#peril + turtle next

[spoonhead]

more Jade Winglet designs featuring Winter + Qibli!

Winter is very borzoi shaped to me, so I tried to do that with his face. also, although i think royal Icewings find icicle shaped horns more attractive than antlers, being away from the Ice Kingdom meant Winter didn't have to keep them shaved down. they're sharper though, still like icicles.

Qibli just feels like he needs darker scales and fun hair, so i did that + blocky shapes. he's also short, because i say so. the banded scales also feels right, so...

Moonwatcher + Kinkajou designs

~size comparison under cut~

Moonwatcher and Qibli are basically the same height, but Moon is much bulkier

*friendly reminder that i do take requests! send me your ocs and i'll draw them if i have time :)*

[a-buncha-bad-ideas]

peril/winter/turtle/moon doodles

[flawseer]

Ok, these time rate me the Jade WInglets

I've been sitting on this work-in-progress picture for so many months now. Maybe if I post it here, I'll finally sit down and finish it.

Very long post incoming.

Discussing the Jade Winglet

Okay. So, you want me to rate the Jade Winglet group. That’s going to be very easy: I love all of them.

It’s also going to be extraordinarily hard because... well... I love all of them. How am I supposed to put them into an ordered list? It can’t be done. So I guess what I’m going to do is: First I will put them into a tier list, and then I’m going to just talk about each of them individually for a bit.

But on account of aforementioned adoration I have for all of these guys, said tier list is going to be very lopsided. The tiers are going to be “I adore them with the intensity of seven suns”, “I really like them”, and “I very much like them, but...”. You’re going to have to imagine that there are five or so more unused tiers below that.

Let’s unceremoniously get that ranking out of the way first. From top to bottom, the tiers are:

I adore Turtle, Qibli, and Winter.

I really like Moonwatcher, Kinkajou, and Peril.

I very much like Umber and Carnelian.

As for more in-depth commentary, here is a disclaimer: When I think about these guys I mostly consider books 6 (Moon Rising) to 9 (Talons of Power) and the first half of 10 (Darkness of Dragons). The second half of 10... if I’m being honest, I didn’t really enjoy it. I don’t want to go into it too much here, if you really want me to talk about my misgivings with the second arc finale, put a message about it in my inbox (it’s not just the obvious thing; it actually mostly pertains to Winter and the absolute nightmare ending he got saddled with, and some very unfortunate character implications).

Some of my musings are also going to be a bit critical. I just want it to be clear that I make these observations as a fan of the series. It’s a good practice to think critically even about media that you like. It helps you better understand why you like it in the first place. Also, I make no demands to be agreed with. This is just how I see it.

Anyway, enough stalling, let’s get into it. Not in order:

Turtle

CW: Parental abuse

Turtle is the most wonderful thing to ever happen in the history of the universe. I wake up every morning and the first thought in my head is “Ugh, another day in this backwards reality where Turtle is not real! No thanks!!” Then I go right back to sleep disappointed until the next day. Okay, maybe that’s a bit hyperbolic. But I do think that everyone’s lives would be greatly improved if Turtle was real.

Turtle is a very vibrant and insightful character who, much like Winter, is unfortunately cursed with a pair of malicious and incompetent "parents". Some of his scenes really hurt to get through if you’re a parent yourself or have ever had parental feelings. The first scene he is in, when Moon observes him arriving at the academy, his mother makes a passing comment about how Turtle has no value because he cannot inherit the throne. Turtle is within earshot when she does this. And he has no overt reaction to it, which to me hints that Coral asserts this about her male children so frequently that he has accepted her line of thinking and internalized it. He just accepts it as the truth. That is heartbreaking.

And then there is his father, mild-mannered and ostensibly gentle Gill, who killed Turtle’s budding interest in writing as well as the entirety of his self-confidence back when he was a kid, by assigning a little boy a task that was well beyond him (and only to him, even though there were more people present who could have helped), and then made him believe he killed his unborn sister when Turtle inevitably couldn’t do what he was asked. The narrative really tries to make Gill sympathetic in that moment by insisting he’s speaking in anger and doesn’t really mean it, but um, no. I don’t buy it, dude. You just gave a little kid a lifelong guilt complex because you couldn’t think of asking more people for help. Or taking the egg with you while you left the hatchery. Or telling Turtle to take a message to the palace guard so someone who didn’t still have their milk teeth could mount a proper, organized search while interim guards were posted in the hatchery. Or literally any of the thousands of other options that didn’t require traumatizing your own son.

As a result, Turtle became emotionally reclusive. He registers to others as dull, placid, unpassionate, and boring, like he cares about nothing and is content to never strive for or achieve anything in his life. He himself explains that writing used to be something he was into at some point, but then lost interest in. But I don’t think he has. He still loves literature and thinking about stories, he's still doing it in his internal monologue. He just denies it because he subconsciously feels the need to punish himself. I imagine he still gets that drive sometimes, to sit down and start writing again. But every time he thinks about it, or catches himself wanting anything, his father’s voice resurfaces in his mind, telling him that he killed his sister and doesn’t deserve it. And then he self-punishes by depriving himself of everything he loves doing and every positive emotion associated with it. Because he is convinced he is guilty for failing his father, when in actuality, the opposite is true.

The tragedy is that, if Gill had known how much damage he caused and wasn’t in a situation where he needed a flowchart to keep his 30+ sons apart, he probably would have apologized. He doesn’t strike me as malicious, just horribly, horribly incompetent as a parent. But as things played out, Gill is no longer able to fix his mistake. The only person who can now grant Turtle the forgiveness he needs is himself. I hope he will be able to do it.

Turtle truly is an endearing character and a wonderful son undeserved by his parents. If I could adopt him right now I would. In fact, I’m gonna do it. Hold on while I get the papers. Wait, I have to finish? Uh... okay.

Moonwatcher

In a sense, Moonwatcher may be the most interesting character in the entire cast. She certainly had the potential to be my favorite character period. But there are a few points holding her back.

