#i think there was probably a mystic factor as well

[ladysqueakinpip]

the only thing my sister and i have to offer to the rise fandom is theories about how lou jitsu's dna recombined with the turtles

[anthurak]

Funny little thought/headcanon I had while looking at Yugioh card archetypes, specifically the various ones that have spun off of Yugi’s iconic monsters, ie; Dark Magician, Gaia the Fierce Knight, Buster Blader, etc.

In terms of in-universe card-lore, I feel like many of Yugi’s monsters read like this oldschool fantasy adventurer party who banded together to go on a series of epic quests together.

You’ve got Dark Magician, the wise and powerful wizard who brings the group together.

Gaia the Fierce Knight is a knight who joins the party, and later tames a powerful dragon to be his new steed in Curse of Dragon.

Kuriboh is a little fiendish spirit who is probably Dark Magician’s familiar and becomes the party’s mascot.

Summoned Skull is a powerful fiend whom the party forges an unlikely alliance with.

Buster Blader, an up and coming dragon-slayer who joins the party.

Dark Magician Girl, the Dark Magician’s young protégé.

Really, I think it’s easy to picture basically ALL of Yugi’s monsters as being part-or-full-time members or affiliated allies of this hypothetical band of adventurers: Mystical Elf could be an elven priestess who joins the party, Celtic Guardian could be Mystical Elf’s bodyguard, Feral Imp and Horn Imp are a pair of petty demons who get bound to the service of Dark Magician or Summoned Skull, Silver Fang is a wolf the party adopts, the list goes on.

And all the individual archetypes that have spun off of each of Yugi’s monsters represent each of these adventurers going their separate ways to have their own big solo quests and stories after the party disbanded (ie; when the DM anime ended).

Dark Magician and Dark Magician Girl clearly continue to have their own long string of adventures.

Possibly with DMG eventually forming her own band of fellow magical girls.

Buster Blader became The Destruction Swordsman, adopted Buster Whelp and had… that whole adventure.

With Gaia, for a while I’ve had a theory/headcanon that the numerous ‘Gaia Knights’ aren’t actually all the same guy, but rather various members of an ORDER of Knights founded by the original Gaia. With each Gaia Knight representing either a rank, position or notable member of the order. With Gaia himself forming the order after leaving the party. He also apparently took Catapult Turtle with him.

Heck, Summoned Skull being retroactively classified as part of the Archfiend archetype could be read in-lore as Summoned Skull becoming an Archfiend after or even as a result of their time with the party.

Gazelle and Berfomet go off to form the Chimera series and also join the Phantom Beasts.

Celtic Guardian takes up a second sword and becomes Celtic Guard of Noble Arms.

The three Face-Card Knights (or the ‘Poker Knights’ as I prefer to call them) probably form their own order of knights with Joker’s Knight and Imperial Bower and eventually become the Arcana Joker trio (with Queen’s Knight/Arcana Triumph Joker clearly having inherited some power from Slifer/Osiris, given her effect).

And the list goes on.

Oh, and the Magical Citadel of Endymion probably factors in here somewhere, given the existence of the ‘Skilled Magician’ monsters. Not to mention Yugi’s use of Breaker the Magical Warrior.

And I dunno, I think it’s really fun to think of the ‘in-universe’ card lore in this way, as well as tie together all of Yugi’s monsters in a cool way. Heck you can reimagine much of Duelist Kingdom, Battle City and the other arcs of DM into more classical fantasy adventures.

[regaliasonata]

I've been meaning to make this post for a while

So Power Rangers has 30 years of lore and stuff packed into it and this made me analyze a few things pertaining to the ranger powers.

See every team is different in the sense that their abilities can be labeled into various categories, like some characters using mystical energy or technology but there's a bit more to it. Tokusatsu has a full list of different power sources and it made me think a bit here, btw this is just in a general sense when it comes to ranger powers and not fully the individual ones each of the teams have.

Basically I decided to place them in depending on the themes and overall potential of their powers.

Each team is covered under one of the following five, Technological, Elemental, Spatial/Temporal, Spiritual and Magical

1.)Technlogical powers such as RPM, SPD mainly rely on the usage of advancements and mechanical assets to their abilities. Though however capability wise it's reach stagnates as the tools and powers depend on how advanced the tech is(like if you have futuristic stuff that can access universal energy, can be on par with some top players in the PR multiverse)

2.)Elemental, like in Samurai, Lost Galaxy and Ninja Storm specific rangers in this category can manipulate or even conjure specific aspects of nature at their disposal. In my mind however the capabilities can also be somewhat limitless as the specific way elements are applied factor in( like if fire is associated either creation and light, being able to make life or even spark heat in the universe)

3.) Spatial and Temporal, specifically relating to teams like Time Force. These powers mainly orient around the control of dimensional or time like aspects, from freezing and speeding time, controlling dimensions like the Triassic Dimension with Conner in DT, or just anything you can think of there. This one is definitely up there because there isn't really a limit, I mean Conner controls reality with the triassic shield and time manipulation is already busted. Time Force rangers are a problem in fight match-ups.

4.)Spiritual, my favorite btw. Connects mainly between Wild Force, Jungle Fury and probably Zeo. Spiritual powers such as aura projection like utilizing animal spirits or having abilities attuned to one's soul are a few ways of using this, however depending on the person and overall situations the spirit can do a lot more. Say releasing your inner might and having a strong willpower may result in your abilities being able to transcend beyond most things(think a bit like HXH with Nen or JJK's cursed energy). Like the phoenix with Camille, if she developed it more then the power to revive or even give life would be broken as hell.

5.) Finally we have Magical, hello Mystic Force. Magic in general is just busted, applications all around depends on what type you're using and there are three main sources, Good, Dark and Neutral. In the show the rangers were given magic from the townspeople due to their beliefs within it as well. This basically cements that as long as you believe in magic then you have an endless source of it...which is just overall crazy and places this high on the list as well.

Now I can't really choose which powers would rank over each other as all of them could overpower the other depending on who uses it but this was nice to analyze. I'd love a full on special with the seasons fighting each other or being able to full amplify their capabilites to see what chaos ensues. Wonder what you guys think?

[gentlebeardsbarngrill]

Free Rhys Darby ASMR Sources

So @hang-on-lil-tomato got me thinking with their post about Stede Story Time, I did all this research into all the Rhys Darby works and I realised I should probably compile it in case other folks are looking for the same things.

So yeah, I mean, Rhys doesn't do audio books as of yet, but man would that be amazing if he did. So for those of you who want to hear some good 'ol Rhys Darby voice, here's some sources. Please feel free to message me if you have more. ! I'd love to add them, and I'll tag ya :D

---

Rhys Darby as Stede Bonnet Youtube Compilations

Stede say'd Ed for a full Minute by justagaycatboy

Stede Bonnet being a bitch for 4 + mins by Rae Hamilton-Vargo

Stede Bonnet being the crew's dad for almost 4 minutes by grim weaper

Stede Bonnet screaming for 2 minutes 15 seconds by "Our Flag Means Death"

Stede Bonnet cursing for almost a whole minute by Murder Turtle

----

TV or Mini Series

Rhys Darby in Japan (Freevee on Amazon)

So as someone who lived in Japan for a bit, this series is really really fun. It's awkward, and funny and it's almost all Rhys Darby as he's narrating and living the whole damn thing. There are quotes from this show that I use in my every day life, I love it so much.

Short Poppies (Freevee on Amazon)

Considering most of the characters in this show are in fact Rhys Darby, it's a great way to hear his very colourful range. I haven't seen all the episodes, but I find it quite endearing.

Intrepid Journeys (Rwanda) (Youtube/nzonscreen.com)

Ty @hang-on-lil-tomato and @meanmisscharles for this recommendation! I haven't watched it yet but here's the description:

"This Intrepid Journey sees comedian Rhys Darby taking an OE to the landlocked African country of Rwanda. Darby makes a bunch of friends in the markets of capital city Kigali, then heads on a jungle adventure. Far from the New York office of his Flight of the Conchords character Murray, he searches for critically endangered mountain gorillas. Darby is guided by François — a personable and entertaining park ranger, fluent in primate dialect — whose aping gives Darby a run for his money in gorilla impersonation. Darby is quietened by a sombre genocide memorial, and a 200 kilogram silverback."

Stand up

These are pretty self explanatory, wanna hear Rhys Darby talk for an hour or so? Stand ups the way to do it, all the voices you could want and no one interrupting him.

Rhys Darby I'm A Fighter Jet Rhys Darby: This Way Spaceship It's Rhys Darby Night Mystic Timebird

Youtube Shorts/Channels

Rhys' Youtube Channel featuring stand up shorts, sketches, Rhys' playing games and other fun stuff like "The Alone Rangers". All stuff I have to dive into, thanks again @hang-on-lil-tomato!

Movies

Love Birds (Included with Prime Video)

So if you follow @celluloidbroomcloset you have probably heard of Love Birds, and as someone who is totally normal for Rhys Darby, and loves birds and used to do rescue work, I have to day this movie is adorable. It's a really cute love story, and good god Rhys is hot AF. He and Sally Hawkins have amazing chemistry, and you get lots of good Rhys voice...in a romantic setting. I apologize ahead of time to any of you who lose your soul to this movie.

Coming & Going(Freevee)

So I haven't seen this one personally, so I can't speak to it (it's on my list for this week actually!) so I'll update this once I do.. but in the mean time, here's the description:

"When Lee (Rhys Darby), a young, skilled OBGYN who lacks confidence with women, suffers a minor injury that temporarily lands him in a wheelchair, he meets Alex (Sasha Alexander), the girl of his dreams. Convinced she has only paid attention to him because he's in that chair, he stays in it to win her affections well after his injury has healed."

