#And it's kinda isolating in a way

[rose-coloredghoul]

Vent about men ig

[tomatoart]

to stay the same sad, sorry mother

[theshadowrealmitself]

I think it’s cute in stories when someone learns a new thing for their crush, but also for some reason my mind always turns into “but what if they already knew that skill beforehand and everyone just thinks they learned it for their crush??”

So current thoughts on that is a Human knowing how to make Vulcan spiced tea, and everyone thinking they learned for their crush but it was actually something they already knew how to do, and here are the different possible backstories for it:

1) Used to be really into cooking competitions, competitive tea making was one of them and they learned how to make it then, it’s obvious when watching them because they get really intense when making it and time themselves

2) After a hugely traumatic experience, as a 14 year old they went to Gol, not necessarily to become a master, but just to get their emotions under control and be able to move past it, just a v traumatized Human child running around Gol, under the watchful eyes of the masters of Gol, (possibly becoming traumatized in a different way), and they just never thought to bring it up as an adult

3) They weren’t even thinking about what kind of tea to make, they just opened up some recipes on their padd for tea, made the first thing they saw, and it happened to be Vulcan spice tea that they made correctly

4) Had a Vulcan professor once and made them some of that tea as a last ditch effort to get a nice curve on their final (didn’t work)

5) They really enjoy making tea as a hobby, but can’t stand the taste which is why no one ever sees them drinking tea, but they love making it, they dedicate each week to learning how to make a new kind

[poorly-drawn-mdzs]

Drew WWX and LWJ after I finished my rewatch of The Untamed a few months ago. I have gotten marginally better. May this set a benchmark for what to expect from this blog.

June 2023 redraw, June 2024 redraw

[evilkitten3]

atla crack au where zuko and azula burn the palace down as kids (like 12 and 10, respectively, pre-banishment but post-grandpacide), run away to avoid consequences, and somehow end up "discreetly" living in the abandoned fire nation ship in the south pole ("discreetly" is a word which here means "all the adults know they're there bc they have massive arguments every other day, and when hakoda's nearby he "drops" things that might be useful")

ozai ends up blaming the palace fire on iroh and banishes him. he must capture the children to regain his honor (translator's note: this is adult speak for "get their asses back here so i can ground them for the rest of their lives")

[sn0wbat]

and now, something silly. still artfight though.

BitzyMouse (@bitzymouse) basically adopted this guy at some point, so naturally i had to pay homage and draw bitzy's version of him :3

meanwhile this version of dundotten has clearly been spending a little too much time in the filter-less offline dimension. oops?

[proudfreakmetarusonikku]

not to make angst out of a fucking gag but also thinking about the silly au rei in the final episode makes me think about how different rei would be if she didn’t have literally the worst dad ever. like, no, she probably wouldn’t have been the upbeat adhd whirlwind in the high school au lmao. but it does just make me think. because while all the pilots lives are incredibly marked by trauma, rei's the only one to have never had access to any sort of normal life. her entire personality and worldview is shaped from being isolated, groomed, and taught to see herself as a tool and not a person. and then i just get so sad that she never had any chance of a normal life where she could discover herself and what she is. she went from being abused and manipulated by gendō (which is made even worse with the implications certain scenes leave about their relationship) to becoming god. she never had any chance of living a normal life. and just like. fuck.

[alphaketoglutaricacid]

the way toshiro is consistantly singled out as "that foreigner" even among ppl of his own party even tho 4/6 of his party are not from kahka brud or the island is so 😬😬😬

[angelsandmen]

I love charthur but also thinks a lot ab it in a "a guy who's only real (arguably) relationships of any sorts involved him changing or hiding parts of himself and a guy who's probably never been in a long term relationship due to being on his own for twenty-ish(?) years walk into a bar together and try to hold hands" kind of way

[trashcanwithsprinkles]

I’ve been thinking of like what would happen if the CN and JG ppl somehow met each other, like

Childe would probably die of embarrassment from realising that Ajax and Morax were like lovers in CN while Hu Tao would laugh the shit at him while Zhongli just stood there confused

Then Hu Tao would coo at how cute little Xiao looked (and he DOES look cute who could blame her)

Zhongli would try to play it cool like “Haha wow who could’ve guess this alternate version of me was a god haha” while Xiao gives him the most stinkiest side eye ever.

