#but also he did fight in a war and has had to raise a kid on his own. I think I'm just gonna let him have this one.

[fyrewalks]

officially meet tommy kinard, andie's (@lvebug) uncle

Tommy is born on Nov 10, 1980 to two successful parents - his dad is an award-winning chemistry prof at ucla and his mom owns an event planning business that has strong Hollywood ties 

His full name is Thomas Elijah Kinard, but he’s always gone by Tommy.

He has an older sister, Rebecca, who is 11 years older. Despite the age difference, they are very close. 

Tommy is a shy kid, mostly - and it works out. He doesn’t mind being left at home or hanging out in his parent’s offices or backrooms of events so long as he’s got books and comics and tv to keep him entertained. 

The trouble starts when he’s in middle school. He switches from a Jewish day school to a public school, and alongside a growth spurt, he starts to outgrow his shyness. He gets into sports, makes new friends, and it becomes clear that he was an ‘oops’ baby with two parents who prioritize their own careers and miss a lot of his games and extracurriculars.  They already did it once with Rebecca, and beyond keeping up appearances, don’t want to do it again with Tommy. 

Tommy is 15 (1995) when he moves in with Rebecca and her fiance, James.

He’s on the football team, popular both academically and outside of school, but he’s still a shy kid at heart and keeps an eye out for outcasts. 

After his third fight, his parents are done with his antics. No one cares that he was only standing up against a few bullies; he threw the first punches. 

Despite the potential for awkwardness, it’s a relatively smooth transition. He’s happy to spend more time with his sister and bonds with James over cars and football. 

Tommy stops attending synagogue. Rebecca encourages him to go but respects that their parents made it feel like an obligation. He keeps up culturally, though. 

Tommy graduates high school early; he starts college/rotc at 17 (1997) and finishes at 20 (2000).

While Rebecca and James are welcoming, Tommy’s aware he’s holding back their relationship. Plus, between Andie being born in ‘96 and him no longer living with his parents, there’s a fire to get started with his ‘adult’ life. 

His football coach is an army vet and knowing his interest in cars, figures Tommy would make it well as a mechanic or get some advanced training for something more technical. 

Tommy plans on just enlisting, but Rebecca pushes him to consider college. (They were, after all, raised by the same parents who put a heavy emphasis on education.)

He attends ucla and joins the rotc, considering it a compromise. Between the program and his father’s benefits as a professor there, most of his expenses are covered. While his parents don’t love his plan, they support him monetarily, and really, they know his success and future army career reflect well on them. 

Tommy majors in psychology figuring it’ll be easy since he had no real interest in going to college.

This chunk of time is also when Tommy starts noticing his interest in men. There are a few hookups, but it’s explained away with tiny excuses and the idea that he’s young and horny. Although, he is careful to keep it away from his budding army career. 

Beyond that, Tommy thrives in college. He was a popular kid in high school so this is no different. He’s charming and genuinely kind. (And being a guy’s guy, aka into typically masculine things, doesn’t hurt.)

Tommy secures a spot in flight school (20-21) and is an active duty as a helicopter pilot until 2004. 

He might’ve dragged his feet about his college, but he ends up grateful since his status as an officer comes with better pay and a chance to become a pilot. 

Given the timing, Tommy faces a lot of pressure to continue past his initial active duty commitment. While he’s faired better than some in terms of only suffering minor injuries, he didn’t understand the scope of his commitment nor did he imagine being in actual war when he was seventeen. He misses Rebecca and Andie; when the time comes, he decides to serve his remaining time in the reserves. 

Like college and high school, Tommy finds it easy to fit in. If his masculinity was praised in college, it’s tenfold during active duty. Of course, only as long as he plays up the same ignorance where his sexuality is concerned - he doesn’t think DADT personally affects him since he very firmly shuts down any interest in men. (Obviously, with reflection and time, he knows this was just denial and a way to keep himself safe subconsciously.) 

At 25, he is in the reserves, back in LA, and new to the 118. A few months before he finishes his probie year, Rebecca and James are killed in a car accident. In their wills, it’s their final wish that Tommy take in Andie, who is almost eight years old. 

His parents offer some financial support, but not much else. They further withdraw with the death of their daughter; as has been the case for a while, his parents find it easier to love him, and by extension Andie, from a distance. 

Tommy struggles a lot during this time. He’s navigating life post-army, grieving his sister and brother-in-law, and struggling to balance his job with taking care of Andie. Reserve duty also proves challenging since it requires a weekend away every month and two weeks away once a year. 

All this to say, his attitude isn’t the greatest. (It’s part resurgence of the shyness he felt as a kid and part anger at how hard everything’s become, only mildly tempered by someone who finds popularity and fitting in easier now.)

After his sister’s death, Tommy starts attending synagogue again.

While his attendance is spotty, he makes the effort to go because he doesn’t want Andie to go alone or miss out. This time, though, he feels a genuine connection to his faith rather than a familial obligation. 

The support he and Andie receive through their synagogue ultimately helps them adjust to their new life - frozen meals, car pools, babysitting, etc. 

Andie meets Chimney as his probationary year comes to an end (2007). Starting to feel more settled in their life, and having a community to fall back on, Tommy makes more of an effort to be friendlier and welcoming at the firehouse. He starts sharing more about Andie, his sister, and what his life looks like outside of shifts. 

At twenty-eight, Tommy officially retires from the reserves. He starts pursuing his flight instructor certification and becomes a certified instructor by thirty for extra income. 

Also, during this time, Tommy starts casually dating. He feels old, out of practice, and finds it hard to relate to people given he’s raising his niece. 

He dates both men and women at first, and experiments with labels, before realizing he’s gay and always has been. Andie is the first person he tells and he decides against being out at work too. 

In 2017, at 37, Tommy transfers to the lafd air station and decides he’s tired of living his life half in the closest. It’s not what he wants for himself nor the example he wants to set for Andie. He’s been proud of so much in his life (his military career, his piloting, and raising Andie through so much grief and heartache) that there’s no reason he shouldn’t be just as prideful and open with his gayness too.  

So, current season - Tommy is 44. 

other details:

alt fc if i ever make promos/icons: oliver jackson-cohen

#hc: tommy kinard #and now time for a nice nap! #smooches to dee and ric for reading this over #and all the love and support on the sneak peak and in my dms while i wrote this

[thatonecode]

do you think dick grayson feels the weight of the world sometimes do you think he lays awake at night in his tiny shitty apartment in bludhaven and thinks about how he's the one who taught bruce wayne- who taught BATMAN how to really feel and love again and how every single robin after him is his responsibility because of that ? do you think he sits at family dinners with the whole extended batfamily and thinks "i did this" because he was the first ? do you think he sees some new teen hero and is terrified for them because he was them back when he wasn't around to be looked up to ? because he was the first ? do you ever think about how he wasn't only the first robin but the first kid hero ? and every fight he won he proved that other kids could too and do you think he regrets that ?? knowing how many terrified children there are fighting wars that shouldn't be theirs to fight ???? do you think he is also so incredibly proud of all of them in a way only he can because he Came First ??????

i think he does

do you think it drives a wedge between him and the entire world ? do you think jason sees him on some rooftop in gotham and thinks about sitting down next to him but doesn't because of all the years of distance and arguments and despite everything that's ROBIN sitting there ? the original ? and how jason never would have been robin if dick hadn't proved that robin was more than a child soldier in an adults war ?? with all that between them what could jason say compared to everyone's golden boy, the perfect child, the original boy wonder ???? do you think tim ever gets over his hero worship ? or is there a split second everytime where he goes Holy shit ! it's Nightwing !! Nightwing is talking to me !!!! even after everything that dicks put him through and all the empty space between them that tim never imagined would be there ? do you think that's just the effect that dick has on people where no matter what you can't help but look at him in awe, like he's superhuman ?

do you ever think about how he was an ordinary kid ? he could have been anyone . do you think about if he was anyone else he likely would not have made it and someone else would have had to fight all the battle he did, to survive, to be taken seriously, to figure out how to breathe and live and be the light instead of being smothered in batman's shadow ??? do you think about how he was the first kid hero but he was still just a kid growing up and fighting with his dad, and moving away and making new friends and falling in love and he was still the first kid hero and he was never just a kid . he was the leader of the first kids hero team . he's never just been a kid . do you think he regrets that it was him ??? do you think when batman died he regretted everything, every single thing? i don't think he did . do you think that when he was batman, and raising batman's son the way bruce raised him, the way alfred raised bruce (always raising someone elses son) he saw himself in all the anger and the reckless way damian would throw himself into fights, in a desperate way to prove himself the only way he CAN ?? do you think dick remembers being 10 and sad and angry and needing someone else to be hurt so that it wasn't just him ??? do you think that dick regrets making damian robin because of how it forces him to look at how he himself has grown and how much robin has changed from what he made it ??? i don't think he does . do you think he ever apologies to tim ? i don't think he knows how, i think he finds himself staring at their texts and wondering what words would have fixed his hurt when bruce fired him and kicked him out . and i think he decides time and space is what did it, so time and space will do it again . i think it's the wrong decision . i think they both regret it later . do you ever think about how bruce might have tried but at the end of the day everyone went to dick because he was easier to talk to ?

do you think about how he made the hard decisions like batman did, and he lost his parents like batman did, and he grew up in a massive empty house with an emotionally distant father who tried his hardest but still felt oceans away, like batman did, and he decided to be the light where batman decided to be the shadows ? he decided he wouldn't let it break him like batman did, but batman chose to become something to fear and nightwing has always been more hopeful, brighter, flashier . do you think about how in the middle of the night young people unaccustomed to the manor might end up in dicks room instead of bruce's ? because there's always a piece of bruce that stays batman, even when he takes the cowl off ? do you think about how dick understands because he was a young person unaccustomed to the manor, standing outside bruce's bedroom absolutely terrified to go in ? and how he was the first, and all he and bruce had were eachother ?

do you think about how hard they've worked since then to make sure that no one else will be alone the way they were ? and how dick is able to help with all the younger kids when bruce can't, or won't because to a child those are the same things ?? do you think about how dick must have read the same parenting books that bruce had in his office after bruce died when he was stuck and drowning and grieving and there was a child down the hall he didn't know how to protect ???? do you think dick and bruce were closer after he came back ?? do you think that just for a moment there was an echo of their past partnership in the way they were able to read eachother ?? do you think about how dick has had a hand in raising most of the other bat kids ??? because he was the first . and he was proof it was possible to live with batman and survive it ??

because i think about it . All The Time .

#sorry folks having another Normal One #dick grayson really is my blorbo ever hes so everything to me #anyways #batfam things #batman #dick grayson #nightwing #dc nightwing #dc dick grayson #dc robin #jason todd #tim drake #damian al ghul #damian wayne #bruce wayne #cipher go to sleep

[cyanide-sippy-cup]

People who complain that Bruce Wayne is a bad person cause he "doesn't do enough" are so annoying fr.

"He just dresses up and punches mentally ill people" yeah and sends them to a facility to help them (of which many HAVE gotten better [see Waylon Jones]). A facility that has had the corruption ripped from the roots up purely for the sake of helping his own enemies. No matter how many times they break out and try to kill him, he sends them back to be rehabilitated. He only fights them because they have ice rays and mind control and all that. But even in fighting them, he usually only goes all out on the clown. He canonically tries to be soft with Harley and even temporarily gave her a job.

"He doesn't do anything with his money" bitch?? What do you think Wayne Enterprises does?? What do you think the Jason Todd Foundation is??? Why do you think he's poured his money several times into fixing Arkham Asylum??? Like bro there's literally an entire cult of other billionaires who unironically spend their time and money dismantling Bruce's efforts. He's doing the best he can with what he's got.

"He brings children into his war" Dick, Jason, Barbara, Harper, Stephanie, Duke, and Lance all either did or tried to do vigilante work without Bruce's help. Other characters like Tim and Damian refused to accept a no. He instead gave these kids a support network to do vigilante work safer and more efficiently and have them people to call family.

"The kids die or get hurt" Jason died after being betrayed by his own mother, Stephanie "died" after directly going against his orders, Tim was blown up by drones controlled by Steph's dad, Barbara was paralyzed in an attempt to upset her father, and Lance died after taking the costume and getting shot all without Bruce's knowledge (hence why it's important he takes the kids under his wing).

"He doesn't affect crime rates" in Gotham maybe, but see the Court of Owls mentioned above. He works with the JLA and JSA to take down crime all across the world and galaxy. He founded Batman Inc, a network of Batman ripoffs across the world who keep in touch, use each other's resources, and get backup from each other to fight crime in their corners of the world.

Hell, even "he's a bad father" is just bad writing. He's actually a very caring father, even if he does maybe struggle. He gave Jason his own damn library and he allows Damian to keep a whole army of weird pets (including a literal demon). He took Damian in upon learning about his existence, allowed him to express himself as Robin, sent him to school, taught him morals and compassion, and LITERALLY WENT TO HELL TO RETRIEVE HIS SOUL WHEN HE DIED. He took in Cass despite knowing Shiva would retaliate. He taught her to speak and he encouraged her to learn ballet. He even officially adopted Dick, Jason, and Tim in 3 separate emotional moments. And also bro literally adopted a piece of an alien hivemind (Jarro best Robin).

Like he was raised by Alfred-motherfucking-Pennyworth. There was never a chance he would turn out as corrupt.

#bruce wayne #batfam #batfamily #batkids #batman #jason todd #dick grayson #cassandra cain #tim drake #damian wayne #PLUS in earth 2 he had Helena and she loved her father #batman incorporated #batman fandom

[wilcze-kudly]

The Gaang being 'bad parents' didn't ruin their characters.

I've seen this argument tossed around a couple times and it's honestly one of my least favourite criticisms of lok.

Katara (and Sokka but we have no confirmed kids for him, which seems unrealistic with how much game he had) lost their mother as children and their father was forced to abandon them when they were barely starting their teens. They were raised by their grandmother with little to no peers of their own age.

Aang did not know his parents and a huge chunk of his childhood was him being groomed into taking up the mantle of the avatar and mastering airbending. He also was isolated from other kids his age. His closest parental figure was Gyatso who was more of a teacher than a father. Also the Air Nomads were literally wiped out so that adds to the trauma pile.

I really don't think i have to talk about Zuko's family life here, but at least he had relatively positive parental figures in the form of Ursa (though i do have a burning personal dislike of ursa) and Iroh. Despite this his struggle around the subject of his family and his trauma relating to his upbringing was a focal point of his character arc.

Toph was raised in isolation by her asshole abelist parents who did not listen to her, sent people to capture and bring her back and then disowned her. (If my cursory understanding of 'the rift' is correct, I need to actually read it because i am unreasonably obsessed with the Beifong family.)

Where, pray tell, were they supposed to learn proper parenting skills? On their brief stint as child soldiers? While fighting a war as literal children?

There is the argument that they must've matured later in their lives, of course. But you can only recover so much from copious amounts of childhood trauma.

Being a bad parent doesn't necessarily make you a bad person. Sure it makes you a failure in an incredibly delicate and important aspect of human life but it doesn't make you a bad person. And saying that it does takes a lot of nuance out of the conversation.

Like, do you know how easy it is to fuck up a child?

Especially that the ways the members of the Gaang 'fucked up' as parents feel mostly in character.

Bumi was going to face some struggles with self worth due to being the firstborn child of the Avatar and arguably one of the most powerful waterbenders in history, while being a nonbender himself. That much was unavoidable, no matter how his parents approached the issue.

