#how does it feel to know that you contributed to this?

[sophiacloud28]

Leo is Leo (A Rise analysis and a reconnection to the larger TMNT franchise)

So… I've talked about the fact that Leo is a strategist. I've talked about how Leo looks like a chaotic mess because he feels useless compared to his brothers. Now, let's talk about how it all comes together in order to satisfy a desire that every other Leo deals with.

Control.

There's one advantage that the Rise series gave us, and that's the fact that the characters are similar to their other counterparts, all while being vastly different. The best proof of that resides with Donnie and his autism, who came along to explain the behavior of other Donnies to the point that a lot of us went, "Oh! That explains this behavior." However, there is proof throughout the series that the Rise counterparts are still the same characters. They still share the same genes. They're just expressed differently because of different circumstances.

All Leonardos before and after Rise have been the eldest, the leader. All of them live with the anxiety that one of their moves might fail, that the entire situation will fall apart in front of them and they'll be left holding the blame. That leaves them with a simple back-and-forth: If my team isn't working together, then I'm a failure. If I can't get my larger-than-life brothers to work together, then I'm the one to blame.

You want to know what that leads to? Self-esteem and control issues.

Rise Leonardo is not the eldest. He is not the leader. But he's still responsible, aware of the populace's reaction to them and, like I said before, knows his brothers inside and out if you go the medic route. He's keenly aware of how little he contributes in any situation since he plays backup to his brothers and how little they listen to him because he's the voice of reason none of them want to listen to.

And what does that lead to? That's right. Self-esteem and control issues.

Only I'm sure you can already tell the difference. He can't blame his brothers. He can't use his brothers as a crutch for his problems. He's not the leader. He's got no control over them. The only thing he can control is the situation… and himself.

Have you noticed how rarely Leo loses control throughout Rise? How much he smiles or acts either like a doofus or in a nonchalant manner, you barely notice them? What if I told you that it's on purpose? And that we have had the answer since the beginning?

Yeah. That's right. He pulled the wool over our eyes since the very beginning. The self-esteem and control issues that all Leonardos have, Rise internalized them. He became a master manipulator and chessmaster because he wasn't in charge. Because the only thing he could do was manipulate and lie.

It's still Leo. It's still our blue boy. It's just expressing itself differently.

taglist:

@silverwatergalaxy @thegirlwiththeninjaturtletattoos @thelaundrybitch @luckycharms1701 @thepinkpanther83

@avery73 @the-cauldron-witch @redsrooftopprincess @iridescentflamingo @ninnosaurus

@milykins @yorshie @justalotoffanfiction @truffle-reblogs @adebauchedsloth

@raphsmuneca @theanonymousninja247 @leosgirl82

[sha-brytols]

bethany and esther's relationship is also incredibly fucking arduous for. very good reason LOL esther's so cold to her. absent father but she's your older sister. when carver died there was this moment where bethany tried to talk to esther about it, and esther. emotionally closed off and of the belief she has to be the Strong One. just said "carver's dead. he won't come back if we just cry hard enough." and walked away.

esther also wouldn't let bethany do ANYTHING for those first couple years in kirkwall. in the red iron, esther's biggest rule was bethany waits outside while esther goes in and handles the business. business in hightown? too many templars. bethany stays home. esther does everything alone, but bethany has to do everything with esther. there's a point in a fic i never finished where bethany's just shopping for food across the street, and she realizes esther's tailing her. like she wasn't even being subtle about it LOL.

buuut come the expedition, bethany starts taking on a more independent role and that's partly because everyone around them was actually treating her like a person and not "hawke's charge". varric's a big part of this, because he recognizes how smart she is and how esther's stifling her and deliberately nudges situations so bethany's more involved. so esther sees how capable she is and also that she needs bethany just as much as bethany needs her. and this actually works. bethany's the one that does almost all the talking when they're tracking anders because it turns out "nice and polite" is way better for information-gathering than esther's whole "threaten everything that moves" routine. and not only that, but bethany demonstrating that she's a mage too is what convinced the darktown refugees to trust her and tell them about the healer.

and it's because of bethany's contribution that they're even able to get the money for the expedition. and throughout this whole process, bethany and esther finally get a chance to be sisters. esther stops treating bethany like she's fragile or a child and lets her make her own choices and bethany stops being so desperate for approval that she lets esther make all her decisions for her. they're finally friends. esther's proud of her and bethany's proud of herself and it's soooo great, and you know what? mother's wrong, you SHOULD come with us! you've done just as much work for this expedition as we have! for ONCE esther gives bethany her own agency instead of just dictating what she can or can't do.

