#my only regret is not including April

[turtleblogatlast]

[ cw: risk taking behavior / circumstantial self harm kinda / ignoring of injuries / self-depreciation / slight ooc-ness but for a reason! / ]

Post invasion, Leo is fine.

More than fine! He’s better than before, even. That is, if you don’t count the slightly cracked shell and still healing bones, but those are only a problem when the weather wants them to be!

Leo really is better in the ways that matter.

He’s not as cocky, not as self-centered, and overall just more heroic in general if he does say so himself.

Raph even said he was proud of Leo!

So obviously things are going well.

But.

It’s not enough.

Leo’s better, sure, but he’s still got work to do.

So - and here’s something that will probably make his brothers faint on the spot - he needs to train.

_____

His brothers do not faint, but it’s a near thing for Raph. Mikey has to fan the snapper’s face and Donnie almost brings out the smelling salts before Raph shoots back to his feet with an excited grin.

Leo’s big brother gets teary eyed soon after and envelops him in a bear hug, saying once again how proud he is that Leo is growing up.

Leo lets himself be hugged, even hugs back as fiercely as he can, because unbeknownst to Raph, this marks the end of Leo’s childhood.

He lets himself be hugged like a kid one last time, looking through the hole in Raph’s shell all the while.

_____

Leo only trains the regular way with his brothers and occasionally April and the Caseys, but most especially Raph.

But of course that’s not enough, it was never going to be.

So he goes through the motions of the stretches, the spars, the meditation, and then he leaves.

He makes sure to have his excuses ready, usually defaulting to Hueso as his go to since his brothers are easily bought off with the promise of pizza. Leo hasn’t yet found the tracker Donnie installed in him, but when he does that’ll be dealt with too! But for now, this should be good.

See, the invasion made him realize something.

It’s not about him, but it was his shortcomings that led to everything going to hell.

So he just…needs to get rid of those shortcomings.

He’s working on it, gaining fighting skill in training, but there’s more he needs to do, more skills he needs to train.

Leo watches intently as Repo Mantis swindles someone, he memorizes the sleight of hand that Hypno performs, he sneaks back into the Mystic Library and is so quiet the hush bats forget he’s there, he talks Big Mama into honing his manipulation, and he even sneaks into human hospitals and reptile veterinary clinics to get a clue on more serious injuries.

And after any of these, he heads to Run of the Mill to compete in the Maze of Death.

_____

This is his twelfth time going through the (newly remodeled and even more deadly) Maze of Death, and would be his fifth time winning. The first three times had him waking up in Hueso’s office, and each time he wakes his old persona shines through.

He always waves off Hueso’s annoyance and questions and insists on trying again next time before he steals some pizza and bails.

The skeleton actively tries to stop him from entering the Maze after the first time, but hey- mystics are allowed before you enter.

It’s easy enough to teleport on by.

Harder to meet Hueso’s - and later his brothers’ - eyes when he fails again.

When he first actually won, Hueso congratulates him in that typical deadpan tone of his.

“Ah, felicidades, Pepino. Now you can move on, sí?”

“Hm? Nah, boneman! That run was sloppy!”

And then Leo runs off before Hueso can stop him.

He doesn’t even look at his picture on the champion wall when he next comes around. It’s not much to look at anyway.

_____

His second win is much like the first, and only his third win is actually acceptable.

But he knows the field too much now. He needs a challenge.

When he attempts to go through it blindfolded, he’s quickly shown how much he doesn’t know the Maze. So, obviously, he loses again.

He got a bit more banged up that time around.

“Pepino, basta ya, you’ve already won. Where are your brothers?”

“I can’t stop yet, señor! This is for my brothers - no les digas, please.”

Even if Hueso wanted to tell Leo’s brothers, they haven’t been in enough for him to get to, and it’s not like Hueso has their number since Leo’s the one Hueso usually contacts. For now, Leo’s safe to continue as is.

Though his injuries are getting harder to hide, and there’s only so much his shell in particular can take.

So to speed things up, he incorporates the blindfold into his regular training.

His brothers question it, of course, but hey, he initially got the idea from seeing Lou Jitsu do it in the third best Lou Jitsu movie, so it comes as a great excuse now.

He’s only a little put off by how fast Mikey adapts to it when the others try.

“I dunno-“ Mikey shrugs when asked, “You guys shine so brightly anyway, a mask doesn’t do much.”

Seeing their mystic energies is pretty cool, Leo can admit.

He just wishes he could grasp that himself - and that it was useful for a death maze.

_____

Leo’s training pulls off eventually, and soon, after a few more losses, he wins a forth time. But it’s a near loss, and a near loss is the difference between someone living and dying.

He’s gotta go again.

Hueso’s more insistent than ever, though.

“You must stop, Pepino.”

“But I can do better-“

“You don’t have to! Your shell is bleeding - ¡por tu propio bien, poner fin a esto!”

“I told you, this is for their own good! For everyone’s own good!”

He forgets the pizzas when he leaves. He claims sickness when he hides under his covers.

He ignores how childish the act makes him feel.

_____

Leo’s getting better, and his reflexes and tact in training shows this. His other training of his subterfuge and medical skills also prove to be useful.

He’s pretty good at hiding injuries, now! Though not so good at hiding a pained shell. Even Donnie looks at him with blatant concern (and understanding) when Leo can’t help but take a sharp breath whenever he lands on his back.

It’s hard not to go right back into waving everything off with jokes like he used to. Deflections are easier when they’re annoying!

But- this is just another reason that he needs to get better, right? So his brothers won’t worry. He doesn’t need the spotlight anymore - he’s over that, thanks.

He squashes down the part of him that perks up when Splinter says he’s growing up. He actively kills the part of himself that cries at the same phrase.

_____

So. Yeah. This’ll be his twelfth time running the Maze. And, hopefully, his fifth win. Maybe he really will move on after this.

The Hidden City is pretty big! There’s probably a bigger challenge somewhere.

Maybe Big Mama has a more secret Nexus hidden away, out of the public eye.

Well, whatever. That’s a future problem for him to figure out, yeah? For now, he carries on like usual, teleporting to the entrance of the Maze and diving right in.

Even blindfolded, he works his way through, dodging and weaving and feeling as he goes. He even tries to evoke his inner Mikey and calls on his mystic energy. Not enough to cheat, but enough to feel.

Usually, when Leo teleports, he swears he feels every part of himself disperse into particles. Now, with energy thrumming under his scales, he can feel particles everywhere.

It’s not refined enough to tell him everything, and he gets a fun new burn and a nice whack to the back by getting distracted. Still, it gives him more than he had before. It makes him more aware of everything, like he licked a finger and held it in the air to feel the direction of wind, but every direction blew wind, all in different ways.

He makes it to the end with minimal injuries after that, and sure, his shell is screaming at him now, but he thinks he did a shell of a good job.

…Ah, he needs to cut that out, huh? Man. Maybe Donnie’s collar idea was a good call after all.

Leo needs to be a hero. Not a face man. Not a failure.

Not a kid.

_____

Leo doesn’t smile when the Minotaur takes his picture again for the champion wall, and he doesn’t listen when she tells him to “go home and never come back.”

He doesn’t plan to, anyway, yeesh.

He’s tired as he trudges out of the exit, and Hueso catches him when he stumbles.

Hueso doesn’t say anything. Leo doesn’t either.

Or, he doesn’t, until he feels a familiar large hand helping him up as well.

Leo’s face whips up as he flinches back, eyes wide as they meet with a worried (so, so worried) Raph’s.

“You told them?” Leo asks Hueso in betrayal, heart thudding wildly in his chest.

“Pepino…”

“Told us what?” Mikey pipes up from behind Raph, coming closer to get a better look at Leo, “Leo, what’s going on?”

“Your shell has been having pretty big setbacks on its healing, is this why?” Donnie demands, glaring fiercely as he motions toward the Maze.

Leo feels unmoored. “I-“

“Leo.” Raph interrupts, and no Leo doesn’t want to hear it- “Are you okay?”

And Leo wants to say “it’s not about me”. He wants to say anything that proved he learned his lesson, that he’s not a liability or worse, an active danger to his own family.

He wants Raph to continue being proud of him. He wants his brothers to trust him.

Instead, he passes out.

_____

The next time his eyes open, Leo’s on his side, staring at his blue lava lamp.

He knows without looking that his shell is re-bandaged. He knows his other injuries have been dealt with too.

And unless Leo learned how to do some pretty impressive medical sleepwalking, he knows he’s not getting away this time.

All three of his brothers being in his room prove that.

“What’s been going on, Leo?” Mikey asks, and his voice cracks partway through.

He’s looking at Leo like he’s searching for something, but Leo doesn’t have anything to show. Nothing’s hidden, he just did some light spring cleaning is all, throwing out all the parts he didn’t need.

All the parts they didn’t need.

And yet despite everything, he can feel himself falling back into old ways, a grin tugging at his beak and lackadaisical deflection on the tip of his tongue.

Maybe he should let that part of him show, just for once. It wouldn’t seem like too much of a setback would it? And he could really use a fun pun right about now-

No.

No it’s not about him. He needs to remember why he did all this in the first place.

“Okay- sorry, guys.” He smiles, softly, quietly, “I guess I got too caught up in training. I’ll work at it some more, don’t worry.”

“Oh, I see. Training. That’s all it was, huh? Training.” Donnie hisses more than says, nearly vibrating in anger.

“…yeah?” Leo nods slowly, because, uh, that’s literally the most honest thing he said. It was training.

“If it’s just “training” then why the secrecy, hm? Why in Curie’s good name did you prefer to sneak around rather than, oh, I don’t know, tell your family?”

Leo feels his shoulders rise at Donnie’s aggression, defensiveness welling up in him, “It was my training! Nothing went wrong, I’m getting better!”

“Better?” Raph asks incredulously, “Leo, you’re wasting away. A tap to the shell stuns you for minutes, you lost weight, and your dark circles are worse than Raph’s ever seen them! You aren’t getting better-!”

“YES I AM!”

The words rip out of Leo before he can stop them.

The room is silent as his brother look at him, all wearing expressions of hurt that Leo put there again.

“Yes I am.” Leo reiterates, shaking, “Because- if I’m not-“ He squeezes his eyes shut. “If I’m not-“

Then what was all this for?

Arms slowly wrap around him, and he knows now from the feel of the mystic that it’s Mikey.

“You’ve gotten faster, and sneakier.” Mikey says quietly. “When I accidentally cut my hand, you knew exactly how to take care of it.” His voice grows firm, and he backs out of the hug, “But those are your skills. You, though, you’ve been…you’ve been…”

“You’ve been dilapidating before our very eyes, and trying to hide it.” Donnie finishes, jaw tight. “You think we wouldn’t notice? After everything?” To Leo’s horror, Donnie’s voice is hoarse with tears, “You absolute dumb dumb.”

“I- but I need to train. The Maze is-“

“Leo, we don’t care that you ran through the Maze. We care you did it alone.” Raph says quietly. “We could have joined you, any time.”

“But- but I’m doing this for you-“

“Listen to your brothers, Blue.” They jump as a new voice joins the fray, heads turning to see Splinter make his way into the - frankly crowded - room.

“Dad, I-“ Leo begins, but trails off, suddenly more unsure than ever in the face of his father.

“It’s good you’re finally picking up training! Especially for your brothers’ sakes! But there’s such a thing as going overboard, you know.” Splinter pokes a sharp claw into Leo’s plastron, “Just because you’re dragging it out this time, doesn’t make this any less of a sacrifice. My son, you’ve taken after Karai an awful lot, haven’t you?”