And Aang was obviously going to be over the moon when Tenzin was born. Think about it. He's literally the last of his people. He has no one else 'like him'. No one else to pass down the traditions, the teachings that Gyatso and everyone else he cared about and who were horrifically murdered to. Aang is getting older and he feels like his culture and history and his entire life before he got trapped in that damned iceberg will die along with him. And then Tenzin is born and Tenzin can take up the mantle that had been thrust upon Aang.

I'm going to withhold my judgement on Izumi and Zuko, since we barely know anything about them. She seems well adjusted but that's all i can say right now. But Zuko has also been shown to be extremely, painfully aware of how fucked up his family is and has clearly been putting in a lot of work to unscrew what his ancestors have screwed up.

Toph situation feels very tragic to me,because it's obvious that she thought she thought she was doing better than her parents. She gave her daughters the freedom to do what they want, to not feel opressed and trapped like she had. How was she supposed to know that she was making her girls feel like she didn't love them? (Here's another post of mine about the Beifong family and how they just feel like they're cursed or something at this point.)

TLDR; I get annoyed by people saying that the Gaang being 'bad parents' ruined their characters, because to me it felt like it actually enhanced them.

Neither Aang nor Toph acted out of malice or a lack of love. On the contrary, Toph was trying not to repeat her parents mistakes, accidentally committing a bunch of her own. While Aang probably didn't even realise that he was neglecting Kya and Bumi.

But just loving your children doesn't always make you a good parent.

I think these flaws only add to them as characters. It makes them feel more real.

It's unrealistic and, frankly, just plain boring to go 'oh the Gaang were all good people so they would be good parents too.'

The Gaang were a gaggle of traumatised children forced into saving the world, because the adults around them failed them, that then grew into traumatised adults who have no idea how to be good parents.

#badly voicing my thoughts #avatar legend of korra #i know i did not write this out correctly but it is like 3 am and i am tired and mad and stressed #avatar #avatar: the last airbender #the last airbender #legend of korra #aang #avatar aang #katara #sokka #toph #toph beifong #zuko #ursa #iroh #bumi ii #kya ii #tenzin #firelord izumi #lin beifong #suyin beifong #the beifong family #the beifongs #wow look at all these traumatised people

[yonemurishiroku]

Yeah I was having too much free time and the realization has descended upon me about how much unbelievable sense it makes if Luke were to replace Nico in HOO.

Knowing about Camp Jupiter? - Yeah Idk ab you but like. Alabaster Torrington, former Lieutenant of the Titan Army, is literally out there wielding an Imperial Gold sword. Also Saturn's throne was attacked by the legionnaire. Surely there are many pieces missing but I mean the picture is there.

But how come Luke can become the Ambassador like Nico did? - You guys call Luke a manipulator all the time. He has the tongue he has the skills he has the charm. He'd be fineeeee

Also I reckon Luke vs Octavian might bring a fun dynamic to the stage idk. Former villain vs New Villain. Both with a diplomatic tongue and blonde hair and blue eyes--- Percy's gonna have an aneurysm.

Treading the Tartarus looking for the Doors of Death? - Luke's basically a (godly) federal criminal. He could have been banished to Tartarus. And who knows maybe he could have found his old shoes floating across the hell site that somehow helped him survive for all that time---

Nemesis helped Nico? Well, Nemesis is Ethan's mother and Ethan once sided with Luke back in the day, I wonder how she'd have reacted----

"The Twins wouldn't want Luke" - Well well welll. What if they did intend to take Nico but Luke somehow switched their places/ replaced him bc he refused to let the kid be a prisoner? What then?

Percy making Nico promise to lead them to the House of Hades? - Double angst bc now it's Luke - who led many demigods astray once. Would Percy have the heart to trust him? Would a promise be enough against all those times they had stood on two sides of the war?

Leading the way to the House of Hades? - Think about it. Luke's basically dead. He's a ghost. His father is also the god of traveling. Surely he can have some kind of instincts that guide him through the halls of the dead.

Transporting the Athena Parthenos? - Again. Son of Hermes, god of travel. Look me in the eye and tell me there's no plausible way Luke Castellan could have some sort of teleportation spell that magically blips them a thousand miles away.

And the best thing in all of this, is that Luke actually has the personal motive to fight Gaea.

For Nico, it's more like kindness, the "If I don't do this, those I love will die" - which is sweet, alright, but also quite universal. Luke has more than that. Luke has actually a personal reason which is he has committed the same mistake once. He brought Kronos upon them and only managed to kill him by killing himself. He sacrificed so much for the demigods' sake and now Octavian wants to raise Gaea to doom all of them? He was the one who allied himself with the monsters only to receive the bitter ending, and now Octavian intends to repeat the same mistake?

Try telling me Luke wouldn't want to rip the guy to shreds and blast Geae into pieces. I dare you.

Also obviously the hype of getting a friend-turned-foe turn ally again. How would Percy and Annabeth react? How's Thalia gonna react when Luke comes across the Amazons + Hunters when on his way transporting the Pathernos? Dammit I'd eat that shit up as if I've been starving since the day I was born.

#The only missing part is the Cupid debacle lmao idk about that tho #i dont think luke struggles with his sexuality the guy is probably as confident ab his homosexuality (if there is) as a lighthouse #so i'd give rick that #nico di angelo #pjo #hoo #toa #yone rambling #percy jackson and the olympians #heroes of olympus #trials of apollo #percy jackson #luke castellan #nico and luke #house of hades

[untitled-tmnt-blog]

Summary of Cartoon Base's Q&A with Ron Corcillo

(Feb 10, 2024)

This is VERY long, so putting it under the cut!

Apocalyptic Future

We don't know how Donnie and Raph died specifically, but it was in combat against the Krang.

The turtles were leaders of the resistance and obviously went through some serious trauma. We don't really know how that affected them emotionally. It might be interesting to do a series that explored that timeline at some point.

Leo was the best ninja fighter. Once Raph and Donnie were gone, he was also the leader of the resistance. He also had a special affinity for Casey. He may have felt particularly responsible for Casey once his mother was gone.

Mikey probably could have communicated with Raph/Donnie/Splinter in the same way they could communicate with Karai, even though we didn't get the chance to see it.

The turtles wouldn't have had time for having their own kids or starting families. They were too busy fighting the krang, and the world was too dangerous for raising children.

They couldn't work out everyone's timelines in the bad future, but presumably, Big Mama's assistant would have joined the resistance, because what else could you do? She would have to have adopted her brothers as allies.

Mikey is definitely less cheerful and more wise, but he still ultimately has faith in the goodness of people and the world. Some things, you just can't change.

The turtles are in their early 40's, but the war has taken a toll.

Characters

Splinter spent a lot of time in the Hidden City, so he knows about more mystic things than we realize. He's developed those skills (i.e. using Leo's odachi to make a portal on the first try), but they've been dormant for a while.

Donnie can temporarily create items with his powers like the ones we see in the movie, but to make a tangible item that would last, he's have to build it physically the way he would with any of his tech.

Leo probably had the hardest time accepting Draxum, since he is the most skeptical. Mikey is the one who accepts Draxum the most easily. But they did have episodes planned where Leo and Draxum work together, so Leo would have gotten over it as well.

They had never worked out a name for the second turtle sister (the first possibly being named after Frida Kahlo), but would have chosen another female artist to name her after. Maybe Camille, after Camille Claudel.

The planned sisters would be roughly the same age as the turtles, so also teenagers. The only existing designs are what we saw on screen. They had never settled on colors for them.

CJ and present Leo is kind of a weird dynamic, when you think about it. Casey still couldn't help but see Leo as a father figure, but it must be a little different when you're roughly the same age.

Leo keeps whatever he wants in the little bags he has attached to his belt. Snacks, candy, fidget toys, body spray - this is Leo, after all.

Splinter had never celebrated the turtles birthdays in the past, because he was so depressed about his own mutation. But going forward, now that he's come to grips with who he really is, he would start to celebrate that day.

A meeting between Cassandra and Casey Junior would be incredibly heartfelt. Break out the tissues.

They thought about bringing Piebald back in Man vs. Sewer, but it didn't work out. She's definitely still out there in the sewers, so there would be plenty of opportunity for the turtles to interact with her again.

Following the movie, the most serious repercussions would be to Raph mentally. He would still be carrying some of that krang mentality. He might even occasionally pick up on thoughts of the krang. It would almost be like he had some form of ptsd.

A lot of Draxum's softening only comes from after his horrible experience of having his life force sucked away by the dark armor. He may have never seen the error of his ways without an experience like that. So, if the boys had never been taken by Splinter, he probably would have gone through with his plan to make them into weapons.

Splinter would have understood that Casey Jr became a soldier because he had to, and wouldn't have a problem with that. He would view Casey Jr as a nephew or grandson. They're all used to thinking of people as family even if they're not exactly related.

As far as mystic abilities, Mikey is definitely the most powerful. Donnie and Raph both seem to have pretty strong powers too, maybe Donnie a little more so. Leo is the one who relies the least on mystic power and the most on his physical and mental skills.

Donnie definitely seems to embrace the mystic power at the end of season 2 and in the movie. Ultimately, he would find ways to combine it with his tech for supreme power-ups.

April is 18 and the turtles are 16-18. Casey Jr is around late teens or 20.

Rise Lore

Given that the first krang that came to earth crashed into the Crying Titan, there must have been some form of historic yokai/hidden city even before the empyrean was around to introduce mystic powers. After all, someone must have built the Crying Titan. Maybe it was built by some other race that actually predates the yokai, and the yokai evolved from that race, affected by the emperyan.

There are definitely still krang out there, and most of the ones that we encounter are evil. The possibility of a good Krang could exist, though.

Before the humans, the yokai roamed freely both on the surface of the Earth and underground. They were probably a lot happier then, and somewhat more numerous. Oppression by the humans must have taken a toll on them.

There were a lot of Hamato and only so many powers you could have, so there would have been a lot of overlap in ninpo abilities across all the ancestors.

The Prison Dimension and Dimension X are two different dimensions. Dimension X is where the krang are originally from, and the Prison Dimension was just used to get rid of villains. Both exist in the Rise universe.

If there was more Rise

There weren't any specific plans for Kendra, but she certainly could have been interesting as a frenemy.

They would definitely want to get into Casey's whole history with the TMNT, his mom, etc.

They would have wanted to develop April and Sunita's friendship a lot more, and see how both of them related to Cassandra Jones.

They'd make as many seasons as they'd be allowed to! But seriously, they could easily fill at least 3 more seasons. There's a lot to unlock with the Krang, and they'd also want to expore much more with Big Mama and the Hidden City.

Cassandra might not have been part of the main group, but she would have been a regular ally.

Cassandra and the turtles would have been allies, fighting the Krang. It's clear from the end of the movie that Cassandra is now roaming around and fighting krang, so she and the turtles could connect occasionally as a running storyline.

A new season would pick up from where the movie left off, so it would be a new plan instead of what was already made.

Bishop would have to be an ally, considering that the turtles had just saved the Earth. But he might be a grudging ally, one who didn't really trust the turtles or didn't like the fact that they don't play by the rules.

It would definitely be easier to do crossovers with the other 2D animated series, like the 87 series or the 2003 series. They could have some fun playing with both the writing and animation style of those shows. Combining 2D and CG animation is more difficult.

They probably would not have mutated April, as it would be a big step. In the scrapped episode where Dale turned into a wolf mutant, it was a result of a temporary mystic curse. They could certainly do something like that with April.

The turtles would still be able to comminicate with Karai through mystic means.

They would have gotten a lot more into the history of the Council of Heads in future seasons when they explored the relationship between the Hidden City and the Krang. They are clearly among the most ancient of yokai, possibly predating the Hidden City itself.

They could have done a temporary reverse mutation via some sort of mystic spell, to give the turtles human designs. It might have been fun since it seems to be something that fans enjoy so much.

They would have had the turtles go to the krang's dimension at some point in order to defeat the krang fully. They could have encountered any of the traditional dimension x/z stuff that way.

The storyline where the boys find their sisters would probably still happen. People would want to see it, even though it's been spoiled.

They had plans to eventually visit other Hidden Cities, such as one beneath Tokyo.

Cut Episodes/Scenes

In the original ending of the movie where Casey says goodbye and leaves, he was going to find his mom.

One of the scrapped episodes had to do with Mikey taking care of the other turtles when they were transformed into toddlers. He was a natural caretaker.

They never planned on a space arc, but they probably would have done one where they travel to the Krang dimension. They also were going to travel to the prison dimension to release Karai, and they could have had other adventures there as well.

Behind the Scenes

For the episode Pizza Puffs, Ben Schwartz did his part for feverish Leo without looking at the script so he would sound confused.

It would be great if Nickelodeon released some of the finished animatics for the lost season 2 episodes that were already boarded, but unfortunately, it's all copywrited material.

All animated movies go through multiple revisions, rewrites, and changes, which is why some of the original rise movie storyboards were scrapped.

They do remote recording all the time, especially since covid.

The amount that a writer incorporates into a fight scene varies from script to script. Sometimes, there are moments in a fight scene that are key to the story. If so, they are written out. Otherwise, they would sometimes write out a fight scene but know that it would change in the board. Sometimes, they'd just shorthand it.

The writers try not to indulge in too much fanfic because there could be copyright issues if it is similar to anything they would ever do in the show.

When writing the brothers, it was important to keep them in character. You have to know exactly who your characters are, all the time, in every way. The audience will forgive you if you do things that aren't exactly logical, but they won't forgive you if you sell out your characters.

There was never an overall map done of the lairs, just individual rooms. It was always kind of tricky for them to figure out exactly how to move the characters from one room to the other.

The krang invasion was specific to the movie, so we probably wouldn't have seen it in the series at all if it had not been cut short.

Other TMNT Characters

They weren't necessarily planning to add characters from other versions yet. They still had so many areas to explore that were specific to Rise, like the Hidden City, the yokai, and the history of the krang.

There were no particular plans for Honeycutt. One character that they wanted to use but never did was Monty Moose, and they were trying very hard to figure out a way to incorporate him into a story.

They didn't have any plans for Renet, but a character like her could easily fit into the Rise universe. Obviously time travel is a big part of the movie. They could use her to explore timelines that might have happened had the events of the movie turned out differently.

They didn't get a chance to explore triceratons, so there could certainly still be some out there.

Any similarities between Big Mama's assistant and the High Mage from TMNT 2003 are coincidental. They gave her the cape and hood to disguise her identity.

They didn't have any plans for Beebop and Rocksteady, since they don't really fit in with the Rise version of Shredder and the Foot Clan.

The turtles certainly could meet Yuichi Usagi.

Usagi Yojimbo crossovers are always fun. Ron could see one where his dimension has been overrun by the krang, and he comes to our dimension to seek the turtles' help because they're the only ones who have ever defeated the krang.

Ron-Specific Questions

Ron's personal favorite episodes are "Hot Soup: The Game" and "Sparring Partner."

They were super excited when they got John Lydon (aka Johnny Rotten) as Meat Sweats, just because Ron and Russ are big pink rock fans.

When asked about favorite duos, Ron likes Raph & Mikey, Donnie & April, and Leo & Senor Hueso.

If he could only save one episode from Rise and the rest became lost media, Ron would save the four-part finale.

