Do You Ever Read A Really Weird Fanfiction And You Feel Like You Just Need To

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Sorry for the massive Hetalia spam, I’m using the opportunity while I still have some mildly ok ideas. sketches of fem!England, fem!France, fem!Portugal (design from Portugasm) and fem!Japan as pirate girls

Can someone just………………. explain French to me?

Misconception: America and England are biological brothers.

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RIP Wally West

November 11, 1994 - June 20, 2016

A Nurturing Environment?

I frequently find myself at a loss when I discover the mindset that the Jedi Council, the Jedi Order, and even Obi-Wan provided a particularly good environment for Anakin to learn/grow up in. By comparing Anakin in TPM to AoTC, I believe it will become quite clear by the change in Anakin that the Temple provided an inadequate place for him to grow. 

In TPM Anakin is a very self-confident boy. He is aware of his capabilities and limitations, expresses his opinion firmly, and, as a rule, doesn’t allow his detractors to get him down, or put him down. To list some examples:

He has the courage to initiate a conversation with Padme

In the novelisation, he even says that he’s going to marry her.

He stands up to Sebulba and confidently imitates a conversation with Qui-Gon

He invites perfect strangers to his home.

He calls Qui-Gon out on being a Jedi

He calls Qui-Gon out on slavery

He insists that he can win a podrace, and defends himself when his abilities are questioned

He ignores the ridicule of the children in his community

He talks back to the Council, not rudely, but forcefully.

He asks Ric Olie about piloting and is told he “catches on quick.”

He says he’s going to “see them all,” when he asks about star systems

He refuses to let people destroy his dreams-hard to do when you’re a slave.

He even talks back to and defends himself to Watto-his owner.

Clearly, Anakin is a very confident, and self-possessed individual. He states his opinions firmly, and defends them with conviction. Let’s compare that to AoTC Anakin:

Is far more nervous around Padme (which can admittedly be chalked up to hormones.)

Is shot down hard by Obi-Wan when he expresses his opinions-He does not ever really try and defend himself 

Obi-Wan actually seems surprised he stands up as much as he does-clearly it is a rare occurrence that Anakin states his mind like that.

Anakin looks scared of what he’s done when he backs down

He looks timid in front of the Council-Far more so than in TPM

He is told “don’t do anything without first discussing it with either” Obi-Wan or the Council.

He just accepts Padme’s harsh criticism when he points out that she should discuss security concerns with him: Despite the fact that she is in the wrong, he does nothing to defend himself.

He expresses the opinions of Obi-Wan, Yoda, and mace, far more than he does his own. He actually seems afraid to give his opinions, as a rule.

There is a vast difference then between TPM!Anakin and AoTC!Anakin. The former defended his beliefs vehemently. The latter is afraid to even express them. Anakin only rants about Obi-Wan when Padme gives a hint of listening; it’s clear this has been pent-up in him for ages, but he hasn’t been able to let it out. Clearly, no one cares what he thinks or feels. When Padme shoots him down over security, he takes it meekly, but when she expressed doubt with him in TPM over his ability to win the Boonta, he just brushed it off, and told her “he’d win this time.” Before, in TPM, he said what he thought, now he just says “Master so-and-so thinks…” He feels uncomfortable saying what he really thinks. He honestly was more comfortable speaking up as a slave, than as a Jedi. Even just the body language difference can tell you that he’s gone from sure of himself to intensely insecure.

This is Anakin in TPM sticking up to his owner:

This is Anakin in AoTC, free, ostensibly, with his teacher:

It’s like chalk and cheese. One boy is sure of himself, the other looks brow-beaten. What could have caused such a massive shift in self-esteem? Well, a classic cause would be bullying. A child who is different, for whatever reason, gets humiliated, ostracized, beat-up, talked down to, and loses their self-confidence. I don’t doubt the same thing happened to Anakin. He was from the Outer Rim. He began his training late. He was different, unnaturally gifted. I’ve no doubt that was rough, and clearly he wasn’t given any kind of support to help with that, rather he was given the opposite. Hence, he is insecure. 

