#why spend so much time developing his character and showing us his struggles and rightful resentment and good actions

[mostlikelytofangirl]

Was JGY supposed to be a villain, a sympathetic character, or both?

Well anon, this is completely my fully personal opinion on the matter, I'm not the writer and only she can tell what her real intensions behind the characterizations were.

To me, he is definitely a tragic character first and foremost, one who had as miserable a life as it gets, and was rarely given a break from misfortune until his very, very bitter end.

Now, that doesn't mean that he hadn't committed crimes, but you know what? For me, a villain is someone who purposedly sets out to cause harm and evil upon the world. You have WRH, for example. The argument can totally be made that what he did to NMJ was as villainous as it gets, and it would be correct! You see, he is someone's villain; he is the villain in NHS' story.

But from a classical narrative pov, with a hero and a villain that have personal stakes in each other's lives and plans... WWX had nothing against JGY. JGY had nothing against WWX. If the revenge plot had never been set in motion, those two could have gone on their entire lives without giving a casual thought to what the other was doing (kindasorta as WWX would still be dead lol).

Also, a villain is someone who throughout the story is shown to be this evil force that is bringing upon the world desolation and chaos. The cultivation world under JGY's administration was the most peaceful it had been in over a decade, he had social projects going on and all! He was doing absolutely nothing nepharious when the entire plot happened.

JGY is a polarizing character, a morally dubious one with heavy allegations weighing on him (the fact that some of those got never fully proven is vital to the parallel with WWX). But if he had been supposed to be seen as a full blown villain that all heroes despised, he wouldn't have been written to be so sympathetic, wouldn't have his good deeds shown as well, and he would have personal beef with WWX and the other protagonists.

So tldr, I personally think he is a both, but with the BIG caviet that the villain part only applies to a specific set of characters that are not even the "heroes" of the story. Ultimately, he is mostly a narrative foil to highlight the dangers and cyclic nature of mob mentality and cancel culture, and I think that's what's we are supposed to focus on more than whether he truly had it coming or not.

[twignotstick]

Liar, Liar

Note: The characters in this fic are from @rufwooff 's teenage mutant ninja everything-but-turtles au. Leo is a salamander, Mikey is a toad/frog, Donnie is a gecko, and Raph is an alligator. It can sort of be read as a rise fic if you ignore the... frog stuff? But there are things that might not make sense without knowledge of the au. This post specifically inspired the fic.

Tags: Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, ROTTMNT, Leo-centric, NOT MY CHARACTERS, Teenage Mutant Ninja Everything-but-Turtles, tmnebt, turtle tots (still unsure abt that one), dialogue written like a child, lying, extremely fluffy, but with a hint of angst

Warnings (if there's anything I should add here, tell me please!): nothing, why would i ever hurt kids :)

Words: 4,647

Summary: Leo finally gets to spend a day alone with his little brother, Mikey. When things go wrong, he decides to save himself. After all, what's so bad about a little lie?

----------------------

“Can grow to doo-ble the size in a few… h-owers…”

Leo held the small package he'd found close to his face, trying his best to read what the label said. Donnie had told him it was some kind of toy, but it just looked like a plastic whale to him. Mikey watched Leo from the bowl he was quickly outgrowing, listening intently to Leo's somewhat successful attempt at reading.

“Leave in a cup or bowl of wwwater and watch the magic!” Leo read triumphantly, holding the toy in front of him. The salamander looked over to his little brother. “We just need a cup or something to use it!”

“Wah'der!” Mikey noted wisely, bracing himself on the edge of the glass.

“Right!” Leo nodded, face turning pensive. “But I can't reach any of the cups or bowls in the kitchen, and Dad doesn't want me climbing on stuff anymore…”

“Waphie?” Mikey suggested.

“Raph's busy with Dad cooking dinner. Bo-ring.” Leo sighed. “And Donnie said he was studying today…”

“Hmm…” Mikey hummed, before his eyes lit up. “Bow’!” He squeaked, rocking his bowl side to side. “Bow’! A bow’!”

“No Mikey, we need a-” Leo caught on. “Oh, a bowl. You're a genius, Mikey!”

Mikey squeaked and squealed in response to the praise, wiggling what was left of his tail in the water. “Tank you.”

“Alright then, Mikester. You're gonna have to show off how good you are with those new legs.” Leo wrapped his arms around his baby brother's body, struggling for a moment to get a good grip with both of them having slippery skin, but he eventually hefted Mikey out of the bowl under his armpits and placed him on the stone floor. “This'll be a good oppa-tunity for you! You just gotta stay here while I fill up the bowl the rest of the way, okay?”

“Okie-dokie!” Mikey replied cheerfully, patting his newly grown hands on the floor. They had been fully developed for about a week, but he had yet to do much with them other than waving and clapping.

Taking Mikey's word without any doubt, Leo picked up the half filled bowl and carried it away to the nearby tunnel. Sure, he knew he wasn't supposed to go into the tunnels by himself. And sure, he knew he wasn't supposed to leave Mikey alone when they were playing. But Leo was a big boy! And so was Mikey! Mikey had all of his limbs now! That, Leo didn't exactly understand, because Leo always had all his limbs, just like Raph and Donnie. Mikey was just a ball with a tail and eyeballs. A tadpole, Donnie's voice reminded him. Now Mikey was a toadlet, which meant surely he was grown enough to be on his own for a few minutes.

It wasn't like Leo didn't like spending time with Mikey. He loved watching movies with him, coloring things with him, even chatting with him despite his more limited vocabulary. Mikey just… couldn't play a lot of the games Leo liked to play. Leo liked to move, and Mikey couldn't move a lot. Mikey couldn't play tag, or hide and seek, and he could only play Jupiter Jim if he was playing as Godfred, the Goldfish King. Even then, he was no fun to play with without his royal guards.

Today, Leo got to play with Mikey without supervision, a job usually reserved for his older brothers. It was a total breeze, he had found out, because Mikey was so stationary. Babies were boring, but they were easy.

Leo carried the bowl back, making sure to spill as little of the mildly murky sewer water he had collected as possible, and put it down right next to the toy he had left on the floor. Right next to the puddle where Mikey was sitting before.

Puddle?

“Boys! Come eat!”

“...spit.”

----------------------

Leo walked into the kitchen with a nervous smile on his face, finding that Raph and Donnie were already seated with food in front of them. Both plates were filled with vegetables and meat, and Splinter was preparing two more plates with more of the same.

“Hello, Blue,” Splinter greeted, glancing around Leo's sides. “Where is your brother? I thought he was with you.”

“H-he was! He just got reeeally tired,” Leo lied, swaying on his feet and swishing his tail slowly. “So I tucked him in bed. He was really, indubitably tired.”

“You don't even know what that word means, Leo.” Donnie glared right into Leo's soul, pushing his glasses up as Leo sat down next to him.

“Yes I do! I-it means Mikey was really super tired!”

“Purple, do not be rude to your brother,” Splinter scolded. “If Orange was tired, he should sleep. He is a growing boy. Thank you, Blue, for tucking him in. He can eat later, after he wakes up.” Splinter finished preparing a plate for himself, then sat down next to his sons and began eating. “Did you all enjoy yourselves today?”

Raphael nodded. “I showed Cheech how to beat up the practice dummy right! He wasn't too good at holdin’ Raph's sais though.”

“That is very kind of you, Red. I'm sure that Cheech will improve if you keep training him.” Splinter smiled kindly.

“He won't,” Donnie whispered, leaning into Leo's ear. “Teddy bears can't do ninjutsu.”

“I think Raph can teach him, Raph's good at teaching,” Leo whispered back.

“What about you, Purple?”

Donnie straightened his posture, his tail sticking straight up for a moment, straightening his glasses again. “I actually did some very helpful research using the encyclopedia that Dad found and the book on reptiles we got a while ago.” He looked around at his brothers. “I learned a lot about our different species. I looked pretty closely into toads and frogs so I could talk to Mikey about his current state, but apparently I can't, because he fell asleep at 6 pm.” Donnie side eyed Leo questioningly.

“You can tell him about what you learned tomorrow, Purple,” Splinter said. “I'm sure whatever he and Blue did today was exhausting, was it not?” He asked, redirecting the conversation to Leo.

“Oh yeah, for sure,” Leo agreed fervently. “Me and Mike were having so much fun. Like, Mikey was having sooo much fun, he literally passed out! And I put him in bed, like a good big brother!”

“He… passed out?” Raph asked worriedly.

“Yeah! Like, knocked out hard. Totally asleep. And I tucked him in good!”

“In his tub.” Donnie raised a drawn eyebrow.

“That's right!”

“Boys, there is no need to argue about this,” Splinter said with a strained smile as the brothers finished eating and put their plates away in the sink. “We should all be happy for Blue, who has proven himself as a big brother.”

“He's sure proving something, alright…” Donnie murmured with crossed arms. 

“You can spend a little more time up, but I want you to get to bed soon as well. Meanwhile, I will be taking this opportunity to take a nice, long shower.” Splinter shook his robed arms, showcasing the small clumps of fur gathering across his body. “This stuff gets oily way faster than you would expect.”

“Don't worry Pops!” Raph said, standing absurdly tall for a child of his age and swishing his unruly tail. “I'll check on Mike, then I'll make sure Leo and Don get to sleep too! You have my word!” Raph tried to hold up a military salute, but he caught his hand on his large jaws and hit his head backwards, tail and arms flailing to make sure he didn't fall. He looked distraught for a moment, before making a show of shaking off the pain to be strong for his dad.

Splinter sighed. “Thank you, Red.”

Leo straightened up, eyes widening as he saw his brothers going toward their room,  and dashed over to the sink to drop off his own plate so he could follow. Quickly, would be preferable. 

“Blue? May I speak with you?”

Spit.

Leo stood with the most relaxed posture he could muster as he faced his dad, leaning on the countertop behind him with one elbow. “Sure, Pops!”

Splinter kneeled down in front of the salamander. “I wanted to thank you for spending the day with your little brother. I know that he is still unable to do many of the things that you can, but it is good to hear that you included him in your games anyways.”

“Oh,” Leo said, losing his fake nonchalance for a moment. “It… it was no big deal, Dad.”

“I would say it was a big deal, Leonardo.” Splinter placed a paw on Leo's shoulder, smiling softly at his son. “Once Orange hits the growth spurt he is bound to, it will be much more difficult to keep you boys from bouncing off the walls. I am glad to know I can trust you to take care of your little brother.”

Leo's heart dropped in his chest with guilt, but he kept his outward appearance well enough. Internally, he was screaming to run away and stop his brothers from reaching the bedroom. “Of course, Dad. Mikey was actually really really super fun to hang with! Not boring at all! He actually was playing way more than me, and like, he was really cool and stuff. And fun to play with,” he added carefully.

Splinter stood up, cracking his back. “That is great to hear. Now-” he clapped his hands- “to wash the gunk out of this gross fur!” 

As soon as Splinter skipped away, Leo fumbled over his feet to rush to the bedroom. He kicked his tail a few times, but ignored it in his frenzy. His brothers were already there! It was over! He would never be trusted again! Not by Raph, not by Donnie (though who really cared about that), and most importantly, not by his dad!

When Leo got to the shared bedroom, he slid on the floor to turn in the doorway as fast as possible, only to find Raph terrifyingly close to Mikey's tank.

“WAIT!”

Both of his brothers looked up at him immediately. Donnie's glare from where he sat on his bed quickly changed from confused to exhausted. “And why, dear Nardo, would Raph need to wait?”

Leo hesitated. “Well, b-because-”

“No, Leo. You've been super suspicious ever since you came to dinner.” Donnie stood up, putting the book he had in his hands down.

“No I haven't!” Leo defended. “I don't even know what that means, so I can't be that.”

