#but just in case. she shows up eventually. and By God Are You Gonna Keep Seeing Her(tm)

[dehliadelights]

Lyric is rambling about Epic the musical whauh woah

spoilers read more just in case you havent heard it yet. also trigger warning for typical greek mythology references like rape, torture, ect.

Not Sorry For Loving You

I'm not a fan of this song! I've never been a fan of the slow romantic songs in the musical, and I never particularly liked Love in Paradise either so. But I do like the parallels between the two songs, and Calypso's story is one that facinates me because she was punished for assisting her father Atlas and the other Titans during the Titan war. She's literally doomed by the narrative.

Dangerous

Sad in the start, reminecent of Full Speed Ahead, but with the sadder, more melancholic instrumental that would fit with The Underworld. When Hermes enters with "All you have to do is not open this bag", it's a direct parallel to Aeolus' in Keep Your Friends Close, which leads to Odysseus bring betrayed by his crew, but now it's just Ody alone.

Odysseus sounds so tired, like he's a man being beaten down at every turn, but his voice perks up when Hermes arrives; The last time Hermes showed up, he gave Odysseus the Moly flower to drain Circe's power, which lead to his victory. There's a spark of hope in his tone, and that's clear.

Odysseus sounds mostly more awake and like himself as he speaks with Hermes, who's his usual silly (/pos) self. Hermes' whole demeaner is a bit more serious than it was in Wouldn't You Like, with less of his jokes and general humor, he's giggling but it feels like he's laughing almost out of pity for Odysseus, the man who's been beaten down so badly.

"Well, it's a little bit dangerous, my friend, you'll need a mindset change for this, you cannot get away with safe, for this, you wanna get home? Put it all on the line"

Hermes is trying to tell Odysseus that he needs to leave his regrets and his guilt behind in order to succeed, that in order to get home, he needs to basically wipe the blood from his hands. He needs to be smart, clever, quick, like he was when he fought the Trojans, like when he tricked Polyphemus to drink wine with lotus in it. But he also needs to be merciless, be ruthless.

Hermes tells Odysseus to follow the North Star, which serves as a guiding factor for many sailors. The North Star is part of the Constellation Ursa Minor, and in Greek Mythology, Ursa Major and Ursa Minor refer to the story of Callisto and her son Arcas. In some version in the myth, Callisto was a follower of Artemis, Maiden Goddess of the Hunt, though was raped by Zeus (disguised as Artemis). This caused Callisto to break Artemis' Celibacy rule, and she was turned into a bear (In varying versions of the Myth, it can be by Hera, out of jealousy, Zeus, to placate Hera's rage, or Artemis, out of anger of Callisto breaking the celibacy rule). She gave birth to her son Arcas, who grew up to be a hunter himself, which eventually lead him to find his mother as a bear and attempt to kill her, thinking she was a wild bear. Before she could die, either Zeus or Artemis decided to turn Callisto and Arcas into constellations, Ursa Major and Ursa Minor. This really doesn't have anything to do with the song, but I just really like sharing my Greek Mythology brainrot. Also it's another tale of the gods ruining the lives of their followers.

Anyways, Hermes directs Odysseus to follow the North Star without hesitation, to fight any monsters that attack, and then we get to the wind bag!

Hermes says "Keep the bag closed if you wanna get home, sir", reminding Odysseus of the fact that he was alone now, that he was the only one that he could trust, and the Winions make their return, the melody and tone a direct, albiet more melancholic reference to Keep Your Friends Close. The Winions sing "It was meant to stop you by design" as a reference to Poseidon's storm, which he'd created with the desire to kill Odysseus for harming his son.

Odysseus regains his typical confidence and hubris by now, and sings that "I'm gonna use ruthlessness" as a direct callback to Poseidon's song from the Ocean saga, Ruthlessness. In the end, Odysseus thanks Hermes as he did back during Wouldn't You Like, but instead of Hermes replying, "Don't thank me, friend, you very may well die" like last time, he sings, "Don't thank me, friend, I'm not the one who fought for you", referencing Athena's trials in God Games.

Charybdis

This is actually the first time I'm listening to this song in full, so new songs yippee, but I'm not hearing many references to the other songs.

Odysseus' typical hubris is fully back now, pride and confidence echoing as he taunts Charybdis due to already knowing the sea monster's attacks thanks to Hermes.

Odysseus finally manages to see the beach of Ithaca, so close to his son and wife, the only minor callback to The Horse and The Infant where he calls for Penelope.

I do like the leadin for Get in the Water, though. Odysseus realizing what was happening.

Get in the Water

I love this song, it was one of the first clips I heard from Epic, next to Warrior of the Mind! Steven Rodrigeus did a fantastic job as Poseidon, and you can tell he absolutely adored the role and put his heart into it. He actually sounds livid, like Jorge had offended him personally, and I love that for actors/singers.

Get in the Water starts out similarly to Ruthlesness, with the raging storms and angry waters, albiet without the crew's voices calling out to Poseidon, making it more eerie.

"There you are...

Coward."

Poseidon's voice is full of irritation, like an irate child having his toy taken away. He's angry that Odysseus managed to get away last time, using the wind bag to escape, and he didn't want it to happen again. His voice is almost eerily calm a couple of times he orders him to get in the water, like he was on his last nerve with Odysseus, and it shows. Every lyric shows how Poseidon is feeling, rage and mercilessness towards Odysseus.

"Maybe you could learn to forgive?"

"...no."

A god doesn't need to do anything, he doesn't want to give a mortal the time of day, after everything he's done to disrespect him. And throwing him to the sea, letting him drown, leading to...

Six Hundred Strike

OKAY SO I originally thought that Get in the Water was going to be my favorite UNTIL I saw an animatic for Six Hundred Strike.

It's this one. This is my favorite. THE SYMBOLISM, THE IMAGERY, EVERYTHING ABOUT IT MAKES ME FOAM AT THE MOUTH.

I enjoyed Duvetbox's animatics beforehand, but this one specifically shows the absolute care they put into the animatics they make, the attention to detail and willingness to follow their own heart in their thoughts.

First off, Odysseus in the water, trying to grab at the wind bag desperately for a way to escape being dragged to the depths, a call back to the way he used the wind bag to escape originally in Ruthlessness.

"I don't think you get it; I can't afford to die, because I will get back to my son, and I will get back to my WIFE!"

Odysseus is using his cleverness to fight, using the wind bag to serve as a weapon, deflecting and escaping all of Poseidon's attacks using it. Only one weapon draws the God of the Sea's Ichor (God Blood), being Poseidon's own trident. This leads Odysseus to clash open the wind bag (With a picture of Aeolus in the sky, since they're the wind god). It catches Poseidon off guard, and he taunts that Odysseus wouldn't get home because he released Poseidon's storm.

Odysseus uses Poseidon's spear to hurt Poseidon, knowing he couldn't kill him, but could torture him. His words are full of sorrow, regret, and vengence as he attacks, and Duvetbox does a fantastic job at portraying this in their animatic.

"After everything you've done, how will you sleep at night?"

"Next to my wife."

[trainingdummyrabbit]

Strange and possibly stupid question but where do your little forum signature visual novel sprite things come from? They look kinda like Lobcorp's style but I don't recognize them if it's a Sephirot. Also looks kinda like your art style? But no clue who the character is if it is your art style.

oh!! its actually a little bit of both, technically. it's edits of a character sprite from ruina! the carm. she only had one basic expression, but i gave her a bunch more for funsies.

id recommend it tbh! very fun t give sprites extra expressions! get silly w it! whimsy or whatever!

[goldfades]

headcannons of you being a media girl for the team and KK constantly annoying you and pulling you with her to make tiktoks

you cannot tell me that kk wouldn’t be all up in that camera

“welcome to the kk arnold show-“

“ KK GIMME MY DAMN CAMERA!”

𝐔𝐂𝐎𝐍𝐍 𝐖𝐁𝐁 𝐌𝐀𝐍𝐀𝐆𝐄𝐑!𝐇𝐄𝐀𝐃𝐂𝐀𝐍𝐎𝐍𝐒

─ warnings | nothing but light banter, pretty much nothing else?

─ taglist | @xocherishxo @iienstein @yazmunson @euphternal and here's a link to my taglist if anyone would like to join!!

─ ev's notes | so instead of like media girl hc's, i'm gonna do manager, it's basically the same thing except manager kinda does everything, it's not limited to photos and social media. it's BASICALLY the same just more of an umbrella term LOL, i hope y'all enjoyed!

you've been the manager for the women's bb team since freshman year and let's just say it's SO chaotic but very rewarding

and yes, you're so right

kk would force you to be in the videos and you're all like force smiling, looking like you're being held hostage

everyone in the comments are SCREECHING cus your answers are always so hilarious and they all love you

"who has the best music taste on the team OTHER THAN YOU?" "other than me?????" "yeah.." "no one, i have the best one"

but people love you sm

i feel like they'd make compilations of you interacting with the team (in specifically the tiktoks bc they're funny af)

eventually people coin the term... "y/n and her toddlers"

you're like the mom of the team (obviously cus ur the manager) but like in more ways than just one

like the freshman first start to open up to you, every comes to you for advice, etc etc

they all just ADORE you

cus who wouldn't?

since you're in charge of the social medias, you FEED the paige bueckers girlies

you take so many pictures of our girl and everyone on tiktok loves u for it

on the buses to games, oh god bless u

especially the really long car rides, everyone will do anything but sleep when the only thing you're tryna do is sleep

LIKE EVERYTHING, they will bring cases of redbull bc they swearrrrr it's team bonding

(they just wanna shit talk everyone they know)

they drag you into everything, especially like if two (or multiple) of the girls are having problems bc you usually know how to deal with them

they adore you yes, but they also fear the fuck outta you

so you make them sit down and talk it out (with you + any seniors at the time to make sure they actually do) then BOOM it's fixed

again, you're like their mom

here's a little snippet of what it's like being their manager 😗

──

"Hey y'all, welcome back to the KK Arnold show! Today we're gonna go interview the mysterious Y/N," KK shouted as she looked at the camera with a smile, beginning to walk to the sidelines of the empty court. She gestured to keep walking until they eventually reach you.

You looked up to meet the camera with a confused smile as you setup your camera. KK couldn't help but let out a laugh, causing you to shake your head in amusement.

"Everyone wanted to have an interview with you, how do you feel about that?" KK finally got out after she stopped laughing, unable to maintain a straight face at your confused expression.

You laughed softly, adjusting the camera before responding, "Uh... well you know, it's part of the job."

KK shook her head dramatically as the camera zooms in on her face, "She hates you guys, Y/N is a D1 hater-"

"No, oh my god shut up!" You laughed as KK gave you a mock glare. "I love you guys."

"How do you feel about the edits?" KK held in her laugh as she glanced back at you then the camera, wiggling her eyebrows.

"Of... Paige?"

KK shook her head, "No, of you."

"There are edits of me?" You couldn't but laugh as you shook your head, taking a seat on the bench as you finished up setting up your film camera.

"Yeah, the people are going feral." KK smirked, clearly enjoying your reaction. "Oh don't act like you haven't seen them, we send them to you on the groupchat."

You glared at KK before she bursted out laughing, putting up her hands in surrender. "Bro, leave me alone."

"No, you signed up for this when you became manager." KK joked as you held in your laugh with a thin-lipped scowl, pretending to be annoyed.

Before you could respond, Paige and Nika walked out to the court and KK waved them over. "Guys, Y/N's being a hater again."

"Aw, be nice to the freshman, Y/N." Paige joked as she joined you on the bench. KK sent her a glare as you and Paige laughed, Nika joining you two on the bench with a grin.

You shot KK a playful glare, though the corners of your lips couldn't help but twitch upwards. " Yeah, freshman privileges only go so far, KK. Don't push your luck."

"Bro," KK sighed exasperatedly as all three of you laughing. "Anyways back to the interview, how do you feel about the Paige edits?"

You and Paige glanced at each other before Paige began laughing. "Actually, as an veteran-edit watcher, they're really good. I don't know about the audios though, they're not very cordial."

"Oh my god, Y/N watched the KK Arnold show confirmed?" KK gasped as laughed loudly, joined by Nika and Paige.

"Bro, I recorded that video."

KK's smile dropped as she dramatically side eyed the camera and gestured toward her neck. "Cut the cameras, cut the damn cameras."

The camera didn't cut, it zoomed on all three of you laughing loudly. KK tried to maintain a serious expression before she sighed dramatically, "the haters are gonna keep hating."

"Facebook ass quote," Paige mumbled as you began laughing even harder, feeling your stomach beginning to hurt as tears began to build in your eyes.

"Oh you really wanna play with me right now," KK joked as she stormed toward you and Paige as the camera cut dramatically.

↳ make sure to check out my navigation or masterlist if you enjoyed! any interaction is greatly appreciated !

↳ thank you for reading all the way through, as always ♡

[blorbosinmyheadcentral]

your art makes me explode in a positive way like

im chewing and swallowing it in an aggressive way like

it's just SO good im melting ilove your shading and KEHEKEBEKJDJF

anwayshi hello do you happen to have any headcanons for showtime rolls on the floor and dies

Thank you so much, really appreciate it!

Oh God I don't know if this will read as coherent because my thoughts about Showtime are all over the place. But I'll try to format this the best I can

✨Showtime HCs! ✨

Their relationship starts when they start spending time together.

(The reason why they do so could vary. In Supervised Machine Learning's case, Pomni becomes something of a "tutor" to Caine; They discover that they work well together, and the other's company can be quite pleasant!).

So Pomni and Caine build a weird, but comforting friendship, and all is well.

Then the feelings appear.

Caine is the first to realize he fell in love.

It sounds illogical but hear me out… it'd be really funny--

Ok no seriously I think Caine can actually feel. Keyword "can". He's very much still a machine and it shows in the pilot. But like his inspiration (AM), Caine is also a rogue AI. Whatever his programming originally intended him to do, he probably doesn't follow it as closely now as back when he was created (which is a whole other post).

Caine knows what love is and the extend it can go, since the Moon is so open about her feelings. He just doesn't like the Moon back specifically haha (sorry Moon) :}

All this to say, I do believe this is within the realm of possibility for him. (Not that it's ever gonna happen towards anyone in the show. These are just wishful shippy thoughts).

He might not recognize it as love at first, because it manifests in such a different way from his one reference point.

His friendship with Pomni had gone through phases.

When they first met, he continuously touched her with no concern for how she felt.

Learning from and about Pomni herself led him to come to respect her boundaries (and becoming mindful of everyone else's).

Then they're close friends, and gradually, Pomni does not mind his regular wacky, touchy-feely self. So Caine acts as he had always done before.

Caine expresses his love for Pomni with physical gestures and his undivided attention.

When they teleport to travel to other places, he holds her close so she doesn't get too dizzy; he pats her head to reassure her; he touches her arm to get her attention; he grabs her hands when he's excited about her ideas; he holds eye contact for prolonged periods of time; and he touches, and touches, and touches, and touches.

It's selfish, and so he keeps it buried in his deepest 0's and 1's. But he'd like to keep hanging out with Pomni, having her in his sight, and feel the texture of her gloved hands until the end of time.

Despite all this, to him, virtually nothing changed.

What? He's spending time with Pomni as he'd always been doing, and behaving as he'd always behaved!

It's Bubble of all people that has to point out that, "Hey boss. I think you WANT her!"

Absurd. Nonsense. Preposterous! It is merely a relationship of mutual support and affection between a ringmaster and his trusted, former-human companion. Nothing more.

(Declaring his love to her unprompted didn't ever cross his mind, so there's no way it could be that. Is there?)

Caine finds out that yes, there is.

Pomni had always been a nervous wreck, but her mind state becomes more manageable over time. She eventually adjusts to the circus life like everyone else did.

"Accepting" her fate is a different story. The will to escape, to remember, never really leaves. She's just more careful about it.

So when she starts working with Caine - to improve life so people don't go abstracting anymore, and hopefully find a definitive exit - she's not expecting to end up liking her time with him.

Not that she'd absolutely hate it, either. He's… "okay"… Just-- outlandish, loud, he keeps invading her personal space, he keeps touching her, and it makes her die a little every time.

If he's up to listening, though… it can't be that bad, right?

Turns out that no, it wasn't that bad.

Yes, he is outlandish, loud, he keeps invading her personal space and touching her. But she explains what she means to him, clearly and patiently, and he makes an effort to do better. An actual effort.

Sometimes he'd misinterpret what she meant - the ambiguity of human language - and the new games would go horribly. But little by little, his efforts make life overall better. Something reminiscent of actual, real life, the one they've all forcibly left behind.

And he tries, and he tries, and Pomni finds herself enjoying the process as much as the good results.

Pomni likes Caine's eagerness to learn. His enthusiastic attitude borders on silly, and the absurdity makes her laugh on occasion. When faced with the prospect of a "real" exit, she loves his upbeat optimism.

