#although that storylines kinda... weird

[skeletalheartattack]

About that tag in the commentary...I definitely agree with you there. Like sure MAYBE (a very big maybe) Frieza and Zarbon do have a chummy moment in good days. But people forget at the end of the day, it's all conditional, especially in Frieza's hands. Idk Zarbon's possible prince status could have leverage that, but he's no bestie to Frieza.

honestly you took the words out of my mouth, that's basically how i see their relationship.

everyone seems pretty scared working under Frieza, and rightfully so, and i can honestly see Zarbon feeling the same way, atleast when he's the one having to watch after Vegeta after beating him unconscious. like, him being higher up in Frieza's force only gets him so much i think.

i think you can really feel Zarbons panic after Vegeta escapes, and i feel like it even clouds his mind when battling Vegeta for the last time, because if he doesn't do something about, then Zarbon's on the chopping block... though i definitely have a feeling that even if Zarbon had succeeded in taking care of Vegeta, that things still wouldn't end well for my man.

that said. i kinda wish there was more lore for Zarbon, since the only extra lore we get from him are games and spinoff movies, and it's hard to really know what's true to the actual series, given some movies don't fit anywhere in Dragon Ball's timeline.

[shimmerluna]

i do think there's probably something suspicious about the way everyone loves Ca$h and Quinni and their depth while essentially reducing Darren to their shared supporting character and/or the sassy black woman(/person in this case) stereotype, but I feel somewhat hypocritical bringing it up

[bmpmp3]

the epic highs and lows of trying to read an ongoing shounen manga

[thebluester2020]

[GI] Kinktober Day 10: "Exhibitionism"

Summary: After your stunt with Tartaglia, you are forced to deal with the repercussions of Capitano's not-so-well-hidden jealousy.

Warning(s): Reader is fucked in front of an audience, Dub-Con, Degradation, (Probably a whole slew of other warnings that I can’t think of rn).

Side Note(s): Okay so—I switched it up last minute to exhibitionism because I realized that I get confused easily between that and voyeurism (+ I have more of a love for exhibitionism anyway).

Also, this is kinda an unofficial pt. 2 to the "Sharing" fic I posted? I mostly kept to the same "storyline"(?) because it was easier on the brain for me.

Your relationship with Capitano has been in a...weird spot, to the least, ever since that day between yourself, Tartaglia, and Capitano.

At the end of it all, the men didn't even get what they had originally wanted. You were far too fucked-dumb to even decipher who was who, much less come up with enough letters capable of yelling out a name. But, for the sake of being tired himself, Tartaglia had admitted "defeat" and carried on his merry way! Eventually, he left Capitano's war band and continued on his own personal mission, leaving you behind and working for Capitano permanently like you were originally supposed to.

But it's been awkward.

Capitano was curt with you, only speaking to you when he needed to. If you were caught taking a moment to relax, you began to pray that Capitano wouldn't happen upon you, he'd only immediately order you to get back to work!

No longer did he greet you warmly and no longer did he seem to care about your well-being. When the entire war party moved, he no longer expected you to be by his side, nor did he constantly check to see if you were! You could've been at the very back of the party and he wouldn't have given a single damn.

You had a mind to call your boss out on his behavior, pull him aside, and ask what the issue was and...whether or not there was still something between you both.

Although, you already had a mind to think that any feelings that may have started to blossom had long since been crushed underneath heel and foot.

Until today that is, when you were in your tent and finishing up some reports.

. . .

You quickly rose to your feet when Capitano suddenly entered your tent, bowing your head as you murmured a respectful 'Lord Capitano' in greeting.

He responded with a gruff noise of acknowledgment. "There will be a feast held tonight," Capitano said.

Your brow cocked, a feast? You hadn't heard anything relating to a feast at all. "Our efforts and missions have been going smoothly, I figured it's overdue to reward everyone in this camp. Even you." You bit the inside of your cheek at the cold way he addressed you. Had you known that accepting Tartaglia's offer—that rogue ginger-headed charmer—would lead to such an awkward tension between you and Capitano, you would've never allowed Tartaglia to trick you!

"...That's...that's kind of you." You said before sighing.

He nodded his head before turning to leave, prompting you to quickly stop him. "M-My Lord," You started off. "About that day...are you still—"

"I'll be taking my leave,"

"Lord Capitano!" You said more firmly this time, walking around your desk and beginning to close the distance between the two of you. "You can't continue to avoid me, n-not to mention treat me as I—" You stopped in your tracks when the first harbinger turned his head to look at you. And although you couldn't see his eyes, nor his expression behind that dark mask...the danger that oozed off of him. It made you audibly gulp as you took a few steps back.

You bowed your head in silent apology. "...You will come to my tent before the feast officially begins." Then, he walked out. A cold bead of sweat dripped down your neck at the vague order. Either it would be nothing aside from more work, Capitano deciding to kill you, or...hopefully, he'd finally get over his attitude and talk to you.

You couldn't stand how things were at the moment.

So, when the time finally arrived and the feast was ten minutes away from the beginning. You found yourself in Capitano's tent, your hands resting neatly in front of you as you stood at the entrance of his lavish tent. "My Lord, the feast will begin soon." You gently reminded him. "Shall I alert the soldiers of anything before it begins?" You continued.

You didn't receive a response until Capitano emerged from the covered part of his tent, adorned in the usual attire he wore when he appeared during important Fatui functions or battles. "No," He answered. "Simply follow me." Your brow rose as he walked past you, but nonetheless, you dutifully followed after him outside and back into the steadily warming air thanks to the bonfire that had just been set up.

As the soldiers began to gather, however, Capitano clearing his throat before he broke out into an, admittedly, very admirable speech as he thanked and showed gratitude towards his soldiers. Certain things started to stand out to you as your eyes washed over the crowd. Such as...the doctors and nurses of the camp weren't present, surely they deserved some praise and appreciation too? Too many times have soldiers or even your boss himself had come into the camp injured from head to toe! They'd quickly patch them up and almost seem to perform magic, you've heard soldiers state that one doctor in particular was good at numbing the pain!

There were none of the cooks, blacksmiths or even the younger soldiers that were fresh into the party, tasked to simply stand aside and watch.

All this boiled down to this "feast" being composed of nothing more than the more experienced soldiers, simply leaving you with a number ranging around the hundreds.

As pieces started to merge together although...a heavy hand placed itself on your shoulder, and then, you tuned back into the conversation. "...You will all bear witness as to my secretary learning who she truly belongs to, hopefully with an audience, she will learn not to be so easy for others."

What had just happened?

. . .

"Apologize." Capitano gruffly ordered you as the loud sound of your squelching cunt echoed through the camp. Not even the whistling winds could muffle your desperate panting as Capitano fingered your soaked cunt, taking special care to not knick you with his claws. "Apologize for being such a desperate whore..." He hissed out, loud enough for everyone to hear. "...for being so easy to fuck, not even having the courtesy to quiet yourself down despite being in a camp full of my soldiers."

Your cheeks burned with shame as you could feel hundreds of eyes on you. You didn't know whether you wanted the soldiers to be disgusted at the sight and turn away or if...you preferred this in a sick way, although there were some women amongst the crowd, the heavy sound of panting amongst the men made you clench around nothing, your slick beginning to drip and run down from your cunt and onto Capitano's lap.

Something that the ever-vigilant Captain didn't miss.

"You shameless whore." He snarled in your ear, your body shuddering at the feeling of his sharp teeth grazing the skin on your ear. "You're getting even wetter at being watched?" The harbinger nearly had a mind to laugh at how your legs twitched, as if you wanted to curl into yourself at his cruel words. He almost allowed himself to feel bad, until he smelled how your arousal grew at his words.

Oh...so you liked this.

Well...that explained everything.

Slowly, he took his fingers away from your cunt, a string of arousal still connecting him to you as he brought them up to his face. "So that's why you fucked my fellow harbinger." He sneered, opening and closing his index and middle finger, playing with your slick.

"H-Huh?" You moaned, both in disappointment and confusion. Despite the cold, your body burned with desire, one that grew more potent by the passing second as you felt Capitano's obvious hard-on behind you. You were grateful for your tears blurring your vision, for as Capitano continued to let you sit in his lap exposed to his soldiers, you at least could fool yourself into thinking that no one was paying attention.

