#maybe tiktok??? i have no idea about that realm

[kissycat]

Ppl make so many jokes about the Russian "bots" (they weren't actually bots but humans) I am inclined to think they believe the entire thing was fake but like that was real. And is still real. I get how red-scare-y it sounds, and accusing people of being Russian bots for disagreeing with you is stupid, but it's very much documented and real that there are Russian companies dedicated to trolling the western internet. They're not secretive about it

[nikoniclove]

Hi!! I saw a TikTok caption that went: “She groans in your ear, I just know it” About Emily. And I’d love to read something like that, with Emily being so horny she can’t function and Ace helps her

Emily’s losing her ever loving mind. Normally this is JJ’s realm. That woman’s libido is not to be trifled with, and whatever it is, Emily feels infected by it. 

It started when she was on a solo assignment, helping the prosecution on a case in LA. When she called JJ and Ace, they were ready for bed, and the satiated, flushed shared looks were so obvious. It made her immediately hot. Her mind, excellent at conjuring up images and scenarios in lifelike detail, did just that. It was so easy to picture her lovers together. That night, her dreams were filled with raunchy, salacious scenes featuring her favorite women and how they would include her upon her return. When Emily woke up, her hand was down the front of her pajamas. Instead she took a cold shower and dressed in her court-ready suit. 

If she thought the morning would bring her a reprieve, she was sorely mistaken. A blonde woman at the courthouse caught her attention, and Emily nearly drooled recalling JJ in a very similar outfit. Snug, black pencil skirt so perfectly fitting. Black blazer. White button down with just enough buttons open. The black heels completed the look. In her mind, JJ winked at her teasingly. Emily sloshed coffee onto the counter because she was so distracted. The heat and the splashed sound effect were enough to bring her back to the forefront. 

It was like that all day long and into the next day. Someone with a braid, however similar to Ace’s, would walk by, and Emily imagined holding it firmly, using it to direct Ace during a scene. That was a dangerous train of thought because dom-sub scenes offer no shortage of erotically charged fodder for a horny mind. Grumpy and desperate, Emily took care of matters that evening at the hotel, but it did little to soothe the ache. In fact, it only made her think of the times she has watched JJ work her fingers between her legs or instructed Ace in exactly how to touch herself. 

The entire plane ride home Emily jittered. Her body thrummed with energy, and it needed an outlet. Given the time, she knew she had to return to work, but work also meant Ace and JJ. One of them, maybe both of them, would certainly help her take care of her arousal problem. Or at least simmer it down to something more manageable until they were all at home. 

The bullpen was empty though. Well, that wasn’t entirely true. Reid and Morgan were there, but notably Emily had no use for them. Reid sweetly tried to engage her about the trial, but Emily can’t think past finally being in the same building as her girlfriends. She managed a feeble greeting before she rushed off to the east-most women’s restroom, texting the group message to summon them there. Ace responded with a thumbs up. 

Emily paced. Losing her goddamn mind because she was horny in every nerve of her body. 

——

“Hey, you!” You’re excited to see Emily. She’s been gone three days, and you missed her. You don’t expect the immediate onslaught of her lips against yours, your back roughly pressed against the closest wall. Her proximity muffles your surprised moan. The fasten of your slacks provides no resistance, and you gasp when her fingers curl in the front of your underwear. “Stall, Em,” you gasp. 

“Don’t care,” she growls, desperation dripping off her tone in a way you rarely hear. “Need you right now. Right now, Ace.” 

“Stall,” you repeat. Emily grumbles her displeasure, even as she maneuvers you into the large handicap stall at the end. Once it locks behind you, you give into whatever she wants. Her need is contagious, and you feel like you’re being devoured, the way she licks and kisses at your neck. “Something’s got you fired up.”

“You have no idea.” Her words are muffled against your neck. Her hands are everywhere. Her thigh is strong between your legs. With a quick rotation, you pin her to the bathroom wall. Her eyes widen in surprise because that’s not a move you use regularly. You sink to your knees, ignoring the hard tile of the FBI bathroom. If Emily is desperate enough to fuck you in the bathroom without even a stall for coverage, she needs real relief; lucky for her, you’re a pro at this now. With her slacks and panties down just far enough, you slip your tongue between her folds, happily lapping at her wet heat. “Oh fuck, love,” she groans, tightening her fingers in your hair. The first is quick and fast. Emily is too keyed up for anything else. She just needs some direct stimulation. It feels so powerful to have her at your mercy like this. Half-dressed, panting, legs spread as much as the slacks around her thighs will allow, her head tipped back. You ease two fingers inside her pussy, curling them just so. “Oh goddamnit, that feels good.” You find a hard rhythm while your tongue strokes and circles her clit. There’s no doubt you’re going to have to redo your braid with the way her fingers are clinging to your hair. You look up at her through your lashes, reveling in the way Emily shivers and twitches at the eye contact. 

The bathroom door opens, and Emily covers her mouth with her hand. She’s out-of-her-mind horny and very much not in the mood for a sit-down with HR. But the clack of the heels is familiar, a cadence you and Emily know by heart. You pull your hand free to unlock the stall door. JJ moans softly as she slips in and locks it again. “Hi,” JJ greets, her blue eyes impressively dark. 

“Hey,” Emily rasps. “Ace, back to what you were doing.” You add a third finger, and Emily bites out a shaky groan. “Fuck, just like that, love. Make me come.”

“Again,” you taunt mostly for JJ’s benefit. 

“Yes, again. Fuck, I need it.”

JJ leans against the wall, directing Emily’s chin. “We missed you,” she breathes against Emily’s lips. You can tell from Emily’s stuttered sound that JJ bit her bottom lip. JJ swallows any other noises Emily makes as you fuck her. When she comes again, the two of you keep Emily’s body stabilized - your hand firmly against Emily’s stomach and JJ’s arm wrapped tightly around Emily’s upper body. “Welcome home,” JJ whispers, nuzzling Emily’s neck while the older woman catches her breath. “What made you so horny? Huh?”

“Your fault,” Emily groans. 

“Oh, this I’ve got to hear. Do tell, Agent Prentiss. How is it my fault?”

“Your libido rubbed off on me while I was in LA.” 

The blonde can’t help but laugh. She offers you a hand to help you off the floor before pulling you in for a kiss; she adores being able to taste Emily on your tongue. “We’ve still got a good bit of the day left,” she reminds Emily. “Think about all the ways we can really welcome you home when we have our privacy and our toy chest.”

“You’re the worst, Jennifer,” Emily bites out grumpily. The dual orgasms certainly helped quell the desperate urge, but all of JJ’s teasing and imagery is building it right back up again. 

“Probably,” JJ agrees with a chuckle. “But it’s so fun, and you’re such an easy target when you’re like this.” 

Emily can’t wait for this day to be over. 

[gloriousburden]

Just saw gifs of the variant’s outfit in the finale.. day = ruined. Please it’s so ugly and I hate the reasoning behind it so badly they’re always trying to strip Loki of who he is and it’s so sad like so what if he wants to wear the attire of his home realm where he is also royalty mind you 😞 now I have to go on a rant..

Not only was he stripped of his personality but also of anything that represented him. How anyone who claims to love Loki can tolerate this series, I have no idea. It was written by people who do not like Loki, or his fans. Like okay so the diminishing of Loki’s character is alright just because they put a scene of him crying for one episode while also skipping over the major event he previously went through to go on and talk about other characters and their struggles oh don’t piss me off.

The whole concept fucking pisses me off from the get go. I do not care about an alternate version of Loki. I think series fans fail to realize that our dislike of the series does not only lie with the mischaracterization. It also lies with the entire concept of the series. Loki had already existed for a decade before the series came out, and his own story was left unfinished. Why would I care about an alternate version of him from the Avengers (immediately before he was able to go through his most important character development in TDW btw) when he couldn’t even be written consistently after 2013?

Loki fan to Loki “fan”, I don’t care how much merch you have. I don’t care if you’ve met Tom multiple times. I don’t care if you’ve watched the movies (but I mean if they actually did, I figure something would click eventually) every single day. If you truly believe that the series did justice to Loki’s character as well as respected the previous writer’s work that implemented and laid down the definitive traits and aspects of his character for years only for them to get overlooked and completely erased in a few episodes a decade later, you do not love Loki. You are not a fan.

There are so many series diehards that have SO much merch or have met Tom like 30 times and it boggles my mind. Like you don’t even like Loki enough to see the difference of his characterization from 2011 to 2013 (or even fucking Ragnarok at this point. He still had at least a few aspects of who he is in it. I hate to defend it because it did him wrong as well, but I’ve got to be honest) vs in this this garbage ass series that bears his name, but does nothing except diminish it. Why be so invested financially in something you cannot think critically about? How do you not like… sense the difference?

I’ve also met Tom and have a LOT of merch. Is that what makes me a fan? No, Because what makes me a fan is my love for Loki and my dislike of the ignorance towards his character. I’m not saying this towards casual fans who enjoyed the series and bought a funko pop. Like i really don’t give a fuck and I’m not expecting them to know anything about Loki. But I’d expect better from people who claim to be his fans.

In 2021 when the series first came out, I was critical from the beginning. I did not like the concept, and also didn’t really trust marvel with doing anything good with Loki. When I watched that first episode, I just knew it was over from the first few minutes or so. And I was a fairly new fan of Loki!! Like how could anyone accept this bullshit? Also I could’ve swore so many more people disliked it then. I’ll never forget it lol my entire TikTok FYP was just people shitting on the episodes each week. Especially the finale. They were like “yeah guys uh.. Maybe it’ll get better.” Then the finale came out and everyone flipped LOL

I don’t care if people think I’m harsh for saying any of this. You straight up are not a Loki fan if you’re a fan of the series. You like the idea of him maybe, but you don’t like him for who he truly is and that’s sad because neither did the characters around him. Misunderstood in canon as well as by his own “fans” it’s so over.

Oh also notice how series fans pretty much never talk about TDW. They cannot comprehend an MCU project that takes place directly after the Avengers and actually does Loki’s character right. Lmfao.

Loki “fans” if they were forced to actually enjoy his character in canon instead of only in fanon for one second:

They’d be so surprised that he dares to stick up for himself, and has a fucking personality and motives of his own.

[xno-more-smilesx]

DP x DC Idea 2

So, i was watching some naruto edits on tiktok and one was about Karin, and that got me thinking, what if Danny can use his ectoplasm as a healing agent? and (with an angsty note) what if Vlad tries to take advantage of that?

Basically, ectoplasm its what ghost are made of, they use it to exist, to heal, to atack, etc, so if a ghost is inujred they would heal fasther in the zone or in high ambient ectoplasm places

-Cut cuz this got longer than i though, sorry for the yapping-

So, lets give it a bit of actual sense, lets say that Ectoplasms its naturally an ambient agent in areas where the veil is thiner or maybe theres more death energy (cementeries, mortuaries, hospitals, high murder rates places, etc) and Amity Park its a pretty thick with ectoplasm thanks to the portal, so ghost can absorb that ectoplasm the same way we do with sunlight and vitamin C.

Now, the Realms its made of ectoplams, Amity only has ectoplams, it also has other elements and such, so its not as pure as the realms and the healing wont be as fast as being close to the portal or in the zone, BUT, Ghost only have cores right? those are the ones that proceses the unfiltered ectoplasm outside the realms and its why it takes longer to absorb it and heal, but Danny is also human.

Humans have differents filters, we have our kidneys, our liver, tonsils, even our whole digestive system is its own filter and so are our lungs (respiratory system starts from our nose using our snot to filter big particles [and also warms the air], then bronchi, bronchioles to filter any bacteria and you can get smoke stuck in your alveoli bc of how thin and not solid it is).

So Danny naturally have several filters that after the accident could've adapted to the new body necesities and started filtering the ambient ectoplasm, helping with his health, acting as a healing factor and making the ectoplasm in his system pure.

And Vlad knows this, he may not be an ectologist the same way that the fentons are, he is not publishing research or showcasting his knowledge in ectology even tho he studied the same thing with them, he may be a narcisit but he aint stupid, he did his own research, his own experiments, he is still a scientist that loves to know stuff, and in that same though, he is still a narcisist and pretty much an asshole.

So even tho he does have the same benefits, it still can need time to function, even more if the wounds are deeper or bigger and if its caused by other entity ectoplasm, i could guess it being not from you it could be more harmful the be exposed to (like how blood and organs transfusion need to be compatible or the same type cuz it could kill u if not) so his body would need to first purge that and then start healing.

So he could bite Danny and get that sweet purified ectoplasm, as if he didnt look enoguh like a vampire already

But, isnt that also another entity plasm? well, yeah, but it could be a more broad concept, like, they are both halfas, that could be enoguh to make them compatible, Danny's esctoplasm also is pure somthing that other ghost dont have, it could also be that maybe theres different types of ectoplasm than can chaged based on the intention with it is used, like, if you want to shot an ecto-ray it would be combative.

I have a lil prompt based on this, but i'll write that on a reblog cuz this got too long and also is more of a context thing than part of the prompt

[yourlocalartsonist]

ROTTMNT Moths Fly In Packs - Chapter Nine

HOLY MOTHERFUCKING SHIT I'M ALIVE AND I AM SO SORRY! It's been way too long and I'm genuinely sorry this chapter took several fucking months to make but IT'S FINALLY DONE! It ended up way longer than I intended man, I THOUGHT THIS WAS GONNA BE SHORT. It's my longest chapter yet fun fact. I don't even regret it really, it benefited so much from the extra effort. Hopefully the next few chapters won't take this long but I will refrain from jinxing myself again so🧍‍♀️Anyway enough blabbering, hope y'all enjoy this one ;w;

CREDIT To the MFIP Team: Thank you to @yosajaeofficial, @urlocalmj, misfortun3_ismyname (on TikTok), @chaoticspeedrun, @ramblehour and @goldanrabbit for being my lovely editors! MAN did they give this chapter a lot of polish-

Previous Chapter | Next Chapter | Chapter One

Disclaimer: Chapter involves verbal abuse/manipulation, harassment, gaslighting, depressive thoughts, violence, blood, mentions of a wounded limb, brief mentions of nausea, displayed anxiety, and curse words. If you're sensitive to that, scroll past and stay safe!

I rushed around my room throwing shit on as fast as I could. Not fast enough apparently, since my phone’s vibrating like it’s gonna explode.

It’s late as hell right now, but Zane insisted on meeting up. Pretty randomly at, like, 11pm on a school night. I was initially planning to reject the idea or ghost with the excuse of sleeping, but it’s been a good while since I actually did hang out with him. I know insomnia’s gonna keep me up for a bit anyway, so why the hell not? We might even have fun! Just wish he’d stop flooding my notifs like I didn't already say I was actively getting ready.

I looked in the mirror, checking to see if I was presentable enough for the outside realm. My reflection’s the same as always; for better or worse. Still the same pink dress, same green skirt, same  boots. Can’t forget the gold earrings; the only emergency asset I held onto. I don’t know what I expected. I don’t have much to work with. Guess the gloves from Donnie are new, at least. But I’m still getting… bored? A change in appearance—even a small one—might be able to fill that hole for a while. Keep me distracted.

Maybe I could do something with my hair tonight? I still have Mi’s ribbon lying here somewhere.

I ignored Zane’s digital pestering and spent a few extra minutes shuffling through drawers and boxes, eventually finding her long, white ribbon—handmade from moth silk. She wore it all the time. I barely remember her hair being fully down unless she was sleeping or about to shower. Except for that one night, of course. The night she left and was never found again. She almost did take the ribbon with her. Had her hair done up in a bun and everything, even a little fancier than usual. But she took it off once she saw me behind her, barely reflected in the mirror. She crouched down, placed it in my tiny palms, and gave me her wonderfully warm smile. It’s the last thing she left me with. The last gift she could ever give me. 

After that, the ribbon’s survived years of storage and then more years of… unconventional bullshit use. I know moth silk ain’t the weakest thing on Earth but I’ve deadass used this ribbon as a make-shift pulley system to sneak stuff into my room through the window before, some of which weighed more than me! Its got the endurance of a Nokia at this point. 

I’ve barely used the ribbon for its intended purpose, though. I mean, how could I? I’m not my mom no matter how similar we look. Maybe this is a me-thing, but I always felt wearing the ribbon would be like replacing her with myself. 

