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winged-self-indulgence · 2 years ago

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Why Do People Like Yanderes?

Hi everyone, my name is Diya, and this was going to be a YT video-essay-type-thing but I'm too poor to afford a mic and too busy with college to learn how to edit videos, so here's my vague exploration of the psychology behind why people like yanderes so much through the lens of my favourite Visual Novels.

TW for uh. yandere content. Mentions of sex, gore, and non-con, particularly in the last topic. This is more like the first draft of an academic paper so while it's not explicit, I do go into some detail.

Introduction

If you’re a fan of anime or visual novels, then you’re probably already aware of what a yandere is, or at the very least you’ve seen that one picture of Yuno Gasai. Still, for the sake of thoroughness, let’s take it from the tippy top. The term ‘yandere’ is a Japanese portmanteau of ‘yanderu’ – the progressive form of ‘yami’ – meaning ‘sick’, and ‘deredere’ which roughly translates to ‘loving’. Together, the word refers to someone who is – in short – extremely lovesick. Obsessive to the extreme, and with little morality to spare, the standard yandere is characterized by a dangerous fixation on a chosen target, often appearing shy and caring at first only to flip the script and become violently aggressive towards perceived threats (Kroon, 2010).

It should be noted that yanderes are not a strictly romantic or sexual trope. The Ancient Greeks classified at least six forms of love, from familial (storge) to guests (xenia). Modern psychologists may distinguish love as either Companionate or Passionate (Kim & Hatfield, 2004) or consisting of three dimensions of Intimacy, Passion, and Commitment (Sternberg & Sternberg, 2018). Realistically, possessiveness shows up in a variety of relationships. However, people are generally primed to view certain dynamics as inherently amorous. Societal norms tend to encourage the idea that romantic bonds ought to rank above all others, and therefore if Person A is bizarrely fixated on Person B, then clearly there must be an element of sexual interest involved regardless of the actual relationship between the individuals in question.

Regardless, yanderes remain quite popular in fiction. Many dismiss it as a fetish, which it can be, but that isn’t the case for everyone. While there is nothing wrong with indulging in kinky fiction, not all of us get horny at the thought of being chained up in someone’s basement, no matter how hot our captor may be. So why is it so pervasive? Why is this trope so appealing that most writers cannot help but include at least a single line of dialogue implying that – if circumstances had been ever so slightly different – my wholesome shoujo romcom might have turned into a psychological horror?

Hybristophilia

‘Hybristophilia’, also known as Bonnie and Clyde Syndrome after the titular criminal couple, is a word is derived from the Greek word ‘hybridzein’ meaning ‘to commit an outrage against someone’ and ‘philo’ which means ‘a strong preference for’. Sexologist John Money reportedly defined it as a paraphilia in which an individual is sexually aroused by a partner who has a predatory history of hurting other people (Money, 1986, as cited in Matuszak, 2017). In his book, Serial Killer Groupies, true crime and crime fiction author RJ Parker distinguished two forms of hybristophilia: passive and aggressive. The former is when an individual contacts a criminal with the intention of striking up a relationship with them, allowing themselves to be seduced and manipulated but having no interest in committing a crime themselves. The latter are far more dangerous, as the individual not only derives sexual pleasure from their partner’s atrocities but are active participants in carrying out or covering up the crime. To quote Griffiths (2013, as cited in Pettigrew, 2019):

“[They] help out their lovers with their criminal agenda by luring victims, hiding bodies, covering crimes, or even committing crimes. They are attracted to their lovers because of their violent actions and want to receive love yet are unable to understand that their lovers are psychopaths who are manipulating them.”

In some ways, hybristophilia is the nearest thing we have to a realistic understanding of why people love yanderes. I mean, much of the fantasy surrounding such characters and their media tend to be filled with posts begging to be spat on or calling the rightfully terrified main character ungrateful for being a teeny bit upset about finding surveillance cameras in their ceiling. However, enjoying fictitious immoral activity does not predict real perpetration, so what does? There exists little consensus amongst psychologists as to what sparks this particular predilection, and that was strange to me. You would think there would be more studies into this topic, in spite of or perhaps because of its controversial nature. Heck, that one dude wouldn’t shut up about white women’s obsession with Bundy and Dahmer, and I assumed he had gotten that information from somewhere, but it turns out that was just him using modifiers to justify sexism.

However, I believe that we can hedge a few guesses, and over the course of my research, I’ve organized the main rationalizations under four umbrellas which I will explore through the lens of my favourite yandere-themed Visual Novels. Please keep in mind that most of these games are rated as mature due to sexual scenes and/or gore. Additionally, in the spirit of transparency, this ramble will be focused exclusively on male or masculine yanderes. So, without further ado:

Call Me Bob the Builder Because I Can Fix Them

If you’re familiar with DC Comic’s Batman, or just happen to have attended any costume event held over the span of the last 20+ years, you may be familiar with the character of Dr. Harleen Quinzel, better known as Harley Quinn. Initially created as the Joker’s one-off sidekick in Batman The Animated Series, she was so well-received by audiences that she became a recurring character in the cartoon and was eventually given a proper origin story in the form of a one-shot titled Mad Love.

Harley’s origin story has seen some alterations over the past decades, but the core aspects remain largely untouched. In the beginning, Harleen Quinzel was a promising young woman who wanted was a degree from the university’s prestigious psychology department, which she gained through…less than scrupulous means.

(Listen, I’m not sure if the authors were leaning on the Dumb Blonde stereotype, or if they simply thought that casting her as a genuinely bad student would make her later actions more believable. Either way, the idea of Harley as someone with a legitimate PhD came later)

After landing an internship at Arkham Asylum – a half-hospital and half-prison straight out of the 1870s that might as well be built out of one-ply tissue-paper soaked with gasoline and left next to a crate of fireworks – Harleen set her sights on the then incarcerated Joker. At the start, her fixation on the criminal wasn’t remotely sympathetic. She didn’t want to help him, she wanted to use him. Harleen Quinzel wanted piggyback off his infamy and write a tell-all tale detailing what sort of messed up childhood resulted in Gotham’s Clown Prince of Crime. Yet the more she interacted with him, the more the Joker took advantage of her empathy. By the end of their sessions, Harley no longer saw him as a violent serial killer with a clown schtick, but as a “lost, injured child looking to make the world laugh at his antics.”

But Diya, you may be asking, what does this have to do with the video? The Joker never loved Harley, and it could even be argued – as Shehadeh did in a 2017 essay – that her obsession with the pasty-faced clown is more akin to Histrionic Personality Disorder. While that may be the case, I believe that Harley’s story provides one of the reasons yanderes are so popular: their backstory.

Whether they were abandoned by their family, bullied by their peers, experimented on by evil scientists, starved on the streets, died under mysterious circumstances and then trapped in a haunted VCR tape for decades, or are simply so impossibly inhuman that they frankly do not understand why it isn’t socially acceptable to imprison their crush in a pocket dimension made of meat and non-Euclidean geometry, yanderes often have fairly sympathetic or at least understandable explanations for why they are Like That. Your mileage may vary significantly depending on how much you sympathize with these motives, but the point is that yanderes always make sense to some degree. Their morality and priorities may be twisted or even completely incomprehensible, but the audience almost always knows the reason, and that can be comforting. In the real world, other people aren’t always straightforward, and we never really know what they’re thinking, but narrative coherence demands a semblance of internal consistency lest the audience end up frustrated and confused. So yanderes are not only easy to sympathize with, but also fairly predictable. In-universe they may be unhinged freaks with a blood fetish, but to you watching from behind the safety of the screen they’re just acting out the script written for them based on a prototype. And if you understand the why behind their loose gears, then you might just be able to put them back together again.

