#the way the perspective changes and then donnie reaching out to him

[thatkoiboi]

UM... HELLO????

@somerandomdudelmao I has a gift! I went the more dream/memory route of the chapter (which I could not finish in TIME)

But yeah, have some sadness.

Master Post

[aealzx]

“Welcome home guys,” Mom April was there to greet them when they pulled into their hanger, concern held at bay in her hands clasped together in front of her, Casey and Leatherhead right next to her with mixed levels of outward happiness expressed. “Are the others okay?” She didn’t want to overwhelm them, but she couldn’t keep from asking.

“Thanks April. They’ll be fine. Later please,” Don greeted, the first to rush down the stairs after checking to make sure Raphael and Leo would take care of carrying their two guests. He wasn’t trying to brush Mom April off, he was just incredibly distracted by running through what they needed to take care of their guests for the thousandth time in his mind. “Leatherhead, I need help. Mikey has a bullet in his arm, but I also need to get an IV in Donnie, and check his injuries. Do you think you can take care of Mikey?”

“Of course, my friend,” Leatherhead agreed, refraining from commenting about not being sure who exactly Don was talking about. He was just relieved to see them all returned home in relatively good health. With a request to fulfill, he quickly left to follow Don to the infirmary to prepare it.

“Again?!” Mom April sputtered, hearing Don’s comments and placing her hands on her hips while looking from Don back up to the plane’s doorway.

“Not me! The little Mikey,” Mikey squawked, pausing to catch the blanket that had slipped off Lil Mikey as Raphael came towards the exit and folding it in his hands when Raphael rushed by. Lil Mikey had fallen asleep for a short while on the trip, but once they’d started to land he’d began stirring awake, and was now looking sleepily around as Raphael carried him.

“Hey Raph, you got kids you never told us about?” Casey teased, trying to keep the mood lighter while watching his friend carry the smaller form quickly down the stairs. “Cept he doesn’t look anything like you. Other than being a turtle.”

“Har har Casey. This is Mikey, now move so I can get him to the infirmary,” Raphael responded, barely pausing and ignoring Casey’s protests as he brushed by them to follow Don. He could hear Mom April greeting Leo and Mikey, and knew they would get held up for a moment getting dragged into a quick hug of relief from her. She was at least careful to not squish Donnie, who hadn’t stirred an inch since he’d fallen asleep. It was probably what had Don so on edge to properly check on him. And after having seen the video feed, Raphael couldn’t blame him. But he was semi distracted by Lil Mikey’s openly confused gaze lingering on Casey as they passed, a few dots connecting in his mind.

“Wait… how old are you???” he suddenly gaped, looking at Raphael.

Raising a brow, Raphael briefly wondered why Lil Mikey was asking, but couldn’t figure it out himself. “Something like 32. Why?”

Raphael didn’t expect Lil Mikey’s expression to turn from confusion to open shock, his nose crinkled slightly. “Oh mi gosh your oooooold,” he blurted.

“Hey! Don’t make me drop you. You seem to be feeling much better to be making jabs like that,” Raphael protested, but only mildly offended. He wasn’t that old. Kids just had no sense of time. But he was glad to see some of the spunk had returned to the kid.

“I thought you were Raph’s or April’s age. But you’re like twice as old as me,” Lil Mikey persisted, ignoring Raphael’s comments about dropping him.

“...You’re 16?” Raphael asked, the heavy realization causing his steps to pause a moment. He knew they were kids, but for some reason having a number blatantly placed on their age made what had happened that much darker for him. Strange how his perspective had changed over the years.

“15,” Lil Mikey answered, not bothered by that fact at all. He did notice Raphael’s steps pause for a moment, and glanced to see if something got in his way before looking back to him. “Is that wrong?”

Hearing the concern, Raphael shook his head quickly. “No. Not wrong. I was just thinking I wish I’d gotten a chance to kick Augustine too.”

They had reached the infirmary now, and Don was quick to call Raphael over to where he and Leatherhead were preparing one of their thinly cushioned surgical tables. As soon as Lil Mikey caught sight of it, and realized Raphael was taking him to it, he tensed, cutting off his comments and pressing into him. “Hey, I know it looks scary, but I promise nothing bad is going to happen to you. I’ll stay with you the whole time, okay? Leatherhead is just going to take that bullet out of your arm, and get you stitched up. It won’t take too long, and he’s very gentle. You won’t hurt a bit,” he quickly assured, coming to stop in front of the table but not moving to put Lil Mikey down yet. Instead he wrapped him up a little tighter in his arms, just to reassure him until he felt ready.

“We unfortunately can’t put you to sleep, I don’t like risking using complete anesthesia. But your arm will be totally numb, and Raph can stay with you and talk to you the whole time to keep you distracted,” Don started to explain as he bustled around, noticing Lil Mikey’s rising discomfort. “Depending on how much damage there is, it’ll only take around 40 minutes. You’ll just have to lay on your stomach the whole time. Leatherhead is only going to remove the bullet, and clean up the injury, nothing more, I promise. None of us have any interest in your insides for any reason other than to help you.”

“Did you have to say that last part?” Raphael asked, wrinkling his nose and squinting at Don. He knew surgical tables were usually not a nice sight for people like them, but he didn’t think it was a good idea to put the darker reason out in the open like that.

“What? It’s true, and you know that’s what he’s thinking,” Don huffed, squinting back at Raphael before rushing to a cupboard nearby to grab a sterile pillow.

Lil Mikey couldn’t help the tiny snicker that escaped at the exchange, which was enough to get Raphael to not quip back as his brother. Instead he pulled a stool over with his foot and sat down on it, keeping Lil Mikey held close. “I’ll keep you close until you’re ready. The bleeding stopped while you were asleep, it’s just a lot more comfortable in the long run to not have a bullet in you. Plus we want to make sure it doesn’t get infected.”

Lil Mikey knew that they only wanted to help him, but while Leon watched a lot of surgery videos all the time, none of them had ever needed anything more than what could be taken care of completely externally. It was scary to think about someone cutting into his arm. Even without it being for nefarious reasons. “Have…you guys done this before?” Lil Mikey eventually asked, keeping his cheek pressed against Raphael while he thought things through. What about it was scaring him? If he could just get that addressed then he figured he would be okay.

“Me? I’ve had some removed before, but never been the one doing the removing. That’s always been Don and Leatherhead. They’ve gotten so good that the wounds don’t even scar much anymore,” Raphael assured. He would have shown him the places he’d been shot before, but he didn’t fully remember where he’d been hit anymore, and the scars were long gone.

Lil Mikey gave another soft snort. “I don’t think that’s a good thing.”

“Why not? It means it heals really well,” Raphael returned, genuinely confused why it wouldn’t be a good thing that Don and Leahterhead were good at dressing gunshot wounds.

“...But it means you guys have been shot a lot,” Lil Mikey clarified, falling quiet while that sank in, then looking up to Raphael when he didn’t answer immediately.

“...Yeah,” Raphael admitted, resting his cheek on Lil Mikey’s head, having never really thought about it. “I don’t mind though. It usually happens because we’re protecting someone else. So it’s worth it.”

The response was simple, but it ended up showing a lot of Raphael’s personality to Lil Mikey. Enough that he felt the rest of his concerns almost completely fade. It was just like his own big brother. Being so protective of other people. He’s also realized most of his fear was stemming from having never willingly let someone cut into him before. It happened all the time in shows and stories, especially the medical based ones that he sometimes watched with Leon. But there had been a minimally vocalized conditioning with them to never let anyone try that with them. It was strange to have someone other than Leon taking care of him, but Lil Mikey found that once he realized why he was afraid most of the fear melted away. “...Okay. I think I can do it then…” he spoke up hesitantly, 

“Really?” Raphael spoke, mildly surprised it hadn’t taken that long to calm the teen down about the procedure. “I’ll move you to the table then. If you start feeling uncomfortable again just let me know.”

Standing back up, Raphael carefully set Lil Mikey down on the surgical table and helped him lay on his belly, briefly leaving his side to grab a sterile blanket to put over his legs. As he was doing so Leatherhead approached with a tray of utensils, properly scrubbed up and covered, and with a non threatening smile.

“Hello little one. I promise I won’t hurt you,” Leatherhead greeted, making sure to stop where Lil Mikey could see him.

As soon as he caught sight of who Leatherhead actually was, Lil Mikey’s eyes grew wide in awe as his mouth dropped. “Ohhhhhhhhh…giant alligator…,” he whispered, completely enthralled by the new person.

Raphael had to snicker, having not expected that reaction from the kid, but not finding it a bad one. “Crocodile, actually. But still pretty cool, huh,” he corrected, giving Leatherhead a smirk. He would have nudged their friend, but that would have meant he’d have to go get washed and changed again.

“Uh huh,” Lil Mikey nodded, obediently lowering his head onto the pillow.

“You flatter me,” Leatherhead sheepishly chuckled, pleasantly surprised by the reaction. “I’ll have to strap your arm and torso in place so you don’t accidentally hurt yourself by moving around. And I’ll put a curtain across your shoulder so you can’t see what I’m doing. Is that okay?”

“...Yeah…,” Lil Mikey nodded again, watching Leatherhead move to the otherside of him until he was out of sight. His attention then snapped back to Raphael, the excited shine still in his eyes. “He’s so cool! Is he a yokai?”

Raphael could only chuckle again, and shake his head. “Don’t think so. What’s a yokai?”

He had been promised to stay with Lil Mikey to talk to him and distract him, so talk they did. First about the yokai, and then the Hidden City, which led to Raphael telling Lil Mikey about their version of the Battle Nexus, that had Lil Mikey excitedly commenting about how they had the same thing, only to find out the rules behind them were completely different. It was easy to talk to the kid, which made it easy for Leatherhead to do his job. Even if 40 minutes actually ended up being an hour, neither of them noticed.

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I kept giggling to myself drawing this one 'cause i have a weak spot for platonic squish fluff X'DD hope you guys enjoy the drawing too |D

[chaoticspeedrun]

Donnie x fem! Reader The little merturtle 5 FINAL

Summary: Prince Donatello was the third of four brothers, the prince of an underwater yokai city, but he has always been searching for something else far more interesting than the mystic arts he is used to, he wants to know everything about the human world, their traditions, their creations... But when he finds himself entranced by a human princess it might just be the last push he needs to make his dream of exploring the land a reality.

"Donnie’s chest physically hurt and his hand was grabbing onto his shirt tightly, he felt like clawing at his chest for the pain to stop."

Warnings: Angst with a happy ending, tooth-rotting fluff

PREV • MASTERLIST

Shipwrecked wedding

“Good work” Draxum said in a low voice from down under the sea, while he and Big Mama looked at how things were turning out from Huginn and Muninn’s perspective.

“Oh, that boy is much better than I thought” Big Mama groaned before stopping to ponder “Though maybe he wouldn’t have gotten that far if that slimy one of his brothers hadn’t managed to turn them all so they could follow him, then again in the end it’s better that they did.”

“It was a little too close for us to keep laying about like this” Draxum grunted “The purple one is crafty, at this rate he’ll be getting what he needs before the time is due”

“Well, it is time Big Mama took matters into her own tentacles” At this, her form changed from her unassuming mermaid appearance to that of a gigantic half-spider, half-cecaelia yokai, the creatures at the entrance of the cave seemed to wither away, but Draxum remained stoic while she hummed and reached for a necklace on her chest, the very same that now held the powers of the turtles and Donnie’s voice.

“With the purpley one belonging to us the others will have no choice but to follow for their dear brother and Lou will fall alongside them, I’ll make him writhe” The sinister smirk on Big Mama’s face grew “And I know just the yokai for this job…”

-

You were looking far away into the horizon from the terrace of your room, thinking deeply about what had happened today.

You knew there was more to the relationship you had developed with Donnie in a month than the instant of strong infatuation you experienced with your savior; words Casey had said after one of your outings with Donnie, when she’d caught sight of the grin that hadn’t left your cheeks all day, reverberated in your mind.

“Far better than any dream man is one of flesh and blood” She’d said in a strangely wisdom-filled voice you rarely heard her use, it left rapidly though “He’s exhausting and picky though, I don’t know why you enjoy spending time with him so much” She huffed before leaving the room.

You chuckled slightly at that, remembering how in denial you had been about your growing feelings for the caramel-skinned man, that wasn’t fair to him of course, not when you thought back on your interactions and realized, his feelings for you were so evident they were almost tangible.

Donnie went out of his way to tease or laugh at your misfortunes, but the easy manner in which he did was playful and you could hold no grudge like you didn’t do the same to him; plus the soft smile on his face whenever he thought you weren’t looking when you know he barely did any more than grimace at everyone else or deadpan when he thought something was dumb made it hard for you to ignore how you knew he felt around you.

You looked up from your spot out there at the terrace and towards the balcony window of the tower that you had made his residence, his room for as long as he’d want it to be so; and there he was, you caught a glimpse of him, still learning how to do his voluminous hair all by himself, an arduous task but one he seemed to feel very accomplished about.

It made you smile, why were you wasting your time thinking about a man you might never see again when Donnie was right there?

So, you had to let go of that fairytale, once and for all.

Your face turned back to the sea for a moment before you turned around in the direction of Donnie’s room, determined to talk to him about it all, feeling you had made him wait long enough.

The moment you started walking away though, you heard a deep humming in the distance that sent shivers down your spine, your eyes widened immediately and your breath hitched under the recognition of the voice.

You hadn’t been able to get that voice out of your head yet.

Your mind scrambled and you hurried back to where you had been looking over the sea, leaning down as far as you could to find the sight you had been yearning for since the shipwreck.

Walking down the beach and in your direction was a figure dressed in purple, if you hadn’t just seen Donnie a moment ago at his window you would have believed from what you could make out of that silhouette that it was him.

You squinted your eyes, trying to make out the appearance of the person you were looking at, even though you could tell immediately from the voice that it was precisely the person you had been waiting for before today.

You managed to make out a small light on their chest, it seemed to grow stronger the louder the voice of this person became and through the fog you blinked as you seemed to have imagined that the light traveled through the fog and towards you.

You opened your eyes again, but your thoughts seemed to be dispersed, you could only think about the beautiful voice of the man who’d saved you.

-

Donnie woke up that morning unlike any other morning, he wasn’t grumbling and trying to hide himself further into the blankets, nor was he sleepily trying to prepare himself mentally before getting out of his cocoon, or pushing Leonardo’s insistent feet out of his face, no.

The sun streamed from the windows; the curtains wide open from his forgetting to close them the night before and Donnie awoke slowly with a smile on his face, he rubbed his eyes with a yawn before raising slowly, stretching his arms with a dumb grin still adorning his features.

Trying to avoid hitting Leo on the pillow beside him he got up from the bed lazily, wandering over to the window to rest himself against it and look out into the glittering sea with a deep sigh.

His mind kept replaying the events of last night and the more awake he felt the more his grin grew, he hadn’t noticed his legs wiggling underneath him in excitement at the thought of you or Leo finally waking up and laying close to him at the window.

You liked him, you definitely liked him, he couldn’t be reading that wrong, because he knew that last night you had been just about to kiss him and recapping the whole month he could now look back and think of little things you’d done that he had been, in Leo’s words, too dense to notice as proof of your growing attraction to him.

He was in the clouds.

And because he was, he hadn’t noticed Raph yelling at him from far below the tower.

Finally, having been called to attention by Leo almost biting his finger off, Donnie glared and woke up from his daydreams now in his usual mood when he noticed Raph had managed to reach your terrace and was talking to him from way over there.

“Donnie! Congratulations! You did it” Raph seemed to be tearing up and Donnie couldn’t understand why “Raph’s so proud of you little guy!”

“What are YOU TALKING ABOUT?” Leo yelled, trying to make his voice louder so Raph would hear, the eldest just chuckled at him.

“Oh, shut up Leo, you just want to show off that you knew first,” Raph said

“He didn’t do anything except go on and on about her highness last night!” Leo yelled with Raph looking weird at him.

“He can’t talk!”

“Well, he would have if he could!” Leo huffed; Raph just shook his head.

“Mikey and I heard close to town, everyone’s all excited about the princess finding her one true love, they’re saying something about her finally getting married soon!”

Donnie’s eyes were the biggest they had ever been in his life and his heart was hammering against his chest, if he had thought last night was a dream then he had entered a coma now, his expression went back to giddy, and then utterly elated while his hands were flapping right beside him, any doubt he may have had left was evaporated at the implications of Raph’s words.

You loved him, you really did love him, so much so your subjects were already thinking of wedding bells, he wondered who you had talked to that the rumor had reached town so soon but it didn’t matter, you loved him and he had to see you right this moment.

Donnie couldn’t even hear Leo calling out to him, he rushed to the closest mirror and fixed his bedhead slightly before hurrying out the door with his pajamas still on, he barely managed to process Leo hanging onto his clothes for dear life as his feet made their way down the hall and stairs as fast as he could go.

The moment he reached the first flight of stairs and looked down at the reception hall his feet faltered, making him stumble, but Donnie managed to catch himself, the sight in front of him though had his elated smile falling off his face faster than when his dad had found his secret cove.

You were right there in front of Casey, but what made his mind reel with a mountain of questions was the man you were holding so tightly onto.

Donnie quickly hid behind a wall, his eyes running through the scene once, twice, every detail of the picture getting burned into his mind.

You looked beautiful, he had never seen you wearing such formal clothing, you preferred to dress casually most of the time, which made the importance of the situation even clearer, and you had that look on your face, that fierce determination he had fallen for at the very beginning and that was suddenly making his stomach churn with anxiousness.

The man at your side was familiar to him, but Donnie couldn’t pinpoint how or if he had ever seen him around the castle, he was dressed in an attire resembling yours in formality, almost princely in fact, his locks of hair like his own but much shorter and obviously stylized by a professional. He looked calm, confident, almost smug even, and looked down at you who held so dearly onto his arm with a charming smile.

Donnie barely processed the fact that his breathing had quickened, he almost missed Casey’s voice as she started talking.

“Well Y/N, it appears I was mistaken,” Casey said, her voice as firm as always but seeming to hold onto a sort of confusion while the woman bowed to the other two “The mystery man of yours does, in fact, exist, I must thank you for rescuing our dear princess”

The other man chuckled, and Donnie instinctively reached out towards his own throat at the familiar timbre “Not at all, such a stunning vision as she is I believe it is I who was rescued by her deep eyes.” He said looking at you and placing one of his hands over your own still holding dearly onto him.

Holding so dearly, why were you holding onto him like that?

“Well, I must still say, congratulations to the both of you for finding each other” Donnie barely noticed but Leo saw Casey’s eyes stray momentarily in the direction of where Donnie and he were hiding.

Finally, you spoke “Danny and I wish to be married as soon as possible,” You said with that confident tone of yours.

And then the shattered pieces of Donnie’s heart were laying there on the floor, scattered everywhere almost to dust, he shook his head disbelievingly, but Casey continued.

“Yes of course your highness, I shall start the preparations” Before Casey could continue you interrupted, stepping into some of the pieces of Donnie’s heart.

“By Saturday Casey” You stated in a tone of no negotiation, that was in three days, right before the end of the spell “The ship will depart at sunset.”

Donnie wasn’t looking anymore, his back to the wall as he hyperventilated, barely hearing Casey’s response about getting everything done in time, Donnie’s chest physically hurt and his hand was grabbing onto his shirt tightly, he felt like clawing at his chest for the pain to stop.

Between Leo trying to grab his attention and the insistent ringing in his ears, Donnie ran away back towards his room, barely conscious of what he was doing as his body looked for a safe place.

It was hard to see where he was going with his eyes scrunched up like that and full of tears and even though he still managed to get out of there without being seen by you Danny caught sight of his figure, his smirk growing as he pulled you closer to his side, the necklace hanging from his neck glowing gently under the sunlight.

“Donnie, listen to me” Leo called out as Donnie slammed the door to his room closed, still breathing harshly “Donnie, think of your surroundings, what do you feel under your feet?”

He could feel the rug at the entrance of the room, he usually liked the sensation, unlike the other rugs around this one was soft, and he rubbed his toes on it.

Leo gave a couple of instructions to Donnie and slowly, he calmed down before laying his back against the closed door and sliding down to the floor, Leo quietened down.

Donnie rubbed his hand against his face, rubbing his eyes, wanting the feeling of the tears left to go away, his expression was angry and his eyes blotched and although for a moment he had just wanted to hit something and tear his chest open right now he felt empty, very empty.

If you loved him, you wouldn’t be rushing to get married to another man, he thought still glaring at the ground, the burning at the corner of his eyes returned, but he made no move to stop the incoming tears, just letting them fall down as he processed the whole situation.

Leo wanted to comfort his brother, tell him how suspicious this man was, tell him his voice was too much like Donnie’s for it to be a coincidence, that he looked too much like him, there were so many things on Leo’s mind about Big Mama and Draxum but he couldn’t bring any of those things up, not when his brother looked so devastated.

So, he sat there quietly, accompanying Donnie.

-

Three days was a much shorter amount of time than he’d ever thought it was.

After Donnie had gotten better Leo managed to convince him to talk to you, and though Donnie first refused strongly a part of him too hoped for an answer.

An answer he didn’t get because even though Donnie had managed to get all his courage to talk to you, he never managed to catch you, he wondered if you were avoiding him, and though it discouraged him to think so, seeing him with that man constantly only made his fury grow especially because Donnie knew he never got to tell you who he was, what he was, where he came from.

And that also left a bitter feeling in his chest that he tried to ignore because the man you were with wasn’t some idiot who you had to teach horse riding to or what a streetlamp was, he wasn’t constantly asking you about the most simple things.

Danny could speak to you without having to sign or write what he was thinking, he could be more useful to you in your royal tasks than Donnie could, barely even knowing the basics of human customs.

Worse yet, Danny was human, and Donnie was a mix of a turtle and a fish with three big fingers that wouldn’t comfortably rest with your five delicate ones and a tail that would never allow him to dance with you again.

Through discussions with Leo and a few talks he had at the beach with the rest of his brothers Donnie had managed to mostly keep on going, but he would be lying if he said his hopes weren’t already crushed; at night, his insomnia got worse than ever and he wished at times that he had remained under the sea like everyone had asked him to his whole life, maybe they were right, maybe his dad was right.

He thought all of this with a wrath that blocked the rest of his thoughts, if he’d never gone to the surface or learned so much about the human world, he wouldn’t be like this now.

He wanted to regret learning to dance with a pair of feet, or learning about blacksmithing and the various ways metal could be manipulated.

He wanted to regret learning about the different variations of flora in the human world and about all the engineering books that he poured hours in the library into.

He wanted to regret getting to know you and loving you.

He couldn’t regret it, and he couldn’t stop loving you.

So once again, with puffy eyes he wished he could hide, Donnie stood near the ship where you would be wed, arms crossed just staring at the boat and since he refused to get in the ship, he was now condemned to watch it slowly leave the harbor.

The further away the ship got the more it cemented in that this was it, it was over, you were marrying someone else and any moment now he would go back to being a merturtle, unable to even see you again.

He didn’t cry, he’d wasted enough tears, so he waited, just wanting to go home.

Donnie was lost in thought enough he didn’t see Leo get in the ship before it left nor did he see Raph and Mikey following in the water.

“Psst, Leo” Leo perked up at the sound of April’s voice calling him, he looked up to his friend with a smile before the smile fell at seeing her covering her mouth to stop from laughing.

“Yeah, yeah, just get it over with” Leo grumbled while April tried to calm herself down.

“Wooh, sorry, sorry, when Raph and Mikey found me and told me the whole situation, I didn’t actually expect you to be so small!” She said carefully picking him up in her hands and straying away from the eyes of the people invited to the party.

“Look, you can laugh all you want later, but we need to find this guy Danny, something is wrong about this whole situation,” Leo said looking around, April hummed.

“Um, Leo, are you sure about this? I don’t know, the princess seems to really love this guy” She said in a quiet voice, though she wanted Donnie to be happy and her heart had broken once she learned everything that had been happening to her friend she didn’t want to give them any false hopes, April had always been realistic with her expectations.

Leo sighed “That’s what’s weird, April, this guy pops out of nowhere one day and that same day she decides to marry him? She was about to kiss Donnie the day before that and call me a romantic but I don’t think she’s the type to jump directly into the next guy’s arms” He shook his head “No, April, something is wrong, this guy is extremely suspicious and his voice tells me it has something to do with Big Mama and Draxum.”

April looked at him curiously “His voice?”

The moment she asked that they heard laughter coming from one of the cabins, Leo shushed her and told her to go there, that was it, that was the cabin where the groom was getting married.

The both of them reached a window and peeked inside, there stood Danny and immediately April could understand Leo’s reasoning, red flags popping in her mind at the voice that was exactly the same as her best friend’s.

“Things are working out perfectly, mom” He called snickering while fixing one of his eyebrows in the mirror, his reflection though, was different from his physical appearance, Leo saw through the mirror a big rat yokai instead “The sun is setting, and that little stupid prince is so heartbroken he didn’t even get in to see the show!” Danny laughed while a shadow got closer to April and Leo’s view.

Leo looked pissed off as he realized whom that shadow belonged to, now wearing a new pair of legs right in front of him was Big Mama.

“Oh the poor turtley-boo, I can’t believe he’s missing it, but oh well, the show must go on, mustn’t it deary?” She said in faux sympathy before grinning “and while we accomplish this menial task, Draxum is down there getting me my crown, oh this is turning out even better than we thought, imagine, already having the sea, once you marry the princess the yokai can keep the land for themselves.”

“Just as you always wished Big Mama” Danny said bowing slightly.

“We have to get out of here, now!” Leo yelled and April ran away “We gotta tell Donnie! This is all a lie fabricated by Big Mama, he needs to get that kiss, or who knows what’ll happen! You stay and stall the wedding!” April nodded immediately, they got close to the border and April peeked out, finding Mikey in the water she threw Leo in, his brother carrying him back up to the surface.

The three brothers hurriedly made their way toward Donnie as Leo explained what was happening.