If he could save one cut episode or plotline, Ron would want to save the more complete version of the end of season 2, where we would have seen much more of the turtles training and bonding with Karai.

Ron was not part of the new Saturday Morning Adventures comic that has Rise Raph on the cover.

If he could make a spin-off, Ron would want to do a series where Cassandra roams the Earth fighting remnants of the krang, joined by her son Casey, and occasionally joined by individual turtles and others. Draxum might join forces with her as well.

Miscellaneous

The silhouette in a tank shown at the end of Bug Busters was meant to illustrate Lou Jitsu when he is first hit with the ooze and mutated along with the turtles. It's more of a memory than an exact replication.

The reason Raph was transformed via the pod instead of instantanously may have been because Raph was unwilling, and was more difficult to change than someone like the Foot Clan ninjas, who underwent their transformation willingly.

They never attempted to get a brand deal with a soup company so fans could get Rise hot soup, but it would be a good idea.

The photo from the movie was taken just before the krang arrived.

When asked which Rise character is most likely to be Spider-Man: none of them, because he's owned by Marvel and Sony.

When asked why Donnie likes cute bratty girls: Ron is not sure where that comes from.

In Dungeons and Dragons, Raph would be a fighter class, Mikey would be some sort of illusionist, Leo would be a clever assassin or theif. Donnie would insist on being a scientist because he's sure there would have been at least one sensible person back then. April would be the DM.

Ron doesn't know what the illegible skate ramp graffiti means, but can ask one of the designers about it.

In a coffee shop, Mikey would be the baker, Donnie would create the most efficient coffee brewing system ever, Raph and April would run the business side, and Leo would be the most demanding customer ever.

The Future of Rise

The demand for Rise merch is real. It would be nice if Nickelodeon would put out more official merch.

There are no current plans for a season 3, but we can keep trying!

All we can really do to try and get Rise back is continue to share the show and encourage other people to watch. As well as keep it trending whenever we can. Sooner or later, someone will realize that there's a very real demand for this show.

He has talked about the potential for continuing the show in a comic book or short format, or in some other formats as well.

When asked if there's any chance of Netflix picking up Rise, or for both Tales of the TMNT and Rise to coexist -- anything's possible!

Ron would love to see a Rise comic series, but it's not his call. As far as if it would be darker, Ron thinks it's important that for Rise, they keep things light-hearted and comedic. That was always the goal of the show.

Shows rarely get "cancelled" in kids animation. It can always be brought back, but the focus is on Tales of the TMNT for now. He's said before that Rise could be brought back down the road as a "retro" series, or in other formats like a comic book, movie, or shorts.

... plus one answer, that does not have the original question attached:

"She would be stunned, and probably disbelieving at first. But we would find a way (through mystic means) for her to see her future timeline, at which point she would be overcome with emotion."

#rottmnt #rise of the tmnt #ron corcillo #cartoon base #Q&A #my post #tmnt #Q&A summary

[serialadoptersbracket]

Round 3, Match 16: Satoru Gojo vs. Xie Lian

Submitted kids:

Saruto Gojo: Tsumiki Fushiguro, Megumi Fushiguro, Yuuji Itadori, Nobara Kugisaki, Yuuta Okkotsu, the other second year students to some extent

Xie Lian: Ban Yue, Pei Xiu, Lang Ying, Lian Quianqiu, Gu Zi, Lang Ying

Propaganda under the cut!

Satoru Gojo:

“became a single father of 2 at the age of 19. Helped Yuuji fake his death and hid him in his basement for months”

Xie Lian:

1. “a several centuries old disgraced god who keeps somehow getting mixed up in things that have nothing to do with him and taking in random kids in the process. Got dragged into being a soldier in a war between kingdoms he's not even from? suddenly single dad to these two random kids caught up in between. dealing with a malicious ghost who has been killing brides? boom, now he has a ghost son whose previous guardian was killed by the malicious ghost. psychotic ghost cousin posses the body of a man with a young son and continues being a piece of shit? well i guess your taking care of that kid too now (i know guzi is technically qi rong's kid since he's the one possessing his actual dad but if it weren't for xie lian intervening when he did the kid would be dead so he kinda counts too)”

2. “Xie Lian saves a young LQQ from being kidnapped, returns him home and end up becoming the/his grand tutor(which was NOT his original plan at all). He literally teaches the boy everything for years, raising him to become the best ruler he could ever be. The XL ends up accused for killing his family (because of a lot of different things) what is important is that he was not the perpetrator but he did kill LQQ’s father in an act to save the boy from making a horrible decision/outcome and also dealt with the actual perpetrators but kept it a secret cause he knew it would break LQQ’s heart to learn his dear friend planned to kill him and his entire family. LQQ took this betrayal by XL so hard he buried him after staking him through the heart when he was still alive. 300 years later when XL returns/is revealed LQQ is still not over it to the point he wants a FAIR duel to settle the score. FAIR with the man he still thinks killed his entire family!

Banyue and Pei Su are connected. XL took BY under his wing while he was a soldier in the army. He did his best to protect her and get her fed as she had pretty much no one. He also talked with her about his younger selfs dreams for the future which was so inspiring to her that not only did she remember it over a century later when they meet again in very different circumstances but she also apologized for essentially not being able to live up to the ideals he had accidentally passed on to her. While he didn’t have as much direct contact with Pei Su, the boy was BY’s only friend and so while XL was around he did also interact with the boy. However this all came to an end when in an attempt to save BY (which succeeded) he through himself in between two armies and was trampled when they began to fight. When they meet again (as I previously mentioned) XL takes BY under his safety until he is not safe and then sends her off to a safe place where she reunites with PS, who for all XL doesn’t give the same amount of attention to, XL does actually approve of some of him (not all his actions) and seems to find it cute that PS is courting BY.

XL meets Lang Ying first when he helps the boy burry his proxy sister, LY ends up running off after XL reacted with shock to LY’s uncovered face, but XL keeps a constant search for him. XL next saves him from getting beat up by ghosts and ends up taking him to live with him in the shrine he lives in. He does his best to take care of both LY and Gu Zi at the shrine and keeps his good treatment up even knowing LY’s a ghost it only ends when (spoilers for non book people, feel free to look up if you want to know).

XL takes in GZ mostly as his ghost cousin (whom he arrested) has taken over the body of the boy’s father. While I’m not sure how much this one counts, especially since by the end his cousin ends up caring for GZ, but he still does the best he can to feed and care for the boy as his entire life changes.”

#gojo satoru #xie lian #jjk gojo #tgcf #jjk #heaven official's blessing #jujutsu kaisen #satoru gojo #tian guan ci fu #serial adopters bracket #round 3 #tumblr polls #tumblr tournament

[cosmerelists]

Favorite Musicals of Each Order of the Knights Radiant

We’ve already considered their favorite boardgames. But what about when it’s time to go to a musical? Which musical is preferred by each order?

1. Skybreakers: Les Misérables

They think Javert is the protagonist.

Szeth: Is it not strange that the musical continues for so long after the death of the protagonist?

Nale: Ah, but it is only thus that we see the real tragedy.

Nale: As all of the lawbreakers go on living, without punishment, due the the lawman not being willing to fulfill his duty.

Joret: It’s so horrifying.

Cali: Yes, hence the title.

2. Bondsmiths: West Side Story

It’s about two warring gangs being brought together.

Dalinar: Although it is sad, it is nice that it ends with all of the previously estranged people bonding over their loss.

Navani: And it really is through music that two warring sides can be brought together--perhaps even feel love for each other.

Dalinar: Yes. 

Dalinar: Wait, what? 

3. Edgedancers: Little Shop of Horrors

Or at least, it’s Lift’s favorite.

Lift: I dunno why Wyndle doesn’t like it--it’s about a plant!

Lift: A hungry plant too, so it has something in common with both of us!

Wyndle: I--

Wyndle: Never--

Wyndle: That--

Wynde: IT WAS SO HORRIFYING, MISTRESS!!!

Lift: It’s kinda in the title, dude.

4. Stonewards: The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee

They were surprised at how invested they got.

Badali: It may not be warfare, yet the efforts of these children are so inspiring.

Zu: They truly do fight until there is only one standing.

5. Elsecallers: A Little Night Music

Jasnah just thinks it’s neat.

Jasnah: I have to respect the effort of composing each song in 3/4 time.

6. Lightweavers: Phantom of the Opera

It’s about art, tortured souls, disguises...

Gaz: I gotta feel bad for the Phantom.

Shallan: What, because his love for Christine is doomed?

Vathah: Because it would suck to live in a sewer?

Gaz: Well sure.

Gaz: But also that one-sided mask.

Gaz: He must always feel like there’s something there in the darkness, something just out of his sight.

Shallan: ...

Vathah: ...

Gaz: N-Not that I would know anything about that, ha ha!

7. Truthwatchers: Lion King

They went for the costumes and ended up being  blown away by the story.

Rlain: If Simba had just told the truth about his father’s death, all of that could have been avoided.

Stump: Yeah, well, kids are pretty stupid sometimes.

Renarin: Although by running away, Simba did get to be raised by two awesome gay dads, so that’s nice!

Stump: ...

Renarin: What?

8. Willshapers: Scarlet Pimpernel

It’s about rescuing innocent (?) aristocrats from being imprisoned and guillotined!  

Eshonai: It is truly inspiring to see a group of humans working so hard to free other humans before their unjustified deaths.

Venli: That Madame Guillotine song is really catchy though.

Eshonai: Yeah, you almost can almost understand the killing there.

9. Dustbringers: Wicked

They appreciate the overall message.

Malata: Yeah, there really are two sides to every story!

Ral-na: And just because a power is popularly deemed destructive, that does not mean it is so.

10. Windrunners: Also Wicked

Although their reasoning is...different.

Bridge Four, in their barracks: SO IF YOU CARE TO FIND ME / LOOK TO THE WESTERN SKY

Bridge Four: AS SOMEONE TOLD ME LATELY / EVERYONE DESERVES THE CHANCE TO FLY!

Bridge Four: AND IF I’M FLYING SOLO / AT LEAST I’M FLYING FREEEE

Bridge Four: TO THOSE WHO’D GROUND ME / TAKE A MESSAGE BACK FROM MEEEEE

Bridge Four: TELL THEM HOW I AM DEFYING GRAVITY / I’M FLYING HIGH, DEFYING GRAVITY!

Kaladin (wiping away a tear): It’s just such a good song.

#cosmere #cosmerelists #stormlight archive #Nale #Szeth #Cali #Joreth #Dalinar #Navani #Kaladin #Malata #Ral-na #Rlain #Renarin #Stump #Lift #Wyndle #Jasnah #Shallan #Vathah #Gaz #Badali #Zu #Venli #Eshonai

[majachee]

Rewatching TMNT 2012 also gave me extra ammunition against that stupid "Splinter raised the turtles as soldiers" take.

Because...???

1. He admitted he didn't teach them to fight together, just how to fight and defend themselves as individuals. Teamwork is pretty important in an army, ya know...?

2. Part of the turtles' protection was Oroku Saki assuming that Splinter was dead, that Hamato Yoshi died in that fire with Tang Shen. It was only when the news showed a picture of a ninja star with the Hamato family crest on it did Shredder realize that Yoshi was alive and presumably training ninja. If Splinter wanted the turtles to fight against the Shredder in some kind of war, why would he not prepare them to face the Shredder? Why would he be concerned about their safety rather than the element of surprise?

Michelangelo was taught a Foot Clan move by Bradford and went on to teach that move to his brothers. None of them recognized it as a move belonging to Shredder and the Foot Clan. If Splinter was training them to be soldiers in this war against Shredder their entire lives, why wouldn't they know how this guy fights? "Here is this devastating move that the Shredder uses, here is how to defend yourself from it" — because Splinter never planned for them to face Shredder, because Splinter wanted Shredder to think he is dead and not look for him. Because he didn't want to face Oroku Saki.

3. The timeline/motif does not make sense. Why would Hamato Yoshi move to America and adopt four pet turtles? Pet turtles can live for a long time and he got four baby ones. If his plan was to move away and start a ninja army, why get 4 high maintenence pets...? That live for a long time...?? And when he was mutated he decided "Wow. This is comvenient!" and just... continued that plan...??? In the sewers....???? With four infant children that are half turtle also incredibly high maintenence...? And never got more than four kids...??? Brother this is a family of martial arts enthusiasts. Also why get them video games or movies...?

"Well maybe the mutagen made him mad cuz he hates being a furry?" He has a cheese phone and hamster wheel. And cheese popsicles. He is embracing being a furry. Brother probably had a fursuit that burned down in that family-killing fire.

#maja needs to shut up tag #delete later #rant ish #tmnt 2012 #i will tolerate no splinter slander. omfg.

[the-badger-mole]

In the debate between pro-aang-kill-ozai and anti-aang-kill-ozai. Which side are you on and why? If it's the anti then did you like how it was done or do you picture something else?

I think I've mentioned before, but I am not inherently against Aang not wanting to kill Ozai. Some of my favorite heroes have a no-kill policy. I don't even mind the lionturtle solution itself. What I didn't like was how it was handled. There was plenty of time to address Aang's reluctance to kill before the second to last episode. I can think of three points in particular where it would've been thematically appropriate and given Aang's bland, two-dimensional character some depth.

First, right after the siege at the Northern Tribe. Aang may not have technically been the one who killed all those Fire Nation soldiers, but it couldn't have happened without him. You would think that someone who is both committed to pacifism and also the one the entire world is relying on to end a war that people have been fighting and dying in for a century wouldn't just be able to shrug off what happened. Aang did, though. Didn't even cross his mind when he was whining about people expecting him to kill Ozai.

What should have happened was the next season should've opened with Aang grappling with what happened and his part in it. He should feel guilty about it, not because he was actually wrong, but because it should feel wrong to him. Then, Katara and Sokka should comfort him and tell him he did nothing wrong. Build it up that their word are comforting him a little, then drop the bomb when they start talking about how cool it was. How amazing it was to see all those soldiers running in fear for once. How relieved they are that so many of them died. Then have Aang snap on them about the sanctity of life. He needs to be angry and hurt, and this should be the point where he decries the powers of the Avatar. He'd call himself a monster, and maybe he would call Katara and Sokka monsters, too. Then they (probably mostly Sokka) would argue with him that they aren't monsters, they're just trying to survive, and the Fire Nation is a threat to be taken out. This would be the first time it's brought up that Katara, Sokka...the entire world expect Aang to kill Ozai. I think it would be perfect as a season 2 opener. Season 1 was light and goofy, and Zuko was their biggest immediate threat. The siege raised the stakes, and season 2 should continue on that rising. Aang should also have started looking for another solution here. In the library, Aang should've asked Wan Shi Tong if it was possible to end the war without more violence. We should've seen Aang coming to terms with the fact that the world is suffering and he is the one they are looking to to save them. One thing I think the Harry Potter movies in particular did well was that shift from goofy and whimsical to darker and more frightening (as far as kids movies go) as the story went on and the stakes got higher, and the danger felt more real to the characters. Aang never gets that realization. He has moments when the danger feels real, but he's goofy and whimsical for pretty much the entire series until the plot of an episode needs him not to be.

