. Fucking wild.)

The hilarious part is God probably isn't saying shit about any of this. This is all Amenadiel thinking he knows what Absentee Dad wants just like Uriel did in S2. (and look where that got Uriel....)

I know it hasn't come up yet, but they really didn't do the praying thing to contact angels after S1, did they? I mean they showed angels answering human prayers (very badly lol) in S5, but never prayers to contact another angel. Probably because Amenadiel and Lucifer had cell phones and no other angels were on earth. But still, I wish they had kept it. I like it.

Ninja chemist by night -- damn this girl is both imaginative and smart. And obsessed with ninjas even before befriending Maze. Excellent. No wonder they became instant besties.

CHLOE YOU ASKED ABOUT THE EIFFEL TOWER WHEN YOUR DAUGHTER WAS IN EARSHOT! THAT'S ON YOU! lmao

This whole conversation with the paparazzo is just Lucifer being all 'I came out to have a good time and I'm honestly feeling so attacked (by pesky human empathy) :(' I like it. Good shit.

Back to ‘just S1 things’, I'm fine with this weird Hell coin being a pilot season one-off though. It doesn't make any kind of world-building sense to me but if it's just for a season, I can roll with it.

'Are you coming or what?' -- :D Let the partnership begin!!!

Man, being a kid in LA must suck being right on top of Hollywood. The gossip mill must be out of control! And the brutal bullying about which parent has the more famous job. Or do the kids in LA bully each other about other things and consciously roll their eyes and shove the Hollywood stuff away because it’s so mundane and boring? I don’t know how school cliques work outside of the small ass Illinois town I grew up in.

How do these people always remember license plate numbers after seeing them for two seconds? Can't relate.

Maze just glaring and slicing an apple in the corner is perfection. Love my girl <3

But Dan, if Chloe isn't following him and you (allegedly *side eyes*) aren't following him, then how do you know the perp is missing? o_O

It's also cute when Lucifer was so convinced humans couldn't change cause he had spent too many eons in Hell where no one managed to stop running from their guilt. They're all so naive and innocent in S1, aren't they? :)

Leverage did this gun showdown better. But Leverage is as close to a perfect show as I've ever seen and this is Lucifer’s second episode ever so that's not really a fair comparison.

'Luci... you should've taken the offer.' -- Amenadiel... you shouldn't bring dead humans back to life so they can kill your brother for you. (See? Two can play the blame game :P)

Trixie already knowing about Hot Tub High School is reason #3 that I accept the fan theory that Trixie has always believed Lucifer is really the Devil. The girl understands things like reality and the truth.

(Trixie already knowing about the movie is also evidence #8 that Chloe and Dan are :S as parents. How does a 7/8 year old have that kind of unfettered access to the internet? What is happening with my niblings' generation??? MONITOR YOUR CHILDREN'S INTERNET SO YOU CAN TEACH THEM HOW TO PROPERLY USE IT! ffs)

No comment on the Jimmy scene. His freakout and Lucifer disappearing and popping back up somewhere else in the blink of an eye only weigh on Chloe's mind enough for her to shoot Lucifer later in the season, but not enough for her to believe he's really the Devil until S4. I’ve also seen it a few too many times in fan vids. Oops!

IT’S OVER! \0/ I’ve successfully liveblogged two whole episodes!! WHOO!! It definitely worked better to let the episode roll and take quick notes on the side that I went back and fleshed out after the episode finished. I’m going to stick with that method of liveblogging.

Catch you in the next one!

#Amber watches Lucifer

[walpurga-nacht-academy]

I’m curious... What do the prefects think of Aline? 👀

(Sorry if I end up spamming you with asks like this)

Sorry it ended up being so late, but here you go @twstankin! Thank you for the ask!  ❤️

Also, lol, dw about that!

“That one... she always does what she wants and never listens to me even though I’m her Prefect. Not to mention that condescending ‘doll’ nickname...”

Rosalia Morgainne: Aline’s dismissive attitude of Rosa as a Prefect would make their relationship quite difficult at the beginning. Rosa already struggles with not being taken seriously and being referred to as ‘doll’ would make her feel like she’s still caught in the shadows of ‘Cherry’ and treated like a child. She wants her dorm mates to take her seriously, which is why she tries to act like a grown-up and Aline’s attitude towards her would be a constant reminder of how much she’s failing at that particular endeavour. She’d try to impose herself before her with little success, but I think it would only make things worse since Rosa is just acting out the part rather than actually believing it.  

“Dumont-senpai? She’s... well, she’s my senior and such relationships must be respected.”

Blanche Dion: Serious and responsible as always, Blanche would disapprove of Aline’s more frivolous tendencies, but because she takes seniority quite seriously she wouldn’t comment on it. The doll comments make her feels rather uncomfortable too because it reminds her too much about what her mother expects her to be when compared to her siblings.  

“Hah... I wonder if I can get her mother to sponsor me? Being a big brand and all that has to have its advantages financially, right?”

Marcia Pyroeis: Not one to lose any opportunity, Marcia would have boldly approached Aline during her first year to attempt to secure a sponsorship from her since she’s always trying to scout a sponsor. She’s easy to get along with so Marcia would ignore Aline’s tendency to call people ‘doll’ in order to remain on her good side.  

