#and i think tht speaks a lot to her character!!

[dracula-enthusiast]

Your chainshipping takes are so good just inject that shit into my veins. I feel like a lot of shippers just… skip over the fact that Lawrence has issues and jump into codependent trauma bonding never let go of Adam again mode without contextualizing everything regarding Alison. Like I get they take the easy way out that she would leave him (and she does eventually) but he probably trauma bonded with her as well since she also was kidnapped and held at gunpoint. Like I doubt their split would be super simple and understanding with no fight to at least *try* to stay together. They would fail to work through it but I don’t think they would just go “now that you are no longer hostage, it’s time for divorce” ASAP like a lot of fandom thinks. (I think even Adam’s survival would factor into it because Alison would be like why are you still interacting with the guy who reminds you of a traumatic experience and was a pawn in your kidnapping? Because it means Lawrence is still holding on to those ugly moments rather than moving on from them.)

YES ABSOLUTELY!! i def focused on Lawrence in that last post lol, but i agree 100% i dont think Alison would be super quick to divorce him either. i feel like she would want to go back to normal just as much as he would, but they just went through too much and wouldn't be able to find it again.

even from just a maternal standpoint i think she would want to try to stay together at first. like i very much doubt that after going through an extremely traumatic event with her 8 yr old daughter, her first thought would be to destabilize said 8 yr old daughter's home life.

but yeah its really unfortunate that Alison gets glossed over a lot because i think that she's a really cool character! and her relationship with Lawrence post bathroom trap is really interesting and i'd love to see it explored more

[andthen-light]

okay girls im going to be a little hashtag critical here but i have been ruminating LONG ENOUGH and i really really do not like that scene in the graphic novel murder on the rockport limited where lucretia recognized the umbrastaff. i understand what they were trying to do and i understand you have to change things for the medium but its kind of a disservice to both lucretia and taakos characters imo. lucretia works so hard to keep the boys from questioning things like why would she have a reaction like that. like they couldve alluded to her recognizing it but a scene like that is so in your face and it takes power away from the scene in crystal kingdom where red robe barry recognizes it. and wrt taakos character like. hes never Particularly trustful of lucretia like on a personal level but overall he trusts the bureau and lucretia until reunion tour. adding in a scene like that at that point in the story makes no sense like u cannot convince me taako would not start questioning what the directors really up to and why she had such a personal reaction.

[hwnglx]

from ur reading it seems like all females idols like karina so is there no one who dislikes her? i rmbr on eunchae's show she said that she's aware ppl think aespa are haughty/mean girls and/or tht they seem unapproachable. has tht image for her disappeared?

i can't exactly speak for the entire group's image among idols yet, since i only looked into two members' reputations closely.

i do think, with someone like karina, there's ought to be people intimidated by her energy. the spread started out very strong with cards like the eight of wands, which is the card of speed, action, communication, energy.. and the queen of wands, that represents someone with fiery feminine energy who's confident, passionate, self-assured and energetic.

karina has her sun and venus in aries; she will undeniably have very strong energy, and won't be afraid to assert not only herself, but also courageously defend and stand up for her people when she needs to.

the six of pentacles, the sun and the empress followed right after. all pointing to a person who's generous, warm, pleasant to be around, nurturing. so despite her first impression being very strong on people, and this making it likely for some people to not feel entirely comfortable approaching her; her softer, more loving and caring sides tend to come out the more you get to know her. this also seemed to have been the perception a good amount of female idols share.

there was an obvious hesitation to approach karina on the male idols' side, though i will be honest; i've seen it time and time again, they rarely don't get intimidated by a strong and independent woman. karina is quite dominant in her energy, and that can burden many insecure men, lol.

that “haughty mean girl” image you mentioned was present for winter's reading, across both parties (male + female). she's a reserved and private person who's in her head a lot and prefers her own little bubble and intimate circle. she detaches herself a lot and is very career-focused, so naturally there's gonna be people judging her based on superficial things, like their subjective outside impression or gossip. many idols seem to perceive her as hard to get close to, and closed off. there were a few people who actually found her to be sweeter than expected, because her cold image doesn't exactly fit her actual character.

i did get a request to read on miss yizhuo's reputation too, so i will definitely get around to that and look into it further. i'll probably do giselle too just to complete the group <3

[storyofmychoices]

Hello, Love!

Just a little thank you for participating in the Tobias Carrick Appreciation Week! ❤️

In my mind, Olivia is interviewing her fellow Dr. Carrick and another adorable redhead in the Pediatric Ward? Or perhaps for Sunshine Pediatrics! I hope you like this my friend!

Aww this is so so so cute!!! Look at them!!! I love it!!! Thank you for this and for hosting! I wrote a little something to go with this!

Elmo's Special Visit

Characters: Olivia Hadley (F!OC), Tobias Carrick

Book: Open Heart

Word Count: >650 (dialogue fic)

Rating/Warnings: general, no warnings

Synopsis: Olivia has two special guests join her in the Peds Ward! ❤️

Olivia: Hello everyone! As you know, I'm Dr. Olivia and I have a surprise for you! Today, I am joined by two very special guests. The first one is my friend, Dr. Tobias, you might have seen him around before, but our second guest is even more special—

Tobias: (frowning playfully) I'm insulted!

Olivia: (continuing with a slight shake of her head and a growing smile)—let's put our hands together to welcome, ELMO!!!

*children clapping and cheering*

Elmo: Hi children! Elmo loves making new friends like all of you. Will you be Elmo's friends?

*children screaming and agreeing*

Olivia: How are you feeling today, Elmo?

Elmo: Uhh...(plays with his hands and looks down) Elmo has to get a shot today and is a little worried.

Tobias: That can be tough. It's hard to be brave when you're nervous.

Elmo: Elmo is very nervous!

Olivia: I know tht when I'm nervous, I like to take a deep breath—in and out. (modeling as she speaks)

Elmo shaking slightly and biting his hand still visibly worried

Tobias: That looks like it could be tricky. How do we know how long to breathe in or out for? Maybe we should try it together?

Elmo: What do you think friends, can we try it together?

Children agreeing, nodding along, some calling out that they can teach Elmo how to breathe like Dr. Olivia (Olivia smiles and tells them she's happy they remember what they've learned!)

Olivia: First, we want to sit up nice and tall and try to relax our bodies, but it's okay if that is hard at first. Sometimes, it helps if we wiggle a bit or dance in place for a few seconds to try to shake off our nerves. When we're ready, we want to inhale, or breathe in through our noses, if we can, and count to four in our heads.

Elmo: Elmo can count to four! 1-2-3-4!

Tobias: Nice job, Elmo! (High fives him)

Olivia: Good work, Elmo! The next part is to breathe out through your mouth, but this time, we want to count to six!

Elmo: Uh oh! Elmo needs help with counting to six.

Tobias: Maybe your new friends can help! What do you think? Let's help Elmo! 1-2-3-4, what comes next?

Children: 5 - 6!

Elmo: 5 - 6! Elmo can remember that! 1-2-3-4-5-6! Elmo did it with friends' help! *Laughs happily*

Olivia: Great job, everyone! Now, let's try it together. Sit up straight. Wiggle your shoulders and arms to try to relax your body. Now breathe in 1-2-3-4. And breathe out: 1-2-3-4-5-6! Great job! Now, let's do it a few more times together!

Elmo: I think Elmo's got it now!

Elmo models it, and all the children cheer him on

Tobias: How do you feel now, Elmo?

Elmo: Elmo feels relaxed and wants to share a song he just made. Elmo loves singing to his friends. Would you like Elmo to sing for you?

Children cheer in reply

Tobias: I think that's your cue, Elmo!

Elmo: 

🎵 Doctors and friends are here to help you!

Doctors and friends are here to make you smile.

When you're feeling down or worried,

Here's what you need to do!

You take a deep breath and count to four

Then, you let it all out and count to six.

Say goodbye to all those worries

and shake those nerves away! 🎵

Children clapping and cheering as they try to help Elmo sing the song as he says it again

Elmo: Yay! Elmo is so happy you liked his song!

Olivia: Thank you for coming to visit us today, Elmo! We learned so much together.

Elmo: Elmo did learn a lot. Elmo learned to relax and to breathe.... and to count! The Count will be so happy that Elmo learned numbers today! Elmo will teach him to breathe when he counts, too!

Tobias: I'm sure he'll love that. What do we say to our special guest, boys and girls?

Children: Thank you, Elmo!

Elmo: Elmo thanks you for being good audience and great new friends. (blows kisses to the children)

Olivia: Alright boys and girls, it's time for us to say goodbye! Elmo is going to see his doctor now and he knows when he gets nervous he can practice what he learned today!

Elmo: Elmo is ready now! Can Dr. Olivia be Elmo's doctor, too?

Olivia: Of course, Elmo!

Elmo hugs Olivia and then Tobias

Hopefully Elmo will practice breathing whenever he's feeling a little over excited too 😊

This is just for fun, please don't critique my song writing (lack of) ability lol

Also, this started as an interview and then kept changing and changing until it was this... 🙈

[wildpeachfarm]

thank you so much for rec Brittany! She is an experienced adult who gets things but can also empathize with these creators bc she was in that position once. Her whole thing about being a “grown up” but she wasn’t “grown grown” like her parents had me nodding along, like this is someone who gets life, who isn’t chronically online. Humans gonna human and bubbles YESYES

This fandom is so young that watching a video like Brittany’s can bring an POV that they might not be privy to for another decade. And thts the point, it’s okay to make mistakes but if my listening to someone with more life experience (and boy does Brittany have life experience! She knows what she’s talking about with this) you can Not make some of these mistakes, be cognizant of what to do and how to stand up for yourself…shouldn’t that be what everyone wants? People here in their late teens early 20s need to listen to what she says. It is so so important especially about different bubbles and having to interact with people who have different bubbles. This is an adult skill you need to have and look at people and situations from multiple angles. Brittany does a very good job using this last stream as an educational tool as well and point out what went wrong and how to avoid certain things in the future. Like she said, taking and pointing out preventative measure is no victim blaming. Preventative measures should be taken (DD, not drinking underage, speaking up for yourself, removing yourself from uncomfortable situations, not drinking with people you don’t know, having friends you can trust if you are drunk). But acknowledging you can do everything right and bad things can still happen.

Acknowledging your friends faults but not blindly defending them…dude side eyeing some of theses streamers. You should know your friends characters. Some friends are messy and hard to deal with, it’s okay to acknowledge that!! Never protect a friend breaking the law etc, but like she said, “I’d turn my friend into the police but I would visit them in jail”. Help your friends get better but if it becomes too toxic, it’s okay to reevaluate that friendship.

It’s a long stream, long videos, but I think a young fandom like mcyt would lean a lot from watching.

I haven’t watched her other videos but I plan to. If people didn’t watch, her background is Iranian/Syrian, raised conservative, moved to Seattle did a 180 being in the gay, party, and bdsm scene identifying as lesbian but now identifies as pan sexual and is settled down with focus on YouTube as her career. This lady knows what she is talking about, not because she has lived it, but she has put in the work to heal and learn. She has seen therapists and done the introspective part. And has acknowledged nothing is black and white. She takes the time to see it from every perspective. Her thing with the color blue and everyone could be talking about the color blue but not the same shade of blue.

Sorry millennial here connecting with a fellow millennial.

yay glad to hear you're enjoying her stuff! and yeah you said it perfectly she's incredibly experienced in so many things and has so much advice to younger people and really provides good perspectives to people who might not have seen it that way before

[vdragon-creations]

Spring Stars! (Part 2) A Date By Any Other Name!

