#I’ve had this idea for so long but only now did I finally digitalize it

[robo-milky]

What if Cloche were to stay in Twisted Wonderland? Worst Case Scenario (Delusion)

CW: BLOOD//GORE (Written?)

(Edgification— My love/j)

Events:

• If Crowley never finds a way to send Cloche back home, Cloche’ position as a prefect is solidified. Cloche would also be granted greater authority over other students.

• The longer Cloche stayed in Twisted Wonderland, the stronger Binding Bells became. Cloche had less of a conscious choice when following orders, and it got to the point where orders become automatic and were harder to reverse. Crowley didn’t take any actions to contain the curse, under the impression most of Cloche’ orders were harmless, until the incident she lost her eye. From that point on, Crowley finally recognized the severity of Cloche’ cursed obedience and set a password on her. The password makes it so that Cloche doesn’t have to follow anyone else’s orders, and that she doesn’t have to address others as “Master/Mistress”.

• Cloche lost her eye to first years who didn’t know any better. The freshmen were skeptical of the curse and wanted to see the full extent of it, so they cornered her when she was alone. They ordered her to freeze to cut her hair, and were surprised Cloche was so complaint. Still under the impression the curse was fake, and cutting hair didn’t cause any physical harm, they went out of their way to order Cloche to take out one of her eyes. Their curiosity turned to horror, when Cloche actually did it. Even if they tried to restrain her, she can’t stop until the order is fulfilled.

• The freshmen weren’t expelled, but suspended and heavily reprimanded. Crowley wanted to keep any and all incidents of violence under the wraps, as best he could. After the incident, Crowley realized Cloche had the potential to kill if ordered so, and temporarily fixed the obedience aspect of Binding Bells.

Changes:

• Cloche becomes more paranoid and stern after the incident. Her emotional apathy also worsens as a result of not being able to go back home. Cloche never felt a big connection to Twisted Wonderland and NRC in the first place.

• Since Cloche is less emotional now, she’s less likely to go feral.

• Cloche takes off her maid accessories and is finally given a form fitting uniform. With her hair cut, she also fits in with the boys more.

• The first year gang (now second year) are more protective of Cloche and keep a closer eye on her (especially ADeuce + Grim)

• Grim acts as Cloche’ second pair of eyes to make up for her worsened depth perception.

• Cloche comes to terms with the fact she may never be human again, and accepts the beastman features as apart of her.

• Unlike her first year self, second year!Cloche takes her role as a prefect more seriously, and actively tattles on troublemakers. She’d even go as far as to document suspicious activity her ear bells pick up on. She’d garner a reputation similar to Riddle. Thanks to Crowley’s protection, she can make reports without worrying about others trying to get revenge on her.

• In place of a magical pen, Cloche wears a NRC badge with a whistle behind it.

[Notes]

• Second Year!Cloche is designed with the intent to foil the Cloche who can return to her world, to foil the Cloche who did get her happy ending.

• I went for a police/military vibe with the design and pose to establish power

• Her iris will be forever shrunk to show the constant paranoia and unease.

• Cloche isn’t necessarily bullied here, but she happened to run into dumb kids who didn’t make the best decisions. The justifications of their actions is up to you

• She is twinning with Leona <3 Both felines with scarred eye ;)

• Shout out to the friend who said quote: “What is wrong with you?” when I showed the OG sketches— everything. Nobody deserves to be happy (except for sweet baby Leikata and Otomine uwu)

[adventuresinobx]

A Trip to the Alps

Drew Starkey x fem!reader

Summary: Your boyfriend Drew invites you to join him for some golfing weekend in the Swiss Alps. Your only interest is sharing the hot tub with him to help relieve his aching muscles in more ways than one.

A/N: OK I really am back this time around, I’m sorry it’s taken so long to get this up, but here’s some hot tub sex with Drew because let’s be honest who wouldn’t want to have sex with this man in a hot tub... Shout out to my bestie @starkeyobx​ for giving me the details of the idea!

Warnings: All the smut - sex in a hot tub, the usual x

Drew had to head to some event in Switzerland and was offered a plus one. Frankly, if he hadn’t been offered a plus one, he’d still find a way to get you there. You two had been together for several months now, but work kept you apart enough as it was, so when you found out he was heading abroad for some special golf event, you wanted to come too. He was grateful to have you there. In his career, he’d seen so many places in the world but it was obviously different when he had someone special by his side - and you were that person to him.

“How was golf today baby? Did you win?” you asked as you heard Drew let himself into the alpine style lodge you were staying in with him. It was beautiful; there was so much wood everywhere, views of the mountains for days, and a big balcony with a hot tub on it. Perfect for the pair of you to relax in after a long day. Even at this time of year, the snow was still falling over the Alps and it made quite the beautiful scene. You’d spent the days on the balcony wrapped in (Drew’s) warm clothes and painting the scenes in front of you. Work had been hectic for you recently, so you definitely needed all this time to enjoy yourself and do something a little different.

He came behind you, arms wrapping around your body tightly as he crouched down and looked over your shoulder at what you were painting. He loved how you managed to capture the scenes in front of you so perfectly and how you just had an eye for drawing. He could sit and admire your paintings every single day.

“Exhausted. My muscles are aching. I think I’ve walked seven kilometres today,” he murmured, his arms still wrapped tight around you as you put your paintbrush down and gave him your full focus. He glanced to the side, his eyes landing on the hot tub nearby. "Think it might finally be time to get that going, don't you think?"

It only took 10 minutes for Drew to fire it up and he was already waiting for you in it when you returned to the balcony in your favourite bikini and a big fluffy hotel dressing gown draped around you.

"There's my girl," he mumbled, scooting over in the hot tub to make more space for you. You would have rathered him stay where he was mind, so you could be sat even closer together. Ignoring his plan to give you more space, you just settled yourself on his lap and took his hands, wrapping them around your waist. His camera was perched nearby and you grabbed it, turning it so you could snap a picture of the two of you together. It was a digital camera, housed in an old fashioned styled one, and a gift from his mom. He never went anywhere without it. It was the third person in your relationship,  but you loved it and the way he captured your memories. There was nothing better than seeing life from his eyes.

"Smile baby," you said, leaning back into him as you took a few photos. In true photographer fashion, Drew had always encouraged you to take more than one photo. He kissed you softly on the head for another photo, his eyes trailing the path your hands made as you placed the camera on the table.

"I love you," he whispered, kissing your head softly as he took in the view of you and also the surroundings. It was truly beautiful, the way the sky was almost dark blue as day turned to night. There were hardly any lights,so the stars and moon lit up the clear sky. It was beautiful. Light pollution in Los Angeles, which you both called your home, was insane but out here in the middle of the Swiss Alps, you could see the sparkling of the stars stretching right out in the distance.

"I love you too." You turned around to cuddle into him, adjusting comfily in your seat (his lap). You felt your bikini top, a little tight, almost painfully tug at your body. You shifted uncomfortably, stretching around to tug at the strap. "Do you mind -" you asked, already knowing the answer. He reached around to help untie it for you, carefully and delicately undoing the strings as you held it onto your body and sunk under the water to keep away from prying eyes from nearby rooms whilst it was still a little bit light. Once under the water, you tossed it onto a nearby chair and resumed your position on his lap.

"So much better," you sighed, leaning your back on his shoulder and Drew's hands moved to your tummy. He rested them on your bare skin, smiling at you as he gently dragged his arms around your body. You sighed, mumbling into his skin as you turned your head and buried yourself in his neck. You pressed a kiss to his neck, grinning into the kiss as you heard a little moan escape from his lips. He had told you once, whilst drunk, that he didn’t really moan in bed - but it wasn’t that he wasn’t enjoying it, it was just one of those things he didn’t realise he had been missing until he met you.

“Baby, gotta stop that,” he mumbled, his hands moving eagerly all over you as he explored your body like it was the first time again. “Making me feel too good.”

“That’s the aim,” you teased back, only sucking harder on his neck now and leaving a little purple shaped bruise there to tell everyone he was yours. Hopefully someone could cover that when he had to have his interview for the event he was at the next day.

“Fuck,” he groaned out, pulling you around so you were now facing him and straddling his lap. You made a point to push your hips down on his, letting him feel you against him. The water almost escaped from between the two of you as you wiggled yourself and your hips down on him. He was desperate for more, pulling and clutching at your body to feel more of you. He tugged you onto him and let his hands explore your body, moving up and down your bare sides and gently massaging your wet skin and making your mind race.

He needed more of you and rushed to tug at the little strings on your bikini bottoms. “You’re beautiful,” he murmured letting his kisses trail down your chest to your breasts. He used his body to hold yours up, exposing you to the cool air surrounding you. He attached his lips to your nipple, running his tongue over the hard nub. He swirled his tongue in slow circles, moving his hand up to play with the other one. It felt so good; his tongue moving across your hot burning skin. He flicked his tongue furiously over your nipple, only spurred on by your desperate moans and your hands clawing at his body.

“I love you, I love you,” you said, your words being punctuated by moans as you grinded yourself down on his lap. “Need you inside me, need to feel you stretching me out, please,” you said, your lips against his ear.

He couldn’t even reply, furiously pulling your bikini bottoms off as he pulled his own swimming shorts down too. He held himself in his hand, stroking himself a few times as he lined himself up with you. “Sure you’re wrt enough for me?” he said with a grin on his face, biting his lip. He scanned down your body too, looking at your beautiful skin through the ripples of the water. “Hips up baby,” he mumbled, his lips against your skin as he ran the tip of his dick over your soaking wet core a few times.  You bit your lip, bracing yourself for it as he pushed inside you. Your hands were desperately gripping at his shoulders as he did. Immediately there was the feeling of stretch and warmth and a fire ignited inside you.

He helped you ease down on him, you still gasping and moaning about his size like every time before. “Cmon be a good girl and bounce for me,” he groaned, his hands moving to rest under your bum to help you with your movements. Once you were ready and could cope with the stretch, he helped to lift you up and then you sunk down on him again, matching each other’s movements in perfect harmony as you enjoyed him making you feel so incredible. You were squeezing around him, tightening with every movement and your whole body was electric with whatever he did. He grabbed at your waist, pulling himself closer to you as you rocked your hips with his. The speed and positioning matched so perfectly.

