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galactic-glamour-girl-posts · 9 months

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In celebration of Animaniacs' 30th Anniversary...

I'm gonna list some of my favourite segments/episodes from the franchise and explain why they're my favourites! The segments/episodes will be listed in order of their debut in their respective series.

I'll start with my favourite episodes from the original Animaniacs:

Taming of the Screwy

I see this episode as the turning point of Warners' and Scratchy's relationship. Before they'd drive him crazy and he'd want nothing to do with them, but because of his job he's forced to deal with them. This episode was the start of Scratchansniff realizing that the Warners' aren't all bad, which eventually leads to them to getting along a bit better later on. The Warners still mess with Scratchy a lot because, as they say in this episode, it's their way of showing affection, but he genuinely tries to tolerate them (key word being "try"), and they even help him a bit ("La La Law"), until eventually he starts acting somewhat like a guardian to them and he's even willingly choosing to hang out with them (like in "I'm Mad", "Fake", "The Party", etc).

This episode also puts the Warners' characters in a new perspective, being the first that tries to get the audience to genuinely sympathize with them. We knew about them being locked in the water tower, but that wasn't taken too seriously and (because of how "Newsreel of the Stars" presented their origin) you could argue the studio's treatment of the Warners was just a reaction to the Warners' antics. Here the Warners kept their end of the deal and were well behaved, yet were betrayed anyway. They had gone up against a "special friend" before this episode, but this episode was pretty much the first to firmly establish that the Warners are capable of behaving if treated fairly (although they'd rather mess about, not out of maliciousness, but because they just wanna have fun), but if not they're not afraid to fight back and wreak havoc.

A big reason why I like the Warners so much is that they seem like simple characters on the surface, but there is nuance to how they act, and this episode is a good example of that ("The Sound of Warners" also being a good example). It would've been easy to write the Warners as one-dimensional characters who all act the same, are completely incapable and/or unwilling to behave and do nothing but make anyone and everyone's lives worse for no reason, especially since it's a variety show, but they didn't and I appreciate that. I also think the way they're drawn in this episode is adorable! They don't look how they usually do when animated by TMS, but I still like it.

The Warners' 65th Anniversary Special

This episode gives a more detailed retelling of the Warners' origin story. This time it is presented as a "live" TV special, which is a unique premise for this show that helps this episode stand out. I like how "Newsreel of the Stars" tries to make the studio look as good and reasonable as possible, only for that to be flipped on its head in this episode which makes it clear that really the problem was that Memlo and Plotz were the unreasonable ones. The Warners' backstory itself expertly manages to be both comedic yet sad at the same time in a way that doesn't feel tonally inconsistent at all. I still find it hilarious that they took an actual Looney Tunes character and made them into a twist villain just because they were unpopular in real life (let it be known that Animaniacs did that joke before the 2002 Scooby Doo movie did). Combine all that with some fun cameos and beautiful TMS animation, and you've got one of the show's best episodes.

Episode 92

Yup-the whole episode. This episodes is a great summary of Animaniacs' strengths, because each segment is a perfect example of an aspect (or multiple) of Animaniacs that the show does expertly well. "It" has some of the best animation in the whole show, "Dot-The Macadamia Nut" is one of the best parody songs in the show, and "Bully for Skippy" provides some of the best meta humour, political satire, slapstick, and irreverent humour in the show. It's one of my favourite Slappy segments, and although I think the message isn't supposed to be taken seriously...I legitimately think it's a good moral? After seeing other shows/movies/etc (particularly since the 2010's) have their protagonists easily talk down and redeem multiple incredibly vile villains, or sometimes just outright let the villain get away for the sake of keeping them passive/non-violent, this episode's conclusion was incredibly satisfying.

Children's media will often tell kids to just ignore bullies or to constantly try to "get through to them" no matter what, because if they don't that makes them "just as bad" and I'm sorry but that's not something we should be teaching kids, and I'd argue they're not just bad but straight up dangerous messages. Ignoring bullies doesn't work most of the time, it just makes them try harder to get your attention, which often means acting more aggressive and malicious. I do think teaching kids to try and make peace with people non-violently is very important, but if the bully keeps harassing them, at some point you have to draw the line and stand up for yourself. Sometimes you have to yell. Sometimes you have to fight. It sucks but that's life...so anyway, back to Animaniacs. Duke seemingly does learn his lesson in the end, because he's seen helping Slappy, but only after getting his butt kicked, and it's not like him and Skippy are BFFs or anything.

I think this is one of the most well-balanced non-singular story episode of the show, quality wise that is. Most Animaniacs episodes with multiple segments have at least one that is mediocre or straight up bad in comparison to the other(s), but that's not the case here. They're all great.

Honourable Mentions: The Sound of Warners, La La Law, Meatballs or Consequences, A Christmas Plotz, Super Strong Warner Siblings, Morning Malaise, Season 3's Finale (Episode 82), Win Big, Puppet Rulers, Bubba Bo Bob Brain, Yes, Always, Bumbie's Mom, ...And Justice for Slappy, One Flew Over the Cuckoo Clock, Critical Condition, Woodstock Slappy, When Rita Met Runt, Smitten With Kittens, Phranken-Runt

Best Songs: Yakko's World, Wakko's America, I'm Cute, Yakko's Universe, The Ballad of Magellan, Variety Speak, I'm Nobody's Mama, Let's Try for Two, Humans Ain't What They Seem to Be, A Quake! A Quake!, The Senses Song, There's Only One of You

Now on to Pinky and the Brain:

A Pinky and the Brain Christmas

Yeah, yeah. I'm just gonna get this one out of the way now. You love it, I love it, and we all know why...but I'll explain anyway!

For one, this is the only episode TMS animated for the spin off, and it looks gorgeous. The writing's as good as ever. I'd like to point out the Donner Party joke for being clever; but Bill Clinton being unable to open the window is the joke that gets me to chuckle when I think about it. Although let's be honest, people mostly like this episode because of the ending. I get it though, it's touching! It shows just how much Pinky loves Brain and how selfless he can be, dedicating what was supposed to be his Christmas list to Brain. Then the smashing, the keychain, the credits, blah blah blah we know how it goes.

I mean if you're reading this then chances are I don't need to convince you; it's the show's most well-known episode, and it's really good.

Welcome to the Jungle

This episodes flipped Pinky and Brain's dynamic on it's head. Brain was out of his element, meanwhile Pinky took charge. This is the main reason it's one of the most memorable episodes of the show, although another is that Snowball makes his grand return in this episode, and is even more antagonistic this time by trying to get Pinky and the Brain killed, whereas last time he was really only trying to one-up Brain. I find it interesting that Brain’s more sympathetic towards Snowball this time around, insisting that he needs help and attempting to save his life. Perhaps he always missed Snowball as a friend (and still cares about him deep down), perhaps being so out of his element softened him, maybe both? And when Brain defeated Snowball towards the end, after what he went through in the episode that genuinely felt triumphant and deserved.

This episode really shows off how Pinky and the Brain is distinct from Animaniacs. The Warners don't take serious situations seriously, they're always on top of things and are ultimately winners. Pinky and the Brain are kind of the inverse; mice wanting to take over the world is ridiculous, but they take it completely seriously, and fail every time. Though it is exactly that that allows the protagonists to be vulnerable and struggle more often, hence allowing the characters and their stories to often times be slightly less zany and a bit more sincere.

Star Warners

This episode was just fun, what more can I say? It was nice to see many of the Animaniacs characters again, especially the Warners and Slappy, but we even got to see the more obscure characters like Pip, Zalgar, the aliens from “Space-Probed”, Sid the Squid and Beanie the Braindead Bison. Some Looney Tunes characters and Freakazoid appear too. I also like a lot of the "castings": in particular Yakko as Han, Wakko as Luke and Dot as Leia are perfect choices.

There's more to this episode than cameos though, like the interactions between characters who pretty much never interact. Dot and Brain, Wakko and Mindy, etc. My absolute favourite aspect of this episode is that the Warners, Pinky, Brain and Slappy all got to star alongside each other throughout the episode! The Warners have interacted with Slappy a few times, they've also interacted with Pinky and the Brain too, as has Slappy (very briefly in "Spell-Bound"), but they've never all interacted as a group for an extended period of time. I haven't kept it a secret they're my favourite Animaniacs characters (and also have pretty much the only segments I truly care about aside from maybe also Rita and Runt), so to see them interact as a group was great!

Also, the final credits gag was “Nympholepsy - To have a desire for an unattainable idea”. That's a perfect Brain’s Word to end the show on, and this episode was a pretty good way to end the show. Sure, something with higher stakes that takes place in the main setting of PatB (as in an episode where Pinky and the Brain live in Acme Labs in the modern day) like the "Brainwashed" trilogy would've made for a good finale too, but honestly having the final episode of the show essentially be a crossover between it and its parent series is cute. In fact it's probably...eh screw it, it IS the best Animaniacs-related series finale there is.

Honourable Mentions: TV or not TV, Snowball, The Pink Candidate, Pinky and the Brain…and Larry, This Old Mouse, A Pinky and the Brain Halloween, You’ll Never Eat Food Pellets In This Town Again, The Family That Poits Together, Narfs Together

Best Songs: Brainstem, Cheese Roll Call, Just Say Narf!, A Meticulous Analysis of History

And now, because I haven't seen "Pinky, Elmyra and the Brain" and don't plan to, the Animaniacs reboot:

Fear and Laughter in Burbank

I love that the Warners' Halloween costumes were the Marx brothers, it's a cute reference to the fact that Yakko and Wakko were partially inspired by Groucho and Harpo respectfully. That and I really like segments where the Warners torment some evil supernatural being. The fact that these literal children can not only hold their own against but outright best beings like a soul-sucking clown, the Devil or even Death himself is both hilarious and admirable. They're not just pests, they're powerful pests.

It's pretty interesting that Yakko is the only one of the siblings who falls victim to Nickelwise, before being narrowly saved by Dot. His encounter with Nickelwise reveals a few things about him: that he hates being alone, fears losing his voice, and is at least a little insecure about his comedic skills whilst seeking validation via comedy. It also implies that despite the fact that he acts as the most mature, experienced and the de facto leader, he may be the most anxious and have the most self-worth issues of the three. This would make sense since he's the eldest, and therefore presumably has a lot more worries on his mind than Wakko and Dot. I do like this segment overall, but this moment is what made it one of my favourites. It provides depth to Yakko's character like never before, which I appreciate given that he's my favourite.

Rome Sweet Rome

This segment had a lot of good gags, solid satire, a fun song, and each Warner shows off their skillset pretty well: Yakko using his words and not his fists in a fight, Dot weaponizes cuteness to blindside an opponent, Wakko has an endless appetite and is really destructive. Titmouse animated this one so of course the animation was great. Pretty much everything I like about the Warners' segments is here and in top form. Not much more to say other than that, it's just...really good!

The Island of Dr. Warneau

Titmouse animated so once again there's great animation (Jurgen's lab was wonderfully creepy), and I really liked how the Warners were written in this one. I like that Yakko has a picture of Scratchy in his wallet (I'll take all the "Scratchansniff is their dad" crumbs that I can get), the clones are adorable, and of course the comedy was as good as ever ("You're living beings, not unpaid interns!" in particular got me).

Jürgen seems to be depiction of what an abusive family member might act like (although obviously exaggerated, since this show is a zany cartoon and all). In addition to forcing them to do whatever he wants whilst giving no love in return, Jürgen makes the clones call him "brother" to condition them into thinking he's family so they'll feel obligated to associate with him, has convinced them that he's their "protector" so they'll feel helpless without him (unfortunately that worked because Ratto straight up says they're helpless in his first line), and when the clones finally do stand up for themselves he tries to bribe Ditto towards the end by offering her a strawberry, whilst claiming she was always the "sensible one". The ending was very satisfying, with Ditto refusing to call Jürgen "brother" anymore and switching to using his first name (basically disowning him) and calling the Warners her real family. The six of them hug and just before things get a bit too cute-Jürgen gets eaten by a whale. The ending, like the whole segment really, is a perfect mix of both wholesomeness and dark humour.

This segment essentially emphasizes the importance of who the Warners are as characters. It explored the idea of what the Warners would be like if instead of being chaotic and rebellious, they were meek and well behaved, essentially the opposite of themselves, and it made for an interesting watch! It shows the importance of being assertive, and why being "perfectly behaved" and "obedient" isn't always a good thing. In hindsight, had Scratchansniff actually managed to successfully "de-zanitize" the Warners, it might've been the worst thing to have happened to them.

The Warners aren't perfectly behaved. They're snarky. They're chaotic. They're insane(-y). They're a lot of things, BUT when they see something wrong they don't stand aside, they fight back and make it right, just in a comedic way (they're like the embodiment of karma). Their backbone is one of their biggest redeeming qualities, and although people in-universe give them a hard time over their chaotic and irreverent nature, they'll always be better than the corrupt authority figures (like Jürgen, or many of their "special friends") they tend to take down.

Honourable Mentions: Suspended Animation Part 1, Ralph Cam, That's Not the Issue, Future Brain, Roadent Trip, Yakko Amakko, Christopher Columbusted, Reichenbrain Falls, 23 and WB, Planet Warner, Talladega Mice: The Ballad of Pinky Brainy, Fantasy, Teeniacs, Animaliens, Global Warnering, Slappy's Return

Best Songs: Suffragette Song, The Cutening, Be Like Me, A Zit!, I Am The Very Model of an Ancient Roman Emperor, Yakko's Big Idea (Yakko's Big Song), Magna Cartoon, Warner's Ark, D.I.WHY?, Here Comes the Sea!, Some of Humanity's Wins

Before Animaniacs, many syndicated cartoons (specifically ones from the 60's to the 80's) had either a) good writing but cheap animation or b) more expensive and impressive looking animation but were essentially over glorified toy commercials. Animaniacs had both witty, intelligent writing and downright beautiful animation (seriously, the segments animated by TMS are some of the best hand drawn animation I've ever seen in a TV show). This wasn't unheard of by the early 90's, but only a handful of other cartoons could claim the same at the time. It's higher budget compared to a lot of other contemporary cartoons also meant it could afford a 25-to-40-piece orchestra, and that (along with the extremely talented staff) allowed Animaniacs to have one of the best soundtracks from any cartoon ever. Not to mention it was one of the first TV shows to garner an interactive online audience. Animaniacs was one of the first examples of internet fandom culture. Think about that. That is huge.

The Warners, Pinky and the Brain and Slappy are unironically some of my favourite characters of all time. I love that that the Warners are chaotic, nigh-omnipotent beings who can do anything, but also non-conforming outcasts who look out for each other because no one else will, but also well-meaning rebels, but also cute silly little children all at the same time. And that's just what they have in common, that's not even getting into their individual personalities. To put it very briefly (because I literally already wrote an essay about Dot so if you've read that you know how long I can go on about them but this post is long enough already and I'm still not done) I admire Yakko's wit, Wakko's optimism, and Dot's confidence.

I love that Pinky and The Brain are complete opposites in every sense of the word yet still manage to have an unbreakable bond. I love Slappy's unapologetically violent but never too meanspirited sense of humour (even though she's only one in-universe I genuinely think she makes for a better female Looney Tunes character than most of the actual female Looney Tunes characters) and how despite how bitter and cranky she is, she never lets that get in the way of her bond with Skippy.

Both the original Animaniacs and the reboot are some of my favourite shows of all time. I love their sense of humour, I love the main characters, I love that they never hold back and go places/accomplish things that a lot of other kids shows wouldn't even dare to. Not only was Animaniacs heavily influenced by Looney Tunes but it (and a series of Looney Tunes television spin-offs) helped bring Looney Tunes back from a period of stagnation by popularising its sense of humour (particularly its type of snark, wordplay, slapstick and visual gags). I feel like not enough people talk about just how influential the original show was; not only did it have more pop culture references and social commentary than pretty much any children's cartoon had before it, it played a big part in popularising those two things as well as sharp satire, cynical irony, meta humour, self awareness, and just witty humour in general being in children's cartoons, if not TV as a whole.

And above all else...it was fun. It was a fun show that just wanted to make you laugh above all else. It knew what it wanted to do and was good at it, and sometimes that's all you need for success.

I love this franchise, and I can't wait to see what it does next.

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ghostflowerhotpotch · 10 months

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Clinging too much to the Mask

Or Miles' is neglecting his civilian life for his hero one.

Something I love about Across the Spider-verse, is that no one is truly evil, but that doesn't justify their actions. Likewise, the heroes aren't perfect, in some cases they actively need to work to own their mistakes, and in others, they need to learn a more simple lesson.

I think this last one can apply to Miles. Because while he is doing his best, I feel the story tries to point out that despite "balancing" his double life, he may be prioritizing one over the other.

We get to see this before we properly get to see Miles, who instead of being in this meeting-

He is going around the city.

Not gonna lie, in my first viewing, I felt Rio and Jeff needed to cut Miles some slack; like sure they were being kind of harsh because they didn't know what was going on, but Miles was truly trying hard!

However, the more I rewatched the movie, and the more I keep looking at certain things, the more I realized that Miles' parents are being WAY nicer about all of this than other parents I had seen, and also, that even if you have the context he is not handling this very well.

Let's start with this scene, shall we?

So, Rio and Jeff want to talk about university opportunities and scholarships, which I feel is a bit early for a fifteen-year-old, but if he wants to get into the best Physics program in the nation, I guess it makes sense needing to start early. I am assuming Miles had at least mention wanting to do big things; which is of course what his parents want because they know what he is capable of; so I wouldn't be surprised if they arranged this meeting SPECIFICALLY because Miles set his future on this.