The concept of rescue romances or “I Can Fix Them” has been around in our stories for thousands of years. The Epic of Gilgamesh detailed how Shamhat essentially ‘civilized’ wild man Enkidu through ritual lovemaking, and a concerning number of religions push the idea that women are dutybound to save men from the follies of sin. Yet men are not exempt either, with one notable example being the German fairytale, King Thrushbeard. Call it what you will regardless: Knights in Shining Armour, the Florence Nightingale Effect, or a plain old case of Because You Were Nice to Me, studies have shown that human beings generally like helping [DA2] others, even when the reason doesn’t necessarily stem from pure altruism. I will delve deeper into this later, but care and compassion are deeply ingrained in human nature, and arising from those roots is the appeal of this mentality: You can save them. You can change them. You can make them better. You are special, and the way you treat this person carries a weight that has not and will never be matched by anyone else for the rest of their mortal or immortal existence.

The illusion is a delicious one, especially if the person you’ve helped turns out to be a billionaire CEO with cash to burn, a super powerful ghost king willing to raze continents to dust for you, a demon having fun on a Friday night, or just your average hot creep with a knife. Moreover, different people have different ideas of what ‘fixing’ even means. Maybe you want to single-handedly rehabilitate your yandere into a functional member of society. Maybe you’re cool with the incessant stalking but would like them to stop slaughtering your friends, family, and local service workers. Maybe you want to make them much, much worse.

Not only do yanderes provide immediate proof that your actions have a tangible impact on the lives of others, but the fantasy also includes the desire of being seen as special. Of being admired and adored by someone whose life you inexplicably made better by virtue of simply being yourself, or an idealized version of yourself. In this fictional world, in this imaginary setting, the person you are is so uniquely, impossibly irreplaceable to someone. And if that’s the case then they can’t risk losing you, can they?

The Allure of Obsession, or ‘Til Death Do Us Part (Literally)

It shouldn’t be necessary, but here is my obligatory disclaimer anyway. Ahem: obsession is not a good thing in real life. Fixating on another human to the detriment of your own wellbeing and that of those around you is dangerous, as is encouraging someone else to obsess over you. You might think you are being worshiped, but real life is not a visual novel. The outside world doesn’t come with an age rating, the author’s guiding pen, and a convenient fade to credits sequence once you’ve reached an ending. The consequences will still be there in the morning, so don’t do it. Just don’t.

PSA out of the way, it’s natural to want to be wanted. Maslow’s Hierarchy places it just above physical safety, but I’d argue that it could easily be compared to baser drives. According to many psychological and anthropological studies, much of humanity’s continued survival and environmental dominance is largely attributed to our ability to form groups, cooperate with one another, and maintain complex interpersonal networks. Social support, intimacy, and a sense of belonging are linked to emotional and physical benefits, such as more optimistic health perceptions, higher subjective well-being, increased creativity and innovation, and greater self-efficacy (DeWall & Bushman, 2011; Harandi et al., 2017; Wang & Sha, 2018). Therefore, it’s perfectly understandable that rejection of any sort would be construed as a threat.

But if someone is obsessed with you, then you have no reason to worry about that, right? No more nights spent agonizing over how they feel about you, asking yourself whether your last text made you sound too desperate, or if you’re boring them because you spent the past hour info-dumping about Stardew Valley farm layouts. With a yandere, there will never be any doubt that they care about you. Sure, they might go about it in weird, manipulative, and insidious ways that violate your physical and mental autonomy, but you can’t deny their loyalty. They do love you in their own bizarre way. You are the sun around which they orbit. When you’re in the room, no one else exists. Every single messy flaw is just another bullet point on the mile-long list of why they adore you.

In essence, yanderes are not only attentive, but their love can be virtually unconditional. A yandere might know everything about you, and still revere you. It’s unhealthy as hell and you might genuinely question their taste, but it can be tempting to pretend that all of you, right down to the ugliest parts of yourself – the traits and choices that you would never share with another living soul even at gunpoint – are worthy of understanding, if not open praise and affection.

Attractiveness, or Okay but Have You Considered That They’re Hot Though?

I mean what am I supposed to say here? They’re hot, what do you want from me?

No, but in all seriousness, fictional media paints an idealized version of the world, and most yanderes are hot because they have the freedom of existing purely behind that screen; artfully arranged and edited to forever appear compelling to anyone who happens to enjoy their particular style. And there are a lot of styles to choose from. Whether you want them pretty faced and disarmingly cute, or scarred up and big enough to pin you like a butterfly, yanderes come in a wide variety of shapes and sizes that are meant to pique your interest and draw you in like a naïve little fish being lured towards the mouth of an angler fish, unwilling to believe that anything bad might happen to us when the bait is this pretty.

This is often referred to as the Halo Effect, a form of cognitive bias referring to the tendency for people to assume that a single obvious positive trait must be associated with other positive traits. The go-to characteristic is typically physical attractiveness, but a nice voice, good humour, and cooking skills are also factors which serve to influence our perceptions.

So, conventional physical attractiveness is one thing, but that’s only skin deep. What about beyond that? After all, the yandere still has to talk to you before they enact their master plan of tying you up in their basement until Stockholm Syndrome kicks in.

When I showed my friend a picture of John Doe from the game John Doe, she told me that he looked like a creepy slob, and she’s far from the only person who’s ever thought so. Look at them. I feel like if I tried to comb that hair it would simply eat me, and some of the CGs really put the scopophobia in Scopophobia Studios. I love Doe, but he is not hot, and he doesn’t behave in a normally appealing way either. If the player chooses not to take a bath, Doe will immediately comment that you “smell good” before following you home, breaking into your house, and leaving a bloody organ on the floor for the player to trip over. Many yanderes can at least fake a veneer of normalcy, but from the get-go Doe doesn’t even bother to pretend he’s anything less than an otherworldly creature stuffed into a vaguely person-shaped meatsuit. In an effort to find out why so many people had latched on to Doe – including me – I shopped around social media and YouTube for answers, and what I found was a widely unanimous sentiment.

While some were drawn to his fun design and goofy personality, most simply thought that he wasn’t inherently malevolent, just very confused. In addition to being a supernatural being with a completely alien axis of morality, Doe’s meta-awareness and unbridled attempts at winning the player’s affection lends him quite a bit of support from the audience, especially if you yourself also happen to struggle with social cues and relate to his pure earnestness. In Ending 7 of the extended version, the player character has the option to tell Doe – who has altered himself to pass as more ‘normal’ – that they prefer who he truly is, at which point he grows visibly flustered and sports an adorable pair of literal heart-shaped pupils.

Whether they’re charismatic, seductive, cute, sweet, funny, nurturing, or generous, the best yanderes have engaging personalities. Even while they’re committing truly heinous crimes against God, man, and your guts, you still kinda want to hang out with them, and you want them to acknowledge you as being just as interesting. And this is all fine in fiction because you’re the one in charge, and if you ever get bored or uncomfortable or busy with something else, then you can simply close the tab or window with zero consequences, which brings us to the final and most important reason.

Power Dynamics and Consent in Fantasy (I Couldn’t Think of a Joke Here Guys, This Is Kinda Serious)

Once again, I feel that I must preface this section just for the sake of my own peace of mind: sexual coercion and assault are vile and disgusting crimes that should never be emulated or tolerated in the real world. We are speaking purely of fictional media, specifically adult-oriented media in this case, so please be mindful.

