#believing is in another timeline

[sotiredmostnights]

i know everyone likes to put tharja in the "yandere goth girl" category but tbh i feel like pigeonholing her into one specific archetype does a huge disservice to her character. is she obsessed with curses and robin? yes. is she constantly shoved into a fanservice role by intsys? absolutely.

but i think a lot of people forget just how impactful a lot of her supports are...there's something about tharja that makes nearly everyone who interacts with her divulge their deepest secrets and points of anxiety with her. we see this with libra, who tells her of the abandonment he endured at the hands of his parents. we see it with nowi, whose cheerful demeanor slips off as she tells tharja of her missing parents. and although tharja is not the only one lon'qu confides in regarding ke'ri, their support is notably the only one in which lon'qu divulges that there was romantic involvement between he and his childhood friend.

and despite her antisocial exterior, she always listens mindfully and offers to help! she even goes out of her way to discreetly help the shepherds (getting virion to do odd jobs that benefit civilians, interrogating henry to make sure he bears no ill will towards ylisse, etc).

a big thing about tharja is that she IS kind. she IS considerate. she just also has a reputation to uphold as a dark mage and that (paired with her overall awkwardness ofc) makes her true nature hard to see at first glance

[bleh1bleh2]

"Hey Keith, what else is in your belt pouches?"

Keiths belt pouches 2/2

[pastryslutsupreme]

[lotus-pear]

do you ever think about the tragic fact that odasaku's dying words to dazai were to become a good man, to be on the side that saves people.....which leads to the creation of the beast universe as dazai, in his grief and denial, finds the book and alters reality with the mentality "then....that means saving you too, right?"

[batsplat]

as our resident Casey expert i wonder what do you think would have happened if marc and casey competed against each other? since casey retiring is so important for marc coming into motogp im always thinking abt the what ifs...

my initial instinct with this hypothetical is always 'that sounds horrible', though I do have more thoughts and opinions about it than that! marc obviously would have loved the chance to race casey, and casey has even been one of his picks of 'guys he would've liked to be teammates with' before, so, you know, clearly something there - and he does very much respect casey as a rider. I think it's quite likely that by the time marc entered the premier class, casey had already developed... I don't know if wariness is going too far, but maybe a little bit of unease or caution where marc was concerned. marc already very much had a reputation based on his 125/moto2 track record, and some of these incidents were controversial enough that the motogp riders commented on them. so take the phillip island 2011 incident where marc rode into the back of another rider:

the valentino quote serves as a bit of a benchmark here, given he was generally pretty pro-marc. yes, casey's phrasing is perhaps a little harsher, but unsurprisingly none of the riders were big fans of marc's behaviour in that particular incident

on the other hand, it's not like casey never sided with marc. take catalunya 2012, where marc was slapped with a controversial post-race penalty:

yes, casey's main complaint was about inconsistent stewarding - but still, he believed marc had been unfairly treated here. feels like these incidents were some of the only things casey and valentino actually agreed on in those years, so that's nice

that being said, it's hard to see how casey wouldn't have his issues with marc and marc's whole approach to racing. I did include some thoughts on the teammate question here, but mainly I'm going to pilfer the relevant autobiography passage:

"if a rider doesn't care about his own safety then it stands to reason he doesn't care about anybody else's either"... there's nobody really who embodies the 'doesn't care about his own safety' maxim better than marc. he was the young rider desperate to win, and I can't imagine casey would have enjoyed actually racing him much. casey mostly didn't enjoy racing valentino, after all, who is a generally a lot more selective with his aggression than marc is (though casey did have to experience some of the worst valentino had to offer in that regard). casey talked in his autobiography about getting a sense when he just wasn't really able to trust another rider on the track, how much it bothered him - and that exact lack of respect is something that's been pretty closely associated with marc. that doesn't mean he would immediately declare marc his enemy... he'd just want marc to change, to learn, to grow up, to start treating his competitors with a little more respect. the way casey talks about young riders, there is a sense in which he has more time for them than he does for valentino - whose lack of respect casey views as more integral to who he is as a rider. valentino isn't a bully on track due to the exuberance of youth, he's a bully on track when he thinks he can use it as a tactic of intimidation. then again, marc by this measure is worse... and I think very quickly casey would have grown pretty disenchanted with how marc approaches all his wheel-to-wheel racing, especially when it becomes more and more clear marc does not feel particularly inclined to change