(2003 Donatello x Sasha Fic)

✨💛💜✨

Author’s Note: Holy shit, it’s been a hot minute since I made Part one! I just wanna say a quick thank you (and a very big sorry) to those of you who read it! Means a lot to me that you even attempted to sit through my garbage writing! And now, you’re here looking for more punishment, and deliver it I shall! Plenty of OCxCC ship trash to go around, and more art with it too! Also, MAYBE a slight CW on this one for mentions of possible Spicy thoughts & a little angst! Other than that, it’s all just some fun character interactions! There will also probably be one more part to this story because I love torturing myself, and I can't seem to make anything easy! So enjoy! :3

✨💛💜✨

“Is this a… date?”

The question felt like a switch being flipped, turning the world around them into nothing. Donnie froze, feeling his heart start to pound. He hadn’t really planned for this kind of question, and to him this didn’t FEEL like a date. Though, thinking back on what he had in mind for this outing, it did seem like one. The idea making his face burn even more. But, he had to be honest, the look on Sasha’s face was more studious, and she’d surely be able to tell if he was trying to lie.

“W-we don’t have to call it that just because tht’s what everyone else does. It can be a j-just two friend having fun and getting to know each other better!” Donnie said, nervously smiling as he gulped. Sasha chuckled a little while an unsure grin came to her lips, “That sounds like a date though…” “Fair…” Donnie admitted. There was another pause between them, Sasha now looking at the floor again, then back up at Don. She approached him, getting in so close that Don felt the need to back up, but he stood his ground. While not being much taller then Donnie, Sasha’s stature always made it seem like she was bigger then him. This was a test, and she stared him down to see if there were any signs of wavering. And he just stared back.

“So…what do you say?” Donnie asked, trying to break the silence. Sasha tucked her bottom lip in a bit, her eyes not leaving him. The look in her eyes was thoughtful, then she opened her mouth to speak.

“YO GUYS! WHAT’S THE ETA ON THAT POPCORN? YOU TWO LOVE BIRDS DONE YET?”

The interruption from Mikey calling out for them, along with the ensuing swoons from others mocking them as well, made them both quickly jolt back from one another. Sasha actually seemed rather pissed off by it and she growled back, “ROME WASN’T BUILT IN A DAY! AND NEITHER IS GOOD POPCORN! JUST SETTLE YOUR SHELL!” The others could be heard laughing in the background. Sasha caught her breath and hissed a bit in irritation, before sighing, looking back at Donnie with a disappointment look. “W-we’ll talk more after the movies. Okey?” Donnie had caught his breath too, but now looked disappointed. “S-sure…”

With that the two finished making the Popcorn, and finally came out to the living room where everyone was waiting to start the movie. “Bout time you two joined us! Donnie burn something again?” Raph teased. “Nooo, he actually did quite well. Though maybe it would’ve been done faster if SOME turtles had tried helping out!” Sasha chastised, only to be met with the remaining three turtles looking away, whistling a tune. Sasha rolled her eyes, looking over to April, hoping to get some actual conversation going! “Soooo, did you guys finally decide what to watch? I’m pretty curious!” April nodded, putting in a DVD, “Yep! Casey’s movie is the first!” “Booyah! You’re gunna love it! You’re from like, the desert and stuff, right? The Mummy is the best horror film ever!”

Donnie placed down a few bowls of popcorn onto the coffee table, as Sasha moved over to the side of the couch, still holding a huge bucket of popcorn for herself and Leatherhead. “The Mummy? What’s so scary about Mummies?” She seemed genuinely confused. “You don’t think they look creepy! Dead bodies wrapped in bandages, trying to eat your brain!” Casey argued, getting up and out of his seat and lunging at Sasha playfully, imitating a mummy. Sasha’s ears tilted back, and she stepped back from him, “Yeah…mummies aren’t like that at all! Having seen some up close, they’re more fascinating then anything. You humans are spooked by the weirdest things…”

Casey scoffed, sitting back down and crossing his arms, “Says the girl who can’t look at a kiddy pool without getting shaky…” He muttered under his breath to April, who rolled her eyes at him. “What was that Jones?” Sasha hissed as she turned her head to look back at him, her ears still back. “N-Nothin’! Nothin’ at all!” He scrambled to keep her from jumping him, April and the others having to stifle giggles. “That’s what I thought…” Sasha huffed, turning her attention on trying to find a seat.

Sasha quickly noticed that all the seats where taken on the couch and chairs, with only Leatherhead sitting on the ground, as he was far too big to sit on anything really. As small as she was, she still didn’t like the idea of having to squeeze into any of the seats, getting a little too close for comfort with anyone. But he didn’t need to worry as Leatherhead patted his lap, sitting cross legged on the ground. “It’s easier to share popcorn this way.” He said, giving her a warm and toothy grin. Sasha thought nothing really about it, and agreed. Walking over to him and plopping herself down in his lap. Being this close to Leatherhead was pretty normal to her, having spent plenty of nights by his side, calming him down from his nightmares and helping him get to sleep. However, it was a new sight for a certain terrapin ninja. Donnie had scooted into the couch next to Mikey and Honeycutt, and if she had asked, he would’ve gladly moved to the floor. But instead, here he was, staring at his crush in the lap of another large male mutant!

The normally levelheaded turtle had to admit to himself, it made his heart sink and his blood boil. Truthfully he’d always envied, to some degree, how close Leatherhead was to Sasha. She lived with him, spent most of the day with him, and judging by how comfortable she was touching him and sitting in his lap, spent a lot of time getting…cozy with him. As the movie started on the TV, Donnie started to feel a bit sick, watching Letherhead and Sasha in the corner of his eyes. He’d hold out his hand, and Sasha would take a bit of the Popcorn and place it into his palm.

“Why isn’t she like that with us? With me?”

And after she left his offer for a date unanswered, it made this even harder to watch.

✨💛💜✨

Movie after movie, the night continued, until it was time to start getting to bed. Everyone set up sleeping bags, pillows, and blankets in the living room. Casey and April shared the couch, Mikey and Donnie taking up the Lazyboy chairs, and the others all scattered along the floor. All except Honeycutt who decided to return to Leatherhead’s lair. While getting ready for bed, Donnie ran into Leatherhead, who was washing the bowls and cups they had used all night. “Oh, Donatello! I need to ask you, which soap do you tend to use for your dishes? The Green Apple scent or the Original?” Leatherhead asked, turning his head to see his turtle friend standing in the doorway. Donnie was stunned for a moment, as he wasn’t sure how to feel. His voice was caught between wanting to snap at him cause he was still upset about Sasha. But the more rational side of him told him to cool it for now. He shrugged, “Oh uhhhh, I think we use Original…” he replied, sounding a bit mopey as he crossed the room and grabbed a cup from the cabinets, doing his best to not make eye contact. But Leatherhead noticed immediately, “What is wrong my friend? You seem upset.” Donnie stayed still, staring at the cup in his hand, trying his best to not snap at him, debating on whether or not to say anything.

“I really don’t have the right to be upset. I don’t own her…” Donnie said flatly. His eyes flew wide open, and he gasped a bit at what just came out of his mouth. He really didn’t wanna say it out loud, but it just…came out. Even Leatherhead was a little spooked, it was a tone he had never heard from his terrapin friend. He sounded almost, bitter and childish. “What are you talking about? You don’t own who?” As soon as he said it, it’s like the answer came right to the front of his mind, but it still didn’t make sense. “Are you…talking about Sasha?” Hearing her name come from Leatherhead’s mouth brought Donnie back to reality, and brought back his earlier frustration. That’s when he finally looked up at the taller reptile, with a face that made Leatherhead actually step back for a second. “Look, Leatherhead. I-I…need you to be honest with me!” Donnie started, he looked like a mixture of determination, worry, and possibly anger. “Of course my friend…” Leatherhead’s brows turned down in concerned confusion.

Donnie sucked in a breath, clenching his fist before finally breathing out, a slight shake coming from the puff of air. “Are and Sasha…involved at all?” The words felt painful coming from his lips, the meaning of which almost made a tear come to his eyes. Even his voice hitched as he spoke. He trusted Leatherhead so much, he was one of his closest friends. For sure he knew how he felt about Sasha, even without being told directly! And if he was having a relationship with her while knowing this, it was a betrayal on a level he hadn’t dealt with before. Leatherhead’s eyes went wide as the words finally met his ears, his jaws gaping open in an attempt to speak. “W-what? Have you gone mad?” “Just please answer me Leatherhead!” Donnie snapped back, he was trying his best to sound tough, like he wasn’t about to cry. And still trying not to be heard by the others. “I-I don’t know what you’re going on about friend! What Sasha and I have is purely platonic. Nothing more! Where on earth would you get the idea otherwise?” Leatherhead asked, but Donnie didn’t answer back, he just stood there, keeping eyes contact with him. That’s when it hit him.

“This is about her sitting on my lap…” he stated, his voice starting to sound less startled and more cold. If the Croc was being honest, he was kinda offended by the implications this question brought on. “And the touching and the feeding you popcorn…” Donnie added, starting to sound a bit more argumentative. A growl started to form in Leatherhead’s voice now, “You can’t be serious Donatello! I would never-“ Before he could finish his words, Sasha’s voice coming from the doorway spooked both of them. They whipped their heads to see Sasha standing there clutching a couple of chip bags that were now rolled up and clipped shut. She had a confused look on her face, looking back and forth between the two. “Did I interrupt something?” She asked.

“So…she didn’t hear anything…”

The thought alone made Donnie relax a little bit and he stammered out a response. “N-No nothing really.” Sasha squinted a bit at him, then looked at Leatherhead, who straightened up at her gaze. “Yes, nothing really too pressing.” Yeah, she didn’t buy that for a second, looking back and forth between the two again. “Alright then…well…I’ve got these leftover chips. Where would you like me to put them Donnie?” She asked. Donnie stuttered a bit but approached her “I’ve got it for you!” He took them from her arms and walked over to a random cabinet and shoved them in there. “Ah! I s-see…thanks…” Sasha said, feeling a little weird now. It was clear the two were in the middle of a conversation, one she wasn’t welcome to, so she made herself scarce. Sasha then stretched and yawned, “Well then, I’m just gunna…uhh start getting our blankets ready Leatherhead!” She chirped. “Thank you Sasha! I’ll be over to help in a minute!” Leatherhead nodded her way, prompting the turtle to give him a side glance. Sasha nodded back, giving the two of them another look before walking off.

There was silence once more between them, before Leatherhead huffed and looked back down at Donnie. The Turtle already looking back up at him. “I don’t know what is going on with you my friend, but I’d never willingly hurt you. I’d hope that after what happened with bishop and your transformation, I would have proven myself more then loyal to you and your brothers.”

“Ouch…he really had to go there…”

Donnie bristled a bit at that. It had happened a while back. And while he didn’t remember anything that happened during it, from everything Leatherhead and his brothers told him, he was a lot to deal with. He didn’t know if Sasha had been told the story of that or not, but the thought of her knowing made him cringe a bit. With that, Leatherhead went back to the dishes, turning his back to Donnie.

✨💛💜✨

After getting something cold to drink from the fridge, Donnie left the kitchen to see everyone getting settled down for the night. Including Sasha, who was making a big spot on the floor for Leatherhead. A smaller spot lay right next to it. Sasha, looked up for a split second to see him staring. Her face becoming a bit flustered. Donnie bit his lip and quickly walked over to his bedroom. Raph happened to look up and see him making a beeline for his room and let out a quick “Yo Donnie!”, prompting the purple clad turtle to stop dead in his tracks, squeezing his eyes shut in embarrassment. “What are you doing? We agreed on a full crew sleep over!” He had to think fast, come up with an excuse, any excuse that would keep him out of the same room where Sasha and Leatherhead would be laying together.

