#he���s a subway btw

[esprei]

cooking up some stuff for ai emmet au (some notes: - Emmet leaves Gear Station and the Battle Subway behind to go search for Ingo's whereabouts, but before doing so he commissions Colress to build an AI replacement of himself to act in his place - an exact replica, if you will, that will act and talk exactly as he does so as to not draw any suspicion that he has left - Therefore Emmet helps to provide a voice bank, some mannerisms, etc to help Colress build and program his AI replacement - Most of AI Emmet underneath the clothing is mechanical - only the parts you can really see like the face/neck are covered with an additional layer of material made to resemble skin (later his arm(s) will get this treatment as well because welp) - AI Emmet will be essentially bound to Gear Station and leaving it is not good for him... (hmmm think of it kinda like a force field kind of thing...? I mean, not REALLY a problem regardless because he would never have any reason to do that anyway, right? :D ...right? ) - His charging station is in a secret room that is built into (human) Emmet's office - Also WEAK TO WATER, water will ruin him so uh... no showers, please! btw this is really just a continuation of this, just for Emmet)

[ballblender]

Could I request some headcanons for GoM + Kiyoshi helping their scared s/o on the train? I’ve never been on one before and I’d be so nervous. Death grip on their hands fr

a/n: Thanks for the ask!! I'll also include Kagami if that's okay! :) Btw anon, i recommend trying out the train (unless you live rural and far away from a station, or already know how to drive lol), it's honestly so convenient :) also jshdghd they might ooc because i honestly haven't watched the show in almost a year

GoM + Kiyoshi comforting their scared S/O on the train

cw: fluff, gn reader, idk - trains???, not proofread, my writing is never proofread LOL

Kuroko

"Y/N...what are you doing?"

It's a strange sight to see his usually smiley and happy partner currently cowering as the train rumbles. The carriage is full of passengers, standing tall above the pair.

"Don't laugh but, I...I don't use the train very often...or ever, at that."

Kuroko's face contorts to confusion.

"...so, this must be scary for you, right, Y/N?" Kuroko asks, smiling reassuringly as you bod in response.

"That's okay, I'm here with you. Just hold my hand."

He wasn't expecting you to grab onto him like he was your saviour, but giggled softly anyway.

He kisses your cheek, whispering how he'll have to take you out on dates more often so you can get used to the train.

Kagami

(having a little liberty this time since he wasn't technically part of the ask)

When your boyfriend told you that he'd show you around America, you were excited, as you should've been. Not much about the place seemed to matter to you right now though, as you stand, cramped up in the damp-smelling train of the New York City Subway.

Kagami himself appears unfazed by the way the carriage rumbles, the random coughing from every direction, the flickering lights, not even the rat licking up an old coffee stain on the floor.

"Taiga..."

"Yeah, what's up?"

"...I-I wasn't prepared for America to be this...how do i put it...ratholey?

Kagami laughs out loud, smiling broadly.

"That's a good way to describe New York."

You chuckle along with him, each other's laughter serving as a better light than whatever was short-circuiting above you both.

You hold his hand, and he holds yours, resting his palm on your thigh, as he rubs your knee with his thumb.

"LA is better than this, I promise."

Aomine

"Idiot...why are you scared?"

You can practically feel Aomine's mocking smirk forming, even if your eyes are shut and your face is buried in his chest.

"I don't use trains...you know I walk to school..."

Aomine's eyes roll as he sighs.

"Well, better get used to it now, or how are you gonna live in this city as an adult?"

It's these occasional moments of wisdom that draw you to Aomine. Until he of course ruins it.

"Unless you want me to piggyback you everywhere like a baby."

"Shut up."

He chuckles, stroking a few loose strands of your hair from your face.

"Kidding. I'm not gonna break my back carrying your ass."

You huff in annoyance at his comment, your hands finding his as your face buries into his chest even harder. He chuckles, squeezing your hand and kissing the crown of your head.

"I told you to shut up."

Midorima

"Oha Asa predicted (Your Star Sign) would not suffer any misfortunes today, you shouldn't worry." Midorima says this so matter-of-factly, it's scary.

"I-I know that...but it's still scary, Shin."

Midorima casually wraps a hand around your shoulder and pulls you slightly closer to him.

"You really should travel by train more often. In the future, what if a job you want requires you to travel by train? Don't be scared." he says his last sentence with a little smile, an uncharacteristic one at that, yet you find it so endearing.

Midorima has always been like this, acting less like a boyfriend, and more like a proper spouse, a husband you can share anything with, and be free of judgement, well, except from Oha Asa's.

You then feel him slip a small bangle onto your wrist.

"Your lucky item today is a silver bangle. But, I want you to wear it whenever you go on a train, okay? In fact, wear it everywhere, then I'll be with you."

You look down at the bangle, admiring the small 'M' engraved along it.

"I will...I'll wear it all the time. Thank you, Shin."

As he takes hold of your hand, you suppress a giggle; he'd already given you your lucky item earlier that day, a animal eraser. He must've been looking for an excuse to spoil you.

Murasakibara

The carriage rumbling: the murmurs of students: the ringing of phones. It was a lot to take in, especially since the last time you used the train was when you were a kid.

It especially didn't help that your giant of a boyfriend was crunching on snacks, the sound only adding to your unease.

"Mmph...this flavour's nice."

"Atsushi."

He turns to you and swallows the mouthful.

"Yeah, Y/N?"

"Could you...hold my hand?"

"Ehh? But how will I eat my snacks?"

"...use your other hand."

"But that hand's for holding the bag!"

This little dispute carries on for a while until he suggests, and you (hesitantly) decide to sit on his lap, perched on his thighs as he continues chomping away.

Weirdly, you do feel safe. Too bad you'll be getting crumbs all over you.

Kise

"So then my boss told me that-"

Although Kise is great at telling his stories, both about his modeling work and about Kasamatsu's never-ending impatience with him, you truly couldn't care less in this moment.

Your shoulders press together as the carriage shakes. The contact is hot and unpleasant, despite Kise's joyful face.

Your forehead begins to sweat, the air in the train is damp and humid.

"Kise, c-can you stop talking for just a second?"

"E-eh? Why? I was just getting to the good part!"

"I really don't feel well..."

Upon your words, Kise looks up at the announcement bar, and grabs your hand.

"Come on, Y/N, let's get off at this station."

"Huh? This isn't our stop though..."

He chuckles, the train coming to a stop, as he leads you out.

"I can't have you fainting on me! Let's cool down with a drink or something, my treat!"

You smile at the offer.

"Alright."

Akashi

While you and Akashi would usually walk together, or get rides in his limo, today he decided to use the train. You honestly didn't question it, Akashi always had his reasons for doing what he did.

What you forgot, however, was that you've never actually been on the train before.

It's more...suffocating than you were imagining, despite passing by the beautiful hills and landscapes. Akashi is drawn to them, staring out of the window with a small smile painted across his face.

You, however, can't ignore the other passengers. The sneezing lady, the sniffling office worker, the crying baby. It's a lot all at once.

"Y/N? ...What are you doing?"

You realize that, subconsciously, you covered your ears with your hands.

"Ah, sorry."

"...Do you not like the train?"

"...I...i've just never been on one before..."

A slight silence forms between the two of you.

Akashi's fingers slowly find yours.

As your hands squeeze together, you know it'll be alright.

Kiyoshi

You're with the rest of the Seirin team, walking back from a game (Kiyoshi managed to convince Riko to let you watch from the bench), when Riko rounds up everybody to get their attention.

"Okay everybody! We have to meet up early tomorrow, so let's get the next train out of here."

Everybody nods in agreement, and you realise, you've never actually been on a train before. Kiyoshi's hand squeezes yours as soon as your expression changes.

"Y/N? What's wrong?"

"I've...never been on a train before."

He blinks for a moment.

"Oh, really?"

"Yeah..."

Kiyoshi chuckles.

"Well, what is it that you're so afraid of?"

"Just...never thought i'd have to go on one."

Kiyoshi chuckles again, shaking his head slightly.

"We'll have to go on dates more often to help you get used to it then."

-------

a/n 2: sorry for the lack of posts, and more sorry to this anon for how late this post is. ill try better to post more often hehe

[vashtijoy]

the list of incidents in the background

This is the list of incidents that appears in the background on TV, in the 10/4 cinematic with Sae, the SIU Director, and Akechi. Let's take a look at them, one by one, to see (some of?) what's been going on.

バス暴走死傷事故 basu bousou shishou jiko reckless bus driving accident that caused injuries and deaths

This is explicitly described as a bousou—the word meaning "runaway" or "rampage" that the original name for "psychotic breakdown" uses, and the original name for Call of Chaos uses. In this context, it means reckless driving. Also shishou is "deaths and injuries"—this is explicitly a fatal accident. The game wants us to know that, even if nobody died in that subway crash, people have died in these mysterious incidents.

コンビニ爆発��事件 konbini bakuhatsumono jiken convenience store bombing incident

What? Did someone bomb a convenience store? Well, maybe not. If you're following the news, the recent incident where someone threw a smoke bomb at PM Kishida Fumio is being described as a bakuhatsumono jiken. So this could be relatively tame.

Or it might not be. The Manchester Arena bombing, where people leaving an Ariana Grande concert were blown up and many died, is also a bakuhatsumono jiken. It could go either way.

トンネル内放火事件 tonneru nai houka jiken arson inside a tunnel incident

Short and sweet. Could be another subway incident, but since it's not explicitly mentioned as being one, it's more likely a road tunnel or something? Fires in tunnels can be devastating, of course.

ヨットハーバー燃料漏出 yotto haabaa nenryou roushutsu marina fuel leak

This sounds like another one that could have been quite dramatic. Marinas tend to be places where rich and powerful people hang out, so this is likely to do with someone being explicitly targetted?

翼田リムジンバス突入事故 yokuta (?) rimushinbasu totsunyuu jiko Yokuta (?) Airport shuttle bus crash accident

Hahaha, this one is fun. First, a "limousine bus" is an airport bus—the ones that run you out to the plane. The airport is a spoof of Haneda Airport. 羽田 "Haneda", to Yokuta (?)'s 翼田—they've changed the first kanji for another one that means "wing".

A totsunyuu jiko is a car crash, but seems to be specifically a crash where the vehicle crashes into a fixed obstacle? So some poor driver smashed their shuttle bus into a wall.

新都市交通あねはづる事故 shin toshi koutsuu anehazuru jiko Anehazuru Monorail case

This one is a P3 reference. shin toshi koutsuu—"New Urban Transport", a term for a "people mover" or monorail. The Shin Toshi Koutsuu Anehazuru is the monorail in P3.

We don't know what happened there, but this may be the only indication that anything happens outside Tokyo in P5 (besides Shido getting his drama on with Joker).

An anehazuru, BTW, is a type of bird, the demoiselle crane.

内閣部サイバー攻撃事件 naikakufu saibaa kougeki jiken Cabinet Office cyberattack incident

This one is interesting because it's so unlike the rest—though there are a lot of data leaks during the Medjed arc, which suggests the conspiracy is somehow taking the opportunity to carry them out. Cyberattacks certainly don't seem in Akechi's line (though he might be responsible for locating worthwhile targets?), so this might just have been swept in with the accidents and "incidents".

An attack on the Cabinet Office, of course, makes it a political attack, and exceptionally likely to be Shido-motivated somehow.

毒薬混入事件 dokuyaku kon'nyuu jiken poison adulteration incident; poisoning incident.

The last on the list: someone, or several someones, were poisoned.

so what do we know

While only one of these, the top one, is explicitly described as fatal, it doesn't take much of a stretch to see that many of them could have been fatal—and the fact that they aren't all called "fatal accident" doesn't make them necessarily not fatal.

Plus, the list fills the screen. These are unlikely to be all the cases; they're the most recent ones, or the ones the studio thought most worthy of note.

[thecatchat]

Wandering Warden AU

So, this is purely a self indugent story idea that I don't have the time or energy to make into a full fic, but I'd be open to receiving asks about it.

So, this is partially inspired by that one post about Ingo having a working arcphone and posting on social media about his adventures in Hisui while Emmet and the rest of the poke-world watches on in major concern. But, instead it's Akari and her arcphone doing that. Ingo does become a repeated feature guest, mostly because the chat loves him. Some information is redacted for magical, timeline stability, plot reasons, so people can't just tell Ingo who he is.

Now here's where the real AU starts, that was just flavoring. Once the post game is finished and arceus is captured, it agrees to send both Akari and Ingo home. Also, Lady Sneasler joins Ingo, because do not separate these two, that's her warden, thank you very much. And to be fair, it does send them farther into the future and out of hisui... but not far enough.

They land in the 1920s era of Kalos. Separated from each other! Like, dude, arceus! How are you this inaccurate! While I don't have many ideas for hijinx regarding Akari, I have plenty for Ingo.

First off, Ingo's memory starts improving with the more familiar technology and attitude towards pokemon, but it's very very spotty. He thinks he was raised by a dragon? Or maybe that was a sibling? He's about 65% confident that the man in whites name is Subway. That's the most confident he is in any name.

Like, he has a pile of names, and a pile of concepts of memories of people, and Reshiram help him, the two won't connect in his brain.

So, he starts researching and trying to find legendary or mythical pokemon to get him home. But uh, 1. Extinct variation of sneasler is very much beside him and very much unwilling to stay in a pokeball. 2. Having the ability to make pokeballs that aren't in any way tracked or registered is not looked kindly upon by any government body that is doing that. 3. Having the ability to make pokeballs that aren't in any way tracked or registered is something every crime syndicate would like to learn how to do.

As the heat intensified on him (metaphorically), he needed to lay low. So, he gets a bunch of fabric and covers Lady Sneasler from head toe, addressing her only as Lady S in public.