“Reminds me of the ghoul too much, that one... creepy lot, ugh.”

June Himalia: Though they’re in the same year, since Aline is in the same class as Vita they don’t really have many opportunities for interaction since June avoids that classroom like the plague. Since Aline comes from a well-off family, June thinks of her as just another rich kid who doesn’t know much about back-breaking hard work. Moreover, she usually sees Rosenhex students as frivolous and superficial so she rarely bothers approaching them.

“...Strife within the herd is often fatal.”  

Diana Arrow: Diana keeps away from things that do not concern her directly, so she would be merely content to observe Aline whenever the two interacted. Her odd tendencies would interest Diana only in the sense that she sees it as challenging Rosa’s authority. She’s a big believer in pack unity within the dorm, so seeing such blatant disrespect towards a Prefect would give her pause. 

“Um, Miss Dumont is certainly a character, isn’t she?”

Cassandra Delphinne: They’re both members of the Photography club so she’s somewhat familiar with Aline. She finds her a bit intimidating, not only due to her height, and generally tries not to get her attention too much. The ‘doll’ nickname confuses her quite a bit, and she isn’t sure if it’s supposed to be a compliment or a thinly-veiled insult meant to unnerve her. Regardless, she’s usually quite nervous in her company, though also tries to be respectful and polite.  

“Rosenhex... whether Prefect... or student... they’re all... the same... annoying...”

Agatha Voisin: Agatha has an overall poor view of Rosenhex students due to their preoccupation with physical appearance and because most of them conform to the standard definition of ‘cute’. Aline’s tendency to call people ‘cute dolls’ would irk her quite a bit because she would instantly assume she’s mocking her. Agatha does find amusement in seeing Aline ‘bully’ Rosa however, since she feels like the latter deserves it.

“Mm, the little one is rather excitable, isn’t she? Still, this much is to be expected of Rosenhex witches.”

Vita Dies: As classmates and seat neighbours, the two end up in the other’s company quite a lot, so Vita is free to witness Aline’s personality changes, She finds it quite amusing to see people fall for the ‘Big Sister’ act she puts on and is content to merely watch things go along at their pace. She sometimes gets to see Aline ‘bully’ Rosa which satisfies her need for chaos and disfunction, and might even occasionally join in to troll her as well.

#twisted wonderland #twisted wonderland fanschool #walpurga nacht academy #rosalia morgainne #blanche dion #marcia pyroeis #june himalia #cassandra delphinne #agatha voisin #vita dies #Aline Dumont #ask

[the-aussie-fangirl]

Rough All Over: Chapter 3

A Johnny Cade x OC fanfic

Part 1 Part 2

Summary: The Curtis gang lives on the rough side of town. Their lives consist of abusive parents, violent gangs and trouble around every corner but even through all the hardships, they can always call on each other. However, when a new girl shows up to town with a mysterious past, things start to take a turn. Will the boys manage to stick together, even when everything’s trying to tear them apart?

Warnings: Mediocre writing

(a/n: So this chapter is kind of just a buildup, I promise the story is about to get more interesting. Bare with me, lol. )

---

The bell rang, signalling the end of class and Ponyboy made his way out into the hallway. He spotted Johnny standing beside the lockers. He had his hands stuffed into the pockets of his denim jacket and he had his head down, staring at the floor as people walked past.

“Hey Johnnycakes!” Pony exclaimed, walking towards him.

“Oh, hey Ponyboy” he glanced up through his big brown eyes and gave Pony a small smile.

“Do you want to go out the back?” 

Johnny nodded and the boys made their way towards the back of the school. Most greasers tried to avoid the cafeteria since that's where the socs usually hung out, so after a few years of searching, Johnny and Ponyboy had found a spot out back where they wouldn’t be bothered by the other kids. 

Lighting a cigarette, the boys stood with their backs leaning against the wall. It wasn’t too cold that day but the wind had a slight chill to it, causing Johnny to dig his hands back into the pockets of his jacket. 

Pony glanced at his friend and could tell there was something on his mind. Johnny was staring thoughtfully out at the scenery around him, eyebrows slightly furrowed and a cancer stick hanging from his lip. Pony was just about to ask him what was wrong when Johnny turned to look at him, eyeing the younger boy carefully with a curious look on his face.

“Who’s that new girl who was hanging around with the socs this morning?”

Pony raised an eyebrow at Johnny but answered the question. 

“Her name is Dawn, I think. She’s the one that Soda was talking about on the weekend. They met at the gas station?” 

Johnny nodded and turned his head away from Pony, taking a puff of his weed. 

“She’s kinda cute” 

Pony’s head whipped around so fast that he thought he’d get whiplash. Johnny, had never shown interest in girls before! Pony was starting to think Johnny was too damaged to care about romance.

Johnny looked down, a deep blush dusting over his cheeks. 

“I...uh, i just mean that she...um...looks nice”

Pony smirked. “Yeah, yeah. I get what you meant”. 

---

The week went on as usual. The novelty of the new girl eventually wore off and people stopped speculating about why she was there, however Ponboy couldn’t help but notice Johnny’s prolonged glances when Dawn walked by them in the halls. 

It was a Thursday when Pony and Dawn finally had an interaction.