Leo just looks at his father. At his brothers. Then, he looks down at his calloused hands, bandaged and scarred from overuse.

He swallows dryly. “Is that a bad thing?”

He feels his family crowd in around him, feels his father’s hand on his shoulder.

“It’s not wrong to want to be better, Leonardo.” Splinter says, softly and with so much grief and guilt that Leo can never begin to understand, “But you were never bad to begin with.”

Leo’s breath hitches.

“And-” Splinter’s hands rise up to frame Leo’s face. “You are much too young to ever consider sacrifice the best answer.”

“You got me to relax, Leo. So I’ll do the same for you.” Raph grins, eyes wet, “We’re still kids, right?”

And-

Leo smiles, watery but genuine. “Yeah, Raph. We are.”

[graciereadshannigram]

hey fam, welcome to the April 2024 roundup of the best hannigram fics i've read this past month! i read over 100 fics total, and these were the cream of the crop.

as a reminder: the ingredients for a five star rating typically (but not always!!) include some combination of a.) believable characterizations of both Hannibal and Will, b.) compelling plot and/or character arcs, and c.) high quality smut.

that being said, my judgment of the aforementioned ingredients is powered almost exclusively by vibes and as such, is incredibly subjective.

you can find past recs below:

February March

and if you have any recs of your own for me, PLEASE SHARE.

anyway, in no particular order, let's go!

~

A place you can never go by det395

Word Count: 84,596 Summary: When things don’t go according to plan, Hannibal makes a wish. He finds himself a year-and-a-half in the past and seemingly given another chance with Will. His feelings about the situation only get more complicated when he realizes he may not have completely lost access to his old timeline after all. A Digestivo canon divergence.

If you follow me, you probably saw me already raving about this fic. This was so fucking good, holy fucking shit. And also heartbreaking. Made me think a lot about the nature of reality and what does it mean for something to be "real." Plus, I really love fics that explore their shared mind palace because I genuinely think that is one of the more underexplored aspects of their relationship. Definitely heavy on the angst, but there is a happy ending!

even though our love is doomed by bleakmidwinter

Word Count: 82,427 Summary: Hannibal solves the mystery of time travel and he and Will decide to go into the past and take opportunities previously missed along with rewriting the regrets they each hold. Changing the past does not effect the future and they have free reign to play as the please.

GIVE ME MORE THAN FIVE STARS PLEASE. I am obsessed with this fic. I've mostly stayed clear of time travel fics (aside from, you know, the one right above this) because the execution can be hit or miss, but let me fucking tell you. This was a god damn home run. There's a little bit of angst, but then there's also a chapter where Will challenges Hannibal that he wouldn't have been able to seduce him while Will was still working in Louisiana fixing boat motors. And obviously Hannibal decides to take that challenge.

Railroad Romance by OneWhoSitsWithTurtles

Word Count: 12,400 Summary: Hannibal is still Hannibal, and Will is still Will. Except Will is not part of the FBI and they meet on a two day train trip from New Orleans to Baltimore.

Dirty. Talk. In. FRENCH. Holy shit. Okay this was excellent. EXCELLENT. Perfect characterizations, and wonderful dialogue. Wow. Also, I love trains. Who doesn't love trains?

patroclus in furs by bleakmidwinter

Word Count: 130,185 Summary: If Will and Hannibal hadn't gone into their respective careers, they would have become porn stars.

I had my doubts about a pornstar AU, but I've really enjoyed everything else by this author and it was over 100k, so I gave it a shot! And WOW. The characterizations of both Will and Hannibal were spot on and believable. A good mix of fluff and angst, and the author clearly put a lot of thought into the porn scenes. Tbh I'm probably going to reread this shortly.

Pavlova by nbcravenstag

Word Count: 33,369 Summary: It’s not like Hannibal didn’t know that Will was hiding something. It was after the third body drop a week ago that it became clear that Will had a secret that somehow involved the case, one he wasn’t willing to share yet, not even with Hannibal. At 6:43 AM, Will had texted Hannibal that a fourth body had been found and that he was on his way to the scene with Jack. At 8:06 PM, Will had stepped into Hannibal’s office, thirty-six minutes past his appointment time, and practically shouted “I used to be a stripper!” as loudly as his hoarse voice would allow him to. Hannibal Lecter, though not phased by much in life, has never been entirely able to predict Will Graham, but this is just… getting out of control. Alternatively, the FBI is hunting a serial killer targeting male strippers, and Will decides to throw himself into the fray. Hannibal is beyond pleased.

An AU where Will was a stripper in college and now he's working a case where he can be live bait as a stripper? Shut the fuck up. Mostly told from Hannibal's perspective, and it's just *chefs kiss*. Who knew Will giving Hannibal a lap dance would be so HOT. (I could have guessed.)

Lessons In Submission by wyldefire

Word Count: 5,173 Summary: Hannibal was stubborn, independent, and Will had always loved that about him, but there were times, times like these, in the midst of heat, in the midst of such a thorough breeding, when lessons in submission were necessary.

My only thought at the end of this was, "Shut the whole fuck up" in the best way possible. Smut. Just all smut.

A Very Special Guest by LesBeanBurrito

Word Count: 56,660 Summary: Season 1 AU in which Will stays for Hannibal’s dinner party after bringing the bottle of wine at the end of 1X07 Sorbet. Embarrassed and Sassy Will Graham meets Smitten Hannibal Lecter.

I LOVE a good season 1 AU and this was checking all of the boxes for me! There's a secret relationship, Hannibal actually gets Will treated for his encephalitis, Will finds out about Hannibal, etc. Very much loved the plot, and the characterizations were spot on.

lover to your nightmare (look what you made of me) by merrythoughts and ReallyMissCoffee

Word Count: 123,367 Summary: Driving back home, it’s then he reflects on Hannibal asking him to run away that night. To forgo their plans altogether, to slip away. [Canon divergent. Will confesses his betrayal and asks Hannibal to run away with him, but Will has a plan of his own...]

You want dark!Will mixed in with some incredibly jealous and possessive Hannigram? Hooo boy do I have a fic for you! The ending was a little abrupt, but it was the perfect mix of gut-wrenching angst and toxicity + smoking hot smut. I genuinely had to stop and focus on my breathing more than once.

On the Lam by shotgun_sinner

Word Count: 63,992 Summary: Post-Fall (Hannibal)season 4Crack Treated SeriouslyOn the RunWill Graham Discovers FanfictionExplicit Sexual Contentsexual identity crisisThat's Not Really A CrisisWill Graham is HannisexualMurder HusbandsHomophobiaMurder of a HomophobeHannibal Lecter Loves Will GrahamWill Graham Loves Hannibal LecterPower Bottom Will Grahamthey love each other your honorvery meta

This was such a fun read – I love the implication that hannigram fanfiction exists and it's all there for Will to accidentally discover. I adore this author and just thoroughly enjoyed how Will learned a thing or two about himself by reading smutty fics (same dude).

Golden Promises by shotgun_sinner

Word Count: 68,488 Summary: Hannibal (TV) Season/Series 01Alternate Universe - Canon DivergenceEpisode: s01e07 SorbetHallucinations?Will Hopes SoLELOplugSexuality CrisisThat Ends Up Not Being A CrisisWill Graham Has EncephalitisHannibal Gets Will TreatmentDeveloping RelationshipWill Graham's Dogs - FreeformBonding over fooddoting hannibalEventual SmutHannibal Lecter Loves Will GrahamWill Graham Loves Hannibal LecterAlana DisapprovesRimmingOral SexBottom Hannibal LecterTop Will GrahamBottom Will GrahamTop Hannibal LecterWill Graham KnowsNon-Consensual Drug UseWill Gives Him Shit For ItMurder HusbandsCannibalismis that tag even necessary?Hannibal Lecter Loves Max

This was fluffier than I typically read, but I told y'all I love this author. Pretty much no angst, and the smut, as always, was next level. Also, the idea that Hannibal would wear a solid gold butt plug to his dinner parties had me laughing before I even started reading.

What Hatches by HotMolasses (@snazzymolasses here on tumblr)

Word Count: 107,847 Summary: There is a village, nestled on the edge of an ancient forest where it is always winter. Few of the townsfolk ever venture into it, except for one lonely hunter named Will Graham. A loner who makes his living selling stag meat and spends more time with dogs than people, he finds his life changing when he comes face-to-face with a magical beast, one that he cannot get away from, and isn’t even sure he really wants to.

What started out as a curiosity about the monsterfucking tag on AO3 brought me to one of the most unique and interesting hannigram AUs I've read??? I'm as surprised as you are, if not more. I adored this fic and I loved how both Will and Hannibal were characterized and the plot and the smut (oh my god, the smut) and the ending? Phew. Go read this.

lay like a flood spills away by bleakmidwinter

Word Count: 35,733 Summary: Will starts going to a nude beach that happens to be for gay men, even though he considers himself straight.

This was highly enjoyable. I LOVE AUs that manage to keep the characters true to canon. Also nude beaches. Hannigram and nude beaches. Eating ass and public sex with some actual plot sprinkled in. Say LESS.

Now, What Should We Do Next? by HigherMagic

Word Count: 51,116 Summary: Kinktober 2018

Smut. All smut. I showed this fic to a friend who has literally never read fanfiction, let alone Hannigram, before and she is now hooked. So. Do with that what you will. And it's so clear that this author has actual, real-life experience with kink and it comes across so well! Bonus point: there is also an equally good sequel.

To Mend With Gold by beforethedawn, ConstructFairytales, Destinyawakened

Word Count: 98,863 Summary: Will and Hannibal have been living as a gay married couple for three years, but they haven't slept in the same room let alone the same bed. Will Graham has a reckoning, one way or another.

THIS WAS TENDER. Fluffy, angsty, smutty, I loved it. Molly showed up with Will's dogs and decided she wasn't going to turn them in, which was a little weird, but I really loved this fic. Just them learning how to be with each other. Also EXCELLENT marathon smut scenes. Like yesssss, of course they can each cum like three times in a row.

A Clutch at Balance by Deverauxs_Disease

Word Count: 25,466 Summary: When Will Graham storms into Hannibal's house muttering about kissing Alana Bloom, the good doctor makes Will an offer: Pretend to date Hannibal in order to prove to Alana that Will is not only stable but capable of being in a relationship. When Alana is convinced Will is the man of her dreams, Hannibal will step aside and Will can get his girl.

Y'all know I love fake dating that all of a sudden, whoops! Isn't so fake anymore! Sprinkle in some jealous and possessive Hanni and Will? I'm sold. Say less.

~

And that's a wrap on this month! See ya next time!!!

