#;hannah's meta

[redstringraven]

alright, so after a thorough replay of the space-arc and a slightly less thorough comb of the invasion-arc here're some loose observations and thoughts regarding triceraton tattoos. i'm not touching triceratons featured in fast forward because... i don't have interest in that fjkldjks. my apologies.

this is mostly for myself, but you're of course more than welcome to use it as a resource, reference, whatever tickles your fancy. if i missed something, feel free to tell me!

there does seem to be some pattern with rank, so i'm gonna start with "low-rank" and make my way up the ladder.

citizens

we don't get to see a lot of triceraton citizens, and basically all of them are background fodder save for zed and raz (the games commentators). from what i can tell, none of them have tattoos on neither their eyes nor their arms--on the ones with bare arms, anyway. it's probably safe to assume they don't have them on their chests because those seem all-star specific.

rebellion

this is where the tattoo thing gets a bit weird--as in, i don't know if they're actually facepaint that can be removed, or if these are all citizens or green soldiers who've not earned their military tattoo yet. traximus still has his tattoo, but none of his rebellion soldiers have the ones we'll later see on every soldier as well as prison guards. it's definitely possible citizens joined the rebellion, but trax had also mentioned in the arena that he still had friends in the ranks. are they not there? did they remove their tattoos? am i over-analyzing a cartoon beyond what the creators considered? (it's that one).

you can click on the screenshot to make it a little bigger but the bottom-left shot shows an actual solder beside a rebellion soldier, the former's tattoo is barely visible but there. their concept art doesn't have a tattoo, and i didn't see any in-show who had one... but, i did more skim through the invasion-arc, so it's possible i missed one. lemmie know if i'm wrong.

prison guards

all prison guards seem to have a single, thick red-line tattoo over their right eye. the ends point toward the backs of their heads. not much to talk about here. the two in the second-to-bottom-left screenshot are missing theirs, but i'm going to assume this is an animation error.

--also, sidebar, i don't think the blue ""tattoos"" prisoners have are remotely the same type of thing, so i don't think that'd apply to my confusion over none of the rebellion soldiers having tattoos.

soldiers

here's once again where the definition of 'tattoo' gets a little blurry, because if tattoos are a sign of rank and then your rank changes... what do. maybe since triceratons already have advanced technology--and tough skin--they have... a solid form of tattoo removal. again, though, i don't think their tattoos are the same as the ""tattoos"" prisoners receive, so i doubt they'd just peel off?? if that were possible, you'd also think they would have removed traximus's tattoo after he was thrown into the games as another way to shame/derank him, too.

so, your basic and most common soldier seems to have two narrow maroon lines over their right eye. the ends do not point in any direction, they're just lines. they're thin enough that they can be very hard to see if the camera's at a distance, but they're still there--just hard to capture in a screenshot partially due to the quality i'm working with.

next is an ensign soldier, which is basically a low-ranking officer. i think we only see one of these guys (he's leading the group who find the turtles as stowaways at the beginning of s2ep3, the big house). his tattoos are once again over the right eye, maroon/purple, thicker than a soldier's tattoo, and the peak of the outer-most line has a point. for a moment, i thought that maybe you'd build on the tattoo as you ranked, but traximus and mozar are gonna kind of throw that theory out the window when we get to them.

there's also this guy from s2ep5, triceraton wars. he's labeled as "strike team leader" on his concept art, and getting a visible shot of his tattoo in-show is very frustrating and not helped by the fact it looks like they goofed his color palette, too. his tattoo is over the right eye (like the previous soldiers), red, and it's a curved line with ends that hook toward the front of his face. it's the most similar to traximus's tattoo that we see.

...also, this episode eludes to the fact that "slag" is a triceraton swear word, as zanramon uses it both as an exclamation of frustration and calls the strike team "slag brains". he could also just be calling them all stony waste matter, tho, so. do with that what you will.

there's also THESE GUYS from the invasion-arc in s3, and they confuse me because the invasion-arc not only introduces this new uniform design i don't see anywhere in the concept art that i've collected, but these soldiers have like. no tattoos. and it can't be an animation error because their lack of tattoo was consistent for any wearing this suit design. monza ram steals this suit from one of the soldiers, and looted soldier who reports back to zanramon later doesn't have a tattoo.

i wonder if these guys are like... more engineers than they are soldiers. we mostly see them in the docking bay or in the control room where the boys learn don's location on the homeworld. they're just armed because they'd stand in the way of anyone attempting to infiltrate the homeworld (or escape it), but i don't think i saw any of them leave the vessel itself.

gruell

gruell is an odd one because he has the same maroon tattoos as your common soldier--two narrow lines over the right eye--but he additionally has a tattoo on his right arm. it's of course possible that other soldiers also have this tattoo and that it's just hidden by their sleeves, but if tattoos are a show of rank or status you'd think it'd be somewhere more visible? maybe arm tattoos are additional signals of status when soldiers are in their civvies or something.

regardless, gruell's arm tattoo is the only of its kind we see: it appears to be red ink: an upright triangle that breaks into two longer lines where the top line hooks up toward the triangle and the bottom line hooks down toward another triangle, albeit this one is upsidedown. i'm not sure if this is meant to be an abstract design with the usual triceraton fondness of triangles and jagged lines, or if's maybe a representation of a bi-ringed planet? homeworld before they blew it up oopsie-doopsy? who knows.

monza ram + the all-stars

okay, if there are ANY anomalies on this list, it's these guys. none of them have anything resembling the soldier nor prison guard tattoos we've previously seen.

monza ram is the most unique; he doesn't seem to have any body tattoos, but he does have two thick red tattoos (or one big tattoo?) that rises from his jaw on both sides of his face and breaks into two spikes, one ending before it reaches his eye and the other 'cutting through' the eye and peaking on his brow. it covers the back third of his face, right in front of where his frill starts.

the other three all-stars have a much more narrow tattoo on either side of their face that looks like a jagged scratch, another narrow tattoo across the backs of their necks, then an extremely long one that seems to wrap diagonally around their back and end on their pecks. this is the only instance of tattoos that aren't maroon or red, too, as one all-star has blue tattoos and another has brown.

we unfortunately don't really know anything about the all-stars, just that they seem to be separate from the gladiator slaves, are undefeated (before the turtles), and after they lost their first fight zanramon had them imprisoned, where traximus would later free and recruit them. none of them have soldier tattoos. i know the triceratons love battle, so i wonder if they're more like the career tributes in the hunger games. they volunteered to be gladiators rather than were made to be them. eh. *shrugs*

commander mozar

title revoked because i said so, mozar is frustrating because he doesn't have an eye tattoo that we can see. those marks under his eye-patch are more likely from the injury that cost him his eye since they're a darker color than his skin tone, but where shit gets tricky is that traximus was a commanding officer before he was gladiator'd. so, it's possible that mozar has a tattoo identical to trax's under that eye-patch, and we just can't see it.

important to note, however, that his right eye--the eye where all other soldiers have had a tattoo--is bare. that's where the whole... building on your tattoo as you rank up theory kind of falls to the wayside. he technically SHOULD have one, but he doesn't.

he also has an arm tattoo, but it's on his left arm. again--he might also have one on his right arm, but it's sleeved. his left arm is only visible because his prosthetics must require a shorter sleeve. the tattoo on his arm is red: the top piece is a crescent shape lying on its side so it opens upward, then a long line that dips into a crescent shape so it frames the crescent above it, and finally an upsidedown triangle under the lowest point of the middle curve. this is much more of an abstract design than gruell's, idk what this could be.

traximus

as with mozar, traximus complicates the ranking up theory because he also lacks any tattoos on his right eye; his tattoo is on his left eye, and it appears to be reddish, zig-zagging down from his horn, across his brow, down over his eye, back along his cheek and then down to the corner of his mouth.

he doesn't have an arm tattoo on his right arm like gruell does, and if he has a tattoo on his left arm like mozar, it's covered by either his commanding officer sleeve or his gladiator armor. if mozar's tattoo has any connection to his ranking as a commander, it's possible trax has it, too. we just never get the chance to see it. pity.

the council

the council is a main indication that tattoos might be less a show of social status and more military or warrior specific, because none of the council members have visible tattoos (ignore mozar, he forgot to wear pink last wednesday idk why he's sitting with us). kind of helps me lean a bit more into my engineer theory from earlier.

prime leader (zanramon)

no visible tattoos. none whatsoever. pathetic. let's be real, he'd probably start crying before the needle even grazed his skin.

if you've made it to the end: thank you ONCE AGAIN for coming along with me on one of my dives into triceraton bullshittery. i'm sorry, i will do it again.

#tmnt 2003 #tmnt 2k3 #triceratons #;hannah's meta #;triceratons #[ space dinosaurs go brrrrr ]

[blueteller]

So, Let's Talk Themes in TCF!

"Themes" is such a weird topic for me, not gonna lie... I always feel like it's something you're just supposed to know and feel instinctually – like rhythm in dancing. Which, btw, I'm not really good at. So it's difficult to talk about without that background anxiety that I'll totally flop and miss the point, despite my best intentions.

Still, I decided to give it my best shot anyway, and try to decide what "themes" there are in "Trash/Lout of the Count's Family", and why I like them, because that part is subjective and thankfully, I can decide without freaking out over the "correct" answer.