and then bethany gets blighted ❤️ and she's dying. and she looks just like father did on his deathbed. and esther's whole brain is going a thousand miles an hour because bethany's dying and it's her fault. she let bethany get involved, she encouraged her to jump headfirst into danger, she wasn't ready. and she's so desperate to fix this mistake that she takes anders' suggestion without even considering bethany's input. it was a mistake letting bethany go with her. she has to make this right. so once again bethany has no say over her own future, esther just decides to hand her off to the wardens without even a second of thought and bethany. can't say no. because how selfish would it be to choose death when there's a way to avoid hurting your family?

and it's in the wardens that all of this slowly begins to sink in for bethany. this wasn't what she wanted. esther was so eager to be rid of her that she sent her away to the first solution she could think of. she wasn't even important enough to actually fight for. and she allowed this for years, always telling herself never to add to the burden her family carried by having a mage in their house. and for years esther made her feel like she was a liability. like her existence was a constant problem that esther had to manage and solve. she spent so much of her life in constant petrified fear of the templars that she didn't even realize her own sister was just a templar without the armor. a cage with a loving warden is still a cage. and in the end it didn't even matter because she was taken from that gilded prison anyways, only now she was alone in a much darker one where her life must now be spent in the pursuit of killing and being killed. and she's ANGRY.

bethany only writes to esther once (☝️) just to tell her she survived and nothing more. and then there's that moment, in the middle of the qunari invasion, when esther and bethany reunite. and esther's so relieved to see her and she's talking a mile a minute because so much has happened since she left.

"i need to tell you about mother—"

"i know."

"...you don't care?"

"mother's dead. she won't come back if we just cry hard enough."

and then bethany just leaves her standing in the street and walks away without saying goodbye and esther is. stunned. and it hurts because she knows bethany's all she has left and she's so cold, she's never been this cold. she's the one that's supposed to be strong in the face of hardship, but bethany doesn't even look sad. she's changed. it's all her fault for letting her get hurt. she's failed her. just like carver and mother. she can't even be there for the last family she has left.

[theogonize]

PLEASE WRITE MORE FILTHY STUFF FOR GREGORY HOUSE!!!!!

Need to sit on that old bastards lap while he calls me a dumb bitch and tells me i dont have lupus nor sarcoidosis

ahshsbjhamsf he's so hot and mean and evil fuckkk i want him

you accidently suggest something like "oh it could sarcoidosis, the patient 's been sensitive to light for a while" and house just... berates you infront of everyone like okay dumb bitch who hired you. he's being sooo mean but it's misplaced anger because all you do is tease and tempt and drive him up the wall. he sends everyone away to do PTTs and MRIs because they take time. as soon as you attempt to walk out unscathed, he's like bup bup bup not you, whore. everyone leaves, genuinely scared for you, as if him telling you off seconds ago wasnt enough. they all give you a silent 'good luck' as they leave the room.

you follow how to his office. first thing he does is close the blinds and lock the door. you're standing abashed, biting your lip. he sits on his chair, readjusts for a second, manspreading. (he's the whore btw.) you don't even realise you're look directly at his lap, biting down harder on your lip. house notices, he always notices. he has that glimmer in his eyes, the one he has when he just knows something.

he says something about taking a seat or like coming close or something but you don't even care because as soon as he said 'sit' and 'my' and 'lap' in the same sentence your brain stopped producing thoughts instantly.

he's talking and talking and talking but you literally can't hear shit because the rasp in his voice as he calls you by your first name as his hands roam free on your body makes you feverish. he's calling you stupid, questioning your motives but all you're doing is wishing his hands would slip higher under your skirt. and what are you even gonna do? other than get damp, with sweat and... otherwise.

"you think i'll let you get away with being stupid?" his breath fans your ears, making you shudder. "you think i haven't noticed that you dont contribute anything these days. and when you do, it's this."

you gulp.

"i wonder what your cognitive degeneration has to do with the length of your skirt?" he feels the material on his finger tips. he sees you exhale shakily, a vermillion blush creeping on your cheeks and ears. that's answer enough. that's just what he wants. answers. or rather, a confirmation to what he already knows.

you can feel his boner growing beneath you. he hooks a finger around the hem, pulling it up and up and up till he's basically reached your hips. his other hand unbuttons just one button of your shirt. his tugs at it to expose your bare shoulders. his lips hover above them, you can feel it. a small please, house escapes your lips involuntarily.

his hands knead the flesh of your thighs.

"you're gonna have to do a lot better if you want to fuck me."

[stuckyslut8]

the chief's mate.

