Since Christmas, I’ve been making it a goal to be more disconnected from my phone, and social media. I know it’s not that original of an aim, but I think that I’ve been doing pretty well with it. With how purposefully addictive technology has been designed, I’m trying to take back my attention span, because it’s completely shot. I find that I can barely pay attention to a book for as long as I used to. Now, I can’t say I’m going completely analog because that’s nearly impossible in this day and age and it would be incredibly hypocritical saying that on an online blog post, especially when so many aspects of my life are online, but I’m doing my best to minimize my time on social media specifically. I’ve implemented a lot of tools to do so, like using single-purpose tech instead of the swiss army knife lodged in my gut all the time (my phone). I’ve disabled all of my notifications except for texts, calls, and emails, and I’ve set up a grey-scale filter on my screen so that my phone looks just as soul-sucking as it feels. I’ve also installed an app called OLauncher that is designed to remove all of the colorful app icons that distract me so easily. It’s set up so that I only have 5 apps readily available on my homescreen, and the rest are hidden in a tray, all formatted as lists so that there’s no pretty images to grab my attention. I’ve also Marie Kondo’ed my apps. Anything that is not a genuinely helpful tool has been removed from my phone, no games, no shopping apps, nothing except for what I actively use every day. If I don’t use it in more than a week, I delete it and redownload it again in the future if I need to.
Another thing I’ve done is I’ve bought myself an off-brand IPod to keep all of my music on. I’ve cancelled my subscriptions and have started buying my music myself. It’s much more costly, I’ll admit, but at the end of the day, I’ll never lose the license to access music that I truly own. Buying off of apps like Bandcamp also comes with the added bonus of knowing that I’m directly supporting the artists I’m listening to, rather than a monthly fee being divvied up into fractions of a cent for each artist I listen to, with the lion’s share going to a corporation. While it’s not a perfect system, I really enjoy having so much agency over things that mean so much to me. I’m also very excited about the personalization I’ve done. While the Innioasis Y1 is a great device out of the box, I’ve downloaded a program called RockBox. RockBox is designed to bring new life to old IPods, but since it’s main goal is accessibility and improvement, it has been developed for the Y1 as well!
Going analog is completely impossible for me currently, but I’m doing my best to be more mindful about my media consumption and tech interactions. I’ve noticed that I’m much less pessimistic than I used to be because of it, and I’m so much more okay with missing a text or a phone call when it used to make me panic. This really felt like a slap to the face when I remember what every mom on earth has said to their child: “It’s that damn phone.” I really do think that we have the power to step away from being mindless phone zombies, if we’ll only try. I hope this inspires you to be a little bit more present in your life and set down the phone once in a while.
I’ve written about the new year about three different times, and I don’t think I’m going to stop anytime soon, even a month in. 2026 is going to be my biggest year yet: I’m graduating high school, I’m starting college, I’m traveling, and– I’m graduating high school?
I’ve heard the phrase “Class of 2026” for as long as I can remember, but I didn’t understand what it actually meant until elementary school.
“Class of 2026 means you’re graduating in the year 2026,” my extremely patient teacher told me probably after I walked up to her during recess.
“What’s graduating?” I probably asked her, like an idiot.
“It’s when you’re done with school and maybe go to college.”
“Why would we do that?”
I already knew I was going to become the girl that I am today: terrified of growing up and unhealthily attached to the past. When I turned eight, I thought I wanted to be six years old forever. And then I turned ten and wanted to be eight years old forever. That continued until I became a teenager and realized I would never want to live in objectively the worst, most awkward stage of my life any longer than I had to.
But I couldn’t fathom a time in my life where I didn’t go to school. Obviously I knew adults that were out of school with jobs and kids, but I never imagined that being me. I thrived off of getting good grades, taking notes, and showing off my report card. So I became terrified of graduating and with that, the phrase “Class of 2026”. I would hold back tears when the teacher went on long rants about preparing us for college and I would cover my ears when my friends talked about how excited they were to graduate.
I avoided the phrase until middle school when I decided that 2026 was so far away there was no reason to worry about it in the first place. I shrugged off the phrase whenever it was mentioned and I breezed through middle school only focusing on the present. I’d say it was an alright time. Then high school arrived…
I was in concert band, so I got the chance to meet and get close to seniors as a freshman. And in May, I attended a graduation ceremony for the first time. It was only when I was sitting in the second row of woodwinds, clutching my oboe in my sweaty hands, in the middle of playing “Pomp and Circumstance”, I realized that I would be walking that same stage in less than four years. That’s when the fear came back.
