#of course this is from 2012 tho

[flipperbrain-awakes]

[tyracaterinagrant]

fjgjchv everyone at work had a very confused reaction to me saying i took days off next week but not the beginning of the week but the end of it. bc tomorrow n friday we're closed bc of workers' day so naturally the assumption is "you could have an entire free week if you took the beginning of next week off". sorry idk how to tell you guys i'm taking days off to watch people hit a ball back and forth. and it's very important bc one of those people might be our ginger jesus and princess diana and more important than the president rn. yeah

[maria-ruta]

so I decided to go through my old art folders (back from 2012, when i was 16 years old teen)

of course got some cringe blast and nostalgia blast

but also

I found my old Adventure Time fanarts

and

looking back at the way i used to draw princess Bubblegum?

dang I realize there were such strong signs of me beeing fucking gay EVEN THO i didn't think so myself

but

girl...... GIRL X'D

[tammyu-2]

I LOVED UR LAST ONE how about 2012 donnie introducing his gf to everyone for the first time how would that go

OOOOO okay so I'm gonna do a different way Donnie and you meet if that's cool?

TMNT 2012 DONNIE INTRODUCING YOU TO HIS FAMILY

Mentions of Y/n, feminine labels, usage of she/her pronouns, some swearing, not proofread.

I adore his face in this gif

You had met Donnie at the dump. That's right, I said it. He was trying to find more parts for his machinery, and you had lost a precious family heirloom. So after misunderstandings and someone almost getting tazed (Donnie), you guys talked things out. After that, you met again when he was in battle. He insisted on you guys actually properly hung out.

So after one hang out became two and two became three. Soon, hangouts became dates, and soon, you guys were two peas in a metaphorical pod. The way he asked you is by trying to show you a project in disguised as him asking you out. Of course, the turtles didn't know, so he did it at an abandoned garage that he found was close by. (He later on used it for any projects he didn't want his brothers ruining.

"Watch closely my dear assistant!"

"Uh Don? Is it supposed to be letting Grey steam out?"

"I assure you I know what I'm doing."

"But the vial is shaking-"

"Trust in me!"

You know, in cartoons, when stuff blows up, leaving the black gunk on everything but the safety glasses? Yeah, that's what happened. He then explained what it was meant to do, and you were flattered at his attempt and accepted his proposal.

Now, his brothers had no idea that you existed other than the time you were a hostage for the kraang one time. But they really didn't bat an eye on how you already knew Donnie's name cause they were too busy saving you and the others. Plus, they were suspicious when Donnie's obsession with April suddenly stopped.

"Yo Dontron what's wrong with you? You didn't even bat an eye at April today!"

"I have no idea what you are talking about. I did blink several times like normal."

"He is saying that you didn't go all goo-goo eyes for her."

"Oh! Yeah, no, I have a girlfriend now."

"Ha! Nice joke. What nation is she from? Your imagination?"

"I'm serious."

"Sure you are."

So he brought you around to show that he indeed was serious. You would be lying if you weren't a little scared to meet his family. I mean, what if they like to banish you from ever meeting Donnie again because you coughed wrongly in their house or something???

Though Donnie assured you that their opinion doesn't matter to him. Not really easing your spirits, though, because he still didn't clarify that you shouldn't be afraid of MEETING them. More or less that he didn't care if they did disapprove.

"Everybody! This is my absolutely wonderful girlfriend Y/n. I thought you guys would want to meet her."

You politely waved at them with a gentle smile.

"How much is he paying you? Cause we don't have money at all, he's scaming you."

"Are you like a robot or something? I don't see your wires."

"So are you being held hostage if so blink twice."

"GUYS WHAT THE FRICK!?"

Fr tho- guys have faith in your brother that he has some game

Donnie quickly goes to apologize to you only to see you absolutely losing your shit and failing to hold in your laughter. After a few moments you gather yourself and clarify that you are Donnie's human girlfriend by choice.

"Are we talking about the same Donnie right now?"

"I'm right here!"

They are all too confused to say that they approve.

"How did Donnie pull you?"

You try not to laugh as you explained how you met him.

"What do you mean you met him at a waste disposal???"

Trust that they are secretly making notes to compare later because they have no faith in Donnie boy at all.

After all the commotion Master Splinter had entered. And Donnie was quick to introduce you to him. Donnie is basically bouncing on his feet.

"Hello sensei! This is my lovely girlfriend Y/n. Y/n this is my father I was talking about."

Splinter mumbles a simple greeting and bow his head while you copy his actions showing respect for him. Splinter is a man that sees to believe so he doesn't really say anything remarkable or worth noted on your first meeting. More or less that he hopes Donnie is treating you right. But after a while of getting to know you he likes you.

"She's a good one, son. Treat her well."

"There's no doubt in my mind that I won't sensei."

The turtles are okay with you and so is Splinter. They love when you bring pizza around though for them.

"You sure you're here against your will?"

"Mikey!!"

That's it lovelies. That's my new nickname for you guys hope you like it

I loved this it was so cutesy

BAI ;*

~Tammy<3

[mochiimadness]

I wonder what it would be like for Splinter if he fell in love? This isn't an xreader thing, for obvious reasons. It's just a scenario I haven't really seen explored for his character, and I'm curious how you'd portray it.

Hello! I wasn’t sure which version of Splinter you wanted, so I did both! Also, I could write a splinter x reader if someone requested it (not sure what you meant by 'obvious reasons' /lh), I did not make this one a splinter x reader tho ^^

2012 Splinter

Oh Hamato Yoshi, a man of so little yet so many words-

It takes him a bit to actually fall in love

He is hesitant about pursuing another romantic relationship

Is genuinely traumatized from his last one

Rightfully so, he saw his wife die, daughter as well (or so he thought for years) all at the hands of someone he onced called his brother- only to get mutated soon after.

Yeah… not a very good experience…

But when he falls, he is absolutely devoted to his person

He is very formal, approaching his crush in a gentlemanly manner

Is kinda old fashioned

The type to bring flowers and open doors for his partner

When he was with Tang Shen, he ended up losing sight of what was important

And became very distant and dismissive

He knows better now, and makes sure to go out of his way to pay attention

He does still struggle though,

Often choosing to meditate over quality time

As his relationship grows, however, he becomes better at being present.

Makes sure to set time aside for his partner

He doesn’t mind doing whatever, but he does prefer quieter activities-

A drama show perhaps, or drinking tea together.

As he becomes more relaxed in his relationship-

His playful side emerges

And surprisingly- he can be very goofy

I mean- he has a cheese phone in a glass case. He chose that. It’s meant for serious emergencies- you can’t tell me he wasn’t making a joke about his current mutation.

He tells dad jokes- really corny ones too

And his laugh is a full-on belly laugh where he throws his head back

He enjoys making his beloved laugh,

Will sometimes even ask Michelangelo for any new jokes to tell!

Overall, he's very sweet, goofy and old-fashioned with his partner,

He is also incredibly protective- perhaps a bit over protective

But considering the fact that he and his family are being hunted down by the man who killed his last wife-

His over protectiveness is warranted.

