#(implied for me and pico)

[sparkly-caroline]

Redrawing a Sonic Prime screenshot using FNF characters.

I guess it counts as Pico X BF too since, let's be real there was a lot of Sonadow bait in Sonic Prime lmao

[lycankeyy]

Protect me? Protect yourself!

[artistlara]

I love the Funkadelix Mod

[stories-of-the-multiverse]

((They say bravery is not a lack of fear, but the strength to act despite your fears.

That means that “brave” can not accurately describe Ballard. It would be more accurate to describe him as “fearless”.

Scary over protective demon father? Eh, just challenged him to a rap battle, no problem. Learning that said dad got so pissy that he hired a hitman to kill you? Lucky he hired someone that was actually rather fond of him, but even if that didn’t happen, it’s not like he hadn’t faced a gun before. Scary over protective demon mother, challenging you to a rap battle but this time on a moving car? It’s not like she’s pushing him off, and hey, kinda sick in his eyes. Fucking weirdo threatening to eat your girlfriend an you and not in the fun way? Bitch, he just got done car surfing not too long ago, he can take him. Scary over protective demon parents unite against you holding a mall Santa at gun point? Just humor them, maybe they’ll go away. Weirdo returns? Beat him before, he can do it again. A creepypasta come to life threatens to body snatch you and your girlfriend? Al he has to do is beat him. Being dropped in the middle of a warzone? At this point, he solves it just the same way he solved every problem thus far.

All these instances [in canon alone] demonstrated an uncanny ability to keep a level head ad in fact keep a grin on his face. And while it could be argued that he’s just dumb, he’s not blind. He can clearly see the danger. He just. Doesn’t care.

See, Ballard has pretty much been numbed to most perilous situations he faces. After surviving a deadly situation at a young age [like, say, a shooting, for example], not a lot phases him anymore. Not even physically harming him will have effect on his nerves for long. He just. Bounces right back. Ready for more or even ready to retaliate.

That’s not to say nothing gets to him. Obviously lightning and thunder makes him anxious, and him almost never being seen without his girlfriend implies some clinginess. Possibly a fear of abandonment and/or abandonment issues.

And I am of the opinion that active threats towards his close ones is a different story.

Yeah, he doesn’t really react when Monster sings about the ways he wants to cook his gal, nor when Spirit talks about taking both his and his girlfriend’s bodies. But those are just words. And if they were gonna do something, Ballard handled them rather cleanly.

However, in week 7, after his lady is threatened, the moment Pico shoves her into Ballard’s arms, he never once puts her down. He holds her close throughout the entirety of Stress. This not demonstrates some pretty impressive strength on his part since she’s not only canonically taller than him but also canonically thick, but it also demonstrates an unwillingness to give them a chance to point a gun at her again. Not without pointing at him in the process.

And tbh, it kinda fits with some of the mods too. Tabi mod, he stays to protect his gal, despite Tabi giving him every chance to just walk away from the situation. He doesn’t care about his own preservation, he’s more concerned about his girlfriend’s safety. Also in the Big Brother mod, when the Killer,the dude that not only tried to kill his girlfriend but actually killed his big brother, returns in Week 2, Ballard is immediately stepping up to have a go at him. Unconcerned that he could end up dead himself, and this time DD won’t do fuck all about it.

Basically. His safety<his loved ones’ safety.

At this point I should like. Find a blank three way handshake meme template, because he, Pico, and Ligiea all lack fucking self preservation gfdi-))

[viamia]

Sooo I haven't been getting requests lately, so I'm just gonna make some hcs on my own time until request come in. So here's one

The SDJ boys (and Gallgher mansion + Dachabo) and how they sleep with you(plus some hcs).

Tw:Mostly fluff and wholesome, a couple of swears(sorta on that one) and implied sexual themes. if you are uncomfortable with any of these, leave now.

Jack: He would 101% just engulf you in his arm, man is a giant teddybear, and you can't tell me otherwise. If you ever fell asleep from exhaustion from work when you got back home, he'd definitely carry you to bed and cuddle up to you. And if you allow him to, he'll also help you shower and clean yourself up :>

Ian: Now this boy, he would definitely cling on to you while he sleeps. I also headcanon him as either a very light sleeper or the kind of person who can sleep through a fire alarm or something like that. He'd definitely sleep talk. I can just imagine him taking a nap, then mumbling the most random things sometimes while he cuddles you. I feel like he'd also be a little spoon like, 90% of the time. He may be a cheater, but I fuking luv him-

Nick: He'd definitely sleep with you with his pomeranians Pico and Cheese. I feel like he'd give Lil love nibbles while he sleeps. (mf is a sleep biter I just know it) Considering he's a adult movie actor, I feel like he'd be the big spoon.

Shaun:Big spoon little spoon, man goes both ways. He just wants to hug and love up on you. He's all cuddled up to you on the couch, bed, anywhere that's comfy. (I just see him as a really affectionate guy tbh) He'd definitely pet moonpie chill with yall on the couch and bed, Lil kitty deserves loving too :>. He snores. But not like giant level snoring, more like the little Snortsbhere and there, sometimes it's a bit hard to sleep while he snores cause it slowly increases in volume over time.

Bo:This motherfuker said fuk sleep, I'm fuking them. Jk jk, but seriously, he'd bite you randomly while you either slept or cuddled. This dog is hard to deal with sometimes. Compared to his normal mode when you first see him, his feed me mode, of course, is much bigger and more cushiony cause of his height and size. He'd be hella warm too, keeping you nice and toasty on cold nights, but in hot summer months, he's in his normal mode cause it doesn't give off much heat.

Taylor:My baby boi I luv him so much. Anyways, knowing Taylor, I feel he'd be clingy like Ian, but on a lower degree. I have a couple headcanons for him, such as him snoring sometimes, biting randomly while he sleeps, sleep talking and so forth. For the the biting, mf-er wrote lewd fanfic with Mc and him in the game. I believe if he starts to about think said fanfic or...something else about you, mf finna get hard. But overall, he'd just be cuddling and giving Lil kisses throughout the night.

Elias:Can ghosts even sleep??? So for Elias, I'm not sure what I can say, considering he's a God darn ghost. But if he can, he'd be a Hella quiet sleeper (well he is dead so-) sometimes when he sleeps with you, he'll accidentally phase through the bed and through the floor or just, into another room. If you're able to keep a grip on him somehow, USE HIS CHEST AS a PILLOW PLS. His chest would be so damn comfy, I swear. Plus, he'd be really clingy cause the poor guy just wants to be loved :(. He'd feel so damn cold since he's dead, and sometimes the blood will drip onto your pillows.

I hope yall like these hcs. And remember, feel free to request me anytime :)

[answer2jeff]

narrow thoughts // carmen berzatto

part one: sprite

finally done with part 1! somewhat happy ending in part 2 btw, since i don't totally hate you guys or want you to suffer for once

synopsis: you and carmen were good friends turned strangers — the trauma bond from Noma still keeping you closer. you've noticed Carmen's hard work, and you worry terribly for him and his wellbeing. keeping quiet has never been so hard; being "friends" has never been so hard.

pairings: platonic!richie x reader – romantic!carmy x reader

english isn't my first language — expect some mistakes. feedback is always appreciated.

