#anyways maybe it's me because i was a bit young when this arc happened

[randomnameless]

Eh, i'm not sure i agree with the point about needing to have scenes where characters who did bad things apologize to the people they've hurt, especially when it can be inferred that they did so off-screen; Iruka wasn't in the war, Kurama and Naruto only go back to the Leaf after a timeskip, and then there's a 12-year timeskip in chapter 700, and Kurama could have easily apologized to Iruka for what he did during either of those timeskips, especially after Naruto reignited his faith in humanity. Characters can change, regret bad things they've done, and apologize to the people hurt by said bad actions, and i don't think it's necessary to have scenes where they list off all their regrets and apologize to everyone they hurt on-screen.

Also, i don't recall there being any proof Obito had anything to do with starting the Blood Mist tradition, though i could be wrong on that.

Also also, i don't remember the scene very well, but it's fine for Naruto to call Kurama a brother after they spent 12 years being on very good terms and the two of them being nothing but helpful to each other; it's bad if he says that he was one of his first bonds, sure, since that's blatantly wrong, but if he just said that he grew a close attachment to Kurama after all they went through in the og series, that seems perfectly fine to me.

In regards to the Raikage scene, Naruto wasn't arguing that he should forgive Sasuke outright, just that he shouldn't go out and kill him because that'd just cause the people in the Leaf who still cared about Sasuke to hold a grudge against the Cloud, which could spiral into something much worse given enough time; he never tells Ay that Sasuke should go completely unpunished for what he did, just that there's no reason to put out a kill-on-sight order on him.

With the convo between Naruto and Nagato, while it is kinda underwhelming, i think it still works decently, though not as well as Obito's; Nagato's worldview had just been shattered by not only being beaten despite considering himself an almighty god above humanity, but also by Naruto, someone whose life he'd just ruined and who admitted to hating him, refusing to act on his anger and wanting to listen to his side of the story, before proclaiming that he'd find a way to succeed where Nagato had failed and end the cycle of hatred. While it's a bit of a stretch that being proven wrong about being above humanity and seeing one counter-example to his theory that people can't truly understand each other and will always fall back on their anger caused him to change his mind as much as he did, i wouldn't call it a “bad” convo.

It's long so I'll put it under a cut!

Eh, i'm not sure i agree with the point about needing to have scenes where characters who did bad things apologize to the people they've hurt, especially when it can be inferred that they did so off-screen; Iruka wasn't in the war, Kurama and Naruto only go back to the Leaf after a timeskip, and then there's a 12-year timeskip in chapter 700, and Kurama could have easily apologized to Iruka for what he did during either of those timeskips, especially after Naruto reignited his faith in humanity.

Sure anon, but imo, it reads as another dark spot against Kishi's manga -

There wasn't enough screentime for the victims to gain reparation, but we always had the adequate screentime to get the villain's backstory?

As I said in an earlier post, we're eons away from Part 1 Gaara who, just after being beaten by Naruto, apologises to Temari and Kankuro while they're taking him away.

The anime and the manga are different, I know, but even Pierrot (who did wonders for this verse!) had time to show Ino'n'Sakura arguing about a trinket to offer to Naruto and Hinata for their wedding, but no time for, idk, while Naruto isn't sure he should ask Iruka if he can act as his "father figure", Kurama trying to resolve the situation and/or thinking he might be the problem because he killed Iruka's parents all those years ago and deciding to apologise for doing so - with Iruka basically rehearsing what he said in the very first chapter, Naruto is Naruto and Kurama is Kurama, he would have came to the wedding regardless of anything, but he is glad Kurama is now someone who can worry for others like Naruto, and not only the person who killed his parents -

I mean, something, anything else than "and they made up off screen during the timeskip when Naruto gave free wifi access to Konoha".

Also, i don't recall there being any proof Obito had anything to do with starting the Blood Mist tradition, though i could be wrong on that.

I've checked the wiki (i know :() but I was under the impression the Bloody Mist era started when Yagura was the 4th Mizukage? And when we know Yagura was manipulated through Genjustu by Obito...

It's funny because in Boruto we have his grandson (?) who says his family was basically ostracised in the Mist because of Yagura's actions - I guess no one told him or the people of the Mist that Yagura wasn't the demon and despot everyone remembers him as, he was acting like this because he was being controlled ? By Obito?

Grandson dies in the Boruto plot, so hopefully, no one will ever give a fuck about this "who did the Bloody Mist" anymore.

In regards to the Raikage scene, Naruto wasn't arguing that he should forgive Sasuke outright, just that he shouldn't go out and kill him because that'd just cause the people in the Leaf who still cared about Sasuke to hold a grudge against the Cloud, which could spiral into something much worse given enough time; he never tells Ay that Sasuke should go completely unpunished for what he did, just that there's no reason to put out a kill-on-sight order on him.

My Bad, I misremembered!

However, Naruto's pleas are completely worthless because, while I know "death for death" isn't solving anything, Ay's brother was killed by a member of Akatsuki - the same organisation Konoha (and Naruto himself!) has been hunting for years know.

Sasuke's situation is a bit complex, but usually, the second someone joins the Akatsuki, they're a missing nin, a criminal and are marked as threats who have to be supressed.

Sure Hidan'n'Kakuzu happened before Naruto talked to Pain, but I doubt Naruto stopped by the village of Waterfall to talk to people who loved Kakuzu to "break the cycle of hatred" and not take revenge on Konoha.

I don't remember if it's during this moment or later, but Naruto basically pleads for Ay to apply a double standard because Sasuke is his friend.

This is where Naruto as a manga completely fails, and the issue that brought this entire discussion lol - characters face no consequences for their actions, especially when it comes to dealing with victims of said actions.

In his novel (iirc?) Sasuke behaved like an adult - or the better man compared to Naruto - and ultimately went to Ay to apologise for his arm, the Kage Summit and everything else, and Ay accepted his apologies.

With the convo between Naruto and Nagato, while it is kinda underwhelming, i think it still works decently, though not as well as Obito's; Nagato's worldview had just been shattered by not only being beaten despite considering himself an almighty god above humanity, but also by Naruto, someone whose life he'd just ruined and who admitted to hating him, refusing to act on his anger and wanting to listen to his side of the story, before proclaiming that he'd find a way to succeed where Nagato had failed and end the cycle of hatred.

This is the petulant child/tantrum I was talking about, I'm sure if Nagato accepted to listen back the Tsunade instead of Shinra Tensei'ng her to oblivion, he might have had a change of heart, but he was full of himself because of his might in a "might makes right" mindset - as you pointed out, he believed himself to be a god, so he had to be beaten up before finally being willing to listen to people.

I liked the part where Kurama came out during their "discussion", I remember when the raws (a very long time ago lol) were released people were wondering if Kishi made a blooper with Naruto's eyes, but no! Kurama, was also pissed at his story/discourse!

Naruto being the better man/the adult and not bashing his head in was a great sign of maturity from his part* - but then everything failed, because that discussion he had with Nagato about the cycle of hatred and his backstory was... only between him and Nagato.

Nagato solves this issue before it can arisen, but when Choji will ask why his father died, what Naruto is going to tell him? When Sakura will ask for some sort of reparation/justice/consequence against the man who killed both of her parents (assuming they were in the village when it was destroyed), what is going to happen?

Why only Naruto, as a victim, was allowed to get closure/an answer for Nagato's crimes, and not the 48752 other victims who might have had the same grievances?

And again, the cycle of hatred created by Nagato broke, the second he died to resurrect everyone - so there's no hatred to deal with. Naruto had to deal with his own hatred and sadness, accepted to listen to Nagato, and Nagato "undid" all the hatred he created and on top of that, dies, so no one will ever talk him shit for what he did (and undid). That's it.

We don't know if Sakura would have reacted like Naruto, if Shikamaru would, if Chouji would etc etc.

I know the manga is called Naruto and not Choji, but when the answer is supposed to be an answer for the world, it's completely ridiculous that Naruto gives it, and later forgot to tell to the rest of the village what was the result of his discussion, instead basking in the fame of "having defeated Pain".

There's no greated discussion between Naruto and his friends and the village council or whoever about what happened to Pain, what was the "cycle of hatred" and how to prevent future Pains from popping up.

*even if I prefered Asta's version, but in this specific Naruto situation, instead of listening to Nagato's answer and ultimately only talking about Jiraiya this and Jiraiya that and forgetting the 2k people who died due to Nagato's warped vision of "peace", Naruto could have thrown him his og head protector, the thing he received from someone who should, by all means, hate him because the demon inside of him killed his parents - but no, that man put an end to that cycle and became the first person who ever acknowledged him and became his family - and in his trantrum, Nagato killed that man.

of course this entire arc was build around a "child of the prophecy" bullshit - which later needs zombitachi to remind Naruto that no, no one can do anything alone, they need to be surrounded by people and rely on them - so the "you gave up on ending the cycle of hatred but it doesn't mean you should kill anyone who still tries to get rid of it, like Jiraiya, Iruka, random konohasian 86 or even me" since only naruto/nagato had to have the answer, but well, to be fair, that arc and its entire premise was pretty shitty to begin with.

While it's a bit of a stretch that being proven wrong about being above humanity and seeing one counter-example to his theory that people can't truly understand each other and will always fall back on their anger caused him to change his mind as much as he did, i wouldn't call it a “bad” convo.

His theory completely sucked, because wow very surprising, when you kill someone's loved one that someone is going to be pissed.

Sure that's his entire backstory and motto, iirc, some konoha loldiers accidently killed his family (they thought they were other people?) so in the shortcutted Uchiha deduction by Tobirama (tm), the more you love, the more you're going to hate.

Also, the "people can't truly understand each other" theory is rich coming from the guy who hired a psycho like Hidan.

But in general, in Naruto, there's this weird conflation between "understanding" and "accepting" - people can and will understand each other by fighting, and the loser (if he survives) will understand the winner's pov? Or he died, so he accepted it ?

Take post Pain Arc Naruto, if he met, for some reason, Hidan who didn't die before. What was he going to say? To understand with a guy like Hidan? Would he be worried about spreading the cycle of hatred?

Would Naruto tell Shikamaru not to kill Hidan, the guy who nearly had a boner when he executed Azuma?

What did Pain/Nagato (or even Kishimoto in this manga) meant by understanding?

