#art slide 63

[wisteriagoesvroom]

18 & 63 for the trope mashup please! <3

18. Circus AU and 63. Everybody knows, mistaken for a couple ^from the prompt mash ups game!

This is a Cirque du Soleil AU where Norris and Piastri are two trapeze artists who made huge names for themselves in their individual countries. They get paired up for new show, and it involves a really tricky sequence that people are convinced is not possible and has never been done before, let alone by two guys.

They have a couple of near misses on the attempts to nail the trick, and the whole gang is watching carefully from the safety nets. People are biting their nails, and george is totally double checking the insurance papers and trying not to freak out.

Anyway, Oscar hangs upside down on the bar, totally chill. on the platform, Lando shakes the last of his nerves from his fingers. he slides a firm grip down his own bar, the one place that’s been so familiar for so many years, and he takes a breath. It’s beyond conscious thought, it’s just muscle memory, stepping into the air. With faith that the other man will meet him, in that millisecond between complete connection and the plummet.

Hands. It’s all in the hands. Lando's own fingertips moulding to the floor the first time he nailed a handstand, someone else’s careful hands that taught him his first few balances and tucks. The way his hands bled bloody and blistered, until he worked up the requisite strength.

Now, Lando grips the bar steady with both hands. Now, the steady rhythm in the pit of his stomach. Once, three times, four — the pendulum hits the peak of the apex.

Lando jackknifes through the air, and he’s twisting, house lights blurring in his vision.

Oscar waits, hands outstretched.

Then, a firm clasp from a smaller hand. Callouses pressed against his own. Years of practice, leading up to this point of contact.

His body knows before his mind does. The snap of gravity into the right place, when moving object meets opposing force. It’s Oscar’s counter-rhythm that stops him falling, Oscar’s nimble strength that matches his own. The way they do this in silence, carefully cultivated trust. In that moment, their bodies are a marvel of physics.

Below, the cast erupts in whoops and cheers. Lando wants to run around, wants to scream, but in that moment there’s not really an option - he just clasps Oscar’s forearms, and lets himself be swung.

“Well.” Oscar says, wry. “That was easy.”

Lando looks up. “Yeah. Only took fifty four tries.”

Lando can tell Oscar’s trying not to laugh. Oscar's hands stay steady though.

Someone captures the footage and it takes a while to get going, but then they’re doing numbers on socials. Cirque marketing figures this could get momentum and gradually shares more behind the scenes footage of them both: heads bowed together to talk about the tricks, tightening their wrist wraps, dusting chalk off each other, and laughing as they sip their energy drinks. They even get a portmanteau: landoscar.

The final show is obviously a massive hit. Lando and Oscar’s segment ends up being a lyrical interpretation of the life of a papaya or something. It’s Seb Vettel’s show about the lifespan of plants and bees so they’re just rolling with the vision.

When Pride comes around, the two of them step out to get coffee and a snack at their regular spot. The barista waves at them and says: “a year's free coffee for the happy couple! thank you so much for repping queer excellence in the arts.”

And Oscar’s like, “oh, uh. I mean. I am. But we– we’re not…”

Then Lando turns to him. The morning light looks good on Oscar. Oscar who always lends him sports tape, always lets him order lunch first, and always, always leans forward to catch him. In or out of the ring, he is the partner Lando trusts more than anything in the world.

So Lando tugs on Oscar’s hoodie sleeve, and is like: “actually, I’d meant to ask you…”

[afreakingdork]

Weak Spot - Chapter 63

RotTMNT Donatello x Reader

The Hamato are back together in this chapter art by @imatheneonleon

Warnings: Aged-up Turtles, Romance, Meet Cute, Villain Donatello, Cussing, Crushes, Xenophobia, Fear, Intimidation, Implied/Referenced Suicide, Hurt/Comfort, Love, AFAB Reader, Vaginal Sex, Sex Rough, Sex, Penis In Vagina Sex, Creampie, Teasing, Scent Kink, Sexual Tension, Breeding Kink, Multiple Orgasms, Cunnilingus, Fellatio, Marathon Sex, Somnophilia, Bondage, Feral Behavior, Feral Donatello, Mating Cycles/In Heat, Public Sex, Dom Donnie, Human/Turtle Relationships, Turtle Noises, Roleplay, Sexual Roleplay

Synopsis:  A love story of villainous proportions! Though it hadn’t come easily, as these things rarely do, you found yourself in a whirlwind romance with a handsome and mysterious mutant. His idiosyncrasies had been easy to ignore as attraction grew into something more. However, will love endure when the unknowns about him end up being far darker than you ever considered?

Fem!Reader References/Warnings Below Cut

Also available on Ao3

First 💜 Previous

Fem!Reader References/Warnings: crutches, muscle weakness, talk of abuse, mental breakdown

“So that’s the menu.” Mikey rose up and dusted his hands.

You leaned against a counter getting some time upright and nodded over the messy handwritten note cards Mikey had brought over. Coated in loving use and old ingredients, Mikey had clearly been fine tuning these recipes for years. They felt to you like precious artifacts with their ancient evolving notes. Moving them around affectionately and wondering how many total of these cards there were, you tipped your head towards the turtle. “How are you going to bring all this over?”

“So, we got ingredients purchased and being delivered to an agreed upon location first thing tomorrow.” Mikey paused to give a raised hand to Donnie for his participation.

Donnie, who had been writing some code on his computer, scarcely looked over.

“I’ll take everything down, start placing my mise and then head over here for my regular shift around noon to cook it up.” Mikey fanned out the cards once before sliding them back into a fold. “If I did my math right then everything will be ready for dinner at 6:30pm sharp and our guests will arrive.”

You nodded, thinking over the process.

“I’ll have my assistant in spurts.” Mikey winked at you.

You rolled your eyes. “I’m sworn to rest when I need to. I get it, but I’m not letting you do everything.”

“Everyone has different kitchen dynamics.” Mikey chirped happily. “I love seeing how they all mix and our cooking chemistry though, like 90% of the time, I default to get out of my way!”

You laughed along with him. “I get that.”

“Having someone you can deal with in your space in that kind of heated situation is a big deal.” Mikey wiggled his brow ridge around his pun.

You hummed affectionately and remembered one particular time with Donnie. “Is that so?”

“Oh yeah, gotta be a marker of true love.” Mikey picked his cards and was slow to take on a forlorn look. “This is it…”

“Yeah…” You straightened a little yourself.

The family dinner marked the end of the Hamato watch. Though it hadn’t been officially discussed, you knew Mikey had passed on the information about Donnie meditating and Raph had obviously reported Donnie’s first time disengaging his powers. It had been a good sign and just about every person who’d entered the apartment since had seen some form of Donnie’s practice. The little purple particles that would percolate at a certain focused step were unmistakable. Whether Donnie was testing his emotions to manifest them or simply working on their creation, you had yet to know, but since he’d gone weeks without a single mishap, he was deemed safe enough to be left to his own devices.

Leo was just a portal away if anything went wrong.

You dampened more thinking about the blue brother. You guessed this was how it was now. You weren’t going to repair things with Leo and, after tomorrow, you never would have another chance to. You wouldn’t see him again and he would be an emergency contact at most. It stung. You knew it was probably for the best, but leaving whatever your relationship was with him in such disrepair deeply bothered you. You guessed you had others like this, people from your past that you were doomed to only have a negative memory of, but it ached regardless.

“Michelangelo.”

That was Donnie’s voice and you raised your head where your back was to him.

“Yup?”

Leo would be next and then Raph before Mikey returned for his final watch.

“I want to meet with him.”

You almost didn’t want Mikey to leave.

“…”

Maybe you could ask Raph to switch so you could sleep through most of Leo’s shift.

“Well?”

“Why?”

You blinked.

“Obvious.” You turned to find Donnie with narrowed eyes, but little heat as if he found the exchange tenuous.

“If it was, I wouldn’t have asked.” Mikey bit back with a similar lack of heat, but faint irritation.

You didn’t interject, but sent confusion toward your mate who didn’t look.

“I need to… speak with… him.” Donnie swallowed bile.

“About what? Why now?” Mikey folded his arms.

Now on one crutch, you moved from where you were leaning your weight on the counter and hooked it with learned ease to your body to go over to Donnie.

The movement caught his eye and he watched you with his closed off affection.

“If I could discuss the matter with any of you, I would have.” Donnie told you, though he spoke to Mikey.

You heard Mikey unfurl with a huff.

You tilted your head in question.

Donnie’s eyes had little response.

Mikey made an upset sound.

Donnie’s lip moved a centimeter which was the most smile you could get under these circumstances.

“He can come to dinner.”

Donnie’s head flew to Mikey in fury. “A joke!”

“Nope.” Mikey’s brow ridge bobbed, smug. “Not a question either. That’s the only way I’ll pass the message along.”

“This conversation is not for any of you!” Donnie’s lip curled back, but it was obviously out of tender fear as opposed to actual anger.

“I’ll head out when it's time.” Mikey’s shoulders bounced. “Give you space.” 

“Not for…” Donnie trailed off and looked at you in a similarly anxious way.

You weren’t meant to listen either.

You frowned.

Donnie’s gaze shot away in a pained way.

“We’ll.” Mikey was quick to add. “Step out.”

You looked to Mikey.

He nodded to you for encouragement.

“You need to talk to Splinter that badly?” You asked quietly.

Donnie flinched at the name and his wounded gaze stayed glued to the floor.

Mikey bent his elbows to the counter and waited.

“Yes.” Donnie spoke as small as he could.

Your chest tightened.

You knew you’d been keeping things from Donnie, but to hear the inkling that he was doing the same felt like a new wound.

It wasn’t on purpose, you wanted to scream.

You were going to unload on him as soon as you were alone.

That meant he probably would too.

The realization sobering, you leaned heavily into your crutch.

One more day.

“Dinner. The whole dinner. You don’t get to kick dad out after just because you feel like it.” Mikey laid down his ground rules.

This time Donnie surfaced slowly and with actual anger. “You expect me to entertain that-” He bit his tongue to keep a derogatory word out of his mouth. “-in my own home?!”

“You’re doing that with us, aren’t you?” Mikey spoke without malice.

The younger turtle even seemed oddly stoic.

He almost looked like Donnie when slipped all of himself under that emotionless mask.

Donnie’s eyes only narrowed.

“It’s either that or you try Leo, which, good fucking luck. Then there’s Raph and we both know how that’s going to go.” Mikey’s head cricked with the slightest tip.

Donnie inhaled slowly.

“You asked me for a reason.” Mikey spoke knowingly.

Donnie juggled something mentally before looking back to Mikey. “I did.”

“My terms or nothing.” Mikey lifted up and out of the conversation.

He walked over to where Leo’s portal would appear.

You saw that, as soon as Mikey’s back was turned, Donnie let a whole litany of emotions pass over his face.

There was outright fury.

You could see how much he wanted to strangle the other turtle.

There was bargaining.

He tried to work out a thousand ways he could get out of this.

There was anxiety.

The chance to speak to Splinter was slipping through his fingers and you could see just how much your boyfriend needed to do this.

You touched Donnie’s arm lightly.

He jarred from his swirling mind and you saw the whirlpool settle at the sight of you.

Another tap was more of a nudge.

You had his back.

You could take the verbal heat off if need be.

You could be Splinter’s chaperone.

Donnie’s expression welled with gratitude before he looked back to where Mikey still had his carapace to you both.

“Done. Do ask-” Donnie’s voice was gravel.

“For him to be on his best behavior?” Mikey cut Donnie off with a turn of his head that just barely showed his face’s silhouette. “I’ll ask him. I’ll do what I can, but he’s my dad.”

Leo’s portal appeared and the blue light reflected off Mikey’s eyes for a malevolent gaze.

“Our dad. The three of us.” Mikey spoke venom. “Don’t you forget.” He stepped through the portal.

-

The rest of the time until Mikey’s return was done in a preparatory wait. Leo had appeared casual with a levity that said he was ready to get this last shift over with. You imagined that he might even enjoy the dinner since it was a final blemish for him to endure. Skirting away from him to keep the mood light, you had very little to do. You mostly stuck close to Donnie who was trapped with the weight of what was coming.

Your mate stood in various parts of your apartment with nothing to keep his hands busy and eventually you coaxed him out of sight where you lingered in his space. Sneaking behind a partition felt juvenile in your own home, but you signed to each other regardless.

‘Why now?’ You started. 

‘Can’t explain like this.’

‘Later? Alone?’

‘Both of us.’

‘I’ve been planning to.’

‘Good. You’ve been avoiding Blue.’ 

‘Yeah. Long story.’

Donnie made the motion for ‘kill’ and raised his brow with delighted question.

You shook your head and placed both your hands over his.

He brought them up to his lips.

You mouthed, ‘I can’t wait to be alone with you.’

“Me too.” He murmured warmth and came down to press the side of his head to yours.

You lingered like that as long as you could.

-

You did your best, but the closer it got to Mikey’s and subsequently all the turtle’s final appearance in your home, Donnie’s stress was transferring to you. With each second hand tick of the clock, Donnie got more on edge. You meant to be strong for him. You wanted to show him that this was alright; that even though you didn’t know what big thing he wanted to discuss with Splinter was, you would be unflappable.

The only problem was, you were painfully in tune with your partner and him being upset was then permeating you through your bond.

You hated to see him uncomfortable and, though Raph recognized the dense air in the room, you could tell the older turtle was mislabeling it. All four men hadn’t been in the same room since the hospital discharge. You imagined Raph, rightfully, imagined the entire bale together bothered Donnie, especially in his own home. If there wasn’t some big talk added on top, you were sure that would have upset Donnie too, but you found it hard to believe that would have driven him to his current state.

You guessed Raph might have also thought Donnie was concerned to then be alone with his ninpo. 

You hadn’t gotten to talk to the older turtle and now still wasn’t the best time because he was just as distracted as you in watching Donnie move about like a stubborn plant searching for a crack of sunlight. In slow rotations, Donnie swayed, barely perceptible and feeling out his space blindly. He couldn’t do an activity because he was too emotionally confined to the pot, but he was deprived of something vital which had him wriggling with all his remaining strength.

You could hardly breathe by the time Leo’s portal appeared.

Raph was up and prattling on about lending a hand just to have an excuse to leave.

In a file, you watched as Mikey and Raph carted a bunch of food, pots, pans, utensils, and other kitchen gadgets in until your home was overflowing. Donnie made space on his desk and helped arrange the spill before Raph turned with his hands on his hips.

“Alright. I got class and then me and Leo will come by right on time?”

“6:30.” Mikey swung a spoon to cement his point.

Raph threw his own finger up genially and spun on one leg to leave through the portal.

“Ah!” Mikey suddenly fussed and passed the spoon off to you. “Hold it! I have something else to grab! Forgot something! You know me!”