First, let me make one thing clear: I don't believe TCF was written to convey a single theme or idea. It's an adventure story, and it's supposed to be pure fun. Which it is!! But nevertheless, there is a lot of effort and thought behind it, and I believe that thoughtfulness from the author manifests itself clearly in the overall work, so it's definitely worth talking about.

Now, with that lengthy explanation of what I'm going for out of the way: what are the themes in TCF that I noticed (and like)?

Found Family

Beloved Hypocritical Hero

Overcoming Prejudice

Victory in Working Together

What makes Humanity, what makes a Monster

Healing and Moving Forward

Misunderstandings

Found Family is the most obvious theme, overall, so I don't think it requires much explanation. Cale doesn't "find" his new family on purpose as much and trips all over them, on total accident – then proceeds to adopt them all, despite his inner monologue telling the readers over and over that he intends no such thing. It's pure comedy, but it's also incredibly wholesome and heartwarming. Cale has the biggest, softest heart of them all, and he's the only one who doesn't see it. I wanna squish his cheeks and coo over how cute he is most of the time.

Beloved Hypocritical Hero is the second theme, which isn't apparent at the start. Cale's biased inner monologue does his best to convince us that he's totally selfish, and doesn't intend to be a paragon protagonists who selflessly helps others in the slightest! ...However, over the course of the story it becomes clear that Cale is one, big, fat, liar. He is exactly the sort of hero he constantly denies he is. His whole spitting-blood-from-power-overuse act practically became a meme at this point. Still, despite how frustrating Cale's blatant hypocrisy is, we can't help but love him all the more for it. I'd like to say that he gets better overtime, but.... yeah, personally, I don't see much progress on that front. He did promise Raon he won't get hurt one time, and he managed to keep that promise, but then he (spoiler alert) went ahead and stabbed himself right after, so. Yeah. Cale is a hero and a hypocrite and we all love him. That's definitely a major theme in the story.

Overcoming Prejudice is the best way I found to describe the whole plot of "anti-darkness attribute" propaganda in TCF. What I love about it is that the author found a much more interesting way to convey the theme than just make it about "fantasy racism". It isn't just about the Dark Elves, it's about Necromancers too, and all people using dead mana. The best part is that dead mana is, in fact, used by the very higher-ups who spread the prejudice in the first place, proving without a doubt that it's all 100% hypocrisy and there is nothing wrong with dead mana in the first place. It's all propaganda, and it serves a purpose. The true beauty of this plot unfolds when the Sun Twins show up, and Cale brings in Mary to help Hannah with her dead mana poisoning. Jack goes through an entire arc of realizing what "true light" is, and that despite the "voice of the Sun God" constantly ringing in his ears to eradicate all darkness, he comes to his own conclusion that it isn't what the power is, it's about what ones does with the power. It's just, beautiful. I feel like that part of the story doesn't get enough credit. Mary is one of my favorite characters, and Jack and Hannah combo is amazing as well. Definitely one of my favorite plotlines in TCF.

Victory in Working Together is another obvious theme throughout the story. It isn't just reserved for the good guys, either: the bad guys have a ton of alliances, too. The difference is that the good side is based on genuine intent, without stabbing each other in the backs, while the bad guys only pretend as long as they need to, then throw away their "allies" to the wolves when it's convenient. It's portrayed less as a "message" and more of a purely pragmatic fact: to get anywhere, you need to have support. Cale knows this from the start, which is why he manages to make so many allies in such a short time. This theme is simply about being able to overcome the biggest of obstacles, as long as you honestly work together with others and put all your effort into it. It is the simplicity of it makes it so effective, in my opinion.

What makes Humanity, what makes a Monster is an interesting one for sure. In a world full of so many interesting races, the final boss is – always – human. Be it Venion Stan, Redika, Prince Adin, Queen Elisneh, the White Star, or even the Sealed God – all of the main villains are either purely human or started off that way. I think it's very much deliberate, in order to show how what makes these people evil isn't some in-born characteristic; but only their choices. Not to say that non-human characters aren't ever bad, of course not – there is a bunch of evil non-human characters all over the story. But evil, true evil, is always a choice. And thus, non-human characters who choose good are more "human" than the "monsters wearing human skins". I won't call it an allegory, because it isn't even as indirect as that: it's a fundamental truth of life that the only real monsters are people who are rotten on the inside. And since the author put so much effort to make all the fantasy races in TCF feel very much human-like, it only makes sense that their choices is the thing that makes them evil, not their race. Even actual Monsters aren't all pure evil in TCF! I truly appreciate it. It's such a simple concept, but it works extremely well.

Healing and Moving Forward is one of the themes which honestly melts my heart. It doesn't simply apply to Cale; it applies to everyone in the cast. Everyone in Cale's group comes in damaged, scarred, hurt or threatened in some way, and comes out better in the end. From the children, to the adults, the entire group heals through their "Found Family" and their quest to defeat the evil forces threatening their world, in order to achieve a peaceful, happy future. Every time we see the evidence of it – like Cale admitting his life is precious, Eruhaben agreeing to extend his life, Choi Han attribute changing, and so on – it feels like an amazing triumph, and yet completely natural and earned. One could simply call it "good character development" and move on, but I see a commond trend and it deserves to make itself a theme of its own. It's not just about everybody finding their place in the family: it's about them growing as family. And doing so, despite their traumatic pasts. And since I once called Cale a "poster child of trauma", it's no wonder he's the one who has the most of "healing" and "moving forward" to do of them all. I hope it continues all throughout book 2!

And of course, I saved Misunderstandings for last. I think the name speaks for itself. TCF is practically a comedy built upon misunderstandings; except misunderstandings of the BEST kind. The misunderstandings where people look upon Cale – tired, in-denial, clueless Cale – and see whatever they need to see the most in the moment: a saviour, an inspiration, a leader, a friend, a parent, and so on. Many misunderstandings result in people seeing Cale in too-good-to-be-true light, which is always funny (Clopeh instantly comes to mind). The thing is: Cale deserves most of it, even if he doesn't believe so. Because it's not about what Cale actually is that matters in those situations: it's about what others need. Cale inspires just by being, well, himself. And that inspiration is what changes people. It's Cale doing his best and affecting others, that makes all the huge waves of change. In my opinion, there is no better misunderstanding than one which results in inspiration: because even if "truth" was revealed later on, the effects of it were 100% real, and something to be grateful for. Imagine if you had a terrible day, and you suddenly saw someone smile at you, and you felt better. Even if the person wasn't actually looking at you in that moment – that doesn't matter!! What matters to you is that your day DID get better, and that person was to thank for! That's the beauty of TCF's misunderstandings. Cale will never truly comprehend the gratefulness of others, without understanding how he can affect them without even trying. ...Then again, his obliviousness and hypocrisy is one of the many reasons why we love him 😊

Let me know if there are other themes in TCF you like!

#tcf #trash of the count's family #lcf #lout of the count’s family #tcf meta #themes #story themes #analysis #character analysis #misunderstandings #cale henituse #tcf mary #the sun twins #tcf jack #tcf hannah

[cherish--these--times]

Total Football

#ted lasso #ted lasso spoilers #jason sudeikis #hannah waddingham #rebecca welton #tedbecca #ted x rebecca #tedlassoedit #meta analysis #tedlassogif #gifs #sunflowers

[homuraakemis]

To follow the gifset I posted, I truly do believe Hannah loved Michael. His presence is the key factor that makes her life take a completely different turn. In Eva's world, where he doesn't go to the past, Hannah continues her obsession with Ulrich to the point where she manages to break Ulrich and Katharina's marriage much earlier than in Adam's world (she is already married and almost 9 months pregnant in 2019, while in Adam's world, the affair is only starting in 2019). The one thing that makes this not happen is Michael's presence: her love for him is enough to make her forget about her obsession with Ulrich, such that her affair with Ulrich only starts after she stops receiving the same affection from Michael. Considering how strong Hannah's obsession with Ulrich is, I do think it's impressive that Michael's mere presence makes Hannah forget about it. And it seems that she was much happier with Michael (at least from what we've seen of her in family photos) than she was married to Ulrich (who was cheating on her).

One could argue that she didn't love Michael, because when Jonas asks her if she misses Michael, she says she misses the idea of him; and when Jonas asks her if she loved Michael, she doesn't answer. But I think the reason for her answer or lack of answer has a lot to do with the fact that she says she "didn't know who he really was". There was always this barrier between them because of Michael's secret, so I guess she always felt like she could never fully love him or be with him like she wanted, like he never let her in, which is an understandable thing for her to feel. And it's no wonder that her obsession with Ulrich returns full force after his death, because she feels like Michael abandoned her, that he was one of the men who "left her".

#dark netflix #hannah kahnwald #mikkel nielsen #ulrich nielsen #my meta #my post.

