#and i liked the parts where you weren't in the sewers

[frootbyethefoot]

finally got around to finishing silent hill (the 1st one.) i definitely did not get. everything story wise. i did go out of my way to get the best ending possible using a walkthrough, because as much as i loved this game, i would not like to play it again! alessa ruins me and i hope dahlia gillespee dies and goes to hell

[thegaysinmyhead]

Dead on Main Yandere PT 1 'Obsession'

(First part will now be labeled a prologue)

Jason had no idea what to do with the guy he saved from that warehouse-made lab. 

The white haired man was currently sprayed across the ratty couch of Jason's safe house as their chest rose and fell. The green blood had stopped falling the night before, and they hadn't even made it to the location before the skin was scabbing over. Jason watched the man sleep through the night (not in a creepy way) in shocked awe as the skin healed quickly. It was like watching a time-lapse at max speed, the skin knitting itself together and forcing Jason to remove his quickly-done stitches merely a few hours after he put them in.

Jason wondered if this man was a meta, but he knew that was wrong. No meta had ever activated the Pit, no meta especially ever talked to it. Because that’s what happened–this sleeping beauty spoke without words to him and the Pit.

The crime lord rubbed a hand down his face with a sigh, domino still placed firmly over his eyes but the rest of his face now clear. The white tuft of his hair flowed out between his still-clawed fingers, and the tips caught painfully onto knots. He had been trying to will away the sharp edges since he stumbled through the door, but his fingertips stayed stubbornly pointed. Jason let out a sigh as he turned his eyes to the unconscious angel on his couch.

Whoever this man was…he was like him. There was a warmth where the Pit sat that was calling to the freckled skin and warm green eyes. The green was like a breath caught in his throat, a chill going down his spine and forcing him to shiver. A rumble echoed from his chest, a cry to the being nearby who felt just as him. Dead on dead, like and like.

The white-haired man stirred with a groan, and Jason immediately shot up to his side.

RAGE-CONCERN-WORRY

The angel blinked like he was trying to get spots out of his eyes.

“Ancients–I feel like I got shot and run over by Skulker…” The man huffed as he slowly pulled himself to sit up, a hand clenching his head as he darted his pupils around. Jason squinted his eyes against the faint green glow now emanating from the waking meta(?).

“Didn't get shot, but you were pretty fucked up when I found you,” 

The man jumped as Jason came into view, green eyes piercing into his own blue. There was a tingle underneath his skin that was more pleasant than it wasn't, and the vigilante breathed out a sigh. The Pit churned in his chest.

“You a meta? It'd explain the floating and the green light show you're putting off,”

The man was now indeed floating, and he looked down as if he didn't even realize he was doing it. He slowly deposited himself back on the couch while eyeing Jason wearily, the green around him slowly dampening. It felt like a loss somehow. Like suddenly being pulled from a comfy blanket into the freezing cold. Jason shivered slightly, missing the warmth.

“...I'm not a meta,” The man said sheepishly, arms crossing underneath his pits as he shifted away from Jason. Shit, if this guy isn't a meta, what is he? Why were the Pits screaming down to his bones for this (unreasonably attractive) guy?

Green eyes turned his back to Jason with a flash, the tell-tale sign of heat behind his eyelids signaling his eyes mimicked the green of his guest. 

curious-safe-content

What was that? Why did Jason keep feeling things he could tell weren't his feelings? It was like the ever-present green was digging itself into his brain and translating things he didn't even know was a language.

RAGE-CONFUSION-SAFE

The angel audibly gagged.

“Dude—I've met some pretty janked liminals, but your ectoplasm is straight rancid,” The man said while dramatically sticking out his tongue.

“Like, seriously, it's like I'm sitting next to a sewer with a crocodile trying to bite at my ankles. How are you dealing with that much corruption?”

Jason blinked underneath the lenses. Ectoplasm? Was this another word for Lazarus Waters?  He feels like he should be more aggressive to someone who could supposedly smell(?) the Pit, but there was a steady stream of relaxation that had the Pit rumbling with warmth rather than anger. The Pit had never felt like this, so comfortable.

“Ectoplasm?” He murmured finally.

The man balked at him, “Ya know, the stuff I've been bleeding all over you and your couch? Very obviously green and glowing?”

Jason just continued to stare down at the white hair and freckled cheeks. There was a very obvious shuffle to move away from the glaring red lens of his mask.

“You're talking about the Pit,” 

There was a shrug.

“If that's what you guys call it on this side of the living.”

The green shifted from his chest into his throat, words on the tip of his tongue that he choked down. The fuck does this guy mean ‘this side of the living’?

RAGE-CONFUSION-WORRY

safe-comfort-hello?

Jason jerked backward as a feeling waved past him. It was like something was passing by the deepest parts of himself, gently brushing past him in his entirety –insecurities, regrets, hopes, dreams–and fully embracing them before pulling away. He suddenly felt vulnerable and stripped down; he bit back the urge to tear up.

“Dude. You have got to see a doctor about that. That cannot feel good,” The man was in front of him now, white fingerless gloves cupping his shoulder. There was the barest hint of scarring on the pale blue fingertips, and Jason wanted to simultaneously melt into the embrace and rip the hand off of him. Jason went with the safer option of ripping the hand off of him.

“I don't know what the fuck you're talking about, and if you don't start talking I'm gonna put a bullet between your eyebrows,” He growled. He pulled one of his guns from its holster and pointed it at the angel (meta? Pit Demon?). The presence around him didn't even stutter or feel afraid. 

The man backed up, but seemed more amused than anything. His hands shot up in a placating motion but he was obviously not worried. There was something like a laugh tickling in the back of his mind. A laugh that just pissed him off more, but made the Pit purr.

“That's not gonna hurt me, big guy,”

Jason snarled with barred teeth, gums aching with pain and an unfamiliar warmth that made him want to bite down into something. He was fighting with himself through the warm comfort the Pit wanted to nuzzle into, and the apprehension/anger of an unknown in his safe house. Why did Jason bring him here? Probably because less than a day ago this guy had the skin of his chest held open by pins. Also because the Pit was begging to get closer to the white haired stranger. 

“Listen, man, I really appreciate you getting me out of there. Being a lab rat is not fun, at least let me fix that rank stuff in your system as a thank you?” 

Jason raised an eyebrow through his domino, pointing the gun more forcibly in the direction of the idiot talking to him. The man just held up his hands slightly higher with a shy smirk. 

“Alright! Alright! No need to be Mr. Big and Scary. Don’t really wanna Ghost Brawl when my body is still healing, please put the gun away,” 

Jason just huffed but clicked the safety back on the pistol, placing it on the table within his reach in case things went south.

“Why do the Pit waters react to you? Who the hell are you?” The crime lord questioned with a hiss. He lowered himself into an old recliner next to the sofa, placing his elbows on his knees as he leaned toward the stranger. The white haired man seemed surprised for a second before giving him a bright smile.

“Danny, Danny Phantom at your service! Or Daniel Fenton if you’re asking for my identity. Not like I have one right now anyways, considering I’m legally dead,” there was a snort as the guy floated above the couch, arms crossing as he flipped stomach down.

“–And what about you?”

.

.

.

TAG LIST [Might or might not be doing this in the future]

@justwannabecat

@fuckingfaraway

@kittenline

Prologue, Part 2

Masterpost

[Please let me know if anything is wrong or not working!]

[umbrella-show]

Platonic Yan Rottmnt

「 ✦ 𝐏𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐨𝐧𝐢𝐜 𝐘𝐚𝐧 𝐑𝐎𝐓𝐓𝐌𝐍𝐓 𝐱 𝐌𝐮𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐓𝐮𝐫𝐭𝐥𝐞 𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐏𝐭.𝟑 ✦ 」

The final part of my short Yan platonic Rottmnt series :) THIS IS IN NO WAY APPROVING OF A ABUSIVE OR TOXIC RELATIONSHIP

TW: Kidnaping, Stalking

Words : 1661

‧˚₊꒷꒦︶︶︶︶︶꒷꒦︶︶︶︶︶꒦꒷‧₊˚⊹

“Here you go, birthday boy, enjoy!” You smiled kindly, placing a cake on the table where a young fish yokai sat with a party hat strapped around his head. He beamed at the cake excitedly, his friends gathering around his table to gawk and drool at the cake, eager to eat. You watched fondly, clasping your hands together behind your back. You watched as another yokai, made of green slime, hopped on top of the table. He shouted loudly from excitement, “Let’s get this party started!” Right at that moment you grabbed a spare menu from another table nearby, opening it in front of your face to shield your face from the sudden splat of Exploding Frankie’s famous party trick. The green goo clung onto the menu before it dripped off and all of the green slime came together to form him again. The kids cheered and you took that as a que you had done your job. 

You loved your job. You loved seeing the smiles on other mutant’s and yokai’s faces when you brought them their meal they had been eagerly waiting for. Your boss, Senior Hueso, was pretty cool. You are forever grateful for him. He took you in when you had nothing and gave you a job as a waiter. The pay was enough for you to buy an apartment in the hidden city. The hidden city was full of wonders. Shortly after you made your escape from the dreaded sewers you had made your way back to the city to find some form of refuge. You had watched, what you learned was a yokai, opening a portal to the mystical city through a graffiti drawing on a wall. You had followed after them and were amazed by the sight of other beings, like you, wandering a city full of mystic and magic.

It’s been 3 months since you escaped the sewers, and you haven’t seen those turtle brothers ever since. You supposed that was a good thing. You didn’t really want to see them ever again after they held you against your will. While living in the sewers wasn’t half as bad as you originally thought, it felt suffocating with all the attention you were given.

“Y/N,” you were snapped out of your thoughts when your boss spoke to you. “Mi amigo manchado, is everything alright.” You gave him a courteous nod, fiddling with the collar of your outfit.  He was always looking out for you. You were one of his most diligent employees, after all. He even told you himself. You did your best to put a smile on everyone’s face. Even the rude customers. 

“I’m alright.” You responded, “just thinking.” You watched your boss look at you with a curious expression as he patted your shoulder. He was always a little concerned when you spaced out to think. You weren't sure why.

“Well then, there are a few more customers you may serve before you clock out.” “I wouldn’t mind working overtime again.” You quickly responded right after he finished speaking. You could use all the extra money. Heuso frowned, shaking his head in disapproval. “Oh no, you, tortuga, need more rest. You have bags under your eyes.” He pointed out, causing you to deflate at his protective tone. However, you weren’t going to argue with him. You didn’t mind getting more sleep anyways. With all of the days you worked overtime, your sleep schedule was basically obliterated.

“Fine,” you muttered in slight disappointment, causing him to give you a proud smile and another pat on the shoulder before walking away and letting you go seat the new customers. You gave him one more glance as he walked. Probably back to his office to work on his miniature wooden ship. You dusted off your apron, making sure you looked presentable for the last customers you were going to serve before walking all the way back to your apartment and collapsing into bed. The more you thought about it, the more excited you were to get more sleep than you usually got.

You glanced at the entrance of the restaurant, about to greet the new customers. Your blood ran cold and you immediately turned around to hide yourself once you saw them. No. There was no way they found you. You dared to take another glance, begging that it wasn’t them. Maybe you mistook someone else for them. You were proven wrong when you took another glance.

The Hamato brothers. They found you. How did they find you? You left no sign that you were here? How did they know about the Hidden city? You thought this was a safe place. The only place they would never find you. You needed to leave. Now.

You began to walk away from them with your back turned to them. You tried to look as discreet as possible. You needed to get to Hueso’s office. Hopefully if you asked him if you could just leave a little earlier, he wouldn’t ask questions and let you. For now, you needed a distraction.

“Excuse me,” you quietly spoke to an unoccupied owl Yokai waiter. “Could you serve them?” You carefully pointed towards the turtle brothers who were already seated at a table. Luckily, by your nervous and uncomfortable expression, the owl nodded and didn’t say a thing as he walked over to serve them. You silently thanked him, standing there for a while. You didn’t realize how shaky your breathing was until now. Your palms felt sweaty and your hands and knees were shaking a bit. You closed your eyes and tried your best to take deep breaths and calm down. You had to keep calm. You needed to blend in. 

You felt a strong urge to check if the turtles were distracted so you could hurry to Hueso’s office. You slowly turned your head as little as you could so your eyes could see them. Leonardo seemed to be talking to the waiter, seemingly ordering for himself and his brothers. Donnie was distracted by his phone and Raph was idly sitting, listening to the waiter list out the food they ordered. Mikey looked especially happy, kicking his feet under the table. You could tell he was extra giddy, seeming excited to get pizza. 

You didn’t know why you continued to watch, most likely looking for reassurance that they were occupied and therefore wouldn’t see you sneak to Hueso’s office. However, just as you were about to turn away, Mikey’s eyes started wandering throughout the restaurant, and soon landed on you. You two engaged in a staring contest, you visibly paling as his face lit up. You tore your gaze away, turning around like it never happened and bolting to your boss’s office. Just before you turned the corner to where Hueso was, you heard a loud whisper from Mikey, alerting his brothers of your presence, you assumed.

You left through a different entrance of the restaurant, one you hoped the turtles didn’t know existed. You bolted to your apartment complex, weaving through the crowd of Yokai in your way. Hueso had graciously let you leave early. You mentally thank him for not asking questions, though he did look suspicious. You wondered if you should tell him some other time. If you did, that might cause the brothers to definitely know you were there. Though, you were sure it didn’t make a difference, considering Mikey already saw you. They all knew you worked here by now. Maybe you could quit and find a different job. Somewhere deeper in the Hidden City. The thought of quitting your job and leaving Hueso out of the blue made you sad. He was the one who took you in when you were desperate and in need of shelter. 

As you continued on to your apartment complex, there were less Yokai in your path and soon enough, you were alone walking through an alley between two other buildings. This was a shortcut you normally took, so you weren’t really on guard or alert. That was a mistake.

The floor suddenly felt as if it disappeared and you felt like you were falling. Your breath hitched, your eyes opening as your body braced itself for some kind of painful impact. Instead, you landed on your backside on what you thought was the floor. You snapped your eyes open and saw you were encased in some purple glowing sphere. You pressed your hands against the walls of your prison. 

“Hey, sib! I didn’t know you got a job at Hueso’s.”

Your blood ran cold at the sound of that voice from behind you, almost not wanting to turn around. However, you did, and stared with wide eyes wide in shock at the sight of the turtle in blue, followed by the rest of them as they stood around you. You pressed yourself against the wall of the round cage, shrinking down like prey to a predator. You watched Leo place his foot on the purple device trapping you.

“It’s a shame, I really thought you’d be able to get us free pizza, or at least a discount.”

You watched him playfully pout, faking looking hurt as he put his hands to his chest. Mikey suddenly hugged the sphere, pressing his face against it with no warning, making you harshly flinch and shrink away from them even more.

“Welcome home, Y/N! We’re so glad to have you back!!!”

You gawked at him, dumbfounded before finally registering his words. Home? You glanced behind him, seeing the familiar walls of Donnie’s lab with computers and machinery all around. You’re mind blanked, your ears catching onto bits and parts of Donnie speaking. Talking about new reinforcements being made to the lair to specifically make sure you don’t escape again. You stared aimlessly at the wall as the feeling of horror and devastation sunk in. 