Does NOT take chances- if his beloved is captured, he is going there and demolishing anyone who gets in his way.

Makes sure his beloved is okay, before taking them home to curl up and watch some old drama show

Cheese-sicles included.

Rise Splinter

This may or may not come as a surprise-

But I honestly think it takes him a while to truly fall in love with someone

I feel like he has some trust issues

Definitely has high walls when it comes to relationships

Being a popular celebrity back in day taught him a thing or two about letting people get too close

Most people were usually only after him for his fame and fortune-

Looking to use him to rise to the top themselves

So he made sure to keep a decent distance

Until Big Mama of course

Which only made his trust issues 100x worse.

If he were to fall in love again, it would only be after a long time

There needs to be a very strong, and very solid foundation of trust

He would like to avoid being locked up and forced to fight to the death again, thank you very much.

On top of his trust issues-

He has major abandonment issues

If he ever went through with trying to have another relationship,

There would need to be a lot of communication-

Lots of working on and assuring him that his partner isn’t going anywhere.

As for his behavior??

He’s very avoidant in a rather outgoing way

It’s kinda weird to witness actually

The second he realizes he actually has romantic feelings for someone- he’s panicking

Tries to avoid them but also makes sure to be nice

He’s nowhere in sight whenever his crush is around but if they happen to catch him?

He’s chatting up a storm, sitting them down for a cup of tea or some food

Casually handing them a slice of pizza and once their attention is on it

Poof- vanished from sight once they turn around.

Once he starts actually giving a relationship a try though??

Man is whipped with a capital W

THE BIGGEST SIMP EVER

Quality time??? Physical touch???? GIFT GIVING??!?!?!!

His crush is getting it all

Quality time is an absolute must, he always wants to be around them no matter what it is they’re doing.

Knitting? He’s there.

2am snacks?? He already has their favorite

Movie time???? He made sure his projector is completely repaired AND made the couch the comfiest spot ever.

Loves to cuddle and hold hands, generally likes to be in contact with his beloved in anyway he can

Will even wrap his tail around one of their limbs if his hands are full

*cough* or if he’s too lazy to move from his comfy position *cough*

And on top of that?? He actually has decent money from his time as Lou Jitsu

He can and will have his sons help him figure out online ordering.

His beloved is getting any and everything they want

Only the best for them, he makes sure to buy top quality items

A lot of the gifts are an eyesore to look at though- his personal taste is…. intense…

Thankfully, his family helps him out.

Overall a very attentive, but clingy, partner

Will proudly boast about his beloved to anyone who asks (or doesn’t)

Has one of those wallets with the long long photo strips

He shoves them in everyone’s faces

I hope you enjoyed!! Apologies for the long wait;;

[absolutebl]

Hello ABL. First of all, let me just say, that I love your devotion to Seven Days. It was my very first bl and what got me to discover the genre. Of course it was all downhill from there lol. Just kidding. Maybe... Anyway. I've been doing this thing since the beginning of the year where I watch older jbls (usually before 2020, although that is not old by any stretch) to kinda get a broader view of the genre in Japan. I haven't been in this for that long so I'm still catching up. Some of the stuff I've watched so far. All the Pornographer series/films ; Dangerous Drugs of Sex; Takimu-kun 1 & 2; Junjou (2010); Athlete (2019) Udagawachou de Matteteyo (2015); Ai no Kotodama (2008) No Touching At All (2014) ; The Cornered Mouse Dreams of Cheese (2020). I've also watched things like His (series and film), Restart coming back home, Life Love on the Line, and I'm probably missing a couple but not a lot. So I was wondering if you had more recs for me. Anything you can think would fit with what I'm trying to do.

Thanks so much for your time.

Rose💜

Hi darling!

You're missing Boys Love, both of them. If you can stomach it.

Did you see my History of Japan thingy? I'd say try to hit everything discussed in that post: (The top 10 is out of date tho)

And the ones I picked from Japan for the 101 Syllabus

Apart from that's I'm gonna just give you my list of older JBL stuff. I put a * next ones often referenced in the zeitgeist of weedy discussions here on Tumblr in particular, some of which you already mentioned but I just want it to be as complete as possible. These are by date (sort of).

Older Japanese BL (Live Action Yaoi)

* Boys Love 2006

* Boys Love: The Movie AKA Boys Love 2 AKA Schoolboy Crush 2007

Itsuka no Kimi e 2007

Asymmetry 2008

* Forbidden Love 2008

Gymnasium Baby AKA Taiikukan Baby 2008

Melody of Our Love AKA Bokura no Ai no Kanade 2008

Ai no Kotodama 2008

Ai no Kotodama 2: Sekai no Hate Made 2010

* Takumi-kun 1: And The Spring Breeze Whispers 2007

* Takumi-kun 2: Rainbow Colored Glass 2009

Takumi-kun 3: The Beauty of Detail 2010

Takumi-kun 4: Pure 2010

Takumi-kun 5: That, Sunny Blue Sky 2011

* Junjou: Pure Heart 2010

Fujimi Orchestra 2012

Shape of Happiness 1 AKA Love Place: Hakanaki Kata Omoi - Gaiya no Koi 2013

Shape of Happiness 2 AKA Love Place: Shiawase no Katachi 2013

Coming Out AKA Kamgu Auto 2014

* No Touching At All AKA Doushitemo Furetakunai 2014

* Same Difference AKA Docchi Mo Docchi 2014

Forever Summer 2015

* Wait For Me at Udagawachou AKA Udagawachou de Matteteyo 2015

Candy and Kiss 2015

* Seven Days AKA Seven Days: Monday-Thursday AND Seven Days: Friday-Sunday 2 parts 2015

* Double Mints 2017

* Silhouette of Your Voice AKA Hidamari ga Kikoeru 2017

* The Novelist AKA Pornographer (Pornographer series) 2018

Mood Indigo (Pornographer series) 2019

Pornographer Playback (Pornographer series) 2021

* Does the Flower Bloom? 2018

* Ossan's Love (original) 2018

* The Shortest Distance is Round (Noir) AKA Saitankyori wa Mawari Kudokute 2019

The Shortest Distance is Round (Blanc)

The Shortest Distance 3: Fallen Flowers AKA Saitankyori Wa Mawari Kudokute: Rakka Ryūsui 2020

The Shortest Distance is Round 2: Rain and Soda AKA Saitankyori wa Mawari Kudokute: Ame to Soda Mizu 2020

* His the series: I Didn't Think I Would Fall In Love AKA His - Koisuru Tsumori Nante Nakatta 2019

Athlete 2019

* What Did You Eat Yesterday? AKA Kinou Nani Tabeta? 2019

* The Cornered Mouse Dreams of Cheese AKA Kyuso wa Chizu no Yume wo Miru 2020

* Dangerous Drugs of Sex AKA Sei no Gekiyaku 2020

* Love Stage!! AKA Rabu Suteiji 2020

The Reason Why He Fell In Love With Me AKA Kare ga Boku ni Koishita Wake 2020

The Reason Why He Fell In Love With Me 2 AKA Kare ga Boku ni Koishita Wake 2 2021

* His the movie 2020

* Life: Love on the Line AKA Life Senjou no Bokura 2020

* Restart AKA Restart After Come Back Home AKA Risutato wa tadaima no ato de 2020

* Cherry Magic AKA 30 Years of Virginity Can Make You a Wizard AKA 30-sai made Dotei Da to Mahotsukai ni Nareru rashii AKA Cheri Maho 2020

Post 2021 - A few lesser knows that might be worth it

Given 2021

Kiss Kiss Kiss series

The 8.2 Second Rule AKA 8.2 Byo no Hosoku

[artdcnaldson]

Consider: you're a close friend of Tashi's from stanford and you'd drifted apart after the injury. You vaguely recognize Patrick at a bar and decide to go home with him despite not... Really remembering where you knew him from. This becomes a semi regular hookup. Until...