I would get nauseous when I imagined myself in a cap and gown and, again, I would cover my ears when my friends talked about how excited they were to graduate. It was like I slipped right back into the elementary school version of myself – terrified of growing up, constantly avoiding the phrase. But I couldn’t stop time, so my sophomore year came and went, then I left to come to MSA.
I certainly feel different about graduating now. Not only am I going to be walking across a completely different stage, but I’m actually excited to graduate. I don’t mean MSA isn’t serving me anymore, it’s not like that at all. I really enjoy being at MSA and I wouldn’t have it any other way. I mean the future has so much that I’m extremely excited for. And graduating is the first step to getting closer to that.
I would shock my elementary school self by saying that I’m completely comfortable with the idea of graduating, maybe even my middle school self too. I don’t avoid it, brush it off, or completely crumble at the thought of it anymore. I’m equally as happy with the present as I am excited for the future. There is so much here and there is so much waiting for me at the same time. After hearing “Class of 2026” my whole life, and having very complicated feelings about it, I’m excited to confront the phrase head on by taking it to heart and holding it above my head when I walk across that stage in May.
I originally meant for this to be more on my feelings about 2026 and what it’s like being a part of the Class of 2026. I think, somehow, I hit the target enough to be happy with this and what I’ve said. There’s a lot to be said about the time passing between first discovering what Class of 2026 actually meant and now finally earning that title but I highly doubt I’m emotionally ready to go in depth about that. But it’s really beautiful when you can actively watch yourself change and see how much you’ve grown. I hope I continue to be this conscious of my growth and the way time passes when I enter, and eventually graduate, college. Honestly, I just can’t wait for my brain to fully develop and travel, have my own place, and achieve all my goals. I think I just dislike being a teenager, which is weird. If you asked 16-year-old Steph anything, she would tell you about how much she loved being a teen girl completely unprompted. It’s really funny the way we change in such a short amount of time.
My dog gave birth to seven puppies in September. While I was away at school my mom sent me a photo of her and I was shocked to see a small pile of black and white puppies laying under her, feeding. Of course, I couldn’t see the puppies until a few weeks after they were born, but when I finally got a chance to see them, I was ecstatic.
The puppies were unbelievably cute! I played with them in the pin my parents built for them in the backyard. When I picked one up and held it in my arms, I was saddened to see it covered in fleas. I knew my family couldn’t afford flea treatments for seven dogs, but I didn’t want the puppies to suffer. To help with their fleas I gave each dog a bath. I put them in a plastic tub my family didn’t use anymore and rinsed them with soap and water. As I continued to clean them, I discovered more fleas. Clusters of them were living in their fur, around their necks, and in the crevices of their legs.
I couldn’t imagine how uncomfortable it was for the puppies. I took an old hair comb we never used anymore and attempted to comb as many fleas out of their fur as I could. The process was long, and even with the flea comb, I couldn’t get nearly as many fleas out as I would have liked. When I finished washing and combing them, they piled into a corner of their pin. They cuddled and slept for a few hours, and thankfully it was hot enough outside that they could dry without getting super cold.
But I couldn’t stop thinking about how I could help them without financially burdening my parents. So, I searched the internet for safe at home remedies to help lessen fleas for puppies. I found a lot of good remedies and some questionable ones, but I was hopeful that a specific remedy would work. I decided on this water and white vinegar mix that many dog owners said worked for their dogs. I was extra careful to avoid their faces when I sprayed them with the mixture. It was noon when I sprayed them, so I knew they wouldn’t be at risk for hypothermia. (it was cold outside and young puppies aren’t good at creating their own warmth)
When I inspected them a few hours later, I saw a big decrease in their fleas! I could already tell the puppies were more comfortable and they were more playful too. Although the mixture did not work as well for some of them, I was happy that I could help in any way. I’m still looking for better remedies. Hopefully ones that don’t make them smell like vinegar…
Also, a more current update, my parents found homes for four of the puppies! The other three are still with us and are healthy. I’m thankful. I’m also hopeful that we’ll give the other ones away to owners who care about them. Aside from my dogs, January has been a nice month. Since I’ve begun applying for colleges, I’ve worried a lot about what the next few years will look like. Spending time with my family and pets has been an amazing way to take my mind off things. It has also reminded me of how far I’ve come as a person. In the past two years or so my life has changed drastically, from losing two of my closest relatives to moving away from home. Despite all of this, I’m grateful for the change, and I believe it has helped me become a better version of myself.