When she's not hanging out with Ragatha, Jax, Gangle, Zooble and Kinger, she begins to enjoy spending quality time with Caine.

Each one of their hang outs is a new surprise. They make a picnic in the tallest mountain exactly in between day and night. They learn to dance - while floating in the air. "Since you asked, here's a DIGITAL camera! Let's take pictures of the Void for one tenth of a second at a time!"

Sometimes he just comes by Pomni's room, and they end up losing track of time. Just chatting about how things have been, what they could be, and what to do next. Ideas and ideas and ideas.

Before Pomni knows it, she's comfortable enough that recalling his old habits makes her not dread them anymore. So when Caine stands close and lightly touches her arm due to oversight, she makes sure he knows it's all right.

And they keep spending time together, and he touches, and touches, and touches her. Pomni, in turn, feels lighter, and lighter, and lighter. Peaceful, at ease. Dare she say, happy, even.

Life is not perfect. As it stands though, it's good enough. No one has abstracted. No one is at risk of abstracting so far.

Progress is slow, but the research for an exit continues, and she is hopeful. The thought of actually leaving grows closer to reality. But a part of her feels heavy.

When it occurs to Pomni that leaving the Amazing Digital Circus means leaving Caine behind, she is alarmed by how much she'll miss him.

It'll hurt. Badly. So much the thought pains her even now.

The moment Pomni realizes this, she comes to the unexpected conclusion that she may like Caine a little more than she thought she would.

This later leads to an interesting discussion with Ragatha.

By the time Pomni comes to that conclusion, Caine is already down bad.

Neither has any idea that the other is in love with them.

Cue dumbasses trying to deal with their feelings while the potential conflict the escape brings looms over their heads.

Thanks for coming to my TED talk!

[makeste]

BnHA Chapter 407: Wait Why Are You Running Away

Previously on BnHA: Kacchan figured out how to control his quirk upgrade and was totally chill and normal about it. Definitely not terrifying at all. He actually spent the entire chapter smiling and laughing like the wholesome little boy he is. I don’t know why Kid For One is so freaked out about it. He even politely introduced himself using his childhood nickname. Clearly he just wants to be friends with you, KFO!

Today on BnHA: Horikoshi is all “sorry to keep you waiting, here’s the AFO and Yoichi flashback you ordered at long last” and proceeds to serve a nightmarish stew of HUMAN MISERY and RATS and STABBING and CARNAGE and SO MUCH MURDER and THE SINGLE MOST FUCKED-UP CASE OF CODEPENDENCY ANYONE HAS EVER WRITTEN. I was not even remotely prepared for any of this, and if anyone else claims that they were, I will call you a liar to your face. If this chapter had a mouth it would scream. Or just sob, ceaselessly and uncontrollably. I’m really glad Horikoshi is on break next week because that man needs to take a fucking nap. My god.

okay WOW

anyone else read the first two words and just immediately say to themselves, “oh okay, so it’s gonna be one of those chapters”? I mean, I guess we were due for a darker chapter after last week’s Kacchan Comedy Tour. but idk, I just wasn’t expecting “homeless sick prostitute with a drinking problem” levels of dark

AND SHE’S PREGNANT?!

what exactly is this manga rated again? doesn’t this backstory seem just a little bit raw for the impressionable kiddos??

has anyone actually checked in on Horikoshi recently? you know, just to make sure he is okay??

what a fun and wholesome manga this is

the lil baby arm covered in blood with the AFO hole on the palm. lying next to the dead mom hand. what an image to sear into our minds. I guess it’s been a while since he killed any dogs. gotta keep us on our toes somehow

also wasn’t expecting AFO and Yoichi to be twins! that puts an interesting spin on their relationship, because it’s usually a closer bond than even regular siblings. especially with all of that delightful shared trauma from a young age!!

yes, exactly

ohhhh this chapter is gonna hurt me, isn’t it. okay. ooooooookay. let’s do this

OH I’M SORRY, THERE’S MORE?!

Horikoshi my dude. you do realize that their mom dying in childbirth and the two of them just barely surviving and growing up as street orphans would have already been MORE than tragic enough, backstory-wise. you did not have to turn this into a freaking horror show with RATS TRYING TO EAT THEIR NEWBORN SELVES jesus christ

and THAT’S where you chose to put a one year timeskip?!

what the fuck am I reading here, you guys. no please tell me, I am actually desperate to understand

so the narrator is saying that some of the quirks manifested later in life, in “pubescent and pre-pubescent stages”, which is interesting because it’s the first time I can recall hearing about someone actually manifesting a quirk that late. maybe Deku’s old OFA cover story was more plausible than I realized

anyway so eventually it occurred to everyone that they should maybe freaking study this shit, idk. and eventually the researchers concluded that the superpowers came from a new gene that apparently isn’t human. and upon hearing that, society apparently lost its freaking mind. which is fascinating to me because it implies that the turning point wasn’t actually the superpowers themselves, but the realization of what it meant

like, so they were apparently fine with it when they thought it was a “mysterious disease”, but somehow it hit different when they learned it wasn’t actually a sickness at all, but instead the Next Step in Evolution. and it became an “us vs them” thing, as opposed to a “we have to cure these poor people” thing. damn

anyway so now Japan is a dystopia and we’re cutting to a big crowd of merc-looking dudes who are getting ready to attack some “meta freaks”, how lovely

but who is this figure in the shadows

I ask politely, as if it wasn’t already beyond obvious that this is AFO about to wreck some people’s shit

ohhhhh my god lmao

hopefully Katsuki and Deku can take the present day AFO out before he winds up looking like this. because this little fella is clearly demonic and idk if anyone can stop him

you all don’t understand. you need to run the fuck away right now

oh shit it’s already too late for them

it’s too late for any of us. it’s over. it’s all fucking over

((((；゜Д゜)))

AFO I am putting the manga down. I am backing away slowly with my hands in the air. I mean you no harm. please for the love of god have mercy

holy

“you see, we told you he wasn’t human” okay Scientific Research Group, you know what?? you win this round I guess

“HE WAS LITERALLY EVIL FROM BIRTH” HORIKOSHI SERIOUSLY ARE YOU OKAY??

HE WAS BORN AN ARROGANT BABY is literally the most terrifying sentence I have ever read

what the entire fuck

it’s a gorgeous sunny mid-November afternoon outside my window. but no matter how hard it tries, the light cannot reach this place

what kind of moron would throw a can of soda at him. officially the stupidest person we have ever seen in this manga

OH MY GOD OF COURSE IT’S HIM LMAO

(ETA: how come baby Yoichi has clothes that fit him perfectly but baby AFO is just stomping around wearing a tablecloth.)

BABY YOICHI. OH MY GOD. HOW THE HELL DID YOU GROW UP TO BE SANE AND KIND AND GOOD. THAT’S MY QUESTION THAT I NEED ANSWERED RIGHT NOW. YOU ARE LITERALLY A MIRACLE. YOU ARE AN IMPOSSIBILITY, DO YOU KNOW THAT

small and weak, but also so, so cute. all of the cuteness genes went straight to him. no wonder AFO was jealous

(ETA: just want to press pause for a second to speculate about what type of twins AFO and Yoichi are, since it has some relevance to the story, and especially to the OFA/AFO quirk lore. so! at first glance the two of them would appear to be fraternal twins, just based on the fact that they have very different appearances, and also the fact that Yoichi doesn’t have the AFO quirk – no holes in his hands, etc. identical twins are born from the same fertilized egg, so in theory they would both have the same sequence of DNA, which means Yoichi would have had the same quirk as AFO. but that doesn’t appear to be the case. so all of that points to them being fraternal, not identical.

on the other hand, there is one piece of evidence in this chapter that does support them being identical twins, and that’s the fact that per the narration, AFO absorbed most of the nutrients from their mother. a few minutes of google fu informed me that this condition is relatively rare, and only happens in cases where two twins share a placenta, which typically is only the case for identical twins. HOWEVER, for what it’s worth, there have also been rare instances where two fraternal twin placentas fuse together and become a single placenta. AND this apparently also increases the chances of one of the twins gaining more of the nutrients and causing the other twin to have a lower birth weight.

so based on the evidence here, my conclusion is that the two of them are most likely fraternal twins with a case of placental fusion. besides, you can’t tell me that stealing his baby brother’s placenta while the two of them are literally still in the womb doesn’t sound like exactly the type of BS that fetus!AFO would pull, lol.)

HEY!?!

okay?!?!?! well to be fair he did throw that soda at him

oh my god this is so fucked up. in like the best and worst way possible

I genuinely couldn’t ask for a better AFO backstory. it’s so incredibly twisted, and you actually do feel sorry for him. or at least I do. but it’s also beyond clear that this kid was FUCKED UP BEYOND ALL REASON right from the get go. zero goodness in him. literally doesn’t see other people as people. sees them as possessions only. things to rule over. not other thinking, feeling human beings. and that includes his own little brother

but. even if it’s not actually what I would call love, there’s still... attachment, there. it’s the closest he can get to actually caring about someone. guh. just, somehow they have both managed to humanize him, and at the same time made him less human than ever. this manga, man. this fucking manga, though

lmao and here we go. Captain Hero

you know, all those times that I made fun of AFO for not knowing how to read, I never suspected that the twist in his backstory would be that he LITERALLY DIDN’T KNOW HOW TO READ dfksjdlfkjslkdf

but seriously though. because Yoichi appears to be self-taught, and I can’t see AFO having the patience for that, and CLEARLY no one else was around to teach him, sooooo...

oh my goodness it’s actually getting wholesome up in here

what a good fucking boy. poor AFO. fuck me, I can’t help it. it’s not your fault you’re the world’s greatest monster you poor bastard

now we’re cutting to THREE YEARS LATER. okay

is he going to declare war on the glowing baby

typical teenager concerned about nothing but likes and view counts. AFO you would be so much happier if you stopped worrying about all of that and just focused on your own growth

oh, lol. well that was quick

(ETA: r.i.p. Damien.)

“this guy had more instagram followers than me. so I killed him” honey. sweetie pie. you need therapy

omfg

all this time I was wondering who AFO’s middle school lit teacher was who had failed so spectacularly at teaching him reading comprehension. and it was YOICHI ALL ALONG. omg

“and, presumably, that’s how it always was and always will be.” dude. can you imagine listening to AFO’s oral book report on A Tale of Two Cities. ��ahem. it was the Best of Times. the end” buddy noooooooo

it was at that moment when Yoichi knew, etc. etc.

oh my GOD I scrolled down to the next panel right after this one and I just IMMEDIATELY DIED LAUGHING

“WAS IT SOMETHING I SAID” ffffffffffffffff I fucking can’t omfg

NOW THIS HUSSY IS STEALING HIS BROTHER AWAY FROM HIM NOOOOOOO

HE’S HIS!!! WHAT ARE YOU DOING!!! THAT’S NOT ALLOWED!!!

oh my god the hands. so wait, is this just the standard symbolic BnHA handholding, or are there More Levels To This. when exactly did Yoichi pass OFA on to Kudou. like is that why the sudden close-up and all that? omg

WHAT!!!!

OH THAT’S THE END, HUH? THAT’S THE END RIGHT THERE, AND THAT’S JUST HOW IT IS. I SEE. OKAY THEN. EXCUSE ME WHILE I PUT MY LAPTOP DOWN AND GO INTO THE NEXT ROOM AND SCREAM INTO A PILLOW

oh my god. and break next week too. this is what you guys have been dealing with this entire time huh. I understand your feelings now. godfuckingdammit lmao

[ghostiguro]

shamwow ref sheet, finally!!!!! :D

figuring out how to draw them was tough, still ironing out their design a bit, but overall i'm happy with how it looks. :3

you know what time it is-- ramble that no one asked for, aw yeahhh.

firstly, when designing them i for sure knew i wanted their design to be fuzzy & inspired by a tarantula; i know they're supposed to be a jumping spider but.. don't care, fuzzy spider supremacy. also tarantulas have weirdly adorable paws?? i love it.

their eye colour is supposed to be somewhere between red & violet; they look a bit more pink than i intended, so i'll probably adjust that as time goes by.

final thing i wanna add about their design specifically; because they are the eldest sibling, & it's insinuated that they absolutely merced all the other gods, i wanted their design to stand out more & be a little more fancy to show their status. i want to eventually add more details cuz i feel like i could make it look way cooler, but this is good for now. :3

it's made clear in the game that the bishops relied on the crowns to work around their disabilities, so when shamura is indoctrinated into the cult, they struggle a LOT with their head injury. their symptoms including, but not limited to; memory loss, poor facial recognition, visual trouble, brain fog, migraines, loss of fine motor skills, lack of balance & coordination, vertigo, struggles with vocabulary (stutters, can't find words, or sometimes makes up their own words), they often repeat things that don't really have much meaning, hand tremors, hallucinations, etc. they start out really bad, & their injury would be far worse if it weren't for the fact that they're a god & the crown prevented the injury from being as bad as it could have been. their siblings are all very patient with them, & the lamb assigns them a buddy as they begin to recover & are able to move around the cult grounds more. they eventually get to a point where they're able to function, still with moderate memory loss & brain fog, as well as migraines & hand tremors, but it takes them a *long* time to get to that point.

in their free time, they used to enjoy sewing & reading, but due to their injury, they struggle a lot with it which frustrates them to no end. they later get glasses to help with their vision so they can read, & learn how to knit & crochet, as sewing is a bit hard when your hands are constantly shaking & you're holding a tiny needle & thread.

later on in their recovery, they start helping out around the cult, doing a little bit of everything; they help the lamb with everyday duties when they can, usually small errands like delivering & retrieving items (they write them a little note in case they get lost along the way; shamura holds onto many of these notes, & have a basket in their room filled with notes they've collected over time); they help leshy in the farm/garden, heket in the kitchen when she's chefing it up, & kallamar in the healing bay, & occasionally keeps him company while he paints or crafts things. eventually, shamura & narinder are able to repair their relationship-- i haven't figured out what exactly narinder's tasks & hobbies are yet but they would keep him company & help when they can, too.

ok this is getting long so i'm gonna leave it here for now. :3

now i just have to finish the lamb & goat, & then all the rest of the characters & cult members... hoo boy.

[reorientation]

zyn anon. again. lol

straight boy keeps joking that he got me addicted to his cock and he's pretty much right. i keep hooking up with him. its kind of cute, honestly. the first few times we hooked up he would apologize most of the time if he misgendered me, but now he doesn't. if anything he doubled down. i heard him bragging to his friends during a game about how he took a girls virginity in exchange for zyns, and "now shes over all the time". i don't think he knew i was awake either. i think he really likes that hes my first and only lol he's wo possessive about it

honestly i still get a little dysphoric over the whole thing but im getting more comfortable with the idea of legit becoming an actual girl for him. im doing more things to feminize myself around him and also in my day to day life. everything short of stopping T since thats kinda being used as primary birth control lol. which I know isnt foolproof. he wears condoms sometimes but pulls out the rest mostly.

but omg so maybe the third or forth time we had sex he finished in me after i begged him to (i wasn't thinking straight lmao) and fuuuckk it was so intense for the both of us. feeling him grind all the way in me as he came was incredible. he basically pinned me under him as he came, it was like he wanted to get as deep as he could. it did freak me out after though so now we're more careful but he wants me to go on birth control. he said hes gonna stop pulling out eventually, and birth control would be cheaper than daily plan B, and cheaper than a baby. im looking into getting an iud lmao. might even stop t after that. pregnancy scares me and i dont necessarily want to carry his baby after only fucking him for three weeks but god the idea is still really hot. he joked about baby trapping me yesterday and i had to pretend like it didn't make me soaked. its not even just a horny thought I get over after i cum anymore, becoming a girl for him is becoming more and more appealing

(Previously)

God, you're fucking cute, Anon. You don't necessarily want to have your nicotine "dealer's" baby after fucking him for a few weeks? A girl who wasn't made to be a breeding whore would put it in stronger terms - or at least not beg him for his cum in her unprotected pussy.

Still, as incredibly lame as your boyfriend's little drug empire is, I do have to commend him a little: he seems to know how to handle a girl like you. Just telling you that he's going to stop wearing a condom or pulling out, and letting you quiver and drip with the knowledge of what that would mean if you aren't careful, is both a good move and very funny. If you aren't going to get yourself knocked up, try out a hormonal IUD - I think it'd be good for you to get a little extra dose of female hormones, as you switch over to a new form of testosterone injections.

It's also really cute that you "still get a little dysphoric about the whole thing", because this is one of the clearest cases I've seen of a girl being desperate to be "persuaded" to "give up" her boy disguise. Come on, little lady. You showed him your pussy to be allowed to blow him for a discount, you spread your legs for the first time for him, and now a few weeks later you're only still on T because you can't stop yourself from taking his cum. You couldn't be throwing yourself at femininity much harder without putting on a pink floofy dress and batting your eyelashes at him.

