#so I made my own turtle tot version

[abbeyofcyn]

*Pat pat pat*

[reagi-df]

For @tmntaucompetition I was very productive today... not for my comic though XD

Looking up he eyes everyone around him. He’s giddy to know that there is more than one universes out there, he wants to talk to other Donatello’s and pick their brains for knowledge.

Excitement runs through him when he eyes the Donatello’s scattered about, they all look so different from one another it's breathtaking. 

His eye catches something and he turns to look. Over in the far side is what looks like a Donatello, dressed in a leotard and tutu laced with feathers. He look elegant and graceful,  -I knew I could rock wearing tights,- he nobs in approval, he seemingly glide across the floor, the feathers of his outfit look soft to the touch while small feathered wings hover at his exposed back; he twists and turn looking for something as a frown is etched into their face, hand tight around a wooden bo staff. Donnie's feet carry him over and the closer he gets the more different but slightly similar this turtle looks. 

This Donnie has markings that he doesn't but are roughly the same height, maybe taller due to him standing on his tip toes and from the looks of it around the same age. But before he could get any closer, there was a commotion behind him and he casts a glance over his shoulder, only to see more people having joined in the fight.

“Sigh, they're so unsophisticated” he groans. And when he turns back the Donnie-swan had disappeared. Huffing a breath Donnie looks around only to look in the other direction as he walks, pointedly looking away from a Leo making his way into the staff room.

He saw nothing. Not his Leo, not his problem. 

“Oh sweet Galileo '' he gets stars in his eyes when sees a flat screen tv that sits on a pole with wheels. They’re  surrounded by a group of other counterparts that are way taller than Donnie, and he stops another version of himself.  When the screen turns around his own face is splashed across it. “That’s the most beautiful thing I���ve ever seen” he drools, so caught up in his amaration that he just nearly misses the small figure moving towards them.

Realisation dawns on his face a second later. “Oh no” with that Donnie rushes off, cursing Leon for losing tot CLeo. 

Screams filled the room when CLeo latches onto the top of the screen. And Donnie can’t help but be impressed by the jump CLeo made.

Swanatello @tangledinink Omega @kathaynesart I feel bad for tagging I hope I didnt make omega ooc I really enjoyed doing theses, haven't drawn on paper for a while and its was nice to go back to it again

Cleo has a lot of a few issues with Donnie's at the moment, no one is safe from this terror

Cleo becoming a tot came before this

[realmsalot]

Okay so someone asked me some questions about Homograhs AU so here's my answers copy-pasted on to here.

What does 12 sherreder think of rise splinter during the 12 series bit of the timeline?

Well, first things first I can easily say that 12 Shredder thinks that Rise Splinter is dead, much like every else who knew him. Other than that 12 Shredder thinks that Rise Splinter was a vain and dishonorable man who chased fame over his clan. In "Cousins" when Lou Jitsu went to 12 Splinter for a favor, 12 Shredder was definitely annoyed that that's all he came for. However, 12 Shredder definitely admires how much influence the movie star had in life and thought it would beneficial to have someone like that under him. It's part of the reason Chris Bradford was a part of the Foot Clan.

And does the fam ever realise that 12 splinter and rise mikey met before?

The rise fam knew that Rise Mikey had met a mutant rat while he was lost, he kept talking about it and even made a card to give the rat if he ever sees him again, but they don't figure out it was 12 Splinter for a while. As for the 12 fam, Splinter only really tells 12 Mikey about it when everyone is asleep during the invasion. Telling him that he hallucinated a younger version of him while he was feral and wandering the sewers. It's a scene I'm gonna write out. It won't be until the main fic that everyone finds out the two actually met. And then Rise Mikey will put his thank you card on 12 Splinter's shrine that the 12 turtles have in the lair.

, also If you're still struggling with the rat king maybe he was to focussed on trying to get revenge on the 12 fam to focus as on rise splinter or maybe rise splinter left and the tots tried looking for him with rise April and are panicking heck maybe both splinters fought but 12 splinter thought that it was a rat that got mutated and thought rise died while rise thought he was hallucinating.

Thank you so much for these suggestions! These will definitely help out! I kinda started to ignore the Rat king after a while and focus my attention on other parts of the AU, but this now has my mind buzzing!

Also what do the 12 side of the fam think of hueso and big mama?

For Hueso, they all like him well enough. He's a good guy that makes great pizza and owns a restaurant they can all actually sit down a eat in like normal people. 12 Mikey likes him best tho. I've mentioned that they first met when Hueso while serving yokai at Murakami's restaurant. Hueso came in accusing Mikey of poaching his customers from his pizzeria and Mikey was just like "YOKAI PIZZAIRA!!!!" And then forcibly became friends with him.

As for Big Mama, I can't go into it because it's REALLY spoilery but basically, she's on their shit list.

(Also never apologize for a long comment, this made my day!)

[thissliceofnonsense]

So originally I wanted to see if I could write season three of rottmnt myself...

Based on fandom ideas mostly. There is so many interesting fanfictions and AUs that I thought I could take bits and pieces from the fandom and write a season three.

(I really wanted to participate in the fandom somehow because I was in an apathy spiral at the time of seeing rottmnt and I've never had an obsession for this long. It's the reason my world isn't so monochromatic anymore and I owe it a lot. )

What ended up happening is that I looked at all the fandom ideas and deleted episodes and thought "What if I wrote a 'fandom version' of rottmnt, with a season for each of the turtles?'

Because Mikey could get his own season with more Mikey-centric episodes because a lot of his got cut. Also also he could have a character arc surrounding how he is the most powerful mystic user out of the four. He also has the most powerful and changing emotions, and I can speak from experience in saying that emotions are extremely difficult to control. Plus, if one were to make the first season Mikey-centric then as soon as he figured out that Baron Draxum was 'family' then he would start the whole 'You're actually a good person' thing and Baron Draxum is just annoyed. That could factor into his characterization that he tries to keep everyone together even if it makes him upset. I think I could also include the "the turtles were made to be destruction machines and bring havoc upon humans" because I feel like being told your purpose is to destroy things would hurt a lot, especially to Mikey because his favorite thing is to create. *The possibilities*

Donnie would get season two, and perhaps everyone else (especially Mikey) is using Mystic powers to do all sorts of things - actively replacing his tech. I would place the "Donnie's gifts" episode here instead, with the changes that they don't use his gifts correctly despite all the time he spent on them + replaces them with mystic powers. This sends Donnie down a spiral where he tries to figure out how mystic powers work scientifically - probably how he found the library - and it leads him to consoling in Baron Draxum. Here is where all of the separation AUs play in, because Donnie gets validation from a parental figure + someone he can do science with without being told that it just messes things up. I imagine that this season centers around Donnie's thinking that the others care more about what he can do for them - his tech - than Donnie himself. And Baron Draxum - while being validating - is still furthering that thinking. (Perhaps something from 'Like father, Like Son' here where Draxum mentions that he only created Donnie out of curiosity and Donnie thinks that this is confirmation that the only thing that matters is his tech, basically turning his own special interest against him. Which... ouch.) This would lead into the 'Witch Town' episode where the others tell Donnie that what matters is him, not his tech. (I also think it would be nice for him to make tech that utilizes mystic powers for now, then he would be able to make tech with mystic powers later).

(Also also I'm obsessed with backstory so I think it would be fun to include backstory episodes where all of the misbeliefs came from + turtle tot episodes. I saw from a Pinterest post that Raph might have gotten kidnapped when he was younger - Leo might have been there- hence why he was so protective of Mikey.)

Leo would get season three, which would be basically the movie + bits and bobs from Cass's apocalypse series from @somerandomdudelmao (Which I've been obsessed with.) Because I feel like if Leo understood the gravity of what his mistakes caused (the world he destroyed), then his "I'm useless" way of thinking would devolve into "they are better off without me". And I think turning the movie into a season instead would allow for more Casey Jr. backstory and some fun with the prison dimension. I've seen some animatics and ideas floating around where Leo would have some consequences of staying in the Prison Dimension (in addition to almost dying.), mostly in the form of having the Krang infect his head - in a final attempt to escape - , and he has to fight against his own thoughts and eventually defeat the Krang (I haven't thought about this one a lot but I imagine it would have a lot of 'here's the aftermath')

Raph would get season four, which would be the Shredder, Karai (I think that's how you spell her name) and the foot clan, because Karai really needed at least a few episodes before killing her off. I imagine she would go on a "field trip" (Zuko style) with each of the turtles + April while trying to get the pieces for the shredder's armor. They would also learn about their family legacy bit by bit + the nimpo thing. Since Leo is the leader now, Raph would probably go all out in a "protective older sibling" mode, and every time they lose to the shredder he blames it on himself. They lose their home and Karai dies. And I think a few extra episodes to how they deal with the loss and how they keep losing to the shredder. (Maybe they go to April or Draxum's house for a bit??) Perhaps Raph pushes himself too far and (if I remember correctly) April - as Karai - tells Raph that he is trying his best because he loves his family and that's what matters. Overall I think the finale episodes just needed a bit extra time to fully develop.

This is still a bunch of really messy ideas and I think I would have to reread a few fanfics and rewatch the series, but it would be fun to try this out I think.

[goosewriting]

I LOVE the baby post!

Could I request one for raph?

- Beans anon

(Hello! I'm new to your blog :D)

More babies 🥺 (rottmnt Raph x reader)

summary: two turtle babies suddenly appear at the lair, and they suspiciously look a lot like Raph

relationship: Rise!Raph x GN reader (established)

warnings: none I think, just fluff!

word count: 2.1k

A/N: welcome beans anon! enjoy your stay c: the more of these i write, i might just increase the amount of babies that appear lol hope you like this one! ^^

More “Baby 🥺” versions: Leo | Raph (you're here) | Donnie | Mikey

(english is not my first language. constructive criticism and grammar corrections are very appreciated!)

— — —

You were spending the afternoon at the lair, as per usual. Currently sat on the floor in Raph’s room, you were definitely about to win at Jenga.

“Aw come on, that’s not fair!” he whined as you placed your piece at the top, which you had somehow removed from the side, so that the tower was clearly swinging back and forth, out of balance. Whatever he did now, he would lose.

“Don’t be such a baby~” you mocked him with pouty lips, pinching his cheek.

That was when you heard the cry of an actual baby. You two looked at each other for a second then turned your heads towards the door. Again, another cry.

“You heard that too, right?” you asked him, standing up.

“Yup” he said, as he also rose to his feet.

“This is not over though” you said, pointing towards the fragile wooden tower on the floor. “You’re going down, big guy.”

“We’ll see about that” he smirked and you both left the room, following the noise which seemed to come from the kitchen. As you approached the door, you gave each other a quizzical look. How did a baby get down here anyways? Entering the room you both immediately noticed the giant flaming ring over the kitchen table. It was emanating little yellow zaps, and in front of it, something you couldn’t quite identify, which was producing the cries.

You approached the table to take a better look at it, and the zapping suddenly collapsed in on itself and disappeared with a ‘whoosh’. The bundle on the table perked up at that, and that’s when you realised it was not one baby but two. The bigger one had leaned over the other protectively.

“Hey you two, where did you come from?” you asked in a calming voice, approaching them. Behind you, Raph let out an ‘Aww’. As they finally turned over, you realised it was turtle babies, just like what you imagine Raph and his brothers had looked like when they were little. So clearly these were mutated creatures of sorts.

Turning around at your voice, the babies immediately stretched out their little arms towards you and sniffled. The bigger one crawled on the table towards Raph, while the little one went towards you. You both picked them up in your arms.

“Where do you think they came from?” Raph asked as the turtle tot pulled on his bandana and squealed in glee.

“Not sure, but they don’t seem to be scared of us? Not even you, no offence…” you replied sheepishly. The little turtle in your arms looked at you with big eyes and smiled. She had a similar shade of green as Raph. You noticed that both of the babies seemed to have little nubs and spikes on their shells, just like Raph. Maybe they’re snapping turtles, too?

“Hey guys, did you also hear-” Mikey entered the kitchen but stopped his own sentence as he saw the two of you holding baby turtles in your arms.

“Yeah, we heard” Raph replied and laughed.

“Wha- Who?! How did they get here?” Mikey asked, cooing at the baby in your arms, as it had reached out its arms towards him and grabbed onto Mikey’s finger.

“We know just as much as you do, Mikey. Let’s go ask Donnie” you stated and you all made your way to the lab.