In 2009, Bivoni and Critelli conducted a study on 355 undergraduate women with the goal of assessing the reasons behind fantasies of non-consent. At the time, there were two leading explanations of this phenomenon. One stated that women with high libidos but repressed views of sex used these imaginary scenarios to alleviate the guilt they had grown to associate with sex. Because the simulation was a purely mental exercise and they themselves were cast as helpless victims in the scenario, they were able to remain blameless while still finding sexual gratification. The second stated that these fantasies were an expression of liberation by women who were adventurous and comfortable enough with their own sexuality to engage with taboo ideas that they weren’t at all interested in performing in real life. Which do you think was more common?

If you guessed the second option, you’d be right. The study found that of the 220 women who had experienced such fantasies, 45% found theirs erotic, 46% were mixed, and only 9% reported pure aversion. One justification for this outcome relies on psycho-biological theories, for example masochistic preferences or the unintended activation of the sympathetic nervous system and subsequent mis-attribution of arousal. Other reasons have to do with higher order thinking and are tied to the power dynamics within such fantasies. On the surface is the appeal of being so desirable to someone that they simply cannot control themselves, but then there is a deeper impulse, which the researchers referred to as Adversary Transformation. To quote the article: “[fantasies] involve a struggle between an assailant and a potential victim in which it is relevant to consider who is the winner and who is the loser. At one level, it is a struggle over sex, but the woman's non-consent may be feigned or token. At another level, the woman may be seeking a victory that is not about whether sex occurs, but about what happens emotionally between the protagonists.”

Basically, the imaginary perpetrator may have ‘won’, but the self-character need not have ‘lost’.

Media provides an extra layer to the illusion, one that you as the viewer have absolute control over. If you are choosing to engage with a piece of media that explicitly labels itself as including R18+ yandere content, then you clearly have some expectations, and that background awareness goes a long way in reducing long-term discomfort and allowing audiences to make informed decisions. If you don’t like the plot, you can simply turn it off it with the click of a button, and when the screen goes dark it’s not like the yandere is going to punish you for saying no. Strade isn’t going to break into your house with a drill, there are no homicidal clown ghosts hiding in your TV, and no suspicious pink-haired hackers watching your webcam. They aren’t real, and the consequences aren’t real either. You have all the power here.

Conclusion

In summary, Yanderes are appealing for a variety of reasons. Whether you want to save them, think they’re attractive, wish to indulge in a dream of being utterly coveted, or simply enjoy a bit of spice in your me-time, it’s obvious why the trope has persisted for so long and will likely continue to do so. If you enjoy yanderes but are worried that having a taste for the less wholesome side of things might imply something about who you are as a person, don’t be. The notion that fantasies and media preferences directly reflect subconscious desires is not only painfully out of date debunked nonsense but also indicative of restrictive ideologies wherein bad thoughts = sin. This isn’t 1984. You haven’t committed a thought-crime by having a weird kink. You aren't going to superhell for fantasizing. The human mind is hardly ever so mathematically rational, and the point of fiction is to allow us to safely engage with and explore various ideas, provided the everyone involved is mentally, chronologically, and emotionally mature enough to do so.

Thank you all for listening to me. If you learned something or were just a little bit entertained. If you're curious about knowing more, I've listed my sources below

REFERENCES

Bivona, J. M., & Critelli, J. W. (2009). The Nature of Women’s Rape Fantasies: An analysis of prevalence, frequency, and contents. Journal of Sex Research, 46(1), 33–45. https://doi.org/10.1080/00224490802624406

Critelli, J. W., & Bivona, J. M. (2008). Women’s Erotic Rape Fantasies: An Evaluation of Theory and research. Journal of Sex Research, 45(1), 57–70. https://doi.org/10.1080/00224490701808191

DeWall, C. N., & Bushman, B. J. (2011). Social acceptance and rejection. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 20(4), 256–260. https://doi.org/10.1177/0963721411417545

Flynn, F. J., Reagans, R., Amanatullah, E. T., & Ames, D. R. (2006). Helping one’s way to the top: Self-monitors achieve status by helping others and knowing who helps whom. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 91(6), 1123–1137. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.91.6.1123

Harandi, T. F., Taghinasab, M. M., & Nayeri, T. D. (2017). The correlation of social support with mental health: A meta-analysis. Electronic Physician, 9(9), 5212–5222. https://doi.org/10.19082/5212

Hazen, H. (1983). Endless rapture: rape, romance, and the female imagination. https://openlibrary.org/books/OL3161300M/Endless_rapture

Kroon, R. W. (2010). A/V A to z: An Encyclopedic Dictionary of Media, Entertainment and Other Audiovisual Terms. McFarland.

Matuszak, M. (2017). Hybristophilia White Paper. https://static1.squarespace.com/static/55dfd21ee4b0718764fb34cc/t/5cb7cabee5e5f00ab13be58b/1555548863275/Hybristophilia+White+Paper.pdf

Oarga, C., Stavrova, O., & Fetchenhauer, D. (2015). When and why is helping others good for well-being? The role of belief in reciprocity and conformity to society’s expectations. European Journal of Social Psychology, 45(2), 242–254. https://doi.org/10.1002/ejsp.2092

Parker, R. (2014). Serial killer groupies. RJ PARKER PUBLISHING, INC.

Wang, T., & Sha, H. (2018). The influence of social rejection on cognitive control. Psychology, 09(7), 1707–1719. https://doi.org/10.4236/psych.2018.97101

#reference list is completed!#yandere #sunny day jack #my dear hatchet man #mdhm #stnaf #ddlc #john doe #boyfriend to death #tpof #degrees of lewdity #your boyfriend #14dwy #br<3ken colors #camp willowpeak #br0ken colors #obey me #binary star hero #favor vn

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liviecurated · 29 days ago

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why is mack such a funny little guy?

or, robyn celebrini (aka, mama celebrini). i've seen a lot of thoughts about rick, understandably, but his relationship with his mom is also super interesting.

in a world of hockey moms, mack's doesn't come off as super overbearing as others and often falls into rick's shadow - she's barely mentioned in his Narrative by the media.

an introduction

robyn celebrini: played college soccer (was captain of UBC!), met mack's dad at the roxy (nightclub in van) and does NOT do interviews at the rate of rick

first off i think its adorable that mack and his siblings all have the same smile as their mom (and also all look so alike!!)

second - mack calls her mama (does this make the dada thing better or worse - you decide! imo better, but...)

the primary caregiver

rick moves out to ca in 2018 alone to work for the warriors, leaving robyn with FOUR kids (all under 14, the youngest being six!!!!) in vancouver for a year, and rick himself admits that "robyn makes it all work"

during this time, all four kids are playing multiple sports (mack on this time period below)

and robyn is also raising mack himself, who robyn says was "a little wild man" and who rick said was "the handful of all four"

2. now in the bay area, she continues to do most of the day to day work with the kids due to rick's demanding job with the warriors

such as the story below (5 hours is actually crazy)

3. mack and aiden go off to shattuck, and eventually bu, but she is clearly still very involved in the day to day - even during the draft

rick: i like your choice [in outfit] all around rj: well it was mom's choice but... rick: was it? rj: yeah

...or with his two younger siblings

but was also very clearly involved with raising all four of them, as rick explains, "she was the one that raised four young toddlers, and macklin was the handful of all four kids in a fun, positive way"

4. i infer that she's doing a lot of emotional weight lifting and running interference between rick and the kids, and has said that

"i sometimes, privately, remind him, like, ‘OK, you’re taking that a little too far', and he’s really open to that. … but he’s always put his relationship with the kids first. it’s just he’s so passionate. he can be pretty tough.”