Ponyboy had an history paper due in a week and he decided to go to the school library to work on it. He knew that the gang would be at his place that evening and he knew he wouldn’t get anything done with the boys making a ruckus. 

The library was mostly quiet after school had ended and Ponyboy made his way to a table, pulling out his books. He was halfway through his paper when he heard a loud sigh come from the desk in the corner. 

Pony looked up in confusion. There wasn’t usually anyone else in the library after school had finished. He glanced around the room, noticing the girl with her head down on her desk, brown hair fanned out over her textbooks.

Pony approached her cautiously. He didn’t want to disturb her but she looked like she could use some help. Over her shoulder he recognised her work as the same extension maths work he’d been given a few weeks ago.

Pony reached out, gently tapping her shoulder. 

“Umm, excuse me…”

Dawn’s head shot up as she looked around at the boy standing next to her. 

“Oh sorry” Pony muttered “I didn’t mean to disturb you”.

“Don’t worry about it.” She sighed. “Can I help you?”

Pony glanced at the girl. She looked different close up. He could see that her dark hair had a slight wave to it and her eyes, although a piercing emerald colour, looked weary and tired. 

Pony rocked back and forth on his heels, not quite sure what to say. 

“I..um. I saw you struggling and I wondered if you needed some help.”

Her lips curled up into a small smile. “Thanks for the offer, I really appreciate it but I don’t think we’re in the same class”.

“That’s okay” Pony took a seat beside her. “I was given this work for extension”. 

She nodded her head. “Okay then. I could really use some help with this”. 

“My name is Ponyboy by the way” He muttered, sticking out a hand for her to shake. 

She shook his hand gently. “I’m Dawn, nice to meet you”.

“I know,” he added. “I think you’ve met my brother Sodapop” 

Ponyboy regretted the words as soon as they came out of his mouth. That was a weird thing to say and he looked down at the ground, cursing himself in embarrassment. However, Dawn just smiled.

“I met Sodapop the other night. He’s a sweetheart”. 

---

Ponyboy spent the rest of the afternoon helping Dawn with her work. She struggled at first but with some encouragement, she understood the equations. Eventually it got late and the two decided it was time to leave.

As they stood out the front of the school, they both took a moment to glance up at the beautiful, orange sunset that danced across the horizon. 

“It’s beautiful, isn’t it” Dawn turned towards Ponyboy, her eyes shining with admiration.

Pony smiled at her “Yeah. Yeah it is”. 

She sighed, taking in a beautiful scene in front of her. “I never got to see a sunset like this before”. 

Pony just nodded in agreement. He’d always loved the sunsets in Tulsa. 

“Thanks for your help Ponyboy, I really appreciate it,” She said sincerely. 

He glanced at the girl, shooting her a smile. “It’s really no problem”. 

She looked down at the ground and he wondered what was running through her mind.

“No really. It’s very kind of you to help me with my work. No one else has before”.

Pony’s heart ached for the girl and he wasn’t quite sure why. He could tell there was something going on at home, something that lingered just below the surface.

He sighed. He liked Dawn, she was sweet and didn’t treat him like dirt because of his social class like most of the socs did. He wanted to do what he could to help her. 

She turned back towards him. “You know Ponyboy, if i’m being honest, I don’t quite feel like I belong here.” 

Pony was surprised to hear her say this and furrowed his brow in confusion. “But what about Cherry and Marcia? You seemed to get long with them.”

Dawn sighed, “Yeah, they’re nice and all but they’ve grown up on the west side. They’ve always had money. I don’t really know how to fit in with that.” 

They two stood in silence for a moment before Dawn glanced down at the watch on her wrist. “Oh shoot. I’d better get going. I’ll see you tomorrow, Ponyboy” she turned, leaving a light kiss on his cheek before walking away down the road.

#the outsiders fanfiction #johnny cade x oc #Johnny Cade #outsiders imagine #Ponyboy Curtis #Steve Randle #darry curtis #Two-Bit Mathews #Dallas Winston #Sodapop Curtis #ponyboy curtis x oc #stay gold

[idexstuck]

LBTW’s current outline under the cut. suffer with me

1.0 - the letterbomb initiative

1.1 - ceaseless flight (RnR)

1.1.1 - ruth awakens to find rich has gone missing, seemingly voluntarily. after going about his daily routine, he gets a dispatch from verne to kill mysthuntonium. after assuming that

1.1.2 - the party agrees to lay off accelerating for a while, so ruth spends a good deal of time looking around the dimension he accelerated into. while doing a solo search, he comes across a temple that's seemingly taken the place of where he and his boyfriend used to live. inside, he finds a scrap of paper with standard galactic on it.

1.1.3 - at solar edge, johanna and emerson have a surprisingly civil conversation (only because reese and ruth are there to keep johanna from getting charged with murder). emerson does ruth a favor, translating the SGA on the paper into english. it says 'NOCTURNE.'

1.1.4 - with this, ruth is determined to accelerate further. the party advises against it for his own health, but after insisting he's survived worse, ruth and reese accelerate while johanna says she'll tag along later. she has some choice words with emerson, but follows the party to their next destination. led only by the paper scrap, ruth returns to the site of the temple with reese and finds nothing. after consolidations, ruth's resolve to find his boyf is restored.