You were right back where you started. Except this time, there really was no escape.

[mallowwblossom]

OUTER BANKS SEASON 4 SPOILERS BELOW THE CUT!!

Ok, so now that JJ is dead, NO ONE can. convince me that Riara WON'T happen in season 5 AND LET ME TELL Y'ALL WHY.

First of all, their chemistry has been there from the start. You could feel it even in season 1, and if you say otherwise, you're lying. They’ve given us so many moments—both direct and indirect interactions.

Have you noticed that when Rafe talks about Kiara, he uses her full name, but when he addresses her directly, it's ALWAYS and ONLY "Kie"?

THAT LOOK??? ARE Y'ALL SERIOUSLY GOING TO DENY THAT LOOK?

Also, remember in season 1, when Pope and Kiara talked, and Pope brought up her "Kook Year"? She reacted badly to that, and considering she was Sarah's best friend back then, a possible fling between Rafe and Kiara could've easily happened and is HEAVILY IMPLIED.

When Rafe picks fights with the Pogues, he never really targets Kiara aggressively(I mean yes he does almost choke her and tries to down her in the sewers but ykwim).For example, in season 1, he pulls her away from Barry, saying she was not the one they were looking for.

And these are only moments from the FIRST SEASON! The fact that are only those present in the first season and some of you still don't believe this ship leaves me flabbergasted.

Their strongest moment was definitely in season 3 with an entire arc of them together in Barbados.

ARE YOU TELLING ME THAT MEANT NOTHING?

Now, yes, Rafe met Sofia and dated her in season 3, but tbh it never felt genuine. Rafe is a twisted man, and it seemed like she was just a replacement for the family he lost. Rafe needs someone whom he can prove himself to, to encourage and love him, partly to prove he can be like Ward, another twisted man who always managed to keep his family together and placed his family first (at least according to his disturbed vision) . Now that he feels "betrayed" by Sofia, I doubt we’ll see her again.

ALSO THE RIARA MOMENTS IN THIS SZN WEREN'T GONE AT ALL, THEY WERE ON FULL FORCE.

Call me crazy if you want, but I genuinely believe Riara will become canon. It might even be part of the reason they decided to kill off JJ. Yes, Rudy Pankow didn’t want to continue on the show, but remember that interview where Carlacia said Cleo and JJ were supposed to be a couple? I don’t think Jiara was in the plan from the start; it happened mostly because of fans.

I’m not happy with how they handled this season, and I’ll probably talk about that in another post. I’m definitely NOT happy with JJ’s finale, but I’m excited about this likely-to-happen Riara pairing. And I don't know If It's just me but I'm noticing the writers seem to be pushing a potential redemption arc for Rafe, which I don’t fully approve of—but who knows, that could be another hint for Riara?

---

Side note: If you were in the OUAT fandom in the 2013/2014 I'm telling this is like the Bealfire-Emma-Hook love triangle. Like we all liked I hope Baelfire, but from the SECOND we saw Hook, we all knew Neal was supposed to go. Change my mindddd

MIND YOU ENGLISH ISN'T MY FIRST LANGUAGE AND I REALLY HOPE I MANAGED TO GET MY POINT ACROSS😭

Of course, that is entirely my opinion, but PLS do interact because I'm curious about everyone's take on this. <33

[emeraldsfanfics]

Hi. I just stumbled upon your page and loved the Rise! Turtles x Dark Knight Reader! If possible, is it okay for me to request TMNT2012! X Older Sibling Reader, where during Master Splinter was still taking care of the turtle tots reader was just a quiet kid when he found her in the sewer, took her as part of the family and she also helped took care of the turtles since she was a few years older. The rest continued as usual until the turtles were big enough. Reader being the supportive sibling but still strict when it comes to their safety. Very disciplined when it comes to learning martial arts. The turtles admired her strength and courage. Didn't become a full time kunoichi because she still an online college student. A reliable person to ask for second person advice after Master Splinter. Gentle and caring. A safe person for the turtles to vent and be with when needed. (Spoiler) After Master Splinter died, reader also become a guide for the turtles if they needed another perspective at heavy decision making like a big mission or something. Overall, just one of the pillars in the family. (My apologies if this is too long. You can add or subtract anything from here if you want!) Thank you 🧡

Guidance

●A 2012!TMNTBrothers and older sister reader●

I ADORE this request! As a older sister and eldest of all sides of the family this touched my heart strings 🥲 thank you so much for requesting 🧡annon

If you want to request, rules here!

Hamato Yoshi was still adjusting to his new form and life in the sewers. It was still odd. Add four mutants turtles you found into the mix and you got a mutated life. However, those turtles are the best thing that happened to him. And he knew that those turtles are what has his love.

But, however, there is a daughter who will later have the man's heart.

Hamato Y/n.

During one of his outings with his sons. Through the sewers, where they'd play and just be kids. Until he heard Footsteps ahead. Perhaps construction? But there would be more chaotic sounds of machinery.

Going to investigate with protecting his sons, he sees a young girl. Human, a child. Looking around, confused, scared. Your heart pounding violently.

He didn't know how to approach you at all, he never wanted to frighten you. That is, until Lil Raphael made his way to your leg. You jumped slightly, wondering what it was. Until you saw...an adorable human turtle?

Then another one, then another. All so happy and joyful around you. Which made you feel insanely better.

That's when you seen him, hesitant to approach you. You froze, almost observing him and his actions.

"Hello little one." He greeted, you slyly gave him a wave. "Do you know where your guardian is?"

You simply gave him a nod no.

•And that was the start of your new family life. First, he was hesitant to call you a daughter. His heart still aching the loss of his own biological daughter.

•In time, he developed unconditional fatherly love for you. He had a desire to protect you and to teach you how to protect yourself.

•At a very young age, he started training you. He gave you a bow and arrow, engraved with your name. You hugged him in thanks, you were a fast learner after all.

•Later in time, even though you weren't a full Kunoichi, he also taught you how to use the Tessen. Giving you the one that was originally for his biological daughter. It was better off in your hands instead.

•Splinter is very proud of your work and determination. Even now working to get a degree in college online.

•Something also known, you would do anything for your younger brothers. Growing up, you were always another caretaker of theirs. Even playing with them and their little games.

•When older, you are always the one resolving their conflicts and the peacemaker

•They all look up to you, ESPIACALLY Leo

•Leo admires how organized you are how easily you can get the others to listen to you.

•He is also slightly scared of you...

"Now we have to make sure Y/n isn't awake."

"It is late, she's usually done with classes and homework at this time."

"Besides,if Splinter won't know, she won't know"

*appears out of nowhere* "Know about what green beans?"

"AHHHH-"

•It is confirmed you have older sister senses, including for April and Casey?

Casey: "we're not even related-"

Wash your hands and eat.

Casey: Yes Y/n...

April: amature

•You are one of the only people who can put Raph in his place when necessary. He has a soft spot for his older sister

"Want to tell me what happened?"

"Nothing happened."

"Remeber what I told you, your emotions are reactions to something greater. Take your time."

"Okay here's what happened-"

•Yeah. Out of everyone Raph is most protective over you. And you will always be proud of him.

•Also you let him swear when no one is around >:p

•If you can't get groceries then the turtles go and get them

•Donatello learned his sarcasm from you. You're the one who introduced him to engineering and science.

"I know bait doesn't talk back."

*sniff*

"What's wrong N/n?"

"That was a beautiful smart-ass response" *still crying* "im so proud."

•You're one of the only people he'll ever ask for input on for his experiments

•Leo is sometimes hesitant to ask for advice, but you can tell when he wants to, mainly about being a leader when you aren't there

"Don't throw out your teenage years for being the perfect leader. That would hurt me. You have courage and good intentions. Just be the best leader YOU can be."

"But it's hard with brothers like ours. I feel like, I'm not good enough."

"I understand, be a leader worth trusting. If they aren't being a team worth leading, I'll help you, okay?"

"Okay. Thank you, Y/n."

•He trusts you, a lot.

•Mikey is clingy to you the most. In a platonic way. He'll randomly stick on your arm or leg. You don't even know why.

"Mikey."

"Yes?"

"I need to do homework."

"Then do it."

*crashes out*

•You are actually the one who got him the skateboard. And even taught him how it's used!

•Raph won't dare do anything to Mikey or anyone when you're in the room

•You and your brothers are extremely competitive. It only escalates when you enter, and it's a full on war. Especially video games.

•Pillow fights are on a whole other level with the five of you, betrayal, backstabbing and broken hearts happen...

•Training is another thing when you are there to spar

"How hard can princess be to beat?"

*Has him on the floor* "I don't know you tell me princess"

*April, Casey, Leo, Mikey and Donnie about to die in the corner*

•Yup, just like your father

•Lectures are frequent when they first came with injuries. And you couldn't get a hold of them.

"You all are idiotic! Why would you do that?! Just blindly going into that without a plan! PLAN!" *you say as you're giving them medical attention*

•When Splinter died, you felt your whole world collapse. Your father...dead? Can't be right. In a way, you were in denial.

•This meant you had to step up, you couldn't be weak right now. Your brothers need you. So, that's the role you took up.

•You provided emotional support and the guidance they need, which you did and they were thankful for you

•Your brothers had noticed your obvious masking, you and Splinter were close like the rest of them

•And you working so hard, they started feeling bad for not noticed earlier

•So they did what good brothers would do. A TV marathon of space heros.

•A day of self care! Which took them a while to research ANYTHING about that. Even asking April for input.

•Which was thoughtful and made you wanna cry, like what do you mean these idiots thought of something so sweet 😭

•The turtles love you as their older sister and will always protect you <3

[theladyismyshepard]

Oath Breaker

Now this one is just me letting my love for the Paladin run wild and I can't get over the thought of throwing it all away for that special one that they love. Funnily enough, my first playthrough was Druid! If you reblog, tag what your first class was/will be

(How the party reacts to you, a Paladin, breaking your Oath for them)

Shadowheart –

You were born… well, you couldn’t really say where, as you hadn’t the faintest clue. You were an orphan living the life as an urchin in the Lower City streets of Baldur’s Gate, that much you were sure of. With your natural charisma and having a knack for persuasion, things could have turned out worse. That isn’t to say you aren’t a survivor, you might have called upon your sleight of hand once or twice. But there was something about you… You were an optimist. You drew people in with your personality, and before you knew it, you had your own makeshift family that you chose to be a part of.

You were always aware of the ones who were having it worse than yourself, you couldn’t help it, it was almost like a reflex. There were the inexperienced, the frailer, the innocent… Some would say you were softhearted, caring entirely too much about everyone else’s well being rather than your own, and honestly? You felt no need to deny or explain yourself. Not when your bleeding heart was content to surround itself with those needing your guidance. It was so nice to feel needed wasn’t it?

Until the joy was stripped when you found yourself losing it all, and the worst part was that you tried your hardest, gave everything you had, and it still wasn’t enough. You weren't enough. It was a day that started as any other would, though at some point you and your friends found yourselves in the sewers underneath the city. It was no grand battle, there were no honorable deeds… It was a simple case of being in the wrong place at the wrong time. There was a gang of rotten people that just wouldn’t accept your presence, yet refused to let you leave. One by one your comrades fell… You were the fighter, the protector here, not them… so why were you the only one left alive? It was a “lucky coincidence” that the scuffle was noisy enough to attract attention, though those were never your words.

You felt shame. The people you had come to care about, who looked up to you, had fallen at your feet and you could do nothing. You had all the courage in the world, all the compassion… One could argue that that might be the reason you lived, that maybe you were destined for something greater… You couldn’t see any reason past the survivor’s guilt. No one could convince you otherwise… at least not until the god Helm spoke directly to you one day when you were at your lowest, ready to give up your optimism

"Following the ideal of the knight in shining armour, you will act with honour and virtue to protect the weak and pursue the greater good.” You could feel the power that Helm was offering you, and it was too alluring – it was the power that you desperately needed to make a difference, to ward off the evil, to actually be able to protect.

It was an Oath that you lived by day in and day out. You grabbed outstretched hand after outstretched hand, offering your help to anyone and everyone in need, whether it be an extra blade in an unjust altercation, or a measly passing of judgment between two quarreling neighbors. What was once a reflex to help people was now an unsatiated devotion, an incessant demand. You had no purpose if there was no one to help. Your duty guided you straight to the nautiloid, and as your party grew bigger, you started to see that there might have been a reason for that. Was it to make amends for your last group of friends? Because the thought made you sick to your stomach… What if you failed just as you did last time?

You wouldn’t… As you gazed upon the crease between Shadowheart’s brow as she fretted over losing her own faith for your cause, for you, you decided that this woman right here was what you were living for. Not to protect the world from itself, not to solve every problem thrown your way, not to blindly follow an Oath, but to worship a cleric who had no one to worship herself. You would make her happy, even if that finally entailed the end of you.

She had the opportunity to have her parents back, and of course there was always a cruel catch involved. It was unfair, and while it teetered on the edge of blasphemous (you could feel it burning in your veins, Helm himself warning you off) you found yourself standing between Shadowheart and Shar’s massive form, needing to pass judgment, to intervene against this… this evil. The ultimatum of Shadowheart’s parents or the curse paining her hand was unethical, it was treacherous. It was also not your war to wage, and that was a direct message from Helm.

What could you possibly do? The only thing you’ve ever been good at was a good starting point. You lived by your Oath and you would die by it… and by betraying it all at once. You couldn’t help but to turn back and look at Shadowheart, she was all you ever had eyes for, and realization flickered across her eyes as she registered what you were trying to convey. You could see the fight building, her refusal on the tip of her tongue, but you beat her to it.

“Take me or fight me,” it was a demand met with incredulous laughter, but the fact you weren’t reduced to ashes on the spot relayed curiosity on her part, “Accept me in return for Shadowheart’s parents and the curse wounding her… I can’t accept a no,”

“How bold, paladin,” it was dripping with sarcastic disdain, “Not only will I take your Oath, but I’ll take your life and I’ll relish in the misery it brings your dear, heart… I can feel her agonizing heartbreak as we speak. This little display was delicious, and I thank you for that… If you both can satisfy me, I just might consider myself generous.”

You’re hardly aware of what comes next, not the raise of Shar’s hand, her magic visibly building, not the frantic pulling of Shadowheart’s hand on your arm, not when there was a growing emptiness swelling in your chest, threatening to bring you to your knees as you gasped on strangled breaths. Helm’s spirit of guidance left you behind to flounder in your mistake. You were no paladin of his, but you would be an Oath breaker for Shadowheart tenfold. But once was enough, and you’ll never stop paying for it.

Lae'zel –

You were born in a modest town outside of Wyrm’s Crossing and Rivingston, just far enough to prove ideal in terms of privacy without complete isolation. A town of basic essential– a town where everyone had their function. There was the blacksmith and her wife, the harvester and his family, the carpenter along with his wife and their gaggle of sons following in the trade, the medicinal/healer woman and her two children… what you lacked were soldiers

It was an easy slaughter with hardly anything to even pillage, but what the raiders lacked in treasures, they took in captives. That included you. It wasn’t long before you’ve come to decide that killing you would have been a mercy, and even more immediate was your swelling resentment and thirst for vengeance. It would be years of praying for the strength to fight this oppression before the patron god Ilmater heard your pleas, and came to you with a contract, an Oath… “You will set aside even your own purity to right wrongs and deliver justice to those who have committed the most grievous sins.”