Thankfully the ship hadn’t gotten far yet “Donnie!” Leo called out once he was close enough, Donnie lifted his gaze and gave him a blank glare “Donnie, we went on the ship, Danny is not a human! He is a yokai sent by Big Mama, it’s all a trap! He has your voice!”

Leo’s hurried explanation finally made it into Donnie’s thought process and he looked at his other two brothers for confirmation, watching them both nod quickly was everything Donnie needed to look around in search of anything that could get him there in time.

There was a rowboat close, and Donnie immediately jumped on it, untying the rope and keeping it in place as Leo got inside and Raph went behind the boat on the water.

“Mikey!” Raph called the youngest “You need to go to dad, tell him what’s going on, now! Before Baron Draxum gets to him” Mikey nodded rapidly before submerging and swimming as fast as he could toward the castle.

Donnie took the rows and started going as fast as he could while Raph helped push the boat, Big Mama’s voice telling him he had a month to get the kiss kept playing in his mind while he saw the sun getting closer to the line of the sea.

Back in the boat, Danny was already waiting for his bride at the altar ignoring Mayhem who seemed to be glaring and barking at him from where the public stood; meanwhile, April was whispering into Sunita’s ears, the woman nodded and took one of the trays into her hands, starting to walk close to the man with the various pastries swaying precariously in it.

At that same moment, the bride was walking down the aisle in her white and long flowing wedding dress, finally reaching the groom who took her hand in his, they both stood before the master of ceremonies who started his speech.

Before much else could happen, Sunita screamed, her feet stumbling suspiciously on something and the tray with pastries flying from her hands over to Danny, falling directly on him and covering his wedding suit completely in sugar and cream.

Danny’s expression was absolutely furious and he glared at Sunita who made a show of gasping in panic “Oh dear! I am so sorry, how clumsy of me! I should have been more careful, and your suit is ruined, how can this be?” While Sunita kept rambling April reached down to help her.

“Oh, this is terrible!” April said “You can’t get married in this! Quick! We need to fix your suit, we must clean it, but it may not be salvageable…” Danny wanted to yell at the girls, but you didn’t react much, your expression dull.

Donnie was finally close enough and with agility, he reached the stairs at the side of the ship, a determined glare set on his features while he started going up as fast as he could.

The ship succumbed to chaos, Danny finally yelling at the girls and telling the master to continue the ceremony, but April was determined and she pulled on his suit “You can’t! Not like this! And your necklace is so out of place!” She pulled on the necklace and Danny pulled back with a vengeance.

“Let it go you trashy little-!” The necklace snapped from the chain and flew through the air just as Donnie jumped inside the ship, it crashed on the floor and broke into pieces, the glow leaving and rushing directly onto him.

Donnie gasped, loudly this time, like he had finally recovered his breath, realizing what had happened after a burst of shock he let out a relieved laugh, his eyebrows scrunched up together with a small smile forming on his face.

The breaking of the necklace and the sound of a desperate laugh seemed to wake you up from the trance you had been in for almost four days, your head was throbbing with a horrible headache, and you reached up to hold it reflexively, but once you processed your surroundings your eyes went directly to Donnie, your Donnie who’s laughter you could hear.

You called out to him confused “Donnie?”

“Y/N,” he said making you startled at how your name sounded with his voice, filled with so much relief, you started walking your way and though he looked nervous his smile was still in place, eyes never straying from you.

“You can talk?” You asked with wonder while he nodded, you walked faster to the end of the aisle and sighed after taking his hands on yours, one part of you screamed that you had been right, it had been him all along that you were looking for, it was his voice, of course it was his voice, who else could it ever be for you other than Donnie?

And yet another part of you remembered bits and pieces only of what had happened the last couple of days, one of these things you couldn’t get out of your mind was Donnie’s heartbroken expression, and through the confusion of whatever was going on right now you felt the need to reassure him somehow, so you squeezed his hands with yours, he seemed like he was breathing better.

“Y/N, get away from him!” Danny called out, but his nasal voice replaced the one he had been using before and he immediately covered his mouth after that, no longer having any control over you.

With a triumphant grin sent the way of his doppelganger Donnie turned back to you, holding your hands up with his as he looked directly into your eyes “I wanted to tell you, but I didn’t know how to explain it so—”

In wanting to explain what happened, Donnie had forgotten about the time crunch he was in, and the other reason why he hadn’t just told you sooner, a sharp pain ran through his chest, and he grunted, falling to his knees and making you panic, wild with worry you leaned close to him, calling his name.

The sun was set and there was a collective gasp from the public as Donnie breathed rapidly, not failing to realize with horror that his skin was changing in texture, scales forming back and slowly turning from brown to a deep green hue.

“You are too late,” Big Mama said appearing from one of the cabins with a scary grin on her face while Donnie tried to cover his from your sight, his bandana which had disappeared hanging loosely from his face and with his now three-fingered hands he tried to hide behind it.

The screams from the crowd were loud as Big Mama turned to her big spidery form, even bigger than she normally was “You really should read the things you sign with more patience, nobody leaves the important bits at the beginning of the contract” She said with a sinister tone.

“Donnie?” You leaned down reaching for his arm but Donnie pulled away from you in panic, you managed to catch his eye, wide open under his fingers and bandana, trying to get away from you, you could barely breathe “Donnie please” you begged hoping he’d talk to you, explain what was happening, how could you help him if you didn’t understand what was going on?

Your mind kept telling you about the tail you saw back at the beach after being saved, it had been magenta with undertones of violet, you thought yourself crazy, that you must have imagined it, but it was right there in front of you, part of the man you knew had been there that day.

The same man who was trying to hide his tail behind himself.

“I’m sorry” He blabbered,  trying to get closer to the edge of the ship “I lied, I lied I lied and I should have told you but I wasn’t, you don’t, you don’t deserve this and if I had just stayed human you wouldn’t have had to, I—”

Donnie was on the verge of a panic attack, everything was ruined, even if he had avoided your wedding everything was already crashing down around him and though you were still confused you couldn’t let him spiral like that, your hands lingered in the air close to him but you made no move to touch him when you didn’t know if he’d be okay with it.

“Donnie, darling, listen to me please, focus on my voice,” You said stopping his rambling “Donnie, love, it’s okay, you’re okay, tell me what to do,” you said and he finally managed to see your expression.

You weren’t disgusted or horrified like he had feared so many times when he pondered this scenario, you were worried for him, asking him to let you help him, being mindful of his limits and in his mind, he managed to connect the words you’d said.

Despite everything that had just happened, you’d called him love.

He was letting go of his face, about to say something when Big Mama’s loud laughter and the screaming of everyone else finally reached his ears again, he turned around only to see the big yokai pulling him with her claws, he yelled, reaching up to try and pull the yokai’s claws away from him.

“Donnie!” You yelled and Big Mama smiled.

“I am so very sorry for your wedding dear, but we have very important business to attend, wouldn’t want to leave your family waiting, would you turtley-boo?” She laughed throwing herself and Donnie out of the ship and into the sea.

“DONNIE!”

“Oh you have a lot of guts, purpley, but don’t worry, that was just a side gig, it would have been nice, but this is more important” Big Mama spoke while she pulled Donnie with her.

“Donatello!” His dad’s familiar voice called out and Donnie felt relief, it suddenly left though as he looked up.

There, in formation swam his father and brothers back to their original form, but the three of them had gold glowing chains holding their wrists together, and right beside them was Baron Draxum.

“Why Lou, haven’t seen you in such a long time, how are you?” Big mama chanted while Splinter growled.

“Let my son go” Splinter said and Big Mama laughed.

“Not a chance Lou, I’m sure my partner already filled you in but just so you are sure,” a contract, the very same Donnie had signed before was pulled in front of him “He is mine now as are the other three.”

“No!” Donnie growled “They didn’t sign anything, only I did.”

“Oh dear, really, the very last part of the contract is very important, in fact, I would have skipped the beginning that you did read and gone down immediately, what you signed gives me ownership of anyone who drank the potion, and your brothers drank it!” Donnie paled after hearing so.

“That makes no sense, my signature can’t count for them.”

“Oh but there’s a contract you didn’t consider at all, a contract of blood a pact of brotherhood” Big Mama grinned towards a deflating Splinter and the brothers glared at her.

Donnie looked devastated and his gaze went towards his dad the moment a pair of Draxum’s vines held onto his wrists “Papa, I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to, I should have—”

Donnie’s voice was interrupted by Splinter attempting to destroy the contract with a beam of his trident, however, the contract stayed untouched.

“Let’s make a deal, shall we?” Draxum asked Splinter while the turtles complained and told him not to, their father looked down.

“What do the two of you want?” He growled.

“I for one want my warriors back” Draxum hummed pointing towards the brothers.

“Warriors?” Raph asked and Leo rolled his eyes.

“Hello? He called us that when we met, no? Not ringing any bells? Only me? Okay.” Leo sighed.

“Absolutely not, why would I even do that?” Splinter answered.

“Well, of course, I could settle for something else, I am reasonable” Draxum hummed “You will give us yourself in exchange for the turtles, but there are four of them, and only one of you, even your crown seems an unjust exchange.”

“You will give me back my crown Lou” Big Mama stated “And Draxy here will have control of all your powers and theirs, do we have a deal?”

“So you’ll create more warriors and champions to terrorize the humans and yokai alike?” Splinter laughed bitterly, but the contract still stared straight at him.

Back on the surface, you were now in one of the row boats, Casey calling out for you “Your highness what are you doing?!”

“I already lost him once! I am not about to lose him again!” You yelled going further into the sea and hoping to catch a glimpse of anything that could tell you where Donnie was.

At that moment, Donnie was going through sensory hell as he remembered the things that had grabbed onto him when he had entered Big Mama’s and Draxum’s cave, it hadn’t been a thing, it had been someone, and whatever had happened to them was happening to him.

His brothers yelled for him and Splinter had given in, pointing his trident at the contract, he signed, replacing Donnie’s name for his.

In an instant, Donnie was back to normal, and Splinter was turned into one of those things, Donnie cried out for him as did the others whose chains had broken at the signing.

“PAPA!” They all called swimming over to the king in his withered form.

Above, you were able to see a bright light coming from the water “gotcha” you said before throwing yourself into the water, your wedding dress had been torn to pieces for mobility and a harpoon was held tight in your hand.

“At last,” Big Mama said taking the crown in her hands, Draxum reached out for the trident, but she stopped him “up up up, Draxy, you know how much I love our partnership, don’t you? I just don’t think this is right for you” She said, taking the trident in her hands and laughing maniacally.

“We had a deal, witch” He yelled angrily while she chuckled.

“Oh, you really should all start reading the bottom lines of the contracts,” She said.

“You must be forgetting I still own all their powers, so help me, witch, this alliance may be over, but I assure you my goal will be completed,” Draxum said, his form appearing larger with the use of Raph’s ninpo.

While they were both distracted a strong sharp pain hit Big Mama’s side and she yelled turning back to see you swimming there and the harpoon having hit her.

Leo took advantage of the situation to take his swords and attack Draxum directly.

“Foolish! You cannot defeat me when I have every ounce of your mystic energy” The baron gloated as the other brothers reached out to try anyway.

Donnie yelled out your name, being held back by one of Big Mama’s claws “Look out!”

You swam back to the surface as fast as you could but were pulled down by Huginn and Muninn without being able to get much air, thankfully, Mikey noticed this and rushed to your aid “Let her go!” He yelled, pulling out his nunchaku to get rid of the gargoyles.

You were let go, but Big Mama still had you in her sight “Say goodbye to your sweetheart” She sang, pointing at you with the trident, Donnie desperately managed to claw his way to Big Mama’s arms and pull the trident into another direction before it hit you, Huginn and Muninn barely able to avoid being hit instead, they rushed away of the battlefield.

Big Mama was pissed, and Donnie followed you as you went up to the surface, trying to make sure you were okay while his brothers fought against Draxum.

Big Mama wanted power and if she needed to kill Draxum for it, so be it, a lightning bolt coming from the trident hit the yokai and he breathed harshly realizing what had happened, the turtles all gasped as he exploded into tiny little pieces, they looked out in horror and realized their mystic abilities where now the possession of the second person in the contract.

Big Mama grew and grew and suddenly she was a titan of an aquatic monster with the powers of a god.

“We need to go to Donnie, now!” Raph yelled and the three brothers rushed towards the surface.

You were gasping for air when Donnie’s head came out to the surface, looking at you for any wounds “Y/N, you have to get out of here!” He said reaching for you and trying to drag you towards the abandoned rowboat.

“I won’t leave you, Donnie!” You yelled looking straight at him “There has to be something I can do, even if it is from the ship.” Before you could finish your train of thought you were being pushed up by something.

It was big mama having achieved a monumental size, you quickly threw yourselves back into the water, Donnie holding you close to his plastron, but that didn’t last long, as the strength of the big waves Big Mama sent your way separated you, you falling far away from Donnie while he tried to reach you to no avail, screaming your name in worry.

“The sea and all its spoils bow to my power!” As she said this, the very ship where Donnie had first seen you was pulled out from the water and into the surface as Big mama made a miniature tsunami around herself.

The ship almost hit you, to Donnie’s horror from where he could see you, but you managed to grab onto a rope from under the water and pull yourself up into the old ship, thankfully reaching the deck and hoping the wheel still worked.

Big Mama looked at Donnie and shot the rock he had been holding onto, throwing him into her merciless waves.

“I got you!” Raph yelled taking grasp of Donnie’s hand before he fell further down, but it wasn’t over, Big Mama was trying to kill all of the brothers and shooting at them who barely managed to avoid the strikes.

When you finally reached the wheel of the boat you turned it rapidly Big Mama’s way, thankful that she was so distracted she would have never even considered you a threat.

You almost cried when you realized the wheel worked, and thanks to her majesty the ship remained afloat and the mast that once held the wooden figure of a mermaid was now sharp and broken, perfect for you.

“So much for true love!” Big Mama exclaimed about to hit the four turtles who held tightly onto each other when her side was impaled by your ship.

Big Mama let out the most horrendous scream of pain you had ever heard and it looked like the lightning she’d tried to inflict had hit her instead, she started crumbling into the ocean, clawing desperately for relief and managing to take hold of the ship, dragging it back down into the water with her.

You jumped out of it fast to not be dragged and swam on your way back to shore, not without looking back to make sure Big Mama was long gone.

You were exhausted, absolutely exhausted, and had too much water inside you, so you crumbled on the beach sand once you reached it, passing out again while the brothers looked at the end of the sea witch and Baron left behind, the feeling of power returning to their bodies, they swam down, hoping with her end, their father was back to normal.

The spell was broken, on anyone who had ever made a deal with Big Mama, thus including the king who with a beam of light returned to his form, finding his trident falling close to him.

“DADDY!” The chorus of his sons caught his attention before he was embraced tightly into a hug by four almost crying merturtles.

Splinter could hear the rapid-fire apologies of his purple-coded son and made sure to hold him much closer, a small smile forming on her face and tears in the corner of the old king’s eyes.

-

Donnie looked at you from a rock close to shore, you were only now starting to wake up from how you’d passed out earlier and he wanted nothing more than to go to you.

But how could he ever hope to hold you in his arms again? After everything he had done to his family and you for being so selfish.

He couldn’t do that to his father again, no matter how much his heart ached at the thought of leaving you forever.

Not far away the king and his sons stared at the merturtle who worriedly waited for you to wake up, knowing with his tail, Donnie would never be able to follow you again.

After a moment of contemplation, the king turned to Leo who had a bitter expression on his face “He really does love her, doesn’t he Blue?”

Leo chuckled slightly “Oh pops, you have no idea” Finally the turtle turned to his dad “And he wasn’t doing half bad there, it was like nerd paradise, you know?” Leo’s smile fell “Humans really don’t seem all that bad.”

The king sighed, looking back at Donnie “It is true that after this humans will go back to believing in yokai, someone has to be responsible for keeping relations between sea and land as peaceful as possible” Leo perked up at this and looked at his father with absolute shock, the king smiled softly “That’s one problem solved then since Donatello would be more than competent even if I am unsure of his people skills, surely you’ll help him with that from here Blue, so there’s only one problem left.”

Leo still couldn’t believe what he was hearing, and his other two brothers were close behind gaping at the words of the king, finally, Leo asked “And what’s that?”

“How much I’m going to miss him” Splinter smiled before pointing up with his trident to the second of his middle children, the trident glowing brightly before touching the surface of the water softly, the glowing light followed the water slowly and reached the magenta tail it had been directed towards.

The tail started glowing, sparkling under the light and grabbing Donnie’s attention.

The merturtle looked down to see his tail turning back into a pair of legs and with great shock, he looked towards his family who smiled at him happily, including his father, he couldn’t believe it, the nod of approval his father sent almost making him drop right there, realizing, despite everything they all wanted him to go back to you.

He almost jumped out of the rock and towards you but a lingering thought stopped him as he realized his legs weren’t like the ones he had before, they weren’t human, he wasn’t human, he was a turtle yokai able to walk on land.

Was that truly, okay? He’d lied to you, you hadn’t expected him to be like this, and he faltered, but the thoughts of those murals and your exciting tales of yokai and humans co-existing thankfully gave him a push.

He stood up, walking toward you slowly and remembering that despite everything you’d remained by his side, in fact, you had saved his life.

So maybe his hopes weren’t so foolish after all, and he did owe you an explanation.

With a soft smile returning to his face he watched you hold your head in your hands while you started to sit back up, the moment you looked up you saw Donnie, walking your way from the water in a pair of legs instead of his tail, you let out a sigh of relief knowing he was okay and rushed his way, he beamed as he felt you run into his arms, you collided against him with a huff making him laugh and you smile wide.

“You’re okay” You mumbled into his plastron, pulling him closer to you and making Donnie’s heart flutter, he hummed softly in response, his arms going around you before lifting you and spinning you along with him easily, making you realize how strong he was.

You wouldn’t let yourself think you had all the time in the world again, you were enjoying every second.

You laughed looking back at him, your forehead bumping against his softly before you pulled him close, finally getting that kiss that had been interrupted; he made a sound of surprise against you before melting into the kiss.

-

Months of dating and learning about each other’s culture led to teaching the world about yokai, and while not everyone was open to this you were grateful to those who tried and Leo who always seemed to know how to manage your situation, even when Donnie grumbled about his methods.

And eventually, that led to a wedding Casey could actually approve of and that you forced your people to approve of with pretty words about it being good for yokai and human relationships.

You were marrying the love of your life on a beautiful ship with guests from both worlds, especially Donnie’s family who had been practicing walking only for this event.

The music started and as the sunlight hit your wedding attire you held an appreciation for how much better you looked in this than the last time.

But more than anything, your heart was hitting your chest harshly once your eyes connected with his own pair at the altar, his whiskey-colored pair seemed to glow at the sight of you and a goofy smile you didn’t know if he was aware of made its way to his face, now a darker shade of green than normal. From the corner of your eye, you saw Leo smiling beside his twin and Mikey and Raph seemingly startled by someone they saw in the crowd, Casey, Sunita, and April stood close to your side of the altar and then the music quietened down, a green hand with three fingers reaching for your own as your groom smiled at you with more confidence and all the love in the world in his eyes, you took his hand, thinking about how perfectly it fit in yours before standing beside him, body towards the master of ceremonies, your eyes though never straying from him.

-

Though this is not the end, I will be making the sequel like you guys asked! Designing the OC child of Donnie and the reader might be something I will ask your help with through polls before that, also I will first be working on the Leo x reader Anastasia AU so stay tuned!

It is done! Thanks to everyone for reading this and your comments that always make my day! (Los que están en Español también, gracias <3) I am so happy!

[angelmichelangelo]

If we did get foot solider Mikey like we deserve what would be the whole plot exactly of it? because the premise is how Mikey feels like a failure and that his brothers don't understand him and that he feels alone how would that be excuted exactly because 1. this adds more layers to Mikey that aren't ever really utilized and 2 Raph and Leo are a big problem in this scenario because they would just blame each other throughout the whole process along with trying to get Mikey back while arguing which would upset him even more since neither can own up to their mistakes and than Donnie has to figure out how to stop everything the fighting the convincing Mikey.

ooh okay! this is just me coming up with an idea on the fly so bare with me.

so imagine the movie opens up not long since the events of the last movie. they’re moving past the whole winters situation and starting to work more as a team, notably leo and raph who are getting along again and donnie is less stressed and it takes off SUCH a huge weight off mikey’s mind because of course he was constantly worrying about whether his family would heal itself again and here they are! happy together. and then comes along that good ol’ turtle luck.

idk how shredder comes back. it’s not really ever established in the first movie, or maybe i cant remember if he died? or disappeared. but imagine he comes back. some freaky magic (either on purpose or on accident by karai depending on whether you want her to be REALLY bad after her truce in the first movie lol) and suddenly they have shredder back on their tails.

the attack comes so out of left field - imagine they’re just goofing off on a roof with a hosepipe (iykyk) and then BAM leo goes down and raph is yelling his name and there’s panic.

they’ve trained for this, but the attack catches them off guard. they’re not prepared and since they’re still finding their footing as a team again, the foot are able to get the underhand.

mikey is calling out attack ideas but leo, in a panic, isn’t taking on board of what he’s saying. neither is raph and nor is donnie, too focused on the foot, each of the brothers don’t pay much attention to what mikey is suggesting. mikey, growing fustrated as he believes his idea would work, doesn’t get a chance to play any of his plans out after he’s knocked off the roof.

the brothers try and catch him but fail, letting their brother plummet to the street below. before they can go down and get him, the shredder appears (maybe in a crack of lightning lol very dramatic) and leo is like “you????”

they fight with the shredder for a bit, leo barking out orders for one of them to slip away and go grab mike but whenever one of them tries to leave the rooftop, it’s futile, they’re stopped by the foot; made to fight and unable to reach their brother to see if he’s alright.

then, just as fast as they appeared, the foot and shredder disappear. leo thinks it’s odd, but now that the foot are out of the way, they’re rushing down to make sure mikey is alright only to realise… he’s gone.

mask, nunchucks and cell phone (for the purpose of donnie not being able to track him) all left behind, it slowly dawns on them what’s happened.

it then switches perspectives of mikey who’s slowly waking up in some cage. unsure of where he is, we see Karai stroll in, looking torn.

she tells mikey something along the lines of “i didn’t want it to have to be this way but you must understand my loyalty to the foot comes before whatever promise i made to you.”

mikey is confused like “who even are you lady? where am I?”

and karai, realising what’s happened reports back to shredder like “uh yeah he’s lost his memory i think” and shredder is like “okay. change of plans”

(he originally kidnapped one of the turtles to draw the rest of them + splinter to him but now he’s having Evil Thoughts)

so he goes to mikey like “um yes you’re a sad lonely mutant. your family didn’t want you, i saved you”

mikey tries to remember but can only recollect the last hazy memories where his brothers weren’t listening to him so he’s like “it must be true?”

ANYWAY the boys are panicking because they need to get to mikey and they’re sure it’s a trap but they don’t care cos they beat shredder before, they’ll do it again but they’re pretty taken aback when they realise getting into foot hq isn’t as easy as they though if shredder was just trying to lure them in. so like. what is his plan with mikey?

meanwhile shredder is training mike with a new pair of chucks, a black mask, he’s feeding him lies about how his family had no faith in him or wanted him in their team. mikey distresses that even if it’s true, he doesn’t want to harm anyone.

and shredder is like “oh yeah no we’re not about that here. we have honour”

meanwhile karai is unsure whether it’s a good idea what he’s doing or not. of course she’s part of the foot but in the shredders absence she was shaping it into something else and so she confronts shredder and this pisses him off and so he starts Plotting.

meanwhile the boys and splinter are making plans to get mikey back and so they sneak in to the foot hq one night, and shredder can see right through their plan but he lets them in (to which again leo is like. this is too easy something is wrong)

it’s then that shredder kills Karai (sorry karai) and shredder alerts mikey like “look what they did!! these monsters have no honor killing my Karai in her sleep like this! we have to avenge her!!”

and mikey doesn’t want to have to kill but he believes in putting his family first so he vows to avenger his “sister”.

so he goes up against leo raph and don who all are trying to get him to snap out of it once they realise what’s happening but mikey has already been warned by shredder that they might pull those kinds of tricks to get him to go with them.

basically they fight and whatever and it goes back and forth between them all, and eventually we have another rainy rooftop scene because they’re my favourite and it’s down to leo and mikey now and mikey is like “you don’t want me! shredder appreciates me!” and leo is like “he doesn’t he’s just USING you!!” mikey is torn and confused because he’s pretty sure his memories are slowly coming back.

leo apologies to mikey for not listening to him before. he apologises for putting him in danger and for the whole situation so far and then so do raph and donnie from where they’re sprawled out from where mike kicked their asses lol

and then just as mikey is about to switch sides, shredder comes out of nowhere and smacks him across the roof and leo is PISSED

all three brothers go back against shredder and they’re failing when suddenly mikey gets back up, the knock on his head giving him his memories back (because movie logic) and this time when he gives his directions and plans, they listen and execute it and they’re able to beat shredder :3

UH yeah that’s it. they go home and eat pizza and give their brother a big fat hug and it’s very happy and nothing bad ever happens to them again.

i literally made this up as a i went along so it’s missing characters and not that good but that’s just personally the kind of thing i’d like to see. idk lemme know your thoughts :)

[afreakingdork]

Hey, hello, hi! So, I've been thinking about some things, and I've decided to just ask and get it out of my head to calm down xd

So, if I understand correctly, you try to write reader in WS as neutral as possible, but some things are still based on your own experience. And if I understood correctly, in WS reader already been in a relationship before, right?

The thing I've been wondering, is how would the relationship go in WS if it was reader's first relationship? Like, they never had partners before and so they're inexperienced. Would their first night with Donnie be any different? How would they react on B.E.D.F.A.S.T.? And maybe any other thoughts you have on this question.

Sorry, I'm a weirdo xdd And thank you in advance!

Howdy and might I start with a 'proud of you!' Look at you reaching out; you did amazing!! I'm here for any and all questions and this is not weird at all!

