#also i think she really respects splinter and his wisdom and i think he could be a good guide and role model for her

[whattraintracks]

A BUFFY STAN?? BRO THATS SO REAL !!

(im pumpkinpie59 btw fjdkdkd)

Heck yeah, I'm a Buffy stan!! I loved "Poor Little Rich Turtle" because I loved her. Absolute crime we didn't get more of her. I am constantly haunted by the fact that I must create the content with her that I want to see. So thank you for your adorable art!!

[councilman-horsemeat]

The Greatest Star Trek Characters, Ranked

I was recently reading a few articles ranking the various Star Trek characters and got really infuriated. I started punching my solid wood table until my fists were blooded and filled with splinter. Kirk, Spock, Picard- who gives a shit? There was no flavor, no spice to these lists. After taking a long walk and eating some meal, I decided I oughta make my own. Here it goes; In no particular order, so they're not actually ranked at all.

Sylvia Tilly Star Trek: Discovery is full of people whose lives have sucked, in a way which reflects their outlook on life. Some are hardened, some burdened, some both. Sylvia Tilly offers a delightful contrast to these characters. I’m not through the first season of Discovery yet, but I hope she and Michael Burnham become best friends forever.

Mobar (Fake Tuvok) Part of a criminal group that travels the Delta quadrant scamming various strangers through various schemes. Mobar and his friend Dala ended up acting as Tuvok and Janeway, fooling hapless aliens into joining the “Federation”, which meant little more than handing over their starships or cargo. Mobar ended up getting WAY into character, oftentimes chastising his fellow criminals for not adhering to Starfleet protocols. Unfortunately, it wasn’t enough to make him not a criminal, and in the end he went down like a chump. RIP to a legend. I don’t think he died but whatever.

Dax (Jadzia, Ezri and Curzon/Odo) Jadzia Dax, our first true look into what trill really are. The fusion of Jadzia and Dax created a woman with wisdom far beyond her years, enough to make her approach life in a very confident, laid-back way. This, along with her highly analytical mind and charm, would have made her a perfect ship’s captain. Gone too soon.

On the other hand, I really liked Ezri Dax too. I’m conflicted, because seeing what it’s like for an unprepared, naive trill to be joined (despite never training to) was really interesting, and I even wish we got more than just the one season with her- but I also wish Jadzia could have been around for the finale.

When they were temporarily joined in a trill ritual, Curzon brought a certain down-in-the-dirt, slob attitude to the usually uptight Odo. I really liked him. He could have been less of a pervert.

Bearded Geordi LaForge Beautiful. Majestic. Just a touch of rogueish charm. Too bad he only had it for two episodes and like some movies or whatever.

Mirror Sarek I understand WHY he has a goatee. They needed to make him visually distinct from normal Sarek and it’s an homage to mirror Spock from way back when. The problem is that the homage only works if you didn’t already think mirror Spock’s goatee is funny as hell. They also call him the prophet for some reason. All in all a weird guy, which means I like him.

Neelix He brought a genuine heart of gold to the crew of the voyager when they needed it the most. A rock, a true friend and a shoulder to lean on. His friendship with Tuvok allowed him to occasionally bring out a different side of the indomitable vulcan. I also liked that his eye color randomly changed with no in-show explanation.

T’pring Spock’s almost-wife T’pring probably has the quickest turnaround from “WTF why is she so needlessly brutal” to “she’s a genius and she’s so logical” of any Star Trek character. She will always have my respect.

Sela It’s just really funny to me that she had all that buildup on top of already being the return of a written-off main character’s actor. And then like, nothing happened.

Kai Winn Opaka There’s something so incredibly about Louise Fletcher’s performance as Kai Winn in the later seasons that I sometimes have a hard time putting into words. She just captures the self-righteous, holier-than-thou, but also absolutely desparate character in such a captivating way- while also maintaining this underlying confidence and power.

“Klingon Chef” Deep Space Nine’s resident Klingon chef/opera singer showed a side of Klingon culture we don’t often see - the civilian side. He truly made the most of his few appearances, and I will always love him for it.

Seven of Nine (Possessed) Maybe it’s because of Seven’s usually stoic, reserved demeanour, but seeing Jeri Ryan take on the exaggerated personalities of a Klingon warrior, a Ferengi DaiMon, and the EMH of the USS Voyager amongst others, was one hell of a lot of fun. Enough fun to end up on this list! Unfortunately, not enough for that Oscar nom. Next time!

Dr. Michael Dingo Dingo’s brief stint as nurse aboard the Enterprise-D established him as little more than a grumpy old man, but he really shone after his promotion to main cast member and CMO of the USS Pioneer. His usual snarky personality being torn down upon meeting his long-believed-to-be-dead wife went down as one of my favorite moments in all of Star Trek. His refusal to poison the crew on behalf of his madly sick captain gave me goosebumps.

Lwaxana Troi She started out as no more than “Deanna Troi’s Annoying Mom” but evolved into so much more across her many appearances. Absolutely wonderfully played by Majel Barrett, the writers explore many facets of sorrow, motherhood, and what it means to grow old. I also believe that she should have ended up with Odo instead of Nerys, but whatev.

Falow The leader of the Wadi, a gamma quadrant species that value various types of games above all else. He and his entourage visit Deep Space Nine and end up throwing the main cast INTO a highly-advanced video game where they think they’ll actually die, but it’s actually just a game. What I like most is that he truly looks like the Most Advanced Gamer. If I was a highly advanced space-gamer this is what I would want to look like.

Riker Picard’s number one actually features on a lot of these lists. They usually list his loyalty or how cool he is or whatever. I’m mostly interested in his absolutely off-the-charts adventurous spirit. He was the first starfleet officer to serve aboard a klingon ship and was GLAD to eat gagh. When he learned that a trill symbiont needed a new host he practically jumped at the chance, despite the fact that no human had ever hosted a trill symbiont before. And he had absolutely no shame in wearing his slutty outfit in ‘Angel One’. There’s many similarities between Riker and Kirk, but Kirk would never have worn it so proudly.

Horny/drunk-ish Picard Patrick Stewart’s performance as a pseudo-drunk and very horny Jean-Luc Picard in The Naked Now has seared itself into my mind forever. It’s like he’s screaming, but also whispering, and sort of putting on an accent? Deciding just how to portray the usually stoic captain so completely out of his element must have been quite the challenge, and Patrick Stewart ended up making some very inspired choices.

Alyssa Ogawa She may not have done much more than help out in medbay every now and then, but the conversations between her and Crusher were the first to show that the main crew actually DO have friends outside the “inner circle”. Does that truly earn her a spot on a list of the greatest Star Trek characters of all time? Probably not but I don’t really care and neither should you.

Grand Nagus Zek Every time he got more screentime I remembered how much I loved his dumbass voice. His shrill bleating is hilarious, and every time he shows up I can’t wait to find out what his latest scheme is. His behavior towards women is regrettable, but that’s true for a lot of Star Trek men and unlike most of them, Zek actually sort-of changes.

Ishka And who is Zek without Rom and Quark’s moogie Ishka? Despite the usual underestimatable Ferengi personality traits, I genuinely believe Ishka could have one of the highest power levels in all of Star Trek canon. Women not even having the right to wear clothes has been a part of Ferengi culture for centuries and she managed to turn it around COMPLETELY in a handful of years. If she put her mind to it, I genuinely believe she could have brokered peace between the Cardassians and Bajorans, and that’s on the prophets.

Jae Yeah, I got a bit of a crush on this frankly random Enterprise-D crewmember. I think she’s friends with Picard? She sat next to him at a poetry reading once. I’m not sure if she even had any speaking lines.

[ducknotinarow]

2k3 Mikey - Family Meme; all that apply uwu

| Talking about family

“Oh sure I don’t mind spill the beans about my family, unless? Wait Leo and Don would tell me to be carful who I drop information to sooo you promise you aren’t some like agent working for Bishop? Or a dragon? Or a foot ninja…oh uh what other bad guys do we got again? Guess it’s fine you don’t look like you would anyway.”

Send 👔 for my muse to talk about their father

“That be master Splinter, yeah we all tend to only really call Splinter by his title of master but its no cause of any stuffy reason. We all just respect our father over anyone else in the world. I mean my Dad is basically Superman! How could we not respect the heck outta him? I mean Splinter this big time bad ass! OH uh don’t tell I said that? But it’s still true. But he’s not scary honestly I was shocked to learn he was a battle nexus champion. Splinter like the Clark Kent version around us. Always giving us wisdom in his weird vague lessons and drinking tea while he watches his stories on the TV. And still looking after us. Who knew he could take out half a foot armys worth without losing his breath?”

I think it’s obvious that Mikey respects Splinter a great deal, but he is still very much his dad. So Mikey sees him as such it’s kind of like forgetting ones parents can be people with a history and life outside thier kids. Though to be fair considering the mutant families situation might add more layers on to why the turtles never thought much on it XD ANYWAY! I feel this really applies with Mikey quite a bit, Mikey as known isn’t the most focused student and often finds ways to get out of training and he tends to Hal ass thing often. Really he just gets by on his natural talent alone. But the fact he got to face off with Splinter in the battle nexus and even was the one to take the title out of all four of the turtles? I feel is this nice connection with Mikey and Splinter. Even linking it to the episode with mr.touch and mr. go which focuses all on Mikey and Spliter or later in FF with the gaduration episode. It's not often a relationship on I feel but I think it's really sweet that mikey looks upto o his dad as a hero and even has followed in his foot steps.