WARNINGS: friends - strangers - lovers, angst, fluff, NOT an established relationship, pre-existing history, ZERO use of y/n, reader is implied female, mention of the nickname "Pico," short for "Piccola" ; small (young), or even baby, in italian.

wc: 2.1k

You twisted the silver key at an angle, locking the glass door shut — the 'CLOSED' sign taunting you. You and your pre-existing staff expected to open in just 6 weeks, and you still felt like so much time lingered. The emptiness of the sidewalk made your stomach drop to your feet, the same way it did every night. You waited so impatiently for the opening day of your coffee shop to inch closer and closer; but you were uncertain, unsettled, and lacking confidence in your craft. Was simplicity really the answer? Should you have just stayed in New York? Were you just another, "Eleven Madison Park Dickhead?" Did you even want answers to these looming questions? No. No you didn't — not yet. All you wanted that night was a glass of homemade sprite, and maybe a real conversation with an old friend.

Maybe he'd know what to say, if anything at all.

So, you walked. And you walked, and you walked, and you kept walking — your dark blue crewneck sweater that went just past the belt line of your baggy jeans, a pair of pantyhose, white socks, and Doc Martens keeping you clothed in the Chicago cold. Your bracelets clanged against each other, harmonizing with the sound of the keychains jingling against your purse, clutched close to your sides. You finally reached the The Beef, the florescent glow casting a blueish green shine against your face. Another 'CLOSED' sign pointed a childish finger at you.

"Richieeee!" You wined, gently knocking on the glass window to grasp his attention — his back turned to you as he was telling Tina and Marcus yet another story about Carmen's childhood. You almost regretted being nice to him, but it gave you leeway; visiting after hours, special treatment, and even the nickname 'Pico' was coined after you.

"Richie, I know you can hear me!"

"Yeah, and he goes—" Richie reluctantly paused, hearing a familiar voice from behind the glass. His hands, frozen in the air, fell to his sides as he dramatically walked over to the door. "Shit, hold on. Pico's here." He groaned, slowly unlocking and cracking the door open, moving out of your way to let you in.

"Thanks." You breathed, crossing your arms as you took a step into the restaurant — immediately met with smiles and good night's from Marcus and Tina. Your eyes darted around the cramped space of the counter, not quite being able to see into the kitchen as you stepped closer to take a seat in a red barstool.

"What're you doin' here? You alright, sweetheart?" Richie asked, his tone only slightly annoyed from the interruption of his attempt to humiliate Carmen. He waltzed behind the counter, supporting his weight by pressing his palms against the metal as he stood across from you. He furrowed his eyebrows, wondering — completely disregarding Tina and Marcus clocking out and leaving for the night.

"Yeah, just uh — my stomach hurts. Like, bad." You sighed, sticking your elbows up onto the counter and resting your face in your hands, the stool next to you occupied by your purse. Richie only nodded his head, noticing your mouth slightly gaped open like you had more to say. Even if he was a childish asshole, he wasn't evil. He'd never interrupt someone who was clearly in need.

"And–and i'm just... payin' a visit, I guess." You tried justifying your reasoning for coming all this way. It was 9:47, and you hardly ever came around this late. Typically, you'd lock up by 9:15, come over and stick around till 9:30, and be home by 10:45. You must've needed something, he thought, but he chose not to pester you tonight.

Please don't ask.

"Alright.. Yeah, 'ya look a little green. You wanna sprite?" Richie gently placed the back of his hand against your forehead, just reassuring you didn't have a fever. You nodded your head in approval. He walked into the kitchen, shouting "COUSIN! Pico wants a sprite! Make it for 'er, will 'ya?"

Carmen shut his locker as he nodded his head to Richie, mumbling, "be right there." He bit the inside of his cheek, his lips curling into a smile when he saw you through the tiny peak between the counter and the kitchen that you were too far from to experience. Admittedly, Carmen liked seeing you come in — bringing coffee for everyone in the mornings, and wishing everyone goodnight in the evenings. It gave him something to look foreword to. He liked the consistency; and hell, he fucking loved the blonde espresso macchiato you conjured up for him, the foam just a tad bit flat from having to travel on foot from the cafe to the restaurant with it.

You scrolled on your Instagram timeline as you heard Carmen mumbling to himself as he made your sprite, noting the clinking of ice against a glass cup and the crisp sound of the homemade soda pouring in. You gave Richie an air-kiss on the cheek goodbye as he walked out of The Beef, his lanky frame covered by his leather jacket. You smiled again at the sight of Carmen politely delivering your drink, putting your phone away in the pocket of your jeans.

"Why thank you!" You cooed, looking into his big, blue eyes that didn't really know what to focus on. You took in every feature: his curly dirty-blonde locks in need of trimming, his big and arched nose, the round shape of his chin. You were staring, your stare never leaving his figure as he set the glass down on the counter, and he couldn't help but smile back.

He was perfect — it was almost scary.

"Pleasure." Carmen chuckled, placing a warm hand on the back of his neck as he thought of what else to say. He couldn't remember the last time you two were alone. The closest thing was him coming over to your apartment in broad daylight to help you get rid of the green, god awful futon in your living room that was covered in weird stains.

"You've got a weird definition of pleasure." You sighed, raising your glass to your lips and feeling the sprite ease your stomach. Your eyes rolled when you heard his obnoxiously attractive laugh; breathy and nervous.

"Yeah, yeah. I know." Carmen nodded his head, essentially saying "you're right, but respectfully — fuck off" without actually saying it. He picked his head up, watching your throat contract with each sip — the neon lights all around the restaurant displaying a purple glow against your skin. It was childish, but knowing he could make your night just a little bit better with a glass of sprite made him proud of himself.

"You feelin' alright? As best as you can, I mean." You set your glass down, resting your face in your palms as you blinked at Carmen, your eyebrows knitted in concern. You worried for him, no matter how much your brain reassured you that they grey crescents under his eyes were none of your concern. It was normal to never get more than 5 or 6 hours of sleep every night as an overworked 34 year old, right? It's a Carmy problem, right?

No. Fuck no.

"Uh... yeah, I—" Carmen's hands gripped tightly against the cold, metal counter, his foot tapping against the tile floor. He bit the inside of his cheek, diverting his gaze away from you and back towards the walkway into the kitchen. He was lying, and you knew it. He felt his chest heave at the question as he forced himself to look at you again; your face still expressing a sense of panic for him.

"You..?" You finished his empty sentence for him, getting a little impatient. Your manicured nails clicked against the counter, waiting for him to tell at least some fragments of the truth.

"No, not alright. Not really. I, um—" He paused again, his eyes finally locking with yours, completely unable to pull away now. You looked beautiful to him — elegant, even. With your hair messier than the way you styled it this morning, with your chipped and grown out manicure, and especially with your lack of knowledge that Carmen was analyzing every inch of you. He felt guilty for looking - more than he usually did.

"I've been having those weird fuckin' dreams again. A-and these panic attacks, I think?" Carmens voice went softer, a whine of fear in his speech; he finally let his guard down just a bit. It was like just looking at you calmed him down enough so he could choke out another sentence.

