#mawce look

[decaiys]

Forgot I used to have tags for all my friends.... I'm bringing it back watch this.... (idk who even uses tumblr still this is fine.) it was fun scrolling throuhh and seeing what I used to tag everyone in tho (':

[yallwildinrn]

Eeeee thanks Mawce!! Couldn’t really make myself a dog boy (didn’t like da options) so I went full Druid (which I would def be in a fantasy world)

No pressure tag: @zappedbyzabka @wormteeth2004 @galactidiot @abracazabka @wolfgangevenstar @heytheredeann and anyone else who wants to see what they’d look like in a fantasy world :3

Fantasy-ify yourself (Picrew tag game)

Thanks for the tag @buffythevampirelover

Use the Picrew here to make yourself into a fantasy creature! Or make some characters if you prefer that

DM voice*you see the door open. Walking into the tavern is a mysterious figure clad in black armor*

Tagging @theeccentricraven @drchenquill @bloodmoonloveletter @darkandstormydolls @paeliae-occasionally

@indecentpause @fantasy-things-and-such @winglesswriter @finickyfelix @pippinoftheshire and open tag

[ananxiousgenz]

ALRIGHT SO I am finally making an intro post for The Guys!! everyone, meet levi rhodes and caspian theodore felix dupont-hearst II!

i am reposting this art from my wonderful beloved best friend/writing buddy/co-creator @percy-mawce-arts (you have no idea how often I look at this image and think about them and sigh, I am kissing you a million times over for making them with me).

first up, levi (the one sitting down on the left)!! levi is your average blue collar worker. he works at a factory owned by cas' family manufacturing bionic body parts. levi is very sweet, and cares a lot about the people in his life and isn't afraid to fight for himself and those he loves when he feels threatened. he likes gardening and singing, and regularly babysits his neighbors' daughter, hazel. levi lives in a shared apartment with his two best friends, robin and jasper, who he's known since he was about 10. he's also a cyborg (affectionately known as "cybies" in this world. his blue eye and right arm are mechanical, the unfortunate result of a fire in his childhood home that gave him a fair amount of fire-related trauma). he can also play guitar! my notes on him- he's so pretty, I wish I looked like him, and I love him dearly.

up next- caspian (the one standing on the right!). cas is your typical rich prick: smart, manipulative, cold, and calculating. he's lived so long repressing emotions they've managed to convince themselves and everyone around them that he doesn't have any. the elite class he is a member of is obsessed with maintaining a perfectly white aesthetic, hence why cas looks like a human version of Casper the ghost (i do love him, i promise). between those repressed emotions and the pressure of being one of the perfect elite, cas has thrown themselves into club culture upheld by a lot of the younger rich folk, complete with a lot of hookups, drinking, drugs, and the like. as he gets more involved with levi, he begins to realize how messed up his life is, and starts trying to fix it. he's a big fan of history and fashion and is really good with kids! my notes on him- he's a traumatized bastard, and I love him SO much

anyway, those are The Guys!!! I will probably make a plot line lore post later, and introduce the other characters we have properly, but for now you know these two!!!

[battyaboutbooksreviews]

🌈 Queer Books Coming Out in June 2024 🌈

🌈 Good morning, my bookish bats, and happy Pride Month!! Struggling to keep up with all the amazing queer books coming out this month? Here are a FEW of the stunning, diverse queer books you can add to your TBR before the year is over. Remember to #readqueerallyear! Happy reading!

[ Release dates may have changed. ]

❤️ The Shadow of Summer - Marlon Yelich 🧡 Of Stardust - (ed) Avrah C. Baren 💛 The Ballad of Jacquotte Delahaye - Briony Cameron 💚 Triple Sec - T.J. Alexander 💙 Same Difference - E.J. Copperman 💜 The Pull of the Tide - Various ❤️ The Misadventures of Getting Lainey a Date - Eija Jimenez 🧡 Surface Pressure - Adrian J. Smith & Neen Cohen 💛 Mirrored Heavens - Rebecca Roanhorse 💙 The Fire Within Them - Matthew Ward 💜 One and Done - Frederick Smith 🌈 Digging for Destiny - Jenna Jarvis

❤️ She Who Brought the Storm - Vaela Denarr & Micah Iannandrea 🧡 Tristan and Lancelot: A Tale of Two Knights - James Persichetti & L.S. Biehler 💛 London on My Mind - Clara Alves (translated by Nina Perrotta) 💚 The Deep Dark - Molly Knox Ostertag 💙 Furious - Jamie Pacton & Rebecca Podos 💜 Gay the Pray Away - Natalie Naudus ❤️ Such A Small World - Jordan Clayden-Lewis 🧡 Make It Count: My Fight to Become the First Transgender Olympic Runner - CeCé Telfer 💛 Cicada Summer - Erica McKeen 💙 We Used to Live Here - Marcus Kliewer 💜 Dandelion - Merlina Garance 🌈 The Curse of the Goddess - C.C. González

❤️ The Schoolmaster - Jessica Tvordi 🧡 Cigarette Lemonade - Connor de Bruler 💛 Coil of Boughs - Penny Moss 💚 Ballad for Jasmine Town - Molly Ringle 💙 Asking for a Friend - Ronnie Riley 💜 Pleasure Principle - Madeleine Cravens ❤️ Perfect Revenge - Jessica Burkhart 🧡 Lockjaw - Matteo L. Cerilli 💛 Markless - C.G. Malburi 💙 Queer Art - Gemma Rolls-Bentley 💜 Morally Straight - Mike De Socio 🌈 Our Bodies Electric - Zackary Vernon

❤️ Love Is All - Various 🧡 Becoming Ted - Matt Cain 💛 Annie LeBlanc Is Not Dead Yet - Molly Morris 💚 Dear Cisgender People: A Guide to Trans Allyship and Empathy - Kenny Ethan Jones 💙 Pole Position - Rebecca J. Caffery 💜 Something to be Proud Of - Anna Zoe Quirke ❤️ Hot Hires - Nan Campbell, Alaina Erdell, Jesse J. Thoma 🧡 Lord of the Empty Isles - Jules Arbeaux 💛 Kissing Girls on Shabbat - Sara Glass 💙 When You Smile - Melissa Brayden 💜 We Could Be Heroes - Philip Ellis 🌈 But How Are You, Really - Ella Dawson

❤️ A Bluestocking's Guide to Decadence - Jess Everlee 🧡 Take All of Us - Natalie Leif 💛 One Killer Problem - Justine Pucella Winans 💚 Why Are People Into That? - Tina Horn 💙 Free to Be: Understanding Kids & Gender Identity - Jack Turban 💜 Lady Eve's Last Con - Rebecca Fraimow ❤️ Sea of Broken Glass - Jenna Pine 🧡 Rapunzella, Or, Don't Touch My Hair - Ella McLeod 💛 Wolfpitch - Balazs Lorinczi 💙 Looking for a Sign - Susie Dumond 💜 Director's Cut - Carlyn Greenwald 🌈 Wish You Weren't Here - Erin Baldwin

