#read wrong whoops

[fishyfishyfishtimes]

Daily fish fact #458

Hoodwinker sunfish!

This species was only found very recently, as it was mistaken for other ocean sunfishes! Its scientific name, Mola tecta, references that, as "tecta" comes from the Latin word "tectus" which means hidden or disguised. However, it is distinguishable from other species as it is slimmer and lacks a lot of the "lumpiness" some of the other species have.

[noxious-fennec]

3 years and I'm STILL IN THE FUCKING BUILDING... unbelievable... anyway happy re-bday to my pathetic cringefail politician

Alt ver. under the cut

***Massive disclaimer: i do not support the cc this is strictly about the fictional character

[athena-xox]

Shhh shhh I’m definitely not saying anything *whispers in your ear* but I keep seeing “‘we need more complex female characters’ but they couldn’t handle Apple White.”

But like …

That applies more to Apple fans than those who dislike her

Because while yes there are Apple haters who completely overlook the complexity of her character but more often than not it’s those who like her that in trying to defend her take away the complexity of her character.

Like some people can’t stand the complexity of her character so they water her down

hmm HMM

Idk like excusing apples actions is VERY different from explaining them

[deoidesign]

IF YOURE LOST YOU CAN LOOK AND YOU WILL FIND ME

TIME AFTER TIME

IF YOU FALL I WILL CATCH YOU ILL BE WAITING

TIME AFTER TIME

[lavender-teardroplettes]

Dear friends❤️🇵🇸

From me and my family, all thanks and appreciation for your continuous support to me and my family, whether by participating or donating🇵🇸🤍🙏🇵🇸

I hope you will continue to do so, each one according to his ability, until I reach my short goal of 28.5k€, as there is less than 500€ left to reach it 🇵🇸🤍🙏🇵🇸

Link here! They’ve almost reached the goal of 28.5k and have raised it just a bit to 35k€!

[squidlawyer]

genuinely what is Mattels obsession with breaking up G1 couples like what is the reason,,, I'm so confused by it all cause it's not like they're really doing anything interesting with any of the characters or new love interests rn to make up for all the break-ups of relationships fans liked so it kinda feels pointless

[aphelea]

first time we see alvar he chugs a glass of wine in a sip, talks about his 3 girlfriends and proceeds to call known facts a hoax. truly what a guy

[nerissalmao]

Ernesto De La Cruz: Tragic Hero (..in his own mind)

Well, at the time of posting this, it’s November 12th. That’s around Day of the Dead season, I think, though I’m as white as the snowflake that is my profile picture (I do enjoy learning more about other cultures though, so I’m glad to get educated and learn more) so you know what? We’re gonna talk about Coco. Yep, hands-down one of the best Pixar movies ever made, THAT Coco. Yes, I know there are arguments about it and Book of Life and which one is better, but I’m not here to talk about any of that.

Time to talk about this ABSOLUTE RAT.

Oohhh, look at him and his big stupid hat and his big stupid bow and his big stupid ribcage. He’s a fraud and a liar and an idiot and he kills people to take their songs.. AND take credit for them! Oooohh he’s stupid. I wanna punch him. You wanna punch him. Let’s all punch him! He’s a murderer, a liar, a traitor, he’s—

Not that bad?

WAIT. What?

Well, okay, see. This might be a little hard to grasp on to, but Ernesto De La Cruz is NOT THAT BAD.

To himself at least. Because to himself, his intentions are noble. He genuinely doesn’t see what he’s doing wrong.. because he’s always thought that this is how fame works. You have to make sacrifices. Then you get famous.

Let me explain.

See, when most people talk about this character, they bring up how terrible it was that he acted so nice and sympathetic, how dastardly in disguise it was for him to act like a nice person. People claim it’s all fake— he never cared for Miguel, he never cared for Héctor, he’s a psychopath, plain and simple.

But.. he’s not.