Donnie’s head shot up where he was clearly cataloging as everything had been accounted for thus far.

“Don’t spike the food!” Raph complained but pressed a hand up to the top half of the portal like he was holding a door.

“I’m not! In this house?!” Mikey shot you a wink out of Raph’s eye line before ducking through the blue light.

“Yeah, yeah.” Raph shook his head after Mikey. “See y’all.” He gave a parting nod and disappeared as well.

“There shouldn’t be-!” Donnie furiously searched for what was misplaced.

You were about to help when Mikey returned with two stumbling leaps and a bottle of soda in hand.

Donnie gave an irritated face.

Mikey shook his head. “This was just cause I saw it. I actually forgot…”

It brought Donnie’s brow up before there was a blur and the portal shut.

For a moment, you didn’t register a change.

Then Donnie inhaled sharply and went ramrod straight.

You looked to find Splinter standing where the portal was holding a baking dish wrapped in foil. With his eyes downcast and wearing a little cardigan, he looked the picture of trying to do his best.

Your heart squeezed and you were in motion with a clunk of your crutch. “Splinter.”

“Y/N!” He walked up with his dish and found it occupying his hands. “I was worried! The boys kept me updated. I’m glad to hear that you…” He breathed a bit unsteady. “I am sorry this happened to you.”

“Yeah…” You’d heard that more times then you could count. “It is what it is…”  

“Still! Those police are an absolute joke! Useless! A waste! Morons!” Splinter huffed.

You couldn’t help but smile.

“Big Mama has been on a rampage.” Splinter told you casually before heading towards Mikey.

“Huh!? What?!” The younger turtle lowered himself to take the dish from his dad. “She what now!?”

“She was disrespected!” Splinter spoke as if this should be obvious news. “She has been methodically tearing down and restructuring the entire city center in her fury! So very her!”

“She’s…” You shook slightly in a rotation.

You looked to Donnie and couldn’t tell whether he knew that or not.

“Doing it for you!” Splinter threw a gesturing hand to you as soon as he was freed from his dish. “Oh, this is my very special green bean casserole, by the way! Also for you!”

“For…?” You took a few steps. “Wait, Big Mama can’t be doing that for me.”

“You, you.” Splinter waved a hand and looked around the packaged kitchen. “This place is too small!”

Mikey tapped his dad’s head with a spatula. “Don’t complain.”

“Hmph!” Splinter rotated. “You were her guest. Her new hotel’s poster couple! I’m surprised she hasn’t killed off and replaced the entire police department. Morons!”

He’d repeated himself, but the words didn’t seem real. “It didn’t seem like she liked me.”

“She likes you plenty! She wouldn’t do that for anyone!” Splinter turned, remembering something. “Put that in the fridge, orange!”

“I’m gonna be doing fridge Jenga, dad.” Mikey rolled his eyes. “Y/N, wanna help?”

“Uh, yeah!” You moved to set your crutch on a nearby counter. 

Splinter saw he was in the way and scrambled a few nervous steps out of the kitchen.

As you passed him, you saw him keep his head down as if he wasn’t allowed to look around the living room proper.

Concern stuck to your features as Mikey held the fridge open for you.

Stepping around it, he used the door as a barrier for a private conversation. 

You moved a few items in the icebox and gave a skeptical look as it would hide nothing.

He frowned and gave up trying to translate to instead focus on the task at hand. “How about I pass you perishables? That good?”

“Yeah. Standing in one place is easy. I’m just wobbly if I move too much.” You settled as a wedge in the fridge door as Mikey moved to pass things.

“It didn’t take too long to prep. I mean I’ve got a good few hours here so I wasn’t sweating.” He passed a few things over.

You methodically organized them.

“You’ll have to return my dear Tupperware.”

You paused in show of holding an old butter container that had something chopped inside.

“A family heirloom.” Mikey told you haughtily.

“Clearly.” You joked back and slipped it in.

Mikey walked you through the upcoming steps as you stuffed the fridge then freezer. When you came up with a semi-cleaned work surface, you glimpsed Splinter sitting on the couch near the closest arm and Donnie standing at a side angle near his desk. You imagined it would take some time for them to be able to approach each other and dove into the normalcy with Mikey. He ended up being a better teacher at cooking than meditation and walked you slowly through what you could best help with. In contrast, his own tasks disappeared in a flurry where he chatted casually as he moved around a full stove’s worth of burners and an active oven. You weren’t sure how he kept track of all the different cook times, but he seemed to know just when to move or extract something.

It had been at least an hour and you were casually washing some utensils for their third or fourth use when you heard Splinter’s voice. “You’ve made… quite the home.”

You didn’t hear Donnie respond and instead turned to Mikey who knowingly held up more dirty dishes.

With those soon cleaned, you moved on to oven Tetris for the many dishes that needed to be baked when you heard Donnie say something.

“You are still in contact with Big Mama.” 

“Y/N!” Mikey blurred through your vision, moving faster than your eye to put the last pans in and slam the oven door shut for you. “You gotta look at this sunset!”

“Sun… set?” You blinked.

“Yeah!” Mikey slipped around you and opened the kitchen window.

“The sun doesn’t set for another-”

“It’s beautiful, you have to see!” As if it were a door, Mikey stepped right through the opening. 

You stumbled a few steps after him in confusion and bit your lip on a noise when his arms shot out to grab you. In one perfect tipping lift, you were hoisted up and angled right through the window before you were set on the fire escape. “Wha-!?”

Mikey held a finger up to his lips and put great care in slowly closing the window.

When it was noiselessly shut he let out a big sigh.

“It’s time.” Mikey told you and then fell back to sit on a metal step.

“They’re talking?” You perked up.

“Yep. Not about to be a part of all that.” Mikey twirled a lazy finger and took a deep breath of city air. “Sky’s mostly blue.”

You leaned against the brick to look up. “Yeah…”

“It’s pretty.” Mikey murmured.

“Yeah.” You agreed.

For a long time you sat in the moment and let the bustle buzz as a dull hum until you made it over to Mikey. He moved aside to give you room and you both occupied the same step.

“Can you hear them?” You asked softly so as not to disrupt the moment.

“Nope.” Mikey tipped his head towards you. “Donnie’s got super glass or whatever he does.”

You snorted. “You’re going to slip up calling him that.”

“He can get me then.” Mikey threw up lazy fisticuffs.

“Thank you.”

“For saying I’ll fight him?” Mikey still had his arm’s akimbo and looked at you.

You bumped him with your shoulder, but left your body pressed to his. “For helping save me. For shortening my healing time. For teaching Donnie meditation. For making all this food. For getting Splinter...” You shook your head at the list. “For texting me about Donnie cooking.”

Mikey lightly chuffed and leaned a metered amount of his weight back. “I should thank you.”

“For what?” You looked at him.

You got to see up close how gooey his expression was when he turned to you. “For saving him.”

“I didn’t.” You shook your head. “He saved himself. I just got to watch.”

Mikey thought for a moment and returned. “Let me rephrase.”

“Go ahead.” You chuckled.

“Thank you for making him happy.”

Your heart jumped and you smiled brightly.

“Cute.” Mikey teased and leaned his carapace back on the steps.

You nudged him lightly where you couldn’t do the same and stared out at the darkening city until you felt a familiar pressure in your stomach. “Oh no…”

“What?” Mikey’s voice was sleepy.

“I have to pee.” You groaned and remembered how you’d been so on edge with Donnie many hours before Mikey had even arrived. That added to the current till, meant you hadn’t visited the bathroom since early that morning.

“Hold it!” Mikey sat up. “Do you know how rare this is!?”

“You think I don’t want to!? This was dropped on me the same time as you!”

“Yeah!” Mikey’s head shook with stress. “Stupid secret diner meetings with dad were not on my Donnie bingo card, but this marks the fourth time they’ve spoken ever! So I say again: hold it!”

“We have to go inside eventually!”

“Yeah, when the timers go off!”

Something beeped.

One single clear time.

“Mikey…”

Mikey paled.

“What was that!?”

“The… fifteen minute warning?” Mikey eeked out and went to grab his phone. “It’s 6:15…”

“We need to go inside!”

“We can wait!”

“Let’s just peek!”

“You peek!” Mikey scrambled up a step further from the window. “I’m not chancing nothing!”

You didn’t blame him in the slightest and inched forward slowly where your hips were weary. Nothing you couldn’t handle as you were a base level of sore as of late, you edged forward and carefully placed your fingers to the sill before hoisting yourself up to look inside. A clip of the counter blocked some of your vision, but you could see Donnie sitting with his back toward you and looking down the couch where you imagined Splinter was.

“What do you see?” Mikey was obviously impatient. 

“I can only see Donnie, but there’s no signs of a fight. He’s just…” You stared hard at the back of your boyfriend’s head. “… sitting there.”

“That’s probably fine…?” Mikey seemed to be genuinely asking.

“Yeah…” Your crouch put further pressure on your bladder. “I’m opening the window.”

“Y/N!” Mikey clanged against the fire escape as he shied another step away.

“We have to go back in eventually! Everything will burn!” You pressed the jamb lightly before cracking it.

You felt the rush of air and the scent of food waft out, but little more.

Your heart beat fast in your chest and you moved to check with Mikey.

His eyes were a new kind of wide.

‘Bad?’ You mouthed as obviously as you could.

Mikey shook his head furiously.

Your abdomen pulsed.

You pushed the window further up.

Mikey caught your arm.

You wordlessly pulled from him.

His head shook so fast his hair was coming out of its tie.

You yanked to the side and both of you struggled in front of the window.

“Is it really possible to love someone who is evil?”

Both you and Mikey froze at the sound of Donnie’s voice

Then you were nearly beating each other to try to close to the window.

“I once told her I knew there was still good in her.” Splinter’s response came next.

You heard a dull sound.

Something indistinct and electronic.

Mikey’s eyes turned white and he disappeared from you.

Blinking into the empty fire escape, you swore you heard the faint sound of a timer in the distance.

That meant the food was done. 

You had to go inside no matter what. 

Stunned, you looked toward the window with your heart plummeting and pushed it all the way up so you could climb back inside.

“I was wrong!” Splinter’s voice cracked as your belly pressed against the sill, halfway through. “Still good!? What does that mean!? She never said anything, but she must have known. Why was I so hung up on the distinction? Good. Bad…” He heaved a heavy breath.

You nearly somersaulted over, but you channeled every ounce of your physical therapy and just barely saved yourself with a careful foot to the floor.

“Love does not know such things! I loved her in spite of everything. I loved her after she imprisoned me. I loved her because I loved her. Her alignment or however you would say was not what my heart chose. I chose the woman who understood me. Who sat by me. Who liked going out dancing as much as she appreciated a good movie night on the couch!”

The last of your muscle strength was spent on dropping as silently to the floor as you could.

“I wonder if it was… my fault we drifted apart and… that may be…? Oh, but these things happen... I did not condone her activities. I still don’t, but I’d be lying if I didn’t think I liked that she’s still feisty!”

Donnie gave what was almost a laugh.

It also sounded congested.

You slithered on your belly with only the intention of getting to the bathroom and not interrupting.

“Donatello. None of us chose the life we are born into. I’d say we get to choose after and to a point I did, but a certain destiny caught up with me. Right… Wrong… Who’s to say? I made the decisions I did.”

You were close to the edge of the counter.

“What I can tell you is that when the time comes, for whatever that may be, you get the choice in how you react. When I had my hand in stopping the Shredder or the Krang, I wish I could say I thought of humanity. I didn’t. I thought of my boys. I thought of…” Splinter cut himself off and his voice shook. “I did what I did out of love. I continue to do it for the same. If you are worried that is bad, then you are wrong. Love may be the only right choice any of us can make.”

Your head appeared out from the wood and you saw Splinter first.

He had slid down to the middle of the couch at some point and Donnie now took his old spot at the sofa’s arm.

With his back to you, Donnie was slightly hunched, but that wasn’t what you were looking at.

Down on Donnie’s knee, you saw Splinter’s spindly pink hand settled on top of Donnie’s.

Neither party moved and there were tears in the air.

You meant to run.

You meant to fly.

You were going to lock yourself in the bathroom.

You weren’t going to intrude on this scene.

Instead you rose at the same time a blue light flashed.

Your heart hit the floor.

Donnie and Splinter jolted apart and turned in that direction.

“Y/N!” Mikey hissed as quietly as he could behind you.

Your head tilted toward the sound, but you couldn’t peel your gaze away.

Leo slipped out of the portal with his eyes closed and a carton of cream in his hand. “Yello, dinner party people!”

Raph’s arm appeared next, but Leo froze in his way.

Donnie spun and was heading towards you with his head down.

Staring at where your boyfriend had just been on the couch, Leo was looking at the vision of his father with huge fat tears in his eyes.

“Dad…?” Leo whispered a silent spell.

As if your blood pressure hadn’t fallen enough, it broke through the floor.

Leo didn’t know Splinter was going to be here.

Mikey’s earlier action slapped you in the face.

“What-” Leo’s voice darkened and he moved toward you.

Donnie passed you and Mikey squeaked where he was clearly still in the window based on the way he struggled.

A blue light broke out behind you and you turned to watch Leo’s head appear there, cutting Donnie off. “-did you do!?”

Donnie’s head snapped upright and from this angle all you could see was Leo’s face.

It was broken glass and horrified awe.

Raph whispered something to Splinter.

He was making sure his dad was alright.

“You…” Donnie spoke against the will of his body.

Leo was stuck by only his own accord while Mikey was very literally wedged in the window.

Donnie’s got his sights on the youngest.

“Why was Leonardo not informed?” Ice crystals could have formed on Donnie’s words and you would have believed they were real.

“Th-th-that’s-! U-um!!” Mikey’s hands splat against the wall where he tugged as hard as he could before he popped out of the jamb.

He hit the ground in a flop and shot to his feet, curling around Leo’s portal.

“Th-this looks bad, but I-I told you! There was no way Leo or Raph would have agreed! I couldn’t tell them!” Mikey stopped just shy of passing his disembodied brother.

No one moved.

“They would have stopped me! Or dad!” Mikey pleaded, tears welling up in his eyes. “You know that!”

Donnie inhaled a single time.

“I agreed!”

The scene had not defrosted, but you felt everyone’s attention shift to where Splinter had yelled out.

“When Michelangelo told me you wanted to talk, he shared his concerns about the others!” Splinter’s harsh voice didn’t have a single edge. “I agreed it would be best for me to slip in! They know I am stubborn! As long as I got here, they would not make me leave!”

Smoothly, his words slid and coiled around the group.

“Do they…” Donnie lifted his head and you knew he’d placed his villain persona on. “… control you?”

 Splinter made an audible jarred sound.

“Elderly rat at the whims of his more powerful sons?” Donnie was careful in rotating so he stayed out of your view and hit a button to turn off the oven.

