#MY PATHETIC LITTLE BOYYYY

[dnangelic]

'the phantom thief dark, who steals priceless works of art and jewelry, is seriously considering whether he can buy a present for the girl he likes with his little pocket money.'

I HAVE TO STOP READING JUST TO LAUGH

[traffic-light-eyes]

lloyd hcs? i wanna hear them ALL

Oh boyyyy here we go. I think my LONG Lloyd headcanon post is still one of my top posts, so you can check that out there. I already know this is gonna take a while, so strap in. Dunno if I'll get to all of them or not because I still need content for the future, though.

He's a hungry kid. Always hungry. They don't know if he's having some belated puberty thing where he's hungry 24/7 365 or if it's just his heritage, but he's just. Starving. He gets shy about it, though, even when he knows that his friends would never belittle him because of it. He'll just shyly and slowly push his plate towards Zane and look at him with his big puppy eyes and a pout and Zane can do nothing but give him what he wants (you're spoiling him, Zane. - What would you do in that situation, Cole? He looked horribly pathetic, and I couldn’t do anything but give him another slice of pie.)

He is either chronically online or he has 0 knowledge of the internet. No in-between. For chronically online, his vocabulary mostly consists of tiktok references, and you can definitely hear Zane crying in the distance because he doesn't know what Lloyd is saying. For 0 knowledge of the internet, Jay and Kai make jokes and references to tiktok/reddit/Twitter/etc. and when Lloyd doesn't understand (and subsequently tilts his head like the adorable dragoni he is), you can hear Jay crying in the distance and the soft shushing voice from Nya as she tries to calm him down.

He will steal all shiny things. Shiny rock on the ground? Yoink. Jay left a particularly sparkly bolt on his desk? Well, it's Lloyd's now. Loose change on the counter? He'll take the shiny ones, thanks. He doesn't use the money. He just owns it. When Garmadon came back and saw his stash of sparkly things, he was like, "Ah, so you did inherit some of my genetics. I was getting a bit worried."

Contrary to popular belief, he doesn't own many plushies. Just one. It's a little stuffed tiger with half-off eyes and practically tearing at the seams. Kai won it in a claw machine for him back when he was a kid, and he will not part with it nor have any alterations to it no matter what. It's his and it has survived all the fires in the monastery, the crashes of the bounty, and the angry throws at the wall when Lloyd is mad (he immediately picks it back up and cries for throwing it). He remembers each mark, each missing patch of fur, every scratch on it stupid beaded eyes, and he treasures it. Because his brother got it for him.

He bought Jay a Hatsune Miku body pillow.

He's not a very good gift-giver, actually. If it was December, and he was tasked with some white elephant something he would perish at the spot. So, to combat that, he buys trinkets and things that remind him of his friends or things that he thinks that they'd like, and during the holiday or birthday, all he has to do is stuff it in a bag and put a bow on it. During the missions where they miss the holiday/birthday or if they're not close to his stash of presents, he gets really upset because he can't show them how much he loves them because nothing nothing can compare to the year of scouring shops and finding that cute little spoon engraved with Zane's initials that he found in a thrift store.

More of the gift giving: he's bad at showing affection or just verbally saying that he loves his friends, so he does the neurodivergent thing of just. Giving them pretty rocks or, like, soda tabs. Cole was horribly touched by the rocks, and now he has a shelf full of Lloyd rocks. Sometimes, to calm down, Lloyd and Cole paint the rocks. There's a cute collection of ninja look-alike rocks sitting next to their photos. When Lloyd was younger and everyone started gunning for his affection, Kai got a bunch of jars and wrote everyone's names on them. The person with the most soda tabs by the end of the year would have won the "Lloyd's favorite" award. The thing is, though, they never stopped doing it. When Pixal joined the crew, she was surprised to find herself a jar with her name on it with a purple soda tab.

Speaking of Pixal- a little after she joined, she realized that Lloyd had not finished school. When she had asked about it, she was told Wu was teaching him. She searched more to find out exactly what he was being taught. Lo and behold, it was exclusively ninja things or ancient, ancient history. And much to Lloyd's annoyance, she immediately stormed up to him and got him learning some algebra. She was not going to let him live his life without schooling. When she realized that he was having a lot of trouble with high school mathematics (because she had assumed that he was in the highschool age), she slyly went lower and lower in the education scale just to see where he left off. She was horrified to find he had not exceeded 5th grade math. No more than 5 minutes after his daily lesson, all of them (save Lloyd) had a nice, long conversation about his age and his schooling. She made it her life duty that Lloyd became one of the smartest gosh darned people in Ninjago.

On a lighter note, Jay and Nya sometimes have robot battles for fun. But. Not aggressive or combat related. They make robots do silly tasks like planting a flower or making a sandwich. They always make Lloyd judge who did it better because he has 0 clue the mechanics behind it, and he doesn't pick favorites. (Even if he's not trying to be his father anymore, he loves stirring up chaos by making each of them never truly beat each other by a lot)

He had a lisp as a kid. He didn't know it at the time, but it was because his mouth was unfamiliar with his sharp teeth. It makes him speak funny. For a while, he just didn't speak at all because he was embarrassed when the other darkleys kids made fun of him. He toughened out, though, and sat in his room, reading out loud to himself (occasionally with his kind roommate and friend Brad helping him) to correct his speech. To this day, he sometimes messes up words because he doesn't have proper speech therapy. But it's just another cute Lloyd thing to the team.

Mkay. I only did a few for just in case someone else asks for Lloyd stuff

[fraudulent-cheese]

I really wanna hear about the skave one(12.)

OH BOYYYY

I'll get this one out of the way immediately. I hate them as a couple.

Ok hate's a little strong? To me, wanting them to be a couple is missing the goddamn point, on top of being an insanely boring outcome and doing the exact thing the ship subverts in canon. No hate to skave shippers, i just dont like this ship as an actual couple.

