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ifishouldvanish · 4 months

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Some Olrox Analysis & Headcanons

Have you seen this man? Now you have! 🥰

I have a lot of thoughts about Olrox Castlevania Nocturne and I'm dumping them here.

DISCLAIMER: We know so little about Olrox's past and I am but a humble stan looking at an expressionist painting and projecting my own deranged nonsense onto it. I'm fully prepared for 90% of this to get jossed in season 2, but for now I'm just letting the worms in my brain wiggle and send me beautiful visions of what could be 🥹

1. Olrox Was a Commoner and Does Not Respect Hierarchies

I've seen people point to his manner of speech and dress as evidence that he must come from a privileged background, but I think he displays too much contempt for the wealthy/nobility to have been one himself. I think these things are just symbols of power he has learned to use to his advantage.

Of course, there's everyone's favorite quote: "I prefer my blood blue." But he also demonstrates virtually no respect for authority or symbols/institutions of power in general:

He refuses the escort sent by the marquis when he arrives in France and insists on staying at the inn because he likes to "keep his ear to the ground". He would rather be around 'the people' than accept anything from the wealthy.

When Drolta is reminiscing about her glory days as a priestess, there's really not any nostalgia or sentimentality when he interrupts and says "and now those temples are half-buried in dust."

For as good as he is at presenting himself as a Gentleman of Status, he cannot bring himself to even pretend to enjoy himself at Erzsebet's lil debutante ball at the chateau.

When Erzsebet insists she is a goddess, his response is "Of course you are, sweetie 🙂"

His whole speech to Mizrak in the morning-after scene is basically a deconstruction of what power means, and how it is only a perceived vs tangible thing, a temporary position vs an immutable one:

"There are petty demon princelings you can haggle with and cheat. There are demon charlatans whose faces you can laugh in, spit in. There are demons who once were gods... And those who still are."

Foucault? In MY anime adaptation of a vampire video game?? It's more likely than u think 🤔

(continued under the cut bc this got long as hell)

2. Olrox was an Adult when Cortés Arrived

(I don't have a relevant screenshot for this point, so here's Olrox being pretty for no reason)

I've seen it float around some places that if we adhere to historical timelines to a 'T', it would make most sense for him to have been a child, but I'm of the opinion that it's more useful to take what the text itself gives us and fill the gaps with bits and pieces of the actual history where it's convenient. At the end of the day, this is a work of fiction/fantasy. So what does the text tell us?

He lived a long time as human and vampire

As of 1783, he'd been a vampire for approximately 250 years

Now, if we want to take this 250 figure literally, that would put the year of his turning at 1533. But I think we can give ourselves +/-15 years leeway because 250 is just the kind of rounded, even number one would use in natural speech in place of "267" or some shit like that. It's just how believable dialogue is written. So what lies in this +/-15 year window? The invasion by the Spanish, 1519-1521.

Now, he tells Mizrak: "Long ago, when I was still human, I watched men wade ashore from ships..."

I think this is another case of how important dialogue is. Because if he was a boy at the time, this line would likely have been written as "Long ago, when I was just a boy..." or something like "One of my earliest memories is of..." instead. "Still human" implies not only was he a human, but that he had been human for quite some time already. That the events he's describing fall in the stretch of time leading up to "still human" no longer being true.

tl;dr: the Spanish arrival and him becoming a vampire happened within a few years of each other, and if turned vampires stop aging, then he would have had to have been an adult at the time.

3. Olrox Became A Vampire Willingly

I assume that vampirism is something that was introduced to the Mexica by the Spanish in the same way it was introduced to Haiti by the French, in Annette's case.

However, rather than vampires creating spawn left and right, the persistent lore (in the show at least) is that to be turned is to be accepted into the sort of elite in-group of vampire society. (Carmilla questioning why Lisa was never turned, the Count never turning slaves, etc). Vampires feed on humans, they don't view them as potential spawn to have in thrall or whatever.

The Spanish weren't going around giving natives The Bite, because vampirism is power. So what I think, is that Olrox recognized that power, and decided to take it for himself. Rather than being the passive 'recipient' of the 'gift' of vampirism, he pried it from some Spanish vampire's cold, undead hands. (i.e., he drank their blood)

Do I have any proof of this? No. It's just what the worms in my brain are telling me 🤷 But!!

Do I think it would be a sexy little inversion of the way Erzsebet drank a god's blood to obtain her power? Yes.

Do I think it would be thematically very appropriate for a morally grey character who seems to have a very... Interesting relationship with power (individual power vs institutional powers, the subverting of power, the weaponization of symbols of power, etc)?? Oh absolutely fuck yes!!1!

[sickos.jpg]

4. Olrox Was a Priest, But Not Like That.

Priesthood in the Mexica empire was largely dominated by the nobility, whose children would be sent to the calmecec to learn how to read and write, speak the noble dialect, perform rituals, etc. But if the circumstances were right, the children of commoners could also get in!

Olrox says he's never been much of a believer, but he's highly intelligent and incredibly good at reading people. Even if he was never a man of faith, the priesthood was still a powerful institution where one could climb the ranks and earn influence over the nobility. No doubt someone as sharp and charismatic as Olrox would be able to take advantage of the opportunity to get a good education and maybe try to undermine the system from within/play a bit of political games while he was at it.

Also... Olrox's weapon of choice is the dagger. Obviously a dagger is an appropriate weapon for a character who's kind of rogue-ish, but also consider: Aztec warriors used a lot of weapons in combat: clubs, spears, arrows, axes—but an obsidian dagger? That's something that would have been used by a priest during rituals.

5. Olrox is a Bitch™ Who Knows Just What to Say to Get Under People's Skin

A common myth is that the Mexica welcomed Cortés at first because they thought he was Quetzalcoatl. But this is a misreading of the way Mexica social conventions/the noble dialect worked, which was kinda ~passive aggressive in a way, such that the more loftily and overly politely you spoke with someone, the more you were actually telling them to go eat shit and die. I think Olrox's dialogue demonstrates this beautifully in the scene where he meets Erzsebet:

"Taker of Souls, Vampire Lioness, She Who Mauls, The Messiah of--" / "Yes, charmed to meet you 😒"

"Her magnificence has heard much about you." / "Flattered. For a god to have heard of me. 🥱"

"I am a goddess!" / "...Of course 🙂"

His words are receptive, respectful, docile, even... but his tone and delivery are completely the opposite. Compare this with the way he speaks with Richter and (in later interactions) Mizrak—which is more informal, open, confrontational. He's more direct with them because he actually respects them.

As far as reading and getting under people's skin with pinpoint precision, I present the following interactions:

When he catches the marquis' severed head in the catacombs, he reads him (and potentially also Drolta) like a book: "This one? He was just an opportunist, following the messiah because she's powerful. But there are those who love her [looks to Drolta]. So I'm told."

When Drolta gives him a verbal slap on the wrist for feeding on the wealthy, he says "mY Ap0LoGiEs, I didn't realize how invested you are in keeping the mortals happy." - To which Drolta goes on to grumble about how their alliance with some of the mortals disgusts her.

When Erzsebet is waxing poetic about how everyone will see her beauty and worship her, he has the balls to—without missing a beat—say "PaRd0n mEe, but you mean to do this through an alliance with a man who will never worship you? 🫢" right to her fcuuckin face mgod I love him so much (this is the point where she whips out the big guns and yells "I am a goddess!!" while threateningly flashing her orb of darkness btw. Like she did NOT like that)

6. Olrox Has an 'Eye for an Eye' View of Justice

A prevalent theme in Aztec religion is the idea that like... ain't nothin' in this world for free. Sacrifices to the gods weren't symbolic gestures of devotion, but an act of paying the gods back for providing humanity with the means to survive.

The idea that everything has a price pervades the dialogue he has with Mizrak in the morning-after scene:

"What was the cost? Who pays it? Just him? Or all of you? Will you? Which demon will claim his price when all this is done?"

And it's also present in the very first scene where we are introduced to Olrox:

"You see, your mama took someone from me I loved, just as much as you loved her. So, she had to die."

What's interesting about this scene is also how... calm he is the whole time—before the fight, after the fight. Yes, he's motivated by the murder of the man he loved, but he brings zero of that passion to this confrontation. It's just an execution, something inevitable that must be done.

That he's fine with confronting a terrified Richter immediately afterwards to explain what just happened (and is completely unapologetic about it) is also telling. It suggests that Olrox views this kind of thing as just 'the way of the world'—a hard truth that Richter will be better off for having learned sooner rather than later.

I think this also helps explain why, years later, Olrox seems to treat Richter with a little more.... Familiarity than we might consider appropriate. He approaches Richter in the catacombs like he's just an old acquaintance, as though Richter should have no reason to be terrified of him. When Drolta mentions the incident later, he seems kind of lightly amused by it. Then, when he drops off the book, he's visibly/audibly frustrated that Richter starts gearing up for a fight. To Olrox, the whole "killed your mom" thing is water under the bridge, nothing personal.

7. Olrox is a Vampire of Prominence in The New World

Obviously, he has to be kind of a big deal to give a Belmont a run for their money. But let's go deeper into the IMPLICATIONS!!

"In 250 years, do you know how many vampire hunters have promised to slice me in two?"

"Her magnificence has heard much about you."

"You will be her guide into America."

He's enough of a big deal that countless hunters have promised to kill him. Enough of a big deal that Erzsebet has not only heard of him, but sees him as a valuable ally who knows enough about America to guide her as she builds her empire across it.

Olrox wasn't just a powerful vampire who got entangled with the politics of colonial Massachusetts and happened to cross paths with a Belmont. He's presumably had a hand in matters across the continent. Erzsebet refers to the colonists as "American upstarts" but for her, this is a conflict between humans vs vampires. The American colonists aren't allies or even rivals to her—because they're not vampires. They're just more pesky humans to be dealt with. (Also??? 'Protestant Vampires' as a concept is just hilarious to me, I'm so sorry)

So.

What the worms in my brain are telling me is—And this is Big!! This is a Steaming Hot Take!!!

(...seriously, tin foil hat tier headcanon incoming)

Olrox has established a network of indigenous vampires who are resisting the colonial threat. He's been turning them (or at least select individuals who are into it), and thereby redistributing the power he took from the Spanish colonizers to wield against the British colonizers.

(Look I have 0.01% faith in this actually being canon or anything. I just think it would be cool as fuck.)

Anyway.

Thanks for coming 2 my Ted talk or whatever. 😘

#Olrox #castlevania #castlevania nocturne

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virgilisspidey · 1 year

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Fuck it I'm gonna blab about another crossover fic i'm working on once i'm done with two souls

I dont care if it takes me years or if this fandom dies out (which it won't, tmnt is timeless)

But anyway.

It's called Pink Puppets, a crossover AU with a similar concept to Dagger From the Mirror (although i havent read it yet cuz i am scared)

It's going to ve reversed this time, with the Rise brothers being older because it's set after the movie and the 2012 boys remaining 15 years old (so kinda the same age as Mikey in the movie)

I was gonna use Draxum but i fell in love with the idiot so now I'm gonna use an antagonist that i had in plan for Two Souls season 3, that's why I was gonna write it after I finish Two Souls.

Basically that antagonist wants to replicate Draxum's warriors themselves, but don't want to go through the lengths to actually start doing it. They idolize Draxu and his beliefs and was angry that Draxum threw it all away to play family.

Kraang Subprime of 2012 gets involved and they discover there's countless of universes out there he can pull tirtles from.

He chose 2012.

It's season 3, a few days or a week from the fourfold trap (Karai escapes and is never seen again) episode and the bous are still about 15. This antagonist sees the brainworm in action and takes some for themselves, takong it home and modifying it before they snatch the brothers right in front of 12 April and 12 Casey.

They get dragged into Rise.

The brothers were imprisoned and one by one, a brainworm is forced into their brains. This is where the AU gets its name, the worms are pink and made the brothers' eyes pink.

The new modified brainworms aren't like Shredder's. It slowly influences the victim, making them the worse versions of themselves and think the antagonist is liek their parent or something, using their emotions against them.

12 Mikey is toxicly positive and brutal. He acts as if everything was just a game, he uses his kusagirama a lot, enjoying maling people bleed. He's dangerous and doesn't realize what he's doing is wrong. He's the new leader of the brainwashed gang, bossing his brothers around and they can't say no because of his little brother charm. He knows to emotionally manipulate people with his looks, which gives him a big advantage.

12 Donnie is a complete wreck. He's a ticking timebomb, he doesn't stop talking, doesn't mind his volume, doesn't care about his own wellbeing. He's destroying himself, he literally ignores his injuries if he gets one. 12 Mikey goes for a playful kill, toying with his victims while 12 Donnie always keeps them alive so he could experiment with them. He also uses his hidden blade a lot. He's twitchy and explodes very easily, making him a hard unpredictable opponent.

