beware of stub

If you're one of those people who likes to listen to conversations when at a dinner/party you will truly enjoy this movie. Camera shots were great.

"HAPPY FAMILY DAY EVERYBODY!" shouts human Max, leaping in front of the massive banner in the youngling centre.

Family Day, while an actual holiday on Earth, was something the human teachers introduced to the younglings in the centre...After both human teachers realized that they had forgotten about Mother's Day and Father's Day. That was a very lengthy call for Max, and a promised trip to Earth come Kim's next vacation time.

But anyways! The commotion gave both humans an idea for a family day in the youngling centre. A small party in the beginning of the day where younglings' families would come and visit. There would be treats and snacks, activities to enjoy, and the gifting of presents the young had made for this very occasion. All family members were welcome. All family members were encouraged to come. A poster was put out on the door two weeks in advance. Both teachers had reminded parents in person.

And yet little Bocaj was all alone. Somehow, Bocaj's parents did not see the poster, nor did they remember the announcement. Somehow, they missed every clue and reminder of the party...

Both parents had apologized to Bocaj profusely, promising to make it up to their little starmaker after school today. Both teachers had tried to comfort Bocaj by promising to spend the entire party by their side, playing fun games and eating all the treats Bocaj wanted!

The little Stellarius was in no mood to party, however. Their little tail drooped as they looked at the slice of nebula cake, normally their favourite treat, and whined. Teacher was fun but teacher was not mamma or pater...

"哦，卢卡，这位是哪位?" The youngling looked up to see two adult humans and his classmate, Luka.

"Bocaj." The human child said while looking at his classmate curiously. "Bocaj, you o-kay?"

"...no. Bocaj not okay." they whined lowering their ears.

Luka looked at his classmate and frowned. His mother and grandmother spoke again in that language Bocaj's translator did not understand. Their voices rose and fell, their brows narrowed as Luka answered.

"他们的家人不在吗？难怪孩子会难过." sighed the older human female. "来吧，奶奶会照顾你的。"

.

Max looked at the families and smiled but he could not help but feel guilty. Maybe he could have been more persistent with the reminders? Maybe then Bocaj wouldn't be alone.

"...where is Bocaj anyway?" he muttered looking around the centre for the little Stellarius.

Not by the activity tables. Not by the snack table. Not in the bathroom. Not by their cubby...Where was Bocaj??

"Oh god did someone leave the door open and Bocaj ran out???"

"Max!"

"Kim! Have you seen Bocaj?!"

"Look look! By the snack table!" Kim giggled.

Both humans turned and looked, and Max saw. Luka and his mother and grandmother and...Bocaj?

The youngling was being carried by Luka's mother while being fed by the grandmother. With both cheeks smothered in nebula cake filling, the youngling opened their maw for Grandmother to plop another piece of cake in. Both women laughed as the youngling's tail wagged happily. Luka sat happily beside his friend, enjoying his own cake as well as the lunch his grandmother packed him.

"多吃点东西，你也会像卢卡一样胖。" The grandmother cooed patting both children's heads.

"...welp, no need to worry about Bocaj now."

"That's gonna be one big food coma later." Both teachers nodded. Having seen the lunches Luka ate on a daily basis, both knew that the youngling stood no chance.

. .

"How was Bocaj today? We can't believe we forgot about the party."

"Oh they were fine."

"That's a relief. Well, either way, I hope they'll enjoy the treat we have for them."

"...about that. I think Bocaj is going to be fine for the rest of the day." Max smiled as he gestured to the sleeping youngling on the mats. Though curled up around their tail there was no hiding the large belly full of delicious food Luka's mother and grandmother fed them.

The lyrics in Zombie Stage are color-coded. Mizi is pink and Sua is blue.

You are My God

You are My Universe

...this is just soo amazing. They have a triple meaning, which is incredible. First of all, you got the You are God & You are Universe. Which is a fun reference to Alien Stage but also because it shows the importance of the other.