[verstarppen]

A THANK YOU LETTER

an apology and update! for all you beautiful people - 2 for the price of 1

hello! over the months i've written and deleted this letter because i was too much of a coward to show my face after i left. i contemplated if it would be adequate enough, if it even matters. At the end, i owe this fandom too much, so here it is:

THE APOLOGY

i am truly sorry. there's no better way of putting it.

the more i create the more i realise how this fandom held my hand and i simply wouldn't be the person i am now if this blog never existed. i've always struggled with sharing art and writing online, as i thought it was too lame and took the coward route of keeping it to myself and my closest friends.

ever since this blog, i've found that less of an issue. the more i think about how much i let you and myself down by disappearing the more i feel the shame weigh me down. i never wanted to leave, but life has this funny way of forcing your hand when you least expect it.

without getting too personal, this year hasn't been great for me or anyone close to me - friendships died, family members were hospitalised, university crushed me, expectations from everyone around me made me question if i'm failing in every aspect of my life, i lost passions like art - something i've always thought of as my dream career, and i fear the stress will only grow rather than die down.

in some of those harder moments i would always turn to a distraction, create something for a fandom i enjoy to get my mind off things. to see your comments and your messages always kept me going even when i physically couldn't take the stress of everything around me anymore. being busy made my flame for F1 dwindle, too. it's one of the main reasons i didn't return earlier. I've missed half the races this year, yes that includes both lando and oscar's wins, and although im looking forward to the summer break ending and the racecs coming back, i don't think the enthusiasm will ever return to the way it was when this blog was at its peak.

i feel like a coward for disappearing and it's a big regret of mine this year. i can't promise to write for F1 again, but what i've made will always be archieved here :)

THE UPDATE

not great. i can't even lie i'm not doing too hot right now. i promised i would return to writing when things finally calmed down and yet the more stress there was the more one off projects i made to combat it. throughout the months i've accumulated a lot of side projects for different fandoms like star wars, star trek, dc, merlin and lesser known fandoms such as heavy rain, mortal kombat, the sims (no seriously have you seen the lore) etc. that i have nowhere to post. in april i decided i can't afford (literally) to distract myself with any hobby projects for the sake of my situation and thus... i was an idiot and i deleted my ao3 account. there weren't that many stories on there anyway, but i regret it even if it was the right decision.

i owe @wtfisakilometer2 so much for telling me that the people who love the blog wouldn't mind what fandom it is as long as it's by me, even if i don't fully believe it. it did open my eyes to finally write this, though, so direct all your love to her.

so that leaves me here, sort of homeless on my own blog and with very conflicting feelings about it's direction. i intend to preserve it as an archive of my F1 writing without messing with it, but still let you know about my new ao3 and everything on it so i can keep both our interests in mind.

thank you for reading if you made it this far, i hope you have an awesome day and a lot of cat memes in your pinterest. thank you for all the lovely messages (i read everything) and thank you for everything this fandom has offered me. i will truly never get over you guys.

- star :)

[msbarrybeeson]

Before You Go | Future Donnie & April Insight (Part VI)

(Reader Included)

A/N: Any constructive criticism is appreciated. Reader comments and feedback are also welcomed a lot. 

I have been gone for a long time. Just occupied with my studies! No fan fiction author curse or anything (yet).

Summary: You’re both adopting-parents of Casey. The story follows the perspective of Donatello and April O’Neil during the Kraang apocalypse. You and Leonardo decided to ask them to watch over thirteen-year-old Casey.

In other words, familial interactions between April, Donnie, and Casey Jr.

Reader: Gender-neutral pronouns are used, except the terms “(Mom / Dad)” are also used. Second POV.

Pairing: Rise! Future! Leonardo X Reader

Warnings: Bittersweet.

Word Count:  ~3490

Parts: One / Two / Three / Four / Five / Six / ...

~

Donnie knew how much of a genius he was.

It was no surprise after all. In his late teens, he improved NASA’s satellites to communicate with planets light centuries away. He cured breast cancer through the use of protons in radiation therapy to target specific cells, rather than affecting the harmless. Hell, he even managed to discover a new type of radioactive particles: mutons. By that point, he—.

“—should have been given a Nobel Prize in Medicine and in Chemistry.” Donnie cursed under his breath. He strolled over to his lab bench, equipping his goggles.

Squeeeak. 

April– who was found seated on Donnie’s roughed-up, spinning gaming chair– raised an eyebrow. Her hair had grown out and was left unbounded. Faint wrinkles and eye bags on her features displayed maturity, in contrast to a couple of years ago. However, everyone was well aware that time was not the only factor. 

“Whatcha going on about now, Donnie?”

The softshell huffed. “Recall when I wrote a report about my experimental findings with an invention meant to revive a deceased human being?”

“...You mean the one where you thought it was a good idea to open up Curie’s tomb? Even gone as far as to ask for my help?” April grimaced. “Who’d ever forget that.”

She proceeded to massage her temples. 

“God. You were in all kinds of messed up for that, Don.”

Lightning-like yellow sparks flickered as Donnie had his robotic hands occupied with a butane torch. His goggles were sealed tight around his eyes as he built a oval-looking device on his lab bench. Titanium outer-layer over a seriously complex circuit-board; appearing as if Samsung marketed grenades.

He scoffed. “Oh please. It wasn’t as if I’d taken long to understand how Marie Curie deserves her rest for her great contributions to radiation. Thus is why–.”

“–You decided to take a poor random husband of an old wife,” April interjected.

“Ahem.” Donnie pronounced. “The poor woman was begging me for her husband to be alive again. I was simply gracious and generous enough to not charge her for the process.” He set aside the butane torch. “At least it progressed well; he stayed alive for an additional two years. It gave his wife psychological comfort, and I was able to submit my paper to the N.S.F..” 

He picked up a screwdriver. “Except....” 

April could tell her friend’s eye was twitching. 

“They rejected my findings, nearly had me detained, and claimed it was far too ‘unethical.’” Donnie raised his volume. “Scoff! As if those researchers weren’t committing the crime themselves! Taking bodies away from families and claiming them as scientific property without permission.

If I could go back in time and shove my documents in their jaws, you bet I would.”

April smirked. “Well, I have my regrets too, Donnie.”

“You sound rather amused, April. Is that so surprising? And here I never thought you would regret your part-time job at Albearto’s. Or the fact you wasted money to switch to journalism in university.”

WHACK!

April threw her bat at Donnie’s head, flying back to her hand like a boomerang.

“Watch your mouth, mister. I may have regretted Albearto’s, but not a single moment in my life did I ever regret my journalism passion.” She stood up.

“Ouch.” The softshell vocalized, squinting his eyes toward her. His robotic clampers paused, setting aside the torch and taking off his goggles. 

“Mind yourself, April. Horse-playing is forbidden in the laboratory. I am not consenting to having yet another silver-titanium apparatus get scratched because of you.” Donnie gritted his teeth. “Can you hear the negative connotation?”

“Seriously, Donnie? Where’d that come from? Not only was that years ago but it ain’t anything except a simple accident.” 

“‘Simple accident?’” the softshell repeated with dramatic offense. “An accident, like many others in science labs, which could have caused severe damage! Remember the incident when your teacher dumped bleach and vinegar into the trash bin?

You know, if you had paid any attention in your chemistry class, those two would make mustard gas?” Donnie side-eyed his friend. “Simple accidents can have serious consequences, O’Neil.”

A hand crept up the lab bench.

“Uh-huh, and I’m supposed to believe an instance of me knocking over your phone and books would kill somebody?” April crossed her arms. “If anything, the blame’s yours for not organizing your desk when you got drunk on coffee.”

The hand took ahold of the butane torch.

“Donatello? Disorganized? Sounds cheap coming from you, a student majoring in Journalism.”

April pulled up her coat’s sleeves. “Oh boy, you’re about to get it—.”

Squeeeak!

Heads spun and found a 13-year old boy, replacing April’s spot on Donnie’s chair. Casey eyed the torch with a great yet concerning amount of curiosity.

“Yo, what’s this for, Uncle Don?”

At lightning speed, while April ran to move the gaming chair away further from the workbench, Donnie snatched the tool from his hands. “Child. Casey. Young man.” The softshell heaved loudly. “I must inform you this is NOT meant to be handled with such casual ease. How in Hawking did you even—.”

“Don’t your lab have a passcode or something?” 

“–Is what I am wondering myself, O’Neil. I refuse to believe this child remembers the beginning thirty numbers of π–.”

“Nope, only us.” April and Donnie lifted their gazes to his lab entrance. You leaned on the frame while a dear red-eared slider stood just behind. A couple of steps inside, and the metallic lab door shut close. 

Donnie– strangely– was quick to hide his device-in-progress off to the side.

“You’re back!” April grinned. “Hell, you would not believe the convo Donnie and I were having a minute ago.” She hurried to hug you.

“Figures,” Leo remarked. “We could practically hear you yards off.”

“Sounds like things never get old.” You smiled.

There was a side-eye between Donnie and April, before the Commander proceeded to inquire, coughing: “Anyhow.. care to explain the occasion? You two don’t seem to be in a hurry.”

“The only times you ever visit my laboratory are to prepare for immediate combat engagement, and you look awfully collected.” The softshell furrowed his brows.

“No, no.” You waved your hands, shaking your head. “Thank God no. We came here to ask if you two could take care of our Casey here while we head out.” The other turtle scrunched his in-quote eyebrows. “You— You came here to request us to... babysit him?”

April jabbed him in his plastron.

“You see? Just like I said.” Leo turned to you. “I know my brother, love. Don’s not the kind of guy to take responsibility for a kid. Or anyone, really.”

“Hold on.” Donnie narrowed his eyes. “I never said I refused, Leo.”

“Don’t know, it sounds like it to me.”

“Well, my misinformed brother, contrary to your belief, I am perfectly capable of handling a child.”

You huffed with amusement. Your husband only winked back.

“If you say so, Don.”

“Where are you two heading off for if you needed us to watch over him?” April inquired. “Wondering, ‘cause this never happened even when you two leave for patrol.”

“Just finding some time for ourselves.”

April exclaimed, “As in a honeymoon? Why not just say so? We’ll leave you two alone–.”

“–In this economy and climate?” Donnie interjected. “Has it also not been six years since your yet-to-be-legal marriage?”

“Alright, alright,” Leonardo chuckled. “Cut us some slack, bro. Finding time wasn’t easy when there’s Kraang above our necks.”

“Right, and you’re going on a honeymoon, how?” The softshell crossed his arms. “Simply because you’re the leader does not equate to you making wise decisions, Leo.”

“His ōdachi can teleport anyone to anyplace, we have some hope we can easily teleport to a remote area,” you answered. “One without Kraang infestation. It’ll be hard, but we may as well try.”

“Bonus points if we find clear skies and an ocean.” The red-eared turtle grinned, wrapping his arm over your shoulders.

“What’s a honeymoon, (Mom / Dad)?”

Your hand went to caress Casey’s cheek. “Parent quality time. It just means you get to handle yourself like the responsible grown-up you’ll become one day. Just promise me you’ll be on your best behavior around Uncle Don and Auntie April?”

“I promise, (Mom / Dad)!”

“Good boy,” Leo laughed, ruffling the kid’s hair.

“You didn’t ask Mikey and Raph to help out too, or?”

“Between you and me, I think you guys are better of making sure Casey doesn’t get into any chaos,” you whispered to April. “Don’t tell them that, though.”

She laughed. “Okay, I see how it is. You both have fun.” 

Donnie bit his lip. Right as Leonardo and (Name) turn to exit the laboratory, he extended his arm out to them.

“Leo, (Name).”

You two faced back to him once more.

“Don’t kill yourselves out there.”

Everyone’s eyes widened– April, you, and Leonardo himself. But the brother in blue snickered, holding a smile that reached his eyes. “So you do also care for me, Don. And all this time I thought you were plotting to put me in my grave or something.”

“We won’t.” Leo placed a hand on your shoulder. “You got my word.”

“Bye (Mom / Dad)! Bye Papa!”

“We’ll be back soon, Casey!”

Donnie stood in silence as you finally left, leaving himself with none other than his best friend and his nephew. “I refuse to believe this is the future we have to deal with.”

“Times changed all of us, didn’t they?” April spoke. “One day we wish each other a good one, and the next, we hope we just don’t die. I could’ve been a famous news anchor by now, make my mother happy, fight crime without worrying about dying the next second.

..I wonder if there’s anyone else out there besides the small number of us down here.”

“..I doubt it.”

Donnie pulled himself together and walked back to his workbench, operating his clampers to work once again. He put on his goggles. Casey, being a young teenager of enthusiasm, peeked over.