Donnie was welding some tech of his when you entered. As you greeted him, he stopped and pushed up his mask. He took one hard look at the babies and sighed loudly, then pulled the mask down and continued his handiwork.

“Hey!” you protested. “Don’t ignore us! We need to figure out where they came from and how to get them back.”

Donnie stopped once again and laid down his welder. ‘Do we though?’ you heard him mumble under the mask, and you shot him a glare. Realising that he would not be able to finish his contraption today, he took off his equipment and walked around the table to you.

“Where did you find them?” he asked, and looked at the baby in your arms. She squealed happily at the sight and made grabby hands at Donnie, to which he leaned back slightly.

“In the kitchen” you replied, and told him about the yellow lights and how the babies had seemingly just appeared out of nowhere.

Donnie scratched his chin and hummed, already making his way to a drawer. He rummaged for a moment, and took out some sort of device with an antenna and a screen.

“Aha!” he exclaimed. “Let’s go see what traces we find. Sounds to me as if the turtle tots came through a portal.”

He walked past you to go to the kitchen. You were about to follow him when you felt a tap on your shoulder. Turning around, you were met with a very nervous looking Raph and the baby soundly sleeping in his arms, cuddled into his chest without a worry in the world.

You had to physically refrain yourself from squealing at the sight; it was too cute.

“What do I do?” Raph whispered, and you just smiled, gesturing to him to follow you. So he did. Both of you went to the living room and sat on the couch. The bigger one in Raph’s arms, which you assumed to be the big brother, was still sleeping soundly. Meanwhile you placed the little sister in your lap, and she looked around curiously. Almost falling over as she looked up at you, she giggled and stretched out her arms again.

“Mama/papa!” she squealed, and your heart stopped beating for a second. You shot Raph a glance, who looked just as shocked and confused as you.

“I don’t think that’s, uhm, possible, little one” you tried to explain to the baby, to no avail. She kept repeating it. Maybe you just looked similar to their parent? They were clearly not human though… The baby then looked up at Raph.

“Papa!” she said, pointing at him.

“Huh-” was all he could say.

Taking another look at the babies, you were suddenly aware how they both had your eye colour, and clearly they had a shell and green tone just like Raph. Maybe… Maybe it was possible? The mere thought of having kids with the turtle of your dreams was enough to have your head explode, your cheeks burning up.

Raph must have been thinking something similar, because he looked at you just as flustered. He avoided your gaze and scratched the back of his neck.

“You know” he broke the silence. “If what Donnie said about the portal is true, and well, uhm. Maybe somewhere else we…"

Still holding the sleeping turtle firmly but gently with one arm, his other one snaked forwards and took your hand in his. The little turtle in your lap squealed in delight and placed her little hands on top of yours. All the while he didn’t break eye contact with you, giving you the most lovestruck look you had seen on him yet. That alone sent you spiralling and your brain went completely blank. Except that it started filling up with images of you and him, the turtle babies, maybe a house somewhere nice. Just a domestic life with your favourite turtle. And apparently your offspring. They’d get their own little bandanas. It would be adorable.

“Okay so, I’ve got the results” Donnies voice approaching both of you brought you back to reality, and you shook your head to rid your mind of these thoughts that were threatening to have you melt into a puddle on the couch.

“So, what is it, Don?” Raph inquired, still not letting go of your hand.

“Well, I found some residue and ran it through my handy-dandy device here” he shook the apparatus in his hand. “And as it turns out, it was indeed a portal, and from the future no less.” He said that last part incredulously, almost scoffing at himself for saying something impossible like that. But the results were clear. Donnie looked up to see you both flustered, and looking like you’d burst out into tears at any given moment, so he didn’t even bother to ask what was going on, instead continuing his explanation.

“And yes, of course I did figure out a way to send them back, thank you so much for asking. It might take a while though, after all I’ll literally be inventing time and space travel.” Running his hand over his face, he turned around and headed back to his lab. “Keep an eye on them in the meantime, will you.”

Giving Raph a reassuring nod, you picked up the little turtle in your arms again. She was starting to doze off as well, and the tiny hands clung onto your shirt. The sight was almost too much to bear. Deep inside you had wished you could spend some more time with the turtle tots, so you were secretly happy that Donnie didn’t have the solution at hand quite yet.

The rest of the day was spent with everyone taking turns to entertain and feed the babies, your jenga game long forgotten.

When it was time to go to sleep, you and Raph lied in his bed facing each other. Your back was almost flat against the wall, as it was even more crammed as usual, with both turtles between the two of you, as they held each other's hands. Raph’s arm was wrapped over them protectively but gently so as not to squish them, and his hand was at your waist.

The four of you were snoozing peacefully, until in the middle of the night the familiar crackling sounds started again. Right next to Raph’s bed appeared a yellow portal. Luckily neither you nor the babies seemed to have heard it, but the red turtle’s ninja senses sounded the alarm and his eyes shot open.

Being careful not to wake you, he removed his arm and turned around, sitting at the edge of the bed.

“Who’s there?” he asked in the direction of the portal.

Through the flimmering yellow lights came none other than an older version of Mikey, with a sheepish expression on his face.

“I swear I only let them out of sight for 2 seconds and they had vanished” he apologised. “Took me a while to figure out where they were. They’re still here, right?”

Mikey leaned over Raph’s shoulder, seeing you and the babies happily asleep. He let out a little ‘aww!’ and tilted his head as he took in the scene.

“So you were babysitting and lost them? That’s not a good look, brother” Raph joked, moving to the side for Mikey to carefully pick up the turtles. You stirred as he freed the little sister from your grip, and you pouted in your sleep.

“Shouldn’t we wake Y/n up? I’m sure they’d like to say goodbye at least” Raph commented, knowing you’d be sad in the morning if they just left like that.

“It’s better that I interact with the least possible people here. At least that’s what Donnie is always saying” Mikey explained, giving Raph an apologetic look. Balancing one baby in each arm, he straightened up.

Mikey was about to turn around and say his goodbyes but Raph stopped him, looking back at you to make sure you were asleep, and then turning to Mikey again with a shy blush on his cheeks, unable to meet his eyes.

“So, uhm…” He held his hands in front of his chest, with the tips of his index fingers touching. “About the parents…”

“I think you already know” Mikey chuckled and took a step towards the portal. “I can just tell you this: it’s sooner than you expect” was the last thing he added over his shoulder with a wink, and then hopped through the portal.

The yellow lights swirled around and zapped once, twice, then disappeared, and the room was silent again, except for your even breathing.

Raph just stood there for a moment, trying to not only process Mikey’s last words but also come up with a good explanation to give you tomorrow of why the turtles were gone. He looked at you, took a deep breath and sighed. That would be a problem for tomorrow. For now, he was just glad to know you’d still be together in the future.

Climbing back into bed, he tucked you closer to him and kissed your cheek, whispering good night. Soon enough he was being pulled back into sleep, dreaming of the life you two would share, finding happiness in each other.

[temunitu]

Do you have a headcanon if Leatherhead would bump into The Rise tots? I was disappointed that he wasn't recreated in the series, but it ended with a rushed S2 finale, so we may never knoww

(This is horribly late, sorry Anon!) I do have my head canons / ideas but not for Leatherhead and the turtles as tots (although... that's a REALLY cute idea hdhshd)

Send me any and all of y'all's ideas though! I love hearing all the different versions.

My sister made this idea (she hasn't posted it publicly), but the idea is that Leatherhead is a Yōkai scientist who helped Baron Draxum create the mutagen and when LH eventually wanted to leave the project, he got wrapped up with Big Mama and ends up in the Battle Nexus.

I have my own version for a Rise Leatherhead but it's still a heavy work in progress, hahaa.

[vaguely-concerned]

The Untamed Liveblog

Yes hello I watched the whole thing and wrote down some of my thoughts and feelings along the way so I wouldn’t fuckign EXPLODE! Only look under the cut if you’re prepared for a truly outrageous amount of rambling (...no really)  

- I am elated to find that so far every adaptation I’ve seen has faithfully preserved the absolutely bizarre structure of the original book, I am appreciating the dedication haha

- the actor lends this version of lan wangji such an edge of youth and vulnerability right from the beginning, it breaks my heart. I don’t care how good he is with a sword, you can’t expose this pure sweet boy to the horrors of war!!! 

- I am so glad I already know who all these characters are and wtf is going on, I can’t imagine watching this first time without that knowledge lol 

- I love how they’ve made nie huaisang look so small and soft next to all the other cultivator, he looks like a floofy and eternally confused baby birb ;______;

- nhs citing the goldfinch as the reason he doesn’t want to die (presumably because no one will know to take care of it) TOT ur meant to be comic relief in this part of the story buddy you can’t make me cry like this yet!!!

(also the actor for wwx effortlessly sliding into being protective and reassuring and Good in a crisis. wonderful!)

- the actor for xue yang has chosen to go with the sexy baby school of evil acting normally associated with female villains and for that I can only applaud him

also setting up characters who are going to be important later on is something this show is doing better than the original haha, both the extra wen quing & ning and song lan & xiao xingcheng content is appreciated. (especially the latter suffered from ‘oh yeah those two -- actually wait who the fuck are these two again’ syndrome for me when I read the book. additional note: I am very sorry but clearly they are gay there’s no other explanation here)  

- poor jiang cheng, they really haven’t given him much help in this huh. I would sort of have preferred it if they let him be ever so slightly less abrasive in the beginning, like in the book and the animated version; I’m not feeling quite as devastated over this relationship as I did in either of those.

- lan xichen’s soft knowing smile is a blessing every time. just a nice man. did not deserve this. protect.  

- kudos to the actor for jin guangyao for the instinctive creeping unease I feel whenever he talks, even at this stage. he’s a wrong ‘un sir he’s a wrong ‘un

- y’know both the fact that nhs spent three days catching a bird and kept it with him undetected and that he’s the friend you go to for the good porn and managed to not only smuggle it into the cloud recesses but did so without getting caught... some wonderful subtle foreshadowing here (to make up for the very blatant visual foreshadowing that’s already been given out I assume lol)

- anyway lan ancestor lady and baoshan-sanren? gay. sad and gay. (I love how thoroughly wwx is getting to meet the in-laws btw lol how often do you have to meet your future spouse’s family from like three generations ago and take care of her rabbits for her after she’s gone, all before you even get to second base)

- fkadshfkasjdlhfsdjkfh the sheer consistency of nhs wistfully commenting on all the beautiful men surrounding him fsadfkjsdhfksd I think they might oh so subtly be hinting at some stuff here. HILARIOUS that this version, which has to maintain at least the veneer of some plausible homoerotic deniability, is a lot more overt about it than the book, which is free to be balls to the wall as gay as you please  

- oh no nie mingjue just showed up my entire heart is on fire. BIG BROTHER!! so stern yet fair, so righteous, so worried y______y also can we talk about how his ‘hmmm I think imma stab it?’ approach to evil in general and xue yang in particular would have saved everyone a lot of grief later on? and he tells wwx the whole necromancy thing is probably not a good idea? (I really like how he does it too, he has so much Older Brother Energy it spills over when he talks to other kids around huaisang’s age lol. it’s good that they show his temper isn’t indiscriminate at all, he’s not angry at wwx even though his idea is provably incredibly dangerous) sole ornery voice of reason nie mingjue, also did not deserve what’s about to happen, I cry and my tears are blood  

- ‘yeah okay I get that you’re mad but have you maybe considered... I didn’t do it?’ is an unusually weak opening move from jgy considering nmj literally did just see him absolutely 100% do it

- there should be a WARNING at the beginning of episodes where nmj cries so one could be PREPARED for the emotional devastation!!!!! tollest & stronkest man of the cast also stupidly pretty and heartbreaking while crying, it’s not fair

- I love how every cultivation sect’s home (except for the wens b/c they’re cartoon villains) is refined and beautiful and luxurious, even when it’s in a restrained way like the lans’... and then there’s the nie place which is like ‘please understand that this is a fuckn fortress’

- aww this doomed jiang cheng/wen quing thing is cute! too bad about... everything that’s about to happen happening huh

- oh wen ning.  very hilarious that he’s known as the ~*ghost general*~ forevermore when actually... he is baby... cinnamon roll baby... too good for this world, too pure...

- how is this cgi turtle somehow less egregious than the one in the animated version lol. I quite like this bad little friend! long neck.