The entire enslavement stronghold fell by your hand, and your hand alone. It was your right to pass this judgment, and it was your duty to carry out justice with no mercy for your wicked captors. And so was your entire moral code as you traveled far and wide, seeking out evil and persecution and the vengeance that draws with it, calling you here and there until the very day you found yourself infected and surrounded by a mismatched group of people that you’ve come to care for.

A particular githyanki had caught your interest early on, what with her prowess in battle, and her loyalty to her people above even her own life. It was respectable and you admired her for her strength. Both with wits and with blade. You trusted her for her word once you’ve come to see the sentiment returned. There was no one else you would trust to take to battle with over her.

But it was more than that… You’ve seen and heard how the githyanki were portrayed, by Shadowheart no less… Lae’zel’s people suffered persecution from the people of your world for their “brute hostility”... Lae’zel gets a gleam of pride in her eye anytime she hears that… and at first you wondered if it was just your Oath that drew you closer to the soldier, a need to defend, a need to lash out against any hatred sent her direction

No… that wasn’t it… Not when you stood there, mouth agape as your eyes darted back and forth from Lae’zel to Orpheus. You gulped as her hand subconsciously slid into your pocket, the jar containing the Astral Tadpole finding shelter in your palm. A sacrifice had to be made now that the Emperor was no longer on your side and you needed the powers of a Mind Flayer on your side if you even considered taking on the Netherbrain. You broke into a sweat at what this would entail.

You would give up your form for something so much greater that it couldn’t even be contained in your body. It was an almighty power that you were not meant to have, and as a Paladin, a quest for such power would break your very oath, even if your intentions were good, even if your intentions were out of spite to destroy the brain. But you knew what your intentions were and they were purely selfish: You intended to spare Lae’zel the impossible task of watching the Prince of her people give up his newfound freedom for another Hell. Not because of your oath of vengeance, but because you loved her.

“I…” This was the first time you’ve ever seen Lae’zel speechless and wide-eyed, at a complete loss. “You…”

“Mla’ghir… Liberator… That is what you shall be known to our people as… May my will be done,” Orpheus decreed, bowing to you, and from behind him you can still she Lae’zel struggling, her mouth opening and closing, and maybe it was wishful thinking, but you could’ve sworn you had seen a glossy film over her eyes that was pooling on her lower eyelids.

“You have a duty to your people, Lae’zel… just like I had a duty to anyone and everyone who crossed my path… before I met you. Now, I have my own personal oath to you, and I will do anything to-”

If it was a kiss you were seeking, you succeeded. One hand grabbed the back of your neck and the other wound around your back, pulling you in firmly against her lips. It was a bittersweet display, knowing this was the last that you were to receive. It was worth it, and you would break your oath a million times over if it meant Lae'zel could finally have the opportunity to let go of her own vengeance. Taking a step back while uncorking the bottle before you could lose your nerve, you accept the Astral Tadpolr, and miss the look of terror and worry Lae'zel had for you as she weakly reached out before thinking better of it.

Karlach –

You were born in a lonesome village nestled discreetly in the thick forests of the Wilderness. Hard to access seeing as there’s only one way in and one way out, and the entrance is hidden behind a waterfall. A true town of nature, it is literally taken over and incorporated into the wild. You grew up with the whispers of the trees and the understanding of animals. Everything had a balance, and you could tell when all was right with the world in terms of energy and flow.

Which also entailed being able to pinpoint the moment nature felt off, like there was a wound torn asunder and darkness and misery was oozing out and taking over. Being as in- tune with nature as you were, it physically pained you to feel the death of the earth around you. Living in a place so far away from the destruction of life was good for you– Until you could feel the presence of people making their exploration in a place already explored. There was hardly anything you could do to protect the sanctity of the land, not when you could physically feel the wars waging upon them, the resources that were being exploited…

Your prayers for the lands were answered one day by Mielikki, the goddess of forests and the creatures who live within, and with her she brought an Oath granting unspeakable powers that could benefit in healing, healing yourself, healing your friends, healing the world… “You fight on the side of light in the cosmic struggle against darkness to preserve the sanctity of life and the beauty of nature.”

No other words would ever ring more true to you as you live your life healing the hurt that mankind leaves behind on the land. You still hold onto hope that there are more people like you who care about the wellbeing of nature and the life within. You keep that hope alive in hopes that it would spark and set ablaze, leaving a lasting impression on people rather than nature.

You found yourself lounged comfortably along the wooden raft that you yourself had crafted. The wood was chipping and stained with a permanent moss, evidence of its wear-and-tear during its time in service. The only sounds that could be heard were the gentle lapping of the babbling river, the rustling of leaves as wildlife took its course through the surrounding wilderness, and your breathing… you didn’t even see the nautiloid coming

You didn’t even see Karlach coming. Well… that’s neither here nor there… But her fiery nature and her bright soul was breathtaking, and you found yourself in awe of the force of her very being. Her smile, her mannerisms, her passion… she burns brighter than anyone or anything you’ve ever known– and it was only a matter of time before she burnt out. It was a cruel reality that you avoided, but you knew, deep down, past your heart, but to your Oath…

Karlach’s soul was the purest you’ve felt in ages, but there was no heart that sustained that. It was an infernal engine that roared the very fires of Hell, and it was a bomb that was set to go off at any given moment. It was nature’s way, and your Oath was telling you to accept it, that all cycles come and go and that this was no different, no matter the sorrowful circumstances. But you couldn’t accept the snuffing of the brightest life that the world, Heavens, or Hells could offer, that would be the cruelest crime against humanity.

That was what you told yourself. But at the end of it all was when you lost your faith. You held not an ounce of hope in your heart in the depths of your deepest despair: watching her grunt in agony when she would usually be cheering and whooping in celebration. The very life and soul of the party– the one who, without even knowing it, had you changing your entire devotion. There was only one you intended to worship and it wasn’t Mother Earth… Her name was Karlach, and you could feel your own light fading with her own as you felt your love being plucked away. You would drain every sea, tear apart every mountain if it meant sparing her life.

And… you were letting it? You could have pushed harder for her to return to Avernus, just long enough to find a more permanent cure, or another upgrade at least… But the heartbreak on her face and the constant insistences of getting trapped and never returning were too much to press further. You would never ask her to do something she was dead set against, and you never would have asked her to give up her body and soul for the advantage over the Netherbrain by becoming a Mind Flayer. You rush forward, ignoring her initial attempts to push you away so as to not get burned, and wrap your arms around her body despite your skin burning and peeling. This was it, you could feel her trembling and you were afraid… so afraid that you crumbled and your facade broke when it really mattered. You begged her to stay, to return to Avernus because you in fact needed her alive more than you needed anything else alive on the planet.

Would one call you selfish for allowing her to lose her body and soul anyway for a less noble cause? Would they call you thoughtful for taking her interests to heart? As Karlach faded with a lovely smile reserved only for you along with a wink, you felt the oncoming tendrils of nothingness take a hold of where the light in your heart used to be. There was nothing now, no love, no guidance… What would Karlach think of you for breaking your Oath of the Ancients by losing yourself in losing her?

Astarion –

You were born to a life of nobility within Baldur’s Gate, a life that supplied little struggle, though you knew of it when you could see the hopeless flocking the streets. There are times that your guilty conscience calls you to act, to give what you could, but you also had an understanding that what was yours was yours, and it wouldn’t remain so if you gave it all away. Some might call you generous with the people.

Others might try to kill you. How appreciative. You like to think it was for the run-of-the-mill nobility ransom, maybe come to kidnap you by chance? You couldn’t understand why they were pulling their knives ou-

And then you were gasping awake, suddenly lying on the ground in a pool of blood– your blood… The servants had found your dead body, and your family could afford to stock up almost indefinitely on Scrolls of Revivify. Your brain was foggy as you struggled to comprehend the series of events that resulted in you being resurrected. It was a weird cult who had a hit out on you and you had never felt so helpless. When you had learned the news that all of your possessions had been stolen along with your life, you needed vengeance.

So you dedicated your time to following the goddess of avarice and hatred, Tiamat in hopes of gaining her favor. After a while, you thought she had no use of you, maybe undeserving of her power, but one day she finally came to you.

“Your fury is still there, but you are not so blinded… I have use for all, but to think of yourself as unworthy– well… That makes it so much sweeter. You will set aside even your own purity to right wrongs and deliver justice to those who have committed the most grievous sins.”

And deliver it you shall. You could taste the putrid burn of unserved justice. You could feel the fiery anger of revenge from the wronged  as if it were your very own, and nothing was sweeter on your lips than delivering the final sentence after it itched at your skin for the longest. Overall, it was a satisfying life consisting of butting into other people’s business and having god-gifted powers to judge them for it. One could get used to it, and you did… until you were infected and scrambling just like the party you were traveling all over Faerun with.

The vampire had charisma about himself, his words dripping with honey as much as blood as you spoke to him and learned more about his backstory. The more you got to know, the more your hunger for vengeance grew into a gnawing at your gut. You would personally see to Cazador’s death as retribution but you wouldn’t dream to see it carried out by your own hand– No, for once, it felt even better to watch Astarion unleash centuries of torment and anguish. He was on his knees, and while that was usually a beautiful sight that you’ve come to… come, gravity pulled you to your own knees as you pulled him into a bone-crushing hug.

“It’s okay, my love, it’s over… you are free,” You cradle his face in your hands, and you watch as he flinches before easing into your touch despite himself.

“I feel… nothing,” admitted Astarion hollowly, truthfully… You could see all the spunky attitude keeping him his charming self just gone from his body as he sagged forward. “His connection, his influence, gone… As is my way to walk freely in the sun when this is over.”

In the haste of battle, it was easier to acknowledge that Cazador’s special spawns were his energy source. He couldn’t complete the ritual, ergo, he could not absorb Astarion’s soul, leaving him nothing but a pile of ash. That also meant that Astarion himself lost the opportunity to Ascend in Cazador’s place and accept unlimited power that a lot of people dream of, yourself included. Seeing his wide range of emotion, you couldn’t help but to feel a bitter taste in your mouth. You took part in stopping his Ascension…

So you would do anything to give yourself and the man you love the chance at that power again, even if it meant turning your back on the greater good. What greater power was there than the control of the Netherbrain? As the party traveled far and wide, you had encountered several illithid tadpoles on your journey. A majority of the group did not favor the power that they had to bring, and trusted you to agree. That was why you shared the tadpoles in secret with Astarion the moment he showed interest.

The power coursing through the two of you along with the help of the Emperor… it was no challenge to overpower the brain and take control of it, granting unmeasurable powers the likes of which no one had wielded before. Even the Gods would quake in your wake… Even Tiamat herself could not harm you for taking on such power that would deem you as an Oath Breaker. You pull Astarion into a kiss, and allow every racing thought to flow outward and into your connection. You feel his sly smirk against your lips along with a gentle nick of his right fang.

“Darling, you’re so vile I could eat you right up… I adore anyone who would break an Oath for me… whether it was their own or someone else’s,”

[waywardwizzard]

Art and fic for @alto-tenure for the @plgiftexchange. I hope my secret buddy likes the gifts <3

(Fic under the cut! And please, for the love of puzzles, click on the image for better quality)

Flora watched as St. Mystere grew smaller in the distance, disappearing into the hills as they turned a corner.

She'd miss the little village, of course she would, but part of her was glad to see it go. It felt right in a way a lot of things haven't these past few years.

The Professor caught her eye in the rear-view mirror and winked, nodding at something the boy (Luke. His name was Luke. She wondered if he was his son) said.

Another thing that felt right. She was glad that they were the ones who had found her.

Settling back into the seat of the funny little car, she watched the scenery fly by and let her mind drift back to all the others who had come to the village.

‐

The first, she remembered, had been an odd pair.

They had landed just outside the village late one night, their small plane comically gaudy against the calm countryside even in the moonlight.

At first she thought she had dreamt it, the sound of thrusters shutting off, the soft whisper of voices tugging at her consciousness as she fell deeper into sleep, but then she saw them cross the drawbridge as soon as the sun rose. 

The one had worn a mask that obscured half his face, a cape and feathers obscuring almost everything else, and he had swept over the bridge and into town like he owned it. His companion had followed more sedately, like a parent keeping an eye on their child. 

Grief had welled up then, it still did, threatening to drown her, but she had swallowed it down. It didn't do well to dwell on things like that.

The longer it had taken them to find the Golden Apple, the more and more irritated the Phantom look alike had grown, his voice sometimes carrying far enough up her tower that she could hear him from the other side of the village.

It was funny how oblivious he had been, now that she thought about it. 

More than once she had walked past him without her disguise on and in the end he hadn't even blinked when she gave him a puzzle in her disguise! That was when she decided it was good enough to work. His friend (father? He looked old enough) had smiled though, a knowing twinkle in his eyes that had told her the disguise maybe wasn't that good but it was all she had to use. She was thankful that he hadn't said anything.

It had taken her an embarrassingly long time to realize that their hearts weren't entirely set on just finding the treasure itself.

The feathered man (she never learned his name, what a shame) had kept muttering about a man named Hershel and how he 'couldn't let his brother best him yet again, Raymond!' and 'wouldn't it be the perfect way for him to find out?'. 

Raymond had given him a look and they had left it at that. They had left the village soon after; the man running for the gate as if one of Bruno's robot dogs was at his heels, Raymond already starting the engine.

She never found out what it was that he wanted his brother to find out. She hoped the man had found a way to tell him after all.

-

The next people had come a few hours after the plane had flown away. 

With bags packed to the brim and precariously balanced on the roof, a car had puttered up the winding path, stopping just before the edge of the river bank.

Three people had tumbled out, their voices loud enough to easily carry all the way over the river and to the secret platform she'd found while exploring the sewers. 

The red-haired one had bounced around between helping the other two, all the while babbling about finding the treasure in the same way Bruno talked about cogs and machines.

"I can feel it," he had said. "We're close."

"We haven't even started looking, Randall."

"Oh, come on, Henry! Where's your sense of adventure?"

The third person of the group, a woman, had sighed fondly and grabbed the both of their hands. "Don't start, you two. We need to find a place to stay and unpack all this before nightfall."

It had taken her a lot quicker to realize that they also weren't just looking to find the treasure.

They had talked about places called Stansbury and Monte d'Or, about forgiveness and things she hadn't even tried to understand. (She still didn't understand all of it. Maybe she should ask the Professor one day).

"If I can find this," Randall had said one night, a few weeks into their stay, "then maybe I'll find the part of myself that I had lost down there."

"Maybe you've already found it," Angela (at least she had learned everyone's names that time) had said and in the early light of dawn she'd watched as Angela and Henry each took one of Randall's hands.

Not even a week later they had repacked and re-stacked their luggage and were driving off into the distance.