In fact, I'd say this is fun one! 🤭

You've got it exactly. I try to make reader as every man as possible, but as a creative (I believe this is universal) you are always putting a little piece of yourself into your work no matter how outside the realm of your world you're depicting. Everything you see is through your own honed perspective, unlike any other and no matter what that will come through!

So reader is meant to be about 32/33 and thus it seemed typical to me that they had been in a relationship before and had had sex prior. Obviously, there are people who have never sex by that age or what have you!

Never had a relationship before and it seems like you might also be insinuating that they've never had sex before in that case, but I will write this two scenarios differently because I do love a writing exercise:

No Prior Romantic Relationships + Has Had Sex

I feel like largely this would play out the same from a sexual standpoint. They would be attracted to each other in the same way and would follow the same line of escalation due to that experience. Where it would change would def be in how much reader is able to handle and communication. Obviously we're still talking in a broad sense, so it could go one of two ways. One would be that reader doesn't put up with as much and fails certain cues due to inexperience. This would come hard into play especially around the time when he starts putting down all his rules in how he's struggling to put reader into his life (chapter 7 and revelations like him holding back). Since it is Donnie's first relationship, the learning curve would be WAY steeper. You have two people who have no experience it is difficult to become that patient and understanding of a partner with no experience. That isn't to say it's impossible, you'd have other types of relationships, friends, family, ect, that you would have learned to navigate, but this would be something far more raw. Even for someone with previous relationship experience, you need to remember that Donnie is a damaged person. He has deep and painful unhealed trauma, he's autistic, and he has only just, for the first time in his life, been able to live as himself which is not something he knows how to do. I am by no means saying that it couldn't work out, but holy hell talk about starting relationships on hard mode. It's hard to think that they would have weathered all the lies. Each time Donnie pushed reader closer and closer to a breaking point, I believe someone with no relationship experience might buckle more quickly at those points.

Let's take it another way though, being new to a relationship gives you a level a naivety. What does this mean to the story? Let's reset to what I said about them following the same line of sexual escalation. Now, if we were to take the naive route, this affects the story because then reader puts up with too much. When you're naive in a new relationship, you're often willing to put up with way more than you realistically should. You try so hard because you're blinded by love, you don't know better, and it's so very difficult to prioritize yourself when those feelings of affection and running wildly rampant. This changes the story because reader wouldn't be obviously hitting those push back points. They'd probably roll over more and think thing were okay when in reality they were tearing reader apart. Down this scenario, Donnie is affected negatively too. Where they'd probably break up in the first go at this, in this one, they'd stay in an unhealthy place where their relationship isn't a partnership. Donnie wouldn't reveal his backstory as early and I can see reader ultimately having a severe breakdown with Donnie being devastated because he had no idea it was getting so bad.

Again, this is just conjecture. There's no reason to say these won't work, but when I play the exercises out, you see I've come to two bad end scenarios. It's sort of like a dating sim (which might be a good place to mention I'm addicted to these sorts of games). Another thing to keep in mind is this is just the case if we stick to the plot of Weak Spot, which I don't think would happen in either of these cases. That's the beauty of writing; you change one thing and it cascades into a hundred others. I bet you I could take both the previous scenarios and turn them into the same positive and loving relationship, but the story itself would play out very, very differently.

But I have another scenario to run through!

No Prior Romantic Relationships + Has NEVER Had Sex

Now this one falls heavily on Donnie which he will struggle with immensely. He barely has time to take care of himself, let alone another person with where he is currently at mentally. Reader needed to press him for things he needed and he's still the hard giver in the relationship despite everything he's going through so I bet he'd be further taxed in this scenario. I have a harder time seeing them having the same sexual escalation so I imagine they would have had sex much further down the line. Sure, you can be a flirty savant having neither had a romantic partner nor sex, but it's not the norm and would depend heavily on your situation. When they did finally get to a sex step, it would have been reached methodically with more time spent at each base. I see their first date ending at heavy petting and Don excusing himself since he's losing control. He would force himself to learn control before he'd get anywhere near taking reader to bed. The arousal scent bomb that set Donnie feral would never have happened. i can't imagine getting placed naked in front of him while he's trying to explain what's going to happen and a person with zero experience wanting to interrupt that. Instead it would have been a slow and loving first time and since they would have hit the bases, reader would have been slowly stretched out to be able to take him along the way. Wild sex in this scenario would come much, much later down the line because Donnie would never chance this. I feel like he would struggle a lot with this one, not for control (he struggles way more with that), but he would have been closed off much longer. I don't think this reader would have pressed him on his holding back as much and he would be cold and callous for months and months, maybe even the first year of their relationship. For B.E.D.F.A.S.T. I can't see them even initiating at where they are currently (closer toward the second year of their relationship). Again, another scenario where I feel like within the restraints of the Weak Spot plot we are getting a bad ending, but if I actually wrote this out, I would probably take the story in a new direction!

Ah that was a blast! I'm sorry these weren't all good, but it was a lovely exercise.

[drummergirl231]

Hey DG! Been following ur blog for a year now, and i love your positive support to this fandom :)

Do you think Apritello in 2012 was in any way abusive/toxic looking back not that the show is over?

I don’t think this myself at all, i just wanted to know your opinion on this claim because i trust your judgement.

Oh wow, thank you so much! Sorry I’m not really active on this blog anymore (though I’m still around and still compulsively check it lol). But I’m glad you’ve enjoyed my past posts! (My apologies for my lack of gifs in this post; my Apritello gifs aren't on this computer.) As for Apriltello being toxic or abusive, I wouldn’t label it as such. They certainly had their moments where each of them said or did the wrong thing, but they’re teenagers who have no idea what they’re doing, romantically or in life in general. But they learn and grow as individuals over the course of the show, and in doing so, they grow closer together.

Let’s start with Donnie. One of the major complaints I’d hear about him was that he once kinda wound up stalking April back in Season 2, which we all agree wasn’t healthy for either of them.

Now, disclaimer/PSA: Ladies, if a guy is following you around without your consent, do not try to rationalize it. You don’t know what’s going on in someone else’s head in real life. If someone is doing something that makes you uncomfortable, don’t gaslight yourself, or try to justify his behavior, or try to see it from his perspective (which you can’t be sure of anyway). Just get away and stay safe.

With Donnie, he’s a fictional character, so we, the audience, did get to see things from his perspective, and he wasn’t following her with creepy intentions. He wanted to talk to her and patch things up, but he wasn’t totally sure how to approach her, and used that time hopping from rooftop to rooftop trying to figure that out. What he should’ve done is figure that out from home while giving her space. But he’s a teenager who grew up in isolation from the world, not even watching as much TV as his brothers, and he's learning how to socialize for the first time. It doesn’t make his behavior correct, but it makes it easy to forgive so long as he learns and grows from it, which he did. Besides, there was an alien race after April. Keeping an eye on her wasn’t a completely terrible idea. He should’ve just gone about it differently.

Another complaint I’d hear about Donnie was that he still wanted to protect her, even after she’d learned to fight and control her powers, like in her fight with Shinigami, for example. To which I offered the counter-argument: what kind of jerk would Donnie be if he just stood there and didn’t care that the woman he supposedly loves was getting her butt handed to her? The writers needed to show Donnie distressed over April being hurt, but they also needed to have Raph hold him back, because it really was April’s fight. His desire to protect her wasn’t because he thought she was weak or incapable. It was simply because he loves her and hates to see her hurt. A third complaint I’d hear against Donnie was that his feelings persisted a long time. One blogger even referred to Mikey’s crushes on multiple girls as the most “realistic,” out of the turtles’ romances. It may be more relatable to that particular blogger, but it’s not unrealistic to have feelings for one person that persist a long time. I had a huge crush on a guy friend from 5th grade through 10th grade, and that crush resurfaced briefly during my senior year. Some feelings can’t be switched off at will, so what matters is how you handle those feelings while you have them. And while Donnie didn’t always know the best way to handle them, he was a teenager, perfectly entitled to his mistakes, and not toxic or abusive towards April.

Now it’s April’s turn. This teenage girl lost her mom under mysterious circumstances at a young age, then lost her dad (multiple times throughout the series) to an alien race that was ultimately after her so they could terraform the planet. She lived alone a lot of the time, and still had high school, extracurricular activities, and massive secrets to keep. That’s a lot for a minor to deal with. Now add having a big mutant turtle friend awkwardly crushing on you. Would any of us have known how to handle that at that age? Most of us didn’t even know how to handle crushes on fellow humans at that age. For much of the show’s earlier seasons, Donnie’s flirtations and near-confessions came at times when April was up to her eyeballs in chaos she didn’t know how to handle.

She got a lot of crud from fans in particular for kissing Donnie right after he’d told her he understood he was making her uncomfortable and he’d back off, especially because Donnie said after the kiss he understood nothing and he was even more confused than before.

As a fan, I love the kiss. As a grown-up, I gotta say it wasn’t the best decision she could’ve made in that moment. Actions may speak louder than words, but for someone like Donnie, words would’ve been a lot easier to understand. I think what went on in this scene was that April finally realized she did have feelings for Donnie. She wasn’t ready for a relationship with everything going on, but she didn’t want Donnie to give up on her just yet. At the start of the next episode, a still-confuzzled Donnie tried showing off in front of her again (“Check me out, April!”) and she ignored him and walked right on past, further confusing Donnie and irritating the fans. But I think April was trying to overcorrect. Maybe even she thought the kiss was going a little too far, and she was trying to make sure Donnie knew she didn’t want a relationship yet. April’s biggest crime as far as Apritello goes was just not verbally communicating with Donnie. She was young and it was a weird situation and she didn’t know how to handle it.

But after that moment, things did change between them. They really started getting closer as friends, which became a wonderful foundation for them. Donnie started to relax around her a little more, which helped her relax around him, and her feelings were allowed to develop without pressure. They care about each other, protect each other, fight for each other, and respect each other. Things were awkward between them at first, and they did inadvertently hurt each other here and there, but they just needed to grow up a little. I mean personally I don’t think anyone should even date before their prefrontal cortex reaches maturity at age 25, but I don’t think Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles could ever go on that long. lol

[fanfic-inator795]

RotTMNT drabble: It’s... probably a phase

((Had this silly idea a while ago, but I was suddenly inspired to write it out for funzies. Hope you all enjoy! ^v^))

No matter how many times he saw it, Mikey was sure that he was NEVER going to get tired of seeing the Hidden City. The unique architecture, the bright colors, the dragons and giant birds flying all over the place - it was AMAZING!

Not to mention all the various locations that he still had to see and explore - like the Hidden City Mall! Maybe for any other teenager, a mall would have been mundane - boring, even. But not for Mikey. Not when he had been given permission to explore the mall by himself as long as he remembered to text his fam every few hours, and especially not when it was so different than the malls he'd see on TV. In a way, it was like some of the shōtengai (or commercial districts) they had in Japan, according to their dad. Rather than being confined into one building, it was instead a long stretch of road that was covered with tiles on the ground, had large and open entrances and exits onto the street, and a curved roof above (making it seem a bit more 'indoor' than a marketplace or the Pirate Bazaar down by the docks).

"Coooooool~!" Mikey grinned, his pace increasing as he walked inside. There were plenty of different shops to browse through, from the specialty to the common. Some sold food and pharmacy others while others sold clothes, toys and knick-knacks. There was a shop full of scrolls and tombs, a shop for crystals and mystic gems, and even a pretty neat antique shop! But, as Mikey began heading towards a stand-up noodle bar for a quick lunch, a store that seemed to be covered in shadows quickly caught his attention instead.

The walls of the shop were painted black, with only covered candles providing any sort of life. The letters above the shop were written in Yokai-ese, but just based on the blood red color and the way they were written, Mikey could still tell that the shop was going for a 'hardcore' vibe. A bit intimidating maybe, but also interesting - interesting enough for him to walk inside, the orange of his bandana and the colorful stickers on his chest instantly making him stand out against the racks of black and dark colored clothing and the silver, spiky jewelry on display.

...Huh. So the Hidden City had goths and punks. Who knew?

Since the shop didn't have too many customers at the moment, it was that much easier for the two employees currently on duty to notice him. "Uhhh, you lost, kid?" one of them - a grey-furred hound with a pretty wicked nose ring and a black poncho with several chains hanging off it - asked, raising an eyebrow at the young box turtle.

"Oh, no," Mikey said, giving him a friendly smile, "I'm just browsing."

The other employee - a snake girl with purple scales and red highlights in her slightly spiked hair - chuckled. "You sure this is the store you wanna be browsing in?" she asked him, sticking her tongue out a bit, "There is a kimono shop just a few stores down that seems a little more... your style."

"Already saw it," Mikey replied, "And yeah, they were really nice! Really colorful too - but wayyyy out of my price range." He picked up a couple shirts, looking them over before putting them back. "But hey, this stuff is really cool too!"

"Hmph, oh really?" the hound asked dryly. Great, another poser. Just what they needed. "And just what is so 'cool' about it?"

"Lots of things!" Mikey grinned, "Though, I guess what I really enjoy about the goth style is how you guys are able to use a limited palette to not only express yourself, but still make something really unique and memorable! Don't get me wrong, I LOVE all sorts of bright and warm colors, but expressing yourself with only one or two colors that really mean a lot to you, and being able to focus on just them while still being able add so much style to that one palette is pretty impressive! And pretty cool too, if I do say so myself! I really love the way you guys use metals and stuff to catch the light and catch people's attention." He picked up a spiked collar, admiring it. "Plus, it just looks really sick."

"..." The two employees shared a look before smiling at each other. "Huh... I guess when you put it that way, it is pretty cool," the snake agreed, actually looking sort of touched by Mikey's comments, "I mean, for record, being goth is about wayyyyy more than just the fashion. But, hey, I can hang with someone who can respect and appreciate the aesthetic without being shallow about it."

"Yeah, and you know... if you like the style that much, I think you could pull it off," the hound added.

Mikey's eyes went sparkly at that. "Really?!"

"Sure, kid! We've got some stuff that would look great on you!" "Aaaand, I think we could let you use our employee discount too. Since you're, you know, cool."

"Sweet!" Mikey grinned, pumping his fist in the air, "What are we waiting for? Let's make me over! Goth style~!"

-------------

Splinter had been planning on texting his youngest during the next commercial break, but before he could even reach for his phone, he heard Mikey call out from the lower level. "Hey, Pop! I'm home!"

"Oh good, I was just wondering when you would get back," Splinter replied, "So, did you have fun shopping?"

"Yeah, it was great! You wanna see what I bought?"

Splinter chuckled. "Oh, I suppose." That was enough to make Mikey race towards the TV room, his steps quick and obviously excited. Sitting up a bit, Splinter wondered what it was his youngest could have bought. Some fancy and fun new hat, maybe? Orange did always like playing dress-up. All of his boys did, really. They must have gotten that from him. Or maybe it was something in his favorite color? Or maybe-

He heard a small grunt behind him as Mikey lifted himself onto the second floor. "Tada! Take a look at me!"

"Okay okay, let's see-" Splinter looked over his shoulder, and his eyes nearly bulged right out of his head. He sputtered a bit before finally managing to shout, "Who are you and whAT HAVE YOU DONE TO MY BABY BOY ORANGE?!”

Mikey tilted his head at his father. "Huh? Dad, it's me. I just got a new look"

Splinter narrowed his eyes a bit. It certainly sounded like his Orange, but...

Mikey's mask had been dyed completely black, only the tips of his mask tails remaining orange. He was wearing a black tank top with a spiked collar and long, fingerless black gloves. Hanging over his shoulders and shell, covering up his bright yellow spots, was a black trenchcoat. His dark cargo pants had been spray painted with orange at the bottom of each leg cuff, almost looking like flames, and heavy black boots tied it all together.

"Come on, Pop! Don't I look great?" Mikey asked, holding up a 'rock and roll' gesture. ...Or, at least he was trying to. It was sort of hard to do with only three fingers. "I saw this goth store in the Hidden City, and I just HAD to give it a try! Don't you think it looks cool?"

"Er, w-well, ah..." Mikey frowned, disappointment starting to creep on his face.

...Well, that settled it. He may have looked very VERY different, but this was no rebellious phase or sudden change in his otherwise cheery attitude. He was still his son - still the same box turtle Splinter knew and love. "I think you look very, ah, unique!" Splinter told him, "And, uh, veeeeery fashionable and cool!"

Mikey grinned. "Awww, thanks Dad!"

"Hey, are you guys screaming in he-WHOA!" they heard Raph say from the atrium, “Mikey? Is that really you?!”

Mikey laughed, amused at his oldest brother's expression. "Yep! It's really me, baby!" Thankfully, Donnie and Leo didn't seem as shocked, though they were still mildly surprised.

“Huh… You know, out of all of us, I thought for sure Donnie would be the one who’d have a goth phase,” Leo said.

His twin shrugged. “Eh, my natural aesthetic is more high school prep meets cyberpunk.”

As Mikey ran off to give his brothers a closer look at his new goth duds, Splinter gave a small sigh. He would always try to support his sons and give anything that they cared about - whether it be likes, hobbies or even fashion - a chance, and he would continue doing that for the sake of his boys and their feelings... But a small part of him couldn't help but hope that Mikey's 'goth phase' didn't last TOO long.

Later that night, he received a text from Draxum - and surprisingly, this one wasn't some complaint or request. From the Baron's perspective, it was actually positive!

"Lou Jitsu - I know we don't always agree, but for the record, I also approve of Michelangelo's 'new look'. Very intimidating... A good starting point for a young warrior... Plus, all the black fits in with his ninja side. A win-win as it were, right?"

Splinter could only groan.

[selfless1978]

I once, in private, RPed with my Leo with a very special person. They knew how much I loved my version of him, and he had expressed it like this when she asked if it would upset me. 

Basically, there is one base Leo that was originally created. No matter how much we change him and shape him, every single one leads back to that first version. If it hadn’t been for that gritty comic, he never would have been available in so many forms to love. So, in a sense, there is only one Leo and all his different shapes and forms are just a matter of perspective on those who want to bring him to life. Therefore, no one really owns him. Everyone has had a hand to making him what he is. To some a BDSM master, to others a soft, caring lover. To many he is a stick in the mud, to few he is a clown in disguise. He is a character made for the masses that takes different shapes depending on the need. Therefore, he is to be shared by all. 

Now, I’m going to do this same thing with Vicky. I’ve played her in many forms, but her base personality is the same. What makes her, her is always going to be at her core, good or bad. In my mind, Vicky has grown far from her original intention to be a self insert. She has grown into her own enigma. Now, with a few years of playing her in many situations behind me, she has that same kind of depth. I’m going to do something that I haven’t seen done yet. One version of her new to this, the other having already taken the plunge. Both together in one story. And both having fallen for him. For Leo.

I hope you enjoy.

@fearlessheartofasamurai and @bushido-in-blue

This one is for you. One having seen me through some very hard times, and is dearly missed. The other helping me to overcome a deep scar of hurt to bring Vicky back out. To let her once more flourish in my writings.

To the both of you, I thank you deeply.

-Vicky Mun

TELL HIM

She sat across from him. Her deep brown eyes watching him as he tended to his weapons. Being very meticulous to sharpen every burr. His attention to the slightest detail amazing this often impatient and flighty woman. To her, it wasn’t the only amazing thing about him. She still couldn’t believe that such a marvelous creature gave her the time of day. 

This left her with the feeling of girly giddiness and, fear. She showed him neither as she started to form a connection. She was growing very fond of him. Even now she smiled as he engaged with a quick banter session with Mikey. Raph and Donnie chiming in and soon the lair was filled with their light hearted laughter. It was over in a short time, and soon she found herself alone with him as he returned his attention back to his weapons. Still, she said nothing. She didn’t want to interrupt his maintenance of his weapons, knowing full well that his life depended on them. And, what she really wanted to say was hidden behind a wall of uncertainty. 

I'm scared. So afraid to show I care

These feelings she was dealing with were very hard for her to voice. Her own past of hurt not wanting to let go and to allow her to reach out to him. To allow her even the slightest hope that he could be something more than a friend.

Will he think me weak. If I tremble when I speak

She bit her lip as she sat silently on the couch. Here was her chance. She could tell him about these thoughts and feelings. But the mere thought of that made her clam up. She knew very well that she wasn’t very good at talking about things this deep and personal. She would end up a stuttering mess and make a fool out of herself.

Oooh, what if there's another one he's thinking of

What if he had his interest in someone else? A man like him could have any woman he wanted, why would he want to spend time with her? A nobody with a damaged past and so many issues she had to face and learn to overcome.

Maybe he's in love, I'd feel like a fool

But if she never said anything, how would she know? If she didn’t reach out to him, this torment she was facing now would never be resolved. She would forever lament the opportunity passed because she was to afraid to speak up.

Life can be so cruel, I don't know what to do

Suddenly, she felt a warmth. It, was an odd feeling. Comforting, calming. A feeling full of hope. She closed her eyes to it and found a mental image of, herself? It seemed now as if two of her were sitting on the couch. one next to the other. Her current, torn self and another that watched with gentle compassion. Her loving expression watching him fondly as he obliviously worked. 

Then, this strange vision turned to look at her directly.

I've been there. With my heart out in my hand

Images began to fade in. Curious ones. They could be memories if she had done these things herself, but she hadn’t. There were things that were noticeably different. The lair setup, the furniture, even the turtles themselves were different to her in these pictures. She was in awe as she sat there, her eyes still closed. Trapped in this strange trance. But this, she wasn’t scared of. This shade was projecting nothing that even remotely alarmed her. If anything, it seemed understanding.

One image in particular held her. An image of this other her standing in front of this Leo. Just as terrified as she told him what was in her heart. 

But what you must understand, you can't let the chance to love him pass you by

She felt her heart melt as these two came together in their first kiss.  Tell him. Tell him that the sun and moon rise in his eyes. Reach out to him

She could feel the elation coming from this woman. Felt all of the fear drain out of her. She watched as they held each other close. Her head now tucked under his chin while his large arms wrapped around her.

And whisper, tender words so soft and sweet

They exchanged soft, loving words as he wiped her tears. Tears of relief. This shade had faced this same fear and the relief trickled down her cheeks. Her head eating against his chest.

She wanted that, she wanted that so much.

I'll hold him close to feel his heart beat

Now the scene changed. But it was her doing this time. Turning it into an image of herself and this turtle infant of them that mirrored the happiness she was feeling from her visitor. Showing this unique vision that this was also what she wanted, more than anything else.

Love will be the gift you give yourself

The shade smiled and nodded encouragingly, showing her support. She could clearly see the happiness in these strange eyes like hers. Touch him, with the gentleness you feel inside

More images came. Scenes of soft touches and caresses. Morning after bliss as they lay wrapped in each other’s arms. Casual hand holding, giggling pillow fights. The feeling of warmth at just being near him

 (I feel it)

A warmth she could feel for herself. This shade shared her own memories so openly and complete that she had no choice. She even felt how much this image loved him, and the feeling tore at her heart. Happy that this shade could find such love, and lamenting that it wasn’t actually her feeling it.

Your love can't be denied. The truth will set you free

She was compelled to open her eyes, and so she did. Leo had now moved on to his other blade. He felt her watching and looked up, giving her a smile before he began his minute inspection.

You'll have what's mean to be. All in time you'll see

She still felt this strange presence even with her eyes now open. As she watched him, an image over lapped her view of him. An image of the shade sitting sideways in her Leo’s lap, sharing more tender kisses before it gently faded away. Ooh, I love him

Her heart ached. There was no denying how she felt. 

(Then show him)

What she wanted. She swallowed hard as she fought with herself still. The warmth this shade brought with her flared again, soothing her while still sending her support.

Of that much I can be sure 

No, there was no denying what was growing in her. The flame, which had been so uncertainly flickering began to steady and burned brighter.

(Hold him close to you)

Reassurance filled her as another image was flashed before her. Both of them wrapped in a tight hug. But this was an image of her and what could be.

I don't think I could endure if I let him walk away, when I have so much to say She would gain nothing if she remained silent. She would suffer this painful uncertainty if she didn’t speak. She would be heartbroken if she didn’t at least try.

She struggled with it for a long moment, biting her lip in indecision.

Tell him. Tell him that the sun and moon rise in his eyes

The playful image of her shade laughing as she dabbed soap suds on her Leo’s nose as they bathed flashed before her eyes.

Reach out to him and whisper, tender words so soft and sweet

Followed by soft whispers of sweet nothings before they shared a kiss. Him pulling her close against him.

I'll hold him close to feel his heart beat

And yet another of her shade smiling up at him while he carried her, then grinned before he playfully dumped her into a large beanbag chair and followed her down. Laughter now giving way to passion.

Love will be the gift you give yourself She took a deep, shaking, breath and pushed herself off of the couch. She could have this. This experience was crazy, but she was grateful for it. It was giving her something to bury her fears. It was giving her hope.

Love is light that surely glows In the hearts of those who know. It's a steady flame that grows

She began to walk slowly towards him. Fighting her fear and uncertainty with every step. When he noticed her approaching, he looked up. His eyes full of curiosity and her resolve almost faltered.

Feed the fire with all the passion you can show

That now very welcome warmth flared inside of her again, washing away her doubts. The shade was still with her, and was clearly telling her she wasn’t alone. She smiled a shy smile at Leo and stepped closer.

Tonight love will assume its place. This memory time cannot erase

She stopped in font of him and he looked up at her expectantly.

Your faith will lead love where it has to go

She fidgeted a moment, unsure how to even begin. Tell him

Let it come from the heart

Tell him that the sun and moon rise in his eyes

Be honest, sincere.

Reach out to him and whisper, whisper words so soft and sweet

Vicky shook a little as she heard the words only she could hear, then reached for his hand and gently took it in hers. Was she crazy? Or was there really something helping her? She did know that if this hadn’t happened, she may have never found the courage to even think of trying to do this much less be standing in front of him now. 

Hold him close to feel his heart beat

His hand in hers. 

