#(nothing gorey but there are some boo boos)

[tangledinink]

Chapter Fourteen of I'm Sorry, Teenage Mutant What Now? is up! Everyone has a great time and continues to experience emotions and situations. Raphael has an anxiety attack in a Chuck E. Cheese. Read it on ao3 or below the cut!

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When Donnie next woke up, they realized quickly that they were somewhere cold and dark, and, upon shifting slightly, also realized that they were incredibly sore.

“Ow,” he muttered dryly, and immediately, four (almost, mostly, kind of) familiar faces were moving into his field of vision.

“Guys, he’s awake!” Mikey gasped.

“Oh, thank god,” Raph sighed.

“How you feeling, Dee?” April prodded gently, her brows pinched together with worry.

“Nasty,” he mumbled, beginning to sit up. “But it’s not that bad. Just sore.” It was worse with the movement, however, and he winced slightly. Ugh, whatever position he had been sleeping in had not helped. He realized vaguely that he was no longer wearing his hoodie or his backpack, and he wondered if his family had removed it or if it had been taken from him. 

“Whoa, hey, slow down, dude,” Leo scolded. “I’m, like, 80% sure you’ve got a concussion or something, and your back looks gross, so chill.”

“Oh, good, Leo isn’t falling anymore,” Donnie deadpanned, leaning back slightly and rolling his shoulders a bit. Ow. He kept doing it anyway. “How long was I out? What the hell happened? And where are we?”

“Not that long. You’ve kinda been in-and-out for the past, like… I dunno. Half hour,” Leo explained.

“Please don’t pass out again!” Mikey added.

“But, uhhh, I think we’re in a literal dungeon?” Leo added, looking around thoughtfully.

“We’ve been jailed? Oh joy,” Donnie sighed. “This is no fair. If I’m going to be thrown in prison, it should be for my scientific advancements…”

“Donnie, that’s not something you’re supposed to hope for--” Raph hissed.

“Did we get our asses kicked?”

“Okay, well, look at the bright side,” Leo said instead of answering. “You gave, like, at least three of the guys on the other side concussions, too! And they probably look just as fucked up as you do right now!”

A loss, then.

“Let me see.”

“See what? Your back?” April raised a brow. “I dunno if that’s a good--”

“It’s my back,” Donnie defended. “Let me see.”

April sighed deeply, rolling her eyes. “Okay, fine. Hang on, I’ll take a picture…”

Donnie shifted a bit to allow room for her to photograph, frowning to himself. He was quietly surprised that their phones hadn’t been confiscated when they got thrown in here, but he was sort of willing to bet that they wouldn’t have any service down here, wherever they were. He’d have to check later.

“Okay, here. See?”

He did see.

He did not like it. 

There were no lacerations or mangled bones or anything-- the injury really wasn’t that bad, all things considered, just horrendously bruised. That wasn’t really what bothered him. If someone showed him a picture of his own shoulders looking like that, all discolored and black and blue, it really wouldn’t be an issue. But they weren’t shoulders. Instead there was this plane of a vaguely leathery, flesh-like surface, gently bumped and freckled olive green-- not quite skin, but not exactly carapace like his brothers now had, either, just something in between, all dotted with little markings. His spine was clearly outlined, and, in this moment, darkened and mottled with bruising.

“Right. Thank you,” he said quickly, looking to the side and scowling. April sighed a bit, almost visibly resisted the urge to say ‘I told you so,’ and pocketed her phone again, settling back down beside him.

“You gotta be more careful, Don! You coulda been seriously hurt!” Raph pressed.

“Oh, I’m sorry!” Donnie scoffed, rolling his eyes. “In the future, I’ll simply allow enemies to curbstomp our little brother! Silly me!”

“I would have been fine! You don’t have to protect me!” Mikey immediately protested.

“Look, hermano, I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but apparently, literally all the rest of us have straight-up built-in body armor,” Leonardo said with an accusing gesture. “You don’t!”

Donnie bristled a bit, hunching his shoulders. Right. Of course.

Of course it would work this way.

Turtles. They were, apparently, literal fucking turtles, of all goddamn things, and so of course he would be the only one who didn’t have the signature feature that turtles usually had in the form of a hard shell. Of course he would be different and vulnerable. Why was he surprised? When didn’t things work out this way? Story of his goddamn life!

And it made sense, too! Wasn’t he the only one out of all of them who had ever been, like, actually injured? He had watched Mikey fall down three flights of cement stairs one time and pop up at the bottom with a thumbs up. Raph was basically an immovable object. And how many times had Leo wiped out on his skateboard with no consequences? Or, perhaps more pointedly-- how many times had Leo literally kicked his ass in martial arts tournaments? Admittedly, Donnie was still, generally speaking, hardier than the average high-schooler, but…

He was still the only one in the family to have ever broken a bone. The one who fell ill the most frequently. He was the only one who had ever cried and thrown up because the hems of his pants got wet and nasty, for god’s sake--

He vaguely remembered that Draxum guy from earlier, their so-called creator, claiming that they were experiments. He wondered what exactly his intention was, and if he would meet expectations if evaluated or if he would objectively be classed as a failure. Clearly there was a gap between himself and his siblings.

“Look, it’s fine, Don. We just don’t want you to get hurt,” Raph said, resting a hand on his uninjured shoulder. “Just… let us take the heavy hits, okay? That’s all.” 

“Fine,” Donnie muttered.

---

Donatello whined softly, burrowing his way further into his Dad’s arms, hanging onto fistfuls of his shirt. Yoshi sighed, idly running his hand up and down the child’s spine. 

“I know, Purple,” he hummed, adjusting his grip on the other slightly, rearranging the blankets they were all but nested in. “The medicine will start working soon.”

The child sniffled miserably, peeking up just enough to give their father a rueful look. “You lied,” he accused, and Yoshi couldn’t resist a tiny laugh at the amount of rage his six-year-old could manage to put into his eyes. 

“When did I lie?”

“You said that if I took the medicine I would feel better. And it was disgusting. And I still feel bad,” he whimpered petulantly, burying his face into his dad’s shirt once more, and Yoshi chuckled softly, stroking his shoulders.

“That was ten minutes ago, Purple. It takes a little bit longer than that.”

“That’s stupid.”

“Maybe a little.”

“I’m gonna invent better medicine that works right away.”

“I’m sure you could.”

Purple always got this way whenever he managed to pick up any sort of bug from their various classes or after-school activities. Given how many children he had, how busy they were, and the fact that he, too, worked with a bunch of germy kids, they were, quite frankly, blessed with how rarely they were brought to their knees by some virus or another. Yoshi had always attributed this to the whole ‘mutant super soldier’ thing, and considered himself lucky that he hardly ever had to deal with nastier things like strep throat or bronchitis. Thank god. He didn’t think his heart could take it, quite frankly. But there was still the occasional cold, flu, or stomach bug, and almost invariably, it was either himself or Donatello who ended up bringing it home when they did.

And every time, Purple would be so damn pathetic about it.

Yoshi did feel bad for him, really, each and every time, because he knew that his kid didn’t feel well and wasn’t able to do all the things he usually did, and that was distressing to him, but oh my lord, was he dramatic. He’d always whimper and whine and carry on like he was dying, even if he just had a cough and a small fever, clinging to his dad and refusing to walk anywhere. Now, snotty, hacking children were not exactly Yoshi’s favorite things to snuggle up with, but he would admit that, as he so rarely received any physical affection from his purplest child on a day-to-day basis, it was a little nice to have him so clingy now. Especially given that when he was ill, Donnie was much more inclined to lay around and watch Lou Jitsu movies rather than science and math documentaries, or, even worse, partake in activities such as attempting to rewire the house, as he was apt to do. This was by far Yoshi’s preference. And though he did wish Donnie could enjoy it properly, he wouldn’t sit here and pretend like he didn’t enjoy spending the day curled up in his bed with his child in his lap watching movies together (now that he had been assured by their pediatrician that it was just a bug…) Even if he was sure he was going to get sick, too. 

It should be noted however, that even in his feverish, clingy state, Donnie was still quite particular about exactly what touch was and was not okay, which was evidenced by him literally hissing at his twin brother when he snuck into the room and attempted to join the pair on the bed.

“Use your words, Purple One,” Yoshi hummed, even as he redirected Leonardo to the foot of his bed, giving the two children a wide berth. Donnie only grumbled in response, but given the fact that he was sick, Yoshi let it slide this time. He couldn’t help but always feeling so… sorry for Donnie like this. It always scared him a bit when he got sick, even once he was sure it was only something minor. Just another reason he relished being able to bundle him up and hold him close. “I don’t think Purple wants to be touched by anyone else right now, Blue.”

“When’s he gonna be done being sick?” Leo sighed loudly, flopping down over his father’s legs. “I’m bored. Mikey and Raph don’t play right.” 

“Since when? You love playing with Mikey and Raph.”

“Yeah, but I wanna play Hot Wheelz and Donnie is the best at that game!” He complained. “Mikey and Raph are playing ‘Ninja Horse Tea Party Orphanage’ and I don’t wanna play that!”

That did sound like the type of game those two would play.

“If you give him a day or two, I’m sure he will be ready to play Hot Wheelz then.” 

“But that’s so LONNGGG!” Leo groaned loudly, sulking. “Can’t you make him better faster?”

“No, Donatello has not invented the medicine that works right away yet. It’s on his to-do list,” Yoshi explained calmly, squeezing the purple child just the tiniest bit. 

“Can I invent it, then?”

“I’m sure you could try,” Yoshi said with a shrug. 

“I want him to get better. And not be sick,” Leo explained, just in case it wasn’t clear.

“That’s very nice, Blue.”

“I bet I could find out a way to fix him.”

“Oh? Are you going to be a doctor, then?”

Leo wrinkled his brow, scrunching up his mouth and considering this for a moment before he shook his head. “No. I’m gonna be an actor. Or a ninja. Or a magician. One of those.”

“Ah. Well, you know what would probably be helpful right now?”

“What?” Leo immediately questioned, his eyes lighting up slightly.

“If you got your brothers to help you draw some get-well cards for Purple. I bet Mikey would be excited to help you if you asked.”

Leo latched onto the new ‘task’ right away, over the moon to do something to be helpful for his brothers, like he always was. It was one of the easiest ways to distract him. “Okay!” He replied, jumping back down off the bed, scampering off to go and find his remaining siblings.

He was almost gone, in fact, when Yoshi sneezed.

Leo stopped short, whipping back around and gasping loudly, pointing an accusing finger.

“YOU SNEEZED!”

“I don’t know what you are talking about.”

“YOU DID! I HEARD YOU!” He shrieked, taking off down the hall. “Guys! GUYS! Dad sneezed! I heard him!”