[whinlatter]

niche but Neville and Hannah! I love the little snippets of them we get in Beasts <3

thank you for asking about neville and hannah for this ask game anon and being so nice about how i have tried to include them in beasts :) :) :) the lovely @mimisays8 asked about them too!

hannah and neville are such a lovely fun couple to imagine and think about. i do realise this sounds ridiculous because they canonically interact very briefly once, when neville says harry saved the 'philogical' stone :) and hannah is like wow :) (...) still, though, there are these very small little nods to them having certain things in common and to being cutie patooties in their cores that gives fic writers so much to play with. obviously, neville from day dot is a dweeby nervous deeply unconfident little sweetie pie. in hannah's opening scene, too, she '[stumbles] out of line, [puts] on the hat, which [falls] right down over her eyes', establishing her, too, as a cute nervous flop. when hannah worries about azkaban escapee sirius black, she tells everyone black is disguising himself by turning into a flowering shrub. she's got plants on the brain your honour! it's meant to be. i think it's nice to imagine their dynamic as a couple as being too smiley lovely beans taking it in turns to squeeze the other person's hand reassuringly while pulling each other out of the way of passing buses/puddles etc. (more waffle below the cut)

of course, the slightly sad thing about hannah and neville is that they both spend most of canon feeling awful about themselves. neville, obviously, is neville (he thinks he's good as a squib! baby!). but hannah, for an exceptionally minor character, gets all these wee moments where the reader is told she has very low self-confidence. in ootp, hannah abbott vs owls gets its own tiny subplot. ('All the fifth years were suffering from stress to some degree, but Hannah Abbott became the first to receive a Calming Draught from Madam Pomfrey after she burst into tears during Herbology and sobbed that she was too stupid to take exams and wanted to leave school now.') then she has an absolute meltdown during her owls and causes a flamingo stampede in the middle of an exam, which makes everything neville has ever done look slick. losers! soulmate losers. i love the idea of the two of them really knowing what it's like to gravely doubt yourself and feel very very rubbish about your self worth, and channelling that experience into being very supportive partners and parents, one day (and a teacher and friend to a future generation of hogwarts students, later in life!)

one of the other elements to hannah and neville is that they also both know something about grief and loss. hannah loses her mum when she's sixteen: neville grieves what his parents could have been every time he visits them. i don't think shared experiences of loss are necessarily a stable basis for a ship in all instances, but with hannah and neville, i really like it being part of what they are to each other and other people, as something that informs their capacity for great empathy and compassion and a real emotional maturity that comes with having gone through familial experiences that are so momentous and life-changing.

in my headcanon in beasts, i imagine that the period when hannah and neville became closer, and also when they both began to change and grow up as people and gain some self confidence, was during the war in the DA. neville, we know, grows hugely in confidence in that year. but hannah, too, seems to have changed a lot from her 15 to 17 year old self - she's gone from calling herself too stupid to be a witch to fighting in a huge great big battle (nearly getting personally bumped off by voldemort himself, huge slay). obviously i play with the idea that her and ginny became friends through the DA the year before, just because i think it makes a lot of sense as a way to draw hannah in to the wider group of golden and silver trios in a way that she isn't, really, in canon. but in general just think it's lovely to imagine hannah finally getting a bit of belief and self esteem in a growth arc that parallels neville's (and to give another female character an arc in general, in a series that underserves its female characters at every single bloody turn)

#couple of cuties i die #while i typed this beyonce ANNOUNCED A NEW ALBUM #i'm sure both hannah and neville would be very excited about this #neville's a man of taste he says virgo's groove was the best song on renaissance #neville longbottom #hannah x neville #hannah abbott #meta #ask game

[captainpikeachu]

Okay so this prevailing sentiment that I keep seeing about how “this doesn’t make sense why would Bucky be with a team of bad guys” really kinda annoys because...most of the MCU Thunderbolts team members aren’t even bad guys???

Ghost, Taskmaster, and Yelena literally all share similar kinds of backstories to Bucky, they are all victims of a system that either mind controlled them or forced them into doing horrible things. They’ve all broken free and are trying to make their own choices and trying to recover and get better in their own ways. 

Alexei is literally just a chaotic man being chaotic, and the last we saw of him, he was part of the protagonist team of the Black Widow film. Hardly any sense of being a “bad guy”, just a big dork guy who really wants to punch some folks and admittedly trying and sometimes failing at being a dad.

And as much as folks want Walker to be a bad guy, even the Falcon and the Winter Soldier show didn’t bother making him the villain of the story, instead head writer Malcolm Spellman even stated that Walker and Bucky are two sides of a veteran’s story, and the last time we saw of Walker, he was actually trying to save hostages and helping Sam and Bucky, with him and Bucky even working together.

The only person with remotely a whiff of possible “bad guy” is Val, and we don’t really even know enough about her to say if she’s actually doing bad things because she’s evil or if she’s just like a Nick Fury who sometimes do shady things for what she thinks are the greater good.

Sure, many of these characters have served antagonistic roles in the stories they appeared in, but being an antagonist does not equal to being a “bad guy” or being the villain. Protagonist doesn’t mean Hero, and Antagonist doesn’t mean Villain, and sometimes I fear that fandom spends so much time trying to shove characters into boxes and ends up losing sight of the characters’ complexities. 

The Thunderbolts are not just a “team of bad guys”, even in their decades of comics history, this team line up has run across all ends of the spectrum with Bucky being a member of this team at various points. The most recent new comics run is even a team of heroes led by Clint Barton himself.

And if one really takes a good look at this currently known line up of the MCU Thunderbolts team, with the exception of Val whose backstory is shrounded in mystery right now, these are all characters who’ve had trauma, who’ve been through a lot, who are soldiers and warriors who’ve all fought for what they thought was right. Sure their moralities can be a bit skewed, but they aren’t just people who go around killing people for no reason and just enjoying being bad for the sake of being bad. This is a team of broken traumatized messed up chaotic warriors seeking for another chance to prove themselves, for redemption, and is that not the kind of people whom Bucky would share commonality with? Is that not the kind of people that he might be able to help, to provide guidance and advice to? He’s walked their path, he of all people knows what it takes to make a recovery stick.

What better way to continue his journey from the ending of the Falcon and the Winter Soldier than to make him the “mentor” of a group of people each trying to seek their own redemption in their own way? Wouldn’t it be character growth for Bucky to go from the learner to now the teacher?

Honestly I think Thunderbolts director Jake Schreier said it best:

I just think The Thunderbolts are an exciting opportunity to take these characters that have been seen in a certain light and kinda bring them together, and through coming together, possibly view them in another light. 

So many of these characters on the team, we all have a way of seeing them through our various biases and perspectives, and this film might actually teach us all to let go of certain biases and see these characters in a new way through their perspectives.

#mcu thunderbolts #the thunderbolts #bucky barnes #mcu meta #yelena belova #john walker #alexei shostakov #ava starr #antonia dreykov #contessa valentina allegra de fontaine #winter soldier #us agent #red guardian #ghost #taskmaster #sebastian stan #florence pugh #hannah john kamen #wyatt russell #david harbour #olga kurylenko #julia louis dreyfus

[devoursjohnlock]

Just wanted to say that I'm happy to see people reblog Sherlock posts, I don't care if they're old. I miss meta analyses. You, and Garkgatiss and coffeeteaitsallfine are my favorite meta writers. I often re-read your posts. But who knows, maybe they will announce S5, or a movie (I prefer S5) and we'll finally have new material, BTS photos from set, interviews... Not sure we'll still have a site though. If they announce S5, Tumblr is going to explode :)

Aw, thanks @erikiara80! That is good to hear; I love to think that people are re-reading my long metas; some of these took a long time to develop. I find myself reblogging more Sherlock content these days, too.

#Sherlock #asks #erikiara80 #very creative of Mark to go out and win an Olivier to get Ben and Martin's attention I hope it works out #never mind people asking *me* if I'm writing more meta - amy and hannah what do you have in the works 👀

[hmvw2015]

I miss Tari...

#fan art #meta runner #art #traditional fanart #color markers #sharpie pens #glitch productions #meta runner tari #meta runner fanart #go watch this show #webseries #hmvw2015 #hannah van weelden #female artists on tumblr #artists on tumblr #colored markers #anime sparkles #blue #scanned art #more to come

[tobythewholetime]

someone explain to me this one thing from ted lasso 3x10

“i knew this little boy. working class, from richmond. he loved football so much. he used to sneak into the matches because his family just couldn’t afford the tickets.” (the security guard throws him out, he never came back………..until he walked in 25 years later and bought the club.)

“i was a young punk who snuck in every week…i sat there because she was there…(“my mother and my boyfriend were furious”)…she insisted that i should stay…and we fell in love.”

what are we to make of this?? like, are there conceivably multiple men of a similar age (both of whom inappropriately pursue taken women) who regularly snuck into richmond games as teens? definitely. i’m not saying rupert IS the romcom man; in fact i DON’T think he is. (for a variety of reasons — including rebecca would’ve been, uh, a child when rupert was sneaking into games. 🤮)

but it’s odd to have this parallel…particularly since the romcom couple has long been thought to mirror/symbolize/echo ted and rebecca……

my working theory is the parallel shows the difference between “romcom” fantasy and reality — the end of the romcom is “it all worked out, we fell in love” — the real life parallel is “i got kicked out, i became the worst possible version of myself and have hurt so many people in the process.”

……..but that feels like it’s not the whole thing. it’s so odd to have this subtlest of callbacks to a couple who withstood the test of time, the ultimate example of romcommunism, be echoed in rebecca’s story about younger rupert — the ultimate villain of the show.

thoughts???

#please tell me your thoughts #this really stuck in my brain #why make this parallel????? what does it MEAN #ted lasso #ted lasso meta #ted lasso season 3 #ted lasso season three spoilers #ted lasso spoilers #tedbecca #theodore lasso #ted lasso 3x10 #ted lasso international break #ted lasso rainbow #ted lasso 2x05 #ted lasso season 3 spoilers #romcommunism #jason sudeikis #hannah waddingham #ted lasso 3.10 #ted lasso theories

[druidx]

Sending some warm vibes your way: 🍵🌻🫂

How is your fic treating you?

