#i love how we all thought it was a time loop and we were SORTA RIGHT but it was more. a story loop of parallel universes lmao

[darth-does-stuff]

what i really love about neverafter is that every character feels that they all have significant importance. you have the obvious ones, mother timothy goose with his book that seems to be the centerpiece of everything in the neverafter, princess rosamund with the fairies coming after her, but the others are just as important as well. ylfa with her realizations of ‘once upon a time’, pinnochio with his stepmother who is fucking just. yeah. there’s pib and his trickster ways, his purpose to disrupt the forces who intend to control the story, and gerard with the golden ball and his connection to elody. with a fairytale story it’s SO easy to make one person the main character of it all, but brennan made every character feel no more important than the others and it’s fucking fantastic

[am-i-the-asshole-official]

AITA for kind of being a homewrecker?

some background: i (22f) met this guy (23m, let’s call him rick) freshman year of college, four years ago. we became really close really fast, and we basically had all the same friends (we went to a very small school, it’s hard not to be friends with most people). unfortunately i took a year off of school after freshman year, so i kind of lost contact with all my college friends. when i came back, my friends and i reconnected immediately, but especially rick. we uh… sorta made plans to hook up at that point (we were horny and dumb and mutually attracted enough), but we got to my room and we kissed (which was my first kiss) but it was bad and i changed my mind before anything happened. the thing is, we were still friends after that, and he even told me that he was in love with me and thought that i might fall in love with him. he’s also said multiple times since then that he was being idiotic and that would have been terrible for us, and i agree, so we’re both glad that nothing happened. but since we were now in different grades, we weren’t as close friends, so that year passed without further incident.

fast forward a year (my junior year, his senior) and suddenly we’re getting closer again— we’re in a mutual club and therefore hang out a lot more. i realize at some point in november that oh shit, i have a crush on him. (sidenote— i don’t have crushes. i’d never been in love. ive realized since this that i think i might be on the aromantic/demiromantic spectrum, and i’ve always just said i’m queer because i… have had a very queer experience wrt my romantic/sexual feelings. sooooo.. this was weird). i mention this to another friend, and she informs me that rick had started dating someone.

oof.

so i don’t act on my feelings and hope that they go away. (spoiler: they don’t.) in january we hung out with a group of friends almost nightly. and rick and i flirt. oh god, do we flirt. but i didn’t even notice— that’s just the way that i interact with people, and he mirrors how people around him behave, so it was just a feedback loop of flirting while one of us was in a relationship! and the worst part is that is girlfriend (i’ll call her anne) was peripherally in the friend group; she hung out with the group sometimes, but not super often.

so obviously, a couple of our more perceptive friends tell us to shut the hell up and stop it. at this point i think, you know what? i’ll just avoid him. this lasted about two days, and then one of our mutual friends (i’ll call him joe) tells me i need to talk to rick. he can’t tell me why but i just need to talk to him.

so i text rick and i set up a time to talk to him, which i’m sure was scary for him, but i say him down and told him that we need to stop, because he’s in a relationship and it’s entirely inappropriate and i’m in love with him and he’s my best friend and i don’t want to lose him. and then he laughs. he told me then that he thought i was gonna yell at him to dump anne, because he had told joe that he wasn’t in love with her and never had been. and he thought joe had told me that so i could knock some sense into him.

so uh… he told me that he was going to break up with anne that night. (which, btw, was 2 days after valentine’s day. ouch.) he also said that that didn’t mean anything for us, but… the next day we hung out one on one all day, and then the next day, and then the whole weekend, aaaaand it was kind of a relationship. we started dating. it moved very fast, because we were already friends and we had already talked about sex in the past.

the thing that really pisses me off, though, is that another mutual friend threatened to tell anne about rick and i, so rick had to tell her at a really inopportune time instead of later. she was fine about the breakup before that, but after that she was clearly pissed, and ignored us both for the rest of the year. if it hadn’t happened that way i really think that we could’ve stayed friends, or at least stayed civil, but the way that it happened is still really upsetting to me. rick and i have been dating for almost six months now, and we’re really perfect for each other and i honestly expect to spend my life with him, but the way that it started was just such a mess and it still haunts me sometimes.

(to be clear: rick never cheated on anne. he’s been cheated on before, and has a bit of trauma in regards to that. cheating is just not a possibility for him.)

so… i know that i’m probably an asshole here, but… idk. should it bother me this much? or was it more justified than i think it was?

What are these acronyms?

[grifters-rockininthe-bone]

Revisiting this blog for the soul purpose of offering my first thoughts on TMAGP because I haven't been on Tumblr for weeks to avoid spoilers and I'm ready to fucking go

(TMA/TMAGP Spoilers)

-Gives us characters with traits from TMA lineup. Obviously not copy for copy but close enough to draw parallels. Gwen (snarky and obsessed with doing the job right, sorta like Jon?? That one's kinda a stretch tbh), Lena (suspicious boss with clear experience and just so Elias coded, it'd be so funny if Gwen pipe murdered her I know it won't happen but wouldn't it be so funny??), Sam (idk tbh, also a stretch but maybe Martin? Because empathetic? Drinks = affection? Will see), and the one I draw most similarities between: Alice (snarky, carefree, sarcastic: Tim to a T PLUS a younger more successful sibling she obviously loves and is very proud of, honestly warms and hurts my heart at the same time). Maybe it's to foreshadow similar fates for us who've listened to TMA (most of us) OR that's just what they WANT us to think and they're trying to throw us for a loop!! Orrrr I'm looking too far into things and they're just silly character tropes which'd also be cool :) we'll seee!!

-I've noticed they're wayy more up front with the more visceral gory statements. Still has the good old Jonny Sims writing style I oh so desperately missed, but at the beginning of tma, they were way more muted and psychological in the beginning, didn't get to one like the ones in TMAGP until well into the first season but they're really coming out swinging with this.

-Look I know everyone is talking about Chester and Norris and how they're Jon and Martin. Idk if Jon and Alex just wanted to keep voicing characters because they like playing that part in their work or if there's genuinely some sorta lore reason but I HAVE SO MANY THOUGHTS ABOUT IT.

-My theory is that either 1) the Mag Institute that burned down in RedCanary was a different one than the Mag Institute London WE know and is just a red herring or 2) the actions at the end of EP 200 actually did reverse the eyepocolypse so that no one remembers it and the world went back to normal somehow and the timeline got fucked up so in the eyes of the public, the institute from TMA burned down as a sorta cosmic cover-up. Either way, same universe! Just different timeline/fucked up memories.

-in TMA, the statements happened behind closed doors with Jon, so his paranoia wasn't too "understood" by anyone in the archives. However, in TMAGP, everyone around can hear the "statements" read out so most of the lineup is sorta on the same page except Collin and Lena (honestly just Sam, Alice, and Gwen). This. I don't know if this observation has any meaning but I think it's neat and gives us a cool new dynamic.

-All the fears seem to be here? Idk why they'd try to deviate from them, that wouldn't make any sense considering ALL OF SEASON 5 and the cosmic explanation for all the fears. All I'm saying with this is that they're easy to sort and attribute the individual feel to so they're obviously keeping that. Again. Not a groundbreaking observation but as of when I'm writing this all out, I have gone 27 hours without sleep and counting so eh they can't all be winners for best essay analysis bullshddf lol whatever

Like I said, this is just my opinion and it's not very well thought out, just wanted to get this out there to celebrate the release.

[smhtaehyung]

6 hours ➣ HOUR 5

hour 1, hour 2, hour 3, hour 4

Summary: the party finally quiets down. You run into Jungkook to have a talk. Finally realizing your sudden attraction towards Taehyung was real, you decide to do something about it.

Masterlist - under construction

Pairings: fuckboy!tae x reader, crush!jk x reader,  jm x crush!reader , hoseok x random

Rating: 18+ MINORS DNI

Wordcount: 3k

Genre: smut, college au, nonidol!au, love cube sorta thing

warnings: alcohol use, drug use, slight existential angst, innapropriate sexual comments, graphic depictions of smut, fingering, oral (f. m. recieving), kinky dares, slut shaming, protected sex, overstimulation, thigh kink, dirty talk, spit kink, multiple orgasms, degrading,  face fucking >> reader is in love with jk, jimin is in love with a reader, taehyung is just there being hot and flirty.

Taglist: (at the bottom) If you want to be in the taglist, reply to this post or dm me to stay updated :)

Chapter 6 release:

17th of October > 11 pm (CET)

Hour 5

"Climax hour"

Time: [ 4:17 AM ]

Every party must reach its end. Sometimes, parties end abruptly, making you realize you've been talking with a stranger for the past two hours not noticing your friends leave. Some parties start, continue and end without anything happening really. Those parties are forgettable. Taehyung's party was making you overthinking it even though you were still there. Maybe it was your brain, defending itself from possible drama, putting you in a state of - all this shit happened - let's get over it - how do we do that?

Constant loops.

You couldn't really remember the last time you were at a party after 4 AM, so you could say total exhaustion was present in your mind and body. It was difficult to manage your thoughts, your intoxication fading away but leaving you with a pit in your stomach. Sitting at the top of the stair case, everything started to settle in. The sudden moment of realization hit you. Still, you couldn't believe so many things could happen in one night. Finding out your best friend had a crush on you in the midst of you fooling around with your crush who was not as shy as he turned out to be. Then, there was the dreaded realization of you making the wrong judgement over their friend who just wanted to make you laugh. And went to the extreme to do so. So there you were, feeling like a whore without a best friend, chasing a dude who gave you some sense of comfort in one of the most turbulent nights of your life.

Then you saw Tae. You saw him walking around the kitchen, some of the makeup on his face smudging off. He looked like a mess, but a cute one at that.

You just observed him, hoping he'd want to find you again. But in that moment, you thought Taehyung gave up. Maybe it was the night sky that wasn't as dark anymore. Maybe it was you, since you had a feeling you mentally drained Taehyung, edging him the entire night. Or just maybe he gave up on chasing, finding some quiet in the kitchen since the music seemed to be at the lower volume, finally.

This position gave you a great view of the party. Or the afterparty that seemed to slowly take its tired toll on you.

People were starting to leave, saying their goodbyes with Taehyung, complementing him for being such a great host, when he really did nothing. Once again Taehyung put on a fake smile, nodding to the people who seemed to hype him up.

Deep in thought and observation of Taehyung's character, you were thrown out of it once someone familiar sat next to you.

"Hey." Jungkook's voice was slightly raspy by this point.

"Just wanted to say bye before I leave." He nervously played with his lip ring.

"That's considerate." You laughed through the awkwardness.

Jungkook noticed the silence as you two observed the aftermath of a party downstairs. He giggled once he saw you were looking at Taehyung and him only.

"What?" You smiled back at him, not knowing why he was giggling.

"He likes you. Well, they both do." Jungkook's tone was quite direct, causing you to grow slightly nervous.

"Did you talk to Jimin?" You used the same direct way of speaking he usually did, catching him off guard. He smirked at your attempt.

"I did, just now. He's taking a nap in the guest room before walking home. Needs that energy I guess." He scratched the back of his neck.

