#Minus being a chaotic baby

[wolfasketch]

A little idea I had give Sky and Raph some kids while bringing Tiger Claw into one of my ROTTMNT AUs. Not sure if I'll make it so the two can procreate with one another or not, so for now, they get an adopted kiddo.

There's two different ideas I have about how Sky and Raph end up with Tiger Claw. Both ideas involve Draxum bringing an orphaned tiger cub yokai from the Tiger Claw cCan to the lair and Sky falling in love as soon as the baby is dropped into her arms, but I can't decide how he's orphaned.

One is Lil' Tiger's clan is taken out by a rival gang, him being the only survivor. Another is that he was abandoned by the clan for being so small and weak looking. Either way, he's named after the clan to either honor them or to show, no matter what, he'll grow to be stronger, kinder and wiser than the clan could ever be.

[charlie-rulerofhell]

I'll always follow your stars You're my constellation / You're my constellation When I'm lost

[wangxianficfinder]

In the mood for...

June 12th

~*~

1. Hi! For ITMF, is there a fic where JGY try to kill WWX not only because JGS ordered it, but because WWX noticed something/have information that can destroy everything he built/too smart for his own good? Bonus if his family and friends try to save and help him @idontknowwhattowriteforusername

~*~

2. hey admins! itmf long post canon fics that's over 100k. thanks! :)

Twelve Moons and a Fortnight by stiltonbasket (M, 290k, WangXian, Humor, Slow Burn, Post-Canon Fix-It, Long-Distance Relationship, Epistolary, Love Letters, Family Feels, a-qing lives, teenage romance, Adoption, Romantic Comedy, Happy Ending, Weddings, Case Fic, Parenthood, Politics)

🔒 Silver & Gold  by beeswaxing  (E, 162k, wangxian, post-canon, de-aging, fluff & angst, happy ending, fix-it of sorts, family bonding, established relationship, non-sexual intimacy, BAMF WWX, pining, protective WWX)

Between The Lines by Witch_Nova221 (M, 153k, WangXian, LSZ & WWX & LWJ, WWX & OCs, Epistolary, Romance, Eventual Romance, Fluff and Angst, Letters, Falling In Love, Love Confessions, Love Letters, Long-Distance Relationship, Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Loss, Canon-Typical Violence, Post-Canon, Idiots in Love)

~*~

3. hiii admins, thanks for your hard work! any fics of wwx being bssr's disciple? bonus if wwx and lwj end up together. thanks!

Become Tomorrow by ShanaStoryteller (Not rated, 39k, wangxian, BSSR/LY, Alternate Universe, a story full of tragic pining gays, and one chaotic gremlin, Cloud Recesses Study Arc, WWX is BSSR's disciple)

Going on charmingly by scribbet (T, 21k, WangXian, Teenage LWJ, Cloud Recesses Shenanigans, Cloud Recesses Study Arc, WWX is BSSR's Disciple, Genius WWX, Petty LWJ, Meddling LXC, What if LWJ didn't have an excuse to instantly write WWX off?, Canon Divergence, JFM Doesn't Adopt WWX, WWX minus canon sense of obligation, but still with an inability to shut up around LWJ, I swear LWJ's inner voice was no quite so snarky when I started this, JZN is unfortunately present but only to lose face, LQR's inconsistent adherence to the Lan clan precepts, writing the effective Lan education you would like to see in the world, Technically pre-relationship, but in the typical Wangxian way of them being in deep but just not acknowledging it yet, POV LWJ)

~*~

4. hello! good day! im here for itmf. it has been several days since i last read anything, and i recently encountered a fic with a sentient golden core 'confusion.' A) can you suggest something similar to this story? it can involve: a) sentient golden core, b) immortal cultivators, c) both.

B) 2nd, something about doctor lwj

C) 3rd and lastly, any fic that you would recommend that is more than 10k words.

thankyouuuuuu'all for your hardwork :)))]

4A)

Never Again by Hauntcats (T, 67k, WWX & WN & WQ, JC & WWX, wangxian, graphic depictions of violence, major character death, Canon Divergence, Angst, Golden Core Transfer Fix-It, Time Travel Fix-It, Not JC Friendly, Dark, BAMF WWX, mentions of abuse, Not Everyone Dies au, XY doesn’t have a happy ending) WWX develops a sentient golden core due to time travel weirdness

4B)

Anginal Equivalents by fakeplasticlily (E, 23k, WangXian, Modern, Medical Residents AU, Childhood Friends, Mutual Pining, Oblivious WWX, Sexual ContentPodfic Available) LZ is a neurosurgery resident

Year Of Night Call by ailuridae (abigailnicole) (T, 22k, WangXian, JYL/JZX, What If Cultivators Were All Surgeons AU, surgery AU, Our Boys Are Trauma Fellows Now, The Lan Babies Are Surgery Interns, trauma fellows share a call room, and there was only one bed, hospital au, Medicine AU, instead of spiritual cultivation there's just medical training, if you're not good with blood watch out, there is a lot of unexplained medical terminology sorry) he's a trauma fellow

Come Around and Stay by trippednfell (M, 160k, wangxian, modern, slow burn, kid fic, found family, it gets worse before it gets better, PTSD, blood and injury, dissociation, trauma, angst w happy ending, musicals, alternating pov, JC & WWX reconciliation, hurt/comfort, panic attacks)

4C)

Lay my body down by tawaen (M, 48k, WWX & WQ, WWX & WN, wangxian, WWX & JYL, Canon Divergence, Time Travel, Rogue Cultivator WWX, Eventual WangXian, No Golden Core Transfer, Not Cultivation World Friendly, Canon-Typical Violence, Not JC Friendly, What if WWX saw the first siege of the burial mounds and said Nope to the war, OCs, OC point-of-view for one chapter for plot reasons)

Something Yet to Learn by Glitterbombshell (T, 16k, WangXian, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Light Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Fluff)

Weep You No More, Sad Fountains by athena_crikey (T, 48k, WangXian, Canon Divergence, Fix-it fic, Whump, Curses, Fever, Delirium, Stabbing, Loneliness, Confessions)

We Meet at the Thousandth Step by Admiranda, Rynne (T, 316k, WangXian, CSSR/WCZ, Canon Divergence, No Sunshot Campaign, CSSR & WCZ Live, Rogue Cultivator WWX, Different First Meeting, Night Hunts, Genius WWX, Inventor WWX, Plot, Romance, Drama, Fluff, Strangers to married, Unresolved Sexual Tension, Unresolved Romantic Tension, Everyone Lives, Developing Relationship, Minor Violence, Case Fic, Mystery, Flirting, WWX's Canon-Typical Flower Flirting, Arson, There Was Only One Bed, Getting Together, First Kiss, Meeting the Parents, Resolved Sexual Tension, Resolved Romantic Tension, WWX Is a Good Big Brother, New Relationship Bliss, Chinese Mythology & Folklore, Blood and Injury, Yiling siblings, Married WangXian, Honeymoon, Wangxian's Baby Fever)

Ghosts Shouldn’t by ShanaStoryteller (Not Rated, 15k, WangXian, Grief/Mourning, Canon Divergence, Angst with a Happy Ending)

Hear a song this deeply by so_shhy (T, 87k, WangXian, Modern with Magic, modern cultivation au, Kind of academia AU, Music, Kid Fic, Action/Adventure, To An Extent, Original Character(s), Slow Burn, Fluff and Angst, Happy Ending)

~*~

5. In the mood for a (modern au prefered but not strict too) fic where there's something going down. Like WY has a stalker, or Su She is up to no good. If you've read, fics like Red Chrysanthemums for Wei Ying, or For a good time, call or Coincidence is Another Man's Fate...fics like that. Drama filled, angsty, a mystery etc. Sorry, I'm absolutely terrible at explaining my brain 😐 @yllzchair

Post Mortem by Cataclysmic_Calamity (E, 178k, WangXian, Psychological Horror, Modern, friends with benefits, they’re both fucked up but they love each other so much, Slow Burn Mystery, Unnegotiated Kink, Dom/sub, Anal Sex, Consensual Non-Consent, Stalking, Drug Addiction, Serial Killers, in WWX’s desire to critique the ‘final girl’ trope he accidentally becomes one, Angst with a Happy Ending, meta commentary on the horror and true crime genres) WY has a stalker, beautifully written, one of my absolute faves

Marks of weakness, marks of woe by Song_of_Storms (E, 48k, WangXian, WIP, College/University, Modern with Magic, Dark Academia, Rivals to Lovers, Dark LWJ, Slow Burn, Eventual Smut, Murder Mystery, Minor Character Death, Familiars, Fencing, Nonbinary NHS, Poison, Aftermath of Poisoning, Tagged Explicit For Later Chapters, LWJ's canonical inability to distinguish between immediate hatred and immediate attraction, furthering the LWJ/JZX/Mianmian friendship agenda, Heavy Angst, Implied/Referenced Suicide, Intrusive Thoughts) if they don't mind WIPs

once upon a time, 很久很久以前 by gentil-minou (Flyingsuits) (E, 69k, WangXian, LSZ & WWX, LSZ & LWJ, WIP, Modern, Canon Divergence, Transmigration, of the townwide variety, Amnesia, of the nearly everyone variety, Mystery, of the shenanigans variety, Not Everyone Dies, Single Parent LWJ, except a-yuan runs away to find his other dad, Fluff and Angst, Slow Burn, Mutual Pining, Minor Character Death, Angst with a Happy Ending, Once Upon a Time Fusion, Curses, part of the fun is figuring out how to make these characters as miserable as possible :) )

A Soft Storm by AvoOwO (Not Rated, 47k, WangXian, Hurt WWX, POV LWJ, Protective LWJ, SS Being an Asshole, SS Bashing, Car Accidents, Hurt/Comfort, Hurt/Comfort, Heavy Angst, Stalking, Implied Sexual Content, Sexual Harassment, Crying, Soft WangXian, WWX Needs a Hug, WWX Needs a Break, LWJ Needs a Hug, Hurt LWJ, Blood and Injury, Blood and Gore, Concussions, Possessive LWJ, Modern, Major Character Injury, LWJ is a Mess, LWJ is Not Okay, WWX is Not Okay, LWJ is So Done, Sassy LWJ, WWX is So Done, Angst with a Happy Ending, Protective LXC, College, Sad LWJ, WWX is Loved, Slut Shaming, Insults)

~*~

6. hiii admins! any lwj groveling fics? thank uuu :)

~*~

7. Hi itmf for wangxian first times where their not magically experienced in the world of sex? just awkward fumbling and figuring out what to do together. Can be any trope im not picky 😁😁 @yesibest

In Deep by phonciblepbone (E, 6k, WangXian, Modern, Pool Sex, Anal Sex, WWX thinks he's scaring a straight man, LWJ thinks he's being propositioned by a sexually liberated WWX, Pining while fucking, Getting Together, Demisexual WWX)

Fentao-laoshi’s Guide to Cut-Sleeve Pleasures by occultings (microcomets) (E, 31k, wangxian, canon divergence, pining while fucking, friends with benefits, first time, cloud recesses study arc, practice kissing, sharing a bed, jealousy, getting together, confessions, happy ending)

Nothing But Trouble by brooklinegirl (E, 60k, WangXian, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Modern, JC mooning over WQ, getting wrecked sexually, WWX's single brain cell, Practice Kissing)

~*~

8. Itmf: what is ur fav diverging au? Esp if it diverges in an atypical place, and why?

The Fierce Corpse Incident by GoschateWabn (T, 8k, WangXian, JYL/JZX, WIP, JZX Lives, Burial Mounds Settlement Days, Humor, Fix-It) In it Jin Zixuan doesn't die and it's honestly so hilarious I really recommend reading it

❤️ kick at the darkness ‘til it bleeds daylight by AlfAlfAlfAlfAlf, tardigradeschool (T, 75k, WangXian, Hurt/Comfort, Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, Eventual Happy Ending, Getting Together, Burial Mounds Settlement Days, Inspired by The Parent Trap (1998), Kid Fic, teen shenanigans, two a-yuans, Fluff and Angst) diverges by giving Yuan a twin and by Wei Wuxian secretly surviving the siege of the Burial Mounds. I love the creativity involved in this one!

A Thousand Things by tickertape (M, 108k, WangXian, Canon Divergence, WWX Isn’t Adopted by the Jiāngs, Developing Friendships, lots of OCs, miscommunication and misunderstandings (they’re idiots your honor), Nightmares, Hurt/Comfort, Panic Attacks, Cloud Recesses Shenanigans, Slow Burn) both diverge by having Wei Wuxian found by someone other than Jiang Fengmian and I'm fascinated to see the repercussions of that.

what builds a home by Stratisphyre (T, 45k, WangXian, MY & WWX, Canon Divergence, Adopted WWX, POV Multiple, warning for JGS behaving exactly as expected, child endangerment, Brother Feels, Minor Character Death)

~*~

9. Itmf: what is ur fav fic that was translated out of a language you don't speak and into one you do? And/or one that you love that has multiple translations available?

Hanlong by micratus (E, 282k, WangXian, Case Fic, Cloud Recesses Study Arc, But not only Cloud Recesses, Slow Burn, Oblivious WWX, Drunken Shenanigans, References to Drugs, Canon-Typical Violence, Action & Romance, Eventual Smut, Reincarnation, WWX Protests Too Much, Humor, This is a translation, Modern with Cultivation, Some guys find redemption here) was originally a Russian fic but was translated into English

~*~

10. Itmf: a fic u really love, for an element that's not included in the tags? Not asking for major spoilers, but tags and summaries can be hard. So what's a fic with a cool element to it that you think should be highlighted more than it is?