it's always important to remember how recent the trauma of losing simoncelli was for the whole sport, and it coloured both dani and jorge's wariness of marc... but also (in my opinion anyway) their restraint in how they dealt with him. how they tried to stop themselves from actually making an enemy out of him, in part because they'd just had an experience of harshly criticising a rider for a whole year and then having to process his death. both dani and jorge actually had more public and more serious disagreements with simoncelli than casey did, but I reckon there would have been an element of that restraint with casey too... on the other hand, his experiences with marc would have left him feeling even more alienated from the sport than he already was - at times frustrated (like jorge was) less with marc directly but more with the regulatory bodies for not holding marc back, for not giving him a race ban or whatever to teach him a lesson. that being said, marc's shamelessness vs casey's stubbornness means that if they had direct on-track encounters and casey didn't like marc's post-race response... well, I certainly think that'd end up being a pretty tense situation, even if it falls short of active hostilities

worth including irl!casey's take on marc in 2013:

which, you know. it's not just that marc's a hard racer - casey is accusing marc of deliberately wanting to make the defeats extra painful for his opponents, of wanting to not just beat but humiliate them. anyone else that reminds you of? someone who is as motivated in securing his psychological victories as his actual ones? perhaps someone who has a bit of a history himself with casey?

let's bring in valentino. it's not that casey would really have begrudged marc his friendship with valentino, and he generally kept his hatred of valentino quite 'clean' in that he wasn't conducting any proxy wars or anything (for instance, I don't get the sense the vale/sic friendship ever affected his view of simoncelli... though I have very little to go on here either way). also, if nothing else in this timeline changes, we're assuming valentino in 2013 is fairly clearly the... fifth? best rider? kinda depends where dani would have landed I suppose (casey's retirement announcement did save honda from a bit of a headache)... but anyway what this means is that valentino probably wouldn't initially have been much of a competitive threat to casey. mostly he would have been consigned to the sidelines

that being said, I doubt casey would have massively enjoyed the whole laguna seca saga. unfortunately, we don't even really know what real life casey's stance on the copycat move situation was... though if I had to guess, in this timeline I'd say his position would've been, a) marc could and should have carried out that overtake two corners later, there was no need in that race situation to take that risk, b) still, it was valentino's slight error as he attempted to reclaim the position (in what was a pretty aggressive manner, it has to be said) that led to them both ending up off-track and fuck that guy, and c) the problem with 2008 wasn't just or even primarily the corkscrew overtake and it's annoying that that's the only bit everyone talks about. of course, there's also the question of whether casey would have bought marc's explanation that it was totally by coincidence that the overtake happened there... and again, complete guesswork, but my sense of casey is that he would have assumed marc was being at least a little bit dishonest. (which, you know... laguna's not an easy track to overtake at, but marc did prove with the bradl move that he was perfectly capable of overtaking after turn 8 - might not have been planning on the off-track excursion, but he was still attempting to overtake just ahead of a blind crest that happened to feed into the corkscrew lol.) I think casey by his honda days had calmed down a bit (though he still certainly had some conspiratorial tendencies), but I also don't think it's a stretch to imagine that he would've felt like he was a victim of a joke between the pair of them... not ideal

overall though, I reckon casey's main frustrations would have been less with the move itself and more with how it was discussed. in the presser, while joking with marc, valentino does take the opportunity to get in a jibe at casey for old time's sake. there's this clip, where he directly addresses livio suppo (at ducati in 2008, by then at honda) - specifically about how both casey and suppo criticised him for that overtake. in response, suppo says something about how he's grateful to marc because they finally got payback. valentino is later asked directly about casey's complaints in 2008 in this clip, and replies with the following:

would valentino have said this stuff with casey still in the paddock? well, yes! honestly, given valentino did very quickly lay off needling casey once he had retired, there's a good chance he would have said something worse. and marc would have laughed along at the whole thing. I don't know, I just don't see casey taking particularly kindly to that... he can hold a grudge, that man can, and at a certain point he'd probably be increasingly less willing to give marc the benefit of the doubt. interesting situation though, laguna seca '13 + casey is a very juicy scenario that could play out in several different ways