Aww TY *pours a cuppa for us both* 🫖️

The fic... The fic about Elo... The fic chosen especially to torture Elo... Elo's fic. That fic?

It's slow. Last week I only managed 1,400 words, and I know it's because I'm dragging my feet over the next bit because it's such a crucial part of the story. But the original draft here is so waffly and messy and yuck that I don't want to wade through it and I'm finding literally every other thing far more interesting. My bathroom has never been cleaner 😅️

But I have plenty of time before it's due to be posted, so I can either pick away at it, or find a space to be like "//cracks knuckles// Right, let's get you sorted then" 😆️ (It'll probably be the latter if I'm honest. There's going to be a lot of high-level concepts which are best tackled with a clear head all in one go.)

Anyway. Thank you for enquiring, and I hope you don't mind my desultory mooch at you. Hope the spring has brought you fic-movement too, however slow it is 🧡️

#answered ask #hannah-heartstrings #oc elowyn o'toreguarde #meta writing #WIP 'Her Countenance was Light' #titan fighting fantasy #fighting fantasy #ttrpg fanfiction #meta wandering words

[redstringraven]

an excruciatingly long ramble about the ‘03 turtles and the enneagram 🐢🧡 pt5 (end)

[ intro + disclaimers post ] [ pt 2 - raph ] [ pt 3 - leo ] [ pt 4 - don ]

mikey, 7 with a 6 wing

intro

we've reached the final entry, lads, but we've still got a lot to talk about. there's also, of course, the chance i might have future things to observe and build on and, if i do, they will be posted and linked as addendums. for now, however? let's blow this popsicle stand.

you might remember way back in the intro post that i said i was excited to talk about mikey because he’s a complicated combination of a lot of moving parts and almost stupidly self-aware. i had a reason i wanted to start this project off with raph and, similarly, i have a reason i wanted to end it with mikey. there’s a chance that some of you might have noticed or caught on, and i’ll give you a moment to think about it.

done? okay cool.

mikey’s 7 is linked to each of his brothers. all three of them have a 7 somewhere in their enneagram web:

raph has a 7 wing. leo’s security number is 7. don’s stress number is 7.

mikey and raph share a lot in common, which is why they both get along so well and also butt heads frequently. i think a detail that may contribute to the latter is that their 7 link is in a wing on raph's end. mikey can see and understand where the 7-wing is influencing and coloring raph's core number, but he himself doesn't share an 8 as a wing. so, when it comes to getting what makes raph tick as an 8, mikey may fall a little short. but if mikey allows himself to chill out enough to access his 5, he might even be able to help raph understand his own temper and process his thoughts objectively.

as for the other two, mikey knows how to coax out leo’s playful side and get him to be kinder with himself and relax, shut his inner critic the hell up. mikey can empathize with don when he’s struggling in silence, bring him out of isolation and back to the present. stress and security numbers are stronger ties than a wing (they will always be attached to that core type, whereas the wing may differ), so mikey can see his strengths reflected in leo when leo's healthy and empathize with don's weaknesses when he's going through a dark spot. mikey would also have a taste of what it's like to live with an inner critic (leo's 1), and be capable of stepping back, slowing down, and being more open to clarity, innovation and insight (don's 5).

bare basics of the 7

7s are one of three assertive types (the others being 3s and 8s), and they’re members of the head triad (made of 5s, 6s, and 7s).

to reiterate: members of the head triad are concerned with anxiety; they carry a great deal of fear and are driven by it. they feel they experience a lack of support and guidance, and because of this they often engage in behaviors they believe will enhance their safety and security. they take in and relate to the world through the mind, and they tend to think and plan carefully before they act.

i’ll also mention again what i said about assertive types in raph’s post: assertives can be described as moving 'against people’. they respond to stress or difficulty by building up, reinforcing, or inflating their ego; they will expand rather than back down or seek protection. assertive types will often have issues processing their feelings.

unlike the previous posts, i think we need to pause here in the basics section for a second. because this is where mikey is different than his brothers.

if you look back to mikey's brothers, each of them have their core number in one triad but their wing in another: raph is in the gut triad, but has a head wing; leo is in the gut triad but has a heart wing; don is in the head triad, but has a heart wing. mikey, however, is fully in the head triad. but wait!: there’s more.

his brother’s core numbers and wings are all the same ‘type’: raph being an 8w7 means he’s fully an assertive type; don being a 5w4 makes him fully a withdrawn type; leo being a 1w2 makes him fully a compliant type. mikey, however, is a 7w6, which makes his core type assertive, but his wing compliant. so while his core number might cause him to inflate his ego, expand rather than back down, his wing’s influence could soften that or even nullify it. remember that compliant types like to be in service of the people around them and move toward others, and they have internalized principles and other dictates they've learned from childhood.

something else i’ve noticed while working on this project is that every triad has one type that seems like they don’t belong in their triad by surface-level observation. 9s are in the anger and gut triad, yet they’re peacemakers, think before they act, and are 'fine' with discomfort so long as everyone around them is happy. 3s don’t appear to be engaged with their feelings despite being in the heart and feeling triad, and they often struggle to connect with those emotions as well as their own identity. 7s are in the thinking and head triad, seeming to be carefree, joyful, and spontaneous in a triad so concerned with fear and anxiety. but where 5s externalize that fear and 6s internalize it... 7s forget it. or, they sure do try to.

a 7’s basic fear is being deprived or trapped in pain

their basic desire is to be happy, satisfied, and to find fulfillment

they believe they’ll be okay so long as they get what they need

childhood take-aways

y’all know the drill. let’s visit that quote from master splinter one final time.

“your path in life will not be an easy one. the outside world will not be a friendly place for you. you four are different in ways the surface dwellers would never understand. to survive, you must master these skills i teach you: the powers of stealth and secrecy. you must become kage, shadow warriors, and you must never be discovered by the outside world.”

it’s not uncommon for a 7’s childhood to be colored by an unconscious feeling of disconnection from their protective and/or nurturing figures, and in response to this 7s choose to nurture themselves. there’s a wide variety of reasons for this perception: another sibling came along and required attention, or there was illness in the family, or the family is living paycheck to paycheck and the protective figures are stressed. but, one way or another, the young 7 unconsciously decides they’re not going to sit around feeling sorry for themselves; if no one will take care of them, they’ll take care of them. this is NOT to say that 7s weren’t close to their protective/nurturing figures, just that on some emotional level they unconsciously decided they had to take care of their own needs.

young 7s will quickly seek out what psychologists call ‘transitional objects’: toys, games, and sometimes playmates. so long as they can find and move toward interesting ideas, experiences, and people, they can repress their underlying feelings of frustration, fear and hurt. where 5s reduce their need to depend on anyone and 6s try to anticipate every possible disaster, 7s create a pain-free world in their mind where they can hang out and think happy thoughts.

like i said back in leo’s post their lives had to’ve been some level of chaos since the word go. master splinter had a LOT to manage and balance and pay attention to, whether it was his own grief/newfound intelligence and change, finding them all a safe environment, or the four boys themselves. we have young leo earnestly doing his best to meet and surpass expectations--going to splinter for advice and approval and more lessons. we have young raph questioning splinter’s authority and glimpses of his temper starting to surface more often. and we have young don choosing to tinker instead of play with his brothers or fully engage in training, and maybe needing a bit more attention during said training because this isn’t the area he’s chosen for his expertise. that’s a lot of attention spread real, real thin. this poor rat is doing his best, man.

while i wouldn’t say this strained or damaged mikey’s relationship with splinter, it wouldn’t surprise me if mikey unconsciously realized he’d need to find the nurturing he wanted elsewhere. much like leo’s 1 would have recognized his protective figure’s responsibilities and expectations, and received them in earnest, mikey’s 7 pulled him toward distractions to better tolerate his own anxiety: toys, trinkets, music, games, comic books, artistic expression. in mikey’s story during tales of leo (s1ep19) we see him wander-dancing around the lair with his headphones on, (allegedly) looking for his gameguy. he pauses to talk to leo, but leo is concentrating and won't engage with him. this leads to mikey deciding to break young leo’s concentration because he, quote: “hates to be ignored”.

mikey as a 7

7s are sometimes nicknamed: ‘the enthusiast’, ‘the generalist’, ‘the multi-tasker’, ‘the wunderkind’, ‘the dilettante’, ‘the connoisseur’, or ‘the energizer’.

