#Dimensional Nexus

[foone]

I visited the world where Gerard Way was visiting family in Minneapolis on 9/11 so he kept his Cartoon Network job instead of becoming a musician.

It's pretty similar to ours. He didn't go into cartoons as you might expect, but he is way more famous in the comic book world.

As for butterfly effects, MCR doesn't exist, so Twilight doesn't exist, which means 50 Shades of Grey doesn't exist. I couldn't find any references to Stephenie Meyer or E. L. James, so either they didn't go into writing or they didn't use those same pen names.

Robert Pattinson was in Harry P*tter and then mainly independent stuff from then on out.

Kristen Stewart is somehow a bigger star than in this world? She was in Red Revenge, 2012 Soviet film about WW3 happening in the 60s and then in the 80s the survivors come over to the US to find out of anything survives of the cowardly US leadership that started the war. (yes, they shoot Reagan. He's out of his mind and it's shot like Old Yeller). She's been in a lot of USSR films since then, as this greatly raised her profile.

Taylor Lautner seems to have become a writer instead of an actor. He wrote one of the later seasons of Firefly, after it went all season-long-arcs. He technically cameo'd in season 6 but it was just as a guy who ran a casino station. He had like three lines, two of which were "get off my station!" and "guards!"

I didn't see any real differences in the music world. Sometimes you take out a band or form a super-group with interdimensional exploration, and it changes the whole field. Like if you take out Nirvana the 90s look very different, or if you help the Back Road Boys form then the 2010s are all about the retro-country revival. Anyway: MCR, as good a band as they are, don't appear to be one of those "linchpin" bands that affect the whole musical landscape.

BTW, the weirdest one of those? Michael Fucking Jackson. He's a super influential musician, inspired so many others, the king of pop, right? NOPE! If his music career is skipped, then it only affects his siblings and the one hit wonder "Somebody's Watching Me" by Rockwell.

Strange, right? There's more downstream time effects on the music industry from taking out David Hasselhoff!

[milky-shea]

Another variant oc, this time a Nexus! He's considered to be a 'good' Nexus, but his name is Ness 💜

[ghostinthegallery]

Love that in the 40k tabletop game deathmarks travel in tiny packs. A thing snipers are typically not known to do. I think they might be the one of the only sniper units in the game that work like that? I think space marines get a group of 3? But five little pals off sniping is so charming to me. I bet they get brunch afterwards.

What is a pack of deathmarks even called?

[sinclairmaxwellao3]

This just proves that I have too little self control xD

[gumy-shark]

reading mogami arc fics on ao3 vs talking about it on discord

[tsbs-darksun-confessions]

How are you today, Dark Sun? What have you been up to these past couple of days, though I know you're assisting with Flare so sorry if you're too busy to reply at the moment.

Oh it’s the cat questioner again

I’m doing alright, I caught wind of your ask after waking up for the day, spent quite a long time looking through Flare’s code last night

Other than the sudden coding issues, I’ve been living quite happily in my corner, the others don’t bother me so much you know?

The only thing of note was Flare’s marvel at the cat’s smarts

[sunderwight]

Shen Yuan transmigrates into PIDW as a "vine demon" (read: hentai tentacle monster) and of course at first he is very much Not Pleased with this development.

Vine demons in PIDW basically only ever served one role in the story, and it was to sexily accost one of the protagonist's wives until the protagonist himself could come along and hack them to bits. Usually only after the wife in question had been sufficiently debauched, but not actually violated. This is not a role Shen Yuan wants to have for a variety of reasons, some of which are plainly obvious and others that have to do with his great big bag of repression. Man has more issues than a library with a robust magazine subscription service, after all.

But it is what it is, and hey, PIDW is also the land of weirdly intriguing monster world-building. Vine demons might have been one-note wonders in the novel itself, but turn them into fully-fledged creatures with three dimensional lives and they get a lot more interesting.

Like, turns out that a completely mature vine demon is sort of like the central hub of an entire plant network. Shen Yuan can root extensions of himself into suitable locations and these plants will gather energy for him and provide him with information about their surroundings, though mostly it has to do with the air and soil quality, the weather, and the presence of any large beasts that have been trampling them lately. Newer plants can only give extremely basic feedback, but more mature specimens can be imbued with demonic energy and reshaped to gain upgrades like eyesight, varying degrees of locomotion, defensive skills, and of course the notorious aphrodisiac and porn trope abilities.

Which do serve a purpose beyond fanservice, of course. The goal of a vine demon's network is to acquire as much energy as it can, transmute it in a form of energy preferable to the demon itself, and then convert that energy into power for its cultivation. Actual individual vine demons are not very common, they require a lot of energy to reproduce in a way that's not simply an extension of their existing selves, and their juvenile state is very vulnerable as it has to acquire energy on its own before it can begin to form its own networks. But if they can make it to adulthood they can cultivate into some of the most ancient and powerful demons around, and are almost impossible to destroy as they can regenerate themselves from any of their extensions, which can be spread out all across the realms.

So most of the vine demons being aggressively destroyed by the protagonist in PIDW were just extensions of one central, perverted vine demon. Good to know!

Shen Yuan is still not all that interested in playing the role of local hentai monster himself. He's a pretty powerful vine demon, and frankly he'd rather just reduce the rate of his power consumption by cutting back his extensive plant network a little (reduce upkeep costs) and focusing on doing stuff like devouring spiritual grasses or locating places with a lot of natural power and just soaking it up, while his main body enjoys the privileges of being a powerful demon and tours around the demon realm, cataloging all the interesting creatures he comes across.

The system, however, requires he facilitate the plot and help lead Luo Binghe to his great success. Shen Yuan is sure the protagonist doesn't need his help to seduce women, but the system is unreasonable, so with his newfound existence on the line he packs his little leaf bags and instructs some of his vine monster extensions from the human realm to head in the general direction of a great big (dangerously spicy) power nexus in the human realms, which would logically be the most powerful sect and the Tian Gong mountains where the Ling Xi caves are.

Right?

Well, slight miscalculation, as Shen Yuan's plant minions actually end up congregating at Bailu mountain, where Tianlang Jun is imprisoned. Some get caught and killed by patrolling Huan Hua cultivators, but a few others make it to where the former Junshang is chilling under several tons of rock. Shen Yuan only manages to figure out what's gone wrong just in time to stop his minions from uh, trying to eat Luo Binghe's father. Which. Would not be good! There's a very distraught snake monster involved also, and Shen Yuan feels kind of bad about the misunderstanding.

He heads to Cang Qiong himself while leaving his plants to just kind of, chill in the mountain and avoid getting slaughtered by cultivators for a bit, while he figures out what -- if anything -- he should do about that end of things. The Snake monster seems to be trying really hard to convince one of his plant minions to help harvest some mushroom seeds for it, though it's hard to tell since the plant minions tend to be singularly fixated on other plants in the area and it could just be that the mushrooms seem important because they're clearly high in spiritual energy. Frankly the minions aren't smart, there could be an entire string quartet in the cave as well and they wouldn't notice unless one of the musicians had tasty spiritual energy!

Shen Yuan debates the pros and cons of letting his minions eat mystery shrooms while he infiltrates Cang Qiong in person, carefully finding and slipping past all of the wards until he can finally get into the Ling Xi caves and plant a root there.

He's lucky. One of the reasons the vine demons would show up basically anywhere the author wanted some dubcon bondage to happen is because they're actually difficult to notice if they're not actively hunting. Shen Yuan's minions don't give off the telltale signs of demonic energy until they're in attack or defensive modes. Dormant, they can stick around and just slowly siphon the energy from the caves, and as long as he doesn't leaven like hundreds of them there, it's unlikely anyone will notice them. They'll just seem like regular plants, or maybe proto spirit grasses that the cultivators will want to leave alone for a while and watch develop, in case they turn into anything useful for grinding into a pill at some point.