but I'm guilty of burying the lede here - there's a far more obvious reason than anything I've described above for why the casey/marc relationship would have turned sour. it's the simple fact that they would have been teammates which would do the damage all on its lonesome; they have radically different conceptualisations of how that dynamic is supposed to work and would inevitably have clashed as a result. the one commonality they do have is they don't see their teammates as potential friends, which is... also not helpful! I think they'd probably initially be fine on the interpersonal level - and, actually, given how the casey/valentino relationship played out and marc's general approach to his rivalries, I can see marc/casey more or less being able to maintain a minimum standard of politeness towards each other even at their worst. like, I still think they'd be able to smile at each other and do some small talk when face-to-face, but I also think everything else would be a complete disaster. I talked a bit about how marc approaches his teammate relationships in this post - and I'm not going to rehash too much of what irl!marc got up to, but I'll include some bits relevant to casey

from marc:

related to casey:

and dani comparing the two:

we do obviously even have actual real life controversy wherein casey thinks marc felt threatened by him and forced him out of honda... and this in a timeline where they weren't even direct competitors! if this is the level of tension a test rider role can generate, then if they'd actually been teammates...? yeah, no. casey thinks that teammates should cooperate - and he thinks that riders enforcing divisions within the box are essentially doing so because they are "afraid". marc has openly admitted to lying about what parts he likes to make sure his teammate doesn't get any edge over him. this is the thing, right: marc might think casey is a cool rider, would've liked the chance to race him and even be teammates with him... but this is the stuff he did to dani, who was one of his literal idols! this is his understanding of competition - (like valentino) he might love the fight, but simultaneously he'll do pretty much whatever it takes to win, because he considers this stuff fundamentally part of the game. casey does not. to casey, this kind of victory is dishonest. any kind of gamesmanship is a sign of weakness... the victory is worth less if you're accomplishing it like that

now, hey, maybe marc would never have been able to go as far as he did with dani because he wouldn't have the kind of performance edge that allows you to definitively impose your will within the team. I think it's a popular interpretation that marc wouldn't have won the title in 2013 if casey had been there, which... I mean, I think it's true that it would have been less likely - in that in a season with that much volatility, the more plausible championship contenders you have the less likely it is that any single one of them takes the title (same goes for instance if you add in a valentino who had not gone to ducati for two years and would have presumably been more competitive in 2013). but it's not like casey would have been the defending champion and the clear class of the field... partly due to injury, he ended up finishing in third in 2012. jorge and dani didn't win the 2013 title in part as a result of their own injuries, and who knows how casey would have fared... like sometimes it's just luck of the draw really. you can be the better rider and still not win the title, shit happens. I think for as long as a more or less healthy-ish casey stays in the sport, it would have been unlikely that marc establishes quite the same performance edge as he did over dani... but, well, if anything that would have meant he would have fought even harder out of perceived necessity to win the internal honda wars

it's the kind of thing that can make a relationship quickly deteriorate, especially with a prickly character such as casey, and it's entirely plausible that dynamic would have become strained at best and horrendously toxic at worst... sooner rather than later. and the thing is, this environment would affect marc considerably less than it would casey. again, it's the fact that he relishes the fight... he's very good at shrugging off (most) criticism and thrives in that kind of tension. the emotional fatigue that this scenario generates would be painfully lopsided, where casey offers harsh criticisms and means them and is endlessly frustrated with marc's approach, while marc... doesn't really care. at least dani also had a questionable manager who was conducting behind the scenes warfare on his behalf - casey doesn't want to play these games at all. he just wants to ride a bike, and marc is never going to allow him to live in peace as long as he's an internal threat. if casey were exposed directly to all of that from marc, I doubt he'd walk away from the experience with a particularly positive impression of him

does he walk away? I think there's a decent chance that casey would have ended up so disillusioned with the whole thing that this would have been what pushed him into retirement. if he wants to get out of that mess, let's say after two years, his options would have been pretty limited. yamaha is closed off and I'd struggle to think of a scenario in which either jorge or valentino would have been particularly interested in a direct swap (also, if you're sick of being marc's teammate, you're probably not gonna be jumping at the chance to be valentino's instead). I suppose you could go back to ducati (which he did return to as a test rider so it's not like those bridges were permanently burnt), and maybe casey could do something special even with *gestures* that version of the bike. really though... I think enough would have been enough for him. regardless of the actual balance of success between the pair of them, my guess is marc wins that war because he's happier to get nasty and because he wants it more. casey has his two to four titles... he's done. let him go fishing