#anon #replies #blogging about naruto lol #i swear i had this post ready since last friday #but i forgot it in my drafts because i wanted to add tags... #anyways maybe it's me because i was a bit young when this arc happened #but imo the Pain arc and its entire building was like the thing that made me reconsider continuing this manga #but i was part of the fandom and those were the 'blessed days' #where you were waiting for raws then translated chapters and then talked to random people on the net and shared opinions and theories and #whatnot about what was going to happen #the entire 'child of prophecy' made me yikes because duh wtf do you mean naruto is a child of prophecy #back when reincarnation nonsense was still far far far away #it was also amidst this era where there was this trend in fandom in general #where sympathising with the vilain was seen as new and not as hamfisted as it is today #but even back then i was like 'why the fuck should i feel bad for this guy who nuked the village of randoms i knew since chapter 1?' #'you killed teuchi and ayame what the fuck are you even talking about teuchi was a guy making ramens'

[vaxieth]

because something really did ask, have a much too long post about my thoughts on laudna’s individual dynamics with the rest of bells hells.

under the cut because it’s almost 3000 words.

laudna/imogen

i struggle to find something to say about imogen and laudna that hasn’t already been said a million times before. the core concept—the thesis—of their arcs, together and separately, is choice. so much of their backstories are defined by helplessness. laudna was chosen and killed because she happened to look like someone else, she was resurrected because she happened to be there. imogen’s mother left, she was burdened with powers she didn’t understand and meant constant pain and isolation. so, they make sure to constantly emphasize that the other person has a choice in everything. imogen tells laudna she only has to come back if she wants to, even though it would have devastated her to lose laudna forever. laudna tells imogen that the gods can’t control her, that no matter what her “destiny” is, if she wants, they can leave and live in a little cottage and raise horses together. the way they love each other unconditionally is all the more incredible given how cruel the world was to them for so long. laudna’s “you make me better” is true for both of them. they give each other a place to be vulnerable and feel all their messiest, worst feelings because they know the other one won’t judge them. they’ll support each other no matter the choices they make.

something i’ve mentioned quite a few times but never gone in depth about is that imogen and laudna do have a fairly significant age difference, and i do think that affects their dynamic. on the one hand, they both have a bit of arrested development—imogen due to her isolation from the rest of gelvaan from 18-26, laudna because she died at 20. on the other, laudna has so much more life experience than imogen. she spent almost 30 years traveling and interacting with the world even if was mostly people trying to kill her, maybe even because of that. the “laudna is imogen’s aunt/mother/older sister” takes were obviously ridiculous, but laudna does canonically look at imogen and see someone young who she wants to protect in a way she never was. she said as much to fcg after the gnarlrock fight. laudna acts as imogen’s rock, her tether if you will, a lot of the time, and part of the reason she can counterbalance imogen’s anxiety is because of the experience that comes with age. for example, during their conversation in episode 49, laudna is able to stay more “rational” and level-headed even when imogen is scared and overwhelmed. 

one of my other favorite things about them, specifically from laudna’s point of view, is that with a few exceptions (the gnarlrock fight, her jealousy of frida), she doesn’t seem insecure about their relationship. again, during episode 49, laudna mentions that she knows they haven’t talked in a while, but she didn’t worry because they “transcend words.” she didn’t need outside assurance from imogen because she felt confident in their love for each other. something i love about that episode 39-49 period is that they didn’t interact a lot, but when they did, they slipped right about in the same kind of intimacy they’d always had—imogen holding launda’s hand when they went into her dream together, laudna’s protectiveness of imogen after she interacted with ludinus. but anyway—that confidence is why i believe the transition from friends to lovers was so easy for laudna. laudna’s unsure of herself, of delilah and what she might do, but she’s absolutely not unsure of the love between her and imogen. that’s why as soon as imogen tells her she’s not a bad person, that she wants to be with laudna in that way, she lets herself embrace it entirely.

in conclusion: they invented romance, they’re the best canon pairing critical role has ever had and one of the best dynamics in general, etc., etc.

laudna/orym

oh my god, WHERE to begin? i feel like my take on their dynamic is slightly controversial. at the very least, i get more push back from people when i post about it than anything else, so let me start with this: orym cares deeply about laudna, i will never dispute that. however, orym is uncomfortable with laudna and has been since the very beginning of the campaign. she’s his friend and he recognizes her beautiful heart and resilient spirit, but he’s uncomfortable with her appearance and her messages in his head, with her macabre humor and her deadness. he can’t reconcile that laudna his friend and laudna the dead woman can’t be separated. laudna’s deadness is a part of her, one laudna embraces. orym, for better or worse, is “normal.” he grew up with a loving family and he had a husband and a career. will and derrig’s deaths were an unbelievable tragedy but one that never challenged his place within the status quo. (sidenote: i’ve always wondered if part of orym’s discomfort with laudna come from the fact that her proximity to death is a reminder of the resurrections will and derrig never got.) he sees himself as a follower, someone that doesn’t stand out, then there’s laudna, who does nothing but stand out. 

something i find fascinating is that orym is the first person to find out laudna’s backstory, and it affects him so much he can’t sleep that night and takes a point of exhaustion. he even explicitly recognizes the dehumanization she’s gone through and how laudna’s relationship with puppets like pate and sashimi mirror that. yet, he still never apologizes for trying to disguise her appearance, something without even asking. yes, i get it’s tactical and for “safety” (though that argument falls a bit flat for me when there’s also a glowing rock person and a fully conscious automaton in the group, but whatever), but it still hurts laudna. even beyond that, orym always qualifies his friendship with laudna to other person, making some mention of how she’s dead-looking and isn’t that crazy, wow, almost as if he wants some validation that it—laudna—is weird (one he, interestingly, rarely ever gets, given how enraptured most of the other pcs, including guests, and even some npcs, are with her). he does this even in situations he absolutely doesn’t need to like, for example, when maeve says laudna “looks cooler than i thought.” all this just sucks. it’s not that the love isn’t there, it is. it just isn’t unconditional, and laudna deserves better than that.

finally: the delilah in the room. no, it isn’t orym’s “fault” delilah is back. yes, he was also having an extremely bad time during the bor’dor fight and it wasn’t his “responsibility” to save laudna from herself, but laudna is orym’s friend. he listened to laudna tell him the trauma delilah put her through, he fought through hell to save laudna from her, and still nodded because part of him thought maybe delilah could help him and that was selfish. the fight against ludinus is important to of the bells, but for orym, it’s personal. it’s been his mission for six years. meanwhile, laudna is the one with the least enthusiasm about this. she has no connection to the gods. in fact, she actively thinks they dislike her, but he’s willing to sacrifice not just his safety, but the safety of her and all his friends for a cause they never set out to fight for.

in conclusion: i want to put them in a salad mixer together and watch them go around and around and around and around and around, then let them out to scream at each other a little.

laudna/ashton

if i had to explain laudna and ashton’s dynamic in one word, it would be “projection.” i adore their relationship, it’s one of my top 5 c3 dynamics, but oh my god, so much projection, and it’s so interesting because of that. ashton thinks he understands laudna, but in reality, he doesn’t at all. i’m an absolute sucker for characters that look very different on the surface but in reality are much more similar than they know, and ashton and laudna are that to a tee. they are very much narrative parallels especially regarding their feelings of “brokenness” and how their traumas are physical, visual parts of themselves, but the ways they diverge are almost more interesting.

certain people have said that her conversations with ashton are the only time laudna is “honest” or that, at the very least, she’s more honest with him than she is with anyone else, and i couldn’t disagree more. laudna can be a joyful, optimistic person and deeply traumatized with a core anger she hasn’t truly processed. laudna is a high-charisma character, and in my opinion, part of how that manifests is her ability to adapt her demeanor to the person she’s talking to. she speaks gently to imogen the same way she matches chetney’s hyperactive energy when they go sky-sailing. of course when she’s with ashton, who makes no effort to hide his anger and bitterness and doesn’t want her to be soft, she isn’t. none of these laudnas are more “real” than the others, they’re all laudna. what those people, and ironically, ashton themself, don’t get, or won’t let himself get, is that all those things can be true at once.

with ashton specifically, i don’t think they want to believe that because then they’d have to admit that growth and healing is a real possibility because anger is so much easier to deal with. people talk most about orym’s choices during the bor’dor fight most, but i’m fascinated by ashton’s as well. i wouldn’t be surprised if there was a part, no matter how small, that wanted laudna to break, to prove to himself that he was right and laudna was just as broken and fucked-up as them. so, laudna killing bor’dor was almost vindication, evidenced by their “what have i done?” “nothing i haven’t done.” exchange afterwards.

i don’t want this to sound like ashton doesn’t care about launda, they do. ashton cares about her so much, and besides imogen and fearne, is the most unabashedly into laudna’s aesthetic. i love how much they love all the weird shit she does. i love how protective ashton is of laudna, especially during battles and their willingness to go above and beyond for her—he carried laudna when she was dead despite his chronic pain without complaining once and were willing to make a deal with hexum after going through an entire museum heist to repay their debt. i love the moments when ashton sees how much laudna is struggling and tells her, as gently as he can, to take a moment and do what she can to ground herself. i love that when laudna way too dramatically assumes they kidnapped imogen, their response is “that’s very fair.” it’s all wonderful, and i love them.

in conclusion: I LOVE THEM SO MUCH AND I WANT TO LOCK THEM IN A ROOM AND FORCE THEM TO TALK ABOUT THEIR FEELINGS FOR HOURS.

laudna/fcg

laudna and fcg have been getting more attention in the past few days for obvious reasons and that has me rubbing my hands together maniacally because even though they have very little actual interaction, the subtext is delicious. 

besides ashton, fcg might be the character laudna parallels the most, especially their struggle with their humanity (if they’re even human at all), which isn’t helped by the constant dehumanization they face from outsiders, including the almost continuous comments they get when they meet someone new. people look at launda and see a horror while they look at fcg and see a novelty (he’s a robot with personality??), and those both suck. i think, for fcg, laudna is an uncomfortable reflection of himself because everything they’re afraid is true about themself is true about laudna. finding out they had a soul was such an important moment for his character (also remember his early campaign habit of calling other people “soul-touched folks”). as a hollow one, who knows if laudna even has a soul. if i’m honest, fcg seems to think less of laudna than the rest of the party (see: him calling her a “former person,” his speech before casting turn undead including, “no offense to laudna but can you please shine your light and wipe these evil, dead souls off the face of this flat planet?”) and that’s probably why. they have such strict ideas about “good,” which has become “godly,” and “wrong,” (“ungodly”), and within that framework, everything seemed to point to laudna as “ungodly,” which is why their empathy towards her is lacking. 

the biggest conflict between fcg and laudna right now is obviously their feelings on the gods. the changebringer brought fcg purpose and tangibly helps them on a daily basis. of course they want to share this incredible thing with everyone they meet, especially his friends. yet, time-and-time again, the world has shown laudna the gods don’t seem to care about her. before someone says anything, pike resurrecting laudna doesn’t automatically mean she has to trust the gods. clerics and paladins spent 30 years running her out of towns for existing and trying to kill her in the name of their gods. if the circumstances were different, there’s a good chance fcg could have been one of those people. for fcg, the world is black-and-white. for laudna, it’s all gray. laudna was able to have a conversation with imogen about the ruby vanguard’s message and the purpose of the gods because she understands the need to question things and thinks that’s a good thing even if she doesn’t agree with the conclusions. fcg’s not there yet, and until he is, their friendship with laudna will never be able to progress past where it is now.

in conclusion: please have a conversation, maybe even two or three. it’d be so good for fcg to learn the world’s incredible nuances and for laudna to see how faith in the gods can be an empowering force for good, not just something beyond her grasp.

laudna/fearne

out of all launda’s dynamics, this is the one i desperately want more of. we’ve gotten so little! almost all their moments are interactions between the three witches that tend to center imogen (making the red-string friendship bracelets and comforting imogen after she talked with relvin come to mind) OR center imogen and fearne’s mutual appreciation for laudna’s… everything. one of my favorite about fearne is that, like imogen, she doesn’t think laudna is gross and creepy, she thinks laudna is gorgeous and charming without any caveats. even ashton, who also loves laudna’s laudnaness, tends more towards “yeah, you’re disgusting and THAT’S why it’s great.”

the other main part of their dynamic i want to sink my teeth into is the coin-toss, more specifically fearne’s guilt over the coin toss. regardless of whether you think fearne lied (i personally find that headcanon FASCINATING but to each their own), she clearly feels so many emotions about having to pick whether to save laudna and orym that she hasn’t even begun to unpack. one of the few sole moments we’ve gotten of them was in episode 42 when laudna asked fearne to help teach her to cast fireball, and in it, fearne, unprompted, blurts out, “how’s it feel being alive again?” almost immediately. she also apologizes to laudna, says they’ll fight any piece of delilah that’s still in there, and tells her, “i missed you terribly for that moment in time.” even when laudna gives her the chance to make the conversation light-hearted, fearne stays so genuine, which is all the more-noteworthy because she’s usually so flippant and almost always keeps her real feelings close to her chest. 

some other examples of fearne’s guilt include: the 4sd where ashley said part of why she was so protective over imogen during their separation arc was that she couldn’t bear having to tell laudna anything happened to her and just this past episode when fearne’s protectiveness after laudna made her only cast first-level cure wounds on fcg after they cast turn undead.

in conclusion: PLEASE LET THEM INTERACT MORE. THERE’S SO MUCH JUICY POTENTIAL AND I WANT TO SEE IT EXPLORED.

laudna/chetney

i don’t have that much to say about them except that their dynamic is absolutely delightful. i love that we’ve gotten to see more of it in recent episodes, and i hope that continues. 

chetney exists at an interesting place between orym’s genuine discomfort and fearne and imogen’s complete enchantment with laudna’s undeadness. he is sometimes grossed out, but he also seems to accept it as a thing about laudna without too much judgment, or at least, that “judgment” is light-hearted in a way orym’s or even fcg’s isn’t.

i love that they’re the characters with the most life experience (even if laudna is technically the fourth oldest, fcg only has two years of memory and fearne is a 100+ but spent 99% of that time in one place) but also embrace being “childish” and silly together, like the entire sky-sail sequence! 

in conclusion: *gently holds* i just think they’re neat!

that’s all! if you read this whole thing, you get my eternal love and gratitude. thank you.

