Hot take maybe, but I feel like the phrases “This was in a kid’s movie?!” or “This movie/scene traumatized me as a kid” when talking about movies from like the 80’s/90’s/early 2000’s, has actually been really damaging about the way we think of and critique or criticize movies from those decades that many of us either grew up on watching and/or loved as kids and turned out fine.
Was Littlefoot’s mom dying sad? Yes. But I don’t think it was traumatizing. If you felt sad for Littlefoot because his mom died, then congratulations, that was the point! You were SUPPOSED to feel sad!
Sexual innuendos that would fly over a kids head in an old Disney or non-Disney animated movie are not some damning eye-widening thing we must pass judgement on today for having been done, but should be appreciated that movies were made for families- with both child and parent in mind. How many of us have gone to watch an old nostalgic fav and only now realized or understood as an adult, the jokes our parents laughed at that we were unaware of or unknowing of as children, and appreciated those jokes and scenes all the more??
So then why am I constantly watching people my age or younger than me, take those scenes now and criticize how it should actually have not been in the movie at all? Why?? Tell me why, Karen? Tell me why, Steve? Because you are so chronically online that you are allowing yourself to succumb to anti-sex/anti-adult discourse and propaganda??
Are the Skeksis freaky to look at? Yes. Did Morla scare me as a child when I watched The Neverending Story for the first time? Yes.
But they also fascinated me as well.
As a kid, every time Morla came on my screen (note the every time, as in, despite my being afraid of this creature, I would still watch this movie over and over) I would dive under our big square coffee table and either cover my eyes or watch Morla and Atreyu talk to each other in both fear and fascination. She was ugly and creepy and scary and cool.
And over time, I began to watch the scene not from under the coffee table, but out in the open, either on the floor in front of the tv or on the couch alone. I made that decision!! I came to the conclusion over time, while still very young, that she was not as scary as I believed!!
Also, it floored me later on to learn that she was a Turtle! A fact which is pretty obvious now with my Adult eyes, rather than my kid ones. And I gotta say it was BECAUSE of Morla I developed a like of Turtles.
All this to say, I think we are essentially robbing children of deciding for themselves what is too scary for them, and denying ourselves the fun and togetherness family films brought us all growing up. I think we are damning movies being made today and will be made in the future by beholding them to some current online consensus that “This Thing Bad Actually”, and robbing creatives of making work that tackle larger speaking points and ideas in their chosen mediums.
Once Upon a Forest is SUPPOSED to make you think about the environment- It’s SUPPOSED to show you the horror of environmental destruction and you’re SUPPOSED to be scared for and worry about these forest animals.
All Dogs Go To Heaven/The Rescuers is SUPPOSED to make you think and feel about how we not only treat children (orphaned or otherwise) but about animals as well.
Movies are SUPPOSED to make you think and feel and question the world around you and learn from its messages.
Movies, especially movies for children, should not just be wrung out and watered down to poopy silly haha fart jokes in bright colors and fast paced action with no breathing room or a real or cohesive plot, thought, message, or anything to say about anything!
(That said, some messages can also be very wrong to teach children, as some films in the past decade have proved to have done; The most damning one recently being the live-action Lilo & Stitch, but I digress)
I could go on and on, but I believe my point has been made.
CinemaSins, Saberspark, and other content creators like them, who do nothing to analyze or highlight a film or scene and boil it down to “This was in a kids movie?!” are perpetrators of the ongoing problem in how we think and critique films aimed at families and children, and it’s really starting to piss me off quite frankly.
I am a relatively easy crier when it comes to fiction (it's a running joke in my family, I don't make it through many movies for the first time without tears and sometimes randomly tear up listening to songs I've heard a million times), so with that in mind:
I genuinely use it as one of my criteria for the quality of movies made for children. Kids' movies in particular are very straight forward with the pathos *because* they're aimed at children. They ramp up the musical emotional manipulation in the soundtracks to eleven. It can be a lot. So if I, who cries every single time when Shadow says "Peter" at the end of Homeward Bound even though I've seen it at least 30 times, do not tear up watching your kids' movie - you have made a bad kids' movie. You did a bad job. Your movie means nothing, it evokes no emotion, and you have wasted your time making a pile of shiny emptiness.
Y'all for real please do these. Even if you're certain your posture doesn't suck. One day you will wake up with impinged shoulder pain like I did and let me tell you it fucking HURTS. Do these exercises even just once a week and it will make such a difference. Especially my fellow creatives out there, stop shrimping over your work and go do these right now. RIGHT NOW.
People in the tags who read Clan of the Cave Bear or Flowers in the Attic, but did you fucking die? You are fine like every other kid exposed to Jondalar’s turgid, upright member was fine. These are clearly ideal books for nine year olds because so many very alive and unharmed former nine year olds read the shit out of them and many adults find them boring.
Would you really be such a John Hughes adult kind of hypocrite as to rip the inspiring tale of Ayla, who invented aspirin, knitting and cunnilingus during the last ice age out of an elementary schooler’s hand?
If you don’t want kids to read a book, don’t allow it to portray a child’s actual, relateable anxieties around puberty, sex, adulthood and their parents in the most high gothic way possible. This is like preventing incest by locking your adolescent grandchildren in a small room with no access to non-family members.
I think we need to start being more nuanced with this take because yeah kids could probably read anything at 16-17 years old, but it's if they should.
Like not in a "I don't want my kids to read XYZ book" but in a "Are they actually capable of understanding and processing the material in the book properly."
Teenagers are not mentally adults. They will not be able to comprehend certain things because those are things that come with age, and life experience.
If you are willing to help guide a teenager through adult materials up to and including when to recognize when you should stop reading a book, then feel free to show whatever feel is going to help the child.
If you aren't willing to do this and just chuck a bunch of books at a teenager, then you're just setting them up for failure.
And if anyone has problems I'm an adult fiction writer who's a mom. My books read at 6th-8th grade reading level, because I write in casual, easy to digest language, much like how this post is written.
LOL I'm also a mom and when my kid is 16, he will be old enough to drive a vehicle that can fucking kill him.
But you want me to clutch my pearls over whether he reads a little book that has some sex in it?
Nah.
By the time he is 16, he will actively be making decisions ABOUT SEX. By the time he is 16, he will be deciding wehther or not to HAVE SEX.
As many teenagers do.
Closing my eyes and going "alalalalalaaaaaaa he's a baby!!!! can't read or acknowledge sex in any way" is d umb as hell. Telling him that he can't understand it and therefore he can't READ ABOUT IT? lmao. would make me a shitty mom.
Anyway. Children should read books, and the idea that 16 year olds are babies to be protected from books is dumb as hell.
Random question, but I’m rewatching some ER season 7 episodes right now, and I noticed that Cleo seems standoff-ish with Carter. Do we ever get a reason why she’s so short with him? Is it something having to do with a patient conflict, or is it something else?
Thank you!!
Ooooooooh, okay, so you wouldn't have known this but the "Cleo Hates Carter" subplot is one of my favourite things, and while it's established really subtly in the show, it's dropped randomly and never explored.
But it's so RIPE for exploration.
So, basically, within the context of the show we know two key things -- arguably three -- that put Cleo at odds with Carter.
1. Eddie Bernero
The diabetic kid. Prior to his attack, Carter and Cleo both saw a young kid whom Carter diagnosed with diabetes. However, due to the dad's job situation, they were, at the time, uninsured. And if the kid were to be diagnosed with diabetes prior to the dad's insurance being activated by his new job -- which he expressed was imminent -- then Eddie's diabetes would be considered a Prior Condition, and therefore not subject to the benefits of his dad's insurance.
ie. If Carter makes that diagnosis, the family will not be able to afford to treat Eddie anyway, and will not be able to get insurance that will cover it without insane premiums.