You get pregnant. You try calling him but it's not like he picks up. And you'll be damned if you beg for help from any man, especially Patrick fucking Zweig. So ... Maybe it's a bit spiteful. You could've included that important detail in any of your voicemails.

You have a girl. Victoria. (Ricky for short. Yeah it's corny but hey. You're a single mom. You get the right to feel however you want about the situation.) You try not to be bitter - even when you start seeing news that the three of them are together again and you're... SOL.

There's a kids tennis day camp nearby. Shed seemed interested and it gave you some free time. Ricky's 6 now, just a couple years younger than Lily. You show up to pick her up, all sunglasses and tight ponytail and cool ease when you see a girl with the same eyes as your college best friend clinging to your baby girls hand with two men walking behind a bit awkwardly.

What were you going to say now?

This actually makes me insane like hbngngnggg also changed the daughter’s name one fraction ok i think it makes sense tho

Patrick was getting too attached— 24 years old, in his prime, and he didn’t want to tie himself down to someone. He stopped picking up your calls and fucked his way through the eastern seaboard— far away from you so he could get you out of his mind.

A little over a month after he started ignoring you, he got a text.

hey. can you call me?

And he was mean. He knew it was mean, because he saw the message come in and he felt a fondness. And he wasn’t sure if he missed your pussy, or if he missed you. He knew he longed for conversations with you, the way you’d mindlessly trace whorls over his back and talk about the day, ask about things he liked, his childhood, fond memories, tell him some of your own. It came too easy, the most natural thing he’d felt since Art, since Tashi, so he got out. He stayed out.

who is this lol

You don’t text back. He doesn’t see you again for seven years, but you don’t stop seeing him. Partially, you see him in your daughter, in her personality, in her eyes, in her crooked smile, in her ears. It always struck you as funny, the way genetics picks and chooses things like that.

It wasn’t just her— it was your incessant need to know about him. You kept up with his ranking, watched a few of his matches after Ricky goes to sleep and you have the TV to yourself. It was just like that for a while— his rank would dip, it would rise, but he stayed relatively stagnant.

Until New Rochelle. You watched the match live with Ricky, because she had developed a persistent interest in the sport since she’d learned about it in P.E.. A month prior. After the match, after the insanity of the tie break, when Patrick wins, Ricky asks for you to please put her in lessons.

You start small— a local thing at the YMCA. She takes to it like a duck to water. Fucking genetics, if that was even how it worked. You start working your way up, wind up paying a ridiculous amount of money for a fancy tennis camp just because she loves it so much. You show up a couple minutes late for pick up a few weeks in and Ricky runs up to you with a friend in tow.

“Can Lily go to lunch?”

You crouch down and push your sunglasses atop your head, smiling fondly at your daughter. “I dunno, baby… does Lily want to go to lunch?”

“My dad and Uncle Patrick already said yes,” Lily supplies, gesturing behind her.

And fuck, of fucking course. You stand, sweep invisible dirt off of your legs and look at Patrick Zweig in person for the first time since, what? 2012? He looks good, of fucking course he does. You’d seen him during matches, but normal clothes look good on him. It pisses you off.

“You know you just agreed to Chuck E Cheese, right?” You say in lieu of a greeting, omitting awkward pleasantries with Art and Patrick. Maybe Art at least deserved a hello, congratulations on retirement, on the US Open, but the asshole standing beside him was all you could focus on. “I take Ricky after tennis lessons.”

“You have a kid,” Patrick says, not a question, just a statement of fact. You nod, swallowing down irritation. Your luck was so fucking bad. “And she’s…”

You sigh. “She's turning seven in a few months,” you supply. He swallows, nods, does the math in his head

Chuck E Cheese is hell. You remembered liking it as a kid, having your fifth birthday there and being scared of the animatronics. But they got rid of the animatronics, and made the mascot in question creepy and skinny and all but one skeeball machine is out of order. But you play anyway, leave Art and Patrick at the table as soon as the girls get up.

Patrick finds you, sidles up so close it’s like he has no sense of personal space. “She’s mine?”

You huff in annoyance, flub your roll down the skeeball lane. 0 points. What you want to say is something along the lines of, what the fuck do you think? But you remember where you are, sigh, and try your best to censor yourself. “Yes. Biologically, she's all yours.”

He fucking groans, swears under his breath, paces a bit behind you as you ignore him and keep playing. You toss another skeeball down the lane, then another, and the timer runs out before he speaks again.

“You didn’t think maybe you should tell me anytime in the past seven years?” He finally says, He grabs your arm, his hands warm and big and exactly like you remembered.

“I thought I should,” you reply, as casually as you can as all of the hurt and frustration and resentment rears its ugly head. “But you lost my fucking number within the same week that you ditched the west coast for wherever the fuck you went. I called you— over and over. You were the one that never picked up.”

He huffs in annoyance. “You could’ve left a message. Something. I deserved to know that I had a fucking kid running around.”

Ricky darts by, steals your hard earned skeeball tickets from the machine, and runs off giggling like a maniac. You smile fondly and pocket your game card. You turn to Patrick and let the expression fall back into something cold and stern. “I disagree. And I think it’s best if Ricky doesn’t find out.”

He grabs your arm, pulls you closer. “You fucking named her after me,” he practically growls in your ear. You clench your jaw and look away. “She’s never asked who I am? Never wondered about her dad?”

You pull your arm away and glare. You’re sure you look like two divorced parents trying and failing to play nice for their kids’ sake. It honestly amuses you a bit— you might have laughed about it if you were with anyone else. “One, her name is Veronica, okay? Ricky’s a nickname. Two, yes, of course she wonders. She’s a kid. Kids ask questions. You should know that Uncle Patrick.”

“Shut the fuck up,” he mutters, an annoyed smile twitching at the corner of his lips. “I’m living with Tashi and Art. Tashi’s coaching me this season.”

You laugh wryly and start to walk back towards the table. “I didn’t ask.”

“Yeah, but you want to make bitchy fucking comments, don’t you?”

You roll your eyes and brush past him. “Fuck off, Patrick.”