Then there's 12 Leo.

In this AU, you would expect his "bossiness" is gonna be the trait that gets amplified to be the worse, no, its his obedience. He's more like a puppet than his brothers. He's silent, completely silent, he never talks under the influence of the modified brainworm and follows every single order his brothers tell him to do. Unlike his brothers that would prolong death as much as possible, he strikes for the neck, immediately. He's basically the trump card, only used when things don't go as planned. He's hollow, emotionless, just a shell of his former self. Dead to the world and control by invisible strings.

What's funny is that despite the fact that their worse traits are amplified, they still love and care for each other. They're fiercely overprotective, they will stop the battle if one of them gets gravely injured, they'll take care of each others injuries.

That overprotectiveness is one of the reasons they still haven't got out of the worm's control, it was used against them.

And don't worry, i didn't forget about 12 Raph.

He escapes.

Remember that Raph centric AU i posted about? Yeah, this is it.

It was supposed to be 12 Mikey in thus position, but he's already got experience with dealing with his brothers turning evil, same goes for 12 Donnie, and maybe 12 Leo but he's the one that's evil, but not 12 Raph as far as I know.

12 Raph hasn't fought his brothers alone before.

Plus he already got a taste of the brainworm, why not fight back against his own fear of it?

So he runs away, stumbles upon the Rise turtles and pushes away his pride, beghing for them to help him save his brothers, and of course they do.

While the 2012 brothers cause chaos for the humans in New York with a subplot of trying to get 12 Raph to their side, the Rise brothers and their friends now have to deal with teens Mikey's age wanting murder and their brother who just wants them back.

This time, the Rise brothers have to be the responsibile older guys and the 12 boys the chaotic little shits.

(Don't worry, everyone is looking for them back in 2012)

Tell me ya'lls thoughts about it. Is it good??

#tmnt 2012 #rottmnt #teenage mutant ninja turtles 2012 #rise of the teenage mutant ninja turtles #tmnt crossover #raph angst my beloved

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obsidiancreates · 1 year

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The Algae Is Always Greener On The Other Side (Part 3)

(I try to do age math in the opening. Don't @ me if it's all wrong all that matters is I think by the end of Season 4 the 2012 crew are freshly 19. On AO3 this is split into 2 chapters so if it's too long for you here you can check over there, same title same username)

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

"Wait, weren't the episodes we were watching of you also called 'Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles?'" Angelo wonders, tapping his chin as he stares at the screen.

"Maybe ours inspired yours," Raph says, slightly proud of the concept. "We're older, aren't we?"

"... Are we?" Mikey asks.

They all go quiet.

"... So we're in 2022 in our world," Donald says. "Nardo and I are sixteen, Raph is eighteen, and Angelo is fifteen."

"You're all different ages? Whoa, trippy..." Mikey looks at them with wide eyes.

"They're also years into the future!" Donnie checks his T-Phone. "Let me see, we- yeah, we're in 2015! You're about seven years ahead of us!"

"So you are older," Leon says slowly.

"I- well, yes, but- for us, we turned 15 in 2012-"

"Wait, so your Mikey wasn't just saying that? You're all quadruplets?" Raphie looks at Raph. "So then who's the-the big brother?"

"Leo," three of the duller colored clan turtles chime in unison.

"Generally we agree, i-in terms of hierarchy if not actual ages, that Leo is oldest, Raph is second oldest, I'm third, and Mikey is youngest." Donnie points to each brother as he goes down the list. "But we're all 17 now, I think maybe closer to 18. I uh, stopped keeping track of our Mutation Days once we started dealing with aliens and crime bosses on the daily."

"You are all nearly 18," Splinter confirms. "I know we have not celebrated in a few years now, but I am still keeping track."

"So... where does that leave us?" April O'Neil asks, looking around. "You guys'd be 25 in our time, but you haven't even left the 2010's yet! I mean, I was like, 11 in 2015!"

"This is hurting my brains, dudes!" Mikey groans, slumped against the couch. "Let's just start the show alreadyyyyyyyyyy!"

There's a general murmur of agreement, and the show begins.

On screen, it opens with a shot of a manhole cover, a song beginning right away.

Rise of theeee- Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles!

"WHOA!" Mikey scrambles closer to the screen. "DUDES, IS THAT YOUR SHELLRAIZER?!"

"Turtle Tank," Donald corrects, pride practically pouring out of him. "And it has multiple smaller vehicles inside of it."

"I wanna ride in it so bad," Mikey says in a sort of joyful whimper of longing.

"Uh, do those guys have fire on their heads?" Leo points out.

"Oh, yeah. They just do that, don't worry about it," Leon waves off.

Heroes in a half-shell, turtle power!

"Interesting," Donnie says quietly. "I wonder why that lyric is consistent across our shows?"

Rising up against evil, paint the city green! Raph is ready for a fight, Leo's making a scene!

Leo snorts. "Well, if that doesn't lay out our differences perfectly, I don't know what will."

"I don't know, Leo," Raph says. "You sure love making a scene of going solo."

"Yours does it too?" Raphie looks both relieved and horrified.

"Oh yeah. Sometimes Fearless Leader here is more Fearless than Leader."

"Hey!"

Mikey's got mad skills, Donnie rocks machines!

"See? I told y'all I got the squills!" Angelo rocks happily in his spot.

With each other they discover their destiny and rise!

"Destiny?" Leo looks at them. "You guys have a destiny?"

"Had. We kinda handled it already, twice!" Raphie punches his fists together.

"I think we're kinda destined for stuff too, dudes," Mikey says. "Just like, I don't think our destiny is totally sure what it's for, either."

"A wise observation, Michelangelo," Splinter praises. "It could very well be you are destined simply to protect, whatever that may mean."

"Hey, not to cut the philosophy lesson off," Raph says, "But I see a hippo in a suit and a worm with hair in that ball of villains."

"And a... pig in a cook's hat?" April looks over at April O'Neil.

"Oh, you'll see eventually," April O'Neil assures. "I think. If yours started out at your first big life-changing adventure, I think I know where ours is about to kick off."

Cowabunga!

"YOU CAN DO WHAT?!" Raph springs out of his seat! "Holy shell! You- did you just make yourself even bigger?!"

"Can make mystic clones of myself now too." Raphie puffs out his chest. "Just apart of being awesome!"

"Look Leo, other you made a portal with his sword!" Mikey shakes Leo. "Dudes, you're like our M&M games, but real!"

Donnie blinks at the screen and then looks at his counterpart. "Was yours also magic, or just-"

"Incredible tech, and yes, the fire is a custom color created by my custom-made fuel." Donald buffs his nails against his shell. "Appearance, is half the battle. I do use mystic quite a bit nowadays, but I'm never ashamed of using pure tech for so long."

The song ends, and a scene opens on two goons with small dogs strapped to their chests chasing a mystic animal of some kind. Someone knocks over a bunch of small flags on stands, which scatter across the path of the goons. Instead of barreling through them, the goons expertly tiptoe through the flags without knocking over or even brushing against a single one.

"Well, that about sets the tone for your universe, doesn't it?" Donnie sinks into the couch.

"Only about half the time," Donald corrects. "Other times things do get... intense."

"We just don't live in the same constant gloom as you all," Splints says. "We actually get to have some nice times every once and a while."

"I am glad to hear it." Splinter seems genuine in the statement. "The hardships we face are so rarely tempered by fun or rest. I am glad not every version of my sons must endure them so regularly."

On screen, the animal continues fleeing, resulting in a bit of chaos as it runs. It gets cornered by the goons, and suddenly teleports away! The scene shifts to a rooftop at night, with some sort of shady deal going on.

"I don't remember this," Raphie says, scratching his head. "I do remember the goons, though."

The camera pans up, and then closes in on the silhouettes of The Turtles. Bits of their colorful accoutrement are visible in the shadows- well, relative shadows.

"Your world is so bright even at nighttime," Raph grumbles. "How do you ever hide?"

"We don't usually bother," Donald says with a shrug. "I believe I remember this, but it had nothing to do with whatever mob deal was going on down there. I don't think we even knew that was happening."

"What were you doing then?"

"Wait and see, Other Me."

The Screen Turtles all leap down to another ledge on the building. Screen Donald's techbo opens up with a claw, and he fires it at a building across from the group.

Donnie's jaw drops. "You- I- it- how?!"

"SCIENCE!" Donald cackles. Sure, his mystic-charged wooden bo is fine, but he does miss his beautiful techbo more often than not. But like Shelldon, it just feels too soon to make a new one.

The Screen Raphie asks for an All-clear from an unseen (but obviously by voice) April O'Neil. They get it, and they zipline across the cable Donald had shot out just moments before. There's an intense shot of them ziplining at high-speeds, fast and action-ready music playing behind them.

"It looks like Super Robo Mecha Force 5!" Mikey stares at the screen in delight.

"Yeah, our show is totally taking some stylistic inspiration from anime!" Angelo holds up a hand, and his whole family high-three/five with a whoop.

"You mean there's more cartoons like Super Robo Mecha Force 5?" Mikey whispers, awed. "Dudes, I need to visit your universe!"

"We all do!" Leo looks the most excited they've seen him since his own show showed a few clips of Space Heroes. "We've been looking for a good new cartoon!"

Angleo rocks even more, excited! "Oh, baby, do we have choices for you! And if you want some movies too, we've got Lou Jitsu and Jupiter Jim!"

"Jupiter Jim?"

"Um, only one of the best low-budget sci-fi movie franchises ever!" Leon grins at Leo. "We are so going to find a way to send you guys them, that Space Heroes show makes me know you'll love it!"

Raph groans, but Leo literally squeals in excitement. His family all share fond looks around him. He hasn't really been this excited since... well, it's just nice to hear his geek-out squeal again, even if it doesn't sound quite the same as it used to.

On Screen, the mob boss laughs evilly over his money, it shows the turtles again, and... they zipline straight over him.

"Hey, um. Do you ever find out what that guy is up too?" April checks.

"Never seen him before ever." "I'm already forgetting his face." "I don't think so." "Nuh-uh."

"Right. Just wondering."

Instead, they unhook from the line just over a rooftop pool! They drop one by one, each saying a part of the word "Cowabunga" as they do! They cannonball into the pool, and April O'Neil films it on her phone and whoops, even as she's hit with the entire pool's worth of water at incredible volumes of force. All it does is knock her glasses askew.

"What I wouldn't give for our world to have those physics," April groans.

"Ha! You must be this rad to ride that ride!" "Uh, based on our velocity and entry angle, IIIII concur, we rad!"

The duller colored clan burst out into either laughter, soft giggles, or amused smiles at the face Screen Donald makes.

"Okay, maybe your weird expressions aren't that bad," Raph concedes, chuckling a little. "But they're still stupid."

"Ah, just like your overly-large feet, then."

"You little- no, you know what? I'll give you that one." Raph shrugs. "You probably stub your toes way less often."

April O'Neil praises their stunt, and Raphie praises her for being their 'girl with the plan'. Leon praises her for having the keys to the roof while also stealing said keys off of her. Angelo suggests they go bungie-jumping at a public park next, and April O'Neil agrees, putting down a 'Caution: Wet Floor' sign first, as well as a 'Dry pool' sign.

"Well, that's... thoughtful. I think." April gives her counterpart a small and uncertain grin.

"It's not like it costs nothin'," April O'Neil waves off. "They fill those pools up for free!"

"Well, obviously," Donnie says. "Our world isn't that messed up. Ha-ha, could you imagine a world where water isn't free? How horrible would that be?"

They all pause. They feel like someone is looking straight into a camera somewhere with a tired expression (it's the Author).

Back on the Screen, April O'Neil asks Donald if she can hitch a ride. With a statement of "No probles", which makes Mikey laugh and his brothers groan knowing he'll start using that now, Donald turns around. His purple metal shell opens up with a seat and handlebars, and April O'Neil plops onto it as Donald takes off!

Donnie's eyes are giant and watering in what is also a very anime-fashion. "That is so cool, and so, so unfair."

"I'm sure you'll be able to build tech to my standards someday Other Me, he said completely genuinely and not at all to spare the other Donnie's feelings."

Screen Raphie, as he follows his brothers, looks over at a construction site. He spots the animal that was being chased earlier, all alone, shivering and whimpering. He's so distracted by the cuteness and his heartbreak for the little creature that he slams into a wall very hard. Luckily he recovers almost immediately.

"You don't leave the little guy, do you?" Raph leans forward in his seat.

"Of course not!" Raphie is offended by the mere suggestion. "Mayhem is an important part of our family now!"

Raph visibly relaxes at that.

"He's a big softie for animals," Mikey whispers loudly to the colorful clan. "For some reason they love him."

Raphie tears up now. "They do?"

"Yeah, like, almost every animal we meet instantly adores him."