“Oh uhh, yeah I know! I-I was just gunna work on something real quick, just till I get sleepy! Then I’ll join you guys!”

Donnie chirped, just as Leatherhead came out of the Kitchen. He turned his head just in time to meet eyes with the Croc once more, then he looked back at the others, the ever friendly smile still on his face. “Promise! You guys just go ahead without me!” The others looked at one another confused, meanwhile Sasha just looked at him confused, ears tilted low. Leatherhead himself looking at the turtle with a stern stare. With that, Donnie booked it into his room and shut the door behind him, breathing in a sigh of relief, shell against the door.

After his retreat the others decided to play a few card and board games to wear themselves out. But the whole time, Sasha seamed a bit, distracted. Leatherhead had to get to the bottom of this. It was clear now to him that something had to have gone down between both of his friends. It was the only way to explain Donnie’s sudden jealousy. So after excusing himself to the kitchen, he gestured for Sasha to come with him. Sasha was confused, but agreed, as she was pretty thirsty. Once she entered the kitchen, Leatherhead was leaning against the countertop, staring right at her with an expectant look on his face. She flinched a bit, but then tried to play it cool. “H-hey big guy, what’s up?” ��I was hoping you would know.” Leatherhead responded flatly, letting his thick tail flop loudly on the ground behind him. “Know about what? I don’t fallow.” Sasha asked, now genuinely curious and a bit annoyed. Leatherhead was quite for a moment, looking like he was trying to choose his words carefully. “Donatello is acting strange, and I was hoping you’d be able to tell me why.” Sasha raised a brow, her lips turning into a frown, “Well, yeah, he’s acting weird. But why would I have anything to do with it? The more likely thing is that whatever it was you two were talking about in here earlier is what set him off.” Sasha shot back, crossing her arms, “Maybe I should be asking YOU why he’s acting weird.”

Leatherhead snorted loudly, narrowing his eyes at the feline. “You know, Michelangelo told me he overheard you two talking earlier in here…” Sasha seemed to freeze as her eyes widened, her face somehow starting to burn with embarrassment. She gulped, but tried to play it off, though her tone wasn’t convincing at all, “W-What did he hear?” “He didn’t give any details, said that the two of you were far too quiet to be understood. But whatever it was, it was charged. So to speak.” Sasha’s eyes looked down at the floor, as she absentmindedly sighed. Both with relief and frustration perhaps. Then her eyes looked back up at Leatherhead, still a bit miffed at this interrogation, “Still not sure where you’re going with this then.” Leatherhead hummed a little under his breath, before deciding it was better to be blunt about this. “Donatello seems to be a bit jealous with our relationship.”

Sasha’s face went from annoyed to being downright stunned in a matter of seconds. And she just stood there, mind spinning like a video game loading screen, before words finally started forming in her throat, “I-I w-what? How does that work? What do you mean by our ‘relationship’!?” Sasha asked, in a hushed but clearly angered tone. Doing her best to keep the others in the living room from hearing. Leatherhead shrugged, “He just really seemed to be upset with how close we seemed. Especially physically. Had a problem with you sitting in my lap during the movie and handing me popcorn.” Sasha shook her head and started rubbing her temples in frustration. A hissing sound escaping her lips. “I told him that he should be able to trust me, given our history together. But I wanted to know if there was actually something going on between the two of you that I should know about. Because I’m clearly missing something.” Leatherhead added. Sasha huffed, now crossing her arms. Having her back turned now at the Croc.

Even from behind her, he could see her staring at the ground, her tail and ears twitching with aggravation. Clearly thinking. He gave her a few moments, before her ears drooped in defeat and she sighed, “Promise me! This doesn’t leave this room!” She looked back at him over her shoulder. Leatherhead silently nodded. Sasha then turned to face him, eyes still low to the ground and arms crossed in front of her, but now her cheeks actually started to show a slight pink hue. “D-Donnie sorta…asked me out…” She muttered.

There was a pause, and Leatherhead’s eyes slowly widened.

“Oh!” He said, finally putting two and two together. Sasha growled and her eyes snapped up at him, she wasn’t sure why, but his almost lackluster reaction to this news pissed her off. “Oh! Just Oh!?” “Sorry! Sorry I just wasn’t expecting that! You mean like…asked you out! As in a date?” Leatherhead asked. Sasha’s irritation dropped a bit and she shrugged, “He said we didn’t have to call it that. Just two friends hoping to get closer to one another and understand their feelings more…” She muttered, looking back down at the floor. Leatherhead raised and eyebrow at that, a slight smirk tugging at his lips, “That sounds a lot like a date.” “That’s exactly what I said.” There was another pause.

“So, did you say yes?”

“No…”

“You rejected him?”

“What? No! W-we got interrupted before I could give him an answer…”

“Ooohhhhh…” he said, looking off to the floor. Mulling over this new information. Now Donnie’s attitude made a lot more sense. To pour your heart out and finally ask out the girl you’ve been crushing on for the last few months, only to then have no clear answer and watch as she gets closer to another dude. And his close friend at that! He’d be a bit miffed too. Maybe even violent. Though, Sasha can’t really be held responsible for this alone. “So what did you end up telling him?” He asked, finally looking back at her. “I told him that we would talk more about it after the movie. But…then I saw you two in here talking, and now Donnie seems awfully upset…” Sasha responded, leaning against the counter. Leatherhead sighed, This whole thing was a bit of an emotional mess. And communication would be the obvious answer. “You need to tell him your decision tonight. Irreparable damage could be done to your relationship if you don’t let him know soon. And frankly, I can’t stay. I’ve never seen Donatello so angry before, and while I won't hold it against him, if I stay the night, I’ll only make it worse…” Leatherhead muttered. Sasha’s ears drooped, he was right. This needed to be settled soon.

With that, Leatherhead left the room with Sasha closely following. He said his goodbyes to the others, but explained that he had to head back home to be with Professor Honeycutt.

As he left, Donnie peaked ever so slightly out of his door, to see Leatherhead leaving…with Sasha close behind him. It stung, he couldn’t deny that! But, he also couldn’t blame them. After being the kind of ass he was being, he’d be surprised if either of them wanted to talk to him ever.

“So much for…getting closer and figuring things out…”

With regret and shame in his heart, he slumped back over to his bed and flopped down onto it.

✨💛💜✨

A few hours had passed since Donnie passed out, and he looked over at the clock across the room. “2:30 a.m…” he muttered, yawning as he did so. He felt his mouth was dry and his head seemed to hurt quite a bit. “Should probably get some water…” he thought, before remembering that the others were still in the living room, and that he had promised to come out to join them all. He cringed, guilt tugging at his nerves. He tiptoed over to the door and peaked out again, relieved to find everyone had fallen asleep. The pressure of them badgering him was now gone, and replaced with a new fear and mission. “Get to the kitchen and get some water without waking them.” He thought.

As silently as he could, he cracked the door open and stared tiptoeing his way to the kitchen, putting his ninja training into practice. Only stopping shortly to look over at the entrance to the Lair, more guilt seeping in as he remembered seeing Leatherhead and Sasha leaving together. But, he got to the kitchen without waking anyone, and he quietly got a small cup and turned the faucet on. After filling his cup, he peaked out of the kitchen, and after seeing that the coast was clear, he tiptoed back to his room.

He turned to softly close the door behind him, but as soon as he turned back to look at his bed, he saw Sasha sitting there. Blue eyes staring right at him in the dark room. The surprise alone of someone being there, made him flinch and almost scream, but he was stopped when Sasha zipped off the bed and was now in front of him, covering his mouth with the back of her hand. “Shhhhh! It’s me, relax!” She whispered harshly. After a few seconds of hyperventilation, Donnie blinked a bit and relaxed, Sasha then moved her hand away from him and stepped back. “W-when did..” he tried asking, but Sasha answered promptly, “About the time you were on your way to the Kitchen. You stopped and looked my way. Thought you saw me, but it didn’t seem like it…” “Oh…I see.” He muttered, then froze realizing that his cup was missing and nearly having a heart attack, thinking that he dropped it and alerted the others. But just as the thought crossed his mind, he saw Sasha holding up the cup in the dark. “Getting yourself a drink after working for so long?” She said softly, a tinge of sarcasm and bitterness in her tone. Donnie’s heart shriveled up a bit. She knew he was lying.

Donnie took the cup from her fingers and chugged it down, but it really didn’t help much, her being here like this made his stomach feel sick. The silence between them was the loudest thing in the world now, and it made Donnie feel so clammy. But he had to say something. But once again, Sasha spoke first. “Leatherhead told me everything…” And just like that, Donnie’s heart dropped to the floor so hard he was surprised it didn’t wake everyone in The Lair. He felt heat rise to his cheeks and he felt tears beginning to come to his eyes. “I-I don’t know what came over me…” he started, “…and I’m sorry…” “I’m not really the one who needs to hear that…” Sasha piped up. “I know, and I plan to tell him sorry in the morning. But, I’m also sorry to you…” Sasha raised an eyebrow at that. Donnie sighed, “I had no right to act Ike that. You didn’t belong to me, you still don’t, and you never will. I was being selfish, entitled, jealous, and…just plain stupid…” he said, taking a seat over by his deck, slumped over, face in his hands.

Sasha kept her eyes on him the whole time, and after hearing that, a soft red started to creep up on her cheeks. She stayed silent for a bit, waiting to see if he would say more. But he didn’t, so she continued, “You’re the furthest thing from stupid Don. Cut yourself some slack. Not every guy out there can admit that sorta thing out loud, ya' know?” Donnie let out a dry chuckle, no humor was there though. “I don’t know if I should be praised so highly. After all…I-I…” his cheeks went dark red before continuing, “I still can’t admit how I feel about you…not to myself, to anyone, and…” his eyes trailed up to her, and seeing her rosy cheeks and blue eyes staring at him, he swallowed his words and just clammed up, looking back down at the floor. Sasha blinked in shock, her mouth slightly agape. But this shock only lasted a moment, and it was replaced with a rush.

Confidence, Determination, and Excitement!

An ever so slight grin came to Sasha’s lips, her cheeks getting warmer. “Well… at the very least I’m glad you plan on apologizing to Leatherhead! I wouldn’t wanna spend the night looking at stars with you if that was gunna be the case.” Donnie softly nodded, the words “Yeah…” muttered their way out of his mouth as he stared at the floor. Until what Sasha said finally clicked in his brain, and his head snapped back up to look at her. She had a soft smile on her lips, a small red tint peaking its way through the fur on her cheeks. Donnie’s eyes started growing wide as his heart started gaining speed in his chest. “W-wait, w-what? Did you just..” he was about to question, but Sasha just nodded softly in response. “REALLY?!” Donnie said, almost shouting, before noticing how loud he was and flinching, bringing his hands up to his mouth, clamping it shut. He quickly got up and rushed around to his door and peaked back out into the living room. Everyone was still sound asleep, and he sighed in relief.