But you can't deny it. As you sit at the table and watch Patrick get roped into some game hacking scheme by Lily, as Ricky stands to the side and watches with wide, interested eyes, that you feel a twinge of... something.

When Ricky comes back to the table with a large plushie she got from the prize counter and happily says that man helped her win it. When Patrick smiles fondly down at her and steals crusts from Lily's plate. Maybe you don't have to hold him to a seven year grudge. Maybe you could let him back in.

Not for your sake, of course. Clearly that would be a bad idea. A horrible idea.

But for your daughter? Maybe you could just reap the benefits.

[emilydorp]

ok so i've been following gtop for a while but i'm still a bit confused about the timeline of their relationship, if it's not too much trouble could you sort of explain (briefly, of course) their relationship through the years, like at what points were they together, broken up, etc?

Thank God you said briefly, Rachel was soooo ready to start pestering me to pull up every single receipt I had and make a complete timeline (since I promised her I'd do it one day... but I also promised to watch Good Day lmfao). I made one when I just got out of hiatus, but turned reblogging off cuz I knew it wouldn't be a good one (and I was right) since I'd just come back to the fandom after a WHILE. So here's me tryna set a better timeline for you :)) I wouldn't be adding receipts since there's just soooo much, but I'll mention what I'm using as proof and/or referencing (and most of it is on my blog... tho I can't ask you to go through it since it's wayyyyyyy too messy, if you reallyyyy wanna see something I'll look through my blog/other blogs/Instagram for you, feel free to ask! :D (I'll ofc also lowkey be plagiarising my old post, it's not that bad.. but don't read it please please please please-)). I'll add asterisks around some things for more "headcanony" thoughts (but ofc they'll be based on observations).

Pre-dating history:

They met each other in 2000 and were "(hip hop) rivals" is what Jiyong apparently said during an interview (I reblogged at some point, probably multiple times (cuz I do that a lot) lulz), but I'm pretty sure they weren't enemies since Tabi later says that since they've known each other since 2000, Ji knows him very well (he said this during Come To Play in 2008). From everything I've seen, GTOP met each other in 2000, Jiyong moved away from the neighbourhood they shared (probably (I'm guessing here because of circumstances) in 2001 or 2002), after which they were reunited at most in 2005.

*Most people agree that: Jiyong either formed a crush in 2000 or 2006 (most people believe 2006) and Tabi was slow and didn't realize he was in love till 2008 (yep, he's the cliche "male lead actually loved the female lead all along" guy) and we make this assumption because of the clip where Jiyong corrects Tabi and reminds him of the fact that he had his first love in middle school. They only start dating in 2010, which is when they created GD&TOP vol.1 (which is why that album rocks; it was built upon GTOP's honeymoon phase).*

Dating history (I'm just gonna talk about their break ups):

Broke up ending 2012-beginning of 2013, but were (maybe) having issues since August 2012 (GD's instagram likes, posts, overal behaviour + Coup D'Etat album (*with at least 2 songs having a strong connection to Seunghyun; personally I think more than 2 songs were inspired by T.O.P.*). They were 100% broken up by the time his OOAK tour came around, so March 2013, that's something everyone I saw can agree upon.

Got back together in June 2013, but *most people don't think they started dating again at that point (and I agree, I can't really explain it clearly anymore tho..* I think it came down to Jiyong wearing the blue bracelets again temporarily and them still being a bit distant by the time August rolled around), but they were definitely dating again in September 2013 (When Seunghyun's KakaoTalk status was literally from what GD had been doing the past few weeks with a photo of GD as his status update + the clip that I just spoke about with anon).

Okayyy, so THEN they broke up either the night of March 26 or morning of March 27 2014 (GD's very heartbreaking Insta updates and likes, drunk tweets, leaving South Korea to be in Japan instead to get away from his break up and him crying on stage but covering it up by saying he's just very sweaty cuz it's hot + Tabi also being emotional later on during a different concert) -> May 11 2014 they most likely started talking again because GD posted "Baby Goodnight" to his Insta (or Twitter) story and started liking and posting more happy posts. After this, we're in HEAVEN. Even tho we get the Jiko bearding incident (I will never not be goddamn pissed that we'll never be able to shake that off), we get so many receipts, it's beautifullll.

Okay now we get to December 2019 - February 2020. GTOP were unstable again (and I can't bear to go through those receipts on most days, they both just looked so upset sometimes). They either broke up at some point or had a pretty horrible fight (I think it's this one). But by the time March 2020 rolled around they were both very much together again. I really don't wanna bring this up again tho cuz ugh TOT.

Then the most recent break up, that according to me toke place somewhere in the beginning of April 2023 because GD & TOP were HAPPY AND OVERJOYED AND OVER THE MOON (pun unintended) in 2022. He then inconsistently started liking GTOP content now and then, starting from about July 2023 (where he liked a clip of him scolding the other members in Japanese for taking to long to give an intro to the GD&TOP stage. Tabi's face isn't visible but Ji clearly says GD&TOP in the video). And then he also wears the bracelets at September 2023. In April 2024 he used Baby Goodnight for an Insta story. By the time 2024 rolls around and his scandal is over (thank gosh) his GTOP likes are a bit more consistent, culminating into him liking a post in December 2024 about Tabi's place in SG2 being confirmed. And then, after the Baby Goodnight Story in Paris in January 2025, (and Ji liked a reel alleging he met up with Tabi that day *I trust this like*) his GTOP likes increase exponentially. *I have (personally) pinpointed the day after the second Seoul concert as an important day because he started to like more romantic reels + his likes of the GTOP references he makes + a lot of other stuff that to ME is confirmation that they're talking to each other again, because liking past GTOP moments vs. liking posts that alleged you were referencing Choi Seunghyun during concerts is very different imho and is just ONE of the reasons I think they're speaking again (besides him using GD&TOP songs for his story, etc).*

Sighh.. I think I addressed everything? Lemme know :D

[hasello]

Hi, Hey wanted to talk about that other post about rise leo being a good leader, and my opinion I think that's a total lie. I barely finished the show and through all of it I haven't see him as a leader but as a total amateur. He isn't the leader in this version, only in the movie, not even there he did any good desicion, he only threw himself in the flames. I more of 2012 version, and you can totally compare him. 2012 leo learn from his mistakes and knows how to work with his team, he worries about his brothers; while the rise leo doesn't care if he puts them in danger, never works in team, and rather worries in having fun.

But all said, I want to hear more from you, your opinion, and to know who you think is best. I noticed that you have way more knowledge about the TMNT.

Stay hydrated ❤

Hi! Your opinion is totally valid, since everyone interprets things in their own way. I mostly disagree, tho.