Love will be the gift you give yourself

She could do this. If she had any chance with him at all, she had to do this. There was one last image. The shade was now standing behind Leo. Smiling that same smile full of compassion and gentleness. The warmth she had been feeling moved from her body towards it, and she understood that this image of her had indeed come to her aid. She didn’t know how it was even possible, but she would be forever grateful to it. “Never let him go”

“I won’t...”

“Leo, um, can, can we talk?”

Damn. I made myself cry with this one....

[clansayeed]

Bound by Circumstance ― Chapter 13: What Was Given Can Be Taken Away

PAIRING: Nik Ryder x trans*M!MC (Taylor Hunter) RATING: Mature

⥼ MASTERLIST ⥽

⥼ Bound by Circumstance ⥽

Taylor Hunter (MC) has made it good for himself in New Orleans; turns out moving to a new city fresh out of college to reinvent yourself isn’t as hard as people make it out to be. Things only start to get confusing when he finds himself the target of a malevolent wraith. Good thing someone’s looking out for him though — because without Nighthunter Nik Ryder as his bodyguard he definitely won’t survive long in the twisting darkness of the supernatural underworld he’s tripped into.

Bound by Circumstance and the rest of the Oblivion Bound series is an ongoing dramatic retelling project of the book Nightbound and the rest of the Bloodbound series. Find out more [HERE].

Note: Circumstance only loosely follows the events and plotline of Nightbound, and features a separate antagonist, different character motivations, and further worldbuilding.

*Let me know if you would like to be added to the Circumstance/series tag list!

⥼ Chapter Summary ⥽

After her encounter with the bloodwraith leaves Lady Smoke without her cursed touch, Katherine sets out to organize a meeting with the only power in the city left uninterrogated: the Garden Coven. Taylor takes advantage of their time left hanging to finally visit Kristin’s hospital bed. There he finds a familiar face and finally gets an outsider’s perspective on the weirdness his life has become.

[READ IT ON AO3]

“No wonder you’re a dead name in this town, Ryder. Can’t even follow simple orders. Didn’t I tell you to keep Vera away from here?”

“Harsh, Tonya — harsh.”

Vera shoves the Nighthunter aside and almost falls on her knees at her mother’s bedside. Apparently the bad blood that parted them ran a little thinner than the blood they shared.

He recognizes that face — remembers a similar look in his mother’s eyes when she was watching him from his own hospital bedside. Kind of understands the way Tonya Reimonenq tries to look at anything but her daughter.

“As if I wasn’t gonna come see you?” Vera can’t help but sound a little frustrated; a little broken. Takes in the thin black spiderwebbing of her veins they’ve all become a little too familiar with at this point. “You’re lucky to be alive.”

“There’s nothin’ lucky about this, Vera.”

Her voice is thick with anger. It’s enough to pull her daughter out of her familial grief. Where she reaches up and Taylor helps her back to standing. Still she holds on to the railing of Tonya’s bed with a hard grip.

She looks her mother over head to toe. Flinches as she takes in the burn unit casts on her hands and forearms. The way her hair is no longer coiffed with a salt-and-pepper streak of refinement but now, instead, lays in disarray over the thin hospital pillows.

Just as her ID band says, the woman lying in bed is Tonya Reimonenq, nothing more and nothing less. Lady Smoke is no more than what her name implies — smoke on the wind.

Vera swallows down something else, maybe some fondness or affectionate word. Instead just lets her hand hover over the nearest cast-bound hand with hesitation.

“Kathy said you…” but the words get lost somewhere between her head and her mouth and she has to try again, “that the… the thing, it…”

Even when Tonya physically turns her head away there’s no hiding it. Not in the monitors that start to beep louder on the other side of her, not in the numbers that jump erratically. Not in the lights overhead — unflattering things to everyone, really — that illuminate the shame in her dark eyes.

“I can’t feel it anymore.”

“Feel what?”

“The connection, baby girl,” and there’s something a little manic in the way she looks at her daughter then, the way she reaches out but can’t touch, “the connection to our birthright. Always there and then…”

The words come out of Taylor unbidden; “Then gone like smoke.”

A tear falls down Tonya’s cheek. Dampens the pillowcase where it lands. Her vitals have slowed down now but the damage is done.

Expensive footsteps stop in the doorway brisk enough to turn their heads. To where a crisp and starched man fusses with a dark trench coat, practically wrenches it off of his shoulders and into the arms of an attendant passing in the hall.

His icy eyes land first on Tonya in bed and then sweep her guests — nothing short of critical, dismissive; borderline angry.

“Money can buy you a good room and unlimited care, Reimonenq, but it won’t buy you out of hospital rules.” He snaps, takes the white doctor’s coat from a different attendant as its given to him.

Along with it a laminated badge: DIAGNOSTIC STAFF, TULANE MEDICAL CENTER. With AUTHORIZED VISITOR on a bright red sticker beneath it.

The doctor pushes through them carelessly — is already fixated on the clipboard of Tonya’s information when he growls out “Anyone who isn’t family get the hell out of my sight before I call security,” and he definitely isn’t kidding.

“Good to see you again, Doctor Ramsey.”

He only looks up at his patient to see the condition of her arms and their bandages. “It isn’t a sentiment shared.”

Because they have no desire to stay and see what the doctor’s wrath looks like, since it sounds violent enough, Taylor and Nik make their way out. Stop only when Vera turns hot on their heels.

“You should stay with her — you know, never know what could happen.” Nik mutters under his breath. He’s so unaccustomed to showing concern that it sounds almost sarcastic for a moment. “I just mean —”

“I know what you mean. But I ain’t doin’ any good standin’ here.”

Taylor reaches and their hands meet between one another. He squeezes her gloves with the same concern and support as he had at the Shift.

“Nik’s right.”

But Vera is, at least on the surface, adamant. “No, Tay’. I’m useless in here. Out there I can—I mean we could—”

Neither of them miss the half-glance she nearly throws over her shoulder.

“Stay,” Taylor tries again; feels her resolve crumble just a little — it’s enough, “we’re not even going far. And if anything changes you’re the first call. Okay?”

“Okay.”

Taylor knows he has no right to try and mend the holes in the Reimonenq family tapestry. That’s not even what he’s trying to do if he’s honest. But underneath all that anger he can feel the threads of regret Vera is trying desperately to hide.

If something did happen she wouldn’t forgive herself. And that’s worse than feeling helpless.

When they finally find their way back to the front lobby (two wrong turns, five angry nurses, and a mentally scarring view of an old man’s ass later) Cal is sitting alone in one of the uncomfortable half-bench chairs. He’s pretending to be focused intently on the muted play of college football on the nearby mounted television — badly. Keeps looking over to where a father distracts his son from the noise and bustle around them with one of those outdated planks with colorful metal wires criss-crossing each other for simple beads to travel on.

Makes sense, though. The kid’s mop of messy dark hair could place him for a younger version of Cal’s brother, Donny.

“Hey, Kujo!” Ryder snaps to get the wolf’s attention — gets more than that when Cal’s upper lip curls like he’s baring fangs.

“You call me that one more time, Ryder, and I swear to god I’ll —”

“Enough, guys.” Taylor forces his way between them.

Ryder, however, is either entirely too used to threats by now or doesn’t find the werewolf to be much of a threat. Both aren’t very healthy reasons.

“Where’s Katherine?”

And yeah, where is Katherine? She’d been so insistent at the Shift to see Tonya’s condition for herself yet had been more than willing to hang back and make a call while Vera reunited with her mother.

Cal jerks his head towards the automated doors. “She dipped out.”

“Really, I hadn’t noticed,” luckily all it takes is a glare from Taylor to tone down his dangerous levels of sass, “you find out where she was goin’?”

“Naw, she —”

“She’s making arrangements for us to meet with the Garden Coven — ideally as soon as possible.”

Cadence arrives bearing the holy grail of all holy grails; hospital coffee. Makes balancing the three cups sans lids while swerving his way through a minefield of professionals, patients, and problematic persons downright easy. He hands each of them their caffeinated prizes while continuing; “Time is of the essence after all.”

A grim silence settles over the group. Just another time when, once again, there’s more going on than what’s being said and Taylor is left out of the loop. But he won’t fall into the trap this time — he simply won’t ask.

No matter how burning the compulsion is, how desperately he wants to know? Nope. Not asking.

Ryder practically gags on his first sip of coffee — funny, thinks Taylor, since he chugs down alcohol strong enough to burn off his tastebuds any other time — before he speaks.

“And there’s no one else suspect?”

Cadence shrugs. “The Mayor wasn’t at the garden, but even if it is him by some miracle or another he’d need a witch to summon that level of power.”

“All roads lead to the Garden.”

“Worst case scenario they agree.”

“You should’ve gone with her,” hard to tell which one is sharper; the look Nik throws at the vampire or the edge of his words, “no one has it in good with those crones. She could use the protection.”

“On the contrary I might be second to, well, you in how I stand with them.”

Context — context is good. And judging by said context this Garden Coven is rather the opposite. He pipes up; “They don’t know me yet, that’s a positive, right?”

Three pairs of eyes in a deadpan stare that tells him no, no that isn’t a positive at all.

“Well,” Cal smacks his open palms on his jeans and resumes his seat — the kid and his dad are gone now, the toy left abandoned and on its side, “nothin’ to do but wait. Least here I don’t gotta move Garrus’ inventory.”

So that’s it, they’re just going to sit on their thumbs and wait?

Well — Cal’s going to sit. The vampire shrugs and hands his number off to Ryder with a mention to call him if there’s news; takes off back the way he had come towards the hospital cafeteria.

Then Nik’s leaning in close, voice low and breath a tickle in his ear that Taylor wasn’t prepared for and can’t exactly contain his reaction to. But luckily the front doors slide open at the same time and his shudder could easily be taken as a shiver against the chillier evening air.

“Listen, Rook, about —”

It makes him step back and gape. “You really think now is the time to talk about that?” Because, uh, no.

Then Nik’s rolling his eyes with an arm thrown over his shoulder. “No, I’m not — shut up.” And he may very well be trying to get Taylor alone to talk about… about what happened in the apartment, but his dumb legs follow anyway. Like they’re conditioned by now to know safety lies at the hells of that dumb leather duster.

He stops them just shy of an unmanned desk. Keeps his voice low; “There’s a lot goin’ on right now.”

“Gee, really?”

“I mean —” Taylor takes a little pride in forcing Nik to pinch the bridge of his nose, just a little, “— between Tonya in there, and I don’t even know how to begin tellin’ you all the things not to do in front’a the Garden Coven, and yeah sure at some point maybe… talkin’ about earlier would be good —”

“Not. right. now.”

“I ain’t sayin’ right now!” A rare grunt of genuine frustration. Maybe Taylor’s toed the line a little too far… makes him back off at the very least. He can let the man get his words out, sure.

An opportunity Nik’s grateful for. “I figure you wouldn’t wanna do this without Vera but you weren’t wrong when you said she oughta stay with Tonya. But I dunno the next time we’ll be in this part of town. And I never intended not to keep this promise.”

Oh.

Nik notices the epiphany in his eyes and gives a curt nod. Stands with his hands shoved in his jeans pockets, which hunches his shoulders, which makes him seem more sincere than the hunter’s normal bravado allows for.

“She’s two floors up. You… you up for this?”

No — he isn’t. But as ever Nik is (begrudgingly) right. Who knows the next time they’re not going to be kidnapped, or attacked, or potentially fatally worse?

So he just nods and follows the safety of Nik’s heels towards the elevator.

It should be a good thing that the Intensive Care Unit doesn’t have many long-term patients. But Taylor already has a thing with hospitals. A nearly empty floor with all the blinds drawn and only one cantankerous-looking old guy manning the nurse’s station?

Welcome back to your own personal horror movie, Taylor.

The floor’s only occupants are side-by-side. So focused on getting to her after all this time, Taylor barely gives the man a passing glance. Catches sight of a smaller, frail-looking body in the bed over where his back is hunched and shaking with silent sobs.

The air is stale with the salty taste of grief.

The first thing he notices is how dull her room looks. Makes sense; she’s in a different city in a different state than where she grew up and even if there were volunteers about they’re probably all assigned to the patients who will appreciate and take advantage of a stranger’s generosity.

“I should’ve brought flowers,” mutters Taylor absently.

She would have brought him flowers. That’s just the kind of friend Kristin is.

Only the chart at the foot of her bed says ‘Jane Doe.’ Lists extensive injuries Taylor catches only a glimpse of before he forces his gaze elsewhere. But because he’s back in the Hunter Horror Flick each new thing he sees is leagues worse than the last.

Tonya had magic on her side. Even if it was gone now, even if it hadn’t worked — it was more than the negative defenses Kristin had had against their attacker.

She looks like someone poured a gallon of ink over a kiddie pool of milk. Weird analogy but not a wrong one. The machine keeping track of her vitals beeps slow and rhythmic. Says good things about the state of her pulse and her heart… only that he’s pretty sure it should be a little more upbeat.

He would have thought the tube down her throat would make him gag but somehow knowing it’s helping keep her alive is enough to stay his weak stomach. The in-process transfusion between a healthy, red bag on her right and the barbecue sauce-looking contents of the left bag, though… well he has to look away some time.

He’d hoped—no, thought—Nik was still in the doorway; a reassuring presence giving him an inch of space. Instead the Nighthunter is given a mile and is nowhere to be found.

He shoves the ‘Why I’m Uncomfortable With That’ essay back inside — there’s room to spare in the little mental box he’s assigned to process pretty much everything regarding Nik Ryder at a later and less perilous date.

Only when he’s taken in every part of her — no matter how frail or beaten — does Taylor pull up a chair from near the open doorway. Reaches out and covers Kristin’s hand with both of his own.

Because its easier than accepting the truth Taylor just tells himself he’s getting a fever, and that alone is the reason why she’s as cold as ice.

The alternative is there, screaming in his face, but he’s willfully denied the existence of something before, right? He’s pretty much a pro at this point.

“Christ, Krissy… I’m — I’m so sorry.”

Sorry he’s only just coming to see her now. Sorry he let this happen to her in the first place. Sorry he had such a stupid idea as he had.

Only barely registers the trembling in his hand when he reaches out and pushes a strand of her hair aside. He wants to rip the tube out of her mouth — it looks alien; wrong.

Can she hear him? He’s heard different stories of coma patients being aware of what’s around them but — but this isn’t an ordinary coma. This is supernatural, this is painful.

This is all his fault.

“‘Bout time Miss Jane got herself a visitor. I told — oh, hey, don’t I know you?”

He doesn’t place the voice nor the face it belongs to at first. How could he — in such a short amount of time Taylor’s met so many different people, different creatures. To see someone from before all this began is jarring in a way he didn’t expect.

That the badge tacked onto her olive green blazer says VOLUNTEER rather than a name doesn’t help either. Not until her features waver in front of his face — a heat mirage on a distant desert road.

The cemetery tour guide is the literal last person he expected to see now. He tries to be discreet wracking his mind for her name but must not do a very good job; “Tilly, not that I’d expect ya to remember.”

“No no, I — I do. I just… it’s been a weird couple of days.”

Her gaze, bright and with that cat-like intensity Garrus has helped him get accustomed to, look through him to Kristin’s bed. “I bet.”

Right — she had invited him back to the city with a free ride; traded stories about their plans for Mardi Gras and Taylor had gushed about seeing Kristin for the first time in ages.

And something tells him Tilly lives up to that look in her eyes.

“Might I be right in guessin’ this unlucky lady is that friend’a yours?”

Hesitantly he nods — checks behind her to make sure that grumpy nurse isn’t listening in on them. “But don’t — don’t say anything, okay? I —” Nik would kill him if he was suddenly pulled in for questioning.

She taps her plush lips — how is everything about her just shy of perfect? — with a single finger.

“Secret’s safe with me. I’m just glad she’s finally got some company. I make my rounds when I can, but this ain’t my day job.”

Though that begs the question doesn’t it? “Why do I have a feeling this meeting isn’t coincidence?”

“‘Cause ya’ve got a keen sense about you. I can’t quite see what it is, lit’le human, but it’s awful strong.”

Human, she says. “So you know.”

“Know what, cher?”

“I can see through your glamour.”

“Had a hunch —” she takes the opportunity to step into the room properly, closes the curtain behind her for a barrier however thin, “— ‘specially when you kept starin’ at my ears when first we met. Talk about makin’ a girl self-conscious.”

“Oh—I’m sorry.” At least he’s sheepish about it. But the fae woman waves it off with ease.

“You didn’t go tryin’ ta out me to all the humans in my guide group, so there’s no reason for ‘sorries.’ Most mortals don’t got that kind’a sense about them.”

“You run into this kind of thing often?”

“Oh—well no,” and Tilly goes a little red at the tips of her elven ears, “but I’ve been ‘round for quite some time. In a town like Nawlins you can’t even imagine what can be seen in one immortal lifetime.”

Actually, he can? Seeing Kristin and Tilly again reminds him just how little time has actually passed since his biggest concern was making sure he had all of the ingredients for his former roommate’s ‘tried and true’ hangover cure.

It feels like he’s been through the ordeal of several lifetimes in a matter of days.

His silence speaks volumes, has Tilly pulling up a rolling computer chair from outside the curtain to join him in his solitude. She surprises Taylor by reaching out and tilting his head up with a finger crooked under his chin.

He’s quick to notice that unlike Cadence, whose years echo deep in the weaving colors of his irises, there isn’t a hint of her age to be found.

“Though maybe you can imagine…” Its a prompt — an opening.

And maybe its because she’s caught him still raw from taking in Kristin’s current state or just because he needs to get it all out to someone before he literally explodes — but its an opening that Taylor takes. A little too gladly, maybe.

The levee holding in thoughts and words breaks somewhere on his tongue and just pours out. Keeps going and going and going until she feels compelled to stop him with a gesture, grabs an untouched cup of water from Kristin’s bedside, and practically forces him to drink before he’s allowed to, well, keep going.

Lucky for him though she doesn’t seem bothered by it. In fact she’s best described as enraptured in his tale. Gives nods of understanding; gasps of surprise.

Only when he’s exhausted himself of story to tell, catching up at the literal present with— “and now we’re just waiting, but shit I don’t know where he went, actually, I should go look for him…” —does he stop and breathe.

When Tilly finally decides what to say he just knows, somehow, that she’s chosen every word with care. “That’s certainly a story for the ages, Taylor.”

“Not one I would’ve picked for myself if I had the choice.”

“We don’t always get to choose our path in this life, or the next for that matter. You should count ya’self among the lucky to be a part of the makin’ of the world; of the future.”

His brow furrows in confusion. “I don’t get it.”

“No,” the smile she gives him is coy and full of secrets, “I don’t suspect you would.”

He expects her to continue — she doesn’t. And now being left hanging is just shy of uncomfortable. Again, where the hell is Nik…?

“It strikes me, Taylor, that you might not know jus’ what you are. Ain’t you ever wondered?”

Tilly stands and kicks her chair back, makes a point of looking at the closed curtain when the chair collides with the wall loudly but when nothing happens it only encourages her further.

Gets her to grab either side of Taylor’s chair and start pulling him closer to Kristin’s bedside.

“Oi—hey, what’re you doing?” What is she talking about, what he is?

Tilly’s words drip with mischief, “Maybe that bodyguard a’yours is to blame. All this happenin’ at once but no one’s stopped to look at the big picture.”

Taylor recoils just on instinct when she goes to grab his hand but the fae isn’t having it. She wraps her spidery fingers around his wrist and the contact isn’t just warm its like a volcano — scorching hot, bubbling lava, something rising inside of him and swelling to a previously unheard sound.

But he can hear it now. Like its a part of her. Some distant lilting tune that brings to his mind’s eye towering bonfires of majestic purple flames, of waters thousands of miles deep but so clear you can see right to the bottom, of wings the size of an airplane beating heavy and true against a sky riddled with a dozen moons and infinite stars.

He jerks them apart with wide eyes. Finds the smile she’s shining down upon him unnerving in that he can see all of her teeth at once. People who smile like that are always undoubtedly up to something.

The hospital lights flicker, then return to their usual brightness.

He hadn’t even noticed them go dim.

It makes him look around wildly. “Wh—What happened? What did you do to me?” And its only occurred to him what might be considered too late that this Tilly woman might be less a friend than a foe.

“I didn’t do nothin’, cher. Just showed you a teensy bit’a what you’re capable of. Since I bet no one else has bothered to try.”

Before he can protest or even question her there’s a finger to his lips. That same spark only hinted at — the melody stuck on the tip of his tongue. “All these miracles — the good and the bad — and n’one ever stopped to wonder why they keep happenin’ to you?

“Why you can see through the fog, or why ya’ve got literal hell on ya heels?”

“Very bad luck?” He tries through a smushed mouth. Tilly’s laugh is like wind-chimes of ethereal glass.

“Luck ain’t got a side to choose. But luck — luck is a streak of random chance. This is more. After all… what’s our reunitin’ but somethin’ that ought to’ve happened to bring us in the here and now?”

Fabric rustles behind him, enough to distract the fae woman and give him the chance to get her out of his personal bubble.

He’s never been so goddamn happy to see Nik in his life. Even if he plans on hitting the man for abandoning him when this is over with.

There’s a small bouquet of tulips hanging at his side; still with the tag from the hospital gift shop downstairs.

Okay, maybe he’ll save that for another well-deserving time. Because that’s just sweet.

Only there’s nothing sweet about the glower on his face. The way it makes the dark circles under his eyes look harder, the set in his jaw more prominent. He bypasses Taylor to glare right at Tilly. An unreadable expression hidden beneath his well-placed mask.

“What exactly are you implying?” He asks; joins in on the conversation like he’s always been there. Maybe he was — lurking just out of sight.

She cocks her head playfully. “Oh, you know.”

“Pretend I don’t.”

“Where’s the fun in that?”

He knows Nik well enough by now — when he doesn’t answer its because he’s still waiting for an answer to his first question.

Then they both look to Taylor — like they’re in each other’s heads. Its unnerving enough already and that just sends goosebumps down his spine.

Tilly with that same hidden knowing. And Nik…

Nik’s scaring him, to be honest, with the unfamiliar expression. An actual expression is rare enough but this… like he’s seeing Taylor for the first time. When he couldn’t have even managed it after being on top of him, being in his most intimate space?

The hunter rubs a hand over his mouth. “I had a hunch, just didn’t have the chance to figure out if it was even possible.”

“How much’a this world is born on impossible, Nik Ryder?” she asks. Earns her a sharp look.

“How can you prove it?”

She wiggles her fingers. “I jus’ did.”

“That ain’t enough to go on.”

“Not for certain — but it’s enough to get y’all in the door.”

“How quickly —”

“Say the word.”

“If he won’t listen —”

“He will.”

“What makes you so sure?”

“Easy-peasy,” she presses the tips of her fingers together and Taylor swears he catches sight of sparks where they meet, “it all makes too much sense t’a be just circumstance.”

When Tilly pries her fingertips apart an unnatural breeze, warm and somehow ringed with sunlight, wafts over the room. Rustles the tips of Kristin’s hair and the thin hospital blanket resting atop her. Flutters the drawn curtain and the hem of Nik’s coat.

A single pink petal falls from one of the tulips in his hand — dances practically alive along the tile floor only to be swept out of the room.

Somehow, though, deep in his chest Taylor knows it isn’t the lobby they’ll find on the other side.

In the same way he knows that’s where they need to go next.

He knew he wouldn’t be able to stay. Not with everything going on; the danger he’d be putting her back in. They were still waiting for word on when to join the others for their confrontation with the Garden Coven.

But looking down at Kristin — frail and so so cold… can Nik blame him for finding it hard to leave her side?

“Don’t worry — she’s safe here.”

He doesn’t take the hand the fae offers and thankfully she seems to understand. “And you won’t tell the hospital who she is?”

“A fae’s word is bond.”

“Thank you.” For watching over her, for letting him vent, for whatever she seems to know that Nik hasn’t yet brought to light.

When Taylor turns its to Nik’s bouquet held out in offering. He’s seen those hands; what they’re capable of. Strangling goblins and firing crossbows and the way they cradled his jaw with yearning. Yet now they’re trembling — the fear of rejection silent but there.

“You said you should’a gotten her flowers.” Explains the Nighthunter absently.

Taylor takes them for the gift — and wayward apology — that they are. Lays them across Kristin’s lap and presses a chaste kiss to her clammy forehead.

“I’ll be back, Krissy. Get well soon.”

Nik waits until they can cross the curtain’s threshold together. Must be feeling some kind of sappy because he doesn’t even try to move away when Taylor finds reassurance in his hand.

There’s a light that shouldn’t be there glowing through the gap where it brushes the floor.

“Are you gonna explain what’s happening before we go, or —”

“I don’t wanna be wrong — you deserve better than that,” small blessings in the fact that Nik seems just as apprehensive about the first foot forward, “but if I’m not… you need to be ready for everything to change from here on out.”

He probably doesn’t mean to be funny. Taylor laughs anyway. “Like it hasn’t already?” — then, because the humor is fleeting — “You’ll stay with me, right?”

“The whole way.”

Those three words — and not even the three most important words in someone’s life — are enough to give him the courage to do what Nik won’t.

He puts his first foot forward and pulls back the curtain.

[bossman-hazani]

Gangstars episode 1

Hey so this is my first time using this website. I’m moderately new to it but I thought that this might be a good place to post the scripts for an animated comedy series I wish to one day start. I decided that since I have no idea on how and what the hell to do in order to get it noticed by a producer, I thought a good place to start was to post the scripts online and see if I could build a community on it and see what will come from it. I mean, worst case scenario is that literally nothing will happen and it’ll go completely unnoticed so here it is. Please feel free to give any feedback in whatever way is possible on this website lol. The first episode might be a little weak I’m not really sure what to expect from readers but please give it a chance to when I post the second episode before giving up on it. I guess the kind of humour it comes off from is more a Rick and Morty type of thing. And please can nobody be an ass with feedback? I’m still new to this and I don’t really appreciate it. This isn’t really a final product and I’ll probably change the script based on any feedback I get so please try to keep it constructive and helpful. Thanks and enjoy.

