#Iterator Headcanons

[ragaposts]

I'm bored right now, so might as well share my rainworld headcanons! Voice claims will be tomorrow, probably if school doesn't ruin my posting spree.

Survivor !!

Survivor is pretty calm, relaxed and alert.

H/H

He enjoys the quietness of peace, he enjoys more laid-back people to be around, otherwise he might get uncomfortable and uneasy around those who aren't.

He's just a normal dude I would say

Survivor is absolutely protective of his younger sibling, Monk.

Monk !!

Monk is sweet and pure, definition of innocent.

H/H

I don't care about Monk so I don't know what else to say... sorry!

Hunter !!

Hunter is snappy, argumentive and smug.

H/T

Hunter is an old fella, and he's usually going around being grumpy.

He is a very talented hunter, to no surprises. He doesn't take jokes lightly.

He's a gay old man because I said so and I want him to be, yipee!!

Artificer !! (I think that's how you spell it?)

Unpleasant and smug, she makes fun of others and is very judgemental.

S/H

Artificer despises Rivulet. She finds Rivulet as too loud and annoying, constantly getting on her nerves.

Gourmand !!

Fatherly, sweet and absolutely full of care and prosperity.

H/H

He enjoys making food for his colony members and his friends. He is most likely to befriend another creature than to hurt them.

Gourmand is very sympathetic. He feels sorrow for pretty much everyone.

Of course he's daddy material, in both ways I could say.

Gourmand is overall the top family guy, everyone loves him and Noone could hate him!

Rivulet !!

Hyper, scatter-brained, excitable, agile, physically very fragile, positive Gillcat that knows how to defend themselves Verbally and physically!

S/H

Rivulet may seem very stuck-up and annoying when you met her, but deep inside she is a very caring individual, with more motivations in life than most people!

She tries to always stay positive, though she breaks under pressure easily, she remains as joyful as ever!

Rivulet is a joy to be around, constantly cracking up giggly jokes and fun stories. Rivulet could also be described as a sweet, ball of sunshine!

Even though Rivulet may be joyful and seem nice, she is truly a different individual inside. She is very snarky and fiery, quick to judge, and throws insults at the tiniest inconvenience. Overall Rivulet is very defensive, and won't let anyone push her around without a fight!

Rivulet cares deeply, maybe too much, for the ones she loves.

Spearmaster !!

Gloomy, grumpy and socially awkward.

H/H

Spearmaster is more of the quiet, strike first type. He is always ready to defend himself, very alert and trained to withstand harsh conditions and terrains, despite his seemingly "scrawny" build.

Spearmaster prefers the company of himself and the wilderness, but makes sure to spend enough time with his family and friends.

Spearmaster is motivated by strength and ambition, his natural desire to hunt and fight only fuels those motivations more.

For some reason I imagine Spearmaster to be very muscular, more fit to the harsh side of the world where he was placed in.

Saint !!

Grumpy, introverted and slick.

H/T/I

Saint is truly a strange Slugcat. His unusual, creepy desire to stand around places, watching others from a safe distance is enough to scare or freak others out.

I don't care about giving Inv or Nightcat hcs, I'm terribly sorry!

But now into the silly Iterators!!

Five Pebbles / FP / EP

Snappy, strong-willed, regretful, and obsessive, in a protective way.

H/H

Five Pebbles is a younger iterator who usually finds comfort in his most trusted people, but rarely does he ever open up.

He bottles his emotions, until they particically explode.

Five Pebbles is very oddly protective of Moon, even after everything he had done to her.

Past all the anger he felt, he did truly and genuinely love and feel sorrowful for her.

FP is just zesty to me idk why

Looks To The Moon / LTTM / BSM / Moon

Kind-hearted, Tranquill, docile, mature and forgiving.

S/H

Moon is a older generation Iterator, with surprising levels of gentleness and care for other people and creatures.

Moon rarely truly gets mad at others, because she knows the despair and other buried feelings hiding inside others, she knows it wouldn't change anything to push those feelings and fuel them further than they already were.

Moon is an understanding, unique individual. She gets others like no one else does, and most people consider her as a friendly, welcoming source who is always open to chat or vent to, even if she may not know you.

Her Ancients adored her, along with the others. It was like she was created perfect, as if she was the pencial of what others could achieve.

Moon did not like the attention and love of her Anicents very much. Of course, she always stayed quiet and respectful, constantly obedient, and responsible. She did not like the way the Anicents treated the other fellow Iterators, why, if they were the same? Each and every Iterator deserved and needed the love of care from their Anicents, their parents...

Seven Red Suns / SRS

Cynical and causal, wrongly judgemental.

T/H

Seven Red Suns is a complicated iterator, created shortly after Looks To The Moon.

They were treated decently by most of their Anicents and peers, although they weren't quite satisfied with it.

Seven Red Suns is just zesty I guess, I don't like them enough to make anymore hcs of them hhhhh

No Significant Harassment / NSH / SIG

Prankster, laid-back, oddly defensive, coolest, and chillest guy !!