First of all, like you said - Leo wasn’t the leader in the Rise show, nor was he the oldest. So of course it didn’t feel like it, that’s totally fair. ALTHOUGH: Once he did become the leader, I do agree he wasn’t the best at it… but then that’s kind of the whole point! It’s to show he’s not really ready and has A LOT to learn. Don’t know about you, but I love that idea. It brings depth to the whole „leader” plot. I think a lot of it is caused by the fact that he’s the only Leonardo who isn’t the oldest. The show lets him be more carefree and not really understand some morbid things, that oldest siblings keep in mind. Other Leos are the oldest and keep in mind the team’s safety, which sometimes makes them seen as „boring” by their siblings. Rise Leo is the complete opposite of „boring”. That’s Raph’s job in rise. On top of that other Leos were leaders for much longer and gathered experience. So I think comparing Rise Leo to other shows is a little unfair anyway, because their situations are way different.

Although apart from all that - Leo is VERY good at planning and his personality lets him be sneaky and manipulative, which also helps in a lot of circumstances. When the gang needs to get information, they send Leo. When they need some encouragement, Leo steps in. When they lost Raph in the sewers? Leo was the only one taking it seriously. When they got upset at losing the paper thieves? Leo did a nice speech, at least trying to keep the team in high spirits (which also showed how observant he is, as he knew what to say to each brother). When his brothers blindly believed Big Mama? He saved the day, knowing better from the start. (He was the only one being cautious, thinking of their safety).

You can see the little hints of potential in a lot of episodes. Personally I believe he’s a natural leader, he just needs to sort his priorities and learn about responsibility (which already happened in the movie, bro learned the hard way lmao).

I think that if the show didn’t end so soon, it would have been a lot more fleshed out and showed better. It’s pretty obvious it was their plan from the start to turn him into a leader at some point. Although like I said, opinions are just opinions.

You too stay hydrated! Take care, love 😚

[me-saw-hoo-dini]

Okay so some background info on why I made this account to begin with. I started watching the Banana Bus Squad/Vanoss Crew back in 2012 when they were playing Black Ops 2 and then I stopped watching them sometime in 2018 because I had simply lost interest. I still kept up with them when I would hear things (drama, allegations, relationships, children, etc) and then I actually started watching them again in 2023.

I blame Nogla for this because I stg he literally did start all of this (unless I dreamt it. If so I blame dream Nogla CUZ IT WAS SOME NOGLA) but back when I was first watching them there was some early GTA 5 video (IF ANYONE CAN FIND AND LINK ME THIS VIDEO with timestamp if you would be so kind I WILL LITERALLY BE FOREVER GRATEFUL) and Vanoss and Delirious were doing something stupid. From what I remember they were in a yellow industrial vehicle like a cherry picker basket and they were like falling over each other and laughing and in the background you can hear nogla repeatedly calling them gay. Not too long after that Nogla made that fucking “New YouTube Couple: H2OVanoss” skit (https://youtu.be/bT_tq_Xkg34?feature=shared) and I really started thinking about it and ya! Noglas right! These mfers are gay (not fr I’ll get into it at the end)! Anyways that delved into me “pairing” them up with each other and reading fanfics (H2OVanoss, Terrorsnuckel, DathiDeCalibre, and MiniCat. I no longer ship MiniCat ofc cuz MiniLadd can rot in hell and honestly DathiDeCalibre is alright but just kind of fell off for me after lui’s accusations and the 12 years it took for me to find out if they were true or false) I had an account on instagram where I would post about bbs/vc and I made friends with people who also watched them AND also shipped them. Eventually we all grew apart and then like a year after that I stopped watching bbs/vanoss crew.

In March of 2023 I had stopped watching another group of YouTubers I had been watching since 2020 when a Vanoss video was recommended to me. I watched it cuz “holy shit how are these guys doing?” And they were still hilarious like I remembered them to be and I’ve been watching them again since. That also means that I’m back into “haha silly ship” but I thought that the shipping side of this fandom had died cuz if I did see any fanart or fanfics they were from 2015-2020 but then Vanoss uploads his 2024 Christmas GTA 5 video (https://youtu.be/O5QusxUHZ6k?feature=shared) and BAM H2OVanoss moment, the comment section starts freaking out, and I check ao3 later to see if anyone is fast to write a fanfic and my god y’all ARE still writing fanfics! I didn’t see one last night about that video BUT YALL ARE STILL AROUND?? Not only that but one of the fic authors (I didn’t even read it yet I just really like the description and disclaimer) has a tumblr account (WHERE THEY ALSO POST FANART AND VIDEOS) and YOU GUYS ARE ALIVE IVE BEEN LOOKING EVERYWHERE FOR YALL BUT IN THE WRONG PLACES

IVE MISSED BEING HERE I AM SO BACK BABEYYY HIIIII

——————————————————————————

I just wanna clarify the basics before I go since this post and account is mainly going to be about shipping and even tho I’m crazy I’m not THAT crazy. It goes for all irl ships but I’ll mainly be talking about it as if it’s just bbs/vc

1) People ship different things and as long as it’s legal and or isn’t against someone involved’s boundaries idgaf what you ship. There are totally ships that I hate/don’t like of course but I know to avoid them/keep scrolling without saying anything.

2) If the people I ship together are in their own relationships irl I can not stress to you enough how happy I am for them. I love literally everyone’s irl partners like if they’re happy I’m pretty much overjoyed! I LOVE LOVE! If it makes sense to ship a literal irl relationship I do. I cried at Wildcat and Kelly’s wedding photos because I was/am so happy for them and I need Terroriser and Lanai to get married NEOOOOWW!!! (No actual pressure). Even with Delirious and Liz I, once again and even tho I wasn’t even watching him at the time, cried when Delirious announce they were going to have a kid; BOTH TIMES because I was/am so excited and happy for them and even tho they aren’t together anymore I still wish Liz nothing but the best and hope she is doing well. I am never gonna be one of those weirdos going “their irl partner is in the way of my ship” or “how dare you break whoever’s heart” cuz wtf is wrong with you that fucking WEIRD?? These are irl people and they’re happy and I’m not one of those freaks getting reality and fiction confused. And course break ups suck ya but that’s not anyone’s business to make their own; that’s between the people who were in the relationship!

3) If ever any of these guys come out and say they are uncomfortable being shipped, having shipping fanart of them, or any anything specific they do not like I will stop. Once again I’m not going to get reality and and fiction confused

4) I have already done this already but: I sometimes will ask questions or just talk about personal (if that’s the right word) things about people in the bbs/vc. Sometimes they are serious like I’ve talked about being worried about Vanoss’s mental health, asked why some people in the group are still following Mini Ladd, and asked for clear clarification since I wasn’t here for it that Delirious is 100% innocent and that there were no victims and other posts are more silly goofy or on the “introspective” side and I’ll say something like “I truly do believe that Vanoss does have a soft spot for Delirious” or like “Vanoss’s best friend (in the group) is probably either Lui, Terroriser, or Delirious” or stuff along those lines. The serious stuff is never going to be “I believe the reason Shit Ass and Dick Chocolate don’t do this anymore is because Shit Ass did this and-” like it’s not going to be drama inducing and as for the goofy stuff though sure I believe it, I mean I just claimed it, I know that I don’t know any of that 100% and that I am DELUSIONAL. I like playing with and organizing my delusions so ya know the silly posts are just that. Silly and there for my silly stupid “reading too much into things” shipping brain. I might also talk about my personal feelings (good and or bad) on some of the people in the group too. Those could go either which way of something simple like “I like Delirious’s voice with the shitty Astro’s mic AND with the good quality mic he had. I wish he recorded with the good quality mic again” or it could be like a vent post on how I find someone in the group annoying at times or how I feel a video shouldn’t have been uploaded/a part should have been left out. If it is ever a serious topic, question, or vent post I always add a trigger warning with a brief synopsis of what I’m talking about and I collapse the post so you don’t have to worry about or interact with it if you don’t want too ofc

[themutantninja]

Tired

2012 TMNT Raph x reader

A/N : this one is based of S3E1, when everyone had to leave NYC because the Kraangs invaded the city.