Send 🤜 for my muse to talk about (one of) their sibling(s)

"Oh boy where do I start even? I mean you got my bros of course, the only other people like me. Which can be lonely but also not lonely all at once. There is Von she's always felt like a older sister to me. April too she's always looking out for us. Heck I got Casey as another brother even guess I'm not hurting when it comes to siblings? And I'm pretty sure Don gonna marry Von and Raph and Casey? Well they will for sure be a forever situation too so it keeps growing."

The turtle may be the only ones of thier kind but you can at least count on the fact that they are not losing out on connections at least. Their strongest bonds being between the four of them due to being the only four mutant turtles after all. Mikey being the youngest of the family really sticks to that fact even getting away with the ‘baby’ status he has that in truth? All his brothers kind of fee into in thier own ways XD I feel Donnie is he most guilty of this often giving Mikey his way because it means having peace. Like Letting Mike tag along with him and Raph to the junk yard but not to help letting Mikey fool aroun which Raph dose complain about. despite how much of an annoyance can be though? He often defends all his brothers especially Leo showing he may be a goof but he’s not unaware of what is going on in his life. Such like with Leo. Mikey is th one to tell the rest to cut him some slack because he understands why Leo is acting the way he has and understands Leo is already being tough on himself Leo dosen’t need anyone else adding to it. Even Rah he looks up to when things get dicey he thinks of what Raph would do because well Raph is the biggest risk taker out of his brothers and often Raph is who Mikey tends to go to when scared even if Raphs going to mock him for it.

Of course Mikey’s family has expanded over the years. I have stated it before but he dose see Casey as a older figure as well, Casey usually one who seems most able to put up with Mikey’s antics seeing how both of them are seen as being obnoxious though it could be why Casey tends to be unphased, than again Casey can even annoy Mikey so maybe it’s just Mikey met his match XD I think it’s cute how Casey will listen to Mikey’s complaints and dosen’t dismiss it as being childish like when he was hoping to find the next comic in the current series he was invested in. Casey offers to take him to a store outside of town cause it might have what they want. XD I’m also claiming it cannon that Casey totes bought Mikey a handheld game system XD

When it comes to sisters? It’s been a new experience for Mikey he’s grow up with boys all his life so Casey isn’t much new to deal with. But seeing how I write my Mikey as being gender-fluid Mikey always had other things he wants to be into but felt notable to because well his brothers and all very on the masculine side of things hell Don and Raph both clapped when Mikey burped before having a second to be ‘oh wait that’s gross’ XD Mikey has a feminine side to him he dosen’t often get to explore. Von of course being the first to really give him that chance seeing how she was the one to give him polish and even a pallet to play with.

Of course April is always his first big sister I feel Mikey often shows more of his curious side around her April just is more age to ask things towards not that VOn isn’t but Von is very logical and he’s not really look for that he just wants to explore and learn. Of course he started the tradition of having girls nights with the pair of them so they often spend time together thanks to that.

Send 🤛 for my muse to talk about (one of) their cousin(s)/niece(s)/nephew(s)

"I love my nieces! I used kidnap Ari all the time with Raph when she was first born. Well it was more like surprise baby sitting for Donnie. I didn't really have a partner in crime todo that with Summer besides Don is one thing both Raph and Casey chasing me down? Yeah I aint looking for a purple dragon experience here."

Mikey is a very proud uncle/aunt to Summer and Ariel. Ariel is his sidekick as he often refers to her as such he’s always taking her serious when it comes to pudge the fish and since her first freak out about a lack of peanut butter, he makes sure they always have it in stock in the lair. When it comes to Summer I don’t often get to show it but I feel Mikey was a bad influence on her and showed her how to slack off XD Summer’spretty bad about doing school work after all she much rather do anything else XD She also suffers from paying attention XD I like to compare the last ronin Mikey to 03 Mikey so I feel as he gets older he dose learn the importance of focus and seeing how he has learned that it’s important in the show? I feel he will also be the one to help Summer with her own focus issues uwu

I feel Mikey much more fills in an older brother role to his niece over an uncle roll. Seeing how I feel each girl has like their designated uncle, Don for Summer and Raph for Ariel. But Mikey more of an older sibling with the pair of them hes still very kid like so he tends to better understand how they feel and how to talk to them and takes what they say seriously on a more even playing feild.

Send 🐾 for my muse to talk about (one of) their pet(s)

"I have my cutie Klunk the best ninja cat a turtle could ever asks for." -[ cowboy casey au]

"Along with Klunk I have two chickens that Casey let me have since I took care of his chickens well we were hiding out at his farm. I named them Sonny and Cher, they are both girls but I still like the name picks besides their clucks? Like music and there's two of them!"

XD I just combined the two, any way as like the show Mikey has his orange cat Klunk, his Christmas kitty and his favorite little Buddy ;3; You never see Mikey without Klunk in the lair the cat often hanging out on his shoulders or in the same space as the turtle. When Klunk sadly passes away it will cut Mikey deep he gets into a depressive epiosde even for a bit uwu Sonny and Cher are in truth named after the same chickens from the 2nd Venom movie XD cause I could get the line out of my head about them being Venoms friends. A gift from Casey before they went to return to the city to see about getting their home back and ofc helping out April with her destory apartment and store. We'll gonna ignore the whole how do chickens mange in the sewer seeing how Klunk dose just fine not to mention the mutants and even April when she lived with the turtles for a time. I think them having the chickens is a great benfit over all since well they can get eggs something fresh that they dont get often. Mikey takes very good care of them and he always sends Caseys updates about them or ask about anything if he get worried about thier health those are his babies he dont want them to get hurt ;3;

[xxlovendreamsxx]

yours, forevermore [5]

A/N: guess what @kuriquinn, this is still dedicated to you! ily girlie. 😘

chapter one | chapter two | chapter three | chapter four

Sasuke visits Konoha’s burial grounds before the sun has even begun to rise that morning, tired of the constant tossing and turning in the bed of the Hokage suite. There had been no benefit to staying any longer, no rest or peace of mind to be found—so if sleep would not come, he was better off putting what time he had to good use.

(gods know he never has enough of it, these days.)

It had been too long since he last came to his family’s graves, anyway.

Sighing, Sasuke lightly touches his older brother’s headstone as he reaches the familiar site, closing his eyes. Miss you more than words can say, he thinks, as he always does. After a moment, he pulls away and kneels down at his parent’s graves, offering them both a singular flower; a white chrysanthemum for his father, and a white lily for his mother. He bows his head to offer a few silent prayers.

When he is done, Sasuke lets himself smile a little, soft, small, and somewhat sad. He shifts to sit down comfortably beside Itachi’s tombstone.

“I’m late, I know,” he says, breathing in the early morning air and setting his gaze on the orange-pinkish horizon. The sun is finally getting up. “Sorry, niisan. I guess I understand why you couldn’t always hold your promise.”

But he doesn’t go on, and he lets silence take over instead, watching as the sun continues to rise, starts to warm the air. Sasuke sighs, eyes dropping shut once more. A heaviness surrounds him, but it’s far from unpleasant, he finds. He lets himself believe that it’s because the spirits of his family have come, summoned by his stressed, frustrated heart to hold and support him in this too-complicated time.

Letting their comfort wash over, Sasuke feels the tension in him ease, dwindle. Gods, he wishes his mother would really be here. Wishes she could tell him what to do, what to say. He’s sure she would know.

(more than his father and brother would, anyway. he doubts either of them would be particularly more skilled in the matters of the heart—father had always been too busy trying to lead their clan to a better future, and itachi had always been too busy being the council’s tool of destruction.)

Pensive, Sasuke wonders what his family would say if they could see the situation he was in right now. Mother would probably bonk him over the head and call him a dense idiot, he muses with a smile. But then she’d also hug him, kiss his cheek, offer him some wise words of wisdom. The opposite of Father, whom of course, would disapprove entirely. And Itachi…

Itachi would undeniably march him to Sakura’s door, demand that he tell her everything—whatever the hour it was. There would be no excuses with him, no justifying how long it was taking to make things right. He would march him all the way to the hospital, to her parents’ house, or over the village borders, if he had to.

Itachi wouldn’t let him fuck this up anymore.

“Couldn’t sleep?” he hears someone say, then, causing him to stiffen rigidly.

Sasuke turns his head over his shoulder. His gaze narrows as he sees his old sensei carrying a small bouquet of flowers. “What are you doing here?”

Kakashi frowns. “It’s my father’s birthday. I think I’m allowed to visit his grave.”

“It’s early.”

“You’re not the only one who has trouble getting rest, Sasuke.”

Mulling his lips, Sasuke keeps his mouth shut, and turns back to the brightening sky ahead. He doesn’t have the energy to argue with his ex-teacher.

(because truth is, these days, it’s not so much that he has trouble sleeping—he just doesn’t seem to have the time. or maybe he just has trouble managing it.)

Behind him, Kakashi sighs. Sasuke hears him start walking towards him, and clenches his jaw. Can’t he just be alone?

“You should think about getting new guards.”

Sasuke blinks. “What?”

“Your ANBUs—the ones you’re obligated to have watch you around the clock. You should request for new ones—or at least find out which ones you can really trust.”

“What the fuck are you talking about?”

At this, Kakashi gives him a look. Sasuke doesn’t understand it, but it makes his heart sink with dread for a reason he can’t explain.