Although, I’m sure Mi would’ve loved it if I wore it. 

Using the ribbon, I tied my hair into a ponytail and styled it as a loose bow, just to see how it would look. The white tails gently draped over my back down to my hips. I never quite realized how long the ribbon was before now. I don’t look as fancy or pretty as mom did, but it’s the best I’ve got. It… it doesn’t look bad, though, I think. It actually looks kinda nice! Maybe I’ll use it a bit more often. 

My phone’s repeated buzzing snapped me out from my trance. “Alright, alright, shut up already.” I groaned. Zane’s growing impatient.

You: hey sorry I jsut finished getting ready

You: heading out the door now! :3 

Fuck doors. Sneaking out became a whole lot easier ever since I did it from my window, but he doesn’t have to know that. I can already imagine him scolding me about the dangers of dropping down from high places, even with the fire escape there. He wouldn’t be wrong, per se, but at this point I’ve handled worse. Would probably send him into cardiac arrest if he knew what I’d actually been up to these few months.

I sprinted to the spot we agreed to meet up at. Zane was already there, leaning against the wall with his hands stuffed in his pockets like always. 

“Salena! Hey!” He lit up like a star when he saw me, beckoning me over.

God, for a sour person, he has such a sweet smile. He’s usually so good at being intimidating and frightening. Yet the second he brings out his smile, all that built-up fear washes away like it was never there to begin with. 

“I almost thought you wouldn’t come.”

“Well, I figured I could use some fresh air.” I tilted my head to the side, eyeing his fit. “You left your sweater at home?”

“Hm?” He followed my gaze to his pitch black tank top in place of the usual outfit. “Oh, right! Yeah, the weather’s too hot for a sweater tonight. Forgot I changed it, really.”

Now that I’m looking closer, his choker’s missing too. It probably didn’t match with the top. Seems like it got swapped with a black watch on his left wrist that complimented the look way more. Doesn’t matter what he pretends to be though, I know Zane pays very close attention to his appearance. He’s gotta maintain the rep of our grade’s “Pretty Boy” after all. When it comes to him, every little detail matters.

Wait a sec…

“What happened to your arm?”

I couldn’t see ‘till he turned towards me but his left arm had a deep bluish-purple bruise spread across it. It looked like it was from something long like a pipe or a bat. Either way, it was gnarly enough to worry me. 

“Oh that. It’s nothing too bad.” He shrugged.

“You kiddin’ me? It looks awful! What happened?” I carefully grabbed his arm and took a closer look at the mark. I wish Leo was here, but thankfully I’ve picked up a little medic knowledge from him so I can at least tell if a bone is broken or not.

“Hey, don’t get your feathers all fluffed! I got a little hurt rough-housing with the guys, that’s all. You know how they are.”

“Rough-housing? Or a secret murder attempt?” I was only being half sarcastic. It wouldn’t be out of character for them.

“Don’t worry! It’s really sweet of you to care, but they’d never dare hurt me on purpose! Now, on another note…“ He paused for a moment, taking a proper look at me. For a little bit, I couldn’t tell why he smirked. “Looks like someone wanted to look cute tonight, ey? You wore your hair up.”

“Huh?” I touched my hair, forgetting I changed it earlier. “Oh, um, yeah! I-I did! I thought I’d give it a try. Does it… um, you know, look too bad or weird or?…”

“No! No, it… it looks really pretty.” Oh god, that’s a relief to hear! I was so paranoid it wouldn’t suit— “I gotta ask, though.”

I caught him inching closer. I tried creating space, but quickly realized I was up against the wall again. Should’ve been more careful about that. His hand reached out, bringing back all sorts of cringe-inducing memories. He didn’t technically pin me like last time, but he tucked my bangs back behind my ear. Feeling his fingers come into contact with my skin almost feels just as nauseating, though. 

“How’d you know I had a thing for girls in ponytails?”

And fuck, he made it weird again.

“Z-Zane?”

“Yeah?…” WHY ISN’T HE GETTING THE HINT!? “You know, you always look so soft when you dress up. You just bloom.”

“…So! What are we doing tonight?” 

His smile slightly dropped, likely upset I ruined whatever moment he was trying to have. Honestly, didn’t matter to me, as shitty as that sounds. I just wanted to change the topic so he’d step back a bit. We go through this every time; this stupid ass, awkward aura. I wish it would stop happening. 

On the bright side, he did step back and redirect his focus to answering my question. On the not so bright side, his answer was a pathetic shrug.

“I don’t know.”

“Y-you… What do you mean you don’t know? I snuck out here in the middle of the night, you told me it’d be something special! You’ve gotta have something planned.”

“Honest, I don’t! I thought it was beautiful outside and it reminded me of you. Wanted to see where such a lovely night could take us. I think that’s special enough, don’t you?”

“W-Well, I mean—“

He chuckled “What’s wrong? You’re not backing out now, are you?” 

I may have praised his smile earlier, but right now it’s making my eye twitch. I’m a little peeved knowing he brought me out here for shits and giggles when I could’ve at least been resting in bed, replenishing some of my energy. I know I don’t have the best sleeping habits, but that doesn’t mean I can’t get tired from the constant action going on! I don’t even know how long he’s gonna keep me hostage for! But… he’s also right that it’d be kinda shitty to bail now. Besides, I’m already out here so…

I guess all that’s left to do is suck it up and try to make the best of it. 

“Well, do you wanna… go for a walk or something?”

“Sounds perfect to me! Come on, hold my hand, Dove.”

For someone who supposedly didn’t have a plan, he sure took an awful lot of charge during that walk. He suggested we go to Central Park and practically dragged me there despite my common sense screaming to never go to that hellspawn at night. Although, I can’t complain too much. The park’s definitely the best place to see the stars, and tonight had clear skies! He made sure to keep a tight grip on me in case we ran into any classic New York weirdos anyway, so I should probably be less tense. I guess I got used to the guaranteed safety of having literal ninjas around me, I forgot what it was like hanging out with a regular person. 

On top of that, Zane seemed really happy! Happier than I’ve seen him in a while, actually. He was giddily pointing out any interesting greenery we saw and rambling random facts he knew about them. 

Even later, when we went and dined inside a relatively fancy restaurant, all he could focus on was the different plants they chose as decor. He’s such a huge nature geek, but he’d never let anyone know. Zane’s the type of guy to get 100% on a biology test and shamefully shove it in his backpack to avoid being labeled as a nerd. Being a nerd myself, I think it’s pretty cool, so I never understood it. But either way, I’m glad he feels safe around me. I’m glad he doesn’t hide around me.

I forgot about this side of him, I really did. The side that is my friend.

We were walking back to my place, taking in the bliss of the quiet night. Even if a part of me prefers the busier, noisy parts of the city, it’s really soothing to experience the calmer sides of it too. Everything about tonight feels nearly perfect. I’m surprised nothing ruined it. I’m debating if I could ruin it…

I really want to talk to him. I wanna bring up those photos, get some answers, put my strange emotions to rest once and for all. I wanna hear it from him that neither of them meant to hurt me. That this was just my mind screwing me over again. I need to know. I really need to know. 

You know, friends are supposed to lend a shoulder when you need it.

I don’t want to ruin the night. But friendship takes risks sometimes. That’s what shows its strength, right?

I take a deep breath and go for the leap of faith.

“So, I was wondering—” “Salena, I wanted to ask—” 

I really gotta work on my timing for these things.

“S-Sorry! You go first.”

He shook his head with a delicate smile. “Nah, it’s okay. You can go.”

“Are you sure? I-I mean it’s kinda complicated…”

“Yeah, I’m sure! I always love hearing you talk, anyway.” 

“O-okay then, well…” My hands balled up into determined fists and I looked him right in the eyes. I have to put an end to this or I’ll never be able to move on. “I’ll be real, it might be a weird question.But you’re my friend and I really trust you a lot. I… I have to know this, so please don’t get mad.”

“Yeah…?” Why did he have to lean in closer…

I came this far, I’m not letting my tongue shut me up again. 

“What’s going on with you and Jaiden?”

Immediately his demeanor changed. His posture slouched, the disappointment clear as day on his face. “Jaiden? You’re—you’re really thinking about… about them, now?” 

“Yes, b-but I want to stop! That’s why I need to ask you this, so please bear with me, Zane.”

He leaned back with a hand on his hip, the other covering his face as he exhaled. “And here I was getting my hopes up for nothing.”

He would never think that I heard him; Zane’s a good whisperer. Unfortunately, my hearing rivals it.

He looked at me again; his eyes didn’t feel the same. “Okay, fine. What is it?”

I felt my stomach twist into itself. My chest began to ache. If I didn’t know any better, I’d think I was about to hurl.

It’s okay. Friends get a little upset at each other all the time. Doesn’t mean they’ll break apart. Don’t be a coward, Salena. 

I told him about everything. The canceled plans, Jaiden’s distant behavior, the increase in their pics together on his Instagram. I vented about how frustrated I felt with seeing them spend so much time together and then completely ignore me. And then vented some more about how frustrated I felt from that frustration, how I knew it was wrong yet couldn’t help it seeping into my everyday life! I let out a lot of steam tonight, even things I didn’t plan on telling him. The only things I left out, honestly, were anything related to the turtles to hide their identity. And to avoid any irrelevant questions.

He seemed strangely chipper hearing all of this, a curiously amused smirk plastered on his face. Not the reaction I expected, but I guess it’s better than him flipping out like I thought he would. 

“So, if I’m getting this right, you see me and Jaiden hanging out more often and it actually bothers you?”

“I don’t want it to but yeah, it bothers me a whole fucking lot. It’s taken over my life and I hate it! I hate being jealous! It’s so—“ 

“You’re jealous!? You’re jealous! Oh man, I can’t believe I am living in the same timeline where the Salena Moni is experiencing jealousy like every. Average. Lowlife. Person!” 

“Yeah, yeah, go ahead and rub it in, why dontcha? That helps me so much.” I pouted.

He laughed, enjoying my misery. “I know, I’m sorry. Just, damn! Somewhere, pigs are flying aren’t they?” If Meat Sweats could fly, I’d be his murderous Cupid.

“Har har. I get it though. I mean, you know me! I’ve felt envious before, but jealous? How does anyone even deal with this…?” I held myself a little tighter.

“Hey, hey, it’s okay, Dove. It happens! Everyone gets a little jealous. It’s a normal thing to go through, Salena.”

“Yeah, I sure did want a normal life, so I guess I got what I wished for.” I can’t help feeling salty over all this. 

He only laughed and patted my hair, fluffing up the ponytail a little. 

“Hey, Zane? For the sake of my psyche, you sure I’m not a bad person for this?”

A tender sigh rang through my ears. “I’m sure. You could never be a bad person, Salena.” 

…I never realized a husky voice like his could feel so honeyed.

But he’s right. I’m not a bad person, I’m just human. If both him and Raph said the same thing, it’s more likely to be true.

“And for the record, Jaiden and I are just friends right now. There’s nothing going on between us, so you don’t have to worry.”

“Uh… Cool? I… might be a little lost here. Why are you telling me that?”

“Reassurance, obviously.”

I blinked, not really getting it or knowing how to respond. He thought for a moment, then had a face of realization while he giggled.

“Oh my god, don’t tell me you’re actually that innocent! You’re so cute, I swear!” He booped my nose and leaned in again with a huge smile. He lowered his voice almost to a whisper. “You’re jealous because you have a crush.” 

A crush?

“But why would I have a crush on Jaiden?” 

“I’m just saying—Wait, rewind. A crush on Jaiden?” He physically paused for a bit before awkwardly laughing. “No, sweetie, you don’t get jealous of your crush, you get jealous of the people they’re with!”

“That’s why I’m asking. Why would I have a crush on Jaiden?”

…Why does the air feel colder all of a sudden? 

The night was warm just a minute ago, but now it’s dead like the core of winter. His smile is long gone. His eyes, they’re slicing me in half. Is my breathing a little faster? He’s coming closer. I’m suddenly aware of just how alone we really are here in this silent little street. 

“To be clear. Who are you jealous of.”

My throat clogged up. I blinked and lowered my eyes so he wouldn’t see the tears being fought back. I forgot this side of him, too. The side that made my heart close in on itself.

“Salena, don’t make me ask twice.”

“Of you.” I managed to let out. “J-jealous of you.”

He wouldn’t speak for a while. Only felt him staring me down like a predator stalking its prey, making me swallow to keep my throat from drying up. My hands felt so clammy, begging me to wipe them on my skirt. But I didn’t dare move. I couldn’t even look at him right now.

“Of fucking course you are.”

I knew it was coming, but I still flinched when he cursed with no shame, tugging his hair and punching the wall next to me. It’s stupid, isn’t it? I can handle giant mutants and a literal cult of evil, but Zane’s temper was not something to be messed with, and my unlucky ass did exactly that.

“Why did I ever expect anything different! Of course it’s me you’re jealous of! Why the fuck would you phrase it like that if you meant something else, god dammit!”

You’re gonna bleed if you keep doing that…

“Z-Zane, I’m sorry. I-I didn’t think it’d come off as me being jealous of Jaiden—“

“OBVIOUSLY, IT FUCKING WOULD!!!” He grabbed my shoulders, bringing me closer to him. I don’t know if it’d be an exaggeration to say I nearly got a panic attack from the action alone. 

“When you say things like how you’re jealous of how much time Jaiden and I spend together, of course I think you’re jealous of them, not me! Why would I ever assume it was me! That never happens with anyone else! God, you’re such a fucking moron sometimes, I swear!” 

“I'm sorry… P-please stop…”

“After everything we’ve fucking been through, everything I did for you! All you can ever do is somehow relate me back to Jaiden! There’s always someone else! I mean nothing to you, Salena! Don’t I!? I! Mean! Nothing!”

“I-I didn’t mean to, I promise—”

“THAT DOESN’T MATTER, IDIOT!”

He let go and pushed me back. Sometimes I overlook how much bigger Zane is compared to me. This is not one of those times. 

“You know what? You know what’s funny, Salena? That night you’re so fucking fixated on, the one that’s consumed your ability to even think like a normal person? Yeah, I’ve got some news about that night.” 

I just want to disappear…

“I asked Jaiden to go with me to that shitty party on purpose!”

…

What?

“I asked them on purpose, I posted those pictures on purpose! I did everything ‘cause I knew you’d see it! I thought maybe then, for once, you’d finally, finally feel a single ounce of longing for me! That was all I wanted!”

What.

“…You better be lying, Zane.”

“I’m not. And you deserve this.”

I glared at him the entire time while he was too focused on his own bullshit words to even notice. My arms burned with the sensation of my nails digging deeper and deeper. I hope they'll draw blood.

“You don’t understand, Salena! You keep saying all these… all these stupid fucking things that no one else says to me! Do you know what it does to me? If I had my way, I’d hold you forever and never let you go. No one’s shown me kindness like you.”  I was so numb I couldn’t even react to him caressing my cheek. Only kept glaring. 

“But then you barely ever give me the time of day! You’re barely ever with me! Fuck, honestly, you’re never with me anymore! I don’t know what’s going on, but it’s not like you to say one thing and do another! You’re not that type of two-faced asshole! So why are you fucking acting like one!? Ever since that day you went to ‘hang out’ with that stupid drugged-out bitch you called a friend, you’ve never been the fucking same! With the way you act, I wouldn’t be fucking surprised if you got addicted and stay on the high 24/7!”

He’s… Is he talking about Mikey? That’s what this is about? Is he fucking serious right now.

“Who are you!? Where is my Salena?” 

“Did you know Jaiden and I had plans that day?”

“No, I didn’t. I’m not stupid, I wasn’t gonna go that far. I wanted you to get a taste of what it felt to not be chosen, that’s it! Obviously, it was dumb to think it would work!” The dumb bitch sighed, exasperated. As if he had any right to be. “Seems you don’t have room for me in that big heart of yours after all, huh? Maybe I’m a dick for saying this, but it’s honestly karma that I happened to choose the one day you two were gonna hang out. That’s gotta be a sign, Salena.”

You never get the fucking hint, do you Zane Evans?

“I need to go.”

I couldn’t even get two steps in before he gripped my wrist to stop me.

“Wait, what do you mean go? Go where?”

“I meant exactly what I said! I’ve had enough. Now let go of me.”

I yanked my arm back and stormed off, Zane following close behind. At least, judging from the sound he was. I didn’t bother looking back. 