Look at him. It’s the stupid Hans thing all over again— his face. He genuinely seems proud of Miguel, of the idea he has a great-great-grandson. He shows him off to all his fancy rich friends, lets Miguel monologue about himself, excitedly shows Miguel around, even offer the kid advice. And he genuinely means it.

Of course, the reason people say he doesn’t is because for one, he LITERALLY murdered Héctor. Which, yeah, that sucks, so let’s talk about that first.

As we all know, Ernesto and Héctor were once best friends, two boys chasing the dream of becoming a musician. But Ernesto wanted to play for the world and bask in their adoration. Why? Because he just woke up and decided he deserved it? No, actually. He’s not exactly a textbook narcissist. Yes, he has narcissistic qualities, but there is plainly no evidence to suggest his friendship with Héctor was toxic. If it was, Héctor would have been less shocked to know that Ernesto poisoned him— because if Ernesto was shitty enough to bully and berate his own best friend, then aggravated assault and murder wouldn’t be too shocking for an already manipulative psycho. Yet Héctor genuinely was shocked anyway. And since Héctor’s a bit of a pessimist, it doesn’t seem like him to overestimate his ex-amigo.

(Yes, I know Héctor probably just didn’t want to believe that Ernesto was capable of murder either way. But come on. This man has had the entire afterlife to perfect his lying and his Dìa De Los Muertos Scheme. If Ernesto was that bad in the first place you mean to tell me a salty Héctor WOULDN’T consider the idea?! And he’s certainly a smart enough character to know when he’s being mistreated and when too far is too far, hence why he wants to return home to his family instead of abandoning them! And not to mention how he is totally unafraid of confronting Ernesto. I know that abuse and mistreatment comes in all shapes and sizes, but I don’t think this is the narrative we’re supposed to follow here.)

Ernesto genuinely valued Héctor. He isn’t a textbook narcissist because he recognizes the value and importance of Héctor’s ideas, and hoped to become famous with him by his side, as literally stated in Ernesto’s original plan. Look at the desperation on his face when he thinks Héctor is leaving:

He looks near tears. He’s practically BEGGING. And Héctor doesn’t even bother to give Ernesto any tips on songwriting or farewell wishes, he just kind of leaves. If anything, HÉCTOR is being the jerk here.

But honestly? We can hardly blame him. He was a caring father and a family man who just wanted to get back home. There’s hurt in his eyes, too.

Ernesto, on the other hand? He pushes the envelope too far. He kills Héctor for his songs. He already had poison on him for.. some reason, so what? Did he think he’d poison himself if he didn’t make it? Reputation and fame is very important to Ernesto. Yet it didn’t take him long to come up with the conclusion of killing his friend. Why? Is he really just that insane and am I talking in circles?

Nah. He tells Héctor, “I could never hate you” and it’s true! He doesn’t HATE Héctor. But he needs his songs. He’s been working so hard that in his mind, he just needs to take another step, to.. seize his moment.

He sees this as a necessary option. His reputation is important to him, and he doesn’t want the secret to get to light.. not the murder one. He just doesn’t want anyone to think he’s unoriginal, that he copied someone else’s ideas. Because he’s built his entire career around how talented he is. Because he’s the guy who “actually did it” and who wanted fame and fortune for.. what? Self-validation? He never seems to have any type of family to his name (despite the fact that his name is everywhere and everybody knows him), and even calls his audience his family, proclaiming the world is his family. Was he perhaps an orphan, or had parents who couldn’t care for him? Is that why he couldn’t understand why Héctor would leave for his family and gets desperate, than murderous? Because Ernesto himself never had a family to speak of or anyone to teach him values beyond his own musical dreams?