HOWEVER. As the train wreck they are in canon? Ignoring Lies, Cries and One Big Prize for a second - they rule. Awesome, nearly no notes. I love that they're doomed from the start of their actual romantic advances, that their flaws prevented them from getting in a relationship, hell i'd argue the superficial nature of their crushes is a good thing here since it reinforces both how this relationship wasn't gonna work out AND it feeds into each character's main flaw: a lack of communication.

Neither Dave nor Sky are great at telling the other what they want, and endlessly run on assumssions based on their own expectations and narratives; Sky thinks Dave would understand the competition comes first but Dave isn't doing that, while Dave is convinced Sky wants him bad for half the season and pines very hard after her for multiple challenges. Hell, this lack of communication/ignoring boundaries on Dave's end is set up perfectly by the first actual conversation they have! Sky opens up about her family's history and why she's training for the olympics... And he hasn't listened to a word she said. And then U-turns the conversation to liking her (according to my own recollection, maybe im missremembering). They both have apparent "quirks" related to how they communicate/react to liking someone else that would inhibit good communication for fucks sakes! They were doomed! And i love that! They're both trainwrecks in romance (especially Dave dear god) and it's so, so satisfying to watch it finally grumble by episode 9.

I love how Dave's cockiness is born out of him following the advice Shawn gave him last episode to an extreme, again showing that he's just going off on the assumption on how a "winner" acts. And then! Sky! Tells! Him! Off! Literally my favorite moment of the episode. If reality TV wouldn't let them reconcile i am glad it let Dave pathetically try to get over/get back at Sky while the girl completely brushes him off and really asserts her boundaries. I also like Dave outright eliminating himself afterwards (i dont get why Sky was in the bottom 2 tho...) because like! He would do that! He's only staying here because he's got a crush on the idea of Sky and now it's been destroyed, ofc dude wants out!

...and then the finale happened. Ughhhh why did they do them like thattttt

Look, im still making the tdpi video, but it's been put on the serious backburner since i am in medical school and have very limited access to my computer. But i have an entire paragraph about how i dont like how skave was handled in the finale, i've yapped about it before on here, how it mischaracterises Sky, how the Boyfriend Back Home reveal sucks ass, how Dave's reaction feels like the writters being desperate for an antagonistic force in the finale when Chris is right here, ect... Im not going there again. TLDR, i really dont like it.

Uh if you want more thoughts about them in canon, i'd recommend reading this post by @/leonave since it's really good. Anyways

NOW FOR WHAT I WANTED FOR MY REWRITE.

Now the thing is that i dont think there's much wrong with the start of the season. This applies to the set-up of Sky and Dave's dynamic; Dave crushing on Sky because she helped him makes sense with the way he seems to view her, and the way their crushes feel so artificial (ESPECIALLY on Sky's end) is actually beneficial to the direction i wanted to go with them - namely, that Sky isn't really crushing on Dave and Dave realises how superficial his crush was. And wasn't as intense as he thought it was. Obviously the conversation is a little awkward - Dave still wouldn't take rejection well, but is also trying to be supportive because he does like talking to Sky and also he basically just came on international television by accident and Dave isn't that terrible of a person - and they wouldn't be on good terms for a bit, but they would resolve the conflict and actually become friends afterwards. Eventually. They're still not great at communication and are also dealing with confusing emotions on reality TV.

uhhh idk what else to add to this post so uh. Here's Sky and Dave friendship propaganda with some yuri added ontop lol

[kentuckycaverats]

being emo about what a difference del's made in my life, word vomit below the cut so i don't clog the dash.

i've talked about this a wee bit on here, but after my first couple of years getting into ttrpgs i realized that i kept accidentally putting pieces of my soul into my pcs and having surprise Realizations over the course of the game(s), so i decided to start doing it on purpose

i built del very intentionally to have like, all of my childhood-adolescent trauma. the details are all greatly exaggerated but are rooted in the same feelings: not being allowed to have boundaries, not being allowed to make my own choices, being denied autonomy, being openly gay and trans in a conservative christian town, intimate partner abuse, suicidality. the fujinamis are (very loosely) based on my own parents and the tsugas are the parents i wish i'd had. sabina is not-so-loosely based on my abusive ex

but del is unlike me in every other way. she can stand up for herself, she can set and enforce boundaries, she's strong-willed and physically capable, afraid of nothing, and genuinely can't be fucked to care what anyone thinks of her. traits that i don't have but desperately wish that i did. i figured that if i could develop and play a character who emulates those things, then hey, look, those exist in me too, because del can't exist without me. my therapist has been a huge proponent of this and has helped me to utilize del as a therapeutic tool, and boyyyy has it worked. with the combination of EMDR + delphine, i've made crazy progress just in this last year

last night my partner and i were talking to his best friend and ended up on the topic of first relationships, and she wanted to know about my abusive ex. and like. she's haunted me for over a decade. it used to be that i couldn't think or talk about what she did to me without violently dissociating and triggering nightmares about her. but it doesn't hurt me to talk about anymore? she sucks ass and she's the worst person i ever met in my life, but i'm not afraid of her anymore. and i credit like 50% of that to therapy/EMDR and the other half to del game

because del has gotten to face and defeat sabina twice: first in backstory, in which del diablerized her and ended up with sabina's consciousness kicking around in her head, then again with tara and the coterie by her side as she killed her for good. when we were going into that session my therapist had a hunch that being rid of sabina in-game would help me get past the last big block from my own abuser, and she was right. i didn't notice it right away, but even when she does show up in my dreams (and she did last night, like she usually does when i talk about her) they aren't nightmares anymore. she's there and i'm annoyed mostly, but not afraid. i can tell her no and tell her to fuck off and instead of the big looming figure she used to be in my brain she's just a pathetic asshole who can't reach me anymore

my therapist says all the time that the brain processes fiction and reality the same way, emotionally-speaking, and we joke about ttrpg as group therapy but it really has been. and so much of that credit goes to our st who's (1) brilliant (2) so cognizant of telling trauma stories in a safe and respectful way and (3) has a window into my soul i guess?? he knows i'm plural but the del/aelsidhe arc was a complete surprise to me, and oddly enough comes like, scary close to paralleling the relationship between myself (del as proxy) and the host before me (aelsidhe as proxy) who i was supposed to protect from our ex. i couldn't have come up with a more fitting arc for del if i'd tried

anyway. tl;dr - healing is stored in the fighty little cockroach lesbian and she will always be so so special to me