Summary: your newly wed husband orc Bucky has to leave for war immediately,his best friend and the chief of the clan steve offers to take care of you in the mean time.

Warning: (poly relationship?) cheating? Kinda. It's complicated.Smut. Smut . Orc stucky is a warning. MINORS DNI. 18+ .

"but Bucky you can't leave me here...alone i don't know anybody here except you" you plead with your orc husband. It was true you were very new to this clan, and you were not an orc so you had no idea on what to do here and you were pregnant above all.

"I have to go my little witch, for my clan, for my chief steven,for my loyalties lie with him, understand me please" he pressed a kiss to my forhead.

"but..."

"he will take care of you in the meantime, anything you want he will do that for you and our unborn child.." that were his last words as he left for war.

anything you want.... those words lingered in your mind, what did he mean by that . Surely not 'anything ' ,you understand they were best friends and shared everything but not...no way it's not possible y/n ,stop with your fantasies.

Although the chief orc ,the blonde man was making it hard for you to think of anything else.

With the way he would unexpectedly show up to your cottage, asking you if you were doing well, checking on you, resting his hand on your growing belly,kissing it. Last night he even offered to massage your shoulders as you told him youw were feeling very tense.

He didn't do a good job of keeping his hands to himself either, always lingering around you, always brushing past you. Even now as he was talking to one of the maidens sharon ,his left hand stayed around your waist, he was explaining her on how he wanted the feast tonight,it was the feast before the orc mating season, of course it had to be huge .

You just stood there breath heaving, you could feel sharon glaring daggers at you, it was very clear the she wanted the chief, but he always seemed to ignore her , choosing to focus on you instead.

"and that is all sharon you may go " says steve.

"oh alright and what about y/n..." she asked accusingly.

Steve glared at her ,"what about her?" He gritted through his teeth.

"well, uh what will she be contributing to the feast, it's not like her husband is here to hunt and bring meat for the ceremony,nor does she grow any crops ,neither can she cook soo what exactly is she doing-"

"shut up you will not talk of my best man Bucky or his mate that way, Bucky has done so much for this clan and as his wife she can just stay her and enjoy everything, don't ever talk about her like that." Steve said sternly.

"oh im sorry chief steven i" sharon started say.

"apologize to her" said steve

"I'm sorry y/n" she murmured a fake apology as she left .

"you shouldn't have said anything steve its fine.." you say to him, he pulls me closer ,hands going lower on your back till it reached your ass, he gripped it gently.

"what do you mean ,she will disrespect you and Bucky and i should tolerate that , never."

"hmm alright calm down chief" you place a hand on his chest. He moves your hand to his lips and kisses it. You blush at that, you know he's probably being chivalrous.

"i am calm my sweet witch, you're here aren't you, you keep me calm"

"hmm good to know . "Your eyes linger on his lips you knew it was wrong.

Later that night ,you were laying in your bed , unable to sleep, both from the absence of your husband and because your needs haven't been taken care of in a while.you were frustrated.

Just then steve enters your cottage "y/n...?" He calls for you.

"yes steve.."

"there you are sweets.." oh fuck why was he here now.

"what ...do you need something chief?"

"no I came here to check on you sweets, ...still have trouble sleeping?"

You nodded .

"i bet it's lonely for you without Bucky next to you."

"uhmm yes" you look anywhere but at him

"would you mind if I ...kept you company?" Steve asked .

"uhmm you mean..."

"I'll lay next to you, that way you can sleep peacefully."

Say no say no. "yes I guess that would be nice."

So steve got under the covers with you

Steve's arms hold you tight against his chest under the covers, his strong muscles enveloping your body in a comforting embrace. As he lies there in bed with you, his head starts to slowly lower, his nose gently nuzzling against your hair as he processes the situation"A baby... You and Bucky... you're going to have a child together... I just can't believe it. I just...I'm still trying to process the idea of it all..."

"hmn yes it is very exciting steve"

Steve's hands start to slowly wander over your body as he holds you against his chest, his body still pressed against yours under the covers. His hands are gentle and slow as they move over your body, slowly tracing over your arms, your back, and your sides in a comforting manner.

You couldn't help but moan at his touch, you hope steve didn't hear it .

As you let out a gentle moan, Steve's body goes taut again for a moment, his arms holding you against his chest as he absorbs the sound. His hands continue to gently wander over your body as he replies in a low grumble"Hmm? What was that dove?"

"uhh nothing" you tried to brush it off.

Steve lets out a grumbled huff at your response, still holding you against his muscular chest in a tight and protective embrace. There's a hint of teasing in his voice as he replies "You don't want my attention, hmmm? Then....why did you let out that sweet sound?"

