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fraterribilis · 12 days

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The taxonomy of Sly Cooper: Part 1

In which I will be using my higher than average knowledge of zoology to attempt to accurately identify the specific animal species of various characters in the Sly Cooper franchise, sharing some interesting facts about them along the way.

I'll start with the four most prominent characters; Sly, Bentley, Murray and Carmelita. If people are interested I'll be making similar posts for the other characters.

WARNING: I will be unleashing my inner Animal Kid™ in this post. Verbose language and casual dropping of scientific names abound

Starting off with Sly himself, I like to believe that he is a crab-eating raccoon (Procyon cancrivorus). This quirky little carnivoran is found throughout South America and parts of Central America. Despite its name, it has a varied diet including crustaceans, fish, small turtles (watch out Bentley), fruits and nuts.

As opposed to the common raccoon (Procyon lotor), which can be a bit of a chubby little furball, the crab-eating raccoon has shorter and sleeker fur, and its slender proportions makes it an even better climber than its northern cousin. All of this makes it a perfect fit for Sly in my opinion. Also, its jaws are more defined and powerful than those of common raccoons, which i think is very appropriate for Sly's dashingly chiseled jawline.

Bentley was a little bit tricky to identify, as he seems to be a rather generic looking turtle. However, a closer inspection of his shell reveals his kinship.

This rather flat, ring-marked shell has led me to conclude that he must be a diamondback terrapin (Malaclemys terrapin).

Like Bentley, diamondback terrapins are very resourceful animals, being able to survive in both fresh and saltwater habitats, where they priamrily feed on insects, fish, crustaceans, and mollusks. They can be found in brackish marshes and mangrove forests thoughout the east coast of North America. The beautiful diamond-like markings on their shells are unique for every individual. Some people believe that the markings indicate the turtles age, like growth rings on a tree.

I have seen others identify Bentley as a box turtle, which I don't get at all. Box turtles are distinquished by their bulky BOX-shaped shells. The diamondback on the other hand has a flatter, more streamlined shell, which makes it very mobile in the water. Though, I guess this makes it all the more ironic that none of the core members of the Cooper gang know how to swim, despite all of them being based on semi-aquatic animals, but I digress.

Speaking of semi-aquatic, I firmly believe that Murray is a pygmy hippopotamus (Choeropsis liberiensis). Not just because I have an affinity for these animals, but I can back this up by examining Murray's design and characterization.

Murray has a very stocky and robust body (friend-shaped), with a relatively short compact snout, not unlike the pygmy hippo. This is in stark contrast to the common hippo (Hippopotamus amphibius) which has a very large ungainly (and less "cute"-looking) head in proportion to its body.

I think the main reason that Murray's design in the unfinished Sly-movie was so unappealing, is that they based his proportions too much on those of a "realistic" common hippo.

Anyways, pygmy hippos can be found in scattered populations across forests along the west coast of Africa, where they feed on broad-leafed plants and fallen fruits. They are extremely rare and endangered due to habitat loss and the bush-meat trade.

Unlike the infamously aggressive common hippo, the pygmy hippo is a rather docile and shy animal, whose first instinct when threatened will typically be to run away and hide (not unlike Murray in the first game) though it can defend itself with its powerful jaws. True to its name, the pygmy hippo is less than a quarter of the size of its larger relative, with the biggest specimens weighing in at about 600 pounds (which is lighter than some domestic pigs).

Moving on to Carmelita, there's no getting around the fact that she is supposed to be a red fox (Vulpes Vulpes), what with her strikingly orange fur colour and long bushy tail. The red fox needs no introduction, being one of the most succesful and abundant carnivorans on earth (besides domestic dogs and cats), with a range covering basically the entire northern hemisphere (aside from the Arctic), along with a worryingly invasive population in Australia.