"Is he really okay after your talk?"

"Well..." Jungkook sighed and continued.

"We talked. He was mad. I apologized. Hugged it out. Time will show. I have nothing to say more, I'm just happy I didn't ruin our friendship."

"He wants to walk you home later. Just ask him. He doesn't want to lose you. He's just really bad at saying this to you right now." Jungkook's soft tone really made you feel as if things are going to be okay. You liked his calm presence.

"I will." You nodded.

"Well...I'll see you around." Jungkook got up and smiled, taking a step down.

"Jungkook."

"Yeah?" He turned around.

"Thanks." You smiled, he smiled back as you both waved to each other. You were glad things didn't turn out awkward after your fooling around. Guess you were just in right place at the right time and the rest remained history. Still, you felt as if you could finally move on. As shallow as it all unveiled in the most horrid ways, you had one more itch in your mind. Seeing Taehyung's real smile and most importantly - checking if that weird feeling in your stomach around you grew stronger, because yours truly did.

Downstairs, trapped in his own moment of realization for about half an hour already, Jimin's words echoed through Taehyung's worn out mind after their talk in the bathroom.

Taehyung hugged Jungkook, patting him on the shoulder. Jungkook talked shortly about some things to Taehyung but you could not eavesdrop at all. No strength for even trying. Jungkook gave you one last glance at the door, smiling. With that peculiar smile, he left. You took a deep breath, finally being able to focus on your thoughts. The guy drinking water at the kitchen counter downstairs with clown makeup was the only person you wanted be around at that moment.

There was something awfully desperate about the time 4 AM at every party. Definitely too late to be awake with definitely no more room left for any excesses.

After such a turbulent night, you felt worn out already from having so many different conversations.

The music that was hours prior inviting you was at this hour irritating your whole body, even though the volume was mellow. The alcohol doing it's job of messing up your well being. Only one desire was left for you - total and complete silence.

You were so eager to find silence that you stopped looking for Jimin, following Jungkook's advice of meeting him later.

It seemed quite absurd the entire night, his feelings for you making you suddenly feel pain the same way he felt pain.

You noticed Taehyung by the staircase, standing alone, his lips formed into a straight line.

"Tae." You softly pulled on his sleeve.

"Yeah?" He softly spoke, completely still once realizing how close you were standing, basically leaning against him.

"I want to go somewhere more quiet. Can you help me? I can also help you get off that crime of makeup off your face." You held his hand, making him chuckle.

Taehyung hated that the alcohol slightly wore off already. He hated how now if he did anything with you he would be considered a bad friend to Jimin, and he was well aware of it. The alcohol wearing off was making hungry and he wanted to blame alcohol for wanting you so bad but knew that sounded like bullshit even to him. Now that the intoxication wasn't present, he wanted you even more.

"Follow me." He let go of your hand, walking upstairs.

Walking behind him, after a long night, you truly felt safe in his presence.

Second time tonight being in his room felt quite different. Progression from closet onto the bed.

"You're not that bad, you know?"

"I know I'm not, you just didn't want to listen."

You took a some toilet paper and soaked it with body-wash and water, reminding you of a thought of you hating the fact guys never own anything to take your makeup off at their place.

You started to rub off the circles on his cheeks. He was so handsome even when he was tired, his face so soft. He closed his eyes. You were completely enticed by him, your attraction finally reaching his level. You slid onto him, sitting on top. He was startled for only a second before he spoke up.

"Hey."

"Hey."

"Where did you even find this lipstick?" You giggled casually, trying to avoid the situation of you sitting on him.

"I asked so many girls...none of them was simple enough to just let me borrow it. Like I had no idea drunk girls were so protective about their lipsticks. But this one girl gave it to me...but I had to explain that I was trying to impress a really cute girl."

"Well, you impressed her. I'd totally just give it to you, no questions asked."

"Really?" Taehyung gulped.

"Yeah, like If I was shitfaced and a guy wanted to borrow a lipstick, I would love to see if the guy gave my lipstick some grace at the party."

"Knew you were still fun." Taehyung smiled as you looked down, trying to force your smile into a straight line.

There it was. His real smile. It made you finally act upon your thoughts.

You kissed Taehyung softly, catching him off completely off guard. Soon, you felt his muscles relax, deepening the kiss on his own. Your lips pressed against his finally gave him some sort of relief. Some sort of comfort he hasn't really gotten from you. You licked the bottom of his lip, his mouth opening. His tongue found yours, fighting for dominance.

Your head hit the soft pillow as Taehyung hovered on top of you, leaving kisses down your neck and exposed collarbones. He was sliding down your dress, eager to see your exposed body. “You really should wear lipstick more often.” You pointed at the lipstick traces on your chest and neck, making him giggle. Forgetting to clean it off really gave the situation some charm.

He was squeezing your bare breasts with his big palms, causing your nipples to harden and feel pressure. You moaned, his cock twitching inside his pants.

You took it off of him, your hands immediately feeling grateful to slide up his neck and chest more easily. You moaned once you felt him cup your heat, so you helped him take off your clothes the fastest you could. Taehyung attacked your bare breasts with kisses as soon as he removed your blouse and a bra. Your nipples hardened under the touch of his lips and his saliva that coated them whole. He began sucking on your nipples, causing you to brush your heat against his gradually hardening crotch. Tae took off his pants the messiest way possible, only to keep kissing you eagerly.

He traced his finger up your barely clothed slit once your pants flew off the bed when you took them off. Tae’s finger that lazily circled your clothed nub made you spread your legs wider, feeling very needy of him. He began sucking on the soft skin of your breast as you let out breathy moans filled with pleasure. “Ahhh, Tae.” You whined, desperate to feel him more.

Suddenly, you felt more wetness seep through your panties and you drooled at the sight. Taehyung took his hard length in his hand and began rubbing it against your clothed folds in such desperation you’ve never seen before. He shut his eyes and began groaning, stroking himself only slightly to get some relief.

“Take them off., Tae.” You whined again, rolling your hips against his solid cock.

“Fuck.” He groaned and hooked his finger onto the hem of your panties, slipping them off with ease. You both breathed into each other’s mouth once he began rubbing his bare throbbing member against your bare pussy.

Taehyung shut his eyes and begged for you to slide onto him. You clung onto his neck and hair with your arms and wrapped your legs around his waist, knowing that position would make him bury himself even further. He took a second to succeed in detaching his lips from yours, putting on a condom. Taehyung then finally buried his cock in you, making you moan at the stretch.

His long and hard length gave off a sensation you never experienced before as the natural lubricant of your core made everything so much easier. You couldn't remember the time you were this wet. His hard tip poked the back of you, making you choke a moan out. Taehyung adored the new sensation even more, feeling your tight folds clench around him hard. No one was stealing you away from him now. Both of you were completely united with each other and it felt better than imagined.

He started rocking his hips inside of you, his tip becoming more sensitive every time he’d hit the back of your walls. You moaned in pleasure, pulling him in for a kiss with every few thrusts. “Oh God, you're so tight.” He groaned, speeding up the pace by rocking his hips harder and faster into you, completely filling you up.

His hand moved to your side, slowly rocking himself inside of you, quietly groaning. Turning your head to the side, mouth found one of his digits, sucking on it.

The sloppy wet sounds filled the room that matched with your whines and Taehyung’s groans.

He started kissing your neck again, biting down on the soft flesh. The harder you kept pulling his hair, the faster he began fucking into you, causing your breasts to bounce up and down. He straightened his back, the position of it helping him to speed up his pace. He kept biting his lip and shutting his eyes over the sight of how much you loved his big member filling you up. Taehyung used his hand to rub circles onto your clit. He completely speed up the pace of penetrating your womanhood, making you uncontrollably moan. “Your whining is so hot, baby girl.” He groaned, fucking into your tight entrance even harder. The moment and the feeling of it all arousing him so much, Taehyung had to stop and grip himself for a second to get composed.

He stopped thrusting into you very abruptly, leaving you furrow your eyebrows in confusion. Then he placed a small peck onto your lips before going in for a long gentle kiss that left you lingering for more. "Stopped not to come?” You giggled in a adoring manner. “Yup.” He directly answered, making you giggle into his chest. You playfully slapped his shoulder and pulled him in for another kiss, feeling him slowly rock his hips back and forth inside of you. He stopped again for another few seconds, keeping his dick buried deep inside of you. You began clenching around him on purpose, causing him to moan instantly. “D-don’t do that. I don’t want to c-come yet.” He shut his eyes, gripping your hip to keep you in place as a warning sign.

You kept kissing him for distraction, and felt proud once you realised it worked. Taehyung teased himself long enough to hold back his orgasm, so he was back at it, rocking his hips inside of you. You began moaning once you started feeling his big member twitch inside of you, loving the way it filled you up with every thrust. “Ahh, fuck that.” He denied his own wish, the need to fuck you restlessly occupying his mind. Taehyung hooked your leg around his waist again, speeding up his pace by fucking into you with no hesitation. You kept whining and moaning, your voice turning him on to the point he couldn’t even explain anymore. He wished he could have always heard your sweet moans, and he wished he could have always re-lived the sight that was right in front of him.

“Tae, I’m so c-close.“ You kept moaning as his hand rubbed fast on your sensitive clitoris, causing your folds to clench tighter. Taehyung nodded that he was close too, his words barely audible from all that groaning. You arched your back and shut your eyes all your erogenous zones awakening as the spasming of your muscles began hitting every pleasurable nerve inside your body. You clenched so hard around Tae, he knew that was his cue to climax too.

"Oh, fuck." He moaned as he kept slamming his hips into you, his length reaching deep inside of you.

All the sexual tension throughout the night was finally reaching just what it needed. Your tangled bodies, sharing that comfort your found in each other, even though it appeared this night. This long, wild night was making you believe you learned stuff about Taehyung's character more than you've known him.

Taehyung finally reached his orgasm, keeping eyecontact with you as he jerked himself in you for those last few thrusts. You clung hard onto him, turning your head to the left.

Then it finally hit you. The dawn was slowly creeping up on you. Taehyung's room was illuminated by this flourescent blue light you only saw in movies with way too many artistic color theory shots. Taehyung's warm body laying on top of you, his heart racing incredibly fast.

There was only one more thing to do before leaving the party.

Watching that damned sunset, enjoy the silence and remember all the events occuring the previous night. And then replay them.

"Let's go on the balcony." You whispered to Taehyung, placing a kiss onto his cheek.

He of course, followed you like a puppy.

FINAL CHAPTER

taglist: @prettxyliies , @fairy-jaykay

[blueteller]

I really love your theories so I have a question for you, what do you the sealed tests were ?

Reading it, I felt like they had way to much informations and stuff happening in it to not be a real world somewhere and then Raon kinda said he sorta remember Dodam so it can't really be another earth because I feel like Raon would not be feeling Dodam either so maybe another timeline ?

Do you think they'll come back at some point ?

That's an excellent question! I've given it a lot of thought, myself.

Personally, I think the twist is that instead of all tests being illusions, each one worked on completely different mechanics: it was to fool the people undertaking the tests to make them stuck for as long as possible, if not indefinitely, and absorb their despair at being trapped.