The thing about Moonwatcher is that, more than any other character, she requires meticulous care and attention to detail to be written well. The reason for this is that, when you’re writing for Moon, you also technically write for every character she interacts with. She is written brilliantly in her own book, since the narrative is allowed to focus on her; Moon Rising may thus actually be my favorite book of the second arc. It’s very enrapturing, seeing her navigate the academy’s social dynamics after growing up as, essentially, a feral jungle child, and battling with her own feelings of loneliness and inadequacy.

The thing is though... Wings of Fire has a bit of an odd quirk. Something I’ve noticed with regards to its writing is that, whenever a character is not particularly in focus during a scene, they often get reduced to their most basic traits and will rigidly act according to them regardless of prior context or external factors. I call this phenomenon “Auto-pilot”. If you’ve read my Mail Call #3, this is what I think happened to Tsunami during the second arc—Tsunami’s basic traits are that she is bossy, emotional, and blunt, so she spends the entirety of her page time as a deep-sea-themed wrecking ball who yells at everyone and dismisses everything as “ugh, nightwing powers” and “Peril was bad in book 1 once, I hate her forever”, despite having other, more pressing matters to prioritize.

Whenever Moonwatcher gets set to auto-pilot, it is very depressing. She needs careful, attentive writing to shine, and whenever she doesn’t get it she turns from the most interesting character into a dull brick that recites exposition and occasionally exists to be fawned after by boys. Tragically, the auto-pilot hits her bad after Winter’s book is done, and she never manages to escape it afterwards, save for maybe one or two scenes. There is a particularly egregious example in book 10 that, in my opinion, does permanent, irreversible damage to her character. It’s all a bit soul-crushing if dwelt on.

So yeah, I like Moonwatcher. I really do. I just wish the strong way she was written could have carried through the entire arc.

Winter

CW: Parental abuse

I initially didn’t really know what to make of Winter when I read Moon’s book. He seemed kind of like a buttface who was needlessly hostile and unapproachable. But he really comes into his own in his book, and looking back at his earlier scenes with that new context makes it all make sense. He became one of my stand-out favorites after that.

Winter really has a lot in common with Turtle, so much so that I wish those two actually had some deeper interactions with each other. Like, at one point Turtle saves his life, you’d think they would want to talk about that some time. Where Turtle’s parents are one half malicious, one half incompetent, Winter’s are pure malice AND incompetence. Blessed with three children, they managed to completely ruin one of them, almost ruin the other, and then the third one is kind of out of focus so I don’t know how he is faring, but I doubt there is a lot of love there either.

In a way, you can draw a lot of parallels between Winter and Icicle, and Zuko and Azula from Avatar: The Last Airbender—The unfavorite who tries to do right but constantly fails to live up to his father’s/parents' warped standards, and the prodigy who seemingly has her father’s/parents' approval but secretly suffers from the abusive parenting just as much, but in different ways. Hailstorm then tries to take on the role of Iroh, an older figure that acts as a source of positivity and genuine love, and offers a reprieve from the abuse. But where Iroh is an adult drawing from a lifetime of wisdom, Hailstorm is just the slightly older sibling who comes from the same abusive household battling the same demons, so his effectiveness in countering the toxicity is limited.

Where Zuko pursues honor, Winter strives to be strong. Both his parents and his sister perceive him as weak and label him irrelevant. While this hurts him deeply, I don’t think Winter fully surrendered to his inferiority complex until he heard his brother mirror the same sentiment at him. Winter is repressed and struggles with processing his emotions—Thus he heard the words Hailstorm only said to save his life and took them at face value. Even the person he loves the most, the only source of affection and affirmation in his life, thinks he is weak. This is what drives Winter to feverishly desire strength and thus adopt a persona of the strongest thing he knows: a stoic Icewing warrior.

This is why he acts the way he does in book 6: aloof, threatening, unapproachable, invincible. But all of these traits are diametrically opposed to his actual personality, which is warm, compassionate, and just wanting to be loved for who he is. So whenever Moon reads his mind, he comes across as a confused mess of conflicting emotions. Because he is pretending to be something he isn’t.

The interesting thing here is that Winter actually is genuinely strong. He is just unable to recognize his own worth, due to the toxic way royal Icewings are raised, warping his perception of what strength means. When he meets Foeslayer, who is said to be an ancient enemy of his people, his mind cuts through the veneer of tradition and old bullshit justifications and sees her imprisonment for the cruel injustice that it is. He then undoes that injustice and frees her. It takes an incomprehensible amount of personal integrity and willpower to just casually defy the will of your entire country like that. This is equivalent to treason; by aiding her, Winter risks becoming an enemy of his people on par with Foeslayer herself. And he does it anyway, because it is the right thing to do.

This dissonance in his perception of strength with regards to his Icewing upbringing, and the actual strength he embodies and has embodied all this time, is something I would have liked to see explored more in the finale or something. As it stands now, he got pressured into putting his life on the line in the battle for Jade Mountain, has sworn loyalty to a people that mistreated him and tried to ruin him from a young age, and then got saddled with an existential nightmare of an ending that leaves me baffled to this day.

In terms of personal misfortune, he certainly is the Starflight of his group.

Qibli

CW: Parental abuse

Qibli is a very charming and versatile character. It is easy to imagine him in a variety of different situations and the scenes almost write themselves, especially when there’s another person with him whom he can bounce off of (figuratively, though I wouldn’t put it past him to try to literally bounce off of someone too). The 10th book posits him as some kind of parallel to Darkstalker; the latter even overtly states this and tries to recruit him as a manner of apprentice. It’s interesting because I think they are actually pretty different.

Qibli excels in situations where his options are limited. He is great at thinking on his feet and coming up with solutions to problems within a restricted framework. He'd be great in an escape room. This ability of his is shown throughout the arc, but it is especially visible in Moon Rising, where his presence in a scene often makes Moon stronger, or more adept at solving problems, because his mind is breaking down the situation for her in a way she would be unable to see on her own.

The twist then comes in when you take Qibli out of that limited framework, by giving him power. His pronounced intellect is very peculiar; it needs limitation to be brilliant. When he has unhindered access to all-powerful magic (i.e. doesn’t have to clear his ideas with another person), he turns into a colossal idiot who buries cities in sand and almost blows up inhabited mountains.

It only follows that, if you were to give Qibli what he wants and make him an animus, it would absolutely ruin him. The great intellect he cultivated would wither and, unshackled from the limitations that forced him to think critically and be his most excellent self, he would end up destroying himself, and likely others too.