"uhh don't be ridiculous, I don't want your attention..."

Steve's long fingers rub your clothed pussy, which was only covered by a thin layer of clothing. "Your pussy needs it , I'm sure ... she's been very lonely." your wetness grows and coats youre clothing, steve is very aware of the effect he has on you.

"no steve ...uhm we can't" you begin to protest, your words die down as steve kisses your neck, lips trialing down your spine.

"shh sweetheart,i know this is what you need, and this is what I promised Bucky , that I'd take care of your every need.."

"I'm sure he didn't mean "every " need..."

"oh yes, every need ...can't let my best friend's wife go unsatisfied now can i?" Steve's fingers travelled to your nub rubbing it skillfully, making you grind shamelessly. "That's it little dove let me take care of you...let me hear those sweet sounds." You couldn't help but moan, steve overstimulated you until you were on the edge, and just as you were about to come he removed his fingers, making you whine.

"tsk what was that little witch? You want more..?" He knew exactly how to play this.

"yes...yes I need to come please, " you begged patheticallly .

"then spread those pretty legs for me, I'll make you come" you did as he asked.

Steve's long orc tongue licked your pussy , making you wet before he started fucking you with it., it didn't take long before you came all over his face. "Fuck now that's what I want little witch," he said licking up every last drop. Of your release, he wasn't done yet he went back to his ministrations again.

"steve please...i can't , we can't - bcuky" it was like a post release Clarity for you knowing this is wrong.

"shh - I know this is what Bucky wouldve wanted , little witch, don't tell me what my best mate would want." He said continuing to abuse your poor pussy with his big tongue but not it felt good that's why you had a hard time explaining to hi.m this was was wrong.

"steve - uhhh ughh"

"shh just enjoy it little witch , I know you need this, and I need you, " he said making you come for the second time .

This time he gathered all your cum with his fingers, pulling down the loin that was covering his modesty, his cock was hard , not as thick as Bucky's but it was longer., he pumped it a few times , lubing it up with your release.

"not sure if you can take me little witch, I'm sure Bucky used your hole so good it's stretched enough but I have a couple more inches than him" how does he know that?

"steve -"

"tell me you want me - tell me you need my cock my sweet witch and I'll give it to you" he said already running his top over your pussy, making it flutter.

"yes please Steve need your cock" you say trying lift your hips to meet his, steve chuckled at your eagerness.

" be more specific, what part of you needs it ?"

"my pussy my pussy needs it," you say as you watched him pump himself once again

"this needy cunt needs my cock huh? Need your chief's cock because you're husband isn't home?" God why does he have to say it.

"yes yes please chief need your cock splitting me open"

"of course sweets I'll give you my cock, after all I'm the chief and need to take care of my clan, especially my best friend's pregnant mate, can't let her go unsatisfied can ?" Steve slowly fucks his length into you, you could tell he was patient and careful you can see it in his face.

"god you're so tight, didn't know witches we're this tight, you know I'm only used to orc cunts this is - fuck look at how you're gripping me" he said as he almost got all of him inside you.

You moan his name. "So good sweet girl, taking me like a good little mate." He encouraged you as you managed to take all of him, steve slowly began rocking in and out of you in a rhythm that was the most pleasurable to you, something you've never experienced your whole life.

"you look so pretty my little witch, so big and round ,growing Bucky's child, ...can't wait till you bear mine..."

[six-swords]

any angsty Scar (or Steb!!) headcanons? like how the first months of parenting was for him with Greer or such :))) (i like seeing ny favs suffer ❤️)

I don't have any angsty Scar HCs unfort 😔 I have a few for Steb though! These mostly apply to my take on canonverse Steb because in batfish-verse, Scar has hammered some self-worth into this man 🤞 cw for in-universe racism

Steb's parents are marai diaspora who came to Runeterra as children. While both of them speak a minimal amount of the marai language, Steb only knows foods, greetings, and other basic words. The loss of culture and language is something he doesn't think about often, but when he does, it makes him very sad :(

Steb doesn't have the best relationship with his parents. They don't fight much, but they're not close either. This is a major contributing factor to his emotional repression and lifelong loneliness problem.

Steb has always had secret daydreams about dating another marai and finally feeling understood and seen by someone. He's a bit insecure about his lack of knowledge about marai culture though, so he'd probably be too embarrassed to pursue another marai.

Steb's dedication to being an enforcer is partially due to his perception of the job as one that helps people. But a huge subconscious motivation is that he's always felt out of place as a vastaya, but being an enforcer serves the interests of the State and makes him palatable to the rest of Piltover. So in his mind, maybe the best enforcer will be "enough" to make up for being different.