❤️ Act Two - Rochelle Wolf 🧡 Unexploded Remnants - Elaine Gallagher 💛 The Stars Want Blood - Morgan Lawson 💚 Shadows Dark and Deadly - Andrea Marie Johnson 💙 Design of Darkness - R.D. Pires 💜 Two Sides to Every Murder - Danielle Valentine ❤️ Meet Me in the Sky - Jeffrey K. Davenport 🧡 A Shore Thing - Joanna Lowell 💛 The Lions' Den - Iris Mwanza 💙 Under the Dragon Moon - Mawce Hanlin 💜 A Sea of Wolves - Sarah Street 🌈 Saints of Storm and Sorrow - Gabriella Buba

❤️ Private Rites - Julia Armfield 🧡 Everyone I Kissed Since You Got Famous - Mae Marvel 💛 The Stars Too Fondly - Emily Hamilton 💚 Keeping Carmen Ruiz - Alyson Root 💙 Cuckoo - Gretchen Felker-Martin 💜 Heartwaves - Anita Kelly ❤️ Bound to the Wild Fae - Tavia Lark 🧡 Four Squares - Bobby Finger 💛 The Ghost of Us - James L. Sutter 💙 Poison in Their Hearts - Laura Sebastian 💜 Puppy Love - Elle Sprinkle 🌈 Hot Summer - Elle Everhart

❤️ Liddy-Jean Marketing Queen and the Matchmaking Scheme - Mari SanGiovanni 🧡 All Friends Are Necessary - Tomas Moniz 💛 Six of Sorrow - Amanda Linsmeier 💚 Shanghai Murder - Jessie Chandler 💙 PROUD - Anthology 💜 Little Rot - Akwaeke Emezi ❤️ Fling - Deja Elise 🧡 Too Many Stars to Count - Frances M. Thompson 💛 Rakesfall - Vajra Chandrasekera 💙 The Unrelenting Earth - Kritika H. Rao 💜 Freakslaw - Jane Flett 🌈 Please Stop Trying to Leave Me - Alana Saab

❤️ A Sense of Shifting - Coco Romack, Yael Malka 🧡 Moonstorm - Yoon Ha Lee 💛 Now, Conjurers - Freddie Kölsch 💚 Hide No More - Rita Potter 💙 Running Close to the Wind - Alexandra Rowland 💜 The Afterlife of Mal Caldera - Nadi Reed Perez ❤️ Her, Him & I - Christian Weissmann 🧡 The Sons of El Rey - Alex Espinoza 💛 Show Me Your Teeth - Amy Marsden 💙 Defeating Demons and Breaking Up With My Boyfriend - Dylan James 💜 For Real - Alexis Hall 🌈 The Clarity of Light - Jade Church

[b0tch3d-analog]

songs i think would fit my fav outsiders characters (mostly pony)

theres going to js be empty ones for now cuz im listening to playlist and adding on so js like check back later if ur interested

and i’m only doing ones that ive shaped in my mind already cuz im not the best w the rest of the characters

PONY :

mawce - everybody’s worried about owen

great expectations - brody grant (obviously i had to throw in the outsiders musical🤗)

hey look ma, i made it - panic! at the disco (this could also be for johnny but wtv)

collar of truth - violent vira (specifically chapter 12 for this one)

ocean avenue - yellowcard

be more chill pt 2. - be more chill (musical)

kids - current joys

JOHNNY:

born to die - lana del rey

yellow - coldplay

re - do - modern baseball

evil - melanie martinez

bad habit - steve lacy

SODA:

things to do - alex g

fight or flight - conan gray

powder - melanie martinez

sarah - alex g

im no superman - johnnie guilbert

DALLY:

bird song - florence + the machine

burned - grace vanderwaal

mental handcuffs - jake webber

brand new city - mitski (this could also be 4 johnny aswell)

you’re one of them aren’t you? - the paper chase

oh ana - mother mother (after johnny dies)

anarchy - jake webber

killionare - jake webber (i’m sorry hes so jake webber coded)

CURLY:

trailer trash - mccafferty (curly is so mccafferty coded btw guys)

your graduation - modern baseball

zombie - johnnie guilbert

CHERRY:

right where you left me - taylor swift

breathe (2am) - anna nalick

I DUNNO WHICH ONE HELP ME:

beachboy - mccafferty

only 6 cuz their my favs

[too-young-to-fall-in-love]

thanks so much for the tags, @justabigoldnerd, @falling-into-peril, and @prettyboynapoleonsolo!!💕

(I wasn’t gonna do this today but it seems the people have spoken)

here’s a lil excerpt from my Illya POV of a scene from Mawce’s Children of the Discreet <3

Napoleon’s voice rushes at him, then. Not too fast that he can’t make it out but the words don’t make sense. The evidence has dried an incriminating shade of burgundy that’s impossible to ignore.  It’s not mine. Then whose is it? He’s almost afraid of the answer, afraid that all the help and care and affection that Napoleon’s shown to him thus far has proven futile. He doesn’t want Napoleon to speak those words into existence, that he’d killed even more innocent people. There are somethings he’s just better off not knowing, and he can’t bear to see the look of disappointment that would inevitably cloud Napoleon’s ocean eyes. 

no-pressure open tag for anyone who wants it!!💕

[corvid-ghost]

Songs that remind me of the losers

Reddie:

"And i wanted nothing more than for you to understand the pain of longing for you day and night"

"I wish the best friends to lovers pipe line was real"

Hanbrough:

"If nobody likes you I still do"

"If nobody likes me you still do"

"If nobody likes me I still do"

"I'd dig my own grave, so your garden could grow"

Benverly:

"Lonely girl you are my world"

"You got me stuck me where I'm sitting, looking at your eyes, and I know I'm so pathetic. I wouldn't move to save my life. They tell me that your lonely, it's no surprise when you walk around all day wearing those lonely, lonely, lonely eyes"

Mike:

"This goes out to my friends in West Virginia"

"Love of my life gone forever, love of my life gone for good"

"Would anyone listen to this, ramblings of a lunatic" or whatever it says

Richie:

"So I'll give myself a name, something stupid and pretentious like Mawce with a C, and I'll hope all the cool kids who graduated but stay judgemental will finally accept me"

"Cause everything I thought I knew has proven to be wrong. And I'm so desperate to the point of flying straight into. The overdrinking nights that leave you feeling torn."

"this is the life that almost killed me. This life, it made me walk away. But you know how life moves in circles. This is a character I play"

"This I the theatre I was born into. Some of my stuff still in there today. Always only doing it for the room, like I was born to entertain."