Gangstars Episode 1 script

(The camera shows a brick wall in an alleyway with a door. You can hear the muffled voices of the interviewer and his mother)

Interviewer: "!?"

(Door opens)

Mom: "DAMMIT BOY, IF MY SON'S GONNA SMOKE, HE'S GONNA DO IT IN HIS OWN DAMN HOUSE, NOT THE TRASHY APARTMENT HE BOUGHT HIS MOM CAUSE HE DOESN'T LOVE HER"

Interviewer: "alright, alright! I'm going!"

(Interviewer exits door, grabs a cigar, takes out his phone and starts talking to someone on the phone while leaning on a wall)

Interviewer: "Hey, Stu. Look, I need you to do me a favour. Dammit Stu are you drunk again!? Fine, whatever. Just go tell Cindy that I'm gonna be in the office to tomorrow morning - what do you mean what!? Why the fuck do I even pay you!? Dammit Stu! You'd better give results or you're fired! Oh so NOW you remember. Whatever. Now tell Cindy that I'm gonna be in my office in the morning and that she has to go get mike so I can meet him and promote his ass. Heh, yeah, he's gonna be making some big bucks now"

(Interviewer continues talking while smoking, and as this happens, a large arm (Fat Toni) with a burger starts creeping off side of screen and attempts to suffocate him.)

Interviewer: "WHA-!?"

(Interviewer punches Fat Toni in the stomach to which an immune sign appears, slowly rising. As time is running out, Interviewer grabs glass bottle and hits Fat Toni over the head with it.)

Fat Toni: "ah SHIT!"

(FT drops to floor directly onto interviewer's leg and a crack is audible)

Interviewer: "Fuuuck!!"

Fat Toni: "Help me up, guys!"

(Two more figures, Teef and Giuseppe run in to help FT up there is clear strain in doing the process.)

Teef: "Holy shit, Toni you’re so fucking heavy!!"

Giuseppe: (Makes strained sounds)

(Interviewer politely waits through this event)

(When Fat Toni is finally up, he takes a moment to catch his breath)

Fat Toni: "Ok, where were we??"

Interviewer: "Uhhhh I think you were about to proceed with kidnapping me?"

Fat Toni: Ooohhh yeeah... Well... Do you wanna go through with it or has the moment kinda passed?"

Interviewer: "Nah I think I can bring it back."

(Interviewer backs away, into a wall, unable to stand. The shadow of a LARGE man slowly, with help, makes their way up and looms over interviewer)

Interviewer: (In fear) "What are you?"

(Bag goes over interviewer's face and screen goes black)

Fat Toni: (As if talking to a sick child) "Wake up, this is a temporary kidnapping."

(From the perspective of the interviewer, you can see his eyes opening and closing slowly)

Fat Toni: "Wake uuuuppp"

(Interviewer still doesn't wake up)

Fat Toni: (Irritated) "Hey, cmon, wake up already."

Fat Toni: (yelling and at the same time slapping the interviewer) "Wake up!!"

(Interviewer is awake now and looks all around him. He can see a messy room and at the end of it stands a dark figure who is not visible due to a light shining into the interviewer's face)

Fat Toni: "Alright now, talk!!"

(An irritated muffle comes from the interviewer as he makes it clear that he cannot)

Fat Toni: "Oh, right. Sorry about that."

(From the figure comes a hand that reaches to the face of the interviewer and removes some duct tape)

Fat Toni: "Ok NOW talk."

Interviewer: "Somebody help me!!"

Fat Toni: "Naah I was just messing with you, you never had to talk. But what we ARE gonna do is we're give you something to make sure that you can't go to that interview tomorrow."

Interviewer: "huh? But-"

(Toni's hand goes over interviewer's face and the screen goes black for a few seconds.)

(The camera then goes to Mike. He's walking in a suit with a briefcase (office work starter pack) through the Jimmyasssteak building and his fellow employees pass by, engaging in conversation. It's clear that Mike is familiar and comfortable in his status and that EVERYONE knows and loves Mike.)

Employee 1: "Hey, Mike!! Pretty sure your gonna be promoted to CEO!! AND your gonna meet the boss! Even I haven't seen him"

Mike: "Yeah ikr! But it still hasn't been confirmed... Fingers crossed though!!"

Employee 2: "EY, MIKE!! YOU FUCKED MY WIFE!"

Mike: "Yeah I did"

Employee 2: (High fives mike) "Holy shit! That's really an achievement! I still haven't fucked her after 5 years together!! Anyway, have a good one, Mike!"

Mike: "Yeah, you too, Gary."

(Mike goes into a reception and starts waiting. After a sew seconds, a secretary comes up to mike)

Secretary: "Oh, hey Mike, the boss will see you now."

Mike: "Alrighty then, let's go."

(Mike and secretary start walking together through a corridor)

Mike: "So uh you know what the big guy's like? What I should say to him? What he looks like?"

Secretary: "I have no idea. I've never seen or heard him in person. Every day at 11 I escort everyone out of the building and security is turned off so he can enter his office. I guess you could say he likes his privacy."

Mike: "But then how did he tell you he wanted to see me?"

Secretary: "We communicate through ASCII. (but pronounced as ASCI)"

Mike: "So... the Advertising standards council of india??"

Secretary: "No it's with TWO 'I's."

Mike: "Ohh..."

(Camera slowly blacks out then slowly back into colour to show Mike and the Secretary reaching the end of a corridor. The secretary is a blubbering mess while mark is just confused and shocked)

Secretary: "And then I said "what, you don't like me that way?" and then you'll never guess what he said. Go on guess."

Mike: (slowly and confused) "How? This wasn't even a long corridor. It was only 30 seconds ago that we were talking about the boss. How did- Just- how!?"

Secretary: "HE SAID YESSSS!"

Mike: "Well I hate to have to leave you at the peak of the... The conversation but- uhh- we're at the boss so I kinda have to do my interview and all..."

Secretary: (clearly fine now) "Oh, ok!"

(Secretary goes to a computer and types in a legitimate ASCII message. In response, a message that's clearly not ASCII pops up)

Secretary: "Alright, I'm going to have to go while the boss opens the door. It's standard procedure. So bye Mike!"

(Secretary starts walking away. A door slowly opens. Mike goes through the door, looks around and sees Fat Toni, who is drawing a moustache on the Mona Lisa painting hung up on a wall)

Fat Toni: "OH, HEY! Mark, right? I- uh I wasn't expecting you!"

Mike: "But didn't you literally tell your secretary that you were ready for me through ASCII??"

Fat Toni: "Mike... How in the goatlord’s shitting anus am I supposed to contact my secretary through the advertising standards council of india!?"

Mike: "Oh no she says it's with two 'I's."

Fat Toni: "Aaaahh. Well that makes more sense. I thought she was playing a number game when she sent me all those ones and zeros

Fat Toni: "Mike... I don't like mike... Is it ok if I call you Donnie?"

Mike: "Please call me by my name, sir."

Fat Toni: "Then it's settled. Your now Donnie... Donnie Dwayne!"

Donnie: (small and powerless) "ok..."

Fat Toni: "So Donnie. I'm gonna ask you some questions and your gonna answer then a’ight?"

Donnie: "Sure, whatever."

Fat Toni: "What are your thoughts on crime??"

Donnie: "I've always hated crime. I don't want to establish myself in it in any way and it helps nobody in any way. Innocent people just get hurt."

(Fat Toni gives a disapproving 'hmm' and literally scribbles on his notepad)

Fat Toni: "Now for the second question; What's your weight and how much do you normally eat in a day?"

Donnie: "How does this have anything to do with my promotion?"

Fat Toni: "Trust me, it's very important."

Donnie: "Well I guess I'm more or less the average person for both of them."

Fat Toni: "So... 49,000 calories each day??"

Donnie: "what!? No! That's stupid!! It's like 2,000!"

Fat Toni: "TWO-THOUSAND!? WHAT KINDA SUPER FUCKIN DIET ARE YOU- *ahem* That's very, very low. I gotta say, Donnie, your not doing very well for yourself so far. But you can still make it back."

Donnie: "Ok, ok..."

Fat Toni: (Dark and slowly) "Now it's time for the third question..."

(features of Fat Toni's face are blackened and are very serious as he says this and Donnie is concerned)

Fat Toni: (All grim and dark features on Fat Toni's face quickly disappear as he says this) "Do you like burgers? I like burgers."

Donnie: "Oh- well I like a good burger. They're actually pretty good."

Fat Toni: "I should probably tell you the truth... You know the gangstars?"

Donnie: "Umm no..."

Fat Toni: "Oh c'mon you gadda know them... Ya know... Biggest gang in the worldiverse?? Startin' gang wars here and there? You've probably heard of the but don't remember"

Donnie: "Ohhhhh those guys are JOKES!"

Fat Toni: "Ah c’mon, they're not that bad..."

Donnie: "I mean, they were the first and only gang to ever have their heist thwarted by an old lady"

Fat Toni: "Well- uuhh- I'm pretty sure they felt bad for the grandma and they didn't wanna hurt her..."

Donnie: "Dude, she was 96 and they had guns. She was only armed with a walking stick."

Fat Toni: "Pretty sure she was a martial artist."

Donnie: "What kind of martial artist is called Masel?"

Fat Toni: "UM only the most powerful ones. You know how martial arts gotta be, you can’t have your enemy suspect it. Pfft what do you know. Listen. I'm not your boss. My name is Fat Toni. I'm here to recruit you on the behalf of the Gangstars."

Donnie: "No."

Fat Toni: "Look Donnie, The gangstars need you. We're at a very bad state and this is the final straw for us. We need you."

Donnie: "No."

Fat Toni: "In this job, you were about to be promoted to CEO of the company. Would you rather be a CEO of Jimmyasssteak and get about 15 million a year, as tempting as it is, I think our offer will still win you over. By joining the gangstars, you get to risk your life, for scraps from heists!" (shows a picture of two happy people) "See, in the picture, you can see two of our happy members, enjoying the rough territory of wars."

Donnie: "Who even ARE they??"

Fat Toni: (Looks at the picture) "Ah. That's Tim and John. They didn't make the old lady attack. Don't ask. And I haven't even gotten to the good part! If you choose to join the gangstars, you get a chicken! On the house! With deals like that, SOMEONE'S gonna be making it through the winter!"

Donnie: "Well, I was GONNA say "no.", but I think the chicken part really changed my mind to... No.

Fat Toni: (pulls out gun to Donnie's face) (Aggressively) "It sure is a good thing that you're so excited to join the gangstars. You start..." (Looks at watch) "now!"

Donnie: "Of course. This is just great."

Fat Toni: (Holds up handcuffs) "you're gonna need to wear these..."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ (Fat Toni and Donnie are walking on the pavement of a motorway. Occasionally, there's a car passing by. Most give an aggressive comment to them.)

Fat Toni: "Sorry we had to walk. We have a small unicycle back at the HQ... I totally forgot it though."

Donnie: "A unicycle? You can ride one?"

Fat Toni: "Yeah you should see us when we use it. We look like a fuckin' circus crew piled up on top of each other."

Donnie: "That's kinda st-"

(A car passes by, and says an aggressive comment."

Driver 1: "You fuckin' dumbass!!"

Fat Toni: "You too you piece a' shit!!"

Donnie: "What the fuck was that about?"

Fat Toni: "Well you're in the motorway. In these areas, it's home to some of the most aggressive drivers in the city. A word of advice, do NOT go through the motorway in a car. VERY few people ever see the end of the motorway. Don't worry about the comments though, asshole comments are like compliments here."

Donnie: "Oh. Well that's also stupid. What's the gangstars like??"

Fat Toni: "Oh they're great once you get to know them. But if you're gonna fit in, you're gonna wanna work on your gangstar voice. Try one now!!"

(Passing car)

Driver 2: "HEY!! I'm drivin' here!!"

Fat Toni: "yeah, I bet you are!!"

Donnie: "Well what do you want me to say??"

Fat Toni: "Ummm... say that the gangstars don't suck and that they're actually super cool."

Donnie: "Ok, that sounds like a fairly simple task." in gangstar voice) "The ganghhh-"

Fat Toni: "Go on, say it."

Donnie: (in gangstar voice) "The gagstars donn- donnut sss-" (out of gangstar voice) "nope. I can't do it. It's physically impossible They just suck that much."

Fat Toni: "Ok, imma let that pass, but don't say that any more. Look. We'll work on your gangstar voice later"

(Passing car)

Driver 3: "How's ur mom!?!?"

Donnie this time: "Much better than yours!!"

(Car stops in the distance for a moment and then starts reversing. Meanwhile, Fat Toni is in shock.)

Donnie: "Wait what's he doing?? Didn't I compliment him?"

Fat Toni: "Dammit Donnie!! YOU'RE OUTTA THE MOTORWAY ZONE!!"

(Camera shows the ground with half of donnie's front foot past a black and yellow tape on the ground)

Donnie: "Well how tf was I supposed to know that!?!?"

Fat Toni: "THERE'S A NEON ADHESIVE TAPE ON THE FLOOR AND ABOUT 50 SIGNS!! HOW COULD YA MISS IT!?"

Fat Toni: "Just let me handle this!"

(Fat Toni pulls out his gun and points it to the driver who is at this point already out of his car and is approaching them. Meanwhile, Donnie starts slowly making a getaway.)

Fat Toni: "Look sir, I'm sorry about this misunderstanding. My grandson over here."

Driver 3: "Idiot. You don't look anything like him. And the age gap is WAY too small for him to be your grandson."

Fat Toni: "Oh but he is my grandson. Tell 'I’m Donnie."

Donnie: "Huh? Oh- yeah, sure am."

Driver 3: "Well tell me something, then. Why is your grandson trying to run away?"

Fat Toni: "Are you serious?? That's like the oldest trick in the fuckin' book. Did you really think that was gonna work? Go on, Donnie, tell him how you're still here!"

Donnie: (slightly distant) "YEAH!! He's right!"

Fat Toni: "See what did I tell ya!?"

(Fat Toni looks back and sees Donnie running away)

Fat Toni: "SON OF A BITCH!! Uh... is that someone calling you a fucking dumb ass??"

Driver 3: "You're the fucking dumbass if you think I'm falling for that bu-"

(Fat Toni throws the gun in driver 3's face and starts running for donnie.)

Fat Toni: "Donnie? Donnie!! Don't worry. I think the guy's knocked out!! You can stop running now!"

Donnie: "You idiot! That's not why I'm running away! I need to go back to my LIFE! I can still get my promotion and forget all this EVER happened!!

Fat Toni: "But Donnie!! The chicken! It's still up for grabs!!"

Donnie: "You're fucking crazy!! Just leave!"

Fat Toni: "Slow down, Donnie, I'm fat!!"

(Donnie continues running while looking back at Toni who's stopped to catch his breath.)

Donnie: "hah haha AAHAHAHAH IT'S OVER! I'M FREE! OOP!

(Donnie runs into a tree and falls back onto the ground and goes unconscious. The camera shows Toni picking up Donnie and holding him over his shoulder and carries him off. The screen slowly fades.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

(Donnie wakes up in a small room on some hay, holding his head. The room looks old and floors and walls are made of wood. Donnie walks out of the room to another but this room looks normal and modern. Just regular but it's shit. In the room, Fat Toni stands alone in the room. He notices Donnie, starts walking towards him while talking.)

Fat Toni: "Hey Donnie, How did you enjoy our 17th century themed guest room?"

Donnie: "Well I feel like shit. I also smell like shit and I don't remember that before I hit my head."

Fat Toni: "Yeah... It's a pretty weird coincidence how the guest room does that to ya."

Fat Toni: "Listen Donnie, You're about to meet the other members of the gangstars. But, before you meet them and officially become a gangstar, you gadda sign this" (holds up a blank contract with only the signing area.) "so that if you bail, we can add shit in the blank and take you to court claiming shit you never agreed to! And if you don't officially join the gangstars, then we'll kill you. So... it's nothing important. You get it. Now sign it."

Donnie: "Welp. Doesn't look like I have that much choice... Uh... should i sign it as Donnie or should i use my actual name??"

Fat Toni: "Donnie will work just fine. I mean, I don't know how it not being your real name would affect how we can take you to court."

Donnie: "Oh I'm sure it doesn't. Real names are way overrated anyway"

(Donnie signs it as "Donnie")

Fat Toni: "Alright, this is the moment, as soon as you meet the rest of the gangstars, you'll officially be a gangstar. There's no going back from here."

Donnie: "Ummm I don't really need t-"

Fat Toni: (yelling upwards, cutting Donnie off) "GET YOUR ASSES DOWN HERE!!"

(Distant shuffling)

(the gangstars start walking in one by one)

Teef: (Talks in a shitty Italian accent) "What the fuck is it now?? If you've lost your cheeseburger again, we're NOT gonna help you this time"

Fat Toni: "Well actually I'll talk to you about that later buuut I called all your asses down here because I wanted to introduce the latest addition to the gangstars... Everyone meet Donnie!!"

Teef: "Oh, another one?? This is the fourth time this week. They keep dieing, dammit!"

Guiseppe: "Taglatelli!!"

Donnie: "Wait-- what's up with that guy, why did he just mention a delicious food that doesn't relate to context."

Fat Toni: "Ah, that, is guiseppe, he's got pure Italian blood, but we never really got to figuring out why exactly he doesn't talk proper Italian. His language is based mostly on Italian words that Americans know and love in their language likee... Ravioli, or pizza then there's also a sprinkle of random American words, but he CAN understand what you say. We came around to calling it retarded Italian. Oh yeah, he also makes a great ravioli."

Giuseppe: "Pizza ravioli Guiseppe (holds out hand) spaghetti"

Donnie: (shaking hand) "So is it like every word has a translation??"

Teef: "Nah it's really completely random. One ravioli could mean biscuits in one sentence but shit in another."

Fat Toni: "Yeah... Trust Teef's judgement when it comes to retarded Italian. He's the only one who understands retarded Italian."

Teef: "Welcome to the gangstars, if you need anything, just reach reach me, I probably got what you need."

Fat Toni: "Teef's our guy whenever we need something, if you need something done, just go to him!

Donnie: "yeah, sure, whatever, but why the fuck does he sound so weird??"

Fat Toni: "Well a couple years back his ass got into some deep shit and well... He knew some people who could fix it... let's just say long story short, according to the law he's related to guiseppe and is legally required to speak in a shitty Italian accent. It's a story for another time."

Guiseppe: "Spaghetti artichoke" (starts ruffling in pockets) "biscotti penne"

Teef: "Oh c'mon Guiseppe. You really gotta do that this time??"

Guiseppe: "broccoli."

Donnie: "Wait- What's happening?"

Teef: "He uh says you gotta do the ritual."

Donnie: "Oh for fucks sake what's it now?"

(Once guiseppe seems content with what he was searching for, he pulls out a live chicken and holds it in both hands and starts talking retarded Italian. What he's talking about isn't important.)

Guiseppe: "coffee ciabatta gelato..."

Donnie: "What the fuck!? Where the hell did he even fit that thing!?"

Fat Toni: "It doesn't matter, it's bad luck to question the ritual. It's a tradition that's been going through the gangstars for centuries now, your gonna have to accept the complimentary chicken."

Donnie: "What!? No! I'm not gonna accept this stupid chicken!"

(Guiseppe takes note of this and looks offended, but continues with the ritual.)

Teef: "You gotta take the complimentary chicken man. No excuses now, you're a gangstar."

Donnie: "What the hell even is this place!?"

(Guiseppe finishes speaking and goes down on one knee and holds the chicken above his head)

Donnie: "I'm not gonna take the chicken"

Teef: "You gotta take it man."

(Guiseppe starts to slowly push the chicken towards Donnie's face)

Fat Toni: "just take the damn chicken, just for a minute."

Donnie: "I can't, I'm allergic dammit!"

(Guiseppe slowly starts getting seriously pissed)

Teef: "Would you do it for a quarter?"

(Donnie shoots Teef an annoyed glance)

Teef: "He ain't buying, Toni."

Fat Toni: "Well raise!! We need him to take the chicken!"

Teef: "But I already offered a quarter!"

Fat Toni: "Whoa Teef, he's not worth our entire budget."

(Guiseppe slowly starts getting seriously pissed)

Fat Toni: "Donnie, I'm telling ya this as a warning, not advice; take the chicken."

Donnie: "Alright! I'll take the chicken!!"

(Donnie takes the chicken in a sudden movement, Guiseppe goes back to normal and walks out.)

Donnie: (throwing the chicken behind him followed by a squawk) "What a weird motherfucker..."

(Doogie walks through the door)

Teef: "Motherfucker..."

Doogie: "Reporting for business, boss!"

Fat Toni: "Ah come onn didn't I give you that calculus book!?"

Doogie: "That was a colouring book for kids."

Fat Toni: "And I did NOT think you'd finish it so damn fast"

Donnie: "Alright whose this dumbass?"

Doogie: "well my-"

Teef: "We'll do the talking, asshole."

Teef: "His name's Doogie; the smartass dumbass never really officially joined the gangstars, he just started coming here."

Fat Toni: "Physically, he's worse than useless, but he's a real smartass... Most of the time he's just annoying though. No matter what we do, we can't get rid of him.

Donnie: "Well why don't you just" (makes a slitting throat gesture)

Fat Toni: (excitedly) "Oh yeah, that reminds me, check this out"

(Fat Toni pulls a gun to Doogie's forehead between his glasses and shoots him without hesitation. When Doogie dies, he makes the most pathetic sound. Doogie's corpse slides a small distance so his head is under an object.)

Donnie: "What the hell did you just do!?You killed the weird kid!!"

Fat Toni: "What? you suggested that I kill him? Didn't he Teef?

Teef: "He did, and by laws of the gangstars, he'd be held responsible"

Donnie: "No! I was making a joke! I didn't want you to seriously kill him!!"

Doogie: (Weak and slowly) "Goooo..."

Donnie: "Wait- why did he just make a noise? What was that?"

Teef: "That. Is the reason why we could never get rid of him. I mean cmon did you really think we didn't try killing him? I mean just look at him."

(Doogie starts making a very slow rise)

Teef: "If you'll excuse me for a moment, I have something to get"

(Doogie starts talking while rising)

Doogie: "How many times do I have to tell you to not to do that guys? I know it's funny but it's annoying. You ruined my good glasses too..." (continues )

(Teef walks next to Doogie with a shovel and smashes him by the back of the head towards a wall. Doogie makes another one of his pathetic noises as he dies. His corpse slides towards a wall and and some sort of stacked tall object falls just right to cover his body from the viewpoint and from all characters in the area.)

Teef: "Welp, I think I took care of that."

Donnie: "So.... What!?"

Fat Toni: "To put it simply, it was by some really shitty fortune that the one useless pain in the ass is basically impossible to get rid of. We've never seem what happens when he's being reborn. The surrounding will just comically rearrange themselves through extremely unlikely processes to cover his corpse."

Teef: "The more you try to force seeing the regeneration process, the more destructive the events get so they'll force YOU not to see it. So uh try not to do that."

(Two semi-large guys walk into view next to Toni)

One of them: "Hey Toni. A word please"

Toni: "Oh, hey Donnie, meet these guys." (points to one of them) "This guy is Tommy de mato" (points to the other one) "and he's Danny 'D' Ruff."

Donnie: "Damn, those are some pretty stupid yet kinda catchy names."

Teef: "Yeaah... That was back when we were using the catchy name generator."

Fat Toni: "Ahh that was a good one... Anyway, they're mostly undercover or doing background work so you won't be seeing much of them."

(Fat Toni turns to Tommy and Danny and then back to the others)

Fat Toni: "Alright. I'll be back in a minute"

(Fat Toni walks a small distance with Tommy and Danny to talk.)

Fat Toni: "Alright so what's up guys?"

Danny 'D' Ruff: "We found a bank. This one's too easy."

Fat Toni: "How much they are we gonna get outta this heist??"

Tommy De Mato: "Well they don't got much money or gold or much of anything because they literally just opened but they got cookies; lots and lotsa cookies."

Fat Toni: (Stroking chin in deep thought) "How many cookies are we talking about here?"

Danny 'D' Ruff: "Get this; whenever you deposit or withdraw money from an account, they'll give out free cookies."

Fat Toni: "Holy shit that's a lot of cookies..."

Tommy De Mato: "Think about it man, this time in a few days, we'll be rolling in cookies beyond our wildest dreams and a small portion of money."

Fat Toni: "Dammit, we're doing it!!"

(Fat Toni rejoins the rest and Danny and Tommy leave.)

Donnie: "No the fuck I won't do it!"

Teef: (Offering a bloody bat to Donnie) "C'mon it's not that hard to just give him a whack to the head."

Doogie: "No, please don't. It hurts"

Donnie: "No!! It's psychotic!"

Fat Toni: "Don't worry, Teef. He's only finding it so difficult because he doesn't know him well enough."

Teef: (with a hint of hostility) "Just give it time."

Fat Toni: "Alright guys. We're gonna rob a bank."

Teef: "Sweeet. It's been way too long." (yells upwards) "HEY, GUISEPPE!! GET YOUR ASS DOWN HERE. WE'RE PULLING A HEIST!!"

Guiseppe: (muffled) "Taglatelli pastrami!? Fusili?"

Teef: "uhhh... Brocoli lasagna pizza"

Guiseppe: "Fusili!"

Teef: "He's in."

Donnie: "Yeeaah I don't know... Now we're breaking the law? This felt more like some creepy fanclub thing. I never really thought of doing illegal shit..."

Fat Toni: "Yea but that's only cause you don't know the stash we're gonna pull from this heist."

Donnie: "Fine. What is it??"

Fat Toni: "Cookies; lots 'n' lotsa cookies."

Donnie: "Yup... Just as incredibly stupid as I figured."

(Guiseppe joins the group)

Guiseppe: "Concerto."

Teef: "He says he's ready."

Fat Toni: "How about everyone else?"

(Camera scrolls to the side as everyone gives their answer)

Teef: "Yeah!"

Guiseppe: "Libretto" (yes)

Doogie: (excitedly but cut off) "Ye-!"

Fat Toni: (Excitedly) "You aren't coming!"

