#I hope this is actually coherent to other people

[freakadr0id]

ROTTMNT Character Fight Style Analysis - Part 1: Leonardo

Eeeeyyyy it's finally here. This is my analysis of each character's fight style and role post that I teased about a week ago. This turned out to be a hell of a thing, so this will be split into many posts focusing on each character since I have quite a bit to say (and I think Tumblr might break if I put it all into one post). I plan to release one a day, but we'll see how it works out with school.

[Part 2: Raph] [Part 3: Mikey] [Part 4: Donnie] [Part 5: April]

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If there's one thing Rise is known for, it is the show's stellar action animation - it's the reason most people started the show to begin with. The visuals are so strong in these scenes, in fact, that Rise could have easily gotten away with having pointless fights each episode (if the budget allowed that) and still be regarded as a fairly decent show. However, Rise doesn't do that, instead chooses to give its action scenes depth by putting thought into the personality of each character and implementing that into how each of them fights, showing the growth of the protagonists over the course of the show.

After rewatching the show multiple times (seriously, so many times) I began to notice patterns in many of the show's big fights, particularly in how the turtles and April fight and how they cooperate with each other as a team.

I thought it might be fun to categorize and examine how Leo, Raph, Mikey, Donnie, and April fight by breaking it down into their unique fighting styles, their roles and strengths in battle, how they apply those roles, and how all of these demonstrate different parts of their character.

BTW: There's a reason for the order in which I examine each character - it will all make sense by the last post. There's also a bit of a TL;DR at the end, but I encourage you read the full thing (or at least skim it)

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Let's start with Leo.

Leonardo: The Strategist/Initiator

Leo was one of the easiest characters to analyze since a major focus of his character arc is the development of his fighting skills and his ability to cooperate with his team and act as a leader.

Fight Style:

Balanced/Well-rounded Fighter

Leo is the most balanced fighter on the team. He is a capable offensive and defensive fighter and has enough physical strength and acrobatics to handle many types of fighting styles. We see him fight everything from paper ninjas to the large Foot Brute and Draxum's hired goons (the dog guys) without seeming to be weak against one type of enemy. He may not necessarily be stronger than them but he is very versatile. However, this means that Leo doesn’t have a specific ability that makes him stand out in a fight (mystic and ninpo powers aside) the way his brothers do, and won’t have any inherent advantages that he can utilize when fighting a particular enemy.

Strengths and Roles in a Fight:

The Strategist:

Leo’s role as the team’s strategist is pretty obvious. He may not be given the title of “Leader” until the end of season 2, but we see throughout the show that he is a very quick thinker and is skilled at coming up with clever and effective plans. Of course, each member of the Mad Dogs supplies ideas and plans, but Leo is especially good at developing and implementing them. The most obvious example of this is his fight in the Battle Nexus in 'Many Unhappy Returns, but there are other times when he is the one to put all the pieces together (think of the big attack against Draxum in the Shredder armor in 'End Game').'

The Initiator:

Leo acts as the initiator in battle as he is either one of the first into battle or is the one to start a coordinated attack. This doesn't mean he necessarily has to attack first, but that he is usually the one to put the plan into action. This role relies the most on his mystic powers as his portal and teleportation powers give him the maneuverability needed to accommodate any plan. His abilities allow him to enter and disorient the enemy, or he can portal allies into the fight and create opportunities for a follow-up attack. This plays into his strengths as the Strategist as being the initiator can help him begin a strategic attack by maneuvering people or objects into their needed positions.

Utility:

Leo’s skills truly shine in a fight against a few number of enemies as he can better focus his strategies on a specific enemy and direct the battle in his favor. With less pieces in play, he can properly utilize his mystic powers and act as the initiator instead of bouncing around a battle with no real objective in mind. It becomes easier to coordinate attacks with his brothers and allies since they don't have to spend time fighting different enemies.

However, in a fight with multiple enemies, Leo’s skills can be easily overlooked. Sure, he can direct the fight as the Strategist, but there’s only so much he can do in the middle of the chaos. His role as the initiator isn’t all that effective in a fight with many enemies as well as he and his brothers tend to just rush into battle in those situations. However, Leo’s balanced fighting style means he could theoretically go up against every type of enemy and won’t be at a noticeable disadvantage, which is very useful in a chaotic battle.

How it Plays into His Character:

Admittedly, the show is probably the most direct in using fights to show some of Leo's character traits, since so much of his arc is centered on his fighting and use of mystic powers. However, Rise does use this in enough interesting ways to make it worth mentioning.

While his role as the Strategist plays into Leo’s strengths as a character, it also highlights Leo’s problems with team communication. When Leo plans a strategy, he often fails to inform his allies of his plans, which can result in losing the battle or frustrating those around him. The show demonstrates this by having him make strategies in a fight but leaves his allies in the dark and confusing them. Leo does this, in part, to show off, but also because the plan simply makes sense in his head, so it would be easier for him to just do it instead of having to take the time to tell everybody his plan.

The initiator is a good role for Leo’s powers and fighting style, but also feeds into his cockiness and overconfidence in a fight. Leo has a tendency to play the hero and either overestimate his abilities or underestimate his opponent. He may be the best fit for going first in a fight but Rise uses some fights to show how this can conflict with some of his character flaws. When he goes into battle first overconfident and cocky, it only conflicts with the team, but with his own role as the Strategist. He could, theoretically, bring his teammates into the fight after him, but if he thinks he has an easy win in front of him, all strategy goes out the window.  

His status as a balanced fighter and lack of specialization in battle is a likely source of some of Leo’s insecurities about his place in the group. We see in 'Portal Jacked!' how Leo doesn't feel like he has a proper role on the team - that he's just the face man - which is reinforced by the way he fights in comparison to his team. Leo is well suited to fight a wide range of enemies, but when his brothers have easily identifiable skills that can give them a distinct advantage, it becomes difficult to recognize the advantages he brings to the team as a well-rounded fighter.

Working as a Team:

As mentioned earlier, Leo's strengths as a fighter make him the one best suited for the first attack in a coordinated team strike as it highlights his skills as the Initiator and the Strategist. It shows how well he can fit those roles when he plays to his strengths and overcomes the character flaws that stand in his way. While the others do have skills that may allow them to start the first attack, Leo's abilities and strengths as a fighter give him (and his team) a much stronger advantage in this position.

Leo also does well when he goes second to last in a team attack, as he can finalize a strategy and prepare for a final blow by putting all the pieces into position. However, this is more situational as there are other characters just as well suited for that second-to-last position and can fill that role when Leo needs to be the one to start a team attack.

Leo’s fighting style, however, does make him a poor fit for a follow-up attack or the final attack in a fight. His balanced fighting style means he isn’t suited for a strong final attack. While he is technically fine acting as a follow-up attacker, it doesn’t really play into his strengths and isn’t that effective when fighting with others who are more suited to that role. His balanced fighting style also prevents him from effectively dealing that final blow to an enemy since he doesn't have a specialized strength in this regard. Again, he can do it, he just isn't well suited for it.

The way Rise develops and explores Leo's fight style demonstrates one of my favorite things the show does with his character (in fact, all of its characters). At first glance, he may seem pretty one-note and predictable, but as we go through the show, we see how both his character is actually more complex than we were first led to believe. The fights Leo participates in reflect that, as not only do his skills develop over the course of the show, but we begin to see how it all ties into his personality and growth as a character - making his fights more meaningful than what they may seem.

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[Little bit of a TL;DR: Leo is the team's strategist and initiator in fights, supported by his balanced fight style and mystic powers. These roles play into his greatest strengths but they also expose some of his character flaws and insecurities. In team fights Leo is most effective as the first or second to last attacker but isn't well suited for a follow-up or final attack]

Thanks for bearing with me on this stupid long post. They're all going to be like this btw. Next up will be Raph. I plan to get that done and posted tomorrow.