"Batman covers his face when I take the picture, he doesn't want anyone to know he was here"

"I've always been an embarrassment"

[worm-filled-carcass]

~☆ Intro Post ☆~

✬✫✬✫✬✫✬✫✬✫✬✫✬✫

☆Basic Info☆

~ Online I mainly go by Worms but you can also call me : Wormy/Wormie / any nicknames you come up with, Dean, Jack, Carcass, Apollo or Thunder

~ I'm a genderfluid trans man and I use it/its, he/him and ze/zem pronouns

~ I'm autistic and probably have adhd (tho only my autism is diagnosed)

~ I'm abrosexual with a preference for men and Demisexual (I think)

~ I don't share my age on tumblr but please don't make any sexual comments towards me just to be on the safe side

~ I'm really bad at communicating and socialising so please bare with me, tone tags are much appreciated

~ I'm always open for more moots

~ I do (rarely) post some angsty/vent stuff so be aware of that but they usually have trigger warnings

~ If you behave weird towards me I will block you

~ British 🇬🇧🍵💂🚬🪦

~ oc blog @ocs-probably (no posts there yet tho 😔)

~ pinterest for those who may seek it:

✮ My Interests ✮

Shows/Films ☻

~ Doctor Strange and MoM (mcu)

~ Supernatural

~ Young Justice (dc)

~ The Witcher

~ the Spiderverse franchise

~ Loki (the series)

~ The Umbrella Academy

~ Stranger Things

~ Kakegurui (good anime, DEVASTATING amount fanservice)

~ Moon Knight

~ will add more at some point

Books/Comics/Webcomics ⊡

~ Percy Jackson / Hero's of Olympus / Trials of Apollo

~ School Bus Graveyard

~ the Minecraft handbooks/manuals

yeah I don't read much

Songs/Musicians ♬

~ by James Marriott

~~Over My Head

~~The Other Side

~~Calling

~~Gold

~ by Everybody's Worried about Owen

~~Nunemaker's Parable

~~Solitary Confinement

~~Mawce

~ by Neathen Apollo

~~I Don't Get Sleep

~~Pretty Boy

~ November by Sparkbird

~ Bourgeoisieses by Conan Gray

~ Romance is Boring by Los Campesinos

Streamers/Youtubers ◈

~ Jack Manifold

~ AverageHarry

~ Dantdm

~ Slimecicle

~ Jaiden Animations

~ Ldshadowlady

~ SmallishBeans

Games ☣

~ Minecraft

~ Fnaf (specifically 2 and 6)

~ Animal Crossing New Horizons

~ Fortnite

~ Splatoon 2

~ Rayman Legends

~ Pokemon

~ Lego

~ Genshin Impact (tho I don't play anymore bcz I ran out of phone storage)

~ Doki Doki Literature Club

My favourite characters ☪

~ Doctor Stephen Strange

~ Gabriel (supernatural)

~ The Spot

~ Elias Bouchard

~ Diego Hargreeves

~ Denki Kaminari

~ Leo Valdez

~ Arataki Itto

~ Tony Stark

~ Ben Clark (sbg)

~ Nightwing

~ Steve Harrington

~ Yuri (ddlc)

Characters I kin ✧˖°

~ Sayori (ddlc)

~ Denki Kaminari (mha)

~ Leo Valdez (hoo)

~ Kaveh (genshin impact)

Look at my Dog. His name is Lemo. He's amazing I love him. :D

My tagging system :

#worms has thoughts - mostly shitposts

#worms has big feelings - more personal stuff

#worms ocs - any oc related posts

#worms having a tantrum -just me being upset about things

#worms asks - answering ask

#worm lyrics - song lyrics

#worm stories - real things I've done/have happened to me

#worms makes things - things I've made (drawings, userboxes, etc)

Special tags :

#my darling angel - my wonderful bf @mostautisticangel

✬✫✬✫✬✫✬✫✬✫✬✫✬✫

Take this quiz to find out which of my oc's you are (if you wanna)

(I also have some side blogs where I post mood/stimboards btw if you're interested: @moodboards-probably and @stimboards-probably )

[foundationemployeesofthemonth]

could i req an alter pack based on the radqueer flag, community, emojis (🍓🌈), and cringecore? feel free to stuff all labels you want or can think of or feel fit the vibe! ty :3

Name(s) : Kai, Arson, Juniper, Steamboat, Moss/Mawce, Lu, Max, Roxk

Pronouns : He/They/Meow/Pup/Scene/🏳️‍⚧️/🏳️‍🌈/🌈/Cringe/DJ/Fur/Rawr/XD

Age : 14 (Internally Ageless)

Birthday : June 16thGender(s) : Collaric, UnrestrictedInternetAccessGender, Pupboy, XenoAddict

Sexuality : Pansexual Biromantic Lesbian Aceflux Demiromantic Greysexual Sapphic Achillean

Paraphilias : Biastophilia, AAM

CisIDs : CisCringe, CisBlueHair, CisTransMasc, CisXenogenderUser, CisHarmed, CisDyedHair, CisTattoos, CisPiercings, CisContacts/CisColoredContacts

TransIDs : TransFandomInfamous, TransEverything, TransRacial, TransWhite, TransWolf, TransPrince, TransDemon, TransCat, TransWolfDemonHybrid, TransCatDemonHybrid

OtherIDs : Wolf Therian, Cat Kin

Personality : Kai is a lover of all things 2000s, Cringecore, radqueer, and more! He likes to look like all of his transids, so XD dresses up a lot and uses tattoos and contacts and such to make meow more comfortable! He speaks in early 2000’s scene kid lingo and tends to use numbers instead of letters or abbreviate words that don't need to be abbreviated.

Likes : Scenecore, Cringecore, radqueer, being cringy, being seen as gross or disgusting, being proship, shipping darkships, making antis mad, tattoos, brightly colored objects

Dislikes : Taking showers or baths (cat instinct), dark or muted colors, dust and pollen (allergies), peanuts (allergies)

Role(s) : Passive Protector, Verbal Protector

[pandulce135]

Hey Hey! Just wondering, how would the Rise Turtles (or just Donnie if you're not feeling up to doing all of them) react to catching a S/O singing alone in the kitchen for the first time? Like they're actually really good but maybe they're a bit shy at first about singing in front of someone? I love to sing and have vocal training but I need encouraging.