That is, until:

“I heard three of your ANBUs gossiping when I was heading out of my home earlier. Whispering to each other in the middle of the street how they were glad their shift was finally over because of the things that they had been awkwardly forced to witness in your office today.”

Sasuke tenses impossibly. Shit—he hadn’t even thought about that. Of course his guards would have to be bystanders to this whole damn mess. He feels the back of his neck heat up. Fucking hell.

(indeed, he is going to need new guards—ones that won’t breach the contracted rules of upholding privacy. he needs to find out who the culprits are.)

“Sasuke… you said this was going on because you hadn’t talked about it yet,” Kakashi goes on, then. He’s so quiet, so clearly deprecating, and it makes his blood boil. “How can you not have worked this out by now? It’s been five weeks—”

Angry from both the betrayal of his ANBUs and everyone’s persistent cursed nosiness, Sasuke cuts him off with a snarl. “And how many times do I have to say that it’s none of your fucking business? Stay out of it, Kakashi—this doesn’t concern you.”

Kakashi glares at him—something that catches Sasuke by surprise. He doesn’t usually lose his temper like this.

“It concerns me that you are tearing each other apart, Sasuke,” he says, his tone low but somehow still frighteningly chilling. “So stop being so goddamn stupid and talk to her already.”

And with that, he walks away, leaving Sasuke to swallow down any resentful retorts.

Sasuke digs his hands into the grass. It kills him to admit that though his ex-teacher is nosy and overstepping, he is also right.

No more screwing around.

.

.

“Ogino.”

“Yes, Hokage-sama?”

“Get me the names of the ANBUs who were on guard duty last night.”

“Right away, sir.”

.

.

He decides to let a week pass by before ultimately doing anything, allowing Sakura some space to cool off from their last encounter. Resolute as he is on finally repairing their complicated, splintered relationship, Sasuke doubts Sakura would like to hear anything he has to say when hours earlier, he’d thoughtlessly asked her to leave a job she loved.

(something that still makes him want to groan—it’s one of the dumbest things he’s ever done.)

But he doesn’t let that time go to waste; every day, he works tirelessly on filing papers and conducting meetings, eager to free his schedule to ensure he would have no pressing responsibilities holding him back. He sets himself on making a permanent change: he can’t take back what he’s done, but he can start making his own time for the people that he loves, and put an end to this toxic habit of sacrificing everything for a singular goal. Finding justice for his family is important, yes, but so is Sakura Haruno. He can find a balance, from now on. He can keep the village safe and happy, reform the system, bring respect to the Uchiha clan—and he can make a life with Sakura, be the good partner she deserves to have at her side.

And it all starts here, by finally granting himself the right not to comply to every request sent his way. And also, delegating.

“Hokage-sama?”

Eyes flickering up from the previously sealed mission report at his desk, Sasuke raises a brow when he sees his young, brown-haired second assistant peeking unsurely from his door.

(because yes, he had finally caved to hiring someone else, pride be damned. though almost annoyingly too meek, the woman really was unworldly good at her job—appointing her was the best decision he’d made all year.)

Sasuke gestures her inside. “What is it?”

“Um…” Looking down at the floor, she tucks a fallen lock of hair behind her ear, and Sasuke knows then that he isn’t going to like what she will say. “The council is waiting outside your office. They’re requesting a meeting now—”

“Fuck no,” Sasuke immediately replies, interrupting her as his eyes narrow. He huffs an irritated breath, and returns to the classified scroll at hand. “Send them away,” he says. “And tell them to call and schedule a meeting like everyone else. I have other plans today, and I aim to keep them.”

“B-But sir, I don’t think—”

“I don’t care, Uzume. They’re not the ones who have to bury themselves in work on a daily basis, nor are they the ones who make the final decisions around here. I am the Hokage—they are merely my advisors. They will work with my schedule. Tell them they will wait until a suitable time, or I will have them escorted out of this office.”

Wide-eyed, his assistant blushes—more out of nervousness than embarrassment, he suspects—and then nods jerkily. She gives him a quick, polite bow. “Ah—of course, Hokage-sama,” she stutters, quickly stepping towards the filing cabinet. She drops a massive pile of completed forms on top. “Um, please excuse me.”

Then she disappears from his office to deliver the news, seemingly uncomfortable. Sasuke thinks it’s probably because she fears disrespecting the elders.

He goes back to work, and ignores the ensuing muffled conversation behind the door.

(although, he will admit, he feels oddly pleased as the voices start to grow in volume, exclamations of irritation and contempt becoming more and more distinct. that will teach them.)

Sasuke only pauses again when someone tries to enter anyway; the door jiggles for half a moment before, judging by the light rustling and surrendering cries, the perpetrator is seemingly stopped.

“All right, all right!” a man snaps, sounding suspiciously like Homura. His tone is dripping with sharp irritation. “There is no need to get physical—we will take our leave without you. Uncultured brats… Come, Council, we will come back another time when our leader isn’t in such a foul mood.”

Try when you have an actual appointment, Sasuke thinks, rolling his eyes.

It’s a few minutes before his assistant comes back inside, looking rather stunned. Sasuke spares her only a flickering glance, still contemplating the report.

“The guards did their job, I take it?”

Uzume’s eyes are still wide. “Uh… yes, Hokage-sama.”

He gives her a small, pleased nod. “Make sure to let them know I want no more interruptions. I intend to leave in an hour.”

She nods, too, and bows again. “Okay—um, I mean, right away, Hokage-sama. I’ll… I’ll be back later to file those papers as well.”

Sasuke hums, and the sound of her clicking heels resound across his office. He stops his assistant only when he hears her click open the door. “Uzume.”

“Y-Yes?”

He nearly sighs. “Good work today.”

Her voice reveals an undeniable smile. “Thank you, Hokage-sama.”

No, it’s you I should thank, Sasuke thinks. For cutting down my work and giving me time to get my life together.

Today is the day.

.

.

An hour later, when he gathering his things, he sends his hawk Takauji with a scroll for Sakura.

Sakura,

Meet me at my apartment in two hours.

We need to see each other. It’s important.

I know you don’t have a shift at the hospital.

Sasuke

.

.

Sakura arrives at his door twenty minutes early, turning the grim expression on his face to one of genuine surprise; he expected her to be late, if anything. Sasuke’s mouth parts, but he closes it quickly, resting his towel on his shoulder. He’d just gotten out of the shower a short while ago.

“Hi,” she says, softly, looking strangely fragile despite still being so lovely. There is a weakness to her gaze that he doesn’t like.

His heart squeezes, and Sasuke swallows. They really are tearing each other apart like this, he muses. Sakura is so much stronger than that.

(but no longer—he will break her no longer.

…or soon, anyway.)

Exhaling a slow, quiet breath, Sasuke lets the tension in him leave. He gives Sakura a nod. “You’re early,” he says. “I didn’t expect you to be early.” There is no displeasure to his tone. Only relief.

Sakura blushes faintly. “I know,” she mumbles, as she looks down at her feet. She seems almost flustered—or even conflicted. Sasuke hasn’t seen her this insecure since she was a young teenager. He hates how much he’s making her pedal backwards. “I just…”

He doesn’t need to hear more. Stepping aside, Sasuke opens the door wider; a silent invitation. Looking up, Sakura blinks at him, swallows, then acquiesces to his offer.

He doesn’t expect her to push him back a few steps and kiss him as soon as she crosses the threshold, one hand tossing his towel away while the other fists his shirt, foot driving the door shut. Sasuke’s breath snags in his lungs, body growing tight. Half a moment later, he finds himself melting against her, utterly overtaken; he draws her close, kisses her back, curling his fingers into her clothes. Her kisses are both hot and wanton as they are sweet and full of yearning, and it makes his head spin.

But then Sakura tugs at his shirt, pulling at the hem like she needs it off, and Sasuke frowns. His thoughts come rushing back to him. No… no, he can’t let this happen again. Not before they talk things out, put everything out in the open—no matter how much she sends his whole body buzzing.

His hands close around her wrists.

“Sakura,” he whispers against her lips, trying to gently tug her away. He hates how much his body screams to get her back, needing her warmth, her closeness. “Sakura, stop. We can’t. This isn’t why I wanted you to come here.”

“It’s okay,” she says, breathless, pulling him close. She kisses him once more, reaching under his shirt to caress his skin. Sasuke tenses, a groan nearly slipping out of him. “It’s okay. I want this too, Sasuke-kun. There’s nothing wrong with this—”

“Sakura—”

“It’s all right.” One of her hands falls to his belly, tracing the faint ridges there. His mind is starting to fog again. Damnit. “Please, Sasuke-kun. I—I need this. You need this.”

“Sakura, this isn’t—”

“Shh,” she hushes, catching his mouth with hers and kissing him deeper. “We don’t need to talk about it. We can keep doing this. We don’t have to stop. Please.”

The hand on his stomach slides beneath the hem of his pants, so close to where he wants her. Sasuke almost chokes, feeling himself spiral. Sharply, he pulls back, deftly slipping away from her too-wonderful fingers. Breaths heavy and choppy, he swallows against his suddenly dry throat, body burning everywhere. Holy shit that was close.

Hurt splinters across Sakura’s face, a few seconds later. The sight keeps him anchored, reminds them why they’re here. Sasuke sighs quietly.

“We do need to talk, Sakura,” he murmurs. “Everything about this is fucked up. All those weeks ago, when we—” He pauses here, and mulls his lips. He looks down. He still doesn’t know how to explain that day. “That wasn’t supposed to happen. Things got out of hand. I never meant—”

A wounded noise cuts him off, and Sasuke flinches, eyes settling on Sakura again. He finds her face all scrunched up, mouth twisted as though she wants to cry. She curls a hand protectively over her chest.