SO
Carter falsifies the chart.
On the condition, of course, that the dad come back AS SOON as his insurance is activated, and that they closely monitor Eddie's food and lifestyle in the meantime. He made it extremely clear that Eddie's life was at risk.
Because Cleo was also seeing this patient, she was aware of the symptoms of diabetes but not aware that Carter chose to lie.
Then Carter got stabbed.
And obviously, a lot of things slipped his mind.
When Eddie came back, he was in a diabetic coma, his dad had NOT watched his diet or lifestyle as promised, and Cleo, who knew that this kid had diabetes, was surprised to discover that there was no official diagnosis logged.
And she accurately surmised that Carter lied, falsified the chart, and told the dad that that was what he was doing. Essentially. Basically, he was explicit enough that the dad later threatens to blame Carter, knowing that he's got him over a barrel.
So Cleo confronts Carter, calling him out for medical malpractice (because it is), and for endangering the child's life (because he did), and for putting her in an awkward position where she chose to lie for him instead of throwing him under the bus.
And technically -- TECHNICALLY -- Cleo is absolutely right for this. Carter did all the things that she's calling him out for.
However, I'm a Carter apologist, lalala, and so, I'm sympathetic to his side of things. Which is this:
a) he's coming back from almost dying. He shouldn't be at work. As Cleo is chewing him out through the halls of the ER, he is walking along beside her, clearly barely keeping up with the conversation, never mind the pace. He's limping. This man is still visibly injured.
b) he's in his downward drug addiction spiral era. He's got a lot going on. I wouldn't expect him to remember this kid. Or prioritise him. And yeah, again. He should not be working.
c) most relevantly, Carter's decision, while technically absolutely illegal, and wildly reckless, was one made because of a system where the alternative to diagnosis was equally likely to be death, or at least destitution. He chose to prioritise the kid's future health, taking a risk that his current status would remain stable.
It's illegal. Yes. It is.
But that kid was fucked either way. Either he gets diagnosed, and his family go bankrupt attempting to get him insulin, potentially entirely unable to acquire it and therefore killing him anyway.
OR
They risk a couple months -- if that, because Carter was told it would only be a few weeks iirc -- to ensure that this kid will have safe and stable access to his lifelong requirement of a lifesaving drug.
Was his decision wrong? Yes.
But I'd argue his decision was compassionate. And Carter's compassion is always the thing that gets him in trouble.
And personally, if I were sick, I'd want a compassionate doctor.
BUT THAT'S NOT ALL!
2. Cleo vs. Privilege
Cleo is exceptionally conscious of her race, of her mixed heritage, of her place in the world, and of how that world perceives her.
We see this topic come up as a point of conversation and more importantly, conflict, between her and Peter.
Peter, who is Black, and not mixed, takes his identity for granted to some degree. Whether or not we feel Cleo's criticism of him in this arena is fair or warranted doesn't really matter, because she makes the critique regardless.
The two of them fight about it before Thanksgiving, with Cleo walking away from him after it. And it comes up again at various points, most relevantly in regards to Benton's admission to medical school. He finds out that he was an AA acceptance. And he tells Cleo.
How does this figure to Carter?
Well, he's a rich, white boy.
He's working while obviously impaired.
He's given compassionate consideration, not just by his colleagues who go out of their way to support him, to protect him, to get him to rehab, and to bring him back, but also by the hospital as an institution.
It's easy to see how Cleo would be acutely aware of the privileges he enjoys, and she wouldn't be wrong to connect it to race. And Carter, as part of that privilege, gets to remain unconscious to it.
What makes this more difficult for Cleo, I would venture to suggest, is Peter's relationship with Carter.
Peter, who experiences all and more (in some ways) of the racism Cleo comes up against, has this MASSIVE BLIND SPOT for the person who best represents the type of person the system favours. In acting to support Carter beyond the bounds of professionalism, or reason, or logic, or law, Peter is actively participating in this system. I think that hypocrisy -- at least as Cleo sees it -- would be really difficult for her to swallow.
Because...
3. Cleo Knows Peter Loves Carter
Now, I'm not gonna say it's something as simple as jealousy, but I do think we can, as an audience, read something like that into it.
And more importantly, Peter's love for Carter impacts how much time and energy and interest Peter has for Cleo.
This first comes up the night Carter is stabbed.
Cleo is forced to do a thoracotomy because multiple times her direct request to Peter for assistance is ignored, dismissed, or otherwise pushed aside in his desperation to be with Carter.
Even when Carter is out of the woods, Peter actively puts Cleo's patient's life in danger because he wants to close with Anspaugh. To the point that Cleo is forced to intervene, and Peter, in response, lashes out at Cleo.
She knows that his anger is not about her doing an unnecessary procedure. And we know she knows, because the last words she manages to get out to Peter are "I'm sorry Carter is hurt --"
Before Peter completely shuts her out.
And then, when she comes to tell him that Lucy has died, Peter's first priority, ahead of anything, is still Carter.
And fine, maybe that's okay when the crisis is at its climax.
But when Carter's in the hospital, Peter is ALWAYS there. And again, we know that this takes time away from Cleo because we see them on a date.
And on that date, all that Peter talks about...is Carter.
To the point that Cleo suggests they skip a show and go to a cafe, since clearly, all Peter really wants to do is tell her about Carter.
Now, I'm not saying this is jealousy per se, because she does seem quite happy to allow Peter to wax poetic about his boy. BUT I do think she resents Carter for how Peter so willingly compromises his integrity to attend to him.
Peter literally almost let that patient die. Peter has outside responsibilities. Cleo thinks Peter has an incredible future as a surgeon -- ironically, she is as ambitious for his career as he was...before he met Carter.
But the softening of Peter that began with Carter as his med-student, and then became obvious and intentional with the birth and raising of his son, of Reese, is emphasised in Cleo's frustration with Peter's willing and (to her mind, and possibly fairly observed) unexamined or uncritical prioritising of certain other people in a way that undermines, compromises, or else distracts him from his own trajectory.
I think Cleo thinks Carter's a bit of a bad influence. She doesn't see how they came together, she doesn't understand how they were, or how they work. She doesn't grasp the depth of feeling between them. All she sees is a rich kid getting away with rich kid actions, and her boyfriend compromising himself to support it.
Cleo was probably So Mad when Benton called her - not came home and told her, mind you, because he didn't leave - but called her to tell her he was staying at the hospital with Carter for his kidney transplant, how is that rich white boy interfering in her life again, I thought we got rid of him.
I've been thinking about the episode in which Harper cheats on Carter with Doug Ross.
Now, we can debate until the cows come home about "but they weren't even really dating" or "they only kissed like twice" or whatever, and I've seen comments like that, but the fact is that in the context of the episode, everyone, including Harper and Doug, treat it like cheating, so that's what I'm gonna call it.
I'm stuck on Carter's reaction. Because it feels...weird. For him. Carter is not someone who is unafraid of expressing either his opinions or his emotions. Sometimes to a fault, I will admit, despite my love for him. But in this episode, he just goes silent.
Like, okay, so Harper tells him what happened (after he got them Blues Traveler tickets! I love that insight into Carter's musical taste, side note). And he kind of just stares at her until Benton drags him off to surgery.
And then she comes to try to "explain herself." (Pro tip: there is no explanation for cheating). And he doesn't want to listen, but she just keeps talking and he stays until she's done and then he dunks his lunch in the trash can and walks back into the ER, without commentary.