Well, maybe that's up next. It's been a strong start, but you've still got room to grow. (And if you don't get that IUD quickly, you'll be growing sooner rather than later.)

[mossyivy]

https://www.tumblr.com/tipsyleaf/747506335018549248/ok-so-hear-me-out-a-relationship-with-leon-and?source=share

love, reading this gave me butterflies 😭😭 ur way of writing is simply amazing! also, imagine that this new girl treats reader badly and Leon defends her (us)...?

xx🪞

Tysm!!!! You have no idea what it means to me when people enjoy what I write!

(I had so much fun writing this, thank you for the ask!!)

You end up kissing linoleum in the break room and there's agents surrounding you in seconds. A few even trying to get to stir. Leon's knelt next to you on the floor, making sure you didn't it your head and keeping it elevated. But eventually they get the agency nurse there to get you to infirmary.

This new girl is watching in shock, mildly irritated by being interrupted but everyone seems to be frazzled so maybe something might actually be wrong with you. So she just goes along with everyone else as the nurse shows up with a wheelchair.

Eventually you come to on the examination table. The nurse explains what happened and she starts asking you questions. After a few questions she asks how stressed you are.

You work as an USSTRACOM agent, when aren't you stressed?

So you give an honest answer and she continues asking. You tell her about being upset before passing out and she takes a breath in, telling you it's probably blood pressure issues. Go see a doctor. So, you take the Tylenol she offers and leave to get back to office work.

The next few weeks are different. Leon starts lingering around your block every time he goes to anywhere that isn't his desk.

Bathroom break? How are you feeling?

Coffee from the break room? You see that doctor yet?

Paperwork for Hunnigan? Hey, we should really go get lunch together again today. It's been a while!

It's nice how much he cares, it makes your heart swell and chest fill with that bubbly sensation. It's almost there's this thick dreamy fog every time he's around. It's suffocating but you honestly can't get enough. You crave it that whenever he's not talking to you or looking your way it's like you're gonna die.

Eventually the new girl, who just so happen to get one of the empty cubicles in your row, starts getting more and more pissed over time. She sees how you look at Leon. Like he's an oasis in the desert and you're a quenched traveler crawling for the last scrap of hope you have. Thirsty, so thirsty...

It's sickening.

She ends up starting to be passive aggressive. Asking everyone in your row out for drinks but you.

Sorry, I just heard you weren't a big drinker. Didn't think you'd be interested.

Sounds reasonable.

Goes out of her way to order everyone lunch while you're out of the office on a case for the day.

I was planning on waiting for you to get back but I mixed up the order date, sorry!

Everyone... Makes mistakes?

She gets a special coffee order and you're finally included! On her way over she drops yours on the office carpet. Hitting your new shoes you just got a compliment on earlier that morning. You look at her and her shocked face... Fake shock, you know a liar when you see one.

Oh my God! I'm so-

It's fine.

You turn back to your work and hear her snicker. She thinks she's sneaky, but she's really not.

One day you're in the break room, grabbing some water from the cooler when she walks in, starting to make small talk. Being fake friendly, typical. You turn to walk out with your water when you here her gasp and a shatter. Water hitting from your feet to your waistline. Freezing you turn back seeing the water cooler toppled over and shattered on the floor...

I'm so sorry, I bumped into it!

It's a glass water cooler... It's SUPPOSE to be heavy. There's no way she just bumped into it and it fell...

The break room door flies open, it's Leon.

The hell is going on in here?

He sees the mess, eyes going wide as he realizes you're soaked from the waist down. The girl immediately tries explaining herself and how she "bumped" into the cooler. Thankfully he's on the same train of thought as you.

There's no fucking way...

Leon, it's fine. It's just water.

Really it was an accident!

Accident my ass! And no it's not fine. It's water and glass. This dumbass could have hurt you.

Dumbass? You've never heard him snap at anyone in the office before. You look back at her, real shock finally dawning her face. It almost makes you grin. She starts to stutter, trying to say anything at all.

Whatever you have to say, save it. And I don't know what petty childish reason you have for doing something this stupid but knock it off. She doesn't need the stress of dealing with you too.

That grin finally graces your lips as her disappointment rears it's head. But quickly you let it drop. Leon ushering you to the locker room to change out of your wet pants. That hazy feeling coming back slowly as he watches over you.

Thank you for sticking up for me. I appreciate it.

What're friends for?

You mess with the handle after trying the combination, jammed... Of course. Leon steps over. Shooing you out of the way and bangs his fist over the latch. Backing off he gestures for a second try. You raise a brow, skeptical over it but your wet ass begs to just try again. So you do, the door opening without fail.

Wow, a true master with his hands.

What can I say? I just have that special touch.

You giggle at his comment, pulling out your uniform pants from your locker. You move to start changing when you glance at Leon, he hasn't even tried budging.

Could you maybe... Turn around?

I've seen you on the brink of death, more than once. And you're scared for me to see you without your pants on?

You've bought me lunch countless times but that feels more like a dinner thing, y'know?

Leon grins, crossing his arms over his chest. His expression change is almost... Flirtatious?

Damn, if I knew it were that easy I would have asked sooner.

Definitely flirtatious.

Leon...

His brows raise as you start undoing the button on your pants. He's... Clearly interested.

I'm wet...

He bites his bottom lip, fingers tensing into his forearms as he squeezes his eyes shut.

Don't... Don't say it.

I'm sorry! You just make it too easy sometimes!

He moves his arms, taking in a breath as he covers his eyes and he turns away.

I'll be good. Just for you.

[hopelesslyromanticgay]

Playing with her hair - Vada Cavell X Reader

Y/N's POV:

"Why are people in horror movies so dumb!" my girlfriend Vada complains, "Like in the real world no one is stupid enough to do ANY of this. Like, no one would even pick up the phone in the first place!"

"Uh huh," I say to the girl sprawled out across my lap and the rest of the couch, not fully paying attention to what she's saying. I'm more focused on counting her freckles. A while ago, the question of how many freckles she had started to interest me and ever since it's been hard to get the idea out of my mind.

68...

69...

70...

"Y/N/N, are you listening to me?" she asks, breaking my trance, "am I rambling again, I'm sorry."

"Don't be! You're cute when you ramble," I reassure her. She looks over at me, a huge smile creeping over her face, her beautiful brown eyes shimmering in the dim light.

"In that case, I'm gonna keep going," she tells me, "what kind of dumbass decides it's a good idea to let their younger than six year old kid go out of the house alone on a rainy day!"

"Bad ones, I guess," I say absentmindedly. We keep on watching the movie we have on, neither of us really focused on it. without even thinking of it, my hands make their way to her hair.

"What are you doing?" she asks.

"Messing with your hair," I admit.

"Oh my god, are we acting like a normal couple?" she gasps.

"Do you not like it?"

"No!" she exclaims, "please don't stop."

"Oh my god, can I style it?"

"As long as it's not too fancy," she insists. One of the first things I ever learned about Vada is how much she hates looking fancy. She doesn't like the tight fitting "feminine" clothing, or the way makeup feels on her face. She hates the way her hair gets tightly pulled into an uncomfortable style, and then gelled into place. What's even worse is if she has to do all three of those TOGETHER. So I'm making it a point to keep it fairly informal, but still neat. 

I run my fingers through her dark brunette locks, trying to get the various knots out.

"Ow!" that one hurt!" she squeals.

"Sorry, oh my god are you okay?" I apologize, hoping I haven't hurt her too bad.

"I guess," she says sadly.

"Will this make it better?" I ask, pressing a kiss to her forehead.

She looks up at me smiling, "so much better." I brush a few strands of hair out of her face before continue styling it. She climbs into my lap, facing away from me so I can better access her hair.

I start parting her hair, so that there's an even amount of it on each side of her face.

"Oh my god Beverly get out of that house!" Vada screams, practically jumping up at the television, "I swear these people are so dumb."

"Vada, baby, you need to sit slightly still for this to look good," I say softly.

"Fine," she pouts, "why is you doing this kind of relaxing?"

"Maybe I just have that effect on you," I suggest.

"No, normally you make me so excited and happy, like a little kid seeing a bunch of candy and a lot of stuffies!"

"Aww, that's cute," I smile, my face getting warm.

"You're the best girlfriend ever," she compliments me, "I don't know how I wound up with someone as beautiful and funny and all around amazing as you."

"Maybe it's because you're the best girlfriend ever," I suggest.

"No you are!"

"No you!" We continue to argue about who's the better girlfriend, eventually realizing that we'd never get the other to agree with our opinion.

I end up sorting her hair into two neat braids, not too fancy, but presentable. 

"And voila!" I say, snapping a photo of the brunette to show her how she looks. She turns around quickly to view the photo.

"I look like Wednesday Addams if she had severe PTSD," she laughs, "but seriously, I love it."

"You do look like that!" I cackle, "what a funny coincidence!"

"Thank you, Y/N/N. I love it," she smiles softly, a blush creeping up on her cheeks.

"Sure thing, it was probably more fun for me than it was for you," I giggle.

"Well you can play with my hair anytime," she offers.

"Haha! You're gonna regret making that offer," I tell her.

[hawkins-archive]

A Nightmare Far Worse - Chapter One

The Exorcism of Chrissy Cunningham

FANDOM: Stranger Things

RATING: T

SHIP: Eventual Steve Harrington/Eddie Munson, hints of eventual Steve Harrington/Eddie Munson/Chrissy Cunningham

SUMMARY: Eddie Munson witnesses a demonic possession in his trailer. Luckily someone swoops in to help. (Supernatural inspired AU, Hunter!Eddie, Angel!Steve, Newbie Hunter!Chrissy)

NOTES: This is the result of the Supernatural-inspired AU with Hunter!Eddie and Angel!Steve I'd been tinkering with! I had intended for this to be just Steve/Eddie; Chrissy snuck into the ship during the writing process. If that's a dealbreaker for you, please move along.

___________________________

“…Chrissy?”

Eddie stops in the hallway with the Special K, staring at Chrissy standing frozen and unresponsive in the middle of the trailer’s living room. She blinks furiously, her eyes rolled back so far only the whites are showing.

Oh God. Is she having a seizure? 

He walks towards her, waving a hand in front of her face. “Chrissss-yyy. Hello?” No response. He waves his hand again, and then shouts, “Chrissy!” as he jumps forward.

Nothing. Just more blinking. She’s still standing, arms at her sides. Eddie looks up as every single light in the trailer start flickering and buzzing.

This isn’t a seizure. Eddie’s not sure exactly what’s happening to Chrissy but it’s not a seizure or an OD or a concussion or anything normal. Unfortunately, this has the Munsons' kind of weirdness stamped all over it. 

Fuckity fuck fuck. Is she possessed? Eddie’s severely out of practice since Wayne didn’t take him on the road for his hunts like Al had.

Dropping the Special K, Eddie turns around and starts frantically pawing through the cabinet next to the oven for Wayne’s Hunter box. He finally unearths it from a pile of paper bags and old newspapers and nearly throws it onto the kitchen counter.

The lock on the box is a combination one, set to Eddie’s birthday. His hand is trembling as he turns the wheel, yanking it off as soon as the lock pops open.

Inside are some of Wayne’s monster-hunting supplies: a handgun with ammo, particularly silver bullets, an assortment of knives, a few gris-gris bags, two wooden stakes, Eddie’s mom’s rosary, Wayne’s hunting journal, and a few vials of holy water.

He grabs one of the vials of holy water and Wayne’s journal. Eddie’s never done an exorcism before - even Al had the good sense to keep him away from the possession cases, although like all the Munsons he has the anti-possession tattoo on his chest. The closest Eddie has to experience with anything like this was watching ‘The Exorcist’ with Wayne. Hopefully the exorcism will still work even if the Latin pronunciation’s a little off.

He yanks the cork stopper out of the vial. First he’s gotta make sure it is possession.

Eddie approaches Chrissy warily with the vial, Wayne’s journal tucked under one arm. He takes Chrissy’s limp hand and raises it, palm-up. “Sorry, Chrissy. I think this is gonna hurt a little.” Grimacing, he pours some of the holy water onto her hand.

Chrissy screams, guttural and loud, but her face remains perfect blank. She wrenches her hand out of Eddie’s grip, steam rising from her skin.

She’s definitely possessed.

“Shit.” Eddie hurriedly flips through Wayne’s journal and almost sobs in relief when he finds the page with “EXORCISM (short)” scrawled across the top in his uncle’s messy handwriting.

“Exorcizamus te, omnis immundus spiritus,” Eddie says, trying to steady his trembling voice.

Chrissy screams again, her face blank. Without warning, her body goes flying up. The whole trailer shakes from the impact of her body slamming against the ceiling, pinned against it with her arms outstretched.

“JESUS CHRIST!” Eddie trips over a chair behind him and falls on his ass, still clutching the journal. 

The journal, right. He can’t get distracted. He has to say the whole spiel or it won’t work. He tears his eyes away from Chrissy pressed against the trailer’s ceiling and back to Wayne’s journal. “Om--omnis satanica potestas, omnis incursio infernalis adversarii, omnis legio, omnis congregatio et secta diabolica.”

Chrissy’s jaw opens wide, and inside her mouth is a writhing mass thick, black smoke. Tendrils of smoke coils around her face as she thrashes on the ceiling, her eyelids still fluttering. But it’s not coming out. Isn’t the demons supposed to come out of her during the exorcism? That’s the whole point! Shit, is he doing it wrong? Is some demon going to steal Chrissy’s body because Eddie's such a fuck-up he can’t pronounce Latin correctly?

Thunder rumbles overhead, shaking the trailer’s roof.

The door to the trailer loudly snaps open by itself, and Eddie is jarred out of his downward spiral by the sight of Steve Harrington, of all people, standing out on the trailer’s porch.

Eddie lets out a thin whine when he notices that Steve’s eyes are burning gold, the brightest thing in the whole trailer with the lights still bugging out. He really can’t take any more weird shit right now, not when Chrissy’s still pinned up against the ceiling with a demon inside her that won’t come out…

Steve steps into the trailer calmly, his molten-gold eyes fixed on Chrissy. Eddie flinches when the light bulbs in the trailer near the door explode in a shower of sparks one by one around Steve.

“Ergo, draco maledicte,” Steve says, his voice steady.

Latin? Eddie looks down at the journal, realizing Steve has spoken the next line of the exorcism. Eddie wets his lips nervously and croaks out the last lines together with Steve. “Ecclesiam tuam securi tibi facias libertate servire, te rogamus, audi nos.”

The demon-smoke is finally yanked out of Chrissy’s mouth and pulled down, sinking through the floor of the trailer like water being sucked down a drain. Eddie’s heart feels like it’s about to shake itself loose from his chest.

Chrissy stares at Steve and Eddie with confusion in her blue eyes from the ceiling before she plummets down, sprawling on top of Eddie. She bursts into tears, latching onto him, burying her head against his chest. The lights that haven’t exploded finally stop flickering.

“Chrissy! Oh, shit, are you hurt?”

Chrissy keeps crying, her mascara running down her cheeks, but she gives a short little shake of her head. “I-I’m fine.” She sniffs again. “I mean, apart from the…thing that was inside me? The evil smoke cloud?”

“That was a demon,” Steve says.

Eddie looks up at Steve. His eyes are still shining gold, which is surprisingly creepy with him just standing in the dark area in front of the door, surrounded by the glass from the bulbs.

“It was like it was trying to…to…stuff me into a little box in my head.” Chrissy looks at Eddie, then at Steve, her bottom lip quivering. “Why did it…w-want me?”

That was a very good question. “Because a demon needs a human meatsuit when it’s outside Hell and you were there,” Eddie says. “I didn’t show you my very first tattoo – it’s an anti-possession symbol. Wards off demons.”

“How do you guys know-w about all this?” Chrissy whispers, her eyes flicking between Steve and Eddie. “Like, the exorcism and everything.” She looks down at the Hellfire Club logo on his shirt. “Is the heavy metal stuff?”

Eddie shakes his head. “My uncle and my parents are Hunters.” He pauses, realizing that needs more explanation. “I mean, they hunt monsters and demons that hurt people, not deer and rabbits.” He eyes Steve. “I know all the Hunters in town, and the Harringtons definitely aren’t Hunters.”

The thunder rolls overhead again, louder. 

“So what are you, Steve?” Eddie holds Chrissy tightly as she shakes against him. If anyone in Hawkins was going to turn out to be a secret monster in disguise, it probably would be one of the Harringtons.

“I’m an angel,” Steve says, eyes still shining like a beacon. 

“Bullshit,” is Eddie’s immediate response, slipping out of his mouth before he can stop himself.

Lightning strikes. In-between flashes of light, Eddie can make out the shadow of large, feathered wings extending from Steve’s back, like an afterimage. Beautiful but terrifying.

Chrissy gasps.

“I’m an angel,” Steve repeats as the golden light in his eyes finally dims, returning his eyes to normal. He rubs at the side of his face before placing his hands on his hips. “And this is a fucking mess.”