The first test was an extra one: unofficially called "test of despair", courtesy of Clopeh.

This test was an "illusion of conditionally alternative reality". The world itself was fake, however, the God of Despair had limited influence over it, due to it being heavily based on the TCF reality. I imagine the God of Despair used up a lot of his power for that one.

That reality was altered in two key ways: one, Cale Henituse did not exist. As in, he wasn’t a member of the Henituse family and was never born there. Two, the White Star was replaced by an avatar of the God of Despair, who made himself look like Cale Henituse. It was to trick Cale's group into fighting an "evil Cale", then display the footage in the real world and present it as "Cale's group betraying him". This scheme ultimately failed, because of the God of Death's cintamani. I am not sure what the passing requirement actually was in that test – because the Sealed God himself destroyed that test before it was finished. He probably figured he had a better chance of tricking Cale into using Embrace on him and using it to control him, somehow. Another scheme failed because of the God of Death – who had Cale use his Divine Item to seal him.

The rest of the tests followed the "standard format" of the Sealed God's temple: sadness, sloth, failure, indignity, and wrath.

The test of sadness was based on a person's memory. That was all there was to it. No alternations, no changes. Pretty simple. To pass it, you needed to "accept your sadness" – the same way Cale had to "accept the despair yet to come" in his test back on Earth 2.

The next test was a lot trickier. It was still based on memory, but it had specific properties: indulgence and numbness. It made the person gradually forget that they're in a test at all. It might seem simple on the surface, but in my opinion, it was the most dangerous test of all. Because once you forget you're in danger at all, how can you defend yourself? Luckily, it seems all of Cale's friends managed to pass that one somehow, even thought the passing requirement was never quite made clear to me. I suppose you just needed to "let go of indulgence" and move forward to face the difficulties of the real life.

The test of failure is where things get interesting. It was intended as an "impossible task" kind of test. As Choi Han's case with Harris Village had shown, it was a test where you experienced a failure of your past in a continuous loop. Try as hard as you can to correct your failure, it was an illusion where reality was actively against you. Choi Han should have no problem returning to Harris Village on time, knowing there was an attack coming. And yet the test made him fail over and over. Choi Han was implied to eventually out-stubborn the test, which is truly impressive, as Clopeh believed such a thing was not possible, and the solution was to "accept failure" in order to proceed.

The test of indignity is the strangest of them all; because all signs show that it was the only one where an Actual Alternate Reality was involved.

From what we know about Single-Lifers, such as Choi Han, they’re the only ones who are able to travel between dimensions in their own bodies without issues – of course in Part Two (slight spoiler alert!) we are introduced to Cale's mirror, another Divine Item from the God of Death. However, even with the mirror or the Hunters, they're all required to pay a price for such travel. Even during their travel to the murim world, Cale and his group needed to change appearance in order to "fit in".

That's because regular people are not meant to dimension-travel. Such things seem to be usually only for Gods, Wanderers or other divine beings. For Variables, such as transmigrators, it's necessary to change bodies to "native" ones when they change dimensions.

It is no coincidence that while Choi Han just got dropped into the TCF universe out of nowhere, Cale's soul was placed in the body of a local. That's because he couldn't be simply transported in his own Korean body. Notice how in each test, except the indignity one, Cale and the others were in their own bodies. Only in this one they were all temporarily transmigrated into someone else – although with how 20-year-old Kim Rok Soo was still inside Cale during the Sealed God's test, it's clear that the God of Despair doesn't switch souls, but temporarily places a second soul in another person's body.

That's why I'm 100% sure the indignity test was the only one with a real other universe involved. There were also differences Cale noticed, such as the absence of the Super Rock in the villa. It wasn't an illusion world based on his memories. It was a different world entirely. But it was still similar enough for the Sealed God to choose it his test target, as the same thing happened with Earth 2.

And finally, we got the last test: wrath.

While the extra test was an illusion of an alternate reality, sadness was a memory, sloth was a mind-numbing trap, the failure was a time loop, and indignity was another world… wrath is the only one which is 100% fiction.

It is a world crafted by a sneaky temple AI for one purpose only: to piss you off.

The thing is, if Cale hadn't thought that nonsense of how "kids complaining about food" et cetera are things that "make him angry", his test would probably be a little different. Because, let's be clear here: if the White Star truly had won over Cale, he would never let him live peacefully with the kids. Especially not comfortably enough for them to complain about such mundane thing as food.

The temple took Cale's absurd suggestions and meshed them all with the vision of what truly pissed Cale off: the White Star winning and doing whatever the hell he wanted. If the White Star had won, he wouldn't leave a single one of Cale's allies alive. …Especially not Raon, whom that bastard threatened to cut his heart out of and feed it to Cale.

The point is: logically, the wrath test made no sense. There wasn't any internal consistency to it – even illusion!Eruhaben himself pointed out it did not make any sense. Clopeh's version of the wrath test was seeing Cale and his group in jail and awaiting a trial, as if that would ever happen! If Cale got caught, they would have tortured and killed him, not involving any legal procedures. What would even be the point?

From my observation, the only way to pass this test is to cool off – so unless you're able to defeat whatever it is that "makes you angry", you'd be stuck. Which, honestly, doesn't seem like a very effective trap to me… but I suppose making someone pissed off enough makes them reckless (as seen by Cale bleeding and all over the place and beating up the White Star with a rock like there's no tomorrow…), which is quite dangerous in itself. And if a person manages to pass all the previous tests without issues, it would make sense that anger could be their final weakness.

To answer your final question - do I think Dodam!verse will come back at some point?

Yes. Absolutely.

So yeah - that's my take on the Sealed God's temple tests. I hope you enjoyed it!

[writtengalaxies]

HI HI HI could I mayhaps get some Illinois hcs/a fic with him and a reader that's sorta. His rival? Like they'll find each other in tombs or dungeons and they'll quip and race each other to the center to find what they're looking for, that sorta thing. Preferably with plenty of Tension(TM), where they're like. Definitely flirting. Rivals homoerotic style you know

OH I GOTCHU. (We love a homoerotic rival situation in this house.) (Also omg I'm so sorry this has been sitting, I finally have more than two days off to do everything dfghjk)

Illinois fucking James.

Sometimes you beat him, sometimes he beat you. You'd swear he was tracking your movements and plans...and honestly there was a good likelihood of that too, considering you were doing the same damn thing. It didn't help that he often flashed you that smug smile that lit up his stupid, handsome face. Or that he didn't talk down to you like others in your shared fields (both of history and treasure hunting) did. Or that you both kept saving each other's lives from traps.

It just wouldn't do if one of you died, right? Where would the fun in it all be if it wasn't for that?

It also didn't help that you caught the way his face looked at that first fancy function that you both showed up to attend, and you felt a smug bit of pride in how he looked flabbergasted and flustered over your appearance. You just didn't talk about how his appearance in his own fine, form-fitting suit, sans his stupid hat, threw you for a loop too. Or the way you both were proud of the ways you both handled questions and dodged individuals by sidling up next to one and other, spitting plenty of quips between you both as you danced.

So what if some of your non-adventuring colleagues, who had no idea what you did in your free time, thought you two made a dashing pair. You ignored their comments about your closeness, the way you two seemed to read each other's body language without needing words. You especially ignored their pointed questions, asking if you were sure you and Mr. James weren't an item?

And just because you've both seen each other at your most vulnerable moments, hurt or needing help, and neither of you ever hesitated, that didn't mean anything. Just because you wanted to kiss that damn smile off his face, or you caught him staring at your lips sometimes, eyes clouded over with some thought or another...or just because okay maybe you have kissed a few times, but that was just the adrenaline high trapped between the two of you, nothing serious, right?

Especially not because, after a night where you were forced to share the same tent because the winding tomb you were in partially collapsed and you had lost your supplies, he had quietly said "The greatest treasure I could ever steal would be your heart...darlin'~" with a wink. 

That bastard.

[punkrogue]

Confession: I used to be one of those antis who hated the Roguneto age difference and saw Gambit as the "correct" love interest. But then I got older and stopped thinking about things in black and white, I realized that Rogue doesn't give a shit since her two adopted moms also have an age difference. I think a lot of Rogue "fans" project their thoughts and desires onto Rogue instead of accepting some of the less stereotypical sweet "Southern Belle" image they like to compartmentalize her into (one reason why 80s Rogue is superior to 90s Rogue is she's a subversion of the stereotype instead playing it straight like the more palatable to general audiences 90s version of the character). Looking back, I like how the "I can't touch a man" problem was sorta resolved with Roguneto in AoA, so instead Rogue's character focus in that universe is being a team leader and going apeshit to protect her son instead of angsting over Remy and how she can't have sex with him.

First off I think that regardless of context concepts like the "correct" love interest are never good. I think that's just become more and more obvious over the years as fandom has become more toxic and more people feel comfortable calling you shit like an abuser for liking a "problematic" or hero/villain kinda ship. The ships are fictional, the people aren't. Who gives a fuck if people ship milo from atlantis and yzma from the emperor's new groove (yes this is a real ship i've seen) it's not my problem. Neither of us will gain or lose brownie points with a god or whatever because we shipped the right ship. Not an attack on you just my Thoughts because that's a common issue now in fandom that I know I certainly didn't see it at these scales when I was a teen.

AS FOR THE OTHER STUFF--

god you're spitting SO MUCH TRUTH.

Okay I wrote the rest of my reply to this originally in notepad bc i don't trust tumblr and god.... this is so long 💀

But then I got older and stopped thinking about things in black and white, I realized that Rogue doesn't give a shit since her two adopted moms also have an age difference.

It never occurred to me before how the age gap between Mystique and Irene would effect her perspective but that’s such a good and interesting point! We’re not clear on even when Mystique was born or how old she really was when she met Irene and we know Irene is like easily 100 when she dies. She and Mystique met in the late 1800s — even if you keep her dying in the 80s and don’t fudge around the timeline at all for the current date 1880 to 1980 is a century. Rogue was raised by geriatric lesbians. Idk WHAT this means for her psychologically or in how her love map got formed but it’s a Thing lol. I think the big takeaway really from being raised by mystiny is really that she expects a certain level of partner care and maturity and in syncness. Say what you want about Irene and Mystique as people but they’re absolutely an in love and loving couple. They’re totally in sync and have complete faith in each other, they’re each other’s rocks. Which ofc is why Mystique went so off the rails when Irene died.

There’s definitely a lot to be said about her expecting/needing/wanting a certain amount of maturity in her partner as a result of being raised by two older women in a very established relationship. Barring the dudes who’re born in test tubes (Longshot and Joesph) basically all her love interests are older than her by some amount. Even Remy is at least a few years older than her no matter how you pace out his life.