Note: I low key high key am planning on doing this for all four turtles but Don was first (it’s all a tentative plan tho). I totally get the whole being shy in front of people thing, so I hope this helps and I’m sure you have a powerful voice :)

Warnings: None

Word count: 1.4k

~~~~~

With his arms up in the air, Donnie stretched his shell as he sat up from his previously hunched over position. When you sit at your desk performing numerous computer tasks for four hours straight, you tend to let your back hunch. He let out a sigh when his back gave a few satisfying pops and lowered his arms to look around.

His eyes scanned his lab. The lights were dim, his EDM music playing through his speakers, and the seat you once occupied empty. You had said something about homework and needed to get an assignment done and that the lab was usually a good environment to work. Donnie gave a smug smile when you said that, “Of course it is, Y/N. It is a state of the art work environment to fully allow one to achieve an 84.6% higher success rate for their goal.” He was boasting and using limited data points, he knew, but your smile when he invited you to work in his lab was enough to push him to that point.

He loved your smile.

You had left at some point after he turned on his thinking music, grabbing your stuff and telling him you’d be in the kitchen, where you’d most likely be able to focus a little better. He would have argued but you were already gone when he had finished the line of code he was working on. How could you not like his preferred thinking music that usually drove him to a higher success rate on big projects? He’d have to fix the statistic.

Donnie closed up his lab quickly, turning off his music, monitors, and lights before exiting the room. The pitter patter of his bare feet against the concrete of the Lair was usually enough to warn you that one of the turtles was nearing you. However, you seemed to be preoccupied. He peaked his head into the kitchen to see you sitting at the island. Your head was bopping to music being played through some over the ear headphones he had made you one birthday.

What could you possibly be listening to that is making you work more efficiently than his proven EDM music? He had done research and studies to show positive affects of working to EDM music (again, on very limited subjects and with very limited data points, but you didn’t need to know that)!

That’s when he heard your voice begin from your spot on the stool with your fingers frozen over your laptop.

“With more faith in God, I would tell you that this was the rapture

And we’ve been left behind

Why are we so young with tired, sunken, baggy eyes?”

Donatello stood in the doorway of the kitchen dumbfounded. In all your years of knowing each other, you had never once mentioned that you can sing. Were you embarrassed? Were you shy? Why didn’t you want him to know?

These thoughts stayed swarming around Donnie’s head as he stood frozen in the doorway. You probably assumed no one was in the kitchen. The rest of the Hamato brothers were out getting pizza and Splinter was watching his soap opera on the big projector, so it was a very plausible assumption to make, he concluded. His thoughts seemed to stop when you continued to sing the next part of the verse.

“So I’ll give myself a name, something stupid and pretentious

Like Mawce spelled with a C

And I’ll hope all the cool kids who graduated but stayed judgmental will finally accept me.”

Donnie’s eyes were glued to your form, eyes closed, chin tilted slightly upward. With each line, your head moved slightly, adding more emotion for the seemingly invisible audience of your one person show. Your fingers had curled up into fists and your eyebrows furrowed upward. Donnie found it hard to look away from you, so in your element with beautiful vocals.

“And I might be flying home today, but I’m not going home

’Cuz everything I thought I knew has proven to be wrong.

And I’m desperate to the point of flying straight into the over drinking nights that leave you feeling torn.

And I’m leaving,

I’m leaving for New York.”

He admired your inflections, the way your voice would grow then shrink in on itself to tell a story. He took note of the vibrato that made your voice almost sound like it was shaking. Your voice was so strong and so passionate. Why didn’t you sing more often? So many questions with no answers yet.

The words left Donnie’s mouth before he even had the chance to stop them. “It seems pretty redundant to leave for New York when you already live in New York.” He crossed his arms to lean against the doorway, an uninterested look in his eye. He couldn’t let go of his bad boy persona now.

You let out a small scream that made him flinch as you whipped your head around to face him. In the rush, you pulled down the bulky headphones so they rested on your neck. Heat rushed to your cheeks as soon as you heard his voice out of embarrassment. With wide eyes, you simply stared at him, mouth agape in horror as you realized what he heard. Maybe he wasn’t there for all of it? You began to move your mouth to ask when he spoke up again.

With his arms still crossed, he moved himself nonchalantly to make his lean against the doorframe more comfortable. “And before you ask, since ‘With more faith in God,’” he answered your nonverbal question so calmly it almost made you combust on the spot.

“So pretty much the whole time, huh?” Your voice came out in a squeak a few octaves higher than normal. Your eyes were still the size of saucers. You probably looked like a dear in headlights.

“Yeah,” he answered, plain and simple.

You turned back to your computer, hands still in fists from embarrassment. Through your headphones, you were still able to hear the muffled guitar and voice. You felt hot and tense, and you knew you looked on edge, too. But when Donnie placed a hand on your shoulder, you relaxed slightly.

“I think you sound nice,” he peaked over your shoulder to look at what you were working on. You had already submitted the assignment twelve minutes ago. He’s going to have to fix that statistic.

You dropped your head down into your hands. “Oh my gosh…” Your embarrassment showed through your voice.

“You do!” Donnie’s hand slid across your shoulder to your upper back to try and calm you down. “The crescendos, the vibrato. Oh! Your tone! Why didn’t tell us you sing?”

You lifted your head up from your hands to look at Donnie, a mixture of shock and confusion on your features. “Since when did you know so much about music?”

“Ah, ah, ah, dearest, Y/N. I’m the one asking the questions here.” Donnie immediately shot you down with a pointed finger. You frowned at him with a furrowed brow.

You sighed loudly, pulling away from Donnie’s touch. “I don’t know. I’m just- I don’t know it’s embarrassing? I’m.. a nervous wreck when it comes to singing in front of people? It’s terrifying, people judge.” You let it all out in a word vomit. Your whole body felt warm and tingly from your sudden sharing of feelings. Donnie’s eyes widened slightly obviously taken aback from your vulnerability. You turned your head back to your laptop screen and threw your head in your hands again.