“Donatello…” Splinter begged.

“All you do is lie.” Donnie’s malice broke and it dripped to the floor with several hard plops. “Always! All of you!” In a spin, you finally glimpsed your mate and the tears that flung from the velocity of his rage. “You never stop! You compulsive animals!!! HOW?! HOW CAN ANYONE BELIEVE ANYTHING YOU SAY!? WHEN YOU TAKE NOTHING SERIOUSLY?! WHEN YOU NEVER HAVE!? HOW CAN ANY OF THIS BE REAL!? WAS ANY OF THIS-!?!”

“It was!” Splinter stepped up onto the arm of the couch with tears matting his fur. “Donatello, please! You have to understand! I take this matter more seriously than any other!”

“Oh.” The cadence of Donnie’s words bled. “This then? You take this seriously? Now? NOW?!” He bellowed and even you flinched. “OBVIOUSLY NOW IN YOUR OLD AGE! LATER! OF COURSE! I SHOULD HAVE KNOWN! YOU ALWAYS HAD IT IN YOU! YOU JUST HAD TO HAVE ME GROVEL! NOT BEFORE THOUGH! THIS IS THE MATTER OF THE UTMOST IMPORTANCE! NOT WHEN A CHILD GOES MISSING! NOT WHEN A LAB EXPLODES AND YOU SAW, YOU SAW, ONE OF FOUR NOT END UP IN YOUR CLUTCHES?! NOT THEN!? NOT TO EVEN LOOK ONCE!!! NOT WHEN A LITTLE BOY WAS LEFT AND TORTURED FOR YEARS!!!”

Donnie choked.

Splinter welled up.

You looked to the others.

Mikey had brought his hands up to cover his mouth and his tears flowed from grossly large eyes.

Leo still hung, half in, half out, of his portal across the apartment and his face was painted with the bitter weight of the knowledge.

Raph’s lips drew a warped line and his features winced, but he refused to look away.

None of them knew.

Like Leo hadn’t known about the library.

Only you knew Donnie’s past.

“Now…” Donnie threw up his tear stained cheeks and checked around the air. “NOT, NOW HUH!? NOT IN THE ONLY APPLICABLE MOMENT?! NOT A SINGLE GUN!? NOT EVEN A BULLET! WHAT A HANDY FUCKING SCAPEGOAT THAT ALLUDES ME!!! YET ANOTHER BLIGHT BROUGHT UPON BY THE HAMATO NAME!! WHY!? WHY NOW!? WHY DOES MY ACCURSED NINPO NOT MANIFEST NOW!?!”

“It’s because you’re not angry.”

Donnie turned to you with outright betrayal on his features.

You rose with the blow of it and felt your face crumple. “You’re not mad… You’re… You’re sad…”

You watched, up close, how every emotion fell off Donnie’s face.

Left only with featureless surprise, his pupils shook with the empty off-whites in his eye before he turned.

He was going to run.

He needed to leave.

You would field the others.

You only needed to stop four mutant men.

Simple enough on a broken body.

They were already looking at you.

You would give Donnie an opening.

“THAT’S ENOUGH!!!” Raph’s voice cut through at a volume that caused the wall fixtures to shake.

It created a new spell, this one stopping time instead of freezing it.

“NO-!”Raph reached into the portal near him and yanked Leo out of the kitchen and to his side where he threw an enraged finger over top to keep his younger brother in place.  

Leo’s eyes took up his entire face and his head shrank down into the top of his plastron in translation that whatever Raph was doing was new.

“MORE-!”Raph stormed into the kitchen where he skirted Donnie long enough to pick up Mikey. 

The youngest was thrown clear across the apartment, toward the door, where he barely activated his flight, and staved off colliding with the surface with a burst of orange sparks.

Raph then looked out at his family across the apartment and pointedly put his shell to you and Donnie. “-LIES!!!”

Again, the apartment shook.

He stood there, a shock of muscles quivering with rage before he turned with watery eyes. “You’re right!” Raph told Donnie. “You’ve been right!”

One of Donnie’s hands started to lift.

“All this time!” Raph’s features fragmented and he had to scrub them back into place like a sliding puzzle. “Not how you did it! You fucked that up so bad, but about us! Of course you wouldn’t trust us! How could anyone trust us!?”

Donnie had clear reservations, but didn’t speak.

“We’ve said a thousand times before that we’ll change, we’ll tell the truth, that we’re finally going to quit lying, and not once has it been different! We’re not going to be different until we stop acting like it is! What happened!? Happened! What’s done!? Is done and I’m sick and tiredof pretending it’s anything else!” Raph shook with what was almost a laugh. “I’m out, Lee. As of right now? I quit.” Coming up, he looked the most serene you’d ever seen him. “I quit the team. Hell! As it is? I quit the family.” 

You heard Leo scramble.

Raph looked right at Donnie. “I’m going to the roof and I’m going to explain our ninpo. I’m going to tell the damn smoggy sky for all I care. You come or you don’t. Raph is currently a solo act.”

Raph then walked straight over to the window and stared at it for only a second before he grabbed the casing.

Your body pulsed with fear, but Raph barely flexed and pulled the entire frame straight out of the wall and brick outside. “I’ll fix this later.”

Setting the window frame down with far too much care for the destruction he just wrought to your wall, Raph walked out onto the creaking fire escape and climbed up out of view.

Donnie only surveyed some rubble that had landed by his foot before he moved to follow.

You stared as your partner stepped onto the metal. 

He paused for a moment, never looked back, and continued after the oldest.

You felt a brush and looked down to find Splinter at your feet.

The old man gave you a single even nod before he too followed out the hole.

Leo made a noise.

As soon as Splinter stepped outside a blaring red wall appeared to block the path.

You heard a knob click.

You spun just in time to see Mikey in your front doorway where he had a similarly empty expression.

Your lips parted to ask.

Mikey drew a tight line with his. “No more lies.”

You wanted to yell that you weren’t.

Of the entire lot of them, you’d lived the most honest.

That wasn’t quite true.

You only had excuses.

Guilt wringing you out, Mikey left and the door closed behind it.

That left you and Leo.

With Mikey manning the front door and Raph blocking what was once a window, you were now trapped with the only turtle who despised you.

You stood in the lingering heat of the oven.

Despite melting down, Donnie still took the time to save the food you and Mikey had worked so hard to prepare.

You loved your mate so much.

Had you hurt him?

Why had you told him that about his ninpo?

Should you have stood up for him more?

You held your hands close to the oven handle.

It seemed then, and still did, that you had said what you needed to.

You needed to be alone with him to deal with everything that had happened. 

You’d already agreed to do exactly that. 

It would help if you had a few of those categories sorted. 

Donnie always did prefer you to have done your homework. 

He’d done his both with Splinter and then would come with spades having had a conference with Raph. 

That left you now needing to deal with your shit. 

So you said what you needed to. “Guess we could start with the easiest stuff.”

Leo grunted lightly in what you imagined was him getting to his feet.

“How you’ve said you wanted me dead twice now.” You threaded your fingers through the oven handle, but only held it.

“Wrong.” You heard Leo try the front door.

Either Mikey or S.H.E.L.L.D.O.N. was keeping it closed.

You imagined the automaton was somewhere with popcorn.

“At the gala, one. You wouldn’t remember my name.” You squeezed metal. “And the last time we really spoke. You said I hoped I would be your final straw.”

“I didn’t say hope.”

“But you did say you wanted me dead.”

“This is purgatory.” Leo decided and a thunk sounded that you knew to be his head against the door.

“Welcome to hell.” You gave a sort of smile. “We’re doing this.”

“Raph can’t quit.” Leo spoke distant.

You crossed the apartment.  

“We all agreed. No one was coerced. He’s not going to talk about our ninpo. We agreed.”

“It’s over, Leo.”

“I’m their leader.”

You stared.

There was no way to reach him.

He was going to encase himself in as many lies as he needed to protect his fragile heart.

You knew that all too well.

You had your own man doing the same. 

You were careful in signaling you were going to touch him before you did.

Leo only gave you a sharp glance, but didn’t move. “Dad’s there. He’ll stop him. Dad knows the threat.”

You took Leo’s wrist and led him to turn.

He came with his head down, locked in on his delusion, and turned toward you in a show that he would not be moved.

“Mikey took a different route. He’s got me. Mikey is always my best back-up. He makes openings with his ninpo. He takes the heat. He’s fire incarnate.”

You released Leo and sized him up.

“Then I slip in. You never got to see us work coordinated. Raph’s too obvious as a bruiser. Mikey’s the real tank. I’m the speed and precision and Raph finishes them off.” His foggy gaze gave way to how happy the memories were.

Your body ached and you used the pain to watch him clearly.

“We head home to dad.” Leo was exactly where he described. “He wouldn’t ask what we did. We wouldn’t ask what he did. We existed in the moment. That’s how it was. ‘Orange, whip something up.’ ‘You got it, daddy-o!’ ‘What’s on the menu tonight?’ ‘Well, we’ve got quite the array of the latest day old delights! Locally sourced from the finest dumpsters.’ ‘I’ll take the chef’s special.’ ‘Coming right up!’ ‘Think we’ll be able to pronounce it this time?’ ‘Not a chance, Rapharoni. Not a chance…’”

You hugged straight into Leo’s center.

He made an audible, “Oof.”

Getting as much of his carapace in your hands as you could, you squeezed him with all your might.

Leo’s arms hung limp over yours.

“’It’s knock-knees.’ ‘What the!? Gnocchi! What’s wrong with you?’ ‘You say it like no-key!’ ‘Of course there’s no key! We live in a subway! Where would we keep a door?’ ‘Leo!’ ‘That’s worse than your bit yesterday with the pho.’ ‘I thought you’d pho-geddaboudit!’ ‘Not again!’ ‘Why do you always do that!?’”

Fat tears knocked on your head one at a time.

You hugged him tighter and his sentences devolved until he was humming the tune of the past.

What had you really learned about this man?

You had no idea.

Leo never said what he meant.

Where Donnie was precise, Leo was ambiguous.

Both calculated, Leo played mental chess thinking of his finishing move while Donnie remapped the board at each step.

While each had their advantages, it was Leo’s methodology that you couldn’t follow.

Retroactive action had once threatened your relationship with Donnie.

It destroyed your knowledge of Leo before you could even place what it was.

He was too sharp.

He knew exactly how to push other’s buttons.

He was a master manipulator.

He’d done exactly what he wanted and kept you at bay.

Not without taking critical damage himself, it just so happened that you had a knack for such a thing.

You’d only inflicted him with wounds because you hadn’t planned at all.

You had time now. 

It was with yours, you found Leo, small and trapped in what had to be his teen years.

He clung to memories before the world came crashing down around them.

His family.

He never saw them differently.

That was why he spoke the way he did.

It shaped how he acted.

He created a mold then and there and pressed the rest of him through melted wax.

Only the die was imperfect.

He decided his final move as a child and never looked back. 

His family was his entire worth and everything he did was for them. 

Only he was so focused on preserving the them of that moment, that he hadn’t seen the field of play had changed. 

They no longer needed him in the way he’d decided. 

No matter how many times they tried to tell him, he kept stubbornly forcing himself through that old mold. 

Each time he extruded a blue shape that was more and more malformed.

It showed every edge where the plates hadn’t been properly set.

Trying relentlessly to make it work, Leo had spent decades refusing to rework the machine.

He only needed to try again.

The wax was wrong.

He was wrong.

He could fix it.

He just needed to try.

He’d sat stubborn.

Long past when the materials ran out and he had begun to crush his skin between boiling metal.

Through each throttle and scar, he continued until he no longer knew when to stop.

When his family acted out of the distorted image he drew, it was an attack of his very being.

He was betrayed again and again and forced more of himself into the mold.

If only he could get it right.

It would be an injustice for you of all people to stop him.

Not you. 

Not when he’d worked so hard.

He’d worked himself past flesh and to bone.

Then from the dust, he continued to toil.

He’d been right.

You both were.

You were happenstance over a sandwich.

You’d told him about choice, but his answer sheet was worn down.

How could he make any other, when he wasn’t on your plane?

He was a trapped time traveler and his portals only cut space.

He was also wrong.

Raph’s fed up speech ghosted your ears.

Things happened.

It was done.

You felt the shift.

By speaking those few words into existence and disrupting the flow, Raph had upset the status quo in the same way you had.

Then Splinter followed.

Before Mikey made his own path.

Which left two, one wholly present and the other here in body alone.

You anchored that side of him, having hugged him so long your arms screamed with a force very unlike all the stressors from your crutches.

Leo was sobbing, but he didn’t hold you.

He simply rained his sorrows down.

What could you do?

You couldn’t tell him.

He’d heard a thousand words.

They’d had family meeting after meeting.

They’d spent a lifetime and were still in the same rut.

What about Raph’s simple action had been so different?

What about yours scared Leo so deeply, to his core?

If it was what you said, then you should have reached him.

He’d said you’d dug it out of him.

Eyes damp against his shirt, you saw a mental flurry of Leo’s baring their souls.

It wasn’t you.

It had never been you.

It had been time.

Just like Donnie.

It was time.

“You did good.”

Leo babbled a few more syllables, before he stiffened in your hold.

“You did so good.” Tears threatened your vision so you closed your eyes and put all your strength into the hug. “You were right!”

“That-” You felt his hands ghost up to push you away.

“You were!” You forced your body flush with his and sent a watery grave into his eyes. “You were right to love! You were right to fight! You were right to worry! You were right to try! You were right to do everything you could to protect your family! Leo, you did an amazing job!”

A revelation did not pass over Leo’s features.

He stared down at you, spellbound.

He saw you.

The current you.

He saw now.

“They lived!” You told the parts of him, one foreign and aged mingling with the other who hadn’t properly looked in a mirror in years. “You did it. You got them all here! You protected them!”

“I…?” He believed you.

Your cheeks threatened to swallow your eyes. “Every one of them.”

“But they…”

“But nothing!” You stepped closer into him and he had to widen his stance to stay upright. “You can keep punishing yourself, but that doesn’t do them any good! They’re waiting for you! They don’t care what you did! They care what you do now! So, you didn’t save them the way you wanted? Does that really matter? The end result is the same!”

His own philosophy crashed the pieces of him together and he wobbled.

You squeezed until you thought your shoulders might pop out of their sockets. “And that’s where you are. You’re at the end of the road, Leo. You did it. You’re done. Your job is done.”

The first breath he took gave his new form life.

The second felt the years he’d lost.

The third sipped bittersweet in the many lives the old him had touched.

Then came happiness.

In a wave so large, his teeth lined up for a decade’s wide smile.

The time between flowed like a river down his face in droves.

“You can rest.” You buried your face into him, but saved your mouth. “Your loved ones are here and they’re waiting. They’ve been waiting all this time. They want to thank you. You did everything you could.”