~*~

11. Itmf: who is your favorite fic writer(s) and why? Is there a story of their's that really stands out to u?

Keep Me on Your Pillow by catbrainedschemes (E, 42k, WangXian, Fantasy, Pillow Book AU, high immortal, LWJ, red fox WWX, Pining, Angst, Fluff, Eventual Smut, Slow Burn, Feelings, First Meetings, Misunderstandings, Happy Ending, Sharing a Bed, First Kiss, Oblivious WWX, Oblivious LWJ, Sexual Tension, Hero Worship, Falling In Love) Anything by this author Cat rainedschemes is SO good i love their style of writing and unique ideas

~*~

12. Itmf: you're having a really bad day and need something to relax/feel better, what is ur go to fic or author?

Love Cats series by so_shhy (T, 14k, WangXian, LXC & LWJ, Modern, Meet-Cute, Fluff, WWX is wet and adorable, in a tree, With a Cat, LWJ had no chance, Don't Try This At Home, First Dates, LWJ likes ducks, WWX does not like dogs, No plot at all, They just have a nice date, This is the level of fluff I need in my life at the moment, picnic dates, Falling In Love, LWJ is briefly less than graceful, there is a spider, but like barely there, and totally harmless, LWJ Loves Rabbits, Office Party, LXC is a Good Big Brother, WWX is an excellent boyfriend, POV Outsider, they are in love, the world is full of joy, Everything is Beautiful, except for baby coots)

take me home (where i belong) by scarletwanlian (E, 153k, WangXian, Slice of Life, Modern, College/University, PTSD, Trauma, Dissociation, Music, Strangers to Lovers, Friends to Lovers, Depression, Running, Hurt/Comfort, Recovery, Injury Recovery, mental recovery, Mental Health Issues, Non-Sexual Intimacy, AND sexual intimacy, Literal Sleeping Together, and sleeping together, First Time, ace characters, also aro characters, and aroace character, Families of Choice, Car Accidents, Found Family, Flashbacks, Nightmares, gore elements somewhat, descriptions can get a bit gorey at times, Eventual Happy Ending, Sad with a Happy Ending, Healing, Character Study, Grief/Mourning, Survivor Guilt, Whump) One of my underrated favorites

The stuffed bunny, the beautiful nephew, and other gifts from Lan Qiren by deliciousblizzardshark (G, 8k, WangXian, LQR & WWX, Modern AU, Single Parent WWX, Good Uncle LQR, Accidental Uncle Acquisition, Found Family, Fluff)

Only Fools Rush In by vesna (mrsronweasley) (E, 27k, WangXian, Modern, Woke Up Married, alcohol use but no sex happens while drunk, Mutual Pining, Getting Together, what happens in Vegas etc etc)

through a window softly by impossibletruths (T, 14k, WangXian, Modern, College/University, Neighbors, Music, They Play Music Together But They've Never Met, It's very romantic, Graduate School, WWX Is Doing Music Education and LWJ Is Doing Composition, Music As Love Language, Just A Whole Lot Of Classical Music In General, Podfic Available, Spanish Translation Available, Russian Translation Available)

~*~

13. ITMF fics where a-Yuan is Wei Wuxian's bio child? Maybe with Wen Qing, or anyone really. But Wei Wuxian still has to raise him alone, and maybe later he meets Lan Wangji and Lan Wangji joins the family? Thank you!

Across the street to another life by danegen (M, 99k, WangXian, Modern, unleashed au, Family Fluff, Set in America, Hurt/Comfort, Past Child Abuse, Addiction, Crime, Amnesia, Ableist Language, another fridged mother, POV Alternating, past wwx/ofc, past wwx/omc, Medium parent YZY, A-Yuan is wwx's biological son, Musicians, Happy Ending)

hot for teacher by attackofthezee (noxlunate) (M, 8k, WangXian, Modern, Kid Fic, Getting Together, Mutual Pining, Teacher LWJ, Single Parent WWX, Fluff, vaguely set geographically in the us)

my little love by mellowflicker (T, 54k, WangXian, Modern, Single Parent WWX, kindergarten teacher LWJ, Kid Fic, Hurt/Comfort, Domestic Fluff, Pining)

~*~

14. hey admins! looking for any fics with wwx and the juniors. thanks!

❤️ The One-Body Problem by metisket (T, 29k, LJY & WWX, LJY & LSZ, wangxian, possession, cohabitation) WWX accidentally possesses LJY

🧡 don’t threaten me with a good time by livinginaworldofnoise (G, 60k, WangXian, Modern AU, Great British bake off AU, Script format, Fluff and Crack, Reality TV, Social media)

Only Fools Rush In by justpeace (M, 22k, WangXian, Slow Burn, College/University, Modern, ah the liberal arts, set in MA but aside from one background masshole you can't really tell, Bisexual Disaster WWX, LSZ is a girl bc gender is a construct, WWX's elaborate booze anti-heists, JYL had to take a break from college due to health issues but now she's back baybee, Asian-American Character, Asian grocery stores are the bomb dot com, WWX does a lot of cursing, LWJ's buns, LWJ & WWX have opposite flirting strategies and its tough, Everyone is some version of Chinese-American, WWX has feelings about being Chinese-American, Humor, Banter, Flirting, Fluff, Humor, Getting Together)

🔒 hills and rivers are waiting by LtLJ (T, 15k, wangxian, Post-Canon, Hurt/Comfort, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fluff and Angst, Domestic Fluff, Family Feels, Canon-Typical Violence, the family that hunts demons together stays together, and doesn’t murder each other, Case Fic, BAMF WWX, Mojo’s post)

🔒 Not Yet (There As Needed) by sunrise_and_death (T, 13k, LSZ & WWX, JL & WWX, JL & LSZ, WangXian, Post-Canon, Family Feels, Family Bonding, POV LSZ, This Fic Has Everything, even more yearning, WWX & LSZ figuring out wtf their relationship is, Dramatic Revelations, JL being the contrary lil bean he is, all the juniors thinking WWX is the greatest thing to ever happen to them, and in case you missed it yearning)

See Me, Feel Me (Listening to You) by Ghost_Honey (T, 29k, WangXian, POV WWX, WWX Needs a Hug, WWX’s Abyssmal Self-Esteem, Emotional Healing, Angst, The Juniors love their Senior Wei, Curses, WWX is an Unreliable Narrator, JC & WWX Reconciliation, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Platonic Cuddling)

🔒 The Absolutely True Story of the Yiling Patriarch: A Manifesto in Many Parts by aubreyli (T, 19k, WangXian, In-Universe RPF, Romance Novel, LJY's sense of justice, OYZZ's sense of romance, Featuring a surprise appearance by WWX's oft-absent sense of shame, Look the ducklings just want their sort-of dads to be happy okay?, And it's not like WWX or LWJ are doing a good job of ensuring their own happiness, LJY rejects canon reality and substitutes his own, highly relatable actually, Post-Canon Fix-It, primarily drama-canon with cameos from novel-canon, Podfic Available, Russian Translation Available)

爱不释手; never let me go by yiqie (E, 68k, WangXian, Case Fic, Blood and Injury, Demons, Body Horror, Mystery, The intrinsic horniness of wound tending, Yearning 2: The Electric Boogaloo)

~*~

15. ITMF fics were in the 13 years where Wei Wuxian is dead, his name is cleared. So the juniors are raised hearing good stories about WWX, not evil/villainous stories. So when WWX comes back to life he runs thinking he is still being hunted, but in actuality he is no longer being persecuted and the juniors just want to get to know him. Thank you!

hey, don’t you wanna go? down this road and never come back? Series by comforting_monachopsis (M/T, 25k, WangXian, Diary/Journal, Golden Core Reveal, Canonical Child Abuse, Canonical Character Death, YL WWX, Grief/Mourning, Dysfunctional Family, Angst and Tragedy, Canon Divergence, Fluff and Crack, Yúnmèng Siblings Feels, Twin Prides of Yúnmèng Dynamics, Good Sibling JC, Good Sibling WWX, Yunmeng Bros Reconciliation, Good Kid LSZ, Misunderstandings, Idiots in Love, Good Uncle WWX, Good Uncle JC)

~*~

16. Hello!!! In the mood for fics where all of WWX's injuries catch up to him. For example, this may happen when WWX is purged of resentful energy which had been holding him together and so after the resentful energy is gone all his injuries re-emerge. I am looking for fics where especially other characters are faced with the extent of WWX's injuries if/when this happens, please! Thank you so much!

❤️ three surgeries and a mercy kill by MarbleGlove (T, 11k, medical procedures, fix-it, Demonic Cultivation, Canon Divergence, Fix-It, Self-Indulgent, WWX Has a New Golden Core, Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies)

🧡 decay by antebunny (G, 15k, WangXian, Canon Divergence, Angst, Misunderstandings, Miscommunication, Fix-It, Angst with a Happy Ending, the fluffiest ending, Hurt/Comfort) Lan Sect purges WWX of resentful energy, which is pretty much all that's keeping him going

The Core Issue by Hauntcats (T, 21k, WangXian, Angst with a Happy Ending, Not JC Friendly, Canon Divergence) WWX stops relying on resentful energy to grow a new core & has to heal from past injuries as he does so

The worth of a life with no regrets by SnowdropsAndDreams (Not Rated, 38k, JC & WWX, WangXian, JC & WWX & JYL, WIP, Time Travel Fix-It, Canon Divergence, Everyone Lives, Twin Prides of Yunmeng Feels, Twin Prides of Yunmeng Dynamics, Yunmeng Siblings Feels, JC & WWX Reconciliation, Post-Canon Fix-It, Angst with a Happy Ending) It's a very good time travel fix it fic where somewhere after the middle it's revealed just how many injuries WWX is currently keeping together with Resentment. Not quite succumbing to them yet, but the shock aspect is there iirc

Impermanence, Transience, Permanence by Best Bepsy (BepsyGray) (E, 39k, wangxian, canon divergence, unplanned pregnancy, mpreg, gore, sunshot campaign, assumed miscarriage, medical procedures, childbirth, golden core reveal) might work, as wwx is depicted attempting some recovery from the Burial Mounds during the SSC

they who refuse to be blessed by sysrae (E, 7k, WangXian, JC & WWX, Canon Divergence, Hurt/Comfort, Angst, Whump, Golden Core Reveal, Developing Relationship, wwx can have a little scurvy, as a treat, Bathing/Washing, Confessions, Sharing a Bed) might also work? Though it's more lwj taking care of wwx immediately after finding during the SSC, lwj notes some of the damage and helps wwx recover from it

~*~

17. Hi! Im in the mood for a fic in which lwj gets tired/exhausted of his responsibilities and then wwx helps him or something? I want it to be during the crsa but anything is fine tbh! @menimimimeni

I’m Going Out (Gonna Make A Name For Me And You) by cosmicmilktea (T, 16k, wangxian, post-canon, chief cultivator LWJ, Mentor WWX, intersect relations, slow burn, sickness)

the only way out by cafecliche (T, 12k, WangXian, JC & WWX, JC & LWJ, Post-Canon, this is one part character study, one part comedy of errors, and one part fix-it, WWX is a people pleaser in this essay I will, my event planning experience rearing its head again, Podfic Available)

~*~

If you didn’t get an answer to your ask here, don’t forget to make use of @mdzs-kinkmeme and MDZS KINK MEME on Dreamwidth. Authors actually do use them for ideas. You may get what you order!***Your prompt doesn’t have to be kink! Fluff, crack, whatever - it’s all good!***

[trappednyourheart]

Danny was fuck, like realistically,or even metaphorically. Like yeah he's fucked up💀

It's not abnormal to dimension hop, or even atleast traveling in one of CW time streams

Just a beautiful River of Timelines in each path, Well in human or with some decent logic. Or even be queen cause he's a man- but yeah he's ancient now even tho he's not an old man right now

But he's Danny, Danny Phantom! The son of Maddie and Jack Fenton! The mad scientist that actually have potential to be a super crazy powerful villain!

_________________________________________

The little brother of The most Famous psychologist Jasmine Fenton!

_________________________________________

Well he guess former son and brother by blood In his former home dimension.

Well he's not in his dimension anymore, after taking the Role of High Mother of the Realms, like excuse you- he's a boy! The opposite of a girl! But I guess in high standards he was called high mother of the realms because of giving birth or manifesting Ellie and Dan after they seemingly fully died..and kinda...made them full halfa status? Well minus Dan cause that was his alternative self...well not anymore but nevermind that-

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

Now he's been summoned by some rookie little cult that thinks he's pariah! Like common? Haven't the Daily Death news or even any media that are long forgotten or now Dead published his position as mother and Queen of the Realms?

Or they just really that ignorant?.isn't it wonderful that everyday is so ruin!-

Dan was wrecking havoc again, Ellie wasn't visiting off world daw! Jazz was being..herself, and tucker and Sam already cross the bridge of Reincarnation years ago¿ Now this! Summoned by some Mortals in another dimension just to destroy there dimensio!

Well he wasn't in the mood or patience as he just flick them with just one thumb and in prison in some random jail cell, but I guess he got some bonus of Infinite Realm Adoption Uno card on this tiny babies! They proclaim themselves as justice league? More like baby league! So cute! Especially all of them! The most chaotic are the little baby wearing quite green glowing suit that reminds him the vigilante outfit when he was phantom, the other was a very moody baby with a gentle heart too bad the little one was quite pushy and hiding his feelings! The other was another Red¿Blue¿ With his red nappy! But I guess he can't really touch the little one after just one Pat In the head caught the child vomiting after muttering some guy name lex or kyroto or krypto?

There was also another red baby with a cute tiny gold lightning symbol! Reminds him of his DP one too! The baby was a speedster one of CW little micron headaches, but alas he would still cherish the little guy with less ideas of resetting there universe everytime and giving much more effective and harmless Ideas, then there was also the little martian! The Alien civilization who were so kind that he hell back then in this dimension! ..it was a surprised to see every one of them except this little guy in the realms, but he knew this would happen.

I hope his little grandbabies of his babies give him time to bond with his adopted children

[everlasting-rainfall]

hi idk if anyone already asked about this I was wondering what are your thoughts on yandere poly Sanji and Luffy ?

Hello, hello, hello! Nah, I believe that you’re the first one to ask about the two of them together which is by no means a bad thing as I’m really happy that you did, dear!

Honestly I love the idea of Luffy and Sanji together as I’m a big LuSan shipper like I even have a fankid for them but at the same time, I love polyamourous straw hats (minus Chopper as he’s a baby) in general but we’ll save the polyamourous straw hats for another day when I feel more confident about writing them all together

For now! We’ll focus on Yandere Sanji and Yandere Luffy together in a nice happy polyamourous relationship with you!

Let’s get into it, shall we?

!-MINORS DO NOT INTERACT AT ALL-!

!-POTENTIAL TRIGGER WARNINGS-!

Kidnapping, Violence, Isolation, Forced Touches, Bathing with a Yandere, SPOILERS FOR WANO, Jealousy, Forced Intimacy

!-POTENTIAL TRIGGER WARNINGS-!

!-MINORS DO NOT INTERACT AT ALL-!

So honestly, the two of them together is bound to more than likely be quite chaotic no matter what kind of scenario you might be in like no matter the AU or if there even Yandere’s to be honest

You have Luffy’s chaotic nature that was probably the entire reason that you were snatched up so quickly and taken to the Thousand Sunny to be part of his crew

And then you have Sanji whose an all around gentlemen who was more than likely trying to subtly coerce you into joining the crew before Luffy just snatched you up like it was nobodies business and made you join

Honestly I don’t think that you’re ever going to get any quiet alone time with the two of them as if Sanji isn’t fawning over you and doing anything to make your life just the slightest bit more comfortable then Luffy is there wanting to play a game with you or do something fun in general

You’re never really able to have any quiet alone time and if you somehow manage to find a good hiding spot then it’s not going to last long as they both will be metaphorically ripping apart the ship looking for you until they either find you or a crew mate rats you out

When this happens, you’ll have Luffy’s arms wrapped you multiple times in a hug as he gleefully shouts “Found you!” while Sanji hangs off of you crying asking what he did wrong for you to run away from them like this

If you truly need some alone time though then you could ask Sanji for it, he’ll keep Luffy away from you the best that he can while you take a deep breath and try to enjoy some alone time but don’t expect much as Sanji will constantly be poking his head in to check on you and ask if you need absolutely anything

You can shout at him to leave you alone buh now Sanji looks heartbroken and Luffy is upset with you for making your other partner cry so now you get no alone time and you’re in trouble

In all honesty when it comes to punishing you for being bad then I can honestly imagine that Sanji is much more gentle with what he does like this man can barely bring himself to scold you

While Luffy on the other hand is more willing to punish you like if you’ve done something wrong like attempt to spike the crew’s food with something to give you a better chance at escape from them or made Sanji cry then that’s when he’ll punish you

He will shout at you for doing that and in all honesty, I feel like Luffy despite not being the smartest guy could make you feel absolutely awful for what you did

And if you continue to do stuff like this then I can’t say that you’re not going to wind up in some serious trouble like I’m talking physical punishment

Sanji would never allow Luffy to hurt you in any shape or form so don’t worry but what makes these punishments physical is that it’s basically being locked up in your shared room with them. No interaction with anyone but them

And if you don’t trying to escape after that then say hello to a chain that will keep you bound to their bed until you either have spent enough time in your punishment according to Sanji or until you have shown a genuine change in your behavior

You could try to trick them but I don’t see that going well for you as even if they fall for it, there’s always the chance that once you’re let out. Another member of the crew will point out that nothing has changed and boom!