And then! Doug comes to talk to him about it. And the basketball roughing scene ensues. And Doug is talking, and talking, and almost calling Carter names, and trying to justify their actions, and Carter is just angrily shoving him around the ambulance bay, and then when Doug is done, we get the only verbal reaction Carter has to the whole thing this episode: "I have. And now having to listen to you, I'm glad you've both made your peace with this. But I'm gonna need a little more time, if that's okay with everybody." And then he just walks back into the ER again. (side note, let us all agree that genuinely pissed Carter is really hot here)
I don't really have a conclusion on this one. I've been thinking and thinking about it, and I a) can't think of another situation where Carter's response was just silently walking away (though I say this with the knowledge that I've seen the show once, so maybe others can come up with some) and b) can't put my finger on *why* he would react this way in this specific situation. Any thoughts?
On an unrelated note, I kind of love that Mark, in his rants about Doug's poor decision making, also takes the time to ask Doug "what about Carter?" and break the news that Carter and Harper were going out. While I don't love that this is the part that seems to get through to Doug that he genuinely screwed up because it feels a little too "guy at the club who won't take no for an answer unless he thinks you have a boyfriend," I also kind of do love it because Carter continues to be the ER's baby boy. Doug, you hurt Carter! What kind of monster are you? I giggle.
Okay, everyone, I went down the The Pitt to ER pipeline rabbit hole and I Need to talk about the Carter Family Dynamics and specifically the elements raised by Chase Carter. I'm gonna be calling Carter John even though it's weird because everyone in this post is a Carter, haha.
Firstly, the situation with Carter's parents is a lot. His mom's multi-episode arc clearly shows that she basically got trapped in the moment that Bobby died, and she seems to resent the fact that John didn't get stuck there too. "You were exactly where you've been my entire life - you were somewhere else" is brutal but apparently factually accurate if his parents couldn't be bothered to come see him for three weeks after he was literally almost murdered by a patient. Like, my parents have way fewer resources to work with and they would be there in absolute minimum amount of travel time were something like that to happen to me. I did see some comment the other day about it being sexist that John is more willing to forgive his dad's screwups than his mom's but, friends, "she was disappointed in you as a father and as a man" is a hell of a thing to say to your father about his recently deceased mother, if you have forgiven that man for his absentee parenting. I think the continued contact with his dad was more a feature of his father making a decision to at least try to change and continuing to show up, while his mother continued to do what she (they) had always done before, which is hiding from the feelings.
But. That thing John says to his dad comes after his grandmother skips right over his dad - and any other relatives who might have a claim - and leaves the entirety of the Carter family fortune (and the ancestral home) in John's control. Which brings me to my main point, which is - the Carter Family Dynamics are real weird, and nothing makes that clearer than the introduction of Chase Carter.
So. The Carter Family is super rich and they have a lot of built-in expectations with that, as rich people often do. For this reason, John has received a great deal of disapproval for his pursuit of a career in medicine, which is bizarre from the perspective of us normal people, for whom a doctor in the family would be something to be proud of. He gets cut off from the family money for a while because he wants to continue to pursue it without them holding anything over his head. His grandmother repeatedly tries to talk him out of it. Chase says he's pretty much the only family member with a career outside of the family holdings, and as such, he's something of the black sheep of the family - or is he?
When Chase shows up, he makes it very clear that John is the Anointed One. He's the one that John Carter Sr. has always wanted to take over when the time comes. And apparently, this is still the case despite his medicine based rebellion. And that's weird for a number of reasons.
Firstly, let's talk about the rest of the Carter family. As previously mentioned, John's dad is very much alive. Logically, he would be the first choice to take over, you'd think. But beyond that, John had an older brother. He has at least one cousin (Douglas) that we know for absolutely certain is older than him, and personally, I interpreted Chase as being older as well, though not by much. He also, maybe, has an older sister who we never met and who may or may not exist. (As far as I can remember from my binge watch, the only mention of her is when he tells Benton that his parents are visiting her for Thanksgiving, prior to Benton inviting him to his family dinner. My personal headcanon is that she doesn't actually exist and he was just covering the fact that his parents couldn't be bothered to be around for the holidays.) In a family dynasty like this, the older boys would seem like the prime candidates, and yet.
Also, this is a good time to talk about how these older boys make John's name kind of weird. Even if you ignore Chase and Douglas as not being in the Main Line, Bobby still exists! Why is the second born son the one that got The Third-ed? I saw something in a fic speculating that the choice was an attempt to curry favor by John's parents, which would make some sense, but also implies the presence of significant dysfunction in the family even before John was born, let alone before Bobby died. I have questions!
SO. It is strange that John would be the Chosen Grandson, purely from a dynastic standpoint. Now, on the other hand, I love John Truman Carter III with my whole heart, and he demonstrates throughout the show that he is a) very smart b) very capable of setting a difficult goal and following through on it even the face of opposition (ironic that this trait that makes him a desirable heir is Also the reason that they're frustrated with him) and c) able to turn on the social graces and charm the general public in the specific way that the family wants. I can see how they would focus on him based on personality but there is still his dad! Who even the younger generation (as spoken through Chase) is ignoring as a stepping stone at best and a non-candidate at worst for inheriting Head of the Family status.
And that's not even getting into the way John seems to have simply supplanted his father in his grandparents' affections. John has a room in the house and feels comfortable adding a home gym without discussing it with his grandmother. John is the one who has a giant portrait of him hanging in the foyer (yes I know from a Doylesian perspective this is for the giggles of Anna and Carol stumbling across it, but like, that painting is canonically there). John's parents stay in a hotel rather than at the house when they're in town for Senior's funeral. John is the one who handles Gamma's home care after her accident, and the one who goes for a drive with her after Senior's funeral, and the one she leaves all the money to. He's the one being recruited to hand out checks at benefits even though he still hasn't given up his day job. There's a lot going on!
Anyway, clearly I have a lot of feelings about this, TLDR: Carter family dynamics are seriously whack.
Hey, so I could be wrong, feel free to correct me, but unless there is a concurrent discussion somewhere else (totally possible, fandom hive mind and all) then I'm the person you're referring to who both called out the sexism re: Eleanor AND the Bobby being named for currying favour thing, and I think there's just some lack of clarity in terms of what's being discussed because text lacks nuance and in both these cases I only briefly alluded to what I meant.
Allow me to elaborate.
Sexism and Motherhood
When I say that there's an element of sexism in Carter's expectations of his mother vs. that of his father I'm not referring to anything explicit or even intentional on Carter's part. What I'm talking about is the societal expectation, especially in the West, and especially in traditional, old-school families that the mother is the nurturer and the father is the breadwinner. This is just the environment Carter has grown up in, and part of how he's been socialised. It's not a criticism of him, but there is something about how these broad cultural expectations have been internalised that mean he has different expectations of his mother than he does of his father. He doesn't talk about wanting his father to be his father, though it's implied through dialogue that he's been equally absent. He doesn't have a heart-to-heart with his dad about Bobby's death, or a confession of love, or get physical with him in the way he does with Eleanor. There's an element of Hamlet vs. Gertrude in that confrontation where he yells at her. He feels betrayed by her on a very fundamental level, but that level -- the idea that a child wants their mother -- is largely based on the idea that a mother owes a child something different, something softer, more intimate than a father does. Carter wants something different from Eleanor than from Jack.
Do I think Jack's trying? Not really.
No more than Eleanor. And I think Jack also has notions of sexism and what wives and mothers are meant for that are super problematic.
When Kem is literally lying in a hospital bed, having just delivered her stillborn son, Jack tells John that of course he can have another baby with her, and of course she'll want to have another baby with him. And it's meant to be comforting, but personally, it always strikes me as fucking weird.
Like, wtf dude.