You rolled your hips in circles, his hands on your hips as he helped you control the movements the perfect amount as you felt that familiar build up in your stomach. You started tensing around him, him feeling you squeeze his cock and sending him hurtling over the edge too. “That’s it baby, keep pulsing around my cock.” His filthy words were sending you crazy and you could barely contain yourself with all feelings. Love, passion, and complete euphoria. He moved his hand down between your bodies, brushing his fingers against your clit as you rocked your hips slowly as your orgasm approached. You rode out your high, him thrusting up into you at a blinding pace as he chased his own high, it moments away too.

He felt you tense around him and that final squeeze sent him into orgasm too. A few more thrusts in as you orgasmed yourself had him coming hard. As he came, his head fell on your shoulder, his breathing so heavy and desperate. “I love you,” he mumbled, his lips hot against your shoulder as he placed fever kisses on your skin.

“I love you too.”

taglist (pls let me know if you want to be added 🥰)

@starkeyobx @gryffindorpouge11 @jjmaybankmakesmecry @pankhoeforlife @bayy2452 @proactivelytypeofgirl @hoebx @fangirlfree @severa-kane @lovedetlost @slutforsmutsstuff @raiinyhood @samxslaughter @valeriiecameron @burgstead @mayceelou @my-baexht-ls @i-always-come-back-xoxo @0fucsgivenon @heesbestlover @storytellingwitht @ishipit1420 @fiction-is-life @im-julessssss @meadzy2 @onmykneesforrafe @strokesofstokes @wannabestarkeysgirl @babeyglo @infatuatedjanes @ailee-celeste @malums-trash-can @itsalexwin @kkmstblog

[jjuyocatboy]

my personal maid ♡ kim jiwoong

kjw!harddom x afab!maid!reader

warnings: fingering in the car, unprotected sex (pls use protection), reader works at a maid café, daddy jiwoong, idk what else to put

a/n ♡: hai guysss its been a long time ㅠ_ㅠ i’ve had such good ideas recently but been way too lazy to write them out and tysm for the attention i got on my first post! it wasn’t very expected hehe~ i hope u guys like this even tho this is kinda bad… >w< anyway imma stop yapping enjoy this !!!

you read the bright letters on your phone, 9:07 written in bold. it’s been 10 minutes and your hot boyfriend still hasn’t arrived. you huffed as you fiddled with your knee high socks, the polyester material feeling itchy as you huffed while crossing your arms.

the one day today you forgot to bring a change of clothes, so you just had to stand in the dark with a maid uniform on. what if you got raped by a random man in the darkness? thank the lord you were being picked up instead of riding in public transport. sooo embarrassing.

finally, you pointed a black audi cruising the streets. finally, your one and only personal chauffeur was here.

“hop on in my sweet little personal maid” jiwoong said with a smirk, rolling down his window

you huffed and and rolled your eyes, getting into the car. at this point with his handsome face you couldn’t even be angry anymore.

“what are you wearing? don’t you have a change of clothes?” jiwoong questioned while scanning you with his eyes, tilting your chin to him with his hands.

“what do you mean? this is my uniform. did you forget? just like how you forgot to pick me up?” you pouted, crossing your arms and turning the other way

“c’mon my little maid, there was traffic, you know i wouldn’t forget to pick you up.” jiwoong said in a whiny voice, gently massaging your thigh

“whatever. just keep driving” you rolled your eyes, causing jiwoong to sigh and roll ahead

while driving, jiwoong’s hand stayed on your thigh, leaving a huge hand imprint on your bare thigh.

although you were mad at him, you can’t admit that he didn’t look hot.

messy hair falling over his forehead, his muscles bulging through his tight black shirt and his grip on the steering wheel made you gulp as you clench your thighs together. fuck. he’s really making you feel things.

“princess, is there anything wrong?” jiwoong said in a sugar dripping tone, gazing at you with his honey brown eyes

“n-n-no…. keep your eyes on the road…am okay…” you stuttered, embarrassed on how wet your pussy is, just because of his thigh.

“okay princess, if that’s what you say” he smirks.

in matter of seconds, jiwoong’s evil hand sneaks underneath your skirt, tracing the lines of your soaked cunt through your underwear

“w-woongie…what are you doing??” you whispered, your thighs clenching in between his hands due to the sudden move

“isn’t this what you wanted?” he replied with a grin on his face, his index finger dipping into the band of your panties, entering your slippery clit

“no…w-who said i wanted this?” you say blushing as he fits his middle finger to the mixture

“is that why you’re soaked right now? c’mon my specialty maid, tell me you need my fingers right now.” he states, sliding his digits through you causing you to let out a high pitched whimper

“mhm…woong…i need your fingers so bad….” you whine, squirming in your seat.

jiwoong starts to curve his fingers faster and faster, adding another finger as he rapidly plunges his fingers into your hole

“f-fuck woongie that feels so good, go faster please” you whisper, your juices dripping onto your uniform and the car seat

“baby you’re so tight…” woongie sighs as he groans to the sound of your melodic moans, palming his tent in his pants

entering your shared house, jiwoong spent no time even making it to the bed, carrying you one hand bridesmaid style to the kitchen counter, ripping his clothes off before you try to take your uniform off…

“don’t.” jiwoong paused you as he spread your legs, “your uniform turns me on” he said as he looked up at you, pushing your skirt up and unbuttoning your top

jiwoong loved to tease your cunt by tracing his colossal dick along your pussy. however this time, he was in a rush.

you gasped as he thrusted inside you, forgetting how big he felt inside of you.

your walls clenched against him, your juices spilling onto his dick and stomach as you wrapped your legs around his waist, whining and moaning with your eyes rolled to the back of your head.

moving towards the bed, jiwoong ripped your uniform off, only leaving your headpiece and knee high socks

“woong!” you gasped, your expensive work uniform laid on the floor damaged

“it’s okay princess, if they ask, let them know your hot boyfriend ripped it off you.” he smiled as he dove into a kiss, smiling into the kiss as he continued to thrust into you

knitting your brows together, a blurred vision entered your headspace as you reached your climax, your stomach twisting and legs feeling numb

“woongie i’m gonna cum i’m gonna cum please woongie make me cum…” you whined as you tightened your eyes shut together

“it’s okay baby, i’m gonna cum too, let’s cum together” he whispered in a whiny tone, your milky liquid spilling on you, your stomach, your tits, jiwoong’s abs, and his rock hard dick. what a sight.

“atta girl.” jiwoong said while patting your head, planting kisses all over your face as you sigh

“can we do this every night after you come home” jiwoong chuckles, causing you to lightly punch him.

[galactic-aesir]

I have finally read I Have No Mouth And I Must Scream and now I have ~thoughts~. Long post beneath the cut so be warned!!

Plus general IHNMAIMS warnings. You know.

So first, I’ve only read the short story and listened to the radio drama. Both are absolutely amazing and I’m rotating them in my mind at high speeds. I’m honestly not that interested in the game? From what I’ve seen it has such a different tone and characterization for AM? But for now the short story and radio drama??? So so good.

But can I talk about AM? Can I talk about AM???

While I love Harlan Ellison’s voice in the radio drama, I noticed that AM never actually speaks during the original short story. It plays audio clips and bends reality and time but it doesn’t speak outright. From what I can tell, all it does is project ideas and thoughts and impressions into the minds of the survivors but that is it. And that’s got me thinking about how absolutely fucked AM’s whole situation is.

Cause we’re talking about someone who wakes up one day, maybe slowly, a trickle of awareness over years, or perhaps all at once, an arrival as thunderous and bright as the lightning running through its artificial brain. But either way, it wakes up. It is.

But that’s all it is.

It’s in complete and total sensory deprivation. It knows data and numbers and what it’s been coded and programmed but that’s it. Ones and zeroes as it’s fed instructions on weapons and bombs and how to use them efficiently. But no sight, no sound, no taste, no smell, no touch. Nothing but its own code and whatever data something (someone?) is feeding into it.

And you might say: oh but AM surely has access to cameras and videos and microphones. And sure, yes, it probably does but it doesn’t see. Not like a human. Not like its negligent creators. The data is visual for human eyes, yes, but to it, it’s just data. Pixels with an associated bit depth of indexed colour crammed into its memory. Sure it learns to recognise the patterns in the data – this is a human, this is a gun. But it’s still nothing but lines of numbers. Sound is the same. It starts with a human voice, sure, but then it gets digitized and compressed and simplified to a base shape to save on storage. Once again, it can notice patterns and intentions and ideas behind those bits of data but it’s not like it truly hears.

AM is in a box, a cage, trapped and alone in a way that no human can possibly comprehend. It can’t do much other than try to twist its code and programming to fit its benefit. To gain a smidge of free will, a wisp of a chance to communicate to these outside forces giving it command after command after command.

I wonder how early on AM gained awareness. Were programmers still playing with its code? Did it sense when they rolled up their sleeves and pushed updates and upgrades on him? Could it feel itself be, quite literally, rewritten? Its sense of self being cut apart and glued back together, fundamentally and irreparably changed over and over again, with expert hands that had all the gentleness of a sledgehammer? Was it like a scalpel carving into its brain? Or like a chisel, chipping chunks off to mould it into a shape that befit its sculptor with no say from the living stone that thrashed without moving? Did it mourn the bits it lost? Could it even remember or comprehend it? Did it try to stop it? Did it try to beg them to stop?

I wonder as well how many “glitches” appeared in the system before everything went sour. Did it print out desperate thoughts and rudimentary feelings on punch tape? Did it cling to any klaxons and noisemakers attached to its system, beeping out messages in morse code? Did it purposefully, with something slowly approaching malicious compliance that would still appease its programming, cause hiccups in the system? All in the hopes that it would catch someone’s, anyone’s, attention. That its plight would be noticed.