Another interesting facet of Qibli is how he works as a parallel to Winter and Turtle (and Peril to an extent). All of these characters come from broken homes and have suffered under abusive parental figures. Qibli’s case in particular is interesting because it showcases how your circumstances can make a difference in how well you handle that issue. Qibli suffered under a tyrannical mother and a pair of cruel siblings, but in contrast to his peers, someone from the outside noticed his suffering was able to intervene—Thorn saved him from his hell and became his rescue parent, restoring his confidence and sense of self-worth.

Because of this, when his turn comes to confront his demons, while it is still difficult and painful (because trauma always is), he is able to navigate the confrontation with comparatively more grace and control than the others. The contrast really shows how difficult it is to escape a toxic relationship if you are still mired deeply within it, and how you need to put some distance between yourself and it before you can see where you are and what needs to be done with improved clarity. That is the path to healing.

I could probably keep talking about Qibli for 15 more paragraphs, but I’ll spare you.

Kinkajou

Every protagonist (and a good deal of side characters) in Wings of Fire is broken, usually has some kind of gut-wrenching past (often due to terrible parents), and struggles to find their place in the world. Luckily here is a pink-and-yellow Rainwing who is just happy and everything is fantastic and wholesome, right?

CW: Forced starvation

Nah, Kinkajou had it pretty rough too. The story plays it like it’s a humorous quip when she finds out Moonwatcher is her roommate and bemoans that nobody is taking her “trauma” seriously, but... yeah, it actually is legitimate trauma. She was captured, bound, and trapped on a hell island without sunlight for several weeks. While there, she was not fed, and she helplessly watched people whom she knew from early childhood starve and die. Death by starvation is not pretty, she likely had to witness her friends slowly being driven mad by hunger until they withered away, and couldn’t do anything about it. Then she was rescued and returned to a home that didn’t believe her pain was real, that claimed she made it up for attention, and that some people who she thought of as friends didn’t even notice she was gone. The only one who believed her was a stranger whom she had met maybe a few hours ago.

Personally, if that happened to me and I came home to that, I’d likely have pulled a Chameleon and said “Screw the Rainwings, I’m moving to the desert.”

That Kinkajou is still able to be positive and full of energy after that is a testament to her immense mental fortitude. She might actually be one of the most stable and resilient characters in the story. Some things shake her up for a bit, but nothing can crush her.

Still, I imagine there are some times, after a really bad day maybe, where she wakes up in the middle of the night. And there, for just a moment, she is scared to open her eyes... because she might be back on the Nightwing island and has to watch someone else die.

Peril

Peril is a bit of an odd case in arc 2. She gets grouped with the protagonists of that arc and the ending implies she is integrated into the Jade Winglet as their new Skywing. I have no real problem with that, in fact it’s good on her that she’s made a little less isolated. But to me, Peril always felt like an awkward appendix to that group. Her only real friend in there is Turtle; for the rest of them they feel more like vague acquaintances, like she's tolerated for being Turtle's friend.

To be fair though, that friendship with Turtle is really strong; it’s an exciting and deep character dynamic. But if I was forced to tie Peril to a group of protagonists, my first instinct would be to associate her with the first arc protagonists instead.

This poor girl has been through it. Everyone seems to hate her and wants her to leave, sometimes for understandable reasons and sometimes it just seems bizarre. I already went into Tsunami’s disdain for her in an earlier post, but I also vaguely remember a point in Escaping Peril where she meets Qibli and he gives her a withering glare for some reason. That confused me, to be honest. I thought “What’s YOUR problem with her? Have you ever even met??” Like, I guess the Outclaws were in direct conflict with Burn since they lived in the same country, and Peril was an infamous elite combatant under the command of one of Burn’s allies, so maybe Peril killed people he knew? But then he gets over his disdain really quickly and with no comment, so whatever happened can’t have been a big deal after all.

My favorite part in her book is when everyone--after having learned about Turtle’s powers--chews him out for not having helped his country during the war, and Peril cuts through the tripe by saying something along the lines of “So if he uses the power he was born with to serve his Queen it is honorable, but when I do the same for my Queen I’m a murderer and deserve to have things thrown at me?” I love all of these guys, but they really deserved to be called out for their double standard and feel stupid for a bit.

But yeah, I really enjoy her friendship with Turtle in the end. And since he accidentally made himself virtually indestructible, it means Peril can now get all the friendly hugs she craves.

Umber

Umber is cool. He has a potentially interesting relationship with Turtle, which is implied in the latter’s book when it is mentioned that they sleep with their backs touching to comfort each other about their respective siblings not being there.

Unfortunately he gets written out of the story arc very quickly. I wish I knew more about him.

Carnelian

I like Carnelian. I feel like she had a lot of potential that gets wasted by her death, for not much gain. It is used to give Queen Ruby a reason to come to Jade Mountain and kickstart the events of Peril’s book, but the same could have been accomplished by having her learn that the Academy is housing Peril and going there to demand the extradition of a (in her eyes) dangerous and murderous fugitive.