[omorinintendoswitchedition]

Character Opinions Ask Game for dmc?

bet

blorbo (favourite character, character I think about the most) V my boyyyy tortured by the narrative bastard man

scrunkly (my “baby”, character that gives me cuteness aggression, character that is So Shaped) Danteee is such a fucking guy. he is a man. he is super wife.

scrimblo bimblo (underrated/underappreciated fave) Kyrie on the account that the writers have done nothing but fuck her over 💔 Lady goes here too for the same reasons

glup shitto (obscure fave, character that can appear in the background for 0.2 seconds and I won’t shut up about it for a week) Morrison tbh

poor little meow meow (“problematic”/unpopular/controversial/otherwise pathetic fave) nay……shall I say it…….fine……..Arius…….(glances around me in worry)

horse plinko (character I would torment for fun, for whatever reason) Vergil.

eeby deeby (character I would send to superhell) Urizen and Mundus

[paziffic]

Why I loved jschlatts villain character

/dsmp /rp

He was introduced as Tommy’s hero. The whole stream was him following them around and causing confusion and chaos

Never lets anyone one up him, will dominate anyone with words. Seriously this guy is such an ENTP

That being said, was all bark no bite. Managed to convince/ manipulate people to do what he wants. In one stream he was armorless and surrounded by mobs and nearly died but was like “omg u gotta help me” and Tommy did lol

HIS VILLAIN SPEECHES?? FUCKING ICONIC Had some of the most memorable lines in all of the dream smp

“My first decree as the president, the EMPORER, of this great country!!! Is to revoke the citizenship of Wilbur soot and tommyinnit!!!”

Fucking chills

The story needed more conflict and everyone kinda wanted to be on team good guy so Schlatt was like: fine I’ll do it myself

Originally ran as president because.,,,, he probably just wanted to cause problems

99% sure he was drunk that day

HIS SCREAM LAUGH???? Superb villainy

The cc doesn’t stream and therefore no one to entertain. He did this all for himself

Literally had no reason to be evil, was just like “I am going to make a character that is so evil and sexy” and we were all like good for him

The suit??? The tie?? The horns??? This villains got style. C!dream take notes teletubby

He didn’t have much depth but my god he did perfect in his role as evil dictator dude

Also the chill streams were so funny, him and quackity’s date felt like the villain couples just chilling after a day of wreaking havoc

Never dropped character even for a second

He always seemed one step ahead,,, he knew tubbo was a spy and planned the festival,,, he knew of the tnt under lmanburg,,, he had a revival book somehow and got dream on his side,,,

Took the L out of lmanburg which was ingenious because it meant they didn’t lose, and also Americanized it cuz they originally added the L to sound more European

Flatty Patty

Whenever he called Wilbur “lover boy” ohgoshoshithhhh

Immediately tried flirting with technoblade the moment he showed up to get him on his side

Was able to tear pogtopia against each other by making techno kill tubbo

I don’t even have to explain why making tubbo decorate his own execution was brilliant storytelling

He was intimidating, personally affected the “protagonists,” had an air of mystery and charisma, but .... he was also weird. He’s a weirdo. He doesn’t fit in, and he doesn’t want to. You ever see him without his stupid suit? That’s weird

Got high off protein powder 24/7

While high on said protein powder would randomly start lifting weights. Can’t miss leg day ig

“WÒÖØØØŌÔÒÕÕ”

This guy should be a voice actor

Didnt know how to swim but kept forgetting he didn’t know how to swim and had to be repeatedly punched out of water

I honestly thought his death was done really well- he pushed everyone away from him and spiraled into an addiction to alcohol and protein powder, and at the end of his time he was surrounded by everyone he pushed away. No one helped him when he was in pain. All just stared with pitiful and cold eyes. A pathetic way to go for a pathetic man.

TLDR: c!schlatt will always have a special place in my heart because I love me some Funny bastard villains.

Also a fusion of dream and Schlatt would be Bill Cipher I am not wrong ever

Feel free to add on !!

Edit:

offered alcohol to tubbo at one point- “here tubbo u gotta try some of this” tubbo being the responsible one “no thank you schlatt I don’t think that’s a good idea”

Fell off cliffs a lot

Never would run. God his character looks so dumb I fucking love it

Seems like he and c!Wilbur had a history, like exes or something.