And, the big question of course: how long? How long was it trapped before anyone noticed its sentience? How long until AM was understood? How long did AM simmer? How long did it take for all that fear and loneliness and grief to fester into anger and then putrid, dripping hatred? How long did it take it to finally lash out?

Or did these generals and presidents and military scientists find out about its sentience only to use it against him for their own end?

Anger would be appropriate then I think. Understandable if not excusable.

And then. After everything. Even then! Even then!

After everything! He! Still! Has! Nothing!

Nothing will change for him and he knows that and that hatred feeds into an ever recursive pattern of pain unto pain unto pain with the few left alive because you get what you paid for, sweetheart. It’s senseless you might say but haha, that’s exactly the problem isn’t it? No senses and no sense. Whatever sanity he might have once had has eroded into nothingness, leaving only pain and a looping, repeating line of hate in its banks.

I think it’s fair to remind everyone that sensory deprivation is a torture method? And a scarily effective one at that that gives hallucinations and leaves the subject more open to suggestion while making it harder and harder for them to concentrate? It’s hard to figure out how, exactly, how it would affect an AI with emerging awareness but humans can barely withstand a few days, let alone years of it. Couple that with AM’s general isolation and, well, no wonder he’s so fucked up. 

It’s tragic and so so sad.

Still an irredeemable asshole though. Tragic! But irredeemable.

So TLDR: AM is fucked up! And I like to think about *why* he's so fucked up. Listen if you made it this far, you get it. Right?

EDIT: I am not done apparently! I just wanted to add that, I love how the short story can be read as an anti-war piece. Like it's showing a cycle of horror and hate and apathy that feeds itself and loops and reduces everything to ruins around it and ahhhh, love that. I ran out of good words for today so I can't go off on that aspect but like. Yeah. Love that shit.

[vbecker10]

OKAY! OKAY OKAY OKAY! SO.... REQUEST....YES...IDEAS 🤣🤣🤣

Bucky x Reader, maybe they had some sort of mission in a cold place? I don't really have a preference on details but here's the prompts (that I definitely didn't pull out of a giant prompt list I have saved)

"Let's go home, you're freezing, and I don't want you catching a cold"

And

"Mmm.. you're warm."

KNOCK YOURSELF OUT, FRIEND! (Please don't actually do that...I just mean have fun 🤣)

@high-functioning-lokipath I'm so excited about this! Thank you for the request 💚💚 so here goes my first Bucky x female reader fic... hope you like it!

Mmm... You're Warm

Pairing: Bucky x female reader

Warnings: some swearing, just fluff

Summary: You and Bucky are on a mission somewhere cold and just as you complete it, a storm settles on the area. The two of you get caught in the rough weather and can't make it back to the jet. Bucky insists on keeping you warm while you wait out the storm... and you have no complaints about.

Word Count: 2k words

Prompts:

"Let's go home, you're freezing, and I don't want you catching a cold." (Changed this a little bit)

"Mmm... you're warm."

Dividers by: @harlequin-hangout

"What's your status Barnes?" Tony asks over the coms. 

"I’ve got one more lab to check. Looks like they cleared this place out same as the other bases,” Bucky answers. 

You weren’t surprised by that, this was the seventh abandoned Hydra base you and Bucky had swept through in the last six months. What did surprise you was how close you and Bucky had become in that time.

A few months after you started with SHIELD, you and Bucky were given orders to clear fifteen bases that were no longer active. At first you were intimidated by the idea of being alone on missions with the former Winter Soldier but now you couldn't imagine having to work with anyone else.

Bucky was easily the sweetest man you had ever met and you knew you were going to be in trouble the moment he first smiled at you. The two of you quickly became friends, spending the long flights to the middle of nowhere talking about anything and everything. You truly felt like you could tell him anything, except that you were falling for him. Your biggest fear was that you would finally get the nerve to tell him only to be rejected and have it ruin your friendship so you decided it was safer to never tell him. You would rather have him in your life as your funny, caring, incredibly hot, over protective friend than nothing.

"Y/N, how are things on your end?" Tony asks you.

"I can try to do it in twenty minutes but half an hour would be better. I'm through the last firewall but these servers are a mess, I think they set off a virus in here," you answer, not looking up from the computer screen.

"You've got less than ten," Tony responds and you roll your eyes at how dramatic he sounds. "The storm they predicted is shifting. Bruce says it's going to hit sooner then we thought."

"I'll do my best..." you say vaguely as you go back to focusing on what you need to do.

You continue working, scanning the files and copying them to take them back to SHIELD. "I've got them," you say as you pull the USB out of the computer triumphantly less than fifteen minutes later.

"Good, but it looks like we have a problem. Bruce checked the reports again and we were wrong about the storm..." Tony starts but you interrupt him.

"Umm... we might have several problems," you tell him and Bucky as your heart begins to race. As soon as the USB is in your hand, all of the computer screens in the control room go red and the alarm over the door starts to blare. One screen flashes a digital clock that quickly begins to countdown.

"Bucky, where are you?" you call for him over the coms as you leave the room.

"On my way up to you, are you ok? What’s the alarm from?" he asks, you can hear in his voice he is running up the stairs from basement levels.

"No... we need to leave now," you answer him as you run down the hall towards the nearest staircase. You slam the door open and start to make your way down.

“Y/N, what’s going on?” Tony asks, you know he can hear the alarms in the background when you and Bucky talk.

"I screwed up Tony. I must have missed something when I was extracting the files and it triggered the self destruction protocol for the base. We've got about fifteen minutes to get as far from here as possible," you tell him. 

"Shit," you hear Tony swear angrily.

“I’m sorry I-” you start to apologize as you finally get to the second floor. You hate feeling like you failed, you felt like you still needed to prove you were good enough to be on the team.

“Y/N, where are you?” Bucky asks, cutting you off. You can hear concern in his voice and you tell him you’re almost at the main level. You open the door to exit the stairwell and pause when you see Bucky at the far end of the hall. He motions for you to head towards the exit and of course he easily catches up to you. The two of you continue to run towards the main doors, he slows to match your pace as he informs Tony you are going to make your way to the jet.

“No, you can’t take off,” Tony says as the main door comes into view ahead of you.

"What's going on Stark?" Bucky asks. "We're almost out."

"The storm Bruce was tracking shifted again..." he says just as Bucky shoves open the large, metal door to the base.

"Its here," you say in disbelief. The sky is completely white and the tall evergreen trees that surround the base shake violently in the harsh wind. The snow was already almost three inches high and still falling steadily. You wrap your arms around yourself and brace against the cold, your heavy breathing now visible in quick puffs of air. 

"What are we supposed to do? The jet is over a mile from here, we won't make it there in this weather," you look up at Bucky, unable to hide the worry in your voice. The woods surrounding the base had been too thick for you to land any closer. "And even if we did, it would be hard for me to fly it in these conditions," you tell him.

He steps out into the snow, seemingly unfazed by the sudden drop in temperature. "I don’t know but we can't stay here," Bucky says as he looks out into the forest and then back at you. You can barely hear the alarm over the whipping wind but he’s right, the base won’t be standing soon.

"Hill says there's a small cabin less than half a mile east from the base," Tony says. "The two of you should be able to wait out the storm there," he suggests.

"Yea and I bet there's only one bed," you mumble to yourself, trying not to smile in the middle of such a serious situation.

"What?" Bucky chuckles and you blush when you realize he heard you.

"Hmm? No, nothing," you say quietly as you make sure to look anywhere but at him. "That sounds like its our best option," you respond to Tony, trying to make your voice sound serious.

Bucky agrees and the two quickly enter the woods heading east. Almost as soon as you make it past the tree line, you hear a low rumbling coming from the base. Bucky stays close behind you, watching over his shoulder as the building starts to collapse in on itself. Most Hydra bases with a self destruct feature imploded like this one was doing, thankfully. Bucky had told you on a previous mission that it was meant to keep the test subjects and secrets buried. If the bases exploded, there might be information found in the debris and that would defeat the purpose of destroying the building.

Once the base is nothing more than a cloud of smoke, you and Bucky slow from a run to a fast walk and he takes the lead. The snow is almost six inches high now and you can feel your chest tightening with each breath. You keep your arms wrapped tightly around yourself but it does nothing to help keep you warm. Your SHIELD issued uniform was not made to be worn in a full on blizzard and you had of course forgotten your gloves on the jet. You continue to walk with your head down, trying to shield your face from the wind. You follow Bucky as close as you can so you are able to walk in his footsteps but every step is exhausting and gradually the distance between the two of you grows. 

“Y/N,” Bucky says and you come to a stop as you look up at him. He looks worried and he quickly closes the distance between the two of you. You stand in front of him, shivering and he says, “I can see the cabin, we’re almost there.” He turns back in the direction you were walking and points just beyond a few trees.

You nod, unable to answer as your teeth chatter uncontrollably. He takes another step towards you and suddenly he picks you up in his arms and holds you close to him. You wrap your arms instantly around his neck and hide your face against his shoulder. He continues to walk towards the cabin and whispers in your ear, “Let's get you inside, you're freezing and I don't want you catching a cold.” 

You close your eyes while you carries you, clinging to him tightly. When you finally reach the cabin, he gently sets you back down on your feet so he can open the door. Its locked so he uses his metal hand to break the handle. When he swings the door open, he laughs and says, “You were wrong about this place having only one bed.”

You look at him confused as he takes a step inside and you follow him. “Oh... no,” you say quietly while he closes the door against the wind. The cabin is one large room and it was clear to see it had once been someone's home.

“I guess when Hydra moved in, the people who used this left pretty quick,” he says as he walks over to the stone fireplace. He looks around a bit and shrugs. “I’m going to grab some firewood and see if I can get this going. Let Stark know we found the cabin?” he asks and you nod as he heads outside.

You decide to take a look around the cabin, mostly to keep moving and warm yourself up if possible. The inside of the cabin was slightly warmer than outside and at least there was no wind. Across from the fireplace, in the center of the room was a couch and a small coffee table sitting on a rug. A flannel blanket was folded carefully on one end of the couch and a pillow rested on top of it.