Donnie closed the door back behind him, and faced back to Sasha. A sheepish grin pulled at the corners of his mouth, “I-I..I’m happy you’re up for it.” Sasha let a small giggle out, crossing her arms in front of herself, “Well, I was always up for something like this, but finding an activity that didn’t necessarily involve being all ‘Sciencey’ and what not was a bit difficult. Especially finding something we’d both like equally.” Donnie nodded in agreement, having had the same thoughts before talking with April about all this. Happy to see he wasn’t alone in that. “But…Stargazing actually sounds really fun! Used to do that all the time back home. And…it’s pretty romantic…” The heat on her cheeks getting stronger as those words came from her lips. Don wasn’t sure if that was a bad reaction or if she liked the idea of that, so he reiterated his earlier statement, “Y-yeah…I know. But again, we don’t…have to call it a date if that makes it too…well…you know.” “Y-Yeah, I know….” There was a very tense pause between them, before Sasha spoke up again. “Well then…Uhhh…” she stuttered out, looking at him, almost like she wasn’t sure what to do next. Her arms now kinda lifted like she wanted to reach out to him, almost like a hug or maybe something else. But she quickly shook her head and brought them back down to her sides, “Y-you have a good night, ok?”

Donnie was about to protest a bit, after seeing that, but decided not to try and press his luck. The girl he’d been crushing on for a while now had just agreed to go out with him. He wasn’t about to try anything stupid now! He softly nodded, “Y-yeah… you too Sasha…”

✨💛💜✨

With that everything was set in motion! Splinter was told about his plans and his blessing was given, though not without the embarrassing implication that he “Expects that they’re not going to do anything that would be irresponsible.” Donnie promised no such thing would get even close to happening. Not that the idea hadn’t crossed his mind before in a few dreams he’d wish would leave him alone. And of course April knew about the plan. The only one’s not in the loop where Casey & his brothers! And if he had anything to say about it, none of them would ever know about it. Though hiding the fact that he’d be gone for about a week was gunna be impossible.

For the next few days, Sasha and Donnie texted back and forth, disguising the details of the trip. Sasha was a little surprised to find out that it wouldn’t just be a single night out alone with him, but it would actually be a six day long trip! One day to make it there, two days hike out to where they would actually be star gazing, Two days back to the farmhouse, and then a one day trip back to the city! This made Sasha just a tad bit more worried about the idea, and it made a pit form in her stomach.

“Oh god…am-am I gunna be able to handle being alone with him for that long...?”

Sasha looked down at her claws, noting the sharp nails again. The memory of the other night where she accepted his offer replaying in her head again for the 30th time that day. She was about to hug him, but she had to stop herself again. Those feelings, Those thoughts, those…urges, they showed no sign of stopping. And it really started to scare her more. Worried about how she would handle it all, she went to Leatherhead for advice. If it was this hard to hold back being all cooped up, she could only imagine how much harder it would be to keep herself under control while not only being out in nature again for the first time in months, but it was also spring time. The Time of Passion for a lot of species, including themselves. Leatherhead assured her she’d be fine, but if she really felt uncomfortable, she could just change her mind about going.

But no, Sasha snorted, “I can’t keep being a coward. And I’ve already gotten this far. I might as well see how this goes. And I trust Donnie, so I need to start trying to trust myself.”

Finally the day came, and with it, butterflies galore for both of them. Donnie was in his room, getting his final preparations ready. All the gear he’d be taking with them laid out over his floor. “Let’s see…Blankets, Pillows, Telescope, Flint, Matches, Water Canteen, Notebooks…” He muttered to himself, before a knock at his door spooked him. “Hey yo, Donnie! You in there bro?” called out Raph’s muffled voice from behind the door. Donnie panicked a bit and quickly started to shove the items into his duffle bag, “Uhhh, j-just a minute Raph! I’m here!” Raph raised a brow at that, “The heck does that mean? The hell are you-“ Raph asked as he opened Donnie’s door anyways to see his brother haphazardly slamming his duffle bag under his desk and him quickly plopping his butt into his deck chair. There was a pause while Donnie tried playing it cool, “Oh hey! Sorry about that Raph, I was just…uhhh…you know…reorganizing my stuff…” trailing off in the last part a bit. Both in a way that made it sound like he was questioning what was coming out of his mouth and instantly regretting it. He had been able to hide the trip from his brothers for the whole week, but this is where shit was gunna hit the fan.

It was pretty obvious that Donnie was lying, he was never good at it! Raph’s eyes flicked down at the duffle bag and then back up at his brother, then they narrowed, “You always stuff your bag full of your crap when you ‘Reorganize’ things?” He asked, really not amused. “I do now.” Donnie stated, quickly rushing past his brother. If he was gunna be getting ready for this trip and getting the snacks packed, he was gunna have to do it now while he still could. But Raph wasn’t letting him go that easy. The whole week leading up to today, he, Leo, and Mikey had been feeling like something was up with him and Sasha! Big time! Mikey said that during the sleepover, he overheard Sasha and Donnie talking in his room, but couldn’t exactly understand what they were saying. And ever since that, the two of them have been a lot weirder around each other. They could be seen starring at one another more often, they’d be whispering to one another, and it seemed like the super awkward air they had between them was nearly gone almost over night! And now, this morning, Donnie hadn’t come out of his room and was now packing a bag with god knows what!

“Like Shell you do! The heck is up with you today?” Raph asked, fallowing close behind his brother who was heading to the kitchen. “I have no clue what you’re talking about…” Donnie said quickly, trying to shake off the praying. But it wasn’t gunna work. Leo stopped his training to walk over to them, “What’s going on?” Leo asked, concerned that the two might have gotten into another fight. “Donnie here is packing a bag in his room!” Raph said, still fallowing Don and not stopping. “What?” Leo asked, genuinely concerned hearing this. “It’s not how it sounds…” Donnie said while digging through the cabinets for a few sandwich bags and filling them with a few small snacks. “It’s exactly how it sounds! Don’t give us that!” Raph barked back. “What the shell are you doing packing up your stuff Donnie?” Leo asked, now getting really worried. “I’m…going on a short trip…” Donnie’s said, figuring he might as well give them that much. “What!? Why? Where? Does Splinter know about this?” “Any particular order you want those answers in?” Donnie snarked back as he quickly gathered up some juice pouches into a cooler along with the snacks, still not making eye contact with his brothers.

“Stop it Donnie, I’m serious! What is going on?” Leo tried to plead, but it fell on deaf ears as Donnie slid a few extra things from the fridge into his cooler and made his way back out of the kitchen, cooler in hand. “Nothing that you two need to concern yourselves with! I’m just gunna be gone for a week! I’ll be fine!” Donnie said, obviously getting annoyed and stressed by the badgering from his brothers, speed-walking his way back to his room. And just as he saw his open bedroom door, he could see Mikey, looking through his Shell Cell. The duffle bag he had on the floor now open.

“MIKEY!” Donnie shouted in anger as he charged into his room, quickly whipping the Shell Cell from his hands and quickly slinging the duffle bag over his shoulders. “Whoa! Easy Donnie, I was just-“ “Snooping through my things when I’ve told you about a thousand times not to…” Donnie quickly retorted, clearly not amused. “Come on dude! You aren’t telling us what you’re up to, and I KNOW you’re up to something!” Mikey said back, sure he could be a little shit stirrer, but he was just as worried about this “trip” as much as his brothers were. Donnie rolled his eyes, letting out and exacerbated huff, “Look I’m gunna be fine! I have my Bo with me, and if I need anything, I have my Shell Cell!” He said, now packed up and ready to leave. He had already texted Sasha to let her know he was ready to leave.

Walking into the living room area, Donnie just stood there, looking through the Shell Cell at his messages. But his brothers weren’t gunna let up. “Can you at least tell us where you’re going?” Leo asked. “Why, so you three can fallow me? I don’t need any praying eyes!” He brothers all just threw up their brows and that, and looked at one another. They had to admit that fallowing him was kinda on the table, but no way they were admitting it. “What does that mean?” Leo asked. “Yeah!?” Raph asked. “You got some super secret vehicles you’re working on or something?” Mikey asked. Donnie turned to look at his brothers, “What? No! Look, I’m not telling you guys what I’m doing or where I’m going! And that’s final!” Donnie snapped. The brothers had to take a step back for a minute, looking a bit concerned now. Donnie sighed, “Look, I’m sorry, ok? I just need to be alone for this! Splinter and April know where I am if something happens to me. But I’m gunna be fine, I just, need to face this on my own.”

Leo narrowed his brows a bit, Donnie made it seem like a very important mission, “Face what on your own?” But before Leo could get any kind of answer to his question, a voice came up from behind Donnie at the entrance to the lair! “Hey Donnie, sorry for taking a while, I had to find all my old camping ge-“ Sasha chirped as she entered the lair, to see Donnie, Leo, Mikey, and Raph all looking up at her. The latter three looking up at her a bit bewildered. Donnie looking back at her over his shoulder, now smiling. There was a short pause before Sasha let out a nervous chuckle, taking in the scene right in front of her. “Oh…Am I interrupting something?” She asked, a crooked smile crossing her face. “Nope! Just finishing up here!” Donnie chirped back, giving her a sweet smile, his brothers now looking at the two of them with wide eyes and slacked jaws.

Sasha, noticed the light signal from Don that she needed to run, and she nodded. “Ah! I see, well…meet you in the Battle Shell then! See you in a week fellas!” She said, giving them another smile and backing up a bit. And before any of them could react, Sasha turned tail and sped off on foot. Another awkward pause wafted through the room, before Don looked back at his brothers, “Welp, you heard her! And it’s not polite to keep a lady waiting!” “WHAT?” His brothers shouted, but Don was already booking it out of the lair, disappearing in to the darkness of the tunnels. “The shell was that?!” Raph asked, genuinely thrown off by how bizarre and quickly that went down. “I-I don’t know…” Leo muttered, honestly too shocked to really understand what just happened. “Huh…well that explains what I found in Donnie’s bag…” Mikey then starts to giggle a little, that impish smile he gets when he’s just played a prank on someone slowly growing on his face. “What? What’s so funny?” Raph looked at his brother with a raised eyebrow. “Oh nothing…sure we’ll find out in a week…” Mikey grinned.

✨💛💜✨

Donnie was nearly out of breath by the time he made it to the warehouse, where Sasha was already sitting besides the Battle Shell, leaning up against it. But once she heard his feet approaching she straighten up and waved. She looked nervous, but was clearly trying to hide it, “How did it go?” She asked. Donnie shook his head as he approached her, “About as good as I figured it would…” he said. Sasha cringed, “Ooof. Sorry to leave you behind like that…” “No need to apologize, probably would’ve gone way worse had you stuck around.” Donnie admitted, opening the back of the Battle Shell, loading up his duffle bag and cooler. “Fair enough!” Sasha said, also placing her duffle bag next to his. “With that said we should probably get outta here pretty quick before they have a chance to fallow?” “Oh you bet! Hop in!” Donnie said, climbing into the Battle Shell first, turning around once inside, holding out his hand to her. Sasha blinked a bit, surprised by the offer. Her eyes looked up to his and he was giving her a soft smile, cheeks the slightest bit dark. “N-need a lift?” Sasha looked back down at his outstretched hand, lips pressed into a thin line, contemplating and nervous. Finally, she tentatively reached out and gently took his hand. Donnie then pulled her up into the Battle Shell, finally sliding the back hatch behind them down.

Sasha had been in the Battle Shell a small number of times before now, and it always impressed her just how much work went into it. It was one of the first projects Leatherhead ever told Sasha about when she first met him, and was telling her about how brilliant Donnie was. When she finally got to meet him and he decided to show her the Battle Shell, she was smitten with it! Such a beautiful machine made from only scraps and junk. It was truly a sight to behold. Since then, she’s been allowed to help in making adjustments to it. Specifically, Donnie wanted her to help with making it go faster, which the cheetah was more than delighted to help with. Speed was part of who she was after all, and her tips on making the Battle Shell more aerodynamic were incredibly effective. Only now further demonstrated by how fast Donnie pulled it out of the warehouse and into the back allies! When they finally made it onto the main streets of the city, Sasha’s eyes seemed to grow to the size of dinner plates!