H/H

No Significant Harassment was made shortly after Seven Red Suns. They were raised pretty much together, which meant they were Step-Brothers- or adopted brothers.

No Significant Harassment had always been as cheeky and mischievous, and as he grew up and matured, he stayed no different. He loves throwing out jokes and seeing others laugh.

No Significant Harassment is not the one to be pushed around. He is very defensive and is quick to disapprove of anything negative made of him, even if it was true.

No Significant Harassment is perfectly content with the way his life is!

Sliver Of Straw / SOS

Rude, egotistical, snappy, quick-witted, sharp-tongued.

S/T

Sliver Of Straw was made in between the making of No Significant Harassment. She was always an unpleasant iterator to be around.

She constantly mocked and shamelessly ridiculed others for the cruel fun of doing it.

I hate Sliver basically !!

I don't want to do anymore iterators or slugcats, so I'll say some basic headcanons that count for every slugcat and iterator!!

I imagine that Slugcats hatch out of eggs, and aren't birthed like mammals. They are slugs after all!

I imagine that Iterators grow like human babies, they go through the same growing stages of life as we humans do, to a baby, a young child, a pre-teen, teen and finally adult! I love love love imaging the idea of baby Moon and if anyone draws any baby iterators please tag me, I'd love to see it and freak over it!

These are pretty much all my hcs, terribly sorry!!

Have fun, and be safe out there.

[riant-draws]

"apostate superstructure abomination"

lyric from hope by nf

[turtleblogatlast]

Personally what I like best in terms of who’s older between Donnie and Leo is just them never knowing for sure BUT imagine Leo going up to Draxum and saying he’ll never bring up the roof incident again if Draxum tells Donnie that Leo’s the older twin.

[royaltea000]

Pose practice! ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ

[amerricanartwork]

RW Headcanon: "Pebbsie Privilege"

Here’s a headcanon I’ve had in the works for a while, and now I finally want to share it! It's shorter than some of my others, but I hope you'll still find it amusing!

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

So firstly (and I plan to expand on this more later) I headcanon Five Pebbles is someone who cares a lot about his appearance, though not in a prissy or snooty sense and more in a “likes being the smartest and most sophisticated one in the room” sense. That means, more so than the average person, he generally doesn’t like being teased, ignored, belittled, condescended to, or otherwise disrespected, and very understandably so if you ask me! But it also means there exists a very special ability when it comes to interacting with Five Pebbles that almost no characters have. 

It’s no more than the ability of someone to refer to Five Pebbles as “Pebbsie” while he’s in earshot without getting death-glares from him. Looks to the Moon, who first started using it, affectionately calls this ability “Pebbsie privilege”, and she ends up being one of the only characters who has it (besides Innocence, who in my portrayals eventually gets it too). Though even so, Pebbles originally got rather flustered when she called him that alone, much less in front of others, considering it's definitely a very cutesy nickname. In fact, poor Pebbles really didn’t like being called “Pebbsie” because one of his least favorite ways of being treated is like a child (which includes being thought of as "cute" in any way). This unfortunately happens to him a lot though since he’s part of the newest iterator generation and tends to have lots of uncommon ideas rarely taken seriously by the older models, and this treatment only amplified as he grew more stubborn and arrogant. 

To elaborate on the origin, Moon developed the nickname pretty much on an impulse — quite a rare thing for her to act on actually — of wanting to hearken more to her role as “Big Sis Moon” and show love to her little brother. Soon after she started using it though Pebbles would pull her into private chats and urge her to drop it to save his dignity. Not wanting to hurt her brother in any way, it didn’t take long before she apologized and stopped using it, and basically got her "Pebbsie privilege" revoked. In the current time she secretly still likes calling him that in her mind, but knowing how much he dislikes it she always feels pretty guilty afterwards, despite them being no more than thoughts at that point. While not a major issue in-and-of itself, this situation was actually a small step in worsening a long-time fear Moon has, though that’s a headcanon for another day…

On a (marginally) more positive note however, after Moon’s collapse and the worsening of Five Pebbles’s rot, along with him generally reminiscing about the things he used to have (as part of yet more character headcanons I’ll elaborate on some other time), he actually began to grow fond of the nickname more and more. Yet he also couldn’t also shake the growing heartache the memories brang, as he came to see it as a reminder of his sister’s never-ending love for him and the better times he now regretted taking for granted and trying so hard to escape. While I headcanon he handles it differently in Downpour’s canon, in the worm-off-the-string AU story I’ve got so far, Moon slowly regaining her “Pebbsie privilege” and Pebbles appreciating it and no longer taking it so seriously (though he still forbids its usage in public) could serve as a small, yet sweet indicator of character growth for both of them.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Aaaand another RW headcanon done! I wanna mention, though, now that I’ve got more of an idea for the aforementioned AU I really want to start posting more of my headcanons for the Local Group, since the character interactions, histories, and ultimate character growth is perhaps one of the most important elements of that story so far. I’ve spent at least a couple weeks creating almost 40 pages worth of character notes, and while this particular one started out as just a little side-headcanon, I ended up tying it into all of that. Hopefully I can start sharing the main parts of these headcanons soon!

