#I'm mostly fine with him not being a combatant

[husband-steve-cortez]

*remembers cryo ammo incinerate Steve isn’t a real dlc companion and cries*

[doki-doki-imagines]

Can you please do all the earth realm men in MK1 reacting to receiving a slap in the butt and by chance their fellow kombatants were around when it happened? 🤭 And it was a loud smack too

Johnny Cage: -"Oh you don't love me anymore. You used to do that with much more passion." Groans leave everybody mouths. -Shameless, even more than you for doing that in public. -Johnny will never let this go, teasing you often. -Wouldn't mind if you did that again…

Kenshi Takahashi: -With his highlighted senses, not only he feels better the slap, but also the breaths being sucked in by his fellow combatants. -He becomes as red as his blindfold. "Don't you dare do it ever again!" Kenshi shouts at you, everyone stuck, not a word coming out. -Yeah, it was really embarrassing for him.

Raiden: -Maybe he just imagined the slap. Maybe he is just tired, and his mind , starts playing tricks on him. -Raiden keeps talking, not knowledging what happened, some of the combatants are smiling. -He will bring up this when you are in your bedroom, preparing to sleep. -"Did you slap my ass today?" "Why?" "It's not nice to reply to a question with another question." "We both know I'm not the well-educated one of the couple." -Raiden will never know the truth.

Kung Lao: -He doesn't mind. Like at all. -Mostly because Lao will also slap your ass .01 seconds later you did. -Everyone have wide eyes, but nobody says a word on what happened. -"Why are you acting shy? Isn't this cute between lovers?" -Get ready. It won't be the last time.

Liu Kang: -He stays still. Time seems to stop. -"Are you fine, Lord Liu Kang?" He doesn't reply back. -Liu Kang is more than fine. He loved this. A giggle almost escapes his mouth. -So you wanted to touch him so much that you didn't care to be in public, right? -He'll ask you not to do it in front of all the other combatants, he needs to keep his reputation. -Try to be more sneaky next time…

Geras: -He doesn't appreciate it. At all. -Geras won't say a word when you do that, not to catch even more the attention of the other guys. -But he'll talk to you about it in the privacy of your room. -To say the truth, Geras isn't a fan of it even at home, so please don't do it again.

Bi-Han: -Wow. You are insane. -He looks at you, eyes wide and full of killing intent. -Admire the sun and the beautiful landscape in front of you; you probably won't see the next day. -The second you are alone, Bi-Han is on you. -Have you enjoyed playing with your grandmaster? Well, it's time for Bi-Han to have fun. -Hope you are into degradation…

Kuai Liang: -Speechless. -"Did you-" "…Really?" Liang doesn't have the strength to reply to your gesture. -For now. At home he will be like a river in flood. -Don't do that in public ever again. He has a status to keep. There are also nicer ways to flatter him! -Liang already melt under your touch. Don't push your luck.

Tomas Vrbada: -404 error. Tomas not found. -He enjoyed it, but enjoyed less Johnny whistling at you two. Or Bi-Han angry scorn. -But does this mean Tomas can also reciprocate the gesture? He may be embarrassed, but it's a nice discovery… -You'll talk about it at home, it won't be anything serious. -But now his hands are always dangerously close to your backside.

[baiwu-jinji]

TGCF author's notes translation

@/camilikha on twitter kindly provided links to TGCF author's notes and I translated the ones I find informative and interesting. See translations below:

chapter 58 notes: The second book is all about the overconfident Xie Lian with delusions of grandeur and the tender little flower (mxtx means kid Hua Cheng) and their diaries of the downfall of Xianle. Word count is undecided, I'm never accurate at estimating word counts anyway. It's just like the xianxia I write doesn't fit into your regular xianxia, the royalty I write doesn't fit into your regular fictional depictions of royalty - just the outlandish made-up worlds and social customs in the author's imagination...

chapter 60 notes: If we put Qi Rong in a modern context, we could say that he has bipolar disorder.

chapter 72 notes: about the chapter title "To Meet You in the Mortal Realm; to Find Flowers Beneath the Rain" - eventually I feel that "To Meet You" is more romantic than "To Meet Someone". Just think about it, "meeting you" is one of the most romantic things in the world.

chapte 80 notes: Of course (HC) won't give (XL) a handjob or help him [...], but Huahua's sexual awakening starts with this incident... (XL is seriously obssessed with martial arts combat!)

chapter 88 notes: Xie Lian never gets tanned, I envy him... I finally reached this place - in a dilapidated temple, a god about to be forgotten and a believer who's still young - this is the first mental image I have about this story, which drove me to wrote the story. I'm the kind of person who'd make up a whole book just to get to write a certain passage...

chapter 119 notes: Actually Huahua is just being naughty and wants to joke around playing dead, who'd have thought...

chapter 123 notes: So Black Water made his appearance long ago, he's been hanging around before your eyes all along. Wind Master never knew the real Mingyi, it's always been the same person before him - and before you readers. (Black Water) officially recognized as Best Actor of this story! I've been holding it a secret for so long and so has he, now I can finally let it out.

chapter 141 notes: If you heat up Huahua in the kiln, he'll grow bigger~

chapter 175 notes: "Hua Cheng! Your diary! We've read it all!!!"

chapter 229 notes: Huahua low-key sucking up to the elderly to make a good impression

chapter 242 notes: Why do you like to spook yourselves? - why on earth would there be such plots as (XL) waiting for another 800 years - too long, impossible! Happy ending is around the corner!

SVSSS is my first work so it has some exceptions that I won't discuss here, but MDZS and TGCF both only have one main couple. I said this repeatedly in the author's notes when MDZS was being serialized and in other places. As for Mo Xuanyu, he is a little gay dude but he died at the beginning of the story so he doesn't count as a serious character...It's fine to have headcanons you like as long as you don't seperate the main couple. But for me personally, my taste leans towards having only one gay couple in the story, and I have no plans to write about another secondary couple. I'm stating this to avoid some unnecessary disputes.

XL is good at making pickled vegetables. Because pickled vegetables are needed with steamed bun and rice porridge, so XL became quite experienced after practicing for hundreds of years. Also you can just leave the pickled vegetable by itself most of the time and let it undergo chemical reaction. XL mostly fail because he get inventive.

XL and Mu Qing chose the same path of cultivation and are both Daoists. But Feng Xin never studied under a master at the Holy Royal Pavillion so he's not a Daoist and simply a plebeian martial god, so he doesn't need to observe the celibacy rules like XL and Mu Qing.

My passion for inventing new dishes (or rather weapons) cooked by Xie Lian is only slightly less than my passion for making Huahua change into new clothes

Huahua often turn into human forms, in which he has two eyes, so you guys can stop counting the number of his eyes.

In the setting of this story, if you want to be a god,you need to be a human hero first, which means you need to be the best of the best among humans. Only heaven officials who ascended are real heaven officials and belong in the Upper Court. How do you ascend? Firstly it depends on your personal ability, you have to be outstanding in some aspect (such as martial arts or literary talents) to enter the path of ascension. Secondly it depends on luck, if you're extremely lucky and a favourite of fate, and just picked up some rare secret guides (to ascension) or immortal pills by the roadside, that works too. Officials in the Middle Court are appointed, which means someone in the Heavenly Realm could promote you to that position. But Middle Court officials have the opportunity to become a bona fide Upper Court official too if they're capable enough.

Black Water indeed owes Hua Cheng a huge sum of money and is a very impoverished Calamity, seriously lowering the income standard of the Calamities (although there're only three of them). But his debt isn't completely due to eating too much. As for the money Black Water owes, it's an ancient debt - 40% is the cost of buying gifts for heaven officials of Upper Court and planting agents there (bribery!), 30% is maintenance fee for his territory and expenses on pet food, the rest 30% is food (for himself).

Talismans are probably the equivalent of the business cards (of heaven officials)... "Hello this is my consecrated talisman" = "hello this is my business card"

You can't get rid of ghostly essence (which XL is tainted with because he spends too much time with HC) simply by brushing your teeth with plain water...you need to use consecrated spell water (which is super bitter and weird).

The weapon forged by a heaven official is called fabao (literally "dharma treasure"); if it's a weapon forged by mortal Daoists and monks, it's called faqi (literally "dharma tool") - only after their ascension can their weapons be called fabao.

In my imagination, Xianle ia the kind of small ancient kingdom that's overall culturally Han, but has peculiar customs...although I feel like what I wrote on Xianle is mostly just peculiar hahahaha [facepalm] [beat myself up]

Not only are the forms, customs, cultures, and politics of countries in this story made-up, the kind of arcane stuff like occult sciences and philosophical values are all made-up. Although I did research but the records I consulted are too difficult to understand, so I just made things up on my own. Please bear with me If you're knowledgable in this sort of thing hahaha.

Puqi refers to water chestnut.

Look up "Blood-Soaked Fire Social" (xue she huo) if you're interested, it exists in real life and is very thrilling. What I wrote is different from the traditional festival, there're some made-up elements to make it more exciting

[jaune-submissive-and-breedable]

(FemDom) Ruby decided that the Vytal Festival would be the perfect time to broadcast to everyone that Jaune and his 'greatsword' belongs to her and her alone.

Amity coliseum was silent during the fight between Yang & Mercury. Not because Cinder's plan to frame the poor girl, both combatants' eyes locked on the giant screen. As were all eyes in the coliseum. Yang in particular, seeming most distressed. The reason being an outside source had hack into the broadcast and began projecting a special stream from within her dorm.

"You're all set Friend Ruby!" a chirper voice, recognized as Penny Polendina, called out to the young rose. the android holding a camera in facing the center of the room.

The girl in question, upon hearing que, popped into view, cause her friends and family to gasp in shock. She wore a red corset that left her perky tits exposed and black studded stocks with arm length glove to match. And most importantly, nothing covering her plump, and moist pussy lips. Yet, she stood oddly confident with a slight scowl on her face.

"Alright LISTEN UP YOU SCANKS OUT THERE!" She shouted, surprising many who knew the young girl "I want you to take a look at this"

the camera panned over to the nearest bunk. Laying on it was Jaune Arc, leader of team JNPR, her sister team. Tied to the bed posts, gagged with a pair of her panties, and very much naked with everything exposed. Most notably, his raging 9in cock, standing proud for the audience, making a lot of women watching the stream blush, wolf whistle or lick their lips at the sight. A certain red-haired Spartan's nose shot a cartoonish amount of blood at the sight. The blonde blushed embarrassed and ashamed when the camera panned to him.

Ruby walked back into view and gestured to Jaune dramatic, "YOU SEE THIS! THIS IS MINE THIS IS WHERE MY BABIES WILL COME FROM!!"

*what the fuck....* Jaune muttered, confusion visible in his eyes.

On que, Ruby lined herself up with his cock, facing the camera with a look of determination and fear.

"Friend Ruby, I don't this he'll fit inside you" Penny remarked as she eyed the solid pillar of Arc meat. A sentiment shared by all who watched the stream.

Ruby huffed and started pushing herself down onto the mass of flesh. Her face red as the bulbous head pierced her tiny pussy, a grotesque bulge forming as she slides down further. A small whimper escaped her mouth as she did. The audience watched with bated breath as she continued to struggle to against the blonde's length. Many, mostly the woman, watching the reaper expected her to give up and move one, but to everyone's surprise, and Yang's horror, Ruby successfully impaled herself onto Jaune's cock with a loud scream and a forceful push down.

Ruby sat there for a while, processing her lost of virginity and actually taking Jaune's monster cock. A grotesque bulge running up her stomach stopping a little above her belly button.

"Friend Ruby, Are you ok" Ruby just nodded, her hands using Jaune's thighs for support, "Are you sure. By the way your stomach is bulging, I think you should.."

"I'M FINE PENNY!" she snapped, slowly raising herself along his length before letting herself fall back down. Blood and sex fluids mixing together.

After a short bit, she began speeding up, finally getting over the shock. Rocking her body against Jaunes, both teens moaning softly. As she did, the bulge in her chest fluctuating with her movements.

"S...SEE.....He was....m...made for my kitty and mine alone!" she stammered, earning a few snide comments from onlookers.

Ruby began riding him harder, her breast bouncing up and down, and bubbly booty producing lewd plaps as she collided with the blonde's hips. Her breath become more rigid and hot, and body producing more and more sweat. Her silver eyes rolling in the back of her head.

"F.....Fudge he's so big!" She whined. She ceased bounce and rolled her hips against his. "Time to kick things into overdrive!"

Rose petals began to appear as her body began moving at impossible speeds. Those that knew her recognized this as her semblance and silently offer their prayers to Jaune. Who now moaned uncontrollably through her panties as he took Ruby's assault. Not stopping for a moment, she spun herself around, giving the audience a generous view of her bouncing bubble butt as it clapped and rippled from colliding with Jaune's hips.

Ruby arched her back and used his chest for support as she grinded her hips into his once more. Her breath wild and feral. She kept grinding till she felt herself getting closer to climaxing. Resuming riding Jaune's cock recklessly, the boy in question groaning as he felt his once climax approaching. She ripped the panties out of his mouth and pressed their lips together in a lust filled kiss.

"R...RUBY......I....I'M GONNA!!!" He cried once they were through with the kiss.

"ME TOO, BABY! LET'S DO IT TOGETHER! SHOW THOSE TRAMPS WHO YOU BELONG TO!"

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

The coliseum erupted with groans, gasps, and moans as the two love birds on the screen climaxed, many of the onlookers began masturbating half way through the broadcast. Many of the females, especially a certain spartan, bunny, and maiden began concocting plans to stealing the blonde knight from the young reaper. While the males felt pangs of jealousy toward him.

Meanwhile in the arena, Mercury knelt down and comforted a crying and horrified yang

"Sh.....SH...SHe USED TO WATHCH SESEME STREET!" she wailed, trying to ignore the screen

"PENNY GET IN HERE! LET'S MAKE THIS SHIP OFFICIAL!"

"SHE USE TO WATCH BLUES CLUES!!!!" she wailed once more.

[dianagj-art]

Is there Oneion facts we can know about?