As for him, well, he actually didn't have one picked out, but as he stumbled into the next town (escaping another crime syndicate, thank Reshiram that they're all very local), he encounters someone in a white conductor hat. And when they ask his name, he said "Emmet". No idea why, but it feels really right to say? Maybe it's his middle name? But, apparently the person they met is The Social Butterfly and introduced him as Emmet to literally every person in town and by the time they've gone through at least 5, Ingo just accepts the fact that his fake name is Emmet now.

And. He makes some friends in this town, so he hunkers down there for a while longer than normal. Namely, a local celebrity singer with a lot of bird+electric pokemon that Ingo continually keeps accidentally calling Skyla (if he sees the bird pokemon first) or Elsa (if he sees the fashion first). He doesn't consciously realize why he's calling her those two names, BTW.

Anyway, there's no train station here and he does need money so he kind of accidentally(ish) ends up a private investigator for a month? Apparently being able to pick out and follow a person in a crowd combined with hisui survival skills make for an excellent tailing ability. Unfortunately, everything catches up again eventually and he has to keep moving.

Luckily, the next stop is a Circus! The ring master is a bit of a Shady character, but they need a conductor so they can become a traveling Circus. Oh? A person who can instinctively drive a train like he's been doing it every day of his life? Hired! Oh, yah, sure you can bring this Lady S along too.

This is where Arkri and Ingo meet up again. At the Circus, where Ingo is still going by Emmet. Arkri almost has a heart attack (and in the not-so-distant future, so is Emmet, as Arkri streams the reunion), but Ingo thankfully explains.

At this point, Ingo has collected enough evidence and whispers of memories to conclude that he's from Unova. Namely, every. Single. Person. In. The. Circus. Comments on how thick of a Unova accent he has. That and looking through some of the pokemon from there jog small bits of memories. ("Too many" he says when he sees the picture of a Joltic)

Uhh... something something, probably all the crime syndicate people coming together to try and get Ingo, the circus standing by Ingo (also having kicked out the old corrupt ring master by now and kinda following Ingo's lead, he's a very good boss ringleader), and they steal a plane owned by pokemon smugglers to go to Unova.

(Nobody knows that they were planning to steal a plane until a new stream starts. Ingo and Akari are sitting against a metal wall and there's a droning noise in the background. Akari looks over at Ingo and asks "Did we really just steal a plane?"

Ingo: "From smugglers, yes. Yes, we did."

Chat: *loses their minds*

So, uh, not sure what pokemon they encounter in Unova that helps them, but finally. After all the trials they've faced. All the stress and struggle. All the effort put into getting back home. They finally make it to the correct time.

*stream starts and points to a sign that Ingo reads out loud in his Train Conductor Voice* "Today is the xxth of [month], 20xx. Welcome to Alola."

*camera points to the very done expression on Ingo's face* "You'd think legendary pokemon would be a little more accurate."

And that's all I've got. Let me know if you want to learn more about anything specific!

[teabunnee]

Ingo with Akari’s Mom s/o

The relationship I imagine will be a little slow in the beginning. After so long without your daughter, all you wanted to do was to catch up with her and make sure she was safe. Ingo is likely the same with Emmet.

Sure, she’d been on her journey beforehand, but your daughter disappearing from the face of the earth was terrifying to say the least. You were firm about Akari staying at home for a while, both for your heart and hers. Then the two of your went on a vacation to Unova, together, where you bumped into Ingo and Emmet, or rather, Akari spotted Ingo on the subway and barrelled into him for a happy hug. 

You were incredibly grateful for the man that had helped your daughter survive in such a brutal landscape, and had invited him out for dinner as thanks. Akari had told you of others, but many of them were gone now. Only Ingo remained. 

During the dinner, you found Ingo was a sweet and loving gentleman, his doting chandelure attained to that fact, always humming and nuzzling his cheek. He was a bit shy, but the presence of Akari helped lessened the tension as they talked about team matchups, past experiences, and sinnohan food they missed. It was nice to watch, even if some of the things Akari mentioned were a bit worrying. (An alpha what? Throwing what at a giant luxray?) 

That dinner became two, then three, then Ingo invited you (and Akari!) to his house for a meal. 

When you and Akari went back to Sinnoh, Ingo coughed and, blushing, gave you his number and address. The two of you became penpals and chat buddies. That’s where the infatuation began. Of which Akari could see almost instantly. On one hand, it felt strange for Uncle Ingo and her mom to be seeing each other, on the other hand, who else would Akari trust with the two most important adults in her life? 

Akari for her part, “contributed” to the relationship by deciding to start the gym challenge in Unova, and you followed her, finding a place in Anville town on Ingo’s recommendation. He also came over a lot to help you settle in. 

By the time Akari had gotten her third badge, the two of you were a couple. 

Akari really wants to try wearing a bridesmaid’s dress, btw. 

[s41nt-b3rn4rd]

DURA I'VE NEVER SEEN YOUR OCS SHOW SHOW SHOW SHOW SHOW

OKAY FUCK I HAVE ALOT OF OCS BUT HERES THREE OF THEM

heres a small shitty unfinished sketch of my oc sabrina!!!! in an rp im in shes a priestess but in canon she works at a gas station and a cvs and she has a situationship with a he/him butch where they only moved in together after around 10 years of "Dating" eachother but they dont sleep in the same room. her "husband"s name is named bon and hes great he does metalworking i dont have bon drawn though. sabrina save me please save me transfem former government spy save me

snippet of my silly son soon to be silly daughter (he hasnt realized he can be trans yet). gerome is great hes from a medieval kingdom i made up and hes his liuetenant generals favorite guy hes a human and a majority of his immediate coworkers are non-humans and in the rp im in (same server as sabrina) if he manages to figure out "oh! so this is normal but not in a cis way." and i think itd be funny if he ever manages to go back to his normal world post transition so like everyone who thought he died just go "geromes a woman now????? okay" (everyone in the kingdom is queer).

this is a stupid doodle of my son krunk in the rp world hes in with the other two he is the great age of 17 and all he wants in life is to go to school and work at a zoo but sadly hes trapped in THE 1990S WORKING AS A MORGUE WORKER. HE JUST WANTS TO MAKE ANIMALS FEEL BETTER BUT NOOOOOOO HES GOTTA CREMATE SOMEONES AUNT. his legal name isnt krunk btw but his legal middle name IS disgust because his dad was thinking about a reaaaaaally yucky subway sandwich he had the day before (his parents are axtually normal sweet folks)

okay thats like three ocs i have way more but then wed be here for a week

[lilrainbowcloud]

So many unanswered questions in TUA 4

1. Sloane???

2. Jennifer? What was with her?She was barely developed beyond being a plot device.

3. Why was she in a squid? Does she remember it? Why did she say 'The Cleanse' after getting out of it?

4. Klaus being useless. My fav character being underutilized especially after the character arc in the previous season.

5. Luther seemingly not missing his wife at all. I know its been six years but still...after the timline travelling subway reveal I thought he might try to find her.

6. Lila and Five. I get that they were stuck for seven years but Five would not do that to his brother. Why did they have to be stuck so long in the first place? What purpose did it serve other than that cursed romance?

7. The whole plot of S3 is the Kugelblitz which was caused by the Umbrellas due to the Grandfather paradox. Won't Lila and Diego's kids and Claire create the same problem in the original timeline?

This is pretty long but there's still so much more.

This season feels unreal and I mean that in a derogatory way.

TUA S4 SPOILER!!!

if you want to send me an ask to talk about this traumatic experience, you can!! i welcome you with open arms. here's a hot chocolate ☕

just finished and i had to take a minute and currently listening to chappell roan bcz holy shit

-might i say that i missed the sparrows and my sweetheart babygirl sloane? like damn ..

-yeah the only thing that plot line server was durango and marigold carrier + s*x = the end of the world

-but i think that was the only plot line i liked between ben and jen but GOD it was rushed like i want them to build trust and the relationship moreeeeeee

-OK BRO KLAUS!! MY BABYBOY KLAUS! OURRR BABYBOY KLAUS!!! god i hated that they made him relapsed or what like i was sooo happy that he was doing so well but of course the writers had to fuck him up one last time :(

-it was lost in the sauce. he did mentioned that "oh sloane would love this!" and i thought awwww but that was pretty much it :/

-this...... lila and five....... istg i said it and i'll say it AGAIN. they(the writers) pulled that one out of their asses boys. like what the actual fawkkkkkery was that? and to do it in montage form is VILE. i had to skip a lot of it. hard to watch. y/n im so sorry that you had to go through that😭😭 and infidelity???? i mean come on they killed people but trust and loyalty you cant break that i thought Five was better than that... how dare you Five. and lila wanted to dip the MOMENT that Five told her about the way back... like you did not just s-c-r-e-w him a moment ago

-and oh my god poor diegooooo hes trying so hard to be better and that reunion and the confrontation was HARD TO WATCH like damn... and she didnt answer him when he asked "Do you love him?" 2 TIMES. and yeah lila loves Five wbk fuckkkkkk

-but omg HAHA i have like 5 different angst fics in my head already brewing in my head HAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHA

-their kids, right?? im not pretty sure about the whole messed up timeline bit bcz theres a lot to understand and tbh i only just watched s1,2, and 3 like a month ago when they announced s4 released date hehe but yes all the things they did messed up the TL up

-oh and btw did you notice the ending?? was the family lila's?? bcz i noticed that the normal people all existed right? i cant rememberrrrr

[teddybearsandspaceships]

Several months ago the Hotguy Comic Zinethology was released and I loved it a lot. So much that I was inspired to write fic for it. The first time I read it all at once, but the second time, partially in preparation for that writing, I took slightly more detailed notes. But I didn´t post them because there were some things I still wanted to think about and then add later, especially in the third part, and then I got busy and distracted and forgot. Ahem. Anyway, I found them while clearing out my drafts so I might as well post them, even though they´re not totally thought through or complete. In conclusion, go read HGCZ if you haven´t yet.

It starts with the fantastic cover. The view over the city at night, fantastic. And Scar looking right at the reader with that grin, perfect.

And the first story is Scar vs Joel-and-Lizzie aka Gal-and-Guy (totally not Jesse-and-James) with cat ears and a whole dramatic cat underground backstory, with Hotguy presenting the story, I absolutely love the fourth wall breaking narrative here. Who knows what's even real of what's told here – having that as the intro to the whole thing is both cool and very sneaky actually. Perfectly matching art style. Also this is very funny. The cats don't talk back!

Aww, Scar's character sheet. Love for Jellie 6, and he wants a matching outfit, of course he does.

Meet Cute! It's probably partially the art style but Scar already looks more professional and established here. (No idea what the timeline is exactly.) But really, Scar, shooting at an unknown flying person without asking questions first? This is why vigilantes are problematic…

Great first look at Not-yet-Cuteguy.

King for a Day: Assistant Bdubs! He is so right, all of Scar's clothes are civilian clothes but some are spandex xD

Ren can say “HotGuy” correctly! Nice, of course he can. I'm a bit confused about his plan tbh, especially because we know so little about the TCG (great name btw.) If a vigilante wanted to be a legally recognized hero, why wouldn't they join the TCG? I mean it seems the TCG is basically the police so that's not the same as being a hero but still – okay I think I forgot my suspension of disbelief for a superhero story for a moment there, sorry.

Aww, apology flowers <3 (Of course these flowers.)

Grian clearly still looking for his identity, in a very different outfit. And giving away the plan to reporter Pearl! Excellent. He signed it “Cuteguy,” which iirc is the first time that name shows up, I wonder how he acquired it, if he chose it himself or if the public came up with it and he just ran with it.

Aww, Scar's face at “until then, we've still got Hotguy” :(

mumblr xDD ok first of all I'm not going to try and figure out who's behind the usernames unless it's obvious because that would make me feel dumb and I hate that. But these are all great. Already the first one joking about “vigilantism,” perfect. And the memes, and the everyday-life-in-Hermitopia stories, and more arguing about vigilantism… okay, “Tek Talk” is definitely Tango xD Telling civilians to go to the Perimeter if they're being chased is great. Maple Prince mention!! And poor Tango having flashbacks from the last “are Hotguy and Cuteguy queerbaiting” discussion xD (yeah, why the matching outfits?!)

The G-Team: the heart-shaped boob window for Cuteguy! Detective Grian! And Ariana Griande! Hippies! Grian handing out permits! Midnight Alley! This one has it all xD A thrilling chase, cut to Hotguy in the subway xD A vial of sculk dripping into the canalization, oh no…

The Case of the Missing Cub: Of course that briefcase was Cub´s. Sculk snail xD Ooh, creepy sculk!Cub. Scar seems to know Cub? Their simultaneous “Arson!” is very funny. …wait Grian has a sculk patch on his wing… Grian just setting the house on fire xD He's lucky Cub is so incredibly chill. He's also insane enough to season his pizza with sculk *facepalm*

One New Mail: category “I can't pick my favorite most hilarious bits because I would quote half the fic.” And that was even before the last chickens came in. And it ends with Cub and Bdubs joining forces, the world is not ready.

Social media interlude: Doc being a fan of Scar as an actor is great. Bdubs getting into fights online, of course. And more Hermitopia daily life :D

The Sidekick: Of course Scar usually gets away via the subway xDD (Wait, I thought the TCG is basically the police, surprising that Grian is more concerned about them than villains…) The graffiti on the walls aösdlkföasldk the handshake with the lilacs and poppies and sunflowers!!

The Scarmobile looks badass.

Part 2: Golden Era

Synergy: Oh no, Doc has Robo-creepers! ^^ Aww, they´re sparring together and learning. Smart.

A Cub in the Quiver: Special arrow testing with Cub! Very cool. Cub in the “in case you need it” panel looks fantastic with the almost-sculk background.

Bas les Masques: Grian and Scar meeting in their civilian identities, aww that is cute.

Deer Hunting Season: Hotguy being slow taking down someone fleeing because he´s busy talking to fans *facepalm* Oh hey it´s Jimmy! In a very silly mask. Stealing Cub´s sculk research papers for way too low a price for the job. And Grian immediately gives away that he knows him ^^ And then. That panel with the shot. And the next page with all the small panels. Whoa. What a mood shift. Gem! Scolding Scar for not being willing to die for his ideals; and when Scar sits at Cuteguy´s bedside, “why would I ever be doing this for something as idiotic as [ideals]?”