Raphie starts crying, big streams of water pouring down his face while he sniffles. "Good for you, man."

"Whoa, whoa, what's with the waterworks?" Raph looks concerned. "What'd Mikey say?"

"Hey!"

"Animals don't tend to be very nice to Raph," Angelo explains, giving his older brother a hug. "Even Mayhem still isn't."

"What?!" Raph stands up. "But you're like this, giant spiky teddy bear! If I squeezed you I half expect a squeaky toy noise to come out of you!"

"It might," Leon says. "Actually, sometimes all of us do that. Like how you guys sounds like rubber when you move."

"Point is, there's no reason animals should be afraid of him!"

"I think it's my fear stink," Raphie says sadly. "Or my seeing-cute-animals stink. Maybe my worried-about-rejection stink."

"Well, whatever it is, I'll help you figure it out." Raph says it with a growl and a scowl, like he's vowing revenge instead of vowing to help someone get better with animals.

Raphie sniffs. "You-you mean it?"

"I can't have some version of me wandering around his universe with animals hating him! What if you find your world's Spike and can't even take him home because he won't let you? I won't let that happen!"

Raphie sniffs again, the streams of tears disappearing as he wipes his eye. "Thank you, man."

Raph plops back into his seat. "Yeah yeah, thank me when it works."

Screen Raphie jumps down to try and help Mayhem, startling the poor creature as his incredible mass makes a loud 'boom' upon his landing. He starts cooing at Mayhem while his brothers watch, and then laugh at his attempts. He claims that pets love him, and Mayhem viciously attacks his face and shreds his mask. Mayhem then jumps into April O'Neil's arms and begins showering her in affection.

Raphie sighs sadly again, and April O'Neil pats him on the back. "Hey, he'll come around sometime," she assures with a soft smile.

"Yeah, especially since I can already see where that went wrong." Raph flicks Donnie on the head, and when Donnie yelps and turns around to glare at him, he snatches a notebook and pen out of Donnie's shell. He writes down a few notes, and rips the page out to hand to Raphie. "Try these next time you see the little guy."

"You could have just asked," Donnie seethes.

"Yeah, but then I wouldn't get to steal it off of ya."

"Grrrr!"

"Thanks, Tiny Me," Raphie says, pressing the page close to his chest. "You're not as mean as you pretend to be."

"Um, he just stole from his brother through violence," Len points out, sliding up from behind Raphie with a slidewhistle sound.

"But he did it to help someone!" Raphie grins. "So it's a good foundation!"

"Yeah, tell that to yourself," Donnie mumbles, rubbing the back of his head. It doesn't hurt still, but it's the principle of it.

Back on the Screen, All of the characters wonder what Mayhem is when The Goons show up. The Turtles all, somehow, hide themselves entirely behind April O'Neil at the sight of humans as Raphie says to initiate Plan H. They all pop back out, and Leon begins speaking in a strange meant-to-be-a-stereotypical-nerd way, asking for directions to a sci-fi convention.

"Why don't we just do that?" Mikey demands, pointing at the screen. "Hello, like they said, we even sound like rubber! I could say I'm a mascot!"

"Do you really think any humans in our world would believe that?" Leo asks, raising a not-eyebrow.

"... Alright, fine. But we should still try it someday! If we do get caught."

"Which should be never," Splinter reminds sternly.

Screen Angelo also does a fake-nerd voice, and Donald pops in using his own voice and completely flubbing the lie. Leon tells him to make it to rehearsals.

"How could my own son be so poor at acting?" Splints laments. "I suppose it is on me, for failing to pass down the most important lessons of all..."

"I think the 'teaching how to defeat Shredder' lessons were more important, actually," Donald says.

"Hmm. You just say that because you are embarrassed, Purple. But don't be! We will begin acting lessons alongside ninja lessons as soon as we are home, with other Blue joining us!"

This is met with mixed reception.

"Give to me creature. How you say, ah... pretty please. Or I'll destroy you."

"His name wouldn't happen to be Steranko, would it?" Donnie ventures.

"Oh, these guys ain't actually human," Raphie says. "They're yokai."

"Wait, yokai spirits are real in your world? We pretended to be yokai once, but we've never met any real ones."

"Oh yeah, yeah, we're part yokai," Leon says with a grin. "That's what mutants are for us."

"I wouldn't call yokai spirits, though," Angelo adds. "Just sort of, mystic people animals!"

Back on Screen, Raphie threatens to defend April O'Neil, and April O'Neil threatens to defend her friends if the threats continue to threaten them. It's as long-winded as it sounds, in an amusing way. After making Donald insecure about his voice, the goons transform into their true Yokai forms in a big show of purple lights. Their tiny puppies become hellhound-like creatures, and they carry mighty weapons with them! The Turtles are stunned, until-

"Soooo... you guys from Jersey?"

Leo lets out a single sharp laugh. Mikey reaches out to Leon for a fist-bump.

Screen Angelo is disappointed in Leon's joke, which Screen Leon defends as a coping mechanism. Raphie says it just means they can finally use their weapons, using the word 'ahoy', which prompts Screen Donald to lament that they were saving that for a ship-based adventure.

"So, just making sure I understand this right," Donnie says, "You've never used your weapons before, including during training?"

"Well, we didn't so much as train as uh, watch Lou Jitsu movies and copy the moves," Raphie says with an embarrassed chuckle as he rubs his neck. "And a few online video tutorials."

"You did not train your sons at all?" Splinter aims a narrow gaze at Splints.

"Oh, excuse me for wanting them to be children for a few years," Splints says with a roll of his eyes. "I do regret my repeated absence from their lives, deeply, and for failing to prepare them when they were of the right age, but I never regret raising them as children rather than warriors!"

"They need to be warriors to survive! The world is not a kind place for creatures like them, like us!"

"Exactly! I was already dealing with my ex-lover kidnapping me to be a battle slave, and then being turned into a rat! They were dealing with growing up hidden in the sewers and being strange turtle-human hybrids! I did not want to pile onto that! So action movies were their sensei, and I told myself I would train them properly when the time was right! ... And by the time it was right... the forces against us were much farther ahead."

The room goes quiet.

Silently, privately, everyone wonders if maybe neither Splinter did things right, or wrong. If maybe, there's no true good answer to the problem. Raise them as normal kids, and they'll never make it. Raise them as warriors, and what parts of them do make it may not be the parts they need most.

But no-one voices it aloud.

So the show plays on.

The fight begins, and true to the colorful clan's assurances when watching the duller clan's own first battle, it's a disaster. Donnie's techbo doesn't work as intended, though thankfully Mayhem retrieves it through teleporting, which distracts Screen Donald long enough for him to be hit very painfully. Angelo and Raphie tag-team the one that attacked Donald, while Leon makes a quip to the other about ruining cannonball day and goes for an attack. His katanas are broken instantly.

"Ugh, been there too many times to count," Leo groans. "Sensi must replace our weapons at least twice a month each. More for Donnie."

"It's wood! How am I supposed to keep it in good condition if it's wood?!"

"That wasn't a dig, D, I was just saying!"

"Yeah, bro! You're a statistical outlier."

The duller clan all freeze, eyes wide white discs as they stare at Mikey in shock. He has his eyes closed and a pleased smile on his face.

"How do you know what that is?" Donnie marvels.

"How do you think I keep track of which pizza places are worth ordering from, bro? Most of them are Great to Passable, but there's a real bummer place on that one corner, the one as clipped the streetlamp with the Party Wagon that one time? Total. Statistical. Outlier. I didn't know pizza could be that bad!"

The staring continues for a bit, and then they all wordlessly look back at the TV. Donald gives Mikey a thumbs up form the other side of the couch, which makes Mikey smile.

On Screen, Leon throws his little sword stub at the villain and keeps fighting, dodging hits and claiming he doesn't need weapons to beat them because of his rad skills. As he says it he runs up the side of a cement truck, flips off- and lands on his neck quite painfully, collapsing into a heap of limbs.

The dull clan all scream, and Donnie is up and checking Leon's neck in a second. "How did that not break you neck entirely?! Did you get throat damage, any loss of mobility-"

"Whoa, settle down there mi hermano!" Leon pushes him away. "I'm fine, that kind of thing happens to us all the time! Just another difference in our worlds or something!"

"Oh. Okay, okay. Good, I-I think." Donnie hesitates, and then goes back to his seat. Leo rubs his brother's shell, giving him an understanding look. Throat injuries and Leos... not something Donnie can take lightly.

On Screen it cuts to a shot of Raphie being punched, and then telling Angelo to go 'ninja mode'. They both slink into the shadows of the construction site, and it closeups on the villain... who points them out right away because they did not hide well.

"You guys are better at that now, right?" April checks.

"Way better." Raphie is cringing at seeing his past self try to hide behind the skinny metal beam. "Funny, I didn't realize how much progress we really made in such a short time."

"I'm very proud of you boys," Splints says (which makes Donald sparkle and giggle in utter blissful joy). "Not for this, this is very embarrassing. But for how you have grown from this!"

Screen Raph, meanwhile, is shot at by a beam of mystic energy from the villain's sword. He lets out a funny little yelp and announces plan doube-B, making Angelo whoop and pop into his shell. Raph throws him at the villain, who catches Angelo easily. Angelo pulls out his nunchucks with a grin and starts swinging! And hitting! Himself. As the chucks doinks uselessly off of the villain's arm.

"Hoo, this is worse than I remember," Angelo says, covering his eyes a little. "I guess I get it from storytelling, showing how we start off and all, but this is rough!"

Screen Angelo, covered in bruises and bumps from his accidental self-assault, is then further injured by the villain tossing him away with a mystic bubble then crushing his nunchucks. Raphie tells the villain to 'pick on someone my size' and a bell dings like it's a wrestling match. The villain just snaps his fingers and has his dog attack Raph instead. It bites Raph's head, throws him around, and then tosses him clear across the construction site. To add insult to injury, it vaporizes his sai.

"Um, can we turn this off, actually?" Raphie looks for a remote. "Raph's not enjoying this anymore."

"No, no, this is where I come in again!" April O'Neil beams.

Indeed, on screenshe begins throwing bricks and threatening the villains. They don't say a word, just make a mystic bubble around Mayhem to prevent the poor creature from teleporting away. April O'Neil holds into the bubble as tight as she can, but the villain blasts her away with mystic energy.

"I have the agent, and the vial!"

"Oh yeah, I forgot about that." April O'Neil rubs her chin and looks down. "I should probably ask Barry what that meant, huh? Because if Mayhem's a secret agent of kind, I need to get him a medal."

But no medal comes for Screen Mayhem. Instead the villains activate some kind of rune and open a portal on a lone out-of-place brick wall, making the turtle all exclaim in awe. A bike riding pizza boy, for some reason, rides through the construction site... and right into the portal. No-one stops him. He falls a long way down the tunnel, and Screen Angelo shouts as Screen Leon makes an "Ooy" sound. The villains run through with Mayhem... and April O'Neil follows them! Raphie tries to jump through after her, but it closes!

"Wow!" April looks at her counterpart. "So you chose to get involved, and I was sort of... thrown into it. How weird."

"But it looks like you dealt with it good!" April O'Neil gestures to the tessen in April's pocket. "You even got a weapon!"

April smiles. "Yeah, well... it helped to have such good friends supporting me through it."

The colorful clan all "Awwww" as the duller clan all blush and Splinter gives her a proud smile.

On screen, Raphie shouts 'April!' as he sits up with a large bump on his head from hitting the wall. Leon says she's probably okay because there's no 'April bits on the ground'-

"Blech!" Mikey shudders at the thought. The colorful clan all see a little thought bubble rise from his head showing a notebook-sketch-like imagining of his own April going through a wall and coming out like paper shreds on the other side, making Mikey whimper at his own imagination. But none of the duller clan react to the disturbing visual, so they either can't see it, or have see such things very often (it's the former).

-and Raphie shouts to ask April O'Neil if her bits are on the other side of the wall. They all wonder where she went, and Angelo looks at the symbol and realizes they know it. The image of the wall fades to show a messy shelf, and Angelo comments about it being 'Splints's do not touch cabinet'.

"Dudes, our Splinter's whole room is a do-not-touch zone!" Mikey wringles his not-nose as the screen shows Splints watching some kind of Japanese game show, but it's not in any sort of negative emotion, just... surprise. "He lets you go in there?"

"This is the living room," Donald corrects. "We'd never go into Splinter's room willingly, but yes, when he's sick we have been in there on occasion."

"Yours gets sick?" Raph's eyes go wide. "I've never even seen our Splinter sneeze!"

Splinter gives a proud chuckle. He's not some fully-infallible being, they all know it, but a lot of human sicknesses don't seem to affect his family at all, and he's mastered the art of silent or imperceptible sneezing- a must for ninjas living in a very dusty New York.