But only for so long.

A scream tore from you as the Captain's fingers returned to your sex, his fingers dipping into your pussy before they had quickly found your g-spot whilst his other hand wrapped around your torso to begin flicking rapidly at your clit. All the air in your lungs were nearly knocked out of you at the rate of how quickly you were approaching your climax, your hands fruitlessly clawing at Capitano's forearms as drool started to dribble from the side of your mouth, your eyes starting to roll into the back of your skull.

"C-Captain..." You moaned. "O-Oh Archons...!" You keened.

He didn't relent. "Take it," He ordered as if he were ordering a soldier. "Considering you've taken me and Tartaglia at the same time...you should be used to the pleasure." He chuckled gruffly.

He tightened his hold on you as you squirmed. "Slut," He spat. "Quit squirming."

It was only when Capitano suddenly bit down on your shoulder were you pushed off the edge, your mouth falling open in a silent scream as your body stilled and your vision turned completely white. For a long while, you drifted on that cloud of sheer bliss...until you were brought back down by the feeling of something hard slapping against your cunt, snapping you back to reality before you were face to face with the harbinger's cock.

Starting off at a lighter color at the base before turning into a dark purple towards the middle and upwards at the tip. You shuddered when you remembered that Capitano's cock was inside of you...not even a whole two weeks prior! The ridges along his dick were intimidating, especially with the way it twitched and oozed pre-cum.

You gasped when he parted your cunt wider with his fingers. "If you won't apologize with your mouth..." He started off before he lifted you a little, as easily as he would carry a sack of flour before the tip of his cock pressed against your opening. "...Maybe you'll be more apologetic with your pussy."

. . .

Capitano didn't waste any time to wrap a hand around your mouth, although, the sheer size of his hand nearly engulfed your entire face. As he pressed you impossibly closer to him, he made sure to get really close to your ear as he spoke to you. "Make sure to look my soldiers in the eye as you apologize to me with this cunt of yours." He said before he slowly pushed himself into you.

Immediately, you broke his command, your eyes threatening to roll into the back of your head. Something that Capitano quickly corrected with his free hand slapping the side of your thigh. "Look at them." He reminded you. As more of his dick sunk into you, your eyes blurry and struggling to focus as you looked at the soldiers before you. You accidentally made eye contact with one of them, all before...your eyes glimpsed at his noticeably hard cock.

In fact, you noticed how all of them were hard.

Your cunt clenched tighter around your boss' dick at that realization. "Fuck—" He whispered. "You must've noticed, hm? How they all yearn to fuck you? My secretary." He continued.

When your pussy twitched at his words, he lightly pinched your side in punishment. "Greedy pussy...still eager to take more cock despite having me inside of you?" A muffled yelp resounded against the harbinger's hand when the rest of the Captain's dick was suddenly pushed into you. More moans followed suit as his fat tip began to poke and prod at your sweet spot, deep inside of you. "Don't worry, I'll curb your greediness soon." He whispered, the sheer possessiveness in his deep voice making goosebumps pop up all over your skin and down your spine.

More than you cared to realize, you loved when your boss was possessive over you. And that love only grew more when he started to move, his balls slapping against your skin as he took up a brutal pace almost immediately. You tried your best to keep your moans quiet when he suddenly released his grip over your mouth for it to take up stationing itself on your waist, aiding in pulling you down faster and harder against his pelvis. But it was so fucking hard to be quiet when he was fucking you like he was afraid of loosing you. As if you'd be gone the second this was all done.

"C-Captain..." You groaned. "F-Feels so good...!" You continued to cry out, blissful tears running down your face as you lost yourself in the feeling of his cock. Delicious sparks ran up and down your spine at the feeling of the ridges alongside his cock rubbing against your walls, your arms coming to loop themselves around the back of the Captain's neck as his groans started to become more and more audible.

His cock was touching all the right spots inside of you, making you see stars behind your eyes. "Fuck—" He snarled. "Archons...your cunt is squeezing me so tightly." He groaned, his head coming to bury itself in the crook of your head before he whispered more words you were too cock-drunk to decipher. You whined when he sped up the pace of his thrusts against you, your cock-drunk babbles turning from moaning to pleading for him to go easier on you, much to the harbinger's amusement. "Too much?" He mocked, faking sympathy as he fucked you harder in turn. "That's too bad. You wanted this, so you're going to fucking take it." He growled.

He was suffocating you in the best way possible as each time his cock slid into you, it practically punched the air from your lungs, the scent of sex in the air making it feel like it was hard to breathe. But you loved it. You assume that's why your second orgasm snuck upon you so suddenly, the presence of people watching your boss fuck you silly on his lap...the degrading words he whispered into your ear in combination to the pleasure. It was all making your mind spin. "You're fucking tightening up on me..." Capitano grit his teeth together, his claws beginning to dig into your skin.

"Gonna cum?" He asked before he kissed the side of your neck, lightly nipping it as he felt his orgasm begin to approach as well. "Cum all over my cock then." He cooed, the feeling of his twitching dick battering against your cervix making you let out a few more strangled moans before you froze again him with a loud cry.

"Fuck...fuckfuckfuckfuck." He groaned, fucking you through your orgasm for a few more thrusts until he stilled against your still twitching pussy with a loud hiss of his own. You moaned softly as you struggled to come down from being dicked down, a dopey grin plastering itself onto your face as you looked behind you with both a happy expression and a shy one.

The harbinger, although dazed and hidden behind his mask, smirked confidently, the way he moved to run his fingers through your hair shockingly gentle.

He doubted you would want to go and find someone else to fuck after tonight.

[nqueso-emergency]

I know that the real gut punch was these so called "exit interviews" right?

An anon asked about Lou's SWAT contract and although I am very unfamiliar with what his contract entails, I would be willing to bet that if they have a story come up that involves his character, he's obligated to come back.

Considering that this season of SWAT could very well be the last season (they've been canceled twice now and saved, plus they wrapped up a lot of OGs storylines last season) it wouldn't be weird for them to want to wrap up other character's storylines as well. Rocker has been in every season to some degree, so that fan base would still like to see closure.

They've been filming out of order a lot this season for 911 and a lot of times that's due to availability of actors so could Lou's SWAT schedule be one reason?

But, back to my main point of this post.

The Fangirlish interview + the writer being biased and writing multiple times on Twitter that it was an exit interview has skewed the way people read the above article.

And here's my proof. This is an interview from last season. Sounds kinda similar, doesn't it?

Take that as you will

[very-straight-blog]

I'm lowkey scared that they will use Alys to make Aemond look even more like the villain. Especially after having spend so much time creating this weird, kinda friendly, relationship between her and Daemon. I can definitely see them have Aemond treat her terribly just to show how much ''worse'' he's in comparison

Yes, I agree. I loved their dynamics in the book so much, this storyline had such huge potential. But yes, we have already been shown that Alys is attached to Daemon and there was official information that she was crying precisely because she didn't want him to leave. I suppose on the contrast, Aemond will be shown to be cruel and cold, although they could give him a redemption arch, but for this you need to be able to write scripts. Of course, maybe he'll also hallucinate, eventually repent and, knowing Helaena's prophecy, fly into battle out of guilt and it'll be some kind of suicide? I don't know, in order to make predictions in this show, I need to get to know Condal's dealer.

[genericpuff]

Oooh, I love that you're actually using Withy (and maybe Krokos as well?), so I can't wait to see where this storyline goes! Ngl though—and this is a problem I have with Rachel as well, I know Withy comes from there—but I kinda wish you had taken the opportunity to use a more Grecian name instead. Withy is another word for willow stem, so something like Helike or Itea could've fit very well.

Funnily enough, a Helike actually is associated with the abduction of Persephone, albeit according to the Roman Ovid in his Fasti, though in this case. If I remember correctly, she'd originally been a nymph (specifically one of Zeus's nurses) and eventually became Ursa Major as a reward, according to Aratus' Phaenomena.

