#LOOKIE AT HER- MY BELOVED

[martincrushcameback]

Tortuga and Varmijet AKA the Big Soft Excitable Wife and her Small Thin Grouchy Husband. She wants to do flips and he wants to shoot rockets. She wants to fly to the moon and he would like to fucking land already. SHE IS THE ONLY PERSON ON THE PLANET CAPABLE OF MAKING HIM SMILE.

i can't draw hats and i wanted her to have hair fluffies

@ranfordgallus

[catghoststories]

Frank, Eddie, and the Tell-Tale Heart

So, I know the main focus of this update was Poppy, which I was happy to see (though I'm not happy to see what happened to her).  I do have a theory cooking about her, Sally, and the Commedia Dell'arte, but Frank n' Eddie are my favorite pair, and I've been stewing over this particular theory since the July '23 update.  This tiny line from the Looky-Loo storybook is what cinched it for me.

Source: Merchandise Page, Looky-Loo Storybook

This line isn't read out loud, but we can see it at around the 9 minute in the video, above Eddie, looking so polite.  It reads,

"Villains!" I shrieked, "I can deny it no longer! I admit the deed!—tear up my flower bed!—here, here!—it is the ticking of my beloved alarm clock!"

This isn't the actual line from The Tell-Tale Heart.  The original line reads "Villains!" I shrieked, "dissemble no more! I admit the deed!—tear up the planks!—here, here!—it is the beating of his hideous heart!"

Source: The Tell-Tale Heart

The Tell-Tale Heart is about someone murdering their roommate, cutting him into pieces, and hiding the evidence under the floorboards of their house. 

And I think this is what Frank is going to do to Eddie, in an attempt to protect him in a perverse, misguided way.

This rewritten lines seems very specific to Frank and Eddie.  We know Frank loves his garden.  And who's the only character in the Neighborhood who owns a clock?  Eddie.

At the end of the Homewarming video, Frank sees how distressed Eddie is.  As many have theorized, Frank seems to be somewhat aware of what's happening, although we don't know to what extent.  But he sees that Eddie is now in the line of fire of The Powers That Be, and he becomes worried for him.  

I think Frank will dismantle Eddie and hide him in his garden until he deems it 'safe' for Eddie to come back, once the 'eyes' are off him.  (Kind of reminds me of the Eye of Sauron from Lord of the Rings).  An unintentional—or perhaps intentional—side effect of being dismantled and put back together, with new parts, is that Eddie doesn't remember things well. 

Including, possibly, his and Frank's relationship.

This goes along with the theme we've seen several times in WH now, including this new Halloween update.  The puppets unintentionally—yet seriously—harm their loved ones in order to protect them from something they deem far worse—whatever that may be.

As these posts by kykudos, oniongrass, and nikkiiiscute discuss, there is an image from one of the hidden bug clips of Frank's garden with 9 clothespins—one buried in the dirt.

Source: Welcome Home Hidden Audio ('til it's back on the official site :3)

And there's the references to burial in Bug-a-Bye and Goodnight, too.  This post by the-nosy-neighbor goes quite a lot into this song very well, especially how it might indicate Frank could put Eddie into a suspended state!

Source: Transcript Page, Bug-a-Bye and Goodnight

Now I have been thinking about this dismantling/reassembling thing for a long time, especially since the last Halloween update.  Eddie is one of the puppets with a new costume, and he is Frank(enstein)'s monster.  And he has a big yellow band-aid on the back—Frank's color.  If Eddie is taken apart, Frank will patch him up again.

Source: Clown's Tumblr

(Also, I'm curious about the blue hand and face in Eddie's costume design. That's Barnaby's color. Does Frank use Barnaby's spare parts to put Eddie back together?! 😳 Especially since I feel like Barnaby's time on Mister Bone's Wild Ride is fast approaching—but that's yet another post 😅)

But based on the Tell-Tale Heart line, Frank may have been the one to do the dismantling in the first place, which is quite dark.  Based on the below picture from the former staff member page—clearer image here from Clown's Tumblr—Frank may be aware they're puppets and made up of various parts.

Source: Welcome Home Wiki until it's back on the official site :3

There is also an intense piece on Clown's Ko-Fi here (please support Clown if you can!) that shows butterflies doing SOMETHING to Eddie. Are they putting him together? Or taking him apart to join them in their hibernation? 🤔

Frank also likes gelatin. As he tells Poppy in their hidden audio, 'it holds perfectly sliced fruit beautifully'.  Perfectly sliced, cut up fruit, eh?  Gelatin is a preservative that we also see in the cookbook recipe, and we all know Eddie has an unholy encounter with his single pea.  So yet another symbol of suspended animation that is related to Frank and Eddie.

Source: Merchandise Page, Cookbook

So it seems like Frank has some experience in preservation, hibernation, etc. and knows how to use it, if it comes to it.

The next big update will likely be spring-themed.  A long time ago, Clown posted that Frank has a holiday in spring. Of course this isn't canon until it's on the website, but either way, I think Frank will have an important role in the spring update, which I believe will also focus on Julie.  We may see him wake up Julie from hibernation...and Eddie from his dirt nap.  

Source: Clown's Tumblr

(I've been so curious about that shadow behind the flower.  At first I thought 'OMG, it's Eddie's hand!', but I don't think so. 😅 I dunno what it is, but it doesn't quite seem flower like to me...🤔)

This Ko-Fi post (again, please support Clown if you have the means!) was posted around Easter this year and had a bunny/Easter theme.  Clown says "What is there to say though... Well! We know what the next holiday is in our Home Sweet Home, I'd say."  A huge theme of Easter/Spring are Rebirth and Resurrection.

As this post by serene-hatterene so beautifully details, Frank may feel pressured to kiss Julie to wake her up to prove his heteronormativity.  Maybe to further protect Eddie, too, to prove they aren't a thing.  Seems like Julie's family may show up this update, too, and we know family can cause a lot of pressure for couples during holidays. 😬

My last item isn't that strong, but I have been thinking of since the July '23 update.  In Eddie's Big Lift, Frank says the following line:

Source: Transcript Page, Eddie's Big Lift

The tense of "You always did work too hard" always bothered me.  Why doesn't Frank just say, "You always work too hard!"  And Eddie doesn't seem to know what he's talking about. Frank sounds almost wistful here.  It's like he's talking about his ex—a former version of Eddie, pre-dismantling, perhaps?

(Also, 'Enjoy the ground, Mr. Dear'? Dude, if this theory is right, that line is even more screwed up than it already was. 😳)

Here is my order of how I feel these events actually happened:

Secret Bug Audios (Eddie and Frank flirting) -> 1st Halloween Audio (Eddie still seems like his chipper, knowledgeable self) -> Homewarming -> Springtime (and Eddie's Resurrection)? -> Eddie's Big Lift

Not quite sure where this last Halloween update lands, but I feel like it's later.  Eddie seems ignorant of the potential adverse effects The Brickening (TM) could have on Poppy.  I feel like he's been more sensitive to Poppy and others in the past (but maybe I'm wrong, I'm biased towards him, heh).  Perhaps after his Reconstruction, his memory has now been reset, and he has "fallen into line" with the other Neighbors and their weird, pile-onto-one-person ways.

Anyway, what do you all think? 😬😬 I do hope I'm wrong, since Frank is my favorite, and this would make me feel very differently about him. 😬😬😬 Please tell me your own WH theories, too! I find them so interesting!

[lafox]

Luis Sera Headcanon [Collab] SFW/NSFW

Author note: hi everyone. I know it has been Ages but im back with a little gift for all of you and i collab with @sattiene my beloved <3 thank you so much for her input and help because it really helped me out get back in the mix of things. i really missed writing HC for characters soooooo ! My ask are now open! YEY!

anyways i'll let you enjoy this Hc!:

SFW HC: 

Meeting you for the first time in the events of the Las Plagas incident, the first thing he says to you is:

"I just have one important question. Do you have a smoke?"

-

Manipulation through his puppy eyes. 

“Oye, Senorita. Mind a smoke?” *insta puppy eyes*

-

Probably ‘almost’ fluent in French and would brag about it to you only (hmmm wonder why)

-

Grows every so fond of you when you laugh off his flirting towards you.

But what made him fall in love even more was when you suddenly started to flirt back. 

He stutters, is flustered but quickly come back with another flirt (it's a war now)

One time, he was playing around with his lighter while walking, to which you added a remark:

“Hm.. Does this skill also apply in the bedroom?” You smirked. 

The man was shooken (idk this isn't a word) and closed his lighter shut.

He shook his head and chuckled,

“There is only one way to find out, ay?” He said looking back at you.

Oh boy…

-

He tries to lighten up the mood as Leon isn’t much of a jokester. 

And when you laugh at his jokes and Leon doesn't, he points it out:

“Ay, see Y/N likes my jokes.” 

-

If you are imprisoned, you bet your ass Luis is gonna be your knight in shining armor.

You’ll scream to whoever, to get you out when it’s Luis that peaks his head and saves you his only comment will be:

“Oh so that's what you sound like, hm?” 

Alternatively : You are captured and tied up unconscious. He is at your rescue once more and sees you tied up. He would whistle and look away for a minute, putting his fist close to his mouth before snapping out of it and helping you out.

When you wake you bet your ass he will hit you with the oldest pick up line to this day like:

"Oh chica. I've been told I look heavenly, but you're not in heaven yet."

-

Is it raining? No problem Luis is to the rescue:

“Where are my manners?” He says as he takes off his jacket and hovers it on top of your head.

-

Oh shit! A flight hatchet coming your way! But don't worry, again, Luis is at the  rescue,

Hugging you as he pushes both of you away and falls down.

Well now it's an awkward situation as you are now on top of him. You lift yourself to meet with Luis’ face closer than expected.

Of course he shots a flirtatious grin accompanied with his eyebrows raising up.

What he would do to get your attention or to be close to you i swear…

He is down bad for you that's for sure. 

-

It's impressive when you see Leon in action, a break at the shooting range is always a great pause for everyone, which helps make Luis and you grow closer.

But the music made your feet tap to the beat and that, Luis noticed. 

He gently grabbed your hand, waiting a few seconds to know if he was denied and when you didn’t reject his advance, dragged you to dance.

You giggled, you weren’t much of a dancer but the beat was so good and the moment was so right, it made you become one. 

That was when you were charmed by him.

-

When you get separated, Luis will call you on the radio any chance he gets.

“Hola. Aaah I'm glad you picked up princesa. I’m at the ballroom, come over. We can continue our little dance. Don’t be late to the party!”

When you are a bit more separate from Leon and Ashley, you call Luis and you guys chat

“How's your search? Are you okay so far?” you asked. “Always so worried for me, lindura~” “I miss you too don’t worry” He adds. 

-

He would scare you by hugging you from behind

Which ultimately ends in you pointing your gun at him

"Whoa whoa, cariño. chill. it's just me, your loverboy."

-

Would take pictures of you on his flip phone but the pictures are some of the worst moments of you looking surprised, zoning out, or sweaty with dirt on your face cause you were almost killed by a villager. 

You ask him to delete it but nah this man puts it as his wallpaper and keeps it forever.

-

If you are infected with las Plagas, he becomes serious

Will still be flirtatious to calm his own anxiety

At the operation table, will hold your hand while killing the plaga

Would turn his head away as it is agony for him to hear you scream in pain

"I know, I know bebe. I'm here. shhh, shh,"

Let a tear fall and wipes it after the operation finish

Man, he thought he lost you!

-

But enough heart breaks!

The man is clingy! He loves you so much he always want you close

For example; you want to make breakfast for the both of you in the morning but no no no you are not escaping with his arms wrapped around your waist

"Nooooo, mi amor, stay," He whines in his morning voice.

Will be hugging you from behind while you cook breakfast. 

You can feel his stubble tickling your neck

Everything is perfect.

-

The embodiment of chivalry

Opens doors for you, pushes your seat for you allllll the time.

NSFW HC

He is loud and not scared to be

Moan, groans, whimpers, yeah you are getting the whole service.

-

Service top/ dom

Mutters some Spanish when he is really really into it.

-

His foreplay is insane the man is a teaser;

Hand on your thigh just slowly but surely making his way through your core as he kisses your neck and tells you sweet nothing. (how could it not melt to that!)

-

You are always his top priority

Can go on for hour for your pleasure only (pls don’t make him pass out i beg you)

Cracks jokes if you are anxious, just to see you smile and relax, that’s already a win for him.

-

Mf does the petal of roses on the bed thingy on the special occasion (with scented candles ofc!)

Nice dinners and dancing before a night of love.

-

Sex isn't a shameful topic to him and will tease about it.

If you tease him back about his  performance he will backfire at you, its constant banter!

-

Weakness for lace in lingerie: He would fall weak if he slowly discovered you are wearing a set of lingerie while he takes off your clothes

“You wore this for me cariño.” and also will have his puppy eyes activated.