Word count: 784

Raphxfem!reader

............................................................................... It's been a week since the Kraangs invaded NYC. Everything has been crazy ever since, Leo was hurt, master Splinter was gone and our families were mutated.

I didn't have any family out there, I actually grew up with Splinter and the guys. But over time, as we all grew up together, the feelings started shaping and I fell in love with Raphael.

Something about his fierce personality made me see him different from the others. As the time went by, I was the one to confess my feelings towards him and it actually worked out between us.

That's why I became really worried about him. Ever since we came to the farm, he became quiet. He stayed by Leo's side all the time, barely sleeping and eating.

I decided to go and talk to him, since we pretty much haven't talked ever since everything went downhill.

"Raph?" I said as I knocked on the door of the bathroom. There was no answer, but I opened the door anyways, inviting myself in.

It was a very sad view. Leo lying in the bath. He didn't have his mask, his body all wounded. And Raph sitting by his side, it felt like he didn't even move an inch since the last time I saw him sitting here.

"Hey love," I said almost as quiet as whisper, while gently putting my hand on his shoulder, to which he reacted by slightly jumping, not expecting for someone to be awake this late. Other than him.

"Hey." he said, smiling ever so slightly. A sad expression in his eyes. My heart cracked a little at this sight.

"How do you feel?" it seemed as a stupid question, but I want him to talk to me about his feelings. Raph is not a very communicative once the conversation is about expressing feelings. It took him 2 months to figure out how to tell me he likes me back.

Even tho, I was the second option in expressing his feelings about his brothers when they made him mad. The first one was Spike of course, before he got mutated.

"Hopeless? I think. What if he doesn't wake up Y/N?" he looked at me with the saddest expression. I've never seen him like this before.

"I'm sure he will, we just have to wait. Be patient. That's what Leo would want from us." I didn't really know what to tell him, I was honestly scared myself Leo wouldn't wake up, but I have to be here for Raph.

"I just wish I could help him somehow." he looked down at the ground, sadness covering his voice.

"I know," I had to help Raph sometimes. It breaks me to see him like this. "You know what? Why don't you go lay down? Sleep for some time, you really beed it Raph." I know this would give him a bit of hope.

"I can't, I have to stay by Leo's side in case he wakes up." he told me while pinching the bridge of his nose, obviously feeling frustrated.

"Give me your hand." I said, sticking out my own hand. As he put his hand in mine, I helped him to stand up.

I wrapped my hands around his neck staring into his tired eyes. He immediately wrapping his hands around my waist.

"Why don't you lay down, and in the meantime, I will stay by Leo's side." I told him, my words caring and as gentle as possible. I saw him open his mouth, probably about to complain against my idea.

I didn't let him talk, instead, I connected my lips with him, immediately shutting him up. The kiss was sweet and slow.

I gently put my hand on Raph's cheeks, making him pull away from the kiss.

"Just go, I will take care of Leo. And if he wakes up, I will go for you first. I will take good care of him, I promise." i gently smiled at him wholeheartedly.

"Okay." he said softly, his eyeslids slowly closing, indicating his tiredness. He gave me a sweet kiss on my forehead and then on my lips.

He hugged me for the last time, while whispering a quiet "Thank you." in my ear before leaving the bathroom, going to our shared bedroom in the old farm house.

I soflty smiled at him before he closed the door, getting a very tired smile back while the door closed.

I then turned to watch Leo, taking the sponge, soaking it in the cold water and gently pressing it to Leo's forehead.

[travmsoldat]

Though I do not have Helga anymore (and I could kick myself for that) I'm so happy to see people from way back when rise from the ashes recently! Though I didn't really disappear from the RP scene here myself I have been chasing that old feeling ever since and I know that spark is still around somewhere :)

JENN! i feel the exact same way when i notice ppl from way back when still around!!! it's so nice to see folks (like you) still at it -- along with all the new ppl of course! but i know exactly what you mean about that old feeling, my friend Al ( @ababwa ) and i have been talking about it a lot recently (over discord). tumblr's still great and everything, but i really do miss how everything was back then. there was sooo much activity, sooooo many creative and weird ideas, and plots that were so thoroughly developed and followed up on and lots and lots and lots of writing, like deep, 10+ threads every day that had ongoing plots and titles (rmr everyone was titling our threads just bc there were so many just for one partner??), everyone (like 80 blogs and more at once) sending a million asks a day back and forth, connected universes and timelines across accounts, and adventure chats where we all rp'd sound bites of our characters for like hours a day. obv we're all older now and life gets in the way but mannn. nostalgia bites back hard doesn't it!!! it's NOT like there's none of that now -- don't get me wrong, there's still so much lovely things to see every day here. but i think you really had to be there to know just how much fun and communal tumblr rp was 2012-2016ish? and the best part about it was that it was so ... cringe but free ?? sometimes ?? there was no inferiority complexes about who has the best graphics / icons / themes and stuff because we all just had the same stuff and were all just super locked in on writing really deep threads and stories -- again, NOT like there's none of that here anymore. but there rly was a spark that i loved abt that era in particular that i'm trying to carve out for myself here and find again. :) i knowww saying all that makes me sound like some old lady. it's not like back then was perfect at all (god knows how stupid the drama was too). but it's kinda like how ppl talk abt when tumblr was at its prime too bc it coincided with that era. to me, the scale and universality of how creative and active and writing-heavy tumblr rp was back then is something i haven't seen in any online community ever since. i'm excited to see what this new world of tumblr rp has to offer tho. and i'm glad i still get to see ppl like you around having fun and chasing that spark. :3

[pumpkinpie59]

“the 2012 family isn’t abusive” and “the 2012 family all have toxic traits that can affect each other badly” are both takes that can coexist

i think out of all the tmnt shows (except maybe rise, but i could go back on that if i think about it for more than two seconds; this post isn’t about them tho), 2012 has the most dysfunctional family.

this is not a criticism tho. it’s an observation and it can lead to interesting storytelling.

splinter in 2012 suffers from ptsd and it affects how he teaches his children and how he views the world.

he’s been through a lot and was lead to believe he lost his first child.

so yes it’s not shocking that he’d make bad decisions as a parent.

he’s not a bad person by any means, but his attitude about strangers, enemies, and relationships are off. he shows favoritism towards leo, though that’s not his intention. he fails to give his other children the attention they need. etc etc

so it’s not that surprising that his children also gained flaws that affect each other negatively.