“Apologies, my friend, but the show must go on,” he says to Héctor, ready to kill Miguel— not out of any malice or hatred. Earlier in the film, good old Ern-DLC got the bombastic Disney Villain green motif all over his ass-

-as he proclaims that he knows deep down that Miguel, being his supposed family, should understand how Ernesto’s mind works. Since he knows that Ernesto sees the world as his family, since he heard Ernesto’s awkward “sì” when he was asked about whether it was hard for him to leave a hypothetical De La Cruz family that may or may not exist. He just throws Miguel into a pond (well.. he gets his security to do so) and there’s no evidence that he has no plan to get him out. He still thinks Miguel is his great-great-grandson. Yes, he put Héctor down there too, but he saw it as a necessary evil because he could do it before, and could do it again. Hurting Héctor just to reach his own fame.. and not seeing anything wrong with it. Seeing it as just another obstacle. Which is my whole point, that he saw nothing wrong with it, in case my rambling sidetracked you. Anyway, Héctor is being forgotten. Héctor could vanish down there, then Ernesto could go get the then-dead Miguel, get the kid to understand fully, and continue living his fame that he believes he earned while Miguel reaps in the rewards of having a famous great-great-grandfather and keeps mum about the whole Héctor thing.

People underestimate Ernesto. Look, fame is hard to achieve. Yes, Ernesto did steal Héctor’s songs, but he didn’t forge any documents. He got himself famous through interviews and acting, even if he had to steal some things along the way. He genuinely did work hard in any other regard, and of course he knows that one has to work hard to seize their moment. And though there’s no evidence to prove he ever hated Héctor, he had already worked so hard and wouldn’t fail. He tried to reason with him first, and his choice to poison him, though drastic, disgusting, and villainous, was what this admittedly tragic family-less man saw as the logical next step.

He literally says it in his villainous monologue: “I’ve worked too hard, Héctor!” “I am ERNESTO DE LA CRUZ!” (as he gets agitated at the idea that he’s a coward, as he’s already had to brave revenge plots against his own ex-best-friend, crazy fans, the pressure of fame, and his own twisted moral code) “I am the one who’s willing to do WHATEVER IT TAKES to seize my moment! Whatever.. it takes.” So, yeah. Listen to his monologue with this in mind. He thinks it’s the logical next step, he doesn’t see anything wrong with it— he’s willing to do whatever it takes. Maybe it even hurt him to take Héctor down. But he did it anyway, because in his warped mind, he thought it would be another GENUINELY HEROIC STEP to the fame he felt he deserved. He admits he worked too hard and seems to try to reason with Héctor again, though this time what he thinks is the right choice is obviously much worse; but by now Ernesto knows he has no family ties to Miguel. The show must go on, bruh man said it himself, and he wants his fame to continue.. because he WORKED SO HARD. He butchered his own friend to get where he is and won’t let anything stand in his way, or else what was that murder for? Then he’s just a psycho (to others; again Ernesto doesn’t really see anything wrong with it), a coward (he does NOT want to be called this, clearly), and everyone who always disbelieved in him is right.

Look at his face after the crowd realizes what he’s done:

Shock. Awe. Surprise. He genuinely doesn’t get it.

In Ernesto’s mind, warped by likely a family-less backstory, he thought that an inexcusable, regrettable action like killing his friend was made excusable since it would help him continue the journey to get the love and acceptance he wants and thinks he deserves. He did care about Miguel; he’s no blood-soaked killer. But he’s willing to do whatever it takes to seize his moment even so, because he thinks this’ll help him, even if he ends up regretting it later. He’s worked too hard.

It makes more sense for him to have been so morally flawed that he genuinely doesn’t get the consequences of his disgusting actions than for him to be so narcissistic that he thinks people would love him even after killing somebody. Because the movie Coco is so nuanced, Ernesto is purposefully tragic. He’s the next great Disney Villain, lying and conniving, but not reveling in the evil; like Claude Frollo before him, he thinks it’s a genuinely good thing to do on his path to stardom, that even though he genuinely cared about Héctor he couldn’t let him get in the way of his dream, and even though he genuinely cared for Miguel, knowing he’s truly not family will soften the blow of having to be rid of him in order to continue to reap the rewards of being famous without his dear reputation tarnished. Yet inevitably when it is, again like Claude Frollo, he doesn’t get it. Because he thinks he’s done good. He thinks this was just another path on his rite to stardom.