1.1.5 - in all of her wisdom, verne has done some extraneous scouting for ruth, and says that- in uncertain terms- rich is alive and well. ruth is relieved, but unsatisfied with the answer; verne says that this NOCTURNE is a threat that bears immediate neutralization. his goals slightly shifted, ruth asks emerson for more help. emerson makes it a 'date,' of course, but he does disclose that NOCTURNE isn't connected to the wireframe at all.

1.1.6 - armed with new information, ruth begins devising new severance patterns to break through the wireframe and neutralize NOCTURNE. johanna and reese say he's jumping the gun, and after hours of failed attempts, johanna invites him to deal with things her way. her methods are questionable, but ruth does relax a little, and promises to stop putting himself in jeopardy.

1.1.7 - it's been a week since accelerating into the current dimension, and despite it being the middle of october, the weather is strangely warm. johanna and emerson have an entirely UN-civil chat, and reality starts falling apart.

1.1.8 - entirely unaffected by the strange happenings, ruth damn-near works himself to death conducting tests on the wireframe with severance patterns. emerson pays him a visit, somehow, and his true colors start to show. instead of watching ruth scramble to destroy the wireframe, emerson gives ruth the pattern that leads to NOCTURNE- but just before things start going xiang-liu levels of haywire.

1.1.8.1 - rich, entrapped by the NOCTURNE, reminisces on his time alone.

1.1.9 - ruth falls into the space outside the wireframe. encompassed by a wintry landscape on all sides, he begins his trek, and is quickly interrupted by a catatonic rich and what he can assume is the NOCTURNE, who appears now as a specter instead of its real form. ruth severs rich from the nocturne- or, at least, repels the nocturne, and they have a very cute and tearful reunite. the outside destabilizes without the NOCTURNE at full power, and ruth and rich fall into the septenary gardens. ruth delivers his letter, and the two of them make their way back to the nearest dimension.

1.0.10 - normalcy has, for the most part, returned- ruth gets his pay, rich gets sick leave for almost dying, and johanna and reese treat the main party to drinks on the house (emerson uninvited). even verne shows up!

1.2 - gridley and the septenary gardens (ruth)

1.2.1 - gridley zimmerman, on the brink of death from NOCTURNE, makes a 'tether' with one of the seven fundamental rules of reality: the septenary clocktower of consciousness. through her extreme faith in the goddess, she's granted theodora von ennekern's personal blade, forged with the purpose of being able to cleave anything in twain. training montage!

1.2.2 - gridley is getting used to her new powers, and tries to create an illusion in which her home was never destroyed. it ends badly, and, consumed with rage, she accidentally cleaves an entire timeline apart.

1.2.3 - focused entirely on vengeance, gridley travels around a few dimensions- one still engulfed by the mirror war, one archaic (theo cameo!), and one close to the present.

1.2.4 - ruth gets a notification from verne that a new threat is on the loose. he nicknames it neptuniomega-237. meanwhile, gridley is pulled back into the septenary gardens after a choice incident with 209 (not shown). while at solar edge, she talks to ruth one-on-one, and says something to the effect of 'i know who you are, and i know what you do, but stay out of my way.' ruth figures this is his target.

1.2.5 -

- show off the clocktowers

- gridleys out to find nocturne right? but like shes mad so shes destroying everything in her path (she doesnt know emerson is doing the exact same thing lol)

1.1.x - within the collapsing sixth clocktower, gridley and ruth have their final confrontation

1.3 - miranda and phoebe (reese)

1.3.1 - while mulling over a drink he can't consume, reese is approached by miranda cassidy and phoebe francis with a deal: he can go back in time and get a do-over of the incident that nearly ended his life- no strings attached.

1.3.2 - at the discretion of even emerson, reese accepts M&P's deal- in his eyes, he's got nothing to lose but his life for the second time. he meets up with M&P at phoebe's bar, and after tasting some of phoebe's house mix (bad idea), miranda and phoebe send him back a week before the incident.

1.3.3 - reese, restored to his old organic form, quickly remembers how the week before the incident played out, and begins to retrace his steps at the dis-advisement of phoebe and miranda (acting as the devil and angel on his shoulder in a sense). on wednesday- the seventh day before the accident- he tampers with the strange purple section of the wireframe he encountered earlier.

1.3.4 - thurs

1.3.5 - fri

1.3.6 - sat

1.3.7 - sun

1.3.8 - mon

1.3.9 - tues

1.3.10 - wed

1.4 - emerson (johanna)

1.4.1 - emerson and reese go on a 'date,' and when reese gets back to solar edge, he's nearly killed by johanna. johanna finally admits why emerson makes her so mad, but in vague terms at best. reese, determined to know why, presses further, but she avoids the topic by getting hammered and refusing to answer any more questions.

1.4.2 - while trying to visit an old friend in gracetown's hospital, johanna is stopped by emerson, and, constrained by social order, they catch up with each other. emerson is as slippery as ever when it comes to goals and motives, but johanna makes it 100% clear that her next move is ending his life.

1.4.3 - johanna asks ruth to help her in severing things from the wireframe. we get a lesson on wireframe mechanics, and a nice bonding bit between johanna and ruth. johanna is surprisingly competent, and ruth is a surprisingly good teacher.