He used to get bullied for being mute and vastaya during his cadet days.

He's so used to vastaya microaggressions that he doesn't really outwardly react now. Well, he never really did. He's very much a "don't rock the boat" type of guy at the expense of his own comfort and well-being.

He sometimes hooks up with people who fetishize him for being marai because it's just too much work to filter people out, and he's a little bit passively self destructive.

He's a workaholic and doesn't really have friends 💀. Because of his parents' emotional unavailability and trauma from why they had to leave their homeland, he never learned how to be open with other people and/or to trust his own emotions. So he has that shit down on lock. Besides, if he has work, which is totally fulfilling all of his needs, he doesn't need other relationships or have time for them.

Ahaha... this list makes it sound like I only characterize him as sad and alone. What being systemically oppressed and forcing yourself into the model minority role does to an mf ig 💀 But as most of you know, I usually write him post-batfish-character-dev, so he's worked through most of this thankfully 😭🙏

Thank you for the question!

[transformersconfessions]

So i saw a prior confession and would like to respond to it in part;

The issue is that it does matter if racist tropes exist, because art doesn't exist in a vacuum. Its part of a recursive loop between culture and art where one informs the other. Its completely warranted to criticize art for its flaws because those flaws expand into the audience that engages with it, even if only covertly. Its the reason so many facists have been up in arms about "woke" media, it serves as a point to inform as well as entertain.

Having megatron's narrative hold racist connotations to it is significant because that crestes an environment where thats seen as acceptable, leading to issues like what ive mentioned in prior confessions surrounding the race fetishist stuff that goes on with "Praxians" and Seekers. It enables an environment where those behaviors aren't questioned and this are allowed to flourish.

It's similar to how there's a massive issue with sexism in the transformers fandom, thats thr byproduct of issues with the source material, which is the result of culture, which is informed by art. I know alot of people want to mindlessly consume media, but that shouldn't come at the cost of preventing real world harm because yes, these things DO culminate into real world harm.

If someone is only exposed to black people via media that depicts them negativity, that builds a stereotype that informs future interaction. The same goes for the historically fucked representation of trans women [i myself being one].

The things you put into the world aren't in a vacuum, and people need to realize this. The same goes for proshippers who depict incest, pedophilia, or toxic relationships in a positive light. I don't care if you like "angst" you are contributing to the culture around which people who actually practice these things feel safe to do those things. Its irresponsible and often fucked up.

Also Knockout is lame, we fw energon Knockout instead, peace✌️

*

[ekat-fandom-blog]

Barbie and the Secret Door!DPxDC AU

I've always wanted to see a Barbie AU so I'm gonna make one. If you've never seen BatSD, you can find the plot here. (Btw, at the very end there's a clip where Malucia's parents come back from a trip and laughingly ask her if she attempted to take over the kingdom again. I recommend watching or listening to the songs because they perfectly describe how delusional almost every single character is. I love you grandma and little fairy girl for being two of the most grounded characters in this movie.)

First, the roles:

The Grandmother played by Alfred.

Princess Alexa played by newly picked up Jason.

Nori and Romy played by Sam and Johnny.

Queen Unicorn played by Dan.

Unicorns played by Danny, Dani, and Vlad.

Princess Malucia played by Youngblood.

The Main Attendant played by Aragon.

Sniffers played by Walker and Skulker.

The Little Fairy Girl played by Star.

Second, tweaking the story:

Instead of fairies/mermaids/unicorns, it's vampires (amity parkers), nagas (ghosts), and banshees (halfas). trogs (the attendants) and sniffers (idk they're like bloodhounds) are nagas as well.

All animals are mostly normal w/just enough magic that they glow.

Vampires have purple or red eyes, sharper-than-normal teeth and nails, pointed ears, and the ability to turn into bats.

Nagas have green or red eyes, sharp teeth and nails, a tail, and the ability to turn into a snake.

Banshees have neon green or red eyes, sharper-than-normal nails, and the ability to tell when someone's close to death.

Stealing their magic turns them into humans.

Youngblood is a naga who doesn't have an ability (therefore is the most human looking of the nagas) and has decided to steal everyone's magic because he deserves it. (via Malucia's scepter) He hasn't stolen the castle servants' magic because it would make things harder for him.

Skulker and Walker don't "sniff out magic".

They've yet to realize that humans need to eat and drink water on a regular basis.

Jason's 11 years old, Youngblood's 6(?), Danny's 10, Dani's 8, Star's 11, Johnny's 12, Sam's 11. The rest (on the list) are adults.