In my last blog, I talked about college preparation and how I had somewhat of an idea of my future and how I knew I wanted to move out with a friend and live off campus from the University of South Carolina. But I also stated at the beginning that one day I would look back at that blog and see how different things worked out. Now, just as I predicted, my plans have almost completely changed.
I realize now that I am not made for being in one place. My freedom is something I hold very dear to me, but right now it feels restricted. I have spent years waiting for the day I graduate so I don’t have to be tied down by the title of teenager or student. It feels very inferior to me, and I know that I am more than just that. And I also know that there is more to life that just being told what to do and how to do it. So, after all this waiting, why would I subject myself to go to a place that’s going to make me work like a dog for the rest of my life just to pay it off. College, though I understand its importance, is just another cage to me now. I do not want to spend so much money on something that gets me nothing. I do not want to be one of those people who spent four years working on a degree just to not be able to find a job anywhere and have to pay off debt for the rest of my life. It would all be a waste. I understand many don’t see it that way, but I do.
I have a primary plan right now that I cannot talk about yet, so if it doesn’t work out, I have a backup plan that is just as good to me. The world is full of beauty, and I want to find it all. When I graduate, I want to move to South Carolina with my father and work on a project with him. After a lot of working and saving, I plan to buy a van so me and him can renovate it for living capabilities. I wouldn’t need much. Just a bed with storage space under, an electric generator or solar panels (most like not solar panels), and whatever else I find I may need. Once this project is done, I am on the road. My first destination is New York City. I have dreamed of seeing it my entire life, no matter how many people say it’s not all that. I’ve been jotting down the places I want to go in New York, allowing me to learn a lot of cool things about the area.
After New York, I will start heading up and down the U.S. going through all 50 states. This will obviously be over the course of a year or two. While doing this, I plan to work a freelance job in journalism while writing a book and documenting my travel. Once I’m done with the U.S. it is time for the world tour. That’s likely to be planned a lot later.
I understand that this is somewhat unrealistic and kind of crazy, but I know that in today’s world, it is better to chase your dreams than try to make money. And the price of college in just as unrealistic in my opinion. I hope this made sense. There is so much more but then this would be one-hundred pages long. If you want to know more feel free to ask me about it.
So, I know my last blog was about Superman, but this is so important guys. I’ve fallen in love with superheroes 18 years into my life, like both Marvel and DC, which is weird because I’ve always only liked DC since it felt like they had more cartoons, and for all my life I’ve ONLY ever watched cartoons, but this all started with Superman… And Deadpool, which isn’t that surprising.
My Grandma never had cable while we were growing up, so she collected movies. She had X-Men, Spiderman, Superman, Batman, and Wolverine. So, my interest in Superman was already talked about, and I watched Man of Steel and the Newest Superman movie. Along with the Dark Knight movies (I cried at the end of Dark Knight rises), and the newest Batman movie. I was so scared that I would watch them and not like them, so I procrastinated it for months until Christmas break because my grandma bought me the new movies for Christman! (Love her) where I binged them all. I even have Superman Vs. Batman which I haven’t watch yet, but I have some memory of it for some reason.
I also watched the Deadpool trilogy, which encouraged me into Marvel, and I also watched the Spider verse movie for the first time a couple of weeks ago! Watching Deadpool & Wolverine encouraged me to search my grandma’s house for the Wolverine movie, which I haven’t watched just yet. There is also this youtuber named Mike’s Mic who I love watching. He made videos on both the Fantastic Four, which I forgot how much I loved them, and videos on the X-Men, and for some reason the movie my grandma had disappeared in her abyss of movies, but she will be found soon…
Now, I have huge plans to collect comics and physical DVD’s because not only has my love of superhero’s grown, but my love of having physical copies of things has a well. Soon, I’ll dust off those Spiderman movies, and I’ll live my dream of actually liking superhero’s. Growing up in a household that loved superhero’s and not liking them was NOT for the weak. I have to make this my whole personality for as long as I possibly can.
Being into superhero’s has also like done something to my morals. I’ve always had subjectively good morals, but this really opened my eyes. Especially like watching the lives of these fictional characters who feel so real. I cried during the Superman movie when he talked about how he was more human than most humans, and I cried when Alfred told Bruce that all he ever wanted was for him to live his life in the Dark Knight Movie. And Spoiler, I guess?? I sobbed during the Batman when Alfred died, and had been dead for almost two hours, and Batman couldn’t do anything about it. It’s like unlocking this secretly sensitive side of me. I’ve always been an empath. Most people are, but it’s usually so hard for me to actually feel for someone, but these movies have encouraged me to continue to do my best to make big changes in this world.