“Stop. Please stop, Sasuke-kun,” she pleads, and her voice wavers, cracks. There are tears glimmering now. “I’m begging you—I can’t hear this. I can’t. My heart can’t take this.”

His throat grows tight. Gods, how he wishes he would stop making her cry. Wishes he would stop breaking her heart, wishes he could wrap his arms around her right now and kiss away all her pain. But he can’t. He really can’t. He needs to keep trying, to finally explain to her how he wants so much more than this—how he wants everything, and not just that warm space between her legs.

Sasuke touches her arm gently. “Sakura, listen…”

But Sakura doesn’t want to hear it.

“No!” she wails. She wrenches herself away so fast his heart skips a painful beat. “I’m done doing this with you, Sasuke-kun! I’m done getting pulled in every direction and getting my hopes up, only for you to tear them down! Done being the only one hurt every time you fleetingly grow some kind of conscience!” She’s trembling now, thick tears spilling down her angry cheeks as she seemingly struggles not to burst into loud, miserable sobs. “I’ve loved you for over ten years now, Sasuke-kun. Ten years. And I am tired of getting my heart broken because you can’t get yourself together…

“I don’t want to wait for the impossible anymore. I don’t want to keep hoping you might realize that you want me by your side, or that you might want a life with me. It hurts too much, Sasuke-kun. I’ve already let myself believe it once, when you kissed me all those years ago, but then—then you treated us like we were nothing and I—” A sob escapes her, then, soft and broken and unbearably hard to hear. It takes everything in Sasuke not to look away from her. “When you kissed me again all those weeks ago, I was the closest to you than I’ve been in years, Sasuke-kun… I felt like I finally mattered to you—like I knew I did, once. Even if it was just for this.” Her lower lip trembles. “But now you want to take even that away from me…”

Sakura trails out, and cries even harder, then, so hard she gasps in every breath. Sasuke’s jaw grows rigid at the sight; he doesn’t want to stand here and do nothing anymore.

So with an aching heart clenching so terribly, terribly with every beat, Sasuke cups the face of the woman he loves and gingerly wipes her tears away, careful. Sakura shakes her head with vehemence, pushing weakly at his chest to try and drive him away—but all in vain. She crumbles against his touch, defeated and helpless. She is just as starved for his love as he is for hers, he realizes with downturn of his mouth.

(it’s no wonder she doesn’t want him to take away what they have when she no longer thinks they will ever have anything more.)

Pressing his forehead to her own, Sasuke gathers all the tenderness he can find and kisses her slowly, sweetly, holding her soft, precious face in his hands. He brushes his thumb to her skin as she stills, breath hitching, more tears slipping down her cheeks. He smooths them off, and kisses her once more, just as gently, cradling her trembling body in a warm embrace. Half a sob tumbles from her lips, but she kisses him back, burying her fingers in his hair in desperation.

Maybe he can show her how he feels instead, Sasuke thinks, as he lets her take off his shirt and starts guiding her towards his bedroom. Maybe if he makes love to her with all the devotion and care in his heart, she’ll understand everything.

At least, this is what he tells himself as he lets them tug off each other clothes as they go, lips never parting even as they lightly bump and knock into walls and counters. This is what he tells himself as he kisses her, touches her, keeping himself loving and patient, determined not to let lust take over. Sakura whimpers and holds him closer, hiccupping breaths fading into moans and hot little gasps.

They’re both naked by the time they reach his bed, tumbling onto the soft mattress in the darkness of the room. Dazed, needing to see her, Sasuke reaches to turn on his bedside lamp, cursing when he inadvertently knocks their old team seven frame to the floor. The sound of Sakura laughing startles him, so much that when he turns back to look at her, he can’t help his mind from going back to that time all those weeks ago, where he’d been alone in bed and craving to have her at his side.

And now she was here; naked, smiling, and utterly beautiful, with her sweet, sweet green eyes gleaming at him so brightly. Sasuke’s mouth dries, and raw emotion wells up at him, so thickly he feels nothing short of overwhelmed. He cups her cheek and kisses her with aching gentleness, eyes slipping shut tight.

“I’m sorry,” he whispers, earnest as he’s ever been.

He feels the smile drop from Sakura’s mouth, lips trembling against his. Sasuke swears he can feel the hurt flaring to life again in her heart, but he refuses to budge as she pushes at him to try and run away.

“Don’t, don’t—Sasuke-kun, don’t do this—”

She starts to cry again and pushes him harder, but Sasuke holds onto her tighter and grits his teeth, brushing his thumb to her cheek.

“I’m so sorry, Sakura—”

“Just let me leave,” she sobs, struggling against him. “Let me leave, let me leave, I can’t do this, just let me leave—”

“Damnit, Sakura, I love you!” Sasuke says, then, frustration getting to him as it comes out sounding sharp and much more forceful than he’d hoped.

(but he’d said it. at least he’d finally fucking said it.)

Sakura’s breath catches, and she stiffens beneath him. “W-What?”

Sasuke softens. “I love you. Sakura, I’ve always loved you. Since five years ago, since before even that. I never meant to hurt you the way that I did—I never meant to get so caught up in my goals that I never put you, or Naruto or Kakashi first. I threw away what we had without even realizing it because I was so focused on the responsibilities I had trying to get justice for my clan. And I wish I realized that sooner. I really fucking do. I wish I’d known how to solve everything, but I had no idea what to do. Especially not after we…” He swallows, and moves his hand to her jaw, then, stroking so devotedly. “Nothing about this has ever been just sex to me, Sakura. That’s what I’ve been trying to tell you. I want more. I’ve always wanted more. I want… you.” All of you. By my side. So stay, please. Stay, and I’ll never make those mistakes again. I promise.

For a moment, Sakura says nothing; she merely keeps crying, unable to stop. Yet there is a lightness to her now, a missing heaviness to the way she wipes her tears and sniffles and hiccups, and it makes the tension in him melt away.

“Y-You love me?” she asks, eventually, her voice so feeble.

But Sasuke catches it, that certain hope and fullness that makes him want to smile. He pushes his forehead to her own, running his thump over her cheek. “I do,” he whispers.

Making some noise of relief, Sakura pulls him close and hugs him tight, burying her face in his neck. Closing his eyes, Sasuke breathes in her scent and pulls her closer, finally feeling relaxed and content—like he hasn’t been able to in much too long. His heart swells in his chest when Sakura runs her hands through his hair, whispering how much she loves him, how much she’s sorry she didn’t listen to him when he was trying to make things right. Brushing his lips to her brow, Sasuke pulls back and kisses her, kissing her again, and again, and again.

He makes love to her when she asks him to, a while later, and it’s slow, and good, and wonderful. Better than any of their times before. He feels full, complete, even moreso when he knows she does, too. There is nowhere else he wants to be—he would spend forever making love to her if he could. When Sakura gets close, she whispers to him to tell her again that he loves her, so he does, once, twice, and three times more. He kisses her when she comes soon after, holding him close and whimpering his name. Sasuke swears she’s never looked more beautiful.

They stay wrapped up in each other when they’re sated and spent, whispering conversation in the dim, moonlit room. Sasuke pulls the sheets over them when Sakura shivers a little from the cold, her giggle curling the edges of his mouth. She thanks him, and kisses him like they have all the time in the world, like there is nothing they can’t face together… and he supposes that as of tonight, that is probably true.

For the rest of his life, he will make time to kiss and love Sakura like she deserves, like she wants.

For the rest of his life, he will make sure she never doubts the place she holds in his heart.

Sleep takes them within minutes, and it’s the easiest he’s had in years.

.

.

Sakura comes to find him at lunch the next day, carrying her usual stack of paperwork and two bento boxes, along with the prettiest, happiest blush. Sasuke feels his eyes brighten in an instant, lips curling in the faintest smile. He doesn’t think twice about abandoning his work for the time being.

“Hello, Sasuke-kun,” Sakura says, tucking her files to her chest. Grinning, she shows off the bento boxes. “I thought you might want to have lunch with me. I know I left in a bit of a hurry this morning… since you know, early surgery and all.”

Sasuke hums. “Hmm. Thank you,” he says, and he takes the bento boxes from her hand to put them aside on his desk. He surprises even himself when he tugs her onto his lap, next, fighting back another smile at her slight yelp. The glow from yesterday clearly still has yet to fade.

Sasuke slides a hand to her hip. He peers inside one of the bento boxes. “Onigri?”

Sakura smiles sheepishly. “Yes… I didn’t have much time when I got home. But I made your favorite kind!”

As if to prove she isn’t lying, she grabs a ball and peels a layer of rice back, revealing the flaky okaka filling. Amused, Sasuke grabs the onigri from her hand and takes a bite, chewing carefully.

“It’s good,” he offers, and Sakura smiles wider. She eats the bits on her hands, and croons with much satisfaction, happy with the fruits of her labor.

Sasuke shakes his head and smiles. “I’ll grab my stuff and we can leave.”

Beaming, Sakura pushes herself off his lap, allowing him to do just that.

It is at the moment that he stands up, however, that Shikamaru strolls in, sporting his usual look of exasperation and mouth opened to say something. He stills and chooses to refrain himself when he catches sight of them both, something of a frown forming.

Sasuke knows then that Shikamaru dreads what he is about to say. He narrows his eyes.

“What?”

