#( i rambled and idk if it makes sense !! )

[adrift-in-thyme]

There’s something terribly poetic in the inevitability of events in EPIC. The choices Odysseus is given lead to no win situations. They aren’t really choices at all.

Kill a foe’s child or witness the death of your own. Sacrifice six men or sacrifice them all. Allow your crew to starve or watch as they slaughter sacred cattle.

Sacrifice your friends, your brothers, or give up your last chance at reaching home.

In the end, the result is always the same. He destroys himself

[juniemunie]

[Abandoned by the Lightners, his heart became cracked with hatred.]

Hitting a lil' too close to home?

[lazylittledragon]

lately i've been drinking orange juice and eating fruit and going outside in the sun and coincidentally 10-20% of my depression has vanished. must be witchcraft

[shopwitchvamp]

I mean this gently but I have to say somethin' here- I've been getting so much "make your skirts cheaper" "I love this but why are they soooo expensive" etc lately and like look, I know a lot of this is because times are hard.. (otherwise why would I be hearing this more & more this year when prices haven't changed compared to last year) but I just wanna say that one of the only ways I could lower prices (if I was ruthless and didn't care) would be to cut sizing options. Like idk how to word what I'm trying to say, but just know when you shout stuff like this at other brands & they decide they need to find a way to cut costs to lower prices, being size inclusive is gonna be one of the first things to go. I have no plans to do this myself, but for example, a D Size Skater costs me almost twice as much (talking about only the direct from the manu cost, there are other factors too such as that they weigh more so that adds more shipping costs as well) as an A Size Skater. Say I cut D Size altogether.. and many companies would have by now while also not even lowering the price.. I could increase my profit margins significantly right away. Now lets say I cut both C and D and become a shop that only offers the standard range of SM-XL. Wow! Suddenly profits are up so much!! Or maybe going not full corporate greed, I could handle lowering skater prices by like $10 (random number not based on real math idk what things would actually work out to because I'm not gonna do it). But now no one over a size XL can order from me. I fear none of what I'm trying to get across is getting across but I just mean to say, in order to offer what I offer, the prices need to be what they are. They aren't set arbitrarily high & lowering them would mean needing to make choices that I will not make (becoming less size inclusive or making my business unsustainable in the sense that it would not survive long).

[awzominator]

Day 13 Scars

the amount of effort I had to put into these and they still don’t look how I want is frustrating but alas time is not on my side

ramblings under the cut

Mikey: Gave Mikey Lichen Burns from that one time he got disintegrated and then reanimated via electricity. He died n got better and honestly it is one of the most violent injuries that I recall for him. Like he plays it off so easily cuz he has super powers and all that jazz but that’s so messed up. Also Raph yelling for him OOOFFFFF will never forget how filled w rage and hurt that dude was. He was ready to kill ❤️ Such a wild episode and I love how Mikey was so depended on in order for the plan to succeed. It was Mikey’s turn for the Self sacrificing bit and he crushed it

Leo: Get Shreddered idiot!!! The fucked up knee and throat from when he got beat up and thrown thru the window. This is def my fav event to happen which is a wild thing to say. It’s the most obvious thing to go for but I personally loved the farmhouse arc and Leo’s need for recovery. That dude is still not well and is repressing stuff but they don’t have time to heal. Their lives are too chaotic, too much is on the line, and Leo can’t afford to take the time to heal 100% none of them can tbh. I know a lot of ppl hate how 12 handled his knee injury but I loved it Bc it’s obviously not better but he’s a stubborn idiot who chooses to push everything down and out. He is the healthiest turtle for sure. I’m pretty sure in later episodes his knee gives out a few times don’t quote me tho it’s been a few years aha

Raph: His broken shell! After watching Lone Rat and Cubs and seeing where it came from, I always wondered if Splinter looks at it with loads of regret. A physical sign of his short comings that one time they almost got caught by the Kraang. A warning and a constant reminder they’ll never be safe, that splinter wont always be able to protect his babies no matter how hard he fights. I also like to HC he becomes the most hovering and overprotective of Raph while he’s still recovering Bc that shell broke so easy. Honestly seeing screen shots of close ups of Raphs shell is awesome to see both shell and plastron are broken.