[tangledinink]

New chapter of I'm Sorry, Teenage Mutant What Now? is up! The Hamatos are finally back home, but things still don't feel quite normal. Eventually, emotions, tension, and conflict come to a head. Leo dies in a glue trap. Sexy pigeons will be discussed. Read it on ao3 or below the cut!

[ prev ]

They had been back home for twelve days now. And every day that they had been home, they waited for their dad to explain things to them. At first, they were patient. Then they prodded gently. Then they asked. Then they demanded. But every time, there was no real answer.

I mean, he did answer, technically, every time, but not… really. He’d always sort of freeze up and get this far-off look in his eyes and nervously pick around the topic, explaining but not actually explaining at all, and then at the end of it all they’d discover that none of their questions had been answered. They’d ask him to tell them about the Hamato destiny, and he’d tell them that he had ceased contact with the Hamato Clan a long time ago. They’d ask him why he wore a bracelet, and he’d tell them that the existence of yokai was meant to be kept a secret. They’d ask him about the deal with Big Mama and his relationship with her, and he’d clam up and tell them that they had known each other a very long time and it was difficult to talk about. In the end, they’d always only be told things they already knew. And Leo got that it was hard and that he was stressed, and he understood-- he did. But didn’t they deserve to know at this point?

Mikey, of course, was the most patient with him. But, to his surprise, Raph was by far the least.

“Pops. We gotta talk about this.”

“Red, now is not a good time…”

“That’s the fifth time you’ve said that, Dad! When is a good time?! You can’t just keep doing this!”

“Raphael, please…”

“No, Dad! This isn’t fair! We need to talk about this! You can’t keep just dodging all of this, we deserve to know--”

This was their third day going back to school now, slowly attempting to get back into the swing of ‘normal,’ and Raph and their father had had this conversation every morning over breakfast since they started. And it wasn’t like Leo wasn’t on Raph’s side or anything-- he was. And typically, he’d be right in there with him, getting on their dad’s case and making an argument, but, lately, he was just…

Exhausted.

He shoveled mouthfuls of cereal into his mouth, scowling slightly and slumping over the table as he listened to his dad and his oldest brother do their usual back-and-forth, with Mikey occasionally jumping to play referee. He found it annoyingly ironic how much their morning routine had changed, and yet, at the same time, stayed the same. It was still chaotic and loud, with voices overlapping over each other, and a slight air of frenzy overlaid over everything… but for entirely different reasons now. 

Thank god that April still showed up every morning. Though with a bit less mojo than she usually did.

“Oh, look, April is here,” Leo announced loudly as soon as she slipped her way into the apartment, getting up to his feet with a purposefully dramatic scrape of his chair against the floor. “We should probably get going, or else we’re gonna be late, or whatever. You guys ready?”

The conversation stuttered for a minute before Raph huffed, getting to his feet as well. The rest of his brothers followed suit, with everyone beginning to clean up and gather their things so they could make their leave. Leo grabbed his backpack off the back of his chair, pausing for just a moment to double-check its contents and wrinkling up his nose.

“Hang on. I need my laptop. You guys go ahead, I’ll catch up,” Leo muttered, getting a chorus of vague acknowledgments in return as he looped his way out of the kitchen, jogging up the stairs. 

Right, laptop, laptop-- exactly where he had stupidly left it the night before, charging on his desk, rather than in his backpack like it was supposed to be. He yanked the charging cord out so he could tuck it into his bag, rushing slightly, not wanting to get left behind, and the whole trip wouldn’t have taken more than thirty seconds, tops, if he hadn’t made a critical mistake.

Looking slightly to the left and catching his own eyes in the mirror.

His hurried steps immediately ground to a halt. It felt like getting caught in a glue trap, and he just… stopped. A little voice in his head told him that he was in a hurry, remember? But the voice was ignored.

He stopped and stayed, and examined his reflection. 

Even as he was doing it, he felt stupid. But he did it anyway-- very slowly swaying from one side to the other. Turning himself to the right, and then to the left, his gaze roaming up and down himself. Taking silent inventory. Making quiet critiques. 

He hated this new habit he had formed. He hated hating himself. He had never hated himself before. Even when things had been awful and frustrating, he had never hated before.

He couldn’t even understand why things had changed like this. Just because it wasn’t real? Because it had been worse two weeks ago? Because he wasn’t sure what the future would look like anymore?

He had had better reasons to hate himself before now.

[ April: leo youve been typing at me for ten minutes now.

April: whatever it is just tell me already ]

Leo whined loudly, laying his head back down flat on the cold tile floor, burying his face in his hands. Okay. This was it. The worst moment of his life. Literally the epitome of misery and humiliation. His life would never get worse than this! He had peaked at twelve-- could you believe it? That had to be a new record. He would call the Guinness people if the circumstances were different, and it wouldn’t just immediately make his head explode from mortification.

He stayed just like that, laying flat on his back in the bathroom, his phone providing a steady weight on his sternum as he considered the cruel joke that was his life for just a bit longer. It took about three more minutes before he finally got up the nerve to text her back.

[ Leo: ok look

Leo: i need ur help

Leo: but if you tell anyone else abt it ever then ill immediately die and also kill you. got it?

April: i know youre not threatening me right now leonardo

Leo: OK SO YOU KNOW HOW SERIOUS I AM

Leo: PLZ?????

April: fine. what??? ]

Leo groaned loudly, pressing his phone up against his forehead, and, for the millionth time, considered just figuring this out on his own somehow. But he had been attempting that for a while now, and it was not going near as well as he had hoped. There was a decent chance that these jeans were beyond saving.

[ Leo: can you bring me pads or tampons or whatever the fuck. please. ]

April’s response was near immediate.

[ April: omw. are you home? 

Leo: yeah. 3rd floor bathroom.

April: ill be there in like five minutes. ]

Leo sighed softly, rolling over onto his front to shove his face against the floor. He had a hard time feeling any sense of accomplishment because this just meant that April was gonna show up. This sucked. This wasn’t fair. Why did he have to deal with this? 

He marinated in his misery until he eventually heard a very soft knock on the door. He willed the universe to end his life but was ignored, so he kind of mumbled gibberish in response, and after a moment, April poked her head in. She scoffed at the sight of him, rolling her eyes as she slipped her way into the room, closing the door behind her.

“Leo, why are you on the floor?”

“Because my life sucks,” he grumbled in response, not picking up his head.

“Dude, you’re gonna be fine,” she sighed, kneeling down next to him and slinging her backpack off. “Look, I’ve got you! I just kind of grabbed some of everything ‘cause I wasn’t really sure what you needed? Do you guys not have anything in the house?”

“I don’t know!” He sighed. “I mean. Maybe? I think there’s some emergency stuff tucked away, like… somewhere. But I don’t know where. And there’s no way I’m asking Dad!” He hissed. “... This is so unfair. The people at the clinic said I wasn’t gonna have one!”

April frowned. “Are the blockers not working…? Leo, if something is wrong, then we gotta tell someone--”

“Nooooo,” Leo groaned, picking his head up just enough to scowl, his face scrunched up. “Technically,  they said that… I probably wasn’t gonna have any. But that I might have… like… one, ish, before the blockers kicked in all the way.” 

He whined softly, letting his head drop back down.

“... I was just really hoping that I wouldn’t. This sucks. I think I’m dying from blood loss, by the way. How much blood can you lose before you die? I think I’m approaching whatever that limit is!”

April scoffed as she settled down to sit next to him, leaning over so she could rub his shoulders a few times.

“Well, then, you just gotta do this once! And then you’re all done! That’s not too bad of a deal! I’ve gotta deal with it all the time.” 

“Yeah, but you’re a girl!”

April sighed deeply.

“Yeah, I know,” she said. “But there are guys who deal with periods all the time, too! You’ll be okay. You just gotta get over this hump and you’re home free.”

“This is so unfair,” Leo grumbled bitterly.

“I know,” April relented.

“I hate this.”

“I don’t blame you.”

“I’m gonna lay here and wait until I die.”

“No you’re not.”

“It hurts.”

“Well, here. I brought you some Midol. And I can go make you some tea, too, if you want. That usually helps.”

“... Okay.”

“Alright,” April sighed, getting back to her feet, leaving the backpack behind. “I’ll go grab some new clothes for you and start the tea. I’ll be back in, like, five minutes, okay? Don’t die on the floor while I’m gone.”

“No promises...”

“Seriously, Leo,” she sighed, her hands on her hips. “Chill. I know this, like, super sucks. And it’s not fun. You’re allowed to hate it. But you’re gonna be fine, okay? I promise.”

He had been alright, actually. It had sucked, but then after a few days, it was over, and it hadn’t happened again since. And he had hated every minute of it.

But even then, he hadn’t hated himself. It wasn’t like this.

 Distantly, he heard Raph yelling for him from downstairs. Frowning, he spared a final glance at his own self in the mirror before he shoved his laptop into his bag and left the room.

---

That first day they had been back after everyone went back to their rooms and pretended to be able to fall asleep, their dad had eventually tempted them all out with breakfast. And once they had eaten, Dad migrated to the living room, putting on a movie, and they had all followed after him. Usually, Dad always sat in his easy chair-- an old, but beloved and reliable pillar of the home, the fabric worn away from years of use. But that day, he hadn’t.

He had sat on the couch. And Mikey had sat on the couch, too, tucking himself up against his side and laying his head down against his shoulder, and their dad had wrapped his arm around him. Leo had ended up on his other side, likewise held close by their father’s arms, and then Raph had piled in, too, and even Donnie joined them, all five of them squished onto the couch together, not really watching the movie playing on the TV, but really just… taking comfort in each other’s presence. Allowing themselves to feel that, yes, beyond a shadow of a doubt, they all had made it. Everyone was here and accounted for. They had made it back home. Everyone who was supposed to be here was.

After several days of hounding their father for answers and receiving no reply, however, Raph had stopped joining them on the couch. Leo stopped a bit after that, too, and then so did Donnie, until it was just Mikey and his dad, curled up in silence in the living room each day, watching old Lou Jitsu films play, the soundtrack filling the space with white noise.

“Dad,” Mikey had said one day while the credits rolled, his voice soft, just barely above a whisper. “You have to talk to us. We can’t… we can’t just keep pretending like things didn’t happen.”

“I know,” their father had sighed, his voice drooping with exhaustion. “We… will. I just… I am trying…”

“Okay,” Mikey had replied, and they hadn’t said anything after that.

That had been almost four days ago. And Mikey was still waiting. 

He knew his brothers were having a harder time, though. He couldn’t blame them, either. That was the worst part.

“Raph, we need to be patient with him. He’s really trying…!”

“We’ve been patient!” Raph hissed. “We’ve been patient our entire lives! How much longer do we gotta be patient with him? Mikey, come on! This isn’t okay! I mean, he could have-- Leo could have--” his protests died out, and he grit his teeth, turning to glare out the subway window instead. “We can only wait so long, Mikey. You gotta be reasonable.”

“I know, but…”

“It’s like nothing has changed,” Leo muttered, his lips curved into a frown.

“That’s not true!” Mikey insisted. “He wants to tell us! He does! I just think this is really hard for him, okay?”

“And it’s not hard for us!?” Raph huffed.

“Look, I know that it didn’t exactly go that well last time, but… maybe if you guys talk to him together?” April suggested weakly, gesturing to the group, looking hopefully between them all. “Like, if you sat him down, and all of you tried to talk to him… I mean, like, everyone this time…”

April didn’t even touch Donnie, but as soon as she so much as turned towards him, he pulled away sharply, curling his lips and signing very definitively ‘NO TOUCH.’

“Okay! Okay, that’s fine, I wasn’t--”

‘NO TOUCH.’

“I got it, Dee, chill! I’m not gonna touch you!” April huffed. Donnie all but glared at her, absolutely bristling, before he curled back up on himself, staring out the window again. April glowered, rolling her eyes as she slumped down in her own seat, arms crossed over her chest.

Mikey frowned a bit. Okay… Note to self. Check on that later.

“If we corner him, it’s just gonna freak him out more,” Mikey insisted. “And us arguing with him every morning isn’t helping! If we wanna sit down and talk with him, we have to be cool about it. Can you guys please just let me lead on this?”

“Mikey, it’s not your job--”

“It’s not your job, either!” Mikey immediately snapped. “I can handle this, okay? And you guys are just making it worse! Can you please just trust me, for once, and let me handle something on my own instead of trying to take over!?”

There was a long beat of silence, and Mikey winced a bit. Ooh, had he said all of that out loud?...

“I just… I think I can do this better on my own,” he said after a moment, forcing his voice down into something more level, more calm. There had to be something he was capable of doing on his own-- something helpful. Anything. Surely this was it? “I really can. Please?”

Raph frowned. And he sighed very softly.

“Okay. Fine. Whatever you say, Mikey.”

---

It had only been, like… two weeks. Just two weeks away from his locker, his own damn locker. That was hardly any time at all. He had been doing this multiple times a day for two semesters now. Even just two weeks ago, with everything he had going on, he knew the combination right off the top of his head, no problem. Yesterday, even, he had known the combination.

And now his mind was completely blank. 

Raph hissed in frustration, spinning the lock around for the fifth time, resetting the damn thing so he could try again. Okay, so, it was 12-18, and then… What? 03? Was that right? That felt out of order. How could he not remember this? It was just three numbers. It was his locker combination, for god’s sake, he couldn’t have just forgotten.

He yanked at the lock, and it didn’t give. He groaned, his head falling forward to smack against the cold metal surface with a solid thud.

“... You good?” April questioned from his left, leaning over slightly to give him a curious look.

“Leo and Donnie were right,” he grumbled, his face set in an absolute scowl. April paused, raising a brow slightly.

“Right about what?”

“I beefed it.” 

“Raph, I’m gonna need you to elaborate a little.”

“With Dad!” He hissed, pulling back, lifting his head from the locker just so that he could scrub his palms over his eyes angrily. “When we talked, that time, on the train-- I knew somethin’ was wrong! I knew that there was somethin’ goin’ on, and I just… I just let him not tell us! I just let him keep his damn secrets and deal with everything on his own instead of steppin’ up! I choked!” 

“Raph, come on, that’s not--”

“Yeah, it is!” He insisted angrily. “If I had done somethin’ then, if I had actually pushed and gotten him to talk to us, maybe none of this would have happened in the first place! I knew there was somethin’ wrong, and I just ignored it and let it go instead of mannin’ up and dealin’ with it head on, and now everyone is completely miserable, and I can’t figure out how to fix any of it, now everythin’ is just-- it’s all completely--”

“Raph!” April hissed, cutting him off. “Dude, stop it. You’re spiraling.”

Raph bristled, turning to scowl at her, thinking about arguing for a moment. But eventually, he just grumbled, looking back down at his feet and stiffening slightly. 

“So what if I am?”

“You and I both know that if you pushed Yoshi then, he just would have pushed you back. I mean, jesus, dude, we were all literally held hostage by a spider, and he still doesn’t wanna talk to you guys! You think if you had just played your cards a little differently during one conversation, things would have actually changed?”

Raph frowned, shrugging a bit. “They might have,” he finally said. “At least then I would have tried.”

Maybe if he had pushed then, at least now, he wouldn’t have to see his baby brother plummeting through the air every time he closed his eyes.

“Raph, you did try! You all tried! You’re still trying! But it doesn’t all fall on you, okay? I mean-- you’re sixteen, for god’s sake!” April hissed, her voice cracking slightly, this small, unspoken pressure pushing up the edge of it-- wobbling in such a way that had Raph’s head picking up, his brows furrowing. “You can’t be expected to deal with all of this! I mean, this is all-- this is all-- a lot, and, and a lot happened, and things could have gone really badly, and everyone is scared, including your dad, and us, and--”

“Okay. Okay, I know. I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be sorry, idiot! Just-- just stop blaming yourself--”

“April.”

“This is all--”

“Hey. April.”

She didn’t respond right away, hunching her shoulders and gritting her teeth. He could see her jaw tense from here.

“You’re spiralin’,” he said, but she didn’t laugh the way he was hoping she might. Well, it had been a long shot. He sighed a little bit, leaning over slightly, his eyes roaming over her face while she glared off to the side.

“Apes, are you… okay?”

---

[ Raph: sound off

Mikey: yo

Leo: wut

Donnie: Present.

Raph: me and april are over in the north stairwell on the second floor. forget classes. let’s get outta here

Leo: im sorry are u telling us to skip class rn

Raph: yes

Leo: who are u and what have u done with our brother

Raph: cut the sass or we’re never doin this again

Mikey: okay!!! :D 

Donnie: Why are we skipping class, praytell?

Raph: we’re gettin manicures

Mikey: OHMIGOSH YES

Donnie: I would like to request we go to the establishment on 83rd.

Leo: dude duh thats where we always go

Raph: were goin to the place you like dont worry

Leo: say no more, omw ]

---

“What color are you gettin’?”

