#and oooh boy they are evil. VERY evil

[flovoid]

‘tied by blood and yet, you are my greatest nemesis…’

[kinos-fortress-2]

fuck i got drained...

[raven-at-the-writing-desk]

honestly looking at the designs for Vil's hometown event, the colors are giving Gucci. They're pretty close to gucci's brand colors.

[Referencing the new upcoming JP hometown event!]

Oooh, that’s so true!!

Vil aside, the outfits of the other boys do have very similar colors to Gucci’s signature ones, which are a terracotta red, a deep green, and a faded gold. Black and/or beige are also common in Gucci designs:

And well, what do ya know?? 😂 Jamil, Azul, AND Ace have beige suits with deep green undershirts, reddish-brown ties, and golden clasps/accessories. (I think Jamil wears a red-brown undershirt and has green lapels; it’s hard to tell from his pose.) They all also seem to have very dark liner, which, realistically, is probably meant to help their faces stand out in photos if they’re on a red carpet, but also fits into the Gucci color scheme.

I believe Yana references luxury fashion sometimes for her designs, so maybe that was the intention here?? The color scheme also calls back to the Evil Queen's huntsman, so it creates a cool double meaning that fits the theme of a red carpet event starring Vil!

A friend recently proposed the theory to me that while Vil is the Evil Queen (and therefore is dressed most differently from the other event boys), Azul, Jamil, and Ace are dressed like the Huntsman to represent different aspects of him. For example, Ace is a card solider of hearts—so he’s the box that the Huntsman is meant to bring Snow White’s heart in. Azul could represent the deal the Huntsman made to spare Snow White’s life, or, alternatively, his kindness/mercy in letting her go. Finally, Jamil represents the profession itself and the Huntsman’s servile role to the queen.

I love seeing multifaceted fashion like this 🫶

UPDATE: Yes, it’s formally confirmed in the event that Vil’s guests are dressed up like the Huntsmen while his own outfit is inspired by the Beautiful Queen. The former are going to be his entourage and bodyguards as he walks down the red carpet!

[annymation]

Reimagining the characters in Wish

(Part 1- Asha)

Hey guys! I don’t really know how to start this, but let’s just say that I… Didn’t like how Disney’s 100th anniversary movie turned out, like at all.

But I can tell there was a lot of unexplored potential beneath this story, that in my opinion felt overly simple and bare bones.

But if you love it, that’s awesome, more power to you, I wish I could’ve loved it too. And I don’t want to rewrite it to show I’m “better than the writers at Disney” because I’m definitely not lol, I have no experience in writing, and I’m sure they put a lot of passion into the project and I respect them for that. But this movie inspired me with ideas for a different story that I think is worth telling.

But I won’t start telling it today, instead, I'll start a series of blogs sharing my ideas for changes in the characters and their stories, after I get some feedback I will start posting more of the story itself.

If you’re interested, then come along!

Asha✨

Personality

- Asha is a 18 year old girl, with a passion for drawing and helping those around her, sometimes even worrying more about helping others than helping herself

- She’s like a big sister to her 7 friends, always being the voice of reason and acting responsible, but not in a bossy way, she’s actually very playful with them

- To the people of Rosas tho, she's seen as kind of a weirdo, for you see, she spends almost every time of the day drawing in her sketchbook

- She practices everyday to become a better artist, and the people of Rosas find this to be very peculiar, after all, why would you take so much effort to perfect a talent when you can simply wait to turn 18 and wish for the king to make you an amazing artist?

- Asha doesn’t mind these comments, although they have made her less willing to share her drawings with others that aren’t her 7 friends

- As the story progresses we see Asha flourish from a shy and introverted girl to a brave woman who after discovering a terrifying secret about the kingdom’s rulers, steps in and inspires others to join her and fight an evil sorcerer king and his alchemist wife (yes, I made Amaya an alchemist, more on that on part 2 when I talk about how I’d change Magnifico and Amaya)

- Some Disney characters that share similarities with her personality wise are: Belle, Tiana, Pocahontas and Esmeralda

Main Traits:

Calm and mature

Determined

Passionate about her interests (drawing, dancing, philosophy and stars)

Helpful and generous

Perceptive and always questioning things around her that no one pays attention to (like why do all the artists only paint the King and Queen?)

Playful

Compassionate

Backstory

Oooh boy I gave this poor girl so much angst, okay let’s go

Asha grew up with her grandfather, her parents both died in a fire when she was just a baby

(this isn’t just to fit the “haha Disney princess has no parents” cliche, there’s plot relevance in this “mysterious fire” that I’ll talk about later)

Growing up with her grandpa, he’d always support her dream to be an artist, like her mother, who was an art teacher

Her mother not only drew really well, but she also was able to create the illusion that her drawings could move, by flipping through the pages of her sketch books

In other words, her mom was an animator

Asha saw this technic her mom used as a form of magic, so she would often tell her grandpa she wanted to “Do magic just like my mom”

Her father was a philosopher (this was established in the actual movie but never explored haha whyyyy), who taught people that working hard to achieve your dreams is not only rewarding, but also essential, because it’s part of the human nature to persevere and fight for what we believe, even if we fail, even if it’s hard, just keep moving forward.

This philosophy may sound very “umm duh” for me and you since we all know and hear everywhere nothing in life comes for free… But that’s not the case in Rosas

In this rewrite the kingdom wasn’t created by Magnifico, but rather the kingdom has existed for many generations, being ruled by different kings before Magnifico who also granted wishes… but I’m getting ahead of myself.

The point is that the culture of just asking the king to give you or make you whatever you want to be has been in this kingdom’s culture since forever, so when Asha’s dad comes out saying “hey! Maybe we should stop just relying on the king to make our dreams come true, right?” He’s actually being quite a revolutionary… and sharing a very dangerous belief to other people…

At this point you might suspect what caused that “mysterious fire”

So, back to Asha, growing up with her grandpa, they shared a lot of happy memories together. Reading her father's books and her mother's art books helped Asha connect with them even tho she never had them in her life.

But as her grandfather grew older, he became senile.

Asha went from being taken care of by her grandpa to being the one who took care of him when she was still around 13 years old, and when she turned 15 her grandfather passed away of old age

Asha went on to live with her best friend Dahlia, the two became like sisters.

Though she managed to move on from the loss of her grandfather, she could never shake the feeling that he died without getting his wish granted... But she had no way to prove that, it was just a feeling

The wish granting system works different in my rewrite, instead of there being a public wish granting ceremony once a month, there would only be a public wish TAKING ceremony, that would work just like in the movie, you turn 18, you go give your wish to the king yada yada yada.

But the wish granting part would work like this: Almost every night the king would release the wishes up in the sky, they would float down like balloons to their respective owners while they sleep, and once they woke up in the morning they'd feel that their wishes were granted, for they would wake up changed.

With this method, there's no way of confirming if someone really got their wish granted or not, unless you went to ask the king.

Asha never did ask the king if he granted her grandfather's wish, but her grandfather would sometimes express how he wasn't feeling completely fulfilled in his life, he felt like there was something... missing.

This feeling of hollowness persisted in him until the very end, no matter how hard Asha tried to help her grandfather, she never knew him as his real self, because he gave part of his soul to the king, the most beautiful part of his soul, his wish.

Asha had no proof that her grandfather didn't get his wish granted, only a gut feeling.

But because of this, Asha wasn't that thrilled to give her own wish to king magnifico, knowing there was the possibility of it never being granted.

Not to mention she didn’t even know what to wish for, “I’m just 18 and you guys expect me to already know what’s my heart’s deepest desire? I’m still figuring that out, all I know is that I wanna draw”

Plus she wanted to follow her father's philosophy and achieve her wish on her own, eventually, when she figured out what her wish even was.

Asha never rebelled against the system tho, she wasn't a confrontational person. She just accepted the people of Rosas preferred to rely on the king's magic, but that just wasn't for her.

However, on her 18 birthday, when it was expected of her to give her wish to the king, she simply said she didn't have a wish, and even if she did she wouldn’t want to hand it over, she wanted to make it come true on her own. This lead to an argument with the king, and after a series of events (that I don't have time to summarize here, but you can find out about it on my rewrite) leads to her finding out a terrible truth about her kingdom. And that's how her story begins.

Design

- I’d keep these braid ornaments that Asha had in the concept art

- Since in my rewrite she’s not that invested in the kingdom of Rosas, I’d remove all the Kingdom of Rosas symbols that are present in her design (there are a LOT of them)

- I’d replace these Rosas insignia with more star and constellations themed symbols, to reflect how Asha believes that the stars are connected to people and they can guide us, just like how her father believed.

Final Thoughts

My intentions with these changes were to give Asha a strong emotional hook, and something that makes her feel relatable.

The emotional hook here is how she spent so much of her life taking care of her grandfather that she kinda never had time to worry about her own desires, that alone can be relatable to caregivers of elderly people that watch their grandparents or even their own parents lose themselves as time passes, and end up worrying more about the person they’re taking care of than themselves.

Asha has this internal emotional conflict where she feels she needs to constantly help others the same way she helped her grandfather, and one of the things she’ll learn as the story progresses is that it’s not selfish of her to want more for HERSELF.

Another thing that would be relatable about Asha is her passion for drawing, and how most people in Rosas would say she’s wasting her time practicing so much when she can just wait until she turns 18 and wish to be amazing at drawing.

She’d never stop believing that taking her time to improve on her talent and trying again and again was worth every second of her time, because let me tell ya folks, drawing is HARD, and animating like Asha’s mom did is even HARDER, it takes a whole lot of practice, and Asha was determined to keep trying.

She’d be much like Belle, remaining true to herself even tho those around her considered her odd, and very passionate about drawing just as much Belle was passionate about reading.

I also find it funny how Asha’s motivations are fairly down to earth, like in Disney movies you usually have:

I want to be free from these palace walls!

I want to explore the ocean!

I want to open a restaurant!

I want to find true love!

And then there’s Asha here like

“My life is fine, I just wanna chill and draw stuff”

And that’s it, but, in her environment where everyone is expected to have this great wish that they have to give to the king so he’ll make it a reality, she’s kinda the odd one out, and I love that. Would be a great subversion of the Disney formula.