Podcasts

The Cryptid Factor

You're gonna hear more than just Rhys, you'll hear from Dan Schreiber and Buttons (not ofmd buttons) and some other folks occasionally but you get to hear Rhys in his element, which is awesome because he is the goofy nerdy man we all know and love. The Cryptid Factor on Apple Podcasts

You can also go to their patreon and subscribe for free there-- the paid versions have video footage from a lot of shows and some other cool perks including stickers and book clubs and such.

Aliens Like Us

Thank you @hang-on-lil-tomato for this one! I hadn't found it before

General Reference to Works

Here's some overall guides to his various voice works (thank you again to @hang-on-lil-tomato )

--- Anyway -- hope that helps with your Rhys Darby very normalness :D

[aoinene-ceo]

𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑰𝒎𝒑𝒐𝒓𝒕𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝑵𝒂𝒎𝒆𝒔

────── · · ୨୧ · · ──────

Aoi Akane ♡

It's common knowledge that "Aoi" means blue, but it also has a connection to the Hollyhock - which, in Japanese culture, is revered for beauty and grace. The name is rather popular, though often more so for girls, since it reflects a parent's desire for their daughter to embody the traits of the Hollyhock.

A name spoken in gentle syllables that embodies grace and tranquility. This is the first impression the author meant to leave on the reader. Aoi is a pretty, elegant girl who is as delicate as a flower. Her hobby is even gardening - Aoi is absolutely tied to flowers, and especially the colors blue and indigo. Blue is the color of tranquility and represents the virtue of charity.

It symbolizes the mystical world as well, probably hinting at the fact that Aoi comes from a family of Kannagi. (In Kabuki theater, evil characters are often marked with the color blue!)

While it is a factor in hiding Aoi's true personality behind her persona, it also clues us in a little bit on her family life - maybe some of her relationship with her mother. Aoi feels pressured to be perfect. To uphold her family name, since her mother only bore a daughter, and her father is absent from her life. It can be assumed that her mother is also placing high expectations on her at home as well.

Since she is the one who chose Aoi's name and wishes for her to embody those aforementioned traits, I can see Aoi's mother as being strict and harsh. Though, she sees it as a way of pushing her daughter to be better and live a good life.

I imagine Aoi hates her name. The fact that when people hear it, "Aoi Akane," they think it suits her. A girl with a personality similar to that of a flower - fragile, delicate, girly, and tranquil. She is none of those things. Not really. What she enjoys most of gardening is the dirt pressed in dark half moons beneath her fingernails, small scratches from the pricks of thorns. The flowers persist, forcing their buds through the earth for spring.

And so, she admires their hardiness and determination.

────── · · ୨୧ · · ──────

If this does well, I might do Nene next !! (^ω^) No promises, though, sorry ... !! (≧□≦)

[tinysnailtales]

Thoughts from reading Yona of the Dawn Ch. 9

Ch.9 in summary: Hak and Yona are confronted/attacked by Tae-Jun. In a test of her newfound principles and in desperation to save Hak, Yona chooses to reject helplessness and take more direct action, unlocking a fire inside of her.

"How're we supposed to find someone if we don't know where he is?" – sorry, Hak, I'm afraid you'll be doing a lot of that in the near future XD

"Since ancient times, there have been priests in Kouka who gazed into the kingdom's future...if you're unsure of what you should, you should consult them, your highness." – the introduction of priests (or, I believe as the anime translated it, "oracles," which sounds a little more mystical to me) + the idea of a greater path for Yona. It almost sounds like Mundok has an inkling of what that path contains and like his person beliefs tie to the priests.

"They used to live in the temple in the royal palace. I hear they once were a powerful force in national politics. But when Lord Yu-Hon cracked down on them, they all left. Now, they live in remote areas in secret" – Yu-Hon being responsible for chasing the priests out and removing them from positions of influence feels like it factors into the mysterious history of Il/Yu-Hon/the succession.

"The right path, huh? Right now, I'm just struggling to survive" – Yona has grown a lot already, but she's still a wandering soul (literally and figuratively) just trying to live another day. She doesn't know what the future brings. But she will need to shift from "surviving" to "living." Right now it probably seems impossible, but she needs a purpose. I think she has begun to discover it in her growing care for others and the action she has taken to protect them.

"...can anyone really live here?" "Well, you'd probably fall off a cliff, princess." – famous last words, Hak.

"No one could survive in these cold mountains..." "The land that the Fire Tribe controls is even more desolate." – a fun little link back to the opening flash-forward scene! ("Back then...I had no idea it could get so cold outside the palace walls") Yona is beginning/continuing to discover more about her kingdom's land and its people.

"I used to be the princess of this nation...but Hiryuu Palace was all I knew. 'I don't know.' How foolish I must have sounded." – Yona is ashamed of her lack of knowledge. She was ignorant about both her kingdom's people and the land itself. She never left the palace, being extremely sheltered.

"Sleeping outside? I've started getting used to it" – Already Yona has grown a little tougher and more resilient. She's adapting to her new life. With Soo-Won's betrayal and being on the run, reality hit extremely hard but the changes to her circumstances are changing her in turn and producing that growth.

"This isn't like the mountains behind the palace..." – in fact, Yona's growth was already happening when she was in her worst and weakest state. Hak saved her physical body and now the Wind Tribe has saved her spirit, infusing her with hope, courage, and determination.

"Then I'll sleep in your arms and stay warm" *cue flabbergasted Hak freakout* – This would be such a good line if it has been intentional XD But Yona thinks nothing of it.

She's kind of unaffected by the idea of being close to Hak–essentially, she's "Soo-Won-ing" him aka treating Hak how Soo-Won treated her/not fully viewing him as a "man" or considering him as a romantic prospect. She's not completely clueless because tell me she wouldn't have been affected by the idea of being in the same situation with Soo-Won when she blushed just from holding his hand and sleeping next to him. But also–girl. Hello. She's got some obliviousness and/or a Hak-shaped blindspot.

I think this is somewhat related to how firmly Hak is in her mind as "protector" and her trust in him. There's a little bit of "why would I be embarrassed? It's Hak."

But boooooy do I think that gets to Hak. When he recovers from his initial reaction, he is quick to shift into kind of sleazy-flirty-mode: "Sounds fine to me. But I might get up to something." – He is affected by Yona and how unaffected she seemed at the idea.

Yona's "Something?" does feel like an indication of at least some innocence and ignorance regarding adult relationships. Maybe it challenges the maturity she thought she displayed in how she regarded Soo-Won. Hak's first try at saying "hey, I am a guy. Don't forget" goes over her head, and if it's not just cluelessness, then Yona is in deep with her belief that Hak couldn't mean that so his "up to something" must be referring to something else. She genuinely doesn't realize he likes her.

I find Yona's obliviousness a fun contrast to the denial and suppression we see from a character like Maomao in The Apothecary Diaries. I would love to see Maomao smack some sense into Yona on this topic.

"...something like this" – and Hak resorts to physical demonstration to finally get the point across and I do think when it comes to the two of them, actions from Hak do have the ability to get Yona flustered, she's usually just not expecting them. Hak's got a slight element of unpredictability in this regard.

The line between Hak getting his point across and genuinely protecting Yona is blurry here–I'm not sure where one ends and the other begins. Because Yona is made uncomfortable, Hak is lucky the moment blends into a cool "I can detect how many people are coming" scene or else I might be more frustrated with him.

(We call this whole ramble "trying to explain character behavior I don't love" and I do support flawed characters so...)

Yona's reaction shows how fear is still very real for her and paralyzes her a bit.

Hak getting on my nerves a little, but I think he kind of has to have the last word on the matter and reverts to his usual strategy of making light of things/teasing. It's like his armor as he tries not to be hurt by his unrequited feelings.

I do like the "fwump," putting Yona's hood back up to hide her. Even when he's being an ass, Hak is in Yona protector mode.

Big fan of protector stance Hak and the "slash" panel is gorgeoooous but it's interesting how deadly/violent Hak can be and how he seems to enjoy it. He is a trained general and guard, after all, but his grins really stand out.

"'Hak fights like lightning! If we ever fought seriously, he'd beat me to a pulp.' Even at a moment like this...I still remember your face..." –Even after everything and under threat of danger, Soo-Won is in Yona's thoughts. For her, it's like an "everything reminds me of you" situation and also indicates how she valued his opinion.

At least Yona has some self-awareness about the dominance of Soo-Won in her mind.

And "if we ever fought seriously, he'd beat me to a pulp" – foreshadowing?

I appreciate this moment of Hak being Hak (aka a little sarcastic, teasing shit who pretends to not take things seriously) and ignoring Tae-Jun because 1. lol Tae-Jun's reaction of "No, no, that's fine...WAIT." and 2. it emphasizes how Hak is that way with everyone, not just Yona. It lessens the string of some of his less-than-savory comments to her for me. Or at least re-contextualizes.

It's a good frame of reference for Hak's treatment of Yona (How does he treat her in these teasing moments in comparison to how he treats others– or what is the teasing about? Usually with Yona, his comments are like a deflection "I don't have feelings for you. Nope." + How does he treat her outside of those moments?)

A small moment, but I like how he is sure to say "don't punish the Wind Tribe for my actions" + "hurting me won't impact the Wind Tribe"

I like these panels and they show that yes, Hak can take things seriously, especially when he's in protector mode.

And I know it's heat of the moment, but this is kind of what I was referencing earlier regarding Yona being unaffected by being close to Hak and viewing physical proximity to him as something more practical than anything else.

"I'm scared! Arrows and soldiers are coming at us from every side...even Hak...can't handle all this!"

– so I did a rambling analysis of the weight-related comments from Hak in my goodreads review but basically weight gain for Yona = recovery and an indicator of health so Hak would actually secretly be pleased about it, but there's still a negative connotation considering how he uses it to tease her and I think its inclusion is in poor taste.