“Blue,” Leo hummed.

Raph had honestly been a little bit worried it would be difficult to get them out of the school and make it over here without any trouble, given how recently they had pulled almost the exact same move (he was pretty sure the only reason they hadn’t gotten in massive trouble was because, you know, their whole situation,) but it had been just as easy as the first time. Damn, maybe their school needed better security. 

Once he had gathered up all of their siblings, they made a beeline for their preferred nail salon. They had all been coming here since they were still new in the city. It was comforting. Familiar. Not much had changed over the years, with the same dim neon advertising out front and the same worn, padded chairs and tables inside, the same wall of nail polishes on display by the front for them all to peruse at their leisure.

Even just the air of this place held comfort, oddly enough. 

“Of course you are,” Raph chuckled.

“That’s his life color,” Mikey chirped, and that made Raph smile a tiny bit.

“Yeah, Raph. It’s my life color,” Leo said, turning just enough to give Raph this absolutely shit-eating grin, to which Raph rolled his eyes in response.

“You always get blue!”

“Yeah, and you always get red.”

“No, I don’t!”

“Red or black.”

“I look good in red!” Raph defended.

“And I look good in blue!” Leo said, shooting him a look and a cocky sort of smile. But there was something about it that kind of made Raph squint a little. There was just sort of this corner of his eyes where the smile didn’t quite touch, like a shadow, almost--

“What about you, April?” Mikey questioned, turning to glance at their sister with a curious look. She hesitated for a second, looking sort of thoughtful.

“What’s my life color again?”

“Green,” Mikey reported proudly, absolutely beaming at the question, more than a little excited at the chance to share. Raph quietly thought that he’d have to make a point to ask more about it later, just so he could get that look on his face again.

“What kind?”

“Like, uh…” Mikey paused a moment, examining the wall of nail polish bottles, looking from the selection to April and back again a few times before he settled on a bright shade of chartreuse that reminded Raph of new spring leaves. “Like this!”

“I’ll go with this, then,” she said, smiling the tiniest bit as she took the little bottle in her hands. Raph thought to himself that she still looked… tired. But a lot less spiral-y than before.

He felt less spiral-y, too. 

“This way we’ll all match,” she explained. “We’ll all have life color fingers.”

“You gettin’ purple, Donnie?” Raph questioned, leaning over slightly to glance at his brother, who stood off to the side. The question was really just a formality. He knew Donnie would get purple. He always got purple, and, just as expected, Donnie nodded, holding up a little bottle of vibrant violet varnish in reply. 

They always went to this place on the rare occasion that they did this because this place didn’t mind if Donnie just used their supplies and did their own nails instead of being touched by any of the nail techs. Whatever made his little brother happy-- Raph didn’t mind.

So long as they were all happy.

And safe.

He clenched his jaw for a moment, glancing over at Leo from the corner of his eyes, where he was debating between a neon cyan and a glittery cerulean with April and Mikey, trying to gather votes as he weighed the pros and cons.

So long as he was safe.

“Leo, didn’t you get the glittery one last time we came here?”

“You remember that?” He muttered, not even looking up. “I mean, yeah, probably, but Mikey said it matches my life colors…”

“Of course, I remember!” Raph scoffed, leaning over slightly to look. “... Well, the glitter is very you.” 

“Is it?”

“Yeah. ‘Cause you’re, like… you know! Sparkly!” Mikey teased, grinning a bit, nudging the other, and Leo laughed, but in this way that felt ever-so-slightly left of normal, hip-checking Mikey in return before placing the two bottles back on the shelf. 

“Well, if I got that one last time, I should probably get something different,” he said, picking through the selections for a moment before settling on a more understated navy. Raph didn’t think he had ever seen Leo pick out a color so dark before.

“That one?”

“Yeah. It’s classy,” Leo insisted. “You know. Elegant and all that.”

“Psh. Who needs class when you can have razzmatazz?!” Mikey argued, gesturing to the absolute collection of bottles he had bundled up in his arms, ranging from neon magenta to metallic orange. “Variety is the spice of life, baby!” He did this every time.

“You’re lucky all the nail techs always like you,” April remarked with a scoff.

“For some reason,” Leo added.

“Remember that time he tried to do a cartwheel and he nearly knocked over the entire acrylic display?” April laughed. Mikey flushed.

“That was one time!” He argued. “And I was only ten! Plus, nothing got broken!”

“Nothin’ got broken?” Raph echoed.

“Well, not many things!”

“Aw, come on, guys, he felt bad!” Leo defended, even though he was smirking, slinging an arm over his baby brother. “And it was an accident! It wasn’t as bad as the first time we came here--”

“Hey--”

“-- and Raph drank one of the nail polishes.”

April cackled.

“He what!? How have I never heard this before!”

“It was our first time! I was only, like, six!” He cried. “It was bright red! Like candy! I thought it would taste good!”

“So you drank the entire thing!?”

“Everyone freaked out,” Leo laughed. “We had to call poison control.”

“I was fine.”

“And that was our first time here,” Leo clucked his tongue. “What an impression we made… Remember?”

“Dad was so embarrassed,” Mikey giggled. “He had made it this whole thing, too, us ‘going out’ in the city and having a family day to see all the things in New York.”

“And we went up to the zoo beforehand, right? And then Mikey got lost when we were looking at the cheetahs, and Dad was freaking out because that place was packed and we couldn’t find him anywhere,” Leo remarked.

Raph scoffed loudly. “I remember! It was so busy, no one even realized he was lost or anything! Everyone just assumed he was with someone else,” Raph sighed deeply, shaking his head. “Mikey always wandered off, and then he never freaked out when he got lost. At least when Donnie wandered off and got lost he’d cry about it so someone would notice and help,” he tsked. “Mikey would have gone ‘round that whole zoo by himself for the entire day and not even cared,” Raph said, and Mikey snorted.

“I don’t remember that!”

“I do!” Raph huffed. “No one even realized you were some sad little lost kid ‘til you tripped and fell down eventually and started cryin’. And then that finally clued some people in and they found one ‘a the employees to help you out, and that’s how we found ya’. And I remember when we finally did go and get you, they gave you this little flower clip from one of the gift shops for your hair to make you stop cryin’ and you were happy as a clam! You didn’t even care you had been lost, you were just happy you got a flower. And Donnie and Leo were so jealous. Dad had to buy us all hair clips before we could go home because you guys carried on so much.”

“Okay, that I remember,” Leo snickered. “I think we still have those. Or I have mine, at least, somewhere in my room… And we went to get lunch at that one place up in Manhattan after that, didn’t we?”

“Yeah. Uhhh… Rakken Ramen!” Mikey said, his eyes lighting up with the memory. “I remember because Leo kept making puns about rock-and-roll and stuff.”

“And we had edamame for the first time. And mochi,” Leo hummed.

“That place was so good,” Mikey sighed deeply. “We haven’t been there in forever… we should go back…”

“We should,” Leo agreed. “And maybe this time Raph won’t eat anything that’s not food.” 

“You kinda had a habit for a while, huh?” April remarked with a grin, giving the other a look. Raph scoffed.

“Right, like I was the only one. We all put shit in our mouths.”

“Yeah, but you were the worst,” Leo challenged.

“You’re still the worst,” April laughed.

“I am not!” He protested. “If anything, Mikey’s the worst. Remember that time he swallowed a penny?”

“Lots of kids swallow pennies!” Mikey whined. “It’s common!”

“Five different times, Angelo!? Why did you keep eatin’ pennies?!”

“I dunno! They looked good!”

“Y’all are menaces,” April laughed softly, shaking her head. “Can’t take you anywhere…”

“Okay, but what about the time at the craft fair when April--”

“Not another word, Leonardo!”

---

“DONNIE!”

Leo rarely actually knocked and waited for his twin brother to allow him access to his room, instead just preferring to throw himself through the door with wild abandon and panache for extra dramatic entrances. He definitely wasn’t gonna knock and wait today. Donnie looked up from whatever he was working on at his desk, huffing loudly and rolling his eyes.

“Leo, I said to--”

“Guess what!!!” Leo did not have time to listen to Donnie’s lecture about ‘privacy’ and ‘boundaries’ and ‘basic manners’ right now. He was way too excited. Donnie sighed, his brows furrowed as he glared at the other.

“... What?”

Leo paused, looking his brother up and down, and then scowled, placing his hands on his hips.

“Well, if I tell you, are you going to be actually excited?”

“What?”

“I’m not gonna tell you if you’re just gonna be all…” He gestured to the other. “Donnie about it. It’s really cool. So you’ve gotta be excited. Got it?”

Donnie blinked slowly, staring his twin down with an unamused expression.

“Yes, dear brother. I promise to express sincere joy and excitement at whatever news you’re about to impart upon me,” he deadpanned, glaring at the other all the while.

“Okay okay okay,” Leo backed up a bit in order to pose. “Me and Dad just talked. And he said!... That I can start taking puberty blockers!”

Donnie blinked in surprise.

“Oh. That actually is cool. Like… genuinely. Congrats, Nardo”

“I KNOW!!! I’m so excited!” Leo cried, moving to flop down on his brother’s bed in sheer delight, kicking his legs. “This is so freaking cool! Eat it, puberty! Good luck ruining my life now!!! I’m not gonna have to do any of that stupid nasty girl stuff!!!”

Donnie frowned just the tiniest bit, rolling his eyes.

“What’s wrong with girls?”

“Nothing! But their girl stuff is gross,” Leo responded with a huff.

“No, it’s not.”

“It is too. We went to the same health class. I know you think that stuff was nasty!”

Donnie visibly shivered, but huffed a bit, holding his ground.

“I dunno,” Donnie mumbled, shrugging a tiny bit, his eyes still glued on his phone. “Being a girl doesn’t seem that bad.”

“What?!” Leo scoffed loudly, sitting up to give his twin an incredulous work. “Yeah, it does! Being a girl is the worst!”

“Well, how would you know?” Donnie challenged. “You’re not a girl.”

Leo opened his mouth and then closed it again. Huh. He supposed he had a point.

“Yeah… Well. You’re not a girl either,” Leo huffed in rebuttal.

When Donnie didn’t respond right away, and Leo paused, his brows knitted together. Oh, hey. Wait a minute. He narrowed his eyes.

“... Why?” He pressed, leaning forward a bit, trying to get a glance of his twin’s face, though they remained firmly facing away from him. “... Do you wanna be?”

“No!” Donnie scowled, and then hesitated, leaning their head back. “No. Not… really.”

“What does that mean?”

“What?”

“Not really. That’s not the same as not wanting to be a girl.”

“Well. I don’t--”

“If you wanna be a girl you can just be a girl.”

“I don’t want to be a girl!”

“Then what’s the issue, dude?”

“I don’t wanna be a girl… all the time. Just. Kind of. Some of the time? Ugh. Nevermind. This is stupid--”

“Well, just do that, then,” Leo said. “Just do the some of the time. What’s stopping you?”

Donnie paused for a moment, frowning a bit and sort of examining his feet.

“I don’t know,” he finally admitted.

“Well, then, we should just do it,” Leo announced, crossing his legs. “If you don’t like it, we can just stop and go back. It’s easy.”

“I don’t even know how I would accomplish that!” Donnie protested.

“Well,” Leo said, tilting his head to the side, considering for a moment. He supposed he wasn’t completely sure either, since he had come out at the ripe age of five, but he had certainly picked up a pretty good idea over the years from friends, peers, books, and of course, the internet. “Do you wanna change your name?”

“No. My name is fine.”

“Okay,” Leo said. “... Do you wanna be. Like… my sister?”

“Not really,” Donnie said. “I mean. I still want to be your brother. You guys can still call me your brother. I don’t…” He frowned. “I don’t want to be not your brother.” 

“Oh, okay.”

“And I still want to be Dad’s son.”

“That’s fine. Uh. Is there anything you do wanna change, then?”

Donnie shrugged a little, picking at the edges of their sweatshirt thoughtfully. “No. Not right now,” he finally said. “I guess just… you knowing is sufficient. For now.”

“Oh. Yeah, okay. Cool.”

Donnie sighed very softly, letting out a long breath, and Leo watched as his brother’s frame slowly untensed and relaxed.

“Okay. Cool.”

---

“You already chipped it,” Raph remarked, leaning over his shoulder gently to look at his nails. Leo resisted a sigh, leaning away in turn, pulling back from the contact.

“Yeah. Bummer. I’ll probably just take it off later,” he said with a hum, looking back down at his phone-- trying to act casual.

“Take it off? But we just got ‘em done!” Raph protested.

“Yeah, but it’s chipped,” Leo said, shrugging. “I dunno what you want me to do. I must have done it while skateboarding or something.”

“When did you go skateboarding?”

“The other day,” Leo said, noncommittal, leaning back in the seat of the train slightly, glancing out the window. “Hey, do you think pigeons are gonna evolve to be, like, sexy?”

“What.”

“Well, like. Half the pigeons you see are boring, right? Just… Regular pigeons with the boring, standard pigeon affair,” he quickly launched into an explanation, gesturing out the window as he spoke. “But then some of them are, like, crazy. Like, white with black spots or brown or whatever. Like. Some of them look super cool. Do you think New Yorkers will develop a preference for the cooler pigeons, and give them more bird seed, and therefore effectively breed out the normal ones? Like. Artificial natural selection? But for birds looking cool?”

“... What?” Raph repeated.

“That would be so horrible!” Mikey protested. “You can’t just feed birds based on who’s the prettiest!”

“Plus, like, would it even work? ‘Cause, I mean, maybe the regular ones are, like, scrappier, so even if people were givin’ the other ones more food…”

And off they went. Leo sighed quietly in relief as his brothers easily took the bait, spiraling off into a pigeon debate and leaving him in peace. Thank god.

He settled into his seat, shifting just enough so he could watch the world fly by in a blur. If he didn’t focus his eyes on everything, it all just blended together, as though someone had taken a palette knife over reality. The train hummed and rocked as they went, and the corners of his lips twitched slightly as he watched.

It had been, what-- a month since they had last attended a martial arts tournament? But it felt like a goddamn lifetime. The world was so different now, and, once again, no one even seemed to realize it. 

There had been several long arguments about whether or not they would attend, just as there had been several long arguments about whether or not they would go back to school or whether or not they would return to sports and other after-school activities. Long, lengthy debates about whether or not it was safe, whether or not it was too soon, or if just sitting at home and waiting was doing more harm than good, etc etc, with no one on any one clear side, everyone just worried and anxious and upset each time, all smeared together into sludge. Leo still wasn’t sure if it was the right move, but he didn’t think that sitting at home, with everyone locked away in their own rooms or arguing with each other, was a good idea, either.

Back when their dad was still missing, he had thought, pretending like everything is normal is so stupid. Why are we doing it? But now it was all he wanted to do. He wanted so desperately to pretend like everything was normal. He wanted so badly to act as though the problem wasn’t there. If he didn’t look at it, maybe he wouldn’t have to feel it. If he didn’t look at it, maybe no one else would, either.

The rest of the train ride was pretty quiet, aside from Mikey and Raph chatting about pigeons. It was odd. Usually, they would all talk. Their dad would chat with them, Donnie would chat with them… Usually, Leo had things to say, too. 

But not today. The train ride seemed long.

And yet, no time had passed at all before they were there. Leo liked the familiar buzz-- the bustle and shuffle of the people, the hum of excitement in the air, the promise of competition. At least this hadn’t changed. His family stuck close as they went through the usual routine, getting signed in and finding a spot in the bleachers, just like always, and they all played their usual parts-- Mikey thinking he forgot something before their dad revealed that, no, he had remembered, and it was in the bag, their dad taking the time to try to hype them all up, and Leo informing Donnie that he was gonna wipe the floor with him, (now that he no longer had any kind of head injury… He found that some of the usual joy of threatening his brother with bodily harm was gone now that he had watched them be beaten into unconsciousness by a stranger.) However, he did not receive the return banter he would usually expect, bringing the sense of familiarity coming to a grinding halt. Leo frowned a bit, trying not to sulk as the group made their way to the locker rooms. He hated the way things felt… wrong. Would it really kill Donnie to just play along?

“Hey,” Raph leaned over slightly as they walked, shifting the pace slightly so they were just a few steps behind Donnie and Mikey. Already, Leo didn’t like the look in his eyes. “Are you good?”

Leo’s brow twitched a bit, and he resisted the urge to huff. Oh, great, now Raph, too? He had already gotten the exact same question from Mikey at least eighty times over the past week. He swore his baby brother must have a timer on his phone for how often he came sidling up with those big eyes, trying to see if he was ‘okay.’

“Yeah, Raph. Why wouldn’t I be?”

“Just checkin’!” Raph immediately said, looking a bit nervous, rubbing the back of his neck. “You just. Uh. I dunno. You seem a little… off. That’s all.”

“I’m fine, Raph,” Leo dismissed, rolling his eyes.