THIS HAS BEEN ON MY DRAFTS FOR SO LONG OMG IM SO SORRY, HERE'S SOME FACTS ABOUT THE BABY BOY

(the baby boy in question is ten years older than me)

I'm gonna go canon stuff first, then some fun crossover stuff:

The version that I'm using is 35-ish years old (a few years before the movie events), he's been the leader of the resistance for around a decade

He still has all his brothers and loves them very much, would kill and die for them

Way more chill than One is right now, still a beast on combat

One can manipulate vines only using the seeds Draxum makes, Oneion can summon them at will from the ground with little issue

In the story he mostly goes by Leo now, very few people call him One (but lets keep calling him Oneion to avoid confusion)

The protesis he uses is an old one from Raph, but he outgrew it and gave it to Oneion when he lost his arm. It was a bit ridiculously big for him at the time, it's still a *little* too big for Oneion, but by the time he's 40-something (movie events) its gonna fit right in

The scarf he has is not the same One has, but as One's it was a gift from Draxum, he has carry the same scarf the whole apocalypse

Still has a lot of gold accents on his clothes

He's still the best fighter out of the four turtles

He loves being around kids but doesn't, he's afraid of hurting them. He knows he didn't had a normal childhood but is not 100% aware of what part was normal and ok and what part is not, and he rathers not take a chance and do something wrong.

He ends up enjoying teaching martial arts, tho he doesn't like being called sensei, and he wont spar with anyone bellow his level (again, being afraid of hurting them)

Casey Jr becomes the exception to these

Crossover stuff!

he can and will beat the shit out of One, he knows how much One can take so he's not really worried about that

when the apocalypse started he basically lost contact with the multiverse, so no fun crossovers for him. Until by the power of "@intotheelliwoods started doing fanart of Oneion before I even had finished his design" he had access to the multiverse again!

First of his "old frieds" he saw was Poptart and Sprout (2al huggy leos) and first thing he did was to hug Sprout<3 (well, he first kinda yelled at him but I'll draw that some day)

I don't think he has met again with the rest of the separated council? I don't remember if I've stick him in any crossover situations

he loves hugging Poptart, he's teddy bear size<3 and he'll never get tired of calling him his friend and loving him "the way he deserves" because he still hasn't forgive himself for the shitty way he treated Poptart (dont worry about it)

he fucking destroyed the attempt of a slau/2al crossover time line

he says he's fine by it but he keeps bringing up the "jawbreaker" incident, I dont think he got over it, actually

he hangs out with Sprout a lot

something something, being with Sprout makes him feel like a kid again, and it makes Sprout feel like a kid again because Oneion reminds him of Big Leo

Sprout and Oneion have a spa day, they deserve it<3 they also go shopping together. Also, they are not exactly good at cooking but they try and they love working together on the kitchen

Oneion got the "Oneion" nickname by Sprout and Poptart

he stronk. he can lift Sprout with no problem, and even Toast

if you wanna have a good time scroll down the besties tag on ell's blog or mine (2)

[sable-skies]

thought abt an au i doodled up months ago but never fully explored, so here's some concept designs for that. im gonna ramble about it now

+ height comparison under the keep reading!

god okay i gotta admit: i, unfortunately, kinda love game of thrones. truthfully i dont care for the sex and inc*st part of the show, but i really enjoy the interconnected weaving plot lines, drama, and utter bullshit that happens in that show. its amazing, i love it, its so fucking stupid. so earlier this year i doodled up some ideas for a game of thrones inspired post-totk au. those are here, and here!

I then dropped it and didnt return to it until now, because i started season 2 of house of the dragon and yknow. why not.

as for actual details about the au: i said in the past it was a got-loz au, but im gonna go ahead and say that i misspoke then because i mean more like, post-totk/loz au INSPIRED by got, because i would never want to do a 1-to-1 au of that god awful show. i mostly think exploring a hyrule that is peaceful, but secretly on the brink of civil chaos and how bad humanity could truly get would be really fun to explore!

i struggled to pick a single role for link to have in such an au, so i said fuck it and divided him up into four parts, in universe the hero's spirit has been split amongst four brothers. to nod towards this, and because i'm cheeky as hell, the first letters of each of their names spells link. Laurent, Irving, Nymos, and Kiran. (im so fucking funny (<- is not funny))

they're all noble born to Arthur Hearth, current lord of House Hearth which basically controls and sits on the Great Plateau, and their mother was Eyla, a member of the Sheikah from Kakariko Village who unfortunately passed away shortly after Kiran was born. Arthur btw is named after the King Arthur legends from Europe, as those served as inspiration for the series in general!

I think a plot would follow them all after the death of their father and how they cope with it and move forward, and how they combat suddenly being labeled traitors to the kingdom for their father's acclaimed crimes.

this is getting long, so I'll do some misc bullet points next on their personalities:

Laurent, as the oldest, had to mature pretty quickly after the death of their mother, Eyla. Which has caused him to grow protective of his younger brothers almost to an overbearing degree. He gets nervous when they're not home, which sucks because Irving is a knight, Nymos studies in Kakariko often, and Kiran wants to explore the world via the survey team. Other then that, he's responsible, quite serious in most situations, and still very kind hearted. After his father's death he starts to spiral into a rage-filled depression, determined to get his brothers back and make the king pay for killing his father.

Irving is the most middle child ever. Due to Laurent being in line for lord of their house and is never gonna back down from that, he sought his own purpose in being a royal knight / royal guardsman / kingsguard. It hasn't really worked out well for him honestly, his higher ups hate him for being Arthur's son, seemingly so naturally talented in combat, and charismatic amongst the ranks that some knights ignore their orders just to follow Irving's instead. So as punishment he's been assigned as the former princess Zelda's bodyguard / retainer. While it disappointed him to not serve his full duties at first, he's come to accept it and treats her kindly. He's proud, a little over-confident, just, and secretly a bleeding heart. After the death of their father, he's forced to choose between his family and Zelda, and knowing that Zelda will most likely die without him, he stays with her.

Nymos, oh poor fucking Nymos dude. As a child he fell into the depths and somehow survived, which was fine, but then he came across a patch of gloom that seemingly never faded, and ever since he's been cursed with doomed visions of the future and a talent for magic. No one believes him about the lingering gloom, and claims that he simply has PTSD from the incident in general, but he knows what he saw. He's sought out magical-based physical therapy in Kakariko because of this, and he's pretty much regarded as a local there. He's quiet, a bit withdrawn, pessimistic, but has a strong sense of justice and genuinely wants the best for those around him, even if he doesn't know how to say it properly. When Laurent and Irving are away, he's the one looking after Kiran and keeping him safe. When his father dies, he immediately starts to investigate the current monarchy for signs of dark magic tampering, which leads him down a rabbit hole he never even knew existed, all the while he's being tormented by visions of his brother dying gruesome and horrible deaths. he's forever an internal nervous WRECK

Kiran!! The baby!! Might be the most dangerous brother of the four, but we'll cover that later. As the resident youngest sibling he's naturally gotten away with pretty much everything and anything, because who can say no to those big baby blues. Thankfully he's not actually that destructive or ill-mannered, but he isn't above pulling a prank on someone for the fun of it. He yearns to leave home and explore the vast continent of Hyrule though, and shortly before everything goes wrong he's accepted into the Survey Team and gets to enjoy it for a bit. He's excitable, energetic, optimistic, and somewhat a handful (get this teen a child leash please) but he means well and is determined to get whatever is on his mind done and finished. He's the last to be told his father is dead as his team didn't tell him about the incident until suddenly there's a group of bandits attacking them and demanding they had Kiran over for ransom. Kiran goes willingly of course, as he doesn't want his team members to get hurt. He later falls into the depths and survives via the sail cloth around his shoulders and meets a strange little fox he calls Todd.

I have so many notes in my head about these guys but again, i'll shut up for now :] here are the heights!

btw; they're all based on a previous incarnation of link and a got character, if you figure it out I'll shake ur hand.

[yanderes-galore]

Hello and happy birthday! I wanted to request romantic Mauga x healing Gn!reader.

Thank you and thank you! Here you go :) Me spilling more thoughts about the big man I love 💜

Genuinely hate that I'm the only one writing for him right now... I desire him.

Yandere! Mauga with Support/Medic! Darling

Pairing: Romantic

Possible Trigger Warnings: Gender-Neutral Darling, Obsession, Manipulation, Threats/Intimidation, Slight flirting, Isolation, Forced relationship, Suggestive line at the end.

I have a feeling it's a similar thing to Baptiste.

Mauga's the Tank, you're the Support, you're meant to keep him alive.

By default I feel this would make you a Talon medic, similar to Baptiste.

Except... while Baptiste managed to escape from Talon... you're unable to.

Mostly due to Mauga as you later find out.

Maybe you're in a similar boat as Baptiste, you originally joined Talon to help people completely unaware of the real intentions of the organization.

It's just mercenary work... right?

That or you have your own reasons.

As a medic and support you naturally end up seeing Mauga often.

He isn't going to get far as heavy assault without back up.

For this concept let's say you, Baptiste, and Mauga are a group of comrades in Talon.

You often help Mauga during and after fights.

While Baptiste and Mauga are good friends, you may begin to notice Mauga feels something different to his second support friend.

When it comes to you Mauga seems awfully... interested.

When you have him take off his heavy armor to attend to wounds, he often makes suggestive comments as you touch his skin.

Mauga also begins to prefer you to work on him as a medic.

Baptiste does his job fine, great even, but Mauga likes you alone.

In his eyes, Mauga doesn't think you have the killer instinct Baptiste does.

You really are just meant to heal and support, a useful unit in Talon other than outright damage.

To Mauga that means you're perfect for one another... in combat and other means.

Mauga is normally comfortable around Baptiste, yet he finds himself twitching when you speak with the combat medic for too long.

The obsession would continue to grow as you go on missions.

Some times you step out on missions, instead being paid to attend to wounded at base.

Mauga ends up meeting up with you still just to chat.

Sometimes you even catch wounds on him... which is odd.

A man like him isn't clumsy, did he do this on purpose just to be given your medical attention?

You try to push such thoughts from your mind but you have a feeling something is off with how Mauga feels around you.

That only escalates as you learn the truth of Talon along with Baptiste.

Baptiste expresses wishes to leave, he hates killing innocents.

You agree, the pay is nice... but the job wears on you.

As a result you help Baptiste escape and things play out like they did in his lore.

Mauga lets him go, Baptiste goes into hiding, and you continue work.

You yourself want to leave the organization too.

The issue?

Well... Mauga knows.

The heavy assault soldier only has more excuses to stick around you now as Baptiste is gone.

Plus, he knows you helped Baptiste leave.

He knows you want to leave too...

You're lucky Mauga likes you... he could've turned you into the boss... or killed you.

Mauga no doubt isn't going to let you ditch Talon like Baptiste.

You're his medic now, you're meant to support him.

You and him will be a new duo... not a trio... partners.

Part of him is a bit happy Baptiste left.

He was getting really tired of sharing.

You yourself can tell Mauga's catching onto your thoughts.

He never likes to leave you alone.

He even gets more pushy on you being more than his medic.

He admits casual comments, some threatening, some more... personal.

Mauga's plan is to make you feel like you need him as partners.

If you still feel like you want to leave Talon... well, Mauga isn't going to let you just walk out like Baptiste.

If he has to corner you... intimidate you... all just to make you stay?

He feels he'll convince you.

Just as you try to put together plans to leave and start a new life... Mauga's here to remind you where you belong.

You'll be cornered in your office, the heavily armored man blocking you in.

His grin is wide but his eyes read danger.

You struggle to explain yourself, he probably doesn't believe you anyways.

"Planning to leave your partner all alone?"

His voice is low... threatening.

"Maybe you need a reminder that you belong here... with me."

You can't leave past him... he essentially blocks the door with his size.

A true mountain of a man...

You wish you left earlier... or never joined at all.

"Now, help me get this armor off, won't you, doc? I don't plan on needing it."

[mytheoristavenue]

MHA Fumikage Tokoyami x Reader - Dangerous - I

Summary: After losing your quirk, you confide in Tokoyami that your situation does, in fact, bother you.

Warnings: Angst, fluff, comfort, mentions of trauma, reader has a specific quirk, fem!reader, loss of quirk

You sat on the balcony of Heights Alliance, hugging your knees close to your chest as you stared up at the stars with glossy eyes. From inside, you could hear cheering. Your classmates were having a party to celebrate everyone coming home somewhat safely from a terrifying encounter with the League of Villains. The party was actually meant to be in your honor, mostly. To commemorate you finally coming home from the hospital after such a long stay. That being said, it didn't seem like anyone minded you not actually attending.

The previous weeks had flown by for you, almost as if you were on autopilot. You hadn't had any kind of time to accept the things that had happened to you, but everyone seemed to have already moved on, so you did your best to pretend you had as well. You didn't want to rain on anyone's parade.

Tears welled in your eyes as you twirled a dead strand of hair around your finger, pulling it from the follicle almost instantly, and you stared at it, pinching it between your fingers. Heartbroken at the frailty and dullness of it, you blew it out of your hand, letting the wind carry it away.

Suddenly, you wiped your tears onto your sleeve, hearing the sliding glass door hit its frame as someone stepped out. You didn't need to look, you already knew who it was. Heavy footsteps were a dead ringer for the identity of the person. Only two people in class wore combat boots casually- Jiro and Tokoyami, and you could hear the former's distinct laugh coming from inside.

"You'd think if someone threw you a party, you might show up," Tokoiyami said, sitting beside you, one leg straight out, popping between the bars of the railing and the other bent with his knee to the sky as he rested backward on his palms.

"Yeah, kinda rude, don't you think?" A raspy, graining voice chastised from behind him, only to be waved off by the raven.

"Enough," He said, willing Dark Shadow back within himself.

"No," you protested, a bit too late. "He's right, you both are." you replied, finally acknowledging him. "It is rude of me not to attend my own party, especially when everyone went to such trouble..." You had to stop faking a smile as it was making your lip quiver. You felt a sturdy hand on your shoulder, and a staticky feeling on the other.