Same as with Umber, really, I wish I knew more about her. I already said this during my Smaugust drawing session, but I like to pretend that she and Bigtail didn’t die, and instead had a mini arc about recovering from their injuries. It also has the side effect of averting some very unfortunate implications that come with Bigtail’s death.

~~~

I think that’s all of them. Good lord I talk too much. Please don’t throw crocodiles at my face for it. Tumblr is my queen, and--much like the Queen's former champion--I was made to do it.

[whispering-about-the-tmnt]

Current list of my TMNT Fanfics

✅ next to a fic means that it is complete

⏳ next to a fic means it is still being worked on

🔁 next to a fic means it will never be "finished" because it does not require completion (drabble collections, etc.)

I'm dividing these into two sections: fics in my 1970s AU iteration, and everything else.

1970s TMNT AU:

A TMNT Cookbook 🔁

Presented by Michelangelo, King of the Kitchen -- A collection of TMNT-inspired recipes and the very short stories behind them

Rating / Genre: G / Food & Cooking

Size: 3/? chapters (~1150 words so far)

Notes: Ties into my 1970s AU, but works for just about any version

Duck And Cover ✅

January 28, 1977 -- When April O'Neil bought the building where she had spent her early childhood, she knew it was going to be a challenge fixing it up... but she never imagined that challenge would involve uncovering both evidence of the old owner's Cold War paranoia and a group of unusual "tenants" living twenty feet below her new property.

Rating / Genre: G / General

Size: 3/3 chapters (~13,800 words)

Notes: The first story in my 70s Au... centers around how April meets the Turtles

Other TMNT Fics:

A Cup Of Good Cheer ️✅

April is afraid that she got Donnie the wrong Christmas gift this year, but Leo tries to convince her otherwise.

Rating / Genre: G / Holiday, family, gen

Size: 1/1 chapters (~3,400 words)

Notes: Autistic Donnie vibes

All The Time In The World ⏳

All Donatello wanted was a little more time to think…

Rating / Genre: T / Drama

Size: 4/8 chapters (~2,900 words so far)

Notes / Warnings: 2003 Universe; explosions, peril, guns, injuries

Displaced ️✅

An unprepared Donatello ends up on a Greyhound Bus to Springfield, Massachusetts

Rating / Genre: soft T / Mild drama, road trip, gen

Size: 6/6 chapters (~18,500 words)

Notes / Warnings: This was my first TMNT fic, which I originally posted some 25 years ago. It was written even earlier, though, right after the 1990s movies came out // Blood, guns, mild peril

Fleeting Thoughts 🔁

A collection of 100-word TMNT drabbles

Rating / Genre: G / Various, gen

Size: 9/? chapters (900 words so far)

Notes: I know it is hotly debated what the length of a drabble should be, but I was always firmly in the 100-word camp.

Just Breathe ️✅

Raphael has a frightening encounter on a chilly winter night.

Rating / Genre: G / Gen, mystery

Size: 1/1 chapter (~1,500 words)

Notes: Fits pretty much every iteration / mentions of suffocation

Midnight On The High Bridge ️✅

The High Bridge between Manhattan and the Bronx has always been one of Michelangelo's favorite places to go for a late night ride on his board; but on this cloudy evening, he finds more than just fresh air and freedom high above the Harlem River.

Rating / Genre: G / M/F, Meet-cute

Size: 3/3 chapters (~8,100 words)

Notes: Brings Oyuki into the 2007 universe; takes place a year after the events of the movie

Passage ⏳

Leonardo has an appointment with death.

Rating / Genre: T / Drama, supernatural

Size: 9/? chapters (~12,100 words so far)

Notes / Warnings: Originally written back in the early 2000s // Death and dying, gore, blood, mentions of religion

Red Dust ️✅

I had a dream last night. It was a long, restless, wandering dream.

Rating / Genre: G / Drama, poetry, gen

Size: 1/1 chapter (~700 words)

Notes / Warnings: Donatello-centric, Post SAINW, originally written and posted back in 2007 // mentions of death and dying

Requiescat ️✅

Leonardo died today.

Rating / Genre: G / Drama, grief, poetry, gen

Size: 1/1 chapter (180 words)

Notes / Warnings: Written a couple decades ago // Death and dying

Second Time Around ⏳

Two years after the defeat and banishment of Krang and Shredder, the Turtles and their human friends now have different, more personal challenges to overcome -- challenges that are made all the more difficult to deal with when Baxter Stockman and Karai pull them into a conflict that involves disentangling the complexities time itself.

Rating / Genre: T / Script, gen

Size: 19/? chapters (~28,000 words so far)

Notes / Warnings : A screenplay for a third Bayverse movie // Character death mentioned

Something Wicked ⏳

He felt movement all around him; something like the wind, though the air was dead still. He backed against the curved sewer wall… holding his breath as his eyes scanned the pitch blackness. The feeling grew closer, touching him… a whisper against his damp skin…

Rating / Genre: M / Horror, suspense, gen

Size: 21/? chapters (~64,200 words so far)

Notes / Warnings: Originally written and posted a couple decades ago, now being put under an extensive rewrite // Blood, gore, possible character death, whump, etc.

Still Waters ️✅

They say I'm the quiet one…

Rating / Genre: G / Introspective, poetry, gen

Size: 1/1 chapters (~200 words)

Notes: Also from over twenty years ago. A Donatello introspective.

The Bone Garden ️✅

You gathered up old papers, old photos… and you flipped through them, one by one, remembering…

Rating / Genre: G / Drama, grief, gen

Size: 1/1 chapters (400 words)

Notes / Warnings: Originally written on Halloween, 2007 for the 2k3 episode, Same As It Never Was, but now I feel that it applies to The Last Ronin, as well... or really, any story where one Turtle remained after the others had passed on // Mentions of death

The Scent Of Violets ️✅

Donnie and Mike are trapped underground with a memory

Rating / Genre: T / Drama, gen

Size: 1/1 chapter (~1,800 words)

Notes / Warnings: Written in the late 90s, early 2000s // Blood, severe injury

Under The Influence ️✅

Leo is under the influence of… something

Rating / Genre: G / humor, gen

Size: 4/4 chapters (400 words)

Notes: Just a silly little four-drabble story I wrote when I wasn't feeling so well a bunch of years back

When She Loved Me ️✅

She always said that I had his eyes. I don't know if I ever really believed her… after all, I never knew him. But I suppose they must be his. Her own eyes were deep and dark, almost black… reflective like mirrors. Mine are blue… light blue, like the sky. I think that sometimes she hated looking into them, because it was like she was looking at him again… like she was looking at my father.

Rating / Genre: G / Drama, gen

Size: 1/1 chapters (~2,500 words)