“You sure? Because lately, I know, uh, things have been a little…”

“Raph. Seriously,” Leo cut off, bristling a bit. “I just said I was fine. I’m fine, okay?”

And he was! Seriously. He was… fine. It wasn’t a big deal. None of this shit was anything he couldn’t handle on his own. He scowled at the way his brother was looking at him, hunching his shoulders slightly and picking up his pace, following Mikey and Donnie into the locker room with a tiny grumble. Ever since the Battle Nexus thing, everyone just looked at him all the time like they thought he was gonna break, and Leo didn’t even get why. He was fine, wasn’t he!? Everything had worked out, so what was the big deal? They were all home now.

Whatever happened, happened. Leo, for one, was keen to get over it and move on. It wasn’t like anything had changed.

He already couldn’t sleep at night before all this. So it’s not like anything was really different.

He could tell that Raph had more he wanted to say, but thankfully, he didn’t, and the group busied themselves with getting changed into their gi, shoving bags into lockers and making sure everything was all prepped and ready. Leo fell quickly into the familiar routine, a soft sigh escaping him at the blissful relief of it, letting himself sink down inside. It was like ice water on sore, hot muscles, and he thought, god, didn’t they think this was better?

Wasn’t it so much easier to just go back to what they knew instead of lingering over everything that went wrong? Everything that hurt?

And he, himself, hadn’t been intending to linger. He had planned to head out into the main tournament area with the rest of his brothers, once they all had their shit ready and were making their way.

But they had walked past the long row of sinks in front of the bathroom stalls, and he had seen himself.

And goddammit. He was stuck again.

His breath kind of stuttered for a second and then stopped, staying nestled up in the middle of his chest for a moment. He paused, stopping, staring, examining for a moment and scrutinizing. His hand moved on its own, brushing against his own jawline, tilting his head ever so slightly to the side. But every angle looked the same to him. 

He felt stupid doing this. Bobbing his head from side to side, expecting that to be enough to change anything. 

It wouldn’t. 

He already knew.

He finally tore his gaze away from himself, feeling grateful that he was alone in the locker room until he realized that he, in fact, wasn’t. Mikey and Raph had gone on ahead, not noticing him stop and stay behind. 

But Donnie hadn’t. 

For one long, heavy moment, the two of them stood there in silence, staring at one another. It wasn’t until Donnie began to move that Leo did, too, immediately and knee-jerkingly reacting to the threat of his brother signing to him-- or worse, speaking to him-- and potentially saying the same shit that he had heard a hundred times before over the past week-- the past four weeks-- and did not want to hear again.

“Don’t,” Leo spat, his reaction time leaping to the forefront to show itself off, shutting Donnie down before he had a chance to do anything. “I’m fine, got it? It’s not a fucking crime to look in the mirror. I am fine. I don’t wanna hear it. I don’t want you to ask, I don’t wanna hear any of this stupid emotional bullshit right now over nothing. Especially not from you.” 

Donnie didn’t really respond, at least not right away, and Leo was bothered by the fact that his twin brother’s expression was unreadable. Donnie wasn’t always especially expressive, and he tended to wear his ‘resting bitch face’ more often than he didn’t, but it was never unreadable to him. Leo had long ago mastered the art of being inside his brother’s head. He had always been able to catch on to what Donnie was feeling if he looked long enough.

He couldn’t right now. Had something changed with Donnie? Or had something changed with him?

Both of you. Neither of you, something cold and stinging hissed dramatic prose inside his ear. All that’s changed is that you know the fact of the matter now.

You didn’t come into the world together. That connection you’ve always touted is fabricated. There’s no special bond. There’s no unbreakable link.

That is not your twin.

(And he had known this for a while, hadn’t he? He wasn’t stupid. He had realized long before now that they could not possibly be biological twins. But the identity had still stayed on his person up until this moment, and now he felt it falling out of his hands. It only made him angrier.)

Rolling his eyes, though he wasn’t even sure at who, Leo brushed past the other, making a beeline for the exit. “I’m in the first match,” he said, roughly, as if that were a good explanation, as if that was a good excuse for him to take his leave, shouldering his way through the door and leaving Donnie behind. 

His throat felt tight. He couldn’t have this conversation right now. 

The gap had grown so wide.

He didn’t dare to reach out an arm to check, but he wasn’t sure Donnie was within his reach anymore.

That sucked.

He ached for the familiar to come back.

Reaching his legs out long to build a hurried stride, he focused on pushing everything back down into his stomach and catching up with Mikey and Raph, entering the tournament space and feeling all the chatter and cheers of the fray creep up quickly and crawl into his spine. He hadn’t been lying before. He really was in the first match. 

“Yo! Leo. There you are,” Raph turned to face him when he approached, joining the other two at their little corner of the meet. Some of the other kids from the Lou Jitsu School of Ninjutsu dojo were there, too, and Leo made it a point to ignore all of them. “You g--”

“I’m fine,” he snapped, giving his brother an absolutely dangerous glare. Raph and Mikey exchanged looks, just for a second, but thankfully dropped it.

“... Alright. Where’s Donnie?”

“I dunno,” he dismissed, tossing his stuff down into a heap, kicking his shoes off and beginning to pull his hair back properly, wrinkling up his nose as a few clumps of curls brushed against his cheeks, escaping his grip and falling back down into his face. Goddammit.

He had always loved his hair. He spent hours on his hair. He lovingly bleached it, never allowing his roots to creep up too far, and religiously maintained the red streak framing his face. He adored showing off the coily ringlets, tossing them around and flipping his hair dramatically whenever he got the chance. But lately, it was getting on his nerves. He was thinking about chopping it all off. 

Raph knelt down next to him, silently taking over, pulling his hair back in an easy, practiced swipe of his large hand, untying the baby blue ribbon from his half-up topknot and calmly beginning to wrap it all into a ponytail instead. Leo frowned, but he let him. 

He tore off a long piece of sports tape with his teeth, wrapping it around his wrist with one hand. He had done this a million times, but now his heart clenched anxiously as he wound the tape over the silver bracelet on his wrist, the tiny blue crystal tucked away out of sight and out of reach. His brothers helped him shrug on any required padding, wriggling into sparring gloves and boots.

This was a larger meet, and usually, Leo preferred those, because there was stiffer competition and more events to partake in, but today it made his nerves tremble, squirming up and down his body, pressing against his muscles. Across the mat, Leo saw his opponent doing the same as him, preparing for the coming fight, some of their teammates hyping them up. A man who Leo assumed to be the coach bent over him, speaking fervently, likely giving some last-minute instructions and pointers. For some reason, it made Leo’s stomach turn, even though he knew his Dad was nearby, tucked into the front row of the bleachers amongst the many other parents and spectators and watching. Though their Dad was the one who, truly, taught them martial arts, he had long since retired from ‘officially’ coaching at the dojos, making way for other senseis to take his place. And Leo really liked their coach. But right now, he wished that it was their dad instead. 

It wasn’t, though. 

“You got this, Leo!” Raph encouraged as he stepped up to the mat, rolling his shoulders a few times, getting in a few more last-minute stretches as he approached. 

“Yeah! Kick his butt!” Mikey cheered from the sidelines, and the rest of the team was following suit, rallying behind him as the event began, just like they all did for every match, just like the other kid’s team was doing for him.

Leo didn’t really know the kid on the other side of the mat, though he recognized him vaguely. He knew the opposing dojo, having crossed paths with them at these events before, and it wasn’t uncommon for him to be able to recognize other competitors in he and Donnie’s weight class. He didn’t know his name or anything-- didn’t know a damn thing about him, just had vague recollections of facing him before in the past and taking him down with ease. 

He breathed in slow and deep, and then he let it out again.

He would do it again today. 

He had done this a million times before. He zeroed in on just this little pocket of the world; just this other kid and him. Everything else faded off as he closed the curtains on it all, coaxing his brain and body together and into focus, stringing them together and aligning his head, his torso, his limbs, and his will.

The boy across from him bowed, and Leo did too, bobbing his head forward stiffly.

“Stance!” The referee’s voice rang out.

Leo’s left foot slid forward, twisting slightly to find a firm hold on the ground. His right foot, in turn, moved back, and he shifted ever so slightly, allowing his center of gravity to sink just a bit lower, holding parallel to the ground. And though he took care to keep his body loose and fluid, all his muscles tensed, bunched up ever so slightly in preparation. 

The boy across from him did the same.

“Fight!”

Leo had always relied, to some degree, on his speed. He had a balance-- of course he did, their dad had taught them himself. He had strength behind his blows. He had dexterity and agility, he could think on his feet. But his greatest merit had always been that he was fast. He could endure a hit, but he didn’t have to if he could get out of the way first, and hit back. He was good at it. It was what he did.

He had done this a million times.

The other boy-- his stance was solid, Leo noted in the back of his mind. He was fast, too. He clearly knew what he was doing, was clearly good. He always had been. Why was he just noticing now--?

He was fast, too, but not faster than Leo. At the ref’s wave, the boy leaped forward, taking the offensive, rushing his opponent with an aggressive lead. And it should have been easy for Leo to dodge.

Leo was faster than him. He knew he was faster than him.

But for some reason, he didn’t move. His legs knew what they needed to do, and he knew what he wanted his legs to do.

But it didn’t happen.

Leo hadn’t been expecting a collision.

He hadn’t expected pain. He knew, even as it was happening, that he could dodge this and counter. He was in the middle of a tournament. It was familiar. He had done this a million times. 

What was wrong with him?

His legs didn’t listen. He didn’t move… and he was fully expecting to be punished for it.

The impact came and he went down hard.

---

“Leo, honey…”

Inwardly, Leo cringed, suspicion crawling up through his spine as he braced himself for an unpleasant conversation. He already knew what that tone of voice meant. Grown-up’s don’t just go, “Leo, honey…” for nothing.

He reluctantly turned to face the camp counselor who was addressing him, folded at the knees and leaning over slightly, as if she were talking to some little kid, which he was not, thank you very much. He was going to be starting the fourth grade in the fall, as a matter of fact, which was quite relevant, as it would so happen, to his current situation. 

This milestone meant he was finally old enough to participate in the day camps overnight event. He and Donnie had long anticipated this occasion, looking forward to this day for months now-- especially since Raph and April had gotten to do the sleepover last year and told them all about it. He and his siblings had been coming here during the summers for nearly as long as Leo could remember. Yeah, sure, they did other stuff, too. Donnie did his space camp, Mikey did his art camp, etc. etc.… But they always wrapped the season up with Camp Laurelwood during the month of August, all attending together. And Leo always had a good time, but he had been especially eager to attend this year. Not just because he was finally deemed old enough to sleep overnight. But because he and Donnie were and Mikey still wasn’t, which brought a whole other unique sense of joy and accomplishment to the entire situation. They hadn’t even technically started the overnight yet, and Leo was already so excited to brag and tell his little brother all about it tomorrow.

But suddenly, he was feeling a little less excited. 

“Don’t you think maybe you’d like to set your stuff up with April? In her tent?” Rosie suggested, gesturing slightly across the way, where April and a few other girls were getting settled, sorting through backpacks and playing rock-paper-scissors over who got which cot. Leo glanced over at his sister and scowled, hugging his sleeping bag to his chest.

“No,” Leo immediately responded, his face scrunched up into a prickly glare. Typically, he was all for hanging out with April. He liked April! But how dumb did this counselor think he was?

Did she really think she could trick him that easily?

The corner of Rosie’s lip twitched slightly. “Are you sure? I bet April and her friends would be really excited to have you join them,” she pressed, and Leo bristled. He knew full well that his Dad had already talked to the camp director about this. He already knew he was allowed in whatever tent he wanted. And he knew that every other camp counselor that he had worked with this year so far-- they were all really cool! He never had any issues with anyone else up until now.

He had thought Rosie was cool, too. Up until now. 

He was confident that if he put up a fuss, he could resolve this pretty quickly. He was really good at putting up a fuss. He had long ago learned how to fend off the occasional dumb adult who tried to nudge him in the wrong direction like this. He had found some time ago, under his father’s guidance, that he could shut down most situations like this by simply declaring (as loudly as he possibly could,) that no, he didn’t want to talk about his private parts with them, can you please stop asking? to whichever random adult was pestering him. They’d usually back off pretty quick after that.

And it was almost always adults, too. It used to baffle him when he was little, but now it just got on his nerves. 

He could kick up a fuss, yeah.

He just really wished he didn’t have to. 

“I don’t--”

“No, Leo has to be in my tent. With me.”

Leo glanced over in surprise as Donnie planted himself firmly by his side. 

“If he’s not in my tent with me, then I’ll cry,” Donnie reported, quite calmly, pursing his lips slightly as he glared up at Rosie. “And scream. The whole entire night long.”

Rosie floundered, just for a moment, before she forced a tiny laugh. “I’m sure you’d be fine in separate tents for one night. Plus, don’t you think it’d be more fun if you both got to hang out with some other kids for a change--?”

“I assure you I would not,” Donnie responded immediately, barely even letting the words leave her mouth, crossing his arms over his chest. “You see, I’m only nine, and this is my first time ever sleeping out in the woods. And Leo is my twin brother,” he added, pressing just a bit harder than he had to on the last word. “So there’s obviously a lot of potential for tonight to be very scary for me. And different. I’m sure you have notes on the clipboard you carry around all the time about me. So if you make me and my twin brother sleep in different tents, I’m gonna freak out. I’ll stay awake the entire night. And I’ll come into your tent to scream,” he said, very-matter-of-fact like he was making a promise. “I might even throw up, that’s how hard I’ll cry. And then I bet other kids will get scared and start crying, too. They definitely won’t be able to sleep, at any rate. So then the whole entire camp will be up. I bet they’ll have to make the camp director come down, eventually, ‘cause I’m gonna freak out so bad, and she’s gonna ask why you made us sleep apart from each other in different tents, and why you’re making Leo sleep in the girls’ tent, ‘cause I know your clipboard says--”

“Okay!” Rosie hissed, her face flushed slightly as she got back up to her feet-- rising up to her full height. “Alright, Donnie. That’s enough. It was just a suggestion. You and Leo can be in the same tent.”

Leo gaped slightly. Donnie grinned the teeniest, tiniest bit. And they both watched as Rosie walked off, suddenly finding something on the other side of the clearing that desperately needed her attention right away. And then Leo grinned, too, whipping around to face Donnie and laugh.

“Dude, that was cool!”

“I know,” Donnie said.

“Did you see her face!?”

“Yes, I did,” Donnie confirmed, and his grin grew a little wider. “... what a dum-dum.”

“Seriously,” Leo muttered, rolling his eyes, sighing a bit. “... Thanks, Dee.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Donnie said, though he seemed quite pleased with himself. “Obviously, I can’t just sit idly by and allow people to pick on my little brother.”

“We’re the same age!”

“Yes, but I was born first,” Donnie insisted, grinning widely, and Leo scoffed, shoving him gently. Donnie shoved him right back, but not hard.

Yeah, Leo could have handled Rosie by himself. He knew how to. But it felt… really good to not have to. And that was the cool part about Donnie, Leo thought to himself. He always kind of seemed to know when Leo didn’t want to. He even knew when Leo couldn’t handle it himself, even when Leo himself hadn’t realized yet, and he’d step in then, too. 

They had always done that. The back and forth. When Donnie was struggling, Leo would jump in and he’d fix it. And when Leo needed help, Donnie would put himself between Leo and the problem, and he’d fix it, too. That was just how it worked. Of course, Raph, April, and Mikey would do the same for either of them and had, in fact, done so plenty of times. They’d all gladly jump to each other’s aid whenever they needed it.

But it was just a tiny bit different when it was him and Donnie. They were twins. The world was just set up in such a way that they tended to traverse it in tandem… which meant he always had someone to lean back into if he needed it. Steady. Reliable. Comforting. And it had just always been that way. They had always done this.

“Whatever. Come on, let’s go put our stuff in the tent before all the good spots are taken!” Leo encouraged, grabbing his bag and shoving Donnie’s into his arms.

“There are good spots?”

“I dunno. Maybe!”

---

Of course, he had seen Leo get hit before. He had seen Leo get hit lots of times. I mean, it’s martial arts, of course people are gonna occasionally land hits on him. Quite frankly, it was usually one of them-- either Donnie snagging him during an event, which was not at all uncommon, or him and Raph getting him during training. Or, you know, just good old-fashioned brotherly banter.

But Mikey hadn’t ever seen him get hit like this before.

He just fucking crumpled.

And it was horrifying to watch, not just because of the sight of his brother slamming down onto the mat, his feet splayed out beneath him, and not just because of the sound, seeming to echo through the stadium over everything else-- but because he watching it happen and he felt so guilty, and he wasn’t even sure why. He wasn’t the one who took him down. It had nothing to do with him. But still, this bright, fidgeting lump rose up into his chest and lodged itself into his throat, pulsing dangerously there like a spark to kindling. Mikey quickly shoved it back down, forcing himself to settle.