There´s a Room Where the Light Won´t Find You: aösldkfs Pearl! What are you doing! What was the thought between becoming Scar´s neighbor and friend! Poor Scar :( Pearl had a blog on Hotguy since almost the very beginning. She threw him off a balcony but before she introduced herself as a neighbor… She reveals that she knows – why? There´s seven days between Scar finding out and her confronting him… Pearl knows about the upcoming Gem&Grian confrontation, how did she think it was going to go??

Social media interlude: Pearl used to have speculation about Hotguy´s civilian identity on her blog. Scour´s appearances dropped off dramatically.

Cuteguy: Birds of Prey: oof, Grian has PTSD from Gem´s attack, no wonder. And Gem let him know that she knows their base, oof. Was she actually planning to kill him? Sure did seem like it. Or was she bluffing?

Social media interlude (zeddit): (so Zedaph founded zeddit and later turned into a villain, heh.) Scour mutation: sticky hands (?)

Smoke Rising : of course Cleo´s the one stealing organs xD (not quite sure about the TCG connection?) To be fair Scar didn´t have many good choices but still sticking the “bug” on was not very cautious. Infected Pearl and Gem´s “GROW”, and in that font, very creepy. Wait, did Scar decide to leave the bug in or forget about it…

Social media interlude: mumblr! Wait, Hotguy is canon in Doctor Who? xD “pressured into providing tips or purchasing merchandise,” lol. The community notes for Docm xD a viral fancasting with Scar as Cuteguy ^^

What Needs to be Done: Grian teaming up with Scour and Hart! How did that happen! And for a while now, enough that Scar complain that one of them will always be near and stop them from talking one on one… Wait, given up everything else, has Scar given up his civilian persona? (Dinnerbone reference ^^ ) TCG´s no match for even Joe Hills, ouch. Aww, Scar asking Grian to join him (again) – until…  Amazing art btw. “What needs to be done” – kill Cuteguy? What? Where did that come from? (Pearl??)

Total Eclipse: wow, again, amazing art. The constant “Kill Cuteguy” in the background like that, so good, and increasing too, taking over... And Hotguy smiling when he stands up again, oof. The shot of Grian without mask at the end is great.

Of the Heart: Mumbo mention! (Cub can take Hotguy to Cleo? Hm?) Awww. Also, the epilogue, Scar teasing Grian at work ^^ and then they go to a theater together!

Era 3: Legacy

A Tough Act to Follow: aww. Hanging out with civilians while trapped, being cute together. And then Skizz and Cleo to the rescue! And then! Maple Prince appearance!! Branding is important :D

The Secret Ingredient: Secret Keeper Listener BigB :D Uh-oh,  Altar of the Catalyst? (who paid for exclusive rights?) Impulse hurt Skizz for ~™he cause, and now Skizz knows…

Through the Looking Glass Darkly: Pearl having doubts, Gem having absolutely none, even though Impulse will have to die. Yep.

The Catalyst: Tango was a supervillain with an evil lair xD (Scar you thought you and Pearl were done?? After the bug thing?? Yeah she “made her choice”!!)

Social media interlude: Uh-oh, things are getting dire! With Mumbo, Joe, and even Doc helping out.

Descent Into Darkness: Uh-oh, traps and everything…

The Wardens of Tomorrow: Grian coming up with the self-sacrifice plays, so they know how important this is… big battle!

Social Media Interlude: Hermitopia-specific memes xD this is several years after Hotguygate.

A Role to Play: Pearl interviewing Hotguy, he calls her a friend… so Gem thinks Hotguy is an empty idealist, yeah tracks. I wonder what happened in between there, did the Soup Group really get to just walk away?, etc. etc. Nice end art :)

[everyone-with-a-para]

okay hi hello this is the pokemon anon from the other day :] i took yesterday to finish setting up a page for my paras on the aforementioned sideblog to go with the tags so i could have that ready. url over there is ninesecretsteps...not Technically a madd blog (mostly i intended it to be for szpd) but i did say i might drop the url SO i might as well. but Anyway, i didn't come here to self-promote, i CAME here to properly elaborate on my paracosms!

the First paracosm is the one for b+w and it started up in june 2022! (its "official" birthday is june 2nd because that's when i first wrote something down about it.) and when i say "b+w" i ACTUALLY mean it's focused on The Battle Subway Specifically. this one isn't super plot-heavy+is more about little character interactions. the plot, such as it is, is basically that My Guy (believe the proper term for this would be "paraself" idk i'm still new here. my little self-insert guy) is more or less the third subway boss twin. triplet. ish. he's an adopted younger sibling+works on the trains as a junior boss; running less advanced battle lines+filling in for his brothers when necessary. unova's favourite nepotism baby (joke). this one's got some variations that mostly hinge on 1. If and 2. How pl:a happens on account of the whole spacetime. Thing. but on the whole it's mostly silly sibling interaction stuff. what if trains were real, etc

the SECOND one. this is the bighuge one. it's called nanobotsverse, after the song nanobots by they might be giants because that's the song that first made me start thinking of it+it just kind of stuck (the story itself actually contains zero robots, nano or otherwise), and its "official" birthday is january 6th, 2023 :] the basic plot is: what if bw2's team plasma accidentally imploded on itself early (ie, before the actual plot of the games can take place), and its (former) acting leader has to take his research Elsewhere. much character development ensues as the following games' plots keep attempting to happen to him while he's mostly just trying to do his job+avoid getting into any more trouble. and also my guy is there again. i was going to do a proper overview of each arc BUT i realized if i did it would be. Unfathomably long. ridiculously long, even when trying to put it shortly. for reference, i started drafting all this in a word doc+there are over 1000 words of writing+i still haven't finished+have also been at this for hours now. once this is in+you've seen it, if you're still interested in reading a bunch of long as hell asks i'll finish that+prrrobably send it in as an ask per arc (so about 4-6 asks depending on how it works out. maybe i'll bundle them+make it more like 2-3 if it doesn't feel like too much.) Thank You for reading, btw, because This ask is long as-is

Same hat!!!!!!! My pokemon paracosm focuses on the subway bosses!!!!! Mine specifically focuses on the relationships between the paras post-Ingo's return from Hisui and his and Emmet's trauma recovery

I'd love the receive the infodumps from your document it sounds really interesting

@ninesecretsteps

[thebunniesgrim]

The fact that celebrity endorsement or partnerships work baffles me  

(Look at me screaming into the void) 

Like why would a celebrity make me want to buy something? I literally don't care about them. Like my relationship with famous people ends with movies, songs, or whatever media I consume. Like for the longest time I listed to a bunch of Talyor Swift songs and didn’t know they were her songs. Because I didn’t care I listened to the song, and she made money my amount of “give a care’ end there. Some people say it's disrespectful to not care about who makes the music I listen to or who voiced the character I like but like they still got paid at the end of the day and I still like the music and character. Do I give a rat's tail about who voiced bubbles form the Power Puff Girls? No. That voice will always be bubbles not her voice actor. I wish the voice actor love, but I still don’t care.

The fact that people see a celebrity on an ad and buy it whatever product they’re shilling or because some famous person is in a movie they’ll go see the movie. Like what? That doesn’t make any sense to me. Any time an alleged famous person is on tv using some product they obviously don’t use. I feel nothing. I cant even recognize celebrities sometimes and a lot of them look the same anyway. The fact that some random celebrity can be seen eating a sub from subway and people will go to subway and eat there. Or those celebrity meals at Mc Donalds? Why? I don’t care what they eat at Mc Donalds why would anyone care about that?  

Another thing that also ties into this is also people who keep up with celebrities like they are family. That’s so weird. People will be like “omg did see {famous person}’s Instagram they’re getting married!” or “omg she’s having a baby” like, ok? And? Why are you telling me this? Why do you care about that? You can tell me what some random celebrity ate at 4:36 on the 14th of October in 2015 but you can't tell me your mom's favorite color? Is that not unhealthy? Why do you care and why do you know that? Or on the rare occasion I actually know the celebrity and people expect me to care about it like hypothetically let's say Will Wood is having a baby with his partner and someone will tell me about it. What do you want me to say to that? Will it affect his music? No? Then I don’t care. Even if it did and he stopped making music I still wouldn’t care I could always find some other artist to listen to who makes the same genre of music and even still I could listen to his old songs. An artist or actors' personal life isn’t any of my business and I don’t care. People who are emotionally invested in famous people's personal lives are honestly a tad worrisome, no?  

Also, people who will defend and go to bat for influencers or famous people like they’re life depends on it. Like why are you this passionate about a person who doesn’t know or care about you. Or people who’ll get pissy and angry when someone ever so slightly says something negative about them ready to write full essays and dox someone just because they don’t think that person (or even a media) is that great. Like sure it's one thing to address bad faith stuff but like just genuine critique or just saying “yeah I don’t like them” then like huh?  

Btw I have the same feeling towards Youtubers. I am not a loyal viewer. If one youtuber stops making videos I can find like 5 other, youtubers who do that same thing and probably better. When youtubers start having kids and families I don’t care. Which is also why I don’t understand why people watch family channels or vloggers that are about their personal lives because why do you want to watch that?  

But at the end of the day, I'm some nobody who doesn’t like natural sunlight so even if you do find some enjoyment in this, I won't come at you with pitch forks, but I will judge you silently. Also, you scare me a little bit 

Peace and love fluffers  

[kick-a-long]

I don't mean to be insulting, angry or rude to goyim that are as flabbergasted by the claim, "Chirstopher Columbus is Jewish by DNA" as I am, but it's happening right now and it's making goyim look stupid as fuck.

When i google "chistopher columbus jewish" this is what comes up as of oct 15 2024:

so you can see that rueters, the forward, the independent, fox news, and yahoo are the first pages I get and all say, mostly explicitly (except for the forward...maybe) "secretly jewish." most news when you look at the full list of articles say the exact same "secret jew" take.

here's cnn:

sephardic jews btw, are of Spanish decent. to say "Western Europe" is a pretty fucking disingenuous and skewed way to say that. Actual Saphardic jews escaped the Spanish Inquisition (the one where Spain expelled or killed ALL jews, burnt jews to death, stole ALL property and belongings, and even killed the ones that converted.)

ALL jews who are sephardic escaped Spain, mostly to South America... because they spoke Spanish and ladino (a mix of Hebrew and Spanish.) but the term 'western europe' preserves the "all jews are global oppressors" myth. pretty neat trick imo.

so like, the very very catholic guy, the one famous for representing catholic origins in America, the one who got a special holiday in the US because he was a symbol for Catholics (look up the knights of columbus,) the one that just lost his annual day in America for being a genocidal dick head (who's prime directive was to find new lands with resources to plunder and "savages" to convert to christianity (Catholicism specifically which is why so many countries in South America are HEAVILY CATHOLIC,)....

is SUDDENLY not even christian, despite all evidence to the contrary... he's jewish! A jew is a jew is a jew if they have a drop of jewish blood? DNA is what determines his religion? nazi eugenics logic you say? oh my!

Not all goyim are stupid, some of my best friends and husbands are goyim (obvious proof that I can't be racist against gentiles /s) but there is a concerted media effort to paint jews as the genocide colonizer bad guys throughout history. You would have to be a willful moron to think the ol' CC was jewish. Yet the press is uncritically regurgitating this shit everywhere.

Is being catholic provable by DNA by the way? I forgot to ask, because I know it isn't. You know why I, a secular jew, knows so much about christianity and its conversion process? Because it's EVERYWHERE I LOOK. From commercials on tv to billboards to nut-jobs in the subway yelling at me to convert at 3am while I'm crying alone about a breakup.

Why don't goyim know how jews identify themselves and what is a jew vs a non-jew? Because you would have to find a jew and ask them. You can't be a christian jew, or a muslim jew, a "jew for jesus," or any non-jewish religion jew. being jewish is exclusive to Judaism and secular jewish/culturally jewish and you lose it when you convert out of Judaism or into a religion where the jewish god is not THE ONE AND ONLY god. This is a pretty HUGE part of being muslim or christian, actually.

in answer to question 1: the media is making most goyim look PRETTY FUCKING stupid.

in answer to question 2: yes the goyim are always in the room with us, at least if most forms of media is playing.

don't believe me? find a jew that has never heard about christ before.

goyim: ummmmm “ethnically jewish”????? being jewish is LITERALLY just a religion omg it’s disgustingly racist for u to say that being jewish has anything to do with BLOOD or DNA judaism is a RELIGION and NOTHING MORE you ZIONAZI.

also goyim: CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS WAS JEWISH!!!!! THIS EXTREMELY UNRELIABLE MYTH THAT HAS BEEN DEBUNKED MANY TIMES SAYS HE HAD JEWISH DNA!!!!!! THE ULTIMATE COLONIZER WAS A JEW!!!!!!!!

[indiejones]

OF 1 UNITED STATES V/S UNITED STATES .

1. Unchanged stats for decades show 'transgenders' be mere 1 in every 800 people in world ie ONLY 1 PERSON PER PRECINCT OF US(OR UK)IS TRANSGENDER! Yet whole Western world(media)seems obsessed,past 2 yrs, with this one issue of 1 woman feeling unsafe in 1 toilet in 1 corner of the world. This to me smacks of a deep subconscious breeding in Darwinianism of English society, accentuated by an abysmally low breeding in divine/spiritual belief or faith.

2. And the new by-product of Western thought-culture - the 'gender dysphoric'. 👇 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gender_dysphoria

Whilst being sensitive to their plight.. This seems a direct result of, alpha male popular culture from 1960s-2000s, followed by alpha female bent thereafter. Scaring both genders into defense mode.