Two Bears wheel together—wherefore they are also called the Wains. Now they ever hold their heads each toward the flank of the other, and are borne along always shoulder-wise, turned alternate on their shoulders. If, indeed, the tale be true, from Krete (Crete) they by the will of mighty Zeus entered up into heaven, for that when in olden days he played as a child in fragrant Dikton (Mount Dicte), near the hill of Ida, they set him in a cave and nurtured him for the space of a year, what time the Diktaioi Kouretes (Dictaean Curetes) were deceiving Kronos (Cronus). Now the one men call by name Kynosoura (Cynosura) and the other Helike (Helice)

"You Arcadian stars (since you can see all things, Never plunging beneath the watery wastes) Show this wretched mother, her daughter, Proserpine!"

She spoke, and Helice answered her in this way: "Night’s free of blame: Ask the Light about your Stolen daughter: the Sun views, widely, things done by day."

Sorry for the weird ask, I just found it's a bit of a pet peeve of mine when names aren't consistent with a certain culture. Again, I have this problem with Rachel too and even some retellings I really like, so nothing against you personally.

Anyway, I really like that you made her be associated with music! The painter Polygnotos depicted Orpheus as having brought willow with him when he went to the underworld, and if I recall correctly, willow is a common plant to be associated with poets. He also encounters a willow nymph in the Argonautica, while Homer tells us in The Odyssey that willows (and black poplars) are sacred to Persephone.

Orpheus sobbed as he prayed. But the Nymphai were still at hand, and they took pity on the suffering men. They wrought a miracle. First, grass sprung up from the ground, then long shoots appeared above the grass, and in a moment three saplings, tall, straight and in full leaf, were growing there. Hespere (Hespera) became a poplar; Erytheis an elm; Aigle (Aegle) a sacred willow. Yet they were still themselves; the trees could not conceal their former shapes--that was the greatest wonder of all. And now the Argonauts heard Aigle in her gentle voice tell them what they wished to know.

When you have crossed the stream of Ocean, you will reach the shore, where willows let fall their dying fruit, and towering poplars grow in the forest of Persephone.

So yeah, the fact that Persephone—future Queen of the Underworld—encounters a nymph essentially named Willow twice, first while said nymph is playing music and now in the underworld, is a really neat reference, intentional or not lol!

Not a weird ask at all, that was actually one of the few things from LO that I kept that I still kinda go (ノωヽ) on as well haha Although my biggest worry wasn't so much Withy, but Krokos, because in the original myths Crocus/Krokos was a man (and supposedly one of Hermes' lovers though the sources on that are a bit muddier) who had nothing to really do with Persephone.

The inclusion of Krokos and Withy is definitely one of those times I've ultimately decided to keep an element from LO despite it being out-of-place. Some things I changed for the sake of correcting the course Rachel put LO on, other things I kept in spite of the inaccuracies for the sake of storytelling, Krokos and Withy being one of those inaccuracies. The Act of Wrath plotline was one of my favorites from the LO storyline so when Krokos and Withy got swept under the rug, I wanted to use Rekindled to give them an actual spotlight and role in Persephone's story as unique characters, especially for readers and critics of the comic such as myself who wanted to see more done with them. I thought of changing their names at one time, but I felt like it would stray too far from the goal of redrawing/rewriting LO in doing so. So that's one of those "bear with me" things while I work with LO's ingredients (a challenge I'm fully open to taking on LOL) while also trying to respect the original myths.

What I will say without spoiling is that the Withy Persephone saw in the opening parts of the comic and the Withy she's seeing now are one and the same ;) So have fun with that fridge horror thought (•̀⌄•́)

[dav3i]

TMNTember, Day 27: OC's

Name: Kiri

Gender: female

Height: almost as high as Leo

Hair/eye color: dark brown

Weapon: Tsurugi/Ken

Personality: mature, stoic, alert, serious, observant (not anymore), straightforward, weird, a bit sarcastic, but can also be very caring too

Likes: …Idk, her family (the team)?

Dislikes: Her enemies/opponents I guess

Despite her personality and height, she is the youngest of the team. She is a good liar and thief, and whenever someone yells at her, she looks at them back with a poker face like a statue because of her lack of expressiveness (although there might be exceptions later on). Didn’t/doesn’t understand certain concepts ordinary people would or should know. Despite that, she is street smart, and is also a good listener for her brothers and sisters…

Backstory:

She was born in poverty, and her parents were probably some kind of criminals too, so she was abounded at a very young age. She doesn’t remember much about them, so she doesn’t care about them. Since then, she had to fend for herself some food, clothes, any other stuff for survival. That made her a thief, building up her stealth. Still, whenever she couldn’t find any food for example, she had to eat nasty animals or stuff from the garbage cans.

And that’s just how she lives her life for years until she gets into trouble with the Purple Dragons and messes with them (maybe cuz she stole something from them and screwed up, idk I might have to reconsider that part in the future) , which made her to fight back against several adult thugs. She did beat all of them in the end, but she was very injured due to the thugs’ carrying weapons, and she also had a concussion.

Luckily, the Turtles were on their patrol, probably on search of those Purple Dragons' thugs. Instead, they saw her unconscious body with the rest of the thugs’ bodies. At the time, the Turtles were still trying to get used to the human world, and they couldn’t just bring her into the hospital without showing off as weird creatures or monsters. They thought it would be best to bring her into their lair since they were worried about her and didn’t know what to do. However, Raph was kinda against it (the most), letting a complete stranger into their home. But eventually, they made their choice and took her into their lair.

Yes, they got scolded by Splinter, and yes, despite that they have brought a stranger, he decided to take care of her and tend to her wounds. Perhaps it was because she appeared to be young and their age, but with serious injuries, so he took out pity on her. When she woke up and saw the rat, she wasn’t afraid. She was confused and a bit shocked, seeing a large and talking rat. Despite that, however, she was thankful for both of the Turtles and Splinter.

He would ask her questions about herself, and to his consideration, he takes her in and lets her stay with them. She later meets the turtles, and they introduce themselves in front of her. Later, she will be given a name: “Kiri”.

She would see the Turtles training and swinging their weapons at each other, and then would secretly repeat the moves she saw during one of their training sessions. Eventually, she would get caught doing it, but Splinter was impressed rather than angry or irritated, so she got the chance to become a kunoichi. He also told her that she could have just asked him to train her too.

Seeing the Turtles having their own unique weapons, she asked Splinter for one too herself. She thought that wielding swords was easy, so she asked for the same katana’s as Leo’s. Do keep in mind that katana’s are the most difficult swords to use, so instead, Splinter offered her a Tsurugi/Ken. Though being Splinter’s student, she gradually became Leo’s student too due to her weapon of choice.

Current storyline:

S3, farmhouse arc (mainly the beginning)

There, she would have one on one conversation with the Turtles and possibly April. Raph - worrying about Leo in coma, Leo - his burden, Mikey - his brothers who yell at him, Donnie - his obsession over April, and April and Casey- maybe her mom and his father and little sister?

In “Buried secrets”, she was curious as to why Mikey finds April’s mom suspicious and would later understand as well… (She would be a bit overprotective during their time in the farmhouse too.)

S4, E1 - E14

She wouldn’t be with the Turtles, April and Casey in space, as she would get sucked by the black hole generator. However, when the Turtles met their counterparts from the 1980’s for the first time and got back to their earth in NYC to meet with Splinter (from the past), she (also from the past) would suspect that something was wrong and that they might be a bit different. She would later confirm her statement when she mentioned the recent thing with their Turtles (the ones who didn’t time travel) who didn't know a single thing, but she kept it to herself to not let the other guys worry until the end of the Triceratons’ battle. Instead of going to space like the others, she decided to stay on earth, knowing that the crew must have missed her too.

Broken Foot

Throughout the middle of season 4, she starts to change. During the “Broken foot” episode, she would get angry and disappointed (not too much but still) at Leo and Karai for yet again putting lives in danger and for being inconsiderate about it, then leaves in a bit of frustration.

The Power Inside her

Again, she would start to argue with April for being obsessive over her crystal, but this time to the point of fighting against each other where they were later stopped. Of course, they make up for it, apologizing to each other in the end.

