#sibling death mentions?

[e-turn]

just some rambling under the cut

okay imagine this. when Mikeys hair start growing its already grey after everything he witnessed. His temples are already grey although he didn't even turn 20 yet.

also just wanna let you know this line possessed me for too long

Geralt looked at Ciri and almost screamed with rage when he noticed silver threads among her grey hair.

The Lady of the Lake, Andrzej Sapkowski

[cokoweee]

Ok so imma slap tw/cw on this cause I’m JUST NOW REMEMBERING death is an issue for ppl. Lemme know if I missed a tag

Also the update is mad messy. Well, it’s a messy situation. At some point I forgot.what was staying what was going

<===—===>

[angelpuns]

How did Leo diee in the L330N au?

I've talked about it a bit before, but here's a rough comic of what happened:

TW IMPLIED DEATH, DISCUSSION OF DEATH, FAMILY DEATH

So basically, Leo went out on a rescue/cargo mission to both save a bunch of people as well as bring back necessary medical supplieas and food.

His ninpo is weaking somewhat at this point, so he can't portal super long distances, so he takes one of Donnie's new ships. They're untested in the field, but Donnie's crunched the numbers and they should pull through.

However, the ship is shot down and Leo evacuates all the cvivilians, before going back for the necessary supplies. He goes down with the ship and it explodes on impact. So there's not really anything left :/

Donnie feels a lot of guilt for many reasons. He thinks he should have gone instead, but knows it had to be Leo so he could properly save the civilian. But he wishes he had been able to tes the ship better. That he had been able to at least keep it rom exploding.

When I was finding screenshots for the ships in the beginning of the ROTTMNT movie I noticed they DON'T explode on impact, so in this au, I like to think Donnie learned from his mistake and made them less likely to explode/catch fire/etc. He also made them controlled by AI/a drone situation so it isn't necessary for someone to be in the ship for it to work. That bit wouldn't have helped a smuch in this situation, but he wanted them to be as safe a spossible so that the worst thing would be an injury rather than death.

I eventually wanna make a more detailed comic of this, possibly as a L330-N chapter :)

L330-N Masterpost

[kiaxet]

HOW ABOUT THAT @somerandomdudelmao DISASTER TWIN REUNION, HUH

Went a little feral to the tune of 2.2K words of self-indulgence. What else is new?

~~~~~~~

Donnie can't sleep. More accurately, he won't sleep. Not until he's done. He'd never been one to leave a project unfinished; death and resurrection hadn't changed that.

He taps incessantly, repetitively, on a keyboard and screen, the motions long since past inputting data and now only serving to keep him awake. The repetition is soothing, easy, and - counterintuitively - he finds his head drooping forward into sleep-

And he snaps back upright. No. Not until he can confirm Leo is okay.

Leo is behind him, he knows. Breathing. In bed. Asleep. Very much alive. And-

He jumps and whips around as a thud sounds behind him. "What the-"

Leo is on the floor.

Well, that answers the question as to whether his twin is awake.

For a fraction of a second, part of him wavers uncertainly. He loves his idiot twin. The question he hasn't been able to answer is whether his reaction to Leo waking up will fall on love or idiot twin-

"Leo!"

He can hear the exasperation in his voice, and yep, it's the latter. He takes a knee next to Leo and hauls him into his arms, lecturing him all the while, and if he can hear the annoyance in his voice then Leo sure as hell can. Sleep deprivation for the purposes of keeping his brother's soul alight had done nothing for his temper. "I swear to God, all you had to do was make a sound! Why are you such a difficult patient?"

He deposits Leo carefully on the bed - "Sit still!" - and checks him over, running every scan he can think of and making sure his brother's new body really is in good working order, spouting increasingly irritated commentary all the while. Of course the fall didn't hurt him - Leo is tougher than that, and Donnie does better work than that - but he still can't help the rising anxiety in his throat.

This almost didn't happen.

"-stupid, stupid selfless idiot!"

Donnie almost couldn't save him.

"Grrhh-"

Leo nearly died for real. Permanently beyond Donnie's reach. Well and truly gone-

"Do you have any idea how close you were to having nothing left to save?"

And now here Leo is, in perfect health, sitting on Donnie's bed with a big dopey grin on his face as Donnie chokes on his anxiety and damn near shakes himself apart-

Oh for fuck's sake.

"Hey. Are you even listening?"

Leo speaks up for the first time since he's woken up, voice shaky from disuse. "D-Donnie?"

And that is not a goddamn answer to anything Donnie has been saying, because of course it isn't. It's Leo. He's always had his own priorities. "Yeah. No. You're not fucking listening." Donnie heaves a long-suffering sigh, sinking back into the routine comfort that irritation at his twin provides. "At least you're talking." Small favors. "Although I'm surprised you're not throwing your stupid jokes at me." Even smaller favors.

He stops short as Leo's hand closes around his wrist, drawing Donnie's arm to Leo's plastron. "You're real," his brother breathes, looking from Donnie's hand to Donnie himself with tears streaming down his face. "You're real!"

And then, in the space of a thought, Leo's joy breaks, his smile turning desperate. "Are you?"

For a moment, Donnie stares at his twin, wondering at the sudden change in expression. He takes a breath-

And the part of him that had lain dormant for so long after he'd woken up - the part of him that had been screaming for his twin's safety ever since they'd recovered the few scattered embers of Leo's soul - gasps to life, blooming like a time-lapse video of a flower and reaching to the edges of Donnie's soul. Leo had called it their twin sense, and Donnie hadn't had it in him to argue after a while. Whatever it is, it's back, connected to Leo's renewed presence, and-

Donnie's heart floods with emotions. Relief and joy sprout quickly and are nearly swept away in a tide of exhaustionanxietyfearfearfearfearFEAR-

But down beneath it all, steady against the rising wall of terror, is the little blue spark of hope that his brother always carried. His core. The thing that let him continue on in the face of insurmountable odds, and lent that same strength to everyone around him. A ninja's greatest weapon.

It's Leo. It's Leo-

And Donnie can't leave him alone in his fear. Not when there's no need for it. Not when they're safe.

He lets that breath out, and sits next to Leo on the bed. "Mhm. I'm alive. And you're alive. We're safe. The Krang are gone." That's all the news that's fit to print, or at least the most important parts. What else does he have to say?

Oh.

"I'm sorry I..uh…"

He's sorry he what? Died? Left a mess for Leo to deal with? Didn't do enough while he was alive to keep everyone else alive in turn after he was gone? Kept his brother's soul in a fucking mug, because that was the only way he could ensure he wouldn't break it while Leo was still fragile? All of the above?

…yeah, it's all of the above.

He owes Leo one hell of an apology, and he's never been good at any of this, so instead he shrugs haplessly and leans forward, pulling Leo into his arms and hanging on tight.

It's a matter of moments before Leo has him flat on his shell on the bed and is sobbing into his arms. Normally he'd hate seeing his twin cry, but it's proof of life - proof that Leo made it, that his soul is intact enough for him to still be Leo, that he's alive and awake and here - and Donnie will take it.

And if he's squeezing Leo back pretty hard himself, well, that's fine too. Nobody else needs to know.