“Hey! Your place is in the opposite direction!”

“Stop following me, I can go wherever I want!”

“Salena, seriously!? It’s already late, you’re gonna get lost! Come on, are you really that pissed off—”

“YES!!!”

I turned my heel and faced him.

“How are you even unsure of that!? You got upset I hung out with someone else for one day—a person I made plans with in advance, might I add—and you decided to take revenge on me!? Do you have any clue how fucked up that is!?”

“I got a little mad! So what? You’ve known me for two years! Stop overreacting about a harmless dig!”

“Harmless!? You have no idea what I’ve gone through this past month because of your little ‘harmless’ stunt! I’ve suffered so much because of you! I can’t even sleep because of you! God, sometimes you’re so—Ugh!”

I began counting down from ten to one, just like Raph taught. I shouldn’t say something I’ll regret later. Honestly, I shouldn’t have said anything at all.

He looked like a sad puppy. It’s clear he wasn’t expecting this. But somehow, my sympathy won’t halt my anger tonight.

“Salena, I… Look, I didn’t know you’d be so sensitive over this—“

“Zane, I really need to leave. I’m sorry I exploded like that, but it’s gonna happen again if I stay here any longer. So please, just stop following me. Hurting you would add more shit to my plate and I really don’t need that right now, okay?” 

“N-no! Stay! I can make it up to you!”

“Another day, any day, but not now! Not now.”

I walked away and this time he didn’t follow. 

“…Fine.”

I heard his footsteps stomp in the other direction, slowly fading away.

My own legs went faster till the wind consumed me. 

The anger returned almost instantly after I knew he left. I’m happy I kept my cool during the end back there but holy fucking shit! What was he thinking!? I wanted answers tonight but I didn’t expect this! I thought I was overthinking again! I thought my brain made up the possibility that they ditched me intentionally! But no, turns out it wasn’t just Jaiden but Zane, too! What the fuck did I do to them? What did he mean I “deserved it”!? 

I don’t get it, what is he expecting me to do? I know he… feels a certain way about me. But even then! I can’t just shit romantic feelings for him out my ass! 

Ugh, so fucking stupid. I’m gonna lose my head if I keep thinking about this.

I wandered around the city some more and got back to the main road where a good handful of cars were passing again. It’s past 1am now and I’ve gotta get ready for school in less than five hours. But I know damn well I won’t sleep, not after this. I don’t wanna go home. Take me anywhere but home. I don’t feel like facing any of this right now, I…

I want somewhere I can feel safe for a while, just so the day won’t end on such a horrible note.

I pulled out my phone and opened the contacts. I wish I was one of those folks who didn’t have to think of someone before they dialed but alas, here I am. 

I can’t talk to Jaiden. 

I obviously can’t talk to Zane.

I don’t know if I can tell Casey any of this yet.

I’d love to talk to April but she’s probably asleep by now. But… but the guys might not be! They’re usually up at these sort of freakish hours of the night. I could try giving the group chat a call and hope for the best. I feel bad for bothering them so often but who else do I have right now?

It took three rings before the line went through.

“You are conversing with Donatell—Why is your screen so dark?” 

Oh fucking lovely.

“H-hey, Donnie. Sorry, I didn’t realize it was a video call.”

As my luck would have it, Donnie was the one to pick up. No offense to him; he never did anything wrong. I’m just not entirely sure how he feels about me yet. So, having him answer when I’m already high on nerves isn’t what I pictured hoping for the best would result in. But he’s much, much better than being alone right now.

“Uh, what… Whatcha up to?”

“Oh, simply being my usual genius self to aid with our nightly hero duties! Sure, no regular teenager could detect a break-in on sensitive confidential info before the actual government could, but I, Othello Von Ryan, have proven to be no regular teen!” 

“Yep, definitely the usual for you.” 

Donnie’s def no less than Leo when it comes to being allergic to humility. Though, they both earned their egos. Donnie’s not wrong; not just any person could be nearly as smart as him.

“So, did you need anything fixed? You’re calling at a rather unusual hour for a school night.” 

“Oh, no, not really. I mean, I was kinda out with a friend, but things… ended abruptly. I don’t really feel like sleeping right now. I wanted some company?” 

He opened his mouth to respond but got interrupted by a familiar accent asking who was on the phone. The instant my name left his voice, three others repeated it with joy. My screen suddenly overflowed with four green goofballs all trying to fit in the camera’s scope at once.

“SALENA! How are you? How come you’re not asleep? Don’t you have school tomorrow?”

“Mikey, it’s Salena, it’s way too early for them to sleep.”

“Wow, Leo, anyone ever tell you how funny you are?” My words didn’t match my tone. I wonder why.

“Leo, let ‘er breathe!” The camera shook as a red bandana came into frame. “Hey, but for real. Why you up so late, Salena? Somethin’ up?”

“Nah, just couldn’t sleep! I thought I’d call you guys for a bit, but from the sounds of it, y’all seem kinda busy.” 

The camera moved again as the device got transferred to the next turtle. “Give me my—Ugh, there we go. And yes, you’re correct. We are actually busy with a mission tonight.” 

I tried keeping my smile intact as I understandingly nodded my head. Is he mad at me for assuming they were free the exact moment I needed them to be? I mean, I’d be mad at me, so it’d make sense.

“Hey, but you know what?” Leo leaned next to Donnie, trying to see the screen. “You should totally join us! Tag along, have some fun, we’d all love that!”

You would?

“What? Nardo, what are you—“

“OMIGOSH, YEAH!” Mikey jumped in, knocking Donnie out of frame entirely. “If you’re not gonna sleep, we should totally hang out! I really miss you, Salena!” 

“Uh, am I really the only one thinking it would be a bad idea to let the person who barely leaves their house join us on a mission to a highly-secured and regulated government facility?”

“Chillax, Don, she’ll be fine! You’ll be fine, right Salena?”

“I mean, uh—” 

“See? What’d I tell ya, totally fine!” 

“Raph agrees! Salena can handle herself.” 

“Oh sure, I’m absolutely positive nothing could go wrong! He said without a trace of doubt.”

…I can’t tell if he’s trying to protect me or just doesn’t want me there. Neither option feels good right now, to be honest.

“C’mon, Dee, we’ve all seen her fight before! Including you, remember? When they helped us stop Meat Sweats?”

 Mikey’s got a point. That was before I had any real battle experience, too! I don’t know why Donnie seems so hesitant about this. Or why it’s making me so pissy, actually.

Another car passed by and I lowered the volume a bit, remembering the time. Now that I’m actually near some apartments, I don’t wanna accidentally wake someone up. I really gotta save up for some new earbuds; my last ones broke like, a month ago and I can only make do for so long.

“Three to one, hermano. You’re outnumbered.”

“But��Sigh, forget it! Salena, I—“

“‘NOUGH SMALL TALK!” At this point, they’re just playing hot potato with Donnie’s phone. “Salena, hurry up! We’re boutta start the mission so don’t want ya missin’ out!”

“Ha! Almost made a pun!”

“Shut up, Leo. Anyways, we’re at uh… Uh… Hey, Donnie, where we at?” 

I could hear him struggling for his phone in the distance. “You could just send our coordinates!”

“I could send her our coordinates! …How does Raph do that, again?”

The audio muffled as the phone shuffled back to its rightful owner. “God, I’m so gonna install security on this thing. Anyway, I’m sending our location to you right now. And as I was GOING TO SAY BEFORE! Salena, I look forward to seeing you again.”

He flashed a smile and part of my worries vanished. I’m still not sure how to read him but if he’s being nice, it can’t be all bad, right?

“OH, AND IF YA CAN, COULD YOU BRING ME A SNACK—“ Donnie hung up before the teddy bear could finish.

Luckily for him, his face beamed when I finally arrived around twenty minutes later and did, in fact, bring him a snack. 

“Hey guys! Hope I didn’t take—“

I couldn’t even finish speaking before finding myself laughing on the floor with four giant turtles hounding me in hugs. 

“It has been way too long since we’ve hugged!” Poor Mikey, I haven’t been able to see him in a hot minute. “Nice ponytail, by the way. Really makes your eyes pop.”

“Aww, thanks! I missed you guys too. Ugh, I really wish scheduling was easier! I’d hang out more often.” 

“Dude, why waste time on schedules when you could just come over?”

“‘Xactly! Ain’t like you’re not welcome!”

“Oh. I-I mean, sure! If you guys really don’t have a problem with it…” I wonder if this is what it’s like to feel wanted.

“I just wanted you to get a taste of what it felt to not be chosen!”

…T-then again, they’re probably just being polite.

Click!

“And fits perfectly, just as the estimations foretold!” The fuck? 

I looked down and saw a shiny black belt matching the arm wraps now resting above my hips. It’s actually fairly loose around my waist but I’m guessing that was the intention. There’s a giant pink button on the left with the same M-shaped logo as all of theirs. It looked super cool, honestly! Even seemed to match with my outfit!

“Woaaah, what is this thing?”

“Donnie. Really?” Leo didn’t sound impressed and neither did the others but, like, who cares! The belt’s dope as hell!

He ignored them and continued addressing me. “It basically functions both as your very own panic button and is a carrier for your sickles thanks to a highly specific magnetic attraction! Plus, it obviously helps tie in your outfit better ‘cause Great Galileo did you need some accessories.”

“Damn, I didn’t know my sickles were magnetic!”

“Oh, they weren’t before, I installed magnets in them last night.” With that, he pulled my fucking weapons seemingly out of his ass. Judging by everyone else’s groans though, I’m the only one who’s surprised and confused.

“Donald! What did we say about breaking into strangers’ homes!” 

“Hey, I didn’t break in!… to a stranger’s home! I broke into Salena’s, Salena is not a stranger—OW, HEY!” Raph slapped the back of his head. One quick yet dramatic recovery later, we all began our route of sneaking into the building. 

Security wasn’t monitoring the higher floors, so we only had to ninja our way up ‘till there and the rest was easy peasy. I tried focusing on the quick briefing I was receiving on the way up but my mind was admittedly elsewhere. Back to the weird situation I thought I dreamt up last night.

I don’t remember much. I was too tired to really register anything, and Donnie being a ninja probably enhanced that. But I do remember still hearing faint footsteps in my room; drawers being opened, the closet getting browsed. I was so out of it I figured I probably hallucinated everything. Either way, I was way too paralyzed to do anything; I couldn’t even put my phone back earlier. Kept passing in and out of consciousness. But it seemed like someone put it back for me. They helped my sloppy body into a position that wouldn’t leave me aching the next morning and pulled the covers up to tuck me in. What really sealed the whole dream theory to me was the metallic-textured “hand” that patted my head before they left and let the world return to tranquility.

I seriously did figure it was all a weird fever dream or some shit. Personally, I still feel like that’s more believable than it being Donnie all along. But staring down at my sickles, I guess I can’t really argue against the proof right in front of me. 

“Gentlemen, here we are! The Techno Cosmic Research Institute! Otherwise known as”—the door opened as I returned back to present time—“The TCRI.”

The moon illuminated the flat, revealing that we were in a main lobby of some sorts. Huge and spacious, decorated with different plants I’m sure Zane would’ve gone crazy over. 

…I shouldn’t think about him right now.

It was a huge and spacious lobby full of plants. The windows that were tinted from the outside now presented a full view of the city skyline. Doors were carved into the walls, transitioning to the other rooms. Some, like the several meeting rooms, were made with glass so I could vaguely make out the interior from here. Others were blocked by heavy, solid, metal doors, holding whatever secrets the government had behind them.

I felt strange setting foot in this place, like I wasn’t supposed to be here. Well, I guess we are breaking and entering, but it’s not that. It’s something else, something I can’t quite explain. Unrelated to the guys but personal to me. I feel I’m not wanted for a reason I’m not yet aware of. It’s freaking me out a little. 

“So, what do the Purple Dragons want with this place again?”

“Honestly, your guess is as good as mine. I only caught a break-in to the system in general and tracked it back to Kendra, I don’t have info on what they’re trying to gain access to. Whatever it is, though, it has an impressively tight security system that’s nearly impossible to break! At least, not through their simple B-tier remote hacking.”

“If the Purple Dragons want it, then it’s gotta be something major.” I’ve known about them for a while thanks to April. 

It kinda shocked me at first, not because a group of teens created a tech-smart gang but because April O’Neil was a loser to someone. Call me a little biased—and you’d be right—but I still think Kendra’s got rocks for brains if she ignores someone like April. 

But that’s a mental essay for another day. Right now, Leo’s smirking. And if Leo’s smirking, things will either go amazingly well or horrifically wrong. 

“So… If we’re already here, why don’t we just figure out what they want ourselves?”

Mikey propped his chin up on Leo’s shoulder. “You mean like, go and explore? Sounds rad to me!”

“Yeah! Sneak around, let Donnie do his nerdy smart people stuff and see what’s so great about this place, yeah?” 

“Invade the privacy of our nation’s government and scavenge for confidential data!? Nardo, I love you!”

“Raph? Your call, buddy.”

He was shockingly quick to shrug. “Sure! Raph don’t see a problem with it. Sounds hella fun to me!”

“Uh, guys?” I raised my hand. “Isn’t this, like, highly illegal?” 

“And?” They all said in unison. To be fair, legal doesn’t sound like them anyway. 

“What are they gonna do? Arrest us?” His hand circled in front of his blue bandana.

“And don’t worry, you won’t get in trouble for anything that happens! Donnie can get rid of the evidence and no one will know you were here, right Dee?” Mikey shot a wink at Donnie.

“Affirmative!” 

Dang, Mikey’s made a lot of good points tonight. 

“Eh, you’re right. To hell with laws!” Passing up an opportunity to explore a space institution would be laughably unlike me, anyway! 

We decided to split up and meet back at the main lobby in fifteen, assuming the Purple Dragons hadn't arrived by then. It’s kind of scary wandering on my own in this place. It still feels off to me, but at the same time, I’ve always wanted so desperately to walk through a facility like this. Fascinating space research, meeting after meeting to discuss whatever new breakthrough was made, access to a shit ton of databases and technologies I’ll never have the chance to use at home!? Everything about this place is perfect! It’s all I dreamed it to be. 

So why won’t that damn feeling go away?

Whatever, it’s probably just tonight in general. I really, really, need to get over it and move on already or else I’m guaranteed to fuck up the whole mission.

I sighed and glanced down at my arm wraps, raising them to get a better look. Despite my flip-floppy mood, I couldn’t help but smile. It’s dorky but they do comfort me every now and then. They felt nice to wear and even looking at them made me all fuzzy and nostalgic. They feel like an older me even though I got them recently. 

“I take it you liked them, then.” 

His voice startled me, I thought everyone went their own ways but I guess Donnie was nearby. 

“Yeah, I do! The belt, too, they’re really cool gifts! Thank you.” He lit up when he heard those magic words. Man, I can’t believe I forgot to thank him sooner. Poor guy was probably aching for some feedback.

“I-I actually always wondered how you made them. They feel really sturdy but like, it’s not heavy to wear, either, if that makes sense.”

“Oh yeah, totally!” He typed on the screen on his arm, booting up the scanning feature to make sure we didn’t miss anything. “It’s an intentional design choice. They are supposed to act as armor, so.”

“Woah, cool! Do they count as tactical gear? As in military grade and all that jazz?”

“What? No, that’s not even good quality, that’s just a buzzword. Military grade simply means they met the minimum stated requirements at the lowest unit price.”

“…”

“…Low budget, few money, lead to mid product, good enough for gullible minds and general public consumption.” 

Ohhhh. “So they lied.”

“As per usual. It’s shit engineering in actuality.”

I pushed open one of the meeting rooms’ glass doors as Donnie’s shell held up a bright torch. We began scouting the area for anything interesting while continuing our talk. All this investigative work’s reminding me of April and the way she’d gush about doing the same. Completely understanding the appeal now; it feels so thrilling snooping around somewhere you’re not supposed to be! Especially when the law’s involved.

The room wasn’t anything unordinary. It looked like any other corporate meeting room. The long table leading to the small TV on the wall, decorative paintings and plants, the usual. Man, we probably should’ve gone into a more interesting—“OW!”

“…Watch your step.” He said after I already fell to my knees.

“Thanks for the very useful warning. What even was that?”