The second place they should have brought up his reluctance to kill was DoBS. This really should've been a no brainer. Aang was loosing sleep over facing Ozai. He had his anxiety about losing- though not really what losing would mean for his friends and the world- but he didn't even consider what winning would take. If DoBS had been successful, there's no way Ozai would've been able to be taken alive. Logistically, killing him would've been the easiest, safest option. You mean to tell me no one brought it up? No one asked Aang how he was planning to take Ozai out? No, instead we get Aang proving he knows what enthusiastic consent looks like and taking away his excuse for what happened later, but nothing about Aang weighing his personal beliefs against the needs of the world. That training montage and confrontation that he has with his friends in the second to last episode should've happened here. This should've been when his tendency to run away should've been challenged, too, because half a season before he was crying about how he abandoned the world again. Now his instinct would be to run, but his friends would challenge him, calling back to that moment. They could demand that he present an alternative to killing Ozai. I don't think any of them would object to him living to stand trial, but Ozai is a rabid dog, essentially. He needs to be put down. Aang's got nothing, but not for lack of trying. When he tells his friends about all his efforts to find a non-lethal way to defeat Ozai, they are unmoved. They are at the doors of the Fire Nation, and now is not the time to be indecisive. He has to go face Ozai. And he's probably relieved when the plan fails. This whole situation would have the added bonus of skipping that first Kataang kiss because no way would Aang want to kiss Katara after her insisting he terminate Ozai with extreme prejudice.

The third place Aang's no-kill policy should've come up is TSR when Zuko asks him what he's planning to do when he faces Ozai if he's so against killing. This should scare Aang, and it should be his focus for the rest of the season. He should be more withdrawn from his friends, because with all the training he's doing (and he would still be training on all the elements because he's not that good at any of them), talks about the most efficient way to kill would be unavoidable. Katara might actually try to teach him bloodbending. Toph would just tell him that a big rock is just as effective as some fancy bending move. Zuko would be warning him about his father's ruthlessness and cunning. This would be where Aang looses his patience with his friends and insists that he's a pacifist and Ozai doesn't deserve to die. This would piss Katara in particular off because by this point, Aang knows what happened to her mother. He would get an earful about how Ozai's plan is to do to the Earth Kingdom what his grandfather did to the Air Nomads and how he's going to let millions of people die because of his refusal to kill one. Now, Aang can take off, only instead of just running away from his friends because he doesn't want to hear them anymore, he could be making one desperate last ditch attempt to find a solution that both ends the war and keeps him from having to kill Ozai. EIP could still happen in this circumstance, but instead of getting mad that he's being played by a girl, he would focus more on how eager for his death the Fire Nation is. That would come up in the argument about killing Ozai.

Now, for the lionturtle. I'm about to blow some minds. I have been vocal about my hatred of the Lionturtle/Rock of Destiny desu-ex-double team, and I do still hate it with a passion. However, as a concept, I don't mind the lionturtle. This is a fantasy adventure. You expect a bit of magical intervention. What I wanted was Aang grappling with this problem for more than half an episode. I wanted him working on a solution the entire time, starting from right after the siege. I wanted to see him take initiative. To actually think about the problem. Maybe have him specifically looking for the lionturtle. Then when it shows it, it could be because it knew Aang was looking and decided he was worthy of a meeting. Aang could still have his meeting with his past lives, and that could still go the way it did. Then the lionturtle could speak up. Instead of poo-pooing the idea of killing Ozai, it could agree that it was the most effective way to make sure that the war would end. Then, when Aang is despairing that he'd wasted all that time trying to find a different solution, the lionturtle could offer the spirit bending. But it would have to come at a cost, and it might not work the way that Aang hoped. Now Aang has to make a choice. Sacrifice something for this spiritbending ability (I'm thinking he loses his airbending, because it seems poetic) that might not have the outcome he's hoping for, or give up his pacifism- one of his few connections to his heritage- and kill Ozai. He chooses the spiritbending. Instead of the conveniently placed rock, Aang would actually have to give up his attachment Katara. I think he would be half-way there, having finally realized how little he understood her. He "loved" her because she was pretty and took care of him, but he's come to realize there's a lot more facets to her that he hasn't gotten to see because they don't fit his narrow view of her. He also understands what Guru Pathik was trying to tell him about one person not being able to replace everything Aang has lost, and he realizes how unfair to her he had been. He still loves her, but as a friend and caretaker. This will actually lead to a deeper friendship between them. Aang defeats Ozai without killing him, but now he has to deal with the loss of his airbending, which only now does he realize was a much of a connection between him and his people as his beliefs. He still has spiritbending. He can still airbend in the Avatar State, but he's effectively cut off a limb to keep his integrity. He will go the rest of his life wondering if it was worth it, especially after Ozai goes to trial and is sentenced to execution anyway. The effects of that on his children could be explored in LoK.

TL;DR I don't have a problem with Aang not wanting to kill Ozai. I just wanted to see him deal with it before the last minute. I think the show would've been better for it, and Aang would've been a more interesting character.

#atla #anti-kataang #aang #how it COULD have gone #he would've been a much better protagonist if we actually saw him struggle with his destiny #spiritbending should have consequences #that's too much of a power up to just give to the hero #and ozai should still die #it just doesn't have to be at aang's hands #THE YEAR OF CONTENT!!!!

[humanpurposes]

Just for a Moment, part i

Tom Bennett has a habit of climbing through her bedroom window whenever he's in trouble // Main Masterlist

Tom Bennett x OFC

Warnings: 18+, mentions of war and death, friends to lovers, angst, fluff, eventual smut

Words: 3800

A/n: Me? Starting another series to avoid updating ongoing fics? No wayyyy. This is going to be a 4 part mini series and their song is When the Sun Hits by Slowdive, just so you know. Also available to read on AO3.

Tom Bennett had always had a talent for getting under people’s skin.

Kitty knew it when they were kids, when they’d run around the streets of Longsight and the alleyways behind Slade Grove. He would rile anyone up, regardless if they were older or bigger than him. He didn’t even do it for a reason, he just liked to get a raise out of people.

He used to tease her too, for all sorts of stupid reasons, because she was a year younger than him, because her mother used to dress her in shirts and shorts that used to belong to her older brothers, because when they’d buy bags of Yorkshire mix from the shop, she would only eat the red ones. Every Sunday after Church, they’d sit in the park or on the front step of the Bennetts’ house, and Tom would pick out every sweet he knew she liked, and keep the rest for himself.

When Tom was eleven he moved to the big school, where Kitty’s brothers all went, Eddie, Art and Stevie. Eddie was a prefect. He used to come home with all sorts of stories of Tom Bennett, ‘from over the road’. Tom talked back to his teachers, disrupted assemblies, picked fights with other kids, every offence Kitty’s mind could imagine. 

It only got worse when his mam died.

Thursday 12th July, 1928

Kitty had never been to a funeral before. She had a new dress and a black overcoat for the occasion. It was cold in the church graveyard, overcast and windy. Mam had held her hand so tightly she wondered if she’d ever get it back. 

The Bennetts stood together, on the other side of the grave. Lois’ hair was braided into a messy plait that stuck out on one side, the ribbon at the end tied into a knot rather than a bow. She was trying to hold her father’s shoulder as he cried, but she couldn’t quite reach. Tom stood a little further away from his father. His hair was messy, his knees scabbed and bruised, his shirt skewed and the buttons done in the wrong places.

Kitty kept her eyes on him, all through the service, the burial and the wake back at number 27. Tom didn’t cry once.

That night, when she should have been asleep, she lay awake in her bed, listening to her brothers whispering and in the next room as they always did. Sometimes she felt sad to be left out of their antics, but tonight she was glad to be on her own, in her little box room at the front of the house.

Until she heard a tapping on the window.

She froze between her sheets. Was it too late for it to have been a bird?

And then it came again, tap, tap, tap.

With a determined little huff, she rose from the bed, smoothed her hands down the front of her nightgown and drew back the curtains.

“Tom?” she whispered.

He grinned when he saw her, perched on the windowsill behind the glass. 

Kitty raised the window and before she could invite him in he was crawling through it.

“What are you doing?” she hissed.

Tom shrugged and went to sit on the edge of her bed. He glanced around the room, at the little shelf of books, dolls and small wooden animals, the black overcoat hung on the back of the door and the drawings stuck to the wardrobe. He’d been in the Wheelans’ kitchen before, but he’d never been allowed upstairs.

“Couldn’t sleep,” he said, far too loudly for Kitty’s liking.

She pressed a firm finger against his lips. She held her breath, waiting for one of the lads to notice, but they kept on chatting– whatever it was teenage boys chatted about.

“Keep your voice down,” she said.

Tom smiled against her finger and made a cross over his heart.

She sat beside him, swaying her legs while she tried to think of something to say.

Tom reached for a book on her bedside table and flicked through the pages. When he was bored of that, he grabbed her teddy. He tossed it about in his hands and ran his hands over the ancient and matted fur. It had been Eddie’s, back in the day. Every single one of her brothers had owned it before her.

“I don’t like seeing my dad cry,” Tom said.

Kitty frowned. “Why not?”

“I just don’t like it. He’s always been a bit…”

Dad had often mentioned the case of Douglas Bennett. They had fought in the same regiment in 1914. When Micheal Wheelan came back from war, he returned as a self-proclaimed hero. His boys loved to hear his stories and take turns wearing his medals. Douglas Bennett had returned to Manchester a far more troubled kind of man.

“And with mum he–” but he stopped himself with an irritated grunt. “Can I stay here?”

“What?” 

“Not forever, I just… can I sit here, just for a moment?”

Kitty took the teddy from him and placed her hand firmly in his. “That’s what we’re doing, isn’t it?”

From then on, Tom made quite a habit of appearing at the window and hiding in her room whenever he was in trouble.

Saturday 2nd September, 1939

Being up and out before the boys are awake is a strange feeling, it’s the only time the house is so quiet.

It’s just before dawn. The sky is a hazy shade of dark blue but an orange glow is starting to appear over the rooftops. Mr Gregory wants her in the shop early to help with a delivery.

Something draws her eyes from her black leather shoes on the pavement, up to the end of the street. A figure makes his way down Slade Grove. She recognises the sway of his shoulders and the end of a lit cigarette in his mouth.

“Alright, pretty Kitty?” Tom says when they’re in earshot of each other, taking the cigarette between his fingers. “What are you doing up so late?”

“It’s early,” she says. He’s in a jacket and slacks, and he has a dazed sort of look in his eyes. She can guess where he’s been but it doesn’t stop her from asking. “What have you been up to?”

“Don’t give me that look,” he says, taking another drag. He tilts his chin up and exhales the smoke above their heads through pouted lips. “Just been down the pub, nothing scandalous.”

A likely story. She’s seen the police knocking on their front door twice in four weeks.

“How’s your job in the shop going?” he asks.

It was supposed to be temporary, a little money to make ends meet after dad got laid off from the factory. Six months later and she’s still there. 

“Grand,” she says.

“Can you do me mates rates on a packet of Marlboros?”

“Yeah, if you promise to actually buy them.”

He clutches his chest and his face lights up in an ironic expression. “Of course, what sort of man do you take me for?”

The sort who used to sell cigarettes in the schoolyard— God knows how he got his hands on them in the first place. At that age he could talk himself out of anything. That’s what makes Tom Bennett every parent’s worst nightmare, he’s a troublemaker with pretty blue eyes and an infectiously charming smile.

“I should get going,” she says, taking another step until Tom moves in front of her. Her eyes meet with the collar of his jacket and the hollow of his throat. She can smell the musk of the pub on him, the cigarette smoke and the faded scent of his aftershave.

She looks up to his face and his expression has changed, not quite smiling but amused, smug and somewhat severe.

“What?” she says impatiently.

“Nothing,” he says, unphased, “have a good shift.”

The morning drags on at a gruelling pace. Mr Gregory’s getting on a bit now so Kitty has to do a lot of the heavy lifting, piling boxes into the storage room round the back, going through the stock in the shop, filling the shelves, flattening the boxes and bringing them to the bins outside. It feels like hours of work, but when she looks at the clock it’s not even 9. Eight hours until closing. Mr and Mrs Gregory live above the shop, so at least she gets a steady supply of tea, toast and bits of carrot cake.

By the afternoon she feels her eyes start to close. The morning rush is over now and business will dwindle for the rest of the day. She tries to stay awake, fanning herself with her blouse and nibbling on little mouthfuls of cake.

The bell above the door rings. She straightens her spine and smooths down her apron, ready to put on her best customer service voice, only for Tom Bennett to swagger in through the door.

He’s changed his clothes and donned a blue jacket instead of the earthy green she had seen him in earlier.

“Did you get enough sleep?” Kitty asks at the heavy look under his eyes.

He grins it off. “Packet of Marlboros please, Miss Wheelan.”

She fetches them from the cabinet behind the counter and places the packet in front of him. His aftershave smells a little stronger now. “Anything else?”

He drums his fingers against the counter, looking around innocently at the array of chocolate bars and the jars of sweets behind her.

“I’ll have a bag of Yorkshire mix,” he says.

She takes the jar down from the shelf. She can hear him breathing steadily through his nose as she scoops the sweets into a paper bag. When she turns back around he’s watching her.

“Nine pence,” she says, swallowing down a nervous feeling in her throat.

Tom counts through some change from his pocket and drops the coins into her hands, a sixpence and a thruppence. His fingertips brush over her palms and his knuckles are scabbed over. She dreads to think why.

“Nice one,” he says once she puts the payment through the till. “What do you make of this stuff going on in Poland then?” he says, popping a pear drop into his mouth.

She’s only been reading the headlines of the papers when she stocks them in the shop every morning, or hearing snippets from dad’s radio. 

“Since when did you start taking an interest in foreign affairs?” she asks.

He reaches into the bag and pulls out a raspberry. “Been reading the news, haven’t I?” he says, holding it out for her. 

She hesitates for a moment before she takes it. She lets the sugar melt over her tongue. It tastes like summer afternoons after school and weekends in the park, tearing at the grass and watching the boys play football because they’d never let her join in.

“That’s where Harry is, isn’t it?” she says, “Lois must be worried.

Tom tuts and tucks the bag into his pocket. “Posh boys can talk their way out of anything,” he says. “Speaking of, I met Madge’s new man last night.”

“At the pub?”

“Yeah. Right ponce in’t he?”

She purses her lips in irritation. She hates it when he does this, poking fun at others until he feels better about himself. “He’s training to be a barrister.”

“Like I said.”

She shrugs. “I suppose there are worse jobs to have.”

“Is that what you’ll do then? Find some rich boy with a big house and stick up his arse?”

It’s not quite the future she has planned out for herself. Her friend Madge is a secretary in Manchester. There are all sorts of exams she had to pass, but it could be doable. Mam’s always tried to put her off it though. “Parents need their girls,” she says.

“I don't think I’m likely to find any of those in Longsight. Maybe I should ask Lois for advice?” she says, trying not to smile.

“Steady there, Kitty, I didn’t mean to get you all excited,” he says, leaning into the counter. His voice is lower all of a sudden, it sends an odd, jittery feeling though her chest and stomach.

He winks at her before he turns and leaves. The bell rings and the shop is quiet again.

Her feet feel heavy when she walks through the front door. Her bed calls her name but she’s unbearably thirsty. Saturdays are half days and the boys are already home from the factory. Mam’s started on dinner and the others are around the kitchen table. 

Dad waves a blue leaflet at her. “One of Douglas Bennett’s pacifist… things,” he says.

“Do you really think there’ll be a war, dad?” Kitty says, shrugging off her coat.