rick on her providing a non atheltic outlet:

it's also interesting to note that she's well aware of the way the public could perceive rick:

and butts back against those assumptions

her thoughts on hockey and mack

on being drafted by the sharks

robyn: i cant believe it, last year aiden got drafted by our hometown vancouver canucks and now mack's in san jose so we're just over the moon. it was such a surreal moment, we were all pretty speechless. rick's thought's on the matter: to see macklin, you know little mackie put the jersey up there is pretty cool (mackie - so funny)

she's also one of the few parents (who i've seen explicitly seen) say that "the whole family, we've all made sacrifices and i think we all are very aware of that and that's why it's so special to celebrate this" as opposed to a more "it's all worth it in the end, it was easy and fun!"

while rick is clearly much more hands on at home in regards to training, it's important to note that this coach says that both "rick and robyn always supported the coaches."

in all my years of sports psychoanalysis, often times you see that heavily involved sports parents tend to argue with the coaches, disparage them, or override them with their own ideas, so it's interesting to note these coaches saying the celebrini's specifically were not one of them:

i love this quote about mack - he's often placed oppositional to his dad, so i think it's interesting that she frames them as similar

i love this quote by her describing mack learning how to play hockey

when asked about mack being a hobey baker finalist, she says that, "we've always just focused our attention on mack pursuing his passion and being a good teammate and just being a good human being first" which really ties back in to her doing a lot of the non athletic heavy lifting.

she also says that "his happiness is always most important..." and that he has made hockey families that he has "left a very positive impact at every stop around the way that makes" her "very happy and proud"

well then...why isn't she at more games?

livermore to san jose is about a 40 minute drive - most nhl parents would salivate over the distance.

rick has made comments about the sharks selection and the distance - but robyn is always involved in the answer:

"we're a very tight knit family. to have your son so close to home would be phenomenal...it's tough for me, for us to see them playing at BU...to have him in our own backyard so to speak, for mom to bring him a meal, do his laundry every once in a while would be a lot of fun"

mack, according to rick is an "easy drive" to "mom's home cooking"

"to have macklin, i'm sure he's just far enough that he can keep his distance and independence, but close enough that mom can bring him a home cooked meal or grab his laundry every once in a while we're very very fortunate"

"as much as we would love it [mack living at home] i don't think he's there..."

"it [mack being drafted by sj] would be amazing, i mean we talk about it all the time. as a family it would be unbelievable to have him here with us in the bay where we can help him and support him at different times... "

interestingly, we never hear much from mack about how much he goes home, but he apparently "loves coming home":

my hypothesis for this disconnect, in which they don't seem distant, but she's never at games (i think rick has been to like 7 games, and she's been to one? two?) is that she's simply Too busy.

i think birth order (mack smack in the middle) means that she's genuinely just carting two younger siblings back and forth from canada to the us and managing their day to day.

comparatively, i think we see so much of will's mom/parents because will is the baby (his older sister already graduated from college) so they just have less things to schedule around

anyway all of the above is speculation and not to be taken seriously (well, maybe a little bit) because i Do Not know this woman. lmk ur thoughts!

#macklin celebrini #meta webweaving

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katmikaelsendevotee · 1 month ago

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alternate realities.

lost records: bloom&rage. velvet cove, michigan. the magical summer of 1995, four teenage girls forge bonds through their growing friendship, their awesome punk-riot grrrl band, experience an unexplained event that will forever change their lives.

꒰ঌ . the wallflower : evangeline boyd

⸝⸝ her lover : kat mikaelsen

⸝⸝ see you in hell : introduction

. moodboard

batman: caped crusader. photojournalist somewhere in the uptowns of gotham, or the underbelly. photographer for the local gazette.

꒰ঌ . gazette’s photojournalist : ashdon jameson

⸝⸝ her lover : barbara gordon

⸝⸝ gotham’s infamous lensman : introduction

until dawn. 2013, somewhere in L.A. wannabe poet-and-photographer, like her father. usually seen with her somewhat big friendgroup. heard they plan on going on a trip to her friend’s lodge somewhere in canada.

꒰ঌ . youngest of the group : winn faulkner

⸝⸝ her lover : jessica riley

⸝⸝ 2013, L.A. : introduction

controversially young gf. twenty-one year old record producer, and songwriter. is usually seen in queens, ny, or with her girlfriend.

꒰ঌ . lyricist : august voss

⸝⸝ her lover : margot robbie

⸝⸝ newest, yet best songwriter : introduction

small town. a young shutterbug of a weird, enigmatic town somewhere in oregon, where odd things are seen, and happen.

꒰ঌ . shutterbug : RJ jacobsen

⸝⸝ her lover : serena grymes

⸝⸝ a constant october : introduction

⸝⸝ it’s always the maze : lore

invincible. young marcie grayson develops powers of her own, later trained by her father omni man, the most powerful superhero in the universe. flying through the sky with eve city lights from a high rise superhero life—double life oversized hoodies open windows piles of books . . .

… ! …

#shiftblr #anti shifters dni #shifting diary #shifting community #shifting blog #reality shifting #shifting motivation #shifting script #desired reality #shifting antis dni #shiftingrealities #this actually didnt take me super long #shifters #shifting consciousness

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cbrownjc · 26 days ago

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Hi! Love all you have to say abt dm & theories for the show. I was wondering, do you think its possible for armand to turn daniel seemingly out of spite, but actually of genuine love? And for that to still be accurate to the heart of their book relationship?

I like the theory of marius being the one who wiped daniel’s memories and therefore being harder to recover than when armand did it. if 2x05 is the reason daniel is doing the interview like rj hinted at, it feels like an introduction of just how much daniel’s own gaps of recollection really plague him. Especially with the end of 2x05, daniel saying he fucked up his daughters and two marriages but kept up his career, he’s realizing the amount his life has been influenced by altered/erased memories.

Daniel’s feelings towards sex & personal relationships are either shallow or regrettable (sex as entirely transactional, stealing playboy magazines to sell, “save it for rent boy”, “my side of the social contract”, “i could be on my knees”, fucking the girl w a bag on her head, alice being pregnant and daniel not gaf, daughters no longer speaking to him etc) After revealing Armand’s true role in the trial, I could see it trigger a spiral in Daniel’s selfhood- maybe not right in that moment but eventually, how much of himself has been manipulated? How much of him has been defined by time he cant recall? He didn’t accept louis’ s1 offer to be turned bc that was before he realized the magnitude of his unknowing, and now he Needs to know. And the more he reflects the more holes he finds.

Armand knows daniel’s Parkinson's is getting worse and is now watching him die tortured by all his own inconsistencies, and in reviewing his life he’s coming face to face with how intimacy was always little more than transaction- his career of interviewing itself being example. He’s watching daniel lose function believing he never had meaningful connection, meaningful sex, and never truly loved or was loved. Because he can’t remember having it with armand.

Quite the opposite of an easeful death. If armand meets with him I’d imagine daniel would be quite angry and aggressive, setting the tone for a layered scene. I dont think show armand could stand letting daniel die suffering emotionally and physically, and daniel isnt going to accept “rest” with the truth of his past unknown. So if armand turns him before daniel has his memories, it could very well be so daniel has the capacity to remember how loved he is. I honestly can’t see how their turning could happen accurate to their show characters without love as the main drive

Thanks for reading :>

Hello,

So first of all, I want to apologize for taking so long to answer this ask. It has basically been almost a year since you sent it, so you might not even care for the answer I have to give at this point. But I always wanted to answer it, but my personal life was just taking up too much time and energy for most of the second half of last year (mostly dealing with a surgery I was having).

And I will say, all the time that has passed before answering this has given me more time to reflect on the answer to the question you asked.

And the answer is that no, it absolutely is possible that the show could have had Armand turn Daniel out of spite. But if the show did really have Armand do so for that reason, then they have not only gutted Devil's Minion, but they would have also seriously gutted Armand's character. And will have gutted it all in a way that there would be absolutely no recovery from. None whatsoever.