Doogie: "Awww..."

(Camera goes on to Donnie who has an exaggeratedly and comically pissed off face and his arms crossed and is hunched)

Donnie: (with a childlike misery) "No."

Fat Toni: (excitedly) "Doesn't matter!!"

(View goes back to Fat Toni.)

Fat Toni: (In a cool voice) "Well. Now that everyone's ready..." (pauses while putting on some of the stupidest glasses on the end of his nose and pushing the glasses up the bridge of his nose) "... Let's go rob a bank."

*** END OF EPISODE 1 ***

[boneswriteswords]

Hi! Sorry if the ask box thing already closed. You can ignore it if that´s the case. Just know I read all your TMNT fics/hc and i love them all (in the future i will reblog and comment each of them; once im done with college stuff xp ). I... was thinking of maybe a Donnie x reader where they are far away from eachother and reader is having a breakdown and just wants to be hugged so bad by her bf, so Donnie writes what he can to let her know she is loved. Thank you for being you Bonnie! *Hugs*

A/N: Something I have learned about myself recently. I never follow the exact prompt. Ever. No matter how hard I try, somewhere I deviate and it takes off and I can’t make it fit into the boxes its supposed to be in.

So here is what I came up with for this ask. 

Thank you for the message, nonnie. I hope this doesn’t disappoint you. 

Unbeta’d because I never proofread ok I will die like a person who makes mistakes and gives no fucks. 

Words: 1135. 

Tw: Panic Attack

It had seemed like a good idea at the time. One of yourprofessors really liked your thesis paper on sex trafficking and wanted you tomeet with some of his colleagues at a convention he was invited to. He thoughtyou were brilliant, your paper insightful, and your perspective unique, and youpreened under the praise.

You eagerly agreed to attend said conference, recognizing itas the fantastic opportunity to get your name out in the field that it was. Students,especially undergrad students, were rarely given invitations to attend thereally big professional conferences – the ones where minds who have been in thefield for years get together to discuss their research, new theories and findings,concepts that were put on hold or only partially disqualified, and debate – andthey most certainly were never asked to actually speak at them. You spent hoursgoing over everything, from the flight plans to your presentation to yourtalking points, with Donnie to make sure you were prepared to impress.

You were on cloud nine up until the exact moment that youweren’t. It started small, like it usually does. The quivering in your bones asyou boarded the plane and watched New York fade in the distance as the sun wentdown. The discomfort settling into your stomach as you tried to adjust to atime change.  The sudden inability toremember what you packed in your bags. The agitation at being stationary andthe walks around the hotel you were staying at you took to help alleviate thedarkening mood. The dread of falling asleep, of waking up, of getting ready tospeak to numerous professionals that know way more than you do. The fear ofembarrassing yourself in front of them.

You didn’t expect to crash as hard as you did.

And you didn’t expect it to happen while you were on thephone with Donnie.

“Dove. Dove, listen to me. I need you to breathe.”

How could you when your lungs weren’t working?

“Listen to me dove. Focus on me. Can you turn on Face time?”

In your haze, you fumbled with the phone with shaky fingers.Donnie’s face popped up on your screen and a small burst of comfort flowedthrough your body. It vanished as quickly as it had come though, when yourealized that you were alone.

He wasn’t here. He wasn’t with you. He was in New York andyou were in this lonely hotel room thousands of miles away and he couldn’t getto you if you needed him.

“There you are. I’m here, my dove. My lovely little dove,”he cooed, keeping his voice soft and gentle as you struggled to make sense of reality,“You’re having a panic attack ok? Dove, I need you to breathe for me.”

“You-you-you aren’t here Donnie. I ca-can’t…I don’t…I-I-I.”Words were hard. Thoughts were hard. Breathing was hard. “You aren’t here.”

“Look at me honey. Look at me. Open your eyes.” When had youclosed them? “Good. I am here. In the room with you. Talking to you. Breathewith me honey. Inhale….” He paused, inhaling, holding it for a couple seconds,and exhaling it. “Exhale. Now do it with me ok.”

Inhale. One. Two. Three.

Exhale. Four. Three. Two. One.

“Good girl. Again.”

Inhale. One. Two. Three.

Exhale. Four. Three. Two. One.

“I am here. Pull the blanket around you. Just like I do athome.”

Over and over again. Inhale. Exhale. Praise. Instruction.

The pressure behindyour eyes loosened. The hotel duvet was on the right side of heavy and warmalong your shoulders. You pulled it tighter, adjusting yourself so you wouldn’tdislodge it.

Donnie watched you, eyes flickering back and forth over youon the screen. You kept your eyes on his, taking note of the way his irisdilated as he spoke to you, the different colors in the iris, the kind shape ofhis lids, and how they rested on his face. He has beautiful eyes. Slowly, you driftedfrom his eyes, taking in the shape of his head, the slope of his snout, the wayone of his nostrils sat just a tiny bit higher than the other, the way his lipscame together to form words and how different it looks when he leans in to kissyou….

“….dove? Are you listening to me?” You hadn’t realized hehad tapered off the breathing exercise and was speaking. “I need you to focuson something. Anything.”

“I am. Focused,” you slurred, “One of your nostrils ishigher than the other.” The muscles in your back slackened. His lips quirkedinto a grin.

“Really? What else do you see?”

“You have freckles on your snout but they’re a differentcolor than the ones on your shoulders and legs,” you continued, body recliningback on instinct. Donnie always nestled you somewhere soft and squishy as you descendedfrom madness, his arms wrapped around you to keep you weighted. “Your lower lipis thicker than your upper lip.” You could feel the tension seeping from yourbones, a residual ache left behind that a hot shower would fix in the morning. “Youhaven’t been sleeping much. The lines under your eyes are deeper.”

He chuckled and you smiled, a sleepy little thing as yourhead lolled back against the pillow. You didn’t have any strength left in yourneck so you lifted the phone and changed the angle so you could keep looking athim, “Thank you, Donnie. I feel better.”

His face reflected all the affection he had for you and yousoaked it up, “You are the love of my life, you know that, Donnie? Can’t dothis life without you anymore.”

The smile returned, blinding and shy. He decided againstpointing out that you went most of your life without him in it. You survivedwithout him, had a life without him in it. You would again, if it came down toit. If choice was removed.

He hated to think about it and there was no sense in sendingyou down another spiral, not when you were so soft and open now. Vulnerable.Unsuspecting.

Something a lesser man would take advantage of.

“I know, dove.”

The fact that you didn’t wantto live a life without him though was enough to seize his heart in hischest. He knew what he had with you. What you allowed him to have with you. Thefeeling he got when he could reach you when you succumbed to the worst parts ofyourself and bring you back and you trusted him enough to allow him to see youthrough it was something he couldn’t put into a spreadsheet and quantify, nomatter how hard he tried.

You bloomed for him.

“I love you too.”

[wumpusandzandii]

Science and Progress: Chapter One

TMNT Human!AU Storyline for Donatello x Lily

Chapter One

Being part of a large family was a blessing and a curse. Everyone seems to fill a roll, and the family rolls on like a machine, sometimes well-oiled, sometimes like a train wreck, depending on the day. When that roll is the one that has family members asking for help, whether it be answering questions or fixing things, the feeling is amplified. There is a sense of validation with being able to help, to sometimes have answers to problems before they even became an issue. On the flip side of that coin, it can mean that simple problems easily solved by common sense or a quick Google search are often presented, and pile up over time.

Such was Donatello’s day, and it wasn’t even noon yet. Their morning training had been over for a while, but there were still hours to go before their afternoon classes. Splinter had left on one of his walks, and the home situation had devolved quickly thereafter. All he wanted to do was sit at his computers and get some research done on possible upgrades to his holo, but it was nearly impossible with his brothers in the same space. Leo and Raph were arguing, which was not at all a shocking surprise, but certainly a weary annoyance. Mikey had taken the opportunity to play his video games at full volume without his headphones on so he “could still talk to everyone,” which, with the other two bickering, meant talking to *him*. He tried keeping his headphones on to tune it all out, but Mikey had started throwing things when he didn’t answer, so the headphones only caused more trouble than they were worth.

“You’re missing the entire point, we need you here more,” Leo tried to reason, his voice as strained as his patience.

“Jesus Christ, Leo, I’m a phone call away. I have my gear, it’s not that far,” Raph snapped back loudly. “I’m not a fuckin’ kid.”

“I’m not saying you are! I’m saying we need you here, ready to go, just in case. It made sense while Stacey was healing up, but she’s in her new place and Donnie has it all set up. It’s been months. It’s time to get back to normal,” Leo argued, and Donnie winced to himself. He’d been waiting for that bomb to drop their entire argument, and there it was. If there was one surefire way to set Raph off ever, it was to bring her up in any kind of negative aspect. Surely Leo knew that, had to have known it wouldn’t gain him any ground, so he wasn’t sure why he took that route.

“Maybe it is my new normal,” Raph hissed, his voice lowering to dangerous levels.

“Hey Donnie,” Mikey piped up over the loud crashing and sound effects of his game. “Do you know if there are any new texture packs or skins I can add to this? Like, it’d be totally awesome if I could put a different skin over the boss, make killing him funny. Like a Kardashian, boom, the lips explode or something.”

Pinching the bridge of his nose and resting his elbows against the desk, Donnie sighed heavily. “I don’t know, Mikey,” he said in a long suffering tone. “Why don’t you look it up?”

“Because you’re right therrrre,” he begged, looking over the back of the couch with a pout and batting his eyes. “Hey, maybe you could show me how to do it? Then we could make a Shredder skin or something, crush his helmet against his crotch.”

Donnie couldn’t think of much else he’d have less patience for right at that moment, than trying to teach Mikey how to code, let alone create skins. “It’s not quite that simple-”

“I’m gonna spend as much time as I damn well please with her, and there ain’t a damn thing you can do about it! You ain’t the boss of my life!”

“No, but I am the leader of this time, and not having you available puts everyone else at increased risk and responsibility, just so can go sleep with-”

“Don’t you dare fuckin’ finish that sentence, Leo, or I’m gonna finish it for you.”

“If it’s not that simple, maybe you could just do it for me? I could totally write a list of people or characters that it would be cool to have skins of, and then you could just bleep bloop do your thing, no trouble!”

“Mikey, I have more important things to do-”

“Is that a threat?” Leo snarled.

“If it needs to be.”

“What could be more important than creating a Kraang mega boss that I could shoot to pieces? I mean, just think about the glory and beauty of it!”

“Fucking Merlin’s beard!” Donnie cursed, shoving his rolling chair back away from his desk and lurching up onto his feet. “What the hell is wrong with all of you? Can’t you just be normal or at the very least *quiet* for five damn minutes? I understand the hashi now, and why dad leaves to go walk by himself. I used to think it was for reflection and meditation, but it’s gotta be to GET AWAY FROM YOU!”

Storming into his room, he grabbed up his messenger bag, stuffed his laptop into it angrily. Pulling on the first hoodie he found, he slung the bag on and marched out of his room, straight towards the door. The room had fallen silent, he noted with sardonic irony.

“Hey, where are you going?” Mikey asked, sounding a little hurt.

“To the library, where they *force* people to be quiet!” he snapped, slamming the door behind him.

Forgoing any public form of transportation, Donnie decided to walk to the library. It was a decent distance away, but not so much to be excessive. In any case, he figured giving himself time to cool off before he got there was probably a good idea. It was difficult to focus when he was that agitated, and it would simply ruin the entire reason he was leaving in the first place. In further thought, he figured it was probably a good thing to get out, it might give him a different perspective on ideas than usual. The fresh air certainly didn’t hurt anything, either.

Upon arriving, he skipped up the steps, feeling lighter already than he had upon leaving. It had been far too long since he’d been in the library, perused the shelves, let the scent of the pages and old leather bindings suffuse his senses. Walking a little taller as he pushed through the front doors, instantly feeling the atmosphere change for the better. He couldn’t help but smile to himself, taking a deep relieving breath and wandering off to check the shelves.

Time could either stand still in the library or pass by a shooting star, quickly disappearing if oblivious to the large grandfather clock at the top of the stairs. Nearly using all of her spare time to be there, it was slowly becoming a second home, along with the lecture halls and computer labs at the university. Her own bed now a little foreign as she rarely had time to spare even on sleeping. Surrounded by folders and books, countless scrap pieces of paper and notebooks, Lily busied herself away with her coursework. Chasing the always just out of reach dream to be a veterinarian, she found herself chasing her tail to catch up, especially after joining the semester late due to moving. New York was the city of dreams, or so she was told, and moving there had been a huge decision. One she was hoping she wouldn’t regret. Finding her groove that day while listening to music quietly in her headphones, her focus solely on her work, she happily bobbed away in her seat. Her bright red hair bounced against her shoulders, loosely sectioned into pigtails with ribbon that matched her pale grey cardigan. It wasn’t a cold day, but the large hall had a chill running through it, meaning wearing just a dress was a poor idea and needed something across her shoulders to keep the chill off her pale skin. Being a frequent visitor as of late, Lily could happily leave her stuff unattended on the table knowing the staff flitting around amongst the endless rows of bookshelves would keep an eye on it for her.

Tapping her pen against her hand, she pulled the cap off the end and clicked it back on, doing so in time with the beat before sitting back. Adjusting her glasses with a gentle push of her fingertips, she nodded to herself, happy with what she had just written before moving to stand up. Thankful her mother was a seamstress, she plopped her phone into her skirt pocket, neatening the frills before pushing her chair in, careful not to make any noise since she couldn’t fully hear herself with headphones on. Checking her notes again quickly, she tottered off into the maze of shelves, beginning her hunt for a specific unit in the science section. Luckily she knew the cover of the book well, but that didn’t stop it being a grande task, especially at her height. Even the slight heel on her shoes didn’t give her much advantage. Pouting she regretted putting the book away earlier, knowing it was likely put back on a higher shelf, making it even harder for her to find.

As Donnie perused for books, a few texts already beneath his arm, he found himself with company in the next aisle. Well over a foot shorter than himself, especially once he noted the high heels that were lifted off the floor as she ran a finger over bindings well over her head, he could tell she was having some difficulty. He walked up slowly, just in case she didn’t notice him with her headphones in. Her red hair bobbed against her shoulders as she dropped back down onto her heels, hands on her hips as she sighed heavily. A bright, open, kind face greeted him as she started to look around, and he gave her a little finger wave before pointing up at the shelves above her hesitantly.

Tugging out her earbuds, she fussed with stuffing them into a skirt pocket before looking back up at him shyly. “I’m so sorry to bother you, but would you mind helping me get a book?”

“Not at all,” he responded kindly, smiling softly. She was adorable, like a little pixie wandering the science shelves. It sounded like the beginning of a fantasy novel. “Which one are you looking for?”

“Oh thank you,” she sighed in relief, her nose crinkling her freckles as she thought. “It was ‘Germ-free Life and Gnotobiology.’ I’m so sorry to ask, you probably get that a lot, being so tall.”

“Oh, I don’t mind,” he admitted, for the first time that day feeling genuinely helpful and not simply convenient. Scanning the bindings, he quickly found it, scanning the cover before passing it down to her. “Are you doing research for laboratory work?”

“Oh no,” she answered, taking the book gently and hugging it against her chest. “I mean, thank you. But no, it’s a research paper for veterinary class. It’s looking over the way gnotobiotes are born, raised and taken care of in laboratory settings. Um, specifically how their immune systems are poor if they stay there, but some animals like pigs have better immune systems if they’re born in the germ-free environment and introduced to the outside environments. But oh my gosh. I’m so sorry, you probably didn’t need that much information just for pulling a book down. I get carried away.”

Chuckling a little, he couldn’t help but relate with her, and felt bad that she was apologizing for something he did himself on the daily. At the same time, the way she blushed made her even more cute. “I do that sometimes, too. Please don’t apologize, I actually find the topic very interesting. I’ve done some research on it myself.”

“Really?” she asked, her bright eyes going wide and seeming to light up. “What for?”

Realizing he hadn’t thought it through entirely, Donnie struggled with wondering if it would seem pretentious to admit ‘just because.’ Rubbing the back of his neck, he shrugged slightly, answering, “Personal research? I found another text that went into great detail, and wait, you know what? It was published more recently than that one, and it might have more relevant information for you.”

Hastily, he scanned the shelves, trying to remember where he had found it. “Ah!” he proclaimed, plucking off the shelf victoriously, bringing it back to her. “Gnotobiotics. They go into greater detail about inflammatory bowel diseases and intestinal immunity.”

“I didn’t know about this one, thank you,” she murmured, looking over it carefully, seemingly dwarfed by the two textbooks.

“If it’s useful! I’m not sure. I just remembered it,” Donnie stammered, suddenly feeling self-conscious. “If not, I can just stick it back up for you.”

Getting caught in trying to memorize the name of the author, she turned back up to him with wide eyes before hugging the book to herself. “Oh no no! I’ll definitely look at it too! Just so many names and words to remember now...” she chirped, adjusting the rather large books in her delicate hands. “The more the merrier I guess!” she added, swaying a little as she did, trying not to seem awkward but making herself look even more so by doing so. Catching the way he looked down at her, an endearing smile on his lips, she looked down at her feet. “Thank you. Sorry again for distracting you from your browsing.” Knowing her pale skin was igniting into a deep blush, she wanted to just hide away in her coursework again but couldn’t move her feet that were now cemented to the floor. “It’s really no trouble, honest, I haven’t even gotten an idea as to what I’m looking for myself yet.”

Not knowing how to excuse herself without seeming rude or just plain weird, she stammered, trying to think of something. As much as running out of any form of social interaction was her usual, keeping occupied with research and studying, something about the kindness and warmth in his eyes made her want to try. Maybe actually talking to someone and making friends wouldn’t be so bad. It’d be a welcome distraction. Maybe he could even help her. “Uhm... are you a student too?” Glancing at his bag and noticing he had some books in his hands, Lily couldn’t help but wonder now his reasoning for being there, if he had said he hadn’t an idea for something to read. Maybe it was just for personal enjoyment, maybe he was studying something similar to her. The thought of having someone to study with brought a smile to her lips again, her cheeks a rosy red that nearly matched her hair as she politely awaited his answer.

“No, not exactly,” he answered with a nervous chuckle. Looking at the books around him, he wondered if maybe he had found what he needed to after all. Talking to someone outside of his family, actually face to face couldn’t hurt anything. After all, he’d already done a decent amount of research on the topic she was studying, maybe he could help out, or at least give her someone to bounce ideas off of. If that was even something she was looking for, and not just a way out of an awkward conversation. “I do a lot of freelance work, for various people and companies. It never hurts to keep up to date on research and well… I guess it kinda makes me sound like a horrible nerd, but I actually enjoy it.”

Smiling up at him through her eyelashes, she shook her head. “No, I don’t think that makes you a horrible nerd at all!” she assured him, rocking back on her heels. “Maybe just a very good one?”

Laughing, he ran a hand through his hair, gesturing back at the books in her arms. “Well, I already did a fair amount of that research, maybe I could save you some time? If you want. If you prefer to do your studying in private, I completely understand that.”

“I would *love* some help,” she answered, her shoulders sagging a little with visible relief. “I’ve just been swamped with this course load. I feel like I’m always playing catch up, you know?”

“I think that’s the nature of research, to be frank. Do you already have your stuff set up, or should we find somewhere suitable?”

“Just over here, I left my things. Thank you so much for offering to help… I’m so sorry, I think I forgot to get your name?”

Holding out his hand, he grasped hers in a delicate handshake, surprised at just how tiny it was against his own. “Donatello,” he offered, tipping his head down towards her in a semi-bow, for some reason feeling it was the thing to do. “And to whom do I have the pleasure of meeting?”

“Lilian, but please call me Lily, I don’t like my grandma sounding name.” Giggling as she attempted to give his hand a firm squeeze, she managed to give him eye contact for more than just a few seconds this time.

Tilting her head at him once she took back her hand, needing it to support the large books against her chest, she hummed in thought, narrowing her eyes a little. “Donatello? Like after the Italian artist? Well, of course...I mean there aren’t many Donatello’s..” Giggling again to herself, she grinned up at him, delighted by the sound of him giggling with her. “Well, you’re not wrong. Yes, I am named after him, shame I don’t have the artist talent to go with it.”

Unable to stop herself from smiling up at him, she was losing track of time, forgetting almost about the books she held in her dainty arms or why she was even in the science section anymore. “We can’t have it all, I’m sure you’re talented with something else instead, maybe you’re a master at chess? Who knows!”

Hearing him snort as he laughed was the highlight of her day, her week, her entire year. Her own laugh went higher, joining him until he had to push up his glasses on to his nose. If it wasn’t for the sharp ‘shh’ that came from behind her, Lily would have worked on another way to make him laugh, entirely enamoured with his smile and the light flush of pink across his cheeks and nose.

Jolting a little, she spun around to see the head Librarian, an elderly lady sat at the front desk, scowling at her. “Lilian, this is the first time I’ve ever had to ask you this, but please be quiet. Take your friend and giggle somewhere else.” Lowering her head a little in shame, she mouthed a sorry silently at the lady. Luckily she didn’t take it to heart, smiling and shaking her head at the two of them before waving them off.

Getting to know Lily since she visited so often, the Librarian learnt that she must have not had many friends, or any given the amount of times she saw her reading and working alone. It brought warmth to her heart seeing her with someone, especially a boy similar to her age and clearly with similar interests. Chuckling softly to herself, she made sure to keep an eye on the two of them, curious to see if anything developed of it.

Motioning for Donnie to follow her, she lead him back over to her spot at the large oak tables, gesturing for him to sit at the head just across from her. Careful not to let the books drop heavily against the tabletop, she winced as she sat down, neatening her skirt out before looking over to him like a scolded puppy. “I’m so sorry about that, I’m so embarrassed...such a bad first impression….I promise I’m not a troublemaker..” she whispered, leaning in as she spoke so she was sure he could hear her.

Sitting down after she had seated herself, he waved her off with a smile, swinging his bag into the chair on the other side of himself. She was such a genuine breath of fresh air after his brothers, and their genuine trouble making. It was hard to believe she was genuinely as adorable and sweet as she was, especially in a city like New York that seemed to churn out hard people, people born in trenches and always ready for a fight. “Don’t be embarrassed, it’s been a long time since I got clucked at by a librarian, usually for arguing out loud with a book.”

Covering her mouth as she giggled, he felt himself beaming. Talking with people in general had never been his forte, let alone women, but something about her made it easy. He felt like an entirely different person sitting there with her, and yet more himself than he could remember feeling in a long time. Even with his family, he always felt like the odd man out, his sense of humor awkward and often not understood or appreciated by his brothers.

Quietly, she angled her syllabus towards him along with her notes, written neatly in small, precise cursive. She explained the current assignment requirements, occasionally smoothing her skirt as she talked. Her organization skills were impressive, and she clearly had a solid grasp on the work. To be honest, he sincerely doubted she honestly needed the help, and was likely more of an overachiever like himself, never content with “good enough” and wanting to put forth the best quality possible. He went through it with her, making sure to point out that she had much of the important information already, and flipping through the texts to show her what she still needed. She had few questions, following along readily, and the questions that she did have were clever and insightful.

“I think you’re going to be an incredible veterinarian,” he admitted once they had gotten through a large section of her work. He wasn’t even sure how much time had passed, and for once, he had no inclination to check. “You seem very empathic and you understand the work well. Are you from around here? I can’t say you’re like any native New Yorker I’ve ever met.”

Smiling sweetly at his compliment, Lily looked down at her notepad, bashfully tucking a stray strand of hair behind her ear as she did. “Thank you, that means a lot…” Still adorning a rosy complexion due to his presence and encouraging nature, she felt that maybe he’d just assume she was always that pink in the cheek, given she hadn’t stopped blushing the entire time she had met him. Maybe it was just the colour of her hair making it stand out more. At his question of her origin, she rose her head and grinned happily. Shaking her head, she tamed a giggle, still aware of how much noise she was making. “No, actually, I recently moved here a few months ago from Canada. I used to live in Denmark, when I was young - my family is from there. Hence the uhm….red hair…” Rocking side to side, making her hair bounce on her shoulders a little, she mimicked his amused grin.

“My dad works for a company that’s very demanding, moves us around a lot. I had to hold off university for a while because of it, so as always, I’m playing catch up. It’s probably why I don’t have many friends either..” Laughing awkwardly, trailing it off to try and stop her smile fading but failed when she added, “..or any friends for that matter. I keep to myself a lot.” Tapping her pen against her papers, she shook her head a little after a short pause before looking up at him, forcing back on her smile. “How about you? Hailing from Italy?” Giggling, she gently poked at his arm with the capped end, hoping she hadn’t dropped the mood.

Looking down at the pen she had poked him with, he considered what she had said. How many times had his family harassed him for not having enough friends, not getting out enough? Not that he minded keeping to himself, but he just couldn’t imagine someone as bright and cheerful as herself, alone. “I’m not nearly as interesting,” he chuckled with a shrug. “New York, born and raised… raised by my adoptive father, though. My biological parents died in a car accident while I was still in utero, and he was to have been my godfather.”

“Oh my gosh,” she gasped, putting a dainty hand over her mouth in shock. She looked genuinely upset about it, and he had a brief moment of regret of being so upfront about it. He simply viewed it as a fact, having come to terms with it when he was quite young and insisted his father tell him. It hadn’t taken long for him to understand that he and his brothers, especially Raph and Mikey, were not biologically related. “I’m so sorry.”

“Please, don’t be sorry, it’s entirely okay. I was raised in a loving, nurturing environment,” he explained, pushing up his glasses. “I have three brothers, they’re all adopted as well. It’s chaotic sometimes, but that’s family, right?”

“I guess so,” she agreed, her cheeks continuing to be as pink as ever as she shuffled papers around nervously. “I think you’re probably a lot more interesting than you think you are.”

It was his turn to blush again, running his hands through his hair. He was so used to people telling him to shorten whatever he had to say, to make it “English” or simply ignoring that he even existed that the thought was foreign. It was so rarely that he genuinely connected with people, and when he did, it always seemed to be a professor or scientist across the country or even out of the country, their conversations strictly through the digital realm.