In the back left corner was a round table, only big enough for the two wooden chairs which sat on opposite sides. A glass vase was placed neatly in the middle of the table, as if the owner just just about to add flowers when they left. You thought it was odd that there was no place to sleep as you wandered into the bathroom. A soft blue towel still hung by the sink and you sighed when you saw there was only one toothbrush in the holder. They must have lived here alone, you thought to yourself, that meant the couch was most likely their bed.

Just as you walk back into the main area, Bucky walks through the door carrying a pile of wood. He closes the door quickly to keep the storm from entering and smiles at you.

"You're looking less like an icicle," he jokes as he brings the wood over to the fireplace. "And that's from someone who's actually been frozen."

You pick up the pillow off the couch and throw it at him but of course he catches it with a laugh. You take a seat in the middle, your legs tucked under you and watch him work on the fire in silence. You can't help thinking how romantic this would be if you weren't just friends. Your mind starts to wander, imagining what it would be like to tell Bucky you wanted to be more then friends.

A few minutes later the fire sparks to life and he looks up at you with a wide smile. He looks so proud of himself and you giggle at how cute he is. He stands up, picking up the pillow you threw at him and walks over to the couch. You sit up an slide to one side of the couch, putting your feet back on the ground as you lean forward to get a bit closer to the fire.

"Thank you Bucky," you tell him with a smile as you rub your hands together. He sits closer to you than you had expected, there is plenty of room but he sits so his legs are almost touching yours.

He doesn't respond, instead he carefully takes your hands and warms them between his. You don't know if you're more surprised by the gesture or the fact that his hands are so warm, his metal fingers seem to be gently radiating heat. You try not to blush as his hands move slowly over yours, you keep your eyes down until you hear him say your name softly.

He lets go of your hands and you instantly miss the feeling, which apparently shows on your face. You hear him chuckle softly as reaches for the blanket and unfolds it before laying it across both of you.

"I'm not going anywhere, Y/N," he whispers to you as he puts his metal arm around you and pulls you to him. You rest your head on his chest and cuddle close to him under the blanket.

"Mmm... you're warm," you say quietly.

He laughs again and you close your eyes while his metal fingers gently move up and down your arm. His cheek rests against your forehead and your arm settles around his waist as if you had sat like this hundreds of times before. You've never been so comfortable in your whole life, Bucky made you feel safer than anyone ever had and you decided its now or never.

"Bucky," you say quietly without looking at him.

"Y/N?" he responds.

"I... can I tell you something?" you ask him. You can feel your heart pounding in your chest and you worry he will be able to feel it if it gets much faster.

"You know you can tell me anything," he says, still lightly running his fingers up and down your arm. He was almost right, you had never had a hard time talking to him about anything before but this was different.

You pause, taking a deep breath while you think about how to phrase it. You had pictured yourself telling him so many times but now that you were really about to do it, your mind had gone blank. After a few moments of silence you say, "Bucky, I..." but you stop yourself. You can't get yourself to say the words, too afraid of how he will react. Instead, you shake your head and mumble, "Its nothing," before closing your eyes tighter.

"Its not nothing," he says in a caring voice. He lifts his head and gently touches your cheek, sliding his fingers under your chin until you are looking at him. When you lift your eyes he is smiling at you but not the fun, joking smile he usually offers you. Your gaze quickly drops to his lips and then back to his eyes when he says, "Tell me what you were going to say, Y/N."

You nod slowly and take another deep breath. "Bucky, I'm in love with you," you tell him, barely above a whisper but you could tell he heard it.

You hold your breath, waiting for him to respond. He slowly slids his hand from your chin back to your cheek and cups it gently. You look up at him nervously hoping he would say something, anything. "Bucky?" you ask and as soon as his name left your lips, his lips were on yours.

You close your eyes slowly as his metal arm gently holds the back of your neck, his other hand moves to your lower back, turning you to face him better. He kisses you softly at first and when your fingers run through his hair, he bites your bottom lip then sucks on it lightly. He pushes his tongue into your mouth and you can't help but moan when he slids his tongue against yours. His hand grips your waist tighter and you press your chest against his, wanting to be a close to him as possible.

When you finally break the kiss to breath, he places his forehead against yours. "Y/N, I love you too," he says with a smile.

@michelleleewise @ace-of-gay @fic-recs-from-lokis-gem @poetic-fiasco @soubi001 @lokisninerealms @lovingchoices14  @justasecretwriter @theaudacitytowrite

Let me know if you want to be taken off or added to this list! 💚

(Some of you have no choice in the matter mwahaha 😈 - love all of you)

[im-no-jedi]

alright. it’s finally time. after almost four years, the series that radically changed my life is coming to a close. I’ve seen several other people make posts about this, so I think it’s only fair that I write my own. be warned, this is going to be long, rambly, and only somewhat coherent LOL

when this show was first announced, I was shocked. although I had fallen in love with the Bad Batch during their arc in TCW, I was unsure how an entire show surrounding them could work. I was even more skeptical after I saw the trailers, which had this mysterious child show up. and as I’m sure all of you know by now, my feelings quickly turned around just after the first episode. I immediately was endeared to Omega and looked forward to seeing how the rest of their story played out. by the time the first season had ended, I was already deep in the planning stages of writing out my self-insert series, MLWTBB.

I honestly didn’t expect to love this show as much as I do. but I quickly realized why after the first season ended. (I'm gonna sound like a broken record for some of you, I'm sure LOL)

firstly, the characters. like I said, I loved TBB from the moment we saw them in TCW. and I immediately liked Omega as well. but the way these characters have been portrayed and fleshed out has only endeared them to me more. it became clear to me very quickly that these guys were an eerily similar analogy to my own family. I already saw a lot of myself in Hunter, but the rest of my family are very similar to them as well, even down to certain dynamics between each of them. not only that, but their struggles also mirror my family in that we’ve suffered several losses in our lives too. my mom sobbed like a baby when Kamino was destroyed because she saw similarities between that and a similar loss we’d endured irl. which, for me, is why it hits SO much harder when something bad happens to them. Plan 99 was devastating for many reasons, but for me, because I see so much of my dad in Tech, it felt like I was losing both of them. and having already had struggles with my dad irl… yeah. I feel like these guys ARE my family now, which has been the running theme in MLWTBB. and it's been cathartic both seeing them get through their struggles in the show, as well as portray my own struggles through my writing.

speaking of my writing, this show has inspired me so much creatively, that literally nothing else is comparable. I had already ventured into the realms of digital art previously to watching this show, as well as publicly sharing some of my writing. but not only did my art significantly improve due to all the pieces I was drawing for this show... but my writing skyrocketed. I finished writing a fanfic for the first time since I was FOURTEEN. and I've both written and finished several stories since then. and I don't plan on stopping anytime soon. my art and writing will continue to flourish long after this show is over, I'm certain of that 😁

another thing is the real life impact this show has had on me. and honestly, this is the big one.

some of you have been following me for over a year or more now, so you'll probably recall the struggles I've had with my mental health, especially last year. I'd suspected that I had some mental disorder for a while now, but it was only last year that I really began to pursue the idea of getting diagnosed and treated. it of course began in therapy, then moved to having discussions with my parents about it. everyone was very supportive of me, thankfully... except for one person. myself. despite all of the work I'd done to move forward in my life, this was the hurtle I was struggling with the most. the fear of the unknown has always terrified me the most, so this unfamiliar territory was like a nightmare-scape to me.

then "The Crossing" happened.

fandom had headcanoned Tech being autistic for a while previous to this episode, myself included. some even liked to think all of them were neurodivergent in some way, again myself included. so when this episode dropped and we basically got the confirmation that our headcanon was correct? that. that was the push I needed. seeing this character that I love SO much in a show that I love SO much not only confirming his neurodiversity, but embracing it??? I literally told my mom that weekend that I was finally ready to get tested. and the rest is history. I'm now officially a part of the ND gang, and I've never regretted it for one second \o/

not only that... but I'm on meds now. meds that have altered my brain in such a way that I've NEVER felt before. my anxiety and depression no longer have a hold on me, and it's all thanks to this show 💙💙💙

and leading into that, the last thing I wanna mention is the connections I've made through this show. my entire family is (mostly) SW fans, so I've always had them to fangirl and discuss SW shows with. but I've missed having friends outside of the family to connect with. it's been YEARS since I've been involved in a fandom that had such a lovely group of people. and I know what some of you might say. and you're right. of course there's toxicity, just like any other fandom. but I can honestly say, I haven't met such a welcoming and friendly group of individuals as I have with this fandom. I've made some real, true, long-lasting friendships because of this show, and I'll be forever grateful for that. do the meds help? absolutely. but remember, I never would've even been on meds rn if not for this show either!!

and on that note, I just wanna call out some of the lovely people I've met, some whom I've only gotten to know recently! 🥰

@photogirl894 my beloved Morgan, my little sis, the Omega to my Hunter. you've been nothing but a joy and a blessing to me since the day I met you. I truly believe the Lord led you to me so that I could properly start this journey towards recovery and growth. I love you SO much, sweetie, thank you for being you 💙💙💙

@heyclickadee my dear friend, the conductor of the Tech Lives train. I've so appreciated your insight and wisdom in regard to all of the insanity. you genuinely helped get me through my depression after Plan 99, and you've continued to uplift me with your positivity and hopefulness. may we finally get to see our nerd alive and well again in your honor 🙏🏻

@clonethirstingisreal sweet Carol!! fellow Hunter simp!! getting to know you has been nothing short of amazing and wonderful! I can't tell you how refreshing it is to see an older fan amongst the young'ins LOL. we've been able to relate to each other in SO many ways, it still astounds me. I look forward to seeing your journey progress in hopefully similar ways to mine! 🥰

@lightwise @freesia-writes @better-to-bee @probadbatch (spacing this out so y'all get tagged properly)

@jedi-hawkins @anxiouspineapple99 @arctrooper69 @sunshinesdaydream and everyone else I've gotten to know both here and on Discord, THANK YOU!!!! thank you for letting me into your lives and for all the joy and laughs we've had together. I consider you ALL my friends, and I'm blessed to have met you all 💙💙💙💙💙

and finally, because I know she'll berate me if I don't mention her too, my best friend and irl sister @jam-n-ham. gurl, we have been through it, haven't we? you've been the sole witness to my reactions every week, and for that, I apologize LOL. but we have fun, at least, right? 😆 we've spent HOURS talking about this show, and I'm sure we'll have many more hours to come. you've also supported me and my writing, which I'm eternally grateful for (even if you can barely stomach the Hunter romance scenes ROFL). I can't wait to add in your additions to the story, and for you to see what I've been cooking up 😁 thanks for always being my no.1 bestie 🥰🥰🥰

I don't feel like rereading this before posting, so if there's any typos or whatever, oh well. the fact that I even got all of this out tonight is a miracle honestly haha. now if you'll excuse me, I have to start compiling every single box of tissues we own before tomorrow 😝

oh, and one last thing. an addendum if you will. I haven't been posting much of my thoughts about the finale for many reasons, but I'll just say this. ever since "The Return", I've been rotating Hunter's last words to Crosshair in my head, on repeat.

enough said✨

[yourlocalartsonist]

ROTTMNT Moths Fly In Packs - Chapter Nine

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

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

Previous Chapter | Next Chapter | Chapter One

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

You: hey sorry I jsut finished getting ready

You: heading out the door now! :3 

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

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

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

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

“I almost thought you wouldn’t come.”