“Watch yourself, boy,” April warned.

“Don’t worry about me, Auntie. I’m only standing over here.” Casey narrowed his eyes upon the glowing and metal-like ball his uncle had his tools on. “What are you working on, Uncle Don?”

“A sphere.”

“A sphere?”

“You heard correctly.”

“That sounds kind of boring.”

Donnie had to hold himself back from remarking with: ‘That is exactly what every child whose intellect is doomed would say.’

“I’m sure your mother would find it rather moving.”

“(Mom / Dad)? I don’t understand what’s emotional about a ball, though.”

“Hey Casey.” April coughed. “Why not tell us about your mask here? Haven’t taken a good look at it before. Maybe Uncle Don would like to hear it too.”

“You actually want me to talk about my mask?”

“Ain’t a problem, is it?”

“No.” He fidgeted with his fingers a bit. “You don’t have anything else to do?”

“We were just told to watch over you, kid.”

“Yeah, but everyone I know is always busy with the Kraang or supplying weapons. I never really get chances to hang out.”

There was a brief pause in the butane torch’s flame.

April’s expression softened. Her hand came up to brush his black hair. “Things have gotten calmer up there. So you’ve got plenty of time with us now.”

Casey smiled.

“So your mask?” 

The boy alternated between covering his face and removing it. “(Mom / Dad) gave it to me. She told me it is based on the one worn by my biological mother. (Mom / Dad) also said that my birth mother was kind of crazy-funny and likes to be loud. She would have a stick to play– what was it– hockey?

I don’t know what kind of game hockey is supposed to be, but I guess it’s nice to know how life was like before all the Kraang.”

A sad smile crept on April’s lips. 

“Anyways, I thought the mask looked kind of plain, so I decided to draw red marks on it. See?” Casey showed his mask off, fingers tapping the surface. “Guess who it looks like!”

There were two bold and thick streaks of red. Each one ran through one eye, truly a defining characteristic. The Commander chuckled, already imagining how much pride her friend in blue would feel from the fact a kid– let alone one he had been parenting– looked up to him so much.

“You know, I am seeing someone familiar here.” April hummed as she put on a thoughtful facade. Fingers holding her chin and everything. “Got to be Uncle Don.”

Named turtle paused for a moment and raised a brow.

“Seriously, Auntie April?” On the other hand, Casey gave her an incredulous look and shook his head. “You probably want to get your eyes checked out, ‘cause Uncle Don doesn’t have any red stripes.” Off to the side. “And even if he did, he won’t look as cool as Dad.”

April snickered behind her palm as Donnie eyed the boy from behind his goggles.

“You’re right, you’re right. Just messing with you, kid.” Her hand ruffled his hair once more. “Sounds like you really admire your Papa, don’t you?”

“Why wouldn’t I? Dad has an awesome sword that opens up portals. He always moves so quickly whenever he’s fighting. Bam! And the Kraang’s gone!” The teenager stretched his arm for emphasis. “Even as the leader, Papa knows when to get serious and when to make people laugh. He also cares a lot about me, (Mom / Dad), you guys, and everyone!”

It made even Donnie himself smile. 

However, the way Casey’s enthusiasm died down had not gone unnoticed. “I’ve always wanted to help out though.” He sighed, shoulders slumping. “I want to fight the Kraang right by his and (Mom / Dad)’s side. Except I barely get the chance to, because they keep telling me to stay close to base and hide behind a giant rock.”

April crossed her arms and went quiet. His feelings were nothing new. In fact, she experienced the same thing herself, seeing she had always been a human. It was like that until–.

“Have no hard feelings,” Donnie spoke up, his hands and eyes remained on his spheric gadget. The sparks were flying. “Your parents are merely worried about your well-being.”

“I know, I know. They won’t have to though, if I can have enough training or something.” Casey sighed. “Then again, I also know I’m only a normal sensitive human.

...Why can’t I be a mutant instead?”

“Ahem. You are classified as a human. That is a true statement and one you cannot change.” Donnie hummed. “However, that does not mean you cannot be strong and capable in other ways.”

“Why does it sound like you’ve been in my place before?”

“Perhaps I did. Did you truly think being a soft-shell turtle is easy? I happened to be born as one of the only Testudines species whose outer shell cannot protect.” Donnie remarked. “Casey, your mask.” His hand signaled.

“What about my mask?”

“I merely want to add something.”

Confused, he hopped off the chair and handed the mask over. “Hmm. As long as you don’t mess with the stripes, Uncle Don.”

“Who says I won’t?”

Casey kicked Donnie’s leg.

“‘Ow,’ I say sarcastically without feeling physical pain.”

“Hmph.” He crossed his arms. “Why do you keep saying things like that?”

“Such as?”

“You say those action verbs, even when you’re already doing them.”

April snorted. “Just his thing, kid. Uncle Don’s got his special quirks.”

“Do you have a quirk?”

“Picking unnecessary fights for one,” Donnie commented.

“You only call them ‘unnecessary,’ because you never want to fix the problem.”

He rolled his eyes. “My solution would’ve been ten times more efficient if you had allowed my technology and I to do the work.”

Casey wondered. “Does your tech ever go haywire, Uncle Don?”

“No.”

“Oh man,” April began, “you should’ve been there for this one time. Your Uncle Don was building some kind of overprotective bed to keep your late Gramps from waking up from his beauty sleep.”

“Gramps likes to sleep?”

“You’d be surprised to hear that he sure does.”

“Then what happened?”

“Uncle Don asked your Dad, Uncle Mikey, and Uncle Raph to try punching, slicing, throwing whatever they could on the bed. They were attacking it like crazy!”

“And then?” 

“And the bed was even more insane, ‘cause there were actual missiles shooting out! They went straight for his brothers. At some point, it got overboard, so Uncle Don tried to command it to stop.”

“I’m hearing a ‘but’ coming.”

“But it malfunctioned and thought Uncle Don was the enemy!”

“However!” Donnie pointed his finger up, interrupting the story-telling. “It did not take long for my creation to recognize his master.”

“Still went haywire in my book,” April remarked. 

“Ignoring that.” His robotic hand tapped the edge of his workbench, grabbing Casey’s attention. “Come here, young man.” He slid back the mask, except in his hands, it felt as if the frame had thicken.

“It looks the same, but it doesn’t feel the same?”

“Try wearing it over your face.”

The boy did as told. All of a sudden, a bunch of green rectangles and words appeared in his vision. He gasped in awe. He spun around slowly, watching the rectangle focus on a figure through the wall.

“Yes yes, I know. I am well aware of how amazing I am.” Donnie huffed in pride. “I have opted to construct an interface with your mask. I cannot see why you shouldn’t have something to defend yourself with,” he reasoned. “I have other updates in mind later on. As of now, however, your mask will help you detect life forms across other rooms or through other objects.” 

“That’s so cool!” The boy hesitated though. “But I don’t want to break it or anything.”

“Hey.” April rested her hand on Casey’s shoulder, giving a firm squeeze. “Our resources are already scarce. Using then losing them is better than nothing. You better make the most of our tech. Understood, soldier?”

Casey grinned underneath his mask. He fixed his posture up and saluted. “Gotcha–! Understood, Commander!” 

He faced the inventor, whose hands were already back to being occupied with the “sphere.” “Thanks so much, Uncle Don!” Casey exclaimed, leaping towards the turtle to give a tight hug. “You’re the best!” 

Upon contact, Donnie stiffened up, but his lack of experience with physical touch did not prevent a smile forming on his face. He extended a robotic arm, patting Casey’s back. 

The boy then scanned around curiously with his mask. “Hey! Think I spot Uncle Mikey and Uncle Raph two floors down! They’re holding hands over a table or something. Why are so many people circling around them?”

April rolled her eyes. “Sounds like another arm-wrestling match between the our youngest and oldest brother.” 

Just like that, Casey booked it out of the laboratory so quickly, it reminded her of a certain red-eared slider. “What the–! Casey!” April groaned. “And here I thought we don’t have to deal with runaway kids. I better catch up to him.” 

“Would not worry about him too much,” Donnie commented. 

“What do you mean by that?”

“Considering we will not always be alive to protect him... the sooner we leave him to himself, the easier it will be for him to survive alone.” 

“Hey. Come on now.” April walked to her best friend’s side. “Don’t you say things like that. We’re all going to survive this together–.”

“April.” Slight pain wavered in his voice. “You know as well as I do how our current reality is. It is only a matter of time before the Kraang finds everyone.” 

“Yet you’re still here trying.”

No response.

“It’s all because of the kid, isn’t it?” April affirmed. “He ain’t any genius prodigy you were expecting long ago. But he gave you a reason to try– he became someone worth fighting for.”

“I would not put it as simply as that.”

She shrugged. “That’s how I’d say it. You know you’re not the only one whose life changed because of Casey.”

Donnie paused his work, turning off the butane torch and finally pulling his goggles off his eyes again. “...Casey reminds me of when we were young, being rash and immature teenagers like any other. I hate admitting to such thing, but I was one too. And I hate admitting much more how much I missed those times.

The child has known nothing of the trouble we’ve experienced outside, April: when Cassandra was killed, when Draxum was torn apart, when Dad decided to sacrifice himself despite the slim odds.” His hands clenched into fists.

“Do not expect me to have any false hope for our future, but do not assume I would want Casey to feel the same way. For as long as he can, I want him to hold onto that false hope.”

“...” April had her arms crossed. Her eyes slowly came to linger on the workbench. “Is that ‘sphere’ his false hope?”

“..No. Not his.” Donnie traced his thumb over his contraption. “It’s for (Name).”

[oknowkiss]

my writing year in review: 2023

thank you to @sorrybutblog @wolfpants and @citrusses for the tag!! tagging in a few folks as well: @tackytigerfic @sweet-s0rr0w @nv-md @oflights @mintawasalreadytaken @vukovich @lumosatnight @emmalovesdilemmas @mallstars @moonflower-rose @dodgerkedavra @rainstormradish @m0srael @reserve @babooshkart @lqtraintracks @skeptiquewrites @eveningstruggle @maesterchill @geesenoises @peachydreamxx @saintgarbanzo for anything you'd like to round up!

i went into this thinking 2023 was a bit of a fallow year, output-wise, but looking at my stats page apparently i wrote 100k this year!! who could've known? not me. big thanks to everyone who supported me this year, whether by beta-ing, reading, commenting, or otherwise just listening to me moan. i'm quite excited for what's in store next year, including plenty more moaning. hope to see you all in 2024!

here's what happened in 2023: APRIL the sun, shining above you || dronarry || 14.5 k || E for the inaugural @dronarryfest!

Since joining up with the dragontamers, Draco counts his days in nights. Nights spent drinking in the commune mess, making poor choices he doesn't regret, for once. Nights he doesn't remember, and nights he wishes he could stop remembering.

Then there's that night in Spain, caught in the circle of Ron's arms. A year of nights in Norway, caught in the heat of Harry's gaze. His first night at the Burrow, caught in between them both. MAY proven lands || drarry || 2.8 k || E for @microficmay!

The thing about circles is, they always end at the start. OR: A story about falling in love at the end of the Earth. (told in 31 microfics -- this is the "director's cut") AUGUST the waiting || drarry || 43.5 k || E for @hd-wireless and @m0srael!

It’s been almost ten years since Draco Malfoy disappeared during a routine Curse Breaker training exercise. Harry, his partner in more ways than one, is determined to figure out why. As the past resurfaces and the present fades into confusion, Harry discovers the only thing more unreliable than memory is love.

DECEMBER jerk/off || drarry || 7k || E for @drarrymicrofic secret santa exchange and @m0srael!