However, I don't think the show has actually done that. And that the "spite" thing is a total misdirect. And I don't think my thinking so is just wishful/hopeful/copium thinking.

So first, let's look at the definition of the word "spite":

To deliberately hurt, annoy, or offend (someone).

If Armand really turned Daniel out of spite, then who was he trying to hurt by doing so? (Or annoy, or offend?) The quick, easy answer is, of course, Daniel himself.

And, ignoring what we know from the books, the context for why Armand would want to hurt Daniel is all right there, over the course of Season 1 and 2. We know he never wanted the second interview to happen. We saw what Armand did to Daniel after the first interview back in 1973.

And we saw Daniel destroy the whole house of cards that Armand and Louis' relationship was built on. How did Daniel put it? "77 years based on a seismic lie!"

And then, of course, we know very well that Daniel rejected Louis' offer to become a vampire in the present day, back in Season 1. Something Daniel asked, almost begged for back in 1973, Daniel appears to not want at all in any way anymore.

And, again, ignoring the books for now, Armand is presented as being a big manipulator by the final episode of Season 2. One of the highest order, having orchestrated Claudia's death and (from Daniel's presentation of it) also trying to set up Louis to die with her. And then erasing both Louis and Daniel's memories after the first interview in 1973.

All of these are things that give great context as to why Armand -- as we see him up to the end of Season 2 on the show -- would see turning Daniel as a spiteful thing to do. Why turning Daniel would be a hurtful thing to do to Daniel, and why Armand would have a reason to want to hurt him.

However, this is where knowledge of the books comes into play. Because while Armand did give us a bit of insight into how he feels about turning someone into a vampire on the show -- that it disgusts him, the very idea of it does, and that he's never done it ever before because of that (which all lines up with his character in the book) -- there is even more, specific insight he gives in the books about his thoughts on turning someone into a vampire:

"I would not do that to those whom I find to be despicable, whom I would see burning in hell as a matter of course."

Hating someone, wanting to hurt someone he hates, would never be a reason for Armand to turn them. Not if the show, in any way, plans to stay true to Armand's character.

We must remember that it was Louis who declared that Armand had turned Daniel out of spite. Daniel didn't agree or disagree with that comment from Louis about it, and, of course, we've heard nothing of Armand's POV on the subject.

The passage I screenshot and quoted from above comes from the Devil's Minion chapter, from right after Armand lets Daniel out of the cage he locked him in for 3-4 days, after Daniel came stumbling into Lestat's Garden District house. Right before Armand and Daniel's cat-and-mouse chase is set to begin. Something that we have yet to see on the show, but I feel 99% sure did happen in the past between the two of them, given all the context clues the show has sprinkled through its first two seasons.

Clues that, if you had no idea that The Chase was even a thing (let alone their romance that came from it), you could easily miss.

However, the idea of Armand turning Daniel out of spite works as a very good, very believable misdirect if all you know about Armand's character comes from the TV show.

And yeah, you could have Armand turn Daniel out of spite, and then have them fall in love later. But to do so would be to change Armand's character in a pretty 180-degree way from what he is in the book.

It also changes the whole heart of Armand and Daniel's relationship into something that is the antithesis of what it was. Which was a reverse of the vampire-falls-in-love-with-a-human trope. Yes, the vampire learns more about the human world via the relationship, but in the case of Devil's Minion, the human in question -- Daniel -- lost his humanity over the course of the relationship. Therefore, making either his death or turning, by the end, inevitable.

Armand turning Daniel before any of that happens? Armand turning Daniel out of a desire to hurt him? Armand turning Daniel in order to hurt him, not loving him in any way, but maybe falling in love with him later, afterward? No. That is an entirely different story with two entirely different characters.

I'm actually in a place now, almost a year later, where I'm okay if Daniel doesn't remember a past relationship with Armand at the moment. I'll think it's weird and off-book if Daniel really doesn't remember a past relationship after having been turned, since -- in the books -- Jesse Reeves very much remembered everything her mind had been clouded over with by her Aunt Maharet, wrt vampires after she was turned. And Maharet is not just a Child of the Millennium, but a part of The First Brood, even older than Marius.

So the fact that Marius might be the one who altered Daniel's memories (and yes, I do still think that Marius is the one who did it) really shouldn't have much bearing on whether Daniel remembers anything of a past relationship with Armand after he's turned, going by the books. He should remember it. If he doesn't, then I'll be slightly worried that a past relationship actually didn't happen (which I've already laid out what the problem with that would be) unless Armand himself fully clarifies otherwise later on that yes, one did (and we finally get flashbacks to it).

So, yes, this basically all boils down to whether the show is going to stay true to the heart of the characters, particularly Armand's character, when it comes to the very idea of him turning someone out of "spite."

And, at the moment, I do think they are, and the whole "spite" thing was strictly Louis' -- and Louis' alone -- read on the whole situation, based on very little that I think Louis actually knows about it all. (I don't think Louis knows anything about Armand and Daniel having had a relationship together in the past, nor do I think Daniel was turned in Dubai and then was just left there for Louis to find him after Armand did it.)

And that, most of all, it is all a misdirect being played for the sake of the general audience who only know of Armand what has been shown, framed, and presented on the TV show up to this point.

And by the end of Season 2, with everything that has happened and been revealed up to that point, the show presenting the idea that Armand would do something like that out of spite is not only believable, but possible.

But, in the end, I very much think it will be revealed not to be true at all.

Again, I'm so sorry it took so long for me to answer this. 😊

#Devil's Minion #The Devil's Minion #Armand #The Vampire Armand #Daniel Molloy #Daniel Malloy #Interview with the Vampire #amc interview with the vampire #amc iwtv #iwtv #louis de pointe du lac #iwtv armand #armand iwtv #iwtv amc #ask #ask and answer #meta #armandaniel #armanddaniel

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rockinlibrarian · 1 month ago

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The Lyric Game Redux Redux Answers and another attempt at polls!

So before I go into the Answers to this game I'm going to address the second part of the title. Yesterday around lunchtime I posted a cleaned-up version of the round with all the clues consolidated for easier study, but notably ALSO with a couple of polls. Now, me, I'm a compulsive must-click-buttoner, so I was kind of surprised that by the time the polls closed 24 hours later, no one had voted in them. (Except for the one I hit by accident). I don't know if this is because no one is actually ON Tumblr on Sunday afternoons through Monday morning, or if I'm just invisible by accident or on mute on purpose, but either way, the results of a survey nobody takes can hardly help me out any. So let's try again, and this time if you see this VOTE even if you don't care! Just so I know you saw this!

*and then I explained here that someone counting in "1, 2, 3, 4!" would NOT (ironically) count as the First Line for game purposes, but someone dramatically preaching, "Dearly beloved, we have gathered here today to get through this thing called Life" WOULD.

AND I can't put two polls in one post, so I'll redo the other at the BOTTOM (reblog) of this, and put the answers in the middle.

SO, ANSWERS!

No wait, first, WINNERS!

The Top Scorer with 8 points (four correct titles and four correct artists) is my old college roommate, Tracie, who is not on Tumblr, but gave her answers in the comments of the Facebook post where I linked to this! And lest you think she had an unfair advantage from living with me for two years, I must point out that a surprising number of songs on the list were not yet in my collection in college!

And anyway @dannypageoflight lived with me for a decade and change and @sunnymarbles over 16 years and neither of THEM even bothered to guess. :P

But in second place with 4 points (2 song-and-artist combos) is Sophie who also commented on Facebook, although she did used to be on Tumblr... @fbi-angel-in-a-trenchcoat oh dude I can still tag her! Heeeeyyyyy!

And saving my sanity with one pointed response is someone I KNOW IS still on Tumblr, @rj-anderson, even though she actually responded on BlueSky.