Of course after she learns Magnifico and Amaya’s true intentions she gets a lot more agency and the desire to save her people, her “call for adventure” if you will.

But what are Magnifico and Amaya’s true intentions? Click here for part 2 and find out!

Thank You For Reading!

[evieelyzabethh]

Streamer Jayce definitely seems like a LOL player who’d heavily grinds the game, and would *know* the lore extensively, even better than the devs/writers themselves. And in a world where LOL is the exact same, even with game Viktor and Jayce remaining unchanged, streamer Jayce would also definitely make jokes about himself and modern Viktor related to those game characters

oooh I've sorta been imagining a slightly separate AU where the streamer AU is still modern, but reader and the gang blow up before League of Legends was released their characters and bases the visuals off of them. Jayce and the Machine Herald were both introduced in like 2011/2012, so the slightly less modern streamer AU would take place circa late 00s early 2010s which is silly because that's such a different landscape.

You start out on Youtube, playing the original Minecraft, Sims 1 and 2, Bioshock, the old Resident Evil games and Silent Hill, Jayce playing WoW and LoL, the old Zelda games, Halo, and Assassins Creed. Your aesthetic looks quite different, pink and black foam sound mufflers decorating the back of your space, pink glass beads covering the door behind you, a fluffy pink rug on your floor, PlayBoy throw pillows next to your cheetah print stuffed animals on your hot pink velveteen bed. Don't even get me started on your closet. Juicy tracksuits galore, so many roll over leggings and matching tube tops, sparkly halter tops, low rise jeans, gold and silver hoops, a collection of belly button rings, and so many Chanel heels. You also definitely had one of those bedazzled BlackBerry's.

Viktor is more present in this AU, you both having a separate series on the channel called Multiplayer Monday where you and him film videos playing together. I wouldn't say he fits into the emo-boy look. Think less Rodrick Heffley and more season 1 Spencer Reid with less greasy looking hair. Lots of sweaters, lots of button ups and academic prints like argyle or plaid, lots of beat-up converse, old messenger bags, and comfy oversized jackets. He's still just as sassy, but he really does get into the games. I see his day job being something like an early day's computer scientist who really gets into the craft that goes into coding a game.

You and Jayce only really blow up because shipping culture used to be even more insane than it is now and everyone couldn't wait to see you two together, never mind the very real boyfriend you had. You and Vik still get a lot of attention, but shipping wars definitely break out over who you're going to "end up with". There are so many, fanfics don't get me started. You know how 1D started the "I Got Kidnapped By..." trope, you three definitely started some freaky shit in fanfic spaces. In fact, you really originated Fuck or Die fics, specifically a smutty twist on the Hanahaki disease trope where you have to fuck to prove that you love one of them so they won't die and prove which side of the shipping war was right once and for all. Also, so many Youtube edits of you and Vik to Kesha's, Your Love is My Drug.

Despite not being the greatest at the games he played, Jayce's deep love for the lore eventually got him noticed by Riot, who invite him, you, and Viktor to one of their events and plan a partnership with you three, which is how Jayce and the Machine Herald get introduced into the game. You also get a character, but we all know how well adding female characters to male dominated gaming spaces goes. It would be a completely terrible mischaracterization of who you are and what your channel stands for, your tits would be huge and popping out of your outfit, your waist would be the size of your head, your weapon would be some sort of Cupid's arrow gimmick, and the character would eventually be retired and a piece of lost LoL history. You get a few references made to your character on Valentines Day, though!!

Viktor is more pissed about it than you are, and out of spite, he remodels your character and makes a little platform game for her as a present to you on Valentines Day. It's a really cute small release where you battle a bunch of magical creatures on your adventure to find the Ring of Happiness. While you usually take the wheel when it comes to more creative endeavors like character and world design and story board creation, it's still a very cute game. When you beat the game, you do also receive your own real-life Ring of Happiness.

Besides the little hiccups, Jayce and Viktor think it's very cool to be in a video game. Jayce is definitely the type to main his own character no matter what while Viktor likes a little more variety. The cosplays would also go insane!!! Does Jayce lose his fingerprints with the ungodly number of times he burned himself trying to hot glue his hammer together? Well, yes!!! Does Viktor nearly dye himself with the black body paint he uses? Yes!!! You cosplayed Viktor's version and are the only one who comes out unscathed. From that point on, you leave the cosplaying to the fans and stick to playing the games.

ps. sorry for the lack of my big headcanons. tumblr hates me and wont save my drafts so i literally have no way of writing and posting them :(

[meowmeowraven]

Oooh, I'm loving the magical girl! reader requests! Could I request Himeko, Gepard, Jing Yuan, and Dan Heng with a reader who's capable of changing their body heat?

Warm and cold!

HSR Characters with a reader who can change their body heat!

Featured characters: Himeko, Gepard, Jing Yuan, Dan Heng

Warnings: lots of fluff! Angst and comfort on Dan Heng, many mistakes it's 2am, and you call Gepard Geppie and Dan Heng Danny

Notes: This may not be good 😭 i also have an unhealthy obsession with Jing Yuan.

Himeko

Honestly, i think that in the Astral Express it's a bit cold, since y'know, you're in space and stuff.

Let's be honest, the way she wears her jacket, doesn't really provide her warmth, so, she sits closer to you for warmth. <3

You finally came back from a mission on Jarilo-VI, to Himeko greeting you. She was sitting on the sofa, as usual, sipping out of her warm (burning hot) tea. "Welcome back, [Name]. How was your mission?" You look at her, move your hand in a waving gesture and answer. "Well, it was alright." You speak as you walk over to the sofa and sit next Himeko, not too far, but not too close. A few seconds later you notice Himeko, moving closer and closer, to the point she was leaning on you. "Himeko? Is there something wrong?" She looks at you and shakes her head. "No, not at all."

An evil idea popped in your head, you changed your body heat to freezing cold. Making Himeko flinch and stop leaning on you. "Pff, sorry sorry." You giggle, as you then change your body heat back to the warm one, and let her lean on you. <3

Gepard

Jarilo-VI' temperature is COLD. Very very cold. So, your body heat is usually really warm.

So, despite all the thick and warm clothing that Gepard wears, including his armor, he still tends to lean in closer to you because of your warmth.

You and Gepard were taking a walk through the District while he was off duty, stopping here and there once in awhile. "Geppie?" You call out for Gepard whose mind seemed to be in the clouds, as he was focusing on enjoying your warmth. "Huh? Oh, yeah what is it?" You then turn your attention to a cafe. "Let's go to that cafe!" Gepard turns his attention towards the cafe you were looking at. "Alright, sure." Once arriving at the cafe, you sit in the corner at a table that had a sofa which looked big enough to fit you and him, so you pat the sit next to you for Gepard to sit next to you, and he does just that. You both order hot cocoas, and Gepard ends up leaning so close to you, and became so comfortable that he fell asleep with his head on top of your own!

Jing Yuan

Ah, the big sleepy general, this man would slack off from work each time he had the chance. Such as, taking naps, doing ANYTHING but work.

Imagine being Jing Yuan's cuddle buddy. Even better that you can change your body heat, he'd do anything for a cuddle session with you especially during winter.

Jing Yuan pulled(dragged) you out of work, just for a cuddle session which he masked as an important buisness matter! So you had to go, all that it actually was... Was just his need for his cuddle. You ended up laying on top of Jing Yuan, who laid against Mimi. He was hugging you so tightly as if you were a warm plushie! Can you blame him tho? At some point he was hugging you so tight that you had to wake him up cuz you almost couldn't breathe! "'Yuan.." you poke at his face, yet he doesn't budge. "JING YUAN!" You had to yell at him to wake him up. "Huh? Hm? What is it?" He speaks as if he isn't squeezing you alive. "You're squeezing me!" He released his grip, but just dozed of back to sleep.

Legend says that he never heard the end of it from Fu Xuan, not only did he slacked off from work, but also dragged you!

Dan Heng

Imagine you and Mr. Grumpy sleeping together. And your body temperature dropping as you were sleeping!

Poor boy would be scared thinking you died, he had to shake you awake!

When you were tired, it was easier for you to let your temperature drop, as it wasn't consuming too much energy. Dan Heng didn't know that yet. You two were laying in bed. He was scrolling on his phone and holding you close to him, while you fell asleep, and your body temperature was slowly dropping, at some point, it started dropping so quickly that you scared him. "[NAME]! WAKE UP!" He shook you awake. "Danny..? What's wrong?" You looked at him confused. "Oh thank aeons, i thought you were dying!" That statement left you even more confused, as you were trying to process everything, Dan Heng hugs you. Soon after you hugged him and dragged him back to sleep, while running your fingers through his hair. "It's alright, i'm alright, go to sleep..." With a yawn you fell asleep and he did aswell a few seconds later.

[tizeline]

Hello ooohs! I just wanted to say that I adore your AU and just can't get enough of the change in dynamics for Rise!!

Your designs are incredible (( especially Leo's!! He is so adorable <3 )) and I get so excited each time you post!

So I have a question I want to ask: I have a huge soft spot a mile wide for Leo/Splinter family bond dynamic. I just turn to mush every time their familial bond is portrayed in comics/fanart/ and fanfiction.

Anyway! My question is: do Leo and Splinter develop a close relationship with each other later in the AU after meeting for the first time? I mean it has been shown how much of a fan boy Leo is for Splinter XD. Can your provide more insight into it and what Splinter thinks of the other three kids?

I also wanted to bring up a small error in The Cell part 3 that I noticed

For Donnie: "that's " was it supposed to be "that" ?

If not then I'm sorry for nitpicking your work. I just figured I'd help but my apologies <3 I still want to stress that I adore this AU so much and in extension; platonically adore you!! Keep being the best that you can be and take care!

Love,

🌹

Thank you!

And skfskbdwlskdisj yessss I love Splinter's and Leo's dynamic you're so real for that. And yeah, out of the of the Drax Bros, Leo is the one who ends up growing the closest to Splinter, both because he's been a secret Lou Jitsu fanboy for years at this point, but also because Leo was the first to change his mind on the evil world domination plan. Leo freed Donnie from imprisonment and tried to help him stop The Foot and The Shredder in the season 1 finale, and I imagine Splinter would be quite appreciative of that.