To the side, Donnie stood tall and eyed your cowering form. “Well, based off of my observations, I can say that, without a doubt, you have a wonderful voice and your technique is near perfect.” You let out a soft sigh as you felt his lips against the side of your head to plant a kiss. “No need to be embarrassed, my love. How about we get some pizza?” He smiled warmly down at you as you turned to face him again.

His eyes, which were usually full of disdain for his brothers, were now full of love for you. You felt a smile break through and grow across your face. The smile he loved so much.

“Sure.” You nodded as you closed your laptop and stood up from the stool. Before you began packing your items, you pressed a quick kiss to his cheek, earning you a small gasp from the tall terrapin. “I love ya, Don,” you said as you shoved all of your loose items into your bag.

He chuckled as he watched you grab your stuff and face him. “How could you not-“ He was cut off by you elbowing his side. “I mean, I love you, too,” he chuckled out.

“I know.”

“Good.”With his arms up in the air, Donnie stretched his shell as he sat up from his previously hunched over position. When you sit at your desk performing numerous computer tasks for four hours straight, you tend to let your back hunch. He let out a sigh when his back gave a few satisfying pops and lowered his arms to look around.

His eyes scanned his lab. The lights were dim, his EDM music playing through his speakers, and the seat you once occupied empty. You had said something about homework and needed to get an assignment done and that the lab was usually a good environment to work. Donnie gave a smug smile when you said that, “Of course it is, Y/N. It is a state of the art work environment to fully allow one to achieve an 84.6% higher success rate for their goal.” He was boasting and using limited data points, he knew, but your smile when he invited you to work in his lab was enough to push him to that point.

He loved your smile.

You had left at some point after he turned on his thinking music, grabbing your stuff and telling him you’d be in the kitchen, where you’d most likely be able to focus a little better. He would have argued but you were already gone when he had finished the line of code he was working on. How could you not like his preferred thinking music that usually drove him to a higher success rate on big projects? He’d have to fix the statistic.

Donnie closed up his lab quickly, turning off his music, monitors, and lights before exiting the room. The pitter patter of his bare feet against the concrete of the Lair was usually enough to warn you that one of the turtles was nearing you. However, you seemed to be preoccupied. He peaked his head into the kitchen to see you sitting at the island. Your head was bopping to music being played through some over the ear headphones he had made you one birthday.

What could you possibly be listening to that is making you work more efficiently than his proven EDM music? He had done research and studies to show positive affects of working to EDM music (again, on very limited subjects and with very limited data points, but you didn’t need to know that)!

That’s when he heard your voice begin from your spot on the stool with your fingers frozen over your laptop.

“With more faith in God, I would tell you that this was the rapture

And we’ve been left behind

Why are we so young with tired, sunken, baggy eyes?”

Donatello stood in the doorway of the kitchen dumbfounded. In all your years of knowing each other, you had never once mentioned that you can sing. Were you embarrassed? Were you shy? Why didn’t you want him to know?

These thoughts stayed swarming around Donnie’s head as he stood frozen in the doorway. You probably assumed no one was in the kitchen. The rest of the Hamato brothers were out getting pizza and Splinter was watching his soap opera on the big projector, so it was a very plausible assumption to make, he concluded. His thoughts seemed to stop when you continued to sing the next part of the verse.

“So I’ll give myself a name, something stupid and pretentious

Like Mawce spelled with a C

And I’ll hope all the cool kids who graduated but stayed judgmental will finally accept me.”

Donnie’s eyes were glued to your form, eyes closed, chin tilted slightly upward. With each line, your head moved slightly, adding more emotion for the seemingly invisible audience of your one person show. Your fingers had curled up into fists and your eyebrows furrowed upward. Donnie found it hard to look away from you, so in your element with beautiful vocals.

“And I might be flying home today, but I’m not going home

’Cuz everything I thought I knew has proven to be wrong.

And I’m desperate to the point of flying straight into the over drinking nights that leave you feeling torn.

And I’m leaving,

I’m leaving for New York.”

He admired your inflections, the way your voice would grow then shrink in on itself to tell a story. He took note of the vibrato that made your voice almost sound like it was shaking. Your voice was so strong and so passionate. Why didn’t you sing more often? So many questions with no answers yet.

The words left Donnie’s mouth before he even had the chance to stop them. “It seems pretty redundant to leave for New York when you already live in New York.” He crossed his arms to lean against the doorway, an uninterested look in his eye. He couldn’t let go of his bad boy persona now.

You let out a small scream that made him flinch as you whipped your head around to face him. In the rush, you pulled down the bulky headphones so they rested on your neck. Heat rushed to your cheeks as soon as you heard his voice out of embarrassment. With wide eyes, you simply stared at him, mouth agape in horror as you realized what he heard. Maybe he wasn’t there for all of it? You began to move your mouth to ask when he spoke up again.

With his arms still crossed, he moved himself nonchalantly to make his lean against the doorframe more comfortable. “And before you ask, since ‘With more faith in God,’” he answered your nonverbal question so calmly it almost made you combust on the spot.

“So pretty much the whole time, huh?” Your voice came out in a squeak a few octaves higher than normal. Your eyes were still the size of saucers. You probably looked like a dear in headlights.

“Yeah,” he answered, plain and simple.

You turned back to your computer, hands still in fists from embarrassment. Through your headphones, you were still able to hear the muffled guitar and voice. You felt hot and tense, and you knew you looked on edge, too. But when Donnie placed a hand on your shoulder, you relaxed slightly.

“I think you sound nice,” he peaked over your shoulder to look at what you were working on. You had already submitted the assignment twelve minutes ago. He’s going to have to fix that statistic.

You dropped your head down into your hands. “Oh my gosh…” Your embarrassment showed through your voice.

“You do!” Donnie’s hand slid across your shoulder to your upper back to try and calm you down. “The crescendos, the vibrato. Oh! Your tone! Why didn’t tell us you sing?”