“Dad sneezed!?”

“Code Green! This is a CODE GREEN!”

Yoshi sighed softly, his head flopping back down against the pillow. Leo came skidding back into the room a moment later, his eyes wide.

“DAD! Can we go to April’s house!?”

“What?” He scoffed. “No! April and her parents are not even home!”

“Yeah but we gotta QUARANTINE!”

“It was just one sneeze--”

“LEO! Leo, you gotta disinfect! I found Donnie’s hand sanitizer!”

“Hey,” Donnie picked up his head to whine.

This always happened.

“Donnie, you have to get better quick so you can take field notes! We need your research, okay!? You’re the only one who can spell ‘pathology!!!’”

Donnie mumbled in reply, laying his head back down, but gave a tiny thumb’s up before Leo went sprinting back out the room to re-join his healthy (for now) brothers. His other three boys never brought home sickness. But they always caught it when it came from him.

Well, at least they were not bored anymore.

---

April was having a bit of trouble keeping track of time now that they were in prison. 

She didn’t think they had actually been here that long, though she wasn’t exactly sure. She had long ago shut off her phone to conserve battery once they realized that they may be a while. Maybe 24 hours?... It was just that at first, when they still weren’t sure if Donnie was going to be okay or not, everything seemed to happen so fast. And now that they were all just cooped up here with nothing to do… everything happened so slow.

They had already formulated and executed multiple escape plans now, to no avail. They had attempted to teleport to freedom with the help of the yellow yokai, who April had recently begun referring to as “Mayhem,” but were sorely disappointed to find that the prison was teleport-proof. Leo had tried unsuccessfully to talk their way out. Raph made an effort to physically break them out, attempting to smash the bars that held them, but this too resulted in failure.

The only thing that really clued her into the passage of time was her and her brothers’ internal clocks. Donnie had gone down first, though his head injury may have had something to do with that. Mikey had followed shortly after, curling up with Raph’s flannel tucked under his head as a makeshift pillow, and then the oldest brother, too, eventually succumbed to sleep, until she and Leo were all that remained.

“Okay,” she whispered, keeping her voice low, careful not to wake anyone else up. “I’ll admit it. You were right.”

Leo hummed softly in response, and neither of them took their eyes off of Mikey, suspended peacefully in the air, just a few inches off the ground, a soft orange glow coming off of him in waves as he slumbered.

“It’s a little weird to watch,” she sighed, tilting her head slightly to the side. “Sort of spooky.”

“At least he’s getting some rest,” Leo mumbled, resting his head in a cradle of his arms and knees, all curled in on himself.

“Yeah,” April agreed, smiling a tiny bit. “We should probably try that too, huh?” She leaned over, just barely nudging Leo’s shoulder with her own.

He flinched, a visible shiver running up his spine as he immediately stiffened, pulling sharply away from the other. April frowned.

“Hey, are you okay?”

“I’m fine,” Leo muttered, drawing his arms even tighter around himself.

“You’re not hurt, are you? Because I swear to god, if you got hurt and didn’t tell anyone--”

“April, I’m fine!” He bit out, a bit sharper this time, hunching his shoulders. “I’m not hurt, okay? I just… I’m not in the mood to be touched right now.”

April’s brows pinched together.

“Leo…”

“Don’t ask me if I’m okay again,” he hissed.

“Alright.”

“I’m not.”

“Okay.”

“Obviously, I’m not!”

“That’s okay.”

“Everything is so fucked up,” he hissed, digging his nails into his arms, drawing his head down to his chest. “Jesus christ. This-- fuck. And I got us all stuck in here!”

“Leo, you didn’t get us stuck in here. It’s not your fault.”

“I did!” He insisted, and April could see a few tears lining his eyes before he squeezed them shut. “This was my stupid plan. And Donnie-- Donnie almost got really hurt, and Mikey could’ve gotten hurt, and-- and I couldn’t help at all. I couldn’t help him at all when he was panicking. I can always help! I’m supposed to be able to help him when he’s like that! And I-- I can’t even help my own brother because I look like a fucking freak now!”

“Leo, you’re not a freak. It’s gonna be okay.”

“It’s not!” He snapped, bristling. “It’s not going to be okay. Stop saying it’ll be okay. How is any of this okay!?”

April bit the insides of her cheek. She didn’t have a good answer.

“I hate this,” he hissed. “Everything feels fucking awful. I can’t walk right, I keep falling, everything feels swollen and clunky and I-- I miss my face. I miss my body. And it’s just gone. I didn’t even like my body to begin with!” He laughed ruefully, struggling to keep his voice quiet. “I didn’t even like what I had, and-- fuck, April, I was so fucking excited. I was so fucking excited to change it. I’ve been waiting since I was fucking five to change it. I didn’t even know what I wanted to change then! I just-- fuck. Dammit. We had-- we had an appointment--”

He paused just long enough to draw in a heaving, shuddering breath that shook his entire frame.

“God. I just. I thought-- I thought I was used to this. I thought! I thought that I knew what it was like, to be quote-unquote trapped in the wrong body or whatever the hell, and I thought-- and it sucked and now this is just. This is just a million times worse, April. And it’s still wrong. Now it’s just more wrong!” He hiccuped weakly. “We were gonna fix it. We were finally gonna start fixing it, like, for real fixing it. We had an appointment. And. And Dad was g-gonna take me, and now it’s-- it’s just so much worse. Everything is so fucking bad now.”

“I know,” she whispered. “... Maybe you still can. You guys could still change back! I mean,” she glanced down at the silver bracelet still circling Leo’s wrist. “... We don’t know for sure that they’re broken. Maybe you just have to… to turn them back on…”

Leo bit back a sob.

“But now I know it’s not real.”

April was almost relieved when Leo fell into her side, hiding his face against her to cry, because she wanted so, so desperately to grab him and hug him and hold him tight, but he had said he didn’t want to be touched. But now that he was curled up against her, she wrapped her arms around him, and they sat quietly for a while like that. 

It took a while, but eventually the sobs died out, and Leo just laid with his head in her lap, all wrung-out and tired. 

“I meant it, you know,” she whispered. Leo didn’t reply, but he glanced up at her.

“I don’t care if you guys are freaks or mutants or whatever,” she continued. “That doesn’t matter to me. You were already sort of freaks when I met you, anyway. You’re my brothers, alright? No matter what. Even if things change. I’m not going anywhere.”

Leo sniffled a bit, staring at her for a bit longer before his gaze fell back down, staring off into the middle distance, looking at nothing in particular except for the pale orange light that lit up the room.

“Do you think he’s dreaming?” Leo finally spoke again, his voice scratchy and raw as he watched his baby brother sleep.

“Probably,” April said, leaning her head back to rest against the wall. 

---

“Daddy! Daddy!”

His father looked up from the dishes he had been washing, turning off the faucet to instead greet his youngest as he came excitedly racing into the house.

“Ah! Hello, my son. How is skateboard practice going?”

“Good!” Mikey chirped, excitedly holding up one leg so that he could proudly show his father his bloody, scraped knees. “Look! I did a kickflip.”

Mikey watched as bright red blood dripped down his younger self’s leg, and he thought to himself,

“So you did,” Dad said, sighing softly. “Go sit at the table. I will get the first aid kit.”

How strange.

“I want the orange band-aids! With the stars!” He yelled from his seat in a pulled-out kitchen chair, leaning over to call out his demands down the hall.

This was one of his dreams. Mikey was sure of it. Well, not a dream, exactly. A memory. Both. A memory inside of a dream. 

“Ah, yes, of course. Orange for Orange,” Dad assured, returning to the kitchen with first-aid kit in tow.

But this one was different from the rest.

“That’s my life color!” Mikey said happily, settling in the chair, sitting properly so his dad could clean and bandage his wounds.

The perspective had changed.

He wasn’t up above anymore, watching his father and his memory down below.

He was right here. He was standing right here on the same level-- right next to his dad, watching him tend to his younger self. No more than a few inches away from him.

He could almost touch him.

He reached out to try.

“Dad…?”

Mikey woke up with a gasp, falling heavily onto the floor and immediately sitting stark upright, scrambling a bit and looking around wildly. Donnie and Raph were asleep, but he quickly spotted April and Leo huddled together in the corner, both seeming slightly startled by his sudden trip back to the waking world.

Thank god someone else was still up.

“Guys!” He bit out, near breathless. “Dad is here! I can feel it! He’s really close by and-- and I think he might be hurt.”

---

Yoshi was getting very tired of the taste of blood.

There was a time, back when he was young, within his first year in the Nexus, when he could actually find joy in it. There was a time when he would face down unbeatable odds and come out the other side victorious, and would feel pride at what he accomplished, and not worry about those on the other end of the equation. There were times, in fact, when he would beat other competitors to unconsciousness just so that he could turn around and lounge in the luxury box, above it all, with his girlfriend-not-girlfriend in his lap. Just so that she would be pleased with him. Just because he wanted her to be happy. More specifically, happy with him.

He was still tempted, even now, now that he had gotten tired of the taste. Tempted to want her to be happy. It was so much easier when she was happy. When she was upset, he would always be miserable, but when she was happy things had always been so good.

It would be so easy to sit here and pretend like he didn’t feel that way anymore; to simply wave a hand and call his younger self a fool and distance himself from him, as if he were someone else entirely. But it wouldn’t be true. No matter how much he was loath to admit it at times, that young man was still him, and every action and stupid decision he had ever made was his to hold and wear on his chest.

He didn’t like the way blood tasted anymore. He had gotten tired of the taste years and years ago, way before he had returned to the Battle Nexus, before he had even become a father, back when he couldn’t even begin to imagine his path leading in the direction it had, before he could even picture himself raising children--

(Though, god, hadn’t there been a time where he thought, ‘but if she really wanted them, if it was with her…?’)

But he still couldn’t so definitively say that he didn’t like her, and that was what really upset him. Here he was, slumped against a wall in an empty locker room, not completely convinced that he wasn’t bleeding out given the increasingly unsettling blotch of color beneath his skin climbing steadily up his abdomen and the tell-tale lightheadedness, and he still wasn’t sure. He would kill to be sure either way, which was almost funny, given how many times he had killed for her. But to this day he didn’t think he’d actually be able to decide when it came down to it.

He didn’t want to be here. He wanted, desperately, to leave. He had wanted so desperately to leave for years the last time he had been stuck here. He had tried to escape so many times-- but then again, there had been so many opportunities to run that he hadn’t taken… 

He missed his children. It wasn’t a matter of choosing between them. If it were a contest, he would choose his kids every single time, and this he knew for certain. That was the only reason he was here to begin with, after all.