“Well,” he said slowly, leaning forward against the table. “I can’t imagine you being a loner or keeping to yourself.”

Slowly packing away her papers, tucking them neatly inside her notepad and marking pages with sticky notes in her newly acquired research books, Lily listened to him intently. Glancing over at him, she smiled, although it’s cheerful glow had faded a little.

“Unfortunately, it’s the truth. I don’t get out much, because of work but...mostly I just choose not to..” she started quietly, not so much from needing to be but more she felt a little down about it, realising how sad it must sound. “I’m not one for going out, drinking or otherwise, the only place other than here or my dorm room is a Starbucks, maybe.”

Closing up her last book after putting her pens away into her bag with the rest of her equipment, she sat neatly up right, perking up again with a bright smile. “Heh, speaking of ...let me buy you a coffee or something? As a thank you for helping me and putting up with me nattering at you for so long...and as a sorry for getting us hushed at.” Shuffling her seat backwards, she stood up, making sure all of her skirt was down and not tucked up in anyway. Shouldering her satchel, brushing her hair away from the strap before taking the full weight of it, wincing a little even when she prepared herself for it. Her mother had always told her if her hair was any longer, she’d fall over, too frail and delicate to carry her own weight sometimes. It didn’t help that Donnie dwarfed her even more.

“Oh, no no, there’s no need for that. I appreciate the offer but-...”

“Actually! I changed my mind. I’m buying you a coffee and you can’t say no.” Once he was stood up, she made sure to give him the most stern look she could, but stuck her tongue out when he looked a little taken back by her order. As his lips curved into a smile, chuckling a little, she had to drop her eyes, looking down at her feet bashfully. “I-I mean...that’s if you’re not….uhm….busy...or want to, that is…”

The sudden surge of confidence she had to tell him what she wanted to do disappeared as quickly as it appeared. He simultaneously gave her confidence and took her breath away, unable to think of a coherent sentence while also giving her all the words under the sun to speak with.

“I’d love to,” he admitted earnestly, hopelessly smiling at how incredibly adorable she was. There wasn’t a fiber in his being that would’ve been able to say no to her, even if he had wanted to. He almost felt grateful for his brothers being so annoying that they drove him from his normally hermit-like behaviors to get out of the house. “But just because I’m enjoying your company, not because I agree that you owe me any kind of thanks or apologies, because you most certainly do not.”

Nodding, she smiled up at him while she fidgeted with the strap of her bag. He wished he was quicker, more smooth like his brothers with social behaviors, especially with women, and would’ve offered to take the bag that must’ve been heavy on her tiny frame. At the same time, he didn’t want to insult her by having her take it off to hand to him, just in case. “I suppose that’s fair enough,” she answered, leading the way out of the library. “Is there a particular place you enjoy?”

Laughing as he held the front door open for her, he shook his head, squinting at the bright sunlight after the muted tones of the library. “My brothers say I’d hook myself up to an IV drip of coffee if I had my way,” he answered, stuffing his hands into the pockets of his hoodie. “And they’re probably right. I pretty much live on the stuff, I don’t tend to be very picky about where it originates.”

“I’d probably hover off the ground if I had that much,” she giggled. He found himself enamored with the way her bright, doe-like eyes sparkled in the sunshine. “There’s a nice little shop just a couple of blocks down though, they have a lovely tea selection, too.”

“I will absolutely defer to your more refined judgement, then.” He listened carefully as she explained her favorite kinds of tea for different occasions or situations as they walked, cataloging the information in his mind for later use. If there was a later use, he reminded himself, keenly aware that he ventures into being social usually didn’t last, especially not when it was women. Still, he found himself hopeful with her, she was different in so many ways, and conversation with her was surprisingly easy. Not once had he noticed her eyes glazing over with boredom or confusion, or had she expressed any desire to end the conversation as quickly as possible to “get away.”

“Here we are!” she chirped, gesturing to the cozy little shop, and he took one long stride to move ahead of her just enough to get the door, gesturing for her to walk through. She giggled, giving him a little curtsy before leading the way in, the rich aroma of coffee swirling out into the air of sidewalk after her.

[littlebitoffanfic]

Experimental Relationship

Fandom: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Character: Donnie Relationship: Donnie/reader Request: Can you write a Donnie oneshot where hes upset cause the reader isn’t speaking to him but its because they love him and they had a dream about Donnie and the reader being together. But the reader wants that but thinks Donnie doesn’t feel the same. Sorry if its confusing, but could it be from Donnies perspective as well? Donnie paced in his lab, his mind racing as he thought back over the last couple of weeks. You had been acting weird around him, not properly speaking to him and avoiding him where you could. It was strange because Donnie had always had a good friendship with you. Granted, you had your disagreements but nothing to weren’t this sort of behaviour on your part. He picked up his phone off the counter and pulled up your last messages before typing. “-Can we talk?” He sent the message to you and placed the phone down. It felt like an eternity past before it buzzed with a response from you, but not one he hoped for. “-this isn’t really a great time.” You wrote back. “I really need to talk to you. Please.” He only added the please at the end in case he sounded like he was demanding your time. Donnie couldn’t put into words how much this was killing him. You were his best friend but you were more. You were his sanity, his world, his light, his everything. Donnie only recently realised how in love with you he actually was. It killed him that you couldn’t even talk to him. Donnie wondered if it was because of his appearance. When the thought first ran through his mind, he was nearly sick. He had such a hatred for his appearance and how it effected himself and his brothers that the thought of having someone he loved loath him made him hate himself even more. But you maintained a friendship with the others. Mikey even said you text him every day. So it couldn’t be because of that. “Okay.” You finally texted back. But it was enough to give Donnie hope. He quickly wrote a response that he would be up to your flat in 5 minutes before taking off, not even telling the others where he was going. It was a chance to right whatever wrong had happened between you two, and that was enough to make Donnie want to climb every building in new York just to get to you. When he got to your flat, the window was already open, so he was quick to get inside. It was dark out, so he knew he didn’t really have to worry since no one would see him anyway. you were sitting on the couch, worry in your eyes as you avoided his gaze. You looked like a child who was about to be told off for something. But then Donnie saw the small glisten on your cheeks, a tell-tale sign you had been crying. the soft light of a lamp behind you and the darkness outside drove him towards you as he kneeled in front of you. He had expected you to be angry at him. To tell him he had said something that had offended you or that he had ignored you. But to find you so upset. Donnie knew he would rather you be angry at him that upset like this. “Whats wrong?” he asked in a soft voice. “I-I-im sorry.” You mumbled, coving your eyes and sobbing. You looked like you had been holding back the tears when he’d come in but now you couldn’t hold back anymore. Donnie rushed to wrap his arms around you, hushing you softly but not saying anything directly. You started to cry against his chest, craving the warmth and companionship it offered you, but quickly caught yourself and pushed yourself away. “Im sorry. I just cant.” You mumbled, turning your back on him. “Whats wrong, please. You know you can trust me, right?” He asks, coming closer to you, his heart breaking. He never imagined in 1000 years to find you like this. “That’s exactly it, though. Ive got too close to you.” You mumble to yourself but Donnie managed to hear you. “What do you mean?” He walks around you so he could look in your eyes. “I-I cant tell you.” you finally managed to say, sounding like whatever was going through your mind was killing you. “You can. I promise!” Donnie nodded, urging you to tell him. There was a moment where all you could do was look at him before you signed and went to sit on the sofa, Donnie at your heels. He took a seat beside you, patiently waiting. “I-I seem to have developed… feelings for you.” You finally confessed after taking a moment to find the words. But these words made Donnies heart stop in his chest. Feelings? Perhaps similar to the ones he felt for you? A million questions raced through his mind but he knew he couldn’t ask them all so quickly, so he chose a broader one. “What do you mean?” he asks, sliding a little closer to you. “I-i-uh.” You shook your head, burying your head in your hands but before Donnie could comfort you, you sat back up. “This all started with that stupid dream.” You shook your head, not knowing what to say. “What dream?” Donnie asked you. “I dreamt that we were together.” Your voice was soft, like you were remembering a fond memory. But then you jumped slightly and looked at him for a brief seconds. “nothing… bad, I promise. It wasn’t even like we did anything. But we were sitting together and you had your arm wrapped round me and we were reading. I’d never thought of us like that before, but in my dream, I knew we were together. And when I woke up, I was so confused.” You buried your face in your hands. “Confused about what?” Donnie asked, his voice almost failing him as he tried to resist the urge to confess fully to you. at least just yet. “About, about us. I don’t know. I just- it was so hard whenever I saw you because I felt like I was o deeply in love with you but I couldn’t do anything but it hurt so bad. I thought it would be easier if I distanced myself from you. but its been hell.” You threw your hands in the air slightly. You didn’t know why it was so easy to tell him all this right now, but you did anyway, and Donnie was glad. “Me too.” He managed to say, in a small voice, one which just managed to reach your ears. “What?” You asked, turning to look at him. You had been expecting him to freak out, to maybe even run away. But he was here still. “The last few weeks have been hell for me, too. I cant tell you how much ive missed you. but I can tell you that I know how you feel.” He smiles a little as you turn to face him a little more, your face etches with curiosity and confusion. “Ive loved you since the first moment I saw you. I tried everything. I tried pushing the feelings away, I tried shift my focus, I tried burying myself in work, but then you’d walk in and I couldn’t do anything but try and make you happy.” His confession. His true confession. he had always imagined it, and like this was one way. Well, without you in tears like this. But sitting beside you in your living room was correct. He had always been so nervous when he thought of it. He thought he would stumble over words and mess things up, but after hearing you out, it made him feel brave, because he knew you felt the same. “Donnie?” You trailed off, staring at him with those big eyes that he adored dearly. “I never thought you’d ever see me as more than a friend.” Donnie looks away from you, suddenly unable to hold your gaze. He heard a small and breathy chuckle come from you and looked up to see you were staring straight ahead. “I thought the same.” You smiled a little. The two of you sat in silence for a moment, taking in the full confessions, until you jumped a little with an idea. “I have an experiment I would like to try with you.” you suddenly said and the two of you turned to each other. “What sort of experiment?” Donnie asked, a little confused to your sudden change of subject but intrigued none the less. “Us.” You said, short and simple. “Us?” He repeated with a raised brow. “Yes, like an experimental relationship…” You offered, trailing off, suddenly nervous for using the word relationship. But Donnie couldn’t help but smile. “Sounds intriguing.” He nods. “And how would we carry out such a complex operation?” He asked with a small smile on his face. “We could do some smaller experiments and we’ll call them ‘dating’ experiments.” You offered and Donnie laughed at your ‘subtle’ hint. “Ah yes, and we could gather the data we collect from that before moving on, I guess?” He grinned widely at you. “Exactly.” You giggled, tears now long forgotten. For a moment, the two of you laughed at yourselfs, as you fell forward slightly, your stomach now hurting from laughing. Both your laugher died down after a moment as you realised how close you were. You raised your head and saw Donnie face was only a couple of inches from your own. He licked his lips, his nerves settling in now. “Can, can I kiss you?” He suddenly asked, his eyes darting to your lips which caused you to subconsciously lick your lips like his. “Only if it wont throw off our data.” You said with a small smile. Donnie let out a chuckle before he leaned down, pressing a chase kiss to your lips. The second his lips met yours, there were fireworks between you both. In that moment, you couldn’t work out why you two hadn’t done this sooner. Donnies hands found your waist as yours found his shoulders and the two of you moved closer together, leaning against the couch as you made out. Donnie didn’t know for how long the two of you stayed like this, occasionally stopping for a breath before diving back in. he couldn’t help but smile into the kiss as he felt you moving against him, showing him you were enjoying it as much as he was. ‘This was certainly going to be an interesting experiment’ he thought to himself as your hands massaged his shoulders. interesting indeed.

[mindthump]

The untold story of how the XPS 13 defied odds to become the world’s best laptop https://ift.tt/2vCoc4N

Dell.

What does that name make you think of? You’re answer is likely beige boxes, affordable laptops or – if you’re a child of the ‘90s – the infamous ‘Dude, you’re getting a Dell!’ guy. Despite his best efforts, Dell spent most of its life as the very definition of dull. The company’s computers were affordable, practical, reliable, but never exciting.

Not anymore. Dell’s XPS 13, our favorite laptop three years running, has redefined what people expect from a premium Windows-powered notebook – and its 2015 release was just the beginning. The company has since unleashed salvo after salvo of cutting-edge products across both its Dell and Alienware brands.

Change like that doesn’t happen overnight – but, as we found out, it can be spurred by just a few talented people with ambitious ideas.

The Birth of the Adamo

XPS (Xtreme Performance System) is not a new brand for Dell. It’s been around for over fifteen years, a carry-over from a simpler time in computers and technology. We all remember those days, right? Gateway controlled the market on high-end consumer PCs, Windows 95 reigned supreme, and Apple was known only as a desktop computer company.

In many ways, Dell’s feet are still firmly planted in that world. It’s a massive corporation that still makes a large chunk of its revenue selling computers to corporations in bulk. Yet something was in the water in the late 2000s. While the MacBook Air was developed in Cupertino, Dell was attempting to pioneer its own radical new direction for the future of computing.

Dell Adamo 13

It was called Adamo — a quiet, short-lived experiment within the walls of Dell that would pave the way to a very different future for the conservative computer manufacturer. It was built by a small team, created as if out of thin air, and disbanded within two years – but the groundwork it laid within the walls of Dell would change it forever.

“It was what we called a dark program,” says XPS Lead Marketer Donnie Oliphant. “It was a ‘need-to-know’ basis. It was literally like three guys in a room upstairs that had a lock on it. If we’d had more exposure to the rest of the business, it never would have made it out the door. We let the rest of the company in on it about six months before we shipped it.”

While the MacBook Air was in development in Cupertino, Dell was attempting to pioneer its own radical new direction for the future of computing.

Oliphant was moved over from the Latitude business at Dell, and he’s the longest-standing Dell employee in key roles on the current XPS team. He was joined by another key figure: Nicolas Denhez. You may not have heard the name before, but the French designer is responsible for some of the most celebrated modern technology concepts such as the Xbox One S and X, HoloLens, and the Microsoft Courier project. Before he moved over to Microsoft, he worked on multiple laptops in the Adamo line laptops, all of them futuristic, risk-taking, and doomed.

“The mechanical carcass cost on that was $570,” says Oliphant, pointing to the solid chunk of aluminum in an Adamo laptop’s chassis. “They were ridiculously expensive, and that wasn’t because of the material choices. It was because of our ineptitude with regards to design.”

The Adamo line produced two products its short life, the Adamo 13, and the Adamo XPS. They’re among the strangest PCs ever released commercially. Launching within six months of each other, they featured an all-aluminum body, and hefty pricetags to match. The Adamo 13 was $2,000 for the lower-priced model, and $2,700 for the higher-end model. But from a design aesthetic perspective, the Adamo 13 was far ahead of its time, even compared to something like the MacBook Air.

Dell Adamo XPS

“It was basically myself and [Denhez] that sat upstairs and built ID models on what we wanted it to look like. And then we took it to engineering and said, ‘put a computer in this.’ Typically, it’s the other way around. Typically, we do a design — architecture, features — and then we wrap a skin around it. This was done the opposite. If you think about it from today’s design philosophies, they were done ass-backwards.”

The Adamo XPS had a very different design story, though it was even more experimental in its conception. Dell completely out-sourced the design and development of the product, hoping to save a few bucks along the way.

“We used an outside design house — so, non-Dell employees. The idea was that we could offshore the development,” he says. “The thought process was that was going to be cheaper, but it just turned into a major headache — and we still had to finish it for them. There was a little bit of animosity toward that second system. But it was cool, because it was sub-10mm.”

Dell’s Adamo XPS is tiny even by today’s standards at just 0.4 inches thick.

In fact, the Adamo XPS was declared the thinnest laptop in the world when it was launched at CES of 2009. At just 0.4 inches thick, it’s tiny even by today’s standards. Oliphant would be the first to admit that ultra-thin designs come with its own flaws and compromises, but the desire to create bold, sleek products would live on in future XPS products.

“When I inherited XPS in 2010, and we took the products that were going to be the next-generation Adamo and we put those on the XPS roadmap,” said Oliphant. “The first XPS 13, codenamed Spider, launched in early 2012. That really should have been an Adamo product if we had kept [Adamo] alive.”

Going from Adamo to Dino

In 2006, Dell purchased Alienware, a popular gaming PC manufacturer based in Miami, Florida. The acquisition made great business sense, giving Dell access to a new market for high-end gaming rigs. Yet Alienware was a very different company than Dell. It was scrappy, down-to-earth, and completely consumer-focused. That ethos was about to get injected into the company in a big way.

Frank Azor Bryan Steffy/Stringer/Getty Images

The face of Alienware today is Frank Azor, who might be the most casual and earnest tech executive you’ll ever meet. He’s the kind of guy that’ll tease his employees for wearing a suit to a meeting and can just as easily talk about the internal components of a laptop or the latest gaming trends. While Azor and his team brought a casual attitude to Dell, for him, a corporate culture of risk-taking is what made the XPS 13 possible.

“You have to have a culture that is willing to innovate,” says Azor. “You can’t have ID with these crazy fucking ideas that are far out there, and then have a product planning team that say ‘I like some of them, but those are too expensive, or ‘my engineering team will never let us do that.’”

Azor started working at Alienware when he was just sixteen years ago, as one of just four other employees. Now, he’s the manager of both Alienware and XPS lines at Dell — and he’s determined to transform Dell’s stuffy culture from within.

“We’re an aircraft carrier,” he says. “To make a turn, it takes a long time. You need to start gaining momentum, and then you’ll start making the turn. I would say we’re in the momentum phase right now. This stuff is leading the company’s image — it’s leading the kind of culture we want to be. It’s all stemmed from the type of stuff we’ve done on XPS.”

Within just a few years of its launch, the influence of the XPS 13’s design has reached just about every screen we look at today.

Compared to the Adamo products, the XPS 13 might not look that strange, but it took significant risks. Starting the trend of thinning out bezels, the XPS 13 dared to move the webcam below the screen. The result when using the webcam was (and still is) odd, shooting right up your nose, and giving you a double chin. The team received its fair share of criticism for it, but the XPS team has stuck to its guns rather than caving in on the decision.

“When everybody’s like ‘we’re bought in, we’re going to be a culture of innovation, we’re gonna take risks, we’re gonna augment the engineering process to help solve for those defects and risks,’” he says. “But we’re going to go into this together with risk — a higher risk than we would if we built a “me-too” product — then you can make amazing things happen. If that hadn’t happened, we probably wouldn’t be where we are right now.”

During our tour of the Dell headquarters, we received an in-depth look at all the advanced engineering that powers the next generation of XPS laptops. (Photos: Luke Larsen/Digital Trends)

The legacy of XPS

Design trends come and go, but they always start with a trendsetter. The 2015 version of the XPS 13 was such a device. Manufacturers of televisions, monitors, smartphones, and laptops have all been on a mission to remove bezels — and that was set in motion by the XPS 13. On the smartphone front, you need only to look to the iPhone X or Galaxy S8 in your pocket. In laptops, look at the MateBook X Pro, which takes the bezel-less approach to the next level.

Dell’s XPS devices even make the MacBook Pro look a little outdated. According to Oliphant, that was always the goal, and the XPS 13 proved it was possible for PC manufacturers.

“Apple was very successful during that decade,” he said, speaking of the late 2000s. “Before 2015, most ultra-notebooks were just deemed MacBook Air-knockoffs or wannabes. What we saw shift with the introduction of Dino, our XPS 13 in 2015, was we started winning some of those head-to-head comparisons. We were actually delivering products with things that Apple didn’t have.”

Like any success, the XPS laptops didn’t spring out of nowhere. It was forged in a fire of bad experiments, lost profits, and finger-crossing moments. Yet Dell stuck with it, because the people behind the XPS 13 believed in the quality of what they’d built. Instead of retreating, they improved, tweaked, and revised. The result was a laptop that impressed critics and changed the company that built it.

“We’ve had to create a subculture for XPS. And from a consumer perspective, we’re trying to change the perception of customers or potential customers of Dell,” Azor said. “That’s what XPS is here for.”

[damnthatnoise]

Darko The Super | Of Dogs & Devils | An Interview

Hip Hop has long been about bravado, skill, and how your personality can capture and pull the listener in even further than just your skillset. There have been many an MC who’s personality sometimes outshined the lyrical prowess for better or worse, but when I sit back and think of some of my favorite MC’s growing up (Redman, Slick Rick, Kool Keith, E-40, and Del to name a few) the personality often was near cartoonish with no real effort from the MC to make it appear that way. Enter MC Darko The Super who since first coming across his music via Already Dead Tapes has oozed oddball personality, and ever evolving skills as an MC. Darko is no joke rapper though, instead he is adept at delivering some stark reality raps littered with glints of humor we often use to cope with the pain of existence. 

Fresh off delivering one of my personal favorites last year in the form of Card Tricks For Dogs, he returns with his friend Steel Tipped Dove to give us The Devil Defeated, and makes a claim as one of the indie hiphop scenes freshest, most colorful, and promising voices making music. 

You can order the digital, cassette and SUPER vinyl copies of The Devil Defeated here, as well as all Darko The Super Items. 

The Devil Defeated by Darko The Super & steel tipped dove

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Damn That Noise: Darko The Super. What’s the origin of that name and what’s it come to mean to you now? 

Darko: I think Darko The Super was my gamertag on Xbox Live before it was my official artist alias. I did two albums as Evan Darko after I seen Donnie Darko in high school. It had a big impact on adolescent me. The Super comes from another big influence on me at the time, MF Doom. My favorite song my senior year was "Dead Bent". I thought the ending of Operation Doomsday was really cool. The way it let you decide between hero or villain. I was big into vigilante justice at the time. I wanted to be like my favorite superheroes. So that's where the name came from. Nowadays it's just a name. More people know me as Darko than my real name these days, so it'd be silly to change it. Name's don't define you. It doesn't matter much to me. Though I like it. 

DTN: You’ve had a pretty prolific young career given that you’ve dropped 10+ projects since 2011, but when we were taking recently you said you’ve just now started to feel like you now know your voice. What’s changed in the last couple of years to get you to that place? 

Darko: Since 2011 I may have done nearly 100 albums. Most haven't lasted. I've deleted and erased most of my material pre 2014 from the face of the internet. (If anyone has a Loser CD, please destroy it.) I put out 10 albums in 2018 alone. All better than the previous. "Watered Down Demon Fuzz" from 2017 is the album I truly found my voice on. I listened back to "Oh, No! It's Darko" for nostalgic purposes and it seems more like a comedy album than anything, and not that good of a comedy album either. I was 18 when I made the first album I put on cd and gave to everyone at shows when I was starting to go out and perform. It was called Loser, inspired by Beck. Next cd I made was a compilation, also terrible, but somehow it's going for $75 on Discogs. I personally don't like anything prior to 2016. "Carve a Happy Face  on my Tombstone" had a few good songs. Those were transformative years. My perspective on life has changed severely. It's hard to be happy with things you create when you're not even happy with who you are. I think in finding myself, I found my voice too. Life will always be a mystery. But at least I'm more comfortable in my own skin at the moment. Therefore more comfortable in my art. 

DTN: Why erase the evidence of growth though? If anything that could show folks the rapid progression of Darko? 

Darko: I'd prefer to leave a better first impression. Maybe I'm too insecure to show people my progression. It's also just a matter of that not being the way I feel anymore as far as the way I wrote back then. 

DTN: Your style is a bit unorthodox in that you kind of dance all over the pocket of the beats, and your inflections seem to change at the drop of a hat. I know E-40 and DOOM are a couple favorites of yours but who else’s impressed a young Darko and helped give us the man we have now? Who made you say “I think this is something I want to do!!”?

Darko: Murdoc and MyGrane McNastee from Orlando, Florida were a couple of the first independent rappers I got into from watching the Wake Up Show freestyles on Youtube. They were big influences on me. From there I got into MF Doom, Madlib, and J Dilla. During the datpiff era, I got really into Charles Hamilton's mixtapes. I was a big fan of a web series around that time called Internet Celebrities. Through them I found out about Das Racist. I remember listening to them for the first time on MySpace. I saw Big Baby Gandhi in a video with them. Later on his Debut would become one of my favorite albums. I was really into going on hip hop blogs. I remember watching Open Mike Eagle rap "Qualifiers" in a laundromat and having my mind blown. He told me Serengeti was his favorite rapper which had me watching every Kenny Dennis video I could find. Dennehy became my favorite album. I got into Mr. Muthafuckin' eXquire from seeing the Last Huzzah video with Das Racist, El-P, Despot, and Danny Brown. That's still my favorite posse cut. From checking out rap battles I got into Soul Khan who I remember posting about Homeboy Sandman's album The Good Sun. Blogs also got me listening to every Blu song. Her Favorite Color was something special to me. All those artists were huge in developing my approach. Nowadays my favorite rappers of all time are E-40, Serengeti, and Kool Keith

DTN: Card Tricks for Dogs feels like your most fully formed artistic statement yet and The Devil Defeated feels like the exclamation point showing folks you’re a real force. What helped bring those two records to life?

Darko: Both albums took a long time to come together, which usually isn't the case for me. I remember writing some of those Card Tricks for Dogs tracks while on vacation with my girlfriend and her family. I had tons of beats from my good friend and longtime collaborator Phil Ford aka BLKrKRT (Blacker Karat) loaded on my phone for those trips. I started it shortly after meeting Steel Tipped Dove for the first time. I released an album of his on my label and he offered to mix and master some tracks for me. So this was the first solo album of mine I let someone else do all the mixing for. I took my time with it and let it come together naturally. I believe everything happens at it's own time. As for The Devil Defeated, that album started out as a project called Contemplating Lonely Stuff, inspired by a Serengeti lyric. It was for the most part produced by Height Keech and Steel Tipped Dove. Eventually I decided to do albums with each of them separately. The album with Dove was pretty far along in the process and originally I wanted to call it "Playing Skee-Ball With Zev Love X" but we both agreed that was kinda corny and not many people would get what we were referencing. Then I heard the news of Daniel Johnston passing away, who is a hero of mine. I listened to nothing but Daniel for a few days straight and a few lyrics in particular stuck out to me. The one that landed was "The Devil Defeated" another possibility was My Yolk is Heavy. Me and Dove made over 20 songs for this album and eventually narrowed it down to the most cohesive project we could. We'll be doing a follow up of course. That's in the works now. I'm very proud of this album. My favorite track is a story I wrote based on a song called "Suzy's Face" by my favorite punk band, The Spits. I had to convince Dove on that one. There's another track I tried to convince him about too, but that will never see the light of day since I ended up agreeing with him. 