3. A US man or woman works 1800 hrs a year on avg. He earns a $9/hr MINIMUM WAGE on avg.

80% men or women earning avg min wage in US, in a family of 1 ie living alone, LIVE BELOW THE POVERTY LINE! & God forbid if with a partner. 1. https://aspe.hhs.gov/2021-poverty-guidelines 2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minimum_wage_in_the_United_States

Btw,this amounts to 25 MILLION AMERICANS 👇 IE. 8% OF AMERICA LIVES BELOW THE POVERTY LINE!

https://www.investopedia.com/articles/personal-finance/022615/can-family-survive-us-minimum-wage.asp

But of course a issue that despite unabashed promises (on $15/hr Act) in campaign,seemingly remains 'unimportant' to POTUS.

Oh but it will be..1-1.5 yrs later!

Wait & watch..oops hear!

4. On the other big unkept POTUS promise..STUDENT LOAN FORGIVENESS!

~50 MILLION AMERICANS IE 16% AMERICA LIVES FROM POST-TEEN TO DEATH (EVEN IN 70+ YR LIFE) WITH AN AVG $40,000 STUDENT DEBT FOREVER HANGING ON THEIR HEADS, DESPITE PAYING ~70% OF THEIR MONTHLY INCOME SINCE AGE 25 TO REPAYING IT!

a. https://www.forbes.com/advisor/student-loans/average-student-loan-debt-statistics/

b. https://www.brookings.edu/blog/brown-center-chalkboard/2023/04/23/key-lessons-for-the-u-s-from-analyses-of-student-loan-systems-all-around-the-world/

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA HAS BECOME A KLEPTOCRACY OF ITSELF!

IE BOTTOM 80% OF USA HAS FOR PAST 30 YRS SINCE 1990'S, BECOME A SLAVE TO IT'S TOP 1% ! ...& IT'S TIME THE USA STARTED CALLING THAT TOP 1% ANOTHER NOTIONAL NATION IN ITSELF !

AND BOTH DEMOCRATS & REPUBLICS, AT DIFFERENT TIMES IN HISTORY, DEMOCRATS AS NEAR AS TILL MONTHS BACK, WITH NUMBERS ON THEIR SIDE, THAT YET, WE KNOW, MANUFACTURED HISTORICALLY UNNATURAL REASONS, TO PREVENT LEGISLATION ON THESE FUNDAMENTAL ISSUES, AS VEHEMENTLY PROMISED IN ELECTIONS.

AND SO SADLY FOR YOU AMERICA, THAT TOP 1% AMERICA INCLUDES AS HISTORICALLY PERCEIVED ~70% OF YOUR ELECTED POLITICIANS, COMBINING MEMBERS OF BOTH PARTIES, DEMOCRATS & REPUBLICANS!

& GOD SAVE AMERICA....YOU'RE GOD DAMN RIGHT !

5. Now to the media-driven muscle+ army culture + woke culture in US, a phenomena that known or unknown to them, could be turning society Orwellian in nature! :

This week's 'US subway choke death case' is a classic eg.,that's set to occupy msm for next month.

Video clearly shows 3-4 tough guys surrounding a guy professionally choking another guy for at least half min on camera, & to his death.

Be tough to prove self-defense, even if believe bystander a/c's of how (unknown) dead guy,verbally threatened violence.

But amazingly, there's a section of media vehemently supporting this reaction,& even calling it heroic,& finding traction.

THAT'S ARMY CULTURE.

And literally a hundred-thousand egs. could be given to the same effect.

And let's not forget drug culture, on right & left & every which way, making things all the more 'highly pathetic'. (A US NCDAS 2021 report infact revealing how 1/3rd adult USA today as part of culture is into consumption of hard drugs,& zoned out,so to say!)

Another modern addition to US society is 'Wokeism'-it's motives clearly being to deconstruct & dismantle traditional societal templates of co-habitation & growth. Eg create valley of fear for girls in motherhood, or a suffocating binary of alpha male or gay.

WOKEISM IS EMOTIONAL EMASCULATON OF SPIRIT. IE FANCY SICKULARISM

Bringing us motives of Sickularism- To break traditional mental & psychological support systems of society,eroding anchors of love & trust, & leaving them v.easily impressionable to political fear-mongering & manipulation.

The haters of Hitler, but lovers of an Orwellian society.

[sleepy-bunbun-ace]

i've revived myself in the submas tag to talk about the funny train blorbo. emmet has no escape from my grip <3

every day i play the game of how many games can i throw him into and so here's a new one: project sekai. i'm throwing him into the funny hatsune miku gacha game.

story: 16 year old kudari lives (what he calls) a sad life. he can't remember anything before being taken in by johanna at 14. as the new school year rapidly approaches, he can't help but wonder what kind of tracks the future will bring him to. he knows he wants to bring smiles to others but just doesn't know how. one day, a mysterious song called 'untitled' appears in his playlist and he's transported to his SEKAI. it's a magical train filled with many childish decorations. from there he meets miku and kaito before being sent back. he thinks it was all a dream, but little does he know it's the start of a new adventure.

[melancholysway]

Hi there! I just found your account today and think your work is amazing! If requests are open, could I possibly request headcanons for the 2012 Turtles for when their S/O is severely stressed out and needs a break? Thank you so so much and keep up the amazing work! :)

TMNT Headcanons: Stressed out S/O! (2012)

OFC! This is my first request so I'm excited! My ask box and submission box will be closed after this weekend so I can work on finishing Serendipity, so request if you like up until then!

For future reference, if my account grows, I'll most likely take 1 or two requests at a time. I like to take time to write what I write, and turn a simple headcanon into something more complex in nature. That being said, you can request a longshot (where there's headcanons + one shot for each turtle,) or a shortshot (where there's just bullet points as headcanons) to make it easier. Some people love a long read, but others prefer a short read that's to the point of strictly headcanons! I respect both! &lt;3

OKAY I JUST WANTED TO SAY THAT LEO'S & DONNIE'S WERE MY FAVORITES TO WRITE WTF.

some tunes while you read:

Key: ~ = time skip/scene change ============ Leonardo

Out of all the brothers, Leo gets it.

He gets the most stressed out of all his brothers, but Donnie is a VERY close runner-up.

Leo holds the most stressful burden on his shoulders, so, trust me, he'll be there for you.

He cares about your well-being, so when he notices you've been stressed, he takes matters into his own hands.

Because, in the relationship, Leonardo makes sure you're in a good headspace all the time. He knows the downfall of a broken mind.

So when he texts you suddenly after yet another breakdown of the week and tells you he has a surprise in the lair, you take it.

Because good God, you needed a distraction, and Leo's text was so sweet that you couldn't resist.

"Hana, are you busy? I have something for you and I think it'll help with how you've been feeling lately :)"

Putting on your coat to counter the January air in Manhattan, you quickly make your way downstairs to the lobby of your apartment building. You didn't even bother to doll yourself up, Leo always said you looked better when you were natural.

Now, it's not uncommon for your boyfriend to surprise you. If anything, it was Leo's favorite thing to do. He loves the art of surprise, and how you always have the most beautiful smile upon your lips as he reveals what he has in store for you. But, you were unsure of what he may have. You couldn't think of what he could be up to.

Would he take you out for the nightly rooftop scream he does to get his pent-up frustrations out? (don't tell anyone about that btw.)

Force...I mean, suggest that you watch Space Heroes with him?

You're unsure.

But, you put all theories aside and walk over to the manhole cover you've familiarized yourself with for the past year.

You knew it all-too-well, that if you take a right, then walk straight for 5 minutes, then turn left, and walk again for now 10 minutes, you'll see the abandoned subway station in the distance.

Desperate for some warmth, your hands grasp the heavy black cover, it's edges frosted with light snow, causing your fingers to become numb from the cold. You push it aside and descend down the ladder and into the damp atmosphere and tangy scent that finds its way up your nose.

The walk is quick, as your strides are brisk. You watch the droplets of water land in the mixture of suspicious liquids that was the sewer water. You learned quickly to never walk in it, and you scrunch your nose up as you reminisce about the first time you came down to the sewers to see the turtles.

You see the familiar subway station you've come accustomed to visiting a few times a week- time permitting. You can hear the grunts of Raphael become louder, as you watch him (once again) massacre the poor practice dummy in the living room space.

"Hey, Y/n. I wondered when you'd be coming." Raph acknowledges your presence, but his focus stays on the dummy.

"Sup, Raph, why? am I late?" You ask, you wondered if Leo's text was sent later than he intended due to service issues, and you may actually be late to his surprise.

"Nah," Raph kicks the dummy in its stomach, the weak chains respond with clangs as if they're begging him to stop, "Leo's been in the dojo for a while, said we couldn't go in and spoil the surprise for ya."

"You have me all excited, it's the first time this week I've been giddy about something." You respond, a soft smile dancing on your lips.

"School?"

"School, work, friends, parents, everything. Truly whooping my ass."

"Hey, sorry to hear that." Raphael stops massacring the practice dummy, and he turns to you. "I'm not the best at words...but um...hope you feel better after tonight."

~

After waving goodbye to Raph, you make your way toward the dojo. It's quiet once again, but as you get closer, you can almost...feel a low vibration bubbling from within you. It's odd, but it's calming all the same. You see a piece of paper and a blue paisley bandana on the ground in front of the dojo. You bend down and take the note to read.

Put this on before you come in - Leo

Written nicely in blue ink, how could you defy this order?

As you slide what feels to be the dojo doors open while blindfolded, you can sense that something is different.

"Y/n!" You hear Leo's excited voice say the beautiful name he's gotten engrained into his brain and vocabulary. You smile sincerely, knowing that the only thing visible on your face is your lips. You can hear the sound of Leo's footsteps coming closer, and before he tells you to take off the blindfold, his lips connect to yours in a loving kiss.

The type of kiss you couldn't go one day without having. The type of kiss that makes your whole body feel like jelly. Yeah, that kind.

While you're distracted from the kiss, you feel Leo's hand go from your waist up to the back of your head, and you feel the fabric being lifted from your face.

Pulling away for air, you open your eyes- and the first thing you see is the familiar Prussian blue irises staring back at your e/c ones.

"Surprise."

Leo steps away from you, and you finally see the surprise he's talking about.

The dojo is dimly lit, only white unscented candles being the source of lighting. The normal scent of worn-out birch wood mixes in with a new smell. Its seemingly fruity, yet wooden undertones come about the more you inhale. Along with these, there's a hint of...what is it?

"Patchouli."

"Huh?" You stop smelling the air to find the mystery scent and look at the leader in blue.

"That's the smell you can't put your finger on. Patchouli. I could tell you were confused from the look on your face."

How lucky were you?

Aside from the scents, there are large copper and silver bowls sitting in the middle of the dojo, with a wooden mallet sitting on a velvet red pillow.

"Okay, it may seem too kumbaya," Leo says, his hand immediately going to the back of his neck as it usually does when he's nervous.

"No...it's...what's that sound?" You ask, walking closer to the bowls. The closer you get, the more the sound vibrates throughout your body at a low frequency.

"They're from those Tibetan singing bowls. Buddhist monks used it for meditation throughout India and later on Japan." He points to the bowls sitting together, the three different-sized bowls giving off unique vibrations from one another.

"He gave me these blue lotus incense sticks, too. I burned one not too long before you came, and it really shifts the energy in the room." Leonardo softly takes your hand in his and leads you to the front of the Tibetan bowls, and sits you both down in a kneeling position.

"I know you've been stressed...and Master Splinter let me borrow these when I started heavily meditating. It's a unique way to unwind and destress." Leonardo takes the wooden mallet in his hand, then slowly goes around the largest bowl with it.

At first, nothing happens. But as a few moments go by, you can hear that vibration you felt before you came into the dojo. It seeps into your body, as you can physically feel the negative energy leave your system. Frustration, stress, anxiety- all gone.

At this moment, you're not stressed. At this moment, you have peace and clarity.

You both sit in silence, and you close your eyes for the sound and vibration to fully go into your body. It takes about 3 minutes for the sound to completely go away, and as you open your eyes again to the world, Leo does the same. Only Leo's eyes are looking at you for a response. He hopes that he helped you.

"I...I love it." That is all you can say. It's all you truly can say because it's 1000% how you feel. You loved that Leonardo took the time to find something to destress you. He was truly a gift.

"Y-you do?" His smile stretches from cheek to cheek, and his eyes glint with hope.

"I really do, thank you, Leo; seriously." You interlock your fingers with your boyfriend and lean in to give him a well-deserved kiss. The feeling of his smooth lips upon yours, to the way they went together and danced the same dance they'd rehearsed since the very first kiss was perfect.

Everything was perfect. The kiss, the atmosphere, the surprise, Leo.

Everything was perfect.

=======================

Raphael

He's not the leader of the group, but boy does this turtle get stressed

doesn't matter about what, it could be the weather, he doesn't give a shit.

if it's something that can cause stress, chances are it's stressed him out.

Raphael knows his style of letting off steam is different from the average person, they don't have their own dojo where they can absolutely annihilate everything they see.

His alternative is breaking stuff

but, he can't exactly break everything in the lair, so he finds other things outside the sewer where it's absolutely okay to break shit

the definition of

"I know a place"

The Place:

When he finds out you're stressed after overhearing your conversation with Splinter, he's on the job.

He catches you at a good time because you're just about on the brink of a breakdown.

Since he would never go to this abandoned place in the night, he texts you in the afternoon, when the sun is still very, VERY bright and high in the air.

Babe, I have a surprise for you

Be at your window in 10 :*

You hear your phone ding again, and you pick it up already knowing who it is. Nobody double-texts you other than your boyfriend. Heck, Raph even quadruple texts when he's in the talking mood.

Were you even in the mood to see him? Not that you didn't WANT to see him, but you weren't sure if you were in the right headspace. It's been a stressful week, with finals and all. Your two good friends have gotten into a fight and wanted you to take a side, and your parents have been too caught up in their jobs to pay attention to you. It was a terrible situation that was only going to get worse if you couldn't let it all out.

Were you ready to see him? You didn't want to lash out on him or anything from all the pent-up stress.