Shen Yuan leaves plenty behind just in case, then hightails it back out of the danger zone and breathes a sigh of relief. For good measure he plants a few other extensions around the mountain range on his way out. Leaving plant minions in a location is like installing listening devices and cameras, he manages to get a spy network installed in a cultivation sect with a surprising lack of difficulty.

Wow! It's probably a good thing that vine demons are pretty rare and generally uninterested in politics or really anything other than their personal survival and growth. Turns out they are really over-powered.

Anyway, Shen Yuan leaves his new network to grow and flourish and subtly spy on the protagonist and the current main setting of the plot for him, and then decides what the heck, if random snake monster wants to eat some mushrooms, let's eat some mushrooms. He instructs his minions to get some spore-seed-things (one of them gets absolutely decimated by the ambient spiritual energy in the process) and give some to their new buddy, and then lets Vine Minion no.1209 eat the rest itself.

This proves... interesting.

Vine Minion no.1209 grows a whole new extension. This extension is a human-like body with Shen Yuan's own face and a huge amount of raw spiritual power. The body also has the full range of senses that a human body would. Shen Yuan can sink his consciousness into it to such a degree that he has to find a place to stash his actual main body and it safely go dormant while he does, because otherwise he can't actually split his focus well at all.

The end result feels a bit like teleporting. One moment he's a vine demon outside of Cang Qiong, the next he's staring through human eyes (wow he had almost not completely registered that his senses were EXTREMELY different since transmigrating) at a wide-eyed snake monster.

Through some flailing and awkward attempts at communicating, the snake monster leads Shen Yuan (now in awesome human-like cultivator body! Yes!!) back to Tianlang Jun, and between the three of them they figure out that the question on the table is, can Shen Yuan use his vine demon energy transmutation abilities to use the Sun-Dew Mushroom seeds to grow TLJ a body that's actually compatible with his demon nature, and free him from his prison?

Shen Yuan is sure that freeing TLJ isn't on the plot's agenda, but he's not enough of a bastard to just leave the guy there in the dark with a mountain on top of him either. The system doesn't try and stop him either. So he figures, fuck it, and uses the seeds and a sample of TLJ's blood to grow him a new body.

Good news -- this body successfully comes out demonic! Unlike Shen Yuan's shiny new human cultivator style body. He basically manages to spawn Tianlang Jun a vine demon body that has enough resonance with his Heavenly Demon nature for his blood parasites to transplant the soul/consciousness from his original body to the new one.

Bad news -- he gets infected with Tianlang Jun's parasites in the process, which means he has to help the former Junshang get his shit back in order on pain of, well, pain until his own network can isolate and kill all of the parasites, which is a slow process because they're over-powered immortal protagonist god bugs. Also, Tianlang Jun hijacking Shen Yuan's internal network basically lets him listen in on it also, which the guy apparently LOVES because he's been bored of his skull for the past decade just lying in the dark listening to his own body decompose.

Also, TLJ's new body looks roughly like a twelve-year-old demon kid, rather than a fully grown adult with a son (albeit unknown) of his own. And TLJ insists that Shen Yuan also make a new body for Zhuzhi Lang, since this is so incredible, which means Zhuzhi Lang also gets baked into a new preteen shape.

Shen Yuan has his hands full helping TLJ and ZZL escape Huan Hua Palace territory and then navigate the human world beyond it. Not that he himself knows all that much more about wandering random human settlements in the PIDW world. He decides to pose as a wandering cultivator with two young disciples, with the hardest part being hiding the demonic traits on TLJ and ZZL's new bodies.

Well, at least he's beaten the possibility of more heavenly demons turning up where they're not supposed to. Despite TLJ and ZZL retaining some of their original demonic traits, they're both vine demons now, which might still put them in the running of "incredibly over-powered" beings in PIDW, but is definitely a tier below where they were before. Plus, having helpers is kind of handy for when he needs to divert his attention back to his full vine demon network, as the human body tends to take so much focus that it's an on-or-off situation. Either he's piloting his cultivatorsona around, or he's doing the demonic plant network thing, but he can't do both.

Which means that his not-so-young "disciples" have to watch his catatonic body for him while he's busy elsewhere. At least they seem pretty decent about it, especially Zhuzhi Lang, who diligently stands guard (TLJ on the other hand tends to let his consciousness follow Shen Yuan along so he can spy on Cang Qiong).

Shen Yuan debates telling TLJ about Luo Binghe. But he doesn't know how he would explain it, or how it might impact that plot, so instead he holds off. Tianlang Jun and Zhuzhi Lang seem to be under the impression that he deliberately came to help them, and that he's got some grand scheme to help bring Huan Hua Palace down as well, and he's not sure what they'll do if they learn otherwise. They are very (understandably) pissed at Huan Hua. But Binghe needs it for the plot!

Anyway. His plant minions aren't completely idle in Cang Qiong territory. Even when he's not paying attention to them, they're gathering energy and keeping sort of internal records about changes in their environment (admittedly, this doesn't always tell him much about what the people are doing, but they do at least notice when people pass by and can imprint snippets of sound, so they're not a total bust as spies). When Shen Yuan is paying attention, which is generally at night (he doesn't need much sleep), he can observe a lot of the goings-on himself and move his minions around to better locations if possible/needed.

Most of his minions are on Qiong Ding and Qing Jing, of course. He avoids Qian Cao as having the cultivators most likely to recognize seemingly-innocuous plants as something Else, but over time he spreads a few more seeds out to the other peaks. Partly to keep his bases covered, partly so he can distract Tianlang Jun with shit like the pangolins on Wan Jian or listening in as the maiden flowers of Xian Shu talk about yellow books like it's their life's calling.

Of course, Shen Yuan interferes with Luo Binghe as well. He can't help it. The poor protagonist bun doesn't deserve to be so miserable! There's not much Shen Yuan can do, but he gets away with what he thinks are subtle acts of assistance. Tripping some bullies on a vine here and there. Smuggling fruits and healing herbs into the woodshed. Providing a little boost of spiritual energy here or there, to help with Binghe's struggling cultivation and subsequent pain and injuries. Using some vines to untangle a particular lost pendant from some branches, and ferry it back to the woodshed as well, being careful not to wake its rightful owner as they deposit it into his palm. Catching a few rampaging demons before they can attack young disciples. That sort of thing.

Shen Yuan even finds himself intervening in the situation of Liu Qingge's qi deviation again, restraining the peak lord with the network of now-quite-robust plants in the Ling Xi caves, binding him tight and siphoning off his disrupted energy. Shen Yuan is trying very hard not to think about how much he's playing the roll of a PIDW-typical vine demon as he snakes a tendril down Liu Qingge's throat, but it's to feed him qi! To fix the deviation! He's not sucking him dry, and credit where it's due, feeding energy to prospective victims does not come naturally to vine demons and he has to figure the whole thing out on the spot!

And then he has to do basically the same thing to Shen Qingqiu, who is also having a qi deviation! What the fuck!

Unfortunately, saving two Peak Lords is conspicuous -- despite the chaos and the chance that neither of them should remember much of what happened, figures convenient amnesia tropes would fail Shen Yuan right when he needed them. The peak lords opt to misremember the incident as both of them being attacked by the vines, that's gratitude for you, and figure this is all part of the elaborate demon invasion situation and burn out his entire Ling Xi network.