~~~~~~~

Donnie is yelling at him.

Donnie is strong enough to have picked Leo up off the ground, well enough to be on his feet without support, running tests and reading Leo the riot act over his latest boneheaded maneuver - in this case, forgetting he was missing an arm and falling out of bed.

Donnie is yelling at him, because Donnie is here to yell at him.

And Leo is smiling, because he couldn't be happier. He lets the words wash over him, draping over his shoulders like a favorite cozy blanket that he'd lost so many years ago, and he basks in the warmth that is his brother's voice and smiles.

It's enough to interrupt the yelling for a question, though he doesn't really hear it - just keeps smiling, and says Donnie's name, and it's so nice to be able to say it with a smile now, because Donnie is here-

-he is, right? This isn't just a dying hallucination on Leo's part, right?

(It couldn't be- he remembers his death, remembers breathing his last, remembers being trapped- but this-)

He reaches out, taking Donnie's wrist in hand, and pulls his brother closer to him. "You're…real…" It certainly feels real - skin and scales, softer than his own, and his fingers barely fit all the way around the wrist instead of encircling them with room to spare - and he stares down at it, tears rolling down his face as he finally looks back up at his twin. "You're real!"

The Krang show you what you want to see.

The thought strikes him unbidden, turning his joy and relief to ice. It's a well-known fact: a Krang infection can show its host what they want to see, visions of comfort and family and home, and extract intel from the host's reactions. He knows that- he knows that, and-

And he'd died surrounded by Krang- and even if he couldn't see or hear or feel, he knows he'd been held captive-

But it's Donnie- he wants this to be real- he needs this to be real- he wants his twin back so badly he can't think, and the idea that this could be a Krang hallucination is almost too much to bear-

"Are you?" He can hear how choked the words are as they leave his lips, but he needs to know-

And Donnie stops, and sits down next to him, and tells him everything he wants to hear - everything he could've ever wished for. They're alive. They're safe. The Krang are gone. It all sounds too good to be true.

And then Donnie offers him an apology and a sad half-smile, pulling him into a strong hug-

And the ice in Leo's mind shatters in a flood of warmth as his twin sense opens for the first time since Donnie's death. He feels his twin's irritation, and deep-seated exhaustion, and a choking wave of guiltguiltguiltguiltguilt-

And beneath it all, steady and strong as ever, the thrum of unending determination, powered by an unfathomably deep well of love. It's the backbeat to the melody of Leo's life, the point-counterpoint to his own heartbeat- it's something he'd never had to live without until he did, but it's back, rushing in to fill the silence he'd known with the strength to go on and the knowledge that he is loved loved loved, strong and overwhelming and all-encompassing in the way only Donnie can love-

It's something the Krang could never imitate.

This is real. This is all real-

He throws himself against his twin, toppling them both over on the bed as he clings to Donnie, unable to stand even a fraction of an inch of space between them, as though he could push their hearts together through their plastrons, and he cries, sobbing out worry and terror and grief and the slow, crushing exhaustion of a losing battle finally lost. He cries as though the world was ending - and it had, once when the Krang had invaded and again every time he'd lost a member of his family, over and over until he'd sent his last hope through a portal that had cost his littlest brother his life and succumbed to death himself.

