#time tots being traumatised

[purpleturtle9000]

Sorry if you’ve previously answered something like this before (i tried to look, I promise!), but I was curious.

WIFY Leonardo’s whole thing — or at least part of his whole thing, which is seemingly made up of smaller whole things that lend to many delightful neurosis’ and trauma — is that he wants to be a better dad than Splinter was (in general? To him specifically??).

So. I have to ask. What does Leonardo actually think of Splinter, either as a parent or a person, if his goal is to be Better??

ngl Rise's Splinter is so fascinating to me I wanna put him in a mesh bug cage and shake him a little

TLDR - As a kid, Leonardo didn't have context for Splinter's sometimes distant behaviour and assumed he was the problem himself. It wasn't until he was also traumatised that he realised how it could affect a person's behaviour (and parenting capabilities) and forgave Splinter, and the two reconciled and had a few years on good terms.

Going back to Splinter for a minute - his girlfriend's response to his proposal is to kidnap him and put him in a gladiatorial arena. (Didn't he say something about taking an innocent life? Or is my memory bad.) He only escapes that because he's kidnapped to be tormented by an evil scientist, and in the process of that, begins mutating into a rat. He escapes again and is a single parent to four babies, living in the sewers, cut off from everything and everyone he knew.

It's entirely understandable that Splinter zoned out after that. Dealing with any one of those things would be enough to put a therapist in a whole new tax bracket, but put them all together? I mean, holy shit. He has no support network, no personal relationships, no nothing.

Trying to handle all that trauma on his own is something that would have affected every area of his life. That chain of events would probably have left him with PTSD, depression, paranoia, and body dysmorphia - and suddenly being a dad probably brought up a whole new bunch of trauma about his mom's departure.

Even if he had the vocabulary and emotional stability to discuss what happened to him with his kids in a way they understood, they'd be too young to understand how much it impacted him. So it was easier for Splinter to just not say anything about it.

From the flashbacks, it's obvious that he cared about his kids. Like the lemonade stand for example! There's no way he didn't help them make it and he looks proud of them in the picture. And there's several times in the show where Leonardo goes to his dad for help (or other adults in his life like Hueso, but overall, Leo's behaviour indicates he's used to a father figure being willing to help him).

But there's also times where Splinter really frickin dropped the ball, like leaving little kids alone in a room full of weapons so he could go watch tv. He also apparently has a habit of stealing from his kids - he took Halloween candy and Leonardo says in Al Be Back that Splinter would rob them if he was their band manager. Not having context for everything affecting their dad's life, the kids could see this as questionable parenting choices or even moments of uncaringness.

For Leonardo in particular, this is all complicated by the fact that he idolises Splinter. When there's rough patches in their relationship, he blames himself more often than he blames his dad, because the idea of his dad behaving like that accidentally makes no sense to him, so clearly he's doing something wrong. Misplaced blame always has the potential to be disastrous, especially when it turns into Leonardo wondering if maybe the only reason their relationship has problems is because he's the cause of all of them.

And then the apocalypse happens and this poor ninja turtle gets traumatised like never before. All the anger, anxiety, emotional disregulation, stretches of depression, painful memories - it all balls up into a set of behaviours that reminds him a lot of how Splinter acted when Leonardo was a tot.

He starts working through the new mess of emotions that that realisation causes. That Splinter wasn't intentionally distant, and never blamed Leonardo for anything - he just had a lot of trauma to handle with no help, and struggled through it the best he could, which sometimes wasn't very well. It's something Leonardo wouldn't have ever understood without his own experiences and fatherhood failures.

It takes him longer than he thought it would, but he gets there in the end. He also realises that he was part of the problem, with the hero worship clouding his judgment, and the unfair expectations he placed on his dad to always know what to do and be perfect. What dad could live up to that?

With all that settled, as much as it can be, his relationship with Splinter improves quite a bit. Leonardo can see his dad's flaws from a more objective viewpoint, instead of just getting hurt whenever he thinks about Splinter's parenting flaws and thinking he was the problem all along.