Not to mention, after Leo technically betrayed his family (even if it was for good reasons) Leo's and Draxum's relationship is a bit tense to say the least. And we see in the show that Leo has a tendency to seek out extra father figures, so in the AU Leo would be quite enthusiastic to recieve any positive attention from Splinter.

Splinter I imagine would feel rather guilty about not being able to rescue any of the turtles aside from Donnie when he fled Draxum's lair. He'd wanted to prevent Draxum from raising them as soldiers, so in failing to do that Splinter would continue to worry about how they were doing even years after the incident. After encountering the Drax Trio again years later, he'd be relieved that they don't seem to be TOO traumatized or anything, but they ARE still child soldiers, so that's a yikes.

That being said, while Splinter would've liked to find a way to get the other turtles away from Draxum, his priorities very much lie with Donnie. Considering how powerful Draxum is, and how Big Mama would also be looking for him, Splinter couldn't risk going back to the Hidden City to try to get Donnie's brothers without risking both his own and Donnie's safety. So he decided to cut his losses and play it safe by laying low in NYC and putting as much effort as he could into only protecting Donnie. This stays the same even after Donnie runs into his brothers as a teen, Splinter feels no ill will towards the other three turtles, but they WERE raised by Draxum so he does not trust them. Leo gains his trust after helping Donnie in the season 1 finale, but it takes some more time for him to start fully trusting Raph and Mikey because he wants to be sure that they're not gonna switch back to being evil or something and try to kidnap Donnie again.

Splinter's relationship with Draxum is the same as in the show, Splinter hates Draxum, Draxum hates Splinter, and there is NO underlying homoerotic tension between the two of them WHATSOEVER!

... Anyway, with that concluded, that IS a typo goddamit. I do appreciate people pointing out spelling and grammar mistakes in the comics I make, so thanks for that. But also it's a small enough mistake that I'm probably just gonna leave it be, I'm to lazy to fix it XD

[joyfuladorable]

Fuck it, here's all my favorite Mikey-centric fanfics!!

There's A LOT + personal blurbs, so they're going under the cut (Mostly AO3, but there are some FFN links, too. Also, besides like the first two, there's no favoritism in the order)

2k3:

Pretend That I Never Left by redstringraven(sirimiri) - Complete/Plans for an Epilogue & Sequel!!

Fic that changed my BRAIN?! If my fanart [1 | 2 | 3] for it is any indicator, lol. I'll say for the umpteenth time that if you're looking for an Excellent Mikey fic with Perfect Characterization, this is IT (and you don't need to know ANYTHING about HZD trust me TRUST ME this fic deserves WAY more love) His swift ride-or-die friendship with Aloy will melt your damn heart!

Dragon of the Sun by ForestWhisper3 - Ongoing

My Other TOP favorite Mikey fic!! Again, fanart [1 | 2 | 3] indicator! Slow Burn(ish) Canon Divergence of Mikey unlocking his Mystic Powers as his family looks on in dismay as they struggle to protect him. The Good Shit!!!

Of Darkness And Light by Bayluff - Complete

OOOOOOO THIS ONE! Very good (also drew fanart for it)! Evil creature literally trying to consume Mikey's lifeforce from within as his family scrambles to help

A Chat With The Titan by secreterces5 - Complete

Mikey has a fun one-on-one talk with the supposedly reformed Bishop in Fast Forward. Mikey vaguely threatening Bishop, HEEHEE

A Simple Act Of Kindness by UlisaBarbic - Complete

That feel when you put your worth in what you can DO and the wish to be Acknowledged and the ONE thing you thought you did right was taken away OOGH AGH OOOOGH

Difficulty Breathing by RealityBreakGirl - Complete

Mikey did not come out of Grudge Match unscathed *smile* Truly one of my favorite 03 Mikey prompts to read about (honestly just check the entirety of the Grudge Match tag on AO3 for a fun time)

"A delivery boy! Uh, or turtle." by LollyHolly99 - Complete

Fic that has the distinction of being the first one I ever did fanart for! Gender Feels for Mikey cuz they're just like me FR!!

What Darkness Most Fears by UlisaBarbic - Complete

OOOGH AGH I LOVE THIS ONE!! Mikey has to save his bros from the clutches of an evil spirit while surviving horrifying monsters and battling a wicked fever!

Michelangelo by ForestWhisper3 - Complete

Mikey through the eyes of his family and how much they respect him and know him UwU

Mikey's Jigsaw by SailorSaysAhoy - Complete

Another awesome gender Mikey fic HOOHAA

Train-Wreck of Thought by halogalopaghost - Complete

When you're so talented you learn how to astral project but you start using it for pranks instead of understanding the drawbacks of said power and that bites you majorly in the ass big time (very good my stomach turned while reading this /pos)

A Brother's Bond by SuperKat - Complete

Mikey gets Real Sick and the fam can't help but remember last time one of them got so ill. OH MAN heartstrings WILL be pulled in this one!!

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year by moogsthewriter - Complete

Why can't Mikey ever catch a break during Christmas! A short fic that I enjoy Immensely for Mikey being stubbornly heroic and his family desperately trying to play catch up to help him

Questioning Choices by Mystic Medjai - Complete

Fun day at the beach goes catastrophically bad and the fam has to make difficult decisions to keep Mikey alive. THIS THIS THIS!! If I could pour this into my veins for the perfectly paced plot and characterization...

When It Counts by Kallasilya - Complete

Short fic of Mikey stubbornly and bitterly proving his brothers wrong (+ Don being a good brother)

Favourite Disease by devirnis - Complete

Mikey is forced to save his brothers as his body gradually falls apart from the inside. SO GOOD UGH Mikey being forced to deal with situations on his own always show how far he can Shine!

Nowhere Boy by taizi - Complete

OOOH I dunno how I can summarize this without giving the plot away but just know Mikey pulls through by thinking of his family

To Fit the Crime by T33la - Complete

AHHH AHHHH AHHHHH AHHHHHHHH!! Mikey is accused of Murder and receives his sentence before his brothers can even jump to his defense! Oh the twists and turns of this murder mystery!!

you want to know why i sit and sigh (the night is so young it hurts) by love_killed_the_superstar - Complete

Angel and Mikey bonding over comics and unsupportive brothers So Cute)

imma be real with you (cause i started being real with me) by love_killed_the_superstar - Complete

Leo and Usagi being supportive of Mikey as he struggles to train for the upcoming Battle Nexus fight (and also maybe they flirt with each other a teensy bit)

just a hop, skip, and a jump away by baba_buoy - Complete

Mikey sick fic. Heart melting amounts of comfort UwU

Weak Link by yellowhollyhock - Complete

Sweet fic of Mikey feeling insecure about his place on the team, and Leo going through great lengths to prove him wrong like a good older brother :')

'Cause you are the sun, he is your moon/And though he can't speak, he will thank you soon by naivesilver - Complete

Post-Grudge Match Mikey waking up in the middle of the night bitter and sore and gods damn why's Raph awake, too?

Hunted by DysfunctionalRequest - Complete

Mikey wandering the woods alone in the middle of the night and having a VERY unfortunate encounter with hunters

Flipbook by T33la - Complete

Heartfelt moment between Mikey and Don concerning SAINW that makes me want to smash a cinder block against my head /pos

Dramaturgy by Completely_Unaware - Ongoing

Mind the tags! Mikey deals with a Battle Nexus loss in an unhealthy way (UmU)

The Red Means I Love You (Work) by AnonymousCritter - Ongoing

MIND THE TAGS! AU of Fast Forward. Mikey isn't saved from the traffickers in time and things spiral from there

The So-Called "Champion of the Battle Nexus" by 0ozero0 - Ongoing

Grudge Match canon divergence where Mikey gets hurt a little more seriously than in canon (but still wins)

2012:

Devil took your hand by moogsthewriter & taizi - Complete

Mikey mind controlled by the Shredder moment!! *laughs through my pain and tears and screaming*

walk with open hands by taizi - Complete

Mikey gets his hands on one of Renet's watches and things go topsy turvy from there (and it HURTS ME)

(un)reality by SpectrumWriting - Complete

Mind the Tags! Dimension X AU where Mikey is captured by the Kraang and is put through the wringer in more ways than one (OWIE)

evermore (Dimension X AU) series by coffeejellyenthusiast - Complete?

Mind the Tags! Mikey was in Dimension X for over a year and he's NOT OKAY

Gravitational Collapse series by Writing_In_Denial - Ongoing

MIND THE TAGS!! An Incredible it gets worse before it gets better series of Mikey being unintentionally abandoned by his brothers post-series and dealing with some Major Isolation and OOOGH IT HURTS ME SO MUCH BUT I WILL KEEP READING FOR THE EVENTUAL COMFORT

traveling so far to get there by taizi - Complete

Mikey and Raph getting stuck in an empty, post-apocalyptic world and struggling to survive (their BOND IN THIS IS SO SWEET WEH)

Rise:

nice, nice by postergirlsprank - Complete

Short fic of Casey Sr and Mikey bonding after an unfortunate encounter while on a snack run (Hey if you want more context for how this author writes Casey, go read his fic Imperfect Animals too heehoo)

either way, we're not alone by sinaesthesis - Complete

Mikey throughout the years of the Kraang Apocalypse (Lots of Loss and Hurt and Badassery)

going under by redhairedmuses - Complete

Mikey almost drowns during a fight with a mutant

Hyperactive Hypothermia by VeryAngryGremlin - Complete

After Mikey's winter wear accidentally goes in flames and a villain-enduced avalanche, Donnie struggles to keep his baby brother warm

that’s where the blood’s supposed to be! by Dragon_Scales_and_Fairy_Tales - Complete

With Raph and Leo constantly bickering, Mikey ignores a very serious injury after a fight with Meat Sweats

Clever Little Dino! by VeryAngryGremlin - Complete

Mikey trying to keep a robot pet a secret and suffering the consequences

Vs The World by DysfunctionalRequest - Complete

The aftermath of the Kraang strains the family's bonds, and Mikey feels hopelessly alone (and definitely isn't dealing with his trauma properly)