And now he's alive. Here, wherever here is, with Donnie. Clinging to his twin, and being held in turn as Donnie gently sits them both up, never letting go as Leo cries himself out.

It takes a while - long enough for Leo's gaze to settle into a stare and his thoughts to settle into a comfortable static. He's alive, Donnie is alive, and he has no fucking idea what else is going on, but he's just going to be okay with that for now.

His thoughts rouse enough to inform him of something wrong - the line of tension Donnie is carrying down his neck and over his shoulders. That won't do. Leo could try to massage it out with one hand, maybe try to get Donnie to talk about it, but Donnie never likes to talk about it, and Leo isn't one for slowly soothing away tension when he can just take an axe to the release valve instead. Plus, it gives him something definite to focus on, instead of…this whole situation. Whatever 'this whole situation' actually is.

Donnie had mentioned his stupid jokes, right?

"H-hey Dee?" His voice wavers from disuse, thick with tears, but he pushes through. "Why did- why did the tree buy a camera?"

"What?" Oh, Donnie is not going to see this coming. Excellent.

"To do a photosynthesis." It's nowhere near the level of pizazz he normally uses for a punchline delivery - he's still too tired and frazzled and clinging to Donnie entirely too hard for that - but that beautiful pause of a terrible joke sinking in tells him it had hit home nonetheless. Donnie moves - he can hear the telltale slap of face meeting palm - and then breaks down into helpless laughter, smacking the back of Leo's shell as the tension Leo had felt in his twin's shoulders abruptly relaxes. Good. It worked.

"This is so fucking stupid," is all Donnie manages as his laughter fades, and he slumps fully against Leo with a murmur. That's...abrupt. Sure, Leo had felt Donnie's exhaustion, but he hadn't realized it'd been that bad. He takes hold of Donnie, gently laying him down on the bed to rest-

Remember what happened last time Donnie fell asleep next to you.

He gasps sharply at the thought - not again NEVER again - and keeps his hand steady as he moves, laying both fingers gently against Donnie's neck and feeling for his pulse. It's easy to find, strong and steady and even, like it had been before the infection had taken Donnie's vitality and then his life.

But he's alive, and healthy, and sleeping. He's okay. And Leo-

Leo moves his hand to the side of his own neck. His pulse is also easy to find, quickened with the adrenaline of an unknown situation and multiple consecutive shocks to his system.

Okay. Take stock. Assess. Figure out a plan from there.

He's alive. Donnie's alive. The Krang are gone. And everything else…is a big fat question mark, with no easy answers and no indication as to where to begin looking for them.

Well.

Uh.