First Honorable Mention to @alihahdnaid who didn't EXACTLY make a guess, but DID point out an interesting similarity between a completely different song and one of the lines on the list.

Second Honorable Mentions (tie) to @stephsageek and @uniasus who tried their hardest!

Fourth Honorable Mention to mine and Tracie's other college friend, Liz, who managed NOT to identify the song SHE INTRODUCED ME TO IN THE FIRST PLACE, because that's just funny.

Okay, so NOW Answers!

Also including links so you can hear the songs and say either "OHHHHHH NOW I remember" or "Oh, that's a nice song, thanks for introducing me Amy!"

1: "Listen as your day unfolds; challenge what the future holds"—"You Gotta Be," Des'ree. Immediately recognized by both Sophie and Tracie.

2 bonus. "Just ask the folks who knew me when, they'll say, "Nice boy, but he's always been…" —"Lucky Charm," by Apples in Stereo Yeah didn't expect anyone to get that one.

2: for really real:"[title of song] before my eyes just teach me to despise" —"Shapes of Things," the Yardbirds

3: "[Title of song and keyword repeated] I know I'll find you somehow, and somehow I'll return again to you"—"I Know You're Out There Somewhere," the Moody Blues Tracie got this one eventually too, perhaps after I mentioned that it WAS one I had frequently played when we lived together.

4: "I found my love in [Title] beside the bay" —"Avalon," Natalie Cole off her hit 1991 album Unforgettable on which she covered a bunch of her dad Nat "King" Cole's hits and famously "duetted" with him on the title track, which if you were alive in the 90s you couldn't avoid for awhile. Seriously.

5: "Your eyes are burning holes through me, I'm gasoline, I'm burning clean" —"Electrolite," R.E.M. Yeah, I didn't even really know that one.

6: "Friday night I crashed your party; Saturday I said I'm sorry"— "You May Be Right," Billy Joel. I am correct, Everyone knows it. Both Sophie and Tracie got it right away at least. And now the rest of you are going "UGHHHHH I DID know it!"

7: "It sure was a [title of song] as far as my eyes could see"— "Long Hot Summer Night," the Jimi Hendrix Experience To be honest the first line is actually "It sure was a long, long, long hot summer night" but I couldn't think how to say that not awkwardly. And probably wouldn't have made a difference in anyone getting it.

8: "That's all I wanted, something special, something sacred in your eyes"— "Father Figure," George Michael THANK YOU @rj_anderson for not making me think I'm crazy because no one was getting it!

9: "And the [title] is on its way, I can hear the merry [word now considered a slur. But associated with the title!] play" —"Caravan," Van Morrison off his 1970 album Moondance which is so mellow and great to chill to, everyone needs to own that album.

10: "I linger in the doorway, of alarm clock screaming, monsters calling my name." —"Imaginary," Evanescence off their 2003 album Fallen, which I first heard at Tracie's house while visiting with a bunch of other college friends, and Liz wouldn't stop talking about it and made us all listen. I told this story on the Facebook post and Tracie eventually went "OH YEAH!" and got it. Liz herself, when she saw Tracie's answer, said "oh right. It KIND of rang a bell. I still don't really remember."

It's kind of like how when we're making hot dogs I'll start singing "Hot dog, hot dog, hot diggety-dog!" and my kids have no idea what I'm talking about because they don't REMEMBER being toddlers who wouldn't stop watching Mickey Mouse Clubhouse.

Kind of like that, but not much.

Anyway.

#music #game #the lyric game #answers

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mary-macdonald1 · 9 months ago

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Introduction

Mary Mac Donald, 16

Lesbian

Gryffindor

Likes: Music, electric guitar, romance books, converse, doc martens, my friends

Dislikes: haters off all kinds

The others:

@rj-mo0ny-lupin

@heres-ur-daily-dose-of-prongsie

@wormtail-pete

@ur-fave-rockstar-girl

@mary-macdonald1

@lily-pad-love

@aunty-emms-emporium

@reggieblackthepoet

@barty-not-bartemius

@driedoutrose

@pandadoraa

@cassie-meadowes,

@sybilances

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wannabe-after-hours · 9 months ago

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‼️ READ BEFORE INTERACTING‼️

Minors DNI at all! Ageless blogs and minors will be blocked immediately!

Introduction🙌🏽

Name: Raye or RJ (but you can call me Daddy😉)

Age: 25

Gender: Female

Sexuality: Lesbian

Status: Single

Other Stuff: I am very passionate about reading and writing, and also Marvel and beautiful women. I like all kinds of music.

I made this blog to enjoy and share the things I like and maybe find things I didn’t know I liked. I identify as a top leaning switch.

Kinks ‘n’ Fetishes:

Bondage and Discipline, Dirty talk, Praise and Humiliation, Choking, Slapping, Spitting, Breeding, Overstimulation, CNC, Anal, Sensory Play

Hard Limits:

Piss, Scat, NC, Blood play, Gun play, Fisting, Unsolicited photos/videos/gifs.

Almost done!

Just wanted to say, feel free to dm and ask me anything. I get a little nervous about initiating convos but I’d love to chat be it platonically or intimately.

Lastly, I do not, in any way or circumstance, tolerate disrespect towards myself or others. Racism, transphobia, homophobia, or any form of hatefulness will lead to immediate blocking.

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tellmealittlelie · 6 months ago

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Try a language learning app, Duolingo: Duolingo - The world's best way to learn a language

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~~~~

Original Idea by @hamletthedane

Please add any other resources you may have!

#new year #happy new year #reference #information #informative #learning #new year resolutions

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ninnosaurus · 8 months ago

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Within The Shell - Prologue? Pilot?

I don't know... What to call this? Prologue? Pilot? What I DO know is that I've finally finished the first "introduction" to my giant ass topside/family AU co-created with @thatonegothicgirl and Quill, who is sadly not around on the internet anymore. This is my first time writing with THIS many characters so please, be kind. While I DO have the Bayverse as the realistic walking-talking models, I will be adding some bits and pieces from all iterations I like. Like and reblogs are always appreciated <3

And a BIG HUGE THANK YOU to my beta reader @mystics-tmnt-blog !!!

Tatum looked at her phone as hunger gnawed in her stomach before leaving her room to the main staircase. Her father told her that after he and his family revealed themselves and moved topside, they had all gone to live their separate lives. They vowed no matter what, to dedicate at least one dinner where they all met.

Today was one of those days. And by the sound of her father shooing Tanwyn out of the kitchen, it was sushi night.

"Tanwyn, if you don't stop eating the seaweed you will sleep on the porch!”

She heard her dad swear and her younger sister bursting with screams and giggles before Raphael came around the corner, carrying Tanwyn like a sack of potatoes over his shoulder. Tanwyn playfully screamed and kicked some more as he carried her to the couch.

"Dad! Dad, stop! I'm sorry!" Tanwyn wiggled and laughed in his grasp. Raph shook his head. “Nah. I warned ya, Tanner.”

Tatum looked towards the hallway leading into the living room where she heard her sister yelp before getting dropped onto the couch by the older turtle before he walked back into the kitchen, chuckling at her antics.

"Dad?"

Raphael hummed as he looked up towards her.

"I wanted to know when we're eating."

The older turtle glanced at his watch. "The others will be here in two hours, if your sister stops stealing the ingredients."

Before his daughter even got the chance to protest the long wait, he raised a finger, "if ya help me, it'll go faster."

Tatum contemplated his words before accepting his offer to help. Raph noticed her mood was less than light hearted.

"You doin' good Tater-Tot?" Raphael's voice was calm. A low comforting rumble, like distant thunder.

The youngling mumbled. "Yeah, 'm good."