It’s why he just stands there wide-eyed instead of doing anything actually smart once he’s found out, or running away from the terrifying alibrije cat demon THING. Because he genuinely can’t understand why his so-called world-family would hate him. After all, they’ve always known he was a hard worker! And he doesn’t see why this news is any different.

Obviously I’m not condoning murder and attempted murder and the things Ernesto did. But this is my interpretation of the narrative and an interpretation that I think is worth reading through. The next time you hear “Remember Me”, the non-sad version, remember.. he’s either a tragic individual, so wrapped up in his own goal he doesn’t even know right-and-wrong from each other.. or an even scarier villain because of his inability to separate the two.

[myfairkatiecat]

Btw words having connotations is a thing. Like I’m not nitpicky for the sake of fighting. I’m looking at a collection of scenes, and then at a word, and going, welp! That’s a word that has been applied to many contexts im gonna casually not group these scenes with, thanks!

[sweaterkittensahoy]

Voting completed! Did not vote for the guy who promised to "ensure voting integrity" in his platform.

Dude. We have a vote by mail system. It works really fucking well. And that whole fuckumentary about supposed voter fraud was not only disproven before it even came out, the dudes had to pull it from all streaming services and issue an official apology after getting sued for and being found guilty of defamation.

"ensure voting integrity" is a fucking dogwhistle for "I kinda wish I was at the January 6th riot."

Also did not vote for anyone claiming AIPAC is a "foreign-interest interfering in US policy" (it's a group of Pro-Israeli AMERICAN citizens you fucking antisemites) or anyone who used the term "globalist" (just say Jews, Jack. This is exhausting.).

Shocking no one, the antisemitic language was used by green party candidates and one leftist independent.

Other people who did not get my vote: Guy who listed "listening to god's will" as a profession. Guy who listed "subjected to it" under previous government experience and anyone who tried to get clever with their platform statement. "I'm the most boring nerd in Oregon!" I am not here to vote on your personality, fucko. What is your goddamn platform.

Anyway, election day is November 5. Go read up on your candidates and various measures. I got a little thrill getting to vote to cut some useless language out of the state charter.

[sciderman]

I’m envious that so much of your life is dedicated to creating Spideypool content. 70% of my Spideypool time is reading fics or obsessing over fanart; only about 30% of my Spideypool time is actually spent writing my fics. And I haven’t actually finished enough of one of them to post anything. One day I hope I can change that ratio and spend much more time blessing the Spideypool fandom the way you do with your abundance of written and visual Spideypool work.

"im envious that so much of your life is dedicated to creating spideypool content" are words i never expected to ever hear in my lifetime... wild and freaky of you i think, you craaazy...

it's a trade-off because i consume so very little of it... but my tastes are very... singular... i think in a post-mcu world, it's become a lot trickier for me to find spideypool content i can enjoy, so i kind of have to furiously create it - and kind of all my favourite spideypool creators from that beautiful pre-mcu era have moved onto different pastures... where'd they go... oh i miss them so...

i certainly used to read a WHOLE lot more spideypool pre-homecoming, but since the homecoming-imposed hiatus, i've found it difficult to trust again...

[bizarre-paradox]

he is so relatable it is painful

[nerdalmighty]

.