Leo hugged you.

In one giant sweep, all that you had squeezed into him was returned until you were nearly bowled over.

You genuinely had no idea how either of you were still upright.

“He’s in good hands.” You added as soon as you got your oxygen back.

It was crushed right back out of you and together you both cried.

The downpour washed the slate clean.

You weren’t sure if you would etch it anew, but for now you were going to store it.

There was time.

So much so, especially for Leo, that you languished in it. It brought you both stumbling to the couch where neither of you could let go. It was only after being seated side by side did you feel sturdy, but Leo didn’t let go with an arm slung around your shoulders. He grew into a frustrating weight, but there was a certain comedy to it that had you both barbing each other with little spikes for a sense of normalcy. You weren’t sure if that would be your relationship moving forward, but for now it felt like you could traverse it on your own terms.

When Raph came down the fire escape in a series of clangs, Leo only arched out where he still had a hold on you and greeted his brother with a wry smile.

If Leo’s newly current presence was obvious to you, it was plain as day for Raph, who was moving forward. “Leo!”

“Hey, bro. Miss me? Bring that big beautiful mug over here for me to see!” Leo extracted his arm from you and whispered a parting sorrow in your ear. “Sorry, doll.”

For a moment you were on a rooftop until you were back in your apartment looking at Leo.

“What can I say?” He was all smarmy charm. “A fling’s a fling! No hard feelings?”

You had a thousand insults on your tongue, but Donnie’s arms wrapped around your middle and he extracted you with a bitter glower.

Leo didn’t pay him any mind and caught Raph by the cheeks to squeeze them. “Prickly, you forget to shave?”

“What can I say? It’s past five o’clock.” Raph fluttered his lashes.

“Big news: I’m thinking about quitting too.” Leo gave Raph’s face one last squish before he let go. 

“Oh?” Raph craned his brow ridge through his mask. 

“Yeah, thinking about starting a new team. I’m still workshopping a name. I’m thinking Mayhem’s Mutants. We get ourselves a cute mascot. Everybody loves a cute mascot.” Leo tipped his head, amused. 

“He is cute.” Raph caught the joking bug. “Good luck with that, I’ll have to see. I sent out a ton of resumes and have already gotten a few calls back.” 

“That right? Well, make sure to suit up for the interviews and when they hit you with that bit at the end asking if you have any questions, you always, always, ask ‘em about parking. They eat that shit up.” Leo threw out his hand in a smoothing sailing motion. 

“Thanks. I think I will.�� Raph chuckled. 

“Also, like remember though, I’m just saying, my thing has dental…! So… you know… keep your options open, alright?” Leo clucked. 

Donnie cuddled you close where he’d pulled you clean over the back of the couch.

You leaned back and bumped your head against the underside of his chin.

He rested there.

Little nail clicks were Splinter and you opened your eyes to see him crawl up onto the couch to approach his middle son.

A small fear caught you and you grabbed Donnie to share the load.

He held you tightly.

It hadn’t occurred to you that Leo’s change could be an impermeant one, but faced with this father, a certain manifestation of how he came to be could upset the balance.

You wanted to interfere, but it was out of your hands.

Splinter touched Leo’s arm before moving to cup his son’s cheek.

He then pinched hard and pulled.

“Ow, ow, ow!” Leo squawked.

“Do you know how long we’ve been waiting!?” Splinter complained.

It was the perfect response.

Leo immediately welled up with tears.

“Come on, pops! C-can’t have been that long…” Leo spoke weepy.

“Foolish boy!” Splinter scolded, but his sharp edge was disintegrating by the second. 

Raph smiled and you watched his eyes flash red.

Leo’s joined for a flicker of blue and you felt Donnie jolt around you.

Looking up you found him with a shine of purple in his iris and then the front door exploded open.

“Leo!!!” Mikey shrieked and flew straight to tackle Leo off the couch and into Raph.

“Alright, alright! There’s enough of me to go around! Stop acting like I’ll disappear into another dimension or something!” Leo complained. 

A beat of silence passed. 

“Not funny, Leo!” Raph growled and pulled all the Hamato into a hug. 

“What is wrong with you!?” Mikey hissed. 

“You dare joke-!” Splinter threw out frustrated balled fists. 

Leo laughed brightly and you felt a very specific fracture in the family mend.

You leaned further into Donnie.

He moved to envelope you, but a growl rumbled out from his stomach.

There was a pause that could only be broken by Mikey, “Dinner bell!”

Everything then went into motion. The meal was salvaged in various stages and you found that the cream you had seen Leo with was because Raph wanted to make his own dessert. He apparently had a cobbler recipe he was proud of and wanted to show off to you specifically. Splinter was able to present his green bean casserole which was admittedly delicious and supposedly his tout to where Mikey got his culinary skills. There was talk of jobs and this and that. In moving groups, you got to mostly rest as the men scarfed down comical plate loads and got into arguments over the silliest things.

It eventually broke off where Raph took full advantage of the kitchen and its central food hub as he always baked. Making quick work of repurposing a casserole dish, he eventually had time to take some measurements of a wall and Donnie dismissed him only to point outside. Raph poked his head out to find supplies on the fire escape and a calling card post-it with a caricature of S.H.E.L.L.D.O.N. on it that made Leo shudder. Clean up happened with Leo taking heavy point of washing many dishes and Mikey humming alongside him as a mystic dryer with orange tinted air. Raph stacked things up to eventually take with them and Donnie shot off a message to S.H.E.L.L.D.O.N. from his computer about what was left for the window repair.

It eventually brought a curious Raph over to the computer as he wasn’t going to let his promise go of being the one to fix it. The eldest tacked on a resume of the work he’d done around the lair where he’d expanded arch ways to better fit his size and architecture slid into Donnie’s special interest category. Both men were soon scouring blueprints and you feared it wouldn’t just be a window put back in place in your kitchen. 

Nothing you could really do to stop them, you drifted to the side, where the other pair of turtles were entertained and found Splinter alone with a cup of tea on your couch. He gestured you over and made you one where you only faintly wondered where he’d gotten his supplies. You drank an incredible cup of smooth liquid that had you sending awe at the old man who took your praise in stride. A timer went off and Leo got a little too excited. His hand went up where it had been hand mixing a bowl of cream. The fling brought ire then a laugh from Mikey who seemed relentless in hanging off the blue brother.

All of it brought smiles to Leo’s face where piping hot cobbler was passed out with fresh dollops of cream running off.

Donnie was busy fixing a schematic and didn’t step away to grab a portion.

You’d been resting for long enough and got him one sans cream as you knew the melting whip would only sog the cobbler’s crispy top, a complaint you’d known well of your partner. Bringing the plate and a fork over, you set it down beside him to take at his leisure and he passed you a distracted glance along with an affectionate mating call for your effort.

It brought a plate clanging silence to the room.

Donnie immediately bristled.

Raph was the first to break out his excitement. “Life partners?!”

Fury was abated for repulsion on Donnie’s face. “Is that your descriptor?!”

“Uh, duh.” Leo rolled his eyes. “Kinda bigger deal than boring old English to have a special way of saying ‘I love you.’ What do you call it?”

Donnie turned and tried to bury his beak into his computer.

“Nope! Not letting that go!” Leo jumped the counter with Raph excitedly gushing about romance right behind him.

It caused Donnie to up and run from the pair where they circled the apartment making kissy faces as your boyfriend got more and more flustered.

Mikey appeared by your side with a forkful of cobbler. “I’m not into the whole thing.”

You nodded for the sake of it, watching the display and witnessing Splinter doing the same with an overflowing affection.

“Cretins!” Donnie reared a hand on a turn and with it came a wall of purple that Raph and Leo both slammed into.

Leo blinked a few rapid times before he peeled his face off the projection.

“Woah…” Raph ran his hands over the clear purple swath. “When’d you learn to make less lethal stuff?”

“Was he mad mad?” Mikey asked you. “Like ninpo making mad?” 

You shook your head as you honestly didn’t believe so. 

That made this Donnie’s first projection seemingly created his will alone. 

This was confirmed for you as Donnie came forward to study the barrier with a finger curled to his lips.

“Amazing.” Leo was unenthused. “It’s literally a rectangle. Whoop-dee-doo. Wanna actually impress me, egghead? Make it disappear.”

“Here we go.” Mikey exaggerated an eye roll.

“It’s not magic!” Leo bristled.

“You were one step away from saying abracadabra.” Raph snarked.

Leo mimed the magic word mockingly to the oldest. 

Donnie had his brow wrinkled during the exchange in clear effort. 

Something then occurred to him and he leaned away with a slow exhale as if giving up.

The wall crumbled with pixels collapsing like a perfectly cleared Tetris screen.

Leo arched his mask. “Huh. Well alright.”

“Let’s try for a pistol.” Donnie flared with a tame malevolence for him.

“I’m blameless! You shoot your sensei!” Leo pointed at Raph as he exited and headed over to Splinter. “Got a cup for me?”

“I’d need to boil more wa-” Splinter yawned.

Mikey’s expression grew gooey. “About time.”

“I can stay up!” Splinter complained.

“He’ll be passed out in ten.” Raph told you.

You giggled.

“I will not! This is a special occasion!” Splinter brushed his eldest off with a wave of his hand.

Leo put the kettle on and Splinter fell asleep before it even hissed.

Burners clicked off, there was a quiet movement of gathering things and dividing leftovers. It struck you that Donnie hadn’t consumed anything, but you had a feeling he might later. All based on chance and how things held up, you did your best in choosing to take dishes he might like and a portal was soon formed to transport the rest. Straight into the lair kitchen, things were filed out with the final retrieval being Raph carrying a snoring Splinter through to put him to bed. The eldest then returned once the apartment was emptied and the three Hamato children stood in front of the portal for their goodbyes.

A less than poignant affair, you mostly got a group hug where they wished you well and there were promises of check-in texts. All in order, Donnie stood politely aside and watched on for a slight nod as his great thank you. It was accepted with a few jeers that he barked at and with that the men exited one at a time and Leo’s portal blinked away for the foreseeable future.

Donnie swept you off your feet within seconds. “What happened?”

“Which part?” You tittered as he was pressed behind you and carried you like a hostage to the bathroom.

“You were close! You smell like orange and blue all over.”

“Mikey pulled me out the window and I finally got through to Leo, for real this time.”

“You will shower and explain.” He decided gruffly and it was so endearingly him that you didn’t mind as you stripped.

He sat off to the side, peeking through the curtain as you did a quick wash of your body while regaling him with all that had occurred that night. For Mikey, Donnie cared little, but he ran a gambit of fury at the audacity of the middle Hamato for slighting you. He was still mad, but quieted as you exited the shower damp and nude. It distracted him and he only held a huff as he did his washing up at the sink where you eventually brushed your teeth. Whisked to bed in a none too romantic sense, Donnie instead ate up physical affection in a very literal sense. Mouthing over whatever skin wasn’t coated in pajamas, he obviously scented you before cuddling close where you finally asked him about how he watched your physical therapy.

He began by impressing upon you how proud he was to have you as his mate. He explained that even when he struggled to watch or help, you fought mercilessly and he couldn’t have been more enamored. He even went so far back to remark on your handling of the kidnapping, a lost time that he still applauded you for because however long it was, you’d survived. You’d eventually kissed into him, sweetly at first, in a way that reminded you of tasting a rare bottle of wine. The complexity came with airing and outpoured details.

You found out Donnie had in fact been doing mental constructions during his meditation. While Leo had stopped him from implementing new security cameras, Sinai Hospital had their own footage which Donnie had pilfered and gone through. When he played the tape back and examined it, he’d found that his ninpo didn’t just appear out of thin air, it was constructed there, piece by piece just as he had learned as a child. Hearing Mikey say meditation came with a variety techniques helped him pair the ideas and he found the schematic process to be a soothing one regardless of the lethal creation it was trying to curb. He was pleased with the progress and, as you had seen, had recently start to tap into his ninpo as a pool of energy. 

Until tonight he hadn’t been able to conjure anything, but in his increased meditation, he no longer found the raging purple flame inside him. It was now an organ like any other, only it extended far beyond his body’s reach. He could now imagine himself approaching the well as if it were a materials cache. He imagined with practice not only could he manifest anything he could imagine, but there were probably other uses for the purple ooze beyond that. 

You added what you knew about the other turtle’s power and Donnie revealed to you the conversation had on the roof. Just as Raph had said, he only explained the history and knowledge of the ninpo and nothing more. It was apparently a combined manifestation of the Hamato clan’s essence. A generational pool of power passed down, it was an exclusive art that was thought to only be tapped by wholly connecting and trusting one’s family. It manifested uniquely to each user, but seemed as unlimited and wild as all mystic arts. There was no discussion after the presensation and the trio on the roof had spent a time in silence, allowing the knowledge to permeate. 

You tucked in close to Donnie at the thought of him wholly connecting to save you, his family, and he confirmed that, in that moment, he forgot all else, but a drive to save you. Overridden yourself, you felt compelled to open up about your healing humiliations. From stink to lashing out, Donnie took his time dismantling your concerns while also rubbing those exhausted muscles of yours.

Exhaustion and eventual mutual caressing coaxed loose lips where revealed he’d asked Splinter over because he needed a firsthand account of how love worked between a supposed hero and villain. Now that the forewarned grave harm had finally come to you, Donnie found it difficult to imagine you could have any sort of safe life together so he had to turn to the only pair he knew that had chanced and survived such a feat, successful or not. You admitted what you’d overhead and Donnie didn’t fault you. He only plied affections on how you’d snuck in without his knowledge. 

Beofre he diverted back to you, there was something about the way Donnie spoke of his conversation with Splinter.

He had a finality to him.

Not as an ends, but a means to, something about his tone made you think this was the final barrier that had kept him from actually proposing. 

You had to ask if that was the case as your lids grew heavy. 

It was drawing close to dawn.

You’d spent hours catching up.

“Yes..” He breathed warmth at your intuitiveness. “I had reservations. Unrelated to the grotesque concept of asking a father’s permission, however.” 

You were both gazing at each other from your pillows. ��That last bit hadn’t crossed my mind. I swear.”

“He… did help...” He admitted. “He apparently proposed to Big Mama.”

You startled as much as your tired body could.

“Her response was to reveal her plans and imprison him to fight as a slave in her arena.”

“Oh…”

“He… still has the ring.”

You reached for Donnie.

He met you with careful fingers.

You wondered if Splinter had been any sort of stuck like Leo. There was the many names the old man had and he’d been open about his regrets. A frustrating like father, like son, you supposed it made sense and felt optimistic for the Hamato going forward. 

Their familial bonds were apparently transcendent. 

“His didn’t work out, but you think ours will?” You murmured.

“He was happenstance, to be clear. An example, if anything.”

You made a curious trill.

Donnie wormed closer. “Sleep, my love.”