-

Would brag about you all the time and show that you are his girl as he marks you

He loves when you mark him, telling him you are his and that he is yours.

Covered with your lipstick is so hot to him, shows how much you love him.

Takes pictures of all the above

-

His biggest turn on? When you ride him. 

Holy fuck does he love it so much, just digging his hands on your thighs and trusting at the same beat as your riding makes him melt.

You taste heavenly to him and he loves to eat you out

Face riding? Yes please!

Makes him so horny you bet that shit makes him precum.

-

Type of guy to continue slowly thrusting in when done cause God Damn you feel good, he doesn’t want it to end!

-

Not into the harcord stuff like BDSM and such but would be willing to try for you

“So you’re into that stuff ay..” 

-

His favorite positions are any where he can see your beautiful face

-

He will never call you names like ‘slut’ and stuff “that's not a gentlemen’s ways”

-

You tried your best to please him first but Luis can’t hear any of that: “Ladies first” kinda treatment 

“Why don’t we switch it up tonight, let me start with you~” you said as you pressed your fingertips on his pecks, going ever so slowly down.

He shook his head as he chuckled. “You know my policy mi amor” He takes your hand to wrap in around his neck as he positions you on your back while kissing you

I mean, you can’t resist him. 

-

First time he makes you squirt, the man will be so proud of himself

Will use that fact against you in arguments: “didn’t you gush all over me last night?? yeah that’s what i thought.” 

With a smug ofc 

-

Tell you how beautiful you are especially while making you cum

-

Best aftercare, hugs, kisses, shower, and caresses.

The man Orders you to stay put when he cleans up, its “his mess not yours”

[paper-starz]

STYLISH ART STYLES

Watercolor Wally

Watercolor my beloved!! How I missed you so! 💕

I love this splotchy/ cloudy effect that I did for Wally. It feels so homemade! And the texture!? THE TEXTURE!! (For those of you who like to zoom in, I think you’ll like these ones)!

Patchwork Poppy

Ok to be fair, this is more of a knitted style rather than patchwork, BUT I DONT CARE!! This one was WAY harder to get right, mostly because there isn’t a lot of free yarn brushes so I had to work with what I got.

The main thing that I was worrying about the most was the background design. What should it even look like??? I’m happy with what I come up with, I think it suits her!

Rainbow Julie

i guess I really put the “rainbow” in rainbow monster LMAO

This one was really fun to do! So colorful! So vibrant! AGH! The colors! I had lots of fun using the burn effect and Gaussian blur! It’s so glowey and perty!

TW FOR SCOPOPHOBIA ⚠️

Oh looky! Some fun added changes!

[moodymisty]

What each Primach would do after marrying their beloved

Lion El'Jonson: Hi, wife. I'll be your knight in shining armour but I'll forget about you 3 min into the marriage

Fulgrim: Helllooo!! Welcome to the party 🥳🥳 Make sure to bicker with my other wives for me so I can't feel insecure anymore and I'll get my daily validation

Perturabo: Get wife (impossible). Wife pretty. Iron Within, Iron Without. Wife feels good. Iron Within, Iron Without again. Become emotionally and physically dependent to wife. Life good.

Jaghatai Khan: zzzzzzzzzz-PANG ⚡⚡⚡🏍️🏍️ HI DARLING. FEEL FREE TO BECOME FRIENDS WITH ALL MY OTHER 358.947.283 WIVES (also tomorrow will be Missionary Monday, get ready 😈)

Leman Russ: WIFEEEE 🥹🥹🥹 love you soooooooooo much. You smelllllll so gooooood. Why don't you spread those le-

Rogal Dorn: Wife, let me tell you about Multi-Scale Computational Modeling of Anisotropic Thermo-Mechanical Behavior in Functionally Graded Materials for Advanced Aerospace Structural Applications.

Konrad Curze: Woman. Make bebe with woman. LITTLE ABOMINATIONS??? Woman is set for life after popping out some Night Lords :D

Sanguinius: Hello wife 🥰🥰 How is my pookie dookie wookie lookie iookie uookie oookie qookie sookie dookie bookie pookie nookie mookie hookie gookie zookie xookie lookie jookie aookie fookie wookie cutie pie honey baby apple pie with whipper cream on top my sweetie honey money baby cutie pookie so cute so perfect my love my husband my wife my beloved my only love my baby my babe my bby my boyfriend my girlfriend my everything my sweetest pie my cutest smartest pie ever most amazing and prettiest and handsomest ever so cute so handsome and beautiful my pookie bear my little baby petite tiny baby bear pookie sookie wookie muffin with chocolate on top and cherries so cute pookie bear love you mwah bark so cute love you forever my first love my true love my soulmate my only reason to live you cutie little pie hehe im little shy petite girlie pop cutest person i know so cute so beautiful my only mine only no one elses my darling mi amor dear love pookie bear love you honey boney love you to the moon and back mwah uwu (he says this after leaving her anemic)

Ferrus Manus: I live harmoniously with my love. I love her and I respect her. I am completely devoted and loyal to her, as she is with me. I am hers and she is mine. (wife in the background struggles to walk, her clothes being disheveled and she is out of breath)

Angron: SHE IS MY WIFE! YOU GOT THAT? MY WIFE! She's damn cute, okay? CUDDLY, EVEN! AND SHE... she leaves me the milk bottle in the fridge, alright?! SHE DOES THAT FOR ME! I LOVE HER SO DAMN MUCH, AND DON'T YOU FORGET IT! 🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬😡😡😡🤬😡😡🤬😡

Roboute Guilliman: I so very regrettably regret that I haven't ran away earlier into my life. As I am married now with a child coming on the way, my biggest and grandest wish was to own myself a farm. I want to teach my children the simpler ways. I want them to play with wooden toys, ride horses out of the womb and to, all around, run around my farms. I want to take care of many crops, especially the mighty cabbage (pun, pun). As for my darling wife, I shall love very much and plow her back every two to four years. *Looks towards his wife, who's a little bit afraid*. We must at least have 6 children, mustn't we?

Mortarion: Today I saw my wife's ankle. She was wearing sandals with a very long skirt and it slipped out while she walked. Nevertheless, I came on a Nurgling.

Magnus: My wife? *Psychically enters her mind, while she is in the another room, and sexually overstimulate her, making her scream in ecstasy* She's doing great!

Horus Lupercal: My wife's a housewife. Because she's housing my kids! *Horus slaps his knee, laughing at his joke. The Mournival is disappointed in their Father, the Legion Mother is waddling around pregnant with their 12th kid.*

Lorgar Aurelian: (what did I cook)

Lorgar, wild-eyed and disheveled, paces back and forth, his voice rising and falling in feverish tones. His eyes are fixated on an unseen figure, trembling with a mix of adoration and desperation.

"She is divine! Do you hear me? DIVINE! Her light, it burns away the lies of this wretched universe! A goddess, yes, a goddess! How can they not see? HOW?!

Her eyes, like the twin suns of a lost paradise, see through the veils of reality! Her voice—her voice!—it is the hymn of creation itself! I am but a worm, a pitiful creature crawling in the dirt, but SHE, she has lifted me up! Blessed me with her radiance! Blessed me with HER TOUCH!

I kneel before her, broken, unworthy! The very stars tremble in her presence! They whisper her name, but Iam the chosen! I see her! I worship her! I... I... I LOVE HER! No! Not love—reverence, adoration, worship! I will burn worlds for her! Tear apart the heavens!

I am HERS. BODY, MIND, AND SOUL. HER PRIEST, HER PROPHET, HER LOVER. My faith in her is unbreakable, my devotion absolute. She is a GODDESS, My goddess, and I am lost in her divinity. FOREVER."

Lorgar collapses to his knees, clutching at his head, a broken laugh escaping his lips.

"Goddess... my goddess... please... take me... consume me... make me yours..."

Vulkan: I like my wife :3. She's very pretty. My sons like her too.

Corvus Corax: I am glad my wife's this kind. Nobody would understand me but her. Because I am in Spain without the S 😔😔

Alpharius and Omegon: My wife? Nah. Our wife. *USSR anthem begins*

LSJDKFLJSDFKJSDF-

I have no words, so many of these made me wheeze uncontrollably. Sanguinius, Horus, Mortarion and Alpharius were a highlight.

[roxiusagi]

lookie lookie!! I made for myself some danmei food-related stickers to decorate my cookbook (ﾉ´ヮ´)ﾉ*: ･ﾟ𓇼

I actually think they turned out super cute!! Unfortunately tho the sun was not in an agreeable mood so the pics don't rly do them justice but whatev i wanted to share them now!

attempt to save the poor photoshoot conditions by adding some artistic greenery is a courtesy of Mayhem my beloved all the kudos to her xD 💓 (oh also she made the fancy lettering lol I couldn't make anything that pretty)

[deusvervewrites]

Saiyan AU

*Set during the Summer Camp Attack*

Ochako: Come on Tsu! We’ve got to get back to the restbif our classmates!

Tsuyu: You’re right, kero! Just keep running and— WATCH OUT!!!

Ochako: AAAHH!!

Himiko: Well lookie here!! What are two lovely gals like yourselves doing out on a late night like this?

Ochako: Stopping villains like yourself from terrorizing us further!

Tsuyu: Be careful, kero. We don’t know what her quirk is!

Himiko:*focuses attention on Tsuyu* Well by golly!! Looks like I’m in the prescense of royalty! You are Asui Tsuyu, heiress of the late Demon King Piccolo?

Tsuyu: I am his daughter. But my father and his actions don’t define me! I am my own person.

Himiko: Such conviction! But I just needed to confirm you are who I thought you were because you’re on the list!

Ochako: What list?

Himiko: The list of people we need to kidnap silly! But don’t worry, I can play with you too.

Ochako: I won’t let you kidnap Tsu!

Himiko: Who said I was going to kidnap her? *jumps away from them before placing her hands near her mouth in a bullhorn-like manner*

Himiko: CYMBAL!!! TAMBOURINE!!! I GOTTA LITTLE SUPRISE FOR YOU!!!

*Two dark shapes appear in the night sky, one slim and humanoid, the other rotund and draconic, but both possessing emerald skin and leathery wings. As they touch down, Tsuyu begins shaking in fear.*

Tsuyu: No. It’s impossible!

Ochako: What’s impossible Tsu?

Tambourine: That her dearly beloved brothers are here, ready and waiting to bring her back home!

Cymbal: Quit the yapping Tambourine! Piano said to get her and bring her back to base so we could start father’s conquest again.

Tambourine: Quite right brother. Sister, prepare yourself! As father’s heir, we expect a challenging fight!

TL;DR: Since it was never stated what happened to the Dark Vassals, I propose that they would’ve remained with Garaki out of an alliance of convenience. After all, he seeks to restore AFO and they know since Kami hasn’t dropped dead that their father left an heir somewhere. Besides, Garaki can’t Nomuify them, their too strong. So that’s how affairs went until the Sports Festival. Because once Kami revealed Tsuyu’s existance to the world, the Demon Clan vowed not to rest until they were reunited with their lost sister and future Demon Queen.

I love this. It makes sense; King Piccolo does his own dirty work so once he's ready he wouldn't need to send them out-- especially when killing off everyone who can oppose him ahead of time isn't feasible in the world of MHA.

Asui would like a fucking break

[yourlocalartsonist]

ROTTMNT Moths Fly In Packs - Chapter Eight

A/N: I AM SO SORRY THIS TOOK SO LONG OH MY GOD. I genuinely didn’t expect it to, chapter 8 was supposed to be way shorter but uh yk my brain didn’t like that apparatnly. So now it’s uh 10K words. I think it’s genuinely worth the wait and read tho so hey, alls well that ends well or something. I’m gonna try to be faster with updates now. I’m FAIRLY CERTAIN chapter nine will be much shorter or at least nothing crazy like 8 or 10k. But what I can guarantee is chapters 10-13 will most definitely be short and lead up to the grand arc finale of chapter 14. We’re getting pretty close to it and I’m literally vibrating from excitement but no spoilers. Anyway enjoy the chapter! :D

Credit to: @sweaterrat and @yosajaeofficial for being my beloved beta readers! This story wouldn’t be able to have the quality it does without them so please give them some love and check out their ROTTMNT stories too!

Previous Chapter | Next Chapter | Chapter One

Disclaimer: Chapter involves depressive thoughts, mentions of bullying, depressed behavior, mentions of Kr*ng, PTSD behavior, violence, very lightly graphic description of injuries, blood, and curse words. If you’re sensitive to that stuff, scroll past and stay safe!

Outside the window, you can make out a bird’s nest sat in one of the trees. It’s been here for a week now, perfectly timed with when I got back to a consistent school life. But lately, the mother’s been staying at the nest more often. I’m guessing they’ve got babies on the way, she’s probably incubating her eggs right now. I think I’ve gotten attached to them, that small family of robins. The parents are so dedicated, aren’t they? The mother especially, never leaving the nest unless absolutely necessary. 