1.4.x - within the wireframe, the party confronts 210, johanna leading the charge. in a final attempt to eliminate the neutralizers, emerson consumes the prime material plane. through sheer force of will, johanna survives, and severs emerson's connection to the wireframe, essentially killing him. his body collapses, and johanna is thrown into a (all things considered) pretty normal version of gracetown.

1.4.x - johanna and emerson (somehow still alive), have a chat about morals and stuff.

1.5 - reverse actor (RnR)

2.0 - catch you on the flip-side

2.1 - unit 12 & mirror stuff (reese)

2.1.1 - through a hole in the septenary gardens, the party finds themself on the flip-side, a mirror dimension from which the mirrors originate. they meet johanna's flip-side variant, and begin to explore this weird version of the world.

2.1.2 - while coming back from a scouting dispatch by verne, ruth is stopped by a strange man named unit twelve, who claims to be something called an observant. he says that ruth has tipped the cosmic scale of good and evil too far in the "good" direction, and before ruth can ask why that's a bad thing, U12 makes it clear that he's out to eliminate the neutralizers for good.

Unit Twelve Healing Chapter where he learns how to bake and Heals

do it like in HCDND i beg of you- u12 is concoting some runic shit to contact the nocturne directly and gain its favor- like, backstory then, etc etc

2.2 - marcia (main three)

2.2.1 - the main party wakes up in a gaudy ballroom, golden and clean, but inhabited by nobody. they quickly meet marcia, who has been alive and well this whole time, albeit under the dominion of the NOCTURNE. while showing them about the place, NOCTURNE sees it as a chance to strike. the group splits up- ruth with marcia, johanna with gridley, and reese with rich.

2.2.2.1 - ruth, while hiding from the NOCTURNE, gets some answers from marcia about NOCTURNE and the flip-side.

2.2.2.2 - johanna and gridley have found some kind of supply closet to hide in, and they find out that they're more similar than they thought.

2.2.2.3 - reese and rich share relationship advice (and cooking skills).

2.2.2 -

2.3 - nocturne (main three)

2.3.1 - the party regroups after sneaking around the NOCTURNE's shadow, and finally shows itself in its true form- a body double of ruth. it lets itself be 'defeated' by the party, but not before ruth is shown an illusion in which he becomes one of NOCTURNE's lackeys. afterwards, the ballroom returns to normal, and marcia seems mildly disappointed at the outcome of the battle. she offers to treat them to dinner, but specifically reese refuses, and they head back to flip-side solar edge.

2.3.2 - ruth and rich commiserate about missing home.

2.3.3 - over dinner, the party discusses just how they plan on getting home. verne contacts them with a call and ensures that she can and will bring them home- but the hurdles won't stop after that.

3.0 - zero mercy; red string

3.1 - the helena effect & more on the red string theorem (mercy)

3.1.1 - verne leads ruth and rich on a duo mission towards a woman named mercy helena, who is trying to deduce whether or not soulmates exist. through extensive testing, the answer seems to be no- but in a final gambit, she tests her experiments on ruth and rich. as it turns out, testing for the red string means that she has to sift through the entire story of how they met.

3.1.2 - turns out, ruth and rich met at solar edge!

3.1.3 - ruth takes a dispatch mission from verne, and runs into rich along the way. ruth comes clean about his true occupation, but rich seems to not mind.

3.1.4 - while on break, rich and emerson share relationship advice.

3.1.5 - ruth and rich go out, officially, at a nearby restaurant.

3.1.6 - after a particularly dangerous dispatch, rich patches up ruth in the med-bay. this is our first look at rich's healing magic!

3.1.7 - after another stressful day of dispatches, ruth and rich go out at solar edge.

3.1.8 - a few weeks after moving in with rich, ruth notices his boyfriend is acting a little on-edge as of late. when he tries to ask what's wrong, rich clams up and refuses to answer.

3.1.9 - rich, unable to sleep, makes tea and observes late-night gracetown. ruth, also unable to sleep, plays some tunes on his ol' guitar (gin blossoms, of course). rich simply requests that ruth stays with him instead of trying to fix his problems. ruth insists that rich's problems are his own, but rich is having none of it. the next day, ruth finds that rich has voluntarily gone missing.

3.1.10 - after intense calculations, helena determines that rich and ruth are indeed soulmates- and the whole backstory thing was just a tiny part of what she needed. as it turns out, the two of them are tethered to the zeroth and most enigmatic clocktower- that of which helena theorizes is human bonds.

3.2 - xiao lei and the zero

3.2.1 - a psychic woman named xiao lei asks gridley for help on her own time, and not because of a verne dispatch. gridley agrees to help, but for some reason, xiao lei can't be mind-read like anyone else normally can. she introduces gridley to the idea of the zero- a place beyond any '-side' that exists- the very edge of unobservable reality.

3.3 - anti-freeze

3.3.1 - in a strange twist of fate, ruth is the one that goes missing this time. he awakens in a strange laboratory, accompanied by a woman who calls herself "five" and claims to be part of an "anti-freeze initiative." they chat, and as it turns out, five has never heard of the clocktowers, and comes from an awfully odd place.

