#hex talks turtles

[turtle--soup]

Okay.

I have not seen ROTTMNT yet, but I've picked up some stuff from just floating around the fandom. Something I've learned, which is discussed in this post here, is that Rise Leo is generally considered - and considers himself the 'Face Man' of the team. (GIFs below are swiped from the linked post by @risestarkiss - I couldn't find them in tumblr's gif search function...)

Anyway. This is interesting to me because I am, for my sins, also a fan of The A-Team.

(I promise this is going somewhere! If you want to find out where I'm going with this, I'll put the rest of the post under a cut because it got a little long...)

For those of you unfamiliar with The A-Team, it's a (very silly) 80s TV series about a group of Vietnam War veterans who are on the run from the government after being convicted of a crime they didn't commit. The four of them spend their lives in hiding, making a living by using their combat skills to help people in need.

Here they are:

Left: Colonel John 'Hannibal' Smith, leader of the team, brains of the outfit and most likely to have become an evil mastermind in an alternate timeline.

Right: Sergeant B.A. Baracus. Nicknamed 'Bad Attitude' due to his lack of patience for bullshit, B.A. is the resident tough guy but also an absolute teddy bear of a man, and is always ready to help people, especially children and the elderly.

Left: Captain H.M. 'Howling Mad' Murdock is the team's pilot and can fly just about anything. As his nickname suggests, he's considered a bit eccentric and is a silly kind of guy. (He's also a permanent resident of a psychiatric hospital but let's not get into that right now.)

Right: Lieutenant Templeton Peck. His role in the team is to provide them with whatever they need, whether that be vehicles, weapons, tools or access to places. He usually achieves this using his charm and wit, gaining him the nickname 'Face Man.'

Okay, so bearing these descriptions in mind, look at Leo's dialogue in this GIF:

I'm assuming that Donnie is the brainy guy, Raph is the smashy guy, and Mikey is the 'eats peanut butter with his fingers guy'. And Leo is the Face Man. That's his role.

But these descriptions fit the members of The A-Team too. Hannibal is the brainy guy, B.A. is the smashy guy, Murdock is the guy who absolutely eats peanut butter with his fingers (while maintaining unbroken eye contact throughout). And then there's Face.

How is this in any way relevant?

Well.

It just so happens that someone else is a fan of The A-Team...

Of course the Mirage turtles watched The A-Team! It was a popular show in the mid-80s, and you have to admit - they do have a lot in common, being four guys fighting injustice from the shadows and all... The A-Team even have a friend on the outside who helps them out - Amy Allen.

She's a reporter. Like someone else we know...

But which of the Mirage turtles in the image above is suggesting they should watch The A-Team?

According to this bio card from 1990 that coincides with the 1987 series...

... it might be Leo!

Was this intentional on the part of the Rise writers? I don't know!

Is it relevant? Probably not!

Does this tentative link between these two silly 80s series make me ridiculously happy? Yes!

Was this entire post just leading up to this? Yeah... sorry...

I like to think that the link is intentional. I've heard that Rise makes reference to other iterations of TMNT, as they all do. I would just personally love it if someone on the team wanted to draw parallels between these two series on purpose!

Anyway.

I just noticed that and really needed to get it off my chest! Thank you to everyone who stuck with this longer-than-intended post right to the end! 💙💜❤🧡

[turtle--soup]

I'm never sure how to rate things out of 10, but Reciprocity definitely has made me cry multiple times!

I should mention though that I cry (a lot! 😅) at happy/ cute scenes (recently I cried a lot at one of the characters just being the most lovable dork...) as well as upsetting stuff, and Reciprocity definitely has both!

The angsty stuff is a big part of the fic, but there's a lot of heartwarming and goofy stuff peppered in between too, which works really well for me. If I was to rate it for angst then like... a 6 or 7? For balance...

It's tough sometimes and it will hit you hard in the feels, but with the promise of a happy ending it never seems like it's hopeless or too much to deal with.

I hope that helps anon!

On a scale of 1 to 10, how angsty is your fix? (The one where Leo dies I think?? Raph centered one) Just so I can prepare myself! Cuz like, I may need to get more tissues if it’s more then 4 ⭐️

LOL! Uhhhh I think it's hard for me to say myself because I'm the biased author, but maybe readers can give their own angst ratings of Reciprocity in the comments of this post?

If it helps, it's not a spoiler for me to tell you that Leo is alive! Everyone but Raph just thinks he's dead because of reasons about to be revealed in Chapter 18! The fic is told from Raph's perspective, but you see Leo still alive several times. The first time you see him is in Chapter 6.

I also promise a happy ending! I cannot put the boys through all of this without making things more or less okay by the end 😭

[little-cereal-draws]

ok I need witchy help again. There's a grove of trees behind my dorm that's being cut down and I know there's nothing I can physically do to stop it but I want to protect the animals that live there.

There are two barbed wire fences and a highway separating us so I've never actually been in it, but I've been spending several hours a day looking at this grove for abt a year and a half. There's a shipping company located behind the trees and semitrucks with shipping containers drive around it. Idk what company it is but now they're cutting down the trees, adding lights that block out the stars, and paving over it. I watched them rip about a fourth of it out with their machinery this morning.

It makes me so fucking furious I want to go over there and tell them to stop and so sad that I want to cry. Those trees have been such an important part of my own mental health even if I can't get close to them and I know SO many creatures live there. I've started having stress dreams abt them ripping it out when they started abt a week ago and a lot of my dreams involved using magic to stop it.

I tried googling it but I couldn't find any protective charms or spells for the environment, they were all protection for yourself that uses the environment. I don't want to want to hex that company, I just want to protect the animals that live there and give them a new place to stay. I am a baby witch who's also a broke/busy college student so smth that's quick and easy would be preferred but I'll take anything.

More of my angry rant under the cut bc I'm furious

List of animals that I've seen living in the trees and in the small swamp in front of it over the years:

opossums

multiple families of raccoons

a cat colony with kittens

eight different species of frogs

cranes

many different species of corvid

owls

bats

a family of red shouldered hawks

vultures

rabbits

foxes

many different species of jay

snakes

leeches (yes they deserve to be saved too)

turtles

skinks

lizards

geckos

many different species of insects, there's no way I can list them all

hummingbirds

mourning doves

a singular alligator

Every single fucking day I watch the cranes fly East to sleep on the river as the sun sets. I've seen them fly West to the swamps as the sun rises too. I saw two vultures courting the other day. The raccoons, cats, and opossums don't run from me anymore and will happily let me get within a few feet of them (I never try to touch them). I know exactly which trees the bats live in. I saw a moth that was bright blue and orange, mimicking a species of wasp. I saw a species of hawk I had never seen before. I talk and sing to the trees even if there are no animals there. That was the only place I've seen a wild fox. The cranes land in the swamp and hunt the frogs. There's a huge bullfrog that lives in the back corner. I've saved baby snakes and turtles from cars. They both easily fit in the palm of my hand. I thought I found an injured bird the other day and was totally ready to help it even though I don't know how (it turned out to be fine, just behaving really strangely). Every time it rains, I go out and pick worms off the sidewalk for hours. The trees are where I go to get away from the stress of my schoolwork, my two jobs, and my roommates.

I need this ecosystem so fucking much, I have hung so much of my mental health on it and now they're coming in and ripping it out and paving over it!!!! They're putting more barbed wire, more pavement, more streetlights. I want to see the tall grass and the puddles and the trees and the hills not a FUCKING PARKING LOT WITH TRUCKS BEHIND A FENCE. I AM SO SCARED FOR THE CREATURES THAT LIVE THERE, I NEED THEM TO BE OK. EVEN IF I LOSE THE TREES, I'LL FEEL BETTER KNOWING THAT THE ANIMALS ARE SOMEPLACE SAFE. THERE'S A HIGHWAY LITERALLY ON ALL SIDES, I DON'T KNOW WHERE ELSE THEY CAN GO. I NEED THEM TO BE OK

[saladmix]

HII I LOVE YOUR FIC SO MUCH!! IT MEANS THE WORLD TO ME!! SERIOUSLY THE BEST THING I'VE READ THIS WHOLE YEAR!!

this might have already been answered but I'd like to ask what was your inspiration for writing a tmnt horror story? and what are some of your favorite horror books/movies/etc. ?

again "The Day the World Broke" is so amazing I don't even know how to properly articulate how good it is

AHH THANK YOU this fills my cold dead heart to the brim with joy <3 I'm so glad you're enjoying it I'm truly so warmed by the fact that it has gotten any pick up at all given the wild genre!

And thank you for sending questions omg please don't mind me as a ramble for forever because I could talk about this kind of stuff all day (and I have, much to friend and family despair).

The impetus for TDTWB was actually me driving back late at night from a friend's place. It was REAL foggy, the kind of fog where you can't see in front of you and have to rely on the small road markers right as they come into sight. The mist in the story is almost its own character, I love how alive it feels (and how it sometimes very much IS alive, SOS). But that's where I kind of originally built the idea out on that drive home.

But I consume a huge amount of horror/suspense media so there are so many elements of different things that have kind of come together and coalesced into this story. You see a lot of elements of Silent Hill, Resident Evil, and Evil Within baked into it, especially with the monster element. I really wanted to go big or go home with some of those creatures. I myself love a good creature flick but there was nothing more fun for my friends and I screaming in front of a game when a new horrifying monster came on for us to fight. It just reminds me of those times, where it's scary, sure, but mostly the feeling of 'Oh my goooooood what the hell!' that I really enjoy.

There are also a ton of other movie influences and some of them are more subtle and based on singular scenes that get kind of expanded upon. For instance, there's a scene in the First Omen (skip over if you don't want to be spoiled for the scene, but it is in the trailer!) where our girl is sitting in a dark room, saying it isn't real, and a voice answers back "what's not real?". That stuck with me for a while I really loved that so a lot of Leo's Demon Shredder experience is kind of build on that singular feeling of sudden dread.

But as with some of the good horror movies, it's not just about the scares and the monsters. A real desire for me when writing horror is digging into that humanity piece, a concept you can see across a lot of horror series and books. I wanted each of these boys to have their own arc to contend with and some are more subtle and others are more, how you say, extremely obvious. But they were all very purposefully built in. It was important for me to make these characters vibrant and dimensional and it was not hard, because it's TMNT and we love these turtle boys! But I was hyper-aware that I'm doing an AU version that is pretty atypical, with what is essentially a regular family of teenagers having to navigate the end of the world. So I'm so touched that people love them as much as I do!

I don't even know if I'm answering the question at this point! My goodness. But I WILL wrap it up with some of my favorite recent media that I've consumed, otherwise this list would grow beyond anyone's desire to read <3

Books:

Hex by Thomas Oldeheuvelt (This felt like a really unique premise that really speaks to the whole humanity is the monster theme)

Sister, Maiden, Monster by Lucy A. Snyder (Not for the faint of heart! But boy was it a wild trip that I thought about for weeks after I finished it)

Movies:

Heretic (just came out, super eerie for me I loved the build up)

Smile 2 (I love me a movie that trips into Uncanny Valley, I found the scares unique and fun, but for me I loved the character, drew me right in!)

Oddity (SOOOO eerie, super obsessed with it)

TV Shows:

The Haunting of Hill House (I highly recommend this one for the family drama behind the horror, it's such a fun, beautiful time)

Thanks for the ask!! I really loved it, and I love talking about this story and horror so please ask away any time. Thank you so very much for reading the story too!

[falling-from-dawn-au]

INTRODUCTION + AU INFORMATION MASTERPOST

Hi! Welcome to my AU Sideblog. Call me Splatsy, or just Splat if you'd prefer! My main is @turtles-that-are-mutant-ninjas!

They/He and plural pronouns

Minor

If you recognize my art style, hi, no you don't /lh

Falling From Dawn AU Base Info

The Falling From Dawn (or FFD) AU is an AU comic I'm making. It takes place after the ROTTMNT Movie, so heads up for spoilers about that!

At some points, this blog will function as an ask FFD![character] blog! It'll be a good way for me to keep up motivation.

My main goal is to post at least 3 pages a month; one arc per month, basically, but my motivation fluctuates a LOT. I'm also still in school, so this schedule will probably not be stuck to very well, but I'll do my best!

PLEASE feel free to send asks and/or writing requests for the AU! I'd be glad to write things when I'm low on motivation to draw for the comic.

MAIN TAGS:

#Splatsy Splashes - Unrelated to the AU/Just Talking type posts!

#Splatsy Responds - Asks and submissions tag!

#🔃 - Reblog Tag, filter this if you want only AU stuff, but I try not to reblog things often!! (This tag doesn't apply to important reblogs or competition reblogs!!!)

#falling from dawn au / #fallling from dawn rottmnt au / #ffd au - Posts talking about the au!!

#ffd canon - Canon AU things, couples with other tags

#ffd noncanon - Noncanon AU things, couples with other tags

#ffd art - Art for the AU!

#ffd writing - If I do any standalone writing for the AU, it'll be here!

#ffd panels / #ffd pages - Official panels/pages for the comic!

Below the cut are the chronological arcs and character info. Anything underlined links to its respective page.

ARCS (In chronological order)

I've added the titles and numbers for every main series page! Links will be added as pages are posted. A spider mutant is present in Arc 3. I have arachnophobia myself, so I'll try to make them look Not Terrifying, but here's a warning just in case.

Arc 0 - Prequel Pages -2 - War is Over (HEAVY GORE WARNING) | -1 - Recovery Takes Time | 0 - Rising Powers Arc 1 - Grasping at Stars 1 - Waves of Flight | 2 - Dusk at Dawn | 3 - Telekinetic Shadows (BODY HORROR, EYE CONTACT) Arc 2 - Swooping Eagle 4 - Fall to Fly | 5 - Skycrash | 6 - Mystery Webs Arc 3 - Arachnofoe 7 - Heliophobic | 8 - Bound by the Strings | 9 - Hisses of Rain Arc 4 - Storming Scales 10 - Carnivorous Risks | 11 - Hurricane's Cry | 12 - Venomous Dreaming Arc 5 - Dawnfall Dreams 13 - Dreaded Dreamweaver | 14 - Nearsighted Nightmares | 15 - Sunset Showdown Arc 6 - Tears of the Sky 16 - Cryocrier | 17 - Nexica Hex | 18 - Cryptic Calling Arc 7 - Midnight Madness 19 - Total Eclipse | 20 - Shattered Stars | 21 - Polluted Shadows Arc 8 - Hope is a Weapon 22 - Howling Ghosts | 23 - Lionheart | 24 - Fall Away Arc 9 - Skies Painted Black 25 - Hellicite Hopes | 26 - Wavewinged Wishes | 27 - Lunar Eclipse Arc 10 - Falling From Dawn 28 - Duskrise | 29 - Noon of Night | 30 - Dawnfall Arc 11 - Lightsky Saviors 31 - Rises the Moon | 32 - Take Back the Light | 33 - Hope for Dawn Arc 12 - Saved by Sunrise 34 - Grasping at Stars | 35 - Tears of the Sky | 36 - Rising from Dusk

AU Drabbles/Short Stories

I'm starting to write short stories corresponding to each page of Falling From Dawn! They will be linked here as they are written, and will have the same name as the page they correspond to.