“You’ve got my face on your face,” Malfoy says, contorting his – Harry’s – face into an expression it had definitely never made before.

“No, you’ve got my face on your face!” Harry insists, grimacing at the sound of Malfoy’s voice. Being in his body is not unlike operating a sad wooden doll. à bon chat || drarry || 35k || E for @hd-erised and @moonflower-rose

Draco Malfoy didn’t intend to lead a life of crime after the war. It’s just that being good had turned out so incomprehensibly boring.

Now he's thirty-five, a fully redeemed member of society, the darling of the wizarding social pages, and a newly minted consultant for Gawain Robards' Investigative Research division. In his spare time, he enjoys good whisky, casual sex, and moonlighting as an art thief. His biggest score yet is fast approaching and he's got everything planned down to the minute. Everything, that is, until the unexpected appearance of a newly-divorced Harry Potter. Now that Potter's in the picture, Draco's no longer certain if he's the pursuer or the prize.

[oflights]

2023 fic review!

ahhh thanks for tagging me, @citrusses and @oknowkiss! i'm going to tag @teledild0nix @elskanellis @arminaa8 @thecouchsofa @stationintern and anyone else who'd like to do this!!

my 2023 AO3 stats are...alarming lol. AO3 counts Close Behind as a 2023 fic because i finished posting it in 2023, but i really wrote it all in 2022. so if we discount that (which was 134k) i still wrote...over 330k words of fanfiction. 🆗🆒

do i have regrets? no. should i have regrets? maybe??? in any case, 2023 was the year i really started using tumblr for fandom again (thanks, elon!) and i made so many wonderful friends who were so supportive and inspiring! that word count is all your fault, basically.

here's the (all drarry) damage:

January

Close Behind (134k words, M)

To rescue Draco from the Underworld, Harry has to look forward. Unfortunately, Draco has to look back.

February

find a new place to be from (47k words, E)

Something is wrong with Malfoy Manor, and it’s driven Draco into the Muggle world. Thankfully, Harry is now on the case. A story about houses that haunt you and homes built for two.

April

along each garden wall (61k words, E)

Draco has to have a baby (or have one on the way) at the time of his fast-approaching 35th birthday, or he's going to lose his home to his vile cousin. Harry offers to help, but their complex past—even beyond Hogwarts—prompts Draco to set out on a long journey of friendship, kittens, gardens, motorbike rides, and more.

May

the first in line (29k words, E)

Harry finds out he's a Veela. That's not so bad, and then he finds out his allure only works on his enemies. Even that's not so bad, since his safe, boring, post-war life means he doesn't have very many enemies these days. And then Draco Malfoy lands a hot air balloon in his front garden, intent on courting him.

June

please come to boston, Byzantine, and go to it laughing

(tumblr prompt fics! i was not good at this lol)

August

Cool About It (16k words, M, for @hp-bodiceripper)

Harry is so excited for his first date with Draco. But what follows isn't so much a date as it is an all-night odyssey including a malevolent lift, a Gringotts heist, a Sleeping Curse, a trip to the kebab shop, a lack of dancing, a Muggle drug, a rooftop pool party, a black eye and, eventually, a sunrise over a Quidditch stadium.

October

if the bees know (19k words, T, for @hd-fan-fair)

Scorpius' playground is haunted, Harry specializes in helping ghosts pass on, and Draco just wants his son to be safe.

December

The Star Splitter (WIP, 119k words so far, E)

On a routine time travel assignment to the past, Draco stumbles upon 7-year-old Harry Potter and witnesses his neglect and mistreatment by the Dursleys. In the moment, there is only one solution, even if it goes against all his training as a Time Agent: he has to bring Harry back to the future with him. In which Draco burns his life down for the sake of his former school rival.

[boinin]

Blue Lock in Japan fandom diary

I was in Japan for my holidays, which was incredible—it's somewhere I dreamed of visiting for a long time, and it lived up to every expectation.

I'll talk a little bit about my experience from a Blue Lock fan perspective, as it's something that interested me prior to going. April 2024 was a good time to visit, thanks to the Episode Nagi film coming out. There was a lot of pop-up cafés/collabs open, and no shortage of merchandise.

In Harajuku's Takeshita Street, there were a series of banners/pendants for the new film, featuring all the main characters. There were also digital ads for Episode Nagi in a few places—I recall the trailer playing at Shibuya Crossing (which is exactly as surreal and overwhelming a place as I'd imagined).

Rambling and pics under the cut, including gacha machines, stores, general anecdotes and my merch haul.

In case anyone's uncomfortable seeing IRL pics, be warned there's couple shots of my hand below. No face reveals 😛

Gacha

So, gacha machines are EVERYWHERE in Tokyo and other cities, often randomly in the street, but also in dedicated stores. The biggest selection tended to be in arcades or shopping centres. Akihabara had a few big ones (Gigo comes to mind), but I found multiple. And Blue Lock is really well represented! There's loads of stuff to waste money on, from little acrylic keychains to small figures to... tiny cushions with characters' faces on them 👀

One minor annoyance is that the gacha merch for a fandom doesn't tend to be grouped in one place, so you spend a lot of time wandering around stacks of machines squinting at their content. Only one store I visited in Osaka had all the Blue Lock stuff grouped together.

In general, most of the machines are priced between ¥300 and ¥500 a spin (€1.80 to €3.00 at time of writing), so it's reasonably affordable unless you're a completionist set on collecting ALLL the merch.

Much of what's in the gacha machines is seasonal, so it's worth snapping up anything that you like while it's there. That said, I found a few stores selling same season or older gacha merch at a markup. The most expensive ones were older merch/limited edition, which can cost many multiples of what you'd pay originally. Other places (like Ani Ani) sell current gacha merch at a small markup. I was able to buy a Rin to finish a seasonal collection for only ¥100 more than I'd pay at a machine, which saved me whatever multiple of ¥300 I'd have paid on spins to get him in addition to the four others.

Throughout the trip I saw the same gacha content over and over again in various places. Specifically for Blue Lock, you don't generally have to worry about throwing money at the first set of machines you find or risk missing out. That said, one regret of mine was passing on some really cute gacha figs of the Bllk boys in casual clothes on a street on Akihabara, which I never saw anywhere else.

There's also heaps of claw machines in similar locations, which mostly had figures of Nagi and Reo in their Hakuho uniform.

Pop-up stores/collabs and merch stores

Blue Lock is well represented in cafés/pop ups. This is likely due to the EpiNagi film releasing this month, but with some research beforehand, you'll likely find a venue should you wish to get some Bllk themed food/venue exclusive goodies. Be warned—many of these will require a reservation, and they book out quickly. That's the case for most of the fandom cafés. If it's a must-do for your trip, research a venue before you go and try booking a slot if you can.

I only went to one myself, which was a place in Harajuku that did Blue Lock themed drinks. I chose Nagi's, which looked mysteriously black on the menu. It turned out to be tea with lemon flavoured jelly—tasty and canon inspired! I also got a free card of Bachira, which the store assistant handed to me at random. This was overpriced at ¥800 (€4.77) compared to what you'd pay normally in Japan for a drink, but that's the branding mark-up. In comparison, a bottle of soda, tea or coffee from a vending machine costs on average around ¥150 (€0.90).

Regarding stores, there was a Blue Lock pop-up in Ikebukuro in an electronics store which had SO many acrylic stands and plushes. A lot of this was bishounen/pretty boy appreciation material for each of the characters. Think stands of the boys smiling handsomely at the camera in various outfits.

At time of writing, merch tends to feature just the characters from season 1 of the anime, specifically the Egoist Four, Nagi, Reo, Rin and Sae. I saw little for the other characters, and next to nothing for manga-only charas. My favourite manga character find was a sticker of Hiori, which has subsequently gone missing amidst the chaos of unpacking 🥲 If it turns up, I'll add a picture. Found it!

In terms of spots for Blue Lock merch, Ikebukuro and Akihabara were the best and most concentrated. Akihabara gives tourist trap vibes, but if you're willing to navigate every nook and cranny plus the crowds on the hunt for blorbos, you'll almost certainly find merch to your taste.

Ani Ani in Akihabara was pretty good for BLLK, and excellent in general for its selection of fandom merch. Smaller shops have more niche content, which is great if you favour side characters.

Ikebukuro has a more chill vibe than Akihabara (less tourists) but still a decent selection of fandom merch. Hands down the best spot for Blue Lock on my trip was the Animate store there (pictured above), which had five or six shelves just for our favourite football prisoners. Lots of plushes as you can see, but also things like clear files, acrylic stands, keychains, stickers, pins and more. Again, big focus on pretty boy appreciation, but there were also cutesy things like chibi figures/stickers. There's also heaps there for other animanga fandoms.

Animate Ikebukuro had the Blue Lock fragrances! I only sniffed a couple of these—both Isagi and Kunigami's were reminiscent of blue shower gel, but with woody notes in Kunigami's case. Chigiri's fragrance was more floral and fruity. They cost somewhere between ¥7000 to ¥8000 I think (around €45ish).

In addition, Harajuko has a lot of anime stuff along Takeshita Street, but the selection can be hit or miss. I found two shops there that were reselling Blue Lock goods (things like gacha figs and limited edition merch). These could be pricey, but these were the best for cute/older Chigiri and Kunigami merch IMO.

Snacks

Again, availability may relate to the timing of anime releases etc, but I tried a bunch of BLLK snacks in Japan. The most common type were these chocolate wafers, which you could get cheaply in convenience stores for loads of different shounen fandoms (I recall seeing One Piece, JoJo and MHA). The wafers themselves were mid, but the packaging was cute and you get a free sticker or card in each. I managed to get a Kunigami card on my first try 🥹

"Slowbar" is like a protein or granola bar. Again nothing to write home about taste-wise, but I saw a few with Bllk packaging. Go figure, I bought one that had Kunigiri. No freebies, but it was a more substantial snack than the wafers.

My merch haul

Here's what came home with me! It's modest as far as fandom hauls go, particularly next to all the stuff I bought in the Pokémon centres. I didn't go as nuts as I thought I would, but the gacha machines definitely put a dent in my bank account. They're fun, but should be treated with caution by anyone who likes owning complete sets of things.

Close up of gacha figs, minus Rin + the bonus Chigiri I picked up on.

I ended up spending around ¥3000 (about €18) to get the full set of sleeping figs (including duplicates). Spent around the same to get the sleeping bag figs, then at least half that again on Chigiri's when I spotted him at a resale store (he's from a previous release).

As a result of my gacha spree, I have a bunch of duplicates 🥲 It would be a shame to bin 'em, so might do an interest check to see if anyone's interested in taking them off my hands.

These are the cards/Zantetsu sticker I got from the combini wafers, the Bachira card from the juice café, plus a random cushion of Rin from a gacha machine. It's way too small to be practical, but still cute.

I bought the two Kunigiri chibi plushes at a resale store for ¥3000 altogether. Chigiri was twice the price of Kunigami, lmao.

Kitty!giri came with a little sleepy eyemask. As soon as I saw him, I had to have him. Bought him at Ani Ani in Akihabara for ¥2500 I think? (€15 approx). They had kitty Isagis and Bachiras too.

Now for a story: there's a gacha series out now which has gold rings featuring the names of the main BLLK cast + Aryu. I swore not to buy any of these, cos it's a little self-shippy; no shame in that, but it's not really my bag. I also dislike gold jewellery.

Relatedly, partner and I just decided to get married, and half-talked about looking for a engagement ring in Japan before we travelled.

So. A few weeks later, while wandering around Harajuku, partner walks back to me after disappearing for two minutes. They hold out a gacha capsule with a shit eating grin—"Hey, got ya something!"