“It means you've been acting weird because you're hiding something!” Donnie accused.

“Am not!” Leo defended.

“Yes, you a-”

“Guys!” Raph whispered furiously, catching the other boys’ attention. “If you're gonna fight, do it quiet. Mikey's still asleep.” The oldest brother turned away, not being able to see the despaired expression on Leo's face, and approached Mikey's corner of the room where his small tank sat.

Donnie looked back at Leo with disdain. “Whatever you're hiding, you should just cough it up. Dad doesn't like liars.”

“Well that's great, cause I'm not lying. I'm like, the least liar-est person ever.”

“Uh, Donnie?” Raph asked quietly from his spot by the tank. “Didn't you say Mikey was supposed to mecha-morph-uh.. whatever?”

“Metamorphosis. It's the process through which a tadpole becomes a frog or toad. Commonly associated with frogs and butterflies, which come from caterpillars. And technically, the word would be ‘metamorphose’, in this context.”

“I think he meta-morph-osed into a whale instead…”

Leo held his breath.

“What?” Donnie walked over to the tank, continuing to ramble. “No, he's supposed to metamorphose into a fire bellied toad, not a whale. There's no way that- GASP!” Donnie plunged his hand in the tank, coming back out with an unmistakable item. “You left his bowl in the tank?!”

“What?! I-I don't know how that got there, I swear!” Leo stammered, grabbing the hem of his shirt.

“You said you put Mikey to bed! Mikey isn't here, but his bowl is!” Donnie shouted. “You lied! You lost Mikey!”

“N-no I didn't!”

“Oh yeah? Then how did his bowl get here?”

Leo puffed his cheeks, fuming. “It wasn't even my fault! Mikey said I could use his bowl!”

Raph gasped this time, like a normal person. “You really lost Mikey?”

Leo's anger faltered at the sad face on his big brother. The reality of the situation was finally settling in. “I-I didn't mean to. I just went in the tunnel for one second-”

“You went in the tunnels?!” Raph screamed.

Leo winced. “It was just for like a second, and nothing even happened!”

“Clearly, something did happen,” Donnie interjected, putting the bowl down. “You. Lost. Mikey!”

“I did not! Mikey said-”

“GUYS!” Raph slammed his tail on the ground, scaring his brothers into attention. “Right now, Raph's gonna ignore all the rules you broke. We don't need to fight about who to blame, because Mikey is missing. He could be in danger, or worse, already hurt. We need to find him before Dad finds out.” Raph stepped closer to Leo. “Now, where did you lose Mikey?”

“I didn't lose hi-”

“Mikey was under your supervision. Now he's gone. You lost Mikey,” Donnie said sternly. “Where did you lose him?”

Leo stared down at his feet, then sighed heavily. “It was right by the tunnel entrance, by the toy room. When I came-d back in, there was just a puddle where he was sitting before.”

“A puddle?” Donnie asked.

“Yeah, that's what I just said,” Leo groaned.

“No, that could be a clue. Show us where the puddle was,” Raph urged.

“Uh, okay.” Leo turned around and walked down the hall with his brothers in tow. He couldn't help but feel their eyes glaring into his back, judging him. Hating him for lying. For putting his baby brother in danger.

Maybe he wasn't a good big brother like Dad had said. Mikey was the only little brother he had. How did he screw that up?

They reached the end of the hall, and Leo was surprised to see a little bit of dampness still on the floor, even after almost an hour. “He was right here,” he said, crouching down to look.

“Hm,” Donnie hummed, crouching down as well. “Just as I thought.” He put a finger in the spot on the ground, surprising his brothers when his hand came up with something slimy. “Mikey didn't just leave the water from his bowl, he also left mucous.”

“Mucous? Like, he snotted everywhere?” Raph questioned.

“No, it's not snot. It's mucous. Many frogs and toads produce mucous with glands on their skin that helps keep it moist. In some, it also helps them breathe through their skin,” Donnie explained.

“So, Mikey left his skin snot on the floor,” Leo gathered.

“No. It's mucous, not snot.”

“Hey, look!” Raph pointed to another spot on the floor. “More snot!”

“Follow it!” Leo said, running over to the spot and searching for more.

Donnie pinched the bridge of his snout. “Again, not snot, but okay, we have a lead.”

“Why's it in spots, and not, like, little froggy footprints?” Raph asked, following as Leo spotted more spots.

“It's possible that Mikey figured out how to hop,” Donnie said.

“Ha! So this was worth it!” Leo said, pumping a fist. “I taught Mikey how to hop!”

“Or, you taught him how to hop off a cliff and die. Or hop right into a human's home,” Donnie replied.

“Donnie…” Raph whispered.

Leo didn't respond, instead choosing to keep following the spots. There were a few he saw on the walls, which he noted curiously. They traveled all throughout the lair, slowly becoming more recent. Eventually, the brothers found a place where they entered a door.

The bathroom door, where soft singing could be heard on the other side.

“Aw, spit.”

Raph elbowed Leo's shoulder. “Dad said you shouldn't say that anymore.”

“Why? It's not a bad word. I can say it all I want! Spit, spit, spit-”

“Guys,” Donnie said, “let's worry more about the mucous going into the room where Dad is showering.”

“Oh, right.”

The trio opened the door slowly, getting facefuls of steam that fogged up Donnie's glasses, causing him to back out. Leo and Raph stuck their heads in, surveying the area. Splinter's operatic singing filled their ears, making them wince. However, in the midst of the steam filled bathroom, they spotted what they were looking for.

Mikey was perched on the edge of the sink, looking at the closed shower curtain with wide eyes.

“Mikey!” Leo whispered, getting Mikey's attention and drawing his eyes. “Hey Angelo! Come here, come to Leo!” He held his hands out, beckoning.

Mikey squeaked softly, waving at Leo, then pointing at the shower.

“Nonono, don't go there buddy, hop over here!”

Mikey grinned, then readied himself to jump straight at the curtain.

“MIKEY!”

The clattering of metal and screams of the boys cut off Splinter's singing, as Mikey hopped right onto the curtain and pulled the curtain rod down. Raph pushed past Leo into the room, catching Mikey before he fell to the floor with the curtain.

Splinter, despite being covered with soaked fur, tried to cover himself and turned the shower off. “Boys!? What is the meaning of this?!”

Raph fumbled to keep Mikey in his arms. “Sorry, Pops! Mikey was just-”

Mikey turned around in Raph's arms, reaching out to Splinter. “Hi Daddy!”

“Orange? What are you doing awake?”

“He, uh, he woke up!” Leo said, pushing in front of Raph. “We had to follow him here.”

“Follow him?” Splinter raised an eyebrow.

Raph looked at Leo, unsure.

“Yes?” Leo said nervously.

They all stood still, Leo patting his toe on the floor. He couldn't tell if he was sweating of fear, or if it was just the steam in the room. The tension felt as thick as the steam filled air.

“LEO LOST MIKEY!”

“What?!”

“DONNIE, YOU SNITCH! I DID NOT!”

“YES YOU DID! AND YOU LIED! LEO LIED!” Donnie screamed from outside the room.

“Donnie! Stop being mean to Leo!” Raph said, struggling to keep a hold on the boy in his arms. Mikey wriggled around, bracing his feet on Raph's chest and hopping off, sending himself flying into Splinter's arms while also hitting Raph's jaws shut with a clack and nearly sending Raph falling backwards.

“Orange!” Splinter caught Mikey deftly, checking him over. Then, he looked back up to his other sons. More specifically, at the one who had just been basically slapped by his own jaw. “Red, are you okay?”

Raph grunted, but nodded slowly as he held his snout.

“Good. That was very rude of you, Orange,” he said to the son in his arms. “What do you say?”

“I'm sowwy, Waphie…” Mikey mumbled with innocent eyes. Raph gave a weak thumbs up in response.

“Good job. I'm very proud of you for learning how to jump.” Splinter looked at Leo, who physically shrank.

“I-I swear, I didn't meanta lose him. We were just playing, a-and he said-”

“He can tell me what he said.”

Leo felt tears trying to force their way out behind his eyes.

Splinter sighed, dropping his shoulders. “Red,” he addressed, “make sure your brothers get to bed. With no screens,” he said, shooting a glare at the door.

“I would never!” Donnie scoffed from outside.

“I will come to tuck you in as soon as I am done with my shower. I have a feeling that Orange won't let me go without giving him a good bath, too,” he added, causing Mikey to squeak and laugh in his hold.

“No problem, Pops,” Raph said, walking toward the door.

Leo blinked, confused. Where was his scolding? Where was his slap on the wrist? This couldn't possibly be that bad, right? “B-but I-”

“Go to bed, Leonardo.”

Leo shut up fast, swallowing all of his tears and excuses. He followed Raph glumly out of the bathroom, closing the door behind him. Raph was standing outside with a concerned look on his face, while Donnie wore a smirk.

“I told you Dad doesn't like liars.”

Leo walked past, trying to get to the bedroom with as little eye contact as possible. Raph reached to grab his shoulder, but he shrugged it off and walked faster. Donnie's words echoed in his head.

Dad didn't like liars. Leo was a liar. Dad was the one that took care of them.

He could kick Leo out.

He'd have to live in the tunnels. Or maybe, Dad wouldn't let him live in the tunnels. He'd have to live on the surface, with the humans. The humans who wanted to catch him. Who wanted to pull him apart to see what he was made of and then piece him back together to see what he could do. He would die without his dad. He didn't want to live without his dad. Without his brothers. Without Mikey. Because he did love Mikey, even if he lied. At least he thought so.

Maybe Dad wouldn't care now. Maybe Dad didn't love him now. Leo was a liar. Dad doesn't like liars. Why would he?

Leo flopped into his bed as soon as he reached it, pulling the covers over himself and turning in to face the wall. Raph attempted to talk to him, but Leo only curled up tighter, pulling his tail up so far he could see it in front of his face.

Eventually, Raph gave up. Leo heard him softly scolding Donnie, but tried to ignore it as silent tears fell off his cheeks.

Just when he thought he was about to fall asleep, Leo heard the bedroom door opening. He wiped his face and turned slightly, seeing Splinter walk first to Donnie's bed, then to Raph's, before finally coming toward Leo's.

He noticed Mikey sitting in the doorway, who waved when he caught Leo's eyes. Leo waved back slowly.

Splinter kneeled by Leo's bedside, just like he would any other night to tuck him in. Usually, this would bring Leo warmth and comfort, reminding him that his father loved him. This time, Leo couldn't fight the sense of dread that filled his chest, making it feel like he was breathing something heavier than air. He wasn't getting tucked in. He didn't deserve that anymore. He was a liar.

Dad doesn't like liars. 

His father's eyes seemed to see right through him. “I am very upset with you, Leonardo.”

Leo tensed, but kept looking at Splinter.

“I am not upset that you lost track of your brother. You are a child, and I cannot expect you to be perfect. Do you know why I am upset?”

Leo nodded slowly, then mumbled, “Because I lied…”

“Exactly. It is because you lied. You could have told me as soon as it happened, and I would have helped you look for him. Instead, you lied and put your brother at even more risk. You could have fessed up when I saw Michelangelo in the bathroom. But yet, you still didn't. You didn't admit to your own fault. It took Donatello telling me for you to finally confess. And even then, you tried to rid yourself of all guilt.”

Leo sniffed, tearing up again. “Are you gonna kick me out?”

Splinter's eyebrows raised in shock. “What? No, I will not kick you out. Why would I ever do something so horrible?”

Something shattered.

“But… but I lied! I hurt Mikey! I-I'm a bad brother!” Leo's tears started flowing openly.

“No, no, Blue, you are okay. Shh…” Splinter rubbed his hand across Leo's face, wiping a tear away.