The Rest of S4

She would sometimes start to isolate herself to train or meditate instead of spending with others, especially because of the Super Shredder. It makes the guys worry about it, but she only opens up about it to Splinter. For some weird reason and I don’t know why, I imagined him teaching her some kind of a dance or something (like kata?) personally… (Idk about it now)

Requiem

The actual reason why she got blind was because of the Super Shredder who inflicted a lot of injuries on her, almost on the verge of death while trying protect Karai (Still in progress)

Owari

In here, Kiri is in the hospital while she is still recovering from those wounds instead of Karai. She and Shinigami would join the Turtles, April and Casey together take Super Shredder down. After their victory and Kiri’s recovery, Kiri would also visit Splinter’s grave later on and would sit on the ground for a while to mourn his death. She would suddenly perform that one dance/kata he taught her. She swore on that day to never forget it, so she repeats it every day since it was the only way of keeping her memory of him alive.

S5

In the beginning of season 5, she would be graduated into a kunoichi. Since Splinter’s death, Leo is now the sensei and makes the ritual, congratulating her with the others. Karai also gives her a black kitsune mask as a gratitude gift for saving her and as an apology from their little dispute back in “Broken Foot”. Kiri now constantly tries to improve her sense of hearing and touching (which is why she stopped wearing shoes, but dw she washes her feet) to fight better.

In E5-6, she would be able to meet Sal Commander and Mona Lisa, while in the Halloween Special episodes she would meet Renet.

Mutant Apocalypse

Name: Kiki

Gender: female

Age: 9 (so again, the youngest)

Height: a bit lower than Mira

Hair/eye color: dark brown

Personality: more expressive (prideful, sassy, maybe a bit cocky and kind of a prick but definitely sarcastic) than Kiri, but still can be stoic and serious like her (they share similar characteristics), may act childish and silly but is also smart for her age (thanks to Mikey's genuis), (and insane)

Likes: stars and space => Space Heroes (a complete fan)

Dislikes: mutants (Maximus Kong the most)

In the Mutant Apocalypse AU, Kiri never existed and never met the Turtles as teenagers. So after 50 years (right?), Kiri is a little girl and also the last of the humankind by the name of Kiki.

Backstory:

I always had the idea that few people who didn't mutate would live together and built bunkers underground to hide. They might find food and water, and more and more children will be born, causing the human population to grow over a few decades. Later, Kiki will be born.

Unlike Kiri, Kiki had caring parents AND siblings. A lot of siblings, like 9, and she is the youngest. Her father was the leader of the unknown human clan. He always wanted for the humankind to get back and grow stronger to restore its population and everything like before in the past.

Unfortunately, that never happened due to all of them being murdered and slaughtered by Maximus Kong and his men (well, mutants), who found their secret shelter or lair when Kiki was 6 years old. She either hid herself or was hidden by her mother or one of her siblings while everyone else was fighting back and protecting others.

As a result, everything was destroyed and taken away (by that, I mean food and water and possibly other necessities that would have been taken). It made the girl traumatized by all of the dead corpses of her family and other people splattered with blood and guts. This led her to hate mutants and her vengeance for her people.

Since she has now nothing, she comes out of the bunkers for the first time in her life, not knowing what the outside world had looked like. Time and time pass, and as she walks in a hot wasteland with little to nothing else to find herself without any experience, she collapses.

Luckily, as "The Holy Chalupa" was searching for the map of the Green Oasis, but to no avail, he accidentally spots an unconscious human girl laying on the ground. He was shocked by the fact that he found a human and quickly takes her in. Kiki wakes up in his shelter, and when she sees the old mutant turtle, she tries to run away multiple times. That obviously didn't work, but she didn't give up. Because Michelangelo's a mutant, she also tried to attack him multiple times out of her hate for mutants. That never worked for someone who was taught the art of ninjutsu their whole life.

Though she finally decided to stay after many failures, it took a lot of time for her to trust him. He would teach her ninjutsu skills and tell stories from the past, which would make her sympathize with him. That way of life lasted for 3 years until Michelangelo found his brothers and Mira, who had the map. (I forgot to mention that she went insane because the Wastelands and her goal for vengeance has increased even more. Michelangelo has taught her about letting it go and to forgive, but she never wanted to. She always looked up to the night sky to find some peace and solace, believing her family and people might be there after their death.)

Current Storyline:

Although Kiki heard about Raphael and Donatello, the relationship started rough with her and Mira, but because she had the tattoo of the Oasis, she reluctantly lets her stay. That kind of relationship turned into a friend- and/or kinship when they were both kidnapped and locked in the cel. Both know what it's like being the only survivors of their species, and so Kiki feels less tensed.

Much later, where the whole crew is now on the search for the Oasis, Maximus Kong shows up. They both later meet, and naturally, it doesn't go well for her. She wasn't heavily injured, so she was safe and sound.

When it was revealed that Maximus Kong was Leo all along and that he had sacrificed himself for his brothers, she was shocked as she couldn't believe it. Although she knows it wasn't completely his fault, she still has a part of her that is filled with hate, which makes her feel bad and pity for him. Their relationship was complicated, but after some time, she forgives him and are now on good terms (sort of kinda).

Anyways, that was probably a whole lot for you to take it all in (unless you just scrolled away, which I don’t blame u), but thank u for bearing with me! I’ll try to upload some more of my stuff that has been living in my head rent-free and try to illustrate what I had written! Please, TMNT writers and experienced artists, lend me your guidance 🙏!

[captainsarahscratches]

Assistance Pt. 2

.......

part 2, requested, reader and Kenny have started to develop a fwb relationship, but things get complicated as the two are put into a complicated storyline.

......

TW: Lil’ bit angsty, jealousy, fwb relationship, explicit sexual content, SMUT, also this is very long

......

Three months had gone by since that night. It was now a regular occurance for you and Kenny to sleep together every few days or so. It started out as a secret, something the two of you found fun, a more... interactive, way to decompress from life and work. You both knew it was only a carnal attraction and that neither one of you have ever mentioned the potential of actually having a relationship together. Although, you couldn’t help your mind from wandering into the world where you and Kenny were public and in a real relationship. You wanted more. Hell, you wanted more that night in the hotel, but you knew he didn’t. You decided early on to accept the nature of the two of you, and hope it wouldn’t end for a long time.

Meanwhile, you started to gain a bit of momentum with AEW fans, which you were ecstatic about. Kenny, he was more proud than anyone, not that he would ever admit it, but he was. He had offered multiple times to train you and give pointers, but you denied him each time. You were certain that it would only further complicate the nature of your relationship. So, you went to a few old friends for advice instead. Before AEW, you had a few spots on WWE but were mainly shoved in the back behind the typical highlighted female wrestlers. However, you always kept your friendships close.

Jon and Claudio were like big brothers to you. The report between you and them was always jovial but supportive. When you asked the two of them to help with some pointers in the ring, they were more than happy to help. You of course were friends with Rene as well. She always asked you if you would go and propose a storyline to Tony and guys. "What about Kenny?" she asked

"What about him?" you felt yourself get a little flustered and afraid that she knew about you and him. "I bet you, he would listen and get you a new story line, better than just a run in or a mixed tag with Jon." "Maybe, but I don't want to ask him for anything like that. Just feels weird." "Why? He's literally always saying to feel comfortable to come to him or the Bucks about that kind of thing. That's kinda his job, here come with me."

She grabbed you by the wrist and took you towards Tony's office, knowing they were about to get done with a preshow meeting. "Kenny! Hey, y/n here won't ask, so I am going to do it. She's been busting her ass and getting more and more over with the fans. I think she needs a full storyline, put her with Jon or something."

Kenny has a smirk on his face, looking down at you and before he could speak Tony comes from behind him. "Well, perfect! We just were talking about new lines, and we wanted to put you with the Elite, but we can do BCC. Hell, we can even do a build up. Fans are already pushing for you to get with Kenny or Yuta, so thats perfect."

You and Kenny both look at him, "What??" Your face is red, and Kenny starts to say thats not what they talked about. "I know, I know, but look we put you with the BCC, play up the part that you and Jon and Claudio have known each other forever. Then you and Yuta get together later on. Gives it like a badass couple thing."

Kenny looks at you, and back at Tony, "So what do you think? I know that's kinda loose, but i like it better than my original idea. I was just going to have you be with the Elite, but I like this better."

"I love it, thank you!" You say excitedly and Looking over to Kenny, "You're okay with being in a romance line with Yuta??" he asks. "I mean. yeah. I dont really have a problem with that.' "Oh really?"

Renee and Tony look on awkwardly, you don't even understand that Kenny's a little hurt by the way you saw no problem with the story line. You look at him confused and he holds back the urge to say something. But he swallows his pride and glances at Tony, "Cool, thats fine with me too. Just don't fall for Yuta." Another awkward silence falls upon the room.