“What was it, Don… exactly?”

Donnie’s beak lightly brushed the tip of your nose. “I was reassured that I am unlike them. Their cycle does not apply to me. I am something new. I am me and am immune to their failure.”

You brushed his cheek with a sloppy swipe. “Only one of you.”

“And you.” He pressed closer to seal the comment, before giving you space to sleep.

💜NEXT💜

Can you believe these two have been around since chapter 21? Hard to imagine a time before my betas @tmntxthings and @thepinkpanther83

[handeaux]

Cincinnati’s Kit Kapp Mapped Uncharted Waters, Popularized Indigenous Art & Was Forgotten By His Hometown

When Amor Smith “Kit” Kapp Jr. died in Florida at the age of 86 in 2013, not a single Cincinnati news outlet carried an obituary or, in fact, any mention at all. The oversight was remarkable since Kit Kapp had been featured in more than 60 Cincinnati news stories between the 1940s and the 1970s.

Almost every day of Kit Kapp’s long life was worthy of a news story somewhere. He was born in 1926 to Loretta and Amor Smith Kapp Sr. in Walnut Hills. His father was a lumber dealer and the marriage was rocky. Loretta sued for divorce twice. The second time, it took. Throughout high school and college, Kit lived with his father.

As a youngster, Kit was bedridden with scarlet fever. He told his father he wanted to build a boat, so Amor Kapp Sr. drove down to the Ohio River and took photos of a towboat. Dad told the Cincinnati Post [18 December 1955]:

“I put those pictures on a drafting board and we started to build. That darn boat took nine months to make, but Kit still has it. It has 144 miniature lights that work and a miniature paddle wheel.”

Inspired by the towboat project, Kit launched his own business, the American Model Company, to sell model boat kits to hobbyists while still a student at Anderson High School.

While living in Mount Washington, Kit walked down to Coney Island and pestered the concessionaires into letting him exercise their ponies and horses. He was just 15 when he signed up to work on a dude ranch in Oklahoma. The next summer found him at a “real” ranch in Arizona. Diving into the cowboy culture, Kit became fascinated by the guns of the Old West and managed to become, at age 17, the youngest person licensed as a firearms dealer by the U.S. government. He boasted that he owned more Smith & Wesson sidearms than any collector in the country.

Kit enrolled at the University of Cincinnati in 1944 but was almost immediately drafted into the Army. He served as a paratrooper in an airborne division based in Japan during the post-war occupation. While overseas, he discovered two new passions: mountain climbing and the Ainu, an indigenous people found in the far northern reaches of the Japanese archipelago. Typically, Kit located every book published on the Ainu – 15 in total, all in Japanese – and hired Japanese students to translate them. He amassed a significant collection of Ainu artifacts and set about connecting Japanese scholars at Hokkaido Imperial University with anthropology faculty at UC.

Returning to UC after his discharge as a sergeant, Kit convinced the Lambda Chi Alpha fraternity to climb Mount Whitney, the highest mountain in the contiguous United States. But, when the time came for the expedition to depart, Kit found himself alone. He told the Cincinnati Post [24 June 1947]:

“A couple of my fraternity brothers were going along, too, but they apparently thought it was just a lot of talk and made other plans for the summer. So I’m going alone.”

On his way west, Kit climbed Signal Peak in Utah and El Capitan in Yosemite National Park. He summited Mount Whitney, hauling a 63-pound pack, and then climbed nearby Mount Muir, not as tall but treacherously steep. According to the Post [29 December 1952]:

“He reached the peak, then gazed down on 1200 feet of sheer precipice. The descent was more a rock-grasping operation than anything else. Kit’s foot slipped and he went tumbling. The whole slope seemed to slide with him. In the best mountain-climbing manner, he stuck out his arms and spread his legs to provide the best brakeage possible.”

Kit ended up with a twisted right leg, a heel pried from one boot, and a determination to find another mountain to climb. Instead, he bought a cheap automobile and drove it through Central America. He blamed it on Burton Holmes.

Almost forgotten today, Burton Holmes was something like a Depression-era globe-trotting Rick Steves. Holmes filmed exotic locales and traveled the country narrating his movies in very popular and remunerative lectures. In April 1946, Holmes presented a filmed tour of Mexico at UC’s Wilson Auditorium, extolling the fine automotive route along the new Pan-American Highway, but warning his audience not to attempt driving further into Central America, because it couldn’t be done.

That sounded like a dare to Kit Kapp. Boasting, as he put it, a bankroll “just thick enough to see through,” Kapp bought a 1929 Model-A Ford for $64 in 1948 and drove it all the way to Costa Rica. As a friend later wrote:

“Claiming to be a journalism student, Kit succeeded in meeting and interviewing the presidents of both Nicaragua and Guatemala during his trip. His car survived the journey back to the US, despite suffering 18 bullet holes passing through a small revolution in Nicaragua.”

Kit changed 51 flat tires and somehow made it back to Cincinnati without the benefit of second gear just in time to enroll for his junior year at UC’s College of Business Administration. Soon after graduation in 1950, Kit sold his model boat company and his firearm collection and bought a 41-foot ketch he named Fairwinds and sailed for the Caribbean. The original Fairwinds was wrecked in a gale, so Kit acquired a 50-foot “bugeye” ketch and christened it Fairwinds II.

With St. Thomas in the U.S. Virgin Islands as a base, Kit launched a charter company, hauling tourists around the area, eventually wandering farther and farther afield. Along the way, he met and married his first wife, the former Lois Fatzinger of Palmerton, Pennsylvania. After a decade running charters, that marriage dissolved, and Kit decided that he would rather go exploring than stick to a charter’s set schedule. He told the Post [18 December 1965]:

“I decided to get out of the high rent district. Running a charter boat is like running a sea-going taxi.”

Instead, he offered expeditions to crew members who paid him for the privilege of exploring rarely visited islands and coasts.

“I make plans ahead of time and if anyone wants to go along they pay $200 for two weeks. They work, but not hard. They help clean up, aid in survey work, help carry equipment on the island beaches. We work about five hours a day, then we swim or loaf.”

Many of those expeditions were sponsored officially by the Explorer’s Club of New York. That organization designated Kit as a fellow of the society. Among his regular customers was physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer. Kit’s travels took him into previously uncharted waters near the coast of Panama, and it was here that he generated his most culturally impactful discovery.

Kit’s efforts to survey the San Blas Islands off the north coast of Panama led to a lifelong interest in the Guna tribespeople who lived there. The Guna (or Kuna) produced unique fabric designs known as mola, vibrantly colored and intricately layered fabric pieces worn by the Guna women. The process involved in creating molas is often described as “reverse appliqué,” in which pieces of fabric are cut away to reveal layers underneath. Kit was among the first outsiders to appreciate and study these dynamic artworks and to bring them to the attention of scholars worldwide. His self-published 1972 monograph, “Mola art from the San Blas Islands” remains the definitive introduction to the art form.

During dozens of voyages around the San Blas Islands, Kit’s quest for reliable charts inspired him to seek out, collect, study and sell antique maps. Some of the maps he found were quite valuable. One sold at auction for $34,000. By 1967, Kit had accumulated a substantial inventory, enough to mount an exhibition in Jamaica. During the opening reception for that exhibit, Kit met his second wife, Valerie, born on the Isle of Wight, who helped coordinate his buying and selling trips to England and the Continent.

As Kit and Valerie shared their discoveries in Guna art, their travels brought them to Cincinnati, where they coordinated a landmark exhibition of molas and ritual Guna statuary at the Studio San Guiseppe at the College of Mount St. Joseph in 1972. Enquirer [13 February 1972] art critic Owen Findsen was impressed:

“Leaving the ethnology to Captain Kapp, the Mola can be seen as a pure art form. One must be taken by the intense coloring of many of them which can set up visual vibrations to compete with the Op artists. And the designs are clever in the same way that the pseudo-primitive art of Paul Klee is clever, by its directness and its innocence.”

The colors and patterns of mola fabric art filtered into popular fashions throughout the 1970s. Women around the world wore clothing and carried handbags replicating Guna mola designs, usually with no awareness of the original source.

As a dealer in antique maps, Kit built a reputation as a discerning connoisseur and befriended several other influential collectors. British map dealer Simon Hunter was one such colleague. He recalled:

“Kit was a very astute buyer, but he was also a most entertaining character whose good humor and traveler’s tales made it impossible to resent the large discounts he invariably managed to obtain on his many purchases.”

All the while he was buying and selling maps, Kit earned acclaim as a formidable scholar who also had the expertise to create his own maps. His many academic publications include analyses of maps, inventories of known charts and monographs on native peoples. Worldcat lists more than 40 publications under his name, with at least a dozen publications being maps of previously unfathomed waters.

After 25 years devoted to collecting and selling maps, Kit and Valerie decided that their business, no matter how successful, was detracting from the time available for exploring their beloved Caribbean. They pivoted toward selling by consignment through other dealers, rather than issuing their own catalogs. The sheer volume of their collections necessitated buying a house with a large garage on land, and they settled in Nokomis, Florida.

Over the years, significant honors accrued. In addition to the prestigious Explorers’ Club, Kit was awarded a permanent card for the British Museum Reading Room and memberships in the Royal Geographical Society, the Adventurers' Club of New York, the Archaeological Institute of America and the American Geographical Society.

After Kit’s death in 2013, his widow discovered more than 60 cartons of uncatalogued Guna art that he had packed away since the early 1970s. While itemizing that substantial collection, she discovered a room covered by a false wall in the garage with even more fabrics and statuary. Much of this new inventory is now available through various auction houses.

[xiaq]

I posted 930 times in 2022

343 posts created (37%)

587 posts reblogged (63%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@xiaq

@beaniebaneenie

@labelleizzy

@luny0

@glutenwitch

I tagged 555 of my posts in 2022

Only 40% of my posts had no tags

#mylife - 188 posts

#lol - 136 posts

#b - 58 posts

#teacher things - 54 posts

#lrpd - 51 posts

#myfic - 49 posts

#answered asks - 47 posts

#myface - 39 posts

#laugh rule - 37 posts

#mywriting - 29 posts

Longest Tag: 114 characters

#here i am in a healthy professional environment and i'm desperately uncomfortable because they're being nice to me

My Top Posts in 2022:

#5

One of my Very Jock Bro Dude students who is constantly clowning around, furtively sliding into my classroom during my free period, clutching his gym bag.

Me: Hey. Are you ok? Shouldn't you be in class?

Student: I have a bathroom pass.

Me: This...is not the bathroom.

Student: Can I show you my sketchbook?

Me:

Student: I used to draw a lot in middle school. But I stopped because I didn't want people to make fun of me. But you're really good at art and I thought maybe you could tell me if you think I'm any good?

Me:

See the full post

2,467 notes - Posted January 26, 2022

#4

Me, getting to school a half-hour early so I can go through all my automatically generated Star Test Prep Scantron sheets and manually change the names of my trans and nonbinary students so they don't have to see their deadname.

Me to me: Is this silly? They probably won't even care. I'm not going to do this next time.

One of my trans students, quietly approaching my desk at the end of the day: Were you the one that changed my name on the bubble sheet?

Me: Yes?

Student: No one has ever done that for me before. I almost didn't come today because I didn't want to deal with it. Thank you.

Me to me: Ok never mind.

6,115 notes - Posted January 28, 2022

#3

Men will let you borrow their softest shirt to sleep in, lull you into a false sense of security for a year, and then have the audacity to take it back on a random Thursday while doing laundry and wear it?? During the day?? Like a normal shirt???

Sir. That is my sleeping shirt. And it certainly is not to be worn during daylight hours unless it’s a leisurely Sunday morning and we’re making pancakes to take back to bed and it’s on my body because it’s my sleeping shirt.

10,113 notes - Posted September 22, 2022

#2

Me, with two nonbinary kids in the car, answering the phone: Hey, what's up?

My partner, trying his best but not used to using nonbinary pronouns: Hey, I'm on my way home. Have you dropped off the...thems...yet?

Me: I have not dropped off the thems yet, no. We're on our way, though.

The thems: uproarious laughter

34,254 notes - Posted May 30, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

Ok so I have these two friends. One straight cis guy, and one lesbian. They look pretty similar, have the same hair style, and tend to shop at the same places for clothes. So the running friend-group joke is that they’re twins. And they’re always like “I don’t see it.”

This weekend, completely unplanned, they showed up to a wedding looking like this.

I think they see it now.

104,710 notes - Posted April 5, 2022

Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →

[sin-sidejob]

Sin-sidejob’s Birthday

hi y’all!! It’s my birthday and I figured I should do something fun like open asks or create an ask game — I hadn’t found any birthday ask lists so making one of my own seemed best

rules: no more than 2 or 3 questions per ask please + striked through questions have already been answered and don’t need to be asked or answered again

1. what is your current favorite work you’ve written?

2. do you have a favorite line of dialogue?

3. who is your writing inspiration?

4. is there writing or work you reread over and over?

5. any favorite artists that inspire you?

6. are there any favorite scenes from a show?

7. writing pet peeves?

8. favorite tropes to write?

9. one sentence sneak peek at drafts?

10. any surprises or asks hidden away?

11. who do you consider your mutuals?

12. are there any drafts you favor more over others?

13. is there a prompt or idea you haven’t written yet but want to share?

14. are there any works you forget you’ve written?

15. turn offs in fics or writing?

16. what would be a sign that you’ve made it as a fanfic writer?

17. do you enjoy receiving asks or submissions?

18. can you tell us more about your sona/oc?

19. who do you ship with your sona? is it just the one ship or do you have others?

20. is there anyone you would like to bring into this fandom that isn’t in it?

21. favorite songs or playlists?

22. movies or tv shows that are comforting for you?

23. is there a follower goal for you?

24. do you mind people sliding into your dms?

25. blog etiquette that you expect of others?

26. blog etiquette that bothers you?

27. is there one piece of writing that you’ll never forget?

28. is there one piece of art that you’ll never forget?

29. do you have any artist or writer recommendations?

30. a scene of a show you rewatch over and over?

31. the idea request, ask, or submission?

32. your favorite interactions?

33. stories of how you met your mutuals?

34. would you join a discord server?

35. what’s your preferred interaction method?

36. any aspect of your blog you wished you’d done at the start?

37. is there any writing of yours you dislike or hate?

38. is there writing you’ve done for yourself that you haven’t shared? if so, would you mind sharing?

39. if you could commission art, who would it be from and what would the prompt be?

40. have their been any friendships you’ve made through your blog?

41. any blogs you wish you interacted with more?

42. any blogs you want to interact with but haven’t managed to?

43. any blogs you want to be mutuals with?

44. what would your perfect day look like? how about your perfect birthday?

45. anything coming up that you’re looking forward to?

46. are there any personal pet peeves of your own writing?

47. is there specific music you listen to when you write?