But god. The emotions were all so much easier when they were apart. When he wasn’t around her, it was easy to remember all the reasons why they didn’t work, to remember all the ways she had hurt him and how awful things had been-- to pretend that nothing lingered between them, that he didn’t care about her anymore despite all his best efforts. But when they were face-to-face again?...

He hissed softly, letting his head fall back against the wall with a dull thunk. Everything felt fuzzier than he would like it to. Colder, too.

Jesus.

He had really been in love with her.

“To the left a little.”

“Like this?”

“Mmmm… no. Now that’s too far. Move it just a smidge back?… No, that’s a skoosh, I said a smidge-- ooh! Ooh, yes, perfect! Just like that, Muffin!”

“Okay, alright. Just like this. Can you pass me the nails, Bug?”

It had taken them hours to get all their things moved in, even with the movers, and to re-arrange everything that allowed space for both of their extensive wardrobes and shoe collections. Divvying up space in the bathroom alone had been a nightmare, despite the sheer size of it, and they had had to make a detour to drive to the nearest department store and invest in a storage cabinet that could house all their hair care products. And Yoshi had been so confident that he was completely capable of putting together their new bed frame by himself…

“Okay. It says we need part 3-E… It has… The little spinny part at the top, and, ah, the spiral bit…”

“I don’t see it.”

“Well, it has to be somewhere.”

“Cuddlekins, hon, didn’t we use that part earlier? To screw the two corners together?”

“What? No, that was part M. With the cross-y bit at the top.”

“But isn’t this one part M? See. Look. It’s the same as the picture here, isn’t it?”

“Shit…”

It had taken a bit longer than he had originally anticipated. But it had, eventually, gotten done, despite the blood, sweat, and tears that it had cost them, and was now hosting their new, California king-size mattress, an absurd number of blankets and sheets, and many, many throw pillows. The kitchen had been unpacked already, (the easiest job of the entire move, given that neither of them cooked,) the TV hooked up in the living room, and all the furniture arranged just so…

And thus they had embarked on the last leg of their journey. And the one, Yoshi was well aware, that his girlfriend was the most particular about.

Decorating. Or, as she might say, interior design.

All he had needed to be happy was a few of his favorite movie posters framed and mounted on the wall, and she was perfectly willing to comply, even adding a few of her own selections to the collection in the living room they now shared. After that, she had free reign-- and reign she did indeed do. Of course, they could have easily hired people to do all this for them, but it just wasn’t quite the same as handling it on their own like this. Maybe she wanted the control. Maybe he wanted the experience. But either way, here they were… and they had been at this for a while now.

“Alright,” Yoshi sighed, taking a step back into her waiting arms so that they could examine his handiwork together. “What do you think? Good?”

She hummed happily, leaning over to press a kiss against the side of his jaw. “You didn’t even do it crooked this time!” She teased. He snorted softly in response.

“Sassy,” he mumbled, even though he kissed her forehead in return.

“It’s perfect, Noodles. Doesn’t it just ribbon up the whole room together so handily?”

He laughed, giving a shrug. “Something like that.”

“It matches the couch throw!” She insisted.

“I still cannot believe you insist on keeping that thing.”

“I adore it! It was a gift from you!” She protested.

“It is ugly!” He laughed. “I don’t know why I thought it would be a good gift. I just wanted to get you something and it was the best thing I could find.”

“It’s not ugly! It’s precious,” she insisted, as if lovingly defending a child, slipping out from his arm so she could stroke it affectionately, smoothing it out over the couch and straightening its corners. “I love it, cuddlekins, really, it just has this certain… crinkum-crankum to it, you know?” She said with a fond sigh, glancing back over at the other. “Besides, you got it for me. It always reminds me of my handsome cuddlemuffin whenever I see it.” 

He chuckled, holding out an arm with an inviting gesture. She agreeably returned to his side, fitting easily under his arm, looping her own around his waist in turn and resting a hand on his hip. “If you say so,” he hummed, leaning his head against hers. “I do enjoy the painting. I like surrealism… It’s a bit like, uh, René Magritte, don’t you think?”

“If you say so,” she echoed, shooting him an almost mischievous grin, and he scoffed in response, still smiling.

“Okay. What is next? Anything you need, my darling lovebug, and I will handle it for you!” He declared boldly, pulling away in order to strike a dramatic pose, knowing it would elicit a snort of laughter in response. “I have at long last mastered the ancient art of hanging pictures on walls! Just say the word!”

She snorted softly, plucking the hammer from his hands, placing it to the side.

“Noodles, that was the last one.”

He blinked in surprise.

“The last one?”

“Yes. That was all.’

“Then… we are all done moving?”

“Mmm-hmmm.”

“We are moved in?”

“We are,” she confirmed, wrapping her arms around his shoulders, letting her body relax as she leaned into him-- trusting him to keep her steady and hold her up against him. He did.

“Then…” He paused a moment before a wide smile slowly, surely stretched itself across his face, his hands moving to rest on her waist. “This is officially our apartment.”

“Officially.” 

He grinned, the two of them swaying back and forth in the middle of the living room of their new penthouse apartment, rocking to the rhythm of nothing but the distant sound of the city as a backdrop. Their feet shuffled against the carpeted floor, echoing the motion of each other. He spent a bit of time just looking at her, memorizing how she looked in this moment and what joy looked like on her face and reminding himself that this person belonged to him, and he belonged to her, and now both of them belonged to this apartment, together, before he leaned in to close the close the gap between them. He could feel her smile against his lips.

Right now, Yoshi could not think of a single thing that he would want to change about his life. If things could stay exactly like this forever, then he would surely have everything he could ever need. For the first time ever, he thought, this is something I built for myself. He thought, this is something I choose. He thought that, for the first time ever, that he had finally found his person and his place in the universe. What more could he ask for than this, really? What more could he ask for than to be loved with no strings attached, with no expectations or traditions or sacrifice or ‘destiny’ tied to it?

This was perfect. Just the way it was. 

The moths in the painting he had hung for her stood a silent vigil over their celebration from their new perch.

---

Yoshi’s vision was fuzzy when he opened his eyes, so he closed them and tried again, repeating the process until the world came into shape around him. His body was sore, but, surprisingly, less sore than it had been lately. A quick glance around told him that he was in the Battle Nexus’s medical ward. He had been here many times in the past, though this was his first visit on his most recent tour. It was an odd place, equal parts necessary and ironically useless given the line of work of its clientele. Sparsely stocked and staffed, yet equipped for the most dire of emergencies all at once. 

He supposed he must have passed out, then. 

He winced a bit, looking to the left, catching sight of a Nexus Nurse, already busy with some other poor soul who had found themselves down here. A glance to the right, however, surprised him, and Big Mama looked up at the movement, immediately catching his eye and making her way to his bedside.

“Oh, Muffin!” She tsked sympathetically, a hand reaching out to cup his face. “Are you alright?”

His heart absolutely swelled. Quite frankly, his head was still spinning, all stuffed full of cotton, and he didn’t have the presence of mind required to feel disgusted with himself for how excited he was that she was here. How fucking thrilled he was to have her attention-- to have her eyes on him, let alone her skin. He forced a very weak laugh, waving her off her concerns. 

“I am fine!” He mumbled with a shaky grin, his voice slurring slightly as he tried to get his tongue to move properly in his mouth. “A little internal bleeding never hurt anyone…!”

And she smiled, actually smiled at him, patting his cheek gently. “Oh, of course you are. That’s my handsome, fearless warrior,” she cooed. Yoshi chuckled very softly.

She had always done this. Laughed at his stupid jokes, raved over even his dumbest of movies, and showered him endlessly in praise. And, admittedly, he had always loved it. He had always soaked up the attention. 

That was what scared him the most, really. The thought that, maybe, that was all this ever really was at the root of it all-- just him wanting someone to pay attention to him and give him compliments. Maybe that’s why things were like this; because of his own selfishness poisoning something good. Because he was too broken and greedy for anything else. Maybe moments like these were the most he could ever hope for, realistically, and he just had to accept that.

Her hand left, and he heard her move away. Pathetically enough, it broke his heart. He was dimly aware of her hailing down one of the nurses out of the corners of his vision. 

“Make sure he’s well enough to perform in tonight’s line-up, understand? I want him in tip-top shape as soon as possible. No jiggery-pokery or bafflegab or anything else. And fetch me if anything else happens with him, won’t you?...”

He sighed, letting his eyes slide shut again.

---

“Okay, Red, listen to me very closely, okay?”

“Okay.”

“I will be gone for three hours. Okay? Three hours. Do you know how long that is?”

“Uhm…”

“That is the whole Scooby Doo video tape played twice.”

Raph nodded a bit, his eyes wide. Right. Dad would be gone for two Scooby-Doo’s.

“I’m going to go get some more food and things for you and your brothers, and then I will come back.”

Raph blinked widely up at his dad. “More tuna?”

“Yes, I am going to try to find more tuna cans for you,” his dad assured. “But listen. Okay? This is very important. I need you to watch your little brothers while I am gone. Okay?”

Raph glanced back over at his three younger brothers, who were all still asleep in their respective boxes. He was the only one who had been rudely awakened by their father, much earlier than they would usually arise on their own, but he had been gifted a peppermint candy for his troubles, so he couldn’t be too upset about it. 

“If you’re quiet, they should sleep until I get back. But if they wake up, I left breakfast out for you all. Right over there where we usually eat. Remember how I’ve shown you how to help feed Orange?”

Raph nodded. He’d fed Mikey lots of times before, repeatedly begging his father to let him hold his littlest brother in his lap and give him his breakfast. He knew how.

“And make sure Purple does not eat all of Blue’s food.”

Raph frowned.

“But… Donnie’ll bite me…”

He heard his father sigh, very softly, under his breath.

“I have told him not to bite today, okay? But Blue needs to eat, too. And besides, you are very tough and brave, aren’t you, Raph?” He hummed, smiling a tiny bit, leaning over just enough to rub his son’s scaled head. Raph beamed at the praise, nodding excitedly. Tough and brave? Of course he was! He wasn’t afraid of Donnie! Even if he did bite really hard.

“Good boy,” he said. “The Scooby Doo tape is already in the TV. Purple will help you rewind it and play it again when it’s over, okay? So you boys can watch while I am gone.”

“Okay.”

“But you have to make sure none of your brothers wander off, okay? You have to stay right here in this tunnel the entire time I’m gone. Understood? No exploring. You must be sure to watch Mikey.”

“Okay.”

“Red?”

“I’ll watch, Daddy.”

“Good boy,” he said again. “And if I don’t come back before the timer starts beeping--” he gestured to the kitchen timer that lived by his bed. Raph wasn’t that great with numbers yet, but he recognized the “eight” at the front. “Then bring your brothers and come find me, okay? But not before the timer goes off. Understand? Only if you hear the timer beeping. Do you understand, Raph?”