I shit you not: not only was it one of the stupid rings, but out of eight choices, they managed to pull Kunigami's 😭 I laughed/despaired for about five minutes. Partner was amused.

I don't have small hands (¥100 for scale); Ringsuke loosely fits my baby finger but gets stuck on my ring finger if I shove it on past the bottom knuckle. Based off my own measurements, the BLLK rings are probably around 50-53 mm in size (Japan size 12 maybe). It's surprisingly good quality for a ¥400 capsule machine prize.

So yeah: that's how this Kunigiri stan ended up with an ill-fitting engagement ring with her favourite blorbo's name on it 🙃 ...I'll get a proper one eventually, and Kitty!giri will inherit Ringsuke. Y'all are about the only people I'm ever admitting this story to.

Finally, my favourite purchase is these two acrylic stands of Chigiri and Kunigami, with pop ups of their stats. I'm not big on acrylic stands generally, but this was one of my favourite official art releases and I couldn't pass it up. They were ¥1800 (€11) apiece in a Harajuku resale store—probably more expensive than their original sale price, but I'm not complaining.

That's about it, I think! I've tried to recall as much detail as I can about places/prices here, but happy to provide more info if anyone's curious about anything—just ask!

[luckycharms1701]

Raph grins when Mikey, chest puffed out, yells “Dare!” at him. The look on his face alarms you, and you aren’t the only one. Leo sighs and puts his head in his hands. “Raph, whatever you’re thinking, just don’t.” Raph’s grin widens.

You and April had discovered that the turtles had never experienced a proper sleepover and immediately set about fixing that. Of course, that includes the normal sleepover games, and the turtles are currently going nuts over Truth or Dare.

“I dare you-” Raph uncharacteristically allows a moment of silence, making you think he’s spending too much time with Donnie the drama queen. Then he drops a literal bomb on the whole crew by gesturing to you. “-to give shorty over there a kiss.”

Chaos erupts. Leo is yelling at Raph, Donnie and April are cackling, and you think Mikey might have grown wings from how fast he jumps up. Raph is sitting in the middle of it all, smug grin on his face as he stares you down.

You are frozen in place, eyes wide as your brain reboots. You immediately regret ever telling your best friend anything about your feelings for his brother. He had been pushing you to confess, but you had never imagined he would go this far.

Your staredown with the red-banded turtle is interrupted by said brother kneeling in front of you. You gulp as you look up into kind blue eyes. He looks... nervous?

The chaos continues behind him, Donnie and Raph now both ganging up against Leo as April films. Mikey hesitates, then opens his mouth. "Yo- Are- Is this okay?" he stutters. Add another notch to the 'turtles being uncharacteristic' column. You blink at him, then consider his question.

This could be your only chance.

You swallow, then look into his eyes as you nod. No regrets, no fear. You are rewarded by his shoulders lowering as his trademark grin spreads over his face. He leans towards you, putting a cool hand on your overwarm cheek as he whispers, "That's my girl." Your heart stumbles in your chest at the thought of being his girl.

Your eyes close as his lips brush yours, soft and sweet. He pulls back far too quickly for your tastes, and you chase him unconsciously. He chuckles as you open your eyes and are immediately enveloped by the warmth in his gaze. You lean into the hand on your cheek.

His breath catches as his eyes grow impossibly warmer. You recall, suddenly, that some of the hottest flames burn blue. You tilt your head up to him as he leans back to you, pressing more firmly against your lips this time.

You're going to have to thank Raph later, you think hazily. Dammit.

[justaboymadeofhoneyandglass]

okay so my novel is called rebel princess

ive been writing this thing since i was 12 hehe its been YEARS since i started but i recently scrapped everything from my original draft and started over because there were plot holes and things had deviated from the original short story i made which is what made me want to write it in the first place

So the synopsis:

All her life, Tesla has been waiting for the day she gets to kill her mother. Ever since she was ten, she vowed to get revenge for herself, and all the kids her mother sacrificed in the name of a god. Now she’s 17, and the day has come to carry out her plan. Tesla knows the only way to kill her mother involves sacrificing herself, and she has come to terms with it. Her only regret is leaving all her friends behind. And her sister… Liliana. She’s the one helping Tesla, and the one that’ll have to see her die. But like everything else in Tesla’s life, even this doesn’t go her way. Everything goes awry, and now Tesla is left with a hurt Liliana and missing guildmates. Something more sinister is lurking in the dark, and it might be closer to Tesla than she originally thought… 

and i think i have an intro to the characters somewhere on my main but maybe not, i should make one

Molwas' are specialized abilities in their world that are specific to the person

so here they are:

Tesla Allaya Wilds(Winterstone) Age: 17 Molwas: teleportation Birthday: November 30 Social status: Commoner(but technically royalty) MBTI: ISTJ Personality:  Reliable, quiet, curt, stubborn, practical, loyal

======

Liliana Emine Winterstone Age: 13 Molwas: Unknown Birthday: March 11 Social status: Royalty MBTI: ENFP Personality: optimistic, extroverted, lonely, imaginative, perfectionist

========

Celestine Umbriel Winterstone Age: 54 Molwas: Manipulation Birthday: December 2 Social Status: Royalty(the queen) MBTI: ISTP Personality: manipulative, authoritative, ambitious, determined, cold

=========

Asteri Claire Winterstone Age: Died at the age of 5 Molwas: im not sure Birthday: July 23 Social status: Royalty(deceased) MBTI: ESFP Personality: outgoing, clumsy, cynical, level- headed, bored

==========

Royce Dionne Age: 16 Molwas: doesnt have one i think Birthday: June 6 Social status: commoner (former prince of a fallen kingdom) MBTI: ESFJ Personality: Outgoing, charismatic, dependable, loyal, confident

===========

Tara Theron Age: 16 Molwas: doesn't have one since she's a demi human Birthday: May 17 Social status: Commoner(she comes from a tribe where there's not really any rank) MBTI: ISFP Personality: Bubby, empathetic, passionate, fun, imaginative, lowkey ruthless

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

Griffin Ailsie Travers Age: 10 Molwas: Prophetic seeing Birthday: April 9 Social status: commoner MBTI: INFP Personality: Timid, empathetic, imaginative, chaotic

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

Franklin (Fatihah) Khuzmaimah Age: 23 Molwas: none since she's a demi human Birthday: unknown to the characters Social status: commoner to humans, ranked 4th out of 11 dragon families hierarchy MBTI: ISTJ Personality: Sarcastic, cold, reliable, focused, practical

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

Micah Izeron Age: 18 Molwas: none bc he's a demi human Birthday: August 17 Social status: same as tara's MBTI: idk yet Personality: cynical, grumpy, teddy bear like, kind

and uhhhhhh thats the basic rundown hehehe

I have 2 and a half chapters written rn(sobbing bc i used to be like 13 chapters in with the old draft, OVER 21000 WORDS GONE ToT) including the prologue hehe

OMG THATS SO COOL

I have the same MBTI as the little sister hehe

Also tesla is so relate in wanting to get revenge omg

what are demi humans tho ? Is it like demigods?

[rachelchinouriri]

01-11-24

Good Morning!

I usually journal in my book but today's my birthday and I've decided I'll do my first public journal before I disappear for a little bit. I just want people to remember that I have still committed to the task even though I will be away from my phone for my birthday haha! I'm grateful I woke up today because it's my birthday today. I can honestly say turning 25 has been my favourite part of my life. This has been the best year of my life. I feel like I am unrecognisable from the person I was at 24. I have stopped drinking completely which honestly has improved my mental and physical health, but it has forced me to gain real courage (not liquid courage). I started and stopped smoking at 24 (your girl was stressed out) and I had 1 cigarette this year (lol in April while drunk). I have continuously gone to the gym 4-5 times a week without fail, even with the most insane schedule ... the only days I missed were when I was at the airport at 5am simply because the gym was closed. I have journaled every day in the morning since January (Including airport days). It has truly been the best year of my life because I feel like I can honestly and truthfully say that when I turned 25 I turned up for myself. I have shown myself that I CAN trust myself which I feel like I never could do before. It's also been many years of me trying to fufill these habits but it just didn't click until I was 25. I am proud of myself for once ... I can actually say I am proud of myself for one of the first times in my life. I am grateful for my ability to want try and change my negative mindset into a positive one. I was so full of misery and always saying that I wanted to die, or saying I'll never find a good man or always panicking about my career and I guess speaking positively, even if you don't believe it, has actually worked in my favour. I am beyond grateful and proud of myself but it's so hard to type that out (still) because there will always be a negative self doubt voice at the back of my head... but I am grateful he is now at the back of my head instead of being at the front and centre. I don't know what 26 looks like to me but I am actually excited now to get older. My best and most fun years are ahead of me... I have always had this fear of 'getting old' but there is so much beauty in things that age. The planet ages and it gets more beautiful with time and so do people. Maybe it's because I was the youngest (and all my siblings are way older than me... I mean my oldest is in her 40s) ...but I feel like beauty and age are so wonderful. I love older people and the wisdom you get from them and their ability to just live and keep fighting through a world that I can only describe as difficult at best. I just know a lot of my fears have been from the fear of getting older and dreading age... but there are so many people who unfortunately didn't get to see my age. I think about my niece all the time and the world we could've given her and it just reminds me that life is by chance but death is certain. Death is certain and can come at any time so the time I do get to have, I want to fill it with love and memories and peace. How can we fear getting older but also fear death at the same time? If I want to stay young then death should be a friend I welcome... when I started thinking like that, I obviously very quickly realised I do not want to die and actually I do want to get older, so here I am... getting old haha. I'm grateful I have hit this mindset because when I sat in the pits of darkness, I never saw this day coming but I will never regret my deepest depression. I have been there, sat in it, went through it and it makes a day like today feel amazing. Truly amazing. I will never let anything pull me back there... never...not a man, a human, a society, my race, my gender, my past...nothing. Anyways, I am now heading off to my 7am session with my friend then having breakfast. I feel grateful and amazing for today and I am so lucky to exist today in this world today. I am so lucky and will never take this life for granted again

r

[sealofarchives]

Misc mini-oneshot 1 (Mainly platonic)

Warnings: None

A/N: I didn't make any edits so if some of the dialogue feels wonky (I had to deal with some annoying real life stuff which sort of influenced to writing this)

This is probably shorter than what I usually write so, I don't want to jinx myself with other stuff while I'm busy with classes

The three turtles hovered over the softshell turtle's shoulders as Donnie looked over (Y/N)'s new phone and the phone case covering it.

"For something that's supposed to protect the phone, Raph doesn't get why it has to be close to 50 bucks..."

"Its mainly because of the phone case, also acting as a charging system for some wireless ports."

"I still don't believe its quote on quote 'made of recyclable material' from what the packaging box says."

Donnie hands back your phone to you as you sighed.

"I kind of got rushed to pick a case because apparently there's also a difference between the regular and pro versions."

"I didn't want to stick with a bland basic color one but, the other options were either really tacky stuff. Or just random flower decorations."

"I think the flowers look really nice!"

"We could surprise you with a different phone case for your birthday!"

You smiled back at Mikey as his brothers were slightly humored at the idea.

"No offense, still insane that you went a week and four days only using it for assignments."

"And when you spent an entire Sunday waiting on a replacement battery from the store. Only for it to be a waste of time, realizing how old the phone really is."

You winced looking at the new phone just as Raph lightly smacked Leo's forehead from his comment.

"The old phone was a gift from one of my aunts but, since it takes like an hour to get there. Including her being busy with work, where it took until this Monday where she finally got the transfer pin..."

"I don't want to drive the same bad luck at Donnie."