3.4 - macy and valentine's day

3.5 - vivian

- theo's whole thing

- alter-egos (main three)

- 209 proper (main three)

- who is R.Z. (RnR)

- astraea (theo)

- vernes backstory (verne)

- angelica (rich)

- vivian and more about the outside (main three)

- em alter (johanna and em)

- diagammathetium

- Girls' Frontline Healing Chapter Except It's Letterbomb! A Whole Part of Fluff!

- phoebe gets in lots of trouble for fucking w cosmic waste

- septenary clocktowers except its mirror temple b-side from celeste

- cass (oldie)

#textpost #NOTHING HAPPENS WHAT THE FUCK

[monsterleadmehome]

Thoughts On TLJ novelization:

-I loved Jason Fry’s writing. I think he captured Rian’s story well while still having his voice come through.

-the crazy dream prologue was so sad. Like an alternate timeline of normal Luke.

-Han’s hasty memorial was fitting. I love anything from Leia’s POV.

-the Paige and Rose scene made me cry. Especially how Rose kept talking to her throughout the rest of the book. Pae Pae! Ugh I’m dead.

-seeing “General Hugs” in print literally made my day

-I see Fulmanatrix and think Dominatrix. Intentional?

-“Stiff fins and sharp teeth” is the “clear eyes full heart” on Mon Cala

-I had to wait 65 pages for Kylo Ren?!

-KYLO DIDN’T FIRE ON LEIA BECAUSE HE FELT THAT SHE STILL CARED ABOUT HIM. “She was worried for him, he realized. And she wasn’t angry. She ached for him to come back to her.” Excuse me while I go cry.

-also he would’ve stopped the torpedo if he hadn’t been caught by surprise. Because he is THAT STRONG IN THE FORCE OMG.

-I was not a huge fan of Rose’s jealousy of Rey and am glad that didn’t feature in the movie. The “Rey Rey Rey” was a little too “Marcia Marcia Marcia” for me.

-Luke fucking slapped Rey for going to the dark without hesitation. How dare.

-I know this has been said, but Rey wondered if they could touch as early as the second force bond! Like what even? “Could they actually touch, across a galaxy?” (p 136)

-Then after she calls him a monster:

“She stared back at him — and found his eyes full of hurt. Hurt — and conflict.

‘Yes I am,’ Kylo said and there was no menace in his voice — only misery.”

This just reinforces that Kylo is ok with everyone else seeing him as a monster, but he had hoped Rey would think differently.

-Luke being a dick then turning around and asking Rey to dance is such a Skywalker thing to do. No wonder Kylo keeps striking out. Also badass Rey was scared of dancing. That was kind of cute.

-BB-8 loves murder. No surprise there.

-Rey is so distracted by shirtless Kylo. She “forced herself to look into his eyes,” then “...Rey made herself focus.” 😏

-“His gaze was hungry — and knowing.” (p 175) I’m sorry, did I stumble into a harlequin romance novel?

-CAN WE PLEASE TALK ABOUT THE FACT THAT LUKE WAS GOING TO GO BACK WITH REY BEFORE HE CAUGHT HER WITH KYLO?!?!?!?

Like, he opened himself to the Force, sensed Leia then was all oh shit the galaxy does need me. Then, he finds Rey holding hands with his naughty nephew and decided NEVERMIND?! I can’t even.

-Rey had that traumatic experience in the cave and there was only one person she wanted to talk to, “someone who would understand how solitude and loss could eat away at you until there was nothing left.” 😩

-the hut scene is just as beautiful on the page as it was in the movie... except they are sitting NEXT TO EACH OTHER. And Rey thinks about touching him AGAIN. “As if she could actually reach out and touch his hand, his face, his hair.” Um, she wants to what? Reach out and caress his face and run her fingers through his hair? Cuz SAME GIRL SAME.

-“Luke Skywalker walked into the hut — to find Rey and Kylo with their hands clasped, staring into each other’s eyes.” Are you serious?! I am so scandalized. *clutches pearls*

-Then Rey hands his ass to him for fucking up a perfectly good Ben Solo and peaces out.

-I wanted more Holdo.

-We still don’t know what Chewie offered to say to Finn

-The witty flirty banter between Rey and Kylo when she arrives on The Supremacy is gold and should have been in the movie. Also WE WERE ROBBED OF A SMILE.

-Rey saw longing in his eyes in the elevator. That’s canon.

-Snoke’s whole internal monologue about how he’s been this mastermind and manipulated Ben since he was a child as well as all these events in the galaxy just to get to this point was the epitome of hubris. He takes credit for bridging their minds and congratulates himself on a job well done, all while failing to overlook one very important thing: love. Like, hi you thought it was a good idea to bring the two loneliest people in the galaxy together? These young attractive people? You didn’t think that your apprentice would fall head over heels and trade his allegiance from you to her? LOL. Real evil can’t comprehend love.

-Funnily enough, both Snoke and Luke can see that even though he calls himself Kylo Ren, he will always be Ben Solo. Snoke is using him as a means to an end but he doubts he can ever go fully dark. Luke in the confrontation on Crait “sensed that Kylo Ren was just a shell around the same broken boy he had tried so hard to reach.” (p 297)

- what’s that smell? Oh, REDEMPTION.

-I would have liked half the praetorian guard fight from Kylo’s POV.

-“He advanced on Rey, the ignited lightsaber held loosely in one hand. But there was no threat in his approach.