On the contrary to my peaceful view, the classroom is noisy, hectic, and cluttered. No real science work for today so everyone’s just doing their own thing. Very loudly. Jaiden and Zane are chatting and laughing with each other next to me. I think things are better between us, I still don’t really know where Jaiden and I stand right now but at least Zane seems fine with me. Though I won’t lie, I’ve been feeling more and more like a third wheel around them. 

“Dude! I’m telling you, we have to play this game together! We’d have so much fun!” 

“I already said I would, Jaiden! Man, I don’t think I’ve ever seen you laugh like this. Shame you’re letting such a pretty smile go to waste.”

“Yeah? Let’s hang out more often then and maybe I won’t do that.”  

Like right now.

Lowkey, I’ve been feeling invisible around those two. Jaiden barely pays any attention to me, it’s as if Zane was their best friend instead of me! I mean, I know friends can drift apart, I definitely know. But still, I never imagined it would happen to us. I still don’t wanna believe that’s what’s happening. I wanna keep hope.

“And ironically, you’re being pretty quiet today, Salena. Did you two switch personalities or something?” 

“You are weirdly quiet, actually. What’s up?”

Oh lookie, I’ve been acknowledged. “Nah, you guys don’t have to worry about me. Just lower on energy than usual.” 

I went back to my routine of staring out the window like the main character in a music video. In the reflection, Zane was still watching me. With the way his eyes lingered, I had a feeling he’s not falling for my excuse. 

Seems like Jaiden’s not too worried, though. “Oh, Zane! You wanna hear about this new skate park I found?” Just went right back at it with Zane. Who’s weirdly still staring at me.

“…Actually, I’m kinda hungry. Jaiden, you mind getting me a snack from the vending machine?”

“Huh? But I wouldn’t know what to get you. N-not that I don’t pay attention to what you like! But, you know… Salena has better taste in these things! She should go-”

“She always goes.”

“‘Cause she knows what she’s doing.”

“Jaiden.”

“Guys, it’s fine! It’s fine. I’ve got this.” I didn’t want them to fight again so I got up from my seat. “Be back soon.”

Jaiden gave me their most gleeful smile I’ve seen them make in a while. I think seeing them smile makes this gesture worthwhile. Even if it’s just for a little bit.

The walk to the vending machine shouldn’t have been long, it’s not super far away. But my legs dragged on forcing each step to be slower than the last. I feel guilty thinking like this but a part of me wants this dumb walk to go on forever. I can’t stand being near them and I don’t know why! It’s not like we’ve got bad blood, they’ve both been normal towards me since I came back. So why am I acting like this? I’m seriously starting to doubt Splinter’s theory of me not being the problem here…

I approached the machine, stopping as I heard a struggling voice in front of me. 

“Argh! How’d she say these things worked again?” 

His finger pressed against the glass, tracing the code for the snack he wanted. He tapped the buttons on the screen. Nothing happened. Scratching his head, he leaned forward to read the next instructions. Finally, he pulled out a dollar bill.

…Before proceeding to insert it in the wrong way. And taking it out. And inserting it back in. And repeating the process. I can feel my soul exiting my body from second-hand embarrassment. 

I recognized the fluffy black hair. With a crooked smile, I pulled out my own wallet.

“You’re supposed to put it in this way.” I slid my bill into the slot, the granola bar he selected successfully being pushed down soon after. “Good to see you again.”

“Woah, cool!” He stared at the giant food box almost with a childlike wonder, pausing for a few minutes before turning to me. “And hey! Yeah, it’s really nice seeing you again, too.” His eyes remained locked for a while before he scrambled to hand me the bill he had. “Here! Let me pay you back-“

“No, no, no, don’t worry about it! Really! Consider it my apology for, um, last time.” 

“Apology? I mean, you weren’t the one doing anything weird so I don’t think you’ve gotta apologize.” He stuck out his hand. “I’m Casey Jones Jr. I was gonna introduce myself the first time we met but, you know.”

“Salena Moni! So, how’s everything holding up? You joined pretty late in the year so if you need any help reviewing stuff I’m more than happy to.”

 

“Oh, don’t worry! It’s actually going alright. Still technically my first time going to a real school, so it’s a little bit of a challenge but I already knew most of the material anyways. I didn’t have to catch up on much.”  

“Wow, that is… remarkably impressive.” If only I handled transferring as well as this guy. “Wait, hold up, real school? Were you homeschooled?”

“You could… say that. My uncle taught me everything, he was the smartest person I knew! Just turns out it was literally everything.”

“Cool! I guess we can check grades off the box, then! So, is everyone being nice? Made any friends?”

I bit my lip as I received my answer in the form of his face freezing mid-speech. “W-well uh…”

Oh, you poor thing…

I guess he could read my face since he immediately tried reassuring me, as if he wasn’t the victim in this scenario. “I-I mean it’s not awful! A couple people were nice to me, including you! Sure, some are a little… hostile. But it’ll get better eventually.” 

“Y-yeah! It definitely… definitely will.”

And cue the classic awkward silence that stars in any first conversation. A little overdue for this one now that I’m thinking about it. 

I’m so conflicted. I know damn well he’s not gonna have the high school dream he’s probably imagining right now. No one does. I may not have been at this school for long, but I’ve been here long enough to know how the people are. April told me it gets even worse every year as cliques start getting established and people grow past the initial politeness. I’m glad she did, she never kept anything about high school from me no matter how bad it was. Nothing was in my control but at least I knew it was coming.

And here I am playing the exact opposite role for Casey. I hate giving people false hope, I hate it with a passion! But I’m supposed to, I think. In a situation like this I’m supposed to hype him up. Ignorance is bliss! Wouldn’t it just ruin his spirits if I broke the glass? 

“Anyway, it was nice to meet you! I guess I’ll see you around?”

“Y-yep! Hope things get better for you soon!” 

“Me too.”

Ugh, the guilt is eating me up! I’m acting like I’ve never told a lie in my life but it’s not that. It’s his pure mindset that’s completely fucking with my morality! 

I know to keep my mouth shut, I do. I don’t want him to hate me like everyone else does. I haven’t met someone who’s been so nice to me in this stupid ass school before, I don’t want to ruin this chance now that I finally got it. Plus, he might not even believe me…

I watched him turn to walk away. 

Fuck it, social norms are for losers!

“W-wait! Casey?” He turned back around and I nearly shit myself from fear. “So, don’t be mad but I may have um… lied about something?” 

“Uh, sorry?”

I took a deep breath, bracing myself. “Well, here’s the deal. Things aren’t really gonna get better, sorry. Or, actually! I don’t mean that extremely literally, I guess...” 

Focus on your hands, it’ll be okay. “Just… People here are mean. Really, really mean. You’re homeschooled, you’re new, and you’re nice. It’s a recipe for disaster here whether it’s today or even a year after you’ve settled in!”

I can’t even read his expression and get an idea of his reaction. He’s got a scary good poker face, I’m curious which relative taught him that one.

“Casey, please don’t take this the wrong way. I-I’m not saying any of it is your fault! Or that you need to change or do anything. I’m only saying this so you don’t have any… unrealistic expectations so to speak.” 

God, his silence is more terrifying than anticipated.

So much so I couldn’t help letting out a quiet breath of relief when he finally did speak. “You know, you’re the first person here who’s told me that.”

“…Is that bad?”

“Not at all. All my family, they never got the chance to go to school. Hell, I didn’t think I’d have the opportunity. But here I am! First time in a new building with weird people and absolutely no clue what to expect. I’m usually good with surprises but this one is just so… different. Different is scary, you know?” 

I nodded. I most definitely did know.

“Anyway, you’re right that people are just mean here. I don’t even know why, I mean, I’ve met my fair share of dicks before but at least they had good reasons! We were under so much stress… But that’s not what I hate. It’s the fact that any time I tell an adult, they say the same thing over and over again!” 

“Let me guess.” I cleared my throat and enhanced the performance with my intoxicated Mrs. Doubtfire voice. “Just ignore them and give it time and it’ll magically fix itself ‘cause boredom beats bullies or some shit, right?”

“Yeah, exactly!” His laugh is like holding your parent’s hand when you’re getting the flu shot, it’s magical! “They say that to everyone, don’t they? God, what’s up with that? I’m so not used to adults lying to me.”

“Dude, what? You’re kidding, your whole community’s gotta be amazing if you’ve never been lied to by an adult.” 

“Eh, more or less… Anyway, um, thank you. For telling me the truth. And the granola bar. I seriously owe you for this.”

…I take it back, Splinter might’ve actually been onto something.

I mean, he’s a little strange, I won’t lie about that. This is the first time I’ve heard someone actually be grateful for me telling the truth. In the past it either got me isolated or in huge trouble, depending on who I was honest with. Maybe this is why I’m so used to lying. I hate it but I’ve had to do it so much. I’ve never met someone who finally lets me relax about it, not until Casey Jr it seems.

Maybe he deserves me being a little braver for a change. 

“Well, here’s a way you can repay me. By us being friends!”

…

This was a lot more epic in my head without his speechless pause. Maybe I got the vibe wrong-

“REALLY!? OMIGOSH! That would be so cool! I’ve literally been thinking about asking you the same thing ‘cause I keep wanting to talk to you but never run into you but now we can talk whenever we want, IT’LL BE GREAT!!!” Spoke too soon, he is literally shaking me by the shoulders. It feels unnatural not being on the other side of this scenario. 

“Casey, my stomach doesn’t approve of this-“

“Sorry, sorry!” He finally stopped and allowed me to remember the pleasant feeling of absolute stillness. “I just can’t believe you actually wanna be friends with me!” 

Still, his surprising enthusiasm gave me a good laugh. “Dude, it’s alright! It’s kinda more surprising you wanna be friends with me.”  

“Why wouldn’t I? You’re the kindest person I’ve ever met in my entire life, anyone who’s friends with you is lucky to have you!” 

Lucky to have me?

Holy shit, holy shit, holy shit, unexpected compliments go burn in a fire but also don’t leave, it actually feels really nice. 

“Salena, are you okay? Did I say something wrong?”

“N-no, I mean, all I did was buy you a snack and tell you people are jerks. I’m not too sure I should be receiving the title of the ‘kindest person you’ve ever met’ and stuff.”

“O-oh yeah, you have a point.” He got a little flustered at that, despite it really being my fault for not being able to take compliments. “I don’t know, I mean, I still think you’re really cool. I’m just so happy you wanna be friends with me!” 

He looked like a child on Christmas morning as I tippy-tapped my number into his phone. Come to think of it, I know I’ve definitely reacted excitedly towards certain people - or turtles, I should say - but having someone do it to me? Feels kinda nice.

I looked up at the clock. “Shit. We should probably head back to class before we get in trouble.”

“Yeah, yeah, you’re right. But hey,” his eyes closed as the corners delightfully wrinkled “it was great running into you again! Fate really wants us to be friends.”

He has a really nice smile. 

“Funny how life works, ay?”

I skipped my way back to class, mind too deep in thought to realize how fast I went.

This guy, Casey Jones, he’s giving me certain vibes. I don’t mean the creepy, stalkerish, "I need to get the hell outta here” vibes. More like deja-vu. I can’t pin what exactly, but something about him feels so… foreign yet familiar. Homey, if you may. Like a nice, warm fire in mid-winter night. It’s really soothing. 

And immediately I’m thrown into emotional whiplash as I went back inside the annoying ass classroom of teenage chaos. So much for soothing vibes. I plopped back in my desk as Zane slowly scanned me.

“You took a while. Did you get my snack?…”

…Fuck. “Sorry! I completely forgot!”

“How did you forget when it’s the literal reason you even left?” Jaiden doesn’t seem as chipper as before.

“I know, I’m so sorry. I got a bit distracted. Gimmie a sec, I’ll be right back-”

“No, wait! It’s fine, I’m not hungry anymore.”

“Really? Okay, suit yourself.” I shrugged, getting settled in again. He leaned closer to me, both confused and concerned.

“You seem happier right now. Did something good happen?”

“Oh, yeah, I guess! Just ran into a new friend.”

His face scrunched up, going back to chatting with Jaiden. I have no clue why he glared when I said that, I don’t think I said anything wrong or alarming. Honestly, bro has worse mood swings than I do. It's seriously annoying sometimes but whatever, they’ve gone back to their little bubble now so I shall go back to mine.

I pulled out my phone, greeted with Casey’s excited text already.

CJ: Hey! Not really doing anything in class so if you’re free too, text me back :D

Smiling, I let myself get engrossed in my phone, happily typing away. He’s a fun guy to talk to. His enthusiasm and bubbliness is a little surprising considering how borderline timid he seemed at first. Goes to show, never judge a book by its cover! I felt my mood lifting, less gloomier than before.