"What the fuck," Leo whispers to the room at large, as though the walls could answer.

~~~~~~~

(A world away and still very close, a younger pair of twins cling to one another the way a drowning man clings to driftwood: desperately, clutching tight, as though letting go will spell their doom. Neither of them know where the emotions came from, or why; all they know is that each of them are damn glad the other is alive, and they'll do everything they can to make sure that continues to be the case.)

(What the fuck, indeed.)

[onejellyfishplease]

I'm not alone (I promise)

New au??

new au that doesnt focus on traumatising Donnie?

(Next) (more doodles)

[cupcakeslushie]

EW!Future Leo reaction to Casey Jr calling him dad by accident, how it would be? Like, would he react good or awkward?

And, did Future Donnie also create that shell for Casey Jr?? OMG Bonding time, we need to know if this two got bonding time.

How did Raph’s death affect the future EW! Family? Did they become more distanced from one another or?

I did Casey receiving his battle shell, but Casey calling Leo dad would be the two of them freezing and losing function in their brains while they each rebooted. But rest assured, Leo would cry tears of joy later, either to April or Usagi.

[freak-phone]

[turtleblogatlast]

[ cw: dismemberment / ]

I think a lot about how Leo’s rescue could have easily ended in him losing a leg as the portal snaps shut on the Krang still clutching the limb, or, alternatively, only having Leo’s right arm make it out, still held dearly in his brother’s hand as the rest of Leo is left behind. (The latter hits even harder, as it directly parallels his future self in the worst of ways.)

I think a lot about how so many things could have gone wrong during the course of the movie with even a little bit of a change, but it really is harrowing how much of a coin-flip the entirety of the Prison Dimension rescue was.

[howlsofbloodhounds]

killer probably finds comfort in the idea of not existing or ceasing to exist after death, whereas for color the thought of it is his idea of a personal hell. something about how something new papyrus would only ever know killer as sans, and how othertale papyrus will only ever know color as color.

[intotheelliwoods]

Part 1

Part 2 can be found here

Masterpost

[kybercrystals94]

The Defender (CH. # 1)

Febuwhump 2025 | Day 1 | Prompt: Vocal Cords

Read here on Ao3

<< Master Post | Next Chapter >>

Rated: G | Words: 479

Character Ages

Omega (3 - 4.5)

The Batch (Chronological: 0 - 1.5 / Biological: 0 - 3)

These babies are loud. 

But loud babies are strong babies, Omega reminds herself. So she doesn’t mind when they scream and cry, even when it hurts her ears. At least they are able to communicate, unlike the other babies that have come into Nala Se’s lab. Those babies only stayed for a few days before they stopped moving and were taken away. 

But 9901, 9902, 9903, and 9904 – they are loud babies, strong babies…alive babies. 

And Omega is their sister, their big sister, and she helps take care of them when they cry and fuss. Even when they pull her hair or spit up formula on her uniform. Only alive babies pull hair and spit up, so Omega doesn’t mind. 

She wishes her brothers had real names, but Nala Se said that they do not require any other form of identification. It would clutter their charts, she said, and would be confusing. 

Omega doesn’t think so, but Omega is still little herself, and Nala Se knows far more than her little mind knows yet. Maybe, someday, Omega will know and understand as much as Nala Se; however, for now, she will listen.

Omega does shorten their numbers when she speaks to her brothers. Oh-one, Oh-two, Oh-three, and Oh-four. And, besides, if she says the numbers fast enough, they almost sound like real names.

“Do not get attached, Omega,” Nala Se tells her almost everyday. “They will not be staying in the lab once their enhancements have stabilized.” 

Omega tries to follow instructions, but whenever she holds one of the babies in her lap while Nala Se checks their vitals, or when they wrap tiny fingers around her own…the feeling grows and grows and grows. She can’t stop it, that feeling that glows warmly in her chest. Right in the place where Nala Se said her heart is. The heart is a muscle, Nala Se said, and it pumps blood through her whole body. And just like her blood, her heart pumps that wonderful feeling. She doesn’t know the word for it. Nala Se says that feelings are irrelevant to facts. 

Facts are important, feelings are obstacles. 

So Omega will keep this feeling to herself. She will let it grow when the babies cry loudly and she comforts them. She will let it grow when they smile at her when she makes silly faces at them. She will let it grow when she worries about what will happen when they leave the lab. 

She will let it grow when they leave. 

And when the feeling is all she has left, because the babies are gone, she will keep it hidden and safe until she finds them again. 

Because this feeling, like babies, is loud. 

But she thinks it is what it means to feel alive. 

And holding onto it even when it hurts is what it means to be strong.

Up Next...

Prompt: Holding Back Tears

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[psychologicalwarclaire]

Remember the thing I wrote about Mikey getting shot? Here's part three!

Part 1 & 2 | Part 4 (coming soon)

They hit the ground hard, crashing into the center of the Lair. 

Mikey half sobbed, half screamed at the jolting landing. 

“I’m sorry,” Leo cried out. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean for us to fall that far. I’m sorry!” 

“Leo? Mikey?!” Raph stood over them, horror etched on his face. 

“Raph!” Leo’s voice cracked. He couldn’t break now. He still had so much work to do. “Raph…” He couldn’t seem to say anything else. He was just so relieved to see him, but still so scared. He could feel his baby brother bleeding out in his arms. “Raph. Raph, Raph–” 

Raph dropped to his knees. Both of his hands shot out, one to cradle Mikey’s head, and the other to rest on Leo’s shoulder. “I need you to focus, Leo,” he said in a deadly serious voice. “Tell me what happened later. Donnie is preppin’ the med bay but he can only do so much. Can you save Mikey?” 