But regardless if it was Miles's idea or his parents, the fact on the matter is this: he should be here.

Because let's remember, he isn't skipping this meeting because the Spot or a villain with a bigger profile was causing a ruckus, we saw him slinging around the city as if he was strolling, and when he goes to get the Spot, he first does this:

I know Spider-man is known for witty remarks and Miles is definitely not an anomaly on that front, but you cannot tell me he didn't explicitly want a patty and it just so happens to have a bad guy in the place; he may have not grabbed himself hasn't the Spot not being there but I bet he would have gone to this shop ruckus or not.

Even if that wasn't the case, he is already late for the meeting; but he still took his time to patrol the city for, as far as we can tell, no real reason besides just checking around.

I get that he is Spider-man and has responsibilities with the city, but when Miles has an important meeting to be in, and he decides just swinging across the city is more important than being there; we have to admit that this is a problem.

And the longer we spend in 1610 the more that shows.

This monologue feels like it can be unrelated, at first.

Miles doing the Spider-man presentation makes sense; it has been established in this franchise as a device to present the characters, so having him update on his spidey-situation while following the trope presentation they had done before it's perfect to match the tone of the first movie.

But I am also a firm defender of "weaponize tropes to press further the message of the story" and I think having Miles do this presentation can support how much emphasis he puts on his hero life.

Last time during the first movie, he did his own spidey-presentation at the end, but he also talked about finishing his essay, and doing art with his dad. In this one, we only get mentions of things related to being Spider-man, you can argue that including his uncle on the recap may also be involved because he died just in the time he was becoming Spider-man.

(This is also to remind the audience of this plot point for the ending but shhh we are focussing on other things here.)

This is nothing new for Spidey-people, Gwen the more repressed she is the more she clings to her duty, which only makes her repress more and makes the cycle continue. Peter B was okay with the idea of staying behind even if it meant dying, and let's be real here, part of the reason he was okay with it was that dying as a spider-man is an idea he made peace with years ago, but confronting MJ about what happened was scarier.

This also happened in the first movie.

This is before they know they may die if they stay, however, you have to admit is a tad unsettling that after being told "You will need to destroy your only way to get home," everyone IMMEDIATELY says they will do it.

Forget being superheroes, no one has any doubts? Any fears of how long it would take to go back home, if at all?

Peni and Gwen worry me especially because I know why those two may just prefer to ditch their home dimensions for a good while (Gwen because she already lost her Peter, was in a flaky relationship with her dad, and probably was neglecting other people too. Peni if you had read some of her comics is not that surprising, heck I want to get her out of that dimension myself.)

I could go on, because I don't think we had seen a Spidey person in this franchise who isn't putting way too much emphasis on their hero identity; but you get the idea. This is a common problem.

And Miles is no different.

When we go to the Party for his dad (something his mom reminded him of before he bolted out to capture the Spot,) we see that the Party is in full swing. Music is in, people had already started digging in the food, and kids are playing.

Look, growing up my family had parties like this, fairly often growing up. This one is to celebrate Captain Morales obviously, but I had been at family reunions that are easily this size.

Considering the size and for who is the Party, I am surprised they didn't call him non-stop when he didn't show up to help put everything up (because I am having a hard time believing he wouldn't be expected to help to put everything,) it was already late when the first person showed up, so by this point, this is beyond lateness.

And where he is at?

JUST NOW he is picking up the cake, AS SPIDERMAN.

Miles, mijo ¿Qué estás haciendo? Para este punto de la partida yo ya estaría haciendo mi testamento.

(Trans: Miles, son, what are you doing? By this point I would be doing my will.)

Ok jokes aside, I don't know what's more unbelievable, that he is just now getting the cake, or that he is doing it in the Spidey costume.

This tells us EXACTLY what he was doing before coming up to pick this cake.

Last time we see him, he told his dad he didn't believe The Spot would come back, which means he didn't exactly think there was any danger. Nothing in the movie shows or tells us there was another big emergency he didn't need to attend to, either; and it has CLEARLY been a few hours since that moment since the lightning has changed.

Don't tell me he came in with his Spidey suit to get a better deal or something, the woman clearly doesn't care about it; and even then, at any moment he seems to find a way to change just so he can move around the city more easily.

Not to mention that while he was trying to come to the Party, this happened.

In case you need to make sure what's happening, since this moment happens in a few seconds during Jeff speech; because someone was stealing shoes (with a guard who is clearly not giving a shit,) he sent a web to stop him.

And rather than just, going on with his day, he stops to sign some autographs and pics, to the point someone else thinks the taxi is waiting for a new client, which the guy obviously accepts.

Honestly, once this moment clicked for me I feel a little dumb to not realize that this is actually a thing Miles needs to confront about himself and not just the natural back and forth that is expected with this life.

And you can see it in other things too.

Miles isn't a loner, or at least he wasn't one in Into the Spider-verse.

I remember that when I saw the movie the contrast surprised me, like many other people, I had grown up with plenty Peter Parker adaptations, where he is most of the time, a nerd that deals with bullying to some degree. Even with Miles being his own character, I was surprised that at least in his old school and neighborhood, he not only has friends, he is basically a popular kid.

Now in ATSV? That seems to have gone away.

Is such a small detail in both movies, but it still shocks me every time I think about it hard enough.

Miles had tons of friends, or at least people he definitely got along with; people who said that miss him and such. Even if we never hear a name from him; look at the people greeting him at the beginning at ITSV, go to see the movie and see how much Miles scrolls on his contact list; there is no way in hell he wasn't close to some of these people.

But all of them seem to have gone away by this movie, not only did neither of his parents think of asking about anyone in the neighborhood, Miles himself only scratches the names of his spidey-friends. This either means Rio and Jeff know enough of the people in the neighborhood to be aware Miles is not going out with any of them; or the relationships had deteriorated enough that neither party even thinks of the possibility of being with any of them.

That's...that's a lot.

Look, I am not going to say Miles changing school wouldn't affect his previous friendships, I know exactly how that works.

But in ITSV, Miles said it himself, he still lives here, none of them look like they live too far to be impossible to hang out with; and despite that, the only friend he seems to have is Genki; who aside from being his rommie, is the only person he has that knows his secret.

Which is probably, the only reason they are close enough for Miles's parents to know about him.

To top it all off, this shows that Miles isn't exactly shy, he may have not been fitting too well with his classmates at first but it has been over a year, and he should have been able to make more friends. If he wanted to.

And is not the only thing suffering.

I am not sure if the joke is that Miles is trying to soften the blow and the teacher is telling on him, or, that he legit forgot the number of classes. Considering it was obvious the woman was going to know and had no incentive in hiding this from his parents; I am inclined to believe Miles actually forgot how many classes he lost.

Considering how spidey emergencies work, 6 classes isn't that big of a thing, assuming this is the only class he has lost classes on. Knowing how the hero gig works you could expect more, but for my own sanity I will pretend it has been only these.

There is a big chance he missed those classes for really, bad situations where he needed to be there. However, we aren't actually sure; and considering the direction this movie is going, it is very feasible he may be messing around a few times.

And look, Miles grades are freaking amazing; seriously I was doing a lot worse in school without any hero business involved. But even if he obviously puts some level of priority in his studies, you can see that this is a struggling battle.

Not to mention the elephant in the room, that is the fact that the reason we know he is working so hard to have good grades, is because he wants to go to Princeton University.

Miles can't give the exact reason as to why in this scene, but this is really all we need to hear:

I really don't need to explain myself further, but because I already had the image at hand from something else, here it is.

The only not related to Spider-man is that he is somewhat prioritizing, and has to do more to see the other Spiders than his actual future.

I think this becomes more obvious when you remember that as smart as he is with Physics, in the first movie he wasn't really interested; despite what he knew he was trying to fumble that class like the rest of them, trying to quit. The only thing he seemed passionate about was his art, which is the other class that he is doing amazingly.

I had seen people argue Miles' dream will probably be related to art, if it wasn't because seeing the other spiders has become even more important than that, deciding to try to get into the best Physics Program in the country just to see if he has a chance to meet them again. That's a lot of time, effort, and work; and is not even about him or what he wants to do for the rest of his life.

In a way, this movie comes to a conclusion about it, but I think I want to talk more about that when we focus on Miles' parents.

Thank you for reading, hope this gives you guys some perspective about Miles; I feel I don't see a lot of people picking up on this, which is a shame since I feel the story with his family gains a deeper layer by having both parties struggling in their own areas.

#miles morales #atsv #across the spiderverse #rio morales #jeff morales #atsv files #spiderman across the spiderverse

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caseylicious · 2 years

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Two Sides of a Story.

Request: Can you write an angsty Rise!Donnie x FEM!Reader? Where the reader doesn't know how Donnie feels about a relationship. She also has like a terrible self esteem, so she hides her feelings behind witty banter. But it gets overwhelming sometimes.

Summary: Reader has feelings for Donnie, however has a terrible self-esteem. What happens during one of their heated argument, she accidentally reveals her feelings?

Character: Donnie.

Reader: FEMALE

Relationship: CRUSH! (No established romantic relationship.)

Warning: Heavy Argument, Bad Self esteem, Angst if, of course you're not into that.

Words: 1444 (with the hcs and oneshots)

A/N: Thank you for being my first request! (Even though I have accidentally answered it unfinished) I remembered the majority of the request! So yay!! ALSO thank you for the angst dear! Please know that I love you even if you aren't perfect.

Also, I have no clue if you wanted headcanons or a Oneshot, so why not? Let's just do both! I'm in a good mood after all. I WILL BE WRITING A PART 2 OMG <; 3 Please Enjoy 💐

[ If you have any constructive criticism or corrections for any of my English do let me know! :) ]

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This wasn't right. You having a crush on Donnie out of all people? You really thought feelings like this wouldn't appear around him. You thought it was going to be another little "He's Attractive, that's all." But oohh no... You just had to find him comforting to be around. It really started when you were staying over to get help for your project; and who better to get advice than the science man himself? Donnie!

So there you both were, him leaning over to check over all of your math. It wasn't until he complimented your work that your heart all of a sudden fluttered. It felt strange, wrong. Not because he was a mutated turtle, no! It was just.. you were nothing like him. At all.

Did you look at yourself? Your face didn't look right, Your curves are non-existent. Have you heard your voice, it just didn't sound.. right. Nothing about you was right. And you sobbed over those factors of yourself every single night. But, your feelings are stronger than your own thoughts. You couldn't stop your heart from fluttering and stomach from twisting, yet you somehow "knew" that he wasn't interested in you. Nor in any romantic relationship, especially with you.

So, the only thing you could do to defend yourself? Was to have a whole different identity around him. But you knew he could see through your defenses. Which made him curious and confused.

But no. You chose to have an argument about your attitude around yourself. It made Donnie's brothers concerned, especially since you both have gotten along really well. They knew he didn't like social interaction, so watching you and him bicker; back and forth? They knew something had to change, and April had a plan.

"Guys, how long can we keep listening to them argue?" April crossed her arms, leaning against a pole. Leo sighed as Mikey had a frown.

"It's hurting them both..." He bit his lip a little, trying to find the words to their situation. "How long until one of them breaks?" Raph thought to himself, trying to get "Mental Raph" to help in their problem. Leo let out a groan, clearly annoyed. "Why can't they just tell each other they like each other? And just like- I don't know. Make out?"

The group stared at Leo, Aprils' brows furrowed together. "I know Raph doesn't have the best ideas, but Leo. What the heck?"

"Well, what can WE do? It's not like Y/N is going to stop with Donnie. Do you think she enjoys arguing with him?" April was going to argue with Leo, before Raph stopped them. "Guys, why are they even arguing anyways? They totally like each other... I mean it's obvious." Mikey looked up to the ceiling for a while... "You hear anything, Mikey?" The youngest brother smiled, "Doctor Feelings has an idea." The others curious, soon began to listen in...

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - 💐

💜 Donnie

He didn't expect himself to get along with someone like you! Especially since you were such an attractive girl in his eyes.

He liked how you listened to all of his rants about his new inventions. How you were so patient whenever he focused on his own things...

You were just perfect.

In fact, you bring him a moment of peace whenever you're around. It's one of the reasons he had a crush on you. But being dull as a brick; he couldn't recognize you felt the same way.

Which was why he was very confused on why you suddenly changed how you acted. Was it something to do with him?

Was he being weird?? Were you beginning to become bored of him and his inventions?

He needed answers.

It was only one question, he thought you'd respond with an answer he could understand.

But you reacted in a way, that he never expected.

"Why? You have a problem with how I act?"

"Well, no... but I'm confused what's with the sudden attitude."

"It's not like you'd understand."

"Excuse me?"

And that's how your bickering began.

If that's how you were going to act? Fine, he can play that game too.

He was just hurt forcing himself to argue with you, it was to protect his own feelings...

Under his stoic expression, was him overthinking.

Did you hate him?

Was what he said too harsh?

But his logical part of him always powered his emotions.

Well, she chose to start this.

I'm not going to let her treat me like that.

He over all just wanted to talk with you. He wanted things to return to how they were.

Can things please return to how it was?

While he was working on his own project alone, Mikey chose to invade his room.

"Heyy Donnie, You've been working pretty hard. Let's hang out! Y'know?"

Donnie, giving it some thought. He needed a distraction from you.

"Sure. Where you plan on taking us?"

"Oho, You'll see Don!"

He should've asked even further, but chose to trust his younger brother.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - 💐

You were laying in your bed, staring at the ceiling. It was getting bad again. The bad thoughts were taking over your head, and they just kept getting worse. Before things could got worse, you received a text by April. "Urghh..." You slowly rolled to your side. Lazily grabbing your phone opening the text.

<;( Y/N, want to get some pizza? We haven't had a girls' night in like forever! )

You thought to yourself for a while... Should you really go? You weren't feeling the best, but there was no food in the fridge.. You smiled to yourself. Beginning to type.

( Yeah. Why not? I don't have any food at all! LOL )>

April's and Mikey's plan was into the works, receiving the text from Mikey that Donnie was on the move. You and Donnie had no clue of you both having to talk out your problems.

You quickly went down the stairs of your apartment to see April. You could see she had a mischievous smile. "What's with the smile?" You poked her face a little, as she moved your hand away from her face. "Well, I'm... just excited to see you girl!" You were suspicious of what she was planning, but you shrugged it off. "Aww. How sweet." You both walked down the streets of New York, under the moonlight. You loved New York for the night sky. Even if the traffic makes it unbearable. It was dark, starry, and purple... Oh. Just like Donnie...

As you both arrived to the pizzeria, your eyes widened. Right in front of you... Was Mikey and Donnie. He was as confused and shocked as you were. "Come and sit down Y/N! We ordered your favorite!" Hesitant; April helped you sit down. You were sitting in front of Donnie, this wasn't good.

"Well... Y/N, how was your day?" He smiled taking a slice for himself. You gulped, stuttering a bit. "...I- it was fine." Donnie was getting irritated in this situation. You were clearly uncomfortable with him being around you. He should've seen his brothers and April plan a stunt like this from a mile away. If they planned on making you both talk, then fine. You were going to tell him why you were acting so weird.

"Mmm- D. You good-?"

"Why are you acting so weird whenever I'm around Y/N?"

You could feel your throat break, but you couldn't break now. "Are you still bothered by how I act, Don?" His sharpie-brows furrowed. "Yes, indeed I am. I just want things to go back to normal!" Mikey looked at Donnie, worried. "D-donnie calm do-"

"You're always concerned on whether or not I'm acting normal!"

"I am, NOT! You just chose to act like this all of a sudden, and I deserve an answer." He glared into your eyes.

"Well, why are you SO concerned then?! It's none of your business anyway!!"

"Y/N calm down-"

"Because I'm worried about you- It's as if, you don't care about me. As if you suddenly see me as a monster!"

"I- i don't see you as a monster Donnie-" "Then why? Why are you all of a sudden like this?!-" "Because I love you Donnie!! God fucking damn it!!" Your voice broke, as the table was filled with silence. Donnie was shocked to your answer.

God. Fucking. Damn. It...

You bit your bottom lip, as tears fell down your eyes. Looking at Donnie. Hurt. All of your insecurities attacking you at once, you ran.

"Y/N! Wait!" Donnie quickly stood up, watching as you ran.

You began to sob, running away from him.

Now he knows what a pathetic girl you are...

[ To be Continued... ]

#morilicious #rottmnt x reader #rottmnt 2018 #rottmnt #rottmnt donnie x reader #rise donnie

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pk2317 · 10 months

Text

On shipping "erasure" in fanwork

Might as well throw some of my thoughts together here, for easy reference later. For all 5 people who may read this. Right off the bat I'm going to admit that there will be a lot of caveats included, as opposed to absolute "truths". Also I'll be using the term "queer" to encompass LGBTQIA+, if that term is something that bothers you then just be aware of that. And “straight” (in quotes) generally refers to “straight-presenting”. I'll primarily be referencing The Owl House, just because it's a point of reference that I'm very familiar with the source material and the fandom.

I want to come out right from the beginning and state clearly that *ARTISTS HAVE THE RIGHT TO CREATE WHATEVER ARTWORK THEY WANT, AND INDIVIDUALS HAVE THE RIGHT TO CONSUME WHATEVER ARTWORK THEY WANT*. Fan art, fan fiction, whatever. This is NOT an attempt to police what others do or enjoy, or an invitation to harass anyone.