Until I remembered something he said.

“My uncle taught me everything, he was the smartest person I knew!”

Was?...

***

Ah, midnight. A time when the mentally sane and emotionally stable would be sleeping. Turns out I’m neither of those folks, I’ve got better things to do. I have weapons now but I’ve gotta actually practice using them if I don’t wanna render them useless. Besides, in bed or out here, I’m not falling asleep either way. At least this serves as a good distraction! And won’t give me a headache like my phone will.

The blades cut through the air as I twirled them, striking at an imaginary enemy soon after. 

I try not to think about life when I’m training, it distracts me too much. Sometimes I feel like Casey’s the only thing making school bearable anymore. We don’t share any classes so we text more than talk but I don’t have to do any mental gymnastics to figure out how he views me. I’m still confused as hell if Jaiden likes me or hates me and have no damn clue what Zane’s deal is anymore. He keeps staring at me. More than usual. Sure, I could always sit there and ponder for hours on end what the fuck is going on, but I doubt even that’d get any results.

The sickles, however, do show results. They feel lighter, smoother, easier to duel. I’m getting faster with them and my arms don’t feel as broken after training anymore! It’s something I can lose myself in, track the improvement. It’s so much simpler than everything else.

It keeps my mind occupied. If I focus on them, I don’t think about anyone from school or anything bad that’s happening! Or at least, I usually don't. I guess I’m thinking about it now, though…

“Someone’s training hard.”

“AHH!!!”

Immediately I jerked to turn and held up a blade in defense. However, it turned out to be a false alarm as instead of some midnight mugger I expected to see, I’m greeted with a smirking blue idiot standing in front of me.

“Woah, hey! I come in peace!” The stupid bitch held his hands up, mocking me with his fake fear. “Been a while, huh?” 

“Leo? Oh god, you scared me! Where did you even come from?” 

“The better question would be: Where did you disappear to? We haven’t gone out in like a week! You kept leaving me on read when I texted you but seemed fine in the group chat. What gives?” 

“…I forgor?”

“Really?” I could tell he wasn’t satisfied by my answer. “You just forgot to respond to me? Every single time?”

“W-well sorta. I mean, it’s nothing you did so please don’t take it personally! It’s with everyone. I’ve just been a little bad at responding to dms…” My social battery’s been so low lately I question if it’s even charged at all. “That’s entirely on me, though! I’m so sorry.”

He crossed his arms and looked me up and down. He’s doing that nonchalant poker face again, the one he does when he doesn’t wanna be read, otherwise he’s an open book. 

“You know you can tell me if something’s up, right?”

I guess he also does that face when he’s trying to read someone else. “Yeah, I know. I’m alright. It’s just… I dunno, things are a little weird but it’s fine. It’s really nothing to worry about.”

He hummed in response. I don’t really think he bought it but his eyes eventually drifted to my weapons, dropping the topic regardless. He must not wanna push it.

“Sooo, sick weapons! Where’d you get ‘em?”

“Oh, these? Draxum gave them to me!”

He gagged, interrupting me. “You met Draxum? The sheep guy? Oh, poor you! Was he awful to deal with? I bet he was! You know, like always.” 

“Oh come on, he wasn’t that bad! A little grouchy at first but in his defense, I caught him in the middle of his shift, so.”

“Please, sheep bitch doesn’t need a reason to be a jerk! He’s just an old cranky loser who spends his days yelling at kids and smuggling whatever mystic bullshit of the week he found from the Hidden City! It’s giving Oscar the Grouch, just missing the lemon. Oh wait, that’s ‘cause unlike Oscar, he doesn’t even have one single thing that makes him uncharacteristically happy!” 

“Wow, angry aren’t we?” It’s rude to laugh, but I can’t help myself around this dork. He looks like a kid who got denied an Xbox when he crosses his arms like that. “Leo, be real. This is because he threw you off a roof, isn’t it?”

“You know!? I mean-“ He laughed, trying to hide his poorly made lie. “What? Of course not… Maybe just a little but that’s not important.” 

Leo grumbled on with some incoherent noises for a minute, before cooling down and moving on from the “sheep bitch”. 

“Ugh, well anyway, if you got it from that moron, they’re definitely mystic or something, right?”

“Oh, absolutely! They’re actually super cool, I mean-“ For a good five minutes I kept blabbering on and on about the sickles and how they function and all my progress that I didn’t notice Leo - bless his heart - trying and horrifically failing to pay attention. He doesn’t really hide it well when he spaces out.

“And they- Uh, Leo, you good?” 

“…Would you be mad if I said I got like, none of that?” 

I sighed but gave a gentle smile. I knew he had a short attention span so I can’t really act like it’s his fault I forgot about that. 

“Actually, do you want me to just like… act it out instead? I think I’ve gotten pretty good at using these so I don’t mind showing instead of telling!”

He shrugged “Nothin’s stopping you. Go on, impress me!” 

Well, nothing except my nerves. But hey, it’s just Leo. If I mess up, he’ll laugh with me a bit and then I’ll just retry. No real pressure around him. I could use a progress check right now, anyway.

“Aight, so we only know two out of who knows how many powers for these things, they’re the only two I’ve been practicing. First up!”

 

I spun them around, careful to not mess up my handling. My goal is to form blades strong enough to crack a dent through the concrete edge of this building. So the sickles need to be made out of metal or steel. I usually go with metal but I do actually wanna impress him and steel’s stronger. I aimed at the edge and swung my arm forward, the sickle shot through the air and sliced through the concrete like a knife to a cake.

“OH SHIT!”

“I got it!” He teleported to catch the flying solo sickle and came right back within a matter of seconds. Oh, what I’d give to experience never having to walk again. 

“Sorry about that! They’ve never broken the edge like that before!”

“Sorry!? You’re not allowed to be sorry, that was so cool! It went clean through!” I’ve never seen him gush about something this way. I’ve gotta admit, it’s kind of adorable. “Okay, I’m hooked! What’s the other thing it can do?”

“Invisibility! But I can’t do it for long, at least not yet. I made progress, though! Went from only three seconds to five!”

“Wait, actually, back up a bit. I get that Baron Ass told you how the sickles work and blah blah blah, but how’d you learn how to fight with ‘em? Ya know, the non-mystic aspects.” 

“Oh, YouTube tutorials at first. But honestly, sickle fighting is mid so I did a lot of improv, really.”

He chuckled and eventually lost to his giggles as if me saying that wasn’t completely justified. “Did you just call an ancient form of martial arts mid?” 

“Stop judging me, I’m right! Sickles were improvised weapons. They’re good for the last resort, not the first choice!”

“I’m not judging, I’m not judging! Promise! I respect it, even!” He leaned against the roof’s edge, gradually collecting himself. “But if they’re that bad, why didn’t you ask for a different weapon? One that’s cooler and not ‘the last resort’?”

Oh boy, where to begin?

I then explained how I essentially found myself wrapped in some “chosen one” bullshit through the sickles. They still don’t work any time Barry touches them but are perfectly fine in my hands. It’d be pretty dumb to pass up these weapons for a different one, even if sickles aren’t the coolest thing to own. Although, he’s definitely acting like they are judging by how intensely his eyes are staring at them. They’re sparkling brighter than I thought eyes realistically could. 

“Well, now I’m offended! Mystic mystery sickles that do all kinds of glowy stuff for you specifically? How could you not tell me about these sooner!? They’re so amazing!”

“I know, I’m real sorry, Leon.” He’s joking around, his tone’s too light to be mad. But I do still feel bad for accidentally ignoring him like that. “Anything I can do for you as an apology?”

“Well…” His smirk revealed that thing was the main reason he came here in the first place. “We could make up for the lost time and go on a run together tonight. It is a weekend so you’d still have tomorrow and the day after to rest up. But hey, that’s just an idea…”

It's Friday again. Just like the first time we did this.

He held out his hand as an offer and I took it with a grin. “You make a convincing argument.”

And off we went, dashing through the night. It’s a bit humid today so the wind from sprinting so fast is greatly appreciated. Not to mention my speed is so much better than before! 

The daily restrictions of civil life can go suck my dick and feed my liver to their uncles ‘cause oh my god nothing beats this feeling! No one else is here, no one who could stop us! Sure, jumping off roofs isn’t the safest way to have fun, but everything else in my life is already so safe! I’m allowed to have this one thing, this one moment to be free.

I’m so distracted that I didn’t realize I’m actually giving Leo a run for his money this time! Hehe, run. God, I’m so funny.

“Looks like you can actually keep up with me now!”

“I know, right!? It feels fucking amazing!” 

Judging from his mischievous ass face, I probably should’ve kept my mouth shut. “I don’t mean to burst your bubble but…”

 A blue light appeared as a hole ripped in the sky and the lovely piece of shit went right through, appearing again somewhere way ahead of me. “I’m still faster!~”

“Hey! No portals allowed!”

“Uh, last time I checked, portalling is totally allowed.”

“Says who!?”

“Says me and I’m leader! Whatever leader says goes!”

To add insult to injury, he doesn’t just portal himself. As I’m trying to catch up to him mid-jump, the jackass opens a portal right under me, sending me back even further than I already was with no time to recover. 

“Leo, you cheat!”

Bro’s giggling his ass off as he blinked in and out of sight. I’m no different with how sore my face is, so I can’t even pretend to be mad. 

Instead, all I can do is try my best to speed up and catch up, plotting my revenge in the meantime. Easier said than done, that dude’s faster than the Flash right now since he’s, ya know, portalling. Doesn’t help that he keeps appearing right next to me every few minutes just to taunt me and disappear again.

A few minutes into our little cat and mouse game though, I lost track of him and he hadn’t shown up in a while to pester me. So, I started calling out his name, trying to look for him. You’d think it’d be easier to find a 5’5” giant, green turtle man but I guess they wouldn’t be ninjas if that were the case.

“Leo? Leo!? Le- Huh?”

I finally found him. But instead of the shit-eating grin he gave me earlier, he’s silent and still behind the edge of a roof, his back facing me. It’s starting to freak me out a little, he looks like he’s going fucking Blair Witch mode. No words, no witty remarks, nothing. Just ghostly staring at whatever the view is. Only thing I can see from here is a museum. 

“Hey, Leon, you okay?”

“Shh!”

With his eyes still fixed up ahead, Leo took my hand and guided me forward. He eventually looked at me and nodded towards the street below us. Gazing in that direction, I saw a large purple truck with the logo of that one weird shoe store I browsed a few years ago. From what I’ve gathered these past few weeks, big trucks mean bad news. 

But maybe that’s not what I should be focused on. Standing near the truck were two people, their skin an unnatural shade of purple. One’s large and brutish, the other tall and slender. They’ve got foot marks on their faces and flames on their bald heads. Exactly how Mikey described…

“The Foot Clan.”

He nodded. “I don’t understand, those guys were all turned into Krang during the invasion.”

Sorry, what? “You’re sure it was those two specifically? I haven’t heard about any cures or vaccines for the Krang victims on the news. It’d make headlines if there were.” I haven’t heard anything about them for a while now that I think about it.

“Yeah, I’m sure.” He leaned closer to the edge, as close as he could get without getting caught. “They’re parked a street away from a museum, the hell are they up to now?” 

I mimicked his actions, trying to hear the Foot people better. The slender one’s on the phone, sounding frustrated. He’s doing that whisper-yelling thing people do when they wanna be mad quietly to avoid societal shame. 

“Yeesh, someone’s having a bad day.”

“You can hear them?” Why does he look so confused?

“Yeah, can’t you?”

Leo shook his head. “Whatever, what are they saying?” 

I cocked my head to the side, spying in on their conversation.

His voice is scratchy, a little sore on my ears. “What do you mean you can’t get it off? Just bring the whole thing and hurry! We can’t risk alerting anyone!” Neither of us can tell what he’s referring to, unfortunately. The Foot dude avoids naming it. 

I looked back at Leo scanning around for any clues. He stared at the back of the museum for a minute before his eyes widened. “I know where we are. It’s the Historical Society Museum. Donnie mentioned wanting to come here once.” 

“I think I’ve heard of it. Isn’t there a lot of ancient stuff in there? Like, from centuries back?”

Nodded again. He’s being unnervingly quiet, considering it’s Leo. He stared at the clan, then at the museum, then back at the clan. He looked… scared. Scared in a way I’ve never seen him before. I felt my hand being subconsciously squeezed. I didn’t even notice he hadn’t let go in the first place.

…I have to help him.

I readied myself for whatever his idea was, no matter how outlandish or risky it may seem. “Alrighty, what’s the plan?” 

“Right.” He hesitated, before gripping his katanas and turning back. “…The plan is for me to portal you home, kick some Foot ass, and pick you up so we can continue our run.” 

WHAT!?