“Yeah.”

“Repeat it back to me, please.”

“Uhm…” He chewed on his fingers, looking to the side and shuffling his feet a bit. “Uhm, if the time… beeps. I’ll come find you…”

“By yourself, or with your brothers?”

“With my brothers...”

“But not before the timer, okay?”

“Yeah.”

“Okay.” Their father sighed very deeply, leaning over and kissing his forehead. “I will be back soon, my son. Take good care of your brothers.” 

---

“Come ON.”

“Raph, stop. It’s not gonna work,” April sighed.

“It will if it knows what’s good for it!” He snapped, reeling back and throwing himself at the bars of their literal cage once more with a loud crash, the very walls shaking in response. “Come on! Open already!!!” 

“Raph--”

“We’ve gotta get outta here!” He hissed, his tail whipping behind him, and the sharp movement threw him off balance, nearly making him stumble to one side. Goddammit. He swore softly under his breath, bristling, the anger scratching underneath his (foreign, strange, uncomfortable) skin only pitching higher in response. They had already been here for-- what?! Two days? Three?! They were so close, and now they were just stuck here, completely vulnerable, completely at the mercy of an actual, literal crime boss--

“Raph. Stop,” April said again, firmer this time, reaching out to grab his arm. “You’re hurting yourself.”

Raph yanked his arm away from her, whipping around to look at her, growling, his lips drawn back over his fangs in a snarl. April didn’t flinch away or back off. Her hand chased after his.

That was almost worse, and Raph’s snarl almost immediately gave way to a cracked little half-sob. His body slumped slightly, unclenching tight muscles to instead wilt in exhaustion.

“I have to get us out of here…” he insisted weakly, looking away from her again, hiding from her eyes out of shame. He didn’t want to look at her. He didn’t want her to look at him. Jesus, what did he look like right now…? His clawed feet scraped against the ground beneath them. Earlier today he had accidentally stabbed Leo with one of the spikes of his shell after moving too fast and left a bruise. A fucking bruise.

Yeah, sure, fine. Maybe his brothers were freaks now. But he was even worse. He was a monster. A useless one.

He sobbed properly this time.

“Raph, it’s alright,” April tried to comfort, moving close enough to rest her hand on his arm, and looking at how tiny she was compared to him made him feel sick. He was pretty sure he could bite off her hand if he really wanted to. Even if he didn’t want to-- what if he still did somehow? “We’ll figure a way out of here--”

“It’s not alright!” He hissed, his chest tightening. “I have to fix this.”

“Raph, we’ll fix it together,” Mikey spoke up, almost cautiously moving to Raph’s other side. “I’m sure we can figure out--”

“No!” He snapped, and he hated to interrupt Mikey, and he felt bad as soon as he did it, but he couldn’t help it. He wasn’t-- panicking, exactly, but he was close to it. Next to it. “I’m-- I’m supposed to protect you guys, and I can’t even--”

“Raph, you don’t have to always protect us!” Mikey protested.

“But I want to!” Raph cried in protest. “I want to protect you guys, I wanna keep you safe, and I-- I didn’t! I’m supposed to take care of everyone! I’m supposed to be in charge when Dad isn’t here, and I-- all I did was bring us to some magic crime city, get us locked up like animals, and turned into mutants!--” He barked out a strained, teary laugh. “And I can’t even get us back out!”

A few tears tracked down his face. “Dad trusted me to take care of everyone when he wasn’t here and I just let him down.” He could feel the panic breathing hotly down his neck. “He’d be so disappointed in me--”

“Raph, stop.” Mikey hissed, his voice hard, so very much so that it quite nearly surprised Raph out of his spiral. 

“That’s not true at all,” his younger brother hissed, his own face kind of flushed and teary as well. “None of that is even your fault! And even if it was, I still wouldn’t care and neither would Dad! And you are protecting us! We’re all still here, aren’t we?” 

“More or less,” Leo mumbled softly, bitterly, and Raph looked ruefully down at his claws, shifting his joints closer and biting down a hiccup. Mikey glared.

“We are!” He insisted. “Look, we’re still the same people, even if we do look different now! Right? None of that other stuff matters so long as we stick together--”

“Mikey, stop it!” Donnie snapped, bristling a bit, his head jerking up so sharply that it was likely painful. “Just stop, okay!? Stop saying it doesn’t matter! Stop saying that we’re ‘still the same people on the inside,’ stop trying to find the dumb silver lining, okay!? Just admit that this sucks! Okay!? Just because you’re apparently all hunky-dory about being a fucking box turtle--”

“You think I like this?!” Now it was Mikey’s turn to snap, rounding on his siblings, his hands clenched into angry fists. “You think I’m happy about this!? Because I’m not, okay!? I hate it too! Does that make you feel better!? I’m fucking miserable. I hate this. I’m scared and I don’t know what’s going on and I’m really, really sick of falling over because I don’t even know how to walk anymore!”

Mikey sobbed loudly, plopping back down on his rear.

“I hate this,” he hiccuped weakly. “I hate it too. I’m just. I’m j-just… I’m trying my best…”

Another sob wretched itself from his throat as he buried his face in his arms.

For one long moment, quiet veiled the space.

Raphael was careful and calculated in his movements, taking care with the spikes and sharp edges of his body as he scooped his brother up in his arms, wrapping him up tight. Mikey wept, clinging to his brother in return.

“Sorry,” Raph mumbled, very softly.

Leo joined them quickly enough, burrowing in against his brothers’ side. “Me too,” he whispered.

Donnie didn’t join the embrace, but he did sit close by, hugging his legs to his chest and staring to the side, down to the ground. “Me… too,” he sighed, frowning a little, twitching uncomfortably. “... Sorry. This. This just really sucks.”

“It does suck,” Leo agreed.

“Yeah,” Raph mumbled.

“I keep dropping things b-because I-- I only have three fingers,” Mikey warbled softly.

“Me too,” Donnie admitted. “And I can’t really sleep, because I don’t know how to get comfortable anymore.”

“I keep accidentally biting my tongue,” Raph said.

“Every time I sit down, I crush my own tail under my ass, ‘cause I’m not used to it being there,” Leo confessed with a small laugh. “Isn’t that stupid?”

“My back hurts because of the shell. I’m just not used to it being there. It’s so heavy.”

“Everything smells so much stronger now. I hate it. It’s nauseating.”

“I still can’t figure out how to balance like this.”

“I just feel so stupid. How could we not know?”

“It’s all so overwhelming. I mean, just, everything. I can’t believe there’s so much that we forgot.”

“It seems so obvious now, looking back…”

“My skin is so thick now. It’s awful. I feel all swollen all the time, like I can’t bend any of my joints properly. I feel stiff.”

“If that guy made us, if we’re his ‘creations,’ experiments, then we’re not yokai, right? We’re something else. Mutants, I guess. Is there anyone else like us?”

“How did Dad even end up with us? What happened?”

“Do you think he’s a mutant, too? God. What else don’t we know? What else didn’t he tell us?”

“Do we still count as Hamatos? Are we Hamatos at all…? Do you think Ghost-Sensei knows?”

“I’m glad we know. I mean, mostly. We should know, but I just… part of me wishes we didn’t.”

“We can’t ever go back.”

“Our entire life was just, like, a lie. It was a trick. The whole time. And we fell for it. I can’t believe we all fell for it--”

“We just have to be different now.”

“We were always different, but at least before, we didn’t have to… to carry it. I don’t even know how I could even talk to people now. Even if we do fix the bracelets. How am I supposed to just talk to normal people when I’m in the back of my mind, like, ‘oh my god, they don’t know I’m a turtle’ the whole time?”

“I think I’m sort of glad Dad didn’t tell us. I mean. I’m upset, too, but I just… I dunno. Everything feels so complicated now.”

“I can’t believe we forgot.”

The longer they talked, all five of them bunched up together, the less tears there were, and eventually, during a moment of quiet, Mikey sighed, taking Raph’s big hand in his own smaller one.

“You hurt your knuckles,” he observed, noting the swollen, occasionally bloodied skin around the joints. Raph gave a very soft huff of laughter.

“Yeah, well, guess we match, then,” he said, though Mikey’s own knuckles were mostly healed by now, only bearing a few small scabs. Mikey smiled, just the tiniest bit, just for a second, before he sighed, laying his head back slightly. 

“I know this sucks,” Mikey mumbled. “... Like, it really, really sucks. But at least we’re still together. And that counts for something, doesn’t it? I think so long as we’re together, then we… we’ll be okay.”

Leo gave a wry smile, elbowing his brother ever-so-slightly. “Wow, Mikey, when did you get so wise?” He teased.

Mikey grinned, chuckling a bit and laying his head back again to stare at the ceiling, and then stare out the bars of the door that contained them. Raph sighed, his gaze following after his little brother’s, gazing out into the empty halfway. He had no idea why they were being kept here or what they were planning on doing with them. None of the guards would even speak with them. It was terrifying, if he was being honest.

But they had come here for a reason.

He believed what Mikey said. He did. If they were all together, they’d be okay. But that meant all of them.

“We’re gonna find Dad,” he finally said. “We are. And he’ll know how to help fix it. I know he will.”

---

“Raph.”

He wasn’t meaning to ignore his Dad. He wasn’t. He just--

“Raphael.” 

Mikey whined loudly, pulling against his older brother’s grasp, attempting to wriggle away from the iron grip Raph had on his wrist.

“Raphael.” This time, his father reached over, physically removing Raphael’s hands from his younger sibling. Mikey immediately went darting off, and Raph’s heart jumped up into his throat, his eyes growing wide.

“Dad--!”

“It’s okay, Red.”

“Dad, he’s too far!” He hissed, his voice strained with panic as he turned desperately to his father, grabbing at his pants leg. 

“No, he’s not. It’s okay, Raphael. Here. Look.”

He hoisted his child up in his arms with just a bit of effort, holding him up to his chest.

“See, my son? We can still see him from here.”

From up in his dad’s arms, Raph could watch Mikey throw himself into a pit of brightly colored foam balls with a squeal of excitement from across the play area. Leo wasn’t far off, immediately moving to join his little brother’s side, eager to show him all the blue balls he had collected. Dozens of other children scampered about nearby, clambering over play equipment and chasing one another. Raph frowned, grabbing fistfuls of his father’s shirt and fidgeting, chewing on his fingers nervously.

“What if he gets lost?”

“He won’t.”

“What if… there’s somethin’ dangerous?”

“There is nothing dangerous here, Raphael.”

“What if there is?” He pressed. “It’s big.”

“It’s okay, Red,” Dad soothed, readjusting his grip on his child, drawing him a bit closer. “I promise it is safe here.”