[nattoppet-dj]

love when bitches are in love, gets surprised when they have The Signs of being in love around the person in question but the feelings are tragically unrequited

i'm bitches

send help SOS

[vodid]

ok i keep seeing awfully targeted vagueposts about me pertaining to my silly idw-exclusionary prowlsweep campaign — which i didn't expect to have gained so much traction and negative reactions — so, while yes, i understand lighthearted jokes may still hit home a little too closely, i'm not responsible for your feelings /neu. but i get it. we're protective of our blorbos and i have a hard time with the jokes too. especially about prowl and especially especially about idw prowl, believe it or not. i do get upset over them, which i suppose was why i ran my campaign like that. many of the polls (from what i could see, i probably missed a lot) were just "my blorbo is so sweet he deserves to win" but swervesweep was solidly "do not vote for prowl he is a shit man" you can't tell me there wasn't some sort of bias because of idw prowl. there's a difference between lifting up a contender and slandering another so horribly. voting because you hate, not because you love.

so yeah, just like some had gotten upset over my campaign (even if it was a joke), i got upset upon seeing all the negative tags (even if they were jokes). i admit to getting defensive and decided to run a funny campaign focused on g1 and tfa, because there was more love for them and i wanted to try to make something a little silly but positive out of it. like "hey, ignore idw for just a second because i promise there are husband-material prowls." i do admit i may have let my saltiness show through that campaign too much, so this is a bit hypocritical of me and i fully acknowledge that.

i got more to say tho shdfdsfs this got long and messy, sorry. i'll put it under a cut. i don't usually talk this in depth about my opinion of idw prowl (or just. any opinion.) ironically for this exact reason but,,

i so desperately want to like idw prowl. i really do. and in some way, i do like him (surprising, i know). but i can't look past the way the writers and the fandom treat him. that's what i truly hate. he gets insanely (and imo undeserved) bad rep and i was just sick and tired of seeing all the unreasonable hate for him from cherrypickers. so if idw prowl is going to severely /neg affect people's opinions of prowl as a whole, then i'd prefer he didn't exist. that's my harsh and albeit a bit childish truth but i'm not sorry for it.

i dislike his portrayal for a number of reasons in that it's just not him to me. i can certainly acknowledge a character doesn't have to be consistently the same every time, and that idw was meant to be an expansion of these characters and what they can be. but it doesn't mean i like the direction they took with him. what they did to him/had him do. it was like they took his core being, what made his character solidly his, threw it at the mirror to reverse it and wondered why it shattered.

if it weren't prowl, i wouldn't have as much of a problem with his character in idw. but unfortunately, he is. in concept, he is a very interesting character with a beautifully tragic story and maybe i would've liked his skrunkly ass /affectionate. but he's just not my rodrick.

also i can't get past the ableism of his portrayal 🫶 that's not a page in my book i'd like to add besties. and not a page i'm getting into in this post.

it goes so much deeper than "wahh big titty cop man is so mean" like cmoooon. i'm not a coward for asking people to look past his wrongdoings in idw they unequivocally hate him for when literally everybody else in idw has in some way done equally bad or worse things ...but are still unconditionally loved? nah. if they can stop their bias for one (1) second, maybe they could see more. thus, idw-exclusionary campaign. in an attempt to get people to stop seeing every prowl as bad. because like i said, idw taints the fuck out of non-idw prowls. how is that any fair? (and how are we prowl lovers supposed to feel seeing all that?)

these are entirely my opinions. i'm entitled to mine just as you are yours, and i am entitled to spin the campaign in any way i want. idw-exclusionary, pro-jazzprowl, boob-loving 💖, what have you. if you didn't like it, then you were more than welcome to start your own campaign alongside me! you didn't have to leave it to me. should i have maybe tried to convince people why idw prowl's wrongdoings don't make him deserving of such hatred? sure, that'd been nice. but i'm not well enough equipped for that. you can do that tho, i'd love to see it

i can't stop you from vagueposting and i won't tell you your opinions are invalid. but if you get to share your thoughts, i'd like to as well. we can both be critical of these topics in our own way and it'd be nice to come to an understanding instead of having to resort to blocking and vagueposting. (me? the coward? /j) you have every right to do that though, especially if its for your own comfort, and i really can't stop you. but it'd be real nice if we didn't outright attack the person and call them names. this problem is bigger than me. i just happened to speak on it.