Even though Carmelita is often characterized as a spicy latina, (being inspired by latina actresses such as Selma Hayek and Jessica Alba) Latin America is one of the few places on earth not inhabited by red foxes. These areas of course have their own native fox species. I considered the possibility that she could qualify for being a gray fox (Urocyon cinereoargenteus), a kit fox (Vulpes macrotis), or even a culpeo (Lycalopex culpaeus), but the thing that really cements her as being a red fox is her jumping ability.

Red foxes are able to jump up to 2 meters into the air, which is four times their shoulder height of about 50 cm. This would be the equivalent of a 6-foot person jumping 24 feet in the air, which feels appropriate given some of the insane feats of athleticism we've seen Carmelita pull off throughout the series.

#sly cooper #raccoons #foxes #turtles #hippos #animals #The taxonomy of Sly

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tragantia · 2 months

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Been thinking about this for a while, trying to imagine what Severen's life was like at the frontier during the Wild West days. Bill Paxton imagined him as a lowlife, a cowboy, and the term 'cowboy' was used to describe an outlaw, as a legitimate cowboy would have normally been described as a rancher.

I imagine him without proper parental guidance, probably with a violent father and an absent mother (Did she leave? Did she die? Was she submissive to her husband, to the point of becoming numb to everything, including her son?). So, using colloquial terms, he probably had what we call 'daddy issues' and 'mommy issues'.

His surname 'Van Sickle' suggests that at least the father was probably an immigrant from the Netherlands - so a larger support group would have been unlikely.

Chaos suited him well since this is the only reality he knew, so he left home early. He run into more questionable company, but again, he was already good at doing questionable things, probably had stolen since he was very young.

When Jesse met him, he was already a man in his thirties, experienced enough to have done pretty gruesome things by that point, and he took to his new lifestyle as if it was meant for him.

Jesse himself was pretty questionable, but he had something that Severen craved - he was solid. I'm not sure whether to go to the extent of saying that he was a 'good man' in the conventional sense - he wasn't, but he looked after his own. He was protective, he taught him things to help him survive and improve himself. He called him out when needed, despite letting him have his fun. Severen was too old for Jesse to be a proper father figure, but he was close enough.

When Jesse brought Diamondback - Severen realised that it was possible to really love someone, romantically speaking. He would never admit it out loud, but he realised it was possible to build a life, a family. It's something that sounded almost alien to him, and he didn't really know how to express it.

He took Homer and Mae under his wing, so to speak. Behaved like his asshole self, particularly with Homer, and showed Mae how to defend herself. It was his way of showing he cared. He forced himself to do the same with Caleb, for Mae's sake, and ended up liking the idiot (in my reality Caleb stays with the clan and everyone lives happily ever after ok including the horse who never gets punched by Sev like in the script shhhh ride to freedom sweet bby). He looked up to Jesse. He had shown him this life and stayed loyal to him, so he would reciprocate and protect his clan at all costs.

When he finally meets his s/o? He feels like he's been hit by something. He can't understand what it is at first, he finds it annoying, infuriating even. He's had flings before, and plenty of sex, sure, but he's never *cared*, not really. Imagine this emotional analphabet sat in a motel room as his mate rides his cock whilst looking into his eyes, caressing his chest, neck, jaw, kissing him, telling him how much they love him, praising him, whilst he just lays there grabbing their hips and moaning, drunk on the feeling of his cock being swallowed by their warmth, and knowing what it's to be *loved*. He's so touchy during the film, you can't tell me he wouldn't *love* that.

He will never get tired of it. His overall dominant and aggressive persona discarded, during those moments he just allows himself to exist and be given what he's never known that he craved.

#I'm so sappy #Kill me #severen van sickle x reader #near dark #near dark 1987 #severen van sickle #bill paxton #severen #severen x reader #severen near dark

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alethianightsong · 3 months

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How Near Dark should've ended

Caleb is sitting on the cure for vampirism and doesn't bring it up during the climax. How hard would it have been to be like "Hey, Homer, I got the cure for your vampirism. Wanna stop this Peter Pan shit? Just let my little sister go." Homer: "Wait, Jesse, call a truce!" Then the last 15 minutes is Homer getting his blood transfusion while Jesse, Diamondback, and Severen ride off into the sunset cuz they're perfectly content being bloodsuckers. Maybe Mae breaks Caleb's heart cuz she actually likes being immortal despite the distaste of killing. Speaking of her, I got the feeling that she only had a mild crush on Caleb that would've disappeared after a week. Poor Caleb just wanted to laid and got kidnapped by vampiric outlaws instead.