#laudna #imodna #laudmoore #orym #fresh cut grass #fearne calloway #chetney pock o'pea #bells hells #critical role #my posts #textpost #i’m weirdly more nervous about posting this on here than on twitter #but i spent like three hours writing and am pretty proud of the result #in case it isn’t clear i want to reiterate that i love ALL these characters #including orym and fcg #but they aren’t perfect #that’s what makes their dynamics so interesting!

[obsidiancreates]

OKAY THE PROMISED REINCARNATION AU

As I said, I read a fic with 2012 boys having died and reincarnated into the Rise universe and adopted by the Rise boys and it gave me IDEAS so anyway

So I want Max Angst when the 2012 boys remember their past lives. I don't know exactly when they died, but I'm having Monster Arc and Heart of Evil and stuff be canon, but not Mutant Apocalypse. Again, not sure how/when they died to make this possible. But it WAS before they turned 20.

They're reincarnated as lil' babies, just tiny lil' guys. They're born to a normal turtle but uh, they aren't normal turtles, so the owner of their turtle freaks out and puts them in a box in a random alleyway. And then, as luck would have it, Señor Hueso opens Run of the Mill one day to find a box of small mutant baby turtles. With a deep sigh, he takes the box inside, feeds them some veggies, and calls up Leo.

"Ah, Pepino, none of you or your brothers have had any... flings lately, have you? No? Well, I ask because a box of baby turtles were in front of the door today-"

He's not even finished with the sentence before a portal opens up and all four Rise boys (probably early to mid twenties in ages) and Splints tumble out. Splints grabs the box, looks inside, and says "We'll take them!"

"That was easier than I thought."

They order some pizzas while there, of course, and get to know these tiny babies while they wait. They all seem to be the same species of turtle, and all the same age.

Now in the fic I read each Rise Boy raised their counterpart, which is great, but it could also be cool for them to be raised by their non-counterparts too? Like I could see 2012 Raph having been raised by Rise Mikey and 2012 Leo being raised by Rise Donnie? I think for this we'll have their own counterparts raise them but food for thought, let me know what other Father-Son pairings you'd do personally.

Anyway for the rest of this I'll be referring to Rise as Raphie, Leon, Angelo, and Donald, and 2012 as their usual nicknames.

Raphie holds the second smallest baby and coos at him, wiggling a finger over his face and watching the way the baby tracks it with beady little eyes. None of them seem to have irises or sclera at first, but Donald says it could just look like that because they're so young, the same thing happens with kittens who've just opened their eyes. As Raphie coos over the baby and waves his finger around, the baby scrunches up his face and starts to cry! Raphie panics for a second, but Splints shows him how to properly cradle the baby and soon lil' Raph is asleep.

Yes, they name their sons after themselves, Because They Would Do That, but also because Splints kept accidentally calling the babies those names anyway and they didn't want to confuse the little guys too much.

Donald holds baby Donnie up like he's examining a peculiar invention for a bit, and baby Donnie just smiles at him and makes baby sounds. After a bit of examining Donald cradles Donnie in one of the battle shell's robot arms and begins softly singing a little Dewey Decimal System rap he made up and baby Donnie slowly falls asleep as well.

Angelo is just gushing over this cute little baby and making all the silly faces, and baby Mikey is giggling and babbling non-stop, reaching up and lightly slapping Angelo's face with his lil' baby hands and it is The Cutest Ever! Angelo's heart is stolen and it sets the path for Mikey to be So Spoiled in the future.

Leon holds the last baby, a quiet and calm little guy who's just staring at him. He's a little creeped out, to be honest, and nothing he's doing to make the baby laugh is working. Then Hueso brings over the pizzas, and Leon grins and says "We'll need 'em, raising these guys is going to leave us, uh bone tired." And maybe it's the voice he uses or the cocky grin but that finally makes baby Leo laugh! And Leon's heart melts because the baby likes puns this is perfect.

So they take them home and bam! Four sons now! April is hanging out with Casey and Casey Jr when she gets the text "YOU'RE AN AUNT NOW!" and of course this makes her very concerned so all three of them head right for the lair and they enter to find Draxum on the couch with a book on child development, Splints playing peek-a-boo with a single bassinet full of four baby turtles, and the four brothers all eating as Draxum tosses out little snippets of advice from book and they all nod.

"Where'd you get those?" April says, pointing at the bassinet.

"Someone left them outside of Run of the Mill? Can you believe it? Four perfect little angels and someone didn't want them!" Angelo coos. At that moment baby Raph starts crying again, frustrated by the peek-a-boo game (and a little scared that Splints keeps disappearing).

Anyway, the four are raised as brothers and not cousins because non-nuclear family structures for the win, and it's great! They're all a little more well-adjusted than their past selves were. Raph's anger issues are taken more seriously and Angelo and Raphie talk with him a lot about it and help him find ways to manage it. Donnie feels way less insecure/resentful of being a mutant because he grows up around humans and mutants alike this time and goes out to the surface way sooner, and as we all know it's a lot easier to pass as humans with very little effort in the Rise world. Mikey's ADHD is like, taken seriously and everyone knows he's not dumb, just impulsive and has trouble paying attention (sometimes though he just chooses to be a little shit and they still get mad at him for those times).

I actually think Leo will end up the most The Same, just because his drive to be perfect/severity/endless pressure on himself doesn't really start until after he's made Leader in 2012, before that he seems mostly normal (for a teenage mutant ninja turtle anyway).

Wow this was meant to be an angst AU but Baby Cuteness got to me. Well I'll put the angst under a Read More I guess so y'all who don't want it can just have this happiness.

So when they're about 15, they start feeling more restless. They have a lot of fun with their family, but they haven't done much of the hero stuff. Their dads have tried to keep it to a minimum (it can never be Zero for them, but they have a strict "Let us get our kids home or at least ignore them while they hide" policy with the villains and most of them, like Warren and Hypno, don't mind and totally oblige and yes this is partly because The Rise Boys are intimidating parents and partly because why would they beat up an eight-year-old?)

So they've been minorly involved in some fights, but gosh, they're just kids. Their dads remember how fun it was to fight bad guys at their age, but also how damaging it was in the long run. And for the most part, their sons have been fine with it. They've gone a few minor fights here and there, even have a nemesis of their own (Hypno and Warren adopted a yokai girl, some kind of bird I think, and she's the most pompous person alive, their fights are never intense though because her dads are also protective) and it's been fine.

But it's like a switch flips, and suddenly they're constantly itching to go out. Suddenly Raph's having trouble remembering his anger management methods. Suddenly Mikey's acting up more than usual. Suddenly Donnie's patience is paper-thin. Suddenly Leo's being bossy and demanding of his brothers.

Well, "suddenly" isn't quite right. It's slow, but it definitely starts on their 15th birthday. And it just keeps getting worse.

And they're having nightmares. Lots of them. Donald rushes into Donnie's room one night after hearing screaming to find Donnie clutching his arm to his chest and sobbing incoherently about needing to find Mikey and Raph because he's after them, but come morning when Donald asks all Donnie can remember is "Something big hit me, and I knew they weren't safe either."

One night Leon hears a crash and runs into Leo's room to find his son crying, having fallen out of bed and landed on his knee funny and he's holding his throat begging to see his brothers. Again, come morning all he remembers is that he'd been in a bad fight and They Weren't Safe.

Angelo wakes up to Mikey crawling into his bed, shaking and quietly crying, and mumbling about squirrels and evil moms and all kinds of terrible things, and Angelo hugs him and calms him down. In the morning Mikey just says he might need to stop reading horror comics.

Raphie can't even comfort his son because Raph screams when he sees him through sheep-glazed eyes and backs away and begs and begs to leave him and his brothers alone, and he calls out for Leo over and over until his brother and uncle in blue both come in and Leo hugs Raph and the two fall asleep in each other's arms. In the morning Raph just says he thinks Donnie's nightmare from before got to him, and that something else got Leo and got him bad.

And they become so tired. They can barely sleep anymore. Leo's leg should be fine by now, it was just bruised, but he keeps limping. Donnie keeps staring at nothing, lost in thought, and all he can say when someone asks what's wrong is he feels like they're missing something, someone, and he's taking minor failures so hard now. Raph keeps looking around the lair like he's expecting something to jump out at them, keeps gripping his sai like he'll need to use them at a moment's notice. Mikey keeps acting desperate to be heard whenever he suggests something, and he keeps checking the freezer and tearing up when whatever he's looking for that he doesn't even know isn't there.

There's some nights where they don't scream or go to their dads. There's some nights, that only them and their grandpa know about, where they sneak into Splints's room and ask if they can just stay there for a little while. Sometimes all of them end up in there at once, and Splints wakes up to them gathered around his bed, leaning up against it as they sleep with weapons in hand. He never tells anyone, just shakes Raph and Leo awake so they can carry their brothers back to bed, and he goes with to tuck them all in. And sometimes on those nights, when the boys are half-asleep and mumbling, he thinks he hears them call him 'Sensei'.

And then there's the way they fight.

Their dads are all deeply concerned the first time they do some sparring after their 15th birthday. Because they seem to forget to pull back.

Leo flips Mikey with full strength and Mikey swings his nunchucks without bothering to aim away from Leo's limbs. Raph slams his shoulder into Donnie's chest hard enough to completely knock the breath out of him and then Donnie jabs the end of his bo into Raph's chest right back so hard that it cracks the wood. Draxum and Splints break them up, always on the sidelines watching with pride in their grandsons, and The Rise Dads scold them all for being so brutal to their own brothers.

It's during a fight with Meatsweats and some new cooking assistant of his that they learn Donnie and Mikey added some blades to their own weapons. And all four go for a kill blow when they get the chance. Meatsweats is out of there faster than you can say "Cowabunga", bruised and bloodied, and the dads have another talk with their sons. Something along the lines of "You can't be 15 year old murderers!"

And then there's the anger. All four of them are suddenly so very, very angry. And not in the short-tempered way Raph's been his whole life, or the easily irritable way Donnie's always been. They're all deeply, painfully, angry. And none of them can really explain why. Just that it feels like they lost something.

And then, one day, Donald is wearing his mystic-seeing goggles when Donnie enters the lab. And what he sees chills him to the core.

He sees this overlay. It's Donnie, but not. The overlay is a little taller, a little older, and horrifically scarred on every inch of his body. His shell and plastron are littered with scratches and chips. He's got small scars and nicks all over his body. He's got a big one on the arm Donald remembers him clutching after his first nightmare. He's got horrific burn scars on his head and face, like someone electrocuted him over and over and over without mercy, and there's burn scars everywhere else too but those look circumstantial and the ones on his face looks purposeful. There's so much visible pain, all over this overlay of his son, his son. And it doesn't even look much older, maybe four years older at most, and-

And it's so angry.