[staticonthestratosphere]

Chat it finally happened to me today:

I was knitting and someone asked me if I was crocheting, what a time to be alive

[misteria247]

Did she know how proud he was of her?

Fiddleford Mcgucket never expected to befriend the Northwest girl a few years ago. Much less get attached to her the way he did. What started off as a supposed one-time situation of crossing paths had developed into trips to the junk yard. And having her over at his home to teach her the ways of welding and machinery. It developed into listening to her ramble about things that she was passionate about and getting to see the sweet girl who was buried beneath the usual front. Pacifica Northwest was an enigma, a puzzle that the older man couldn't help but want to figure out. And it ended up with him essentially becoming endeared to the young girl. Seeing her as one of his own, just like his son Tate.

And with this endearment he got to watch her grow. To change into something softer and let out that spark of intelligence she hid, to see that gleam of wonder and curiosity whenever they built something together. With him teaching her everything with a guiding hand. Always pushing herself to do better, putting her all into everything she did. Fiddleford knew that one of the reasons she did this was because of her parents. That need to do her best to gain their approval drove her to work harder than most. And it awed the old inventor as well as broke his heart. Seeing this child push herself so hard, this child that Fiddleford saw as his own little one.

Did she know, that when he talks about her, it's always with a parental pride?

Did she know, that he loved her as his own? That she was passionate and shined brightly?

Did she know, that Fiddleford Mcgucket couldn't have asked for a better apprentice? A better daughter than her?

Did she know that she was important to the people around her? That she was so clearly loved by them?

Fiddleford didn't know if Pacifica knew just how much she changed his and many other's lives around her. But he did know that he'd never been so proud of the girl that she'd become, and he'd always be proud of her no matter what.

[nextstopwonderland]

“The fucking Year of the dragon is over. I beat an American Dragon at the start of the year, and the year of the dragon ends when I tap out a Japanese dragon.” - in which Zack Sabre Jr. references his wrestledream rematch win against Bryan Danielson before going off on Shingo. - October 28, 2024

[topperscumslut]

genuine question, if luther had decided in the time since s3 to give up on looking for sloane and accept he’d never find her somewhere out there again and went on to find love with someone else, would y’all be as mad at him as y’all are at five and lila rn? just curious

[morganafayes]

what if i was a girl who lost everything i ever loved in the end and you were a boy who lost everything you ever loved in the end and we both did it to ourselves on our path to mutual self destruction. avril lavigne voice can i make it any more obvious

[mushroom-through-the-stargate]

the only thing better than "I choose you in any timeline" is "in the main timeline we're pining idiots and the fact that we got together in literally every other timeline is constantly rubbed in our faces"

cough cough o'neill and carter cough

[petorahs]

as a longtime zelda fan im subscribing to the theory that skyward sword's ending caused another timeline split where:

a) ss!link dueled demise and sealed him in the master sword, subsequently putting fi into "a sleep without end". this is where every other game takes place

b) ss!link used the goddess statue to kill the imprisoned demise like it was supposed to happen before ghirahim messed everything up. this is where totk and botw take place.

it explains why botw/totk!zelda can still hear fi in the master sword despite no other hero after ss!link ever interacting with her (cause shes asleep), why there are two (2) imprisoning wars (pre-ALttP, and Totk's) and why the latest two games are so far removed from everything.

it also explains why totk!ganondorf became the second coming of the demon king, because demise was never truly killed in that timeline. link wished for the complete eradication of demise, not his hatred. the triforce makes no distinction between good and evil, after all.

in a), hyrule is founded by hylians from ss!zelda and link's time, in b) the zonai descended and rauru founded hyrule instead

the only debunk of this theory i see is b) timeline not having a fully forged master sword since ss!link took it with him to kill demise. a) timeline still having the mother goddess statue brought down to the surface also has could be contested but i think that can be explained by skyward sword needing to end in a closed timeloop, and the triforce's power doing its thing. thoughts?