-2 - War is Over

Character "Files!"

Raphael/Raph - 17 - He/It. His ref sheet is here! Second in command. The big brother. His powers here are: The same as the show (I'll be honest i forgot what it's called) - Plant and Ground Manipulation - Lunar Phase Embodiment.

Leonardo/Leo/Leon/Nardo - 16 and a half, according to him. Physically just 16. - He/Him. His ref sheet is here! The main AU plotline follows him. Leader of the group. His powers here are: Advanced portalmaking - Water Manipulation - Speed.

Donatello/Donnie/Don - 16 and a half, according to him. Physically only 16. - He/They/Code|Code's|Codeself. Code's ref sheet is here! Secondary plotlines follow him. Tech nerd. His powers here are: Telekinesis - Object + Weapon Synthesis - Shadow Manipulation.

Michelangelo/Mikey/Angelo/Angela - 15 - He/She. Her ref sheet is here! The real funny one. Little brother/sister. His powers here are: Fire and Metal Manipulation - Chain Synthesis - Solar Embodiment.

[turtle--soup]

According to Donnie in an episode of Next Mutation* I watched today, the turtles have a much lower body temperature than humans (63.2°F vs 98.6°F) so... make of that what you will I guess?

*the line is right at the start of the episode, about 3 minutes into the video, if anyone wants to watch it!

...so like, are the turtles warm blooded or cold blooded?

ive wanted to know this for so long

[tr1cerat0ps]

about the littles nd body...

about the body :;

bodily 18 . trans boy . slavic / croatian

about the mind :;

neurodivergent , BPD , autistic , system(?) nd short memory .

the littles :;

miguel ( 🐢 ) , mikey ( 🛹 ) , mikester ( 🪅 ) nd korvin ( 🦴 ) .

about 🐢miguel :;

or whatever nickname !! uses it / woozy / pawe nd only neoprns !! woozys aroace unlabelled nd bixenary !! typing quirk is i = I ( lowercase i = uppercase I ) nd e / E = 3 ( lowercase e / uppercase E = three ) with “ :33 ›› ” in front of the text !! age regressor :; big age is 15 , little age is 3 - 6 !! pet regressor :; bat nd turtle !! source is TMNT 2003 mikey !!

about 🪅mikester ::

or any nicknames !! uses he / ono / eepy nd neoprns that r silly :P ono is genderflux bxy enby symmaic !! typing quirk :; all over the place TvT ,, e / E = 3 ( lowercase e / uppercase E = three ) ,, i / I = 1 ( lowercase i / uppercase I = one ) ,, a / A = 4 ( lowercase a / uppercase A = four ) ,, o / O = 0 ( lowercase o / uppercase O = zero ) ,, s / S = z / Z ( lowercase s / uppercase S = lowercase z / uppercase Z ) ,, l = L ( lowercase l = uppercase L ) nd w / W = v / V ( lowercase w / uppercase W = lowercase v / uppercase V ) !! age regressor :; big age is 15 ,, little age is 2 - 4 !! pet regressor :; turtle nd kitty !! source is TMNT 2012 mikey !!

about 🛹mikey :;

uses he / it / shim !! shim is boygirl abro acespec t4t !! typing quirk :; o / O = ★ ( lowercase o / uppercase O = filled star ) nd i / I = ! ( lowercase i / uppercase I = exclamation mark ) !! dream regressor :: big age is 19 ,, little age is 8 - 12 !! pet regressor :; turtle nd bear !! source is TMNT 2007 mikey !!

about 🦴korvin :;

or korv !! uses he / it !! it is trans butch/femme boy aroacespec omni-lesgay t4t polyam !! no typing quirk !! age regressor :; big age is 18 ,, little age is 3 - 6 !! dream regressor :; little age is 1 - 2 !! pet regressor :; puppy , european pine marten nd bat !! one of the hosts of body nd body ( ? ) !!!

fun facts :;

body is a taurus !! our fav colours are green , purple , blue nd yellow !! our eyes are very sensitive to bright colors :(( we wear glasses !! we are mostly metalheads ^-^ we are in highschool for fashion nd design nd using that knowledge to try to make a battle jacket ( not even started that much TvT ) !! we have several cats nd 2 dogs !!! we are colourblind so if ya req w colours use hex codes or rgb codes ;)) nd finally ,, some of us r shy but we love talking to people !! feel free to message us whenever nd we will answer ( in asks or dms ) !!

onto the interests :;

we play a lot of videogames nd drawww !! minecraft, spiderman, pokémon , tmnt , tnmn , pou , talking angela 2 + so many more !! we also like a lot of shows nd movies :; lego ninjago , the lost boys , near the dark , power rangers nd a bunch more shows too !! we also watch some youtubers !!! bonus interests rr triceratops ,, bones ,, paganism ,, collecting tabs on cans nd collecting stuffies !!

anyways ,, if ya made it this far , thankk uu for reading aalll that !! also translation for typing quirk is always IN tags !! <333

[drawlfoy]

detention retention finale p.1

masterlist (read parts 1-2 here!) request guidelines

pairing: draco x reader

request: no this series is from my original idea however i did take inspo from quite a few people (credited at the bottom of this)

summary: gryffindor y/n is put to the test when she tries to use her detentions with draco malfoy to get close enough for him to share his secret. unfortunately, things are never as simple as they seem. (set in 6th year)

warnings (plz pay attention to these this time): blood, violence, mild gore, mentions of wanting to throw up, you’re just kinda not having a great time during this chapter. also, kinda dark!harry trope here. it is a little ooc, i know, but it was what worked and so i ran with it. also, i play around with the timeline of events that occur in hbp so just expect that 

a/n: the long awaited p1 of the finale is here! the second half is almost entirely written save for a few scenes, and i expect to get that out in the next few days (so much less than a week). i really appreciate you all being patient--i wrote and rewrote the potion scene about 3-4 times because it just wasn’t the vibes that i wanted, but i’m semi happy with how it turned out and at this point i’m just gonna go crazy if i keep trying to restructure it so here we go. all the loose ends will b tied up in the last part and y/n is finally gonna catch a break ;) so as always lmk what you think!

word count: 8.7k

here’s a spotify playlist inspired by this fic!

tags: @gruffle1 @missmultifandommess @cleopatera @hahaboop @accio-rogers @geeksareunique @eltanin-malfoy @war-sword @cams-lynn @itsivyberry @ayo-cowbelly @nerd-domland @yesnerdsblog @shizarianathania @evanstanfanatic @strawberriesonsummer @hariosborn @night-ving @straightzoinked @imintoodeeptostop @naiomimoonshard @jejegu @ophelia-enthusiast @alwaysbeanunknownfan @nearly-memories @litty-dumb @callieclearwater @malfoy-wife15 @charlenasaxen @belladaises @fiantomartell @yiamalfoy @crystalox @dracoismybabey @dreamcxtcherr @decaffeinated-turtle @marrymetheonott @felicityofbakerstreet @daedreamss 

enjoy >:)

Snape’s stores were much more difficult to crack than she’d expected. She’d managed to steal one ingredient from there once, but back then all she had to do was disengage the multiple jinxes that guarded the door. Since, unfortunately, her slimy old Potions professor appeared to have felt a compulsion to fluff his nest and redecorate. A new painting was hung on the door--one of a large raven with beady, intelligent eyes that followed her as she walked past as inconspicuous as she could, no doubt preparing to fly off into the painting’s grey sky to alert his master. Her father had something similar to this in front of his Gringotts vault. She resolved to speak with him over the break to try and find a way in. 

Not like she’d had any chance to execute her plan, anyways. It had been two weeks since Y/N had so much as had a simple interaction with Draco. Every time she tried to talk to him, he turned his attention away from her, offering her a disinterested sniff in response or just outright pretending like he didn’t notice her. Pansy Parkinson seemed to take joy in this development, though she was hardly getting anything on her end save for a few dry looking conversations as Draco’s body angled away from her. 

Without the “distraction” of friendship and genuine human connection, Y/N had plenty of time to emotionally free-fall into an internal moral crisis. She supposed that Draco wasn’t expecting her to keep up her end of the deal now, just as her Gryffindor friends had given up on trying to make her useful. Physically, nothing was stopping her from walking right up to McGonagall during one of her detentions and telling her that Draco Malfoy was making an attempt on the headmaster’s life. But was it really worth it? Every time the thought crossed her mind, all she could think about was the way Draco looked when he talked about his mother, the way a shiny film glazed over his eyes and his eyebrows knit together. 

She’d made a promise. Too much was at stake. While she had failed her friends, she was at least not going to fail Draco...not when the rest of the world had betrayed him. 

Y/N was slowly sifting through thoughts like those when Katie Bell stepped foot into the Great Hall for the first time in a month. Her legs, slightly wobbly from being on bedrest for the better half of November, carried her down the aisle towards the trio of Y/N’s now ex-friends. Her soliloquy was interrupted by the familiar sound of Harry’s voice as he spoke, hushed and rather quickly, to Katie, his hands animated and his frame bent slightly lower so he could speak quietly. It didn’t take much imagination to discern what the topic of their discussion was as their eyes flickered over to the Slytherin table. She managed to hear a few snippets as the wind from the owls blew in and carried it towards her: 

“Malfoy--”

“Was it?”

“...remember?”

Katie, lips pressed into a thin line, shook her head. Harry bit his own lip and swung around to look at a blond figure further down the aisle. Draco. He was staring at the meeting, his body entirely frozen while he took it in. 

Oh, Draco.

Before either party could say anything, he was already turned around and speeding off outside of the hall. She swallowed; Harry and the rest of her Gryffindor peers were conversing and not casting a single look her way. Taking a deep breath, she got up from her seat, leaving her half eaten toast behind.

It didn’t take long to locate Draco--Myrtle’s bathroom was hardly a minute’s walk away from the Great Hall. He was in the same position she saw him there last, his head hanging over the sink basin while his body heaved.

“Draco,” she called out.

He snapped around, his eyes wild and his hair slightly wet at the tips. It occurred to her that he’d splashed his face with water. “Come around again for a formal Katie Bell confession?”

“No!” she exclaimed. No matter how much she tried, she couldn’t get herself past the doorway. Not when his wand was raised at her like that. “I wouldn’t do that. I would never do that.”

“That’s rich, coming from you,” he snarled. “Do you really expect me to believe anything you say?”

“Please,” said Y/N. “Please let me explain.” Despite the sting of his words, she couldn’t help but feel some degree of relief when she realized that he was finally speaking to her again, finally acknowledging her again. 

He let out a huff of disbelief. “This isn’t about you. Don’t you get it? It doesn’t matter whether or not you explain. You lied to me. You put my family in danger, me in danger. And for what? A date with Potter?”

“What?” All the air left her lungs as she stared at him. “It was never like that!” 

“Save it.” His tone, a bitter blend of vileness and defeat, echoed off the stone of the bathroom floor. Y/N was overwhelmed with the urge to run up to him and just beg him to forgive her, but the fire in his eyes and the angry twist of his mouth told her that that wasn’t an option. Instead, she slowly crept towards him. His eyes blazed as she neared him holding her hands up. “Please, Draco. I’m begging you.” 

His composure slipped, his wand shaking slightly in the air while he caught his bottom lip on his teeth and stared at her with a look she couldn’t quite place. She was just about to ask him about it when a pair of footsteps stopped right outside the bathroom.

“I know what you did, Malfoy!” Harry appeared, brandishing his wand and pointing it at him with conviction. “You hexed her, didn’t you? Katie?”

Draco sucked in a wheezy breath, struggling to stand up entirely straight as he held his wand at the ready. 

“You’re not even gonna deny it?”

“Let me guess, Y/L/N couldn’t get a confession out of me so you’re here to pick up the slack?” Draco finally snarled. “How cute.” 

“Shut up!” roared Harry. She’d never seen him look so furious before. “You have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“I think I do,” he said menacingly, the usual cool confidence she associated with him slowly reappearing in his demeanor as he twirled his wand around his fingers. Y/N finally let out the breath she was holding as Harry zeroed his focus on her. 

“And just what are you doing here?” he hissed. “Hermione was right, huh? You were with him the entire time. I can’t believe I expected anything different from you.”

Despite the fighting nature of the words coming from one of her best friends, she couldn’t help but glance at Draco as confusion briefly rippled through his features. 

He didn’t know. He didn’t know that she was being shunned by her friends for not telling them anything.

“I was just checking on him!” she wailed.

Visibly unsatisfied with the answer, Harry just scoffed and aimed his wand at Draco. “You’re going to confess what you did or I’m going to make you regret it.”

Harry wasted no time with firing off the first spell--a weakly cast Stupefy that hardly missed her head as Draco’s Protego ricocheted it in her direction. She yelped as she dodged it, smacking into the side of the stall door and falling on the ground unceremoniously hard. Frantically, she dug through the pockets of her cloak to locate her wand, but she was too late. A flash of light was headed her way.

Instead of it smacking into her chest with the force of a curse, the green light spread around her, creating a shield-like sphere. She met Draco’s eye’s briefly in shock. 

He’d cast a protection spell on her. In the middle of a duel that she was hardly formally a part of, he cast a protection spell on her.

“Diffindo!” The puddles from the eternal broken faucet glowed red as Harry parried Draco’s attack. It again went flying in her direction, breaking through the shell of the Fion Duris charm. In a stroke of luck, she rolled out of the way. A light blue flash followed from Draco--a nonverbal.

Finally. Y/N managed to close her hands around her wand, mind racing with thoughts of who she’d disarm first. Her wand had just begun to point towards Harry as the aftershocks of a Levicorpus charm slammed her to the ground once again, her wand bouncing on the cobbled stone once before rolling under the stall door. Y/N swore. “Harry, stop it!”

Harry was clearly losing composure. Despite his magical talent, the speed at which he was rattling off curses compromised his control...and his aim. Draco sent a few Fion Duris and Protego Maxima charms her way, but it still didn’t help when Harry had completely lost it. 

Things turned for the worst when his Tergeo actually sliced Y/N--just barely, but enough to draw a significant amount of blood in her wand arm. Even if she wanted to try and find her wand behind the toilets, she wasn’t even sure if she had the strength to fire off anything.

Her cry of pain prompted Draco to immediately turn his attention from Harry, angling his body towards her instead, an indistinguishable expression etched into his face as he took in the bloodstained white sleeve of her arm. 

Under normal circumstances, Y/N would’ve swooned at the fact that he willingly forfeited the duel just to check on her. But these weren’t normal circumstances, and Harry’s rage-filled expression and clenched jaw reminded her of this as he reeled his arm back and shouted out, “SECTUMSEMPRA!”