Leo sniffled and hiccuped, holding onto the back of Splinter's hand and softly sobbing. “I'm sorry, Dad, I-I didn't want to…”

Splinter rubbed his son's cheek, hushing him quietly. “I know. But that does not change what you did.” He looked deeply into his son's eyes, ensuring he had his full attention. “I forgive you, but this cannot go without punishment. I will not kick you out, and I never would. You are my son. Instead, you will be grounded for a month.”

Leo whined, but nodded. “Okay…”

“However, I believe that taking away the things that bring you joy will not make you learn the lesson that you need to learn. That is why, during this month, you will not be disallowed from doing anything in our home. Do you understand that?”

Leo nodded.

“The only caveat is that you must spend the entire month with your brother, Michelangelo. You will only do things that he wants to do. You will not plant ideas in his head or put words in his mouth. You will only do things that he says he wants to do. If he ever wants to spend time away from you, you will spend that time with me. Do you understand?”

“Mhm.” Leo nodded again.

“Perfect.” Splinter smiled. “I forgive you for this, and I hope that through this grounding period you can regain my trust.”

Leo smiled as well and nodded one last time, wiping one last tear with the heel of his hand. “I hope so too.”

Splinter turned to the doorway and waved Mikey over with his hand. Mikey grinned and hopped over, much quicker than Leo had expected. He stopped at Leo's bedside, slowly using the bed to brace himself as he stood up on shaky legs, then looked at his father.

“Tell Blue what you told me, Orange.”

Mikey wobbled for a second, then looked up at Leo. “I, um, I'm sowwy I went away when you said not go away. And I'm sowwy, um, I jumped at Daddy when you said not to do… And, um, I wwwanted to s'eep in a big boy bed tonight, cause imma big boy now, but I don't got a big boy bed, can I s’eep wi’ you.” Mikey finished the sentence like a statement, not a question, but his intention was clear.

Leo looked for just a second at his dad, who nodded encouragingly, before looking back at his little brother. “Sure, Mike. Hop on up here.”

Mikey did just that, with more force than Leo had expected. “Wow, Angelo, you've really got good legs now!” Leo said, catching Mikey in his arms and helping tuck him into the blankets. Meanwhile, Splinter walked to Mikey's tank and came back with his bowl and a towel.

“Alright, boys. Orange, your bowl will be right here if you need to soak, and your tank will be there if you want it.” Splinter pulled the blanket up, kissing each boy on the forehead. He cringed and wiped his lips after kissing Mikey, making the boy squeak and giggle. “Sleep well, my big boys. I am so proud of you, and I love you.”

“Love you too, Dad,” both boys chorused. Mikey snuggled into Leo's chest, letting Leo hold him like a stuffed animal. Leo only flinched for a moment at the slimy feeling of Mikey's skin (mucous, not snot).

Splinter walked out of the room, and it was barely even 20 seconds after he heard the door close that Leo heard a whisper coming from beside him.

“I'm sowwy, ‘eo,” Mikey murmured.

Leo looked down at his brother, confused. “You already said sorry. You don't gotta say it again.”

“But I said sowwy then cause Dad said,” Mikey explained. “Now, I said sowwy cause Mikey said.”

“Oh.” Leo settled back in, putting his chin on Mikey's head. “Well, I'm really sorry too. And that's cause Leo said,” he added, smirking.

Mikey giggled and squeezed Leo tightly, wiggling beneath the sheets. In a matter of minutes, the young amphibian had completely fallen asleep, slightly drooling on Leo's pillow. He didn't mind.

Leo grabbed onto Mikey and closed his eyes as well.

He never wanted to let go again.

○●○●○●○

Did I tell myself I would write au comp propaganda? Yes. Did I write a fic about an au completely unrelated to the comp? Yes, and I'm not sorry. I figured since another round finished up today, why not post something?

For real, I've had some insane art block recently, and writing has been keeping me sane. I tried writing propaganda, hated it, then realized, you know what makes me feel better every time? Turtle tots.

In this case, everything-but-turtle tots.

Shoutout to @rufwooff for making one of the most serotonin filled aus I've seen in a while, and fueling my exhaustion-induced writing spree. And go check out @tmntaucompetition! We're getting closer to the end! AAH!

[xoxoskai]

Things that got overshadowed in RKverse.

Alternatively, things Rina Kent characters still haven't gotten over completely.

I was thinking about Rina glossing over the very traumatic experience that Cole went through at the end of Ruthless Empire, and it got me thinking. So, I wrote a little something to show that yes, love conquers all, but sometimes you still struggle with battles where you've been defeated too many times.

I won't exactly say these were things that were overshadowed as much as these things being experiences one doesn't simply get over in a couple of months. Experiences as traumatic as the ones some of these characters have faced might take years- if not, decades, to get over and I just wanted to bring them to light a little bit.

Silver can't look at dolls.

Ronan probably used to hide in his closet, trembling and shivering, and hated physical contact for a long, long time.

Cole sells his family's mansion and buys the rights to his mother's books so he can unpublish them.

The marks on Kim's wrists still give her phantom pains sometimes.

Jonathan and Aurora always make sure Alicia's grave has her favorite flowers.

Somedays, Teal feels so dirty that she spends hours in the bath trying to scrub herself clean of the demons of her past.

It takes Cole a long time to be able to enter a pool again and whenever he has a nightmare of his mother trying to kill Silver, he drains the pool out and leaves it dry for months.

At some point, Asher and Reina take their sons bungee jumping but after Asher nearly loses his mind when Gareth and Killian are getting geared up, the family decides to go home and indulge in other fun activities.

Sebastian develops claustrophobia after he loses Naomi for seven years.

Gwyneth makes it a point to hug both her parents as much as she can. She needs reassurance that it won't be the last time she gets the chance to hug them.

Kyle obsessively keeps track of his children after Mia's kidnapping. He has cameras installed everywhere near the twins' apartment and Nikolai's penthouse after they move to Brighton. He knows it's unhealthy, but he does it for his peace of mind.

Knox has days when he's away from Anatasia that he functions on autopilot to repress his demons.

Daniel still can't eat food on selective occasions. He prefers munching on peach flavored lollipops instead.

The first time Lia is teaching Annika different ballet stances, she has a breakdown and curls up on the floor and cries. Yan has to take Annika away and Adrian holds Lia and rocks her back and forth for a while.

It takes Sasha a while to not flinch at loud sounds/noises that are like a prelude to bombs blasting.

Anton has a hard time looking in the mirror because he stole someone's identity and hasn't made peace with it.

Jayden wakes up in cold sweat, scared that his father will finally catch up to him at some point. Once he's of an acceptable age, Daniel sits him down and tells him why his father will never show his face around them again.

It takes Astrid some time to get her driver's license. She mostly prefers to have someone else drive her around.

Xander has recurring dreams about waking up in a puddle of Kim's blood for years on end.

●○●○●○●○●○●○●○●○●○●○●○

Thank you for reading! It hurt my heart to write this, but it was still exhilarating in a way to shine some light on the not-so glamourous parts of some of our beloved characters.

[cyjammy]

Angel’s Early Struggle

Can we talk about Angel being bothered by Sir Pentious being praised by Charlie? Because I don't think that's been talked about enough if at all.

Angel up to this point and well past episode two puts up a front. His persona empowers him, gives him a shield against his abuser, critics and even himself. Angel's self-imposed egocentrism gives him the opportunity to gain attention whether that be positive or negative. He wants to play the part of a self-assured, overly-sexual porn star because he knows that's how he has to be.

All of this we know already after episode four.

This skepticism and refusal to change is a byproduct of his negative self-image caused by his circumstances. Valentino has ruined Angel up to this point. He allows Angel to continue his self-destructive tendencies and isolated him to the point where his only friend was Cherri Bomb - someone who also enables him. Valentino does this all for his own benefit. Angel is a toy to him - one that makes him money. To Valentino, his feelings are non-existent, what matters is what he can get out of him, how much use Angel is to him.

Whether that be through physicality or being an entertaining plaything, Valentino doesn't care.

When Angel uses his persona, that pleases the person he spends the most time around. Valentino considers him worthy of the little bit of praise he will give before taking it away at the first opportunity. The inconsistent treatment Angel receives from Valentino is traumatic in itself, couple that with sexual and physical abuse and Angel is barely hanging on. Nobody can remain sane from that without having some way to cope.

After all of that mistreatment that solidified Angel's thought process, his fears and insecurities, he finds someone else who gives him attention with zero strings attached through Charlie. Angel is obviously skeptical at first, considering the things Valentino did to him. He knows Hell is unforgiving, that he had already made a mistake trusting a ruthless overlord, so it was a no brainer that he wouldn't trust Charlie, at least not right away.

So Angel emulates Valentino's behavior, he uses Charlie for a free place to stay with minimal intentions of trying to be redeemed. At any opportunity where Charlie doesn't have Angel under watch, he took the chance to do drugs, start fights, and simply revert back to the way he was when he was on his own. Angel does show some kind of remorse, unlike Valentino, before reigning himself back in to pretend he doesn't care.

Even in the pilot you could see the beginnings of character development in Angel. Not everything was as it seemed.

At this point, Angel has no reason to stop this behavior. This is Angel's rationalization: It's Hell, nobody else is going to try Charlie's plan, redemption doesn't exist, why try?

In this endeavor, Angel can't be considered a failure or disappointment. There aren't grave actions for falling short in the Hotel like there would be if he failed Valentino. There is no threat of physical harm, verbal or emotional abuse and manipulation. He may get yelled at by Vaggie and Charlie, but he had just met them, he doesn't care about their opinions or feelings to the point that it would viscerally affect him.

However, Charlie did whittle him down by being genuine. She cares for the hotel’s patrons and her plan for redemption. Charlie stays consistent in a way that Valentino doesn’t.

After a long night of filming, Angel gets to return to the hotel. Charlie and Vaggie are there and Angel stays unbelieving of her plans for redemption. After Alastor joins, Angel also has Nifty and Husk.

He doesn’t have to stew in his misery within the same vicinity as his abuser. He gets to have a distraction and a support system no matter how dysfunctional they may seem.

When Sir Pentious joins the hotel as a spy for the Vees, Angel has to compete for attention where he never had to. Sir Pentious is the patron of Charlie’s dreams. He appeals to her notion of instant conversion by obediently following her orders no matter how nonsensical or small.

Angel continues to put up the same front since it hasn't stopped working for him before. Charlie starts a group activity, Sir Pentious succeeds, and Angel says it's stupid.

Charlie has them act out a scene, Angel is critical of it and Sir Pentious plays the part perfectly.

Charlie freely gives him praise.

Angel has never received praise from Charlie up to this point. At least, nothing direct. Charlie would placate him, use language that wasn't insulting, but those comments weren't compliments.

They were meant to redirect, produce a productive conversation and ultimately help Charlie achieve her goal. She never checked in on Angel's well-being. With everything going on, she was so concerned with her plan that she didn't focus on anything else.

Angel doesn't make an event out of it. He states that he's leaving and when the attention is off him he doesn't try to bring it back.

There is simply defeat.

Angel doesn't process these feelings well. He momentarily considers the hotel just as bad as any place in Hell. He considers returning to Valentino. At least in the studio he's the center of attention, he is good at what he does. There is no need to think of ways to be better or earn redemption, he can be a degenerate and a sleazeball all he wants.

While he is certainly being used at least he is of use. He has a purpose and he isn't disregarded because he doesn't measure up. Angel has his part and he plays it well.

So there is that choice to return back to the studio until he is snapped out of his stupor by remembering his reality. There were good moments with Valentino, but those would never outweigh the bad and the downright horrible. The voicemails Valentino left him highlighted that too well.

Angel had no choice but to stay.