With that being said, when someone makes artwork, they make decisions on what to include, or not include, and it's not unreasonable to analyze these decisions and question why they were made. Especially when those decisions are counter to established "canon" aspects of the character(s).

Shipping is one of the biggest examples of this. When you boil it down, "shipping" is focusing two (or more) characters and their relationSHIP to each other. Generally, this is going to be a romantic (and/or physical) relationship, which may (or may not) be "canon". Shipping has always existed within fandom, and it's not an inherently bad thing. It's a form of character analysis - based on what we know about Character A and Character B, how might they interact in this specific situation, or what would it be like if they were attracted to each other?

In a largely heteronormative media landscape, this can (and often is) a vehicle to explore queer relationships that otherwise aren't (or at least aren't likely to be) depicted in the source material. But, as we (finally) start to get some explicitly, canonically queer characters, we start running into the issues of "erasure". This will *usually* come in the form of canonically lesbian characters being shipped with guys (for some reason, gay men being shipped with women doesn't seem to come up nearly as often - there's a whole tangent about sexism and misogyny there that I'm not even going into right now).

For a specific example, I'll go with Amity from TOH, who (not infrequently) gets shipped with Hunter. Now, I'm sure there are some people who are genuinely interested in this pairing, and their character arcs do have similarities that could provoke some interesting interactions. But - Amity is explicitly, canonically a lesbian, and (canonically) in a relationship with Luz (another woman). So, the majority of time when I see this pairing, the reasoning behind it usually boils down to one of three things:

Outright homophobia, to reject the canon, same-sex relationship between Luz and Amity (just because they don’t like seeing two women together)

Outright homophobia, to insist that Amity "should be with a man, instead"

Trolling, because it'll "trigger the snowflakes" (which is just homophobia with extra steps)

Of course, all of them will (conveniently) hide behind the excuse of it being "just an interesting pairing". (Some of the same issues arise with "Lunter" (Luz / Hunter), except that considering Luz is canonically bi, it actually is a more logical pairing. So that gets tied up in biphobia, which is {once again} an entirely separate tangent that I'm not addressing here.)

The other excuse that gets trotted out time and time again is "Everyone has always changed canonically straight characters into gay ones for shipping, and that isn't a problem, so why is this?" Which might sound "reasonable" on the surface, but is a near perfect example of a false equivalence for two reasons:

There are no "canonically straight" characters. I mean, *maybe*, but 99.99% of the time when a character has a canonically establish sexuality, it's not "straight". Just because someone may be visibly/textually attracted to just one or more people of the opposite sex, that doesn't in any way preclude them from being bisexual or pansexual. It's a very obvious display of heteronormativity to just assume everyone is straight by “default”, and no, it's not "just the same".

Even if it were, queer characters are *VASTLY* underrepresented in media. Yes, things are improving. Yes, we have more overtly, outwardly, explicitly, canonically queer characters (and relationships) being portrayed in all forms of media that we ever had historically, but it's still considerably outnumbered by "straight" (or at least straight-presenting) characters and relationships. When some shows (not all) have the "token gay character", that means that your average show is basically 0-1 queer characters. Not really great numbers. So let's say there's a show with 10 main characters, one of whom is queer and the rest are "straight". If we reimagine another one to be queer so we can ship them, there are still 80% "straight" characters on just this one show alone. Whereas if you reimagine the one queer character to be straight...it's not hard to see why a queer person might take offense at those decisions.

Let's take a look at The Owl House. This is one of the queerest shows targeted at a wide family audience. Most of the "main cast" (series regulars - I'll define this as being featured in the opening credits sequence) is queer in one form or another, either canonically or implied (in the show or by the crew). But let's take a look at the relationships of the characters. Among our main characters, there are three "canon" (explict or heavily implied) relationships:

Luz / Amity (queer F/F)

Eda / Raine (queer F/NB)

Hunter / Willow ("straight" M/F)

Yes, I know that neither character in the last one is straight, but their relationship is "straight", or straight-presenting. Still, 2/3 is good, right?

Now, let's extend it to all named characters that we see in a visible relationship, with a named partner, in the show:

Vee / Masha (queer F/NB)

Harvey / Gilbert Park (queer M/M)

Alador / Odalia Blight ("straight" M/F)

Dell / Gwendolyn Clawthorne ("straight" M/F)

Manny / Camila Noceda ("straight" M/F)

So, one of the queerest shows on television doesn't even break 50% of relationships being visibly queer. And this is the exception, not the rule, for visible representation. Most shows are vastly more skewed to straight, or straight-presenting, characters and relationships.

So, no, it's not "just the same". And that's why it's not at all unreasonable to see queer people be offended when, out of a plethora of "straight" characters and relationships to choose from, they feel the need to take one of the few visibly queer ones and make it "straight".

I do want to reiterate my first statement again, just to be extra clear. I do *NOT* believe in trying to police what people create, or consume. I will fervently defend artists to have that right, no matter how objectionable I may find their content (as long as it's appropriately tagged/categorized/labeled/etc.). Yes, this even applies to even more "problematic" ships (another tangent I won't go into here). I would like people to do some self-examination and make sure they are being honest with *why* they may be creating/consuming that content, and I absolutely expect it to be clearly labeled, but in no way am I going to try and prevent them from doing so on an individual level.

TL;DR - Make/consume whatever artwork you want, but be conscious of your motivations behind doing so, don't be surprised when it offends people, and don't try to rationalize it as being "the same" as putting "straight" characters into queer ships.

#shipping #erasure #analysis #the owl house #toh #lumity #raeda #huntlow #long post #sorry for the rant #seriously don’t harass artists #if you don’t want to see something then YOU block it #I’ll probably regret posting this #oh well #fanart #fanfic

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fixfoxnox · 1 year

Note

I would now like to formally request ceo ghost and soap attempting to get Roach’s attention at a corporate camping trip and failing miserably so much so that Roach’s kid sits the two adults down and goes “if you love my daddy just tell him and stop being wimps” as a drabble ok love u🥰🥰

YES MY GUILTY PLEASURE AU

Also

You: as a drabble

Me: 8,000+ words coming right up

Mini Bug (1)

Description: A weekend retreat for the company seems like the perfect time for Ghost and Soap to try to impress Roach. Unfortunately for them, the Mini Bug (Lilian Sanderson: Roach's daughter), is frightfully observant and see's right through them.

Pairings: Established SoapGhost, GhostRoachSoap

Warnings: Brief Angst (THE NARRATIVE MADE ME DO IT)

Notes: Trans! Roach (he birthed the child). Lily refers to him as "mom/mommy"

"Okay," Roach pushed his way into the roomy office, earning the attention of the two men inside. He was quick to hand each of them a small identical file folder, "That's the information on Shadow Corp. and the deal they want to make. Just sent over this morning."

He watched quietly as both of the men tilted over the front of the file folder, flipping through the pages. Soap was moving quickly, his eyes scanning everything with large sweeps. Ghost was reading slower, carefully scanning over each page.

"And?" Ghost asked lowly, "What do you think?"

"Honestly," Roach shook his head and crossed his arms over his chest, "I wouldn't trust these guys as far as I can throw them. The deal seems set up perfect for them to eventually pull out and leave us with nothing. It's a trust exercise that I wouldn't participate in, no matter how much they offer."

"And their CEO?" Soap looked up at him with a raised eyebrow, "What do we think of this Graves character?"

"Philip Graves," Roach sighed deeply, "Southern accent, smug grin, looked like he dumped an entire thing of hair gell on his head before he got here." He shook his head slowly, "Miranda at the front desk said that he called her toots about six times during their two-minute conversation and when he got up here he seemed disappointed that I wasn't a hot woman in a pencil skirt."

Ghost gave a snort at his words and immediately closed the file folder. "Right, so that's a no then." Soap followed his lead and Roach gathered the folders back up from the men.

"I'll draw up an email," Roach nodded to the two, but hesitated for a moment. "Um, really quick, I was hoping I might talk to the two of you about the retreat this weekend?"

The two men turned to him, Ghost with a raised eyebrow and Soap with a bright grin. "Sure, Bug, everything alright with it?"

Roach took a moment to snap himself out of the slight haze that Soap calling him "bug" had left over his mind. He had to snap himself out of it. These were his bosses, his bosses who were married to one another. He had to get over himself. "I, well," he gave a deep sigh, "I'm not sure that I'm going to be able to come."

"What?" Soap's face fell and he and Ghost shared a quick glance with one another.

"Is something wrong?" Ghost asked carefully, "If it's about the rooms, Soap and I were talking and we could-"

"No," Roach interrupted with a shake of his head, shuffling nervously in place for a moment before explaining, "It's Lils. I had everything planned for someone to watch her this weekend, but her usual sitter broke her leg a few days ago and has to have surgery on it." He turned his gaze away from Soap and Ghost, his face tinting pink, "I've tried to find someone else to watch her, but no one else is going to be available on such short notice."

There was a moment of quiet that passed through the room before Ghost spoke simply, "Bring Lily on the retreat."

Roach looked up at him, his eyes wide at the suggestion. "But," he shook his head, "It's a work trip?"

"It's a glorified camping trip," Soap sent a look that Roach couldn't decipher toward his husband. "We aren't doing anything that a kid couldn't do, and besides, Lily likes camping doesn't she?"

"Well, yes," Roach shuffled a bit, still unsure about the idea, "But what about sleeping? I was supposed to share a room with someone, but I doubt anyone would be okay with me and Lily."

"Stay in the cabin with us," Soap sounded almost nervous and the words made Roach's eyes widen. Share a cabin with his married bosses who he was also crushing on? With his daughter there as well?

"We have an entire cabin to ourselves," Ghost rushed to explain, "Perks of being married I suppose. Point is, we have plenty of extra room."

Roach blinked at them both for several moments, absolutely dumbfounded by the turn that things had taken. He'd expected to be forced to miss the retreat, not for his bosses to invite him to bring his daughter along. They were right though, Lily loved camping and there wasn't anything inappropriate that would be happening. It just might be a little odd for others to have a little girl joining them for trust exercises.

"Are you sure?" He asked after a moment, "I really don't want to inconvenience anyone."

Ghost was quick to wave him off, "It isn't an inconvenience, Bug."

"Besides," Soap gave him another smile, "We both adore Lily, you know that. We certainly won't mind having her around."

Roach felt a sense of fondness and affection curling at him with those words. It was true, his bosses did seem to adore his daughter. They'd been more than helpful for him since they'd learned about her existence. Hell, her birthday that year had been the best she'd ever had thanks to the two men spoiling her. Soap and Ghost certainly got along with his daughter.

"Alright," he finally gave in with a hesitant smile, pulling an excited grin from Soap and a quirk of the lips from Ghost. "Thank you guys, really." He held up the manila folder again with a low chuckle, "I'd better get to work on these." He started to the door, intent on heading out to his little desk, only to pause in the doorway and turn with sharp glaring eyes to the two men behind him, "Oh, also get your lunch order in early today! I am absolutely not going back out five times just because you two were indecisive."

With that he turned and marched out of the office, hearing Soap and Ghost's amused chuckles following after him.

"Do you think that we'll see any snakes?"

Roach looked through his rearview mirror, smiling at his daughter in the back seat. She was peering out the window excitedly, watching the trees and water that they were passing. Roach had already been forced to remind her several times not to twist in her seat to try and get a better look. The only thing that had finally gotten her to settle down was the reminder that they would have plenty of time to look at everything when they arrived. "I don't know," he answered, "Do you want to see a snake?"

His daughter nodded her head rapidly, "Yeah! I bet it would make Suds scream!" She giggled to herself.

Roach shook his head at her, though an amused smile remained on his lips, "Soap," he emphasized his boss's name, "would certainly not like it if we found a snake. But if we do, we'll be good, won't we? No trying to pick it up."

His daughter whipped around to face him with a pout, "But-!"

"No buts, Lillian," Roach reminded, "Until you can properly identify the poisonous snakes on your own, no just grabbing."

"But I've almost got it," she complained. "See it's red on yellow, that's a good fellow, red on black, your dead jack!" She paused for a moment before muttering, "Or is it red on black, that's good for Jack, red on yellow, you're a dead fellow?"

"And that," Roach reminded playfully, "Is why we won't be picking up any snakes."

A fond smile pulled at his face as she crossed her arms with a huff, her brows wrinkled in a way that had Roach's heart-tugging in his chest. It was a familiar look to him. He tried to shake the feeling off as they finally pulled down the road towards the cabins. Luckily the change in scenery seemed to be enough to lift Lily's spirits again and soon she was peering out the window with a bright grin on her face.

"Mommy, I see Suds and Ghost!" She bounced in her seat excitedly, "Hurry! I want to show them my new shirt!

"Alright, alright," Roach pulled his car into one of the available spaces, a chuckle pulling from his throat. He kept the door locked, even as Lily tugged on it, "Remember the rules?" She didn't answer at first, so he waited patiently for several moments before, "Lillian, the rules?"

"Yes!" She turned to him with a pleading look, "I remember! Please!"

With those words he finally unlocked the door, allowing her to quickly push her way out of the vehicle and scramble to where Soap and Ghost were making their way toward them. Roach followed after her, lifting himself out of the vehicle and closing the door behind him. Rather than making his way toward Soap and Ghost, though, he just watched. It was a sight to see his bosses crouching down to the ground to greet his daughter with a hug and kind smiles. Lily was quick to begin excitedly talking to the two, her hands moving a mile a minute as she motioned around her to everything. Soap and Ghost were patient, listening to her with soft smiles on their faces and that adoration that he knew the two held for her in their eyes. For a moment, if he didn't know any better, he could almost imagine that the two men were Lily's fathers. He was quick to brush the thought off and move around to the back of his car to begin getting bags.

He had to keep his head on straight, but it had been getting harder and harder to do that lately. With all the time that he'd been spending around his bosses, his little crush on the two men had grown from a "little crush" to a "large all-consuming, bordering on something more crush." It was embarrassing for him. The two men were married to one another, he certainly had no chance with either of them. And yet, as he would watch them with Lily, as he would take lunches with them, as he spent more and more time with them and felt that familiar tugging at his chest, he knew that he would continue to want. He just couldn't help himself.

He already had all of the bags unloaded from the back when Soap and Ghost approached him, Lily walking between the two with her hands clasped in theirs. "Need any help with anything?" Ghost didn't even wait for a response before stepping forward to begin gathering bags in his arms. Roach noticed immediately the way that he grabbed for the biggest and heaviest-looking ones.

"It's fine," Roach chuckled, "We're only here for the weekend, we don't have much." Ghost still slung some of the bags over his shoulders, a small smile sent Roach's way as he did.

"You two will like the cabin," Soap chimed in, tugging playfully at Lily as he did, "Right on the lake."

Lily gasped in delight, "Can we swim?"

"If your mom is okay with it," Soap answered back, a wink sent in Roach's direction. "But, even if you don't swim, there's a big tub on the second floor that you can use as a pool. How's that sound?"

"Second floor?" Roach looked between Soap and Ghost with wide eyes, "How big is this cabin?"

Ghost chuckled at his shocked look, one of his hands landing on the small of his back to begin guiding him forward, "Big enough." He leaned forward to whisper to Roach, "Let us treat our favorite secretary a bit, yeah?"

A shiver went down Roach's spine at the low rumbling words. He did his best to push past it and only responded with a grumbled out, "I'm your only secretary."

He allowed himself to be led down the cracked sidewalk in front of several of the cabins, he and Ghost following closely behind Soap and Lily. Lily was still chatting animatedly, talking excitedly about how excited she was about everything for the weekend. She'd only just started telling Soap and Ghost about the last camping trip they'd been on, one they'd attended with his family on a trip back home when they finally turned to start walking up toward the front door of the largest cabin on the strip. Unlike the other cabins, this one was two stories tall and had a wrap-around porch that appeared to surround the entire building.

When they finally stepped inside the building, he was sure that his eyes were the size of saucers. The cabin was even larger on the inside than it appeared on the outside. The entire living room of the cabin alone was probably about half of the size of his and Lily's apartment. "This…is really big." He paused in the center of the living room, turning in his spot to look at everything around him. He could hear Lily running around behind him, oohing and ahhing at everything in the room. "You guys rented this for the weekend?"

He turned his attention to Ghost and Soap with a raised eyebrow. He was met with a grin from Soap, "Nope." He paused for a moment before shrugging, "We just bought it."

Roach blinked at them for several moments, unsure how to respond to the words. After several moments he finally settled on a grumbled, "Rich people," before turning toward where his daughter was running around the room. "Lily! No running inside, remember?"

She immediately turned toward him, Ghost, and Soap with a big grin on her face, "Mommy, this place is so cool!" She rushed past him to wrap Ghost's leg in a hug before switching to do the same to Soap's leg, "Thank you, Mr. Ghost! Thank you Mr. Suds!"

Roach huffed and shook his head fondly, it seemed his daughter would never lose the silly nickname for Soap. Not that the man seemed to mind, a bright smile slipping across his face as he accepted her hug. "Course, kiddo." He looked up to meet Roach's gaze and shot him a wink, "We want you and your mom to have the best time you can this weekend. You wanna see your room?" Lily pulled away from him quickly after that, nodding her head rapidly up at him. "C'mon then, I'll take you up to your room and Ghost can take your mom up to his room."

Roach didn't have time to say anything before Ghost's hand was back on the small of his back and he was being slowly guided toward one of the side hallways as Lily was rushing up the stairs, Soap following after her. Roach waited until he knew that they were far enough away before whispering to Ghost, "You guys didn't have to give us separate rooms, you've already done too much."