You lifted your head up from your hands to look at Donnie, a mixture of shock and confusion on your features. “Since when did you know so much about music?”

“Ah, ah, ah, dearest, Y/N. I’m the one asking the questions here.” Donnie immediately shot you down with a pointed finger. You frowned at him with a furrowed brow.

You sighed loudly, pulling away from Donnie’s touch. “I don’t know. I’m just- I don’t know it’s embarrassing? I’m.. a nervous wreck when it comes to singing in front of people? It’s terrifying, people judge.” You let it all out in a word vomit. Your whole body felt warm and tingly from your sudden sharing of feelings. Donnie’s eyes widened slightly obviously taken aback from your vulnerability. You turned your head back to your laptop screen and threw your head in your hands again.

To the side, Donnie stood tall and eyed your cowering form. “Well, based off of my observations, I can say that, without a doubt, you have a wonderful voice and your technique is near perfect.” You let out a soft sigh as you felt his lips against the side of your head to plant a kiss. “No need to be embarrassed, my love. How about we get some pizza?” He smiled warmly down at you as you turned to face him again.

His eyes, which were usually full of disdain for his brothers, were now full of love for you. You felt a smile break through and grow across your face. The smile he loved so much.

“Sure.” You nodded as you closed your laptop and stood up from the stool. Before you began packing your items, you pressed a quick kiss to his cheek, earning you a small gasp from the tall terrapin. “I love ya, Don,” you said as you shoved all of your loose items into your bag.

He chuckled as he watched you grab your stuff and face him. “How could you not-“ He was cut off by you elbowing his side. “I mean, I love you, too,” he chuckled out.

“I know.”

“Good.”

[tricksteroftheheart]

boo. You should send me songs you like 👍

Oh man oh man. I look at my almost 8000 songs liked on Spotify. Oh man where to start. No links and maybe flat tone because I don't have the battery power, sorry /gen

(Pssst, my Spotify is linked here and in my carrd; I've got a bunch of public playlists and I take requests. If you wanna see more/enjoy my music taste ;3 )

Red text if the song is explicit, all song titles are bolded and colored blue (unless theyre explicit) for ease of reading. Also I don't keep up with artists like 99 percent of the time so if I link an artist that is actually a bad person please forgive me. Also I don't usually watch music videos so I can't add content warnings for those. I don't usually listen to full albums so if I send a bunch of songs from an album it's a coincidence lol. Just because a song isn't labelled explicit doesn't mean it's completely innocent, take care listening to songs/translating lyrics please!

Vocal synth (a lot of teto sorry):

All of Flavor Foley's music. Butcher Vanity is their most well-known song and one of my favs, but I also recommend Water The Roses, Rawdog, and 炜ward Romance. That's almost all of their songs. Yeah I don't wanna leave out Weathergirl that's a good one too Also anything by Jamie P. Special mention for her music videos. My favs are Rot For Clout, I Wish That I Could Fall, Machine Love, You're Telling Me A Shrimp Fried This Rice, and Cadmium Colors. Special mention for To My Biggest Fan by beat_shobon. Cute music video I really like Maretu. Nyan is really good but I also really like Darling. Since he's more mainstream so you probably already know his more popular songs, I recommend Tool, White Happy, Girl Eraser, Born Before, and Suji. Honestly by THØRNS Teo by Omoi Mesmerizer and Obsolete Meat by 32ki

Indie:

Also anything by Yonkagor. I like Memory Merge, Fallacy, Circus Hop, and Top 10 Things To Do Before You Die. Great music videos here Castaway, Moka!, and Queen Of The Night by The Vanished People. They have a great sound The Soccer Journals, Mawce, How Do You Talk To A Star?, Numemaker's Parable, and Gut Punch/Don't Meet Your Idols by Everybody's Worried About Owen Yoshi's Island, Cold Weather, Bedroom Community, Glass Beach, Orchids, and Classic J Dies And Goes To Hell Part 1 by Glass Beach Heartbeat, Tragedy, Casket Kids, Circuit Bent, and Playing Pretend by Stomach Book. Fukouna Girl is like literally me but you already know that one /silly Pacific by Chase Petra. Also Prologue, Monet Issues, and In An Emergency Such As The End Of The World Switchblade by Vorsa Every single fucking song by Tom Cardy I'm not joking

Not Indie/ I don't actually know if they're indie or not:

Ukelele Anthem, The Killing Type, Astronaut, and Lost by Amanda Palmer Kings Of Medicine, Too Many Friends, Try Better Next Time, and Surrounded By Spies by Placebo Nothing Breaks Like A Heart by Miley Cyrus ...And If I Did, You Deserved It ("In Case I Make It," Outtake) by Will Wood They/Them/Theirs by Worriers Like Real People Do by Hoizer Maze Of Life by Yumi Kawamura and Shihoko Hirata Welcome To My Parents House by Ninja Sex Party Nintendo Online's Greatest Announcement by Starbomb. Great music video Sick Of The Silence by Mother Mother

Other/Whole Albums:

Epic the musical. All of it. Listen to a playlist of it all in order, you won't regret it. Cult Of The Lamb: Hymns Of The Unholy. The final song on the album is explicit. Cult is my favorite. You don't need to know CotL to appreciate the music but it helps! Faker (Sonic X Shadow Generations Song) by Thai McGath. This one has an official Teto and Miku version! This one is really really silly but it has some banger lines please don't judge me /silly Anything and everything by NateWantsToBattle/Nathan Sharp. He's done some Sonic cover albums but his original music is also some of my favorites. He's been my fav since I was a kid Also any song by MCR or Fall Out Boy. My tastes are revealing themselves huh Also I'm Neo BF Friday Night Funkin Neo. So I feel the need to plug the Neo Mod tracks... And the Soft Mod tracks... and the B3 Mod tracks... Also I'm like fifteen Pico's so like... Any track with Pico in it really... I'm specifically from Friday Night Funkin: Corruption Takeover if you're curious... The Junkyard 2 by Penelope Scott Tourist History by Two Door Cinema Club

[deedjre]

day 15 - music ! i have quite a bit for this one. item 1: unfinished storyboard i made a while ago! the song is lonely eyes by the front bottoms :) item 2: lyric comic i made during digital art class! it's a different au from what i usually post of john and colin but still. song is nights like these by pigeon pit :) item 3: drawing based on lyrics ! yippee. song is tall black trees by pigeon pit.

And here's a character playlist for the both of them: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLvMPESsWlYRcveDMBU7vjSBoK2srwEm6x