"Shit. Still?" You asked, your nails pausing their annoying clack and tap so you could focus all of your attention onto Carmen. You remembered Natalie mentioning Carmen's recent manifestations of his stress, often asking if you'd just check up on him every once in a while, just in case she couldn't reach him.

"Yeah." Carmen replied, his voice airy and unsupported. His eyes were blue and desperate, and fixated on every part of your face. It made his thoughts narrow down to you; your weird sense of humor, your artful hands that illustrated your frustration when you complained about your day, even the perfume you wore every day that lingered around the jacket you left at his apartment (which he still hasn't given back to you.) Why would he? How could Carmen not keep a piece of you in his home?

You finally caught Carmen's gaze as you grazed the condensation on your glass of sprite — and you could see it in his face; the exhaustion, the anxiety, the need for stability in his eyes. You saw what this place did to him; what fixing this hellhole turned him into for a second time. It felt silly, controlling, nagging even, for you to assume that Carmen couldn't handle himself. But maybe that wasn't too unfair of an assumption; even if Sydney tried to condition you to believe that not every Carmy problem had to be a you problem.

"Jesus. I'm sorry." You clenched your teeth as you thought about his nausea spells he'd get every morning, remembering the dozens of empty bottles of pepto bismol littered around the kitchen counter of his apartment in New York. It was like you could still feel the sting of stomach acid your throat when you ended up puking every night after dinner rush; your digestive system completely empty from the lack of time you even had to keep your body intact. And yet, it was fucking everything. Your calloused fingers from the knives and the rasp in your throat from crying felt like a trophy; a mark on your person that forever reminded you of how great you once were.

What were you even doing here? Opening another thrift shop? But this time, it had a built in cafe; a cafe you dreamed of serving the best coffee in Chicago? Wow! What an original, realistic and inspiring concept. Like Richie warned the two of you: neither of you had any idea what you were doing back in Chicago.

Is it too late for me to understand you?

"Is this even.. I don't know — fun, for you anymore? Was it ever?" You croaked, tracing the tip of your middle finger along the rim of the glass — watching the little bubbles in the drink rise and pop. The question almost struck a nerve in Carmen, it forced him to think; really think.

"I mean... 'fun' isn't the word I'd use." He shrugged his shoulders, his face contorting into that typical confused look he always gave you. It made your heart ache.

"I don't like what it does to you."

"I'm– I'm trying to... to do somethin' here, Pico." His eyebrows knitted as his hands gripped just a little tighter against the counter.

"I know, Carmy. A-and you're doing great I just– I miss you." You barely whispered, crossing your arms almost trying to defend yourself as Carmen's face softened. His stomach dropped to his feet, his adams apple bobbing as he swallowed hard.

You two hadn't had a real conversation since the night you decided to quit, leaving Carmen to chase his success and even become Food & Wine's best chef without you. You hadn't cried in front of him since the day after Mikey's funeral: which neither of you could bring yourself to attend to. You'd been back home much longer than Carmen had; him coming home was so bittersweet. You needed him here. You needed him in the warm glow of your apartment, on your vintage couch as you shared the leftover pasta carbonara you made the night before. You forgot what his arms felt like around you, trying so hard to remember as you glanced at his tattoos.

"I miss you too."

TO BE CONTINUED BITCHESSSSSS!!!!!!

[asherashedwings]

my computer sucks ass please infodump about this pico game it sounds interesting

YIPPEE INFODUMP TIME 💥💥💥

Basically the game takes place 3 months after the events of Pico’s School, and Nene’s wanting to have a picnic with Pico and a few others. After a bit of convincing, Pico decides to attend. But when he gets there, he finds that no one is there, and a lone note sits on the ground

So Pico goes to save his friends (which consist of Boyfriend, Captain, Darnell, and Nene), who have all been locked inside a lab of sorts. The gameplay is just a simple point and click pseudo puzzle game with boss fights sprinkled in, just like the original Pico games

Along the way, we encounter guards, which I am assuming are Peniliens of some sort due to details revealed later (and also their horns/horned helmets, a trait only really belonging to the Peniliens in this series)

Remember those boss fights I mentioned?

Well, here’s those characters

First we have Fleet, a soldier for the Peniliens with a gun for and arm and duplication abilities.

His death at the end of his fight is one that is non-optional. Either Pico kills him or he shoots himself so Pico can’t get any information out of him.

This is me getting into theory territory, but note the goggles he’s wearing. It bares a pretty close resemblance to Hanzo’s. So maybe that means the night vision goggles Hanzo has are Penilien technology that Cassandra gave them.

Also, take note of Fleet’s duplication ability, that’s important for later.

Anyways, moving onto the next boss, we have Atomica.

She is likely some sort of bomb specialist (given her name and her literal use of them), and also possesses the ability to float.

After her boss fight, we learn that she’s actually an intern and doesn’t actually know any details as to what is going on. Her death IS optional, in which Pico can spare her due to her reminding him of Nene

If spared, she will help by releasing Darnell and Nene.

Then, the final boss fight: Conquest

Except that’s NOT a new Penilien character, is actually CASSANDRA in DISGUISE for SOME REASON??

But yeah, wanted to note Fleet’s duplication cuz Cass does the same thing, implying that either it’s just a Penilien ability and Fleet was also a Penilien OR I WAS RIGHT AND PENILIENS DO HAVE MAGIC THAT THEY CAN PASS ON TO HUMANS. CHAT ITS ALL COMING TOGETHER

Either option is possible tho

That is the end of my infodumping, I hope my rambling was enjoyable

[ochrearia]

More RGBFverse shenanigans

I wanted to write a one-on-one with Beefer (cs!BF) and Yourself. cs!BF is one of my versions of BF, from my Fossil Fighters AU that I'm totally NOT neglecting rn. It's okay. Also Peacock (SFA!BF) is mentioned like once and he belongs to Shed!!! yeah

Caeru jumpscare.

Coming into his room to find he was not alone was the last thing Yourself had originally been expecting. But he supposed when he’d made the choice to tell his other selves they were allowed around whenever they needed, paired with their better versions of mirror-walking, there were going to be times where he came home to find obnoxious intruders. Beefer was the only one here this time, so at least it wasn’t everyone at once. YS would rather be notified ahead of time if everyone was going to show up. He didn’t mind one or two.

“Most people would, you know, send a text telling me that they’re coming to visit. I’m not prone to experiencing heart attacks when I’m surprised and find something that wasn’t here when I left.” YS snarked lightly, falling into the usual banter that would normally go on. Though when he crossed the room, he could tell something wasn’t right. “You okay?”

Beefer was curled rather pathetically around himself on YS’s bed, eyes half-lidded and sad. “Slipped away, for a little bit. Things are still… bad, with my situation. Feels like it never ends, like one day stretching out over months and months and I don’t know how to fix it.”

“It’s not your job to fix something you didn’t cause.” YS said slowly, moving to sit next to him on the bed. “Has nothing really changed? Haven’t you gotten to talk to your Pico and Cherry by now?”