But where did that leave him? He felt like a disappointment. Charlie wouldn't see someone as broken as him worthy for redemption. Sir Pentious had that role and he was better in that department. Angel firmly believed that he couldn't change.

Valentino's hold on him remained strong in the earlier months of his departure. Angel struggled with this mindset of self-destruction. He continued to ruin opportunities for himself, but it was so deeply ingrained in him he couldn't stop himself.

So, he goes to cope. He wants to drown his misery away.

And through that he discovers Sir Pentious's true intentions. He wasn't this perfect patron taking Charlie's attention. Angel's skepticism was justified. He didn't have to be perfect nor did he have to try because Sir Pentious was in the same boat as him.

He prioritized his interests over redemption.

And I wish we could have seen the change with a few more episodes because there is no way this distrust faded in a day.

Knowing that there were months of development in between these moments clears up a few things, but it wasn't on screen so we're left to speculate.

Now, instead of being spiteful, Angel is back to acting as he would with anyone in the Hotel. Sir Pentious has been brought down off his pedestal, he didn't have pure intentions, his dreams of becoming a powerful overlord were crushed and he was cluelessly following an untested path to redemption because he had nowhere else to go.

Angel's attitude persists until Loser, Baby. This is the second moment where he realizes that Hell is shit and nobody is better than anyone, especially if they ended up here. Husk is there for Anthony, a guy who isn't putting on a front and just made a few shit decisions.

As the months go on and Angel only has to interact with Valentino in a business capacity, he gains confidence. There's a system in place that's benefitting him, he has friends and a reason for being.

He even goes as far as to defend his new friends - his faux family - against the biggest threat to his wellbeing.

He has hope for the future and I love that all of it was revealed in Season 1. All you have to do is pay attention.

[theflyindutchwoman]

What did you think of Nolan,Bailey and their storyline this episode ? And the episode of their wedding ?

Let me preface this by saying that if you are a fan of Bailey & Nolan, you might not want to read my answer. As always, this is only personal. I mean no disrespect to anyone who loves this pairing.

I have reached a point where I simply couldn't care less about these two. I can't even say I hate them or anything. I just… don't care. And that's pretty much how I felt about their wedding storyline - from the proposal to the honeymoon. On the bright side, I did like her dress and her vows. That's it. Oh and the bachelor/bachelorette parties… But they weren't even the focus : it was more about Tim and Lucy than Bailey and Nolan.

If anything, that whole wedding storyline encapsulates everything that bother me with this pairing. It was completely over the top, too cliché. Instead of focusing on one or two problems so they could be properly developed, it almost felt like the writers used all the tropes they could think of for drama's sake. Now, it wouldn't be so bad if it were the first or second time. But these two, somehow, always find themselves in these unbelievable situations… to the point that it becomes more boring than entertaining since it never leads to anything substantial. I know it's a show and I expect some drama but I need some balance too. If the writers can't be bothered to give them some depth, why should I care? I mean, awesome, they can fight (and I love me some good old Battle Couple Trope). But what about the character development?

Like the proposal. It happened right after a huge traumatic moment for both Nolan and Bailey. And all we got was John crying for a total of 5 seconds. Show me the struggle and the guilt he had to feel for not pulling the trigger and thinking he had lost the love of his life. I'm not saying that he was right or wrong. But I need to see him dealing with the consequence of that decision. And what about Bailey? How did she feel about being targeted, about dying and about John's choice? We don't know. And if that wasn't bad enough, her death was treated as a running joke one episode later. Compare this to Tim's feeling of guilt for pushing Lucy to go on that date… to Lucy's feeling of guilt for Chris being targeted by Rosalind… to Chris' struggle with his trauma. We got none of that for John and Bailey and they're supposed to be the main couple.

And that's exactly the same issue with the wedding and honeymoon. So many things went wrong but that was it. Well, to be fair, maybe we'll see Bailey and Nolan struggle with almost getting killed (again) in the next episodes… But I'm not holding my breath. Their honeymoon was the worst for me : the lack of passion was absolutely jarring… It's a freaking honeymoon! Why would they spend so much time focused on their cameras and weird neighbours?! Are they this bored of each other? (the way it was filmed didn't help at all).

[appleinyoureye]

JJBA p.2 │ The Tongue of My Love Takes Many Forms

Summary: love language headcanons! what they have to offer and how to make their knees weak!

Fandom: JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure

Characters: Giorno Giovanna, Mista Guido, Narancia Ghirga, Trish Una

Word Count: 787

Type: headcanons

part one

Giorno

Giving: words of affirmation, gift giving

Giorno is a master with words. He knows what, when and in which way should he tell you to make your day brighter. With a soft smile and reassuring glance, he tells you a compliment or two when you need it the most, and it makes you feel like the most special person on the whole freakin’ planet. Very often you don't hear these sentences directly from him – Giorno usually sends you a butterfly with a message spreaded on its wings, or a puppy that has your favorite snack tied to its collar. He is not afraid to use his stand to make the one he loves feel even more adored.

Receiving: physical touch, words of affirmation

Gio often drifts away with his thoughts, his mind busy with developing new plans and ideas. It may be tiring for his smart brain, and nothing helps him in these moments like your soft touch, grounding him to reality again. Your fingers brushing his cheek and catching his jaw, sweet words leaving your mouth are always enough. Whenever you see him struggling with anything, catch his hand in yours and watch the sparkles dance in his precious eyes.

Mista

Giving: words of affirmation, physical touch

My favorite boy, baby boo, the love of my life is all about adoring his loved one. He makes sure that you know your worth, and that your insecurities poof! go away. Mista is always, always telling you how good you look, how smart you are, how amazing you do things, and, uhh, how perfect you are! And be ready for a lot of hugs and kisses! He has to maintain physical contact with you almost all of the time. Brushing your hair every morning, tracing small circles with his thumb on your skin in public places, and hugging and spinning you after a long time apart. That’s how Mista shows he’s in love with you.

Receiving: physical touch, acts of service

Okay, I think we can all agree that this boy way too often gets his cute ass into trouble. Always somehow surviving, he comes to you vulnerable with scratches, cuts and all sorts of wounds. And your duty is to help him. Gently caress his body with a cotton swab, wrap the damaged skin in bandages, put cute band-aids on his face, massage sore spots. Just pamper him like a baby! He knows he can do it all by himself, but your hands just do the magic, you know?

Narancia

Giving: acts of service, gift giving

Sometimes you think that your boo has two left hands, but it’s the thought that counts, right? Narancia makes you breakfast, but always burns one side of a pancake or makes the scrambled eggs way too dry. He cleans your desk, but accidentally throws away an important document (don’t worry, later he’ll duck in the trash can so he can find it!). He wants to make it up for his clumsiness by giving you all sorts of trinkets! He’s like a magpie. Anything that looks like something you may like (or is sparkly) he gets for you because I can’t say that he buys everything…

Receiving: words of affirmation, gift giving

He’s your good boy, your cutie-patootie, your boo-boo-bae-bee. Tell him that. Praise him. Narancia needs it, and you know it! Remind him how much he means to you. How brilliant his ideas are, even though sometimes they make no sense! Just appreciate his efforts, and I can promise you, that you will see his imaginary tail wagging. And if you tell him how much he means to you, and then give you something to eat? Sheesh! The boy may even cry from happiness.  

Trish

Giving: quality time, words of affirmation

She’s not the best at showing it, but Trish cares for you. She surely does. That is why she suggests that you should take her more on dates! Like, c’mon, how could you not think that Trish wants to spend more time with you you to take her on yet another date this weekend? That she deserves it? Pfft! You can still make it up to her by watching a movie marathon with her. And if you notice her hints, she may even praise you! 

Receiving: gift giving

Okay, now, I sure hope you know what to do with her. Give her gifts that she deserves! Trish feels the most loved when she’s appreciated. She may give the vibes of a gold digger, but it’s totally not that. Trish is reassured of your feelings when you put an effort when choosing a gift she may like, when she gets something she’s told you once and you still remembered! It’s the thought behind the gift that counts the most, plus, who doesn’t like pretty things?

[spicyicymeloncat]

Hey ngl I am not enjoying the discourse about Misako and Garmadon and who’s the sad puppy dog oh so owo traumatised little flower parent and who’s absolutely down right evil rot in hell forever leaking fuming bag of toxic waste parent.

…

I asked my boyfriend if I should post this and he said I should write a conclusion. And I’m thinking about this. What’s my actual opinion on them? Who’s the better parent? Who’s the worst? Has Lloyd ever a good parental figure ever?? IS THERE ANY DECENT PARENTAL RELATIONSHIPS IN THIS SHOW (jk Ed Edna and Cyrus Borg y’all are doing great).

And yknow I hate the Misako vs Garmadon bc it feels like some of you act like the only reason people hate Misako is because they just hate to see a woman on the screen. But like. No. I disagree. I mean not totally, some people do let misogyny affect their opinions on things. But like, it’s almost as bad to act like the horrendously awful writing of Misako as a character just didn’t happen. It’s horrendous BECAUSE of misogyny (and the fact that the show is not written well in a lot of places anyways).

Misako spends a whole fuckin lot of of her time in the show in the most sexist era of Ninjago, and then doesn’t really get much development after that. Her memorable moments are literally coming back after having no contact with Lloyd, flirting with Wu a lot, being Lloyd’s mother, being a researcher, flirting with Garmadon and like being his wife, getting kidnapped a few times, the letter, and uhhh being a little sassy? As I was saying this I realised I could probably list every detail we get on her in the show. It’s that little. And can we agree, I’m not saying she’s evil and should have chosen to be well written. I’m saying she’s clearly a badly written character mostly used to prop up other characters arcs, and that’s the fault of the writers. Like you can justify some of what she did but it’s not presented in that way bc the writers don’t put in the time to make her compelling.

So why the hell are we comparing “might as well replace her with a trophy for a poetry competition” Misako with characters who were less neglected by the writers. And why are we surprised when people don’t like her compared to a character who the writers put more effort into telling a more compelling redemption, a character who we get on screen for a whole season during his time as a reformed villain, a character who we see spending time with Lloyd much more than Misako. In comparison Misako spends a lot of her scenes holding hands with Wu, hanging out with Wu, like where’s the mother son bonding road trip?? We don’t get a season where Misako tags along with the protagonists and I wish we did but we do get that with Garmadon (twice) and it’s s3 and 4 and she spends those seasons with Wu (and like Wusako is not popular bc their relationship was framed as romantically inclined and she was still living and presented as married with Garmadon at the time so likeeee)

I’m not saying Misako is a worst parent, I’m saying her relationship with her son is not as fun or as enjoyable and that’s why people don’t like her as much. Not necessarily because everyone is a misogynist. But because not everyone is about to reconstruct a Misako with good writing just to enjoy her more.

Have we considered that liking Misako is a spectrum, almost because the writers gave us nothing for her and we’re all just filling the blanks. Some people are projecting hard. Some people are projecting their abandonment issues onto Lloyd. Some people are projecting the struggle of parenthood onto Misako. Some people didn’t think at all about her. Some people only like her out of spite of how annoying it is to only see Misako haters. Some people only like her because she’s one of the scarce female characters of the show and it’s fucking rough. I wish there were more people who liked women as characters tho. Like tbh it still kinda feels like we’re still stuck with the same single archetype for how we see women. Sexy badasses who snark and kiss other women. Tbh I feel like most of the fandom just projects onto characters and that’s why Ninjago discourse feels so vicious bc people are fighting for their lives that they have stitched into their image of their favourite Lego and I’m getting very off topic what was I talking about??