"Are you alright?" Tokoyami asked, giving your left shoulder a reassuring squeeze as Dark Shadow rested his head on the left.

"I-I'm fine, why wouldn't I be?" you answered, conviction wavering greatly as you stifled sobs. "You all went to such trouble to make sure I felt welcome when I came home, I'm just so happy to have caring friends." You were only half lying. Throughout your entire hospital stay, someone was always there with you. A few students rotated spending nights with you or sitting with you to ensure you didn't get lonely. Sato kept you in supply of so many sweets you were sure you'd gained weight as a consequence, and the girls kept your room cute and full of fresh flowers to lift your spirits. They had all gone out of their way to make you feel cared for. "I'm just going to miss you all so much..." You finally confessed almost silently.

"We aren't going anywhere, I promise," He said, comfortingly, eyes softening. "Why would you think that?"

"I know you aren't leaving, Toko," you corrected with a sniffle. "I am."

His vermillion eyes widened in pure shock. What did you mean, where you running away?" "No you aren't," he said in disbelief, wrapping his arms around your shoulders and pulling your back against his chest. "You're still a part of class 1-A, no matter what happens."

"I'm getting expelled, Tokoyami." You stated flatly. "I'm quirkless, I can't stay here."

He was silent for a moment before speaking again, softer than you'd ever heard him. "That won't happen, it's in the bilaws. A quirk isn't required to be enrolled at UA anymore, ask Midor-"

"Nezu said it himself," you explained matter of factly, feeling honestly numb about the whole thing. "He said I'm in more danger here as a student and without a quirk I'm a liability. I can't protect myself or anyone else if the villains were to attack us again. He's sending me home tomorrow and my family and I will be placed in witness protection."

Suddenly, everything made so much sense to him. Why you had mentioned wanting to stay in the hospital, why you didn't want to join the party. For the class, it was a welcome home party. For you, it was for going away.

"I-I see..." he muttered into your back, tucking his head between the two of you to gather his wits. "That's...unfortunate, I'm going to miss you...very much." He confessed, his stomach dropping to his stomach at the revelation.

"I'll miss you too," you replied softly, gazing up at the stars. "Probably the most out of everyone."

"Is that so?" He asked, chuckling sadly. "I'm glad I could be your favorite."

"Nobody else ever had a chance of being my favorite," you confessed with a relieved smile. This all did feel good to get off your chest. "I liked you since day one."

You could feel Tokoyami freeze against your back, his eyes shot wide open. "Y-You...liked me?" he asked carefully, almost as if asking for confirmation would scare you away like a deer when approached by a human.

"Present tense," You responded sweetly. "I still do. Just thought you outta know."

You felt his grip on you tighten as his head perched on your shoulder. "How bittersweet..." He mused lightheartedly.

"What is?" you asked, cocking your head away from his in a feeble attempt to look his way.

"I always thought I'd have more time to collect myself beforehand..." he answered cryptically. "I thought I might wait to tell you until we're older."

"Tell me what?" you pressed, becoming nervous and annoyed at once.

"That I am..." you could feel him inhale through his nostrils. "Irrevocably infatuated with you." He finally admitted, sanguine as he held you in the peaceful cover of night.

"Would have been nice to know." You laughed, cheeks running hot, but not as much as they would have been under better circumstances. "Maybe we'll find each other later in life, maybe in another life entirely. Sometime after this is all over."

"I'd wait eons to be with you, (Y/n)." he accepted, knowing the time wasn't right, but that you were the right person.

"I think I would too," you agreed, nuzzling his feathered cheekbone lightly. "I suppose there's no point in asking you out now, is there?"

He unfortunately shook his head. "I'm afraid not, but at least until morning, we can be one, even if day break means separation."

"That sounds nice..." you cooed, resting against him as your gaze naturally lilted upwards to his, already waiting. "Fumikage...can I call you that?" You asked, almost sure of his answer, but wanting to be respectful none the less.

"You may call me anything as long as you call me yours." He replied, nodding.

"Wanna kiss...?" You could tell the suggestion caught him by surprise by the way he withdrew slightly, and you thought for a moment that you'd ruined everything. No matter if you did, after tomorrow, you'd probably never see him again.

"More than anything, yes," he answered breathlessly. "But I can't kiss you...by conventional means." He confessed, suddenly bashful. It was then that you realized it never dawned on you that Tokoyami's beak may not have been pleasant to kiss.

"Why don't you kiss me then..?" you suggested serenely. "That way you can show me how to kiss you back, it's not like I've ever kissed anyone anyhow."

"A-Are you sure...?" he asked, swallowing hard as you shifted in his lap to face him.

"I am," you confirmed with a smile, leaning closer expectantly. Tokoyami suddenly felt incredibly nervous.

Slowly, he leaned in to meet you, first nuzzling his forehead against yours and then your cheek. "I-It's called preening..." he said softly, beak parting as he took the gentlest nibbles at your cheeks and bottom lip. You couldn't help but blush as you struggled to stifle a giggle, failing miserably, making him yank back in embarassament.

"Thank you..." you smile sweetly at his fluster. "For sharing that with me, I could tell it was special."

"It's how birds show affection," he explained halfheartedly. "We clean each other's feathers, though, obviously you don't have any feathers, so I improvised..." Tokoyami felt like he was digging his own grave as he withdrew from you.

"It was precious..." you murmured, bringing your fingertips up to your lips, as if to hold his kiss there for as long as possible. "I loved it."

"T-There is something else we could try..." he suggested sheepishly. It's a bit more human but its...also a bit more how do I say it...?"

You tilted your head, eyeing him curiously. "Passionate?"

"Something to that effect..." He muttered, on the verge of humiliation, until you nodded your head with a glint in your eye that made his knees weak. With trembling fingers, he raised his hand, trying his best to imitate things he'd read in gothic romance novels. Hooking your chin, he pulled you infinitely closer, tilting his head opposite of yours as he guided you to do the same, and he parted his beak again, this time wider than before.

Nothing could have prepared you for the sensation of his tongue pressing against your lips, but you tried to adjust quickly so as not to embarrass him further. Letting your lips give way, your own tongue inched beyond them, touching his so very gently. Shocked, he almost pulled away but willed himself still, letting his tongue gently brush against yours with a furrowed brow. He had to concentrate in order to keep his beak from hurting you, but he was finding it so easy to lose focus as you crawled closer and grew bolder, pressing your face against the side of his in order to explore more of his mouth.

"My lark..." Tokoyami sighed, feeling lost in the moment as he shivered at the sensation of your tongue grazing the back of his teeth. As his hands slithered around your neck to cup your jaw, he couldn't help but feel his attention split at the overwhelming warmth that sat there on your shoulders. Eyes fluttering open, they suddenly snapped wide at the sight of you, magenta locks aflame.

"Lark," he repeated, pulling away, breath dripping with astonishment. "Your hair!"

[theminecraftbee]

also i think i'm going to make the final lineup for the school rescue committee as follows (with the actual mythological/legendary/literary figures for each persona being a thing i'm willing to take suggestions on; they're all meant to be famous lovers/members of pairs, though, to fit with the theme of this persona game being 'bonds between people'):

joel: our protagonist and wildcard, he is whatever the party needs him to be, as is typical for a persona protagonist. his first persona, however, is still pygmalion (and is the only one i have strong design opinions on; if there's ANY opportunity to make empires references...) uses knives.

skizzleman: physical damager. also has agi skills but he's in the vein of like, chie junpei or ryoji, in that he mostly just gets those to make battles a little easier early on, and he REALLY should only be doing damage with heavy physical skills. i'm sure this doesn't have a self-sacrifice metaphor in it at all. has enkidu as his persona. uses brass knuckles.

scar: early-game magic user, largely focused on magic and status ailments, although he gets some healing too (largely because he had to when it was just him and grian, is the implication; once another healer joins the team it becomes abundantly clear that the correct tactical move with scar is to use him as a magical nuke and ailment setter). leaning towards majnun for his persona. uses bows.

grian: dark and light skills, with a particular focus on instakills. i think he's the "balanced" earlygame party member, with an equal spread of physical and magic skills and fairly even stats... which ironically makes him good earlygame, but much worse lategame. he's probably a little fine with that, though. his persona is signy. uses lances.

impulse: our party healer! gets zio skills. not too much to say about him, his stat spread is "party healer", just mentioning its a little unusual he joins late as the party healer. i am REALLY UNCERTAIN with him for what his persona should be; for some reason my brain is offering "odette" but i'm not sure i can justify it. uses axes.

mumbo: NAVIGATOR! mumbo is the navigator. he's like, trying his best, man. also not much to say here, a navigator is a navigator. his persona is ariadne.

gem: a late-game powerhouse and bufu user, as well as the late-game guy who comes in and gets almighty skills. she's focused on pure damage i think, but also gets a number of interesting buff skills maybe? i'm picturing her in the same general combat archetype as like, naoto, for the record. her persona is atalanta. uses swords.

and i THINK that makes the entire magical mountain crew, for the entirety of the school rescue association!

[smilocity]

His Goddess - Rodolfo Parra x VargasFemReader

Note: This is from my old account! (I will be reuploading them all to this account!) WARNING! This is my first time writing about military action, and war with battlegrounds/warfare. So bear with me...

Parring= Rodolfo Parra x VargasFem!reader

Genre= Fluff! Romance♡

Additional stuff to warn about= Guns, wounds, swears(mostly in Spanish), warfare, military action, etc.

And to add, I am not Mexican so I'm gonna have to use some poor translator for some sentences i'll be writing in the fic. (Apologies to all the Spanish speakers out there....)

_________________________________________

You are Alejandro Vargas' younger sister by 4 years, and by what Las Almas sees, you're like his little princess he doesn't want to see sad nor hurt. Hell, even his men are scared of your brother. Once, a new recruit for the Los Vaqueros thought you were a good choice to flirt with...Let's just say he was bedridden for about 4 days...

You met Rudy at the same time you joined the Los Vaqueros so you both clicked and just sailed away happily. Alejandro was relieved of you being quite attached to someone like Rudy as he is the only man he completely trusts aside from you and even called him his brother in all but blood.

Your occupation is being a combat medic and head of the medical department of the Los Vaqueros.

"Hermana. (Sister.) Rudy and I with some of our men are meeting up with Sergeant Mactavish and their Lieutenant of TF 141 to help for the El Si Nombre and Hassan problema." Your brother arrived in your office as you just finished taking care of 10 patients and their paperwork.

"¿Ah, de verdad? (Oh, really?) Interesante(interesting), Alejandro. But you do know the problem in Las Almas is bigger for only four soldiers, hm?" You reclined in your chair.

The leader of the Los Vaqueros only smirked, "You underestimate my allies, flor(flower). Rudy will be driving if you want to come along." Your brother left before you could even get a say in making you huff.

~~~

Rudy was already in the black van ready to go as he saw his superior and his sister.

Seeing you just made Rudy's day or even week, "No me digas. (Don't tell me.) ¿Te animó a unirte?" (He egged you on to join?)

"Mhm. Used you to bribe me. Puta. (Bitch)" you mumbled making both males chuckle.

"Ah, Rudy? ¿Estás bien para moverte? (Are you okay to move?) You took quite a beating when chasing Hassan a few days earlier. Estoy preocupada. (I'm worried.)" You gave the second in command a soft look making him smile delicately towards you.

"I'm fine, Angel. (That's your codename btw!) I've been through worse."

"Ahora, ahora tortolitos. Tendrás tiempo para coquetear más tarde." (Now, now lovebirds. You'll have time to flirt later.)

Both you and Rudy only slightly eye rolled at Alejandro's teasing and started to head to the meet up spot for the new allies.

When arriving, you were cut short with some problems since some new recruits caught themselves in strife, "Doc, dos cadetes se lesionaron durante una sesión De entrenamiento." (two cadets were injured during a training session.) Spoke up a Los Vaqueros when you arrived to the base making you sigh sharply, "Oh Dios mío...(Oh my god...) Looks like I'm held back again."

Alejandro and Rudy nodded, "We'll meet the Sergeant and Lieutenant for you, hermana. (sister)

Before leaving, you and Rudy did a secret handshake (It was basically you both giving each other a high-five from side to side then you guys doing a cross over your chests before doing a fist bump.)

"See you soon!" You bid goodbye to Rodolfo as you gave a nod to Alejandro.

"Nos vemos Ángel. (See you Angel.)" Smiled Rudy before getting a pat on the shoulder by his colonel as they left.

~~~

To cut it short, the Vaqueros(as) with the addition of Srg Mactavish and Lt Ghost haven't found El Sin Nombre making you get ticked off but radio to your brother that you will find him yourself if you have to.

"(Y/N) is it?"

You heard your radio working making you pause but answer, "Yes. Who is this?"

"Kate Laswell at your service ma'am. I heard you're the 3rd in command of the Vaqueros with Alejandro. I'm here to help you find El Sin Nombre. I'm with TF 141 consisting of Sergeant-" You cut her off,

"Mactavish and Lieutenant Ghost. I have heard quite a lot beforehand." You heard a hum for an answer.

"I have now understood that. I just sent you some information I have gathered from the boys on their recent search of El Sin Nombre. If you can, I'd love to see if you can find this person with my help."

You smirked, "Of course. Let's get to work Laswell."

After doing some digging with Kate, you both found out the Cartel had a house for a base in the far part of Las Almas.

"Thanks for the help Vargas."

"No problem Kate. I'll tell the boys and we'll be off with your orders." You said to her as you got the papers you used for information while talking with your radio.

"See you soon." That was the last message you've heard of her before the mission.

While getting out all the Vaqueros bowed to you in respect as you walked towards the part of the base where your brother is. (It was made mandatory they had to since Alejandro wants everyone to respect you like they respect him.)

Of course they were outside so they could be quickly briefed for the mission.

"Didn't know the Mexican Special Forces had a beautiful lady like you walking around." Said an unfamiliar person as you turned to see a soldier with short blonde locs and a smirk on his face.

'He's American...Must be with the Sergeant and Lieutenant.' You thought.

"There are many things you don't know about Las Almas." You replied ignoring the whole him hitting on you bit.

