sometimes i’m like “man, younger me would be pretty disappointed with my life” but then i remember i have my OWN kitty cat IN REAL LIFE and i can GRAB HER and KISS HER whenever i want and i’m like oh yeah. it’s all coming together. my childhood dreams began and ended with owning a cat so i’m doing pretty good 👍🏻

“kids are so stupid these days, the ipad babies are ruining the world, ten year olds skip school and goes to sephora—“ do you have any idea what it’s been like to go to american public school within the last 15 years? can you blame a child for not wanting to spend 8 hours a day in a place where their safety and autonomy aren’t just not considered, but are blatantly denied?

mass shootings every day. funding being cut. school lunches— which were already the bare minimum in terms of nutrition— being removed. those alone would give anyone trauma, but even without those things the power structures inside of the average public school are designed to wring the individuality out of a child. (and that’s not even mentioning the way that neurodivergent kids are left out to dry by the school system, or how any marginalized kid can be tortured by their peers with no repercussions!) it’s designed to be miserable, and yet somehow people are surprised that kids don’t want to be there.

sandy hook happened in 2012, and nothing changed. uvalde ten years later, and still nothing. kids were forced back into overcrowded, unsanitary classrooms while covid was still killing thousands every day— most after having missed critical social development during lockdown, which there was no support for recovering from. children are being forced to see politicians debate the “ethics” of feeding them, letting them express their gender identity, allowing them to access accurate information about history as if their futures are just hypothetical. along with that is the social media boom, where marginalized people can create communities like never before, and those same kids are realizing that the systems they’ve been shoved into are broken. they’re being showed how awful the situation really is, and still completely powerless to change anything.

can you imagine having to go through all that and still pass your standardized fucking tests? my god, it’s a wonder that schools aren’t completely empty by now. we’re getting there though— i can’t count how many stories i’ve heard of kids dealing with truancy charges because of how many days of school they’ve “skipped” due to extreme anxiety or burnout. i’m one of them! i barely graduated in 2018, and the conditions were leagues better then!

people bitch about the “decline in intelligence” between generations, as if it’s the kids fault for the state of the world, as if this isn’t the inevitable conclusion for the public school system in this country. it feels deliberately ignorant— have you not watched the news recently? does it not evoke any empathy, does it not fill you with rage? how in the world could you pin the blame on kids here?

everyone says protect the children, and yet. fuckin sickening.

Fanart for @wutheringmights ao3 fic Call Them Brothers! This is the one I was dreading and excited about the most. I really enjoyed doing the alt version for this one. Anyways, this is the last one of the set but I definitely will still be around >:). 3/3

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

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

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

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

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

But then he does

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

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

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

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

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

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

Can the word please stop with feminist retellings of myths, please?

They're even more annoying than Mafia AUs where the Mafia is portrayed as something good, Robin Hood-like. (no.)

I'm just so tired, even the ones that are written good are... Listen, I liked TSoA. I really did. But there's nothing feminist in it, sorry not sorry, or just explain how do you think Tethys is more feminist in MM book than in the Iliad, where she's the best mom around, moving mountains and convincing Zeus to go out of his way to help her baby. Because honestly I don't see the feminism in that Tethys.

the moment i type tottmnt instead or rottmnt is gonna be my downfall (gay and too lazy to correct)

(mini-rant in tags if youre curious </3)

A Few Hot Takes About Elite Force

Bree did not deserve to go to Centium City, nor does it make sense plot-wise

In season four it's jokingly established that Bree is becoming sort of a mom-friend, mom-mentor sort of figure. There is no way in hell that she would've allowed fucking Adam and Leo to run the bionic island. She knows those two knuckle-heads would get into trouble. Don't get me wrong, I love when Adam takes control of the situation and when he takes responsibility for Bob in that one episode, but let's face it: he is not ready for such a large role when it comes to that many kids. Dude is not equipped to be a babysitter. When it comes to Leo, while he is more equipped for the situation, he is very well established to make shit go wrong on fucking accident. We see it time and time and time again, not only in season one, but in season four (read: the whole business card fiasco). She would've known that they would've be able to handle it alone, especially when taking into account that their chaperones would've been fucking Terry Cherry Perry and goddamn Douglas Davenport! Excuse me???? No! She would have not allowed that.