Versus what we see with Carter and his dad. His dad is the one he's on the phone with in Season 1 and 2. His dad is the one he seems to have easier conversation with, who comes to him and holds him...that one time. BUT --
His dad is unreachable in a way that Eleanor isn't. Eleanor is vulnerable -- physically, yes, but also emotionally. Jack is absent.
And I think that absence, that indifference is what Millicent AND John Sr. were disappointed by. Jack has no ambition. No spine. And Millicent is very much about having the stiffest spine in existence. Ironically, by fighting to be a doctor, John only made himself MORE attractive as a prospect for inheritance.
And he also weaponises his injury by abdicating all responsibility of it. Think of the conversation where he tells John he and Eleanor are getting a divorce, and then implies that John gave him the idea. Or when Millicent dies, and Jack is there clearly resentful of John, clearly uncomfortable with John's emotional vulnerability.
This hug kills me. I think the difference between Eleanor and Jack is that Eleanor makes it clear she doesn't want to be here, whereas Jack does bare minimum to get what he wants. And generally, what he wants is to maintain the lifestyle he is accustomed to.
John's in charge of the family fortune now? Even though Jack was next? That's a massive slight by his mother, but his parents never really took him seriously (as evidenced by how his grandfather had always wanted JOHN as the heir, not his own son, Jack).
But Jack doesn't want to rock the boat. So he gives in to this hug, gives John the bare minimum he's asking for. Just enough so that the status quo isn't disturbed...but he can't get out of there fast enough.
Jack gives Bare Minimum parenting. Not out of interest, or care, but out of an unwillingness to disturb the facade.
Eleanor tries, but this clearly wears on her in a way that Jack seems wilfully ignorant of and blind to.
So, yeah, I'm not saying that Eleanor deserves more or less sympathy than Jack. I'm not saying that Carter doesn't have cause to resent them both. I'm just pointing out that generally, society, and by extension Carter, have an expectation of intimacy and nurturing coming from a mother figure that Jack doesn't have to contend with.
2. Why is Bobby not the heir
Briefly, you mentioned the fanon theory that Bobby was named to curry favour, which I think was me also. Again, let me clarify.
This isn't me speculating based on nothing. This is a suggestion I made to explain this situation based on historical precedent. I'm not saying it's canon, but the whole concept that the eldest son is named for the father is nooooot actually historically accurate or consistent.
For a good chunk of time, especially in the sort of 1700s-1900s, the first born son is named for the mother's family. This is especially true if the mother comes from an equal or higher ranking family than the father. Think of Fitzwilliam Darcy, for example. He is the eldest Darcy son, but the evidence in the book suggests he was named for his mother's family (think of Col. Fitzwilliam).
This is certainly true of my own family who were, at a similar time, gentry (don't worry, they lost their fortune in a tontine and almost all died at sea like idiots. I promise we're all very poor now). But anyway, there is an example in this family where there were three sons born, and it was the youngest named for the father. In this instance, it's likely because the son's inheritance as the third is significantly less than his elder brothers and so the father's name is something tying him symbolically to the wealth and status of the family.
Of course, in families now where inheritance rights are different, and individual family ranks less emphasised, it's more common to give the eldest boy the father's name, I think there's a reasonable case to be made that the Carters are wealthy enough, and clinging to old traditions enough that Robert may have been named for Eleanor's father/family instead.
I'm not saying that's for sure what happened. I'm just saying there's historical precedent in the type of family they're coming from.
Finally, beyond these two specific points of address, I just wanted to respond more generally because I think about the Carter family A LOT. Too much. And I've got a lot of personal head canons to unload.
First, I thiiiiiink it's canon that Chase is actually younger than Carter, but they're pretty close in age. I'm not 100% sure about that, because I absolutely could have just based it on the actors' ages.
Barbara, the missing sister, I adore her. If she even is called Barbara! It's not so weird that she's not really considered in the line of succession. She is a girl, after all, and the Royal Family only changed their own rules for succession in 2011. Obviously they're not the British Royal Family, but the Carters are kind of akin to the Kennedys, so I can't imagine they're that progressive. Definitely not in the 60s when "Barbara" would likely have been born.
(Also, just privately, I hc that her absence from John's life is because of the Bobby shaped hole between them -- in years. If she was born, and say Bobby was three years younger, and John two years younger than that, then there's reasonably at least five years between her and John. When Bobby died, she would have been thirteen. If life at home was as awful as it seems it was, then I figure she bounced as soon as she could. Maybe she studied abroad at 16. Either way, she would have been an adolescent when John was still a child. There'd have been no real bridge between them, and she could escape when he couldn't. So I think that's what she did)
In terms of fanon, I personally have linked Millicent to the Boston Brahmins because I think it's fun, and I think it lends a sense of credibility to the Carter family by having a link to Old East Coast money.
Also, I think it's fairly popular canon that Carter was largely raised by his grandparents after Bobby's death, which is why he would have a room there. And he's obviously very close to his Gamma. He moves back there after he's stabbed, and he's the one doing all the medical care for his Gamma up until her death, both because he's qualified and because he's there. And because he cares. So, yes, he's kind of supplanted his father in his grandparents' affections, but quite possibly because they did most of the work in raising and caring for him...to some degree. And he's literally just more present than Jack is.
His grandparents are present in his life in a way his parents aren't because his parents literally aren't in the country. They're in Paris, the Bahamas, Singapore, Sweden, etc.. We know in the first season they have a home in Chicago, but as you pointed out, in later seasons they're staying at a hotel, so evidently they gave that address up because they weren't there enough to want it.
BUT that said, there doesn't seem to be a reason other than their own (Eleanor's???) preference that they don't stay at the mansion. Because Eleanor shows up and stays there in an effort to get back with Jack. And yet Gamma clearly despises her. So, to my mind, it makes sense that they got into the practice of staying at a hotel because Eleanor and Gamma could not stand living in the same space, and Jack just didn't want to deal with conflict or drama.
Okay, so I totally see your point in elaborating on the sexism comment. I genuinely am not sure if it was your post I saw initially but this discussion is fascinating so I'm here for it anyway. I also definitely take your point about Jack doing the bare minimum. I think that's what he's been doing his entire life, and yes, that's probably why his parents are disappointed in him. (Carter's battle to become a doctor definitely ironically contributed to his desirability as an heir, and I think I mentioned that in my initial post) It is still an enormous slight against him that his parents (specifically his mother) bypassed him entirely in the inheritance. It's also interesting in that it demonstrates that basically all the Carter family money is in one enormous pile somewhere. I know that there are tax benefits to that, because as I understand it, if it's in a trust the money doesn't actually belong to any one person and therefore the family doesn't have to pay inheritance taxes when it passes from person to person because technically it isn't - all that's changing hands is *control* of the money. (not a tax expert, that's just my understanding of how that works) It does raise the question of what the rest of the family does after Carter pours all the money into the Carter Center. I think there is some mention of individual trust funds, maybe, at some point, but still, Jack was not the only one living off the family money.
I definitely agree that the Carters are somewhat modeled after the Kennedys! I mean, their sons are even named Robert and John, and both Truman and Carter are the names of presidents, even if Jimmy Carter was pretty darn recent at the time of the show and wouldn't have the same historical impact. And by that standard, they definitely wouldn't have made Barbara or any of the other girls the heir, which is why I kind of glossed over her initially (see: Rosemary Kennedy, who also has some bearing on the way they treat Chase, putting him in a very expensive home and then basically ignoring his existence). I didn't consider John's name in the light of the mother's family naming tradition, which I was somewhat aware of, but that at least makes sense!
