#i don't wanna reread this

[skelebab]

My rottmnt oc, Antonio!

He's a black-knobbed map turtle :)

Lil back story (bear in mind that I'm still actually watching the show and like 90 percent of the info I know is from fandom content so yeah)(and also spoilers for the story I plan to write for them):

So after splinter took the og 4 turtles Draxum somehow had enough materials to make one more turtle, which he does, but then a scientist from New York gets into his lab (like April does in the first episode) and steals a bunch of stuff, including the new turtle (poor Barry can't catch a break)

So the scientist takes the turtle back to the lab they work at, where they and their coworkers proceed to experiment on him as he grows up(from the ages of like 2-13) and at some point they give him a dictionary as enrichment. This ended up being a big mistake, because Antonio (they don't have a name yet, but imma call them by their name anyways) ends up using the dictionary to break open the case holding a fire axe (don't think to hard about how they managed to get close enough to do that, just roll with it lol), kills all the scientist, and escapes the lab.

When he gets out on the street it's golden hour, so he associates yellow with freedom and develops an affinity for the colour and they even finds a yellow pair of pants in an alley somewhere, but as he wanders he gets super dehydrated because ofc turtles need water (and also it's summer), and luckily when he starts to get ill it begins to pour. He then sees that the water is flowing into the sewers, so he goes down there and floats along the water and falls asleep (he's been wandering the streets for days without rest at this point).

Cut to the bois swimming and having fun (the bois are a little older here, Raph is 17, Leo n Don are 16, and Mikey is 15) and Raph is floating or something when a turtle bumps into him. He thinks it's his brother for a second, but then he sees their shell has spikes, and he does a head count, and there's suddenly 5 of them. So they kinda freak out about what to do with this random mutant passed out in the water wearing raggedy pants (with a fire axe tucked in them, but they don't know that). Eventually they take them home to make sure they're not dead and figure out who they are.

Antonio wakes up in a place he's never been, but he's surrounded by people who look vaguely like him and not like the scientists that basically tortured him all his life. So he doesn't immediately attack them and instead asks them questions. They eventually figure out that he's technically their brother, and eventually he really becomes a part of their family (and gets a fresh pair of pants, amongst other clothing items), but he has a butt load of trauma to work through first.

I'll make more content about their relationships with each member of the family and how they settle in later :)

(they also have a bit of a morality thing going on, since they see no problem in killing people that pose a threat to them)

[phantom-shell]

Okay, Ford. Okay.

[shrews-art]

I really love how separately Lila, Kell and Holland are literally the most powerful people between all worlds and also smart and resourceful and skilled but. You leave them together in a room for TEN MINUTES and disaster follows

[shakerofthebutt9000]

I haven’t drawn either of them before

[essektheylyss]

I'll be honest, the hardest part of having written a lot of fic and having a lot of complex ideas in the queue is that you really end up being like, well why would I write more fic (hard, time-consuming) when I can reread the fic I already wrote (easy, delightful, wow this bitch really understands exactly what I'm looking for)

[camellcat]

I've been like obsessively rereading forward to time past and waiting for you just for the william bits. I neeeeeed more william oh please I want my darling boy. and buffy is so so fun when she's been shot into an era she does NOT belong in. I've gone through the historical tag on ef and searched best I could on ao3 but I KNOW there's stuff I'm missing always shit I've missed. what have I missed folks gimme !!

[dootznbootz]

If Rick changed Medusa for the Roman Myth in the TV show to be more 'sensitive', then he better do the same with calling out Calypso and what SHE did to Odysseus as well.

I still like PJO even though some of the changes Riordan did aren't great and make me sad but I feel like I can still enjoy it to a degree. But I am genuinely stumped and a bit disturbed by how he decided to make Calypso a sweet, sad, lonely "good person". Sure, she's sad and lonely but she is NOT sweet. To me, she reads off as cruel to Leo but even then, why tf does he write her as a good person or someone we should be rooting for?

Her only big myth is basically in the Odyssey where she imprisons and rapes Odysseus for 7 years. In mythology, others do that too but these immortals ALSO have other myths that define them. This one myth is practically her ONLY ONE!

At night he slept beside her in the hollow cave, as he was forced to do—not of his own free will, though she was keen enough. But in the daylight hours he’d sit down on the rocks along the beach, his heart straining with tears and groans and sorrow, as he gazed, through his tears, over the restless sea

(Ian Johnston, Book 5)

Another translation of the same passage by E.V. Rieu

At nights, it is true, he had to sleep with her under the roof of the cavern, cold lover with an ardent dame. But the days found him sitting on the rocks or sands, torturing himself with tears and groans and heartache, and looking out with streaming eyes across the watery wilderness.

Rick, dude, how did you read the Odyssey and see her as someone to sympathize with? Plenty of lonely people are out there and they don't do what Calypso fucking did!

It kind of freaks me out that Percy was near this woman as she's over a thousand years old and he's 14 at this point. Even if it WAS for a short amount of time. And pairing her with Leo? These kids should not be anywhere NEAR her!

idk, I doubt he'll fix this in the show but I can hope :')

[hummingjay]

More sci-fi robot leaning style practice (plus an actual background) featuring @lynxfrost13's Hoopoe!