- oh NO lan wangji finally letting himself show that he’s in pain when they’re in private... i’m uwu  

this beautiful boy is so long and lanky tho, I must admit he triggers my parental instinct more than the hot boy alert at this stage (but that’s fine I’m not the one who’s going to smooch him that’s wwx’s job lol)

the look of absolute disbelief and despair lwj gives when wwx thinks he’s in love with mianmian... this show is a cinematic masterpiece and I will hear no other opinion  

- lwj looking at the love of his life completely missing the point: are you a joke to you (the answer is yeah)

- okay we’ve officially hit the point where everything’s about to go to hell for real, pray for me I’m not sure I can handle this again

- jiang fengmian acknowledge your other son who desperately wants your attention and affection challenge (unfinished)

- watching this scene knowing exactly what this promise means to jiang cheng and that wwx is going to break it... this is fINE

why the fuck did I do this to myself I know what’s about to happen when will I learn to quit while I’m ahead lol

- the change in subtext from the novel that EVERYONE sees wangxian coming from day one is so painful from jiang cheng’s side. this poor boy really has abandonment issues pelting him from every direction huh. tfw your idiot genius brother doesn’t even fucking realize he’s basically announcing he’s leaving your clan and your side to get married one day ;______;

- man mxtx is just so GOOD at peppering in the small private tragedies that somehow sting even worse than huge atrocities going on. the fact that madam yu and papa jiang never manage to reconcile and communicate except possibly in death... oof my friends. oooof.

- WAIT WHAT NO DON’T SHOW ME THE CHILDREN WHO’RE ABOUT TO DIE WHAT THE FUCK YOU MONSTERS

- like we’re right at the worst part now and she is an asshole... but damn madam yu’s last stand is epic tho. like a champ to the end

- wen zhuliu’s actor being able to uphold a look of tremendous boredom at all times regardless of what’s going on around him is Poetic Cinema Bitches

- jiang cheng and wei ying are holding hands on the boat... stab me in the heart... end my suffering

- you know what in this version we get to see that madam yu knew her husband came back for her and they died holding hands and not everything’s on fire yet, so far this isn’t quite as harrowing as the animated version. the dead children are fucking me up but the tone of the animated version is like a nightmare, this is less disturbing to me

also can we talk about how madam yu fought them off the whole day and night and her husband gets his ass owned within five minutes 😔 oh papa jiang

- oh okay turns out jiang cheng’s ‘I want my mom and dad’ gets to me in every adaptation good to know

they’re so young they’re bbs I don’t want to be here anymore haha

- wen ning. a sweet angel. just the goodest of boys. his sister raised him so well ;______:

- wen quing is so ethereally beautiful and also looks like she could stop a train with the force of one glance. like she’s my height but her presence is immense

- oh I see we’ve arrived at the tiny adorable flashback bbs part of this journey, let me just... just lie down somewhere huh

- outside of the central romance this is a tale about people who love their brothers very very much and it’s real sad for everyone involved

- me watching nie mingjue kicking down the doors to reclaim his own dang fortress: YEEEEAAAAH GO OFF DAGE!!! i um love him and his very handsome face

- jiang cheng dreaming about his family is EMOTIONAL WARFARE!!! how fucking dare!!!

- y’know what this isn’t a bad way of adapting the burial grounds thing! also pretty cost effective I imagine, gotta think about the budget when so much of it goes into fabulous wigs and robes

- credit where it’s due, the actor for wen chao makes his face do some shit I didn’t know human faces could do and he’s enjoyable to watch in the capacity as your friendly neighbourhood hate sink

- lwj consistently using wwx’s personal name even when talking to total strangers now... mhm this is also fine

- I can’t beliEVE this show is somehow less subtle about the gay stuff than the book, jin zixuan basically just asked lwj if he and wwx were... y’know... I guess cultivation partners would be the way to go here lol. between that and nhs more or less asking them if they were off fucking after the whole cold cave debacle... what a time to be alive even if they’re not going to kiss on-screen  

- huaisang I hate to have to be the one to tell you this but your brother is an entire snacc. and yet I respect him way too much to ever proposition him, I know he is busy winning a war and being Righteous and slowly being driven mad by the ghost in his sword on top of raising his little brother, I’m not here to complicate things for him any further

I love this version of nmj so much though. this sense that he also sees the stuff that is genuinely good in jgy and has a real moment of grief that the dude just can’t seem to get away from his basic insecurity that causes him to do horrific things, even when handed other opportunities... the fact that he seems regretful and worried when asking jin zixuan how jgy is doing with the jin....... everything to do with his little brother...................... oh no he’s Soft in his private life this is awful

- poor lwj’s ‘I have a bad feeling about this’ face in this scene haha, he’s staring at this talisman like ‘I only know one person smart and dumb enough to pull this off’

- can’t wen quing just get one nice thing. one nice thing just for her. hasn’t she been through enough. give her her brother back and a nice quiet place to practice medicine and maybe some soft romance with jiang cheng eventually this show is kind of selling me on this.  

- unexpectedly my favourite part of the revenge scene is just the camera switching back to lwj and jc watching in horrified silence like ‘...O___o dude this is fucked up tho right?? it’s not just me that’s messed up??’

- one is forced to wonder about wen zhuliu tho. this version reads as pretty explicitly depressed/suicidal to me, he’s kind of an interesting villain since his main traits are unquestioning loyalty mixed with unending indifference and also seemingly not too pressing a will to live

- oh nhs desperately trying to keep it together and pretend nothing’s different ;_____; this version is really driving it home that wwx is a lot of people’s only friend -- jiang cheng is mentioned to not have anyone but his sister to play with before he arrived, lwj was raised primarily on books and rules and his brother is ELATED that he has one (1) friend now, from the sheer depth of the attachment I’m willing to bet nhs hasn’t had many real friends in his life either. wwx gives and gives of himself and doesn’t know how to take help in return.    

- foreknowledge is a beautiful thing; if you look at nhs when it’s revealed wwx didn’t bring his sword you can visibly see his brain kicking into overdrive haha. smart boy.

- big sister ;_______; I am an older sibling so I haven’t really had the feeling of having an older sister to look to, I see why it might be comforting now

- oh this is some real uruk-hai shit!! honestly the special effects in this aren’t half as bad as I’d been lead to fear, some of you guys just weren’t forged in the crucible of shitty sci-fi channel cgi at an early age and it shows  

(honestly the weird fight stuff threw me much worse in nirvana in fire, because that series has such intricate, credible and realistic political world building and then people are flying all over the place through wire fu and it is so disorienting haha)

- oh nhs looking up at his brother like a puppy during the war council T______T baby bird boy

(between this point in the main story and fatal journey it’s very interesting how clearly nhs needs the emotional stability and safety of his brother -- who also seems to be his parental figure -- to function properly, even in his late teens. it looks like he needed more time to grow up than the rest of them even before they were all thrown into this awful bullshit. well he does have a lot of murderkitten brain to grow I guess that’s fair enough lol. wwx has some of the same thing with his sister too)

- whenever lxc and nmj look at each other it feels like the only two adults in the room meeting each other’s eyes like ‘...oh dear’

- aww lwj getting some advice from his brother. this poor kid really hasn’t been raised to handle the moral complexity of the real world huh, good thing lxc is here to lend some nuance to lan qiren’s unforgiving dogma

- oh lan zhan

- nmj’s plan to just idk somehow go in alone and fight the wen overlord mano a mano to avoid any more casualties... a spine made of steel, a heart made of gold, a head made of wood :’) truly a perfect man, good thing his brother got the brains in that family and he has some more sensible people around him

- in the face of inevitability I plead... jiang yanli... please don’t marry this asshole your son is going to be predictably insufferable

wwx has suffered through so much the last four months or so and yet his real breaking point is seeing his sister cry and can I just say -- relatable content

- NO! NO STOP HURTING HIM HE’S JUST GOOD AND HANDSOME AND DOESN’T DESERVE THIS

(could be applied to like 98% of these characters but in this case it’s nmj b/c I love him)

I do find it very funny and oddly comforting that nmj is literally so fuckn mad that it takes three times as many attacks for the evil sorcery stuff to take him down than we’ve seen used on anyone else fsdkfhasdkj too angry to die  

wHY has my brain chosen for me to attach so deeply to perhaps The single most inevitably doomed person in this entire cast, at this point I’m just being cruel to myself lol

- I can’t describe how much I love the fanficiness of this story, in the best ways. the emotional fallout from the destruction of the lotus pier gets more screentime and attention than the entire sunshot campaign, and that’s exactly how I want it to be.  

- they’ve been doing some great work to establish that the jin are also jeeeeeerks for such a long time, how’s that for foreshadowing

- equal opportunity traitor jgy gets his stab in lol one must respect the grift, though, he’s set himself up pretty darn good

*lxc stops nmj from killing jgy, hello darkness my old friend starts playing in the background*

fatal journey builds nicely on this fundamental thing that the nie boys take their responsibility to their people extremely seriously, it seems to be the fact that jgy so blithely talks about them as necessary casualties that really sets him off

- adlfsdfhsdkjh lxc and nmj meekly being like ‘...we could maybe... not commit war crimes? if that’s at all possible? no?’

*slaps ‘I don’t think you even tried at all’ stars on both of them* (I mean I actually do kind of see where they’re coming from a bit, they just came out of a pretty costly war and I wouldn’t feel too comfortable getting right back into it with arguably the wealthiest faction, who’s also been keeping back a bit and thus kept a lot more reserves. well played jin bastards well played)

- I could stop here. if I stopped here everything would basically be as okay as they could be and the world full of hope still. I suppose the question here is... do I love myself enough to quit while the going is good. and the answer is no I already started the next episode

- I think one incredibly endearing aspect of this version of nmj is that he has a look of faint but permanent worry about him. he walked onto the screen with a vibe of ‘...oh boy I don’t like where this is going’ and he’s just kept going ever since

in the book he’s kind of a flat character (whose one trait is Mad), I love that they’ve given him some depth and nuance here! probably partly down to the actor doing a great job, but this version has a real sort of warmth to him and also seems downright uncertain at times -- he thrives when there’s a clear goal and black and white sides, and is probably not  t h r i l l e d with the weird tentative political situation after they take down the wens lol. thank god he has his little brother to make ‘bitch please’ faces over his shoulder when the jin get weird about things

anyway I’m always on the ‘nhs you are SO valid’ train, but in this version nhs is quadruple valid, in fact only mianmian is more valid in this entire world

- one of my favourite parts of this show is when wwx enters a situation and the camera takes some time to zoom in on the faces of his family and friends to convey their sense of ‘oh god what the fuck is he about to say now’ dread    

- jiang yanli asking her little brother if he doesn’t want to stay with them anymore while crying is emotional kryptonite, help

this poor woman, she had to put all her points into emotional intelligence b/c god knows no one else in this family did

- hell YEAH lan zhan go break some rules!! treat yourself my guy

- hey sis if, theoretically, one hypothetically found oneself in -- for the sake of argument -- love with, as the case may or may not be, someone... how would one tell?? asking for a friend

- the whole summary of this fucking show is just ‘weaponized sibling feels’ everything hurts with foreknowledge why did I keep going

- aw no blindfolded kiss scene but here’s a scene with real earnest emotional intimacy stuff going on instead... I will joyfully take it your honor

- I do value and respect the translators giving us these subtitles so much... but they did also force me to read the words ‘bosom friend’ with my own two eyes right there and that was not very cool of them

- why oh WHY must jiang yanli, best person in the world, have been cursed with the horrible fate of being in love with the dumbest man on the planet

*jiang yanli juggling all the idiot men in her life* oh god my little brother is causing an international diplomatic incident again time to bUCKLE UP

oh ho ho you know shit is getting real when big sister gets mad I LOVE HER. suddenly you see she definitely her mother’s daughter after all lol

wwx crying because his sister just fiercely defended him in public... im uwu

- I hate jgy with all my heart but I do feel bad for him too. his barely faltering :) look while all his asshole relatives gang up on him sdfhskahf

- again the jin are dicks but when it comes to aesthetics they do go off, that’s such a beautiful shade of blue

- dsflhsdakjlfhsdakjfl sd this shot of lwj and nmj right before lxc drinks is the funniest framing imaginable b/c lwj is wearing a look of complete stonefaced

-___________-

and meanwhile nmj, who presumably has seen lxc drunk before since they’re longstanding bros, looks worried as fUCK