“Hah. As if. Living on the run now, I have to be jumping through puddles to mirror-walk. At least any reflection works… They don’t know I’m gone. Maybe that’s for the best anyway. I don’t know how to talk to Pico right now, and Cherry… I messed up, she saw. My Alectro convinced me to vent to them and I didn’t originally mean to fall asleep after, but I did. They told her everything. I didn’t want to give her more guilt, she already has enough. I can’t talk to them.”

Making a face, YS extended his hand out and let it rest gently on the top of Beefer’s head. “Venting is good, you know. I told you not to bottle shit up. It’s not healthy. You clearly need someone to talk to but you’re not letting yourself have that. Someone that isn’t one of your dinosaurs. Vivosaurs? Is that what they’re called?”

“Yeah.” Beefer sighed, shifting slightly. “Vivosaurs. They’re better listeners than you might think. I know you can’t understand them, only Dinaurians can. But… that’s kind of why I came here. I’m pretending to be okay with being changed into something completely alien. Pretending. But I don’t really have anyone else who’d understand that. Pico is… complicated. I don’t know if I can trust him right now. So that leaves you.”

“Me, huh?” YS chuckled softly. “Well, I’ll do my best to understand then.”

“You do understand.” Beefer looked him in the eyes with an almost unnerving look. “Takes one to know one, YS. I’m not human anymore. And you never were.”

The taller one stiffened. “How…?”

“Do I know that?” The Dinaurian finished the question. “Maybe it’s a Dinaurian thing. They spend so much time disguising themselves to look human, using technology to create physical lies. Something about that makes it second nature to see through fake humans. Instinct, maybe. You look human but you’re not. You’re supernatural. Not necessarily in the same category as an alien, but still not human. Peacock is too, but he’s new to this whole fucked up family thing. You’re a better choice.”

“I… don’t follow on how I would understand your predicament the way you’re implying.”

“You’ve lost your wings, haven’t you?” Beefer asked bluntly. “I’ve seen the way the muscles on your back move sometimes. Like an old habit. Trying to move something that’s no longer there. Where I have gained, you have lost. Both changed in an instant to be something unfamiliar.”

Well that was… uncomfortable to say the least. YS hadn’t really been planning to tell any of the others about his whole fallen angel thing, and realistically he didn’t want to talk about the way he lost his wings to begin with. Secrets weren’t the greatest things to keep, especially from yourself, but it was a traumatic event and he was more than within his rights to choose not to reopen that wound. Didn’t seem like he could avoid it anymore, not with this self at least.

Beefer took his silence as a go-ahead to keep talking, though. “Maybe it’s not the same really, but… I don’t have anyone else. I really can’t justify saying I have Pico right now and Cherry doesn’t get it. Is- does it get any better? You seem to be more or less tolerating the fact you’ve lost something important to your body. You know you’re not the same anymore but you seem to handle it way better than I do, and- please tell me it gets better. I feel so fucking alien and it’s like… yeah, I literally am an alien now. God, I don’t really know how to word this. I don’t feel like myself.I feel like I’m a spectator in my own body. It’s probably dysphoria and I really didn’t think I would ever experience that, and it’s weird because sometimes I look at myself and I don’t mind. I don’t mind because I know I did this to myself, deciding to be a fucking idiot and almost get myself killed. And sometimes the features really are cool. But then I think again, and suddenly everything is so fucking suffocating. You know it still hurts?”

YS blinked, trying to process everything. “Hurts? What hurts?”

Beefer sighed, grabbing onto his shoulder and pulling up the sleeve of his Dinaurian suit. The suit was designed to camo as the skin underneath, always throwing the rest of them for a loop, and it was weird to see it peeled back like a second skin. It seemed like even the suit had its limits on what to mimic as, though, because rolling the sleeve back revealed a nasty patch of a scar in the shape of a dinosaur’s fang. He looked between YS and his arm as he continued speaking. “It wasn’t exactly painless. Kind of like a vaccine booster but 100 times worse. I didn’t have to focus on it for long because I was busy throwing up all the poison that was literally killing me, but… sometimes it still hurts. And it reminds me every time it does. Cherry offered to let me use the human disguise device, but that feels awful in my head too. Because it’s a disguise. It’s not me anymore.”

This… was a first. Yourself had tried to get the alien to open up more about how this had happened, he only really knew bits and pieces. Knowing how gruesome and traumatic it actually was, he was surprised how well he was pretending to hold it all together really.

“Please just- tell me it gets better. I know you don’t know the future, and you don’t know everything. But you’ve had extreme changes to your body too. Just tell me it gets better. Tell me that with time I’m not going to constantly flip between being numb and accepting of this and violently hating myself the next second. I don’t know what I’m doing-”

Having heard more than enough, YS shook his head and pulled Beefer in for a tight hug. “Shit, man, you have it so much worse than I thought. Sorry. I- I don’t think I know how to really help you. That’s… a first.” He paused. Of course he didn’t know how to help. He didn’t have an experience like this. Having your wings torn off was one thing, but he still at least looked like himself in every other aspect. Beefer had gone through an entire body transformation just to keep himself alive. “It… it can get better. I’ve never really gotten over losing my wings, and I don’t think lying and saying I have will do any good. Not for you. Losing a part of yourself is never not going to be tough. And you feel like you’ve lost all of yourself, not just a part. Am I correct?”

Beefer nodded into the taller’s shoulder. His arms were curling around his back, funnily enough right below where YS knew his long healed scars were. Nails were bunching up parts of his shirt, but he didn’t care.

“I can’t pretend to know what that’s like physically. But I think it can get better. This is all still very recent for you and a lot more traumatic than you’re letting yourself think about. And the way you talk about your Pico and Cherry, you’re not letting yourself have a support network either. Because, what? You think they’ll only feel more guilt? Push you away more? I’m still pissed at your Pico to be honest but that’s not really my place or relevant right now. What I’m saying is let yourself have some time. Time to process. Mourn what you’ve lost and then work on going forward.” YS sighed, worrying his lip. “The rest of us BFs are normally just… shitters, really, because that’s just how we are. But I know all of them have the capacity to care and want to care. If you really need someone to talk to I think asking any of them would be successful. And yeah, none of us are going to know fully what to say. You’re the only instance so far that is a dinosaur alien. Dunno if there’s gonna be any more but. I would say hopefully not, but maybe I should say hopefully so. At least that way you’d have someone who knows exactly what you need.”

The two fell into silence, and for a moment YS wondered if he was really at all helping. But he could feel the smaller start to melt against him, mainly out of exhaustion. He was clearly tired, holding in a lot more than he was letting on. Having been cut off from any sort of comfort when he desperately needed it.

“It’s funny.” Beefer said after a while, not moving his face away from where he buried it into the crook of YS’s arm. “You really remind me of my brother, the more that I think about it. He’d probably say the same thing.”

Never has his blood felt like it froze faster than it had done now. Yourself’s grip tightened, seemingly unnoticed by Beefer- or he just didn’t care. His jaw clenched. “Brother…?”

“Yeah.” Beefer said, finally pulling away a little. “My brother. Shit, I didn’t mention him before did I? Oh… I haven’t seen him since everything happened either. He’ll be worried sick about me I think… But yeah. I have an actual adopted older brother. Caeru, that’s what he insists on being called. You remind me of him so much. He kind of looks like you too, honestly. Just like, way cleaner and put together.”