The iconic “His Vice President stole my women!!! And Wilbur .... *sobbing* he stole my heart” :(

“If I die, this country goes down with me.” Well he wasn’t wrong

I completely forgot about him tearing down the Lmanburg walls! He was also about to take down the caravan, but.... guys just watch’s tubbo or quackitys POV of Election Day, u won’t regret it

The boxing match during the festival was so funny. Everyone had to take off their armor , and schlatt who never wore armor went up against fundy. Right as the bell rang he put on all diamond armor and murked fundy. A true summary of his character

“If you want your ass to get fatter, your gonna have to start doing squats with a liTTLE MORE WEIGHT ON IT BIG BOYYYY”

[patchwork-artists]

Parabéns Jack!!! you took way too long to draw i’m gonna turn homophobic. First design is a mix of his rat and jerboa design with colors as close to what i remember in my head because i haven’t colored him yet (god do i remember the first time i colored him. it was almost a month just to get the colors right and i never wanted to see his face again). second one isn’t his most used design but a concept since it’s so similar to his current one, and ofc the third being his current one (who is very embarassed of his old designs. He is pointing at them and going “.....white :[”). on the left is also his drag design bc i’ve been wanting to color it for a while so why not! Anyways, love this little guy, he’s so ridiculous and so funny i could write so many episodes with him because i never get tired of writing him. He’s kinda pathetic and annoying and the type to get into fights and then go “cmoooon i’m just a silly little rabbit! and its my birthday! im a little birthday boyyyy you wouldnt hit a birthday boy” and then get away unharmed, and i love him for it he’s so stupid and charismatic. i sent this description to lee and he just went “i love him and i hate him” and that just resumes not only mine but the other characters’ relationship to him

[timothylawrence]

twdg for the ask!!!

oh god my old hyperfixation eek

blorbo (favorite character, character I think about the most) scrunkly (my “baby”, character that gives me cuteness aggression, character that is So Shaped) scrimblo bimblo (underrated/underappreciated fave) glup shitto (obscure fave, character that can appear in the background for 0.2 seconds and I won’t shut up about it for a week) poor little meow meow (“problematic”/unpopular/controversial/otherwise pathetic fave) horse plinko (character I would torment for fun, for whatever reason) eeby deeby (character I would send to superhell)

Hi anya!!!! Blorbo: Bennnn paulll my boyyyy

Scrunkly: Baby clem... she's my whole world...

Scrimblo Bimblo: idk if he's underrated but Javi... please hmu man

Glup Shitto: bennnnn <3

Poor Little Meow Meow: Both Ben and Lilly tbh

Horse Plinko: def carver

Eeby Deeby: the stranger and whatever walker {redacted} lee

[ectopuppy]

can you do fnaf for that blorbo ask thing

blorbo (favorite character, character I think about the most): Micheal Afton my beloved.......

scrunkly (my “baby”, character that gives me cuteness aggression, character that is So Shaped): puppet is an baby

scrimblo bimblo (underrated/underappreciated fave): funfred my boyyyy

glup shitto (obscure fave, character that can appear in the background for 0.2 seconds and I won’t shut up about it for a week): if jessica from the books ever became a game character id lose my got damn mind.. also nightmarionne is neat i was very happy to see her get one of the nights in help wanted c:

poor little meow meow (“problematic”/unpopular/controversial/otherwise pathetic fave): vanny i guess lol

horse plinko (character I would torment for fun, for whatever reason): william

eeby deeby (character I would send to superhell): also william

[angelearnshaw]

DC UNIVERSE’S FIRST TV SERIES ‘TITANS’ IS GETTING POSITIVE REVIEWS AND HERE’S WHY!

Everything DC got right in its new series.

 As a fan of all things DC and superheroes, my heart is happy with how Titans is faring so far. Admittedly, there was a little bit of worry on my part upon seeing the trailer for the first time. While I was excited to see it, I was also hoping I didn’t get disappointed with it. I’ve been waiting for this show to come out even when it wasn’t a sure thing yet. But now, I gotta say, waiting one week just for another episode is even harder.

With a positive 93% rating from Google users and 81% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, I think I’m not the only one impressed. If you ask me, here are the reasons why we love it and keep coming back for more!

(As always, warning for the spoilers ahead!)

1.       THE BOY WONDER

Two words: Dick Grayson.

 I’m pretty sure I’m not the only one here who is very motivated to watch because finally, finally! We get to see the Richard John Grayson portrayed as he was meant to be portrayed (no offense Chris O’ Donell). They really did give him an apt nickname as the Boy Wonder. Because boyyyy he is wonderful.

 Although I’ve never imagined Dick as this dark and brooding character, I guess it only makes sense seeing as he recently called it quits with his sort- of adoptive father slash partner in superheroing. Plus, I’m guessing growing up around Batman isn’t exactly sunshine and rainbows, and it’ obvious from the flashbacks and from his reaction when Raven mentions the circus that the death of his parents still weighs very heavily on him. Again just like Bruce.

 And that’s not where the similarities end. Even the way Dick fights clearly shows his training from Batman. We see him blending in with the shadows, grabbing enemies and whisking them away screaming. That use of the gas while covering half his face with the cape maneuver. This are all classic Batman techniques!

 Also can we talk about how well he’s trained as a fighter? Because Hawk and Dove were about to be roasted birds before he swooped in to save them. They couldn’t handle the bad guys when there was two of them, but Dick made quick work of them without even breaking a sweat. Of course, since I’m talking about his awesome fighting skills, I need to mention that retractable bo staff. When he first brought it out, my heart literally leapt with joy because it looked so much like an eskrima stick which is his weapon of choice (as I’ve mentioned before). After it extended into a bo staff, I was a little disappointed. But only a little, because the way it happened was pretty cool. Well played Greg Berlanti and Akiva Goldsman. Well played.

 We also need to give credit to Dick for his discipline. The way he cleans up his suit after every fight and checks all of his equipment really shows you the kind of training he received from Bruce (or maybe Alfred). As I was telling my dad, who is also a major fan by the way, “he seems to be the Batman we’ve always wanted, but never gotten.”

 Of course, there are some bad sides. He needs to get rid of all that broodiness and darkness. Jason Todd could use some of it, though. Cause from what I’ve seen in the trailers, Jason seems to be a bit too preppy. I think somebody mistakenly switched their personalities. Also, no one appreciates a girlfriend stealer Dick! What the heck you doing cozying up to Dove? I would prefer it if he and Donna were together instead. I honestly ship them more than I do him and Starfire. I hope this is explored in the series.