Sua is god, she creates the world around Mizi, as Mizi can't see. She can't see, and her cognitive abilities don't seem to be at 100%, which makes her even more dependent on Sua. Mizi's world is what Sua says it is.

Mizi is the universe. Sua lives in her, exists because of her, quite literally, because she turned her. And! And! My favourite thing! This is literally one of the Merriam-Webster definitions:

Universe - a systematic whole held to arise by and persist through the direct intervention of divine power

The legit universe is controlled and warped according to divine power, a.k.a a divine being, a.k.a god! Toxic celestial yuri

Okay, so the second and third meanings are pretty similar to each other, but they matter separately! My & My, very simple yet important. Who hasn't heard the words, 'you are my universe' in a romance before? Or something adjacent--you are my heart, you are my world, etc. It's cute, it's sweet, but without the my it becomes sooo much more. It becomes a statement, a fact.

You ARE god. You ARE universe. It is not just love that drives them to say this, but fact. Now add in the 'my'. You are My God. You are My Universe. It's an obvious reference to Clematis, plus another way to show just how toxic the relationship is. God is meant for the masses; that's how religion usually works, that's how Catholicism and Judaism and Islam works. For the people. Everyone may have God. But Sua is just for Mizi and that is bonkers if you think about it.

Imagine you, a mortal, are hoarding a divine being from the world...that is some platinum-tier possessiveness. And it's the same for the universe! The universe is where we all live, its safety is usually what makes everyone team up momentarily for. But again, here's one mere mortal trying to claim the whole freaking universe as their's...

Toxic celestial yuri y'all. Mizi's reality is what Sua tells her it is, and Mizi created Sua's new existence through no will of her own. They possess the other and will not share with those who may need them as well. They will worship and manipulate the other, respectively, until the day existence comes to an end.

3 episodes later: you messed up shit little shit...

After episode 6: you bastard!

"Yes... We do not know how it works scientifically, but long ago <^>, our deity made it so that we would have one. It is both a blessing and a curse as their mark is our weakest point. Everywhere else our hide protects us, except where the owner of our soul will first touch us."

"So your weakest point is where your soulmate first touches you?"

"Yes. But it is only weak when they touch you there."

"How is that a curse? They're your soulmate?"

"...I do not know why you keep referring to them as soul 'mate'. They are the owner of your soul."

"...Oh. It's not a partnership?"

"It can be. Many do form a partnership with their owner; they become the caretaker of your soul. But most stay away from their owner, as the owner is the one who can kill them most easily.

...We call them the owner of your soul, as usually only one has the mark. They hold your life, your soul, in their hands and you hold nothing but air. Eons before, it was common to kill your owner or for owners to abuse their person. We have many laws now but it is still a difficult situation."

"Especially when you're a child," the human sighed, looking off towards Lig, who watches the other younglings play in the centre.

"...so Lig's mark is on their face..." the adult sucked a breath in through their teeth. White patterns swirled across the youngling's face. Starting at Lig's left cheek and ending at their right. Thick swirls at the base of the cheeks and thinning out around the mouth.

"Such a place is very concerning for my kind." Brenger's do not kiss. The face is the least protected part of the head. A Brenger's maws are full of sharp teeth with tusks jutting out from the sides of their head. Kissing would be the equivalent of attacking.

"Lig is the only Brenger we have in the centre. I'm certain he'll be fine," Assured the human. "It's only among your species, yes? He'll be fine."

"...Yes. Yes Lig will be fine."

<>

Lig liked the centre. It was very fun. Even though they could not really talk to anyone. The brengarian language was difficult to translate for the older translator models, which were the size that fit him...

Mavis understood well enough though. And Lig understood Mavis well enough as well. A tiny thing she was. Human youngling that was no more than half Lig's size. Teacher said that was normal though as she was rather young for humans. Only 3 human years.