Right back to punishment…

Also as well I can see like how they met you was probably through typical straw hat stuff like they arrive on an island, they find out there’s a problem typically consisting of corrupt marines or bad pirates then they wind up helping

Maybe like you were someone that the enemy took and is keeping like “Well aren’t you a pretty thing?” or “If anyone tries to fight us then this person is dead!!”

And the person who got them to help was like your friend or something, they showed Sanji and Luffy a picture of you and you know those moments where it’s like love at first sight? That’s what happens for Sanji at least while Luffy does feel drawn to you

After everything is said and done, that’s when they spend some time on the island just chilling and maybe partying too with the islanders as “Woo hoo!! The enemy is gone!! Yay!!” and all that

And it’s during this time is when they’d get closer to you, they’d spend time with you during the party like you’d laugh when Sanji kicks Luffy for stealing your food and when Luffy steals you away from his partner by grabbing you and zipping off

Both are clearly trying to spend as much time as they possibly can with you like it’s so obvious that it isn’t even funny but you don’t pay it any mind other than that you were just a hostage that they had to save and protect so they’re probably just trying to make sure you’re okay

You are correct on that part but you’re missing a few details like them wanting to keep you for themselves and take you on a high seas adventure with them to find the One Piece

If you don’t have any skills then that’s fine by them as Sanji won’t mind a little help in the kitchen now and again especially if it means that he gets to spend more time with you although he is just about doing everything for you

And besides Luffy could always do with another member of Pirate Royalty

So when they leave, that’s when Sanji tries to be all gentlemanly with you and offer you to join the Straw Hats like straight up trying to offer you his arm so you can come with them

If that doesn’t work and you say no then he’ll try to insist but trust me if Luffy gets impatient about you joining then that’s when he’ll swoop in and lift you over his shoulder to rush off

Probably while laughing too

Sanji is honestly the kind of Yandere as well to attempt to win your affections as he sees how you don’t accept his invitations for affection

So this man will definitely try and win you over in whatever way that he can like he is making all of your favorite foods and doing his absolute best to be as romantic as possible with you

Little loving gestures and things like that like he straight up memorizes your schedule to get everything ready for you before you need it like you’ll be heading to get cleaned up and he’ll already be there having drawn a bath

Probably offering to wash your back for you too

If you didn’t know any better then you would say that he wasn’t a Yandere but it’s hard to forget when on the occasion that he takes you off the ship with him, he tries and more than likely succeeds at cracking the skull of any man who speaks to you

If you didn’t hold him back or distract him then he might even take the life of any man who stares at you too long…

Luffy on the other hand probably acts like he already has your affection and love whole heartedly like he doesn’t even seem to realize that you’re fighting him whenever he wraps you up in a hug or tries to plant a messy kiss on the side of your face

He is wholeheartedly convinced that you love him and Sanji just like how they love you, you just don’t show it

Don’t get him wrong though as if you do try to leave them then he’s absolutely not okay with that, he’s still convinced that you love them but you need to be reminded to not leave them and you just need a reminder of where you belong which leads to the punishments

I don’t think Luffy would get too jealous if someone talked to you but he would try to butt into a conversation like throwing his arm around your shoulders in a seemingly playful manner or moving himself to be as in between you and your conversation partner

He will look so offended as well if you move him or remove his arm from you… He’ll also just put his arm right back around you or go right back to where he was

As for intimacy?

God, I wish you luck trying to take the both of them at once as they’re both incredibly strong Pirate men… Sanji won’t be too rough until he really starts getting into it but Luffy is rough enough to compensate

Aftercare is a thing, Sanji’s aftercare is definitely more traditional with cuddles and soft kisses. Probably a bath too but Luffy’s aftercare typically involves getting something good to eat

As for Intimacy in Gear 5? Imagine a giant sun god man with cartoon physics mashing two dolls together to make them have sex… That’s probably what some of it would be like

Other times though, I can imagine that Luffy has you on your knees next to Sanji who’s also on his knees and just licking Luffy’s cock looking totally peaceful with it too

Meanwhile you’re definitely not into this as these are your captors but if push comes to shove and Luffy notices that he isn’t getting as much love from you as he is Sanji

Then he might just shrink his cock down to manageable size and shove it down your throat with a “Stop ignoring me!”

[luffyrose]

Dc x Dp Random Blurb #2

I know I just made the first but it's midnight, I can't sleep, and I'm thinking about random things.

Anyway. Siblings. And Pranks.

You know how people always kinda portray Dick as a little chaotic but mainly the one doing damage control for his brothers? Yeah, that's total bs when it comes to siblings.

My oldest sibling most literally tried to convince me to jump off the roof of a church on time. I WAS 8. They also cried when I went on a school trip for a week because they were worried I would get hurt or something.

So. Got me thinking. Dick is SEEN as the tame one by his siblings solely because he's too tired tm to do anything and no one seems to remember him being an absolute gremlin so he's not gonna just out himself when he could cause mayhem later.

Only Cass is vaguely aware of how chaotic Dick can be and that's only because she walked in on him pouring a literal ton of sleeping meds into various things Tim eats while giggling maniacally to himself. Of course, she's not gonna rat him out though, he gives the best hugs.

Either way, no one is aware or remembers how much of a gremlin Dick can truly be, especially being the eldest sibling of many.

In comes Danny. For whatever reason.

Danny LOOKS just like Jason and that tripped everyone up. But when he settles into living with them, they discover that this 'Jason 2.0' is in fact a mini Dick Grayson running around causing absolute chaos.

Dick is delighted by this news and get out of here depression, he must show his newest sibling how to hand from a chandelier long enough to drop a bucket of the most rancid things imaginable onto the first person, minus Alfred, to walk under it.

Upon the gremlin duo having free, acrobatic range, of the house, Bruce is reminded why he questioned adopting his oldest son when he was still younger. That plus the chaos he did with the other heroes in training at the time.

It's one prank too many that Bruce, at dinner, stares dead ahead and just sighs.

"Not again Dick, not again."

Because I think we can all guess who a moody teen who runs around beating up bad guys at night would prank the most if said baby hero had been grounded. Danny's own abilities just seem to make it much easier for the now SUPPOSEDLY adult hero to do the same pranks to his very unsuspecting family.

[e-adlirez]

Trolls Band Together musical reading

Hiiiiiiiii so guess who got ratgrabbed and yanked down into the abyss yesterday as of the time I'm very impulsively writing this--

I went in not expecting much but a couple minutes in they were able to win me over with the plot and the surprisingly strong moral core despite the very simple narrative

And I dunno why (prolly because uh spoilers that I'll get into in a bit) but I wound up reading the movie through a musical lens, which is what this post is about :D

So if you haven't seen Trolls Band Together and don't think you want to (either because you're not optimistic due to the past two films or because you're by some chance a Disney elitist who's somehow trying to trick us into thinking Wish is somehow better than this banger), MAJOR SPOILERS for Trolls Band Together, you have been warned :]

Aight so the main reason I wound up with the music-based reading on first watch is because of the mention of the Perfect Family Harmony, which is what the protagonist boyband BroZone is trying really hard to hit, and I just so happen to be into music (I play drums :]) and just so happened to have been practicing harmonizing in recent times so I guess it lined up just enough for me to look at the film in a musical light, which was a lot of fun :3

Now, the plot of TBT is a very simple one: it's a big "hey guys how about we work together" kind of narrative, which we've seen before in every group-related franchise ever. However, the one thing that I found extremely fascinating was the fact that this story wasn't just being told by narrative, but by music. Specifically BroZone's harmonies and how they develop throughout the film :]

(Fair warning I'm not gonna be able to go Howard Ho levels of detailed, I don't even know how to distinguish chords by ear :'D I'm just gonna be talking about what I hear)

During the intro sequence, we see that John Dory (who I might end up calling JD for simplicity in this essay) has this thing about the Perfect Family Harmony (the PFH) and is trying to get his band to hit it. Obviously, his tactic for this is perfection and pushing his brothers to be perfect for the sake of hitting the PFH on their tour debut, and insisting that he takes the lead, which none of his brothers agree to while knowing that JD is not gonna be hearing any of their protests. This part is very important, because I'm sure that all musicians would know from rehearsals, if the group can't agree on whose lead to follow and wind up not listening to each other, the result is absolute chaos. Not literally as chaotic as BroZone's stage malfunction, but it do sound like that when none of the parts are working together :D

However uh, there's one thing I also want to point out with both BroZone's tour debut and when BroZone has their first full rehearsal together. When they sing their songs, the harmonies are very subdued and very simple, which is particularly shown in Perfect. There are very little facets to the harmonies, to the point where at any given bar in the performance, the line between backing vocals and main vocalists is extremely clear. The backing vocals even sound distinctly softer than whoever's leading at any given point, minus when the boys are singing in unison. Speaking of which, I could be wrong, but I think the parts in the song are like two at most and on occasion it's just the boys singing in unison? More musically attuned readers are free to correct me on that front, but that's what it sounds like to me.

Anyway the main point is, the brothers are forced to maintain these very fixed and restricting harmonies that more or less sound the same, and of course they are-- JD (if he composed the songs) wrote them and he insists that his brothers follow them to the letter, meaning they can't improvise or go beyond what we hear in the film. Granted it's prolly because of their specific genre of music and the fact that the boys are supposed to be teens at eldest and literally a baby at youngest, but the harmonies don't ever diverge or serve to give the song more layers. They remain exactly the same, more or less perfectly in unison, and even during their first group rehearsal with the band back together in (almost) full (could be wrong can't really relisten to that part of the movie rn), their harmonies are perfectly in unison but lacking in dimension, just like how they were during their disastrous concert.

In these, it is very clear that JD hasn't changed a single bit since the last his brothers saw him. He's still obsessed with the idea that he's the leader (even though a BroZone superfan like Poppy remembers him better as "the old one" and it even took her a bit to remember his part in the band), even though in reality, he's kinda nothing without the other members of the band. Which kiiiinddddaaaaaa shows seeing in Perfect his voice sounds very similar to Clay (I bet if I listened to the soundtrack first I wouldn't have been able to pick out JD's voice), and even his part in the PFH is the same as Floyd's.

As I mentioned earlier, due to the circumstances behind this extremely impulsive rant, I can't really check BroZone's first rehearsal after reuniting rn, but I bet it would've been the same case, because what I DO remember about that scene is that JD was being the same old JD, and everyone was trying to tell him that they've changed since they last saw him (contrast to him not changing a bit because he's trying to maintain that illusion of perfection he's been chasing this whole time). From what I remember, anyway, their harmonies were basically in the same boat as Perfect: clear, subdued, restrained against the singers' will to follow a lead vocalist at all times.

Now, we're gonna shift our gaze from the brothers for a second and take a look at the twins Velvet and Veneer. Yes they are iconic and yes their songs are iconic, but one thing I wanna point out is that when I first listened to Mount Rageous on the soundtrack, I had a really hard time picking out Andrew Rannell's voice because it was backing vocals-ing so hard that it was near impossible to not hear Brianna Mazzola's extremely dominant vocals (no hate to either, Brianna Mazzola SLAYED as Velvet), and the comments section of the video I was listening to for the soundtrack seemed to share my sentiments about wanting to hear more of Andrew Rannell, but hear me out:

We know from the film that Veneer is the nicer sibling. He's a material gworl with a heart and he genuinely doesn't like hurting Floyd, especially when you listen to how they address each other and converse with each other in the film. Now, seeing just how much on speaking terms Floyd and Veneer are on, how conflicted Veneer feels about keeping Floyd hostage and torturing him, and how Veneer is always worried about Floyd's health... it would make sense for Veneer to use Floyd's music essence or talents very sparingly, wouldn't it? With that, compare him to his diva sister Velvet, who squanders Floyd's essence even for dress rehearsals, and always sings for the back row and flexes as many riffs and runs and belts any and all opportunities she gets (hence why she CARRIES Mount Rageous). Makes Andrew Rannell's more subdued and in-the-background performance as Veneer more deliberate, doesn't it? :3 (Still wanna hear his voice more tho, it'd be nice to hear what Veneer can do on his own)

Something something the Veneer siblings are direct foils of BroZone something something Velvet is a direct foil for JD and Veneer is a direct foil to Floyd something something Rageous Twins-Floyd angst anyway back to the thesis of this thing--

Now, you'd think that JD keeps up his perfection shtick all the time, but he very obviously doesn't and it is shown first in his jam session with SpBruce and Branch in Bruce's family restaurant-cafe-lazy Susan thing, through the harmonies. At first I thought it was just because their voices had clearly matured since their childhood (which it partially is), but the other reason is the fact that their harmonies are so much fuller than they were in Perfect. They even give Pentatonix vibes in their little vocalizing bit, that's how full and multifaceted their harmonies are in the song; and the main reason is because in that jam session, everyone's in it just for fun, therefore everyone is free to add their little bit of vocal flavor into the song.

If you listen to JD and Bruce's harmonies in the chorus, you'll find that they sound more full and multilayered than ever in such a way that they didn't need five entire band members to pull off. And most importantly, the line between the leading vocals and the backing vocals are a little blurrier in the sense that leading and backing vocals for the most part are on the same volume, and they opt to sing a multilayered unison for when Poppy joins in, who is also adding her own mezzosoprano piece to the song and is given the room to do so. Everyone is given the room to do so-- Bruce's bass and Branch's tenor in particular get to shine while JD provides support with his baritone-- and of course they're given room for every single one of them to shine, because this isn't a concert, it's just a fun little jam sesh that also serves as a bet to showcase BroZone to Bruce's kids. It's ironic how the one time JD doesn't feel the need to be perfect, is the time you can really see why BroZone is such a good boyband that everyone fell in love with during their time.

Now, I did mention BroZone's first rehearsal (and I don't have much else to say about the rehearsal besides the fact that JD's obstinance means that they're doing a repeat of the tour debut), so I'll talk instead about the next time they manage to work (or in this case, sing) in harmony: A Better Place and its iconic pre-chorus.