Be like Superman who lived most of his life being a hero, and even though it wasn’t what he was meant to do, he continued to!
Be like Batman, who doesn’t have powers, but still fights for what’s right even if he has to make sacrifices. (Also, he’s so freaking rich, so get that bag too)
Be like Spiderman, who even when his life got flipped upside down, he still did what he could to prove himself and be a hero.
Be like Deadpool who cared for his family so much, that he fought battles that he didn’t even think he could win.
One of my all-time favorite genres to read is mystery/children’s fiction. In grade school I was one of those kids who went crazy over I-ready points. I-ready was basically a platform where grade school children and teachers tracked how many points a child earned through reading.
So, the more books you read, the more points you got, and I really wanted those points. So, I ended up reading a lot. Me and a friend of mine would recommend each other good books and series, and some of these books I still read today.
The books I’ll be talking about in this blog have stuck with me since grade school and have influenced my life in so many ways. I really loved reading these books back then and I still love them now. So, I’ll be talking about a few of them here.
Freak the Mighty:
Freak the Mighty is written by Rodman Philbrick and it’s a story about a 13-year-old boy named Maxwell who has low self-esteem due to unresolved trauma involving his parents and because he genuinely thinks he isn’t smart in any way.
He lives with his grandparents, Grim and Gram, and sometimes he overhears them talking about his father, Kenny Kane or Killer Kane, who is in prison for murdering his mother, Annie.
Next door lives a boy named Freak who suffers from Morquio syndrome, a life shortening condition that affects the development of his bones and organs. This syndrome impairs his ability to walk, and to get around he must wear a set of crutches.
When Freak loses one of his many gadgets in a tree Maxwell swoops in and helps him, and this marks the start of their unlikely friendship. Together they become Freak the Mighty because of their obvious size difference and their ability to compensate for one another’s shortcoming.
This novel is very colorful, a little sad, and a whole lot of interesting. I always love reading this because the writing is so humorous. It’s the kind of story where the narrator is a little unreliable and it’s clear through the manner he tells the story.
I also love the trope of an unlikely friendship. I remember reading this back then and thinking that Maxwell and Freak could never become friends, but then they do and it’s heartwarming to see.
Holes:
Holes is written by Louis Sachar and it’s about a 14-year-old boy named Stanley Yelnats who is convicted of a crime and is sent to serve a sentence at Camp Green Lake, a boys detention center where the boys dig holes all day to ‘build character’.
Throughout the book Stanley claims he is innocent; however, no one truly believes him.
He blames his horrible luck on his no-good-dirty-rotten-pig-stealing great grandfather. He also blames his grandfather for his father’s failed career as an inventor.
At Camp Green Lake he meets other boys with unique nicknames like Zigzag, Armpit, and Zero. When the guards tell Stanley to report if he finds anything while digging, he starts to wonder if they have an ulterior motive for making them dig the holes.
Could the guards be using the inmates to search for some mysterious underground secret? Stanley and the other inmates team up and embark on a journey to discover the mystery of Camp Green Lake. He also embarks on a journey to prove his own innocence.
Although this novel tackles a tough subject like injustice, it’s still very humorous and it’s a joy to read. This book has plenty of hidden secrets, and the story is told at the perfect pace for all these secrets to unfold. I truly love how unique the characters are, and how much fun they add to the story.
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime:
This book is written by Mark Haddon, and it’s about a 15-year-old boy named Christopher Boone who discovers a dead dog, Wellington, in his neighbor’s front lawn. After he wrestles with his own conscience, Christopher vows to uncover the mystery behind the dead dog and to hopefully bring it justice.
He starts to investigate his neighbors. During one instance of his investigations, the police are called. Christopher’s father, who deeply opposes the entire investigation, warns him to leave the murder mystery alone.
Although Christopher receives a stern warning from the police he continues the investigation in his own way. He writes down his thoughts in a journal, which is the book we are reading, and he also uses it to keep track of his findings.
After another dispute with his father regarding the murder, Christopher is close to giving up the investigation until he finds something appalling under his father’s bed. In a box, there are letters from his mother who he assumed had died of a heart attack two years ago. And not only that, but there are clues that link his father to Wellingtons death.