Shen Yuan gets the fright of his life when Luo Binghe even manages to track down his actual main body just outside of Cang Qiong, with the help of Meng Mo's advice. Luckily the young protagonist just seems curious, and the Shen Yuan's embarrassment, reveals that he had in fact noticed the random varieties of plant life that seemed determined to lend him a hand. He even thinks Shen Yuan is some type of benevolent helper! Well, that's better than "horrible pervert plant to be killed on sight", so he'll take it!

Also, it turns out that there seems to be... another vine demon infiltrating Cang Qiong? An Ding peak, specifically. Shen Yuan would suspect a dropped plot involving Shang Qinghua, notorious traitor to the demons, but he gets a vibe off of the system notifications when his plant minions make contact with Other Vine Demon's minions. Which at first seem determined to run him out of dodge, before they seem to also decide the better of it and back off.

Tentative ceasefire and overtures of contact are made. Shen Yuan discovers that there's another transmigrator in a similar position -- died then woke up as a PIDW vine demon, tasked with keeping the general shape of the plot on track, etc. Except this guy's base of operations remains in the demon realms, and he's been keeping the future Mobei Jun from biting the dust, patching over other plotholes on that end of the equation, and spying on the major sects for the demons in collusion with Shang Qinghua and some non-literal plants in Huan Hua.

Shen Yuan starts to hatch a plan. According to Other Vine Demon Guy, part of his system-mandated quests involve arranging the Immortal Alliance conference. Shen Yuan also has to be present for that, in order to ensure that Luo Binghe makes it to the Abyss without dying on the way, and that other vital characters like Shen Qingqiu and presumably Binghe's wives survive the dangerous scenario as well. It seems the transmigrators are being used to patch over situations from the novel that simply had such terrible survival odds, there's no way they'd proceed without outside assistance.

But this means Shen Yuan can meet up with Other Vine Demon at the conference, they can work together to meet the system's demands, and then -- hopefully -- Shen Yuan can get Other Vine Demon to take Zhuzhi Lang and Tianlang Jun to the demon realms. Fact is, the more time passes the more clear it becomes that they need to get out of range of human cultivators, as TLJ and ZZL figure out how to master their new styles of demonic cultivation. Plus Shen Yuan is almost rid of TLJ's last remaining blood parasites, and as TLJ can no longer make new ones, this means he'll finally be free to shake his hangers-on loose and focus on getting things ready for Luo Binghe's return from the Abyss.

The IAC plot goes down about as smoothly as possible. With Other Vine Demon's help, Shen Yuan sets up a bunch of plant minions in Jue Di Gorge, and when the abyssal rift starts opening he's even able to run interference and keep too many of the young competitors from getting killed outright. He follows Luo Binghe's group, vines emerging from the shadows to assist, and even ends up using his main body to prevent several creatures from killing vital characters until the Black Moon Python-Rhino turns up to break Luo Binghe's seal.

It's even a good opportunity for him to feed by devouring a lot of the attacking demons!

Of course, there are downsides. Shen Qingqiu manages to sneak up on and slice the shit out of his main body, which is really quite painful. Tianlang Jun and Zhuzhi Lang don't stay behind to watch his catatonic cultivator body and instead get involved, which is dangerous and ill-advised. Luo Binghe absolutely loses his shit in a way he didn't even manage to during PIDW, acting weirdly jealous of his father and cousin at first, then going fully feral and just straight up trying to murder Shen Qingqiu until Shen Qingqiu knocks him and Shen Yuan's main body into the Abyss. Asshole. On top of it, Shen Yuan's unattended human cultivatorsona gets captured by Huan Hua palace investigators who declare him a suspicious person in light of the whole debacle and throw him into the water prison!

So that's. All very bad.

But the system seems happy. Shen Yuan is tasked, in the Abyss, with helping Luo Binghe get to Xin Mo in one piece (well, one frequently regenerated piece), which he supposes is more convenient than just hoping the heavenly demon blood and Meng Mo will be enough assistance. Other Vine Demon is able to converse with one of Shen Yuan's remaining plant minions in Jue Di Gorge for long enough to establish that he'll look after TLJ and ZZL, before cultivators show up and Shen Yuan's minion gets chopped up. Shen Yuan's human body seems to get mostly forgotten in Huan Hua's water prison, but that's fine, he wouldn't be able to pay it that much attention while he's in the Abyss anyway. He just puts it into a meditative state and lets it focus on cultivating automatically.

A lot of his plant minions in the human realm got wiped out, leaving most of the remaining ones in various villages that he and TLJ and ZZL visited on their travels (good backups, but nothing fancy) and some on Qing Jing peak. Shen Yuan focuses on regrowing the ones on Qing Jing so that if need be, he can regenerate his main body there, and reunite with Luo Binghe in a place he's certain the protagonist will return to.

Although after they're out of the Abyss, Binghe might not want to ever see him again, given the crazy stuff that's been going on! Please, it's not Shen Yuan's fault he's a walking smut trope! Every time he has to intervene, it's like something out of a cheesy hentai. The protagonist is injured and needs energy? Here, have some vines invading your orifices! Protagonist has fallen off of a cliff? Lets entangle him in the most erotic post possible to save him! Nights are cold and dangerous? Nothing says sharing energy with your mentor figure like letting him practice tentacle-shibari on you! Vicious succubi are not taking 'no' for an answer? Guess Shen Yuan will just have to string them up and drink them dry!

It's so awkward, it even seems to be throwing Luo Binghe off of his harem-building game, as the protagonist turns down every woman he had picked up in PIDW. At least the system doesn't dock Shen Yuan points for that. Well, the Abyss wives were the worst of the bunch anyway, they won't be missed. Though, Binghe should really be careful about how he explains that Shen Yuan's vines are good at helping him regulate his spiritual energy -- declarations about "his master's tendrils" and his comments about how Shen Yuan can used whatever orifice he'd like could really be taken the wrong way!

It's even going to Shen Yuan's own head a bit. The Abyss must be getting to him, dragging him into a more demonic mindset. How else to explain the way he'll look at a trussed-up Binghe and catch himself licking his lips???

The sooner they're out, the sooner everything can go back to normal and they can forget this whole weird ordeal!

[strangesmallbard]

37 MIN LATER AND HARMONY COBEL MAKES PERFECT SENSE. FIFTH DIMENSIONAL CRYSTAL CLARITY HERE! of course literally OF COURSE! mark was blorbo from her science experiments. CHILD FUCKING LABOR? oh my god. she was watching mark in a maze she invented hoping he’d break the whole thing apart. she threw things at him because her invention worked TOO well and she wanted him to destroy her legacy (that’s not even her legacy to own, nothing she has is hers to own) and take lumon down with him and maybe realize his wife is in the TORMENT NEXUS. oh my god miss huang really was a crossing guard. she was probably the best crossing guard. i am seeing new colors right now

[mantequillp]

another Nexus drawing

i did this thinking on a little au i recently crafted (just inserted Nexus into an already existing idea and gave him a redemption arc) actually, wanna hear about that idea?

A couple of Sketches + alt version under the cut

I'll yapp about this, your honor

Well, how do i say this... imagine a lower budget mildly more dangerous and creepy SCP fundation but for- fazbear problems? yea, exactly.

Nexus is now trapped in that hellish place called "El Manicomio", very fitting for him, huh? His dimensional chip broke, and now he has to scrap his way out of that dimension while making friends and allies i don't think anyone remembers this but, those two bear children i drew before (Leften and Righty) are from this chaotic dimension

yea, here they come, the two co-stars of this AU, Molten Freddy and Puppet/Charlie

they are patients of the """Hospital""" and they will pull Nexus to a weird family of rejects and he will have to ball with it Also, a little fluffy fact, Leften and Righty are Molten's children :D (yea, this version of Molten is an adult, same with Charlie/Puppet)

There are a couple more characters that i would LOVE to introduce but i'm taking my time because they all deserve their own posts Expect more of this AU on my account because the worms in my brain are taking control :D

[the-violet-galaxy]

Okay, the creators' hate for Nexus genuinely baffles me!?