"Well then, let me at least get to know you better." Urged the man as he walked closer to you.

"¡Esa es mi hermana idiota!" (That's my sister dipshit!)

You both turned to see Alejandro speed power walking to get to you and the soldier.

"Detente ahora, Vargas. No lo sabía, eso es todo." (Basta ahora, Vargas. Él no lo sabía, eso es todo.) You held a hand to the colonel's chest to stop him from hurting the oblivious guy.

"What now?" As you said before, the blonde male was confused as hell since you both spoke Spanish and not English.

"Please excuse the Colonel. He gets...protective of me. Ale. Move." You apologized on behalf of your brother before ordering him to get a move on so you can be introduced to the rest of the men, the said Colonel moved on your order.

"Whoa! I didn't know there was someone who can order Alejandro around like that." Said a surprisingly Scottish voice near Rodolfo and Lieutenant Ghost.

"She's the only one who can." Added Rudy as he smiled when you approached them.

"Men, meet the head of the medical department in the Mexican Special Forces. (Y/N). Codename: Angel." Introduced Alejandro as you smiled and nodded to the men.

"It is nice to meet you all. I was supposed to meet you beforehand when you landed but some idiotas(idiots) decided to hurt themselves while training." You joked as you shook the Scottish male's hand.

"Sergeant John Mactavish. Nice to meet you. Call me Soap." Smiled the man, as you nodded.

"Ghost." Simply replied the Lieutenant making you nod.

"Philip Graves. Head of the Shadow Company. At your service ma'am." The man that talked to you before smiled at you. Alejandro gives a short glare, making you do the same to him, making him stop.

"Alejandro." You warned.

"Sí, sí flor. (Yes, yes flower.) Got information for us?" Asked the Colonel as you nodded.

"Yes. I have acquainted myself with Laswell and talked about your next move. Y deja de burlarte del coronel, sé profesional.” (And stop teasing Colonel, be professional.) You nodded.

"By all means, please do tell." Urged Graves.

"There's a small selected house in the outskirts of Las Almas. We figured they(Cartel) could be there. And I think possibly, El Sin Nombre." You told the males as you showed them a picture of the house and the address.

"So we just go there and tackle the guy or whoever El Sin Nombre is?" Summed up Soap as you nodded.

"Bingo. All the vehicles and weapons are at your disposal. The only thing we need for this mission is you and El Sin Nombre back. And as head of the medical department, I want you all to be unharmed during this mission if you can." You finished.

"We'll do our best. Let's move! Volveré.” (I'll be back.) Alejandro kissed the side of your head as you smiled, "Vuelve pronto.” (Be back soon.)

"Rudy. Permanezca en (S/N) y en espera.” (Stay with (Y/N) and standby.) Alejandro ordered his second in command.

Rudy gave his leader a nod, " Si Colonel." (Sí, coronel.)

You scoffed, "I don't need protection."

As soon as the men left Rudy started to silently cackle, "Say that again when you were cornered by three big men ready to tackle you down if Alejandro wasn't there to save you."

"Rudy! ¡Cállate! (Shush!)" You hit the man on his back as he only laughed more.

"Eres tan lindo cuando estás loco, Ángel.” (You are so cute when you’re mad, Angel.) The man before you held your hand as you had to register what he had said, making you turn away.

"Estúpido... decir cosas así sin darme una advertencia adecuada…" (Stupid...saying stuff like that without giving me a proper warning...)

"I'm glad to be called stupid by you. Come on, why don't we hang out for a bit, hm? That is...if you'd like to spend time with all your papers instead of me." Suggested Rodoflo making you laugh at how dramatic he is.

"Don't worry, Para. I'm all yours for the rest of the day."

You didn't know that the man was flustered by your statement before he started jogging to catch up to you.

~~~

"WHERE IS HE?" You yelled as some masked men decided it was a good idea to invade your base.

"Angel! We gotta go! They're here to arrest us!" Rudy grabbed your hand and led you to a secret pathway out of the base before you'd be detained/arrested by the mysterious masked men.

"Rudy! ¿¡Qué está pasando!? ¿Quiénes eran esos tipos y dónde está mi hermano?!” (What's going on!? Who were those guys and where is my brother?!) The moment you enter a small black SUV is when you bomb the second in command with questions.

"Graves se volvió y acogió a Alejandro. Lo recuperaremos.” (Graves turned and took Alejandro in. We're getting him back.) Responded Rudy as he drove to the safe house.

"That pendejo(dumbass)! I'll sever him up when I find his body if he did something to my brother! Let's go and break him out." You said as you got a few guns and put on some tactical gear.

But before you can continue on suiting up Rudy held your shoulders, "I can't let you go, Angel. Not when Alejandro told me to keep you safe."

"Rudy. I joined at the same time with you and Ale. I've been a soldier before being a doctor. I know how to use a gun." You reminded me.

"Sé que no eres débil, amor. Pero no puedo soportar que te lastimen ahí fuera. Déjame traerlo de vuelta.” (I know you're not weak, love. But I can't bear you to get hurt out there. Let me bring him back.)

You knew Rudy wasn't going to let you go but you still want to protest, "But Rudy...Alejandro is–"

You were cut off by some soft warm lips on your own for a few moments before they were pulled away.

"Por favor(Please), Angel." He looked in your eyes with a pleading look making you sigh and nod.

"One injury and I'm going to find that American myself if he hurts you." You warned making him smile.

"I'll keep that in mind. See you." He nodded as you both did your handshake.

"See you, Rudes."

~~~

While Rodolfo went to check the perimeter you went to the small medical area of the safe house before you heard a noise outside. You radioed to your ally immediately.

"Rudy? Alguien está afuera." (Someone 's outside.)

"Quédate quieto. Estoy atrás dirigiéndome al área principal de la casa. Quédate en las sombras."  (Stay put. I'm in the back heading to the main area of the house. Stay in the shadows.)

"Rog."

It was quiet for a few moments making you grab a pistol and a few throwing knives before using the shadows as an advantage.

You stopped dead in your tracks when you heard someone get in from the window making you hide behind a large wooden pole.

A red laser appeared on the man's shoulder, "Don't move." A deep voice was heard throughout the house before a knife was heard hitting the wooden pole.

"¿Quién es?" (Who is it?)

You didn't wait for Rudy to get a reply as you threw a warning knife back at the men as it hit the window near them, "Cac naomh...!" (Holy shit...!) Lowly exclaimed a Scottish voice making you remember on the men you've met before at the base.

"Rodolfo!"

"Soap! Ghost!"

Rudy got out of his hiding spot as you stayed put in the shadows.

"Nice throw." Rodolfo gave back the knife to the Lieutenant.

"What about the other one? Who threw it?" Asked the masked soldier.

"Ángel. Está bien. Si estás cerca, puedes salir ahora." (Angel. It 's okay. If you're near, you can come out now.)

"Podrías haberme dicho que tendríamos invitados, Rudy." (You could've told me we'd have guests, Rudy.) You appeared from the shadows making the Scottish soldier curse under his breath.

"That was you wasn't it?" Asked the masked soldier as you nodded.

"Forgive me about that. I didn't know it was you." You apologized before thanking Soap for giving your knife back.

"That was a good one. Almost had me there." Praised the Scottish man as you smiled, "Ale always wanted me to be prepared for every situation. I was a soldier before being a doctor."

"Speaking of that. You two were on the run?" Asked Rudy.

"Yeah."

"But I was on the run. Ghost waited for me." Clarified Soap.

"Of course no?" You asked.

"No–"

"Yes. This happened on my watch. And I need help to fix it. We're a team. No one fights alone." Cut off Ghost as Soap nodded.

"Why did Graves turn?" Rudy asked the bombing question.

"We don't know. But no can be trusted out there. Price, Shepherd, Laswell, and all others are considered hostiles." Answered Ghost.

"Except for–" you cut off the Scottish soldier, "Alejandro. He was taken, no?"

"Yes. And we're getting him back." Responded Ghost.

Rudy then led the group to a table and explained where your brother was being held.

They quickly got into gear to get the Colonel back.

"I'll stand by and head towards our other base. It isn't completely safe here." You told the men making them agree.

"Be safe, Doc." Nodded Soap as you gave a nod as well.

"Nice throw back there." The Lieutenant praised you, making you smile, "You as well."

Rudy held your head before giving you a silent message with his eyes, "Volveré contigo." (I will come back to you.)

"You better, Tonto.” (Dumbass) You whispered back before doing your handshake.

(While heading to the prison.)

Soap was a bit curious about the relationship you and Rudy had, "Rodolfo. What kind of relationship are you in with the doc?"

"Àngel's been with me and Alejandro since we've joined. 20 years to be exact. Toughest woman I've met in my life. Same goes to Alejandro. We swore to protect her as she's saved our lives so many times. That's why the Colonel always tells me to keep close to her, to keep her safe." Answered the second in command.

"Hm. Seems like you've done a good job."

"Thanks."

"Feels like you two are closer than friends." Jumped in Ghost.

"We are. It's a bit classified." Responded Rudy.

"Classified, eh? Don't think Alejandro would like that." Joked Soap.

"Hm. He didn't at the beginning." Lowly chuckled the Mexican before he changed the subject and went to their task.

(After getting Alejandro out.)

"What about my sister Rudy? Is she..." started the Colonel as he was handed a rifle.

"She's fine, Colonel. She went to a more secure base. That's where we're going too." Nodded Rudy.

"Good. Let's get my men out." Stated Alejandro.

"Wait a second...You have a sister Alejandro?!" Said a bit too loudly Soap as they continued to move forward in the prison.

"Be more quiet Soap. We're in bloody enemy territory." Scolded Ghost.

"Sí (Yes). I kept it a secret to protect her. She wanted to join me and Rudy to look after us. I trust you and Ghost so I'm telling you this now."

"Thank you for trusting us. Won't tell a soul." Thanked John.

"Of course."

~~~

You were ordering around some Vaqueros to prepare for the fight that Alejandro would like to have ASAP since Graves turned.

"¡Escucha ahora! (Listen now!)" Whistled the Colonel to his men as you ran up to him.

"¡Gracias a Dios...! (Thank goodness...!) Are you okay?" You asked as you examined your brother's face as he only smiled.

"I'm fine hermana. (Sister.) Glad you're safe too." Alejandro kissed your forehead making you smile before you two held each other's hands as a greeting.

"No way I'm leaving you and Rudy alone." You joked as you saw Rudy making you hug him.

"Estoy de vuelta como le prometí a mi amor." (I'm back as promised my love.)

"Me alegro de que hayas vuelto." (Glad you're back.)

"I'm confused here right now." Said Soap as you smiled at him and Ghost.

"Captain, Sergeant Garrick. This is my sister, (Y/N) Vargas. The head of the medical department of Los Vaqueros." Introduced your brother as you nodded to the new sergeant and the captain who was beside him.

"Delighted to meet you Miss Vargas. Captain Price of TF 141." Captain Price nodded towards you and even took off his hat in much more proper greeting.

The new sergeant beside him nodded as well, "Same here."

"Nice to meet you Captain, Sergeant." You greeted back.

"Wait! You're the sister!? This whole time?!" Yelled Soap making you grin.

"You just caught on to that Johnny?" Asked the masked soldier.

"I thought it was obvious by how affectionate he is. But yes, he is my blood brother." You responded.

"So then, what's your relationship with Rodolfo?" Asked Soap.

"Ella es mi ángel. (She's my angel.) My wife of 6 years." Answered the second in command as he held your left hand.

"What?! I only thought you two were close friends!" To TOTALLY clarify, Soap did NOT see that coming. He honestly thought you were dating Alejandro by how close you two are. And thought you were the sister of Rudy. While trying to figure out who could be the Colonel’s sister.

"We get that a lot. Some actually thought I was my own brother's wife a few times before Rudy made it public to the person who asked. Al menos podrías haber aclarado lo de la hermana, idiota. (You could've at least clarified the sister thing idiot.)" You laughed a bit as you explained the misinformation before scolding your husband.

"Alejandro told me to keep it secret, querida." (darling)

"Oi! Lovebirds! Let's move. We got an American to finish." Said your brother as you gave him a small playful glare before following him and the team to the table.

Captain Price was the one to talk about the plan as they all grabbed skeleton masks naming themselves to be the "Ghost Team."

You almost did a double take when Ghost took off his own mask to the team as Price welcomed him back, "Good to see you, Simon."

Since you and Rudy were near Gaz and Soap you whispered to the Scottish soldier, "Better engrave that in your head before you forget Sergeant."

He huffed meaning he found it funny making you do a small grin before the men went to all put masks on.

"Okay, the first team is Alejandro, Sergeant Garrick with some Vaqueros to secure Valeria and possibly our base again. Alejandro will be leading since he knows the base well. The next team consists of Rudy, Ghost, Soap with Vaqueros. Ghost will be leading the team. The third team will be Price in a helicopter to assist in the air with a pilot. Laswell had already got the coordinates to where you will be dropped off at the base. Any objections?" You explained as you showed your tablet and the teams.

None of the men said anything making you learn they understood and have no complaints.

"Nice one, Doc. Let's move." Praised the captain making you smile, "Delighted to be of help captain."

Soap and you did a small high five as you gave a nod to Ghost and Gaz.

"Be safe." You said as you hugged your brother.

"Always. You too!" He said as he joined Gaz and the Vaqueros on his team.

Rudy gave you a loving look, "Te amo.” (I love you.)

You smiled before putting his forehead on yours, "Yo también te amo a ti, mi marido. (I love you as well my husband.) Esté a salvo y regrese conmigo.” (Be safe and come back to me.)

"haría cualquier cosa que estuviera en mi poder para volver con mi esposa. Nos vemos pronto, Ángel." (I'd do anything in my power to come back to my wife. See you soon, angel.)

"You're so romantic. Go." You chuckled as he squeezed your hand before leaving, "You know it!" You heard him say, making you laugh.

~~~

It was a few hours and there were already so many Vaqueros that got injured while giving Graves some payback as you already had to operate on 12 men and women.

It was a rush but none had suffered any severe injuries, just some deep gashes, big cuts and strained limbs. With a few who got a hit on the side of some bullets but at least no surgery this time!