If you can’t tell, this book has plenty of twists and turns. The first time I read it, it reminded me of the Girl on the Train, which is another thriller/psychological fiction novel, because it unfolds in this really creepy yet surprising way that you would never expect, but it was kind of your face. This was one of the first novels that got me into reading murder mystery, and I really enjoyed it because it takes the identity of a murder mystery and spins it in this childlike way.
Anyways, I love all these stories. They give me so much joy and inspiration. Bye.
Just like everyone else, I am also dealing with college preparations. I just wanted to share some of the current plans here just so I can look back at this in my dorm or rented apartment/house/condo or my parent’s house and see how different my plans ended up being.
Initially, my plans were simple. I was going to go to USM for digital journalism and live my life as a freelance journalist or something like that. I was going to live in a dorm and rely heavy on scholarships. But then I realized their English program was heavy on creative writing and I decided I wanted to do that. But a tour around the communications building on the campus hanged that to broadcast journalism. Back then, I was very attached to USM as it is a school that many of my friends are at or are going to be, and it is close to home. So, letting it go became very hard and other colleges didn’t ever cross my mind.
It wasn’t until after I decided on the English degree again and began to apply for college. This was when I started expanding my horizons, as I knew it was dumb to just go with one school. I knew about the in-state schools and applied to all of those knowing I wouldn’t be going to any of them, but I did begin to realize that I may be missing out my not visiting any of these campuses. This made me cross a few off the list and bring others higher up. Belhaven was almost equivalent to USM on my list as I was able to imagine myself living there to a certain extent, but in the end, I feel as if my religious beliefs would not align with those of the students there.
An English degree then began to look a lot less appealing when I realized how different an English class and a creative writing class could be. I’ve always been more in touch with the creative side of literature rather than the technical/”boring” side. So, USM, though still being a top school out of technicality, became very vulnerable in this race and would make it very easy to move out of the way. That is what happened after the professor for creative writing at Belhaven told me about the University of South Carolina. This school seemed like a great choice for me because my father lives an hour away, but I still didn’t like the idea of being away from my friends. That idea sat for a little bit until my father began telling me things about the school. One thing he informed me of was that the school had a very impressive film program. This sparked an idea in my head. I’ve always wanted to write scripts and make movies one day, so why not study film? I began to research the school even more and now I can safely say that the University of South Carolina is now my top school. I will be applying for a primary major in either English or journalism, and a secondary major in Media Arts.
But that is not the end. Of course, there’s all the money and financial aid and stuff that needs to be worked out, but I have figured one thing out. I want to live off-campus and not with a family member. A friend and I will be moving into either and apartment, mobile home, or condo alongside attending college. Before that happens, I plan to get a job and work for the rest of the year and work all summer to save up money. I’m excited for this because of how badly I want control of my life. Coming to MSA have given me a taste of freedom, so now all I want is to go out and live in it. I know I can still feel freedom on campus, but it’s for the plot I swear.
If you would have asked me my opinion on Superman like two months ago, I would have said that I hate him and he’s lame, but if you ask me now, I would say that I love him, but he’s still lame in a good way. So, where did the switch come from? Well, it may have started on a very late night almost like 3 am when I watched Superman Returns. I did not like the movie at first, but all of a sudden, I started seeing art of Superman and I consumed it because of course I did, so the more media I consumed the more I begun to understand him. So where am I going with this? Well, let’s talk about Superman Returns (2006). Now most of this is gonna be explained through memory and a little research because I can’t watch it for some reason. It’s probably on a streaming service but I have the DVD, and it won’t work… anyways.
this is such a scary angle omg…
So, Superman is missing! He’s been gone for five years to look at Krypton, the planet he came from, to find any survivors. He finds nothing, of course. Lex Luthor is out of jail, and we see him in the fortress of solitude, Superman’s home in the Arctic or whatever. So, Superman comes back and continues to work at the Daily Planet. I’m not sure if I’m skipping much because I did NOT see the beginning of this movie. I just remember Clark Kent going into the Daily Planet. He finds out that Lois Lane is married to this guy named Richard and they have a five-year old son named Jason (she moved on quick omg). He sees a picture of her and her new family. He also sees that she won a Pulitzer Prize for a paper called, “Why the World Doesn’t Need Superman.” So, he’s like really salty at this point. Also, Lois Lane doesn’t know that Clark is Superman.