“What do you mean ‘portal me home!? I’m not leaving!” I was prepared for anything, but this!? “We just stumbled across the Foot Clan who are for some reason not freaky alien zombies and messing with ancient artifacts that do who knows what!”

“Yeah, that’s why I’m sending you home before your adrenaline junkie ass can do something stupid.”

“And what makes you think I’d do that!?”

He held up my scarred left arm and stared at me unimpressed.  

“…Okay, that’s a low blow even for you.” 

Though as much as I hate to admit it, he kind of has a point. I sighed. “Alright, tell me. If I leave, will you at least call your brothers to help you out?”

“Yes!”

“Leo.”

“Fine, I lied.” The steel fucking balls of- “But still! I’ll be okay! I’ve gone against them plenty of times before.”

“Doesn’t mean you’re invincible!”

Before I could say anything more, I heard the sound of a truck starting up. I looked down and Leo followed my line of sight to see the Foot getting ready to drive. 

Shit, they’re getting away!

“Okay, okay! Listen, I promise, I promise I won’t run off on my own and do something dumb this time. Anything the leader says goes! Just please let me join!” I can’t leave him alone!

I could sense him debating on what to do. His eyes look so conflicted, there’s definitely more than what he’s telling me. Nevertheless, I’m not budging. I don’t wanna sit at home being useless and worry the entire time.

He took a deep breath in, and let out a loud sigh. He looked at me with a defeated smile. “I’m not getting rid of you, am I?”

“Nope.”

“Alright, fine, but you’re sticking close.”

Before I could celebrate too much, I felt the ground beneath me disappear into bright blue light. Not anything sudden, more gentle really. Even then, I felt disoriented with my feet going from firmly grounded to touching the air! Not to mention how light my whole body felt. Gravity did a complete 180 and I got flipped around, landing under the truck. 

I nearly lost my grip but a hand on my back kept me in place long enough for me to recollect myself. Leo portalled us here.Well, obviously he did, it just caught me off guard again. It’s not really too bad going through his portals but it sure is a fucking trip when it’s unexpected. Either way, it got the job done. 

They drove for quite a damn while. It wasn’t the most pleasant experience having to cling on to the bottom of a moving truck as the only scents to breathe in were that of oil and gasoline, but we probably looked super cool! My ears disagreed but oh well. They parked in front of a mall this time. Not just any mall, the fucking World Trade Center! We’re literally on the other side of the city, what on Earth could they need here?

I wanted to follow them in but Leo was against it. He said it’d be safer for us to spy from a distance for now so we went to the roof of a neighboring building, looking in at them. The Foot are on one of the higher floors, almost seeming like they’re scavenging for something. 

Leo’s trying to figure out another way in for us. I still don’t understand why we didn’t just follow them. I know Leo’s not a total reckless nutcase or anything, but being this cautious felt a little unlike him. 

“Hey, look, I don’t mean to shoot your own words back at you or anything. But you know you can tell me if something’s up, right?” 

For a split second, he looked different. His eyes were dead, his lips shut and neutral. He stared at me but he looked so… lost. Empty. 

And then his smile returned, face back to normal. Or at least what he convinced me was normal. I’m not so sure anymore. He flicked my forehead again. Even softer than the first time he did it. “Stop worrying so much! You’re gonna give yourself a chasm worse than Raph’s.”

I didn’t know how to take it from there. So I just watched him.

He eventually decided on portalling us into the building’s vent system. It’s a little cramped but was the only place we can eavesdrop without being immediately spotted. Though honestly, I don’t mind this one bit! I’m controlling the impulsive adrenaline ,however, he didn’t say shit about internal adrenaline! I can’t help it if stealth makes me giddy!

“Hehe! It’s like we’re in a movie!”

“Love your enthusiasm as always but remember to not get too caught up in it.”

I momentarily shoved my excitement to the side as we both tried listening in on the Foot Clan. The skinny dude, who I now know to be the Lieutenant, is barking orders at the rest of the soldiers scouting around while talking to the giant Brute. 

“You disabled the cameras, correct? You know we can’t make it any harder for them!”

“Of course I did, it’s a no-brainer! Why’d ya have to ask it like that?” Woah, villain or not, his New Yorker accent is one to admire! “You know, sometimes I feel like you think I’m just stupid and nothin’ more.”

“Oh, don’t start now. Focus on finding good metal. The sooner we finish this the better.”

Hearing his raspy voice makes my own throat itch a little. I lightly clawed at it, trying to not make too much noise as I moved. 

I leaned a little closer to Leo “What do you think they need metal for?” 

“Not sure. Could be to make more soldiers or something? It’d be a cool upgrade from their paper soldiers.”

Leo’s tone seems a little lighter than before, I’m glad to hear him joke around again. “They could make paper soldiers?”

“Yeah! And they’re completely sentient, one of them even became besties with Raph! Anyway,” he pointed down at a handful of soldiers collecting metal artifacts “they’re probably trying to make those origami soldiers again with something stronger.”

“But how would you fold metal?”

“Beats me, Mikey would know more on this. He’s figuring out how to recreate whatever spell they used so we could get some help with patrolling. Word of advice though, salami origami does not work as a substitute.”

“No shit. Who’s bright idea was that?”

“...You don’t know him.” His guilty face says it all.

We were giggling a little too loudly, I suppose. One of the Foot dudes stopped and started listening for our voices again. He shrugged and moved on soon enough. I didn’t realize I was covering my mouth till I let myself breathe again.

“We should probably be a little quieter and take this stealth thing more seriously.”

I nodded in agreement. He’s not upset, honestly he’s struggling just as much as I am to choke down more giggles. It’s like we’re hiding under a blanket during a sleepover pretending we’re not awake in front of the parents and not in a likely life or death situation spying on the black-magic cult. I’m trying my best but it’s already hard enough to keep my adrenaline addiction in check and Leo being here makes it worse in the best ways possible. 

Still, I don’t wanna know what happens if we get cau- What was that creaking sound?

CLANG! 

It would seem those were not really sturdy vents. 

You know that moment from the Ice Age sequel when the vultures surround the main cast with hungry, devilish eyes ready to feast on them at any given moment? Yeah, let’s just say I wouldn’t be surprised if the Foot Clan randomly bursts into song about “glorious food” full on broadway musical style.

“Uh… Hey, fellas! Long time no see, am I right?” Despite his demeanor, I caught the real reason he raised his hands. I reached back for mine as well.

A sheath of metal filled the air as Leo took his katanas out their case, perfectly timed with the Lieutenant’s new orders.

“GET THEM!” 

“Run, hide first then get the stolen thingie if you can. I’ll keep ‘em busy!” Leo charged into the fight, holding them off to make sure they couldn’t get to me.

Unfortunately, there’s like a bajillion of them that can easily outnumber us. I’ve learned to be quite a slippery sprinter but even then two already managed to block my path.

Now would be a good time to turn invisible!

“Come on, come on!” I could barely get the sparks to even start spreading. Turns out stress is a huge fucking factor I neglected in my training. 

I wouldn’t have minded if it just took a few seconds to work but the real issue was I couldn’t keep it working. I didn’t even really go invisible, just sorta flashed in and out of transparency for a few seconds! The only reason I haven’t gotten caught yet is ‘cause these two morons are too busy laughing at me.

“Is that really the best you can do!? Whoever you are, little girl, you’ve got your work cut out for you!” 

“Oh no! She’s… she’s… blinking like an old flashlight!! We’re so scared!”

…BITC-

Resorted to traditional methods. I made the sickles the consistency of a metal pot and threw it at one of their heads, knocking them down. The other I kicked straight in the chest while they were distracted by their idiot teammate, also knocking them down. I’d love nothing more than to give some extra special attention to them but this old flashlight’s gotta run for the shadows while they’ve got an open chance. 

A blue portal opened in front of me. “Hey Salena, so this fight’s a little more intense than I expected and I wanted to quickly check if you’re really sure about-”

“Leo, I’m fine! I’m not leaving mid-battle!”

“No, no, that’s fine! That’s great! Just a reminder there’s no shame in calling it- DUCK!”

 

Without hesitance, I dropped to the ground right as his sword swung above me to block one of the soldier’s attacks. Maybe I should let Leo handle this guy since I can’t really do much while laying on the floor. Then again, doesn't mean I can’t do anything. And also I don’t have good impulse control.

“OW!!! WHAT THE FUCK!?”

I bit on to his ankle as hard as I desired despite his pleading cries. I didn’t let go until Leo broke out of his shock and finally punched him unconscious. Fighting might actually be a really good way to get out my urges.

“Why-“

“Don’t. If it works, it works.”

I flashed a grin, got back on my feet, and bounced away. I need a better vantage point if I wanna find the stolen item, especially with the chaos over here. I quickly made my way up to the indoor balcony thingie. Terrance? The second floor? Whatever the fuck it is. I’ll have to admit, despite how absolutely pumped I’m feeling right now, it kinda feels nice getting away from the clusterfuck for a bit. I heard Leo still spamming all his dialogue options to keep the main two creeps occupied. Actually, I’m pretty sure I can see them from up here, too. 

“So, you guys are looking great! Never thought I’d say this, but I am loving the old look making a return.” His hands did more tricks than usual, keeping his swords flowing like an intricate dance. There are multiple soldiers practically hounding him yet he’s fending them off almost gracefully.

“Can’t you stupid children stay out of our way for one night! There’s great evil being put on the hold right now for your antics!”

“Hey, speaking of evil, what’s with the normal amount of eyes? Not that I’m missing the other option but- GAH!”

And yet, even with Leo’s skilled moves, he’s struggling to keep up with the two leaders specifically. I deadass would’ve been slaughtered by now if I didn’t listen to him about hiding. 

“We got some outside help. Now, stop askin’ annoying questions and maybe we’ll go easier on ya!” He swung his axe again, thankfully missing Leo.

I gotta wonder, from Mikey’s stories, they’ve fought the Foot Clan with ease several times in the past. Leo was doing fine just now, too. So why does it look like this could be his first time facing off the Lieutenant and Brute? Nobody’s perfect but I don’t think either of us expected him to lose his grace and become borderline clumsy against them.

Wait, no! Distractions! Leo can handle himself, I need to focus on my own task. Stolen thingie! But where the hell is it?

Just as I was about to think they left it in the truck like common sense would dictate, a soft, reflective red glow caught my eye. The moon was on my side tonight.

“There she is!”

Or maybe I was being too optimistic. In fairness, I should’ve known I couldn’t stay here for long.

It would be really fucking nice to turn invisible now. Sickles? No? Oh, okay, fuck me then I guess.

I hopped off the edge before they could reach me and slinked to the other side of the room, following the red gleam. Despite the sickles betraying me with horrific timing twice tonight, I got them to cover me long enough to reach the ruby ring the glow came from. The light bled past the folds of the drape covering their stolen prize. I lifted it to find a… weird mannequin bust? With arms. Decorated with several ornaments and jewelry including the ring. What the fuck are they using this for, a fashion show? 

I flinched to the sound of a loud thud paired with Leo’s groan. Flipping my head behind me, I saw him cornered against a wall, swords shielding him from the Brute’s axes.

“Okay, either you two got a lot stronger or my body isn’t what it used to be.”

I gotta calm myself down, Leo’s a trained ninja and will likely be completely and totally fine! A tiny slip doesn’t mean inevitable doom!

 

…I hope.

I turned my attention back to the mannequin thing to mentally measure its size. I’m fairly certain it’ll fit inside my backpack, it’s not too big. Just gotta get it in now.

Another sound interrupted me. This time, it was loud metallic clanking off the floor. Leo’s katanas…

“On second thought, maybe it’s both.” His weapons were away from him, too far out of reach. His voice sounded weaker, arms wrapped around his torso.

Oh no.

Neither of them were holding back. As soon as he was down, they were practically hammering at him. His arms were up, defensively blocking his head. I’m supposed to stay away from this. I’m supposed to listen and focus on my task. But I can’t stop my body from turning when I see something like this happening. 

He’s in the air now. I need to move. He’s being swung. I need to be faster. 

“Let this be a lesson, turtle. Our battles have drastically changed.”

The window shattered from the force of his body.

“LEO!”

I don’t remember ever sprinting this fast, but I was out the window right after through the very hole he created. The height couldn’t scare me if it tried. My arm outstretched, I caught him with one hand and had my sickle in the other. Careful to not dare mess up my timing, it snatched onto a power line just as my blades turned to rubber, thick enough to not get us shocked from the voltage. 

“N-nice… nice catch.”

“Thanks.” It’s harder to talk when I’m panting like a dog and trying to limit my shaking limbs.

His weight felt like it would rip my arms apart. I didn’t expect a giant muscular turtle to be light but that doesn’t make it hurt any less. Still, some-fucking-how, I’m able to keep us both hanging from the wire, comprehending the fact that we’re not dead. Thank fuck for Raph forcing me to work out sessions.