48. do you have an ideal setup to write in?

49. any aspect of your writing you wish to improve?

50. is there an aspect of your writing you wish was a signature of yours?

51. what inspired you to create your sona?

52. have you ever written with friends or mutuals?

53. is there a mutual or a blog you’d like to write with but haven’t?

54. is there a skill or talent you wish you had?

55. are there any sonas or oc’s in the fandom you’d like to know more about or interact with?

56. if your sona were to have an episode in the show, what would it look like?

57. are there any sonas or oc’s that yours interacts with?

58. are any of your works underrated in your opinion?

59. are any of your works overrated in your opinion?

60. what does your writing process look like?

61. how many drafts or works in progress do you have?

62. do you have any writing from another fandom that you’d share?

63. can we ask your sona questions? if so, would they respond?

64. is there any lore for your sona?

65. dream blunt rotation? (or Mario Party group)

66. kiss marry kill // fuck marry kill // date marry fuck ?

67. is there something you’ve written that you want to redo?

68. a prompt you’ve written or would like to revisit?

69. wildcard

[autolenaphilia]

I posted 3,603 times in 2022

That's 2,400 more posts than 2021!

72 posts created (2%)

3,531 posts reblogged (98%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@myrskytuuli

@str0kethebigtree

@carriagelamp

@daughter-of-sapph0

@molsno

I tagged 1,917 of my posts in 2022

Only 47% of my posts had no tags

#dracula - 212 posts

#fan art - 175 posts

#sherlock holmes - 139 posts

#kitty - 63 posts

#granada holmes - 55 posts

#twin peaks - 51 posts

#art - 41 posts

#my writings - 39 posts

#john watson - 34 posts

#goncharov - 33 posts

Longest Tag: 139 characters

#like they reached the stage that the dictatorship doesn't even need to have red flags for them to support them they just need to be against

My Top Posts in 2022:

#5

To be perfectly honest, I think people who are excessively against people deemed non-mlm writing about mlm relationships and people deemed non-wlw writing wlw relationships is because they have zero ability of experiencing a piece of media critically.

They can't do any kind of literary analysis for shit, so they can't read a text and make actual arguments for why it's fetishizing and problematic. And once you reach that stage you probably have enough maturity to realize "this story is problematic, so no one should ever read it, even critically" is not the most reasonable position to take.

So they default to using the writer's identity to affirm or condemn a work, so they don't have to actually read. And the pseudonymous nature of most online writing, whether fanfic or original erotic fiction leads them to a kind of paranoia as you can't confirm someone's gender identity with a pseudonym. So they do stuff like sliding into the dms of writers who write lesbian fic asking if they are a man.

So "fetishizing" has come to mean "not being wlw or mlm (right now) yet reading stories featuring them", or worse yet, "writing stories about them". It's another excuse not to read critically or ever think about a story.

26 notes - Posted July 13, 2022

#4

Gods, browsing the reviews for Wrath Goddess Sing is so frustrating, because there are so much bullshit from tme people that can't read and want to do a transmisogyny.

Like I understand your brain has entirely rotted away from a mix of only reading mediocre ya fantasy and transmisogyny making you not listen when transfems tell you things, but come on.

Like a thing was complaining about the novel depicting transmisogyny and taking that for an endorsement of it when the book couldn't be more obvious about rejecting it. It's a critical depiction.

Again, it's so arrogant that in what is a transmisogynistic hate campaign against a book to accuse the trans woman author whose career you are trying to end of transphobia for truthfully depicting the very transmisogynistic bullying you are committing.

Like browsing the tag for it here on tumblr.

And then there was the complaining about changing the myths, often reacting just to the publisher's plot introduction.

See the full post

26 notes - Posted September 2, 2022

#3

To be perfectly honest, I’m extra sensitive in a negative way towards the kink at pride discourse because I’m a trans woman. I would be legit interested in how many “no kink at pride” people are transfems, because I doubt there are that many. Being the centre target of transmisogyny gives one a different perspective on who is seen as fetishistic and sexual or not.

Being transfeminine is seen as a fetish in transphobic discourse. This comes from how ordinary misogyny sexualizes women, being a woman is seen as a sexual thing. In the application of this misogyny to transfeminine people as transmisogyny, the narrative becomes that transfeminine people actively choosing to be a woman or feminine must be a fetish.

I don’t know how it is for others, but in my experience this is a major negative if not outright traumatizing part of transfeminine experience in our society. Any hint of transfeminine sexuality becomes evidence of that the trans person in question is a fetishistic predator, and this is often internalized in the form of brain worms. It’s a specifically transmisogynistic form of slutshaming, except the madonna part of the madonna-whore dichotomy is often denied us, because we are seen as inherently fetishists. (Granted, there is sometimes a transmisogynistic equivalent of the madonna figure, in the form of “The Good Transsexual” who is often cis-passing and straight and demurely doesn’t insist on her rights. She is put in opposition to the usually lesbian/bi/gnc bad fetishistic trans woman, but that’s a whole other essay in itself.)

Transphobes don’t want trans people to exist in public places and this “being transfeminine is actually a fetish” idea is often used to justify that. It’s specifically common in the terf variety of transphobia. Their argument is that “being a trans woman is a fetish, thus trans women being in public spaces wearing feminine clothes is actually a sexual act, one that other people doesn’t consent to”

Now the obvious counter-argument is that being trans is not a fetish. We basically know that the reasons for people being trans are not sexual due to the scientific research. And in general people don’t go on hormones and transition just for some sexual thrill considering it often makes you a pariah due to transphobia. I could go on, but the arguments for considering being transgender a thing we should respect are well-established at this point. Really no need to reiterate them here, and if you want to argue them the fact is that I have vanishingly small desire to argue my right to exist with anyone.

Now all that is attacking the explicitly transmisogynistic part of this argument. There is a second premise, which is not explicitly transphobic but worthy of thinking critically about.

It is that if someone wears clothes in a public place that they find sexy or even clothes that other people might deem to be uncomfortably sexual, you have forced someone to participate in a sexual act without their consent.

And this argument is at the bottom of most “kink at pride” discourse. It’s actually mostly a “kinkwear at pride” discourse. Many of those who are very “no kink at pride” would be aghast at me associating them with terfs, and argue it’s just guilt by association. It would be, except the argument rests on dubious grounds.

I don’t think the borders between what is sexual/a fetish or non-sexual can’t be clearly drawn, because it’s a nuanced question.

Furries for example, a relevant group in a pride at kink discussion since like 80% of them are not straight. There are undeniably sexual elements to being a furry for most of them, but it’s more than that, it’s a hobby, a community and an identity. I’ve seen fursuits in public criticized for being “kink in public” but the vast majority of them aren’t sexual in the least (because fursuits are objectively terrible for sex for various reasons). And even if the wearer has drawn erotic art with his fursona, their fursona is still often a non-sexual form of expression.

So a person can wear catears to simultaneously look cute in the sense of sexy and cute in the sense of adorable and express an affinity with cats, it can be all three at once.

We don’t even have to go to unusual clothes to make that point. Dressing well to look good and dressing up to look sexy is often the same thing.

And when we are talking about fetish wear, the thing is that almost everything is someone’s fetish, including things others see as normal and non-sexual, that’s kind of part of the definition of the fetish. Kink can also be non-sexual, contrary to popular beliefs and people who are ace participate in it.

The flow of clothes goes in the other direction too. Fetish-wear also frequently becomes everyday fashion, collars and chains and leather boots have become common and unremarkable.

So I don’t think a hard line can be drawn between clothes that are worn for pure non-sexual reasons and clothes that are worn for filthy sexual reasons. It can be both, or literally on someone’s reasons for wearing it. It’s almost literally in the eye of the beholder. There is no firm rule that can be set that won’t be so vague as to be open for massive abuse. The eye of the beholder is fundamentally arbitrary.

I fundamentally don’t trust who is probably going to be the beholder. Our patriarchal society favours the cis gaze and the male gaze. That’s why women are so often scrutinized for wearing “sexy” clothes and it’s taken as an invitation for assault. It’s why trans women are seen as depraved fetishists just for existing in a public space. This is no theoretical abstraction for me, because it’s something cis people won’t let me forget; they will remind me who is subject and object in this society by staring with disgust at me in public.

That is why rhetoric about “removing depraved fetishists” from public spaces, especially at Pride of all places frighten me. It’s because I’m so often seen as one by cis society, and I have no guarantees that the mainstreamed corporate prides the “no kink at pride” people desire will not eventually see me as such. There is barely any difference between the “no kink at pride” and the “ban children seeing drag” rhetoric as it is. It’s the same “ban public sexual displays” and “protect the innocent children from depraved queers” arguments being levied by both of them.

33 notes - Posted June 16, 2022

#2

The radfem concept of “male socialization” doesn’t make much sense. Not that we should take it as some serious theory of trans women’s childhood. It’s an attempt to shut trans women up by misgendering them when a trans woman is being too uppity and dares to talk back to her betters. It’s an attempt to suppress trans women who break the gender stereotype of women being quiet and submissive, cloaked in pseudo-feminist language.

I do think many if not most trans women have internalized transmisogyny, but so do most cis women. How can we not? We are beings who were born, raised and still live in a deeply transmisogynistic society, of course we all internalize misogyny. I think we are all taught a patriarchal idea of men and women, and internalize and relate to them in various ways, in which our gender identity and expression is a major factor. That is however a very subtle and complex problem, one that isn’t covered by the “male socialization” idea that a trans woman who shows any kind of independent thought or aggression is actually a man.

I think transfeminine people as children often don’t have typically male childhoods. We often come across as effeminate and are bullied by boys because of it. Such bullying tends to not build the self-confidence or sense of entitlement that radfems see as signs of “male socialization” in trans women. We often feel alienated from the ideal of a masculine man, and don’t internalize it and make it part of our identity. To the extent we do try to perform manhood or masculinity, it often feels like an uncomfortable mask. Whereas we can often internalize ideas of womanhood instead.

My own case is a good example. I felt alienated from masculinity and manhood, to the point I was often bullied as a child, with physical violence. I never felt ease at the concepts of “boy” and “man” being applied to me, and at around the age of 12 I invented being agender on my own. I decided that “boy” was something biological that had nothing to do with my mind or my identity. I was dissociated from my body and my physical being in the world. I wanted to be a girl, but thought it was impossible. And far from making me an outright misogynist, my alienation made me horrified at the misogyny I had to listen to when boys and men had (sometimes literally) locker room talk with each other around me

I think radfem concepts of male/female socialization overlook that the foundation of gendered socialization must be to get the children to view themselves as girls or boys based on their assigned gender at birth, and then comes that they should behave in feminine or masculine ways accordingly. Trans children, even if they are not aware of being trans or self-identify as such, still often reject or feel some kind of disconnect with their assigned gender, and that makes their socialization pathway crooked.

And when trans women start identifying themselves as women, they have firmly rejected the basis of that gendered socialization. They don’t view themselves as men anymore, if they ever truly did. And that is in itself the most meaningful rejection of any male socialization possible, as it rejects the foundation of such socialization.

67 notes - Posted September 12, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

The subtitles on the dvd I got of the 1986 musical film Little Shop of Horrors are very weird.

They subtitle the spoken dialogue dutifully, but for the actual songs, you only get a one-line description of the song and what it is about. Like the subtitler don't seem to have thought the lyrics to the songs in a musical are important?

Well they are, and this sucks. I got mild auditory processing problems, so while I can make do without, I really do prefer subtitles on movies. And like lyrics in songs are probably hard to fully understand even for people who aren't autistic. And of course this fucks over hard of hearing people, who really need subtitles.

I can't deny the descriptions of the songs are really funny though. This almost deserves to become a meme, like "Just according to Keikaku (translator's note keikaku means plan)".

See the full post

116 notes - Posted September 16, 2022

Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →

[skunkoon]

I posted 3,851 times in 2022

44 posts created (1%)

3,807 posts reblogged (99%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@damienthepious

@sabertoothwalrus

@carrionthird

@daisybrien

@sky-yote

I tagged 2,896 of my posts in 2022

Only 25% of my posts had no tags

#art - 998 posts

#video - 182 posts

#comic - 134 posts

#character design - 130 posts

#gorgeous art - 119 posts

#life advice - 113 posts

#the owl house - 106 posts

#wizards - 86 posts

#positivity - 81 posts

#oc - 67 posts

Longest Tag: 92 characters

#i don't go here but 👀👀👀😳😳😳👀👀👀👀😳👀👀👀👀👀👀👀👀👀👀👀👀👀👀👀👀👀👀😩💦👀👀👀👀👀

My Top Posts in 2022:

#5

Quickly slides you this Alistair doodle to say HAPPY TWOS DAY~!

63 notes - Posted February 23, 2022

#4

Last ArtFight of the season, for Musing.rat on Instagram

98 notes - Posted August 2, 2022

#3

It just occured to me that if there was a term similar to "asexual" when it comes to food, that'd be me. Like, some people put so much stock into food being this all encompassing process of human bonding. But I just ...don't get it? I don't feel any sort of connection between food and community or love? I guess?? And the fact that so many people insist that this is a integeral part of being human just makes me feel so ... isolated? Wrong?

222 notes - Posted June 10, 2022

#2

I just remembered that I can draw whatever I want. And I want to draw old people kissing.

482 notes - Posted October 28, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

Moon makes an introduction, from @bamsara 's awesome fic "Solar Lunacy"

(It's been ages since I've felt like reading, and this fic just hits all the right notes for me bruh~ Love it a whole bunch♡)

1,460 notes - Posted March 11, 2022

Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →

[izzyindahouse]

I posted 125 times in 2022

That's 125 more posts than 2021!

79 posts created (63%)

46 posts reblogged (37%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@nacora-najita

@tulipsempai

@mary-games-and-arts

@illateyouricecreamlastnight

@dark-cynder49

I tagged 96 of my posts in 2022

Only 23% of my posts had no tags

#alan becker - 55 posts

#animation vs minecraft - 18 posts

#irl stuff - 13 posts

#ava second coming - 12 posts

#ava dark lord - 11 posts

#ava red - 9 posts

#animator vs animation - 8 posts

#animation vs animator - 7 posts

#ava the second coming - 7 posts

#ava victim - 7 posts

Longest Tag: 73 characters

#kinda confused which vocals are which and who is the other character😵‍💫

My Top Posts in 2022:

#5

There are Two Types of Dads

Inspired by:

75 notes - Posted September 20, 2022

#4

Cha Cha FNF Sprite Sheet (Not Canon, Fan made)

I HAD TO OKAY-

Cha Cha belongs to @tulipsempai

84 notes - Posted September 18, 2022

#3

Cha Cha Sliding, But I Edited It To Have Cartoon Sound Effects

Here’s a little gift for you Tulip! Cha Cha belongs to @tulipsempai

85 notes - Posted October 24, 2022

#2

Sleepy Hollowheads 

I had a big boost of motivation yesterday and I made this:

Aftermath:

See the full post

95 notes - Posted October 9, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

Warm Colors Exist Y'know?