“If there is, it won’t be long,” he says with a determined nod, “no one wants another war.”

Eddie and Art hum in agreement. The oldest of the four Wheelan siblings, they were born before dad went away to war. Their faces are older and more stern, like they can still remember a time when they didn’t have their father around. They still call Stevie and Kitty “the babies,” which she thinks must make them feel more important.

Stevie’s in good spirits though. “Ran into Lois and Connie on the bus, and Connie personally invited me to their gig tonight!” he says brightly.

“Come off it,” Art grumbles, “she was just being friendly.”

“Kitty!” Stevie sings, waltzing over to her. He takes her coat from her hands and twirls her around the kitchen, to mam’s despair. “Come to the Fiddler’s Bow with me tonight, please.”

“So you can ditch me for Connie once their set’s done?”

“There’ll be other people there,” Stevie says, turning her around to face their brothers, “or ask one of these grumpy bastards to join us.”

“Stephen Wheelan!” their mother chides.

Eddie and Art share a pointed look and shake their heads, already backing away towards the front room.

In the end she decides she’ll just have to brave it. After eating, she changes into a flowy, white blouse and an emerald green skirt, pinning her hair up so it won’t go everywhere as she moves. She hides a tube of lipstick inside her purse. Mam and dad would rather die than let her leave the house with makeup. She only owns a lipstick because Lois Bennett had given her one.

Stevie brushes up well, in a white shirt and freshly shined leather shoes, his hair slicked back with wax. They run into each other on the landing and race downstairs.

Mam gives them the usual instructions. Home by 11 o'clock and not a minute later. One drink each. No smoking. No noise when they get in. 

Stevie’s already pulling a packet of cigarettes and a lighter out of his pocket when they’re halfway through the front door.

And Kitty’s breath hitches when, for the third time that day, she sees Tom Bennett. He’s hovering in the doorway, putting empty milk bottles out. When he notices them, he smiles. “Off somewhere nice?” he says.

“Fiddler’s Bow,” Stevie calls back, “to see Lois and Connie play.”

“She’s down there already,” Tom says, his eyes flickering to Kitty for only a moment, “left half an hour ago.”

He’s in a white t-shirt now, that’s just a little too tight against his torso.

“Why don’t you join us?” Kitty says without thinking it through. “Stevie’s going for Connie, I’ll need a partner once he ditches me.”

Tom looks down at the pavement. His lips are thin and his hands fidget by his side. “I’ve um… got something else on tonight, ‘m sorry.”

Her heart sinks. Any lighthearted hope she had about enjoying the evening dissolves right in front of her. Right, of course, because why would he actually want to spend more than a few moments with her?

“Movin’ on,” Stevie says, steering Kitty down the road with a brief farewell to Tom. “He’s no good, you know that?” he whispers in her ear. “Eddie says he nicks scrap metal from the yard, sells it to all sorts dodgy fuckers.”

“Yeah, I know,” she breathes. Her chest feels tight and suddenly she feels like she wants to cry.

Stevie has a good time at the gig. Lois and Connie are first in the lineup and once their set is over, Stevie makes a point of cheering the loudest. The four of them spend the rest of the night dancing.

When Stevie and Connie disappear outside for a smoke, Kitty drags Lois to the bar, to catch their breath and down glasses of tonic water. Lois drones on about her Harry issue, but having three older brothers who presume every word they say is profound and worthy of note, Kitty knows where to hum and nod without really listening.

They walk Connie home first before the three of them make their way to Slade Grove. The houses are quiet now, save for a few lights in the windows, creeping through drawn curtains. Two policemen are standing outside number 27.

“Have you seen your brother?” one of them calls to Lois when she reaches the door.

“No,” Lois says, “but if you see him before I do, will you tell him he’s in trouble?”

Kitty meets Stevie’s eyes and he raises his brows.

“Piss off,” she grumbles.

Mam and dad have gone to bed, but Eddie and Art are playing cards in the front room— or they should be. Eddie is standing by the window, peering through the curtains. 

“Who are they after?” Eddie asks.

“Who do you think?” Kitty mutters, but she doesn’t stay to hear another rant about ‘troublesome Tom Bennett’, and slips her shoes off before she makes her way upstairs.

It can’t be said Tom doesn’t make an impression on the people he meets. Mam and dad still have a soft spot for him, though less so since he’s started getting into trouble with the police, and the lads seem to outright despise him.

She’d be lying if she said he didn’t find him irritating, to a certain degree. Maybe it’s because he’s cocky, maybe it’s because he used to be surprisingly sweet, or maybe it’s because nothing seems to phase him, but something about Tom Bennett makes her restless.

She wipes off her lipstick, takes out the pins in her hair and changes into her nightgown. Her eyes feel heavy, but tomorrow is Sunday, which means the shop will be closed and she can have a whole day of ‘freedom’, so long as that includes helping with the laundry and the dinner.

Dad’s snores are evident and the boys are still distracted downstairs, they’ve even put the radio on by the sound of it.

She’s about to turn off the light when she hears three taps on the window.

He knows it’s unlocked. The window slides up and Tom squeezes through it, slipping his boots off so he doesn’t make too much noise when he plants his feet on the floor. He goes straight to the bed, making himself comfortable over the throw with his hands under his head.

“Lois says the police have been round,” he says quietly.

She looks down at her hands, nervously playing with the fabric of her nightgown. “I saw.”

He turns his head to where she stands. The lamp hits his face like sunlight, catching the sharp features of his face, the point of his nose and the curve of his lips. 

She nudges him closer to the wall, making some space for herself beside him. Her body rests against his. He smells like smoke and fresh air.

“What did you do this time?” she asks.

He doesn’t give her an answer. In a way she thinks she’d rather not know.

His arm falls around her and it feels like the most natural thing in the world. Nights with him are often like this, quiet, just two people existing in the same space.

He turns on his side to face her. “Can I stay the night?”

“Tom,” she whispers, “I’m not sure that’s a good idea.”

“Please, or I’ll have to sleep on a couch in the pub.”

“Are you mad? can you imagine what Eddie’ll do if he sees you walking out my bedroom in the morning?”

“Kitty,” he hums. He brings his hand to her face, gently stroking his thumb over her cheek. His eyes are wide and pleading. “Please.”

It’s in moments like this when she hates Tom the most, when her heart thrums in her chest and she wants nothing more than to lose herself in the feeling of his skin against hers. When their heads are so close together, all she sees are two blue eyes.

Each time she thinks she wants to close the distance between them, something stops her.

Neither of them ever dare to move closer than this.

She reaches to turn off the light and turns back to Tom. Her head falls into his chest and her arm settles around his waist. She falls asleep to the pulse of his heartbeat, the sound of his breath and the warmth of his body.

And by the time the sun shines in through the window, he’s gone.

Sunday 3rd September, 1939

She appears in the kitchen just after 11 o’clock. Her body feels heavy and her eyes are still tired. She shouldn’t have gone back to sleep after she woke up the first time.

Dad’s fiddling with the radio, Art’s pouring tea into six cups, and Eddie and mam are listening to Steive’s retelling of the previous night. He seems incredibly proud of himself, despite the fact the closest he came to kissing Connie was lighting her cigarette.

She helps Art with the tea. They all like it the same way. Strong, with one sugar and a little dash of milk. 

It might almost be a perfect morning, if dad were listening to something more uplifting than the news.

“How about some music?” she says as she hands him his cup, but he doesn’t take it. His eyes are fixed on the radio, and his hands are shaking.

“Dad…”

Art appears over her shoulder and turns up the volume. “Quiet,” he says, and the others fall silent.

A voice speaks through the crackles in the transmission, “consequently, this country is at war with Germany.”

Kitty looks at the faces around her, Eddie and Art glaring furiously, Stevie’s wide eyes and his lips fallen like a child’s, mam and dad’s haunted sorrow.

The transmission ends and she wishes it didn’t, it would save her from the grave silence in the house.

She decides to make herself busy. She washes out an empty milk bottle and goes to leave it by the door.

When she opens the door the two policemen are back, only now they’re walking out of the Bennetts’ house.

Her heart sinks. They have Tom in handcuffs.

His eyes meet hers across the road. He doesn’t make a fuss, or try to protest. He hangs his head as they walk him down the street.

General taglist: @randomdragonfires @jamespotterismydaddy @theoneeyedprince (comment to be added)

Series taglist: (comment to be added)

#my fics #tom bennett #tom bennett fanfiction #tom bennett fanfic #world on fire #wof #world on fire bbc #world on fire season 2 #world on fire fanfiction #tom bennett x ofc #tom bennett x female reader #tom bennett x y/n #tom bennet x reader #ewan mitchell #tom bennett smut

[box4brains]

I just want to talk about Law…

Kinda hc-y, could I get other ppls opinions and views on these things?

So!

I hc Law as someone who has extreme issues with control. In fact, he knows he can be unreasonable and extreme when it comes to being in control, however due to his trauma he associates not being in control with the worst moments of his life and thus fear it more than anything else.

He can’t not be in control and not fear he’ll lose anything and everything he holds dear.

I know there’s a lot of jokes about how relaxed Law was before the time skip and while it’s possible that it’s just Oda not having cemented his character, I generally look at it as Law just… being a cocky little shit.

Law is someone I see as extremely cautious, strong and clever. He wouldn’t put himself or his crew in danger if he could avoid it. And in case he can’t avoid it, try ending it as fast as possible and in whatever manner is safest to him and his crew.

So unlike Luffy he never had any close calls all through the first half of the GL. He never encountered any truly strong marines or enemies the same way Luffy did.

I don’t think he’d go out of his way to be antagonistic or pick fights like Kid either.

Law is definitely still cautious, but the first half of the GL basically being a breeze would definitely make him a cocky little bastard. At least until the war between the WBP and the marines gave him a wake up call in the form of a metaphorical slap to the face.

But it it still doesn’t adequately explain his “new” personality in Punk Hazard (imo).

He appears to act hastily, is grim and severe and appears to be in the middle of a suicide attack. Seems weird and kinda ooc… at least without a good reason for it.

I generally look at it like this;

Law is acting more hastily than he’d prefer, because he knows he’s running out of time.

We know his original plan to take down Doflamingo wasn’t what he’d actually wanted to do. Law wanted revenge, he wanted to fight Doflamingo himself, not set up this elaborate scheme that basically used Kaido to do what he couldn’t.

So what’s the rush?

I believe that Law designed the Heart pirates logo/jolly roger and picked the name as a way to honor Cora’s memory, but it was also meant to send the message to Doflamingo “I’m your Corazon, I’m coming home”. That’s why the flag look so alike, remember, Doffy doesn’t know that Law was present when he killed his brother. Doffy doesn’t know that Law knows that Doffy means to use him to further his own agenda.

From Doffys pov it probably looks like Law disappeared only to appear maybe 5-6 years later as a pirate, practically wearing his symbol and carrying the title/name he raised him to inherit.

I believe Law would know Doflamingo well enough that Doflamingo would take it as a sign that he was (perhaps slowly and meticulously, just as he was taught) making his way back “home”.

Hell, Doflamingo probably was all happy and smug about it. His 3:rd Corazon was working his way up in the world, making his way back to his side, despite his own brother having done everything in his power to mess everything up.

Remember, Law was in no hurry to make his way into the New World. I think it’s because he knows he can only prolong his appearance in front of Doffy for so long if he did.

Now, I hc hard that Law and the Heart pirates deal in the black market, specifically because Law knows that Doflamingo is Joker, and he needs all the dirt and information he can get to try and stay one step ahead of Doffy, and to try to find his weak spots.

Well, he finds out about SAD, Smile and Kaido. Finally he’s got something he might use to his advantage. However, he also finds out that Kaido’s almost done creating his army of world domination. Maybe he gives it a year or so before the whole world will be dragged into a war guaranteed to change the world forever, both politically and geographically. And then all his knowledge will be useless.

And Law knows Doffy won’t wait another decade or so before he might be able to tackle Doflamingo again.

No, his only choice is to get in front of the storm brewing on the horizon, to take charge and use the pieces all around him to place himself in the eye of the hurricane and use the powers around him to accomplish his own goals.

He needs to use Kaido to take out Doflamingo. It doesn’t matter if Kaidos army of beasts is almost done, practically done or just a single person short. Kaidos temper is legendary, and his rage against Doflamingo failing to fulfill his duties would lead to a clash between them, a clash Doflamingo has no hope of winning.

A strong and clever pirate could sweep in after an stake his claim in the New World. The probability of coming out on top is abysmally small, but Doffys defeat is practically guaranteed, and the rewards of success is incredibly enticing. Not to mention he has no other choice.

Now Law is a warlord during this. He needs the contacts in the navy and he needs something to be a plausible reason for not turning up at Doflamingos doorstep with a smile and begging to be his puppet.

Law knows, Doflamingo likes useful pawns, but Laws biggest use is to die so Doffy can live forever, and Doflamingo isn’t going to wait forever, regardless of how much Law improves his abilities and allure as someone who’s usefulness is off the charts.

So he gets his hands on a eternal pose to PH and says goodbye to his crew… They don’t want to part, but they know that his orders are absolute, to disobey orders is to be kicked from the crew, so they go, and pray to anything that will listen to please let their captain come back to them.

And Law negotiates with Ceasar. He gives him his heart, his freedom, his most precious thing, what Cora-san died slowly and agonizingly to give him. And then… Luffy

For the second time in Laws life, Luffy crashes into his life, turning everything upside down and blowing all his carefully laid plans out of the water.

Luffy who’s freedom itself, Luffy who’s the very definition of the D that Cora-san spoke of. The storm that declared war against the world, the enemy of the gods that punched a celestial dragon in the face without a moment’s hesitation.

In the face of such an free soul, the invisible leach that Ceasar has around Laws neck chafe something terrible. Listening to the clown happily talking about how he made drug addicts of small children, something in Law finally snaps and he ends up hunting down Luffy with the goal of making an alliance.

Because some part of Law trusts Luffy, regardless of how much he hates it, swears up and down that he doesn’t, that he shouldn’t…

After all, Luffy and his crew are perhaps the definition of the type of people that he can’t help but open his heart for. (Strong-willed, happy-go-lucky and determined with a tendency to do everything in their power for those they care for). And that terrifies him. Because Luffy can’t be controlled, and therefore Law cannot protect him.

And Law just can’t handle losing a loved one again. Never again. There’s a reason he always makes sure to place himself between anything that would do them harm and his crew.

Anyway, I sure would like to hear other people’s thoughts and/or hc of Law and his character

… I spent most of the night writing this 🙄 oh well…

#trafalgar d water law #trafalgar law #trafalgardwaterlaw #character discussion #one piece #heart pirates #rant

[sullyfortress]

Imagine Lo’aks daughter being the exact same as him and Jake, always finding ways of putting herself in danger. Lo’ak nearly pulling his hair out in worry and stress while Jake is laughing his ass off at how the tables have turned. 🤣

Ok so just some general headcannons

Pey Pey + Ziri relationships to the other Sullys:

Jake:

He loves that Ziri has a rebellious streak and Lo'ak is experiencing the same terror that Jake did raising him. Ziri reminds Jake of Neytiri alot. Jake also as we know is a girl dad and has a soft spot for his granddaughter which does not help in her discipline(Yes he calls her babygirl). He and Neytiri often get in trouble covering for her or teaching her hunting skills that Lo'ak thinks she's too young for. Also he and Tonowari definitely get competitive trying to proove who's the best granddad.