He shined the light closer to a… metal? No, definitely not entirely metal. A robot arm sloppily plopped on the floor. We couldn’t see what the arm was attached to, if it was attached to anything at all. It’s too long to trace back with the torch light from where we are. One thing’s for sure, though: It’s giant. The claw I tripped over is practically the same size as my head. 

“Hmm…” He crouched closer to the arm, slowly inspecting it. “Weird. It looks like it’s made of some cheap plastic. Perhaps a prototype of some sorts.”

“I don’t think they’d make it this big if it was a prototype.” Maybe we could do a test to see what type of plastic it is. “You got any fire?”

“While I see your angle and would love to carry through that experiment, it’s probably not wise to burn something we don’t know the purpose of. Or, you know, alert the security of our presence from the alarms.”

“Yeah, fair…” Man, would’ve been hella fun, though. 

We both stayed on the floor, a little stumped on what the hell this thing was. My eyes got bored after a while and wandered around the room again. The only interesting thing in here was this weird ass plastic arm, it’s pretty much useless looking around the room but it did keep me entertained. There were five plants in this room which explains the fresh smell, all of them were basic enough for me to recognize. Two zebra plants, a ponytail palm, and…

I ignored the plant on the table when I spotted something thin underneath it, hidden by the shadows. I think it’s a slip of paper?

Donnie’s sigh brought my attention back. “You know what, I’m gonna go to their computer lab to see if one of their databases has anything about this thing.”

“Aight, I’ll stay back and keep exploring. Good luck!”

Right as he left, I sped over to the mysterious paper, unable to contain my curiosity any longer. The table was tall enough for me to comfortably sit under, leaning over the paper on the floor to read it. It’s, coincidentally enough, about that puzzling arm. The incomplete text made it clear it was probably part of a stack of paper or a file and fell out. Sadly, it didn’t reveal much but what I could get out of it was that it’s an automated arm controlled by an AI system, mostly covered with polypropylene plastic. Heh, PP plastic. Oh, it was created for the purpose of security. Well that’s just fantastic. I should go warn the boys about it.

I quickly snapped a pic of the loose sheet, almost getting out from under the table.

…But I’m glad as hell I didn’t.

I heard it. A soft, mechanical hum as something slithered off the ground. I grabbed my sickles from their belt, trying to minimize my shaking. It took a few blinks and tries but I managed to turn invisible, watching the machine move through the darkness. How was it suddenly on?

Its movements were smooth and natural. Too natural for something meant to be robotic. It’s so eerily graceful, slithering through the air. The arm swiveled its claw around like an animal head checking its surroundings. It… It’s looking where I am. It’s looking at me. It shouldn’t be able to see me, I’m not supposed to be visible! But it won’t stop staring.

”FUCK!” I shrieked when it lunged at me, quickly slicing it before it could grab me. Thank god it’s just plastic… Why the fuck is it hollow? 

That doesn’t make any sense! Shouldn’t there be wiring or something? Even if not to connect the AI, how the hell can it move like that without anything to mimic muscle!? 

I gasped, turning my head to the side. I can hear something else. It’s gooey and mushy and… 

It’s looping around the room.

It’s getting louder.

”W-what the hell?”

…I think I can see it now. Something solid but stretchy, resembling thick vines climbing up the plastic arm. I backed up, watching as it crawled over to the newly severed claw. It pulled the claw back to its other half and tightened around them. It glowed? A sickeningly blinding green color. Before I realized what was going on, the claw suddenly reattached as the vines slinked back into the darkness. 

It saw me again and the chase resumed. 

It’s so damn fast, I can barely outrun it! Dodging is saving my ass but it keeps knocking over any furniture I used against it! 

I jumped when I heard Donnie from the comms. Wait, he installed comms on my arm wraps? Damn, I'm so frazzled, I forgot about those.

“What’s making all that racket? Everything okay over there?”

”You can hear that!?”

”Yeah, I’m literally right next door?”

”Well—SHIT!” Too fucking close, too fucking close! It almost fucking grabbed me! Fuck, my knees hurt from that! “SON OF A—Don’t worry, I can handle it! I’ll explain soon!”

I tried getting off the floor as quickly as possible but the claw pulled me back down. The four sharp grippers opened up like a mouth and a fucking chainsaw came out. It went straight for my head, life flashing before my eyes as my sickles blocked it by pure reflex, holding it back. It won’t back off! I can’t keep pushing forever! How the hell do I get out of this!?

“FIBONACCI!” 

A spinning titanium blur whacked the arm back, grabbing its attention to the maniacally smiling turtle now dashing through the room. His arm reached out, grabbing his staff from mid-air, and chopped off the robot arm with a giant drill. I curled in on myself right before a bright, violet shield spread over me and kept the arm’s falling metal parts from landing on me.

“You know, that did not seem like ‘handling it’.” 

My vision cleared to his hand offering to help me up. I’m suddenly getting deja vu from the other countless times my helpless damsel-wannabe ass needed a rescue. Panicked and guilt-ridden, I waved it off and got up on my own. 

“We gotta get outta here right now!”

“What? Why? I already—”

The vines returned and began repeating their process of fixing the arm. Though this time, it seems to be going faster.

“Oh my banana pancakes! What is that!?”

“I don’t know but that’s why we’re leaving! Come on!”

I grabbed his hand and we ran out the room, running into the others in the main lobby.

”Leo! There’s—”

“Crazy killer robot arms, we know. Was just in the middle of talking about that, actually.” He gave a glance of disapproval to the pouting red giant next to Mikey. Who also looks hella annoyed. It would appear we’ve walked in on a teensy squabble. 

I heard Donnie sigh beside me “Raph, please tell me you didn’t.” He left my clueless ass standing there to join in on their talk.

Wait—Oh god, not again!

Turning around, I grabbed my sickles. I heard it again. Managed to dodge just in time for its jab to my right. It seems the guys are too busy to notice and I really don’t wanna burden them again. I’ll solo this one!

“When I said we should go explore, I didn’t mean go ‘round pushing things! We’re in a government building, why would you touch anything!?”

I heard another hit coming and blocked it with the blade. 

Yeah, I-I can totally take this! I should let them finish their conversation—Holy fuck, there’s more than one, fucking end my suffering already. 

”I didn’t mean to! You guys know I got a weak spot, what was I supposed to do? If they didn’t want Raph to push the big, red button, maybe they shouldn’t make it big ‘n red!” 

“Buddy, that’s not how that works and you know that.”

There’s three of them now and they’re so unreasonably fast! It’s so hard to keep up! Ugh, it almost feels like I am being punished after all. 

My accidental yelp luckily got drowned by Mikey’s groan. “Man, just let it go! We can smell your ‘I know I fucked up but don’t wanna admit it ‘cause I’m the big brother’ stench!”

”THAT’S A DIFFERENT STENCH!”

”AHH!” 

I really didn’t mean to blurt that out but the claw dug into my leg and yanked me off the ground! Guilt aside, it’s probably a good thing I caught their attention, especially since I dropped my sickles like a fucking moron!

“SALENA!” His sword slashed through the air but got promptly blocked and thrown back by another metal claw. A scary amount of them are showing up now! The guys are completely surrounded and I’m stuck useless, dangling in the air!

One of the arms came closer and opened its grippers, a scanner popping out this time, its red beam blinding my eyes. My breathing grew shallow, the commotion from below fading away. I’m getting lightheaded from being suspended upside down. I need to get out of this situation. But there’s nothing I can do. Just squint past the light and anxiously wait for its next move. 

My ears burned from the claw’s monstrous shriek. It sounds like a fucking animalistic version of nails on a chalkboard! Why did it react to me like this? Why me? Aren’t we all intruders? Why is it just me!?

“You deserve this.”

Was he right?

I didn’t process getting swung in the air until I was let go with enough momentum to cause a crash through the decor. My arms shook as I tried lifting my body up. Everything hurts, everything fucking hurts! My ears, my arms, my legs! My head! I just wanted a little distraction tonight! Why is this happening?

Is this really my karma?

…Wait a sec.

When I managed to lift my head, I came face to face with a crack in the wall where the robot arms were emerging from. The vines I saw earlier turned out to be permanently merged with the arms at the roots and lead to… something behind the wall. The crack was too small to properly make much out but it looked like it was breathing?

Whatever, I don’t have time to be surprised. “Guys! The arms! They’re coming from over here!” 

The crack’s small but just big enough for something slim! Like—

The claw dug into my leg once again and began dragging me away. “Leo! Donnie! One of your weapons can fit through!” 

“Got it!”

“I’ll cover!”

Flashes of blue scattered around the lobby. Each portal and throw of his sword brought Leo closer and closer to the wall. I couldn’t watch for too long, though, as I found myself back in the air again. It froze my skin getting thrown across the room faster than before. This time, towards the glass windows. 

Chains grabbed at my ankle and yanked me back to the ground away from my disastrous fate. I looked up to see the tangerine flashing a confident yet relieved smile at me. “Hey!”

“…Hey!” 

Mystic metal clinked as Mikey pulled back some of the robot arms chasing after Leo to buy him more time. Raph and Donnie quickly shifted gears and guarded me to make sure the plastic freaks couldn’t grab me again. Mikey continued to aid Leo, bouncing all over the room, keeping the arms distracted with his flow and somehow, still bringing them back to where he originally stood: Away from Leo. 

Finally, a sword was heard stabbing through the air and splashing through a soft, squishy substance. The arms dropped to the floor as the thing in the wall hissed in pain, slowly leading to the dreadfully awaited silence at last.

Mikey reached his hand out for me and pulled me up. “You good?”

“Not dead, yeah.” 

“Guess that’s a start.”

I glanced to the side at Donnie staring blankly at me, confused until he walked over and held one of my arms to examine my wrap. 

“Hmm, I wonder if there’s some modification I can do to your gloves that prevents your sickles from getting so easily lost.” I guess that’s why he was staring a minute ago. 

“Honestly, that’d be great. I keep losing them, so…”

“Yeah, I was thinking—“ 

“Nerd-talk later! Do a med scan!” Leo shoved him out the way and accidentally knocked Mikey back. Didn’t seem like he noticed since he immediately started checking me for injuries. I don’t even know when he got here?

Donnie sighed but went through with it anyway, tapping on his wrist as he checked my vitals. “No broken bones, no internal bleeding, nothing too concerning to report thankfully. Salena, do you feel alright?” 

“Mhm! Just some scratches here and there but I’ll live.” 

“Just some scratches, hm? You forgettin’ something?” Leo pointed down to my horrifically bruised and bloody leg. Whoops.

“…I-I’ll still live.”

While Leo took care of bandaging my leg, the rest of us spent the next few minutes catching our breaths. Mikey laid on the floor, limbs starfished out, while Donnie was texting April and catching her up to speed. I can only imagine how devastated she’d be in the morning, finding out she missed all this action. It’d have been nice having her here, honestly. 

Raph wasn’t near us, though. He stood by the wall where the once-breathing specimen was at. He kept peeking through the crack, rubbing his arm and looking hesitant about something.

“Raph?” My voice prompted the others to turn their attention to him.

“…Nobody else wonderin’ what the hell this thing could be? I know we’re only here to stop the Purple Dinos—“

“That’s Purple Dragons, Raphala.”

“—Whatever! But really, guys! After all that, we just gonna head home and forget about it?” 

He’s not wrong.

Come to think of it, this place is government funded. There should be no reason why some foreign entity exists in a place like the TCRI. They’re supposed to do space research and nothing else. That’s what they’re paid for.

“You know what?” Donnie turned his phone off. “I could work on hacking through their system myself. I don’t know if it’ll prove successful, but I can try.”

I felt Mikey’s head drop on my shoulder. He sure loves doing that. “What do we do about the vine thingies?” 

“Well, we can’t just—“ Leo paused, making eye contact with Raph. They shared a smirk and nodded.

“You thinkin’ what thinkin’ big bro?”

He chuckled, punching his fists together. “You bet!”

A bright red aura surrounded his figure as his arm reeled back and locked the sais in his hands.

“POWER PUNCH JUTSU!!!”

My body staggered as the ground shook upon impact, the dust clearing to reveal the tiny gap in the wall is suddenly a giant ass hole now.

“Man, y’all really don’t give a shit about government property, do ya?” 

“Nope. But hey! It was def the right choice!” Raph’s snaggletooth gleamed through his mischievous smile.

The five of us stared through the hole, trying to comprehend the oversized specimen in front of us. It was a pulsing, yellow-green thing in the shape of a tall tube, wider on the top than the bottom. There were reddish lines on it zigzagging up and down almost like veins. It was punctured at its middle, caused by the blade of the katana that shot right through it a few moments ago. 

“Ya know, it kind of resembles a plant. Which would explain the mystery vines, actually.”

“What plant, then? Ain’t no plant Raph knows of that throbs.”

He shook his head with a light shrug. “Sadly, I am not sure. It looks a little like a pitcher plant but also not really? They shouldn’t be luminescent or have vines emerging out like that. And also the throbbing, of course.” 

Pitcher plant, ay? I’ve heard of that. They’re my favorite out of all the carnivorous jungle plants Zane rambled about once. Plants were actually one of the first things we had a genuine bond over, even if I’m pretty clueless about them. The way his eyes lit up when talking about them with so much love and adoration just melted me.

His eyes…

His godforsaken eyes…

“Salena?”

“Huh?” How long have I been spaced out?

“You sure you’re good? You seemed kinda out of it just now.” I forgot how close Mikey was to me, I should be more careful.

“Yeah, it’s nothing.”

“Really? ‘Cause lowkey, you’ve been off all night. I didn’t wanna say anything but…”

“Oh, no, no, I’m—“

“Actually, you did mention something happened between you and your friend earlier, remember? Before you called me.” This violet ass motherfucker did not just erm actually me at the worst time ever.

“That what this about, big man? Had another fight with your friend?” Why is everyone suddenly focused on me!?

“N-Not the same one! This is someone different, I promise! T-that’s not to say I have a problem with everyone! I just… Um…” Great going, Salena! Now they’ll think you’re just insufferable and incapable of friendship! “I-I don’t think we should be—Well, we kinda have worse issues to worry about, don’t we?”

“Kendra and her yes-men ain’t here yet. What I wanna know is why you’re so spacey tonight! Dr. Feelings can’t help if he can’t know!”

“It’s nothing! N-nothing too bad, at least. He just—A-actually, it was really mostly me so um… It’s hard to explain exactly…”

Geez, my palms are annoyingly sweaty. I really don’t wanna give them the wrong idea, it was just one fight! It’s not a representation of our entire relationship! But I know from experience any time I try talking about Zane to someone, they end up hating him and I don’t want that! Fuck, I should’ve been more careful. My stupid tongue-tied gibberish ain’t helping the situation, either!

My shoulders flinched when I saw Leo stand in front of me, hand on his hip as he faced towards his brothers. “Okay, hermanos, give her some space! Stop smothering! I know we’re all worried, I’m worried too, but if Salena doesn’t wanna talk, they shouldn’t be forced to.”

The others finally piped down. None of them looked happy about it—understandably so—but it seemed Leo was able to convince them to drop it, anyway. I really owe him one. 

He peeked over his shoulder to glance back at me. “If you do wanna talk about something, though, we’re here for you.” 

…It’s not that I don’t want to. I just don’t see how it’d help anything— 

CRASH!!!

HOLY FUCKING SHIT, HAVE WE NOT HAD ENOUGH SURPRISES FOR ONE NIGHT!?

“Good going, Jase. Real quiet of you.”

All of us, equally tense and gripping our weapons to stand guard, took a solid minute to process that the loud crash wasn’t another dumbass robot-plant-arm thing, but instead was Kendra and the other two stumbling through the main door they hacked open. Speak of the dragons and they arrive, I suppose.

She looked over at us and her sharp eyes drooped lower. “Of course.” 

I only ever knew Kendra before tonight, none of the other members. Hate her guts since she’s forever engraved as April’s bully in my mind and doesn’t seem to have changed. Her movements and mannerisms still match the coy, conniving person I remember her to be, walking over in such a smug, superior way that screams “greater than thou”. Once, back when they were still in high school, April had a mini breakdown due to college applications kicking her ass. She was struggling and stressing over not getting accepted into a good amount of her options and believed she’d have to rely solely on her safeties at that point. Kendra really rubbed it in. Wouldn’t shut up about it, demeaning her for being a failure. 