#holy shit this ended up being long #way longer than I expected #I don't expect many people to read the whole thing #hopefully some people do #but this is almost too much #yes actually #it is too much #but I'm too proud of it #and spent too long on it #not too post this #you guys said this is what you wanted #so here it is #sorry not sorry #I hope this is actually coherent to other people #and not just my brain #rottmnt #rise of the tmnt #rottmnt movie #rise of the tmnt movie #rottmnt leo #rise leo #rottmnt leonardo #rise leonardo #I'll update each posts with links to the other ones too in case people are (somehow) still interested after reading this beast of a thing #I updated this to hopefully fix the whole crashing problem when people try to reblog this #Tumblr should pay me to stress test this hellsite #I seem to be very good at it #analysis #rottmnt analysis #character analysis

[the-kipsabian]

wrestling fic writers!!

i have decided to be the change i wanna see, so lets do a nice little thing for each other, as a community full of incredible and talented writers. yes this is writer specific only, but thats cause thats where the main problem of people not interacting with creative works lies in this fandom as far as i can tell and have seen people talking about it especially in the last couple of months

if you read this, please add links to your written works. it can be just a single fic youre really proud of, your writing blog, your writing tag, your ao3 account, anything where your works can be found

and if you leave your link here, PLEASE check out someone else that has left their works, and interact with them. leave them a comment, even just a kudos, REBLOG their fic, etc. interacting is the keyword i want to emphasize here, along with building a sort of a masterpost of where to find people writing in this fandom

and if you are not a writer, youre still highly encouraged to interact with this post and share it and show love to the writers in this fandom, obviously!! i think that should go without saying, but adding it in anyways

a bit more about my vision and resources and such under the read more, but thats the gist of it. happy linking and please be kind and supportive to each other!! 💜

nobody is too big or too small to add their things on this list. if you write and post anything in this fandom whatsoever, be it fics or drabbles or headcanons, any companies or any kind of ships or reader inserts or any content whatsoever no matter how 'dead dove dont eat' or hell even if its just meta, we welcome all here and nobody can say that one thing is less valid than another. just please tag your content accordingly, especially if theres content warnings, and feel free to mention what you write, who you write, any info you wish to leave that would help people before they click on your links. but even so, that should not and hopefully will not deter people from interacting, no matter what it is. someones trash is another ones treasure, i promise you

and unless the amount gets really overwhelming, im personally going to be checking out everyone that leaves something here. unless it squeaks me out, but even then, i'll spread the word. and i just wish as many people as possible will do the same, and not just use this as a potential board to only get eyes on their stuff. ofc thats also the point, but you should give as much, if not more, than you get. we need to be kind and supportive of one another (besides, from personal experience, if you show love to someone else, they are more likely to do it back than without you taking the first step, so... pay it forward)

as for resources, heres a few links that should be helpful in leaving comments and feedback. of course everyone does their own thing and no comment is too big or too small to leave, but for those who need them. if you have anything you'd like added to this list, dont hesitate to get in touch or drop it in the post yourself!!

101 comment starters

ao3 floating comment box

kudos html

dont know how to comment? easy solutions

a quick hot guide to commenting (by yours truly)

an overall guide to appreciating fanfic writers

and just in general.. leave people comments. leave them asks about their projects. just go over and gush about their work. i know it sounds embarrassing but writers love nothing more than to hear that someone likes what they are doing. if you find a fic that hasnt been updated in forever, comment on it. it might just be the spark the author needs to continue. while kudos and likes are nice, and just as valuable to some, its definitely in the words the people leave for them that matter the most. im not saying this to put pressure on anyone, its just how it is, and i feel like unless people are writers themselves, and even then sometimes, thats just hard to grasp, especially if the writer is a smaller and less popular one who doesnt get a lot of traffic in the first place

i think thats all. just be nice and considered to everyone, reblog peoples works, this post with others add ons and so forth. and if i find anyone talking shit here or at other writers for something they share, you'll be blocked and im probably taking your kneecaps. be fucking nice. we are all struggling here and we need to stick together

happy sharing and commenting 💜💜

#wrestling fanfiction #wrestling fic #aew fanfic #aew fanfiction #wwe fanfiction #wwe fanfic #i hope this make some sort of coherent sense #despite being a writer im really bad at words lmao #i also dont know what to tag this with without clogging main tags so im going to trust moots to get this going first #just. this is a topic im passionate about. i love writing i love writers and having seen the wrestling fandom as of late really struggling #with this. we need to do something. even a little bit helps. actually get people leaving feedback and commenting again #supporting each other. we can do this together #dont let dreams be dreams lets fucking do this #just be nice and help each other out #im gonna stop now before i get overly emotional. if theres any questions let me know tho i think i got the main parts pretty clear here #again moots. im trusting you to get this started. im not gonna add my own shit here immediately this isnt about me #this is about the community as a whole #i also hope nobody is afraid of adding themselves here. you are all valid and worth the attention no matter what #just remember to also give if you leave something here. look at the previous links. look in the notes to find more people #okay thats it i need to make dinner now #lets just be kind and support one another. promise me that 💜 #night is an absolute mess on main

[nibbelraz]

shang qinghua deserves to be a) squeezed like a stress ball and b) a god who kind of but not really lost control

And now I want to talk about how cool it would be if like uh uh the system and sqh were having custody battles over who has more control over the world and obviously its the system the system is really wierd and thats an entire discussion but qinghua is the author and that's really really important to me he should write stuff into existence I think but also last week I had an idea that went like uh sqh loses more and more power as he changes things, so when he's transmigrated in as a baby he loses a lot of 'power' unintentionally and then when mobei comes in there's a thing and when sy comes in he literally just loses it all and he knows this inst really his story anymore

Aahahaha it's 2am I'm gonna stop yammering now good luck on your future endeavors

Mobei is always squeezing Shang Qinghua like a stress ball but affectionately

I, on the other hand, squeeze him and shake him around like a chew toy

Your idea tho!!!! I'm very interested in that!!!

CUSTODY BATTLE OF POWERS a fitting description

It's kinda like, yeah he was a God of that world because he wrote it out and can change anything on a whim.

But once you're actually a part of that world, well it's a little hard to change it since you're living in it.

I'm really interested in Shang Qinghua slowly but surely realizing he's not really in his own story. Yeah he wrote it yeah he made the character but when does the line between "I wrote this character" and "theyre an in depth person with feelings and lives and to me they were only written in a second but here they're actually someone " blur

He spent his whole second life clinging to everything to live and worrying about that characters future and using everyone around him to save himself

When did he really see these people as...people

A one off character becoming his friend

A minor character dying to advance the plot, does he see the grief? Does he say they're characters to help digest what he's done? He never meant for any of this to be real, so how does he handle it?

Does he finally see everyone as real, or does he simply become a character as well?

#im actually not great at analysiss and a bit of my orv existentialism popped out here but! hope i kinda said something coherent #svsss #shang qinghua #mobei jun #I think I went a little off what you were trying to say #sorry! Also #please #if you have more to talk about I'm always happy to listen!!! ^ #also i think qinghua does ene up being aware that people in his world are people #i think he really would try to make things better #he did try to help Shen Jiu with a major plot point at one point so #im sure he'll try to minimize a lot of other arcs that cause tragedy #nib text #ask

[mihai-florescu]

I need enstars to be over because i need to know what akira's plan for himeru is so so badly (cue eichi's quote about asking an author how they plan to end their tale is poor manners). I can imagine various ways in which id consider his arc completed but there are too many variables that can change...

#i think i just need to go to sleep #ive just been thinking about the doomed by the narrative trope. and kaname. and himeru. and im listening to Im Alive from next to normal #to be fair what i consider a satisfying ending for me personally would probably be terrible for everyone else #ive been thinking about oremeru getting attacked by an obsessive fan paralleling what kaname's mom did to akehoshi papa #kaname's interest in being and idol starts with her. a lot of the plot starts with her actions actually. #idk...i just like the idea of the idol himeru being doomed from the start. oremeru takes over but it doesnt change much #and it all starts because of kaname's mom's actions #but do i think enstars is gonna kill off or get rid of a major character? no. they need to make money #im sure there are other ways to end his arc i just like violence. but is it not the whole point of enstars that you can rewrite your- #narrative? #so then giving himeru a chace of a happy ending would be good in itself too. he doesnt have to suffer #oremeru took on his brother's persona and incolved himself in the story. what would be more satisfying? #i leave it as an open question cuz iiii dont think i was too coherent and im curious how other people hope for himeru's arc to end like #he still is the most interesting alkakurei member to me. do you see kaname waking up? would that make for a good story? #dont think subjectively cuz you like the character please. i am curious what you think would make for the best story

[lovecolibri]

Final thought before I disappear into my d20 brainrot.

My knee-jerk reaction is "wow this sure looks a lot like an "I'm allowed to have other friends but you're not" type deal" and I'm not feeling that. Plus, Buck being "uuugh Eddie is cockblocking me!" only works if we've established that Buck knows he's in love with Eddie but doesn't think he has a chance so that angle's not working for me either. However, this is just a little clip, and it might make me laugh in the episode and it might be fine and it might be tolerable to watch. I'm reserving the right to land on either side of the fence. But after so many seasons of watching Buck and Eddie build a whole life and raise a whole child together, forgive me for being a bit 🙄 that Buck could (we still don't know how exactly it's playing out, hence why I'm waiting on full judgment) have an "oh I like men" moment and NOT tie it back into his feelings for Eddie but for some dude he barely knows. Again, it could be fine! Tommy could be the vehicle that leads to Buck opening those pretty eyes of his to see what was in front of his face this whole time. But until I see how they decide to play it all out, I'm just....reserving thoughts and feelings I guess. Because it could play out really well, but there are a lot of potential pit-falls, so we'll see I guess? ANYWAY. Cheers everyone, enjoy the speculation, imma go watch my emotional support millennials be ridiculous and try to shut my brain up for a few hours.