Raph looked down at the floor, clenching and unclenching his fists, the tiniest whine escaping from him. His father sighed softly.

“You have done a very good job looking after our family, Red,” he hummed, rocking them back and forth just the tiniest bit, idly swaying as he spoke. “But things are different now. Okay? Nothing here is going to hurt Michelangelo. And even if it did, I am right here to help. I am not going anywhere. I will not leave you alone. I swear I will take care of you and your brothers. Alright?”

Raph sniffled a bit, nodding the tiniest bit.

“If we are ever anywhere where it might be unsafe, I will tell you, okay? So you can watch out for your little brothers. Like when I tell you all to hold hands when we cross the street, right? Would that help?”

He nodded again, swallowing the lump in his throat as he laid his head down on his dad’s shoulder.

“Good,” he sighed, rubbing a few small circles along his back. “Do you want to go and play? There are lots of things here that I think you would like if you tried them. I think you’d have a lot of fun if you would let me handle looking after your brothers.”

Raph shook his head, burrowing further into his father’s embrace. He did want to go play, really. They had never been anywhere so cool before! They had been to the playground a few times now, but this was like a playground inside-- and they even had video games! And prizes! And he wanted to follow after his brothers, to stay close to them, but…

They kept going in opposite directions. And this place was so big and he couldn’t follow all of them, and, and--

“Okay. That’s fine,” Dad assured. “How about this? How about we sit and watch together for ten minutes, and then we can try going and playing something with one of your brothers. Do you think that would work, Raphael?”

Raph sucked in a deep, shaking breath, wiping at his eyes a bit before he finally nodded.

“Uh-huh.”

---

Though he had, in fact, performed in the Battle Nexus as scheduled that same evening, and then the following day as well, he was not actually ‘released,’ so to speak, from the infirmary until now, three-and-a-half blood transfusions later. Yoshi supposed he had no real complaints, given that the infirmary had actual beds in it to sleep upon, but the staff there were not exactly friendly, and he had quickly tired of being awakened at all hours of the night by other screaming patients. Not to mention that it was very awkward to share the same sleeping space with someone who’s leg you had recently broken in four different places…

But Big Mama had visited him each evening he was there. 

The guard escorting him was really a formality at this point, Yoshi suspected, and he almost dared to hope that he would be allowed to move freely through the Nexus in the near future. Surely Big Mama knew he would not try to run away with his children relying on her protection, right?

If he were permitted to wander without supervision, he might be able to corner a spectator and inquire about the current state of the Hidden City police’s hunt for Baron Draxum. He didn’t expect Big Mama would be informing him of such things, but if Draxum was apprehended, then there was a chance he might be able to find a way out of here and get himself back home, get those four remaining years like he had planned, or at least go visit his children and make sure they were okay… he hated that he had left without saying goodbye first, and had no doubt scared them with how he had disappeared.

 He had been researching for quite some time now, in between parenting and managing dojos, alternative sources for cloaking crystals. If he was able to pay for new ones, he could return Big Mama’s to her and perhaps argue to lighten his ‘sentence,’ or maybe even get out of it somehow. It was a long shot, but worth a try. Maybe this time could count towards that? He had had the crystals for ten years… did that mean he owed ten years time as a champion in return…? Ten years was still not as bad as a lifetime, assuming he lived through it all… 

He frowned as he calculated, shuffling his feet through the cold halls. 

The deal had still been worth it. He didn’t regret it. If a lifetime in the Battle Nexus was the price for his children’s lives in the world, then it was a price he was more than willing to pay.

He just regretted the pain he knew he inflicted on his family. It had always bothered him, sitting on his shoulder and hissing in his ear for the past ten years of his life. Every wonderful moment, every birthday, every movie night and dance recital and field trip, he still thought about it. Thought about how he would have to leave one day, and how it would hurt them. 

It was a shame. They deserved better than that. He had already done everything he could, even now, to prepare and to soften the inevitable blow as much as possible. Tucked away in the back of his nightstand back home, he already had hand-written cards for each of his sons’ college graduations, wedding days, and the birth of their first children, preparing for every scenario, just in case, since he knew he likely wouldn’t see most of them should they come to pass. He had had everything prepared, legally, for years now, so things would be taken care of in the event of his ‘death’ or ‘disappearance,’ and so that his children would have to shoulder as little of that burden as possible. He had invested in a hefty life insurance policy back when they were still in elementary school, ensuring that they would always be taken care of financially in his absence. 

He had even penned a letter, years and years ago, that could be delivered to his children once he was gone. He had been ready to die for a long time now.

But he still wasn’t prepared for how heavy the guilt would feel.

He, likewise, was not prepared for the shriek that pierced through the air a moment later as he passed by one of the dungeon’s many hallways, so sharp and sudden that he stumbled slightly.

“DAD!!!”

He absolutely froze in his tracks, his heart stopping still in his chest as he whipped around to face the familiar voice. His eyes widened so dramatically he was half afraid that they would fall from his head.“April!?” He cried, spluttering slightly. “Boys!?”

[ next ]

[kairiscorner]

Hey! Got a lil request!

I feel like Hobie would love to watch horror/scary movies so I would like a fic of Hobie watching a scary movie with reader that doesn't like scary movies cause they hate hyper realistic gore. You can imagine how he'd react to them being squeamish.

Thank you for reading this (⁠ ⁠◜⁠‿⁠◝⁠ ⁠)⁠♡

HI @k4tsu3 POOKIEEEE OFC I WILL MAKE IT >:DDD HOPE YOU LIKE IT BOO 🫶🫶🫶

(reblogs are greatly appreciated, it helps get my content out there! if you guys like what you see, please reblog it too <:D)

no need to worry, i'm right here. — hobie brown x reader

summary: as much as you want to enjoy movie night with your boyfriend, you could never bring yourself to find peace and enjoyment at the prospect of hyper realistic gore and nightmare fuel for days on end. luckily, hobie understands that you don't enjoy this as much as he does, and even luckier, he's willing to hold you all night and change the movie if you want. word count: 586

you tried to put on a brave face, though it was nothing like the look of enjoyment on hobie's face as he awaited to watch the movie you two scrounged up on some shady website. he laughed every time a pop-up appeared and poked fun at it as he exited the tab, though you awaited those pop-ups like the sunrise to a long, restless evening, because it was your excuse not to see the barrage of dark atmosphere and frightening elements of the movie you two were watching.

you listened as hobie made live commentary in murmurs on how good the cinematography was, how realistic the makeup on the actors were when they were using gorey elements for the shots. you smiled uncomfortably at the sound of hobie's amazement towards the execution of the movie and tried your hardest to look away from the compellingly loud sounds from the film. you shivered and whimpered a little as you curled up next to hobie, who was initially confused as to why you were suddenly clinging on to him, but he didn't mind--in fact, he loved that you were clinging on to him. though something told him you were clinging on to him for reasons other than you wanting to hold him intimately.

hobie went over and paused the movie and looked at you with a confused yet concerned look. "y'alright, love?" he asked you with a head tilt as you nodded and tried to smile sweetly up at him. "of course! of course, hobes... 'course i'm okay..." you stammered as hobie smirked, not buying your faux declaration of being 'okay'. "is it the movie?" he asked you as he wrapped his arm around your waist and held you a little closer. shivers ran up your spine as you lightly nodded and leaned back on his chest in embarrassment. "...yeah. it's just, i don't wanna ruin movie night for you, hobes... we watch every movie i like, and, i wanted to watch something you like, in return. i'm sorry..." you muttered as hobie kissed the top of your head and brushed away stray hairs on your forehead and smiled.

"love, there's nothing wrong with being scared of a movie, let alone not wanting to watch it because of it. i'm glad you told me, and to be honest, i could go for watching a different, less violent, film right about now. you know me, i love me a good double feature." he said as he clicked off the tab you two were watching on and searched up a movie you were raving to hobie about, one you loved that he hasn't seen before. hobie grinned at you as he wrapped his arm around your shoulders again. "you alright with rewatching this masterpiece you told me about, dear?" he asked you with a wink, to which you chuckled lightly as you placed your hand on top of his and smiled at him. "i am if you're eager to see it, i could watch this a million times and still be blown away, especially now that you're watching it with me..." you whispered as you pecked a kiss on hobie's cheek. "thank you for understanding, hobes..." you told him as he kissed your cheek back. "don't worry, love. your comfort's always my priority. besides, this actually looks really promising, can't wait to see it." he said as he clicked play and you two laughed as the button redirected you two to an ad for hot single moms in your area.

a/n: (((y'all watched the barbie movie /hj)))

tags !! @k4tsu3 @fiannee @luvstarrstruck @toneystank-3000 @ii01vq @maxoloqy @arachnoia @pixqlsin @solecitoszn

[mieowkoid09]

Take my Ramblings on how I think relationships work between the Lustrous because 2/3 of my personality is made up of these gems' dynamics

So before I get into the main meat of what I think, I should probably talk about the families. first of all. I think that the families can have romantic relations between each other. Insert booing and rocks being thrown. Okay wait! let me explain myself before ya'll start abusing your rocks you heathens. basically, this is gonna get into territory that i'm not fully equipped to explain, so you know how the "Uchihas" from naruto are? they basically inbreed with eachother ya know but they still aren't fully related at all so they can have healthy kids but they still share the same dna, you could even say they share the same "structure"? yeah, thats basically how I think the gem family relationships are. they do share the same structure and name and call themselves family but they don't have to restrict themselves to JUST being siblings, they can be lovers too. they can call themselves "brothers" while being romantically involved. they aren't like us and they don't share the factor that we could produce unhealthy offspring if they are involved with their sibling, since they can't have children nor do they have blood!!(thankfully, since that would be insanely gorey) and I may be wrong but I don't think that the term for "Brother" in japan is only limited to siblings. fact check me if i am in fact wrong please.(Btw i'm not in the naruto fandom at all, I've just watched some theory videos and watched some video essays, also i watched a few episodes of naruto when I was younger)

Now, before I get myself hit with more rocks. time to talk about how I believe the gems' relationships are. mainly the romantic ones since tbr, romantic relations are some of the most complicated things ever and that's probably why we're so drawn to them (sorry romance nonfavorable/romance repulsed aromantics, you will be missed)

I personally think that romance in the lustrous world, is actually incredibly discouraged. these gems can still enter romantic relations but it is incredibly discouraged because, we have seen what happens when these gems lose that person that they love.