But with that out of the way, it is worth noting how Hak (in typical fashion) seems to use his comment to try and make light of the situation/distract Yona as she experiences panic and fear.

"Hak!! Hak?! Are you all right?!" "Stop fussing over me. It's creepy" "You're...you're bleeding" – Hak said "I'd take a bullet (arrow) for you"!!

I think this is a better use of the teasing/making light of the situation method by Hak. He's trying to play it off, but YONA CARES ABOUT HIM. You can clearly see the pain on his face.

"He got injured from protecting me...'If you're with me, I'll have to protect you.' I..." – Yona realizes the truth of Hak's words about having to protect her if they travel together and so soon into their travels.

Tae-Jun even said "I couldn't care less about the Wind Tribe. I'm going to kill you because I have business with the princess here!" to Hak. Before, Yona felt partially responsible for the suffering of the Wind Tribe and the injured merchants, but here the feeling of responsibility is even stronger and more direct. The guilt and sadness eats at her.

"I knew Hak would shield her with his body" – more of everyone knowing Hak's devotion to Yona and an example of how Hak is both a weapon and a shield for Yona ("a tool")

"They're going to kill Hak!"

"No, think about this. I should stay put...and hold my breath. If I go out there, I'll only be in his way. Just like earlier. It'll be all right. Hak is really strong."

"He could dodge that arrow. I'll stay right here and wait for him to come back. Hak...would never die." – Yona has had to face a lot that at one point seemed incomprehensible: her father's death, Soo-Won's betrayal... does the reliability and presence of Hak feel even more unshakable than her father and Soo-Won? And/or does she realize that nothing is written in stone?

"NO. Why did I leave Fuuga in the first place?" –in the last chapter, Yona became determined to take action and not accept that she should be passive and everything will be okay. But in Fuuga, taking action was more theoretical and relatively safe. The action of leaving to protect someone is much easier than being in the heat of battle.

Yona decided what she values/her principles, but this is her first big test in regards to them. Was she just all talk?

A BIG MOMENT for Yona, a sort of culmination of the growth she has been experiencing so far. And it's beautiful.

"Why did I leave Fuuga in the first place? Was it to have Hak protect me while I hide? If so, I should have stayed where I was. I'm just a burden to him. What would I do if he weren't here? Do I plan to admit that I'm weak and keep cowering?"

This reminds me of how I love the questions Yona asks herself back in chapter 1 ("Am I not allowed to be happy?" + "I'm allowed to have these feelings, aren't I?") and her honesty with herself and others. Yona feels and admits that she's weak. She feels powerless and helpless and like a burden, but she doesn't want to hide or keep cowering. She wants to be someone worth protecting and be someone capable of protecting, for Hak and for herself. She rejects the position of damsel she's gotten used to and decides to change.

"Before I ask for any divine answers...there are some questions I need to ask myself" – and I love this part too. There's a re-centering and some introspection happening before she chooses the path forward. This goes back to her journey of self-discovery and who she wants to be, and I think it demonstrates Yona placing value in herself and her thoughts + opinions.

She won't be a doll to be manipulated or just do what others say. She will decide for herself and bring her own thoughts to the table.

I think it's cool that we get all of this here. Maybe survival would be more likely if she stayed hidden, but she's choosing to live, not just survive. It brings things back to her thoughts from the beginning of the chapter: "The right path, huh? Right now, I'm just struggling to survive." In choosing to emerge from hiding and act, she has some direction and purpose.

LOOK AT THOSE EYES. Yona is pissed and I live for it. There's a clear fire lit inside her.

"W–What's going on? I thought being driven from the palace had broken her spirit" – Yona shocks Tae-Jun (who isn't as dumb as he appears as he correctly assumed Yona's state post-Soo-Won betrayal but he didn't account for what her time with the Wind Tribe would do!)

"We must talk" – Yona is using what she has, her words, but this also works as a reflection of her father's nonviolence.

"You poor thing...! Soo-Won has treated you abominably. But if you come with me and tell the truth, we could drag him off the throne. You can avenge your father"

"If you new all that...why did the Fire Tribe put pressure on the Wind Tribe? Why did you attack those merchants? If you know the truth about what happened...you shouldn't have been trying to hurt the Wind Tribe...or trying to kill Hak for no reason! There are more important things you should've been doing!" – Yona sees through Tae-Jun and cracks down on how he + the Fire Tribe hurt innocents, she is continuing to dedicate herself to the people + be outraged on their behalf. And while before her emotions regarding what happened to the merchants and the Wind Tribe skewed more towards sadness, now she is fueled by anger.

Yona is also continuing with her refusal to be manipulated/do what others say and adding onto that, she's refusing to accept being talked down to.

"Her eyes look like they're on fire...I can't take my eyes off her!" – Yona is stepping into her power and others can see it!

"I may be a naive princess...but I'm not foolish enough...to listen to anyone who acts so senselessly!" – jabbing at Tae-Jun's priorities while asserting her own. Yona is again demonstrating self-awareness and honesty ("naive princess") but still doing what she can and acting from the heart. She has a passion to her.

"Her highness is supposed to be young and malleable..." – Yona standing up to Tae-Jun is standing up against what Hak hates about the nobility: people being treated as pawns + dishonesty + selfishness. She will not be a tool (which makes me think of how Hak told her to use him as a tool. He does submit to her will but he isn't malleable and is unshakable in his devotion)

And even Hak is shook by Yona's actions and words here. This is a part of her maybe even he hasn't seen before.

"...her crimson tresses...looked like they were flames about to consume her" – it's almost like Yona's rage and thoughts are too powerful for her body. She has a powerful emotionality and she may continue to show that feelings are not weak but actually the opposite.

Yona's hidden power has been unlocked, but what exactly is it? Here it seems to be determination + emotionality + passion driven by care for others. It's kind of her "Wind Tribe moment" aka doing as they did, moving from inspiration to action.

[wayfayrr]

long unorganized idea!! apologies for any spelling mistakes!!

finished reading part 2 of sage and reader landing in regular earth and the idea of them both slowly becoming domestic hit me in the head with a metal bat. Assuming they're both staying for a while, theyre going to need money! reader falls into somewhat of a provider position for sage!! they work hard all day and come home to an eagerly awaiting sage.

Sage, while happy it's just the both of them, he would probably go a little crazy because "how am i supposed to protect you!" its a brand new--and modern at that- world for him. this means new competition, and it wont be as easy for him to fully have reader to himself anymore. friends and family are major obstacles compared to some blonde fools back in hyrule. And unless reader is a bit of a loner, or doesn't have the best relationship with family, its going to be harder for him. As well as he cant be around them 24/7 (while reader could work from home, i love the idea of them holding an office job more. coming home tired making them even more like putty for him. hes there and ready to dote on a tired reader after such a stressful day but not to worry he'll make it all better)

I have this idea that he slowly falls into a househusband???(idk) role. While he may not be able to financially provide, he can cook you delicious meals and bake perfect deserts!! He can make his new home as enticing as it needs to be to keep you there with him. I just imagine him clinging to reader, buttering them up with his cooking and affection

oh, your friends wanted to hang out after your shift? but reader! you been gone for so long! he's having such a hard time adjusting and needs you home. Just like the gloom, hes playing for pity points (and winning them) so reader comes and dotes on the poor (pathetic) man.

I think sage would realize how he has to do this in slow and small incrimates. Hes smart and calculated, despite his lies, he has a good grasp on reader's world. Slowly, he pulls them away from friends and family. Why would they need anyone when he's here to care for them? Unless absolutely necessary, there's minimal communication with the outside world. There's mandatory dinner for work? Your raise is dependent on it? I suppose we can go, but he has his arm wrapped protectively around their waist the entire time, and he routes towards the door once you can leave. Come on, cant we go home now? His arm's starting to hurt.

overall just gradual manipulation that keeps pushing reader into his arms.

Since he's not in Hyrule anymore, I imagine he gets phantom pains in his arm. like since he's not in a magical(?) land anymore, and his arm isnt natural, he gets phantom pains or small muscle cramps. Obviously while not happy about that, just another factor in his advantage. If he goes out the house he just wears a long sleeve that covers his hand, has pockets, or gloves.

OR

because his arm was Rauru's arm, he actually loses a good portion of his arm on earth, bc what if earth reverses all like mystic/fantasy stuff although that could contradict his existence?? or it just makes him more human-ey?? anyways his arm would probably end around mid bicep, still gets phantom pains. his ears are also normal now! he and reader are now matching!

sage is hardworking and persistent. the angering amount of patience he had to give pays off in time when he finally has reader all to himself. maybe now he can actually rest, especially that hylia and the others dont exist here. hes fully broken away from being a hero and has you at his side, he couldn't be happier!!

ugajsk my mind is mush and this could be out of character for him but i cannot get domestic sage out of my head just them falling into domestic routine once everything is said and done

imagine grocery shopping with him

tldr househusband sage discovers modern amenities, food prices, ect and goes bananas

OKAY BUT ANON THAT SUCH A BIG BRAIN IDEA, SOFT DOMESTIC SAGE IS THE BEST????

Sage as a house husband is just??? This is like perfect for his character!?? He's already got the personality for it, just gotta throw him an apron and get him a ring to prove he's yours.

@neverchecking, @eternadreeblissa I feel like this is something you'd enjoy for sage.

Him slowly trying to isolate the reader from everyone they've ever known and cared about like how he's isolated? And how he just knows how to play up being trapped in a modern world for pity, he really has reader wrapped around his finger. He'd start to adapt far quicker than he let on, learning to read written languages. Who knows, maybe he finds a surprising taste in true crime shows?