"Heh, okay... Will do my best" you awkwardly laugh off. Kenny looks at his phone and quickly makes an excuse to leave. You start to walk away with Renee, "Well that was weird, but Yay!! You've got some screen time now. And I'll make sure that Jon doesn't take the spotlight, you know he loves to talk." she laughs. "Yeah it will be fun, I just need to get with Wheeler and see how we want to play this out."

"And Kenny," Renee interjects

"What? you reply

"You need to meet with Kenny too, to see how they want to do the whole cat and mouse thing. Tony said they're planning the whole love triangle thing out right? So you need to meet with Ken too." "Oh Yeah, thats true"

"soo... are we just not going to address how Kenny seemed upset that you chose a story line with Wheeler over him?" blushing you say "oh please he's not hurt. He has a big enough ego to keep him safe from falling off a mountain." you laugh

"Oh do I? Well if my ego isn't too big for you, maybe you can make some time and talk about how we're supposed like I would actually want something to do with you in the first place." he said irritated, "Ken, hey, that's not cool" Renee came to your defense. You couldn't think of anything to say as you were holding back tears from his comment. "I- Im just going to go back to the room. I'll see you guys tomorrow."

"you dont have to be a dick to her to get her to like her, You're not twelve" Renee told kenny as you walked away. "You don't know what you're talking about" "I think I do, otherwise you wouldn't be acting like this. Jist go tell that poor girl that you Like Like her and maybe she'll eat lunch with you tomorrow in the cafeteria." He looked at her in silence, "You're a grown man, just ask her out. And as for the Yuta line, its our job and you know that. Dont make her give up a great opportunity just because you cant step to plate. This is why I -"

"What if I've already messed it up?" she looked confused, "What if I've already given her the idea that I don't want anything to do with her?" He looked at Renee, angry but at himself and looking for real advice. "Then I'd go talk to her, without being a dick, and tell her what you actually want. Oh, and stop with the whole Friends with Benefits bullshit, neither one of you are the type anyway." Kenny had a shocked look on his face, "Dude, its glaringly obvious... We all stay in the same hotels, and you're not as sneaky as you think. Especially y/n, I love her but she cant lie worth shit. I ran into her once and she said she was going for a walk... It was almost one in the morning and we were in Downtown Detroit... Look just go and hope that she still even wants your ass after that stunt."

Kenny quickly left and git his things to meet you at the hotel. You had separate rooms but they were adjoining this time. It made things easier, though apparently it didn't make it more secretive. Kenny checked into his room, and looked in the mirror to make sure he looked okay. He had stopped by drug store on the way to the hotel to buy you flowers, they were beat up but he thought they were still nice. As he was getting up the nerve to knock at your door he could hear the muffled sound of you crying.

You were on the phone, explaining to the other line that you were stupid to think that there was even a chance. He could hear the words, 'I hate. I even let myself get this close to him.' The sentence crushed him, he never wanted to make you feel this way. He never honestly thought that you wanted any more either. In the moment, he wanted to walk away, but his hand continued to knock on the door. He immediately regretted the action as he heard ypu abruptly end the call.

"Ken?" He heard you timidly say towards the door. He stood silent. "Kenny? ... Tyson?" He could hear your steps towards the door and befor he could back away you were face to face. "Uh, hi" He said. You stood silent.

"Look, I'm really sorry Y/N. I was an ass, a huge fucking dick. I- I just I dont like the idea of you being with someone else..." The air felt thick around and the silence was deafening. "I got you these, I know it doesn't make it better. I just, I'm sorry. You're beautiful and smart and funny and kind and I just dont like the idea of sharing you even if its just a story line, you're mine and i Just dont-"

"I'm yours?" You questioned quietly, tears still in your eyes. He looked up sheepishly, and stammered "Not minelike I own you or something, Like you're my girl. Well, not like my girlfriend because i knoe you just want a casual thing...Which is fine, but i Dont know just maybe like I think about being.."

"Ken-"

"... that maybe we could. its stupid forget it sorry."

"Tys-"

" My point is to do the Yuta line and I'll stop being a dick, and I'm sorry."

A moment passes,

"I never said I wanted casual, i thought you did."

"Well, I thought I did at first but the more I think about I dont want anyone else but you. And when Tony said that he was going to put you with Wheeler, the thought of you in his arms pissed me off and I apparently just decided to show my ass. Im sorry"

"It's just the job though,"

"And I know that, and I have done enough of this shit that shoulf be able to separate it from reality, but it just hit me wrong."

"What if we weren't casual?"

He smirked slightly to himself, "Would you being willing to have me after tonight?"

"Oh you definitely have been an ass tonight, and your dumbass made me cry. Which I'm never forgiving by the way, but I like your dumbass. Its one of my favorite parts of you. I lo- I really care about you Kenny. but you cant stunt my career because we have something together."

"I know that, and I never intended to do so. And I- fuck it, Y/N I dont want this, us, to be a casual thing anymore. I want you, I want to be with you. I want to go to bed with you, wake you to you and be with you every day. I don't want to sneak around anymore. I just, I love you damnit and I don't want anyone else thinking they can have you. Y/N will you go ou-"

You reach up and kissed him passionately, your arms around his neck. Deepening the kiss.

Your passion was quickly reciprocated as Kenny cupped your face, kissing you harder and leading you further into the room.

In seconds, the back of your knees hit the bed. Without hesitation, Kenny sweeps you up from under you and lays you on the center of the bed without ever breaking away from your lips. You feel his hands sliding up your thighs and under your shirt. He quickly finds your bare breast and kneeds the soft mound briefly before removing your shirt entirely. Hes quick to connect his mouth to your chest, sucking and nibbling on your sensitive nipples, making sure to leave a mark. You hiss at the pain but he breaks away to look you in the eye, "I know, but I need to make sure everyone knows your mine"

Your legs wrapped around his body as he towers over you giving him the prime opportunity to slip his hands downward and strip you of your shorts.

"God i love when you dont wear panties" He starts to space words apart with kisses on your body, leading to your core. "almost. As Much. As I Love. This. Perfect. Little. Pussy. Right. Here."

You instantly moan, as you feel hes his tongue swipe and circle over your clit. He moans against you causing the an soft vibration where you need it most. "Fuck Ken- God, Right there" You entangle your hands in his hair, pressing him deeper into you. "Fuckkk, Tyson..." You feel his fingers plunge into your pussy, instantly hooking them to hit the deep spot inside you. It never mattered what the situation was, he always knew exactly what and where you needed it most. He could feel you already starting to grip his fingers, when he looks up at you, his blue eyes darkened with lust, his beard scratching along your skin. "Cum for me baby, let me hear you. I want to taste how good I make you feel."

With that you cam undone, moan loudly, screaming his name, you hands clutching the sheets, legs writhing under his weight. But he didn't stop, Kenny kept going until you were babling nonsense before he even took his cock out. Muttering to yourself, trying to catch your breath, he stands, face dripping with your cum and a proud smirk across his face. He rids himself of his pants, his cock springing fre only to immediately be caught by his hand, stoking himself feverishly.

"Fuck y/n look at you. You're fucking perfect, so beautiful when you're cock drunk, and I haven't even fucked you yet. Leaning over you to look you in the eyes, tiling your chin in his direction. He gruffly says, "You're absolutely perfect, and you're mine. No one else gets to have you like I do, and no one can satisfy me like you do. So, I'm going to show you why no one can ever satisfy you like I can."

[skateboardtotheheart]

not even getting into my disappointment over the natalia & marisol storylines (not even just the buddie of it all because i think both those women could be awesome and lovely, i just have a lot of issues with how they write buck and eddie's relationships on this show) but i am genuinely disappointed by multiple aspects of the episode??

overall yes it was a good episode, although not the best finale they've ever done, but a lot of it just felt kinda weird to me. i would die for the henren, bathena, and madney content and will be screaming about it for MONTHS but,,,

like you're telling me we saw hen SCREAM for chim and buck have to literally save eddie AGAIN and then got no interactions for either of these friendships?? they're BEST FRIENDS

idk everything just seemed so romantic relationship heavy and i missed seeing them highlights all the different types of relationship on the show

[sevensoulmates]

As always it's a delight to get to read your posts and meta, it's just as satisfactory and fun as it is watching the show. You're just awesome ❤️

You know after watching the last episode (and now that we know little bit more about Marisol) it made me feel really sorry for her, because I just know she'll be collateral damage while Eddie figures himself out and that's just so sad. And I wasn't really sure why those comments Eddie made about him/Marisol when they encountered Buck and Tommy at the restaurant and after having sex with her made me feel so uncomfortable, but then you pointed it out and I was like yeah that was kinda like locker room talk, Eddie was overcompensating here like trying to be a big macho man and that's why it felt so weird.