“Sorry to interrupt,” Shikamaru says. He points his thumb to the door. “But we have a meeting with the other Kages starting right now. It’s about the upcoming chunnin exams.”

Fuck. That’s right. Sasuke pinches the bridge of his nose. He forgot.

But as he exhales a sharp breath and goes to say that he’ll be there in a minute, his eyes briefly flicker to Sakura, sees her falter. That makes him stop.

(because this was how it all started, back then. brushing her aside time and time again, choosing to deal with matters that weren’t always that pressing, simply because he felt it was his duty.)

Sasuke’s gaze lightens, shoulders softening under the weight of yesterday’s memories. He knows what to do.

“Take Uzume with you and attend the meeting without me,” Sasuke says, taking off his Hokage robes and hanging them over his chair. He gives Sakura the ghost of a smile, and moves to rid her of her stack of files, sliding them onto his desk. “I’ll look over the notes tomorrow. I trust you’ll make the right decisions.”

The smile Sakura gives him in return is blinding, positively radiating with the brightest, most brilliant happiness. Sasuke feels his heart swell with pure, simple pride.

“You sure?”

Sasuke nods at his assistant. “I’m sure.” He picks up both bento boxes from his desk, and puts a hand at Sakura’s back to gently urge her forward. He spares her a tender glance. “I have lunch plans with Sakura.”

He’s learned his lesson.

.

.

.

End.

[stretchjournalemerson]

Pain Management

By Maura Grace Cowan

For decades, I have been told, Mema’s fingers smelled of nicotine, trailing the scent of a pack a day and a love that ate away at my grandfather until it swallowed him whole just five months after I was born. After that, an already vicious candy habit became a lifelong method of staying cigarette-free. She said that it kept her mouth busy and her head on straight.

We were alike in that way– her weakness was See’s Candies butterscotch lollipops, and I favored peppermints to focus. It was not uncommon, during the five years that she lived in our home, to find us next to each other in the living room, teeth clacking on our respective hard candies until I finished my work or she tired of the barrage of bad news.

Her other method of oral fixation was toothpicks, little orange slivers that she dropped as she hobbled from room to room. Truthfully, that was about all she left behind– plastic wrappers and wood chips, breadcrumbs that led me back through the years after she was gone.

I was home for Christmas during my freshman year of college when she passed, as suddenly as one can pass after almost a century of life. It was California dreary out, with a blank sky and a bad attitude. She was three thousand miles away by then, but the West Coast was mourning. That night, I popped a coffee-flavored See’s lollipop in my mouth. It was the last thing I would bite into for days.

My wisdom teeth were never wise enough to grow in the correct direction, and with my already small jaw, their removal was an inevitability. We had made the appointment the previous summer, hoping to control the problem before it started. The timing could not have been predicted. But I would have signed away a world of hurt down the line if I could have absolved myself of surgery on the morning after my grandmother’s death.

My orthodontist was a genial Scottish man in his fifties. I had met him just once before, for our consultation. He charmed me immediately by recognizing my name and its correct pronunciation– “Gaelic, o’course,” he had said cheerfully. Mema would have been smitten. She always loved accents– anything about people, really, cultures and language and history. She told me once that she had lived so many stories that she couldn’t help wanting to hear everyone else’s. This was what I was thinking about when he began to rattle off the medications he would prescribe me for the weeks after the operation.

“Oh, I don’t need the strong stuff,” I interjected. “I’ll be just fine with the Ibuprofen, I’ve got a lot of grit.”

He chuckled, handing me a stack of forms.

“I don’t doubt it, Maura. Let’s just see how you’re feeling afterwards, eh?”

I was the last of my friends from high school to get their wisdom teeth out. I had stayed the night with Amelia right after the surgery, brought ice cream for Tyler every day for a week. I knew that there would be no conversation or ‘seeing how I felt.’

I am not taking those pills.

I have never lived at extremes. Modesty and moderation were ingrained in me before I could pronounce either word, by my mother and Mema and their working-class sensibilities. And if nothing else, I have held myself to those principles. In high school, even on the rare occasions that I allowed myself to go out on weekends, it was a point of pride that I knew my limits. I was never the least sober in the room– often, I was the most by far. I never, ever, lost control.

The assistant was a young, lanky man– almost a boy, really, I noticed as he plunged the IV drip into my arm. I imagined babbling to him when I woke up, making a fool of myself, having to be carried out like I once carried my high school friend when she mixed Vicodin and vodka.

“Don’t give me too much,” I remember pleading. “Look at me. Promise me that I will walk out of here on my own.”

He must have listened, because when I came to, it was with a surprisingly clear head. At least, the part of my head that I could feel was clear. I spent the car ride home in silence, poking at the numbness, pushing down the tears that were welling up in my eyes.

Healing happened, slowly and awkwardly. A prescription of Hydrocodone sat on my dresser unopened; I refused everything but aspirin and a steady supply of vanilla pudding. Instead, I spent my days drifting between sleep and discomfort, but I suffered in silence. The whole house, after all, was suffering too.

Mema was not an affectionate woman– in the years that I knew her, she was not even particularly kind. She was stubborn and abrasive, with a Southern drawl turned scratchy with years of smoking and sighing and complaining.

She was also the strongest woman I have ever known.

After she quit smoking, she kept as far as possible from any sort of vices that would shorten her lifespan, replacing them instead with virtues… temperance, fortitude, and CNN. Even in her last years, when my parents begged her to have a glass of wine each night just to help her get to sleep, she refused. Her pain management was a strict combination of stubbornness and grit, and her health remained remarkable for her age.

But when you are close to one hundred years old, regardless of how healthy you are, on some level, every part of your body is begging you to just stop. To rest. Sometimes, it’s even in your own mind.

Once, I heard her ask my mother, “Why am I still here?”

“You know that we can’t get you back on a plane safely with all this oxygen, Mom.”

“No,” she sighed. “Why am I still here?”

But she accepted it. She held firm, and she stayed. Even when we ran out of money and resources and patience, when we had to fly her those three thousand miles to move back in with my auntie Beth, she stayed until she could not stay one second longer.

When I was seventeen, I once stood staring into her medicine cabinet on the precipice of explosion. I had my father’s gin and my mother’s anger in my stomach, and I knew what matches it would take to light that fuse. But I stayed, strong and composed, just as she did every day. I couldn’t do it for myself. So I did it for her.

I am not taking those pills.

I was, at the outset, correct about my ability to push through the discomfort. My constant fear of losing control had given me an acute awareness of how much I could handle, and I walked that line confidently. I did everything right, took the antibiotics and cleaned the surgical sites with a ritualistic reverence. All of my focus went towards the pain in my mouth. And the other pain, the ache that had settled into the bones of our house and deep into my chest, went untreated.

Until it couldn’t anymore.

I pushed myself too hard, I understand that now. I had convinced myself that I was out of the woods entirely, that I hadn’t felt any real soreness for days, that I was ready to shut the door behind a miserable week. That afternoon, I went hiking with my best friend, and we caught up over coffee and pre-Christmas peppermint bark. She tried to mention Mema, and I pointed out a hawk in the trees ahead.

By the evening, I was curled up in excruciating pain, convinced that the left side of my jaw was cracking and splintering as I laid with a bag of ice that did no real good. Taking Ibuprofen was like trying to stamp out a forest fire.

With gritted teeth and an apology, I cracked open the bottle of Hydrocodone.

That night was one of the worst of my life. I dreamed apocalyptic wastelands, bodies fetid and festering after the pestilence of the pandemic that had already defined that year. I saw my grandmother, sweating in and out of sleep– alive for a moment, but dying again and again. In the confusion and haze, for just a moment, I thought she might have been a god.

My fever dream ended as a weak winter sun began to stream through the window. I was drained, more exhausted than I had been the night before, but the ache had disappeared and my head was clear. I stripped the sheets and washed off the night, plugged in my headphones, hit shuffle perched on her old bare mattress.

And I was catching my breath/

Staring out an open window, catching my death/

And I couldn’t be sure/

I had a feeling so peculiar, that this pain would be for/

Evermore

I didn’t even notice I was crying until the drops hit my legs. I do not think I could have stopped myself if I tried. But I had run out of the desire to control.

Hey December, guess I’m feeling unmoored/

Can’t remember what I used to fight for

Everything, my grandmother and mother have insisted, exists in moderation. But what is moderation when we feel in extremes?

I rewind the tape, but all it does it pause/

On the very moment all was lost/

Sending signals to be double-crossed

We are made for vices, for cigarettes and coffee and chocolate cake. We are made to cling to any semblance of control, and then to watch again and again as it slips away, and then we are made to try again.

When the tears ran out and the last notes played, I pulled myself up and grabbed my keys. On my way out of the door, I caught a glimpse of something on the kitchen counter– a small glass bowl filled with See’s lollies. We had bought a box to send her for Christmas the day before she died.

This is what she left behind. Plastic wrappers, wood chips. A gap in the family and four gaps in my jaws. Ninety-nine years of stories and stubbornness and Southern sensibility. I carry the weight of her within me, her love and her loss. I manage our pain the way that she taught me, with control and composure. But I’m learning my own ways too.

And I couldn’t be sure/

I had a feeling so peculiar, this pain wouldn’t be for/

Evermore

My fist closed around a butterscotch.