And the mandatory work events? He'd both loathe them and love the chance to come off as this perfect trophy husband at readers side, to let anyone else there know reader is his. and his alone. And I was actually panning to have him meet some of readers friends! not quite in a thing to do with work but just as a causal meet up at their place so there's no way out!

Also about his arm just being gone? Like hello?? He would absolutely play that up for pity points, and he would get them. Yeah prosthetics exist here but they aren't easy to get or learn to use. And with the disappearance of his pointed ears, he wouldn't even be able to be called hylian anymore so he'd have another thing of hylia's put firmly behind him.

Personally, my favourite thing like that to happen would be a mix, where he keeps some traits but others become more dulled. He keeps the arm's abilities but it looks more human-like now than before, his ears are still pointed but now they look more like what is possible for humans than how exaggerated hylian ears are.

as for grocery shopping and shopping in general, he'd be so sceptical of letting reader eat anything brought from a store - he has no way to make sure they're safe!! so I raise you sage becoming a gardener, even if it's just little window sill herbs or tomatoes, granted he'd still have to shop for most things in this world. He'd just far prefer to go as far back the line as he can, buying from farmers' markets even if it meant having to travel further for things he needs. One bonus is that markets like that can sometimes be cheaper, as long as he's willing to argue with the sellers.

[ao3gobi17]

I’m liking this multiverse thing. I’ve thought about it before, but in a more “swapping places” dynamic.

I’ve considered what would happen if a modern AU spider n quaritch were somehow mystically sent to canon universe pandora. And then they switched places. So modern AU Spider would be with canon quaritch and vice versa. It’d be cool to see how their relationships differ. Especially if modern AU spider was raised by Quaritch. And unabashedly called canon Q “dad” all the time. It’d probably hit c!q straight in the feelings.

Plus, if this modern spider is anything like your work Custody, he’d be more sly, conniving and manipulative compared to the “heart-on-his-sleeve” Spider that he knows. I’d think he’d also be quite snarky, but confused about how quaritch is acting. Say modern AU spider makes a joke that typically m!s n m!q would both laugh at together. But c!q doesn’t, so spider sort of looks at him all embarrassed n a little hurt. Or maybe c!q’s “parenting” methods are a lot more harsh compared to what m!s is used to. As in he’d be scolded for things that his own dad would deem okay. I’d love for c!spider to interact and talk with a dad that actually loves him. In my opinion c!spider has quite a tuff guy act - he is mature n stuff, but I’d imagine there’d be some topics that would make him weak. so talking to a Q that calls him son, and makes sure he’s eating and tells him goodnight and that he loves him would absolutely decimate spider emotionally.

for this I’d think that this modern Q wouldn’t view the spiders as the same people, but he would still consider them both his son - sort of like they were brothers/twins

Ly Gobi 🩷🩷🩷🩷🩷🩷 xxxxx I’ve noticed how u always give really thorough answers when people send u asks and I can say for all of us we really appreciate it 🩷

I appreciate you for saying so! <3 <3 <3

There's different factors at play in these scenarios.. the shock for modern AU Q and S discovering the world of Pandora would be immense. If they're then separated, they'd likely be desperate to find each other. If only one of them went to Pandora and his counterpart went to Modern-AU-Earth then they'd still be worried about reuniting as well as dealing with the alternate version of their relative.

And then to add to that, are we getting Avatar 1 Q or Avatar 2 Q, because that would make a big difference personality wise for Spider to contend with. 2 would seem terrifying at first, but ultimately be better than 1 (and I agree, hearing Modern-AU-Earth-Spider potentially say 'dad' would mean a lot to him! They'd bond fast if Spider was oblivious to most of the war stuff). I assume it would be Q2 if its same-age Spiders that have been swapped.

Meanwhile, Avatar Spider would be freaked out and maybe a bit fascinated by Earth, Modern-Au-Earth-Q would be freaked out a bit fascinated by Avatar Spider and I agree, the good dad who isn't a war criminal would surely have a big impact on Avatar Spider - who was already disposed to bond with Avatar Q even though he was that war criminal!

Modern-Au-Earth-Q would want to keep both Spiders, but if Avatar Spider wasn't in Pandora then he'd want to go back, I'm sure. Avatar Q wouldn't stand for Modern-Au-Earth-Q taking his son... and I'm not sure how keen he'd be on giving up Modern-AU-Earth-Spider to him.. especially if he felt he could use him to bridge the relationship between him and Avatar Spider. But he could perhaps be persuaded if he could just get his own one back. Just extra custody issues all round! <3

[samasmith23]

Kamala Khan's death in Amazing Spider-Man (2022) #26 leaked NOT once... but TWICE in a row!!!

It looks like someone at Marvel RRREEEAAALLLYYY wants this whole publicity stunt of killing off Ms. Marvel (aka, Kamala Khan) to FAIL super hard considering that the pages for tomorrow’s Amazing Spider-Man (2022) #26 have been leaked not once, but twice now! And now we sadly know exactly just how Kamala dies…

Umm… last time I checked, Kamala has a healing factor. Sure it’s nowhere as powerful as Wolverine’s (and it does require Kamala to eat a lot in order to replenish her energy reserves), but unless that sword is powered by some kind of magic bullcrap which completely shuts off her healing factor, this makes zero sense! Kamala literally healed from a bullet wound to the stomach in her opening arc, and even survived having an entire building collapse right on top of her (just barely, but still)!

Also, it feels so random and arbitrary to have Kamala randomly use her shape-shifting powers to pose as a body-double Mary Jane, especially since she’s not utilized them a lot due her opening arc centering around Kamala becoming comfortable in her own skin after previously trying and failing to resemble her idol Carol Danvers (therefore overcoming her personal insecurities and internalized Islamophobia).

Plus, last time I checked Kamala's only since then shape-shifted into a couch, James Rhodes, and a scary cartoon face.

While it does feel somewhat in character for Kamala to risk her life to save someone she barely knows as part of her characterization as a superhero, the actual execution of it feels incredibly at odds with her past character development (whether it be struggling with her fears of death and mortality in Magnificent Ms. Marvel, or already receiving validation from her family, friends, and dozens of other superheroes, including Peter Parker, so why does she need it from him again when she dies?!).

Based on these leaked pages, I get the general impression that Zeb Wells originally fully intended to kill off Mary Jane here since all throughout his Spider-Man run he’s heavily hinted at it and foreshadowed it with that Paul guy (seriously... WHO THE HECK IS PAUL?!) and their two kids (who are apparently actual mystical constructs or something…), and that mystical supervillain wanting “the Scarlet Woman’s blood” (I know the phrase "Scarlet Woman" is specifically meant to refer to MJ’s red hair, but it is also unfortunately a derogatory slang term for a sex-worker). But maybe Marvel editorial told him to rewrite his planned death of Mary Jane at the last minute as a desperate effort to promote the upcoming The Marvels movie (which Wells shares a co-writing credit for the screenplay of), or Wells wanted to subvert reader expectations but did so in a distasteful manner?

I honestly don’t know... but if I had to guess I’d probably say it’s the former option since Marvel previously killed off Doctor Strange and the Scarlet Witch before resurrecting them a few months later to hype up their upcoming MCU films, plus the Spider-Man offices in particular are notorious for their editorial mandates and interfering with writer’s plans at the last minute (just look at how they recently forced Nick Spencer to settle on retconning Sins Past out of existence instead of One More Day like he was originally building-up towards). And do I think that Zeb Wells himself is an Islamophobic misogynist because of this? Probably not... especially considering I don’t know the guy’s personal politics (maybe he's a swell person IRL) and editorial mandates are likely at play here. I do think that killing off Kamala in such a random and distasteful manner is still a bad look and does give off those unfortunate implications. However, based on what I know I feel that this is more a case of judging the actions as bigoted (whether they were intentional or not) instead of labeling the person themselves as a bigot.

But regardless of whether or not the decision to fridge Kamala Khan is the fault of Zeb Wells, or Nick Lowe or someone else over at Marvel Editorial, I do want to make one thing perfectly clear... DO NOT... I repeat... DO NOT SEND ANY OF THEM DEATH THREATS! Like, I've already lost count of how many people I've encountered on both Twitter and Tumblr who are seriously outright calling for both Wells and Lowe's blood in response to these leaks.

And since the issue is being released tommorow, I feel the need to reiterate that harassing creators and sending them death threats is NEVER acceptable under any circumstances, and that doing so makes you no better than the kinds of supervillains that Kamala regularly fights against! We can criticize a bad story WITHOUT becoming supervillains ourselves! Follow the advice of @atopfourthwall here for heavens sake people:

Now this is hopefully going to be the last time I discuss Amazing Spider-Man (2022) #26 here on Tumblr as I have zero plans on giving any actual money to the issue myself. I may consider reading the Fallen Friend: The Death of Ms. Marvel one-shot, if only because it's being written by several of Kamala's past creators G. Willow Wilson, Saladin Ahmed, and Mark Waid, so I trust them to be able to salvage something decent out of this whole fiasco. But that's it. I do plan on releasing a future post which provides an in-depth analysis about the ways in which Ms. Marvel comics have discussed themes of death in a much more nuanced and respectful manner, but I have no idea when it will be released.

Until then folks... vote with your wallets. Please do not cave into the outrage machine and feed into the publicity stunt that this whole mess so obviously is. Don’t give tomorrow's issue of Amazing Spider-Man any more attention than it's already received. Instead go support all of Kamala's past adventures to show your love and appreciation for the character if you do not own the graphic novel collections already. And most importantly... for the love of all that is holy, DO NOT attack the creators involved with this terrible decision and especially DO NOT send them death threats!

[luigiblood]

GoldenEye 007 & The Future of Nintendo Switch Online

I wanna talk a little bit about the rerelease of GoldenEye 007, the little context and also something I noticed during my research.