But still, you find yourself getting ready, putting comfortable clothes on as you just got out of the shower, anticipating Raph's appearance.

As a few minutes went by, you suddenly hear the familiar rhythmic knocks at your window. You take one last look at yourself in the mirror, and you can see bags forming under your eyes from lack of sleep. Not only that, but your eyes have been slightly puffy from the crying you've been doing in the shower. Honestly, that crying session was just the pre-game warm-up. But, the grand breakdown was luckily put on pause thanks to Raphael.

You walk over to your window, and you both follow the routine you've come accustomed to.

"Hey, babe," Raph says, his voice soothing. He used it when he knew he had to be gentle when speaking to you, and it was the same one he used with Chompy.

"Hi, Raph," Your boyfriend places a chaste kiss on your lips, and you find the strength to give him the same energy back. You both share a kiss, his filled with concern, and yours with hopefulness.

"Okay," Pulling away from the kiss, he looks around your room until his eyes land on something.

"It's gonna sound weird but, put this on." You're unsure what this is until Raphael presents a midnight black Nike head tie you had sitting atop your pearl-white vanity. You comply, but your eyes narrow and look straight into his emerald green ones, trying to find the method to this head tie madness.

You find nothing, and thus, the head tie is now a blindfold.

"What now?" You asked, trying your best not to bump into anything around you as you followed Raph's receding voice.

"I forgot, you can't see." You hear a slight chuckle followed by footsteps coming close. A 3-fingered hand grabs your own, as your 5 digits wrap around them in anticipation.

"I'm gonna take you somewhere," Suddenly, Raph's hand leaves yours, and two strong arms pick you up, bridal style.

"But...it's daytime, Red." You use his nickname, to let him know that you appreciate his offer of being taken out of your tiny apartment.

"Where I'm taking ya...you'll be glad it's during the daytime."

Okay, maybe this wasn't the right thing for Raph to say to tease the surprise. It sounded terrifying, and you were left in his arms thinking up every possibility the surprise could be. As Raph slides the window close, you can feel the warm wind of springtime make its way into your hair. It separates the strands, and you could feel the warmth from the air tickle your scalp. You're relying on smell and touch for this trip to...well, you don't know where. But, you smell the usual, the freshly cut grass and the musty remnants of mass pollution from the citizens.

It's a bumpy ride, but it's expected. Whenever Raph takes you roof-hopping, he's always fast and never slow. You faintly hear his light breathing amongst the wind brushing against your face.

~

"It's...it's a..." You hold onto your blindfold, unsure of what exactly you're looking at. After you reached your destination, Raph placed you back on your feet and took off your blindfold with no warning. So, you didn't anticipate seeing what you're looking at now.

"Abandoned factory. Come, this isn't the full surprise" Suddenly, Raph takes your hand into his own, and he leads the way into the graffiti-ridden building.

Abandoned may be an understatement. Maybe demolished? Run-down? On its last limb? You cautiously step over different textures and pass different sceneries, the rays of the sun illuminating the inside of the factory. It's massive, and you can see the open ceiling above you reveal more space and floors the more you walk around at the bottom. It's truly a hidden gem because you would've never thought you could find something like this still standing in the city.

You take in the new world around you, as it feels you're now isolated and far from city life. Nothing moves here but you and Raph; not to mention the small debris falling from the outdated cream popcorn ceiling.

After minutes go by of walking, you reach a room that appears to have been the work area. You wonder what they made here, but you can't think of anything specifically until you see the worn-out sewing machines atop every wooden table.

They rest gracefully as if they're waiting to be used again.

You wonder, 'who's going to break the news and tell them that they never will be?'

"I need you to do two more things for me, babe." You turn to Raphael, who hands you a pair of safety goggles that he definitely stole from Donnie's lab.

"Put this on," You do as told. You watch as your vision gets mildly cloudy from the smudges on the lenses.

You still feel confused, as you're trying to grasp the point of all this.

"Casey let me borrow this last time I was here, so, we should put it to good use, right?" He walks over to a corner of the spacious room and picks up what looks like a baseball bat.

After handing it to you, he takes a deep breath. Raphael was never good at finding the right words in such little time, but right now, it came easy.

He may have rehearsed what he was going to say to you.

"I...I overheard you telling Splinter you've been stressed. I-I...I shouldn't have eavesdropped but...I knew something was off about you, Y/n. I just didn't know what." You watch as Raph's green eyes avoid looking into yours. He must be nervous. I know, Raph and nervous never go in the same sentence, right?

Wrong. Raph gets nervous, especially when talking to you. He's still finding his groove when it comes to talking to his girlfriend.

"I thought about ways to help, but they were all ways that I would normally deal with anger. So...I brought you here." You listen as Raph riles himself up when he was nearing the end of his speech to you. Like I said, words never came easy to Raph, but for you, he was more than willing to take a dive at it.

"It's sort of a way I would deal with being stressed, but it's in a more satisfying way for you. You take all your frustrations on the building to avoid self-destruction, as uh...Leo would say." He smiles, a small one, but you can still see it. It's rare that Raphael smiled, but since he started dating you, it's all his lips felt like doing when he saw you.

You look down at the wooden bat in your hand and then back up at Raph.

"I...you thought this through so much...this is so sweet of you, Raph. Truly. I could use an outlet to let everything out." Your lips curl into a smile, one of the few you've done this past week due to the stress you've been under.

Raphael came at the best time, you would've cried and trashed your room alone. But, you had Raph.

"It's what I'm here for, Y/n. Let it all out." He steps back, far away from you for you to use the baseball bat.

Poor factory.

You take a deep breath, before readying your bat and swinging at one of the sewing machines. It crashes on the ground, its red paint on the outside cracking and breaking off.

"Stupid...fucking...school!" You yell in between hits. Your breathing is heavy, but you don't care. You also don't care that you may look crazy in front of Raph. Honestly, he was right. You had to let it all out; no matter what.

"Stupid…fucking friends that put ME…in the middle of THEIR bullshit!" You swing again, and again, and again. You wind up hitting a sewing machine in the process, and watch as its red paint chips off once it hits the ground.

You continue like this for a while; hitting chairs, shattering glass, hell, you even ditch the bat and start throwing things with your bare hands.

It goes on for a while, and after you throw the last innocent sewing machine on the ground, you sink to the floor to catch your breath and calm down.

"You alright?" He asks.

"I see why you do that…." Raphael helps you up, and he takes the goggles off your face.

"…Why you take your anger out that way…it's…"

"Satisfying?" Raphael finishes your sentence, and you laugh in response.

"Very. Very satisfying," You place a kiss on Raph's left cheek, and you watch as it turns light pink from the feeling of your lips. "Thank you Red, really."

"Anytime. Let me know if you ever need to destress, and I'll find more places like this that you can wreck to your heart's content." With that, Raphael takes your hand once more, and leads you back to the entrance you both came from.

How lucky were you to have someone like Raphael help you out in times like this.

And better yet, how de-stressed you felt after this whole thing.

=================================

Donatello

Okay, Donnie's way of dealing with stress is pretty...weird.

The man reads academic journals for fun, so, that should tell you all you need to know about how he deals with it

Donnie thinks you're avoiding him at first. You haven't been coming to the lair as much as you usually do, but he doesn't want to pry. Donatello was never the type to confront you about something. Actually, anyone for that matter. He just wasn’t the confrontational type.

But, when April and Casey come over to the lair without you for the 5th time this week, he’s lost. 

That is, until April lets him know what’s been up with you.

“I’m not sure what exactly it is…maybe finals week? Y/n’s been studying like crazy, especially for the honors classes. 

You’re stressed! That was it. Donnie figured that much. 

He thinks about the stuff he usually does to get rid of any stress, but they’re not ideal. He can’t make you invent something or talk to Timothy, that’s his style of doing things. He had to get into your mind. 

What could he do to make you feel better?

“Are you free today?”

“I’ve got a surprise for you, but it requires me to come over. And…it’s going to need a large time slot for it to be a proper surprise :D”

You reread the text your boyfriend sent you. It was enticing, and you wondered what it could be. Lately, you’ve been staying home more cooped up in your room. Finals week was coming up, and you were swamped with studying. It was all you did. Eat, sleep, and study. So much so, that you started getting nervous about the upcoming exams. You were having so much anxiety over finals that it stressed you out severely. It wasn’t one specific kind of stress. It's an odd description, but this stress that feels like a big cloud looming over you everywhere you go. It wouldn’t go away, no matter how much you tried.

 It took a toll on your room, too. Your room became messier than the average teen's. You had a pile of clean laundry you never took the time to put away, and packets of study guides for all classes sprawled across your desk and onto the floor. Your bed was undone, and you sat in the middle of your room, reading Donnie’s text again for the third time. 

It was bad enough you haven’t been down to the Lair lately, and it would be even worse if you turned his surprise down. Donatello does things out of the kindness of his own heart. You’ve noticed this time and time again. He would do something or make something really special for you, and ask for nothing in return. Don’t get me wrong, you loved to get him different things that piqued his interest or plan out fun dates around the lair or your apartment, but Donatello was truly a special turtle. 

Your thumb hovers over the send button. You get a slight wave of excitement from the idea of seeing your boyfriend and what he might have in store for you. Pressing send, you lay and gaze at the dull white ceiling of your room. 

You start to wait for Donnie’s arrival, but then you wonder if you should tidy up. 

In all seriousness, it really wasn’t THAT bad. You’ve seen Mikey’s room before, and Lord, that boy needs help in there. It also would make time go faster and before you know it, Donnie will come knocking at your window. 

You groggily get up from your spot on the bed and begin to slowly gather all the study guides in your hand, making sure not to bend or crinkle the edges of the papers. You have about 3 packets for each subject, so, yeah, being overwhelmed is an understatement. 

You place them all in one pile on your desk and decide that it was enough tidying up after you made your bed. Your clean clothes could wait to be put away.

You were in the middle of separating past tests by the subject when you suddenly hear the knocks that were exclusive to Donatello. He always knocks quietly at first because he doesn’t want to be rude or scare you, but then he realizes you can’t hear it, so the knocks gradually get louder. 

A glint of happiness seeps into your eyes as you see Donnie’s gap-toothed smile through the window, but it doesn’t help the fact that the cloud is still hovering above you. 

Sliding open the window, you invite the sunlight into your seemingly dark room. It was still the middle of the day, and you were surprised Donnie came over when it was still daytime. But, he’s a ninja, he’s smart. He knows how to get to your place undetected. 

You completely give in as Donnie steps in and embraces you in a tight hug after setting down three large brown plastic bags he brought with him. 

“Dove, how are you? Honestly.” Donnie asks as he strikes your hair. Feeling comfort in his arms like you usually did, you couldn’t lie about how you felt anymore. Plus, from the sincere tone in Donnie’s voice, he already had an idea. 

“Not…not so good. I haven’t been this stressed out in a long time. It’s horrible, I mean, look at my room, Don.” 

“Hey,” Donatello lifts your chin with his green finger and smiles, “I've seen Mikey’s room, believe me, I’m not judging.”

You couldn’t help but softly smile, and you place a loving kiss on Donnie’s lips. Like always, Donatello melts. He's been melting since the first kiss you both shared 6 months ago. He couldn’t help it, he was finally being loved- and that’s all he wanted. 

Donatello was truly a gem, and when he tells you to close your eyes, you can’t help but think of all the things he may have to ease your mind as you comply. 

~

“Painting?” You tilt your head and look at your boyfriend. Donatello presents to you a wide smile that displays his cute gap as he begins to tell you why he chose painting to help you. 

“Precisely! I remember you talking about how much you hated the cream color and wanted something nicer, so I researched colors that are known to lift moods…” Donnie kneels down and uses a box cutter to get the first can of paint open. Once it’s fully cut, he lifts the lid, and you can see the sunflower yellow paint glisten from the seeping sunlight from the window. 

 “And I found this. Making paint from scratch is really simple. It’s pigment, binder, the actual liquid, and some additives…and…sorry, I’m going on a tangent.” You watch as Donatello stops himself from speaking about his entire process for making this paint for your room, but it makes it all the more special. Donnie MADE paint, a custom color just for you to make you feel better. How fucking sweet was that?

You look at the paint once again, and it’s so glossy, you can faintly see your reflection drowning in the yellow hue. “Now, I know it’s bright,” The ninja in purple starts, “but according to color psychology, the color of a room has a significant impact on human behavior and mood.”  He opens another plastic bag, and he’s managed to fit large paint rollers and paint trays. Not only that, he’s even gotten painter's tape to help with the fine lines and smaller paint brushes. 

You never really thought about how the color of your room has an impact on your mood. As you look around, you imagine your room the same color as the one in the can. 

  You can imagine a dramatization of white tulips and lilacs growing in your room from how bright and lively it’ll be after it’s painted. 

“Don…” Donatello truly thought of the best solution to your problem, and you couldn’t be any more grateful

“Yeah? Wait, you don’t like it? Is it too much? Is it the color? I happen to really enj-“

“No no no Donnie, it’s great.” You walk up to Donnie’s hunched form over the paint cans and wrap your arms around his neck from behind. You can feel his hands touch yours, and his deep brown-red eyes close with satisfaction. He did it again, he got something right for you. 

“I would love to spend the day with you painting my room.”

You and Donnie both take the time to quickly move all furniture up against the walls to the middle of the room. It’s fairly easy since your small room in the apartment doesn’t have much. A vanity, a dresser, a nightstand, even your bed. But, you get it done. 

You take down any posters that are up on your walls, and it’s finally bare. It’s a disgusting dull cream shade, and you couldn’t despise it more. After getting the tape to block parts that normally didn’t get painted, it was finally time!

“Are you ready?” Donnie asks as he hands you a roller. It’s not heavy, but as soon as you dip it in the large tin that your boyfriend put the yellow paint in, you can feel the weight increase as the roller soaks up all the liquid it can to saturate the wall. 

“I’m excited…I haven’t painted in a while.” You initially thought Donatello was bringing paint so you guys could just relax and paint some pretty pictures together, but honestly, this was so much better.