Ghost shook his head, "We've got plenty of rooms in the cabin." He opened one of the doors closer to the end of the hall, allowing Roach to step into the large room first before he followed after him, depositing his bags by the door. "What do you think? If you want something else there are a few other ones but," He walked over to the window at the back of the room and pulled the curtains open, revealing a view of the lake behind the house, "Soap and I thought you might like the view."

Roach resisted the urge to gape as he stepped up to the window, stopping beside Ghost to look over the expanse of water that sat just outside of his room. "This is…perfect." He turned toward Ghost with wide eyes, "I seriously can't thank you and Soap enough for this. I mean letting me bring Lily is one thing, but the rooms and letting us stay with you guys? I really don't know what to say."

Ghost stepped a bit closer to him, the two almost pressed chest to chest with their proximity. Roach flushed a bit. "Soap and I wanted to do this," Ghost lifted a hand and hesitantly brushed a piece of hair from Roach's face, "You don't have to thank us for taking care of you. You don't have to thank us for doing something that we enjoy." There was a long pause and Roach, for a brief moment, was sure that Ghost had looked down to his lips. He brushed the thought off when Ghost stepped back a moment later, his own face a bit pink. He cleared his throat, "Anyway, I'll let you get settled. Soap and I are sleeping in the room next door, if you need anything. And," he cleared his throat again, "Company dinner to start the retreat tonight. Which I," he shook his head at himself, "imagine that you would know since you created the itinerary."

Roach couldn't help the chuckle that pulled from his throat at the words. He gave another grin to Ghost as the man waved to him and left the room. His eyes turned back toward the window, taking in the view in front of him again. It was breathtaking.

"Stand right next to me, okay?" Roach grabbed tight to Lily's hand, making sure that she wouldn't try to run off toward the water. He wasn't too worried about her getting in, after all, she was in her swimsuit and floaties already. He also knew how strong of a swimmer she was already. Still, this was a company retreat and their group hadn't gathered down at the water just so that his daughter could go swim. No, they'd gathered down at the water to participate in a…rather extreme trust exercise. Really it wasn't anything bad, just certainly more than what most other companies would do for a trust exercise.

"Alright," Soap clapped his hands to get everyone's attention. He was in his own swimming gear and Roach had to try to keep his eyes from tracing over the man's bare chest. It was hard to do. It was even harder when a similarly bare-chested Ghost stepped silently up next to him. Roach knew that both of the men were much stronger than they looked. He knew that at least Ghost was ex-military. But knowing and seeing were two very different things. "Today we're going to do a fun little obstacle course! Our goal is to learn to trust those around us, we want to know that the person next to us has our back and can be relied on during important times." He turned and motioned to the large inflatable water obstacle courses that they'd rented for the exercise. "We'll split off into groups of four. Everyone will be timed and everyone in the fastest group gets a $100 gift card for themselves!"

That had a bit of excited chatter running through everyone and Soap was quick to shoot Roach a thumbs up. The monetary incentives were something that Roach had suggested, just a little something to keep everyone invested in actually trying to win. The company had the money for it, more than enough money for it, so Soap and Ghost had readily agreed. "Alright everyone, split up and pick your team!"

Roach stood hesitantly, still holding tight to Lily's hand. He wasn't an idiot, he knew that he was going to be the last pick for any of the teams. They all wanted to win and he came with Lily, so whatever team picked him was going to have a bit of a disadvantage. He'd considered just asking Ghost and Soap if he could just sit the exercise out and cheer everyone on from the side, but he'd brushed that thought off. It came back now in full force and he found himself beginning to look around for where Soap and Ghost had gone to.

"Looking for someone, Bug?" Roach turned around to meet both Soap and Ghost who'd somehow snuck up on him.

"Hi, Suds! Hi, Ghost!" Lily waved at them excitedly, "Do we get to go on the big floaty thing?" She pointed excitedly to obstacle courses, her eyes wide.

Ghost gave a chuckle and glanced up carefully at Roach before responding, "We do. In fact, why don't you and your mom join Soap and I's team."

Roach was quick to chime in, "You guys don't have to do that." He waved them off, "Lily and I can just sit off to the side and cheer everyone on."

"Now why would we want that?" Soap leaned against Ghost with a grin, "We want the fastest people on our team, and," he looked down at Lily with a grin, "We hear there's a little speed demon right here to help us win."

"Yes!" Lily jumped up excitedly, "I'm super fast! I'm like the fastest swimmer in the world!" She pretended to flex for the group, pulling a small laugh from the three adults around her.

"What do you say then, Roach?" Soap turned his gaze back to Roach, the grin still on his face. "Join our team?"

"Alright," Roach agreed after a moment, an apologetic smile sent their way, "Apologies in advance if I make us lose. I'm certainly not as fast as speedy here." He playfully nudged Lily and she grinned up at him. He still felt a bit bad, but he figured that Soap and Ghost weren't exactly aiming to win anyways, so he might as well join their team with Lily to at least allow the little ball of energy he called his daughter to participate.

"Okay," Farah, who was doing the timing for their group stepped out of their way, "Get ready boys and girl, remember, the time to beat is two minutes!" She paused for a few moments, watching the small watch on her wrist before, "And…go!"

Their little group took off toward the obstacles, Lily rushing ahead of them to immediately begin climbing up the first of the obstacles, a small wall. She was moving up it quickly and Roach found himself snickering a bit as he heard Soap curse under his breath, impressed by her speed. He wasn't too surprised with how fast she was moving over this obstacle, after all, she'd always been a bit of a climber. They followed up after her, each jumping over the wall only moments after she did.

Roach made a point to pick her up as they moved to the next obstacle, helping move her to it a bit quicker because of her short legs. This one required them to slide through several inflatable holes in succession and, while Lily flew through them, when Soap tried to follow behind he caught his legs on the first hole, sending him tumbling through with a groan. Both Roach and Ghost laughed as they heard his groan from the other side and, when Roach followed through the hole after him (much more gracefully) he had a bright grin on his face. He was quick to help Soap back up to his feet as Ghost came through the hole after them.

They went through the next ones much more gracefully, though noticeably slower thanks to Soap trying not to trip again. By the time they made it through the last one, Lily was huffing and puffing waiting on them, her floaties crossed over her chest as she glared them down. "Come on! We're going to lose!"

They moved through a short little field of tubes next, forced to push them out of their way as they ran. Roach was following behind Ghost which meant that he got a perfect view of the moment when Soap released one of the tubes and it flung back to smack Ghost in the face, sending him stumbling back a bit. Roach hadn't been able to contain his laughter at that and had to grab onto Ghost's back so that he could be guided out of the field of tubes as laughter threatened to knock him to his knees. He'd still been laughing when they emerged from the tubes to see Soap already meeting them with apologies on his lips. Ghost had waved him off with a grumpy grumble and they'd moved through the next two obstacles with no issue.

"Close to the end," Roach commented as they came up to the little inflatable beams of varying sizes that they would have to jump over before moving off toward the final catwalk over to the end zone. The last part was really the only area where any of them would be able to fall into the water below. Luckily only one of them had to make it to the end of the course for their time to be considered finished. Though they would take a five-second penalty for anyone unable to make it to the end.

"This seems easy," Soap puffed up a bit, "Ghost and I can get through this quick and help you and Lils across the catwalk."

"Agreed," Ghost nodded, "Wait here, we'll go across."

Roach wanted to tell them that it wasn't necessary and that they could all go at once, but it was too late. His bosses were off, darting over the various inflatable beams quickly. Roach and Lily watched them go, Roach feeling more than a little impressed with their speed. The two were already nearing the last of the hurdles and Roach was certain that he was going to see them pop up at any second at the very end. That was until Ghost pulled ahead of Soap just slightly while moving toward the end. Roach saw the low-to-the-ground inflatable beam, but apparently, Ghost didn't as, before Roach could warn him, he was hitting it at full speed.

He immediately tumbled forward, falling flat over the last of the beams and tumbling down over the edge of the little inflatable obstacle course down into the water below. Roach started laughing at the same time as Soap, though Soap's laughter was short-lived as his distraction caused him to make the same mistake as Ghost and send himself flailing over the edge of the obstacle course and down to the water below with a splash. Roach was hunched over, his hands on his knees for support as laughter wracked his system. His eyes watered and he was sure he was going to pass out from the lack of air getting to his brain.

"Mommy!" Lily tugged at his arm as he continued laughing, "C'mon! We have to get to the end!"

Roach allowed himself to be dragged over the beams by his daughter, laughing the entire time that they moved. He barely made it over the beams and, as he and Lily came to the small catwalk, he was sure that he was going to fall over the edge to join Soap and Ghost in the water. He could see both of them floating down below, watching them. The sight only made him laugh harder.

He wasn't sure how long it took him and Lily to finally make it to the little end area, but when they did Roach's face felt delightfully warm and his cheeks hurt from how hard he was laughing. Their time was called and later, when he and Lily slid down the inflatable slide and into the water together and then made their way back to the beach to get their time, Roach couldn't be the slightest bit surprised to hear it had taken them over six minutes to complete the course.

"Sorry we didn't win," Soap handed Roach a can of cold Soda before plopping down next to him on the picnic bench he'd sat himself at. Roach was watching Lily dig under rocks for bugs, his eyes occasionally shooting over to admire the figure of Ghost prepping the grill for the burgers he'd promised to cook for everyone.

"I didn't think we would," Roach chuckled and sent a playful grin Soap's way, "If it hadn't been you and Ghost, it probably would have been me."

Soap chuckled, his face going a bit pink at the reminder of his and Ghost's tumble off of the obstacle course. "Better us than you," He leaned back against the picnic table and took a small sip from his drink, joining Roach in quietly watching Ghost and Lily. After a moment he gave a sigh and leaned a bit closer to Roach, motioning toward Ghost with a grin on his face, "You know if it was any other competition, we'd have won."

"Oh yeah?" Roach felt a small amused smile quirk up his lips.

"Oh yeah," Soap confirmed. "Ghost and I are good with a lot of things." He moved a bit closer to Roach, "Work for example. Or," his voice dropped a bit, "Our hands as another example."

Roach found himself flushing a bit at the low tone that Soap had used. He tried to shake it off, after all, there was no way that Soap was implying what he thought he was. It just wasn't possible. He cleared his throat nervously and brought his drink up to his mouth in an attempt to hide his blush, "Really?"

"Really," Soap looked him over carefully, the grin still on his face, "If you'd like, we'd be more than willing to- what the fuck!" He jerked back suddenly, his eyes going wide with panic as he lifted his feet from the ground and tucked them up on the bench, fear in his eyes. Roach trailed his eyes down quickly, amusement quickly squashing any heat in him as he spotted the little lizard on the ground that Soap was staring at.

He gave a slow chuckle and leaned down to pluck the little thing from the ground, holding it in his hands carefully, "Did he run over your foot?" He shot Soap an amused smile, chuckling at the embarrassed red color that was slowly taking over his face. Soap nodded his head slowly. "Don't worry," he gave him a small smile and held the lizard out for him to see, "They usually don't bite."

"That's comforting," Soap joked hesitantly, his eyes still wide.

Roach stood up from the bench, holding the creature carefully. He gave a slow hum as he looked around, trying to find a place to take the little thing, "Don't worry, I'll put it over in the woods so it won't bother you." He shot a wink to Soap before starting toward the treeline. "Lily, do you want to see a lizard for a few seconds?" His daughter was by his side in an instant, oohing and ahhing at the creature in his hands.

He held it for her for a few moments longer than he normally would, allowing her to gently stroke her fingers along it for a few moments. He gently transferred it into her hands and instructed her how to carefully release it onto a nearby rock. They both watched as it crawled rapidly down from the little rock Lily had placed it on and scuttled off across the forest floor. Roach waited until he'd lost sight of it to stand back up fully.

He gave a brief stretch before turning around, intent on rejoining Soap at the little picnic table they'd been sitting at. Instead, he slammed directly into a hard body. Within a moment there was cool sticky liquid soaking through his shirt and seeping onto his skin, pulling a grimace from him. He looked down at the dark-colored wet spot across his clothing.

"Shit, Roach," Alex was quick to set down the little red cup he'd been holding and grab a nearby towel, offering it to him, "I'm so sorry."

Roach waved him off, "It's okay," he gave a short chuckle, "Trust me when I say that Lily has spilled much worse on me before."

"Hey!"

"Should we talk about the bucket of paint?" He raised an eyebrow at his daughter and a sheepish look was quick to cover her face. She gave a grumble but said nothing else as she moved away from the two adults to begin hunting for bugs in the brush again. Roach shook his head at her and turned back to face Alex. He turned down the offered towel, "It's okay, I'll just run back to the cabin and change shirts," he looked down at himself with a wrinkle of his nose, "No way am I staying in this sticky thing for the rest of the day."

He stepped away from Alex and started toward the little path that would take him back to the cabin. The stickiness of his shirt pressing against his skin was getting to be a bit much for him, the feeling making his skin crawl. As he passed by where Ghost had just lit the fire for the grill, he made the decision to just go ahead and take the shirt off. There was no harm that would come from it.

He grabbed at the back of his shirt and was quick to tug it over his head, wadding the cloth up in his hands. Beside him, he could hear a quick clatter of something hitting the ground before a quick puff of warm air and a pop caught his attention. When he turned, it was to the sight of Ghost stumbling away from a large plume of fire that rose from the grill he'd just lit.

"Ghost!" He and Soap were quick to surround the taller man, both of them checking over him quickly as the fire of the grill died down. Luckily, it seemed that the man hadn't been burnt or singed, but there was a rather amusing ring of black soot around his face where the smoke from the fire had painted his skin.

Ghost seemed more dazed than anything, just blinking at Roach with wide eyes and pink dusting across his face as Roach checked him over carefully. A few others had gathered around them as well, Laswell, in particular, seemed to be anxiously awaiting whether Ghost was okay or not. Roach knew it was likely because she would be the one having to fill out the paperwork if someone got hurt on the retreat.

"Ghost," Roach carefully felt along Ghost's face, watching to see if the man winced at any particular point during the process, "Can you hear me? Are you hurting anywhere?"

Ghost shook his head slowly, still watching Roach with wide eyes. Despite the fact that he claimed to be fine, Roach was beginning to wonder if the man had a concussion or something from his fall to the ground.

"Simon," Soap's hand landed on Ghost's shoulder, his voice taking on a tone that Roach couldn't decipher. It seemed to be enough to snap Ghost out of whatever stupor he was in as his eyes quickly darted away from Roach and he started to slowly push himself from the ground. Roach tried to give him room but stayed close enough that he could rush forward to help if need be.

"I'm fine," Ghost's face had turned steadily pinker and he wouldn't meet Roach's eyes. "Sorry, I, uh, zoned out I guess. Used too much lighter fluid." He brushed himself off and leaned slightly into Soap who'd wrapped an arm around him to provide some support.

"Well," Roach nodded to him, "I'm glad you're okay, though, maybe you should let someone else work the grill?" He gave Ghost a small smile, the concern that had been written across his face slowly faded into something a bit calmer. If his heart had stopped for a brief second when he saw the fire bursting up toward Ghost, he could keep that to himself.

"I'm okay," Ghost assured, "I'll still cook, not like I really hurt myself."

Roach gave him an amused smile, "No," he agreed, "Thankfully not, but maybe you want to let someone else start it and come back to the cabin with me?"

Both Soap and Ghost's heads shot toward him, their eyes wide. "Come back to the cabin with you?" Ghost stuttered out after a moment, his face somehow going a shade pinker.

Roach raised an eyebrow at both of them, confusion filling him. It wasn't like he'd offered anything odd, so he couldn't quite understand why they both seemed so shocked by his words. "Yeah," he motioned toward Ghost's face, "To clean up all the soot and stuff you got on you?" Both Ghost and Soap seemed to deflate slightly at his words, sharing a quick glance with one another. Behind them, Alex and Farah gave quick choked-out laughs, only adding to Roach's confusion. "What did you guys think I meant?"

"Nothing," Ghost motioned forward, "You're right, I should clean up." He shot a quick glare toward Farah and Alex before marching past Roach in the direction of the cabin. Roach shot a confused glance toward Soap, but noticed that the man looked almost like a kicked puppy and wouldn't meet his gaze either.

"Right, um," he turned to look for Lily and found her already watching him closely, her little face twisted up into a look of serious contemplation that caught Roach by surprise. He didn't think he'd ever seen her look so serious before. "Lily," he caught her attention, "You stay by Soap, okay?"

She nodded her head at him, her face still twisted up, "Okay, Mommy." Roach wanted to question her sudden deep thinking, but he decided better of it and instead just started after Ghost toward the cabin.

"Mommy?" Roach stopped in the doorway to the room that Lily was staying in. He'd already tucked her in and he'd just flipped the lights off when she called his name. Quickly, he flicked it back on and turned to face her, letting her know that he was listening, "Do you like Suds and Ghost?"

Roach tilted his head at her, a small smile quirking at his lips, "Of course I do. We work together, but they're my friends too. Why do you ask?"

Lily was quiet for a moment, her eyes trailing away from Roach and up toward the ceiling. She'd been contemplative ever since the moment that Ghost had nearly lost his eyebrows to the grill. Roach had checked in with her numerous times, but every time she'd just happily told him that she was okay before going back to her contemplation. Roach had wondered briefly if she was upset that they were going home already, but he was sure that Soap and Ghost's promise to bring her back had banished that sadness from her mind.