While you started on the paperwork one of your nurses appeared to tell you some news, "Doc. El Coronel y el segundo al mando están de regreso con sus equipos. Te están esperando afuera." (The Colonel and second in command are back with their teams. They're waiting for you outside.)

"Finalmente. (Finally.) Gracias. (Thank you.) Estás a cargo hasta que yo regrese.” (You're in charge till I get back.)

"Sí, Doc.” (Yes, Doc.)

You walked outside making the men turn to you as Alejandro was first to greet you, "Hope you weren't busy, flor (flower)."

"Not really. Except for the numerous patients I had to stabilize with a small needle and be covered in blood while patching up wounds. Graves is gone...?"

Soap nodded, "Blew him up to smitherins." You nodded as you did a fist bump to the Scottish man.

"Valeria will stay in our custody until further notice. My sister will interrogate her more if  she hides more information from us." Alejandro spoke up.

"Valeria, huh? Seems like she was trying to keep the war and terrorism intact for her business with the Cartel. Not surprised at her being El Sin Nombre." You hummed as the said woman was seen getting into the black SUV.

"So the golden child appears at last. ¿Cómo estás? Espero que Alejandro no te haya ocultado mucho sobre nosotros.” (How are you? Hope Alejandro hasn't hid that much from you about us.) Smirked the ex female soldier towards you.

"I got this." You stopped your brother from roasting the bitch in front of you, "¡Será mejor que mires lo que dices, perra! Los usaré contra ti.” (You better watch what you say, bitch! I'll be using them against you.) You swore to her in Spanish before signaling the men to take her away already.

"Steamin' fuckin' Jesus...You're wife is something Rodolfo." Said Soap to your husband as the man smiled, "She is. Now you know why I married her."

"She's still my Angel Rudy. She's my sister. Well it looks like this is it, eh?" Retorted playfully to the Colonel before smiling towards Ghost and Soap.

"Guess it is. Keep fighting the good fight, hermano.” (Brother) Soap and Alejandro shook each other's hands while patting each other's shoulders.

"To the bitter end my brother."

"Good luck amigos.” (Friends) Rudy then shook Soap's hand right after.

"It was nice meeting you, (Y/N). Hope to see you soon." Smiled the sergeant to you as you both did a small fist bump, "Of course. Same here Soap. Esté seguro ahí fuera." (Be safe out there.)

"Si hermana." (Yes sister.) You smiled when he talked in Spanish with his accent as he then patted Ghost on the shoulder so they could head out in the chopper waiting for them.

"Keep your throws well." Simply said Ghost towards you as you nodded, "You too."

"Oi Ghost!" Your brother stopped the Lieutenant, "No te pierdas, hermano.” (Don't get lost, brother.)

"A huevo!"(Of course!) He yelled with a fist in the air before turning back to the chopper.

Alejandro chuckled at that as you saw them leave.

"You made them learn Spanish, didn't you?" You asked.

"Hey, the more the merrier, no?" Laughed your brother, "Vamos. (Come on.) We get the afternoon for ourselves if we get the puta (bitch) locked away in time."

"Rudy? I almost forgot. Glad you're back, mi corazón.” (My heart.) You kissed his lips briefly before patting his chest a few times.

"Hey. I told you I'd do anything in my power to come back to you. Come on, let's go before your brother teases us again." Chuckled your husband as he opened the door of the van for you.

"Too late! Move, you two! Or else I'll make you!" Yelled the Colonel making you and Rudy laugh as you both entered the van.

"Wanna go on a date later on? It's been a while." Asked Rudy.

"I'd love that." You smiled.

"Oi. What did I say about being cariñoso(lovey dovey/loving) while on duty?" Teased Alejandro.

"Nothing, Ale. This is the first time you've spoken of that ever since me and Rudy got married, pendejo. (Stupid/dumbass, etc)" You retorted as you all laughed and headed to the place where Valeria will be locked up.

(Bonus! Here's you taking care of Rudy after he met Hassan. Note: he was shot with adrenaline during the process of the bullet extraction.)

You shot Rudy with adrenaline so the process of extracting the bullet will be less painful.

"Eres tan bueno conmigo.” He murmured to you, eyes blown from the adrenaline. (You're so good to me.) 

“Te amo mucho.” (I love you so much.) Your husband told you as you did your work on his injury. “Eres un verdadero Ángel que los dioses me han regalado. (You're a true Angel that the gods have gifted me.) Eres una doctora y una esposa increíbles." (You are an amazing doctor and wife.) Rudy babbled on and on. It lasted at least 5 five minutes.

You had to force yourself from not smiling from ear to ear at the compliments your husband has given you but also found it funny since it was due to the effects of the syringe mostly but he's still behind those words.

"Cállate ahora, amor. Déjame ayudarte. Ahorra el aliento." (Hush now, love. Let me help you. Save your breath.) You whispered to the man you're operating before giving a small face rub to assure him you're still there beside him.

But your hand that held his cheek was trapped by the arm that wasn't shot, You could see the love and adoration in his eyes.

"¿Cómo tuve tanta suerte?" (How did I get so lucky?)

That made your heart jump at how adorable he looked. (He'd kill you if you said it out loud.)

"I should be saying that. Now lie back down and rest up, the syringe won't last long and I'm only almost done." You gently put him down so his bruised rib and other injuries you've treated wouldn't get irritated.

"Please say yes if I ask you to have a family with me in the future. I want to spend eternity with you, amor. Eres una diosa para mí. (You're a goddess to me.) Let me worship you."

You were so glad that your medical room was slightly dim lighted so your husband wouldn't see your taken aback face. But you were regardless, happy he had life goals set already.

"Rudy...I'd love that. All of it, but please. Save your strength. And I'm no goddess, just a doctor, Mr. Parra." You finally got the bullet out of his arm and now it was time to stitch him up. You had to use another syringe since the last one was getting weaker.

"Tonterías. (Nonsense) You are one."

"Rudy..." You warned him, but you just wanted him to rest instead of forcing himself to assure you he'd be fine or him spouting his praise towards his wife.

"Sólo que decir mi nombre me hace feliz. Esa es una verdadera diosa para mí."(Just you saying my name makes me happy. That's a true goddess to me.)

"You are such a hopeless romantic."

"Only for you, armor. Only for you."

[samueldays]

Sam Reviews: Phoenix Point, part 1

Phoenix Point is down to ten bucks on GOG, DLC included!

I bought it, figuring even a half-decent XCOM clone is worth it for ten bucks. So far it feels like a $10 game indeed. I'm probably not going to finish it before the sale ends, I have a job, so here's my initial impressions for those interested and I'll come back with part 2 later.

Tutorial missions, fine. First regular mission against crab monsters, fine. Second regular mission pits me against gun-happy human bandits, and I am unpleasantly surprised that they return fire whenever they're shot at, getting 4 counter-attacks in a turn if 4 people shoot at them, they even "return fire" upon having a grenade thrown at them.

Solution: run up and bash them in the head with the butt of a gun repeatedly, they don't get to return fire from that. I grumbled about that, and the game feels like 'that' repeatedly.

I didn't like the puzzle boss nature of infinite return fire. One return fire per turn would have been cool, and enabled tactical counterplay options. Unlimited return fire breaks the action economy, breaks my immersion for the game abstraction of "action points", and makes me feel this is going to be a game about cheesing AP limits and ruleslawyer combos. Also, the infinite return fire ability was on multiple nameless minions in that mission, not even reserved for a boss. Bash bash bash bash!

I didn't like the lack of game hints in this context. I had Hints turned on for a first run at low difficulty. The Hints make suggestions for what to research, how game mechanics work, and provide informative popups the first time a new strain of crab monster appears. But there was no Hint popup about the first encounter with an enemy having the Return Fire ability, no tooltip on mouseover of enemy, nor was there any indication of what actions trigger Return Fire, despite this being significantly more impactful than "this crab monster regenerates".

I didn't like the solution, which felt like a rules loophole rather than a sensible way to approach rapid-firing enemies. Oh yeah here's a guy who can interrupt your turn to shoot multiple times per turn, you should all walk up to him and punch him and he'll politely submit to the beatings.

I really didn't like that compared to recent XCOM games, Phoenix Point added a micromanagement tracker for Weapon Durability, and bashing the return-fire-goons in the head damages your weapon! Also they brought back ammo management, so now your weapon has two stats that can run out during combat.

But I also recognize that these things aren't bugs or crashes or typos or other objectively wrong things about the game, they're design decisions that I disagree with. The game runs fine. I have a series of grumbles and no dealbreakers.

Moving on from the Return Fire-associated crap...

This is an XCOM-genre game, definitely. It has base building, squad management, research and production, capturing crab monsters for research, psychic mind control, a strategic "Geoscape" layer and numerous tactical battle missions. The one thing that's oddly missing is gear upgrades. New gear is mostly sidegrades and tactical options, on the other hand it offers far stronger character upgrades than in most XCOM games, to the point of looking partly like a CRPG with classes, levels and skill points.

The Geoscape has more content than the waiting game that was some previous xcoms. There are other factions moving on the map, there's some trade and diplomacy with them, there are unknown sites to explore, you reactivate old bases instead of building them from scratch. Sometimes this means clearing them of crab monsters.

The Phoenix Point interface inherits a lot of XCOM 2's cutscenery that I dislike. It is very beautiful, very zoomed in, and wants to make sure you see it. There's frequent waiting to watch stuff resolve, and the game insists on having the camera follow unimportant actions like the run animation of every soldier's every move, and locking the interface during this. Move orders (particularly out of sight of enemies) should not hog control, I should be able to tab to the next soldier and begin giving a new move order immediately after the previous! Each individual animation is short, but multiply it by several soldiers, on each of several turns, on each of several missions, and my frustration at an unresponsive interface accumulates.

The zoom-out is limited. Soldiers will frequently be so far away from each other that I can't see them on the same screen, and have to pan back and forth. Bleh.

The gun system is quite detailed with damage types, damage values, accuracy modifiers, weapon ranges, armor, armor-shredding weapons, body part targeting and hit location, disabled limbs, bleeding, cover, et cetera. The game then offers options to skip a lot of this gunnery where enemies get to resist, and instead go for special abilities that Just Work, like War Cry:

AOE, autohit, no save, renders most enemies unable to attack for a turn.

About that limbs stuff, Phoenix Point has tried hard to make hit locations relevant. Crab monsters have game-relevant organs and limbs that can be disabled for far less damage than it takes to kill the whole monster. It's neat, but feels a little underwhelming. I don't blame the devs much for this, balance is hard when there's hefty player optionality plus RNG, and there's a fine line between making targeting relevant and making a monster the Shootmeinthegland monster where shooting it in the gland simply becomes the new default target instead of shooting it in the head/center mass.

Guns are weak, and armor is powerful as part of making limb targeting relevant. Also, armor-shredding weapons. This feels related to the CRPG class-and-level stuff: with the smaller squad and the more personalized characters and the more important individuals, the game has to give more leeway for characters to survive being hit to avoid player frustration. We've moved a long way from X-COM:UFO where casualties were routine and replacements were cheap.

I don't know if it's good or bad that the game plays "fair" about the least relevant nameless NPCs being similarly padded, but I know one of my mutuals will hate this combination of health padding and detailed targeting:

I have caught this thief at close range (2 tiles). I am about to launch a six-round burst from my character's assault rifle into his head. The targeting reticle, the highlighted yellow outline, and the info popup all agree that these bullets will go into his head if I fire here and now. The segmented bar at the top indicates that the result of close-range burst fire to the head through the front of the face is that the thief will lose about half his hitpoints.

To underscore that I've gotten a head hit, not a glancing blow off the helmet, the game displays the thief with a bloody face and blood-splattered clothes after the shot. But he lives. Somehow.

There's also a plot to Phoenix Point. I don't play xcoms for the plot, but there's definitely been some work on the plot beyond "kill and loot aliums :)". After the second world war, blah blah secret organization, moonbase, something something precursor civilization. It looks like good lore, I'll re-read the accumulated notes when I have more notes and fewer darkly hinting clue-scraps bereft of context.

(update: part 2)

[mixelation]

reborn au stuff: oto musings

i'm considering what sorts of things happen in oto & tori and orochimaru's relationship

tori's goal is to get into a lab and get her hands on fuinjutsu resources. i'm not going to let her have perfect recall for her techniques, and she needs them for researching chakra.

i think her getting to her goal is a lot of her going to orochimaru and saying things like: well if a summons can use chakra, why can't i use animal chakra? and then he gives her free reign of some supplies/ a space and is like "alright, why don't you run the experiment, then" fully expecting her to fail. except tori KNOWS this game so the first few times she asks questions she already knows the answer to. orochimaru wants to push her to her limits and see where she fails, and tori is not ever going to show him her limits

so she eventually gets full lab access and she gets a lot of one-on-one time with him. he does like having a little science student to mentor. she is one of his favorite.

but thinking about the oto characters we know orochimaru favored or liked, he uh. he DEFINITELY mostly likes people with high combat prowess. so at some point, i think tori will run into a problem where she is like, "Well, no, I just want to know about chakra for the sake of knowing about it. I don't really care about how to use it to kill people."