7s are masters when it comes to the art of reframing; they can take a bad situation and turn it into a positive light in a blink. it’s a defense mechanism that’s instantaneous, unconscious, and impressive. in his official profile, mikey states that “the other guys seem so down sometimes, they need me around just to lighten things up! life’s a beach!”. heck, there’s a ton of this, here. that happiness is a way of life, life is what you make it, and that "knowing how to take care of yourself in times of trouble is neat... it's like being in a movie”.

if you continue to doubt mikey's place in the thinking/head triad, then you've yet to watch a 7 start to rationalize. should you call them out for acting selfishly or attempt to caution them on making a dumb decision, they’ll defend to the death the reasonableness of their position or provide a million good reasons for doing whatever it is they want to do.

a small example can be found in trouble with triceratons (s2ep2) while the turtles are trying to retrieve honeycutt from the triceratons, resulting in don piloting an alien vehicle while mikey rides sidecar. mikey begins pressing all the buttons--just all of them--and don says “leave the shiny buttons alone, mikey!”. to which mikey responds “but it might be something really good!” (and then he is promptly jettisoned from the car. rest in pieces, king).

a better example could be found in a wing and a prayer (s4ep7). while don, leo and raph are training, mikey's standing by reading a newspaper. leo breaks away from the others to cut through the newspaper in order to get mikey's attention, and he tells mikey. they’re supposed to be training. mikey's quick to say that he is training! he’s doing mental exercises… reading! leo presses “didn’t you learn anything from your battle nexus rematch?”. and mikey has an answer for this, too, in the form of a quote from master splinter about worry, fear and anger... and pin that up on the board--pin it--because we're gonna circle back to that.

much like 8s, 7s don’t like being told what to do. but where an 8 might outright pick a fight with an authority figure, opponent, or leader, a 7 will attempt to manipulate them with charm and charisma. while it wasn't OUR mikey who sweet-talked his way out of sliver's containment in reality check (s3ep19), it was still a version of mikey who pulled it off, and it was our mikey's plan.

7s are crafty lil stinkers. much in the same way they can quickly think to rationalize their wants and behaviors, they will be quick to notice and remember how those around them respond to things, what buttons to press they might need to press to garner the results they want. a prime example of this is his match against raph in the battle nexus.

raph goes into this match confident and eager. he thinks that he’s going to give mikey a life time's worth of get-backs, but… never considers that no one in this tournament knows how to work him like mikey does. ... ... *leans in and lifts microphone closer to my mouth* and we're gonna circle back to that, too.

7s are (for better or worse for those around them) exceptionally bright and quick learners. their minds move fast from one idea to the next, making them fantastic brainstormers and great at synthesizing information; they tend to have excellent mind-body coordination and dexterity. all this can cause them to develop an inflated sense of their own 'giftedness' and cause them to come off as or actually be: arrogant.

i think it’s safe to say that mikey is the most ‘’’naturally gifted’’’ out of the four when it comes to ninjitsu. master splinter draws attention to this in touch and go (s3ep8) when he says mikey has an affinity for the martial arts. but one of the best ‘show-don’t-tell’ examples, in my opinion, can be found in what a croc (s2ep12) where mikey’s the one who holds his ground the longest against stockman’s turtle-bot. and afterward, when they swap weapons, he’s the only one of the four who uses an improvised weapon (two pipes).

it cannot be stated enough times that 7s don’t want to experience unpleasant emotions. sure, no one enjoys feeling frightened, bored, disappointed, sad, frustrated or angry, but emotions like this are downright intolerable for 7s. they want to avoid pain, and they believe they can think their way out of it. things like worry or stress are easier for them to deal with because they can mentally work with them and rationalize a way out, but things like sadness, grief or disappointment are harder. those emotions actually have to be felt to be dealt with. whenever 7s sense they’re getting too close to a painful topic, they might crack a joke or tell a funny story--they're the types who will sneak a wince-worthy pun into a eulogy--anything goofy or distracting to redirect the topic and skirt around those negative emotions. this avoidance can cause them to appear callous or lacking in empathy. mikey? cracking jokes when he “shouldn’t”? maybe coming off as insensitive to the situation around him? more likely than you think.

7s with a 6 wing are sometimes nicknamed ‘the entertainer’. they’re fast-talking, witty, and they're excited by new ideas and highly engaging people with a lot of energy and high spirits. they’re productive, but they can easily lose focus and become scattered. these 7s are sensitive and a bit more anxious than 7w8s, but they’re experts in using charm to disarm. they’re dutiful and loyal to their family and friends, and they’re often funny, entertaining, and highly accepting of others. in healthier states, they’re curious and creative with an excellent sense of humor and a more positive outlook on life than a 7w8. they’re quick-thinking, have cooperative spirits, and organizational abilities that enable them to accomplish a great deal with little effort.

stress & security numbers

mikey’s stress number is a 1, so in times of high stress and downed spirits he’ll begin exhibiting the negative traits associated to 1s. stressed 7s become pessimistic, argumentative, and judgmental. more and more, they’ll begin blaming others around them for their problems, and their thinking will become more black-and-white. they’ll begin to feel the need to restrain themselves but then become frustrated with the structures and limits, and their usual vivaciousness may give way to a grim seriousness.

what enthusiasm they had for their own ideas and opinions will quickly shift into a tendency to critique the views of others; they might become short, impersonal, and impatient--with both themselves and others--attempting to 'teach' those around them why their ideas and opinions are better or correct. and under high stress, their underlying resentment will begin to show. they might begin scolding, nitpicking, and cutting down those around them with withering, sarcastic comments, and they'll adopt a 'hit-and-run' approach to conflict.

the examples of mikey’s 1 could include:

in tales of leo (s1ep19) after mikey finishes telling his story and raph says “if you ask me, leo’s not coming back because he’s afraid”, mikey--quite literally--180s on him and retorts “no one asked you!”

in return to the underground (s2ep13) mikey says don's plan to get the crystal moon back up came from "whackos-r-us", and toward the end when they’re all webbed up and surrounded by monsters, he mocks don and “his big ideas” and does a nasally impression of him

his behavior in most (if not all) of same as it never was (s3ep21); the way he snaps at don right out the gate is radiating with a 1’s anger and, more notably, resentment

in grudge match (s4ep6), he makes a very pointed dig at raph when challenged about his status as the battle nexus champion; i’ll touch on this a bit more later

mikey’s security number is a 5, so when mentally and spiritually healthy he’ll begin to show the positive traits associated with 5s. these 7s grow more comfortable with silence and solitude and are willing to be more serious; they begin to think about the meaning and purpose of their lives. an 'average' health 7 might be creative, but a secure 7 no longer wants to just consume, they want to contribute. 7s on the positive side of a 5 can finally experience satisfaction in the truest sense of the word.

they learn to slow down and quiet the activity in their minds so impressions affect them more deeply, and they become able to stay with their observations and experiences long enough to realize all the amazing things about themselves and the world around them. they can recognize which experiences have real value to them. rather than worry about making the wrong choices or missing out on the best--most exciting--course of action, 7s will simply know what to do. it doesn’t cause 7s to lose their spontaneity or enthusiasm, they just become more free to savor the moment. as 7s learn to quiet their minds and tolerate anxiety that arises, they can access the clarity, innovation, insight, and knowing qualities of a healthy 5.

examples of mikey’s 5 surfacing could include

in the unconvincing turtle titan (s1ep12) after watching the silver sentry interview at the end, while his brothers are asking questions, you can see him just kind of quietly basking in the moment instead of hyping himself or the moment up

in contrast to dipping into his 1 throughout return to the underground, while they’re on their way back home mikey pauses to take a moment to let don know “he may be a pain in the shell, but i’m proud that you’re my bro”. (this back and forth reaction to don's decisions/plans could also be his assertive type expanding in defense early on only for his compliant type to fall back to childhood lessons in doing the right thing, recognizing and appreciating that they've done that here)

in christmas aliens (s3ep1) it’s his idea to go to the children’s home, granting others an exciting and warm holiday experience rather than being concerned with his own. contributing, not consuming.

in grudge match (s4ep6) he takes the time to seek leo out at the end of the episode and thank him

there is an aspect of his 5 surfacing in what he says about leo in samurai tourist (s4ep13) but i hesitate to say that his 5 is fully in the driver’s seat; i’ll get to it when we get there

cardinal sins - 7 and gluttony

once again, as with raph and with don, mikey’s cardinal sin is more than its surface-level explanation. yeah, he eats a lot and enjoys food, but… who doesn’t? i, also, would like pie.

7s embody sunshine and joy and a boundless love for life, always curious, always excited about the next thing to come. but if you scratch those surface appearances off, you’ll find an almost desperate need to avoid pain. the cardinal sin of gluttony isn’t so much about mikey’s passion for pizza as much as it is a need to devour positive experiences, stimulating ideas and fine material things in order to avoid suffering, hurtful memories, or feelings of deprivation. 7s cope by gorging themselves. they jam their calendars with activities and adventures to look forward to, absorb interesting ideas and stories, collect material possession--all in an attempt to fill up an inner emptiness with items and experiences. we all have our ways of defending against pain, and for 7s it’s keeping things lively and positive. they must have more, so they never run out.

one of my books state that 7s are often caught in a cycle of anticipation known as 'the chocolate syndrome'. one of the most exciting things about a box of chocolates is the anticipation of the first bite (you never know what you're gonna get inside, after all). it's often less the experience itself that excites 7s, it's the anticipation OF that experience. a small example of this could be found in the lesson (s3ep13) when young mikey is teaching casey about the importance of having a battle-cry. he hypes up how having a good battle-cry will get foes to flee like cowards, and before casey even has a chance to respond, mikey exclaims "oooOOH, i really wanna see that!! come on, let's try it!". the payoff of this is, obviously, not great. but it didn't lessen the thrill of getting there.

unfortunately, due to their cardinal sin, 7s have a tendency to be the most vulnerable to some form of addiction, both due to their love for anticipation and need of escaping negative feelings. i see a lot of people going to raph when it comes to this topic (especially in terms of substance abuse), i guess because he’s the “problem child”? and his 7 wing might open a vulnerability to that but for the most part… eh. mn.

i bring this subject up in regards to mikey, however, because we actually have a brief example of it in-series.

in the big brawl - part three (s2ep25), raph and mikey pass gennosuke while wandering the battle nexus market. gen is a gambler (it thus needs be remarked that gambling can be as much an addiction as a substance), and he asks them if they want to place a bet on him winning the tournament. raph immediately turns him down and tells him to “find some other sucker” while walking away… but mikey hangs back and asks what the odds on himself are. once he gets those odds he says “i gotta get in on that action!” and asks raph to help him out. raph proceeds to grab mikey by the arm, tell gen to fuck off a second time, and physically removes mikey from the interaction. you might remember me saying back in raph’s post that raph, being an 8, might be the most ‘world-wise’ out of the four. he sees this for what it is, what it could be, and he’s gently peeling mikey away from it.

and as before, let’s look at the other sins in the circle. mikey’s 6 wing, 1 stress and 5 security would give him: fear*, anger, and greed respectively.