April knows damn well to never take Kendra seriously. However, it’s not a surprise those words still stung considering how stupidly frightening the whole college process is. Joke’s on Kendra, though. One of April’s main choices that had her wait-listed ended up accepting her in! As for Kendra? All hypocritical bark, no bite it seems. 

“Hello, Von Ryan. How’s life?”

“Good, good. How about you, enjoying your—what’d you call it? ‘Intellectual freedom’?” 

“Low blow even for you. You guys couldn’t fuck around here with your little toys another night?” She scoffed and rolled her eyes, her arms crossed over her chest. Her gaze drifted towards me as her brows furrowed more. 

“Who’s that—Hold up. You… Yeah, I remember you!” She’s doing that annoying fake-nice tone she uses sometimes, the one that makes me wanna punch her in the face. “You’re that idiot kid April wouldn’t shut up about tutoring last year! What’s a teacher’s pet like you doing here?”

Mikey gasped and covered my ears like a parent to a toddler witnessing sailor-speak. “Hey! Don’t you dare talk about our friend like that!” 

I honestly couldn’t care less what Kendra says about me. Personally, I’m more focused on the other two, right now. It’s my first time ever seeing them, I think Donnie said their names were Jason and Jeremy? They’ve been pretty quiet so far, standing at her side and smirking like Saturday-morning cartoon lackeys. One of them had a large, blocky figure, dark skin, and dyed green hair. His gold visor looked pretty cool, I’ll admit. The other—I could guess from his hunched demeanor alone—was definitely their token punching bag. He’s got these awkward gloves that are way too big for his hands. Dark eyes, short, black hair, and round… glasses…

NO FUCKING WAY!

“YOU—HIM! OH MY GOD! NOOOO, NO-NO-NO-NO! NO! NO!” Ain’t no motherfucking way this bitch is who I think he is, this has to be a prank! It has to! For the sake of my sanity! Oh, but it isn't! It’s fucking real!

“...Salena? You doin’ okay?” The others looked concerned at my sudden and dramatic outlash. Fucking of course, Donnie and Mikey wouldn’t know! Jason still had the bag over his head when he was around them! Fuck, why didn’t I just take it off right there!?

“Jason! That asshole was who we saved from Meatsweats a few months ago!”

Raph and Leo looked just as lost as before. Mikey and Donnie, on the other hand, went pale with shock.

“That was you!?” Donnie’s staff pointed directly at the fucker. “Why didn’t you say anything!? I know you recognized my voice!” 

“I can’t believe Salena and I interrupted a perfectly nice day to save you of all folks! You ruined our lovely little ice cream date, dawg!”

“I was being kidnapped by a pig monster? Why would I reveal I’m a rival when you were the only help I had?”

“And yet, here you are, the very reason we’re stuck in this creepy facility, preventing you three from illegally accessing information and doing who knows what with it even though you now owe us one, YOU UNGRATEFUL MENACE!”

Before I could fix my brain enough to join in on justifiably shaming the idiot, I noticed Leo and Raph exchanging confused glances at each other.

“...What the hell is going on?”

“Raph don’t know.” They both looked at me for answers because the universe hates me.

I tearfully and shamefully explained the bullshit scenario we are now stuck in due to my impulsivity. “Donnie, Mikey, and I saved a guy from Meatsweats I think back in April? H-he had a bag over his head so they didn’t know what he looked like and I-I was the only one who saw him without it b-but I didn’t know he was part of the fucking Purple Dragons and—Fuck my life! My first ever save and it was a villain!?” The one time I actually did something useful…

God, there’s so much noise everywhere! Everyone’s arguing with each other or trying to get it to stop or whatever else is going on! My head hurts. Why did I even come here? I should’ve just went home. I should’ve stayed with Zane. I keep getting in the way, I keep making mistakes, I keep ruining things!

I have to keep my composure, though. I don’t wanna cry in a situation like this, not when I’ve already done enough harm.

“Wait a sec, where’s Jeremy?” 

We all paused, the realization clearing up as we heard a cheer from another room. “Yes! I got in! I got past the system!”

“Holy shit, he’s in the computer lab! Quick, we—” 

A bat hit Donnie straight on his stomach and knocked him back, Raph catching him so he wouldn’t fall to the floor. 

Kendra clicked her tongue as she laughed. “I gotta hand it to ya, you morons somehow turned off these stupid security systems. Definitely the most annoying part I’d have had to figure out; I guess that’s why I wanted ‘em, anyway. I don’t know how you did it but congrats! You’re not completely useless.” It looked more like she was addressing Donnie over any of us.

“But now?” She and Jason blocked the door. Her bat stood by her side. “Stay out of my fucking way.”

Obviously, that’s not happening, so chaos erupted instead. One would think a Two VS. Five would be pretty easy to handle… until they saw how well Kendra used her bat, that is. She’s faster than I expected, able to zip around before anyone could properly react. Definitely has a strong arm, too. Then, of course, there’s the traitor. Jason pushed his glasses up his nose bridge and took out his own set of weapons. Or should I say, whipped them out. ‘Cause they’re actually fucking whips. 

They were almost impossible to get by. Glowing in the dark room, buzzing from the static friction they made against each other. 

He targeted them towards Leo who barely managed to dodge just in time. Mikey, not being as lucky, got smacked right in the face.

“OW! Hey! Since when did he even have those!?” 

“Oh! Since last week, actually. I made them using—”

Either the bitch has good hearing or I was too loud when my sickle swung at his head. “Are ya dense!? How are you still tryna maintain small-talk after literally betraying us!? You know what I looked like, you wouldn’t have even said anything if I didn’t call you out! You lied to me! I saved you and you lied!”

“AH! The hell, man!? You’re gonna kill me for that!?”

“No!” The sickles weren’t sharp, only a little solid. I know I gotta resist. Unfortunately. “Just knock you out for a bit, you scheming piece of shit!” 

I wish I could say I was making up for my several blunders tonight by at least being able to handle the living embodiment of a toothpick. My leg’s not super mangled up but, surprise-surprise, it’s hard to move at my fastest and dodge with it still being injured. He’s a little impressively good with those whips, too. It’s hard keeping track of where they both are at all times, the difficulty only increased by how quick he’s able to use them considering he’s only trained for a week. I’m trying my damn best with what I can.

“Oh my god, give it up with the guilt-tripping! I’m not gonna turn on my sister just ‘cause you saved me once!”

“Hell no! I risked turning into mutant-munchies for you—Hol’ up a sec.” The pure blasphemy that came out of his mouth shocked me so bad, I actually had to pause. “Kendra’s your sister? Ew, what’s that like?”

Yet another mistake on my part. One of the whips wrapped around my sickle to fling it and I—determined to not lose them again—got shot through the air along with it. 

At this rate, I’ll be free-bird flying and crashing to the floor every five minutes. I don’t even feel like getting up anymore. Fuck, I don’t usually feel pain so easily.

Hm?

The battle ground’s a little chaotic so it’s hard to follow when in the middle of it. But, now that I’m seeing it from a distance, everyone’s intentions are suddenly ten times clearer. Kendra’s hovering towards a specific direction, dancing around the door to where Jeremy is. Jason’s distracting everyone and keeping them from paying attention to her. I have a feeling that’s very much so on purpose.

She’s starting to go in. I guess it doesn’t matter whether or not I want to, I gotta get up now. I closed my eyes and with whatever strength I had, used my sickles to turn invisible and go after her. 

I snuck by Kendra and entered the lab. Jeremy was glued to the computer, staring at a loading screen. On the side of the PC was a USB stuck to the port. Of course, accidentally saving the villain wasn’t enough! They had to use the same shitty USB we went back for, too.

“Jeremy, status report!”

“It’s almost done downloading the files! Just a few more seconds and… We got it!”

“Nice work! Quick! Toss ‘em over!”

Oh boy, if Kendra’s able to gain the instructions for those freaky arms, who knows what she’ll make with it! I can’t let them get access to anything here!

 Thus, following my usual rule of acting-without-thinking, I threw a sickle at the USB. I don’t know if it was my panic or my rage that caused it to be so sharp but it cut the USB in half mid-air and smashed straight into one of the PCs. My punishment for resorting to such destructively impulsive solutions was being greeted by the lovely melody of security sirens going off for breaking their important tech.

“No! My USB! There was so much stuff in that! Fuck!” She is so seriously distraught over the wrong thing. 

Upon retrieving my sickle, I hadn’t realized I was flickering in and out of visibility till Kendra’s bat nearly made contact with my head. “You little skeeze! Do you have any idea how much of my progress you destroyed!” 

“But that’s mine and Jason’s progress—“

“SHUT UP!” She snapped her head back to bark at him and I took my moment of escape, knocking her down out of my way. Still, she kept up by yanking at my leg and pulling me down with her, severely getting on my nerves by now.

So, I kicked her in the face.

She stayed there, groaning in pain, while her sidekick buddy checked on her. Sure, I could’ve kicked a little softer but I think a bloody nose is merciful enough for her. 

I returned to the lobby, greeted by chaos more hectic than before. The alarms and sirens were still blaring, red lights flashing on and off the entire facility. Our oh so beloved security arm friends returned in even greater numbers now! If I believed in superstition, I’d believe this night was cursed.

Jason’s looking a little overwhelmed now having to solo both the Teenage Mutant Mad Dogz and the newly emerged robot claws, yet he’s still not giving in and letting the guys go in peace. Speaking of them, they’re scattered all over the place, trying to keep themselves and each other from getting yoinked and flung like I was earlier. 

Donnie was the only one who managed to maneuver over to me.

“Salena!?” 

“Donnie! What’s going on!? Where’d the stupid arms come from!?”

“Well, I suppose it’d be impractical if they only had one source of their weird mystic high-tech robots, so there’s that.” He spun his tech-bō and whacked away the claw that was following him. “What happened in there? You disappeared and then we heard a loud crash from that room and suddenly everything got dialed up to eleven!”

“Uh, yeah, my fault, I uh—Eek!” Thank god for reflexes, the only thing that let me slice at a robot arm before it sliced me. “Good news is, I destroyed the USB they were using so Kendra can’t access the government’s whatever-the-fuck anymore! Bad news, I also accidentally destroyed one of their computers in the process, set off the security alarms, and now we’re here. Sorry, haha…” 

“You what!?”

“It was an accident, I swear! I really didn’t mean—”

“You annoying little twinkle-toes!” Kendra charged at us from behind and her bat swung directly at me. Thankfully, Donnie blocked it from knocking me dead and sent Kendra back a few steps. 

“You know what? If you got Kendra this mad, then you’re forgiven for everything on my terms! Let’s go!” He grabbed my wrist and dragged us away from the bat-wielding maniac.

Though, I’m not sure whether a metal bat or metal claws are worse. A bunch of them charged towards me now that I got back within their sight. 

“Move!” He shoved me out of the way of the monster claws.

I slid on the ground, actually keeping my balance this time, and swung at another claw coming from my right. Without having a moment to breathe, I ducked and slashed at one right above me. I would’ve missed the one coming from behind me, had Raph not been there and created a mystic shield. There’s so many all around the flat and it seems I’m still their favorite toy. 

“Salena, try hidin’ somewhere!” He punched one of the claws straight on, the impact causing a loud clunk. “They keep coming after you!” 

“I can’t! They saw me even when I turned invisible, they probably have a different type of vision or something!” 

“Infrared vision, genius!” Kendra’s bat got caught by my sickle. She aimed for my torso this time, I’m surprised it wasn’t back at my head. “They were built with thermal sensors! Which I would’ve been able to shut off if somebody didn’t break the computers!”

“God, were you built to get on people’s nerves!?” 

I’ve just about had it with her bullshit, reflected in my blades turning sharp enough to slice her bat in half. I elbowed her in the stomach and took the chance to roll over to a new spot. The closest I can get to hiding is continuously moving, staying in one place meant getting hoarded.

Mikey grumbled nearby, his nunchucks spinning in his hands. “Man, they’re too much! We gotta go! Leo?”

“A bit busy!” Busy was right, he’s cutting down a good number of the plastic pains with his katanas. There’s no good opportunity to use them as an escape portal, let alone any safe ones.

Beep! Beep!

Donnie raised his gauntlet up and flashed what I assume to be the building’s security cameras he hacked into. “Oh, no, no, no, guys! They’re sending actual human officers up now! What do we do!?”

Everyone’s panicked, shit’s fucked to the brim, and the constant beeps and shrieks are only making it harder to think! Kendra’s yelling about her bat, Mikey’s chosen to deal with the Purple Disasters while they’re bickering away, Raph’s boxing the claws and shielding Donnie, who’s frantically typing at his wristwatch to hack the security, and Leo’s… Screaming and getting flung. Sweet, we’ve matched now.

I ran over to Leo, guarding him from the arms trying to take advantage of the situation. “So, how’d you like your first flight?”

“I’d prefer it more if I was actually expecting it.” He got up almost as fast as he crashed down, not wasting a single second to getting back in the fight. “Ugh, I gotta get us out of here, but I need an opening!”

“Want me to try clearing something out?”

“You got any plans on how—Shit, get back!” His arm pushed me back behind him to avoid getting hit. 

The white tails of my ribbon flew forward, slightly blocking my vision. I looked straight ahead, past the death machines and battle-ground chaos, and saw the glass windows showcasing the brightly-lit city night.

The ribbon…

…Bingo.

“I actually might.” I tugged at the silk tails and felt my hair flow down as it got undone. “Just trust me and get everyone out at the first opportunity you get!”

“Wait, what are you—”

I dashed past him before he could ask any questions, no real time for them now. My multitasking skills were given the ultimate test as I focused on darting across the room, intentionally getting the arms to gather and chase after me, while tying the ribbon to the handles of my sickles and connecting them together. 

In the corner of my eye, I saw Mikey had managed to take out Kendra and her sidekicks. Don’t even gotta worry about them now, it’s going better than I thought! There was pounding at the door. Seems Donnie locked the officers out for now, but I doubt it’ll be long till they find a way to break in by force. Gotta move fast. This plan could fail horrifically, but it’s the best shot we’ve got!

With all the security arms focused on me now, the boys had a clear opening to leave. I sprinted to the windows, wound back my sickles, and broke the glass with a single throw. 

Now or never!

“HOT SOUP!!!” 

And out the window I went.

The air felt amazing, rushing by my skin as I let gravity take over the fall. I turned myself over, now looking up at the sky. The arms were shooting out the windows, unable to reach down any further to get me. A flash of blue from the inside indicated everyone was out safely. That’s my cue to prevent myself from dying now!

I held onto one of my sickles and swung the other one up. My spine tingled as a pink aura washed over my hand and over the sickle that I grabbed, trailing its way up the white silk ribbon…

Transforming it to chains!?

The pure white mystic chain clanked as it stretched out. The sickle I threw up now broke through the glass side of the building and continued shattering through it straight down. A few broken shards chipped at me as I snapped back to reality and remembered the original plan. I closed my eyes and refocused on the sickles. No thoughts, no distractions, no room for any of them. I have to breathe. I have to focus. 

The blades morphed them into a stiff rubber. Too soft to break the glass, too strong to break itself in half, effectively yanking me to a stop. 

I did it.

I actually fucking did it!

“Holy truffle mac and cheese, that was awesome!”

“I know!” I excitedly greeted Donnie who had flown over using his jet pack. “I can’t believe it went so well! You saw it all?”

“And recorded!” He turned his back towards me and pointed at his shell. “Need a ride?” 

“Definitely.” 

We cruised across the sky onto the roof of a nearby building where the rest of the guys were. The instant I hopped off Donnie’s shell, Leo jumped me with a hug, followed by several frantic checks to make sure all limbs were intact.

“Are you okay? Are you hurt? Are you dizzy? What’s wrong with you? You’re crazy! You’re crazy, you know that!?”

“Now who’s smothering them?” Mikey snickered at Leo, who looked relieved and on the verge of tears at the same time. 

“Everyone shut up and look at this video first! You’ll probably forget whatever meaningless chitchat you were having, anyway!” Donnie hissed from glee, using his extra mechanical limbs to huddle us all around his phone that was playing the video of me from a few moments ago. 

Looking at the footage now, it seemed the pink aura actually came from my whole body. It spread throughout my arms and circled past my hands, flowing to the white ribbon and replacing them with shimmering, white chains. 

Mikey screamed from excitement, holding onto my hands. “MYSTIC CHAINS! Omigosh, we match now! We’re like twins!” 