Pey Pey is Jake's little man. He is a silent shadow of Toruk Makto. It's not uncommon to see Jake walking about given instructions and orders to his warriors fighting RDA with Pey Pey on his hip.

Pey Pey loves to mimic his granddad and definatly got the need to please Jake gene from Lo'ak. Like many in the family, Jake is very protective of Pey Pey, as he does remind him of Neteyam. This leads to frustration from young Pey Pey as he is coddled more than his sister.

Neytiri:

Badass grandma to the max. She often will buck against Lo'ak an Tsireya and join sides with Ziri. Especially when Ziri wants to take a warrior route while Tsireya wants her to take more of a pacifist path. Neytiri helps Ziri connect to her Omaticaya culture.

Ziri also really wants her own Ikran like grandma so Neytiri insists upon taking her on a field trip to Ayram alusìng(Floating Mountains) to get her own Ikran. To which Lo'ak says no because they are Metkayina she doesn't need an ikran and Neytiri raises hell going on and on about how she won't deny her granddaughter her culture!!!

Neytiri has a special love for Pey Pey as his sweet disposition reminds her of Neteyam. She spends time teaching him to braid and bead jewelry just as she taught Neteyam.

Also her and Ronal also compete over being the best grandmother.

Kiri:

Kiri has a closer relationship to Pey Pey than Ziri. Pey Pey's calm and inquisitive nature means he himself is more curious about Eywa and the life on pandora. Also with him being deaf, connecting with ilu's and other creatures gives him access to senses that he's never had before.

Kiri has become a mentor of sorts to Pey Pey and teaches him much of what Mo'at taught her about medicine and spiritual intuition.

Tuk:

While wild in her youth, Tuk actually becomes the responsible battle aunt. Tuk grew up to be a powerful warrior in the Metkayina clan. She loves to play from time to time, but growing up as a child in war did leave Tuk to be a little more precarious. Like many in the family, Pey Pey and Ziri remind her of Neteyam and Lo'ak. Which means she cares very deeply and very muchy hovers over her niece and nephew. But she also knows that fun and play are important distractions from war.

Spider:

He's the crazy uncle who encourages Ziri's rebellious nature. He also has a soft spot for little Pey Pey and makes sure to include him whenever he can. Pey Pey likes uncle Spider as he is coddled less with him.

Ziri calls Spider 'baby uncle' due to his small human size.

*Neteyam* Spirit: (Same relationships if he was alive)

When they are old enough to connect to the spirit tree, the kids meet their uncle.

Ziri loves to hear stories from her uncle about the Omaticaya forest and about her family when her father was a child.

Pey Pey, can speak through Eywa and therefore has a voice that only Uncle Neteyam can hear. He often shares insecurities and frustrations that he is unable to vocalize with the rest of the family. Neteyam and Pey Pey understand one another best in the Sully family as both are reserved and often put the needs of others before their own, and had a desire to please their fathers but always feeling out of reach of approval.

Pey Pey also feels insecure about not wanting to be 'a warrior'. He very much connects more with the role of a healer and worries he will disappoint Jake and Lo'ak.

Neteyam comforts and relates to him as he was forced into the perfect son role, but isn't sure that was really what brought him joy. (in my canon, Neteyam actually loved beading and jewelry making and had a lot of anxiety connected to the perfect warrior role).

#avatar the way of water #avatar way of water #my art #jake sully #pey pey oc #ziri oc #neteyam sully #avatar #au avatar headcannon #kiri sully #spider socorro #tuk sully #lo'ak and tsireya future child maybe???? #neytiri

[fandomsnrambles]

Ik people talk about the tragedy of the Spinjitzu family, but i mostly see it focused on Lloyd and Garmadon which isnt bad, but also you’re sleeping on the tragedy for Wu and the FSM.

FSM -> Was a dragoni child raised in constant war who had to choose between family. Probably was a child soldier himself if we’re being real honest. Chose none of them and ran away. Idk how you come out of that w/o trust issues.

Hell, the trust issues was implied with Nineko and the way he doesn’t tell his sons much. Why would he? To do that he needs to tell them about his past, which means trauma dumping on his kids. He’s emotionally constipated. Can’t say it but does love his sons and the land he created. He fights to defend it and despite his past, longs for a world where he doesn’t have to fight anymore. Longs for peace.

However, his eldest son is hit with a poison he can’t cure (probably due to the overlord’s interference now that i’m looking back on it.) but he does his best to find what he thinks may work. He helps him through his episodes and tells his sons where he thinks the cure may be. But it still ends in disaster.

Wu -> Raised with high expectations. Probably under a lot of stress to keep up. I’m thinking gifted child/burn out. Loved his father, looked up to him but unintentionally copies his father’s unhealthy coping mechanisms because he thinks his father is the best. Doesnt realise his father probably struggled with his own internal issues with trauma. Did therapy exist 1000 years ago? Probably not.

Anyway, he watches his brother fall victim to a poison and blames himself for it (ignoring the fact he was what. 9???) Makes a lot of mistakes (Aspheera) but tries his best to fit into the mould of expectations.

Probably represses a lot of emotions. Anyway, he goes on to watch his brother descend into darkness (watches him go for chen at some point) and fights along side him for ninjago until suddenly he’s fighting alone against his brother after his friends in the elemental alliance slowly leave.

He falls in love, but shes also someone his brother loves. His brother marries her and he tries to move on. He raises Morro until morro leaves.

At this point, he’s lost his brother, father, friends and now a boy he raised. Then he gets a nephew only to find said nephew has to fight his father.

#i see a lot of character bashing in this fandom #but honestly i refuse to bash characters #nuance is fun! #ninjago #ninjago first spinjitzu master #ninjago wu #sensei wu #ninjago garmadon #lord garmadon #lloyd garmadon #ninjago lloyd #lego ninjago #i know i didnt add garmadon and lloyd to the list #but the tags are there because they’re mentioned.

[apollosgiftofprophecy]

the pjo tv show is making me have thoughts about hephaestus & apollo’s dynamic, as well as apollo & ares dynamic — so i was wondering if you had any hcs for either duo or both !!

GREAT MINDS THINK ALIKE

I do for sure have some Thoughts on Apollo & Ares so I shall start there.

Apollo & Ares

Favorite Son and Least Favorite Son.

After Apollo was born, we all know he went on a mission to avenge his mom. That included killing Python, but I also headcanon this preteen storming up to Ares and demanding a fight for his mom's honor.

This was brought on because in the mythos, Ares actually chased Leto around and drove her from place to place, never letting her rest for long.

Obviously, Apollo isn't too keen on this and demands a duel.

Ares takes one look at this kid and goes you know what? I like his spunk. I'm keeping him. and lo and behold Apollo gets distracted by Ares showing him how to properly grip a sword's blade.

Also fun fact! In Ancient Greece, fathers raised their sons and mothers the daughters. Fathers would teach their sons how to swim and write, so this gets interesting once you put ToA's context with it.

In all honesty, I don't think Zeus was too involved in Apollo's growth. He was still there, of course! Enough to have a hold on him and. well. manipulate/gaslight him/abuse him.

However heartbreaking it would be to think about Zeus teaching Apollo these things (my heart. my poor sobbing heart.), I would also find it heartwarming if Ares did that instead.

Or Poseidon. But I personally think he taught Apollo how to ride horses. Let Ares have his thing :3

Because wouldn't it make sense that if Zeus couldn't find the time teach Apollo, then that responsibility would fall to the eldest son?

Jump to the giant twins now.

Apollo helps Ares recover. That is all.

THEY WERE ON THE SAME SIDE IN THE TROJAN WAR !!!!!!

Okay so. Diomedes tried to stab Apollo a few times when he was rescuing Aeneus, and Apollo CANONICALLY tells Ares about it - and lo and behold, Ares gets into a fight with Diomedes (and gets shish-kabobbed).

SO I CONCLUDE-

Apollo: Diomedes tried to stab me :(

Ares: WHAT.

Apollo: Yeah three times.

Ares: WHY.

Apollo: Aphrodite's kid? Aeneus? I was saving his ass after Diomedes stabbed Aphrodite.

Ares: THAT BITCH.

Apollo: But don't worry I took care of it-

Ares, picking up his spear and sword: HE SHALL TREMBLE BEFORE MY FURY. NOT EVEN HIS ARMOR WILL MARK HIS GRAVE WHEN I FINISH WITH HIM. HE SHALL CHOKE ON THE BLOOD HE HAS SPILT AND I SHALL LAUGH AS HIS CORPSE DECAYS. HE WILL RUE THE DAY HE HARMED EITHER OF YOU-

Apollo: he didn't touch me tho-

Ares: BUT HE TRIED!

Ares, snapping his cape: I shall take my leave. Got a bastard to stab. rides down and fights beside Hector. gets stabbed by Diomedes.

Ares, clutching his stomach: ...this didn't go as planned.

Apollo, patching it up after Zeus yelled at Ares: you don't say?

anyway. Apollo & Ares would also watch battlefields and Ares would basically be like "right. this is how to properly disembowel your enemies!" gruesomely decapitates some poor mortal. "See? Easy!"

also they would sing!!! war hymns and other things. Ares can dance too btw :3

also when Aphrodite and Apollo were polyculing with Adonis, Ares was doublely jealous because Adonis is 1) taking the attention of his girlfriend and 2) banging his favorite brother

Ares also cautioned Apollo about drawing too much attention to himself, especially Zeus's.

Too bad Apollo didn't quite take it to heart...

I think Ares already knows Apollo is being abused by Zeus. He knows the signs. He knows what's happening...because it happened to him first.

He would drop hints. Which...weren't very subtle, and kinda freaked Apollo out a bit because ohmygodsdoesheknow-?

And when Revolution time came around? You bet Ares sensed it coming from a mile away.

And perhaps he did...hmm...like with the master bolt theft...ooo gonna have to marinate that for a bit. see what i can cook up there. or if any of you have theories shoot them at me!

back to the thing. Once Ares catches wind It's A Go...he's gonna be on Apollo's side. Because godsdammit he's sick of Zeus and his horrible parenting a good war would give him a clean slate.

...Even if he has to put up with both Hera and Athena.

Apollo & Hephaestus

okay so. I haven't thought much about them because they are elusive for me BUT-

The show gave me a THOUGHT!

"Some of us don't like being that way either."

HEPHAESTUS DOESN'T LIKE THE SYSTEM. HE DOESN'T! HE HATES GOING ALONG WITH IT!

MY FIRST THOUGHT WHEN I HEARD THOSE WORDS?

APOLLO

he doesn't want to be part of it either. but he buried it inside himself. but post toa...he doesn't want to do that anymore.

and I think Apollo does like Hephaestus! I remember there was a moment where Apollo mentions being in his study or something and missing the entire 40s or whatever staring at Hephaestus's Newton's Cradle.

why was apollo in there. and did hephaestus let him in there?

BECAUSE HEPHAESTUS IS A PRIVATE GUY RIGHT? WHAT'S APOLLO DOING IN A PRIVATE ROOM OF HIS?

...unless he invited him in :D

I need to do a lil' more digging on Hephaestus and Apollo but I hope this was all interesting :3

feel free to add on readers!

#the oracle speaks #anon ask #the trials of apollo #apollo #ares #hephaestus #pjo apollo #pjo ares #pjo hephaestus #trials of apollo #riordanverse headcanons

[rhoorl]

Delta Landscaping Chapter 12: In a Rink Far, Far Away

Series Summary: In this AU, the boys of Delta Force start a new business post-Colombia. 

Series Masterlist | Chapter 12 A03 Link

Word Count: 6.2k

Previously on As the Mule Falls: We learned a bit more about the back stories between Will and Katie. We also found out more about Benny and got some insight into his relationship with Cousin Joel. The Pikes will close on their house soon. Frankie was out in Dallas being the best uncle ever. Connor and Santiago help Benny study up on Omar as he continues to prepare for his fight. Speaking of Santiago, he sent a not-so-subtle message to Melissa…or was he playing games?

On this Episode: Benny and Will have a heart-to-heart. Frankie returns home after an eventful trip back. And we get the long-awaited (for me) birthday party for Olivia's twins. Cue montage A bunch of kids trying to chase Benny around the rink (he's skating backward), a curious Lucille, Megan and Katie whispering, David and his gold Stanley cup, Frankie checking his phone, and lots of Star Wars decorations.

Chapter Warnings: There are a few scenes that involve kids (we are at a children’s party after all). I pulled out a tissue while writing the Benny and Will scene at the beginning because I thought it was sweet. There are some Spanish phrases thrown in throughout, but hopefully, there’s enough context so you can understand the gist even if you don’t speak Spanish. If you have questions please let me know!

*Cue the theme music and roll opening credits*

Wednesday

Will walked back up the driveway and saw Santiago's car still in the driveway. He groaned at the prospect of having to face both Pope and Benny, knowing that his early arrival home was going to trigger questions and ribbing.

When he opened the door, the house was dark and quiet. It took him a second to see a faint glow coming from the couch. Benny watching something on his phone. 

“Ben, seriously, in the living room?” Will rolled his eyes with a huff.

“Ha ha, very funny jackass. I'm watching a fight see?” He turned his phone around to show Will. “You’re home a lot earlier than I expected. What did we end up getting?” He motioned with his chin toward to the two presents in Will’s hands.

“A magic set and some Fortnite thing, I have no idea what it is.” He shrugged.

Benny inspected the packages once Will set them on the coffee table. “I take it this isn’t your handiwork then huh?” gesturing to the perfectly wrapped presents.

“Nah, that’s all Kat…uh Katie. She did that.”

Benny pulled his smile to one side, eyeing his brother as he plopped down on the end of the couch.

“Where’s Pope and Connor?”

Benny sat up, “Pope crashed here, he’s in the guest room, and Connor left a while ago.”

“How was watching film? Pick anything up?” Will asked, his gaze fixed on the television.

“Uh, it was good. Guy’s a typical boxer making the jump to MMA. I know what I have to do.” Benny swiped his bangs away from his eyes. “Soooo…we not going to talk about it or? Did something happen?”

Will sighed and got up to walk to the kitchen and grab a beer. He heard Benny follow suit, trailing behind him. “Nothing happened, Ben. We…talked, hung out. It was…nice,” Will leaned against the kitchen counter, resting his head against one of the cabinets.

“Nice. You just talked? Wow, you really are friend zoned huh?” Benny quickly stifled a chuckle when he saw Will’s serious demeanor unchanged. He knew his brother had a way of compartmentalizing and shutting down. After all, it took one to know one. So, he had to tread a bit lightly and back off the teasing. “Sorry, man. Uh…nice. So, what did you guys talk about?”

“A few things, I ended up talking a lot about you actually.” Will raised his eyebrows with the smallest of smirks dancing across his lips.

“Me?” Benny brought his hand to his chest dramatically. “Well, that’s a pretty good topic of conversation I’d say,” he winked.

“You’re such a dick.” Will shook his head and couldn’t help but smile.

The brothers sat for a moment in comfortable silence, Will rolling the neck of the beer bottle between his fingers while Benny sat on a bar stool at the kitchen island. 

“Was it bad?” Benny finally broke the silence, but Will could barely hear him. 

“What?” Will leaned slightly forward.

“You said you talked about me…was it bad? Did I do something wrong?” Benny started fidgeting with his hands, his eyes fixed downward.