[yellowhollyhock]

Posting a timeline for myself so I don't get confused writing in this space but now that it's getting organized it is become a Thing. So, 2003 turtles headcanons and eventual future

November 1992: Splinter attends first Battle Nexus, turtles 4

November 1995: Battle Nexus, turtles 7; Usagi saves Splinter from Drako, he looks about 9

November 1998: Battle Nexus, turtles 10

November 2001: Battle Nexus

May 14, 2003: boys 15th birthday (shared, on different years they either celebrate together or each get a day close to it)

June 2003-February 2004: Season 1 (April 25, Casey 27)

February 2004-November 2004: Season 2. turtles turn 16 between Reflections and The Ultimate Ninja. Battle Nexus is November 2004

December 2004-September 2005: Season 3. Turtles turn 17 between Worlds Collide Part III and Touch and Go. Exodus in late September

September 2005-August 2006: Usagi visits in January; Leo is with the Ancient one February-March. Turtles turn 18 in the Cretaceous which becomes confusing to keep track of (do they ever tell Splinter they had two 18th birthdays? probably less confusing to only count one since it's only three extra months)

September 2006: s5 starts, Angel leaving for college while turtles are being taken by Tribunal.

March 2007: final battle with Shredder

May 2007: turtles turn 19

October 2007-October 2008: turtles get yoinked to the future. B Team bonding and worrying: Leatherhead, Professor, Professor Honeycutt, Angel, Justice Force. April trying to make 2nd Time Around happen, also hitting that inter-dimensional portal project again with Augie's help (not unreasonable for her to assume that's where they are). Turtles turn 20 in the future. Turtle Fam misses Battle Nexus 2007 (Usagi champion mayhaps? He'd be 22)

April 22, 2009: Casey and April wed

May 2009: turtles turn 21; Angel moves back home, works as a hair stylist

August 2009: April announces pregnancy, and at the same time she and Don have begun work on O'Neil Technologies

Spring 2010: Leo starts a dojo, his brothers all help when they can. Cassandra is born (April 17). turtles turn 22

Summer 2010: Raph and Casey start a shelter. April begins hiring help for O'Neil Technologies (Irma, Leatherhead, Professor Honeycutt).

November 2010: Battle Nexus year! Leo reconnects with Usagi. Mikey wins again.

December 2010: Leo announces his intention to go to Japan to train with the Ninja Tribunal

February 2011: Neutrinos come to earth to talk business with O'Neil Tech. Leo leaves shortly thereafter; Mikey is now the main turtle in charge of the dojo.

Spring 2011: Donny and Angel start dating; anti-mutant sentiment on the rise, Bishop apparently busy again. Raph very stressed about Bishop and wanting to be able to handle it without Leo; oh btw Mikey would like to pursue a college degree. Oyuki gets a job at dojo

October-December 2011: Mikey disappears; Leo returns, furious that things were allowed to get as bad as they did and the Ninja Tribunal didn't tell him his family was in danger (he thought they would because TAO did). When Mikey is rescued (from Bishop) his arm is infected and must be amputated.

Spring 2012: Turtles meet Mona Lisa, who explains how mutagen is being leaked purposely in areas suspected of harboring aliens, to give hate groups credibility as well as punish those (like her) who stick up for aliens. Splinter begins writing a book. Turtles are banding together with other non-humans as world becomes more hostile. Oyuki joins O'Neil Tech team

Summer 2012: Leo and Splinter visit Usagi; Mikey is determined to get back to work on his degree; O'Neil Tech recruits Harold. Mikey and Oyuki start dating

Fall 2012: Usagi visits turtles world; Leo takes the Dojo back up so Mikey can focus on school

January 2013: Donny proposes to Angel

April 2013: rival tech company developing robots with alarming level of sentience and then abusing them (Nano followup basically), April and Donny find themselves fighting for robot rights which makes O'Neil Technologies both a laughingstock and a target. btw Neutrino crew returns to work there. Mikey is now dating Ia