They go absolutely crazy. they even break themselves. and this is off topic but now that I think about it, Diamond and Bortz's relationship is like how trans people see other trans people who look more like what they want to look like, at least from what I've heard from some videos on youtube. and ngl, its kinda scary- anyways, back mostly on topic with Rutile. I've recently watched RGU(Revolutionary Girl Utena) and tbh, how Rutile treats Padparadscha kinda reminds of how Utena treats Anthy. Utena practically puts Anthy on a pedestal and wants to help Anthy end her job as the Rose Bride even though, Utena practically knows nothing about Anthy because Utena projects what she thinks is right onto Anthy, although it isn't entirely off, Utena doesn't even try to understand Anthy. JUST LIKE FREAKING RUTILE AND PADPARADSCHA- Rutile and Utena practically lose their identity when they lose Padparadscha and Anthy. just- UGH it's so good. Now time to stop talking about Rutile, and go to our very shiny friend and my Autoromantic/Panromantic/Polyamorous headcanon, being Diamond, since they were the one to bring up the fact that Cinnabar may have Romantic feelings for our beloved Phosphophyllite.

Dang both Ventricosus and Diamond ship CinnaPhos. they can't get a break lol. especially with most of the fandom practically shipping them lmaooo. And this is just a little headcanon but I think Diamond used that "Are you gay?" card on Cinnabar when Cinnabar was rambling about how much they "despise" Phos because that's practically what happens when these gems lose the ones they love. They probably start blaming the ones that got taken before they start blaming themselves because it practically starts becoming a pattern in Yellow's case. omg now I can imagine Yellow just talking about their romances with their former partners lol. and now that I think about it, Yellow did blame Zircon for being an idiot for trying to save Yellow, more toned down than Cinnabar's rant and how much of an idiot Phos was but still, that stings. and now this has become not just a little headcanon and more of a parallel it seems. wow, how we can change during writing.

ALSO DID ANYONE ELSE FEEL INCREDIBLY SAD WHEN THE GEMLUNARIAN THING THAT WAS KISSING DIAMOND IN THE PARTY AT THE END ARTBOOK WASN'T ACTUALLY NAMED!?

WE WANNA KNOW WHO YOU ARE!!!

Also- possible romance between Aqua and Emerald???

Eh probably. anyways ima end this tangent even tho ima probably gonna get a lot of backlash from the people in this fandom for my controversial opinions but that's fine, hopefully. yeah no i'm probably gonna get murdered.

[sams-venting]

Ough ok, today's eaps episode really Got to me and boy I was not prepared

I find it interesting, that the things that would trigger and harm other people, I love to seek out as a hobby. Shock sites, well made args, real life disappearances in the woods, existential conspiracy theories, etc. shit my schizo ass Really shouldn't be indulging but I do anyway for the sillies even tho it triggers persecutory hallucinations (please for the love of God don't do as I do). I find morbid and gorey shit fascinating

but then you just, have something simple as a 'make a wish kid' concept in a silly little VRC rp. and. it really fucks with me

because like, I'm never Not aware of how little time I have left. I am constantly under the ticking tower of death. Everyone talks about graduating college, getting a career, getting married, being able to live on their own. and I?-

I am just stuck. I'll maybe get to accomplish One of these and that's it. Knowing that I most likely won't live to see my 30s. And in two more months, the clock ticks down to 6 years left. 6 years till I develop bone marrow cancer or skin cancer from my immunosuppressant. And that's assuming that I survive till then, the never ending surgeries that remove my organs piece until there's nothing left; assuming I don't catch a skin or respiratory infection that everyone else can fight off except for me; assuming that I don't resume trying to overdose like I should've done when I was 14, before the universe decided I was a parasite it had to slowly kill off; assuming I survive living in a sundown town; assuming I don't die in a freak accident like a normal american on the highway; assuming I don't give into the impulse to do opiods to escape the neverending pain; assuming I'm able to get my shit together and take care of myself without having some needing to intervene before I literally wither away; etc. I could keep going about how the former prognosis is infact a positive outlook by all calculations.

Surprisingly, I've come to terms with this a few years ago. It's not a big deal. Well I mean it is, but it's nothing that can't be worked around. Everyone lives on borrowed time, we are never promised tomorrow anyway. The wise say to live like very day is you last, and whether I like it or not, I have the most reason to follow that compared to the average Joe

But what they don't tell you, is that, you never go through the grieving process once or twice. When you know your time is going to be up in less than a decade, it doesn't Ever stop. You just suffer the same stages over, and over, and over, and over again. Till you're fine. and then the next day your brain decides the last dozen times wasn't enough, time to process the state of our mortality all over again :) bc why not :) :) fml in particular ig

And honest to God that is the worst part of this all. It's not the colonoscopies, it's not the endoscopies, it's not the surgeries, it's not the thousands of needles that I've been stabbed with to the point where I can rate nurses like it's doordash. It's the grieving process that won't stop repeating once you know you're going to die

Anyway I just- I don't even know if I can finish the episode, and I'm only a few minutes in. This might honestly be the first video I'll ever have to skip. and it's SO FUCKING STUP:ID. Like I can go through all of this other bullshit jsut fine and not bat an eye, but THIS, THIS IS THE BREAKING POINT??? Fucking pathetic. I hate myself so mcuh tjhis is so stupid and I hate it. I think what I hate most is how I can never fucking get over myself. boo hoo so fcuking what. Just push through and stop being a limp dick coward for two mcfucking seconds. It's not even real, are we really gonna get our panies bunched up over pixles ona fucking screen? Is this Really the level we want to stoop to? Fukcing piece of shit good for nothing idiot.

It's not like I don't know Why it affects me so badly. It's all so stupid but I Know why. For fucks sake, I got body slammed into fnaf as a whole to cope with the fact my grandma literally got admitted to the hospital for emergency brain cancer surgery on the hour of Thee solar eclipse that happened in April. When she got admitted to hospice in May and we were dealing with the funeral, obsessing over the dca and later solar lunacy and TSAMS was the only thing keeping me sane.

Words cannot describe accurately just how fucked it is not only to watch someone else lose their mind as they're dying (and knowing that one day that's going to be me, and that's the future I have to look forward to), but also get slapped with traumatic flashbacks from my own medical procedures. It's almost funny in a twisted way how the simple smell of saline solution and cleaning alcohol can fuck a guy up. Istg I've never had my surgery scars impossibly itch in the worst way possible except when I'm around it in recovery wings.

Honestly I wish none of it affected me. Not to be selfish on main or anything, I'm just sick of wasting wasting what precious little time I have on pissing and moaning over things no one can change.

Maybe I'll be in a better headspace to watch EAPS later tomorrow or something. Hopefully. I despise the idea of trauma having any control over what I do and don't do in my life, and if there's one thing anyone should know about me, it's that I live on pure spite. Nothing will stop me istg, even if it kills me. People identify as male or female, and then you have me, certified stubborn little shit supreme

P.S. If you know who I am, don't bother trying to contact me outside of this post. I'm making it 'anonomus' bc I don't want ppl pussy footing around with sympathy or any of that bs. It's not wanted, and I hate the simple concept of being treated differently just bc I'm medically fucked. I can't stand ppl throwing pity parties for me. I ain't got time for that shit. literally. Also I already have hives and a migraine from crying while venting, don't make me relive these emotions please

Anyway, this is your local lunatic signing off. I've got fanfiction to write before I die, and I refuse to kneel to fate until all 3 of my main projects are finished - Winter

.

[artblogofanekophile]

4, 5, and 10 for Persephone?

Asks for Persephone! Thank you once again for the ask, Gouds-sama! <3 My apologies for the long wait; your questions filled me with some writing inspiration, but then unfortunately I experienced a block. But don’t worry, I managed to get through it, finally! I hope you don’t mind the lengthy post, but given your affinity for lore, I think you can forgive me~

Without further ado…

4.) If they were in a haunted house, how would they react?

Persephone scoffed, “You think I’m scared of a rackety old shack?” Throwing her head back with a guffaw, she punctuated her incredulity by laughing behind her hand. With an abrupt end to her laughter, she straightened her back and placed both hands firmly on her hips, eyes trained on the Ramshackle dorm with a determined gaze.

“Easiest 20 madol I’m ever gonna make…” she gleefully mused, peering at Ace – the smug bastard waving his bribe enticingly. He could grin all he wanted; victory was going to be hers.

“Well? Go ahead.” He prompted, ignoring the ire of his dormmate’s pointed glare. How did Deuce always end up getting roped in with this guy and his crazy antics?

With a harumph and a steadfast pace, Persephone marched up the twisted path upon the hill leading up to the threshold of the dilapidated building. With each wade through the damp grass, she had to admit that the house’s silhouette, bathed in the blue moonlight, had something of an imposing air surrounding it. Perhaps it was the odd sense of emptiness – as though a nightly chill through one window could make the entire structure moan and shiver.

But that’s all it was, wasn’t it? Empty.

Setting her foot upon the first step leading onto the porch, she gave a faint ‘whoa´ as the wood beneath her wobbled under her uneven footing. Thankfully not enough for her to land on her face – not that Ace wasn’t snickering already, and Deuce wasn’t scolding him for it. It only served to steel her resolve to wipe that shit-eating grin off Trappola’s face!

Undeterred, Persephone soldiered on up the steps, narrowly avoided a collapsed plank, and made it all the way to the moss-adorned welcome mat – at least, she could only assume that was what the message read. Perhaps, ‘ABANDON HOPE, ALL YE WHO ENTER HERE’ would have been more apt for this place, though.

The milky light from the moon shone off the loosened oxidised doorknob. Curling her lip in disgust, Persephone rolled the cuff of her sleeve over her hand, using the fabric as a barrier between it and the likely diseased handle. She wasn’t sure how she would explain to Crowley why she needed a tetanus shot when she got back from this if she touched it with her bare hand.

Much to her surprise, her mental preparation to force the door open with her shoulder had proven unnecessary – the door creaked open without so much as a nudge, the rusty hinges wailing out. As the moonlight spilled into the house and stretched across the floor, Persephone’s shadow stood stark in the centre, an elongated facsimile of its vessel.

It wasn’t alone, however. The ghosts of the spiderweb cracks in the windows were drawn over the floor, surrounding the shadow like a helpless fly awaiting its imminent fate. The tattered hems of sheer chiffon curtains billowed in the nightly chill, their translucent forms like dancing ghosts...  

She shook her head to rid herself of such thoughts; the house was just as empty on the inside as it looked on the outside! The most she had to be concerned with was a dusty old settee attacking her.

As she ventured on farther into the house, her steps slow and light-footed, none-too-trusting of the floorboard’s integrity to bear the force of her normal gait, she spared a peek into each room and found herself falling into a sense of security. Her suspicions confirmed – the only organism that seemed to be a tenant in this derelict place seemed to be the thick coat of dust that covered everything, and the odd moth raiding the scraps of clothing hung up in wardrobes left behind by other, more advantageous insects.