She had been left with the vague feeling that Randall might have found what he'd been looking for even if he hadn't found the treasure.

-

The last person had left almost as soon as he had arrived, two years before the Professor and Luke had come.

He had ambled into the village, bowler hat on his head and a polkadot tie around his neck that reminded her of Matthew.

Not even a week into his stay, he'd rushed off again, a note clutched in his hand, muttering something about some or other box.

She hadn't heard the name of the box because he'd walked into her on his way out, but he'd given her a sliding puzzle in apology and she had left it at that. It had nothing to do with her and sliding puzzles were her favourite, after all. 

The puzzle was made out of a dark wood, intricately carved with flowers and golden vines that twined around the edges. She'd solved it in less than a day and found a tiny apple blossom inside along with 50 picarats. It had been the most she'd ever got for a puzzle.

-

Now that she thought back about it, it seemed like a lot of people had been looking for a lot of things that had not been the treasure back then.

As her eyelids grew heavy, the warm sun and the gentle rocking of the car lulling her to sleep, she absent-mindedly wondered if any of them had found what they'd been looking for in the end.

[supernatural-bias]

𝐈𝐧𝐟𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧

↳ summary: you befriend a cat and somehow end up having to save new york in the process. or; a reader insert of season two episode twelve, of rats and men

↳ warnings: some mentions of violence, and one slight sexual innuendo

↳ notes: part two to this tmnt series that i'm doing. reader is autistic and a bitch. again, it can be read as a stand alone, but it's more enjoyable if you read these in order. once again, mainly a reader insert with a slight lean to a budding relationship between donnie & reader. can be with any other turtle if you want

↳ song: turtle power—partners in kryme

part one | next part | masterlist! | commissions! | carrd

"I know they said that pizza was gluten free, but I definitely tasted gluten."

The cold wind of a New York afternoon nipped at your heels as you meandered down the sidewalk, three figures in tow. Rocks and stray bits of litter dotted the crooked sidewalk, occasionally brushing an untied shoestring of yours.

It was the weekend. A time when school was at the back of your mind and pizza in the front. You had been called up by April this morning whilst lounging in bed, a sense of urgency in her voice as she invited you out with her and Casey for lunch. From the sound of it, she had been asked on a not-date-date again and was relying on you to break the ice. And since you were such a good friend, you changed out of your ratty pajamas to catch up, cursing teenage love under your breath all the way.

It was only after pulling up to Antonio's with a blank expression that you'd saw Irma loitering outside at the same time, tossing a limp wave to her as you both headed in to join your collective friends. Predictably, Casey hadn't been very happy to see either of you, and you responded by politely sticking him with the bill.

Now the four of you were walking aimlessly. Not in the direction of anyone's apartment, which was to assume that you knew where Irma lived. Which you didn't. You weren't sure you were on that level of friendship with her; or any level of friendship really.

Caseys bike ached and creaked with age as he pushed it along beside him. Occasionally you'd find yourself looking back at it, as if expecting it to fall to pieces at any moment. You wonder how long he'd had it for; and why he insited on bringing it along with him if he thought this would have been a romantic getaway. Maybe he was hoping to go on a couples ride or something. The thought of it made you smile wryly.

"Thanks for hanging out with us on our date, Irma." Casey cleared his throat, sending a dry look the purple haired girls way. "We really needed a chaperone."

At that last bit he sent a pointed look April's way, who whistled as she pretended to hear nothing.

"Anything I can do to help." Irma responded, nonplussed.

"Who said that was supposed to be a date, Jones?" You questioned whilst playing with your hoodie strings. "Pretty sure I heard April call it a hang out when she asked me to come."

You heard the squeak of his bike hesitate before continuing, most likely taking your words with a grain of salt.

He might have responded to your poking with some of his own, if a sudden shadow hadn't darted out onto the sidewalk, stopping Casey dead in his tracks.

The beady red eyes of a rat stared curiously at you all as the hockey player jumped three feet in the air, immediately pushing his bike out in front of him as a makeshift barrier. It skittered off once deciding you weren't of any use, dissapearing down a sewer drain.

"I can't belive someone as big as you is afraid of a little rat!" Irma smirked. Or smiled. You could never tell with her. Casey just frowned in response, looking a little embarrassed.

"Well I can't belive that rat was afraid of this adorable kitty!" April kneeled to the ground inbetween Casey and Irma's bickering, picking up a mangy tabby that looked like it had seen better days. It yowled a little at her touch, squirming uncomfortably. You hadn't seen the animal before, but now there was no doubt in your mind that that's what the rat was running from.

"Give it here." You held your hand out to April, then hesitated and repeated yourself in a more softer tone. She looked at the cat and then you before shrugging, handing it over.

Immediately after securing your hold, you picked it up by the scruff. It's fussing ceased, and you took the moment to run a hand down it's neck, all the way to the back of it's tail. After a moment or two, it began to purr like a well oiled machine, leaning into you.

"Wow! You're really good with animals." April awed with her hands clasped.

"Not really. Raph tried to kill me when I first met him." You offhandedly mentioned, still running a concentrated hand down the cats back.

"Who's Raph? Is that your dog?"

You stilled as Casey and April exchanged nervous looks. No one answered Irma's question for a second, surely garnering suspicion from the fourth party.

"Uh, sure Irma. My dog."

"Hm." She pushed her glasses up and squinted at you. "What breed is he?"

You blinked. Your hand came down on the cat a bit harsher this time, resulting in a hiss to sound.

"He's a poodle!" April cut in. "Now can we get a move on? It's getting kind of cold." She looked happy to change the subject, even faking a shiver for effect.

"Sure. Your place this time April?" Irma said as she smoothed out nonexistent wrinkles along her skirt.

"Actually, I was hoping me and Red here could head off. You know. Alone." Casey slung an arm around April with a less than genuine gap toothed smile.

"If alone means with me and April, then yeah." You didn't miss the way April tossed you thankful look as you spoke. "We've got to find some place for this cat, and I'm not exactly fond of bringing it home to my parents. They've already got their hands full with, er, Raph."

Irma stared at you all unimpressed. April tossed her a sheepish smile while hopping on the back of Casey's bike; the former looking happy at the premise of her holding his waist. You just rolled your eyes.

"Sure. I'll walk beside you guys. No biggie."

"Hey, did you want to be the one to hold onto Casey's back?"

"Nevermind. Carry on."

The three of you parted from Irma, tossing seperate waves of your own back at the girl as she grew farther away. Her deadpan look never once faded.

"So. We're all thinking of bringing this to the guys, right?"

April and you nodded at Casey, immediately steering towards the closest alleyway as soon as Irma could no longer be seen. The cat stiffened in your arms at the change in scenery. With a gentle whisper to settle down, you scratched behind its ears. A cough was the thing to break you out of the little trance.

"Having fun you two?" Casey said smugly. You glared at him as he parked his bike and leaned it against an alley wall.

"Stuff it, Jones." You flipped him off the best you could with a cat in your arms, starting forward to where April was wrestling with the manhole.

None of you heard the distant scream as you slid the cover open, sliping into total darkness.

You had come to expect an overwhelming greeting anytime you showed up.

Mikey launched himself out of Donnie's lab the second he'd heard your voice. Nevermind that you were talking with Leo, nodding your approval at the showing of Space Heros on TV. You weren't even sure that Mikey registered that. Once he had his sights set on something, he was like a missile. A very loud very playful missile.

No sooner than stepping a foot into the living room, you were tackled with a exhale of air, falling over while somehow managing to keep the cat from clawing your face off. An impressive feat if you do say so yourself.

"You're back!" Mikey screamed your name, hitting his forehead on your chest with a frantic smile. "We thought we'd scared you off!"

After a few weak growls for him to 'get the fuck of of me Michelangelo', you stood up and brushed yourself off. Mikey bounced excitedly all around you, thankfully not touching. You might have kicked him if he did.

"Dont worry bud. It'll take a lot more than just some mushrooms to get rid of me." You eventually answered, looking very unsurprised for someone that had just been tackled by two hundered pounds of turtle.

"Yeah! I bet you eat mushrooms for breakfast!" Mikey struck a very crude ninja pose. Something that almost made you laugh, considering he was an actual ninja.

"That's what humans do, Mikey. They literally eat mushrooms with their breakfast." Leo called from the couch. You couldn't see his face from where you were standing, but you could practically hear the eyeroll in his voice.

"Oh."

"I know what you meant. Don't worry dude." You waved it off. Mikeys smile returned in no time flat, and you could see questions about the cat bubbling in his throat as he moved on. You were quick to start moving, not really up for a tirade of questions at the moment.

The turtle skipped after you as you headed in the direction of Donatello's lab. His door was still ajar from when Mikey had sprung out of it, and you could hear the faint clinking of lab equipment drifting from it.

"Did anyone order a flea infested cat?" You said as you strolled in, ignoring the many warning signs plastered around the room screaming at you to not enter.

You watched as Donnie looked up from whatever he was doing with a glowing green beaker, face breaking out into a smile at the sight of you. For a moment you did your best attempt to smile back, and it seemed to only increase the size of his. At least before his eyes dropped to the animal you were holding.

"Hey hey hey! Don't bring that thing in here!" His arms immediately shot out to cover any of the open substances he was dealing with. You paid no mind to him, just strolling over to the opposite side of his desk and leaning against it.

"What. The cat or Mikey?"

"Both!"

"Hey!" Mikey whined and pouted at you, still evidently hot on your trail. You snickered, continuing your stroking of the cat that had haulted earlier.

Donnie took one more look between you and the stray before sighing. He seemingly gave up before turning back to his work, probably glad you were entertaining Mikey for a bit. It always seemed to go that way when you came down here.

"So Mike." You watched Mikey stick his tounge out at you at the nickname and you mirrored him. "How do you feel about getting a new pet?"

"Seriously!" He gasped. Donnie stiffened from where he was sitting but didn't turn around.

"Yeah." You shrugged. "We found him up top, and he seems to be tame enough. You might want to make sure he gets some shots though. For worms and all."

You knew everything you were saying was going one ear and out the other for Michelangelo as he reached out to pluck the cat from your arms.

"Aww look at you!" He gushed before proceeding to spout ooey gooey nonsense at the animal. You faked vomiting.

"And Donnie?" You yawned as you felt the after effects of lunch taking hold of you, stretching your arms above your head. "Before you ask, yes, April's here."

You didn't even need to turn around to know that the crashing sound was probably Donnie falling out of his chair with a dopey smile.

"So is Casey." You finished with a slight smirk. Looking back, Donnie glared at you as he pulled himself up, cheeks still tinted red.

"You just had to add that part in last didn't you?"

"Save the best for last as they say!" The confident call of Casey came from the doorway. You looked over to see him leaning against it, trying his best to look what he most likey thought was cool as April strolled right past him.

"Hey my dudes!" Mikey popped up from somewhere behind you to wave frantically at them. He was holding ice cream for some reason now. You'd learned not to question his ways a long time ago.

"I see you've already introduced them to the little guy we found on the streets." April smiled. You rolled your eyes as Donatello made heart eyes at her, stuttering something out about how charitable she was.

"Can we keep her Donnie?" An excited Mikey squealed.

"You know, Master Splinter is a rat." The question from his brother seemed to snap some temporary sense into Donatello, turning in place to cock an eyebrow.

"Yeah! What if that cat goes nuts and attacks him? She'll feed off his body for months!"

"Thanks for the visual, Casey." You walked over to flick him on the crown of his head. A few panicked noises and thumps came from behind you, but you were too busy relishing in the look on Casey's face to notice.

"Alright, well you guys have fun. I'm going to raid your fridge." You stuffed your hands in your pockets and rocked on the balls of your feet. Faintly, you noticed Mikey rush out of the room with something in his hands.

"But we just ate?" April tilted her head at you. You smiled at her without any real emotion.

"I never said I was going to eat anything. Just save it for later."

"I guess I'll come with you." Donnie looked at the wall above you, no doubt checking the time. "I could use a break."

"Sure." You shrugged and turned. "You guys going to stick around or—" The last bit was directed at Casey and April, but they just shook their head and began to follow you out. On the way to the kitchen you were all joined by Leo and Raph, eventually reaching the kitchen table.

"Mikey, please for the love of god stop making out with the fridge." You didn't spare anyone a second look before balancing on your tip toes to open a cabinet. Rustling around, you came up with a bag of marshmallows. Letting a celebratory smile loose, you stuffed it in your hoodie pocket for later.

"Master? Are you okay?"

You turned around. True to Leo's question, Splinter was lumbering into the room. And not looking to hot. You noticed he lacked his usual poise. Instead, he was slouching and blinking slowly. He looked groggy, and you wondered for a moment if mutant rats could have nightmares.

"I need ice for my head." He mummbled. "And also. Possibly a cheese-sicle."

"Cheese-sicle?" You asked Casey from the corner of your mouth. He shook his head with a look that told you he knew about as much as you did.

"No sensei! You can't!"

All of you watched as Mikey slammed the freezer door on Splinter. The speed of it took even you by surprise. Either he had become self aware of the cost of electricity, or Mikey'd lost his mind.

"No?" The room seemed to ice over with the amount of coldness in Splinters voice. Your eyes grew big, and you resisted the urge to start snacking on the marshmallows like a bag of popcorn at the movies.

"You tell me no?" Splinter was hissing now. Any joke you would have made flown out the kitchen. Much like Mikey's body as Splinter sent a punch to his plastron.

"Jesus fucking christ!" You scrambled back, your cry getting lost in everyone else's as they yelled with surprise.

Splinter lowered to his arms and legs like a feral animal, and you managed to get a glimpse at his eyes. Normally, they were the exact same color as Donnie's. But now, they were covered in a sharp red film. Much like the rat that had crossed your path not too long ago on the surface.

Everyone scrambled in different directions as Splinter launched himself around the room. You included. You found yourself up on top of the fridge somehow, looking down with eyes as big as saucers at the scene before you. The thought of the tazer you carry with you crossed your mind, but you immediately felt guilty afterward. This was Master Splinter. The one who had made you feel the safest down here after meeting them. And you had just contemplated shocking him.

You didn't have long to feel guilty though. The turtles all eventually wised up and lunged at their master, pinning all four of his limbs to the kitchen table with difficulty. He continued to writhe violently, and a bead of sweat rolled down your neck.

"Would it help if I jumped onto his chest?" You yelled out, trying to find some way to help. You were met with an astounding amount of no's as an answer.

A few more moments of grunting and struggling played out before you. It didn't take long for Splinter, or whatever had taken his place, to gain the upper hand. Kicking everyone away, he sprung up onto his legs again.

"I have got what I came for." A slight echo tinged his voice. "Soon New York, then the world, will be mine!"

It was then he collapsed, and you finally allowed yourself to clamber down from the top of the fridge. Dust littered the bottom of your arms and legs from how you had been clinging onto it.

"Master, are you okay?" Leonardo was the first to approach him. April next, asking the same exact thing. Splinter grunted lowly in response. You waited with baited breath from him to open his eyes.

You let out a sigh when he did. They were back to brown again.

"The Rat King." Splinter uttered somberly. "He has returned."