I'm baffled about Eddie's situation the most because I'm sure it's gonna be hell for him for a while since he will have to work through a lot of issues to finally be at peace with himself. And until stated otherwise my headcanon is the same as yours. I'm sure he is a gay repressed man (and not no get into the gay Eddie vs demisexual  Eddie discourse but I'm sure he may be both) I grew up in a Mexican household, I was raised catholic and although I wasn't in the army my dad was and he raised me and my siblings with an iron fist. So Eddie's background/storyline has always hit too close to home for me. I'm just dreading all the issues he's going to have to face.

Which brings me to this. To show his coming out arc and make it into completion do you think they will have to show us more about his childhood and upbringing, not just having Eddie talking about it but to have scenes like we did with Buck's childhood?

And why do you think the scene about Buck apologizing to Eddie for hurting him at the basketball court had to happen off screen?

Btw thanks for always replying to my questions.

Hi there!!! No problem!!! You always have super interesting questions to ask, so I am always delighted to answer them!

We all know how Eddie feels about "performance". I just feel like why would Eddie feel like the performance stops once he's actually made it past the dating phase and into the relationship phase? Maybe the external pressure from others is off (none of his family or the firefam questioning him, etc) but in order to KEEP the relationship, it really would require MORE performing.

It's fascinating to me, because we don't see Eddie acting this way with Shannon. You could make some arguments that their relationship was pretty fractured from the get-go and we didn't really see their dating/"honeymoon" phase but even when they were ~slightly~ back together in season 2b, Eddie wasn't acting like that with Shannon. Even when they were sleeping together, he wasn't. The most he did was make a couple of cringe comments about his "dashing good looks" or something, but that was more poking fun at himself. Even when Eddie was telling Buck about how "sex complicates things" with Shannon, he wasn't out here smirking or making comments about how good it feels to finally get some after two years of (apparent) celibacy. Say what you want about their relationship, but at least Eddie respected Shannon enough as a person to not start speaking about her that way. Their relationship was far too serious for that.

With Ana, it was so incredibly hard to watch because even though the storyline ITSELF wasn't about sex, a lot of their scenes had that edge to it? Like the sex-scene fake out in season 4, "grade me on a curve", "you really like to see me dressed up" "and the other thing" it was so ODD and FORCED. At the time of s4/5 airing you could maybe chalk it up to Eddie overcorrecting since it's his first real relationship after Shannon, but then he goes and does the same thing with Marisol which now makes it a pattern.

Once it clicked in my brain that the reason his relationships with women feel so fake is that he is literally putting on a show of hyper-heterosexuality (idk if that's a real term or not but roll with me here) it all made sense. I think seeing him "in a relationship" with Marisol for real was the final puzzle piece to seal this deal for me.

His extreme performances with these women, combined with their purposeful lack of development into full characters, all points to the fact that none of these relationships are going to work out. Eddie is not going to be able to actually settle down with his "endgame" partner until he actually finds someone he can be his true, real self with and "doesn't have to pretend with them" ;)

Is it bad that I actually enjoyed getting to know Marisol a little? Putting aside the actress, Marisol, the character, is interesting, because we're actually getting to know her a little bit more, far more than we got to with Ana. But I find both of these love interests fascinating in one mutual way: the fact that they put up with Eddie. Like I think about other characters and if they would've been okay being treated by their partners the way Eddie treats his girlfriends and I'm like.....hell no!

Oddly enough the only person I could see putting up with it was Buck before he finally started realizing that he doesn't have to be in a relationship with someone just because they want him. Only someone who also has deep insecurities, abandonment issues, and a general lack of self-respect would put up with Eddie's BS to his girlfriends. That's not to say that Eddie's a horrible person or abuses his partners or anything, but it's basically indisputable that he does not ever put in any emotional work to actually create meaningful relationships with his girlfriends. So why were Ana and now Marisol, so willing to accept that?

Ana resisted the break-up even though she could feel Eddie's whole heart wasn't in it. She was willing to keep trying in a dead relationship just in the hopes that something would work out. The same goes for Marisol. Idk about you, but if I was in a relationship with a man for going on 4-6 months and he knew NOTHING about me? I'd feel unloved, uncared for, and unappreciated, and I'd LEAVE.

We know that Marisol was scared of Eddie rejecting her or fetishizing her and that's why she didn't tell him about the nun thing, and I understand her reasoning and fear there. But gworlie, what else do we know about you? Can Eddie name a single hobby you have outside of loving Jesus and DIYing houses? Does Eddie even know your last name? It really makes me think that Marisol is unfortunately the type to just let things like this slide in the hopes that some man will accept her, any man. Since they rarely do because of the nun thing. And boy, do I understand that feeling, but that's NOT real love. I bet you anything once we get to the Eddiemarisol breakup she's gonna be very similar to Ana in that she knew Eddie's heart wasn't fully in it, but she just didn't want to be alone again.

I think that like attracts like, and Eddie's clutching onto this relationship for the same reason Marisol's clutching onto this relationship: because it's easier than being alone and being judged for it.

This is a tangent but I also want to point out that one thing that Eddie found uncomfortable about Marisol being a nun was the fact that nuns used to be his teachers....but was Ana also not a teacher? Just because she wasn't a nun, doesn't mean she couldn't have also been in a position of power that Eddie could've found uncomfortable. I find it interesting that even though Marisol's not a teacher, the show found a way to connect her to teachers and therefore to Ana.

As for Eddie's coming out arc, while I don't think it's entirely a necessity to have flashbacks to how he grew up, I certainly think it would help a lot of people who can't read between the lines if they had some. I especially would like to see scenes of young him + Shannon. Maybe seeing how the pressure from his family and church led him to believe men have to be a certain way, potentially microaggressions about being lgbt that he might've seen from his family/church (I don't necessarily mean full-on homophobia but possibly like little ways in which he was shown that there was no other "acceptable" option from his church other than heterosexuality. I think seeing scenes of how he and Shannon got together could be enlightening too, how their community reacted to them getting pregnant, etc. I think all of this, combined with a mirrored storyline in the present (similar to Buck Begins) would really drive home the point the show is trying to make, especially if they can finally be overt about Eddie's queerness. BUT all of this can still be done present day without the need for flashbacks either. I just think it would be a way to make the storytelling more rich and to spell it out more obviously for the people in the back.

As for Buck apologizing to Eddie for the basketball scene...I would've liked to see it too, but at the end of the day, it's like Ryan said in his interview...Eddie was always going to forgive Buck because he loves him to his core, because he knew Buck didn't come at it from a place of truly wanting to hurt Eddie. All of it was a manifestation of Buck's own issues, and by this point (especially after the lawsuit arc and the deadbrother arc) Eddie is aware of that. We did see plenty of scenes where Buck was scolded and demonstrated he was aware his actions were shitty, and Eddie probably assumed that letting Buck stew in his own guilt was atonement enough. And so I think likely the writers felt that in the end, the sentiment got across. Separately--given all the switcheroo stuff that happened with 7x04 and 7x05, I wouldn't be surprised if there WAS an apology scene and it got cut for time.

[folklore-barnes]

Things I wish Grotesquerie would've done different✝️

It's been a while since I've posted anything Grotesquerie related. After the season finale I kinda stayed away for a bit, from the fandom and anything about the show in general, until yesterday. And if I'm honest, I think it's because I was a little disappointed with the season finale. I didn't want to admit it, but I think I really was and still am a bit disappointed. I think it was great, I feel like it really sets the scene for season 2, and it makes me excited for the next season. But I had all these theories and expectations that I really thought I was gonna get right. It's funny because I don't really theorize much with shows or movies, I kinda just go with the flow, but the vibe with Grotesquerie was just so different, it genuinely felt like anything could happen, so I dared to dream and was disappointed when I realized I probably aimed a little too high... or maybe I didn't 'cause the show is only getting started, who truly knows?