This is in no way his fault. He’s barely an adult by AoTC, and it is up to the adults responsible for him during his childhood to provide a safe environment, if not a safe haven, for him to grow up in. Clearly, the Jedi have failed to do this. Indeed, as shown when Obi-Wan says “don’t do anything without consulting either myself or the Council,” they clearly had no faith in him whatsoever, (after ten years), so why should he believe in himself? In RoTS, Windu actually says when Anakin tells him about Palpatine, “If what you say is true, you will have earned my trust.” In thirteen years, Anakin has worked diligently, and loyally as a Jedi, and he’s never earned Windu’s trust or respect! That is cold. What was Anakin supposed to do anyway as a boy? Go back to Tatooine? Anakin really didn’t have much choice but to stay. At least with the Jedi he would get a good education, and would learn how to use the Force. There was nothing for him on Tatooine. What good would he do? By staying with the Jedi, at least until he was knighted, he might be able to help when he finally goes back to Tatooine. He’ll have the Force, and an education that would serve him well. (Then, of course, the war started so that went out the air-lock…) No, the fault for Anakin’s low self-esteem lies entirely with the Jedi Order, Obi-Wan, and the Jedi Council. You cannot blame Anakin, especially since he was a child at the time. Frankly, the Council should be ashamed of themselves. If you adopt a child, and he wilts that much under your care, you need to take a good hard look at yourselves. 

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A Fantasy AU idea or something a friend and I came up with. Conceptual stuff for a possible askblog in the future maybe who knows not me thats who. ( I don’t really like these too much but heeyyyyy  ;;>//v//>)

I gotta do Frannie and Canada’s soooon. ;c; 

Science of everyday life: 5 essential reads

by Maggie Villiger

One of best things about my job as a science editor is that any crazy idea I start wondering about – whether triggered by something I see on my commute, a current event that’s in the news, or best of all a conversation with my young kids – I can call up an expert and ask her or him to break it down for me, and you.

It seems like our readers enjoy this type of “I’ve always wondered … ” article too. My most-read story of the past year was by an entomologist making the case to bug-haters that by killing a spider they might actually be making their homes more hospitable to insects the spider would have eaten and eliminated for them.

Below, a handful of my favorites from 2018. But curiosity isn’t bound by the calendar, so here’s to a new year of everyday science.

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headcanon: Ahsoka takes to calling Rex all sorts of dog names such as Spot, Fido, Good Boy, and Puppy. Rex refuses to respond to those names.

(1) Yao offers to bring Yong Soo out to spicy seafood hotpot for dinner bc damn that boys running himself thin as host. He goes to find Yao later and of course Kyu is standing there next to him, Hong Kong sitting against a nearby wall; they catch Taiwan and Japan on their way out and all six end up going out together. The lack of politics keeps the atmosphere warm despite the cold. The twins have teamed up in declaring their teams superior to Kikus and Yao pipes in about his being the very best;

(2) cheerful banter ensues all around the small table and eventually it all gives into praises and laughter. Movies and dramas get spoke of between talk of the Olympics and even a few good memories from centuries ago get slipped in. Sang Kyu says the already spicy dish could use more chili powder which gets a rise out of a few of the others and Yong Soo pushes more of the food in his twins direction as subtly as he can manage. Taiwan, Yong Soo and Hong Kong all seem to take a million pictures.

(3) Yong Soo is so tired from work but being here, surrounded by his closest family members in such a blissful scene, eating a talking together as if they did so every night, he feels better than he has in a century. For a moment he even wonders if this is what it feels like to be a regular human. In the morning he finds that Taiwan has tagged him in a series of pictures from the prior night and he loses his breath when he sees it-

(4) -Somehow she’d managed to capture the most perfect picture of him and Sang Kyu, shoulder-to-shoulder, cheeks red from the cold and noses dripping from the hotpot, natural smiles gracing them both in a moment of laughter. He saves the picture to multiple locations, never wanting to lose it, and his eyes begin to water when he thinks of what could have been.

This has been sitting in my inbox for several days because I just knew I had to draw it, and every time I read it I just about cry. ;u; Thank you so much for this wonderful little story, anon!

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