After a long moment, she asked, "Do you like Suds and Ghost," she paused for another moment before looking at him, her eyes practically piercing through him. In that moment he could clearly notice the two different colors of her eyes, one a greyish brown and the other an all too familiar pale green. His heart squeezed tight in his chest. "Mommy, do you like Soap and Ghost like you liked Daddy?"

Roach's heart stuttered over in his chest and, for a moment, he didn't remember how to breathe. "What," his voice broke and he had to take a few moments to breathe, "What do you mean by that sweetie?"

Lily watched him for another moment and Roach had to wonder if this truly was his six-year-old daughter that he was talking to. She seemed much older than she was. She seemed to know more than he'd thought possible for her. After another long moment, she seemed to come to some sort of conclusion and turned away from him. "Nevermind. Night, Mommy, love you."

She tucked herself under the covers like nothing had happened and Roach couldn't help but wonder if he'd imagined the whole thing. He stood still for a long moment, his mind running circles around itself. Finally, he reached up to turn the light in the room off. He stepped out of the room silently, pulling the door closed behind him. He stood there, his hand still on the cool metal of the doorknob.

It wasn't a question he'd been prepared for, certainly not one he'd been prepared to hear from his daughter. Now he found himself silently asking the question to himself, anxiety creeping up his shoulders as he did. He liked Soap and Ghost. But, like Lily asked, was it similar to what he'd felt before?

He didn't quite know if he was ready to face the answer to that yet.

"I can't believe I freaked out over a lizard," Soap sulked, tucking his face against Ghost's shoulder with an embarrassed groan. The whiskey glass in his hand was already half drunk. Next to him, Ghost seemed equally as downcast, his own whiskey glass already drained. He was on his second.

"At least you didn't nearly kill yourself just because he took his shirt off," He took another drink from his glass, his face feeling hot again. "Were we this useless when we were trying to get together?"

"I don't think so," Soap tucked himself closer to him on the couch, "I feel like we were braver then."

Ghost snorted, "Well, that I believe. I guess when you're getting shot at, confessing your feelings feels like nothing next to that." He sighed and tilted his head over so that his cheek was resting on the top of Soap's head, "Maybe we need to almost die again. Get some of that confidence back?"

Soap snorted and shook his head against Ghost's shoulder, "That's stupid. A terrible idea if I've ever heard one." He paused for a moment before groaning, "Though if it helps get rid of the memory of eating shit in front of him today, I might be more willing to agree to it."

"We're useless at this." Ghost sighed and pressed a kiss to the top of Soap's head.

"I agree."

Both Soap and Ghost shot up immediately. They were quick to look behind them over the couch, panic coursing through their system as they met the gaze of Lily, still in her night clothes. "Lily," Soap plastered a smile onto his face, but his eyes were quick to scan around nervously, "Where's your mom?"

"Don't panic," she marched into the room and circled around the couch until she was standing in front of both Soap and Ghost, "He's still in bed. It's just me." She crossed her arms across her chest as Soap and Ghost shared a relieved look with one another.

"And why aren't you in bed?" Ghost asked carefully, an eyebrow raised at her.

"Because we need to talk." She sounded surprisingly serious for a six-year-old and Soap and Ghost shared an amused look with one another.

"Alright," Soap sat up fully in his seat and gave her a soft smile, "What's going on, kid?"

Lily watched them for a moment before narrowing her eyes, "You two like my Mommy, don't you?"

Soap choked on his own breath, his face going a bright red. Next to him, Ghost controlled his reaction much better. "Of course, we like your mom, Lily," He assured, "We're friends."

"No," Lily countered, "You want to kiss my mom! I can tell!"

That had Ghost snapping his mouth shut, his neck and ears going a bright red to match the color of Soap's face. They both stared at Lily, unsure of what to do in the moment. This was certainly not something they'd been prepared for in the slightest.

After a long moment of both Soap and Ghost stumbling over one another to try to refute Lily's words, the little girl rolled her eyes. "If you guys like my Mommy, just tell him!" She paused for a moment before giving a bright grin and adding, "Unless you just want him to keep saving you guys from lizards and laughing when you mess up." She gave a bit of a secretive giggle, Soap and Ghost's sheepish faces only making her laugh harder. Her laugh sounded a surprising bit like Roach's.

"You," Soap hesitated for a moment, "You're okay with Ghost and I wanting to..."

"You guys can be my dads if you want," Lily shrugged, "Oh wait!" She shook her head suddenly and pointed at them, "If you wanna be my dads you have to buy me a Nintendo Switch first! Oh! And a new bike! And I want some Sour gummy worms!" She paused to think for a moment and Ghost and Soap couldn't help the amused look that they shot one another. Lily's seriousness seemed to disappear at once and both of the men were reminded that Lily was only a child. A child who just wanted her mom to be happy. "And you guys have to come to the Daddy-daughter dances with me at school! And buy me more fun clothes! Oh, and I-"

"Lily," Ghost cut her off with an amused smile, "Why don't you make a list for us?"

"Oh! That's a good idea!" She jumped up excitedly and started toward the entrance to the living room, likely off to find a piece of paper and a pen. She stopped before she could fully leave the room, though, and turned to face the two men, "By the way, if it helps, my Mommy likes you guys too." With that, she left the room and two shocked men behind her.

"Everything alright with you two?" Roach asked the question as he shut his car door behind Lily. They'd fully packed up everything and now all that was left was for them to go home.

"Of course," Soap waved him off with a soft smile. There was something else in his eyes though, something that Roach could clearly see despite the man's obvious attempt to hide it. It was the same with Ghost. Both of them seemed to have something else going on in their mind, something that very clearly had to do with Roach considering it was only present when they looked at him. "Why do you ask?"

Roach shrugged, walking around the front of his car to meet them, "You two just seem quiet today, like you have something else on your minds." He hesitated for a moment before shyly adding, "I just want to make sure that you guys are okay."

Ghost and Soap shared a look with one another, something passing between them that Roach couldn't quite decipher. "We're fine, bug, really." Ghost turned back toward him, "Just, uh, well," he paused for a moment, "Things were a bit crazy, but did you at least have a good time this weekend?"

Roach gave a small chuckle, "I had a great time." He gave the two men a grin, "Thank you guys for letting me bring Lily. I know she enjoyed herself a lot."

Soap nodded at him, a grin crossing his own lips, "We're glad to hear, you know how much we care about the kid." The words warmed Roach's chest and he could feel his face heat up slightly. He did know. He also knew just how good both of the men were with his daughter. Just how good they would be if...

He cut himself off. He couldn't think like that. These were his bosses and there was certainly no way that they felt the same toward him. "Well," he cleared his throat nervously and gave the two men another smile, "I guess unless there's anything else you need from me?"

There was a long pause as Soap and Ghost looked at each other. They seemed to be having a silent debate but, in the end, it was as though neither of them won. Ghost turned back to him with a small smile and a nod, "You're free to go. Let us know when you and Lily make it home safe?"

Roach nodded, "Of course. I'll see you guys tomorrow."

Despite the fact that it seemed like both Soap and Ghost wanted to say more, neither of them stopped Roach from getting into his car. It wasn't until they were pulling away from the little cabins that they'd spent the weekend in that Lily spoke. Her words were no louder than a mumble, but Roach still heard them.

"They're so silly." He didn't bother asking who the words were about. He could guess for himself.

A week after the weekend trip and a package was delivered to Roach's doorway, addressed to Lily. The only note on it was typed out reading, "As per our agreement."

Lily was more than happy to pull the Nintendo Switch out of its wrapping. Roach, on the other hand, couldn't help but wonder what exactly this "agreement" was that his daughter had supposedly made with his bosses.

#gary roach sanderson #simon ghost riley #john soap mactavish #call of duty #ghostroach #soapghost #ghostsoap #ghoap #ghostroachsoap #soaproach #soaproachghost #call of duty fanfic #cod mw2 fanfic #cod #cod mw2 #mini bug

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greenerteacups · 1 month

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this might seem v random but, if you haven't come across it already, i would really recommend tavi gevinson's latest online zine 'fan fiction' -- not because of the fan fiction element of it, though, but because of your evident love of taylor swift (who it's about) and your impeccable literary taste. and would love to hear your thoughts!

This was an excellent recommendation, and I loved it. I will admit that the RPF segment had me leery (RPF throws me for reasons I have yet to intellectually inspect but believe may relate somehow to the concept of voyeurism) but I'm glad I finished it, because she pulls it together very well. The dialogue in the last segment is especially great, particularly these parts:

And this:

Because this gets at what I find so Gordian about Internet conversations among even relatively respectful/measured people about Swift's work and presence: we can't seem to figure out what it is we want from her. There is no right way for a woman to be more famous than most presidents. Do we want her to need us or not? Should she care about our approval or shouldn't she? Is the fact that she doesn't "feel" authentic to us the consequence of having demanded authenticity for so long she literally had to shape her personality to fit what "felt real" to millions of people, and in the process, of course, of course, inevitably, produced work that felt authentic to no one?

And then also, like. To what extent do fans use her autonomy/consent as a lever for bad behavior? I.e. does the "invitation" of personal information in her songs license us to speculate about her like she's a character on a TV show? Where is the line of appropriate speculation in an autobiographical medium? I was talking to my friend at dinner just tonight about how it's gross that people can't seem to give her the credit of writing songs that aren't 100% always About Her, and my friend pointed out that she invites comparisons to her own life by teasing names and iconography we identify with her public persona. It's like Brett Easton Ellis writing a book about a character named Brett Easton Ellis. Sure, they're not the same person, but you've invoked a symbol, and people are not being ridiculous for trying to analyze that symbol in the context of the work. In order to do that, they need to understand what the symbol is. Which means the biographical stuff actually is relevant to the text, and Swift's obvious irritation at her fans for failing to just... fuck off a little bit and let her live, while an entirely fair and morally defensible human response, is complicated by the way that her art is produced to resonate best for those who care most. Folklore and Evermore prove even Taylor is on some level aware of this, because she uses the third-person mechanic (and again in "Bolter") to differentiate those protagonists from the narrative construct of "Taylor Swift" in her other first-person work — i.e. pulling apart the Swift who is speaking and not the Swift who is singing (if that makes sense).

And then, finally: "The irony gets a bit tired. You can just say you like music. It's fine." What a deliciously recursive little bit of irony, considering it's a criticism being offered by a character whose ironic distance is itself being criticized. And the fact that the author is putting her own self-criticism in the mouth of a non-existent popstar who's deliberately flattening her take on her subject matter? Mingling valid with invalid criticism to establish a protective distance from her flaws and prove her smarty-pants intellectual self-awareness while also implicitly disowning the faults in her work, an (ironically) childish gesture of insecurity that stands at odds with the mature intellectual persona? Trying to have about seven or eight different cakes, and eat every one of them? "The irony gets a bit tired." Fucking perfect. I laughed.

#fuck it I'm making another tag for this #swiftism #greenteacup asks

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voltstone · 3 months

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…about the clementine comic (again): why is she illiterate?

I've already written an exhaustive essay about the Clementine comics written by Tillie Walden, and that was before the first book was out. It was more of a discussion of what was already seen from the teaser, Walden being an…interesting choice to write this, but more than that, it was to preemptively stake the claim that no, it isn't canon. Not in the way that's just "ew I hate this I refuse," but more so, "the games (and character) by design and functionality do not allow for single interpretations to adequately continue the story."

These comics can be…a canon. But not the canon.

In the same way as The Walking Dead Game's (TWDG) fanfiction, like my own where I'm writing only my canon interpretation, the others who do the same, and so on.

(This right here is the essay, by the by.)

It has been a couple years since then. I have read both comics, and there is a lot I can say about them. I may one day, but not right now.

Instead, I want to direct attention to how…weirdly anti-apocalyptic it is?? Because it bothers me. A lot. That I'm watching a Clementine as a character get reduced to a kid who doesn't know how to read or write, doesn't know how to dress and care after a wound...

All things necessary for survival—the reading especially within an apocalyptic setting. Which. No. I'm not kidding. I do mean that.

Before I really indulge in my grievances, however, I will start by outlining the world that TWDG has established, and what it actually takes to survive within it.

(And yes, this is another lengthy post.)

[Surviving the Apocalypse]

Throughout the games, we ultimately see the apocalypse under two overarching eras. The initial stage is calamity. The walkers swiftly overrun what people upheld as a stable, and very secure way of life. And the fact that it only takes one factor to destroy the "we're untouchable" notion, it's terrifying. (Which, on that note, though the undead is an extreme, we did maybe learn this post-COVID. Ergo, stories like these may resonate a little bit better than they had before.)

What's different about The Walking Dead (TWD) as a universe is that…, the true calamity arguably doesn't hit until later, because the dead themselves aren't what really destroys the untouchable mindset as before. In most universes, such as The Last of Us, it's something contagious that you don't want. However, it is also something to overcome and fix. Though the dead in TWDG's cousin is far more brutal, if you isolate them, or find a way to vaccinate…, there could feasibly be a future where the fungus is more akin to rabies or the black plague rather than a devastating change in society.

Because that's how diseases like these work. They will never go away, especially if humanity mishandled their responses to them. Rabies is still out there, because it is a violent disease (am also under the impression that walkers is very synonymous with rabies, but I digress). The Black Plague? That whole thing? Yeah, the plague itself is also still out there. The problem was solved by nature, where a fire torched all of London.

But since then, we have vaccines. We know better (…I hope) in how to appropriately respond. And…that's the best we can do. Pathogens will always dictate life.

Of course, this isn't to undermind what outbreaks as seen in those other stories do to the world. They evidently are a turning point, if not the end, of humanity's way of life. The reason why, however, falls more in-line with a society being greatly unprepared, and a virus, fungus, whatever being the perfect amalgamation that spreads rapidly. It's what we as humans have gone through, will go through, to an absolutely extreme. Complete annihilation. That kind of deal.

Here's the thing about TWD, and I honestly could go on and on with this (and why it's my favorite apocalypse I've seen in fiction):

The bite is not what does it. Everyone is infected.

And the longer you think about it, that in itself will not end. I'm in the camp that it would be maternally passed-down given how blood circulation works within pregnancy, so. You know.

The point here is TWD as an apocalypse is very unique in this one change. It fundamentally breaks how people approached these kinds of stories. The walkers are not particularly fast because they don't have to be. They are a looming presence. As they deteriorate, because they're so slow-moving (as apposed to clickers), they manage to tell their own stories in how they died. You can see if they were bit, or starved, or shot… List goes on.

They are representative of nature reclaiming the world, and on top of that, a dangling threat to anyone who has the gall to think they're above it.

Because they're not. So either make sure your head is shot, or deal with walking around like a mangy pile of rot.

It changed how people approached this because rather than a devastating outbreak, this feels like a sort of damnation. There is a very bleak sense of finality to this universe—to the point where… Yeah. They could live on, try to find a cure, but this is it.

This is the true calamity of this world—not the walkers themselves, but the fact that they are there to stay, there is no going back. At least, for a long, long, long time. You can't just isolate them. If someone dies the wrong way, there could be one in the room right with you. Hence…making sure your head is shot.

And as with in the games, it is such a bleak reality that it forces people to just move on.

Which they do. The way to survive this initial era is, amongst a wide scope of things, to accept the fact and carry forth.

The characters that don't, and are simply too rooted in the past, like Katjaa… Well, they don't make it, do they? There's a reason why we don't see that many unable to let go after the first season, because they don't last. If they do, like with Tenn, it's because they got lucky and had a community to fall back on. Regardless, given what we see with Katjaa, Season One (S1) is this time.

The second era of the apocalypse is seeding. Both in the literal sense, and symbolic.

I'm not talking established communities, no. The closest we get to that is the boarding school, given they do have established practices. But, with how many things need to be done, the schoolkids are still within this second era.

Season Three (S3) is arguably the first season of the four solidly within the second era. Sure, there are still scavengers, but there are also several communities at once—enough so that the conflicts between end up being why they fail, not purely the dead. This leaves Season Two (S2) to be the fitting chaos that ensues between the eras, where much of the world is scavenging, they're reminded of how cruel winter is actually, but there are already solid efforts in building communities; then, Season 4 (S4) as well within the second era, with clear signs that there is the gradual chance of establishment.

The second era requires not only what the first proposes—moving on—, but also a sense of ingenuity. They're left with the scraps of the past world, but that past world also grew out of the earth, so they can cobble those scraps and earth together and make something out of it. We have Prescott on the airstrip; that is the epitome of cobbling things together. There's Richmond, and Howe's Hardware as well, where it's making use of the scraps left behind to establish proper farms. Then Ericson's as a meld of both—the kids have their structure, but they needed to feed off the land. (Not quite at the farm stage like the others were.)

All of what I've discussed thus far, however, is on an overarching scale (and isn't exactly exhaustive either). It can be extrapolated and used in reference to an individual's survival, but there are ways to better articulate an individual's survival than just…get the fuck over it, and build a farm.

And what's interesting is there is a vast difference in requirements depending on how they choose to survive.

With a community. Or. Alone.

The benefits to a community is you yourself don't have to encompass the three traits to survive. (Oh, yeah, this essay will have three primary traits of surviving on an individual scale; obviously there will forever be more nuance, but…shush. I'm typing.) Within a community, you can rely upon others that do encompass the three traits—and it doesn't have to be all in one person. The people within a community can specialize in skills.

And the schoolkids best emulate this.

Tenn and Willy, though they have their own skillsets, are example of those who need to rely on others. Both have the school, though they are closest to Violet and Mitch respectively—those, if asked, would likely be considered the closest thing to caretakers that either boys have.