Somehow, suddenly, that scared her even more.” Why is that, Rey? Hmm? Possibly because you know what he wants???

Then, “Rey tried to find the strength to deny him, to shove him away. But he was right.” OMFG HOW CLOSE IS HE STANDING TO HER?!

-I loved Poe’s little pep talk to Rose about how she is needed. Gave me the warm fuzzies.

-I also somehow liked the Finnrose kiss more in the book? It was sweeter.

- “‘Rey,’ Kylo said, speaking her name like it was poison.” Omg this tore my heart out. He is SO hurt by her leaving. Like the other thing I noticed is that from Kylo’s POV we still don’t get a lot of what he’s thinking. He keeps everything so guarded, from all those years with Snoke in his mind. Rey works through stuff. Kylo doesn’t expand on anything. You just get hurt and betrayal and fear and anger. It’s so heartbreaking. He also has a hard time believing anyone cares for him. ughhhhh

-Literally every scene with Hux foreshadows how he’s going to overthrow Kylo in IX. It’s happening.

-I really enjoyed the little end scene with the caretaker cleaning up Luke’s things and talking about all the outsiders that come.

So yeah, overall I really enjoyed it! I think I might try to read the junior novelization later on as well. It seems like there’s some hopeful/lighter additions there.

#tlj novelization spoilers #tlj novelization #reylo #that was long

[writersriot]

@neepcreature

So so sorry it took me forever to get back to your response to Part 16!! I also apologize for my long-ass response haha, hence why this is in a separate post. Because I am a rambler who talks to much concerning my special interests.

When Two-Bit and Marcia get married (in my mind haha), they would absolutely end the rivalry lol. I just love how they instantly bonded over their shared sense of humor, but then we never heard about them again. Like dude, what happened to my one het ship in this book haha.

The ages!! Oh god the ages lolol. See, the way these characters’ ages are written. . .just doesn’t make sense. I don’t know if this came from Hinton writing as a teenager and making certain assumptions about how people act at certain ages?? I know by the time kids are seniors in high school, around 17-18, they look at the freshmen, around 13-15, and think they’re babies haha. And sometimes the ones who are out of high school but still basically youths seems so much older and wiser (which, lol.)

Darry is 20, but god at 20 I knew nothing, and Darry is holding up his family by himself. Even Two-Bit is 18 going on 19 yet still in school, not even a senior yet. And he’s the oldest of the gang, which really makes me think Darry isn’t usually involved with the gang so much as maybe Soda is. I think Two-Bit even mentions that he’d beat down Pony if he weren’t Soda’s kid brother, so it makes me think this gang is mostly made of these boys who went to the same school for at least some time and who live in the same neighborhood. (So like Pony and Darry are included in the gang because they’re related to Soda I guess)

Because Soda is 16 going on 17, which I assume Steve is as well since they’re best friends. Who else is that age?? Johnny. With Dally only a year older. Like lol forever. Because really, is it Pony wanting to be part of the gang so much and to be taken seriously like you said? Like Pony kind of latches onto Johnny as a type of kindred-spirit as shy, quiet types that Pony makes assumptions about Johnny, seeing him as younger than he is and closer to Pony’s age? ‘Cause even though Johnny is Pony’s friend, I feel like Johnny sees Pony as a younger brother he would (and does) protect.

I also think maybe Pony fundamentally doesn’t understand the relationship Johnny has with the other members of the gang either because he doesn’t see it. I think his notion of this is amended a bit at the end of the book, when it’s too late unfortunately.

So is the infantilizing of Johnny really as bad as it seems in Pony’s perspective? Or is it just Pony’s interpretation of events? I mean, we know Johnny is small for his age, which can happen to kids raised in abusive situations, though of course it could be he’s a little of a late bloomer puberty-wise. And we know the gang wants to protect Johnny due to his abusive and neglectful home life. Pony says Johnny is the “pet” of the gang, which I don’t even know what to make of other than Pony making assumptions.

Here’s a kid very near the same age as most of the guys in the gang, yet due to his size and likely being in the same class as Pony, he maybe gets treated like another little brother. But he’s the little brother you don’t fuck with at all. And honestly, Pony calls Johnny the pet, but we really don’t see that kind of dramatic behavior from the rest of the gang. They’re protective of him, absolutely. But it’s honestly as if the only one who infantilizes Johnny is, in fact, Ponyboy himself? Like, I just don’t get those “he’s the pet” vibes from the rest of the gang so much as “Johnny’s already been through shit so don’t give him any more” vibes.

And this infantilizing of Johnny I think is what makes readers think he’s Pony’s age instead of the same age as most of the gang. And I think it’s why some people are against the Johnny/Dally ship as well? Like they see it as a dramatic age and power difference, when really, I think that’s only due to Pony’s narrative of everyone and not actually what the subtext implies. That’s my analysis of it.

Oh gosh, I followed Hinton on twitter just a little before her rude responses started up and garnered so much attention back in October last year. I thought, oh cool, another author to love -- oh shit nevermind. Like she would tweet some good stuff and then make me kind of despise her when answering questions about The Outsiders lol. So yes, I saw all of her. . .Hinton-ness. She honestly should have said, “That wasn’t my intention writing these characters, but it’s cool if readers see something else,” and left it at that. And maybe people should have stopped asking her if the characters were gay and just said, “I see them as gay no matter what lol bye” like haha that’s the only way I would ever do it because I don’t need an author’s permission to read their book a certain way.