And Orochimaru very much does care about using jutsu to kill people. He's a scientist but he's also a ninja. Obviously you should want to know about chakra so you can make more jutsu. He's disappointed Tori is not naturally good at combat, and he's even more disappointed that she's unmotivated to get better.

i'm imagining tori finally being like: "fine, i'll show him i'm just as deadly kimimaro (fuck you, kimimaro)" and she goes out and finds some random ninja and traps them in a barrier.

the random ninja is from one f the major villages, who are still traipsing through Oto even as the war is basically just minor scuffles now. ideally it would be a canon character. i was debating someone like genma or hayate.

tori does not break a sweat trapping this random ninja. she is very small and civilian-coded and wily. also they cannot get out because even if she hits like an academy student, she is a fuinjutsu master.

and then i can't decide if she drags them off to orochimaru, kills them, or frets over it for hours and then lets them go. the first one fits into tori's characterization of "increasingly does horrifying shit for petty reasons" and has the narrative payoff of maybe some sort of Consequence down the line depending on the character. the last one leans more into Tori setting herself apart as not a low-budget Orochimaru and someone who might do horrifying things but ultimately doesn't enjoy hurting people, and has the narrative pay off "could be really funny later"

genma: oh..... that girl

genma: no, i don't like her. she's creepy af and she scares me

tori: (is literally 12 and a genin and can't even tree walk properly)

so rn i'm leaning towards the latter. we can of course let tori keep whoever for hours in a horrible cramped space and monologue at them. as a little treat

also i guess she goes back to oto and is like "guess i'm simply morally better than everyone else (SHRUG EMOJI)" after torturing some random guy for no reason all day

[tangledinink]

Chapter Twenty-Four of I'm Sorry, Teenage Mutant What Now? is now up! The Hamato Clan advances forward in their new mission, and their second-ever outting goes... differently than the first, at least? Read it on ao3 or below the cut!

[ prev ]

Don’t worry, Dad, he had said. I’ve got this.

I can handle it, he had said. I know how to lead a team! He had said. I’ll look out for them, he had said.

He had said, nooo, Dad, really. You hang back slightly; that way if anything happens, you can swoop in and help us. It makes more sense to keep you in the back pocket. Let us try taking the lead, we need the practice…

And damn, was Mind Raph pissed at him now. What the hell was Past Raph thinking?! Why did he think this was a good idea?! Because now here they were, him and his sister and three little brothers, sneaking into a goddamn Macy’s, of all places, and he had no idea why he thought coming in here without their dad was a good idea.

I mean, they hadn’t. Dad was here-- he wasn’t even far away! He could be here in about ninety seconds if he wanted to, Raph was pretty sure. He was posted up just inside the entrance of the department store, all hooked up so he could hear them through the radios Donnie had programmed and could receive images and video; perfectly capable of directing them all and ready to leap in at any moment should anything go wrong. 

But still! You try explaining that to Mind Raph. ‘Cause Mind Raph was losin’ his damn marbles right now all up in his head, and it was starting to get on his nerves.

It’s fine. We’ve got this! Nothin’ has even happened yet-- we just gotta find the armor piece. That’s all. In and out, easy peasy. This is low stakes! There are no employees, this place has been shut down for renovations for months now, it ain’t on anyone’s radar, and you’ve been trainin’ for this…

Which was true. Only a week and a half had passed since their original trip to the Foot Shack, but they had meant it when they said that they were Hamatos, too, and that they wanted to help-- and they had put in the hours. They had to push Dad a little bit, to convince him they were actually for-real serious and they weren’t gonna back out or change their minds, but once they got that through his head, he had started to teach them for real.

They got up before the sun now, all rising bright and early to meet their father and receive his lessons. Mikey had been meditating for some time now with their Dad, but now they all did, each and every day, in the mornings and before bed, attempting to draw out their ninpo once more. They had long studied martial arts under their father’s tutelage, but now they did drills each and every day, sparring with him and each other, sharpening what they already knew and rapidly adding new tools and maneuvers to their arsenal. What their father knew (and was willing to share,) about the Hamato Clan and their ways, he taught to them. Their ‘ninja’ lessons, mostly from childhood, mostly taught simply as a game and for the fun of it, were now genuine. They weren’t just learning how to sneak anymore-- they were learning to evade an enemy, to move silently to avoid detection and spare themselves from combat. They weren’t learning to hide, they were learning to blend in with their surroundings, to become invisible, to cover themselves in an enemy’s blind spot and wait for the perfect moment to strike. 

All of a sudden, nothing that they were being taught was for the sake of fun or games or mischief. They were survival skills. They were imparted upon them not only as a legacy, a piece of a long, sacred tradition for them to carry onwards, but as a prayer for safety; a means to keep themselves alive in the face of danger. A path back home from every mission.

And Raph had known all this for a while now, had been aware of it, at least. He knew the severity of the situation, and he was willing to make sacrifices for it. Not just for the ‘world,’ or whatever, or their clan, but for their family. And okay fine, he did, admittedly, miss the precious little free time they had once had, and he did quietly mourn the hobbies that they had to put aside for the time being in order to dedicate themselves to this instead... But it was temporary, and it was worth it. 

He knew all that. But it hadn’t felt real until earlier this evening.

“Boys!” their father had called, not more than an hour or two ago, his voice echoing from the top of the stairs to the Lair where they had all been gathered, trying to get in as much last-minute practice as they could. “April! Come up here for a moment.”

And Raph had, admittedly, sulked a bit, because they had been sparring and he was right in the middle of kicking Leo’s ass, but they did it anyway. In fact, he had snipped at his little brothers for grumbling about it, herding them and April all up the stairs and to their father’s room. 

And there were five bundles of clothing lined up on his bed; all carefully folded and tucked into neat, black squares, interrupted only by flashes of crimson red fabric. 

“... What’s this, Dad?” Raph had questioned, glancing over at their father, brows furrowed, and their dad had sort of cleared his throat, seeming almost embarrassed. 

“Ah. Well. I know it is a bit silly, but… This is-- these are the Hamato Clan’s colors,” he explained, slowly, carefully unfolding one of the bundles, spreading the Gi out on the bed for them to appreciate properly. “And this is the Hamato Clan’s symbol. Traditionally, this is what a ninja would wear on a mission of the clan,” he paused slightly, laughing weakly. “I never went on any official missions, so I never got one, but I thought… Well, firstly, if my children are going to be sneaking around the city like ninjas with me, they might as well look the part,” he reasoned, smiling the tiniest bit. “And… also. If anyone ever deserved to bear the mark of the Hamato Clan, then it is certainly you five.”

There was a beat of silence, and he had sort of rubbed the back of his neck.

“You don’t have to wear them if you don’t want to--”

Mikey had cut that thought off quickly, flinging himself at their Dad in a tearful hug, nearly knocking him over.

“I LOVE THEM!” He had wailed. “They’re so cool! We get ninja outfits!”

“I like the fabric. Is this silk?...” Donnie had observed, picking one up to run his fingers along.

“Wow, Yosh, I didn’t know you could sew!” April remarked, and Dad laughed.

“Who do you think made all those Halloween costumes?”

“The Hamato Clan’s colors are black and red?” Leo muttered softly to himself, shooting a glare in Raph’s direction. 

“I think it’s good,” Raph had teased in response. “I look good in black and red.” 

Leo had groaned, rolling his eyes, and Raph had joined Mikey and Dad in their embrace, wrapping his arms around both of them.

“It’s cool, Dad. Thanks,” he had said. “You didn’t have to make this for us.”

“Ah,” Dad had hummed, waving a hand slightly, as if to dismiss him. “Well. I wanted to, anyway.”

Even just thinking about it now, Raph smiled the tiniest bit, tightening his hand into a fist and feeling the crimson-red fabric wrapped around his palms. 

We’ve got this, he repeated inwardly, forcing himself to settle slightly. You’re a member of the Hamato Clan. And your family is counting on you. And you can handle this.

“Alright, Donnie,” he said, taking care to keep his voice low. “Which way is your track-a-ma-thingie sayin’ now?”

Donnie scoffed softly, rolling his eyes. “Okay, first of all, that is not what it’s called. Please treat my inventions with respect,” he muttered, flicking his goggles down over his face, his lips pursed into a pout. “Energy signals are strongest in the northeast direction,” he explained, pointing. “So if we head in this direction, we should eventually get close enough that we’ll be able to isolate and recover.”

“Uhm, is it just me, or are we literally playing hot-and-cold with Donnie’s weird glasses?” Leo muttered, jerking a thumb in his twin’s direction.

“This is an advanced geothermal location tool…!”

“Hey, look! Donnie’s tracking thingie got us this far!” Raph hissed. “And it’s the only lead we’ve got, so until it blows up in our faces, that’s what we’ll do.”

“Excuse me!?”

“Are we sure it actually works? No offense, Dee, but this is a super weird place for a mystic armor piece to be,” April observed, looking around. “I mean… we’re literally in a department store.”

“You’re all disowned as my siblings. All of you,” Donnie hissed.

“I didn’t say anything bad!” Mikey protested.

“Except for Angelo.”

“Hell yeah!”

“Also, yes, of course it works! I don’t know why there’s a mystic armor piece in a Macy’s, how would I know that? But if you want to go on a thematic trip to recover a mystic armor shard from beneath the beautiful ripples of a sacred waterfall or something, we’re going to have to catch a Greyhound, because we’re literally in the middle of New York City,” Donnie hissed. “Of course it’s in a Macy’s! We’re lucky it’s not in a 99-cent-pizza-slice-kiosk a block from Times Square!”

“Shhh!” Raph hissed, glaring at the group. “We’re ninjas, remember? Shut up! We’re on a stealth mission!”

“Ugh,” Leo huffed a bit, rolling his eyes. “Yeah, sure, but it’s not like anyone is gonna hear us! We’re literally the only ones here.”

Somewhere down the hall, off in the darkness of the building, Raph heard a clatter and an echo.

---

This was often Casey’s job. So she was used to it by now. It wasn’t especially exciting, but it was at least better than lookout duty, which was her other, more frequent assignment. (That, or lookout for the lookouts…)

Sweeping.

She really only got to do this if the team was smaller, and they were already confident that the mission would go smoothly and there weren’t any threats… And, honestly, sweeping was basically the same as lookout, just mobile and with slightly different timing. But she would take it!!! Anything was better than lookout duty. Besides, having the chance to play a role in the Foot Clan’s rise to power was a great honor, and the more she got to contribute, the better. 

Even if it did just mean that she entered the building first, stealthily did a few laps to make sure there was nothing dangerous, and then signaled everyone else to follow.

A part of her was proud of this. If she just looked at it on a surface level, she could puff out her chest and feel quite satisfied with the role she played; at being the frontlines, at being who they trusted to ensure the safety of both the mission and their leaders, to be the first line of defense.

(... The other part of her, though, the part of her that looked a little deeper, knew it was really mostly because she was unassuming and disposable. She held onto the pride anyway.)

Casey frowned as she moved through the store, peering around corners and around bends for any sign of life. She wasn’t so foolish as to let her guard down entirely, and she took care to keep her footsteps quiet and purposeful, sticking to the shadows just as she had been taught… But she had done this dozens of times now, and nothing ever happened save for that she got a chance to at least stretch her legs. And she supposed she was grateful for that, but…

Ugh! God, couldn’t she do something cool for once!? She simmered silently as she shuffled through the shadowy space, grinding her teeth quietly in her skull. She noted quietly to herself that she needed to stop doing that because she was starting to get headaches, but then kept doing it anyway. And she had perhaps allowed herself to be just the tiniest bit careless. Careless enough, at least, to accidentally swipe a small sign off a nearby jewelry counter. She resisted a groan of annoyance at her own clumsiness, grateful, at least, that no one else was around for her to embarrass herself in front of…

Or, so she had thought.

Cassandra froze at the hissed tone of hushed voices that filtered down through the hall, only moments later.

“What was that--”

“Shut up! What about stealth don’t you get--!?”

For a moment, Casey thought that she might have imagined the noise. She had never run into anyone on a sweep before-- not even once. The idea that she suddenly had was so shocking that she almost couldn’t process it. After about half a second of gaping, however, she came to her senses, gritting her teeth and giving a ferocious shake of her head to dismiss the thoughts.

Shape up, Recruit. This is your chance to be useful for once! She scolded. This was not the time to flounder or back down. This was her shot. Honestly, it was probably just some group of teenagers who had wandered in here on a dare or something, hoping to take some pictures so they could brag about it to their friends later… But that hardly mattered.

Any unknown or unauthorized presence was a threat to the mission. 

All you have to do is go investigate and scare them off. Simple. Easy. And then you’ll be able to say you actually did something on these missions, for once!

No problem, right? It should have been easy. Cassandra may still be a low-level grunt, much to her chagrin, but she was still a member of the Foot Clan. She was perfectly capable of moving swiftly and silently through the shadows. 

Not that she needed to.

Because they came to her.

She just barely had the time to tuck herself back behind the corner of the nearby jewelry counter by the time she realized they were approaching, shoving her back up against the glass and crouching down low. Apparently, they did, in fact, have the capability of moving quietly, despite their earlier displays.

“See anything?” A voice whispered, betraying them, and Casey couldn’t help but smirk a tiny bit to herself. Okay, maybe not that quiet.

“Shhh. Hang on. I know I heard something…”

Finally, Cassandra just barely built up the courage to shift, ever-so-slightly, in order to turn her head enough to peer out at the intruders. And in her mind, she was still fairly confident that it was just some kids looking for some kind of entertainment and adventure in the form of a misdemeanor. 

She was not expecting to see five figures donning the Hamato Clan colors, nor find their emblems stitched boldly onto each of their chests.

For a second, Casey froze, ice shooting through her veins. The Hamato Clan?! What were they doing here!? Were these the same kids she had spent all that time spying on before, or had they called in reinforcements? She narrowed her eyes, straining slightly to try to examine them in the darkness, and concluded that they did look ever-so-slightly familiar… She grit her teeth, her hand shifting slightly, wavering just the tiniest bit as it moved to the communication device on her belt.

As much as she hated to admit it… Five Hamato ninjas was not a challenge she was confident she could face down all on her own.

It wasn’t her place. 

She needed to alert the rest of the clan. If she didn’t, she would endanger the mission. Endanger everyone’s else’s safety.

This was her job-- literally her job. To go in first and weed out the danger and report back. 

She needed to report back.

So why was her hand hesitating like this…?

Her fingers shook slightly, wavering near the edge of the device, and her foot shifted ever-so-slightly beneath her in her hesitation.

“What was that?”

Hurriedly, she snapped her finger down against the button that she knew would signal the rest of the clan, still waiting outside, alerting them to the danger, and she leaped up to her feet-- gathering whatever scraps of the element of surprise she still had at her disposal and leaping at the nearest enemy.

“Oh shi--!” The Hamato, armed with a sword, just barely managed to dodge her attack, ducking down and away from the swing of her arm, nearly losing his balance in his hurry.