Donnie: UGHHH THIS DUDEEEE !!!!! Literally had the hardest time Bc he goes thru a lot also but it’s more emotional and mental dude is fuked up in the head fr. I asked several ppl for help Bc I didn’t want to do another lichen burn thing from Karai’s trap. In the end I played around w the suggestions to see what would look most appealing to me. The scars on arm are from Slash (such a good episode thank you for the suggestion 🙌) as his arm was injured and in a sling at the end of the episode. The head scar def a big creative liberty Bc he does get injured there a lot ahah. I was thinking of Fourtrap again which lead to thinking about the time that Leo blew him up accidentally during is emo phase XD

[rystiel]

i feel like poolverine easily could’ve been one of those “they’re flirty but it’s mostly unserious” situations, and for most of the movie yeah they were extremely gay, but wade’s been like that with other guys and it was never treated as a serious type of relationship before. they’re willing to die for each other, but even then the romantic aspect of their relationship could be glossed over because it’s a superhero movie, that’s just what they do, and they’re working together to save a whole timeline—it’s not just about them. but then the movie doesn’t end with them saving the day and moving on. i think this’s really the part that sells poolverine as a genuine relationship to me… logan’s leaving, and wade calls for him. he can’t stand to let him go. then he introduces him to his family, and logan stays. he doesn’t really need to stay, but they’ve both decided they’re better off with one another than without

[onesidedradiostatic]

was gonna make a joke about this and have this be a shitpost instead but honestly may pass out soon so I'll type this seriously cause I have no energy to come up with a clever joke

it's interesting how vox's insults in stayed gone are literally just different ways of saying "you're old and outdated you're old and outdated you're old and outdated you're old and outda" tackled with a bit of "you're a coward" in there, whereas alastor's insults are not jabs at vox being new or modern tech, but rather his practices, "clout-chasing mediocre video podcast" he's saying he's a pandering, attention-seeking sellout, and he targets at vox's insecurities, questions his power, then makes fun of him for still being salty about his rejection.

I feel like it's pretty telling how vox's insults are just SO shallow, while alastor's cut deeper and more personally. while you could say, alastor may be just better at roasting than vox, I feel like it could also tell you something about alastor's hatred of vox being based on actual reason, which makes sense, he is the one who rejected the idea of being on a team with vox, the one who decided to make the decision to step away from their friendship. there were likely legitimate things about vox that alastor started to notice he didn't like.

whereas vox's hatred is extremely petty, he's still pissy over that rejection, he has no reasonable reason to hate on alastor's practices or medium. literally ALL he has is constantly repeating how tv is better and newer and how radio is worse and older, that he literally uses that SAME snap back even after alastor has his part "what a dated voice!" "you're looking at the future! he's the shit that comes before that!". he has NOTHING on alastor. if you asked him to make a list about what he hated about alastor he would probably just give you 10000 synonyms of "he's old and outdated" and be unable to come up with anything non-superficial. because the falling out on his part, from his perspective, was being rejected. and after that, BLIND RAGE. he hates alastor. he does. but he can't reasonably tell you why.

[purpleshadow-star]

It's kind of funny (heartbreaking) that there were multiple Ravens who wanted a number, to the point where some tried to manipulate Jean into helping them one way or another, but none of them would have been next in line. No matter what they did, there was always someone ahead of them on the list. Someone who wasn't even on the team. That someone wasn't Neil. Neil was a surprise to everyone, including Riko. That someone was Andrew.

Kevin might have had to beg Riko to go visit Andrew, and Riko might have laughed at Kevin and dismissed Andrew when Andrew turned him down, but make no mistake, if Andrew had accepted and had become a Raven, he would have taken that #4 spot within his first year.

If we're being real, Andrew had more of a chance at becoming part of the perfect Court than any of those Ravens ever had. Even Jean thinks of Andrew as one of them.

The other Ravens never stood a chance.