- awwwww I do love nhs capitalizing all of jc’s attention so the others won’t start shit with him/so he won’t get to say something publicly he’ll regret later because he’s (understandably honestly) mad at his brother for making his life even more difficult than it has to be (I have every sympathy with wwx but buddy... buddy must you make everything more complicated for your bro every darn time this is a real delicate political situation and he’s not suited for that even without your antics)

it’s a very nhs move because he comes across as slightly boorish and rude and thus leaves jc blameless and thus protected, you can get so far if you have no self respect lol  

- showing us exactly how wen ning died is honestly a little too mean this is not fun

- good god this poor grandma has been through the wringer hasn’t she

- oh. oh wen ning, who never meant hurt anyone in his entire life :(

- listen okay the end is in sight just a couple more horrific tragedies to get through and then it’s the weird romantic comedy buddy cop antics of the current day timeline to ride to the end

- it cannot be overemphasized how much this lan zhan is Baby, I so desperately want to help and protect him

- I’m going to stop shouting out individual actors on this show they’re all goddamn brilliant haha (but am I tho)

- most valid person in the cultivation world mianmian

also enjoying the exemplification of nmj’s character that is ‘not sure how I feel about this dumb kid with the big mouth digging his own grave ever deeper but that girl’s got guts and I respect that’

- wen quing is getting a taste of the dangers and pitfalls of having wwx as a little brother dfhskdalfhsdaklj she and jyl should compare notes (he’s so good tho T-----T)

- how does wwx’s actor have such natural dad energy at such a young age, too powerful

- people give so little thought to how fucked up jc’s situation really is here, like he’s just being an asshole for the sake of it. spend three fucking seconds looking at it with some realpolitik in mind and realize that the clans around him have just shown that they can and will wipe out an enemy clan together if need be, and that his own sect hasn’t even gotten back on its feet after the war that almost wiped it out. like wwx is unquestionably morally right but has gone about it in such a way that it’s real fucking hard to support him without going down with him and how do you calculate that risk when you’re responsible for so many more lives than your own

also so sad about jc being so afraid this entire time that wwx would leave him like everyone else... and now he has :( jc doesn’t handle it well but then who would at this stage

- there is something so pure about a quietly horrified lan zhan getting Dad Advice from these guys (well he’s going to be needing it soon enough so)

oh the utter softness of his face looking at wwx and ah yuan ;_______; thank god, some fluff to bolster my heart before we set off into the last harrowing ordeal here

LAN ZHAN’S ENTIRE FACE LIGHTING UP AT WEI YING ASKING HIM OUT thank fuck there’s still some joy left in the universe

this poor love struck man, someone help him  

lan zhan conscientiously grabbing ah yuan’s toys is fskhdfksjdlfhskjdhf

- lan zhan looking around the demon subduing cave: babe I love you more than life itself but this is tacky as hell

- crying because wen niiiiiing

- crying because sibliiiiiings

okay this is the last time the three of them will be together and nominally happy, need to appreciate it through my tears

- actually I take it back please just let the bad thing happen now so I don’t have to live in suspense anymore lol (...this probably says a lot more about me as a person than I’m strictly comfortable with)

- the fact that none of wwx’s little adopted wen family are AT ALL intimidated by him anymore is just... it’s too much to bear

again tho this book/show is so willing to let you dwell in the emotional stages of things in a very fanfic sort of way, I think it’s what makes the sad parts so much worse (and makes you feel so incredibly attached to these characters)

- I gUESS it’s a testament to jin zixuan’s character that he has any decency at all, considering who his dad is and where he was raised

I’m cracking up at their dad being the one who still doesn’t trust jgy tho lol snake recognizes snake

- jgy’s faint look of ‘are you fucking kIdDiNg me rn’ whenever all these jin douchebags talk is very entertaining. if he didn’t go on to do all that murder and incest and (probably) infanticide I’d sort of cheer for him no matter what kind of sociopath he is

- not to be a downer or anything but isn’t one month a little premature to be celebrating the survival of a baby in fantasy old timey china tho

sometimes I feel like looking back at history is just seeing a whole lot of dead children (and this is why I think that even if god did exist it would be morally inconceivable to worship him! sorry just a quick detour into my personal grudge against the inherent cruelty of the world there, let’s move on)

- it’s uncomfortable to watch even the outlines of the jin sect’s slow insidious stranglehold on power. even these random shopgoing nobodies know that nmj is Not Happy about these watchtowers and that it’s probably going to happen anyway. the jin are snakes but at least they’re clever about it and I do kind of respect that

- oh everything’s about to go so wrong I hate it

NOOOOO don’t make the zombie baby fight, nothing good will come of this

- man this is hitting me worse than lotus pier actually I’m just... crying haha

it’s almost cathartic tho... there’s something about wen quing’s dignity and certainty that really helps? I just really wish they hadn’t brought the whole little group, god I want them to be okay so badly and ah yuan will be all that’s left and. and just throw me into the ocean and let me sink tbh

- I know this is all so much black cgi smoke (pls let us see the red version again at some point btw that was cool as shit) but the emotional metaphor of wwx that you can’t take on more and more of other people’s suffering and trauma and not care for yourself because you will lose control of that at some point is just. very nicely done. (he’s a bit of an odd serial codependent for a lot of the story, isn’t he. thank god lan zhan is not a quitter)

- jin zixuan’s mom is breaking my heart a little here. this lady has been married to THAT GUY all this time and now this as well. sorry lady, I guess jgy probably Took Care Of You at some stage after this

- a) this is just real good acting for wwx. this is the perfect level of unhinged for this, even though I’m always like ‘just. just shut your mouth for one time in your life and stop digging this grave any deeper six feet should be enough for anyone huh’ at this stage of the story and b) I am cackling inappropriately at the shot-reverse-shots between wwx, jiang cheng and jgy. jiang cheng looks like everything he ever loved is falling apart around him and jgy is like ‘oh wow I didn’t even have to provide him any rope he’s doing an excellent job at hanging himself without me’

I love wwx so much but it did take him an unconscionable length of time to realize that when you set big enough things into motion you will not be able to control who it crushes along the way or who might steer it in the wrong direction. other people exist and have agency and a lot of those people are bad honey :(

- ah yes lwj being stopped by a barrier made of the physical manifestation of wwx’s trauma when he tries to reach him :’) this is okay and cool and fine    

- it’s admirably obtuse of everyone to look at wwx at this stage and still think he’s in control of uh anything lol

- oh okay that went better than expected I don’t know if I’m just inured to sadness at this point

jiang cheng looking like a little boy clutching his big sister’s body is tugging at my heartstrings a bit tho

- ooooh this battle hardened intense lwj!!! I guess I can sort of see it now

- oh lan zhan 2, electric boogaloo

- finally! time for some comfort up in this hurt

- my man nmj still so fucking angry in the afterlife that anything even remotely connected to him is shaking with rage in sympathy in the real world. a mood

- fdsahfsjdklfhsdajk wwx being like ‘I can take everyone saying I was evil but how DARE you not mention I was also a snacc’

- when do you think nie huaisang really realized that his brother wouldn’t have children and that he was up for the sect leader seat next? nie mingjue seems to have known pretty far in advance himself and tried to prepare his brother accordingly, but that kid really didn’t want the job so I imagine he’d try to live in denial as long as possible

vaguely related: no other family is ever mentioned by either brother or anyone else, and nie huaisang straight out says that he is the only main disciple (I seem to remember and with the caveat that I might have misunderstood the translation) when there’s the talk of them being sent to the wen as hostages -- I suppose you sort of have to be very selective when your ancestral cultivation method is sketchy enough that you should keep that shit on the down low and you know people die young from it. so I think it’s possible if not probable that huaisang is the last of his family. isn’t that a fun little thing to think about? haha. ha. help me  

- this random street vendor is an unexpected strong comedy performance, every face he makes is pure gold

- fkshafkjsdhfasd best introduction of adult nhs

- the quiet luminous love on lwj’s face whenever he looks at wwx in the present... give this man all the awards. it’s nice that wwx gets to be scared and childish and vulnerable with someone who loves him no matter what too, he’s been through some shit

- oh okay I see so the reason they chose to make fatal journey the way they did was because they already had the set built

- *nhs dropping one set of robes like that one gif from anastasia to reveal another even more luxuriously dandy-ish set under it* oh wow what a surprise to see you two down here, coincidences amirite (anyway here’s the testament to all the sins of my ancestors & a trail of breadcrumbs to lead you to the murderer of my brother)

no wait that’s slightly later isn’t it. well the point still stands

- dead!nmj is truly a mood -- “I don’t know where I am, who I am or what the fuck just happened but I do know that I am PISSED OFF”

(actually in the book I found that almost comforting -- at least the dude got to spend his afterlife doing what he loved (i.e. being angry), but this more nuanced and sympathetic version being trapped like that just. makes me very very sad)

nice of him to stick around to play a few rounds of hot or cold with his little bro’s friends tho lol. I mean from what I understand of this take on canon it’s actually the spirit of his sword and not him in person? but close enough, let me keep him as long as I can okay

- jin ling getting his dumb ass cask of amontillado’d within ten minutes of entering the tomb smh

look at your ROBES young man what is your (other) uncle going to say??

- hAH what did I say. pedagogic mastermind jiang cheng at it again

enjoying the fact that they chose the floofiest most benign-looking of dogs to play this ~*terrifying hound*~ so much

I have a lot of sympathy for jiang cheng, and the actor is doing a good job at aging him up here (not as good as lwj’s but then you can’t beat perfection). the way he’s calcified into bitterness and anger b/c he can’t express his emotions in a healthy nuanced way feels very... real I guess, people get like that sometimes

- I am somehow really endeared to this version of jin ling. a dumb baby, but a baby

- poor lan zhan lol “I LEFT YOU ON YOUR OWN FOR TWO HOURS AND YOU ALREADY MANAGED TO TAKE ON SOMEONE ELSE’S CURSE??? BABE!!!!!!!”

he consistently uses jiang cheng’s personal name too huh. well it is his brother in law I guess ETA: actually I’m an idiot ignore/forgive me, that’s jiang cheng’s courtesy name isn’t it. lan wangji is being salty/maybe-deliberately-maybe-not-(but-definitely-tho) distant/polite with him I think 

- y’know... as I watch lwj carry the love of his life around on his back with all the tenderness in the world and I see people in the comments yell about why do you always need everything to be gay they’re just good friends you’re all crazy... I realize all over again that there really is no level of queerness they’ll ever find legitimate or acceptable. which like. feels bad, but there’s also the freedom in remembering they are always going to be assholes no matter what I do, there’s literally no need to listen to them at any time.

- I am CRACKING UP; watching this episode right after seeing fatal journey sure is a treat hahaha. nhs really must enjoy the acting on a deep level because he is hamming it up and I am living for it    

“It’s nothing at all like unorthodox demonic cultivation methods!” he protests with his big innocent doe eyes, having yelled the exact same accusation at his brother within ten seconds of finding out about it dsfdskjha

- awww that’s such a sweet way of telling nhs who he is while both of them still get plausible deniability :’)

this show is making it a LOT easier to figure out nhs’ deal earlier just through visual storytelling and his reactions when lwj and wwx aren’t looking, but I guess you sort of have to do that without the benefits of selective POVs that you can do in written stories

- lan zhan’s little smirks are such a blessing

- can we talk about how INCREDIBLY rude lwj and wwx are being barging into other people’s ancestral tombs like they own the place. I know I said break some rules lan zhan but there’s such a thing as common decency too at least wipe your feet at the entrance or something

stop being big bullies!!! (nhs actually sounds a little salty at how debonair they are being lol he’s like yeah you’re doing what I want you to but you don’t have to be such dicks about it)

- nooooooo nmj don’t die ur so sexy ahaha (I jest so I do not cry godddddd my heart big brother come baaaaaaack)

I’m honestly finding it very hard to live with knowing that the last thing nmj saw in life was jgy having his little brother in his clutches D:D:D: looking at it like that... of course he came back mad as fuck, I’d probably do the same thing

- boys boys I love and support you but could you maybe not stand around talking about how this was totally a horrific murder like the murderee’s little brother isn’t standing right there?? i mean it’s useful for him but it’s kind of mean of you, I know neither of you were raised in a barn  

okay there’s wwx irrepressible protective instinct that’s better. I just... nhs standing there looking small and sad and soft and lonely isn’t the whole truth but it is part of the whole truth, it’s nice to see wwx being like this even after all those years. (the physical closeness in their friendship in their youth in this version is so gooood. outside of wwx the only two people we see nhs consistently allow close or seek out closeness from is his brother and MENG YAO, who can frankly burn in hell even more than usual for the flute thing in fatal journey.)