It's a transparent purple, a sort of lavender color the same as Donnie's mask, but it's eyes are a solid and stark white. They're narrowed, and his mouth is set in a deep scowl. Tears drip down his face non-stop, but it's like the overlay isn't even aware he's crying from the way he just radiates anger.

And Donald grab Donnie's arm, panicking, and lifts his goggles.

His son is looking at him in confusion and concern, and he's fine. He's got one scar, and it's just from a skateboarding accident he had when they were around 10 and his elbow pad slipped up when he skid across the ramp. He's not scowling, he's not crying, and he's trying to get his dad's attention.

"Could you get your brothers and uncle?" Donald asks, and Donnie nods and runs off.

When they get back Donald has set up a large x-ray like machine. He asks the boys to stand behind it, and explains to his own brothers that he put his mystic crystal into this machine to check something. He explains, quietly, that he saw something that half-explains what's been going on with their sons.

And he turns it on.

And oh, god.

Raph's overlay has a large chip taken out of the right corner of his plastron, and just like his brothers, is littered in scars on every inch of him. His overlay is scowling and crying and white-eyed, and it's body language is so much more tense. Raph himself is just sitting there, arms crossed, a little annoyed but not too upset, until he looks up and sees his dad and uncles crying.

Mikey such a strange one to see, scowling like that, just so full of anger and pain. Like Raph he doesn't seem to have any huge scars, until he bends over for a second because he dropped something and all over the back of his shell there are these discolored spots, like something broke it open from the inside and it had to heal back over. The thought makes Angelo's heart and stomach drop and makes him need to lean again Raphie.

And Leo. None of the overlays are free of scars, hundreds of scars, but Leo... he has the most small ones small but deep, like shards of glass stuck into his skin and had to be pulled out. He's got a jagged, messy scar on his throat that wraps almost all the way around to the back, and they can see another all-encompassing scar around his newly-bum knee. There's so many scars that follow such a specific pattern, two blades spaced apart in such a precise manner slashed across him without mercy and-

Draxum and Splints had followed, and they're both silent, horrified, and Draxum quietly says, "I think... those overlays are their souls."

And suddenly the whole family has a new mission: find out why their boys have such wounded souls. Find out who did this to them. Find out how to fix it.

They don't tell the boys what they saw, and it's for the best, because the nightmares keep getting worse and now they have scars they can place some of the half-remembered stories to. And they start to piece together that the boys are remembering some other life, some other world, and is this some kind of curse or something else? Is it another world bleeding through and affecting their boys, or is it possible they came from that world?

And then, as they're struggling to figure this out and to help their boys through sudden new PTSD episodes and triggers that their boys don't understand the cause of, then...

A portal opens somewhere in New York.

A pink, triangular portal.

And they find somewhere to point all the anger they have for their boys.

(I also have another version of this where they don't discover what's happening until The Rise Dads are captured by the 2012 Kraang and the 2012 boys, who fully remember their past lives, charge in to save them, and their Ninpo manifests as they can reach into the other world and pull things through like The Shellraizer and such, but it comes with the cost of their new bodies becoming more and more like their old ones, so their dads watch them fight incredibly viciously and pull all this stuff out of some other dimension and have to just watch as all these scars appear on them and they get older but suddenly they stop getting older very soon and that hurts just as much as seeing the scars and they're both horrified and in awe of how their sons are fighting.)

#tmnt 2k12 #tmnt 2012 #tmnt 2018 #rottmnt #tmnt crossover #reincarnated au

[reashot]

After Fall + Lancaster

Jaune: H-hey are you okay. Do you need me to take you to the doctor?

Ruby: J-Jaune what are you... I mean why do you looks so young!?

Jaune: Uh you feeling okay? I mean I'm always been young. And how do you know my name?

Ruby: Jaune stop kidding around! What happened to me after I drunk the tea? Are we still in the ever after? And where is that fu***** Cat!?

Jaune: W-wait a moment. Tea? Ever after? And what Cat are we talking about?

The only thing I can answer is that we're in Beacon and I actually just enroll here so I can't tell you about this place. I'm sorry.

Ruby: You just enroll here... But that's impossible. Beacon is gone...

No way... T-this is impossible. Where - I mean, when are we?

Jaune: Okay... I think you might hit your head a little too hard after that explosion. Don't worry I will help you find the academy infirmary. Oh I know you already know my name but let me introduce myself anyway. My name is Jaune Arc. Short, sweet, rolls of the tongue....

Ruby: Ladies loves it...

Jaune: Uh... Have we met somewhere before?

Ruby: .... No. I'm sorry but I think I really did hurt my head so bad. I'm Ruby by the way. (*grabs Jaune's hand*)

Jaune: (*pulls Ruby up*) Then we better find the infirmary. To have you checked.

Ruby: Oh no, please there's no need. As you can see I'm completely fine now. I'm just a bit dazed after the dust explosion... Me being a dumb "Crater Face" and all. 😋

Jaune: You shouldn't called yourself "Crater Face." That would have been if I called myself "Vomit Boy" because I pu... Oh! You were at the Bullhead when I puked all over the ship! I'm so sorry for puking next to you.

Ruby: Oh you don't have to apologize. Motion sickness after all is a lot more common than we realize. 😊

Jaune: I know right! I can't believe there's no motion sickness pill inside the Bullhead. That's just asking for trouble if you ask me. I'm surprised that there isn't more people puking on the ship.

Ruby: (He's such a dork😏) Jaune this might seem to come out of nowhere, but do you want to be my friend? 🥺

Jaune: Sure after all stranger are friend you haven't met yet. That's what my mom said anyway.

Ruby: (I knew he would say that. Oh Jaune why did I never have the courage to pursue you back during the Academy.😞) Thank you (*hugs Jaune*) 🥰

Jaune: Oh. Usually I don't mind when a cute girl is hugging me. But isn't it all too fast?

Ruby: (He called me cute!!! I knew it, I knew he likes me! 😫) Didn't you said that stranger are just friend you haven't met? And Jaune you can pat my head if you want. 😘

Jaune: I guess I did say that...

Ruby: Eh, he, he. I'm never letting you go Jaune... (Never...)

Jaune: Oh stop kidding around Ruby. We have to find the rest of students.

Ruby: No need. I know where they are. How about we take our time before we meet the rest of them? There's some place I want to take you to.

Jaune: Uh okay, I mean you seems to know more about this place than me so lead on Ruby.

Ruby: (Yes! I'm finally going to go on a date with Jaune. Don't worry Jaune I will make sure things are right this time. I will make sure you never have to lose anyone ever again. I'll save Pyrrha, Penny and everyone. Maybe I start by killing Cinder first... He, he, he. Oh I can't wait to see the look on that bitch's face as I behead her. Oh and maybe I'll help with Jaune's training too. That way he can be the hero he always wanted and I don't have to be alone. Oh the possibility are endless. 😈)

C'mon let me show you around the academy....

The scene pans out as Ruby drags Jaune by his arm to show him what Beacon has to offer.

#jaune arc #ruby rose #lancaster #lancaster rwby #rwby #jaune x ruby #ruby x jaune #rwby lancaster #rwby volume 9 #yandere ruby #isekai ruby #tensei ruby

[just-sp-in-inginthevoid]

Hello. I am wondering why you start liking Takeomi. He is the most hated character by the fandom and your choice of wet soggy cat is very unique. I want to listen your ramblings.

Oh anon, if only I knew

I'll try to remember how it happened, that much I think I got it.

So, when I first got into TR, my mind mostly focused on Mitsuya and the Shiba (mostly Taiju), so much so that I ended up writing a lot more than I thought I ever will on Taiju and explaining where his behavior comes from

Because it seems like a lot of people missed some important information. And by doing that I was able to show them details they had missed (prove that I was right in previous posts where I didn't justified myself and basically got called a liar by someone in the notes which incredibly pissed me off-) and, although that doesn't excuse what Taiju did, it does explain it and makes him more.. real? Maybe not relatable, but his domestic abuse didn't pop up out of nowhere and a lot of people know what intergenerational trauma can do so while still hating Taiju they could understand him better.

Then, having finished my Taiju analysis which also opened my eyes since I found more than what I initially thought about; I myself was able to understand him better and so I thought-

Why not do that with every hated characters in the fandom?

I don't quite recall if my (at the time, very slight) interest in Takeomi happened a bit before or at that time, but the reason why I focused on him before the others (which, uh, aren't a lot anyway) was because I saw stuffs written about him which I didn't really agree with? Like, yeah, he was flawed and raised his siblings badly - especially when next to Shinichiro who was (at least depicted as)(and try to be) good at it - but they were kinda amplifying things

I know that a lot of people relate to Sanzu, or just, love him, and since they saw things I haven't seen, I told myself 'well, let's investigate, then' and then I wrote about 17k words on Takeomi's psychology.

I literally walked myself into the Takeomi rabbit-hole (what a FUCKING mistake /positive)

Takeomi did neglect his siblings, and passive-aggressively verbally, or even emotionally, abused Sanzu and for most of the fandom, is not attractive (and, let's not lie, beauty is a redeeming quality for a lot of characters regardless of fandom. How many characters, no matter their faults, get forgiven by fans just because they're hot, uh?). So he sucks, yeah

You know what he did do? acknowledged his mistakes, apologized for them and would have started his redemption arc if Wakui had had the time for that when warping up the story

He made mistakes, he's flawed, he's human, he wasn't even supposed to be here because he only entered the delinquent world to keep following Shinichiro, his ego which was back then very weak and non-existent got inflated for either survival or because he received so many compliments he didn't know what to do with it if not both because he was a k i d.

Most of the characters in TR are kids or young adults when they commit things they shouldn't have done. And yes, you can hold them accountable for it but they didn't know better - they didn't have the tools to

Now, why do I like Takeomi.

First of all - the amount of flaws he has. Don't think I need to make the list, I think everyone's got it (although make sure to remember he's got an inferiority complex and it's most likely that he also has an imposter syndrome so he's just like me fr-). But even with that, he's never an antagonist. He does things wrong but he's on our side (he's just very deaf to anyone's opinion that doesn't fit his). He sucked at raising his siblings as a kid himself (before his superiority complex developed and during it too - albeit in different ways) but that's just.. realistic? Not that it takes away the seriousness of it and the consequences, but how else could it have been? The impact on Sanzu were disastrous (not that they were the only reason why Sanzu lost it), I understand that, I don't erase that nor deny it BUT THERE'S A REASON WHY TAKEOMI IS LIKE THIS, TOO. And if people blame Takeomi for his actions (which, again, fair.) then blame Sanzu for his!! he was willing to mass murder hundreds of people!!! including his sister!!! he killed a few people!! argh. But Sanzu got his tragic-backstory/childhood shown and has a design that appeals to most, so I guess it's harder to hold him accountable for the seriousness of his actions (I like Sanzu, don't get me wrong. But sometimes the hypocrisy of some fans makes me a tiny bit angry 🙃)

Anyway, reason 84123286 of why I need Takeomi's backstory. Bc, honestly, from what we know of him as a kid+his coping mechanisms as a teen/adult, it would make sense to me if one of the reason he was so hostile to Sanzu was because he saw himself in him and Didn't Like ItTM (for different reasons) (!!! Which would add nicely to Shinichiro seeing himself in Mikey!!! more sano-akashi parallels, lets goooooooo) Talking about the parallels between the two, the fact he's Shinichiro's narrative foil compels me lots. Takeomi is quite literally Shinichiro with a negative filter on. And how can he survived that? How can he cope with the fact that no matter how much he wants and tries to be Shinichiro he'd never succeed? He'd always be the pale copy, the wood statue covered with golden leaves that are peeling away with time next to the pure gold statue. The Teru Teru Bozu that fails to chase the rain away and is going to be decapitated for his ineptitude. He'd always be himself and that's what he hates the most. He'd always be compared to Shinichiro and there's nothing he can do about it. And he can't even be angry at Shinichiro. That's his best friend. He loves him. He has been the first to love him. He has been there before anyone else. He can't lose Shinichiro, Shinichiro gave him everything. Everything he cares about, he sees value of, at least. Immaculate.