“Oh my spots…” She said in amazement. Seeing the city at night from the rooftops was one thing, but during the day it was a whole other beast. The sun was so bright, there were so many people it was impossible to make out any one face in the crowd, and all the noise going on was insane. A stray thought made Sasha wince as her ears drooped and she moved her face away from the windows a little. “Uhhh aren’t you worried someone is gunna like…see us?” She asked, honestly not having thought about that until now. “No need to worry! I tinted these windows to the maximum legal limit! They won’t be able to make us out.” Donnie chimed up. Sasha sighed, feeling a lot better now. “Oh good! Thought I was gunna get us caught there of a sec…” She started shifting her gaze back out the window again, partly to keep looking at the world around them, and partly to try and keep from making eye contact with Donnie. She was hoping that the new sights would keep the butterflies that had been doing back flips inside her stomach down, but that wasn’t happening.

“Beautiful, isn’t it?” Donnie asked, noticing her wondering look. “It’s definitely something! They have cities in South Africa too, but…nothing like this!” Sasha responded, still not looking back at Donnie. Donnie nodded, his eyes now wondered over from the road to Sasha in the passenger's seat. He didn’t say anything about it before and had no plans to bring it up to her at all out of fear of being seen as a creep, but…something seemed…different about her today. Almost…prettier. Not that he ever thought of her as not pretty, far from it actually. But for some reason, her fur seemed smoother, more groomed then she normally looked. Her coat shining in what little sunlight was making its way through the windows. And…if he wasn’t mistaken, she had to be wearing some kind of perfume, or maybe it was her shampoo. It was a fruity smell, like a watermelon maybe. The smell of which was filling the cab.

“Did she really get all dolled up just for this?”

This staring went on for a bit, till he noticed something, her tail was wrapped around in her lap. Her nails lightly playing with the fur at the ends, hands seemingly shivering. Of course, she was nervous. Not that he blamed her, so was he.

A honk from a car behind them made Donnie jolt a little, focusing his attention back onto the road, nearly making him leap out of his shell. Sasha then glanced back at him, “Y-you get everything you needed?” She asked. “Huh? O-oh, yeah! Well, just the essentials. I was packing over the span of the week so my brothers wouldn’t get suspicious. B-But uhhhh…you saw how well that went.” Donnie answered, his hands gripping the steering wheel every once in a while. Sasha nodded, taking notice of his hands, it was pretty clear he was nervous but was doing his best to seem relaxed. And that’s when a faint hint of sunlight made her notice something else. A short but noticeable glimmer came from behind Donnie.

“D-Did he polish his shell? All for...this? For...me?”

The thought made Sasha’s face burn, though she really couldn’t judge. She was the one that called April and had her come over way earlier in the day before she left to help her get ready. And for moral support.

Feeling like she was starting to stare a bit, she quickly looked away and started trying to think of something to say, keeping her eyes anywhere but at him. “I-I'm really glad you asked me to come with you…” She said, sheepishly. Donnie blinked, glancing at her from the corner of his eye, “Oh…Really?” Sasha nodded, “Yeah, I mean, I not only get to spend a bit more time with…well, you. But I also get to see a forest for the first time!” Donnie took a second for those words to set in his mind, the idea of her never seeing a forest before was baffling, but then logic kicked back in and he nodded. “Oh yeah, that’s right!” “This closest I’ve ever gotten to seeing one was a Jungle, but it wasn’t very big. And of course, pictures online and in books don't really count.” Sasha added. “Well, I’m hoping to show you more then just that! We have a two day hike ahead after we get there. Casey, April, and my brothers have had a few…adventures out there. I can even show you where a spaceship crashed!”

Sasha’s eyes grew wide and her head snapped up to look at him, “Are you for real?” Donnie laughed, “I wouldn’t lie to you! Yeah! I can also show you a nuclear power plant that we shut down because it was killing off some mutant fish folk that were living in the river!” Sasha’s mouth curled into a wide grin, “This so cool! I can’t wait to see it!”

With a little bit of the tension lifted, the rest of their drive out of the city was a little more comfortable. And once they started hitting the wilderness, Sasha’s eyes wondered even more. Without much traffic around them now, Sasha felt safe enough to roll down her window a bit to see everything better. The trees were just beginning to sprout fresh leaves, and the grass seemed to already be bringing out colorful flowers and weeds! The sun was high in the sky, giving the daytime a pleasant warmth, something for the plants and newly awoken critters to soak up to prepare for the new season. The scent of clean spring air hit Sasha’s face, her smile turning soft as she took it in. Her fur seemed to shiver a little, as if a new wave of energy was going through her body.

That’s when another feeling creeped into her body, and she froze a little, a rush of embarrassment and worry slowly starting to take over. Her eyes glanced over at Donnie, who seemed more relaxed, but was still focused on the road. A very slight smile on his face. Taking in his features, Sasha felt that weird tingle in her body and she frowned.

“T-this is…gunna get…weird…”

Sasha started looking down at the floor, thankful that the window was down now so that she could get a soft cool breeze on herself as her cheeks began to burn hard. “H-Hey uhhh, D-Donnie?” She started softly, starting to feel her paws shake. Donnie almost didn’t hear her over the sound of the wind, but his eye’s could see her lips move from the corner of his eye and he turned his head slightly, “Huh? What’s up?” He asked, honestly looking a little concerned now. She didn’t look too hot, and her cheeks could be seen turning red through the fur on her cheeks, “You getting sick? Should I pull over?” He asked. Sasha shook her head, “N-no it’s just…I-I’m a bit worried.” She muttered, her hands coming together in her lap, clamping onto one another tightly. Donnie’s brows curved up, taking quick glances at her, still trying to keep an eye on the road. “What about? If it’s the hike and camping-“ He was cut off pretty quickly. “N-No! I-It’s not that…I-It’s…about me…” Donnie cocked a brow and looked at her for a good long second at that. “What do you mean? Thought you said you weren’t sick.” Sasha grimaced a bit, looking back out the window at the beautiful woods just beyond the road, as if she were looking for a way to put it. “I suppose you could…see it as being ‘sick’, in a way…” She said.

Now that REALLY confused the poor terrapin, but she was clearly getting at something, so he prodded as gently as he could, “Okeeeey…care to explain?” Sasha gulped, “Tell me…W-what does spring usually mean?” Donnie felt like he had to pause and reboot his brain for a moment. The vagueness of that question only making his worry and confusion more tangled. But, he trusted she was going somewhere with this, so he tentatively answered, “Uhhhh, well I think Blooming Flowers, Bugs, Warmer weather, and maybe allergies?” Sasha has to hold back a small laugh at his last statement, but it seemed like he didn’t notice. But the laugh was replaced with a loud sigh, as she started coming to the realization that she was gunna have to spell it out for him. Her face getting even hotter. “It also happens to be the season of procreation for many species…”

"..."

The silence is incredibly loud in the Battle Shell, even the wind coming in through the cracked window seemed to be drowning in it. Donnie’s eyes went wide as a slight heat creeped up into his cheeks, waiting for a second for what she said to sink in. He turned his head slightly her way, only to see her still facing out the window, but her eyes staring right at him. Her cheeks were a bright red, ears drooped and her mouth was in an uncomfortable frown. “…that includes yours and mine.” She concluded, her voice almost hitching, but the statement still hit like a semi-truck. That’s when Donnie’s face started turning bright red and he quickly looked away just to try and save himself from every thought racing into his head at once. But, it was too late! He really wasn’t sure what to say to that!

“I-I uhhh, w-well, I mean…you’re right. But-but that d-dosen’t mean anything. W-we’re not like…well normal animals! We have more control!” He said, just trying to get something said out loud. Though it sounded more like he was trying to convince himself and her, but it didn’t, as a hoard of butterflies started churning in his stomach again. Nights worth of dreams finally flooding his brain with any and all scenarios his teenaged mind could conjure. Sasha just whimpers a bit, shifting in her seat so that she’s scooted a bit further from her turtle friend, but still facing him. Her eyes started drifting down to the floor, “Y-Yeah, I know. B-but it’s less you I’m worried about, and…m-more me…” Donnie glanced at her, and she continued, “Being a cheetah, we a-aren’t that tough, but we’re still big cats. And cats are…p-pretty…aggressive during this kind of season…” a tinge of worry coming across Donnie’s face a little hearing this. “And it get’s more intense when w-we’re…in our element. So to speak…”

“Y-your not gunna…like…hurt me, or anything like that are you?” Donnie asked, honestly a little confused by her words. The way she was talking it was like she was scared she might try to eat him. Sasha’s eyes flew up and she looked really scared, “My Spots! N-no! Never in my life! It’s just…remember that night how I-I…” she trailed off, looking down. She slowly opened her paw to look at it. He knew what she was getting at almost immediately, bringing his own hand up to his cheek, it getting warm again. “Y-yeah…I remember…” “When I’m…in my element, I tend to be a…bit more bold. And I start to show a bit more of myself…” she continued, “You’ve likely noticed before…” Donnie thought about it, and she did seem to be a bit more open when they’d be out on missions, or in the heat of battle, or even just when she’s in the zone while in the lab. Calm, tactical, and cheery most of the time, but Donnie started seeing glimpses of something else during these other occasions. A Sly playfulness here or a small trace of bashfulness there, little peeks into Sasha’s true personality.

Donnie let his mind wander a bit, before Sasha sighed, “I’m sorry for having to bring it up NOW, but… I didn’t wanna seem like I didn’t wanna…go out with you like this…” she said, her eyes glancing back out the window, leaning against the door with one arm up against it, the other on her lap and cradling her stomach. “N-no! It’s ok! I-I’m happy you’re being honest with me! That’s the whole point of this trip after all! To get to know each other more!” Donnie said, reassuring her. A slow nervous smile passed over Sasha’s lips, “…just promise me that… if I get too…” her cheeks turned bright red and her ears lowered “…Frisky…, you’ll stop me if I cross a line. And p-please don’t…take it too personally…”

The word ‘frisky’ coming from Sasha of all folks made Donnie nearly laugh, but he held it in immediately. “Of course! I promise, nothing you could do would cross a line for me! But, uhhhh, I suppose the same should be said for me…” Sasha looked at him, an eyebrow raised. Donnie nervously chuckled, rubbing the back of his neck some, “I’m assuming you know how turtles get w-when…uhhh…” he trailed off, cheeks burning immediately. Sasha smirked a little, nodding.

Of course, Sasha was always more into the Biology branches of science, it was something he admired about her. He swallowed, “R-right, so…stop me if I cross a line too.” Sasha nodded again, “Deal… though…” a light devious glint hit her eyes “I don’t think I’ll need to worry about you. I know more about your body than you do about mine…” Donnie eyes grew at the sound of that, and his looked over her way. She was blushing still, a slight smirk on her face, but she was leaning against the window again. Staring off at the passing trees. The butterflies in his stomach were going insane now, his face practically wanting to melt off.

"W-what the shell?"

Quickly looking back at the road so they wouldn’t crash, Donnie kept driving. Sasha felt pleased with that, but the pit in her stomach still hadn’t let up. She had been honest with him. Right?

✨💛💜✨

After about another hour or so, they finally pulled up the long dirt road leading up to the large Farmhouse. Sasha let out a long whistle, looking at the size of the property and seeing the woods just beyond it. “Talk about some fresh air! This place is so…beautiful!” She said, taking off her seat belt, still keeping her eyes trained on the tree line. Donnie huffed out a small laugh, “I know right! Plenty of wide open space for us to just stretch our legs a-“ The sound of Sasha’s door opening and her hopping out made him stop. The speedy pattering of her feet on the grass was so quick that Donnie hardly started unbuckling his seatbelt yet. By the time he finally climbed out, he turned his attention to the back of the Battle Shell, and Sasha had already made it halfway across the property. She was looking all over the place, slowly turning, her tail softly flicking behind her. She was wonderstruck!