Leo squeezed his eyes shut. He’d never done anything like this before. None of them had ever been in this sort of condition before. He didn’t have the experience, didn’t have the knowledge– 

“Leo.”

He wanted so badly to shove Mikey into Raph’s arms and pass out. But Mikey would die if Leo did that. He was the only one who could possibly save Mikey. 

Mikey let out a pitiful whine. With heavy-lidded, cloudy eyes, Leo wasn’t sure exactly how conscious he was anymore. All he knew was that Mikey was in severe pain. He stared down at Mikey, unable to move. 

“Leo!” Raph shook his shoulder. Mikey sobbed. “Leo, can Mikey count on you to save him?” 

Raph always knew exactly what Leo needed, and those were the right words to snap Leo out of his spiral and directly into action. He nodded. 

Leo tried to stand, he really did. But his legs were shaking too hard, and his arms were too busy clutching Mikey to himself. He couldn’t get up. “Raph,” his voice still trembled, “I need you to carry us there.” 

“Raph’s on it.” With impossibly gentle arms, Raph scooped them up and began sprinting to the med bay. 

Mikey screamed with each step. 

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” Leo whispered. “I’m sorry, I know it hurts.” They weren’t supposed to move him like this. Not until he was stabilized. But there was nothing else Leo could think to do at that moment. 

Whether out of breath or out of time, Mikey’s screams faded into wheezing, ragged breaths. Leo panicked like he never had before. Whether from blood loss or pain, Mikey had passed out. But Leo could still feel Mikey’s faint heartbeat, fluttering like the hope he cradled almost as tightly as his brother. 

Raph ran faster. 

As the med bay doors came into view, Leo attempted to take a steadying breath. He didn’t know what exactly the next few hours of scrambling to save Mikey’s life would entail, but he knew that it was all on his shoulders. 

As Mikey was gently layed out on the cot, Leo allowed himself one moment to take in his injuries under the bright medbay light. 

His shoulder was a torn, bloody mess due to a horrifically ragged bullet exit wound. Mikey’s whole arm hung at an awkward, limp angle. The top right quarter of his shell was mangled: cracked from the impact, splintering apart, and some of it was simply gone. Dark blood had welled between the fissures. In fact, blood was everywhere. Staining Mikey’s hands from where he’d tried to stop the bleeding, spilling down his plastron, congealing on his head where the barrel had hit him. Grimy streaks of gunk from the disgusting floor of the alleyway only added to the horrifying picture. 

In fact, the only part of him that wasn’t splattered in some way were the tear tracks cutting down his cheeks. Leo wondered how much he’d cried when he’d left, believing that Leo must have abandoned him. 

If Leo hadn’t felt Mikey’s weak pulse with his own hands only seconds ago, he might have assumed the worst from looking at Mikey’s pained, pale face. 

He was shaking. 

Leo got to work. 

—

The edges of Leo’s vision were fuzzy as he pressed a damp rag to his baby brother’s clammy, warm forehead. Entirely honed in, nothing else in the world mattered except that Mikey kept breathing. 

Ragged, shallow, pained breaths, but breathing nonetheless. 

Mikey’s face was still scrunched in pain, as it had been for hours. A small whine that sounded far too much like a heart monitor in a flatline came from Mikey’s throat. 

“It’s okay,” Leo whispered, his voice hoarse from barking orders at his family. “I’ve got you. I promise.” 

It had been fourteen, maybe fifteen hours since Leo had portaled into the middle of the Lair, clutching a bleeding, broken brother. Everything still felt broken. Everything was still broken. 

If Leo had been asked to recount exactly what had happened in the many white-knuckled hours before, he would not have been able to recall very much. He didn’t even know what time it was anymore. 

All he remembered was Mikey’s orange bandana stained a dark red. Shards of Mikey’s shell held loosely in his hands. Donnie’s frozen gaze that had forced Leo to yell at him to get moving several times as he’d scrambled to hook up monitors. Accidentally missing Raph’s vein the first try during the critically needed blood transfusion. Towels and rags becoming a deeper and deeper pink as wounds were cleaned. Mounting horror that rose with Mikey’s temperature as Leo realized that he had developed an infection. Worst of all, he remembered the way Mikey’s heartbeat faded in and out. 

Uneven. Unsteady. 

Until it had stopped altogether. 

Leo didn’t remember the chest compressions or the defibrillator or the medication or the frantic voices of his brothers or the weird blue sparks that had circled his shaking hands as his markings glowed. He only remembered being blinded by sharp, icy-white panic.

Whichever of the treatments actually worked, Leo didn’t remember through the relieved haze. 

He’d saved him. 

He’d gotten Mikey’s heart to beat again. But it still took everything to keep it that way. 

Hours after the stitches, the bandaging, the arduous process of the pitiful shell repair they managed to do, the antibiotics, the transfusion, and every other necessary procedure, Mikey was only slightly more stable. 

Even after everything he’d done, Leo’s world remained only a few heartbeats away from shattering forever. 

Leo re-wet the cloth and pressed it Mikey’s overheating head once more. His free hand clung to Mikey’s motionless one. A hand that always had paint or clay or glitter under the fingernails. A hand that had painted countless scenes of their family together. Hands that lovingly kneaded dough for delicious pizza. Hands that always tapped and twitched and booped and snapped and clapped and made every sort of happy noise. 

But now Mikey’s hands were perfectly still in Leo’s grip. Unnatural and upsetting. No matter how hard Leo squeezed, Mikey’s fingers didn’t so much as twitch. 

Distantly, someone made a sound that might have been Leo’s name. 

It took him a few seconds to register that someone else was there. Finally, Leo slowly raised his head, looking around. 

“Leo,” Raph said in a low voice, “let me watch over him for a while.” 

Leo shook his head. Immediately, he regretted doing so, as the world continued to sway even after he stopped. 

“Leo, please. You almost look as terrible as he does. Get some sleep.” 