And right alongside them, Louis, because my man…would like to say he's allergic to work, but really, it's the self-doubt. Now, if not a person who is reliant, he is good for raising spirits. He knows games to play. He brings entertainment.

There's Marlon, who's the well-spoken leader. Ruby, who plays nurse. Aasim, who…writes? Writing's important and stuff in the apocalypse, right?

(Yes. It is. Again, we will get to that, so, hush-up.)

Rosie. Dog. (This is also very important. You can pet her!)

Mitch was likely the muscle, or something along those lines. Omar, the cook.

I would say Brody sits near the "needs to rely" camp, given her anxiety, though, she does actually pull her weight, ergo, support. You can task her with anything. She'll likely be able to do it, such as with fishing and hunting.

Violet was also probably another support, though it is difficult to really tell at the beginning because she's withdrawn from the rest of her people. (I've always felt the Violet we meet at the start isn't who she was before the twins left. Of course, Violet is Violet, but… Depression, and stuff. Probably BPD stuff.) Here's the thing though: come to find, Violet is also another thing.

That being deputy. She can step-up and play leader when need be, but will step down because that isn't quite what she is—hence why the leadership ultimately goes from Marlon to Clementine by the end. This has Violet be the ultimate support. She can do whatever, fill in the leadership role, so on and so forth.

As the community develops, the others will find more nuances in themselves like these. Beyond what I've outlined, and the present nuances already in S4.

The thing with this line-up to understand is there's huge variety here. Not only in the nature of each role, but also their complexity. Because…, turns out, there's a lot to living.

Which. I mean. All of that is no shit, Sherlock. Because yeah.

When I go on about, say, Violet, it's to explain a very specific concept that one word is not going to do. There's a specific reason why I say deputy, and not second-hand; there is a thing where roles will and do change depending on circumstance, and time. (As with Willy (and Tenn) when he grows up, and when Louis becomes more confident.) But this doesn't mean it's more important. When I say "Omar, the cook," or "Ruby, who plays nurse," neither are to designate either as lesser roles.

They're actually crucial. Because no fucking shit. You need to eat. You need to learn how to mend yourself.

It's why those roles are so…simple. Because title alone says everything.

Certain roles, like Violet's (which…may or may not be ironic), are very community-centric. Others, like Omar and Ruby's, are fundamental to just life. And what you see is within communities, those fundamentals go from just skillsets to an art or to a science. When you have people who specialize in each, they are given the time and space to truly understand the ins and outs of what they're doing.

Cut to alone.

Those like Clementine.

Surviving alone is difficult because not only are all of these crucial roles in the community on one set of shoulders, there has to be great sacrifice. Of course, a leader or deputy isn't needed because there's just one. The social aspect of a community is not present.

With that social aspect follows specialization of the core fundamentals.

You need to eat. You need to learn how to mend yourself. And defend...

When you are on your own, without the security of a home, you are not given the time nor the space to truly know those ins and outs. So, when you look at those like Clementine, yes. She's not going to know little tricks, or the sciences, in what she does. The stitching for example:

Clean it. Sew the fucking body part shut. Wrap if you can. There you go, you just did stitching.

Which she does. However, S2, part of why the dog bite (oh, and yes, comic people? yeah, there's supposed to be a deep, concerning scar down her left forearm) scarred the way it did is because 1) …um, she was in a shed, dunking-back apple juice in between sutures in my case, getting jumped by a dead dude, and 2) the stitch-work was very rudimentary. Enough to close the wound and have it heal, sure. Then, S3, the same with Javi; Kate upon inspection does mention that she sees it bleeding through, indicating that again, it's very rudimentary. But, we have Eleanor examine it, and she notes that it is satisfactory, so long as it's looked after.

Had someone like Ruby, or better yet Eleanor (who Dr. Lingard complimented this exact skill) done it, they would have known different stitch techniques that not only closes the wound tight, but also leaves minimal scarring. And the other things, like how to adapt the techniques to different parts of the body, because…no, you really can't just stitch a knee like you would a back.

But again, Clementine didn't have the time to really learn the specifics. She's busy learning how to cook, and hunt, and defend, and scavenge supplies, drive, shoot, car maintenance, feeding a child, taking care of the child, protecting the child, prioritizing necessities…

Essentially, in terms of community vs solo, it's an argument between the specialized, and the jack of all trades.

Stay with me now. I'm not exactly done going over what is needed to survive, because there are more. There's the three traits I mentioned. But as I babble on, once the discussion over the comic begins, I do hope it's clear as to why I am going through these things as meticulously as I am.

Now we get to why Clementine of all girls would be able to live in this kind of environment. She's a kid, but like…young adult given the context. (I'm sure the medieval ages wouldn't argue.) She's like…stupid, or something. She only went to so much school, and we all know that only smart people graduate from school. I never met a dumbfuck at college ever! No!

…got a little side-tracked.

Genuinely though, what is it about Clementine?

I'll start this with a curveball:

What is the dumbest thing that she has ever done within the games?

There's room for debate, but the majority will probably point to S1, where she goes on to trust the voice at the other end of her radio—the voice being the Stranger's.

It's the decision that we, as an audience, thought Clementine was above doing even at that age. It's also what ultimately kills Lee.

Here's the thing, though:

Clementine putting faith into the Stranger wasn't just a child being stupid. For one, she is…eight/nine. So. A child. But, two, it was an exercise of her greatest flaw:

"She's a puzzle."

Something that is brought up, time and time again. To my mind, it's most notably done by Katjaa, whenever they're beside the train, and Duck is of ailing health. Clementine sits on her own log. Doesn't respond much to Lee, not until Chuck (as a breath of fresh air) comes to join the party.

See, she heard a voice from the other end of this radio—one of two (including the hat) mementos she has of her family—, and the one thing that she had in way of sanctuary. The Stranger said the right things, so she kept to herself with that radio, and let her desperation flourish.

Finding her parents was the one thing she wanted. So yes, through a child's gullibility, and a man's manipulation, she believed the wrong person.

We see this sort of flaw propagate time and time again. Granted, it does depend on the player's interpretation of her for S2 and S4, given we play as her, but in S3 where she's (quite literally, for the most part) out of our hands, what does she do? She keeps to herself. What happened to A.J? was a question on our minds, largely because of her reluctance to open up. Clementine lies to Javi about the New Frontier, then she turns around and explains her lie…, reveals her branding…, purely for survival's sake, not because she wholeheartedly trusts him.

Of course, in S3 it's understandable that she doesn't just open up to Javi. That game covers only a handful of days—short of a week by the end—, with the exception of the flashback sequences. (As opposed to S1, across several months, S2, a few weeks to a month, give or take, and S4, which sits about the same.)

Still, however. This is absolutely a part of Clementine's character: she's reserved. Without the player, her first inkling is to keep herself from the topic of conversation.

The thing to understand about this flaw, and how it bleeds into the comics, is that…I think(?) Walden acknowledged this part of her character. But…half of it.

The reason why comic Clementine pulled away from the boarding school is because she…, as she does…, kept to herself after her leg, got into her own head, and thusly ran off. I will say, I do agree that Clementine would be an absolute fucking mess with her leg gone because she has to rely on people again. (Which is devastating because of her specific trauma: à la parentification.)

Now…, run away…? Um…

(…it's also this specific trauma that… Um. Yeah no, she would not leave A.J.)

Whatever. Not the point of this essay.

The other half of this flaw, the half that the comics blatantly miss, speaks to quite an…insightful aspect of Clementine:

She is a very, very perceptive individual. Because the thing we see in S1 is that she's not just quiet. She's watching. She's observant. Clementine is quiet, not only because she gets into her own head, but because she's taking in the world, and so she notices things that other people don't pick up on.

Throughout S1, there will be moments where Lee can try to sugarcoat things, particularly after Duck's bite, only for Clementine to say it plainly:

"You don't know that."

Those moments speak to a kid who knows the difference between reality and not, and telling Clementine that she won't get snatched or bit is…not reality. It will likely happen, and it does.

Other moments, she'll notice details in the environment. She can point them out. Help Lee, as with getting into the train station. Make a comment, like in Hershel's barn with the "dookie"/shit/manure.

Or, back in the drugstore, where Carley (…not too subtly) outs Lee as a murderer in front of Clementine. …which, of course, Clementine picks up on. (The trigger for this is to pick up the photo of Lee with his family, hence why it can be before or after moving the desk.) To which, upon leaving the drugstore's office, she'll ask about it, and you'll have the option of being open and honest, sugarcoating it, or just flat out lie.

Staying in the drugstore! Lee asks for something to bar the entrance. Walkers are scratching to get a nibble. And? Immediately, she goes to his dad's cane (cuz that man ain't using anymore!).

S2. Same spiel. Because…, oh boy, incompetence is rampant as it turns out, and as I've stepped into adulthood for myself, I've come to appreciate that season as essentially "Clementine learns why the motel family fell apart, adults are grown ass children, she has to babysit them— KENNY, DOWN! STOP IT! STOP BITING THE RUSSIAN!— throughout a winter."

Because. Newsflash. Adults? About as stable of a concept as a table with a missing leg, then another one of mangled-together cutlery. And I will forever adore stories from a kid's perspective slowly realizing this fact.

(…also, parentification's a knocking. It wants in.)

Then, S3, where she gave up being the hero, but still…, somehow…, rattles off exactly what the player needs to do and where to get the tools when stealing a truck because she just can't help herself.

…okay, I think I've done enough. S4 also speaks for itself.

Point being, Clementine is a very perceptive, very resilient, and very adaptive person. It's why she out of all the kids she comes across is the one to survive.

Sarah immediately comes to mind as someone who really struggled with adapting. She can, but the tragedy of it is that it's not in time. Too little, too late. (Circumstances also don't help.)

With Gabe (if he dies), same kind of thing. He always struck me as someone painfully unaware of how good he had it, and how bad everything else was. And he needed to grow up. Fast. But again, that alone isn't what saves him—his uncle, and/or Clementine do(es). If he's saved at all, anyway.

Duck? Same fucking thing. And it was his death, through Chuck, that spurred Lee to start teaching Clementine the basics.

To which she adapts, and she adapts well. Their first outing doesn't go…all that great. Clementine freezes. But, throughout S1, she does shoot her first walker (with Omid, or in Crawford). If Lee cannot fight off the Stranger, she will be the one to kill him. And then, of course, the whole Lee death scene thing.

The second season starts off with Omid dropping because of a neglected gun. (Clementine freezes again.) Change is always on rocky road—despite the season prior, she still had a lot to learn, and she did throughout said season.

Perceptive, and resilient, and adaptive. To be those is the ticket to survival. Those are the three.

So why…does it seem like the comics don't know?

[VANCOMYCIN]

To anyone unaware, vancomycin is not a random string of letters for Clementine to work her mouth through. In fact, she knows how to read it. Had to, in order to inject this medicine into A.J within S3—whether or not she goes through with it is dependent on player choice.

Vancomycin, to give a better idea of the sheer desperation she was in, is not something to treat the common cold or flu. It's to treat Gram-positive bacterial infections—hence why it wouldn't necessarily work for colds or flu, given most are virus-borne—, and is generally synonymous with more serious infections.

Meaning. A.J was genuinely sick.

(My hunch is bacteria-borne pneumonia.)

I don't know what most of the fandom assumed, but it was not just a little bug. It was…bad. And a legit miracle that he survived (whether it be without the injection, or…with the injection where Clementine poked the syringe through his shirt? Game? Graphics?).

What likely happened was, somewhere down the line, he either just caught something on an off chance (the world hasn't been sanitized), or he got too close to danger and got himself sick that way off of one of the walkers/animals around. (If it was pneumonia, he likely inhaled something.) Regardless, Clementine was at a point where she…just did not have the resources to help him, would not know where to look, wouldn't feasibly be able to scavenge for it, and so she joined the New Frontier (whether or not you had her agree initially) because it was just that bad.

It is a heavy drug. Not only does it give insight as to why Clementine chose to join regardless of your choice for her, it also explains why the group threw her out for even handling it. It's not like aspirin that's easy to come by.

And, of course, there's the pronunciation of it. As with every medical term like this, it looks and sounds convoluted, but as you break it down, it's pretty straightforward.

Keep this in mind as I rattle on further. I find the vancomycin to be a very succinct contrast to what I take issue with in the comics.

Speaking of, the comics.

Hello there.

…Clementine.

The Clementine Comics, by Tillie Walden, read as a hard reset on the series, from S1 onward. Which yes, is the core issue. There was no effort in even trying to continue off from S4, it was just a way to have Clementine still run around, while avoiding the whole Telltale-RPG implications of a continuation.

So, if you're somehow out of the fandom and you're reading this, hi? Welcome. This is why people are upset about the comic, and for once, no, it's not just because this fanbase is being…unhinged. (In a bad way.)

On top of the plot decisions, however, there are things that just prove Walden was not the artist for this project. The artstyle is an interesting(?) fit for TWDG, but ultimately is an aside. There's the focus on romance. There's the dull characters.

And then there's Clementine herself. Very out of character, and that's coming from someone whose Clementine has…made decisions in her life.

What this essay will focus on, however, is the choices made to have Clementine incompetent.

Medically so.

In the first book, Clementine is taught how to clean and dress her amputated leg. I can get behind learning how to wrap the thing properly, because it is a different part of the body, and it's a different angle—on herself, not someone else.

But she asks…why she needs to clean it. Like she doesn't know. Clementine has to be taught that.

This kind of ignorance then follows her into the second book, because she fell ill (and slipped into a month-long coma??), largely due to her not cleaning the wound. Her leg had an infection. And it spread.

…okay. Um.

That's very interesting considering Clementine:

(S2) Got bit by a dog, felt like she needed to take care of it herself due to circumstances, cleaned it, sutured the wound with fishing wire, and then went to bandage it (before getting attacked). (By the way, the scar is not on comic Clementine. So.)

(S2; optional) Can sit beside Rebecca during her pregnancy to help, but then does have to assist with the walker/lurker problem.

(S2) Tended to Kenny's lost eye because he was beaten by a walkie-talkie by cleaning it.

(S2) Probably had to deal with that whole wound in her shoulder, you know, from the FUCKING RIFLE SHOT, either with Kenny, Jane, those at Wellington, or on her own (feat A.J). (No, they did not patch it up because time, and it went clean through. When Jane and Kenny fought, Clementine just had an open bullet hole.)

(S2/S3) Had to take care of a baby. With Jane or Kenny or in Wellington, and/or on her own.

(S3; alone S2 ending) Broke her finger on a car door to the point where she (presumably) had to amputate and cauterize the finger herself.

(S3) THE WHOLE VANCOMYCIN THING. I WILL GET BACK TO THAT.

(S3) Cleaned and sutured Javi's arm after he got shanked (cuz Gabe… never mind).

(S4) Twas a great start. Car accident—boo boo head.

(S4) Had to patch-up A.J cuz he got shot by a shotgun. And was in recovery for two weeks.

(S4; optional) Louis/Violet gets their finger chopped off. Probably helped deal with that.

(S4) Um. Her leg? You know. The one she lost, and the schoolkids managed to get her stable. Willing to bet Ruby would lose her fucking shit if it wasn't cleaned properly.

And that's just what we do see, in regards to Clementine personally.

Do I…have to go on and explain why it's fucking stupid that she doesn't know the basic information she had to learn in the comics? No?

Okay. Good.

I will get back to it, because I think this choice is indicative of a larger issue. We'll get to that weird…bias the comics have with Clementine being negligent and ignorant to all things medical.

Because now, we're here.

Not only is Clementine ignorant medically, she struggles to read her way through a dictionary. There's scenes of her sounding out words like she's in preschool.

For what reason?! Because in a world where people don't have higher education, they just don't read and write?! What?!

Okay, so, no, I didn't outline precisely why reading and writing (more so reading) is crucial of a skillset to have within an apocalyptic setting. I will do so now.

Because it's the crux of this essay. Hence why I've given it its own section. (…that's what this is, by the way.)

Why is it, exactly, "so" important Volt? Society's gone!! You don't need to read!

Listen up, ✨ dipshit ✨ This is an apocalypse. Not a nomadic setting.

Okay, that was a little mean. If you're asking this, you're not a dipshit.

Anyway, I am being genuine here. To the point where even implying that nomads by nature are illiterate is also…wrong. Because that's not necessarily true either, but assuming so falls into such an ignorant bias that people in 1st world countries have. (The same that the comics have.)

And this bias is the reason why I really, really want to have this discussion because the comics really rubbed me the wrong way with this, and, I'm kinda sick and tired of reading other people implying the same thing.

So let's start here:

What distinguishes us from the rest of the animal kingdom? Why is it we consider ourselves more intelligent?

The answer boils down to one thing:

Our mouths.

We can talk. And in doing so, we can communicate to each other very complex and nuanced concepts that require articulation beyond body language and emotion.

It's why we're able to distinguish things like envy versus just being irritated by someone. Because frankly? They physically feel the same because they are the same emotion. The context is what differentiates envy vs irritability. The why.

"I feel [this] because I want what they have." vs "I feel [this] because they're being stupid right now."

The [this] is the same. The body only has so many ways it can tell you what you're feeling, so it ends up boiling down to very basic emotions, where they can be felt at different extremes, or in unison. So. You know. Think Inside Out. What makes envy special is…you have to take context into consideration. Yes, it is also irritability, but it goes beyond that. And it requires language to communicate such a thing.