Teacher said they were about the same age. Lig liked that. Lig was always the youngest, but now Mavis and Lig would be the youngest together!

<><>

Lig was fun. Very fun. Mavis liked Lig very much. Teacher was fun too but Teacher also got mad at Mavis for always running away. Teacher also didn't like when Mavis made a mess. Others were fun too. But Mavis was mad at them for not giving her her toys...they were hers! And Teacher said that it was schools'...no it wasn't.

But Lig was fun! Lig listened. Lig played. Lig was nice.

Mavis liked Lig and Lig liked Mavis!

<><><>

Circle time was beginning and the human was quieting down the younglings so they would listen to the lesson about gravity. Some were rolling around, others were whispering, only a few were actually listening to the human's co-worker.

"Kids, quiet down please. Come on now, you know there are no toys on the carpet. Anwred stop that."

The human took away toys, helped take off outer layers like sweaters, and separated those who were fighting. They looked around one last time before getting started on sweeping the floors when they saw it.

"Mavis, personal space-" the tiny human gently hugged the Brenger's face and planted a kiss on their snout. She smiled and hugged Lig's face even tighter.

Mavis' hands and forearms covered the white swirls on Lig's face.

"...wow." the human mouthed.

<><><><>

"Wow." muttered the adult Brenger. They watched with bated breath as the human youngling hugged their young's face. Lig trilled as their friend's warmth seeped into their hide. It was an interesting new sensation for the youngling.

"Guessing this is a first for Brenger's?"

"An owner of another species... it's never been documented. "

"So what now?"

"...I don't know. They're both extremely young...this is also very uncommon," the adult laughed. "Perhaps one of the youngest cases."

"Are you fine with it?"

"How did Mavis do it again?"

"She stood up, reached out and grabbed Lig's face, hugged it, then kissed their snout," the human paused. "It was the most tender thing I have ever seen from a human so young."

"So also uncommon for humans?"

"Kind of. Not many kids do this but they do. It's not romantic or anything. They just don't know how else to show love. It's their parents they're copying. Mavis was probably just copying her parents, as they're the only thing she has to reference for any kind of friendship or relationship. Lig is her first real friend."

SPOILERS!

You can see it in that Italian man's and that Stardust humanoid's eyes. The GROWING realization of their actions. They just orphaned a child. Mario — the hero, made an orphan.

They all legit thought that Bowser died before them. Mario has blood on his hands. But then we get skeleton Bowser and its all good. I loved it tho. I genuinely loved it. Because something we can't ignore or forget is that Jr is a child, a villain, but a child villain who loves his father.

What if, when thinking of having a civilian job, Nolan saw a little bit of Lean On Me. Walked into the room when Debbie was watching it, during a tough love scene or something. And what if...this man thought 'Huh, that's kinda what like I did on Viltrum...'

Little while later he sees a snippet of Kindergarten Cop, scene where Arnold punches the abusive dad (but Nolan doesn't know that just that this teacher is beating the shit out of a parent). Nolan be like 'oh so you can hit the adults, just not the kids...I can do that.'

And then Nolan becomes a teacher!! Goes to the GDA, does some night classes, gets his degree, and bam becomes an elementary school teacher!!

He chooses elementary cause that's the age he's most familiar with!

SHENNAGINS OCCUR OFC!! THIS MAN WHOSE OVERALL INTERACTIONS WITH CHILDREN WAS TELLING THEM TO SUCK IT UP OR DIE. and now he must learn how to speak in memes and vine.

Must learn how not to make the smallest in the class cry due to how large Nolan is. Learn how to smile more. How to be creative. How to turn down flirty single parents. How to convey his frustrations to a giggling Debbie, who finds it hilarious that Omniman's arch-nemesis is a 9-year-old kid with an attitude.

He learns how it is not okay to punch parents who infuriate him. Big cover-up for the GDA. Thank God Nolan managed some restraint. Cecil had a good laugh later when it all settled down. In private of course.