GoldenEye 007 has finally got rereleased on January 27th 2023 on both the Nintendo Switch Online service, Xbox Game Pass and as a digital Rare Replay update.

See more after the break.

Emulation quality

Both the Switch and Xbox versions are confirmed emulated and not based at all from the leaked XBLA version, which I'm probably certain will never see a release ever, possibly due to the rights holders which are... very messy if I rely on the copyright info: FIVE. Nintendo, Rare Studio (Microsoft), Danjaq LLC, MGM and Sony Music Publishing.

Welcome to rights hell.

The emulation of it is... kinda complicated because it is mostly fine, like it is playable for certain, if you play it I think it is sort of reasonable. Both versions have 16:9 support (which by the way, was part of the original version on N64) and are 30 FPS with some framerate dips.

The Xbox version has tons of hacks to just change the controls, copyright info, and upscaling (up to 4K!) which honestly, is the imperfect part, with the slight but very visible texture warping and seams, which while Code Mystics claims it is technically accurate to the N64, and I do actually believe them about that, I don't know if we can really talk about accuracy the moment you just upscale the graphics way beyond what the original console could do.

Personally this problem would definitely bother me a lot, but from what I can see the Xbox version is still emulating fine.

The Switch Online version has not many hacks, they do exist, but not really a lot, the graphics emulation is slightly worse than Xbox with mostly too much fog than intended, repeated textures that shouldn't repeat as much, but it makes up for not having the texture warping issue in the slightest, only having less visible seams at times, as it is also upscaled in HD.

Just to talk about the specifics of the Switch version as I datamined it: The base ROM is different, and was modified to remove the face textures for Sean Connery, Roger Moore and Timothy Dalton. This is actually kinda the first time they hacked a base ROM like this before, especially only for parts that are fully unused, they really wanted to make sure it's not there.

I also noticed tons of texture replacements that seem to be related to explosions, maybe muzzle flashes as well.

The major thing that people will talk about are the controls, which by result of the Nintendo Switch Online service being more about playing the original games as is, which I do respect personally, in fact let me say this: the default control scheme is dated but it's fine to play, but there's one thing that I really dislike: The stick sensitivity is way too high. I think this makes it almost unplayable in certain aspects, because current sticks are definitely not like the N64 sticks which I think are way more precise due to their inner workings and form factor, it does not adapt 1:1 to newer sticks.

So when you just wanna use the aiming mode in Goldeneye, it's way harder to aim properly than on an N64 controller. It's doable, but it's harder.

The online, exclusive to Switch due to the N64 emulator already supporting it, I couldn't try it but after seeing footage it is very sad that it still can't handle online with players from two different regions when on PC it is not as much of a problem.

If you ask me which version is emulated better, I'd say Xbox at first glance, but both versions are totally playable, good enough but imperfect. Code Mystics' work for their N64 emulator is I think respectable, and iQue's work on the N64 emulator for Switch is also much better than we originally anticipated with the trailers and other official footage.

And yes I mentioned iQue and not NERD because their official involvement with Nintendo 64 NSO seems to be purely on the UI integration, possibly a bit more, but the major developer is iQue.

A lot of the disappointment I noticed are on the fact that 360 XBLA port is not used in any way, and it is certainly a bummer when that version showed promise.

N64 Switch Online Issues

But I also do hear a lot of complaints about the controls, but I think it's more of a quality of life debate, I think it's playable except for the stick sensitivity on Switch. But everyone does point out the need for a way to remap controls. Instead we just use the Switch OS controller remap feature in an attempt to fit our needs, which, personally, is only a bandaid and is not a real fix.

Personally one of the most annoying thing is the fact that B and A are horizontal instead of vertical just like the original N64 controller.

WHY IS THIS NOT A FEATURE YET?

I also hate how the ZL is always Z, and the L button is always L, when most games' L button equivalent is Z since we put our left hand on the stick part.

iQue and NERD really needs to implement control remapping, PER GAME, or possibly ways to register presets per game or something, it getting urgent.

...what's the deal Japan? (Theory)

Now, if you're in Japan, you might have noticed GoldenEye 007 hasn't rereleased on Switch there yet...

Nintendo's website says that the game would be released in other regions on the 27th, as planned, but the game would be out in Japan only later in 2023, while mentioning the game's rating: CERO: Z.

This is kind of important, because this is the highest rating. Japan have strict laws about this, and you can't let kids access this game easily.

Aside from the very weird rating, this means a lot, this means Nintendo has to do something about Parental Controls about this game, there's two ways they could deal with this:

Either they just make a 18+ N64 NSO app with the game, rated 18+ instead of Teen or 16+ like in other regions.

Or they do add some parental controls check inside the app, preventing access in a dynamic way per account.

The thing is, I've seen how the application manages the game library user interface: it's very flexible in what it can show/hide, just see how it manages European games or the case of region locking, applied in Korea to hide Magical Drop2 (SNES) and F-Zero X (N64).

For me, this seems like the kind of thing that could have been implemented easily in a few months? Though I'm speaking as someone who hasn't been in a big company managing these things in some way.

The funniest part is still how the apps can access the Parental Controls OS service the entire time.

So my theory is the following: I expect a sort of refresh of the NSO retro apps in the near future, downgrading the NSO retro app age rating to a minimum, instead putting every single age rating info for each game individually, trusting the parental controls to provide information to the app to hide games that shouldn't be played by the user.

I can see the possible logic of implementing this fully for every possible age rating from Nintendo, because while you're at it, you could just as well manage it for the entire library of games, which, currently, is almost 200 different titles in total.

And this, I can see this taking time to do, because you'd need info from every single rating boards in every region, which all games have been assumed 16+/Teen just because the app is that way. I can see some logistics required and could potentially take months to make sure everything is all right.

Now I don't know if they could see this as an opportunity to refresh the UI in a way, possibly even adding new features (like custom controls, please), and maybe this is the reason why Game Boy Color NSO hasn't launched yet, I could see this as a reason to just have feature parity everywhere as a saner base.

I don't know if I'm being reasonable on my theory, but I feel like it'd make sense? We'll see how it goes, really.

[formerlycookierunauprompts]

Once Golden Butter Cookie ever leaves the box/or wakes up (Really depends which au we're talking about here), will they ever get back into dollmaking?

I just find it interesting that even if the world and others have gone to create things far better than her own creations, I don't think that takes away the fact she can grant sentient life to her creations if she so wishes. She even made an entire realm for herself and her dolls which if you think about it, is really impressive on its own and it probably took months or years to create.

So even if she's burntout, I don't think that entirely means she's lost her creativity. I think the only reason she went through burnout in the first place was that she was stressing herself to create something noteworthy for the public to notice. So that you know, maybe there was justification for her to deserve HER SOUL JAM. So when she realized that she just couldn't keep up, what use was she to the world at this point...

Why is her corrupted attribute cowardice? Personally, I don't know, however when it comes to creativity, there's usually a risk involved. The courage to explore and experiment with new ideas, challenge expectations even if it'll face large or failure criticism. However, exploring new ideas is different from your own artistic identity. I'm assuming Golden Butter Cookie was trying to create things within the status quo required by the general public in order to remain as relevant as her friends, trying to create her own ideas and expound in those that resulted in failure and frustration too many times that she just gave up. I think her motivation also became a large factor in this too, that perhaps the things she was creating wasn't in her best interest. She has a literal army of dolls and toys, she probably has some workshop out there. But imagine her shifting from creating living toy companions that brought happiness and protection to children to sudden machines that should serve a purpose in making work easier. It's stressful and a bit hard to adapt to when you think about it. But what if she adapted her own dolls to make work easier? Sure it feels weird having some plush toy do some of the work, but it gets the job done. And I feel like unbeknownst to her, she managed to explore this idea a bit during her time in the toybox before succumbing to sleep.

But that makes you wonder, in all her years she spent wasting away in her toybox realm, why hadn't she ever discarded her own soul jam, or given it to someone much better than her...? Maybe because it was a gift from her own creators... Maybe it was her way of clinging to the small speck of hope that a part of who she once was is still there... Her purpose...

But honestly, maybe the world doesn't need her as much as they did before, but that doesnt mean her own friends don't need her. She's Golden Butter Cookie, whether she's some great inventor or not, she was an integral part of their life. She was important, not for her powers, but for her.

anon... anon I am shaking you so hard right now/verypos

This actually almost perfectly describes Goldie, i don't know how you did it anon, but you did! so congrats!! As for your first question, I don't think that Goldie would ever give up doll making in the first place. The dolls of the Toy-Box are basically her children and most cherished items/people, and making dolls is in fact, Goldie's passion.

In fact, Goldie's persona, Butterscotch Cookie, is a doll maker! Just a fun little fact.

As for why Golden Butter Cookie's corrupted attribute is cowardice... Well, it's a lot like you said. She was unwilling to break away from the norm, trying so desperately to be seen as useful like her fellow heroes. She didn't have Shadow Milk's knowledge, she wasn't as good at bringing smiles to others as Eternal Sugar was, she couldn't lead revolutions against the corrupt like Burning Spice did(in fact, maybe she feared change.), she couldn't find her own will like Mystic Flour could... And she was too much of a coward to stand by their sides, but she knew that silent salt would never do such a shameful thing as running away from the world to hide.

And then, when they became beasts, she was still too much of a coward to stand up for what was right. To fight against her friends. But how could she? She was just so much... less, compared to them. Hell, she can't even grow to their gargantuan size! How the hell was she supposed to be able to do... anything?

But she could have at least done something... right? But she was too much of a coward to do anything except hide away.

...

Also, about what you said about her adapting the dolls, yes that does indeed happen! There are gardeners, architects, builders, and many more types of dolls to fill the roles of a society within the toy-box! Goldie realized that she couldn't really do everything by herself, so she decided to make some dolls to give her a helping hand!