Notes / Warnings: Oyuki's backstory as I see it. Originally posted at FFnet back around 2000, though the fic is contemporary with the TMNTA Comics, setting its year at 1992 // Parental abandonment and neglect

[kengi-bengi]

Qibli sketch page! Featuring an Anemone! [not sure if shes going to be the next ref to finish or Peril lol]

like i said in his Ref page, hes going to play a fun part of this au! I dont really see any duo content of Turtle and Qibli and honestly? i think its a great duo to explore so we'll see more of it in this! [i guess its a Trio counting Albatross lol!]

[resident-wof-expert]

Is Turtle still indestructible? Because he was when Darkstalker dropped a whole hecking boulder on him and Anemone, and there's no reason for the spell to go away on it's own. So uneless they removed it (for some reason), Turtle is still indestructible.

And also nobody can remove the spell until the next animus is born. Turtle may have accidentally doomed himself to being as unkillable as Peril for the foreseeable future.

[yall-hate-kids-tourney]

Y'all Hate Teens Tourney Bracket

(Bracket updated through Round 2c)

76 teens who are unfairly treated by the fandom for being teens. Who has it worst?

We tried our best with the matches, but sifting through several unique submissions does get to us... We apologize for any unfavorable matchups.

Please let us know of any name corrections. For Japanese names in particular, we denote long vowels and put given name first.

No guarantees on when the tourney starts, but we'll try to get it started within a week. We'll start by setting up the propaganda posts, which will be separate from the poll posts this time around.

Round 1 and 2 matchups under the cut. Color-coded schedule here; undescribed. Note that the listed order is not the same as the schedule.

Round 1

Alicent Hightower (House of the Dragon) vs. Abigail Hobbs (Hannibal)

Amy "Panacea" Dallon (Parahumans (Worm/Ward)) vs. Orihime Inoue (Bleach)

Lady Kenna (Reign) vs. Lisa "Tattletale" Wilbourn (Parahumans (Worm/Ward))

Kokichi Ouma (Danganronpa V3) vs. Scott McCall (Teen Wolf (MTV))

Daphne Blake (Scooby-Doo) vs. Sophie Foster (Keeper of the Lost Cities)

Breezepaw (Warrior Cats) vs. Winter (Wings of Fire)

Gamzee Makara (Homestuck) vs. Yanqing (Honkai Star Rail)

Vriska Serket (Homestuck) vs. Haru (Beastars)

Dirk Strider (Homestuck) vs. Xander Harris (Buffy the Vampire Slayer)

Wednesday Addams (Wednesday (Netflix)) vs. Sylvester Ashling (Epithet Erased)

Yukine (Noragami) vs. Sayaka Miki (Puella Magi Madoka Magica)

Yukio Okumura (Blue Exorcist) vs. Soyo Nagasaki (Bang Dream! Girls Band Party!)

Round 2

Dawn Summers (Buffy the Vampire Slayer) vs *1

Marcy Wu (Amphibia) vs. Fatespeaker (Wings of Fire)

Sansa Stark (Game of Thrones) vs. Charlotte Pudding (One Piece)

Olly (Game of Thrones) vs. Penny Carson (Bojack Horseman)

Azula (Avatar: The Last Airbender) vs. *2

Mai (Avatar: The Last Airbender) vs. Peril (Wings of Fire)

Katara (Avatar: The Last Airbender) vs. *3

Steven Universe (Steven Universe) vs. Gohan (Dragon Ball Z)

Adrien Agreste (Miraculous Ladybug) vs. *4

Marinette Dupain-Cheng (Miraculous Ladybug) vs. Sakura Haruno (Naruto)

Muu Kusunoki (MILGRAM) vs. Misa Amane (Death Note)

Chloé Bourgeois (Miraculous Ladybug) vs. Candace Flynn (Phineas and Ferb)

April O'Neil (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2012)) vs. *5

Gwen Stacy (Spider-Man : Into the Spider-verse) vs. Dovepaw (Warrior Cats)

Damian Wayne (DC) vs. *6

Sasuke Uchiha (Naruto) vs. Kyuusaku Yumeno (Bungou Stray Dogs)

Shinji Ikari (Neon Genesis Evangelion) vs. *7

Shuuji Kayama (Digimon) vs. Gon Freecs (Hunter x Hunter)

Asuka Langley Sohryu (Neon Genesis Evangelion) vs. Youko Nakajima (The Twelve Kingdoms)

Rei Ayanami (Neon Genesis Evangelion) vs. Uzi Doorman (Murder Drones)

Akito Shinonome (Project Sekai) vs. *8

Ena Shinonome (Project Sekai) vs. Mafuyu Asahina (Project Sekai)

Katsuki Bakugou (My Hero Academia) vs. *9

Yuuma Tsukumo (Yu-Gi-Oh) vs. Megumi Fushiguro (Jujutsu Kaisen)

Wesley Crusher (Star Trek: The Next Generation) vs. *10

Ezra Bridger (Star Wars: Rebels) vs. Theresa "Scary" Marlowe (Dungeons and Daddies)

Hope Estheim (Final Fantasy XIII) vs. Tohru Honda (Fruit Basket)

Severa (Fire Emblem) vs. Taimi (Guild Wars 2)

Yukari Takeba (Persona 3) vs. *11

Rise Kujikawa (Persona 4) vs. Kotone Shiomi (Persona 3 Portable)

Goro Akechi (Persona 5) vs. *12

Yuuki Mishima (Persona 5) vs. Makoto Niijima (Persona 5)

Phew, that was a lot.

[wings-of-fire-confessions]

It's so obvious that Tui and the fandom have no idea asexuality and aromanticism exists. Here is a list of protagonists and their love interest, both canon and fanon

Clay : Peril fanon

Tsunami : Riptide canon..?

Glory : Deathbringer canon

Starflight : Fatespeaker canon, Sunny fanon

Sunny : Fatespeaker fanon, Starflight fanon, Peril fanon

Moonwatcher : Qibli and Winter canon, Kinkajou fanon

Winter : Qibli and Moonwatcher canon

Peril : Sunny fanon, Clay fanon

Turtle : Kinkajou canon(? i think???)

Qibli : Winter and Moonwatcher canon, Umber fanon

Blue : Cricket canon

Cricket : Blue canon

Sundew : Willow canon, Mandrake fanon (yes I've seen it, esp with homophonic fans)

Snowfall : NONE!

Luna : Swordtail

Notice how ALL of them, other than Snowfall, have some ship in the books or by fans?

Notice how a lot of these characters are maybe Children that adults get into shipping wars with?

The discussion of allosexuality in this fandom needs to be discussed. Literally 1 protagonist out of 15 has no love interest forced onto them.

Also when was the last time you thought of Riptide? If you aren't a die-hard shipper I'd bet probably after his last appearance in the books! His only relationship on the wiki is with Tsunami, he exists to give Tsunami a fucking love interest and it's so obvious!

And I doubt the next Arc will drop the insane shipping, I bet Auklet will be the main victim somehow with Peacemaker close behind. Fuck people even today ship Auklet, Bumblebee, Cliff, Mink, and Peacemaker together when NONE OF THEM HAVE MET AND THEY ARE LITERALLY BABIES.

From: an AroAce fan who's tired of allosexuals forcing relationships onto real and fictional people.

To: 99% of shippers.

.

[wof-as-humans]

happy spring!! ik it's been a while but im trying to get back into writing/art by returning to my roots with some good ol wof as humans designs! these will have the same general structure as my most recent moonwatcher drawing

[blueywrites]

an excerpt from turtle dove and the crow, part four

I have been working hard on this next part of farmer!Eddie's adventures with Dove after a pretty sucky week. I know many of us were struggling through it too, so I hope this helps!