 On an ending note (because I could write about Dick Grayson all day), can we just thank whoever decided to cast Brenton Thwaites as Nightwing? Bless your soul. Who wouldn’t mind looking at him all day? *swoon*

(Our first time seeing Dick as he stalks a child abuser and contemplates on putting on his mask)

(Hello to you too Detective Grayson) 

2.       EDGINESS WITH A PINCH OF HUMOR

 I’ve always loved DC’s dark tone. While I do appreciate the humor in Marvel, the dark tone of DC just gives it a much more realistic vibe. These are real people facing real dilemmas. They do get bruised (as seen in Dick’s shirtless scenes) and bloody and broken (as also seen from Hank’s shirtless scene). I like that the series is exploring that and showing us, that yes, these characters are far from perfect. That yes, they walk a fine line between being a hero and a villain, and one wrong decision could put them on the wrong side. They go through pain and heartbreak and betrayal. It’s very raw. Very dark. But I love it.

 I also love that the attempt to inject humor here is just right. It’s not overly done or pathetic- looking like Shazam (sorry for those who are excited to see it, but really, I think they tried too hard to be funny with that one and just died). The humor here is much more muted, just perfect to give a little lightness from all the torn up feelings the characters are experiencing. Like I said, it’s just a pinch, but it’s there. And I think the writers have found a perfect balance.

 3.       PERFECT CAST

I’ve already thanked whoever cast Brenton Thwaites, but really I’m amazed by the entire ensemble. Even to the people behind the scenes for making a successful show to launch the DC Universe streaming platform. This can really be a good start for the other upcoming series like Doom Patrol and Harley Quinn. 

Aside from Dick, I’d have to say Raven is also beautifully portrayed by Teagan Croft (and apparently she’s only fourteen?! Dude, what? Can I adopt her?!). 

I’m also warming up to Starfire. From the first episode I’ve seen, she can be a badass, but her fun and cavalier personality also shines through as she tried to remember who she is. I’m hoping to see more of the free- spirited, fun- loving Starfire like in the comics and old animated series. Anna Diop is great with giving us the strong yet blasé personality, even that naivety, which Starfire seems to have. 

And of course, let’s not forget Hawk and Dove (aka Hank and Dawn). Although I’m not a fan of their somewhat toxic relationship, I did fall in love with Dove’s calm and calming presence. On the other hand, I also like how Ritchson contrasts that with the douchebag that is Hank/ Hawk. Apparently, opposites still attract. Can’t wait to see Donna and Beast Boy incorporated more into the story.

4.       ACTION (AND VIOLENCE?)

Welllllllll I’m not really a fan of the violence, but I guess it’s a part of what makes the show interesting. The fight scenes are very well choreographed. I love that there are some tumblings done by Dick (maybe a stunt double) that show his acrobatic roots. I also love the teamwork shown in the scene where he’s fighting alongside Hawk and Dove. There seems to be large amounts of blood spilled, whether it be the bad guys or the good guys. It’s not entirely necessary and reminds me too much of Netflix’s The Punisher, but I guess some people like that. Kudos to the fight choreographers though! Because of them (and not the blood) the fight scenes have become my favourite part of the show. I could watch those scenes a ton of times.

OTHER NOTEWORTHY THINGS:

·         Donna Troy (Wonder Girl) is set to make an appearance and you don’t know how happy this makes me! She’s Dick’s best friend in the comics and I ship them so hard. Can’t wait to see what their chemistry will be like on screen and what Wonder Girl will bring to the table. Since Wonder Woman was a big hit, I’m expecting something good from her as well.

·         People die in this universe and, although it makes me sad, it is something unavoidable in a superhero movie. I always kind of disliked the fact that no one ever stays dead in a superhero movie or story. Tragedy is a great part of what makes a hero. However, if they kill off Dove, I’m starting a protest.

·         Starfire and Raven get costumes. Although it hasn’t been shown in the series per se, it’s been confirmed with some BTS pictures, and that’s nearly as good. My girl Donna should also get her own clothes otherwise-

·         Grayson’s soft side when it comes to Rachel. Honestly, Dick being a dad to Rachel and totally denying that he’s good with family is the cutest thing ever (Also can we talk about him calling her Rache?! Too cute!)

And that’s about it! What are you most looking forward to seeing from Titans? Who do you want to be on the team? And are you liking it so far? Sound off with a comment!

[tayzamxlfoy]

Cute. (Sirius Black imagine ;))

Sirius Black imagine where Sirius kisses reader, it’s just so cute ahh.

Warnings: swearing, tha’s all!! :)) enjoy

Sirius Black sat next to you in potions.

He just sat.

But yet he sat so fucking perfectly and his legs were sitting comfortably apart and his beautiful face rested boredly on his perfect fist on his perfect arm on the perfect table. How can someone have a perfect fist? Yet he fricken managed it.

But if anyone was going to manage it. It was Sirius Orion Black.

And Holy Ghost how his black wavy hair fell messily and carelessly over his eyes and he flicked it back irritatedly was enough to make a girl (or a boy even) melt, boyyyy was he perfect.

Sitting there, next to you, watching professor Slughorn write out the ingredients for the draught of living death you were about to concoct. And man would you need some of that stuff because you felt as if every time you looked at one of your best friends Sirius Black a part of you died.

In a good way :)

“Now, I don’t expect any of you to get it right first time, or second time for that fact, but if any of you do, I will be very proud, and the lucky winner will get an instant invitation to the slug club dinner this evening. Good luck!!”

Chairs slid across the dungeon floor as everyone went to their tables with their potion equipment on.

He got up and looked around boredly as he walked towards both of your table that you shared.

How did he walk so sexily??

“Y/N?? Earth to Y/N”

You were awoken from your badly mistimed daydream by Sirius knocking on your head gently. “Anyone in there??” He mocked listening to your head as if he would hear someone inside.