“I told you I heard something!” He wailed, dancing backward, and Casey snarled in reply, chasing after him. She didn’t have much of a chance, however, and now it was her turn to dodge-- just able to avoid the kusari-fundo that came whipping into her view a moment later, flashing inches before her eyes as she swore and backed up.

“Now is so not the time for ‘I-told-you-so’s,’ Nardo,” Another hissed, jumping at her with a staff, nearly taking her head off with a sharp swing. Casey was both quietly impressed and annoyed with the strength behind it, twisting her stance so she could shoot a leg up and kick the weapon off-kilter, throwing off her opponent’s footing and sending him stumbling slightly to the side.

“Oh, please, like it wouldn’t be if you were the one who called it!” The swordsman scoffed in response, jumping forward to catch the other, grabbing him by the arm so he could correct his stance and keep him on his feet. Casey took the slight opening the distraction of their banter provided to turn on the other intruder nearby, her eyes wide behind her glasses, doling out a sharp kick to her leg before dancing away. But even as she did this, the other members of the Hamato Clan closed in.

Cursing under her breath, she reeled backward, trying to find the distance she needed to reevaluate when she was practically surrounded. But every time her eyes were locked on one intruder, another jumped at her, just a flash of movement out of the corners of her eyes, and it was all she could do but block, parry, and dodge. Casey bristled when the sword wielder came whipping towards her, his weapon drawn, and she just barely had the time to hold up her arms to block, bracing herself for the coming impact of sharp metal--

“STOP!”

The boy’s movements slowed ever-so-slightly as he faltered at the cry-- giving Casey just enough of a chance to duck away from the oncoming strike, leaping out of his range. 

“Don’t slice her in half!!! What’s wrong with you!? She’s, like, a kid!!!” The largest of the group yelled, gesturing wildly. Casey gasped, immediately bristling in offense.

“Excuse me!? I am not a child! I am EIGHTEEN!” She shrieked. Well, almost eighteen, anyway. KINDA. Her ID said she was eighteen, which was really the most important part.

“See? She’s a legal adult!” The swordsman argued, shooting the other an annoyed look. “And, uh, also a part of a legion of evil ninjas? Sooooo…”

As soon as his eyes had left her, Casey seized the opening, ripping her kunai from her belt as she lunged forward. Twisting her leg sharply to collide with his chest, she sent him sprawling to the floor, his sword clattering as it fell from his grip. The moment he was down, she pinned him there with a foot to his throat, pressing him in place.

“Ack! Hey, stop!!! I’m a minor! This is child abuse!” He cried in protest, wriggling a bit beneath her even as she drove her heel in deeper to his windpipe, eliciting a very satisfying choking gasp. She didn’t have much opportunity to take advantage of her position, however, because no more than a second later, the largest of the group was charging her. Her eyes widening slightly, she abandoned the pinned swordsman in favor of leaping backward to dodge the coming attacks, falling quickly back into the pattern of defensive ducking and dodging, because that was not something she wanted to be hit by, thank you very much!!!

Come on, backup, come on…! Hurry up…!

---

The second that they had heard that noise down the halls, Yoshi had been on his feet, tense and ready to run. And now, as he raced towards his children, he spat curses at his past self for not starting to move right then and there-- for letting them approach without him in the first place. Had he honestly believed that this would be safe!? Had actually expected there to be no threat here!? 

Stupid, foolish, arrogant man…! 

He was already moving as fast as he could, but as soon as he could hear the sound of combat, he somehow managed to move even faster.

---

Cassandra hissed softly through her teeth, feeling sweat tickle its way down her brow, her chest heaving with breath as she ducked away from another blow. She was fast and she was capable in the face of combat-- but so were they, and there were five of them. It was all she could do to stay out of reach, repeatedly dodging and blocking blows, but she was quickly growing exhausted. Please hurry up! She pleaded in her mind. She’d keep going until she physically couldn’t any longer. She wouldn’t back down. But she wasn’t sure how much longer she had until she hit that point. 

The largest one-- he was the real problem. She gasped as his arm went swinging towards her, quite nearly losing her balance in her rush to avoid the blow. He was so big. And on the rare occasion that she was actually able to send out a counter-attack, they seemed meaningless to him, practically bouncing off his body as though he couldn’t even feel them. How was she supposed to penetrate a literal wall of muscle like this!?

Why the fuck do I have to be so damn small!?!?!

“Hot Soup!” Shrieked the smallest of the group, all but throwing himself at her, his leg moving in a wide arc, and for a split second, Casey bristled-- 

But she hadn’t spent all those years training for nothing.

There was an opening. Just a small one-- but his arc was just a bit higher than it needed to be to cover himself completely, and as soon as Cassandra had zeroed in on the chance to counterattack, she was darting forward, teeth bared and eyes narrowed with focus. 

His ribs were exposed.

And the small one, they didn’t quite have the time to react and adjust, to close the opening. But apparently, the big one did, throwing himself in her path to physically shield his brother, a sharp, protective snarl that sounded almost like an animal rumbling from him. Cassandra was forced to recalculate, her trajectory rapidly shifting--

But that was fine.

Because in his rush to protect his brother, he had left himself open, too. 

The jewelry counter was right there, and all it took was a nimble flip to the side, pushing off with her right ankle to gracefully toss herself over the surface and transition quickly into a wide kick. The counter was littered with spinning displays, the plastic trees all adorned with earrings and necklaces, and Casey caught the base of one of them with her foot, hooking it with the bend of her ankle and throwing her whole body hard to the side.

She may be too small to pose a real threat to the big one. But a little creativity could always even the playing field.

So could weapons.

A sharp, choked cry just barely wrenched itself from the largest Hamato as he went stumbling backward, the jewelry display slamming into his side and crashing down to the ground next to him with a horrendous clatter. She was dimly aware of his siblings crying out as well around him in concern-- which meant she had a very clear, very free path forward to bury a kunai into his stomach.

The world narrowed down to her goal and her target. Her fingers tightened around the knife. All her muscles tensed. And she pounced for her victim.

She had just barely begun to move when the impact of a hurricane slammed her back down to the ground, a short shriek of shock escaping from her chest with the absolute force of it.

“Dad!”

“All of you! Get out of here! Now!” An unfamiliar voice snapped, strained with panic, though Casey barely processed it through the sensation of her arms both being twisted back to her spine, creaking in protest as she was pinned down to the ground. She just barely managed a thrash, but the pitch of the pain in her joints quickly convinced her to remain still, and a high-pitched snarl of fury just barely managed to escape her.

No…! She had them! She had him, she had finally had a chance to turn the tides--!

“But what about--”

“I said go! Right now! I will be right behind you--”

The familiar thunk of a throwing star embedding itself into nearby drywall had Casey’s head snapping upward. And she just barely contained a shrill, giddy little laugh of delight.

There was the back-up.

The pressure in her shoulder released a second later as the weight disappeared, the eldest Hamato forced to release her in order to retreat and dodge the oncoming barrage of shooting stars. She absolutely cackled, on her feet in a second, and this time, finally, she was on the advancing side.

She finally got to take the offensive.

She threw herself at the elder Hamato, laying down blow after blow, and was frustrated to find that for every strike she delivered, he was able to block with ease and find the space to counter. She hissed in pain as the sharp of his hand collided with her shoulder, sending her stumbling slightly, and she twisted her ankles slightly to find her footing again--

And all at once, the Hamato Clan was gone. She didn’t even realize that the other five had already retreated until the last remaining shoved her away and darted off, disappearing in a blink, as though he had never even been there.

For a moment, Cassandra was frustrated. She bristled, considering chasing after him-- considering turning to the rest of the clan to see who all was assembled, to follow them, to continue the fight.

But she wouldn’t move without the orders from her senseis.

And once she had half a second to breathe, she was tickled to find blood on her hands that did not belong to her. She couldn’t stop herself from grinning.

Perhaps she and her clan had accomplished more than she had initially believed. 

---

The shrill cry of a honking car cut through the air, blasting through the previous quiet. Or, at least, relatively quiet, considering they lived in New York City.

April gasped loudly, jumping and clapping her hands over her ears and wincing a bit, shrinking back against the assault to her ears. The sound seemed to absolutely echo through the alleyway where she and Mikey were playing, working on their latest chalk mural together. It didn’t last more than a couple of seconds, but she was still a bit dazed when she finally opened her eyes again, her heart beating it her chest.

Whoa. That was a little scary. She hadn’t expected that.

She giggled a tiny bit at how startled she was, letting out a long breath. But when she turned around to face Mikey again, she was surprised to find him curled up in a tiny little ball on the ground, his arms and legs both tucked in close to his body and his chin ducked down against his chest.

“... Mikey?” April said, frowning a bit, tilting her head to the side as she leaned over him. “Are you okay?”

It took a second, but eventually, Mikey peeked open an eye, looking sort of confused for a moment. But then, all at once, he untensed his muscles, all his limbs unfolding as he rolled over onto his butt instead, sitting on the ground and staring up at her.

“... That was loud!” He said.

“Yeah,” April agreed. “Uhm. Why are you on the ground though?”

“I got scared!!!”

“Yeah, but… why did you get on the ground ‘cause you were scared?”

“Oh. Uh. I dunno,” Mikey said, shrugging a bit. “I just. Curl up sometimes, and stuff…”

“Yeah, but why?”

“Uh. I’unno. ‘Cause… it’s… it feels safer and stuff,” he said.

“But don’t you fall down like that?”

“Uhm…”

“And doesn’t that hurt, though, if you just fall over like that and curl up?”

“Well…”

“And then you’re on the ground.”

“Yeah, but…”

“And where’d you learn to do that? That’s weird. I’ve never seen anyone else do that before,” April continued. “Also, why do you--”

She broke off when Mikey blinked widely at her, sniffled, and then rapidly teared up, staring up at her and giving an absolutely pitiful sob. 

April’s eyes widened in shock at the rapid shift.

“Okay, okay fine, it’s not weird! Don’t cry! You can be a ball! Here, we can go back to chalk now-- Pleaseeee stop crying! Mikey, come on, cut it out…!”

---

They didn’t stop running for a while.

Raph’s heart was in his throat.

He could run faster than April could, and he was pretty sure that most of his siblings were not running near as fast as they really could, all worried about their father, but he endeavored to keep himself in the rear anyway. Leo could head the charge; he was staying in the back. He was making sure no one was being left behind.

Including their father.

He let his father be behind him. But just barely.

It wasn’t until they were about a block away that Leo finally managed to open up a portal, having been attempting since their retreat began, slicing through the fabric of the world with his odachi. Raph didn’t think he had been meaning to teleport them all directly into his own room, but he wasn’t in any mood to be picky about what part of the house they got portalled to. 

It wasn’t until the fizzling blue light curled in on itself behind them, the portal sliding closed, that Raph finally allowed himself to breathe again.

And as soon as he did, he felt like he was going to fucking collapse.

It was mostly just adrenaline, he was pretty sure, more than actual injury, but he suddenly felt just the tiniest bit lightheaded as a sharp ache climbed its way up his ribcage, and he grabbed onto Leo’s bedpost to steady himself with a small wince. Either way, his siblings were all crowded around him in a moment in worry-- and so was their dad.

“Red…! Are you okay? Are you injured? Let me see--!” Their dad bit out, his eyes wide with frantic worry, and Raph kind of stared at him in response, his own gaze echoing his. He opened his mouth and closed it a few times before he was finally able to summon up actual words.

“Pops, you’re-- you’re bleedin’.”

All four of his siblings’ heads snapped around to turn their attention to Dad, and Mikey shrieked.

It wasn’t bleeding that bad, honestly. 

But Raph was pretty sure that was because the throwing star was still embedded in his dad’s shoulder.

“Oh my god…!” April squeaked, her eyes wide, and their father immediately shrank back slightly, turning his shoulder purposefully away from the others. 

“I am fine. It looks worse than it is,” he dismissed quickly, keeping his eyes trained squarely on Raphael. “Red. Answer the question. Are you injured?”

“I-- It’s just sore. ‘M fine,” Raph said quickly, still a bit breathless. One of his hands wandered up to his ribs, just to check to make sure he wasn’t lying, and it sure was sore, and he was, admittedly, bleeding a little-- but not bad. The pain wasn’t awful. It hurt, but he had had worse in football. 

His dad had a fucking ninja star sticking out of him.

“Dad, here, sit down, we-- we can call--”

“Do not call anyone,” their father instructed sharply, throwing the group a look that said do not argue with me, and Raph clamped his mouth shut. “It is fine. I promise I can handle it. Purple, go and fetch the first aid kit and an ice pack for your brother. Orange, go with him, please.”

Whereas Donnie had no qualms with excusing himself from the current situation, (he was looking a bit ashen,) Mikey hesitated, his face pinched with worry.

“But I--”

“Mikey,” Dad cut him off quickly, narrowing his eyes slightly. “I need you to listen to me. I do not want Purple by himself right now. He needs you to go with him.”

Angelo frowned, and he swallowed. He opened his mouth, just for a moment, like he was going to argue further. But then he didn’t, slipping from the room at a hurried pace, rushing slightly to catch up to his older brother.

Raph’s body sagged slightly with relief. He swore he saw Dad do the same.

And almost as soon as the two were gone from the room, to Raphael’s absolute horror, their dad twisted himself enough so that he could reach around and deftly yank the jagged piece of metal from his shoulder.

“Dad!” Raph yelped, his eyes widening. “What are you doing!? What about--”

“Calm down, Raphael,” Dad said, and it was almost eerie how calm he was. With cold, practiced, measured movements, their father wasted no time at all in bandaging his own wounds, removing his mask and tearing it with his teeth so he could tie a tourniquet, using his sleeve to staunch the bleeding. 

The way he moved-- it was like he had done this a thousand times before. A shiver raced down Raphael’s spine, and he stiffened ever so slightly, a wince pinching his features for just a moment.

“There,” Dad said as soon as he was done, quickly turning his focus back to his eldest. “I’m fine until Purple gets back with the first aid kit. Let me see your injury,” he said, gentle but insistent, and Raph huffed, wrinkling up his nose, but he lifted his shirt up for Dad to see, anyway.