Something I'm not gonna tweak: the fact that the palace servants don't try to revolt or usurp Princess Malucia. They seem extremely tired.

Now, onto the actual idea:

Jason is very nervous and untrusting of his new surroundings. His favorite activities are sneaking books from the library into his room and going to school. He's very resistant to interacting with Bruce because if he is like how the rumors say he is, how is he supposed to fight him off? Alfred notices and gives him a fairy tale book written by one of Bruce's ancestors about the house.

The book leads him to a door in one of the rooms he's never been in. This door leads to a fantasy world. There are tons of bright colors and weird plants. He spots a glowing, green puppy and starts following it. He wasn't paying much attention to his surroundings and was confronted by Johnny and Sam. (Johnny trips because he isn't used to having legs.) However, they notice the clothes he's wearing and realize that he's not from there and probably has no idea what's going on.

They tell him that the Evil Prince Youngblood has been stealing everyone's magic. Since Jason doesn't have any he might be able to help them. When Jason asks why they can't do anything, they reply with something along the lines of "how would we sneak past the guards or win a fight against them? we don't know how human bodies work."

Eventually, they start leading Jason back to their base when they nearly get caught by Walker and Skulker. Thankfully, the two get distracted by a rock thrown by Star and they get to the base quickly. (Unbeknownst to them, Star gets caught.)

Jason sees that a good portion of the camp has been stripped of their magic and made human. They seem to be rather disheartened at their situation. This makes him want to help (especially when he meets Danny, Dani, and Vlad and learn they're being hunted more religiously than anyone else.)

POV changes to Star's. She's being led into a large reception hall where a tall, shadowy figure is sitting on a throne on a raised platform. Then the lights come on and she sees that it's just a child sitting on a raised throne. (if you don't want to look at the image: the platform is eight half steps high, the throne is 9 steps high)

Youngblood ignores Ember, Walker, and Skulker in favor of Aragon and his plans to throw a celebration after becoming the most magical prince ever. Walker and Skulker gain their attention and announce that they've caught another naga child. Youngblood gets upset with them for not finding the much-more-magical banshees, but quickly turns his attention to Star and demands she gives him her magic. Then, he forces her to play games with him, Aragon, and his two guards.

Switch to Youngblood's POV. Walker and Skulker come back into the room to announce that they are certain that they know where the Banshee King is. Star starts to ask how they found him before snapping her mouth shut, which Youngblood decides means that she probably knows something. He goes to talk to Walker and Skulker and finds they know the general location (a forest) that he's in, not the exact location.

While he isn't happy, he does have an idea. He tells Aragon to prepare to go get the Banshee King. He then looks overly surprised that Star's there and tells her that she can leave since she's not of use to him. Once she's out of the room, he orders Skulker and Walker to follow her.

Back to Jason. He's figuring out a plan to sneak into Youngblood's castle and get everyone's magic back. Then Star bursts into the hideout and tells everyone that Youngblood took her magic and has the location of the Banshee King. Jason was going to ignore that when Danny and Dani started crying about their big brother being in danger. Now he's got a plan to go with Sam and Johnny to retrieve Dan.

When they get back to the base with Dan, they find everyone captured and depowered (with the three banshees missing.) He tries to fight Youngblood, but loses because of not knowing how to deal with magic. (also there's like 4 guards surrounding Youngblood.)

Youngblood says something about how powerless Jason is as he and his lackeys are leaving that almost causes him to give up and go back to the manor. Sam convinces him to stay and help because they'd not have gotten to Dan in such a short amount of time without his planning.

So, he plans.

He gets a small group into the castle and they watch as Youngblood takes the last of Dan's magic from him. The group is convinced they were too late and that they can't do anything now. (Youngblood has used his scepter to turn the reception room into a party room filled with all types of sweets.) But Jason noticed that there was a small crack in Youngblood's scepter, meaning if he hit it just right with enough force he could break it.

It was a gamble, but it worked. He broke the scepter and everyone got their magic back. Youngblood got clean up duty (because there's still candy and cake everywhere.) And Jason was more confident in being able to handle himself.

After Jason leaves back to the mansion, Youngblood's parents come back (he's still cleaning up his mess) and ask him if he tried to take over the kingdom again. His punishment is going to need to wait until after they give him his presents. (much to Aragon's disapproval)

Jason (in the mansion) probably puts the book in his room and decides to get training from Bruce. (and become robin)

[thethiefandtheairbender]

Had a good chat with my partner about it today that maybe let me put a finger on what's always bugged me about "we're here to fix canon" attitudes being so prevalent in fandom (especially in the past 10ish years) throughout my life. This is not to say there's never a time or place for that (I've written fix its myself, or the occasional meta on how something could be fixed/improved) or that people are wrong to (we're anti fandom policing). It's also not an issue to me on the basis of "I love my blorbo in canon and fandom mischaracterizes them in the name of 'fixing' them" etc as it is just... coming from a fundamentally different perspective for story analysis / interaction than most (not all) people in fandom, I think.