#911 #buddie #sorry not sorry for not wanting yet another 'lets see if THIS one sticks' romance plot #it might work out fine so i'm not totally off-board but i'm not gonna be cheering the relationship on hoping it works out #buddie set a bar for buck and eddie that no other relationship is going to clear #so sorry for not wanting to settle for something lesser 🤷🏻‍♀️ #i have other thoughts but they are not coherent and i can't untangle them yet #something something trope about using other people in order to be 'ready' for the one you actually want my behated something #something something it cheapens the love story if they're perfectly happy/easily getting w/someone else without a second thought something

[frindoka]

anyone have tips for making outlines for plots / routes in video games (specifically rpgmaker ones) :]?

my game won’t be in development for AGES, but i’d like to start laying out everything i have so i can add to it as time goes on and such

#txt #i’m gonna start posting ab it soon i juuuusttttt……like… #idk how to lay OUT my ideas in a COMPREHENSIVE WAY #so i’d like to see how other ppl do it! #just as a reference #so i can be coherent to both myself NOW and myself in the future #for when i start actual work on making the game #very excited to one day kick it off though #it’s been my passion project for a good while #and i really hope that people will like it as much as i enjoy working on it

[likeabxrdinflight]

I know the morality play of the Raphael/Atem duel gets...weird, a little bit. There's a bizarre emphasis on how Raphael believes it's selfish and wrong to carelessly send monsters to the graveyard and that gets played up in this duel, but...many, many previous duels have showed how sacrificing monsters and having them in the graveyard can be a good strategy, and work to one's advantage. It isn't always such a terrible thing. Atem using catapult turtle to win a duel is not exactly a new strategy for him, he's done it before, and it's far from the worst thing he's ever done if we consider season 0 canon. and yet the episode frames that as the big indicator of Atem "giving into darkness" which.........eh?

But. There is something deeper at play in this duel that goes far beyond how people treat their trading cards. The real problem here- and Yugi will spell this out later- is that Atem struggles a bit with empathy, but he especially struggles with it when his pride is on the line. This duel really had no stakes in it- Raphael tells him the professor is fine, and he states point blank he isn't going to use the Seal of Orichalcos- there is nothing to lose here.

But the two of them bet on their "sense of justice" at the start. To Atem, this is a very black and white morality. Atem's sense of justice tells him that Doma and any working with it are wrong (objectively true) and therefore anyone working with them is also evil (less objectively true). He can't quite see that the enemy in front of him might not be Bad with a capital B. Good is good, bad is bad, so if you're doing bad and working with bad- you're bad. Even if he respects you as an opponent. But what he can't really see is that Raphael is, fundamentally, a good person making bad choices because he's been hurt. Raphael basically spells it out for him, and he still can't see it.

So in many ways, this is the world view that Atem is betting on in this duel- Raphael is working with the organization that's trying to destroy the world, therefore he's evil, and Atem is good. And Atem has to be good, right? He's fought evil, he's won, he's not bad, he's not dark like the others who use milliennium items, he's not the "evil intelligence" Pegasus warned of in the manga and he definitely couldn't possibly have been an evil Pharaoh when he was alive...right?

And that's the other thing Atem can't admit, and it's what Raphael calls him out on most directly- Atem can't admit to his own darkness. He can't acknowledge the darkness in his heart, the potential for evil in everyone. Things have to be black and white for him, because if not...what is he? And it's so easy for Raphael to dig into this insecurity, it is so easy for him to make Atem doubt his own goodness- because he doesn't know who he was, does he? But he can't believe it, can't make himself believe he was a bad person before, and he definitely can't believe that he could be now. This is what's at stake for Atem during this game- it's his entire sense of self, really.

And this logic is actually deeply consistent with the earliest version of Atem- season 0/first manga arc Atem, and I'd argue, the morality play of this duel only really works when you consider that first arc/season 0. Stay with me now.

In season 0, Atem challenged "bad" people to shadow games with the intent that the game would decide who was right or wrong based on the outcome. The losers of his earliest shadow games usually lost because they couldn't follow the rules based on some character flaw. The games exposed their weaknesses and they paid the price for it. This was why he was always so confident- he was acting based on his sense of justice, and was absolutely certain in the correctness of his position (which, to be fair, was usually "save Yugi and/or his friends from literally dying), so...it wasn't necessarily an incorrect stance. Atem was doling out some pretty harsh penalty games, but he wasn't wrong about the flaws of these people he challenged.

What we never did was consider whether or not these people really deserved the punishments they were given. Did a high school bully really deserve to be tortured into insanity? Did an escaped criminal deserve to be burned alive? All justice, no empathy. But is that really justice at all? Now to be fair, with Yugi's influence Atem does calm down a lot over the course of season 0 and into Duel Monsters canon. He becomes a much better person. But we never exactly see him express remorse for the penalty games he inflicted, either. We never see him question his choices, or whether he was right or wrong.

Games are form of justice to him. To lose a game is to be in the wrong. He never lost, therefore, he was never wrong.

This inability to question his own beliefs and actions, to consider his own capacity for darkness, and to truly empathize with the person on the other side of the field, is what leads to him losing the test Raphael gives him. It is why he can justify playing the Seal himself- the methods don't matter to Atem in the moment- if he wins, he was right, he was good, and he's always been right and good, and that is all that matters because his sense of self is actually really fucking fragile if the outcome of a card game can shatter it- so he plays the Seal.

It reminds me of a quote from Avatar- "Pride is not the opposite of shame, but it's source." Atem is someone with an enormous amount of pride- and an equal amount of shame lingering just under the surface. Because I think that question Pegasus first posed to him- that question of evil- has been festering for a long time. I think Atem knows, deep down, that his early shadow games were wrong, they weren't that different from Pegasus or Marik or even Doma themselves- but he cannot go there with it, cannot let himself question it. I'll get into this more later, but Yugi will later tell him that in his doggedly stubborn sense of pride and honor, he can't hear others' pain or suffering. And I think this stubborn clinging to his sense of pride is a way of masking his own pain and suffering too, his own deeply felt shame- because Atem can't really hear that either.

Until he loses the game. Until he loses Yugi, and it shatters his pride completely, breaks him wide open.

#yugioh #atem #this is very rambly I hope it is coherent #...might have to make another post on how yugi and atem balance each other out because while yugi is an expert at the empathy thing #he sucks at the justice part #and ideally you want a bit of both #anyway #the writing is actually much better here than people give it credit for sorry if you watched the dub #anyways this is atem's best character arc by far and I'm so sad it's technically filler lol #...you could argue this slightly undercuts the earlier arc in duelist kingdom about him overcoming his fear of losing #but it's not really the same thing imho #this is less about the fear of losing his pride for pride's own sake #it's more about the fear that losing means he's been wrong all this time about who he is #more about the fear that he's not a good person after all #which again I think makes more sense if you consider season 0 #so in that context #atem regressing a bit makes sense to me #anyways this is long I just have a lot of thoughts and feelings about this character lmao

[windywhispers]

@delurkr If you have those articles I’d love to give them a read !!

Actually you’re right though; especially with a small town like Little Hope? Chances are the factory just hasn’t been doing super well for a long while (I wonder if there is other info we could find in the game about the factory?? But I also heard the wiki isn’t super reliable so I wouldn’t know how much I could trust ahaha)

I’d love to go back and roam around the Clarke house before I can give a suggestion for adoption ages for Tanya, Dennis, and Anthony, but honestly, I wouldn’t be surprised if Megan got adopted not too soon before everything went downhill with the family. Like maybe a few months or so before things went sour with the factory or maybe even a year or two? So I’m looking at around age 8-9 earliest being 7? The way I’m seeing it is: things were happy for a bit, the factory stuff happened, and the responsibility for Megan gets put on Anne and Anthony, with Tanya and Dennis both being busy with their job/football career. With Anne being preoccupied with trying to rope James back into the family and other chores, I think Anthony would wind up taking most of the responsibility of Megan and thus allow him to feel a little more bonded with Megan (There’s a post I wanted to write about their relationship and it’s reflection in one quote that Anthony says in one of the endings and something in the prologue but it’s currently in drafts).

I do want to say Tanya, Dennis, and Anthony most likely got adopted around the same time as each other since Anthony seems to be at least somewhat close to both of them as well, but as to what age they were? I’m not sure

Maybe I’ll get back to you on a specific age for the three of them! But in the meantime I’d love to hear your thoughts on what ages you think they would’ve been adopted (I wonder if there are photos you can search around for in the house...? If there were any at all?)

#replies: little hope #little hope #little hope rambles #yknow. halfway through the day i was like 'oh maybe i dont have anymore thoughts on little hope' #but ig i needed to be prompted lolol #i forgot whether or not i say it on this blog but ! i dont actually own the game #games like the dark pictures anthology actually give me major anxiety due to the qtes and well. fucking up lol #so i often have to rely on watching other people play it and i watched gab smoulder play through it ! #she went through 3/6 endings and i had to watch the rest on my own but it also means i mightve missed on things she checked/didnt check haha #oh i. also wanted to squeeze in the fact that dennis and tanya's relationship with megan also makes it seem like megan was adopted at such a #later time and past when the familial stress started happening #so it gave them little chance to really bond with megan #and so we wind up seein them frequently look down on megan without bothering to get to know her #actually i wonder when tanya started working at the diner? because maybe that might point a little bit more to possibilities of adoption #times/ the family stress started happening #but then again thats also assuming tanyas working to help bring money to the family #shes already mentioned before that she wants to spend as much time away from the family as she could so #BUT ANYWAYS im just rambling now. loooots of thoughts but so little coherency lolol #thats just the windywhispers way

[feywildfox]

Mm i left bandom space a long long time ago. I mean I'm not that old but ten years ago is still pretty long. And frankly if i overstep lemme know.