[fireinclined-archive]

HELLION

who is hellion?

so in an ironic twist of fate, life inclined cassandra would be the most reckless, thoughtless, and violent version of cassandra and to be quite honest, i don’t think she and splinter would ever be friends, let alone her becoming the mother of the turtles.

people who are life inclined should have the ability to heal and to kill- it’s only the limitations added to the capellan gene pool that made it so that life inclined people could not kill without dying themselves. that ability still exists. just as regular cassandra can be a wildfire or a campfire, life inclined cassandra can be a healer or a killer, and what hat she’s wearing can change very quickly.

life inclined cassandra- who we’ll call “hellion” bc tbh that’s what she is, feels cheated out of her ability to kill- one half of her inclination is closed off to her. so to compensate for this, she has trained herself to be EXTREMELY skilled in battle. like holy shit, she is a huge fucking threat. and she lives for the thrill of battle, because she can also use her ability to heal in battle…on herself.

she’s so reckless with her own body- i’m not sure if she can, say, mend an a limb that’s been cut off back onto her body, but she has some serious skills. so she’s self destructive bc who cares!!! she can just heal herself!!

in this same vein, she doesn’t care about the safety of others. who cares! i’ll just heal them! she pushes people to do things outside of their comfort zone in a bad way, she’s vulgar and mean, and quick to resort to violence. she won’t kill innocent people but..she’s very comfortable with the idea of killing.

hellion joins the foot clan after arriving on earth, but is uncomfortable when she realizes the turtles are just kids, and after one significant event, she defects

hellion’s change of heart

cassandra once said splinter’s kindness is what she loves the most about him and that he reminds her of all the good that’s left in the galaxy on the bad days. that’s really fucking important!! in ANY au.

so…i’m thinking specifically in the manhattan project, when they’ve captured and drugged splinter, hellion looks in his eyes that are full of hurt, and there’s just…something about him. something about him that when shredder starts his fight with splinter and splinter clearly doesn’t stand a chance, hellion whips out her Super Cool Space Gun™ and shoots shredder right between the eyes (or..not, because that would derail the rest of the series but i really am in love with the idea of hellion just. casually killing him). in the ensuing chaos, hellion suddenly switches sides, since she has no loyalty to the foot whatsoever.

at the end of the fight, splinter asks her why she helped him, and the real reason is that she could sense the kindness in him, and…hellion has lived a life deprived of kindness, so much so that she craves that mineral kindness. granted, that’s been mostly her own choice, but still.

what does she tell him? “you remind me of someone i once knew.”

which…isn’t a lie. the last person who had that kind of kindness in hellion’s life was keandra, and he’d been repulsed by how violent and mean hellion had become, and their friendship ended on a bad note. hellion goes to leave after saying this, then stops and adds that she’s not a threat to them anymore, and that they might see her around, but she’s got a bunch of stuff to work out.

hellion’s redemption arc

after the manhattan project, hellion lays low, with the foot after her for her betrayal. she doesn’t really do anything noteworthy until the invasion, which is the height of hellion’s redemption. she sets up a clinic and for the first real time ever, uses her powers to heal others more than herself.

after the invasion is over, hellion sets up an illegal clinic somewhere for mutants (and humans too, but mostly mutants.). in order to make it legitimate some day and also just so she knows how to better help people, she starts putting herself through medical school

hellion’s capellan turtles

she’s got a huge soft spot for children. so…let’s say even more auish capellan turtles au, since that’s the only au where she actually gets the opportunity to raise them. hellion at this point has recognized that theon was abusive and that she doesn’t want to raise her children that way. instead…she looks back to her mothers.

 she remembers evelyn’s playful roughhousing, and so she tickles them and lets them ride on her back and picks them up and spins them around. she remembers cammilyn’s reassurance and the way she encouraged cassandra to the best she could be, and so hellion encourages her children wholeheartedly in whatever they pursue. she remembers raelyn’s grace and wisdom, and struggles to be the same. 

hellion would still be violent and get in fights but never, ever would she even consider laying a hand on her own children. or tearing them down with her words. she is so fucking soft with her family in a way she isn’t anywhere else.  

she wouldn’t join the foot because now she has a reason to care about herself- she has to be there for her kids. she’d probably?? start her transformation into a Good Person™ because of her kids, not splinter. idk where splinter would even fit in in this au 

hellion’s turts would be a lot rougher, a lot rowdier, and with zero respect for authority (…other than hellion’s tbh). they’re punks, rebels without causes…a lot like hellion herself. but she’s raised them to respect good, innocent people, so they don’t hurt anyone…without reason.

hellion trying to discipline her kids is?? so laughable because she tries not to yell so she’s just trying to put them in time outs or w/e but they’re just running around and screaming and she’s just standing in the middle of this chaos, having a silent breakdown

if any of the boys hit each other outside of the socker boppers, the punishment is much more severe. they lose tv privileges, have to do chores for the brother they hit, etc, etc. i’d imagine since this is one of the biggest and most important rules- don’t hurt each other- that the turt who’s being punished is lowkey shunned for a few days. its not something hellion enforces or encourages, but it’s something that’s developed over the years nonetheless 

hellion & the turtles’ living situation

they live on her ship until they’re five! and they probably? share a room until then. however they probably all end up running to hellion’s room in the middle of the night because her bed’s the biggest and her room is actually? pretty far away from theirs. so they all go to her and snuggle w/ mom.

when they turn five, hellion realizes they’re gonna need their own spaces, so she buys the old cabin in the adirondacks that’s paola’s cabin in the main verse, fixes it up and gives everyone their own room. she sleeps up in the cabin as well, although the cabin is probably JUST for sleeping- most of their day-to day activities happen in the ship.

things to note 

they’re still capellan turtles- they’re all taller than normal, they all get an inclination, etc etc. another thing to note is that hellion does not know about new capella- therefore…they don’t know any of their extended family and believe that keandra, who they only know a little bit about, and hellion are the very last capellans.

they’re probably also a little more awkward around humans because not only were they raised by an alien, they were raised in the woods, away from other humans (as opposed to living right under them)

hellion!donnie

well, first of all, hellion really tries to help donnie grow and flourish intellectually bc whoa hello this kid is smart. she encourages him wholeheartedly and tries to help him with his projects where she can. since the turts are probably living in hellion’s ship, whether that’s on earth or not, donnie probably followed her around when she does repairs on the ship when he was little. she’d ramble on about what she was doing, and donnie would just absorb it all.

since i’d imagine there isn’t much to fix on the ship the way there probably is in the lair- the ship was made to last a long time, and designed to be lived in- that probably takes a lot of weight off donnie’s shoulders- that, and he has his mom to fall back on since she was doing repairs since before donnie was born.

hellion still loves astronomy with all her heart, and teaches all the turtles, but especially donnie, about the galaxy the way her grandmother did with her. when he’s like…14 she teaches him how to drive the ship.

another thing i realized like, twenty minutes ago, is that the hellion turtles would never learn ninjustu, unless splinter were to come into the picture later on. but even then, hellion never makes the boys’ focus on fighting. when they’re older and hellion is a few more years removed from the person she was before the turtles, she realizes she doesn’t want them to follow her footsteps, and is hesitant to teach them to fight at all. she doesn’t want them to put their self worth into fighting, because that’s what she did, and after she got the turtles and gave that up?? hellion lowkey had an identity crisis. she latched onto the role of mother to give her a sense of purpose and identity.

until they run into the kraang, which…again, unless splinter comes into the picture somehow, is the ONLY ones they’ll run into, all hellion teaches them is self defense.

[im-abanana]

If you are taking requests, could you possibly write what happens after the movie like your prequel: Light Blue Sky, Bright Pink Flower. It could be a smut to show how much closer they have gotten after their adventure together and after confessing they love each other. Please and thank you.

Here you are my dear anon! :) I hope you’ll like this little fic (Fluff/Smut/Surprise at the end). 

When I read “It could be a smut.” my mind just elaborated “Do a Smut in that fic!”, so here you go. OwO Enjoy a little piece of my madness.

Thatwarm and bright evening was completely silent, just like the tiredbut satisfied Trolls, asleep in their colorful pods and under softand fluffy blankets made of leaves and hair. Man, what a long daythey had: after their return to the Troll Tree, that was right in themiddle of the new and finally happy Bergen Town, the little singingand dancing creatures had a lot of work to do: building and makingnew pods, fixing the Tree’s broken roots and branches, secure thewild area, pulling weeds, moving things and supplies from their oldhome… yeah, that was exhausting and boring, but necessary.

AndPoppy, the happiest, the most loved and the most positive of all ofthe Rainbow Trolls, was now the new and beloved Queen, so she had alot of responsabilities and duties to perform. Of course, her fatherhelped her with his long experience and wisdom, but still… The girlwas in fact still awake, with big dark circles around her magentaeyes, and was talking to herself, resuming the day’s activitiesquickly and with attention: “Ok, so… It’s been a week, alooooooong week, and I must say we fixed and did a lot ofwork, that’s very good. The roots are ready, green and healty, as thecrown of the Tree, full of leaves and flowers. But we need more podsbecause the population is increasing and the kids are growing, soonthey will need their own little homes! Also, the Tree’s bark is fartoo friable and full of dangerous splinters, and we must create azone for-…”.

“Woah,talking to yourself, Pops? Work and organization sucks, right? Youlook dead tired right now!” a familiar and gentle male voice calledher from not so far, with an ironic but worried tone and crossed,strong blue-green arms. “You’re tiring yourself too much, youshould go to sleep. You are working so hard these days, and for thefirst time of your life! No parties, no jumping in the fields, nosmelling flowers or hugging randomly… you must be lost right now,am I right…”.