Of course, John's level of presence has an impact on his involvement in all the decision making and such, but it still raises so many questions about how the Carter family interacts with each other. Like, according to the family tree you provided, Carter has a blood uncle! What's his deal? Why is he completely absent also? There's so much boiling under the surface and I desperately want to know about all of it.
Gamma and Eleanor's relationship is also fascinating to me, because I think that's actually where the sexism of expectations shines the brightest in some ways. Like, yes, they clearly despise each other and I think some of that is because Gamma loves John so much. She clearly knows that Eleanor has hurt John and she's mad about it. But also, it can't be primarily Jack's fault. Eleanor must be the one to blame for the situation. And part of that is that Jack is her son, so even if she's disappointed in him she wants to believe the best of him. But I think there's also this internalized deal where Gamma is thinking that *she* would never have been as weak as Eleanor has been, and that is a failing as both a woman and a mother. I think that's how Gamma would characterize it, anyway. Also Eleanor coming back to the house after Jack left her (and yes, him trying to put all the blame for the divorce on John while phrasing it like he's giving him the *credit* is a deeply weird and uncomfortable interaction) feels like her trying to stake a claim. Like, I'm still in this family, this is still my family house, you can't make me leave, even if I hate every second of being here. But then she does leave anyway, because that's what she's best at.
I have diverged a lot from the point, but I also spend so much time thinking about the Carter family dynamics and pretending I know how rich people work.
Okay, everyone, I went down the The Pitt to ER pipeline rabbit hole and I Need to talk about the Carter Family Dynamics and specifically the elements raised by Chase Carter. I'm gonna be calling Carter John even though it's weird because everyone in this post is a Carter, haha.
Firstly, the situation with Carter's parents is a lot. His mom's multi-episode arc clearly shows that she basically got trapped in the moment that Bobby died, and she seems to resent the fact that John didn't get stuck there too. "You were exactly where you've been my entire life - you were somewhere else" is brutal but apparently factually accurate if his parents couldn't be bothered to come see him for three weeks after he was literally almost murdered by a patient. Like, my parents have way fewer resources to work with and they would be there in absolute minimum amount of travel time were something like that to happen to me. I did see some comment the other day about it being sexist that John is more willing to forgive his dad's screwups than his mom's but, friends, "she was disappointed in you as a father and as a man" is a hell of a thing to say to your father about his recently deceased mother, if you have forgiven that man for his absentee parenting. I think the continued contact with his dad was more a feature of his father making a decision to at least try to change and continuing to show up, while his mother continued to do what she (they) had always done before, which is hiding from the feelings.
But. That thing John says to his dad comes after his grandmother skips right over his dad - and any other relatives who might have a claim - and leaves the entirety of the Carter family fortune (and the ancestral home) in John's control. Which brings me to my main point, which is - the Carter Family Dynamics are real weird, and nothing makes that clearer than the introduction of Chase Carter.
So. The Carter Family is super rich and they have a lot of built-in expectations with that, as rich people often do. For this reason, John has received a great deal of disapproval for his pursuit of a career in medicine, which is bizarre from the perspective of us normal people, for whom a doctor in the family would be something to be proud of. He gets cut off from the family money for a while because he wants to continue to pursue it without them holding anything over his head. His grandmother repeatedly tries to talk him out of it. Chase says he's pretty much the only family member with a career outside of the family holdings, and as such, he's something of the black sheep of the family - or is he?
When Chase shows up, he makes it very clear that John is the Anointed One. He's the one that John Carter Sr. has always wanted to take over when the time comes. And apparently, this is still the case despite his medicine based rebellion. And that's weird for a number of reasons.
Firstly, let's talk about the rest of the Carter family. As previously mentioned, John's dad is very much alive. Logically, he would be the first choice to take over, you'd think. But beyond that, John had an older brother. He has at least one cousin (Douglas) that we know for absolutely certain is older than him, and personally, I interpreted Chase as being older as well, though not by much. He also, maybe, has an older sister who we never met and who may or may not exist. (As far as I can remember from my binge watch, the only mention of her is when he tells Benton that his parents are visiting her for Thanksgiving, prior to Benton inviting him to his family dinner. My personal headcanon is that she doesn't actually exist and he was just covering the fact that his parents couldn't be bothered to be around for the holidays.) In a family dynasty like this, the older boys would seem like the prime candidates, and yet.
Also, this is a good time to talk about how these older boys make John's name kind of weird. Even if you ignore Chase and Douglas as not being in the Main Line, Bobby still exists! Why is the second born son the one that got The Third-ed? I saw something in a fic speculating that the choice was an attempt to curry favor by John's parents, which would make some sense, but also implies the presence of significant dysfunction in the family even before John was born, let alone before Bobby died. I have questions!
SO. It is strange that John would be the Chosen Grandson, purely from a dynastic standpoint. Now, on the other hand, I love John Truman Carter III with my whole heart, and he demonstrates throughout the show that he is a) very smart b) very capable of setting a difficult goal and following through on it even the face of opposition (ironic that this trait that makes him a desirable heir is Also the reason that they're frustrated with him) and c) able to turn on the social graces and charm the general public in the specific way that the family wants. I can see how they would focus on him based on personality but there is still his dad! Who even the younger generation (as spoken through Chase) is ignoring as a stepping stone at best and a non-candidate at worst for inheriting Head of the Family status.
And that's not even getting into the way John seems to have simply supplanted his father in his grandparents' affections. John has a room in the house and feels comfortable adding a home gym without discussing it with his grandmother. John is the one who has a giant portrait of him hanging in the foyer (yes I know from a Doylesian perspective this is for the giggles of Anna and Carol stumbling across it, but like, that painting is canonically there). John's parents stay in a hotel rather than at the house when they're in town for Senior's funeral. John is the one who handles Gamma's home care after her accident, and the one who goes for a drive with her after Senior's funeral, and the one she leaves all the money to. He's the one being recruited to hand out checks at benefits even though he still hasn't given up his day job. There's a lot going on!
Anyway, clearly I have a lot of feelings about this, TLDR: Carter family dynamics are seriously whack.
You can learn almost any exercise by building up with easier variations! Here are some examples.
Note: this is a short version of a 26-minute long video called "Home Workout for Beginners (2023)" on our YouTube channel. If you want more details, please check out that video or the Hybrid Routine page: https://www.hybridcalisthenics.com/routine I tried to fit what I can into a short video.
Also, yes my knees go in a bit more than I'd like during my intro jump when I stand up 😅. The one later is better.
We're going to try to schedule a large backlog of videos to post daily for a while! If anything seems out of order, that might be why. Follow for more - have a wonderful day!
Free Hybrid Calisthenics Fitness App (beta) - based on this video's philosophy
I recommend this workout to my clients on a pretty regular basis. Hampton is a trainer who ACTUALLY understands what "no really I'm a total beginner" means. 10/10 use myself, send to others, recommend this workout. -your neighborhood medical massage therapist.
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A varying assortment of wool and silk and cotton and even some leather, use coupon code spring2020 for 50% off your full order, worked yesterday when I bought some stuff there; https://metrotextilesnyc.com/
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I don’t know a lot about sewing, but I want to make or have my mom make some linen pants & shirts for when I’m watering, because it gets to 105 here and we have mosquitos so I need to be covered. What type of linen do I buy? Also, linen pajama shorts, yes/no?
(I’ve been wearing my renfaire pants which are a linen mix, I think. But the frikking mosquitos that hide in the tomatoes get my arms)
For wools, I cannot recommend Woolsome enough! They’re a bit more expensive then the above links, but they have a spectacular range of colours and weights, as well as diamond pattern and herringbone weaves. They also have a range of linens, though not as extensive.