You noticed everyone but Casey exchange looks with each other, looking very disturbed at this news.

A brief moment of silence. You blinked twice before speaking.

"The rat who?"

The lair's TV screen blared in front of you. Images of giant rats crossed the screen, and your eyes were trained on a very shrewd looking blonde reporter.

You and Casey had been filled in durring the amount of time it took to help Splinter from the kitchen counter to the living room. Tales of mind control, scientists turned into monkeys, and thousands of rats danced around in your head. You looked no worse than Casey at the news, who had done a horrible job at containing his horror when learning about a literal rat army.

You had barely begun to wonder how the news was still on air when a rat launched itself at the reporter. She dropped to the ground with a scream, and the feed cut to static before you were able to see if she was okay.

"Why did it have to be giant rats." Casey moaned as he flopped onto the couch.

"Er, maybe you should sit this one out Casey." April suggested with a wince. Beside you Donatello allowed himself a smile.

"Do you think tazers could take those things down?" You half heartedly asked no one in particular. Raph crossed his arms and shook his head in your peripheral. You slumped from your spot on the floor with a frown. He patted your shoulder hesitantly. Maybe you could kick them to death instead.

"Donnie, are you sure you can't build a giant mouse trap?"

"Please don't subject my intelligence to something so meaningless." Donnie said your name, rolling his eyes as he messed with his t-phone.

"I bet you'd do it if April asked." You spoke into your hand, not caring if he heard. You heard Mikey laugh at that from somewhere in the distance. If he was anywhere near you, you would have offered him a high-five at the backup.

"Alright guys." Leo now was standing in the center of you all with his hands on his hips. He was doing what you called his Captian Ryan pose, and the sight of it made the corner of your lips twitch into a small smile. If you had to bet, he was probably imagining himself as the fictional character right now.

Master Splinter stood off to the side, watching his son. His own mouth was pulled into a tight line, and he looked the most serious you had seen him in a while. You took one more moment to study him before slowly turning back to Leo.

"I have an idea."

If there was one thing you knew for certain, it was that the turtles definitely did not have a driver's license.

A helmet clunked noisily against your head as you raced through downtown New York City. Rain pelted your vision, and you really regretted not asking for a pair of sunglasses ahead of time.

A four person race-cart sat beneath you, the seats filled by you, April, Donnie and Raph. The latter was driving, occasionally making sharp turns that would send you and Donnie clashing against each other respectively. You accidentally nailed him straight in his shell at one point, and now your elbow was throbbing something awful.

Screams floated to you from behind the cart. You knew if you turned your head, you'd see Mikey holding onto a rope and shouting his shell off, skating like his life depended on it. Which, technically, you guess it did.

The final piece de resistance was the giant foam cheese hat strapped to the top of his head. While you got fitted with an orange helmet that smelled faintly of pizza and sweat, he had been wrestled to the ground and forced to wear the yellow abomination. Apparently he was to be the bait for the giant rats, something that you got the feeling happened very often with him. The bait part you mean. Not giant rats. That was only a two time thing.

Casey was biking around somewhere a few blocks off, hitting stray mutants in the snout with his trusty hockey sticks. The only reason you knew he was still alive and kicking was the faint sounds of shrill screams bouncing off surrounding buildings. You might have laughed if you didn't feel like doing the same thing.

Another tight curb sent you face first into Donnie's lap. With a temper as hot as Raph's own, you scrambled up and yelled at the driver to watch it. You didn't even spare a glance at Donnie, skipping over how incredibly red his face had gotten.

"You try steering in this traffic!" Raphael shouted right back at you. You proceeded to make some not so nice gestures with your hands that April frowned at, the rain making you shake slightly in the cold, before falling back into your seat and awaiting part two of the plan. Something you'd named Grab That Turtle.

Mikey eventually got close enough to the bumper where you could grab his hand. With more effort than it would probably take a normal person, you snatched him up and into the cart. The result was a lovely three person dog pile in the back seat; something that you quickly remedied by pinching Mikey in the arms until he got himself and Donnie off of you.

You didn't even stop to yell at them. In exchange for that, you whipped out your tazer to sent a volt of electricity at a rat that had gotten too close, whooping excitedly when it yelped and fell back. It was nothing like what any of the turtles could have done, but that didn't stop you from feeling way too proud of yourself.

Your moment of celebration was cut short only when you noticed that you were no longer in the race-cart.

Cuts formed all along your face and arms as you tumbled out of the cart and to asphalt. You'd never wanted to discover what street tasted like, but you don't think you'd ever be able to forget it now.

Gravel found its way into your mouth and you felt something pop in your back as a slimey paw trodded on you. Before you could even gather enough strength to push yourself onto your hands and knees, a beak that felt too sharp and too precise for a rat closed around your middle.

Preparing for a quick snip and searing pain, you closed your eyes and grit your teeth. When it didn't come, you peaked an eye open. It was with much shock that you realized the rat wasn't attempting you eat you. Rather carry you, it seemed. Granted, it wasn't being the gentlest about it, but neither were you when you zapped it's brother on the neck.

At the thought of your weapon, you squirmed to try and reach it. Your attempts were stopped by the giant bite around you increasing in strength, practically cutting off all circulation in your arms now.

"Jesus! Fine I'll stop!" You snapped. It responded by dropping you and kicking you forward, growling when you hissed at it in pain.

For the second time that day, the world fell out from beneath you. Where the street should have been, a giant hole gaped. In the split second it took for you to fall through it, you recognized it as an entrance into the sewers.

"Urgh." Was all you could manage to say as the giant rat slid down the same hole, landing on you. Something made a loud cracking sound, and it was only after you felt the back of your head that you realized it had been you.

Your hand came back tinted with red. You glared at it before going cross eyed. And then nothing.

You awoke in a cage, next to the last person you wanted to see at the moment.

A spray painted mask stared back at you as you lifted your head up. It took you a moment for your eyes to adjust, but once they did, nausea slapped you in the face.

"God damnit." You groaned and rolled over. You tried not to vomit. Of course Casey had been caught too. Now instead of just him, the turtles had to rescue you too. Way to go.

Before you could say anything else, your mouth was quickly covered. With half a mind to bite him, you growled. Casey just hit you in the head and no so subtly pointed next to you.

When you turned, you were met with the sight of Irma, who looked thoroughly confused.

The place all of you stood suspended above smelled horrible, and looked worse. You were sure you looked right at home with your torn clothes and hair matted with blood. Casey didn't look that good either, but miraculously Irma didn't have a single scratch on her. The only sign she was even witnessing the same thing as you was the telltale quiver of fear in her eyes.

"Irma?" You questioned with a blink. "What are you doing here?"

"Remember how we went out for pizza?" She frowned.

You nodded.

"I got attacked by a giant rat thing after you left. I tried screaming, but no one was around to help."

You resisted the urge to wince at that last part. Yowch. That had totally been you guy's fault. It seemed like she knew it too. You'd have to take her out for a snack after this or something to make up for it.

"Hey, at least most of us are together now." You reasoned, looking over at Casey. "We can probably try to find a way ou—"

"I have no idea what you're talking about. I've never seen the two of you before." Casey grumbled, his voice a much deeper and much faker octave. You looked over at him with a crazed look in your eyes, not up for games. He just stared right back at you, silently gesturing to himself, his mask, and then a confused Irma while you watched.

"Fine. Whatever. Just, fucking, whatever mystery man." You grabbed the cage bars and hit your head against them twice before stopping.

"That won't work." Irma motioned to your head banging and did her signature move of pushing her glasses up. "I've been down here practically all day. Nothing budges these cages."

At the mention of more cages, you looked past your own to the outside. Sure enough, dangling a good ten feet off the ground and even more away from you, hung other people in mesh boxes just as reinforced as yours. Some cried, while most just looked horrified. They all shared that one thing in common, and you were sure they wished they didn't.

"Welcome esteemed guests."

"Oh please don't tell me it's this guy." You frowned.

"There's no need to fear, I will not hurt you. That I promise." A chuckle rang darkly through the room— cavern? it felt more like a cavern —that you were being kept in. You didn't have to think hard to figure out who it belonged to. It already reaked with enoigh pretentiousness.

Sure enough, when the figure stepped out of hiding and into the light, you got a good look at what had been described to you back at the lair. Tall, covered in bandages, and sporting a horrible choice of a trench coat. You barely held yourself back from booing at him, figuring that it probably wasn't the best way to go undetected. Casey didn't seem to share your carefully thought out sentiment.

"Let us out of here you freak!" He said, still donning his modified voice as he shook the bars to the cage. You kicked him in the back of the knee. A universal sign recognized all over the world to shut the hell up.

"All in good time." The Rat King echoed back.

You groaned and massaged your temples. This was really going to give you another tension headache, wasn't it.

You were left wishing for some Tylenol as your captor dove into an explination, calmly explaining how he had come to capture you. Something about rats, mutagen, science, rats, rats, his intelligence, and more rats. Probably. You stopped listening half way through and started feeling around the cage for anything sharp.

Right as you thought your search would turn out to be fruitless, your hand brushed against the bulk of your waistline. Cool metal met your hand, and with a start, you realized that they hadn't taken your tazer.

They hadn't taken your tazer.

Wracking your mind all the way back to after Splinter freaked out, you remembered the turtles telling you something. About how the Rat King used to be normal, before a freak electrical fire left him blind. Only able to see through the eyes of rats.

Your hand tightened around the base of the tazer. The words electrical fire bounced around in your head.

If a shock got him into this, maybe a shock could get him out.

You paid no attention to Irma as she dropped to the floor in a fainting stupor. The adrenaline and lack of food getting to her probably. You only felt somewhat guilty for your flippant attitude toward her well being.

Tapping Casey on his shoulder, you held a finger up to your lips. Even with his mask on, you could feel the confusion coming off of him in waves as you gestured down to your pants.

"Uh. Dude, you know I sort of have a thing with Red right?" He laughed awkwardly, stepping away. You glared at him with the force of a thousand suns before lifting up your hoodie to reveal the head of your tazer. Pointing out at the Rat King, you watched as his eyes widened in realization.

"I know you have something similar in those goalie gloves of yours Casey." You murmered. "When its our turn for whatever he's planning, let the rats drag us. But when it comes time for him to touch us, zap him."

"You think that will work?" Casey shuddered. You could only imagine that he was thinking about being touched by those rats again. And voluntarily this time.

"It better. If not, it might buy us enough time for the others to get here." You cracked your knuckles nervously. The look that Casey gave you made you tilt your head.

"What?"

"Nothing. I just forget how scary you can get when you're not yelling at me." He rubbed the back of his neck. "The guys should really start letting you come on missions with us."

You snorted and went to say something else. Maybe that he was crazy, or that you didn't quite hate the sound of that. Whatever it was going to be, you were cut off by the clashing of metal against metal.

The door to your cage swung open, and a furry paw grabbed you by the face. Struggling to breathe through the must of rat droppings coming from the living restraint around your face, you weren't aware that you were being lifted off the ground and dragged in the nearest direction of the Rat Kings makeshift lab. Somewhere in the shadows, five sets of hidden eyes widened. The other pair began to turn red.

"Here we have our first volunteer for the serum." The point of a needle came into view as the giant mutated rat dropped you. Brown fur stick to the inside of your mouth as you sputtered like a fish out of water.

Many cries for you to watch out came from the surrounding cages, New Yorkers feeling powerless while watching a teenager get stalked by a needle.

You grasped blindly at your waist. For a horrific split second, you could smell the sourness of his breath as he approached you. And then you felt your fingers close down around plastic.

Flipping the switch on your tazer, you sat up and poked him in the eyes with two fingers. Predictably, it did nothing but make him grunt in annoyance. But it was to his detriment. The action gave you enough time to scramble up and point the tazer at his face, rushing forward and sticking it right between his forhead.

"Suck my dick." You said heavily. Not exactly action hero movie material, but there would be plenty of time to worry about it later.

Blue light lit up his head and upper torso in a painful sparkle. Rats from all around screamed and squealed as their master fell to his knees, clawing at his face. Somewhere inbetween all the tiny cries, you thought you heard a much larger one and then a scuffle.

Your chest heaved as you turned on your heel to climb back up over the cage you had just been sitting in. An enraged cry followed your movements, and you were sure thousands of rats were now surging in your direction. Your only hope was that the zap had slowed all of them down, not just the Rat King.

You began to shimmy up the rope keeping Casey and Irma from falling. Old cuts from tumbling on the street earlier opened back up, staining the rope and ends of your sleeves.

Somewhere in the amount of time it took for you to get to the top of the rope, a fight had broken out underneath you. A part of your mind hoped it was Casey holding his own, and the other part really hoped it wasn't. You weren't sure how long his hockey sticks would hold under a tidal wave of sharp teeth and wormy tails.

Sparing a look down, your eyes were assaulted with flashes of green and silver. Surprise over took your features as you watched the guys emerge from the shadows, weapons batting away any adversary that dare to attack.

And was that—?

"Master Splinter?" You choked, and slipped down the rope slightly before scaling back up.

The sensei, sure enough, was in the midst of all the seperate battles. He appeared to battling with himself, clutching the sides of his head as he stumbled around.

A loud call of your name tore your gaze away from him, coming to settle on a struggling Mikey. He was balancing his nunchucks in one hand, and a blob of pink white and brown in the other.

"Mikey!" You yelled back, still hanging on to avoid the swarm of rats approaching. "Is that the cat I gave you? What the hell is going on!"

"We were coming to save you—" He stopped talking as he dodged another wave of rats before popping back up. "—and then sensei just went crazy! He's chasing after the Rat King now!"

You noticed that Mikey purposefully didn't answer your question about the cat, instead just smiling innocently. Filing it away for later, you continued to make frantic conversation.

"Is there anything I can do!?"

"Help get everyone out of these cages! We can't let any of the civilians see us!" Leonardo butted in from somewhere. You couldn't see him, but it sounded like he was wrestling with something. Nonetheless, you nodded, and positioned yourself in preperation to jump off the rope.

It worked. With dificulty, you managed to land on the top of another cage near to Casey and Irma's. It teetered dangerously in the air, and you swung your hands in a windmill like fashion to avoid falling off.

Grabbing at a lone rat that ran over your foot, you held it to the base of the rope. It squirmed in your clutch angrily before latching onto the fibers and chewing. It didn't take long before breaking through it, and you barely managed to grab onto the end of the rope as it seperated itself from the cage.

The cage fell to the ground in a heap. Smiling, you watched the doors lock break on impact and it's captors rush out. They looked back up at you for a second, and you gestured at them to go.

"Help the others if you can!" Was all you had time to say before jumping to another cage.

Rope after rope snapped under your efforts, and cages fell from the sky like rain from heavy clouds. By the time you had reached the last one, you hadn't even noticed that the fighting below had stopped. Now all of the people had fled, and giant rats lay defeated all over the ground.

You dropped from the last rope, chucking the rat you had been using as a makeshift saw into the distance, sincerely hoping that the stupid Rat King felt that.

"I think that's the last of them." Raph spoke. You saw him and his brothers perched on a ledge above you, and waved. Mikey was the only one to wave back, and what you now knew as his cat from earlier copied the movement.

