#siblinghood

But once he is gone who will I have?

besides, I have a sister.

on the unconditional love of sisterhood.

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Steph: Ooh the theme is the Victorian Era, you’d probably know a lot about that, huh?

Dick: I’m twenty six!

Steph: Mhm, mhm, so did you help stab Julius Caesar or were you too busy doing something else in Rome back then?

Dick: Oh shut up

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Steph: …I’m going to give that person one star

Dick: Wait but their outfit is so cute

*Person does Pose 28*

Dick: Oh never mind

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*Steph’s character comes on the runway*

Dick: That’s one of the worst outfits I’ve ever seen. I’d hate to be them, huh?

Steph: Bitch! That’s me and you know it!

Dick: Mhm… I’m going to have to give you no stars. …Oh wait that’s not an option. Okay you get like three stars I guess

Steph: You GUESS? Well then I GUESS I’ll have to give you one star next round

Dick: Wait no, my vote comes from a place of love! …The love of winning

Steph: …So you admit I’m a threat! You have to lie about my vote because you feel threatened by my excellence and want to try to bring me down!

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Steph: Hey where are you?

Dick: Oh I’m in the VIP room

Steph: …You got VIP? Without me?

Dick: Yeah, but I mean you could just buy it with B’s credit card

Steph: Seriously Richard?! I thought we were going to eat the rich together and now you become the rich?!

Dick, pretending to wipe off tears: I’m sorry Stephanie! I know the sting of betrayal like the back of my hand and I cannot believe I’d do something like this to you! I don’t know what came over me!

Steph: Uh huh! From my own flesh and blood no less!

Dick: Indeed! …If I gift you VIP can we keep playing?

Steph: …I’ll allow it

Dick: Excellent

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*Theme is Poison Apple*

Steph: Hey what are you doing for this one?

Dick: Oh I’m making a cute Snow White outfit because she ate the poisoned apple

Steph: …Oh

Dick: Mhm! What are you doing?

Steph: So like I’m layering everything I can get my hands on so I can try and look like an apple and then I’m just going to put on like a mean looking face to get the point across that this is a mean apple. A poisoned apple if you will

Dick: Seriously?

Steph: Well I didn’t know what else to do!

Dick: … I mean there’s not really time for you to change so maybe we could like do a duo and you can be the poisoned apple Snow White bites

Steph: Oh yeah okay!

Dick: Can I see the outfit?

Steph: Oh yeah here

Dick: Oh… that’s… neat…

Steph: What, did you change your mind about duoing or something? You’re not getting out of this! It’s like marriage before divorce existed, the only way out is to kill me or fake your death and move to Canada under the name Josh Hicklewhomper

Dick: Mmm… no. I’ll probably look great next to you

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Steph: So you and Harvey Dent are twins?

Dick: What are you talking about?

Steph: I just wanted you hype someone up in the chat while giving them one star. You’re two-faced like Harvey

Dick: …I’m going to give it to you, that was a pretty good one

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*Theme is celebrity*

Steph: So who are you doing?

Dick: Oh I’m doing Bruce that one time he swam with his shirt off in a fountain to keep up his Brucie Wayne image

Steph: Oh that’s cool

Dick: Thanks, who are you doing?

Steph: So remember that time we were at a gala and you choked on a mini quiche and spat it up all over some senator? I’m doing you the time you did that

Dick: …I know I should probably be mad but I really want to see how you portray that

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Dick: Can we just agree right now that if the theme is scary creature, neither of us are dressing as Joker?

Steph: Yeah, we can’t give him the satisfaction

Dick: Exactly! So if that theme comes up, who are you dressing as?

Steph: I mean when I worked retail there was this one lady who was like a Karen but dialed up to 100 so I’ll go as her, maybe add in a little “I want to see the manager.” Who are you going as?

Dick: So have you ever seen Newsies?

Steph: Uh… no, I don’t think so

Dick: Okay well it’s great and I’m going to force you to watch both the movie and musical after this and also the fact that it went off of broadway is a crime against humanity but anyways I’m going is Joseph Pulitzer. Maybe Weasel

Steph: Pulitzer? Like the Pulitzer Prize?

Dick: Sort of. He’s a guy and he sucks because he forces kids to work for pennies when he has plenty of money. Like the 1800s version of Lex Luthor. Discount Lex. Or maybe Lex is Discount Pulitzer. They both suck

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*Dick gets third place and Steph gets fourth*

Dick: Oh would you look at that, I beat you for the sixth time

Steph: By one point!

Dick: Mhm, still counts though

Steph: …Your laptop is just good luck, let’s trade

Dick: No, I don’t wanna lose my streak?

Steph: Bitch what streak? This is the first time you got on the podium

Dick: Yeah and I don’t wanna ruin it

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Dick and Steph: *Furiously clicking away at their laptops, faces inches away from the screen*

Bruce: …Alfred, are Dick and Stephanie working on a case together? They seem very… passionate

Alfred, angling his own laptop slightly away: No, Master Bruce, I believe they are playing a new video game, of course I wouldn’t know much about that

Dick: HOW DOES BUTLER_NUMBER1 KEEP GETTING FIRST PLACE??

Onward is so painfully underrated and I’m so upset how people keep hating on the movie for no reason. I’m just gonna list some positive things about the movie about why it’s so great.