"Ya sure? I know I'm not the best at talkin' but I'm here if ya need me, ya know." He nudged her with his right arm as she wiped her hands on a stray towel, surveying the assortment of sushi.

"I know dad. It's nothing serious, I'm just not in the mood for a huge party."

Raph hummed in reply before leaning down to lightly bump his head on hers, a sign of love. "At least stay an' eat, okay?" Tatum reciprocates the gesture with a happy sound while nodding to his request.

"Where's mom?"

He looked up at the ceiling, trying to remember. "She's out gettin' desserts with your siblings and aunt. And I think she’s pickin’ Max and Daisy up."

"Uncle Dee isn't coming?", balancing a full tray on her arm as she opened the fridge. He chuckled.

"Y'know how he is. He'll waltz in just in time to eat."

Being Mr. Punctuality himself, Leo and Loukas were the first to arrive. Always on the dot, his brothers would suspect he would sit in his car until it was time. He toed his shoes off, put them neatly on the rack and went into the kitchen with Luke before he kissed Leo’s forehead and went off to pester the kids currently fighting about what to watch on the TV.

Leonardo passed RJ who was currently grabbing plates from the cupboard; "Hi, uncle Lee!"

Leo smiled; "Hey, kid."

He smiled as he held up a plastic bag from one of his favorite Japanese stores. "I brought snacks!" Jenny came to greet him with a hug, and he hugged her tight. "Where's Tanner? I got her something."

"She's in the living room." Jen looked into the bag. "What did you get her?" Seeing a variety pack of 12 of seaweed snacks. "She's going to love them, Lee!"

He followed her into the living room where he greeted Raph with a pat on his shell and a head bonk. Raph tilted his head towards the direction of the fridge. "Ya want something to drink? Managed to find that expensive diva wine you like."

Leo rolled his eyes and walked towards the fridge. "Thanks!" He opens the fridge and searches until he finds what he's looking for before walking to the living room where Loukas was seen bickering with Harley about something.

Luke's head turned towards Leo, he shook it; "No thank you, I'm good!"

Shortly after Leo arrived, the hurricane known as Mikey and his younger storms whirled into the house. Amber handed Daffodil some boxes of baked goods and asked her to put them down in the kitchen, with Daffy trotting off to the kitchen with the goodies. When she saw Daffy was out of ear shot, Amber turned to her eldest.

Rue rolled her eyes at the look her mom gave her. "What?"

Mikey and Amber shared a look with him very slightly shaking his head.

"Nothing, sweetheart. Come on. Let's go help your sister." Amber put her hand on Rue's back to lead her out.

Before Jamie could sneak off behind their parents backs to meet their cousins, Mikey grabbed their arm; not too hard, but with authority only a dad possesses.

"Hey, hey, hey! Hold on, what did I tell you?"

Jamie groaned; "I am not allowed to trigger Tatum. I am not going to fight with Tatum. I will not even look at Tatum."

Letting them go, Mikey patted their back before tapping the tip of their nose with his finger. "And don't sass me.. You know me and your mother don't like it when you two fight. Off you go."

Entering the living room, the youngest was met with "Mikey!" from his eldest brothers with Leo throwing an arm over his shell to bring him in close and Raph tossing him a beer.

"How you doin', Mikey?" Leo chuckled as he saw Mikey close his eyes and hummed in contentment at the first sip of his drink. "Exhausted." He replied before blowing air out through his mouth.

"We've been- Well. We've been having-" He gestured with his hand like he was looking for a proper word, "bumps! On the road with Rue."

Raph and Leo looked at him while he talked to them about alcohol, teenagers and how his daughter kept getting herself into trouble.

The kitchen was buzzing with life with the arrival of Alice, who was currently having a chat with Amber.

“Is Donnie coming tonight?” Amber looked at Alice who just shrugged with one shoulder.

“Maybe. He hasn’t been picking up my calls today.”

“Not at all?”

Alice shook her head. “Jen was kind enough to come pick me and the girls up.” A yelp from the living room made them both turn. Amber sighed in annoyance as she heard the voice of her youngest scream something. A barked out “hey!” and several angry stomps from her husband shortly before an angry Jamie was plopped down in the kitchen. Mikey pointed an angry finger at them. “You. Stay.”

Amber looked at her kid before she knelt down in front of them. “Jamie…”

Just as Jen and Amber were about to be seated at the dinner table, loud music could be heard down the road. The brothers looked at each other and laughed. Donnie was about to arrive and make his entrance.

"Always on time to eat." Leo mumbled before taking a sip of water.

The youngest kids ran towards the windows facing the driveway. And just like predicted, within a few minutes Donnie was seen parking diagonally over Raph's driveway. Effectively blocking both Mikey and Raph's cars from backing out, Mikey stood up as he saw it and gestured "what the fuck?!" towards Donnie who only greeted his brother with a laugh and a bow

His own way of being the middle child shit he was known to be.

Donatello walked through the kitchen where he greeted his wife.

“Hi, my love.” He kissed her cheek. “I’m sorry I didn’t call you back. It was chaos at the hospital.”

Alice just hummed in reply. “Didn’t think you would come at all.” Her tone made his blood feel cold. Stepping up next to her he nosed the top of her head.

“I’m sorry. I love you.”

She tilted her head up towards him, smiling. “Come on, it’s time to eat.”

In the dining room, Donnie walked up to his daughters. Each of the twins getting a “hi, honey”, him being greeted with a “hi dad” as they looked up at him. Sometimes it felt like they hadn’t seen their father for months, even if it’d only been a day or two of him working overtime.

As Alice and Donatello sat down, they all greeted him with waves, hellos, shell pats, and offered him a glass for his wine.

Silence fell over the table. It was… thick. Heavy. Everyone could feel something brewing and hiding under the surface of smiles and “I love you”s. But they also knew the dinners were sacred. The heavy ice lingering above the table is forgotten if only for today. Yes. If there was one thing Donatello never missed, it was the yearly family dinner.

TAGS! @redsrooftopprincess @thelaundrybitch @avery73 @sophiacloud28 @iridescentflamingo @the-cauldron-witch @thegirlwiththeninjaturtletattoos @scholastic-dragon @avery73

I think that's all of you!

#WTS #tmnt au #bayverse au #tmnt topside au #Within The Shell #Ninno OG

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rrcraft-and-lore · 9 months ago

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Armies of the Dead/heaven in myths and epic fantasy - and the magic horns behind them!

One of the most famous armies of dead soldiers? The Men of Dunharrow, the army of the dead from Lord of the Rings who broke their oaths and renewed them finally under Aragorn.

Let's do this!

If you're a younger fantasy reader, or more modern, perhaps your introduction to this idea is in Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time with his magical horn that summons an army and legendary heroes to the field.

Some fans have said this is inspired by the Norse horn Gjallarhorn.

This is the horn trusted to Heimdallr to be blown to announce the beginning of Ragnarok and summon the Norse gods to the "thing" (thing is used in this case legitimately to mean - meeting, assembly, folkmoot) - in a moment like NORSE AVENGERS, ASSEMBLE!

This includes the Einherjar, the spirits of Norse warriors of honored dead who fell in battle and reside in Valhalla. But was there another possible influence?

Well, we know RJ was a Tolkien fan, and honestly who wouldn't be back in the days of early fantasy?

So, what of Tolkien's ghostly army of dead warriors? Well, if you haven't read the books, you might not know that Aragorn too summons his army of the dead with a magical horn (cut from the films). That's right.

You see, Elrohir (one of the sons of Elrond, also cut from the films) entrusts Aragorn with a silver horn to summon the dead with at the Stone of Erech to deal with them. Tolkien was a Norse buff and loved the old epics as well as poems.