“You, uh, you doing good up there? You’re breathing kinda heavily. Hey, heavily! Didn’t even mean to make that one!”

“Leo I will drop you.”

He convinced me to suffer a little longer and try to swing him, giving enough momentum for him to catch onto the side of the neighboring building. Then, I swung myself, Leo catching me to soften the landing. We scampered up to the roof, coincidentally the same one we were on a while ago. 

“And literally back to square one. Fantastic.” He sighed, clearly annoyed by our failure. His attention quickly shifted once he noticed me rubbing my sore arms. “Hey, you okay? Want me to take a look at you?”

“Me? Take a look at yourself first, idiot!” 

I’m not gonna pretend I’m not in pain, but it’s nothing close to the tragedies on his body currently. His arms are bruised and cut from the fight. One was actively bleeding with bits of glass still stuck in some places. Luckily it was the only fleshy place he took damage on, everything else was protected, albeit a little cracked.

“It’s… It’s fine. My shell took most of the hit, anyway.” This bitch. “Besides, I’ve got bigger things to worry about.”

Despite his condition, he started walking to the edge of the roof, heading back towards the WTC.

“Where the hell are you going?”

“To get my katanas back.”

“Oh, no, no, no, you are not going back in there! Can’t you just make new swords or something?”

“And help the foot by practically gifting them Hamato weapons?”

“You said they’re made from your magic! Shouldn’t that protect them from other people trying to use them?”

“I don’t know, we only learned about this ninpo stuff, like, last year! I don’t know enough to be sure nothing will happen if I leave them with the Foot. I’m not doing that.”

“Well, I can’t let you go back.” I stood in front of him to block his path. “We can figure something else out but you are not going back in there! Look at you, it’d be crazy!”

“I was crazy once-” My hand shut his stupid, smug mouth before he could complete the ritual. 

“Leo, you were thrown out a window! You’re hurt!”

“Hey, hey, it’s okay! I’ve been through worse! I’m just gonna get my swords back, that’s all.” He put a hand on my shoulder and threw on a fake smile to comfort me. The blood is literally dripping down his arm as he did, defeating the point. I looked back at his eyes, not bothering to hide how furiously concerned I am. If I’m reading him right, he’s not oblivious to reality. He’s a medic, he knows it better than I do.

He took a shaky breath in. “Fine, you’re right that I’m a little hurt. But we can’t waste time patching me up, I need to get my swords! Rule number one of basic survival is never let the Foot come into possession with highly mystic material ever.”

“Then I’ll go while you take care of yourself.” 

“NO!” His head perked up as his eyes grew wider. He tried saving his initial reaction. “No way, not happening. It’s a safer plan if I go in, I’m more used to them” Safer for us or for just me. 

“And yet, you got beaten to a pulp, isolated from your weapons, thrown out a window, and are now bleeding with shards of glass sticking out your body. Did I miss anything?” He’s neglected himself all night being overly cocky and confident nothing bad would happen to him. That’s what’s led to him turning out like this! “They didn’t exactly go easy on you, Leo-”

“Then imagine what they’d do to you!”

His brows knit together, staring at me, not blinking. I guess my wish was granted since he finally stopped disguising his true fear.

“Salena, please. Stay here, I’m going in.”

I almost let him go. Almost.

Too bad for him, I yanked him by the mask tails and pulled his stunned face back to face me. 

“Hey, wh-”

“Alright, listen. I know whoever these guys are, they’re dangerous as fuck. I know I’m nowhere near as skilled of a fighter as you and I probably never will be. And I know I am way in over my head about this. But none of that matters to me.” 

He kept quiet. So I continued. “What matters is that I’m your friend. Friends don’t let each other jump into losing battles, okay? You’re hurt, Leo. Please, just let me help you.”

I looked up at the sky. The clouds are covering the moon now and should stay that way for a little while. I could take advantage of the newfound darkness. 

I stood on the ledge, mentally preparing myself to reignite the flames. Sure, I talked big about being able to handle myself and whatnot but I’m just trying to fool myself into thinking I’m not scared. If I can keep myself level-headed and use my sickles, I’ll be able to stay invisible for a short bit. If I play my cards right, that should be all I need.

I felt a hand grab my wrist. Turning around, I readied myself to once again reassure Leo I’d be fine but stopped when he put something in my palm. I recognize them, they’re tanto knives.

“Hey.” His smile is forced but not disingenuous. 

“You’ve got this.”

So off I went with the last little push I needed. The cool night air feels fantastically refreshing on my skin. Every leap leaves me more confident I’ll succeed. I have to. He needs someone he knows he can depend on. 

I scouted around and found an open window to sneak back in through. Judging by how crazy strong these guys are, my best bet is the element of surprise and for these oversized lethal boomerangs to actually work in my favor. Which they hadn’t before. But nothing’s ever hopeless. The reflection off the moon was their main source of light, with the clouds hiding it now and my knowledge of the floor’s layout, I think I might have a working plan this time.

I rushed over to the balcony I was at previously, this time being more cautious of any look-outs. There were three of them up here so I’m glad I didn’t choose the reckless route. I took my sickles out my backpack, breathed in, and turned invisible. A little harder to do since my nerves haven’t completely disappeared but it’s going smoother than before. 

I snuck up to the soldier at the back of the trio, covering his mouth and dragging him to the dark, knocking him out shortly after. His two buddies were a piece of cake after that, hit one with a blunt-force sickle and take the other by hand at the same time. No one noticed a thing. 

With the balcony cleared, I reclaimed my little sighting spot and looked over the entire floor, making note of every nook and cranny I could hide in. The clan’s focus changed since last time, they’re trying to get out as fast as possible. Seems like they’re taking Leo’s katanas with them since Lieutenant Itchy McSore-Throat was holding onto them.

“All of you hurry up! We must get out of here!”

I spotted the stolen mannequin in the distance. It’s actually not too far and surprisingly not removed. The two leaders seem distracted by someone. Perfect timing. I crept down and started taking out some more soldiers, listening in to the conversation at the same time. 

“What about getting all the mystic metal we can?” That’s a new voice.

“Forget the metal, we’ve got enough for today. We need to leave or that turtle will bring reinforcements!” 

“Yeah, sure, whatever makes ya happy, boss.” 

“You better not be questioning my authority.”

“Our authority, he means. We’ve had your type before, and they grew to be traitors. I suggest you don’t test the patience of the Foot ‘cause it’s growin’ thin.”

“Nice phrasing! Even if you shouldn’t have interrupted me.” I can’t tell if these two have workplace tension or workplace bromance anymore. “But he’s right. You’d do well to remember your place, rookie.” 

“Hey, I wasn’t tryna question anything guys. Just sayin’ maybe we should’ve planned this better in case we got caught.”

“So you may be right. We’ll keep it in mind but work on your delivery when it comes to criticism. Now quickly, go join the others.”

“Can I at least hold the magic swords?”

“No.”

She grumbled and left through the door, likely exiting the building. Her attitude was a pleasant surprise. I’ll admit, I kinda assumed all the Foot soldiers had brain-numbing levels of obedience. 

The clouds were clearing up, though. The moonlight brightened the room back up, I can’t use the darkness for cover much longer. Alas, if only I knew how to use my literal invisibility powers for longer than a few seconds but you know what? This is genuinely perfectly okay. I’ve taken out enough of them to only leave a few left standing, not to mention the majority of them are already out the building. I gotta take these freaks head on if I wanna get Leo’s swords. No more hide and seek.

I let the light illuminate me. 

“Hey guys!~” I waved gleefully as the Foot idiots finally noticed my presence. “Remember me? Hope it hasn’t been too long.”

“You!” The Brute turned to me first. “You’re the Hamato ally from earlier!”

“What are you doing here! Why have you returned!”

“You sure have a way of asking questions that makes them feel like statements. Anyway, I’m here to collect something you stole from my friend.”

He gripped the swords as he scowled at me. I held my own sickles tighter.

“You foolish child! You leave us no choice but take you out permanently.”

“Oh, really now? You and what army.”

I scoffed when I caught his expression change. Everyone looked at each other, noting how very few of them are suddenly in the room. So distracted they barely noticed me going for my first blow. 

He quickly got ready to block me with Leo’s weapon, absolutely bewildered when I only zoomed past him and sliced at the leg of another soldier behind him. It wasn’t too deep but poor guy was still rendered useless. I dashed to my left at another soldier, dodging his attack and punching right up his chin. 

“What’s going on!? Those sickles were dull the last time she used ‘em!”

 

“They must be mystic…” 

“Right you are, Lieutenant! I kept them dull on purpose, my mistake.” 

I threw a tanto at a cultist’s shoulder. 

“You threw Leo out a window. I think you can bear to see some blood.”

One by one, I went around the room, sprinting past anyone chasing after me and immobilizing anyone with their guard down. I got in a groove good enough to keep myself progressing along while getting out my rage. I wasn’t kidding before, I would’ve kept my blades dull again. I’m still careful to not do anything fatal but I’m not gonna be exactly merciful, either. They deserve this.

Fighting felt like dancing, gliding across the room in an energetic fashion. I’m not crazy enough to go for the Lieutenant or Brute which ended up being a plus for me. They was more than ready to protect themselves, but not their team. At last, I got them all exactly where I needed them. 

Alright, stay calm. Turn invisible no matter what.

My sickles shone with a pink glow, allowing me to disappear from their sight. I scampered past them, reaching the bejeweled mannequin behind them. It feels a little different? But there isn’t any concrete proof for this so my brain’s just tricking me. Whatever, no time to lose. I shoved it in my bag, getting myself used to the weight, and aimed a sickle at his arm.

 

“Where’d she go!?”

“Stay alert! Don’t let her catch you off guard!” 

A bit late for that buddy. 

My blade sliced through, leaving a massive gash on his arm. He screamed and dropped Leo’s sword. I ran through, catching it just as I became visible again. I snatched the other one as quickly as possible and sprinted to create some distance.

I held my arm up to my face, making good use of the wraps’ built-in comms. “Leo! Heads up!”

I threw a katana out the window, smashing the glass as it flew outside. I stopped in my tracks with a smirk. I knew we won.

I dodged the last attacks of the night, accelerating faster than I realized I could go. “Well folks, this was quite a fun match! Hope to never see you again!” Blue light sparked across my body. I leapt in the air, gave a quick peace sign purely to piss ‘em off, and bid my farewell.

“Toodles~”

Teleportation isn’t actually too bad if you know it’s coming.

The cool night air returned on my skin. I was floating for a few seconds before crashing to the roof on my knees. I didn’t even care about the pain, I was too busy enjoying the hug I received for my success! 

“I DID IT! I FUCKING DID IT! WOOHOO!!!”

“Celebrations later, escaping now! Come on!” 

Leo dragged me up and pulled us through another portal.

***

“We are the champions!~

“Gone with the losers ‘cause we are the champions!” 

I handed another slice of pizza to Leo, half the box pepperoni for him and the other half plain cheese for me. We already dropped off the mannequin back to the museum and I gave an anonymous tip to 911 so now we’re simply chilling on the roof singing to celebrate our victorious night. I’m honestly still hyper as hell over it.

“I can’t believe we actually did it! I can’t believe I actually did it! Salena one, Foot Clan NONE BABY, FUCK YEA!”

“Man, I am so happy you came out okay. You have no idea how relieved I was when I saw you again.” He bit into the cheese, the least stressed I’ve seen him all night.

I couldn’t realize it earlier but that hug he gave wasn’t for my success. It’s clear to me now.

“Leo?”

“Hm?” He looked towards me as he bit into the cheese.

“Thanks for trusting me.”

He mirrored my smile. “Hey, we’re friends, right? That’s what I’m here for.”

The spring breeze feels so sweet. The view of the city is rewarding as always. A safe city, a safe night. I can see why they’re so into this whole hero gig. Everything about this moment feels absolutely perfect.

Buzz! Buzz!

I swear to god if my fucking phone’s gonna ruin it again. I quickly checked the notif to see if it was anything important. To my surprise, it’s Jaiden.

They sent me a text. The first one in weeks. It’s a dumb meme I saw earlier today.

We used to do this a lot in the past. Whenever we got into a fight, it’d be our way of ending it. We could never stay mad at each other for more than a day. In the past at least.

I guess this means they’re not mad at me anymore.

“Everything okay?” Leo stared at me, probably concerned by my change in demeanor. 

I double tapped to like Jaiden’s meme and put my phone away, going back to normal.

“It’s nothing important. Just, uh, highschool stuff. You wouldn’t get it.”

He laughed “Oh, okay, well. I know I’m too fabulous to be the average, uncool, normal teen guy doing normal teen things like going to highschool that you want right now but…”

“If you ever need someone to lend a shoulder, you know who to call.”

He’s an idiot, but a very sweet one when he wants to be. 