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lethalchiralium · 1 year

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Diamondback | Prologue

a/n: HEIBDEJFB i’m so excited for this one don’t even. I know it’s short, leave me alone 🥲

warnings: cussing, mentions of cheating/pregnancy (not reader), maskless!simon riley

summary: The heat was something else. With a heavy heart and nothing to lose, you’ve ditched your ex-fiancé to chase your childhood best friend across the country to a small town in a wildfire prone area of the United States - Pine, Arizona. It’s nestled in a valley and is where your best friend, Alex Keller, calls home. He’s following his passion, his dreams, and it soon enough, you’re following it too; but the flames are getting too close and soon you’ll be in the line of fire of your best friend’s superintendent, John Price, and his assistant, Simon Riley.

SERIES MASTERLIST | >> NEXT

Alex Keller was a man of his word.

With his phone now slipped into his pocket, he moved with light steps from his locker and across the room to his Superintendent’s office. It was getting late, most of his fellow Hotshots had already gone home for the night. He was almost set out to leave too, having already put on his street shoes and his bomber jacket when you had called him. You’ve been his best friend since the first grade, essentially his second sister; he’d do anything to help you, so when you had called, his heart broke and anger flooded his body.

“Where are you gonna go? Your mom’s not the best choice-“

“Please tell me I can crash with you.”

“What?”

“Please. I’ll even work in your little firefighter station too.”

“You can’t just join a Hotshot crew, Y/N-“

“I know as much about fire and firefighting as you do, maybe even more.”

“That doesn’t mean you have the physical capabilities for it! It’s grueling, it’s exhausting-“

“Oh, I know you are not trying to mansplain your job to me.”

“What? No! No, it’s just-“

“A little hiking and extra upper arm workout is nothing. Put in a good word, would you?”

“I mean, I can- But be for real, you can’t uproot your life! You love being a fire watch.”

“Yeah, and I loved Justin. Shit can change, Alex.”

Alex knocked on the door, hearing faint voices of approval granting him entrance. He opened the door, revealing the warm light that had been on for a few hours. At the desk sat his Superintendent, John Price - a man with expertly groomed facial hair and the drive of a wildfire. He was physically and mentally maintained; he was everything a Superintendent should be. Across from him sat Alex’s Assistant Superintendent, Simon Riley - a man with the sense for fire science and for weather. The more physically maintained of anyone in the crew, he was the best at keeping the 141 Hotshots on their toes. The two of them worked incredible as a team and were the reason why the Pine Fire Department in Arizona was allowed their own Hotshot crew - Alex respected them.

Both looked to Alex, equally surprised he was still in the firehouse.

“What do you need, Keller?” Simon was the first to speak, Alex took a breath.

“Look, I know you guys are still looking for a new Hotshot, I may have a possible candidate.” He placed his hands on his hips, watching as Simon looked to Price.

Price’s eyebrows furrowed. “Go on.”

Shit, how do I tell them that she’s just leaving her job ‘cause of that douchebag? “Uh, so she actually does- did, did fire watch in Yellowstone, she was a Hotshot for like… a year before? Anyway, she’s uh, she’s coming to live with me and wanted to know if she could interview.”

Price looked to Simon, who looked back to him. With a knowing glance shared between them, Price looked to Alex.

“She do drugs?”

Alex shook his head.

“Convicted of a crime?”

“No sir.”

Price’s next question was as blunt as it could’ve been. “Did she kill somebody?”

Alex blinked for a moment, stuttering, “Well-Well no! I mean she might, she has a good reason right now.”