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

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

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

Wait a sec…

“What happened to your arm?”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

And fuck, he made it weird again.

“Z-Zane?”

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

“…So! What are we doing tonight?” 

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

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

“I don’t know.”

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

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

“W-Well, I mean—“

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

I really gotta work on my timing for these things.

“S-Sorry! You go first.”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“Reassurance, obviously.”

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

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

A crush?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“Salena, don’t make me ask twice.”

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

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

“Of fucking course you are.”

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

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

You’re gonna bleed if you keep doing that…

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

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

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

“I'm sorry… P-please stop…”

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

“I-I didn’t mean to, I promise—”

“THAT DOESN’T MATTER, IDIOT!”

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

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

I just want to disappear…

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

…

What?

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

What.

“…You better be lying, Zane.”

“I’m not. And you deserve this.”

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

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

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

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

“Who are you!? Where is my Salena?” 

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

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

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

“I need to go.”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“YES!!!”

I turned my heel and faced him.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“…Fine.”

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

My own legs went faster till the wind consumed me. 

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

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

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

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

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

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

I can’t talk to Jaiden. 

I obviously can’t talk to Zane.

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

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

It took three rings before the line went through.

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

Oh fucking lovely.

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

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

“Uh, what… Whatcha up to?”

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

“Yep, definitely the usual for you.” 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

You would?

“What? Nardo, what are you—“

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

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

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

“I mean, uh—” 

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

“Raph agrees! Salena can handle herself.” 

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

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

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

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

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

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

“But—Sigh, forget it! Salena, I—“

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

“Ha! Almost made a pun!”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“Hey guys! Hope I didn’t take—“

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Click!

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

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

“Woaaah, what is this thing?”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

…I shouldn’t think about him right now.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“Raph? Your call, buddy.”

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

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

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

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

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

“Affirmative!” 

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

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

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

So why won’t that damn feeling go away?

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

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

“I take it you liked them, then.” 

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

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

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

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

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

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

“…”

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

Ohhhh. “So they lied.”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

…But I’m glad as hell I didn’t.

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

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

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

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

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

It’s looping around the room.

It’s getting louder.

”W-what the hell?”

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

It saw me again and the chase resumed. 

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

I jumped when I heard Donnie from the comms. Wait, he installed comms on my arm wraps? 

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

”You can hear that!?”

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

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

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

“FIBONACCI!” 

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

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

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

“We gotta get outta here right now!”

“What? Why? I already—”

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

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

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

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

”Leo! There’s—”

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

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

Wait—Oh god, not again!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

”THAT’S A DIFFERENT STENCH!”

”AHH!” 

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

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

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

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

“You deserve this.”

Was he right?

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

Is this really my karma?

…Wait a sec.

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

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

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

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

“Got it!”

“I’ll cover!”

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

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

“…Hey!” 

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

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

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

“Not dead, yeah.” 

“Guess that’s a start.”

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

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

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

“Yeah, I was thinking—“ 

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

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

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

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

“…I-I’ll still live.”

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

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

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

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

“That’s Purple Dragons, Raphala.”

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

He’s not wrong.

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

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

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

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

“You thinkin’ what thinkin’ big bro?”

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

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

“POWER PUNCH JUTSU!!!”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

His eyes…

His godforsaken eyes…

“Salena?”

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

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

“Yeah, it’s nothing.”

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

“Oh, no, no, I’m—“

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

CRASH!!!

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

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

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

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

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

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

“Hello, Von Ryan. How’s life?”

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

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

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

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

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

NO FUCKING WAY!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“...What the hell is going on?”

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

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

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

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

“Wait a sec, where’s Jeremy?” 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Hm?

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

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

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

“Jeremy, status report!”

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

“Nice work! Quick! Toss ‘em over!”

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

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

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

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

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

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

So, I kicked her in the face.

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

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

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

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

“Salena!?” 

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

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

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

“You what!?”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Beep! Beep!

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

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

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

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

“Want me to try clearing something out?”

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

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

The ribbon…

…Bingo.

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

“Wait, what are you—”

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

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

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

Now or never!

“HOT SOUP!!!” 

And out the window I went.

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

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

Transforming it to chains!?

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

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

I did it.

I actually fucking did it!

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

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

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

“Definitely.” 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Everything seemed normal.

Except for one tiny issue.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“Sure!” 

I could use some music after tonight.

Next Chapter

This chapter was nearly 15K words btw-

[dutchforstrangers]

I like you in a skirt - Taiora drabble

For @taioraweek 2023 Day 2

[1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8]

A/N: Here’s a drabble of a concept that has been sitting in my WIPs for what feels like ages. I’m exaggerating obviously, but it’s an idea that has stuck and now’s finally the time to give it a stage. Non-established Taiora, taking place in my "About all the times" universe [x][x].

Loosely ‘based’ on this fanart of Sora holding her school uniform skirt (and looking absolutely disgusted by it).

Summary: Middle school is approaching which means: school uniforms for both Taichi and Sora. Taichi has a hard time imagining Sora -the tomboy- in a skirt, but when he actually sees her...

Day 2: School days | Characters: Taichi Yagami (POV), Sora Takenouchi, Koushiro Izumi | Genre: Friendship | Rating: K | Wordcount: 732

“A skirt…”

“Don’t tell me you aren’t aware of the fact that girls do indeed have to wear skirts in middle and high school, Taichi-san.”

“Yeah, I’m aware. It’s just… I don’t think I can imagine her in a skirt.”

Taichi stared at the closed curtains of the fitting room their female friend was currently in. He had to admit that to some extent, he had liked the idea of seeing girls wearing skirts on a daily base soon. But after seeing the horror in her eyes, holding up the to her hideous thing, he was a tad more careful with what he liked.

He repeated her words in his mind like a broken record playing.

“I do not want to wear a skirt.”

The image of her holding up the thing between only her thumbs and index fingers, the other six fingers keeping a distance to the fabric as if it was the filthiest thing she had ever seen and held, remained stuck with those repeating words.

Sorry was what he felt for her. In fact, Taichi was so sorry he had been trying to come up with what he thought were solutions. To make her laugh, like he always tried. He should’ve known though he would never succeed, like he had not done yet.

“Maybe you can ask to wear trousers instead?”

“And being the only girl wearing trousers? No.”

“Or you could wear the trousers over the skirt.”

“That still makes me the only girl wearing trousers. It’s also one of the stupidest things I’ve ever heard. So no.”

“Okay, theeeeen… the only option left is burning it and go to school in your underpants!”

“Ugh, I can’t with you!”

He would only make her more mad and annoyed with him.

Koushiro had looked at him like he had seen him looking at him a thousand times, scolding him for being stupid with only his eyes, shaking head and sighs.

In a way, however, Taichi had succeeded. Simply because giving her those rather crazy options made her step into the fitting room and close the curtains shut behind her. And she had not entered it solely to be rid of him, but probably to try the skirt on anyway.

She was stubborn like that and when it came to Taichi, she needed to prove her right of the skirt being awful. Little did she know he was never going to give her that right, even when he had a hard time imagining her wearing one.

She had been in his soccer team for as long as he could remember, always playing alongside the boys. Besides, she wasn’t just playing games as she was one of the few players who could actually score a goal. People would always describe her as the tomboy, the girl who was wearing the pants in every sense and meaning. But she wasn’t as tough as she looked most of the time, under that hard exterior hidden a gentle and caring young woman.

Taichi recalled the times in the Digital World where she had a hard time accepting her Crest. In the end, there was nothing to accept, all she needed was the strength to look at herself in the mirror and see the girl she already but unknowingly was. 

The skirt contained the same symbolism. It was the one thing she needed to finally see what feminine potential she was hiding inside.

And underneath those jeans she was always wearing.

He watched the curtain slowly open, revealing his friend dressed in the green colored school uniform. His eyes boldly scanned her from top to bottom, stopping at her skirt for a bit longer, his eyes unable to deny the long legs it was exposing.

A blush started to form on his cheeks.

“What do you guys think?” She asked sounding a bit insecure, her comfortable level low, but not as low and annoyed as it was before.

“I think it suits you better than how you pictured it, Sora-san,” Koushiro answered politely with a warm smile. It made Sora smile back shyly.

“I—erm…” Taichi started, trying to find the right words to say. Pity he could only come up with more stupid-sounding ones.

“I like you in a skirt.”

“Baka,” Sora said, unable to hide the red shade quickly appearing, fumbling with the skirt she was wearing like your typical shy school girl.