“Thanks, Leo, but I mean it this time. It’s nothing.” I raised up my slice to request a toast of some sorts. “Let’s go back to celebrating, shall we?”

He let out a satisfied chuckle, returning my toast. I didn’t wanna let anything ruin the way I felt tonight, even if their text tainted the vibe a bit. But hey, it’s technically a win, too! I got my confirmation that Jaiden and I are indeed still friends.

Though I gotta admit, I’m not as happy as I thought I’d be.

Next Chapter

[seastarblue]

I am listening. Tell me about these enemies to friends in Interwoven *munches popcorn*

[feel free to be as long winded and as rambley as you want. ‘Tis my secret talent in this site getting people to write essays]

omg !! it seems you have unlocked my talent to Delay things 😭 I’m so sorry this took so long BUTTTTTT ITS DONE tysm for the ask, @my-cursed-prince ! Under the cut hehe ~

———

INHALEEEE

So BASICALLY some context:

Interwoven is my main WIP! It follows Kaiden, a knight turned bounty hunter turned criminal when she kills a guard (in her defense he had it coming)

While she’s in her cell awaiting trial, someone (mysteeeeeerious) comes to her and 4 other inmates:

A thief who is running away from his old gang and therefore cannot be stuck in jail (Harper)

A hitman working with the thief and also is trying to Not Go Back to Their Homeland which requires them to keep moving and not be in jail (Noha)

A traveling monk who got mixed with the wrong crowd and as a result she’s in a tight spot—she’s also stuck in jail (Mehri)

And an outlaw that led Kaiden to kill the Guard in the first place, who—you guessed it— cannot be in jail bc then she’ll get captured and taken back to the Big Bad Prison (Li Hua—who actually is an old friend Kaiden didn’t recognize bc trans but yea)

held in the same block. Why? They have a request.

In exchange for their ‘freedom’, they will band together, and go undercover as Guards doing Guard stuff to cover up their actual mission: capturing the Weaver, a serial killer connected to a violent gang called the Nikasa, who are hellbent on … well idk yet but it’s bad trust 😤

If they refuse? Well the gallows are right there.

So all five “join” the Guard and oh lookie there is a:

Bastard Nobleman (Felix)

Bereaved Noblewoman (Evangeline)

and a Grieving Knight (Aleksi)

working with them as well.

They’re gonna stay with the Bereaved Noblewoman and make sure she doesn’t uh. Murder. Because she’s a suspect in a murder case. That’s connected to the Weaver. That also involved her whole family. She’s very sad about it really.

Bastard Nobleman just kinda joins in bc he likes Kaiden (they were soul-bound work partners before and now it’s just awkward. Still warm tho). He can’t really help tho bc his mom’s a helicopter parent.