Simon snickered, “Doesn’t everybody?”

Price glared at his Assistant Superintendent before he looked back to Alex. “When’s she gonna be here? ‘Cause we might be mobilizing soon.”

Alex looked at his watch. “She’s on a plane now.”

His Superintendent looked pleased before looking at Simon, then to his own watch.

“Have her be here by 9 tomorrow morning.” The man’s blue eyes were sharp as they looked back up to Alex. “If she washes out, it’s your ass on the line.”

“Yes sir.”

The Hotshot still stood in the office, the Superintendent looked to his Assistant, who spoke. “Why are you still here, Keller?”

Alex cleared his throat. “As a good employee, I’m saying that she would be a great hotshot. As her friend…”

Both Price and Simon’s eyebrows raised.

“She’s a bit… intense.”

“You son of a bitch!”

“Y/N, I swear! I don’t know a Natalie!”

A vase shattered against the wall next to your fiancé’s face, he shouted in fear - but you wanted him to feel your fucking rage.

“You are a fuckin’ liar!”

A mug nearly hit him in the face, only to explode into a million pieces next to him. “Stop!”

You weren’t done. No, you were far from done. With a quick hand, you grabbed your former favorite framed photo of your engagement - a time where you were truly happy. It was a stark contrast to the scene now; you had made your way through the kitchen into the living room, throwing things to keep your fiancé, Justin, far away from you. “You got her-“ You chucked the picture frame at him, it barreled against the wall and shattered on impact. “fucking pregnant! You got a girl pregnant!”

“I didn’t!” He tried to take a stop forward but your hand was on another picture frame, ready to throw it, so he paused as he held his hands out. “It’s not fucking mine! I don’t know her!”

Another picture frame was thrown at him, he moved out of the way as you made your way to the front door. Your hand fished into your jacket pocket as you threw your backpack over your shoulder, throwing the small keyring at Justin. He took two steps closer, but you ripped open the front door.

“Where the fuck are you even gonna go?!” He shouted, face red with anger. You gave him a nasty look.

“Somewhere you won’t fuckin’ find me, ‘cause we are over. We will stay over, so if you harass me,” You snarled at him, taking a step backwards and out of the house. “So help me God, you’ll be meetin’ Him faster than you can say sorry.”

And you slammed the door behind yourself, hands shaking and tears threatening to fall. You had no one here in Montana, no one where you could hide and you sure as Hell weren't going to have your mother say "I told you so". With a shaking hand, you dug your phone out of your pocket and dialed the one person you always knew you could count on.

With two rings, he picked up and tears pricked your eyes. "Alex."

Taglist: @all-good-things-have-an-ending @warners-wife @random0lover

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nani-nonny · 1 month

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I think it might have been the little hours of sleep I had but I had a stressful dream where I was feeding my Jenny <3 but when I turned around with her, another Jenny appeared like a glitch in the matrix

I was so stressed that I had two turtles to take care of, but when I picked up the second turtle to wash it, another turtle popped up but it was a diamondback terrapin and obviously a baby because of how small it was

Then I was beyond stressed thinking how I was going to take care of three turtles, in my shared house with a tank that somehow shrunk in the middle of my panic on a part-time budget and college classes

And I thoroughly believe that dream was sent by my peepaws, specifically apaf, because of all the stress I put them through

I’m speaking it into existence that I apologize to my peepaws for the fics I’ve written and the fics I will write in the future

#nonny nonsense

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crash476 · 1 year

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Conspiracies and the Problem of Peggy Carter

I bounced really hard off the Captain Carter version of Peggy Carter. For me, it felt like the triumph of her style over any quality she had as a character. I’ve spoken about this before, but I think giving Peggy dementia robbed her of her voice, unable to speak to her past, and thus providing a blank canvas for the writer and audience to use with as they will.