“Oh!Branch, it’s just you. Are you still up too, uh?” the royal femalelaughed sincerely and greeted her new and now happy boyfriend,standing up, quickly approaching him and resting her heavy andthrobbing head on his right and strong shoulder, sighing and huffingout her great frustration. “You are right. I know I should get somerest, you’re totally right, but everyone’s counting on me and I don’twanna let them down. Remember, we are in a big, big hurry. The coldseason is coming, you know that, we can’t risk our subjects’ lifelike this. We’ll freeze!”.

“Iknow that indeed, that’s the worst time of the damn year and it’shard to survive without enough supplies, but our work’s half done andthe cold season will come the next month. We’ll be ready in a week ortwo, I promise.” Branch hugged her tightly, trying to comfort andcalm her, caressing her slim and elegant back. “And I’ll be thereto help you if you’ll need me, always. What you’re doing right now,tormenting youself and worrying too much, won’t help at all. Come on,let’s head inside, there are plenty of warm blankets and pillows, agood rest and everything’ll seem alright.”.

“Iguess you’re right as always, you smart, ex-survivalist. Your help isinvaluable, without your guide and precious advices I don’t know whatI would do.” Poppy nuzzled his neck and kissed his left andslightly glittery cheek, closing her bright eyes and smelling him,finally peaceful and quiet in his arms. “You’ll make a great Kingone day, you care so much about me and our people, and everybodyloves and respects you.” she added with a bold smirk, giggling andpunching his back. “King Branch, sounds pretty good right? The badthing is that you’ll have to wear a beautiful flower crown, eheh! I’maware you hate them, I’m so sorry.”.

Thecolorful survivalist gulped and blushed visibly, rubbing his nape andlooking away, embarassed and shy as always. “D-do you really thinkso? I’ll be good enough for the Trolls? For you? Do you really wantme, will you really choose the dull, always prepared andstrange me? I… just don’t know if I deserve that…”.

“No,you won’t be good enough, Branch.” the pink girl slowly shook herhead, looking strangely strict, serious and severe, looking at himinto his light blue eyes, now full of surprise and esitation. “You’llbe perfect for us all. I chose you, and maybe that was thebest decision of my whole life. And I’d choose you, always.” shesmiled widely then, amused by his unsure reactions, grabbing hisstrong but pudgy waist and, on her tiptoes, she pressed her perfumedlips on his, in a kind but passionate and needed kiss.

Branchgroaned and smiled during that welcomed act of affection, his heartfull of joy and pride hearing those beautiful words, and used hisfree and big hands to grab her fluffy hair and gently pull it,knowing how much she would like it. As planned, he heard a tiny butexcited squeal and felt her body against his, hot and tempting.

Whenthey pulled away, Poppy grinned and licked her wet and now flushedmouth, fixing a lock of hair and putting it behind her round ear. “Isee what you did there, are you trying to make me relax in thatway? What a naughty and smug Troll you are, Branch.” the Queenasked, lifting an eyebrow and snickering, a hand on her hip. “But Iam too, so… will you join me in my bedroom?”.

Itwas not like they’ve never done it before or that it was their firsttime: in fact, during those short and maybe too fast weeks, theyfound themselves inseparable and deeply connected, in any existingform. Even in that form. But it was still a strange feelingfor Branch, being inside his girlfriend’s form and whispering lovingphrases, sweet nothings and poetries in her rounded ears.

“Youok, Branch?” Poppy panted with a little and kind smile on her face,her many freckles shone in the darkness as she looked into his lightblue eyes, beneath his muscular but chubby body. Her slim hipsbounced up and down slowly, meeting Branch’s unhurried thrusts. “Youseem a little… uh, restrained? Like you want to say something.”.

“No,no. It’s alright up here. Are you ok down there?” the survivalistsmiled back and laughed, kissing her forehead for a moment andcontinuing his movements, then the male got closer to her right earand huffing: “But maybe you’re right, I would like to saysomething. It’s just… I cannot find the words to describe myfeelings right now, and… damn, I can’t find the words to tell youhow much you mean to me. Maybe I am a poet, well… sort of, butsometimes, especially when I’m around you, I can’t find the right wayto tell you how I feel.”.

“Thenshow me. If you can’t find the right words, then use yourself becauseyou, just you are more than enough for me.” the Queen hugged him,nuzzling against his chest, deeply touched by his sincere words.

Thepink Troll felt her partner speeding up after a few moments ofreflection and esitation, and his royal blue-purple hair twirlingaround hers in a passionate and affectionate dance they shared a lotof times, together and connected, in that fluffy and comfortable bed.“Mhh-!” she moaned, spreading her long legs a bit more, grabbinghim by the waist, and moving her pelvis along with the survivalist’s.

Branchlicked his rather sharp teeth, drooling a little and panting a lot,still not very used to those act of intimate affection, then hegently bit the female’s breasts, sucking them and using his tongue tolap her excited and red nipples, enjoying her wails and whines ofpleasure.

SuddenlyPoppy used her great strength and agility to lift her smaller bodyup, helping herself with her behind’s muscles, sitting on the blueTroll’s lap and smirking, happy to finally be on top. Sheloved it, when she could move and watch her boyfriend’s desperateexpressions, closely. With a loud but muffled scream, she started toride her companion’s rod with speed, while kissing him on the lipsand rubbing his belly and nape with her free arms.

“Ugh!”Branch groaned loudly, his eyes barely open and his tongue out,sitting on the pallet and enjoying the show his girlfriend wasputting up. He felt a warmth in his groin area and his manhoodswelling inside her damp and dripping slit. “She really loves tobe on top, uh…”.

“Someone’sapproaching his peak, Branchie? Awh!” the smug and self-confidentQueen joked while huffing, rubbing his cheek and pressing herforehead against his sweaty one for a second. “It’s ok, I-I’mreaching it too… j-just let it out… will you?”, Poppy knew howto make him come anyway, in fact she knew a really, really sweet spotof his: smiling and smirking, she opened her mouth again and bitgently his pointy and moving ear with her rounded teeth.

“P-Poppy!”he shouted with a not-so-manly and very surprised tone, his handsgrabbing her slim hips on instinct and his organ emptying itselfinside the Queen’s welcoming and warm canal, filling her up with hiswhite and fertile sexual liquid, that poured out slowly, on the dirtyand now messy sheets. “Mpgh…”.

“Branch!”Poppy shivered in pleasure right after him, clenching her muscularinner walls around her partner’s dick and riding out her own orgasm,while electric waves clawled up and down her arching back. “Ahh…”she concluded after a long minute, falling back on the mattress alongwith the survivalist, both of them dead tired, panting visibly andsweaty. But satisfied. Really satisfied. “I admit it… that…relaxed me quite alot.”.

“T-Toldyou… And guess what, that even helped me, you know… gathering abit of courage to tell you something.” the survivalist laughedweakly, kissing her lips for the last time and suddenly sitting onthe bed, grabbing his green gilet and searching for something in itspockets. When he found and took it, he turned towards hisgirlfriends, hands behind his naked back and an embarassed smile onhis chubby face. “Poppy, we’ve known each other for so long, 20years, and I never found the bravery or guts to talk to you, never.But believe me when I say that I loved you so, so much. I loved youwith all my heart and soul, but I was a coward and I was scared.Scared to lose you, like I lost my grandma. Only during our journeyand especially in that pot, when you lost your hope, happiness andcolors, I found myself finally capable to show my real feelings andto tell you I loved you. I couldn’t let you go, I couldn’t see youall grey and sad like I was. And gosh, when you told me you loved meback… I just couldn’t believe it: you, the most perfect and…well, rather annoying dork, my love interest, my beloved party-lovingand funny Princess, loved me! You didn’t give up on me, that’s why Ifell in love with you long, long ago; with your smile you were ableto bright my days and fantasies, especially when I wrote poetriesabout you. You are my bigger inspiration and an essential part of mynew, colorful and beautiful life. And even if maybe’s too early…I’d like to make it official.”.

“…B-Branch? What do you mean, what are you trying to say?” Poppyasked, a little insecure and excited, with her big, enrapturedmagenta eyes, looking at the little and opened black box with agolden and shiny ring inside, right in front of her.

“Poppy,will you marry me?”.

[dailyaudiobible]

04/24/2017 DAB Transcript

Judges 2:10-3:31 ~ Luke 22:14-34 ~ Psalm 92:1-93:5 ~ Proverbs 14:1-2

Welcome to the Daily Audio Bible.  Today is the 24th day of April and I'm Brian.  It's great to be here with you today kind of moving into the rhythm of this brand new week.  Like we said yesterday, it's a new start.  We prayed over it.  We’re going to live into it.  Everything about this week we’ve dedicated to the Lord, and when you do that, it is like great anticipation about what this week could look like if we completely live into it, into the kingdom, into all of our words and activities.  So let's do it.  

One of the ways we stay in that message and in that rhythm is through the gentle rhythm that pulls us forward in the scriptures each day.  We began the book of Judges yesterday in our Old Testament reading and we’ll continue today, reading from The Voice translation, Judges chapter 2, verse 10 through 3:31 today.  

Commentary

We’re getting our way into the book of Judges.  We’ve already met a couple of the judges.  Some of the stories are short.  Some of the stories are more detailed and in depth of the judges in their time, but we’re just watching the generations.  God brings up a judge, people follow that judge, victory is accomplished, restoration happens.  The next generation comes along and essentially rejects what had gone before and things begin to fall apart until a new judge rises up.