[corvin-ito]

generations dont have to be perfectly numbered, or numbered at all my generation numbers are 0, 1, 1.5, 2, 3, 4, 4.5 and someone else might have iterator generations that are numbered with the greek alphabet

oh also as always, feel free to elaborate in a reblog / the tags / the comments / ect ect i love hearing abt headcanons

[fantaflavouredsprite]

thanks for the traction on the last one here is another for you all to feast upon (not intended to be ship art but whatever floats ur boat)

fucked up iterator shows another fucked up iterator their cat

[uuuuuhhhhlana]

last but certainly not least the comedy duo! ❤️🧡

[lackablazeical]

These designs are a year+ old so maybe some day I'll redo them

[unhetalia]

Dysfunctional FACE family headcanon based on this post.

The truth is, America is both England and France's favourite, especially after the American Revolution.

Before the American Revolution, Arthur loved Alfred, but he didn't see him as particularly valuable. After the Revolution, though, it becomes complicated, but Arthur's anger and pain means he's always aware of Alfred. Alfred is the one Arthur lost, and his emotions about Alfred are magnified in ways it never will be about anyone else. Did Arthur love Alfred the most before Alfred left him? It's hard to say, but he certainly did after Alfred left.

Francis has always liked Alfred, and he was pretty equal in his affections for both him and Matthew when they were children - though of course, he didn't see Alfred as much as Matthew. For a long time Matthew took comfort in knowing he was Francis' in a way Alfred wasn't, even though it made him feel guilty feeling that way. After the American Revolution, both of the equal affection and that special relationship are taken away from Matthew. Francis and Alfred bond - they bond over their anger at Arthur, and they bond over ideas that seem ludicrous to everyone else. Francis gifts Alfred the Statue of Liberty as a symbol of that bond, and both Arthur and Matthew have it shoved in their faces constantly. In the modern era, Francis does cooking lessons with Alfred ("in order to make sure Angleterre's terrible cooking does not infect him!") despite the fact Alfred's been an amazing cook for over a hundred years, and Alfred accompanies Francis on his shopping trips in New York even if he never buys anything.

The way Alfred sees it, of course, is that Matthew is Arthur's obedient, and therefore favoured child. Despite the strength of Arthur's feelings for him, Alfred never felt it when he was actually growing up with Arthur, and certainly not after he'd left. Matthew got to see how deeply Arthur missed and loved Alfred - Alfred didn't. And no matter what his relationship is with Francis, Alfred always thinks of the fact that Francis raised Matthew, not him. Alfred envies Matthew's place in the family, even if he doesn't regret gaining his independence. (Then there's the fact that Matthew actually tends to make friends easier than Alfred, who struggles with social cues and who tends to be A Lot for some people, a fact that Alfred is very aware of. There's a lot Alfred envies about his brother.)

Meanwhile Matthew thinks, why am I never anyone's favourite? Anyone's ride of die? He has a good relationship with Arthur and Francis but he's never going to be their favourite. And even though Alfred's not part of the commonwealth, maybe Matthew remembers the first time Australia and New Zealand met his brother, their awe at seeing this figure of legend for the first time. He's never going to be impressive in that way. (Matthew doesn't notice how much more friends he has than Alfred, only that Alfred's few friends are all his best friends, while he feels like he's surrounded by people but is unable to confide in anyone.)

[shell-raising]

Little tot Leo wants uppies.…And how can you say no?

Accept the offer?

[turtleblogatlast]

[ cw: risk taking behavior / circumstantial self harm kinda / ignoring of injuries / self-depreciation / slight ooc-ness but for a reason! / ]

Post invasion, Leo is fine.

More than fine! He’s better than before, even. That is, if you don’t count the slightly cracked shell and still healing bones, but those are only a problem when the weather wants them to be!

Leo really is better in the ways that matter.

He’s not as cocky, not as self-centered, and overall just more heroic in general if he does say so himself.

Raph even said he was proud of Leo!

So obviously things are going well.

But.

It’s not enough.

Leo’s better, sure, but he’s still got work to do.

So - and here’s something that will probably make his brothers faint on the spot - he needs to train.

_____

His brothers do not faint, but it’s a near thing for Raph. Mikey has to fan the snapper’s face and Donnie almost brings out the smelling salts before Raph shoots back to his feet with an excited grin.

Leo’s big brother gets teary eyed soon after and envelops him in a bear hug, saying once again how proud he is that Leo is growing up.

Leo lets himself be hugged, even hugs back as fiercely as he can, because unbeknownst to Raph, this marks the end of Leo’s childhood.

He lets himself be hugged like a kid one last time, looking through the hole in Raph’s shell all the while.