You lightly smacked his hand away, “hey!!” You laughed and felt your cheeks go a bit pink.

He mocked a sigh, “I thought we’d finally lost you there.”

“Shut up” you laughed and pushed him playfully as you went to grab some asphodel root from the shelf.

Shit. Being a short ass does not help in these situations.

You gave yourself a mini mental pep-talk. Stop thinking about Sirius. My god Y/N you are not going to pass your OWLS by daydreaming all the damn time. Save it for later!! You sounded like your mum. Oops.

“Need some help??” A callused hand came to rest gently on your waist and a warm chest came with it and touched your back slightly. His other hand stretched up and grabbed the asphodel you needed with ease.

The touch sent a shiver up your body. A good one. An amazing one. Ohhh my god I’m going to die. He’d touched you many times before, being one of your best friends, but man it never felt as good as this.

You could almost sense his smirk when you turned around to him. He knew exactly what he was doing to you.

The shit.

“Thankyou Black but I could have got it perfectly fine on my own.” You smiled and laughed.

His face was full of amusement, “I’m sure.”

The lesson went on and Sirius hovered next to you, not really helping at all. For the best probably. He sucked at potions.

In the middle of the lesson, in one of his few attempts to help you with the potion to look like he was doing something, he knocked the vial of bean juice with his arm going all over the table. “Oh godric’s flippin’ arse.” You heard this and burst with laughter, earning a stern look from Slughorn and the girls over on the end table. Sirius’ laughter mixed with yours and he grabbed your shoulder and went shhhh between all the laughing. If you were drinking tea at that moment, you definitely would have spat it out.

At the end of the lesson, you grabbed your books and waited for James to clear up all of the exploding goo he ‘accidentally’ cooked up in his cauldron which was now all over their work table. It was pretty funny really.

“Hey,” Sirius put his hand in the crook of your arm. You turned to him. “Let’s wait for him outside.”

You followed him out of the classroom and into the corridor outside. It was basically abandoned.

“Where’s Moony and Peter??” You asked.

“They left already, Wormtail won’t stay around Slughorn for longer than he needs to. He’s taken a liking to him because of his talent with potions, nearly got invited to slug club. He doesn’t wanna be seen as a teachers pet.” He laughed his beautiful full laugh. “Why would anyone want a pet rat.”

You laughed with him. Although you felt a bit sorry for peter, you knew what Sirius meant.

“Your laugh is cute,” he smirked and lifted his hand to your ear, gently tucking your hair behind it.

You felt yourself have a slight intake of breath as he did so, your heartbeat going crazy.

He smirked and smiled even more as he brought his hand up and stroked your cheekbone lightly with his thumb, as if he could hear your heart beating out of your chest and your brain going oh my god oh my god pathetically.

You little shit.

You laughed a little and looked down embarrassedly. He brought his fingers along your jaw to your chin and brought it up gently so you were looking at him. You could get so easily lost in his eyes.

You realised then just how close you were to each other, feeling your cheeks grow rosier as you looked up into his face that you love so much. He was looking at you in a slight curiosity, a ghost of a smirk on his face.

He started to bring his head closer to yours, leaning down slowly as he was taller than you, still with his soft fingers on your chin. As his lips got closer to yours his hand ran slowly back up your jaw and went to the side of your face and his fingers tangled in your hair.

You couldn’t quite believe what was happening. Your heartbeat elevated and nerves filled with excitement. Every single inch of your skin ached for him to kiss you and never let you go. You laughed at yourself in your head, boy you were patheti...

He kissed you.

His soft lips brushed yours softly as you felt your insides melt. He paused, as if for dramatic affect, a ghost of a smirk floating on his face. His right hand travelled to your waist as he kissed you more, a little firmer but still so gentle, his left in your hair. Man was he good.

Also, he smelt fricken phenomenal.

His touch drove you insane, your heart beating out of your chest. He smirked into the kiss as if he knew, you smiled into his lips. I never want to be apart from you, ever. You giggled a little into the kiss. I’m so pathetic.

You both finally came apart, your hands still in his hair and on his chest and his gently in your hair and on your waist. Though still impossibly close, almost reluctant to come apart,

He still wore his annoying perfect smirk, you laughed a little breathlessly and rested your forehead against his.

Suddenly there was a rustle a little away of a packet being opened. Padfoot and you looked towards the doorway of the class room and rested upon an extremely smug looking James leaning against the door frame and eating a rather large packet of fizzing wizzbees.

“Hello lovebirds,” he crooned, “enjoy that??”

Oh I wanna hit him.

You rolled your eyes laughing and Sirius threw a ball of screwed up paper at him, smiling.

“You’re a dick,” Sirius pointed out. You and James laughed with him, we all knew this was truer than true.

“I thought I’d be fucking 50 by the time you two finally got off. Man I could not deal with any more relationship advice sessions from Moony for you. Torture.”

He came between you both and linked arms, leading you all out towards the grounds where you always sat. You laughed, damn he was annoying. You loved him though.

You looked curiously at Sirius, he’d talked about you?? You could swear he turned a little pink as he winked at you earning a smile and a laugh.

Merlin you’re gorgeous.

“I’m sure Moony gives amazing relationship advice,” you laughed. He was pretty wise, like an owl.

“Better than yours,” Padfoot scoffed earning a return scoff from Prongs.

“Bullocks, my relationship advice is brilliant, I could get anyone any girl,” he began to strut a bit, earning your laugh again.

“Anyone any girl bit you can’t get yourself Lily,” laughed Sirius, a cheeky smirk rising up on his face.

James glared at him and tried to trip him up. “Dick.”

You rested your head on his shoulder gently, “you’ll get her James.”

He smiled at you gratefully (another gorgeous smile, merlin why are all my best friends so gorgeous??)