The Screen Turtles start wondering how to get the item from Splints, and Raphie decides to try and get him out of the room. They all slide (literally) in front of the projection of the show, bowing slightly. Raphie asks for the living room in a bright voice, and it cuts to show Splints laying in his chair covered in crumbs and drinking a whole carton of milk with a straw.

"Splints leaps to his feet, standing on the couch. "This show is a outrage! I am not-"

He's stopped by skeptical glares from all of his children, April O'Neil included. He sighs and sinks back down. "Fine. Maybe I do look like that." He looks at his own hands sadly. "... But it is hard to take pride in your body when it is... this."

One the other side of the couch, Donnie watches Splints with sympathy. He knows how that feels.

"We love you, Pops," Raphie assures, bringing his dad into a big group hug. "No matter how many crumbs your robe is full of."

Splints sighs and smiles a little, hugging back the best he can. "Thank you, my sons."

On screen it's... less heartwarming. Splints laughs at them for even asking for the room, claiming he thought 'Purple' is the funny one, which Donald agrees with in a flat tone. Donald then offers to hook it up for Splints to watch in bed, but Splints declines because his butt is asleep in his preferred fashion.

Splints glances over at his other self, expecting a look of intense judgement. But Splinter mostly just looks... curious, possibly trying to figure out how the two ended up so different.

Screen Splints waves the turtles out of the room and laughs at his shows, so Raphie begins forming a new plan. He's interrupted by-

"Leon's got it!"

"You call yourself Leon?" Leo looks at his counterpart. "Why?"

"Why don't you? We can have more than just one nickname, my friend! A little variety, spice up the identity! Better than- what'd your Raph call you? Fearless Leader? Oh, man, that nickname is bad! It just adds pressure!"

"It doesn't add pressure, just annoys."

"Whatever you say, Other Me." Leon leans closer to Donald. "It totally adds pressure, I know it."

"Oh, definitely," Donald whispers back with a nod. "But what's a Leo without an inability to voice lapses in confidence?"

"Don't make me point out your fake confidence, Don."

"It's not fake, I'm astounding."

"So why do you turn into a puddle of happy goo whenever Dad says even the most bare minimum nice thing about your inve-"

"HEY LET'S STOP INTERRUPTING THE SHOW ACTUALLY-"

"I KNEW IT!"

On screen Leon reminds his brothers that their father passes out 'after milk and cake', and it cuts back to the construction site. Raphie holds up the trinket, sticking his tongue out as he tries to figure it out. Donald doesn't help with the comment of "A few hours ago I would've called this foolish and impossible. Now I just call it foolish!"

"Did you think magic didn't exist?" Donnie seems surprised.

'Wait, you did think it exists? But your world doesn't even have mystic powers!"

"No, but we have a spirit realm, and I always figured if that exists-"

"You have a spirit realm? We have spirits too but I don't know if they have a whole world."

"We've been to ours... sort of. We went out into some woods for a few days and fought some spirits once."

"We forged our own new armor and weapons and everything!" Mikey butts in excitedly. "I fought a spirit that looks like Rahzar- do you guy have him? Ugh, he's the worst, dudes! Anyway, we all had to fight different enemies, and I had to learn how to focus, and Donnie had to learn how to uh, trust his strength or something? And Raph had to learn to manage his anger again and Leo had to learn make his leg stop hurting-"

"Whoa whoa whoa!" April O'Neil waves her hands to stop Mikey talking. "Come again? Who told you guys that?"

"I found them from the spirit realm," Splinter says. "I'd been separated from my body, and sought them out to prepare them for their return to New York."

"There's a lot of missing context there, let's all acknowledge that before moving forward," Donald says, "But to me that sounds a little bit like telling Mikey to just stop having ADHD and telling Leo some kind of injury is all in his head instead of letting it heal."

"It's fine, it was all in my head," Leo says firmly. But the way he rubs his knee... begs to differ.

"We'll have words about this later," Angelo says sweetly. But then all of a sudden he is staring at all of them with the most dead-eyed smile as flames rise behind him and he looms over them. "Because remember we'll probably see all of that at some point and any lies or secrets will be exposed."

He smile sweetly again, now once more normal sized and sitting in his seat, and the show continues to play.

On screen, the brothers are discussing the pressure Raphie is under to get this right and clearly making it so much worse as the shots zoom in on Raphie's eyes and a bead of sweat rolls down his face. After demanding they stop talking about his fear stink-

"He retained that from his mutation? Fascinating!"

"Uh, what?"

"You're a snapping turtle, right? Snapping turtles can release a musky odor when they're stressed! We never smelt it from Spike because he just took everything as-is, so I always wondered if it was true or not."

"Oh, it's true." Leon laughs, once again draping himself across his larger brother's shoulders. "He has a lot of stinks, actually, it's like a mood ring but smelly!"

"Stop talkin' about it! You're making Raph self conscious!" Raphie shoves Leon off of him.

Screen Raphie holds the trinket to the wall and tries to make it open, even punching the wall and throwing it at the wall, but it just shoots off, hits Raphie's head, and lands in front of Angelo. Angelo says to let him, the 'artist of the crew' try, and Leon agrees because he can't do any worse. It works for Angelo immedietely, opening up the portal right away!

"Heck yeah!" Angelo pumps his fists in the air. "Magic hands, baby! Oh, if Junior could see this he'd be all over it, that has to be because I'm meant to be a mystic master!"

"Oh-ho, you're so right bro!" Leon fist-bumps Angelo. "Look at that, it was all right in front of us the whole time!"

And with barely a moment of debate, the Screen Turtles cannonball right into the portal, Raphie leading and the other following right behind. They all land horribly painfully except for Leon, who says the words 'Land safely' aloud as he almost loses balance. Clearly he took a lesson from his earlier mishap with the cement truck stunt. It zooms out, showing a huge city with marvelous and strange buildings, creatures, and vehicles!

The duller clan all marvel just as the Screen Turtles do.

"I can smell Raph's amazement stink."

"Smell my amazement stink too, dudes, that's awesome! Please tell me we'll be seeing a lot more of this place!" Mikey looks at them with a wide smile.

The colorful clan all think. Leon tsks. "Um... so..."

"We've only visited there again... once?" Raphie says, rubbing the back of his head.

"Um... twice, if we count when Nardo portalled us out of Tahiti," Donald says. "I think."

"We kind of ended up in jail and broke out, so... I don't know if they love us there." Leon gives a bashful smile and shrugs. "It was all a lot of misunderstandings."

"We've been there," Leo sighs. "I mean, not a mystic city, but someone branding us as criminals or menaces when we aren't."

"On the bright side, more things to relate on!" Angelo smiles too widely, hoping to draw some real ones from the others.

"Kind of an upsetting thing to relate on," Donnie sighs, "But... I guess it's a little comforting knowing we aren't the only one this happens to."

The show pans down for a closer look at the strange city, landing on the still-awestruck Screen Turtles. April whispers to them from behind, and they immedietely surround her in a big group hug.

"Donnie, where are we?"

Donnie groans at the screen. "Yours do that too?!"

"Do... what? Look to me for answers because they're dum-dums?" Donald's statement results in some protesting from his family, not about their dum-dum status, but about how they don't actually seek out his answers most of the time, he just gives them. These protests go ignored.

Donnie throws his hands out to the screen. "Yeah! Wait, it doesn't bother you?"

"Not really. Like I said, they're dum-dums."

"Oh." Donnie suddenly stiffens, and looks at his now glaring family. A 2-D bead of sweat suddenly appears on his forehead with a "bloob" sound, and he rubs the back of his neck. "Um, what I meant by agreeing that' your dums-dums is that, besides April and Sensei-"

"We don't look to you for all the answers," Leo says.

Donnie's 2-D sweat disappears, and he scowls. "Are you kidding me, Leo? You guys expect me to know everything right off the top of my head!"

"That's 'cause you're the smart one, D!" Mikey holds his knees and rocks in place. "You keep acting like we don't know anything, so you gotta!"

"You not knowing to stay out of my lab and Raph not knowing how power conduits work is different!"

"Nuh-uh!"

"Yes it-!"

"Boys!" Splinter rubs the space between his eyes. "Donatello, your brothers rely on your intellect and ability to learn quickly during battle, and in day-to-day life. That is an honor, to be looked up to in such a way."

"But they don't look up to me," Donnie grumps, crossing his arms. "They look down on me for being a nerd."

"It's our burden to carry," Donald says, eyes closed as he nods and slides over to pat Donnie's hand. "We got all of the brains out of the mutation process, clearly."

Donnie laughs a little at that. It eases the tension a bit.

On Screen, Donald gives a scientific explanation to Raphie before April O'Neil corrects him with an entirely different, yet correct, explanation of it being a hidden city under New York.

"Um... wouldn't that collapse?" Mikey tilts his head. "Because like... I thought sinkholes were bad."

"... Huh." April O'Neil thinks about it. "... You know, it's maybe better to just be glad it doesn't seem to matter."

Screen Leon asks where the 'dog thing' is-

"That thing is way more cat than dog," Raph mutters.

-and April O'Neil points them all toward a large and very imposing castle. They enter easily in the very next shot, all exclaiming in wonder again as Donald admires the aesthetic with shining eyes. They come to the edge of the upper entrance platform and find Mayhem and the delivery boy both locked in vine-like mystic cages, but before they can save them a tall, terrifying creatures enters his shadow looming before a shot pans up to reveal his intimidating glare.

Splints laughs. "What a dramatic try-hard!"

"Pops! Remember, we're not holding Barry's past against him anymore!"

"This is not holding it against him! This is making fun of him, behind his back! Completely harmless!"

"Wait, this is the guy who's your other dad now?!" Leo gapes at them.

"Yeah! Draxum made us, so after The Shredder sucked out his life force I helped him get back on his feet! He helped us save the world from Shredder!" Angelo beams.

"Dude, you should meet my friend Leatherhead!" Mikey pulls out his T-Phone and shows Angelo a picture. "He also met us by attacking us and then became our friend!"

"Oooooh, Leatherhead is such a cool name for an alligator!"

"Came up with it myself! See, his head, it looks and feels like leather!"

"So clever!"

On the screen the delivery boy somehow believes this is due to the pizza shop's calamari being made of pig butts, and Draxum dismisses the claim. The gargoyles on his shoulders suddenly move, jumping down seemingly just to scare the human in the cage.

"Where did those guys go, by the way?" Leon looks at his family. "Anyone know?"

"Nope. But I don't think we gotta worry," Raphie says. "They're only bad guys by proxy, really. Without Draxum they're just weird little flying things."

"True."

Draxum grabs a vial off of Mayhem and informs the delivery boy that he's about to be experimented on, which the delivery seems excited about. It briefly cuts back to the turtles and April O'Neil, who all seem much more concerned. But they don't act, and watch on as Draxum pours the vial into a large machine.

"You're just going to let him to this? You need to jump in!" Leo is leaning forward in his seat, staring in disbelief at the TV.

"We're gonna! We just needed a second."

"To do what?!"

"We were a little curious where it was going," Leon admits. "But we stop him! ... More or less..."

Draxum's machine powers up, and April O'Neil and Raphie comment about this is probably a bad thing. The liquid from the vial causes some kind of mass to form at the top of the machine, which strange-looking mosquitoes suck into their bodies. Draxum brings one over to the delivery boy, who asks if it will hurt as his cage changes to suspend him in the air. Draxum confirms it will hurt, happily, and the mosquito bites the human. The ooze inside turns him into some kind of fish-mutant in a painful and disturbing process (though still not quite as horrific as what they saw from Snakeweed) as The Turtles and April watch on in horror.

"You just let that guy mutate?!" Donnie stands up and snarls at the colorful clan. "You just watched! It's your fault that he's stuck like that now! You could have prevented it!"

"Excuse us for being a little slow to act on our first ever villain encounter just after losing all our weapons!" Leon crosses his arms. "You wouldn't have jumped in unarmed either!"

"I'd have to!" Donnie looms over the still-sitting other clan, irises and pupils pinpricks as he seethes. "Do you even understand how serious that is?! How life-destroying being mutated IS for humans?!"

"Do not lecture my sons on such a thing!" Splints leaps in front of Donnie, looking up and jabbing a finger at him. "They understand very well now!"

"They don't seem that sorry!" Donnie spits. "Do you even know how to reverse it?! Have you even tried to develop a retromutagen?!"

"Donnie, calm down." April puts her hands on his shoulders. "It's not the same for them."

"They let someone be mutated! April, they didn't even try to-!"

"Hey." She steps between him and Splints. "My dad is home, and safe," she reminds him in a soft voice. "And we'll find a way to thaw out Timothy. He won't be stuck like that forever."

Splints's own fire fizzles out as they all watch Donnie sag, the anger leaving him entirely and replaced by sorrow and guilt.