Splinter is incredibly distraught to hear everything that Leonardo has to say. He could often tell there was some kind of distance between them, but he never realised how much his behaviour affected Leonardo, or any of his kids, for that matter. How could he, when they never told him?

But once the conversations (and crying) are done with, they have a lot to catch up on! Splinter has great parenting advice, when it's all said and done, and Leonardo learns a lot from him, once he's willing to listen. They always loved each other deeply, and sure, they could have both used a lot more therapy than they got, but they still found reconciliation!

When Leonardo goes back to the past, it's even more obvious to him how much Splinter is struggling. There was never any question in his mind that his dad did everything he could for them, and that's also even more obvious. It's fascinating to him to see Splinter when the two of them are similar in age (I think Splinter is in his 50s?) and have more similarities in experience with Leonardo also having been a dad.

Overall I just have a lot of thoughts and emotions about Leonardo loving his dad so much that he thought the reason Splinter could be a bad dad was because Leonardo was a bad kid. And I also have a lot of emotions about Leonardo not being able to understand the effects of trauma until being traumatised himself.

[yukkue]

I like Mia. She's definitely more of the complex character, but I do wish she had more screentime. Especially in Village :p

She should've got a divorce with Ethan tho, yeah :p

Don’t get me wrong I don’t mind her.

I’m just still mad about that hand situation ToT like I just don’t see myself being able to wake up everyday to someone that attacked me and tried to kill me multiple times even if they obviously were controlled by something else.

Both Ethan and Mia are traumatised but they deserve to process it on their own

[mej2235]

Time to deliver my round of propaganda for @rottmnt-au-summit so everyone knows what I’m bringing to the table, since I have a bunch of crossover snippets I am working on for this XD

I can’t wait to share in the craziness polls bring and I wish everyone the best of luck!

Now onto why we’re here

This is my list of reasons that you should vote sewer au:

-it’s a separated AU and a Feral Raph and Leo AU (it makes me feel old to say I remember when those feral tags were empty on ao3 even though that was only months ago XD)

-there’s family bonding and reunions but also lots of fighting because it’s never that easy!

-Sewer Raph doesn’t even have a name yet! He’s just called the Big Guy because they haven’t found the perfect name for him yet. No, Donnie, Galileo is not right! Help him earn it!

-April is an awesome big sister and is going to teach Leo the art of puns

-Mikey loves his family so much! He even forgave Draxum for throwing him off a roof once and the Big Guy for trying to crush him!

-Mikey has a cool flame demon living in his weapon! Cinder is his closest confidant!

-Mikey uses he/they/she/fae and is genderfluid. She figured it out with help from her older sibling, Donnie, who had recently figured out they were non-binary and use they/them pronouns

-Leo is a terrified baby boy but also a little shit. He needs cuddles to sleep and is terrified of leaving the sewer! Every vote is a vote to help the boy conquer his fears!

-Donnie has respiratory problems from when Mikey painted on their shell when they were tots! Poor kids didn’t realise that the stuff was toxic for turtles

-they are just little babies that are traumatised!

-the forever battle between Donnie and Mikey over who is Leo’s twin once they find out that Leo is technically Donnie’s twin. They have currently settled on Leo and Donnie being birthday twins and Leo and Mikey being height twins

-Leo and Raph are so much shorterrrrr! Malnutrition does that to you!

[bog-water-030]

SMITHS(A) ROTATION 3

Previously // Next

I didn't manage to catch jenny with the new baby, so you get a belly shot for effect. She had, for the first and probably last time, a single baby, named Jonah Smith. And as soon as he was settled she got right back to her goal of 10 kids.

Meanwhile, most of jills life so far has been school - work - baby sitting. i thought it was about time she got the opportunity to be a real teen and go out with anyone she connected to. and she, more than anything, wanted to spend time with buck.

Buck and Jill really hit it off and decided, on the spot, that it only made sense to make it official then and there, since she didn't know when she'd see him again.