Edit- Also, she just got a sister! I know that she said that the excitement was gone after having to change diapers, but you're telling me that Bree wouldn't want to be a part of her life????

Leo did deserve to go to Centium City, and it would've made more sense plot-wise (especially if they kept it mostly the same story-wise)

Leo, as we all know, gets along great with Kaz. Not only that, but he's a superhero nerd. I guarantee that if Leo just knew wtf the 'secret project' was, he would've been on board faster than the train to Downtown Welkerville. It would've been epic to see him interact with not just Kaz, but Oliver too? Skylar probably would've felt like she fit in more too, because she's definitely one of the boys (not in a pick-me way, in a nonbinary way). It would've been really fun seeing Chase trying to battle Kaz, Oliver and Leo down from playing Topple Tower and whatever other various games. Such as, for example, Leo jumping off the building for Kaz and/or Oliver to catch him before he fucking dies. I know this was more of an Adam and Chase thing, but I still think we should've gotten a prank wars episode, and since it's decidedly canon that Bree is, at best, mid when it comes to pranks, it could've gotten real fucking intense. I love the idea of Oliver and Kaz warning Chase and Leo about Skylar being really amazing at pranks, and then when they don't really notice her being weird or suspicious, they just think it was to mess with their heads (which does or does not work, depending on if you want a Sicillian situation on your hands or not) so they brush it off, only to be bested by the prank master. But I'm getting off topic. The biggest reason that I think that Leo should've gone to Centium City instead of Bree is because of Episode 9 and Episode 10. In episode 9, The Intruder,we are introduced to a character named AJ, who finds Chase and Douglas in the Mission Command (aka, the basement) by mistake. And I know that they often draw comparisons from AJ to Chase, but I think that it would work way better with Leo— Better yet, Leo and Chase. Like Chase, AJ is autistic coded, socially inept, and a tech nerd. But like Leo, he means well. He wants to be a part of the team, even though objectively that maybe shouldn't be allowed. He snuck his way into this family by running into them when he didn't mean to, when he was just exploring where he lived. AJ should've gotten bonding time with Leo. Maybe then, the common headcannon that AJ will/would become Mission Specialist like Leo once was, would be cannon. Next is Episode 10, The Rock. In The Rock, AJ makes a list ranking the most useful/gifted in the Elite Force, to the least. This causes Bree to become insecure when she's placed in the middle, leading her to attempt getting more powers by touching the Arcturian. I will always stand by the fact that this was a fucking stupid idea. But when it's Leo? This idea becomes nearly fucking genius. Leo would likely be placed in a similar place, if not lower, given that only part of him has powers. He is not bionic, he has bionics. And, y'know, he's a superhero nerd; why would he not want superpowers. He also is reckless, which would make sense why he would touch the Arcturian without really thinking about it as much as he probably should. And best of all, this could be a personal secret, instead of a secret between him and someone else, like it was with Bree and Skylar. After all, Leo already has a buffer. His arm. Leo wouldn't need to be endangered to get these powers, he already paid that tax years ago. Leo would finally have powers. Not just partial powers; real, true powers. It makes sense that he would be the first bionic superhero. Leo deserves to be the first bionic superhero.

Edit cont.- I do think that Leo would want to be in Naomi's life too, I understand that. Especially with his dad having been absent in his life, he might want Naomi to grow up with her family around. But at the same time, I really like the idea of him letting Bree have that honour. Like a bit of an emotional moment as they debate who goes to Centium City and who stays on the island/in Mission Creek, and in the end, Leo knows how much Bree's always wanted a sister and decides that she should be allowed to have that.