One of the reasons I enjoyed getting my English degree was because I was finally being encouraged to and taught in alignment with what my brain had always be inclined to do: you always assume that there's a reason, and a good reason, for the story to do whatever it's doing. It assumes that the story is already exactly what it is supposed to be as it is supposed to be, and it's up to you to find the reasons Why.

The story was boring, or made you feel uncomfortable/bad, or you couldn't root for a character or relationship? All of that, at least at the beginning, doesn't really Matter. You assume that the story is paced fine, you assume the discomfort was intentional or part of something broader (historical shit that hasn't aged well) or that the dichotomy of "I feel invested or not invested" isn't useful. And in doing so, you replace all that with asking why.

An example I'll use is 1984 by George Orwell. I read that book in high school and I fucking hated it. Normally, I like the protagonist the most in anything I watch/read, but in that book, I loathed both the two leads and were actively rooting for them to be captured and tortured so the book could end faster; it was an actively miserable affair. I don't think that was necessarily the author's intention (certain amount of death of the author is baked in, but for a lot of the texts I was reading, we didn't even know the author or anything substantial about them, i.e. Beowulf) but, more importantly, I don't think any of those things are Flaws or downsides in the text.

Part of this is because 1984 is a dystopian novel (if a romcom book breaks genre convention that badly where you're miserable reading it, yeah, maybe something went wrong, but more on that in a minute) but even then it doesn't really matter on the basis of genre; I'm sure some people read 1984 and felt fascinated/excited while reading.

Rather, the focus becomes: what do I find so unlikeable about the protagonists? Why would they be written that way (on purpose)? What does it say about the society they live in? What does it say about their characterization, social stratification, etc etc? If a character does something that I think is non-sensical, why? Have I missed something? Should I watch retrospectively for clues? Is there another way to engage and to understand? Is what I label as confusion potentially a, or the, Point?

It is only after finding the reasons, and/or finding them unsuitable, that I let my subjective feelings into play. While a story can have great merit on the basis of relatability, relatability or "this aligns with my worldview / expectations / desires / etc." is not the be-all end-all of discerning quality

For example, I'm never going to be a fan of Jane and Rochester (she's 18, he's her 40 year old employer who routinely lies to her) but there are reasons, Good reasons, they get together in Jane Eyre (a book so subjectively boring I struggled through it twice) in response to both when the book was written and with the book's themes / symbols / their characterization. If they didn't end up together, it would be a fundamentally different story; it would not be Jane Eyre. So objectively, it's fine and an understandably massive influence on the western literary canon; subjectively, it's so fucking bad and I'm so glad I never have to read it again. But if I stopped there with my lack of interest or dislike of the main romance, I'd be missing out on what the text has to offer as well, the text.

This applies to more modern day stuff as well. I don't like Double Trouble from SheRa as nonbinary representation, and I'm nonbinary myself; however, I can acknowledge that the things I don't like about them were probably simultaneously empowering and exactly what the author (who is also nonbinary) wanted to be per his own experience of gender. Having a "I assume the text is right" mindset means that I can hold space for my own feelings/analysis (i.e. I also did not like Catra's arc, as I think she needed to learn other things / be written under a different lens) while holding space for the text as is (under the canonical lens of Catra learning it's never too late to be saved, I think her arc is conclusive and well done). And these two viewpoints aren't fundamentally opposed, but can coexist as analytical soup, being equally true / having equal value under the subjective (my view) and more 'objective' (the canon text's construction, or what I / the scholarly consensus, if it exists, believes it to be, anyway) at the same time.

Again, none of this is to say that you can't take issue with a canon text, or want to change something. I remember one time I was watching a show where their refusal to explore a romantic relationship between the female lead and her guy best friend was actively making the show worse; I understood their reasonings of wanting to put them with other people to explore their relationships, and wanting to emphasize a male-female friendship at the core of the story, and I still wanted them to put the two together as a Ship instead for various reasons. But that doesn't mean my line of thinking would've been Objectively Better—assuming if they had been paired together would've been executed in the manner I'd enjoy, or that them being paired with other people couldn't have been executed in ways I would've enjoyed more—merely that I likely would've enjoyed the series more per my own subjective preferences.