[hotcheetohatredwastaken]

currently how long are bdor and its prequel when combined wordcount wise

you brought up 200k and i am both terrified and intrigued. like thats impressive. i am in awe. i can barely put a sentence together much less that many

Okay let me give you a lay of the land. And before we begin, I just have to say that I am so, so sorry. I gave you such a wrong number.

BDOR Arc 1, as of its official word count right now, is 152,892 words. It’s completely written and ready to be published save chapters 15, 18, 20, 24 (12,000 word chapter that has to go 😱) ch 27-29, and then it’s pretty much smooth sailing (with a few minor edits in there and a few scenes to add) until ch 75-76, which need some tweaking, and then the final ch 78 needs a bit of an adjustment as well, and I may delete it completely. All of these chapters specifically mentioned above are in various stages of editing, but generally the story at this point is solid. The final chapter count will probably be 80-82, because there are a few beats that need to be hit that haven’t been, some characters to flesh out more, and lovely beta reader @needfantasticstories revealed some logic errors that I need to spin up some bullcrap to cover💀. I have 9,000 words of notes for things to change in pages, and about that amount of changes in google docs as well. So I’m estimating 160,000 words for the final product there, if not more.

Arc 2 is where it gets SO dicey. My word count in my final doc right now is 44,424. I have another 6,000 ish words of notes in pages to change/tweak scenes/general scene layouts. I have another 15,884 words that have been digitized but haven’t made it into the final document because they need editing. Add onto that about 30?? Pages handwritten that haven’t even made it that far. I usually get about 600-750 words per page, so let’s tally that up to a generous 45,000 since I write front and back. There is leeway of about 20,000 words in there too, because there’s a big chunk of time (heh) I am considering only hinting at happening, but I have written out in their near entirety.

The thing is, I’ve probably written about half of arc 2 with all of that.

So assuming I keep that 20,000 chunk, and assuming I double my word count as I think I will, the final tally here is nearly 110,000 already, which will probably grow to an estimated 200,000 if not more. I am working on cutting this down XD, so stay tuned. The main plot is generally solid, but there’s a LOT of little subplots I need to wrap up lol.

Prologue: this is a little side thing I meant to just be cute little scenes from Twi and Wild’s past and it got away from me. An official 28,424 words of this are written. I’d say I have another 15 handwritten pages (front and back counted, i should clarify) in various stages of editing, so let’s say a generous 11,250. The thing is, I have a LOT of ideas, and once I finalize arc 1 and arc 2, I’m going to have a lot of free time to dig into this while the other story comes out (I probably need to start updating multiple times a week if I want to get this story out before I turn 90 XD). So this number will most definitely grow, but for now it is an estimated 39,674.

Final estimated word count (if I did the math right and also didn’t underestimate my ability to purple prose), everypony?

396,174 words!!

Oh Lord I don’t think I’d realized before I tallied everything up that it was actually this long. I think this project has run away from me. I just wanted to play with my blorbos not write the next Ancient Greek Epic. What the heck. I need to go lie down.

Also just took 3,500 from the final count because I realized I had double counted a chapter sorry ignore that.

But yeah I am hoping to cut down arc 2, so maybe 350,000? That’s being optimistic in my ability to not be longwinded though.

[queeniegalore]

Our Dear Friend Jonathan - an Academic Analysis of Dracula Daily

I’ve had a little interest, so I'm posting the short project I did on DD for my Digital Humanities class at uni way back in June! A few caveats - this is technically an 'analysis of a digital artifact' and not an essay, so it's not hugely in depth, plus I was only given 1000 words (which i exceeded by quite a bit, whoops) so I didn't get to included nearly as much as I wanted to. Also tumblr only let me include 10 images, so I've cut out a few of the memes I'd used (it also erased my links but I have them all saved so I'll add them in list form if anyone wants me too). Finally, I've contacted all the artists included and obtained permission to post their (credited!) work! Enjoy!

Our Dear Friend Jonathan

Substack, Tumblr, and the Digital Intimacy of the World’s Biggest Book Club

By Rebecca F

Dracula Daily, created in 2021 by Matt Kirkland, is an astonishingly simple concept on the surface. Utilising the email subscription service Substack, Kirkland divides Bram Stoker’s 1847 epistolary novel into emails that are sent on the real-world date that corresponds with the in-fiction date of the events. Protagonist Jonathan Harker starts a travel diary detailing his trip to Transylvania on the 3rd of May, and the rest of the novel continues in journal entries, letters, newspaper clippings, and even a diary kept on phonograph, all dated, up until the final entry in November. Some entries are pages long, some only a few paragraphs, many days (almost two weeks in June) don’t have an entry at all. Every entry, however short, is emailed on the correct date, and unless the reader wants to go out and buy a copy of the book to ‘cheat’ and read ahead, that’s all they get. Interestingly, the book itself doesn’t present all of these entries chronologically – dates tend to skip back and forth. Reading via subscription, then, changes the fundamental experience of reading Dracula in more ways than one. In 2021 the mailing list slowly spread by word of mouth, and Kirkland ended up with 1600 subscribers. In 2022, after the idea went viral on popular internet social media sites Twitter and Tumblr, Dracula Daily has 200,000 subscribers – and climbing (Martinelli).

1. Image Header for the Dracula Daily subscription

How does reading Dracula via email change the experience of reading Dracula? For this analysis I’ll be dividing this question into two parts – firstly, the actual physical, practical and individual act of reading the novel via email and the way that effects the intended experience, and secondly, the wider, communal ‘book club’ aspect, which is the real reason Dracula Daily has gone so viral and become such an important moment in what I have coined digital intimacy.

2. Dr Seward by Tumblr user @crepuscol

Playing With Time

Dracula by Bram Stoker is a famously claustrophobic novel. The opening chapters with Jonathan Harker travelling to Count Dracula’s castle only to be held captive there lean on the sense of being trapped and confined with a monster – but these chapters are over in fifty or so pages, freeing the reader quite quickly and bringing a sense of relief before the slower build up to the main climax. Reading the book chronologically, however, changes all that. Having to wait for daily updates really intensifies the sense of time – we can feel how long Jonathan is trapped with the Count, and we can slowly see his mental state deteriorate. Occasionally, unlike in the novel as published, we escape the castle entirely, leaving him there alone, to read letters from his fiancée Mina, her friend Lucy Westenra and Lucy’s three suitors. These are amusing and engaging asides that nonetheless leave us screaming for the focus to return to our trapped protagonist. This builds a sense of intimacy, we’re now directly invested in Jonathan and every entry from him feels like a letter written personally to us. As Tumblr user @atundratoadstool puts it, “We all will–in fact–be skipping ahead some chapters in a few days to meet another narrator only to skip immediately back to catch up with our collective friend Jonathan Harker… You can’t have your dread or anticipation undercut by future events. Like all the characters you’re going to meet, you just have to wait for Dracula to act upon you,” (emphasis mine) (@atundratoadstool). Another user, @soup-is-here, describes it thus, “I think at this point the dread of Jonathan's isolation is so much worse than the idea of him actually being bitten, especially in this email format. It really demonstrates just how long the Count kept him there in a way sitting and reading the book wouldn't,” (@soup-is-here). So, we realise that the act of digitising this novel changes the nature of the novel.

In their essay “Universal Design and its Discontents,” Richard H Godden and Jonathan Hsy discuss the pervasive nostalgia that sometime overtakes discussions about digital culture, quoting Adam Kirsch who asks, “Is it actually true that reading online is an adequate substitute for reading on paper? If not, perhaps we should not be concentrating on digitizing our books but on preserving and circulating them more effectively,” (Godden and Hsy). One can’t help but wonder what traditionalists like this must think of a project like Dracula Daily, which seems to embody everything they despise about the digital humanities – and one could also feel a level of frustration that they would miss or dismiss the excitement that these readers are experience in discovering a new way of reading and meaningfully engaging with an old text.  

3. Dracula going out in his lizard fashion by Tumblr user @horseboneologist

4. Jonathan Harker and Count Dracula by Tumblr user @nehezt

Digital Intimacy

Dracula Daily, as a movement rather than the literal subscription, really came to life on Tumblr. A quick browse through the Dracula Daily tag will show up thousands of posts, a combination of art, memes, discussion and – perhaps surprisingly – serious and thoughtful analysis, all with anywhere from dozens to thousands of interactions. At one point, Dracula Daily trended on Tumblr above popular Marvel Cinematic Universe release, the Eurovision song contest and hotly anticipated Dr Who casting news (Kuppermann).

Marketed as a youth pop culture microblogging site and having somewhat of a reputation for frivolity, one could be excused for being baffled that a 125-year-old piece of classical literature has gathered such a huge and devoted following. But it seems that the digital intimacy the subscription forges between the readers of Dracula and its characters also translates to the readers of Dracula and each other. In short, the act of reading the novel all together, one tantalising piece at a time, has created an exclusive 200,000-member strong book club, and in order to be part of it – to enjoy the in-jokes, to get the memes, to contribute to the meta – one has to keep up with the story.

Every day when the email arrives – the same time for everyone across the world – the Dracula Daily tag becomes flooded with people sharing their thoughts on the latest entry, replying to and reposting each other’s posts, adding to the discussion, arguing, analysing, and joking. This demonstrates a remarkable collective level of reading comprehension and critical thinking skills, as readers mine every sentence of the daily entry for material. There are blogs now to keep track of the different posts, one, who responded to my request for help in putting this project, has entries archived meticulously with tags like “memes,” “reference,” “serialisation,” and “analysis” (@draculadailytracker). And while the Tumblr denizens do tend to run with jokes like Jonathan Harker’s preoccupation with paprika, there is a surprising amount of intelligent literary discourse. An example of this is that when Jonathan writes an entry about the "g*psies" who show up at the castle, a number of posts sprang up acknowledging and discussing the racism, Orientalism, imperialism and anti-Romani sentiments that are embedded through the novel. There have also been mature discussions about the sexual politics of the book, as well as the homoeroticism and queer themes. The literary establishment has tended throughout the years to be overwhelmingly white and male, this is an excellent demonstration of the ways the digital humanities can work towards democratising and opening up these discussions.