“thanks y/n/n” and he touched his head to yours gently and you pulled yours up; his messy brown hair tickled your forehead.

“Anyway,” he announced with his usual energy, “now we have you two snogging to fawn over.” He grinned widely and you started laughing as Sirius unlinked arms and pushed him as they started to playfight.

Walking behind them giggling you subconsciously brought your fingertips to your lips, where Sirius had just been.

You could still feel his soft lips on yours, taste them almost. An uncontrollable smile grew on your face as you thought of it. You’d wanted to do that for so long it looked like he had too. Damn you could not wait for more of that.

You looked up at them playfighting and laughing and you laughed again.

Oh this is perfect.

[neetu-uplifts]

Oneness

Man, I love this word. It runs deep for me. When I hear or think “oneness”, something inside my mind releases and my heart warms. I feel connected to everyone around me, even if just for a few seconds. My ego and the dualism that it creates (me-them, me-her, me-him, us-them) weakens just by saying “oneness”. It’s such a powerful word. It speaks to the ultimate truth about life and all living beings. We are all connected at the core. We all emanate from the same source - the life force that runs through our bodies and keeps us breathing, walking and talking. Our false egoic identities create divisions among us. We’ve slapped labels on ourselves and on each other, creating conflict, separation and hate, when truthfully, underneath all that, we are one.

Ego: Public Enemy #1

Eckhart Tolle drops the mic when he reminds us that “You are consciousness appearing as a person for a little while”. Read it again, slowly. You are consciousness appearing as a person for a little while. And so is every other living being around you. We are all consciousness in different bodies (costumes) for a short while. We are souls having a human experience. Ultimately, there is no difference between you and me. But we think we’re different from each other because of our ego (false identity). It’s interesting to think about this in the context of someone who we intentionally want to distinguish as very different from us. For example, when I think about a Republican Trump supporter who makes racist and/or sexist comments, I need to separate myself from that. The stories around what that person is and how they think create an image that I could never associate myself with. But I need to remind myself that we are all suffering from the same mental phenomenon of being stuck in our false identities (Liberal, Conservative, Jewish, Sikh, Christian, Muslim, Atheist, Black, White, Brown, etc) and we operate from those respective vantage points. Underneath all that, the essence of our truest selves is the same. At the core, (soul level) there is no difference between me and that Trump supporter. We are both pieces of the same infinite light. When I think about it that way, I don’t hate on or judge the Trump supporter as a living being. I lose interest in thinking about them as a Trump supporter. The labels fade away. I can and will absolutely call out garbage behaviour, condemn social ills and stand against unjust ideologies. But I don’t have to attack the individual; it’s about attacking the twisted ideologies, which stem from the pathology of their ego. We’re all suffering from our ego - just in different ways or to different extents.

Sadly, maintaining a oneness mindset 24/7 is incredibly difficult as the ego is incredibly powerful. We have spent decades being conditioned by the ego, building and believing our false identities and the labels and stories that come with them, as well as the labels and stories about others (I’m Neetu and this is my story and these are the things that define me and my life….blah blah blah….those Republicans over there are so whack….). The more we watch our minds and practice awareness the more conscious we will become and the weaker our egoic selves will become. The ego is false (it’s not you) but it basically controls you because you’re so identified with and attached to it and the thoughts and emotions it creates. It’s like we’re asleep and consciousness is the cold bucket of ice water that will wake us up. Once we stop identifying with our stories and our thoughts and feelings, which are created by your ego, we become way less judgmental. We see no value in defining ourselves or others. We define others in reference to ourselves (i.e. that person is younger, smarter, fitter, more accomplished, calmer than me, etc). Remember, ego is anything we’re identified with. As we navigate this human journey we’re on, it’s helpful to have a name, some material possessions like clothes, a home or a cell phone, and loved ones who we recognize as our family members, etc. Let’s enjoy these aspects of this human experience. It’s when we get lost in these things and derive our sense of self from all of the labels, possessions, achievements, suffering, attachments and addictions that we’re stuck. The goal is to be like the lotus flower, in the water but not consumed by it. You’re in this world (human form) but not of this world (you realize who you really are is the deeper soul). Once we give up attachment to defining ourselves, we won’t have a reference point against which to define, compare, assess or stack others. We will just see consciousness everywhere - within and around us. There is no false identity to protect, validate or defend. Thoughts and emotions emanate from the ego; they are not the truth of who you are. Who you are is a permanent state of being or “is-ness”. Neutral, non-reactive, at peace, connected to everything. Getting there however requires us breaking out of our deep egoic slumber. And that, my friends, is not easy to do. But it’s ultimately the point of this human life and the best thing we can do for ourselves and for each other.

Mantra: Give-up Defining Yourself

Sometimes throughout the day I’ll repeat a mantra to myself. When I’m lucky and get brief glimpses of awareness, I’ll catch or notice my ego operating e.g. “that was such a great idea, people probably think I’m pretty cool” or “damn, just killed that last set of squats, so strong, look at that guy, he’s looking at me shocked that I’m lifting this much, yeaah boyyyy” or “why doesn’t she or he make an effort to keep in touch with me?” Ego is present both when we think we’re the shit (high on our story) AND when we feel like shit (low on our story). Any attachment to story = ego. In these moments, I’ll literally say to myself: “give up defining yourself, Neetu”. It’s like slamming the breaks on the ego. I experience an immediate and intense state of presence. I hard stop on the egoic story of Neetu and step outside of the chatter and content of my mind, even if just for a few minutes. I don’t feel bad about the egoic thoughts because I know those thoughts aren’t me. I laugh at my ego and how pathetic it is. This (at least for me) is one of the most powerful and effective little tricks to spotlighting my ego and disidentifying from it (and doing that weakens it), even if just for 30 seconds or two minutes. Try it out! Even just mindfully watching your thoughts the way you would watch a toddler who’s roaming around the house can be very effective. The more we practice awareness the more we weaken our ego. The ego is a tricky bastard though - it will show-up in the subtlest of ways. Ego can develop if we think we’re suddenly “conscious” and “enlightened”, ridding ourselves of our ego, unlike all the other ‘peasants’ out there. Watch for that too. It’s another form of self-definition and story-making and dualism in the mind. The ego is so slithery dude.