leo is dedicated to his training, which isn’t bad but it gave him an ego. he believes he’s the good example, that he’s better skilled than his brothers. he has good skills that make him the best choice as leader, but sometimes his ego and his authority make him downplay his brothers’ opinions and chastise their choices.

it’s mostly seen in his arguments with raphael and donatello. raphael is stubborn, but he values his family like leo does. their opinions on how to protect their family and do the right thing aren’t always on the right page, which frustrates them. raphael goes through growth that makes him a lot more patient with leonardo, but he still calls leo out when leo makes bad decisions, and leo often refuses to listen to him bc he’s the leader. he’s in charge. why should he listen? which is not what a leader should be and he needs to learn that over the course of the series (he,, rlly doesn’t but i digress).

as for donatello and leonardo. donatello is smart and leonardo knows that and ends up using that to his advantage. he puts a lot of pressure on donnie and overworks him. donatello is smart so he has to be the one to track things down, fix mutations, learn what is going wrong. and when donatello’s attempts go wrong, leonardo gets frustrated and orders donatello to just. do better. keep working on it. since donatello struggles with insecurities, this is just added to it and he is super hard on himself when he fails.

having so much pressure put on him by splinter certainly doesn’t help his attitude either.

is he hard on michelangelo? eh not rlly but mikey’s a nothing character so moving on

raphael very obviously has his temper. he’s probably the most criticized of the team so his faults are kinda obvious. he has the most growth in the show tho so i’m not gonna go into too much depth.

obviously his temper and habit to get violent when he’s angry affects his brothers negatively. tho he’s mostly physically violent with leonardo or michelangelo. with donatello they usually are more verbal ig? when raphael is rough with donatello, it’s usually playful. idk

also his temper affects his focus and skills so he’s often chastised by splinter, which comes across to him like leo is so much better and splinter likes him more.

donatello’s turn. this guy has his heart on his sleeve and ik i mention his insecurities constantly but it does affect him more than anything else. he’s insecure about being a mutant, he’s insecure about his weapon and fighting skills, he’s insecure about his feelings for april, he’s insecure about whether he’s smart enough, he’s insecure PERIOD. he has so much going on in that brain so ofc it’s gonna affect his brothers

he snaps at people all the time. he lets his insecurities affect the way he interacts with other people (see: casey jones).

even the pride he does have about his scientific accomplishments can be easily crushed when they’re ruined or criticized in some way.

he isolates very often and sometimes when he is confident it comes across as rude.

and when he acts out of concern for april, he goes about it wrong and ends up being creepy.

it doesn’t help that splinter hardly corrects any of his behavior. plus he doesn’t get the affirmation he needs.

as for michelangelo he’s a bad interpretation of someone with adhd— oh wait no that’s not what i’m trying to talk about hold on—

so michelangelo is playful and naïve and fails to take many things seriously, which frustrates his brothers a lot so it’s hard for them to take him seriously when he is being genuine.

and for karai, we already see how flawed and rebellious she is, and it rubs off on her brothers often, particularly leo.

this family is just a wreck but that’s why they’re so interesting to explore and see them grow. it’s why i wanted more from the series. their dynamics have positive parts as well and it’s nice seeing them talk through things. but the series sacrifices a lot of that for plots that don’t rlly matter tbh (most of season 5 <3)

they are not abusive at all but they are extremely flawed and that’s okay

[inamagicalhallucination]

i love this so much

becuz on one hand it looks like atsushi is the light breaking apart the otherwise darkness oozing out of akutagawa

like we all know akutagawa's design is super sexy becuz he was specifically designed to blend into the dark - becuz he's a character so much surrounded by darkness (it's why his little bug eyes dont have any light in them) but here, he's not completely dark, becuz look, atsushi is coming in w/ the contrast

and atsushi in general serves as a figure of light for akutagawa not becuz he can "use" atsushi to prove himself to dazai, like akutagawa initially thought - but simply becuz atsushi has become something for akutagawa, whether he'll admit to it or not

not even from a shipping lens - atsushi is just something to akutagawa - something worth dying for

this pic is also similar to how he stops being an all encompassing drenched in darkness figure when he gives rashomon to atsushi

look at how they switch

/

and on the other hand it looks like akutagawa is the force protecting atsushi and his light (becuz the coat melts into the ground)

now we know atsushi isn't a fully white/light character becuz no one is realistically all good or all bad (also if we're looking at it through just chracter design, then the character who pops up in my head as predominantly colored white is shibusawa and he's a piece of shit)

anyway

atsushi is relatively balanced (not developed fully into what all the characters are reaching for - a balance of their "good" and "bad" sides becuz we all know atsushi still has a way to go) but atsushi is a character who aims to do the "right" thing (though occasionally for selfish reasons) and often times becomes the "light" figure for other characters (kyouka for example) but he himself is held back becuz of his past and his inability to move on (i dont blame him tho becuz his "past" was like a few months ago for him lmao)

atsushi needs to make peace and understand his own "dark" side before he can ever develop

when atsushi wears rashomon

he becomes a predominantly, in terms of design, dark/black character - which i think is on purpose becuz one thing akutagawa gives him is assurance that the past is just the past (in his own mean akutagawa way) and atsushi isn't really a character who we see deal with his past (king of trauma dumping but never actually talking about his past)

of course this is the edited version from the @akutagawa-daily account but the og pic

is still like that

i feel like i could add something about dazai being there but it might be a reach so

sorry this is ramble-y and doesn't make sense but i had to get it off my chest

maybe one day i'll rewrite this in a way where you can tell what im saying (i will not)

saying dark side so many times made me feel like a 2012 emo kid aslfkdjf

[authenticcadence18]

this is not really my brand at all but I’m just going to rant about Toy Story 5 for a hot second because the D23 sneak peek made me so mad.

TLDR: Toy Story 5 (and 4) ruin what made the first three films so special.

I’ll start this off by saying I ADORE Toy Story 3. It’s one of my favorite Pixar films. I was 10 when this movie came out, I remember going to like three Walmarts just to find a Jessie doll, and carrying her around with me in my bag all summer. I still have that doll, she’s very special to me.