Now, first of all I will mention the moment prior where the group has that little heart-to-heart about the PFH and how they don't need to be perfect to hit it, they just need to be together. While this is a very cheesy line, it's actually very true if you think about it from a technical musical perspective: when you're singing, you technically don't need to be perfect to sound good, and the same goes for if you're singing in a group. The most important thing about singing in a group is that you're all together, you're all on the same page, and you're all in agreement on who's going to take the lead for everyone to base their singing off of; and they have all three of those things. All of BroZone is together and able to communicate with each other, and they're all on the same page because they're all agreeing to follow Branch's lead. Ignore for a second the poeticism of Bitty B now taking up The Leader position in the vocals, the fact that the group was able to agree on who'll lead and who the others will listen to is not only a good showcase of what having a good team and leader is like, but also what it takes for a group to be able to sing together and not sound like a house of people trying to sing Happy Birthday. (It's also an achievement with this bunch but I digress.)

In A Better Place, we get to hear everyone put their own bits of harmonies into the song: we get to hear Clay's beautiful vocalizations in the pre-chorus and the chorus, Anna Kendrick joining in with her soprano is always a treat for the eardrums, Camila Cabello's improvisations are very tasteful, the LAYERS that make the pre-chorus so addicting to listen to, we even get to hear Crimp adding a bit of ukulele and it's very cute and she looks so happy you guys <:], Floyd's little vocalization at the end sounds heavenly even though the poor man hardly had anything left in him Lord bless him-- and under all of this, Branch's voice still sounds prominent enough to act as a baseline that doesn't overpower but ties all the other voices together, like a concertmaster of an orchestra being the one to set the pitch and make sure that everyone is on the same page. Everyone is listening to each other, everyone is adding their own flavor to the song, and everyone is in harmony.

Thank you for coming to my TEDTalk :3 if you managed to stick it out to the end then uh holy crap I commend you soldier, your brainrot must be as severe as the Trolls tag on Tumblr made yourselves out to be :D /j

[kankuroplease]

Who are your favorite characters to ship with Gai? While I’ve come across some very nice fan art and stories of him with Kakashi, there’s a part of me that doesn’t want to disrupt their epic bromance.

My joy and my green bean ✨

Gai is so shippable because he’d be the most supportive, thoughtful, enthusiastic, and optimistic partner anyone could ask for. So with that being said, I’m here for most of Gai ships even if they’re not my personal faves.

But some alternatives;

GaiGen - Genma better not her my man in any way shape or form or else 👊 but chill x chaotic is one of my favorite ship tropes

IruGai - he’d stress Iruka out a bit, but all in good fun and Iruka would have a date to Naruto’s wedding. Both are fatherly/big brother types to the younger ninjas and you’d know they’d love talking about their students together.

InoiGai - Gai brought a bouquet, okay? A man that can appreciate flowers and a man that owns a flower shop *chef’s kiss* also imagine Inoichi trying to go his job with Gai there 😆

GaiKure - another chill x Chaotic Gai is AMAZING with kids and him being Mirai’s stepdad would be cute.

AnkoGai - one of the few on this list that can semi match his energy (I’m not usually into same same ships) and give him a hard (but fun) time. Also Gai would happily buy her all the sweets she could possibly want.

Possibly GaiTsuna - Gai would be like a sugar baby minus the founds because Tsunade’s luck, not that he want her to found his lifestyle.

GaiMei - y’all people that say Gai isn’t “conventionally attractive” can hush, he’s handsome and Mei likes Handsome men. Kirigakure can use someone with Gai’s spirit and Mei would get that ring 💍

KisaGai - I have no sound reason for this other than I love them both and their my tiddie boys.

ObiGai - it’s toxic.. but tiddies 👀

GaiNaga - Nagato needs love too and I sickly bf x health nut bf? Nagato would be the best cared for Uzumaki with Gai

B/Gai - killer b can drop some bars and Gai can bust some moves, love it

Lots of possibilities with Gai

[maddys-nerd-blog]

Hi! It’s been a while!

I’m sorry I haven’t shared anything in a while. Things have been really stressful and I’ve been pretty down for the past few weeks, but I finally got this done in the meantime. Writing has been the best distraction from all the strain I’ve got in my life at the moment.

This is something I wanted to write for a while, so I hope you like this!! It’s a Christmas one shot for my Familia AU! I figured out how to use the link thingy too so I’ll link the song Katie sings in this one at the end too!!

Happy holidays and Happy New Year!! ☺️

Familia: Forever

Feliz Navidad, mi Familia!

Holidays were supposed to be fun. At least, that was what Katie used to think. This was long before the inter-dimensional travel or the crazy realm hopping bullshit she’d been roped into. In her world, this time of year was one to take as a relative breather. A chance to look forward to cheesy movies, sugary candy that was sure to grant you cavities, the change in weather was just cold enough to wear comfy sweaters, or buy everything you could get your hands on until your wallet crumbled to dust. Minus the stress the tumultuous spending habits one picked up once December arrived, the Christmas season was certainly a festive occasion.

Katie remembered when her niece was little, when she was young enough to still believe in Santa, she and Grace would stay up for hours the night of Christmas Eve to deck the apartment in wondrous decor, dusting baby powder across the floor and using Katie’s combat boots to create impressions on the rug for the immersion of Saint Nick having visited, along with a half eaten plate of white chocolate chip cookies— Grace’s favorite. It was worth the effort to watch the girl race into the living room with stars in her eyes and a bright smile as she stared at a decently sized pile of wrapped presents awaiting her.

It was something she wouldn’t trade for the world.

But those were just memories. Fleeting, gone in an instant due to high amounts of stress. It hurt to recall those happier moments amidst the chaotic whirlwind she found herself in now— separated from her family, possibly forever at this point, sporting a robotic arm, becoming a wanted fugitive in three different dimensions, and a surrogate mother to five unruly boys that needed guidance in a universe where every single person wanted to either capture or kill them.

Needless to say, Katie had enough to put up with. And with the holidays fast approaching, all she could think of was one thing—

What am I going to do?

********************

December 24.

That was the date on the calendar. Katie couldn’t help but glare at the number from afar, black coffee piping hot in her hands through the thick ceramic mug she cradled close. The longer she stared at it, the more the reality sank in. It seemed to taunt her. Nothing could change the fact that there was only a few days left until Christmas.

Taking a slow sip of her caffeinated beverage the detective leaned back against the countertop. Breathing deep, she sighed heavily through her nostrils as they flared, taking in the heat of the coffee, savoring its bitter taste. Don’t think about it, Katie tried to scold herself. Don’t think about it, don’t think about it, just pretend it’s another day. It was better to make believe things were business as usual than accepting the depressing reality of her current situation.

Three years.

Three. Years.

This would mark three years she hadn’t seen her family. Three Christmases spent running, hiding, fighting to survive. Three entire years of not being surrounded by the people she loved.

That was a decent amount of time spent not knowing if her sister or niece were still waiting for her to come home. This wasn’t New York— not hers, never hers— but the faint memories of the two lingered through streets that felt vaguely familiar. Ghosts of their presence followed where ever she traveled, and here was no different. Wandering through Central Park alone at night she could almost hear the sound of Lilium’s laughter ringing in the trees, or Grace’s voice echoing in the dark, calling for her to come home.

It ached. It hurt.

It was empty.

Thin, spindly arms found themselves wrapping around her middle from behind. What otherwise would have startled the woman made her breathe easier as she was gently pulled backward to better fit into his embrace. Quietly, the voice asked, “You doin’ okay?”

“Mm-hmm,” she nodded. Without dropping her mug she brought a hand up to reach behind her, cupping the face of the man who’d stayed by her side through all this mess. How he’d been willing to put up with her for this long was something she would never understand, but she was grateful all the same. “I’m fine. Just… not feeling too great.”

Danny looked over her shoulder, muted gold eyes boring into the depths of her soul with a ragged understanding that years of being a hardened criminal had provided. Ears pricking, he asked, “Want me t’ get you anything?”

“Unless you have a magic phone that can help me call my sister to let her know I’m not dead in a ditch somewhere, then not really,” she snorted dryly. “Just homesickness. I’ll be fine.”

Danny frowned. “How long?”

“Hmm?”

“How long has it been? Y’know. Since ya saw them.”

“… long enough to know I miss them.”

The yōkai tightened his arms around her waist. “Sorry, hon. Wish there was a way we could get ya home.”

She shrugged lamely. “Does it matter anymore?” She turned enough in his hold to face him— aging wrinkles under his eyes gave way to a softer expression of compassion. “I’ve got other things to focus on. I have five boys to take care of. I can’t let myself get distracted.”

“That ain’t exactly a healthy way t’ deal with things,” Danny lifted a hand to touch her cheek. His claws scraped across her skin delicately, making her shudder. “Let yourself be upset. It’s okay.”

She paused, soaking in his touch, leaning her face into his palm with a sigh. Doubt began to settle upon weary shoulders, her lips pursed into a frown. “Is it though?”

Danny actually looked baffled by this notion, staring at her with bewildered eyes. “What do you mean ‘is it’? You’re allowed t’ have emotions ya know.”

“But I gotta be the reliable one. I’m the one making the money to support all of us. You guys need me to be dependable. If I’m not one hundred percent, then I’ll let you guys down.”

“Ya gotta nip that in th’ bud, doll. That’s a toxic mindset.” The yōkai decided to use his hand to push her bangs out of her brow to better gaze into her eyes. His tail wrapped around her waist in place of his arms, drawing her closer to him. “I’m more than capable t’ take th’ load offa your shoulders. I can get work— honest work— in th’ Hidden City. Ya don’t gotta carry it on your back alone.” Danny grinned with a smile full of warmth. “That’s what I’m here for now.”

Katie, still struggling to withhold her emotions, leaned her head forward until her forehead came to rest on his collar. She could smell the lingering scent of his favorite cologne, ocean breeze and cigar smoke clinging to his frame. She could breathe it in until her lungs were sore. “I’d be selfish for putting that on you when you’ve already got shit to deal with.”

“Then be selfish.” Danny held her closer, the mug in her hands crushed between them. “I can handle it. The last thing I need is for you t’ get sick offa this stress.”

CRASH! Somewhere in the living room the sound of glass shattered, along with a cry of ‘it wasn’t me!’ Coming right after as Raph could be heard in the background scolding someone.

Katie cringed, mourning the loss of the tender moment. “When I’m not breaking fights up, THEN I’ll let myself cry.” She chugged her coffee with one quick swig, unfazed as it burned the root of her mouth and seared her tongue before untangling from the yōkai’s embrace to hurry into the room. Upon stepping into the doorway, Katie dropped her jaw at the unbelievable scene taking place.

One: the carpet was stained with ink. Sharpie markers had been broken in half, spilling the contents upon a giant scrap of cardboard and floor amongst a cluster of things strewn around the ground. Casey and Donnie sat in the middle of it, smeared in bright red and blue across their hands, looking like deer caught in headlights.

Two: Leo standing over the broken remains of a lamp, trying in vain to hide the pieces under the ruined rug, his feet covered from the ankle down in dark blue ink, tracking a trail from the spot where Casey and Donnie currently stayed. Behind him a festive Christmas paper popper lay torn in twain, confetti all over the place.

Three: Raph was giving Leo an earful, not too keen on having half his plastron coated with neon pink sharpie ink. Poor Mondo stood with his face coated in purple and green, desperately trying to scrub it out of his eyes as he yelped and cried out on pain.

“Leo, are you crazy!?”

“I said I was sorry!”

“Kat’s gonna kill you! Look at the floor!”

“I told you this was a stupid idea! Why do you never listen to me?!”

“Instead of yelling at me, how about helping me scrub this out?!”

“DUDES MY EYES ARE MELTING! I’M GOING BLIND!”

“Wait he can’t really go blind, right?”

“ARE YOU REALLY SAYING THAT?!”

… it wasn’t even ten in the morning, and the boys had already managed to find themselves in chaos.

Resisting the urge to grab her smokes, Katie swallowed her frustration back down in order to reign in the madness unfolding. “What in the name of God are you boys doing!?”

Almost immediately four heads snapped towards her direction, minus Mondo who still tried to get the inky gunk out of his eyes. And just as swiftly, Donnie and Casey pointed to Leo with an accusing finger. “He did it!”

The red eared slider, highly offended, threw his hands up with a dramatic motion. “Jerks! I can’t believe you ratted me out!”

Mondo’s hands pried themselves away from his face, squinting, only to yelp painfully as the ink spread further into the tear ducts. He flailed his arms and stumbled, knocking himself into the wall with a thud. “Mom, help!”

She hurried to his aid, placing a steadying hand upon the gecko’s shoulder to keep him still lest he knock himself out. Turning her gaze unto Leo, Katie turned her voice stern. “Okay, spill! What’s going on?!”

“Nothing!” Leo tried to act casual, folding his arms behind his shell as he leaned against the couch with a shaky grin, gaze shifting quickly back and forth between the broken lamp and the markers. “Just, uh… playing Monopoly!”

Deadpanning, Katie raised a brow with an unamused frown. “Really. Monopoly. I didn’t know buying Broadway meant snapping open three sharpies and handing over two hundred to move forward.” Unfazed, she pressed on. “Why is the room a mess?”

“It’s nothing, really!” Leo tried to assure her, waving his hand at the floor. “Just an accident while we were making some posters for—“ his eyes widened, as though he realized he said something he wasn’t supposed to, and he averted his gaze from Raph— who looked ready to pummel him where he stood.

“For what?” Katie asked.

“… the Hidden City?” Leo slowly responded. Raph hissed under his breath, “Hypocrite.”

That made her blink. Looking to Raph she questioned, “Why does he want to hang up posters in the Hidden City?”

Raph wouldn’t budge. When Casey opened his mouth to reply, Donnie jammed his elbow into the other boy’s ribs, shutting him up as he interrupted. “To buy groceries!”

Katie continued, not buying it. “Really. Grocery shopping?”

Leo looked sheepish. “Uuuuuh… yes?”

Mondo flailed his arms around again, whimpering as he grew panicked. “I still can’t see!”

Katie, still fighting to stay sane, chose not to start this argument. “Okay,” she easily picked the gecko, him being lightweight enough to carry in her arms. “Leo, since this was your idea, you’re cleaning this mess. I gotta go get this out of Jason’s face before he actually goes blind.”

“What?!” Leo gaped. “But what about going shop—“ he didn’t get to finish his sentence before Raph clamped his mouth shut, gesturing for him to be quiet. That made her suspicious.

“… is there something I should know about?” She inquired, narrowing her eyes to give the ‘Stern Mom’ look.

“Nope!” “Not really.” “Absolutely not!” Came the instant replies of three not-so-subtle boys who were fighting to look innocent. Raph was doing a better job than Casey and Donnie, but Leo’s poker face needed work. It was obvious they were trying to hide something…

“Kat,” Danny suddenly entered the room like an apparition— perfect timing if she had anything to say about this— “Why don’t ya help Jason and I’ll help the boys clean this mess up?”

This was getting stranger by the minute. Why was everyone acting so shifty? It wasn’t like them to keep secrets like this, but Raph? Danny? Why were they behaving like this? Katie hummed suspiciously, pouting, hefting the still-whimpering Mondo in her arms to help him. “… alright. Make sure you get that stain out. If you can’t, just chuck it.”

“Can do,” Danny gave her a two-fingered salute as she made her exit. The way he spoke suggested things were casual.

But it still didn’t make her any less suspicious. What’s going on with them?