She could at last breathe a sigh of relief. Ha! What a silly rumour! Why, this old shack was nothing more than just that! A grin spread across Persephone’s face as she relished in the mental image of utter disbelief that would colour both their faces as she strode out of this dusty old place with her head held high!

And then, she heard a low moan echo through the corridor. Her heart skipped a beat.

What was that!?

Quickly, she whipped around to try and trace the source of the bellowing noise, her feet seemingly frozen to the spot. Emerging from around the corner, she could see a cloud of a thin, white mist curl into a ghoulish hand, white with long, spindly fingers that clawed at the wood panelling – and then, at last, a face emerged. Pale as the moon, with sunken eyes and thin jowls, it had an emaciated appearance. Its eyes were a hollow blue, staring with quiet, unnerving bemusement at the look of utter disbelief on her face.

Persephone’s heartbeat was deafening in her own ears. Surely, for how hard she could feel its thumping echo against her ribcage, this spectre must have heard it, too. Its decrepit, cracked lips parted slowly, before uttering only one word that rang off the walls like a torrent wind.

“Boo.”

Persephone’s spine shot up with a shriek, hurriedly turning on her heel and bolting down the hall with no care for the rickety floorboards any longer.

As her terrified scream travelled out of the window and hit the two boys’ ears, Deuce tensed up with concern whilst Ace let out a cocky laugh.

“Well, well, well. Looks like someone got spooked.” Ace smirked.

“Hey, that isn’t funny! She sounded really scared…” With a wave of his hand, the redhead dismissed Deuce’s worry.

“She probably tripped over something or fell through a floorboard, she’ll be—” he was cut off by the sound of the door slamming open and Persephone bolting out of the house like her life depended on it, bounding towards the Heartslabyul students.

Ace blinked, “So, you owe me—”

“Let’sgolet’sgolet’sgolet’sgoLET’SGO!” Persephone snatched both of their hands and dragged them along without time for an explanation. Deuce’s protests for her to slow down were ignored. Sparing a quick glance behind their shoulders, both boys were greeted by the sight of the still grinning ghost peering its head out of the doorway and waving them off.

Riddle definitely couldn’t find out about this.

5.) If they went to jail, what crime would they have committed?

I’m not gonna lie, she probably would be in the slammer for chaining herself to a centuries old willow that was going to be cut down for the sake of making room for project development. Persephone isn’t really a violent person under ordinary circumstances unless she needs to defend herself, so I can’t see her going to jail for a violent crime or something along those lines… So yeah, just being a menace to capitalism for the sake of the environment. What a Queen.

10.) What are their thoughts on horror movies?

Persephone usually likes to make fun of the really cheesy ones and shout at the characters about how, of course they’re going to die if they go into the basement to investigate the weird noise, armed with nothing but a flashlight. Or how everybody knows you don’t run upstairs when the killer’s chasing you! That’s how you end up having to break your ankles by diving out of the window! Much like the little snippet would suggest, however, Persephone’s bravado can only get her so far, and if she’s watching a particularly gorey horror movie, you can often find her hiding her eyes behind her sleeves and grimacing at the excessive sound effects they added in post! 

[imagine-a-killingharmony]

Kaede trying to save Shuichi

Can you please do scenario where Kaede pulls off a Fuyuhiko on trying to stop Shuichi’s execution, but obviously fails and get severely injured in process?

Wow okay, doing me like that, huh, here goes my heart, I’m having “Trade My Life For Yours” flashbacks, this hurts...

But... if what you wish for is angst, then how could I possibly refuse? Warning! Slight gorey, since I’ll be describing this execution I thought of... yeaaah, gotta describe this somehow.

“Suffering counts as character development, doesn’t it?”

Slight spoilers!! Woah

-Mod Shuichi

Scenario: Kaede Akamatsu/Shuichi Saihara (Implied)

Kaede kept pushing, pushing, desperately pushing against everyone else, she heard everyone scream behind her, her lungs burned in his stomach as she rushed forward, her hand made contact with Shuichi’s leg, he let out a loud choked-out sob as the collar pulled tighter against his neck, the two were pulled away into the ceiling that had opened up, only to slam once the two of them had been taken away from the others.

They both fell onto the floor with a restounding thud, Kaede’s grip on Shuichi’s leg had fallen, yet she was still in the same room as him that was a sign, they booth looked at each other.

They promised to escape together, Kaede bit her worries down a determined sympathy playing in her heart, Shuichi held back a scream.

It was dark at first, only lit by some dim candles, Kaede looked around only to find that she was seconds away from falling off the edge of whatever platform they were on.

Taking a closer look around, she found that they were in some board game like scenario with the class trial layout around them, all the sixteen students including the one Shuichi had murderered had a Monokuma mask on their face, even a Monokuma Kaede stood there.

Kaede has been more to the edge of the table, Shuichi had fallen straight towards the middle, the collar still wrapped tightly around his neck, despite how desperately he pulled at it. Looking up, she would have found two giant Monokumas watching the entire scene just like the players of this awful game, despite monsters they were, she held that back from her thoughts.

Shuichi was in the middle of it all in his exact podium just like the class trial that had been voted at moments ago, his hat lay discard on the floor.

Bright words had suddenly sparked above Shuichi’s head, surprised by the sudden lightinng in the room, they looked up.

“Who killed Shuichi Saihara?”

Kaede gulped, she picked herself up, her legs felt like they were about to snap at the sudden pressure she was putting on them, she started to desperately move towards Shuichi, her breath hitching, her heart racing...!

Shuichi felt a sudden jolt go through his entire body as he was suddenly pushed up, choking from the lack of air, looking through half-lidded eyes towards the new messages that lay highlighted for him to see.

Accuse! Accuse! Accuse!

A gun was thrown into his hands, he stared at the remaining students, feeling his body go lighter, as he desperately tried to remain upright, he pointed randomly at Kokichi...

He fired, Monokuma Kokichi fell back, the entire class booing at him in their own manner of gesture corresponding to their personality, Ryoma gave a tut, Miu laughed boisterously and mockingly, Kaede looked away disapointed.

But the worst feeling was seeing the Monokuma Kokichi glance up with him broken and discarded due to his wrong accusation Shuichi felt his breath hitch again when it pulled tighter against his neck.

Kaede kept running, screaming at Shuichi, begging that he could hear him, she was so, so, so damn close, she knew she was! “SHUICHI! I-I’M COMING! I’M COMING-!” Pain shot throughout Kaede’s entire body when had suddenly tripped over her own footing, against a glass wall that held the two of them apart, Kaede started to ram against it to no avail.

Accuse! Accuse! Accuse!

Shuichi narrowly managed to point the gun towards his fifth accusation, he was barely hanging on my a thread, on the top of his toes, his face going a pale blue... he looked towards Kaede, banging in the glass desperately, calling out his name.

Shuichi aimed at the glass, an idea rushing to his mind, his fingers felt bonesakingly numb, yet using most of the strength left he... he pushed down on the trigger.

The glass shot open, cutting some of Kaede open with it, but she didn’t care, she took a piece of glass off the ground, cutting herself in the process, but she didn’t care.

She pressed it against the rope, slicing it open so Shuichi fell to the floor to regain his breath, he looked up at Kaede thankfully.

Kaede fell down, to wrap Shuichi in her embrace, shuddering as she did so, she looked around for an exit, there had to be something, afterall the two of them were finally reunited, they had to be able to do this somehow... had to...

... Shuichi suddenly pushes her off of him, Kaede stares back at him in bewilderment, but before she can ask why in return, gunfire rings out.

Monokuma Kaede hovers over Shuichi, her own brand of gun in her hand, she’s straight behind holding the smoking pistol pointed at Shuichi’s bloody stomach.

Another gunshot fires, Kaede loses all feeling in her right leg, she falls down to the floor.

The monokuma’s deactivate, the candles dim once more, the only thing being seen

KAEDE AKAMATSU IS THE KILLER! YOU FAILED TO FIND THE TRUTH, YOU LOSE! LOSE! LOSE!

... No, this... can’t be, Kaede tries rushing over to the now dying detective on the floor, gasping for air, grasping at his newly-created wound “... Kaede... please... s-stop... I don’t want you to die, you shouldn’t have to die with me, so please just...”

“No! I-I refuse! Shuichi, we’re getting you out of here... that’s a promise! Come on...” Kaede picks the bloodied and brocken detective, barely managing to support the awful weight he had, especially with how broken her leg had become...

“... We... have to... keep... moving...”

...

Shuichi didn’t respond, she look down at him, his body had become deathly cold in her grip.

“... Shuichi?” He doesn’t say a word, she presses her hand against his heart, yet she can no longer feel a rhythm.

Kaede Akamatsu screams Shuichi’s name like a mantra, she desperately tries shaking him awake again, tears flow freely down her face hitting the floor, her heart clouding, her melody becoming nothing more than a broken record piece playing the same tune over and over again, the same broken disharmonized scream.

The execution goes to black, the rest of the students watching horrified by the sight before them on the monitors, the execution having reached it’s grand amazing finale.

Someone smiles throughout it all, of course, this is going to make for great content, suffering makes the perfect character development, doesn’t it?

[garmthehellhound]

Last night I dreamt about what I can only describe as a gladiatorial arena. I don’t know if this was somewhere in the compound or not, but I don’t think Root would tolerate something like it. Anyway, I was siting in the stands, watching a fight and they forced a guy in a grey hoodie into the ring with this huge guy, he kind of reminded me of myself a little bit. He was given a hatchet as a weapon, and the fight began. At first I thought the new guy would die, but then something changed in him. I could see this... presence behind him, and... it saw me too. Looking at that thing was like being being balls deep in frozen water, I felt cold all over with fear. It began to whisper incessantly in his ears... I heard every word, it said

“Give me a sacrifice of blood and flesh, and I will grant you power, the power to free yourself.”

And then the kid, he just went insane. I could see his eyes behind his mask were dead, except one it was almost glowing. I couldn’t see his face but I could tell it would be like the leer of a demon. He was screaming with the crowd their cries of bloodlust becoming one with his own. The big he was fighting seemed just as scared as I felt. Then the killing began, it was like watching a a bear kill cornered deer. I won’t go into details but let’s just say I heard many of the cries of bloodlust in the crowd turn to shrieks of horror. They had to restrain the kid just to take him away. I think I know who this kid is and who he will become... I wonder if showed this Stitch I wonder what he would say. Hell I’d be interested in anyone’s opinion on this.

feel sick, these dreams, I can’t keep having them, it’s like I’m watching some kind of slasher film made even worse. This time I was back in that gladiator arena, this time I got a name for the place. It was called “The Blood Pits” they aren’t exactly part of this cult, but many of the patrons do follow this religion or whatever it is. I couldn’t exactly tell how much time had passed since I last saw this place, and the smell of blood was so strong it was honestly overpowering. I wanted to vomit, but just couldn’t, no one seemed to see me, like I was invisible which suited me just fine. I followed the crowd and it let into the arena proper, and I was disgusted and horrified. People were fucking in the stands and giving out cries for blood, that’s when the next fight began. Out of the caged entrance, came the kid. It was clear he’d gained more reputation, some of the audience members cheered, some cried out in maybe anger or fear, I couldn’t tell. The aunounced called him, “The Hell Hound.” What was funny is he didn’t have a fighters build, he was fit to be sure, but more what I would consider to be on say an athletic runner. He still carried that hatchet, but he’d swapped out his hoodie and jeans for what looked like armor and a kilt. Alright...