She didn’t think about it. To her credit, there really was no time to think. The cracking crimson light flashing towards Draco’s distracted figure was enough for her to launch herself at him with the intent of knocking them both to the ground--but she was too late, far too late. Glowing red light encased her entire body for a few tense milliseconds before she crumpled to the ground.

The Sectumsempra curse felt like every single nerve ending in her chest was being massaged with a sharp knife. Hot, sticky blood filled her mouth as she blinked, glassy-eyed and dazed, up at the ceiling. Distantly she could hear familiar voices over her body. There was a wet warmth that bloomed on her chest. She managed to glance down at her midsection to see an array of deep, short slashes scattered across her torso. 

“Am I okay?” Her voice sounded tinny and funny to her. A pair of light gray eyes came into her vision as she managed another breath. “Draco? Is that you?”

If he leaned closer, she couldn’t tell. His face was beginning to swim in her vision, blending in with the glass ceiling. Finally, a familiar voice, albeit strained and cracking: “You’re okay.”

She felt something shaky brush past her cheek and the coolness of metal rings dance over her skin.

“Are you sure?”

“Yes. You’re going to be okay.” He sounded so far away for someone who was leaning right over her. She could see out of the corner of her eye a figure, cloaked in dark robes, raise its wand and recite an unfamiliar incantation. The metallic taste in her mouth began to subside as she felt the warm stickiness of her own blood seep back into her skin. 

“I’m sorry,” she whispered, not entirely sure what she was apologizing for but doing it anyway. She thought she could feel the warmth of someone’s fingers softly cupping her face, but it could’ve been the heat of the tears pooling at the corners of her eyes. In that moment, she was overwhelmed with the desire to just be held, to not be lonely. “Please don’t go,” she begged. 

The last thing she heard was a tense, “...Okay.” Then everything went black.

~

Y/N spent the majority of her break obsessing over the last memory she had of Draco--the startled way in which he gazed down at her as she bled out in Myrtle’s bathroom and felt his soft hands brush the hair away from her face. It was almost as if there had never been a problem between the two of them, like he’d forgiven her at that moment, but she knew that wasn’t true. Their last Potions class together had made that very clear. While he, thank Merlin, wasn’t letting Pansy hang off him like he did in 4th year, he still pointedly ignored her even though she had to nearly hobble into class. So why had he looked so worried if he didn’t care? And why, whilst surfing the high of a cocktail of pain potions, did she feel like she remembered someone with light blond hair at her side in the hospital wing?

“And you’re sure your bandages are comfortable?” Her mother interrupted her train of thought,, the plate of ethically-sourced willowbird lying completely untouched in front of her. 

“Yes, Mum,” groaned Y/N for what had to be the hundredth time of her Christmas break. “I told you. Professor Snape and Madame Pomfrey made me their top priority over the last week of school. They say that I won’t even need them come January.”

Mrs. Y/L/N hummed as she delicately picked through her salad. 

“I can’t believe that Potter boy’s nerve,” said Mr. Y/L/N from the foot of the table. “Hexing his own friend like that?”

“Dad, he didn’t even know what it did!”

“Exactly! What kind of person does that?”

“He’s just stressed,” Y/N mused, though she was personally a tad miffed at the fact that she’d been brutalized by someone she once considered her best friend. “And he was a little angry at me. He thinks I’m in cahoots with Death Eaters.”

“Ridiculous.” Mrs. Y/L/N vigorously shook her head. “Anyways, dear, no relation to the previous topic: I ran into Minerva at Wurgie’s the other day while I was shopping for gifts. She told me something very peculiar. Is it true you’ve become friends with the Malfoy boy?”

Y/N paled. Dealing with the backlash of Hermione, Harry, and Ron had been bad enough, but her own parents? Over the winter holidays? “Draco?” 

“Yes, unless the Malfoys have another son I’m not aware of.”

“Well…” Y/N searched her mother’s face for any sign of animosity but found nothing but genuine curiosity. “Yes. We both had det--I mean, we were partnered for a class project together in Potions. He seems to have grown up a little.”

Oblivious to the slip up, her mother nodded. “Interesting. I was actually quite close with Narcissa myself back in the day. The Malfoys certainly don’t have a great track record of picking the right side, but we were two quaffles in a case throughout our schooling.”

“You knew Mrs. Malfoy?” asked Y/N, her eyes wide. “I had no idea!”

“Of course, we disagreed on the pureblood values and traditions that should be followed with children,” continued Mrs. Y/L/N, “But despite that, she was always kind. I hope she’s faring well.”

Y/N gulped as an idea slowly began to form in her mind. “Er, Mum, actually...Draco told me some things about...well, his mother.”

Both of her parents perked up. 

“So you know how you guys always talk about how the Order owes you a favor for the time you went undercover in the first Wizarding War?” asked Y/N. They both nodded. “Do you think...we could cash that in right about now?”

~

A month later, Y/N stood in front of the painting that hung on Snape’s door, frowning at the raven that stared right back at her, daring her to try and open the door. In all the excitement of Christmas and explaining to her relatives that she’d nearly been murdered by her ex-best friend in a haunted bathroom, she had completely forgotten to ask her father how to distract a charmed guardian painting, and it’d hardly be beneficial to owl him during a busy work month. It was still completely up to her.

The dungeons sent a certain chill through her bones as she ran through possible plans, prompting her to tuck her hands into her pockets and shiver so hard that she didn’t even hear the footsteps approaching. 

“What are you doing down here?” came the snotty, posh voice that she knew belonged to Pansy Parkinson.

“Parkinson,” Y/N greeted, snapping her head up to see that she didn’t come alone. Draco strode next to her, though he wouldn’t look at her directly. “Come for a rematch?”

Parkinson pulled out her wand and scoffed. “Wasn’t planning on it, but if you’re offering…”

“Pansy!” Draco hissed, yanking her away and forward. “We have places to be. Don’t waste your time.”

“But--”

“She almost got killed by Potter, like, yesterday,” he continued in a hushed voice. “Do you really want to make that worse?”

Parkinson sent her one last sour look before she was dragged off by Draco (who still refused to make eye contact with her). Y/N slumped against the wall, wincing as one of her injured spots bumped against a protruding stone. Why was he ignoring her? He’d protected her during the duel. He was even the one who stood over her as she lay crumpled on the floor. 

A lump began growing in her throat again as she realized just how lonely she was. With her friends gone, all she had now was...her owl, Edison? Yes, that was it. Edison and Hannah Abbott, who clearly was just letting her sit next to her for meals out of pity. Y/N wished that she had the strength to sit alone and just say fuck it so she wouldn’t have to be the kickstart to a bleeding-heart Hufflepuff’s philanthropy career, but she was already beat down enough as she was. Sitting alone would just seal the deal in her new life as a social reject who dreaded classes where the professors let you choose partners. It was like she was a shy first year again, too nervous to talk to anyone and instead sitting alone at the breakfast table, praying that she’d make friends with someone, anyone, even though she was too afraid to figure out how.

And then came Ron, the sweet ginger boy who she’d met once when she went to a wizarding play with her dad. He’d plopped into the space next to her one day, eyeing the untouched plate of toast in front of her.

“You gonna eat that?” he’d asked. Y/N had just stared, mouth agape that someone was actually talking to her. “Hey, you’re the Y/L/N girl, right? My dad works with yours.”

Without waiting for her reply, he’d just popped the piece of toast in his mouth and continued talking at her as if they were old friends. Before she knew it, she was getting swept up into the social swirl of Harry Potter and his friends, helping them as they made their way through Hogwarts and took on the challenges brought upon them by Voldemort and his cronies. For once in her life, Y/N felt like she actually belonged. 

And she’d thrown all of that away. 

“Y/N?” 

An unfamiliar, dreamy voice sounded from a little further down the dark hall, snapping Y/N out of it. She hadn’t even noticed, but she’d slid down to the ground and tucked herself into a ball. When she touched her face, she felt wetness on her cheeks. The raven in the painting made some kind of weird cackling sound.

“Who’s there?”

A girl in Ravenclaw robes, strange eyeglasses, and shockingly white-blond hair that rivaled Draco’s stepped into sight. Luna Lovegood. She’d seen her a few times--mostly during the Dumbledore’s Army meetings they’d both attended last year--but had never had a private, one-on-one conversation with her beyond the time that Y/N threw a protection charm to protect her from Bellatrix’s Avada Kedavra at the Ministry and she’d thanked her. 

“I thought I heard you talking to someone,” said Luna as she settled in next to her, crossing her legs. “Isn’t Snape’s raven lovely?”

“I suppose so,” mused Y/N. 

“His name is Marvin,” continued Luna, “and he always listens.”

“Huh?” Y/N balked, giving Luna a funny look. No wonder they call her Loony Lovegood she thought. “It--he can...talk?”

“Oh, yes,” said Luna, apparently not noticing her confusion. “Marvin is quite the conversationalist, to be honest. Snape is a very fortunate wizard to have him in his possession.”

As if to accent her point, Marvin crowed a few times.

“I was actually coming here to have a chat with him about you,” said Luna. “I think it’s terribly unfair how your friends are treating you. I thought that Marvin might know what to do. He always seems to.”

“Luna,” Y/N murmured, not expecting the way that her eyes began to swim with tears. “You...you really think so? I’ve been feeling so awful about what I’ve done…”

If she seemed taken aback by Y/N’s emotional outburst, she didn’t show it in the slightest. “Y/N, you just care about other people. And you know what it’s like to be lonely, so I understand why you didn’t want to leave someone alone when they felt that way, even if it was Malfoy.”

Y/N bit her lip to keep the tears from spilling over.

“My mother had this saying about kindness,” said Luna softly. “She told me that it’s easy to be kind to people you already love. But you can really tell how caring someone is by how they treat those who are different.”

Marvin made a sound that was eerily similar to a jackhammer in the background.

“Thank you,” managed Y/N, letting the girl pull her into a hug. “I...I can’t say that enough. I really needed to hear that.”

“I know,” Luna replied wistfully. “I’m sure your friends will come around, too.”

“I sure hope so.” She swallowed, giving her a small smile as Luna squeezed her hand. 

“Marvin is such a funny bird.” Luna shifted onto her feet, creeping towards the painting. “He loves shiny things. Now that I know the spell that weakens the barrier between the natural and painted world, I like to give him things sometimes. If he likes it enough, he’ll fly off to his flock to gloat to his murder for the rest of the day. He’s so proud.”

Something clicked in Y/N’s head. Was this her answer as to how to distract Marvin?

“It’s Transcendere, if you were wondering,” continued Luna, making to walk away. “Just in case you wanted to know. I can’t imagine why you’d need to, though. Anyways, I’m off to meet with Snape over a few questions on the exam. I don’t imagine he’ll be around here for the next hour!”

Before she could even thank her, Luna was already gone and down the hall. Y/N felt her pockets frantically, trying to find one thing that might appeal to the raven. He looked at her expectantly.

Her only piece of jewelry was her family ring, and apart from her obvious personal ties to the object, something told her that giving Snape’s guard bird a concrete identifier as to who broke into his stores would not be wise. So that left….She reached into her pocket, taking out the glittery quill that Draco had gifted her last fall. Giving it one last look and closing her fist around the feather one last time, she thought about how much she wished to go back to the simpler time.

Marvin made a little chirp, snapping her out of her reverie. 

“Transcendere.”

The quill poked through the canvas and into the scene, slowly changing so it fit the art style that the painter used to bring the raven to life. He wasted no time snatching it out of her grip, giving an appreciative gargle before he took off, flying away into the grey sky.

She was in. A quick Alohomora charm opened the door, and Y/N made quick work of deactivating the jinxes that guarded the entrance and was happy to see that he hadn’t changed anything else with his security measures. Finding the potion was easy, and before she knew it, she had reset all the security charms, shut the door, and made her way all the way up to the Gryffindor tower with the vial tucked firmly in her pocket. 

~

Getting Draco alone was the hardest part of her plan. Every time she saw him, he was either surrounded by a gaggle of Slytherins or darting off down side corridors that she could never quite locate. Carrying around the vial of stolen potion was getting increasingly stressful, too, especially now that their DADA class with Snape was coming up. He had to have noticed that his stores were broken into at that point, but given that he hadn’t stopped a meal yet to berate the student body on the importance of integrity and “keeping one’s grabby hands to themselves”, Y/N assumed she was somewhat in the clear. On the bright side, Y/N was enjoying mealtime much more now that she was eating with Luna. Her new friend even convinced her to go to the library with her one night to study--something that Y/N was not too familiar with. 

They’d left right before the library closed, going their separate ways. Something crossed Y/N’s mind as she realized what day it was--Saturday. Draco always worked on the cabinet on Saturdays, and of course he wasn’t going to bring his friends along with him. 

Quietly, she sank down next to the stone wall at the entrance, waiting for Draco to exit. She waited, and waited, and waited. Y/N was just beginning to wonder if Draco had switched his schedule around when the telltale sound of stone bricks scraping against each other snapped her to attention.

Draco looked more frazzled than usual as he stepped out of the newly-constructed entrance, his hands shakily running through his hair and his tie out of place. Y/N felt a sudden pang of guilt at the thought that she was going to add even more stress to his night.

“Draco,” she said, standing up and teetering at the sudden motion.

He started at the sight of her before setting his jaw and turning to continue a walk down in the opposite direction. 

“Please,” breathed Y/N, jumping forward to latch onto his wrist. “I need to talk to you.”

He immediately snatched his hand away, his scowl deeping in his features. “I don’t have time for this,” he said, though sheer exhaustion seemed to replace the usual venom in his voice. “If you’re here to apologize, I don’t want to hear it.”

“But--”

“I don’t have time,” he repeated once again, desperation seeping into the edges of his tone. “I don’t have the time to figure out whether or not I can trust you again.”

“Then let me make it easier.” Y/N reached into her pocket, producing the potion vial that had miraculously not been shattered after she’d carried it for so long. Draco arched an eyebrow. “Run a diagnostic spell on it. I want you to know that I’m being completely honest.”

“Y/L/N, I told you, I don’t want--”

“Please, Draco,” she pleaded, holding it out to him. “Just do it for me. If you do it, we’ll be even for what happened in Myrtle’s bathroom. I’ll leave you alone if you tell me to.”

He sucked in a breath, begrudgingly casting the spell. The vial glowed and cast a bright emerald light on his surprised features. “How did you get that?”

“It doesn’t matter,” rushed Y/N. “Just ask me anything. I’ll take it if you want.”

He looked like he was about to leave her in the corridor alone, so she did the only thing she could think of--uncorking the vial and downing it all in one go. It went down like water, hardly feeling like anything. She was surprised. Wasn’t it supposed to feel more compelling?

“Y/N, you are such an idiot sometimes,” he growled, but he turned back to her anyway. “Okay. Fine. Did Granger put you up to talking to me?”

“No. Harry did,” answered Y/N, the words coming spilling out of her mouth without her even thinking. Draco’s briefly softened expression immediately hardened. 