"I-I just..."

"I know. We all know." April guides him back to his seat.

"You'll figure it out, bro," Mikey says, tone as soft as April's as he pats his brother's knee. Donnie just sighs.

"... Who exactly is Timothy?" Donald keeps his own voice soft as well. At first he'd figured it was just a friend who got frozen, but now...

"... A human teen who tried to help us." Donnie brings his legs up and hugs himself into a little ball. "It was our fault- my fault, he got doused with mutagen. He... he was just wanting to be like us. Be a hero."

"He got turned into this freaky pile of clear goo with guts and stuff," Mikey says, scooting to press close to his brother's side. "He lived in Donnie's lab for a while, but after a while he lost it and tried to kidnap April and kill us."

"It wasn't his fault." Donnie's voice is small. "The mutagen... he was barely even sentient. And-and now he's frozen, from a tainted batch of retromutagen we used to stop him, and I can't... I can't figure out how to unfreeze him to turn him back. ... He was my friend. And... we ruined his life. His family's life. ... He just wanted to help us."

The room is quiet for a very, very long time.

"I'm... not a chemist," Donald says slowly. "I'm more a machine's man. I know I agreed to unfreeze your friend, but... if it's that complicated, it... may take some time."

"Everything does," Donnie mutters. "... New deal, though. I want a sample of your world's mutagen. I'm going to find a cure for it, and you're going to offer it to every mutant you know."

"Okay." Donald nods.

"We didn't mean to seem insensitive," Angelo says. "We haven't had something like that happen to a friend before. All of our mutated friends still have their minds, and none of them turned into-"

"It's fine." Donnie hugs himself tighter. "I-I'm sorry I blew up at you. You didn't know what would happen to that person. Just... I hope he's okay."

The tension doesn't really lift, just... loosens, a bit.

The show begins again, the new mutant screaming and flopping around comically. Different sections of the screen show the various reactions of the Teens, most reacting with disgust and shock while Donald makes a joke about it being confirmed the crab cakes were indeed imitation crab.

Mikey lets out a little laugh. He's the only one. It's... not the most joke-ready mood.

On Screen, Donald's brothers look at him in disapproval of the joke as the new mutant mourns having to deal with being a fish just after getting used to acne. Donnie curls up even tighter in his seat, eyes a little misty. Mikey and April both press against his sides to comfort him.

On screen the mutant runs out of the lab. Draxum pays it no mind and simply enjoys that the mutation worked "like it did all those years ago".

Splints is the one who sighs sadly now, looking at his hands. Donnie glances over at him, and when their eyes meet, there's an unspoken understanding between them despite the previous fight.

They'd both been coming from the same place with their feelings, after all.

Screen Angelo wonders if they could be part imitation crab, making Screen Donald laugh and then disappointedly realize it Was Not A Joke. Draxum threatens Mayhem once more, spurring April O'Neil to call to action. Leon remind her they're unarmed except for Donald, and Donald brags about his staff being high-grade titanium. Raphie tries to encourage them to fight even without weapons, but April O'Neil reveals that she, somehow, found the weapons room.

"You should be leading their team," April says, her voice still soft as the mood in the room continues to feel soured.

April O'Neil laughs a little. "Lead this team of bozos and juggle college? Nah, I'll leave that to Leo and Raph."

Screen Turtles all fall down a chute, along with April O'Neil. The turtles all land in a heap of limbs while their human friend just bounces off and lands perfectly on her feet. They all marvel once again at the weapons room and begin picking out familiar weapons of katanas and nunchucks- until Raphie points out the glowy ones. With zero hesitation they all grab the clearly magic items, except for Donald. Even at April O'Neil's prompting he refuses and promises his techbo he'll never let it go-

"Ooooh, Dontron broke his promise!"

"Her spirit lives on through the mystic tech I wield, Nardo!"

"You still broke it!"

-and takes some kind of crystal instead.

Fully armed, the Screen Turtles set out to save Mayhem. Mayhem is shown to be being prodded and tormented by the gargoyles-

"If we'd seen that I would have snaped their little wings off," Raphie growls. "Who does that to a dog-thing?!"

"If we visit your world I'll help you hunt them down and snap off their wings." Raph cracks his knuckles.

One again The Screen Turtles tumble out of a chute into a heap, APril being the only one with an okay landing. Raphie begins trying to give a hero speech, when Leon adds a note. Then Donald does, and then Angelo, and Raphie can't seem to deny their notes and just finish his sentence. While they ramble, Draxum stares at them in tearful awe. Raphie tries one more time to make the speech, and finally the bored April O'Neil leaps into action!

"Ugh." Donnie leans away from the screen. "Why are your eyes bugging out like that? It's reminding me of Rockwell."

"I'll be honest, I had no idea they did that in that moment." Donald shrugs. "But as we established, our worlds have a vast different in emotive expression."

WHile the Screen Turtles panic over April O'Neil just running right in, she lands on Mayhem's cage and begins trying to chew through it.

"It is a constant," April laughs. "Ugh, that must have tasted awful."

"Didn't taste anything over the adrenaline. Now that you mention it, I'm pretty glad I didn't manage to bite through. Those gargoyles might've saved me from a nasty experience!"

Draxum uses some kind of mystic vines to attack. The Turtles just run down them, save for Leon, who is very vocal about his hatred of it. Drxum then releases a giant monster, which Leon hates the fact that it looks at him. It destroys the vines and Draxum commands it capture The Turtles as specimens. They all leap up as Raphie cries "Cowabunga!", Leon taking longer just so he can do a fancy little move.

"What was that for?" Leo looks over.

"For flair." Leon flips his mask tails like they're hair. "And the floor was a little slippery, but I saved the moment!"

The mood finally starts lifting in the room again.

Screen Leon slashes right through the monsters leg, and it roars in pain! It throws stone blocks at Raphie and Angelo, and while Raphie gets hit a few times ANgelo leaps through them with ease and laugher! Angelo uses his weapon to throw Raphie forward and-

"What's Hot Soup supposed to be?" Raph looks at his counterpart. "That's like, the second time you've said it."

"It's Pops's catchphrase form his old Lou Jitsu movies!" Raphie picks up Splints. "Say it for them, Pops!"

"Put me down! You cannot force a Hot Soup moment!" Splints waves his arms in protest. "It is not just some catchphrase, it is a warriors battle cry! It is not my fault it also happens to look good on t-shirts and merchandise!"

Screen Raphie slams into the monster's face, knocking it to the ground! Donald jumps in, his battle shell opening to Flight Mode (making Donnie drool over the tech once more). He tries again with the two rockets on the end of his techbo, and this time it works extremely effectively! The monster is completely defeated, and Draxum admires their accidental skills as all of them but Donald lay groaning in pain in the wreckage. Leon takes it as a surrender, but alas... it is not.

"Wait wait wait, what training? You don't train at all?" Leo looks at his counterpart. Leon looks back with a defensive remark right at the tip of his tongue-

But Leo doesn't look judgemental.

He looks concerned. It reminds Leon so much of Raphie's looks that the snark dies before he says it.

"I do now." Leon shrugs. "We weren't really expecting to do any big fighting or heroics back then. Trust me, I learned how important it is."

Leo sits back, relaxing a little. "I'm glad. Maybe we should try training together sometime then. It looks like you end up swapping out those other weapons for ones like ours anyway, we can compare techniques. Learn from each other."

"I don't know, your guys' training session looked way more formal than we do them. We tried it that way once and it got us kidnapped for ransom."

"How did- nevermind. A little informal sparring then?"

"Now that I can get behind."

Draxum uses more mystic balls to add some kind of powerful outer layer to his arms. Their attacks do nearly nothing to him, but while he goes to brag April O'Neil finally gets the one-up on the gargoyles. Draxum uses the moment to trap her in some kind of cocoon, making Mikey launch another attack! But this time-

"IT'S A FIRE FACE!" Mikey jumps up and cheers! "DUDES, THAT'S THE COOLEST MAGIC WEAPON EV-AH!"

"I miss old Fire Face," Angelo says with a content nostalgic sigh.

Screen Angelo, of course, does not have good mastery of his weapon right away, but manages to blow up the ooze mass at the top of the machine and land a hit on Draxum nonetheless. Raphie tries next, flailing his arms and excitedly begging for it to work, and red lightning suddenly envelops his arms! He's betrayed by it, alas, and Leon decides that's a good enough signal to find his out by running right at Draxum and swinging. It... does nothing. For a second. Then it opens up two portals above and below each other, sending him on an endless loop through both.

"I think I'm going to be sick just remembering that feeling," Leon says, gagging a little. "Portal loops are not fun."

"Wait, but, what's Raphie's then?" Donnie asks. "You have portals, Angelo has, uh... fire... demons, he has... electricity?"

"It's actually a sort of energy-body thing. I can make a really big version of me, make really big or long arms, make clones, it's pretty awesome! And it's not actually our weapons, totally, it's our ninpo!"

"Your world is both fascinating and terrifying."

"Thanks! ... I think."

Screen Donald slides up next to Draxum and begins his own attack, being shockingly effective all on his own until Angelo, yanked around by his weapon, knocks into him. Draxum gives a classic 'under me you could be true warriors' speech-

"Kinda surprised Shredder hasn't ever tried that on us, actually," Mikey says.

"I think he knows we'd never go for it." Raph smirks. "Besides, we're already true warriors! I'm not saying you guys aren't by the way. Assuming you get better than this."

Angelo laughs. "So much better, I cannot wait for y'all to see how awesome we are later on!"

-and cocoons all the remaining turtles. Donald realizes the machine behind Draxum is about to blow when April O'Neil says they still need to save Mayhem, but Draxum is so preoccupied with his 'Join me' speech that he doesn't notice until Donald points it out. The explosion squishes Draxum under a rock and frees Mayhem, who's the only reason they all survive as he teleports them out! They get back to New York and celebrate their first successful fight!

"Oooooh, I get it." Leon nods as his Screen Self tries to propose a name other than Mad Dogs. "It's the thing where I almost say the show title, but then I don't! It's a running gag, I've been doing a running gag this whole time guys!"

"Wait, does that mean we're actually a TV show? Like, someone wrote us?" April O'Neil wonders.

"Don't think about it too hard," Mikey advises. "Our cartoons always reflect what's gonna happen or did happen to us most days, but like, we don't talk about that. 'Cause then it's too real."

The onscreen celebrations are ended, however, but thousands of the oozequitos flying out of the portal and into New York city! With the sun rising The Turtles have no choice but to flee back home and leave it for another day. A single oozequito flies right into the screen and squishes... ending the episode.

"Huh, it took us like, a year before something like that happened to us, with the mutagen getting all over the city and stuff! You've got some bad luck, dudes."

"But, also a pretty sick first adventure, right?" Leon nods, smiling widely. "I mean come on, we got magic weapons right off the bat!"

"It certainly makes me interested in seeing more," Splinter says, stroking his beard thoughtfully. "Many mysteries were hinted at, and much potential was shown."

"Oh, we live up to that potential, baby!" Angelo winks. "Just you wait and see!"

"Looks like we'll be waiting a while." Donald points at the screen. "We're back to their universe next."

"Awwww, man!" Mikey goes limp with disappointment. "We already know that one! I wanna keep watching you guys!"

"I'm sure we'll get back to us," Angelo assures. "I mean, how long can these shows be, anyway?"

#tmnt 2012 #tmnt 2k12 #tmnt 2018 #rottmnt #tmnt fic #tmnt fanfiction #fanfic #my attempts at fanfic

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readingbythestreetlights · 7 months

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tagged by the wonderful @crimsonicarus to share a snippet of a wip. here's the result of my recent girl!nico brain worms:

(the plan is for this to become a long nico/kimi fic---i'm at about 3k words currently and i started it yesterday)

Nico’s ponytail is giving her a bit of a headache, but she’s just a point away from beating Jenson, so she ignores it. The tennis courts outside of Nico’s hotel in Barcelona are empty except for the two of them, late February a random time of the year for anyone with a typical job to be playing tennis while vacationing in Barcelona. Pre-season testing is well underway, and Williams has looked good so far (except for Nakajima’s crash, but that’s been dealt with). Nico’s hopeful for this season, she really is.

Nico bounces the ball twice on the ground before tossing it into the air, hitting the ball right in the sweet spot of the racket on her serve. It’s 40-15, and Nico just needs to get this last set to take the match. She’s pretty confident; Jense is pretty shit at tennis.

Sure enough, after a relatively short-lived rally, the sound of the ball hitting Jenson’s side twice echoes against the concrete wall on the far side of the courts.

Nico walks over to the net, taking out her ponytail in the process. She wipes her brow with her Saint Laurent wristband.

She stands at center court, watching Jenson collect the balls on his side.

“Good game,” Nico calls. “You actually got some points this time, I’m proud!”