Uhh anyways I like Misako and I hate Misako I feel like all her haters and her stans and the show writers and the myself are wrong about her in some way. I think I’m tired of the debate of whether she’s a good mum, we should be talking about what her favourite food is and it’s probably soup she probably puts it into a flask to take on her work adventures I DONT REMEMBER WHY I STARTED WRITING OH WAIT IT WAS THE GARMISAKO PARENTLYMPICS.

Neither Garmadon and Misako are better than each other. I’m gonna blow your minds rn but write this down if you care about traumatic parent child relationships (so like if you’re gonna write an angsty Lloyd fic). But when your grow up in an abusive household, there’s a high likelihood your parents aren’t clones of each other but instead bad in different ways.

(Tw: I traumadump to you about my not great parents. Skip past the italics)

One of my parents is emotionally unstable and immature and yet more in touch with me emotionally, my other parent is neglectful and has unsatisfiable expectations of me and yet she doesn’t verbally abuse me.

One isn’t worse than the other and worrying about who is worse often ends up minimising the damage the other causes. Why does one have to be worse when it’s more accurate to describe the experience as “they’re bad in their own way”. The “who is worse” debate is definitely something people from broken households ask themselves and I think we can definitely explore Lloyd’s character in terms of that, but there’s no actual answer. You can’t put a number on trauma and I personally don’t think we should be trying to. Goodbye black and white thinking, hello to messy and complicated, as most bad parental relationships are.

I don’t think Misako and Garmadon are great or justified in what they did, and I don’t think they were terrible or that Lloyd shouldn’t have forgiven them either. I wish we got more development for both of them (Misako more tho bc the writers are bitches) and I wish people didn’t ignore either her characterisation as a loving character as well as her characterisation as a once distant one (and then hinge their opinion of Garmadon as a comparison.).

Idk. Idk what this post was I’ve just always been annoyed at other people in the Misako fight club, some people get way too one way about her, like some of y’all get mean about her I think. I opened tiktok once just to feel like the anger was warranted. Idk she’s not my favourite character and I feel like that’s not allowed bc people act like the only way you could hate her is because you’re sexist and I disagree. But I like her as a character that I can get mad at and then forgive. She’s so interesting. She’s not evil she’s complicated I like having complicated feelings about her. That’s the most compelling part of her in my opinion. I’m a Misako hater and a Misako enjoyer and I’ve thought too much about her and that has to count for something

Now. No one is allowed to read one line of this post and then act like I’m taking away freedom of speech or that I hate women or take a fraction of this and get overly angry. This is due to the fact that this is my opinion. The penalty for doing this is that I take your tumblr profile pic and photoshop it into a garbage bin and I will show it to my boyfriend and we will laugh.

There are so many different points in this post and like it feels like this could be five separate posts but oh well. Send post.

[charlidos]

I feel you linger in the air ep 10

This episode was a bit of a roller coaster in terms of emotions. From a happy end for everyone, to Jom and Yai's biggest tragedy. On the whole, another gripping episode.

Last ep was all about building up the drama - and it was basically all resolved in the first 15 mins of this ep. It's the one thing that I didn't find entirely convincing; it was just a bit too neat. I liked the theatrical drama of the everything-is-revealed scene, but I also feel like the creators were a little too eager to do a certain kind of scene and thus made it a bit too long. And every problem solved in one go: all the bad men gone, the nice women freed, Yai free to be with Jom again. Which is all good, but it was a bit too much like the final scene of a murder mystery show.

I guess it was Jom who presented this since he's the only one who doesn't actually belong there. Maybe it was easier for him to say it all out loud (even if he didn't actually say much himself). But it's like Jom is the vehicle for change, the deciding factor making things happen. And it seems to me that by this resolve for all the characters in 1928, the story can now focus on the big time travel issue. The elephant in the room for Jom & Yai.

The whole post-reveal scene between Jom & Yai is another extremely beautiful scene, with an amazing feeling of intimacy. I'm not sure I've ever seen such beautiful love scenes. I can feel it in my bones, my heart. There's such a natural intimacy between them which makes every part of it seem so completely believable. And most importantly, they never seem to be there just to please the audience, but always has something to say, relevant to the story. Even if it's just to show how much these two love each other. And again, all kudos to Bright and Nonkul for making Jom & Yai come alive this way.

Yai describing how he only felt numb when being forced to be apart from is very moving. I love that the drama here is so quiet. Yai's silent tears, the comfort Jom supplies with his little caresses, the need to keep touching. I love that the most important part of this scene is played out here, after the love making. When they are both literally and figuratively naked and when they are as close as can be, lying together like they are one. Like Yai says: they are each other's heart and soul.

However, it's difficult to not remember that they have a much worse heartbreak coming: that Jom will return to his own time and be gone forever. All these things that Yai is describing, is that not how he will feel then too? Numb, alone, cold. It's so terribly sad!

I struggled a bit to understand why Yai was so unreservedly happy with finally being allowed to go study abroad. He says so casually to Jom - right after explaining how he can't live without him - that he'll only be gone a few years. I thought for sure he would imagine Jom coming with him, but no. But thinking about it, I really like the idea that Yai is a person with all these dreams, of seeing the world, of changing it. And that his life is more than just his love for Jom. He's a young man, after all, and he's seen so little. In this perspective, I feel there's a good chance that Yai could live a fulfilling life, even after Jom is gone. That he'll be crushed and probably never really recover, but that he could instead spend his time travelling the world and being part of the developing future. (Even if living in this time is such a tragedy also since we know WWII is coming. 1929-1945 was not an easy time to live.)

This is also the first time we hear Jom talking with Yai about his other home.

And this is the first time he's mentioned using his knowledge about the future. I wonder if it he started talking like this, and started disappearing, because his deed there was done in a way, after resolving this family's issues. That his connection to the place started waning. Because surely, it's not a coincidence that as he talked of the future, his body started losing it's precence in 1928. Maybe it's also his own awareness - one he seems to have put aside for a long time - of not belonging that makes this happen right there.

We still have no idea what happens with Jom's body in 2023, if he's missing there or if he's in a coma, or if no time has passed there. We don't know if what happens in 1928 is like a loop, something that always happens. Jom could, in 2023, see it happen, after all. So I'm very curious to see what will happen when he returns. But it'll also be so infinitely heartbreaking to imagine how empty it'll be for Yai.

Really, it seems too little time to resolve this in just two eps! I've understood that there's supposed to be a "special episode" too, after ep 12. But I have no idea what it means. I just want a season 2! I'm not ready to leave Jom & Yai. They've gotten under my skin so completely.

And how will they have time to get back to explaining who this Yai is? He obviously needs a whole season of his own.

[whetstonefires]

If Steve Rogers functions as the Superman of the bunch, the noble hero out of the past who inspires the others to greatness, what exactly is Bucky Barnes role, especially as Captain America himself?

I don't think that's a very meaningful analogy because like. The Justice League and the Avengers are very different teams, and despite their fairly similar ethics Clark and Steve are possibly even more different guys.

Captain America's is a solid general all-rounder, very mid-level in terms of actual power. Problems are frequently too big for him. Superman is stupid strong--every so often something shows up that's more powerful than he is, but he spends most of his life finessing his way through using as much force as he needs without overshooting and causing unacceptable collateral damage. He can move planets.

Psychologically, there's a vast gulf there.

The legacy of Krypton and the, the myth of America are roughly the same shape but are worn in completely opposite ways. No one on Earth knows or cares about Krypton except through Superman, and even he doesn't remember it--sometimes Kara does--so it's just pretty shapes and a deep solemnity.

America is messy and current and in-your-face, it was there before Steve and it'll probably outlive him and sometimes he gets so fed up with its foreign policy decisions or civil rights abuses he puts on a different outfit or goes and lives in a bunker.

'Superman' is a big idea that rests entirely on Kal-El as a person and as a force; 'Captain America' as a concept might be built on Steve and his supersoldier status but it's not dependent on him, they keep making a point of that.

Meanwhile they've made Jon Superman but struggle mightily with how to do that without just making him his dad. Of course they'd be struggling less if they'd let him grow up at a normal speed or were willing to lean into what a fucking bizarre person he ought to be after seven years in a cave with his dad's evil twin; basically Jon Kent doesn't have a character right now and they think he can hold up a title. But actually they know he can't that's why they brought Clark back. Superman is a disaster right now.

So anyway. In classic terms, Bucky was the counterpart of Jimmy Olsen. Then he died--I believe this was established in a retcon in the 60s when they brought Cap back, when Marvel was getting its feet under it as the grounded, realistic superhero comic company.

Then Bucky and Jason Todd both came back in 2005 which was kind of embarrassing for everyone imo. Just like. Did you have to do that at the same time you're making each other's cheap stunts look even more stuntlike.

Bucky's actually done better over the last 18 years than Jason tbh, rip--I mean in terms of interesting stories and development. Jason got his own book and all, he just also was subjected to terrible discontinuity of character and was primarily written by Scott Lobdell for like a decade. Terrible.

In terms of who he can be compared to relative to Superman when he's being Captain America, I. Uhhhhhh. No one in any useful way, I don't think. The obvious place to look is the Death of Superman/Reign of the Supermen period, but like.

Does Bucky have anything really in common with Cyborg Superman other than being a traumatized cyborg? No. Does he have anything in common with The Kid (later Kon-El)? You'd think there'd be something but there really isn't. Each point they have in common (i.e. dehumanizing lab background) they have diametrically opposed relationships to.

Steve's had duplicates and impersonators, I think the anti-commie guy he beat up that time is kind of like his Cyborg Superman equivalent? Except there's a whole political ideology thing going on there which is just not present with Superman. Anyway, not relevant to Bucky.

...you can I think draw some kind of relationship between Sam Wilson as Captain America and John Henry Irons as Steel, because on the writing end of things there's a definite flavor match, in terms of very deliberately creating a very cool black man and holding him up as an exemplar in a superhero story that otherwise has not got a lot of black people in major roles, and making him the best person to uphold the legacy of the Very Important Hero Guy. Like certain conventions are utilized the same in both instances. In certain ways that was two versions of the same story.

But also not really; Irons was very much pinch-hitting and what made him the best was that he was the one determined to do the work rather than claim the glamor; it's a lot more ceremonious and torch-passing with Wilson. A different deal. Although in some ways that's just because Marvel has hung onto and deliberately invested in the Falcon for decades.

DC Comics stop doing weird stuff with Clark's family and identity and reinvest in the supporting cast challenge. Where is Steel what's going on with him. Does he exist in this timeline.

[bluewavesofchange]

The guardians of the Pharaoh

Sea and shadows: the Queens of the abyss

I don't own Yugioh or it's characters

I struggled with writing this chapter which is why it's unfortunately so short. And no this isn't the last chapter as things are about to make a turn for the worst...

Chapter 9

 

Back in the monster world…

 

All was going well for Rozu since she started living with the woodland archers. She started feeling more at ease around the others as she got to know them a bit better and they seemed to enjoy getting to know her too, even if she was still temperamental on her best day. She slowly became a part of her group and had the chance to train using her fire magic. The other archers found it useful too; she would throw balls of fire at them in the same manner the magicians would throw around their magic. They learnt how to dodge the attacks and how to block them thanks to Rozu’s teachings (revealing a few of the magicians weaknesses) they became stronger and more agile when it came to their fighting skills…

 

News of this made its way to Lord Thymus’ ears (mainly through Clarity who would watch the archers training and was excited to tell one of her fathers this great development). He wanted to meet this mysterious fire bender who claimed to have escaped from the magicians…something about that story just didn’t seem right…

 

However when he visited the archers with Hermos and saw the red haired girl and the grief that swirled in the golden hues of her eyes, the pain that they held…not to mention how she would attack anyone who snuck up behind her or how she flinched when anyone raised their voice, he knew she had endured years of suffering…she seemed on edge whenever he was around and watched the archers as they trained…she didn’t speak much except with Terra who she was oddly close to (following him around like a puppy). What bothered him the most was how she seemed to interact with his daughter Clarity…she seemed to observe her like she was a specimen being examined…her golden eyes fixated on her as she went about her busy whether the golden haired girl was laughing and joking with the other archers or interacting with animals. He didn’t like this one bit.