I tend to think worrying about age gaps in a society/world or whatever like comics is dumb when everyone in question is legal. Half of them are like 50+ by now (the 05 were teens in the 60s technically, xavier fought in the KOREAN WAR, etc), some are aliens, some are gods, some people got stuck in a time loop for like 2 years, some people where in another dimension for a while, etc etc etc. It’s more trouble than it’s worth to get up in arms about it when you’re not talking about adult/minor pairings. Magneto is like, 100 now sure. He’s also been de-aged like, twice, once that I remember to the point of being a fucking toddler again. This is automatically so fucking wild and impossible to map to anything real world you’re just gonna hurt yourself trying to comprehend the ramifications of that catastrophic life change on even how the fuck he STILL REMEMBERS HIS PREVIOUS LIFE AS AN ADULT AFTER THAT let alone his future relationships with anyone lol.

I think a lot of Rogue "fans" project their thoughts and desires onto Rogue instead of accepting some of the less stereotypical sweet "Southern Belle" image they like to compartmentalize her into (one reason why 80s Rogue is superior to 90s Rogue is she's a subversion of the stereotype instead playing it straight like the more palatable to general audiences 90s version of the character).

I think you’re very right about that. When you sit down and read Rogue’s comics through all at once the difference between her in the 80s and her in the 90s is wild and not in a good way. All the edges get knocked off of her, her morals become simplified, they gloss over her tense relations with the rest of the X-Men even more than they did before. She was created with the kind of character design slogan “the girl from the wrong side of the river” and it very much seems like few people remember that when writing or drawing her and I know why that is to some extent — stripping away her “problematic” nature (remember, Rogue DID stalk and attempt to murder Dazzler and did some other fucked up shit), stressing her more mainstream insecurities, removing her heavy metal/punk/butch interests and making her more in line with a 90s pinup girl in looks makes her more appealing and fuckable to the mainstream predominately male audience of comics. Alt girls are niche. She only got to get her tat sleeve and be a motorcycle mechanic and sing rock songs and be really wild again when Claremont takes her over again in X-Treme X-Men in 2001 and it really does feel like a breath of fresh air. She’s rough and coarse and rude again. She and Storm are at each other’s throats at times. She’s angry and she’s reckless and she’s funny and she’s you know That Bitch.

“Okay but characters change and grow, they kind of have to, and just because their creator intended them to be one way doesn’t mean they have to stay that way,” some will say and this is true! If we kept to the letter of the character creator’s intentions Cable would be boring as fuck and Shatterstar wouldn’t be pansexual. But here’s the thing—

Both of those Liefeldian monstrosities still to this day have maintained their “character slogan”, their Vibe, their Flavor if you will.

Cable is still a super douche with mega guns and 80 pouches who loves shooting things and is Edgy. He’s just better written now and has more depth. Shatterstar is still an American Gladiator made into a Real Gladiator clone boy thing who loves carnage and communes thru media lingo. He just sucks dick now. And is better written.

Note how this is not what happened with Rogue. Consider how LITTLE of her time in the 90s was say, about her conflicted feelings about her Still Evil Mom or her trouble really making friends in the X-Men because of personality differences or you know HOW HER POWER SUCKS THE SOUL OUTTA THEM or her love of mechanics or any of the other things that really only seem to crop up when it’s Claremont or someone taking notes from his characterization at the wheel. Her Character Vibe is “girl from the wrong side of the river joins a different paramilitary group for better healthcare”. THAT’S LITERALLY WHO ROGUE IS. THAT’S WHY SHE JOINED THE X-MEN. There’s absolutely room for growth here but that growth does not mean she has to stop having a mullet, or stop wearing studded belts, or stop being the other lovable unwashed mongrel in the house next to Logan.

But Possum Girl is not fuckable to most men so they don’t wanna write it and they don’t wanna see it and very few girls wanna see it because they can’t project themselves onto that. Also, misogyny— internalized or otherwise. Girls aren’t allowed to be ratty, loud, coarse, butch, aggressive etc etc etc. Rogue’s name is FUCKING ROGUE she’s NOT A SOUTHERN SWEETHEART that literally DEFEATS THE PURPOSE OF HER.

“When she was younger, Rogue thought the name made her sound like an outlaw. she played the part to perfection—using her power to imprint the skills and psyches of anyone she touched—until she realized she was stealing little bits of their souls." — X-Treme X-Men I think I cannot for the life of me remember what issue this is from but I know it’s a comic quote I had to type it out myself years ago since it’s not quoted anywhere else.

“The name 'Rogue' is not just a super hero code. She is very much a wild child. She likes danger and is much more of a Mississippi soul than a Louisiana soul.” — Claremont in a 2016 interview.

Rogue is SUPPOSED to be rough and wild and reckless and YEE-FUCKING-HAW MOTHERFUCKER. She’s r/THE_PACK in mutant form. There’s SO MANY WAYS to allow her to grow and change that do not mean she must sacrifice the skynyrd. But she doesn’t get to keep that. Cable gets to keep his stupid fucking pouches and his grimdark 90s patina but Rogue’s gotta have BIG 90S BAYWATCH HAIR and wear DAISY DUKES LIKE THAT ISN’T FUCKING VICIOUS ENDANGERMENT OF EVERYONE’S LIVES all so she can be the sexy southern gal and spend the majority of the 90s hemming and hawing over the practical logistics of hopping on Remy’s dick as though that man doesn’t have enough working general sex and BDSM knowledge to tackle the logistical end of a hookup with her and instead of trying to WORK WITH HER ON THE PSYCHOLOGICAL ISSUES just kinda fucking pressures her like a 10yo boy demanding a kiss from his crush for a while there before someone fucking LET HIM HAVE BETTER WRITING. Both of them are done dirty by that and most current writers more likely than not came in on this version of Rogue and Remy which is why we’re now being subjected to their malformed vapid bastard children in modern comics.

80s Rogue (and a lot of 00s Rogue) Imo are the superior Rogues because she’s an alternative girl. We have PLENTY of more mainstream girls in the X-Men but we don’t have any really who are ratty and mentally unstable and metal/punk and cause issues and don’t always sync up totally with X-Men “philosophy” and who’re Really Okay with committing Lots Of Violence and who are like, AGGRESSIVELY not perfect.

Why they chose to live in fucking nowhere Mississippi and what their financial situation is and just— whatever the fucking deal with Mystiny while they raised Rogue aside — Rogue is created as a mentally ill at risk runaway youth living in a foster/adoptive home and is heavily coded as poor/white trash. Like, I get very baffled by what the fuck is going with her early childhood with Mystiny (there’s a LOT of conflicting info) but i tend to assume they're living middle-classish since you know Mystique got that $$$. But Rogue absolutely at least coded as a lower class rough and tumble girl in the 80s and that’s like….. actually very important????????? That’s huge????????? Especially since the X-Men are the Disenfranchised Minorities with Superpowers wonder show.

Now look at any 90s comics or 10s-20s comics and show me ANY issue where “white trash” or “raised by Mystique and Destiny” shines through. Didn’t find any did you? Yeah. Thought so. This is why they’re the shittiest eras of Rogue Comics.

Looking back, I like how the "I can't touch a man" problem was sorta resolved with Roguneto in AoA, so instead Rogue's character focus in that universe is being a team leader and going apeshit to protect her son instead of angsting over Remy and how she can't have sex with him.

Part of why I like Roguneto in general is we just generally skip all the gross borderline fetishist talk about how she can’t fuck because she’d kill a dude or whatever. Magneto fucks. He just DOES. You look at him and you go "oh this man FUCKS". We don’t need to spend time on the fucking mechanics of it — in fact to do so seems INSANE. OFC HE FUCKS!!! NEXT QUESTION! Now yes Remy elicits the same kind of response but not the same level. Magneto is 3 grown children levels of fucks. DILF and GDILF fucks levels. This whole drama is completely fucking stupid with MAGNETO as the stage partner. HE’S LIKE 100 YEARS OLD AND HE OWNED A METEORITE. ROGUE HAS FIST-FOUGHT LIKE ALL OF HIS CHILDREN AT LEAST ONCE. WE HAVE OTHER THINGS TO ADDRESS.

After like 20 years of writers being weird little fetishist creeps about how exactly the logistics of Rogue and Remy fuckin would work when like that’s what a gimp suit and condoms are for, it’s refreshing to just not feel the WEIGHT of that forced conflict hanging over a romantic relationship of hers. With romy there’s SUCH a hyper focus by the writers on their sex life half the time not their overall relationship and it’s just weird and gross. Like they fuck, they figure it out and she works thru her fear of touch— can we talk about rogue’s mental instability and how that affects the relationship and remy’s fear of rejection/abandonment now?????????????? THAT'S WHAT I'M ACTUALLY HERE FOR!!!!!! YALL CAN'T SELL ME SMUT SO STOP OBSESSING OVER IT LIKE PRETEENS AND TELL ME ABOUT THEIR MESSY RELATIONSHIP DRAMA!!!!!!

Rogue also tends to just be fucking bonkers more when she’s with Magneto and I like that. She’s less southern belle and more fuck it we ball and it’s refreshing. It’s a nice combo of personalities platonically and/or romantically because Magneto is really an EXCELLENT emotional/mental rock which she needs and Rogue is 10000000% not afraid to call him a lil bitch to his face and he NEEDS people around him to help keep his ego/doom spirals in check.

Their arguments feel more like real conflicts and debates. When they team up it feels more solid and like a partnership. They just feel like there's more weight and oomph in their interactions. Magneto has such a power and gravity to him. He's literally one of the immovable tent poles of the X-Verse. They'll be finding ways to keep him on the field even when he'd be 1,000 in comic years. So by interacting with him it let's her be more of a serious character. She gets to square up unstoppable force to immovable object and really test herself against him while also knowing at the end they're gonna shake and say "good game."

You don't get that with Remy because Remy's not solid like that, he's built to move. He's meant to be flexible. If you take away his flexibility (morally, in personality, in allegiance, in wants, in self-image etc) then he's just not him anymore. But the issue there is Rogue is also malleable — she's literally absorbing other people. That's two rubber people trying to help each other stand. It ain't gonna work and none of the comic writers wanna put in the real effort to MAKE it work. (fic writers ofc, have cracked this code and know how to write romy who can actually work and be compelling even into the modern era)

for me, Remy was a good first love interest for her and I love his character and I still love their dynamic — just now in a more platonic way. Meanwhile Magneto is a better second and potentially endgame relationship for her. He's more where she is in life now and he both gives her someone to depend on when she's going fucking batshit from her powers and also someone to sharpen her claws on who can take it and dish it back.

[razorblade180]

Eyes on you

Dance. The ultimate art with no true level of entry, yet a limitless ceiling of possibilities that brought inspiration and wonder blooming. Just now, Nilou did her final twirl of her performance that hopefully sprouted new and old visitors alike that cheered for her. The young dancer humbly smiled and took a bow before exiting the stage. Another show well done.

As she walked behind stage, Nilou was pleasantly caught off guard by Aether holding a bouquet of red and white flowers she wasn’t familiar with. This made her smile grow all the wider with interest.

Aether:There’s the birthday girl.

Nilou:Awe, these are gorgeous! You didn’t have to get me these. I would’ve been thrilled seeing you cheer for me.

Aether:I watched from back here.

Nilou:*red* Oh. Well hehe, what did you think?