Empathy Amplified by Filsamek - Complete

When you accidentally use your powers to connect with your brothers' emotions then purposefully use them to ease their pain

Sunshine in the Rain by Carnati0n_bl00m - Complete

Probably the first fic I read after watching the Rise movie cuz I wanted to find something Mikey-centric involving Bishop and BOY does it deliver with the additional bonus of Leatherhead!! (also hey look fanart)

A Mystic Connection by rytheoneandonly - Complete

Mikey's mystic powers manifesting and evolving in ways he could never predict (aka Long Fic of Mikey stumbling to figure out why he wakes up exhausted and hurt every night)

The whole world in your corner series by GibbousLunation - Complete

Two fics of Mikey being Mikey and his bros being protective

Better Check Twice by Marz_Zero - Ongoing

Bishop captures a turtle with a bear trap (OW) and is an absolute bastard about it

Come Home Soon by Sherlock_Brolmes - Ongoing

With his brothers unavailable, Mikey (with the help of a former enemy) uncovers a massive conspiracy involving New York and the Hidden City. I LOVE THIS I LOVE SOLO DUO TEAM-UPS!!!! *PUNCHES THE AIR 13 TIMES*

Mikey's Artistic Guide to Dealing with Trauma and Fame by Origami_Nami - Ongoing

Mikey using graffiti as an outlet and accidentally becoming famous

Rook by unorthodoxx - Ongoing

Another Bishop fic of him outwitting the turtles to abduct one of them (Mikey)

Multi/Other:

Mystic Malfunction by VanillaVengeance - Ongoing

Rise Mikey accidentally portals himself to the 2012 Universe and struggles to survive and avoid this other version of his family (with mixed success). The progression of familial bonds in this is just *Chef's Kiss*

The Gauntlet by T33la - Complete

A mix of IDW & 03, a wonderful showcase of how Donnie and Mikey support each other (also, a cool invention and a big rocket and a terrifying near-death experience are involved)

I Get Knocked Down (But I Get Up Again) by Justalittleobsessed - Ongoing

MIND THE TAGS!!! Set in its own original iteration, Mikey has been immortal for as long as he can remember, and he's used to his occasional deaths (and revivals). But then his brothers find out... (AGH AGH THIS ALSO HURTS MEEEEE BUT OOGH the comfort and hope of the later chapters is so Worth It)

Whumptober 2023 series by Justalittleobsessed - Ongoing?

Collection of Mikey-centric one-shots from different iterations and feeling the HURT (Personal favorites are If Only the World Could Stop Spinning..., Just a Flesh Wound, and Not the Best of Days)

To Know Peace (You Gotta Let Go) by Deadpool1763492 - Ongoing (technically)

The Last Ronin Spoilers!! Mikey survives and whisks the new turtle tots away to live on a farm instead of being raised as soldiers. (AUUUUUU THE FEELS!! THE TOTS! MIKEYYYY!!!)

How to accidentally kidnap yourself several times over by Camildeni - Ongoing

Rise Mikey gets captured and accidentally summons other iterations (03, 12, and Bay) of himself trying to get out! They do NOT have a good time!! (but at least they have each other)

the dad diaries by angelmichelangelo - Ongoing

More TLR Mikey being a Dad (and dealing with his trauma sorta kinda)

The neighboring cell by SaltyYagi - Ongoing

2012 Mikey and Rise Leo trying to escape Dimension X together (and bonding)

Bonus Non-Mikey-centric:

Weathered Strings, Tethered Wings by Deadpool1763492 - Ongoing

(2003) SAINW AU!!! With the possibility of Don being alive dangled in front of them, the remaining turtles begrudgingly reunite to save him. Drew a cover for this with more art to come! LOVING the slow burn of reconciliation between these bitter old turtles UwU (Bitter Old Mikey my poor Bestie)

Mutant Nightmare by HamsterMasterSamster - Complete

(2003) The immediate aftermath of Worlds Collide

Hanging By A Turtle by CamsthiSky - Complete

(Rise) Literally the turtles struggling to get out of a deep pit they're hanging over

Shell Game by T33la - Complete

(2003) OKAY OKAY SO!!! OOGH Don encounters something Impossible while prepping a tracking device (for himself) and it snowballs into another Renet-involved time adventure (AND UMMM lots of existential contemplation and a surprise historical guest who's Very Cool)

Turtle Power by halogalopaghost - Complete

(2003) Immediate aftermath of the star ship reactor explosion in Exodus

Disposable by orphan_account (kudos to you wherever you are, author) - Complete

(2003) Bishop captures Don and Mikey and gives them a terrible choice

Dissection by AmevelloBlue - Complete

(2003) So much Comfort after the trauma of Worlds Collide (ie Don's interrogation and Mikey almost getting sliced open)

Find the Road by SillySocks - Complete

(2003) Perfect encapsulation of the family as they cope with Leo's absence while he trains with the Ancient One

Handle with Care by HamsterMasterSamster - Complete

(2003) April is seriously injured during a mission and has to deal with the turtles distancing themselves from her as she recovers

mind-body problem by hiraethseok - Complete

(2003) April and the Turtles Being Siblings the Fic

Healing in Tandem by Eggstasy - Complete

(2003) Canon divergence of Worlds Collide where Splinter is just a little too late to intervene before Bishop starts sawing into Mikey's shell

Let's Take Ibuprofen Together by GreenGoddessSmoothie - Ongoing

(2003) The turtles swap body and have learn to cope with each other's chronic pain

Not the Face I Know by GreenGoddessSmoothie - Ongoing

(2003) Mikey accidentally makes a wish that changes his family's lives forever (THEY'RE HUMAN THEY BECOME HUMAN AND THE PLOT IS COOL AND ALSO QUEER THEMES MY BELOVED)

The Great Skittle Heist of 2105 by AmevelloBlue - Ongoing

(2003) AU of Fast Forward where the Dark Turtles are babies instead and are very swiftly adopted by the Fam

The Labyrinth by HALFnHALF1 - Ongoing

(Mix of IDW/03) The Turtles wake up separated in a labyrinth with only a mysterious voice in their heads to guide them (and manipulate them)

“You didn’t tell me your extended family was in town!” by BoStaffsAreCool - Ongoing

Post-Turtles Forever. The 03 fam is Just beginning to wind down after the events of the movie and look who's knocking at April's door (the 87 turtles)

[llamagoddessofficial]

Llamaaaaa, I’ve got major brain rot over the Maifia babes! Would the situation/ romancing of reader change much if she were the daughter of a rival, Don or a straight and narrow police captain?

oooh... the daughter of a police captain? It might change a few things

Sans: He lies to everyone. Her dad is no exception. He's dedicated every aspect of himself to ensuring she belongs to him- what's one more person to lie to? Though staging her father's death was certainly an option, Sans draws an oddly specific line at killing family (wonder why?).

Sans is charming, in the way many stereotypical sociopaths are. He plays the safe, stable, polite boyfriend that wins her family over with bad jokes and good manners. His facade of having a boring and safe (yet very successful) banking job means Mc's dad might even actively prefer Sans over her past partners, because he believes she'll be safe.

And... well. He's not wrong. The only times Sans has ever been honest with Mc's father was when asked if he loved her, and if he'd keep her safe.

Red: Fuck cops. Red's gonna be the irresistible bad boy with a heart of gold, the attractive and dangerous side of life that she's been denied until now. Power and glamour and parties and all the wild luxuries and freedoms his protection brings- what's her dad gonna do, arrest him for taking a consenting pretty lady on expensive dates? Red likes subtly gloating about how the cops have absolutely no evidence against him for anything.

... He's also going to show her the reality of the police. He'll show her just why he's so antagonistic toward a captain. Things are a lot more complex than her 'straight and narrow' dad has lead her to believe, it's never been as simple as the good cops vs. the evil monsters... why do you think he got so powerful in the first place, doll? Here's a clue; it wasn't because the cops were well liked.

... Cop or not, though, Red gets antsy at the thought of her losing someone she loves. So for the time being, Mc's dad is unaware that Red's 'family' have designated him completely off-limits. Red may despise everything her father stands for, but he's not going to let the man die.

Skull: It doesn't change much about his wooing method. He's still a mess, he still tries to win her over with classical romance methods and pretty things. Who her family is has absolutely no meaning to him. Though... he might start deliberately targeting people who pose a threat to her, considering her dad is most likely well known.

Honestly, if it gets to the point where she's bringing Skull home to meet her family, I can see Mc's dad taking something of a weird shine to Skull. Not knowing about the giant's crimes, obviously. Skull might be physically imposing, but her dad has met a lot of imposing people, and when Skull is around Mc he just seems so... harmless. Like a puppy following her around, waiting for a pat. Skull's total adoration is so clear and untainted that it shines through his terrible appearance.

Her dad gets the strong feeling that no matter what Skull does, he will always put Mc first. He approves of that.

[sunshinemoonrx]

GoGoV 19 & Lightspeed Rescue 13

Our two sets of heroes face an enemy that is simply overwhelmingly difficult for five rangers to defeat, but actually trivially easy for six of them. But what Lightspeed lacks in dramatic tension and abject despair, it makes up for in a muscular blond writhing and moaning against a pillar while an evil beam gives him a tramp stamp. So...swings and roundabouts?

Some very cool spooky imagery anyway!

Why isn't one of these DEMON KNIGHTS a GIRL if they want me to care oh well anyway. Once again, I like the over-the-top rescue situations we see in GoGoV (we have to deliver a baby...in a collapsing building! on fire!). It is kind of unusual to debut a cool new weapon and then have it be useless the very next episode (given that this isn't a modern Kamen Rider show and they don't actually debut cool new things very often!).

Which honestly makes sense of the PR team just cutting the use of that weapon entirely so they don't show it failing--although more awkward is recontextualising "giving a pretty feather as a gift to a 1 year old baby who will look at the funny object and go oooh" into "giving a pretty feather as a gift to a pair of 10 year old kids who apparently find this so cool they will spend all day talking about it". But they still overall dovetail Ryan's involvement into this subplot pretty smoothly, I'd say--it's just the moment to moment that's a bit silly, like the Magical Wise Woman at the bus station.