******************

The moment Katie was out of range— and earshot, once he’d picked up the sound of the restroom door being closed— Danny’s smile fell, quickly replaced by a panicked hiss as he whipped around to face the teens. “Who told?!”

All present pointed to Leo. The red eared slider flailed his arms, fed up. “I didn’t mean to! It just slipped out!”

“Just slipped out?!” Raph repeated, eyes popping open wide with shock. “You almost gave us up! I told you to keep our plan on the down low and what do you do?!”

“She still doesn’t know!” Leo defended. “I didn’t say anything important! It’s not like I said ‘Guess what? We’re gonna give you a Christmas celebration this year!’”

“What’s the point of a surprise if you spoil it?” Casey brushed some of the ink off his palms, leaving bright yellow stains across his previously black jeans. “That’s, like, not even worth it.”

“Jesus,” Danny pinched the ridge of his snout with a heavy sigh, shaking his head. His tail curled around his ankles, refraining from striking the floor. “Okay. Okay, fine, so she’s still in the dark. As long as she doesn’t know, we’re fine.”

“Why shouldn’t she know?“ Donnie chimed in. “I mean, it’s almost Christmas, so why not just let her in on the plan?”

“Cuz this is FOR her,” Danny reiterated. “This is her third Christmas separated from her family. And I’m sure th’ rest of you have been homesick during th’ holidays long enough. After all th’ bullshit we’ve put up with, I think a demonstration of our appreciation is in order t’ get her in a better headspace.”

Casey shoved his hands into the pockets of his hoodie, leaning against the couch. “So what’re are we doing again? Have we even picked an idea?”

“None of us are in agreement,” Danny sighed. “We ain’t doing a circus—“

“No fun!” Leo protested, but he went ignored.

“We don’t got th’ cash for a fancy dinner or a night at Yankee stadium, and we can’t drive into th’ Bronx if we’re being tracked by Draxum.” The rat yōkai’s tail swished around his feet in silent frustration. “So unless we got another plan in th’ back burner, we’re gonna have to do something here.”

Donnie picked up the ruined artwork on the sign, frowning at the garbled wording beneath the dark ink. “It was starting to look cool, too. It took me hours to get that design to look right! Why did you break the markers?”

“I saw a video online that showed me how to make a gradient using the ink of you broke them the right way!”

“And you just… did it?”

“Clearly I did it wrong! Can we stop rubbing it in?!”

**********************

“Alright, mijo, let’s look at the damage.” Katie shined a small pen light in Mondo’s eyes, moving it side to side while keeping track of his pupils. He sat on the lip of the tub, tail curled around to sit in his lap, his face scrunched into an expression of pain as she gingerly pried an eyelid open with precise fingers. “Can you see the light moving?”

The gecko squinted, wincing, but he nodded. The gold of his orbs were dark red, the veins in his eyeballs visible from the burning, but his pupils followed the movement. “Yeah. It stings though…”

Humming, Katie released his eyelid gently, clicking the light off. “Good news! You’re not blind, clearly, but there’s irritation and it’s probably gonna look real blurry for a couple hours, but there should be something in here I can use to fix that,” she reached inside the restroom cabinet at her side, combing through the selection of medicines she’d obtained. Mystical ointments and brightly colored liquids bobbed around within uniquely shaped bottles and glass jars labeled with words Katie couldn’t translate yet. She swore some of this stuff was just glittery sugar water disguised to look like healing tonics.

Finally, she’d located a small tin that looked like the type of medical salves she’d glossed over in the drug store. Snatching it up Katie popped open the lid to scoop some of the white cream into her fingers. “Try holding still for a minute, hon. If you need to talk about something to distract yourself, just do it.”

Mondo nodded, holding tight to the end of his tail. “Gotcha,” he replied with worry.

Katie knelt to his level, beginning to apply the cream around his eyes as the gecko flinched, fingers starting to dig into his tail scales. Sensing his discomfort she decided to speak, “Hey, what are you asking for this Christmas?”

Mondo paused, flinching a little as the irritation in his eyes flared up. “I think… I asked for a new board.”

“Oh yeah?” Katie smiled a little. “Any type of board, or just a regular one from the shops?”

“It’s a limited edition kind,” Mondo’s smile was infectious as he started to ramble about the skateboard. “I think Tony Hawk had one just like it! It’s like all decked out with these retro decals that aren’t on the market anymore, they painted it this gnarly neon blue—“ mindlessly chattering about his dream skateboard helped to keep his mind off the burns from his eyes, thankfully. It continued on like this for the next five minutes, the boy happily recalling all the things he’d written down on his list— new sneakers, a boombox for his cassette tapes, spray paint— all the things a kid his age was interested in.

It was only after she completed getting his eyes treated with the ointment that the gecko squinted through the cream on his face, beaming. “What about you, Mom?”

Katie paused momentarily, screwing the lid to the ointment closed. “I didn’t have anything in mind,” she lamely shrugged.

Mondo, being as intuitive as ever, knew she was hiding the truth. “Come on! There’s gotta be something you want!”

Katie still remained hesitant. “What I want… it’s a thing I can’t have.” She put the jar away, repressing the bubbling turmoil that brewed inside her chest.

This made Mondo curious. “What do you mean?”

Katie paused. Closing the cupboard, she folded her hands before her to avoid fidgeting. “… it’s… my family.”

Mondo’s expression changed from confused to sympathetic. Even squinting through the mess of cream around his eyes he could see the immense grief that rested on her shoulders. He could tell she missed them, that their absence had driven something painful and deep into her core. He knew what it was like, wishing the people you cared for were there when you were thousands of miles away from everything you knew. “I don’t think I ever asked what they were like.” He sat up a little straighter, hands folded on his lap this time. “Can you tell me?”

Katie’s lips quirked into a fond smile; one full of warmth and gratitude. Easing herself to sit beside the gecko, she pulled her phone from her pocket and scrolled through her photos, selecting one from a folder she’d labeled ‘Familia.’ It was of Lilium’s twelfth birthday; the last time she saw her sister and niece. They’d decked the house in bright pinks and oranges, glittery streamers dangling on the ceiling, having gone all out for her. It had been themed after fairytales— she’d dressed herself up as a princess, complete with a Renaissance hairstyle. Grace had dawned a lovely gown made from fine turquoise fabrics. Mother and daughter were grinning for the photo, sitting in the living room as sunlight cascaded through the sheer curtains and illuminated their smiles as if to immortalize them. It was one of the only photos of them she had left.

Lilium would be fifteen now. Grace would have recently turned thirty-five.

“This is them.” She showed Mondo the photo. “Grace and Lily. She’d be around your age,” she pointed to the cheerful girl. “I think you two would get along really well. Grace would spoil you rotten,” chuckling softly Katie stared at the face of the woman who had been there for her through thick and thin, through the worst of her breakups, the terrible binges of her drinking habits where she’d seen the darker part of her demons, something only Danny caught a rare glimpse of. “We’d always go to the park on Sunday and have ice cream. Every week we would pick a random movie on the TV commercials to see and laugh about it.”

Katie’s smile faltered as her reminiscing turned into melancholy. “Lilium has an incredible singing voice for her age. Real Lea Salonga-like. She dreams of starring in a big movie musical someday. All she talks about is Broadway and the latest show she wants to audition for. And Gracie always knew what to do when you were depressed. She’d whip up your favorite meal and let you vent for hours if you needed it. Sure she was a little timid, but… she always seemed to know how to make a shitty day better.”

Mondo frowned with remorse. “You miss them?”

“More than anything,” Katie murmured in response.

Mondo pulled his tail back into his lap, guilt creeping into his chest. “… for what it’s worth, I think they’d be proud of you. I mean, you kicked serious bad guy butt, you traveled across dimensions, and helped us out! You took care of me even when my folks didn’t!” He laughed a little if only to shake off the underlying truth of his biological parents rejecting him.

Katie cracked the smallest of smiles. Reaching up she scratched the top of his head like she always would to calm him down, quietly pulling him close to sit at her side. “Thanks, mijo. You’re a good kid, you know that?”

“Yeah!” Mondo boasted playfully. “I’m pretty great!”

That caused Katie to laugh, the somber emotions she’d been feeling subsiding a little to allow herself to breathe. It granted a moment of reprieve long enough to keep hers wits about her and not lose herself to depression. But ever the attentive son, Mondo noticed the grief that clung to his mother. His hands fidgeted with his tail once more to think of how he could fix the pain his caretaker harbored…

And an idea sprang up in his mind.

*******************

“… that’s my plan! Sounds good, right?”

“Honestly that’s ten times better then what I’ve got.”

“It better not be another freakin’ circus.”

“I keep telling you, it would be an amazing gift!”

“You think we can pull it off?”

“… I mean, at this rate, we’ve got nothing. I say let’s do it.”

“Awwwww man! Missed opportunity!”

“Can it, Blue. Jason, you sure this’ll work?”

“Yeah! She’s gonna go bonkers for this, I know it!”

**********************

Katie couldn’t sleep.

It was an old habit, she knew. From years of Lily bursting into the guest bedroom, bright eyed and excited in the early hours of Christmas morning, pulling her arm and squealing that Santa had visited and left behind presents. And as the old saying went, old habits die hard. She stared at the ceiling with exhausted eyes counting the cracks that spiderwebbed along the chipping plaster, phone sitting on the dresser beside her bed, almost wishing it would ring to alert her to a call from her sister. She prayed she could at least receive a text from her, but for the past three years there was nothing.

Emerald eyes fell upon the clock near her phone. Four-fifty in the morning.

She’d been up for hours…

The hideout was silent, questionably so. All day long the boys were on their best behavior after the ink incident— no pranks, no stress, no fights, not even one broken bone or shattered vase. They were oddly helpful and eager to finish the chores when asked, which was NOT normal in the slightest, and once night fell they’d all but ushered her off to bed. “I’ll deal with th’ kids. Get some beauty sleep,” Danny had coaxed with a playful wink. “Lord knows you could use it.”

It was a tempting offer she couldn’t refuse.

But still, sleep evaded her.

So much for getting rest.

Her conversation with Mondo had gotten her thinking, once more, of her family and friends back home. How were they now? She wondered. Did Lilium like high school? Was she making friends? Had Grace found love at last? Did the Chief finally decide to retire? So many unanswered questions she would never get to know because they were gone, far off in another world that was lost to her now. So many birthdays, so many anniversaries, so many celebrations, too many things she’d missed because she’d been reckless. All of it, gone.

Almost daring herself to do so, Katie grabbed her phone from the dresser. The brightness of the screen illuminated her face, slicing through the darkness. Unlocking it, she opened her texts to scroll down to the last messages she’d received the day she’d gone on this rocky road.

Fourteen missed calls from her sister. Three from the Chief. Nine from her partners. Twelve from Lily…

Sis ✨;

Thursday October 12, 2017 at 2:35pm

Hope you have a great day at work! Lily’s asking for Monica’s tonight for dinner, want to join?

Sis✨;

Thursday October 12, 2017 at 7:12pm

I saved you some food from tonight! I got your favorite; fettuccini and shrimp! Just let me know when you get out of work so I can heat it up!

Sis✨;

Friday October 13, 2017 at 10:33am

Are you alright?

Sis✨;

Friday October 13, 2017 at 3:02pm

Kathrine please call me. This isn’t like you.

Sis✨;

Saturday October 14, 2017 at 12:46pm

Henderson said you haven’t shown up to your shift in days.

Are you okay? Lily’s been worried about you, as am I. Please call me.

Sis✨;

Saturday October 14, 2017 at 3:24pm

Kathrine please. If you don’t call me I’m going to have to use my spells. I just want to know if you’re safe.

I know you’re busy, but I’m worried about you. I pray you’re alright.

Munchkin🎼;

Saturday October 14, 2017 at 12:30pm

I miss you Auntie…

Katie finally put the phone down, no longer able to stomach the messages. An awful burn stung her eyes. Those were the final texts she would ever get from her family.

There were so many thoughts running through her head. Some of them were pointless, mundane. But the majority were filled with anguish. She knew better than to verbalize that in front of the kids— keep it closed off, shutter it tight, push it aside and pretend it’s not there. The well-being of those boys were more important than her mental health. But the more she ignored it, the harder the headaches struck. They turned into cloying migraines that pounded and rattled her brain with a powerful vengeance, reminding her of the awful truth of her situation; I’m never going home and I’m never going to see Grace or Lily again.

It was a bitter pill to choke on, but she knew it was one she had to swallow.

Going back home was a pipe dream, forever out of the realm of possibility. Katie lost that hope ages ago, when she’d gone to space with Fugitoid.

Katie’s vision blurred. Breathing shakily, she rolled onto her side, clutching her comforter tight against her aching chest. She couldn’t complain. She couldn’t. She chose this life. She chose to follow Karai all those years ago into that vortex. She chose to pick a fight with crazy people. The Chief was right about her; she never learned when to quit.

Katie gripped her blanket tighter, shutting her eyes. Breathe, moron. Christmas has to go well for the kids. Do NOT worry them.

Breathe in…

Breathe out…

Breathe in…

Breathe out…

Breathe in…

Breathe—

CRASH!

… out?

Katie shot up, startled. Did she hear that right? Did something break?

Hushed, rapid whispers she couldn’t pick up shot back and forth. She recognized Danny’s voice amongst the mishmash of voices beyond her door. There goes any chance of sleep…

Kicking the thick comforter off, Katie climbed out of bed, snagging one of the fuzzy robes from the edge of her bed frame and pulling it on to stave off the cold. Upon reaching the door she twisted the knob ever so carefully to avoid making a sound, she opened it just a sliver to catch the panicked conversation. While hushed, she heard pieces of it.

“What’d you do?!”

“Don’t look at me!”

“Shut up shut up! She’ll wake up!”

“You broke th’ freakin’ lamp, dumbass! She’s gonna hear!”

Opening the door enough for her to slip out, Katie clutched her robe around her chest as she headed for the living room, where most of the commotion resided. She silently carried herself down the dark corridor to avoid being detected. The voices of her boys and Danny were no longer muffled by the distance as she reached the entryway of the threshold—what piqued her curiosity immediately was, dancing along the ceiling spilling out onto the ground were colorful lights; red, green, blue, pink, yellow. They spun in a slow, lazy circle against the darkness.

“Nononono don’t do that, you’ll cut yourself—!”

“Dude, be careful with that!”

“Can we all calm down for a damn minute and get this done?!”

Katie peeked around the lip of the entrance, taking the chance to look inside…

… it wasn’t what she expected.

It looked as though Christmas vomited all over the place. The entire room was decked out with festive decorations; handmade, cutout snowflakes were dangling on strings along the ceiling, all of which were designed to look like marigolds. Plastic figurines of Saint Nick and his reindeer pulling his sleigh guarded a tray full of crispy sugar cookies messily traced with blue and white frosting to look like snowmen. Tinsel was hung up in long loops on the walls, silver and gold woven into thin braids. Stockings were pinned on the mantel, all of them in varying sizes and styles, the names of their matches embroidered in thick white thread from oldest to youngest— Danny, Kat, Raph, Casey, Leo, Mondo, Donnie. The couch wasn’t spared either, red and white plaid Christmas pillows fluffed to perfection.