I'll also die on the hill that he is competent. He himself has no idea on what but he is (he mixes everything. For him it'd go like this: he gets praised but he's done nothing, Shinichiro has done everything which means they praised him for what Shinichiro has done. Which means what Shinichiro do, he does too. Which means Shinichiro's achievements are his as well! right? He didn't do anything by himself, there's no need to praise him for something else.)(he's fully blind that strategically-speaking and in other brainy-brain domains he's competent af. Bc since it comes 'easily' to him - since he doesn't struggle much with it, or in contrary he struggles so much he cannot possibly be good at it, then there's nothing to praise. And like, for him what Shinichiro does deserve to be praised. What he himself does is just.. things he does so compliments feel shallow)(+Bonten strives as much as Bad Toman and Manila if not more, yet there's no Kisaki. Ofc there's still Koko so that helps, but Takeomi is new to the team and got recruited (at least that what Senju said) in Brahman for his ~wisdom~)

He's also the only character who was around before Shinichiro 1) became a big brother 2) became a delinquent and that has to mean something. They're the only ones left to remember how the other was before their life went to shit

In the final timeline, he looks so healthy. He made peace with himself, his relationship with his siblings is good, he made amends. He healed, they healed. His relationship with Shinichiro, Benkei and Wakasa is good too everything's great. He learnt to understand what he is competent in and focus on it; he's not Shinichiro, he'll never be and that's okay. He's him and what he is complete Shinichiro just as Shinichiro complete him – they take care of one another's flaws but can also know live independently from each other. Perhaps, perhaps Takeomi stopped being so dependent of him

Appearance-wise, I love dark hair+green eyes combo in general so it wasn't that hard (plus there are some godly fanarts out there)

And of course: despite his complexity, at the end of the day - he's really just a pathetic wet poor excuse of a man who can't do anything right and isn't that endearing

I'm slowly getting out of the denial-phase to enter my acceptance-phase when it comes to loving Takeomi. Liking things most people hate or are neutral about is smth I hate for Reasons but it also seems to always happen lolololol. Will try to talk more about Takeomi when it comes to my mind, in case ppl who also love him but don't want to make it known because of his bad reputation in the fandom saw my posts and feel a bit more okay and comfortable with loving him

#sorry for not answering earlier yesterday was a lot busier than expected #funfact: 'cute' and 'pathetic' in japanese are basically the same word (its a bit more complicated than that but im not in the mood to #develop) #answering asks #the fandom situation isn't the same but — what i like about takeomi is the same thing i like about Toji in Jjk #they love their son/sibs they cant handle the responsibilities they have debts/flaws in quantity and the non-surprise id feel if it becomes #official Takeomi is the black sheep of his family #theyre emotionally avoidant they can't show their love their n1 coping mechanisms is avoidance etc etc

[greenconverses]

I know this is kind of a specific ask, but would you happen to have any romance book recs (historical or otherwise) that feature protags in their late 20s or older? I just started and DNFd a historical romance today when I found out the heroine was like 16/17 start to finish... I'm tired of reading romance novels about basically children banging 30yo men😭

Yes, I do! I had to spend a bit going through my shelves because the 30-year-old and barely out of her teens pairings are very common in historical romances, especially if you're looking through someone's back catalogue. I feel like I've been seeing less of it books published in the 2010s and beyond.

Sarah MacLean's heroines are all usually in the late 20s or at least 25, especially in her most recent series. Tessa Dare, Eva Leigh, Anna Harrington, Cadence Camp and Eloisa James are pretty reliable for mid-20s heroines, too. You usually just got look for stories about widows, women with careers, non-aristocratic heroines, and (certain) wallflowers.

Julie Anne Long's Palace of Rogues series has older heroines in the first two books, though you'll probably want to continue with the series anyway because they're just delightful. The fourth book is an actual May/December romance, so if that's not what you're into, just a heads up! (It is my favorite of the bunch tho)

Most of the characters in the later Bridgerton books are significantly older than Daphne (I think Penelope is 26-28 in Romancing Mr. Bridgerton?) or in more age appropriate relationships when you get to Hyacinth and Gregory.

I'm pretty sure most of the heroines in Lisa Kleypas' Hathaways series are older, except maybe Poppy and Harry's book (Tempt Me At Twilight). The Ravenals books are also pretty good about that, except Marrying Winterbourne. Devil's Daughter features a widow and is the best character's book, so you COULD read just that and skip the rest, but why deprive yourself of West Ravenal's fantastic character arc?

The one I would say for sure skip in Kleypas's catalogue is Because You're Mine because that one 100% involves a 18-year-old and douche in his 30s. Probably the only book of hers I actively dislike! I've also noticed that Joanna Shupe tends to favor young 20-somethings paired with 30-somethings, so her books might not be up your alley either.

#book talk with jess #historical romance

[anxiously-sidequesting]

[Ambrose (derogatory)] anon here (rofl I'm glad you liked that)

I think it's also up to interpretation a bit how old YW is. I mean it's assumed (because of the target demographic) they're like elementary/middle school age ofc. But at Merle's age anything under 50 could be 'young' imo (and they have to call them something, so 🤷).

Do I think YW is in their mid-40s? Probably not lol but they could at least be a young adult (unless there's some canon confirmation I'm forgetting. Which I totally could be XD)

Are there some more capable adults he could get to help? Probably. But that actually leads me to another Thought which is the book of secrets. Clearly it says something about YW being destined to save the spiral yada yada so maybe by default Ambrose trusts and relies on them even when they're not the best equipped - but maybe that's literally WHY the book of secrets says that, because it knows he's gonna put all his eggs in one basket and not bother to get support from anyone else. So it ends up that. Yeah. YW is the one who goes through all this. Thanks for the trauma bro /j

Anyway I do like the idea of the protagonist jumping in and wanting to be the hero (and also being ready to throw down with anybody) because I feel like it fits with the generally helpful but also somewhat chaotic and morally dubious image they've cultivated over their journey. If Ambrose seemed less like he didn't give a fuck (not just about YW but all death students, etc) it'd be a much better dynamic

but we were robbed

(here's hoping some fic writer revamps his character to the wise and supportive headmaster the students deserve)

FIRST OFF YAY IM GLAD I DIDNT SCARE YOU OFF

And that's definitely a good point with how the Wizard's age comes into play! I think the most heinous thing that stands out about canon is that the Wizard is assumed to be a child - probably because the game is geared towards younger kids and most of the fandom by that time WERE young kids, AND the Wizard was essentially supposed to be YOU or an insert that represented you. Also even canon, up until arc 2 or 3, even comments on how young the Wizard is constantly. So it's the fact that an adult person is taking advantage of and using a CHILD and putting them in dangerous situations. For the greater good? Yeah!!! But that's still a little kid. That's the part that kinda stands out when it comes to Ambrose's treatment of the Wizard. A child has no autonomy in a situation when pitted against an adult, a child doesn't know any better to realize what's happening, the child isn't mature enough to have the words or know the actions to stand up for themselves. Combined with the fact that the child is in an unfamiliar place with an unfamiliar stranger telling them to do things, the child is the completely vulnerable party in this scenario.

If the Wizard was a young adult by the time they were recruited by Ambrose, most of that would be gone. There would still be a power imbalance (Ambrose being the Headmaster and unofficial mentor of the Wizard, who has power and influence over the City guard vs. the Wizard who is just an apprentice with no societal standing or knowledge of the aspiral yet) but AT LEAST an adult would (hopefully) be better equipped to handle themselves. An adult would most likely recognize what's really going on, what the situation is, and is able to rationalize and plan accordingly.

AND YEAH GOOD QUESTION ABOUT THE OTHER CAPABLE ADULTS because yes. Yes there are. There are infinite other choices Ambrose could have chosen before the Young Wizard. At least, for a lot of other issues that don't include saving the Spiral. Like you said Ambrose likes putting all his eggs in a basket and if he can kill multiple birds with one stone, he will. Since the Wizard is already here and the BOS said they were the chosen savior, there's no need to worry about the Other Guys!

Although imo the only way this eager Wizard AU could work in Ambrose's favor if he was like, actually shown to care about the Young Wizard's wellbeing despite his inability to help. It wouldn't be enough for Ambrose to just sit back and do nothing even in his old age when The Wizard is still essentially in danger (despite being eager to put themselves in that position in the first place), I would actually have to see Ambrose take whatever action he could in order for this dynamic to feel more equal and wholesome. Does Ambrose send other companions to help the Wizard out? Does Ambrose sit the Wizard down and gently explain although he appreciates the help, he expects the Wizard to be careful? Does Ambrose use his position of power to help take the load off the Wizard's shoulders every now and then? Does Ambrose take time out of his day to simply have tea with the Wizard and check in on them outside of any Spiral business?

Even if Ambrose was too old to do things himself, he still could do other things to make sure the Wizard was safe, especially if the Wizard was exhibiting some self-destructive behavior. It isn't enough that he's just too old; taking actions to ensure the Wizard's safety and little acts of service that ensures the Wizard KNOWS that they are cared for and loved - THAT'S my ideal Ambrose and Wizard relationship. A bond that feels true and a relationship that's equal where it's less "old man uses child" and "two partners who are in this together". The last part of your ask PERFECTLY captures this that Ambrose needs to SHOW his love and care and protection for the Wizard, not just to say it every once in a while. This is a genius ask and a genius AU you've come up with anon

#THANK YOU FOR COMING BACK I LOVE THIS #yeah there should be something out there that portrays ambrose as Good #someone who CARES about anything other than the eventual apocalypse #wizard101 #wiz101 #w101 #asks #anon

[spaceprincessleia]

Time for a little review of Morgan Elsbeth's arc in TotE. Disclaimer, I have only seen each episode once so far.

Anyway.

I'm a big fan of Morgan, although her character didn't feel properly established and fleshed out before she died (and returned ... somehow). Perfect to work with for a writer, but still, I got REALLY hyped for TotE when the trailer dropped. I didn't expect Star Wars sharing more of her story with us.

There were a lot of things I loved and will think and write about for a long time:

Grievous was so, so scary. Anyone would be traumatized by what happened during the massacre, and haunted by the memory of Grievous in particular.

We got to meet Morgan's mother! Well, just to see her die, but still.

Morgan wanted to arm the people of the Mountain Clan so they could protect themselves, and she was right to be afraid of the threat that was clearly still looming. My heart really broke for Morgan when that girl died.

I love that they gave Morgan an analytical mind. I like to believe she developed that skill further after leaving Dathomir, and before being recruited by Thrawn (off the top of my head I don't know how much time passed there).

When the New Republic arrived on Corvus, what's-his-name said Morgan had locked herself up/barely been seen in a long time. It was such a metaphor to me of Morgan fully losing herself and truly turning into a villain.

In the end, Morgan became a version of what traumatized her, that's as good a villain story as any, really.

This should be at the top of the list, but here we are: DIANA'S VOICE ACTING. AAAHHH. SHE KNOCKED IT OUT OF THE PARK, I LOVE HER, I LOVE HER VOICE. <3

BANGER NEW MORGAN OUTFITS (YOUNG MORGAN + THAT RED OUTFIT SHE WORE FOR HER PITCH).

The quality of the animation, omg. OMGGG. I'm so obsessed with how Morgan's face changed as she got older, among so many other things.

Alright. Now let's talk about what I didn't like:

REVENGE REVENGE REVENGE. I was afraid they would make her entire story about revenge, and they did. BIG BIG HUGE missed opportunity of giving her more than that, because you can! I would have liked to see more canoncial character motivation for the sake of Morgan resonating more with the audience. Also, they could have made her long LONG wish for revenge make more sense. Like, yes, I can make sense of it in my own head canon, but I shouldn't have to do that with such a major part of her story.