Honestly at this point i shouldnt be surprised so many people are actually still inherently racist towards Ray, but also i think, i should be. Because i genuinely expected better from mcr bandom, but again, left bandom spaces a decade ago...

It's pretty sad? Like. I'll admit, I didn't realize Ray was actually a man of colour when i was younger. I think i realized right around the time i left at 15 or so. Which also really goes to show that racism towards him and making him seem as white as possible which definitely i think was a thing. Like in comparison, I knew pete wentz was mixed long before i figured out Ray was a poc. It says a lot about the space at the time and i had honestly thought it'd be better now.

I've loved mcr for years, but i havent been IN love with them for a while. It happens, relationships and feeling wax and wane. But this tour, the excitement and love recently ignited in not just Gerard with all their gender fuckery, but the whole band, has brought a love and joy back into my life for music that hit me in the heart as a preteen and teenager.

And none of that would be possible without Ray Toro putting his all into the feelings and conveying of in his music. Mikey made the band, but ray MAKES the band. He is absolutely fucking integral and it is disgusting & disheartening to see him treated such a way. What the fuck even, hearing that streamers are zooming in on frank during Rays solos?? Like do the fuck better? I'm honestly disappointed as fuck in that shit. Like I know this whole thing is a little disjointed stream of consciousness type post but really. White people do better challenge! Its literally SO fucking easy. The real camera guys are RIGHT THERE showing what to fucking do!

You can love the others as much as you want but jesus fuck give Ray the same fucking courtesy. Stop ignoring your racism, start recognizing the issues that plague you from being white and growing up in white privilege. I sure as fuck still have plenty of shit to work on but at least i can say i can do the bare fucking MINIMUM of giving Ray Toro the respect and attention he absolutely fucking deserves.

Like I do hope this is understood I am not trying to speak over anyone but simply say from one white to another: you need to do better. If that's how you treat a member of supposedly one of your fav bands, i genuinely fear for the poc you encounter in your life. The harm you cause by staying blind may be incremental but it builds up until it's a mountain. Do fucking better.

#not the picturesque emo #fans #its 1 am so this is not. the modt coherent thing but i hope it gets the point across as someone who has been outside of bandom space #i mever realized how big an issue it was but honestly i should have known #im not going point at myself as a pure example of what to do because honestly ive loved mcr from a distance for a while #i have always loved them all but literally its ridiculous coming back ten years later #and finding out that yeah no. rays apparently or whatever the fuck #like uh what. emo is a style #its a sounds a love language a voice for people an expression #sure there are certain clothes or jewelry or makeup that can play into it but NONE of that actually means shit #because it can be turned corpo and ripped up and spat back all sanatized. ray is emo. ray is a man of colour. he's a rock god on the guitar #NONE of that is mutally fucking exclusive! ray toro is just as important as anyone else in the band #ray toro deserves SO much respect and he does NOT deserve to have people claim they are of mcr then treat him like that #you are not an mcr fan you are a pretentious racist asshole who needs to check ther privileges at the fucking gate thank you #fox squawks #im tired and angry now and im sorry to all the poc in the fandom who have to deal w this on a constant basis you all deserve a lot better #im sure yall feel way worse than i do and i genuinely hope people can realize the shit theyve been doing. #i am always happy to go toe to toe w other dumbass white ppl and call them out on their bs #i dont see it because i curate my dash to the point drama is usually a mild breeze at best but i am more than willing to #weaponize my whiteness to force other white ppl to think. if you gotta point me at em do it idc. like a lil attack chihuahua or something. #idk #im lagging now but my fingers dont want to stop typing bc i am nervous abt posting this but yknow. whatever if i fuck up i learn & move on! #we Do Not succumb to white guilt we gracefully say im sorry for that thank you for pointing it out even though you didnt have to i know its #exhausting to do constantly i will keep that in mind and then we do! and we modify our behavior! and we DO. BETTER

[jeff-from-marketing]

Surprise! It’s not a TTRPG post! ... it’s just another tabletop game instead (I swear I’ll have other things at some point, but I do not control the brain)

In the midst of all the “Wizards of the Coast is the worst” fuckery (and a sentiment that is well justified might I add) I wanna talk about my favourite card game: Magic the Gathering.

I have a very long history with Magic the Gathering, I’ve been playing it since I was very young, usually by playing decks that family members and friends had put together. First set I got into was all the way back in Origins, and the store owner at the time (quick tangent to say: support your local tabletop stores) was kind enough to throw in an old battered box just filled with Tarkir cards to help me get into the game more. Sure at the end of the day they probably weren’t going to sell those cards anyway, and giving them to a newbie as a gesture of goodwill is still a business move, but it’s a kind one and one I support. 

Anyway, that nonsense preamble before the actual recipe aside: I’ve been playing for a long time, and I do genuinely love the game. As someone who absolutely fucking adores theory crafting builds in games and tweaking shit in just about every game I play, Magic is absolutely a dream for me in that regard. Combined with some absolutely gorgeous art, and you have a recipe for a game where I’m like “yup, I’m sold.” Even if I’m not building a deck that’s meta or competitive (because I’mma be honest, that ain’t my thing at all) I absolutely adore finding just one card and being like “oh, I could have some fun with this” and building up decks around a theme. 

Now I’m not 100% clueless on the issues Magic has. I’ll admit, I’m not as in touch with the community and the controversies around it as I am with D&D as of late, but I still keep an eye on things every now and then. But honestly the more recent things aren’t what’s giving me pause at the moment, but they did give me an excuse to sit down and think some things through.

I’ll preface this with one simple thing: I’m not going to stop playing MtG anytime soon. I still find the game very fun, and it’s still very important to me personally. However, I am changing how I’m engaging with it. While the recent controversies definitely don’t help their case, that’s not actually what’s making me pull the trigger. No, the reason for that can be described in two words:

Booster Packs.

I realise I’ve probably elicited one of two reactions from people. One is probably “ah yeah that checks out” and the other is probably “what the heck is wrong with booster packs?” Given how long they’ve been a staple in TCGs, and not just Magic, I would absolutely understand questioning that thought. In fact I would encourage that anyway. So, what’s my problem with booster packs then if they’re such a staple in the genre? Well, my answer is simple: they’re the original lootboxes. While the game industry was in a spot of bother about lootboxes when Blizzard popularised them (even though TF2 and CS:GO did it first) and EA villainised them, the TCG scene was doing basically the exact same thing for decades at that point. I’m not saying this to mean “oh lootboxes aren’t that bad because TCGs have had basically the same thing for decades,” if anything I’m saying the complete opposite. Lootboxes are fucking awful, they’re just straight up gambling at worst and a thinly veiled skinnerbox mechanic at best. If people are so upset at lootboxes, they should be just as upset at booster packs. But they’re not. There’s entire events based around them! 

So why am I only just now coming to this thought, at least a decade after I started playing? Well the recent WotC controversies have put a bit of a spotlight on their business practices in general, but no. What did it for me is their online platform for Magic, Magic Arena. In that game, the parallel between booster packs and lootboxes is even more cut and dry. Hell, they even do the Blizzard thing of “here, have some lootboxes every now and then for free as a reward for playing the game, keep playing to earn more!” as a skinnerbox mechanic, while also encouraging you to buy additional booster packs on top of that. Now you can do that with in game currency, but guess what? That’s more grinding, back to the skinnerbox you go! Plus it’s coupled with my most beloathed recent addition to shitty monetisation practices: a battle pass. Now don’t worry, even if you don’t get the exact cards you want from a booster pack, you can acquire individual cards of your choice... after you open a bunch of booster packs beforehand. Y’see where I’m going here? The entire game revolves around so many psychological hooks designed to get you to pay and keep playing well after you’ve stopped enjoying the game. And I did actually stop enjoying the game playing it like that. Grinding out game after game against opponents who almost entirely play whatever deck gets them the quickest win just to get their rewards (because you get literally nothing for losing). Even playing with friends became a struggle, because I’d often go “oh I have a great idea for a deck!” and then have my spirits crushed at how much I’d have to grind (or the obscene amounts of money I’d have to pay) just to even try it out to see if it works.

Booster packs absolutely suck the fun out of what should be a game that’s filled with fun things to do. I refuse to support lootboxes in games, so I have to do the same for booster packs. Luckily, it’s still entirely possible to play MtG without booster packs.