Omniman becomes a family favourite. People love how well he handles kids when saving them. Parents respect him, kids love him, especially his own, who demands that he join Nolan's class.

I can say with pride that my horizons have grown since I first watched Avatar. From solely Zutara, Sukka, and Tokka to an enjoyer of Zukka and platonic Gaang, to now Tuko, Taang, and Zaang!

I love it, and I thank the hot edits for opening my for-you page to different ship edits and thus leading me to reading some fun ao3 reads.

The soldiers never found out that the painted lady was just some 14-year-old girl and her friends!

now granted the actual Painted Lady does show up to Katara in the end, so she does exist. But to the Fire Nation, she's an eldritch ghost lady who will steal your soul if you take advantage of the weak.

Yes, we have circumstances we're born into. Race, class, hereditary diseases, and war. But we as a species don't need to be the fittest to survive. It's about brains and luck most of the time. Smart enough to work your way up or lucky enough to be born into a comfortable life.

Many other species are like us. There's no need to actually fight for survival. But compared to their civilizations, we're so primative. That doesn't make Earth a target of discrimination, but it was a wake-up call. It was a wake-up call to see other planets, much less advanced than us, be part of the coalition for nearly a thousand years. Technological achievements are not what the coalition looks for. It's the potential for peace and allyship.

Despite joining the coalition, Earth still has problems. Countries at war with each other or their own people. The planet is dying. Technology is advancing too fast now.

Planets whose species still live in caves, who still follow survival of the fittest, thrive. While Earth barely survives.

How have we survived this long?

I think its because we care too much. We care too much. We can get so attached to things, ideas, and opinions. We start wars because we care too much. We kill because we care too much. We steal because we care too much. We survive because we care too much.

We saved those who should have died because we care too much. Caring stopped nature from making its selection.

I know this because I did this.

Its my job to care for these little ones. These little ones who should be dead by now. Not all of them. But at least 2 should be dead by now.

Franklin should be dead because he ate a Jut-bar, something he knows he shouldn't eat, as it has been drilled into him and several others that it is the equivalent of a peanut bar. Franklin is deathly allergic to them. Franklin knows this. Franklin is 6 years old. Yet he still ate it. Had we not noticed him hiding in the bathroom with the bar, he would be dead.

Isla should be dead because she wouldn't move out of the way of a stray hoverboard. Hoverboards can reach speeds of 20km/h. She had time to move. Yet she would not despite our shouting at her to move. Hoverboards can hover 3 inches off the ground or up to 3 feet. It was level with Isla's neck. When it crashed into the bin where Isla would have been, it dented it and broke. She's 4, she understands that if she does not move, things will hit her.

Rome. Rome. Rome. Just turned two and would not stop talking while we hid in the bathroom. The others also did but in whispers for they understood that we were hiding. They listened better than he did. They understood better than he did. He's 2 and they're 4. A loud 2. Quiet 4s. I shushed him but it wouldn't work. I explained again again again in hurried whispers to no avail. Isla tried to cover his mouth but he nearly screamed.

If that drill were real we would be dead. All nine of us. Because of Rome. Nine dead because of one...One life for nine. The trolley problem did cross my mind. I'm not going to lie. It did. And I always choose to sacrifice one for the many.

I also gripped the doorknob so tight that it hurt. I made my body larger to cover more of the door frame. I thought of what would be better: to be a shield or to become a target for whoever opens this door.

Perhaps this is how idiots continue to live and why the world is like this. Its because we care too much. The dumb should die. The curious should die. The weak should die. And they would, if there wasn't someone there who cared about them.

"Over here! Over here! I'm open!"

"Tropp you have SIX eyes! How did you miss???"

Back and forth. Up and down. Zigged and zagged. Disappear and reappear.

'How does it disappear?' thought the child, rubbing his dizzy eyes. Following a glorb was much harder than following a ball. For one thing, a ball didn't disappear and reappear.