And I forgot to say, but whoever's suit acting the Titanium ranger has really distinct martial arts moves! His fights are always great, you can really believe this guy is a cut above.

Other than that, just the stuff you'd expect, like "show sentai footage of terrifying destruction, but then have a character say don't worry, no-one was hurt".

Also, this really funny shot. White Boy Deploying

[moonlight-tmd]

Oh? God Bee?? Please tell us more.

OOOH BOY I WILL TELL YOU MORE AND BEYOND-

SO- In this AU, Bumblebee is secretly a lesser deity (more known as celestial lords). One of many that guard and sometimes interact with the mortal world for fun. Nobody knows about the lesser gods anymore because their cults have died out and worship was forgotten long ago and the knowledge about religions is only kept in deep archives for the sake of keeping track of history. The only knowledge about gods that survived to this day is about Primus and Unicron- the "good" and the "evil" halves that function and fight with each other to maintain balance, kind of like Yin Yang.

Bumblebee's god name is Bei-Silah, he's a Celestial Lord of Dreams and Wishes, Patron of misfits and all things out-of-place. His domain is Dream Realm and his duty is to make and keep guard of dreams and nightmares. He is also the one the mortals summon to make their wishes come true- signing pacts, deals, etc. He's the most social of the deities, per se.

He's known to be mischevious, curious and playful (and deranged) but also dangerous- he's the one that tugs at the strings of luck and steers the wind that pushes you in certain directions in life.

I've allowed myself to sketch a little something for the reference-

(ATTENTION: the design has been updated and this art is now non-canon to the AU. Check this post to see the actual design)

In his god form he's a tad bigger than his mortal frame (although he can change size at will), he has additional arms and 5 eyes cuz as stated previously, he's with misfits (plus he likes to be the odd one out). He also has 6 glowing ribbons that he can control like tentacles sticking from his back. He's levitating most of the time because why should he be restricted to ground. He also has that godly glow to him, you ever seen Disney's Hercules? Kind of like the gods there have.

So- I imagine he comes down to mortal realm and gives himself a mortal disguise to use, each somewhat different from the last to fit with the people of the era he's in. And this continues on, with some centuries of break time between each "lifetime", and currently he's Bumblebee-

The way he met Team Prime is very much different from the original events- it was Optimus, Ratchet, Bulkhead and freshly picked up and integrated Prowl on the team. Their ship was drifting in space so theu could do some stuff and something hit the wing, Bulk and Prowl were send to check and maybe fix the damage but instead of an asteroid they saw a little yellow bot, frosted over and greyish in color limply hanging from the wing. Of course they pulled it into the ship and got it to the ship's medbay immediately. When the bot woke up few joors later they got to learn his name was Bumblebee. He didn't remember what happened, only that he was thrown out of the ship and left to die. The team kept him, Bee was very adamant on staying with them and from what he said his skills could come in handy for them.

They become closer and end up on Earth afterwards. Everything is quite normal no once but them is on the planet yet,... until one day Team Prime goes to investigate some strange activity and find a group of stray mechs trying to do a ritual of some sorts- turns out they weren't the only ones on the planet, just the area. And that group is seemingly trying to do some cult stuff. They have few encounters before the cult group captured Team Prime to use in the sacrifice to summon something. And so coincidentally, the leader chose Bee to sacrifice. (Inspired by Bad Feeling by Jagwar Twin)

They place him in the ritual circle with all the sigils n stuff and do the rites. Team Prime tries their best to get themselves free while Bee seems more awkward than scared- then the whole area inside the circle fills with white fire... nothing happens. The leader glances at the other cult folks and tries to figure something out. In the meantime- Bee pokes his helm up from the fire and stands up while shaking his wrist free off molten metal that used to be stasis cuffs.

"Yeah, this sacrificial ritual really lacks the 'sacrificial' part..."

He bickers with the leader who tries to go near and grab him, thinking the fire is safe. But the moment he sticks his servo inside the circle the flames burn and melt half of it off. Everyone just stares shocked and quite alarmed as to why the fire harmed the cult folk and is not harming Bee- a minute later Bee snickers and burst out laughing... but then the laugh glitches a bit and he sounds like he's laughing his insanity out. He throws his servos up and falls back, after he submerges in fire there is just silence. The same leader cult folk that tried to grab him goes near, carefully looking if the bot is dead already- but the moment he gets too close some monstrous figure made of the same fire launches out, grabs him and pulls him into the burning circle with it.

The fire that was once white turns vibrant yellow and with a small explosion, a figure emerges... at brief glance it looked normal but no... the figue stretched, its 4 arms making sure they were seen. Then 2 of its eyes blink open before the other 3 open as well. Its mouth forms a big grin that nearly split its face in half, sharp teeth glaring at them. The most notable detail- the one that told them this somehow was Bee- was the voice; it was choir-like, few tones of similar voices speaking at once but one tone prominent the most, the tone of Bumblebee's voice.

"Aah~... Been a long while since I last done this dance."

The creature didn't introduce itself, only seemed curious and kept guessing what the summoners might want- wealth , power, oh maybe revenge! Which resulted in a rather annoying and disappointed moment when the summoners had no idea who they summoned instead of whoever they tried to summon. So obviously, he had to explain. And what a better way to explain that a musical! (Alastor's Game by The Living Tombstone. The song is exactly the same with exception of few words; "-give mr. Alastor Beisilah a call." "-be your sweet, radio mischevious demon.")

As the song goes on, Bei-Silah shows different aspect of himself- from proposing a pact scroll to the cultist folks to making everyone delve into the odd nightmareish plane for brief seconds before pulling them to a side and showing them all the things they desire. Team Prime has a brief moment of seeing their perfect world before it turns to glittery dust and flees to the cultist who do their things and then they see them getting possessed. ("did i mention that you're cursed?")

Then they have a brief flashes of places that match the lyrics and at the end, Team Prime is not chained up near the ritual site but instead standing free some distance away from the summoning ring and watches as the mindless cultists stand around the circle and have strings wrapped around their necks to show they are bound to the contract they signed at the beginning of the song. The creature finished singing and bows and then just like he appeared, he disappeared in a burst of golden flames along with the cultists...

Team Prime had a short moment to recollect and try to think what happened before the same creature that sang comments something from behind them. The reactions are absolutly amusing. After a bit of wordplay and half-hinged giggles, the creature introduces himself as Bei-Silah. He explains that he's Bee and not Bee and all that confusing stuff but he does like the bunch so he is their friend and they are stuck with him. He doesn't say what happened to the cultists, only that "they paid the price a little early" and that they shouldn't worry about them. He got rid of the trouble and freed his friends, two birds with one stone!Team Primes leaves as told so Bei can 'clean up' the ritual site, he also tells them to not speak of it again. They only see Bumblebee again next morning.

Sari wasn't there so she never knew. Or at least until some other events in the future that i will save for another post cuz this one is fucking long. I still kept it as short and on point as possible.

Hope you enjoyed reading my nonsense. Expect it to be added to the AU list now that you made me write about it.

[kingmagnificoofrosas]

Analyzing King Magnifico

Oooh boy, I have a lot to say! This is gonna be long. So brace yourself. But first 👇

‼️Note, this is my very personal opinion‼️

I'm honestly glad how the multitude of people realizes that we don't have a villain here. And honestly, while some nag and whine around that they didn't get one, I'm not mad at all that we got Magnifico the way we got him.

So in the end, it doesn't matter to me if disney actually failed to create a villain or purposely created a good guy who changes to be the antagonist.

Ok, now to the analizing part

The very first thing we learn about Magnifico is that he has a pretty dark past. He lost his home and his entire family, anyone he ever loved, all in one night. And in a very curel way. That banner tells us a lot!

First of all, if we study the picture, we see a palace in the back, some houses and right down below young Magnifico and his parents. Now, why is that so important? Back in the days only very important people were potrayed on banners. Such as royals, families of very high status or knights. Banners and wallrugs were also used to tell important stories. And since the palace is on the banner, I'm pretty sure we have a royal family here. That would mean that Magnifico had been royalty from the very start.

Further we see that the bottom got burned. This tells us that there was a big fire. Which leads me to conclude that what Magnifico saw and experienced was most defenitely hell on earth. Imagine, his family, his home, everything burns. Screams of terror everywhere, the stench of dead burning flesh and smoke that nearly suffocates you! And he was very young when that happened. So we now know that the king has big time PTSD (post traumatic stress disorder) Keep this in mind, because it's literally the key to this whole analysis.

~

Out of his trauma, Magnifico strived to build a safe haven, where he could make sure no tragedy like the one he'd suffered would ever happen again. He build his kingdom, (on top of already existing buildings, as we know from the art book) He taught himself magic to actually have power to protect. He made sure his people are safe and live well. That no one has to suffer, endure hunger or hardships. Sounds like a evil rotten monster right?

Just look at the way he looks at the (wishes) dreams of his people. He appreciates and treasures them!

His genuine desire to protect and keep safe has always been good!

We only see him snap after Asha triggers him. And while ptsd people react overly sensitive or exaggerated, it is understandable once you know where they come from.

Analyzing Magnifico's ptsd closer and how it influenced his actions and decissions

Magnifico had looked for an apprentice that truly understands where he comes from and shares his ambitions. But the first thing Asha asks as soon as she gets the feeling she has the job safe, is if he can grant her grandfather's wish. I understand, that she cares for her grandfather but I also see Magnifico's feelings. Can you imagine how used he must feel? Constantly feeling the pressure of "I must protect what's dear to me! I must make sure my past never repeats!" And yet, the most people see him as is the "wish-granter".

Trauma shapes you, it shapes the way of thinking and if something triggers a response, you just react. If you like it or not. And oftentimes you're not even aware you're acting up. I can tell from personal expirience ...

So what about him being slightly vain and wanting respect?

Respect is earned. Generally everyone deserves to be threated with respect unless someone gives you a solid reason not to.

So let's recap some of the things Magnifico actually deserves respect for :

Surviving a horrible tragedy and still standing

Building up an entire kingdom and reigning it well (protecting his people fiercly and sucessfully bringing order)

Being selfless

Being king and carrying a freaking lot of responsibility

Now, let's look at Magnifico's "vanity moments" more closely and examine the things he does and says with questions of why?