It's genuinely kind of uncomfortable how much they hate their own creation.

With the recent jab taken at Nexus fans, it kinda just made some of the thoughts I'd had about it come to the surface.

There's this old concept in fandom, these things called "hatefics". You can guess what they were about just from the name. The writers of these fics would bash on a character because they personally hated them, and make that character act as vile as possible for the same reason. They'll twist their actions and personality, make them two-dimensional bad guys, and have the other characters hate on them too. Making that character miserable would often be part of the fic too.

And just, like..... it feels like the TSAMS creators literally wrote a hatefic of their own character? As CANON? They twisted New Moon to be cartoonishly nasty to justify hating him, and then spend the rest of the show bashing and bashing and bashing him; the other characters are also written to hate and mock him. It's a goddamn hatefic!

(And BECAUSE they've turned TSAMS into a Nexus hatefic, that's the reason Nexus was never allowed to be anything... just... more. And the other characters don't have a single bit of nuance in how they think about him.)

And to top it all off: because the Show flattens Nexus into a 2-dimensional caricature, they plain forget so many important details that SHOULD be looked at closer and treated with compassion. Nexus has hallucinations/delusions/nightmares that feel so real he can't tell whether he's awake or dreaming. There are two scenes I cling onto which I'll never forget, but the Show has. First: the scene where Nexus is locked up, and Spaniard asks why he doesn't just STOP, to which Nexus replies "If I just stop, it wouldn't help, because I won't know what's REAL." He just admits it, he's completely derealized, as far as he's concerned he's living in a dream or everything around him could be a hallucination. Then the Second scene: when Nexus is floating in space, he feels regret about what he did to Earth for a brief moment, but then Dark Sun comes and rips out a chip in Nexus's brain, which immediately wipes his guilt away and makes him gleeful and unrepentant. LITERALLY A CHUNK OF HIS BRAIN, some part of him that regulates his emotions and specifically his ability to feel guilt, WAS REMOVED FROM HIM.

Then to top this all off he gets into NSP shortly after, which is like being on a very powerful drug. HE IS ****NOT***** CAPABLE OF THINKING CLEARLY. Plain, simple, cut and dry. Nexus is 100% NOT making his own decisions and not in his sound mind.

But the Show will never acknowledge these things ever again, they'll never have compassion for Nexus having delusions/derealizations, or acknowledge that part of his brain that let him feel guilt was literally taken out, or that he's drugged, or that all 3 of these things are happening all at once.

Because they just hate him and that's it.

And then they make fun of fans for liking Nexus, because they actually remember these things and feel that Nexus deserved better.

(I wrote this sleep-deprived so this is probably jumbled. But man I just have so many thoughts about how this all went down.)

[foone]

I've been mainly listening to tapes from 73scarlett which is a dimension multiversally known for their pop music. They had some stuff happen in the 80s which, long story short, meant that by the mid-2000s pop music was almost completely wlw.

I mean, don't get me wrong, it's not like they only let lesbians and bi women make pop music, it's just that the genre conventions were such that all the dance pop was about women lusting after other women. Plenty of it was being sung by straight women and written by men, just like in the prime universe (and mine (and yours), 91verse).

But outside the occasional hetbait song (Katy Perry's I Kissed A Guy is still a banger), all the dance pop is about women. It's a fun change.

(There's still male singers in pop, and those remain straight for the most part, though the wlw thing does affect things: there's a lot of references to your girl's ex-GF and losing your girl to a girl who's twice the man you'll ever be, etc.)

I'd upload Ke$ha latest album but I wore out the cassette listening to Girl Crazy (PCE 2025) too many times in my walkman.

[xnackery027]

I haven’t seen a lot of people talk about this, but I haaaate how Mr. Winters’ character was handled in the show. It was such a missed opportunity!

They absolutely took the easy way out by making Mister Winters hurt Dazzle. Having the interesting conflict of “Is it really right for Sun to keep Dazzle from Winters?” resolved with “it’s totally okay because it turns out Winters was evvvviiiil the whole time!!!” Is such a bullshit answer! That is exactly what happened to Nexus and is just the kick the dog trope all over again. It’s like the universe bends around Sun to make sure he’s always in the right. So I’m going to try to rewrite this while keeping the main conflict in mind.

The question is, “Is it okay for Sun to keep Dazzle for himself when Winters still wants to see her?” Sun killed Evelyn, and then adopted her ghost as a way to redeem himself. Winters trusted him to protect her, and Sun turned around and killed her. To Winters, this is the ultimate betrayal; not only murdering his daughter, but also trying to hold on to her corpse and twist the roles from murderer and murder victim to father and daughter. Sun is absolutely deranged if he thinks what he’s doing is appropriate or healthy. But Sun’s “family”, a group of violent rouge robots, are helping to hold Evelyn hostage. Any attempt to reach out is met with violence.

To Sun, he was controlled by Bloodmoon, and Bloodmoon killed Evelyn. Then, he found Dazzle in a broken body and did his best to help her. Dazzle chose to start calling him dad, and he had a crisis over it. He’s tried to reach out to Winters, but is only met with doors slamming in his face. He wants to have some sort of closure, but also is being held back by his overprotective family who doesn’t want him to be hurt.

Winters deserves to be able to see Dazzle. I think it would have been better to have him hostile with Sun, but gentle and friendly with Dazzle. With the pressure of Sun’s family on him, Winters might be willing to work out a visitation agreement. Dazzle can go and see him biweekly, maybe with Jack as invisible protection. He can still be messed up from her death and the divorce; He has to clean his house for the first time since then and it’s still a mess when Dazzle comes around. But we get to see a slow improvement over the course of the next few months.

Plus, it’d provide a great excuse to not include Dazzle in more blatantly mature episodes. The family encounters the weird ABO wolf people again? Good thing Dazzle’s at the other house. The family has to go to a different dimension together? Sun drops Dazzle off with Winters and off they go.

This could also be a fun relationship between Sun and Winters themselves. Sort of a “Never married but it’s like we’re bitterly divorced” situation. Like, imagine they have to work together for a school project, the family tree. Dazzle is torn on whether to use the Celestials or the Winters as her family. Because of the illusion disk, Sun decides it’s better to use Winters, and has to schedule a meeting to discuss his family history for the project. Awkwardly asking about each other’s families, Winters realizing that the Celestials are so strangely intertwined that it makes it nearly impossible to tell brother from father from son. (Eclipse and Andrew, anybody? Andrew is Eclipse’s uncle and Eclipse is Andrew’s dad.)

Also, getting another human character to be the token human guy? Winters has his first week long visitation and Moon gruffly hands him a suitcase that weighs over a hundred pounds like it’s nothing. “Just the basics,” he explains. Her charging supplies, nanomachines, some oils, batteries, emergency cross-dimensional contacters, etc. Moon has to carry it out the door and set it up in his house. He also ends up giving him one of his patented generators to power the charger; When Moon trusts him a little more, he connects everything in the house to it so Winters doesn’t have to pay electricity bills.

Solar showing Winters how to fix misaligned ankles and replace fingers and horns. “Sometimes, if she falls over and hits it just right, her head will be stuck in maintenance position.” He explains, while Dazzle’s face is flipped up, revealing gorey circuitry and metal. Horrifyingly to Winters, Dazzle is still completely awake. Her inner musculature is clicking and whirring to move a face that she doesn’t have anymore. She isn’t distressed though, swinging her legs on the table like she’s waiting for Solar to fix her so she can go back to having fun. “It’s just a manufacturing error with her latches. You have to reach behind, into the hinges, and… there.” He flips her face back in place, and she’s back to giggling and running around again.