And as for why she didn't discard her soul jam... Well, it's an integral part of her. Her connection to it is baked into her dough and it isn't something she could easily rid herself of... if she even could. She still wants to cling to the dim hope that the Light of Creation supplies her with, it's voice is quiet... but it's still there.

And when all was said, and all was done, and when Goldie left the Toy-Box... She was ready to face her friends once again, even if it (metaphorically) killed her to do so. Because it wasn't her powers, her achievements, or her creations that they saw. They saw Golden Butter Cookie, nobody else, not a failure, not anything other than who she was.

And she was their friend.

[jadethest0ne]

ooh! 🏠? :]

See, this is the question I was most unsure about haha!

🏠 What is the Lair like?

I actually don't really know what "Once Human's" lair looks like XD

Well, I don't really have a layout. I have a basic idea of what each of their rooms would look like, but no sense of actual structure or visual designs to show any of you. The following is some rambling and sort of making things up as I go (except for the last part which is very much set in stone).

Splinter's room would have a bunch of random things from his travels and likely a bookshelf of cookbooks. I'd also imagine he'd have some posters in his room, mostly of 80s memorabilia. Also a rainbow flag maybe? There's rainbow in there somewhere. I'm imagining warm lighting. Maybe rainbow fairy lights? It's also one of the messier rooms, but messy in a way where he knows where things are.

Leo has the most traditionally Japanese looking room. Tatami mats. Futon bed. Probably some bonsai plants and scrolls of calligraphy art on the walls (some of which he made himself).

Mikey's room is like an art studio. Bright, saturated colors. Probably some plush toys and bean bag chairs. There's also a corner with patches of cloth, thread, and a sewing machine for making clothing.

Donnie and Raph share a room (split with a curtain). It's a mishmash of their colors and interests. There's an area for Raph to weightlift, and he has a tiny old TV which he likes to watch sports on. Donnie has a desk with various parts and blueprints for projects. She likes to have some sort of background noise while working. Sometimes that's whatever Raph is watching or doing, and sometimes that's music via some large headphones she has, connected to a decent entertainment system.

I don't really have ideas for the rest of the lair. There's probably a dojo area. And a kitchen with a pantry..? uh yeah

One important factor of the lair that I do have figured out is that it is underground, and soooorta in a space that is between the human realm and the yokai realm. Think pocket dimension. This, along with Donnie's tech, keeps the lair safe from most outsiders - human, mystical, or otherwise. It can only be accessed by people who already know it's there, and anyone who comes near it sort of magically, can't really perceive it.

Yeah, that sounds about right. Kinda dreading having to draw it all eventually XD

[anthurak]

Continuing the discussion of Ruby potentially getting a cult, one factor I imagine would make a particularly interesting influence is how any potential in-universe lore and myths surrounding the Silver Eyed Warriors might come into play.

Like we already know the SEWs are mysterious, legendary figures in Remnant culture, and it's pretty much a given that Ruby's status as one of them would be well known at this point. Certainly her friends and family would have no reason not to share that information, not to mention Ruby's exploits in Argus.

Basically, depending on what kind of lore surrounds the SEWs and how 'mystical' they might be seen, I imagine how much that lore ends up being attached to Ruby is going to be the difference between her being seen as some ideological idol, or a full-on religious figure.

Frankly, I'd say it's a good thing that Ruby and Maria don't seem to have ever bothered sharing their theory that the Silver Eyes probably come from the God of Light with anyone else.

Because if THAT idea was more well known, I think we can all agree that Ruby would be getting full-on deified REAL quickly.

[sinkableruby]

do you think Ougi could make friends with which Monogatari characters?

oh what a wonderful ask

you came to the right person for this

spoilers (up to amarimonogatari, as well as ougimonogatari but you can skip them if you want) (none of the spoilers except the ones for ougimonogatari are specific i should mention, and even those ones are very minor. you should have read at least musubi id say)

hmm i have no ranking so i will go through them

i think they could be friends with nadeko (in fact i am writing a short fic about that that i will release eventually, probably after my next big fic). (! also some general spoilers for amari for this part !) i say this because nadekos on a path to become an oddity specialist, has met ougi a few times, and also (perhaps most importantly) gets along with yotsugi very well. i think yotsugi and nadeko's friendship is so sweet (the artist and the artist's modeling figurine...) but it makes me think that nadeko would have insight into an oddity's perspective (not to mention that she's Been an oddity) that would make her a candidate for friendship with ougi. like she could definitely handle ougi's chaoticness and i think it'd be a very fun dynamic between the two where nadeko wouldnt yield to or get pushed around by ougi. she'll always have a bit of darkness in her heart and ougi would probably appreciate that lol. not to mention ougi likes her manga and i cant articulate it but this is a crucial factor. like i think as of nademonogatari it couldnt happen, but as time goes on, like a long amount of time i think theres a possibility. itd probably always be a little shaky given their history but given all the changes i just mentioned i think it could happen eventually.

oh this is an aside, but ougi cant be friends with araragi. its not possible. its like. its like if youre already maxed out closeness with someone you cant just go redefining that relationship its already done. ougi and araragi start out with their social links maxed theyre the closest they could possibly be so they can only stay there or drift apart (which they do. which is a good thing). on that note i think they could be friends if they weren't the same person because they would actually be able to get closer and define the relationship instead of having the preset filled out which is also also something i am writing a (longer) fic about for a human/college au type thing

now with kanbaru i think it is possible even in canon. with araragi, not only would i say its bad for ougi to stay attached to him and for him to stay attached to them, but i would also say he's kind of cold and like. tries to avoid them lol. which ig makes sense for him but like ouch dude dont be such a stranger that was literally you once dont act like theyre gonna ruin your life again just cause u said hi to them damn. on the other hand kanbaru we learn in musubi does visit ougi and actually maintains the relationship (she was always more social than araragi anyway). we know what their relationship is like already its ougi torturing kanbaru and just being the funniest little fellow so theres not much to comment on here.

now theres an interesting tidbit in ougimonogatari (you can skip this part if you want but its not major) where hachikuji gets info on the current mystery from ougi, who gets lost at midnight to talk to her, and its implied that theyre close. i love the idea of this friendship between them it sounds really chill. its also implied that ougi is a night owl so i can imagine like them wandering around in the mystical late night/early morning hours and chatting with the local god. and i think they would even have a much different dynamic from araragi's dynamic with hachikuji, bc araragi only sees her when hes lost and so there's an element of hachikuji offering advice that defines their relationship, but i think this would be different in ougis relationship with hachikuji (esp considering they seem to just. get lost on purpose. which idk how that works but cool). if anything, ougi would probably help with protecting the town, pointing out things for hachikuji to watch out for, and then it would probably turn into pleasant conversation from there. i imagine hachikuji would want to check in on them as the god of the town (and as a friend, and just bc shes kind like that), and hachikuji could talk philosophy with ougi and offer her own perspective on things. in that sense it becomes a friendship where they r both trying to help each other. also since hachikuji still cant be seen by people who arent lost (i think this is confirmed in musubi), i think she'd enjoy talking to someone without feeling bad about knowing they were in some kind of bind or struggle. itd be less stressful for her i imagine. so yeah i think theyd just have a mutual help thing that would also include fun chill conversations for the both of them.

yotsugi and ougi... i think it depends a lot on how they meet, what point they meet at, and like. yotsugis mood. bc even with nadeko yotsugi sometimes says theyre not friends and sometimes says theyre besties. shes just like that so i dont think they could ever truly (or i guess, Always) be friends just bc yotsugi consistently is inconsistent. at the same time, ougi is also consistently inconsistent albeit in slightly more consistent ways, they are both kind of toxic, they both give off uncanny impressions (in the theoretical freudian/uncanny valley sense where ononoki is a corpse doll and ougi is just. clearly inhuman in some way but you cant put your finger on how exactly), and they both have the same oddity mindset of "functioning," as a tool in yotsugi's case (she says it a lot in amarimonogatari) or towards a purpose in ougi's case (she says it in owari ge and just. you can tell from how they talk that thats how theyre framing things). so itd be cool bc they have a lot in common... but also, because they both have in common a very work-oriented mindset they might not like. actually develop the friendship outside of like very coincidentally doing a job together for whatever reason (smh at these two girlbosses). i think if they did become friends theyd diss other people together LOL gossip crew. i dont think the friendship is that likely honestly theyre much much more likely to just tolerate each other but i guess you could see their similarities as more proof for why i think ougi and nadeko could be friends lol.

ougi and tsukihi!!!!! yes!!!!!!!!!!! yes yes yes yes yes yes i love it!!!! i want to see it!!!!!!! they have a nice conversation in ougi dark as well as an audio commentary together... what i like about it so much is that tsukihi is so unstoppable and good at putting people off balance that ougi cant completely evade it with their evasion techniques. even ougi can be forced to play the straight man when faced with tsukihi lol. tsukihi is a force of nature, and ougi is also fond of this about her. and tsukihi kind of respects ougi as well from what we get in ougi dark (again light novels) so they have positive regard towards each other and lots of potential for a good friendship i think. what sticks out to me is that in ougi dark i imagine ougi is probably aware before she tries to ahem do a bit of trolling on tsukihi that its not going to be successful because araragi wont see her as anything but his sister. so suddenly it feels like way more of an intimate thing there where ougi is just sorta talkin about stuff before she (presumably in her mind at least) goes to her death. like that whole scene is so cool because ougis strategy for sort-of-not-really-exterminating-tsukihi is kinda partly criticizing her but more than that relating to her (as they both have the same kind of 'false identity') and opening herself up to her a bit... and besides like. the last episode of ougi dark lol, its the biggest moment of vulnerability we see ougi in (and she is willingly putting herself in it instead of being so mysterious as always), and its something that tsukihi also sees! (and doesnt rly know what to do with, which is also kinda interesting to me because shes such a self assured person) and that feels like it could lead to smth really interesting later. and in that scene it really does feel like theyre just kinda enjoying each others company esp on the bike, its calm and quiet and relaxed. i feel like after ougi has separated from araragi some more is when they could have a really nice friendship with tsukihi. back to their dynamics, i think it would sometimes be just very lowkey like in ougi dark which seems rather uncommon for someone like tsukihi, like ougi would bring up interesting topics of discussions and they'd have little mini debates about it that would really be more like chill discussions and itd be nice. and then other times it would be like tsukihi is screaming and all and dragging ougi somewhere to do something with her lol. they have a nice understanding between them..... ah i love it sm. and not to mention they are both so good at fucking up peoples lives it'd be a bonding point b/w them tbh.