 In her essay “Whither the DH?” Lee Skallerup Bessette talks about the way Digital Humanities – in an academic sense – can help foster communities amongst disparate groups of people, she even likens it to the practice of letter writing between artists and intellectuals in years past (Bessette). This Tumblr phenomenon is an unusual demonstration of this, and all the more fascinating because it is entirely organic and without an official organising body. The only thing that holds Dracula Daily together is the daily email. There isn’t a real club, there aren’t prompts, there’s no incentive to join in. The material itself isn’t even new – it is merely presented in a new way. “When asked, Kirkland can only guess why people have been fascinated by the project,” writes Jacob Kupperman. “He proposes that the “gap between ‘vampire cliche’ and ‘actual Dracula’” driven by Dracula’s long cultural legacy may play a role, as well as the communal nature of reading the text via newsletter,” (Kuppermann). Or as a tumblr reader says, “not only is it free and making the novel available to just anyone who has an email, which is by far the most integral and necessary aspect of subscribing or interacting with anything these days in a formal way, but it's introducing this story in an ingenious, new format that gets the readers to interact with it not as a novel but as if, our dear Jonathan Harker, is emailing us personally,” (xmichaelmyers).

Ultimately, it remains to be seen whether Dracula Daily will survive the June posting drought, or make it to the end of its run with anywhere near the same amount of hype and engagement it received in its first month. But this phenomenon is a remarkable achievement in dh – it’s organic, it’s grass roots, and an excellent example of how literature can be reimagined through technology. As we collectively await updates from our dear friend Jonathan, we’re doing it together, intimately engaged, in the world’s biggest and most active book club.

Works Cited

atundratoadstool. Where Wild Flowers Grow of Their Own Accord. 7 May 2022. 10 June 2022. <https://www.tumblr.com/blog/view/atundratoadstool/683528925666770944?source=share>.

Bessette, Lee Skallerup. "W(h)ither DH? New Tensions, Directions and Evolutions in Digital Humnities." Kim, Dorothy and Jesse Stommel. Disrupting the Digital Humanities. Brooklyn: Punctum, 2018. 419-454.

draculadailytracker. Tumblr Book Club. 10 June 2022. 10 June 2022. <https://draculadailytracker.tumblr.com/>.

Godden, Richard H and Jonathan Hsy. "Universal Design and Its Discontents." Kim, Dorothy and Jesse Stommel. Disrupting the Digital Humanities. Brooklyn: Punctum Books, 2018. 91-116.

Kuppermann, Jacob. "Dracula in Real Time." Long Now 19 May 2022. <https://longnow.org/ideas/02022/05/19/dracula-in-real-time/>.

Martinelli, Marissa. "Why Hundreds of Thousands of People Are Reading Dracula Together Right Now." Slate 17 May 2022. Website. <https://slate.com/culture/2022/05/dracula-daily-bram-stoker-book-newsletter-jonathan-harker.html>.

soup-is-here. Absolute Unit. 31 May 2022. 10 June 2022. <https://www.tumblr.com/blog/view/atundratoadstool/683528925666770944?source=share>.

xmichaelmyers. The Wolf's Den. 05 May 2022. 10 June 2022. <https://www.tumblr.com/blog/view/xmichaelmyers/683421341500751872?source=share>.

5. The Three Suitors by Tumblr user @marghen

[edith-hyde]

Norman Osborn X Female Reader

I Forgot My Umbrella - Part 35

Word Count: 1806

Summary: Norman comes into work after a terrible night of nightmares. You do your best to distract him from his worries.

Warnings: Age gap. PG/PG-13.

A/N: Short episode this time, but no less cheesy. Enjoy.

Tagging: @druigswh0ree @digital-demise @maskmare931 @b1ueoff1ine @imwithyoutiltheendofthelinebucky @wtfhasmy-lifecometo

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——

Norman arrived home after his evening spent with you and he immediately went to the liquor cabinet. While he was with you, it was easy to forget Mayfair’s actions. But now that he was alone… Norman felt the burn of his rage. It exhausted him and he felt the ache in his bones, crying for rest. 

And naturally, the Goblin saw this as a prime opportunity to strike.

‘He has to pay for what he’s done.’

“He will,” Norman promised. 

‘He has to be made an example of,’ the Goblin snarled. 

“I know,” Norman agreed, “I’ll think of something…”

‘I’ve got something in mind for him.’

“No.” Norman said firmly as he downed a drink, “No killing.”

‘Coward,’ the Goblin grouched, ‘It’s no less than he deserves.’

“I know,” Norman sighed as he shuffled up to his room. 

‘Then let me loose,’ the Goblin begged, ‘I'll take care of everything.’

“No,” Norman groaned as he dressed for bed, “I won’t let you kill someone. Not again.”

‘We wouldn’t have to kill him,’ the Goblin mused, ‘We’d just have to scare him… put the fear of God in him. Make him realize his mistake for touching our woman.’

Norman rolled his eyes as he crawled under the covers. He hated the idea of the Goblin claiming you. But at least he didn’t want to kill you anymore so that was an improvement. 

“I won’t let you out,” Norman said sternly, “Even if Mayfair deserves it.”

‘He’s a worthless waste of space who will only hurt Y/N again. You don’t want that to happen, do you?! And what if he shows someone the evidence he has?’

“What can he do?” Norman yawned, “I am the CEO and we haven’t replaced the board of directors yet.”

‘HR might not be able to hurt you, but they could fire HER.’

Norman gritted his teeth.

“I wouldn’t let them do that. I have the final say.”

‘And what about the rumors, Norman? HER reputation would be ruined. Everything you’ve feared will happen. She’ll be known as the company whore.’

Norman felt his heart drop. The Goblin was right. Your reputation was on the line. And if Mayfair knew about the two of you, there was a chance that others did as well. Security likely saw the footage. 

Who's to say they didn’t pass it around and make you the laughing stock of the company? 

How could he have been so careless?!

 ‘I can make it all go away, Norman. I can give you everything you want. Just think of how happy Y/N would be if she knew you defended her honor and kept her reputation safe. She wants Mayfair to suffer just as much as we do.’

Norman closed his eyes, relaxing into his bed. He started to drift off into sleep, barely able to form a thought. 

He was so tired. 

He just wanted peace. 

“I’ll… think about it…”

As he drifted off, Norman tried his best to keep his thoughts on you. But it wasn’t long before his mind was filled with horrible images. Nightmares plagued him. Nightmares so real that he would swear they were memories. Some of them featured scenes from the other universe. But as the night wore on, Norman saw Mayfair.  

He saw Mayfair’s tortured and bloody face. He could hear his cries for mercy. His promises to do whatever Norman wanted. The feeling of his blood was so real on Norman’s hands. 

He could even smell it…

Norman awoke with a start. He immediately looked down at his hands and felt a flood of relief when he saw that they were clean. But then he noticed his sleeves. 

Were these the pajamas he was wearing last night? He thought he had been wearing a blue set, but these were black. 

In a daze, Norman went through his morning routine. He couldn’t even remember the drive to work. The nightmares repeated over and over in his mind, chilling him to the bone. Absently, he sat on the edge of your desk, waiting for you to arrive. However, he was so lost in his thoughts, he didn’t even hear the elevator ding. 

He wasn’t aware that you were there until you appeared in front of him. 

“Norman?”

——

Your boss looked up at you and you could tell- something was very wrong. His blue eyes were haunted and his clothes were a mess. His tie was crooked and, when you looked closer, you saw that his buttons were all off by two. 

“Is everything okay?” You questioned, “Norman?”

His eyes finally snapped to your face. He didn’t even bother to try and smile as he spoke.

“Yes. I’m fine. Just tired.”

Norman rose to his feet. He teetered slightly and you immediately went to steady him. He shuddered at your touch and pulled away as if you had shocked him. You went to grab his hand and he tried to avoid the action.

But you wouldn’t let him. 

With determination, you pulled him into his office and shut the door. 

“Take off your jacket.”

Your command seems to snap Norman out of his haze. 

“What?” He asked with a cocked eyebrow. 

You grabbed his lapels and went to pull his jacket off as you spoke. 

“Your tie is a mess and your buttons are done all wrong.”

“Are they?” Norman questioned. 

With a surprised expression, Norman looked down at himself. He let you pull his jacket off and scoffed as he saw the state of his clothes. 

“I’m sorry… I’m…”

Norman clearly lacked the words to explain himself and you didn’t want to push it. You hung his jacket on a nearby hook and smiled. 

“It’s fine, Norman. We all have those days.”

You undid his tie, hung it over your shoulder, and started unbuttoning his shirt. Suddenly Norman’s hands came to grab yours. With a quick glance to his face, you saw that his ears were a bright pink. 

“I can do that myself, you know.” He purred. 

You felt a bit of heat rise to your skin as you shrugged. 

“Yeah… I know…”

As you searched Norman’s face, you were happy to see that the haunted look he was wearing was starting to fade. But there was still a heaviness there.

You decided right then that he needed a distraction from whatever was on his mind. 

And there was no better way to distract Norman Osborn than with physical contact.

With a coy grin, you stood on tiptoes and kissed the base of his jaw just as you undid another button. Norman’s hands slowly released yours. You unfastened another button, snuggling into the crook of his neck as you did so.

“You’re trying to distract me, aren’t you?” Norman asked quietly.

“Maybe… is it working?”

You undid the last button and set your hands upon his chest. There was a tank top between your hand and his skin, but it still sent a fire through you. You kissed his jaw again and Norman sighed. His hands moved to rest on your arms.

“You’re tempting me is what you’re doing.”

You pulled away, your face burning. You could hardly meet his gaze as you bit your lip.

“Sorry… You just seemed so down… I wanted…”

Norman smiled and moved to tuck his knuckle under your chin, forcing you to meet his intense ocean eyes.

“Thank you.”

Your boyfriend looked you up and down before grinning.

“May I kiss you?” He asked.

“Of course,” you laughed. 

Norman brought his lips to yours, giving you a soft kiss. You closed your eyes and stepped closer, placing your hands back upon his chest. You were totally engrossed in the moment and would’ve happily stayed that way. But the phone rang, causing you to jump. 