I really sat here and thought the house would finally slow down with the chaos with So many birth days ahead. Jess and Justine are officially kids and Jonah was finally a toddler so semi independent.

but no. Polli, the lean green breed machine had one more litter left in him

a litter of QUADS. FOUR BABIES. I HAD TO GOOGLE NAMES. Three sons and one daughter, Jack, Jasper, Jude, and Jade. Achieving their goal of 10 total kids.

The house was a MESS a giant horrible mess. there was filth everywhere all the time in places i couldn't find. jenny never slept for the first 2-ish days, and then, for a day-

there was peace, i really thought things are coming together. the babies were almost tots, Jonah was almost old enough for school and Jenny was moments from being an elder, which meant no more kids ever again despite the many protests. one day of peace. and maybe many more

AND THEN THE LEAN GREEN BREEDING MACHINE DECIDED IT WAS TIME TO CHECK OUT. He died on his way to feed his son and left his wife devastated and traumatised. He also left a hefty amount of life insurance so I'm not too mad about it...

[fanficmemes]

The discord server encouraged me to send an ask and share my trauma so here I am. This fic is a bit different from the usual tho and I think it genuinely traumatized me. It had perfect characterisation and psychology, it was wholly from the victim's pov, and it had a catharsis at the end, but hooo do I have flashbacks. So to not out the fandom and ship, A = victim, B = kidnapper. 

Starts with A naked and bound to a ceiling, barely able to stand. B comes in with a riding crop, whips A practically to death. And the thing is - A is super sarcastic and tries to withstand but it goes for so long he starts breaking and crying and outright begging. They also knew each other before. If I remember correctly B is both in sadistic glee and reassuring A somehow? Bottom line, he's obsessed with A. He was supposed to test A for some experiments for his evil superiors but fakes A's death so he can take him and basically lock him in a basement, put some healing stuff on A, which hurt like all hell, and when the skin's barely healed, proceeds to rape A. And A is obviously terrified, but he barely escaped death, barely healed and can't do anything. It. Was. HORRIFYING. 

Then the fic truly starts. And its so fucked up, omg. 

B's obviously obsessed and "in love" with A, he wants A on his side, in love with him. He puts A into a strongly fucked up BDSM type of kidnapper-kidnapee relationship, rapes A but acting as if they're lovers. B's frustrated that A hates him and doesn't love him back. There's one time early on when A notices the doors are not locked so he tries to escape but of course B is waiting for it. And punishes A, and it's… fuck. Dunno if its then or later, but I think here, B puts A bound on his knees and prob blindfolded into a tub, and keeps him there for days. Until A apologizes I think? Takes care of him otherwise, like with food and cleaning him, but leaves him there. So from now on escaping is obv not an option so A tries to hold on until his friends find him, playing into the game, kinda acting into B's want for it to be a relationship. Y'know, they watch movies, B brings him food, sex, obv.

There are two more things I remember vividly and one that just kinda makes me want to cry and comes in flashbacks. Its on the basis of - when in such a traumatic prolonged situation the brain starts to adapt so at some point A starts accepting the gestures and what not, cause he has to survive long enough, and they're like taking a bath one day and obv it turns into sex but A takes charge this time, riding B and feeling both good bcs the sex is nice and horrible with himself that he's enjoying it, perfectly aware that he's still being raped. It's just… so fucked up. And so beautifully, heart-wrenchingly well written. Ngl, cried typing this.

Then comes sort of breaking point when B tells A that his friends won't come for him, that they think he's dead or left town completely, and A snaps. He basically forces B down and rapes him instead. And then feels HORRIBLE about it, genuinely horrified with himself. And then of course it turns out B Allowed it (he's much much stronger) bcs he wants A on his side, go dark, etc. And this is where A loses hope if I remember correctly, turns catatonic, which B is first worried, then frustrated, and then either punishes him for that or for smth else, can't remember. But he puts A into the tub again. He's left there for like three days I think? And B doesn't come back this time.

It's actually where his friends find him and damn, this part. When they're carrying him out A gets a panic attack and tries to go back bcs B will Punish Him if he sees he left the basement and he can't take it and I think that just ripped my heart straight outta my chest. Crying again. 