_____

Leo only trains the regular way with his brothers and occasionally April and the Caseys, but most especially Raph.

But of course that’s not enough, it was never going to be.

So he goes through the motions of the stretches, the spars, the meditation, and then he leaves.

He makes sure to have his excuses ready, usually defaulting to Hueso as his go to since his brothers are easily bought off with the promise of pizza. Leo hasn’t yet found the tracker Donnie installed in him, but when he does that’ll be dealt with too! But for now, this should be good.

See, the invasion made him realize something.

It’s not about him, but it was his shortcomings that led to everything going to hell.

So he just…needs to get rid of those shortcomings.

He’s working on it, gaining fighting skill in training, but there’s more he needs to do, more skills he needs to train.

Leo watches intently as Repo Mantis swindles someone, he memorizes the sleight of hand that Hypno performs, he sneaks back into the Mystic Library and is so quiet the hush bats forget he’s there, he talks Big Mama into honing his manipulation, and he even sneaks into human hospitals and reptile veterinary clinics to get a clue on more serious injuries.

And after any of these, he heads to Run of the Mill to compete in the Maze of Death.

_____

This is his twelfth time going through the (newly remodeled and even more deadly) Maze of Death, and would be his fifth time winning. The first three times had him waking up in Hueso’s office, and each time he wakes his old persona shines through.

He always waves off Hueso’s annoyance and questions and insists on trying again next time before he steals some pizza and bails.

The skeleton actively tries to stop him from entering the Maze after the first time, but hey- mystics are allowed before you enter.

It’s easy enough to teleport on by.

Harder to meet Hueso’s - and later his brothers’ - eyes when he fails again.

When he first actually won, Hueso congratulates him in that typical deadpan tone of his.

“Ah, felicidades, Pepino. Now you can move on, sí?”

“Hm? Nah, boneman! That run was sloppy!”

And then Leo runs off before Hueso can stop him.

He doesn’t even look at his picture on the champion wall when he next comes around. It’s not much to look at anyway.

_____

His second win is much like the first, and only his third win is actually acceptable.

But he knows the field too much now. He needs a challenge.

When he attempts to go through it blindfolded, he’s quickly shown how much he doesn’t know the Maze. So, obviously, he loses again.

He got a bit more banged up that time around.

“Pepino, basta ya, you’ve already won. Where are your brothers?”

“I can’t stop yet, señor! This is for my brothers - no les digas, please.”

Even if Hueso wanted to tell Leo’s brothers, they haven’t been in enough for him to get to, and it’s not like Hueso has their number since Leo’s the one Hueso usually contacts. For now, Leo’s safe to continue as is.

Though his injuries are getting harder to hide, and there’s only so much his shell in particular can take.

So to speed things up, he incorporates the blindfold into his regular training.

His brothers question it, of course, but hey, he initially got the idea from seeing Lou Jitsu do it in the third best Lou Jitsu movie, so it comes as a great excuse now.

He’s only a little put off by how fast Mikey adapts to it when the others try.

“I dunno-“ Mikey shrugs when asked, “You guys shine so brightly anyway, a mask doesn’t do much.”

Seeing their mystic energies is pretty cool, Leo can admit.

He just wishes he could grasp that himself - and that it was useful for a death maze.

_____

Leo’s training pulls off eventually, and soon, after a few more losses, he wins a forth time. But it’s a near loss, and a near loss is the difference between someone living and dying.

He’s gotta go again.

Hueso’s more insistent than ever, though.

“You must stop, Pepino.”

“But I can do better-“

“You don’t have to! Your shell is bleeding - ¡por tu propio bien, poner fin a esto!”

“I told you, this is for their own good! For everyone’s own good!”

He forgets the pizzas when he leaves. He claims sickness when he hides under his covers.

He ignores how childish the act makes him feel.

_____

Leo’s getting better, and his reflexes and tact in training shows this. His other training of his subterfuge and medical skills also prove to be useful.

He’s pretty good at hiding injuries, now! Though not so good at hiding a pained shell. Even Donnie looks at him with blatant concern (and understanding) when Leo can’t help but take a sharp breath whenever he lands on his back.

It’s hard not to go right back into waving everything off with jokes like he used to. Deflections are easier when they’re annoying!

But- this is just another reason that he needs to get better, right? So his brothers won’t worry. He doesn’t need the spotlight anymore - he’s over that, thanks.

He squashes down the part of him that perks up when Splinter says he’s growing up. He actively kills the part of himself that cries at the same phrase.

_____

So. Yeah. This’ll be his twelfth time running the Maze. And, hopefully, his fifth win. Maybe he really will move on after this.

The Hidden City is pretty big! There’s probably a bigger challenge somewhere.

Maybe Big Mama has a more secret Nexus hidden away, out of the public eye.

Well, whatever. That’s a future problem for him to figure out, yeah? For now, he carries on like usual, teleporting to the entrance of the Maze and diving right in.

Even blindfolded, he works his way through, dodging and weaving and feeling as he goes. He even tries to evoke his inner Mikey and calls on his mystic energy. Not enough to cheat, but enough to feel.