I really like how the lineart looks so its down there if ya want it.

[thematicparallel]

📚 2025 READING LIST 📚

@helbrides & @libraryleopard tagged me to post some books i want to read next year. thank you!! taking notes from your lists 💌

tagging @archmotif @diasdelasombra @metamatar @ossifer @gh0s1y @captainamsel @perditious @swannkings + anyone else who wants to do it!! i wanna see 👀 everyone's TBR 💖

[mentauxx]

Since everyone's talking about parallel final covers,

All I'll say is look carefully at the cards in Yakumo's hand.

[actuallysaiyan]

My dumbass ended up falling for both Yoon Bum and Oh Sangwoo 🤷‍♀️

[frippschamber]

She leaned against Alex, who was sitting next to Anne, and wrinkled up her nose. “You really smell,” Lisa said. “I hate to say it, but you don’t exactly smell like roses yourself,” Alex responded with a wry smile. [Soul Riders: Darkness Falling, Helena Dahlgren, pp. 101]

like, yeah lisa, you smell like manipulation and self-centredness

[the-way-astray]

I saw strieefe mentioned again and I just want to say that if the people demand it I shall write more never change, but sorry I stopped existing for a while, I was busy.

-NC anon

aka, Lisa. 🩵

that one anon totally clocked you . . . okay now i need to know. was that food post you made really for the sake of writing strieefe fic . . . the commitment to the bit is insane. anyway. i personally did not clock you . . . sadness

funniest part i think is that you made your entire personality being obsessed with applesauce in chapter three . . . seems a very shallow interpretation of your character lol. like someone who just took a quick look at your url and maybe your bio and went "yep, this is gonna be lisa's only personality trait because i don't know anything else about her and don't want to risk mischaracterizing her". nice job on that one. threw me off for sure

girl who wants to be kissed by keefe writing keefe-kisses-other-girl fanfic is absolutely the funniest plot twist ever . . . and yes you should totally keep writing if you can. the plot seems intriguing and i need to know what stupid thing keefe did this time and what other keepblr members will be involved next (please be quil, please be quil, please be quil, please be quil-) (quil has a cat. this can be incorporated into the lore. trust.)

[gwandas]

the worst part about trying to update a fic you're dragging your feet on is reacquainting yourself with the plot and what's already happened like wtf is going on... wish i knew!

[lucifer-kane]

Raven inviting a newly flowered David, the past version of himself, onto a stage and singing with him I'm

[snuggles-and-struggles]

Thinking more on that long distance fic. I think as it went, the focus would almost be 100% Stretch's perspective, his life, I'm thinking it'd start while he’s between jobs, though I'm torn on if he still lives with Blue... Probably. But that's not the point, it'd be his life, how it's been going since surfacing, how he'd been struggling lately after a series of casual, mostly just kind of depressing relationships and his friends slowly becoming busier with their own lives.

Then it'd gradually shift to having some little bits from Edge's point of view. It's slowly revealed he’s actually doing very well for himself. Some big important government job, maybe not an ambassador, but some director of something probably.

Except...even while they'd surfaced "earlier" than "canon", he'd certainly been old enough to have a lot of fell mentalities seared into him. Maybe he doesn't struggle as much socially as a more regular AU but he still doesn't really have many friends, and his job keeps him busy. He doesn't really know...how to connect with others.

What they build over those conversations with Stretch might be just about the only real "normal" friendship he has.

And Stretch, well, he crushes easily, he knows that, so when those feelings inevitably start blossoming when he talks to Edge, eh, it's not important. Definitely not something to risk making things weird between them. Besides, he has no idea where Edge even lives, so it's not like they could meet up and hang out or go on dates.

And Edge, well, he doesn't trust easily, especially not a stranger he met online, good grief. But Stretch is not so reserved. It probably wouldn't be too terribly long before he’s shared pictures of what he’s up to, himself, friends, silly things he sees on the days he manages to pull himself out of the house.

Maybe Edge can't quite offer the same, but he relaxes into believing Stretch is who he says he is, and that at least helps him really and truly feel like Stretch...is his friend.

But the closer they get, probably over a couple of years of talking at least, maybe even voice calls as well, but no video (at least not from Edge's end), that "little friend crush" is becoming a lot more of a problem.

Edge is funny, and he’s smart. He’s insane. That voice, stars, I think the first time Stretch would hear him chuckle it'd keep him up at night. Even dates that go well, he just can't bring himself to follow up, because he just keeps wishing it was Edge instead.

It'd get to a point where his soul would ache and he'd know he needed to tell him. They would've undoubtedly gotten decently close in that time, and he’s hoping, at the very least, they can stay friends if Edge doesn't feel the same. He doesn't care if they can only do phone calls and DMs forever, he loves him. He’s in love with him.

He’s...in love with him. The way they'd talked about it leaves no room for misunderstanding. Yes. Stretch loves him. Romantically. Sexually..? Oh god, he confessed feelings for him.