"What about Master Splinter?" Leo worried.

"He can hold his own." You piped up, bringing the rest of their attention down to you. "And I'm pretty sure he's already won. I don't see any more rats scurrying around after all. Either the mental link has been broken, or your dad beat the Rat King."

The boys seemed to consider your words. Leaping down next to you, they all watched as Donatello placed a hand on your head briefly.

"You did a good job helping today." He grinned good naturedly at you as you swiped at his hands, trying desperately to fix your hair. His smile only grew as you stuck your tounge out at him.

"Whatever. Can we leave now? I'm about done with search and rescue missions for today."

Murmurs of agreement rang out, and you all started towards the exit and back to the lair. All you could think about as the turtles bragged on each other about their performance was a nice long nap. Preferably on their couch. Their nice, soft couch.

Master Splinter returned late into the night. His robe was dirty, and paws aching. But his heart lightened at the sight before him; all of his sons curled up in a deep sleep as you yourself snored on the living room floor. April and Casey weren't far off, slumped over in a sitting position as they slept.

Grabbing the remote from Leonardo's limp hand, he turned the TV's volume down. A quiet snort came from you, and Splinter watched as you reached out to grab at something. A soft smile spread agross his face as you latched onto the nearest thing, which just so happened to be Donnie's leg, and began to lean into it.

"Rest well my children." He surveyed you all, eyes shining. "You have done well today."

The door to his dojo swung shut without a sound, and Splinter fell into a deep slumber of his own.

[greenlightbulbonawire]

Misfits (yeah like the Arcane song)

XXVIII.

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Author's note: Yall have no idea where I'm going with this, and neither do I! Also, I just wanna let you know that I'm really happy about every interaction, if that makes sense :] xoxo

previous: Twenty seventh chapter

next: Twenty ninth chapter

Masterlist

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"Suit yourself."

He shrugged and closed the bottle and put it into a pocket.

"Sooo, you just come here to get drunk or?"

Ekko chuckled and turned his head to look at you better, a small smile growing on his lips.

"No, it's like, my thinking spot you get me?"

"Huh, what're you thinking 'bout now?"

The boy turned his face to you and swung his leg ovet the billboard, making his whole body turn your direction.

"Not much."

"Then why are we here?"

"I dunno, why not."

"I find that hard to believe."

"C'mon, isn't it nice to get away from everything for a bit?"

"But, I'm still here, why did you take me with you?"

He sighed and let his head hang. You waited for him to reply to your guestion with anticipation. His head turned to you and he pointed to something down in the abbys.

"See that old shop?"

You looked intently, spotting a little old shack, it was dirty and empty and looked like it was gonna fall to the ground every second.

"Mhmmm?"

"Well, that's where I stole parts for my first hoverboard. Then I climbed up the pipe right there,"

His finger trailed along a long metal tube, running on one of the buildings surrounding the billboard.

"And jumped onto here."

Ekko pointed to the little platform behind the billboard, sheltered by it from sight of anyone passing by.

"That's where I made it."

You hung on his every word. It was interesting to hear about his past, considering he's been on his own since he was a little kid, just like you, exept you had Vi. He told you about how he had his first flight and how he rammed into the billboard. How he first met Scar when he was a little older and how he found the abandoned sewer with a tree in it. You envied how much he was able to accomplish in a few years, while you were leftto rot in a cell. But weren't jealousy of him, this boy gave you a chance for a new life, if anything, you adored him.

"I wanted you to know that nothing comes free, that's why I took you here."

Your eyes, that were flickering from side to side as he pointed to different things and told you memories that clung onto them, now settled on his face, illuminated by the light of the billboard.

"I wish I had memories to spare like that."

"I know you spend most of your life behind bars, but who's to say that you can't make new memories now?"

You smiled softly at his words and your eyes slipped to the boards laying on the platform.

"That... doesn't sound half bad actually."

You slid off the big sign next to the boards and fired one up.

He fell in beside you and his face was portraying a satisfied smile.

"What did I say about you crawling back to me and begging for more training huh?"

Ekko raised one of his eyebrows and turned his chin up, his arms folded, giving you a face of superiority.

You chuckled and raised your arms in a surrender.

"Fine, fine, you were right."

Your eyes rolled and Ekko started up his board too. You flew out from behind the billboard, Ekko on your heels, and turned to face him above the gray abyss.

[fatuismooches]

*flops out of sewer*

I noticed a couple of posts where Dottore holds onto stuff from fragile reader and I thought what if he has a locked drawer in his office where he's keeps littles trinkets or stuff from reader and looks at it whenever he's stuck on something or not in the best of moods and one day when reader is in his office they discover it. ahhh fluff fluff ( *pulls out angst* and reader starts crying because they didn't think their stuff is good enough for Dottore to see and that's why it was in the rubbish in the first place. hehehe ) fluffy fluff.

Ok. Have a lovely day smooches!

* flops back into sewer *

-Jellofish Anon

SOBBING RN NO ONE SPEAK TO ME... I saw your other ask referencing if fragile reader drew/made some kind of art but it comes out poorly due to their illness too and I just. CANT HANDLE THIS OH MY GOD. THIS MADE MY TEENY HEART HURT SO BAD. A part of you always wondered what he did with your little things... this was Dottore after all you couldn't always tell what he'd do. Especially since your creations weren't of much material or scientific value. You just hoped that in the instance you gave it to him, he was happy, nothing more. But clearly, you underestimated your husband... you didn't know he looks at your poorly made artwork when he's frustrated with his research, or fiddles with your not-so-well-constructed accessories when he's no step closer to finding a cure. You didn't know he thinks about you and what you're doing right now when he's stuck signing paperwork. Sigh...

You didn't mean to snoop around his office. The segments said he'd be there, but he wasn't. So you thought you'd just wait around a bit to see if he'd show up. And what better to occupy yourself by sitting in Dottore's large spinning chair and getting comfy. Even his coat was hanging there! But then you noticed that one of his drawers was the tiniest bit open, which surprised you as he always kept that one particularly locked. You never cared much about it because you presumed it was just important Fatui or research materials. But now that it was opened, right in front of your fingertips... you just had a feeling that you needed to know. And what was revealed to you was no confidential Fatui matter. No top-secret experiment. It was... merely the small gifts and trinkets you gave him on a whim. You swear, some of these were trashed in the bin, that you never showed to him too. Nothing fancy... and nothing very nice since your shaky hands weren't good enough for that. And that drawer was LONG. You kept sticking your hand in it and pulling out more folded pieces of paper. And what did you know, he also still had some things from hundreds of years ago that you made, these ones better quality since you weren't sick. Or letters you wrote to him, clearly worn but still recognizable. To think all of this was kept right in his desk... The revelation immediately started your tears. Dottore cared more than he would ever let on or show. Of course he did.

You tried your best to place the items back just as you had found them but your blurry eyes made it hard and eventually you just shoved them into the drawer. Hopefully he wouldn't open it up for a while, but he'd know it was you whenever he did. You just ran to your room and cried for a bit, both happy and sad that he actually liked your stuff enough to keep 🚶‍♀️ (He found out on the same day and came to your room to find you sleeping, and tucked you in once he saw your face)

[bellezzamortale]

"#...rafans who for the most part had. ahem #some strong opinions on juan carlos ferrero" oooh can you say more pls im curious

oh it's really just exactly what you think it would be, lmao.

idk if you were on tennis twitter during the peak big 4 era, but if you weren't the one thing you've got to know is that it's nothing like the cute little tennis tumblr community. on here we all love out faves and if we have players we don't like, we mostly keep it to ourselves.

meanwhile 2010s tennis twitter? was insanely tribal. it was a battle field where most fans of the big 3 thought of themselves as footsoldiers in the war effort of establishing their fave as the GOAT.

rafans, fedfans and nolefam have been on the warpath since forever. in the 2010s when roger was still at the peak of his powers some fedfans hated rafa so much i once saw one of them refer to him as "sewer slime". lots of fans are completely convinced all the other big players are dopers and only their personal favourite is clean, and that the other players are faking their injuries and only their personal favourite is really hurt, etc etc.

so of course when juanki took little jabs at rafa every once in a blue moon in interviews, how many hardcore rafans were saying "aw he's had a rough go at it with injuries for years, and rafa is a young upstart who came in and totally stole his spotlight, i can see how that could be upsetting, lets give the man a bit of grace"? uh. not a lot 😭😂

so my introduction to the man was basically only rafans making snide comments about him being jealous and a bad sport, because he was already retired for a couple of years when i joined twitter so i never got to saw him play live.

the strangest part of it all was that i distinctly remember a couple of rafa fans (i could probably count them on one hand though) who just... distrusted ferru by association? because if ferru was so close with someone who clearly didn't like rafa, then surely ferru himself had to bear a grudge against rafa and was just hiding it really well!!! they were constantly on the lookout for the most minor infraction, i got unfollowed by like 5 people over a completely harmless joke ferru made after the 2015 rio open final that people adamantly took out of context.

good times! everyone was completely off their rocker and i wouldn't have missed it for the world 😌

[cherrb333]

2012! Dad Leo au (basically he adopts the 2018 turtles)

Chapter 2: an argument and four little strays

Check out the first part if you haven't already lolol

Also this is inspired by this post so check it out^^ I love @sunnyyyteaaa art alot, it just has that...how would you put it... eh it just has that eatable vibe ya know? Anyways, on with the chapter lolol

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Leo was usually the most rational of the brothers, always the one who would get praised by his father. The eldest was always held up to the high standard of being the perfect leader, always hated by their siblings(mostly Raph) for simply being put on that pedestal. They hated it. They hated being perfect, hell they weren't even sure they were a he. They sighed as they put their head on their knees. They would never, never be good enough. Tears brimmed their eyes, overflowing onto their dark green-scaled cheeks. They felt wrong, so wrong. They whimpered into their hands, scratching at the scales. They felt as if everything on their body was burning, they wanted to scratch away all the feelings. Their chest tightened as the words from earlier broke through their barrier, cracking the stability of their mental health from the inside. It hurt so much. It was so confusing, everything was so confusing. Eventually after running for a while, their feet gave out. They shivered as they dropped into a curled ball on the cold concrete floor. Maybe leaving the lair in cold weather without a coat was a bad idea. Ideally, Crying in a random sewer hallway wasn't on their bucket list today but they needed a mental break. From their brothers, from the tension... This was their safe place, this area of the sewer was theirs. Only theirs, and it was always peaceful. The only sound was the dripping of a distant leaky pipe, a welcome change to the usual shouting of their brothers. The peace, however, was broken by a light shooting down the hall, illuminating the dim sewer walls in a red-orange mesh of light. Leo jumped up, glancing around frantically, tensing at the sound of struggling and distressed chirps that sounded eerily like what he and his brothers did when they were young. Subconsciously, their hand went to the katana on their hilt only to falter when they realized the weapons weren't there.

Damn it! They had left them in the dojo! Ugh, right, their fight with Raph. It had been late, they had just finished a meditation, and they were about to head to bed when they ran into Raph. Leo had already been on edge from patrol earlier. Leo had never snapped before. Raph had made a comment that triggered Leo so badly that they just…. lost their cool. They got into a brawl. Of course, the two had fought before, but nothing as bad as this.

“Maybe Dad would still be alive if you didn't have a stick up your ass all the time. I'm tired of this Leo! Maybe you should have died instead…” He remembered the words as Raph landed a hard punch on the older box turtle. Leo had cried out, tears streaming down their faces as he ran out. Maybe there had been shouts, but they couldn't have heard them through the static that buzzed behind their ears. As they ran out, all they could remember was the distant shouting, and the blurry face of their brother’s regret. They hadn't even noticed their weapons were not in their hilt.

“God damn it!” They cursed under their breath shaking their head as they held their hands out, and cautiously inched forward towards the distressed calls. Their feet were silent on the concrete, just like how master splinter had taught them. They could do this, they didn't need a weapon. They slinked into the pipes, walking along the cold metal, light on their feet to reduce the creaks and alert whatever the threat was. As they made it closer, they could make out four small turtles from where they were perched…wait a minute…

They were shocked to find that these were not any ordinary turtles, but mutants, just like them and their brothers. That worried them. What were the four tots doing here all alone? And why did they…look like…oh… his breath hitched as he realized who exactly these four were. They may look different in features, and species, but they couldn't be their brothers and them, but from another dimension. They had dealt with other dimensions before but had never dealt with ones as young as these four were. No matter that, Leo had to help these four, they couldn't just leave them out here, where they could get hurt. He and his brothers had been much older before master splinter had let them wander the sewers.

He dropped down quietly inching forward slowly to get a better view of the situation. From what he could see, three of the tots were surrounding a larger spikey-shelled creature, no doubt older by a few years. As he inched forward, he flinched as he kicked a rock by accident. Oops. The purple-marked soft shell tot perked up, turning around and narrowing his eyes at the stranger that stood static behind the four. The little softshell stood on wobbly scraped legs, holding his hands out as he sheltered his other brothers, hissing and baring his tiny fangs at the taller turtle. Leo flinched, holding their hands up in surrender, glancing around for some sort of cause for the blood, noticing it coming from behind the softshell. Their eyes widened before hardening into a serious look.

“Calm down, little guy, I promise, I'm not the bad guy. I’m just like you” They bent down, reaching behind their head to pull at the straps of their mask, pulling it from their face to the dark green scaled skin on full display. Their faces were shaped weirdly, triangle-esque, and had no nose. All around, the perfect description of a turtle. As they reached their hand forward, purple sniffed it, still growling, feral in overprotectiveness for his brothers. Leo flinched hissing as Purple latched his mouth onto the scaled finger, biting down an iron grip that drew blood as it pierced Leo’s fern-green skin, tearing through the flesh under the scales. Leo jolted, pulling their hand up, carrying the growling softshell with it. Blood dripped onto the floor, dribbling out the side of Little Purple’s mouth as he dug his teeth deeper. Leo shook his hand, trying desperately to get the softshell to let go.

“Ow! Owowowow! Ok, ok! Fine, but at least, let me help the big guy!” Leo tried, watching as the softshell dropped his grip on Leo’s finger. Tears crept out, tiny ones that were unnoticeable unless you really looked close. He brought his finger into his mouth instinctual and began to suck on the small bite mark, he pulled it away from his mouth to assess the damage, sighing when he saw the bruising around the small bite marks, and the tiny amount of blood that dripped down his finger in a dark red line. From the corner of their eye They watched as the purple-marked soft shell puffed out his chest threateningly, looking smug, and hissing at Leo. He inched around the dangerous one warily, watching in the corner of their eye as they assessed the damage on the spikey one. They immediately noticed the giant crack on its shell, cutting through the spikes and dipping over to just below their head, which also had a giant gash there. They also noticed a cut along the big turtle's eye. Their eyes furrowed, assessing the snapping turtle for any broken bones, turning them over onto their back, being careful of the crack, and feeling around for any fractures. They would have to take these guys back to the lair for a better examination, but for now, they couldn't see anything too concerning. Being a ninja had its perks. All their brothers were trained in medical standards by their father. The purple-marked one growled, crawling forward to watch the older turtle work warily, still hissing at them, but calming when the red-striped one pressed a head bump into his head, churring at his twin and hugging him, their tail whipping back and forth as they snuggled together, ultimately calming purple down. The orange-marked one was the most friendly, despite his brother's hesitations, he crawled forward, chirping at the stranger happily, and placing his tiny hands on the older box shell's lap and looking over at his older brother concernedly. He squeaked, nudging his head against the older box shells hand to get over to his older brother. Leo huffed, he needed to get these four to the lair, and fast.