I have just rewatched all three McAvoy/Fassbender X-men movies and I have thoughts:
Firstly I'm sorry, but JLaw is letting down the side here
I know that Mystique's whole deal is supposed to be escaping her overbearing, unaccepting brother to Be Who She Is TM but someone should have told McAvoy that because what actually happens is that she is Rebel without a Cause and he is adoring, slightly overprotective brother who just wishes his sister's teenage rebellion didn't include things like "walking around naked" and "hitting on his boyfriend"
Actually, all of their interactions are kind of weird. Charles clearly did some serious work to take care of her, even though they don't talk about it in detail - but like, he somehow integrated a random child he found in the kitchen into his family well enough that she's still there 10+ years after the fact.
Which makes Erik's "you didn't raise her, you grew up with her" in the second movie feel just a little disingenuous because, like, their dynamic in the early parts of First Class is very clearly that he takes care of her and she throws little hissy fits about him trying to get laid
Also, Charles's little rehearsed speech about groovy mutations versus throwing himself off a ship to save Erik's life? Talk about a difference in investment
On an unrelated note, Erik is really the king of creating his own problems in these movies. Obviously his childhood trauma is real and serious and we are not discounting this. But he's so convinced that a war is coming that he nearly starts it himself twice and then tries to help a third time
He is also the cause of basically all of Charles's suffering, but weirdly incidentally every single time? Like he paralyzes Charles, but by accident. And he basically breaks Charles's telepathy by breaking his heart but I genuinely think he thought Charles wanted him to leave at that point. And then he drops a stadium on Charles but I don't think that was precisely the intention. And then he basically hands him over to get sacrificed to an ancient evil but that wasn't part of the initial plan either?
Side note on that broken heart thing - that is a canonical thing that Charles says out loud in basically so many words and McAvoy is breaking my heart for most DoFP, I'm not gonna lie.
And Charles not mentioning the fact that he can't feel his legs until after Erik has left is something I am still not over even though it's been like 15 years.
Apocalypse is stupid. I said what I said.
But Charles absolutely refusing to convey the message he was trying to force him to broadcast and simultaneously sneaking a separate message out to Jean? Deeply badass.
Hank and Mystique are so tonally confusing in Apocalypse. There is a scene where they are complaining that Charles wants "students not soldiers" where the tone is clearly, God, why won't Charles let us have child soldiers, what a lame-o"
This is followed by a scene where they are talking to the kids about the original X-Men where they say "Hank and I are the only ones left" and first of all, way to act like Charles wasn't there. Secondly, there were only two more of you, who died over the twenty years following that mission, and that is sad but don't act like there was some kind of massacre. Thirdly, you were LITERALLY just pushing for more child soldiers, why do you suddenly sound like this was some tragedy that was inflicted on you.
Also, there's some BS about Hank wanting to start up the x-men "like we always talked about" and I would love to know when these conversations happened because they did the first mission out of necessity, and then Raven f-ed off for the following twenty years with only brief appearances, so.
Also, I haven't seen Dark Phoenix, but from what I've heard they inexplicably do a complete flip-flop on this and suddenly Charles is the monster pushing the kids on dangerous missions and Mystique thinks they shouldn't be making child soldiers? So that's deeply hypocritical and weird and inconsistent, if accurate.
I didn't have as many thoughts about Erik as I thought other than Fassbender is magnificent but his "join me brothers" voice is a little over the top sometimes
Where's that meme about Charles slutting his way into things and slutting his way out? I miss that one.
About time I put together a General Rec List for Star Wars Time Travel, yeah?
Organized by the time-traveling character(s). I'm adding a star for my favorites that imo you have to read. I'm not going to claim that those are necessarily the best, because I feel like that's not objective and also kinda mean to the ones that are good since they might just not be to my personal taste, but they are my favorites.
Obi-Wan
Anakin Skywalker
Ahsoka
Clones
Other Prequels-Era Characters
Two or more people
Luke or Leia
Other
Tagged authors where I could. If they aren't tagged, I either couldn't find their tumblr, they have their settings such that no one can tag them, or they blocked me for one reason or another.
Obi-Wan
It Was Another Time and I Another Man by Pell_Binterhol - under "Groups"
Ashes To Ashes, Dust To Dust by @livsy ~35k+, complete
Obi-Wan is a time traveler, mental from the OT. What makes it unique is that the fic is from Anakin's POV. It's a very heartwarming piece.
⭐Take it from the top and try again by @mauverawrites ~170k, series - two fics complete, more on the way
Possibly the best way to describe this series is as the platonic ideal of an Obi-Wan time travel fic. Weird Force stuff? Check. Obi-Wan having spent years on Tatooine? Check. Qui-Gon surviving? Check. Obi-Wan doing some shady illegal stuff to get money and infiltrate crime rings so he can save the galaxy? Check. Anakin being adorable as an initiate, and Shmi being saved from Tatooine? Check. Surprise Feemor? Check. It's all the bits you (or at least I) hope for when opening a new Obi-Wan Time Travel fic, and it never feels stale or repetitive or cliche. It's just a Very Good Fic.
The Exchange by @misslearn - under "Groups"
An Abundance of Obi-Wans by The_Last_Kenobi (orphan_account) ~45k, abandoned
Unfortunately we'll never know how this ends, but it's a lot of fun while it lasts. Baby Obi is being haunted by three ghosts of his future self.
A Padawan at War (Again) by @itstimeforstarwars - under "Groups"
Free Jedi to Good Home by @itstimeforstarwars- under "Groups"
These Paths by HiddenEye - under "Groups"
⭐the massive machinery of hope by @killbothtwins 150k, complete
Do you want comedy? Yes, you do. This one is great. Go read it. It's one of my favorites for a reason, and the reason is that Obi-Wan is a sarcastic little shit with a billion quips.
Living Memory by elsa3beth 353k, on hiatus, possibly abandoned?
Obi-Wan Time Travel, leans a bit more heavily into the distrust and despair surrounding Anakin (due to Vader things from the future) than most.
⭐The Desert Storm/Rise and Fall by @blue-sunshine-mauve-morning ~1.6m (1592k), ongoing
This is one of the longest, most consistent, best-regarded time-travel fics in the fandom for a reason.
⭐Reprise by Elfpen ~560k, ongoing
Another Obi-Wan time-travel fic, this one using that favored cover story of "Ben is Obi-Wan's biological uncle," and I love it so much for how it explores both characters and political events.
Realign the Stars by @fortunerainwrites, @TerinAngel - under "Groups"
Current of Fate by @feybarn ~195k, on hiatus?
It's been so long since I read this one that I can't quite remember what it was that I liked about it so much, and it's too long to do a reread right now... but I do remember loving it, especially when it switches to an outsider POV for the second fic.
Anakin Skywalker
The Exchange by @misslearn - under "Groups"
A Padawan at War (Again) by @itstimeforstarwars - under "Groups"
Free Jedi to Good Home by @itstimeforstarwars - under "Groups"
War Drums by @intermundia ~91k, ongoing
Vader travels back to TPM. Runs off with Obi-Wan into the stars to Achieve Some Goals to take down Sidious. Gets quick-aged to 19 by some Dathomiri magic. Projected to be Obikin.
These Paths by HiddenEye - under "Groups"
Old Promises by @threebea ~65k, ongoing
Time Traveler Anakin panic-kidnaps Initiate Kenobi. Absolute disaster of a man.
An (Un)fortunate Haunting by @kooriicolada, @scarletjedi 3.5k, oneshot
Anakin thinks the Vader ghost haunting him is a hallucination. This one is technically more than just Anakin, but it's... mostly Anakin.