The thing with his hair. He makes sure his hair looks nice. Ok, is this a bad thing? Does this make one ultimately vain? No. Being content with your hair and wanting to have it look good isn't vain. Neither is being happy about it. Or looking at yourself in the mirror and like yourself. You even should be able to look at yourself and love what you see. Pure vanity is something different.

What about what he says about himself in his song?

I can't help it if mirrors love my face

It's genetics! Yeah, I got these genes from outer space

Lets consider the situation and emotional state he's in. He's pissed. And I'm pretty sure this a way to try and lift himself up a bit. I mean, like mentioned above, there is nothing wrong with liking your appearance. And he IS freaking handsome. He's not lying when he acknowleges that fact.

Of course you could twist his words and say, oh he's arrogant and vain. But people can say lots of things and not actually be a bad person.

And while true vanity is a bad trait, it doesn't make one a villain. Let's compare Magnifico to Gaston for a second.

Gaston is rude from the very beginning. He's selfabsorbed and narcissistic all the way and the only thing he cares about is himself. He shows off to be praised simply for selfgratification and because he thinks he's the center of the world.

Magnifico cares immensily for others and wants acknowledgement for it. Who wouldn't? If you do something great and constantly care for others and still aren't really appreciated for it, who wouldn't be like, "I do all this and you thank me by doubting me and wanting even more? How ungrateful can one be?" And the only things we see people acknowledge him for, is 1. His ability to do magic and grant wishes, and 2. His handsome looks.

I totally understand that he's fed up at one point. Deep down wishing someone would see him for the man he truly is below all his abilities and appearance.

Gaston would walk over dead bodies to get what he wants and in order to look good. He has 0 compassion and 0 remorse.

So, even though Magnifico is a "little" vain, he's not out of evil reasons! It literally doesn't harm anyone and it doesn't cause others to suffer. If someone tells him "You're handsome." He replies, "I know."

Good! Too many people look into the mirror and hate themselves. Of course, humbler people would just reply with "thank you." But still, this isn't a solid point to call someone a villain or bad person.

Ok, now. So far we have absolutely no reason to assume Magnifico is a "villain" so let's skip to the part where it get's interesting!

The thing with the shape shifiting entity (star) happens. Something that is outside of Magnifico's power, something he doesn't understand and it terrifies him! Why? Not because he's a power hungry psycho, not because he enjoys controling people out of complacenty and is afraid to lose that. No. It's the desperation of feeling helpless, the terror of losing control, the fear of having the past repeat itself. That is what drives him mad.

Ultimately he becomes desperate and anxious enough to let himself get possesed. Even during the whole process, he says that he never wanted this, he swore he'd never let himslef be posessed. He further says, "To this book, I don't wanna be tethered, but desperate times call for desperate measures."

Let's hear that again folks! Real loud for all those in the back! He tell us 3 times, 3 times ! How he doesn't want to turn to darkness but he feels forced to do so. Why? Because of his trauma! Not because he's a villain. He doesn't want to lose his control out of fear!

Let me show you something.

There you have it! 🫴 it's that simple. I'm tired of traumatized characters being labeled as villains.

Oh yeah but he literally goes bonkers after he let himself be possesed by the evil from this book!

Yeah, sherlock, of course he behaved EVIL after that. That's literally the evil that possesed him! This doesn't make him a villain! It make's his whole situation even sadder and more tragic. The actions are obviously bad, "villainous" if you wanna call it that, but it doesn't make him a villain!

What happens to a scared animal that you force into a corner? It bites. Does this mean the animal is evil because it bit? No. It doesn't make the bite ok, but it doesn't make it evil either.

So, I, like many others also underline that Magnifico is in no way a villain but a traumatized good guy who sadly slipped.

His personality

Composed when needed

He can be bubbly as much as he can be calm. One of the first things Amaya tells Asha is that Magnifico likes to talk a lot, yet we never truly see him talk a lot! He is more calm than he is loud.

When Asha has her interview, he gives her room to talk rather than showering her in lectures of what he wants and what he expects. He's like "Go ahead, you tell me! Imma listen."

I actually feel this very personally because I'm someone who loves to talk. If I'm comfortable around someone and I made sure I can trust them, I can ramble for hours. I can talk and talk and talk like a waterfall. But at the same time, I can also be intensly quiet and listen well.

Childlike behavior

One of my absolute favourite characteristics in Magnifico is his childlike goofyness. He has this really pure cuteness to him and a bombastic humor. He doesn't pay heed if his behavior could seem akward to others, he just acts however he feels like. He's one of those adults that would still do all the things they enjoyed doing as a child or things that children normally do and I love that!

I cannot stop chuckling over the fact that he hippity hopps down one of his corridors, giving cookies to knight armors. If that isn't adorable I don't know what is! 😂

Also, please, that whole scene! The dance moves, the excitement, the expressiveness! Aaawwww!

He has a whole miniature model of his kingdom and he makes little interactive figures! I laughed tears because it's so funny and adorable! Like he's that kind of man that would cheer at the simplest accomplishments like a child unwrapping the toy the really wanted on christmas day.

There is so much we can find in here. He's :

Playful, creative, quirky, funny, passionate, imaginative, spunky, talented - the list goes on!

But let's keep going and listen to what else shimmers through the things he sings.

I'd give the clothes off Benito's back, if you really needed that

I'd be the first one to volunteer if your home were to crumble, or if you were in trouble

He doesn't just blabber nonsense here or lies. He truly would do all those things! Why else would he sing this while alone? He has no one around so one could say he's saying this on purpose to look good. He's frustrated, offended and slightly hurt and is speaking his mind and emotions. And we are shown this as an audience.

What do these lines tell us then? They tell us just what he actually is! Altruistic. It leads us right back to what we found at the beginning. His actual desire to help, keep safe and protect.

Why would he be the first one to volunteer if a home crumbles? Because his did. A king actually doesn't need to get his hands dirty. He has enough people to do things for him, yet he'd go out of his way to take matters into his own hands because he genuinly cares!

I let you live here for free and I don't even charge you rent

Doesn't sound like a power hungry, wealth loving, gold hoarding dictator to me. Get this, you are living in a kinddom for fee! No rent! The most money you make you keep and only a bit of it goes to the king to sustain the community. That's pretty awesome if you ask me.

I clean up all your messes and I'm always there when you need to vent

So he's not only selfless but a good listener as well. He doesn't judge. He, well -

I give and give and give and give-

He wants to make sure everyone is pleased. That's actually impossible but he still tries and is secrerly suffering deep down from it. If a person only ever gives and hardly gets anything back ... it's like you fill a container with water and there is no hole to drain it. Eventually you are so overly full of others problems, you suffocate or overflow.

It's SO sad that he doesn't have ANYONE to really talk to. He runs across half the palace to let out his emotions rather than seeking comfort from someone. (Which would be the oportunity to talk about Amaya but this is for another post!)

Charming, charismatic, proud, confident

The characteristics that make him attractive besides his looks. He's a gentleman, he knows how to use words well, he isn't afraid to speak his mind and carries himself with confidence, which is displayed in the way he walks. He either strides, has a light bounce to his step or a heavyness.

Ok, now, that we have the positives, we can acknowledge the negative and neutral ones. And everyone has negative traits. Again, some of Magnifico's negative traits are caused and or intensified by his ptsd.

Idealistic and perfectionistic -Magnifico constantly obsesses over how things should and could be. Chaos irritates him. He feels safe in clear structures and always strives for the best outcome for things. If something doesn't make sense for him, he feverly searches for answers until he finds them. If not, he panics. The tiniest feeling of potentially failing wrecks his nerves.

Impulsive - He's got a short temper. Yes, he can swallow a lot but if one crosses a certain line, he snaps. His emotions control him more than he controls them. And that goes both ways. Happy, sad, angry. He feels everything intense and reacts intense.

Stormy and insecure - He reacts very sensitive to stress. He feels a certain degree of urgency in his feelings and tends to be sucess-oriented. He always wants to improve and thus pressures himself.

Controlling - Magnifico's obsessive feeling of need to control comes from his traumatic past. As long as he's in control, he feels secure. He feels safe. Control is his safeplace. Not because he has evil motives but because in reality he's deeply insecure and anxious.

Paranoid and pessimistic - Again a trait that has been heavily altered by his ptsd. Originally he'd belong to the more cautious kind. Being cautious isn't something negative, it can be very helpful since one analyzes and observes carefully before choosing to trust or do something. But his trauma causes him to always assume the worst. He becomes critical where he wouldn't need to be because of his fear. (We see this with his decissions over wishes. He disregards some not because of ill will, ignorance or arrogance but because of his anxiety)

Stubborn - If Magnifico has set his mind on something he could go through walls with his head. Once he's determinded to do something, it's nearly impossible to stop him.

Distrustful - His paranoia and pessimism makes it hard for him to trust others. He becomes hard to read and hard to understand.

Now, once the evil that has been trapped in the book posesses Magnifico, he becomes ruthless, cruel and cynical. He steps into "villainous behavior" but is it what he truly is? NO! Of course not! If people talk about a classical villain, they mean a purely evil person from the very beginning of a movie/story. If we have a originally good guy, who, through circumstances, starts reacting and making wrong choices, we're talking about an antagonist.

And good grief, Magnifico was more than redeemable! If someone actually hadn't been blind to the true struggle of his soul, if someone had actually cared enough to save him! If someone had only truly loved him. He was used, wronged, backstabbed, betrayed, left alone and dropped like a hot potato the second he snapped. Poor Magnifico. He deserved better. Far better.

~

Thank you for reading! I'll soon post more of my analyses. 🧐

Also, creating a redemption story for Magnifico is the most fun I've had writing in a long while. 🌹 I'm excited to eventually share it with you, once it's done.

[msbunnat]

thank you for your answer, in any case I was already very excited by your comic and I cannot wait to read more about it!