But it was the eight foot tall pine tree currently standing in the corner of the room, where everyone was gathered, that caught her eye. It was massive— easily towering over everyone. Pine needles were scattered all over the rug. It was rotating on a stand that helped to keep it from wobbling. Ornaments had been hung upon the branches, strings of colorful Christmas lights wrapped all around the tree. It amused her to spot handmade decorations also hung on the thick branches. Tinsel had been discarded in a bundled up ball, tangled, bunched into knots. One of the lamps had been knocked to the floor again, the porcelain broken in shards.

Danny was struggling to keep his sanity. He was wearing a hilariously ugly violet sweater with pompoms on the sleeves, a piece of cheese on the front with the words ‘Have a Cheesy New Year’ embroidered in massive white letters. On his head he wore a pair of reindeer antlers. Donnie was placing boxes of hastily wrapped presents under the tree, wearing a dark green sweater with some kind of anime character on the front. Helping him, Leo hefted giant shopping bags onto the couch with a grunt, trying to make sure he didn’t drop anything. His own baby blue Christmas sweater was geared more for fashion, white stripes wrapping around his arms and collar. She nearly burst into giggles when she realized he was wearing a bright red nose on his snout.

Casey wasn’t dressed up, in fact he looked the most casual in a black long sleeved shirt with black and green plaid lounge pants, but he was busying himself with cleaning the mess currently sitting on the floor. Raph attempted to grab the fallen ornaments that had been knocked off, growing agitated when the silly elf had he wore kept slipping down his brow to cover his eyes.

What really got her was Mondo, dressed up like Santa Clause, fake beard included. He was perched atop a small step ladder holding the tree topper— a dopey looking Christmas angel with beady eyes and floppy wings, watching everything unfold with a wince.

Finally stepping into the room to take all of it in, Katie giggled. “What is this?”

The heads of the culprits shot up to meet her gaze, caught red handed. Danny’s tail flicked around his ankles nervously, an unconfident smile on his snout as he rubbed the back of his neck. “Aaah…! Kat! Hey! Doll, what’re ya doin’ up?”

“Heard something break,” Katie, nonchalantly, reached up to touch one of the snowflakes with delicate fingers, taking in all the detail with a fond expression. Her eyes sparkled in awe. “Just wanted to make sure we weren’t being burgled.”

“In the sewer?” Leo raised a ridge, deadpanning, until Donnie smacked him in the leg.

Mondo took this change in stride. Beaming, he hopped off the ladder and tossed the angel to Raph, the white pompom hanging off his Santa hat jingling. “Mom! Merry Christmas! Surprise!” He waved his arms wildly to gesture towards the tree. “Do you like it?!”

“Surprise?” Katie blinked.

“Well, duh,” Casey nodded. “It’s a Christmas surprise!”

“What for?”

“For you!” Mondo grabbed her hand, tugging her inside to lead her to the loveseat. “Since you’re up, we can do it now!”

Laughing as she was seated, Katie found herself asking, “Do what?”

“Give you your gifts!” Mondo happily replied. He looked to the others, pointing to the boxes and bags. “Come on! It’s technically Christmas morning!”

Everyone exchanged skeptical glances. Whether it be from their shared exhaustion or doubt, nobody made the motion to move until Raph shrugged, smirked, and nodded. “He ain’t wrong,” he agreed. “We’ve been up for hours anyways.”

Katie’s eyes widened. “I’m sorry, hours?”

Ignoring her bewilderment Danny shoved one of the boxes into her lap as a suitable distraction. “Never mind that Doll, here, open these.”

“Hold up! If she’s going to open anyones’ gift first,” Leo pushed a massive blue shopping bag with the Macys logo on the sides at her feet. “It’s mine!”

“What? That’s bogus!” Casey shot back at the prankster. “I wanna give mine first!”

“Guys, really, knock it off. What are we, five?” Raph rolled his eyes at the childish display. “If one of us is gonna go b’fore th’ rest of us,” he nudged Mondo forward with an encouraging nod. “It’s Jace.”

Donnie smiled in agreement, giving the gecko a thumbs up. Bolstered by his friends Mondo scurried over to retrieve a package obviously wrapped by him— bright red paper with lightening bolts, crinkled and messy, taped to hell and back, with a shoddily tied bright blue bow in the middle. He offered the box forward with a giant smile, tail thumping against the floor in glee.

Accepting the gift, Katie looked at her son with a tired grin. “Mijo. You didn’t have to get me anything.”

“I know,” Mondo nodded. “But I thought you’d like something that came from all of us.”

Katie couldn’t stop herself from looking taken by surprise. “What…?” She raised her gaze to Danny to search for an explanation, but the rat was sitting on the stepladder, a similarly fond expression written across a face usually wrought with stress and anger. Yellow eyes glistened, his grin gentle, kind, almost loving. “Listen t’ th’ kid,” he said. “I think yer really gonna like this.”

So, taking this in mind, Katie obliged. She gingerly pulled the paper apart, undid the bow, took the lid off the box to look at what had been given to her…

And her heart began to pang with emotion.

Perched in her lap was a scrapbook. Black leather, golden stud clasps punched into the corners… and in metallic gray sharpie marker in bold lettering was written, ‘Best Adopted Mom.’

Katie opened the book. She was greeted with photos of herself and her boys, from the happiest parts of their journey. Each one of these pictures showed them all smiling bright for the camera, either taken by surprise or charging the cameraman— probably Casey or Leo.

Coney Island. Yankee stadium. The diner. Raph learning how to drive the old pickup truck, Leo pointing and laughing hysterically at the other turtle. Casey in the ice rink teaching Mondo how to play hockey, Donnie holding onto the wall for dear life. Game nights, where by the end of it hell broke loose. The yōkai carnival. Halloween. The Day of the Dead gala— which, how the hell did they take the photo of her and Danny from that far at such a distance?— the beach. The arcade. There were sections of the book with color coordinated chapters to represent each of the boys— dark red for Raph. Sky blue for Leo. Electric purple for Donnie. Gold for Mondo. Black for Casey.

The photos ranged from mundane, to funny, to impressive shots of either duo in combat, to celebratory snippets cut out of newspapers or magazines. Fun stickers were pasted on the sides to give the paper more décor, doodies adorned every page, funny puns and quotes covered every inch of the book.

It wasn’t until she’d reached the final page that her heart backflipped.

The last page of the book contained two photos glued to a piece of pale pink paper: one was a group photo of herself and all the boys covered in bruises and battered, sitting at a table in Hueso’s restaurant, enjoying a pizza for the first time in months and looking completely at ease in the midst of a crowd of yōkai. They were beaming for the camera, a celebration of their newfound family in the aftermath of all they’d endured.

The second…

A photo of Grace and Lilium, the same one she’d shown Jason hours earlier. Underneath these pictures was a note.

‘To the best mom I’ve ever had! I’m sorry you can’t go home, but you’ve got us now! We can be your new family if you want! Thanks for always being here for us, for helping us, and for never giving up on any of us.

We love you, Mom!

Signed—

Leonardo

Raphael

Donatello

Casey

Jason.’

Katie remained still in her seat, the scrapbook cradled in her hands like it was a precious heirloom. She failed to realize she was shaking slightly. She didn’t notice how her vision started to blur again, only this time she truly couldn’t see anything past a misty haze of colors.

The silence that followed started to worry the others. Concerned, Mondo stepped forward, taking his Santa hat off and wringing it in his hands. “Mom…?”

The barriers shattered.

The walls came down.

Finally, for the first time in years, Katie burst into tears. It hurt. It stung like a bastard. Hot, furious waterfalls streamed along her skin in thick trails. Clapping a hand over her mouth to stifle her sobs as they overcame the detective, she allowed herself to release the bottled up emotions she’d kept under lock and key. Naturally everyone gathered to her side in moments, both baffled and confused while she wept over the book, messy tears dripping off her chin and jawline to plop onto the laminated pages.

A fuzzy, filling feeling flowed throughout her core, washing her hardened interior to melt away, giving in to an incredible emotion she hadn’t felt in years.

Love. To be loved by the people who had accepted all of her. To be loved by those who saw past the ugly pieces and kept her regardless. To be a parent to a group of amazing kids who, in turn, gave her purpose. To be loved by a man who only saw her— not the hybrid, not the magpie, nor the mixed breed… just Kathrine.

Is this what it felt like to be a mother?

Was this how Grace felt?

“Mom?!”

“Holy crap, are you okay?”

“What’s wrong?!”

“Guys, back up, give her air—“

“Did we do something bad—“

“I knew we shouldn’t have—“

“How?” Katie asked through sobs, quieting the boys. When no one responded she asked again with a shaking sigh, “How?”

“How what?” Leo frowned.

She scrubbed at her eyes with her sleeves, emerald orbs turning dark red in an attempt to wipe the tears away. “H-How did I… get so lucky?” Raising her head she met their gaze with a watery smile filled with joy and happiness, pink coloring her cheeks. “To find such great kids?“

Mondo blinked slowly, hat still twisted in his hands. “Do you… like the book?”

“Like it?” She asked, looking stunned, as if the question was outlandish. “Like it?”

Mondo gulped, the hat twisted thin between his hands. “Is it that bad? I didn’t think the pictures were that blurr—EEEP!”

Katie wrapped her arms around the gecko to pull him into a strong embrace, clutching the smaller of the mutants close. Against the tears that still made her eyes sore, the woman smiled, looking completely at ease in the presence of those around them. “Mijo,” she sniffled. “This is the greatest gift I’ve ever gotten.”

Mondo’s face lit up with glee, returning the hug readily, tail slapping rapidly against the floor in excitement. “Radical!”

There was a lack of movement from everyone else. Katie lifted her head, meeting the eyes of her boys with a watery chuckle. “What, you think there’s a favorite in this household?” She extended an arm towards Donnie, a silent invitation to join. “Get in here!”

Donnie instantly took the offer, jumping into her arms with a similarly giant smile, his glasses going askew on his snout. Casey followed suit, finding a space at Katie’s left side. Leo was just as eager to join the fold, practically leaping forward, starved for paternal affection. Raph, though slower to accept the overt display of emotion as the older ‘loner’ brother, inched his way over to his comrades, crouching beside the bunch to place a hand atop the lip of Leo’s shell, trying not to show the fond grin on his beak.

It was a sweet image; a surrogate mother hugging the sons who chose her, internally blessed to have them in her life.

Danny, awkwardly, stood out from the huddle. The rat yōkai used his clawed index finger to pull on his turtleneck collar, shifting on one foot to the other, tail curled at his ankles. Katie noticed, untangling one arm from the cluster of mutants to reach for him.

His eyes widened. Danny, wordlessly, pointed to himself to ask, ‘you sure?’

Katie just nodded. Her fingers wriggled to motion for him to come.

His tail twitched. He swallowed, suddenly anxious. Slowly, he crossed the short distance across the carpet, the Christmas lights still spinning and dancing in rings along the walls. Kneeling, Danny timidly lifted a hand to reach for her, every fiber in his body telling him he didn’t belong here, he didn’t deserve this, he wasn’t worthy, he wasn’t allowed to share in this moment—

But Katie took his hand. She threaded her fingers through his own, clasping it tight. Her brilliant emerald orbs shined like gemstones in the colorful hues of the lights behind them, a beautiful smile gracing her strained features. For the first time he detected no sign of stress, no wear and tear, no grief…

It was just Katie.

And there was no other magnificent sight Danny wanted to bask in.

******************

An hour later, everyone commenced with the festivities proper. After drying her tears Katie had rushed to the closet to bring the rest of the presents she’d hidden from the boys— “I KNEW I should have checked that one,” Casey lamented with a snap of his fingers. Soon the sound of wrapping paper ripping and boxes being torn apart echoed through the room, bouncing off the walls and the sewer pipes overhead. Cheers and gasps of awe were soon to follow as everyone began to show off their gifts.

Mondo’s wish for a new skateboard came true as he hugged it chest, eyes scouring over the details of the designs and admiring the classic 90’s paint job. New converse sneakers, a box packed with vintage comics, an old school GameCube console and games to go with it sat dutifully in his corner.

Casey had yet to go through the pristine selection of metal baseball bats or hockey sticks that were set up in a leather carrying case along with the repaired rollerblades, but he couldn’t tear his eyes off the grey varsity jacket baring the name of his favorite hockey player currently clutched in his hands.

Raph didn’t react the most outwardly, but the pleased grunt he gave meant more than words. He totted a new set of boxer’s gloves, a black windbreaker, fingerless leather gloves custom made to fit for three fingers, a thick textbook on the history of motorcycles, knitting needles and yarn, as well as a rubix cube to help cope with his temper.

Donnie’s pile had a consistent theme; retro Pokémon games for his Gameboy, anime t-shirts, a BTS hoodie, refurbished laptop, plenty of Kpop CDs, Japanese snacks of varying kinds from chocolates to gummies, and a Gundam model kit to put together.

Leo hadn’t stopped squealing as he went through his selections, dramatically fainting over the sight. On top of receiving new clothes that would make David Bowie envious, the slider admired a set of neon nail polish to try out. He slipped on a pair of aviator sunglasses with dark red lenses as he tore into one more bag that had yet to be opened, and the sound he made caused his neighbor— Casey— to wince at the volume.

“NO. YOU. DIDN’T.” He pulled free a bright pink onesie with a hoodie and a horn on the top, a matching plushie tumbling out of it. Stars shined in his eyes under the sunglasses. “YOU GOT ME A UNICORN ONESIE?!”

“I mean,” Katie laughed as the slider hugged it to his chest, bouncing on the heels of his feet as he squealed. “You asked for one forever!”

“You’re the BEST!” Leo held up the fuzzy loungewear with pride, clearly over the moon with his present and holding it aloft as if it were Simba. “I now possess the coolest Christmas gift of all time! All of you can now be jealous!”

“If you say so,” Raph chuckled. He picked up a small wrapped bundle, tossing it at the prankster. “This one’s from me.”

Leo caught it, surprised. “Did I hear that right? RAPH got ME a Christmas gift?”

“Well, if ya don’t want it, I’ll give ‘em t’ Casey—“

“HELL NO,” Leo ripped the bright green paper off the strange bundle… revealing a pair of caramel brown fluffy, dopey puppy slippers with goggly eyes and floppy ears. Leo’s mouth dropped wide open with shock, holding the footwear in his fingers for all to see, earning a few giggles from Donnie and Casey.

“Nice shoes,” the human teen chortled.

“SCREW YOU I LOVE THEM,” Leo loudly proclaimed, shoving them on to spite him.

As the kids laughed and showed each other their gifts, the adults finally sank into the comfort of the couch. Lounging in the sofa with a relieved sigh, Danny took his antlers off, looking to Katie as he spoke. “So,” he murmured with a light chuckle. “Is that everyone?”

Katie, snorting, gave him a playful swat on his shoulder. “There’s still you, dummy.” She grabbed a rectangular box that looked quite fancy, handing it to him with a knowing expression. “Feliz Navidad, mi amor.”

“Baby,” blushing a dark crimson, Danny took the present into his hands. “Ya didn’t need to—“

“Course I did. You’re family now,” she folded her arms atop the couch cushions to rest her head there, watching him with adoration. “I couldn’t just leave you out.”