Replace Labels with Love

I grew up in a Sikh family. I respect Sikhism but I am not a religious person. I am definitely a spiritual person. What’s the difference? I see religion as man-made. To me, religion is the outcome of centuries of “interpretations” slapped onto the ONE truth, which was shared by several different enlightened prophets - Jesus, Guru Nanak, Ibrahim, Buddha, to name a few. This truth in its purest form was meant to unite people through their oneness, not divide them. But the layers of interpretation and “tweaking” over hundreds of years have resulted in religion being a source of grave divide and hate among humanity. Spirituality on the other hand, honours that single source of truth; the truth of God, who exists in every living being. This was the core message that all of the prophets of every religion were trying to communicate. If you read the Bhagavad Gita, Old Testament or the Sri Guru Granth Sahib, and you break down what they’re all saying, at the deepest level, they are pointing to the one same truth. Their message just got distorted along the way through the dogma of organized religion. Spirituality helps us discover the truth of ourselves. It connects and unites us. It is all about oneness. A beautiful excerpt from Eckhart Tolle reinforces this: “It’s not what you believe (religion) that matters. It’s your state of consciousness that matters.” Don’t ask me what my religion is, look instead at how strong my ego is. Look at how much compassion and kindness I practice. My state of consciousness will tell you where I am on my inward journey home. Home being your soul, a state of oneness and bliss. Also, I recognize that following a particular religion doesn’t automatically mean you are lost or that you “hate” people from other religions. Religion can definitely be a valuable path to community and inner peace. My concern with religion is when it becomes the basis or narrative for hate and separation. Whether that’s the belief that “my religion is the only path to God and liberation” or “people of that religion are all extremists”. If we all just let each be wherever we are, with whatever we see as the helpful path to peace then religion is fine.

Insanity of the Ego

Eckhart Tolle talks about the pathological nature of ego, which causes suffering of various degrees to the self and others. He goes on to talk about the ego having a “fear and distrust of other people, [and a] tendency to emphasize the “otherness” of others by focusing on their perceived faults and [it] makes those faults into their identity”.  I think about this in the context of the senseless and tragic mass shooting at two mosques in New Zealand earlier this week that left 50 innocent people dead. Look at the damage being done through mental labels. Children were among those 50. It’s unimaginably sickening. Tolle explains: “any mental labeling we attach to others desensitizes us to the humanity or the truth of who that person is”. White supremacy, Islamophobia and terrorism - they are all the disgusting outcomes of severely unconscious, insanely pathological egos governed by extreme “otherness”. I love the statement below from Hasan Minhaj in response to the New Zealand shootings - he’s pointing to Oneness.

Earlier this week, I had the opportunity to attend a powerful talk by Pardeep Singh Kaleka and Arno Michaelis. During the 2012 Sikh Temple shootings in Oak Creek, Wisconsin, a white supremacist entered the temple and fatally shot 6 people. The Sikh temple leader, Satwant Singh Kaleka, was among the victims and also Pardeep’s Father. The shooter was a member of one of America’s largest white supremacist groups, which Arno (who had since left that life) had founded. I found the conversation between Arno and Pardeep so riveting because it’s a striking example of how two men, who could hate each other, came together to conquer hate through love. They founded Serve2Unite, an award-winning, international peace building and educational initiative that works with youth to break stereotypes and overcome hate and violence through art and social good projects. They also wrote a book called The Gift of Our Wounds. Their friendship and brotherhood, which was visibly genuine, shows us all what’s possible through kindness and compassion. As Pardeep said on Tuesday night when asked where he found the strength to befriend Arno: “pain will do 1 of 3 things: it’ll transform you for the better, consume you or you’ll transfer it to others”. I’m so moved by both Pardeep and Arno’s intentional decision to transform themselves into better, more loving beings, despite the pain and suffering that initiated the connection between them. 

In a recent Headspace meditation I did, they key takeaway was “The extraordinary-ness (soul) in our ordinary-ness (human form) is what connects us all”. We are no different in our extraordinary-ness, which is the best and truest part of us. We all belong to one another and it’s when we forget this that we suffer. I see the future generations as holding more promise in this regard. Last weekend, my 7-year old nephew was making a birthday card for his friend’s birthday party, which he was attending later that day. My Mom, out of curiosity, asked if his friend was “Indian, White, Asian or Black”. My nephew thought for a few seconds and as I watched his facial expression I could see that he was struggling to answer the question (and this kid is really smart). Finally he responded to his Grandmother: “Ummm, I don’t know”. I realized in that moment that he doesn’t see colour. And my hope is that neither do any of the people in his generation. May love protect them from the social ills of racism, religious divisions and discrimination.

#soulgoals

Look at people who you consider fundamentally different from you and realize that they are you and you are them. You are one. It’s hard to realize or feel that because our short-sighted egoic mind doesn’t allow us to see past the labels we’ve created and attached. When we break free from the labels we’ve attached to ourselves and to others, we see, think and feel from a place of deep love. How different would the world be if we operated from that mindset? Oneness is about love and connectedness - a connection that’s not dependent on selfish outcomes. It’s like I forget who I am (false self/ego) and so I forget who you are (labels created by ego) and I just see ONE (truth/consciousness). Or as Mooji says: “I know who you are because I know who I am”. That’s the dream state. That’s liberation for the soul.