Usually, when Leo teleports, he swears he feels every part of himself disperse into particles. Now, with energy thrumming under his scales, he can feel particles everywhere.

It’s not refined enough to tell him everything, and he gets a fun new burn and a nice whack to the back by getting distracted. Still, it gives him more than he had before. It makes him more aware of everything, like he licked a finger and held it in the air to feel the direction of wind, but every direction blew wind, all in different ways.

He makes it to the end with minimal injuries after that, and sure, his shell is screaming at him now, but he thinks he did a shell of a good job.

…Ah, he needs to cut that out, huh? Man. Maybe Donnie’s collar idea was a good call after all.

Leo needs to be a hero. Not a face man. Not a failure.

Not a kid.

_____

Leo doesn’t smile when the Minotaur takes his picture again for the champion wall, and he doesn’t listen when she tells him to “go home and never come back.”

He doesn’t plan to, anyway, yeesh.

He’s tired as he trudges out of the exit, and Hueso catches him when he stumbles.

Hueso doesn’t say anything. Leo doesn’t either.

Or, he doesn’t, until he feels a familiar large hand helping him up as well.

Leo’s face whips up as he flinches back, eyes wide as they meet with a worried (so, so worried) Raph’s.

“You told them?” Leo asks Hueso in betrayal, heart thudding wildly in his chest.

“Pepino…”

“Told us what?” Mikey pipes up from behind Raph, coming closer to get a better look at Leo, “Leo, what’s going on?”

“Your shell has been having pretty big setbacks on its healing, is this why?” Donnie demands, glaring fiercely as he motions toward the Maze.

Leo feels unmoored. “I-“

“Leo.” Raph interrupts, and no Leo doesn’t want to hear it- “Are you okay?”

And Leo wants to say “it’s not about me”. He wants to say anything that proved he learned his lesson, that he’s not a liability or worse, an active danger to his own family.

He wants Raph to continue being proud of him. He wants his brothers to trust him.

Instead, he passes out.

_____

The next time his eyes open, Leo’s on his side, staring at his blue lava lamp.

He knows without looking that his shell is re-bandaged. He knows his other injuries have been dealt with too.

And unless Leo learned how to do some pretty impressive medical sleepwalking, he knows he’s not getting away this time.

All three of his brothers being in his room prove that.

“What’s been going on, Leo?” Mikey asks, and his voice cracks partway through.

He’s looking at Leo like he’s searching for something, but Leo doesn’t have anything to show. Nothing’s hidden, he just did some light spring cleaning is all, throwing out all the parts he didn’t need.

All the parts they didn’t need.

And yet despite everything, he can feel himself falling back into old ways, a grin tugging at his beak and lackadaisical deflection on the tip of his tongue.

Maybe he should let that part of him show, just for once. It wouldn’t seem like too much of a setback would it? And he could really use a fun pun right about now-

No.

No it’s not about him. He needs to remember why he did all this in the first place.

“Okay- sorry, guys.” He smiles, softly, quietly, “I guess I got too caught up in training. I’ll work at it some more, don’t worry.”

“Oh, I see. Training. That’s all it was, huh? Training.” Donnie hisses more than says, nearly vibrating in anger.

“…yeah?” Leo nods slowly, because, uh, that’s literally the most honest thing he said. It was training.

“If it’s just “training” then why the secrecy, hm? Why in Curie’s good name did you prefer to sneak around rather than, oh, I don’t know, tell your family?”

Leo feels his shoulders rise at Donnie’s aggression, defensiveness welling up in him, “It was my training! Nothing went wrong, I’m getting better!”

“Better?” Raph asks incredulously, “Leo, you’re wasting away. A tap to the shell stuns you for minutes, you lost weight, and your dark circles are worse than Raph’s ever seen them! You aren’t getting better-!”

“YES I AM!”

The words rip out of Leo before he can stop them.

The room is silent as his brother look at him, all wearing expressions of hurt that Leo put there again.

“Yes I am.” Leo reiterates, shaking, “Because- if I’m not-“ He squeezes his eyes shut. “If I’m not-“

Then what was all this for?

Arms slowly wrap around him, and he knows now from the feel of the mystic that it’s Mikey.

“You’ve gotten faster, and sneakier.” Mikey says quietly. “When I accidentally cut my hand, you knew exactly how to take care of it.” His voice grows firm, and he backs out of the hug, “But those are your skills. You, though, you’ve been…you’ve been…”

“You’ve been dilapidating before our very eyes, and trying to hide it.” Donnie finishes, jaw tight. “You think we wouldn’t notice? After everything?” To Leo’s horror, Donnie’s voice is hoarse with tears, “You absolute dumb dumb.”

“I- but I need to train. The Maze is-“

“Leo, we don’t care that you ran through the Maze. We care you did it alone.” Raph says quietly. “We could have joined you, any time.”