Caeru. Does this idiot think I’m fucking stupid? Latin for blue? YS thought bitterly. Well, maybe ‘idiot’ was rude, but he wasn’t talking about Beefer. He was talking about ‘Caeru’. BFs don’t have brothers aside from Ritz in some cases. Not a single world I’ve looked into has ever mentioned having a brother named Caeru. That’s not a brother. That’s another BF, and that’s not just any other BF. That’s a fucking ME, isn’t it? Using Latin?

“You alright? You’ve gone silent.” Beefer asked. “Something wrong?”

YS startled quickly, burying his thoughts and lying once again. “No, nothing. It’s fine. Just… thinking. Look, take as much time as you need here for now. I don’t mind.” Fucking stay out of your world when another one of me is fucking running around and apparently pretending to be your brother. Jesus christ.

He’d hoped there weren’t other versions of him that aligned with him specifically. So there really was more than one universe where something happens, something so devastating they became a Yourself kind of BF, huh? And Beefer clearly didn’t know. So that one was lying more egregiously. That was dangerous. Protect Beefer. Oh, what am I saying, Beefer can handle himself. I just don’t trust another instance of me that’s like me. Guess there’s another I have to keep tabs on without alerting this one of his brother being a liar.

[sprouts-xreader-stories]

“All I can say is ‘I hope you’re well’.”

Requested : No

Genre : Angst, Familial, OC X Canon - Aria X Pico [Pico’s School; Friday Night Funkin’]

POV : Third Person Semi-Omniscient

Warnings : MAJOR REFERENCES TO KILLING. IMPLIED CHARACTER DEATH. Reader discretion advised.

Context : This is an AU sorta thing I have! Pico found Aria in the snow when he was 20, she was 4, and he’s been raising her since then.

It was hard to breathe. Hell, it hurt to.

“Are you gonna take the job or not?” His boss snapped, pushing the file closer to Pico. He had to take the case. Or else he’d be killed. He had to take the case, kill the girl.

But the case was his daughter.

It was his life, or hers.

“…I-… I’ll take it,” he whispered, silently collecting the folder. All her info, everything he already knew about her, all there. Inside that folder, was everything the client had on her.

Everything his bitch of an ex had on her.

He walked out of his boss’s office. What was he supposed to do? The client had requested proof that she was dead; he wanted her horns. Pico couldn’t exactly put Aria somewhere safe and then say she was dead. Because Blue wanted proof that she was gone.

What did he have against her anyway?!

“…-kay? Dad? Dad.” Her voice knocked him from his distressed daze. “Wh- What? Huh?” Pico looked up. Greeted by those familiar bright red eyes, the ones that held so much trust in him. The ones that were so dull when he found her. “Are you okay. You look upset.” She stated plainly.

Pico could feel his chest tighten. He couldn’t do this. He couldn’t put the fucking gun to her head. Could he?

He’d have to.

“Uh… I- I’m fine, Ari,” he managed to croak. “Just-… Just give me some time alone, yeah?” Pico waved her away, holding the folder tightly. He couldn’t let her see it.

Aria nodded, walking off, down the street. She was skeptical, but she listened. Pico just collapsed. He felt sick. He could feel the bile threatening to rise up his throat. He shuddered, eyes wide. He could feel his heart, beating almost too loud for him to understand the world. Everything was ringing in his ears. Where was he again?

People were staring. He had to move, but he couldn’t. Everything was blurry. Pico was acutely aware of each little sound, yet, he was so disoriented at the same time.

He had to kill her. He had to. Or else he’d die. And she’d have nobody to take care of her. But if he killed her, then what was the point?

He waited. And waited. Finally returning home, heart in his stomach. He watched her. So peaceful as she slept. His hands were shaking. He slowly, carefully, lifted the gun. He didn’t wanna think. Didn’t wanna do this. But he had to.

“I’m sorry, Aria… I’m so, so sorry.”

@parker-vaporwave-alt , @vexter-the-comedian , @drxgonspine

[colorheartt]

Your Hand In Mine , And …

“ I could never choose to love another … ”

Hm-? Oh. Hey. Uh… Pico! Name’s Pico. I spray paint. Murals. For a living. Uh… Angel, Aria… Yeah. There’s things I like. Just send an ask, I suppose?

Maybe , One Day …

“ … I can learn to love you too . ”

O-Oh! Uh, h-hey. I’m Aria. Aria Rae Garnet. Uhm… I- I’m not good with introductions, I’m sorry. Maybe come back later? Oh- No, wait wait wait! S-Send an ask! It’s easier for me to interact that way…!

[Oh look I did it again. Idk who most of the art belongs to; far right on Aria’s side belongs to @schnozzlebozzle (thanks for the art, btw).]

If anyone would like an explanation !!

Yes, this is an AU. I desperately love Benjamin X Pico, but at the same time, Pico’s just really pretty. :3

In this AU, Benjamin’s family actually accepts him now. Grace is transmasc (meet Gabriel, everyone) and was raised properly; he’s been with Sven (I think that’s Soft Senpai’s name) ever since he was around 16. Gabriel and Benjamin have an implied past, as well as something of a relationship. No, I don’t support Grace X Benjamin normally. It just feels weird to leave Benny as single. So. Basically. Polycule! Benjamin X Gabriel X Sven happens somewhere along the line!

Birds Of Paradise name explanation!

[fierykitten2]

I had a meme I wanted to make this morning but I couldn’t find the right template so you get this mess instead (me making the meme template myself instead of finding one online). Here is “would my favourite (headcanon) Smash friendship group plus the guys I want in Smash play God” feat Falcon, Samus, Fox, Mewtwo, Lucario, Robert, the Proto Beasts and the Neo Swords

I decided I would scale everyone the same based on how tall the pngs were which results in some unusual height discrepancies, probably the most unusual one being (best F-Zero racer) Robert being the same height as (best Pokémon) Iron Leaves (bare in mind the average Iron Leaves is 1.5 metres aka 4’11” and a demo version of GX listed Falcon’s height as 1.9 metres aka (approximately) 6’3” (I’ll be honest up to a point I prefer to measure height in feet and inches so I only memorised Falcon’s height in feet and inches I just made the corrections after visiting the F-Zero Facts wiki. Only reason I know Leaves’s height in both systems is because I realised its exactly 2 metres shorter than Wake and at some point I discovered it’s the same height as Meowscarada, Delphox and Armarouge, all of which I know are 4’11”) plus Falcon and Robert tend to be around the same height, even SNES-era when Pico and Goroh were much smaller. Admittedly height isn’t very consistent in F-Zero, GX shows Goroh is taller than Falcon but if I trust that demo information Goroh should still be shorter than Falcon. Also that demo listed everyone as a year older than they actually are in GX so it’s probably not supposed to be taken seriously. I still like the idea of having a debatably-canon height for Falcon if anyone knows what that demos says about Robert’s height I’m interested hang on I found a link https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BVaN9gi9BTk&t=476s it’s at 8:18 but I can’t read anything about a height and don’t even know if that information is on there (if this part sounds rushed, tumblr reloaded twice and both times it went back to “debatably-canon” and I had to start again just because I dared to be interested in the F-Zero Facts Wiki. I’m now taking steps to avoid that problem by saving this as a draft every so often) hang on, I don’t think it mentions his height bc I’ve seen where it’s supposed to be from Goroh and Falcon’s fact files but Robert’s one is shorter)