Eventually, Winters starts understanding the family’s past. He’s seen things that he never thought were possible. He’s gone to different dimensions and seen magic. He starts connecting with Sun. Not forgiving him, but willing to try and help give Dazzle a better life. He gets invited to house parties, even being trusted with portal tech. Sun gets more comfortable and vulnerable around him. Able to tell him things he couldn’t even tell Moon before.

And when Dazzle gets hurt? You better believe you’re dealing with Sun and Winters doting all over her and beating the shit out of whoever dare to harm her.

It could be so interesting, and yet instead we got Dazzle getting shot and Winters left behind, just like Cosmos and Nexus.

[stellaspectral]

Could you possibly write something about rise TMNT x a Big mama reader (or maybe her daughter) idk I just really like when they say big mamas name and her personality fits mine and would love to see your take on it 🥺 pretty please

A/N: Hello, anon! I decided to write a story about Big Mama’s daughter (essentially an OC, not Big Mama’s Assistant ofc) with the Rise turtles. I hope that’s okay! 😊 (Also, she/you refers to the turtles with their full names. Why? It just felt appropriate. shrug)

The Spider’s Gambit (action)

💚 ROTTMNT Turtles/Female Reader OC 💚

CWs: Canon-typical violence, forced bargain/cooperation (with a slight power imbalance), morally ambiguous reader/OC, and mild peril. All characters are aged-up.

You move through the corridors of the Battle Nexus facility with an air of someone who owns the place. Because, well, one day you will.

It isn’t just Big Mama’s glitzy, terrifying enterprise; it’s your future empire. You’ve inherited your mother’s keen eye for talent, her flair for the dramatic, and her charmingly ruthless business acumen. You’re currently on your way back to your office here after overseeing the final preparations for tonight’s championship bout.

And a lucrative one at that.

The carpet, stained with who-knows-what, but is always impeccably cleaned, muffles your footsteps. A polite nod to a gargoyle enforcer, a knowing smile from a djinn concierge, and you almost reach your obsidian-inlaid office door when—

Crashes and thumps echo from the hallway just ahead, followed by a chorus of shouting. You pause, one perfectly manicured eyebrow arching as you listen.

“Leo, I told you that shortcut was a bad idea!”

“Relax, Raph, it was a calculated risk. Besides, where’s the fun without a little dimensional oopsie?”

“My calculations indicate a 92.6% chance of ‘oopsie’ whenever Leo is in charge of portal navigation.”

“Hey! And whoa, this place is … kinda creepy. Awesome!”

You change course, your silk-lined capelet—a gift from your mother, spun from the finest Moon Moths—swaying behind you. The sounds lead you towards the employee-only section, near the loading docks for the arena beasts. You round the corner, heels clicking on the now-exposed stone floor.

Before you, in a tangled heap of limbs and brightly colored bandanas, are four turtles. Ones you recognize from the files your mother and her men compiled from previous run-ins but have yet to meet before.

Leonardo is trying to look suave while disentangling himself from another, larger turtle named Raphael. Donatello is tapping furiously at a device on his wrist, muttering while the youngest brother, Michelangelo, stares at a beetle the size of a compact car being prodded into a cage by two nervous looking tengu.

You step forward, hands clasped behind your back, eyes narrowing just slightly. “Well, well,” you say, your voice smooth as velvet, yet with an underlying edge that could cut glass. “What have we here? Lost little hatchlings, far from your pond?”

They freeze. Four pairs of eyes snap to you. Then Leonardo attempts a charming grin.

“Uh, greetings, totally not-intimidating-and-very-well-dressed lady!” he says. “We were just … admiring the … uh … structural integrity of your fine establishment?”

Raphael groans, facepalming. “Smooth, Leo. Real smooth.”

“You boys lost?” you ask, with just a touch of venom curled behind each syllable. “Because unless you’ve suddenly acquired arena beast handling licenses and backstage clearance, you’re somewhere you very much shouldn’t be.”

“Ooo! Are you Big Mama’s daughter?” Michelangelo asks. “Because you’ve got that same ‘I-will-sell-you-to-a-soul-eating centipede-with-a-smile’ kind of energy.”

You allow yourself a half-smile. “Flattery will get you … a three-second head start.”

Donatello raises a brow. “A head start on what, exactly?”

Your smile widens. “On running before I call security.”

There’s a beat of silence before they brandish their weapons and fall into formation, their gazes fixed on you. The tension in the area spikes, the air thick enough to spread on toast. And for a moment, you let your smile hold, taking in their earnest, battle-ready stances.

Then you throw your head back and laugh, pressing your hand to your stomach. It’s not a delicate titter, either. It’s a full, unrestrained peal of amusement that startles a nearby cage-rattling griffin and makes the two tengu jump.

“Relax,” you gasp, wiping an imaginary tear from the corner of your eye. “I’m joking.” You wave a dismissive hand. “Mostly.” You lean forward, a mischievous glint in your eyes. “Honestly, you should have seen the looks on your faces! Priceless!” You grin. “Absolutely adorable.”

Leonardo relaxes a fraction, his shoulders loosening as he lowers his swords. “So … you’re not calling security?”

You tilt your head, mock-considering. “Well, that depends. Are you going to explain why four unlicensed, questionably stealthy mutants just popped out of a portal and disrupted my loading docks like a bunch of underpaid gremlins?”

Donatello clears his throat. “Technically, it was a miscalculation in the temporal-anchor matrix. A small one. Like, decimal-points small.”

“Mhm.” You turn your gaze to him. “And technically, you’ve still invaded a high-security interdimensional venue with enough surveillance spells to make the Mystic Council weep.”

Michelangelo raises a hand like he’s in school. “Uh, in our defense, the portal was supposed to land us at a snack stand in Queens. So this is kinda your fault for having such … uh … snack stand-y architecture?”

You stare at him.

He grins sheepishly. “Yeah, okay, that was a stretch.”

You sigh, not out of exasperation, but amusement. “You’re lucky my mother’s not here. She’d have turned you into a marketing gimmick faster than you could say ‘battle bracket.’” You glance toward the beetle pen, then back at them. “Although she might still find a use for you.”

Raphael steps forward now, protective instinct flashing in his eyes. “We didn’t mean to crash your place, alright? Just leave us alone and we’ll be outta your hair.”

You raise a brow. “Tempting. But you owe me a favor now, and I do collect.”

“What kind of favor?” Leonardo asks, brow quirked.

You smile. This time, it’s less sharp, more thoughtful. “Well, since you are here, and since you’ve caused a bit of a stir, perhaps you can help me with something.” You pivot on your heel, motioning for them to follow as you lead them down a narrow, dim hallway.

“Wait, we’re just … going with her?” Raphael mutters behind you, skeptical but trudging forward.

“I mean, she hasn’t killed us yet,” Michelangelo says brightly. “That’s usually a good sign.”

“Yet,” Donatello emphasizes.

You glance over your shoulder with a sly grin. “I could still call security, if that makes you more comfortable.”

“Nope, no need!” Leonardo says quickly, catching up to walk beside you. “Helping you sounds great. Totally not suspicious. What exactly are we helping you with? Something glamorous? Dangerous? A dramatic betrayal, perhaps?”

“You watch too much reality TV,” you say with a smirk.

But inside, your mind’s already working. The idea formed the moment you saw them. They’re chaotic, skilled, and unpredictable. A headache, yes. But potentially useful. And in the Battle Nexus, everyone has a price or a purpose. Sometimes both.