I recently discovered Tabletop Simulator works surprisingly well for MtG, and you can just import a deck you’ve made from any deck building website with little to no hassle. No need to open a bunch of boosters, no need to grind out games you don’t enjoy just to get an extra card or two to maybe finish a deck, you can just play right then and there! This has absolutely rekindled my love of the game. And besides, flipping the entire table is a lot more fun than just simply hitting concede if someone comes up with an absolutely ridiculous combo. I genuinely recommend it if you’re looking into ways to play Magic.

Though the big question to all this is: if booster packs are so awful (which they are) then what’s the solution?

Honestly... I don’t have one. Obviously companies aren’t going to just stop without someone else stepping in, but I don’t know what the best way to do that would be. I don’t know what to actually replace them with. I just know that, if they ever are replaced, they need to be replaced with something that doesn’t involve gambling; something where you can know exactly what you’re getting before you buy it. 

#the one braincell bounced across many walls today #I think there's a coherent topic here somewhere #tell me if you find it though #because I sure as heck don't know where it is #tldr booster packs bad #I do still love mtg though #the art is so pretty #magic the gathering #mtg #tabletop #some other relevant tag maybe #idk I get surprised when people actually see these things #hope you all have a great day #that part is mandatory

[tgcg]

argument

its a big one

TG: alright this is probably a bust

TG: more i think about it how the fuck do you even make a marinara

TG: can i even alchemise cheese or do i gotta like alchemise the milk and curdle it myself

TG: how do you even curdle

====================

TG: make a goddamn

TG: curgler

TG: whatever

TG: internet archive gonna pull through

====================

CG: ALRIGHT DAVE

TG: shit

====================

CG: YOU BETTER BACK THE FUCK OFF. I DON'T KNOW WHERE IN BULGEMUNCHING VIRULENT FUCK YOU GET THE IDEA YOU HAVE ANY RIGHT TO TELL ME WHAT I SHOULD THINK ABOUT MY OWN GODDAMN PLANET. SORRY TO HAVE TO DEAL A BLOW TO YOUR IMPOSSIBLY INFLATED FUCKING EGO, BUT HAVE YOU EVER CONSIDERED THAT YOUR SIDE-EYE SLACKJAW HOPELESS DEADPAN BULLSHIT BEHAVIOUR IS ACTUALLY INCREDIBLY FUCKING CONTEMPTIBLE AND DOESN'T PUT YOU ABOVE OTHER PEOPLE? HAVE YOU CONSIDERED THAT?

CG: OR DID YOU JUST ASSUME FROM THE MOMENT YOU FOUND OUT I'M A REVOLTING FUCKING MUTANT LOWBLOOD FREAK THAT I'M SUDDENLY NOT ALLOWED TO LIKE THE IDEA OF MY LIFE MEANING SOMETHING AT SOME POINT?

TG: okay you are wildly misquoting me where the fuck did that come from

TG: also you scared the hell out of me

TG: im just trying to science some pizza here

====================

CG: OKAY THEN, DAVE! EXPLAIN TO ME AS WELL AS YOUR AMBLING ONE-NOTE SMOOTH EXCUSE FOR A 'THOUGHT'SPONGE CAN

CG: IN SOMEWHAT COHERENT TERMS, ALTHOUGH I KNOW THAT'S A TALL ORDER:

CG: HOW YOU SAYING MY ADOLESCENT DREAMS OF BECOMING A THRESHECUTIONER ARE "FUCKED UP AND IRONIC IN A NASTY ASS WAY" DOESN'T QUALIFY AS UNDERHANDEDLY KICKING ME IN THE MANDIBLE PRONGS!

CG: YOUR AUDIENCE AWAITS YOU WITH BATED BREATH! TAKE IT AWAY, M.C. BRAIN HEMORRHAGE.

====================

TG: okay i dont

TG: know how you got a hold of that phrasing because i said that shit in confidence

TG: get out of my business bro

CG: NEWSFLASH, ASSHOLE: THIS METEOR IS A PHYSICAL, LITERAL LOCATION WE'RE BOTH IN. IT'S NOT A FUCKING PRIVATE CHATROOM. THIS MIGHT BLOW YOUR PITIFUL MIND BUT PEOPLE CAN ACTUALLY HEAR OTHER PEOPLE TALK WHEN THEY HAVE TO SHARE A SPACE! BRO!

TG: ugh

====================

CG: AND IT'S VERY INTERESTING YOU ACCUSE ME OF MISQUOTING YOU, AND THEN SUDDENLY TURN AND SPOUT FROM THAT SHITTY DRONING GROANSHAFT OF YOURS THAT I'M INVADING YOUR PRIVACY WHEN I DIRECTLY QUOTE YOUR SMARMY LITTLE SHAMEGLOBES!

CG: WOW! TURNS OUT KARKAT IS ACTUALLY BEING GENUINELY FUCKING UPSET ABOUT SOMETHING — WHO KNEW, RIGHT? WHO WOULD'VE GUESSED THAT I ACTUALLY HAVE GENUINE COMPLAINTS TO LEVEL AGAINST THE PEOPLE WHO GO SPOUTING HOOFBEASTSHIT ABOUT ME BEHIND MY BACK TO THEIR ECTOSIBLINGS?

TG: no dude can you shut up a second

CG: I MOST CERTAINLY FUCKING WILL, THANKS FOR THE OFFER! I'M NEVER TELLING YOU A GODDAMN THING AGAIN, SO I HOPE YOU MANAGE TO GAIN SOME WRINKLES TO THAT VESTIGIAL FLAWLESS ORB FLOATING AROUND IN YOUR CAVERNOUS NUGBONE FROM ALL THIS. I HOPE IT WAS WORTH ALL THE EFFORT ON YOUR END.

TG: listen!!!!

====================

CG: MHM! MY AURICULAR CHAMBERS ARE WIDE OPEN!

TG: jegus

TG: okay

TG: i have no defense for my literal phrasing but how expeditiously did you shadowstep the fuck away after i said that

TG: because that is some shrek tier "princess and ugly dont go together" level misrepresentation of my sweet self

TG: like if this wasnt obviously a heated platonic argument we were having i would probably be digging what the reference even if it was a shitty trope

====================

TG: i just

TG: have been thinking about some things and none of those things have got an iota of a thing to do with you or your blood

TG: thing

TG: man

TG: i dont know why you think id be so pressed about your vein juice its like

TG: a normal ass color for a normal ass guy

TG: and obviously it was a major fucking deal from how you talk about it but it doesnt need to be anymore

====================

TG: the thing is i just dont like have the same attitude as you about fighting and stuff and thats not something i am getting into right now but i am gonna make it expressly clear

TG: that its just kind of fucked up for me to sit my ass down and listen to someone spew gold and medals and confetti colored shit going googoo all over tall and loathsome ass bloodletters he never knew

TG: and have him tell me he wants to be the best guy at combat since samurai fuckin jack

TG: and thats my capital B business believe me the emphasis is there

====================

CG: SO IS THIS ABOUT ME WANTING TO BE PART OF SOMETHING YOU DON'T AGREE WITH? BECAUSE THRESHECUTIONERS DON'T EVEN FUCKING EXIST ANYMORE. I LITERALLY COULD NOT DO THIS IF I TRIED AT THIS POINT, SO YOU CAN UNKNOT YOUR “KNIGHTY WHITIES” ABOUT IT.

TG: being anti-military is not my point but damn if it isnt a thing thats probably true anyways so good job sleuthing that out

CG: WHAT IS YOUR POINT, DAVE.

TG: bluh

TG: i just said i dont wanna talk about it man

====================

CG: OKAY,

====================

CG: OKAY.

CG: I MEAN. IT FEELS KIND OF IMPORTANT TO THE CONTEXT OF THIS WHOLE UNAMBIGUOUSLY PLATONIC ARGUMENT WE'VE BEEN HAVING

CG: WHICH I'M RELIEVED WE AGREE ON BY THE WAY

CG: BUT IF YOU DON'T WANT ME TO KNOW I'M NOT GOING TO WRING IT OUT OF YOU. IT'S FINE.

====================

CG: …IF YOU DECIDE AT SOME POINT THAT YOU WANT TO TELL ME THOUGH, MY RUMBLE VESSELS ARE STILL OPEN.

TG: i swear youre making those up on the spot at this point

CG: I'M KEEPING MY LANGUAGE'S ART ALIVE, DAVE. IT'S BASIC DECENCY TO THE PLANET THAT RAISED ME.

TG: heh

====================

TG: yknow we got these things called anatomical snuffboxes

TG: its got that right amount of vague nose wrinklage to it that i feel like youd be right at home saying that

TG: snug as a grub even

CG: WHAT PART IS THAT???

TG: its that little weird bone bit that sticks out on the back of your palm when you flex your thumb right

====================

TG: look

CG: HUH. LOOKING AT THAT IS KIND OF WIGGING ME OUT.

TG: yeah its kinda gross rose told me about it

TG: but anyways

====================

TG: are we cool

CG: I MEAN… I GUESS SO. YOU WEREN'T ACTUALLY INSULTING ME, RIGHT?

TG: hell no dude never

CG: OKAY. I COMPLETELY RESCIND THE MYRIAD OF WAYS I JUST INSULTED YOU. AND I'M SORRY.