That was when his opponents came out, some looked ready and brave but most just looked scared, and with damn good reason. This man, this Hell Hound, was a monster. When the bell rung signaling the fight to begin, I felt the familiar chill, something was coming from Hell Hound, it was the familiar presence.

“Blood. Give me blood.”

It said.

It wasn’t a fight, it was a slaughter. Hell Hound was a man possessed. The crowd went wild, but I cowered in horror. After the fight was over, the aunouncer seemed a little too pleased.

“Yes, another bloody victory for The Hell Hound!” The crowd cheered at this.

“But next week, he may yet meet his match, for coming to this arena, a very special guest! The silent slaughterer, the Giant of Gore, the walking monster, STITCH ENTERS THE RING TO KILL THE HELL HOUND!”

Hell Hound didn’t seem to care, in fact he looked almost too pleased. And then I understood why,

“Give me his blood.”

I heard the presence say,

“And I will deem you as truly worthy of my ultimate gift.”

(For reference Stitch is a giant Frankenstein’s monster, created via a mixture of demonic magic and technology, with a big ads Bowie knife as his main weapon he usually leaves it stuck in his shoulder)

I finally saw it, and my assumption about Hell Hound’s identity was right.

By the time this dream started I was already sitting in the stands. The crowd was going absolutely berserk, because this was the final match, Hell Hound and Stitch. Hell Hound entered first, dressed in his kilt and armor, and carrying his customary hatchet, now stained a permanent red. Then Stitch entered, he towered over Hell Hound but neither side showed any sign of fear. In fact they both looked eager for the fight to start.

They didn’t even wait for the bell to ring to signify the fight began. Both of them ran at each other, Sitch swinging that massive Bowie knife with surprising speed Hell Hound got away with a few cuts but nothing serious. He swung at Stitch’s leg but the blade didn’t even seem to hurt in fact it barely did anything at all. There wasn’t even any blood.

It was then I realized that Hell Hound was meant to lose, and Stitch knew it too he had been hoping for real fight but was disappointed with these results. It was now nothing more than a job for him to get done. He made quick work Hell Hound. He treated him like a rag doll, even breaking his beloved hatchet with his bare hands. The crowd was booing their dissatisfaction, this was not the fight they were promised.

But then I noticed the air seemed to get colder, and I saw- no I felt that horrible presence coming off of Hell Hound. Then he did something I never thought capable of. By his determination alone, or maybe stupid luck, Hell Hound actually tore Stitch’s knife out of his hand and stabbed him with it.

Everything went quiet. Stitch slowly turned to see the wound in his side and his knife covered in his own blood and in the hands of someone else. The road of rage, indignation, and pain was enough to wake the dead. Stitch flew into such a rage that he sent Hell Hound flying against the area cage. But he never even cried out. In fact I may have been the only one to see it, but just for a second, it was as if his whole body rippled, and even stranger, the presence that had been with him was suddenly gone.

What happened next... was nothing short of what happens only in hell. As Stitch came in to finish the Hell Hound, perhaps seeking to crush him, Hell Hound ducked and swipped at Sitch not with the knife, but his right hand. There was another pause as we all realized what was happening. Hell Hound’s hand was a claw, his fingers sharped to points. It was then his whole body pulsing as blood began to leak out of him from every orifice. And then he began to change.

Looking back I realize this was the only time I’d ever seen Stich hesitate. His whole body grew in size match Stitch, even his mask changed, becoming like that of a demon. But the worst of all, was that laugh. It wasn’t human. I realized now where the presence had gone, it was no longer surrounding Hell Hound, it was literally inside him, and it was twisting and warping his body into a monster, healing all of his wounds, and remaking the man in his own image.

The crowd was no longer screaming for blood, they were screaming in horror. Stitch suddenly lunges at the new Hell Hound but now he truly matched him in speed as well as size and strength. And instead all he did was side step him and hit him in the back of the head, and Stitch dropped like a stone. There was one final pause, before all hell broke loose. Hell Hound looked around at the screaming audience, then ran at the cage walls of the arena and they shattered. The arena had become his killing floor. They were all slaughtered. Even some guards who looked like immortals were torn apart in gorey mess. And all the while, Hell Hound, no, the monster who used to be Hell Hound laughed. When it was over Hell Hound went over to the unconscious Stitch, and dragged his unconscious body into a corner and dropped knife at his feet. I don’t really know why he didn’t want it. After all Stitch broke his Hatchet. Then he left.

He’s out there now, free. And I don’t think want to see him ever again.

[humanoid-lovers]

A Deliciously Ghoulish Abecedarius The aptly named author Edward Gorey has delighted three generations of my family. The kids I know all enjoyed this abecedarius with each letter of the alphabet standing for the name of a child and each child meeting his or her demise in a variety of grisly, illustrated ways: "Y is for Yorrick whose head was knocked in; Z is for Zillah who drank too much gin." Several of my child friends who first read "The Gashlycrumb Tinies" memorized it, improving their vocabularies in the process. While it may be a bit too dark for kids under six or so (think Brothers Grimm), most seven-year-olds on up to impish grandmas will relish Edward Gorey's darkly comic fatalities. Go to Amazon

Funny and Educational This book is quite morbid, so don't expect to read it to a 5 year old. With that said it is educational and entertaining for young and old. There were a few words I had to look up in the dictionary and some of the illustrations are really chilling. The book came with a few smears and smudges on the cover (nothing a good wiping down didn't take care of). Besides the smudges I am overall very pleased with the book! Go to Amazon

I love this little book and I am happy to finally ... Small but mighty! Go to Amazon

Great Bedtime Book For Adults with a Morbid Sence of Humor Terrific Black Humor that would be distasteful to those that do not have a grasp of sarcasm, and Irony, Very similar to the work of the best of New York Magazine's cartoonist. A quick reading ,amusing illustrated book that reads like a child's bedtime story but written for adults. A parent would need to know his or her child well enough to determine its appropriateness for teaching the child that everyone dies as part of life. In that respect It is has a vague similarity to "Everybody Poops." Go to Amazon

horrible - I love it! This is a horrible book to read to small children unless you are Morticia Addsms. I read it to mine when she throws bedtime tantrums. This book is an abcedaria of children dying in rhyme. It has ink drawings of the children right before they die, so it's not quite as gruesome as it could be. Go to Amazon

Five Stars Cute little book of horrible deaths for reading to whiny children and scaring them. Go to Amazon

Funny! One has to have a rather odd sense of humor to appreciate a tale such as this! Most of the humor lies in the illustrations by Edward Gorey, and primarily in his depictions of the "Tinies." I showed it to a grand-daughter and told her it was funny and that she might appreciate it. She did not! "They're all dead!" she said. Which made me chuckle. So a very adult viewpoint is required to truly appreciate it. Anyway, I view it as a little classic. The work of Edward Gorey can be seen at the beginning of the productions of Masterpiece Theatre on public television . . . the girl with the fan . . . the man skulking outside the window, and the lady lying on a ledge of a high building with her head back crying "Oh-h-h! Go to Amazon

So Delightfully Morbid! You don't have to be the Addams family to appreciate this one. Go to Amazon

A is for.... Five Stars Five Stars Five Stars was really cool. Hilarious and spooky AWESOMELY CREEPY BOOK! Five Stars Boo! No violence or gore, but very morbid for a ...

[humanoid-lovers]

Dark yet cute This is a very original and beautifully crafted alphabet book. It is a bit dark, but extremely poetic and playful. Go to Amazon

Boo! I LOVE this book! So does my 5-year-old granddaughter. Others, especially adults, who have read it, are a little unnerved by it. You need to have a clever sense of humor and not mind a little dark humor! Disturbing things bring on the demise of each kid whose names all match the ABC letter through the alphabet. If you or your child can appreciate The Addams Family, the Munsters, and haunted stories, while resting assured they are only stories, not letting their horror get to you, you too will love the Gashlycrumb Tinies! Go to Amazon

A Deliciously Ghoulish Abecedarius The aptly named author Edward Gorey has delighted three generations of my family. The kids I know all enjoyed this abecedarius with each letter of the alphabet standing for the name of a child and each child meeting his or her demise in a variety of grisly, illustrated ways: "Y is for Yorrick whose head was knocked in; Z is for Zillah who drank too much gin." Several of my child friends who first read "The Gashlycrumb Tinies" memorized it, improving their vocabularies in the process. While it may be a bit too dark for kids under six or so (think Brothers Grimm), most seven-year-olds on up to impish grandmas will relish Edward Gorey's darkly comic fatalities. Go to Amazon

No violence or gore, but very morbid for a ... No violence or gore, but very morbid for a kids' book. That's why I got it for my 3-year-old niece. Go to Amazon

AWESOMELY CREEPY BOOK! LOOKED HIGH and LOW for this weird book I found a long time ago- I Got it, and LOVE IT _ THANKS SO MUCH for those of us that like dark, creepy stuff. GET TIS BOOK! Go to Amazon

Funny and Educational This book is quite morbid, so don't expect to read it to a 5 year old. With that said it is educational and entertaining for young and old. There were a few words I had to look up in the dictionary and some of the illustrations are really chilling. The book came with a few smears and smudges on the cover (nothing a good wiping down didn't take care of). Besides the smudges I am overall very pleased with the book! Go to Amazon

I love this little book and I am happy to finally ... Small but mighty! Go to Amazon

Great Bedtime Book For Adults with a Morbid Sence of Humor Terrific Black Humor that would be distasteful to those that do not have a grasp of sarcasm, and Irony, Very similar to the work of the best of New York Magazine's cartoonist. A quick reading ,amusing illustrated book that reads like a child's bedtime story but written for adults. A parent would need to know his or her child well enough to determine its appropriateness for teaching the child that everyone dies as part of life. In that respect It is has a vague similarity to "Everybody Poops." Go to Amazon

was really cool. Hilarious and spooky Five Stars Five Stars Darkly comedic! Five Stars Five Stars Still more great Gorey Great Grim Gorey