genuinely zhongli would be more intrigued by all the timeline shenanigans and not really confused at the ship situation. he'd probably just go: actually? yeah i can see that, sure

the real kicker would be hua guizhong and ping yan and their possible angst at the fact their counterparts aren't dating nor even remotely as close (remember cyanide was before the crackship was revealed so neither guizhong nor madame ping are characterized there as having anything going on between them)

honestly? fanan and the fox siblings would be such a wild difference that when folks like xiao stare at zhongli like "what do you mean you're a god there?" zhongli would be able to just shrug it off and say "if fanan is from a completely different country why wouldn't i, an already acomplished thaumaturge, be an Immortal? it IS an alterlate reality after all" and xiao would be inwardly still kinda sus but have no basis on which to really argue LMAO

[comic-sans-chan]

I adore how unhinged Garak is about the people he likes, because there's this theme of them being similarly unhinged. Like that colleague from the Order in Second Skin that he had to shoot and was like, "Aw :( ...Well Anyway" about. Or like Tain and Mila, both crazy bitches, imo. Or his last remaining contacts on Cardassia who he called up in In The Pale Moonlight who were all down to raid the Dominion’s underwear drawer at the drop of a hat. Like that's what Garak is used to. He likes excitement, he likes a bit of malice, he likes some cunning. And that's part of what makes Garashir so goddamn funny is Julian is actually a bit of a cunning, malicious little shit sometimes. If you watch the series knowing Julian's an augment, these moments come up all the time where it's clear he's fucking with people for his own amusement. Taking people for a bit of a ride just to see what happens. Then ofc there are all the gross incel fuckboy moments, but. 

I just love the idea of Julian going on some insane borderline villainous monologue about something or other and Garak sitting there with hearts swirling around his head. Don't get me wrong, Garak loves Julian for his goodness first and foremost, but Julian's not perfect and I think that makes the ship so much more interesting because I can't really see Garak finding most of Julian's worst flaws anything but thrilling. We go on about Garak loving Julian's infodumping and argumentativeness, but after the augment thing comes out, I think he equally enjoys watching Julian play dumb with people and Knowing he's playing dumb. It compliments his own Just a Simple Tailor routine so perfectly. They're just normal men. Just innocent men.

[unganseylike]

ok ive talked about my frustration w adam being fine after his cliffhanger at end of mi, but lest we forget that we were also baited w adam turmoil at end of cdth (not replying to any of ronans texts). i understand that tdt isnt supposed to be adam centric but pulling this TWICE is just mean :(

[oddly-casual]

This entire scene makes me hurt but I wanna talk about this part in particular because it drives me insane.

Like- Splinter knows they aren’t just running errands. He can see his sons sneaking out thinking their slick and he found all their human stuff bc he’s nosey and if his sons won’t talk to him he’ll just have to investigate himself right?

So Splinter knows his sons are hiding something from him because duh- and he knows they want to be apart of the human world but he’s scared they’ll get hurt so he tries to bring the human world to them.

And you can just see the cringe and discomfort in the boys eyes because their father keeps trying to make them stay but it’ll never be in the way they want it, but they clearly feel bad.

And the real kicker is when Splinter tries that thing he did in the beginning of the movie, where he presses his sons about the truth but he specifically looks at Leo, like the screen cuts to Leo and even Raph looks at Leo because Splinter knows his eldest son would never lie to him.

But then he does

Leo lies right to his fathers face no hesitation and Splinter gets that look that just screams ‘i lost them’ because even if his son’s disobey the rules and don’t talk to him anymore, Leo was like Splinter’s insider into what his kids are doing and how to keep them safe. Splinter lost their trust.

But now even Leo is shutting Splinter out, so Splinter has been completely walled off by his sons and to Splinter he has no idea why because he’s just doing this to protect his kids.

Looking at it from Leo’s perspective, he has a strong sense of Justice. In the beginning when their father grills them about where they’ve been, Leo caves immediately even though he knows it’ll make everyone mad at him.

He braces himself for it too. There’s no reward in telling the truth but Leo does it anyway.

But Leo is a teenager, and teenagers tend to act in their own self interest. So when Leo keeps snitching and it only leads to punishment on all sides

Isolation from his brothers, distance from his father, of course Leo is going to cut his losses and stick to the thing that brings him joy. Possible acceptance and April. It’s also the most we see him bond with his brothers since Leo isn’t trying to follow their fathers rules.