My biggest critique of Peggy’s fans have been this sense that they love her aesthetic and the platitudes over the substance of the character. She became 2010s girlboss. The Agent Carter series did provide the potential to further explore her as a character. It could give her a past pre-dating Steve, show the history of SHIELD, show her as a leader, and delve into the moral complexities of the MCU intelligence side. But that never happened. The show was canceled after two seasons and all we had left was a very marketable aesthetic.

We have some vague notions of what she did during her time as director of SHIELD, but nothing substantial. Then Endgame happened, Chris Evans left for other projects, and the Russos, Markus and McFeely seemed to have scrambled for a way to write out Steve. Steve’s exit seemed like an afterthought at best. As a consequence, whatever lore Peggy had in the main MCU timeline got completely thrown out. This is because Steve Rogers is a heroic paragon and his designated love interest must be above reproach. She is little more than a sexy lamp and when Captain Carter got attention in the What If... series, well she’s even more marketable now!

The thing that gets me about Peggy’s haters is the level of reaching done to justify their dislike. I’ll get to some of my critiques on how Disney/Marvel Studios handle the espionage side of the MCU (not well). But stay with me here. I need to do some comic book history.

The MCU Peggy Carter is an amalgamation of a number of love interests Steve’s had over his publication run. Earth-616 Peggy is a retcon love interest. She was introduced in 1966 after Steve’s book was essentially rebooted. Captain America was popular during WWII, but the initial post-war years weren’t kind to superhero comics. Atlas Comics (who later rebranded as Marvel Comics in 1961) tried to rebrand Steve from a Nazi puncher to a Commie smasher that went over like a lead balloon. His book was canceled in 1954 and Stan Lee and Jack Kirby revived Steve in 1964. They came up with the “on ice” backstory we saw in the TFA. The 50s Cap was explained as having been a succession of other characters acting as Steve, such as Jeffrey Mace (Patriot), William Naslund (Spirit of ‘76), and most infamously by William Burnside.

Anyway, during the 50s, Bucky got shot and was replaced by Steve’s then girlfriend, Betsy Ross (then known as Betty and later goes by the code names Agent 13 and Golden Girl). She is THE original love interest and first appeared in Captain America Comics #1, published in December 1940, created by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby. She basically did everything in the 40s comics that Peggy in the 60s (and the MCU by extension) was said to have done. The reason you’ve never heard of her is because of Betty Ross Banner - The Hulk’s main love interest. 40s Betsy got retconned into a relationship with Jeffrey Mace (one of the guys who was a retconned 50s Cap) and now lives in a retirement home.

Sharon and Peggy Carter get introduced in 1966. Sharon’s got a complicated story that we don’t have time to unpack so I’ll just say, Sharon is messy and that’s good. I think it’s good that she’s the Power Broker. Steve later dated glass-blower turned lawyer Bernie Rosenthal, who was introduced in 1980. He’s had an on/off relationship with former villainess Rachel Leighton, aka Diamondback (who was introduced in 1985). And there were romances with fellow super heroines like The Black Widow, Wasp, Rogue, and The Scarlet Witch.

Now we move onto the conspiracy theory Peggy Carter haters adore: Cynthia Glass.

Cynthia “Cindy” Glass was created in 1991 by Fabian Nicieza and Kevin Maguir for The Adventures of Captain America #1 - #4. She had four total appearances before she was killed. There was apparently a guid book for the MCU where she was mentioned as an inspiration for MCU Peggy, but I’d like to see those receipts before I make a call on the veracity of the claim. But I can see why the Peggy haters claim her as the true inspiration of MCU Peggy. Cynthia kind of looks like Hayley Atwell (if you squint) and is revealed to be a Nazi double agent who gets shot.

Look, if you don’t like a character (and maybe their actor, too), it’s fine. Just don’t fuck with them and move on, don’t make up shit about a character being a secret Nazi when there’s no actual proof. And don’t say that Cynthia Glass was Cap’s first love when she was a clear retcon that completely contradicts previously established canon regarding Betsy Ross and Peggy Carter. Especially when anyone can look up the publication history. At most MCU Peggy kind of looks like Cynthia and met Steve just before he got the serum. The decision to keep Atwell’s brown hair could easily have come down to “she looks better as a brunette.” Film production decisions are often not that deep.