And a lil guide to it (i could elaborate on these song choices but i won't): Colin (gen) - mamma told me, oh you, hell above, milk crates, mushrooms, bitter choco decoration Colin (towards John) - nerve, the vampire, my corpse friend, ghost boys, darkest heart John (gen) - trees ii, mawce, brave as a noun, goodbye declaration, shadow (i'm breaking down) John (towards Colin) - i don't smoke, too close, lonely eyes, overgrown garden, lost kitten, vampire empire, bathtub mermaid, fool, poison, disasterology, real men, world.execute(me);, parasite, opium, it's you, a human's touch, icicles, it should've been me, i needed you/you needed time, why didn't you stop me, the desolation of spring, the girl who faded away, tall black trees Dawsey (about him in any sense) - the bird song, twelve feet deep, awkward conversations, jet pack blues, bulletproof love misc (NOT just vibes based but i can't put a category to it) - killer (could be anyone), weathergirl (probably john but dawsey has a heavy association with rain), i left my towel... (same as weathergirl)

(prompt list)

CWs for content below in the lyric comic and the storyboard: smoking, alcohol use, implied alcoholism, suicide attempt in one of them (it's reiterated right above), just. a lot of angst lmao

but first, here's the drawing without the lyrics in the way :) he's in colin's room! lots of ways to tell that here lmao. also i was initially coloring/shading with my nightlight on but thankfully it actually looks closer to what i was trying to achieve without it on lmao

next is lonely eyes storyboard! CW: alcohol use, smoking, implied alcoholism, suicide attempt, rough falling out, and john has his top off on the last page. he's very underweight and has s/h scars (though there just kinda lines here). so if you're uncomfortable with that maybe scroll past.

one of the panels on the third page was added in like yesterday. bc i forgot a line somehow. anyway i think this song summarizes their story p well. never finished the boards though. you might recognize dawsey from prev days but there's also jackson (in the fedora but not john) and their boss (guy with the hair bun)

next is the night like these lyric comic! CW: smoking, alcohol use, implied alcoholism. couple of idiots thinking they're not doing enough for the other. artstyle goes back and forth between two alternatives lmao

my favorite bit is how the "you" points to john :) since the concept behind this story is an aro (bisexual) and an ace (homoromantic) trying to navigate a strange relationship in the 1960s i felt like the "fuck i'm sorry you feel all alone" line really fit. also even in the choruses i devoted to each of them you can tell how they're opposites. like with the framing of pages 3 and 7 specifically. this lyric comic is also where i figured out a lot of things. like colin's nose and how his ahoge always points to john. man i could say a lot more about this lyric comic

[luminecho]

♫ for Phoenix and/or Ruby Rose

Gonna go ahead and do both for funsies <3

For Mr Phoenix Wright:

I will look after your sister, I swear I'll write her when she's lonely, and send it off in the air I will keep her safe until I'm dead She'll always have a place to rest her head You don't have to worry about it now You don't have to live with that frown I will hold your memory close to my chest Though I wish you hadn't said it was best Could you have stayed just one more night For all of us to say good bye

Older Brother by Pepper Rabbit

More of a Phoenix-Mia-Maya song that just him alone but I very much see it as sung from his perspective and hearing it ALWAYS makes me think of him. For obvious reasons. Their relationships still make me drop to my knees clutching my chest istg

Honorable mention as well is Get Used to It by Ricky Montgomery specifically because of this this PMV

For my dearest Ruby Rose:

Everything's coming up roses Everything's coming to a bitter, bitter end I'm searching for the problem and I'm looking for a positive Maybe I'll see a few old friends With more faith in God, I would tell you that this was the rapture and we've been left behind Oh, why are we so young with tired Sunken, baggy eyes?

Mawce by Everybody's Worried About Owen

Oh Ruby. Ohhh, Ruby, Ruby, Ruby. I swear my Ruby playlist has the most miserable angsty songs on it out of any of my others. Something about interpreting this song as not really recognizing who you are anymore, your past home not really being your home anymore, all the things you once believed in have been upended, you don't really know where you're going.

Another, because we weren't going to get more than a few songs in without a SAL song:

when i was young i fell in love with story, with the eleventh hour, with the blaze of glory. the theater lights dim and all goes quiet. in the darkest of rooms, light shines the brightest.

The Projectionist by Sleeping At Last

A song about falling in love with storytelling from a young age and that love defining you throughout your life, inspiring you to be brave even when things are at its bleakest. The acknowledgment that the real world may not be like a fairy tale, but through remembering these stories and remembering what it is you aspire to be you can gain just a little bit of courage. The epitome of Ruby's character.

(Send me a ♫ + a character’s name and I will respond with a song that reminds me of them. Send a ♫ + a ship and I will do the same.)

[randompajamaalt]

oh how i wish i was bigtime 😔 oh how i wish i was mutuals with the Cool Important Malevolent artists like percy mawce and potato lord and mx paisley and kosz marny 😔 oh how i wish i was popular enough to have potato lord look at my arthur design and respond with “oug. pretty man.” and draw him 😔 but sadly me and my no note posts just sit here collecting dust and me and my no note posts just sit here collecting dust and me and my no note posts just sit here collecting dust and me and my no note posts jus

[battyaboutbooksreviews]

🌈 Queer Books Coming Out in June 2024

🌈 Good morning, my bookish bats, and happy Pride Month!! Struggling to keep up with all the amazing queer books coming out this month? Here are a FEW of the stunning, diverse queer books you can add to your TBR before the year is over. Remember to #readqueerallyear! Happy reading!

[ Release dates may have changed. ]

❤️ The Shadow of Summer - Marlon Yelich 🧡 Of Stardust - (ed) Avrah C. Baren 💛 The Ballad of Jacquotte Delahaye - Briony Cameron 💚 Triple Sec - T.J. Alexander 💙 Same Difference - E.J. Copperman 💜 The Pull of the Tide - Various ❤️ The Misadventures of Getting Lainey a Date - Eija Jimenez 🧡 Surface Pressure - Adrian J. Smith & Neen Cohen 💛 Mirrored Heavens - Rebecca Roanhorse 💙 The Fire Within Them - Matthew Ward 💜 One and Done - Frederick Smith 🌈 Digging for Destiny - Jenna Jarvis

❤️ She Who Brought the Storm - Vaela Denarr & Micah Iannandrea 🧡 Tristan and Lancelot: A Tale of Two Knights - James Persichetti & L.S. Biehler 💛 London on My Mind - Clara Alves (translated by Nina Perrotta) 💚 The Deep Dark - Molly Knox Ostertag 💙 Furious - Jamie Pacton & Rebecca Podos 💜 Gay the Pray Away - Natalie Naudus ❤️ Such A Small World - Jordan Clayden-Lewis 🧡 Make It Count: My Fight to Become the First Transgender Olympic Runner - CeCé Telfer 💛 Cicada Summer - Erica McKeen 💙 We Used to Live Here - Marcus Kliewer 💜 Dandelion - Merlina Garance 🌈 The Curse of the Goddess - C.C. González

❤️ The Schoolmaster - Jessica Tvordi 🧡 Cigarette Lemonade - Connor de Bruler 💛 Coil of Boughs - Penny Moss 💚 Ballad for Jasmine Town - Molly Ringle 💙 Asking for a Friend - Ronnie Riley 💜 Pleasure Principle - Madeleine Cravens ❤️ Perfect Revenge - Jessica Burkhart 🧡 Lockjaw - Matteo L. Cerilli 💛 Markless - C.G. Malburi 💙 Queer Art - Gemma Rolls-Bentley 💜 Morally Straight - Mike De Socio 🌈 Our Bodies Electric - Zackary Vernon