Aether:I always find myself going quiet when you dance. It kinda feels like you’re telling a story. I couldn’t tell you exactly about what…but I always find myself feeling relieved, happy even. *blushes* I love your dances.

Nilou knew she was smiling like a fool, but she couldn’t help it! If she was being honest with herself, she would love to know everyone’s personal thoughts to this extent. Not just for self improvement or any form of ego, but to better understand the connections she built. With Aether, she was glad their connection was so genuine and joyful.

Aether:Are you free the rest of the night?

Nilou:I am. Why~

Aether:Let’s walk together, just the two of us.

xxxx

How could she possibly say now? After the final curtain call and her fellow performers convincing Nilou to not help clean up on her birthday, the girl walked with Aether through the forest path while holding onto his arm as they talked; catching up all the way until they made it to shifting sands.

Nilou:So they’re from Mondstadt?

Aether:Yeah. Windwheel Asters and Cecilias. I thought they’d match us pretty well and give you new flowers to learn about.

Nilou:I see. If that’s the case…

She took an Aster and put it in Aether’s hair while placing a Cecilia tucked into her hair on the right. Aether blushed again, smiling as the stopped at an oasis where they both sit.

Nilou:Now we both carry a bit of each other.

Aether:Keep saying things like that and I might pass out. It’s embarrassing…

Nilou:Says the one telling me my performance leaves them speechless. That’s some flattery. So, overall, how’d you rate your time here?

Aether:Do I count the five months I was here on loop?

Nilou:Ah, forgot about that. Okay so things for you must be pretty surreal.

Aether:It wasn’t all bad. Definitely wouldn’t want to loop again but it was pretty interesting meeting you so many times. I think it’s the only reason I was able to talk to you comfortably so quickly when it ended.

Nilou:Anything back then you still haven’t gotten the chance to tell me again?

Aether:Ummmmm

Nilou:Oooo c’mon deep breaths. If you did it once then you know you have the courage.

Aether:It’s just…it felt a little awkward to say it. Also putting it into words last time was hard to describe, but now that we know each other more, it makes what I said feel truer. Feels heavy.

Nilou:You’re beginning to make it sound as serious as “I love you.”

Aether:……

Nilou:…..*crimson* You said that five months into knowing me?

Aether:We talked a lot, and the loops were very stressful. Near the end I sorta blurted it out. It was pretty embarrassing.

Nilou:Well then, may I ask why?

Aether:To be honest, it solidified when you broke the loop. Before that point, seeing you put your all into your passion, thinking of the ways to make good on your promises despite risks, it let me see how serious you were. Then after you finally learned the truth, you did something. Even after such a grand revelation and the dangerous circumstances at play, Nilou, you never stopped wanting to deliver a performance that would last a lifetime. Dance is your passion and you never waver from it. You took what was meant to be a nightmare and turned it back into a dream doing what you wanted. People like the Sages said your life was mundane but you didn’t care. Even in the grand scheme of things, you acknowledge the normal way of life is beautiful and should be treated as such. There’s nothing wrong with being just a shopkeeper, actor, or a dancer. Because it’s all you wanted to be; a dream come true.

Nilou:….

Aether:..*red* Sorry. That was a lot. I told you it was hard to put into wor-

She put her arms around his shoulder and kissed Aether gently, her heart raced as he kissed her back deeply. Every part of her body felt lighter. Almost like butterflies were in her stomach and chest and refused to go away. Nilou ended the kiss but stayed a breath away to gaze into Aether’s eyes passionately. It was if he managed to wash away countless repeated doubts that crept into her from time to time. Many people noticed Nilou’s efforts and she was thankful for all of them. Yet when it came to Aether, Nilou truly felt as if he was looking at her. Flustered, she hid her face in the crook of his neck.

Nilou:Aether, I can’t remember the last time I’ve been so…so happy by words alone. It feels like I’m back on stage.

Aether:Hehe, good. I’m so glad. Last time I definitely think I jumped the gun.

Nilou:Hehehe well put your worries away. Thank you. This birthday has been wonderful.

Aether:Don’t mention it. It’s nice remembering to enjoy the little things, the community and its connections. Thanks for reminding me of that.

Nilou:…..

Nilou:Aether?

Aether:Yes?

Nilou:Can I show a private performance?

His heart nearly stopped. He could her arms tremble like on their first date. Nilou finally looked at him. Her hair matched the color of her face and he wasn’t far off either. Perhaps they were a little brash but both kissed again. This team Aether leaned further until Nilou fell backwards, pulling him down with her. Aether put his hand against the ground as they fell to create a lush bed of flowers in their color to land softly in. Tonight, Nilou had a captive audience of one. They couldn’t have wanted it any other way.

Aether:I love you.

Nilou:I love you too.

[chidoroki]

182 Days of TPN - Day 18

Chapter 18: “Prepared”

Why.. why must everyone leave out Ray?? After my boy has done so much for you, ya’ll just don’t wanna include him in your little thoughts, despite saying “them” twice? RUDE, but THEM aka the fullscore TRIO aka Emma, Norman and RAY would not have been sneaking around mom’s secret room the first place.

Hahaa.. oh honey, you got a big storm coming.

Again, they’re damn lucky Phil showed the books to Emma instead of Isabella. Still believe mom would’ve got rid of those books once she realized the different morse codes.

Ray poking fun at Emma will always be one of my favorite things. Shame the anime cut this conversation a bit too short so we never got to see that snarky grin of his.

Say it louder Ray! Not that it really matters, since the possible threat of security in the secret room fell on deaf ears the first time two chapters ago.

The anime definitely handled this one moment better by showing how much lying and not having faith in Don and Gilda really affected Emma, whereas the manga showed her a little angry, which wouldn’t make sense all things considered.

I know Don’s feeling real sad and frustrated right now, but I like to believe he punched Norman for the lies and Ray for keeping the secret this whole time, especially on Conny’s shipment day. Emma is spared of a hard punch because.. main character. Or poor Don gets too emotional to continue. Or because he respects women. Take your pick. (Regardless, random head-canon that Don would make an excellent boxing partner for Barbara once they arrive in the human world.)

Kinda funny (in a sad way) that in the ch13 flashback, Emma stated she wanted to believe in her siblings no matter what, and now she’s sorta getting called out for not doing so? I know there were many reasons for telling them the fake story but sweetie, how could you forget something that’s so near and dear to your heart?

But I love her. I love her so much and how she doesn’t even hesitate to own up to her mistake and apologize to them.

Anyways, I dunno which version of Krone spying on the five I like more? but the manga version sorta takes a bit of the surprise factor away when she confronts the four of them (take a guess on who got left out) in the woods the following day just because you’re already aware she was watching them in this chapter.

The anime keeps us in suspense since we have no idea who is watching them, or some people (aka: me) might not even catch onto it at first. We get Ray looking back towards the house and being suspicious of something but we don’t learn what about until later in the episode. Also, I love how it’s him who realizes this because.. well, he always notices everything. 

The anime kinda threw me through a loop just now as I was trying to confirm some things. When Krone reveals she was spying on them towards the end of ep6, she says: “I saw it. I was watching the whole thing! Talking in the dinning hall last night, all of you!” but they’re clearly outside here in the scene above. I thought the anime’s take didn’t make munch of sense because of how Krone’s comment contradicts with where she saw them talking, but turns out I just had to back up a little bit in the episode. There is a brief moment we see the five kids inside the dinning hall from outside the house which could very well be from her eyes, so her statement is still valid here. (HOWEVER, why are they even outside?? Doesn’t Isabella lock the doors at night? Or is that only during shipments? I’m already forgetting.)

So I essentially rambled on for nothing right there, but what else is new. I also noticed these posts are becoming quite long these past few days and I sorta not really apologize for it. (I say “past few days” but in reality I’ve been writing these out at least five days ahead this entire time so far, hahaa...)

Favorite panel/moment:

*clenching my fist with tears in my eyes* OH so giving head pats to family is definitely a “like mother, like son” kind of gesture huh? Brilliant. I’m gonna go cry about it.

[tokiro07]

Undead Unluck ch.151 thoughts

[But I Stay Billy]

...So I was sorta right last week. Fuuko did not scare off two military groups with lasers

She scared them off by activating Disc at all

Which I guess makes sense, the whole point of the operation was to steal Disc because it’s an unbeatable superweapon; if someone else gets to it first, no matter who it is, they’re automatically too much of a threat to simply fight for it, aren’t they?

Plus, with the military out of the way, we get to jump right into the juicy stuff: developing Billy’s character!!!

I mentioned to another user recently that even if an Undead Unluck character seemed unlikable at some point, their backstories never fail to make me fall in love with them, and Billy is a particularly interesting case for me because we just keep learning more facets of him while seeing that they’re shockingly consistent with what we already knew

Billy being a bit of a goofball, screaming for Tella to save him when Disc starts flying only to stand at attention and start smoking all cool-like when he realizes that Fuuko’s looking at him, is so perfectly in-line with what little we saw of him back in the beginning of the story. “Huh? I’m gonna die?” when Juiz forced Tatiana to point her lasers at him, the long-cake bars that he designed himself for Tatiana; we didn’t get to interact with him much, but it was clear from the beginning that he’s an overall silly person, which was just enough to throw us for a loop when we learned that he was the leader of Under

The thing about that, though, is that it was just enough; we understood conceptually that Billy’s betrayal was upsetting to the cast, but I’ve seen a lot of readers who found the twist itself to be fairly weak because it was so abrupt. We only knew the bare minimum about Billy, so this didn’t feel like a huge betrayal of our expectations, it admittedly felt kind of lazy, like it was just the Aizen reveal from Bleach without any build-up

And this brings us to the current loop: everyone we met in the first loop had a similar level of simplicity that is only now being deepened. While the entire cast was kind of shallow in the beginning, it ultimately served as a way to pique our interests, a teaser for the real story to come. Once we learned that the loops were even a factor, it became something of an inevitability that we would meet the dead cast again; Loop 100 was just a preview for all of the characters that would get to develop later, and it gave us the opportunity to think “I want to know more about them”

Every character that we’ve seen this time has made me so excited. “Oh! We finally get to be properly introduced to Void!” “It’s Yusai!!!” “Oh great, it’s Sean...actually, wait, maybe I’ll come to like Sean!” While I do think that everyone could have stood to be a bit more fleshed out early on, I’m grateful that things went the way they did now, because it means that the first half of the story focused on the most important thing, Andy and Fuuko’s relationship, while still serving as a solid introduction to our supporting characters, and the second half allows us to focus on the team itself, more specifically Fuuko’s relationship with them

I guess that’s really the main thing: everything is about Fuuko’s relationships in the end. Part 1, she gets to know Andy, Tatiana, Chikara, Rip, Latla, Isshin, Juiz, and Nico (through Andy’s fight with him); Part 2, she’s getting to know everyone else in sequence, and even gets a do-over with Gina, something I had been hoping for since chapter 20 when I pieced together that the loops existed in the first place. Tozuka never lost sight of that idea, and while he didn’t completely eschew the supporting cast, he chose to only worry about telling us things that were centered around Fuuko for the most part, and that’s paying dividends now