Peggy Carter was probably the most convenient love interest to adapt for TFA. She doesn’t have Betsy’s name problem. Sharon needs to be established as being Peggy’s niece to explain why they look so similar. You need to justify a face-turn for Rachel. And the only people who know about Cynthia Glass are those who read the original limited run she was in during the early 90s as it looks like it wasn’t collected into a trade paperback until 2018. Again, film production devisions are not often not that deep.

So now we get to my critiques of how Disney/Marvel Studios have handled Peggy and just the spy genre in general. Spy fiction can vary wildly in terms of tone and just how heroic the protagonist is, but generally the genre leans towards a cynical world view. This is fueled by the author’s own politics, and by their own experiences if they worked in intelligence themselves (ie: John le Carré and Graham Greene). The genre also borrows heavily from hardboiled detectives (think the works of Raymond Chandler) and film noir. In any case, the protagonist is, at best, an anti-hero and sometimes a terrible one. The nature of intelligence work requires moral compromises, both in and out of fiction. If you actually look into how that world operates, it’s honestly more like organized crime backed by a nation’s treasury and given the fig leaf of respectability because you’re “fighting for a cause.”

This runs headlong into the MCU retcons when it comes to Peggy. By making SHIELD older than originally implied and putting Peggy in charge during the early days, she now has a fuck ton of skeletons in her closet. The problem is that Disney will never produce anything that is critical of the US government or could be as cynical as the spy genre demands. Yes, there was Agents of SHIELD, but that show (and I say this with love) has more in common with NCIS than The Sandbaggers or Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy. Disney is too scared of biting the hand that feeds. They’re scared of getting cut off from Pentagon money. This is Disney’s lone fear, and it shows how toothless The Falcon and the Winter Soldier was. They just come up to the edge of valid critic, actually showing how the empire works.

Bringing this back to the problem Peggy, because the Russos, Markus and McFeely needed her to be morally pure so she could be Steve’s perfect love interest. She can’t have a past, red on her ledger, or anything that puts her into a compromised position. It’s probably why Steve goes back to 1949 and gets with Peggy before SHIELD really starts. That way, Peggy hasn’t done anything wrong. The audience is asked to forget about Zola and the HYDRA infiltration (though it’s never explained what she knew when). The Bucky situation is a bit different, and the Cynthia Glass conspiracy requires you to forget that in universe the Winter Soldier is treated as an urban legend within the intelligence community. Natasha brings up in TWS that no one can agree if he’s real. Given the few crumbs we have on Peggy’s tenure as director of SHIELD, the most I’m willing to say is that she might have know that the Winter Soldier was real. But with hindsight, I think the HYDRA infiltration was pulled off badly.

Like if I had my way, the Peggy Steve meets after he’s unfrozen would be played by an older actress like Judi Dench, Maggie Smith, or the late Diana Rigg. That way she can speak for herself in the present. If I had my way, Agent Carter would have lasted longer and Peggy would have become something along the lines of DC’s Amanda Waller mixed with Dench’s M with a dash of George Smiley’s moral grounding. We could get a more accurate understanding of Peggy and SHIELD and even if you still don’t like her, she’s still a character with actual depth. And maybe Captain Carter would just be a fun “what if...” and not a free mulligan.

Cause it really feels like Disney wants to wipe the slate clean and rewrite Peggy as a morally uncomplicated heroine who can be Steve’s un-problematic girlfriend.

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heximagines · 2 years

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What do you think the rest of the clans big 3 are? 😯

Okay so just off the top of my head and don't mark my words on this because I may change my mind later on especially about rising signs buuuut.