UGH SEE THIS IS THE SORT OF THING NISIOISIN SHOULD BE WRITING WHATS HE DOING??? "OUGI IS A SIDE CHARACTER" MY ASS THEYRE ONLY A SIDE CHARACTER BC YOURE MAKING THEM BE THAT WAY GIVE THEM MORE CAMEOS DAMNIT AGH BEING RELEGATED TO THE SIDE DOESNT HAVE TO BE THE END ALL BE ALL SMH SMH........ at least i can write fanfiction instead

thank you for this ask highlight of my day dropped everything to answer it

[roleplay-abiogenesis2]

[Sensitive] Let's Talk RP and Mental Illness

//Hello hello, Saru-mun here to post a lil disclaimer that I felt to be due on my blog for quite some time now.

Let me preface all this by saying that yours truly has past and present long-lived experiences with mental illness, as someone affected directly by it and even indirectly when co-existing with others affected by it. Nothing in this post comes from a place of ignorance, intolerance, or even indifference to it.

I've always been a reserved person when it comes to my personal mental health. Oversharing and "trauma-dumping" have put a stigma on being overly open about these things, and I for one loathe the idea of being labeled as the person "playing the victim card". That said, I'm happy to find that this personal choice of mine does not reflect in my writing and roleplay. I like to write on these topics and explore their intricate and deep thematics like most other people here.

With THAT said as well however, I am also someone who puts a priority on realism before all else.

We live in a very lucky time for mental health awareness. Psychology studies have made leaps and bounds and uncovered, identified and explained many aspects of mental illness that I still remember being completely misunderstood and unheard of when I was a child. I think it is great and am thankful for this progress.

This however is due to the world we live in and the many advancements research has made over the years. This is a factor that I am never unaware of and that I am unwilling to cheapen by pretending it's to be given for granted.

What does it mean exactly? It means that when writing in settings that do not match our present-day progress, I will keep that in mind and have my muses match the emotional intelligence and knowledge that I would expect to be average in the world and universe they live in.

You probably should not expect Cyno the desert-dweller with a degree in elemental studies to know much about things like autism, PTSD, identity disorders or depression. The world he belongs to simply does not reflect that degree of awareness towards these conditions and as such, characters that belong in it should not be expected to understand them like we do in real life.

What should you expect? Ignorance and the mistakes born from it. Expect him to think your muse with executive dysfunction is lazy. To point out smell and filth if they are not able to keep up with their hygiene. Expect him to be confused by things like panic attacks, or to not understand one's deep-rooted anxieties.

In fact, Cyno himself has some degree of mental health problems that he is completely unaware of. And I've made him this way on purpose, because I remember the way I behaved about my own mental illness when I lived in a time where it was poorly understood. I downplayed it to personal flaws of mine that I should overcome.

You should expect this from any of my muses who live in a universe that is not as advanced as our real lifetime. My Mystic Messenger characters for example are more likely to be aware of these issues compared to, say, my Japanese feudal era demon lord character.

Why have I decided to go this route? Because I think mental health is important, and so is its history. I do not like the idea of pretending that the problems surrounding it and our understanding of mental illness never existed. These are stories that truly happened, and I want my readers to remember this, because it is by its mistakes that humankind has learned to be better. I want the ignorance of my muses to be a lesson, and a warning.

With that out of the way, I am making this post because the last thing I want is to make you uncomfortable. If you think something like a negative or indifferent reaction to your muse's mental illness might be something too insensitive for you to handle, then please, please please refrain from bringing these topics to the table with my muses.

You can talk to me OOCly if you're unsure how my muses would respond to these topics as well. I don't like breaking character (or what I perceive to be in-character for my muse anyway), but I am open to discussion and compromise on the language used in my responses if it will help you be comfortable with my portrayal more. A solution can almost always be found.

This turned stupid long already, so I'll be back to draft mountain now. You be good and stay off my soda.

Saru-mun\\

[midnightcreator12]

The Portal Home is Built with Roadblocks Chapter 23 - Final Stages

The dimensional gateway is nearing completion and Donnie has to clear the air with a certain Future-Boy.

AO3 Link

Sorry this part took so long, had some issues with underwriting and then I suddenly became a cat mom so that kinda threw me off. Next part will be out sooner! Promise!

Donnie was absolutely not using the dimensional hyperdrive project as an excuse to stay in the Tortuga.

He was definitely not using the fact that he was helping construct the new additions for the ship as an excuse to not run around the farm more. Absolutely not at all in the slightest bit was he avoiding a certain human by working on anything and everything he could inside the spaceship...

….except he absolutely was.

He was definitely using the multi-dimensional gateway project as an excuse to avoid…a certain, uncomfortable conversation.

He had to have it. He’d told Leon that he would but…emotions.

Yuck.

Donnie wasn’t good at emotional heart to hearts. Loathed them, in fact. It was mildly easier to have them with people he knew, his brothers and April understood him, understood if he fumbled his words and they didn’t come out quite as he meant.

But Casey Junior…  

Him and CJ may have had some semblance of a relationship in the Kraang-pocalypse timeline but in this one? Between the snide comments, hissing, avoidance, death glares and the minor blow-up when they all first dropped into this dimension, Donnie had very thoroughly burned any foundation they might have been able to build upon. So he did not have some form of a relationship to fall back on if he fumbled up his apology and chances were very high that he would fumble it.

How did he even approach CJ? Both of them had skirted around the other so often, it was almost an ingrained habit. How was he supposed to suddenly break that habit? Just walk up to CJ and say ‘hey, I know you probably hate me at this point but I cried out all the bad feelings and realized that I was pretty terrible to you for no reason, sorry about that’?

Yeah, Donnie was pretty sure that approach wouldn’t end well.

So instead of doing what would probably have been the much smarter choice, biting the bullet and talking to CJ properly, Donnie had just…thrown himself into the ship project.

And everyone had mostly left him to it, assuming most of his hyperfocus was from excitement…which wasn’t a completely inaccurate sentiment.

Like now! Technically, he wasn’t avoiding CJ with the latest install, he was just very excited to get the new positioning system set up and running. He’d finally finished everything but installation that morning and his afternoon had been spent with Chula freeing up a spot on her control console for the new system.

“Flying from dimension to dimension with no way to track them is a ludicrous idea!” He explained excitedly from his current position under the console, panels open and wires falling all around his head, “Don and myself realized that early on so we developed this program to help track each reality! We’ll put sensors on the gateway generators that will read each dimension's energy signatures and will generate a corresponding code based on that energy reading! I, of course, developed the majority of the coding system to take as many factors into account to ensure no repeating numbers! It is quite a feat of programming, if I do say so myself. And combining that with my knowledge in detecting mystic energy with modern technology, we have a fool-proof way to essiacally map out the Turtle-verse!”

“Turtle-verse?” Chula snorted.

“Yes! Us Hamato turtles have been the common thread.”

“In two universes.”

“Four, actually! Don said that they had another dimensional wire cross before this, remember? And those are just the ones we as a collective have been to!”

“So, four out of five and you get naming rights to the multiverse? Also, I think the turtles here go by Splinterson.”

“Firstly, I checked into that and their Splinter goes by Hamato Splinter so they count as Hamatos. And second, I fully believe there is a version of us in your universe too. You should find them when we get this beauty up and running!”

Chula snorted again and Donnie felt her foot lightly tap his shin, “Okay Mr. I Get to Name the Multiverse Because Turtles.”

“Glad to see you are keeping up!”

“Keeping up with what?”

Donnie almost jumped at Leon’s voice. Almost. And he felt very lucky for that almost because he did not want to smash his face into a tangle of wires, whether they were active or not.

But he did not jump, instead he let out a long, dramatic sigh, “Nardo, we are doing very important science right now.”

“It’s more like engineering,” Chula said.

“Well, it’s time for a food break,” Leon’s voice moved closer as he spoke, stopping right next to Donnie’s legs. He grunted when his twin gave his shin a gentle but still firm kick. “And Michel is demanding we all come in for dinner.”

“But we’re working!” Donnie protested. “I can’t stop at this point! This is a terrible stopping point!”

“You know we’re not on a time crunch, right?” Chula pointed out. “You can take breaks to eat and sleep. It’s not like we’ll…I don’t know, glitch out of existence if we stick around too long.”

Leon squawked, “That’s a thing!?”

“Scoff, no,” Donnie huffed. “The fact Chula has been in the wrong reality for years with no ill-effects is proof that prolonged time in an alternate dimension has no consequences.”

“Anyway,” Chula interrupted loudly. “Are you really not at a decent stopping point?”

“No!” Donnie groaned. “This is not a good place to take a pit stop. Especially not for several hours.”

There was a pause above him and Donnie could feel the sideways look Chula and Leon were giving each other. It was like having two doting Leon’s sometimes, except one could actually pick Donnie up and she used that advantage very liberally.