You start on the wall in front of you, thinking of where you should start the roller first. Now, you wanted it to look good, so you decide to start rolling from top to bottom, applying light pressure in the beginning, before gradually placing more for the paint to transfer onto the wall. You watch as the new sunflower yellow replaces that nasty color you initially had, and comparing it after just a few strokes you can already tell the gorgeous difference. It was going to look absolutely beautiful when it was done. 

Once you start getting the hang of it, you and Donatello divide and conquer, as you learned pretty quickly that you couldn’t reach the higher parts of the wall. 

But, that’s the benefit of having a tall mutant turtle as a boyfriend, Donnie got to those hard-to-reach spots with no problem!

~

It took hours. But, those were the least stressful hours you’ve had for the past couple of weeks. Not once did the thought of finals cross your mind, as you were distracted with Donnie. He took his time, as did you, to try and drag this whole painting project longer than it probably should go. But, time didn’t matter to you right now. What mattered was that Donatello was with you, painting your room. You were nearing the end of the project, as you had less than half of the final wall to go. Donnie took it upon himself to make any conversation- and you both spoke of mundane topics. Mundane until Donatello heard something you said about a certain conspiracy theory that piqued his interest. 

“I mean, it’s science. What idiot would say the world is fl-ah! Whoops! sorry, Y/n.” You feel something cold land on your cheek, and you stop painting the wall to feel what it is. As you wipe the unknown substance off and look at your hand, you see there are remnants of yellow paint covering your fingers. 

You look at Donatello, putting up a front as if you’re shocked he just did that. As he stumbles upon his words to apologize again, you dip your finger in the tin of yellow liquid and fingerpaint his bicep.

“Whoops, sorry, Donnie!” You giggle as the purple-banded turtle turns red from your touch until he snaps out of it and dips his own finger in the paint, only to cover your nose in it. 

“Sorry!” He exclaims sarcastically. Oh sweet innocent Donnie and his sassiness. 

“Oh, you’re gonna get it now Don!” What turned from a normal room painting project amongst two people that just so happened to be a couple, shifted into an all-out paint fight between them. You haven’t felt so free in weeks. 

Stifling your laughter, you try and wiggle out of Donnie’s grip on top of you as he tickles your sides, trying to make you say “mercy.”

“Okay okay! Mercy! Mercy! Uncle!” You say in between laughs. You both stop and catch your breaths, and Donnie- covered in paint like you- dives in to kiss your lips. Despite them having paint on them, he didn’t care. It was a cute moment that he would be thinking about for the next couple of months. You both stay like this, and Donnie’s lips work yours like they usually do, and you could feel him smiling into the kiss. You give in, too, and smile as well. Kisses from Donatello were something that you craved.

“Thank you, Donnie. It means a lot to me that you did this.” You say after the slew of kisses end. He smiles and chuckles nervously, “Anytime. My sweet angel.”

~

If you were wondering, once you were done, it came out amazing. It was just like you imagined it. Once the furniture was put back in place (not touching the wall, Donatello would help move it back once the paint fully dried,) you take a moment to let it seep in. Your room was a breath of fresh air, and that’s what you needed right now. You felt this imaginary cloud that sat atop you in your room fade away, and you could almost feel your newly yellow walls smiling back at you.

===============================

Michelangelo

Mikey is always pretty laid-back and energetic.

He rarely gets stressed, unless it’s during a mission and he’s done something to fuck the team up

Then at that moment, he’s stressed.

He usually deals with it in a very “mikey” way.

He may go skateboarding in the sewers, or take a chance and try and skateboard on the rooftops. Don’t do that second one if you’re not mikey, it’s pretty dangerous. 

He’d also just sit down and eat a few slices of pizza, nothing extreme, but indulging in your favorite food in moderation is something that can make you feel better!

When you first start dating, you always found yourself wanting to be around Mikey, as he was never a negative turtle. He was always so happy, so much so that it even made you question why. Not in a bad way, but you wondered how he could stay so positive.

So when he notices something is off about you, he has something very special planned. 

He shoots you a text, hoping you’ll accept his offer and come down to the Lair today.

Heyyyy gorgeous! I know you haven’t been feeling so good, so I was wondering if you wanted to come down and see the super duper awesome surprise I have for you :D?

Now, who are you to turn down Mikey? You couldn’t allow your stress to take over your love life, as it already had taken over your academic and social life. Regents exams were coming up, and everyone knows New York students despise those- especially you- because you just so happened to get a terrible math teacher this year and were worried about failing. On top of this, your friend group had gotten terribly complicated. It seemed that drama followed your friends, and you were seriously considering finding some new ones. All of this being said, it took a toll on your mental health. Your life, as you knew it, was getting stressful. So much so, that you sat in your bed on the weekends, not really interacting with anyone but your parents if they came into your room. 

You sadly haven’t been texting Mikey as much as you usually do, and you hoped he didn’t take it the wrong way. But, as you reread his message once again, you think about how he noticed the changes in you without even asking. Raph may clown him at times, but Mikey was extremely observant.

You peeled the covers off of you and got out of your bed, wondering if you should even make it up. 

“That one navy guy said to always make your bed in that one speech...” You say out loud. It’s may seem dumb, but that one navy guy is right. If you have the willpower to do something so small as making your bed, you’ll have the willpower to overcome the hardship in your life.

You decide to make your bed. It didn’t make you less stressed, but you felt hope for how the rest of your day will go. You’re looking forward to seeing your boyfriend, as he was your break from all the mess in the world that was your life. 

You look out into the city sky through your window before leaving, and you see the many hues of orange and yellow merging as the sun sets. Orange, huh, it reminds you of Mikey. You make your way down to the stairs of your apartment building, and soon to the outside. You feel the cool air hit your face, as the nearing summertime weather was approaching. You wondered what you would do this summer IF you were to pass your mathematics regents. You thought about the farmhouse April took you and the guys to last summer.

 It was your first actual vacation with the turtles and their sensei, and it was seriously relaxing. You were far away from the city, as upstate New York was quiet- Suffolk County being one of those quiet places. You were able to have quality time with the turtles as a group, and then also have quality time with your boyfriend, Mikey. You guys did a lot together, you paired up for the volleyball game (and lost badly against Leo and Raph,) tried to fish (you landed in the lake,) and even made a fire together! (Thank you, Google.) Needless to say, you were looking forward to the next trip to April’s farmhouse. 

This thought also made you more anxious for the exam, so you distract your mind by quickly getting to the manhole cover and going down into the sewer. You had gotten used to the smell over time, and it was nearing summer- where the smell would get progressively worse as the temperature rises. But, you had been down here enough times to where the smell didn’t bother your nose as much. Plus, the Lair smelled 1000x better than the actual sewer tunnels. 

Speaking of the Lair, you made it!

“Y/n! Hey!” You’re greeted by Leonardo, who’s sitting in front of the TV. You can hear voices that belong to Captain Ryan and his crew, so you’re lucky that Leo even noticed you. He’s usually always into the show that he tunes everything out around him. Unless, you know, Raph makes a comment about how dumb the show is. 

“Hey, Leo. Another marathon?” You ask as he turns his head to you, the TV lights illuminating his face. 

“Yeah, I got dibs on the TV tonight and everything!” It was comical to see Leo out of “leader mode,” he seemed so happy today. 

“Any idea where Mikey is?” You ask, looking around the living space. You see Raph sitting on the couch behind Leo reading a comic and feeding his pet turtle a few leaves. Don’t even get me started on the irony of this picture. Anyway, there’s no sign of Donatello, but you hear faint humming coming from the kitchen far off on the opposite side of the living space. 

“He’s in the kitchen, he nearly kicked me out for trying to feed Spike. Almost malnourished the poor guy saying I would ‘mess his flow up.” Raph says as Spike chews on his leaf. He nods his head at you to say hello, and you wave in response. 

“Thanks,” After talking to the brothers in red and blue, you make your way over to the kitchen. Out of all the areas in the Lair, the kitchen was special. Why? There’s a cat in the freezer. It was comical, one day you were grabbing an ice pack for Mikey, and you were shocked to see a literal ice cream kitty hand you one and meow happily at you. Like Raph with Spike, Mikey really loved that kitty, plus he felt bad that he mutated it accidentally, but, Ice Cream Kitty seemed pretty happy. 

You turn the corner and see your boyfriend, Mikey, with a “kiss the cook” apron on. He wore it for “special meals” as he would put it. You wondered what was so special about tonight’s food.

“Hey, Mikey?” You call out, he’s getting something out of the cabinet before he sees you. But, when he does, it’s over.

“Y/n! Oh my sweet angel Y/n!” Mikey smiles and pulls you into a loving hug, and you faintly smell remnants of vanilla on him. 

“Okay, so, surprise! We’re bakin’! You know, according to Google, I read that baking is good for the mind, I knew my awesome cooking skills will come in handy!” Mikey cheered as he gave you a quick kiss on the cheek. You wondered what you were going to bake with him. As you looked around the table at the different baking ingredients, you concluded it would be a cake. 

“We’re making a cake?” You ask as you walk around the table. You smiled as you saw the different colors of icing sprawled across the top. 

“Aw yeah! You have the professional uncertified chef here to help, too! I know your mood has been down, with school and stuff- and I know school causes stress…so I thought this would help.” You watch the orange-clad turtle give his puppy eyes at you, hoping that this would be the way to convince you to unwind and bake with him.

Mikey didn’t need the puppy eyes this time around, him thinking of this activity was more than enough to swoon you over. 

“I think it’ll help more than you think,” Michelangelo’s eyes get a glint of happiness in them from your response, and you place a kiss on his lips, “Thank you, for thinking of me and how to help out.” 

“Anything for my sweet sweet sweet…sweet…hold on…that’s too many sweets, sweet sweet angel Y/n!” His bright blue eyes glance into yours as he cheeses. 

~

Mikey may be an uncertified unlicensed chef with no study in culinary school, but, he surely knows a thing or two about baking. 

It makes this process stress-free, and that was his intention. He measures out everything for you so all you have to do is mix it in and watch the magic happen. This part is fun alone, as you watch the sugar be mixed in with the melted butter, creating a sand-like texture before the sugar is totally dissolved. Mikey’s careful with the eggs, as he went off the instructions when they said to add the eggs after melting the butter. 

“I don’t think you want scrambled eggs in your cake.” He says, stopping you from cracking the egg into the golden liquid. 

You feel the side of the bowl after mixing the sugar and butter, your hand feeling the bowl cool down, as the sugar lowers the temperature. You then continue mixing the liquid ingredients together, while Mikey measures out the dry ingredients in a separate bowl. You wanted to make a marble cake, so you were soon separating the liquid mixture in half while your boyfriend did the same with the dry, only adding cocoa powder to one of the halved bowls. 

After some time, you’re ready to combine the dry and wet ingredients together. Mikey hands you the orange rubber spatula, and you gently fold the ingredients together in each bowl, careful not to over-mix. You and Mikey continue joking around and for the first time this week, you’re having fun. You’re not thinking about school, or anything else negative. No, this activity has managed to clear your mind in a positive way. 

“Awww yeah! In the oven it goes!” You used a skewer to mix the chocolate part into the vanilla, creating that marble effect you were desiring. After this, you and Mikey hold it together and place it in the preheated oven at a toasty 350 degrees for 25 minutes. 

While you wait, you think about what you should decorate the cake with. Mikey hasn’t mentioned anything about it, but it’s probably because he’s losing to Ice Cream Kitty at Uno. It’s so funny to watch Mikey get beat at his own game, as he whines after the cold kitty throws down yet another draw 4. Cheating or not, it’s comical to watch a cat play cards. Uno at that. 

~

Now that the cake is out of the oven, you and Mikey agreed on waiting 15 minutes so it could cool down for decorating.

Watching the Uno match in front of you, your lips form into a smile, and you let out a giggle as Ice Cream Kitty meows in response to Mikey’s whining, as they secretly show you their last two cards. Yeah, Mikey’s toast.

Mikey gets hit with a blue skip as Ice Cream Kitty beats him to yell “Uno” first, and then places down their final card: a red skip.

“You definitely cheated!” Mikey exclaims as the Neopolitan kitty climbs off the table and shimmy’s up the fridge back into the freezer, ignoring Mikey’s antics. The timer you set on your phone goes off, and as you poke the top of the cake, the surface is completely cooled and ready to be iced.

“What were you thinking to put on it?”  You asked, opening the red icing while Mikey the orange. 

“Um...well, I was thinking of leaving that to you. You know, to do the honors. Now, I know we’re not all gifted with artistic greatness, butttttt I trust you to do it.” He jokes, earning an eye roll and a nudge on the arm from you.

You first grab the white frosting that's off to the side, realizing you had to paint the cake first before actually putting a design on it. Grabbing the silver-angled spatula, you dip it into the Pillsbury container and begin to maneuver the cake tool to fully cover the cake in white sugary goodness. With the cake cooled, it’s a breeze. 

You look around the cake at every angle, making sure you got every corner and cranny. As you grab the red icing you opened earlier, you grip it in your hand and hover on top of the cake. But, you stop. 

What should you decorate it with? Actually, what should you write? That’s what bakers did, right? They wrote nice sayings in beautiful script, right?

A thought pops into your head, and it causes Mikey to tilt his head in confusion as you get a devious look on your face. 

You apply pressure to the small icing bag, and watch as the red icing writes the words you’re thinking of in your head, letter by letter. You tell Mikey to turn around so he couldn’t see, and he complies. 

After a few more minutes, you put the half-full icing bag down, and admire your work. 

“Okay, Mikey, you can turn back around! Look!” You smile at your work, despite the letters looking absolutely atrocious. It looked like Donnie’s chicken scratch handwriting. But, it says what you were thinking, and that’s what matters. 

As Mikey turns around, he reads the cake quickly before snickering at the sight. 