“But- but I’m doing this for you-“

“Listen to your brothers, Blue.” They jump as a new voice joins the fray, heads turning to see Splinter make his way into the - frankly crowded - room.

“Dad, I-“ Leo begins, but trails off, suddenly more unsure than ever in the face of his father.

“It’s good you’re finally picking up training! Especially for your brothers’ sakes! But there’s such a thing as going overboard, you know.” Splinter pokes a sharp claw into Leo’s plastron, “Just because you’re dragging it out this time, doesn’t make this any less of a sacrifice. My son, you’ve taken after Karai an awful lot, haven’t you?”

Leo just looks at his father. At his brothers. Then, he looks down at his calloused hands, bandaged and scarred from overuse.

He swallows dryly. “Is that a bad thing?”

He feels his family crowd in around him, feels his father’s hand on his shoulder.

“It’s not wrong to want to be better, Leonardo.” Splinter says, softly and with so much grief and guilt that Leo can never begin to understand, “But you were never bad to begin with.”

Leo’s breath hitches.

“And-” Splinter’s hands rise up to frame Leo’s face. “You are much too young to ever consider sacrifice the best answer.”

“You got me to relax, Leo. So I’ll do the same for you.” Raph grins, eyes wet, “We’re still kids, right?”

And-

Leo smiles, watery but genuine. “Yeah, Raph. We are.”

[fragile-gods]

Unparalleled Innocence - An Angry Analysis (and fanon criticism) by The Conduit

(under cut due to being a long post)

I like to label myself "the #1 UI fan and the only person who really gets them" for… probably obvious reasons at this point. My interpretation of them is wildly different from almost everyone else's "mean gossip girl" interpretation of them, which - frankly, in my and some other people's opinion - results fron fandom misogyny due to gossiping's status as a stereotypically feminine trait. When a character's gender is unconfirmed, people default to referring to a character by masculine terms, and oftentimes get angry when the character in question is revealed to be anything else. (See: Seven Red Suns.) However, due to (misogynistic) stereotypes, the overwhelmingly common fanon interpretation of Unparalleled Innocence is a mean gossip girl, as mentioned prior.

I was not exempt from interpreting them as that until I actually began to look into the way they're treated by canon.

Unparalleled Innocence will be referred to as they/them in this essay, due to chatlog Iterators vagueposting about them using they/them pronouns and due to them lacking official confirmation on gender identity in both vanilla and Downpour.

One of the most significant mentions of UI, at least in the context of this essay, is the Shaded Citadel pearl. At the time of the pearl's writing (1514.008)[1], UI is likely still in construction or has only recently been constructed, placing them very, very close to whenever the mass ascension took place (before 1591.290). Unparalleled Innocence never has a line of dialogue in a single broadcast or broadcast pearl, and their characterization can only be inferred by the way other Iterators talk about and treat them.

UI is excluded from the discussion about Erratic Pulse, quite possibly suggesting alienation or distrust in UI by the local group for one reason or another.[2: Sky Islands 3] (Seven Red Suns is also excluded, but that's a result of them being heavily implied to not be a part of the same local group as the rest of the main cast. See: Citation 3) While discussing the leaking of Five Pebbles' rot, the idea that UI is mean is only a theory of Chasing Wind's (hence: "I suppose"), and not explicit fact.[3]

The most likely conclusion is that Unparalleled Innocence is a closed-off individual who doesn't realize the harm their actions bring to others, and is treated as much meaner by fellow Iterators than they actually are. Based on Gazing Stars' and Secluded Instinct's dialogue, it's entirely possible that UI might have leaked the rot images in a valiant attempt to notify others that Five Pebbles wasn't in a great state. They could've wanted to help to try and redeem whatever poor reputation had led to them being considered potentially mean by CW, but messed it up entirely.

Unparalleled Innocence came close to the sunset of their creators. They were abandoned by the so-called "noble benefactors." They were young, and didn't know how to handle it. This also plays in the favor of the idea that one of Rain World's themes is about empathy and understanding[4] - and in this case, it would be the lack of either.

And the fandom continues to mistreat them, just as they are by their fellow Iterators.

[vasito-de-leche]

I love how you write, your interpretations of characters are my favorite. If you're okay with it, may I ask for romantic headcanons of Horropedia (Reverse 1999) x Reader? I would love to know what he is like when he's developing a crush, how he confronts his feelings when he realized them, what he's like when in a romantic relationship, etc. Thank you very much!

;R1999 HORROPEDIA - Relationship Headcanons

Compilation of headcanons about Horropedia in a romantic relationship.

awe! i'm glad you like my stuff! and thank you for the lovely words and request, cause i've been itching to write for horropedia <3

i got a liiiiittle carried away with this one, hope that's alright!

Horropedia as a character is fascinating because at a surface level he's a mess and a walking stereotype - a "nerdy nerd" with a very specific hyperfixation on the horror genre, the tall guy with glasses who explains the plot and does his own thing regardless of how others view him, the first one to die in a movie solely because he's perceived as cringe etc, etc.