TG: nah i know its just fluff at this point

====================

CG: I STILL DON'T APPRECIATE YOU TELLING ROSE THINGS I SAY TO YOU IN CONFIDENCE. THAT WAS BETWEEN YOU, ME, AND MY NOW NON-EXISTENT HOME PLANET ROTTING AWAY TO A CRATERED GRAY HUSK IN ANOTHER DEAD UNIVERSE.

TG: i swear that was like the only thing its just that she gets it and i cant keep my mouth from going on about the gettable stuff

TG: they call me the babbling brook the way my flows so audible

TG: i wont do it again

CG: NO,

====================

CG: I GET IT HONESTLY.

CG: I'M BASICALLY THE NUMBER ONE PROPRIETOR OF AIRED GRIEVANCES IN ALL OF PARADOX SPACE AND THEN SOME, AND I'D ALSO BECOME ITS BIGGEST HYPOCRITE IF I HELD IT AGAINST YOU.

TG: thanks

TG: but i mean

TG: at the gigantic risk of sounding uh

====================

TG: ………..

CG: ?

====================

TG: well

TG: i kinda just think youre better at being a guy to chill out and watch movies with than a guy to tangle fists with

TG: and i dont think theres anything wrong with being that

TG: i think its cool

====================

CG: …THAT'S AN ALARMINGLY BRAZEN OBSERVATION TO MAKE OF SOMEONE YOU'VE KNOWN FOR ABOUT THE SPAN OF SEVEN SEASONAL EQUINOXES, DAVE.

TG: i dont know what that means but it sure is probably

CG: AM I ALLOWED TO ASK WHAT EVEN GIVES YOU THAT IMPRESSION????

TG: i just got that inkling about you man

====================

TG: and you can do whatever you want with that info

TG: throw it in the load gaper or whatever if you want i dont really care

TG: give it a swirly and slam it in a locker call it a nerd break its glasses whatever

TG: but beyond this whole lord english thing weve got going on i am pretty content to never aggress my fellow man slash alien slash monster again if i can help it

TG: i think thats pretty fair given what thats been like so far

====================

TG: and yknow its cool to have some company when im waxing emotional over the narrative depth of click starring adam sandler which we are watching next by the way

CG: UGH, FIIIIIIIIINE. JUST TO MAKE UP FOR CALLING YOUR THINKPAN SMOOTH AND SUPERFLUOUS.

====================

TG: score

TG: we should argue all the time

CG: SNRK

#davekat #dave strider #karkat vantas #homestuck #meteorstuck #comix #argument

[theliteraryarchitect]

A Word of Advice About Critique Groups, Beta Readers, and Other Peer-Based Feedback on Your Writing

In my time as a professional editor, I've had many writers come to me with stories they've been trying to improve based on suggestions from critique groups, beta readers, or other non-professional feedback sources (friends, family, etc.). The writers are often frustrated because they don't agree with the feedback, they can't make sense of the comments they've gotten, or they've tried their best to implement the suggestions but now they've made a big mess of things and don't know where to go from here.

If this happens to you, you're not alone. Here's the deal.

Readers and beginning writers are great at sniffing out problems, but they can be terrible at recommending solutions. For that reason, critique groups can be a disastrous place for beginning writers to get advice.

Here's a good metaphor. Imagine you don’t know the first thing about cars. Someone tells you, “There’s oil leaking onto the driveway. You should cover the car with a giant garbage bag.” Alarmed, you oblige, only to be told the next day that “now the car smells like burning plastic and I can’t see out the windows.”

A mechanic would’ve listened to the critic’s complaint and come up with their own solution to the leaking oil, ignoring the amateur’s ridiculous idea, because they know how to fix cars and can use their skills to investigate symptoms and find the correct solution.

Critique groups actually aren’t bad places for experienced writers, because they can listen to the criticism, interpret it, and come up with their own remedies to the problems readers are complaining about. Beginning writers, on the other hand, can end up digging themselves into a deeper hole.

There's a great Neil Gaiman quote about this very conundrum:

Remember: when people tell you something’s wrong or doesn’t work for them, they are almost always right. When they tell you exactly what they think is wrong and how to fix it, they are almost always wrong.

So what to do?

First, try to investigate the reader's complaint and come up with your own solution, instead of taking their solution to the problem. Sometimes, in the end, the reader's solution was exactly right, which is lovely, but don't count on it. Do your own detective work.

Second, take everything you hear with a huge grain of salt, and run the numbers. Are 9 out of 10 readers complaining about your rushed ending? It's probably worth investigating. Does nobody have an issue with your abrasive antagonist except your cozy mystery-loving uncle? Then you might not need to worry about it.

Third, give everything you hear a gut check. Does the criticism, while painful, ring true? Or does it seem really off-base to you? Let the feedback sit for a week or so while you chill out. You might find you're less sensitive and open to what's been said after a little more time has passed.

Lastly, consider getting professional feedback on your writing. Part of my job as an editor is to listen to previous feedback the writer has gotten, figure out whether the readers were tracking the scent of legitimate problems, and offer the writer more coherent solutions. Of course, some professional editors aren't very good at this, just like some non-professional readers are amazing at it, so hiring someone isn't a guarantee. But editors usually have more experience taking a look under the hood and giving writers sound mechanical advice about their work, rather than spouting ideas off the top of their head that only add to the writer's confusion.

Hope this helps!

#writeblr #writing advice #op #fiction

[celaenaeiln]

thinking about some quotes i’ve read and i wanna hear your thoughts on them because i have a lot and i don’t know what to do with them.

“the day Dick Grayson turns evil is the day the universe ends, not because that day will never come but because the boy will make it come”

“Dick Grayson isn’t the universal constant of good. Dick Grayson is the universal constant of competence”

“So, having said all that, it is a few but definitely significant words that fill the contingency plan on Nightwing in case the hero of Bludhaven ever turns to the dark side. Let's hope that never happens.”

YESSSSS

“the day Dick Grayson turns evil is the day the universe ends, not because that day will never come but because the boy will make it come”

This is the truest fact I've ever heard because this is really canon.

Word for word this happened.

In one of the canon timelines Clark laser blasted Bruce under mind control.

And oh how Dick took over. You know what Luthor says?

"After all, as I've heard your father [Dick] so often quoted, 'we make the hardest decisions for those we care about the most.' Well, in his case...that has meant remaking the world."

This man has the power to single-handedly control the fate of the world.

Whatever he wants, he will make it happen.

The entirety of the justice league, all the metas, heroes, and villains too stood no chance against him.

DC vs Vampires

“Dick Grayson isn’t the universal constant of good. Dick Grayson is the universal constant of competence”

I think it's true.

Nightwing is one of the most formidable figures in DC, without fail consistently coming out on top, so if Superman is iterating that Dick's personality and essence of being is the same, then there's really no room for disagreement.

But more truly, I think he is a Nexus.

By Marvel's definition, "Nexus Beings are rare individual entities with the ability to affect probability and thus the future, thereby altering the flow of the Universal Time Stream. These beings, each referred to as a nexus, act as the keystones of the Multiverse and are crucial to its ultimate coherence and stability."

That means that the universe hinges on the actions of Dick Grayson.

Not only does he control the fate of the world but his mere existence determines what will become of it by other people:

I'd like to reiterate that Neux Beings are "the keystones of the Multiverse and are crucial to its ultimate coherence and stability."

You can still be a nexus if you turn dark. For example Lore was a dark version of Wanda Maximoff but she is still considered a nexus. So you're right in saying that Dick Grayson is a multiuniversal constant of competence.

“So, having said all that, it is a few but definitely significant words that fill the contingency plan on Nightwing in case the hero of Bludhaven ever turns to the dark side. Let's hope that never happens.”

In the easiest terms as someone put it, "hope he fucks up" is Bruce's only contingency plan against Nightwing. The man doesn't have a clear plan how to neutralize Nightwing.

His exact words are: "As a result of overanalyzing any situation, this allows Dick Grayson to overconfident and misdirected. This will make himself open to a second attack."

So the plan is basically 'Dick is too smart for his own good so we'll have to go with a lucky surprise attack.' He's literally saying 'yupppp. Let's just hope he messed up because there's nothing we can do on ouR end.' Note that Bruce doesn't even have a back up like 'the second attack didn't work? we're fucked.'

For everyone else he actually has a coherent plan in mind- do this and they will fall. But for Dick? 'I hope he messes up enough for a second attack to actually stick. Otherwise we're shit out of luck. And lives. Fingers crossed he doesn't jump to the bad side.'

Tim also confirmed he would never make a contingency plan for Dick. The only person in the world he wouldn't do one for.

He's just that formidable of a man. Even now he can easily take down the Justice League if he wanted to.

And we know that Dick has one of the strongest wills on the planet.

"I have my enhancements. I have powers. Dick Grayson...what do you have?"

A world where Dick loses his emotions is a world that would not survive.