“I suppose that answers it then,” he snapped. “I’m not sure what that was supposed to accomplish.”

“Ask me something else!” cried Y/N. “Something you don’t already know the answer to.”

His silence was evidence enough that she was maybe, potentially, possibly getting to him. Something twanged in the pits of her stomach, reminding her of the time that she’d eaten bad fish in Greece and was sick for days, but she cast the thought aside for just a moment as he finally responded.

“This is ridiculous,” he clipped. She waited, turning the empty vial over in her hands. Finally, after a few agonizing moments of silence, his voice sounded again. “Why are your friends mad at you?”

Just as she was about to tell him, the tell-tale sound of footsteps and a cat’s meow echoed down the corridor. Filch. Panic-stricked, Y/N launched herself in the direction of the Room before a hand closed over her forearm and pulled her back.

“That’ll take too long,” Draco whispered, so close to her that she could feel his breath on her neck and had to try not to shudder. Without waiting for her response, he yanked her into the broom closet across the corridor and softly shut the door. 

It became fairly apparent that the broom closet was perhaps not the best hiding space for two adults, a fact that Y/N quickly noticed as she realized that the only place she could comfortably place her hands was lightly on top of Draco’s chest. His own hands pressed into the wall on either side of her head as he used it to push himself as far away from her as possible. When her eyes flickered up, she could see in the dim light that he’d shut his eyes. She couldn’t blame him--when she ran the plan through in her head, it rarely ever included getting stuck in a tiny broom closet together, and it never crossed her mind that it could happen before he’d even forgiven her. 

“I heard something too, my pretty.” Filch’s voice floated down the corridor as he neared them. She sucked in her breath, intent to hold it. She wished that she could cast a Silencio on the broom closet, but there was no way to be able to do that in such close range. Plus, she was quite preoccupied with the churning in her stomach that was getting significantly worse. 

Filch’s steps were getting louder as he called out, “Anyone there?”

“Yes,” Y/N let as a tortured, strangled whine. Realization flickered across Draco’s face as his hand shot out to clamp over her lips. She tried not to focus on how warm and nice his skin felt touching her and instead on the fact that Filch was still walking.

The footsteps finally paused outside of the broom closet. Y/N could feel Draco’s heart racing under her palm. She vaguely registered that her hands had long since curled into fists, clinging onto his shirt. 

“Anyone in here?”

“Mmph,” responded Y/N, hardly able to enunciate anything over the death grip Draco had on her face. This only made the lurching in her middle worse, so bad that she felt like she had bile rising in her throat.

“My lovely? What’s that?” A cat’s meow rang out from across the corridor. “Over by the Charms classroom?” Another meow. The sound of quick shuffling would’ve come to Y/N as a relief if she didn’t feel like she was about to puke the entire contents of her stomach up on Draco Malfoy’s hand.

“Thank Merlin.” Draco exhaled. Y/N could feel his shoulders relax under the grip she had on his shirt and took note of the fact that he smelled very strongly of that stupid rich scent in her Amortentia, something that was somewhat difficult when the cramping in her stomach had gotten so bad that she could hardly stand up straight.

Then he let his hand drop.

“They’re mad at me because I didn’t tell them about you.” The words came spilling out so fast and without prompt that Y/N felt like she was out of body, watching someone else speak for her. “I couldn’t ever bring myself to hurt you like that because even though you’ve been mean to me and my friends and I technically have no reason to want to protect you, I still do and it’s just so complicated because I thought I was just being a good person or whatever but honestly now that I think about it f it came down to it I would choose you over anyone else here and that’s scary and ohmygodIcan’tstop--” Y/N managed to suck in a small breath as the magic in her system propelled her forward, barely catching the widened eyes of Draco, “--It’s been so hard being away from you and I understand why you’re angry at me and I’m such a hypocrite for being upset that you were a Death Eater when I didn’t tell you why I started talking to you in the first place but I couldn’t just confess to you when I finally had a reason to spend time with you and I didn’t want to fuck it all up but I did and Draco please help I can’t stop I want to so badly you were never supposed to know all of this I thought that it would just make me tell the truth not everything--”

“I know,” His hand came up one more time, covering her mouth and muffling her voice. Without being able to move her lips, the words died down once again while the waves of nausea and agony hit in their place. Draco’s face had once again adopted that unreadable, somewhat sad expression as he moved his free hand so he could thumb away the tears that were collecting on her cheeks. Her fingers twisted into the soft fabric of his button down as she choked back a sob against his hand. “I know. That was really fucking stupid, even for you. You do know you’re not supposed to take more than an ounce of Veritaserum, right? This is going to take forever to get through your system. You just have to let it run its course. I’m sorry.” The potion was closing in around her throat as she blinked up at him through tear-ridden lashes. “I hear Filch escorting a student to McGonagall. This is our chance to get out.”

Y/N nodded as best as she could without loosening his hold on her, and they were creeping out of the broom closet and slowly making their way down the hall as silently as possible. He was to her right, his left arm slung around her shoulder so he could keep her quiet without sacrificing too much of his balance. He pulled her away from the direction of the Gryffindor dorms.

“Not happening,” he whispered, his lips almost brushing past her ear. He was so close. She shivered. “Filch went that way. Plus, I need to keep an eye on you until you’re back to normal.”

She nodded again. By some miracle, they made it to the Slytherin dorms without much of a hiccup beyond the awkward shuffle down the stairs. “Purity,” muttered Draco, prompting the cobblestones to rearrange themselves into a door. “Oh, don’t roll your eyes at me.”

Y/N scoffed behind his hand. The Slytherin common room was, thankfully, entirely empty, but very eerie and cold. She tried to open her mouth to tell him that he’d obviously drawn the short straw when it came to lodging, but when she felt his palm tighten over her lips, she was reminded that that wasn’t an option. 

“Here we are,” murmured Draco, his voice still low and careful as he led her to the end of the hall of the boys’ dormitories. Something other than the effects of the Veritaserum she consumed set off the butterflies inside of her once again when she thought about the fact that she was really going to see Draco’s dorm room. His door, black and heavy, was completely unblemished apart from the silver numbers of his room. 

Before she could think any further, he turned the knob and spun her so he was looking right down at her. “The less you talk, the longer it’s going to take for you to be normal again. Try not to be too loud, though. I wanted to sleep tonight.” With that, he released her once again.

“You have really nice hands,” she blurted out, immediately clapping her own palm over her mouth again.

“Oh.” An uncharacteristic blush rose in his cheeks. 

Squeezing her eyes shut and steeling herself for whatever was about to come out of her mouth next, she let her hand fall. “I--I actually think I can control some of what I say now.” She took one more breath in to check. “Yeah. Thank god. It’s not just...coming out of me anymore.”

“I’m not too surprised,” he said. “You were on quite a roll back there in the broom closet.”

“So, um…” She shuffled her feet. “Are we good now, do you think?”

Draco sighed. “I don’t think I’ve ever had anyone willingly down two state terrorist interrogation sessions worth of Veritaserum just to apologize to me. So, yeah, I guess. I think you should probably try and get some sleep. Chances are it’ll wear off some by tomorrow morning.” With that, he rested his hands on her shoulders and steered her towards his bed.

“Why are you being so nice to me?” she asked, sinking down onto his black silk bedding and meeting his eyes.

He shrugged. “How are you feeling? Do you need anything before you sleep?”

“I’d really like it if you held me until I fell asleep,” Y/N said so quickly that she didn’t even have a chance to look away from him. He blanched, his eyebrows raising but his lip quirking up. 

“Wow. I wasn’t expecting that. I thought you were going to ask for water or something.”

“Draco, please don’t be mean,” she mumbled. “I didn’t mean to say it. It just came out. I would like some water, though.”

“Your wish is my command,” he drawled, disappearing into his bathroom before coming out with an empty glass that he cast a quick Aquamenti into. “Go slow. I really don’t want you coughing up water on my sheets.”

“Me neither,” she said between sips. “Merlin knows I’ve embarrassed myself enough already.”

When she finished, she handed it out to him. “Thank you. I really appreciate you doing this. I mean it.”

He snorted on his way to put the glass away. “Of course you do. That’s the beauty of Veritaserum.”

“You’re actually funny sometimes, you know,” she said. 

Draco smirked at her again. “Veritaserum. You’re doing wonders for my ego tonight.”

While he was doing whatever he was before getting into bed, Y/N went ahead and slipped under the sheets, rolling over onto her back so she was closest to the wall. She felt the bed slightly dip to her left and a throat clear.

“What is it now?” muttered Y/N. 

“You know, it’s really hard for me to do what you asked when you’re on your back like that,” he said.

“What?”

“Like, do you want me to be on top of you or something?”

“What are you even talking about?”

Draco huffed and reached his hands out to grab her shoulders once again, turning her to face him. Before she could register what was happening, she felt his own hands come around under her arms to rest on her back. Her head lay on the swath of skin between his shoulder and his collarbone, and she could feel the quickening of his pulse. “There. Honestly.”

“This is really nice,” Y/N blurted out, physically cringing when she realized that in her position she couldn’t easily cover her mouth. 

“Yeah?” She could feel the laugh rattle through his diaphragm.

“Yes.” Y/N huffed. “Stop asking me questions. This isn’t very kind of you.”

He let out another light laugh, his fingers moving to thread through her hair. “Is this okay?”

“Are you kidding? I’ve wanted--” Y/N buried her face into his shoulder, silencing the words that were about to come out of her mouth. “Oh, my god,” she said after she resurfaced. “I think I want to take a vow of silence after this is over.”

Y/N could hear his smile as he offered her a, “What a load of good that thought is doing you now.”

“Please, just knock me unconscious until it all goes away,” she groaned. 

“Stop demeaning my work,” he said, mock offense creeping into his tone as he continued to card his fingers through her hair in soothing motions. “What do you think I’m trying to do? If you want me to give you blunt force head trauma, then just say so. Sheesh.”

She sighed dramatically. “At this point, maybe.”

“Seriously, though, are you feeling okay? That was a lot of Veritaserum,” he murmured. 

“I’m just feeling mortified right now,” she answered. 

“You still need to tell me where you got it.”

“Oh. I stole it. From Snape.”

All at once, Draco dropped his hands and pulled slightly away so he could gape down at her. “You did what now?”

“Yeah,” she said, confusion creeping into her tone. “It really wasn’t that hard, you know. I’ve done it before.”

“When?”

She felt another lurching sensation. All of the questioning was starting to make her stomach turn again. “I was a second-year. Harry had to brew Polyjuice Potion and he needed an ingredient we couldn’t find anywhere else.”

Draco let out a low whistle. “At twelve?”

“Eleven. My birthday hadn’t come around yet.” 

“That’s…” He’d shifted so she wasn’t pressed up to him, catching his lip between his teeth as he thought. Y/N hadn’t made much notice of this development as the growing pain in her midsection grew. “That’s quite a lot for a kid.” The way his hair glowed in the soft moonlight made her heart twinge. It looked so soft. Y/N noticed that she’d been staring at him for far too long without saying something when he blinked, planning on opening her mouth to apologize or crack a joke when instead:

“I have the biggest crush on you.” The words left her lips without any prior consent, the consonants and vowels forming before she could even think.

He was completely frozen in place, his expression entirely unreadable.

 “Oh, god, and now I’ve ruined it all because I know you said that I didn’t have a chance that one time in detention and you don’t see me like that and I’m pretty sure you’re with Pansy and even if you weren’t I’m not enough for you and I wish I hadn’t taken this stupid potion but I know that I’d do it a hundred times over if it meant that you would trust me--”

Her words stopped abruptly as Draco silenced her--not with his hand, but by placing his lips on hers. The kiss was brief and shy, more of a question in nature than a statement. Her fingers curled around the collar of his shirt as he pulled away, a rather frazzled and deer-in-the-headlights look etched into his features. 

She was speechless. Absolutely, completely, irrevocably speechless. Despite the insistent gnawing of the Veritaserum at the lining of her stomach, she could only manage to blink owlishly up at him, mouth agape.

“Are you okay?” His voice was low. 

“Ehm…” Her lips refused to move. Draco frowned, dropping his hands from her sides and sitting up straighter. Something impartial washed over his features, turning his expression from hurt to uninterested, like he’d woken up from a pleasant nap and was snapped back to reality. His legs pulled away so no part of her body was touching him.

“I--er, didn’t mean it like that,” he said. “I just wanted to make you quiet again, y’know, before you said anything else you regretted. And I thought that...kissing you would shock your system enough to make you stop talking.”

Her cheeks turned a violent red as she realized the depth of his statement. “So you...don’t see me like that?” 

“No.” He ran his fingers through his hair once, took in a deep breath, and dropped his gaze to the comforter. “You should go to sleep. Hopefully you’ll feel better in the morning.”

At the very least the potion was beginning to settle in her stomach as Draco’s breathing turned slow over the next hour or so. She didn’t know all too much about the mechanics of Veritaserum, but at this point, she had almost nothing left to confess anyways. 

Y/N tore her eyes away from his sleeping form, turning around to face the wall. His bed was soft. And it smelled like him, like the perfect blend of black tea and sage and snobbery that was in her Amortentia. She squeezed her eyes shut and wished to be anywhere but there. When he kissed her, it felt like he wanted her. Yes, of course he was timid, but she’d thought he was just nervous. But what was there for him to be nervous about? She’d already confessed under literal truth serum. He knew how she felt, and he didn’t even say sorry for kissing her and telling her he didn’t mean it like that. He still didn’t want her. Of course he didn’t when Pansy Parkinson in all her obnoxious Slytherin perfection was right fucking there. 

She was just beginning to feel sleep tug on the strings of her consciousness as she felt her hair get tucked behind her ear by a warm hand coming around from behind. 

“I’m sorry,” he whispered. “I shouldn’t have done that. It’s better this way, you’ll see. It wouldn’t be fair if I...if it was different.” Despite his words, he let his fingers brush over his jaw as he moved closer, his shoulder lightly pressing into her back.

At that moment, there were so many things that Y/N wanted to say, ranging from “I am never going to live this moment down because I’m positively lovesick over you” to “I am going to beat you up for kissing me and then telling me it didn’t mean anything after I confessed.” Two schools of thought, neither of them perfectly encapsulating the true essence of her feelings. Her most traitorous thoughts told her to stay still and enjoy the final moments of affection she’d get from Draco, but she’d given into impulse a little too much that night. 

He must’ve noticed that her breathing had changed because he suddenly shifted his weight onto his free arm, keeping his hand poised by her neck. 

“Please stop touching me.” The words that came out of her mouth sounded much more pathetic than they did in her head, a voice crack finding its way into the final syllables. He jolted away.

“I thought you were asleep.”

“Well, I’m not.”

“I thought…” He swallowed. “I thought you liked it when I touched you.”