Richard, Clark Kent, Jason and Lois Lane (Left to Right)
But he goes out with his friend, Jimmy, to a bar, and they’re watching tv. Theres this space shuttle that’s piggy backing off of an airplane, and Lois and a couple other journalists are in the plan which is honestly really unsafe now that I’m writing it. But the Shuttle was meant to detach from the plane and go into space while the plane continues its trip. This goes wrong because remember Lex Luther? Yeah, he stole a crystal from the fortress of solitude because the material that it’s made of generates more crystals, or idk how it works, but the little crystal can make bigger crystal. So, why is he doing that? We’ll get back to that, but when the crystal is dropped into water, it makes all the power in Metropolis go out, and this messes with the plane, so the shuttle doesn’t detach. So, Superman has to go save everyone, and he takes a really long time guiding the shuttle into space because he flies it all the way out of the atmosphere like really slowly, like there isn’t a plane hurdling to the ground as we speak. Of course, he catches it and sits in a baseball field where a game is going on because there’s a crowd of people there, but this is how everyone finds out that Superman has returned!! (omg like the title). Lois Lane sees him because he goes into the plane and he’s all like, “Is everyone okay”, but he’s staring right at her like a loser. And they just kind of stare at each other until everyone processes that Superman is back and he leaves.
Lex Luthor, Kitty, and his goons
So, everyone is happy because he’s back! You know who’s not happy? Lex freaking Luthor. So, he works with this girl named Kitty who he uses as a distraction. He puts her in a car, cuts the breaks, and she makes a bunch of commotion to get Superman’s attention, and distract him from the fact that Lex Luthor and his goons are stealing Kryptonite from the museum. Superman is really lame for letting that slide, like he doesn’t even find out about it until the next day because he gets assigned to figure out why the blackout happened while Lois Lane has to interview Superman, which she doesn’t want to do because she’s still in love with him but she’s married or whatever, and she brings up the museum, and Clark is like omg what are you talking about?? But yeah, there’s like a scene where she goes out to smoke and Clark bumps into her, so he dresses up as Superman and goes onto the roof to like to fly her around town, and they get back and almost kiss, and as I was watching it, I realized that if I ever met a girl who was with Superman, then I would never even try because how do you even compare to that?? But she’s really upset with him because he left without saying goodbye or whatever.
Anyways! A day passes or something, and she is supposed to be going to a dinner party but instead she goes to investigate the blackout which isn’t what she’s supposed to be doing, but she has Jason with her because Richard didn’t pick him up from school so she had to, and for some reason she brings him with her onto the boat. And Jason is like a chronically ill child, like he has a bunch of things going on with him like all of the time. She goes onto the boat and sees Lex freaking Luthor. So, he gets his goons to keep an eye on her and the boy while he tells her his master plan which is to use the Kryptonite Crystal, infuse it with Kryptonite, and then make his own super continent where he’s like King, and Superman can’t live there because it’s made of Kryptonite. And so around this time in the movie, Kitty is starting to get nervous because she didn’t know that a bunch of people were gonna get hurt. But get this. When Lex Luthor is telling Lois Lane, he’s holding Kryptonite and little Jason has a weird reaction to it. So, Lex Luthor is like, who is that baby’s father, and Lois Lane is like Richard obviously! Yeah whatever… So, he leaves, and she like tries to send a fax message to someone for help?? But the goon that’s in the room goes to attack her and all of a sudden, a freaking piano flies at him, and Jason, or as I like to call him baby superman, threw that freaking piano. And like you don’t see it happen, but you see it fly towards the man, and it pans back to Jason, and it’s really funny. And like of course it’s Superman’s baby. He’s five years old!!! Superman left five years ago!!! If I was Richard, I wouldn’t even have tried with Lois Lane. Like I know they’re together, but Superman was her ex, bro.