So he was likely familiar with the stories just like with Gjallarhorn as well. But also, quite possibly the Song of Roland (a French epic poem) in where Roland and his forces are ambushed at Roncesvalles and are going to lose. In final desperation, Roland blows the horn, and the emperor hears the call. But the aid will not arrive in time (unlike the films and more modern stories where the heroes do arrive to save the day - this is cuz we like the just in the nick of time trope) so Roland dies blowing it one last time to hard in vengeance his temples burst (and he ascends to heaven), but...Charlemagne's army arrives in the aftermath and scatters the enemy. But, are there other armies of the dead? In fact, yes.

The Night Marchers of Hawaii who come with a warm wind, & the smell of sulfur, and the call of a conch shell to herald them. If you come upon this procession with torches in the night, and you are an enemy...time to RUN! Because if you watch them your eyes might be incinerated.

Then there is the Wild Hunt - a shared myth motif present through eastern, northern, and western European cultures. A ghostly army of the souls of dead men (and creatures) usually united under a leader (though this figure changes), Herne, Odin/Woden, Gwyn ap Nudd, Sigurd or Siegfried the Dragon Slayer, Theodoric the Great, onward. Now, they're not summoned by a horn, but in some tales their coming is announced by one.

Now, an Indian cognate of the Wild Hunt and warriors in the service of heavens The Maruts.

The number of them vary from 20+ to over 180, to even more (yay conflicting mythological sources and arguments in ancient texts and interpretations).

But who are they? Companions and servants to Lord Indra, Slayer of the First Born of Dragons, and lord of the heavens and storms! So, fittingly, these warriors are very...storm themed. Violent, aggressive, expert combatants armed with lightning weaponary, and golden chariots to fly through the clouds on. Their war crys and battle sounds are like thunder. Their blows would split clouds (sounding thunder) and would hunt the enemies of Lord Indra and slaughter demons/monsters.

Interestingly they are often associated as the sons (children) of Rudra (the Rig Vedic storm and wind god). However, there is another group that often gets that association (obviously so), the Rudras.

The Rudras are similar in (some) regards to the Maruts but not all. They aid Vishnu in his battles against demons and are clad in lion-skins, and wear serpents around their necks. A crescent moon adorns their foreheads, and they wield golden tridents and carry a skull in one hand they wear necklaces of lightning illuminated clouds (how's that for bling bling?), and are monstrously feral in battle. Lord Shiva can call them with a blow of a conch shell/horn.

Their overlap, association with the Maruts is because of some etymology and shared functions as they too are a divine/spiritual/demigod group of heavenly warriors to aid the good and destroy evil - demons/adversaries, and the root word in their name means the roarers, thunderers, or the shouters - and this is also mentioned of the Maruts.

Are these all there are for legendary armies of the dead, of gods/heaven to be summoned to the field or aid? No. But, it's rainy, I'm a little messed up (mental health and meds), and tired.

So I'm going to bow out and read and study for Tremaine 3 and leave this minor comparative thread here for folks into this stuff.

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liviecurated · 10 days ago

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why is mack such a funny little guy?

or, the case of aiden celebrini.

an introduction

currently a prospect for the canucks, will be going into his junior year at bu, and about a year and a half older than mack. entered the draft in 2023 and was picked in round 6 (overall 171st pick).

he is also taller than mack which is incredibly funny to me bc i know mack crashes out about this

growing up (the eldest child version)

aiden has much more fleshed out memories of rick working for the canucks (justifiably, he's older) and recalls

"so many morning spent there [rogers arena] working out, skating on that ice, i've been so blessed to grow up around that organization. the memories that were made there, playing on the blue line just passing the puck with dan hamhuis and zach cassian coming out and betting me that i wouldn't shoot the puck in the far net when i was just 10, 12 years old. so many good memories growing up there..."

mack interestingly, talks about how the move to california was hard because he was leaving his friends and family behind, and then going to shattuck was an adjustment to living alone. aiden himself describes the experience of moving around as:

"going to shattuck...our respective careers have taken us to the far ends of the north america... hopefully coming to vancouver it will be closer to mom and dad

when we talk about mack going to shattuck, we often forget that aiden went with him (they breifly played in the same age group as well!) and i do think that they are the best friends aiden claims them to be

the dynamic seen through podcast

mack and aiden were together on the sekeres & price podcast, one of the few instances where we get to see them interact with each other

when you see baby brother take a hit like that, does every blood cell in your body boil?

aiden: i think i screamed every profanity i know at the kid, too bad i wasn't on the ice for it, especially at this level with the size and strength of these players, it's always in the back of your mind. you know, he's the top prospect, he's gonna be every team's target and that's always in the back of my mind making sure he's staying safe.

(i think it's so funny how they look at each other after this comment)

who's the cook?

aiden: it's unfortunate that the freshman doors don't have a kitchen or i'd be cooking world class meals for this kid every night mack: yeah sure you would, sure you would aiden: you love it (?) s&p: so what we're hearing is that you're going to go number one overall when it comes to the chef drafts mack: he talks about how he's a great chef, but i don't know, sometimes he just doesn't want to put in the work to get there aiden: i haven't seen him hate a single meal i've made before that's all i'm saying

"i always like to joke that i'm the least talented of the celebrini kids"

this is an unfortunate real quote from eldest celebrini here.

when asked about being the eldest, he explains:

aiden: we've got a special, special [family], especially charlie, she's turning into a freak tennis player, one of the best in the country. i'm biased obviously, but she's up there with the tougher age group in north ameria. and rj is a rising star in the making, hopefully he'll be having success when he gets to the stage.

what i hear is little rj is tearing up delta? (mack and aiden's genuine proud reaction is so funny - recommend the watch!)

aiden: i was talking to my dad last night and i couldn't get a word out because everytime i tried saying a sentence rj scored another one, think he had a five goal, six point night last night s&p: this is their 11 year old younger brother and we've also talked about their younger sister charlie who is a fantastic junior tennis player. the similarities between him and you, macklin is just uncanny...everything seems to be a carbon copy of what he's seen of his older brother mack: yeah it's fair, i think he has a little more talent than i do but we'll see

and in many ways, this little slip up by rick where he says "we've obviously never been through this before - to this level" regarding the draft, represents a lot of what aiden is portrayed as by the media at least

i just love this photo as a metaphor: yep, there's aiden, sitting behind his nhl rising superstar younger brother, in the stands watching

so what's next?

aiden celebrini is NOT guaranteed an nhl spot, and it's actually quite rare that 6th rounders make it (about 8% in this study). he will probably not have a hall of fame career, or be an elite defenseman, or even have a long nhl career.

all that being said, if anybody is to make it, aiden celebrini probably will. for all we joke about rich kid wsh2, the celebrini's are truly nepo babies. they grew up PLAYING with canucks players, had elite level coaching, development, sports health, and facilities, parents willing to pay private boarding school, etc.

aiden has the genes for it, the support (financially and emotionally), the connections (his media is ridiculous bc of mack and rick for being a 6th rounder), plus on a hockey level his skating is pretty solid.

rick himself has expressed that aiden is still developing, and that he's only getting better, so we shall see, we shall see!

but i also think aiden is fully aware that it could go wrong:

he seems well adjusted: he's got college buddies, a girlfriend in vancouver, and overall seems a little more there than mack

this is true speculation (but more fully fleshed out in my celebrini academics analysis coming soon) but i have a feeling he is working towards an actual meaningful degree that has a career at the end of it, and as a result will take 4 years at BU.

this has deep web weaving implications. what does it mean to be the older brother whose dreams may be coming to an end while watching your younger brother achieve everything the two of you dreamed of?

#macklin celebrini #meta webweaving

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