[spotaus]

Thinking about Orchid and her connection to my take on Gender (because this was meant to be about her and the Crew but it just devolved into a character analysis kinda??? More trauma-dumping maybe???) This is very much an oc/personal rant so feel free to ignore it 🫡

So, Orchid started off as a character I didn't really think much of (hear me out this is going to be relevant) because I wanted to add a 'girl' character but didn't know what to *do* with her, y'know? She was always going to be the strongest one there, she had the odds stacked in her favor with her parents. She was always going to be the gloomy side-character to match Reset's energy. But I think she's gone through every stage of Generic Woman I could possibly find.

At first she was angry and abrasive (think Fell!Sans) where every other word was a curse and she was likely to throw the first punch then laugh as she kicks her enemy while they're down. This was when Reset was a cartoonishly self-centered villain whose goal was simply to prove others wrong. Then Orchid became a sort of sisterly figure. This was short-lived, but she was the one comforting people who Reset would torment, but would ultimately follow his orders, because at this point he was actually a danger and sadistic. And then there was the phase where the story mellowed out and she became the token Goth Girl who, yes she was strong, but was heavy on the 'whatever' energy. Then there was her Era of deep self-loathing and anxiety about her worth that held her back and made her a much more timid and meek character who would only lash out on occasion.

Now, Orchid is the best of those iterations I've written yet. She's calm, level-headed, and a natural leader. Her father raised those traits into her. But she's very reactive, and can be silly, and when she's comfortable it's likely that air of importance transforms into something more comfortable and familiar. She laughs loudly and grins wide, she likes loud video-games but loves to read in the quiet. She's extremely disciplined, and normally no one can get through her tough exterior besides her best friend, Reset. She does what she does for her own enjoyment, sure, but she's thought of every angle and makes her choice to help Reset and control the others with her whole chest. She still worries she won't live up to her invisible expectations, and that and her loyalty are her two driving forces.

I know that Orchid is important to me because she's the longest-running female oc I've had. I have a rough relationship with womanhood/girlhood and I know looking back that Orchid recieved every ounce of my distaste for being a woman that I could shovel into her. That never made her less of a character, she was actually always one of my favorites, and rarely was she a 'punching bag oc'. I just... projected onto her a lot. And she's a good sign of how I've learned who I am. I've decided that my own femininity is something I could live without. I'd rather not associate myself with it, and I'd like to leave it in my past, focusing on a future where I'm not tied down with any gender roles or expectations. That won't happen, but I've come to terms with it myself. Orchid though? I figured out through her that I don't have to hate women characters. My own distaste for my circumstances doesn't mean I have to push it onto my characters (on God I've never expressed anything rude to actual people, that'd be rude as hell and uncalled for, but I have a bad habit of disliking fictional women in media). So, Orchid is a well-roubded character finally. She has motivations abd goals and a *lot* more depth than I ever expected her to. She's happy with being a woman, she's content. She's not treated differently for it in unfair ways by those she cares about, so she doesn't mind it. She likes to wear pretty outfits and lets Reset add bows to her ribbons. She doesn't let being a woman hold her back in the slightest.

So, yeah. Orchid is one of my babies. If I ever leave this Fandom behind for good, she's one that's coming with (Ichor, Orchid, and Pretender all have human designs I can use elsewhere lol-) but in the meantime I'll just rotate her around in my brain for a while longer.

If I'm right, she's been with me for nearly 5-6 years and I went through a *lot* with her as an outlet. So, she's kinda just like an old stuffed animal. A lil ripped, matted fur, maybe a stain or two, but there's a story there and that makes it important beyond belief.

[legokingfisher]

What if Ras getting genuinely attached to Arin but he becomes miss sunk cost fallacy so he starts finding increasingly shitty ways to keep Arin with him (withholding parent info, convincing Arin he can’t survive out on his own, etc) because not only does he genuinely believe in this kid but he knows too much and also Ras does not want to be alone so he has to resort to keeping the little guy around as a buddy and student and feeling really pathetic about the whole thing

[afuntimepartyy]

Such a polite face… so silly… treat the goob that matches his sister trick the scrap… he does NOT look like this anymore really bad spirit breaking stuff happens to this guy ( and then he becomes awful because of it )

Like… wtf even is this thing