A soft smile spread on Donnie’s lips as he watched her. “I guess she really HAD been needing some time out in nature.” Sasha only stopped moving when her eyes landed on the sight of the distant hills, a huge smile spreading on her face. A present spring breeze blew through the trees and grass, and as it made its way into her fur, Sasha closed her eyes and took in a huge breath of it. The tips of her ears and tail now softly twitching. She then let out with a sigh, the wind suddenly changing direction and strength along with it, almost in sync. That’s when her ears flicked to something behind her, and she quickly turned to see Donnie approaching her, carrying both his and her own bags. “Huh, that wind gust was pretty strong!” He chuckled, getting closer and holding her bag out to her.

Sasha seemed to flinch at him taking notice of that and her ears drooped a bit, but she quickly shook that off and took her bag from him. “O-oh yeah, you know! These Spring winds they…uhhhh…always seem to…you know…move with the hearts of those who let it in.” Donnie raised a brow at that, “I’ve never heard that one before…” he said, a small smile on his face. While it was strange, Sasha always seemed to know a few weird sayings, most of which were kinda funny but mostly endearing. Maybe even a little spiritual at times. “Y-yeah, it’s something my Grandmother used to say…” She said, seeing to be in a hurry to stop talking about it, quickly slinging her bag onto her shoulders. “Well, I hope you’re ready to move like the wind, cause we’ve got a LOT of ground to cover before we make it to were we gotta be.” Donnie piped up, tilting his head in the direction of the woods just ahead of them.

She looked at him of a second, her ears perking back up again, the cat-like smirk returning to her lips, “Born ready my terrapin friend! Lead the way!” Donnie walked ahead a bit, “Well, We’ll have to move a bit stealthily from here for about a mile through these woods! Casey has a neighbor here who once sent his pitbull after Mikey.” “Oh! Crazy Man Hatchet?” Donnie froze for a second, looking back at her surprised that she knew. “How did-“ Sasha shrugged, “Mikey told me the story! You three saved a furry green man thing and it’s baby.” “Right…well, I’m hoping we won’t be seen like he was. But, like I said, we only got to get past a mile and then we should be in the clear.” Sasha nodded, “You got it…” she started walking ahead of him, only stopping to get right next to him, giving him a playful bump on his shoulder “Ninja Boy…” The way her voice came out was so sultry and almost teasing. Donnie froze a bit, feeling her soft tail brush his arm as she passed him. The tingle from such an action traveled through his whole body, making him shutter as his face began to burn. “Oh shell…is THIS what she meant by ‘being bold’?” He thought to himself, staring at Sasha, slack-jawed as she walked ahead of him. Noticing the way her tail swooshed, moving in time with her steps and the sway of her hips. He gulped, “If so, I just hope I can handle all of…that!”

The cheetah looked back at him, over her shoulder, “Race you to the other side?” She shouted back, a sly smirk on her. The return of that competitive spirit in her, and the quickening of her steps made Donnie flinch, before springing to life himself. He smirked and ran to catch up, “Sure, but aren’t I supposed to lead the way!?” He yelled back, with a laugh in his voice.

(To Be Continued...)

[loremaster]

i need u to know tht im thinking abt ur boba au SO much like actually. im so looking forward to wht u hav in store for it.. makes me think abt the ch0 crew a lot more than i probs would without it lol esp abt melami and how using her forte would work in kanai.. if they tried speaking to a victim through her how would that go.. since they dont actually die theres no ghost to talk to now is there… or would their originals soul turn up instead if she got their clothes .. and ofc the question whether she would also see shinigami and stuff.. many thoughts

this message was a treat to wake up to!! (don’t ask why i slept so long in the middle of the day shhh) glad to hear you’re so excited to see what’s next, I am too

and sorry that chapter 2 is taking so long, there are a couple reasons why:

1. life happens, I got busy with the first semester of school wrapping up, and then a busy holiday season

2. i’m showing my partner a playthrough of the game (slowly but surely) so they can understand what’s been driving me insane over the past half a year. good news: he likes yakou :) we’re on chapter 2 now so i’ve been waiting to have that fresher in my memory before writing/drawing the new version (well, some of it’s already done. but most of it)

3. until then (amidst other projects) I have been working on writing the later chapters where things start to go off the rails from the existing story a bit. @growling made a really excellent point recently that with the train crew alive, that’s kinda too many characters to juggle. and it’s true! putting a bunch of extra moving pieces in the story does complicate it quite a bit WHICH IS WHY i’ve been working on adding an extra chapter. well, two extra chapters actually. one i’m calling chapter 2.5 (which is a little side story like the dlcs) and one i’m calling chapter 5 - which is an entirely new mystery that happens before the canon chapter 5 - which will turn into chapter 6. the new ch5 is actually mostly written now and i’m so so so so so pleased with it >:)

[t4tpumpkinduo]

🪦 and/or 💥 and/or ♟️ for ask game ^-^

🪦 - are certain characters functionally dead?

i'm not too sure whag this means or how to answer i fear OTL so sorrey. i think all characters are have an opportunity to impact things especially because of the limboisms + ghosts. i guess maybe alyssa? especially cuz her bigger tethers like callahan also aren't around much so theres less opportunity for her legacy/memory to be carried. wait speaking of ghosts where are cvik n clazar's ghosts. hope there's not an evil asshole who would purposely keep them from leaving frm smwhere to make sure they don't tell anyone what he did to them. lol. lmao. l

-

💥 - should c!niki apologize to c!clingyduo?

i mean i think so? cniki did super scapegoat and try to kill ctommy in a slash srs way and as interesting and well written as it was that's still naottttt. v cool. and uhh. also she helped release cdrm from prison. i donnie think she's irredeemable at all and i don't think she had to grovel but. zero concern abt the fact she's directly assisting a group of overpowered assholes in releasing sm shithead abuser who ruined HER AND ALL HER FRIENDS LIVES so he can run around and do it again is pretty crazy. imo. to be clear ☝️‼️ ilove cniki i absolutely do but like. cmon.

-

♟️ - was c!wilbur a dictator for trying to rig the vote?

oiuwhUWGH I'VE BEEN WAITING TO BE ANNOYING ABT THIS. HELLO. OK.

to start, no, i don't think he's a dictator for it at all 👍 i think dictator is a pretty specific thing that people LOVEEE to throw around incorrectly in dsmp discussion. BUT, while he may not be not a dictator, he IS a MASSIVE LOSER 🗣‼️

my hot take abt it is that uhh. i think people tend to have an incredibly reductive view abt cwilbur. specifically in wilburian circles which i've complained abt lots before but. idk the strange incentive to sand down all the shit that makes him interesting or deeper to form this bland, more easily palatable/defendable mush of a character makes me insane in my head.

the reason i bring this up here (and how it relates to my point/the prompt) is: acting like ctommy was solely and selflessly cwilburs only motivation for making lmanberg is. imo. a retcon. if i am to be honest w you. because it's Not Textually True.

like yes, he does deeply, deeply love tommy, that's undeniable. yes, he clearly built it w him squarely in mind but it was also for everyone! lmanberg was a family! his literal actually son lived there. they all loved eachother, they wanted a place for themselves. and it was Also for power and Also sticking it to the man!! (And completely justified to be clear!! he was being smarmy abt it, of course but thts not a bad thing!! he was 100000% right.). not to even mention the cphil letters and what that entails. and to act like it can only be the one that makes him look "the best" is. annoying.

compare to ceret. if we act like ohhh poor baby eret was just manipulated into betraying lmanberg and that's the end of it no need to dig deeper. man shut UP. IT'S LAME. things can be complex! she was manipulated, textually, of course she was, but she was also selfish! she betrayed the people she loved most, and she wanted the crown, the kingship, he wanted power. and of course, you can't ignore that in a server where power is one of the only ways to achieve security, for both himself and her friends, it makes total sense tht she would go for it! it can be multiple things.

another example i'll use is uhh election era q to narrow it down. during the election arc, he super wanted to help people!! he was earnestly pitching that they wouldn't need an iron fist bcs they could just all learn to be niceys to eachother. he really took what ppl said to heart and wanted to make lmanberg the best it could be, away from someone who he thought would abuse his position and WAS abusing his position. and he was also a HUGE TOXICA CUNT. he stabbed people and shot them and was a huge bully, and more often that not was encouraging and participating w cschlatt's more assholey actions when he also. an asshole. because they both are. 😭 q wanted power. again, power = security in the dsmp. so you can rlly understand his throughline. while also going hey, shooting people with horse tranquilizer is also super his own stupid evil little choice. things can overlap.

so to the ctommy is cwilbs only priority there line. if it's all for him. if he secures the country at the expense of two of his little brothers lives.

for the lack of better term, why does he leave it up for grabs for his ego.

there's no power to secure at that point. they won. there's no thing he needs to overcome right now, there's no current threat. (to be clear cdrm is always a threat but at the time no one is really aware how far he's willing to go and the seeds he's planting) and again, i understand that he was paranoid, and wanted validation, but point blank canon this is a fully lucid bad decision.

and even then, if you wanna say ohh well maybe he didn't realize smone could stop him maybe he never realized smone would intervene. that's still. annoying and bad. 😭. to not even give the people the chance? i don't think it's irredeemable At All but it's purpose in the narrative is undoubtedly short sighted and selfish.

even Then, he had another chance to bag it smhow. and he fumbled that too!

(pretty good breakdown of what i will be adressing can be found here, w timestamps -> https://www.tumblr.com/stellocchia/661878977008467969/stellocchia-thespoonisvictory-s1-elections)

in the convo, cwilb offered cq the opportunity to do a coalition w him. his offer is they pool their votes together and whoever gets the most votes in between them is allowed to keep the whole country.

cq calls him out, rightfully, and goes hey man. you can act like you think i have a fair shot all you want but you are out of your dome if you think people will somehow vote for me more than they'll vote for you.

cq even tries to compromise when wil falters, and say why dont we split power and run it together. and wilbur tells him NO‼️ even if you believe that cwilbur believe that cq loves lmanberg, which i do, and even if you believe it when he says that he would be ok w it in q's hands, which i don't considering he refuses to meet him in the middle, q Does calls him out for him. he says yr just using me. this is a scam.

and ctommy and cwilb reply 'YEAH IT IS ^__^" like man cmonnnneudhdjk. and that's what makes cq join cschlatt!

so to cut myself off, no. he's not a dictator mm mm, just short sighted and selfish and unwilling to compromise. 👍 unrelatedly does anyone else think it's crazy that in the canonical pogtopia wins au wilbur was gnna jail schlatt after he lost over "commiting voter fraud" (despite cwilb trying and failing to do that as well) and was just leave him there. like. he was also gnna make cq build a second layer of the lmanberg walls and cq was going to leave a secret tunnel in it on schlatts behalf. huh. what. anyone else think that's crazy.