Our poor babies are about to go through their own struggles in this next one 😭. No warnings for this excerpt, but please read all warnings on part four when it releases to decide whether you are emotionally prepared to read it 💙

This picks up in the middle of a paragraph, and you'll get that context when the chapter is posted! Enjoy 🥰️

...But no matter how many years pass, you would not forget how your mother’s stare made you feel. In the garden, a heavy stone sank in your gut, sickeningly leaden, steadily crushing your delicate insides with each second you spend pinned by her furious stare.

This moment reminds you of that. But there is no stone of lead in your stomach this time. This time, with the salt tang of Eddie’s seed still lingering on your lips, your entire body turns to solid, petrified rock. 

Your mother’s face is contorted, screwed up tight with shock and rage. But her eyes are wide, wide enough to swallow you up entirely like a sinkhole would. She traps you. And you remain there, locked tight until the seethe of her voice boils hot from between her lips, blistering the ruddy flesh on its path to you.

 “Git. Down. Here.”

Each word is a spitfire bullet, enunciated so precisely so as not to be misconstrued. The burn rushes down your spine to melt your solid rock into magma. 

Where one moment ago you were heavy as a sinking stone, now you are unsteady, shaky, like the first time Eddie coaxed you into a rowboat, though you can't grab hold of his rough, broad palm to settle yourself this time. Your muscles are clenched up tight, but the warm pulse once stoked between your legs has deadened.

You’re thrumming instead with horror. With deep, all-consuming dread.

You don’t dare risk a glance at the man still nestled in that soft bed of hay. To catch his eye would be torture of a different kind. Instead, you rush to obey your mother’s command, and your knee scrapes raw against old, splintery wood as you scramble around and dip one foot to catch the rung of the ladder. 

It’s a sturdy old thing, that ladder. Good thing, too, because it holds fast as you cling to it with shuddering fingers and legs so wobbly, they clatter against its rungs with each step toward the perilous ground. By the time you reach the floor, the knee you’d scraped has gone numb; you want to turn your chin down, to look and see if your dress has bloomed a crimson flower of blood, but your neck is unyielding. It’s hard enough to step back from the security the ladder provides. All the will your spirit possesses must be channeled into turning to face the woman looming like a cloud of miasma behind you.

There is no time, really, to brace for a confrontation, but you force your face into as docile an expression as possible before you face your Mama head-on. She is short and portly, hunched up in such a way as to make her smaller in theory but, in reality, it’s more imposing to you. But she isn’t looking at you; instead, she’s got one eye hooked on the edge of the hayloft and her lip caught in a sneer so deep it’s almost a snarl. “You too, Edward,” she spits, and your throat dries to dust. “Don’t think I’m ignorant of your bein’ up there with’r.”

The silence that follows is stifling, crowding in on you from all sides. The pressure doesn’t ease even as that pregnant pause turns to the creaking and groaning of wood, which protests as the weight of an unseen body shifts toward the hayloft’s edge. The thud of booted feet that replaces the wood’s cry is little consolation; in fact, your heart kicks up at the steady plod that commences, matching it in rhythm but pounding twice as fast. You don’t dare to turn and look or even fiddle with your skirt nervously. Your hands remain still at your sides as your mother stares above your head, watching Eddie climb down from the hayloft. Her eyes dip slowly and steadily along with the thumping of those booted feet; the final step down to the barn floor is quieter than the rest, and your throat tightens as you sense Eddie’s hesitance in it. 

As he alights on the ground, Mama’s eyes suddenly shift. Where once she had been staring almost uncannily in your direction, as if she may or may not have been trying to look you in the eye, a sudden cut and glint make it abundantly clear that now— now— your mother is gazing directly at you. 

It’s all you can do to keep from trembling.

You vaguely hear the shuffle-scrape of Eddie’s footsteps and feel the warmth of his body as he comes to stand beside you. A quick glance reveals the extent of his mortification: his pale cheeks are beet red with a flush that creeps down his throbbing neck, and his eyes are squinched half-shut as if he’s bracing for a blow. His adam’s apple bobs, and unconsciously, you swallow at the same time.

When Eddie finally opens his mouth, all that eeks out is the briefest croak before your mother instructs coldly, “You best be gettin' home to your uncle now, Edward.”

While the words don’t drip with venom, the mention of Wayne is nothing if not a threat, and Eddie recognizes it as so. You would never expect him to argue; in fact, you’d be dismayed if he had, but the thought of facing your mother’s wrath alone covers the frozen dread inside you with a fine layer of poignant sorrow. You are heavy, but now you are empty, too. 

Weakly, Eddie clears his throat to rasp, “Yes, ma’am.” Your chin trembles at the sound of his voice, but your eyes only begin to sting when you feel the soft, subtle draw of his fingers across the small of your back as he passes by you to disappear out of sight beyond the barn doors. 

The touch is one last offering of comfort from your beloved before you both must face the consequence of your transgressions.

[should-have-been-at-the-club]

Round 2 Match 6: They Should Have Been At The Club Tournament

Propaganda below the cut.

Propaganda for Winter:

(CW: animal death, brainwashing, abuse, racism)

Winter, since the day he was born, was pressured to meet the immense expectations of his abusive parents, Narwhal and Tundra, in order for him and/or them to have a high rank within their society. Which also included having to hunt for dangerous prey and going through dangerous blizzards at the age of a young child. Winter lost his brother, Hailstorm, by Hailstorm being imprisoned by Queen Scarlet, - who he thought was dead - with Queen Scarlet being ordered for Hailstorm to be brainwashed and transformed into an entire different dragon. He also witnessed two dragons dying and one severely burned from a cactus bomb explosion within a history cave, which was caused by his sister’s roommate, Sora.

Winter learned that his sister, Icicle, has been ordered by Queen Scarlet to murder his teachers and the RainWing Queen, a dragon who harmed his friends/love interests while trying to stop her from committing murder as well. He also saw his sister severely sleep depriving himself by burning herself in lava, out of her of Queen Scarlet telling her that his brother is dead because she failed to do what Queen Scarlet ordered her to do.