“Yeah, before you told me you didn’t feel the same way,” she mumbled. “I really would appreciate it if you didn’t make me rehash that again. Today has been humiliating enough. I’m not looking to set a record or something here.”

She’d thought that her quip was pretty good, but Draco remained completely humorless. “I’m sorry. That was wrong of me. It was stupid of me to act on impulse like that. I never meant to hurt you.”

“Never meant to--” She stopped in her tracks, instead letting out a sharp huff. “Nevermind. I don’t want a fight right now. I just want to sleep.”

Much to Y/N’s horror, her throat began to tighten up again with the tell-tale coming of tears. The next breath she exhaled was embarrassingly shaky and loud, and the movement that it sparked in Draco was even more mortifying. He made a small sound of sympathy. “C’mere, Y/N. I’m so sorry. I know that must’ve hurt you.”

Undecided between feeling pissed and just wanting to forgive him, she slowly sat up and faced him. His arms were out in a motion of invitation, an unreadable expression in his eyes. 

“You’re the prettiest person I’ve ever seen.” The Veritaserum in her system didn’t care much about her emotional turmoil, much to her horror. Y/N began to turn away, a watery scowl fixed firmly on her face, but Draco’s hand on her shoulder stopped her. 

“If I...wanted to be with you,” he began, his tone careful and clipped, “It would never work. Okay? Trust me when I say it has nothing to do with you. You did nothing wrong.”

“I kind of did.”

“Yeah, well, we both did. But I don’t want you to think that I, er, never thought about it.”

“Oh.” She wasn’t quite sure what the underlying meaning of that was. 

“So... “ He motioned again with open arms. “Do you...want to? I’ll play with your hair again until you fall asleep.”

Y/N stared at him, completely astonished. “Why? If you don’t see me like that, then why?”

“I’m not going to sleep tonight anyways,” he said softly. “And I want to help you feel better.”

She opened her mouth with the hopes of a biting retort coming out, but instead she was met with silence. Against her better judgement, she set her clenched her jaw and gave in. 

His arms were wrapped around her in an instant as she tentatively settled back into his chest, her hands lightly rested on his shoulders. Despite the humiliating previous events, it didn’t feel awkward, especially when Draco’s long fingers slowly threaded through her locks and brushed past her neck. A small, forbidden sigh of contentment left her lips when he let his touch linger over the back of her neck. His deep, slow breathing and the steady beat of his heart began to lull her to sleep. 

The next morning, she was able to lie convincingly enough to Draco, telling him her name wasn’t Y/N Y/L/N and that she was 80 years old. Confident that she wasn’t about to spill all of his secrets to the student body, he told her she was free to go. 

“Draco?” she asked poised by his door.

“Yeah?”

“Do you think I’ll see you much after this? You know, now that we aren’t Potions partners and don’t have detention together anymore?”

He sighed. “I don’t know. Maybe when this is all over, I’ll see you around at pureblood functions or whatever.”

“Yeah.” Y/N tried not to think about the implications of pureblood functions still existing in the future after this. What kind of world did Draco think this would turn into? “But this is probably it, right? The last time I’ll see you like this?”

She didn’t even need to see his nod. She knew. That’s why he offered to play with her hair despite not even liking her--it was his way of apologizing for roping her into this, for tricking her, for shutting her out, for the Sectumsempra curse...for everything. His way of apologizing before they parted ways. 

final a/n: ty for reading! first off, congrats to the anons that guessed veritaserum. that shit took me forever to write bc i had such high expectations but it turned out to be quite the challenging scene since i still had to juggle draco’s conflicting emotions/distrust and the fact that i really wanted him to make her feel better fjdkas; i thought i’d mention someone who helped me write this (even tho i don’t think they realized how much they helped lmao)L i’d like to thank my 🌟 anon for giving me some inspiration. i was struggling with the first half of this story in terms of pacing for quite some time but found some help in an ask they sent me mentioning how they related to y/n feeling lonely/would like to see luna and neville mentioned. unfortunately, i haven’t quite been able to fit neville in yet (and i’m not sure if i can without it seeming just like a random extra bit of story that isn’t helpful to the plot), but hearing some affirmation that y/n’s loneliness was something that actually resonated w them really helped. it made me realize that the isolation from her friends/draco didn’t have to just be a logical turn of events for the plot to proceed in a sensical way and instead could be used to explore y/n’s character. i hope you all enjoyed! i promise the stuff w her dad and the order will be cleared up next chapter

[bossyball]

Here's my plot plan for T-Hex:

Mikey is taking a walk in the city with an adorable hoodie.

He sees a baby t-rex robot toy in an alley and Wants Her Very Badly.

He names her Wexter (because I’m on Tumblr).

He takes her back to the lair and asks Splinter if he can keep her.

Splinter says no, they already have a synthetic pet (Shelldon). Donnie says “dramatic gasp!” and starts infodumping about how Shelldon is not a pet. Splinter talks over him to say that Wexter has to go.

Mikey hides her in his hood and keeps her in his room.

He decides to check Baxter Stockboy’s channel because he still enjoys can stacking. He finds a video called “my plan to find the Mutant Menace!” He watches it and learns that he’s making a robot to find out where the lair is. He doesn’t tell anyone, but asks Wexter to look out for anything suspicious.

When he leaves the room, an antenna extends from Wexter’s head and starts blinking red. We see Baxter on his bed, and his computer gets a notification saying “turtles found.”

The turtles are doing normal dumbass reptile stuff (Leo is skateboarding, Raph and Donnie are on their phones, and Mikey is covered in more paint than his canvas) when Baxter enters their lair dramatically, in an Albearto robot suit.

Wexter climbs up onto the suit’s shoulder and Baxter points out that Mikey should have realized she was a trap, as he had seen who the video’s one like was from. His brothers look at him, angry he hadn’t mentioned the video.

They fuckin destroy Baxter, but not without a fight.

Splinter grounds Mikey.

writing some of the lost rottmnt episodes to post on ao3. mikey now has a toy dino named wexter. shes evil

[turtle--soup]

Can I have 13 and 26 for Venus pretty please!

I'm going to assume this is about Next Mutation Venus. I'm vaguely aware that she's in the IDW comics (I think??) but as you can probably tell I don't know anything about that!

13 - Best childhood memory

I feel like her best childhood memory would involve being praised by her master for doing a good job - maybe she excelled in her training or managed a tough situation on her own for the first time - and she got a small reward like her favourite fruit. (I get the impression that Venus likely didn't eat much in the way of snacks and junk food, so meeting the NM turtles and seeing the way they eat would have been... fun, lol)

26 - Favourite gift ever

I don't really have any thoughts on this, but I just remembered reading a fanfic once in which it was a Hamato family tradition to make and give origami as an apology so... now I'm imagining that Venus has a small collection of... attempts at origami from each of the other turtles, which she keeps because she's very appreciative of the gesture, and likes to see if any of them improve over time (they mostly don't lol)

Thank you for the ask!

[crystal-moon-101]

Charmcaster and Mike!💚

I present to you the chaotic magical duo! They were pretty fun to draw with their colours and different body shapes, and these two I've been really wanting to talk about since I've made a lot of rewrite changes for them. Before I get into that, I recommend you read my Dagon Arc Rewrite, to get a better idea of where I've taken these characters, as I involved them quite a bit in that story line. Albedo will be the next redesign eventually, and I'm glad people are liking what I'm doing with these characters so far.

-Mike Morningstar-

Soooo, Mike. He's always been an interesting concept to me, because there are two ways you could make his character go. One way is to just go full out with the creep and power hungry factor, making him a villain through and through, which can provide a very eerie character, which is the route canon mostly too. The other way, which I've taken, is you could make him a very complicated character, tragic even, with the idea of "If someone was born with dark magic, how would the world treat them", and since canon (Both the original series and reboot timeline) as taken the more evil villain approached, I'm taking a much different approach because I think his story can add a lot of interesting dynamics. In terms of his design, I went for the "rich winter" outfit aesthetic, since this lad does know his fashion and tastes.

Mike is an Apotrodite from his mother's side, the dark magic equivalent of Anodites. This means Mike primarily uses dark magic, but unlike other people, his Apotrodite sides means he is in full control of himself, and can't be tainted by dark magic. But that doesn't mean everything goes well...

His parents are Lilith Morningstar and Samael Morningstar, both Plumbers who work in the magical department of things, and since Lilith can use dark magic without it corrupting her, the two get a hefty amount of money working in a field only they can really handle. So they're a very rich family, owning two mansions on earth, and some holiday homes.

Mike was an...accident, not something planned, but his parents wanted to see what it was like, not realizing how raising a child takes a lot of work, especially one that was born half Apotrodite. You see, since Mike was only half, his dark magic didn't come naturally to him for a while, needing to adjust and train himself. There were worries Mike would end up hurting someone, which both Lilith and Samael were nervous about, since Apotrodites didn't have a good reputation anywhere for their use of dark magic. They feared that if Lilith or Mike made a mistake, they'll both be shipped back to their homeworld, which none of them wanted...

Sadly, a mistake did happen one day. Mike didn't mean too, it just happened suddenly, but he ended up hurting two other kids in Plumber Kindergarden, giving one magical burns, and nearly draining the life out of another. He felt horrible over what happened, and couldn't stop sobbing for the rest of the day as everyone debated what to do, and had a long discussion with Mike's parents. Lilith and Samael ended up pulling Mike out from school to homeschool him from now on...and didn't trust Mike to leave the house on his own ever, the fears getting the better of them. So...you could say Mike's childhood was rather lonely and depressing. Eventually as he grew older, he got into lots of arguments with his parents, until finally snapping and running away sometime after his encounter with Ben and his friends. If everyone was going to treat him like a monster, then he might as well be what they say he was and do it being free...

Mike does have an Apotrodite form, much like how Gwen has an Anodite form, but he hardly ever turns into it, even if it would save him energy and make his human form 'rot' less. He doesn't like being reminded of what he is, the reason behind all his problems...

He loves cats, and has always wanted one since he learnt about them.

Mike did end up helping Charmcaster when she was losing herself in omniverse, during the final fight with her. He was one of the few who managed to snap her out of her insanity, and later when she was recovering, she tracked him down with the help of Ben, and managed to convince him to come to Ledgerdomain with her, wanting to repay him for his help. Along with knowing that Mike was really just lonely and tired with the world...something she could relate too...

His hasn't been in contact with his parents since running away from home, and they haven't made an effort to reach out to him, not sure how to approach their son after what he became...

Mike and Hex have a very...awkward dynamic, since neither know how to talk to the other, especially regarding Charmcaster.

Loves scarfs, he just likes the way they look and feel.

-Hope Charmcaster-

Miss Charmcaster, a character who keeps spinning on that plot merry go round. She was defiantly someone who went insane due to how often the writing changed her up, which is a shame since she is a very interesting character, so that's what I'm here for. For her redesign, I've always loved the idea of her being short, plump and very curvy, and entirely confident with her body and looks. She knows she's hot, and owns it. I kept her outfit similar to her original and omniverse style, but played around with the look of it.

Her mother died at childbirth, so her father had to raise her own his own, with the help of Uncle Hex from time to time. Eventually after what happened in Ledgerdomain with Addwaitya, Hex has been looking after her since she was 8, but it wasn't easy, especially when he started tapping into dark magic to find ways to fight Addwaitya, and eventually going power hungry. Charmcaster knows Hex was trying his best, but there are things she can't forgive him for, even if they're getting better during her recovery.

She has black markings on her hands due to her use of the Alpha Rune and dark magic. The Alpha Rune also left a mark on her chest right above her heart. She is subconscious about these things, and tends to hide them from everyone and herself.

Ben 100% had a crush on her as a kid, and she knows it.

Charmcaster has a sweet tooth, and loves desserts. Her favorite is cake, strawberry cake to be precise.

She's still trying to be the Queen of Ledgerdomain, which isn't easy with what's left of it, but she's slowly getting them and creating a new age for the Kingdom, having opened it out to any magic user in the galaxy that needs a place to go.

Gwen and Charmcaster have been building up a nice friendship finally now that Charmcaster is getting help. It's been sweet, with Gwen doing normal teen and girl stuff that Charmcaster hasn't been able to do in years. The little things always remind her that she is human after all.

She is still on the hunt for Addwaitya with the help of Gwen, Hex, Mike and the Plumbers, after the turtle managed to run away during the fight against her.

Later on Mike and Charmcaster do meet other Apotrodites, and visit their homeworld, and does feel bad for their situation. They pair end up letting a good chunk of them move to Ledgerdomain, where it will be safe for them from the outside galaxy, and their contribution of dark magic knowledge really helps Ledgerdomain in the long run.

[cassieschaosdimension]

Full Detox

Dear Tumblr,

Thank you for the almost year we've had together. It'll be a year in October, but I've realized throughout the past year a few things about myself....

The first thing is that I've lost myself sometime during the start of quarantine. Actually... it started two years ago. I had a rough time in my life. I was just getting started with social media and some of my friends at the time weren't truly my friends.

I went to camp the summer of 2019 and I came back completely changed. It was two weeks of not talking to anyone through a screen except my best friend and I only called him. We didn't talk through a screen. I need time to find myself. This detox might be for the month of September, or it could be for longer. I don't know at this point.

My second and final point is: I need time to find out who I truly am. Thank you so much for the opportunity to know people online aren't as creepy as I've heard. There are some people I must admit, but overall, this experience has been one of the best of my life.

But I'm about to go on one of the best adventures of my life and I want to fully experience it fully present and in person without a phone as a crutch.

This is going to be the hardest thing I will ever have to do in my life, but I'm ready for whatever life throws at me. I'm going to try journaling my month-long adventure as it starts in about half an hour.

It's all over the place, I'm an emotional mess as I write this. I just wanted to tell you if you need to reach me, I will be going off of Instagram and Discord as well for this month. I'm even getting rid of Pinterest and Google Hangouts. I'm completely immersing myself in the new culture I've thrown myself into.

I also just need time for myself. I'm tired of not having anyone who truly knows me in a different state than I'm in. I love my irl best friends to death, but I'm tired of just bursting into tears at random times at home. I'm just so tired of what my life has turned into right now. I'm tired of just not feeling like I can have people who don't understand me at all. I just want someone in my life who can just understand what I've gone through and it's been traumatizing for me. I need time to heal. I also need time to myself because I feel like some people on here just forget I'm a person and I really just want to be seen as a person and not just a blog. Take the time to really think about whether you've been thinking about the blogs as the people they are behind the screen or just a blog. Also, just be mindful of what you are doing when replying or reblogging a post and want to add words. People may not like what you're doing and you really need to respect that.

But you also need to remember people have feelings and tumblr is a site where we can just express ourselves. When people don't respect that, it's not a fun environment to be in anymore. This is also why I'm taking the detox. People need to learn how to respect that people have feelings that don't need to be explicitly said everywhere. This needs to be figured out on this site or I will keep on having these detoxes and maybe even stop my main blog and just have my poetry blog. I'm really tired of keeping up my "reputation" of being sweet, kind, and a freaking sweetheart who wouldn't hurt a fly. I'm really tired of keeping up my "reputation" of being the person to turn to for advice, but with no one else to turn to. I'm really tired of keeping up my "reputation" as someone who always has to be sunny, happy, and doesn't know about the dark in life. I know about the dark in life; I'm an adult now and people need to understand that online and also irl, but this is more about online.