I have way more, but I can't remember, so this is probably the last one. Ka-Kai-Ra-Ta-Hee-Haw-Mwak-Floopie-Pazoing should've been in Elite Force

They couldn't have invited Auggie Issac back for one episode just to make it feel more like Caldera? Seriously? She is definitely one of the highlights that we get when we visit Caldera in Mighty Med, and without her, it feels disingenuous. Hell, start the episode with a quick video chat with Gus talking about how things are going in Philly and with The Domain, make the universe feel more coherent and put together. And then, if Chase and Leo/Bree see the call, they could later mention how she looks like Gus. And, not only that, but she could help save Skylar. Like, instead of Scarlett just being like 'hey muthafuckas, lemme bring you to ya girl,' it could've had this semi-dramatic, semi-emotional moment with Ka-Kai-Ra-Ta-Hee-Haw-Mwak-Floopie-Pazoing where she explains that she saw Scarlett taking Skylar away. She could've explained the whole rebellion thing to Oliver and his accompaniment. They could've had one of those cross cut scenes where it cuts between Ka-Kai-Ra-Ta-Hee-Haw-Mwak-Floopie-Pazoing and Scarlett explaining what's going on, instead of getting weird feeling, one dimensional exposition from just Scarlett talking to Skylar through an oddly shaped TV. I would've loved to see her and Skylar reunite, even for a little bit. Hell, y'know what, Ka-Kai-Ra-Ta-Hee-Haw-Mwak-Floopie-Pazoing is basically not a pet, which is implied through the numerous jokes of her not responding to things that a normal pet do, and the fact that she speaks english. It would've been epic as fuck if she was like... leading a rebellion army. That would've been so fucking awesome. But that would've been far more difficult to do, and I understand that. But the first part? Cmon, she is the heart and soul of Caldera. She should've been there.

Sorry for the super long post that was basically about nothing, but I was ranting to my friend who knows nothing about the lref universe and I wanted to share these. They're definitely the ones I'm most passionate about— not including how I think that Douglas definitely should've been indited more as their father instead of Donald, especially in Elite Force where Douglas showed up more than Donald did. And that Tasha deserves someone better (and I wouldn't exactly mind if that person were Douglas, but I've been over how I think that Douglas deserves a nice twunk)

Let me know if I should make a part two, and I might rant about a few more things they could've done to make Elite Force better.

Anyway, all in all, thank you for coming to my ted talk.

Woahh Aprilnardo!!

i fuckibg love listening to people go in depth about their interests I LOVE IT like yes please tell me every single bit of lore about this thing i’ve never heard of oh what’s that? there’s more? FUCKING ELABORATE BRO???? it’s awesome wdym of course i’ll draw these two characters i don’t know the names of yes i’ll match pfps with you on whatsapp

A Review of The Ssum (from the perspective of an MM fan)

Ok, so the first thing I would like to say is:

Please be considerate toward Ssum; it’s an entirely different game from MM, and despite there being similarities, SSum is NOT Mystic!! (but you all know that, surely ^^)

However, I will be comparing things in my rant...because I am one of those Mystic Messenger Fans ;-;

---------------

(Also I see some of you all asking Cheritz for more MM content...I get it, I want some more too but...we all have heard that Cheritz has (supposedly) said that updates for content will be sparse or MUCH less frequent

edit:

(however I have heard from someone that they said after Ray's AE, they were planning on stopping updating in general other than new start screen CGs, BUT YOU NEVER KNOW, I'M PATIENTLY WAITING FOR A VANDY ROUTE IDC)

---------------

So first things first: Teo.

I’ve already seen people say this, but he’s sort of...bland? In fact, he actually seems like a mild mixture of Zen, 707, and Yoosung. He’s an aspiring film director who likes to game in his spare time, and is helping test developing AIs. After growing up with Mystic, it’s strange to see such a normal character!

---------------

Second!

The typing speed is extremely slow, and you can’t speed it up.

The only way to speed it up (from what I’ve seen) is to pay $9.99 for fast typing speed. That’s...a lot more than Max Speed in MM.

---------------

Third!

Here’s some comments I found in Ssum already, lol:

"mystic messenger >>>>>"

"give me 200 days of content of jumin han instead"

"i am confused lol"

"i really miss yoosung"

"i don't understand this HEEELLLLPPP"

"this game is so confusing lol"

Aside from the MM comments, I see a LOT of people being super baffled about the interface of Ssum. There are a ton of features that MM never had, and for former and present MM fans, it’s very new and confusing.