"I dunno you were pretty lucky that your teacher got your email about the sudden situation. And she didn't mind the small updates in case the phone battery got in the way of your assignments."

"Also you got to see an old favorite character of yours from an unexpecting place regarding this year's halloween theme."

"Donnie would have gone into mad scientist mode if he got stuck with the situation you were in."

Donnie furrowed his brows at the box shell turtle in annoyance as you quickly changed the subject.

"Part of me was kind of stubborn not wanting to start fresh with the new phone."

"Like I was realizing how much I saved a lot of goofy photos of stuff I like and eventually..."

"The good times we have hanging out together."

"I might have gone on my parents' nerves about it but, I don't regret making that decision. Even if it felt like a witch cursed me with the worst tech issues."

Gentle smiles brightened the lair as Donnie scoffed.

"A cybernetic witch is nothing compared to my superb tech ninpo!"

"She could not handle the arsensal of various weapons aimed at her or making the worst mistake of picking on (Y/N)!"

"Mikey was right about the mad scientist part, just under a different context."

Donnie then proceeded to chase after his siblings as Raph saw a glance of your phone's screen.

The alligator snapping turtle grinning at the same photo that finally made you part of their chaotic friend group. Almost squished together in a group hug with April but, you hugging back at them.

[momtaku]

I saw the ask about No Regrets and it reminded me of this question I’ve tried to find an answer to for years but could never find. Sorry if the wording is weird, it’s hard to type out because asking and explaining my question is difficult

Did the author of No Regrets get permission to use characters from Isayama? Or was it just a fan made thing that wasn’t canon and just something created for fun?

What’s always been weird to me is it actually got ADAPTED. Like it wasn’t created by Isayama or even canon in the series yet, but Wit animated it. It was published in September 2013, animated in December 2014 and April 2015, and THEN chapter 69 came out in May.

Did Isayama even have a backstory for Levi? Did he see No Regrets and decide to give Levi a backstory and make it canon? I have no idea how far ahead Isayama even planned aot back then because I 1) had no idea of aot’s existence, and 2) wasn’t there when the manga was released back in 2013-2015.

For the new chapter we’re getting for Levi, do we know how many pages it’ll be? Will it have the same amount of pages as a normal chapter, or be shorter or longer?

Isayama authorized the No Regrets manga and visual story. You might find this post interesting as it contains an interview with Isayama and Hikaru Suruga (the No Regrets artist) as well as words by the author, Gun Snark (Gan Sunaaku). No Regrets was one of 6 visual novels/mangas that were release by various authors in the 2013-2015 times frame . All with Isayama's permission. There was a huge explosion of authorized material during those years, including the Smart Pass content, A Spoof on Titan, Attack on Titan Junior High, Before the Fall and so on. The list is really endless.

My opinion on the why of it all is that Isayama has talked about how he was convinced in those early years that each chapter would be his last. He was in constant fear of cancellation. He's also mentioned his long work days, the stress, and how little sleep he was getting. Writing and illustration 46 pages a month was a more-than-full-time job for Isayama and he was stretched entirely too thin. When the series exploded in popularity, there was a desire for more and tons of money to be made, but Isayama didn't have the time to produce anything beyond what he was doing. Thus the collaborations started. With No Regrets, Isayama provided guidelines as to what he envisioned for Levi's backstory. I can't find proof of that, but I do recall reading that he provided the general idea. It was a very limited scope, which is why he's able to produce Bad Boy now. He had a vision for Levi, but no time to develop it so he allowed No Regrets to cover a small period of time. I believe Bad Boy is only going to be 18 pages, but I'l very excited for it. I can't wait to see what Isayama can do when he isn't dealing with strict deadlines. Thanks for the ask! I hope this covered some of what you were interested in.

[loki-is-my-kink-awakening]

Fic Writing Review 2023

Words and fics

154,766 words written

55 fics worked on

32 fics published (one shots and finished multi-chapter)

1 wip multi-chapter updated.

My busiest writing month was April with 33,341 words.

Average words per month was 14,772.

Words written per Fandom

47,911—Loki

39,877—Stranger Things

24,343—Witcher

22,741—Our Flag Means Death

11,151—Midnight Mass

6,536—MCU (wider than Loki)

2,217—The Last of Us

Ao3 fics published

33 fics published or updated

89% one shots

11% multi-chapter

31 completed fics

2 unfinished WIPs.

110,863 words published in 2023.

I completed 2 multi-chapter fics this year, with Petals In A Storm being my first ever finished multi-chapter fic.

Published Fics by Fandom

15 (43%)—Loki

12 (34%)—Witcher

3 (8.5%)—Midnight Mass

2 (5.75%)—Stranger Things

2 (5.75%)—Our Flag Means Death

1 (3%)—The Last of Us

Top 10 Fics by Kudos

Praying for Salvation (Midnight Mass)

In Any Shape or Form (Loki)

One On The Way (Witcher)

A Barking Dog Seldom Bites (OFMD)

Let Time Pass (Loki)

Fighting To Get To You (Witcher)

Silky Heat (OFMD)

Dream of Me (Loki)

Jaskier Sandwich (Witcher)

What My Heart Just Yearns To Say (Witcher)

My fandom fic events in 2023

OFMD Reverse Big Bang—fic published in June

Steddie Big Bang—fic in progress, due January 2024

Fandom Trumps Hate—fics in progress, due December.

Notes and tags below the cut

I started counting my words written in March, so my figures from January and February are a rough calculation and I’m probably being too harsh on the final count.

I also had a really stressful few months during a team restructure, so I’ve not been great at keeping an accurate record the whole year, which I regret because it took a lot more time to pull this together because of that.

Read all this and have questions for me? Feel free to send me an ask.

Now I’ve bored you with all my stats, here's the deal for those I’ve tagged below.

Rules: Feel free to show whatever stats you have. Only want to show Ao3 stats? Rock on. Want to include some quantitative info instead of stats? Please do this. Want to change how yours is presented? Absolutely do that. Would rather eat glass than do this? Please don’t eat glass but don’t feel like you have to do this either.

Now for the tags: @dancingwiththefae @ptork66 @artaxlivs @mojowitchcraft @mimisempai @rins-love-wins @insert-witty-user-name-here @lgwilt @dewdropreader @starport-seven-five @cha-melodius @dreamycloud @waterhorseyblues-ao3 @chaos-monkeyy @mirilyawrites @inwantofamuse @dapandapod @dapperwerewolf @gleamingsilence @flootzavut @flordefandom @kell-be-belle @limerental @iwillbringyouruin @flawney @karolincki @jayofolympus @naumaxia-art @rauchendesgnu @pherryt @bravelittlenippa

and anyone else who's read this and wants to do it.

[foxes-that-run]

Perfect

Zayn said he wouldn’t buy the record when he heard Perfect (so salty!). Harry's emotions varied performing it in its short 27 performance run from Oct-Dec when 1D ended. These 2 stand out:

November 20 2015, rather than sing the Bridge Harry said to the crowd "if you think it's so funny you can sing it".

3 days later at the AMAs he rolls his eyes and looks ready to walk out, the camera cuts to a kid who seems to agree. (Bridge is 2:40).

It was only performed 6 more times, in Carpool Karaoke (10:30) Harry stops singing for parts and the song cuts before the bridge, at the Jingle ball he looks away and the last time was new years.

Or this concert he put the mike into the crowd, someone stole the microphone and licked it.

Safe to say he regretted that bridge, it's savage to them both.

Writers

Perfect ties with Fools Gold for the title of the Haylor song with the most writers, at 7. While Fools Gold has all 5 of the band, Bunetta and Ryan. Harry and Louis are the only band members who worked on Perfect with Bunetta, Ryan and 3 others:

Jesse Shatkin, (cowrote Sia's Chandelier)

Jacob Kasher (Maroon 5 collaborator), and

Mozella (cowrote Miley Cyrus Wrecking Ball and Fools Gold.)

To me, Perfect has more media grabbing pop-song than Harry Styles. HS’s best 1D work was with teams of 3 or 4 writers. In fact, Bunetta said Olivia came out in 45 minutes while overworking another "less good" MITAM song.

Timeline

Bunetta also told Rolling Stone about Perfect:

"That one took a long time, just because it was written over a couple different continents. It started as one thing and ended up where it is."

MITAM was made in the summer of 2015. To have been written in a couple of continents and with USA based writers it was probably either side of the BBMAs. It could have been started 'as one thing' in April in South Africa before the BBMAs other songs that reference Style including Two Ghosts started early in the year. The "ended up where it is" with those writers would be after the BBMAs, when they got back to the USA from July. This would be at the end of the album and he was singing it daily within 3 months.

Similarity to Taylors songs

It has the same chord progressions as Style and is also very similar to out of the woods as this video on Twitter shows. He called it a love song in the made in the AM interview (6 mins) and that it wasn’t literal in another. I do love this James Cordon bit and I love his Taylor smile so much.

Lyrics

[Verse 1: Louis] I might never be your knight in shinin' armour I might never be the one you take home to mother And I might never be the one who brings you flowers But I can be the one, be the one tonight

Grapejuice, has the perfect (get it) call back to this verse, along with 'Red' and 'Pay for it' and I love him for it:

"I was on my way to buy some flowers for you (ooh) / Thought that we could hide away in a corner of the heath / There's never been someone who's so perfect for me / But I got over it and I said / "Give me somethin' old and red" / I pay for it more than I did back then"

[Pre-Chorus: Liam] When I first saw you from across the room I could tell that you were curious, oh, yeah Girl, I hope you're sure what you're looking for 'Cause I'm not good at making promises

Promises come up again in Woman "Promises are broken like a stitches is", which is interesting if both Woman and part of Perfect are written after the 2015 BBMAs.

‘Know what you are looking for’ is interesting. In "Say don't go" and the 1989 TV Vaults in general Taylor did not get what she was looking for. At 23, dating a 19 year old Taylor told us she didn’t get wavy she needed. Her most recent ex, JG was 29. (yes - JG was the age Harry is now! Imagine if he did that) So I kind of stand by this line.

The start refers to the night they met. Which neither has ever confirmed, I think it was in 2011 (see timeline) Many look at the coat he tries on in the music video, which matches both his Up All Night Tour outfit (from December 2011) and the 2012 Kids Choice Awards. The awards are fun though. The Up All Night DVD also has it.

[Verse 2: Niall] I might never be the hands you put your heart in Or the arms that hold you any time you want them But that don't mean that we can't live here in the moment 'Cause I can be the one you love from time to time

Urgh I choose to attribute 'love from time to time' to one of the 6 other people writing this. To me this line always sounds like a boy-band heartthrob priority playing out in the writers room. No wonder it took time and HS1 to overcome this.

However, this does speak to a theme of them not being available to each other because of their careers and 1D punishing schedule. If I could fly's "I'm missing half of me when we're apart" and Half the World Aways " So you're not my girlfriend / Don't pretend that makes us nothing / Tell me you don't miss this feeling" speaks more honestly to the interplay of his band image, schedules and priorities which Taylor referred to Suburban Legends.

[Chorus: Harry, All] But if you like causing trouble up in hotel rooms And if you like having secret little rendezvous If you like to do the things you know that we shouldn't do Then, baby, I'm perfect Baby, I'm perfect for you And if you like midnight driving with the windows down And if you like goin' places we can't even pronounce If you like to do whatever you've been dreamin' about Then, baby, you're perfect Baby, you're perfect So let's start right now

Here are Haylor themes we know and love, Driving at midnight (Style, HYGTG, Wish You Would) generally going from a high schooler to superstar overnight (placed they can’t pronounce like Cannes), and hidden love/hiding (I Know Places, Slut!)