Jesse:

☀️ Capricorn

🌙 Aquarius

⬆️ Capricorn

Clear headed and analytical Jesse is a paternal figure who offers structure. But he has a fondness for the othered and an interesting desire to go against the grain that opposes his heavy Capricorn energy. He commands respect.

Diamondback:

☀️ Sagittarius

🌙 Gemini

⬆️ Leo (I think Jesse has a thing for Leo risings)

Free spirited and social she prefers the lighter side to life. Prefers to go with the flow but can take charge when needed and isnt afriad to speak her mind. Warm and generous but you wouldn't want to be on her bad side.

Homer:

☀️ Gemini

🌙 Taurus

⬆️ Aries

Homer has this sort of mischievous air to him, he's for sure a little shit, with a temper to boot. He flairs up quickly and can hold a grudge but tries to act like he doesn't care. He also has an inate want for deep connections that he struggles to express.

Mae:

☀️ Virgo

🌙 Cancer

⬆️ Libra

She's for sure got these very fairy like qualities to her, I'd dare say she's got some pisces in her chart too (probably her mercury). Others are drawn in by her natural allure. She also has the most well rounded placements. Making her easy and pleasant to deal with.

Caleb:

☀️ Taurus

🌙 Virgo

⬆️ Taurus

This is a stubborn, stuck in his ways, romantic earth sign man. He prefers to tackle things from a logical point of view and isn't a big fan of change. Thrives in a domestic setting. Offers a lot of stability and tenderness. Not to mention a strong work ethic is deeply ingrained in him.

#oz speaks #near dark #near dark 1987 #jesse hooker #diamondback near dark #homer near dark #mae near dark #caleb colton #the hooker clan

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jinxthejubilee · 2 years

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Venus de Milo - We Need to Talk

Because I'm desperate to see Rise of Tmnt get a third season, I need to talk about it more. And for that, I must ask this question: What do you guys think of Venus de Milo?

Honestly, I think she could be a great addition to the series. Pretty much anything they do with her would be better than the disgrace that was The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Next Mutation.

I feel really bad for her because the writers never gave her a chance to be her own character. They just fell back on a bunch of period-typical tropes for female characters and never even utilized those tropes in an interesting way.

So if Venus was in ROTTMNT, here are the questions/ideas I have for both the writers, and the audience:

Since the boys are all four different species of turtles, what kind of turtle would she be?

(Maybe a diamondback?)

What color should her mask be?

It shouldn't be just a lighter color of one of the boys, she needs to be distinct.

I would say yellow, but that's Jennika's color.

Maybe silver?

Should they change her name to an actual female Renaissance artist?

If so, what would it be? And if not, what is the backstory of how she was named "Venus de Milo?"

If they keep her as the long lost sister of our main 4, how did she get separated from them in the first place?

Did Draxum keep her separated on purpose before they all got mutated?

Was she thrown out because Draxum no longer thought she was a suitable candidate for his experiments?

What was the reason?

How would they all meet each other?

Probably fighting each other, if I'm being honest. That's basically how they've met everyone in this series.

What would her weapon be?

I would say a fan, but people might be bothered that they assigned a traditionally "feminine" weapon to the only other girl in the group.

Maybe the tetsubo?

The kyoketsu-shoge?

Either way, she needs her own weapon unless they want to keep her magical powers from the original show, which would actually work really well in this particular series.

How would the creators revamp her personality?

Raphael in this series is kinda like a den mother already, so if they keep that aspect of her character the same as she was in The Next Mutation, they may need to dial that back a notch.

Maybe she could be very shy, skittish, and awkward, but once she warms up to her family and friends' love and acceptance, she gets more excitable and fun.

Also, maybe replace "motherly" with just "very formal," as in she speaks very formally and has a hard time loosening up around people.

She can still have that somewhat oblivious nature when it comes to references and cultural idioms, like she did in The Next Mutation, but not too much to the point that it becomes annoying. She just doesn't know how to interact normally due to her upbringing.

I've seen art and a few stories like this before, but what if before Draxum became a good guy (or this could be Big Mama, whoever works), he created Venus by mutating her with a small sample of Splinter's DNA?