They take A to the hospital, watch over him, etc, someone gives him a knife, and of course one day when they leave him for 5 minutes B comes back. And its another fucked up scene, A getting upset about being left behind altho he knows he shouldn't. Now he has to go with B bcs B's clearly gone tots crazy and unhinged. B was a sadist and obv crazy, but its like manic now. So A goes, he has the knife in his hoodie, they arrive at the car in the woods, A left a bleeding trail I think. At this point A cant let himself be taken or he wont be found again so he stalls and gets raped again, horribly and painfully (it was painful a lot of the time esp at the beginning) but when B's done and distracted A kills him with the knife. It's again heart-wrenching and so, like, reastically written? Like A's not elated or anything just empty and relieved if I remember correctly. It ends with someone interviewing A about the whole thing and self-defense and all, they clear him and then there's a welcome home party for him some time after. Ends on a hopeful note but A aware of how he wont ever be the same and the catharsis was there but damn. THE PAIN. This fic haunts me. 

And again it was beautifully amazingly well written. I think it wouldn't be even 1% as traumatising if it wasn't so heart-wrenching. It was tagged and all, I clicked on it in the mood of wanting to read smth dark, but tbh I couldn't have predicted exactly what I was getting into. I prob wouldn't have read it otherwise. This ask can't transfer the sheer emotion I got from this fic but I think I needed to share it somewhere somehow. So. Yeah. 

This is more sad than cursed 4/10 :( sorry u got in too deep

[kaebedom-me]

Can we bring back the dad friends chaeya? What if the reader is like a jr in highschool and is in the apartment (not good home life tots not projecting)

OFC YOU CAN BRING BACK DAD FRIENDS CHAEYA I LOVE DAD FRIENDS CHAEYA AU

also, i have no idea what's a junior so im going to be vague

lmao i just know they will keep the hanky panky to a minimum while you're at home because they don't want to traumatise you

but also childe one day getting enough money to renovate the place? gets them sound proof walls so you don't have to be subjected to your kinda dads fucking

sorry i had to get that out of my system

they're!! so happy to help you, and they're so glad you trust them enough to want to stay with them

they'd do anything to help you, give you a place to stay til you're ready to stand on your own and stuff

really patient would never ever rush you to leave

if they have connections with people that are in something you'd like to do (like, fashion or writing, whatever), you bet they'll pull some strings so you can meet with the right people

kaeya sometimes wakes you up in the morning while childe makes breakfast for everyone

can and will be a little shit about waking you up because he's just an asshole like that sometimes

drops you off at school!!! and picks you up!!! so sweet!!

until they embarrass you because they're the worst

if you're ever made fun of while they're picking you up/ dropping you off they will 100% fight someone your age, they have no shame

especially childe

but kaeya the man of reason sometimes stops him and just harass the people harassing you with words

movie nights with them! grocery shopping trips!!

they don't mind if you invite a few friends over but i think they wouldn't be really happy if you threw a party

them waiting for you if you're out late, so if you need to be picked up they'd come get you [bottom emoji]

they will take very good care of you! if you're sick or feeling down, you can count on them for being there for you

childe makes the nicest comfort food and they're such good listeners

they give really good advice too

if you need physical affection they'd love to give you hugs and maybe a few kisses if you're comfy!

they want you to know you're loved and that they'll always have your back

since they're older, they can help you with your work too! well kaeya mostly lmao childe is just there to cheer you on and bring you snacks

they do make you do some chores though, it's for your own good

they might be your friends that took you in but they will be a bit parental about certain things especially since you're still young and have to learn

also you're staying with them rent free, are you really going to be a freeloader,,,

but it's always generally a great time living with them

they're essentially your nice roommates that care for you a lot uwu

[creativitycache]

I always thought that Jon didn't attack Elias as opposed to going feral on Peter in ToT is that Jon has never valued his own life and well-being as much as he valued others (especially Martin). Even when he was so traumatised after what Daisy did to him, he didn't go after her for retribution. He only sought revenge on the Apocalypse on very few beings and that was very short term as well. I assumed that attitude carried over once he travelled back in time.

-

Ooof anon your angst levels are off the charts! 