What I see in fandom sometimes is that people, understandably, aren't approaching at the start from a "the story always has a good reason" as much as they are speed-running from a "this didn't make sense to me or felt bad/off" and maybe examining why (which is supremely useful!) but not going back to examine the other side of the coin as to why the story would do it anyway.

Because sometimes the story—or a part of a story—is still 'bad' to us. It's just worthwhile to look at why it's 'good,' too.

[uncanny-tranny]

Another bonus to learning a fiber art is being able to speak to others in a Lovecraftian language that nobody else understands...

...and also being able to read things like THIS:

[nyxi-pixie]

actually incredibly funny to me that ranpos entire thing centres on how his intelligence is not because of an ability or any other great thing, its just him. hes entirely, completely, inarguably human. and Yet, when it comes to dazai, so many people are Desperate that there just Has to be another explanation. his intelligence cant just be that hes unusual, no it must be a marker of separation, of difference so great it disallows the reality of his humanity.

[youtube-fucker]

Yeah I think I'll just make a separate blog for this stuff now... but in the meantime!

Look! It's a kid! They're having fun! They have their tongue out! They're winking! They're being silly!

Surely nothing bad would happen to them, right?

...

You wouldn't hurt them, would you?

...

Would you?

Would you hurt them?

Are you sure you wouldn't?

W O U L D Y O U ?

W H Y ' D . . . Y O U . . . D O . . . I T . . . ?

Anyways! Credit to @howlonomy once again! I hope you enjoyed... whatever the fuck this is!

[ifmagicexists]

i'm sure it's been said somewhere before but thinking very hard about "no man, however great, can know his destiny. like everyone he must live and learn, and so it must be for the young warlock.." like. the very first line of the entire series. explicitly said by kilgarrah to apply to merlin as well. and yet kilgarrah tried otherwise. he told merlin up front what his destiny was and tried to push him away from living through the bad things whenever possible.

and it feels like kilgarrah reflecting on everything after the fact because he thought he could change it!! he thought maybe by telling him the good stuff it could be happy this time. maybe merlin could become the greatest warlock and help arthur become a great leader and fulfil all of those prophecies and make all those great things happen but also he could kill mordred and destroy morgana and erase all his enemies and still be that great person.

except he couldn't, of course. and by telling him and trying to control the narrative kilgarrah sealed his fate; destiny doesn't allow for choices. it just doesn't work like that, and they all learned, and kilgarrah lived and learned and is left simply with that lesson: that no one can know their destiny.

[corvidaedream]

im literally going to go insane holding up helly r and harrier du bois up like paint swatches next to each other just looking at them

[comradecowplant]

So we're fully in lunatic hours, huh. Just every one of these women have fully lost their goddamn minds. And not even, if I may be so bold in my loving-insane-women opinion, in a fun way. Misty-fucking-Quigley is, by several leagues at this point, officially the least certifiably insane person, which I never would have considered a possibility during season 1. Cool cool cool, just keeping up 👍

[sinful-karateka]

let me be a bit serious for a sec: i've been observing a couple of sentiments here about how there's a lack of binary boyfriends art in circulation with season 6 upon us and the show's foreseeable end. while i agree on that front, and as one of the fellow artists who started making art for the ship in the early years of the show (sketches, full rendered pieces, gifs -- you name it), i would like to emphasize that fanart is not meant to be a one-time piece of "content" that passes by our dashboards. they take time. they take energy. the next person you follow has a life you may not know anything about, and working on these pieces are labor of love.

if you find something that makes you feel a certain and positive way, let the creators know! again: fanart is not fleeting content. they can be evergreen content, but never seasonal. and most often than not, you'd see an artist share these pieces as a love letter to the ship itself first, then everyfan second.

i hope we think twice about this before calling out a recession or drought, because the last thing creators need is to feel like what we make is subjected to scrutinizing numbers until it gets lost in the muddied waters, when it's really meant to be discovered if people mean to look hard enough. they're pieces of history that deserve to exist for as long as this hellhole is still alive. these are products of their time today, and hopefully for the next groups over who will love the boys as much as we do now.

scroll through the main ship tag. travel to different ones, to different places. commission your artists and maybe find an honest middle ground if you can't compensate! or better yet, make one yourself you know you'd be proud of anyway!

and look, not every piece of art is for everyone, but if any piece isn't your drift, that's understandable -- you can silently say that's very cool, like, reblog if you're even more generous, leave a few encouraging words, then move on.

i don't want this to come across as a sermon, but take it from a concerned fan to another who also wants to create and see stuff for these babies. you can't win them all, but your acknowledgement helps keep the ship and our craft alive.

[sskk-manifesto]

!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!