Yes, I know I sound salty, and that's because while this almost year has been one of the best almost years of my life, it's also been the most draining because literally everyone on here calls me a sweetheart and a cinnamon roll. I just wish I felt safe enough to be myself. But right now, I can't be truly myself. I'm hoping the detox will help me figure out who the heck I am. I implore you though please think of me as the adult I am and not some teenager who doesn't know what to do with their life. I have life goals and uni is going to help me with that. Please stop treating me like a smole bean who needs to be protected at all costs. Please.

I am also just like you all. I'm not a ball of sunshine all of the time (in fact when I'm talking to people who know me best they know I'm only a sunshine 20% of the time, the other 80% I'm so done with life). I want to be able to taken seriously. I don't want to just be known as the Hufflepuff who is so nice and knows everything about life advice. That's not true. I'm just a uni girl trying to figure out how the heck I'm going to spend four years away from my family. I'm trying to be nice online, but I also want to be salty and sarcastic and myself because irl is bad enough, but online it's just why. Why do I come off as a cute, smol little kitten who wouldn't hurt a flea? Don't you guys know f you get me mad at you you'll be the one crying at the end of the day? I'm heartless when I've had enough. I need you all to treat me like the person I am and not like an object. That's kind of how I feel this has gotten. There are some who are amazing and I adore them to pieces. But then there are other people who aren't considerate I just can't. So I need a break from just all of this. I can't be on here when people don't take me seriously. Like I said it's bad enough this happens irl. I don't want it to happen online too.

I'm starting with two months, but as I do more of these in the future, it might get longer.

This might be my only two month long detox or it could be longer. If it's longer, I will let you all know! I promise, but for now, I'll miss you, I love you, keep being the you I know you can be, drink your freaking water!, remember people on here are people and have freaking feelings and emotions and lives and experiences, and I will see you all November 1st!

@procrastinationonvacation @clarys-heosphoros @reyna-herondale @ghafa-dale @captainwaffles @cory-was-hexed @nebulanike @im-someone-i-guess @writing-with-tea @simpingforwillsolace @simpingforpjo @writingsbypb @cloudygreywolf @crzyprsn42 @seven-halfbloods @nyxx-chaos @avakrahn @annlillyjose @kiriti-savyasachin @shaonharryandpannisim @chaoticchefherepleasesaveme @captainorthred @carrie-haha @justmemyselfandthefridge @daughter-of-sunshine @da-nerdy-turtle @stars-a-n-d-scars @ambidextrousarcher @ace-loves-cake @devereaux-fan @clarys-heosphoros @willsolacekinnie @valdezey @whatrambles @spoopycrowe @hyacjnthus @ileaurel @thatrandomfangirlll @purple-magic-2002 @the-young-and-forgotten

[turtle--soup]

Ohhhhh I love the idea of them starting their own restaurant and bringing Casey in on it! I feel like Casey would be 100% up for helping out whenever he could and would end up hanging around way more often than he needed to! Donnie could totally make them a website too - this boy is getting so many clients without even looking outside of his family at this rate!

And omg the others getting to understand Leo by reading through his blog 😭😭😭 I love the idea that he would just be way more open when writing - like not necessarily direct about his feelings but he reveals enough to make it obvious to his brothers - and so it turns out to be really beneficial for all of them that he kind of forgets his inhibitions (and maybe that the others can just... read his blog too haha) because this way they can understand what he was feeling while he was away without having to have a direct conversation...

I just really want them to be happy, okay?! 🥺

You know, it'd just be nice to see them in good spirits (yes that was an attempt at a ghost pun i'm so sorry)

So I always understood that 2007 Mikey quit his job at the end of the movie. Because of the moment where he wants to get rid of his big Cowabunga Carl head. It seemed like, just like Raph, he wanted to leave behind that part of his life and go back to how things were with Leo back.

So how were things before? Did Donnie and Mikey get jobs because Splinter is less physically able to scavenge than he used to be? And if so, does Mikey quitting mean he’s looking for a different job? Will Donnie also quit? Who’s gonna make the moneys in this household?

All kinds of answers could work, and with 07 I tend to be really inconsistent with headcanons, but here are some general thoughts

I like the idea of Mikey quitting. It’s evident he doesn’t enjoy that job. Same thing with Donnie. But here’s the issue: what job can they get while staying disguised? If there are other options, will they really be much better?

Leonardo or Raph or both could get jobs. But like. What jobs?

Possibly Raph and Mikey could trade off on birthday party duty. They’d be able to take more gigs and feel less overwhelmed that way. I think it’d be a really sweet gesture from Raph, and he’d be better at it than Donnie or Leo. I also think he would hate it, though.

Another possibility: Donnie could work for April. Possibly Mikey and Raph could too? The main problem here is, what could they do and how much could she pay them? If she’s trying to do this all herself I think it makes sense she’s need tech support, especially if her company does well. But she’s not necessarily in a position to be hiring, especially hiring someone she can’t put on her records. Ya know?

And Leo could be a ghostwriter (no I’m not just taking all opportunities to make ghost puns about 07 Leo what are you talking about). After his time away I think he’d find it useful to write stuff down, and as he sees his brothers struggling it makes sense he’d pivot that to try to help with income.

[sixthmagic]

Shion as Lesser Greek Deities

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Tagged by: @smallest-turtle

[R U L E S ] Bold what applies. Italicize sometimes. Strikeout never. Tag some friends to play along! & repost don’t reblog!

[ S C O R I N G  N O T E S ] I gave bold 1.0 points, italics 0.5 points, and strikeouts 0.0 points.

---------

[ E R O S ]:  • scornful jealousy • pink • presents a certain decorum • heavy air in a nightclub • has a tattoo they regret • sex & love therapist for their friends • juvenescent • uses enchantments • aloof • wears rose-coloured glasses • velvet, latex, & lingerie • milk baths with champagne bubbles • impetuous in love • intense eye contact is a sport • kinky • soft lips • wears stacked rings • sets fashion trends • graceful movements • marble floors • heavy perfume or cologne • deeply emotional • born glamorous • [T O T A L :: 10/23]

[ H E C A T E ]:  • prefers canine companions • wears symbolic jewelry • can see spirits • melting wax • uses hexes • feels most comfortable at night • smell of cinnamon • moonlight • red wine • understands poisons & herbs • collects bones or feathers • partakes in rituals • black • fog at night • is aware of their shadow self • embraces the unknown • enjoys collecting secrets • approves of necromancy • meditates • has prophetic dreams • lace • knowing too many secrets • fishnet stockings  • [T O T A L :: 19.5/23]

[ P A N ]:  • enjoys poetry & prose • wool • smell of decaying leaves in autumn • prefers to be barefoot  • tends to overindulge  • easily excitable • thriving in social circles • loves being around campfire  • antlers • dirt paths • the sound of wind chimes • penchant for sticky fingers • pine trees • stamina for days • falls in lust • vagabond • physically stronger than given credit for • foxglove • welcomes luxury • non-confrontational • charming words • talking to animals • nature for jewelry • [T O T A L :: 15/23]

.[ N E M E S I S ]:  • angry • protective of their values • balance & harmony • looks like an angel but isn’t • more perceptive than people realize • snow capped mountains • grey • wears leather • silver jewelry • likes snakes • can’t stand ignorance • believes in retribution • analytical of own emotions • well read • marble columns • has very rigid morals • bruised knuckles • humorous under the sarcasm • clean workspace • everything in moderation • cold morning air • resting glare face • fluent in curse words  • [T O T A L :: 16/23]

[ H Y P N O S ]:  • very calm demeanor • easily overwhelmed • relaxing is their vice • transactional friendships • has a soft voice • head in the clouds • carries drugs with them • has a sibling they’re close with • drawn to winged animals • lavender • has plush furniture/blankets  • starry eyed • horrible money management  • gives amazing hugs • dreaming big as a full time job • wears comfy or loose clothes • existential questions • not good at memory based skills • fairy lights • can’t sleep somewhere unfamiliar • crystalline chandeliers • dislikes bright sun • fluttering eyelashes  • [T O T A L :: 13/23]

[ I R I S ]:  • life’s a technicolor spectrum • has a lot to say • beaming smiles • always has candy with them • flirting by accident • walking to the beat of their own drum • gossamer curtains • has a surprising amount of connections • blushes very easily • confident laughter • uses a staff • fresh fruit slices • decorated handwritten letters • a social chameleon • blood made of honey • treating people with kindness • sentimental heart  • vases full of wildflowers • feels fulfilled when helping others • has a healing aura • always traveling • stained glass windows • just trying to be a good person  • [T O T A L :: 12.5/23]

-------

Tagging: @friedesgreatscythe feel free to do this for Eva if you'd like~!

[thatringboy]

UA Staff Headcannons

Shota Aizawa // Eraserhead

Is not Shinsou’s adoptive dad, but has shared custody with Shinsou’s parents and Yamada

Is also working on becoming Todoroki’s legal guardian

Has legally adopted Eri, but is looking for her biological family (if she has any left)

Has three cats named Oboro, Mirai and Sniffers

Listens to Yamada’s radio show all the time

Also has a Podcast series with Yamada named “Cloud Nine”

Cloud Nine talks about the life of a hero and controversial topics that go with it

Gets called “dad” by his students so many times, he responds to it naturally

If Eri tells him to wear something or style his hair a certain way, you better believe that he’ll wear it until she says otherwise

Once had a Hello Kitty barret in his hair while teaching

Hizashi Yamada // Present Mic

Knows almost every form of sign language

Doesn’t like to be involved in controversy, but is always ready to speak his mind

His Agency has a Cat Cafe for the first floor

It’s open to the public

All profits from the Cafe go to charities

And you can adopt the cats in the Cafe (it’s like a shelter for them)

Every year on Shirakumo’s birthday, his Radio Station is turned off and isn’t airing anything

Despite not being deaf, he’s an icon in the Deaf Community all over the world

Once lead a parade for people with more destructive quirks to have more rights when using their quirks

Despite having a leather hero costume, his flamboyant personality and his friendship with Kayama, Yamada is actually freaked out by bdsm

Also, his eye color has it’s own specific hex color because of how green they are

Hasn’t had a haircut since High school

Nemuri Kayama // Midnight

Is an outstanding seamstress

Can sew almost anything

Is a Bisexual icon

Currently in an on-and-off relationship with Takeyama

Despite her flirtatious behavior, Kayama is actually very respectful towards her students if she makes them uncomfortable

However, she gives horrible relationship advice

Used to be the Sex Ed teacher at Yuuei for a single semester, but her class was too hard and strict

It wasn’t like “never had sex. sex = bad!” type of strict

No, she’s crazy about consent and safe sex

When she found out that Masaru Bakugou is a fashion designer, she commissioned him to redesign her costume

The style of the costume didn’t change, but it was much easier for Kayama to use her quirk

Has hooked up with Kirishima’s Moms and never talks about it

Ectoplasm

Gets manicures every weekend

Watches the L Word

Once in a fit of rage, he took off a leg and threw it at Yamada

Kayama got it on video

Sometimes goes on Yamada’s radio station to sing

Has been on one episode of Cloud Nine and talked about hero related injuries

Eri once put stickers on his battle legs and he hasn’t removed them

Attends the same injury therapy as Tensei Iida

Is also a quirk rights activist, but not as vocal or iconic as Yamada

Sponsors a toothpaste company

Despite his similarities to Juzo Honenuki, they are not related

But it is an inside joke for them to refer to one another as “Uncle” and “Nephew”

Snipe

Owns a gun store that his mother and sister work at

Nobody knows his actual age, so his birthday cake just has seven candles for November 7th

Isn’t really a cat person and it stirs a rivalry between him and Aizawa

Nobody really knows his actual face either

His quirk doesn’t just work on bullets

Has thrown many objects at students and they always hit

Usually throws flip flops and sandals

His students call him “Chancla Man”

It used to offend him, but not anymore

Has a rocky relationship with Maijima

Ryo Inui // Hound Dog

Has a pet parrot named Turtle

On top of career advice, he also gives good relationship advice

When students take physical tests, he has to be away from them during the Ball Toss because he will chase after it

Hates to be patronized, but loves a good scratch from time to time

Another quirk rights activist and frequently goes on Cloud Nine to talk about different types of quirks

So far, Eri is the only person who has pet him in public

Higari Maijima // Power Loader

Pays for the destruction of the Development Studio with his own money

Often gets IDed when going shopping

Has also been mistaken for a student several times

He was just like Mei Hatsume when he was younger

Has been voted teacher of the year several times in a row

Even non Support Class students like him

Once invented a robot that could play Just Dance so that he could beat Yagi’s high score

That robot is now his teaching assistant

The robot was originally named “D.A.V.E”, but changed to “Junior Loader” after he learned about David Shield

His fingertips are ultra sensitive like ATLA Toph’s feet

He can’t see out of his helmet, but doesn’t want to change the design

He and Snipe don’t talk much and rarely work together because they used to date

It was a strong relationship that ended abruptly and nobody knows why

Snipe doesn’t even get his gear upgraded at Yuuei because of this

The back of his helmet has stickers all over it from Eri and he pretends to not notice

Toshinori Yagi // All Might

Runner up for teacher of the year behind Maijima

Often has to leave Yuuei throughout the day for legal things concerning his retirement, villains he took down in the past and copyright things with his brand

Updated his will to split all of his possessions down the middle between Midoriya and Bakugou

Is upset that Midoriya got new powers with OFA and he didn’t

But won’t tell anyone about that

Dad jokes

Is one of the tallest teachers at Yuuei and gives Eri rides on his shoulders

Has been on Cloud Nine a few times for different things and is a fan favorite

Is the messenger between Snipe and Maijima when they need something

Can still lift a good amount of weight without the use of his quirk

Actually spends a good amount of time mentoring Class 1-B as well, but nobody besides Class B notices

Also gives body positivity seminars

Just Dance king

Sekijiro Kan // Vlad King

Can’t stand Monoma, but won’t expel him because he wants to prove he’s a better teacher than Aizawa

Also gives good relationship advice

Was the Maijima/Snipe messenger before Yagi joined the staff

As a kid, he got nauseous at the sight of blood

For Halloween he and Inui dressed up as Werewolves and Vampires respectfully

Is really supportive of his students when they go through hard times

Has parent teacher conferences once a month to keep parents in the loop

Also is like a dad to his students and sometimes even some of class A

Honestly just a sweet guy

Principal Nezu

Has an underground poker tournament every month

Teachers and Third Years participate

Is kinda scary when you first meet him, but everyone’s used to his bullshit by now

Writes fanfictions about his staff

Some rumors state that this is why Snipe and Maijima broke up

But nothing’s confirmed

Sits in on Kayama’s art classes to “observe students”

Actually is there to learn how to paint

Bob Ross is one of his icons

Ken Ishiyama // Cementoss

Subs for Yamada’s class sometimes

Has an All Might sweatshirt

But stopped wearing it around after Yagi joined the staff

Is the co-father of Inui’s Turtle

Loves to sit in the school library and just read by himself

Lunch Rush

Is a mentor for many students in all tracks of study

Also holds a cooking class everyday

Do. Not. Underestimate. His. Skills.