all in all, it's not that serious of a situation — or rather, i wish it wasn't and i'm upset that i'm even writing this. i shouldn't have to write this, but you guys cannot for the life of yourselves understand the basic reason behind the campaign. or do you just refuse to? did you think to ask why?

we're both protective of prowl. idw or not. we were on the same team and it's not an awful thing to want to encourage people to consider other prowls before idw. i want them to see he can be good! i want them to see what i see in him. he's just a little blorbo man and it's funny in a bit of a sad way that i'm getting so heated over a fictional character and a silly poll.

sorry to poll ops. i didn't want it to spiral like that. i truly did have a lot of fun running my little campaign, even if it looked a bit (lightheartedly) aggressive. i just wanted my blorbo to win fandom favor for once 💔 jazz vs prowl would have been absolutely hilarious too. even as a non-j/p shipper, i hope you'll agree it'd have been funny to see us losing our minds over having to choose but that's besides the point!

in the end (it didn't even matter) we're all robot lovers. and it's sad we tend to have such a difficult time getting along. i'm here to make art and it's all supposed to be fun and games.

sorry to my many new followers too, this isn't the best first impression. i try to keep this stuff off my blog. i hope u like my art and thanks for sticking around — yes, even u swervesweepers (you absolute TRAITORS /lh /lh 💕)

take care of yourselves

[dangerous-advantage]

if you’re in the rise fandom and see this:

go read “all the ashes in my wake” by @crows-murder right now.

(yes, that is an order, and yes, pun intended.)

this post serves as a fic rec, but mainly to let me gush about how much i love this fic without filling up the author’s inbox with a small dissertation (/joking).

for the fic rec part:

leo. cursed. ella enchanted type cursed.

if you have any interest at all in absolutely phenomenal angst, clever writing with a style that’s easy to follow and smooth as butter, on-point characterization and dynamics, and basically anything you could ever ask for of a rise fic,

go. read. this. fic. right. now.

(that said, i am now going to ramble about my specific thoughts concerning the fic and it’s plot, so. possible spoilers beyond this point?)

there have been a growing number of fics in this “sub-genre” of the rise fandom involving a character (generally leo) getting cursed, and then facing off against angsty odds that make you go, “oh. oh, shit.” (/positive)

these curses also tend to involve the phases of the moon in some way, which i think is a very fun and interesting trend

i’ve enjoyed all of the fics that i’ve read which fit into this, but this particular fic may be my favorite yet

it follows a simple formula, neatly tying the a plot (the curse stuff) and the b plot (leo’s conflict with leadership and the strain it’s putting on his relationships) into a neat little bow.

while the idea of leo getting “ella enchanted” is fun on its own, it’s doubly important to the plot and the characterization, as it forces him to have to fix one problem to address the other.

in the first chapter, the author constructs the roots to this, by contrasting leo’s wily, independent nature against the inevitable conflict that will stifle his attempts to act on it.

watching him brush his brothers off, make his own choices and go off on his own, builds this wonderful sense of tension. it hooks you — what’s going to happen when that string is cut?

it plays perfectly into the underlying conflict. leo needs to find a way to overcome his fears of leading the team, or else the rift between him and his team will only continue to widen.

so what does the narrative do? it forces him into a position where he is no longer gets to choose.

this incapacitation is a powerful tool, not only because of the external force of the curse, but also that it plays off of the weaknesses of his character.

this isn’t something that he can just handwave, or take care of on his own. it’s a situation where he needs to ask for help.

but this is leo we’re talking about. of course he isn’t going to go to his brothers about this, or even tell them! but by hiding it and trying to fix it himself, he ends up caught in a deadlock of his own making.

and since it doesn’t look like he’s going to get over himself very soon, it seems more likely that he’ll end up cornered in a very sticky situation indeed (something which i am very much looking forward to seeing, if that is the plan).