Edge would be beside himself. Of course he cares about Stretch very deeply, but it'd never crossed his mind they were anything more than just friends. Maybe...maybe best friends, if he could let himself believe it. And now he has to step back and look at the past however much times passed and really ask himself. Does he...could he...love Stretch? In the same way?

Oh it'd put him through it, trying so hard to figure out the differences. Sure, yes, he enjoyed talking to Stretch more than anyone else. He mourned the nights they couldn't talk until Stretch fell asleep, and sometimes, sometimes he'd fall asleep on call and Edge would lie there and listen. Wonder what it'd be like if they could share a bed.

He knows very well what Stretch looks like, but how is he actually in real life? How would he fit beside Edge? Against him? What does his voice sound like, his laugh, without a staticky filter to it? Is he warm? Cool? Do his bones feel the same as Edge's? Well, anywhere not marred by scars. What does he smell like?

And worse yet, aside from his own struggles with demi-romanticism, Stretch is pretty. He’s handsome, funny, people like him. He is woefully out of Edge's league.

Because I'd imagine, thanks to surfacing earlier and having more exposure to humans during his late teen years/very early adulthood, being nearly 8ft tall and all points, scars, and hard ridges, he’s developed a very certain image of himself that doesn't align at all with what he'd imagine an ideal partner for Stretch would be.

But.

But Stretch said he loves him.

And...with much deliberation, I think Edge would come to find that, oh god. He loves Stretch, too. And Stretch deserves only his honesty, even if Edge feels there's surely someone out there better suited to him. That's simply not his decision to make.

After they'd talk, and the reality of it really settled, for the most part, I think Edge would insist Stretch come visit, and stay for a little while, so he they can be certain this is what they want. (And to force himself to stop hiding himself behind the distance).

God, they'd both just be bundles of nerves (ironically). Edge would probably overplan it like crazy, triple, quadruple, quintuple cleaning his house, asking Stretch over and over if he’s really alright staying there and wouldn't prefer a hotel, just in case. Stretch trying so hard to insist on paying by Edge is adamant on flying him out. He'd probably buy new clothes just for the trip.

In particular, I'd had the scene of their (new) first irl meeting in my head last night. Stretch getting out of the taxi at the agreed upon spot, a short walking distance from Edge's house. He lives in the outskirts of a city, and this street in particular is right by a small shopping district, and early in the fall, there's a good flow of people out.

Stretch is so, so anxious, but also so incredibly excited. Edge had "warned" him, even before they started "dating", that he "probably doesn't look like the dashing prince Stretch seems to think he does", but he finds that hard to believe knowing him as well as he does. He also knows Edge has a difficult relationship with doorways, furniture, and public transport, and mentioned that Stretch "couldn't miss him", so he must be tall, maybe even as tall as him.

Bundled lightly against the chill, luggage in hand, he'd be looking around with a faint flush of orange across his skull.

And angel above, he’s somehow even more beautiful in real life. Edge would hesitate before revealing himself, likely having put himself through the paces in the last 48 hours, regretting and fearing inviting Stretch up now more than ever, wanting to cling to what he trusts is safe. Stretch loves what of him Edge has shown him but he’s so scared the rest will ruin this.

The LV, the scars, his general disposition; he’s read about long distance couples meeting and the magic immediately disappearing and it's such a terrifying risk to take.

Reminding himself not to flex his hands and crush the gorgeous bouquet. There was never any other option though. Eventually they'd have to meet, if their relationship was to be considered serious. And as willing to reassure there was never any rush as Stretch was, Edge knew he was dying to meet him and see properly him for the first time.

Giving himself a moment more to commit this image of Stretch in his mind just in case, he'd finally step out and move closer, keeping the flowers behind his back and doing his best to offer a gentle, sincere smile when Stretch finally noticed him.

Okay, "maybe even as tall as him" might be the understatement of the year. Not many people towered over Stretch, but wow, yeah, he understood the "couldn't miss him" comment now. Heavens above it'd be a mercy to put him out of his misery at that exact moment because Edge was somehow even hotter than he'd expected. Weren't they supposed to be alternates of the same guy? How was that fair?

Oh would his blush flare, eyes lighting up as he'd quickly move to meet Edge, and stars, he looked unreal, his bones like perfect porcelain and his magic the colour of setting sunlight, or perhaps sunrise light would be a better comparison.

They'd both be so excited and flustered and Stretch would not know what to do with himself when Edge gave him flowers. Flowers!

I just realized I got SO carried away oh my god. Not the intention of this post. There's more after that, about going back to Edges house and talking and getting to hug n Stretch teaches Edge how to kiss n it's just. A little hurt comforty just bc of weird self image issues n fell issues but mostly it's just fluff and maybe something. Else. Who said that

It's esp crazy bc the long distance fic was actually just supposed to be one chapter. Just that bit I posted with the snippets in between. But my brain is like. No. You must imagine a whole damn series of novels of them that is 99.9% just mundane fluff. Girl...