“I guess there are people with artistic greatness! We have to show Raph. And hide it from Splinter, but also cut him a piece, you know?” He says, handing you the cake cutter as he screams for Raph. As Raph comes over (not before scolding Mikey for yelling,) he looks down at the cake before you stab the middle of it to cut.

“Huh. Somethin’ I would do. Nice, Y/n.” The green-eyed turtle compliments.

To: Stress

Fuck You Bitch!!!!!

Love, Y/n ❤️

After you give Leo and Raph their pieces, you cut Mikey’s, purposefully giving him the slice with the heart on it. 

“For you, because I love you. Thanks, Mikey.” Mikey’s eyes light up, and his freckled cheeks have a slight pink tint after you dive in for an overdue kiss.

Best stress reliever ever.

Masterlist

[leggerefiore]

i’m not sure if you’ve done this before, but can i request ingo and emmet’s reaction (separately) to their s/o having a legendary/mythical pokémon? you can decide the pokémon they have btw!!

anyways their s/o is like “check out this funky guy i found the other day!! :)” and the twins are just like “..that’s god????”

tbh i’ve been thinking about this for a while because it sounds funny lol. anyways take your time with this request!!

just whip out celebi like "hey this floating onion just wanted to say hi :)"

▲Ingo▼

You were a small child out on a boring vacation with your parents when you first met the cat-like pokemon. It was a sweltering hot day on the small, unpopulated island. Your parents were happy to explore the scenic, untouched rocky beach terrain, but you weren't. You were sitting on the grass near the bright viridian dam of trees. Time passed slowly as you waited to return to the mainland. A sudden bright pink caught the corner of your eye. Rushing your head, you saw leaves shift and tempt you. Childlike curiosity took over, and you ran after the pink.

You ended up in a strange area with grass as taller than your body. The colour flew into the grass with its tail peeking out over the top. Chasing it around, eventually you caught it with a playful tackle. Bright azure eyes met yours, and it trilled gleefully at you. That was the day moment Mew became your friend and partner.

● Naturally, you don't exactly whip Mew out for just anyone. Many people want the pokemon and would do horrible things to obtain them. Your other team does most of the heavy lifting, but you'll let Mew out to play in more isolated places. They purred lightly as you scratched behind their eyes. It was a lazy afternoon in your new living arrangement with your boyfriend.

● Mew had yet to meet Ingo. It was hard to find the time to with how busy he had been lately, and you were attempting to gage whether he could be trusted with the knowledge of your dear friend's existence. The Subway Boss was someone you sensed no ill will from, and you knew the playful pokemon was getting curious about whom you came to live with. They floated around the living room, examining everything that belonged to Ingo with intrigue.

● What had gone unexpected was Ingo getting a minor injury to his leg that resulted in Emmet demanding he take off early as to not worsen the damage. He stopped outside the front door of his apartment. An unfamiliar pokemon's cry could be heard inside alongside you, demanding something to “put that down, right now!” Had you gotten a new pokemon today? Ingo unlocked the door.

● Inside was a horrifying sight of his beloved model train set levitating in the air with a pink aura shimmering around it. You were desperately trying to grab it, yet it was held just out of your reach. Lastly, the older twin noticed a giggling cat pokemon swishing its tail back and forth. It took precisely thirty seconds for him to realize what pokemon that was, “Love, is that a Mew?!” The train fell limply to the ground from sudden loudness. You about screamed.

● It was an awkward thing to tell your boyfriend that you didn't trust him to not steal your pokemon, but at least Ingo understood your concerns. There was still a bit of displeasure about it, however. He would never dream of doing such a thing. Mew flew around the Subway Boss excitedly, elated to meet your boyfriend finally. Ingo is just sitting there on a kitchen chair with his arms crossed, legs spread and deadpan expression while your mythical friend buzzed like a bee. You were tempted to take a picture.

● The twin eventually played with the cat pokemon a little, and Mew officially deemed him worthy to be with you by floating the conductor in the air for a moment. It took everything in his power not to scream; he doesn't like it even when his Chandelure does that. He returns safely to the ground. You let out a sigh of relief from a breath you didn't realize that you were holding. There was an uncertainty as to what you would do in the case Mew rejected him.

● He'll ultimately work to keep Mew safe alongside you. This unfortunately leads to him becoming a cat dad. Mew will knock something off a shelf, and he just sighs while scolding them like one might do a child. Sadly, your pink cat goes from a childhood friend to something akin to a kid for this reason. It would be sad if it wasn't obvious how much they clearly enjoy it (or annoying Ingo at the very least).

● Overall, he's impressed you managed to interest a pokemon believed by many to just be a myth passed along. When you explain how you met Mew, he kind of tilts his head with this hilarious confused expression. That was not at all much different from how he met his starter, Litwick. (He also momentarily feels like just met an equivalent for a sibling for you.)

▽Emmet△

You were a preteen when the victory pokemon first decided you were going to be its trainer. Your class had taken a trip to Liberty Island to experience some culture and history. Classmates quickly found themselves doing their own things in chatting and poking about to see what all they could get away with before a teacher scolded them. You, a bit of a loner going through a phase, leaned again the pewter brick of the lighthouse. The sun beat down scorchingly onto the small island you were trapped upon. A sudden loud noise coming from inside the structure had you jump away. What was that? You looked around wildly to see if a teacher or monitor was keeping an eye on you. With not a single one giving you any mind, you snuck inside the building.

The inside was decrepit and grimy, with a faint smell of ash hidden within the overwhelming scent of sea musk. A basement room at the end of the disgusting corridor is what truly caught your attention. Rushing down into it, there sat a rabbit like pokemon excited to greet you. You became a frighteningly unbeatable trainer seemingly overnight.

○ Just the same as Mew, Victini doesn't really get to be out the same as your other party members. Too many people want the poor thing, and nobody truly knew what others would do to get them. Still, the playful nature of them is allowed, so long as its in more private areas. They were chirping happily as you shook a wand around. Only a small amount of power was used to hit the toy, of course, Victini had no interest in killing their trainer.

○ Emmet had yet to be introduced to the victory pokemon. His schedule had been consumed by work as of late, and part of you was concerned he'd see your talents as a trainer as less from and more from Victini's supposed blessing to their trainer. Still, you could tell the pokemon was getting curious about who your home was shared with. They knew what you enjoyed, and they did not recall you having such strange clothing. A chirp came from the pokemon as they hit the toy once more.

○ Emmet had managed to finesse getting off early by leaving before his usual time. It was getting close to an anniversary for you both, and he had been wanting to surprise you. The precious desert he had gotten to share was stashed in a discreet white box. He approached the front door of your alarm but froze when an unknown pokemon cry rang out. Had you gotten a new partner today? The younger twin became ecstatic to meet them!

○ Throwing open the door, he was greeted to you aggressive attempting to smother something stick-like that had caught on fire. Emmet tilted his head. A panicking cream and carrot coloured pokemon waddled up to him and started pointing at you desperately. The Subway Boss proceeded to send out Archeops who put it out with a small rock slide. It was only then he realized what pokemon had greeted him, “Where did you get a Victini?!”

○ The embarrassment of having to tell your boyfriend you feared his judgement was offset by the relief that the fire being extinguished gave. He only giggled at the thought of him doubting your abilities as a trainer. Of course, he knew you were capable! Victini only further evidenced that, as he was quite certain they would only choose a strong trainer. They were extremely excited to meet the younger twin, too. Hopping, floating, and crying to get his attention to play with them. It was ridiculously adorable watching him play ball and tag with the little pokemon. You could almost forgive Victini for starting that fire.

○ They were quick friends. It was almost jealousy inducing how the conductor stole the victory pokemon's heart. You didn't know if you were more upset that your closest partner had chosen your boyfriend, or whether your boyfriend choosing Victini over you. In revenge, you took Elektross. You discovered the electric fish pokemon liked to wrap around you and squeeze, however. Emmet and Victini had to free you from its grasp. At least, Victini didn't decide to just disintegrate the poor Subway Boss after walking in the door.

○ Your secret is more than safe with him. No one will be hurting you or Victini should he and his team be nearby. He'll lovingly pet the rabbit pokemon's head and coo at them when they yell their cry at him. Emmet really loves how cute your partner was. He thinks they blend verrrrry well with you. A cute, strong duo that could beat even the most fearsome of opponents when together. It brought images of him and his brother into his mind. He wants to battle against you and Victini eventually.

○ He's thoroughly impressed by your rare friend and laughs about how you basically stumbled into them. Perhaps, Victini saw your potential when even you were unaware of it. His starter, Tynamo, chose him, too; he believes, at least. (Emmet is glad Victini likes him; he'd be upset if any of your pokemon disliked him, but even more so something as extraordinary as the mythical pokemon.)

[yersina]

Yoojin thinks that it’s probably a Sign of some sort that on the very last day of his second-to-last year of high school, a dinosaur swoops down from the sky and attacks him.

-

After making a beeline for Yoohyun’s school, Yoojin is forced to skid to a stop on the edge of its campus and take in several things at once:

There is a massive, smoking crater in the middle of the track field.

His brother is standing in the middle of this crater.

It is eerily silent, on account of Yoohyun’s classmates huddled on the edge of the field, faces pale and eyes wide.

This silence is broken once Yoohyun locks eyes with Yoojin and screeches, “Hyung!”

“Yoohyun!” Yoojin yells back, and sprints across the field faster than he’s ever managed in gym class. “Are you okay?” he asks breathlessly as soon as he’s within arm’s reach, clasping Yoohyun’s shoulders and giving him a frantic once-over. His brother’s hands are trailing smoke, and there’s ash absolutely everywhere, but Yoojin can’t find any obvious injuries.

“I’m okay,” Yoohyun whispers, hands coming up to grasp at the sleeves of Yoojin’s uniform. He leaves sooty handprints behind, but Yoojin is entirely beyond caring about his laundry at this point. “Are you?”

“I’m fine,” Yoojin reassures. He strokes through Yoohyun’s hair once, and the clumps of dirt that fall from the action remind him of where they’re currently standing. “Yoohyun, why are you in a crater? What happened?”

At this, Yoohyun untwists himself just enough from Yoojin’s hold to raise a handful of flames in Yoojin’s direction. “Hyung, I think I have magic powers,” he says solemnly.

Yoojin stares for a long moment, long enough that Yoohyun clenches his fist, extinguishing the fire, and looks up at Yoojin worriedly. “Okay,” he manages eventually. “Okay. Sure. Yeah.”

He was attacked by dinosaurs and his brother has magic powers. That’s… this is fine.

-

He drags Yoohyun back to their apartment, figuring that he’s excused for not checking in with the administrative staff at the school on account of the mass panic among the students and staff, and the sheer chaos that is the entirety of Seoul at that very moment.

By sheer luck, their refrigerator and cupboards are stocked enough to last them through the several days of national emergency that are declared as the whole country comes to terms with the fact that monsters are real and attacking them, and there are now people with magic powers to fight them. For those few days, Yoojin resolutely refuses to allow either of them to step foot outside of the apartment, stopping just short of taping all the curtains closed so that they don’t spend all of their time staring out of the window at any wreckage they can see from their apartment.

(There is one incidence—just one. A flying beast of some sort, an amalgam of fur and feathers, had been careening wildly towards their living room window. Yoojin is ready to grab Yoohyun and run, a vague plan in his mind of taking refuge in the bathroom, when Yoohyun steps forward and opens the window.

Yoojin feels his heart leap into his throat, but before he can croak out the beginnings of “Yoo—”, there’s a blast of pure heat from the direction of the window, so intense that Yoojin has to duck and turn away. When he looks back, Yoohyun is trying to close the window, frowning at the warped metal frame that no longer perfectly fits the window.

There is no sign of the flying monster.

“Sorry, hyung, I think I broke the window,” Yoohyun says apologetically. Yoojin watches him fidget, obviously nervous because on any other occasion, Yoojin would be smiling tightly and wondering how he’s going to get this fixed on their shoestring budget. This time, he steps forward and pats Yoohyun on the shoulder.

“That’s… fine,” he says awkwardly. Yoohyun is no warmer than normal, as far as he can tell. He’s still trying not to think too much about where the monster has gone. “I’m just glad you’re safe.”)

In those few days, when Yoojin is scared of his own uncertainty in whether they’ll make it out of all of this alive, he sits down with Yoohyun to talk through his ‘magic powers��� and learns that his brother may or may not also be hallucinating blue boxes telling him about the skills that he supposedly has now.

“I’m an S-Rank!” Yoohyun tells him excitedly. “That means that I’m really strong,” he explains patiently when Yoojin gives him a blank look. “In games, S is higher than A. Isn’t that so cool? I’m only level one, though.”

“Yeah, cool,” Yoojin echoes. There are times when he keenly feels the five years between him and Yoohyun. This is one of those times.

-

On the last day, when they finally declare an end to the state of emergency, the president personally gives an announcement, broadcasted on every news network.

“…after collecting the personal accounts of those courageous enough to assist in driving back the monsters that have appeared from what we are now calling ‘gates,’ it seems that some citizens have awakened new superpowers that are able to drive back these beasts.

“Given the uncertainty ahead of us and in the name of keeping our country safe, we ask that all citizens who have awoken this power to report to a ‘Hunter Registration Center’ in the coming weeks so that we can mobilize to defend ourselves against this new threat if necessary. More information will be distributed soon. Thank you for your cooperation.”

Yoojin looks at Yoohyun, heart sinking like lead into his stomach, and thinks: fuck.

-

“Name and rank?” the clerk asks in a bored, monotone voice.

Yoojin clears his throat uncomfortably. “I’m actually not here to be registered—”

“Name and rank, please, before we proceed.”

“Han Yoohyun, S-Rank,” he sighs.

Her head jerks up, mouth agape. “S-Rank? There’s a separate reporting procedure if you’re A or above.”

“I came to ask if an exception could be made.” He gestures to Yoohyun, whose attention currently is captivated by a person demonstrating their ability on a potted plant. “See, it’s my brother, and he’s eleven, so…”

The clerk visibly grimaces. “The only protocol that I have is to tell you to report to the specialized team for high ranks. I’m sorry. Really.”