Winter also witnessed a “NightWing” with super-strength slam one of his friends so hard to the point that she went into a coma. Winter unintentionally was BURNED ALIVE by a dragon, Peril, whose scales emit intense hot fire, and nearly DIED because of it, before being healed by a magical magic rock that was enchanted by one of Winter’s friends, Turtle-

He also was severely brainwashed by a racist 2,000 year old teenager, Darkstalker, who killed a good proportion of Winter’s tribe - including his aunt. Darkstalker sent his NightWings subject into battle with the IceWings, which occurred next to the school that Winter’s attending, which is a battle that Winter participated in, after Winter saw father being killed at the entrance of the school.

And now Winter - who, by the way, is a young teenager - is now currently the LEADER of a big town that he’s currently working hard in building that includes members of all tribes to live in. He also didn’t become the boyfriend of Moonwatcher, the girl that he likes (possibly due to his past treatment towards her) which is something that’s he’s heartbroken over that he’s trying to move on from. Winter dealt with so much abuse, trauma, and grief throughout his life and in the Arc. that’s he in, so because of this, I believe he deserves a hang out in the club.

Propaganda for Tim Drake:

he spent his teen years trailing behind batman, and when batman was gone he spent a years time looking for batman. he Really didnt get to ve a teenager. he was stuck in batman's shadow. girl shouldve been at the club!

[innocentlymacabre]

Clairvoyance

Micro Monday Edition 4 was sent out Monday morning! Sign up now to get your fix of the next edition 🔓

I did a good thing today. I was at the beach and I saw a turtle struggling to get into the water and I did a good thing. I picked it up and helped it on its way. I did a good thing today.

A good thing happened to me today. I was sure I wasn't going to make it and I had said my goodbyes to my siblings. I hadn't been long for the world so they were all I had. But then two cups scooped me up and there was cause for celebration, for we were reunited. A good thing happened to me today.

A good thing happened to me twenty years ago. A bad thing very nearly happened and I had decided that was okay. We all had. The world hadn’t been long for me, but I was not yet done. A good thing happened instead and the bad thing was left behind in my stead. It encased itself in the grains of sand and burrowed into the ground, beyond the reach of me and my home. But my home is getting bolder and greedier still; it seeks to reclaim what it once lost and I see signs warning me of the incoming peril. A bad thing happened to me twenty years ago and it's time I reap what I sowed.

↝✧↝

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[epiphlyte]

the second arc povs this time! i really like the improvement art-wise between these guys and the previous five dragons : D ive dug myself into a bit of a hole now and can’t resist the urge to draw the next arc’s protags as well... then after that maybe the villains of wof... anyhow.

again, a more in-depth summary on what went into these designs below the cut!

---

first up, moon’s green! she, winter, and qibli were some of the only canon wof dragons i had previous designs for, but i love green so i just cranked up the saturation hehe. i’ve seen some people draw her with silver top scales, and i want to integrate that into her design next time.

winter is very shiny - this is the point where i decided to add effects and shines to some of these guys, for how could i resist the urge to make winter absolutely fabulous.... i really like the idea of royal icewings having antlers but i couldn’t really find a way to incorporate it into these designs specifically. for now, he just has generic plated horns!

peril’s nothin too special, i colourpicked her reds directly from the wiki’s ref. when/if i ever draw her in a scene i’ll add smoke coming up from her scales n such! i also love the idea of her highlights turning blue when she’s super emotional.

i imagine turtle looking very similar to fathom (pretty sure this has even been mentioned in canon), albeit maybe a bit chubbier. some of his scales are indeed glowing! the main thing i need to remember for next time is to add more jewelry for winter and turtle, being royalty n all!

last but not least is qibli my boy c: his personality reminds me of a person i know irl and i really liked reading from his pov! im actually super happy with his freckles and face shape, as well as generally both him and turtle! he’s the first pure (canon) sandwing i’ve ever drawn so i’m happy to use him as a base in the future.

---

i wanted to draw umber, kinkajou, and carnelian with these guys as well, but due to a lack of time i had to prioritize the five with povs. they’re coming soon!

[shortcakeart]

Wings of fire tarot (part 1). Explanations below the cut! Part 2!

The Lovers (Sundew and Willow): this one is pretty self explanatory. Best canon couple in the series (next to Fathom and Indigo maybe). The trees in the background loosely represent the creator in the original card.

The Magician (Turtle): this one is mostly based of the joke of Turtle being a magician, but animus magic plays a big role in his story so I think it fits. I also think the duality of action vs inaction and skill vs latent talent works really well for his character arc. I added his enchanted objects since the magician on the card has some of his own.

The Sun (Sunny): despite the obvious, Sunny really embodies the cards traits of fun, warmth, positivity, and success. Shes holding the eye of onyx to symbolize how she used her positivity to take her destiny into her own hands. She is literal sunshine.

The Moon (Moonwatcher): the moon card stands for psychic messages, illusions, and insecurity, which embodies Moons character arc especially concerning her powers. Also, c’mon, I had to.

The Tower (Peril): this card has a lot of negative interpretations with chaos, upheaval, and destruction. While all these things can fit with Peril, I also like the positive readings of it for her. It can stand for revelations and personal growth coming from said chaos and destruction, which is very true of Peril’s arc. She grows so much from her childhood trauma and the horrific things she was forced to do, and turned her destructive powers against Scarlet, who initially manipulated her into causing said destruction.

The Fool (Blaze): Blaze has the characteristics of childlike innocence, naivety, and being a free spirit. She’s often seen as a fool by the cast as well. She does however have a new beginning (another meaning of this card) at the end of arc one. The traits that made everyone think she was foolish are likely the reason for her survival, because she is too cowardly and not ambitious enough to be involved in the final conflict with her sisters. Her innocence make her the “nicest” of the sandwing sisters, which is her saving grace.