And yet, his medium is "logic" - he, better than anyone, understands the nonsensical laws that make up the concept of horror, he sees the patterns and the reason why some things are done this way instead of that way. Through logic, pattern recognition and analysis, Horropedia can pretty much understand anything and work his way around any problem, no matter how unorthodox his solutions may be.

In a sense, I'd compare Horropedia to Pavia. Both are characters who are subject to the stereotypes and images others assign to them - but whereas Pavia both fights and plays into all of these roles, Horropedia just brushes it off and continues doing his own thing, being genuine and unapologetically himself.

When it comes to romance, it's easy to assume Horropedia has no interest in it - they're two different genres that don't go together most of the time. It's also easy to assume that he would be a troublesome partner, due to the laser focus attention he gives to his interests. And the latter is partially true: his lackluster love life is entirely because romance hasn't entered his radar, at least not enough to pull his attention away from his one true love.

But I think this is where the aspect of "logic" comes into play. All Horropedia needs is that spark, to find something to truly become invested in when it comes to romance - once he finds it, he'll dedicate the same amount of attention to detail and care as the horror movies he loves so much.

On the subject of Horropedia developing a crush.

Similar to Click, Horropedia would need some time to start noticing the signs of a crush - the difference is that Horropedia is a little quicker when it comes to realizing he's fallen for someone. His forte is horror movies, but he still knows a thing or two when it comes to other genres.

When he cannot rationalize his behaviour around you in a way that makes sense to his current fixation or situation, that's when he knows. And given how straightforward (to the point of bordering on obliviously rude) Horropedia can be, I'd say he'd also be the type to address this crush right away. Now that there's this brand new thing in his life, he'd like to understand it better - to dissect and study the way romance is potrayed, explore how it feels and just analyze it to hell and back. Basically, he wants to know the rules, to figure out how to best proceed.

Of course, he wouldn't dream of confronting you directly, only an amateur would do such a thing. Instead, he asks his friends and pretty much anyone within his general vicinity. He wants to understand romance from every angle, to hear about it from all sorts of people until he feels like he knows enough to start forming his own opinions.

His questions are all theoretical situations that begin rather innocent, innocuous. What does the hero of a romcom do to get the romantic interest? Does it follow a three act structure? And should the third act climax start with a confession or the breakup?

Overtime, they become a little more specific. To the point where his closest friends might suspect something is up, until Horropedia finds himself asking about your interests so that he can figure out the perfect gift for you. Just in case. He finds himself watching romcoms and making extensive research and charts and essays into the genres.

The funniest thing to me is that Horropedia would be extremely casual about this whole ordeal, this crush makes him extremely intrigued in the concept of romance (an oddity for someone so themed around horror), he finds himself staring at you from across the room (this is the third time he's walked into a door because of it) and so on and so forth. But he's so chill about it.

When confronted about his crush - should Blonney or anyone else decide to tease him a little by prodding - Horropedia has no problem blurting out that he has, indeed, fallen for someone. But he'll take your name to the grave, not out of shame or embarrassment but because "he doesn't want to spoil the plot, as obvious as it might be".

On the subject of Horropedia confronting his feelings and some more insight into his mentality.

I'd say there is this small possibility of Horropedia feeling disheartened if he begins to neglect his real passion for the sake of his feelings - it's that sort of guilt and shock one gets when they realize they've forgotten their wallet the moment they're meant to pay for dinner, or when they realize they've forgotten to turn off the oven.

Horror is a huge part of his life and who he is as a person - literally look at the name he's chosen for himself - and given how heavily coded he is to be neurodivergent, I can understand this aspect of him. The feeling like one must choose between two things they enjoy, and all the other things that might come with hyperfixation, both positive and negative.

This is the biggest obstacle for Horropedia when it comes to finally taking the first steps into forming a relationship with you or confessing - the irrational thought that by doing so, he's prioritizing you and romance over horror, something that he holds very dear. One of his stories gives some insight about Horropedia's relationship with horror and how it's something he shared with (and possibly was started by) his grandfather.

I feel like he'll grow a little distant, as a way to set some boundaries for himself or draw a line between his identity and his feelings for you, separate the two so that he doesn't have to feel guilty for giving one more attention than the other. Maybe he simply stops bringing up films around you, because "you're probably not that interested anyway". Masking, he's masking.

But overall, I can see Horropedia being capable enough to get out of this mindset by himself - or with a little help from someone else. Either way, he simply loops back to realizing the obvious: you two were friends, before he realized his feelings for you. You were fine with the whole Horropedia Experience. You liked him for who he was. And he liked you just as you were.

Horropedia is the one who confesses first, the one who asks you out. 100%. And it's so unnecessarily dramatic.

I DO think that Horropedia would make sure to be the one who confesses, just so he can put everything that he's learned about romance into play. And he delivers the most award worthy performance. It would be all about redirection, an unexpected reveal - his skills and animations are also all about fake outs and misleading the audience, after all.