1 - Accurate neurodivergent representation!

It may not have been said out right but it’s very heavily implied that both boys are neurodivergent. As someone who comes from a family full of autistic people, I can confirm that they both show traits of autism in different ways. Which is perfect because most people fail to realise autism is a spectrum and has different traits! For example, Ian is amazing at math, he likes to have a good routine and has a lot of social anxiety which is executed beautifully, just the way he tenses up and stutters is VERY accurate. As for Barley, he has his special interests that he hyper-fixates on and can’t help but blab about it to his heart’s content, it is another very common autistic trait but Ian doesn’t share that one. It is also showed how Barley tends to be very clumsy, which is actually another common autistic trait. He has a lot of things that comfort him that he is very proud of, such as his van Guinevere and he will eagerly tell you all about her. He also seems to stim a fair bit and you will notice how he moves his hands and arms a lot as he talks.

2 - Accurate sibling dynamic!

They both really love each other BUT they can also get on each other’s nerves. For me, I find the sibling writing in this movie more relatable than frozen. The brilliant execution and accuracy is right next to Lilo and Stitch the OG and best (where it is also implied that Lilo is autistic.). They bicker, but also joke around and have fun. The way Barley is always so eager to go out of his way to help Ian really shows too. They can get into little fights but are quick to forgive each other. Barley can’t help but tease Ian a little, not in a mean spirited way at all but in your typical older brother fashion. Ian is determined to try and seem as normal as possible as Barley wants to be himself and believes being weird is better than being normal. In a way I would say their sibling dynamic is actually somewhat similar to the brothers in Supernatural, which has no doubt the best execution of sibling hood of all time. Lots of love, would do anything for each other, small fights here and there and some bickering, joking around? It’s the perfect picture to how close siblings look.

3 - Fascinating world full of potential!

The idea of a fantasy world with technology is just amazing to me. Imagine minding your own business playing video games and then the next moment some kind of eldritch horror may reappear from thousands of years ago? Imagine a businessman whose boss is literally a little pixie yet he is still so intimated by him? Imagine the idea of a zoo FULL of mythical creatures such as griffins, larger dragons, Phoenixes and MORE! Onward would have done amazing as a series because there is so much ideas to explore with this concept. The movie did a good job balancing what modern life looks like with fantasy too. How the unicorns turn into trash pandas? Dragons are common domestic pets like dogs? Old ruins full of danger surrounded by people who mostly forgot about them (aside from Barley of course)? It’s all such brilliant world building that has so much potential.

4 - The emotion!

The pure emotion in this movie is just amazing! This movie makes me feeling emotional just as much as Soul and Luca does too, possibly even more for me as I am someone who is so very close to my family. The way the family is written is healthy but chaotic, which feels more relatable to me than other movies too. Lots of love, bits of bickering and maybe a few small arguments but nothing toxic. A dysfunctional but loving family. A lot of movies I find would have the family being a lot more toxic with elements of emotional ab*se, gaslighting and manipulation. I won’t say what movies tend to do this mistake but I’ve seen a fair few. This movie shows that a loving family can make mistakes but still apologise and love each other. The ending is just perfect too! The way Ian realises his father figure is Barley and how he lets Barley say goodbye is beautiful.

5 - The action!

You can’t tell me some of the action wasn’t pretty cool. As good as the other more recent Pixar movies are, Onward definitely has a lot more action. The drama in those old ruins with all the traps? That amazing and emotional fight with Ian and that dragon? Even just the fight against those pixies! There is far more action in this movie than most if not all recent Pixar movies. The way the dragon was built from whatever is around it and using the school is also super clever. The way it roars and has the school bell in it is amazing and another good example of how much fun the concept of modern life mixed with fantasy is. Seeing Ian use all those different spells to fight was also amazing! He used pretty much everything he had learned throughout the adventure to fight. The spells are also creative, such as the fireworks spell. A fun but different sort of spell you don’t see in most media.

What if because of all her time in Zeus’s head, Athena was claustrophobic? For years of immortal time, she was stuck somewhere she really didn't fit into. It was like she was being crushed by Zeus's skull and was a horrific experience. The fear didn't come up too often since she was normally outside or in large spaces, but that made her horribly afraid of being trapped somewhere tight and restrictive again. Of course, she's this respectable warrior goddess, so she doesn't want to be associated with fear of any sort. Then one day, she finds herself somewhere that's cramped and just panics. Desperately, she's trying to keep anyone from noticing, but Ares does. Subtly, he gets her out of there. She thinks he's going to use this against her to try to make her look bad, but he doesn't. Instead, he actually helps her overcome this fear. On top of that, it's just kept between the two of them, so no one else has to find out unless she tells them.

Then later, she's able to return the favor. After Ares gets freed from the bronze jar, he's not afraid of small spaces, but he's afraid of the dark. For over a year, he could only see that darkness. He couldn't see his enemies if there were more trapped in the jar with him, waiting to attack. Being surrounded by nothingness nearly made him doubt he even existed. So, he even hates it when he's out. Like before but reversed, he doesn't want others to find out. Something like that is all Zeus would need to make him a bigger laughing stock on Mount Olympus and he's sure the rest of his siblings would make fun of him for that too, but Athena finds out. She starts helping him overcome this. It's another little thing they keep between them.