 

Thymus was also the first to notice that despite how different the two girls were, there were parts of her appearance that were strangely similar. The shape of their face, the placement of their eyes, the shape of their nose and even their body shape was almost identical. Perhaps they could be related in some way, after well he had found Clarity alone in the middle of the woods, a small new-born with the sweetest little smile…on several days he had wished he knew more about how she got there and where her family was but in all honesty he was glad to have found her, she was his child and he adored her to pieces…he would do anything to protect her...

 

 

Rozu was forgetting about her home and her father more and more every day as she loved being amongst people who genuinely liked her and didn’t threatened her with punishment if she didn’t do well. She received encouragements instead of threats and lashings. She received food regularly instead of needing to prove she deserved…

 

For the first time she could truly say that she was happy…an emotion she had never felt before and that wasn’t the only thing she felt…and that was love…

 

Terra had been the greatest gift that had walked into her life; he made her smile and showed her the beautiful world that he was a part of. He was charming, kind, adorable even and had a heart of absolute gold. He helped every person he came in contact with who needed help. He gave to others who had nothing and ensured that everyone was happy in his group of archers…she would spend as much time as she could with him, following him around, watching him from the shadows and sharing meals with him…they grew closer and closer to each other every day…

 

Sadly she was still keeping a dark secret…she was one of the creatures that were destroying this world…

 

…and she vowed to keep that secret till the end of her days…

 

For now she spent her days in joy and in the company of Terra…who had grown to adore this strange girl he had met not too long ago…the way her eyes filled with wonder when she discovered something new, her ferocity as a fighter and the way she moved when she created her flames, moving like the words most elegant and sensual dancer…the small glances they shared at each other…and the rare smile that only he was allowed to see…

 

He had made a decision he would confess how he felt about her…unfortunately not all things go according to plan…

 

The day started off with a bang…literally. The forest shook as a nearby village was invaded, the buildings set on fire, purple flames destroying the structures…people screaming in terror, the dark fighters killing or capturing the innocent citizens…

 

It didn’t take long for the archers and Lord Thymus, Critias and Hermos to arrive with their armies to defend the village and their people.

 

The battle was intense, the clashing of blades, the sound of arrows flying through the air and striking its targets, the screams of warriors being blasted or stabbed, the cries of the magicians as weapons made of light struck them down…corpses bleeding into the ground, soaking it with blood, their faces frozen in pain and terror. But no one backed down…

 

Rozu had been hesitant to fight against her people, avoiding attacks and dodging blows…it wasn’t until she saw Terra nearly being hit by a ball of dark magic when something flipped inside her, unleashing a wave of fire at the magicians, burning them to a crisp as she joined Terra’s side, the two of them moving in perfect harmony as they fought against the enemy..

 

Then they showed up…it started when the sky was filled with dark clouds and lightning, a heavy rain pouring over the battle field as the roars of 3 might dragons filled the air. Rozu looked up, her eyes widening at the sight of these great beasts, never having thought she would see them in the flesh…and on top of them was the legendary Siren, her trident in her hand, a fierce look on her face…she leapt off the dragon and landed on the ground with such power, sending a shock wave around her, knocking over those surrounding her and she instantly starts taking out magicians, spearing them with her trident or summoning spikes of ice to pierce through their skulls or tendrils of water slicing through them…

 

It didn’t take long for the tide of battle to turn in the warriors favour, most of the magicians are wiped off and some are captured…the rest escaping. Lord Thymus raises his sword and lets out a victory cry, everyone else joining in. The archers cheer and hug their fellow brethren, Terra grabbing Rozu and kissing the girls cheek, a blush forming on her face as she gives him a small shove, a smile forming on her face. Terra grins, knowing she was just being shy.

 

The rain slowly dissipates as 2 of the white dragons remain in the sky while one last one lands beside the Siren who had removed her helmet and was gaze around at all the carnage and blood shed, an unreadable expression on her face. The dragon makes a small sound before nudging her with his snout, drawing her attention to him. She rests her hand on his head, stroking it gently, and a silent way of communicating that she was alright…

 

Rozu watched the interacting between the two, seeing Lord Thymus was approaching them, the warrior bowing as the dragon growls at him. The spikey haired fighter raises his hand as a sign of peace, “At ease, I mean no harm. I merely wished to speak with you…” the Siren raises a brow as she looks down at him…she never stayed behind after a battle, wishing to leave and ensure that her family was safe. Unfortunately she hadn’t left fast enough and now one of the leaders of the warriors wanted to speak with her.

 

She let out a silent sigh before nodding, Lord Thymus has a small grin on his face, “I must say it is an honour to meet you and to stand in your presence. We would’ve lost many more people without your aid. And for that I am eternally grateful.” He places his hand over his heart and bows. The Siren rolls her eyes and raises her hands, moving her them to respond to the lord. Thymus raises his head and watches confused, “Um…I’m sorry but I don’t understand…”

 

“It’s sign language you dolt.” A voice echoes through the air, deep and rumbling as a bright light envelops the dragon standing behind the Siren, leaving in it’s a place a tall figure dressed in silver and white, scales running along his forearms and neck, his ears slightly pointed, white hair on adorned his head, his fringe hanging nearly in front of his fierce blue eyes as he glared at Thymus, the lord and everyone shocked at this new development…even Rozu.

 

“I didn’t know you had humanoid forms.” The tri-coloured haired man states as he can’t take his eyes off him. Towering man rolls his eyes and hisses, “Not many do. And we would like to keep it that way.” The Siren punches him in the arm, the dragon man wincing and rubbing his arm as the girl vigorously signs at him, “Well he doesn’t know what you’re saying so someone had to speak up.” she growls at him before turning away…stomping off…

 

The dragon man and Thymus continue to speak (although the white haired man was throwing out more insults than anything else), Rozu couldn’t take her eyes off the being in front of her, this was truly incredible…and while everyone else was going around cleaning the battle field and stacking up those that had died, the siren had her eyes fixed on the red head. Her eyes narrowing…Rozu frowned as the girls eyes met…a tension building between them as the sirens fingers slowly tightened around her trident…Rozu’s hand going for her dagger…

 

The siren had been around many dark magicians in her life, she had fought hundreds and killed just as many…she knew their aura and the stench of their magic…and right before her, amongst the warriors stood one of the bastards…the world is silent to them…the tension building…Rozu doesn’t even notice as Terra rests a hand on her shoulder, distracting her for a split second giving the Siren a chance to move quickly, raising her trident and throws it at Rozu.

 

The red head doesn’t have a chance to move out of the way, her instinct taking over and she made a horrible mistake…her body took the form of a shadow and she slipped into the darkness beneath her…reappearing when trident struck the ground far behind her…she reappeared, taking her physical form as everyone stared at her in silence…their eyes widening as they couldn’t believe what they had seen…she had used shadow magic, the same as the magicians…

 

She realized her mistake…her heart beating faster as she looked around at all the faces of her friends turned to anger…Thymus’s expression turning to a glare as he grabs his sword, the white haired man growling and returning to his dragon form, letting out a roar.

 

The siren raised her hand, summoning her trident back to her grasp and leaps into the air, gracefully landing onto of the white dragon, the beast taking off into the air and taking off with the other two…

 

The only one who wasn’t looking at Rozu in rage was Terra…she thought he would be the one most upset but instead…his eyes were filled with concern… he reaches out a hand to her, “Rosie…” She doesn’t react well and sends a wall of fire at the group surrounding her, knocking them back and giving her a chance to escape…running off into the nearby woods…not realizing Terra was following her…

 

Back in the present…

 

To no one surprise Yami won the duel against Kaiba but not for the reason you would think. Seto had been distracted for the remainder of the duel…his mind fixated on the vision he had had. Not the Egyptian one (he couldn’t care less about that one) but rather the other one…the one with his dragons and the strange girl that looked like a fantasy version of his girlfriend…

 

As he handed Yami Obelisk and ignoring him and his ramblings…his eyes fixed on Lillian…her image changing to the vision he had seen of her…the sad look in her eyes as the tears ran down her cheeks…his side starts to ache again. What the hell was going on?  He’s mind was going into overdrive and giving him a damn headache. He’s either going insane or all the stress of what happened is getting to him. He ignores the others around him, needing to clear his head as he headed to the elevator and headed down…rubbing his forehead to try and ease the pain that was slowly growing…he catches glimpse of his reflection, nearly jumping back as he was staring at a face he didn’t recognise…

 

…white hair…

 

…scales…

 

…pointed ears…

 

He rubbed eyes and when he looked again his reflection had returned to normal. He was taking a long vacation once all of this was over.

 

Lillian was worried, Seto was acting strangely since Obelisk and Slifer had attacked each other and the field was engulfed in a weird light. He seemed distant, his mind working overtime. What was going on? She tried to follow him but the elevator doors closed before she could reach him…her hand resting on the metal door…

 

Yami wasn’t sure what was going on either. The vision he had of himself and the past version of Seto in ancient Egypt was strange enough but then that other thing with the giant stones. That couldn’t be from his past right? He didn’t have time to think about it either as his friends dragged him from the platform…Joey deciding it was the perfect time to go duel Kaiba to see who deserved third place.

 

And that seemed to be the distraction the CEO needed from his inner turmoil. It felt good trampling on Wheeler yet again and feel a sense of victory…he a smirk on his face as it felt good to win…only thing was that he didn’t gloat about it like before. Having a little more restrain this time…but still calling Joey a mutt though…

 

The duel between Marik and Yami was soon upon everyone…Yami worried about what was going to happen…the mad man had put 2 people in a coma and nearly killed Joey…who knows what would happen to him and worst, what would happen to Yugi, knowing that Marik would probably find a way to use his Aibou against him…

 

While everyone was heading back into the tower, Seto stops Yami, telling him that he had better win and make Marik pay for what he did to everyone…handing the teen a card that would should help him…

 

He then heads into the tower, making is way to the control room to started the process that would blow up the island once this was all over…getting rid of the last reminder of his past…

 

As he was working at the console, Lillian enters the room. She was concerned about him, “Seto…” his hands stopped moving for a moment when he heard her voice before returning to what he was doing. She frowned slightly as she approached him and rested her hand on his arm; giving it a soft squeeze, “Seto…” he kept his gaze on the buttons as his fingers slowly curled into a fist…

 

Lillian saw this but didn’t back away, she reached up and cupped his cheek, gently turning his head to face her, letting her see the turmoil in his eyes…but instead of asking him what was going on, she simply wrapped her arms around his neck and held him close, resting her forehead against his shoulder, whispering softly, “Whatever is going on, we’ll get through this together…” She could see that he was shutting down, a coping mechanism when things got too much…everyone deals with things differently and for Seto it was either over the top or just switching off…and that was what was happening now…

 

Hearing that seemed to ease what was going on in his mind as he wrapped his arms around her waist, resting his chin on the top of her head, closing his eyes as he let Lillian ground him, bringing him back to reality and push away the thoughts that were running through his mind…

 

While this was happening Yami and Marik as well as everyone else returned to the duel arena; the two duellists preparing for the duel of their lives. To no one’s surprise Marik turned the card game into a shadow game…Bringing out Yugi and keeping him trapped by the shadows, forcing Yami to watch as the other suffers every time he loses life points…he didn’t know what to do…

 

Lillian and Seto had eventually arrived not long after the duel started, Mokuba heading over to his brother and asking if he was ok. The teen ruffles his hair, reassuring him that everything was alright. Meanwhile Lillian was watching her little brother suffering…she needed to do something but as she was about to get onto the platform to kick Marik’s ass again Seto grabs her arm to stop her…she looks back at him wanting to retaliate but remembers what happened the last time she faced the psycho…

 

Not wanting to go through that again she back down…but a thought comes to mind as she leaves the tower and heads back to the aircraft, making her way to Odion’s room…

 

The duel was just going worse and worse…Yami struggling, even with the card Kaiba had given him but Yugi kept encouraging him, telling him that they could do this and keep a smile on his face despite the fact that he was in pain from the shadows devouring his soul with each life point Yami lost…

 

But something surprising happen…Odion showed up, his strength renewed and fully awake…Lillian standing beside him…her hair even more blue than before…

 

Odion’s arrival helped to bring out Marik’s good half, fighting against his darker self for control…and giving Yami the chance to turn the duel around…pulling a powerful card that was able to bring him his victory…Marik’s life points were reduced to 1 and his good half had taken back control, surrendering the duel.