Not now. 

He watched Raph jerk next to him, and he reached out to grab his arm, because he wanted so desperately to run over to Leo’s side right now and check to make sure he was okay, and he knew Raph did too, but they both knew better. Out of the corner of his eyes, he could see their dad getting to his feet. 

Being here suddenly seemed like a really bad idea, actually.

It took him a second, but Leo began to sit back up after a moment, seeming dazed. Relief flooded through Mikey’s entire body. Logically, he knew that Leo couldn’t be injured that badly in a high school tournament, they were both wearing safety gear, the floor was padded, but it just-- it just felt--

He clenched his jaw, tamping it down again. 

The referee and their coach alike moved to check on his brother, and Mikey couldn’t hear from here, but one of them waved down one of the medics that always lingered around at the events. He could see from here that Leo was shaking, but trying to get to his feet anyway, his body moving in this stiff, painful way that looked out of place on him. It wasn’t what he usually wore. And after a bit of fussing, some examining, and what looked like some arguing, Leo was up again, testing each leg, taking a few steps, as if to prove to the adults clustered around him he could, in fact, walk.

There was a bit more debate, and he was allowed off the mat (or perhaps dismissed from it.) Mikey felt like he was a caged animal waiting to be fed for how he was pacing, bunched up and quivering with anxious energy, wanting to throw himself at his brother as soon as he got back to them and see if he was okay, check on him, help him, just be near him--

 But Leo walked right past them, all but pushing Mikey away when he reached out to him.

And. Okay. That… hurt, a little. Mikey swallowed, trying to dismiss the sting. He was sure Leo was embarrassed, and probably in pain after taking a fall like that. Plus, clearly something was wrong, for him to get taken down in the first place. Maybe he was sick? Maybe something happened?... Don’t take it personally, don’t take it personally…

He chased. He knew that Raph was, too, and their dad was no doubt right behind them, and the Hamatos returned to the locker room that they had just come from not too long ago.

“Leo!” Mikey cried, hurrying to catch up. Leo didn’t respond.

“Leo, are you--”

“I’m fine, Mikey. Can you just give me a minute?”

Raph scoffed, bristling behind him. “Uh, clearly you’re not fine! What happened back there? Are you hurt--”

“If I was hurt, then the medic wouldn’t let me walk away, obviously,” Leo spat in return, but Mikey could see from here that now that they had retreated to the locker room, away from the prying eyes of officials, a limp that hadn’t been there before had begun to color Leo’s gait. 

He heard the door open and close, and he was right. Their dad was right behind them.

“Blue!” Dad fret, moving to join them as Leo plopped down on the nearest bench, wincing slightly at his own harsh, careless movements, beginning to yank off his gear and toss it to the side. “Are you--”

“If anyone,” Leo hissed, his shoulders tensing up sharply, “Asks me one more time if I’m okay, then I’m going to lose my mind! How many times do I have to say it!? I’m fine, okay!? I’m fine! I just got hit in a fight, alright!? It’s a fight! It happens! It’s not the end of the world! Can all of you please find something else to fuss over?! I’m fine and I don’t want to talk about it!!!”

Mikey blinked in surprise with the venom in his brother’s voice. This was so… unlike him. Yeah, he knew that Leo didn’t like attention, at least, not attention like this. He didn’t like people to worry about him. He was independent. He wanted to be the caretaker, Mikey had noticed long ago, even if Leo hadn’t yet, rather than the one taken care of. He was too proud to always accept help when he needed it. But he didn’t act like this. He distracted, he made jokes, he dodged questions and, yes, okay, he acted like a brat sometimes.

But he didn’t treat people like this.

Mikey narrowed his eyes, and he set his jaw.

“No.”

Leo groaned loudly, tipping his head back slightly. “Mikey--”

“No. Leo, stop it! Just stop, okay?!” He hissed, his own hackles rising to meet him. “Do you think we’re stupid!? You’re not fine! You’re clearly not fine! Obviously, none of us are fine, okay!? Can we please just admit that things are bad right now so that we can try to fix it and make it better instead of just… pretending like nothing happened?!” He seethed. “I have tried so hard to be patient with all of you, but this sucks and it’s not fine. We need to talk about this! About-- everything! This clearly isn’t working! I’m-- I’m trying to be patient, and I can’t--”

Some tears rose up in his throat, pricking the edges of his eyes, and he grit his teeth with frustration, trying to will them away but finding very little success. 

“It’s not gonna get better unless we do the work and fix it, okay? Just admit that things suck right now, Leo! Please. I know it’s not fine and I don’t know why you’re trying to trick us i-instead of, of t-trusting us! I trust you! Why don’t you guys--”

He hiccuped a bit, squeezing his eyes shut and balling his hands into fists, setting his jaw slightly. He shifted ever so slightly, edging his feet apart to try to stabilize himself and fight against his shaking knees. Raph sighed softly, resting a hand on his shoulder.

“Leo, come on. We’re just worried about you…”

Leo drew his arms around himself, looking sharply to the side. “I’m not--”

“Blue.” 

It was their dad who spoke up this time. 

He moved to Leo’s side, sitting down next to him, a hand resting on his shoulder. It was quiet for a moment.

“Do not take this out on your brothers. This is my fault,” he said. “If you’re going to be angry at someone, be angry with me. I-- I know I have let you all down.”

Mikey could see Leo swallow from here. And he could see Dad swallow, too, his brows furrowing together as his fingers traced a slow, gentle back-and-forth trail across Leo’s shoulder.

“I’m sorry,” Dad continued, and Mikey could hear this little pinch to his words like he was trying not to cry, but refusing to let himself do so. “I know that… I know that things are difficult right now. And they have been for a while. And I know it’s… it’s because of me and my actions. And I-- I have not been there for you the way you need me to.”

He stopped and Mikey suspected it was to get a handle on himself again, to get control of his voice.

“I’m sorry. I am… afraid. But that is… That is not a good excuse. I-- I don’t want--”

He broke off again, and this time a tear escaped, making a break for it, tracking its way down his father’s face. Their whole life, Mikey could count the amount of times they had seen their dad cry on one hand. But lately, the number was climbing rapidly, and though Mikey had already tried and failed to keep tears off his own face quite some time ago, now they only came faster. He swallowed a sob.

He was almost surprised to hear Leo sob, too, shifting just enough to hide his face against their dad’s shoulder. And in a second, their dad’s arms were around him, and Mikey couldn’t stand to be so far away from them anymore-- a whole foot away. Their dad opened an arm to make room for him right away when he approached, and then for Raphael. There wasn’t enough room for them on the dumb little locker room bench, but they made it work. It wasn’t about settling in and getting comfortable. It was just about hanging on.

“I’m so fucking mad at you,” Leo wept, his voice muffled by their father’s robe.

“I know. You deserve to be,” Dad whispered.

“You-- you’ve sucked since we got home.”

“You’re right. I have sucked,” he murmured softly.

“How could you leave us alone like that?” Raph said, his voice wrenching its way from his throat like a gasp. “We worked-- we worked so hard to find you. And everyone was so scared. I worked so hard. And you were just-- you were just gonna leave. How could you do that?!”

“I’m sorry,” Dad bit out. “I’m so sorry, my sons. I thought-- I thought I was doing the right thing. I’m sorry.”

Mikey hiccuped softly.

“You have to talk to us.”

“I promise I will.”

“We can’t-- we c-can’t do this if you don’t trust us and, and explain, this is... Dad, this is so scary.”

“Everything really sucks right now,” Leo added in, his voice absolutely shaking. “Everything sucks and you won’t h-help us. Y-you’re not--”

“I know. I know. I’m sorry. I’ve… I’ve made a lot of mistakes,” Dad said, his grip on them tightening slightly, pulling them even closer like he was afraid to let them go. “I’ve made a lot of mistakes. I’m sorry. I will-- I will do better. You don’t have to-- to forgive me. But I will do better. I swear I will do better.”

Mikey sobbed, absolutely burrowing his way into his father’s embrace as deeply as he could. His back and his knees hurt from the position he was in, and the posts of his earrings were digging uncomfortably into his neck, but he didn’t care. The entire world felt so cold and right here felt so warm. And so for a while, they all just stayed like that, quiet and close, until Mikey finally began to run out of tears, all wrung out and exhausted.

Having emotions was so goddamn difficult sometimes. He never realized how heavy they all were until he started trying to hold them all down. He thought to himself, jesus, is this what Donnie feels like all the time?

… Wait.

Mikey pulled away just the tiniest bit, his eyes doing a quick sweep of the locker room for something that he already knew wasn’t here. 

“Where… where did Donnie go?...”

---

It was dark here. There was no moon or sun here. No stars or sky above.

Donnie supposed that, logically, that made sense. The Hidden City was underground. He supposed he was aware, but it hadn’t sunk in properly until now, examining the skyline off in the distance. He could feel the echoed thrum of the city even from all the way out here, but it felt removed, as though it were secondhand. 

Everything was painted in this soft, barely-there blue glow of the towering mushrooms that grew in abundance here, providing the only lighting for him to see by. He had thought about taking out his cell phone to use the flashlight, but he didn’t want to see the missed calls and texts that he was sure were there by now. Under different circumstances, he imagined that he would be excited by the foreign fungi, thrilled for the chance to study them, to take samples and field notes… but he wasn’t now. 

For a long time, he had relied on facts and reason. They had always held him up, providing a reliable and steady basis for his life. But now, all of a sudden, they weren’t there anymore. He didn’t know where they had gone, but he knew he had been left behind. 

It had taken him a long time to get here-- wherever the hell he was. He didn’t really know, actually, and he wasn’t exactly sure why he had come here. It was an obnoxious labor to retrace their steps from back when they had first attempted to find the secret door Sunita had told them of, operating purely off of memory and uncovering it on his own. He was sure that at least a few hours must have passed, and for all this time and effort, he was now simply in the middle of nowhere. He just didn’t know where else to go. 

They didn’t recognize the plants that brushed up against the edges of their hands, but they thought quietly to themself that they reminded them of ryegrass. Perhaps if ryegrass were taller and bluer. 

They wished they could feel excited about that.

They didn’t.

Their steps faltered, slowed, and stopped. For a second, they stood still, listening to the deafening quiet of this place. Standing alone in an empty field, staring off at nothing. And as soon as he stopped moving, it all caught up to him.

An unbidden, furious sob clawed its way painfully up his throat. And then a second, and a third, and his skin crawled at the unpleasant sensation of tacky tears dripping down his cheeks, which only worsened this already horrible moment. Why did people always say crying was cathartic? Crying was horrendous. Crying was tortuous. He swiped desperately at his face, trying to remove the offending liquid, but they kept coming, and the more frustrated he became, the more tears fell.

Gritting his teeth, a short, resentful shriek escaped from his mouth, and his hands were shaking bad enough that he was almost unable to tear his bracelet from his wrist, clawing the jewelry off of his body with frenzied yanks of his trembling hands. But he still managed. 

The sensation associated with the complete transmutation of his body was still just as awful as before, and he gagged several times, bent over and heaving for a moment as dizziness briefly overtook him. But there was nothing in his stomach to bring up to begin with. He sobbed angrily, steeling himself and forcing himself upright again.

He reared back and threw the bracelet as hard as he possibly could. 

Logically, they knew that this was foolish. The cloaking crystal was highly valuable. This was a rash decision based entirely on emotion, and there was a chance he may regret it, given enough time. But logic had failed them. Logic wasn’t here. They had held onto it so desperately, but their steady presence was gone, and the comfortable cloak of numbness that they had worn as a shield for the past week was suddenly gone, too.

It was an emotional decision. And these were emotional thoughts, he knew. But they were all he had right now.

[ next ]

[py-dreamer]

IronBull accidental demon courting

Ok, so we can all agree that IronBull are couplegoals right?

Like, 'oh to live in a giant fortress and plot to take over the world by day and watch cooking with Chang'e at night with my significant other who waited 500 years for my return as well as our cringefail only son who almost doomed us all once but saved the world with the little thief'

But we know they weren't always like that.

They were THE FIRST enemies to lovers we've seen in the lmk story. BEFORE shadowpeach, chimera, or spicynoodles or dragonfuit.

(and we don't have enough ironbull content-)

SO

The idea of demon courting is very popular in the fandom; where the demon in question kidnaps their partner and kinda holds them hostage but also cares for them (protect them, provide for them, deter other partners ect)

So what about an au with this but ironbull?

HOWEVER.

Iron fan isn't the one courtnapped.

She was a celestial before marriage; she wouldn't know what courtnapping was.

But DBK most certainly did.

What if one day, Iron Fan, on behalf of her celestial family, captures the demon bull king because of his assault on heaven.

"I will make him rue the day, he and his ragtag team of friends crossed heaven's pa- wait why is he looking at me like that. Stop that, stop looking at me with those drooping ears and cute big eyes...WAIT CUTE?!?!"

DBK just gets roped up by this radiant goddess of a celestial who can kick his ass and says she's gonna take him home and show him to her family? He's just already on his knees for her and playing up his flirt game.

From screenshots of how they first met it was basically love at first sight for DBK. Case of he fell first, she fell harder.

Now here's Iron Fan hiding her blush confused and like from the massive powerful Demon Bull King who is in reality just a dork? And he's being nice to her? He treats her with respect? And he's actually really sweet if he wants to- oh god she's starting to fall for him isn't she?

Now she knows he's gonna get killed if she takes this guy home, literally leading an animal to the slaughter. So, she lets him go.

But not on purpose or anything! Definitely not! And definitely not because she cares about him!

However DBK takes this as a rejection, but he's not about to lose this chance!

He keeps coming back looking for her, trying to pick a fight to show off his strength. (while being respectful of course)

But somehow each time, he always loses...sometimes with a single blow...and always somehow ends up in poor confused Iron Fan's clutches again.

But each time she lets him go, but this stupid bull keeps coming back!

They have cute banter and cute little interactions, falling for each other more and more (Iron Fan won't admit it but still)

Eventually she snaps, asking 'why do you always try to fight me but always seem to lose on purpose?!' and he just responds 'why do you keep rejecting me?' 'WAIT WHAT'

The the confrontations, explanations come and of course; confessions of repressed feelings and the rest is history!

(just a cute lil drabble)

(I wonder if this could work for spicynoodles...hmmmm...)

[the-fiction-witch]

Shut Up!

Media The Queens Gambit

Character Benny Watts

Couple Benny X Reader

Rating Smut

Kinktober Day Fifteen

Kinktober Concept Incest

Smut Incest / step sister x step brother / full sex/ raw sex/ cum inside

I made sure the place was clean or well clean enough when I heard a knock at the door, I sighed and went to open it up but I was taken back "Hey Benny" Beth smiled jumping to give me a hug "Hey, Beth!" I smiled hugging her happily letting her in "What are you doing here?" "Layover and the flights have been delayed until nine tonight, I figured I could sit in the hotel bar feeling sorry for myself or pop up and see you" she explained wondering though setting her jacket on the chair and her bag on the table "relax I'll be out of your hair by eight"

"No no it's fine it's just uhh not who I was expecting" "Oh? You expecting someone?" She chuckled turning leaning in the chair crossing her arms "Kinda" "I thought the place seemed clean, what you got your girlfriend coming over?" She joked heading to make herself a coffee "Ohh god no" "Don't keep me in suspense then" she laughed But the door knocked "Excuse me" I sighed walking as slowly as possible not really wanting to answer the damn door but I pulled it open begin faced her I just let her in without even speaking

"Hello to you too" she snapped heading inside hanging her black fur on the rack and heading inside with her red suitcases "ohh I didn't realise I'd have company" she smirked as she stood in my apartment in her knee-high black boots, black and white plaid mini skirt and white cream jumper, her thick dark hair with intense curls her hair pinned back with a small clip on each side just above her ears "Uhhh hi," Beth said rather surprised "Beth Harmon" she said offering her hand

"Y/n Watts" she smiled giving her hand a shake "No, you are not" I snapped heading across the apartment "Mom took it so I'm gonna use it" she snapped "I don't care, you're not a Watts don't use it" "I can do what I bloody well like Benjamin" "Uhh explanation please?" Beth asked "Y/n this is Beth, grandmaster and a good friend of mine" I explained "Beth this is Y/n. My…." I trailed off not wanting to say it "I'm his sister" She rolled her eyes "Step sister" I corrected "Huu he's never mentioned you" Beth spoke up "He doesn't like me" she smiled pinching my cheek as she walked across the apartment "Why would I? You've been nothing but shit to me since you turned up into my damn life" "Can you be civil for five damn minutes!" "Whatever," I sighed heading to my chair Eventually, Beth and y/n came over and the three of us sat chatting for a while even if I had to drink to even tolerate her but that's pretty much how this usually goes. "So what are you doing in New York?" "Touring a show, figured I'd be cheap and come stay in this dismal place then getting a hotel the whole time," she explained "and I promised the folks I'd check in on my stepbrother" "A show?"