- lan zhan contemplating the inherent impermanence of everything good in the world and then immediately getting blackout drunk -- MOOD. also I have never seen a scene where someone so obviously was about to press a soft kiss to someone’s forehead or cheek, don’t worry wwx I see you through the censorship lol

(it’s incredible how well they’ve adapted the love story considering the fact that they technically uh can’t)  

- wen ning: shambles, zombie-like and disheveled with horror movie monster eyes, into frame

all of us: omg a BABY ToT

- live action drunk lan zhan is living up to the hype I am  d y i n g

this poor repressed man

fjskdfsdkjhf he could do sword fighting in his damn sleep probably

I will say that leaving ‘wei wuxian was also here’ is going to scare the crap out of these poor people whose only crime was keeping well fed chickens

- they r so in love someone hold me

- this nmj!kid I am LOSING IT, this is so cute I want to lie face down on the floor and cry

- the yi city arc is my least favourite part of this story, so I’m fortifying myself to get through a couple of hours of sexy baby xue yang here

- Dad/troll teacher!wwx is in fact everything

- oooh wwx has the same weird crooked fingers as me when they’re extended! just some small Facts About Your Friendly Neighbourhood Blogger there

- this is not at all a bad take on ah quing! she qte

- ‘what’s your husband look like?’ song lan, crying: beautiful

- xxc you didn’t think it was a little weird the dude wouldn’t tell you his name -- even a name -- all this time. honestly

I know you’re in a bad place and this is sort of a rebound thing from your actual true love but stop letting him gaslight you like this buddy :(

- time for some MASSIVELY FORESHADOWING PARALLELS my friends

- I don’t know if I’m just a heartless monster but I honestly don’t care that much about anyone but ah quing in this little sideplot lol (probably my complete disinterest in xue yang tainting everything else)  

- xue yang and jgy: the ‘sad backstory dude still inexplicably extra mass murder’ club

- godddd I’m so bored I’ve listened to this guy cackle ~*madly and evilly*~ for three episodes now when will it fucking end

- lan jingjy you are VALID

- fhsdkfhsdkj can’t get over baxia being like ‘OI you two stop gazing soulfully into each other’s eyes for five seconds and get on with avenging me’

must be annoying spending your afterlife in a pouch third wheeling the two most obnoxiously in love people in the world, I think this spirit sword is being admirably restrained and patient all things considered

- big brother I am so sorry you had to hang out under there all this time while this boring bullshit plot happened above you ;________________________;

I’m actually not clear on what the nie sect does with the bodies of the dead -- the saber tomb seems to be exclusively for the weapons/we see that some of the cultivators will go down there while they’re still alive to sacrifice themselves... maybe they go in the walls? I guess nhs is breaking tradition in a lot of ways tho so who knows!

- ‘from what I’ve seen he’s not so bad’ wei ying he smilingly asked you to use POWs for target practice I’ll allow lxc to be this dumb but you really have no excuse

- this duckling in red is a gentleman and a bro, one to watch

- wwx seductively arranging himself in the open window to cover his panic fsdkjfhsda

- lot’s wife WISHES she had the level of salt jiang cheng does

- ‘if they ask me any weird questions I don’t know the answers to I’ll have to pretend to be a total psycho’

lan zhan, dragging his husband with one deadpan face: I’m sure that is going to be a huge feat of acting for you babe

- NIE HUAISANG FALLING INTO FRAME AND LAUNCHING HIMSELF FROM ONE PERSON TO ANOTHER LIKE A GORMLESS WET RAG, I STAN ONE (1) BOY

‘but new problems appeared’  how is he such a mood

again tho you can give your unknowing accomplices so much space to investigate if you just don’t bother with self respect or dignity at any stage of the journey lol

- fjshdfkjlsahd that beat of lan zhan clearly taking a moment to contemplate the idea of wei ying confessing his love naked in public there

- uncle and nephew bonding time T________________T  

- fsakfhsadkjlfhsad I can’t deal with this mission impossible ass music in the background as a little paper gingerbread man scoots around the palace

whoever animated this was clearly having a lot of fun, I love the little details like his dangling legs and him rubbing his lil paper bum after landing

- poor qin su, one of the most screwed over people in this whole show. at least in the book he didn’t mean to

- ah su, you’re being very unreasonable about this, what is a little incest between friends

- straight culture is this being chill to keep in the adaptation but god forbid anyone got a loving queer kiss at any point (not blaming the showrunners at all, they’re clearly stretching the limits as far as they will go and maybe a bit more at a few points)

- YES SISTER CALL HIM THE FUCK OUT I always felt like she’s known something was a little off for a long time but never could put her finger on what exactly

- ‘can you still not let me go’ hey jgy you piece of shit who’s keeping whose head in a weird serial killer cabinet here

- THANK YOU FOR BRINGING HIS HANDSOME ALIVE FACE BACK TO MY SCREEN IF ONLY TO MAKE ME SAD

- he’s so beautiful and righteous and strong 😭😭😭😭 dage come back to us

(makes even more sense that he’s so pissed off about what jgy did if he’s already shown clearly that he’ll shut down the people fucking with him if it’s brought to his attention. he gave you every opportunity you little oh-it’s-never-really-my-fault worm of a man)

- another nmj about to cry warning needed here help me

dON’T FUCKING TOUCH HIM YOU SLIMY FSKJLDHFKSJDHFSKDJLHF

the nie traits are undying loyalty, rage, and the intergenerational trauma of watching your parental figures succumb to death and madness through the same cultivation path you practice

- my cause of death: nmj’s eyes shining with unshed tears

this version has that edge of vulnerability to him, you suddenly do realize he was once just a kid watching his dad die a horrifying death and then having to take on all that responsibility and raising his brother

nie boys unfailingly devoted to the people under their protection I’m gonna go bury myself under a tree or something

- I’ve had to turn the volume down so I can barely hear anything b/c my emotions are too big to for my dumb body to contain already I can’t listen to this

- extremely sad but also a little funny that part of the reason nmj died was that he had no interest whatsoever in the arts. ‘music is music right?’ says local jock

- I’ve just been whimpering the last twenty minutes this is awful

- huaisang’s voice breaking on ‘big brother, it’s me’... sdlakhgsdjklfhsadjkghsdkjlfhdskljhgsdalkhgsdklgjhsdjklhgkdjslhgjskd I’m going to the bottom of the mariana trench and I’m staying there goodbye

- I can’t wait to watch nie huaisang end this putrid trash man’s whole career in the most devastating way possible tbh

- I’m just so SAD T______________________________T I hate jgy so much my heart burns with it I’m so glad he’s about to get some dramatic irony shoved up his -- but I digress

- haha poor jin ling standing there watching all this messed up shit like ‘O.O thanks i’m nine’

- I wish I was as good at passing the fuck out on command as nhs, I feel like it would solve a lot of my problems

- just some low key soulmate shit no biggie

- wwx is basically fantasy old timey naked again here the SCANDAL except no scandal they’re clearly married

- wwx is being so much more patient with lxc than I would have found it in my heart to be at this stage. he’s like ‘lxc you are my brother in law and I truly appreciate you and everything you’ve done for me but it’s sadly up to me to gently confront you with all the ways you’ve been a dumb ho just b/c you think jgy has pretty dimples 😔’

- “You’re not qualified to talk to me” oh lwj I love you so much. I thought committing murder was forbidden by the lan sect rules but there you go  

- it honestly baffles me that some people think nmj would be the strictest parental figure in this universe when a) everything about huaisang suggests otherwise and b) lan qiren is right there

madam yu has that ‘super unforgiving to her son’s face but will also tear anyone criticizing him a new one’ mixed energy too  

- lqr: I raised a perfect obedient righteous cultivator

me & wei ying: you’ve ruined a perfectly good boy is what you did look at him he’s too repressed to breathe

- well their dad clearly paid enough attention to worldly matters that two kids resulted from it, I’m not quite sure where we’re going with this lxc

one’s an accident two’s a pattern etc.

- wow I was so confused about ‘confidante’ being used here b/c it makes absolutely no sense in context, and the comments helpfully informed me that it’s more accurately translated to ‘soulmate’ or something like that; that does make a whole lot more sense yeah

- bb!lan zhan kneeling in the snow is more than anyone’s supposed to have to live with tbh

- lxc being like ‘so yeah my brother will keep loving people long after they’re gone and unable to give him love back! just a fun fact there, something to think about anyway here’s wonderwall’

- soft, ever-so-slightly messy haired at home lan zhan deserves the world

- oh wwx’s shift away from thinking the truth doesn’t matter at all to realizing the truth of you being held fully and with love by one person in your life is enough as lwj plays their song ;______________________________; this is almost more romantic than a kiss scene would be honestly jesus christ  

- little apple is the best of us tbh

- apologies but they have 100% started to fuck off-screen at this stage, the looks wei ying is giving him dsafasdfhsjkd

- I take it back mianmian and little apple are the best of us

- imagine just finding the light bearing lord, second peerless jade of lan in his immaculate white clothes, peeking out from between your hay bales one day

- the exponential increase in lan zhan’s blessed little smiles lately: my oh-they-fawking thesis is validated yet again

- wei ying lying through his teeth: of course I remembered your face at once who do you take me for  

(lan zhan: smirks in quiet satisfaction)

- walejhgskdjhgsjdaklfhsadjkflafhsjakdsf wen ning is so cute I don’t know what to do with myself

- wei ying this is where you first asked him out of course he remembers

- lan zhan is like ‘oh shit I forgot to tell him about our son and at this point I’m kind of embarrassed to bring it up’

- I am NOT thinking about the lotus pond they made for him here, you can’t make me

- ‘the worst time in their lives’ yeah, but there was such love there too. it  h u r t s 

- the actor for wen ning is so good at making his expressions look deeply earnest but also a little uncanny, like moving his face doesn’t come naturally to him anymore but his Good Boyness shines through

- DRAGGED in public by his own son. rip wwx he had a good run of it before his untimely murder

- wow thank goodness sect leader yao survived all this time, his death would as we all know have been a huge loss to society as a whole

- “I’m just here to round up the numbers” I love him more than I can convey to you in words

I’m a simple person, I hear nhs’ chronically befuddled voice and a burst of pure joy is released in my heart

sdfhjksadhfsad his soft little 😕 face peeking out from behind people’s shoulders fkjsdhfsdjal

- will I ever get enough of nhs masterfully manipulating a situation through his own apparent cowardliness and uselessness? no is the answer to that it’s always entrancing to watch

nhs as a teacher, nodding sagely as his disciples exchange glances: it’s never too late to go home instead of going big. saying ‘fuck this i’m outta here’ is always an option

- also nhs seemingly doesn’t use a saber at all anymore, where he at least used to have one back in fatal journey times. I’m very happy he’s trying some new things, time to break that very sad traumatic chain of dying young and furious

also him getting someone else to do the work of fixing the ward or whatever fskdfhaskdlf

teacher nhs, waving his pupils away b/c he’s busy painting or something: class dismissed. and remember, if at all possible, get someone else to do your homework for you. as long as you don’t get caught that’s an automatic A

- wwx is literally the cat surrounded by knives meme here lol

- lol lol lol wwx just removed his outer tunic thing to reveal lan zhan’s undershirt still under there and you can see lan qiren silently seethe with ‘that little hussy has seduced my nephew away from the righteous path’

(do I personally believe in slut shaming of any kind? nah it’s dumb as fuck. do I think lqr does? yeah)

- hahaha I can’t tell if nhs’ slightly glazed look here is b/c wwx did something he didn’t plan for him to do or if it’s because he’s for all intents and purposes half naked in front of them. (tbh I think there’s a case to be made in this version that he has a sort of wistful would-never-act-on-it-for-a-million-different-reasons-lan-zhan’s-furious-jealous-stare-being-foremost-of-them crush on both wwx and lwj from back when they were teens)

- WOW all these dicks inviting themselves to lotus pier!!! r u d e

- lan zhan flexing on lan qiren by raising a happy well adjusted child even while he’s mourning the love of his life: what like it’s hard

- wen ning kept that toy for sixteen goddamn years don’t touch me

- I’m crying about jin ling give me a moment. he is baby okay he’s even younger than ah yuan by at least four years

the image of him hugging the only thing he’s got left of his dad... fsdalkfhasdjlkfhsjdakhfsjdk