DTN: You’ve has a chance to work with a lot of interesting and well loved folks. How the hell did the tracks with Lil’B, Charles Hamilton, Denmark Vessey and others come about? 

Darko: I did an album called “Thank You BasedGod” dedicated to Lil B. I produced a track for him way back in 2014. He reached out to me after TYBG and offered to do a track together. So I sent him a couple  Steel Tipped Dove beats and he chose the one that ended up on the album. Later I saw Charles Hamilton posting about doing features. I sent him the Lil B track since that’s a dream collaboration of mine. Lil B is a big Charles Hamilton fan, and they’re both internet gurus of their eras. Charles conquered the blog era by releasing tons of free albums on his own blog, landing on all the mixtape sites. Lil B mastered social media and became a marketing genius, even transpiring music. I’m proud to say the first time they worked together was with me. As for getting Denmark Vessey on the album, he had already worked with Dove and toured with my good friends, The Difference Machine. I was the one who showed them his album Buy Muy Drugs while I was out in Atlanta for a week. That album’s my favorite of the decade. He had posted about doing features so I sent him an email and made it happen. 

DTN: You’ve released a lot of projects via Already Dead Tapes as well as starting UDDTBA. What is the connection with ADT and why start your own label? What have you learned from ADT and how has the played into how you run your label?

Darko: Already Dead Tapes taught me everything I need to know about running a record label. I met them in 2014 when I sent over my latest at the time “Oh, No! It’s Darko.” They were nice enough to release that on cassette. Soon after they invited me to play their weekend long festival in Kalamazoo, Michigan. I brought along ialive and we booked our first tour. Staying in Kalamazoo at the Knights Inn we recorded an album together and formed the now infamous duo The Hell Hole Store. From there we’ve played the Already Dead fest every year and I’ve released quite a few albums on Already Dead Tapes. U Don’t Deserve This Beautiful Art was grown out of wanting to support my friends and artists I admire. I brought on my best buds Steel Tipped Dove and Harvey Cliff to help me run things. Now the sky’s the limit. 

DTN: “Suzy” is life a very interesting record as is “lo-fi princess” off of The Devil Defeated. You mentioned the influence for “Suzy” came from another artists song...how’d this end up on your record and why? Also what’s the idea behind “Lo-Fi..”? 

Darko: During my commute one day I listened to The Spits first self titled album. I hadn’t played it in a while and instantly remembered why they’re the best. One song in particular stuck with me throughout that ride, “Suzy’s Face”. I decided to write a song building off of their track. Almost like taking a short story and creating a movie. I tried to describe in detail about why someone would shoot Suzy in the face at a high school dance. So that’s what I came up with. Lo-fi princess 2 is a sequel to the original from “Watered Down Demon Fuzz” both love songs to my girlfriend, Alora. I liked the phrase cos it reminded me of “Bow-tie Daddy” by Frank Zappa. Now that I think of it, an actual Lo-fi princess would be an anime babe trapped in the track art of a SoundCloud beat. We’d have to defeat the chill hop brigade to save her. 

DTN: You and iAlive have a really dope chemistry and have two very different styles but similar energies that work so well off of each other. What makes that partnership work and why’d you guys want to keep it going after the one hotel infused brainstorming session?

Card Tricks For Dogs by Darko The Super & BLKrKRT

Darko: We kept it going cos there were more hotel sessions to be had. On tour you’re on the highway with a lot of time on your hands. That’s where most of our songs and ideas come from. We set up shop where ever we’re staying and start to bring these ideas to life. The people seem to like us and we enjoy performing together. That’s what keeps the hell hole going. We survive off friendship and fun times. 

DTN: Okay sir Darko. You can only eat at two fast food places for the next year because you lost a bet. Where you going??

Darko: Obviously Taco Bell is numero uno, I’m a big Taco Bell enthusiast. Next would be Wendy’s, best fast food burgers by me, and they got those spicy nuggets. Plus I heard their salads are good too, which I would need a salad every now and then. I don’t think this is too far off from my normal diet. Worst thing that could happen is I have a heart attack. But I’m on that path anyway. Maybe I’ll start exercising. Maybe. 

DTN: What are you picking if you only have Thor and Spider-Man as costumes for Halloween?!

Darko: Spider-Man of course. I could pull off a husky Spider-Man. Family Guy made it look good. I’d need the fake muscles for Thor. Fake muscles never look good. I don’t have the luxurious hair either. 

DTN: What’s the writing process like for you?! Do you let the beat decide the direction? Do you have an idea or some lyrics written and you locate a beat that fits?

Darko: Either or. Writing always comes to me. It’s second nature. If it doesn’t come to me, I don’t write. That’s all there is to it. I only write when I’m inspired. That’s an easy way to go about it. My number one thing is creativity, I don’t wanna be complex or even an intellectual. I want my lyrics to be universally understood. 

DTN: So what’s next on the horizon for Darko The Super?

Darko: Next up I’m working on an album with skits from a comedian friend of mine. He does tons of great characters and videos as Hot Talent Buffet. I think he’s a comedic genius. I’m also working on an album sampling nothing but my favorite band 10cc, titled “Strawberry Studios Jam ‘72” and another album sampling one of my favorite songwriters, Dean Friedman. The Dean and I have a 7” record on the way with my remix of his classic “McDonald’s Girl” on the B side with the original on the A side. I have a couple other collaborative albums coming along. The artist they’re with wants me to hold off announcing it until they’re ready, but I will say it’s a dream collaboration and I’m very excited for it. 

_____________________________________________________________________

[deadcactuswalking]

REVIEWING THE CHARTS 2020: 24/01

Mac Miller hasn’t had a #1 album since 2011, in the US or the UK, but his home country is most important here. The beloved Pittsburgh rapper made his debut with mixtapes, but his first studio album, Blue Slide Park, and his immature, fun-loving and careless attitude struck a chord with the general public, giving him a #1 debut album in America. Ever since, Mac Miller had been on a journey, with somewhat diminishing success  across his various experiments with acid-trip jazz-rap on Watching Movies with the Sound Off and Faces, funky soul and love-tinged R&B in The Divine Feminine, grandiose and genre-defying pop rap in GO:OD AM, as well as the melancholy synth-funk of Swimming. These albums had been successful, obviously, but never took him back to the reaches that he had debuted at. Tragically, on 7th September, 2018, Mac died of an accidental drug overdose, the climax of an addiction to substance abuse that had been troubling him for at least a decade, and that had been heavily documented in his music. I’m not saying that I was a massive fan of Mac Miller, but most of his music did very heavily resonate with me, especially Faces and my personal favourite, GO:OD AM. So, understandably, once producer Jon Brion released Mac’s astonishing and heart-wrenching posthumous album, Circles, earlier this month, I was very disappointed that Eminem, another white rapper who very much occupied a space in Mac’s audience, a space that you cannot deny existed, released a surprise album the same day called Music to be Murdered By, in which he spouts offensive nonsense that goes against everything Mac would have stood for, with gutter trash production, painful lyrics and staccato flaws, and arguably the most immoral decision made by Eminem, features a posthumous feature from late rapper Juice WRLD, who passed away due to a drug overdose last month. Yes, there are other hip-hop and pop artists who released albums that week, like Halsey, whose release date had been planned for months now and is clearly not taking away from Mac’s audience, as well as 070 Shake, who might not even chart, and Dreamville, a record label with a mediocre deluxe edition of a compilation album which again will not take from Mac’s chance at success, and at book-ending his career with a #1 as an evolved human, with more maturity, acceptance and most importantly, peace. Eminem’s album release is blatantly disrespectful, and out of protest and general apathy for this douche that I’ve been feeling for a long time, I’m not listening to the man’s album, or any of his songs. However, three of them happened to debut in the UK Top 40 this week, so I’m replacing them all with songs outside of the top 40.

ALBUM BOMB: Music to be Murdered By – Eminem

On 17th January, Eminem released his eleventh studio album, Music to be Murdered By. It debuted at #1 on the UK Albums Chart, becoming his ninth to do so, and features contributions from Dr. Dre, Young M.A., Royce da 5’9, Ed Sheeran, Juice WRLD, Skylar Grey, Black Thought, Q-Tip, Mr. Porter, The Alchemist, Anderson .Paak, Don Toliver and Slaughterhouse, minus Joe Budden. I’m disappointed in every single one of you. There are three songs from the album in the top 20, let’s go.

#17 – “Darkness” – Eminem

Produced by Eminem, Luis Resto and Royce da 5’9

It’s Eminem’s 46th(!) UK Top 40 hit, and sorry to switch up the structure and cover new arrivals first, but I’m not going to talk about this song, which was released with a music video from the perspective of the 2017 Las Vegas shooter who killed nearly 60 people, because of course it was, to “make a point about gun control”. Instead, I’ll talk about some random song outside of the top 40, hmm... how about “SUGAR” by BROCKHAMPTON?

#68 – “SUGAR” – BROCKHAMPTON

Produced by Jabari Manwa, Romil Hemnani and Chuks Chiejine

This is the first time I’m covering self-proclaimed hip-hop boy band BROCKHAMPTON on here, with what is probably their mainstream breakout hit after releasing three fantastic albums in the SATURATION trilogy and the middling but successful iridescence. This is from the pretty decent album GINGER, and correlating with the album it originates from, the song is only pretty decent. It’s definitely one of their most boy band-sounding songs, mostly due to the sweet, soulful hook delivered by uncredited vocalist Ryan Beatty, that works perfectly with the modest guitar pick-up, soon becoming a mantra, especially with that sweet harmonica in the background. However, Dom McLennon’s cheap Auto-Tuned verse is obnoxious, and there is a element of monotony to the mundane instrumentation, especially when the chorus starts to lose its lustre. Matt Champion is uninteresting and soon upstaged by bearface’s beautiful falsetto crooning, even though it feels incredibly out of place. Kevin Abstract’s bridge is cute, and I appreciate the reference to a previous BROCKHAMPTON single, “BLEACH”. Although, much like the hook, it runs its course, as does the meaningless bearface meander as an outro, which is droning and frankly makes the song feel a lot longer than 3 minutes and 25 seconds. It’s an okay song all things considered, and I do love the lyrics about youthful relationships that form strong bonds in later life, kind of like BROCKHAMPTON, especially after all of the struggles they have had to face since their debut, but sonically, this doesn’t do much for me. Sorry.

#12 – “Those Kinda Nights” – Eminem featuring Ed Sheeran

Produced by Eminem, FRED and D.A. Doman

I don’t want to hear a sex song from Eminem, or one from Ed Sheeran, let alone BOTH. These guys have so many top 40 hits in the UK they’re probably drowning in Official Chart Company data by now, so I won’t bother counting and I won’t bother reviewing; let’s listen to another boy band, shall we?

#46 – “BLACK SWAN” – BTS

Produced by Pdogg

There is more than one similarity here with BROCKHAMPTON though, as this is an emo-rap song with a pretty synth backdrop by a group of God knows how many guys crooning and rapping about love in heavily Auto-Tuned and processed tones. It’s almost like this was the perfect week for these two bands to appear. For context, this is the lead single from K-pop group BTS’ seventh album, I’m assuming from the artwork, and I quite like most BTS songs, to be honest, even if they very much suffer from the same flaws as most K-pop, some of their discography really flows effortlessly in comparison. Now, I obviously don’t speak Korean, but this seems very Westernised in the first place, with a Latin-infused acoustic guitar behind stuttering trap percussion and booming 808s. The BTS boys harmonise pretty fantastically over it as well, even if the rapping can sound somewhat awkward and off-beat, and in contrast to most K-pop, the transitions between verse and chorus are actually coherent, mostly because it just trades its guitar for a higher-pitched squeal and... yeah, sorry, I can’t say I like this either. There are some elements of this that are pretty sounding, at least, and it’s not offensively bad or anything, but I feel like this is just a second-rate rendition of much better emo-rap from catchy songwriters like Lil Peep, or even ILOVEMAKONNEN. For what it’s worth, the verse with J-Hope and SUGA on it is pretty nice, but that’s all I have to say, really. Honestly, it’s kind of disappointing.

#1 – “Godzilla” – Eminem featuring Juice WRLD

Produced by Eminem and D.A. Doman

Yup, you read that right. #1. Eminem’s tenth, Juice WRLD’s first. May the late Jared Higgins rest in peace, and I do feel somewhat petty replacing his song with another man who I know is up there with him, but I don’t regret passing on distasteful schlock from a man well past his prime, featuring cash-grab grave-robbery that even Drake would take offense to. I think it’s time to finally talk in depth about Mac.

FEATURED SONG: “Blue World” – Mac Miller

Produced by Guy Lawrence and Jon Brion

“Blue World” is far from the most introspective set of lyrics on Mac Miller’s posthumous album, Circles, but it is definitely my favourite track from the album, which is a 9/10 by the way. The production is handled by Guy Lawrence, one half of future bass duo Disclosure, and you can definitely tell, as it is a jarring intermission during the more run-down guitar soul instrumentals found on Jon Brion-produced tracks. That’s not to say the instrumental is bad per se, though, far from it; it starts with a sample of “It’s a Blue World” by the Four Freshmen, specifically just isolated vocals that drown out after playing for 20-seconds until a sample chop that is arguably catchier than the actual chorus, shifting the coherent blues of the Four Freshmen to muddled, confusing synth-focused messes, with slick percussion and excellent 808 bass creeping in, especially in the second verse, but it doesn’t detract from the sweet instrumental that very much sounds “blue”. The finger-snaps aren’t fake in this one, folks, and the bridge with Mac Miller meandering over the choir loop, over the already overwhelmingly bubbly production, which is quite minimalist in many places otherwise, is just a beautiful, grand moment, probably one of the best I’ve heard in popular music. Lyrically, Mac Miller is at peace, retrospectively rapping about the trials and tribulations of life like they’re nothing, in a calm, almost bored tone. The contrast is pretty fittingly “trippy”, which does add a subtle dark undertone to the song, which of course is always there through seemingly foreboding lyrics about his death that he saw as inevitable, although he was attempting to “turn around and do 180”, referencing Donnie Darko and constant failed attempts at picking his life back up and kicking the habit, only to be shot down once again. Of course, the morbid subtext of this is the car crash that he was involved in prior to the overdose, that changed his way of thinking and made him appreciate the more finer, subtle things in life. While the first half of the chorus is sweet and funny, the second half, despite taking no musical tone shift, is a desperate plead for the devil to spare him, and for him not to trip into the sin of drug addiction once again, after making such an effort to improve his life. On the first verse, he talks to himself, saying that he only makes music for himself, because, well, it’s the only thing he can really do to allow himself to express creativity through his personal struggles with mental health, and music gives him an avenue. After all of his friends supposedly leave him, he keeps a facade that he doesn’t worry, when in reality, he is conflicting with himself and ruminating on it. Whilst the official lyric seems to be “That’s rich”, I would like to believe my initial mondegreen as it could also work as an interpretation: “We ain’t even worried, we just laughin’-ass rich”: Mac Miller feels that his wealth and status has blocked him from all regular social interaction, and he can only laugh in response, ignoring his mental state for the sake of keeping up appearances. After the first refrain, he falls, and loses his mind in the second verse, detailing the “devil” calling him (This could be the voices in his head or even a drug dealer), but he is so used to fashionable life as an egotist that he feels like God when he’s being tempted by the devil, and he keeps his head on his shoulders, even if it’s just for the fans to know, or at least have the impression, that he’s okay. The bridge is awfully poignant and is almost talking to himself on Earth: If Mac could foresee Mac having the time of his life in Heaven, maybe he could have done something to reconcile his relationships or repair his mental state before it was too late. But, hey, he’s at peace. He’s not afraid of death, so why should we? It’s actually a pretty inspiring, uplifting single all things considered, and definitely one of if not my all-time favourite Mac Miller song. What a beautiful track. Rest easy, Mac. You too, Juice.

end of part 1

Top 10

Apologies for shaking up the format, but I did want to get all that nonsense out of the way before the regular programming, so to speak. So we know already that “Godzilla” by Eminem featuring Juice WRLD is unfortunately at #1 and I do not need to elaborate.

At number-two, at the runner-up spot, is “The Box” by Roddy Ricch, up three spots, and making a play for #1 next week because “Godzilla” definitely will not last.

Down two spaces to number-three is last week’s #1 is “Own It” by Stormzy featuring Burna Boy and Ed Sheeran.

To my surprise and excitement, the excellent “Blinding Lights” by the Weeknd is up four spaces to number-four.

At number-five, down three positions, is “Before You Go” by Lewis Capaldi, but it might rebound due to the video.

At number-six, down three spots off of the debut, it’s “Life is Good” by Drake, then Future.

“Don’t Start Now” by Dua Lipa has unfortunately taken a tumble down three spots to number-seven.

At number-eight, it’s “ROXANNE” by Arizona Zervas, also falling down two spots.

We actually have a second new entry in the top 10 as well, which is “Ei8ht Mile” by DigDat and Aitch missing its chance at chart coincidence gold by debuting at number-nine. I’m honestly really surprised this debuted so high but I also don’t expect it to last, despite its consistently good streaming numbers. It’s from his mixtape of the same name, and it’s DigDat’s fourth UK Top 40 entry, first top 10 hit, and highest ever charting song, after “New Dior” peaked at #16 last week. It’s Aitch’s seventh UK Top 40 hit (And fifth top 10 hit). We’ll talk about it more in depth later.

Finally, Lewis Capaldi’s “Someone You Loved” is at #10. Go away.

Climbers

Our only climber here that’s notable enough is for Halsey, as the release of her album Manic has meant that “You should be sad” leapt up 11 positions to #26. I don’t think it’ll last, though.

Fallers

Well, this is a weird one. I set a number of spots fallen as an arbitrary limit to what songs I can talk about and consider “notable”, so most of the fallers here won’t get talked about, even if most of the chart as a whole has actually fallen at least a spot, including four-spot or three-spot drops for nearly the entire top 10 of last week. Our only big notable ones should be pretty obvious though: “Lose You to Love Me” by Selena Gomez loses the album momentum down nine spaces to #27, “South of the Border” by Ed Sheeran featuring Camila Cabello and Cardi B flops down six spots to #30, the diss track “Still Disappointed” by Stormzy is actually still here to my surprise, down 15 spaces to #36 for obvious reasons, and “Watermelon Sugar” by Harry Styles temporarily falls six spots to #39, but there’s a video soon so it’ll be rebounding well enough. There’s also a small collection of songs that are just 2019 leftovers making their way out; “bad guy” by Billie Eilish is down five to #28, “Vossi Bop” by Stormzy is down seven to #34, “HIGHEST IN THE ROOM” by Travis Scott is down seven to #37 and “Senorita” by Shawn Mendes and Camila Cabello is down five  to #40.

Dropouts & Returning Entries

There aren’t any returning entries this week but we have plenty dropouts. Selena Gomez’s “Rare”, despite being one of my favourites from Selena, is actually the first to drop out off of the debut at #28 last week, along with “I Don’t Care” by Ed Sheeran featuring Justin Bieber out from #29, “Old Town Road” by Lil Nas X featuring Billy Ray Cyrus, etc. out from #36, “Outnumbered” by Dermot Kennedy out from #38, and “Turn Me On” by Riton, Oliver Heldens and Vula, all of which are just ending their second run as 2019 leftovers. By next week, we’ll be fully 2020... I hope. Anyway, here are some songs you should look out for below #40, that could easily reach the top 40 in the coming weeks. They’re not all good songs, but they’re not all bad either: “High Fashion” by Roddy Ricch featuring Mustard at #74, “Say So” by Doja Cat at #60, “Roses” by Saint Jhn at #55, “Power Over Me” by Dermot Kennedy at #53, “Suicidal” by YNW Melly at #50, and of course, “Good News” by Mac Miller at #45. Let’s talk about the non-Eminem new arrivals, which honestly don’t seem promising.

NEW ARRIVALS

#35 – “Me & You Together Song” – The 1975

Produced by George Daniel and Matthew Healy

Me and the 1975 don’t exactly get along. I hate the pretentiousness of some of the content, and Matthew Healy is one of the least likeable pop singers in recent memory, but I can’t deny some of the choruses and genuinely great songwriting that the band demonstrates throughout their discography, and “The Sound” is genuinely incredible. I appreciate the willingness to experiment as not enough mainstream pop does, but they never go too far into the deep end and stay in mostly boring pop-rock territory, which makes a lot of their songs feel either janky and awkward or just slow and dull. This is their third single from their upcoming album Notes on a Conditional Form after the last two failed, and apparently this is “music for cars”. Well, we’ll see about that. This is their ninth UK Top 40 hit, and God damn it, I like this one a lot. It’s a full-on 1990s British rock throwback, with elements of shoegaze, dream pop and of course Britpop fused together in one quick jangle-pop bop. It starts pretty abruptly with that really catchy, really pretty guitar riff, as well as some unexpected distortion that I’m just glad has made its way on the pop charts, to be honest, and then Matthew Healy comes in and actually sounds pretty great, with one of his sweetest vocal melodies in a long time. His cute, loveable vocal cadences make this love song feel so full of joy, delight and sunshine, and sure, it’s a bit too saccharine and perhaps overly sweet, but it’s also really freaking catchy, and you can’t deny how great the guitars sound in this. Healy’s vocals feel oddly lo-fi and definitely out of the focus on the mix here, making some of the lyrics basically incoherent, but a sincere declaration of puppy love has never focused on the poetic intricacies. Sometimes a repetitive, nasal mantra of “I’ve been in love with you for ages!” is all you need. Yeah, this is pretty great, and it reminds me of their earlier stuff, which was bubbly, bouncy and a lot more fun than what they tried to do afterwards, but this in undoubtedly a lot more refined. Looking at the lyrics actually, I love these too: Matty’s infatuated with a friend who doesn’t feel the same way, and he can’t properly get her to reciprocate that, but he seems okay with it. I love these mundane one-liners he drops, and honestly, they sound kind of like anti-humour. Here are my favourites:

I can’t remember when we met because she didn’t have a top on [The opening line. He doesn’t elaborate]

We went to Winter Wonderland and it was s**t but we were happy (Happy)

Oh, and there’s this whole tangent where he desperately tries to reassure the fact that he is NOT in fact gay, which is unnecessary but funny regardless. Yeah, I like this song a lot. Check it out.

#33 – “What a Man Gotta Do” – Jonas Brothers

Produced by David Stewart and Ryan Tedder

The Jonas Brothers are just a pop group now, alright? The novelty wore off pretty quickly last year so now Nick, Joe and Kevin have got to prove themselves as pop stars in 2020... and they’re doing it with a rock song apparently, our second in a row, and that’s a good sign. They performed this at the Grammy’s and I watched the performance on 4Music’s pitiful coverage; I wasn’t interested, really, but that may just be because it’s live so I don’t get to properly hear all of the intricacies of the Jonas Brothers. It’s their sixth UK Top 40 hit and yeah nevermind lmao

Okay, so admittedly the song is not terrible but it’s far from great. Nick Jonas’ falsetto is still hilarious, especially when half-mumbling over isolated guitar strumming, but I do appreciate the return to Disney-rock, especially the chorus, which is insanely catchy but a tad dry; in fact despite the elements of character in the song like Jonas Brothers’ natural lack of charisma, the generally awful lyrics and the overly quiet crowd chanting noises, I can’t find a single part of this song that is any different from a sub-par Disney villain song. Not one from Scar or any of the epic animated ones, no, the ones from their Disney Channel sitcom garbage. Also, I swear the Grammy’s version had, like, a climax? This just exists for three straight minutes. No more, no less. No Jonas, no Brothers.

#9 – “Ei8ht Mile” – DigDat featuring Aitch

Produced by Chris Rich Beats and WhYJay

This is a three minute drill song with 13 verses. Okay, well, those 13 verses are both very short, and there’s also not a single chorus; really, it’s just one really long verse where both DigDat and Aitch trade bars. The beat is kind of cool and menacing, as it’s mostly piano but has some brass inflections and they sound pretty sweet and Latin-influenced, almost? It sounds like a sample from a spy movie, kind of? I can’t really describe  it, or this song, as it completely lacks description. Aitch is void of personality, and DigDat is more energetic, sure, but his content isn’t there like it was in “New Dior”. None of these flows are interesting, and neither are the lyrics, and neither are the rappers. This is exactly what I expected though, to be honest. How the hell did this debut so high?

Put my money in bricks, not cocaine ones

Wh—So you just put your money in bricks? Do you invest in real estate?

Talk like your bad and you shoot like Kobe / Till you get left scar-face like Tony (Geez)

Uh—

I’m richer than all them opps, ask Sony (Ask them!)

Huh? Why?

Still washin’ up white like Persil

Okay, that’s kind of funny.

Big bro’s plugs are bald got a moustache; Breaking Bad

Nevermind.

Got a spin ting, no Beyblade / Pray they don’t lock me up like TAY-K

HUH

Conclusion

Sadly, I can’t give anything to BROCKHAMPTON, BTS, or Mac Miller, so I’m going to give Worst of the Week to Eminem. Not the songs, not the album, just Eminem. Best of the Week is definitely going to “Me & You Together Song” by the 1975, and I think there’s not really anything worth caring about here to award any Honourable or Dishonourable Mentions. Follow me on Twitter @cactusinthebank, I’ll see you next week.

REVIEWING THE CHARTS 2020