“I can’t.” Leo’s voice was so scratchy it hardly even sounded like himself. It hurt to speak. “I need to be here in case something happens again.” 

“The worst is over. And even if somethin’ did happen, you wouldn’t be able to do anythin’ in this state. Mikey and I will be right here the whole time. Just… please rest.” Raph tugged the cloth out of Leo’s stiff fingers. 

He didn’t react. 

“Leo, you’ve been workin’ nonstop for almost sixteen hours now. You did it. He’s safe.” 

“We’re not safe,” Leo whispered, staring at nothing. “She’s still out there. She wants Donnie.” The woman’s cold face and the even colder glint off the barrel of the gun were burned into Leo’s mind. He doubted the Foot Clan had been able to stop her for long. Even if they had, there would still be consequences for tangling with… whoever she was. 

“Donnie’s upping security right now,” Raph continued in that same gentle voice. 

Of course. Someone should probably go make sure Donnie wasn’t blaming himself for what had transpired in the alley. Yes, the woman had been searching for him because of money he’d apparently stolen from her, but Donnie had no idea what he’d been getting into. Donnie never intended for any of this to happen. Donnie, who once set a table on fire because Mikey had stubbed his toe on it, wouldn’t rest until he was positive his baby brother was safe. Donnie may be blaming himself, but Leo knew who had fired the gun. And why. 

Leo hadn’t been able to rat Donnie out. And because of that, Mikey’s shoulder and surrounding shell had been blasted apart. 

The flash and immediate spray of red were branded onto Leo’s brain. But what was infinitely worse was the absolute shock and terror of Mikey’s face, and the way it crumpled into agony within a second. 

And then the fall. 

He had taken, it seemed, hours to fall forward. A slow arc downwards where he had crashed to the pavement. 

The bright white medbay and disgusting dark alleyway could not have been more different, but to Leo, everything was blurring together. It didn’t matter where he was, Mikey needed him. He needed to keep watching over him. 

It was the absolute least he could do. 

“Leo, please, you’re scarin’ me.” The Raph Chasm looked even more serious than usual. “Say somethin’, please.” 

Dozens of things he could– should– say flashed through Leo’s head. 

It’s my fault. 

You didn’t see his face when it happened, Raph. You don’t know. 

It was all so horrible. 

I can’t leave him. 

None of them left his tight throat. He didn’t know what to say to Raph. He didn’t know what he would say to Mikey if– when he woke up. 

All he could think about was being dragged away from Mikey’s prone figure, slumped in a growing pool of blood. Leo had screamed and kicked and fought with everything in him to get back to his brother. And nothing had worked. 

Leo had left him there. 

Entirely alone. 

Mikey had literally bled out in darkness, surrounded by grime and garbage. 

“I’m not leaving him again,” Leo whispered. 

Raph drew breath, like he could possibly say something to change Leo’s mind. 

“They forced me to leave him, Raph. Dragged me away. I’m not going to do that again. He needed me and I wasn’t there. I’m not going to do it again. I’m not going to– I’m not–” 

“I didn’t say you should leave the medbay,” Raph said calmly, carefully avoiding making eye contact with Leo. He’d taken over the work of gently caressing Mikey’s forehead with the rag he’d taken from Leo (When had he done that?). It was honestly amazing how levelheaded Raph had managed to remain while his littlest brother hung in the balance. Leo supposed it was a defense mechanism so he didn’t freak out and make things worse. “Go grab pillows or something. You can stay, you just have to sleep. Got that?” 

Leo conceded.

“I’ll be right back,” he whispered, squeezing Mikey’s motionless hand. Letting go was harder than it should have been. He forced his fingers to loosen and pull away. 

The echo of a gunshot flashed through Leo’s mind, Mikey’s terrified eyes reflecting distant streetlights– 

A screaming flatline– 

“NO!”

Lurching forward, Leo’s hands latched onto Mikey’s wrist, instantly relieved to feel a pulse underneath. His ears rang. He couldn’t breathe. Over and over and over again, he saw and heard and smelled– 

“Leo!” Raph’s steady hand gripped Leo’s bicep. “Hey, it’s over, okay? I promise that Mikey is safe. It’s all thanks to you. It’s okay.” 

“It’s because of me,” Leo whispered. 

“Yes, it’s because of you that he’s home safe.” 

“No–” 

“Yes, it’s because of you his little heart is still beating.” 

“No–” 

“Yes. Leo. Look at me.” 

Tearing his eyes away from Mikey’s slowly rising and falling chest was almost impossible, but he managed to meet Raph’s eyes. Leo was shocked to see his own fear and guilt reflected back. 

“I’m scared too. You saw how much I panicked when you two dropped in covered in blood. You saw how I could barely sit still during the transfusion.” Leo’s gaze dropped to the gauze around Raph’s inner elbow. Had that only been a few hours ago? “If you go to sleep, it’ll seem like he’ll wake up faster, won’t it?” 

Leo had gone back to staring down at Mikey’s pinched face. “I know all that. I just… can’t leave.” 

Raph sighed. “Raph’s too soft with you guys. I’ll go get pillows and stuff with the understandin’ that you will attempt to sleep once they’re in here. Got that?” 

“Yeah.” 

Raph left. 

For the millionth time in the past however many hours, Leo checked over Mikey’s vitals again. They hadn’t changed much; he still wasn’t doing great. High fever, shallow breathing, and a heart rate that still hadn’t stabilized. He didn’t know what else he could do. It didn’t feel safe giving him any more antibiotics, and moving him to change bandages again was going to require more hands. Leo didn’t want to think about long term shell repair. He didn’t want to look at the cracks, at the splintered shell, any longer than he had to. 

“I’m back! It is now officially Raph’s-Turn-O’Clock.” 

“He’s not stable yet,” Leo protested. 

“Leo, we had a deal.” 

“What if something else happens? If his blood pressure–” 

Raph dumped mounds of pillows and blankets at Leo’s feet. “I’ll wake you up if something changes. I swear on Pizza Supreme.” 

The moment the pile fwump’ed at his feet and Leo felt soft fabric against his shins, his legs all but gave out. With one final squeeze of Mikey’s hand, Leo sank to the floor. It felt so wrong not to be holding onto Mikey anymore. Surely, Raph had tricked him! Sedated him without him knowing! Something other than just being in the presence of pillows had to be going on. 