But I stg Hinton needs to go back over what she wrote. Because what she thinks she wrote and what actually made it onto the page appear to be different. Like if she wanted to make Johnny really excited to talk to girls. . .I’m sorry, that just didn’t happen. And she kept saying “where’s the textual evidence?” and I’m like read your fucking book, lady! Or get a queer person to read it and explain it to you because you didn’t actually manage to make Johnny’s heterosexuality set in stone lol. I was twelve, attending Catholic school, and I was like damn that’s hella gay. Like I didn’t even really have a good concept of “gay” but I knew Johnny and Dally were pinging my gaydar haha. And I’m hella aroace and I could still see the subtext of it playing out through the book.

At her age, if Hinton really weren’t homophobic, she could probably look at what she wrote fifty years ago as a teenager and think, “huh maybe this is a little queerer than I thought I was writing back then. Welp.” Because by her own admission she says she didn’t know any queer people growing up, which lol I call BS she just didn’t know any OUT queer people. She’s one of those types of people that says, “Ask anyone if it was cute to be gay in the 60s” as if queer people didn’t exist back then with their own community.

It’s like she’s ignoring the counter-culture of hippies that came about in the 60s. And there was a queer movement from the 50s that resembled the picture of manliness, I forget what it’s called now, which is something Greasers apparently actuated by controlling their emotions and seeming utterly “cool” which honestly, is not the type of Greaser Hinton wrote about with their violent feelings haha. Plus there’s a whole punk and queer movement on the cusp of this, so Hinton can’t convince me everywhere in the 60s was homophobic. Maybe Tulsa, Oklahoma had it’s fair share of bigots but my god.

Queer people existed back then, and now we are all more widely accepted, so maybe instead of contributing to a stifling culture of authorial intent of heteronormativity, how about she reconsider what it could mean for her characters to be considered queer in this day and age as good role models and that sure, it’s okay to be queer. Granted, the two I believe are the most queer are the ones who end up dead so it maybe just adds to the “bury your gays” trope but who knows. In that case, Hinton might think for the 60s that would actually be accurate representation. (I’m sorry, maybe that was mean lol).

Anyway, clearly I’m a little bitter over how she handled the situation because I started writing this series after all.

Johnny absolutely has PTSD! I’m glad you brought that up because you’re right, I haven’t mentioned it in this series yet. But it’s very important to consider that Johnny comes from an abusive and neglectful home, and then he gets attacked by the Socs which is a hugely traumatic event. The kid is a mess, and I feel so badly for him because he’s just trying to survive. But absolutely it’s a concept that isn’t recognized in the book, and honestly I think it’s difficult for kids and even teens to recognize trauma and PTSD for what it is. I know I didn’t recognize being in an abusive situation until much later in life. And it seems like the type of household Johnny came from was common in the 60s because I hear stories from my mom and even my gramma that make me go “wtf that is abusive as shit.” So I definitely think Hinton herself didn’t realize she was writing a character with PTSD as we would analyze it now.

That’s why it is interesting that Cherry does recognize that Johnny has had some kind of trauma. I absolutely believe it’s leaking from Johnny’s pores most of the time, and sometimes stuff like that is more obvious to people who don’t see a person every day. And Pony definitely doesn’t have the vocabulary or knowledge of PTSD, so you’re right, that may very well be why Pony describes Johnny as shy. Because Pony also describes Johnny as looking like a kicked puppy most days, and I just ugh cry a little. It absolutely sounds like Two-Bit triggers a dissociative episode, but that Pony would only see it as Johnny being jumpy and scared. Like Pony would just have no concept of how traumatic the attack was for Johnny, even despite Pony having his own form of PTSD after the death of his parents, which we see a reoccurrence of after Johnny’s death. Just all around, I feel so much for these boys.

I could chalk this up to Hinton’s writing, but again she was a teenager herself, so I want to say that she just needed a narrative device of trauma without necessarily seeing what that means for the characters. Having the narrator say Johnny is shy when he really doesn’t exhibit that behavior just shows me that Hinton didn’t have a great grasp on what she was writing either. That’s why many readers have such a different reaction to the story because we recognize the trauma, the PTSD, the abuse, and yes, the queer subtext. But these are issues that I never heard discussed in any classes, it was always the Socs versus the Greasers and what “the same sunset” bullshit means and asking about the abuse without framing it as abuse. It’s like only a surface-level reading of these characters that I could never stand because I saw so much more to them. It’s a pity that Hinton can’t see beyond the surface of the story she wrote either.

So yeah, anyway. Long post is long, and I hope my rambling made some sort of sense?? Uh, I ALWAYS want discussions like this, even on previous posts or just on their own if you say, “hey I was thinking about this” like I will be right on your page!! Sorry for bombarding you with such a lengthy, nonsensical response, but thank you for having discussions with me, it makes my life meaningful and my special interest in The Outsiders feel like it hasn’t been wasted the last uh almost couple decades haha.

#outsiders queer subtext series #johnny cade #ponyboy curtis #ptsd #jally #the outsiders #se hinton #neepcreature