To explain the second and third tiers, Samus and Fire’s tier means they can’t play God because they lack anything like Falcon’s belt, Robert’s medical knowledge and Mewtwo and the Neo Swords’ psychic abilities but would willingly play God if given the chance and means to do it while Crown’s tier means it can play God it just thinks sometimes it’s best to let nature take its course (ironically for a robot and not even the Grass-type of its trio, in fact it’s the Steel-type. If anything it’s the least natural (okay given Cobalion is also part Steel that part’s probably not true))

Yeah I think Leaves and Boulder are both quite impulsive just in different ways (Leaves in a “manic pixie dream girl” way and Boulder in a “tough guy” way, both gender-neutral. Fun fact, I made another meme about these twelve where I called Leaves a manic pixie dream girl but the post never made it out because I didn’t like my way of pointing out for some of the categories I didn’t take the entire category seriously, just the core details (specifically Leaves being female being implied by “manic pixie dream girl” and Falcon and Robert implied to be parents by “big titty dilf”. I’m less defensive against the whole Falcon and Robert being parents thing because I accept it is possible especially if you believe that Kent isn’t just doing it for attention and given how mysterious the Maximum Velocity gang is, I think he’s just doing it for attention. Speaking of the Maximum Velocity gang being mysterious, they should meet some Paradox Pokémon. Anyway I take the whole “genderless/gender unknown” category of Pokémon a lot more seriously than I should (I’m still calling Cosmog’s line and the Hero Duo genderless even though their Pokédex entries suggest Lunala and Zacian are female and Solgaleo and Zamazenta are male) and especially given Virizion is also listed as genderless (again in a sort of “we don’t have the means to study this Pokémon” way) I can’t see Leaves as anything other than genderless)) and they’d both be ready to play God if they felt like it. Leaves is literally a Grass-type it has an advantage here (uhh, in playing God. I swear I didn’t start a random conversation with myself resulting in me talking about who would win between Leaves and Boulder. That kind of stuff happens irl, it doesn’t happen in my posts)

[regallibellbright]

*Emerges after several hours of Rune Factoring*

So I ended up getting through Obsidian Mansion *checks calendar* TECHNICALLY on Spring 17, which is to say, I ended up in the Dolce fight* after like, in-game midnight, and finished after in-game 1 AM.

Volkanon was just finishing the bridge, but whatever, he’s superhuman and Venti asked on behalf of Frey. Whatever.

Venti’s probably got some magical sense of something or other when a Guardian’s freed, she probably knew during the fight. It was a slow Dolce fight for me and I got Boxed like four times. Standard emotional cutscene as Venti reveals she’s dying and Pico gradually comes to accept this (she has waited SUCH A LONG TIME to see Dolce again,) but Frey doesn’t.

Doug is waiting outside the castle at 1 AM in I think maybe a rainstorm, but… this is like my fourth playthrough, I know Doug’s deal, eavesdropping outside the DOORLESS MAIN ENTRANCE TO THE DRAGON GOD’S PALACE WHERE EVERYONE CAN HEAR is you know, standard spy stuff. It’s weird that Frey’s not asking questions, but then Dolce comes out and NANCY has been waiting around here at 1 AM in a rainstorm because it’s her and Jones’s turn to cheerily but forcibly adopt the newcomer.

And I mean in fairness, we are now on the fifth and sixth lovable newcomers to town in need of a place to stay and people to adopt them in less than three weeks. Plus it’s implied Doug arrived not TOO long before the game started, so like, probably in the year before Frey drops out of the sky? Tops? Possibly the month before?

Yeah Nancy and Jones were DEFINITELY waiting up all night once Frey went into the Mansion to call dibs before someone else could take this one in. And then they got a bonus ghost!

And then the next day everyone was torn between “oh no Lady Ventuswill collapsed” and “Yaaaay, the Wooly Festival’s tomorrow! ^_^” except Volkanon, who is focused ENTIRELY on the festival and only reacts to Venti’s collapse two days later. A+ butler, his dedication to the town is unparalleled.

*Look, I remember that the monsters aren’t actually the Guardians/it’s complicated but given this is only explicitly brought up in a single event at the end of Amber’s romance event line, not even before that point… I only remember Marionetta’s name because of the weird and deeply-inexplicable portrait in the mansion foyer. (Seriously what the FUCK is up with that except a Scare For The Sake Of Scares?) I only remember Ambrosia’s because of the similarity to Amber. Dylas’s monster is “Nightmare” to me and I know it’s inaccurate but I also don’t care. So: fights named for the Guardian directly!

[minusgangtime]

(Beta's perspective...)

(Based on the Shelby Prime season 3 AU by me and @ask-the-kitty-crew)

(TW: Blood, Implied suicide and death, Depressed thoughts)

"Oh... I see... Okay... I'll stay out of your face.. Even though I tried my best to make it right... I'm a horrible person... I'm a fraud... I'm a monster who almost destroyed the world... I put home first before family... I replaced everyone, including you, so you have every right to hate me... The shards got to my head, but it's still not an excuse on what I did, right...? Nobody can't change your mind... I can't even change your mind... And I understand..."

"If it's what you want... I'm going to end it... I'm going to end it all... I just can't take it anymore... I don't deserve to be your brother and you're right... I know you don't care, and that's okay... You'll probably be happy to see me gone... But I really tried my best to be a good big brother... But I also broke my promise of being there for you... And that's final..."

"Try to stay safe and healthy for me, even if I'm not here anymore... Be happy... Stay happy... Love you guys... Love you, babe... Love you, Pico... And love you, especially, my sweet... sister... supreme... Goodbye forever..."

...

...

...

The sounds of ambulance outside fade away after putting the yellow wolf inside and going to the hospital... What's left in the room was a knife, a razor blade, a drawing that was torn up in half and taped, a small note and a pool of blood stained on the floor...

The rest is history...

[animutate]

you update your followers on your pico-fucking habit like a divorced parent explaining to their kids why mom and dad are gonna be living separately

are you implying me and pico are getting divorced 😰

[nyagrounds]

Musings on Pico and Nene, written several years ago.