You stop in front of a reinforced steel-and-obsidian door etched with glowing runes. With a flick of your wrist and a murmur in Old Spider-tongue, the runes ripple and the door unlocks. Inside is a private observation chamber overlooking the arena. It’s quiet now, the stands empty. But soon, it’ll be full of roaring crowds and bloodthirsty anticipation.

You step inside, gesturing at a crystalline projection hovering above a sleek black pedestal. The image of a towering, chimeric beast rotates slowly. Its name flashes beneath: The Star-Eater.

Michelangelo whistles low. “Dude. That thing looks like it eats nightmares for breakfast.”

“It does, actually,” you deadpan.

“Why would your mother import something that dangerous?” Donatello narrows his eyes, adding, “again.”

You grin, leaning on the pedestal with both hands. “Because she made a deal. One that benefits us … if we can control it.”

Leonardo crosses his arms. “Lemme guess. It escaped?”

“Not yet,” you say. “It’s going to. Tonight. During the main event. Right in the middle of a sold-out crowd with half the mystic elite watching.”

“Of course it is,” Raphael mutters.

“So,” you continue, straightening up, “you four are going to help me neutralize it. Quietly. Swiftly. Spectacularly.”

Leonardo arches a brow. “And if we say no?”

You tilt your head, allowing the human glamour of your eyes to fall for emphasis. “Then I call in a favor from my mother and let her decide how to market a band of mutant brothers as ‘next season’s exotic wildcard entrants.’ I can already hear the pitch: Half-shell, full ratings.”

A few beats of silence pass.

“… So what’s the plan?” Leonardo finally says.

You flash him a victorious smile, your eye glamour falling back into place. “I knew you’d see it my way.”

From a drawer, you produce a holographic schematic of the arena, marking off key breach points and the beast’s containment sector. Donatello steps closer instinctively, intrigued despite himself.

“Divide and conquer,” you explain. “I’ve got a few discreet agents watching the fail safes. What I need is someone to distract, someone to defend the control nodes, someone to handle crowd containment. And someone to lure it toward the stasis field when it breaks out.”

“Let me guess,” Raphael says. “You want us to be your bait?”

“Bait with flair,” you correct. “Think of it as a performance. Besides, if you pull this off, maybe I’ll ‘forget’ to report your little trespassing incident. Maybe even slip you a portal token home before my mother sends her enforcers after you.”

You let that hang in the air, allowing the weight of their choice to settle in.

Leonardo steps forward. “Alright, spider princess. We’ll play your little game.”

Your eyes gleam, pleased. “Excellent. Oh—and do try not to die. It would ruin the aesthetic.” You turn on your heel. “Time is a luxury we’re fast running out of. Follow me. And try to look like you belong. Or at least, like you’re too dangerous to question.”

You lead them out of the quiet observation chamber and back into a service corridor, this one less opulent, more utilitarian than the plush hallways near your office. The turtles exchange wary glances but fall into step behind you, their weapons kept ready but not overtly threatening.

Leonardo tries to match your pace beside you. “So, ‘aesthetic’ is important? Good to know. I do have a certain heroic profile to maintain.”

“We all have our brands to consider, don’t we?” you retort smoothly, not breaking your stride. As you navigate a labyrinth of backstage tunnels, occasionally nodding to a heavily armored guard who eyes the turtles with suspicion until your subtle hand gesture waves them off, you begin your assignments.

“Michelangelo,” you say, “you’ll be our primary distraction. On the schematic, you recall the catwalks, high beams, the larger light rigs above the arena floor?” You tap an almost invisible comm bead in your ear. “My team will ensure they’re accessible. Your job is to be loud, flashy, and utterly impossible for a creature like the Star-Eater to ignore. Think ‘piñata,’ but one that actively taunts.”

His eyes light up. “You want me to be annoying on purpose? Up high? With style? This is literally my dream job! Do you have confetti cannons?”

“Enthusiasm. Excellent,” you say dryly. “Just try to keep the property damage to a minimum. Some of those fixtures are older than your entire species.” You produce four small devices from a hidden pocket in your capelet. “Comms. Encrypted. Stick them behind your … whatever passes for an ear.”

You hand one to each of them. Donatello immediately starts examining his with intense scrutiny. “Fascinating. Yatchon-based encryption? A bit ostentatious for simple comms, but effective.”

“I appreciate thoroughness,” you reply, then turn to him. “Which brings me to your role, Donatello. The Star-Eater’s containment unit is, shall we say, ‘temperamental.’ It’s linked to the arena’s primary power grid, which also feeds the stasis field projector. You will secure the three main mystic-energy conduits that power both. I’ve marked them on the arena schematic I showed you. If those go down, or if the beast’s escape compromises them, we lose our only real countermeasure. Keep them stable. Keep them active.”

Donatello adjusts his goggles, already looking more focused. “Understood. I’ll need access to the primary junction boxes and a diagnostic feed from the containment cell’s integrity monitors.”

“Granted,” you say, making a minute gesture. “My system will flag you as authorized personnel for those specific nodes. Try not to ‘improve’ anything too drastically. My mother’s technicians are very sensitive.”

Next, your gaze settles on Raphael, who’s been watching the various denizens of the backstage area—a minotaur carrying a crate of weapons, two imps polishing a giant golden gong—with a frown.

“Raphael,” you say, “you’re on crowd containment. When the Star-Eater makes its dramatic entrance, panic is inevitable, and the main exits will become chokepoints. You’ll ensure they remain clear, prevent stampedes, and act as an unmovable object between terrified spectators afraid of becoming monster chow. My usual security will be indisposed, dealing with the more direct threat.”

Raphael cracks his neck. “So, I’m the wall. Got it. Anyone tries to trample anyone else, they go through me. Sounds like a plan.” His eyes flick towards his brothers. “Just make sure you guys give ‘em something good to run from.”

“Oh, we will,” Leonardo says with a grin.

“Speaking of which, Leonardo. That leaves the star role for you.” You stop before a heavy, rune-etched door, clearly leading towards an arena entrance point. “Once Michelangelo has its undivided attention, and Raphael is managing the ensuing chaos, you will be its dance partner. You lure the Star-Eater to the designated stasis zone. It’s a twenty-meter diameter circle directly in the arena’s center. Precision is key; the field’s effective range is limited. You need to get it there—and keep it there—until I give the signal.”

Leonardo’s grin widens. “So, I get to be the hero, face the monster, and look cool doing it? Spider Princess, you sure know how to throw a party.”

“I aim to please,” you say, a ghost of a smile playing on your lips. “My role, as discussed, is oversight. I’ll be in the central command spire, coordinating and ready to activate the stasis field the moment you have our oversized friend in position.” You press your palm to the door; the runes glow briefly, and the locks disengage. “This is your entrance, Leonardo. Michelangelo, your access to the upper levels is two corridors down. Look for the red glyph. Donatello, your conduits are primarily on the arena’s sublevel; an access shaft is just beyond that beast pen. And Raphael, you’ll take the main spectator ingress tunnel; it’ll put you right where you need to be when the fun starts.”

You meet their gazes one last time, your expression serious beneath the veneer of cool command. “The show starts in thirty minutes. Get into position. And remember,” you add, your voice dropping a notch, “failure won’t be just embarrassing. It’ll be messy. Very, very messy.” With a nod, you sweep past them, heading towards your own vantage point, leaving them to their assigned fates.

Time passes in a blink.

In front of you are screens, each offering different angles of the arena: backstage areas, the power conduits, and most importantly, the containment sector of the Star-Eater. Through the main viewport, you watch the stands fill. Yokai of every imaginable species, from hulking rock-skinned giants to gossamer-winged sprites, find their seats, their roars and chatter a rising tide of anticipation.