Circling back to Billy, that’s actually a fantastic parallel between them: Fuuko’s entire story is centered around how she builds her friendships with people, partially because Unluck is dependent on her love for others and partially because she’s the leader of the Union; Billy’s Unfair, conversely, is dependent on the hate others feel for him, so he actively destroys his friendships and builds a team specifically of people who feel no loyalty for him and whom he can turn on at a moment’s notice if stealing their powers would be advantageous for him. By Billy’s current interpretation of Unfair, he cannot use his ability if he has the sort of relationships that Fuuko seeks to cultivate, and thus must become a lone-wolf who actively pushes others off of the battlefield to scowl at him from the sidelines

This is why Fuuko’s plan to recruit Billy necessitates a battle with him, even if he technically isn’t an enemy at this point: she needs to prove to him that he’ll be stronger with a team. To Billy, having people weaker than him on the battlefield will only result in their loss, so he tries to protect them by keeping them at arm’s length, whereas Fuuko’s approach is to keep them within arm’s reach so she can protect them and be protected by them in turn. If the Union can beat Billy in combat, that should prove to him that they’re not so weak as to need his protection, and that they are just as capable of protecting him should the need arise

This is why it’s especially poignant that while the Union is ganging up on him, Tella swoops in and evolves Untell to protect Billy. Tella took a seemingly useless ability that only seemed to hamper communication and turn it into an impenetrable shield. How his interpretation changed, I can’t say, but if I had to guess, I would say that he interprets an attack as an incoming communication, and uses Untell to negate any form of communication involving himself, not just outgoing messages such as speech. I’ve theorized this to be the case since we first saw him use his ability just prior to the Winter battle, so it’s a little frustrating that they still haven’t properly explained it, but I imagine we’ll either get a more detailed explanation soon or in an omake in the volume where this chapter is published

Anyway, it’s really nice to see Billy’s closest friend jump into to save him when he thought he could get away with fighting alone, it really helps make the transition in his thinking more believable. That, and the fact that Fuuko got the upper hand against him in their fight, which seems to have impressed him; even if he couldn’t see, the smile Billy and Fuuko exchanged before Tella stopped the fight was surprisingly heartwarming, as if he acknowledged and appreciated that Fuuko was in fact strong enough to stand by him and not need his protection

It’s especially appropriate when you realizes that Fuuko specifically is one of the Negators that he didn’t want on the front lines in the previous loop. He thought that she was too weak to use Unluck effectively, and only brought her with him to the Spring fight because he couldn’t get her to view him as an enemy and needed her to overcome Spring’s games of chance. He never thought she had this kind of ability in her, but now it’s been proven beyond a shadow of a doubt that she does. He says that this feels nostalgic for some reason, and I think that this line ties back to what Fuuko said about Sean’s soul deliberately being born early to meet her; I think that Billy’s soul remembers the previous loop, that somewhere deep inside him he knows that he’s finally been proven wrong

Of course, he has to put her to one final test, if for no better reason than for his own pride; a direct confrontation, a one-to-one duel in his area of expertise. If she can surpass him here, that will be the ultimate proof that she really is strong enough to be his equal, and after how he managed to fend off the rest of the Union by himself just a moment ago (very impressively, I might add), that would clearly be no mean feat. Most importantly, though, being one-on-one, using the same weapons (Billy even giving Fuuko the same kind of gun that he has), with no powers makes this fight the most important thing it could be: fair

How Billy got his understanding of fairness, how Unfair would come to manifest within him, we still don’t know. Until we learn that, his backstory is still incomplete, we’re learning everything about him completely backwards, but we know that he does value fairness above all else. He views himself, being one of the strongest Negators, as being the one most responsible with shouldering the burden of defeating God. He views himself, as a tactical genius and skilled soldier, as being the one most responsible for uniting the world as a common enemy (which I mistook for Creed’s motivation last week, so I’m glad my analysis didn’t completely go to waste). He always talked tough, saying that it was unfair that the Negators were saddled with powers and forced to bear that responsibility for the helpless masses, but we now know that those weren’t his true feelings: if anything, it was unfair that the Negators were forced to fight at all, but he never really blamed those who weren’t chosen, he only really blamed God for burdening anyone in the first place

It also occurs to me how meaningful it is for Billy, as the leader of Under, to carry Unfair, while Juiz, leader of the Union, carried Unjustice. Depending on the context, those words are almost synonymous, a cruel imbalance in the natural order that skews events one way or the other. The powers they gained were completely different, but both negate the balance and either require or force people to shift to either side of the scale; Unjustice forces the target to betray themselves while Unfair requires the user to betray their friends in order to stay true to themself. I can’t speak for how much of this Tozuka planned, but it lines up quite beautifully

Billy really has gone from being a seemingly bland, poorly implemented trope to one of the most fascinating and nuanced characters in the story. I enjoy him so much, and while he hasn’t become my favorite character or anything, I am massively endeared to him in a way that I wouldn’t have been able to predict almost two and a half years ago. I don’t know exactly how this fight is going to conclude, whether Fuuko will lose an ear but force a draw or if she’ll have an undisputed victory, but I know this duel is going to be good. Maybe this is where we’ll get the final piece of BIlly’s backstory, maybe we’ll watch him gain Unfair in a spectacular fashion, or maybe he’ll be a mystery just a little longer. Either way, Billy has shown himself to be not only one of the strongest in terms of ability, but character, and I’m so glad he became so much more than I ever gave him credit for in the beginning

[jams-sims]

I think the Wuvvy situation goes a little further than unrequited love. I also think their is a servant and "master" element that myself and others have been over looked. After ep 8 when Rue confronts Wuvvy on what she likes to do and she looks at then and essentially say.

"Making you happy. I enjoy being of use to you, use me." Like how Hob sees himself as a weapon. Wuvvy does that too but no one is there to pull wuvvy out or maybe she too deep to be helped. Or Something else has their hooks in her.

Because if we remember Wuvvy whole deal was that she would always be their if Rue called for them. But Rue hasnt called for them- at all ever since the fight. Rue has kinda left everything to fall to the waste side and Wuvvy been playing good servant. RUE only cares about her when its time to dress up together. He picks out what she wears so they are matching. Like a dress up doll that Rue sorta kinda got bored of when they found Hob. Wuvvy been around aaabira has been rolling for it. But no calls from Rue.

Now I would feel a little different if Rue kept Wuvvy in the loop. Kept her updated like her fuck the court of wander, also im in love with Hob come with me, lets join the court of craft!" But then Rue comes back and is like "well what is it you like to do Wuvvy?" How insulting is that when the answer is standing right in front of her.

I would think! Oh snap shes a working women and she wants to keep raising in the fey latter and thought Rue was going to join them but no. Because the game is about love i think it falls into this real fucked up situation.

Yes not sending the letter is fucked up. But also string wuvvy along even unknowingly is fucked up. Cause all it takes is someone else to feed Wuvvy lies. "Oh we thought you were friend and close with Rue! Then why is it you don't know about x y and z. It seems like Rue could give less of two shits about you." And someone can easily twist that love into something Insidious.

Wuvvy needs to be let down. And wuvvy needs to also understand that even if you love someone maybe. Their life may not even invovle you anymore. No matter how much you want to be there.

[awritingcaitlin]

🎶Find the Word🎻

I was sorta tagged by @legiomiam for the words: smile, charge, under, and change

(Because I always love doing these.)

Tagging: @tananaphone, @samplewriting, @circa-specturgia, @runeseaks, and @nanashi23 for the words: loud, learn, lose, labor, and loop

(Also no pressure/rush!)

Snippets from Relic of the Gods under the cut!

🎶SMILE🎶

The loudest voices were the ones closest to the stage, save for one man off to the side and farther back. He was tall and muscular, and the one requesting ‘Tips for the Time’. For a second, Em thought she’d seen his eyes flash gold. But of course, when she looked again, his eyes were nondescript. A trick of the light? Or perhaps an astral, not a common occurrence in Berthingtonn.

Em smiled and offered a pleasant laugh to the crowd, her stage persona flickering on.

“One at a time!” she told them cheerfully.

She already knew she’d start with ‘Tips’, which could easily flow into ‘Sandy’s Road’ if she played ‘Star of the Sea’, another shanty, in between. ‘Down the Well’ was not as upbeat of a song, so she’d have to weave that one in later.

She began to play, and the crowd began to sing. Em fell into the notes, songs she had learned by rote because she’d learned to play well before she’d taught herself to read music. The crowd sang raucously and vigorously. As they should for a shanty about old laws of the sea meshing with new laws of the land. Then the song about looking to the stars and working with the sea and sky.

.

👛CHARGE👛

Brianna closed Lelia’s folder. “Sounds good dear.”

“Don’t we charge at…” the other lady began.

“We have to charge them before they go back there,” Brianna explained. “But she’s just ordering serums, which means we charge her when we hand them to her. The invoice is the paper trail, that’s all.”

“I’ll be back,” Lelia said. She waved, turned, and headed for the door. Her hip gave a couple of complaints, but kept with the program of walking.

She chided herself for not stopping at the bank first. She knew roughly how much her serums cost. She should have counted her coin beforehand. She definitely wasn’t going to have them send a bill to the address on file.

.

🎻UNDER🎻

Em was now looking at the violin with scrutiny. “You almost can’t tell,” she said. “But there’s no way that’s actually functional.”

Lelia shook her head. “Nope, as soon as you tried to tune the strings, it would snap right back off under the tension. When I put the strings on it, I’ll leave them loose enough to prevent that, but it’ll look good enough for the illusion to do the rest.”

“Do you think that violin would be at all repairable?” Em mused.

Lelia shrugged. “I’m not sure. I’m just a bit creative and handy. You’d probably have to replace the whole neck, and after the cost of parts and labor…”

“You’re better off buying a new violin,” Em agreed.

.

🔐CHANGE🔐

“We should make sure the security doesn’t change for the gala,” Ronan said.

“What do you mean?” Em asked.

“That they don’t add extra wards, essentially,” Ronan said.

“That’s what Caleb’s for,” Em pointed out. “Even if we don’t see him before go-time, Verity’s going to get him in the telepathy loop. He can warn us of changes since he’s enough of a mage he can see the otherwise non-detectable stuff.”

It had always been Em’s least-favorite part of jobs that she couldn’t see enchantments that casters didn’t want to be seen by the average person. She’d always needed to rely on a mage skilled at sensing and piercing them. But, at the same time, she didn’t doubt Lelia’s abilities. She wouldn’t have included her otherwise.

[silouvertongues]

FULL THOUGHTS ON THE RAVEN CYCLE PLEASE fave book fave character fave relationship??