*i mentioned in raph's post that seven of the enneagram’s cardinal sins are in line with the traditional ‘deadly sins’; 3s and 6s are the exceptions, with 3’s cardinal sin being deceit and 6’s being fear.

same as it never was with a touch of darkness within

before we dive in, let’s pause to examine 7s at their healthiest and unhealthiest. at their healthiest, 7s can be described as: joyful and satisfied, anticipating and enthusiastic, realistic and productive. at their unhealthiest, 7s can be described as: insatiable and escaping, manic (depressive) and reckless, overwhelmed and paralyzed.

mikey is kind of unique throughout the series in that we don’t really get a lot of heavy episodes with him that would latch onto his more stressed state of mind and drag it out. at least, not in the way that we do with his brothers. sainw, unsurprisingly, is when we get to see a version of mikey in his worst state, and i think there’s a lot of interesting things to examine here with his enneagram type in mind, one of which will carry into the next section.

right off the bat, something to notice about sainw!mikey: he is the ONLY person who doesn’t greet our don warmly. april hugs don. raph also hugs him (that 2 shooting to the surface for a split second). leo’s smiling widely, and he sounds relieved. but mikey? it’s "where the shell have you been?? how could you just abandon us like that?!". it's instantaneous, and he doesn't hesitate to take it a step further, because the first thing he decides to do after is take don to master splinter. that's exactly how he words it, too: "i'm taking you to master splinter". ...--like, i need you to realize how cold of a move this is in hindsight. because script-wise, it's obviously there to do an emotional reveal not just to don but also the audience. but in character context?

this master splinter died after don disappeared. which could mean that his death is information sainw!don doesn't have. but whether it’s our don or sainw!don it doesn’t matter, because mikey presents this information to don much like you drop a bucket of ice water on someone. he takes him to splinter’s grave. it’s not gentle, it's not kind, it’s harsh. as though to say: you left, the team didn’t work, and look what happened. i want you to look at it.

as i said in the stress section--as well as back in don’s post--mikey is leaning hard into his 1. the gang's all here: we got cutting remarks, we got 1’s cardinal sin in anger (resentment), we got blame, we got grim seriousness. i think we can go a bit deeper into the fact that don ‘abandoned’ them, too. for that, we need to look to the darkness within (s3ep14).

jenn (@/plantdonut) brought this to my attention a while ago; i don’t remember the context of the conversation, and i’ve searched our discord chats to no avail--i can only assume she mentioned it during a call. but her point stuck with me, and it will be heavily pulled from in the next paragraph.

mikey’s nightmare in the darkness within features leo joining the lovecraftian entity and attacking him. looking at the themes of each of their nightmares: don’s centers on loss and helplessness, leo’s was about failure, and raph’s was giving into his worst self. mikey’s seems to be about betrayal. it’s an interesting one, because i don’t think the boys have really experienced real betrayal up to this point. their companions have always been their companions, and the people who have 'turned on them' to some degree never fully gained their trust in the first place. but what’s one of the things mikey seeks out when he needs distractions? comic books. superhero comic books. a genre where betrayal is almost laughably frequent and expected to the point of parody. the concept of being betrayed by someone you trust or love is no doubt hovering around in mikey’s subconscious. he already thinks of himself and his brothers as superheroes--he IS a superhero. so, here in this nightmare, he’s experiencing his first "real" betrayal.

and it's not lost on me that... out of the four of them who almost joined the foot? leo. leo’s the one mikey’s having the nightmare about.

take this knowledge and move back to sainw. don disappearing on his family, in a time when mikey needs him most? …that’s a betrayal. sainw!mikey’s world is not only crumbling around him, but if we were to assume that his deepest fear is the same as our mikey’s, then his worst fear has also come true: someone close to him who he loves has betrayed him. don left. the team didn't work anymore. splinter died. raph and leo separated, they "aren't with anyone" anymore.

i think the only smile we get out of sainw!mikey is after don pleads to leo and raph to help him, and leo and raph shake hands. just this... brief blink-and-you-miss-it smile. it's so fleeting.

sainw is probably the most blatant example of mikey’s 1 being active, but there is one specific example we get with our mikey.

mikey beat raph that one time aaaaand uuuh--

originally this was going to be a part of the season four discussion, but it became its own thing. i don’t think i’ve ever seen anyone really take note of this, let alone acknowledge it, either. but me sitting here and putting everything through an enneagram filter while rewatching episodes made a light go off.

for starters, i need to reiterate what i said back in raph's post in the season four section: i don't agree with master splinter when he says that all of the boys except leo have healed from their wounds after defeating the shredder. i know what was more a script-thing to emphasize the journey leo's going on, but i really need to restate that i think all of the boys are on the unhealthy end of their enneagram spectrums. their stress numbers are present and active, and this is going to be one time, i think, we see our mikey lean into his. with intent.

grudge match (s4ep6) feels like the episode where the change in leo’s demeanor is beginning to have an actual effect on the family unit. the first three episodes of the season were more an adjustment and ‘’’healing’’’ period in their post-shredder lives, the fourth was leo and casey, and the fifth episode we can see leo's change isn't going away but the 'ripple effect' hasn't quite kicked in yet. it's grudge match when raph begins confronting leo on his shift in attitude and don remarks on the increased intensity of the training.

between the end of the battle nexus arc (s2ep23-26) and grudge match, mikey will sometimes boast about being the battle nexus champion (as is his god given right), and i think it's fair based on dialogue and his family's reactions that he does it off-screen, too. but.

the only time (i'm pretty frickin sure) he brings up that he beat raph is at the very, very end of the last battle nexus episode (s2ep26) and right here in grudge match. it’s no secret that mikey enjoys playfully antagonizing his brothers from time to time, and that he has a tendency to target raph with shenanigans and teasing. but the exchange in grudge match, both due to context and the energy feels… different.

at the end of the big brawl - part four, raph says mikey won on a technicality. to which mikey responds "um. TECHNICALLY, i kicked your sorry butt in one of the bouts. remember?". the energy and body language behind it is much more passive, playful and, overall, good-natured. raph doesn’t respond to it well and tackles mikey to the ground (this would be the first time leo and don are learning this specific information as well), but i think it’s safe to say the remark from mikey was meant to be more competitive ribbing than it was anything else. in grudge match, though?

before this exchange even happens, raph’s temper is already set off--he’s not starting from a more neutral, calm state like he did at the end of the big brawl. leo's insistence on more intense training has him heightened, angry, and wound up. mikey uses his win as a reason to blow off training, and this just fans the flame. raph challenges mikey's status as the battle nexus champion and states he won on sheer, dumb luck. and when mikey says “well, if i remember correctly, i beat YOU fair and square”, he doesn’t just physically lean in once, he leans in twice and that second lean is to emphasize the 'you'. we don’t get to see how raph responds because master splinter interjects, but given that immediately following mikey’s remark don visibly winces, states “ooh i don’t wanna see this”, and removes himself from the space? i think it's fair to say the result would have been... explosive.

8s are competitive. and when it comes to their competitive nature, it’s important to remember they hate losing more than they love winning. winning is good because it cements their capability, but losing is awful because it risks affirming their basic fear. 8s believe they'll be okay so long as they are strong and in control of their situation. i think raph’s feelings toward his loss go beyond just the fact that he lost to mikey. it’s less that he lost to mikey… and more how he lost to mikey. because mikey beat him not by out-fighting him, but by drawing out raph's temper and letting it get the better of him, wear him out, and ultimately be his own undoing. in a way, raph didn't lose to mikey, he lost to himself. and he did that publicly. this wasn't in the privacy of his own home during a training session, or a one-off with some purple dragons in a dark alley-way. this was public. with thousands of eyes watching. when he realizes he lost in that episode, raph says the line "i'll never be able to live with myself!" and while it's most likely dramatics, i feel like there's just the smallest sliver of truth to it. the fact it was mikey, at the end of the day, doesn't really matter. he lost agency to his temper again.

i’m bringing all of this up to say that: given the atmosphere of ‘the room’, raph’s already heightened state… this was a very bad time to dig the knife in, and mikey did it anyway. much like sainw!mikey chose to break the news of splinter's death to don in a harsh way, mikey’s choosing to defend his status in a harsh way. this could easily be an example of that 'hit-and-run' tactic i mentioned in the stress section; mikey's hitting raph with something he knows will further set him off, possibly as a way to redirect his family's frustration with him onto someone else. but, master splinter sees through it. he interjects and keeps attention focused on mikey before raph has the chance to explode.