“I know! Isn’t it great!? We can be chain buddies—Eh, nevermind, that doesn’t sound right.” 

We sat around for a while so Leo could help with all the cuts and microscopic bits of glass stuck to me. In the meantime, they were all curious how the chains even came to be, which I sadly didn’t have a clear answer for. I went ahead and reassured them my plan would’ve still worked with the ribbon itself, though. Speaking of, I can’t really get my ribbon back now. Sorry, Mi. However, I did figure out how to make the chains vanish and re-materialize, so at least I don’t have to learn a different fighting style! 

Donnie was paying attention, I think. Just multitasking with a few holographic monitors up. He sighed and put ‘em away after a while.

“Yeah, no, sorry guys. Maybe my brain’s too fuzzy but I can’t hack into the actual database tonight.”

“No big deal, Don. Ya done enough.” Raph gave him a comforting pat on the shoulder. “Hey, you guys wanna go grab some pizza? Raph could use a break.”

“Yeah, I think we all could.” Hopeful, green eyes faced towards me. “Salena? It’s late but… You wanna join us for a bit?”

It’s around 3am now. If I went home now, I’d only get three hours of sleep and that’s assuming I’ll conk out immediately. It’s not impossible, though, I can feel the energy crash creeping up from all the adrenaline. But, I don’t know. I don’t wanna go yet. 

“I’m already out, aren’t I? Might as well!” 

Turns out, for once tonight, I made the right choice. It was fun getting to be with them in a more casual manner. Just chilling at a park, enjoying some pizza, and re-energizing myself as I watched them goof around. I checked through my phone while I enjoyed the delicious cheesy glory.

Everything seemed normal.

Except for one tiny issue.

I was putting it off but Zane sent a voice note to me a few hours ago. I don’t have earbuds but everyone’s pretty distracted right now, anyway. I could listen to it. Maybe it’s… Maybe it’s better than I think it is. 

I lowered the volume just to have it barely audible and clicked play.

“Hey. Um… I hope you’re home and safe now. I…” He sighed and went silent for a while. 

“This wasn’t how I intended tonight to be. It was such a gorgeous night. The weather was perfect. Everything was perfect. It was all going so well. What happened? Why do we always end up like this?”

I wish I knew. Or that he knew. Maybe we could’ve helped each other if just one of us knew what was the problem.

“Everything in my life always goes so wrong. I’m so tired of it, Salena. You’re the only thing I haven’t messed up. I don’t want to mess this up. I just—” I could hear a creek from the door opening as someone came in the room. “Yeah, it’s on the floor, clean it up. I don’t know how, just go clean it!”

Sounds of glass being swept up filled the background atmosphere. Zane sighed again. “Sorry. One of my vases broke tonight. The cherry on top, right? Anyway, uh… I’ll just end it here. I hope you’re okay. I hope you’re dreaming of something nice. And I’m… I’m sorry.”

The voice note ended. It wasn’t that bad, I guess. I feel a little bad about earlier but I’m glad he apologized. I guess things are fine now. I should probably leave a text, it’d be wrong to hold a grudge if the situation’s already resolved. 

You: hey i’m safe yea. I just wanna say i’m sorry too for lashing out like that earlier. I hope you’re sleeping well, sweet dreams and see ya tomorrow <3

There we go. Nothing to worry about now. Nothing to stress over.

A hand tapped at my shoulder. I raised my head to meet Mikey smiling down at me. “Mind if I sit? They’re bein’ a little loco even for my taste right now.”

I looked straight and saw Leo and Donnie arguing over whether pineapple belongs on pizza and Raph taking the opportunity to sneakily eat their slices. Pretty tame behavior from them, but Mikey’s tone was too lighthearted to be serious, anyway. 

I shifted over on the bench and patted the empty space next to me. He sat down and brought his knees to his chest, his back leaning against my side. He shuffled with his phone for a bit before offering me one of his earbuds. “Wanna listen to Fall Out Boy with me?”

“Sure!” 

I could use some music after tonight.

Next Chapter

This chapter was nearly 15K words btw-

[adr-n-sketchy]

I caught you burning photographs Like that could save you from your past History is like gravity It holds you down away from me

I saw @muzarry’s Huntlow Wedding Waltz art challenge and I wanted a piece of the action. I hope this wasn’t too far off from the initial prompt of a ballroom waltz but I imagined them having and outdoor cottagecore-esc celebration.

Some of my reference materials are below the cut along with me rambling way too much about what I’m nitpicking about the piece now that it's posted and all my mistakes are glaringly obvious (ah the power of publishing your art).

Thanks again for the fun prompt!! I already have ideas of how I’d like to redo this bc they’re just so fun to draw

Materials/references - Willow’s dress was a combination of many many Pinterest searches of embroidered flowers and about three dress ideas smushed together

First things first how obvious is it that I hate drawing shoes? Lol if I’d planned this better, I probably would’ve just cropped the pose around their calves but then I was too far in to fix it.

This piece was really fun!! I’ve been on the procreate tutorial side of tiktok while I’m still figuring it out and I actually got to try out some lighting tips on this. Idk if I did them right but it was fun to try. I fish I'd gotten the colors a little warmer like the initial prompt image. Also still figuring out different shading techniques and styles I like. I'd like to title this piece's strategy "slap on a shading layer and then smudge the shit out of it until you get something passable."

I definitely did not draw enough flowers as a child and was running out of ways to draw leaves and petals lol. Phew that dress was a slog, but also so so fun. I have a little headcanon that it was embroidered by Darius and Camila. I've never illustrated any sheer fabrics, so this was me BSing myself throughout the entire thing, but I can't say I'm mad at the response. Clothing folds are still a headache for me, but somehow this is, better?

Also, Willow’s flower crown is made up of the red grass and flowers that Willow first greets when they get back to the demon realm — y’know, the adorable gesture that squeezes the first smile out of Hunter post Flapjack. Also, Flapjack-red tie for Hunter because obvi.

I'm afraid I made Hunter's outfit a little too close to Caleb's, but from the references of outfits and background, we ended here. So maybe his ability to wear things this close is proof of therapy and progress? y'know, if you squint past my blatant art and fashion block. I also just realized I think I was supposed to color the buttons on Hunter's vest but now I'm pretending that was purposeful

Another thing I'm weirdly nitpicky about it Hunter's hair noodle. Idk there's been something that's bothered me about it throughout the entire process but could never quite put my finger on it/fix it.

I had the idea that Willow and Hunter's rings would look like elongated versions of each other's palismen. Kind of like those little dragon rings that look like they're clinging to your finger, but I couldn't get the shape right, and Willow's ring isn't visible anyway. So maybe next time.

That may be it. Might add more as I find more and more things that annoy me. If you made it to the end of my perfectionist rambling, congratulations!! Your service and sacrifice is noted lol.

Don't forget to hydrate yourselves and have a lovely day!!

[castlebyersafterdark]

“Do you really think that the dinner at the steakhouse was romantic? Sometimes I think that maybe they just wanted to go to some place where nobody could take photos”

imo, none of us can know anything for sure so yeah, however there are tons of places they can go to hang out and not be caught in camera, I’m sure many times the cast goes places they aren’t all caught on camera anyways, and since Noah has asked fans not to include him in pics before (like when a fan met millie and him) most likely to avoid internet backlash, it’s not like he can’t refuse to take pics etc you know?That said, an expensive steakhouse a lot of people go to for special occasions(one that says no photography in the dining room, but since i’ve seen many videos from people eating there filming their food and shit on tiktok, it’s not like they confiscate phones you know? so privacy can’t fully be guaranteed) , that is by reservation and has a dress code, is not like a regular place to go grab a casual friend meal, it suggests a level of planning and dressing up and stuff that is at least probably out of Finns usual wheelhouse(not so much for Noah since he is a bit of a foodie) ….. there’s no way to know, but it is a bit sus or else the fandom at large wouldn’t have had the reaction they did. I mean the fact they went from zero to “are they dating?” when the idea of foah has been so forbidden for years, tells me that something about it was enough to shake them into even considering it which is a pretty big step lol

All of this!!! I just think it's one of those things that if chosen to believe and add into the lore, fits more within the realms of a relationship than a casual friendship, because we as fans have the access to a collective of moments and movements. Since we've chosen to take an interest in the lives as the cast as a hobby, we can see the patterns. Maybe on paper - two dudes going to a nice restaurant together isn't entirely confirmation of something romantic. But, in the context of fans following their lives, in the timelines and observations we've made, for better or for worse, we can see which cast members hang out, with who, where and when. And we see certain cast doing certain activities. And sure, of course we don't see everything. We see very little. But for what we have seen, and if we take the infamous steakhouse as truth, in comparison to other moments we've seen between the cast - these two in particular at this specific setting... it adds up to our theory and supports the relationship angle.

[novella-writers]

Rewatching Avatar (2009/2022) has really inspired me and I’d loveee to play about with it, but do something slightly different with an ocxoc rp! I’ve been thinking about other clans and I’d love to play about with the idea of a cave Na’vi clan/population! I have some ideas on how they might look, their biology, their culture, how the caves might actually form, different animals, etc etc but I’d love to brainstorm and flesh out the world with you so we can both create it together! Plot wise, I’m thinking something along the lines of me playing one of these cave Na’vi, and you playing either a normal na’vi from another clan that somehow gets lost amongst the caves and stumbles upon my one, or perhaps you’re a human researcher - maybe just researching the environment and the caves and unaware of the na’vi underground, or specifically are looking for them too. Those are just a couple of ideas but we can chat together to figure something out and I’d love to hear your thoughts!

About me: I’m 21+, looking for anyone 19+ to write with. I’m a very detailed writer and my replies are usually around the realm of 1000 words (not characters!) and can go up to 2000 easily as well. I would like my partner to be able to match this. Not every reply has to be super long of course, it depends what’s going on and quality > quantity, but with all the world building I’d love to do and fleshing out nuanced characters, I don’t want to write paragraphs setting everything up for us to be given 1 that doesn’t move the plot forward:’). I can offer a writing sample and might ask for one to make sure we’re compatible because I will lose interest in short, semi-lit style writing, sorry. I love depth and complexity, fleshed out characters with flaws, situations that demand action that’s not 100% morally good. I love conflict and tension, hurt/comfort, angst and recovery, and I love seeing characters grow over the rp! I’m open to all types of pairings and trans characters, and also open to different takes on gender identity/expression considering the na’vi aren’t human! I’m open to dark topics, violence, and nsfw, but I’m open to fading to black and don’t rush/prioritise smut, nor do I like really strict roles like sub/dom and top/bottom. I reply usually a few times a week but can’t manage daily most of the time, and I won’t rush you either! I like to chat ooc and send art/aesthetics/tiktoks and bond with my partner, but I won’t push if you’re not comfortable with it.

I’d love a partner who’s down to world build and plot with me! Bring your own ideas and concepts and we can make a world and story together! I want to do it together, with you! So please don’t just say “sounds good, up to you” to everything I say lol:’) This is way too long now so I’ll round it out, but leave a like and I’ll reach out to you! 💙🌙

Like if interested!

[khepiari]

Did you write "My Little Husband"? I've always thought about reading it, it's pending but I never get around to it. after reading everything it's an interesting perspective, and well, I usually rely on tags and summaries before going in and reading something, because I don't like to bother or feel uncomfortable, sometimes I do it because "Maybe it's not so bad" but Maybe I was a little rude when I expressed myself and I apologize for that, as I said, the problem of age is very personal to me for different reasons that don't come to the fore, but really in the end I don't stop loving this ship and its fandom, many Thank you for your attention and answering me, I wish you good luck in your projects and have a good morning, by the way, I love your publications Lawlu

Yes, it is me who wrote My Little Husband. I would advise reading against it. Yep, it is funny, a rom-com and fluffy, but avoid it if you are not used to child bride/teen bride stories. The language is immature, I used some serious terms without understanding the history behind it and played some issues for laughs. So yeah, avoid it if it can send you to a bad place.

As for being rude, no you weren’t. It’s perfectly normal to ask questions and express your thoughts. I chose to be curt and blunt about the ask, as for more than a year, we have seen a spike in LawLu antis bothering us on every social media platform; twitter, IG, TikTok, Facebook and Discord as well, hijacking our tags, retweeting art to spread hate and doxing. Hence I choose to be very clear on my stand on shipping and fandom discussions. We cannot bring real-life moral values to fandom spaces, which are fiction born of fiction or some form of entertainment.

Morals exist to help people live better lives and make the right choices when bad choices are the easier way out. It cannot be used as a yardstick to say something is good and something is not in the realm of speculative and derivative fiction.

Fandom is a recreational space, at best alleviation of the idea of a communal hobby space, but it is on the web.

When you are reading a fic with hopes it might be good, please be careful. If age-gaps or anything that can trigger you, you should avoid it. As I said, fiction is a personal experience. The point of hard-hitting stories/uncomfortable stories is to help you unclog your inner issues/problems/unresolved emotional baggage and have a cathartic release.

But if something has the potential to hurt you and you don't have your own safe haven or space to process it, don't engage with it.

Thank you for loving my LawLu publications.

Take care.

[cr4ggy]

toh headcanons #1 (this might not even be a series im just numbering it for fun)

-gus is vegan or vegetarian. i got this from the illusion he made at the beginning of labyrinth runners. it was harder to find stuff for him to digest in the human realm but he was vehemently against giving up.

-willow is tone deaf and cannot sing for shit but does anyways. sometimes out of spite to annoy gus when he tells her it's the wrong notes

-eda tried to go to the human realm during the toilet paper shortage era of the pandemic and got the idea that toilet paper is actually a valuable human treasure worth a lot of money, so she has a toilet paper stash somewhere in the owl house and has pawned it off to gullible people at the night market

-at one point hunter got so deep into geometry dash that he wasnt sleeping or eating & it got a bit concerning. but he beat hexagon force!!!!

-luz does not want to think about voltron: legendary defender ever again. she prays every night that gus and hunter never find it. and shes agnostic, so that's saying something.

-when theyre stuck in the human realm amity discovers a love of tiktok-core music. especially mitski, taylor swift, marina and phoeboe bridgers' tiktok songs.

-kind of a sadder headcanon but considering the fact that gus never says parents & always defaults to "my dad," i think his other parent is completely out of the picture or maybe even dead. i say this as someone who always defaults to "my mom" so

-vee's as good as she is at spanish because in order to shapeshift you also gotta mimic other people's voices. only having to mimick sounds and intonation is a piece of cake compared to that.

-luz hyperfixated on polygons as a child and can name all of them up until enneadecagon. then the names got too confusing and the hyperfixation was drying up.

-hunter and king could have some really good conversations about being the only one of your entire species & also their entire families being dead. this show is so lighthearted guys

[prpfz]

Rewatching Avatar (2009/2022) has really inspired me and I’d loveee to play about with it, but do something slightly different with an ocxoc rp! I’ve been thinking about other clans and I’d love to play about with the idea of a cave Na’vi clan/population! I have some ideas on how they might look, their biology, their culture, how the caves might actually form, different animals, etc etc but I’d love to brainstorm and flesh out the world with you so we can both create it together! Plot wise, I’m thinking something along the lines of me playing one of these cave Na’vi, and you playing either a normal na’vi from another clan that somehow gets lost amongst the caves and stumbles upon my one, or perhaps you’re a human researcher - maybe just researching the environment and the caves and unaware of the na’vi underground, or specifically are looking for them too. Those are just a couple of ideas but we can chat together to figure something out and I’d love to hear your thoughts!

About me: I’m 21+, looking for anyone 19+ to write with. I’m a very detailed writer and my replies are usually around the realm of 1000 words (not characters!) and can go up to 2000 easily as well. I would like my partner to be able to match this. Not every reply has to be super long of course, it depends what’s going on and quality > quantity, but with all the world building I’d love to do and fleshing out nuanced characters, I don’t want to write paragraphs setting everything up for us to be given 1 that doesn’t move the plot forward:’). I can offer a writing sample and might ask for one to make sure we’re compatible because I will lose interest in short, semi-lit style writing, sorry. I love depth and complexity, fleshed out characters with flaws, situations that demand action that’s not 100% morally good. I love conflict and tension, hurt/comfort, angst and recovery, and I love seeing characters grow over the rp! I’m open to all types of pairings and trans characters, and also open to different takes on gender identity/expression considering the na’vi aren’t human! I’m open to dark topics, violence, and nsfw, but I’m open to fading to black and don’t rush/prioritise smut, nor do I like really strict roles like sub/dom and top/bottom. I reply usually a few times a week but can’t manage daily most of the time, and I won’t rush you either! I like to chat ooc and send art/aesthetics/tiktoks and bond with my partner, but I won’t push if you’re not comfortable with it.