Now that it's been a few days since season 1 ended, I've been able to think about the show with a sorta cooler head and I feel like I am able to share my opinions more accurately, and in this post in particular I wanna talk about some of the things that I wish the writers would've done differently.

For starters, I wish the coma storyline never happened, or if it did, I wish it would've been different.

That episode when we find out that it was Lois' coma dream all along was one of THE best episodes of the show. The acting, the score, the way the plot unfolds, the twist, the surprise when we find out everyone is different from who they are in the dream; it was everything you could've hoped for, and it was very well done. But, I feel like there were many things about the dream that were so good, and it would've been better if they were a part of reality as well. Because although the twist was great, afterwards, the show felt kinda regular. And maybe that's why the last episodes were a little harder to watch. Because for example, you had this unconventional nun who is a journalist for a Catholic newspaper; she loves gore and true crime, drinks alcohol, has a crush on her priest, and is a theology genius. You pair her up with an alcoholic detective, who, despite her problem, is the best at her job and has the makings of an iconic character in every single way. That Micaela Diamond / Niecy Nash chemistry is just too good to pass up. And I know that we're gonna see them together in season 2 as detectives, but I just think that the weird and fun nun / alcoholic and genius detective dynamic is kinda irreplaceable. Now all you have is... what? Two detectives, one of them retired? Where's the fun in that? I feel like, especially after what happened with Megan's abusive weirdo partner, and the crimes that are happening, their relationship is definitely gonna be stronger, but I just think they're gonna be two detectives, and I don't see how you could make that more unique and special than a nun and a detective being partners.

Another thing is, there were some elements in the dream that made you question the reality of what was happening.

Like for example, Lois being able to smoke in the station, the whole idea of Nurse Redd, the constant confusion, the Last Supper snow globe, things that didn't seem to make sense and just other small details that I wish would've been real. Were they questionable? Yes, but that's what makes the whole thing fun, it's different, and it makes you go “wait, what is going on?”. One of the things that I love about Outer Banks is that a lot of the things that happen wouldn't really happen in real life. Those teenagers go to so many places and are able to escape their parents, and don't suffer the consequences for the things they do, at least not like they should, and it's not realistic, but it's fun. I don't mind realism in television, but sometimes realism is boring as hell, and also depressing, especially with everything that's going on in the world. So there were aspects of Grotesquerie that didn't really seem realistic, but they gave the show life.

Another thing is, Dr. Charlie, I love you down but I miss Father Charlie so bad.

Like, come on, you got a hot priest with rizz to carry him and his sermons for DAYS; who is trying to make changes in the Catholic church and make them more progressive, while he's also fighting behind doors with sins like lust, and pride. That? That was a winner right there. And I also would've given him more screen time. I would've made people think he was the killer all along, just for it to end up being someone else, but not let him entirely off the hook 'cause he's got the potential to be antagonistic. Like I said, he really could've been the devil or something. Now THAT would've been a story.

As for Eddie, Merritt and Marshall, I would've left Eddie as a nurse, Merritt as the wonderful doctor she is and I would've not had Marshall in a coma. Had this been the reality, I would've had Marshall help her out a bit figuring things out and maybe even have him be the mastermind or main servant of the devil or entity or whatever in the end. I would've also had Merritt a little more involved, somehow because I love Raven Goodwin and hello?? she's a genius. She could've helped Lois see aspects about the case that no one else could see.

I have many more thoughts that I'll probably share later. The truth is, I'm still excited for the future of the show and I think we're gonna see some interesting things happen because like I mentioned before, the show is just getting started. Hopefully we get more seasons, and the show is successful so that we can continue to see the story because there's still a lot of things we don't know. I just think the original characters had a much more interesting potential than the ones we have now. BUT, and this is a big but, we don't even know if the reality we're seeing is a reality at all. A part of me doesn't think they're gonna do another reset, but one thing Grotesquerie has taught us is that anything is possible. So, we'll see.

[esther-dot]

I’m sure you’ve been asked this a million times, but is there a specific meta (or metas) that you feel sufficiently explain the pol!jon theory?

Kit's face.

Obviously, that's kinda a joke, and I'm gonna link more stuff for you, but to me, that is one of the most compelling arguments for it. Not merely because he failed to communicate love in his scenes with Dany (although that's true), but because, there are a hundred other emotions he was conveying in their scenes that we have to ignore or deny if we're to accept that he was enraptured with Dany, trusted her, or thought she would be a good queen. If you look at that gifset, in many pivotal scenes, he's torn, worried, disappointed, afraid. All sorts of emotions that simply don't fit in with the "fool in love" storyline.

Another of my favorite posts on the subject is this gifset in which D&D create parallels between Dany and LF, JonDany/LF&Sansa, some, or all of this, clearly intentional. Or this parallel from s7 that uses repetition of a line to indicate, Jon and Dany are not friends, they are in fact, opposing forces. Or this scene in s8 showing us that Grey Worm doesn't trust Jon, which again, is saying, Jon isn't as loyal as he's supposed to be. I mean, I knew that, but again, it doesn't fit with the story. Those speak to D&D’s plans, things completely beyond the actor’s control.

I'm linking a number of gifsets right off the bat because what they chose to put on our screens is more compelling than the words I use to try to argue my opinion. For example, this gifset of Sansa being the power in the North, look at who Jon (nonverbally) recognizes as the person he should show deference to. It's a weird detail that we know they orchestrated to show a specific thing, but again, it doesn't fit with Jon being a Dany convert or believer in her status as their true queen.

ANYWAY, far as I can tell, everyone had a different version of the theory, some of which, I didn’t like much, some of which, I still think are the best explanation of what I watched, but this gifset is basically the summary of it. Jon heard Sansa, he purposed to be smarter, and was unwavering in his loyalty to the North. Simple as that. This, I think, is the meta that best explains the political Jon storyline in s7. There were many wonderful metas on this, sadly, many of my favs are no longer accessible because bloggers deactivated (my pol!jon tag has some posts in it still), but basically, I think it was an interpretation that showed more respect for Jon and Dany.

Dany sliding into paranoia and isolation is something they tried to speed run in s8, and it was presented as a kind of "madness," but if Dany was right, that Jon wasn't loyal to her, that she didn't have love, it's a more sympathetic story for her, as well as a darker but more coherent story for Jon. It reminds me of Aerys and how he was "paranoid" in the end, but we do have lines that sound as if, yeah, people were wanting to dethrone him (potentially even his son), which in no way justifies the horror he wanted to unleash, but does create a more nuanced scenario, something Martin is very fond of.

Dany realizing the person she trusted can't be trusted could have been (I thought was) a critical moment in her choosing fear as her path to power in 8x05, and I didn't think it served her well to pretend that was all in her head when it clearly wasn't. I wrote this post finale to explain my thoughts on show Jon, what happened to him, the parallels I saw, the meaning behind it.

[onebadpunspoilsabunch]

I think the young six (or student six) are fine as characters, but the school of Friendship itself was a terrible idea and completely missed the point of the first 7 seasons. Not only that, but the very concept kind of gives off a “let's civilize the savages” vibe.

Yeah, someone pointed that out to me:

I guess Twilight's goal was to bring the other societies to a better level. The in-universe explanation for why Equestria is a more advanced society is because ponies have more inherent magic than the other creatures. And the reason why they have more magic is because they are more friendly and kind... I guess...

So I can understand Twilight's train of thought: create a school to teach the values of friendship to the other creatures while also teaching them about how Equestria got to be where it is (which is through friendship magic), and hope that they will take that knowledge back to their societies so that they will do the same, and get to Equestria's level. I guess on a surface level, I get what she was going for...

Yeah, the ponies are the "white savors" in this scenario. I understand her line of reasoning, but... it's kinda weird 😅 darn.

I like the young six perfectly fine too. Although I have a problem with the way Smolder is written sometimes, specifically her interactions with Spike, the inconsistencies about dragons that come from her, and the way her meer existence retcons Garble's entire character...

I honestly think that the writers seemed to favor her, and gave her special treatment. But maybe that's just me, idk.