- lan sizhui has a crowd of good uncles/dads and poor jin ling has a crowd of utter disaster uncles and it’s very unfortunate (yes wwx is on both of those lists)

it is very sweet that it’s jiang cheng who consistently actually looks out for him, even in his feelings-wtf-are-feelings sort of way. the least disaster uncle, but only by comparison lol

- I think this ouyang kid might be duckling in red from before? LOVING the interspersed nhs reaction shots to him, anyway fsakdfh (I’m going to make it sad: how many conversations like this do you think he had with his brother as a kid? that’s fine we can both cry now I don’t want to be alone in this)

- ‘mr ning’ im Y___________________________________Y

- extremely Here for yet another full costume change from nhs hahaha (he’s changed at the boat already, god knows how he pulled that off but I’d expect no less from him)

- nhs must have been a sect leader for at least a decade at this point, and he still manages to exude such a powerful ‘kid at the adult’s table’ aura. incredible. mindblowing, inspirational

- ...oh they went with the same version of the previous jin leader’s death huh (but GOD FORBID that anyone should be openly gay amirite lol) O___O again though WHY is jin ling here, jiang cheng??????? he’s like sixteen, he’s never going to dare to even kiss anyone after this

- nhs has the look of a man who’s had to sit on this disgusting knowledge alone for years and finally gets to share that icky burden around, merry christmas everyone if I have to know about this so do you

- I don’t know if this is just me imagining things or reading more into it than what’s there, but I think nhs is actually sitting in the same pose his brother used to a lot in this part of the scene (the upright posture with palms resting at the top of the thighs/hips, fingers turned inwards/towards each other; it looks sort of... solid and self-contained, I guess)

- I would call jgy knowingly committing the incest character assassination if he’d had enough character to assassinate even in the book, I would never have put it past him

- y’know... god knows nmj had flaws (I think my immense depth of love for him in this version comes precisely from how hard he tries even while being deeply flawed. him dumb but him always trying :’) well actually he’s not dumb at all, he’s shown to be pretty darn politically savvy, I’m just having a hard time finding the right word here. ‘inflexible’ is maybe closer ), but the big defining difference between him and jin guangyao (and consequently xue yang) is that both of the latter are completely open about the fact that they see themselves as more important than anyone else -- xue yang considers one of his fingers worth more than fifty people’s lives, jgy kills twenty sex workers as a mere afterthought to his own revenge on his father. meanwhile nmj gets Messed Up by people dying under his protection to the degree that he came up with one of the dumbest plans I’ve ever heard just so he’d be the only one at risk, just so no one else would get hurt anymore. hmnghsjhfs.   

- wen ning, proudly: my sister was the best doctor in the world 

me, openly crying: she sure was buddy

- wwx: hey lan zhan are there any sweet patient lan ladies with an open mind around

lwj: ...why

wwx: I just think our zombie son should start thinking about getting friends, maybe even a real home

lwj, subtly relieved: oh

- JIN LING BABY BOY NOOOO D:D:D:

- nhs I need you to come in and end this man I cannot look at his awful face anymore

- ugh this garrotte sound effect is really unpleasant actually well done

- THERE HE IS!!! conveniently swooning his way into the scene again, my guy ;_______; smol and soft-looking and about to utterly obliterate a man on every conceivable level 

I love every moment of the camera dwelling meaningfully on his innocent vulnerable face, this is going to be so great 

it’s too bad he’s a behind the curtain sort of dude, I would kill for a poirot-style ‘I’m sure you’re all wondering why I’ve gathered you here in the library’ moment here lol

- tbh jiang cheng’s got a point about that whole ‘making huge sweeping decisions about someone else’s life and never telling them about it’ thing

wwx has sort of structured himself as a person so that you’ll never be allowed to really reciprocate his dedication and sacrifices (unless you’re lz lol), and while that is a very sympathetic trauma reaction essentially it is sort of a dick move interpersonally.

- the weight and wisdom that comes along with the scars of older wwx... you love to see it

- nhs, with effortless grace, rousing from his disney princess slumber just as the real drama’s about to begin... your honor he is simply the best

-  T__________________________________________________________T big brother 

- the tinge of coldness in nhs’ eyes while he watches jgy through this whole scene even as he keeps up the ‘im baby don’t worry about me’ act.............. fashdfjlksdahfslkadj, not to say askfksjhafkjsldhfkjsalhfksjaldhfkls

- to say that jgy has perhaps ‘gone overboard with this’ might be the biggest understatement of any century lxc

- watching him kneel by his brother’s coffin here I’d like to propose that Nie Huaisang has exactly the same capacity for all-consuming rage as the rest of his family, except he can’t just vent it by hitting something real hard with a haunted murder saber so he has to get creative and that was real unfortunate for Jin Guangyao  

- one thing that’s always tickled me is that nhs did give jgy the choice. the people around him -- the people he claims to love -- could have been left out of it, no dishonor being brought to either his name or any of theirs... if he’d been willing to sacrifice himself. (probably a gambit where he knew that was never going to happen, but still!)

- nhs standing there in the background like ‘yeah yeah we all have horrifying family legacies buddy, we just don’t knowingly marry our sisters or arrange for mass murders over it’  

- arguably killing the previous jin leader could actually count as a good deed if not for the horrifying way he did it lol. jgy all over, he could have done something helpful, *john mulaney voice* and then he didn’t he just killed nineteen innocent women while he was on a roll instead

- while it’s sort of bullshit that some responsibility is taken away from wwx in jin zixuan’s death here it’s also making a bit more sense to me like this -- seems like an uncharacteristic gamble from jgy to just idk hope wwx would lose control at exactly the right/wrong moment. wwx is still at fault for how casually he treated wen ning as a weapon when he didn’t know what the consequences could be, I’m okay with this

- jin ling and the terrible horrible no good very bad week :( protect him

wow lan xicheng let’s stand around some more letting this awful excuse for a person tell this sixteen year old boy that his parents deserved to be murdered basically, I’m sure there’s a lot more fruitful discussion still left to be had here  

- talk shit about nie mingjue’s brother get hit su she hell YEAHHHHHH

big brother still looking out for him I’m fsdklfhajsdlhf 😭😭😭

- I’M SO FULL OF FEELINGS ;________________________________; at least in this version the implication feels more like he’s finally at peace? (hilariously wwx managed to purge/cleanse the saber spirit, which is the entire conflict of fatal journey haha, nhs really did get his best friend to do his homework for him yet again, INSPIRATIONAL)

- HELL YEAH FINALLY GET REKT YOU PIECE OF SHIT! PRESS F TO PAY RESPECT EXCEPT JOKE’S ON YOU I’VE GOT NO RESPECT TO PAY

They did do away with any and all ambiguity around nhs here and I’m totally cool with it, that was awesome

- I’m playing the world’s tiniest little violin right now, wow much sad fuck you and your dumb hat

- may I just say that the fact that jgy uses his last moments on earth to make lxc, a person he proclaims to love, feel as bad as possible about his now inevitable death even though it clearly wasn’t really his fault... is just proof that he has never actually loved anyone at all except possibly himself 

contrast with wwx, who tells jc that he’s sorry, dries his tears in the here and now and says to let the past go because there’s nothing either of them can do about it now and there’s no point in hurting themselves over it again and again anymore. jgy has the opportunity to give a similar kindness here and instead twists and twists the knife, so lxc will be in as much pain as possible when he’s gone. he’d rather be kept alive in lxc’s suffering than let him, someone he ‘loves’, ever heal and be happy. anyway I hope hell is real shitty for you jgy

- jgy you absolute piece of shit you couldn’t let my man have TEN FUCKING MINUTES to nap in peace? after sixteen years of your fuckery? urgh bye  

- nhs looking at lxc sadly when lxc can’t see him... one last ‘I don’t know’ finally closing out his arc... I love all of this so much, there’s such a nuance of... he is genuinely a bit sad about causing lxc pain but he also doesn’t regret what he did At All. (I guess most of what he’s done must be pretty easy to rationalize/justify to himself, since the vast majority of his work went into finding the horrible shit jgy has done and showing them the way home to roost, rather than creating fresh suffering from scratch. and then there’s also the whole mo family but uh well eggs omelettes amirite lol)   

- lan qiren telling people not to run or talk loudly b/c they’re at a temple, even under these circumstances fhakjsldfhkjsdafhkjsaldhf 

- god the casting people for this show have a perfect track record of finding heartwrenchingly cute kids my GOD

- jfdsafhaskdjfh I love how they’ve done the moment with the hat -- the way the flashback sort of indicates that nhs does recognize on a deep level that the dude he just killed was someone’s son, was after all once an innocent child, like anyone... and again, it doesn’t make him regret it. he looks tired and sort of empty, but not like he’d take any of it back. he’s seen jgy for all that he was, good and bad, and made his decision. his reaction to seeing his hands ever so slightly stained with blood is mostly ‘...eh sure’ (and he knows none of this will ever bring his brother back and I am HURTING) . just. I love him so much what an interesting character 

- lan zhan raised a child who can talk about his feelings, unprecedented & wondrous 

who’s chopping onions in here

- never getting over ah yuan being the best person in the world at roasting his dad 

- okay okay okay I’m going to have some incoherent feelings here -- the expression on nhs’ face right after wwx asks him if he intends to be chief cultivator is just... hm. how do I describe this. it looks almost like he’s thinking ‘oh yeah I forgot you don’t actually know me anymore (yeah okay that’s my bad)’? the previous scene is about lwj and wwx, The symbolic representation of true love in this world, naming each other/knowing each other for exactly who and what they are. that’s the thematic victory in this story; to be truly known, accepted and loved for the entirety of who you are, if only by one person in your whole life. (notably all sorts of love, parental, familial, platonic etc., not just romantic/sexual) and to get his victory, nhs has had to completely forsake that because his whole plan hinged on it; he hasn’t been emotionally honest with anyone for well over a decade at this point. no one really knows or understands him, and if someone ever did he’s long dead now and never coming back. and in this one moment both wwx and nhs seem to come to the quiet understanding that neither of them are who they used to be as kids and it’ll never be like it used to be again, and reach a sort of live-and-let-live truce about it.  d u d e this goddamn story 

(after all part of the reason jgy is so incredibly terrified of nmj is that he’s the first person to see straight through his bullshit to who he is behind it, and that it’s u g l y  back there. jgy + nmj = being known without being accepted or loved (b/c honestly he doesn’t deserve to be loved or accepted yeah there we go I said it), jgy + lxc = being accepted and loved without being known, which turns into disaster all around.)

- man this was actually a really solid adaptation, it was excellently done! they did rush a bit towards the end there (it was never explained why jgy didn’t kill sissi along with all the other sex workers in this version, for example, leaving a rather substantial plot hole, and they never reveal why exactly lan zhan had to take over as sect leader which breaks off lxc’s arc at the end), but all in all that was wonderful and even added some stuff I liked better than in the book! now please god never let mtxt write a sequel, just let them be in this happily ever after, all of them have been through enough ;________;

- also the music was truly epic! I don’t even begrudge them using some parts more often and blatantly than what’s probably necessary, I want to wallow in this love theme as much as the next person lol

- what am I going to do with hours upon hours of my life now? I don’t know either, I suppose I will just have to find some way to hobble on 

[ninjagecko72]

These mostly apply to the 2003 verse, most of them are Mikey’s headcanons

Raphael has read the Jurassic Park book and it's his favorite, and Donny (Yes, it's spelled with a Y in the 03 verse.) has a dinosaur hyperfixation, (those are canon) so I headcanon that those two are critics about the Jurassic movies but love watching it and talking about it and anything dinosaur related.

Mikey actually didn’t learn to draw/sketch until he was around thirteen which explains his art skills in the 2003 show. (Splinter still helped nurture his creativity however he could.) He also actually liked taking pictures for a while too and even insisted Donny to fix up the camera. The second the camera was fixed Mikey took pictures every chance he got.

Splinter kept some habits from his rat days. His hearing is actually very sharp just as much as his nose is. He will sometimes use his hands to brush his fur and rub on his face like he used to as a rat. He also still reverts to scratching himself with his foot if it's ever an itch so bad.

Splinter has also called the turtle tots his pups (what you’d call baby rats) by accident a few times during his early days of mutation.

Raph not only knows how to knit and sew but I'd also like to believe he learned how to crochet too. He's made a few things crocheting too, from blankets to teddy bears. He won't ever admit he made it until Donny catches him in the midst of his work cause they both be insomniacs.