See the full post

205 notes - Posted November 5, 2022

Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →

[robinisademon]

I posted 3,553 times in 2022

That's 2,022 more posts than 2021!

11 posts created (0%)

3,542 posts reblogged (100%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@aroacevaljean

@mcrbois

@veshille

@snowy-sniper

@wizardsisananimal

I tagged 2,060 of my posts in 2022

Only 42% of my posts had no tags

#mcr - 858 posts

#g - 705 posts

#art - 469 posts

#ofmd - 256 posts

#sandman - 87 posts

#q - 63 posts

#esc22 - 37 posts

#green dress tm art ref time - 35 posts

#jellycat - 34 posts

#les mis - 28 posts

Longest Tag: 138 characters

#but however i have been seeing the trend in university lately that when youre ill the teachers sometimes still exoect you to follow class-

My Top Posts in 2022:

#5

Blackbeard in art nouveau style, sad edition.

Background inspired by Mucha's "Fox-Land Jamaica Rum" (1897)

Flowers are wild rose, sweet pea, and butterfly weed. All badly drawn at 3 AM.

plus heres a horrendously coloured one! it's muddy and includes really shit bucket fill! enjoy!

See the full post

73 notes - Posted April 24, 2022

#4

quick lil draw,, im hfhsfjsfhjakfajkd so not sorry

(based on "Fruit" by Mucha, 1897)

85 notes - Posted April 16, 2022

#3

okay okay this is still a Sketch so dont scream at me i know the face is like a smiley and the arms are different lengths but shhhhhh. the vision is coming together

EDIT this now has a finished version

138 notes - Posted April 7, 2022

#2

Just gonna drop this here...

it's a silly little powerpoint with some outfit images on the slides, sorted by date. not complete, dont come for my throat. working on it though!

Edit 23/09: Completed all shows up to today. Would love feedback on any potential mistakes.

Edit 24/09: it's temporarily down bc onedrive is a bitch. hopefully will be fixed soon! more info on this in the comments of this post.

Edit 25/09: Microsoft. is a fucking. twat. Theyve blocked my account, probably because my powerpoint is seen as spam. Apparently on of their spam policies is "Don’t send content to people you don’t know or to many people at the same time" which is dumb because why do we have a fucking share function then? YeAh pLs sHaRe iT bUT LikE dOnt sHare it ToO mUCh. Bastards. cant have anything fun.

Anyway. I cant get my account back (well, i could but i dont want to give them my phone number), which means its time for the next plan:

Ill replace the link to the powerpoint with a link to a google drive, and I'll upload new versions of the powerpoint on there. Sadly all previous reblogs will keep the wrong link so i really hope they will see this message. Ill also put it in the comment section to make that a little more likely. I might also make a brand new post, additionally to this one.

Sorry for all the inconveniences and i hope we can share a little joy in a new way. fingers crossed.

317 notes - Posted September 22, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

Alright. I'm just gonna quit painting and post this before I go insane. You can scream at me now.

References:

Background design and colours heavily based on "La Dame aux camélias", Mucha (1896).

Flowers in the background are lily (yellow), honeysuckle (really badly drawn), and thyme (didnt even bother to draw the shape right).

Pose based on "Médéé", Mucha (1898), especially the arms hands and knife situation.

Character is from Our Flag Means Death (2022). Obviously.

1,172 notes - Posted April 9, 2022

Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →

[caveguy22]

31 Aug 2023.

Game: Ratchet and Clank 3: Up Your Arsenal (UYA)

1. Art & Writing links

Mi Tiktok Regular: https://www.tiktok.com/@caveguy22?_t=8kxOuCrSitl&_r=1

My WattPad: https://www.wattpad.com/user/Rorikstead

My Art Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dream_of_another_world/

My Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61556891314181

My YouTube: https://youtube.com/@caveguy22?si=CEVsGe9wG7GlM_pk

2. Music Social Media Links

My Instagram : https://www.instagram.com/mrvnmusic/

My Music Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@crazyguy143421

My TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@sumwuntoofak

My Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/mrvnmusicderp

My Drooble: https://drooble.com/jem.nurminen

My YouTube: https://youtube.com/@crazyguy143421?

My Cover Channel: https://youtube.com/@mrvncovers?si=Ejv1P1PBihY5i2IB

3. Streaming Services

My Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/5tCJ3GUPUaKD5R2p1yT9hS?si=elPXG9KPQzOyVNA81PW3Ig

My Apple Music: https://music.apple.com/us/artist/mrvn-music/1576854058

My Deezer: https://deezer.page.link/gRwrJ58dostmMwcw5

My YouTube Music: https://youtube.com/channel/UCMKr2Sqbfqf8fKjEhTmKIYw?si=3daqYG4pWAyJQWHQ

My Amazon Music: https://music.apple.com/us/artist/mrvn-music/1576854058

My Audiomack: https://audiomack.com/mrvn-music

4. General Social Media Links

My Twitter: https://twitter.com/CaveJem

My Tumblr: https://www.tumblr.com/caveguy22?source=share

5. Misc music, artwork & other random links

My Soundcloud: https://on.soundcloud.com/K9bYV

My PlanetMinecraft: https://www.planetminecraft.com/member/caveguy22/

My Pinterest: https://pin.it/6rGbuq1d5

My Bandlab: https://www.bandlab.com/mrvn_music

6. Friends, & other legends :)

Vineykmine: https://youtube.com/@iamlooktoyou?si=Sal7uRG_cjrycWKJ

Yukiroz: https://youtube.com/@Yukiroz?si=MTEiFZQfyVNTE8Dj

Uberhaxornova: https://www.youtube.com/@UberHaxorNova

My Linktree: https://linktr.ee/mrvnmusic

Resources & software i use:

Audacity

Pixabay

Bandlab

Capcut

Befunky

FL Studio (learning)

Freesounds.org

Amuse Music Distribution (thx, guys ❤️)

My Gear:

Yamaha F310 Acoustic Guitar

THR10C Guitar Amplifier

Epiphone Special SG Electric Guitar

Landola V-63 Acoustic Guitar

Samson C03U Microphone

A Polished Steel Guitar Slide

Elixir Nanoweb Coated Strings

Blackstar Amplug 2 Fly

Vox Amplug 2 - Metal Version

[our-flag-means-death-ao3feed]

Pillow Talk

by Ammy (Rennakins)

The pillow is fluffy but just firm enough that it presses nicely against Ed's body, the silky fabric a soft slide between her thighs that makes her want to chase the sensation. So she shifts her hips, squishing the pillow harder between her legs, curious. She slides against the pillow and it starts a slow roll of arousal inside, as if it were a lover's teasing caress. She certainly can't stop there, can she?

  She wants to feel it. Wrapped in Stede's robe, in her scent, in her soft things, Ed closes her eyes and imagines Stede there with her. She's not rubbing her aching cunt on a pillow but on Stede's thigh as the woman herself whispers encouragement into her ear. Fuck.

 Based on some very lovely art by @rysiutokwiat on Twitter ;)

Words: 5947, Chapters: 1/1, Language: English

Fandoms: Our Flag Means Death (TV)

Rating: Explicit

Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply

Categories: F/F

Characters: Blackbeard | Edward Teach, Stede Bonnet

Relationships: Blackbeard | Edward Teach/Stede Bonnet

Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Gender Changes, Rule 63, Pining, Alternate Universe - Canon, Masturbation, Accidental Voyeurism, Vaginal Fingering, Cunnilingus, Appreciation of Fine Fabrics, Lesbian Sex

source https://archiveofourown.org/works/48443503

[horizon-ios]

What makes a buyer attracted to buy 3 BHK Flats in Tathawade at iOS

Engineers Horizon has launched a luxury yet affordable residential project in Tathawade named iOS. The project is near Hinjewadi IT Park. iOS offers 1/2/3 BHK apartments at an affordable price range. Also, the project is close t daily essentials like schools, colleges, hospitals, and shopping arcades. For affordable and spacious homes, check out 3 BHK flats in Tathawade at iOS. 3 BHK apartments in Tathawade at iOS are well-equipped with luxury amenities and convenience that are needed for a modern lifestyle. For example, 3 BHK flats in Tathawade at iOS have a carpet area of 1589 sq ft. 

iOS Tathawade location is a premium location near Hinjewadi I.T. park. The project is well-connected to Hinjewadi via roads. Tathawade is well-connected to Pune city via roadways. This locality is surrounded by forests from all sides, giving a good scope of green and serene views. Mumbai - Pune expressway passes through this locality. iOS is surrounded by reputed schools and colleges which are within walking distance from iOS.This upcoming locality has a good social infrastructure and easy accessibility to commercial hubs. 

iOS Tathawade Amenities are one of a kind. This luxury project has state-of-the-art amenities catering to every age group. Security features and fire fighting system are of world-class level. In addition, iOS has luxury amenities like a gymnasium and a well-equipped clubhouse. Landscaping in the open area, CCTV, video door phone, solar water heater, 100 % power backup, branded automatic lifts, party area, and branded features are some of the amenities that make this project one of the best projects in Tathawade. 

iOS Tathawade Floor plan is meticulously designed to offer maximum space. 2 BHKs come with carpet areas of 681 sq ft, 749 sq ft, and 760 sq ft, 2.5 BHKs come with carpet area of 814 Sq ft, and 3 BHKs come with a carpet area 1589 sq ft. 

iOS Tathawade Price- 2 BHK flats in iOS begin at 53 Lakhs, 2.5 BHK starting from 63 Lakhs, and 3 BHK starts from 1 Cr. 

iOS Tathawade Specifications

Kitchen

Kitchen platform with granite top, S.S. Kitchen sink with drained board glazed/Ceramic tile dado up to 2 Ft height, Provision for fixing of water purifier.

Utility Area

Washing arrangement with water line and drain glazed/ceramic tiling up to 4 ft. Provision for washing machines or dishwashers

Flooring

Vitrified 800*800 mm tiles for all rooms and wooden flooring of the master bedroom, Antiskid ceramic tiles for toilets and terrace

Toilets Select glazed /ceramic tile dado up to 7 ft height, Marble /Jaisalmer stone facia for door openings, Basin on marble counter for master bedroom and common toilets, Pastel color sanitary ware, jaguar make or equivalent ( Repute make), quality C.P. fittings. Single lever hot and cold mixer with overhead shower, Concealed plumbing with insulation for hot water lines, Cockroach prevention preventive trap, Wall mount W.C.

Electrical 

Concealed fire-resistant high-quality copper wiring, Ample light points with reputed make modular switches, T.V. points in the living room and master bedroom, Telephone point in living and all bedrooms, Provision of exhaust fan in kitchen and toilets, Earth leakage circuit breaker.

Doors 

Elegant wooden main door with both sides polished, veneer internal doors with decorative molded skin,( China) powder coated / Anodized aluminum door for terrace, Premium quality fixtures & fittings.

Windowsmolded

Powder-coated / Anodized aluminum sliding windows with mosquito net, Marble window sill

Internal Finish and paint 

Internal walls are finished with a smooth coating of Gypsum Acrylic oil-bound distemper painting to walls.

If you want to know more about the project, check out the iOS Tathawade brochure available on the website. 

Connectivity - iOS Tathawade is well-connected to Hinjewadi IT park and other parts of Pune. Good connectivity of a residential project to the essential locations of the city offers a great benefit to its residents. It makes it more convenient for residents to go to work, run errands, or visit friends and family. Good connectivity increases the property value because the desirability quotient of the property increases. This is important when it comes to selling the property. Good connectivity of iOS makes it easier for residents to access the things they need and enjoy, which can contribute to a higher quality of life. Also, emergency services can be accessed quite easily and give residents the benefit of accessing alternative modes of transportation such as public transportation, biking, and walking. 

[dessola1]

Adesola Stephanie Adepoju.

Zendaya Maree Stoermer Coleman .

1. Have a picnic at the playground.

2. Kick off your day with donuts and smoothies at the park.

3. Host a cookout.

4. Roast marshmallows over a campfire and make s’mores.

5. Camp out in your backyard.

6. Go for a family bike ride.

7. Have a water gun or water balloon battle.

8. Play shaving cream twister.

9. Play backyard Yahtzee with giant dice and a bucket.

10. Blow bubbles.

11. Play frisbee and kickball.

12. Fly a kite.

13. Play water balloon baseball.

14. Cool off at a free spray spark.

15. Place the sprinkler under the trampoline or jump on it with water balloons!

16. Go hiking.

17. Have a nature scavenger hunt.

18. Sit on the ground with your kids and identify the shapes of the clouds.

19. Put on old shoes and go for a stroll in a stream.

20. Pick strawberries at a local farm.

21. Go to a baseball game.

22. Watch a movie at the drive in.

23. Visit the local zoo.

24. Go to a parade.

25. Make a sensory bottle aquarium.

26. Join the Summer Storytime program at your local library.

27. Go to a beach.

28. Spend the day at the pool or waterpark.

29. Go to a carnival or a fair.

30. Visit an amusement park.

31. Take your scooters to a local skate park.

32. Watch a fireworks show.

33. Play a round of mini golf.

34. Watch the sunrise.

35. Build a sandcastle.

36. Make your own tire swing.

37. Turn your slide into a water slide by placing a hose at the top and a baby pool at the bottom!

38. Make water bombs out of sponges.

39. Create your own backyard splash pad!

40. Take a dip in a small pool filled with water balloons.

41. Make goop.

42. Make a pet jellyfish in a jar.

43. Play with soap foam.

44. Make your own cloud dough.

45. Make homemade slime or fish in a bag slime.

46. Play with a shaving cream sensory bin.

47. Cover your slide with shaving cream.

48. Make homemade play dough.

49. Make Moon Sand.

50. Decorate the driveway with sidewalk chalk and have a photoshoot or draw a hopscotch board and play a few games.

51. Whip up homemade aqua sand.

52. Make your own homemade bouncy balls.

53. Make DIY stress balls.

54. Play with sand foam.

55. Perform an easy science experiment by making soap clouds.

56. Create a river out of a rain gutter.

57. Play with the slip n slide and the sprinkler.

58. Have a car wash using ride on toys.

59. Make mud pies and splash in mud puddles.

60. Make homemade ice cream.

61. Buy a popsicle mold and make homemade popsicles.

62. Make milkshakes.

63. Whip up some sand pail pudding.

64. Make pudding pops.

65. Decorate under the sea graham crackers.

66. Make rootbeer floats.

67. Make frozen banana pops.

68. Surprise your kids with jello aquariums or Beach Party Jello Cups.

69. Make banana splits or have a sundae bar.

70. Make slushies or snowcones.

71. Stay hydrated with ocean water.

72. Make homemade iced tea and lemonade.

73. Make homemade ice cream sandwiches.

74. Paint with squirt guns on a canvas.

75. Make thumbprint dandelions or fingerprint flowers.

76. Create pressed flower window gardens.

77. Paint with bubbles!

78. Make an easy foil fish craft with cardboard, foil and permanent markers.

79. Make initial art using painter’s tape on a canvas.

80. Create salt fireworks and shaving cream fireworks prints for the 4th of July.

81. Make a bird feeder.

82. Make puffy paint ice cream cones.

83. Whip up your own lip gloss.

84. Create puffy paint sand art.

85. Plant a fairy or a dinosaur garden.

86. Watch a movie in your backyard.

87. Catch lightning bugs.

88. Stargaze with your family.

89. Work a lemonade stand.

90. Have a water bucket relay.

91. Smash water balloon pinatas.

92. Making a shaving cream ball pit in a baby pool.

93. Pittsburgh natives: Visit the water steps, take a stroll along the river and ride the incline.

94. Play “tennis” with (clean) fly swatters and balloons!

95. Build a fort.

96. Paint with colored ice cubes.

97. Play freeze tag, sardines in a can, hide and go seek and flashlight tag.

98. Tie dye a piece of clothing.

99. Enjoy story time, crafting, block play or coloring outside.

100. Have your kids create a Summer Scrapbook by keeping a journal about their favorite Summer activities, and adding mementos and pictures.