#canon #dick grayson #nightwing #bruce wayne #batman #clark kent #superman #midnighter #batfamily #dc comics #thanks for the ask! #tiger #cl anon asks

[theshitpostcalligrapher]

please tell me this manga/comic/show exists i do not wanna have to make it

okok I've posted about this before but I'm watching animation content on youtube again while getting work done and by GOD I WANNA TALK ABOUT THIS AGAIN

There's a specific concept I want to consume as content/art so badly but it came to me in a stupid dream. BUT. Sometimes, a dream means I DID see a hint of it somewhere and my brain accidentally plagiarized it which provides me with the teensiest sliver of hope that exists already and I don't have to work on it

It's a kind of a reverse isekai, right? But instead of an instant portal, it's time passing. And what I mean by that is that it's a Sun Wukong story, but the branch off is that after the main events of Journey to the West he gets either water temple'd or trapped in magic sleep again, not for a few hundred years but a few THOUSAND.

He wakes up to an incredibly far-flung China that remembers his myth and only his myth.

The art style that operated in this dream was sort of. Textured but 3D? Think nimona's buttery lighting but instead of emphasis on light and shapes to operate with the stained glass and solarpunk-medieval style the models are textured in a way that just invokes traditional brushwork and colour bleed even in a more cyberpunkish setting. Think like. Whenever there's a night scene the astigmatism glow of lamplight bleeds a little, like ink feathering on paper.

It's a little bit of a Steve Rogers treatment in a way, the world has moved past him, but also completely mythologized and capitalized on that mythology. Rather than treat that man out of time narrative as an aspect of backstory, it's the MAIN character narrative, because this ISN'T a world that needs him. This world is doing pretty okay, actually.

This a story about him.

Not about his feats or how cool his powers are or the 8 gajillion things the magic staff can do but just.

How ya doing, bud?

From the vaguely coherent notes that I could garner from my sleepily typed googledoc, it seems that I wanted this to be a love letter of sorts to the Asian diaspora experience? A specific sort of loneliness? Where the world you experience has a sort of disconnect in that it makes plain you belong there but you also don't, you never have, and there's no way to go "back" but going forward feels like groping blind through the muck. How much right to the past does he feel like he has? When it's been built into something he can't recognize and is clearly important to other people.

I want the pickup of the plot to gain him friends, family, maybe even a conflict or two but the stakes should never elevate vis a vis physical enemies to battle.

It'd be about 2/3 of this sort of narrative drawn story and the other 1/3 just hogwild worldbuilding and design

I've looked at a few other journey to the west adaptations but they mainly just use him as a funky lil action figure hero that's there to be cool as hell and save the day

99% likely this is just a thing my brain is made up and I'd need a several million budget and about 25 additional skills to start the ball rolling but hey, worth it to ask yall again

#sun wukong #journey to the west #mia dreams #i get these cinematic dreams once every now and again maybe i'll use that tag to post more of em

[gr1mstar]

Timeless lover

notes: i don’t know why but tumblr is just annoying. when i try to edit things they disappear and just… the algorithm is shit. i thought i’m shadowbanned but i don’t think so anymore. whatever, i hope things get better.

content: sukuna ryoman x f!reader, reincarnation, past lovers, curse words (not a lot of them), sfw, human sukuna (from that time when he was actually human), flashbacks, lovers to strangers, mentions of death, sick reader (in the past), sorcerer reader (present time), sukuna has sentiments?, sukuna is soft for reader, past sukuna looks kinda like itadori yuji, not the same tho, but very similar, mention of pills, slightly an au because sukuna will never be this nice, reader is older than yuji but sukuna is older? that makes sense? mentions of blood.

word count: 1.9k

i also have an official masterlist, so check it out here

also now we have a part 2 - here

all your life you felt a very strong sensation of deja vu that you could not explain. you tried meditation, yoga, different activities you thought you were never able to do - but the feeling was still there. so you had to live with it, even though it bugged you every day.

“remember me, because i will never stop searching for you.”

after you discovered you were a jujutsu sorcerer a few years back, you thought that all the things finally were in their place, but you were wrong. after you discovered the world of curses, you started having dreams.

"nightmares" you would tell other people when they asked, but for you, they were never nightmares. a nightmare was supposed to describe an ugly monster, someone evil with blood thirst, so why were you dreaming about a charming man with a beautiful smile and enchanting red eyes?

at first, these dreams were strange, short, and out of context, but then they started to take shape, lasting longer, and having a coherent narrative thread. but you still haven't managed to figure out who that man was. it was strange really, dreaming about someone you hadn’t even met before. you felt a connection with him, your heart telling you that you have to be close to him, but your mind was telling you to run.

you thought you were going crazy at some point. you remembered every single detail from every single dream, but deep down you enjoyed your little “nightmares”, because unconsciously you were waiting for your man with red eyes. you were waiting for him to come back to you, even though you never met him. 

they were different every time, the dreams. but one thing was the same in all of them. 

him.

the eyes that looked at you lovingly, his soft voice when he was speaking with you, a hand over your waist just to keep you close. you never knew his real name, always calling him nicknames and him calling you ‘princess’.

“kuna, come here!” you shouted, making a hand gesture at the man. he smiled when looking at you, making his way over. 

he took a seat beside you, under the cherry blossom tree. the spring season just started and the scenery looked breathtaking. blue clear sky, pink petals, and red, beautiful eyes.

“why are you here so early, princess? you were supposed to rest,” he stated, his hand making his way to your hand, playing with your delicate fingers. you could see he was concerned.

but why? you did not remember. that was the moment you woke up and that was all you recalled. but now, every time you saw a cherry blossom tree you thought about the sweet dream you had.

“kuna, you think we will be together forever?” you recalled telling him one day when the two of you were cuddling under the well-known tree. he was reading a book with one hand, the other playing with your hair.

“i’m sure, princess, that we will. i’ll make sure of that” was his reply, smiling sweetly at you.

“they don’t give me that much time, though.”

you were slowly dying, or better said, your dream version was. the few dreams you had about this were very sad and painful, a strong feeling of recognition being present in your gut. 

“when i’m no more, please take good care of yourself.” 

the dreams started being more unsettling, more dark, and very apathetic. you started taking pills just to be able to sleep a few hours a day, but after some time you stopped taking them, not working anymore.

and so when gojo satoru asked for your help regarding a cursed object, you agreed.

‘maybe working hard on this boring thing will make me sleepy enough.’ you thought on your way to tokyo, ready to help the handsome sorcerer who proposed the mission. it was not your cup of tea, but knowing him, he would never shut up about that and in the end, you would still help him.

“you remember the first time we met?” he asked, taking a small piece of your hair in his hands, and proceeding to kiss it a moment after. 

“you mean the time when you almost killed me?”

“fuck, you know i regret that princess.” he hissed, leaning forward to brush a flower petal that was stuck in your hair clip. “just pretend that was not the first time we met.” he continued, looking away.

you giggled softly, taking his big hands into your cold ones. it was summer now, but you were getting colder as the days went by. you lover was concerned, but he had enough hope that a miracle would happen and make you healthy again.

you never believed in hope.

“how can i do that, my love? that was the time i fell in love with you.” was your response, now your turn to kiss his knuckles. 

“i still find myself asking how such a wonderful person as you fell in love with a crazy and broken person like me.” the red-eyed stranger muttered, letting his head rest on yours.

“maybe because i’m too, crazy and broken.”

as you walked your way to jujutsu high, a school that took you under their wing to teach you how to control your power, memories started flowing inside of your head. unfortunately, you had to move right after graduating and never had the time to stay in touch with your childhood friends: shoko, satoru, and… suguru.

you felt bad for what happened because you weren’t there for them and chose to leave them behind when they needed someone to cry to. you would never forgive yourself for that.

“yo, [name]. long time no see.” a white hair shouted in your direction.

“indeed, gojo. i would say i missed your crackhead ass, but i would be lying,” you responded to your long friend, making your way to him to hug him. letting his infinity down, he took you into his arms, spinning you a few times,

“relentless as usual, it's good to know that you haven't changed at all” he added, putting your weight down back on the drown. “still having problems with sleep?”

“yeah. stopped taking the pills too, made the dreams worse.”

“tell shoko that, she started having the same problem.” was his response, but he continued, never letting you adventuring further into the conversation. “let’s go to yaga, i’m sure he is waiting for us. also, you need to meet megumi, he heard a lot about you.”

“i hope good things-” you asked, but seeing gojo’s face making a grin you let out an annoyed sigh, “satoru!”

“good things, very good things. the only thing i told him was that you were in love with sakura flowers.” he laughed.

“you look so funny, ‘kuna” you giggled, eyeing the handsome man in front of you.

“you and your damn flowers, my love. when did you have time for this?” ‘kuna asked, taking his flower crown from his head and putting it on his lap.

“last night. i thought about your pretty pinkish hair and how the sakura flowers would look through it.” was your answer, making your way to steal a kiss from him.

”i wish i could look at this every day and night.” you continued, looking at his frame with admiration and affection.

“be my wife” 

“what?”