This is technically set on my monster/demonhunting AU, but I thought these were interesting and the closest I got to really cementing characterizations for this trio- unfortunately it seems I ran out of steam before I got to Darnell and now I can't for the life of me remember what his bit of this was supposed to be. In any case, under the cut is what I *did* manage to write. CW: pretty much the same dark subject matter that Pico's School covers except, you know, taken seriously. Also, HEAVY warning for discussion of nene's suicidal tendencies and ideation in specific.

the three survivors have like. impostor syndrome-based survivors guilt but in different directions

pico is very, VERY aware that, unlike what everyone assumes, he DIDNT survive because he was faster or smarter or more gifted at demonslaying than anyone else- he survived because cassandra deliberately spared him, because she apparently had a crush on him that he never actually noticed. so its twofold, the guilt of being spared through no action of his own without being more deserving of it than all those who died, but also because he has the constant feeling that he SHOULD have noticed and done SOMETHING.

like, originally when he realized these people were Literal Demons And Monsters he very quickly dehumanized them and kind of distanced himself from the notion of having killed four of his classmates, even if in self defense, but the more he learned about the actual mechanics of demons and such he ended up with the realization that actually, what happened was pretty much literally just a school shooting for very normal human teenage reasons, and the teens just so happened to be demons. so... it's not like he has any qualms about hunting or anything, in fact he thinks it's probably a good thing in hindsight that he no longer draws any morality lines between hunting monsters and just killing people, since oftentimes there isn't actually a clear line at all; but it does kind of fuck him up, the notion that if he had payed more attention to the weird emo kids, he COULD have reached out to them, cassandra at least. and because he's developed something of a weird hero complex, he feels like if he COULD have done something to prevent the shooting, but DIDN'T, that makes him directly responsible for what happened.

so that leaves him in this mindset of "the only reason i survived and no one else did is because i was in the position to stop the massacre in the first place, and didn't"

and that's his Big Secret, he has never actually told anyone about this. he just kind of lets people assume whatever they want to think about why he survived the initial shooting. even people implying he was actually the ONLY shooter just kinda rolls off his back. he's not really pressed about the bullshit people say about him, partly because nothing can make him feel worse than the actual truth he plans to take to his grave.

nene, on the other hand, pretty much just fully knows and accepts that she survived thanks to sheer coincidence, that's not a secret, she was in the bathroom when things went to hell and she stumbled across pico in the hallway, so that's just a well known Fact about the event.

her Big Secret, on the other hand, is that despite everyone assuming her depression and suicidal tendencies arose from the ptsd and survivor's guilt, she was actually already deep into suicidal ideation and had been distantly planning to kill herself far before the incident. in fact, begging pico to kill her was really more opportunistic than anything- obviously he not only Didn't Do That but ended up making himself out to be personally responsible for her safety troughout the years that followed.

nene feels like it's a cruel joke at her expense; her, idly fantasizing about death in class, while everyone around her would likely have done anything to survive; and yet, when death came, it left her untouched.

ironically, the more she recovers, the more it bears down on her as sheer guilt, where before it was mostly frustration. especially because she knows pico and darnell just assume she was perfectly fine before the shooting, that it's normal that she's so fucked up because she lived through something horrible. she feels like a liar and an idiot, that she's letting them think she has a Good Reason to be that way, when really she was ALWAYS Fucked Up for absolutely no real reason- she has a far more stable and supportive family and home situation than either of them, pico with his neglectful asshole parents and child of divorce darnell. there was nothing wrong with her life, but she wanted to throw it away; and worse even, that she had been childishly, selfishly upset that it would be that much harder to do so now, with the implicit responsibility to "live for the sake of those who can't anymore" and pico unsubtly fussing about her safety.

she knows full well that pico's got a Thing going on with needing to protect her and darnell, even if he doesn't really seem to realize the extent to which he does it- she knows HIS guilt is tied up with not having been able to save anyone. it's the reason he and darnell don't really talk anymore, but she kind of has to concede it's also part of the reason she never succesfully killed herself. not that darnell doesn't care about her, of course- he's just more prone to actually respecting whatever one wants to do with their lives, even if it leads you straight to self destruction. he'd be a hypocrite NOT to, she supposes.

pico is far less tolerant, though, in general and in specific. they get along well despite this, or maybe because of it; he doesn't stand for her self-destructive bullshit, and she doesn't take anything sitting down, so they have a very frank back-and-forth where they both know exactly where they stand with each other. and yes, pico's paranoia about her safety DID actually lead to him and darnell pulling her out of a bloody bathtub in time. even back then she had the presence of mind to be more grateful than annoyed.

still, that's her secret that she'll take to her grave, even if that grave awaits her many more years down the line than she'd once hoped for.

[mej2235]

A little propaganda for the @tmnt-crossover-polls for our collab au WAFD. @ossadeaurata @marshmel-l0w7 @we-all-fall-down-series

Oh and some lovely mentions going out to @wandering-ghost and Pico, her baby Godzilla from Atomic Pets, @phoenixdeleted and Neon, her future rise Leo who has a habit of adopting people and a mention of Batman and Nightwing from A Heart Of Sunflower by @doctaaaaaaaar

This snippet contains:

Donna: 03 Donnie uses they/she

Raph: 03 Raph

Mikey: 03 Mikey

Master Splinter: 03 Splinter

Leon: Rise Leo

Neon: Disarmed! Future Leon

Enjoy!

“Well, that hurt,” Donna groaned, rubbing her head.

Master Splinter hopped off her shell and landed smoothly on the ground, allowing Donna to push herself to her feet. She offered the turtle under her, Leon, a hand which he took quickly, holding it as he glanced around the arena in awe. Donna caught him by the lip of his shell as he tripped with a fond smile.

“Mikey! Get your butt offa me or I swear-“

“Keep it in your shell, Raphie!” Mikey growled back, playfully nipping near his brother’s face as turtles would. “I’m getting off, I swear.”

Mikey readjusted himself to pin Raph’s body more effectively and made no move to get off the older turtle.

“That’s it!” Raph began to rock his body, dislodging his brother and allowing him to twist his body around and trap the younger turtle in a headlock. “Say ittttt.”

“NOOO!” Mikey shrieked, laughing as Raph gave him a noogie.

“Last chance, little brother!” Raph stuck a finger in his mouth and pulled it out.

“NONONO!” Mikey squealed, “I WILL NEVER SURRENDER TO TYRANNOHMIGODTHAT’SOGROSS-!”

“Children,” Master Splinter punctuated the word with a tap of his cane on the ground. “Unfamiliar territory is no place for games,” the rat mutant turned away, unable to keep his grin in check behind his poker face, “even if they are amusing.”

“Hey!” Mikey protested, “That’s taking sides!”

Splinter did not answer, simply observing their surroundings. Leon was staring around at what appeared to be multitudes of giant stages, like the traditional kind where musicals or plays would take place. Donna had always adored theatre. She used to sneak into theatres like these with Leo all the time; he always let her take centre stage and was even willing to learn how to use the lights to give her her moment.

Donna missed that. Maybe she could introduce that part of her life to Leon. She wondered if he’d ever seen a play or a musical or if he was like Mikey and only enjoyed the art of movies.

“Welcome to the TMNT Crossover Polls,” Donna read aloud, grabbing her family’s attention. “Polls? That would imply some sort of popularity competition or election, but what does TMNT Crossover mean?”

“Crossover means when two different universes visit each other,” Leon cut in, hands flapping away as he tried to look everywhere at once. “It’s usually a term used in fandoms to describe when they combine two pieces of media they enjoy or a set of characters travel from one media to another. Like Jupiter Jim meets Lou Jitsu and they kick alien invader butt together!”

Leon blinked at them, done talking. They all blinked back. Leon’s face began to turn red and his head began to disappear into his shell.