“Fuck off,” Jenson responds, walking over with a racketful of tennis balls. “Some of us are very singularly-talented, okay?”

“Trust me, I know you are,” Nico says with a grin, adjusting her visor.

Jenson just rolls his eyes, placing the balls back in their container.

Honda hasn’t looked great in testing, so Nico lays off a bit.

“Thanks for playing, though. Lewis hates losing to me too much to say yes when I challenge him to tennis.” They’ve played twice, Nico winning both times, and when she asked to play again, Lewis refused.

“Sounds like him.” Jenson zips his racket into its cover, Wilson spanning across the material in a huge, white font. The navy blue color of the background is nice though, Nico notes. “So, any plans for lunch?”

#fanfiction #writing #nico rosberg #girl!nico #jenson button #f1

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yenforfairytales · 1 year

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Thinking about a Fantasy AU where Prince Terry is an incredibly bored royal who's tired of Princesses and Princes alike being pushed onto him at every opportunity, until one formal dinner party Prince Daniel is there -

(All witty and sassy. Infamously obnoxious but sweet. Not to mention prettier than anyone in The Valley. Terry wishes they were seated closer at the table. Daniel even manages to make Terry laugh with a snarky response to a rude Earl or something. A genuine Terry smile is not an easy feat)

- and wouldn't you know it, but maybe King Silver was correct after all when he said that it was time Terry settle down and get married...

He goes to speak to Prince Daniel about his intentions like a gentleman, and ok maybe he's forgotten a few of the courtship steps that is their custom, but there'll be time for that later. Who wouldn't be thrilled at their good fortune that Prince Terrence would deign--

...aaaand Daniel isn't interested at all. Sorry, Terry, but Daniel has many suitors himself and you're just a bit high maintenance, aren't you? Much too important and educated above my understanding. Wouldn't want to waste your time...

Terry would be offended by the condescending little prick if he didn't recognize the calculated manipulator resting beneath the surface. A darkly kindred spirit in an angelic package.

Only Prince Terry could complain to his parents at length about someone whilst simultaneously praising them as perfect!

(Terry doesn't know what to do. everyone in the castle is exhausted. send help.)

Alternatively, I've had thoughts about Terry being betrothed to Daniel at 15, but Daniel was just a baby and yuck! I'm supposed to marry that?? and broke it off as soon as he could. And had many regrets when Daniel is of age and they meet again later.

Or maybe they stay betrothed, but it isn't a thought in Terry's head, because it's many years later when one evening he receives a letter from his intended Daniel in an attempt to get to know each other better before their impending marriage. Maybe they fall in love through letters. Maybe their families are thinking of better matches. Oh no!

What do you think? Not enough AU's you say? Too many? Totally not a transparent attempt at getting the brain worms wiggling? 👑

(I just miss them and am dying until season 6 comes out im sry)

#i miss them #brb crying #silverusso #fantasy au #my post

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enneadau · 8 months

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Series Description:

Yugi was born a girl, inspired by the fact that I found out that Atem is in fact commonly used as a girl's name. Yes I am aware of the fact that mythology states that there was an Atem who was the father of Bast, but once my brain had started ticking, well… here you go. There will be 9 main stories in this series but I make no promises how many side stories and one shots will pop up by the time the series ends. This lines up with the 9 Gods and Goddesses of the Egyptian Ennead and is the reason for the series name.

Story Links:

Kemet - Before the downfall, before Egypt went to hell, there was a Thief who wormed her way into the palace... (Complete, One Shot)

Dishonour - Finally, after years of waiting... they've got him. (Complete, One Shot)

Jb - After the events of earlier, the Pharaoh and her Shadow need a moment alone. (Complete, One Shot)

Mahad’s Tale - The moment everything went wrong in Ancient Egypt as told by Mahad in chapter 3 of Kismet. (A comic of Mahad's side of the story by https://twitter.com/fullmoondraws. 1 page up so far.)

Season Zero - After working on the Puzzle that her Grandfather gave her for eight years, Yugi finally managed to complete it. What she couldn't know was how much trouble one little trinket could cause… (Complete, 27 chapters)

In Sickness - Jou has been ill and now Yugi has come down with the same sickness. Can the spirit of the Puzzle, Oneesan work out what's wrong with her Imoto-chan before the sickness takes it's toll? (Complete, 1 shot)

For Those We Love - A sudden attack out of nowhere leaves Yugi with no choice but to travel to an island in the middle of nowhere and compete to save her Ojiisan's soul. Can she defeat Pegasus, save everyone and somehow, finally, work out how to interact with Oneesan, all without getting herself killed? (Complete, 27 chapters)

Refrain - Duelist Kingdom was hard on the Kaibas and Seto can't sleep.(Complete, 1 shot)

Kin - After surviving Duelist Kingdom, Yugi is looking forward to getting back to normality. Well, what passes for normal when you're the one who completed the Millennium Puzzle, one of your friends is the host for the spirit whose rampage ended your elder twin's reign back in Egypt and old adversaries of your grandfather have moved into town. (Complete, 15 chapters)

Kismet - After a close call in a raging inferno, Yugi is left with more questions than answers. One thing is certain: as she is, she cannot win the oncoming fight and with the future of the world at stake, she needs to know more. Thankfully, looking to the future can sometimes give you answers to the past... (Completed, 19 chapters)

Unwind - A little relaxation is good for the soul. (Set between chapters 5 & 6 of Kismet. Complete, 1 shot.)

Semestral - A collection of drabbles and one shots set in the time skip between Kismet and Battle of the Gods (Complete. 44 chapters)

Fantasia - A game to be tested, a set of rules changed and an unfair plot interrupted lead a set of adventurers into trouble. (Being written, will update VERY slowly because this arc hates me, 2 chapters so far)

Battle of the Gods - Battle City has arrived. Yugi and her twin sister, the Spirit of the Puzzle, need to compete to earn the keys to unlock the Pharaoh's missing memories and powers, but there is danger on the horizon. Will they reach their goal or will the sun set on them, and the world? (Posting, 44 chapters so far...)

Side B - The King A dip in the ocean at the end of the worst day of Yugi's life, leads to a trip from which there may be no return... (One shot, Complete)

Side B - The Pawn The cost of self sacrifice burns deep, and Amane, having risked her life and soul to protect a friend, finds herself making a journey that could end badly... (One shot, Complete)

Side B - The Knight Jonouchi Katsuya knew it was a bad move the moment he made it, but coming back from it could be more challenging than he knew… (One shot, Complete)

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crystalelemental · 2 years

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After getting my shit rocked in F2P, I decided to see how off-type would do.

Good news: really well.

Aaron, I realized, had to be Serena. She's the only off-type option with Sleep, to shut down the possibility of Heal Order. And while it took a few tries, she did it so well that we actually beat him before it became a problem. Good job, Serena. Glad you continue to be ridiculous.

Flint was determined to be the best recipient of Ghost Gals. They killed him pre-sync, despite -2 cooldown. They are literally unstoppable.

Bertha was a tough one to decide on, but at this point I realized something. I was using every Lillie alt. Initially I was just saving Kimono Jasmine, but now it's a thing. So for Lilliebee, I needed someone who had need of crit rate buffing, to speed up their onslaught. And wouldn't you know it, SS Serena's right there, needing that extra turn for Thousand Waves to set up bonus damage. It actually took three tries to get right, but nothing too extreme, and entirely because I insisted on -2 cooldown. Once I dropped that it was first try.

Unfortunately, there are only four Lillie alts, so one team had to be different, and I opted to show Psychic-type Supremacy against Lucian. “So, SS Lusamine?” Sorry, I have Caitlin-themed brain worms. The good news is, she could do it. I'm so ridiculously proud of this team. And this was on -2 cooldown, by the way. Caitlin could explode the sides, and with enough Psychic-terrain inspired damage on the center, Lucian would go down too. Note, "could." Of the 15 hits she got from our five attempts at a sync move, 7 missed crit, including two in the finale against Lucian and Exeggutor. 80% chance to crit is looking an awful lot like 50% chance.

Then, Cynthia. And I am just...so happy that base Lillie has received the buff of being ridiculous against both Cynthia fights. The bonus accuracy is fantastic, and Serena really just needed the guaranteed crit for her sync nuke. After that, it was smooth sailing. She barely missed the OHKO on Cynthia, but this may have been a boon, as it allowed us to more effectively queue up moves against the sides. Stoutland was terrifying as always, but Charm kept Snorlax from being too much of a threat.

Overall, way easier than F2P. Which is weird; it's easier to off-type with premium than on-type with F2P. I blame the lack of good buff bots.

Weenie Award goes to Cynthia. Not to be harsh, but she took exactly one try. Everyone, even Flint, but up more of a fight. Once you beat her accuracy debuffs, she's really tame.

Big Dick Award goes to Lucian, which is a bit of a handicap with Caitlin being chosen over SS Lusamine, but I think the fact Close Combat dealt over 1200 to a +4 max HP SS Dawn and killed her instantly should speak for itself.

Most Impressive Award goes to Bertha. I didn't get much of a chance to see her in action when we ran Candice, but she sets Sandstorm on sync as well, and has a pretty devastating combo of Earthquake into sync that is really hard to prepare your frail sides for.

Overall this didn't feel too bad. By premium standards, this wasn't anything too outrageous, even compared to previous Leagues. I kinda feel like maybe...some of these tactics are very specific? Like...Cynthia's the best example. All her plays have been accuracy boosting, but if you have an answer to accuracy, you can win pretty easy. But all the accuracy buffers are premium, and that's a huge problem for F2P. Lucian's a solid example just based on the dearth of good F2P flying types, and I feel like without Candice, Bertha would've been a huge problem as well. And of course, there's Aaron. But all of them become a lot easier once you have more premium options around. We have a ton of Flying types in the general pool, and Flying Zone to blitz Lucian just fine. We have Hala for Ice-types, to say nothing of the seasonal picks. And Aaron? Once you have premium picks that have great disruption effects, you can beat him by just...stopping Heal Order. I think a large part of why everyone is yelling about him is because he's not easily taken down in one sync nuke, which makes the usual approach of "Buff bot and two offensive sets" not as viable. He's a counter to a particular playstyle, rather than an unbreakable wall. It's just that many of the better tools are not F2P. Though I do wonder about Sophocles. I gotta test that one...

Premium players definitely still have the tools to beat this, even off-type. It's still hard as hell, but I do think that, at least on Reddit's end, the frustration with Aaron is slightly exaggerated. If nothing else, they did give you the option to stall cheese him effectively with the passive damage parameter.

#pokemon masters #champion stadium #off type clear

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olden-towne · 6 months

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tagged by @oplishin

first 10 songs when on repeat playlist gets shuffled:

Love Again by Dua Lipa

Who the Hell Is Edgar? by Teya and Salena

Nightmare Night by GLAZE and WoodenToaster

Viva La Gloria? (Little Girl) by Green Day

Evidemment by La Zarra

Physical by Dua Lipa

Vampire Money by My Chemical Romance

Beyond Her Garden by GLAZE and WoodenToaster

Feel Good Inc. by Gorillaz

Peacemaker by Green Day

my top 15 tv shows:

15. Amphibia: It was trying to be a disney sitcom with a whacky premise and also a shonen anime. For the most part, the shonen anime stuff was good, the sitcom stuff was not as much. Season 2 was my favorite. Also polyam rights.

14. Star Vs the Forces of Evil: I like Eclipsa. What the fuck was that finale? I mean, I know no one saw it. I know it is how it is because low ratings led to an early cancellation, but still, what the fuck was that finale?

13. The IT Crowd: some of it has aged poorly, chiefly the views of its head writer, however, I grew up with it, its hilarious and it still holds a special place in my heart.

12. Ugly Betty: What a fucking telenovela. I mean, it pretends to be a sitcom, but its a telenovela. Every twist shocked and delighted me with its insanity. Betty has bad taste in men.

11. Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt: I love every single character in this show. I love Kimmy and Lillian and Titus Andromedon and Artie Goodman. It runs on cartoon logic and thats wonderful. It has gotten in some hot water for its depictions of Native Americans, which I don't feel qualified to comment on. its not yikes, its just weird. Last season kind of drags though since everyone's pretty much done with their arcs and feels like the writing changed hands to someone less good.

10. The Good Place: I love all of the characters so much, good as this is a very character driven show. Hilarious, wonderful emotional arcs, masterful twists, and an amazing, heart wrenching ending. Jeremy Bearimy is the new wibbly wobbly timey. Chidi sees the time knife. There is no "answer" but also Eleanor is the answer. BORTLES!

9. The Owl house: great show, finale was the best it could be given the limitations imposed on it by homophobic Disney, those dickweeds. I love all the characters, except Amity, whose only character is being Luz's girlfriend.