now. i think it’s more than fair to say that mikey would know raph hates losing and that his temper is a strategic weakness, considering their fight in the battle nexus showcased he knew exactly how to work raph into being his own worst opponent, defeating him without even touching him. but remember at the beginning of the post where i said there's a bit of a disconnect between them, as their only link in the 7 is through a wing rather than a core number?

mikey may know that this is a dig at raph, but it is possible he doesn't know how deep it runs or that raph losing his temper isn't JUST a strategic weakness, it's directly tied to an 8's fear of being controlled/losing control. mikey may not know it was a bit more targeted than he intended it to be, but he doesn't pause or slow down to consider this. the 5's not here right now, the 1 is.

the first half of season four, for the last time

i’m certain there’s already been some observation about mikey and leo’s relationship throughout the first half of season four, and how--out of the brothers--mikey is the most attentive toward leo’s shift in attitude. it’s also interesting to see mikey’s assertive core and compliant wing sort of swing back and forth. i’m both going to talk about mikey’s interactions with leo, here, but toward the end, also his interactions with raph.

as discussed in raph’s post, in cousin sid (s4ep1) raph at first responds positively to leo’s shift in attitude and goes as far as to make a joke he probably shouldn’t have (ye ol' 7 wing). leo turns on him, but mikey gets between them and shuts the interaction down before it can become anything bigger. and, be it for leo’s benefit or his own, he takes charge of getting raph somewhere he won’t be a danger to himself.

in the people’s choice (s4ep2), mikey’s the one who pauses when he notices leo’s not following them to the mill and asks if he’s coming or not. it's a small moment, but he wanted leo to be included in their fun adventure.

as i said in leo’s post, we get a great exchange between leo and mikey in grudge match. to reiterate the exchange:

leo: …no. like pushing yourself beyond your limits. to a place where there are no limits. to be so focused, so ready that nothing and no one will ever catch you off guard again! mikey: um. …we still talking about me, here?

7s will do almost anything to avoid engaging in painful emotions, so when mikey picks up on the fact that leo’s projecting he points it out indirectly. leo doesn’t engage with this observation… so, mikey defaults to making a joke that he could still forfeit. but, as with this episode feeling like the first time leo's shift is shown to have a ripple effect on the family, i think this is the episode where mikey starts to engage with this shift. both in regards to leo and to his brothers.

in wing and a prayer, as i said earlier, leo tries to tell mikey that they need to train so that they’re ready for anything. mikey retorts by quoting master splinter... kind of:

“worry leads to fear. fear leads to anger. anger leads to worry. …--no, hold on. fear leads to anger. anger leads to hate. hates leads tooooo… a dark and moody leo”.

that pesky 7 of his is once again preventing him from communicating directly, but i do think mikey is trying to communicate here. and not JUST to leo. don and raph are also present, and raph even steps into frame as mikey finishes talking. they are, unfortunately, interrupted. and i hope all those pigeons are okay.

in dragons rising (s4ep10) while leo’s training at the beginning of the episode, he has a brief interaction with mikey (and klunk). mikey tries to ask him “how's it going?” but leo doesn’t respond and carries on. mikey then turns to klunk and states that “leo’s mister personality these days” and that “he’s getting tired of it, himself”. this could be his core's assertive type at play. it's expanding a bit, pushing what leo's going through away for mikey's own protection. but toward the end of the episode, after leo chews them all out and storms off, we see raph, casey and mikey in the back of the battleshell. raph verbally expresses agreement with leo, and mikey… kind of nods. i think he not only listened to leo, but also took raph’s acknowledgement/agreement into consideration. i think raph and mikey value each other's opinions a lot more than they let on. we have direct evidence of mikey looking up to raph (he asks himself "what would raph do?" in christmas aliens), and i'll get to raph in a second. back to mikey's handling of leo.

in all hallows thieves (s4ep12), mikey makes a leo-o-lantern. he could be trying to make leo laugh or smile or just… tap into the nostalgia that comes with halloween for them, but he doesn’t get much of a response.

when we finally reach samurai tourist (s4ep13), we have a small collection of things that have happened: mikey has acknowledged leo was projecting onto him in grudge match, mikey has potentially tried to communicate leo’s position and mental state to the other three in wing and a prayer, and mikey has now heard leo express his frustration that they keep losing and that he feels like the rest of them are treating it like it’s all a game. meanwhile, raph is still keeping leo at an arm’s length and is fighting with him and don still seems to be choosing not to engage with leo if he can avoid it.

at the start of the episode, raph and casey discuss leo's behavior. raph's irritated, and casey's treating the whole thing quite flippantly. likely getting antsy about the direction the conversation's heading, mikey makes an attempt to derail it: he jokes that he COULD be training, but it's free comic book day. ...it doesn't work, though. and the conversation continues. as the camera jumps around, mikey starts to look a little irritated, and this time he speaks up for real:

i think all of you should just lay off the poor guy. i mean, it can’t be fun. always being the responsible one? and we’re the ones who really benefit! raph’s free not to think because leo does all the thinking for him. don’s free to dream. and i’m free to take it easy! all because leonardo is busy being responsible enough for all of us!

i hesitate to say that mikey's 5 is doing the driving because he’s not slowing down to engage with his OWN negative and painful emotions. this is much more his 1 at play, taking the moment to 'teach' the others (and even if it is being triggered from an unhealthy state, he's right). it could also be a bit of that 6 wing, that compliant type, trying to be more directly 'in service' to leo rather than tap-dancing around the problem in wing and a prayer.

he acknowledges that the position leo’s in “is not fun”, which is a simple but important line coming from him because 7s will FLOCK toward anything 'fun' in order to avoid pain. this is a way of saying he knows leo’s in a lot of pain, and he then points out how each of them are benefiting from leo’s responsibility (including himself is some of his 5 engaging, as he’s at least embracing some of this guilt rather than denying it by virtue of expressing it).

unfortunately, we don't get to see the other two engage with this because leo pierces raph’s punching bag with his sword and raph starts to have an outburst. but this moment is also kinda interesting.

mikey shouts “easy, raph!” and helps casey hold him back, but don... doesn't do anything. i know he wasn’t standing close to raph, but we've seen him cross spaces in order to help hold raph back in the past. him choosing to remain where he is (and it's not that he's not animated, he puts his bo staff back in his belt) could be that continued choice to remain distanced and disengaged from this entire ~thing~. i think it’s also worth noting that raph’s 5 is active and, in piercing the sandbag, leo just broke one of raph’s resources. might help explain his aggressive reaction.

moving forward from samurai tourist, i mentioned back in raph’s post that there's a shift after mikey shuts their conversation down with how raph responds to leo’s behavior. i think, given that he values mikey's perspective and opinion, he took what mikey said to heart even if it is kind of too-little-too-late.

mikey calls leo’s outburst in the ancient one (s4ep14) before it happens, stating that he thinks “the cork’s about to pop on that unopened bottle”. this is followed by raph calling leo 'a hot-head' and stating that he hates it when leo reminds him of himself (a much gentler observation and description than saying "leo's gone mental"). …and right after this, we get a parallel to meet casey jones (s1ep4), with leo striking master splinter in place of raph attacking mikey. ( idk where else to put this, but while mikey, raph and don are outside splinter’s room listening to splinter and leo talk, and they turn to look at each other uncertainly? mikey looks to raph.)

after the efforts in samurai tourist, it’s kind of sad to see how mikey refers to leo in scion of the shredder (s4ep15). it would seem that compliant type has stepped back, and the assertive type is at the front of things again. where raph refers to leo as “a bum” (again, much gentler terms than we were getting before), mikey’s the one who asks if leo’s going to come back “normal… or, like… MORE normal. because before he left, he was acting kinda… y’know” and he draws a coo-coo next to his temple. raph promptly smacks him for this. leo attacking master splinter may have not only driven up mikey’s 1 (scathing remarks and judgemental views are active) but also woke up that fear of betrayal.

i dunno. it’s just interesting to see that AFTER mikey brought attention to where leo’s head is at, raph started to back off. and after leo took a step too close to something mikey’s afraid of, mikey’s quick to retreat back into old habits and--for the first time since this arc started--starting to throw insults in leo’s direction (and insults in the same line raph was taking from, no less). that compliant type might have been willing to step forward before and do a service to leo by bringing awareness to his condition… but now the assertive core has moved back into place, expanding to keep danger and pain away.

conclusion

as mentioned in part 1, the two books i referenced and heavily pulled from in the more enneagram-focused sections of this project (the parts where the enneagram itself is explained rather than how it applies to the turtles) were:

the wisdom of the enneagram by don richard riso & russ hudson

the road back to you by ian morgan cron & suzanne stabile

bro i straight up do not know how to top this off. i can’t believe i’m finally done with this after over a year and a half of working on it. <xD absolutely wild. and i just wanna thank anyone who took the time to read all of this, who left me something nice to say, and/or who shared it around. i really, really appreciate it. it’s obviously been a lot of work.

as i’ve said throughout the other posts, should i return with more things to say i’ll make addendums and link them along as i go. but for now: it’s been fun! time to return to art and fic writing. but later. because i'm braindead as all hell right now.