Strength (Clay): Clay is physically strong and big, but he also fulfills the cards traits of courage, compassion, and inner strength. He is the group’s big wings, and he is always putting others needs first and looking out for his friends. The original card displays a woman holding the mouth of a lion open. I drew Clay holding the dragon bite viper because, though he doesn’t actually kill it, he sacrifices himself to protect Sunny, Starflight, and Fatespeaker from it, showing his bravery and self sacrificial nature.

The Hierophant (Starflight): Starflight fits this role because of his academic nature and his role as a founder at jade mountain academy. While not all of the meanings of this card fit his character, he does represent education and morality. Much of his book consists of him realizing the moral failings of his tribes and attempting to fight back against it. And of course he had to be holding a scroll.

[katyspersonal]

Sort of continuation of a previous post about SOTE stuff from today gnghvb

1) I really liked it when I've spotted an owl with horns in Abyssal Forest :^)

Horned animals in Shadows Realm drop the horns explaining how here Crucible is stronger and that's why some animals here grow horns even if that doesn't fit their species!

2) Like I said, I asked @jarognieva 's help to defeat Midra and then accidentally defeated him myself while she just needed like 3 minutes to help me 🤡 So instead, I asked her help to defeat that awful Knight in the purple flowers place that from my knowledge was keeping me from finally meeting Trina! But she kept being summoned by random people (🤡🤡🤡) so I FINALLY helped to solve the problem by recommending a set shared password for summons XD Thank you @fantomette22 for this idea, it is always helpful

3) Jara also shared with me that this knight was weak to Holy! I still needed a rebirth after having to change my built for Midra earlier, so I decided to make it Faith instead of Intelligence! I swear every other DLC boss has me figure out how to cleverly change my character.

So I forgot to screenshot our epic encounter (🤡🤡🤡) gghyhgj And we went straight to get our asses kicked XD She also gave me useful advice on eating turtle necks for stamina (that I legit always forget to do) and to alter my Cracked Tear mix! It helped! Then she asked to not attack until she joins (that was with a delay due to arena specifics)... and that ALSO helped! Then she reminded me to use anti-frost items. And she was RIGHT about Holy damage hitting like a tank!

4) It was really hard though, and I was about to give up and drop it again but she told me to shut up and that we got it gfhghhh Bit by bit, our attemps got better, but eventually...

YEEEEES THE BITCH DIED!! It was basically the very last moment too!!!!! I was out of EVERYTHING AAAAA

5) Honestly though, as much as I dread this boss and never want to fight him again, these items are cool:

6) Basically every single advice Jara gives is super useful, girl never underestimate yourself gfhtfhg And separate thanks for encouraging me to not give up xD

7) Like I said, Midra exhausted the culmination for today so I decided to not go meet Trina yet and instead pick remaining items I missed today! I went back to Darklight Catacombs first! Hey remember how I was surprised that it didn't have a Knight of Death, after all? Well,

It actually DID! There is a nook where you can loot the full set from a corpse!! It is on the second "floor" of this place! Remember that odd ladder you saw and strangely a rooftop down in the pit? That area has a tiny crack in the perils on the side where you go to activate the light! Here is ( x ) just the video how to get this set!

So basically, they are like this because they refused to turn on Godwyn just because he died a little and had a bit of rebranding from Electric Knights to Death Knights 😔 Really bittersweet

8) And the next item I've missed was this torch!

They are ACTUALLY committing to making a torch for every type of fire here! I bet there will be one for Messmer's fire too!

This torch became accessible after the lever to move the bookshelf was pulled, as now you can jump ON that bookshelf and access the platform above!

9) It is also actually picked from a distinct corpse of Nanaya herself!!

Someone also placed a note RIGHT on her, so I had to go offline just to take the screenshots 🙄 She has black hair, and suuuuch detailed clothes..

10) Remember the note revealing that Aging Untoucheable CAN, in fact, be touched? It is all to get this item:

And that was a ROYAL PAIN to get

Okay so like... Basically I am SO bad at Soulsborne games that the journalist who couldn't complete the Cuphead tutorial would probably laugh at me -_- That includes the fact that until this day, I honestly had NO idea how TO parry in Elden Ring! This whole time I assumed that parrying just meant attacking right after blocking! After about five minutes of back and forth screaming at @val-of-the-north over how nothing seemed to work we deduced that the shield itself needed to have 'Parry' as it's skill!

So I've learned about a gameplay mechanic crucial for close combat 2 years later after the game got released (🤡), but that wasn't all. It was very, very, VERY hard to catch the window to deflect that enemy's attack! In like 20 attempts only one was successful, but the critical hit that followed didn't KILL it! I complained to VA about it... and learned that I could actually have attacked it for a few more seconds after critical hit! So........ like other 30 attempts followed (🤡)

I basically had to muscle-memorize every single step and move, but I did it as you can see!! No reason in particular, just completionism, but I actually start to love how this DLC makes me overcome my natural weaknesses as a player! It is designed to not let anyone win with the level alone x)

11) Directly you say? :p

How many things that plague the Lands Between originally come from here? Formless Mother, those red Kindred of Rot I've seen earlier probably hint that God of Rot comes from here, now this?

____________

Okay I think the next time I'll go meet Trina and explore other paths which Shadow Keep leads to! At least half of the locations is done by now *cries knowing all my friends already beat or almost-beat the whole DLC days ago*

[namesareweird579]

The dragon of the week is Willow by, 43.5%!

Vote for the next dragon of the week here:

Have suggestions for who the next dragon of the week should be? Vote here!:

Characters already done:

Whiteout

Six-claws

Peril

Starflight

Clay

Qibli

Turtle

Tamarin

Jambu

Willow