I’d love a partner who’s down to world build and plot with me! Bring your own ideas and concepts and we can make a world and story together! I want to do it together, with you! So please don’t just say “sounds good, up to you” to everything I say lol:’) This is way too long now so I’ll round it out, but leave a like and I’ll reach out to you! 💙🌙

give a like and anon will get back to you

[neverchecking]

(More Chain Era thoughts)

This just in: Sweetpea has absolute Ken Vibes. The Smartest Dumbass everyone knows. He's not 100% sure what's going on but he's just happy to be here. Except when people are trying to court his sister-in-law and his princess. That cuts into his Sidon and Yona time for two WILDLY different reasons.

While Sage is trying to murder his new counterparts and Sweetpea runs interference, I think Tia would be the one who's actually making sure Aaliyah's ok with her new admirers.

I see Wild and Cal being generally harmless smitten guys who are just trying to get a pretty lady's attention so they're not actively trying to separate Aaliyah from Sage, just trying to get her to look their way. Compliments, small gifts, showing off. Stuff like that.

But Tia knows that Aaliyah isn't a people person and even if these guys are essentially younger versions of Sage, that doesn't mean she's entirely cool with it. So Tia is touching base with Aaliyah and inviting her to tea, just to make sure everything's cool and that Tia doesn't have to step in. She knows Aaliyah can look after herself and she'll respect that, but there tends to be less blood and gore involved if Tia intervenes before it hits that point.

(Also Tia's nickname for Aaliyah is Petal. Because her hair is a lovely soft white like white rose petals. It's also at complete odds with her personality but Tia thinks it's funny. Sage's is Dumpling but only in private because they made dumplings together and Tia just came out with it. Sage didn't realise what she'd called him until it was too late and she'd latched onto it. Ariel's is Chook because of all the Cuccos she has.)

Aaliyah honestly could not give less of a shit about her two new ducklings, not when she needs to be grilling Tia about HER potential suitors. None of whom are good enough for her, despite the fact two of them fought a god and the third one killed two different kings. Let her bite them. She promises she won't leave scars. Even on the stuffy knight with the red scarf. What Tia sees in him, she has no idea.

Tia just sips her tea and hopes that she can get in at least a little conversation before Aaliyah makes good on her promise.

Sweetpea has since decided to impersonate a cat every time Tia has tea or even sits down in the vicinity of her suitors and drapes himself across her lap. Tia just lets him and pats his head while using his back as a table, occasionally pinching his ear when she notices him smirking at Warriors.

Tia and Twilight are absolutely bonding over herding Feral Hylians before he starts flustering her and Sage just like body checks him straight into the moat.

Buut also Cal being sneaky and like cautiously approaches Tia for advice. Because while she looks similar to Fauna, she acts very differently and maybe she can give him and Wild some actual information instead of dangling it like Sweetpea does. (Unfortunately, Tia's advice is basically 'Respect her Decision, Respect her Space and Respect the Fact Sage Will come First.' so if they want to woo the pretty feral sheikah, they're gonna need to at least get Sage to tolerate them first. (Good luck on that) Wild does find out Tia's favourite flower is Sundelions and passes that on to Tia's suitors which just causes absolute chaos.)

Sweetpea being ken has gotta be one of the funniest things we've come up with yet. Like they're all >:( and he's all :D, happy to be there. Maybe the girls are talking about some intricate and intense dealings with other realms and the merging of their own and he's nodding, blank faced because he has no clue what's going on. Sage at least admits he doesn't know, nor does he care, but Sweetpea pretends he both knows and cares.

He is smart enough to have red alarms going off though. Like that one tiktok audio when something goes down? He could be in between Yona and Sidon, having a peaceful snooze before snapping up like "Something just happened."

Sweetpea and Sage are such an interesting duo, especially when compared to the other two. Like, they are such good foils for each other that they work together well. Wild and Cal haven't spent nearly enough time to reach that same level those two have and it shows.

Just like Aaliyah and Tia are good foils to Flora and Fauna.

Tia being the lovable sister to Aaliyah just warms my heart <3 bc like i love them. They're dynamic is also something I wanna explore more bc it's the whole Golden Retriever and Black cat thing. Like Tia is all smiley and bright and kind, nothing but gentle touches and sweet words while Aaliyah is more the silent comfort; She's the person on the back wall, making sure she all has the information and brooding, letting you cry on her shoulder and never mentioning it ever again.

Like Batman and Superman now that I think about it.

Wild and Cal depend on which way we go here. If we go with the normal, not crazy chain then yea, they're just like love striken puppies. It's mostly infatuation that this is what they could've had and they just want to feel what it's like to have her attention on them for just a little while. Just to know what it's like for Sage the lucky bastard. But, if we go with the Yandere chain I write about on this blog it could be a completely different scenario. Because Aaliyah has scars. There's no shocker there. But to Wild and Cal? This is just confirmation to them that Sage can't protect her. Not in the way they can. So he obviously doesn't deserve her. They're train of thought is that he's manipulated her into staying with him and that just won't stand. So maybe they are trying to seperate them. But what they fail to realize is that as deep as Sage's claws are in the Sheikah, she has her own keeping him tethered to her just as tightly. So it won't be as easy as they're delusional minds think.

That won't stop them from trying however.

Tia being protective just warms my heart <333 Bc your right. Aaliyah isn't a people person, even with younger versions of Sage. That growth is what solidified that bridge between them as strong as it was. Tea time between the girls is SACRED. No one can get in between that. Especially if it means saving a bit of bloodshed and unstringing all the stress Aaliyah carries. She's an anxious person and when she's stressed, she snaps. So it's good that Tia can recognize that and help de-escalate.

(Petal is so cute I can't like nfogfb Like I imagine Tia and Sage, maybe Sweetpea, are the only ones allowed to touch Aaliyah's hair. Like...at all. Hair cuts are just winging it. And the contradiction to her personality is also so funny. Sage's being dumpling also kills me because he probably has to take a second to register his new nickname. But that second is what seals his fate and it's just law now. Sage and Tia cooking together is just FJFNFNF WARMS MY HEART BC LIKE THATS HIS SIL ( i imagine Sweetpea and Tia have a brother/sister relationship?) AND WE'VE SEEN THE OTHER HALF AND I JUST need this half okay? I'm so normal about this and-)

(Ariel is more dangerous than any of them bc of her Cuccos I don't make the rules)

Aaliyah is scary dog privileges personified. Just silently glowering in the back as if daring any of the Links to fuck around and find out. Especially that pompous fuck with the red scarf. Sure, Cal and Wild are trying to talk to her about her journeys and she's just >:( At First the WHOLE time. Talking about how many Lynels she's taken down or how often she eradicates monster camps. Tia is over her shit. When Aaliyah pulls out the puppy dog eyes, ears down and a small whine leaving her lips, Tia is just 'Are you seriously asking me to let you bite someone?' and Aaliyah is just 'Not really, I'm more-or-less asking for forgiveness when I inevitably do it."

Sweetpea being the clingiest out of all of them is just fnofnf because he's practically showing off his place. Like Sweetpea is looking at them like 'I have a garaunteed place in Tia's wedding. Do you?'

Wars is counting on Sweetpea's downfall. He's just >:( In his chair, arms crossed and a pout on his lips.

Twilight is in the clear for a while, talking about how he's reigned in Wild's own behaviour only to be faced with the worst of them all. Like, yes, Aaliyah will bite and snap and blow up a forest, she's still somewhat civil with the rest of them. While yes, Sweetpea is rubbing his place in Tia's life in War's face, he isn't biting them which is good. But Sage? Nah. Sage is the worst of the worst. He's attacking whenever he feels like it. And it could in the middle of the night? Maybe while they're walking? Twilight will never know.

Like, they're walking on a bridge and next thing he knows he's engulfed in orange and Sage is smirking at him before dropping him into the river below.

Cal is probably the smarter of the two by going to Tia. She's more likely to give them solid advice than Fungus over there. Is it very helpful? ...Not really BUT That just means they have an excuse to watch her every move. It's for science of course!

Wild probably plays up the friendly face if only to get information on Tia to give to the ones who want her own attention. In turn they give him anything they can get out of Aaliyah. Or maybe even Sage. Anything really.

(Lmao its a race for them to get sundelions but every time they spot one and they try to climb to get it, one of her guard dogs is already standing there with it plucked, in their hand and a smirk on their face. "Better luck next time~")

[girlucifer]

nightbringer initial thoughts

i know no one gives a SHIT about hashtag girlucifer's thoughts or anything also this blog has been mostly dead at least from my own original content for a while. my life majorly sucks at the moment but also i'm super cool about everything. ANYWAY so here's my updated mc in the new game

*of note, i lost some weight hehe i'm growing out my hair and i'm utilizing this like... coconut butter thing which brings out like these natural funky waves which is really cute on me with my longer hair! and also i've been vibing with this black turtleneck so there's that. okay to my thoughts now

DISCLAIMER: i'm only up to lesson 4 so leave me alone if my ideas show up later in the season, i'll get to lesson 10 hopefully by tomorrow but we will see

i really think solmare needs to hire me ASAP. as if i don't have enough stuff going on. anyway so the way the story is going, i am fearful of a repeat of the original obey me! app where it's basically regaining our pacts with the brothers + maybe some lore sprinkled in to keep us from ditching the app entirely. yes, while it's great to see some scenes where mammon admits he feels worthless and just goes along for the ride (eg, the great celestial war) because he's afraid of being alone, or satan's rage, or even the quirky stuff like leviathan's origin story with ruri-chan + "snake" - like it's cute and fun but i really honestly came to nightbringer hoping for the ANGST. these brothers are POST-CELESTIAL-WAR. like not even post. like it happened like A FEW HOURS into lesson 1. i need you to understand that the great celestial war wasn't just something that happened. it wasn't just a thing lucifer & his brothers decided to do in the spur of the moment. that shit was PREMEDIATED. it took a number of catalysts, last one being lilith in love with a human, to ignite the war. they fell from celestial status to DEMONS. the very thing they were born, taught, fueled to hate. IT CANNOT BE THAT SIMPLE for them to just be like ok wig let's move past it. maybe i'm projecting. but i want them to GRIEVE. i want them to be ANGRY. to be fair, we did get the mammon + leviathan fight scene, which was AWESOME. that's what i want to see! we get to see satan TRULY ANGRY. which is also good! versus y'know, nerd bitch catboy. asmodeus beelzebub and belphegor unfortunately are not very well-rounded and seem the same. instead, the writers really should've taken asmodeus weird tendencies to become flirtatious, like it should be jarring to him. he should be terrified as to why he's all of a sudden so enamored with the demons around him. why he feels drawn towards physical affection, something deemed sinful and naughty in the celestial realm. beelzebub should've been ... well idk. belphegor had a lot of potential because he was the one so intent on destroying humans after he lost his SISTER that lucifer and belphegor should've had their falling out right then and there for MC to truly see how broken their family was right after their fall.

i think we all came to the consensus that the 3D models are wack. i really wish they used the anime style or chibi 2D style or something. i love that kind of shit, the 3D looks like just some rwby weird shit going on. but i'm a hater. so idk. i hate tiktok and whatnot so i'm kind of like ummm

the battles take so much longer and i'm so sad i have to start from essentially nothing again for cards. i worked for nearly over a year to get the strongest cards for each color, both for demon and memory. so to do it all again... not fun and i probably will give up just because i'm soooo tired.

i think lucifer is a bitch dude i need him to stop being such a fucking bitchhhh i'm already on the edgeeee i need love and romance and whatnot

i wish . i could see baby luke... and i really hope when simeon shows up, he's going to be like bitchhh fuck lifeeee like i need him to curse and scream and be a menace and evil and stuff. i think it would be fun. especially since we lost out on fallen simeon. fuck my baka life

i will always hate how the devs don't give a shit about basic common sense in regards to the timeline. if the great celestial war happened like, at least SOMEWHAT according to the motherfucking BIBLE . then humans were like not a thing when they fall. or if you want to be lenient, it would've bene ancient times for the humans. aka no phones, no manga or anime, no "otaku" phrase since NO JAPAN. well i'm not that great with ancient society, maybe there was japan. but yeah, basically with the DDD and diavolo's society being so advanced, it makes it that the only logical answer to convince myself from blowing up is that a demon is responsible for human's developments in society. but that's lame as fuck :sob: i want humans to be like. resilient and the ones who taught the demons because i'm a bitch and love humanity and wish to see the inherent good in everyone please oh god please

anyway yeah i'm a bitch and insane and like i honestly have been going through it guys i am not going to lie i had a fun little whirlwind romance and it's over now and i'm trying to convince myself it was fun while it lasted but i miss him so much so like, with nightbringer i'm like wow can this really distract me from the unrelenting sadness his face brings lol anyway yeah enjoy my ramblings but i know my blog is dead but maybe it'll be revived with this app <- says this but will disappear for another 6 months

[unyieldingwings]

LIGHTLARK BY ALEX ASTER REVIEW

Title: Lightlark

Author: Alex Aster

Genre: Fantasy, High Fantasy, Romance, YA, Romantasy

Series: Yes

Rating: 3.5/5

Duration of read: 5 days

Page count: 409

I finally finished Lightlark!

It was such a wild read. I can honestly say that the book did make me feel a lot of emotions, and it was certainly a rollercoaster for me, and I decided to tab the book in this category: World Building/Important Stuff, Happy Stuff, Sad Stuff, Romantic, Suspicious and Frustrating/Making  Me Mad, which all the more proves that this was such an emotional read for me.

Though the premise of the plot of Lightlark was certainly interesting, I remember the first time that it came through my TikTok fyp, I immediately favorited the original video from Alex's account and decided to wait for it to be released in my country, and after finishing it, I did give it a rating of 3.5/5. The reason for this is because as I was going through the book, all the information that we needed to get to fully grasp the story were a little bit disjointed, incomplete and disconnected. To be frank, it was a little difficult for me to follow at first because in the beginning of the book, we would get descriptions, a few sentences of important information and then we would skip over to a new scene and then circle back to the original thought/information that was being discussed by the main character. I do understand that it is entirely possible that that is what the author wanted us to feel while reading the book, maybe she wanted us to feel exactly as clueless, as scared, as desperate and as helpless as the main character/main narrator to better connect with her, it just wasn't the easiest thing to follow for me. Even though I gave the book a solid 3.5, there are still things that I liked and did not like with it. Let me tell you more about them.

I loved the idea of Lightlark and the division into six rulers and realms (Sunling, Wildling, Nightshade, Skyling, Moonling and Starling). I loved the premise of participating in a deadly political game called The Centennial to decide which ruler and realm would die to free the entirety of their people from the curses that were spun 500+ years ago. I absolutely loved the drama of the fact that there were rules to be followed for the duration of The Centennial, and I also loved that there was drama among all the rulers. I also loved how the mentality of a person who has been manipulated by those around her was shown in the context of Isla's character--how she seems to struggle with her own identity, her own decisions and how she feels guilty for standing up for what she personally believes in, but I loved it more when she was able to gain a sense of confidence in her abilities, her identity and in who she is. Out of everything else though, the one thing I loved most about Lightlark is Grimshaw Malvere, ruler of Nightshade. I know, I know, Isla is the main character, but I cannot help it. Grimshaw is painted in such a mysterious, and admittedly, delicious way that I can't help but love him--flaws and all.

Moving on to the things that I did not particularly like about Lightlark. There are a few, and I think I would need to use bullet points for this.

I guess the main one would be the predictability of the major twists of the book. I don’t know if it was just me, but it was very easy to follow the clues leading us to the true villain of the story. It felt like we were trying to be misled to another conclusion, but the clues were just there and very easy to connect.