HIIII it's so funny whenever u ask me questions like this about media I've consumed just bc. i don't think i have enough braincells to have coherent thoughts but im gonna try <33

ok fave book i can't pick one and bc i kinda read them back to back to back things are sorta blending together but i really liked the dream thieves bc the dream stuff is just really cool and ronan is so fun to read and there was quite a bit of him in it but i also loved the raven king bc all their little friendships and relationships sorta solidified and i loved it more than i can put into words. actually i think plot wise the third book was the strongest for me just because the stuff that happened felt more substantial? maybe? i loved how everything was written in the last one and how it kinda happened but i was expecting it to happen like that so i wasn't like . in awe or in shock yk

now the fave character . i love them all so immensely its a little crazy i didn't think I'd be this attached !! blue is literally my baby i need to shrink her and put her on my shoulder so we can be best friends forever i need to have her with me forever.

the funniest thing about gansey is that he's the stupidest genius around like my boy is so silly i love him for it but also idk how else to describe it but i have the like admiration for him that everyone in the book did??? idk if it was bc I read the others' povs but the way they were like we'd do anything for this man. yeah . yeah .

ADAM . ok this is ridiculous but i went in thinking I'd adore him right away and then i started reading it and the first book i did really like him but then the second book i. i didn't feel so good about him at times and i just couldn't understand why because it's adam and i thought I'd love him so much but then i realized it was bc he was a little too real? idk how else to describe it i was reading his pov and suddenly there was a mirror somehow despite me never having been in a situation like his before and then i understood why he was getting on my nerves and then i got over it as the books went on and he became less of a mirror lol and i am simply so fond of this boy now i need to take care of him and give him several hugs and put him on my other shoulder.

i don't even know what to say about this next guy im. immmmmmm . feeling very much jane austen if i loved you less i might be able to talk about it more. now this one i also knew i would like bc he's just . angsty angry little guy with a softest spot for the people he loves and im always gonna be a sucker for that BUT MYYYYYYY GOD he's like . he's in my heart he's around it he's inside it he's everywhere i love him :(( i think part of it was also because his story had more depth imo and was more interesting to me personally so I just enjoyed reading his bits more but he's so so lovely idk what else to even say

this is way longer than i thought it was gonna be so im gonna be basic and say my fav relationship was just all 4 (5 ig hi noah) of them i cried so many times over just like little moments of love between them im so insanely attached like they're all seriously in love with each other and i loveeeeee them i have moments just running through my head on loop since last night but also like romantic relationships wise i think i feel equally insane about the two main ones (well maybe a teeny tiny bit more insane about THE OBJECTS OF RONAN'S WORSHIP BEING FOCUSED IN ONE DOWNTOWN BLOCK WHAT THE FUCK WHAT THE FUCKK but also gansey feeling homesick and calling blue made me lose it i lost it i went insane)

[nerves-nebula]

OKAY HIII I'M BACK AND I BINGED A LOT MORE OF RISE TMNT AND YOOO??? I AM HERE TO GUSH ABOUT IT

SIDE NOTE BEFORE EVERYTHING I SAY THEY WENT SO FUCKIN HARD ON THE ANIMATION OMG IT IS STUNNING AMAZING SUPERB!!! HOW DOES IT LOOK SO GOOD AND AESTHETICS AND ?? I WANT TO CHEW DEVOUR BITE BITE ABSORB IT

(break down and thoughts and everything below.SORRY THAT ITS LONG I AMM. OBSESSED. THIS IS LIKE A WHOLE PAPER ON THEM SORRY BUT NOT FULLY SORRY BUT SORRY)

After the first half of the first season (? i am using a totally definitely legal sight that does each episode as 11 minutes and I'm on what it says is episode 38, if one actual episode is two of those 11 minute ones then I'm guessing I'm around episode 19?)

Maybe earlier than that BUT LIKE AFTER THEY SET UP THE WORLD THEY LIVE IN???? OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG HOW DID I NOT WATCH THIS EARLIER??

Raph is so cool Love him, like he's big and spiky and probably the softest in terms of open outwardly affection towards the group (he does the most group hugs I'm pretty sure? if not HEADCANNON that when they were little and any of them had a bad dream Raph got everyone into a little turtle pile and they could hug it out and feel safe)

Leo!!!!! I AM GETTING SOME OF THE GENDER VIBES!! So far his character feels the least dove into? Like Donnie has episodes where his character is a focus and so does Mikey and Raph to an extent but so far Leo feels more like part of a duo rather than fully solidifying his own persona (to me and I'm no where near done the show SO that most likely changes!) BUT ALSO that feels like it adds to his character in terms of I think he's the second oldest?

(I thought Donnie was the second oldest but hmmm if they're more like twins than the rest of the brothers then it kinda feels like they both tried to be the protective second oldest sibling and the second youngest at the same time and rapidly switch between each other, but like clash heads if both try to fill that role at the same time? MIGHT be head canon stuff at this point, but I need to watch more to find out. Leo DEF has something going on, like please Mx. can you reveal your hidden secret self that isn't based entirely on how we see you interact with others? like who do you think you are Leo...)

Mikey! What a fun guy, he's like. The same vibes as that "I'm just a little man, just a little man and it's my birthday. You wouldn't hurt a little birthday boy would you? on his very big special birthday day? I'm such a little guy why hurt me?". Head empty no thoughts, he's got the DVD screen saver (corner bouncer) playing on loop and probs the THX loud effect. I hope he gets more time to shine because he kinda feels like he swaps between being just for comedy and someone that wants to prove themself(which would then help them feel better about themself and improve their own self worth and stuff)

DONNIE!! MY GUY DONNIE!! HOW DID THEY MAKE A CHARACTER SO BITABLE. MY MAN IS AUTISM. HE IS MY AUTISM CREATURE. <- I thought his design was cool at first and then I saw him exist

Donnie is so character though like sorry to the rest of the turtles but Donnie is going to be my new blorbo, new little skrunkle that I'll probably project onto. He has all the issues and none of them. He has that "no one understands how my mind works and I must study other's and the world just to be partially accepted" vibes WHILE ALSO having "the world will adapt to me. If not through understanding, then my force" sorta vibes and ? the range! He's dynamic, he's wild, he probably orders the exact same thing at one specific restaurant if he's ordering for one.

APRIL!! YO SHE IS GREAT! I love how we learn more about her slowly like she's a character living her own life that happens to appear in this show, like I'd fully expect her to have a show on her own and her here is cross overs (compliment). So happy to see where they go next with her, I am like a cheer leader she can do no wrong. She could plan to kill me and I'd give her a thumbs up and say that she should believe in herself and her ability to cultivate her own life. SAD that the people at her school aren't nice, but I feel like that adds to the whole "oh the outsider must be lying about who they are if they act like someone else when not in school/[insert environment] vibes/story lines some things get into. Like we fully understand why she acts like that and get a more objective perspective of everything. She makes me feral in the sense that I want her to have the world (she also reminds me of my younger sister xD)

I also am so thrilled to see that NOT all or most of the main human cast is white. Like that's a huge think that sucks with western animation and honestly the first episode having the white guy be the first experiment and overall kinda dumb was so cathartic. Like yeah, ANYWAYS we don't need to get into my personal issues xD

All of the turtle brothers have obvious/noticeable behaviours impacted/caused/influenced by trauma and GROWLING SHAKING SCREAMING!!!1

Raph being alone omg. Splinter was probably an even worse father then and maybe not even a mutant yet??? And either Raph found the red thing and that's why splinter called him red or splinter grabbed the first thing and just colour coded him. The balll is probably his first friend and the fact that the football is vaguely turtle shell shape is giving me emotions.

Leo I feel like he always needs to prove himself because maybe he didn't have a lot of chances to be alone? He's the second oldest so idk how long there would've been between him and Donnie joining but I fully feel like when Raph realized he had a brother he tagged along with him everywhere and probably tried looking out for him more because he might've been (as a younger child) like "why is he smaller, is he okay? will he get hurt?". Leo my man are you okay you seem like you just compartmentalized everything :(

Mikey I think needed more attention and Splinter did very little so a lot of his earlier development would have been focused on getting all that important attention from his (not by that much) older brothers who ALSO were in that situation. He's got the vibes of someone that in years time (maybe few maybe a LOT of years) he'll be like "heyyy wait a minute do I use humor to cope with everything and heyyy are these things maybe not just fun little quirks?" <- neglected younger sibling vibes where he had to fight for attention where he never had time to ever figure out who he was outside of the four brother unit

DONNIE!! HE HAS SO MANY ISSUES!! Okay but the fact that he's low empathy is NOT one of them I will fight people on that. He is great and pretty relatable as someone who struggles with displaying emotions and voice inflections (I try, but when I first learned to speak I didn't realize you had to move your mouth into shapes a lot (I thought they were exaggerating just so I'd understand) so I'd be like 5 and doing ventriloquism instead of speaking properly.) <- this is one of the things I'm adding to my head canons for him. It's why he exaggerates a lot of his hand-when-speaking actions (and body movements) and apologizes for not having the right tone. Just quirky neurodivergent things :3 )

okay okay but seriously Donnie both somehow manages to be the clearest with how their childhood/life conditions negatively impacted him and also the least affected. I think it's compounded by even if he was human and not a mutant turtle, he still wouldn't be able to fit into the mould of a "normal" human, so as a mutant turtle he sticks out even more. Might've been something he struggled with until later because rn in the series it seems like he's embraced that a lot more, although still struggles. I could go on, but he fits my brain's vibes for "projection mode engaged" so yeah, babygirl

Donnie has autism and Mikey has adhd no questions asked. Raph is on the neurodivergent spectrum but in a less defined way (DEFINITELY HAS SEPARATION ANXIETY!!) and Leo is the token neurotypical that adopted neurodivergent behaviours and mindsets because that's what he grew up around. So he gets the same outsider feel of being different while coincidentally having his difference be that his brain is ""more normal"" <- heavy quotation marks.

uhhh final thoughts because I could ramble for days.. Splinter so far sucks I think that there's something really weird in the vibes of him purposefully raising all the turtle brothers in a way where the only times they got much validation/even just acknowledgement was through them obsessively watching all the films he was in. Like idk something about the vibes of him not telling them at ALL that that is him but heavily encouraging them to act out his movies in front of him gives off something weird.

SIDE RANT ABOUT THEIR COLOURS!! I AM SO INTRIGUED ABOUT THIS ELEMENT

Also like Splinter calls them by colours which he probably colour coded them all just to tell them apart (maybe why they always wear the masks? Because that's the only way they felt external validation of their lives and existence that wasn't just through the four of them??)

He might've did red first because we see him wear a lot of red, and blue is the stereotypical opposite of red so it makes sense to choose that second. Red vs Blue stereotype, etc etc. Maybe why Leo is competitive too? Because he felt his first experiences were being compared to Raph?

It's interesting that Donnie got purple because that's a mix of red and blue, so maybe Splinter wanted to give them some sort of cohesive theme at that point? Like a sliding scale of colours? Maybe it started because Raph and Leo both gave Donnie some purple, idk tho.

Purple is heavily used to either represent (evil) tech or just Donnie and Donnie has the most attachment to the colour so there's definitely something going on there.

Maybe Splinter didn't even realize there was a third turtle kid until Raph and Leo found a way to get Splinter to recognize there was a difference at all (maybe why Donnie in particular strives so much for acknowledgement by Splinter? Because his earliest life was defined by being mistaken for other people?