In my head, there's this whole scene about Horropedia asking everyone to help him out confess to you, and everyone is so excited for it - but then he just asks them to fuel this slow rift that formed between you and him, to act vague, distant and mysterious should you ask Blonney or Tooth Fairy about him. Again, unorthodox and weird, but he's cooking. This is all done with the intention of forcing a confrontation between the two of you, just so he can pour his heart out right there - it's all or nothing.

Again, I want to insist that Horropedia, despite being a logical man, still makes as many aspects of his life revolve around the things that he loves and is interested in - he likes films, he likes you. And while romance is not his preferred genre, he still wants to explore all there is about it all thanks to you.

That alone should tell you how much you mean to him. Even if his methods aren't the "proper" way, you know he's putting his whole heart into this. It's all over the top, there's fake rain, etc etc. Of course, your reaction to this is up to you!

If you're mad at him for such convoluted plan, he'll sit there and allow you to scold him to your heart's content - he's used to it as one of the many troublemakers that the Foundation failed to raise as model students. If you laugh at him because of how ridiculous this guy can be sometimes, he'll laugh along, trying to get you to tell him what he could've been done better to get a third act reconciliation. And if you start crying, jump into his arms and play along then he'll be over the moon, trying every single impactful one-liner from every romcom he's watched in the past few weeks.

On the subject of Horropedia and how he acts when he's in a relationship.

Dating Horropedia is pretty easy, because you're dating your best friend. However, it is very easy to misunderstand Horropedia's way of showing affection - those who are more on the insecure side or less receptive to his subtleties may feel like there's been absolutely no shift in the dynamic, that he's treating you the same way he'd treat Tooth Fairy or Vertin.

This is far from the truth! Once Horropedia finally settles into the relationship, he grows very comfortable and allows himself to just exist around you - which isn't saying much since he doesn't mask as much around friends, but it's all about the subtle things!

I like to think Horropedia is very particular about space, as in he makes a point not to invade people's spaces if possible and he'd rather remain in his little bubble. But when it comes to you, he's very casual with physical touch. He's not as cuddly and touchy as characters like, let's say, Matilda, Jessica or Pavia, but being able to rest his head on your shoulder means a lot to him, or just have you lean on him when sitting together. This is pushed to the limit when you two pull all-nighters, binging all of your favorite movies.

He's on cloud nine when you pay attention to his ramblings and makes sure to listen when you ramble to him as well. More than often, he'll do his own little research into the topics you like, just so you have someone to properly discuss things with! Horropedia more than anyone knows what it's like to be brushed aside for being too much or too weird, to have no one listen. Despite his confidence, he has had days of feeling like he keeps on talking to a wall, so he doesn't want you to ever feel like that.

It's all about sharing interests and recommending things that you may like, keeping up with the latest events and so on and so forth, having looong discussions at night about whatever topic you two are extremely invested in.

If these discussions get a little heated and end up as arguments, expect Horropedia to insist on arguing because he's just stubborn like that - it'll take him time to realize that he might've hurt your feelings, or that he might've be hurting too, but he'll come around eventually to talk it out.

Overall, dating Horropedia would be fun because he's full of surprises and excitement, but he's also considerate in his own way.

[amerricanartwork]

Fat-Shaming

Technically, Pebbles is right here, but I think it's about time he got a taste of his own medicine!

This is technically the first true comic strip I've done... ever, it seems! I've had it in the works for at least a week, and I'm really enjoying how it turned out! It was inspired by a Reddit post I found comparing these two characters, and this silly scene just popped in my head as a result, since that part of the Gourmand campaign where Pebbles makes little side-insults about your weight will never not be amusing to me. Probably requires more context to get than the previous, but I hope you still found it funny!

Also, a headcanon of sorts below, if you want some more serious ideas:

I like the idea that Five Pebbles has a particular disdain for Gourmand, not just because he's the polar opposite in many ways, but because Gourmand represents everything Five Pebbles and the Ancients sought to overcome: indulgence, attachment to the pleasures of life, attachment to family, having low aspirations, accepting your place in life, accepting life in general the way it is.

I also like to think part of it comes from jealousy — this fat, lazy animal barely scratching the surface of civilization is both able to enjoy all the pleasures of life AND ascend whenever he wants, meanwhile the near-godlike supercomputer far more intelligent than this creature could even hope to fathom in a century is stuck just standing there, abandoned by his creators, trying to solve an unsolvable problem while he literally rots away? He'll hardly admit it, but it really does feel quite unfair, if you ask him.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

I'm curious to see how my ideas for Five Pebbles evolve over time. As of now, I actually have like, half the campaigns to finish still (did Survivor and Monk, and just about to complete my Gourmand run), so my ideas of his character may not be the most accurate right now. From the glimpses I've gained through fanart and such, there seems to be so much more to the story of the Ancients and their iterators, and it's tragic at that. Needless to say, though I usually don't like tragedy, I'm very curious to see the rest of that story...