Danny’s face went blank, caught off guard.

“Was that wrong of me?”

“Nah. Just… haven’t been part of something like this in years. Not since Leonard or Mickey.” He went quiet for a moment, tugging the paper off the box carefully. “Ya know something? I thought I’d never get outta that life. I thought I was stuck in that cycle forever— but if I’m honest…” he reached a free hand towards hers, taking her hand into his own with all the tenderness of a class-A gentleman. He gave it a squeeze. “I’m glad I chose you over everything.”

If it was feasible for a human to turn into a living cherry, Katie’s face would have magically transformed into one. She blustered, a feat he thought impossible, as she held his hand tighter. “You jackass,” the detective giggled. “You gotta do this to me?”

“I aim t’ please…” Danny’s free hand had pried open the box at last, pushing the lid off. He stared down into the contents of what lay before him, and he genuinely looked touched.

A three piece suit, made of refined black satin, and a crisp silk tie dyed a pleasing dark violet, sat innocently in his lap. Sitting on top of that was a gold lighter with beautiful engravings, with his name etched along the metal in elegant cursive.

“You needed a suit to go dancing in,” Katie smirked as his fingers plucked the lighter from the box, thumb brushing across the engravings. “And you ask for a lighter all the time, so…”

The rat yōkai stared at the lighter for the longest time, snapping it open with a practiced flick of his wrist. A bright purple flame of magic origin burst into being, swishing in mystified motions. It captivated him. There was a beauty to its color, mysterious and alluring, it was almost perfect.

Danny found himself smiling. Snapping the lighter closed he squeezed Katie’s hand. “You know how t’ leave me speechless.”

“I aim to please,” Katie quoted back at him, sitting upright to better lounge into the sofa. “NOW we’ve got everyone.”

“Not yet.” Danny stood, going for the tree this time, moving through a mound of shredded paper and boxes. “I still haven’t given ya my gift.” He rummaged around for a second before he grabbed onto the object, yanking it free of the mess of tinsel and branches.

She almost had to do a double take. In his hand, having been freed from its hiding place like Excalibur from the stone, was a gorgeous dreadnought acoustic guitar, but by the looks of it this was a custom model. The base of the guitar was dyed a rich reddish-black with a shadowy gradient blending the two tones on the sides, likely mahogany. Nylon strings finely tuned along the thin neck of the instrument. It was massive, bigger than the one she recalled owning years ago before Bishop decided to take a Glock to it.

Katie was left marveling. “Is that…?”

“Heard your old one got shot fulla bullet holes. Thought it was better that ya got an upgrade.” Danny handed her the mighty item. Though it was hollow, it still surprised her that the guitar managed to be slightly taller than herself.

The boys had all flocked to the couch, sitting either on the carpet or on open spots in the couch and loveseat to watch their mother handle the instrument with delicate care. Scarred, calloused fingers smoothed over the polished wood, absorbing its beauty with an awesome breath. “Dios Mio…”

“Helluva beast,” Raph complimented. “Bet it’ll make some great music.”

Flopping onto a couch cushion with his plushie clutched in his arms, Leo eyed the guitar with wonder. “Sooooooo is this the time where I can ask for lessons?”

“Hell no!” Casey barked out a laugh, falling into the loveseat. “If you try to play it, you’ll break the strings!”

“Dude, how would I break it? Are you sure you’re not talking about yourself?”

“Definitely! I’m a pro at anything! Casey Jones can master any instrument!”

“Uh-huh. Sure. I’ll believe that when carrots fly.”

Mondo hopped into the open seat at Katie’s left, tail falling to rest at his lap. “Can you play something for us?”

“Right now?” Katie couldn’t help but chuckle, tuning the strings. “Haven’t really had the time to practice my skills!”

“Come on, please?” Mondo clasped his hands together, putting on the ‘poor puppy dog eyes’ face to better try and convince her, adding the quivering lip for dramatic emphasis. “For Christmas?”

“Ooooh no, I see what you’re doing, it’s not gonna sway me.” Katie teased, but when she looked to her right eye found the soul-crushing teary eyed expressions of Leo and Donnie doing the same thing. These kid and their damn emotional ploys. “… okay, okay, fine, you win.”

Earning cheers from her boys, the detective sat upright to better adjust her grip on the dreadnought, cradling it close, fingers coming to rest upon the base of the guitar prepping for its first performance. It was as though the strings were humming in her ears, an energy beyond her understanding, yearning to be used, to be played, to be heard.

“What’re you gonna play?” Donnie asked.

“Yeah! I mean,” Leo tucked his legs beneath him, eager to listen. “Do you have a song in mind?”

… that was something she hadn’t thought of yet.

Katie spared a glimpse at her boys, looking at their smiling excitable faces. She looked to Danny, leaning against the wall near the tree, regarding her lovingly. She thought of Grace and Lilium, their laughter a distant echo in the sewers as though their aura still remained.

Yeah… she had a song in mind.

Fingers plucked at the nylon strings. A calm melody started to flow from under worn and calloused fingertips. Then, with a soulful voice, the words came free.

“Candles in the window,

Shadows painting the ceiling.

Gazing at the fire glow,

Feeling that gingerbread feeling…”

The boys were instantly captivated; their postures relaxed, lulled by the sweet melody, soothed by her voice, enjoying the company of their strange family whilst Danny’s smile softened significantly, watching on in silent pride.

“Precious moments.

Special people.

Happy faces.

I can see…”

Katie’s heart felt lighter than air. The stirring of emotions that had conquered the woman’s otherwise tense and painful heart had finally allowed for the vulnerable side to break through, to be willing to open herself up and be freed from the overwhelming amount of grief that had kept her tethered to her shortcomings. Yes, she had lost a part of herself that would likely never be returned to her. She doubted the likelihood of the family reunion she’d desperately longed for with Grace and her niece.

Yes, she’d never get to see them again… but Katie still had a family.

She had her boys. She had Danny. She had them… and they would always have her there to keep them supported.

And that was more than enough.

“Somewhere in my memory

Christmas joys all around me.

Living in my memory,

All of the music. All of the magic.

All of the family home here, with me…”

********************

Tada!! Hope you liked this!! It was fun to get this done! The song Katie’s singing is a cover rendition of ‘Somewhere in my Memory’ from Home Alone! I liked this version a ton so I imagined Katie would sing like this!

Enjoy, and see ya soon!! 😊

@queen-with-the-quill @tending-the-hearth @lameboobah @wasted-and-ready @figuringitoutasigoalong @tmnt-tychou

[floralflorence]

POV: "Baby, can I have my hoodie back? " "Can I have my virginity back?" "Technically that was Peanut."

Practice had been long and tiring, it always was in the dead of winter. Entering practice when it's just begun to lighten up then leaving with either an hour or so of daylight left or walking out to the sun already setting made the days seem to fly by. This meant the team were slow to shower and get ready to go home, everyone sluggish and cold and more than happy to stay in the room with underfloor heating and banter for a little while longer.

Reg was perched at his stall with a steaming mug of tea; he was fully dressed minus his shoes and coat and was laughing along to the chirps being batted back and forth around the room. He'd shrugged on the huge jumper he'd come dressed in and had stolen Finn's while he was in the shower too. Being half-nudist, Finn ran on his own temperature, always warm no matter the weather around them. The boys winced when he came in with nothing but a small towel (progress compared to the usual ass-naked they got on the day-to-day whenever he was done in the shower), getting cold just looking at him. Leo and Lo headed back into the changing room from the snack room carrying warm toast and hot chocolate. Leo was always pouty when it was cold, it forced him to miss the NOLA sun more than he already did - having Lo cuddled up to his side to warm him up definitely helped though.

"Fishcake, please put some clothes on before you get the mother of all colds," Leo asked with a laugh, pressing a kiss to Finn's shoulder as they walked past.

"Alright, alright. Just because it's you," Finn grinned at Leo's humoured eye roll at his teasing tone.

"Go on, Knut, got your boys in check," Halla hollered from the other side of the changing room.

"He holds sex hostage, of course he does," Reg laughed back, snorting into his tea at Halla's impressed look at his tactics.

After a minute, Finn had tugged on his boxers, sweats and tank he'd wore under his hoodie. He shuffled around his stall for a few moments before his eyes landed on Reg, who was holding up a wonderfully convincing facade of being totally innocent.

"Regie," he said with a smile at him, coming to lean his shoulder against the edge of his stall.

"Oui, mon amour?"

He raised an eyebrow at the low whisper of French that, more times than not, totally works if the goal was to distract Finn from whatever he was doing or saying.

"Not gonna work this time," he sing-songed. "I need my hoodie back, please and thank you."

"But I'm so cold," Reg pouted dramatically.

The cubs were all laughing at Finn's desperate attempts to persuade him to give him his hoodie through his laughs and smiles.

"Baby, can I have my hoodie back?" Finn asked, finally managing to compose himself and be semi-serious.

Reg titled his head up towards him and narrowed his eyes, setting his jaw stubbornly.

"Can I have my virginity back?"

"Oh!" came Sirius' startled noise from a few stalls away, looking wholly traumatised.

"Technically that was Peanut."

"Dude!" Sirius yelled at Finn with a chaotic waving gesture before he turned in the direction of the PT room. "Layla?!"

She peered round the door with a smile.

"Concussions cause memory loss right?"

Her eyebrows knitted together, totally confused at the random question.

"I- Wh- Yeah?"

Sirius jumped up, turned towards James and lowered his head like a bull about to charge.

"C'mon, Potts, hit me."

The whole team was cackling now, their captain's trauma serving as a good pick-me-up for everyone. James stood and sprinted at him, jumping and turning his shoulder towards him like he would hit him up the boards on the ice. Sirius caught him and they playfully shoved and wrestled with each other for several seconds, everyone yelling and cheering them on.

While everyone was distracted, Finn tried one last run at getting Regie to give him his hoodie.

"Right, I'll make you a deal. If you give me my hoodie now, I promise you won't need any clothes as soon as we get home."

With a final gulp of his tea, Reg popped his mug on his stall and stood, tugging the hoodie over his head.

"Deal." The hood was hanging from his fingertip as he reached to pass it to Finn. However, he pulled it back when Finn went to reach for it. "Seal it with a kiss."

Finn grinned at him, playfully tugging him in by his waist, dipping him in a dramatised yet soft kiss and shrugged his hoodie on once they were upright.

"C'mon, home time," Leo said, adjusting his sweats slightly. Ever the help, Lo had been quietly offering some ideas of what things they could be doing so Finn could keep his promise to Reg. He praised himself later on that evening for not driving the four of them into a ditch considering Reg and Lo insisted on getting some practice of those things in the backseat the entire ride home. Leo didn't think he'd ever been so glad they had tinted windows.

[ackerfics]

somewhere in the lock universe: aot

— we have a personal factory in our house.

eren jaeger x female reader

gone are the days where the walls reflect childish laughter and shenanigans. ezra already graduated college and started applying for masters, aran is nearing his own graduaton, and caspian is officially a sophomore in university. ezra has a place he can call his own, a studio apartment near his chosen university (though he still comes home if the weekend is empty of any workload) while the other two are still residents of their quaint, chaotic home). the kids are all grown up and you have all the time with eren. your husband has been thinking of going on a trip twice a month to truly get away from things. with the children older than they were, it requires more get-togethers for the extended family to remind them that family is the one thing a person doesn't lose.

it's one of those get-togethers after a thorough re-decorating in the jaeger household that caspian first thinks of throwing his little cousin to the newly-installed pool in their backyard.

"i never knew you guys have this many medals and awards here," mikasa notes while staring at the entire wall of glinting golds and silvers just for your three children. "where did you get all of these?"

"i did a little cleaning here and there," you answer.

"more like had a rampage," eren snorts.

you glare at him. he chuckles and plants a kiss on your forehead to erase the furrowed look.

"are you like a factory of medals or something?" sasha exclaims, jaw slackening at the display. "i know you have little geniuses but this," she gestures at the wall, "is madness! the most i got as a kid was a ribbon for being the most resourceful!"

"well," eren gloats.

"shut up, eren." mikasa rolls her eyes. "don't even make me list your awards."

"i got a trophy for every sport i play!"

"that's not academic achievement."

"woah! that's a lot of shiny things."

marigold, mikasa and sasha's daughter, tilts her head to assess the medals. the space at the far left probably has the most awards, the graduation portrait at the top showcasing a charming smile that is basically the male version of you. marigold remembers asking for her big cousin, ezra, for any help with homework. next to his space is aran's, his portrait that of a high school graduation, which will be replaced in a few months with his university one. aran is the definition of someone who has it easy. studying is easy for him, even the exams he take; one would say he's a genius at this point. and then, the last space confuses marigold. if there's an abundance of shiny circles below the other two, there's only a handful underneath caspian's. instead, there are three trophies that he received for being the mvp of the many sports he played and a couple of medals for winning a tournament. safe to say, caspian is a carbon copy of his father; looks and achievements and all.

marigold stares at the said boy, who grows to be taller than you now. he looks a lot like eren when the man was the same age as him, minus the emo long hair.

caspian is busy tapping something on his phone when he feels the wide-eyed stare boring on his skull. he slowly turns his head, only to find the creepiest little shit calling for him wordlessly. marigold is an adorable kid, yes, and caspian loves her, but when she does that thing ... caspian is convinced she's going to dethrone anabelle the creepy doll.

"what?" he asks.

the little girl blinks.

caspian looks around for the adults before knitting his eyebrows at her. "what is it, goldie?"

"how come you have the least medals on here?" she points at the wall.

ezra chokes on his soda, aran's jaw drops, helene gasps, and every adult in the house stops talking to each other.

caspian blinks at the sudden question. he puts down his phone on his lap.

"we ran out of gold."

ezra snorts and his chuckles become full-blown laughter at his baby brother's dry response. even aran bites his lip to prevent himself from laughing.

"now, did that answer your question? yes? okay." and just like that, he goes back to tapping on his phone, cheering lightly when his character didn't die while being in idle motion.

"don't plot anything, cassie," aran teases.

"i'm not."

"i bet he's thinking of throwing her in the pool," ezra snickers.

"..."

it's silent for one minute until, "goldie, let's go for a swim."

[dulcewrites]

Rip to the Targaryen kids back at kingslanding they don’t know what to do without their emotional support milf 😔. I’m glad that Aemond is miserable without her around. There’s something so funny about Aegon laying on that balcony all day and don’t worry Helaena I don’t blame you for not telling anyone about your vision and setting reader up with Aemond.

When Rhaenrya was like surely you’ve heard of me from Aemond and the reader response is no he doesn’t mention you at all 💀. The whole dinner scene was funny 😭. Also is Jace forming a crush on reader 👀. Look all I’m saying is that if the reader did marry Jace she’d be in a happy marriage and not stuck with her current situation, but where’s the fun in that 🙏🏽.

Also go Daella for claiming Vermithor. I can’t blame the reader for being around Daella when she hangs around Daemon, I wouldn’t leave my kid unsupervised around him either 😭. I feel bad that Alaric doesn’t feel comfortable around dragonstone but can’t blame him that places creepy and he’s only a few months old an babies don’t take to new environments well.