Mikey may be an animal person in 2003 (taking care of stray cats and occasionally pigeons) but if there's any animals he doesn't like, it's seagulls, crabs and stupid people (Casey doesn’t count as a stupid person. He’s a himbo. He’d actually let some cats Mikey brings to become farm cats). Mostly because of baby turtles barely surviving to make it to the ocean. He has a strong sense of justice so I can honestly see him trying to watch over the little sea turtles every chance he gets to. (The others eventually join in to watch and help them too.)

I headcanon that Mikey has in fact done this. He has read a massive book in one day. He’ll do it to cause a small bit of chaos in the home cause the others can’t believe he’d read a normal book over whatever comic they usually see him with.

You know those crossover special that was happening, the Fight for FoxBox? Yeah Raphael literally said if he misses Kirby heads will roll, so that’s possibly his favorite cartoon. It might not be canon but that is fun to think about.

Speaking of cartoons they grew up on a lot of them, most of them were 90s cartoons. And you know the 90s was a golden age for animation too. The 03 fam were also around to see most versions of Star Trek come out.

No matter the universe, they’d definitely help out small family-owned businesses (especially POC businesses). The 2003 turtles had a community with the homeless people. I don’t see why they wouldn’t help out in other places even if it’s so subtle.

The turtle fam actually got to go out during other holidays too (I’m saying this because in my AU they got to go out during Chinese New Year). Mikey took advantage of comic cons, furry/scalie conventions, and other events involving costumes so why can’t the others do the same too?

That’s all I got for now. I got more, mostly involving my AU and OCs, but I’ll make those into a post on its own sometime. Hopefully after I update my fic on its anniversary.

share ur tmnt headcanons in the comments or reblogs (please ^_^)

[blazehedgehog]

Does Sonic Team really onw the original theme song of Green Hill Zone? I heard many times that ST had to pay tot he real owners of the song to be allowed to remix it like in the case of Generations, but when they don't pay they usually just rip the music from Sonic 1 like it was the case in Smash Bros Brawl. If this true?

Sega has never officially commented on this, so we don’t know for certain.

The only evidence to suggest Sega does not own the rights to the music from Sonic 1 and Sonic 2 is a story that got told way back in the day regarding Sonic Spinball. As you may or may not know, there are actually two versions of Sonic Spinball that were sold in stores.

The first version, and one that was only available in limited quantities, uses a remixed version of the Sonic 1 and Sonic 2 title screen music.

The far more common version (and the one on all retro game collections) contains an original tune on the title screen

As the story goes, Sonic Spinball was done, cartridges were made, the game was being shipped to stores when suddenly word came down from Japan: they had to change the theme song. Sega did not own the rights to that music, nor did they apparently pay to license it.

Panic ensued, and within hours the composer (Howard Drossin) wrote up the new title song. As such, a limited selection of first-run cartridges (the ones that left the shipping facility and couldn’t be recalled) contain the original Sonic theme music and all future releases contain Drossin’s replacement song.

The composer for Sonic 1 and 2 was Masato Nakamura. Nakamura was a celebrity in Japan, as he was the bass player for the pop music trio “Dreams Come True.” It’s been pointed out a few times that some of Dreams Come True’s more popular songs bear resemblance to music contained in Sonic 1 (their song ”Million Kisses” apparently has instrumentation that resembles Starlight Zone, for instance). This is where, to illustrate that point, I’d link to some of Dreams Come True’s songs that have been uploaded to Youtube, but as it turns out, none of them have been, officially or otherwise.

Hmmm.

As another story goes, Nakamura charges Sega titanic licensing fees for using any of the music he composed for Sonic 1 and 2. Japan is very serious about its music licensing, even for game music. This is the driving reason behind Konami’s Ninja Turtles games not getting re-released very often – and the last time we saw either arcade game, they had their soundtracks replaced with new music. Sega has never confirmed or denied whether Masato Nakamura charges huge licensing fees, but it’s worth mentioning that they brought him out when they announced Sonic Generations, given that game is full of his music. They wouldn’t make a big deal about his presence unless it was... well, actually a big deal, financially speaking.

There’s also the Youtube connection. Dreams Come True seems to be specifically blocking their music from being uploaded to Youtube, something you also see with other bands like The Beatles (who also notoriously charge HUGE licensing fees). Prince did the same thing.

Additionally, all Sonic games after Sonic 2 use different, original theme music created by in-house Sega composers (Jun Senoue, etc.) Whenever a Sonic game wants to reference classic themes, they often reference the Sonic 3 versions (think about all the modern Sonic games still riffing on Sonic 3′s act clear music).

It seems very likely that Sega does not, or at least did not own the rights to any of the music in Sonic 1 or Sonic 2. Whether or not they own those rights now is a different story – I’d imagine something like Sonic Mania would have been impossible if it demanded a huge music licensing budget. I do wonder if maybe Sega struck a deal with him (Nakamura) at some point.

There are theories as to why some Sonic 1 and 2 songs turned up in games before Generations.

Sega doesn’t have to re-license the music as long as its presented in its original format. Nakamura submitted his music on tape using MIDI synthesizer instruments which was then translated by Sega’s sound technicians to work with the Genesis sound hardware. It’s thought that Sega owns the licensing rights to the Genesis sound versions of all of this music. As long as its presented as such, there’s no fee (or the fee is reduced).

The company just pays Nakamura’s licensing fees because while high, they aren’t actually that high. That would explain why usually it’s only one or two songs, like Green Hill Zone in Sonic Adventure 2 and Brawl. It could just be that Sega is cheap.

None of this is true and it’s just the same madness that infected Sonic Team and their obsession with never doing nostalgia right.

But my money is definitely on Sega not owning the rights to the music from Sonic 1 and Sonic 2. That’s the kind of dumb stuff that happened back then (and still technically happens today; see what happened to Super Meat Boy’s soundtrack)

[millin21]

... so... that episode...

Spoilers for TMNT Scroll of the Demodragon underneath: Was not expecting it to end right there. It felt like it was just getting started. Brain: well it kind of was. the start of season 5- Me: that's not what I mean. Anyway, here are some thoughts about everything else- Raph and Casey getting ambushed by creepy bigger red cloaked versions if... those filthy creatures that cry 'ootini!' in Star Wars. Poor guys. Watching Leo training in the living room instead of the dojo. ...so foes this happen everyday or just recent? Return of Space Heroes. Huh... so the captain didn't die in the season finale? Deemed too dark? ... sounds familiar T-T Woa Ryan, you've uh... changed. Amd jot just your beer belly. Not looking forward to these other episodes, poor Leo must be upsetti how they changed his hero- no wait... there's that fanboy face again. ... *sigh* I'm just glad to see him happy again. Woa... poor Raph and Casey for beat up D: 'performing some sort of sacrifice ritual' me: ... um... a close up of that knife thingie actually looks more that a thing of mutagen. No stabby involved. Raph: SIDEKICK!? Me: XD just imagining a beaten up Raph looking so peeved that he was called that (Again!) Mikey having fantasies about ghostbusting (which we've seen a preview will happen. So.. foreshadowing (does wavy hands to look mystic) Raph after smacking Mikey: what did I say about imaginating things!? Me: ... domt so it during serious conversations? Um... shouldn't you guys be placing those tracker things a little further apart? K dont know how many Donnie made but... you gotta be more conservative. Woa, these minions are creepy... which is kinda the point. Poor Mikey. Did they just break Leos wrist!? Raph: we coulda helped! Me: at least he had Mikey instead of going off on his own like he usually did. So... he learned from Earths Last Stand and after facing Super Shredder with the kunoichi sisters (what I call April and Karai the team) SPLINTER!!! Poor Leo. This is so hard on him.... I love how they replaced the picture of Splinters human life with a photo of him standing proud with his turtle tot sons. (since they set the photo if his human life by his grave... still crying over how sweet that was) So we ARE getting more mystical themes this season. If it wasnt for that sneak peak we got this would have been an epic reveal. (At least my mom got to experience the shocking twist) Did.. Leo hesitate on giving leadership? This is the first time we've seen them go on a mission when Splinter is gone. ... are... are we going to see Leo struggle as a leader? Oh my gosh... I shouldn't be excited about this but ... Oh dang those sneaks! Demodragon is pissed he was awakened. Oh crap Donnie over hot lava! Someone help! Demodragon can shoot zippy zap lazers from his fingertips? Oh. Of COURSE! Raph and Casey helping Donnie up after getting shoved aside like they were nothing. April running over to save her friends. Oh great. Inuyasha flashbacks of how 'oh this girl has powers! I'm gonna eat her and gain strengths!' ... sigh, looks like April's gonna be a target now... (like with the Kraang? No... for a different reason...) And that epic scene where Leo sees his weapons do nothing. Just break. Poor Leo. Wait... you're not letting demodragon go after them? Uh... Tigerclaw, weren't you always the one that pursued the turtles even when it wasn't part of rhe plan? Again, Leo is hesitant on giving directions. I wonder if he's just scared to say the words 'i don't know' like Donnie exclaimed other times. Because hes the leader. Hes supposed to know what to do. They rely on him. Much more now than ever before. And thats a lot to handle. Especially for a teenager (or however old Leo is) Poor Donnie knows he's going to be working overtime cause these guys think upgraded weapons are gonna solve everything. (How about some research on demodragon like you guys did before. How it was defeated. Or did you guys not see that giant coin thing Tigerclaw had that stopped him from killing him? (We did see a sneak peak of Raph holding that thing up so... maybe? *Shrugs* can't solve everything in one episode. Brain: but they did it befo- me: they're spreading these plots out though! And maybe the turtles didnt see it that time because the impact of Demodragons arrival knocked them onto their shells. Brain: ... like shellsho- me: stop.)

[brightlotusmoon]

Another peek at CFR Crossfire Chapter 15

 This will either be a ridiculously long final chapter or there will be one more chapter. This sneak peek is mainly because I want to get opinions on the cherry blossom bloom thing. I researched it, and of course I go to DC’s annual Cherry Blossom Festival. But I still want to make sure I get it right, because if not I’ll need to find a different tea. Also this year’s festival could be in trouble if the weather doesn’t calm down. It makes me sad. Also, there will be more to the scene with the two Splinters, so if you guys want to suggest conversation topics, please do. Tagging @mysillylittlesoapbox, @jumpybox naturally. Who wants more turtle tot stories??

 Mikey took a deep breath. Hours of sparring, meals, movies, and laughter later, and they were standing in the lab.

He closed his eyes and reached across the astral plane, across worlds. Gaia? Kitten? Can you hear me?

I’m here, Sunshine. We’re ready. April and I are standing by. Master Splinter is helping.

He nodded. “Guys, they’re ready on the other side.”

Older Donnie nodded back. In his hand was a hastily created portal gun. He pointed it at thin air and hit the trigger.

As pink light filled space, there was a pause, and pink was met with blue, and a large, wide oval opened. It widened, and Mikey began to see the floor of Donnie’s lab. Three wide-eyed smiling faces peeked through.

“Hi, guys!” Donnie yelled.

“Donnie!” April cried. “Whoa, is that…you guys?”

Mikey and his brothers glanced back at their bigger counterparts. “Um. Would you guys like to join us for a while? I promise me an’ Gaia can send you back.”

“Really? Older Mike gasped.

Across space and time, Gaia grinned. “Did I not mention that?”

“I forgot,” Older Mike said sheepishly.

“Hell yeah!” Older Raph cheered. He glanced back at older April and Casey. April smiled. “You guys go on. We’ll wait here. Hello, young me!”

“Hi, older me,” April said, fascinated. “You have green eyes.”

The two Caseys stared at each other. “Dude, what happened to your teeth?” “Dude, why are you old?”

The two Raphs smacked them. Mikey giggled, and then hopped through the portal. He immediately fell into Gaia’s arms, and her mocha scent surrounded him. He held her as tightly as he could, closing his eyes, barely listening as everyone else jumped after him.

“I missed you,” he whispered.

“I missed you,” she murmured back, rubbing her cheek against his. “I’m gonna have to rub my face on you all over again.”

“Mmm, promise?”

Somewhere in the background, he heard Master Splinter draw in a deep breath. “Welcome, Splinter-san. I am Hamato Yoshi.”

There was silence, and the other Splinter said reverently, “Master…”

“Please,” his father said gently. “If it would avoid confusion, call me Yoshi.”