“What? No Bean. It’s never anything bad,” Will pushed off the counter and walked a couple of steps to face Benny on the opposite side of the kitchen island. “You’re a good man, Benny. You know that right?”

“Hmpf,” Benny's eyes quickly flitted up to Will and then back down to his hands. 

“I don’t think I tell you enough, or at all even, but I’m proud of you Bean.”

Will saw the crease between Benny’s eyebrows deepen as he chewed the inside of his cheek. Taking a deep breath, Benny looked up, “Thanks, man. I’m proud of you too.”

“Can I ask you a question?” Will studied Benny’s face and when he saw his brother nod he continued, “Do you resent me? For enlisting?”

Benny quickly looked up, tilting his head. “Resent you? Why would you say that?”

“I don’t know man, I left you home alone with dad…if I could have stayed around, I don’t know…” Will rubbed the back of his neck.

“I wasn’t alone,” Benny’s eyes met Will’s and he gave a small smile. “I had mom, and Joel, and Tommy. I missed you obviously…and I’m not going to lie and say it was a fucking cakewalk, but…I don’t resent you. But you are the reason I enlisted.” Will scoffed, but Benny continued. “You were! I…I wanted to be like you. I uh…I’ve always looked up to you man.” 

“You have?”

“Are you serious?” Benny let out a harsh breath. He took a moment to compose himself, but his eyes started to water. “You’ve always been the example…in everything. I’ve always wanted to be like you.”

“Damn, Ben,” Will choked back tears. He was normally stoic and could keep his emotions at bay, but there was something about seeing his little brother cry that always punched him in the gut.

“I mean it. You got good grades, had lots of friends, always knew what to say, and … although I hate to admit this, girls liked you more,” he laughed and then sniffled. “So I wanted to follow you. Hell, if anything I always thought that you maybe…I don’t know…resent is too strong of a word, but I didn’t want you to think your kid brother was always taggin’ along tryna copy you or something.”

“You can always tag along Bean.” Will came around the counter and clapped his brother on the back as Benny pulled him into an embrace.

Thursday

On her morning walk with Bucky, Megan spotted Katie coming back from a run.

“Hey stranger!” she waved.

“Hey! Hey Buck,” Katie jogged over, giving Bucky some head scratches, which promptly turned into belly rubs as he flipped on his back.

“Soo…how was your night?” Megan waggled her eyebrows. “You never texted me back.”

Katie sighed, wiping her brow with her forearm, “Unfortunately, it was uneventful in that department. We went to Target, wrapped some presents, ate dinner, and talked. And he helped me plan out some home projects, mostly around the kitchen.”

“So you didn’t wrap his presen-” Megan could barely get it out before they both started cracking up. Once they composed themselves, Megan raised an eyebrow suspiciously. “So how do you feel about how the night went?”

“Honestly? Good. He’s a really sweet guy Meg and I…I don’t know, I feel like we have stuff in common…like we could help each other,” she looked down at her feet and then back up at Megan who started to smirk. “Don’t say it. We’re not going to ‘help each other’ like that,” Katie rolled her eyes.

“I didn’t say anything.” She held up her palms.

Katie narrowed her eyes, giving her friend a skeptical look.

“I’m just saying you friend-zoned a super hot guy when you could have had a chance to…you know,” she winked and poked Katie in her side.

“I’ve sucked his dick, Megan, it’s not like haven’t done anything.”

The two busted out in giggles as Bucky whined for Katie to give him more belly rubs.

Friday

“Hey Frank, I’m gonna run out while Vale is in the shower, gotta pick up some donuts. We have to cheer up Antonio before you leave,” Alyssa pouted as she grabbed her crossbody and keys. “The kids are really going to miss you…so are we.” 

Frankie sighed, “I know. I’m gonna miss you all too. We have to get y’all out to Florida soon.”

“I’d like that. We all would,” she walked over and patted her brother-in-law on the arm with a tight smile. “Ok, I’ll be back soon. Neither of them should wake up for a while so you can relax for a bit. Got everything packed?”

“Ha, thanks Lys. Yeah, I’m all set.” He turned and opened the cabinet to pull out a mug and start brewing some coffee.

He was about to sit down on the couch and play a game on his phone when he heard what sounded like crying. It wasn’t like Leia’s crying, it was a bit more muffled, but he heard it nonetheless. He got up and walked down the hallway, hearing the crying grow louder as he stood outside of Antonio’s door. Softly opening it, Frankie saw his nephew sitting on his bed with his back to the door, huddled over and crying into a pillow.

“Pollito…” Frankie whispered as he slipped into the room.

The little boy turned, curls wild and eyes red. “Hi…Tio…Frankie…” he managed to say as he tried to catch his breath.

“Que te pasa?” Frankie rushed over and sat on the little boy’s bed, which was decked out in Star Wars sheets to compliment his Star Wars pajamas. He put a hand on the back of Antonio's head and brought him in for a hug. “Shhh calmate. What’s wrong?”

Antonio buried his head in his uncle’s chest and after a few minutes, he pulled back and used both hands to wipe the tears from his eyes. “I don’t want you to go. You just got here. Can’t you stay?”

Frankie felt like a dagger was driven directly through his heart as he closed his eyes and took a breath pulling Antonio back to his chest. “Hey, it’s ok. I can come back out to visit. Maybe you all can come see me and the rest of your Tios. I can take you up in a helicopter,” Frankie hoped the offer would help quell some of the tears.

“R-really? That…would…be…fun,” Antonio managed to get out between sniffles.

Frankie tried to take the boy’s mind off of his impending departure by telling him all about his favorite helicopter and the route he liked to use on his sightseeing tours. He offered up going to a Tampa Bay Rays game or throwing the baseball around with the guys which elicited the first smile of the morning from Antonio. After a few minutes, the tears were dried and Antonio’s breathing was back to normal as he started asking a bunch of questions and talking a mile a minute.

They were pulled from their little conversation by another set of cries, Leia’s. She had woken up and was not happy about it.

“Your hermana’s up, let’s go get her,” Frankie smiled as Antonio hopped off his bed and bounded down the door. 

“Ok Tio Frankie, but you’re the one changing her diaper. I’m not doing that,” Antonio scrunched up his face.

“Babe! I’m home!” Danny decided to surprise Melissa by jumping on an earlier flight back. He knew that with the impending weather, he ran the chance of getting delayed or stuck somewhere. “Babe?” He started searching around. He saw her purse on the counter and her keys were on the hook by the garage door, so he knew she was home.

Scanning around the house, he saw a shirt strewn over the couch and wet footprints leading to the patio. That’s when he spotted her on a float in the middle of their pool, headphones in and eyes closed.

She must have sensed someone watching her because she cracked her eyes open slightly and jumped a bit at the sight of him. “Babe! I didn’t expect you home so early!” She paddled towards the side of the pool with her hands on either side of the float.

“I know, I just…missed you. I wanted to get home as soon as I could,” a wicked grin came across his face as his eyes grazed over her body; she was wearing one of his favorite bikinis.

She arched her eyebrow, intrigued by the playful side of him, something that had been missing. He’d been pulling long shifts over the last couple of weeks which left him with hardly any energy at the end of the day to engage in much frisky activity, even if it was just over the phone. But, he looked pent up and Melissa was not mad about it.

“Well, how about we take care of that, Captain,” her eyes trailed down to his pants which were starting to tent. 

“Jesus Christ, Pope,” Benny muttered to himself, putting his pillow over his head to try and drown out the sound of Santiago’s alarm. “This guy could fucking sleep through anything.”

After about another minute with no silence in sight, Benny threw the pillow to the side, along with his sheets, and stomped over to the guest room. He didn’t even bother to knock, knowing it wouldn’t make a difference. When he walked in, he saw Santiago sprawled out on the guest bed, face down and snoring … loudly.

“Hey, wake the fuck up man,” Benny grabbed Santiago’s ankle and shook it.

Santiago woke up with a start, recoiling his legs and looking around confused before he registered Benny at the foot of his bed.

“Fuck, Benny, what’re you doing here?” He reached over and silenced the alarm.

“What am I doing here? First of all, hi, I live here. Second of all, your fucking alarm has been going off for the past five minutes. You haven’t heard it?”

Santiago sat up, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes and shaking his head. “No, I… damn I was out wasn’t I?”

Benny just gave him a look, turned on his heel, and walked out of the room.

When Santiago picked up his phone again he saw a couple of different text messages and a calendar reminder that said “Fetch the Fish.”

Frankie lay on the floor as Leia crawled over him and Antonio ate his chocolate frosted donut, with sprinkles of course. He was trying to soak up this last bit of family time before he and Valeria had to head to the airport. 

“We’ll really have to figure out a time to come out and see you, Paco, maybe before the summer ends or something? I have to check with Tim before I schedule some time off.” Valeria smiled over her coffee mug.

“Why? That guy hasn’t taken a vacation in the last like five years, I think you’re good to do whatever you want, babe!” Alyssa called from the kitchen where she was packing Antonio’s lunchbox. 

Valeria sighed, “I know. We need to get that guy laid.” She snorted.

Valeria was about to open her mouth to say something when Frankie’s phone buzzed on the coffee table. He groaned getting up, his back hurting no doubt, and sighed when he read the message on his phone.

“What’s wrong?” Valeria asked.

“There’s weather, so my flight got changed. I gave to go through Atlanta now,” Frankie rolled his eyes. 

The drive up to arrivals was always stressful. Bumper-to-bumper cars, frantically scanning the crowd for your person, while trying not to crash. Luckily for Santiago, Frankie stood out from the crowd thanks to his trusty baseball cap and curls. I’d spot that fucker from a mile away he would often say.

That’s why when he saw Frankie giving a mystery woman a hug he was very intrigued. As he pulled closer he saw her break the hug and look up at Frankie with a tight smile as she retreated to a lime-green Kia Soul. He also noticed how Frankie’s gaze remained fixed on the car as it drove away. It’s why Frankie didn’t even realize Santiago had pulled up right next to him. 

Santiago rolled down the passenger window and gave his special whistle - one he used to use back when the guys served to locate each other. That piercing tone snapped Frankie out of his trance and he looked to the side, locking eyes with Pope waved.

“Vamos pendejo, they’re gonna make me circle if you don’t get in,” Santiago yelled towards Frankie, motioning for him to get in the car.

“Fuck,” Frankie shook his head to center himself before walking towards the curb. He opened the back door of Santiago’s car and tossed his carry-on and backpack in before settling into the passenger seat. “Sorry, Pope. Thanks for picking me up.”

As Santiago maneuvered his way out of the maze of cars, he quickly glanced over to Frankie. “All good, hermano. You good?”

“Uh y-yea…I’m great, actually.” 

Frankie stared out of the window as Santiago continued to drive, a smirk coming over his face.

Saturday 

“When's the last time you went roller skating?” Santiago asked as he got out of Frankie’s truck. Frankie was head down on his phone and oblivious. “Fish? Hey, que te pasa?” Santiago slapped Frankie on the shoulder as he came around the front of the truck. 

“Hmm?” Frankie murmured, quickly sending a text before shoving the phone into his pocket, but it was too late. Santiago saw the screen before Frankie could lock it. “What?”

Santiago stopped Frankie in his tracks and gave him a skeptical look. “Who’s Jo?” He glanced towards the phone in Frankie’s pocket. “Anyone we should be worried about?”

It was then that Frankie realized how Santiago may have been interpreting his behavior. Frankie being reclusive usually meant trouble, and he couldn't blame his friend for the worry. Given his track record, Frankie would have had the same reaction if the shoe was on the other foot.

“N-no hermano, it's nothing like that. I…uh,” he readjusted his hat before rubbing the back of his neck. “I kinda met someone on the flight home…I think.”

A wash of relief fell over Santiago's face. He was ready for evasiveness but was pleasantly surprised by the vulnerability.

“No shit man! Tell me about…this…person.” Santiago made sure to carefully choose his words.

“She…uh she…uh…we ended up sitting next to each other. Not a great flyer so I tried to help, her get through the flight. She wasn’t a fan of the turbulence,” Frankie smiled to himself.

Santiago raised an eyebrow with a slight smirk. He didn't want to press, knowing Frankie would share more in due time. They heard car doors closing, looking up to see the Miller brothers getting out of Will’s Jeep. 

Benny was all smiles, excited to be able to recycle an old Halloween costume. “Pope! Nice man, good to see this get-up again,” he winked. “Fish, c’mon man, You really missed out on an opportunity to dress up like an X-wing pilot or something.” He shook his head.

“Pope’s the one who suggested this. Said we could go as a duo,” Frankie motioned to his shirt.

“David, seriously? Oh. My. God.” Olivia couldn't help but bust out laughing as David walked through the front door. When she told everyone they could dress up, she knew David was going to do the absolute most. 

Ty sighed with a shrug, playfully acting defeated as they walked up, “There was no reigning him in.”

“Of course there was! I could have dusted off my Princess Leia bikini costume from Pride, but I figured that have been too much.”

“For a kid’s party, yeah I think so babe,” Ty laughed, still shaking his head.

David spent some quality time with his sewing machine throughout the week as he constructed a gold body suit complete with a matching gold jacket. But the pièce de résistance was his knee-high gold boots, complete with rhinestones. Ty followed behind dressed as R2D2 albeit, with a lot more subtlety. He wore a store-bought shirt with a simple pair of jeans. He humored David by wearing a R2D2 hat he had bought from the Disney store.

Olivia rolled her eyes and continued to laugh, but paused when she saw the cup David brought with him even though she told him to leave it at home. 

“Don’t worry Liv, it’s empty, see…” he opened the lid to his solid gold Stanely cup to show Olivia, who gave him a tight smile and walked away to go greet some new arrivals.

Megan nearly choked on her water as she, Lucille, and Connor walked up. “Holy shit, David!”

“Hey! Language!” Olivia called over.

“Sorry Livvy! David. Hold on I need a picture,” she laughed. 

David was more than happy to oblige, giving her a few different angles and looks. 

“Ay dios mio!” Lucille shook her head as she bounced little Diana on her hip. The baby was entertained playing with Lucille’s glasses.

“Oh come on, Lulu, you’re just mad I took your idea,” David winked. “I love your buns, Katie!”

“Aw thanks,” Katie smiled, reaching up to touch the two Leia-inspired buns on the side of her head.

“Oh hey everyone!” The group turned to see Melissa walking in with Danny. She wore a white tunic with skinny jeans and had her hair in three buns down her head like Rey, while Danny kept it simple with jeans and a Star Wars shirt. 

“You both look great! We missed you Danny, good to have you home” Olivia came over, giving them both a hug and taking the gifts from Melissa.

“Where are the birthday boys?” Danny asked with a big smile.

“Oh Chris is helping them with their costumes…oh there they are!” Olivia pointed over as her husband and twins walked out of the bathroom. Chris looked suave in his Lando Calrissian get-up, complete with a cape and mustache he grew out specifically for the party, much to Olivia’s chagrin. CJ and Max decided to go as Kylo Ren and Darth Vader. 

“Ohhh and look at what we have here,” Ty smirked, bumping shoulders with David who let out a loud gasp, covering his mouth with his hand.

It was as if everything went into slow motion as Santiago, Benny, Will, and Frankie walked into the skating rink.

“Hey guys!” Chris called over with a wave as CJ and Max ran to say hi, getting high-fives from Benny.

“Uh oh, I gotta stay away from you guys!” Benny faked acting scared of the twins.