I know the readers having fun knowing that she scares Luke 😭. Shit I would to if I was in her place💀.

Everyone on dragstone: “Luke she’s not scary and is as harmless as a kitten”

Luke:

Emotional support milf is exactly what she is that’s so funny 😭😭😭. Also poor hel bc she probably stirs so clear of any of that political stuff, and the one time she actually involves herself bc she wants something for herself… it ends up like this. Life is cruel

As for Jace, he’s a young guy so I think he just likes having a pretty girl around lol. Reader’s best attribute in terms of out smarting people is doing the whole batting the eyelashes, damsel in distress thing. It’s like catnip for someone like jace, who hasn’t been around a lot of girls that aren’t his family plus taking the whole chivalrous thing seriously

I personally read the Baela/jace/rhaena/luke sitation as all of them loving each other but maybe not in that way (at least in the show it will be slightly different in fmo). Baela and jace could maybeeeee get to the point of loving each other romantically but rhaena and Luke are sure platonic besties. The whole reader x jace thing is funny bc let’s say her parents put the bastardphobia aside to let that happen. I almost feel like she’d still be paranoid bc her husband is clearly a bastard and what would that trickle affect mean if they have kids. Though they probably have a better chance of having a loving relationship

But it also makes me sad bc it just reinforces that in another dimension, reader and Aemond honestly could’ve given platonic soulmates like laenor and Rhaenyra (minus the messy ending lol)

Alaric being born into the most chaotic point of his parents’ lives is 💀💀💀💀. He’s truly been going through it since birth

Luke letting a dragonless girl punk him is crazy. The whole overly nice thing makes him want to die tbh

[scrreeeamformx]

fuck this weather

why is everything moving even slower than before today? im currently typing this in a dinosaur aged laptop belonging to my sis sitting at home with god knows what's the weather out there now, 35 degrees? and alternating between needing to sweat and also not overheating myself. i seem to remember that my sis describes me as being a carnivorous plant, i need water and moisture if not i just die which literally happened to me 2 days ago. temperature shot to 39.3 and i was delusional. body aching too much to get on my feet to wash up and head down to our family doctor, was in a half dazed mood the whole day, the bloody meds making my tongue all numb and all food tasting bland. well glad all thats over.

today is the last day of my so called medical leave and gotta return to being a cog in the machine of capitalism? economic growth? whatever it is, its the thing that gives me money so i can spend it however i like and on whoever i like. i just realised my last post was early april this year and it always feels like a whole year has passed since i last written in here. at least its still a consistent thing for me. no matter how infrequently i write. i still got opinions and stuffs to say, maybe not to humans but online. because this space is not meant for anyone but myself. so no judgements, no stonewalling, nothing, just peace and quiet, exactly how i want things to be.

my job is chaotic now, so different from the previous one but the time passes really quickly and im learning new shit which is all good. colleagues are pretty good as well, no mind games and management is old school/traditional which is fine by me. still not very sure about working under a female boss but time will tell. man once this week passes, it will be 3 weeks im in this new company, time sure passes quickly. the rest of my life is pretty much the same really. i miss hanging out with my group of 5, me included. can be totally myself with them, all of us feel the same way. minus the smoking and hard liquor. i think my 3 cups of soju bomb was my max till i flatlined. man at least it was in their home and not some pub or strangers home. glad to always have them, need to catch up soon like for real. for real.

why am i talking like im a homie? pretty soon i will be saying bruh to everyone and hierarchies be absent. i dunno i mean i read about this new generation now called generation Alpha? like how weird is that? i thought the alphabets thing was already weird enough but now we have alpha? said it came from being ipad babies, born and raised using ipads. sounds privileged and kinda sad though tbh to have ur whole world shaped using electronics without being able to use ur 5 senses to discover the world around you. damn im glad i was born a millenial, if i have a kid next time, wouldnt know if i am raising an alien or a child anymore. they be all smarter than us and taking over all our jobs in no time is what im saying.

guess thats all i have to say for now. peace out, love this community.

[blamethestardust]

K, so. It’s been a while.

Hi Tumblr!

Had a baby at the beginning of December, so now we have a crazy 3 year old and an 11 week old. It’s fun, fun, fun times. Aka, it’s insane and chaotic and it’s a LOT to adjust to and...yes. Between getting oral ties taken care of and soon looking into getting some bodywork (?) done to hopefully get us back on track for the nursing part of our breastfeeding relationship (we thought we were doing well, we were not), it’s been a pretty fun rollercoaster with this guy!

I’d forgotten a lot from our first and until recently, his sleep was sporadic at night -- now it *appears* like he’s sleeping through, which is...great, minus the fact that I don’t get to enjoy that stretch of sleep he gives to its fullest, because alas being the parent without the useless nipples means I make sacrifices.

But! It means that I get to putz about Tumblr sometimes and also slowly, slowly get myself back into the writing space, if my brain allows. I had some false starts, like around Christmas time and sometime last month, but I think I’m regaining *some* of my energy back, so I get to do things with my best friend and plot with other people and then also throw some muses into memes and see what shakes out.

At least for now any way. My husband goes back to work in a month and well...then everything can change again. But, I’m kinda hoping not because it would be nice to have some *me* time that allows me that outlet, instead of binge watching TV shows.

[ray-the-fanatic]

gave april, casey and karai redesigns in my au, via picrew cuz my drawing skills are still a wip, for fun vibe purposes

for april:

- made april's skin have a pink tint to fit her kraang origins (i also think it fits her character design)

- gave her heterochromia, her right eye is blue-ish gray while her left is dark green (again to fit her kraang origins), i always felt her n mikey's colors were too similar so i made her eyes more distinct

- her hair is more dark strawberry blonde-ish than red cuz i actually like the concept art of her being blonde

- i was torn between giving her braided pigtails or a pixie cut, in the end i stuck with the pixie cut as a homage to one of her concept designs and also cuz short hair april is a look™

- her clothing is more diverse, she still has her number 1 shirt but she changes styles from time to time depending on her mood (me fr)

- she's basically the plucky, fun loving big sis/aunt but will not hesitate calling out anyone's bs (esp her little bro's) and definitely wrecks any bad guys' shit. she's also kind of a snarky brat when it comes to the lesser villains and i love it lol

for casey:

- made casey's skin tone somewhat similar to his 03 incarnation but more distinct

- gave him dark brown eyes, i noticed there wasn't a lot of brown eyed characters in the 12 series so i took it as an opportunity

- poofier hair. i know casey's a rowdy boy but i feel like fluffy-messy hair fits him better both character wise and aesthetically wise

- also longer hair cuz he deserves it (he still has the bandana to keep his hair from getting in his eyes)

- he's a hockey player and a vigilante so he's got bandaged wounds along with cuts, bruises and scars galore, makes him feel scruffy y'know?

- short sleeve hoodie with flames (that still has spray paint marks) and cut jeans is this boy's clothing, he absolutely doesn't care abt his sense of style imo

- he's still a chaotic menace wanting to provide justice ™, just looks more scrappy and is an uncle now (he's also hispanic, fun hc)

for karai:

- tanner skin tone, she also has a more hooked nose shape and love it

- gave her red eyes instead of gold cuz it works for her, it also connects her with splinter (and donnie on some level)

- much like casey, her hair is bit longer n fluffier just styled somewhat similarly to her hair in canon, minus the bangs

- she has a different hair color on her streaks/to the roots instead of underneath, tho wasn't feeling the gold blonde so i made it white instead, it goes well with her eyes tbh (i made her sides and eye shadow white as a homage to her snake form but mostly cuz in my au instead of getting mutated she becomes heavily imprisoned and her sides turn white due to stress... did i mention this au gets angsty?)

- she has massive scars, she's been fighting since she was a kid so she's bound to have plenty of them, they're more visible than casey's tho and she's got a lot on her back as well

- for her non-battle ready clothes, she's mostly got a biker chick sorta style but on the clamer days she wears tank tops and black yoga pants, just a casual badass

- misguided antagonist turned big sister/aunt who's still processing her trauma just more healthier, therapy via baby turtle nephews. she's still cunning n sneaky just without the misguidedness. she also loves to spite her former villain allies, tiger claw esp

sorry this got long winded, just wanted to share my redesign n i got carried away with the explanations, i also gave everyone piecings cuz again... self indulgence 😅

Okay first off sorry for taking a bit to get to this be toed up with work and I wanted to give this a good read over when I saw the length cause I llve what you tell me for this fic ;3;

April:

I love the idea of her having some pink in her skin tone to allude to her being part krangg I loke the shorter hair as well mostly cause I enjoy the short hair style look I lole your idea for a strawberry blond in color cause in the concepts she was going to be blonde at one point. I think tje desing fits well for her personality idk but she got those cool aunt vibes to me xD

Caesy:

I love that you kept his brown eye. Maybe cause I have brown eyes but I love brown eye charayers cause brown eyes are very underrated u_u also love bringing back his skin tone from 03 ;3; and him being Hispanic yes look I'm Latina give me the rep!! I also see casey being Latino any way xD personal headcannon btws. So I enjoy when others put him as Latino or Hispanic;3; and I llve his look it fits casey has his own style and gotta stick to it uwu

Karai:

I love her;3; I like the white hair stripes though over tje blonde idk I feel it works better with her look and the homages to her snake mutation also yes give the angst I love angst 👀

[m1ckeyb3rry]

All hail Mira I’m so psyched to read it and see the wc….trust I will be back here screaming my head off with commentary….fr getting spoiled with your inaccurate wcs (MAKING OTOYAS LOOK SHORT??? BRO)

NO BECAUSE THAT IM SAYING??? Kaneshiro were claiming copyright for our ideas please pay us in a Karasu awakening

LMFAOO that panel visual is literally just hollyhock Otoya??? I think your blog may just be magical like the entire BLLK editorial/pr/creation team just stalking you atp but THE KARASU PANELS >>>>>> ugh he looks so GOOD I forgot to mention I noticed how in the headers of your fics you’ll have a (very aesthetically pleasing) mini collage of the character and now you’ve got more karasu materials for that HAHA

And FR really hope that they’ll explore more duos and pairs in the future! I get that the popular matchups are usually there also for marketing purposes but it would fr be nice to see them interacting with others and maybe not just having like, 1 singular bestie LOL

Omg the Rin Sae parallel I see the vision….ugh someone bring Kunigami back I bet he’d have some really funny/interesting dynamics with other characters!! Another gentleman omg….theres just something in the Akita waters….

LMFAO Nagi just being there to hear the tea and listen to the gossip is so real like he’s not moving a MUSCLE to do anything he’s just enjoying the drama….the few words he says plus both y/n and karasu being oblivious idiots is truly THE most chaotic scenario HAHA karasu being in such disbelief that any one of the wingman could give an exact description of him and he’d be like “you mean she knows another dude who plays soccer from Osaka who’s tall has dark hair and is named after a bird???”

Omg talk about a strong pill LOL but YAY omg glad it was fun it sounds so cool!!! Minus the barfing part LOL (ok sorry but I have to ask was it MIDAIR?? I’m just imagining you pulling out a bag while cruising over the scenery LMAO) and ohhhhhhh side effects that makes sense….i wonder if maybe a different brand would have less side effects? But yeah giving your doc a call sounds like a good idea! Hopefully they have a solution for you!!!

MANIFESTING BABY SO HARD!! I agree like seeing the little interactions between other players and people too he actually seems like such a sweet/pure boy? Like if he actually knew how to show affection or what it was I feel like it’d definitely show in his relationships in a way….idk like the way he bonded with chigiri kinda quickly after the 3v3 in the second selection where they’re like testing what he’s able to trap LOL I’m trying to think of more examples off the top of my head but there were definitely moments that made me say “omg wait??” Seriously makes me wonder where people pull all those red flag headcanons from **their asses** but anyways…

I’m crying imagine it’s wavy but because his parents dgaf they just go with the bowl it regardless so you just see the little waves and then at some point they just abruptly cut off (it’s giving like…..a pre-boiled block of instant noodles LMAO)

This is also kinda unrelated/unprompted but everyday I’m thinking of when the next LN is gonna be announced….im lowk trying to see at what intervals they announced the previous ones (iirc the one with yuki was announced pretty fast which caught me off guard so im hoping the next one comes soon!!!)

-Karasu anon

I LIKE AM ACTUALLY CLOSE TO FINISHING I THINK!! FINALLY FINALLY FINALLY!!! but then i’m going to have to try and squeeze proofreading in around vacation activities so it’ll still be a sec until it’s properly posted…even then though i think the day is approaching 🤩 my hope is to have it done by karasu’s birthday at the very latest 😩

episode nagi manga panels always come through for my little headers!! i’ve started trying to experiment more beyond just having the basic three panel + lines setup…the header for karasu’s version of bfb is the same as otoya’s but with blue lines instead of green!! it’s fun to come up with different little graphics hehe i enjoy it as much as writing tbh

OUR CONVOS HAVE BEEN TAPPED BY THE CIA (bllk manga authors) they are onto us…HOW did they know to draw otoya as an actual ninja??? did they read hollyhock??? 😳😟🤨🫣 the manifestations go crazy around here fr

i agree that it’s def partially a marketing thing but also there’s just sooo many characters that it’s probably hard to play out all possible combos naturally!! i pray for the day that kunigami actually does smth meaningful again and also for the whole wildcard thing to get explained 😔 i feel like it was just an opportunity to create tension but it hasn’t been truly expanded upon so it just feels kinda random almost

HELP karasu is like “6ft tall…speaks with a kansai dialect…gets along well with people…has unusual hair…named after an animal…YO HIORI 🤔😨⁉️” (iirc hiori’s first name means sheep) i think nagi yuki and barou just give up at that point because bro is fr saying anything and missing the obvious answer sooo badly 😭

IT WAS MIDAIR 😭😭😭 we drove to italy today and i took a diff medicine and i got so dizzy it was like the world was straight up cartwheeling 😰 but it’s much flatter and smoother here so it should be good to go from here on out!! and yes i hope the doctors have a solution for it because i’m sure i’m not the first person who’s had a similar problem ☝🏻

i think for me it’s the way he was able to connect w zantetsu so quickly…like he genuinely just listened to him and didn’t judge unlike reo and literally everyone else, which is how team v trio was even able to function in the first place 🥹 plus him w isagi and chigiri in second selection as well as his implied dynamic with karasu during the day off is just so CUTE to me like he’s honestly pretty good with people he’s just also really confused about it at times 😭 idk maybe i’m biased because i like him sm but to me he’ll always just be awkward and standoffish because he doesn’t know any better/different not because he doesn’t care 😪

pov baby nagi had the niko haircut 😭😭💔💔 nooo i’m manifesting a cute little way curly bird’s nest thing going on with like super round cheeks and big eyes 😩🙏🏻 baby nagi w instant ramen hair will haunt my dreams though 😓 sleep paralysis demon fr

I NEED IT TO BE SOON AND I NEED KARASU AND OTOYA TO BE IN IT!! i’ll be sad because i do think a karasu ln will make some of my stories for him not as close to canon as they are rn?? especially bfb…but a) how many people read the ln’s, b) they’re already aus, and c) that just means i can write him even better in the future!! plus given our track record at manifesting things i think i should be pretty safe 🤞🏻