When you look at animals, that's why they're "unintelligent." They respond to what they feel the way they do because they don't have a way to articulate it. So they just react. Rather blindly in our eyes. Same thing with babies. They haven't gone through language acquisition just yet—they're in the same boat. It's also why a lot of dog breeds are said to "have the same intelligence as a 3 year old." It's related to language. They feel the same emotions, or whatever equivalent (can't claim I know how their bodies process emotions). However, they physically cannot exercise language verbally. Ergo, they're more or less stunted in the acquisition.

And then you have that we are wired to speak. Our mouths by design are made to verbalize complex sounds. A lot of our brain power is in being able to talk, or at least comprehend patterns in speech if the individual is mute. I for one was a child who rarely spoke for my first ~4/5 years, but I knew what people were saying. (Funnily enough, I was a lot like A.J.)

Beyond emotions, it's also to communicate things rather than [follow me, are you following, I'm looking at you, follow me,] it's "okay, I'm going over here, meet me by this tree." There's immediate clarification. There's a passage of thought between two brains. We don't have to interpret body language as much, we have to comprehend words.

To the rest of the animal kingdom, that makes us already mind-readers. Given that people are honest, and can articulate well, we literally are.

…it's also this emphasis on verbal language that has people be real fucking shit a reading body language, but whatever.

The point here is language is so fucking important. And there's a reason why we started writing things down. Some of the first records of written language, hundreds upon hundreds of years ago, were to keep track of agriculture. We also forget things, so we wrote those down. Heard of the Iliad? The Odyssey? Those were orally passed down for generations, but Homer decided to scribe them so they weren't forgotten. (From what I remember, he wrote those during the Hellenistic era of the mythos. …I want to say the stories come from the Mycenaean times?)

And above all.

Long distance communication. Or. Leaving behind knowledge.

So there would be couriers. There would be scholars who learned from scrolls of scribes decades before them.

(In modern times…, labels on products so that you know what it is, how to use it… Just a thought.)

Language is what makes us different. And by proxy, writing helps us retain that.

It is never something people are just going to abandon when the world goes to shit. If anything, it's going to be the one thing people will grapple onto by the skin of their teeth.

Out of the two, yes, language would come first. There are many cultures that lived (even thrived) without having a true writing system, and did just fine because the culture had such an emphasis on oral tradition, or other ways in cementing their culture to the test of time. A lot of the Native American cultures come to mind. Nowadays, however, there's been an effort to have them written so they aren't lost because…colonialism. I don't really need to explain that, but I do think the history is important to understand (the linguist in me is also morbidly fascinated). In summary, however, the way in which these cultures were torn apart rattled people, and people saw their way of life was evaporating with every person lost. They couldn't leave anything physical behind.

I do bring this contrast to light, however, because there is a detail to understand about an apocalyptic setting, and its relationship with written word: it's reflective of what society fell. If the society before was like a lot of the Native cultures, where their culture was recorded through oral traditions and other practices, then sure, I would expect the people left behind to be "illiterate". …at least, in terms of writing. They're literate in those oral traditions and practices.

But, that's not TWDG. What we have is a society that is reliant on writing. So much of our world is articulated through an alphabet printed onto a surface.

In any case, back to the apocalyptic setting.

Another thing is, yes, we do see language come before writing. In survival, it does land people in situations where it's "I don't have time, I've been starving, I'm going to grab all the food in this place before the books." Of course. Then you have that books are heavy. You're not going to realistically carry a library around. You're going to choose other things that would help immediately.

Like a knife. Or a gun.

Those do better bashing heads in than a book (but a tome wouldn't do that bad).

Here's the thing though. To step back to how reliant our society is on writing, I don't think people realize just how much they read. (Hint: you're reading right now. You had to read in order to navigate this page.) So here's the follow images of things that, in an apocalypse, are pivotal for survival, and requires of you reading comprehension:

Signs. Food labels. First Aid labels. Maps. Manuals. Guidebooks.

You need to know where you're at. You need to understand what it is you're eating, how to cook it, and quality (ex: expiration). You need to understand first aid, what you're working with and how to apply it. You need to know where you're going. If you have equipment (like, say, a car) that you're not privy to, but need it, you need to learn basic maintenance. If you're not familiar with how to do certain activities (how to make jerky, how and where to put your urine/fecal matter), you can learn in a guidebook.

Literacy is about self-sufficiency. And each of these represent different aspects of how to live off of the scraps of a failed society.

Signs are pretty straightforward. They're articulated landmarks, and given how streets are, they're good to follow for navigation. If they're signs for complexes, they're a good way to know where you should scavenge should you be looking for a specific thing. Ex: hardware supplies; you're trying to build a camp. Either it's get lucky, or go over to someone's garage, or go over to a hardware store.

Food and First Aid labels are different things—the way they're organized is very different—, however, they serve the same purpose: those are there to inform consumers how to eat/utilize. Even though each have a very specific language, they are designed so that people not specialized in food or medicine can use them. This also applies to a lot of agriculture. Things like seed packets. Or anything that can be planted. If it has a consumer-base, there's a label on it. If it doesn't have instructions, it will most likely inform what it is.

Maps is where we start to get into more "optional" territory. Do you necessarily need a map to survive? No. It would be a life-saver to know where you are, even away from where the society was established. It would also tell you where the next town vs city is (which, to someone like Clementine who may be inclined to avoid cities, she would know which roads to take).

Manuals and guidebooks, again, are the same. They also fall into the kind of thing where weight now has to be considered.

But. Here's the thing: how many people know how to go camping? How many people were ever in boy/girl scouts? And how many more people didn't have to learn any of that because society promised security and the fact that…we don't need to focus on survival?

Okay sure, go on and on and on about how people who knew those skills already and prepped for the apocalypse would be the ones to survive. Because, uh, don't know about you, that's not necessarily how that works (luck is always a thing, and people surprise you), but also, within TWDG, I can only come up with so many people who would fall into that camp: Lilly, Mark, maybe Larry (military experience), Christa (got the vibe), Pete. Um… …Carver? He talked about, like, sheep and stuff. In reference to people, sure, but like… Uh. Hm. Well shit.

You know all the people who didn't have the experience before the apocalypse? Everyone. Fucking. Else. Including Clementine.

This is the reason why manuals and guidebooks are invaluable. They speak to a luxury because you do have the space and capacity to carry them around, so that you can gather what knowledge they have. And people just don't know this shit. Community helps, because you may meet someone who does, or has read up on it, so you don't have to. But when you're alone? …kinda a really, really good thing to have.

And none of that is going into how important books are in just passing the time. People get bored. Books are nice if you got a bum leg.

Regardless, my point should be quite clear. Sure, reading and writing will not be important in the same immediate regard, and neither will be as prolifically done as it was before. Within an apocalypse, it's not about texting, or emails, or news reports, or essays… None of that. Ergo, they're designated as an investment that weighs heavy (quite literally). It takes time to read. It takes strength and space to lug them around. You may not have any.

However. With all of what I raised, it goes back why it is, actually, so fucking important to be literate to some capacity. And to build upon that literacy. Because these people are not just living in caves. They're not in a place where humans have never gone before—quite the opposite.

Which makes it an apocalypse.

In order to navigate within the carcass of a fallen society, you need to be able to comprehend the very scraps that you're taking from said society. It left behind food, and medicine, and tools, and machinery, and knowledge. To just put that all to waste because you can't read?! Really?!

And what about a life-and-death situation where it entirely depends upon your skills in being able to read and comprehend information given to you?

I'm going to go back to the vancomycin now.

It's not something the game harps upon, but it is significant enough to Clementine's arc in S3. This medicine, regardless of injection, is why she could not see A.J, and why she had such a resentment for the New Frontier. They said they could help. In her eyes, they instead left him to die.

It is also a significant point of interest as far as this essay is concerned. Because this scene alone encapsulates all of what I'm rattling on about:

The medicine itself is a scrap of her past society. They're not making these anymore, and while I can…question how good that medicine would be by this point in time after the apocalypse (shots do have an expiration date; they also need to be stored appropriately, like in refrigerators or freezers), the vancomycin represents a limited, valuable resource.

Clementine's comprehension of what this medicine is, and why she needs it, speaks to something far from an ignorance medically. She is competent. She even knows to ensure there aren't air bubbles trapped in the syringe (hence why she lets some of the drug out before injecting; air bubbles can lead to…really nasty ways to die).

How she actually knows which drug to use, well… Either someone wrote it down for her, or she wrote it down herself. Maybe Dr. Lingard told her, or she found a resource somewhere and realized that's what she needed. It speaks to literacy, despite the challenge medical terms often have—even for medical professionals themselves.

This…is what it takes to live in an apocalypse. You have to be perceptive, and resilient, and adaptive.

Part of that adaptation is being perceptive of your environment. This environment asks you to read it—because it says everything, wears its heart on its sleeve. Ergo, you have to adapt by learning how to read.

Maybe not novels, or scriptures, but specific things. Like signs, or labels. Maps.

But this comic, it falls into a bias that a lot of people have.

And that bias bothers me. A lot.

[Why Does This Hurt Me So?]

There are three reason why this just does not work for me.

First of which, Clementine's characterization. The continuity of it. I really don't have to go on about this, since if I do, I'd just regurgitate all of what I've established before. For the sake of this section, it's just that Clementine is medically competent, just not in a specialized sense, and she knows how to read to get by. (She even starts to teach A.J how to both read and write.)

Now we'll get to the larger points of discussion.

Secondly...

How the fuck did Tillie Walden get this project?

Say what you want about the artstyle, or the characterizations, or the narrative. None of that is really what this essay is on, but are all viable criticisms down this same line of thought. You have the artstyle being very whimsical…, but…since when has TWDG been about whimsy? Or the characterizations? Which…, by now, we know about that—again, I don't need to regurgitate. Then, the narrative too? Why does it read like a romance by the time the second book comes around, rather than a story of survival?

Actually, that last one may be relevant to this after all.

Walden does not write apocalyptic works. Of course, there is no correct way in writing an apocalypse, but I'd argue this is one of the wrong ways. Not only do these comics misinterpret the bulk of Clementine's character, and precisely why she's been able to survive as long as she has—to the point where her playing the games at all is put into question—, these comics also have a strange notion on basic intelligence, and does the thing where people without school are just…stupid, almost, if not plainly illiterate.

It goes against what I've outlined as a mark of an apocalyptic setting—the survival both within nature, and within the rotting shell of the society it once was.

And, it feeds into this bias that I keep bringing up.

That bias is the third reason, and it's not a comment on Walden herself, because she's far from the only person I've seen/heard make the same assumption(s).

The bias I refer to is what I'd like to call the Modern Intelligence Fallacy. I'm confident that I and this essay are far from the first to comment on this…thing people do.

Essentially, it's whenever people judge the past and/or present group of people for being "dumber" than the current society they're based on, solely because "we're modern; we have technology, and medicine, and schools. And we know how to read and write too." It's when people undermine other cultures and/or time periods because they themselves are ignorant to what intelligence actually means.

Going back to Native Americans, and any cultures alike that didn't have a written structure. I've heard people make comments and assumptions, rather ignorant ones. But the fact is, no. The lack of a writing system is not indicative of intelligence, it's indicative of what the culture valued, and how they wanted to express that.

Part of why writing is such a core element in many European cultures, for example, is because…colonization. Look at English, and why it's such a patchwork language. They had to find ways to communicate long distance, because have of them were separated be countries between. Ergo, they wrote. Nowadays, there's telephone, or video. Then, there are other contexts which beckoned for writing, but I digress.

With a lot of these Native cultures, they valued community. That's why so many of their traditions fall within that, and that's how they communicated and passed down their history. Essentially, they just found other ways to do what the other cultures around the world were doing, and it worked for them, so what of it?

The attitudes behind this fallacy doesn't care, however. This bias does put value on the presence of language in written word in regards to intelligence, and an overall sense of superiority.

Yes, I've gone through and maintained that I do not believe, for a second, that Clementine is illiterate, and I've been defending that tooth and nail. I also do put value in language—I'm a writer, and I love linguistics. Of course I do.

And that's the awkward bent in this essay.

So, I must say, the thing to understand is…it's not really about the language itself. It's the attitudes behind the bias.

You here to argue that Clementine isn't as competent reader/writer like a girl her age would be now? (…present issues with the school system aside,) yeah. Probably.

But then why…does the comic have her be negligent with medicine? To the point where it comes across as, "Yeah, Clementine! Clean your wound! Everybody should know that! And that's just the basics!

"Silly kid in an apocalypse! She needed a grown adult to carefully explain it to her!! Oh boy, we would be so lost without our society now!"

This is why I've also taken note on the medical throughout all this. Because the medical practices aren't really related to literacy. You can be told, like Clementine was in the games, and go from there.

In the comics, however, the moments where she's told about how to take care of her leg, and the moments where she is learning how to read… They read the same. Because they are the same. They're commenting on this weird idea that humans would be stupid without our current advances, which is ridiculous because in order to have said advances…, we needed to be learning this shit before in order to create them.

These moments come from this Modern Intelligence Fallacy, and it bothers me because, let's face it, we're just as smart as we've always been.We have more knowledge. Whether it's we pass them down through specific traditions, or we've written them down to share beyond time and distance. But in terms of intelligence… No.

Do you know how many stupidass people there are out there?

There's tons of them. If anything, there's more of them now because they can rely on their communities to do the heavy lifting. And they saddle themselves right beside the people who need to rely on others, and not by choice.

I'm talking as though I'm not one of them. I don't know. I might be.

I did accidentally melt two plates in microwaves on two separate occasions so. If you want to take my words with a grain of salt, fine.

With that, though, hopefully my point(s) came across well enough.

[Conclusion]

And now I am left here. With…this.

I'm not as resigned as I was of TWDG since the comics came out, because quite frankly, there's so much to these comics where…it just feels like I'm not watching Clementine. Whether it be I'm on a couch silently judging someone else play the games, but nodding along to play nice, or just…this isn't the character at all… Yeah, I'm still stewing on it. But, I have my fanfiction, and I have the games. It is easy to ignore the comics.

The reason why I've decided to write this is 1) I find it interesting, 2) the bias people have is SUCH a pet peeve of mine, and 3) I am BAFFLED by Skybound. I honestly don't know what qualified Tillie Walden to write this, to the point where I'm frankly impressed.

It's one thing to hire someone who's unfamiliar with the franchise in hopes of an objective and new perspective, or an artstyle to try something new and unique...

And entirely another to hire someone who either isn't interested in writing, or doesn't know how to write, the genre. There are so many ways to go about writing in an apocalypse, but at its core, it will always be "no matter what, humans are going to human." This is how you can have stories of hope in an apocalypse. Or have them be bleak. And so on. With TWD, it's always been a meld of both.

Because it's human are going to human, this…bias towards any scenario where people are not traditionally educated gets in the way. Because "traditional education" is not traditional, actually. It's societal. What is traditional is people learning an array of skills to survive, much of which is medicinal, and with writing… That's dependent on the environment. Way back when, in times where the world didn't rely on literacy, absolutely not many people would be literate. But in eras where so much hinges on at least being able to navigate?

Or or, in times where you are relying on a recent past that did write and read as much as it did for survival? Um. Yeah. You do need to be able to at least read, if not write as well, for communication's sake. Which I didn't go much into, but oh well.

And this right here is what TWD is set in. This universe isn't a hard reset. You're effectively just going back a couple hundred years. All the infrastructures and scraps left behind are still there, just not maintained.

So… Yeah. I don't get it. The most I can fault Walden for is being negligent, but this is just…Skybound, not caring enough about this story to the point where they'll hire anybody for some reason.

I also don't get the bias people have about intelligence, and stuff, but I really…, really don't want to go on a spiel again. It incites violence within me. I've already gone and done a mini spiral over the comics themselves, and they were kinda but not even the point.

Ah well. I'll just crawl back to my hovel now. The links to some of the linguistic concepts I raised are below, if you want to do any additional research. The specific articles are more generalized to give a broad picture, but can be used as a jumping off point should they pique an interest.

I'm just gonna continue to write about my alcoholic Clementine.

Hope you enjoyed.

Linguistic Articles:

History of Writing Systems (1), (2) ; Language Acquisition (1)

Native American Language History (1), (2), (3)

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askuemki · 13 days

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ranting about WCUE

I have ALOT of (maybe) unnecessary grudges with so many things abt WCUE. I love reading rants, so I'll as might as well put out my own too. To the people (probably most of my followers) who don't know what the game is, basically it's a children's game on Roblox based off of the book series Warrior Cats, by Erin Hunter. I apologize in advance, there may be some lingo you may not understand.