○•○•○•at the lair•○•○•○

The lair was cold and eerily quiet as Leo entered with the four baby tots in toe. It had taken some convincing on his part to make the purple one come, but once the little ankle biter saw that Leo was leaving with his brothers, he couldn't not follow. Leo held the big spikey one on his back as the red slider clutched his tail from behind, and the orange one stuffs the tails of his mask into his mouth playfully, chomping down on them like they're a snack. Purple followed along on his hunches, hissing every few seconds to show he still did not trust the box turtle with a blue mask. The journey through the lair was quiet, occasionally filled with the sound of quiet growling. Eventually,Leo made it to the medbay without much encounters with his obnoxious brothers(thankfully). He slowly placed the two on the ground beside their brother as he grabbed the spikey turtle from his back, and placed him shell faced up to the ceiling. Now that he was in better lighting he could see the damage way clearer. It had been a lot worse then he had originally thought. The crack on the snappers shell ran from his right shoulder down to his middle and then spiraled out as if a jack hammer had been slammed against it. He ran his thumb along the crack, sighing as he began setting up the medbay and sterilizing the open gash that poked through the shell. Once that was finished, he began to thread the sewing needle to begin stitching together the wound. He poked through the hard exterior skin, threading the stitch in zigzag along the wound, pulling it closed with every stitch. Once that was finished, he cut the thread and tied it to seal off the stitch, then adding Another line of disinfectant before placing a bandage over the wound. Once that was finished, he began working in the crack. Luckily, he had a little more field In this. being The oldest of the four turtles, he had to be prepared. when they were younger, his brothers were always constantly getting hurt. He had on more then one occasion had to repair his brothers shells when they were too rough with each other or even after a very intense fight that lead to severe injuries. in fact, All the brothers had been trained in first aid. It was very beneficial given the life the four had lead so far. Sure, it had been years since they had last fought the foot clan or even the kraang, but there was always something that had to be stopped. The life of a ninja was always moving. He shook his head of the thoughts, finishing Up patching the young snapper before turning To the younger tots who were looking around the room curiously. The slider was watching him with big blue doe eyes. Oh boy. he Felt his heart swell with adoration, already fond of the four, even if one Of them wasn't so fond of him. Then it hit. What was he going to tell his brothers!?

Also on another note, so sorry it took so long to post this I kinda lost motivation, it's been a hectic summer this year lolol, plus I'm still working on the next part for the kid leo au dub and honestly, I am zapped lmaooo, but anyways, hopefully I'll get back into the groove of things and start writing more, I have so many ideas I'm working on for this story you don't even know, my thoughts for this story are all over the placeXD also I don't actually hate 2012 raph man in fact to be honest he is my favorite character, but ya know, conflict is fun heheheh

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Masterpost | previous | next

[annakie]

FIXING THE HOUSE Chapter 7 (Sorta) - Let's go Backwards to go Forwards

Part One: I Do Not, In Fact, Have the Power

Part Two: Let’s Spend Lots of Money!

Part Three: All These Things That I’ve Done

Part Four: I Really Want to Stay At My House

A little interlude.

Part Five: Power Down

Part Six: You Will Leave Some Paint

Part Seven: Backwards to go Forwards (YOU ARE HERE)

Part Eight: Master of Bathrooms

Part Nine: Within a Room, Somewhere

Part Ten: Rooms With No View

Part Eleven: Big Bang Room Part A and also Part B!

Part Twelve: We Can Make It On the Outside

Part Thirteen: Mauve Haze Symphony

Part Fourteen (A) - In the Kitchen

Part Fourteen (B) - Copper Green

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(A note from the future about this post: When I made it I intended it to be the big flashback post but then I ended up making more detailed flashback posts when I posted about each room so a lot of the information here gets re-told in more detail later, sorry!)

In the summer of 2003, it felt like all of my friends were moving forward with their lives but me.

Two of my friends had gotten married a year or two earlier and were living a ways away but had rented a house.

Two more friends had just gotten married, and were buying a house.

Two more had just gotten into a serious relationship, and he decided to buy a house. She was moving in and paying rent. A year or so later they'd get married, too.

I wasn't in a relationship but was the oldest in the friend group and I was still renting a one bedroom apartment.

I got the bug in my ear that I should buy a house, too.

Once again, a very long post.

I just want to make it clear -- this is more of a flashback episode than updates on what's been going on. But it's important.

Those three couples all eventually had houses all in the same neighborhood. I couldn't afford their neighborhood. Honestly I couldn't afford a house at all but that was right during the time that banks were handing out mortgages like candy.

I shouldn't have been house shopping, but I did it anyway. Somehow my mom agreed to co-sign with me. She shouldn't have, tbh I was a bad bet credit wise at that time, but she did.

After losing out on a couple of bids, I finally found this house I really loved from the outside. The thing was, they weren't letting people inside for awhile, but the price was great and it looked great from the outside.

I put in an offer before seeing the inside (Pro Tip: never do this) with money I didn't really have, and despite many warning signs that I shouldn't be buying this house, I went ahead and did it anyway.

For several years, it was a really bad decision.

This house had been a rental for like 20 years before I bought it. It was severely neglected, but it had been fixed up just enough by the previous owners to hide the most glaring problems with it.

So much went wrong those first few years that I was more or less always in debt, lurching from problem to problem, borrowing money from my parents to keep the AC going and sewer flowing. Eventually my mom just paid to fix the sewer rather than call a plumber every month or two. (Eventually, I paid her back). Now I just have to call one out once a year or so.

And y'all, the house was ugly inside. Just really not updated almost at all since the 60's. Nobody gave a shit.

A few things had happened, three layers of wallpaper in the bathrooms and kitchen, and two layers of peel and stick tiles on the floor.

But most things were original to the house, or maybe updated in the mid to late 80's at the newest.

In 2004 when I'd done what I could with the place I started writing a walkthrough with pictures. It's not complete, I never did the bedrooms or master bath... I think I have pictures of those, I'll fill in later. But just scrolling through that and taking a look is super cringe for me and maybe entertaining for you. (Note from the future: A lot of the pictuers get used later in these posts.) Also, hey, some of my friends and family are in there, too.

It will give you a decent idea of where I started, so later you can see where I am now and why doing this has been so damn important to me.

-----

I had a few bits of good luck, one of those couples mentioned above gave me their old washer and dryer which I still have and use to this day, I bought a dishwasher and fridge at the Sears Scratch and Dent store and the fridge is still running... for now. And my mortgage company had paid for a home warranty for the year AND GOT USED HEAVILY. It saved my ass a time or two, I re-upped it for a few years.

Once I got ripped off by a new furnace install that was an utter disaster and almost killed me with carbon monoxide poisoning until I got the warranty company to send out a better repair guy who probably saved my life.

My parents would come once or twice a year and help me do all the repairs and improvements I could afford, and usually kick in some of their own money to help.

I had secondhand and salvaged furniture, much of it came from relatives who downsized or passed. I scoured yard sales for stuff to put in the house. I was paying off $4000ish on a $1700ish bedroom suite. I was at a job that was severely underpaying me and then everyone there got a paycut in 2007. I had no savings, maybe I'd scrape up $1000 which would get eaten by a new emergency every time I got it together.

It was bad. For about my first decade in this house I was barely scraping by.

I made a post about it 10 years ago, and I still agree with basically everything I said in there. And that was when things had just started to turn around for me financially so that I wasn't lurching from paycheck to paycheck.

These are also linked there, but in 2008 my mom came into a little money and gave me a couple thousand and I was able to get all of the floors redone, and new countertops/sink in the kitchen.

These Flickr sets show even better just how bad it was, and how much it was improved. Except I made a huge mistake and got carpet in the bedrooms instead of Laminate everywhere. Something I'd start regretting days into the new floors and would keep regretting deeply for a few years. (Note from the future: These pictures also get used in future posts in this series.) New Floors

New Countertops

With the countertops came a sink and faucet. Instead of laminate countertop from 1963 that had worn through and had holes in it, I had the cheapest countertop Home Depot had but it was new and looked decent. Instead of peel and stick linoleum I had the cheapest laminate flooring on the market but it was way better than the forever-stained brown carpet from the 80's.

That was the first time the house felt livable at least, finally.

In 2012 I got a better job, and finally started having some savings. I spent about $1500 one weekend with my parents upgrading the bathrooms. We bought $250 cabinets from Home Depot, two of the same ones, two of the same faucets, two of the same toilets.

We re-painted the bathrooms because I was thinking of selling the house at that point.

I was a big dummy and never finished painting the hall bath -- ever. It was still only like 90% done for nine years. I have no excuse for that. I just kinda stopped seeing it.

The very worst problems of the house were solved then, and my house was... okay.

The pictures in that Flickr set make it look almost nice in some places.

Except for a few things.

Like that when you took a shower in the master bath it had started having water seep through under the trim back into the bathroom.

I hadn't taken a shower in my master bath since about 2004.

And the hall bath, while it worked, the entire tub area was a nightmare. A horrorshow, honestly. I mean, it worked though. It was just really ugly, and a little grosser every year. But hey, as long as you kept the shower curtain closed, I only had to contend with it a few minutes a day.

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In 2019, things had spiraled a bit in the house. I made a couple of posts about this, and how my friend Ange came to visit so I did a big cleanout of the house, and replaced the carpet with new laminate.

Here's the first and second post. Well it's the second post that links to the first post.

Here's the followup post.

It was a huge blessing that I did this, that Ange's visit got me to get my house in order. I put a lot of work into it, and in the end it paid off not only because I wasn't that ashamed of most of my house when Ange was here (I mean, still, the garage was a huge Problem, the bathtub had continued to deteriorate and still wasn't fully painted, and the dining room was still full of STUFF that needed to be sorted and put away when she got here) but it was enough.

Then, you know, 4 months later we all stayed home for a year or two and having a house that was improved and decluttered significantly went a long way towards being OK mentally that year.

----

Four years on, and some of the things that had been bad had gotten worse. For instance, the 1960's electric wiring. The house once again had more clutter than I was comfortable with, and the tub situation had gotten fucking dire. Also, the cheap, cheap laminate in most of the house from 2008 was really showing its wear... it had not only started separating at the point in the house that got the most traffic, but it had water damage there, and in other places, too.

Things that were bad, like the state of the windows, hadn't gotten better. The kids across the street shot BBs at my garage one day and one went through one of my garage windows (I didn't catch them in the act but I saw them with it a few weeks later. I love those kids, I'm friendly with the family, and at that point I was like IDGAF, tbh.) The patio roof was a few years from falling down from rot. And a whole host of other things I've posted here and some I haven't.

-----

Y'all, I'm aware that I'm damn lucky to own a house, especially in this market. I'm lucky that I was old enough to buy one before prices skyrocketed and I bought one cheap enough (even in 2003 prices) that I ended up not losing it when the housing market exploded in 2007 and even with my iffy financial situation I sailed out of that OK when so many others didn't.

I am aware I'm talking about something now that it's ridiculously out of reach for so many people, and that situation is just unbelievably shitty, and I'm sorry for that.

-----

At one point when all these renovations started, a friend of mine, one who is in a lot of the 2004 pictures and was one of the couples who bought their house in 2004 asked me if I would still buy a house knowing everything I went through the first few years, all of the things that have gone so very wrong with this place. All of the ugly things that didn't get fixed for 21 years, and how much money this place would cost me.

At the time, I told them I wish I could go back and tell myself do not buy THIS house. Get a house, just not THIS ONE.

But then, a few hours later I re-thought my decision. There's a few reasons why... even through it all, I'd get this house.

Here's the three most important reasons.

And about a half dozen other cats, and two dogs, that I've rescued and re-homed, or just ferals I've taken care of, because I lived in this house.

I wouldn't have Fry, or Pemily, and I wouldn't have had Patchy (or re-homed her babies) if I didn't live here, because they all came from my backyard. I don't think any of them would have survived, and Pemily probably would have never been born.

I also have good neighbors. We look after each other but also mostly mind our own damn business. We're not in a floodplain, taxes are relatively low. It's a decent place to be, even if all my friends who used to live near me moved farther away except one.

So, yeah.

After 21 years I'd saved enough and in the end when I found someone I liked and trusted and who didn't charge crazy amounts of money (HONESTLY I think Arturo didn't charge me ENOUGH) all of this spiraled from "Well we'd better get the electricity fixed so the house doesn't burn down" to... well... what it is now.

It's starting to wind down. We just need a couple more good days of work and it'll be over, for now.

Hopefully then I'll have time to finish this extremely long story and share all the pictures and all the stuff that's happened, more than I have, and show you what Arturo and I made from what you've seen in all the pictures in the links above, if you looked.

I'll be back as soon as I have the time. :)

[leoandraphssoulmate]

The Worst Part is Not Knowing

A TMNT Short

LeoXFem!Reader

Click clack clack click

You wrapped your arms around yourself, staring out at the rain. It was coming down in heavy sheets, obscuring the street below. You sighed, wondering when it would finally let up. You were tired of the gray hazy days and long cold nights. You were so ready for the sun! To feel it on  your face, your arms, your shoulders. Silently, you pressed your hand to the window, saying a silent prayer for your beloved. Nights like these made you nervous for him and his brothers. The rain made it easier for bad men to hide in the shadows. Leaving your extended family vulnerable. 

You glanced at the clock on the small nightstand next to your bed. 1:00 a.m.. He was late. He normally stopped by around midnight. Your apartment was conveniently on his route back towards the lair. The cup of tea that you made him sat chilled by the window, steam no longer rising from its center. Your heart skipped a beat as you tried to shove away the hundreds of negative thoughts that threatened to pull you under. You refused to believe that something had happened to him. To any of them. He must have got caught up with something. Maybe a robbery? A mugging?

You smirked to yourself, remembering how you met him, once upon a time finding yourself in an alley at the end of a gun. You remembered how calm and collected he had been when he rescued you and so very sweet. The fact that he was a 6 foot mutant turtle absolutely meant nothing to you. He was taken aback by your nonchalant attitude. So much so that he felt comfortable enough to introduce himself to you. 

“My name is Leonardo.” His brilliant blue eyes sparkled as he looked you over. “But you can call me Leo.” He smirked.

Leo. The most beautiful name in the world.

Slowly, his brothers introduced themselves as well. 

That was five years ago. 

How time flies! Especially when you finally find where you belong. Over the course of those five years, you found yourself down in the sewers more than you ever thought possible. Leo wanted you to move in with him, but you just weren't ready. Now, staring out the window, you regretted that choice. What if something did happen? You quickly glanced at your cell. Should you call? What if he’s in the middle of a fight? Would it distract him? Making something inadvertently happen to him? Your gut twisted and squirmed. Now was the time when you really hated that Splinter didn’t have a cell phone. 