Um, and I think that's it? I'm THRILLED we got such high-quality new Morgan content, animation and voice acting wise a bit more than storytelling wise, I wish it could and would have been more/longer.

I hope I can rewatch soon, and who knows, maybe I'll add more points or get back to some.

#tales of the empire #tote #tote spoilers #morgan elsbeth

[winter-tospring]

They all did Anakin dirty, I hate them 😭😭😭😭😭 I hate Yoda the most, what a fucking bitch, from the beginning he just ruined this poor kid's life, and then kept going over and over, like give him a fucking break, my god, so all these movies he says he should just obey them and not fear, nor hate, not feel anything "negative" but suddenly when it's convenient for him "please search your feelings" BITCH YOU TAUGHT HIM, FORCED JIM,IN ORDER FOR HIM TO BE SEEN AS A TRUE JEDI, THAT HE SHOULD REPRESS ALL HIS FEELINGS, AND NOW YOU EXPECT TO BE ABLE TO DIG IN EASILY AND WITHOUT CONFUSION????? that's not guidance, that's making him suspicious and WHY WOULDN'T HE BE, he SHOULD be suspicious, because YOU, YODA FUCKER, ARE AN ASSHOLE AND THE WORST, and he's right to not trust you and to feel resentment. All the feelings he expresses throughout his arc are valid and he does the best job at expressing himself and reflecting honestly, which is honestly impressive, and I personally resent that fckin council for dismissing it and treating him as a nothing who can't participate in Grown Up Conversations Because He's Not Experienced ™. The true child young adult experience. Being super skilled but put to the side by elders cause they can't stand that you're more talented than them. Like hello, he could've done the job Obi Wan was sent for and it would have given him a confidence boost to see the council trust him. He deserved that. He deserved to be recognized and not feared. The Jedi who claim that fear is the enemy are also the ones terrified of Anakin and his potential, hypocrites. And they do want to maintain their power. That's the thing, Palpatine isn't completely wrong about them, and that only further destroys Anakin's trust in the Jedi. The Jedi who take him away from his mom, telling him to never look back, then never recognize him, only fear him, instead of guiding, supporting, being a hand, and friends he can rely on in his life.

It's all so terribly horrible. All of it. All the things that happen to him. He's manipulated, and alone, and holding on to the one thing that's vulnerable with him, and of course he doesn't want to lose it. He has no one!!!! I didn't resent Obi-Wan as much in this movie, he did grow a bit, after being by Anakin's side for longer and him rubbing off on him. He's more relaxed with Anakin, but too naive about the Jedi. Anakin questions things and he is tragically naive, which is a dangerous combination for someone as powerful as him.

It's so terrible that he had to see the prophecies in his head. It's so terrible that Palpatine used him heartlessly. It's so terrible that Obi-Wan doesn't think a bit longer about what happened and why Anakin is like this, and then leaves him there, without saying a bad word about the Jedi.

You can so much see how much Anakin hates himself for turning to the dark side. The hood over his head feels like him hiding. The shame, and the necessity of this path, in his mind. It's so tragic, how used he was. It's heartwrenching to see him kneel to Palpatine, and accept his given name, and act for the abuser's side with tears in his eyes. It's too late, it's horrible. He needed lots of hugs 😭💔

Him being soft towards Luke later on makes all the sense. He does not want to be on this side. It was simply the inevitable side he had to be on, for the promise he was given. I can't fucking believe they even make him think HE killed Padmé. Maybe it contributed, what he did, but the RAGE in me about Palpatine telling him this. But anyway, the softness towards Luke, yes. Luke is so so similar to his dad, and freaking Yoda is freaking useless making Luke think his dad was horrible. Anakin was so much like Luke. Freaking Yoda keeping it to himself that he ruined his dad's life with his damn religion and restraining him instead of being a true friend. Luke would've loved his dad. And Anakin would be so proud of his son. And I'm so glad the last thing Anakin does is a proof of love that is not corrupted, but true to who he was before, and who he is, deep down, buried under the years of self loathing and manipulation. I'm so glad he met Luke, and that in the end, he was seen as himself, that it was recognized, at last, that he did have good in him. That his son, like Padmé, saw it, and believed in it, and fought for it. I'm so glad Anakin can even admit it to himself, after having Luke insist so much. How powerful that is. I'm also so glad he met Luke cause he just...should,you know? Anakin deserved that much.

#Star Wars #anakin skywalker #🥺

[overthinking-with-katy]

Hello and welcome to Utter Ridiculousness, the likes of which happens sometimes when I'm sleepy! :)

Alrighty, so! A highly abstract and conceptual (at this point, at least) Psych-but-Star-Wars AU, using as a starting point of inspiration Lassiter interrupting Juliet's briefing (Psych S4E13::Clone Wars S2E6), basing character substitutions on where it's convenient for them to be (rather than on personality like I probably should), and, as my sister would say, flopping around and finding out. I AM FORMULATING THIS IDEA AS I GO SO DO NOT TAKE ANY OF IT SERIOUSLY.

Jedi and the Force are a thing, by the way. Just a note, as a slight establishment of continuity or something.

Carlton Lassiter-> Anakin Skywalker, head detective of... the department of Somewhere. I dunno exactly where he's based yet. Might be Tatooine, might not, we'll- TATOOINE LIBERATION ARC (in the tone of SQUIRREL)! Though obviously I could never write one of those even half as well as cough SOME people I know cough but we'll see. Anyways, he's, like, both the favorite and the problem child of the Jedi Order/Police At Large, because he gets stuff done but nobody likes how. He was trained by Obi-Wan Kenobi, who now works with some elite task force somewhere (the Council) but pops in a lot (invited or otherwise) to help Anakin with stuff.

Juliet O'Hara-> Ahsoka Tano, Anakin's junior partner (see: padawan. I'm not quite sure how being the police fits in with the Jedi Order yet so bear with me). Since them two are like the best team, they get all the difficult cases, which given that Ahsoka is um pretty young actually! causes Anakin to be constantly oscillating between Teach Child How to Solve Crimes and Keep Child Away from Criminals. (Usually he does the first one, and when he tries to do the second one Ahsoka vetos it and comes along anyways, with or without permission.)

Karen Vick-> Padmé Amidala. We're deviating from the source material a little bit. Well clearly it is not a little bit it is a lot bit but ANYWAY! She runs the department because she's good at Organizing Chaos, and Leading People in Doing the Right Thing, and also at Administrative Stuff even though she hates it. Also because the Jedi work for the Senate- maybe I should've started with that. (She also has an elite task force of her own- see: Naboo Handmaidens! They're, like, a secret spy team or something.)

Nobody suspects that the chief and the head detective are actually married. Definitely not. (That's a lie. Everyone knows. They all just turn a blind eye and rely on plausible deniability, because Rules prevent married couples from working together because conflict of interest something something I guess? but everybody loves both of them and doesn't want either one to get fired or transferred or anything.)

Ooof but then Padmé might have to take an extended leave to Naboo or something once she gets pregnant (which she has to at some point obviously it's Star Wars) because given enough time there's no way people won't notice and it's not like she can just ban literally everybody from her office. Anakin's gonna hate that and it'll take some figuring.

I guess Rex is McNab but more competent? XD He's definitely a lot more involved in the story, and Anakin and Ahsoka take him on missions with them more often than not. (I'll need to figure out what exactly is going on with the clones in this universe. A lot of it doesn't make sense- at least not yet- again, bear with me. :))

Mmm this is where it gets interesting.

Shawn Spencer-> Korkie Kryze, planetary leader's "nephew" (see: son) who somehow ends up accidentally looking like he has some sort of Fancy Magical Ability, and has to keep up appearances because Reputations and Publicity, or something like that. (Clearly, the characters who are suggesting themselves to be in these roles are very different from the original roles. In his case it's less "commit to the bit" and more "commit to NOT RUINING A MINIMUM OF SEVERAL THINGS FOR MOST OF THE PEOPLE I KNOW". )

Henry Spencer-> Duchess Satine Kryze, for obvious reasons. She's not quite on board with all Korkie's LIES AND DECEIT, but is the definition of "I know a guy" because as a politician she does in fact know many people who know many things. So she aids and abets, no matter how grudging it appears to be. I mean, what is she supposed to do, not help her kid?

Side note: if there's gonna be a legitimate and/or believable reason for Obitine to be separated, the police force will essentially have to BE the Jedi Order. They're probably more like Space FBI or something than normal police. Eh, I'll figure it out. Essentially Jedi Code is still in effect.

Burton Guster-> Barriss Offee, Jedi healer who's been stationed on Mandalore for a while as… a glorified doctor or something I guess? Force Healing Attending at the Sundari hospital? Apparently in this universe Jedi regularly work in places other than the Temple and/or Coruscant, so we're gonna go with that. Anyway, she's friends with Korkie, and helps him keep up appearances after they get into a Situation together.

As a result of said Situation, about which I do not know the particulars as of yet, the Jedi all end up thinking Korkie somehow has psychometry despite being Force-null. Really he's just very good at reading both people and situations, because his politician mom taught him to be. Obviously neither he nor Barriss is actually psychometric, which makes it a little difficult for them to keep THE JEDI ORDER convinced that he is.

This almost becomes a very big problem at some point when there's an appearance by Quinlan Vos, who is an actual psychometric detective, and his (technically former) partner Aayla Secura, who can clock a lie from a mile away. Do they know Korkie is faking? Obviously. Do they care enough to tell anybody? Absolutely not. Does Quinlan give him tips on making his fake psychometry more believable? Nobody can prove it!

By dint of a) Obi-Wan being "old friends" with Satine (their McMess of a marriage- it gets better later, of course- is ACTUALLY a secret, though Anakin definitely suspects something) and b) Quinlan being extremely hard to get in touch with, due to him constantly working with the rather questionable Dathomir detective division (Aayla is the only one who's suspicious about that, just because nobody else really hears anything about what he does), Korkie becomes the default person to call whenever people need a lil extra help with a case.

Also Padmé and Satine are Senate Besties, so Padmé has no problems hiring Korkie. She just… doesn't really question the whole psychometry thing, cause she's used to Jedi being weird (the one she's married to being among the weirdest of them) so at this point she just rolls with it. Anakin does question it, loudly and frequently. Padmé thinks he's just jealous. Ahsoka questions it a little, cause it doesn't quite make sense sometimes, but even when it doesn't she goes along with it anyways cause it's fun! She's definitely a frequent participant in shenanigans (both sanctioned and unsanctioned) with Korkie and Barriss, with whom she forms a highly chaotic trio. Anakin is not entirely sure how to feel about this, because a) she has friends her age now and that's good! however, b) said friends are constantly getting into Situations and dragging Ahsoka with them. (That's not entirely true; the vast majority of the time, Ahsoka is going along with them completely voluntarily.)

Oh, and Shmi Skywalker lives. Just as a general rule, even though I don't know precisely what's going on with her yet. It's just unacceptable in any universe if she doesn't.

Now apparently I have to rewatch Psych for storyline help, even though I haven't finished watching it the first time yet (due to watching it with my family, who are almost never all in the same place at the same time, let alone at a good time for shows). So... welcome to Katy's brain coming up with ideas she may or may not ever actually write. Thank you and goodbye! <3

@clawedandcute I TOLD YOU THIS WAS ALL YOUR FAULT (AFFECTIONATE)

[sadi-simps]

Reaction to Harumi's "Death", Dareth's "Brown Powers", Lloyd becoming a leader, etc

Another Ninjago essay lmao

First off, I wanna point out that the season I'm at, called "Hunted", has been very thrilling for me so far. A lot of stuff has happened, I'm still not done. I left off after I finished the episode where Harumi "dies" and "redeems herself" by saving a kid from going through the same thing she did.