'I think mister Max called that teleporting...'

The game continued as did the child's attempt at following the glorb with his eyes. He sighed.

"You taking a break Harrison?"

"No."

"Tired of playing?"

"No."

"Just watching?"

"Yea..."

"...do you want to join?"

"...I don't know how to play," he confessed, swinging his legs. "and they'll probably say no since they already started."

"The game is almost over though. I could teach you while we wait."

"...okay."

The bench creaked as the large male sat down next to the child.

.

"-and that's how you play glorp." sighed the adult. Although happy to teach he forgot how thorough this particular child was with... understanding things. A 'why?' child.

"Ready to play now? They should be done any minute now."

"...I'm actually okay."

"What? You asked me a million questions about it." Max dramatically exclaimed. He dropped the act when the child didn't smile. "...you alright buddy?"

"...I don't want to look dumb. When I learn things for the first time I look dumb and people laugh at me and I don't like it."

"Ah... Well, pretty much everybody looks silly when they learn something. No one looks dumb. I look silly when learning new games too. Like that one that Tropp taught us, remember?"

"But people laugh with you, not at you. And you're always silly, and everybody likes it when you're silly. They'll laugh at me."

"...huh. You're a good thinker Harrison. But how about this? I'll join you and we can be silly together."

"But what if they laugh at me and with you?"

"Then I'll get them to laugh with us-"

"Or what if I can't figure out how to make the glorb teleport??"

"Hey you figured out tele-"

"We lose cuase of that and no one will wanna play with me forever!"

"Harrison, that-"

"And they say mean things about me!"

"Harri-"

"And then no one will ever teach me a new game ever again-!"

"Harrison if anyone says anything mean to you or makes fun of you I will eat them."

"...oh wow...okay." and with that the child follows his teacher to the field.

..

"Listen up! Harrison is joining this game, as am I."

"Okay." "Aw what?" "Not the whelp..." "Harrison you know how to play??" "Not it for taking him!"

"Hey. Anyone who makes fun of Harrison, or anybody who's learning, I will eat."

"..." "..." "..." "..." "..."

"Good. I'm on Harrison's team."

...

"Max."

"Yes Captain?"

"Why do I have several parents accusing you of threatening to devour their young?" the captain groaned.

"I-I was trying to calm down Harrison, a-and he wouldn't stop interrupting me, and he had just asked me a million questions, so I was tired... I'm not used to having an audience whose species have actually been eaten alive!! Captain humans don't do that, and I'm a vegetarian!!"

That's not to say the young lady didn't believe in love. Heavens no! She just didn't believe in true love. Love that occurred the moment you locked eyes. Love that, from mere kindling, swelled into an overwhelming inferno after a single meeting.

Love that only existed in books that her mother disapproved of.

To Violet Ledger, love was like growing a garden. From scratch. You had to prepare the plot, plant the seeds, and even then, it wasn't a guarantee that anything would grow. You could read every book, try every trick or tip that worked with others growing their own garden, but nothing could happen.

But you can't return a garden. You can't simply abandon it. You simply have to make the best of it. That's what her parents did.

They love each other...to some extent, they do. Just not the way Violet wished. It could be worse, though. There's no shouting, no neglecting, no blaming, but the garden is...a bit lackluster.

Again. Violet believed in love, desired it, but she was prepared to put in the work.

So imagine her surprise when she met Edmund Bridgerton.

As soon as the seeds took root in the soil, they grew like weeds. No matter how hard she tried to calm her feelings, to make her thoughts and feelings neat and proper as a proper lady should, they just kept coming back. So entangled in heart was Edmund Bridgerton.

Like vines overtaking a fence. Dandelions that usurp the fields. Invasive. Out of control. Yet so beautiful.

Violet Bridgerton loved her Edmund so. How could she not when he took root in her heart?

How did she ever think that true love didn't exist?