“be my wife. fuck it, no. be my queen,” he repeated himself, placing the flower crown that stood on his lap onto your hair. he made you speechless. his what?

the high school was packed with kids, remembering you about your childhood before becoming a full-time sorcerer. you and megumi had the task to identify where the cursed object was and bring it back to the principal. simple as that, right?

“fucking hell, where the fuck is this thing?”

it was not simple. not at all. you spent almost all day looking for what? a finger? you regretted coming back to tokyo now. 

“cheer up. we will find it.” megumi comforted you, giving you a soft look. he was right, you just needed to look a bit more.

“i don’t want to die” you confessed, looking down at your bloody hands.

deadly. you had a deadly sickness. 

the cough you've had all your life suddenly got worse one day, and now, standing in your childhood bed full of blood you coughed up a few minutes ago, you could tell that it was not a pleasant sight at all.

you wanted your last moments to be at the cherry blossom tree, with your lover, watching over the moon at peace, not in your blood-covered bed surrounded by doctors and crying women.

‘please, god. give me strength to remain alive just enough to see my lover again. the beautiful man i fell in love with.” you prayed, closing your eyes and letting a tear glide down on your cold cheek. 

the situation was very fucked up, the curses were everywhere and you and megumi had no idea where the cursed object was anymore. 

earlier, you two met yuji itadori, a high school kid able to see curses, but now you did not know where he was either. you and megumi were separated and even though you searched for him you could find him anywhere. 

‘maybe the roof?” 

and so you got there, and oh man, you did not like the view. a gigantic, ugly-looking curse and yuji, in between his fingers. that was a moment your heart stopped for a minute, looking for megumi a few seconds later.

“megumi. where is the finger?”

“yuji. he has it” and at that moment, you saw something that you were never imagining to witness. 

yuji ate the fucking cursed finger.

“sukuna” your voice was low, almost like a whisper.

“princess. what in the world happened? how? i-”

“no. ‘kuna, let me say goodbye-” you wanted to tell him, but the red-eye man in front of you interrupted you harshly, taking your cold hand in his warm one, giving it a lovely squeeze.

“no. i’m not going to accept that. what goodbye, my princess? you would not die.” he started lying to himself, almost too afraid to accept the situation.

“it’s not something new, sukuna. i knew this would happen eventually… so i’m not surprised. but i wish, for one thing, my love. please, let me wish for just one thing.”

there was a silence. now, in the peace of the night with your lover, you were obligated to give your last breath, and so you wanted no regrets.

“i love you. i will always love you and i will be born again. i know it’s selfish for me to ask this, god please forgive me, but i wish to be selfish one time in my life.”

the moon was shining bright on the black sky, and the stars were screening for another sister, ready to give her a peaceful death.

 “sukuna… let me be your queen in my next life.”

looking now at the man in front of you, you could see a familiarity that yuji didn’t have before. yuji was yuji, but the yuji in front of you, even though he looked like himself, was not the high school boy you met earlier in the day.

red eyes. 

the red eyes looked at yours with a familiar feeling, as if he already knew your eyes and had already looked into them a million times by now. the same eyes ‘he’ looked at you on your deathbed.

“sukuna”

the pictures were taken from pinterest

© 2024 gr1mstar — all rights reserved. please do not copy, modify, repost, translate, or claim my content as yours.

#jujutsu kaisen #gojo satoru #jujutsu sorcerer #jjk #ryomen sukuna #sukuna ryomen #yuji itadori #jjk yuji #jjk oneshot #jjk x reader #jjk gojo #jujutsu gojo #sukuna #sukuna x reader #sukuna x you #sukuna oneshot #oneshot #jujutsu kaisen one shot #megumi fushiguro #jujutsu megumi #reincarnation #past love #human sukuna #jjk headcanons #anime and manga #jujutsu kaisen gojo #jujustu kaisen #kenjaku #jjk fluff #fluff

[kirishima-eijirock]

@katsuslover asked: Making katsuki jealous by talking w deku or something and he's all sulky and a baby and u show him why he's better

a/n: omg hell yessss I made it a little angsty but I hope he’s not too OOC

You narrow your eyes at the blonde sitting right in front of you. His eyes narrowed and his lips pulled into a deep frown that you’ve never seen before. Clenched fists that are slightly shaking, he glares down at the floor with such an intensity that almost frightens you. Almost.

He’s been that way for the past half an hour, with no warnings at all. It’s weird, how this morning he wasn’t giving two fucks about anyone or anything at all, and now he’s just… furious isn’t even the word to describe it. Neither is rage. This is something else, and you knew it.

“Kats, just spit it out already.”

You’ve been trying to coax an explanation out of him for the past twenty-seven minutes, and yes, you’ve been counting. He’s never hid his anger from you. Or anyone, actually. But definitely not you.

“Kats, I swear to god, if you don’t start saying anything then I’ll go back to my conversation with Midoriya—”

“Get that bastard’s name out of your mouth.”

It was a quick mumble. A short demand. A command, if you will. He’s never said shit about Midoriya with such pure hatred that it did confuse you, and you started to question if you really understood Katsuki in the first place. 

His brow furrowed and his teeth gritted, his glare shifts from the floor to your shoulder, avoiding your direct gaze. He couldn’t bring himself to glare at you, no. The last thing that he wanted to do was to direct his anger at you. You were one of the most precious people in his life, and he wasn’t gonna risk anything, much less even glaring, to fuck it up. But looking down and glaring at the floor looked utterly pathetic, too. So his eyes dart from the wall behind you, to your shoulder and neck, but never your face. You didn’t deserve that. It wasn’t your fault, either.

He knew it’s not your fault, so why did it sting so much to hear you laughing with that bastard? He didn’t get it.

“Never mind. ‘M fine. It’s nothing.”

“Kats, you can’t be mad like that and not explain yourself.”

It’s true. He knew that he owed you an explanation, and a good one. Shame crept up on him as he realised that he snapped at you. That you were on the receiving end of his anger. The promise he made to himself— to never, ever make you upset, or to ever let you feel like the reason that he’s mad— was now broken in his eyes.

“I’m… sorry. For snapping at you. It’s not your fault,” he mumbled under his breath. 

It wasn’t snapping, but he hated the fact that he still could have upset you. 

“Kats, it’s okay. I’m fine, I promise. What’s wrong? You know you can tell me anything that’s on your mind, right?”

“No, it’s nothing,” he mumbled, though it’s clear that his snapping only made him more irritated with himself.

“It’s not nothing if you’re…” you trail off, not wanting to point out the current tears in his eyes. 

“Huh? I’m what?” Still oblivious to the tears, he looked around and found nothing.

“Kats, seriously. Tell me, now.”

The firm gaze directed at him from your eyes made him freeze, and the gentle tone in your voice made him hesitate. He was surprised, to say the least, that you were still here, trying to help him while he stood there in front of you like an idiot. If you left now, he wouldn’t have been surprised. In fact, he understood why you would do that, and he couldn’t blame you. This emotional, vulnerable part of him finally showed for the first time in your relationship. 

It surprised you, just a little. You knew he hated showing emotions besides happiness and the occasional happiness, but never tears. He never cried solely in front of you, at least.

He felt weak, so… pathetic. 

And on the other hand, you were there, trying to help him and coax some coherent words out of him, before finally giving up with a sigh

“Kats, if you don’t wanna talk, then we can save that for another time. I won’t push you any further if you’re getting uncomfortable.”

He’s never felt comfort like this. Not warmth, or such gentleness either. It’s so new to him, but in the best ways that he couldn’t describe. 

What was this feeling? His heart was bittersweet now. His loathing towards Midoriya was worsening, but the sweetness in your voice was making it fade away slowly.

“I promise I’m fine,” he rasped out. 

“Okay, Kats. As long as you’re alright,” you murmured, not really pushing him to speak unless he really wanted to.

He took a deep breath, not sure how to address the issue.

“Look, I don’t know what to feel when you’re talking to that damn Deku,” he stated plainly.

“You don’t know what to feel? What are you talking about?”

“I’m not stopping you from having friends, okay? I just don’t like how giggly and shit you were with him,” he huffed.

“Well… why not?”

“It just bugs me, that’s all. Just feel like I should be the reason you’re laughing. Not him.” 

Oh. It finally clicked in your mind. He was jealous. You wanted to point it out, but it could sour his mood further, so you decided against it for the time being.

“Well, if that was the case, you could have just told me. I wouldn’t have a problem with that.”

You were too sweet, too understanding. It was hard for him to believe that he deserved it. That he deserved you. 

“Really?”

“Yes, really, Kats. You don’t need to worry that I’ll be upset, okay?” 

He nodded slowly, still not used to this amount of sincerity and care from someone.

He was never this soft, or vulnerable to anyone. You, however, were an exception. He wasn’t afraid to show it to you, and even though he wasn’t used to it, he sure as hell wasn’t complaining. 

“Thanks…” a soft mumble of thanks left his lips, happy how this confrontation went.

@angelshimaa angst for you :)))

#kiri next and im gonna make two versions of this LMAO #bnha #bakugou x reader #mha bakugou #katsuki bakugo x reader #bakugou katsuki #bnha bakugou