There’s also the fact that the purchases aren’t made to be a one time purchase. In fact, the packages are SUBSCRIPTIONS. Meaning you have to pay MONTHLY. Some people just cannot afford a subscription (myself included).

This, along with the fact that everything seems overpriced, is making MM fans a bit irritated that they can’t fully enjoy this new game without having to spend money.

---------------

Fourth!

Here’s some of my personal opinions on the game!

The interface is really nice! It’s smooth, it’s clean, it’s modern and new :)

The voice acting is really cute and high quality, and I appreciate that.

However, the way that Teo talks with you in the chatrooms and over the phone is a bit strange. It’s a bit sudden, and feels sort of rushed.

I mean, it’s only two chats in and he’s talking about how he feels flushed talking to you!

I also understand the idea of talking to only one person to get to know them, but it is honestly strange to not have a wider option of characters. (Is Cheritz planning on adding more characters? I genuinely do not know)

Also, a little detail, but you can’t pause the phone calls. I understand that you’re simulating a real phone call but what if I’m busy? ;-;

For MM fans, it's definitely not going to overtake Mystic.

It doesn’t have the same “charm”, and I feel like MM fans are just going to hold onto Ssum simply because it’s a Cheritz game.

---------------

We do need to keep in mind that Cheritz has spent 4 years creating this game. That’s very commendable (...despite the fact they kept telling people they’d release it, ...only to push it back another few months)

Still, I do know mystic fans want Mystic content to continue rather than have to deal with an entirely new and different game.

MM attachment shouldn’t be carried over as irritation for Ssum. BUT, that irritation is understandable considering MM is what we’ve lived off from Cheritz for a solid 6 years.

---------------

My closing thought is that I genuinely believe that people who have never played Mystic will enjoy Ssum! Having a clear slate and not having gotten attached to the former game will definitely allow for hardcore Ssum fans to crop up.

Unfortunately, I know that I’ll always be a die-hard MM fan.

Thanks for reading!!

hello, here for your opinion on odysseus! have you read madeline miller’s “circe”? if so, what did you think of odysseus?

Ooooohhhhhhhh you're nudging at a pandoras box asking me my opinions of Madeline Miller 🙃

To answer while holding the full ranting instinct back on a leash (partially bc I legit don't have much time for much typing rn AND I know lots of people like MM and idk I generally don't enjoy making people feel like they shouldn't like a thing, but I also love being salty and this is my constant internal struggle):

With a lot of her characterizations I feel like M.M. either goes too hard making them sympathetic (Circe and Patrocles being the top contenders who come to mind) or she swings too hard the other way. Odysseus is like....fine? He's not outright terrible? But he does fall into her "they are either sympathetic (cougboringcough) beauties with maayybe a couple Tragic Flaws (that are barely flaws, goD why couldn't she just let Circe have full agency and purposely curse Scylla why can't maybe Penelope be as much of a scheming suspicious fucker as her husband GOD these "feminist retelling" authors are too cowardly to touch Medea-nonono the rant is leashed I'm staying on target!) or they are horrible awful people." But she's made so many comments that make me baffled about her academic background in classics (why would you say all the gods are sociopaths Madeline??? that is an actual ancient cultures religion you're trashing??? do you not get how gods are used narratively in stories is not the same as they're worshipped esp in a religion without strict canon??? You know how we all understand that Paradise Lost isnt Christian canon what the F-Not ranting not ranting I'm good!!) lmao. She seems to fall into the common take I see where modern Anglo morality is projected on the characters divorced of the time/culture/narrative they are set in, and then go "omg how did people think this was a hero?"

Anyway I just don't see how people can look at Odysseus being a scheming ratfuck compulsive liar (who is also a great warrior in violent times bc it...was a warrior society who told his story) and go "um he's terrible why would anyone like him as he is originally????" while MCU Loki was so popular they kept bringing him back from the dead to continue being A Scheming Little Bastard.