Summer 2013: Turtles gather allies and make a plan to come out of hiding; being in the shadows hasn't been working, people are suspicious and afraid, there's lots more lives at risk now, they need to rethink their strategy. Angel gets badly injured. Turtles meet Punk Frogs

November 2013: Raph Battle Nexus champion (their family is going to be banned for winning too often 🤣)

January 2014: enter Timothy. Raph enjoying socializing with other mutants, especially close with Mona and Genghis. Mikey depressed that they aren't the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (now we're just, like... regular mutant ninja turtles), breakup with Ia

Spring 2014: Donny's secret therapy, unfortunately coinciding with TAO moving to NYC. Much conflict in general as bros all want to stay living together but have different life goals, plus there's Angel now and Raph has basically been living with Mona Lisa and Genghis Frog and Mikey's very busy at school and etc. etc. In other news, Raph finds a baby mutant turtle named Lita. Mikey dates and breaks up with Woody

Summer 2015: Karai invites the family to Japan. Chaplin wants Donny and April's input on a robotics project gone wrong, Karai is finding herself freshly mourning her father and seeking advice/understanding of family history from TAO and Splinter. Time travel shenanigans.

December 2015-October 2016: Ch'rell jailbreak, space adventure to stop him (he has of course moved on from the idea of conquering earth, his goal now is to get away from the utroms and find a planet where he can steadily build up an empire until he is able to plan revenge). And they all get home just in time to take 6 y/o Cassandra and 3 y/o Lita trick or treating

November 2016: Lotus Blossom wins the Battle Nexus, befriends turtles. Her and Leo quietly become pen pals

January-August 2017: speaking of Cassandra she wants to be a ninja. Also Splinter falls ill. Donny builds them a Place (in NYC) to all stay so they can be close to him, and also start her training (strictly recreational (I'm sure that will work out for them))

May 2018: Agent John Bishop is abducted by aliens. Mikey finishes his masters!

August 2018: Leo and Usagi break up for good; April and Casey announce second pregnancy

October 2018: Cody arrives to ask for help with O'Neil Tech in his time

March 2019: Splinter passes

May 2019: send Cody home

July 3, 2019: Nova Lynn is born (Cassandra is 9, Lita is 6)

November 2019: Battle Nexus year, turtles miss

December 2019-January 2020: Mikey and Kala start dating; Casey and Timothy accidentally go on adventures across dimensions and get banned from the lab

May 2018-September 2020: Bishop has a stolen spaceship now, crashes on his way back to earth, gets rescued by aliens, spends time there healing and has his change of heart, returns to find Earth in the middle of a pandemic.

January 22, 2021: Leo and Lotus wed

Fall 2021: Angel's dad attempts to get back in touch with his adult children

November 2022: Battle Nexus Year; Leo wins, Donny does not participate (Mikey is much more sad about this than Don is)

June 13, 2023: Mikey and Kala wed

also in 2024: Bishop runs for President on the premise of intergalactic peace (he loses). April recruits Bishop for O'Neil Tech; he turns her down and disappears. Mikey and Kala rescue and adopt triplet robots Alli, Jax, and Zinnia (renamed from 003a, 003x, and 003z)

November 2025: Battle Nexus year, Mikey takes back his title

2032: Bishop, now going by a different name, becomes governor of New York

[cent-scratchnsniff]

More sketchy employee profile images. Mostly made to be able to replace the picrew I had in the template I made since I can draw. I did end up just putting it as back and white though but the color is just nice to have. I'm STILL trying to tweak the template since it is very finicky and there is an example of what it looks down below if you're interested. It is a lot. It will happen. I am just not the quickest

There are typos and inconsistencies I missed but in general it should be fine...

[nocturnal-birb]

TUA s4 🤝 GoT s8

making the most shittiest season/series finale

[bedlamsbard]

well, it had been a minute since the last one of Those Comments I got on Gambit, I was overdue. at least this person had the self-awareness to look at the date stamps on the fic and realize that it was ten years old (nine years on the bit they were commenting on), though possibly not that it's been completed since 2015.