If not a baby, then a little girl? Around 10 years old or so? Just throwing some ideas out there.

Which goes into my next question: Should Venus be older or younger than Mikey?

We all know that Mikey is baby, and people might want him to stay that way.

Unless they want Mikey to be the older brother for once and be the best and awesomest big brother ever!

I'd say this is less likely to happen though.

The most likely option is Venus being older than Mikey, but younger than Leo and Donnie.

I can dig the awkward big sister and excitable little brother dynamic.

Another idea that I saw was making Venus the same age as Leo and Donnie so that the three of them could be "triplets," and personally, I love that idea.

Speaking of Big Mama, I saw some people speculating that this person:

Might be Venus, who works for Big Mama.

That could be an interesting take on her.

Maybe after Draxum threw her out, she was found by Big Mama or one of workers and now serves under her.

Building up relationships

This is definitely going to be a separate discussion for another day, but Venus' relationships with everybody could be an awesome topic to explore.

The personalities of every single character in this show are very distinct and they bounce off each other very well, so what would happen if you throw Venus into the mix?

First off, getting rid of the idea of Venus as a love interest is a must since she will be revamped as their sister.

The boys are used to having a older sister figure in their lives because of April, so how would having a younger sister work?

Raph would obviously be a bit overprotective as usual, making sure she's comfortable and feels safe around them, which depending on her personality, she could appreciate it immensely, or not, but for the sake of his feelings, she doesn't say anything.

Donnie would be happy to have another person to show off his inventions, and they could bond over her actually taking interest in what he has to say.

Leo would be the one she talks to/is the most comfortable around, since he's pretty chill and understands that he shouldn't overwhelm her like Raph or the others tend to do. That said, Leo would be siked to have another sibling, and would show her all that she needs to know about their family, their favorite pizza places, and how they work together as a team.

Mikey would be the top brother excited to have a sister. Younger or older, he'd drag Venus around like a ragdoll to show her anything and everything! Pizza, games, arts and crafts, the Jupiter Jim movies, everything! He might be a little annoying when he gets like this, but that adorable smile on his face breaks down any resistance Venus has.

Master Splinter is an interesting one. He might feel guilty for essentially abandoning Venus, leading her to work for Draxum, Big Mama, or whatever villain she serves, if she serves anyone at all. Maybe she'll be a bit resentful of him for that, and avoid interacting with him for a while, until he eventually apologizes and makes an attempt to kindle a father-daughter relationship with her. Once they get there though, it's very sweet, with Splinter promising to be there for her and make up for lost time.

GIRLS NIGHT WITH APRIL AND SUNITA!!! This needs to happen! All three girls banning together and having little adventures of their own. If Venus is the shy one of the group, April and Sunita can show her the ropes and help build up her confidence. Positivity is a must! 🌟

And, of course, like every character on this show, we need some trauma. Paranoia is her worst enemy.

A plausible reason of why Venus is so quiet is because she was order never to speak out of line or she would be punished. She was like a robot, who never gained her own identity as she was only seen as a tool.

She's so afraid of making others upset to the point that she overthinks everything and just stops talking altogether.

Sometimes her fears and ridiculous assumptions about what could happen can be played for laughs, but her anxious nature is just...not fun for her.

Which leads to everyone helping her break out of her comfort zone and become more comfortable with the family and the outside world overall.

They might be too pushy at times, but they only have good intentions. However, these things take time, and they must learn to be more patient.

All in all, I think that Venus could be a splendid character if the people in charge of TMNT actually TRY to play with her personality and backstory, and not just let her become a walking don't list for how not to create a female character in a male-centric franchise.

Soooo...that's it! If you made it this far, first of all, thank you so much! And second, let me know how you would interpret Venus' character. We NEED this show to come back, and I want to give this girl justice!

Once again, thank you all so much for reading! Stay safe out there! And I'll see you later! Byeee! 💗

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