Raph laughed and hit the kid’s back, “I don’t understand most of that, but it’s cool that you do.”

The younger turtle beamed at him, puffing his chest out in pride. Donna smiled and patted the younger’s head, drawing out a churr from him.

“I suppose that would make us a crossover then, wouldn’t it?” Master Splinter stroked his chin as he looked over his four children, “After all, Leon here is a universe traveller. He has quite literally crossed-over to our dimension.”

The four turtles stared at the rat for a few seconds until Leon flung himself forward, face right in Splinter’s face.

“Ohmigod! Was that a pun?” He practically squealed.

Master Splinter simply smirked and held a finger to his lips, “Let’s keep that our little secret.”

“You have officially jumped up the coolness scale to the top, after me, of course,” Leon flipped his mask tails, jumping up and down on the toes of his feet with a huge smile.

“Hey!” Mikey protested, “That’s my title!”

Leon just innocently blinked his little eyes at the older turtle, “I guess you’ll have to work harder then.”

Mikey scowled, poking Leon’s plastron with his finger, “You are playing with fire, young man.”

Leon shrugged, turning on his heel and walking with his hands behind his head, “My Mikey actually wields fire so I’m used to it.”

Mikey, along with his family, stared after the slider blankly.

“EXCUSE ME WHAT?!” The orange-clad turtle ran after the slider, looping a hand around to force him to face him.

They quickly caught up, watching Leon avoid Mikey’s relentless questions. Instead, the younger turtle seemed to be picking at a sticker on his plastron. That was strange. It wasn’t a bandage or one of the pads from Donna’s medical tests. She had made sure to remove them once it was over. Mikey twisted around in frustration suddenly and kicked at air, revealing another sticker on his own plastron.

“Mikey,” Donna called out, putting a stop to the little playful spat between the two turtles, “what’s that on your plastron?”

Mikey glanced down at it and then back up at Donna and shrugged, “Dunno, but we all have them.”

She glanced down, confirming that fact. Donna pulled off the one stuck to her plastron and held it out. Raph, in true Raph fashion, pulled his off his plastron and dropped the sticker, except the poor turtle found it did what stickers did best and stuck. To his finger. He started to wave his hand trying to get it off as his family watched on. Donna, eventually, had to be the adult of the family and rescue her poor suffering twin by grabbing the sticker by the none sticky part and dropping it.

To her surprise, the sticker dissipated into nothingness, only to appear upon Raph’s plastron once more. Upon closer inspection, it read ‘We All Fall Down.’ Well, that didn’t exactly spell bright things in their future. Heh. She should tell Leon that one later.

“Hey, Raph!” Donna glanced over at her ki- Leon as the younger turtle smirked, sticker in his hand, “Look!”

Raph, never one to ignore family, unfortunately turned to face the boy, only to receive a slap in the face for his troubles, gentle and literally. Leon snickered as he stepped back to admire his handiwork for a few seconds. Raph blinked and raised his hand to touch the sticker now adorning his face. His eyes locked onto the still snickering target in front of him and Donna could see the moment he made his decision.

“Oh you’re gonna pay for that one!” Raph sneered, attempting to tackle the slider, who darts under his arms and makes his escape, now cackling as Raph gave chase.

Donna shook her head and sat on the floor next to her father and remaining brother. To her amusement, once Leon got about a mutant turtle away from Raph, the sticker removed itself from Raph’s face and repeated with the void magic on Leon’s plastron. Fascinating. She would have to look into those properties to see if they could use those to find a way to access Leon’s dimension and get him home.

Maybe.

She was still undecided on whether or not to let him go home yet.

“Tea?” Master Splinter offered from where he knelt beside her, holding up a tea kettle that had been over a small fire (maybe she got her more arsonist tendencies from him).

“No, thank you, Sensei.”

“You should take him up on it. It’s really good.”

Donna smiled, “I am well aware, but I much prefer coffee beans.” She glanced back at her twin pinning Leon to the grown playfully, before realisation set in and she did a double take. “You’re not Mikey.”

The larger turtle smirked at her, “What gave it away? My handsome stripes? My winning personality? My stunning physique?”

Donna gave him her most deadpan stare, “You’re another version of Leon.”

“In the flesh,” he grinned with a wave of his metal arm, “well mostly.”

Donna snickered at that. “So is it just you or will I finally get to meet your brothers?”

“Not with me, I’m afraid,” the older Leon shrugged at her concerned glance and pointed at a group of four different turtles. “I’m taking care of that lot right now. It grows randomly.” Right on cue, another turtle joined the group. The older Leon held out his hand, “I’m Neon.”

Donna took it, “Donna.” She glanced at the scars that covered the older version of her kid, “Looks like you’ve had it rough. When was the last time you’ve eaten?”

Neon chuckled, answering her question with another question, “You’re a Donnie, so let me ask you, when was the last time you’ve eaten?”

Donna frowned at him, “Touché.”

The three sipped their tea in silence for a bit.

“Hey! Donna! There’s new superheroes here!”

Donna twisted to see her Mikey charging over to them. He stopped right before the tea, giddy and grinning as he hopped up and down, a comic book in his hands.

“Look!” He held it out to her and she took it with the utmost care, “They signed it! They said their names are Batman and Nightwing! Apparently there’s more of them and I need to find them and collect all the-“

It had been a long time since Mikey had geeked out over comic books. Leo used to do that, always the sci-fi nerd. Leon, unfortunately, didn’t know enough lore to be able to join in with the infodumping.

“Excuse me,” Neon interrupted as Mikey took a moment to finally breathe, “but would you sign this?” He held out what looked like a strangely wordy and legal document.

“Of cour-“

Donna, of course, grabbed the pen and contract and scowled at the turtle wearing her kid’s face. She read over the contract in her hands.

Donna read it again.

She held it out and pointed at it.

“This is an adoption form!” She accused, making her father spit out all his tea as he hacked up a lung. Right now however, she didn’t care and glared at the other turtle.

“Yep.”

“We’re mutant turtles.”

“Yep.”

“We aren’t legal.”

“Usually, yeah.”

“What do you mean usually?” She snarled at him, making sure her brother was safely behind her.

“Normal human laws don’t apply here. That form is perfectly legal in here. I’m pretty sure we all randomly have birth certificates, even if they are inaccurate.”

Now that was an interesting tidbit.

Donna sneered, “You don’t get to adopt my family, legally or otherwise.”

Neon rolled his eyes, “You can stop me.”

Donna tilted her head with a smile, “Well I suppose I’ll have to adopt you.”

The larger turtle gasped, “You wouldn’t!”

Donna twisted on her heel and stalked away to gather her team. It was time for a custody battle.

Master Splinter finally managed to expel all the liquid from his lungs, only to find himself alone, except for a tiny lizard creature watching him curiously.

He held out a cup of tea to them, “Would you like some?”

Splinter’s entire vision turned blue as some strange burning sensation consumed his body. It dissipated soon enough, leaving the rat mutant singed.

He coughed and the lizard wandered off. Splinter missed his old cage in Master Yoshi’s dojo.

That was it! He was retiring to Tahiti!