“How are you… so calm about this?” Leo muttered, fighting off sleep for as long as he could. 

“Oh believe me, Raph’s not. Once Raph knows everythin’ is okay then he’ll probably have an epic breakdown. Delayed stress response, n’ stuff. You’re not the only one who almost lost their little brother, Leo.” 

“Hmmm,” Leo managed. His limbs were heavy and his mind was filled with fuzz. 

A beeping heart rate faded into the beat that Leo’s legs followed as he ran through dream after dream, trying all the while to get to Mikey.

[the-broken-pen]

Hello! i love your cat villian one so much maybe do more??????

but ignore if not (AMAZING BLOG EVER)

The protagonist was dying. They were sure of it, they could feel it, this all consuming terror and in the way they couldn’t draw a full breath into their lungs, like it was funneled through a straw and it was killing them–

Their vision went blurry and they crumpled against the wall, curling into a half-hearted ball over their knees against the baseboard. There was blood splattered over their hands. They just–if they could just–a tiny bit of air–

A hand, warm and gentle, appeared at the nap of their neck, tipping their head up to look at their face.

The protagonist blinked, and the villain was there, and they were watching them die, and oh god they were going to get fired–

“Breathe,” the villain said, and it sounded like they were under water. A million miles away. Point Nemo. Their sister had told them about that once, in the middle of the night as they sat on the roof.

It must be so lonely, she had said, head tipped to the stars. To be so far from everyone else.

The protagonist had wanted to say, I don’t need to be far from everyone else to feel lonely. I’m Point Nemo, can’t you see? But they hadn’t, had just hummed something in agreement, and the villain was telling them to “breathe,” again.

I’m trying, the protagonist wanted to sob. I’m trying, I’m trying, I’m trying.

“Protagonist,” the villain cupped their face in their hands, and through the blurring of the protagonist’s vision, they looked absolutely terrified.

Which didn’t make sense, because the villain always knew exactly what to do in every situation. It was comforting to be in the shadow of someone who knew exactly how they fit into the world.

The villain said something, and the protagonist blinked.

“What?” they managed. The villain snapped their head to look up at them.

“I said, I’m calling your mom.”

Abruptly, terror was flooding their veins again, and they slammed the phone out of the villain’s hand and onto the concrete.

The villain just watched them, concern stark on their face.

“Protagonist–”

“You can’t call her,” they gasped out, chest tight. “She’ll worry and–I can’t do that to her, not after my sister, she can’t do that again.”

Point Nemo. One million miles away.

Really, though, just six feet down.

It felt the same.

“Okay,” the villain said, low and soothing, like they were a scared child. They were. “Okay, I won’t call her, but I need you to breathe,” they emphasized.

“I’m trying,” the protagonist bit out, sucking in air that didn’t seem to be doing anything. How could it not be doing anything? This was one of the worst things that could be happening to them, let alone in front of their boss. They were supposed to be stronger than this, they were stronger than this, so why were they shaking against the baseboard in the hallway of their base. Idly, they looked down at the blood coating their arms, and couldn’t remember whose it was.

“I don’t know how to help you,” the villain admitted, voice breaking.

The protagonist couldn’t get their hands to stop shaking.

If they could just draw a breath–

Blood is harder to get off than you would expect. It clings and clings and clings–

The villain followed their gaze down, and a moment later, they had a wet wipe in their hand, wiping down the protagonist’s hands with an efficiency they could never hope to imitate.

They flinched away from the cold of it a second too late, and the villain frowned.

“You’re okay,” the villain promised, and the protagonist wanted to believe them.

They still choked on the next breath they tried to take, and it hurt and was miserable and the protagonist just wanted it to stop.

The villain said something that sounded like their name again, and they wanted to respond but felt the words get caught in their ribs, and the villain vanished and–

They were holding a cat.

Their shoulders untensed immediately, hands curling softly into the fur, as softly as they could manage while shaking, and they bit their lip to keep from crying at how useless they felt. How could they not figure out how to use their own hands? They bit back a sob, because nothing was working and they couldn’t bear to hurt a cat.

The cat curled itself further against the protagonist’s chest, tucked into their arms in the hollow between their knees and their abdomen.

The villain was–oh.

Oh, the protagonist was so stupid.

The villain was kind, kinder than they deserved, probably, turning into a cat just to make the protagonist stop having a meltdown in their hallway.

The protagonist just needed to get their legs to stop being numb, and then they could stand up and go hide in the bathroom until their body remembered how to do its job, and stop bothering the villain with their stupid problems and panic.

And then, abruptly, the villain began to purr, rumbling into the protagonist's chest.

Some knot deep inside of them that they hadn’t realized existed uncoiled, and they sucked in a breath so deep they thought it would never end. They choked on it on the way out, but the villain simply kept purring, so they tried again, and again, until their vision unblurred and the ache in their lungs had vanished.

“Okay,” the protagonist murmured to themself. Sometimes, they could trick themself by talking in the tone they used on frightened children when out on patrol. “You’re okay, I’m okay, everything is fine.”

They moved to set the villain down, but the villain dug their claws into the protagonist’s arm, nudging their face into their bicep.

Are you really okay? They seemed to ask, and the protagonist didn’t have an answer to that. They could breathe, and feel their toes, and they could remember–oh.