In this blog post, I'll talk a bit about that, but I'll save my opinion on Harumi for the end of the post. First, let me just point out something!

Dareth, oh my fucking god, I think he might be my favorite non powered character now! He has been such a genuinely good guy, trying his best! Yes, he fails sometimes, but the fact that he tries so hard, and his loyalty to the ninja hasn't faded, that he keeps trying to help, honestly, this season has done a good job making me like Dareth! He's been a fun character, and I regret hating his guts when I was younger! He's trying his best, and I will never slander him again. :c

Lloyd's speech on air, yeah it was cliche, but it got the point across, and it was a bit moment for him developing into a leader. I'm proud of him, I'm proud of all the ninja. Every time they get pushed down, they get back up with more determination. The kind I wish I had. Maybe I'm projecting on these characters a little bit, and maybe I'm not bringing anything new to the table in this blog post, but I like writing out my thoughts, it's become part of my new therapy. That being said, Ninjago is every bit as inspiring to me in my adulthood as it was when I was a young teenager being emotionally neglected by my family and physically attacked by my younger brother out of nowhere almost daily. I was in a bad situation, and this show helped me endure it all back then. As cliche as it sounds, it's true. This show was my comfort show back then, and it's starting to feel that way again. TuT

Now for the final bit, my feelings about Harumi... Honestly, it was pretty scummy of her to suggest becoming her replacement for Lloyd as Garmadon's child. No matter how hard you try, you can't replace your kids. If I were in her shoes, I wouldn't have even suggested such an idea, but then again, I'm not a terrible, vengeful, scummy, abusive peeson like her, and I would never find myself in her shoes to begin with. In her defense, I suppose it might have been a way for her to keep Garmadon from destroying her like he almost did when she "failed him", but it was still a very weird writing choice, and seems like it was intentionally setting groundwork for her to marry Lloyd in the future to be "the daughter-in-law" instead of "adopted". Honestly, it's a very poor writing choice in my opinion because even though they're trying to redeem her as a character, it's not very well done.

1. It only took a couple of episodes, a threat on her life, and a clearly emotionally vulnerable Garmadon for her to change her attitude.

2. Even with that attitude change, it still comes off as manipulative for her to have done that.

3. I don't care what the writers want her to be, they established her as a horrible person in Sons of Garmadon, a redemption arc just doesn't work for this character. Let her stay evil and die for her sins!

And of course, the elephant in the room... Her seeing the "error of her ways". That was such a copout, it was established in Sons of Garmadon that her pain made her WANT others to feel the same pain she felt, and that she DIDN'T CARE about the children. It was literally a "fuck them kids" attitude for her, and for it to change that quickly, that's not good writing, that's just out of character.

Like, yeah, it was a good way for her to die, realizing she was wrong all along, get what you deserve, blah blah blah. But if you wanted her to see the error of her ways in her dying moment, why are all these Twitter spoilers showing her she comes back anyway? It completely defeats the impact of her death.

Ugh... Here I am overanalyzing this show yet again, yes it's a show meant for kids, but Ninjago has been trying to have somewhat serious writing for a long time, and for the most part, it has been great! The writers are clearly capable of writing characters well, but they failed this villain character by trying to redeem her, and it doesn't work. Not only that, but if she and Lloyd get married, it spreads a terrible message to young kids about relationship dynamics and forgiveness.

Some things shouldn't be forgiven.

And this isn't even me being bitter about my "Senpai Lloydkins" finding a girl he likes, this is about me feeling sorry for this character, and maybe projecting my own emotional trauma onto him, but it comes from a place of experience.

I still love this show, and I'm not gonna let a bad pairing ruin it for me, but if I could do things differently, I would have her stay evil.

I know I'm probably being dramatic, but again, it comes from personal experience with both the show and real life situations that left me with severe anxiety and depression.

Thank you for reading this long winded post. I'd love to hear your thoughts about this show... No spoilers please!

#Ninjago #lego ninjago #ninjago lloyd #ninjago #lloyd garmadon #screw you harumi #ninjago hunted #ninjago spoilers #princess harumi #mental abuse #female manipulator #ninjago harumi #ninjago dareth #the brown ninja #brown ninja #cartoon #cartoon critic #blog essay #sadi essay #sadi bloodmoon #master of dreams reveal in the future???

[dudeitiskarev]

So I just want to talk about my wips, which believe it or not, are only 2 yayyy

The first one is a Spencer fic *gasps*. It's titled Maybe Someday and it may be my first and only Spence fic I’ll ever write. It’s been in a google doc for over a year and a few days ago I opened the doc and fell in love with the story all over again and I really believe I’m gonna finish it soon 🥰

Here’s a little snippet:

(...)

"Are you sure about this Reid?” Derek asked, turning on the SUV blinkers. 

“I really wish you’d stop asking me that.” Spencer unbuckled his belt, ready to step out of the car. 

Derek sounded like a broken record by now. 

“Look, kid, I’m just trynna’ help.” He softened his voice. “Case is over. You can let it go now.”

The Riley Jenkins case was, in fact, over. Although letting it go is the last thing Spencer could do when last-minute Garcia filled him in about a person who wasn’t involved in the case but was connected to it to some extent: You. 

“We don’t even know if she’s gonna be here,” Morgan continued. “And for all we know, she could be dead by now.”

“Yeah, and being here might be the only way I could find out.” 

“May I ask why the sudden interest?" Derek was a bit concerned about his friend. He’d never seen him like this. Although it made sense.

"I don't know." Spencer lowered his tone.

All he knew was that there were foggy memories about a young girl he needed to make clearer. 

“Alright.” Derek raised his perfect profiled brows in defeat. “I'll stay here. Call me if you need anything." 

"I will.” He stepped out of the car, looked both ways, and crossed the street—determined to find you. 

(...)

I'm not sure when it'll be ready but it's all outlined and I've been working on it every day, mostly editing/rewriting what I already have but still 🥰

The other one is a Hotch x reader of course, and it's the Penelope-centered fic I've mentioned here once or twice. It's titled Accidentally in Love (for now) and here's a little snippet:

Penelope was born with a gift. She could see people’s hearts—like actually; bright red beating flesh inside people’s chest cavities. 

Most had a glow of their own that came with a special colored aura. She often felt them as her own, too, and though that might just be the deep empathy her mom also had, she embraced others’ heartbreaks like a treasure from day one. 

Her gift came with what could be considered a lethal weapon: an arc and endless arrows. It wasn’t supposed to be dangerous since she was the only one who could manipulate it and see it overall—and because the arrows were made out of clouds—but she’d never been very skilled at using it, so accidental love matches happened often. Although most happened when she was younger—when she’d just discovered her gift and would randomly use it at the supermarket or the movie rental with two random people. It was like introducing a Ken doll to a Barbie for the first time so it really was just a game. 

She started to take it seriously at the age of thirteen when one of her dearest friends was going through her first heartbreak ever. It hurt to see her friend’s heart break. Her aim wasn’t very good yet—it still isn’t, but it has improved—so accidental matches kept happening, just not as often. 

When her parents died, her gift froze along with her heart. It took her a while to let it warm up again, even when it was all she wanted; the only thing that’d truly make her feel something other than grief.

(...)

Yes, Penelope is a real-life cupid hehehe.

Anyways. I'm not sure which one I'll be able to finish first since they're like equally developed (?) and around the same word count (5k each, but I'm cutting off filter words and some unnecessary stuff so I hope they don't end up being that long 🤞)

Talking about wips make writers more motivated to write them so if anyone is interested in more 👀 my ask box is open ♥️

#aaron hotchner x reader #Spencer Reid x reader #wips #accidentally in love fic #maybe someday fic

[halt-kun]

Hunter x Hunter Chapter 217 - Meat Orchard

Let's do another one for today

Yes it's his ability, it sounds a lot like a specialist ability but maybe I should check the exhibition chart

After checking : Okay so he's an emitter so to me it could make sense if Knuckle's lending ability was emission too but it seems it's Conjuration

It could also be another case of the same thing being possible with several different categories

It could also be some special traits he was born with that belongs to specialization but we don't know how "inheriting specialist abilities work", it could also be some enhancement of phagogenesis that allows that

Not that this increase in aura would drastically improve his strength

he's already quite above the average nen user

Well true, but a strong leader isn't necessarily the best

but someone dumb like this is definitely too much

The Kakin's arc basically deals with that

Well bye bye

Diego

If people understood them, they probably would spare them more

it's not like a lot of humans of these days ever killed a cow or a swine, before it was more common but they often got used to it quite young

AGREED

When did she have the time to do that

URGH

I really hate this about Palm, it's just the portrayal of her personality deals a lot with some misogynistic ideas but I can tolerate it for now, especially since she becomes way better later

She's not the first character in HxH with a dubious mental state

I think Togashi also likes to play with tropes and making them as deranged as he can but also making them more interesting

I HATE YANDERES

they're not fun, they're not interesting plot wise

Anyway Killua seems to understand more than Gon what's going on

Well I'll redeem a bit of that situationship

Gon doesn't actually know what's happening, he's just keeping his word

Palm is actually only seeking some kind of romantic relationship with no sexual undertones. Because of her personality, she probably never lived it and just wants to live what she experienced through novel/tv shows

It's clear when we see what she wants and what she finds nice and romantic

It's still weird but it's better than what a lot of people would think

She needs to see a psychiatrist though

like cognitive behaviour therapy is a must have here

it's sad she basically got more stable because of a brain operation

MOVING ON

I like that Togashi keeps it steady that Killua is stronger than Gon

They have different weights

the poor guys behind haha

Killua is just me trying to figure out if my crush is interested by guys

ME

WELL GON YOU DID NOT

that's why, you don't understand anything

and you're most likely not even bi then because there is nothing behind these events for you

Anyway I'm docking a few points on Mito for letting him out with those girls

My Poor Gay Baby

Hug Him

(Kanaya style)

Hope is a terrible thing sometimes

My baby is crying ;_;

And Killua is happy

I'm feeling bad

You guys should be less into this guy

There are some nice looking side characters on the sidewalks

Well, it'll probably be all for today

Astarion and Karlach are waiting for me

#hxh c217 #hxh liveblog #hxh manga

[armandjolras]

Dumping an extremely long writeup of my thoughts about the IWTV series here. In case anyone does read it, tw for domestic abuse and rape, because it seems that’s the story we got 💀

The show overall

I absolutely loved the inclusive representation and how naturally the story supported the changes. I’ve distanced myself a bit from the books and film because I’m increasingly uncomfortable with their problematic elements, so it was great to experience the story without those. I loved how gay it was, at last!!! The use of Covid in the new framing story feels very 2021 lol but I think it’s an interesting idea, and the Dubai flat is soooo Armand (/neg).

That being said, if I had to look at the show objectively I would say it’s not very good. I don’t know enough about tv production to say what the issue was, but both the writing and direction felt awkward to me. The climax was too drawn out, and ending the show by revealing Armand’s identity will surely be underwhelming to anyone who hasn’t read the book or seen the film. I really disliked how desaturated and brownish the colour palette was, and I don’t think the mood matched the books. It wasn’t very gothic, but instead had a sort of sterility that reminded me of what I’ve seen of Hannibal. And finally, a lot of things seemed very silly to me. The way they hissed at each other was straight out of What We Do In The Shadows, and wasn’t that mind-reading scene, where everyone is thinking about food/sex, from Twilight??

Maybe this is overly pessimistic, but I have a feeling the show won’t be renewed for series 3. I really would love a decent adaptation of books 2 and 3, but maybe it is for the best, as the books get increasingly sillier, and because of the way Lestat was characterised so far💀

The characters

Jacob is so perfect as Louis. It’s refreshing to see Louis as he originally was, before he was flanderised in later books, and while I don’t think Brad Pitt is as bad as most people do, Jacob fits the character exactly and brings so much energy to the role.