“Mr. Benny, who are you supposed to be?” Max asked.

“He’s Kylo Ren’s dad, duh!” CJ rolled his eyes.

“Kylo Ren’s dad?” Chris scoffed. “He’s Han Solo. The coolest…you know what, never mind,” he laughed. “Great costume, bud! You too Santiago.”

“Thanks! You too man, can’t say the same about these two,” Santiago gestured over his shoulder to Will and Frankie. Santiago happened to catch Frankie smiling at his phone again before tucking it away.

“C’mon, everyone’s going to be excited you’re here!” Chris ushered the guys over to where the other neighbors had set up shop.

Megan whistled as the guys walked up, making Katie laugh and Connor groan. “Mom, c’mon!”

“Oh stop it, you don’t wear pants that tight and not expect anyone to say anything, right Santiago?”

“Ha you know it,” he winked. 

Frankie walked over to Lucille and gave her a big hug and kiss on the cheek. “Te extrañé, Francisco. How was your trip?”

“It was great, I’m so glad I went.” He smiled. 

Lucille noticed he had quite a twinkle in his eyes. “Ok, well I need to see pictures!” She moved Diana over to her other hip as Frankie fetched his phone out of his pocket.

She cooed over the photos of little Leia and could not get over how cute Antonio was with his curly hair and brown eyes that reminded her so much of Frankie. “Your sister is beautiful! It runs in the family,” she winked. 

Frankie blushed as he continued to scroll through the photos. His phone dinged and a notification for a message popped up, but Frankie quickly cleared it and pulled the phone away before Lucille was able to see it. He had just received a photo of some sort.

“Uh sorry, got a text,” Frankie fumbled with his phone and got back to sharing photos from his trip. “But yeah, that’s the kids,” he nervously laughed which made Lucille smirk.

“Hey, are you supposed to be Poe?” Connor looked Santiago up and down before taking a sip of his soda.

“Ha yea, bought this costume a couple of years ago. Had a girl at a bar tell me I looked like the guy who played him once so I figured I’d lean into it. That was a good Halloween for us wasn’t it Ben,” Santiago laughed as Benny buried his face in his hands shaking his head as he walked away to go lace up his skates.

“Aww, you have a couple’s costume with Frankie.” Melissa crossed her arms as she walked up and stood next to Santiago. Her eyes trailed after Danny who had gone to the cooler to fetch her a beer. 

“Ohhhh, I get it now! Frankie has on a BB-8 shirt,” Connor laughed. “Actually, you two go together, Rey and Poe.”

“Eh no not really. They don’t really go together, do they Santi?” Melissa said with a tight smile and Santiago folded his arms in front of his chest.

“I like your buns…uh fuck, I mean your hair…uh…shit, sorry,” Will blushed, rubbing the back of his neck and chuckling to himself.

“Well, thanks. Either way you meant it,” Katie winked. “Why aren’t you dressed up? Too cool for school?”

“Nah, I figured I’d let Pope and Ben have the spotlight for a bit,” he put his hands in his pockets and let out a nervous laugh.

“I like this shirt, I figured you’d go for something Boba Fett,” she gestured to the tattoo on Will’s forearm. “Although I’m telling you once you watch The Mandalorian you’re going to change your tune.”

“We’ll have to watch it sometime.”

“Yeah…I’d like tha-” 

Katie was cut off as Benny came behind Will, wrapped his arms around his brother’s waist, and lifted him off the ground. “C’mon man, we gotta show these kids how it’s done.”

Katie raised an eyebrow, “Show them how it’s done huh?”

“Yeah, don’t let him fool you. We used to go to the skating rink a ton in high school. It’s where all the hot girls went. Hey remember that time you and Elizab-... ow!” Benny rubbed the bicep Will had just punched to silence him. 

“Well you boys have fun,” Katie smirked as she leaned forward against the wall at the edge of the rink.

“What you aren’t gonna skate? You’re coming right, Connor?” Benny called over to Connor who was quietly talking and laughing with Aria off in the corner.

“Uh, y-yeah. I’ll… we’ll…be out there in a bit,” Connor responded.

“C’mon Kat, you gotta show us what you got,” Benny teased.

Katie pursed her lips, but couldn’t help the smirk that came over her face as Benny used Will’s nickname for her. Realizing Benny’s slip, Will’s eyes widened as he swallowed hard, his Adam’s apple bobbing up and down. 

“No, you boys go right ahead, we’ll be happy to observe,” Megan came up behind Katie, wrapping her arms around her friend’s shoulders, with a wink. 

“Besides, I…uh…I don’t know how to skate,” Katie said to the ground.

“Wait what?” Benny’s mouth was agape. “Where was your childhood?”

“Ben, stop it,” Will rolled his eyes, slapping his brother across the stomach, “But seriously, you don’t know how?” He directed his attention to Katie who shook her head. “Well, no pressure, but if you want we can teach you. Think about it, but first I need to show up my little brother,” Will winked as he turned and started speeding away.

“Hey! No fair, you got a head start!” Benny yelled as he tried to make up some ground while dodging eight-year-olds. 

Megan came up next to Katie, leaning her forearms on the wall in front of them as the two giggled at the spectacle. Benny and Will skated laps around the kids and started drawing a bit of a crowd. Will shook his head and chuckled as Benny showed off by skating backward.

“It’s nice to see Will laughing, he seems to be having a good time,” Megan observed with a side eye over to Katie.

“Yeah, like he’s letting loose a little bit.”

“So you’re really just going to be friends then, huh?” 

Katie rolled her eyes, facing her friend, with one elbow on the wall. “Yes, just friends. I think -” she paused as her focus was drawn behind Megan. “Well take a look here,” her eyes motioned to where she wanted Megan to look.

Turning around Megan saw Connor take Aria’s hand and lead her onto the rink. She also caught Lucille’s eyes along with Olivia who gave a wink as they all watched the pair start to skate around the rink together hand in hand.

“They’re so cute,” Katie put her arm around Megan, who looked at her with misty eyes.

“They are. Oh shit they’re about to skate back this way, I can’t let him see me like this or he’s going to be so embarrassed,” she laughed, dabbing her eyes.

“Excuse me, Lulu, I’ll be right back,” Frankie got up, phone in hand as he gave Lucille a quick wink and made his way over to a quieter corner of the skating rink.

“Hola, Lulu. Where’s he going?” Santiago asked as he kissed Lucille on the cheek before he sat down.

“I was hoping you’d know.” 

Santiago shook his head from side to side. “Maybe it’s about this girl he met on the flight back.”

“Oh? Cuéntame más.” She perked up, hoping Santiago would spill. 

“Unfortunately, I don’t have much more information than you do. He’s been quiet all day, well, more quiet than usual I guess. And he’s been texting a lot and Fish hates texting, so it must be worth his while. Oh, you know what?” Santiago scooted his chair up closer and leaned in to whisper conspiratorily with Lucille. “When I picked him up yesterday from the airport, he was giving some girl a hug. That has to be Jo, right?”

“Quien es Jo mi amor?” She whispered back confused.

“I saw a name pop up on his phone earlier, Jo. The mystery woman at the airport, and a mystery person in his phone…must be the same one. I could only see her from behind, but she looked pretty good,” he winked.

“Ay dios mio, Santiago. Well, this is exciting news. He seems … excited. It’s nice to see,” she smiled softly, eyes following Frankie who was now smiling and talking on the phone. “And what about you mi vida? Any…ladies catching your eyes?” She gave him an up and down before her eyes found Melissa’s, who quickly averted her gaze. 

Santiago coughed and sat up in the chair. “N-no, I mean … well, I’m dating around. Nothing serious.”

She tilted her head and narrowed her eyes and as she opened her mouth, Frankie appeared.

“Hey Pope, you ok to get a ride with Benny and Will? I’m…um…gonna head out,” he took off his cap and quickly ran his hand through his hair before returning it.

“Todo bien Francisco?” Lucille asked, eyebrows furrowed.

“Y-yeah, all good. I…um…just need to go take care of something. You good Pope?”

“Si, hermano, go ahead.” He nodded to Frankie.

“Adios Lulu,” he bent down to kiss the woman on the cheek. “Ok, let me go find Olivia and tell her bye and I’ll head out.”

“I’ll be back,” Will nodded over to Benny as he slowed down to leave the skating rink.

“Admit it, you’re slow and are worn out,” Benny winked.

“Sure, Ben, whatever you say,” he rolled his eyes and waved his brother on. He spotted Megan, animatedly telling a story as Katie laughed. She was snorting as Will walked up. 

“Oh, hey Will,” Megan stopped to acknowledge Will as he sat down. 

“You having fun?” Katie asked as Will took down a bottle of water quickly.

“Yeah, gotta say I thought Benny had a lot of energy but he’s nothing on these kids,” Will chuckled. “You sure you don’t wanna try and skate?” He turned to Katie who quickly shook her head from side to side. “Aw c’mon Kat, it’ll be fun.”

“Will’s a strong guy, he won’t let you fall. Won’t you, Will?” Megan couldn’t hide her smirk. 

“Definitely not. Why don’t you just try a little bit and if you don’t like it I promise I’ll carry you off myself.”

“Well, in that case, you have to go for it! If you won’t I will!” David suddenly appeared, as Will rubbed the back of his neck, a slight blush coming across his face.

Katie rolled her eyes at Megan and David before looking at Will. “Ok, soldier. But I swear if I fall I’m kicking your ass.”

“Deal. Let’s go get you some shoes,” Will got up and gestured for her to lead the way.

“Where’s Fish?” Benny panted a slight sheen of sweat on his brow from a vigorous skating session. He decided to challenge Connor to a race and lost.

“He left, had somewhere to go in a hurry,” Santiago responded before taking a sip of his beer. 

Benny cocked his head to the side, eyeing Santiago. “He ok?”

“Yeah, Benny. All good, I checked. Don’t worry about it.” Santiago reassured him, seeing the tension in Benny’s shoulders release.

“Benny, I hear you signed yourself up for a fight?” Lucille perked up.

“Ah, y-yeah, I did do that. Wanna come watch?”

“No se, mi amor. I don’t want to see you get hurt.”

“Ah no te preocupes, Lulu. We won’t let anything happy to him,” Santiago winked. “He’s training and he’ll be ready, right Ben?”

“Yeah. It’s going to be all good, Lulu. You’ll see. Nothing’s gonna happen to this pretty face,” Benny snorted as they all laughed.

“Shit, ok, ah…you swear you aren’t going to let me fall, right?” Katie raised her eyebrow as Will stood in front of her, taking both of her hands in his as he led her to the edge of the rink.

“I promise, you’re good. I won’t let anything happen. Just put one foot in front of the other,” he gave her a reassuring smile and she took a deep breath, extending a shaky foot to the slick surface of the rink. “Good, ok and the other, I’ll keep you steady.”

Katie took another breath as her foot left the carpet and met the other on the skating rink floor. “Oh shit,” she bit her lip as Will steadied her.

“You’re doing great, Kat.”

“I haven’t done anything yet,” she laughed. 

“Yeah, but you actually got out here, I feel like that’s a win already,” he smiled, his tongue poking out to wet his bottom lip. “Here, you don’t have to do anything, just keep your knees bent a little and I’ll just guide you around first. Keep holding my hands.”

Will started skating backward as Katie clutched his hands and let him lead her around. She asked to stay as close to the wall as possible, a safety blanket she called it. They got about a quarter of the way around before Will coaxed her a little bit further away from the wall. By the time they finished their first lap around the rink, they were in the general flow of skaters, albeit going a lot slower.

“Yeah Katie, I see you boo!” David yelled out as she came by.

She took her focus off of her feet and looked up briefly to give David a weak smile, but the quick motion disoriented her a bit and she started to wobble. It all felt like it was going in slow motion and she felt her legs starting to give way beneath her.

“Whoa, whoa, steady,” Will let go of her hands and grabbed her by the waist and she grasped his shoulders. His strength managed to help keep her upright. “See, I told you I wasn’t going to let you fall,” he chuckled.

Katie could feel her cheeks on fire, knowing that so many eyes were on her, including the set of piercing blue ones in front of her. “Thanks.” She smiled as he straightened her back up again. He moved his hands from her waist as she simultaneously removed her hands from his shoulders. Their hands found each other again.

“Are you done? We can be done if you want,” Will searched her expression.

“No, it’s ok, just a little stumble,” she chuckled. “Let’s go around maybe once more?”

“Sounds like a plan,” he winked as they resumed their slow, but steady pace around the rink.

The rest of the party went by in a flash. The twins excitedly opened up their presents, thanking everyone and dolling out hugs and high-fives. That was followed up with everyone singing Happy Birthday, twice, once for each boy at David’s request. Before they knew it, a lot of the guests were starting to trickle out.

“You boys are sweet, but you don’t have to help clean up, we got it,” Olivia came over to Benny, Will, and Santiago who were walking around the tables picking up plates and cups.

“Nah, we don’t mind, it’s all good Liv,” Will smiled and Olivia felt her knees go weak. 

“Well, you’re all sweethearts. Did you have fun?”

“Hell…I mean heck yeah! I haven’t skated like that in forever,” Benny smiled.

“Plus it gave you two a chance to dress up, huh?” She pointed to Benny and Santiago, who both smirked.

“Couldn’t pass up the opportunity once you said costumes were encouraged,” Santiago tugged at the lapels of his jacket.

“You know, you look a lot like that guy,” Olivia observed.

“Oh no, please don’t tell him that. As if he didn’t have a big head already,” Benny shook his head as Will snorted.

Next Time on As the Mule Falls: A holiday approaches as the neighbors celebrate the Fourth of July. The entire Pike family arrives at Mule Fall Court, including an additional person who catches the eyes of one of the guys. Katie and Will continue to build their friendship. We learn a bit more about Frankie and this mystery woman.

A/N: Well, I hope that was fun! I'll stop being coy about it and finally reveal that my Frankie one-shot, Turbulence, is now officially part of Delta Landscaping canon. I think a couple of people may have picked up on this, which was exciting, but it’s been the plan all along. I have a few more Easter eggs like that up my sleeve. I will have a Part 2 for Turbulence coming out this week, and a Part 3 is planned which will bring that series up to date with the events in Delta Landscaping!

Thank you so much for reading and supporting this story. 

Taglist: @goodwithcheese / @gemmahale / @trulybetty / @noxturnalpascal / @periodtsparadox / @ramblers-lets-get-ramblin / @maggiemayhemnj / @mysterious-moonstruck-musings / @avastrasposts / @meveispunk / @chaoticfestninja / @beboldbebravethings / @casa-boiardi / @katw474 / @linzels-blog / @laughing-in-th3-purple-rain / @pimosworld / @lynnchun / @anoverwhelmingdin /@lilmizmoz / @pedrit0-pascalit0 / @titlee78 / @noisynightmarepoetry / @inept-the-magnificent / @perennialdoll247 / @for-a-longlongtime / @readingiskeepingmegoing / @harriedandharrassed / @musings-of-a-rose / @anavatazes / @sherala007 / @midnightraain / @partyofone3413 / @inthedarkestnight / @millennial-teenybopper / @csarab615 / @darkheartgatita / @southernbe / @weho2kcmo / @itspdameronthings

#triple frontier fic #triple frontier fanfiction #pedro pascal #triple frontier #frankie morales #delta landscaping #benny miller #will miller #santiago garcia