There were a few small punctures and scrapes, but nothing more than a few centimeters deep or so, all small and just barely bleeding. And it certainly hurt, but Dad’s careful, prodding hands didn’t bring about any sharp pitches of the pain, and Raph was fairly certain he had managed to get away without any cracked ribs-- just bruised ones.

“I told you I’m fine,” Raph muttered under his breath, and their dad glanced up to shoot him a look.

“You’re lucky,” he hissed, gritting his teeth, bristling for just a moment before the heat died out. “I’m sorry.”

“Dad, don’t apologize. It’s not your fault.”

“I don’t want any of you to be hurt--”

“You’re hurt worse than I am!” Raph protested, gesturing wildly to his arm, still sluggishly bleeding. “And the only reason you got hurt is ‘cause you were coverin’ us!”

Their Dad stiffened, shoulders hunched slightly. “That’s not--”

“Yes, it is!” Raph snapped in reply. “We’re not stupid, Dad, come on! It’s--” He cut himself off, grinding his jaw slightly and sighing deeply through his nose. “... Just don’t apologize, okay? You didn’t do anythin’ wrong. You’re the one who bailed us outta there. And got ninja-starred. We’re the ones who--”

“You did fine, Raphael,” Now it was Dad who cut him off. “You all did fine. This wasn’t… I didn’t expect them to be there,” he sighed, frowning a bit, looking to the side. “... But you all did well. I’m very proud of all of you. It’s not your fault, either.”

He kept quiet for a moment, frowning as he glanced over at April and Leo, who had been quiet the entire time, wide-eyed and seeming slightly shaky. 

“Are either of you injured…?”

They both shook their heads ‘no.’

“We’re okay, Pops,” Leo said, letting out a long, deep breath. “... We’re alright. Thanks.”

They didn’t talk for a bit after that, all just sitting together and waiting for Donnie and Mikey to come back-- just sitting and processing, and coming to terms with the fact that they had all made it out okay.

And Raph had never been much of a thinker.

But he was thinking now.

His hand wandered up and down his own side, pressing gently at the bruised muscles and soft, torn skin as he pondered.

---

There was this pinch in the back of Yoshi’s throat that he was fighting off.

He should have known this would happen. 

“Yoshi.” His teacher’s voice was all gentle and soft and patient, but Yoshi scowled, glaring off to the side-- his shoulders hunched up and his body slumped in the chair. The room was empty except for the two of them, all the other students having been dismissed aside from him-- all filled up with unoccupied desks and chairs and making Yoshi feel stupidly, annoyingly small. 

“It’s nice to see you in class again, Yoshi,” his teacher continued, despite his lack of response, leaning over slightly so she could rest her elbows on the desk she had Yoshi parked in front of. She kept trying to catch his eyes, but he refused to let her. “It’s been a while, hasn’t it?”

Yoshi wrinkled up his nose, shrugging noncommittally. 

It had been a week and a half since he had last been at school, and it had been such a battle just to get Jiji to let him come today. Not that that was especially unusual. Yoshi had never attended school regularly. School wasn’t a priority for him. Training was the priority. Lessons with Jiji were the priority. Studying the Hamato Clan history was the priority. School was not. He went to school like it was a hobby-- something to do in his spare time. He would usually show up for perhaps a couple days a week, usually less, and the rest of the days during which he was absent would be explained away with some excuse or story or another. Something about his health-- Yoshi didn’t really keep track, truthfully. One of his second cousins, a doctor, but more importantly, a medic to the Clan, would always provide all the documentation required. Everyone, it seemed, had accepted a long time ago that Hamato Yoshi usually just didn’t go to school. Had accepted him as an occasional, wavering presence, fading in and out of the edges of everyone else’s lives.

Except for Miss Ito. 

For some reason, his fourth-year elementary school teacher just couldn’t accept that fact.

Jiji hadn’t wanted him to come today. Yoshi had had to fight for it. When he was younger, he used to whimper and cry, feeling sorry for himself, but nowadays, they usually fought. He had gotten sick of feeling sorry for himself. Now he’d just yell at his Jiji until he either got his way or his throat got raw.

Usually, it was the latter.

Jiji hadn’t wanted him to come, and Yoshi had convinced him that he should get to, and now Miss Ito had him sat in front of her desk in an empty classroom, talking all gentle to him, and Yoshi thought bitterly to himself that now he was never going to win that argument ever again. 

“What happened to your arm, Yoshi?”

Yoshi grit his teeth slightly, his frown deepening at the question that he already knew she was leading up to.

“I tripped,” he responded easily, finally looking up at her just so that he could give her the coldest look that he possibly could, trying as best as he possibly could to summon the energy of an angry, bristling cat. Don’t mess with me. Back off. 

She didn’t seem perturbed, of course, because she never was. She looked more sad than anything, and Yoshi had always hated that.

“I see,” she said. “That must have been a pretty rough fall.”

Yoshi rolled his eyes.

They were just bruises. She acted as if he was missing a limb. Even worse than that-- she acted like he was some sad, pitiful little child, being tossed around the room by some abusive drunkard or something. He was sure that that was what she assumed, and it made him prickle with defensiveness. It wasn’t like Jiji was hitting him. They were just training. Sometimes, things happened during training. It was no one’s fault. Jiji didn’t mean to. It was just an accident. Jiji had apologized, like, eighty times. Yoshi knew he would never hurt him on purpose. 

It had been a difficult sequence they were learning, that was all. It was Yoshi’s own fault-- he was the one who had misstepped and been too slow. And now that his face had healed, he had finally been able to convince Jiji to let him go back to school for a day. 

He hadn’t been thinking when he rolled up his sleeves earlier-- he just did it. His sleeve got wet when a classmate spilled her water, and so he had just rolled it up out of the way. He had forgotten that he had anything to hide. No one was supposed to see it.

Certainly not Miss Ito. No one else would have even cared except for Miss Ito. 

He could already hear Jiji saying, ‘I told you so.’ 

“I fell down the stairs,” he said dismissively, shrugging a bit. “But it’s fine. It doesn’t hurt. Can I go now?”

Miss Ito sighed very quietly.

“... We missed you at the sports festival last week. I’m sorry you weren’t able to be there. I know you were excited to participate this year,” she observed gently. “And all your classmates were looking forward to--”

Yoshi stiffened, this little lump kind of swelling up in his throat.

“Can I go now?” He said again, cutting her off.

“Yoshi--”

“Am I allowed to leave? I have to go. There are people waiting for me,” he pressed, harder now, standing up from his seat even before he was dismissed, staring the teacher down. Challenging her, almost. Daring her to say no.

Please, please, please just let me go. Don’t make me late getting home. Don’t call anyone. Don’t send a letter home. Just let me go, and if I run, I can still get home on time, and Jiji won’t have to know--

She sighed very, very deeply, giving him those same sad, sympathetic eyes that he didn’t want on him. There were people out there who were sad and needed sympathy. He was not one of them.

“... Alright, Yoshi,” she said. “But you can come talk to me if you ever need anything. Okay?”

Yoshi frowned, giving only a grumble in response as he grabbed his bag, eager to leave.

“Will I see you in class tomorrow?” She asked. 

Yoshi hesitated just for a moment, clenching his jaw a few times.

“I dunno yet.”

---

Dad was at a doctor’s appointment with Leo. Raph was at work. Donnie was in his lab. Mikey had checked. He had taken two full laps around the house to account for everyone and make sure that really, truly, he had the clearance for what he intended to do. Everyone except for him and Donnie were out, and shouldn’t be home for another hour-- and he had the entire house in between him and Donnie. He’d hear him coming with plenty of time if he decided to emerge from his coding binge, which was unlikely. 

He did one last sweep of the first floor, just to make sure, his skin itching and crawling nervously and his stomach doing repeated and unwelcome pas de chats. Repeatedly, he thought, are we sure about this? He thought, sneaking around like this feels wrong. He thought, what if this is an awful idea? What if we get in trouble?

But then he also thought, I have to protect our family. I have to help, too.

He thought, I won’t let anyone else get hurt on my behalf. Not again. 

And he tempered his resolve.

As quiet as a ninja, he slipped into his father’s room, leaving the door just barely cracked behind him so he could hear if anyone approached. He had been a bit worried that his dad would have moved it to some new hiding place, and he’d have to waste a bunch of time searching for it-- but he didn’t.

The chest was in the exact same place in his closet, tucked inside the box with the clothes, just where Leo, Donnie, and April had found it the first time. It felt heavier than he remembered, somehow. He took care to cover his tracks, awkwardly hiding the bulky object inside his denim jacket and made a hasty escape. His heart was up in his throat because even though he had taken every single precaution, he couldn’t help but feel like someone was going to burst through the door and ask him what the hell he was doing at any moment.

His heart rate didn’t even begin to settle until he had made it back to his own room, closing and locking the door behind him and curling up in his bed.

Originally, he had intended to sit and think about this for a while-- to prepare himself for what he was about to do and get his mind right. But now, he was afraid that if he did, he’d lose his nerve and chicken out. And he had already thought about this. He had already thought about it long and hard and made the decision. He didn’t need to wobble on the subject any longer. The sooner, the better. 

He opened up the chest, pulling the familiar, ghostly white scrolls out from inside. And the moment he did, suddenly, he was not alone in the room. 

The mist that filled the air made him sneeze a few times.

“Greetings, young Hamato,” said Ghost-Sensei, as if he didn’t even mind that it had been weeks since they last spoke, as if nothing had changed, as if he already knew what Mikey planned to do. “What wisdom do you seek?”

Mikey bit the inside of his cheek, squaring his shoulders and curling his hands into fists.

If his family didn’t believe that he could protect them-- that he could protect himself-- there had to be a reason. There had to be something wrong. 

If he couldn’t protect anyone, then he would learn how.

“Those basics you were talking about before? With the ninpo and Hamato Clan traditions and my destiny and stuff?” He said. “I’m ready to learn all that. Teach me.”

[ next ]

[theoxvest]

Finally finished Wyrdwood ep 1 today. I really really liked it. I love the vibe of the show. I'm looking forward to the debt mechanics. I liked the fact its set up has a lot of gears in place already. I liked that combat was actually a challenge. This is gonna be a banger for me.

Now onto the PCs

Right now Happen is my fav. When I saw the initial character art and thought Luke was going to be playing some stoic steathly ranger I was disappointed, but seeing the real Happen in action was great. Rangers are my class so that was exciting. Mostly though just this weird little luck pervert is so much fun. The sprites are such a fine choice, the Cadence die is high stakes, and his joy at the crits is such a fun way to make lore around mechanics.

Willowfine is such a treat. Its so nice to see a genuinely nice oxventure character who is just here for the right reasons. Playing against the normal violent or evil magic loving previous characters Jane has played does so much to keep her unique.

Cressida is awesome. My favorite Ellen performance was as Merilwen in Corozans body where she was way more cocky and self obsessive than normal. This scratches that itch perfectly. I love that this women is more knowledgeable about cities and high-class events too. I love when a characters backstory specifically gives them information the others just would never know.

Robin/Morven is probably my favorite Andy character(s). Genuinely so different from any character type oxventure has tried before. I love this concept and mystery so much and am excited to see where it goes. .

Lug is neat. I hope we get to learn more about him as the series progresses. So far its been fun to see Mike play the straight man in a team for once. Also just being a fireblog is very fitting for this campaign setting.

[tako-cafe]

Riddle HCs

reminder: headcanons could not line up with your own you don't need to agree its fine i promise. Some of these are probably common/overdone but whatever I like writing info down. and reader beware cw: eating disorder talk mentioned

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has EDNOS, caused by his parents

Height stunted by said disorder

Trey was his crush and first kiss (neither are dating it happened on impulse)

Doesn't actually hate Floyd's teasing but does wish it was toned down sometimes

related he doesn't mind the nickname either when he's in a decent mood anyway

Finds Azul both insufferable but also his favorite academic rival. getting top scores isn't as fun if he doesn't have someone who can easily beat him at any point after all.

Not sure how others interpret heights they have but I saw it as him being 5'3 in heels so he is actually much shorter than he appears (could be canon but I've seen some say he's that out of heels too so I'm listing it)

Uses food as punishment for himself (Trey tries to help him combat this)

Did eventually learn to drop certain parental rules, did however replace them with the queens rules instead.

Is unaware him coming to the school accidently pushed Cater away from Trey as Trey felt he does have to watch Riddle/try to correct him often. Which left Cater without his main friend rather quickly.

Once Trey leaves for his 4th year Riddle picks Deuce as his vice believing him to be someone trusted by the dorm and giving him a chance to prove himself serious about personal improvement.

Starts getting okay with dating after uni/starting to built his own life. Mostly after cutting off his parents so he starts to heal and come into himself more.

that's all for now.

[cripplecharacters]

Hello! I'm the anon who asked if I sent this in already lmao, I am memory issues man and all that.

So, I have a character who uses a cane due to joint pain, specifically/mostly in his knees and hips. He does have other mobility aids, he uses a wheelchair on particularly bad days, but the cane is the most common.

This character has plant-related powers, and can channel that power through anything plant-based. His cane is made of wood (it's a medieval-ish fantasy setting, so wooden cane's are the norm), so he often uses it as a conduit. It's not the only thing he uses - he gets very creative with it, even realizing he can channel his power through paper - but because it's almost always on him, it's the most common thing.

My question is, does this fall into any harmful tropes? I know I've seen y'all talk before about mobility aids as weapons being iffy, and he does specialize in combat magic, so I wanted to check in.

Hello!

Personally, I don't see any glaring issues with it. From how you've described it, it seems perfectly reasonable for him to use it as a conduit and, since he's using other objects for the same purpose, nothing about it sticks out as the mobility aid being used exclusively for magical/non-disability purposes.

That said, if you are concerned, I'd recommend showing the cane being used as a mobility aid specifically before you introduce it as a tool for his magic. First impressions are important and if it's introduced as a tool for magic, that will be the primarily association with it for readers.

Overall, though, it seems fine!

Cheers,

~ Mod Icarus