 

The shadow game disappears and Yugi is returned to normal, the two boys hugging for the brief moment that the shorter teen’s body was physical…and for the first time since waking up within the puzzle a memory flashed through Yami’s mind…

 

It was fairly late in the night, a full moon shone over the kingdom, helping two boys find their way to the palace. It had been a few hours since Atem had found Heba; the smaller boy talked the entire way there.  The prince learned that the smaller boy was good with gardening, he had a way with animals, and he enjoyed baking whenever they could get sugar. The pale child beamed about the sweet lemon seed cakes he made for the people in his village. Atem stayed silent through all this, a soft smile on his face as he listened to the other child talk He talked about the games he played with the other children back home and helping his mother to sow…however that wasn’t possible anymore. The boy went quiet after that he would probably never get to spend time with her again, to see her smile and to eat her delicious soups and breads. She wouldn’t be able to hold him as fell asleep, he would never hear her beautiful voice and to listen to her sing.

 

He stopped walking as his eyes became blurry with tears. Atem stopped walking too as he looked down at Heba, he reached over and cupped his pale cheeks, gently wiping away the tears that started to fall, “What’s wrong little one?” Heba sniffled as he gazed up at the other boy, “I…I just…my mama is gone…I’ll never see her again.” He sobbed. The smile on the princes face softened as he pulled Heba into his arms, the smaller child fit so perfectly in his embrace, “It’s going to be ok. I’m sorry you lost your mother…I lost mine too…”

 

“Really? Wh…what happened?”

 

“Well my father said that she passed the day I was born. I never knew her but he said that she was kind and had a beautiful soul. He fell in love with her the moment he saw her…he just knew that she would be his queen someday.”

 

“She sounds like a wonderful lady…just like my mama was.” Heba said softly as he rubbed his eyes to get rid of his tears. Atem nodded as he ruffled the kid’s hair, “All I’ve ever had was my father and my nanny…no one else. My tutors just give me lessons like they are told to do and my servants don’t speak to me…being a prince can be lonely…” Atem said as he took Heba’s hand and the both of them started walking again. Heba felt sorry for the taller boy, “It sounds like you could use a friend…” the boys eyes widened as a smile once again formed on his face, “I could be your friend! We could play games, I could show you how to plant flowers and how to bake!” he giggled happily, the sound warms the prince’s heart, “I’d like that. We’ll be the best of friends! Stories and legends will be told about us!” he laughed happily.

 

The memory faded just as soon as it filled Yami’s mind...confusing him for a moment before Marik approaches him, distracting him from what had just filled his mind…

 

Seto and Lillian stay back as the others cheer for Yami and celebrate his victory. She would congratulate him later…keeping her eyes on the others as she took her beloveds hand, intertwining their fingers…the brunet giving her hand a firm but gently squeeze…

 

 

The sun was setting as everyone had returned to Domino City, the ocean gleaming as its gentle waves crash into the shore line…the sound of teens laughing filled the air…

 

The group of teens were on the beach again, playing and goofing around in the water. Tristian and Joey trying to dunk Duke under the water, Téa and Mai (who had woken up after her soul was returned to her body) were sun bathing on the beach, Yugi and Bakura (whose soul was also returned) and surprisingly Mokuba were splashing each other as they laughed and what happened to Marik and the other Ishtar’s? We’ll find out a bit later…

 

And as for Seto and Lillian?

 

The two of them were walking hand in hand along the shore line; the CEO had removed his boots and coat, his pant legs rolled up. Lillian was resting her head against his shoulder, no words needing to be said between the two. They stopped for a moment and turned to face each other, the lovers staring deeply into each other’s eyes, Seto reaching up and stroking her cheek, his fingers tracing her skin as Lillian rests her hand over his, leaning into his touch as a warm smile played on her lips, leaning up and closing the distance between them, and pressing her lips against his as her arms slip over his shoulders and around his neck as he wraps his arm around her midsection, their bodies pressed together as a breeze blows over the beach…the shadows of the two lovers slowly stretching over the sand…slowly changing shape…two golden eyes forming in the darkness…

[nemo-draco]

Orion and the Dark Plot

Thinking some thoughts about the plot of the movie and wanted to put them down in writing. Can read or not. Admittedly, this is also meant to help me incorporate the characters and plot into a larger xover, though not immediately so some of the concepts here can be used for other stories, AUs, what have you.

A good amount of the movie, pretty much everything plotwise up until we have the conflict between Dark and the other entities, is good from the word go. Dark and Orion's relationship as it develops is solid, the dynamics between Dark and the other entities a little less so though we definitely get something of a feel for how he thinks about each of them. He very much looks up to Dreams, which makes me wonder if Dark and Dreams co-opt the leadership role given that Dark would probably have been around first, with Sweet Dreams showing up later on. Dark doesn't always seem to understand the idiosyncrasies of Insomnia, Unexplained Noises, and Sleep, and in some cases he quite literally doesn't understand what Quiet is saying, though he clearly likes and supports them all as best he can.

Though one thing I do wonder is the notion of Dark's insecurities and how those play off. It doesn't seem like the others are unaware of Dark's struggles, but they might not understand the depth of what Dark's going through. Maybe he's tried to bring it up, but not made it to the level that he gets to with Orion in the tea shop, or he did actually divulge his worries about being seen as 'the bad guy' and was brushed off or basically told not to worry about it, which unfortunately can be like telling a trainee pilot not to crash the plane. I.E., if you tell someone not to look for a red car, all they're gonna see are red cars.

He also does seem to be weirdly apart from the rest of the group, especially if you remember the tea shop scene. Everybody else goes inside without Dark, he's just kind of allowed to sit at his own table and presumably no one notices. It could've been because Orion was there and the others figured that it was a private moment so they let it play out, but he's almost left behind right then and there. There's also the fact that he comes in late to the break where we meet the others and no one really comments. They're happy to see him, but from the looks of things, this is not the first time Dark's gone off on his own or showed up late to a break time. They seem pretty tight-knit, but Dark's kind of not totally integrated with the rest of them, and looking back on it, especially when considering what happens later on, it's really noticeable.

Light's role and character feels like it should be expanded. I still like the idea of he and Dark being, or seeing themselves as, twin brothers, as it gives some interesting issues for them and would make sense given that they were both likely 'created' around the same time if you're going for the spontaneous generation route. However, even if you're not going for that route, I'd still go further rather than making him just the 'nicer one that everyone likes'. In a way, I like the notion of making Light a shadow archetype to Dark, mostly because it's funny to think of and it makes them play off each other so much better in my mind. Where Dark is more insecure, Light is settled into who he is, where Dark is more open to outside influences, Light is more centered and less likely to let things get to him.

Them being brothers also makes their conflict interesting, because if anyone's had siblings, Lord knows they're gonna conflict over something. It probably doesn't help that Light and Dark can only spend so much time around each other due to their situation. So you have Light seeing how his brother is drawing away and getting more combative and, well, alright then, Dark, if you wanna be a jerk, you can be a jerk. Though I don't think Light's oblivious to what's going on, or maybe why. He, just like everyone else, kind of underestimates the problem.

The big part of the plot, apart from the time travel, that I would change is the scene where Sweet Dreams and Orion go into his dream to find Dark. Firstly, especially when looking back on it, I feel like they kind of skated over the fact that Dark, y'know, tried to wipe himself off the face of the earth on purpose. I know that it's kept tame for the kiddos, but maybe have a moment where Dark has to be drawn out of his own emotional muck, maybe in a quite literal sense. The lack of time travel also means that Dreams gets a bigger role, and if Orion is directly addressing the things that Dark told him, then that might also open up Dreams to a lot of what's been bothering Dark, character interaction and her getting to reconnect with him. The Black Hole scene is fantastic, though maybe a bit more lead-in with the earlier bits, and keep in mind Dark's character arc.

Ultimately, given where the plot goes, I like the fact that there is conflict between Dark and the other night entities, especially since we've been building up to that with Orion's intro, but maybe change it a little. Like, you can't tell me these guys have never seen what things look like in the day before. Maybe instead of them being just you're holding us back from experiencing a good thing because of what you are, Dark it turns into we're sick and tired of watching you continually get yourself into trouble because of what other people say about you, especially now that you're jumping down Orion's throat just because he expressed a contrary opinion. Because if we're going to talk about Dark being 'irresponsible', then we should also bring up the fact that he kind of implodes on Orion, a kid, as a result of the conversation with the other entities where he discusses daytime and why he likes it. Now, we the audience and Orion, know why he's doing that, but the other night entities might not fully grasp the scope of why this is happening. In their minds Dark might've just gone from okay, this insecurity is kind of annoying and interfering with our jobs to alright, now you're lashing out at people simply for saying they happen to prefer daytime, you're kind of just being a bully. Really gives you the chance to see how disconnected everyone's become, and feels like a better use of the Miscommunication Kills trope.

I also had a somewhat fun thought where the 'screw you Dark we're gonna go experience day without you holding us back' bit was a somewhat slapdash way of teaching Dark a lesson of sorts. A sort of alright, he wants to be a jerk, well, how about we show him what happens sort of thing. But this, again, coming out of issues where No One Is Saying The Things They Need To Say, so Dark's left stumbling and trying to explain. For extra oomph, maybe someone says something to the effect of your problems are not an excuse for bad behavior, maybe you should consider your actions have consequences? Bit of a thing that's harsher in hindsight, given what Dark decides to do as a result.

It definitely leads to some fun moments in retrospect. Not that the whole bit of the entities telling Dark that they appreciate him wasn't good, but, all things considered, and especially when harsh words are exchanged, maybe an apology is also needed. Admittedly though, this could go both ways, with the others apologizing to Dark for writing off his feelings and making him think they were abandoning him, and Dark apologizing for letting his not-so-great feelings take the fore, and also maybe not telling them about the scope of his worries depending on how the others take it. If he wasn't being fully honest, I can see some of the other entities, maybe Sweet Dreams, Quiet, and perhaps to a degree Unexplained Noises, Sleep, and Insomnia being like well, why didn't you SAY ANYTHING?! But, yeah, let's sit down and talk this mess out. It does also potentially bring them closer as friends (or more, if you wanna go that route).

Another fun thought, as a result of Dark getting BTFO'd by Light, does Light stop? Does he initially think no no no, he's just being dramatic, he's not actually and then...yep, turns out Dark did.

[saw2goth]

I wanna hear a yap, but i haven't read the book yet :(

How about some character headcannons then?