⭐Force of Many Sights by DAsObiQuiet ~480k, on hiatus?
Vader to TPM, possessing his younger self. This fic has a heavy, and much-appreciated focus on therapy as it functions for someone of Vader's... particular situation.
This is also technically a "Groups" series, since it's also got Siri Tachi as a time-traveler, but her POV is much smaller, and it takes... I want to say about 100k words for her to really start playing a more active role in the plot.
Realign the Stars by @fortunerainwrites, @TerinAngel - under "Groups"
Ahsoka
I don't know why all the good Ahsoka time travel fics are her as part of a team, but they do in fact fuck, so. I LIED I forgot to bookmark one of the Ahsoka fics I like.
Free Jedi to Good Home by @itstimeforstarwars - under "Groups"
These Paths by HiddenEye - under "Groups"
Realign the Stars by @fortunerainwrites, @TerinAngel - under "Groups"
Living in Borrowed Time by @scribbling-albatross - under "groups"
⭐Although He Smiles by @autumnillustration - ~157.6k, ongoing
This one is amazing, it's an Ahsoka main, and she is very funny with Padawan Obi-Wan and adorable with 9yo Anakin. Lovely.
Clones
love is with your brother by Petrichor (Mythmaker) ~8k, complete
TCW Rex bodyswaps with his baby self. POV is Ahsoka during the clone wars.
Free Jedi to Good Home by @itstimeforstarwars - under "Groups"
These Paths by HiddenEye - Rex and Cody - under "Groups"
Realign the Stars by @fortunerainwrites, @TerinAngel - Rex and Cody - under "Groups"
Living in Borrowed Time by @scribbling-albatross - Rex - Under "Groups"
⭐Dominoes by meridianpony ~380k, ongoing
All five Dominoes go back to the beginning, from the points of their deaths! (Disclaimer: Echo's treated as having died at the Citadel. I think the fic started before his survival was revealed.)
Technically this is a group, but all five are clones, so...
Other Prequels-Era Characters
there is no death by @ashkav ~140k, ongoing
There is something really cool about Cal Kestis time travel fics, especially when he's got a decent amount of knowledge of The General Situations (e.g. Anakin will become Vader) but is missing so many details, like Why and How.
⭐An Echo in the Force (a whisper in a cave by @stardust2flame ~8k, complete
Feemor is trapped in a time loop. This was actually written as a gift to me, so it has a special place in my heart.
⭐Mace Windu Fixes the Timeline... And Breaks it in Whole New Ways by AbsentmindedAuthor98 ~52k, ongoing
Absolutely choice series based on an AU by @suzukiblu. Mace Windu does some time-traveling. He takes on Anakin as his padawan on an impulse, but he ends up doing his damnedest to be a Good Master for the kid. Depa helps.
Twilight on Owl Creek Bridge by @yellowocaballero - Fox - under "Groups"
Make a Brand New End by @batshieroglyphics ~120k, I think on hiatus
Another Feemor fic! This one's not time-loop, just time travel. Lots of juicy Qui-Gon drama.
⭐Not a Good Man by @feybarn ~28k, ongoing
Imperial era Boba Fett goes back to AotC. He decides to fix things, partly by trying to get his dad to fall in love with Obi-Wan Kenobi.
a distant fire is burning by e_va ~47.5k, ongoing
This is another Cal fic! It's got video game logic in it. Also, Anakin and Cal are both being so weird about sort of being adoptive brothers, it's great.
⭐They Don't Care About Us by @ironhoshi
Time traveler Boba! And Cal! They're doing great, sweetie. Their best. Obi-Wan and Jango are mostly just confused. (Has anyone checked on Anakin? Someone needs to go check on Anakin. Again.)
Groups
It Was Another Time and I Another Man by Pell_Binterhol ~200k, incomplete
This is a very fun fic that involves multiple time-travelers from multiple points in time. Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon from the Legends novels are pulled forward into TCW, and Old Ben and Luke are pulled back from the OT, and some spoilers as well.
⭐The Exchange by @misslearn ~120k, complete
A swapping-style time travel. RotS Anakin&Obi-Wan end up in TPM, and TPM Anakin&Obi-Wan end up in RotS. Shenanigans ensue. (Also trauma.)
⭐Can We Start Over? by @triscribe ~22k, ongoing
Most of the Jedi have time-traveled from the points of their deaths to about a year pre-AotC. Some handle it better than others. The POV is Aayla, which I find very cool.
A Padawan at War (Again) by @itstimeforstarwars ~183k, ongoing
It's technically more of a de-aging than a time-travel, but hey! Still a good read! TPM Anakin and Obi-Wan take the place of their TCW selves, who no longer exist.
⭐Free Jedi to Good Home by @itstimeforstarwars ~complicated as the second fic has been hidden, ongoing
This is one of my favorite series, but as you can see by the above, it's in a bit of a timeout right now. Bookmark it for later?
Also, there's an entire side series called Inspired By One Hundred Hours To Rearrange The Stars.
These Paths by HiddenEye ~90k, complete
Our five TCW mains (Obi-Wan, Cody, Anakin, Ahsoka, Rex) are booted forward to the Original Trilogy. The latter three are deaged to their TPM ages (9, 4, baby respectively). Also it's CodyWan.
Twilight on Owl Creek Bridge by @yellowocaballero ~33k, complete
Leia and Fox time travel! This one is very dark.
That said, it has a comedic counterpart that I love, which is only available on tumblr: ⭐Fox & Leia's Holiday Special
⭐Realign the Stars by @fortunerainwrites, @TerinAngel ~68k, abandoned
Obi-Wan, Anakin, Ahsoka, Rex, and Cody, from TCW to TPM. Despite the unfinished state, I cannot deny the oddly intense level of influence this fic has had on my own approach to star wars time travel fics.
⭐Living in Borrowed Time by @scribbling-albatross 118k, ongoing
Rex and Ahsoka are time-travelers! They are so, so very fucked up. Sure do wish they had access to therapists that could actually be cleared for knowing their Extensive Lists Of Traumas. This one definitely had a huge impact on how I characterize Rex and Ahsoka since I entered the fandom.
Luke and Leia
Twilight on Owl Creek Bridge by @yellowocaballero - Leia - under "Groups"
There is another Skywalker by WabiSabi ~85k, on hiatus?
Time-Traveler Leia! Mentally in the sequels, physically in her thirties, and chronologically in the clone wars. Also Luke's sharing space in her noggin.
Shifting Sands by @chancecraz ~180k, ongoing
"Ongoing? But it hasn't updated since 2021!" The last time it updated, the chapter was 65k, after over two years of radio silence. Trust me when I say that the lack of recent updates means nothing for this author.
Anyway, Sequels Leia to about a year pre-TPM, hangs out with baby Anakin and Shmi and then neatly inserts herself in the plot.
⭐Of Queens, Knights, and Pawns by @chancecraz ~860k, ongoing
Same author as above, same disclaimer for the gap since last update.
Sequels Leia does a mental time-travel into her ANH self, specifically the 'being tortured on the Death Star' moment. It's so fucking good.
Old Man Luke by @scarletjedi ~110k, ongoing
Sequels Luke to TCW! He is very cryptic, channeling the Jedi who taught him! Fun!
⭐Sith Lord Swell by AMournfulHowlInTheNight ~53k, ongoing
Luke and his students (including Ben Solo) travel back in time to a bit before AotC. They decide the best way to proceed is to pretend they are Sith Lords. This is primarily a comedy fic. Luke really enjoys fucking with people.