[hotasfahrenheit]

working on processing my feelings about both the Only Friends finale and the series in general and i know i've already posted a lot about how i see myself and my friend groups and people i know in these characters and that's part of how i know this show was well done even if other people think it was a mess.

specifically right now, i keep thinking about when -i- was 22, a friend "stole" my boyfriend and how MY response to that was to not speak to the friend for six entire months, which was painful for both of us, but to also forgive the dude right away and continue being best friends with him. the fact that i was still in love with him definitely helped, but now i can look back on that and know that our relationship wasn't working and would have ended anyway, he was just as culpable as she was in the whole situation for how they went about things, and how i handled my responses was unfair and shitty.

i thought i would never want to be friends with her again, but after a few months i realised how much i missed her and our friendship and we eventually settled back into being friends again. (especially after they also inevitably broke up- she and i have since basically lived together on and off, traveled to foreign countries together, flown back and forth across north america to see each other different places as we've both moved around, etc.)

so like... should i really be judging Mew for forgiving Top but not Boston, and for how shitty he's being to Boston still by the end? didn't I do basically the same thing to someone one time? maybe after Boston has been gone long enough, Mew will realise he's been an ass and will be willing to work on their relationship. maybe he'll show up for that new years eve.

but i doubt it. prior to the relationship explosion, i didn't judge my friend for her lifestyle or have an unwarranted sense of superiority about who i was in comparison to her. i didn't judge her life choices by holding them up to some kind of vague mostly unexplained moral code that i used to decide if people were doing tht right things or not. i wouldn't have tried to destroy her life with any secrets or even implied that i could or would, no matter how badly i was hurt.

but at the same time, as much as i dislike Mew (but love Book- he's done an INCREDIBLE job making me hate his character) i can see the realistic grounding for his reaction and behavior and the hypocrisy of it, because i've done almost the exact same thing. i hate how relatable i find his unwillingness to give Boston any leniency or grace because me as the human i am now has found those things for Boston in myself, but i know that the me of the age of these characters would have also wanted Boston to just go away forever and be unforgiven.

idk. i just love how much this show has forced me to reflect on my youth in ways i definitely didn't expect it would when i heard the siren song of the promise of a messy show with lots of kissing. i love how real so many of the struggles and problems have felt, how they've been pulled from real lives instead of just tv drama tropes. i love how complex the characters are and how real they feel and how i feel like i really do know all of them, because in different ways, all of them are pieces of my friends or people i have known.... or are pieces of me.

[jwowwsboobs]

ur opinion on the ethel ldr thing is so real like yeah that feels completely true. ldr more experience based ethel more storytelling based. ethel speaks 2 me more ig just bc of the rural southern experience but i think her songs r definitely more character based. but why r ppl pitting two bad bitches up against each other 😭 theyre both killer but i love drama so its fine

ya one thing i think a lot of ppl get wrong whne comparing ldr to ethel cain is how different their perspectives r like ldr is from upper ny n then the like new york metropolitan area her work is going 2 reflect the place she lives ! it's very different in a big city or outside a big city thn it is in a small town or in a rural area. like ive lived outside a major american city pretty much my whole life n the things ldr sings abt, the emphasis on fame glamour n danger does feel very real n close whn yr in a city tht has lots of clubs n lots of parties n u dont know everyone but u recognize ppl from going out n whatever. cain's abilty 2 write a story w her songs n create characters n a world is incredible but lana does nothing like tht in her music so i just think its funny 2 compare them as they hv so little in common other thn what. women making "sad" pop-ish music? lol .

[svampira]

1 for elias but i m literally thinking about what if someone just locked him in a room with nothing to do. how would he even react to that LOLLLL

15 for your main ocs bc i want to know. (SORRY IF THTS ALOT)

ask game

What’s the maximum amount of time your character can sit still with nothing to do?

Omg what did Elias do to you why would you do this to him😖 though locking him in a room is marginally better than having him sit still. He will either sims idle animation (start stretching, doing push ups, singing to himself) or he'll pull out his phone to kill boredom by taking selfies, get mesmerised by his reflection, then stare at it for the next hour without blinking. I feel like w him being camarilla this actually happens very often (not him being locked in a room but more like. A lot of waiting) and he genuinely can't take it. If he has to speak to one of his superiors and he has to wait outside for more than 5 minutes he'll start wandering around, get lost, and force some elder with much better things to do to come fetch him.

How do they speak? Is what they say usually thought of on the spot, or do they rehearse it in their mind first?

Diamila > kourtney kardashian 100% they speak the exact same way. She tries to tone her valley girl accent down for important meetings but fails miserably all the time. She speaks very slowly and drags her vowels out > literally very otherwise menacing monologues dragged down by the trisha paytas mh at the end of every word. Apart from that she definitely rehearses everything she says first, 100% walking back and forth repeating her speech to herself outloud in the empty camarilla bathrooms, literally has Elias workshop jabs, speeches and threats with her at home. She's ventrue goofy in a way other people very much can see. The only reason no one makes fun of her to her face is that she's the ventrue whip and everyone knows she probably has a higher vampire bodycount than the entire SI (vtmb fledgling + working as a scourge/hound for 20 years)

Brooklyn > Sza 100%. Not only because i think her voice is super hot and I associate kill bill with brooklyn but also because of the insane pathological lying. They would both lie about being marine biologists. She's eloquent and borderline poetic when she speaks, smiles a lot, will say the most fucked up violent shit while beaming and giggling cutely 💯 does naut think before speaking but the times she does is when she's about to say something truly unhinged

Elias > my voice claim for him literally a fucking rpdr winner😭 sasha velour. They have such a nice voice and it fits Elias super well i love how deep it is while not being ooc for him and i ❤️❤️❤️ vocal fries they're so cute > here's what I'm talking about . Elias also speaks slowly while dragging his vowels ouuuuut, he does naut ever think for more than a split second before opening his mouth. Despite this, he's very very good at talking, could convince anyone to do almost anything while making them think it's still their own idea. Definitely intersperses his sentences with "like" a lot.

Eden > Welket Bungué. Why shouldn't he speak with a portuguese accent. Mainly because I decided on Eden's design after seeing him in crimes of the future and though I've never really referenced him while drawing him i can and will steal his voice. Deep and warm voice, unlike my other ocs he is NICE he speaks to spread positivity and kindness peace and love🙏 he's also an anarch figure head so he might spur people on to do incredible violence but thats normal camarilla are doing worse. Was naut born in the us but moved there as a teen

[mekatrio]

complaining abt godot's role in the ending of 3-5 hur hur

it took me some rewatches some rereads and a whole lot of thinking, but i think i finally get what 3-5 was going for now.. basically, godot is supposed to be this tragic figure that was forced into being a killer in order to protect maya. the game is self-aware enough to point out the flaws with his actions, with how he was too prideful to ask for phoenix's help, how he may have been blinded by revenge against dahlia, etc. and while im still not the biggest fan of how the game executed this reveal, as i still think there wasnt enough foreshadowing to warrant the reveal that he was at the temple this entire time (which is also why it took as long as it did for me to rly understand the ending).. i have bigger gripes with his overall character arc, so atp its whatever. my overall main gripes w godot's arc is that im weirded out by how it kinda overshadows mia's and maya's character, while also being framed in a way im not particularly on board with..

i find it weird that godot had acted in mia's and maya's self-interest, yet he hadnt consulted or properly spoke to either of them at all. he didnt have any means to speak with mia, so my main criticisms are between him and maya. tho i do find it weird that tht a proper conversation between mia and godot didnt happen at any point.. but thats besides the point. anyways, its weird that he just let maya go to hazakura, knowing that this would put her life in danger, and didnt think to inform neither maya nor phoenix abt this. he just let that happen, thinking that he (along w iris' and misty's cooperation) wouldve been enough to protect her.. like what. like ok, the game at least makes it so he points out how kinda stupid this was of him, and that if he really cared abt maya's safety, he shouldve let either her or phoenix know. but its still like.. the reason he didnt tell neither maya nor phoenix was bc of his pride; he faulted phoenix for not protecting mia, and so he wanted to show him how protecting someone should be done. and bc he held a grudge against phoenix for not protecting mia, he didnt want phoenix's help at all. and so he kept both maya and phoenix in the dark bc of his own pride……

and its like, this wasnt just a silly little mistake he made, valuing his pride over practicality. no.. this ended up costing a person's life, and not just any person, but the mother of our dearest friends. which is terrible! but that on its own, isnt actually that bad, writing wise. a tragedy borne from a person's pride is a common tragedy, and when executed well, can be really really good. but the problem i have w how godot's character arc executed this is with the framing.. after we undress godot as misty's murderer, hes then surrounded with an air of tragic dignity. as though him killing misty was an inevitable, sorrowful, tragic thing…. and im sorry but WHAT??? WHAT?!??!

this dude… KILLED SOMEONE. he allowed maya to get caught in a dangerous situation, which he Knew about, didnt tell neither her or phoenix about the danger, and then had to Kill someone to protect maya, all bc he was too prideful!! he ended up in this situation where he had to kill someone bc of his pride! this is a tragedy, yes, but it is more senseless than it is tragic. this isnt a "this didnt have to happen" type of tragedy, this is a "why the fuck did this even happen to begin with??!?" type of tragedy!! and yet… it isnt portrayed as such??

instead of being portrayed as a shameful fool... godot is instead allowed to maintain an air of dignity?? why is that??? when i think back to the other killers we've convicted who maintained an air of dignity, i can recall vasquez, mimi miney, and gant. all three of them confessed on the stand, and express a grim sort of resignation at what they have done. vasquez killed out of self defense, miney to cover her tracks, and gant for a twisted sort of insurance. and yet, despite the resigned dignity that they carried with them, these guys still had an air of shame surrounding them! bc they were killers!!! so why was godot afforded a special type of tragic dignity…??? bc him becoming a murderer wasnt some sort of tragedy… it was just senseless!! and not just that, but i had to drag the truth out of him! he didnt just confess to what he had done, when he couldve.. LIKE…. i get its for the drama, and to fold up the dahlia arc first but still.. basically.. WHY THE FUCK DID I DRINK A CUP OF COFFEE WITH HIM..?!?!? WITH THE PERSON WHO KILLED MY BESTIES' MOM…. WHAT?!?!?

and!!! and why were mia and maya… so ok with this??? thats another thing, this game shouldve been abt mia and maya; the final case was all abt the fey clan women, we've played as mia for 2/5 of the cases, and the fact tht mia, who despite being such an important character, had been out of the spotlight for the overarching narratives of the past 2 games.. aa3 shouldve been the fey women's turn!! but instead…. its about.. Godot??!? and the thing is like… godot's arc is supposed to also be about mia and maya, right? bc hes closely linked with mia, and 'became a killer' to protect maya…. but instead, his arc, and by extension aa3 as a whole, is like.. about his dumb pride.. huh??!! its about what Godot thinks about mia and maya, but not about mia or maya themselves. and the fact that both mia and maya had tried to cover for him…. what even bro. not to mention! that the past 2 games had already gone over the whole "the courtroom shouldnt be a battle of personal pride, but for justice instead" schtick, and then godot comes belatedly shambling in trying to score a victory against us as a matter of personal honor, like what?? What!!!

but basically yeah um... for these reasons, aa3 is definitely the least favorite of the trilogy for me, and this isnt even going over the whole iris and dahlia deal which is another type of strange... 3-5's final trial was just. Strangeee to me. also since im rambling anyways, just to comment some more abt how i think there wasnt enough foreshadowing to godot's presence at the temple.. theres a moment when maya is on the stand, where you can press a statement that talks abt a storage room that godot couldve been hidden in this whole time:

and thats just like... what!!?? a storage room thats just. never been seen or mentioned... and its like. well then if this is all it takes for someone to have just been at the temple this whole time, then gumshoe couldve also been here this entire time, what!! and also godot being here this entire time meant that he just like, ignored pearl the whole time while she was stranded here... which is.. such a shitty thing for him to do... Huhhhh?????