it’s genius! to fix his problems with the curse, he has to address his issues with his family first.

my attempts to sound smarter than i actually am aside (/lighthearted), i am so glad this fic is addressing the conflict between raph and leo. not only that, but in a way that feels true to their characters.

unlike other iterations of the tmnt, the roles here are reversed. it’s not the stolid abs responsible leader pitted against the broody loner who wants to be leader, but isn’t the right fit.

it’s rise!raph, who cares about his little brother and wants to support him, and rise!leo who, on some level, doubts his own ability in this new role on the team — to be anything more than “the face man.”

it’s not often where you come across a fic where the a plot and the b plot are equally engaging, but this is one of those rare cases where everything just works. it’s like i’m witnessing the first steps of some great machine, meticulously crafted, a hundred disparate parts working in tandem.

in the third chapter, the angst just works. the pay-off there feels so real, because you get it. you relate to this character. when raph is there, waiting up for him, you know shit’s about to go down. you can feel it.

if the necklace (and therefore the curse) acted as both a narrative device and catalyst, leo’s swords represent the other side of that: the last bit of freedom he has left in this godawful situation.

they’re the last bit of freedom, his only hope of escape. raph taking them (or, rather, leo being compelled to surrender them) has just glorious undertones in the narrative as a whole.

if you were to consider the katanas a representation of leo’s autonomy, it makes sense why him being forced to give them up hits that much harder.

not only is it a tense situation, where leo is fighting back but ultimately unable to overcome the curse, it cements this underlying feeling of helplessness the author has been seeding since the chapter previous.

now that we’re here, with both the a plot and b plot coming into direct confrontation with what leo wants, we recognize that leo cannot continue how he is.

sure, he’ll keep on fighting it (abs i am very much looking forward to seeing how that goes), but this is the point where we know, there is no escaping.

leo is now truly stuck. without his katanas, fubdibg the necklace to break the curse on his own is basically impossible.

and he recognizes this.

leo’s characterization throughout this fic has been some of the best in the business. he’s smart, witty, independent, calculating — probably one of, if not the best true-to-character representations of rise!leo thats i’ve seen so far.

(absolutely phenomenal job there, i cannot stress this point enough.)

in fact, all of the characters in this fic are so well-written? i’m already seeing roots for character development within casey sr. (which i am so here for, oh my gods you don’t even know), and you can’t help but be invested in all of these relationships

we’re constantly being reminded of the emotional conflict, how much of a strain it’s putting on the relationships, not just between raph and leo, but between all of them.

leo sees this, understands something has to change, but feels paralyzed by what that could mean. for him, and his family.

not to beat the metaphorical dead horse, but that scene after leo surrenders his katanas abs flees back to his room? damn. i felt that on a visceral level.

being so tired, so miserable, so helpless, when a part of you knows you’re being irrational, but having your own pride and fear get in the way of that?

not to project all over these characters or whatever, but fuck. it feels like this was written to call out me, specifically (/j /lh)

and urgh! the detail work in this is incredible!

maybe i’m just a slut for somewhat contrived narratives, and definitely contrived foreshadowing, but the way it’s done in this fic comes off as so clean and organized.

it’s like... weaving threads in a tapestry. you can see where the connect, though you’re not quite sure where they’re going, until you can step back abs look at the picture as a whole.

it genuinely feels masterful in some places, like, mother of god, leave some talent for the rest of us!! (/lighthearted)

i could probably keep talking about this forever, but i do have other responsibilities i should be taking care of, and i kind of want to reread the three chapters that are out (as of writing this) again.

who knows, maybe i’ll revisit this in the future, when i have a better basis and understanding of the underlying themes here.

for now, dear author (if you are, for some reason, reading this),i hope you don’t mind my pretentious and meandering thoughts and/or assumptions. you’ll probably see me again, gushing in your comment sections. yours is just the kind of fic that deserves to be gushed about.