⭐Don't Look Back by @this-acuteneurosis ~700k, ongoing
Post-OT Leia (after the deaths of most of her friends) physically time travels to a year or two before AotC. She is taken in by the Lars family, and then she and Shmi start to head for Coruscant, run into Padme, and join the Nabooan government in Padme's employ. Do you want a fic that feels like 70% politics and logistics and trade routes? Because that's what this is and it's great.
Other
The Way of Conquest by pagination ~76k, ongoing
There is something very funny about the time-traveler not even realizing they are about thirty years into the wrong time. Din has no idea when he is. Grogu does, but he's not telling.
So there were a few yuletide fics this year that were Little House based, and that sparked the old obsession, so I just reread Farmer Boy, and friends, I have some thoughts.
Firstly, I read an article once that I don't have a snowball's chance of finding where they mentioned that the lavish descriptions of meals in this book are a reaction to how often Laura's family simply did not have enough to eat, and first of all ouch. But also, that feels accurate because those descriptions are incredibly gratuitous, and if Almanzo's family was really eating like that I am deeply jealous.
Secondly, and this is the big one, Laura really held a grudge against Eliza Jane Wilder her entire freaking life for that one term of school, in which Eliza was admittedly a deeply shitty teacher, if Laura's account is to be believed.
Folks, Eliza Jane is barely in Farmer Boy, but when she is, she is almost exclusively there to be a naggy, tattle-telling killjoy. She gets one moment in which she actually does something nice for her brother, and is otherwise kind of just the worst. She tries to correct her father's manners (on something that really doesn't matter) based on what she's learned in *one week* at the town academy. She lords it over her siblings all the time.
Also, she comes across as kind of useless to the family, especially by comparison to the other sister, Alice. Now, the logical explanation for this is that Almanzo is mostly involved in the outdoor work, though he does occasionally get drafted to help with stuff indoors. Eliza Jane is probably too old and female by contemporary standards to help with this outdoor work. But in contrast to Alice, who is younger and does help with the work Almanzo is doing, and to Laura herself, who had to be her Pa's substitute son a fair amount of the time and therefore kept doing the outside work long after it might have been considered strictly lady-like by the standards of upstate New York, Eliza Jane's contributions to the family end up pretty minimized.
It all kind of comes together with a strong vibe of Laura continuing to hate her sister-in-law for ever, as fifteen year old her vowed to do in Little Town on the Prairie. Not gonna lie, I'm kind of here for it.
(Also I'm almost certain that Eliza Jane ranted to her brothers about that evil Ingalls girl, Almanzo thought it was hilarious, and that's why he started talking to Laura. Because frankly Almanzo has always come across as that kind of guy to me. But that part's just speculation.)
“So, uh…” Anakin said, looking around him. “This is weird.”
“Is there something wrong, Master Jedi?” the Kaminoan asked, concerned. “I was going to welcome you to Tipoca City.”
“Oh, I’m actually not a Master,” Anakin replied. “My Master’s busy, I’m just…”
He shook his head. “Sorry about that, it’s very unprofessional of me. I know I’m supposed to be professional, but being around this much water is very odd for me.”
“Being around water is odd for you?” the Kaminoan repeated. “...is there an alternative? I know Kamino is an unusually wet planet, but I did not think the difference was that stark.”
“I’m from a world where there just… isn’t water,” Anakin explained. “The only way we got water to drink was to pull it out of the air, and there wasn’t enough to go around.”
Then he frowned slightly. “Actually, uh… come to think of it, it isn’t all that far from here to my homeworld… do you think I could ship some water over there?”
“That is an… odd request,” the Kaminoan admitted. “But I must admit, we do have more water than we know what to do with. Perhaps we could discuss something like that after our main business is completed.”
“Sure,” Anakin agreed. “So, where do we get started?”
“I will take you to Lama Su,” the Kaminoan decided. “He will show you the current state of progress.”
Anakin nodded, absently, mostly thinking about showing up at Tatooine with a freighter full of water.
“How often does Anakin go on missions without you?” Padme asked, curious.
“It happens, sometimes,” Obi-Wan replied. “Increasingly often these days, actually. Anakin is approaching the point where he will have the chance to become a Jedi Knight, and… I worry about him a little.”
“Is that something a Jedi does?” Padme said.
“All the time,” Obi-Wan replied. “But right now, Senator, your safety is the highest priority.”
He frowned. “Though I must admit, I was expecting there to have been some kind of assassination attempt by this point.”
“You almost sound disappointed,” Padme suggested.
“No, no, it’s pattern recognition,” Obi-Wan replied, firmly. “You see, my missions with Anakin so rarely go smoothly. And if this mission is going smoothly, where the biggest danger we’ve had to deal with is mosquitos, then I dread to think about what is going on with Anakin.”
There was a beep.
“...like that, for example,” Obi-Wan added, taking his comlink out of his pocket. “What is it, Anakin?”
“So, first I want to say, I didn’t set out to do this, Master,” Anakin said.
“...oh dear,” Obi-Wan sighed. “That’s never a good sign. So, what is it that you didn’t set out to do?”
“So it turns out that Kamino was building an army for the Jedi,” Anakin said. “Also, it’s a really wet, flooded planet, they actually have too much water, I didn’t know that was possible! But I said that Tatooine had too little water, and since they had all those giant ships anyway I thought some of them could be used for transporting lots of water…”
“Sorry, Anakin, Kamino was building an army for the Jedi?” Obi-Wan repeated, a little incredulously. “That seems like the most important part of the situation.”
“No, no, the most important part is that some guy called Darth Tyrannus hired this bounty hunter called Jango Fett to be the clone template,” Anakin said. “And get this, he’s the one who killed that bounty hunter we chased, and things got a bit complicated… anyway, I went over the technical details and the clones have this weird chip in them and I think Chancellor Valorum might have been trying to assassinate the Jedi because the chip would have let the Chancellor tell the clones to kill the Jedi… obviously I told the Kaminoans to take that bit out because we didn’t need it and it’s way too much like slavery if you ask me. Anyway, uh, I’ve got the clones shipping water from Kamino to Tatooine for now, the Kaminoans are actually totally okay with it because they’ve got too much water, and I rescued my mother, too! I told you she was in danger!”
Obi-Wan took several seconds to process that particular bit of Skywalkerness.
Then he processed it a second time.
“…you have the clones… shipping water to Tatooine,” he repeated.
“Yeah, it’s going to break the Hutt control over water production and transportation for anything above the subsistence level,” Anakin said. “And it’s going to make Tatooine a way better place-”
“I have to interrupt you there, Anakin,” Obi-Wan said. “You said you rescued your mother? That’s very impressive, but you didn’t tell me she was in danger.”
“I did!” Anakin objected.
“You said you were dreaming about her,” Obi-Wan pointed out. “That does not mean you were dreaming about her being in danger. That’s quite different, Anakin, you must remember to use the right words if you want me to know something.”
“...oh,” Anakin said, and Obi-Wan could hear the shrug. “Well, anyway, I think there might be some kind of Sith plot involved too because of the whole Darth thing. Do you think Chancellor Valorum was a Sith?”
the clones: this isn’t fighting a war but I can’t argue with the logic, kamino does need less water. yeet!
kal or one of the trainers whose house is on manda’yaim: wait when you’re done taking water to tatt can we take some to manda’yaim? we could fill up the oceans again!
jango: this isn’t going how we planned, but I’m going to look really stupid if I try and stop this momentum.
palpatine feeling the galaxy getting brighter as people have enough to drink: :(
ngl I thought SEALs were one of the ones everyone hated, maybe im watching the wrong media
Huh. I don't think I've ever seen anything that portrayed SEALs in a negative light. I think there's been an occasional rogue retired SEAL, but usually in media where there's also a "good" SEAL or two, to show that that guy is an aberration.