8. Infinity Train: Volume 2 was my favorite. Bring it back HBOmax, you rat bastards.

7. Adam Ruins Everything: rewired my brain as a child. I wouldn't not be the person I am were it not for that show.

6. Fleabag: So good, so funny, love that hot priest. If you haven't seen it, you need to watch it all as soon as possible.

The top 5 is not my top 5 as a result of quality but of brain worms. Not to say that some of them aren't good, but still.

5. Gravity Falls: best Disney show ever. The spooky cryptid vibes, and the humor, impeccable.

4. My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic: my mantra for this show is often bad rarely boring. I saw all nine seasons, and it got bad after season six. You can feel the bronies pull on the show in the later seasons and that is a bad thing.

3. Sex and the City: has its good moments. Maybe not good exactly, but interesting, memorable, never not entertaining. Also intriguing as a cultural artifact in my opinion. It is very *of its time* plus I have the brain worms. Also fuck Big.

2. Doctor Who: also has its good moments. Has largely been downhill since RTD left, but I have the brain worms. I started watching it with my gf and RTD's coming back so its on my mind

Crazy Ex-Girlfriend: Best show of all time, fucking fight me

@whoateallmynachos if you'd like

#tag game

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miss-writes-a-lot · 10 months

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Warning ⚠️: This post includes spoilers for the Afflicted podcast and some from MHA for anyone interested in either.

I am very aware that this is a thing that I'm utterly obsessed with. I am aware that I think about this AU a very unhealthy amount to the point I neglect my other projects. But it makes me happy and I want to talk about it, so there's that. So yeah, this is probably going to be the master post and/or the general information post because I need to get the brain worms out so I can function slightly normally for the next few days and focus on other projects.

Content Warning(s) ⚠️: This post includes descriptions/mentions of death, violence, burning/being burned alive, mental breakdowns/deterioration, and Enji Todoroki's bad parenting. Viewer discretion is advised.

Here we go:

The general gist: The Afflicted AU came about after listening to the podcast of the same name as well as Neal Illustrator's cowboy au. It's an anthology podcast that deals with a skin-bound book wreaking havoc across time and place. There are characters who practice the hoodoo belief system, but because that is a closed practice that I am not part of/do not practice, I chose to use a more fictional version of magic just because I don't want to appropriate someone's beliefs and practices that aren't my own.

I am loosely following the plot of the first season where the book is summoned to the fictional town of Shinmaki and the town's supposed pariah (Toshinori) and his family + friends + people he knows to save the town before a terrible terror destroys the town because of family feuds that turned murdery at some point.

The story is from multiple POVs, the main ones being Izuku Midoriya, Hawks, and some third omniscient in certain situations. (Still working that out), and Dabi. It's more from Izuku's perspective as he is the main character in this, but it has multiple POVs. There will be angst in most of them.

Magic system/history (?): Since I've already explained that I'm choosing to use a more fictional magical system, I'm going to try to explain it.

There are (or in this case, were) many different families that practice magic over multiple generations. It's in the blood and very rare for some outside of those designated families "blessed" with magic to cultivate or have magic themselves. As far as the story goes, there are only 7 families left because the rest sort of died out (take that statement as you will).

They have magical objects called Talisman. They are objects imbued with magic that can boost their abilities or act as protection wards depending on how it's used but those are the common two. Talismans can be anything – jewelry, lighters, stationary, etc. It can't transform into anything, it's more like a power-up or protection ward.

Normal people can use these talismans but it doesn't give them magic. They can only use what's inside of it, and more often than not it has negative consequences.

The magic in this universe is like a muscle– you need to work it to keep it at its prime and if you don't, it waxes and wanes but never fully goes away…unless under certain circumstances.

Main Cast:

Given all the shit I have planned, it's hard to nail down the main cast but I am going to try and point out the important ones. Not all of them will have Povs within the story but they are important. So bear with me, please.

Izuku Midoriya: The main protagonist. Despite having no magic, he is an apprentice to his neighbor and former principal/teacher, Toshinori Yagi. He's chronically late due to always going over their training sessions and he has thousands of notebooks full of spells and little homework. He is 15 at the time of the story. His Talisman is a beaded bracelet he made in art class. Everyone made him a unique bead to give to him and it is very heavy.

Toshinori Yagi: The former principal/teacher of Izuku’s middle school. An eclectic witch who is married to Shouta Aizawa and Hizashi Yamada but is currently estranged from them. He's chronically ill, made worse by an injury he mysteriously sustained a year prior to the events of the story. He's a plant dad, lives alone beside the Midoriya’s house, and in his late 30's to early 40's (I’d say 45 in this au). His talisman is TBA.

Shouto Todoroki: Izuku’s childhood friend whose brother died in a fire and whose mother, stricken with grief and long-brewing resentment, was admitted to the hospital shortly after. He doesn't disclose much about his home life, preferring to stay far away from home for long hours – or at least until his father comes looking for him. He's one of the top students at their high school and plans on attending college in a different prefecture. He's 15.

Katsuki Bakugou: Izuku's other childhood friend. Hotheaded, blunt as fuck, and chronically done with everyone’s shit, he lets everyone know what's on his mind – very loudly. He, Izuku, and Shouto have been like the three musketeers since they were in diapers. No matter how much he complains about them, he’s very much a good friend who offers them rides because he’s the only one with the car. He is also 15.

Shouta Aizawa-Yamada-Yagi: Izuku’s high school homeroom teacher. Toshinori’s estranged husband and father to Eri, Hitoshi, and Kyouka. Chronically tired. Doesn’t know what made Toshinori pull away and has been trying to get him to come back. Cares about all his students, but they drive him up the wall sometimes. He’s 44 in this au.

Hizashi Yamada-Aizawa-Yagi: Izuku’s high school music and English teacher. Shouta and Toshinori’s husband and father to Eri, Hitoshi, and Kyouka. Also cares very much about his kids. A music producer for a company in the city. Also wants to know what injured Toshi and what made him pull away. He is also 44 in this au.

Eri Aizawa-Yamada-Yagi: Toshinori, Shouta, and Hizashi’s adopted daughter. Attends Masegaki primary school. Has some power that allows her to hear/see ‘Star Friends’ that inform her of things about to transpire/are already transpiring. Very shy but very kind as well. She is 8 in this au.

Keigo Takami: A former deputy sheriff for the Shinmaki, Keigo Takami is a single dad who now takes up part-time jobs around town. He is the boyfriend of the deceased Touya Todoroki. He is trans (FtM), has chronic pain, has a knife, and is 29 in this au.

Enji Todoroki: The head sheriff of Shinmaki, Shouto’s father, and kind of an ass. Expects a lot out of his kids and according to gossip, is the reason his wife was admitted into the mental hospital. A hardass with no time for games or foolishness such as so-called magic. He’s 52 in this au (they had Touya very early and Shouto very late, that’s why he’s that old).

Dabi: The Arsonist that is obviously Enji’s dead son and Keigo’s dead boyfriend who’s somehow alive and now a whole-ass murderer joined by a gang of “bandits” helping out a mysterious benefactor in search of a book. Smokes like a chimney and is 30 in this au.

Tomura Shigaraki: The apprentice to someone known as ‘Sensei/The Boss’. A vengeful man looking for retribution and the magic book that will ensure that future. He’s 28 in this au.

The Boss/Sensei: Another vengeful soul that’s much worse than Tomura. Leads this group of bandits to aid him in this search for an ancient evil that has been spread across time, but always out of reach.

Recurring Side Character(s):

Suzume Takami (Because I can’t just be a normal person who can make a fic without this bitch): Keigo’s daughter who attends Masegaki primary school alongside Eri and talks to birds, specifically a sparrow she calls Malcolm that lives in the oak trees behind and in front of her house. She’s very colorful in this au, dressing in a lot of bright colors and being very excitable, especially with glitter. She is 7 years old in this au.

Fumikage Tokoyami: Izuku’s classmate and a close family friend to the Takamis. Basically Suzume’s older brother, and mostly the same. Very protective of Suzume and Keigo and has lived across the street from them for years. Aged 15.

Ochaco Uraraka: Izuku’s other childhood friend and classmate. Class treasurer, cheerleader, and one of the very few responsible people in their class who has yet to cause any lasting property damage. Helps the boys get away with their schemes sometimes. Aged 15.

Class 1A/B: I couldn’t have a MHA au without the Class A/B Crew! They’ll be sprinkled throughout the story, with a lot of angst. Most, if not all of them are 15.

LOV: Of course I have to include them as well. It’s mostly the main crew: Mr. Compress, Toga, Spinner, Twice, Mange, Geten, Skeptic, Kurogiri, etc. All are close to, if not their original ages. I just changed the other ages to fit in with the timeline I’m attempting to set up with this au.

Last Notes: This Au is still very much a wip. I sort of have an outline and at least 2 chapters out on ao3, so if you’re interested feel free to check it out. It’s just my two current interests mushed together that have become a mega obsession these past three or so months.

Will I continue to talk about it forever until it eventually leaves my brain to make room for something else? Yes. Yes I will. And I’m content with that. For now.

And for now, I will continue to write a bunch of random shit and update the themes to my blogs and such.

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mybrainproblems · 3 years

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Really it is kind of wild how much the CW has de-centered the writers and behind the scenes creatives from the narrative around the Supernatural finale and the confession (and the show in general!). Like yes we know that Misha and Bobo pushed for the Cas confession and advocated for it, but the conversation has centered SO MUCH around the actors rather than the people who actually wrote and developed the story.

I'm not saying that people should be directly confronting the writers or directors but there's a larger structure (which includes Singer and CW and a lack of diversity in the entertainment industry) to be criticized and pushed back on. And I think that's far more important to discuss that than knowing whether Jensen thinks Dean reciprocated or how he interprets it. I've seen a lot of people talk about the network silencing destiel etc so I know we're all aware that there are larger forces at work here than like, some silly little actor men's silly little opinions. But they're the faces that we know and the faces that have been put forward by the network over and over again to have to talk about this rather than say, putting fuckleming on the stand stage to discuss what the fuck the Lucifer call was all about. Why Atomic Monsters? Why lamp? Why [omitted]?

And these men are well paid and choose to go on stage but the truly hard hitting questions about story choices and destiel aren't necessarily their choices. We can talk about jacting joices but they're all filming day decisions, those joices were made after scripts were written and the plot set down by the writers, approved by producers and finally by the network.

I just feel like there's going to be a lot of hurt over whatever Jensen does end up saying because he's really not in a position to discuss those story choices as someone who you know, didn't actually write the story. (And also has a continued professional relationship with the WB/CW.)

It's been so normalized over the years that the actors speak for the characters and fans have been encouraged to see the actors as their characters and parasocialize with those actors to a sometimes unhealthy degree. I keep thinking of the clip where the actors and Carver are at Comic Con and they just refuse to answer about Charlie's death and let Carver take all the heat and that's honestly what is needed here.

Why should we give a fuck what Jensen has to say? He's a conduit for the story put down by writers and approved by TPTB. Yeah the man is the OG Dean kinnie but Dean isn't a real person, he's an amalgam of writers' choices and jacting joices. Which yeah! It's about the microexpressions but they are the micro details to the macro of the overall story direction. How can a character escape the narrative whims of the writer? A character doesn't have agency, they are the creation of an authorgod. A plastic ken doll with a (very pretty) malleable face.

Which! This is an insane show for insane people because that is the plot of seasons 14 & 15. How does a character escape the narrative of the creator and make their own choices? How can a character attain free will when they exist for their creator's amusement? Why do the actors have to take the brunt of the fandom's questions and criticisms about All That when All That is the result of like five different layers minimum of behind the scenes people making decisions?

I just feel like yeah, I also want to know what Jensen thinks about it but I think his sexy silence is also fucking brilliant. He said he thought the confession was important to people and he was happy about that, commented that he initially didn't like the ending for Dean and then peace'd out. The story wasn't his, and in the end he's just a vessel for writers and a conduit for network profits.

my brain is full of worms but i think that all made sense and is mostly grammatically correct...

#the meta metanarrative of spn is mindboggling and makes for a fascinating study in pomo storytelling #spn giving me brainworms about the agency not only of characters but of actors in the modern network tv landscape #which is an entirely separate piece of commentary #i do think it's fascinating that jensen has lived his entire adult life under the microscope of celebrity which has to do something #to your fucking brain chemistry #spn #spn meta #destiel #still getting paid to be insane about spn today lads #let's also file this under #mbp writes

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brucespringsteendotcom · 3 years

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Maybe I just have worms in my brain but I feel like when a character exists in a continuously evolving medium for 15 years he does start to exist in a metaphysical sense. and maybe when he does things that don't align with who the audience knows him to be it's because of bad writing; he, as a person with agency, wouldn't do those things; he's being toyed with like a doll by writers who don't understand who he is and what his motivations are. Call me delusional but this is why I'm comfortable ignoring all of Dean's horrific ooc behavior in the later seasons. Like yes he did those things but I don't think he would ever do them and therefore he didn't! This is also why you shouldn't run a show which allows several writers to have unresolved conflicting interpretations of characters.