So WCUE has been my comfort game for many, many years. Partly, it's my childhood and it's just a game I can just go and chill. Make silly cats without working my ass off on drawing. But when I want to actually go and try and join a clan? Have fun roleplaying a little? (I'll admit, it's a fun thing from time to time.) Every. Single. Fucking. clan. Never manages to keep itself up. It takes SO LONG to set things up. To get the right people. It'll take hours for a clan to get running. And for what? For people to sit in the clearing? For your complicated "fun" plots to fall flat? I don't get being picky. Sure, you want your major roles to have experience, to know their shit. But if you keep yearning for that one miss perfect medicine cat who knows all of the out of game herbs? Bullshit. Major roles are here to have fun too, not to just manage. It's so frustrating whenever I want to be a leader, or a medic and to have 1000's of kids yapping at my toes. You're expected to babysit. To do their wishes. You only matter as a major because you're needed. Something else with these "experienced roleplays" is the cliques. People form friend groups, that's natural. But if it's a game where people are SUPPOSED to chat and cooperate, what's the point if you don't include them too? Those prophecy plots? It's only fun if you're the main character. People who join later are confused, or you get shoved into the back. And when the rules are established? NOBODY upholds them after 10 minutes. I'm tired of seeing people sitting in the clearing, or moping around alone. I'll admit I'm quite guilty sitting by myself, but at some point you'll need to get thing going with one or more people. You'll eventually get demotivated from loneliness. Another thing, "exp" people. (Or cats, per say.) It frustrates me to see people using these unnecessarily lengthy words to describe something. Incandescent, tarsal bones, premolars, dentations, all of that bullshit-you don't need those words when people can't even understand you. Recently, I got some real good advice from a mentor. Good writing doesn't involve using these long words. If they aren't in your everyday vocabulary? Just don't. Don't use them. You come off as arrogant and show offish. (Unless that's how you intend to display yourself.) Good writing involves clarity, making things CLEAR for other people. Instead of using words only Shakespear would use, why not describe your surroundings in your descriptions? Other cats? Going in depth with thoughts? If you want to go the route where you're using complicated vocabulary, at least research the words you want to use. Again, I'm guilty for this phase.

My partner was telling me about how she was auditioning for medic, and the person auditioning posted this question: "What herb tastes tangy and bitter?" (or something of the like.) It was yarrow. At least according to a quick search- it's supposed to taste like licorice. I'm convinced clan founders auditioning medics are making shit up. What herb is this? What herb is that? The more "experienced" players lean towards out of game herbs, and it gives an unfair advantage for players wanting that role. I don't have time in my day to study herbs like I'm studying for my exams. The "unexperienced" players (maybe this can also be for everyone) have problems too, I'm not going to just complain about the veteran members. HARASSMENT. There's those people who shoo spectators away like pests. It's a public server. It isn't YOUR clan, let them exist. It pisses me off when they're so abrupt and arrogant about it. If you ask? Maybe they'd be more willing to move away. It also sucks when there is a valid roleplay with specific lore, and (agreeable) rules to follow, and people insert themselves like they're the main character. No, SpeckledPelt you can't have the leader role just because you equipped the icon. No BloodBush (fuck you, specifically), you wanted to join the clan; don't boss the host around when they're trying to set things up for you. I miss the WCUE where we didn't have to be so choosey about the people we appoint for roles. I miss the WCUE where we can be silly and fun, without having to feel sophisticated. Sure maybe the name "MochaHeart" is a little wacky, but at least they're doing their best to roleplay. To have fun.

#wcue #wcue roblox #warriors roblox #warrior cats #wc #erin hunter warriors #roblox #warrior cats ultimate edition #warrior cats rp #warrior cats roleplay #warrior cat #rant post

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stitching-in-time · 20 days

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Voyager rewatch s1 ep12: Cathexis

Another one I didn't remember at all, this one was quite exciting to watch. Voyager's first 'crew getting possesed by aliens' story, it's another one of those episodes that's pretty much a copy of an earlier Next Generation episode, but it was well done, and very creepy and suspenseful. I like the way they played up the crew's paranoia to add to the tension. And it was the first time we get to see Captain Janeway's Victorian governess holonovel, which is one of my favorite things, and not just because I'm tickled that Captain Janeway shares my taste in literature, but because she looks absolutely gorgeous in period costume. Like, let me fangirl for a moment here, because look at this perfect vision of beauty, oh my god:

I want her whole outfit, it's perfect. Major kudos to the costume designer for giving her an historically accurate dress and hairstyle. As someone who used to do a lot of historical costuming, I'm very nitpicky about those things, but this is a good costume on every level- beautiful design, well fitted to the actress, fits the character's personality, absolutely nothing anachronistic about it anywhere. 10/10, no notes! I need to cosplay this so bad!!

Okay, I'm done being a costume nerd, back to the episode itself: I appeciated that they mentioned the EMH being programmed with knowledge of various cultures traditional healing practices instead of just having him dismiss Chakotay's medicine wheel as superstition. While I have issues with the wheel prop itself not looking very realistic, I do like that they made a point to say that Earth's medical establishment will become more open minded and inclusive in the future. (But the artwork on the wheel looked central or south american, and I'd always thought Chakotay was supposed to be from the north american southwest- it says a lot about how much the writers didn't care about him that after 7 years of episodes, I still have no idea what continent he's even from. sigh.)

Also lol at Tom Paris talking about how when he was a kid he had a doctor that made housecalls- who the heck has that even now, let alone in the 24th century?? I think this was probably where I started to get the headcanon that the Paris family is super rich- like I know that Earth is supposed to be a utopia with no poverty, but I feel like rich people with inherited wealth would keep on living in their fancy houses in their gated communities, and Tom Paris strikes me as being a privileged kid who grew up in a big house with a swimming pool and a tennis court, who spent his youth riding around in his expensive car (or would it be a shuttlecraft?? do rich people have their own shuttles on earth??) and being a slacker/prankster king at his fancy prep school like a 24th century Zack Morris. (I know I read Pathways back when I was a teenager, and it may have mentioned something about his childhood, but I don't remember any of it, and novels aren't technically canon in Star Trek universe, so I'm sticking with my rich kid Tom Paris headcanon.)

More of Neellx being possessive of Kes in this episode, ughhhh.

I didn't remember that they gave background crewmember Lieutenant Durst a pretty prominent supporting role in this episode. Obviously it was meant to make his subsequent death more impactful, but it was anyway, since I still remember him for getting killed off. (I probably don't have to give spoiler warnings for a decades old show, but spoiler: he dies in the very next episode.)

Anyway, tl;dr: a solid alien possession episode.

#star trek: voyager #voyager rewatch #rewatching star trek #cathexis #star trek #captain janeway

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chryblossomjjk · 1 year

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bts fic recommendations | 01.10.23

→ hi friends! this is a little segment i do every tuesday (reviewsday get it, aren't i funny, pls tell me how funny i am) where i read and review two-three fics. as a content creator, i know how big of a role other creators play in your growth, therefore, i want to do my part in making sure everyone gets the recognition they deserve! so with that being said, please check out the amazing fics listed below. make sure to like, reblog, and leave feedback! ♡ #reviewsday #kikirecs

pina coladas (pt 1 + pt 2) - @han-nah-banana (jjk x reader | established relationship, smut, angst, fluff)

ok so um... the attention to detail is off the charts! like when the little things you mention about jungkook and oc, like them eating healthy foods, only having sex in the missionary position, etc. tells us so much about them and the status of their relationship. like you showed us that they were stuck in a boring, mundane relationship through little hints and i really love that. ALSO POV SHIFT IN PART ONE WAS SO GOOD! like the way their thoughts mirrored one another was such good storytelling ugh!!! also think you picked a great setting for this type of story, the 80s. it makes everything feel so real, like the sexual repression oof! so glad they got to bang it out in the sexiest way in pt 2! really really good for your first fanfic like WOW! loved it!

i can do better - @here4btsfics (pjm x reader | fwb, smut)

summary: your boyfriend of two years just dumped you and you’re angry and sad. so get hammered with your coworker at his place and eat bad food and watch trash tv which leads to some interesting conversations.

bro all you did is enforce my delusions that irl men cannot compete bc they are not park jimin. men should apologize for not being park jimin at this point. even kim taehyung... anywho lmao. DUDE and then oc listing all the things perfect about jimin. she is just like me fr!!! also like this is kind of how i picture jimin in real life ngl. THAT MAN IS A COCKY CONFIDENT DOM I WILL ARGUE THIS SHIT UNTIL IM BLUE IN THE FACE GTFO! and miss oc... no strings attached girl??? A WHOLE BLUFF. honestly, this entire fic is one of my daydreams when im in a lecture and i fucking loved every second of it bby! so so good. so glad you decided to start writing again, extremely proud of you.

darksided - @eoieopda (myg x reader | established relationship, smut)

summary: min yoongi adored you. he'd simply never hurt you.

i saw someone post about smut where the characters are so grossly in love is their fav genre. this is exactly that. this fic encompasses everything i love in fanfic. i felt like a fly on the wall, being dropped into the middle of the situation where i figure out who the characters are through their actions, words, etc. you do that so perfectly here. like the way i know everything i need to know about min yoongi through the FUCKING setting?? naur this is s tier writing right here. also there's just something you do with words thats v magical. can't put my finger on exactly what it is but here is an example:

"a quick survey of the landscape before you indicated that this was a criminal oversimplification."

LIKE IDK JUST SOMETHING ABOUT HOW YOU STRUCTURE SENTENCES IS GENIUS! like cannot even begin to describe how good this was. would die for this couple honestly. the smut had me clenching too OOF. so cool to see what you've accomplished on this platform in such a short period of time! it's so so deserved and i can't wait to see where you go from here. don't know how you can even get better than this like ur already at the moon um!!! but god it's only going to get better from here. like next thing u know u'll be a famous writer fr. wishing you nothing but the fucking best!!!!

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intuitive-revelations · 6 months

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Ok so... that episode. Mixed thoughts. First half I felt was really strong. The second half...well.

As usual I'm going to kind of vomit my thoughts out as bullet points. It'll be quite rough though, as I'm way too tired to break these down more carefully right now, and just want to say my piece before I go to bed:

LOL at UNIT being so out in the open now. Couldn't help but think of all the big bold 'secret' signs from the classic series when I saw that.

The Vlinx is a really odd addition... did anyone else think about Splinx (from the Mines of Terror game) when they heard the name?

MEL! I did find it curious that some of the reporting on her appearance was ambiguous about when it would be, so I guess that explains that. Kind of an odd choice for a UNIT / Toymaker story, but establishing her as a character at UNIT works fine.

Now that I think about it, wasn't POTD specifically written with awareness of who / what RTD would be using in the specials? If so, I guess that explains why Mel didn't play a part in the plot.

Speaking of which, they're definitely going for this UNIT spin-off aren't they? I mean... makes sense. It seems they're building off what we saw in POTD anyway.

Trinity Wells coming back was a fun surprise, given how long it's been since we've seen her.

The political commentary of 'being right' is kind of perfect. Between this and the trans representation in The Star Beast, it kind of feels like RTD is laying out this thesis for the next few years.

I kind of like how they did the Toymaker in this one? Though he's perhaps a little too flamboyant and 'Master'-y for me, I do think the stuff with his accents etc was quite clever. I also think there was clearly some thought about the more dated racial stuff with the character, which that line about the weather kinda felt like it was hinting at?

I liked all the little ways they hinted at the Toymaker's "crystal guardian" backstory, with him sitting outside of "Chaos and Order".

Speaking of which... did he imply he beat the the Black and White Guardians? Cause if so...

Not gonna lie, when the Doctor started talking about a mistake he made when he was young, a part of me really genuinely thought they were about to mention Divided Loyalties. The line about the 'face' the Toymaker wore didn't help.

I'm also glad we got the Celestial Toyroom stuff, as I wasn't sure how much we were going to get in this episode? I think the creepiness with modern effects was great. I kind of wish we got to spend more time there though, ala the original story.

Conversely, I also feel like we could have gotten a bit more out of the idea of the Toymaker escaping into the universe? We got a glimpse of that in 'realistic' terms with the outer world, and a more campy fun vibe inside UNIT, but I would equally love much more focus on the world going mad, both mentally, but also physically. I dunno, it feels like there's two ambitious stories you could have gone with, but the episode kind of half-and-halfed it.

The stuff with Amy, Clara, Bill and the Flux. I needed that. Seriously. As someone whose literally spent all last week thinking about how it's all been one line of tragedies for the Doctor, connected from one to the other, getting that acknowledged in text was great.

The twist with the Master getting trapped too was a bizarre addtion, and honestly unnecessary. It felt like that story (I can't remember which, sorry EU fans, an EDA I think) which offhandedly implies both the Master and Rani are dead. I feel it could have worked a bit better if it was another major character we haven't heard of in some time, like Rassilon or someone, instead of someone we saw just a few episodes ago.

I will say the games were disappointing. I get there's only so much you can do with recognisable simple games, but I definitely wish we got something a bit more complex than "biggest number wins" and "catch". This is a story that really needed a good resolution, ideally based on the Doctor outwitting the Toymaker, and we didn't really get that. I'm not upset about it, just felt weak.

That being said, the focus on rules with regards to 'best of three' was perfect. Exactly what I wanted more of tbh.

I'm surprised by the "One Who Waits", after being teased in marketing as referring to the Toymaker, actually being someone else. RTD's been doing a surprising amount of sequel hooking actually...

I'll get more into the mechanics in a second, but I do like the resolution being about the Doctor's own mental health? It feels like the right conclusion, not just based on the past couple episodes, but also based on Thirteen's character arc, as well as everything that happened before her. I'm sure fans will (rightfully) eat that up and talk about it a lot.

Ok, so let's seperate out the BIG thing, and my thoughts on it. Warning: I'm about to get uncharacteristically negative for me:

I had seen the leaks about the bigeneration, and am really disappointed at how accurate they were, though I had kind of accepted it based on the accuracy of The Star Beast's leaks.

Funny enough, I genuinely do quite like ideas of weird stuff to do with regenerations in terms of splitting etc. I genuinely have had some thought before about the idea of it from an assimilation kind of view, merging together, kind of a more horror-y take on the Master's plan in POTD.

But... did we have to do this with Tennant? I mean, don't get me wrong I love him and have genuinely loved what he brought to Fourteen, distinguishing him from Ten and giving him the feel of that extra history since then... but did he really need to be the Doctor to get a life after regeneration? After all, Ten is the one who 'didn't want to go'. Granted him such a thing really feels like it's going against not just the 'embrace change' message of DW in general, but even Ten's own arc specifically?

(This is a thought I had after writing everything else here, but it's also kind of messed up that he's the one to get this conclusion, when we literally just had a whole arc about 13 and Yaz not having enough time together because of 13's incoming regeneration...?)

I don't think I need to spell out the issues of having two 'current' Doctors, not just in-universe, but also out of universe, and the shadow that now hangs over Ncuti's series, whether or not we get more with 14. The TARDIS splitting was really bad too.

That being said, there is one saving grace, in that it's seemingly implied that the rest of 14's life still comes before 15, somehow, based on what the latter said about being better because 14 will take the time to rest, recover and reflect on everything that's happened?

This is the one thing that doesn't make me want to throw the resolution away, as it does seemingly provide some clarity. If RTD sticks by that line, it would suggest it's less that there's two whole new Doctors, and more that 14 has been given some grace of having a bit more time before he turns into 15. That there's still technically a linear progression of Doctors, it's just one gets to hang around a little while to give the new one a cleaner mental slate. How on earth that would work however, is a whole other question...

I mean... couldn't we have just done this by time travel instead? Rather than introduce this whole new, kinda show-breaking concept? You could still get your hypothetical Tennant and past companions miniseries (which seems like it'll be a thing) or whatever alongside 15's own debut. Just let it be non-linear, and let us meet and travel with 15 before we get a peaceful, recovered 14 regeneration?

Also... if we ARE going play fast and loose with the ideas of regeneration... why didn't Tennant's face coming back play into this? Like... what a weird choice to make that the 'mystery' of the specials, throw in a crazy regeneration sequence... then just suggest it's a bit of a subconscious message. If we are going to get crazy with what regeneration can do, why not go all in with stuff like the Guardians of the Edge, or the Valeyard or something? Have fun with the internal identities lore of regeneration?

So yeah, to summarise my thoughts on the bigeneration... I really think RTD might have gone a step too far this time. I spent a little time after the last episode talking about how the lack of resolution on the Flux was one of my bigger complaints about the Chibnall era, but this writing decision feels even more baffling. If Doctor Who is going to have a 'jumping the shark' moment, we might have just witnessed it.

That being said, as someone who hates being too negative, I did find a silver lining in that the dialogue implies he's planned ahead how to get out of some of these issues, with regards to two concurrent Doctors etc. It just doesn't feel good being in this situation at all, when it wasn't needed in the first place.

Overall thoughts

I didn't hate the episode. In fact I was very much in to most of it! There were a lot of good ideas, across the Toymaker, the Giggle etc. although I do feel some were woefully underused within the episode. It's just that they're all kind of marred by that one big bad idea at the end.

Like I said, the stuff focusing on the Toymaker and the Doctor's history, plus his time since he travelled with Donna was great. The Giggle was a fun satirical concept, if again underused, and the Toymaker's argument for targetting Earth was pretty great. The resolution of forcing the Doctor to settle down, for a little while, and be with friends is decent too, and a nice conclusion to come to, even if the way it came about was a mess.

I suspect, and hope, we might get some more details not just about how this will all work (or maybe just opening up the question without getting too specific), but also about any possible plans for spin-offs and whether or not they will overlap with the stuff in this episode, which may or may not alleviate my worries.

But for now.... yeah, I'm concerned, sorry.

#Doctor Who #The Giggle #DW Spoilers #Doctor Who Spoilers #Doctor Who 60th Anniversary #DW negativity #Fourteenth Doctor #Fifteenth Doctor #RTD #I'm not going to go full “anti-RTD” or anything #don't worry #(I don't exactly want to see that myself either)#and will probably keep being quite positive and creative about the show #if occassionally critical of certain things #but this is probably the most worried I've been #far more than I ever was with the Timeless Child lore #even if I do still have some of my own critiques there #(TLDR I kinda want someone - maybe RTD - to pull an Unnatural History and open it up more to interpretation)#gallifrey being re-destroyed and the flux being unresolved are up there but probably still second and third to this in my head

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