I think Jon (canon Jon) recognizes that Elias made him suffer and that he didn’t deserve it. I’m VERY encouraged by all the reflection Jon’s given regarding season 2′s circumstances.

I am highly suspicious of his statement that he’d squash Jonah “if necessary”. That wording was SUS sir. But we’ll see.

Anyways Theseus Jon isn’t sparing Elias out of self-depreciation, but because he genuinely doesn’t Know. His powers of recollection are spotty at best, and the main weakness we’ve seen with Eye Avatars is even if they can See everything they can still have huge glaring blindspots by simply not realizing they needed to Look at something specific. Since he first was exposed to Elias when he was relatively weak (and even then he realized Elias was not “Elias”) he hasn’t really Looked again.

For now.

:)

[trashy-croud]

40 Fathoms 🌊🦈

This level was one I absolutely dreaded, purely because a lot of it is to do with swimming and I cannot swim for the life of me in this game. I have seen the loading screen too many times to count and that was only during the first couple of minutes into this level. Though this level certainly killed me plenty of times, it didn't take as long as I quite remember. I remember being stuck on it with my dad for weeks, to the point little five year old me (or six, can't quite remember exactly but pretty young) had nightmares of the opening part of the level. Yet playing it myself, it wasn't as bad as I remember.

There were three parts of this level in total I got stuck on, the very beginning with following the barrels and avoiding the sharks, that took me forever. The other was trying to get the jade dragon, although I didn't die as much in that part, it certainly was tedious with the introduction of the barracudas that were ready to ruin my day in that tight stupid space. The other part must have been the vertical swimming area, going up tot he top to flip a switch, only to come back down to the bottom and go back up again. That was stressful, especially when I suck at the swimming controls! 🏊 But hey, ho, it's a learning experience or whatever.

The rusty aesthetic of this level though has really made my day, the contrasts of blue and rusty brown really drew me in. Surprised Lara could walk around bare foot in that place but didn't really register until my mum pointed it out to me. Only then did I start to somewhat flinch whenever she ran around or jumped from one rusty area to another. Overall, I enjoyed this level and it wasn't as terrifying as my childhood self made it out to be! Surprised I managed to get all of the secrets in this level but they weren't too difficult to find, just tedious to try and obtain.

Now we move onto the Wreck of the Maria Doria. I don't remember much about this level at all, I don't know if that's a good thing because I didn't watch my dad play it or a bad thing because I was traumatised to the point of forgetting it due to hating the underwater levels. 😂 Well, we'll find out I suppose, hopefully it's the first one, otherwise I'm screwed! 😂 But we're making progress through this game.

Let's see what the Wreck holds for us! 🌊🚢🤔

[britesparc]

Weekend Top Ten #436

Top Ten Henchmen and Secondary Villains from Disney Movies

So I’m returning to the Disney well once again. After looking at villains and sidekicks (and once, long ago, Disney Princesses), I’m turning my steely gaze in the direction of henchmen. Or henchwomen. Or henchbirds. You know what I mean.

Every good baddie needs a henchman; a stooge, a second, a patsy. Partly for reasons of exposition; like a John Watson or an Amy Pond, it’s good to have someone else on screen that the clever person can do the talking to, especially when soliloquising their evil plans, especially if it’s in song. Secondly they can bring a note of comedy to an otherwise straight-down-the-middle bad guy; if there’s an evil dude or dudette waxing lyrical about killing Our Hero and stealing their throne, or whatever, it’s good to have a jester beside them to crack jokes and generally stop the tots in the audience from getting traumatised by Jeremy Irons.

So with no further ado (because I’m late again this week) here are my favourite Disney henchpeople.

Iago (Gilbert Gottfried, Aladdin, 1992): in many ways the perfect hench-bird; he’s funny, for a start, deeply, darkly sarcastic, and he’s, well, a talking bird. He’s also of one mind with Jafar, being cruel and conniving (until his face-turn in the sequels). Lightens Jafar’s melodramatic wickedness but gets stuck in with the meaty villainy, and, well, he’s Gilbert Gottfried.  