Your mind whirled. Who could you call? Casey? You looked at the clock again. Would he even answer? You licked your lips, walking over to your phone. You slid your finger over Casey’s name, your breath hitching as you waited for him to answer. 

“Y/N?” His sleepy voice came over the line. 

“I’m sorry, Casey. I’m having a bit of a hard time.” You explained. 

“What’s going on?” He asked, more alert. 

“It’s Leo. He’s late. He’s never late!” Your emotions began spiraling out of control. 

“Hey, Y/N! Calm down, hun! I’m sure he’s ok! I haven’t heard anything from the guys. I’m sure they’d call if he wasn’t ok.” He said, his words soothing your mind.  “I’d call you if that ever happened.”

Tears stung your eyes. “I didn’t think about that.” You said softly.

“Tell you what. Let me give Raph a call and I’ll call you back. Ok?” He said. 

You nodded. “Yeah. Ok. Thank you, Casey.”

“Sure thing! Be right back!” He hung up, a buzzing sound filling your mind as you pulled the phone away from your ear. 

Seconds felt like hours as you stared down at your phone, your eyes fixed on the time. 1:30am.. You squeezed your eyes shut, intense dread filling your gut. “Please be ok!” You whispered harshly. You were definitely going to insist that you at least be able to text him while they were out on patrol from now on! There’s no way your heart could handle another night like this! Your hand absentmindedly squeezed your phone as you sat down on the edge of your bed. “Come on, Casey!” 

“Hey.” Leo’s voice suddenly drifted across your bedroom.

You instantly stood, your phone falling to the floor as you locked eyes with him. “Leo.” You whispered. 

He took a few steps toward you, the base of his shell dripping as he left wet footprints on your carpet. “I’m sorry I’m late, Y/N.” 

You thought you’d be angrier at him, that you’d sling a few biting remarks, but the truth was, you were just glad he was there and most importantly that he was OK! You shook your head slightly, a few tears falling down your cheeks. Without another word you ran to him. You wrapped your arms around him, your pajamas soaking up the rain from his plastron. Leo sighed, wrapping his arms around you as well as he kissed the top of your head. 

“We need to come up with a better arrangement.” You said as you pulled back to look up at him. 

“I agree. Does this mean you’ll move in with me?” He smirked. 

“Among other things.” You sighed, leaning up to kiss him. Just behind you, your phone dinged. You didn't need to look to know it was Casey texting you that Leo was in fact quite alright.

@leosgirl82 @thelaundrybitch

[nikos-oneshots]

May i request of little sibling reader with all turtles one shot? Platonic with bit of angst.

So reader is mikey's twin, they're the weakest in the team tho they can fight, but what makes reader different a bit is their love and passion for music, they even have their own channel on YT - all the brothers love it - under a name " single star " (if it's cringe then feel free to change it), but it's a secret, no one knows their identity, not even april, they're scared if anyone found out they'll be shamed for it.

But things took a different turn when reader and mikey were asked to go shopping, leaving their room unintended for Donnie, leo and raph to see; once they saw the hidden instruments and reader's logged in channel, they connected the dots.

ROTTMNT! Turtles & Sibling! Secret Musician! Reader

Warnings: N/A Word Count: 1.8K Pronouns: They/Them Notes: Sorry this took so long! I may have gone a little off course, but I hope you like it! I certainly enjoyed writing it!

Your gaze is lowered as you look at your feet. You can see the sweat dripping off your face as you wipe it all off and look back up at the training dummy. Not even a rip. You had been at this for hours, or at least, that's what it felt like. You had been training to master your weapon soon, but you didn’t feel like you were getting any closer.

You had been training non-stop for a couple of days, it's what your brother Raph told you he did. He noticed how you weren’t as great with your weapon as the other four of them were and offered to train you, but you declined as you knew it would break your spirits even more. 

You looked up to him. You looked up to all of them. You wanted to get stronger, but you just weren’t as talented or as motivated as your brothers were. You just felt like it wasn’t in your blood like it was in theirs, it sometimes made you question if you were a descendant of the infamous Lou Jitsu. You felt like you were living a lie, that this wasn’t who you were supposed to be.

You straighten your back and drop your weapon, turning around and walking towards the wall, where you had set up a little break station for yourself. You slide your back against the wall, grab your water bottle and squirt some of its contents into your mouth, then you pour the rest on top of you to wash away the sweat. You wash away the water from your eyes as you look up to where you were, where your weapon resided. It filled you with guilt, shame and embarrassment.

“Screw this. I’m out.” You say to yourself. You shake the rest of the water off and leave the garage and your weapon. You needed to clear your head, you needed a place you felt was your own and luckily, you had just that.

Music.

You felt like music got you. There was a wide arrange of feelings that could be told through it and you could make your own. You had been musically talented from as soon as you could hold a baby piano. It was your whole life, the only thing you thought truly belonged to you. You weren't ready to share this passion publicly yet though, even with your brothers. You felt that if you did, it would turn into something you couldn’t control and leave you unmotivated and alone. 

That is exactly why you went undercover.

You had a social media page where you posted your music, you did covers, concepts and even full songs you wrote. You had quite the following, not enough to make you instantly recognizable or all over the news, but enough to have a pretty big fanbase. They got you and you loved it. You were also making quite a bit of money from it. Enough to be able to have the small luxuries you dreamed of having when you were younger, and soon, enough to support yourself.

You lived in the New York City sewers, around the busiest part to be exact. It took a lot to almost be able to afford to support yourself. You have been looking at apartments recently, you weren't ready yet, far from it, but you knew that it would come soon. You dreamed of having that freedom and being away from the gross sewer smell, which made you happy that it was almost in your grasp. The only downside to this is that you don't know how to tell your family…

Would they be disappointed that you don't want to follow in their footsteps? Would they stop talking to you if you were to follow through with it? Or would they just forbid you from leaving, you didn't know. The one thing you did know is that they wouldn't take it well. When you thought about it, you kind of assumed that some would take it better than others, like Donnie for example. He had his own passions he would like to pursue, so he would definitely see where you were coming from. But others, like Raph, you knew wouldn’t take it well.

Raph was your biggest obstacle in this, he was a family man. You knew he wouldn’t want to let you go, especially with all of the villains in New York City alone. Moving out of New York wasn’t an option either, all of them would lose your mind, but you also wanted to stay close by. So with those factors, there weren’t really many options, but you were determined to become independent at last.

You threw your weapon into the corner of your room as you took out your laptop to check the statistics of your video. It was a short snippet of a song idea you had one night, you didn’t really think anything of it, but boy was it a hit! You beamed as you saw everyone in the comments asking for a full version of it. You had already fully written it out, so you were happy you got to work on it again. You went to grab your keyboard, but just as you were about to take it out of the drawer it resided in, you hear a knock at the door.

“Y/n!” Mikey screams, when you tell him he can come in, he kicks the door open, leaving you stunned.

“I need you to go to the store with me! Dinner isn’t going to go well without ingredients, and Leo, and Donnie, and Raph don’t want to go with me!” He whined as he zoomed around your room, then found his place grasping onto your shirt, begging you to go with him.

You weren’t one to willingly disappoint your brothers, let alone Mikey, so you agreed to go with him. You grabbed your bag and two of the cloaking brooches that you kept handy, and just like that, you were ready to go. As you left, something managed to slip your mind, something that wouldn’t normally do so. Your door creaked open, showing the insides of your room, it showed the open drawer with your keyboard, and your open laptop with everything you had been keeping from your brothers, all free for viewing.

While you were busy with Mikey, Donnie passed by your room. He noticed that the door was open, but you weren't there. Your door was never open, he didn't even remember the last time he saw your room. He considered just closing the door and walking out, but he felt an overwhelmed urge to just take a look.

"Well. They did leave their door open.” Donnie said to himself, trying to find an excuse to take a look.

He was curious! It was mutant nature to be curious, especially for a man of science like he was. As he walked into your room, he noticed some posters and flags on the ceiling, something he wouldn’t have seen otherwise. After snooping for a while and with no luck in finding anything interesting, his attention turned to your laptop.

He made his way over to your bed, making himself comfortable in your sheets and blankets as he brought the laptop over to his lap. As he snooped, he giggled to himself, hoping that he would find something innocent that he could use as leverage to make you do the dishes for him, but found something completely different. He found your music, your channel. As he pressed play, his body instantly relaxed, he really liked it. He wondered why you never shared this with him. He thought you were close enough. He decided to go to your videos to see what else you have been up to. He clicked on a random video, ‘Virtual Diary #19’ It was titled. He listened carefully as it played.

“Hi Everyone!” It started. It had a colourful background that had a little chibi art piece in the corner that looked strangely like your human disguise. “This is another update into my personal life, and I have some exciting news!”

Unknownst to Donnie, Raph and Leo began passing by your room and noticed him.

“As of now, I’m almost making enough to sustain myself! At my age in new york? Who’s heard of that!” You chuckle to yourself.

“I’ve been looking at apartments and every night I’ve dreamt of the day it will happen. I’d have more room, so production quality would go up, I would have more time to work on music, and I’d finally get more freedom! As much as I love my brothers, this one has to spread their metaphorical wings and see what I’m going to do with myself!”

Donnie finally noticed Raph and Leo listening in on him. Leo looked disappointed, but as he looked up to Raph, he looked absolutely heartbroken. He looked like he was holding back a lot which caused Donnie to look away, feeling ashamed.

“I don’t know how to tell them though, I feel like they would freak out! They were always so protective of me and I appreciate that… To an extent. I just want to go and learn things on my own for once. I’m tired of always being babied and left in the dust.” You paused.

“I’m not going into… The family business, much like they wanted me to. I don’t know how to tell them that yet, so that will be our little secret for now!” You said as your avatar winked.

“Well anyways, I’m working hard on that new song I teased last week and I think it will turn out wonderfully! I aim to release it sometime next month, so stay tuned! That might be when I move out depending on how much you all like it! But anyways, I love you all! Goodbye!” You chimed as the video ended.

The three brothers just stood in disbelief as they could not believe what they just heard. Raph still deep in thought. You don’t want to be a ninja? Raph knew you were struggling, but he didn’t know you downright hated it. As he was processing what he heard he stormed off to his room. He didn’t know what he was feeling, scared, mad, sad, a mix of everything. 

Donnie just cleared what he was doing off of your computer and returned it to an unaltered state so you wouldn't suspect anything. As he left your room, he gave a guilty look to Leo, but as he looked away Leo just gave him a reassuring look.

“Just think about it, Don. You like to do that, right?” He joked, trying to lighten the mood, but Donnie didn’t seem impressed. He just walked off, seemingly taking Leo’s advice, which left him there in front of your room, knowing that you may be gone within the next month. Knowing that they couldn’t protect you for that much longer.

Lots of Love Niko🥞

[quincy2729]

Descendants Rewrite: Part 8

A new Plan:

After Red and Chloe exit the portal, they're both exhausted from their fight with the VK from earlier. Chloe looks at Red with concern. "Red, are you alright?" Chloe asked. Red begins to explain that she didn't understand why her first instinct was to punch Ursula. She continues to elaborate that she felt triggered by what she said about her mom, running away.

Chloe proceeds to walk up to Red and starts to comfort her. "Red, when I first met you, I thought a lot of things. I found you rude, annoying, a tyrant..." Red starts to interject. "Is this supposed to make me feel better?" Red scoffs. "Like I was saying." Chloe chuckles. "I thought a lot of negative things about you, but now that we're both stuck here, I can say that maybe we just had a bad first impression. You're a lot of things, but a coward isn't one of them."

Chloe immediately widened her eyes. "Not that your mom is a coward -" Red starts to chuckle. "I knew what you meant, Chloe." Both girls pause for a second, then burst into laughter.

"Okay, I just need to grab my journal." As Red tries to grab her journal from her bag, she realizes that is missing. Red begins to rub her hands through her scalp from stress. "No, no, no. I forgot the journal! This is bad! It could've easily gotten into the wrong hands." Chloe notices Red becoming more upset. And grabs her hand. "Hey, it's okay. We'll think of another solution." Red takes a deep breath and calms down.

"Besides, did you think I wouldn't take notes myself?" Chloe pulls out her phone, revealing the notes she typed about their plans. Red smiles and calls her a genius as they continue to work together.

The Hearts Ball:

Ella walks into Bridget's bedroom room frantically. "Bridget, what's wrong? You said there was an emergency." Ella walks up to Bridget's bed seeing a pile of dresses. "There is an emergency! I don't know what to wear to the dance!" Ella looks at Bridget in defeat.

"Bridget, I snuck out of the house because I thought you really needed me." Ella crosses her arms. Bridget's facial expression changes from a content look to a face of guilt. "Okay, I may have exaggerated. I just didn't know who else to ask." My parents are on a trip, and I'm always forced to wear clothes that are "acceptable" as a princess. I want to wear something that represents my true personality."

Ella looks at all of Bridget's dresses. She notices that they are all beautiful but very outdated and too formal. They weren't something a teenage girl would wear to a dance. A light bulb flickers above Ella's head. "I have an idea. Instead of choosing a dress, what if we make one?" Bridget jumps up from her bed and squeals. "You would do that for me?" Bridget asked. "I'm one of the best sewers at Merlin Academy. I can make a dress out of a curtain." Ella brags.

After a little bit of banter, Ella and Bridget start a singing montage while sewing the dress. After time passes by, Bridget walks up to her mirror wearing her dress. "It's perfect. Don't you think?" Ella walks behind her a stares at Ella for a minute. "Yes, it is."

Before Ella could say anything, she forgot that she was supposed to be home before her stepmother came back. "Oh no, my stepmom is going to kill me!" Bridget feels awful. She didn't want to be the reason her friend got in trouble, so she told Ella that she'll send a coach to take her home. Ella gives Bridget a warm hug before she leaves.

Bridget meets Ella outside while Ella enters the carriage. Bridget uses one of her cards to open a portal to Ella's neighborhood. "The coach will come to your house and explain to your stepmother that you were helping me with royal tasks. I, as a royal, especially asked you, so it wasn't something fully in your control." Ella looks at her with a smile and thanks her before the carriage entered the portal.

Step monster:

Lady Tremaine sits on her living from a sofa with a cup of tea in her hand, waiting for her insolent stepchild. "Where could that annoying girl be? It's almost dark now." She scoffs. The sound of her doorbell broke Lady Tremaine out of her thoughts as she walked to the door.

"Where have you been, young lady? How dare you think you could leave this house without my permission!" Before she could continue, Lady Tremaine sees a short man in front of her in fancy attire. He begins to explain everything while Ella shyly stands behind him, expecting to be scolded.

After the coach is done speaking, Lady Tremaine looks at Ella suspiciously, then glances at the coach. Ella expected her stepmother to nag her, but instead, she was greeted with a "Get in.". Ella knew it was better to respect her orders and not question her.

After Ella walks into her room, she plops herself onto her bed out of exhaustion. She heard a strange thud coming from her bedroom window. She walks up to her window, and to her shock, she sees an unsuspecting visitor. The boy at school everyone finds Charming.