The pre-show spectacle—a rather dull bout between two over-muscled, under-skilled brutes—is winding down. You tap the comm bead, your voice a calm murmur in the quiet of the spire. “Positions, gentlemen.”

“Mikey here, ready to rock and roll from the rafters!” His voice crackles with an almost manic glee.

“Donatello?”

“Here,” comes the more sedate reply. “Conduit access secured. Primary power flow is stable. Integrity monitors on the Star-Eater’s containment unit are … well, they’re showing increasing stress fluctuations. Expected, I presume?”

“Naturally,” you reply. “Raphael?”

A grunt. “In position by the main west exit. Crowd’s packed in tight.”

“Leonardo?”

“Ready to make a new best friend. Just say the word, Spider Princess.” There’s an underlying nervous energy in his voice, but it’s overshadowed by a theatrical confidence.

You watch the main event champions take their bows, the crowd roaring its approval. Then, a flicker on one of your monitors. A visible crack spiderwebs across the Star-Eater’s pen. The show is beginning.

“It’s starting,” you announce, your gaze fixed on the monitor displaying the beast’s containment. “Michelangelo, on my mark.”

The crack widens. A guttural, dimensional shriek tears through the arena’s background noise, silencing the crowd for a heartbeat. Then, with an explosive burst of energy and shattered metal, the Star-Eater erupts from its prison. It bounds to the arena floor, shaking the very foundations. Panic, instantaneous, ripples through the stands.

It’s even more terrifying in motion: a vortex of shadowy tendrils, razor-sharp crystalline shards for a hide, and too many eyes glowing with malevolent cosmic hunger.

“Mark!” you snap into the comm. “Michelangelo, you’re on!”

Almost immediately, a flash of orange and green swings into view on the arena’s jumbotron feeds, which your systems patch directly to your screens. Michelangelo, true to his word, is using a lighting rig like a trapeze, letting out a whoop that somehow cuts through the rising din.

“Hey, Star-Brain!��� he yells, launching a volley of what looks like water balloons filled with glitter paint? (And you wonder just where he got those.) They splatter harmlessly but garishly against the beast’s hide. “Betcha can’t catch me!”

The Star-Eater, initially disoriented, lets out an enraged roar, its multiple eyes swiveling upwards to fix on the small, taunting figure. It swipes a colossal, clawed limb, narrowly missing a catwalk Michelangelo somersaults off of.

“Good,” you murmur, watching the beast’s attention lock onto the orange-clad turtle. “Keep it busy. Donatello, status on those conduits? The energy surge from the escape might have destabilized them.”

“Already on it,” he replies, his voice tight with concentration. You switch to a view of a grimy sublevel, where Donatello is furiously typing on a holographic interface projected from his wrist, sparks flying from a nearby junction box. “Compensating for feedback loop … rerouting auxiliary power … Got it! Conduits stable. For now. This thing’s energy signature is playing havoc with the finer mystic circuits.”

“Excellent work. Keep them green.”

Your attention flicks to the crowd. As predicted, it’s chaos. Screams echo as yokai scramble for the exits. Raphael’s feed shows him holding back a surging wave of terrified spectators at the gate. He’s directing them, his voice booming, pointing towards secondary, less obvious escape routes you’d pre-briefed him on.

“Nice and orderly, folks!” he shouts, shoving a panicked ogre away from trampling a group of smaller imps. “There’s plenty of ‘getting eaten’ to go around if you don’t move smart!”

A small, appreciative smile touches your lips. Crude, but effective.

“Leonardo,” you say, your voice even. “The stage is yours. Bring our star to the center.”

“Showtime,” his voice comes back, confident.

You watch his feed as he drops from a lower gantry, landing gracefully on the arena floor. He draws his katanas, the blades glinting under the lights.

“Hey, ugly!” he calls out, positioning himself between the Star-Eater and the panicking crowd, drawing its attention away from Michelangelo for a crucial moment. “Heard you were looking for a dance partner? Hope you can keep up!”

The Star-Eater, momentarily confused by the new, closer target, lets out a growl, abandoning its pursuit of the elusive Michelangelo. It charges towards Leonardo, its tendrils lashing out.

You lean forward, fingers steepled, observing every detail. Leonardo moves with skilled agility, dodging, weaving. Redirecting the beast’s attacks, guiding its lumbering charges. He’s leading it, step by step, towards the giant, almost invisible circle etched into the arena’s center.

“Closer, Leonardo,” you instruct, watching the proximity indicators on your display.

Michelangelo continues his aerial harassment, drawing some of the Star-Eater’s fire, preventing it from focusing entirely on Leonardo. Donatello’s voice occasionally chimes in with curt updates about power fluctuations. Raphael is a steadfast bastion against total collapse at the exits.

The Star-Eater, enraged by Leonardo’s evasiveness, unleashes a torrent of energy from its maw. He dives, rolling, coming up singed but grinning.

“Playing hard to get, huh?” he pants. “Just a little further …” He feints left, then darts right, positioning himself just beyond the stasis circle’s edge as the beast thunders past him, skidding to a halt directly in the center of the target zone. “Now, Princess!”

With a press of your palm on the control console, you send the command. “Stasis field activating!”

Below, the circle on the floor flares with an intense blue light. Energy arcs upwards, forming a crackling dome around the Star-Eater just as it rears back to strike. The beast roars, thrashing against the sudden confinement. But it holds, solidifying, its wails muffling as the stasis field takes full effect.

You allow yourself a slow, satisfied exhale. A genuine smile spreads across your face as you look at the Star-Eater, now frozen mid-snarl. “Spectacular,” you murmur, leaning back in your chair. “Absolutely spectacular. Well done, gentlemen. The Star-Eater is contained. For now.”

Relieved sighs and cheers come through your comm.

“Woo-hoo! We did it!” Michelangelo hollers. “Did you see that triple flip off the light rig? And the glitter—it hated the glitter!”

You can’t help but chuckle. He’s kinda cute, you think.

“Energy signature stabilizing,” Donatello reports, a note of professional satisfaction in his tone. “The stasis field is holding at optimal parameters. Impressive tech, by the way. Did you design the primary focusing array yourself?”

“I had input,” you answer, a smile tugging at your lips. His intellectual curiosity is, you admit, rather appealing.

“Crowd’s mostly cleared,” Raphael says. “Few stragglers, but the panic’s over. Nobody got turned into an appetizer. Mission accomplished.” His gruff protectiveness stirs something unexpectedly warm within you.

“And looking good while doing it, if I may say so myself,” Leonardo chimes in, his voice still a little breathless but brimming with bravado. “One monster, neatly gift-wrapped. You’re welcome, Princess.”

His confidence, even when teetering on the edge of arrogance, has a certain undeniable charm. He truly did command the arena. You can’t say you don’t find him interesting.

You watch them on your monitors for a few moments longer. They’re a chaotic force of nature alright. And, against all your better judgment, you find yourself captivated. Each of them, in their own unique, exasperating way, has proven to be more than just a temporary solution to a problem.

“Rendezvous at the west arena entrance, the one Raphael was securing,” you say into the comm. “And try not to attract any more attention. The cleanup crew will be here shortly, and they’re notoriously bad at keeping secrets.”

You cut the feed, a thoughtful expression on your face as the adrenaline of the crisis fades. With a few quick commands, you start the Star-Eater’s transfer to a more permanent holding facility (one far, far away.) Then, you smooth down your capelet and head out.