I honestly cannot understand the people hating on your work. I feel like fandoms has been invaded by a wave of purity/moral policy that shouldn't exist anymore. it's even more wild to me knowing you're working on a greek myth, and the greek myths are KNOWN to have many versions. that's the beauty of them in my opinion, the way these authors all wrote their own versions and they passed them to us. I love the fact you picked Ganimedes, and you decided to explore both Zeus and him. And the mystery you keep about your relationship really makes me wonder which take you will follow!

and speaking of take, I really enjoy yours on Zeus. Gods are complex beings, and sure they're problematic (like duh) and bad, and everything but it's funny how people will decide which pick for who. Like everybody love Poseidon but oh boy, he can be as bad as Zeus people. So yeah, I am actually excited to read the way you're gonna write him! I don't hate Zeus, sure he does seem one of the "worse" when reading most of the myths, but my favorite thing is the way you can love one god in one story, and hate him in another. they're immortal beings. they're not just black and white. so I happen to enjoy when authors write Zeus as more than just a big bad villain. But I also enjoy when they just don't make him a "sweet lovely daddy".

Oh by the way, I didn't know the version of Metis abusing him and I'll have to look into it! We had a more "feminist" vision of her myth in my class, so it's not something that was talked about hmm.

Also, my bad for saying he died. It was a sum up because of him turning into a constellation. I cannot say we studied this myth so unfortunately I don't have sources to help you on it! It's assumed he lives on forever young but the fact he turns into a constellation is why people think he died?

Thanks! I want to post soon, but I'm so tireeed ;w; I prefer to make people wait and do a good job tho.

About the hate... People re affraid (artists have to much power kkkkk) and we live in a time that you need to share your opnion to get validation. In my case, they need to say that Zeus is bad and hate on him and me so they know they re on the rigth side and have good morals. And even after all this, I think its a good thing they just warning people, that way I can get to my real target that can enjoy characters more complex that re not good or evil, but mess up beings (that includes Ganimedes). And even if people in the end critizied my aproach, its also fine, I dont claim to be perfect and just hope that even to the mad ones, they feel inspired to create their version as well. I think they forgot that, like, they can have their version and will be as valid as mine, dosent matter the story.

(I really enjoy everything about Ganymede, if people go and do their versions, its a plus to me! More about him is best for me heheh. I came across two versions of Ganymede on tumblr and I LOVE BOTH!! I really want to do a fanart of the second one, but I'm a lil afraid if they dont want to interact with me, which is fair, but I'm just judging by the dark aproach on the myth, as a horror story).

Thanks for liking my Zeus u.u I'm really more found of him, as I think about his past, but I'm trying not to focus to much on him! He steals the scene to much!!!

About Metis, its not a version, but a interpretation. I'm looking to see if I find a sourse, but anyway, its intresting, since they met when Zeus was still young. And there re some greek myths with female abusers, so... its something.

Oooh! I see. hm... I never see the constelation as a death, so its not clicking with me, but I understand. Any way, I kinda dont like the constelation, for some reason looks wrong to me, but its a valid version and Im totally using the aesthetic kkkk

[rpmemepalkia]

ASSORTED PAPER MARIO TTYD QUOTES

modify as desired.

"Hey, back off, you creep! You want something, or you just like sliding up to people?"

"Like I'd go anywhere with smelly lunatics like you! Hmph! Not likely!"

"Phew! What a bunch of loons! Let's just sneak out of here, what do you say?"

"... Anyway, no offense, but it looks like you just rolled into town yourself. Right?"

"Whoa whoa WHOA, bucko! Whatcha got there?"

"Um... Excuse me! Err... I beg your pardon! Wait a moment! PLEASE!!!"

"Pardon me for yelling like that... I was panicking. Umm... How to begin?"

"Who dares approach me?"

"Awfully sorry, dear boy, but when I say "no", what I mean is...NO!"

"Rather odd threat, eh?"

"Well? I'm dying to hear the rest of your hilarious story, Mr. Comedian! Do share!"

"Now, out with it! Why have you called me here?"

"Am I [NAME]'s baby–sitter? I don't care what he's doing! Are you going to call me every time that guy blows his nose, or what? Sheesh!"

"They sound like good world–conquering tools! I want 'em! "

"A picnic?!? You MORON! This is no time for fun!"

"See, THIS is why my evil plans always derail! Because you clods always goof off! AAARGH!"

"I am gonna DESTROY you! And I have witnesses!"

"No! Out of the question! You mustn't come in here!"

"DO speak up! You! Whoever just spoke! Do you have some clue as to my necklace's whereabouts?"

"My! Such wonderful drama! I imagine we have to do something now, don’t we?"

"Oooh! That sounds exciting! A little…on the seedy side. Show me the way!"

"Oh, come off it, you airhead! I know it's tough for you, but don't play dumb with me!"

"I knew it was brilliant, but seeing you fall for it REALLY gives me a warm fuzzy!"

"I can't believe there are other thieves here besides me. How very strange..."

"Oh, I almost forgot... I have a little secret to share with you. ♡"

"Oooh, it's so chilly… I wonder where this place is."

"Oh, my! That was quite fun! I can't say I ever thought I'd take a ride like THAT!"

"I'm fighting by your side from now on! I've made my choice... and I'm not turning back!"

"I'll never forget my time traveling with you. So... don't forget about me, either..."

"You're not really doing much to impress me either, bud!"

"Looks like we overdid it a little bit, Are they OK?"

[imdonewiththisblogsblog]

Sun wokung: *looks at MK*

Sun wokung: Baby boy. Baby.

Sun wokung: *looks at Tang *

Sun wokung: Evil.

*While the Squad is in a battle*

Macaque , trying to warn about the location of an enemy: To the left!

MK: Take it back now y'all!

Sun wokung: Pfft, you should meet Macaque , they're such a tsundere.

Tang : They... they just stabbed you.

Sun wokung: So cute.

Mei: Did you win? Or just not die?

Mei: Either way, hooray.

Macaque : ...Is "no" a valid answer?

Mei: The hooray is redacted and you frighten me.

MK: Your smug self-assuredness is revolting.

Red son: I think we need to validate self confidence more, lest you end up angry at others for having even a sliver of it. I've done nothing wrong and I have a heart of gold.

Sandy: I think this message is extremely valid, but also Red son has implied wanting to set off the Yellowstone supervolcano, so what's the truth?

Red son: I want to set it off.

Tang : What's the worst thing you guys have done?

Sandy: Rickrolled my teacher in 4th grade.

Red son: I kicked MK in the shin-

MK: -So I kicked Red son between the legs.

Macaque : I burned a town down.

Tang : What?!

MK: What the hell is wrong with you?!?

Macaque : A lot of things.

Red son: No shit.

Mei: Who would you kill out of the four of us, Tang ?

Tang : Macaque , easily.

Macaque , laughing: What the fuck, man.

Tang : Well, Pigsy would be too easy. They’d probably be into it.

Pigsy, now standing in the doorway: What the fuck, man!?

Tang : What makes you all smile?

Mei: Friends and Family.

Red son: Snacks.

Macaque : Victory and success.

Sun wokung: Face muscles.

Pigsy: You know what the problem is? Your really cute, so no one ever told you to shut your pie-hole.

Tang : You think I’m cute?

Pigsy: SHUT YOUR PIE-HOLE!

Macaque : Look at me straight in the eyes and tell me the truth, Sun wokung!

Sun wokung: You can’t expect me to look into your eyes and be straight.

MK: I have a plan.

Tang : I have the hospital and Mei on speed dial.

Pigsy: I suppose you’re right. We really would be better off working together.

Tang : So, then… détente?

Pigsy: Agreed.

Tang : Understanding?

Pigsy: Possibly.

Tang : Cooperation?

Pigsy: Maybe.

Tang : Trust?

Pigsy: Out of the question.

Tang : What’s your biggest fear?

MK: I am incredibly arachnophobic.

Tang , under their breath: You don’t want spiders to get married?

MK: You’re my best friend, I would do anything for you.

Mei: I want you to eat 3 meals a day and have a decent sleep schedule.

MK: Absolutely not.

Sun wokung: I reserve the right to judge a movie based on when it was made, thank you very much.

Macaque : You consider anything made before 2000 old and bad.

Sun wokung: And I reserve that right! After all....

Sun wokung: I bet you wouldn’t like the average movie made in 1879!

Macaque : There were no movies made in 1879.

Sun wokung: *slams table* WRONG! There was ONE movie made in 1879! The first movie! A zoopraxioscope of a horse galloping!

Mei: Oooh! Let’s go ask MK if they saw it in theatres!

Mei: Ah, yes. Here we have a beautiful couple...

Pigsy: I really care about your feelings!

Tang : I really care about YOUR feelings!

Mei, turning their head: ...and then there's the disaster couple...

Macaque : YOU NEED TO PAY MORE ATTENTION TO ME INSTEAD OF BEING AT THE HOSPITAL!

Sun wokung: I WOULDN'T HAVE TO SPEND SO MUCH TIME AT THE HOSPITAL IF YOU STOPPED INSISTING ON FIGHTING EVERYONE WHO COMES WITHIN A FIVE FOOT RADIUS OF YOU!

[rapha-reads]

IWTV rewatch

(book to show, show to book, the meta continues)

Season 1 episode 3 [Is My Very Nature That Of The Devil]

- Louis: *tries to read*

Lestat: *bla bla bla*

Louis: "if you don't shut up and leave me with my books I'm going to start a social commentary and ethics conversation"

Lestat: "... Never mind. Let's go hunt."

Louis in that white suit is daaamn fine.

Oooh, so the conversation about only eating the "evil" ones starts there. Louis munching on that cat kills me every time.

- Oh, hello Antoinette. Love that we go from 19th century violinist Antoine to 20th century music hall singer Antoinette. Very nice change.

[Louis] "'This ain't your kind of music.'

[Lestat] 'You can pretend you're a vegetarian. I can pretend the fool.'" - part of me thinks that Louis meant by that "this is Black music, a Black folk band, and you're still a white boy, even vampire that you are".

Lestat schooling everyone about music, sassing everyone and playing the piano divinily, absolutely delicious. And then Louis' absolutely fond little smile, even when he's arguing with Lestat, he just loves him so.