[wc-confessions]

the only evidence-- yes, these kinds of claims need evidence-- of marinin being racist i can find is in one tumblr post that has a screenshot of marinin being upset about getting a lot of aggressive comments for working on the cleopatra MAP. she did a map part- a 5 second animation- and got called a piece of shit by dozens of people, but i guess she's not allowed to be stressed? not to mention she is a person of color. but i doubt you knew that, because that would require you to take a second look at the situation rather than regurgitating rumors. it's just so sickening how badly people in this community seem to want to turn on each other. but i guess it's all worth it if you're making all the people of color feel very safe... by endorsing the harassment of a poc for making an animation you don't like. you're definitely making me feel very safe as a disabled person. i love knowing that characters like me should be relegated to inspo p*rn. love seeing people attack a creator for arbitrary reasons and then say "hehe see! i care so much about disabled people!". i love seeing that my opinion only matters when i'm agreeing with you and otherwise i'm just an idiot stan. i dont even follow marinin's content. it's just so stressful knowing what she's going through and how rabid the warrior cats fandom is. its scary, honestly. making art online seems like my only realistic way of making money and the thought that one tumblr post with shaky evidence could get me harassed for literal years is scary.

ok first off i need you to fucking stop making assumptions abt me bc i know of marinin just forgot all the bullshit they did. i dont knkw u and u sure as hell dont know me so the fact that in both ur shit asks youre comming up with false ideals just to show ur support to someone who has done bad over and over again is telling. secondly stop babying them just bc theyre brazilian its so wekrd u have to keep mentioing tht they are not exempt from being a shithead just bc theyre a poc lol theyre a fucking human which is evident in their actions. and you do not speak for every fucking disabled person bc i assure you disabled ppl were the ones that brought the issue w the tawny pelt map to light. and as a disabled black person fuck you literally the map was in bad taste and she responded in a terrible way its not tht hard to accept.

and if u really did some reasearch youd be aware that she was taking from native cultures, handled the issue tawnypelt map Badly, and she was literally deleting comments explaining how her actions were ableist and only responding to/liking the comments of ppl siding w her but yeah im biased and mean for acknoweding any of this. shes also literally friends w shit ppl and While searching im literally seeing her subject several minors to harassment solely for. adressing her ableist map in a chat and on their accs.and this was fucking not that long ago why arent you pissing yourself over the ppl discussing tht

and idk if you dont think a guilt trippy belittling responses to being held accountable isnt a red flag hm

the fact that you have to utilize this person being brazilian and upset about the process of facing accountability in Both asks as a way to make Me somehow brush off everything else is fucked up. no its not cool they were harassed but if u equate ppl bothered by her actions as harassment or hating poc then. that sounds more like a u issue.

literally. stop making this about a shitty animation stop minimizing the harm shes influencing. this is more than a fucking map ppl dont like this is abt someone who is obviously not fit for a huge following and you are proving that point gn

[irrealisms]

1 for the ask game, for every fandom in your tumblr about...!

the character everyone gets wrong

tolkien: tough one. honestly, i feel like due to the nature of the fandom most people have defensible readings of most characters, even if they're not my own? to the extent tht people get characters wrong it's mostly by not thinking abt them very much! I'm inclined to pick Galadriel, though, bc she's also in LotR and so you get LotR fans thinking they can speak to first or second age galadriel, and then u get silm fans overcorrecting and ignoring third age galadriel entirely, and ofc there's the various Sexist Archetypes she gets shoved into by virtue of Being A Woman. actually a Lot of the women in tolkien are characters ppl get wrong a lot. elwing! míriel! indis! idril! lúthien! niënor! haleth! And So On Forever And Ever. this is again mostly due to Simply Not Thinking About Them Very Much tho

wktd: tbh the fandom gets the wktd girls pretty solidly. no real notes here. benefits from being a small fandom for a game with Three characters all of whose issues are pretty spelled out for you & constitute the central plot.

glowfic: im gonna be honest i do not feel confident to speak for other ppl's characters and state what ppl get right/wrong..! like idk man maybe im the one getting them wrong. ppl mostly dont like... write fic or make headcanons for each others glowfic in a way where the author isnt involved in having opinions about it? so if someone was mischaracterizing a glowfic character idk how i would know rly

hannibal: all of them @_@ no one understands this show like i do and it's a perpetual frustration... im gonna throw out abigail as my answer tho bc she sooooo often gets reduced to like, part of the murder family, which ignores soooooo much of her storyline and how much she did not (uncomplicatedly) want that. her relationship with will is So So Complicated but ultimately she likes freddie more than she likes will in some ways! and at least back when i was in the fandom ... ppl dont get that or just treat it as like, a flaw or misunderstanding to be corrected.

tma: ooooo this is a tough one. honestly the fandom was big enough that it's hard for me to say No One in the fandom got characters & in a lot of cases there was the question of like, does the fandom not understand X or do i just not seek out very many fics abt X... e.g. i havent read any tma fic that got georgie very well but also i havent read any georgie-centric tma fic! kind of a skill issue on My part rly!

mcelroy + polygon content: oh this is a trip down memory lane. everyone writes taako very few people write taako well. i'm not a taako fan and instead had Cares About Less Popular Characters disease but i did feel for taako enjoyers for this. i didnt really read polygon rpf so i can't speak to that side of things.

poetry and short stories: i don't think there are rly characters Everyone In The Fandom gets wrong for this tbh. like thats just not rly a coherent thing

the untamed/mdzs: SONG LAN...... i am not even a big song lan fan im a xuexiao stan first and foremost. but good lord. man has like 2 character traits and the ppl writing fic for him cant even remember those! also lwj but with the disclaimer that i have a very specific read of novel!lwj that just doesnt rly apply to untamed!lwj. which most people are writing for. i guess this is also true of song lan but i have more of a sense of "if you care a lot about song lan you should do your due diligence in hunting for scraps of characterization" whereas caring about untamed!lwj and not reading the book is like. yeah okay fair enough. to me.

tgcf: ooooh. hard one. my immediate instinct is mu qing bc i follow the tag and have to read way too much mu qing slander but i have in fact read good mu qing fic.... might stand by that anyway tho. the tgcf tag is like 50% mu qing slander by volume and it makes me sad. mu qing get behind me bby i'll protect u ;-;

dream SMP: hahaha. ha. what character DOESN'T dsmp fandom get wrong. it gets tommy wrong it gets techno wrong it gets phil wrong it gets puffy and niki and hannah wrong it gets dream wrong it gets purpled wrong it gets quackity wrong it gets sam wrong it gets schlatt wrong it gets karl wrong it gets george wrong it gets wilbur wrong it gets LITERALLY EVERYONE wrong. constantly. the only times it doesn't get someone wrong is when it's forgotten that they exist at all (this is about the eggpire but it's also about eryn and fundy and jack manifold and i'm sure many many others i'm not currently remembering). im giving the prize for Getting It Wrong to phil, though. i don't even LIKE phil. but everyone who writes him gets him wrong. they are just writing Generic Bad Dad or Generic Good Dad. he's got traits! i promise!

ok actually since this one's my current special interest i'll go a bit more in depth. tommy's rude & annoying & a fighter, he very very rarely has the sort of fawn response ppl write. techno is funny but he's got emotions and he is usually acting based on those emotions; if you're writing him in s1 he's less based than you think and if you're writing him in s3 he's more based than you think. phil has traits other than being a dad and also if you can't accurately identify which characters he is and is not a dad to then you don't get to write him. puffy, niki, and hannah all have traits other than being women; no, "therapist", "girlboss", and "mom friend" don't count. purpled is not particularly a Manipulated Minor TM, he's an amoral mercenary, he's kinda fucked up by isolation but he's more like punz than he is like tommy or tubbo. none of quackity, sam, and dream are one-dimensional characters whose only trait is Sadistic Abuser but also if you write them without acknowledging that they're sadistic abusers (with the exception of writing about early dsmp/before The Horrors) then you're doing it wrong. same goes for schlatt but with the addition of "he should not under literally any circumstances talk like he's got a tumblr". karl's more of a bitch than that. so's george. wilbur is more of an asshole and less of a creep than that. i could go on literally forever the dsmp fandom gets every single character wrong & it is my burden to be right about all of them u_u

(choose violence ask game)

[buffporcupine]

can i get ur misa headcanons!!!

eeek omg i have so many tysm for the ask btw.

as for nationality i’d love to project onto this mf and say mexican (i love projecting onto my mfs) but… i js hc her as belgian and japanese .

i think she’d really like bright pink and green as a color scheme and also as a lifestyle. speaking of lifestyle misa amane is the kind of person to say “thanksgiving is a day but christmas is a lifestyle” and she’s honestly real for that.

i think she’d be really interested by makeup and sfx and things like that. definitely good at faking injuries with makeup and effects.

also i hc tht she is very interested in sociology and anthropology, liek me!!!!!! ppl call her dumb but i js dont see it. jus because she has emotions and isn’t monotonous sad lil guy like L doesn’t make her dumb or anything. she’s a character that had a lot of potential and was js a victim of bad writing and misogyny ya know

def not neurotypical idc what tbey say. if i had to say specifically tho maybe something like dp/dr and adhd . idk i have more hcs i js cant thinkof them 😭

thanks 4 the ask !!!!!!

[blogplacement1]

Week 1 - Tuesday 29 October 2024

period 1 - found out tht one of the teachers was off today and needed cover. for class 2B who i will be solo teaching, i chose to take control of the lesson somewhat alongside cover teacher and deliver the day of the dead session that id previously seen been delivered. the class were happy to work away and were on task for most of the period. towards the end of the period they began to struggle with concentration and began speaking a bit more. outcomes were fairly low quality but some were really good. i don’t think my demonstration was very good and i don’t think the instructions from me were clear enough so something to work on. could have also been more in control with the behaviours. thought my questioning and quiet discussions with individuals strong.

period 2 - sat in 5D higher class who i will have at another point in the week just to see what they were up to. Class was doing a body adornment/ head piece based on nature. thought the class was quite quiet and unwilling to engage with lots of conversation and some were unmotivated saying, “they want to drop out etc”. one student seemed semi engaged but lacked motivation. one student seemed to be very keen to engage.

period 3 - class 1C were once again doing a day of the dead task which i delivered. again my delivery wasn’t too good but i found myself in more control of the class. class seemed very engaged and worked till the bell without any real problems. one girl spoke about eyesight problems which might be an obstacle for learning.

period 4 - higher class 5e again. this time i helped one of the girls with a wire sculpture she’ll be wrapping with tape. and painting over. again began to build a rapport with the class but not all were willing to engage.

period 5 - class 3e who i will be solo teaching on another day was a struggle to control. class were preparing ‘folio standard’ drawings and were doing drawings using pencil, and some were using paint. class was a riot with girls all chatting and being hyper after lunch. one girl had ticks when stressed and would make loud noises occasionally. another girl wasn’t doing any of her work and wasn’t engaging. had to be forced to start work. arguments were starting and they were shouting over register etc. need to consider something that they will enjoy. interesting as there is only one boy in the class which is odd.

period 6 - free period which allowed me to get class lists for one teacher and begin to note down any circumstances i should be aware of. planned departmental meeting was cancelled due to absence.

period 7 - observing 1J who i will be teaching a unit. i thought the work they were producing was incredible. working on pointillism autumn trees. a class with lots of ASNs but thought most pupils were on task. some required motivation to start drawing but stayed focused on task. no big characters. while observing i noticed that all pupils were sent to take materials at the same time which shows they are reasonably mature and not expected to cause a mess. cleanup was a bit more of a struggle but everything was cleaned up in time.