But all of these things are the fault of the writers, not the character herself. Also I don't like how Silverstream's personality is way too similar to Princess Skystar (her cousin, from the movie). I actually think her brother Terramar is a more interesting character, and should've been in her place.

I also don't like how the young six are written to look smarter than the main characters sometimes (Non-Compete Clause, School Raze, every single episode Smolder shares with Spike, etc.).

Their existence in the show, along with the School of Friendship, is kind of unnecessary and redundant. I understand that the point of their existence is to show that non-pony creatures are worthy of wielding magic and should be treated as equals, which is a good idea for a story/lesson. They also wanted to show more of the culture/societies of the other creatures, which is a cool world-building idea...

But that entire storyline was really really awful and poorly executed. There were so many better ways they could've done that. They didn't even establish which student is connected to which Mane Six member until the last minute:

And world-building for the sake of world-building isn't as good if the characters don't get something out of it. There are past episodes that show the societies and culture of the other creatures, but the characters go through some development (The Lost Treasure of Griffonstone, Gauntlet of Fire, Not Asking for Trouble, To Change a Changeling, etc).

Season 8 should've been about the characters being called on cutie map missions to the other societies. There are only two episodes that do that (Surf and/or Turf, the Sound of Silence). Not only will they have world-building, but the characters will actually get something from it too.

And maybe at the same time they could've gotten across the anti-racism message without having terribly written villains to fuel the flame, idk...

If they wanted to send the message that non-pony creatures could wield Equestrian magic, they should've just made Spike the 7th Element, and have his Pillar be Scorpan. It would be a better story, and get their lesson across.

It also could've been a metaphor for how in real life, many minorities have important contributions to American society, but they’re ignored and/or forgotten by history.

The story could've been that Scorpan created the Tree of Harmony with the other Pillars, but either Starswirl didn't write it down in his journal (for some reason), or somepony else found it and magically altered all the texts to erase Scorpan's involvement later down the line.

Well, that would've been a better story than the School of Friendship anyway 😅

[markantonys]

Show to book wot fan here! Currently reading Dragon Reborn and as far as I’ve heard Shadow Rising is well considered the best of the lot, so I’m excited to get to it. Still, feels a bit weird to know the series peaks so early? Just wondered how you felt the rest of the series holds up? (Spoiler free if you could 😅)

hello my friend! i will definitely keep spoiler free here (and if any fellow readers reblog or reply to this post, please keep it spoiler free as well so that anon can check out the notes safely if they wish to!)

so, i think a lot of the reason why shadow rising is considered the best is that it's the first book to really blow the story wide open. it's our first time exploring some new locations and cultures and meeting new characters that become integral to the series (and the big new culture is a fan-favorite, so people love the books where we spend tons of time immersed in that culture), and we get some new worldbuilding, new lore, and new threats. TSR is the first book where it feels like RJ has worked out the early-series wonkiness and fully knows who each of the characters is and where he wants the story to go. TSR represents an exciting turning point for the series as we transition from these lighter, more generic early books into Hardcore Wheel-Of-Time-y Territory, so that's a part of why it's considered the best by so many readers! not because everything that comes after it is terrible or a letdown, simply because it's so exciting compared to what came before. (although books 2&3 have a special place in my heart, so no hate to them! there's also the flipside where TSR is VERY dense and a much more difficult, though rewarding, read than the first 3 books. i believe it's the longest book in the whole series.)

but, IS everything that comes after it a letdown in comparison? now, i wouldn't go that far, but i do think the quality of the storytelling goes downhill in the second half of the series for reasons i will explain in a moment. for me, books 4-6 are my favorite chunk (i enjoyed 5&6 at least as much as 4, so imo you've got several great books to look forward to, not just TSR!), and my peak enjoyment of the series happened here. but there are still some excellent and iconic moments and storylines in the second half of the series, just fewer of them than in the first half imo.

i'd say it comes down to structure. the first half of the series is pretty focused and tightly paced with most of the screentime given to our core main characters and most storylines introduced & resolved within the same book (bar the overarching series storylines like preparing for the last battle, of course). in the second half, we get a lot more time with minor characters at the expense of our mains and storylines start dragging out to last several books (probably BECAUSE there are getting to be so many different storylines and not enough space to address all of them thoroughly in each book). it kinda feels to me like RJ got bored of some of the main characters and/or felt stuck on what to do with them, so kept wandering off into sideplots to show off all his cool worldbuilding and his massive cast of supporting characters. which might be fun for the readers who like that kind of thing, so it's subjective! for me personally, i came to the books because i loved the specific main characters i'd met in the show, so i didn't enjoy feeling that their stories were treading water or not getting enough screentime.

there are also some things with the specific groups of characters who get to spend time together or not in the second half, but that's extremely subjective so i won't get into that haha i'll just note that relationship dynamics i personally hated got a lot of screentime while ones i personally loved got very little, so that contributed significantly to my personal preference for the first half of the series and thus you may end up feeling very differently than i do! on the flipside, there's stuff like elayne's main storyline in the second half of the series which is one of my absolute favorite storylines in the entire series, but a lot of other readers always hate on it and say it was boring (while adoring storylines *i* hated and/or found boring), so it really is SO subjective.

so, bottom line: a lot of it will come down to personal taste, but i do think that objectively, the quality of the writing & storytelling is better in the first half of the series and does indeed peak in books 4-6. but whether you'll feel a sharp decline or one so small you barely notice it is different for every reader. for me at the end of the day, i didn't like books 7-14 nearly as much as books 2-6 and have no desire to ever reread them, but i'm glad i read them once and there are some gold nuggets within them that i adore (as well as some things that actively infuriate me lmao)

[rikebe]

thoughts on x men evolution kurt?

i LOOOOVE evo kurt!!! i have a huge soft spot for evo in general (i love love love any animated version of the xmen and evo is so silly and whacky i cant help but adore it) and i think kurt is sooo adorable in that show.

i love how this version of kurt leans wayyy more into his mischevieous and silly pranky side than most other adaptations and i really appreciate that. i feel like its such an underutilized and underrepresented aspect of his character that it even kinda gets tossed to the wayside in the comics half the time, but it's one of the things that makes him such a fun, three-dimensional character. i think its awesome that evo chose to go with that side of him when other adaptations focus more on his melancholy, somber side (which i also love of course! but its not all there is to him!)

im also a huuuuge sucker for little brother and comic relief characters in general (bobby's always been my fave o5) and kurt rly kinda takes on his role of the silly team baby in evo. i adore a silly team baby. plus, kurt is ACTUALLY the youngest of three siblings in canon, so i can totally see him being the annoying kid brother who tags along with amanda and stephan and gets on their nerves.

i liked the more serious plot they did for him too with the whole thing with mystique. ill never get tired of that storyline i wont lie and i think evo manages to strike a good balance where kurt is funny and comedic relief, but you still care about him and when he has a more serious moment it works.

although i think he CAN be a little overexaggerated with his teen speak, i like to imagine that's due to his status as a non-native speaker so he awkwardly overuses slang to try and fit in. I gotta say that I think most of the time Kurt being a teen from germany coming to america is treated kinda weird (see: the reboot movies acting as if kurt doesnt know what a movie or a store is. like guys hes from berlin in the 80ies. hes not from fucking dorf schragensdiek mid-14th century he probably has done way wilder shit than suburban teen scott summers.) so i like to make up my own headcanons to make it make sense a little lmao. also as a german: we think american/english sayings are super funny and like repeating them as germanly as possible. its like a nationwide sport so kurt doing it for funsies would also be totally reasonable.

overall i tend to take a lot of inspiration from evo for my version of a teen kurt bc the way he's characterized could totally be a super young and immature version of the sweet calm fuzzy guy we all know n love. hes silly and pranky and kind of annoying, but he's also really caring and the way his relationship with kitty evolved from a silly crush to genuine friendship was SO sweet. i love when kurt is shown that way, flirty but ultimately completely unselfish when his affections aren't returned and totally glad to just be friends with someone he had a crush on. i do think it's really lame how he uses the image inducer all the time since kurt NOT using the inducer anymore is such a big part of his character arc, and him using it at HOME all the time too is really weird but... well, whatever. in total one hell of a lovable, great kurt.

plus his design is super cute. how can you not love that 90ies boyband middlepart??