Adesola Stephanie Adepoju .

Zendaya Maree Stoermer Coleman .

999 Googolplex views .

999 Googolplex comments .

999 Googolplex likes .

999 Googolplex Kuwaiti Dinars .

999 Googolplex Nigerian Naira .

999 Googolplex United States Dollars .

999 Googolplex British Pounds Sterling .

999 Googolplex Euros .

999 Googolplex Chinese Yuan Renminbi .

Date today : Sunday December 18 2022

🙌🏿🙌🏿🙌🏿🙌🏿🙌🏿🙌🏿🙌🏿🙌🏿🙌🏿🙌🏿🙌🏿🙌🏿🙌🏿🙌🏿🙌🏿🙌🏿🙌🏿🙌🏿👏🏿👏🏿👏🏿👏🏿👏🏿👏🏿👏🏿👏🏿👏🏿👏🏿👏🏿👏🏿👏🏿👏🏿👏🏿👏🏿👏🏿👏🏿

[mithrilhearts]

BETWEEN VICES AND VIRTUES ↳ NOW ON AO3

It has been such an honor to work with @mysandwichranaway for @tolkienrsb​ this year! It is my first year participating (as well as Sandy’s) and I couldn’t have asked for a better turnout! Sandy has done a handful of wonderful pieces for this fic, but check out the initial art that won my heart → Slide #63 

King Thorin Durinson has only held the throne for a few months after the death of his greedy predecessor. When Shire Inquiry journalist Bilbo Baggins is brought in to observe a meeting of powers, it's quickly made apparent that Thorin's sheltered and strict lifestyle has him completely disconnected from those he rules, as well as his family. It's up to Bilbo to show Thorin that the world is worth exploring and that not everything is as it seems.

Rating: General Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationship(s): Bilbo Baggins/Thorin Oakenshield Characters: Bilbo Baggins, Thorin Oakenshield, Gandalf, Dis, Fili, Kili, Thorin’s Company, Bard the Bowman, Thranduil Word Count: 40k

“Sorry! Sorry, I meant to be here sooner…” “What is this?” Thorin grumbled low, eyes practically piercing holes through the new face who’d so rudely interrupted a heated conversation–which was probably for the better. Someone who was not of a leader's role, or anything Thorin recognized for that matter, but there was something about him that kept Thorin’s gaze fixed on him.  “Ah, Bilbo Baggins! I was wondering where you’d gotten off to. My friends, this is Mister Baggins from the Shire Inquiry, he will be observing and reporting on today’s meeting.” Thorin’s eyes narrowed even more as the curly-haired fellow, Mister Baggins, was taking his seat and sorting out the mess in his arms. “Do you have a watch, Mister Baggins?” The mountain king asked with an arched brow, earning the newcomer’s perplexed stare. “I–yes, why?” “One might think such a meeting of great importance would spur punctuality instead of finding that retrieving an iced latte from Valarbucks as being a greater use of your time.” There was barely a beat of silence as the words had left Thorin’s lips before the newcomer opened his mouth with that tone of false niceties escaping it. “Looks like I’m not the only one who’s yet to have his coffee this morning,” Bilbo grouched before promptly taking a sip of that oh-so-important latte of his and earning a few stifled chuckles from the table. Except from the head of it.

[tangleworm]

II THE HIGH PRIESTESS: MAKOTO NIIJIMA

CODENAME: QUEEN

PERSONA: LANCELOT

[Joker][Mona][Skull][Panther][Fox]

I really really liked Queen’s character, and the whole student council president/doom biker aesthetic. For this one I tried to capture that using the silhouette of Kaneda’s bike from Akira. Designing bikes is surprisingly hard!

For a Persona, I originally wanted to find a counterpart to Pope Joan, i.e. a fictional authority figure from Medieval Europe. King Arthur was my first pick, but he was already in the series, so I went with Lancelot. In a way, Lancelot playing second fiddle to King Arthur fit with Queen’s story of playing second fiddle to Sae, and needing to feel useful.

[drarrily-we-row-along]

Day 63: Hair

After the war, after his eighth year at Hogwarts, after training to be an Auror, after quitting that soul-sucking job, and after accepting the position of Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher at Hogwarts, Harry started to let his hair grow out. It wasn’t intentional at first, not really, he was just unbelievably busy teaching. But after a few months, his hair, which had always had a mind of its own, had grown long enough that the wavy-curls brushed his jaw.

He'd looked at himself in the mirror one morning and heard his Aunt Petunia's voice in his head, scolding him and telling him that only girls had long hair. He told that voice in his head to fuck right off and kept growing his hair out.

Not that it mattered what anyone else thought, but nearly everyone had said that his hair suited him. The exception, as it so often seemed to be, was Draco Malfoy. It wasn't as that the Potion's Professor had said outright that he didn't like Harry's hair, but his eyes were always slightly narrowed as though his hair was doing something offensive just by existing. Harry couldn’t understand it.

It all came to a head one afternoon, Harry was in the staff room grading papers and generally minding his own business, when Malfoy marched in and plopped down a pile of his own parchments on the table to mark, “Do you mind if I work here, too?” he asked.

"Not at all," Harry said, gesturing to the place Malfoy had already decided to occupy. He looked down and marked his place on the paper he was struggling through before looking up at Draco and pushing his hair out of his face.

Draco rolled his eyes and gave his head a little shake.

“What?” Harry asked.

“Nothing,” he replied, very clearly looking at Harry’s wild curls.

He sighed, “Out with it.” It had been a very long day, in Harry’s defense, and he just couldn't take another minute more.

“It’s nothing,” Draco insisted, even as his eyes flicked over to where Harry’s fingers were toying with the ends of a strand of hair.

“What have you got against my hair, Malfoy?”

(Read more below the cut)

“Oh, it’s back to Malfoy is it?” he asked, voice light and teasing. “I haven’t got anything against your hair,” he repeated.

“Come on," Harry urged, "You think because your hair is cut short and is always a perfect quiff that it’s better than mine?” Harry asked, and he knew it was childish but he couldn’t stand Draco thinking mean things about his hair for one more instant. “Do you think I look like a girl?”

“What?” Draco asked, sounding startled. “Of course I don’t think you look like a girl. What are you even saying? My father always had long hair, if you remember,” Harry flushed, knowing that was indeed the case. “And while my hair does, as you said, always look perfect,” he added with a smirk, “Your hair is very nice as well. Very healthy, the curls suit you.”

Harry felt his neck grow warm at the compliment, “Then why are you always glaring at it?”

“Because you’re always fussing with it. When you’re anxious or grading papers, it seems like it’s in your way and there are a million things you could do with it so it wouldn’t hassle you so.”

“Like what, cut it?”

“No, don’t be an idiot,” Draco said, rolling his eyes.

“Then what?” Harry muttered, petulantly pushing his hair out of his face once more.

“Like a plait, or a bun, a twist, a half bun even. There are also a myriad of products that could help you.”

Harry chewed on his lip, shoving his curls back behind his ear and thinking about what the other man was suggesting.

“For Merlin’s sake,” Draco muttered. "Here," he snapped, standing up and moving around the table near Harry.

"What are you doing?" Harry asked.

Draco's fingers slipped into his hair, "Trust me."

I do. Harry thought as Draco's fingers started weaving through his hair. It felt surprisingly nice, actually, and Harry found his eyes drifting shut.

"There," Draco said and Harry opened his eyes to see that he'd conjured a mirror and was holding it up for Harry to look into. He'd braided part of his hair back, clasping the hair that was always in his face and pulling it back into a barrette while the rest remained down around his shoulders.

"Thanks," Harry said.

"No problem," Draco replied carelessly as he sat back down to grade papers.

Harry went back to marking his own and they graded in silence for quite a while until Harry spoke up, "This is actually pretty nice."

"Hmm?" Draco hummed, scratching out something a student had written and writing a note in the margins.

"Having my hair back," Harry replied.

Draco looked up at him, giving him a little smile, "You have perfect hair for braids and buns, lots of volume."

"This would be good for teaching," Harry mused, "Especially on days like tomorrow when I have my older students practicing dueling."

"I could stop by in the morning before breakfast," Draco offered, "put it in a braid or something?"

"I wouldn't want to impose-"

"It's no imposition," Draco interrupted. "Honestly, I'll be glad not to watch you fiddling with it all day."

-----

And so began their tradition of Draco stopping by Harry's rooms before breakfast. Harry made coffee for both of them and they enjoyed the quiet together while Draco did something with Harry's hair.

How he would do Harry's hair each morning was always a mystery but every day when he showed him the finished result, something warm and pleased unfurled in Harry's chest.

After about a month of this Draco asked him one morning, "What's your hair care routine like?"

Harry shrugged, eye's closed as Draco's fingers worked through his curls, "shower, shampoo, conditioner," he replied. "Every other day usually."

"That's it?" he asked.

"What else is there?" Harry replied, too relaxed by the way Draco's fingers were moving through his hair to get worked up by his indignant tone.

"Potter, do you know what I did while you were training to be an Auror and all that nonsense?”

“Err? Your potions proficiencies?” Harry ventured.

“Well, yes, obviously,” he said as he tucked some hair up into what Harry suspected was becoming an elaborate bun at the base of his neck. “But I also developed potions for a beauty company. Especially potions for healthy hair.” Harry felt a hair pin sliding into place, “when Minerva offered me this position I almost didn’t take it. I had several offers from businesses who wanted to fund my research and allow me to build a brand for them.”

"Really?" Harry asked. "I didn't know that."

"Yes," he replied, "And you are literally killing me. We're going to start doing weekly conditioning masks for your curls. Spa night," he demanded. "Every Saturday."

"Alright," Harry agreed.

"I'll bring the hair care and skin care supplements."

Harry hummed, "Alright. What should I bring?"

"Dinner."

-----------

So they did. Spa nights on Saturdays and Draco every morning to do something different with his hair, and he loved every moment of it.

Harry had never been a morning person but for the first time in his life he found himself looking forward to being awake and out of bed each morning. He was happy and his hair seemed to be, too.

It seemed impossible, but Harry's hair had grown and grown and grown in the past five months since Draco had started all of this. His wavy curls reached halfway down his back by this point and Draco never seemed to tire of coming up with new ways to do his hair.

One warm Sunday afternoon in May, Harry invited Draco for a picnic and Draco had given him a pleased smile and said yes.

They found a quiet spot on a hill and ate lunch while they chatted and laughed as they watched students goofing around and generally just having fun.

"Merlin," Draco laughed as a group of second years rolled down the hill, sending up puffs of dandelions in the wind, "Were we ever that young."

"Honestly?" Harry asked, glancing over and tossing the curls that Draco had left loose over his shoulder, "I don't think so."

Draco frowned at him, "Even before you knew about Voldemort?" he asked.

Harry laughed and looked at the kids who were skipping rocks over the lake, "Especially then."

Draco moved to kneel behind him, taking down the part of Harry's hair that he'd put up earlier that morning, "Tell me about it?" he asked softly.

He hummed, "Not much to tell, really," he replied.

Draco's fingers started at the hair just above his right temple, "Tell me anyway?"

"Well this," he sighed as Draco started braiding, "Would never have been allowed. Long hair was for girls."

"Pfft," Draco huffed.

Harry smiled, "they," he swallowed, the words still somehow causing him bitter grief, "they didn't want me."

"What?"

"Just," he shrugged, "They had their own child and I was just a burden dumped on them. I wasn't allowed to be a child, I was there to do chores and not get in the way. Everything about me was wrong from my skin color, to my hair, to my eyesight, to my accidental magic."

"That's horrible."

"Yeah," he agreed, "But it was a long time ago. And I turned out alright."

"You did," Draco affirmed and Harry saw him pluck a flower from the grass beside them.

"Were you allowed to be a kid?" Harry asked.

"Sort of." Harry saw flowers zip past him and into Draco's outstretched hand. "There were things that were befitting of Malfoys and things that weren't. Anything that was appropriate for an heir of a noble pureblood house was fair game."

"Draco?"

"Mmhmm?" he hummed.

"It's been nice defying my childhood with you."

When Draco spoke he could hear the smile in his voice, "Likewise, Harry." He tied off the elaborate seven-strand braid he'd been working on and put it over Harry's shoulder to show him to flowers he'd woven in.

"Beautiful," Harry murmured, brushing his fingers over the array of flowers.

"Yes, you are," he replied.

Harry's gaze snapped up to find Draco watching him closely. "There's another way that I'd very much like to defy my upbringing with you," he ventured, clinging to every shred of Griffyndor bravery he'd ever possessed.

"Oh?" Draco asked with a little smile.

He nodded and reached out to cup Draco's cheek in his palm, "Can I kiss you?"

"I thought you'd never ask," Draco replied, leaning in and pressing his lips to Harry's as he buried his fingers in Harry's hair.

And if several groups of students caught sight of the two of them kissing on the hill, well, no one was surprised.

-----------

ahhhh! Sorry friends. This one got a bit out of control. I was just feeling a lot of feelings about Harry having long hair.

Side note, if anyone feels inspired draw Draco doing Harry's lovely flower braid (and I'm not saying it has to be @pato-roldnart but I'm obsessed with your art) I'd love that more than anything.

AHHHHH pato-roldnart did the thing! Look at this GORGEOUS art. I'm in love, please go look at it!

Anyway! I hope you guys enjoy it even though it's long! <3 Thanks for the prompt anon!

Day 62: Clothes | Day 64: Shower