[Bridge: Harry] And if you like cameras flashin' every time we go out Oh, yeah And if you're looking for someone to write your breakup songs about Then baby, I'm perfect And baby, we're perfect

The camera’s flashing is good imagery and his voice brings to life how personally challenging it was for them both in a way I Know Places didn't with very few words. Taylor also refers to this imagery in Is it over now?

But the break up songs is a low blow and I assume the part he regretted to the point of not wanting to sing it. In a later interview Harry said:

“The only time you really think, ’is this song too personal?’ is if you think about, ‘is this going to be really annoying for the other person?’ Because I do [care],” he finished.

Which I think the break up song line would have been very annoying.

If you made it through that reward yourself with Grapejuice at Wembley 🍇

[jpriest85-blog]

It was a bit early, but I came up with some concept art of @vendetta-if sequel MC. Including portraits of my MC, Akami, Luka, Jackal, and my interpretation of her older brother Konstantin. While Konstantin does share Luka's height and eye color, I headcanon he inherited most of his features from his late Uncle Viktor. This probably triggers a lot of bittersweet memories for Luka when he sees his children playing and getting a very vivid sense of deja vu at how much his son looks like how he remembers Viktor as a child. Either way, he's glad Akami has such a close relationship with her older brother... although it worried Luka at first how many times she tried to bite Kosta as a toddler. Here's some more info about Akami

Vendetta sequel MC

Name: Akami Morozova

Nickname: Ai-chan,  or норка (norka).

Gender: Female 

Sexual preferences: Lesbian 

Birthday: April 8

Zodiac: Aries

Face claim: Mikako Tabe

Body claim: Maika

Height: 5ft.2”/158cms.

Ethnicity: Japanese 

Hair: long, straight black hair with blunt bangs

Eyes: Black 

Complexion: Pale

Tattoos & distinguishing features: A long thin scar that starts on the left corner of her mouth going down her neck to her collar bone. An Irezumi tattoo on her right shoulder depicts a mink drawn like a kamaitachi wearing a jackal skull on its head.

Personality: Akami tends to come across as a Stoic and intense person, which can be expected considering her role in the family is to assist her older brother,Konstantin, and take out any threats to him or the family. Although many people tend to underestimate her at first since she's rather petite and baby faced. They're quick to regret it, though, as Akami is very brutal. Adopted or not, Akami is still a Morozov, and one of her fathers’ is an infamous hitman, and she very much is Jackal's daughter. She is also intensely competitive and hates to lose. While it did help motivate her to improve during combat training, it did cause problems in less high stakes situations. Such as Akami attempting to bite her brother when they were young children whenever she lost against him playing board games. Thankfully, Akami has outgrown the habit of biting people…mostly anyway. 

Despite Akami's history of aggressive behavior, she does have a fondness for cute things and even used to dress in Lolita fashion clothes as a teenager. She also tends to get flustered easily around beautiful women turning bright red and attempting to hide behind her longer hair. While Konstantin will often tease Akami about trying to hide her soft side, he does look out for his baby sister and often tries to play wingman for her. While it does embarrassed Akami, since she's not good about dealing with feelings, other than rage. She does appreciate that her older brother is one of the few people she willingly confides in with personal matters. Besides, it's not like she can ask their dads for advice with girls, and Konstantin is the only other relative, besides their cousin Katerina, with actual social skills. 

Her older brother also helps Akami rein in her temper since she's also prone to active impulsively. Having grown up together Konstantin knows his sister well enough to intervene early before she does something reckless, although sometimes he does have to physically restrain Akami, and he's one of the few people with both the physical strength and trust with her to be able to pull it off. While Akami's relationships with her brother have grown more professional since he became the new family head, it's not always completely serious. They will still affectionately tease each other and get into childish arguments with each other when in private. They're still siblings, after all. Once in a while, Akami and her brother still indulge in the same dumbass stunts and games they enjoyed as kids. Like Akami convincing her older brother to use his laser vision to blow up a watermelon or pumpkin filled with fireworks! From a safe distance and with safety gear, of course, they don't want to risk their father, Luka, freaking out and putting them both on house arrest again like last time. 

Additional info & Headcanons

Akami didn't speak until she was an older toddler. It worried both Artyom and Luka when they first brought her home. They had many doctors and specialists check on her, and they didn't find any physical impairments to her delayed speech. The doctors tried to assure her fathers that she's still within the windows for her first words. Unfortunately, the first words they would hear from their daughter weren't Dada or Papa. It was hearing Akami telling Takashi to “fuck off” after he annoyed the little girl by fawning over her too much and pinching her cheeks. Thankfully he wasn't too offended after the initial shock of hearing baby Akami cursing at him, and most of the family found it funny. Luka took a bit longer to find the humor that his youngest daughter's first words were cussing out an ally and family friend like she was a tiny Samuel L. Jackson.

Akami had a hard time making friends with other kids her age growing up. So her older brother Konstantin was her only friend for a while since he was one of the few people who always figured out how to get her to open up.

Akami has a stuffed Axolotl plushie Konstantin won for her at Carnival game when they were kids. She was upset she was too small to ride anything fun, so her brother made a point to win her the giant salamander plushy to cheer her up. It was her favorite toy, and she still keeps it even as an adult but would never admit it.

Konstantin was also the first one to take Akami out drinking when she was old enough. While it was fun Akami did give her brother a heart attack the next day when he went to check on how she's handling her first hangover by crawling out from under her bed doing a very convincing impression of Sadako from The Ring. It's not like she did it on purpose, but the fact Akami is naturally pale with long dark hair combined with her bloodshot eyes, and unsteady gait while hung over gives her an eerie resemblance to the iconic ghost girl popular in Asian horror films.

Akami received the large scar on her face and neck from an early assination mission that went sideways. She narrowly avoided getting her carotid artery cut but thankfully survived. Both her fathers and brother were furious that someone would dare scar Akami's pretty little face but they were proud to learn she did worse to the bastard who cut her, by tearing out his lower jaw…until she asked if she could keep the piece of jawbone as a trophy.

Akami has an affectionate nickname based on an animal. Her family calls her норка (norka) since it's the Russian word for mink. Her grandfather was the first one to use Nickname since, like the animal, Akami looks small and soft but is quite an aggressive predator. She even received a mink coat from him as a gift, and even as an adult, Akami prefers wearing mink coats when it snows.

Both Akami and Konstantin have a close relationship with their older cousin Katerina, to the point she's become a maternal figure to them. Like how Aunt Cara used to be a mother figure to Katerina when she was young.

Akami and Konstantin are also raised in a multilingual household. They both grew up speaking English, Russian, Cantonese, as well as Japanese considering their close relationship with the Aikawas.

Likewise, they are also close to Katerina's SOs Ash and Rin. All three of them had some influence over Akami in some way. Kitty would often take Akami shopping and dress her up, which is partly why Akami is fond of cute clothes. Rin helped instill a love of music with her, and Ash helped Akami with combat training.

Ash also unintentionally inspired Akami's arsonist tendencies. As a toddler, Akami would always giggle and get excited whenever she saw Ash create a small flame. Granted, Ash is usually more careful about using her abilities around the kids, but how could she say no to little Akami pleading to see her make fire appear on her finger tips. Especially with how cute the little girl is when she giggles and claps like she's watching a magic show. Until Akami starts trying to make her own fires. Thankfully, Luka is experienced in dealing with short tempered girls who start fires, although he makes sure to check that Akami isn't taking any flammable materials with her before she leaves the house.

While Akami also grew up close to the Aikawa family, both as allies and in-laws, since Rin married her cousin Katerina. Rin also helped influence a love of music in her. Akami was a very aggressive child, and Rin noticed early on that music had a soothing effect on her, which came in handy whenever Kitty volunteered to babysit her cousins. Akami does wind up taking music lessons growing up and does develop a beautiful singing voice, although she rarely sings in front of anyone outside her family. Akami has a preference for R & B, Soul, Jazz, and Blues music and even took up playing the drums as a teenager.

While Akami shares both her fathers distaste for large formal parties, she does try to restrain herself. Unfortunately for Akami, that restraint means punching a man in the crotch instead of stabbing him when he incessantly asked her to dance after she already said no. Thankfully, Konstantin knows his sister well enough to prevent such incidents by introducing her to groups of pretty women. Sure, Akami doesn't say much, but she's more likely to come across as adorably shy by being flustered around a group of socialites. Instead of insulting a potential ally's family by punching someone (although that one jackass did deserve it by not accepting his sister's refusal).

[hoofusdoofus]

Posting this to tumblr, as well. Breaking my silence here because I am being accused of something fucking heinous. My ex is now claiming I "groomed" them when they were 16 and I was 18. This is mathematically impossible. We are 7 months apart in age. They were born April 2000, I was born August 1999. More evidence debunking this claim is presented below the readmore. Evidence includes unedited screencaps from our chatlogs over the years, my literal drivers license, and screenshots directly from their twitter.

They have also made claim that I manipulated them when we broke up. This is also untrue. As far as I was aware, the breakup was entirely amicable. As proof, here is our conversation on telegram, dated July 3rd, 2020. The last time I even interacted with them was on this date.

If you still have doubts at this, I am more than willing to submit photos of my driver's license with my date of birth as additional hard evidence. anything that happened between us was between two consenting people of similar age, again unless they lied to me about their age. In fact, just to help illustrate my point: Consent was and is important to me and always has been. Here is a conversation from 2018 (while we were still dating) in which I explicitly mention I would not do anything to them/with them without consent.

I am deeply, deeply hurt that our previous relationship is being twisted and taken advantage of like this. I cared a great deal about them and have wished nothing but the best for them. Please do not engage with them or harrass them. I am merely setting the record straight. EDITED AS OF 10:47 PM, 04/10/2024 I'm editing to add additional context and information, pulled riectly from my own twitter thread on the matter. Just one final bit of proof. since I was asked for it. Here is my license, with anything particularly vulnerable scrubbed for my own personal safety. I was born August 9th, 1999.

Just to again, provide absolute mathematical proof that their claim is straight up wrong: Based on the ages listed in their bio for the last several years and our own conversations, they were born in april of 2000. Making them 24 as of 3 days ago. I am 24.

Their claim is that I groomed them when I was 18 and they were 16. Here it is, directly from their twitter. Our birthdays are literally only 7 months and 30 days apart. There is literally no way for me to be 18 when they were 16.

Yes. This does mean I was underage when I joined the community, as I joined in august of 2016. It was something deeply wrong of me and I do apologize. Starting out my interactions with the community on a basis that I was older than I actually was was incredibly fucked of me It is one of my biggest regrets, but it is entirely self inflicted. I do not expect anybody to forgive me for that and if anybody wishes to no longer be in contact with me for that, I understand and do not blame you. I am bringing this all to light in order to clear my name against these accusations. I have done wrong shit in my past. I lied about myself for years and quietly adjusted when the guilt got to me. But I never once did anything to Nova with the intent to harm or groom them. I never manipulated or purposely mistreated them. I have records in the form of chatlogs to show that I tried to be there for them, doing all i could as a partner. I will not be sharing these unless necessary, as I do not wish to publicize their struggles with mental health. Ultimately, maybe this is a direct consequence of me lying when I was young. In a way I am reaping when I sowed. I dont know If I ever told Nova my true age, and perhaps this misunderstanding is the root. We were both minors when we started dating, in October of 2016. I do not blame nova for levying these accusations if that is the case. Nor do I wish any sort of ill will or harm on them. I've stated it before, and I will say it again: Please do not pursue them or harass or bother them. Leave them be. I simply wanted to set the record straight