#im fucking cringe but i am free

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yells-of-the-not-so-danged · 2 years

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I posted 1,961 times in 2021

205 posts created (10%)

1756 posts reblogged (90%)

For every post I created, I reblogged 8.6 posts.

I added 681 tags in 2021

#tag the art - 163 posts

#ninjago - 98 posts

#ninjago masters of spinjitzu - 95 posts

#lego ninjago - 84 posts

#garmadon ninjago - 52 posts

#ninjago garmadon - 51 posts

#lord garmadon - 49 posts

#garmadon - 40 posts

#young garmadon - 26 posts

#batim - 23 posts

Longest Tag: 138 characters

#like for example toxic chemicals (like in snake bites) can cause neurotoxicity which can cause damage to the part of your brain that is in

My Top Posts in 2021

Ninjago headcanons!

- Garmadon has to duck to enter doorways because even before gaining two more arms he was freakishly tall

- He has rammed his head MANY TIMES because of this and has suffered many concussions over the years

- Wu installed cushions above all the doorways in his monastery

- The glow-worm song Cole sang while going undercover (in season 9 I believe??) has become an inside joke between all the ninja.

-None of them can remember the actual lyrics, currently, the going lyrics are, "Glow little glow-worm, rock ya little body. Don't let it fade out, rock ya little body."

-Pixal and Zane know the actual lyrics and have told the ninja many times but the ninja always forget, eventually they gave up and let the dum dums have their fun

- Dareth has a day named after him

- Skylor is a great rollerskater and made it a point to teach kai once the tournament was over

- The ninja tend to forget about all the cool stuff they can do with their elemental powers, like how they could make elemental vehicles or the elemental dragons...

-Lloyd and Wu still take care of the Ultra Dragon

- Currently Ultra (Dragon) is taking another self-guided tour of the realms, they never were one to stay in one place ( especially after all those years of guarding the golden weapons )

146 notes • Posted 2021-05-06 17:26:55 GMT

I felt like hurting people today :)

156 notes • Posted 2021-12-03 15:24:49 GMT

sketch the ninja! draw the ninja! then add snakes cause they're cool!

183 notes • Posted 2021-03-15 23:12:39 GMT

Happy Dareth day!!!

191 notes • Posted 2021-07-30 16:33:11 GMT

See the full post

216 notes • Posted 2021-05-24 16:52:06 GMT

Get your Tumblr 2021 Year in Review →

#my 2021 tumblr year in review #your tumblr year in review #THE ONE POST THATS NOT NINJAGO IS MY TOP POST AKSFSKADAFSFJE

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ieatmypizzawithaforkandknife · 3 years

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MAG 022 - Colony

Summary: Martin Blackwood dictates his statement regarding “a close encounter with something I believe to have once been Jane Prentiss.”

So can we all agree that Martin is the most adorable person ever and needs to be protected at all costs? Because within the first minute of this episode he was firmly placed in the Smol Bean category of my brain, and there he shall forever be. I am quite certain I will end up crying about this man at some point.

I’m really glad I listened to this episode again after finishing the season, because even in the short time between this episode and the season finale, so much of my opinions on Jonathan himself and on the relationship between Jonathan and Martin have changed. I know, this episode was about Martin - but it was also the first time we actually got to see these two characters interact, as opposed to Jonathan just making offhand comments about Martin’s supposedly subpar work. (Poor Martin. Mean Jonathan.)

I love how Martin says, “I just want to make a statement about what happened to me. I mean...it’s what we do!” and Jonathan’s immediate reply is, “No, what we do is research statements - usually those made by liars and the mentally unwell.” His tone holds its usual amount of derision, but after listening to the last few episodes of S1, I can’t find it in myself to hold it against him anymore. (I never claimed to be good at reading people.) Towards the end of the episode, Jonathan tells Martin he can sleep in the Archive, basically doing what I think was the Jonathan version of reassuring him, by telling him how safe it is. His tone isn’t reassuring - it’s very factual, as he lists off all the different ways the Institute is a safe place and by telling Martin he’ll ask Elias about adding some extra security. But if Jonathan were just trying to get Martin to sleep there so he wouldn’t lose a research assistant, he probably could’ve just told Martin to stay there and Martin would’ve listened. He seems to care about Martin in a way that isn’t shown in his offhand remarks in previous episodes. And while there’s a slight admonishment when he says, “No, what we do is research statements”, it smacks more of a concerned admonishment than an angry one to me. Conclusion: Jonathan is, as always, terrible with people, but not because he doesn’t care.

I’m also wondering how much of the “No, what we do is research statements” line was Jonathan and how much was Elias. It reminded me of what Jonathan said when he was contemplating bringing up the Leitner situation to Elias in episode 17: “I know he’ll just give me the old “record and study, not interfere or contain” speech again”. In particular, the word “again” indicates it’s something they’ve butted heads on before. It’s interesting that in this episode Jonathan seems to take Elias’ position on the issue. It could be that he’s just trying to be responsible in a general sense and that he doesn’t want to be liable if anything happens to Martin. But, taken with what I said in the previous paragraph, it could also be read as “I’d like to discourage this man from further endangering himself in the future because I care about him and I cannot/do not know how to express this directly, so I will hide behind what my own boss has told me many times.”

On the subject of Martin himself - I don’t think I can properly express how much I already love this adorable, nervous man. There were just so many great lines from him in this episode, whether for characterization or for humor - and often it was both. The long beat of silence after “Well, I need to tell someone what happened, and you can vouch for the soundness of my mind, can’t you?” Also: “Look, I know you hate the word, but it was really…spooky.” And “I was heading home when I got to thinking, and…I was worried I hadn’t really done enough investigation for you”. And “I’ve catalogued and looked into enough of these cases to know that following the noise is always a really, really bad idea, but…I mean…it’s my job, isn’t it?” And finally, at the very end when Jonathan offers him a place to stay at the Archive, he’s so flustered, both at the offer and at the very idea that Jonathan believes him. He’s basically tripping over himself and cringing as he gives his own statement, so hung up on the idea that he won’t be believed or that this isn’t enough.

And who can blame him? If you really think about what happened to him...I can’t blame him for thinking he wouldn’t be believed or that no one would be concerned for his safety. From his perspective, he just spent thirteen days alone in his apartment with no electricity, no company, no way to communicate with the outside world - and, to his knowledge, not a single person checked up on him! Obviously that was a good thing, because if someone had come to his door, they would have been met with Jane Prentiss - but Martin went for almost two weeks without a single good night’s sleep, eating ready meals and canned food, being constantly startled by her knocking, and he had to have wondered, at least once, why no one even wondered where he was.

One key to Martin’s survival was that he had plenty of water: “Luckily there was no problem with my water supply, so I had plenty to drink. I’m just glad none of them thought to come up through the pipes.” I genuinely can’t tell if Jonny’s hanging a lampshade on the issue or if we’re supposed to wonder why the worms never came up through the pipes, but in any case I am wondering it. Another key to his survival is that, despite not having a peephole, Martin somehow knew when she’d gone - and he wasn’t entirely sure how he knew. He surmises that the musty smell surrounding her must have been gone, and he didn’t hear any knocking for a little while, but in the end he has to confirm her absence by simply opening his door - which, if he were wrong, would have led to certain death - or, as he says at one point, “worse”.

Another mystery to me is when Martin goes into the basement of the building on Boothby Rd the first time and this happens: “I didn’t like the way my shadow moved. The light from the window behind me cast it pretty clearly on the floor, and looking at it I swear the edges seemed to move…it’s was like a, like an undulation…like, like they were being shifted by something.” He doesn’t follow this up with “and then I noticed my ‘shadow’ was actually worms on the floor”, so this doesn’t seem like a Jane Prentiss thing to me, or a Carlos Vittery’s spider thing either. And if it isn’t associated with either of the two known Boothby Rd-related entities, then it was something else entirely, which has me worried. But that’s the only mention of anything like a shadow being “shifted” in this episode, so for now I’m hoping I’m just reading too much into things.

There were so many excellent visual descriptions in this episode, so kudos to Jonny as always, and in this case kudos also to Alex for the performance. Martin describes the Jane Prentiss worms as “maybe an inch long, with a silver segmented body that goes black at one end, almost like it’s been burned.” This could just be a general creepy description, but I would be remiss if I didn’t point out the “burning” imagery here, given all the times fire and burning have come up before, even though I’m not sure what specifically it might be connected to from previous episodes. More concrete, though, is the difference between Jane Prentiss’ clothing when Martin encounters her and what she was wearing in her first appearance in episode 6. Harriett Lee, her victim in that episode, told Timothy Hodge, the man who gave the statement, that she found Prentiss wearing a long red dress. By contrast, Martin finds her in the basement wearing “a threadbare grey overcoat, though beneath it her legs were bare” (so, she’s no longer wearing the long red dress) and holding “a stained green handkerchief.” The events of episode 6 occurred in late November 2014 - almost a year and a half before Martin’s encounter with her. So why was she still in that area after all that time? We know she isn’t physically unable to leave - she follows Martin all the way to his home in Stockwell. And where did she get the overcoat and the handkerchief? I’m assuming it came from another victim, though she could have stolen them I guess. As far as we know they never did follow up with Timothy Hodge, despite Jonathan noting in that episode that they probably should. Jonathan also hasn’t mentioned looking into missing persons reports from the area either, even though that seems to me like an obvious thing to investigate.

Speaking of investigating...my ears perked up when the owner of the building told Martin that Carlos’ cat now lives with the Sanderson couple in apartment 2. I immediately flashed back to episode 15 and Laura Popham’s missing (presumably dead) sister, Elena Sanderson. (I remembered the name because of the Sanderson sisters, of course. #90schild) I don’t think it’s an actual connection, though, for two reasons: First, it doesn’t fit the timeline. Elena went missing in June 2014, and this Sanderson couple apparently still lives in this building in early 2016. It could be a relative, or maybe she magically reappeared, but I don’t see any specific reason to think either of those things. Second, there are something like 20,000 people with that surname living in England (yay genealogy websites). If it were a less common name, I’d be more suspicious, but as it stands now I’m keeping it in mind but leaning towards it being a coincidence.

Some final thoughts on Jane Prentiss. She apparently “called herself to be a practicing witch and believed [herself] to be infected by a dangerous, unknown parasite.” This is the first time the word “witch” is mentioned in the show (unless you’re counting Julia Montauk going to see The Witches in episode 9 lol), but not the first time we have seen something, or someone, witch-like. There are almost too many examples of things that could be considered “magic” to list, but the ones that stand out to me the most as potentially witch-like are: Mary Key being alive and the bones falling out of the books in episode 4; Agnes Montague/Fielding/whatever her name is and her apparent agelessness in episode 8; Robert Montauk’s heart ritual in the shed in episode 11; the unnamed man’s chanting in the hospital in episode 12; and Angela in episode 14. I’m not sure how any of these might be connected, but now that the word’s been mentioned I’m considering it a possibility.

And lastly...“Keep him. We have had our fun. He will want to see it when the archivist’s crimson fate arrives.” Jonathan’s voice when he read that last part, man. Martin asks what it means, and he sounds genuine, but Jonathan...I think Jonathan was thinking the same thing I am: that “the archivist’s crimson fate” sounds an awful lot like the description of Gertrude Robinson’s death as foretold in the dream from episode 11, particularly in the description of the Institute: “It was this building into which all the veins flowed: every door, every window was solid with them. When the bursts of red light passed into it, the whole building glowed crimson.”

This post is part of a series where I write my thoughts about each episode and obsessively connect dots in an effort to figure out The Big Mysteries of the series. All posts in this series are tagged “is this liveblogging?” Comments and messages are welcome but I have only listened to season 1, so I ask that you not spoil me for anything beyond episode 40. In the words of Jonny Sims…thanks for listening!

Minor spoilers for a later episode in S1 after the cut.

Just have to take a moment to freak out about the fact that I completely forgot about Martin’s description of Jane Prentiss’ skin as “full of holes - deep, black holes just honeycombing every bit of flesh like a…wasps’ nest.” HOW DID I NOT NOTICE THAT HE USED THE EXACT SAME WORDS SHE DID IN HER STATEMENT. Like, I don’t know if it’s significant, or if the description just fit so well that Jonny wanted to reuse it, but...damn.

#personal #liveblogging #is this liveblogging?#The Magnus Archives #how do I always end up writing BOOKS #I thought this one was gonna be shorter too #also I'm officially switching over to Gerard instead of Jared even though I still don't think that's what it sounds like at all #it bugs me

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