Sir Hiss (Terry-Thomas, Robin Hood, 1973): just as funny as Iago but without the misanthropic darkness, instead being a camp put-upon servant who does King John’s bidding whilst secretly despising his lot in life. A joyous performance from Thomas, who brings his on-screen foppishness to animated life.

LeFou (Jesse Corti, Beauty and the Beast, 1991): the sycophantic Richard Hammond to Gaston’s preening, pompous, chauvinistic Jeremy Clarkson, LeFou still falls more closely into the Hiss-a-like “bumbling sidekick” mould rather than feeling like a secondary villain or genuine threat. He does have, however, the greatest henchman song of all time, which counts for a lot.

Smee (Bill Thompson, Peter Pan, 1953): essentially a proto-LeFou, he’s just as bumbling, although one senses he’s in it more for the loot and the booze rather than being a fully-fledged follower of Hook’s fanaticism. The performance of Thompson, all jowly fluster, adds tons to the character, even if – whisper it – the definitive screen Smee remains Bob Hoskins.

Shenzi, Banzai, & Ed (Whoopi Goldberg, Cheech Marin, & Jim Cummings, The Lion King, 1994): much has been made of The Lion King being a loose adaptation of King Lear, but the three hyena demi-villains almost make for a trio of Macbethian witches; there’s no denying their bad guy credentials, diligently assisting Scar and also trying to eat our heroes more than once. But they’re also bumbling fools, comic relief idiots who giggle maniacally and cock up constantly. One of them is literally too dumb for words. And then at the end, about face, they turn genuinely threatening again and rip the real villain to pieces.  

Flotsam & Jetsam (Paddi Edwards, The Little Mermaid, 1989): it’s not uncommon for henchmen to come in pairs or groups – see above – and in one way Flotsam and Jetsam are akin to the nameless Goons from Sleeping Beauty or the “Friends on the Other Side” from the later Princess and the Frog. But they have more independent character, operating as a keen pair and revelling in their wickedness. With their mismatched shining eyes they’re seriously creepy, voiceless in a sea of talking fish, murderous eels up to no good.

Lucifer (June Foray, Cinderella, 1950): he doesn’t speak in blackly sarcastic soundbites, but Lucifer is a precursor to Iago: the animal companion of an unrepentant villain, who revels in his wickedness whilst also offering moments of humour. Lucifer is basically just a git; he tries to eat the mice, screws with Cinderella, and sucks up to Lady Tremaine. He’s called Lucifer, FFS.

Trigger and Nutsy (George Lindsey & Ken Curtis, Robin Hood, 1973): the film so good it’s got a main villain – with henchman – and then a secondary villain with his own henchmen. Whilst Sir Hiss is all upper-class obsequiousness, Trigger and Nutsy are working class stooges, village idiots given a badge and a licence to wreak havoc. Arguably a comment on the willingness of ordinary folk to turn fascist if given power, or the abuse of the apparatus of the state, or even police brutality, in reality they’re both just dumb goons whose comic schtick is appealing.

Jaspar & Horace (J. Pat O’Malley & Frederick Worlock, One Hundred and One Dalmatians, 1961): another pair of bumbling working-class twats, there’s not much going on here except for Disney doing their own take on the stock British comical crim. However, a bit like Mr Smee, you could argue the live-action versions (Hugh Laurie and Mark Williams) outstrip their animated predecessors.

Fidget (Candy Candido, Basil the Great Mouse Detective, 1986): full disclosure here, I’ve not seen Basil for a couple of decades, and whilst I utterly adored it as a nipper, a good many of its specificities are lost to me. But Fidget I remember because he was terrifying; a gangly demon, a master of disguise, and an absolute brutish horror.

Incidentally in researching this list (yes, I do do some research – often I don’t remember what a character is called, or I need to know the year a film came out, or whatever) I saw a lot of people praising the character of Helga from Atlantis: The Lost Empire (2001). That is a film that I’ve seen precisely once and basically do not remember. Sounds like I need to give it another whirl. But anyway, Helga fans, if you’re wondering why she’s not on the list, that’s why.