And Grieving Knight is trying to prove that he’s still useful to the Knight Order after his soul-bound work partner died. He’s depressed but he doesn’t wanna say it.

~~~

Phew so the “enemies” part is simple because most of them hate each other.

Harper doesn’t like anyone but Noha (and even then it’s tolerance), Li Hua doesn’t trust anyone at all, Evangeline finds all of this offensive (“they really think I’m like them, huh??”), Noha hates everyone, Mehri is just. There. She doesn’t hate anyone. She’s too chill for that.

Kaiden despises Harper, Noha, Evangeline, Harper again, and doesn’t trust the others save for Felix. And even then, she doesn’t trust him fully.

Aleksi is literally Grieving he does not give a shit. Felix thinks everyone but Kaiden and Aleksi are dumb, and yea I think that’s it?

Yea they do not like each other BUT! That changes once Plot happens and they’re the only people they can trust! Yay <3

so yeah!!! enemies to friends to found family my beloved !!!

I hope you liked my colorful lil essay <3

[ask-emporianroyals-au]

Tied in Her Red Strings of Hate

lookie here its my boy its the them!!!!!! he/they ghost malewife my beloved. dies for him

(check it yo, i actually drew something hat game related for once!!! surprising isn’t it)

[feelin-lo]

A Pirate's Prize...

A Bloody Parchment fic :)

@aesopsbaby @boiling-potato @sealedchasm

Take a lookie here :))

It's only short because I ran out of ideas really quickly, maybe I'll expand on it, maybe not...

Deep in the brig of an infamous ship, lives a creature so scary, so blood curdlingly petrifying, so bone chilling... they say it could kill you with a single glare, have you in a snare... keep you, have you... kill you.

"Honey~!" The pirate grinned, walking down the steps into the brig, where a tank of water was kept with his beloved inside.

The Pirate; Meztli, was absolutely mental, for not only keeping a creature as terrifying as this, but for loving it unconditionally.

"I brought you some brekkie." He beamed, helping his beloved out of the tank.

"and who made it, was it you, or was it Trickster?"

The creature teased, laying back in Meztli's chest.

The creature; Lo, was a Merman. Top half of a Human, bottom half of a Fish. His fishtail was beautiful, like a ruby... shiny too. His skin, pale as paper and delicate as glass... he had long brown hair, beautiful piercing blue eyes... gills on his neck and waist, red fins on his forearms and back.

Meztli brought some cooked fish to Lo's mouth. "You needn't baby me, Captain, I'm an independent Fish." He chuckled, nibbling at the fish. "It definitely tastes like Trickster's cooking."

"Bah! That girlie can't tell her right hand from a sea urchin." Meztli pouted. "I'm teasing, Darling." Lo reassured, taking off Meztli's hat. "You know the rule..." Meztli joked.

"rule?"

"Save a horse, Ride a cowboy... Save a cow, Milk the Milkman... Save a ship, Sail the Pirate."

"excuse me?"

"Nevermind..."

Lo let out a little chuckle, looking at the tank he was kept in, then up at the small bouts of light that spilled from above. "When can I leave the brig? It's cold and lonely down here..."

Meztli sighed, running his hands though his beloved's hair. "I'm not sure, Darling... I could keep you in a bathtub in my quarters but... I wouldn't want any of my crew barging in... I know what they're like when they see a precious jewel... but... you, my beautiful ruby, are mine. And mine alone... if anyone dares to touch you without my permission or even dare touch the same water as you..."

He leant down, whispering into Lo's ear.

"I'll remove every one of their limbs and feed it to the sharks below."

Lo shivered softly, not only from the coldness of the air, but because of what his beloved captain had to say... "You don't have to go through all that trouble... For me.."

"oh but I do, my beautiful guppy, I do. Because you're my precious gem, my ruby... the light of my life... and an amazing kisser."

Lo chuckled. "You didn't act like this when we first met... when we first met, I remember you staring as I was caught in your fishing net, scanning my body, your hands gliding across my scales... then, your nose bled, and you carried me here."

Meztli scoffed. "Hah! I have no recollection of the event. But then again, any man or woman would be foolish not to feel weak and vulnerable by your gaze... you're like a glass of wine... sweet and bitter, causing a burn at the back of my throat... you make me lose my mind... my words slur, my movements stagger... and just like Wine. I'm completely drunk... drunk on your love..."

Meztli pressed a kiss to the back of Lo's hand.. "my one and only..."

A soft blush crept into Lo's cheeks as Meztli spoke more and more, taking off his purple Captain's coat and placing it around Lo. "Purple is the colour of royalty..."

"oh? Do you think you're the pirate king now, Meztli, Darling?"

"maybe so... and you can rule beside me..."

Lo chuckled, placing a kiss to Meztli's cheeks, then nose, forehead... finally, mouth.

"I shouldn't get my hopes up... I'll wait here... for as long as it may take. You visit me everyday, feed me... love me... dance a sinful dance under the moonlight with me..."

Meztli listened before pressing a finger to Lo's Lips.

"I would die for you... I would kill for you."

He moved a hand to Lo's waist.

"and I would do so, without a second of hesitation. Because you're my Beloved. My love...

...

...

...

My. Lo."

[kisekisreblogspage]

Rainbow friends Head cannons 3/3

Ok, i've been procrastinating over this for a long time, i shuld end this series

Ok here we go-

Cyan (from Rainbow friends)

Lets talk abaut Cyan, i like to think that she was suppose to be a acuatic beeing when she was created, but she somehow grew legs (it kinda reminds me to someone...).

When the gang found out she was a girl they all whent wild like:

"O MY LORD! I have never seen a Girl Before!" (Blue)

"What does it likes!? How does it taste?! Does the rumores are True?!"

"Rumors? What rumors?"

"It is sayd that Girls smells good"

"wow! A girl... Just- WOW! A GRIL"

"mewn"

"I KNOW RIGTH!? IT IS LITTERALY NOT A BOY!! Do you think she wuld like to run?"

"But wait... what is the diference between a girl and a boy?"

"maybe is the smell"

"maybe is the softhness..."

"maybe is the voice!"(Blue)

"Namlnamandnafnna"

"Or maybe that thing..."

"What thing?"

"In between the legs....

[Silence]

"NAHHHHHHHHH"

"It is imposible" (Blue)

Red got to explain them abaut that later on.

So, yea, what does she likes...? A lot of things! She in fact has a list of every thing that she likes! She also likes lists, but she does not write those Lists, she has them inside her head! She is very organized in there! Such good memorie and attention to detalle are well praised by Red. Wait... this means... that she... is Red's secretary! Or well third secretary, the frist one is Blue (he's the one that informs abaut the Intruders and damages in the Frist lab, also the one that helps in rebuild that place if needed) and second one is Purple (informs abaut intruders and damage in Odd World, also helps in cleaning and restorage of the place). So yea she is the one that remind Red abaut important stuff and the well beeing of the whole facility, the whole Family and even if there are minor/Major issues anywere she remind Red everyting. Such a detallist. Even explains on how she thinks some things in the facility culd be fixed. Now she is a genious, if Red Had a mounth he wuld drop it on the floor. (She culd own the facility, if Red dies)

As you migth notice in here is that she is giving some autistic tropes. Becuase (in my head cannon) she is! like to think that she is not aware of her autism but everyone knows! And trates her so nicely and patiently especially Yellow(i don't have Yellow colored letters sorry!) He is basicly a few monts older than her, so she looks up to him, but also for Blue because she thaugt that Blue was her mom because theyr colours were alike. (Imagine! Just... imagine)

Now she is clearly in the Asperger Especteum, so yea, she is a sueper Genious, she suprised Red, and that is quite dificult and now she is something so inportant yet so beloved for him. (Yea, i got some softh silly odd blorbos instead of the murderous mutants that they actually are, this is why i am doing thsese head cannons) because is one of the few things keeping him from crazzynes (the rest are his children (the lookies), Green, and his secret lover)

Now, lets go back on the things that she likes. Lets dive in her funky wunky lil' head!:

Bugs, especially the ones that are int the cucojoidea family (ladybugs), but has also an interest in ants

Lists

The rainbow ("look you guys! Its a picture of us!"(Cyan)

Genétics and some lab functions

Calm music

Red's lab coat

Long walks

Blue's shenanigans

Open places (she feels claustrophobic in very small places, she is huge)

Shiny things

The confy pillows that Green Has

The smell of blood food

Moving things (she likes to know what is that and why is it moving

Mocking Yellow because he is funny when he is mad

Purple's weird talks

Rain

Orange

(The list keeps going down

This all in that exact order, she will get Real mad if you missplace some of her likes she says that the things that she likes the most are at the top, and it gess less and less interesting for her as the list keeps on going down

Her shennaningas are basicly bugs, so if you ever meet her she will infodump you abaut Ladybugs and everyting you need to know abaur these, but then she will apologise, becuase she know you didn't asked (this is becuase of orange, yea he can be real mean withaut wanting to, don't worry thoug, he was scholed by everyonelater that day)

Now, going back to the part that i told you abaut Cyan thinking that Blue was her mom.

The day that Red presented her to the whole Family she was a baby, she saw Blue and went like "mma-m~?" (She developed faster than annyone, because... girl...) And scince that day she tough that Blue was her mom for 6 years. Until Green Explained her that Blue is Her brother... not her mom, "because they born becuase the same guy in the same machina and"- yea she cryed... but then she understood everyting and live trough it, she is still very atached to him

And Abaut Blue, he was completly in love with her (love, like Parents, you know) he was willing to even wear a wig for her and be her male mother, he is really good with childreen, so he always took good care of her, and even called her Princes. (if he was the king, she is going to be the princes) and gave her a lil' crown (just imagine! "Here upon yee, Your Queen n' King be. Rejoice all! REJOICE!"(Blue) *party Honks at the distance* *aplauses and praises by everyone* lol) the only one who wasn't happy abaut this was Yellow, he also, is very atached by Blue, his jealousnes was HUGE, he pushed her sometimes, made her cry on purpose, hid her and only be there with Blue. So yea, Cyan mocking on him it is just karma over Yellow beeing a brat towards Cyan. Blue enjoys some of that, but also knows were stuff had gone too far

Theyr literally siblings lol

So yea, this is the end of this series... perhaps... becajse i have too many head cannons, i shuld have done a post abaut every single one of them separatly but here we are.

I hope you liked this tomfoolery of mine, i probably even do some head cannon abaut the others even! Who knows!

K, this is all, bye

[franstastic-ideas]

I guess I’m numbering these!!

LACONIC WANDERER. I learned a whole new word from you, honestly that synonym works better than saying “silent” or something, it adds a new layer of mystery. Maybe the style and spelling and vibe of the word. Ignis hehe, Latin for fire, that one sure is popular, granted I’ve only seen it used one other time, but def much nicer than other fire based English names.

Kotone, ah the Johto games always gave off a more justice vibe to me. I had to erase a whole spiel I accidentally went off on here, but it definitely captures the passion in those games. Even TR acknowledges that about the protagonist. Cute Pokémon name too!

Haruuukaaaa my 2nd fav, ugh weren’t those Pokémon Evolution episodes SO good for her and Leaf? Adventurous Darling!!! Oh she SO is, under the SEA into SPACE, the varied climate for Hoenn is BUILT for adventure. And v cute too, very lovable. Steven got roasted by his dad and Zinnia over the better newer Champ AND by Hoenn Radio, only game to have it too I think? I’m biting my lips to not launch into a rant about every girl and their region, you’re activating my Pokémon Fanatic side and this CAN get into deep meta territory if I’m not careful.

Candeloro!! Yes, Blaziken, giant candle, I can see it, very shaped. The whole loro at the end is very nickname-y, and I wonder if I feel that way bc of the nickname Toro by her manga counterpart from Pokespe.

Congrats to BW for being the only game to deliberately call the protagonist a hero of something of prophecy. Very battle-ready, good ol’ Unova where they demand active students for competitive programs but god forbid you actually fight for social change. You said every girl’s personality was different and honestly I see it, and it fits them and where they grew up perfectly. Throw them in a room together and it will be so interesting how the dynamics work. Gretchen? I had to look that one up, and it’s interesting. Even if someone didn’t know the meaning of any of these names, just the way they roll off the tongue feels like a name that matches each girl’s character. Vowels and consonants and all that.

I’m scared of this thing refreshing on me so I’ll continue in another ask.

So! Leaf was in fact the last of the girls to receive her title. I knew I wanted to use the adjective 'Laconic', but no matter where I looked, there wasn't a word to describe someone who happens to appear at the right place at the right time.

And that's kind of what she does? Leaf didn't set out to track down Team Rocket, she kept arriving at just the right moment to interfere. But Wanderer works well for her, because that's what she loves to do. Leaf travels at her own leisurely pace, that's her approach to life too. She enjoys stopping to sniff the Roselia, so to speak.

Kotone's was another one that took some time. I wanted a title that conveys her strongest quality, her compassion. She is ceaselessly gentle and kind, no matter how combative and rude Silver is towards her. Her patient attitude towards him also contrasts well with her friends' feelings. Hibiki is easily intimidated by him, and Kris thinks what the redhead needs most is a good kick to seat of the pants.

Even though Kotone is almost always shown with Chikorita as a partner, I think Typhlosion is best for this AU's incarnation of her. Kotone's Typhlosion, Eva (who is actually male), his name means 'life'. Fire doesn't have to only bring destruction. It can also bring warmth, and I feel that's something which matches Kotone's outlook. She tries to see the good in everything and everyone.

Haruka, I've always described how I see her as 'the perfect blend of tomboy and girly girl'. She can be both! She's traveled all across the region and has even gone to space, she's become the strongest trainer in Hoenn, she also collects Poké Dolls and performs onstage as a beloved Contest Star.

Similarly to Kotone more often than not being shown with Chikorita, Touko usually is given Tepig/Emboar as a partner. Without looking at who her partner is in Sisterhood, one may assume from her title that this is the case here as well.

However, a Serperior is her starter! The 'Hot-Blooded' in Touko's title pertains to her being Reshiram's Chosen instead. I think if someone were to tell her that a Fire-type suits her better, she would respond with something like,

"My partner may not have flames on the outside, but that doesn't matter! The flames of passion burn bright inside her!!"

[soupri]

⤷ 𝐥𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐲𝐨𝐮 ❣

➸ in which i write a series of letters for characters throughout the month of february, or rather, to the day before valentines day

➸ cw: mostly gender-neutral unless stated otherwise; lots of angst; time-skip in some; may not follow actual anime plot; lowercase intended; more specified per post

➸ a heads up! i’m aware a few of these ideas have already been used with various characters from various fandoms. it is not my intention to copy/reuse ideas of other authors! these have all come from my own mind, and if i did take inspiration from others do know that it’ll be stated within that post and i would have already asked for permissions from the creator. 

♥ feb. 1 - geto suguru, (never) meant to be in which; a woman writes to her dead lover

♥ feb. 2 - bakugo katsuki, see you soon in which; a dying girl writes to her childhood friend

♥ feb. 3 - kamisato ayato, miss you in which; kamisato ayato reads a letter from his beloved who is overseas

 ♥ feb. 4 - okkotsu yuta, sending kisses in which; a heartfelt letter is written

 ♥ feb. 5 - aiku oliver, such a shame in which; a confession of selfishness is written

 ♥ feb. 6 - kunizushi (scaramouche), what happened to us? in which; questions are asked, but never answered

 ♥ feb. 7 -  kishibe, wonder in which; a letter is sent in hopes it reaches it’s receiver

♥ feb. 8 -  micheal kaiser, romeo and juliet in which; the empress writes to her emperor

♥ feb. 9 -  shinazugawa sanemi, i’m sorry in which; his lover dies, leaving nothing but a letter and a clip

♥ feb. 10 -  kurokawa izana, winter days in which; ink bleeds through paper on a cold winter day

♥ feb. 11 -  kaeya alberich, traitor and thief in which; betrayal doesn’t change the longing of a heart

♥ feb. 12 -  hayakawa aki, tbd

♥ feb. 13 - tba

♥ feb. 14 - valentines day, a special!

in which; i write out my thoughts emotions for someone, followed with me adding in a bunch of notes about this event that hopefully no one reads.

➸ ri’s note        intrusive thoughts win i guess. will i finish this? probably not. lookie look a completely new author on this platform writing!! hopefully this doesn’t flopppp (but then i kinda want it to) indecisiveness my bestie <3

also realizing like half of my drafts for this is angst. since i don’t have a s/o to be with in february might as well put my pain in writing

reblogs, likes, comments, as well as criticism are all welcome! 

[tiwuwu]

16th of October

This story is canon. (maybe not all of it tho).

It takes place in the world of AMV (Anxious Mouse Vertigo), where Eglantine and Evelynn share a life in a decayed world, constantly on the fear of meeting overwhelming beasts.

Eglantine and Eve lived the past week in some wood cabin left by bushcrafters, surrounded by pine woods, on the uphill. Eve went outside early in the morning to do some recon around the place. Her abilities helped her well for those kinds of missions, thanks to her shadowy friend, a sort of demon living in her own shadow. She never really knew how she made contact with such a weird living form, but it looked fine so far. The shadow was friendly, so far, and saved Eglantine and her life multiple times by taking the form of some shadow cloak, making them nearly invisible in the shadowy places, like during the night, or in the forests. While in their early life together, Eve had the habit of saying that she went off to recon to her beloved one. But with time, it became such an usual task, that sometimes she forgot to. 

Eglantine, while Eve was away, took the habit of preparing the meal for lunch, with some plants, mushrooms, berries she foraged here and there. If luck struck, they often found some old creatures, called game back in the day, that they could hunt for some proteins. But since the beasts appeared quite a while ago, they finished by roam in the woods, and most of the game disappeared. Eglantine was such a good cook that mushroom soups, infusions or berry jelly was more than enough as a yummy meal (or yummeal as Eve liked to call it).

But today was a different day. Eve recon’s task was being a bit harder, because of the hill being quite harsh to climb on. Not a hard task for Eve, but it transformed what a 30-40 minutes task was supposed to be, into a complete hour and some more minutes. On the other hand, Eglantine didn’t start to prepare a meal. Today was the 16th of October. Eglantine knew it from the bottom of her heart (and also because she kept track of the date after quitting civilization). “October the 16th, what a sweet date !” Eglantine exclaimed ! She started to grab some old books. Funny enough, all their titles were a mix of some letters. HO, RF, AMV, that last one was unfinished, and Eglantine used it as a personal diary, writing her adventures (and misadventures) with her loved one. It wasn’t really a personal diary, as Eglantine liked to romance stuff, and make it look softer, cuter and more epic (especially when it was about Eve, strangely !). But the most important was the author of these books. It was her preferred author. By far !

Eglantine knew this was the birthday of the author. And so she decided to make a sort of altar dedicated to that author. “Oh dear Lady Pip, wherever you are, I hope my prayers will reach you out. Today is a special day and I hope you’ll find joy, happiness and have a good day. Amen.” Amen. That last word. Eglantine started to say it quite often after reading the RF book, Remora’s Full. Her favorite character in that story, her favorite one, was called Astraea, and always ended her sentences with that same word. As the story went on, that character had a rough life, and Eglantine only wished she could have protected her. But in the end, that character ended up with her best friend, Tigershark, and lived the rest of her life in happiness. That really melted Eglantine’s heart, and she was happy to see her favorite character ending up happy, with those she likes.

After praying for her favorite author, Eglantine started to cook. Even if it was her birthday, it was important to her to make a cake. But she had nothing to make a cake. She started to brainstorm a bit, and after a few minutes, she decided to use the leftovers to do something fancy ! She grabbed the rest of the berry jelly, melted it to soften it, and placed it in a wood bowl she carved a few days ago. After cooling down, she then added some mushroom soup as topping. It wasn’t looking really good, but it resembled a cake. She then grabbed a few branches that would serve to light a bonfire to heat them outside, and planted them on the cake to light them as if they were candles. 

At the same time, Evelynn arrived : 

“I spotted nothing around, but heard some beast fighting noises far away in the south… wait, what did you do to this place ?!”

“Today is the birthday of my favorite author, and so I had to celebrate it. Amen.” answered Eglantine.

“Oh yeah, I forgot that it was today… You sure keep track of the date ! Now, where’s my meal ! Doing some climbing made me dead hungry !”

“I made a cake out of the leftovers we had. Today is jelly cake with mushroom soup topping !” exclaimed Eglantine.

“Oooh, I hope it’ll be yummy !”

“But first, the candles !”

They then lit the branches with another branch from the chimney of the cabin. A few seconds passed, and the wild wind blew the candles, turning the top of them to ashes.

“Oh ! She surely heard my prayings and blew out the candles ! It makes me so happy !”

Eve couldn’t resist petting her loved one for the hard work she did this morning.

“Now, the cake !” said the hungry Eve.

They shared their meal and… 

“Oh… it isn’t really a yummeal…” Eve looked disappointed. “But it still feels good to eat something !” She then devoured her part of the cake to please her cute girlfriend. In the end, they both had stomach ache, we must admit that it wasn’t the best mix of food to do.

But today was a special day, and no matter what, it was a pleasant and sweet day.

Happy Birthday my love.

[saorintranslations]

Socks♪Onoda Saori (23.03.05)

🍋She who is really sleepy、I'm Saori♪

Yesterday's blog comments、I read them all！

Thank you very much 😊

Y'know、I'm glad you all had fun！

We talked while laughing！Saori did anyway！

So please don't be nervous okay！！！

Come by againー！🤤

Today too、we had individual events！

Those of you who came、thank you very much😊

I'm so glad that I could talk lots with you all！！！！

Every single person who came to see Saori、was a really kind person、、、、

Thank you very much for coming to talk with Saori 🥺

There were lots of people I met for the first time both today and yesterday！

I want to talk with you even moreー！

I'll be waiting 😘

Speaking of which today、I saw quite a few SaoPen socks today。笑lol

(T/N SaoPen are penguin characters created by Saori, printed on socks for her birthday event last year - here's a link)

I'm glad my SaoPen socks arrived with you allー✨

Please enjoy wearing them！！！！Okay！

I want to match with you all

Everyone、how was your day todayー？？

Those of you who came、please take care getting home😌

Those of you who couldn't come、please talk to me in the comments！

Just imagine my reply okay？？笑lol

Good work todayー tooーーー！

Rest easy。

Today too、is a Saori selfie♪

Lookie Lookie！！！My beloved Potekotan！！！！

Ami got them for me、、、、

The reason she gave for giving them to me was

「I know that Saori loves Hokkaido snacks、and you missed that concert so couldn't buy any souvenirs yourself」

Wah、she's so kind。

How can anyone be so kind！？！？🥺

Really thank you

I love you

I want to return the favour with some snacks some time、so I'm currently planning that 😌

(T/N News and information has not been translated)

I also got Purin from Shiori©！

Thank youuu！

Bye bye♡