Yoojin figured as much. “Thanks anyway.” He gently tugs Yoohyun along with him as he steps away, and tries not to pay attention to the lingering look of pity that the clerk is giving them.

-

Finding the supposed room of high-ranked people takes at least three misdirections, four flights of stairs, and two incorrect rooms before Yoojin finally arrives at one with a girl—woman? She doesn’t look much older than Yoojin, but she’s tall—standing outside of it, bouncing on the balls of her feet. He only knows this one is the correct room because as soon as she catches a glimpse of him, she breaks into a bright grin. “Hey, I think there’s another one! What rank are you?” she asks after shouting her update into the room.

“Uh, S-Rank, but—”

“Wow!” she chirps, not bothering to hide her skeptical scan of his frame. “I guess even the scrawny ones count, huh?”

“What? I don’t think—”

“Relax, kid, I’m messing with you.” She laughs and swats at Yoojin’s arm with enough force that it’ll probably bruise. She raises an eyebrow when he hisses and rubs at it. “Welcome to the team.”

“Thanks, I guess, but—”

“And who is this?” she coos, crouching down to look at Yoohyun. “You brought your brother with you? Did he awaken powers too?”

“My name is Yoohyun,” he says, glaring at her with more fury than Yoojin has ever seen on his face before. “You hurt my brother.”

“Aw, cute. Don’t worry about it, kid, I was just having fun. Besides, us S-Ranks can take a little love tap. C’mon, let’s get you inside. My name is Moon Hyuna, by the way.” She shoves them towards the doorway with enough force that Yoojin stumbles.

“Moon Hyuna-ssi,” Yoojin starts, only to draw up short at the people in the room. He sort of understands now why Moon Hyuna had eyed him dubiously before—apart from her, the rest of the people there look much older and imposing. “I feel like I need to clarify a misunderstanding,” he says slowly. The weight of everyone’s attention on him makes sweat prickle at the back of his neck. “I haven’t awakened any powers. The S-Rank is my brother.”

There’s a beat of silence before Moon Hyuna breaks into laughter. “Oh, that’s funny. I didn’t take you for a jokester. I’m sure it’s fine for him to be here—we’re a pretty relaxed bunch, right?” The prompt is met with more silence. “Don’t worry about it.”

“I’m not joking, Moon Hyuna-ssi,” Yoojin says as seriously as possible. He readjusts his grip on Yoohyun’s hand and hopes that his palm isn’t too sweaty. “My brother is the one with the powers.”

She frowns at him. “I know you’re a kid and all, but you can take a joke too far, y’know? We’re all on the same level here, so you don’t have to feel like you have to prove anything. And it’s not polite to drag your brother into it either.”

Yoojin automatically bristles at the mention of Yoohyun. “I would never drag Yoohyun into something he doesn’t want to do or make him the butt of a joke. I told you, I’m telling the truth. I was told to report here because he’s an S-Rank, and then you made the assumption that it was me before I could explain.”

“Have the child demonstrate an ability,” another voice interjects. When Yoojin swings around to find the person it belonged to, he meets the gaze of the only blonde haired man in the room. Yoojin is frozen for a moment, terrified and not understanding why, before the motion of Yoohyun tugging his hand away snaps him out of it.

“I can make fire,” he says, offering a handful of flames to the room. “The menu also tells me I can do other things, but I haven’t figured out all of them out yet.”

The blonde man blinks. “I see.”

“How old are you, exactly?” comes Moon Hyuna’s incredulous voice. “Are you even out of elementary school?”

“I’m eleven,” Yoohyun says defensively.

“So you are in elementary school. God.”

“I’ll be in middle school next year!”

“You’re a baby,” Moon Hyuna counters. Yoojin can’t quite bring himself to disagree with her sentiment. “Even if you’re an S-Rank, there’s no way that the labor laws would let you out on the battlefield, national emergency or not. Isn’t that right, Song Taewon-ssi?”

Yoojin is interested in hearing this Song Taewon’s answer, but before there’s any response, there’s gold in his vision and a spark of pain around his neck. “What,” he croaks, fingers scrabbling for his throat, but just as quickly as the threat of violence arrived, it’s driven off by a burst of flame and heat.

“Leave my brother alone,” Yoohyun is snarling, absolutely livid as he glares at the blonde man, who’s now much closer than he was before. “Don’t hurt him.”

“I just wanted to check,” the man says breezily, but he doesn’t bother to hide the analytical gaze he flicks towards Yoojin. “Yoohyun-gun may be the S-Rank, but perhaps his brother awoke a different power.”

“You couldn’t have just asked?” Yoojin reaches up almost involuntarily to touch his neck, but there’s nothing there other than the phantom sensation of a hand closing around his throat. His hand, when he lowers it, is shaking.

“You could have lied. Wouldn’t you agree that the threat of death is more accurate?”

“I—” Yoojin cuts himself off to catch Yoohyun around the middle as he lunges for the man. “Yoohyun!”

“Let go of me, hyung,” Yoohyun demands. “He hurt you!”

“Calm down,” rumbles another voice. It comes from the man sitting at the front of the room, files spread in front of him and computer whirring away. There’s a little personnel badge that Yoojin can just barely make out the details of at this distance which declare the man to be Song Taewon, a government official. “Sung Hyunje-ssi, sit down. We’ll come to an agreement for an appropriate punishment later. Does anyone object to starting the meeting now?” He pauses for a moment. “Good.”

As everyone shuffles into a chair, Yoojin tightens his grip on Yoohyun and pulls him onto his lap as he takes a seat on the nearest chair. When he’d committed to bringing Yoohyun to get registered, he’d been braced for the feeling of being an outsider. He’s neither being an S-Rank nor has any powers at all. What he hadn’t been prepared for is the overwhelming awareness that he’s sitting in a room full of predators and he’s weak.

-

By the end of the meeting, Yoojin is convinced that there isn’t a single person in the room who would willingly cooperate with another even if held at gunpoint. It’s the way that each of them holds themselves, even Moon Hyuna, like any level of friendliness is a paper-thin veneer for something that wants to eat him alive. It’s terrifying.

At some point during the meeting, he catches the gaze of the only other non-S-Rank in the room, an A-Rank who introduced himself as a simple businessman who helped to defend a laundromat of people during the initial outbreak. There’s a certain understanding there in his eyes, like he knows that they’re both the weak ones in the room, and Yoojin has to look away before he’s forced to think too hard about what that means.

He can’t imagine Yoohyun growing up to be like these people.

He won’t.

-

Eventually, they’re released from the meeting, and Yoojin immediately ushers Yoohyun out of the building and in the direction of the subway stop. He can think and hyperventilate in the comfort of his own home, thank you very much.

Before they can make it further than a block away from the office building that they’ve repurposed for the registration center, a tap on his shoulder stops him in his tracks. “Hi,” is the awkward greeting of the A-Ranked businessman from the meeting. Kim Sunghan, if Yoojin is remembering his name correctly.

“Hello,” Yoojin responds warily. “Did you need something?”

“I just wanted to give you my number, in case you ran into any trouble or need any help.” He offers Yoojin a business card, though he falters when Yoojin doesn’t take it. “It’s okay if you never call. I just… Both you and your brother are young, and I don’t want to see you…” die, “get hurt.”

Yoojin takes the business card. On the back, there’s a handwritten note that says “Personal,” and a phone number written underneath that. “Thank you, Kim Sunghan-ssi. Have a good day.”

Kim Sunghan nods and heads back in the direction of the building. Yoojin pockets the business card, smiles at Yoohyun reassuringly, and keeps heading towards the subway station.

-

Yoojin has never thought of himself as having bad luck or being superstitious, but when there’s a deafening screech—one that’s made by something living, not the sound of brakes scraping against metal—in the subway tunnel as they’re exiting at their stop, he has a fleeting thought for whether he’s been cursed.

There’s an immediate stampede as everyone rushes for the exit, so Yoojin pushes Yoohyun into a corner away from the crowd of people so that they don’t get trampled on their way to safer ground. “Hyung,” Yoohyun whispers as they squeeze together next to a trash can, “I promise I’ll keep you safe.”

“Me too,” Yoojin chokes out, instead of saying I wish you didn’t have to.

-

In accordance with Yoojin’s newly discovered abysmal luck, the frantic swarm of people doesn’t die down until he can already feel the ground shaking beneath him as whatever was screeching earlier draws closer and closer. “C’mon,” he urges Yoohyun, following the lessened stream of people towards the exit. “C’mon, c’mon, c’mon,” he mumbles under his breath. He can feel his heart pounding.

He loses his footing when he’s shoved by someone next to him, and he has to stagger down a few steps and shuffle to the side to avoid bumping into Yoohyun or any of the other stragglers. “I’m okay,” he reassures before Yoohyun can get off any worried questions, “Just lost my balance.”

It’s from this vantage point that he sees the subway train ripple like someone shaking a jump rope except not, because it’s rigid and metallic and heavy, and it’s also from here that he sees the shadow of a person dash for safety on the other end of the platform. He doesn’t know why they didn’t come over here earlier, but that’s the end that the sounds are coming from and it’s almost certain that they’ll die if they stay over there.

“Hey, you!” he yells, waving his hands wildly. “You gotta come over here! It’s not safe over there!”

They glance up, startled, but don’t otherwise acknowledge his words. He sees why they’re still over there in the next moment—they limp as they walk, a lopsided shuffle as they focus on dodging the cracks forming in the ground over making progress towards the station exit.

“Shit,” Yoojin breathes. He looks back at Yoohyun’s who’s still waiting patiently beside Yoojin, hands gripped tight on Yoojin’s jacket sleeve, and then towards the limping figure again. He could probably make it there and back in time. Almost definitely. The echoing in the tunnels make it hard to tell exactly how far away the monsters are, but it should be possible.

Shit.

“Yoohyun, keep going outside, okay? It’ll be safer outside. I’ll be right back.” It’s almost physically painful to say the words, but they still feel right as he says them.

“What? No, I’m not going without you.” Yoohyun tugs harder on his sleeve in protest. “Where are you going?”

“I’ll be right behind you, I promise.”

“No, I’m not going.”

“Yoohyun! Please.” He knows exactly how stubborn his brother can be, which is why he gives up on convincing Yoohyun when he sees the look on his face.

“Hyung!”

Yoojin winces at the betrayal in Yoohyun’s voice as he’s left clutching Yoojin’s jacket on the stairs, but focuses on getting to the person as quickly as possible. They’re smaller than he’d thought from afar, and he realizes with a pang that it’s a girl who looks to be younger than Yoohyun.

“You’re stupid,” she screams when Yoojin gets close enough, voice hoarse and nasally, and he abruptly realizes that she’s been crying. “You’re gonna die because you came back for me.”

“We’re both gonna live,” he corrects, scooping her into his arms, and runs back the way he came as fast as his legs can carry them.

“You’re so stupid,” she sobs, and it hurts just as much as any time he’s seen Yoohyun cry.

He almost stumbles when he reaches the ticket stations, head aching from the noise and the shaking of the ground, but another set of arms catches the girl as he trips into the turn gates. “You are stupid, hyung,” Yoohyun agrees, pulling the girl off of Yoojin’s back and across the ticket reader with all the non-existent strength of an eleven year old.

“Ow,” she mutters stubbornly, but accepts the hand that he sticks out to help her up.

Yoojin starts clambering over the bulky machine, shooing the kids away with every spare breath he has. “Go, go, I’ll be right behind you, I’m already so close, you see? Please, Yoohyun, just go.”

He throws himself over the last of it just as Yoohyun and the girl are reaching the middle of the first set of stairs, tripping right into a graceless tumble that at least brings him to the foot of the stairs. It hurts, and he just knows that he’ll have a whole assortment of bruises from this the next day, but he shoves aside all of that in favor of scrambling after his kids.

Just as he’s pulled himself into an upright position, he feels a puff of hot, putrid air against his back, hears a shrill scream from the girl, and is buffeted by a freezing gust of air that nearly blows him back off of his feet. He lifts his gaze to meet the dazed expression of the girl and the look of utter terror on Yoohyun’s.

“I don’t know how long it’ll last,” the girl says shakily, which finally prompts Yoojin to glance back at the hulking boar-creature with tusks that are the size of his torso, currently frozen to the middle of the train platform and entirely too close for comfort. “And I don’t know how much more of them there’ll be.”

“Yeah,” Yoojin breathes, taking one trembling step towards the kids. Once he takes that one, the next few are easier, and he uses it as motivation to put one foot in front of the other. “We’ll be out of here by then, don’t worry.”

“I don’t know if I trust you when you say ‘don’t worry,’” the girl says dubiously, but she still reaches out for him as he climbs up the stairs and clings to him when he goes to pick her up again.

“Well, we made it, didn’t we?” Yoojin makes sure that Yoohyun stays in front of him the entire trek up the rest of the stairs, too mindful of both Yoohyun’s attempts to do the same and the ceaseless rumbling still echoing down the subway tunnel. He counts one point in favor of his good luck that the frozen one seems to have been a scout. He’s not sure that they would’ve survived anything more.

“Let’s get out of here.”

Yoohyun is a born S-rank right? So even if the gates had appeared when he was like, eleven, he still would have awakened at S rank. 

Now one assumes eleven-year-old Yoohyun isn’t going to be trying to leave his hyung (I doubt it would occur to him) and so you have Yoojin attending S-class meetings right off with a lap full of surly baby S-class. For funsies let’s have him stumble upon Yerim, a dungeon break and Yerim also awakening as S class, so now Yoojin has an eleven-year-old and an eight-year-old s class he’s taking care of. Does he try to form a guild? Join with a company? How does our unawakend Yoojin handle things? And his god-tier charges. (how many of his bones get broken in the process?) Does the system attempt to buff him to deal with this?  

Also Yoohyun and Yerim attempting to throw hands with Hyunjae even as little kids.