I’m sooo obsessed with Bailey as Claudia, she was so much fun! I was never a huge Claudia fan before, but I love how her personality was portrayed in this, and how prominent of a role she was given, I cared about her so much. And Bailey masters that very creepy wide-eyed stare. I’m glad we got an adult actress as Claudia because of the intensity of the story (even though I did have to suspend my disbelief a bit when the show focused on how Claudia will look so young and 14 forever when she could easily pass as a grown up)

However, I HATED the rape plot. It served little purpose and could be replaced with some other plot point, and it’s such an upsetting, lazy trope to have a female character raped (especially a girl of colour). And I was excited to have an early fang gang cameo before that happened 😭

I’m a bit meh on Eric and how Daniel is written in general. I just think he’s too much of an asshole, and Eric delivers his lines in such a mean way. There’s definitely shades of Daniel’s personality there, and I COULD see Daniel growing up to be like that — I just think he’s a good guy, nicer than we’re shown here. And I really didn’t like the brief appearance of young Daniel, I don’t think he had the right energy at all.

And the new framing story means almost certainly no devil’s minion, but I doubt the show will make it that far anyway.

He was barely in it but I’m already obsessed with Assad’s Armand, his demeanor is perfect, and he really looks like an Armand! So excited to see more of him in series 2.

The minor characters were good, I especially liked having a bit of Louis sister’s arc in there!

I saved Lestat for last because I have a lot to say 💀. I thought Sam did a great job all things considered, so I don’t blame him, just the writing. Even before episode 5 i didn’t love this depiction of the character. There were some things I did like — he was fun, annoying, and impetuous, as Lestat should be. But I didn’t get the sense that he loved humanity, which is one of Lestat’s most important characteristics. Of course that wasn’t in book 1, but the framing story is supposed to be a revision of the original interview anyway. He enjoyed partying with people, but never seemed to care about any mortals. They could have given screentime to that, instead of the abuse. Or maybe they decided to base his characterisation on later series Lestat who does seem to abuse the people he loves /j

Initially, I didn’t know why they made him so abusive. From my perspective, the hard part of adapting IWTV is balancing Lestat’s abusiveness in that book with who he becomes in later books, blending the character attributes, so the audience will like him later on. So WHY would they make him MORE abusive??

I do wonder if it’s because they made Louis/Lestat an explicit romance. It’s a lot harder to believe that Louis would be complicit in Lestat’s death when he’s happily in love with him than when it was Brad Pitt acting numb and miserable. I wonder if they added this graphic and violent abuse to convince the audience, as well as Louis and Claudia, to hate Lestat in the span of one episode. And if so, that’s so lazy! They could have focused more on Lestat’s psychological control, convincing the others that they’re helpless without him, or Louis’s self-loathing about being a vampire and his resentment of Lestat.

And to be honest, while the beating scene was awful, I was more upset by the traincar scene with Claudia. I just watched The Shining last weekend and Lestat bursting into the train with the severed head of the conductor was so Jack Torrence. And if I didn’t misunderstand, i think he threatened to rape Claudia, and told her that if she let that happen, it would upset Louis. Please correct me if I’m wrong! Because that is horrendous.

i don’t think there’s any coming back from this for the character. In the series, the characters are willing to forgive anything over time because they’re all immortal, but I can’t see the audience forgiving. So if they do make it past series 2, it will be interesting to see what they do. (And maybe it’s for the best if not, not only because of Lestat, but also because I’d rather not see any screen time dedicated to Marius lol)

#iwtv amc spoilers #iwtv amc #abuse tw #domestic abuse tw #rape tw

[nish-bean]

okay i’ve been hearing so many thoughts about allison—both negative and positive—and so i wanted to offer some of mine (hopefully balanced from both sides) from s1 to s3:

to preface this, i would like to say that i didn’t really like allison’s character both in the comics and in the show, but that doesn’t mean she’s a bad character—just my preference.

so in the beginning of s1, allison is shown inconsiderate and selfish when it comes to her family, especially viktor. she’s rude and lashes out very quickly. that being said, she did apologize and take responsibility for her actions, making an effort to include viktor a bit more. but the reason i don’t love allison despite her redemption arc in s1, is that she made a very half-hearted effort to include viktor, acting like she was on his side when she switched conveniently. again, she was the only one that did try to include him and so there is that, but i didn’t like how selfishly she switched.

s2 allison was probably my favorite allison, despite not liking the character much. this allison was not only strong, but caring. you could see that ray changed her for the better. while she was missing her daughter, ray gave her something to lose herself in, which is what i think made her fall in love with him. i didn’t love that she left luther high and dry after everything that happened in s1, but i never really liked the luther-allison ship anyway because it was weirdly forced and they seemed so much better as friends/siblings. again this season was her redemption in my eyes and made me like her a little more, especially when she started bonding with her family.

s3 was the worst season for allison and her character building arc. now if you look at it from her side, she was hurting a lot. she left the love of her life, ray, to return to her daughter just to find out that she doesn’t exist. this was extremely suffocating for her and i could feel it. she was rightly unhappy and angry, which justified her villain era, but then she did some unforgivable things. i’m not just talking about that weirdly rapey thing she did with luther—but her overall behavior. yes, i get that she was in a lot of pain, maybe more than all of the hargreeve siblings, but that doesn’t warrant the absolutely disgusting way she treated her siblings. was killing harlan justified? yes (to some extent). but was hating viktor to the point she couldn’t forgive him justified? no. this is because while viktor had kind of betrayed the umbrellas, especially allison, you have to admit that allison was kind of an asshole to viktor too. viktor forgave her for that—for all of the trauma she and the umbrellas (and reginald) inflicted on her over and over when she was young and at reggie’s funeral. when allison killed harlan, viktor was angry—but after he calmed down, he asked allison for forgiveness and tried to apologize. he was willing to put aside the fact that she KILLED the boy who was like his son, the child of her lover, sissy. he was willing to forgive her and beg for forgiveness, which he did repeatedly. still, allison was angry and extremely cold with him. i am not trivializing her trauma, but i’m simply saying that the other umbrellas were dealing with their own shit and still didn’t feel the need to get that violent or unjust. i think my last straw with allison though, was that scene with luther. it was so uncomfortable and god i really couldn’t understand her then. i thought she wouldn’t actually go through with it and leave it at that but oh my god she didn’t. she made him kiss her and it felt so, so disgusting. yes, she has trauma but that is crossing a line. i’ve also read the comics, so i actually know why they included this scene. it was important to the storyline because in the comics, allison had been rumoring luther to be in love with her from the beginning (funeral arc). this scene kind of encapsulated that allison and her selfish, angry character from the comics.

overall, i liked the show allison better than the comics but she definitely was not one of my favorite characters. in the end of s3, i think she died and is in the afterlife, but that’s just a theory so idk. if it is true, maybe klaus brings her back in s4 after they get their powers back (which, no doubt, they will). anyway these were my thoughts on allison—and even though they were more negative than positive, i can’t write off her character yet, because she has some story building to do, but i don’t think i can forgive her.

#five hargreeves #the umbrella academy #tua diego #tua lila #tua season 3 #tua season three #tua viktor #hargreeves family #netflix #tua ben #tua five #tua klaus #tua sloane #tua spoilers #tua allison #allison hargreeves #ua #tua #tua luther #allison

[kyriolex]

Kawaki Academy Arc: Hana

So this episode was mostly about Himawari's teacher Hana, although we got to learn some stuff about the students too.

Contrary to her character design, Hana has no relation to Sai, Yakumo Kurama, or any of the other painting-type shinobi. She's a clumsy wind user who perpetually sounds like she's on helium.

So she's invited some special instructors to teach the class: Boruto, Sarada, and Mitsuki. Ehou's mind immediately sees it as a networking opportunities. He says you have to get connected to get ahead, because if you get the wrong sensei or team, you may never get a chance to make it to jonin or even chuunin.

It's sad that civilian kids have to think so cynically when they're young, especially while rich kids like Hima can stay innocent, but it's definitely realistic. Props to the writing team for that subtle commentary.

Anyway, Team 7 takes the kids to the gym for some demonstrations. In true little brother style, Boruto gets in Kawaki's face and acts obnoxious. Kawaki kicks him away, and the two start fighting in class.

Poor Himawari just mutters "this always happens." She knew those two would embarrass her the moment they were in a room together.

While Mituski is showing a lightning technique, some of the little kids move for a closer look, because like moths to a flame, they have no sense of self-preservation. Hana wind-blasts them of the way before one of them can get electrocuted, but instead of being a badass moment, the kids whine and she apologizes.

Next up is a bit of product placement, I mean team-building. Boruto brings enough burgers for half the class, then says they have to fight over them. They can go anywhere on campus, and whoever has the red balls by the end of the period wins the burgers.

But since it's peacetime, none of these children know how to fight, so it becomes an awkward game of tag.

(Unrelated note: I apologize to Harika for insulting her fashion sense. Other than the aviator helmet, her outfit is actually put together well. She even has a cute purse...or maybe it's a bug-carrying sack like Shino and Shibi used to wear. Who knows?)

Mimi, who I misgendered last time and is actually a girl, is the only child who thinks "Hey, maybe instead of fighting we should go visit the vending machines." Ehou decides this is AGAINST THE RULES, even though as Soul (girl in red) points out, the teachers never said anything against scavenging.

He confiscates Mimi's candy bar, and soon the whole class is fighting over whether poor Mimi deserves chocolate. Despite Hana's efforts to calm them down, the class splits up, with Ehou and Soul leading each side. Everyone except Kae and the Uzumaki kids boycotts school because they don't want to study with "the enemy."

In one of Shino and Anko's little peanut gallery conversations, Shino concludes this lesson must have been "too advanced" for children who haven't learned about teamwork yet.

The crotchety old man in me wanted Iruka to come down and remind these kids that if they don't come to school, they can't graduate and become ninja. But instead it becomes Hana's duty to bring the class back together.

She approaches both ringleaders to coax them back to school. Soul apparently idolizes Gai-sensei to the point that she has his picture in an old-fashioned locket. So Hana personally sewed Soul a hideous spandex uniform for her to wear. Soul understandably refuses, saying she admires Gai's skills, not his fashion sense.

I'm calling it now, this girl is the new Tenten: a snarky mom-friend who is obsessed with taijutsu. She's skyrocketed in my personal tier list for this class.

Hana bribes Ehou with ramen and a Hokage speech. She then sends out mysterious invitations to each student. They all show up at school, and she announces they're having a cherry blossom viewing party.

The kids point out that it's not the right season for cherry blossoms. She has the kids close their eyes, and then suddenly petals are raining down from the sky. As a viewer, I thought this Hana's chance to step out of Team 7's shadow and show off her fancy genjutsu.

But actually the petals were paper. She was just using wind jutsu to blow the petals around like a fan. But everyone agrees it's the thought that counts.

Soul and Ehou confide in Himawari that they mostly came out of pity for Hana-sensei, since even though she can't do anything right, she still tries hard.

On one hand, that's pretty brutal after Hana visited them both personally for a pep talk. On the other hand, Hana tripped over a rock and needed Himawari and Kawaki to catch her. She also burned the lunch she cooked for the students beyond recognition. So it's a little understandable why the kids doubt her competence.

The last shot shows Shino asking Boruto if he'd like to be a guest instructor again, and Boruto nopes out of that quickly. He's seen how brutal these kids can get. Genocidal aliens he can handle - petty preteen drama he cannot.

#boruto 263 #hana sensei #himawari #kawaki #soul #ehou #harika aburame #mimi inuzuka #shino-sensei #the shipper in me wanted to see more interaction between Shino and Hana #but at least we get to see him acting like a competent senpai