Then, of course, in the book of Luke this is the scene of the last supper. Having just celebrated Easter just a week ago, we have this opportunity to remind ourselves of that story and stay in that story, the story of our redemption.

And then we get to the book of Proverbs and we’re given some pretty pointed clarity.  If we’re wise, we’ll build our house up.  And this is not just the four walls that surround us and mowing our yard and stuff. It is that, but it is also everything that happens around that, the entire unit.  If we’re wise, we’ll build it up.  If we’re foolish, we’ll tear it into splinters with our own hands.  We can be our own worst enemy in our relationships and we can tear them down splinter by splinter with our own hands. But if we’re wise, that is not what we do.  If we are wise, we will build it up.  

Proverbs goes on to say whoever travels through life with integrity, a person who lives in honesty and truth and moral uprightness, that is the person who respects God.  What is poignant about that is but whoever turns away from integrity hates God. That is direct.  This compromise, this sort of situational compromise when we have no sure footing and we’re going to respond based on whatever is best for us, that is not integrity and that is not only disrespect but hate for God, according to the scriptures.  Both of those proverbs give us plenty to meditate upon today.  I mean, they are short, they are to the point, as the proverbs are, but they are speaking volumes.  

Prayer

Holy Spirit, we invite you to keep that with us today, to help us to understand that we can tear down our homes splinter by splinter with our own hands and that when we live in integrity, we are respecting your will, your ways, how you are, how we were created to be.  And when we don’t, it's not only disrespectful, it is hatred.  So help us, Holy Spirit, to take these sobering words and apply them to our lives.  Show us the areas where we need to stop splintering our relationships and tearing our homes down.  Show us the areas where we’re not walking in integrity.  We’re completely situationally compromising.  Show us these areas because they don’t belong. They are not how we’re made.  It's not the order of things.  Come, Jesus, into these places, we ask, this very day. In your precious name, amen.  

Announcements

Www.DailyAudioBible.com is the website.  It's home base.  It's where you find out what is going on around here so be sure to check it out. One of the things that we have been announcing is that we will be going back to the land of the Bible and so many of the places that we discuss almost on a daily basis are places that we will get to see with our own eyes, turn around in a circle with our own feet and see the surroundings, understand the context.  It changes the way that we view and experience the Bible in our own lives each day.  So you are invited to pilgrimage along with us.  We’ll be going February 19th through March 4th of 2018. I’d love to see you there.  You can get more details at www.DailyAudioBible.com.  Just scroll down and look for Israel 2018.  It's a little graphical banner.  You’ll see it.  It will get you where you want to go.  Or you can just go to www.DailyAudioBibleIsrael.com and that will take you directly there. We’ll look forward to seeing you.

If you want to partner with the Daily Audio Bible, you can do that at www.DailyAudioBible.com.  There is a link.  It's on the home page.  Thank you. Thank you for your partnership.  If you’re using the Daily Audio Bible App, you can press the More button in the lower right-hand corner or, if you prefer, the mailing address is P.O. Box 1996, Spring Hill, TN 37174.

And, as always, if you have a prayer request or comment, (877) 942-4253 is the number to dial.

And that's it for today.  I'm Brian. I love you and I’ll be waiting for you here tomorrow.

Community Prayer Requests and Praise Reports

Hi Daily Audio Bible family.  This is the night nurse from Camillus, NY.  I used to be known as Marked Unworthy.  I have found a new name for myself, Marked as His.  I have given my life to the Lord this past Easter and I'm so blessed.  It's been amazing, the peace.  What's also been amazing is less than 24 hours after I did that, my mom was diagnosed with invasive breast cancer.  This came as a shock to all of us and I think she is really struggling and the surgery is the first week of May.  So if you all could just keep her in your prayers so she can just be surrounded by the love and the understanding that her body isn’t broken or damaged.  She is a beautiful creation of God.  I’d also like to ask prayers for my boyfriend Ricky. He is a dairy farmer here in upstate New York and fourth generation farmer.  Their farmhands have quit and they really need someone to help with the barn chores before the field work begins, so if you all could just ask that God could provide a reliable, trustworthy, hardworking farmhand who knows a lot about dairy cows and fixing things, that would be awesome.  And then if Ricky could also experience God's love in a real way.  I think we have a beautiful relationship that is starting to grow, however, a missing component is God's love and I really hope he sees how much he is loved.  Love you all.  Bye.  

Hi guys.  This is Vickie in Southern California.  Most of the calls today had to do with broken marriages and good requests for prayer for marriages, so I just want to tell a bit of my story.  I’ve been married for 35 years now and my husband has mostly been great, but there were times he was a real ass.  I didn’t understand what was wrong with him.  Finally in 2011 I put my foot down and demanded that he do something about his problem with women and we separated.  He went into a downward spiral during this time, but I went to God and I asked God what to do.  I listened while God spoke to me.  God worked in mine and my husband's life for me, for my prayers.  We’ve done our part, though.  Both of us have included the Daily Audio Bible.  We’re really involved in Celebrate Recovery.  We’ve been to marriage workshops.  We read lots of books.  I was sick of the bitterness and resentment going on in my brain, blocking my relationship to God and others.  I didn’t try to change my husband, but God has worked in both of us amazingly. Today we are doing really well and we both have so much hope.  Basically here's what I did.  God asked me to be obedient, to forgive, to be a godly woman.  It's hard being a godly woman, but I do the best I can and God has truly blessed me.  We pray daily along with the Daily Audio Bible.  Thanks.  Bye-bye.

Hi Daily Audio Bible family.  This is Tim, first time caller, but I’ve been listening to the Daily Audio Bible for about three or four years.  I'm calling because I heard a prayer request on the April 20th DAB, Daily Audio Bible reading, and the person was asking about praying for her marriage and as she was talking, she really prophetically said that she had past hurts. So I just want you to trust in God, ask God what are those hurts, what are those things that from previous relationships have caused the hurts and ask God to show you and I believe he will give you the guidance and wisdom and insight that you need in order to move forward in your new marriage.  So be blessed.  In Jesus’ name, amen.  

Hello fellow from Sydney, Australia.  This is Jeannette from Denmark.  And my wonderful DAB family, I'm calling because I’ve been struggling with the same enemy, sexual addiction, and my journey has been long.  I want to share what has helped me out.  First of all, if you haven’t received counseling, there is a book called Every Man's Battle which really gets to the root of things, at the heart in the relationship with God that sexual addiction often hides behind.  And I’ll be honest, I'm also working against a health problem that makes it harder to make the right decision.  And I’ll share that a little bit of kelp each day or a little bit of iodine really helps the willpower and straightens clear thinking.  If you need more prayer, please continue to pray and call in.  I'm with you in this.  I am praying for you and I know that with Christ all things are possible and you will have victory because he loves you so much.  You are his precious son.  Beyond all things on the earth, you are loved.  Thank you.  

Hi, this is Azukah calling from Nigeria and I'm calling because a lady called in concerning her daughter that was diagnosed with bipolar disorder.  First of all, sister, I have good news for you.  She has already been healed.  Ephesians 1:3 says that we have been blessed with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ and that blessing includes living in divine health and so she is healed in the name of Jesus, amen.  Please do not be deceived.  Every good and perfect gift comes from God.  So don’t sit down thinking about what God is trying to teach you or what sin you committed or what is this affliction, the lesson your trying to learn or what the Spirit is trying to tell you.  No, if it is not good and if it is not perfect, then it is not from God according to James 1:16-17 because everything good and perfect is from God.  So since this sickness is not good, it is not perfect, it is from the evil one and we resist it and we rebuke it in the name of Jesus, amen.  I would like to encourage you to meditate on scriptures concerning healing like 3 John 1:2 that says that beloved, I wish above all things that you prosper and be in health even as your soul prospers.  It is God's will that we be in health.  2 Timothy 1:7 says the spirit that we have is not of fear but of love, of power and of sound mind.  Your daughter has a sound mind in the name of Jesus, amen.  Just continue to meditate on scriptures concerning healing and very soon there will be a manifestation.  You will see the manifestation of your daughter's healing, in the name of Jesus, amen.  Thank you.

Praise the Lord, everyone.  This is John C., the elder in Fort Meade, MD, and I'm calling.  Today is the 21st, but there was a call that came in on the 20th.  I believe it was Mike who called on behalf of your sister-in-law Shanna, who has cancer, and her husband Greg.  So I just want you to be encouraged.  I want to call you and let you know there is nothing too hard for God and you sounded as though you were kind of hesitant to ask because it is such a great expectation, but there is simply no request we can make to our Father in Heaven that is too big for him to handle.  Usually the problem is we just have to get that mustard seed faith working and so I just ask my brothers and sisters to join with me now as I lift up Shanna before God. Most Heavenly Father, Almighty God in heaven, you see everything.  You know everything.  You hear our requests even before we make them, but we offer these requests, O God, for healing for Shanna now. We ask, God, that your Holy Spirit would flow through her and that you would bless her, God, that you would pour out your healing virtue upon her body.  We pray, God, not for the expectations of man to be met, but that your name be glorified in this situation.  We pray now, God, that you would reach out and do what people don’t understand, that you are the one, you are the beginning and the end of all things.  You control the destiny of man and woman and so we lay before you, God, and we ask you to lift up Shanna.  Turn back the deadly cancer that is going through her body.  Eradicate it completely.  Confound every single doctor that you get the glory and the praise and the honor.  In the name of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior I pray.  Amen.