- Ah! [Daniel] "Yeah, you know, I gotta say, it's not so much the minute details, Louis, rather the total rewrite that's giving me pause here." - that's the part. That's the crux of it. That's the character development of Louis who's done rejecting the depth of his feelings for Lestat and the role he's played in his own tragedy, regardless of Lestat's abuse, and ready to accept it and talk about it.

Love Louis' face relistening to his 1973's words versus 2022. The face of a man going "ah shit, I really was messed up back then".

- [Daniel] "'Fuck the 'Wolverine Blues'. Ken Burns can choke on the footnotes. It's the abused-abuser psychological relationship I'm talking about.'

[Louis] 'I do not consider myself abused.'

[Daniel] 'I mean, usually when you're a little too close to it, the abused still loves the abuser, but you flipped it completely on its head.'

[Louis] 'I'm not a victim.'

[Daniel] '50 years later, you talk like he was your soulmate, like you were locked in some fucked up gothic romance. Why?'"

First: Daniel's a petty bitch and he's getting to the bottom of this business whether Louis works with him or not. And Louis is equally petty and bitchy, answering Daniel by reading part of his own memoir and mocking him.

Secondly: well, yeah, it is a gothic romance, that's the genre. But it is a Contemporary Gothic romance. Contemporary Gothic expands on Classic Gothic. I wrote an essay about Contemporary Gothic using the movie Only Lovers Left Alive last year, I need to translate it from Spanish to English so I can share it. But I feel like I could reuse part of this essay to talk about IWTV book (inscribed in Classic Gothic) versus IWTV show (tending towards Contemporary Gothic). One more essay idea to develop later. Let's table this.

Thirdly: my little Loustat shipper heart is very happy.

And fourth: hey, Danny boy. Remember that conversation in a dozen of sessions because that will come in handy to explain a looooooot of things... Devil's Minion fans gleefully cackling in the background. And Armand isn't even in this scene. Talk about irony. And foreshadowing.

[Louis] "'This is the odyssey of recollection.' The tapes are an admitted performance. This is the premise of our interview. Half a century later, allow me my odyssey. [Daniel throws the tapes in the trash] Now who's performing?"

Louis being heartfelt but still hiding beneath his veneer - you know when he starts to be honest, or as genuine as he can at this point, when he starts to drop the accent. I swear I'm going to stop raving about Jacob's voice work at some point, but it's such an important part of the character, of who Louis is and how the audience can understand Louis, that it deserves an entire essay of its own.

And then Louis sasses Daniel and sets the tapes on fire, because that's not a performance at all, that. Pot meet kettle.

- [Louis] "Rigged to burn, Daniel" - foreshadowing...

- [Louis] "I barely had the energy to hold a book. My libido was not what it'd been. I understood the indulgence. I let it happen." - why are you such a liar, Louis. Stop fucking lying, Louis.

On a serious note, Louis' eating disorder emerging from his identity crisis, the clash of his religious upbringing with his new reality colliding with his lifelong depression... Who made that guy so relatable. But notice how there's a slight part of Louis' new diet here that's in direct reaction to Lestat's refusal to hear him and talk to him. They each punish each other for their perceived failings by acting in the way that'll hurt the other the most, even if that way hurts them too. Louis by letting himself starve and losing his energy when that's all Lestat wants him to do, Lestat by having several affairs and flaunting them, even when he explicitly says "I do everything for Louis". By the way, that little throwaway line? Lestat being genuine and fully honest about his feelings and motivations but playing it as a joke. If Louis had been hearing he'd have caught it and maaaybe we could have avoided some of the drama. Maybe.

- Oh, the whole Antoinette seduction scene is fascinating. Notice how Lestat barely looks at her? He only has eyes for Louis. And Louis cannot stand his gaze, he has to retreat. Says he understands, but then leaves in a huff. Disasters.

[Louis] "'So you didn't kill her.'

[Lestat] 'No. She has talents.'

[Louis] 'Aren't I enough?'" - excuse me while I go scream.

[Lestat] "We're communicating so much better now." - baby, no. That ain't communication. You two are still talking two different languages.

[Lestat] "Of course. Of course. Of course. As long as you come home to me." - that's way too many "of course", 'Stat. Maybe add a couple dozen more to reeeeally make your point that you're not bothered AT ALL by the idea of Louis seeing other people. Hypocrite...

- Welcome to WW1. Business, racism, capitalism, and the fantastic Miss Bricks. Can't wait for Tom Anderson to get eaten, that guy rubs me off the wrong way. Gotta love that Louis' standing up for himself. Aaaaand hello Jonah. Oop, Lestat's already staring and going insane with jealousy. Meanwhile Louis doesn't even remember he's got nieces. Looots of little crucial hits in this scene, between the poker game, WW1 come a-knocking, Loustat's fuckery and Louis' getting further and further away from his human family.

- [Jonah] "'Ain't aged a day since I seen you last.'

[Louis] 'That's the moonlight lyin' is all.'" - hi, Nicholas Sparks called, he says that line belongs in The Notebook and he's claiming copyright for it.

[Jonah] "'And most of why I signed up is I kept hearing something about something they call 'European sensibilities'. They care less what you look like or who you're lookin' at.'

[Louis] 'Yeah, I got someone.'

[Jonah] 'I figured as much. No ring on your finger?'

[Louis] 'Not a woman.'

[Jonah] 'Well, what's he like?'

[Louis] 'He's... a lot. It's not perfect. But we kind of have this agreement.'"

Yeah, believe me, racism and homophobia are very alive in Europe too. Though... The roaring twenties are right around the corner and that's a decade I would have loved to experience in Paris.

Hey, look! Louis has come around about his sexuality, is that the first time he comes out willingly and peacefully? Yey, progress. Also I love that he has explicit permission from Lestat to have his own affairs, but he feels uncomfortable about at it at first. But still goes for it 'cause you know. Gotta show Lestat he ain't bothered. Should have fed first tho, stupid. Also, Lestat overhearing Louis calling him "a lot" and "not perfect" > direct parallel to Claudia hearing Louis calling her a "burden" to Armand in s2. Louis is so good at being casually cruel to and about those he loves.

[Louis] "'Good fit, this uniform.'

[Jonah] 'Well, it's the moonlight.'" - sorry, Nicholas Sparks on line 3 again, he said that moonlight line is actually too sappy for even The Notebook. Said we can keep it, he doesn't want to pay our dentist note.

- Daniel Hart's music is fantastic.

- Ah, Lestat's jealousy crisis. Aw, the domesticity. Ooh, wait, love how the memory changes. You can see Louis struggling to remember which memory is accurate.

- Arf, Louis being rejected from his own family house and then breaking down the door. Mamaw du Lac, Mother of the Decade, everyone. Poor baby. The curse of the vampire. Downward spiral getting worse. And then coming home and seeing Lestat entertain the regiment? And then the news about the Azalea. Nervous breakdown about to happen. Oh, Lestat flexing his powers. Love that. Notice the blood trail coming from his ear? It appears again when he saves Louis during the trial. He's not without his limits. Regarding his powers or his feelings.

[Lestat] "I heard your hearts dancing" - so first of all, awards for Sam, when? Secondly, brb, need to sob a little. And third, Nicholas Sparks on the line again, wants to know if the writer of these lines is available to come work with him.

[Lestat] "'This is not a life!'

[Louis] 'That's' cause you took my life! I got nothing! I lost everything! I lost my brother. I lost my family. 'Bout to lose the last fucking thing I care about.'" - where are the awards for Jacob and Sam for heaven's saaaaaaaake. Also, love how the music briefly stops between 'everything' and 'brother'.

- [Louis] "When your mother sees the Devil in your eyes, it's a hard assessment to abandon. Am I from the Devil? Is my very nature that of the Devil? I had hedged against the question, but now it completely overwhelmed me." - Lestat and Armand had that conversation a century earlier...

[Daniel] "Take a Black man in America, make him a vampire, fuck with that vampire, and see what comes of it." - thanks for the social commentary, Danny, don't even need to do it myself. Now eat those assholes, Lou.

- [Louis] "You said I'm arrogant? Maybe I am arrogant! [...] I'm a vampire." - okay, can I soliloque about Louis please? Have I said he's my favourite of the entire books lately? As someone who has been called pretentious more than once just because I know my own value and refuse to play stupid, that part, yeah, that part gets to me. Louis finally knows who he is and refuses to pretend he's less just to please others. And as a lesson that I've finally embraced this year especially too, I like that. I like that a lot.

Oops. Louis just started a civil war in New Orleans. Fun. Like Lestat says, it's not on Louis tho. He merely "provided them the excuse".

[Louis] "And that's why you and me ain't never gon' work. That's why you're always gonna be alone." - oooh man, that was harsh. And only half deserved. And cruel in that typical Louis way. Also, wrong. But you're gonna have to wait another century for that. Oof, Lestat's face as Louis leaves, the crumbling, the desperation oozing out of his entire soul, heart and mind...

- "I ran from the Quarter that night, ran to where the violence spread most wild. I stumbled through the streets like an irrational child who had tested his strength on the small bird and now asked 'can I make it whole again?' - Can I help you? Please let me help you. - Their faces ran past me like snow in a terrible wind, unaware that it was I who had brought this retribution. It was I who should pay for this sin. And then... [Help me!] one of those inconceivable moments where who you were before and who you would be forever after is marked in time. [Help!] A rooming house, now a fire trap. I could not save the Azalea. I could not save Storyville. I could not save the aunt on the wrong side of the wall, but I could save her. My light. My Claudia. My redemption."

... Brb, need to scream in a pillow. Oooof. What a tirade. Louis, Saint Louis, Saint Louis, bearing the weight of the cross on his shoulders... Selflessness being selfishness, trying to help to try to alleviate his own pain and guilt. Doing good things out of a need to feel useful or at peace with your own conscience is not a bad thing, you're still helping whatever your motives, but when it starts making you unable to see the people you're trying to help as people, and starts making you see them as tools to relieve your tortured soul and conscience, are your good actions still good? Or the pavement on the road to a very dark place? Guess we'll let Claudia tell us her opinion.

episode 1 | episode 2 | episode 3 | episode 4 | episode 5 | episode 6 | episode 7