Another thing that I struggled with in the book is how it is always reinforced that Isla has been trained her entire life by her caretakers, however she always seems to get into precarious situations that could have been avoided if she actually used her training. It felt like her training was conveniently mentioned when it would suit the plot for some scheme-y type events, but would be conveniently shelved otherwise. It felt like her training was implied to be second nature to her, but actually isn't. This is what I meant by the information being a little bit disjointed because if she were actually trained to a point where she was one with all of her skills, she would not easily forget her own strength and fall prey to all the misfortunes that happened to her. I get it, The Centennial is supposed to be dangerous and Isla is supposed to be one of the youngest rulers in all the realms, however, it just really doesn't track for me how she's only well trained when it suits the plot, but she conveniently gets into so much trouble when it also suits the plot. I hope I'm still making sense.

It absolutely infuriated me how Poppy and Terra were the ones who mainly manipulated Isla, but it felt like it was only skimmed over when in truth, their betrayal of Isla's trust is so much more disgusting than what happened with Grim. It kinda felt to me like it's going to be some sort of set up for a possible redemption arc for Grim because it felt like I was being forced to vilify him in all ways possible.

I also did not like how the Centennial was presented to be a deadly, political, game that would showcase just how cruel, and cunning all these centuries old characters are, however it did not give me that sort of experience while reading it. I guess it's closely related to how I didn't get a lot of consolidated and solid information about Lightlark and the Centennial as much as I wanted to, then again, it is only the first book so that still remains to be seen for the remaining part of the series. In terms of it being political and exciting and anxiety inducing, and them showing just how cunning they can be, it wasn't really all that for me. I kind of expected a more complex way of all the rulers trying to manipulate, expose and spy on each other all the while trying to understand the prophecy and break the curse on Lightlark. I also kind of expected the entire Centennial to be more than a few paragraphs and chapters of them showing bits and pieces of their power, the weird tests they have for each other, and the demonstrations that feel like are just being used to further the plot of a love triangle instead of actually showing how deadly the competition is. I also had some trouble understanding how this was classified as a game when it sort of wasn't? I just had a lot of trouble with it. As I said earlier, it was a somewhat difficult read for me as it was hard to follow at times (except for the main villain plot thing.)

Main Characters:

Isla Crown, Grimshaw Malvere - ruler of Nightshade, Oro Rey - King of Lightlark.

Main Antagonist:

Celeste/Aurora ruler of Starling.

Supporting Characters: Azul, Cleo, Ella, Poppy, Terra, Juniper

MAIN CHARACTERS

Isla Crown:

Description: Isla has long, dark brown hair, green eyes, and tan skin.

Thoughts on Isla:

I personally did not like Isla as a main character. She infuriated me way too much. I understand that she has been manipulated by every single person in her life from the day she was born, and that does have a lot of consequences and effects on someone's life, however, I just didn't connect with her as well as I expected to. I have read a lot of fantasy series where the main character is a woman, a lot of them even younger than Isla's character, and a lot of them have also gone through very traumatic experiences (yeah, I know, trauma is trauma and people are allowed to react and feel differently because any experience is unique to the person). I feel like, Isla could have been written in a better way that showcases so much more of her strengths and her abilities as a supposedly fully trained warrior leader of the Wildling realm. As I mentioned earlier, it was difficult to swallow the fact that Isla keeps on boasting about her extremely harsh training that she received ever since she was a child, however it's still very easy for her to be taken advantage of, beaten and be basically helpless and be a damsel in distress negating all of the training that has been beaten into her bones and body, and then she suddenly becomes this well-trained girl who is one with her skills and abilities when the plot suits it.

Grimshaw Malvere, ruler of Nightshade:

Description: Grim is tall with pale skin, black eyes, black hair, and a dimple on his cruelly cut face.

Thoughts on Grim:

Where do I even begin? Grim is my favorite character out of all the people currently known to us in the Lightlark universe. Maybe I'm just being extremely biased, because he does feel very Rhys coded to me and I am absolutely in love with Rhysand (from acotar). Other than that though, I do love how Grim is written in a way that is very playful. I also love how he is very unconditional towards Isla. (Yeah I know, shit move on the memory erasing thing, but come on, we have to give him some leeway about that. More on that later) An example I have about him being unconditional towards her, whenever she asks him something that is absolutely within his power to answer, he doesn't act all high and mighty like the information only belongs to him, he answers as honestly as he can. He doesn't make her 'work' for the truth or the answers that she seeks as if she isn't worth honesty. Another thing I like about him is how he seems more than willing to sacrifice something about himself for the good of Isla (I absolutely love to see a whipped man for the main character). An example of this is how he was more than willing to expose his own flair when Isla's secret about her not having power was revealed by Oro just to make sure that Isla would be safe, away from the other rulers who might have nefarious plans for Isla. I also love how he  helped her move from the palace to the Wildling fortress no questions asked. Anything for Isla, anything she asks, he does. Anything she needs he gives with no conditions. Especially with the black diamond necklace he gifted Isla for whenever she's in trouble, I loved that so much. Grimshaw Malvere has shown us through his actions multiple times already how he is someone Isla CAN and SHOULD trust even though his own words say otherwise. More on the stuff about him feeling very Rhys coded to me is the tortured soul vibe I get off of him. Yeah sure, you can justify it as him feeling tortured because he did wipe Isla's memories for an entire year , but it kinda feels like it's more than that you know? I just have so many things that I love about Grim, and I hope that we get to know more about him in the next book. I hope we get to know him more, how he actually acts in his realm, what is important to him other than Isla, how he thinks, how he feels and why he acts the way he does. Let's not forget all the times that he refers to himself as a monster, how he always says that he is playing a role that is already expected of him by the other rulers--he must have a reason for that. There must be something that he is trying to protect in his realm, in his lands, or something that he is trying to expose which could be the reason that he acts the way he does. Now, I do understand that Grim is a controversial character for most readers because of the memory stealing thing that he did for Isla, I get it, that was definitely violating on so many levels, however, we should still give him some leeway about the fact that he was also manipulated by Celeste/Aurora. Remember, he suddenly inherited the power of his father when his father died for the prophecy to break the curse, and at this point Celeste/Aurora was already hundreds of years old, so she was already a conniving bitch, and as per the book, the Nightshade realm and Grimshaw are the only ones standing against some greater evil that Oro doesn't even want to explain to Isla (because he's manipulative like that. More on him later), so there must actually be MORE to him and how he is important to the story than we actually know. I know I'm rambling, but I just have so many thoughts about him and as much as I try to organize it, I just want to gush about him.

YES I AM A GRIMSHAW MALVERE APOLOGIST.

Oro Rey - King of Lightlark, ruler of Sunling:

Description: Oro has blond hair, gold eyes and fair skin.

Thoughts on Oro: 

I don't particularly like Oro. Yeah I get he saved Isla in the first part of the Centennial, but he really only saved her for his own purpose not because he actually loves her. I also understand that he is an untrusting person because he had been played and plagued by people who want to get close to him because of his status as the King of Lightlark, however, with the many changes of his personality, attitude, I don't even believe any of the faces that he shows us in the book. Oro to me, feels very icky. In a sense that he is not very forthcoming with information. Every time Isla asks him questions, he either dodges it or makes Isla work for the answer, he withholds information as if no one else is deserving of the truth other than he. He is a very conditional person, and I guess I just don't agree with people or characters that always have conditions for everything. I don't like how secretive he is, it doesn't feel mysterious for me, It feels manipulative. Especially with his sudden decision to kill off Grim. It felt very convenient how he and the other rulers just suddenly decided to off Grim just like that. It feels like he and the others were already planning something for Grim because he wasn't even invited by Oro in the past few Centennials and was only invited to this one when Isla would be playing. It just feels like there's more bad to him than good.

MAIN ANTAGONIST:

Celeste/Aurora:

Description: Celeste has a long, straight sheet of hair and a heart-shaped faced.

Thoughts on Celeste/Aurora

From the moment I read about her, she was already feeling kind of sketchy and shady for me. The way she was written didn't feel like she was someone I could trust. She loved to restrict Isla, and loved to remind her how she was weak and insignificant and needed protection. From those things alone, I already felt like she had something to do with the curse. It seemed like she was in the business of minimizing Isla as much as she can, she also seemed to always be in the most convenient of places to make sure she can reinforce her agenda of protecting Isla as well as the idea that she needs help. I understand she was supposed to be written as a major betrayal, however, it was very easy to follow the trail of the villain back to her. Just studying her actions, her words, what she does are kind of some flags pointing towards her.

SUPPORTING CHARACTERS:

Azul, Cleo, Ella, Poppy, Terra and Juniper.

I loved how friendly Azul was to Isla, and I am very sad for him in regards to what happened with his husband. Cleo felt like she was planted as an obvious choice for Isla to hate, or be suspicious of, though I do like her as a ruler because it was shown just how loyal her subjects are to her, and how far she'll go to protect them. Ella was very easy to like. She made me feel like she's someone I want to protect. With regards to Poppy and Terra, I am able to understand why they did what they did to Isla and her parents, however I cannot accept or ignore it. What they did to Isla--gaslighting her, manipulating her, lying to her, that is something that I cannot understand nor accept. I don't get why it was just skimmed over, I get it it was nearing the end of the book, but come on. I really hoped it would have warranted a little bit more of a reaction from Isla. She had more of a reaction towards Grim than them which was really rude imho. Out of all the supporting characters, I would like to see more of Cleo, and see how she plays into the plot of Lightlark.

Theories

Do I have theories about Lightlark? I'm not sure if these actually counts as theories, they're more like hopeful predictions for me, maybe even wishful thinking. Haha.

Mainly, I hope that the second book would be better written than the first in a way that it would be less difficult to follow, and it would have a more consolidated approach to the information we would need to understand the lore of Lightlark.

Now, for what I think will actually happen in the next book, I just have a few thoughts to share. First, I think that when Isla regains her full memories about her time with Grimshaw, she will understand further why Grim did what he did. Second, I think that Isla is going to find out the truth about the darkness/evil that the Nightshade realm is standing against, and I think Isla will find out that Oro is either behind that evil or he has something to do with it, and in a way has either convinced the other rulers to side with him or he has tricked them to side with him. I think that Isla will go back to Grim (because Oro feels more icky than Grim lol) and I do honestly think that something else is causing Oro's degeneration (the thing that's happening to his arm and body). I think we're also going to see how powerful Isla actually is when she finally trains her abilities as a Wildling ruler, and also her Nightshade powers plus the powers she got from winning the Centennial, and lastly, I think we're going to see just how Rhys coded Grimshaw Malvere actually is lol.

Will I be continuing the series and buying the next book or dropping it entirely?

I will be buying the next book -- Nightbane. At first I thought I would actually be DNF-ing the book, but I wanted to find out more about Grim, and after reading the last few chapters, I am determined to know more about him.

[billconrad]

Try Not to Write Like Hemingway

    A friend of mine recently told me they wanted to write a fictional book and wanted to pick my bonkers mind for ideas. I answered her questions, and one stuck out, “Should I read a bunch of Ernest Hemingway books to write like him?” I told my friend not to pattern themself after other writers, and I thought it would be interesting to explain my opinion.

    Talented authors like Emily Dickinson, Charles Dickens, and William Shakespeare have a style and storytelling ability that define the literature benchmark. Writers should be well-versed in famous books to learn about character development, descriptions, plot structure, and flow. However, I think it is a huge mistake to copy their writing style.

    The problem is twofold. First, readers know these works and copycat books are not appreciated. Second, master authors are called masters for a reason. Only 0.001% of us have that writing ability, and attempting to write like a master is a recipe for failure.

    Instead, I recommend reading a variety of books from many authors. This list must include bad authors (we prefer to be called up-and-coming). Their books contain flawed stories, dismal characters, no flow, flimsy descriptions, grammmmar, and awful dialog.

    Why? Poorly written books are a tremendous resource because beginning writers can think about solving apparent problems. This book dissection is a fun activity, and it is also reinforcing. “Hey, if I can spot this problem, maybe my writing is alright.”

    Let me provide an example. I met a fellow author through Facebook who asked me to critique his first book. It is a spiritual awakening autobiography like The Razor’s Edge. (If you have not seen the 1946 movie, I recommend it. The 1984 remake is so-so.) From the first page, there were many problems.

    When I provided feedback, I recall focusing on one sentence, “I gave a speech on the topic.” Ok… Where did this speech take place? How many people were there? What was their reaction? This lack of description was so big that a bus could have driven through it. When reading a book like The Grapes of Wrath, spotting glaring mistakes is impossible.

    Yet, I know I have not convinced you, so I want to focus on the Hemingway book, The Old Man and the Sea. “I want to write a book just like that.” Alright, a similar plot is not out of the realm of possibilities. Let’s tweak the base story. A female sheepherder deep in the mountains guards her flock. Suddenly, a wolf attacks, and they battle to the death. The book contains epic scenes, grand descriptions, and powerful emotions. The result would be very similar to The Old Man and the Sea.

    What would critics think? “Weak plot, but good writing.” Why? Now, with powerful AI tools, excellent editors, and grammar checkers, the minimum benchmark is a well-written book. Readers now expect bold and unique plots to rise above the latest TikTok cat videos. Does this make The Old Man and the Sea obsolete because the plot is dated? I prefer to consider it a high-quality writing benchmark but concede the base story no longer holds up.

    Why? Today, the old man could have called his friends or the Coast Guard over a cell phone or radio to rescue him. Who cares about a silly fishing story? According to YouTube, you can buy fish at the grocery store. This classic has a slow pace, and today’s readers travel at the speed of the internet. But what if the writing goal was a slow-paced book? Such books have a limited market.

    Let me attack this from a different angle. A new author is a huge Tom Clancy fan who wants to write a similar novel. The problem is that readers are not static. They want fresh plots that rise above the noise. “I wrote a spy novel exactly like The Hunt for Red October” is not a recommended read. “I wrote a spy novel better than Tom Clancy’s best works” is an annoying boast. “I wrote a spy novel with dragons.” Dragons? Really? I might have to check that out.

    You’re the best -Bill

    March 20, 2024

    Hey, book lovers, I published four. Please check them out:

    Interviewing Immortality. A dramatic first-person psychological thriller that weaves a tale of intrigue, suspense, and self-confrontation.

    Pushed to the Edge of Survival. A drama, romance, and science fiction story about two unlikely people surviving a shipwreck and living with the consequences.

    Cable Ties. A slow-burn political thriller that reflects the realities of modern intelligence, law enforcement, department cooperation, and international politics.

    Saving Immortality. Continuing in the first-person psychological thriller genre, James Kimble searches for his former captor to answer his life’s questions.

    These books are available in softcover on Amazon and in eBook format everywhere.

[tgmsunmontue]

Maybe going against the grain (but I also feel like I'm older than a large chunk of the TGM fandom)...

As someone with quite a few friends 50-70 years old, it's not outside the realm of possibility for them to have accounts and know how to use them. And use them well. However the comedic value of them constantly asking for help from Bradley is definitely there. (I do agree that neither of them would use or care about TikTok... and they'd keep putting spaces in hashtags, so they'd have maybe given up on hashtag use.)

I imagine Mav as being super keen to learn new things and take them up but then quickly forgets about them and then they just sit there with a flurry of activity for a month, and then nothing. He's moved onto the next thing. Once he's figured out how it works it's no longer interesting to him.

Ice would totally have an assistant and he doesn't care about social media, rather than an inability to learn. Social media is just unimportant to him so he's not going to put any energy towards figuring them out. He did it once when Mav went through his MySpace phase and he decided then and there never again...

Game apps though - where they can be competitive little shits with each other? They'd be ALL OVER those (my 80 year old father is CONSTANTLY sending these to me). Anything where they can get one-up on the other, they'd be figuring that shit out super quick. These men are intelligent, they would enjoy the mental strategy of some games, but they'd always enjoy beating each other more. They'd have tried to bring Bradley into their daily Wordle battle and he'd have just noped the fuck outta there...

When their phones start slowing down it'll be Bradley that will be like "You need to delete some games... they're making everything run slow" and there would be shared horror at the idea.

not to uhhh be that person but if you're writing icemav circa whatever-year-you-set Top Gun: Maverick in please please remember those men are old. they don't give a fuck about TikTok. maverick has a private Instagram with nine followers that he only got so he could follow Bradley. His most recent post is of a sunset he took on a bike ride with the caption #WestCoastBestCoast. Ice would have nothing except the public COMPACFLT accounts someone (under thirty-five) in his office runs for him. Their relationship is still reeling from the introduction of Wordle.