Part of what makes the first three films so good is the passage of time. First two movies came out within 4 years of each other (1995 and 1999), third movie came out 11 years later in 2010. Andy is a kid in the first two films, maybe he doesn’t age exactly four years between 1 and 2 but he doesn’t have to we’re still in the range of childhood years, in the 90s. When the third movie came out a significant amount of time had passed in the real world, and thus it had in TS3. We quite literally felt the passage of time in that movie along with the toys. THAT is what made that movie so captivating and special, those trailers were so bittersweet and magical and REAL. I remember it so well. The third movie also FEELS like 2010 that movie EXUDES early 2010s it’s so comfy and nice (minus the traumatizing fire scene ofc)

(more below the cut)

Nine years later TS4 comes along and even tho the animation is prettier and the film seems to take place in the 2020s. everyone is the same age. Bonnie has aged what, a year? Over the course of nine real years? whereas Andy went from kid to college bound in a similar amount of time? where is the real world connection?

but ya know I gave the film the benefit of the doubt, I saw it I liked it I loved forky. But the emotional connection wasn’t there the way it was for TS3. But oh well that’s it right? How do you continue the franchise after that ending?

but OH! NOW TS5 is coming out in 2026, seven years later and GUESS WHAT!!! BONNIE IS STILL A KID. Look at this concept art!! She is very clearly still a kid.

she’ll have been a kid for 16 years at this point!! what is this, despicable me? (that’s a rant for another day shdjdjdj)

And she’s an iPad kid now which I mean. Yes. That’s a relevant issue for today’s kids. A GREAT concept for a TS movie. But Bonnie is not the character to portray this storyline. She’s not one of today’s kids she is a kid of the 2010s she was born in like. 2005. BONNIE should be in college and/or starting her own career now. Not an iPad kid. The toys should be with someone else, maybe a younger sister or cousin.

Plus!!! Guess who’s back in Bonnie’s room! Woody!!! so much for him saying goodbye to the others forever to be with his one true love right? The end of TS4 was not my favorite initially but I applauded the writers’ decision to make such a bold choice and change to the status quo. It echoed TS3 in a way, even if it cheapened the end of that film somewhat for me (in my heart the true TS canon ends at TS3 and TS4 is just a possible timeline it could branch off into).

But I guess the moving sacrificial end of your film doesn’t really matter when you can just change it in the next film!! 🙄

I love the sequence of the first three films so much, I love how they take place in the eras they come out in while also moving the timeline along.

Bonnie going from being born in 2005 to the late 2010s AT THE EARLIEST for these films to make any sense makes no sense. and if she’s born in 2005 how is she an iPad kid??? TS4 should’ve come out way sooner, and it should’ve been about a different kid.

(and I KNOW lots of movies and shows have a floating timeline where the kids never age. Charlie Brown, Phineas and Ferb, The Simpsons. but for those shows the setting changing with time while the characters don’t is part of the charm. The Toy Story franchise could’ve been that way but Toy Story 3 fundamentally changed that.)

(And look let’s say the movie takes place in 2012 and Bonnie has a rudimentary IPad 4 or something. why are we just seeing the movie now in 2026?? the timelines don’t match up it doesn’t make sense no matter what.)

I feel an emotional connection to the Bonnie of TS3 because she belongs in that time period, in the early 2010s when cellphone technology was just starting to pick up, when I was still a kid. And I think of TS3 and my brain screams 2010S!! MIDDLE SCHOOL!!!!!

whereas when I think of TS4 I’m like “has it actually been five years? it feels like it came out like two years ago” bc there’s no passage of time within that film to anchor it to the year 2019. That film came out the year before covid and it STILL feels like it came out like two years ago. that is telling to me.

Seeing Bonnie still be a kid 14 (and what will be 16) years after her debut feels inauthentic to the precedent set by Andy and TS3. I’m sure the movie will be good bc Toy Story movies are always good. But they’ve lost that sense of realism, of moving time, of leaving something behind and NOT being able to pick back up right where you left off. That kept the TS movies grounded in bittersweet reality, that’s kinda the whole point. :/

[ell-arts]

Out of curiosity, when/where did you first learn to animate? What inspires you to make your animations?

(I'm partly asking this because the urge to animate hit me like a truck once I really got into PMATGA, lmao. I've only ever made around 3-4 small ones over the span of several months)

Good question! Long answer! :'D

I've been dreaming of being an animator since I was young, because my elder sister studied animation and that's where I learned more about it. She gave me her copy of The Animator's Survival Kit from Richard Williams after she finished studying, and I've kept it with me ever since. Mind you, I never finished it, because distractions happened XD But I've read the first bunch of pages and started getting a fletchling idea of how animation worked. This was when I was around 10-14 years old. My favourite movies were almost exclusively Disney or Dreamworks classics, and my love for them grew as I grew older. I keenly observed their animations and analyzed what it was that them so appealing, long before I actually learned how to animate properly. Through observing what made those animations so appealing and life-like, I've built up references in my mind as a benchmark as to how animation is supposed to look. So when the time came to learn animation properly, I've already had a headstart thanks to observation, which sped up my learning quite a bit.

Now, let me tell you about a man named Aaron Blaise.

To say that Aaron Blaise is an animation legend would be an understatement.

He was the co-director of Brother Bear. He worked on various Disney movies that shaped our childhoods. He animated young Nala from The Lion King, Raja from Aladdin, and he also worked on Beauty and the Beast, Mulan, Pocahontas, and the Rescuers Down Under. He left Disney in 2007, but in 2012 he teamed up with a friend and decided to start CreatureArtTeacher, a website where he shares everything that he's learned, whether that be animation from his time at Disney or just art in general. He brings aboard many other professionals in the same field and beyond, where courses are offered at the most affordable prices. Often, he'll also offer lessons on various art subjects on his YouTube for free, and he livestreams frequently!

It's thanks to these lessons that I've learned more about animation. While I didn't practice often, I did start taking my first steps into doing animation, spurred on by inspiration from Aaron's videos. This was around age 16-18. Unfortunately, I can't track down my first ever animation I've made. But I did make this sometime before turning 20;

Yes, that's a BG shot from pmatga XD

So going into my twenties, I knew enough about animation to make small little snippets such as the one above, but I wasn't yet at the point where I'd consider myself an educated animator. And here's the thing; when I went to university, I studied Visual Communication & Design, which mostly focused on graphic design. In that course, we did do a little bit of animation, but it was nothing I've already known, and it was mostly cut-out animation where you control it like a puppet in After Effects. What I really wanted to do was dive deeper into traditional 2D cell animation, but we had to preferably work in 2D cut-out animation to save time. It was a cool learning experience, but also a bit frustrating because I prefer the traditional frame-by-frame method. Alas, that would take too long, and my uni projects ran on a 2-week basis (a new project every two weeks), so I couldn't push to improve my animation skills in the direction that I wanted to. I still learned quite a bit tho, and got valuable experience with different programs, so I guess the time I got a taste of animation education was around the age of 22.

But then came 2024, age 24, when I got hired as a storyboard artist at my current job. Thanks to the company's help in giving their workers the space to learn new things, I finally tackled animation in earnest. I brought out the good ol' The Animator's Survival Kit and Aaron Blaise's courses and taught myself as much as I could, along with the support and guidance of the studio. Needless to say, sometime afterwards I could make the Rubber Pac animation I did here.

So yeah! It was a combination of things. Both my sister's influence and the influence of animated movies from a young age, Aaron Blaise's courses, university, and real-time work experience are what taught me animation <3

As for what inspires my animations, it mostly comes down to music tbh. I can always conjure a scene in my head along with whatever music is playing. Other than that, it's the desire to give life to something in an intrinsically human way, especially as art. I've always felt closest to God as an artist 💙

Told ya it was a long answer xD But hey, twas a fun answer! >:D