[odetojupiter]

so, we know that abuse and victim responses to abuse are very central to aftg, but what i find interesting is how other characters respond to the victim’s reactions, especially when it comes to mourning their abuser. there’s something about kevin mourning riko, aaron mourning tilda, neil mourning mary, andrew mourning cass, thats so important to me because it really truly highlights how even when people are united through similar traumas, the differences in their situations makes it impossible to fully understand the relationship a person has to their abuser. neil, aaron, and andrew are united through the abuse, neglect, or - what the fuck is the word i’m thinking of? permit? condone? i mean, knowingly allowing it to happen and not intervening - stemming from a maternal figure. but neil can’t understand why andrew would hold on to cass for so long - he refused to let her go until aaron came into the picture. and andrew can’t understand why aaron would mourn for tilda, potentially viewing aaron’s grief as a betrayal of their promise. and they all ridicule kevin for his reactions to riko. of course, neil and andrew are also abused by riko, but they still can’t understand the complicated relationship between kevin and riko because, at the end of the day, they just weren’t there.

i mean this is primarily an observation but i really love how trauma and trauma response is depicted as nuanced, complex and overall just difficult to understand from an outsider perspective in the books. it reads as really real, and though it can be frustrating when a character doesn’t understand a different character’s response, you have to understand that their perception of said character’s response is warped by their own experience of abuse.

andrew bounced from home to home, never had stability, so obviously he held tight on to the first mother-figure that didn’t outright hurt him. his self-worth was probably low enough that he thought living with drake was a fine price to pay to keep cass.

neil only ever had his mother, and he’d willingly accept her harsh hands because he believed she was just keeping him safe from the very real dangers that were closing in on them.

aaron was dealing with an addiction, and so was his mother; he was equally dependent on her to avoid withdrawal as he was scared of her anger.

i don’t really have a point anymore but you get what i’m saying

[sparrowmoth]

Does it ever make you a little crazy insane thinking about how Jesper and Wylan both have these gaping absences in their families, these needs that haven't been met for years, but as their stories become parallel, they find exactly what they need in each other's lives?

Because okay, hear me out, Jesper couldn't save his mom, nor can he ever bring her back, but he was able to help Wylan save his mom. His mom who was supposed to be dead. He was able to help bring her back in a way that he will never able to do for his own mom. And no, she'll never be Aditi, but I think she'll grow to love him as a son-in-law.

Wylan, meanwhile, lost his father's love at a young age. He will never be good enough for Jan, because Jan refuses to love or accept him as he is. But Colm, Jesper's father who loves him, who only wants the best for his son, meets Wylan when he's easily at his lowest point in life, when he's wrapped up in crime and scandal, and what does he say? "I think you’d be good for [Jesper]." And that means everything.

Jesper and Wylan don't just complement each other as a couple, their lives thread together like stitches closing long open wounds.

[arodabi]

Just to say it one more time: I’m aro and that makes me queer!!!

I will never let that go. Back when the first round of ace discourse was kicking up, i remember the first debate i saw wasn’t “aces aren’t lgbt” or “aces aren’t oppressed” it was specifically that aros and aces couldn’t reclaim the slur word queer because it was never used against us. And i saw that argument used as a wedge to further and further separate aspecs from the queer community. Eventually they just came for the word itself, that’s how the “queer is a slur” bullshit popped up at the same time. “Queer was a horrible horrible slur that nobody, least of all weirdo straights aros/aces, could reclaim.”

And that showed that the people behind spreading ace discourse, namely terfs and all the other exclusionary assholes, were the same people trying to squeeze the freaks out of the lgbt community. We know terfs used as discourse as a gateway to get people to hate trans people and trans women specifically. If you can convince someone that one group of queer people are horrible straight invaders who only want to destroy gay culture, then you can convince them that another group is too. So many of the common arguments against aspec ppl at the time stemmed from old school homophobia even. “Ace people are just mentally ill and need to be fixed” “ace people are pedophiles who want to make the children like them” “ace is a new fad that popped up, not something with any history” who benefits from that except terfs and their alt right sympathizers.

If you really want the community safe then why the fuck are you fighting those ppls battles? The same people who would kick you to the curb as soon as they finish with their current targets?

We can’t do another aspec discourse. We need to remember that the last one wasn’t just “ace ppl are cringe” it was an attempt to silence and destroy a whole group of queer people. And if they do it to aspecs, they can do it to any other group.

[alexisrosemullens]

There’s something about how Bobby was alone. He was alone when his dad died. He was left alone after the firefighters came to take his dad. Then cut to how he was there for Eddie after his breakdown. He was there when Eddie woke up so Eddie didn’t have to wake up alone. So Eddie would realize he isn’t alone.