It doesn't have to be about A Christmas Carol! >0< Most of my content is AU content anyway lawl. Here are some headcanons but bear in mind they have little to nothing to do with the original book at this point:

Scrooge: Trans man! Felt this one in my soul <3 Autistic (he stims in the book, too), uses isolation as a coping mechanism because he was neglected as a child, takes comfort in being alone pre-redemption because it means he won't get hurt or experience loss anymore. I like to think he ended up the way he did because he wanted to regain some control over his life and he didn't feel like he owed the world anything after having his loved ones taken away. Post-redemption Scrooge ends up developing a fear of being alone because he doesn't want to lose the company he has after learning to appreciate it. Scrooge was given the ability to see chains on other people and ghosts, he spends a lot of his time trying to help these people better themselves/get rid of their chains in order to make the world around him a kinder place. He's still dating Marley even though he's a ghost but their relationship is much different now. Imagine your ex shows up after being dead for 7 years and wants you to continue like nothing has even changed.

Marley: Genderqueer (I'm not even sure he knows what's going on with that), also autistic. We don't learn much about him in the book aside from the fact that he was Scrooge's business partner so I just went crazy with it. Saved up lots of money in order to move his mother into a nice home and take care of her so she can have rest, she died before he has a chance to which is why he refuses to dip into his fortune (he doesnt believe he deserves the money or that it even truly belongs to him). He's very attached to Scrooge, Scrooge is all he has. This persists even in death and he hardly ever leaves his side. He's very protective of Scrooge in our redemption AU and is distrusting of anyone who he believes might be trying to come between them. A lot of his reasons for trying to keep Scrooge so close to him are selfish which is why they can't get rid of his chains just yet. He can just barely touch physical items but sometimes it takes him a while. He spent a lot of his afterlife watching over Scrooge instead of teaching himself how to interact with the world around him in his new form so it can be a struggle for him. Imagine Julian from ghosts type powers, he can move objects but it might take him 30 minutes.

Wolfe MacFarlane: Listen I know he's not a christmas carol character but he's part of the polycule now listen to me-

Some of these headcanons are ones that are specific to...the general Wolfe MacFarlane for the redemption AU and then others are just specific to my interp of him only.

Closeted gay man. Cis. Has scars on his chest from a workplace accident. Grew up in a well-off household, his father was also a surgeon and pretty much hammered this future into his son. He was constantly made to feel inferior and had to prove himself and his worth to his father. He gets so attached to Mr K as a student because he's the only older man in his life who ever offered him praise for doing a good job :/ and then it went to his head. He also did kill a guy. Was childhood friends with Scrooge, who tries to help him turn his life around when they're reunited in their adulthood (he has soo many chains it's a lot of work). Has a sort of rivalry going on with Marley because Marls doesn't trust him around Scrooge and Wolfe knows that and is secretly hurt that he doesn't believe he can change (this attitude further fuels his insecurities he has about being unfixable).

UMMMM. That's all I can think of right now but thanks for letting me info-dump about them <3

[yokohamabeans]

What do you think of each of the Tokyo revengers girls? I want to hear some opinions on them (if anyone is seeing this and wants to say something about them please do! I want to hear as many opinions as i can)

Ahhhh, this was asked like months ago.... I'm so sorry to take so long to get to it....! I hope you've been well since!!

In general, I think Wakui has tried his best to portray the TR girls as strong and in the best light he can, but of course if you are to compare it against other works with really good, strong and driven female characters, it may seem to fall short. I personally like all of the female characters in TR though, and think that Wakui could have done a lot more with them! (well, this actually goes for a lot of his other male characters too...)

Hina: Shows her strength by being Takemichi's anchor, voice of reason and unwavering source of courage, imo! I like her, but in a pretty neutral way. I just think her relationship with Takemichi is really unfair against her... If you think about it, she spends most of her time with the 'other Takemichi' who we all know is not the Takemichi she fell for. That's.... rough..... And when the 'real Takemichi' finally time-leaped back to her, he straight up left her right before their wedding to die...... (I'm talking about the Bonten Timeline, of course). IMO: GIRL YOU CAN DO SO MUCH BETTER!!

Yuzuha: She's actually WAY WAY WAY stronger than most of the male characters!!! She's a bad boss bitch that's what she is!! This is a girl who has endured years of abuse from her brother so that she can be strong for her other brother..... She was even prepared to kill and go to jail for him!!! The fandom doesn't appreciate you enough, Yuzuha.....

Senju: A physical representation of strength for the TR girls!! I think she has a lot more potential and could have received soooooooo much more development as a character. She's a high school kid, traumatised by a childhood incident which she has been struggling with every day of her life, and leading an actual gang of older men. Boss bitch behaviour, but Wakui should've shown us more of it!! I also WISH Wakui had drawn her beefier and more muscular.... as she should be...........

Emma: Hina has heart, Yuzuha has strength and Senju has power, and even though it doesn't seem to be directly portrayed as such, I think Emma has the brains. Hear me out: this girl is really perceptive and emotionally in tune with others. A girl of high EQ. I'm sure Draken looks towards her for advice (Mikey too, though it may be harder for him to admit)

I must say that Wakui's portrayal of girls is a little 'traditional' and kinda 'black and white', and 'good or bad', in the sense that they don't really have many moral and psychological grey zones. Yuzuha comes the closest to it, though. Then again, his manga has always been about the fellas, so I guess that's why he doesn't focus on them much?

[diabolikpersonals]

Okay okay if at any point the relationship between Yuma and Ayato/Subaru starts getting romantic who is gonna have to be the one to ask the other(s) out, cause it seems like Subaru and Ayato would really wanna ask Yuma out and would maybe even fight about it, but can't bring their selves to do it. But Yuma's also oblivious to his feelings so it could take a while for him to realise that he likes them. But another way it could go is if either Subaru or Ayato told the other their gonna try and ask Yuma out and it develops into a argument about whos gonna get him but Yuma ends up overhearing them and BOOM asks them both out with him. So now there are two more questions:

1. Where is gonna be their first date? And whos idea it was?

2. What will the Sakamaki and Mukami brothers gonna think about this new relationship? I can imgaine Ruki getting really annoyed because Ayato and Subaru are gonna be over at the Mukami house every single fucking day and when they aren't there they are out somewhere together doing dumb things.

so here's what usually happens when I'm daydreaming about these three >:3

before they can think about calling them "dates," ayato and subaru have some excuses for hanging out with yuma all the time. for instance, they like watching him work (both in the school garden and like, hypothetically, if yuma got a part time job or something then they'd spend way too much time there lol...like, they'd save up their allowance to buy food there....anyway) so they'll be like "no, it's just a coincidence, we always eat lunch here! it's not just to see you or anything!"

I also imagine that they've got a little study group on, which seems kind of out of character, right? none of these characters really enjoy studying. but subaru's a first year and the sakamaki baby brother, so if yuma and ayato find out that he's struggling in school, despite their own subpar grades I bet they'd be like "well I'm your upperclassman / older brother so it's my duty to help out, leave it to us!!" ...but of course, I don't think much studying actually occurs in these little sessions lol. I can picture reiji being like "you asked yuma and ayato to help you study? .......................why?" so I love this headcanon lol

so up till now, when everything they've been doing can pass as just friends hanging out, basically everything has been ayato or yuma's idea. but the shocking thing is, when they finally do something that can be called a DATE, I feel that subaru caused it.......on accident. he did his best to think of something he wanted to do with them, and he definitely thought about it with romantic feelings for yuma in mind, so when he suggests that they go out and do this thing together...subaru's really nervous, he's blushing, he's probably saying some obvious tsundere shit like "it wont be a DATE or anything..." so........nobody can really deny it anymore, this is gonna be a date.

hmm, what kind of date would subaru plan with yuma in mind? I feel like it definitely should be outside bc they're both people who enjoy the outdoors. subaru is kind of clumsy with this sort of thing, so I think it'd be sweet if he picked some obscure place in the woods to take a walk, but then they get lost ^^; ayato and subaru have a shouting match about it, blaming each other, and yuma saves the day because he brought lunch for the three of them so they end up having a picnic. it'd be a nice excuse to show them subaru's disney princess qualities as well lol. all 3 of them would see a frog and be like "WHOA LOOK AT THAT" so I think it would be fun!

ruki is definitely going to get annoyed when ayato and subaru keep coming over...! they must be awful at dinnertime. yuma keeps adding more food to their plates and kou's like "wtf, this is favoritism!! save some for me!!" and ruki gets a headache xD I think ayato and subaru will basically take over two guest rooms and make this like their second home. and they'll get so comfortable with it that ayato will get mad at ruki for cleaning "his room," like "I cant find any of my stuff anymore!" and ruki's like "why are you leaving your stuff here, this is NOT your HOUSE"

[sayruq]

So, I just finished watching episode 10 of HoTD and I swear I was so bored for like 55 minutes of the whole ride, the only moment I was actually paying attention was when Aemond was on screen and the only emotion I had was me cackling at Aemond's tectonic "OH SHIT" face when Grandma Vhagar did her war crime.

I cannot believe that this is meant to be a challenger to the brilliance that is RoP, which had me at the edge of my seat from start to finish at every episode. Like, miss me with this failed Targ shit, the writers are so clearly not getting it.

Rings of Power writers care so much about their characters and they committ to the story they're telling, nothing is half assed. They want us to be attached to the characters and they work hard to make sure that we do and that hard work paid off. Look at how well received their finale is compared to this one. Ep 6 brought several characters together and not only did it feel like a big deal, the episode itself was tense, heartbreaking, dark and filled with more morally grey characters than HOTD. Adar>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Daemon. RoP was not scared to have Galadriel promise genocide nor did it ignore what that says about her. HOTD won't even let Rhaenyra express murderous intent after she was usurped and her son killed. She just stares into the camera.

I read the leaks so I knew what was coming and that usually doesn't detract from my enjoyment of a show because I love spoilers but even I was counting down the minutes to Aemond. It felt like an ordinary filler episode. Things happen without urgency or tension and not once did I feel like I couldn't wait to see how other characters will react to the new plot developments except Aemond's scene (he really is the MVP of the show). It didn't feel like the beginning of a new catastrophic war.

This show doesn't understand how to pick it's scenes. Instead of a very long miscarriage and body preparation scene, we could have spent more time on Rhaenyra's anger at being usurped, her fear of what it means for her children and her grief at her father's death because she barely reacted to that. There should have been only one Black Council scene after her coronation where we get

Team Black talking about their allies and Team Green's allies and you know strategizing

Rhaenys and Corlys slowly changing their minds about Rhaenyra (the show given reason why they chose her is very stupid because even the Greens want peace but whatever) as they watch her handle herself

Daemon trying to wrest control from Rhaenyra. You can even have him start the Council without her to show his eagerness for war. Instead of him standing around the table talking about the island's defenses, we should see him attending to that, ignoring her while she's in pain

Rhaenyra resisting it because of the prophecy which she doesn't talks about just yet. We should see people constantly pushing her to declare war and attack King's Landing and Rhaenyra standing her ground

Plans are made to send Jace and Luke to act as messengers

Instead of war, Rhaenyra plans on gaining enough allies to back the Greens into a corner without a single person dying

Then Otto Hightower comes. Instead of the dumb dragon scene, show Rhaenyra struggling to walk there but being determined because she's now queen and this is her duty but also because of the prophecy. She listens to the terms offered, trades insults with Otto, Daemon is Daemon. The page is offered, Rhaenyra cries and she decides to give her answer the following day.

Daemon thinks her attachment to Alicent is problem but she tells him about the prophecy. He strangles her. Rhaenyra spends the night thinking about how unpopular her decision is, she doesn't want to waver despite all the pressure she's facing.

Luke dies and Rhaenyra finds out right before she tells Otto her terms for peace. Instead of Emma staring at the camera, we can have the iconic line

Tell my half brother that I will have my throne, or I will have his head,” she said, sending the envoys on their way.

Now we see how Rhaenyra has been transformed by her son's death and we don't have to spend the entire last episode spinning the wheel until Aemond enters the picture.