Then there was a large hand on Donnie’s knee, lightly tugging at his wrappings, “You just need to be here for the rewiring bit, right? Uploading the program into the system is a supervision free part.”

“I mean, technically yes-”

“So you could just finish the wiring and then take a rest stop?”

“Well, yes, but I’d much rather monitor the upload.”

“I don’t know hermano,” Leon hummed. “I heard Michel threaten Dr. Delicate Touch if you weren’t in the house soon,”

Donnie shivered, “...give me half an hour?”

“I’m sure we can stall him for half an hour,” Chula agreed, giving Donnie’s knee another little squeeze before pulling away. “But then it’s food and bed time. Michel isn’t the only one worried about your working habits, you know.”

“Siiiiiiigh, fine,” Donnie kicked a leg in the general spot he thought Chula was. “Now, go stall my dear brother so I can work!”

Chula chuckled and Leon sighed but Donnie heard both walking away, claws clicking and bare feet padding on the floor as they left him to work in peace.

He debated for a moment on whether he should adhere to the given time limit or plow through it…but no one joked about Dr. Delicate Touch…and he definitely didn’t want to be on the receiving end of his wrath…

He could probably finish the wiring in twenty minutes and technically he could set up an alert on his tablet if something went wrong during program integration…

He didn’t really want to stop until everything was ready for the new generators to get fitted on but he was not brave enough to mess with any of Michel’s metaphorical doctorates.

“Sigh,” Donnie huffed out as he set a timer. If he went along with what his family asked, he could buy himself at least forty-eight hours of no interruptions tomorrow. Once the numbers started to tick down, he flipped his goggles back over his eyes and got back to work.

He enjoyed this part of projects, the part where all the blueprints and calculations and planning come together into something physical, something tangible that others could see and understand better than numbers on paper. And he could show off what he was good at, receive the sweet, sweet validation from weeks or work, sweat and headaches.

…that and he’d get a new toy to play with. Even if this toy was technically not technically his.

Granted, he had been working with people who did get the less tangible side of the work, so the validation part came early on this time, since both could actually read his notes without going cross-eyed. 

Don was clearly intelligent, perhaps more so than Donnie himself with how many things he seemed to have knowledge on. And while Chula technically wasn’t a genius like the Donatello’s, her universe had much more advanced tech and her interest in engineering meant she had more than just a basic knowledge and thus, plenty to add when they ran into roadblocks with the unfamiliar tech on the Tortuga.

But even with that, Donnie was eager for the day when they were ready for field testing. When everything came together into one beautiful, ground-breaking achievement of science! ….and a little mystic but mostly science, of course!

But, first steps first, second steps second. And there was no way anyone was flying the Tortuga into any other dimensions until Donnie had finished putting in the positioning system. Last thing anyone needed was to get lost in another dimension without a map.

He also wanted to see if he could find a way to get to his and his brothers dimension without random jumping. They already knew that they all inherently had a bubble of their own dimension’s energy around them. The sensors for the Dimensional System Locator would definitely work, they would have a majority to pull from but maybe he could adjust one to pick out a smaller sample size? If he could, it would definitely save them a lot of time between this dimension and his home dimension.

He wouldn’t deny that was eager to get back as soon as possible. He wouldn’t describe it as ‘homesick’, more he was just ready to get back in his metaphorical box to decompress. He was starting to miss his own bed and lab and his comfort hoodie and blanket.

…okay, maybe he was a little homesick but if he could figure out the small scale positioner, everyone would be back in their proper Lair’s within three days.

He was soldering the last few wires into place when his timer beeped, signaling that Dr. Delicate Touch would be inbound in about ten minutes.

But, as Donnie had estimated, he was pretty much done. All that was left was to shove all the wiring back inside its place and refit the panel to the console. And doing that was an easy task thanks to all the wonderful tools Chula had on the ship. He was particular fond of the all-kit tool. Aptly named, in his option, since it was basically a swiss army knife but with a mini laser cutter and drill instead of a corkscrew and tiny scissors.

Donnie strolled out of the Tortuga with three minutes to spare, not fully happy to stop his progress but the combination of Michel and his food allowing him to stow the annoyance.

Until he looked up and saw a certain someone sitting against one of the landing struts of the ship.

Casey Jones Jr. hadn’t noticed Donnie yet, his head was tipped back against the metal wall behind him, gazing up at the stars. Donnie could easily sneak past him and CJ would never know that he was there.

But a tiny voice that sounded a lot like Michel started nagging in his brain. 

He had been unnecessarily cruel towards CJ and, thus, it was on him to reach out first. Emotions were gross and hard but he had to put the effort forward or things would stay awkward between them. Which would be miserable in the long run since CJ was pretty much living with them and probably would be for the foreseeable future. And when, exactly, would he get a better chance then right now?

Donnie stood at the bottom of the ramp, shifting from leg to leg as he weighed the pros and cons.

Donnie huffed a soft sigh before slowly moving towards CJ.

He knew the human heard him when he got closer, but he didn’t turn to acknowledge him, which Donnie was quite grateful for. CJ’s gaze stayed fixed on the sky as Donnie settled next to him, sitting criss-cross and folding his hands in his lap.

Right, too late to back out now. He had to talk, talking was how apologies start.

Donnie inhaled deeply, “I find that I…regret the way I treated you over the course of…knowing each other.”

CJ huffed a punched out laugh, “I mean…I didn’t really blame you…still kinda don’t.”

Donnie rolled his eyes, “Scoff, you do not need to be nice to save my feelings. I acknowledge my fault in placing far too much blame on you for something out of anyone's full control.”

CJ huffed again, “I mean, you and Leo were always close, I get that you’d need something to lash out to if he was…gone.”

Donnie frowned, “I am trying to apologize.”

“And I forgive you.”

“...that felt too easy. You must have some resentment for how I treated you.”

CJ shook his head, finally turning to face Donnie, “I kinda saw it happen…before.”

Before? When had anything like this happened ‘before’-

…oh, different before, “...I died in the other future, didn’t I?”

“Yeah, a while before Master Michelangelo saved me,” CJ sighed. “Sensei…wasn’t in a good place for awhile, after the Donnie from my time…passed. A lot of people couldn’t tell or they thought the war was just wearing him down but…me, him, Commander O’Neil and Master Michelangelo were the only Hamato’s left until…”

Donnie rubbed his arm. This was not the direction he’d expected the conversation to go…Leon would try to inject humor to alleviate the tension, “Well, erm, bet I was…a very different experience?”

CJ snorted.

Ah-ha! Humor resulting in at least a small laugh! He’d totally nailed it!

“Honestly, yeah,” CJ agreed. “You’re all really different. I don’t remember Raph much but…he was always really quiet from what I remember. Michelangelo talked in riddles a lot more, but I think it was mostly to make us laugh at how ridiculous some of them were. Sensei didn’t joke around as much but…he tried to make things a little easier, kept morale up with games and stuff…Donnie…” He paused, hands wringing. “Honestly? I think my Donatello was the closest thing I had to a dad.”

If Donnie had a drink, he would have choked on it. Because that came out of nowhere and, if recalled correctly, former Foot Recruit Cassandra Jones was CJ’s mother. And he definitely had no interest in Cassandra in that way!

CJ huffed a laugh at the strangled sound coming from Donnie, “He wasn’t actually my dad. Cassandra technically isn’t my biological mom either. I was told she found me on a supply run and just…declared herself my mom. But she went on a lot of missions. Everyone who was strong enough to hold up against the Krang would go on missions. But Donatello was pretty much running the rebellion with sensei and his tech was what was keeping us hidden more often than not. I usually ended up staying with him in the lab a lot and he’d show me what he was working on, his plans for the next attack…”

He trailed off again, eyes softening in a mix of fondness and sadness, “It was…bad, when he died. It messed a lot of us up.”

“And I spent over a year treating you like an intruder,” Donnie muttered. “As I said, your forgiveness shouldn’t be handed out so easily.”

“But you’re not him,” CJ countered. “I already talked that out with Leon…and a little with Michel too. You guys were a past version of them but…we changed everything. So now, none of you will be them…and I’m okay with that.”

Donnie’s beak wrinkled. He had been prepared for some yelling, possible accusations, something more than ‘it’s cool, no problem’.

Because apparently, CJ was much more easy-going then his mother…or pseudo-father...that had to be a Raphael influence.

“Well then,” Donnie cleared his throat and stuck out a hand to CJ. “I believe now is when we agree to start over and reintroduce ourselves to each other. I am Donatello, nice to meet you.”

CJ looked up, staring at Donnie’s outstretched hand before snorting  and taking it in a firm shake, “Hey Donatello, I’m Casey Junior. Nice to meet you too.”

Donnie nodded towards the house, “Now that we have reestablished our acquaintance, I would strongly suggest we head for the house. I was told Dr. Delicate Touch would be approaching in full force if I don’t come for dinner.”

CJ snorted, shaking his head, “Actually, Chula convinced him to let me come get you. I was just waiting for the thirty minutes to be up.”

Donnie paused halfway through standing, eyes narrowing…then widening, “That sneaky Mandalorian!”

“I mean…I doubt she did it on purpose-”

“Oh, no, no, no, my friend. Miss. Verd is very devious when she wants to be. I fully believe she had an ulterior motive to sending you to get me…one she undoubtedly shared with Michel to get him to agree! They are both conspiring!” Donnie lurched the rest of the way to his feet, pointing to the farmhouse. “And I bet they're both SPYING on us right now!”

If someone from the house heard him, he couldn’t see their reaction, just the quiet of the country nightlife and some shadows in the windows.

CJ giggled as he stood up, “Maybe we should head over, I’m starved.”

Donnie huffed but nodded, “I suppose food does sound desirable at the moment.”