Is secretly a genius

Chiyo Shuzenji // Recovery Girl

Also is a mentor for many students

Has many student helpers in her office

Is one of the best medical professionals in Japan

Gotta love Nurse Mom

Has many Kamui Woods PEZ dispensers

Midoriya and Yagi are scared of her for obvious reasons, but none of the other people in Yuuei actually know why

When Enji Todoroki went to Yuuei, he burned himself with his quirk sometimes and Shuzenji got onto him about it like she does with Yagi and All Might

Has the respect and fear of most of the Heroing Society

Thirteen

Gender? What’s that?

Prefers she/her pronouns, but responds to all pronouns

When they first joined the Yuuei Staff, almost everyone used he/him pronouns and 13 never corrected them until a few months later

A Non-Binary Icon

Is close friends with Shuzenji and Ishiyama

They have a book club together

(sorry Gran Torino doesn’t make the list because he isn’t yuuei staff anymore)

[ellewritesfix05]

Beyond the Sea

Characters: Dean, Sam, Cas, Marlin, Dory, Crush, Squirt, Fluke, OFC Oliver

Word Count: 5.4k

Warnings: Weird shenanigans (I guess?) This is fairly PG

A/N: This fic is written as my submission for @deanwanddamons and @impala-dreamer ‘s “I Do Understand That Reference” Challenge. It was super fun and quite challenging to write but I sure hope y’all like it!

Here’s my full Masterlist if you’d like to read more!☺️

Dean opened his eyes slowly, head throbbing with the sound of his own heartbeat ringing in his ears. As his eyesight regained focus, Dean noticed that he was surrounded by what seemed to be brightly colored trees. Except these trees were moving - no, swaying. 

Even though it was somewhat dark, he could see light streaks around him, almost as if there was a plastic film across his eyes. Confused, Dean tried to get up from the cold, bumpy surface upon which he found himself only to fall sideways as his legs gave way to a gentle, wave-like motion underneath him. He looked down at his feet only to find that they weren’t there. In fact, Dean could see no body parts at all. Patting himself down, Dean realized that his body felt quite round and slimy, a feeling that reminded him of days off at the lake, fishing with Sam. Eyes widened in realization, Dean looked down at his hands only to see two large orange fins staring back at him. He flapped them around frantically, suddenly propelled off the hard floor. 

Dean looked to his surroundings once more, the swaying anemones and brightly colored corals confirming his feared suspicion. 

A fish; somehow, somewhere, Dean had been turned into a fish.

24 hours earlier

“I don’t know, Sam. This feels too clean to be witches, we haven’t found any hex bags and the vic isn’t spewing gross bodily fluids,” said Dean, running a hand down his face in frustration.

“True, but what else can make a person stuff themselves with popcorn to death? It’s not like famine is back, and even if it was, we have his ring. No way he could do something like this without it,” replied Sam, “Maybe we missed something, why don’t we go back to the theater tonight, it’ll be less crowded so we can do a better hex bag sweep.”

“Fine, but I still don’t think it’s witches,” Dean grumbled under his breath.

Later that night, the brothers headed down to the local movie theater where the security guard had been found dead, belly full of popcorn. Upon arrival, they got out of the Impala, Dean still muttering about his disbelief in witches being to blame for the guard’s death. Walking across the street to the neon-lighted entrance, Sam and Dean looked around the vicinity in search of any unusual activity. Sam stopped in his tracks and motioned at Dean towards a dark figure entering the theater from a side door. Quickly, the brothers headed to the door, glancing around to make sure no one saw them. Once inside, they split ways to each take a row of auditoriums looking for the mysterious individual that had snuck into the building before them, Dean taking the rooms to the right while Sam checked the rooms to the left.

A soft whistle caught Dean’s attention. He turned around to see his little brother pointing at the entrance of an auditorium adorned with a light blue frame, signaling the movie showing as Finding Nemo. Dean rolled his eyes and walked over to Sam, both entering the room as inconspicuous as possible to avoid attracting attention from the scattered crowd inside. As they walked down the dimly-lit aisle, Sam touched Dean’s arm and pointed at a person in the very front row, doubled over the seat as if holding on to their stomach. The brothers approached the figure slowly, not wanting to give away their presence when a bright blue flash illuminated the entire auditorium. Sam and Dean covered their eyes with their arms, a cold wetness overtaking them being the last thing they felt.

Present time

Coming to terms with his predicament, Dean flapped his fins gently to propel himself forwards, finding Sam the only goal in mind. 

“Sam!” Dean hollered, “Sammy!” 

He swam his way past the anemones and corals, following the strange rock beneath him until he came to a large blue emptiness just past the cliff created by the far end of the rock. 

“Dean?” said a squeaky voice behind him, “Dean, is that you?”

Dean turned around to see a small clownfish staring back at him, “Sammy? Why do you sound like that?”

“Why do I sound like what? Dean, what the hell is going on?” said the tiny fish.

“I think you were right. I think the dude in the theater was a freakin’ witch and it looks like we’ve been turned into fish. And your voice dude, you sound like a scared mouse,” replied Dean.

“Have you heard yours, Louis Armstrong?” said clownfish-Sam in a sassy tone.

“What? My voice is fine. Whatever, how the hell are we supposed to get out of… whatever this is?”  

“Honestly? No idea, but I might know where to-” Sam stopped suddenly as the sea around them turned pink, large creatures with long, slimy tentacles surrounding them completely.

“Are those…” Dean started.

“Jellyfish,” confirmed Sam. They turned around, backs to each other, taking in the gravity of the situation. Dean reached out behind him, gently pulling a much smaller Sam under his fin to protect him from the deadly stingers.

Frantically looking around to find a way out, Dean saw a flash of blue and orange to his right. Faint sounds of a conversation alerted him to the fact that they were not alone in the jellyfish forest.

“Boing! Boing, boing, boing!” sang a quirky, yet familiar, voice. 

“Dory!” said the accompanying raspy voice. 

Dory? Dean thought to himself, realization hitting him like a freight train.

“Sam… I think we’re in Finding Nemo,” Dean whispered. Coming out from under his fin, Sam looked up to his brother in confusion.

“What? Dean, this isn’t the time for your crappy jokes. We’re going to die stung by jellyfish!”

“Shh.. listen!” said Dean, placing a fin over Sam’s mouth. Swallowing his protest, Sam focused on the sounds around him and heard the voices his brother was talking about.

“‘Cause you’re about to eat my bubbles!” someone yelled in the distance.

“Sam, there’s no time to explain. Just trust me on this; I need you to follow me, hop on the tops of the jellyfish and avoid the tentacles at all costs, got it?” Dean ordered his little brother.

Sam nodded, and Dean twirled to face the direction in which they had seen the other clownfish zoom past. Taking a deep breath, Dean looked back at his brother one last time before propelling himself toward the top of the jellyfish in front of them. Bouncing off the soft, spongy surface Dean jumped forward, closely followed by Sam. From one jellyfish to the next, fear of electrocution pushed to the back of their minds, Sam and Dean hopped towards the edge of the jellyfish forest. Although they had started slowly, trying to avoid the tentacles, the brothers soon found themselves zooming past the pink creatures, laughter emanating from their gills as panic turned to thrill, feeling like children in a bouncy castle. 

Before they realized, the brothers were out of the forest, wide smiles on their faces as they took in large gulps of sea water in relief. Coming down from an adrenaline high, Dean looked to his surroundings hoping to see the fish they had heard earlier. He felt Sam’s small fin touch his own and turned around to see him looking up astonished. Dean followed Sam’s gaze and saw a large current, although that was clearly not what had caught his little brother’s attention. In fact, Sam was focused on the hundreds of sea turtles the current was carrying. Dashing past at impossible speeds, the turtles smiled and waved at the brothers; some seeming as big as space shuttles in comparison to their own measly clownfish sizes. 

Snapping out of the shock and awe at the view, Dean looked down to see a rock formation peppered with sea cucumbers and other small sea creatures. He was about to suggest following the turtles’ path to Sam when a deep voice coming from the rock formation caught their attention. 

“Dean? Sam? Is that you?” said familiarly gravelly voice.

“Cas?” both brothers replied, looking for the source of the questions. 

“Yes. I’m down here,” said Cas. Sam and Dean swam down towards the rock, looking for their friend, “Not that way, over here to your right”

The brothers stopped in their tracks when they found their friend, disbelief in their faces.

“Cas? Uh, are you a clam?” Sam asked the old, rusty-looking creature in front of them.

“Uh, I suppose I am. I cannot see myself in this form,” said the clam, jaws opening and closing comically as it spoke.

Unable to control their reaction, the Winchester brothers burst out in laughter, copious amounts of water entering their mouths. 

“This isn’t funny. I need to give you a message before the connection breaks. I’m burning through a significant amount of my already-limited grace to talk to you,” Clam-Cas said frustrated. Clearing their throats, the brothers looked at each other, then to the talking clam. 

“Sorry, Cas. It’s a bit funny,” Dean chuckled, “do you know where we are though? How do we get back home?”

“I need you to listen very carefully, although some of what I say won’t make much sense.” replied Cas, “It seems you’ve been cursed by a very powerful witch who has transported you into some sort of alternate reality. I believe you’re currently experiencing events from a children’s film. I can pull you back but only from certain frames in the film, so I need you to get yourselves to a place called Sydney, in Australia I believe. Once there, head towards the opera house where I’ll be able to retrieve you.”

“You must hurry,” Cas continued “it’s a very limited window of opportunity and if I don’t get to you in time you may be lost to me forever”

“Great, tell us how to get there,” said Sam.

“That I do not know,” replied Castiel “you must figure it out on your own.”

Dean looked to his brother, determination on his face, “Don’t worry Sammy, I got this.”

“Perfect, I will meet you at the rendezvous point,” said Cas.

“Wait, wait, wait Cas,” said Dean “how come your voice doesn’t sound all funky like ours? You’re a freakin’ clam”

“Uh, I’m an angel, Dean. Now hurry, there isn’t much time,” Clam-Cas turned around on his bottom shell and hopped off the edge of the rock, leaving a confused Sam and Dean behind.

“So, Finding Nemo huh?” Sam teased as they swam upwards toward the current they had seen earlier. 

“I watched it once, a while ago,” Dean mumbled, avoiding Sam’s mocking face, “Shut up, Sam”

“Hey, I was just asking. Anyway, it’s probably a good thing. It’ll help us get to Sydney faster,” Sam chuckled. 

They reached the edge of the current where the last turtles of the nest were swimming past. Waiting for instructions, Sam looked at Dean who was watching the current, carefully coming up with a plan.

“Well,” started Dean, “from what I remembered they didn’t show how Dory and Marlin entered the East Australian Current but I’m thinking we can just swim straight in and it should be fine.”

Sam bit back a smile, “sounds like you really know what you’re talking about”

“I said shut up about it, Sam.”

“Right. Sorry.”

Sam and Dean swam backwards, preparing to plunge head first into the Current’s liquid wall. They flapped their fins forward in a rapid motion, closing their eyes in anticipation of a painful impact. Except that the impact never came, just a light slapping motion as their clownfish bodies entered the water tunnel. They opened their eyes to find themselves walled in by majestic turtles talking and laughing with each other.

“Duuuuuudes! That was awesome!” said a small turtle behind them. Sam and Dean turned around to see a large group of baby turtles beaming at them in admiration. 

“Dean. Is that tiny turtle talking to us?” asked Sam in trepidation. Even though they were talking fish in this universe, the fact that all other animals could talk and hear them shocked the brothers into silence. 

Snapping out of it, Dean smiled at the excited group of turtles running their mouths a hundred miles an hour as they twirled and bobbed in place, “Hey kids, is there maybe an adult we can talk to? Mom or dad maybe?”

“Yeah! Come on, I’ll take you to my dad! He’s the coolest dude on the planet!” replied the tiny turtle that seemed to be the leader of the pack. Dean nudged a still bewildered Sam to follow along with the pack, not wanting to lose his tiny clownfish brother in a sea of turtles. They swam towards the very back of the nest, where yet another group of baby turtles was huddled on the shell of a much larger turtle, completely engrossed in the story being told by a familiar goldfish. The baby turtle huddle made Dean stop completely in his tracks, causing Sam to bump into his large, slimy fin.

“Dean, what the hell?” said Sam, angrily swimming around to face his brother. Dean, however, was staring ahead, an excitedly nervous smile tugging at his scaly lips.

“Dude, it’s her. It’s Dory!” Dean exclaimed. Sam turned around to see what Dean was so excited about and noticed a Pacific blue tang, barely visible among the baby turtles.

Sam rolled his eyes at Dean’s reaction and turned around to urge his brother to keep following their tiny tour guide, who had stopped to talk to a much bigger turtle swimming alongside the one upon which Dory and her friends were sitting. Hesitantly swimming forward, Dean followed Sam towards the large turtle that now sported a huge smile directed at them.

“Hey dudes! Squirt here tells me you did an awesome flip coming into the current! That so totally rocks!” said the reptile enthusiastically. Taken aback by its laid back demeanor, Sam hesitated before responding

“Right. Uh, thank you, Mr. Turtle, sir,” Sam stammered.

“Oh no, dude. Mr. Turtle is my father. Name’s Crush,” said the turtle.

“Oh, uh, okay Crush. Could you maybe help us? We need to get to Sydney, Australia and were told to take the East Australian Current,” explained Sam. Dean simply nodded in agreement, too starstruck to say anything.

“Well, whaddayaknow! Marlin and Dory here are headed that way too!” Crush replied excitedly. He turned over and pointed to the orange and blue fish that were still talking to the group of baby turtles. Upon hearing their names, Marlin and Dory turned to look at Crush and the Winchesters.

“You called, Crush?” asked Marlin, swimming towards them with Dory close on his tailfin.

“Hey jellyman, guess what? These dudes are also going to Sydney!” Crush gestured toward the Winchesters.

“Hi! I’m Dory!” exclaimed the blue tag, as she swam hurriedly towards Sam and Dean.

“Hi, Dory. I’m Sam, this is my brother Dean,” Sam looked up to Dean who was treading in place, his lips moving in an attempt to form words.

Dory looked at Dean curiously, “Hey Dean! Wanna come play hide and seek with us?”