“I…I…yes, Yoshi-sama.”

Mikey grinned. This was gonna be fun.

 *

Leo sipped his tea, leaning against the kitchen doorway, watching his sensei and other-dimensional sensei sit at the table with tea and cheesicles, talking animatedly. His own counterpart stood beside him, a hand on his shoulder, grinning. “Look at Splinter,” Older Leo whispered. “Look how happy he is.”

“I guess he never expected to actually meet Yoshi again,” Leo smiled, “regardless of whatever version.”

Yoshi said something and Splinter laughed. Leo blushed. “Okay, so that wasn’t one of my finer moments, but I was eight.”

“Sounds familiar anyway,” Older Leo grinned. “Come on. We shouldn’t eavesdrop like this.”

 *

And Yoshi’s ear twitched, and he didn’t mind when his son and his son’s fascinating larger counterpart walked away. He was staring at his fully rat counterpart, all gray fur but the same white beard, the same way it was stroked, the way those darker eyes bore into his own as if searching for something powerfully familiar. He noticed the rat’s posture, both leaned away and pointed toward him, achingly reaching and respectfully distant. He imagined Shen herself coming home with a pet rat, maybe a gift for baby Miwa, and he smiled to himself.

“…and little Raphael,” he continued, “spitfire troublemaker, independent from the very start.”

“Did he cry often?” Splinter queried.

“Indeed, although he must never know,” and Yoshi grinned. “He was protective but harsh, particularly with Michelangelo, who fussed and cried over nearly everything but food! I remember once when they were two. I put them down for a nap, but Michelangelo wanted to play still. He kept calling out, ‘Papa, play!’ and Raphael climbed right over Donatello and lay himself flat on Michelangelo, squeezing him and growling in his face. Michelangelo was so startled that he squeaked and stayed silent until Raphael began to fall asleep on him. He then fell asleep himself, and neither child moved. I did not want Raphael to crush his brother, so I began to lift him. Raphael grumbled and held on even tighter. And Michelangelo let out a series of chirps and wrapped his little arms around Raphael. And so I left them there and simply watched over them.”

“And?” Splinter lifted his cup to his mouth, smiling as though he knew what would come.

“And when Donatello rolled onto his side, placing his hand against Michelangelo’s plastron, Raphael let out a soft, sleepy growl and placed his hand over Donatello’s. But rather than pushing it away, he held onto it. And then Leonardo awoke, if only for a second. He raised his head, saw the scene before him, smiled, and curled around Donatello, and his arm reached out as if trying to embrace all his brothers at once.”

“That is lovely,” Splinter said softly, “and familiar.”

“Then we are not very different,” Yoshi said, reaching out and patting Splinter’s hand. The rat glanced down, staring at their hands for several quiet moments. He sighed. “Please, tell me more about Tang Shen. And Miwa.”

“You may meet Miwa shortly,” Yoshi said, and Splinter brightened. “She is out on a walk, but she will be home soon.”

He paused. “And Shen…my Tang Shen…”

Splinter placed his other hand over Yoshi’s. “I miss her as well. She always treated me as part of the family.”

“I thought I could not live on without her,” Yoshi murmured, taking a long sip of his tea. “But once the turtles mutated, and I realized how vulnerable they were, they became my life.”

“This is true.”

“Let me tell you a tale of when Shen was pregnant. She began to have a craving for a particular tea we made from the cherry blossom tree that bloomed in the yard.”

“Oh, goodness,” and Splinter began to laugh. “Oh, no.”

“Yes,” Yoshi grinned. “And when the blossoms did not bloom, she would become so restless that very little would soothe her. One day, I was out shopping for groceries, I came across a very large package of cherry blossom tea, loose and mixed with black tea. I imagined it would have to do. So I took it to the cashier. She rang it up, and it was three times the price I had thought. I said, ‘Please, it is for my pregnant wife, who craves our homemade cherry blossom tea from the yard. Can you give me some sort of discount?’ And the woman’s eyes widened. She stepped back and I noticed that she herself was pregnant. She told me, ‘I shall give you this for half-price, then, you must not keep her waiting!’ And we quickly bagged up my groceries together.”

“Keep going!” Splinter said.

“I hurried home, and Shen was on the couch, glaring at me as I put everything away. ‘I am not making supper,’ she warned me, ‘it is your turn.’ So I hid the box behind my back and came to her. I said, ‘I hope you find this sufficient, my love’ and I produced it. She stared for a long moment, and I think I began to sweat! And then she smiled and said, ‘please brew me a cup right now, and make that salmon I smell.’ So I did.”

“Please tell me she enjoyed that store-bought tea!”

Yoshi sighed. “She did! It was just enough to last until the tree bloomed again. When we returned to the same store, we met with that same cashier. She recognized me, and she asked Shen if she liked the tea. They wound up having a discussion on child-rearing.”

“How wonderful,” Splinter murmured, “and fortuitous.”

“Indeed.”

And it was then that Karai walked into the kitchen.

[hamatoyoshisplinter]

Overall 2k12-Requiem-Owari Rant

//First of all i have shared several times this same rant to most of my rp partners. I hate Nick at this moment. Not only because my beautiful husbando got killed for good -i guess?- but also due to the series is not fun anymore. There’s way too much violence, angst and Mary sueing for my taste. If you ask me it went downhill since they mutated Karai, and in my mind it sort of ended back in season 2. I just kept watching it because i wanted to know what happened; But canon doesn’t mean anything to me.

In fact, if you think it carefully, canon should not mean anything for anyone - the show itself admits there is like a billion AUs featuring the turtles anyway, so….

Now, i’m mostly upset because i have always enjoyed better the wacky aspect of TMNT. I know the original comic is violent and dark. But that’s not the version of the turtles i have grown to love.

I have many issues with 2k12 right now; Including some moments filled with mysogyny (April derp, April copies exploting, Bigfoot being made fun of), using the same plot for like, five times, Karai’s arc taking way too long, Tropes far as the eye can see and the desire to make something so silly as “Ninja turtles” edgy.

If at the end Splinter was going to die why would they introduce us to the healing hands mantra, or even had him have his character development episode on Darkest Plight? We also didn’t even get a turtle tots episode (yet) and what happened to Pigeon Pete or the Newtralizer? (no, srsly. I want to know)

To me it was silly to kill Splinter that way in Requiem: He simply got distracted and it happened. Okay, who gets distracted like that in a fight with an enemy like Shredder? He’s like a friggin master of ninjustu. It felt like they couldn’t think of a more believable way to do it. Wasn’t him talking about intuition the previous episode?

…And to be honest ppl, killing the parent hardly works anymore. It just happens everywhere. Isn’t it much better to wound him/her? Make him vulnerable or weak and still be able to create tension by knowing there is still the possibility of losing him (sort of what they did to Karai)? makes no sense to me.

Anyway, i seem to be part of the people who enjoys the idea of ninja turtles living underground- not really an specific series or plotline. This means you can stick to canon or not. As long as there is fun for me after a long day in the form of rping with my friends i don’t care.

For me this was a very predictable, non inspired ending that we’ve seen before. Actually i think i’m writing my own. Stay tuned. Lol.

[artsvark]

REVIEW: 20th Joy of Jazz festival

20th Standard Bank Joy of Jazz Festival

The 20th Joy of Jazz festival is upon us, with a varying and impressive lineup of musicians from many parts of the world, forcing thousands of jazz fans to descend upon the Sandton Convention Centre. And I’ll begin right there …

It took us an hour to drive two blocks in Sandton this Friday evening, trying to get to the parkade at Sandton City. The roads were complete anarchy, with very few drivers adhering to the rules of the road, and taxis multiplying the havoc they usually create on our roads. It began to feel as if Sandton is the place where people go when they’ve been kicked out of hell.

If the WineX expo can arrange for the Gautrain to operate till midnight during its run, then why, with all its sponsors, can the Joy of Jazz not do something similar? It defies all logic that we have this state-of-the-art transport system running to and from the heart of Sandton which serves only daytime commuters. This really is something which the JoJ organizers need to look at seriously in the future.

We also surely have a large force of traffic officers, but their primary function nowadays seems to be limited to soliciting bribes for made up offences from unsuspecting drivers. There was not one traffic officer or vehicle present or visible during all of this chaos as helpless drivers sat fuming in stationary vehicles, completely trapped. Just plain unacceptable. But on to the actual festival.

I love this event, with its four venues featuring some of the best jazz artists the world has to offer, where you can wander from stage to stage taking in as much as you want of one act and moving on to explore another. The R795 cost per ticket is certainly well worth it, no argument.

For once I was happy that the first acts started late since, despite the 10 doors to the venue, only three were open, with each ticket being checked via mobile phone light. Better efficiency would be most appreciated by patrons eager to get to the music. Each floor has a bar selling a limited variety of beverages, but be warned: if whiskey is your drink, you will pay dearly. If Glenlivet wants to turn me on to its brand then they will have to sell whiskey for a more attractive price than R100 per tot. The barmen also charged for tap water mix, which is ridiculous.

The Sandton convention centre is perfect for this event, with escalators, elevators and stairs on every floor, and excellent restrooms which were serviced throughout the night. It’s a good idea to study the program carefully as there are so many different acts on offer and it is impossible to see them all, unless you have a ticket for all three days of the festival.

We started off with Nnenna Freelon on the Dinaledi stage. Her great voice, quirky stage presence and amusingly warm banter endeared her to the audience, and the musicianship of the excellent band is not in doubt. People have their own individual parameters regarding how far one can stretch the creativity of a jazz standard. Personally, if a song is only recognizable by virtue of the lyrics and nothing else, then it is a step too far. My partner disagrees. Freelon is a charming entertainer and clearly a consummate musician, but her versions of Nature Boy and Say A Little Prayer were probably my least favourite versions ever. My opinion.

I have twice seen Abdullah Ibrahim play live, so we left the Dinaledi room and moved to the Conga stage for Elisabeth Kontomanou, an American singer of French descent, seven albums to her credit, and an impressive list of musical collaborations. Her three-piece band would have been better served by a sound engineer who knows the difference between a piano and pianissimo. Twice we had to ask for the piano to be turned up. Fantastic pianist (no name in the program) to a rather self-indulgent singer.

From there we moved onto the Diphala stage for the exceptional Clayton Brothers. Saxophonist John Clayton, bass player Jeff, and his son Gerald on piano form the core of this ensemble. Terell Stafford on trumpet and Obed Calvaire on drums help complete easily the tightest unit of the entire festival with absolute ease. A complete joy to see and hear. This was definitely one of two highlights for me and an absolute treat to watch.

We then popped in to catch a bit of Salif Keita on the Conga stage. The venue was absolutely packed, but the lighting was overpowering, the band was large, and the sound was dodgy and heavy on the high end. We would have loved to listen to more than half of a song, but the sound made it difficult to stay.

Those who weren’t grooving to Keita were definitely there to see the legendary Branford Marsalis on the Dinaledi stage, and suddenly the vast room was full. This was the highlight for many last night, and I include myself. Marsalis charmed me 30 years ago with his work on Sting’s Dream of the Blue Turtle album, but there’s also talk of his arrogance and ego. Whatever. If there is a better horn player anywhere I won’t believe it. Again, my opinion, but his tone and fluidity are simply jaw dropping. With Joey Calderazzo on piano, Eric Revis on bass and Justin Faulkner on drums this ensemble just couldn’t put a foot wrong and I’m a bigger fan today than I was yesterday.

The Joshua Redman quartet came on some time after midnight (and this is something that organizers are going to have to address in future) and the eager audience managed to hang in for most of his set. Redman on tenor sax is insanely adept, and with pianist Aaron Goldberg, bass player Reuben Rogers and drummer Gregory Hutchinson, they kept the crowd in awe until the final ridiculously tight number in 5/4.

It was after 1 am when we finally left the convention centre, the end of a very long but exceptional night of jazz. There were many artists that I would have loved to have seen – Tutu Puoane, Thandiswa Mazwai, Benjamin Jephta, Christian McBride – and I would love to hear more singers in future.

I love the Joy of Jazz festival. And by and large organization is top notch. Traffic, late starts and sound issues do need to be addressed, although it has come a long way since Newtown. Next time I would love to book into a hotel within walking distance and indulge as much as the three nights have to offer, possibly with a hip flask. Time to start saving.

Rebecca Swift. 30 September 2017

REVIEW: 20th Joy of Jazz festival was originally published on Artsvark