Mikey being Orange feels like Splinter gave up and didn't want to go with yellow (the more obvious choice as it's a primary colour, kinda surprised Donnie didn't get assigned yellow) and maybe did the same thing with Raph where he just took some spare material (he wears a lot of gold and orange in hems and whatnot) and just plopped that on Mikey.

Kinda shows how Mikey is separated by the rest by being born the youngest, they might've had some sort of living routine set up before he was there and he didn't have much say in how it adapted? Like Leo and Raph are opposites or could've been intended as opposites by Splinter, and with Donnie being so close to the same age as Leo (but his soft shell making him more prone to injury and therefore requiring both Raph's and Leo's protection) he fit into the middle but still closer to Leo (<- Donnie thought of himself as the middle child between them three for sure, but both Leo and Raph think of him as the youngest out of the three).

Mikey being orange shows that's he's kinda excluded from the twins thing that Leo and Donnie have, and might be closer to Raph because of that. After all Mikey and Raph are the only ones with masks on the warm side of the colour wheel (also adding that Mikey is a combination of red and yellow, with yellow not symbolizing anything so maybe that's adding to Mikey's vibes of being an outsider/different/unique?

He's loud in all the different ways that Donnie is (which was probably worse earlier than it is now currently in the show) and struggles with focusing his attention and thoughts where Donnie struggles with the opposite. Both Leo and Donnie saw themselves as middle siblings and treat may tried to treat Mikey similar to how they treated each other (in terms of "this is how I know how to interact with younger siblings and you are younger so this is right, right?" sorta way)

Raph would've had the experience of having two fairly different younger siblings, so he adapted more easily to the personal needs of Mikey as a younger brother? Like he unlocked his emotional intelligence earlier and could recognize (possibly comparing their behaviour to Leo?) that both Donnie and Mikey are different (more obviously neurodivergent, both probably would've been special needs kids).

Plus Donnie would be struggling more with his low empathy, perhaps not recognizing it at all and being constantly confused about others, further pushing him into the younger sibling role for both Raph and Leo because they might see that as him "struggling with something basic" (heavy quotation marks)?

Which would make Mikey (who is a fairly emotions driven person) and Donnie have difficulties communicating/Donnie having difficulties being a decent older brother. And Leo being worried and distracted by Donnie having a soft shell and maybe falling into the trap of "hey Mikey's shell is hard like Raph's and Mine so he's probably going to be okay, not like this bozo over here".

ANYWAYS I AM FERAL OVER THIS THE COLOUR SYMBOLISM AND HOW IT COULD REFLECT THEIR RELATIONSHIPS WITH EACH OTHER AND DYNAMICS BUT ALSO SHOWING HOW THEY WERE TREATED (as creatures to be colour coded rather than named and raised) IS OUGOUHGOUGUHGOU !!1 <- howling

FINAL NOTE: I keep thinking about how Donnie might have first gotten into science by testing which materials could help make him less "weak" (cover up the soft shell) and how his soft-shell-only years could have been defined as him being the "official most fragile" brother. And how finding a way to mimic a hard shell would be what he needed to officially be more equal to the rest of the brothers, and how he might've fallen in love with science then but it's intrinsically tied to his self worth and need to prove that he can pull his own weight/be helpful enough to stick around and be treated as an equal. And how his science experiments might have been what got him some of Splinter's earliest acknowledgements and AAAAA

Like maybe before he was "the purple one" he was "the soft shelled one" or "the weakest one" or (more extreme) the "defective turtle" (because turtles are known for having hard shells, so why didn't he?). And how he leans into the purple so much is because he's trying to erase that feeling of being defined as not a name or not even a colour, but by how "weak" he was, and his intelligence could be some level of survival mechanism to not be stuck in a loop of negativity towards himself and be an equal in an already extremely small world where his existence itself is "a crime against nature" so to speak.

He will be loud about being the purple one because he'd even give up being the smart one because he would much rather be defined as even a singular colour than just "the defective one". That's why he'll make bad(?) choices if it's got something to do with the colour purple, because unlike the rest he wasn't even dignified a colour when he was young and feels like he has to fight for it or earn it, to some level.

<- I am so normal about him I swear I swear I'm not biting him like a dog and rapidly shaking him like a chew toy. I am so normal about him your honour

A LOT of this is based on where I am in the show now and my educated guesses on what I know about the characters and what I've watched and YEAH I could be completely wrong about their early lives maybe they like, all fell out of a tube one by one and the "big time difference" between their ages is like, minutes vs seconds lol. Maybe it's entirely head canons maybe I've done analysis. BUT YEAH ANYWAYS THOSE ARE MY THOUGHTS THANSK FOR READING IF YOU DO GET THIS FAR, I AM SO FERAL ABOUT THIS SHOW AND I AM BLAMING YOU (compliment, positive, cheering in the distance)

IM Always happy to make someone feral about my favorite Media.

There’s wayyy to much here to really respond to but I basically agree with most of the stuff you’ve said. (and the only stuff you've got wrong you only got wrong cause you havent finished the show lol)

The thing about the colors is that Red, Blue, Orange, and Purple are already the TMNT colors and there’s no way you could get away with changing them in a new reboot without people getting mad, I think hhahfadsf. THAT BEING SAID I think your analysis of their colors is still very fitting and cool and interesting, even if the out-of-universe reason they are that way is cuz that’s how they’ve always been.

NO SPOILERS but later on Donnie has an ep that basically confirms his tech and self worth are connected and idk if you know this, but Donnie and Mikey canoncially have autism/adhd. 

I LOVEEED reading ur thoughts on the characters and their minds and im SO GLAD you like it ahsdfasdf

[bl00dyard]

I view you in a way I don't quite have the words to describe You remind me sorta of a painting that I and others have come to look at in a museum Everyone's looking at the art and I'm wondering the history , of course thats nothing negative twords any of your other anons , I'm new here , I'm no one That's simply the best way I could describe it

Now , how do you view me

In fact how do you view all of your anons I'm certain were all curious

🕸

hm,, i love the way you view me. it makes me feel like i’m being admired, or seen as a masterpiece or even beyond it since you want to know more,, and i love to hear this view of yours about me. i know i’ll never forget this,, ♡ !! i’m framing this somewhere special for my eyes to see.

and you aren’t a nobody to me,, you’re my web anon,, >_< !! whom i’ve grown to cherish.

i view you as someone who’s mysterious, reserved with whom you interact but you show me a special side of you by not hiding yourself from me entirely and letting me get closer to you. there’s just many ways to perceive you,, i’ve just met you, and yet, i love a good mystery and it keeps me wondering more. you speak to my soul directly. you’re observant in details, and maybe calculated in some way,, but i know you’re probably watching me from afar and i think it’s such a wonderful feeling,, >_< !!

as for my other anons,,

pink bow anon is currently inactive in this blog, sadly. but they were so sweet to me !!

the realistic heart anon,, they’ve only interacted once with me, but i remember they wanted to know something about me that was really specific,, perhaps a very curious anon >_< !!

🌙 anon is someone whom radiates moon energy, serene and cozy. i love how they seek to learn more about me, keep me in their thoughts while they’re away, and they’re just so cozy,, and observant too,, <3

🍬 anon from the moment i met them,, they seem so cheerful !! and so sweet as well with how caring they are towards me. also observant since they knew i wasn’t feeling well and checked up on me. <3

🪩 anon is my moot !! has been my moot for the longest of time. a chaotic energy, but a lovely one at that (will throw me off on a loop with how random they are but in a good way). i’m grateful to have them around me. <3

i know cemetery and we go way back tbh, not an anon but sometimes leaves stuff for me and they’re very caring. i am grateful for them and how fun they are, understanding, and the best support. <3

[chococookiez]

nightly ptv posting in random places until i see them live (123 days left!!) - not in the greatest place rn as this cold covid continues to fuck with me both physically and mentally so im gonna get really sappy and talk about how significant each album is to me cause i could write a whole essay on this. under cut cause this is gonna be long

collide with the sky was the album that got me into this band. one of my irl friends was reposting tiktoks about them, i heard the hell above transition and instantly ran to them for recommendations cause i was HOOKED. that night i think i listened to them for around 3 and a half hours straight, i think i went through the entirety of collide, selfish machines and afftd (im not sure if i finished afftd or if i looked at misadventures yet) and the only thing that stopped me from continuing the binge was a massive headache that came over me. hold on till may inspired two of my ocs as i imagined them taking the roles of both people in the song, their personalities and how that'd fit into an existing universe we (me and my friends) had. they're still the two ocs i think about the most since i connect them with ptv very often and - yknow, hyperfixation. fun fact: i timed the "im sorry but ive made up my mind" in bulls in the bronx to happen when it hit midnight on my birthday. no clue why, just thought it was cool ig

the jaws of life was the first album i owned physically, accidentally managing to acquire both the cd and the vinyl on my birthday (cd was spotted in hmv, vinyl was my grandma's gift. there's a certain cashier at that hmv that i think happened to be working that day who shares my music taste, they recommended my dad listen to them since he said he got the cd for me lmaoo) the songs on that album were the first ones my parents heard, as my dad's car has a cd player so i popped it in on the way back home. much later on due to some shenanigans involving a shitbox car thats best music source was cds and oh look ptv is the one band my mum didn't mind listening to and i had 2 of their cds (i'll talk about that later), it ended up becoming her favourite album of theirs so we'd very often listen to it on journeys even when she got her car back as it was one of the few things we shared taste wise after i took a dive bomb into rock/metal, so while its my least favourite in terms of songs as im writing this (i don't dislike them!! some of my faves are on there!!), im incredibly sentimental towards it regardless.

misadventures was the second album i owned physically, finding the cd buried in a local record shop (it has the acoustic bonuses on it!!), and i think i can sorta call it my favourite album of all time. almost every single song in that album has been put on loop at least once (i mean that very literally. every single one. except sambuka? idk, just wasn't in my head as much...) it was also involved in the shitbox car shenanigans which might have influenced my love for it too. the divine zero in particular had (and still has tbh) a strong chokehold on me, being a little too relatable for me as i was going through a very dark patch in life that im not sure is entirely over yet actually, though it at least feels like it might be. i still can't listen to that song only one time whenever it comes on, i have to replay it at least once. it was my top song on spotify and i barely even fucking use spotify. can you tell im normal about the divine zero?

tl;dr - ptv are cool. im normal about them. thumbs up emoji.

a flair for the dramatic and selfish machines, while not having a big long story behind them, have been incredibly important to me during The Cold Covid as their songs are the main ones im obsessed with currently. some noteworthy songs off them are she sings in the morning/yeah boy and doll face (ok this one's kinda silly: i found out people found the first song through osu which i hadn't played in ages and these two was some of the first plays i got in a very long time so i currently hold them very close. fun fact: i like rhythm games!), wonderless/chemical kids and mechanical brides (INCREDIBLY calming to me, go tos when i need to lower my energy levels), million dollar houses (very closely connected to one of the two hold on till may connected ocs) and fast times at clairemont high (ok it's just a banger to me. the high notes make me fucking feral and i listened to the song 10 times in a row once. oops)