Dean mustered up enough courage to nod, swimming alongside Dory, leaving Sam behind with Crush and Marlin. They headed towards the large group of baby turtles that Dory had been playing with earlier, Dean looking over at her in disbelief. 

Hide and seek with Dory? Awesome, he thought.

Suddenly, Dory began swaying side-to-side while muttering what sounded like an address under her breath. She looked in Dean’s direction and grinned, sticking her fin out for him to shake, “Hi! I’m Dory! Wanna play hide and seek?”

Dean was confused for a moment, until he remembered Dory’s inability to remember most things. He shook her fin with his own and smiled sheepishly, “Hi Dory, I’m Dean. Hide and seek sounds great!”

“Yay! This is going to be so much fun! Okay, I’ll count, you go hide!” said Dory as she dropped down on the shell of another large turtle who simply winked and smiled. Dean looked around for a place to hide when his little brother came into view, waving him over. He sighed and swam towards Sam in defeat, He’s no fun.

“Where the hell have you been? I talked to Crush and he told me how to get to Sydney. Apparently we have to take something called the-”

“The swirling vortex of terror?” Dean interrupted.

“Yeah. How did you..? Never mind, I forgot you’re a child. Listen, the vortex is coming up and we have to take it together, otherwise we’ll lose each other and miss our chance to meet Cas.”

Dean rolled his eyes at Sam and nodded, pouting as they swam back towards Crush and Squirt, who was giving directions to Marlin and Dory. They reached the group quickly as the current speed began picking up and Dean grabbed Sam under his fin, the vortex visible in the near distance. 

“Okay, Sammy. Just hold on tight!” Dean yelled, the sound of the current around them growing louder as they neared the exit. 

Dean waited for Squirt to kick off Marlin and Dory before jumping towards the water tornado. As they were about to enter, however, an unexpected wave slammed into Dean and forced him further into the current, causing the brothers to miss their exit.

“Dean! What are you doing? Now we’ll never get to Sydney!” Sam screamed in frustration as they saw Marlin and Dory exit the vortex. Crush remained behind, swimming against the current to yell goodbye to the fish before turning around to see Sam and Dean struggle to stay in place against the current. 

“Awe dudes! You missed the exit!” groaned Crush as he threw both front fins up.

“Wait, no! We can go back! H-how do we go back, Crush?” stammered Dean, angry at himself for missing the exit.

“No can do, compadre. You’re going to have to wait for the next exit and swim back.”

“Great! Now we’ll never get back to Cas and we’ll be stuck as animated fish forever!” exclaimed Sam. 

Dean ignored his little brother as he fought against the current to catch the blue tang’s attention “Wait! Dory! Trust the birds!”

Unable to hear him, Dory simply smiled and waved, “Bye, Liam! Bye, Sean!” 

“Dean! Focus! How the hell are we supposed to get back?”

“Shut up, Sam! There has to be another way to Sydney,” Dean racked his brain for possible exits or alternatives but came up empty. It was all seeming bleak for the brothers until Crush swam towards them, an idea in mind.

“Alright, listen dudes, Squirt here has an idea but I gotta ask. How do ya feel about flying?”

“Flying?” the brothers asked in unison.

“Little buddy here’s got some fish friends, who have some sea lion friends that know some pelicans that can take you to Sydney,” explained Crush. 

Sam and Dean exchanged worried looks.

“Pelicans? I don’t know, Dean. What if they eat us? Or drop us somewhere?” asked Sam. Dean frowned at his little brother, weighing their options.

“Dammit,” Dean started, “I don’t know but it may be our only chance to get to Cas in time.”

Sam sighed as he nodded and turned around to face Crush.

“Okay, Crush, we’ll do it.”

“Sweet, we’re coming up on the next exit. Wait here for Squirt to come back, he can give you the low down on the new plan.”

The brothers nodded and swam along with Crush, worried about the new plan and their chances of actually making it to Sydney alive. Squirt came back quickly, giving them directions for the risky plan. Although it was hard to hear him with the current noise picking up once more, the brothers nodded along as the small turtle twirled around in place, detailing how to properly exit and where to go once they got out.

“Okay dudes! Water Tornado of Destruction coming up!”

“The what now!?” exclaimed Sam. He looked to where Squirt’s fin was pointing, mouth dropped open in shock at what lay ahead. 

Coming up in the distance was the biggest tornado-like current Sam and Dean had ever seen. Swirling upwards for what seemed like a thousand feet, the vortex moved violently from side to side. The younger Winchester looked to his brother, who was staring at the exit, fear apparent in his wide, green eyes. Even the laid back turtles surrounding them called to their little ones to protect them from the vacuum created by the terrifying exit. 

“Dean? I don’t think we’re going to make it.”

Dean looked down at his little brother, who looked so small and fragile it reminded him of that fateful night when his father put six-month-old Sam in his arms and told him to run out of the house as the place filled up with smoke from the fire raging in the nursery. Swallowing the knot at the back of his throat, Dean nodded in determination and grabbed Sam once more, reassuring the small clownfish, “It’ll be okay, Sammy. I got you.”

“Okay dudes! Time to go!” yelled Crush as he pushed them towards the Tornado’s mouth.

“Good luck dudes!” Squirt’s voice was barely audible as the Winchesters were sucked into the liquid twister. An invisible, yet blunt, force pushed them upwards in a rotating motion. Dean barely managed to hold on to Sam, taking the hits as they were violently thrown around for another minute until, finally, the vacuum let go and spit the clownfish upwards and out of the water. Unable to hold on any longer, Dean let go of Sam as they fell back down towards the ocean, two soft plops signaled their landing.

Disoriented and nauseous, Sam looked around to where he saw Dean last. He glanced down and saw the older Winchester swim downwards. Except he wasn’t swimming, he was falling into the depths of the sea, unconscious from the beatings received while in the tornado. Sam dove quickly towards his brother, praying that Dean would wake.

Luckily, Dean regained consciousness before Sam reached him and, feeling himself sink, he flapped his large, orange fins upwards.

“Dean! Are you okay?” Sam hollered as he struggled to close the distance between them.

“Yeah,” Dean replied, groggily. “Are you?”

“Yeah, I am.” Sam sighed in relief, “We need to get the hell out of here.”

“You don’t say,” Dean rolled his eyes dramatically. At least they were both okay.

“We have to find the sea lions, Dean. I don’t think we have much time left.” 

Dean looked to his brother and nodded in agreement. They swam up towards the surface and searched for the sea lions, a small archipelago visible in the distance. Switching glances with each other, the brothers headed towards the nearest island. As they grew closer, the loud sounds of flapping caught their attention. Instincts kicking in, Sam turned around and came face to face with a large sea lion. Wide black eyes and long whiskers pointed straight at him.

“Uh, Dean?” whispered Sam, slapping at Dean’s side. The bigger clownfish turned around to see what Sam wanted to show him and pulled him back, swimming in front to protect his little brother. 

“Say, are you two the fish that need to get to Sydney?” said the sea lion, with a British accent.

“Who the hell are you?” growled Dean.

“Woah, no need to get tough, mate. I just heard about two clownfish needing a ride to Sydney, thought you might be them.”

Sam swam around Dean, “Actually we are. If you could help us, we’d really appreciate it.”

“Of course, lads. That’s what we’re here for. Now wait just a moment,” The sea lion turned away from the brothers and began squawking at the air, the shrill noise loud enough to startle the Winchesters. 

Holding his fins over his ears, Dean looked up in search of their ride, while a confused Sam stared at the shrieking sea lion. Soon, the shrill sounds of birds replaced the sea lion who stopped making pelican calls when he saw the squadron of white birds arrive. They dove downwards towards the brothers and landed harshly, creating waves that carried Sam and Dean in opposing directions. 

“Hey Fluke! Where are the little fish that need to get to Sydney?” said one of the pelicans.

The sea lion, Fluke, replied, “Where’s Nigel? I thought he was the one who volunteered?”

“Yeah, no. He went off to help that Marlin fella. Sent us here instead.” 

“Alright well, here they-” Fluke stopped in his tracks as he saw the Winchesters were nowhere in sight, “where did they go?”

“Here! Under the pelican!” yelled Sam from under the belly of one of the pelicans. Dean, on the other hand, emerged from under the sea where he’d been thrown when the birds landed. 

“Ah! There we go! Two clownfish, ready for transport,” said Fluke.

“Woah wait, how do we know this is safe?” asked Dean, as he swam to Sam’s side.

“You gotta trust us, mate. We’ll get you to Sydney, fair dinkum” replied the leader of the pelican group.

“Fair dinkum? What the hell does that mean?” Dean whispered at Sam.

“I think it’s like Australian for like the truth or something like that.”

“Of course you’d know that,” Dean shook his head and turned his attention to the Aussie pelican, “Alright then, how are we gonna do this?”

“Well, ya gotta jump in my beak here. But don’t worry, I won’t eat you.”

“Woah woah woah, and we’re just supposed to trust that? Listen here, uh-” Dean hesitated, realizing he hadn’t even asked the pelican’s name.

“Oh, Oliver, mate. At your service.”

“Right, Oliver. How can we be sure you won’t just use us as a snack?” 

“You’ve got to trust them lad, it’s the only way to get you there quick,” Fluke interrupted.

“Dean, I don’t think we have a choice here,” said Sam, “we’ve gotta get to Cas.”

The elder Winchester was unsure once again, but agreed to trust the pelicans. After all, the one that helped Marlin and Dory didn’t eat them, and Oliver seemed to be friends with him. They lined up in front of the large pelican, who had opened his beak wide enough to let them jump in. 

“You better not be lying, Oliver. You try to eat us and I’ll kill you,” Dean threatened. Taking a deep breath, the brothers looked forward and swam quickly at the pelican’s beak, jumping as hard as they could to land in the puddle that had formed in its mouth. 

They landed softly and swam straight to the edge of the bird’s beak, quickly holding on to it to avoid falling into its throat.

“Alright lads! Now hold on, and good luck getting to Sydney!” Fluke waved at the brothers as Oliver extended his wings and pushed upwards, swiftly and smoothly lifting off the surface of the ocean and up toward the blue sky. He continued a flapping motion until they reached a height at which he could glide without much movement, small drops of water sloshing out as they went. 

Sam, while somewhat alarmed, was mesmerized by the view in front of him. A vast, cloudless canvas stretching for miles on end. The wind blew softly in his face, while the sun provided a warmth that he had not felt in a long time. The combination of all these sensations made Sam feel exhilarated, as though there was nothing in this world he couldn’t do. For the time being, he could forget about his life. Forget about hunting; angels, demons, and all other monsters flew out of his mind, carried by the soft breeze. For a moment, he even forgot he was a fish; the only thing that mattered was the impossible peace that settled within him. 

Dean, on the other hand, was praying to all kinds of gods that the bird would not fail. His fear of flying kicking in, he shut his eyes to avoid seeing how high the pelican had taken them. Every sound a reminder that at any moment, something could happen to this bird, pummeling them down to their death. 

“Aaaigh, weehe aahoss heehe,” Oliver struggled to say something to the Winchesters.

“What the hell did he say?” yelled a petrified Dean.

“I think he said we’re almost there!” replied Sam, earning a muffled “Uh-huh” from Oliver.

Suddenly, Oliver dove eliciting terrified screams from Sam and Dean who were now holding on to the pelican’s tongue for dear life. As quickly as he dove, Oliver evened out as he looked for a place to land. Dean glanced over the bird’s beak, hoping to spot the opera house. To his left, the white arches of the opera house peeked over surrounding buildings. He tapped excitedly on Oliver’s tongue as he yelled, “There! Go to the opera house!”

“Ohhay!” responded the pelican, leaning sideways to turn towards the target. He flapped his wings softly, gliding over the crowds while Sam and Dean searched for Castiel. A task that proved unexpectedly easy since the angel was the only person wearing a large, tan coat in 100 degree weather.

“There he is! Oliver, take us to the guy in the trench-coat!” Sam yelled excitedly. Oliver turned and headed towards their friend, squawking to get his attention. 

A perplexed Castiel looked up to see a large, white bird headed straight for him. Eyes widened in bewilderment, he raised his arms in an attempt to block the impact but was unsuccessful as the bird hit him with incredible force, managing to knock the wind out of the already weakened angel. The tourists around them scrambled to get the bird off the confused man, Castiel holding its beak at bay, unaware that Oliver was simply trying to drop the Winchesters off in his palm. With another loud squeal, Oliver was able to distract the humans, and Castiel, long enough to lean down and spit out the clownfish he’d been carrying in his mouth. By sheer luck, the Winchesters landed next to Castiel’s head, who then turned to look at them, and without a second thought picked them up.

“Cover your eyes!” ordered the angel, prompting Sam and Dean to shut their eyes just in time to avoid the bright light that emanated from Castiel’s chest, showering the entirety of Sydney in luminescence as a familiar coldness washed over the brothers before they lost consciousness.

“Dean, wake up!” 

The deep voice barely registered in Dean’s mind as he regained consciousness once more. Keeping his eyes closed, Dean reached up to his chest, expecting slimy scales but met by soft, dry material instead. His eyes fluttered open as they tried to adjust to incandescent light emanating from the cheap motel lamp. 

“Hey, he’s awake, Cas!” said Sam, sighing in relief.

“What happened?” Dean groaned, pain slowly spreading throughout his body. 

“It seems the injuries you received while in the animated ocean traveled with you. I tried to heal you but I was too weak. I am sorry,” said Cas, regretfully.

Dean attempted to sit up, an action that only caused the pain to multiply. He groaned in pain and laid back down, “I feel like I got run over by a damn truck.”

“Yeah, well pretty much. This was probably caused by that stupid tornado of destruction or whatever,” Sam got up from where he’d been sitting at Dean’s side to get his brother a drink. 

“The… what?” Castiel cocked his head to the side, wondering what Sam meant.

Dean chuckled, “Nothing, Cas. Thanks for getting us out of there.”

“Yeah, thanks Cas. Also for taking care of the witch that sent us there. Although, I’m not sure Dean would’ve suffered much if we stayed a little longer. After all, he didn’t get to say goodbye to his ultimate idol,” Sam said, biting back laughter at Dean’s bitch face. 

“Hey!” Dean’s voice dropped an octave as he growled in pain, “You know what, I’m not gonna apologize for loving that fish. Not to you, not to anyone.”

“Dude, relax. I’m just playing,” beamed Sam, shaking his head. He sat back down on his own bed and placed a glass of whiskey on the bedside table, close to Dean. 

“Whatever,” Dean replied, “just promise me; no witches for the next year, at least.”

Knocking back his own drink, Sam agreed, “Alright, no witches for the next year.”

Dean Sweethearts Taglist

@lyarr24 / @akshi8278 / @pillowjj / @stoneyggirl / @wiserainbowgirl / @attackonnat

Sam Darlings Taglist

@austin-winchester67 / @supernaturalgrandma / @stoneyggirl​ / @wiserainbowgirl​

Forever Loves Taglist

@deanwanddamons​ / @hobby27​