❤️ Love Is All - Various 🧡 Becoming Ted - Matt Cain 💛 Annie LeBlanc Is Not Dead Yet - Molly Morris 💚 Dear Cisgender People: A Guide to Trans Allyship and Empathy - Kenny Ethan Jones 💙 Pole Position - Rebecca J. Caffery 💜 Something to be Proud Of - Anna Zoe Quirke ❤️ Hot Hires - Nan Campbell, Alaina Erdell, Jesse J. Thoma 🧡 Lord of the Empty Isles - Jules Arbeaux 💛 Kissing Girls on Shabbat - Sara Glass 💙 When You Smile - Melissa Brayden 💜 We Could Be Heroes - Philip Ellis 🌈 But How Are You, Really - Ella Dawson

❤️ A Bluestocking's Guide to Decadence - Jess Everlee 🧡 Take All of Us - Natalie Leif 💛 One Killer Problem - Justine Pucella Winans 💚 Why Are People Into That? - Tina Horn 💙 Free to Be: Understanding Kids & Gender Identity - Jack Turban 💜 Lady Eve's Last Con - Rebecca Fraimow ❤️ Sea of Broken Glass - Jenna Pine 🧡 Rapunzella, Or, Don't Touch My Hair - Ella McLeod 💛 Wolfpitch - Balazs Lorinczi 💙 Looking for a Sign - Susie Dumond 💜 Director's Cut - Carlyn Greenwald 🌈 Wish You Weren't Here - Erin Baldwin

❤️ Act Two - Rochelle Wolf 🧡 Unexploded Remnants - Elaine Gallagher 💛 The Stars Want Blood - Morgan Lawson 💚 Shadows Dark and Deadly - Andrea Marie Johnson 💙 Design of Darkness - R.D. Pires 💜 Two Sides to Every Murder - Danielle Valentine ❤️ Meet Me in the Sky - Jeffrey K. Davenport 🧡 A Shore Thing - Joanna Lowell 💛 The Lions' Den - Iris Mwanza 💙 Under the Dragon Moon - Mawce Hanlin 💜 A Sea of Wolves - Sarah Street 🌈 Saints of Storm and Sorrow - Gabriella Buba

❤️ Private Rites - Julia Armfield 🧡 Everyone I Kissed Since You Got Famous - Mae Marvel 💛 The Stars Too Fondly - Emily Hamilton 💚 Keeping Carmen Ruiz - Alyson Root 💙 Cuckoo - Gretchen Felker-Martin 💜 Heartwaves - Anita Kelly ❤️ Bound to the Wild Fae - Tavia Lark 🧡 Four Squares - Bobby Finger 💛 The Ghost of Us - James L. Sutter 💙 Poison in Their Hearts - Laura Sebastian 💜 Puppy Love - Elle Sprinkle 🌈 Hot Summer - Elle Everhart

❤️ Liddy-Jean Marketing Queen and the Matchmaking Scheme - Mari SanGiovanni 🧡 All Friends Are Necessary - Tomas Moniz 💛 Six of Sorrow - Amanda Linsmeier 💚 Shanghai Murder - Jessie Chandler 💙 PROUD - Anthology 💜 Little Rot - Akwaeke Emezi ❤️ Fling - Deja Elise 🧡 Too Many Stars to Count - Frances M. Thompson 💛 Rakesfall - Vajra Chandrasekera 💙 The Unrelenting Earth - Kritika H. Rao 💜 Freakslaw - Jane Flett 🌈 Please Stop Trying to Leave Me - Alana Saab

❤️ A Sense of Shifting - Coco Romack, Yael Malka 🧡 Moonstorm - Yoon Ha Lee 💛 Now, Conjurers - Freddie Kölsch 💚 Hide No More - Rita Potter 💙 Running Close to the Wind - Alexandra Rowland 💜 The Afterlife of Mal Caldera - Nadi Reed Perez ❤️ Her, Him & I - Christian Weissmann 🧡 The Sons of El Rey - Alex Espinoza 💛 Show Me Your Teeth - Amy Marsden 💙 Defeating Demons and Breaking Up With My Boyfriend - Dylan James 💜 For Real - Alexis Hall 🌈 The Clarity of Light - Jade Church

[yallwildinrn]

Find the Word: Tag Game

Thank you @justabigoldnerd for the two tags!

I'm still alive lmao. I've been trying to be online less (with varying degrees of success), not be lowkey/highkey depressed, and also just. Been busy lol, so I haven't been on here as much. However, this tag game seems like too much fun to skip out on!

I'll be pulling mostly from Snake in the Grass (which I have been working on with actual success!), so come get your sneak peeks!

Rules: Share snippets from your work that contain each of the words the previous poster selected for you! If you can't find the word in your WIP (or don't have any WIPs), you can instead write a sentence/snippet around the word if you want.

My Words: rock, deny, sweat, trail (and hope & realize from Mawce's second tag just now lol) Your Words: flame, shine, hold, tear

Rock (from Chapter 5)

He wants to find a rock or some mangled chunk of pavement, toss it through the darkened windows of the dojo, and watch the glass shatter into cobwebs of cracks, explicitly ignoring how it reminds him of a shattered future that was all but stolen from him.

Deny (from Chapter 3)

Johnny swallows tightly, free hand squeezing tightly into the flesh of his thigh. Kreese did a lot for him. He won’t deny that. He looked out for Johnny, shaped him into a man, watched out for him. His sensei was a good man at one point. And then he choked Johnny out in a dirty parking lot, so that ship fucking sailed. He doesn’t deserve an ounce of fucking respect, sure as hell not from Johnny.

Sweat (from Chapter 3)

Envy bubbles up inside him along with something much heavier. Why LaRusso? Why does he get the special treatment? What makes him so special that they call him back to do something that was never even considered before? What about Johnny? What about the fucking two-time champion? He’s king karate (as Ali would say once sweetly, then mockingly)! He worked and worked and sweat and bled, and he should have been the one invited to defend the title. Not some punk who learned karate on a dime.

Trail and Hope (from Chapter 6)

Laura clears her throat, breaking the moment & pulling Johnny back in, and she asks, “How, uh- How are you? Are you back at work yet?” Johnny shakes his head, “Not back yet but hoping I will be soon. I’m feeling a lot better. I just need my doctor to give me the all-clear.” “Good, that’s good,” Laura trails off, but she doesn’t ask any follow-ups, and Johnny volunteers nothing. The silence returns. He opens his mouth to speak, but his mom beats him to it. “You know, if you need any help until you go back to work, I’m more than happy to-” Johnny sighs through his nose, short & hot, and he tightly cuts her off, “Mom, I don’t- I’m fine. I’m not taking Sid’s money. I can take care of myself.” The words come off sharp even as Johnny tries to keep a cool head. (Fix your face rings clear in his mind.) She does this every time. Every time. Can they have a single meet-up where she doesn’t try to throw money at his problems? Like it’ll fix everything? The more she offers, the more insulting it gets. Besides, he’s told her a million times exactly how he feels about borrowing money from Sid. Driving off the Golden Gate Bridge is a better idea than being in debt to that loan shark. Laura bristles and fixes Johnny with a cold stare. “I never said you couldn’t. And it’s not Sid’s money, when I married him-” “Oh, it isn’t?” Johnny interrupts. He meets her stare with just as much ice, so cold he hopes it stings. “If he left you tomorrow, he wouldn’t leave you a cent. None of that money is yours. Nothing up there is. Don’t pretend like it is.”

Realize (from Chapter 5)

His foot catches, and before Johnny can realize it, he’s falling. A cold screech cuts through the air as the floor tears open. He’s just barely able to catch himself on his forearms with a loud thud so he doesn’t plant face first into the degraded tatami floor, and his ankle hisses with pain. In his beeline for the half-shattered mirror, Johnny didn’t look where he was going, and he got caught on the foot sized hole in the mat. Just his goddamn luck.

Tag: Open tag! If you do this with the words I've offered, tag me so I can see your work :)