They could remember.

Blood on their hands.

The villain started purring again, and the protagonist burst into tears, burying their face into the villain’s fur. The villain let them, nudging the side of the face every so often in a reminder to breathe.

They stayed like that, until the protagonist’s tears had dried, and their heart only panged a little bit when the villain jumped down out of their arms and onto the floor in front of them.

A blink, and the villain was in front of them again, eyes filled with concern as they grabbed onto the protagonist’s elbows.

“You’re okay,” the villain breathed, and then the protagonist was pulled into a hug so warm they never wanted to leave. “You’re okay.”

“I’m okay,” the protagonist agreed, face tucked into the villain’s chest.

The villain simply hugged them tighter.

Point Nemo had never felt further away.

[angelpuns]

Usagi Yuichi Ref

Rural Au masterpost

CW: FAMILY/PARENT/SIBLING DEATH MENTION

Even though Yuichi won't be introduced for a while in the actual comic, I really wanted to redesign him and make him more?? Idk, I just didn't like the previous design and have been meaning to redesign him for a while.

Yuichi is Leo's best friend/rival (and later love interest). He lives in the hidden yokai village with his aunt and little sister. Him and all the other yokai in the village are hesitant to trust Splinter due to him being a human, and thus refer to him as Splinter rather than learning his name. They are wary of humans due to a previous encounter with human hunters in the area. Yuichi's father and older brother were the protectors of the village ( a task that has been passed down through his family since the village was founded by his Grandfather) and were killed by humans. His mother died during the birth of his sister and his aunt is their last family member alive to care for them. Yuichi is training to become the village's next protector, but he doesn't want to do that. He enjoys the quiet life of farming and would rather take over the farm.

He and Leo met during a trip to the village with Raph and Mikey (Yoshi sent them to retrieve medicine for Donnie) and instantly hated each other. Then they realized they have similar interests and became rivals/friends. Leo's feelings for him are extremely complicated, and vice versa.

Yuichi does know about the war, because the yokai in the village are way more in touch with the goings on of the human world. They are prepared in case the war somehow reaches them, but Yuichi finds it hard to relax. He doesn't want to tell Leo because Donnie asked him not to. Donnie also doesn't like Yuichi very much due to an incident when they were younger, though he learns to come around to him later after realizing how petty it was.

[aroaceleovaldez]

I need to see more demigods who bite. Like jason totally feels the need to bite stuff, and leo half-jokingly suggests getting him a chew toy (like a dog). Nico absolutely bites to show affection, (maybe not willy nilly like jason but still) like just randomly biting people he's close with shoulders or hands because he just loves them so much (jason both bite to express affection and stim)

Anyways petition to normalize neurodivergent people who bite as a form of expressing affection or stimming.

oh absolutely. I actually have a tier list of "which of the Argo II crew & co are most likely to bite:"

Jason gnaws on people to show affection. He is extremely "Everything I love belongs in my mouth and everything I hate belongs between my teeth." He mostly stopped doing it for awhile cause of the whole "being trained to be the Perfect Praetor™" and having to mask a lot more, but he picked it up again a bit when he and Reyna became friends cause she didn't care and then more with the Argo II crew. He definitely hoards chewlery. He also definitely bit Krios real bad when they were fighting, if not outright killed him with his teeth.

Nico is a younger sibling. He has no qualms against biting in fights, any fight, but he does associate biting with fights. Jason tries to friendly-bite him one time and Nico just takes it as declaration of war and they end up tussling for like five minutes. After he gets used to Jason though he picks it up a bit too, mostly just chewing on people's hands. Also I 100% hc that when he was in Tartarus he just went full teeth-and-claws mode to survive. Honestly he bites more in regular combat and even training than Jason does, mostly just cause he's not above fighting dirty. If it works, it works. Also I hc he has sharp canines and is small so he might as well.

Frank's third but only on technicality cause shapeshifting. When he's human he's pretty much equal level to everybody else which is "only bites as a last resort."

Everybody else is pretty on-par with each other but Percy is probably just sliiightly more likely to bite not for any particular reason, he just considers it a valid fight tactic in a pinch (unlike Nico, who just considers it a general fight tactic). Also he got the oral stim adhd vibes. He has a lot of chewlery. They're all sea-themed, of course. Thalia is also pretty equal to Percy in terms of "biting as a valid fighting tactic."

Annabeth is also like. She's less likely to bite than Percy but more likely to than the rest of the crew. It's just a valid battle tactic under certain scenarios to her (and that includes training). She does consider it a low-blow though. She's also definitely got the oral stim adhd too. Lots of chewlery, rip her pencils and pens, etc etc. Her and Percy probably have a shared chewlery collection.

Piper is not the bitey type but she does have little to no formal combat training so yknow, wet cat technique. I do also totally believe she'd also have a chewing stim though. Like yknow how I draw her with the little braid sidebangs? Yeah she definitely chews on those and that's part of why she wears her hair like that. The other reason is that braiding it is one of her other stims.

[cokoweee]

NOPE I CHANGE MY MIND I DO HAVE TIME TO SAY MY FEELINGS ON THIS

Are we getting some Donnie perspectives of how he sees the ghosts before they leave?

How dare you (affectionate)

YUP. That’s why he always turns away, covers his eyes. Another reason why they always told him to turn away. He sees them like that almost every time. His real last memory of them is how they looked after passing