[ahappyphjl]

the thing is, we all see and are aware of the love dnp have for each other. the unbreakable bond that transcends romance and friendship. but for them to acknowledge it head on… truly a new era. it’s them saying they accept that we’re all going to perceive them in our own ways, and it’s okay. they trust us. they know who they are, how they feel about each other, and that’s what’s most important. but that they would love to share a big part of their lives with us, a part that brings them happiness, knowing how much happiness that brings us. like whether or not they hard launch, i feel like this is where we’re at and im just so incredibly happy for them

[adrift-in-thyme]

Despite how obviously chaotic the other boys are I think that two things are actively disadvantaging and maybe even endangering Time rn

1) his worry for Twilight’s welfare and that of the others

2) his penchant for distancing himself from others.

He’s healed a lot from his adventures and the trauma of them thanks to time (heh) and Malon’s kindness, patience, and unconditional love. HOWEVER the things we endure remain with us even if they do not hurt quite so badly anymore (especially when they occur in such drastic ways during such formative years). Somewhere inside (perhaps not so deep now) is that terrified little boy who won’t allow himself to trust or love again. Who doesn’t want to get too close cause “nothing ever lasts”

He’s used to going it alone. He’s spent longer being solo than he has being married or teamed up with the other Links. His approach to tackling dungeons — whether chaotic or organized or somewhere in between — has always been the same.

Alone.

He’s the one who plummets down endless abyss.

He’s the one who bleeds and breaks and gets lost.

He’s the one who figures it out in the end.

And that’s okay. Because it’s lonely. It’s scary. But it’s only him who is in danger. And he can deal with that.

“You laugh because you know it’s true”

“You laugh because when it’s you who drags yourself home half-dead, it’s ok, it’s under control, but when it’s one of our boys…”

When it’s only him he doesn’t have to worry so much. He’s got a certain degree of control (real or imagined). And that is what he’s grappling for right now. Control to change a terrible fate he still sees looming. Control to keep his boys from suffering the way he has.

But now, with this last update, he realizes he doesn’t have it.

And while his expression here makes me laugh, it also saddens me. Four’s right and he knows it, he’s trying to resign himself to it.

Them remaining together — remaining with him, under his watchful eye — will end in their deaths at this point. It’s just not working.

He’s virtually powerless to keep them all safe. He’s the Hero of Time and he’s virtually powerless.

And that might just break him. Because the fear is still there. The fear that something will happen to one of his boys and he should’ve been there. He should’ve been there to stop it.

But he wasn’t.

Like he wasn’t there to protect the others from the Iron Knuckle

And that will consume him, weaken him. Until the Shadow can exploit it

Image credits @/linkeduniverse

[steelthroat]

Okay hear me out for this one...

40 years of franchise

Optimus Prime has had Elita(g1, tfa, and tfe), no? But also that weird tension with Shockwave(g1 idw), Dion (g1), and of course his obsession with Megatron(everything), right?

Okay, so you know... pretty bi to me :D

But then you have Megatron. So with Megatron, you see Kiloton, Ultra Magnus (idw and Netflix trilogy) Rodimus (idw) Starscream(choose your media) and of course his obsession with Optimus Prime, right?

No women, I see no tension with any female-presenting robot in the franchise, right? I remember him being close with elita in the Netflix trilogy before the war broke out, but I don't remember it being a love triangle kind of thing.

And he once said Nightbird was "hot enough to replaced you (Starscream)" when said mech said "she's not so hot" (g1 cartoon)

Other than that nothing.

We have both make and female characters lusting over him, tho. However, he hasn't reciprocated their avances (unicron trilogy)

SO... what I'm trying to say is that nothing in 40 years of franchise negates the possibility of Megatron being gay since Megatron has never hinted any interest towards women or female-presenting robots.

[onesidedradiostatic]

I feel like there's an interesting aspect when it comes to vox and huskerdust in that there's a non-zero chance that vox also has a sort of indirect relationship with husk along with the already existing indirect relationship he has with angel, like yes there's the former overlord stuff but they may also know each other a bit more personally due to vox's past association with alastor, like how mimzy knows husk and niffty, so huskerdust to him is like… the weirdest crossover of all time to him, val's whore getting together with alastor's pet lmao

honestly bonus points if he also calls husk "husker" like alastor and mimzy