#tmnt 2003 #tmnt 2k3 #tmnt mikey #tmnt michelangelo #tmnt #;hannah's meta #;tmnt #;michelangelo #;tmnt enneagram #[ I DID IT.... I FINISHED THE THING I DID IT IA MFDSDGHSGH ]

[lovetold]

i’d like y’all to know that hannah’s music is very gracie a.brams + lizzy mc.alphine coded 🫶

#* ⠀ 𓂅 ⠀introspection / meta ⠀ 、 ⠀ hannah wells. #shes just my baby

[electrictouchfeaturingfalloutboy]

I never noticed before how little Faith is in the first half of s3. It becomes extra apparent in episodes like Helpless, where it's extremely logical she would be there. They don't even really address outside of one throwaway line.

I wonder if it had to do with contracts or something, it makes no sense to me otherwise. You'd think they'd want to spend a decent chunk of time on her relationship to the group as a whole and Buffy particularly to make her betrayal hit that much harder but alas. They do not. For some reason.

#hannah makes a text post #buffyblogging #btvs meta

[shallowseeker]

oh—there’s something in season 10 with how cas just wants to be an angel and dean likes the disease it’s about not feeling anything

and there’s something about crowley disliking the girl dean is trying not to have emotions for, and crowley telling dean, something something, “rolling stones, no distractions.” and then you have cas telling hannah, “only mission, no distractions.”

disinhibition (demon dean) and inhibition (angelic cas) are two sides of the same coin of emotional numbing huh

and the thing is, those both handcuff free will—a lobotomy isn’t freedom, and neither is a roofie

#something discombobulated #sorry i revisited my naked hannah meta #and i’ve been thinking about it

[ignitesthestxrs]

for the trope thing, omegaverse...?

B: Like it. Not one of my bigger cravings, but it can scratch a certain itch if I’m in the right mood.

god my position on omegaverse has really changed over the year. the truth is that like, uh when the mood hits there is a Particular Kind of omegaverse shit that i definitely will scour Ao3 for, but there's also the vast mjority of omegaverse content that i: fucking hate.

i wrote on tor dot com about this a bit! the resulting twitter response was so terrifying that i turned all my notifs off and locked my account for a bit and spent a week walking mental circles around my brain alternately going 'oh god i should never write an essay ever again' and 'no, it's the PEOPLE who are wrong'.

anyway i do think i could have articulated myself better, but also the people are still wrong because the amount of people who were getting mad at me for a) things i didn't say or b) things that were covered in like, the next paragraph of the essay was fucking wild.

all this to say i'm using this tumblr meme as an opportunity to excise my internet trauma, as god intended.

omegaverse comes from a fucked up history of fetishisation and the cis womanification of gay men. that's just uuuh the truth. it's a series of tropes that posits that sex and true love have biological imperatives, that the truest expression of attraction and/or romance revolves around pregnancy and uh Breeding, and in its original conception it imposes a very strict binary and structure on the concept of sex AND gender. the overall effect is to heterosexify gay men and like, phew, tiresome.

the thing is - the tHING IS :

a) if that's what gets you off, whatever lmfao. go for it. just like, admit that that's what you're doing? i do not have an issue with whatever kinks, i have an issue with people playing out something extremely fucked up and then calling it romance. love your extremely fucked up thing! do whatever you want! but admit to yourself (and your fic tags) what you are doing .

b) things can be fine on an individual level and weird on a group level. if someone says yeah wet buttholes are my thing then chase your bliss. if there is a Greater Fandom Trend of people liking a particular collection of tropes that all reflect a particular way of viewing queerness and queer behaviour, that speaks to a way in which queerness as a topic is thought about, written about, desired, expected. it's worthy of comment! it's interesting! if it's something you do, it is perhaps worth examining your own choices and behaviours to see where they are coming from and why you like them so much.

All That Being Said: there is some extremely fucking cool shit happening in the omegaverse space, driven by queer people in general and gender diverse people in particular. any time hard rules and structures exist around gender and sex, some enterprising queer is going to come along and tear that shit down and use the pieces to make something new. and that's so cool! i fucking love that shit! i love alpha lesbians with retractable cocks! i love omegas figuring out how to fuck without an alpha at all! i love the mixing and matching of anatomy, i love the trying different aspects of the collected omegaverse tropes out in new ways, i love people creating interesting new lore for betas, i love to have an oppressive omegaverse world in which all the worst parts of the tropes are normalised but your protagonists exist out side of that strict biosocial structure.

i love the unbound nature of sex and gender that is happening in this space, people are so clever and cool and creative and Queer. literally the piece of writing that has hit me in the bones re: my own sexuality and what i find arousing in a woman and the interplay of sex and gender and Sexual Roles was an omegaverse fic, i have never felt so Seen in my whole life.

in summary: as with every answer i've given to this meme lol It Depends

#hannah answers asks #fandom: meta #i'm gonna have to either remember my old tagging system or create a new one huh #hannah answers memes

[novelmachine]

The Stars Move Still

The latest Bittersweet release, as well as the recent Finn art stream, have got me thinking once again. Last time my Faust post turned into a Finn post. This time I’m really going to talk about Faust, I promise. Let’s go. 

I did the thing where I look up the origin and meanings of character names to find any sort of insight. Finneas and its other spellings brought results such as “oracle” and “serpent’s mouth.” Faust recalls how Finn would wax poetic, and remembers him as a metaphorical all-seeing lighthouse. This all tracks. Faust, on the other hand, means “auspicious,” “lucky,” and “fortunate one.” This on its own fits the character as we know him. He lives an opulent lifestyle and has been able to pursue his career as a streamer. What struck me, and what I didn’t know beforehand, is that Faust is the titular character of a 500 year old legend. This particular legend was based on Johann Georg Faust, an alchemist, astrologer, and magician who lived during the German renaissance of the 15th and 16th century. The first published story of Faust—Doctor Faustus— was an Elizabethan tragedy. Although there have been several versions of the story, the important beats remain. Faust is a mortal man that realizes the limits in his abilities. He strikes a deal with the devil for unlimited power and knowledge in exchange for his soul. 

We can see traces of this story and it’s many iterations in Bittersweet. In the context of the story thus far, we can conclude that Faust may be Finn Prime’s fellow steward. During the Chapter 3 Interlude, Finn describes his former partner as ambitious, creative, and hopeful. We see this in Faust as he pushes and fights to do better and seek more opportunities for himself. One thing that slipped during the art stream is that a cape color for Finn’s outfit was nixed because it was too similar to the “fellow steward.” That ombre of colors looked nearly identical to the one Faust wears now. (This may mean nothing, but I found that interesting.) Together they watched over the Dreamers. Over time, Faust longed for more, despite Finn reminding him that it was forbidden to meddle. Left only to watch over the Dreamers and never interact was not the life he wanted. He made a deal with the devil, and traded his magical abilities and his knowledge of the cosmos for a chance to experience life outside of the dreamscape. He was given a comfortable life of wealth and fame. Instead of using this to effect the world around him, Faust indulges in his own desires whenever he pleases. He receives constant adoration from fans, yet is burdened by familial death and loneliness. 

Another hint to this connection is Faust’s tarot reading during livestream. “I still can’t put my finger on it, but sometimes it’s not so much about the why but rather how you approach a situation. I have to accept that I am still finding my way. And in pulling the moon upright, I feel like I could certainly choose to chase my tail seeking answers and basking in the strife of trying to understand those things that are beyond me. Or I can see it, acknowledge it, and take control of the things that I can. Sometimes the cards will tell you what was, what is, or what will be. But I am a firm believer that nothing is written in stone, and all signs are simply that: signs. What we make of our story is ours, and ours alone. At least I certainly hope so.” Throughout the years, the story of Faust has had several endings. In some versions, Faust is whisked away to hell as holy entities look on in disappointment. In others, Faust is granted some semblance of salvation. The legend’s tone ranges from tragic to hopeful. Faust’s story has not reached an ending yet, and is therefore uncertain. 

If all of this is relevant, it then begs the question: who is the devil? Maybe Auron represents Mephistopheles in this Faustian tale. The distain between the two is apparent from their first interaction. In Chapter 3 Part 10, Derek alludes to things being all too convenient. While this is referring to the Bittersweet Listener and their experience with Alphonse and Seth, this could be applied to other aspects of the story as well. Things seem to have lined up perfectly in Faust’s favor. He unintentionally points it out when referring to Auron’s status. “CEO, no degree. Didn’t have to go out and prove yourself. You had it all handed to you.” For all that Auron prides himself in being unmoved, this is the line that makes him lose his cool. “And you should thank me for it!” he shouts. This might be the frustration of having to listen to someone complain about what they have been given over and over again. Auron took on several responsibilities while his brother has the option to do whatever he wants. Soon after, Auron askes  “Are you not comfortable? Do you not have everything you need?” 

Like the Faust of the legends, he is granted all he desires, but is doomed to be dissatisfied.

Characters and scripts written by YuuriVoice Artwork created by Jackie Eleanor Name resources (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6) Faust resources (1, 2, 3, 4, 5)

#yuurivoice #yuurivoice faust #yuurivoice finn #yuurivoice auron #faust #finn #auron #bittersweet #[redacted] #faust may be an allusion #i'm fucking screaming #*game theory theme echoes in the background* #this is what i use my english degree for lol #still love the meta theory that faust is a listener and y!finn is chasing him across time and space #what the fuck are the other finns even #yandere and bun are pretty sus still #this series is killing me but in a good way #it's theory crafting hours #hannah talks nerdy