Lois Lane and Jason
Anyways, Lex Luthor goes and drops the crystal into the ocean, and it starts expanding. I think around this time the boat gets split in half and Lois Lane and Jason are stuck, and she’s trying to get him to use his powers to get them out but for some reason he’s too scared to do it, so they’re stuck and that’s like all I remember from that part. Idk who saves them. I assume Superman does, but it might’ve been Ricard. Whatever. Superman goes to Lex Luthor on the island, and he’s weak because it’s made of Kryptonite. Lex Luthor impales him with a piece of Kryptonite and then pushes him in the ocean. And Richard is piloting a sea plane because he went out the help Lois Lane, and she sees Superman in the water because she’s like, “We have to go save him!” And man, if I was Richard, I would not have turned back because Superman can really just take your girl at any minute. But he goes back and she jumps into the water to haul him on the plane, and she gives him mouth to mouth, and Richard is just sitting there!
you see how her hair is wet?? She really jumped in there and Richard really let her… aw man
Okay, I’m gonna drop the fact that Richard should absolutely be on his toes with Superman around. Actually, no I won’t, but you’ll see why. Anyway, she saves him and he goes underwater to pick up the landmass that is forming and take it into space. So, Lex Luthor’s goons die because this big rock falls on them, and it’s just him and Kitty who get on this helicopter to escape but she throws the crystals out because she doesn’t want anyone else getting hurt. They get stranded on an island after running out of fuel. Superman throws the landmass into space and immediately falls back onto Earth, weakened. So, people try to save him. They take him to the hospital but obviously can’t do much because he’s an alien and his skin is too hard for them to use needles because like the man of steel duh. Lois Lane pulls up with Jason, and she’s like talking to Superman while he’s in the coma, and then she kisses him on the lips!!! before she leaves. When they doctors go to check on him later, he’s gone. Where is he? He’s in baby superman’s bedroom, giving him a speech that his father gave him when he was a child. Baby Superman is asleep, and Superman knows that it’s his baby. But he leaves, and we see that Lois Lane is writing a new paper called, “Why the World Needs Superman.” and if I was Richard, that would be my breaking point… At the end of the movie, he like flies up into space, and it’s really cinematic.
he kind of looks like a wax figure
Anyways, I really loved this movie. And now I love Superman! The movie is kind of dumb, but it was really intriguing for actual first introduction to Superman… I may have not described it in the best way, but I’d honestly recommend this movie. Now, I may not be the person to take recommendations from, but I just like to be entertained, and I love Superman and how evil Lex Luthor is, and I love Lois Lane even if she made some interesting choices in this movie…. But yes! That is Superman Returns.
Genuine question. I’m still not sure. The cynical part of me wants to believe it’s just a cash grab. Historically, that is something that’s very much in Hussie’s wheelhouse. The less cynical part of me wants to enjoy it, but it’s hard. I’ve been a homestuck fan for a long time, and it’s hard to not feel nostalgic about the old webcomic. I’m using this blog post to give my honest review of the animated pilot, as well as a brief ramble/introduction to how I first discovered Homestuck and why it means so much to me.
First of all, what is Homestuck? Homestuck is a webcomic that was created back in 2009 by Andrew Hussie. It centered around four friends playing an online game together and accidentally tearing holes in reality and the space time continuum. This created multiple different timelines, portals to different universes, and various versions of themselves. Also central to the comic are the twelve trolls (one for each zodiac sign). That’s probably the most brief introduction I can give. The story of Homestuck is extremely confusing, even to the creator himself.
It’s also important to note that, while Homestuck was created by Andrew Hussie, it was also equally created by the early fans who engaged with Hussie’s forum posts back in 2009. In the early days of Homestuck, Hussie would upload comic panels and then make forum posts, asking fans to vote to suggest what the characters should do. Because of this, Homestuck was extremely influenced and contributed to by the fanbase. Also because of this, Homestuck involved a lot of internet culture, mentions of celebrities, and other copywrite-able things that cannot be transferred into a fully funded, animated show.
So how did I get into Homestuck? Well, I’ve known about Homestuck since around 2015- at least from what I can remember (I have a really bad memory). Homestuck officially ended in 2016, but remained popular throughout the 2010s. In the early 2010s, but especially 2015 and 2016, I was on musical.ly (old tiktok) all the time. For those of you who don’t remember, cosplayers used to dominate musical.ly. The first time I was ever introduced to cosplay was through musical.ly and specifically through compilations of Homestuck cosplayers. Did I understand what was going on? No. But I thought they looked super cool and I wanted to be them. It wouldn’t be until 2017 or 2018 that I actually started to read the Homestuck web comic. I believe 2019 was when I finished reading it for the first time.