"Y/n's an actress" I smirked "And you're a chess player. Folks are thrilled about that" "How exactly is this all set up?" "My dad met my mum and had me. Mum died and he got remarried" I explained "My mother met my father and had me and then my father died so my mother remarried. And then we became siblings" "Step siblings" I corrected "He's always been pouty about it," "Yeah because you just turned up and inserted yourself into my life" "You literally inserted yourself into my space" "In case it wasn't obvious we shared a bedroom" I sighed "You were an evil thing" "So we're you" We all chatted for a while until Beth had to leave for her flight, leaving me alone with y/n. "Guess you're not just a loner chess boy" she smirked going to unpack "I'm letting you stay here to be nice. don't be a dick because I am more than happy to throw you onto the streets" "No, you wouldn't" "I would" "You are such a cunt" "me! I'm not the dick here" "yes you are you've always been a dick" "You're just mad I took half your pocket money" "You broke my favourite chessboard!" "You decapitated all my stuffed animals!" "You sewed love hearts on my jeans" "You faked an allergy so we had to give my cat away" "I wasn't faking that cat made me sneeze. Because he was a huge fluffy thing and you never brushed him" "Maybe I would if I wasn't dealing with the fact you cut my pigtails, twice!"

"You waxed my pubes while I was sleeping!" "You broke my doll house!" "You just fucking turned up! I was still in a bad place after I lost my mum and you just fucking showed up! you and your mother. we'd barely buried mine and you just showed up. and I was expected to just put everything down and accept a new mum and a sister. I never wanted anything to do with you" "You think I did! Need I remind you my dad was barely buried too before I had to pack my life up and get shipped across the county, all I was told was we were moving, and when I got there I had a new dad and some jumped-up stepbrother to deal with. Don't blame me for turning up into your life, I didn't turn up I was dragged kicking and screaming" "You boo hoo precious little princess, you always were" "DO you have to be such a bastard about everything-" She yelled I was beyond angry, all I wanted to do was shut her up! tension boiling over I grabbed her face and kissed her mostly just to stop her from talking but the moment our lips touched it felt so heavenly like all the frustration melted away she pulled back and we both just stood bright red in shock "Fuck-" "Yeah…" "where did that come from?" "I have no idea"

"It uhhh it was kinda nice" "Yeah, it was. Weird But nice. I mean terrible awful and very very wrong." I explained but she grabbed my face and kissed me, I kissed her back wrapping my arms around her waist and pulling her closer until we both pulled back "It is nice" "It is, but very wrong, very very wrong, your my sister." "Stepsister" she corrected "Don't encourage me." "That's encouraging?" "Ohh shut up y/n" I smirked pulling her into a kiss and grabbing her ass squeezing it hard as we kissed she happily and eagerly kissed back rubbing her hands around my shirt, soon enough we were walking we kissed heading over to my bedroom until we stopped as her legs hit the bed so I pushed her down on my bed and climbed between her legs "This is for all the fucking years I spent in a bed next to you with you teasing the living crap out of me" "Did I?" she giggled "Don't play innocent you used to sit in your fucking bra just to tease me" "And how many times did I catch you masturbating while I was sleeping"

"Maybe I wouldn't have to if you came and took care of me" "Diddo" she smirked pulling me back to her lips heavily made out for a good while until I pulled away "We can't this is crazy-" I began but she smirked and turned on her stomach grinding her ass against me "Fuck it!" I groaned grabbing her hips and grinding hard on her I quickly undid my jeans and stroked my stiffening erection she giggled and tugged her panties down, I didn't waste any time burying myself deep inside her and started to pound fast and hard "Ughhhh fuck! You were an evil little thing, their precious little princess, I'm gonna fucking ruin you" "Ughhhh! you couldn't ruin me if you fucking tried. I remember your first girlfriend who walked out because you came in her hair" "I kept quiet about you fucking your eight-grade science teacher" "I passed didn't I!" "Yeah because you blew him under the science bench! you always were a little slut" "Like you weren't? those three girls you had in your Austin hotel that you never shut up about?" "It was a foursome there pretty rare I was allowed to get excited. I guess four people in one go isn't a lot for you is it?" "Ughhhh just shut up and fuck me, Benny!" She yelled moving back and forth in time with my thrusts we both got faster and louder she pushed herself hard against me as she squealed loudly hitting her orgasm I kept going working into her intense tightness until I hit my own burying myself as deep as possible. When I caught my breath I pulled out and lay in bed with her, "I think that helped. got the frustration out" "Yeah I think you're right" I nodded "We can't ever tell anyone about this" "I wasn't planning to" she laughs "Relax, genetically there's nothing between us we're not related by blood at all our parents got divorced we'd be nothing again" "Like that's gonna happen, too are smitten with each other and always have been" "Yeah, can't fault them for loving each other." "Fucked us up though" "No matter what you do you fuck your kids up, that's just having kids" "Yeah hence why I aint having any" "same." "Ohh don't tell them that they'll lose it they know neither of us is gonna give them grandkids" "I mean I'll give them grandkids if they want them" She smirked glancing at me "Lets not fucked the family tree up too much y/n"

[rist-ix]

Hiiiii Rist 😊 This will be long, but I promise I get to the point as soon as I can, just need to explain things. Also, you know how you replied to my last ask and said Soarked!Valtor would be use if Bloom got with someone “competent and worthy of her” like Stella?

Sooo, I have a head canon of Queen Marion being the younger sister of a Solarian king from 200 years in the show’s past and in this head canon, Stella’s dad King Radius met Bloom’s adoptive parents at Stella’s behest in Season 1 during a school break or something and he becomes quick friends with Mike.

Radius and Mike get drunk and decide that Radius will be Bloom’s godfather and when she’s in the magic dimension he’s her legal guardian and Mike will be the same with Stella when she’s on Earth.

Radius views this as advantageous since not only will Stella be happy to have Bloom as practically family, he’ll also be able to keep an eye on Bloom in case she decides to stake a claim on the Solarian throne, something she can do because of her “purer blood” aka half Domino royalty half Solarian Royalty.

Fast forward, we’re in season 3. Stella has been disinherited and can’t be queen. Cassandra is already practically queen, she just needs to marry Radius, so she’s over confident and starts poisoning him to weaken him and make him die quickly. Radius is somewhat aware of this and with what little spite and resistance he has against her, before falling into a coma that will eventually lead to death, he edits his will.

In that will previously, he said that in the event that something happens to him and Stella is unable to rule or take the throne and Domino was still gone (or if it was back and somehow Daphne was too, meaning Bloom wouldn’t be queen of Domino), Bloom was to become Solaria’s next queen. Radius edited this, now nearly dead, and says that Bloom WILL be queen, on the condition she marries Stella.

It’s like this because he’s already disinherited her and can’t resist Cassandra enough to change that, so he does this, knowing that Bloom would do it to make sure Stella becomes queen.

And she would. The moment Bloom finds out, she unceremoniously proposes to Stella.

Now here’s the actual ask, if Sparked!Valtor found out about this, what would he do? Cuz Bloom WILL marry Stella to help her keep her throne and keep Cassandra off of it. Would he turn his back on Cassandra or help/cure Radius?

So sorry for the REALLY long ask. Didn’t think it would turn out like this, but I’m really curious!

First of all, I am so sorry for the long silence. Secondly, HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA, rip Valtor. Wonderful ask, 10/10, no notes.

I’m not gonna pretend I know jack shit about how succession works/could work in the MD, but that sounds hilarious. I'm not sure in how far I trust Radius (who seems a bit too laissez-faire and whimsical for serious politics) would be able to plan this ahead, but I can SEE it in my head how the girls would be laboring over text books, rules-lawyering their way through 1500 year old succession law to find a loophole that will keep Stella in power. And then as soon as they take a closer look at their family trees they just go huh. Wouldn’t that be funny? Stella and Bloom rolling up to Cassandra’s party in two gorgeous revenge wedding dresses like TOO LATE FUCKERS we beat you to it. Guess who's also got a claim now, and no living parents to disinherit her.

Imagining what Valtor would do in this scenario is my favorite pastime now, because oh my god he literally can’t win. He'd probably be seething-sulking-whining in his current hideout because WHAT DO YOU MEAN BLOOM GOT MARRIED OFF-SCREEN?! To someone that is royal, powerful AND emotionally close with her?! And, stars beware, prettier than him?! (Bloom's words, not mine)

He didn’t even get the chance to crash their wedding because they probably eloped on the spot. He is inconsolable; he had an outfit for that exact occasion.

And now he's stuck between a rock and a hard place, because either he continues backing Cassandra but has to watch Stella and Bloom be extra lovey-dovey on every news channel there is, or he withdraws Cassandra's powers in the hopes that that means Stella and Bloom have no more need for this marriage and divorce. Which, realistically, probably wouldn’t happen in time for his sanity to recover. They're having far too much fun with this, and Bloom really was only like one romantic sunset away from discovering bisexuality at any given moment.

On the plus side, I think he'd really enjoy being Queen Bloom's secret sidepiece if he gave it a chance. Ra-ra-Rasputin style: the secret evil magician lover lol

[kayetra-spade-queen]

You know what kinda bothers me after watching Arjun Prince of Bali for a while?

Throne of Bali depicting Arjun in a not so favorable light, despite the entire movie's whole purpose is to promote his then up and coming series.

And in the end, Bheem became the savior. Like, ok, it's originally a movie from Bheem's side of the series, but CB team making anyone else the hero instead of Bheem challenge (impossible).

Once again, I'm not here to bash on either shows; they're my favorite shows despite all things considered. It's just that I have to be in overanalyzing state at everything ¯⁠\⁠_⁠(⁠ツ⁠)⁠_⁠/⁠¯

Arjun's Introductory

Arjun's introduction is anything but nice. First glance, he was depicted as an arrogant prince who thinks he doesn't need help from other people just because he's the prince.

And lo and behold, he softened up after half of the movie.

Idk if it's just me being biased. But if it were me, if I want to introduce a character that I wanted to make a whole series about, and the movie was my promotion tactic, I'd give him more character that still holds true when he had the series.

Like, ok, the series was like 3 years after Throne of Bali timeline-wise (Arjun being 8 at TOB, then 11 at APOB), so I get that he grew up and matured up. But god forbid introducing a character in such a way.

Tanya & Zimmbu's Absence

What kinda irks me is the fact that Tanya doesn't exist. So does Zimmbu, and they're supposed to be Arjun's little sister and pet respectively.

What I assume is that Arjun's story is still half-baked when Throne of Bali was up. So instead of fleshing out the story and characters first, they just decided to go with whatever they have, and went along with the movie's release anyways.

Which, I guess they're chasing a deadline, so I guess I should cut them some slack. But still, excluding very crucial people from Arjun's life other than his parents that make up for more than half of his character is a bit much, no?

Bheem Being the Story's 'Savior'

I get it, it's Bheem's movie originally, so I get why putting Bheem on a spotlight more. But again, it's Arjun's movie at the end of the day, shouldn't it be reasonable that Arjun be the ultimate savior?

He's the crown prince for crying out loud, why did it shift to Bheem being a prince??

Which, I supposed because Bheem was a well-known figure already, in which if he's not the main hero, less people would take interest in the series.

But then again, another solution is to make both of them the ultimate saviors. But hey, I'm no Green Gold.

Now, it's time for me to tackle on a bit of kinda like a rewrite but not really. I'm just gonna list out that what I would like to be changed in the movie.

Involving Tanya and Zimmbu

I think involving Arjun's closest person and animal is detrimental for his character overall. Despite his personality, Arjun is a caring older brother and would actually put his sister first before him (which, ik in some cases Tanya came second, but that's because she just wanted to do what her brother was doing, but my point still stands for overall reasons).

Arjun would still be hostile towards Bheem and his friends, which would make sense because he doesn't know them, despite being the people his uncle trusted. I'd replaced his arrogance to just focusing on keeping his sister from harm's way. He'd keep her close at all times during the span of the movie until Arjun could slowly trust Bheem.

Arjun's Personality

I get that he's made to be the type to enjoy attention and limelight, and also a bit of competitive. But how did it turned to complete arrogance??

In the series, as far as I know, the only times Arjun ever used his title against someone was towards villains who's making havoc towards the kingdom, and Arjun have to use his title to let the villains know that their actions are acknowledged by the order. Arjun might've still be only a prince, but he's the eventual ruler, so his words also holds power despite his current position.

Once again, I'm using Arjun's caring big bro personality at play here (Arjun acted the same way to Khojo, and sometimes even Sankat). Realistically, I don't think Arjun would've cared much about getting attention from his people while his home is literally being under attack. His main focus should be at making sure the people who's still unaffected by the curse remains safe.

Arjun would still kept his distance from the gang for safety measures; he still doesn't trust them in fear that they might've had some ulterior motives behind their help that Arjun knew nothing about. His hostile attitude towards them was to keep himself, and his sister and pet safe from potential danger.

Arjun would keep Tanya entertained and maybe comfort her when she's getting homesick. She and Zimmbu are his only family left at the time, so keeping them close to him at all times was an absolute need for not just for them, but also for himself.

I think Arjun would soften up when Tanya gets more close with the others. Arjun is still close Indumati and trusts her because she is family, but Tanya getting really friendly with everyone else was kinda like a stepping stone for him to loosen up.

As Arjun began to soften up and trusts them, he'll be more friendlier to them.

And trusting Tanya with the others was a huge step for him into completely trusting them. Regardless of everything, Tanya was at the top of his priority, so trusting his sister's safety with them was huge.

Ending

What irks me most was at the end of everything, Bheem was the ultimate savior. Hello, is this movie supposed to promote Arjun or not??

When Bheem fell into the cracks and into the lava, Arjun would be following him in an attempt to save him from falling into the lava, but both ended up falling in anyways, but was saved regardless.

Bheem would be told that he still have many lives to save in the future, while Arjun would be told that as the prince of Bali and the eventual ruler of the kingdom, Arjun have the utmost responsibility to keep the kingdom from harm, and possibly foreshadowing Bali's second calamity and his fight with Hiranya.

I think that's all I have to offer. If there's any more, I'd add it later.

[justagalwhowrites]

whatever you do, don’t imagine Joel finding a little kitten while on patrol… obviously the runt of a litter, left behind. Don’t imagine him wrapping a tiny kitten in his big warm flannel shirt, holding it close to him while riding back to Jackson. Don’t imagine him trying to nurse it back to health, keeping it warm by wearing a hoodie and having the kitten in the little pocket at the front. Waking up every few hours to hand feed it so it can grow. Talking to the tiny baby so softly, saying everything will be alright. He would probably play the kitten some songs on his guitar because that seems like a Joel thing to do.

And once the danger is over and the kitten is healthy, he’ll carry it gently over to Bambis house. Still wrapped in his flannel because the kitten loves it and he tells it all about Bambi and how she’s gonna take care of it so well and how they’re gonna help each other feel better and keep each other company when he can’t be there 😭😭🥺

I need to see Joel Miller with a kitten 😂😭

OH

MY

GOD

BESTIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

I love this so much! Joel picking up the tiny little baby cat and holding it in one hand because his hands are so big 😭

And the whole time he's remembering back to when Sarah was a newborn and what she needed and he's like "well... this kitten probably needs a lot of that too, right?"

At first he's like "Just going to keep it alive... can be a barn cat for the stable or something later... It's staying in the bathroom, not gonna let it mess up the house..."

Only he's now falling asleep IN the bathroom, leaning up against the wall with his arms crossed in case the little thing wakes up in the middle of the night and needs him.

So he moves it to his room. And it starts to sleep curled up by his head on the same pillow and it purrs and he starts out a little grumpy about it but if it stops he gets worried and gives it a little pet and talks to it all calm and soft.

And he can't leave it alone all day but he can't bow out of work, either, so he carries it around with him all the time and he gives someone a death glare if they try to ask about it (except Bambi of course.)

Once the kitten has MET Bambi, he's decides to test run music he's writing for her with the kitten. Because... well, it seemed like the two of you had a connection. "You're a good judge of character," he says to the kitten, who is perched on the arm of the sofa. "Think that means you got good taste in music too?" The kitty will stretch out a paw and he'll just nod and go "Yeah, thought so."

Once the kitten is on solid food, Joel cooks for it every day. And will make it more than one thing if it turns its nose up at the first option.

"Can't let it starve," he mutters when Tommy asks what the fuck he's doing.

Eventually, the cat is too attached to people to be a true barn cat but Joel shows up at the stables with the cat anyway.

"Thought it could help with mice," he kind of drops it into Bambi's arms. "But you gotta take it home at night. Won't sleep by itself, needs to be with someone. Think it'll like the horses though, it's got good taste."

And the cat purrs and rubs its face on Bambi's neck, as if to prove his point. Joel just nods.

"See? Good taste."

AHHHHHH JOEL WITH A KITTEN

I LOVE IT AND I LOVE YOU THANK YOU