(EDIT: uh tldr is I read Circe. The entire experience was me going "oooo it's about to get good" and then realizing that Circe is just boring the whole time. Came out the other end with more feelings about how M.M. writes women than Odysseus, but her Odysseus is part of a trend of doing a lot of black and white morality shenanigans)

sleeps for 3 hours and wakes fully rested, jittery with energy:

'' S̶A̶L̶T̶ ̶L̶I̶C̶K̶ ''

t̲r̲i̲u̲m̲p̲h̲ ̲r̲i̲n̲g̲s̲ ̲b̲e̲a̲u̲t̲y̲.̲

–

. . .

Akin to my personal salt lick,

I split open my tongue

On what I say.

Is it a revel?

I'll never use my verbal voice again.

My lips will never twitch,

Maybe only to crack a smile.

An inevitable smirk, a triumph

In the face of my enemies.

"Shut up!" they cry.

Never, I respond in kind.

I will leave behind my legacy

Of

Words.

I will be one with the immortal figures of history,

the Ones who Wrote,

Scribbled,

Scratched,

Typed,

Spoke.

I am no dog.

I won't be kicked aside.

I will break, over and over again until

I am unbreakable.

My throat will be slit,

My vocal chords shredded,

My tonsils removed by

The clawed hands of

Iniquity —

But my voice.

Oh, my beautiful,

Timeless,

Voice,

Will live on for the strongholds to come.

They will be carried by the winds of

My whistles and whispers.

Be strengthened by the

Gust of my Roars,

Sweetened, Charmed

By my serenades.

My heart was touched by an oath,

And a legend it will stand to be.

It probably couldn’t have been stopped, anyway.

Triumph.

Ring true for me.

Never, ever end.

So Im feeling like... the book title Little Mushroom gave me as widely incorrect a first impression as Dumb Husky and His White Cat Shizun did...

(For context: I avoided reading 2ha at first because I feared it would be extremely fluffy. Im not into fluff. It was only once I saw how angsty and heavy and dark it was by friends who'd read it that I was like oh perhaps Ill give it a chance.)

(Also related: i suspect, because i keep misjudging certain titles as Too Fluffy for me, that Mistakenly Saving the Villain is probably deeply emotional and developed and angsty and I probably dont need to avoid it from fear itll be fluff city).

Anyway I got Little Mushroom a while ago because any time Peach Flower House releases print english copies of danmei I at least consider getting them, and Little Mushroom is sci fi so of course I fucking got it. ToT but i still fear just a tiny bit, oh man cute title, what if this is too cute for my tastes.

Well im glad my guess was wrong. Ive only started reading, but I love the opening and the writing style, i AM SUPER into sci fi right now (im reading star trek Fanfic Observations by janon and The Expanse series i am in DEEP to sci fi right now mindset wise), and im thrilled by the blurb on the back of Little Mushrooms and the potential im about to get into.

The author blurb mentioned Shisi wrote C Language Cultivation. My head spinned.

I have belated realized ive actually been a fan of this author a WHILE. Ive been reading C Language Cultivation in chinese for like the past year, and the authors novel The Cats Rose is one I was eyeing to buy for a while. I cant believe I didnt connect that the writer of C Language Cultivation also wrote Little Mushroom. I suspect I probably would love all this authors books at this rate.

Am currently fixated on Raph from tottmnt not mm Raph but tottmnt Raph, I know they’re the same people from the same universe but I think it’s the art style that’s captivating me

LOOK AT HIM?? OMG

The teaser trailers have been barely feeding me, I need more rn or I will explode.

Was ranting abt this last night and it got me so worked up bc wtf he’s amazing I love Raph & I accidentally overstimulated myself 😾

GUYS HES LITERALLY ME OMG :((

Jumping for joy I love him sm, he’s so stupid I just can’t 😿😿 I’m gonna beat him up I swear wtf/af

THE FIGHT SCENE WAS AMAZING HE LOOKS SO GOOD I CANT EXPLAIN IT?? I need this show out now😾😾 Nickelodeon please😿

THEIR COSTUMES!!! Look at Mikey’s stupid little face omg I love him

It’s kinda weird how their clothes don’t go over their shells but that’s probably a stylist choice like how they don’t draw them with tails

They’re all just cutie omg😼😼

habibi sometimes to be happy, you just need a sugar daddy. nothing too crazy.