A lot of people are critiquing people for critiquing the Homestuck pilot- which feels like a dumb, self-made paradox, but whatever. The main reason for this stems from the argument of “Homestuck was never good in the first place, so what does it matter if the animated show is bad?”- and to that I agree and disagree. Homestuck is not some outstanding work of fiction that should be regarded by scholars and students alike. It is a product of the late 2000s, early 2010s era: filled with stereotypes, slurs, and other topics of discourse. Does it handle those topics well? Not always. The creator is a white man who definitely didn’t know what he was doing and has since vetoed many of the decisions he made in the plot. However, all this to say- all of Homestuck is not bad. In fact, Homestuck has powerfully deep character development, storylines, and lore for a story that not only has multiple universes and timelines, but also has maybe a hundred characters, give or take. It genuinely baffles me that people are able to ignore the genuinely strong and well-written parts of the comic just because some sections weren’t perfect.
All that being said, Homestuck is a product of the fanbase. This is something that the creator himself is well aware of and fully content with. Because of this, I don’t intend to gatekeep Homestuck from the younger fans who are first learning about Homestuck through the animated pilot. I worry it will be a different experience altogether and I know they will miss out on the joy of the early Homestuck days, but technically I did too so who am I to talk. If you enjoyed this rant in any way, shape, or form, I’ll be back very soon with a deep dive into the pilot itself and everything I liked or didn’t like about it.
In the United States, there are more guns than people. It’s a simple, harrowing fact. For every two American citizens, there are about three guns. In 2023, Mississippi had the highest firearm death rate in the US, after the nation’s capital, Washington, D.C. In that same year, the leading cause of death for children was not sickness. It was not accidents. It was gunfire. These statistics have not shrunk since that time. In fact, we had six back-to-back shootings in a matter of three days. October 10th, 11th, and 12th all hosted a mass shooting.
October 10th.
The first was in Rolling Fork, at South Delta High. Two people are in custody in connection to this shooting, though WAPT 16 News says that it is unclear if anyone was injured.
168 miles away, in Heidelberg, two people were killed and one died a few days later from unspecified injuries, again at a football game. The victims were identified as follows: Mikeia McCray, Cayus Stevens, and Chris Newell. Mikeia was 28 and the mother of four. Chris Newell was 35. Cayus Stevens was 25. Six people have been arrested. The first, Tylar Jarod Goodloe, has been charged with two counts of capital murder, and one count of being in possession of a deadly weapon on educational property. His bail has been set at over 2 million. Damarin Starks and Jaylen Gammage were arrested and both charged with accessory after the fact and tampering with physical evidence. Jadarius Page was charged with one count of accessory after the fact. Finally, Jabari Collins was charged with possession of a deadly weapon on educational property. The final person arrested is unable to be identified publicly because they are a minor.
The Leland shooting was the last of that night, but arguably the most violent. Around midnight people gathered on Main Street after the game. After a disagreement, gunfire erupted through the crowd, hitting eighteen people, killing seven. The four victims killed at the scene were Oreshama Johnson, Calvin Plant, Shelbyona Powell, and Kaslyn Johnson. Two died the next morning: Amos Brantley Jr., and LaMichael Jones. On the 18th, Ebanee Williams died. As this post is being written, this is the deadliest mass shooting in the US in 2025. Nine suspects were arrested. Teviyon L. Powell, William Bryant, Terrogernal Martin, and Morgan Lattimore were all charged with capital murder, and Latoya A. Powell was charged with attempted murder. Latoya and Teviyon Powell were aunt and nephew, and Shelbyona Powell was Latoya Powell’s niece. Four arrestees have not been publicly identified.
October 11th.
On October 11th, an 11-year-old boy was shot in the stomach in the tailgating area of Jackson’s Veterans Memorial Stadium during a football event. It is still an active and ongoing investigation, but details about other victims have not been made publicly available. There is no suspect information.
In Lorman, MS, on Alcorn State University’s campus, 29-year-old Brekyra Fisher of Vicksburg was killed near the Industrial Technology Building. Two others were injured. Taevion Doss has been arrested on charges of murder, two charges of aggravated assault, and possession of a firearm on educational property. Doss appeared before a judge on the 17th, but was denied bond.
October 12th.
Jackson was the site of the last shooting of the weekend. On Cynthia Rd, near Highway 49, a woman was struck in the head after bullets were fired into a grey Honda SUV. The male driver of the SUV pulled into a nearby Sprint Mart to call for help. Only the woman was injured, but her 6-year-old child was present.
Shootings like this have become all too common in Mississippi, and in our nation overall. Many proposals for stricter laws on guns have been shot down, opponents citing an attack on “2nd Amendment freedoms.” Gun violence is being marketed as a “complex issue” when it really isn’t. It’s difficult to say what should and shouldn’t be done, but this needs to be spoken about.