By the time you reach the designated meeting point, the turtles are already there, looking a little worse for wear but undeniably triumphant. Michelangelo is animatedly recounting his aerial acrobatics to a skeptical-looking Raphael. Donatello is still fiddling with one of your comm devices, while Leonardo leans against the wall, arms crossed, watching you approach.

“Well,” you say, stopping before them, your earlier commanding tone softening slightly. “I must admit, that was … remarkably effective. For a group of amateurs who stumbled into my domain uninvited, anyway.”

“Amateurs who just saved your very expensive arena and probably your reputation with the mystic elite, you mean.” Leonardo winks. “So, about that portal token home? And maybe forgetting this whole ‘trespassing’ thing?”

“Hmm, yes, the terms of our agreement,” you muse, tapping a finger to your chin. You meet each of their gazes. Michelangelo’s bright, expectant eyes. Donatello’s analytical, curious ones. Raphael’s guarded but steady stare. Leonardo’s confident, challenging look.

“You held up your end of the bargain,” you concede. “And with surprising panache.” Your gaze lingers on Leonardo for a fraction of a second longer than necessary, and you see a flicker of something in his eyes before he schools his expression back into a charming grin.

“Panache is my middle name,” he says. “Well, not really. It’s ‘Danger.’ But panache fits too.”

“Of course it is,” you say dryly, though a smile tugs at your lips. “The trespassing incident will be ‘administratively misplaced’. As for getting home …” You reach into your capelet again. But instead of just grabbing the portal token, you also produce an ornate data chip. “Donatello, I believe you were interested in the stasis field’s focusing array schematics? And perhaps the Yatchon encryption on the comms?”

His eyes widen, and he takes a step forward, practically vibrating with intellectual hunger. “You’d share proprietary Battle Nexus technology? Just like that?”

“Consider it a bonus,” you say, your eyes flicking to the others. “A token of appreciation for a job well done. And perhaps,” you add, your voice a little softer, “an incentive for future … collaborations, should the need arise.”

Raphael frowns. “Future collaborations? I thought we were done.”

“One never knows in the Nexus, Raphael,” you say smoothly. “Alliances shift. Favors are currency. And talent,” your gaze sweeps over them again, lingering perhaps a moment too long on each, “is always in demand.”

Warmth spreads through your chest, an unfamiliar lightness. It’s not just about business anymore. You genuinely enjoyed their company, their wild energy, their surprising competence. The thought of them simply never returning leaves you with an unexpected pang of something akin to disappointment.

“Besides,” you continue, a mischievous glint entering your eyes as you look at Leonardo, “I haven’t even offered you all a celebratory post-crisis meal. It would be terribly rude of me, as a hostess, not to.”

“A meal?” His grin widens. “With the Spider Princess herself? Now that sounds like a proper reward.”

Michelangelo bounces on the balls of his feet. “Ooh! Do you have those weird glow-y sodas they sell in the concession stands?”

“We can discuss refreshments en route,” you say, a genuine smile now gracing your features before you turn. “My private lounge is much more comfortable. And far less likely to be infested with disgruntled arena beasts.”

You start walking, not looking back immediately, but you can hear their footsteps and surprised murmurs following you.

“She’s actually being nice?” Raphael mutters, loud enough for you to hear.

“Define ‘nice’ in the context of a woman who threatened to turn us into a marketing gimmick,” Donatello says, though there’s a note of intrigue in his voice.

“Hey, free snacks and she called me ‘panache-y’!” Leonardo stage-whispers. “I’m calling this a win.”

You allow yourself a small, secret smile. The mission might be over, but this new relationship, you sense, is just the beginning. And much to your surprise, it makes your heart flutter a little faster. You glance back, just a subtle turn of your head, and watch them.

Yes, you think, this could be very interesting indeed. Your future empire might just have gained four very unexpected, very intriguing new assets.

Or perhaps … something more.

[ehhgg-art]

you ever think about the fact that laios won not by being a monster but by being human.

monsters as we’ve seen throughout the manga are predictable, they have this rhythm to them that, once someone understands, can be used to take them out. take kelpies like anne where laios states that she is just a monster and cannot be trusted. even kensuke is “just a monster after all”, running away from danger when laios needs it most. kensuke is beloved by laios not just because he is a monster, but because laios, in human fashion, anthropomorphized him in his mind (giving him a name, etc.)

but people are different. they are multifaceted, non-monolithic creatures. long lived races are not all pious and apathetic towards short lived races as we see with marcille and senshi. chilchuck actively works against the prejudice against half-foots. tallmen from every region have their cultural differences as we see with shuro and laios/falin. even “demi-humans” like orcs have depth to them, having rich culture and values despite the general idea that they are a violent pillaging race.

even laios’ family and village, the nexus point for his dislike of people, have depth to them. though their parents did not actively protect their children, they did not wish harm on them either. the exorcisms performed on falin by their mother was harmful in laios’ eyes, but helpful in his mother’s perspective.

laios himself, despite loving monsters and hating humans, is so very painfully human. he hates humans but has risked life and literal limb to save his sister and his party. he loves monsters but is aware of their dangerous nature and spares them no mercy.

(big spoilers under the cut)

the winged lion mistook laios as a one dimensional entity, one which only operates on a one track mind without paradox. it thought laios to operate like a monster, and so it approached his desires like one. it believed that laios, being so obsessed with monsters, must behave like one as well, so completely disregarded the fact that laios could have something up his sleeve.

but laios is not a monster, he is human. he has ulterior motives, overlapping beliefs, contradicting values. it is his humanness that made him explain to his party what to do when things went awry. it is his humanness that allowed him to lie. lie to the world about his true plan as well as lie to the winged lion about his intentions.

sure laios WANTS to be a monster, that much is definitely true. but what he IS is a different story. laios is an unpredictable, sporadic, messy human being. it is that fact which the winged lion overlooked, and ultimately led to its downfall and laios’ victory.

[sinclairmaxwellao3]

LAST CHAPTER WOOOOO!!

[basilbots]

Bro if you think New Moon, before the Nexus arc where they were doing everything in their power to write him off as evil because they knew he was going to be killed off and replaced, was a worse brother than Old Moon or even anywhere close you are just straight up incorrect sorry.

First off very serious, stop downplaying Old Moon's abuse, you may not be meaning to but you are, you cannot be obtuse about why NM jokingly threatening Sun like normal siblings do all the time is okay but OM threatening the same thing when he would actually physically abuse Sun isn't okay. There is an obvious difference there and it's gross to say otherwise. Secondly more silly I am bapping you like an annoyed cat NM was around for a year and I guarantee you he was not played with Nexus in mind for the majority of it they were not in fact dropping hints that he would be evil this whole time. This is not to say New Moon was perfect, he wasn't, but literally none of the characters are. If you picked at every mistake or ruder comment a character made then they're all secretly evil and toxic (which some people actually believe looks at the Solar is evil theories). But I think it's insulting to go to people upset that their fav character was butchered and say "um actually New Moon was NEVER good" because you're biased against Nexus and want to rewrite what New Moon was actually like. Which is something that the show doesn't even support btw. Earth recently talked about how sweet New Moon was, Sun during the turning point of NM's grief arc turning into the Nexus arc admitted that New Moon up until that point was a better brother than Moon, the bulk of Nexus' horrible actions were not of him being a toxic brother it's him being an EX-brother turned villain. Which for reference is like how the og Eclipse was a toxic brother to Lunar but you would not say he was a toxic brother to Sun and Moon because the role and circumstances around how he hurt them were very different. New Moon was a very good brother that the story left turned into trying very hard to justify getting rid of so we could have our current story (Old Moon as our Moon, Dark Sun successfully having Sun kill a Moon, the dimensional discrepancy, etc).