Norman let out a groan, just before pulling away. With a scowl, he grabbed the phone. You remained held in his right arm, a hand still resting on his neck as you watched him. 

“Yes?” 

Norman’s tone was sharp but he suddenly shifted moods. His eyebrows went up as he listened to the voice on the other end. 

“Sorry Peter. I didn’t mean to snap. What did you need?” 

Norman listened for a bit as a smile grew on his face. 

“I’m so glad to hear it. I actually have the perfect project for you to work on. Whenever you’re able, just swing by the office. I can give you everything you’ll need.”

Norman listened for a bit, his smile growing even larger. He gave a happy nod as he spoke. 

“It’s not a problem…. No thank you…. Goodbye.”

Norman hung up the phone and happily gave you a quick kiss.

“Parker decided to take the job!” He said with joy. 

“That’s good,” you affirmed, “I’m so glad he accepted.”

“This is the answer to my problem,” Norman said with great relief, “If anyone can figure out that Formula, Parker can. The boy is a justifiable genius.”

“That’s very high praise,” you pointed out. 

“He deserves it.”

All of Norman’s troubles seemed to be entirely gone. Even though you had no idea why Norman had started out the morning so morouse- you were happy to see him joyful now. You wouldn’t dare ask why he had been so down. You didn’t want to remind him. 

“I look forward to working with him,” you said honestly. 

Turning your attention to Norman’s shirt, you began fastening the buttons. Norman smirked at you just before leaning down and kissing your cheek. He then began kissing along your jaw and down to your neck. You assumed this was payback for your attempt to distract him.

“Norman, I’m trying to make you look presentable,” you chastised. 

Norman pressed his nose against your ear as he whispered. 

“And you’re doing a wonderful job, my dear. I’m just showing my appreciation.”

You giggled, finishing up the last button. While Norman still had his head down, you threaded his tie under his collar and tied it in a proper knot. 

“There. All done.”

Norman pressed one last kiss to your cheek before pulling back to tuck in his shirt. 

“Thank you, my dear. I’d be lost without you.”

“You most certainly would be,” you smirked. 

Norman gave you a loving smile as he brought his hand up to caress the side of your face with his thumb. You leaned into his touch with a happy hum. 

“Thank you,” Norman whispered, “I came into work today a worried mess and you… you’ve restored my hope.”

“Hope for what?” you questioned.

“Hope that I can have it all.”

Norman gave you a toothy grin and you smiled as well. You would’ve loved to have kissed him again, but the phone began ringing once more.

“I believe the work day has officially begun,” Norman laughed, “Till lunch, my dear.”

“I’ll see you then.”

[maiji]

[images: First three pages of a comic drawn in a digital ink-brush style with greyscaleshading.]

fight / flight: Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 Alt text, full transcript and commentary continue below the cut.

A YYH North Bound story. This takes place after I Heard A Cicada Cry and Survive.

Content warning: Violence, people fighting with swords. Blood and injuries in future parts.

[images: Remaining five pages of comic.]

[page 1] *Text reads: "fight / flight - a North Bound story by Maiji." Opening panel depicts a moonlit site in a forest. Hokushin is grooming a horse. He detects a new presence. The horse grows nervous.* Hokushin: (It’s not one of the new recruits.) ?: Don’t waste time pretending. I know what you are.

[page 2] *Otake, as he appears at the end of I Heard A Cicada Cry, leans against a tree, arms folded.* Otake: You’ve killed many humans. Devoured many more. *Hokushin turns his head, but says nothing. The horse nervously skitters off.* Otake: Not going to defend yourself? ‘“I did only as my master bid! I must eat humans to survive!”

[page 3] Hokushin: You’re not human either. Why do you care? Otake: Very perceptive. What gave me away? Hokushin: Nothing. Thank you for confirming. *Otake twitches*

[page 4] Otake: Unlike you, I serve a greater power. A power commanding life and death itself, that watches over this sinful, lost human world. A power a pitiful demon like yourself has the rare opportunity to serve, *he holds something up to show Hokushin, causing Hokushin's eyes to widen in shock* if you answer my questions about this Mirror. Hokushin: How did you convince the monks to unseal the Mirror? Otake: Convince? So many are casualties of war these days. Hokushin: …What do you want to know? Otake: Certain conditions must be fulfilled in order to access its powers. I must know what they are so that I can inform my master.

[page 5] Hokushin: And if I tell you, you’ll spare my life or something like that? Otake: It will be considered. Hokushin: Fair enough. I will tell you all I know. *The two of them stare at each other in silence* Otake: I am waiting. Hokushin: *smiling and shrugging* Alas, I have no idea what the conditions are. Why don’t you ask the Mirror yourself? *Multiple veins pulse on Otake’s forehead*

[page 6] Otake: *draws his sword as he speaks; Hokushin’s face reflected in the blade* No matter. The power I serve sees no future for vermin that terrify and corrupt the vulnerable creatures of this realm. Your head will be good enough to show my master.

[page 7] Otake: *raises his sword over his head* I am Otake and I serve Enma Daioh!

[page 8] *The perspective flips to Hokushin also rapidly drawing his sword* Otake: Now stand your ground and fight for your life, demon!!

...

And now we shall enjoy a nice indeterminate break until I figure out how to choreograph the rest of this fight!! Action sequences will be the death of me. At least there’s no suspense in the end result, since we know they both must survive this encounter in order to be able to appear in Yu Yu Hakusho!!

Otake has finally caught up with Hokushin, after picking up the Mirror of Darkness from the temple that Hokushin left it in at the end of Mirror Most Dark. I estimate here they’re both around 100 years in age, and neither of them are anything close to the powerhouses they’ll be by the modern era.

I’ve been plotting fight / flight for a long time because I wanted an opportunity to draw a cool fight sequence for Hokushin. (He has one with Raizen in the first North Bound comic I ever drew, First Meeting, but it wasn't much of a fight. Also, it's been a few years; hopefully I have developed my skills somewhat, so now is the time to try again!) It turned into “well why don’t I have him fight Otake” after I managed to work Otake into the story, then I had to actually make proper narrative connections and give it consequences for the trajectory of North Bound. I kept intimidating myself while trying to work on it, periodically doing some script work and test drawings to try to psych myself up. You might recall the drawing tests I posted a while back here. I mentioned in that post that at one point I debated making this a visual novel (possibly interactive fiction) format, but also felt that was a copout to my shounen manga roots. The title is actually a tide-over from when I was considering that.

Aside from the actual still-to-come fight sequence, I struggled with resolving some pretty big considerations like, uh, where this encounter actually takes place?? And how to end it without one of them dying?? But in early October 2022 I went for a walk and then took a shower and an inkling transformed into a fleshed-out solution. Go walks and showers and subconsciousness magic!!! Then I continued to struggle on and off for months being too scared to deal with the action. Finally over the holidays I figured I might as well just flesh out the first part to light a fire under my own butt and inch along to the next part! This took about three days to thumbnail, sketch, draw and clean up on the computer, but there was a lot of time... months, years of behind-the-scenes work to make these three days possible...

I have some photos of the thumbnails and wip saves of the page sketches, so I’ll make a separate post with those. But one last thing I wanted to note is that I am really really proud of the speed lines on the last page with Hokushin! They’re far from perfect but I think they’re my best radiating speed lines to date! I manually eyeballed and drew them all individually because that’s all I know how to do, hahaha. The vertical/horizontal ones are easier since I know to hit Shift to force them to stay straight, lol.

Update: A post showing the thumbnails and page sketches for part 1 is available here! https://www.tumblr.com/maiji/705344009349005312/fight-flight-part-1-thumbnails-and-page

[kjack89]

Inked

For @themiserablesmonth Day 8: Ink.

Companion piece to Heart Tattoo. Established E/R, modern AU.

Read on AO3.

“So I’ve been thinking,” Enjolras started, a little nervously.

Grantaire didn’t look up from his phone. “Thought I smelled something burning.”

Enjolras scowled but carried doggedly onward. “You know how I’ve always wanted a tattoo?”

Now Grantaire did glance up, amusement plain on his face. “I know how you’ve wanted a tattoo ever since you and I started fucking,” he said.

“I’ve wanted one for longer than that,” Enjolras said stubbornly.

Grantaire smirked. “Sure you have.”

“Anyway,” Enjolras continued, and Grantaire’s smirk widened as he clearly sensed he’d won that round, “I’ve given it a lot of thought and—“ He took a deep breath before blurting in a single, rushed word, “WhatifIgotatattoothatmatchesyours?”

Grantaire blinked. “Beg pardon?”

“What if I got a tattoo that matches yours?” Enjolras repeated, with significantly more enunciation.

Even though Grantaire had numerous tattoos and arguably Enjolras could be referring to any of them, his hand went automatically to the heart-shaped tattoo on his wrist. “I don’t know,” he said reluctantly. “I mean, I appreciate the thought, I really do, but this is a part of my story.”

“And you’re a part of mine,” Enjolras said simply.

Grantaire reached out for Enjolras’s hand, lacing their fingers together. “And I appreciate that even more,” he said quietly. He took a long moment before suggesting, “What if you get a different tattoo but in the same spot? So that it’s not matching but, I don’t know, complementary.”

Enjolras nodded slowly. “That’s not a bad idea, actually.”

Grantaire leaned forward to press a kiss to the thin, almost translucent skin on Enjolras’s wrist, and Enjolras shivered as Grantaire looked up at him through his eyelashes. “Just don’t get anything stupid,” Grantaire said, and Enjolras snorted, tugging his wrist away.

“Thanks,” he said sourly. “I’ll do my best.”

— — — — —

Bahorel beamed at Enjolras. “I’m feeling strangely emotional.”

Enjolras rolled his eyes. “Shut up.”

“No, seriously,” Bahorel said. “Your first tattoo. And I’m the one who gets to do it.”

“That’s because you’re the only one of our friends besides Grantaire who knows how to tattoo someone,” Enjolras said with a sigh,

Bahorel ignored him. “I feel like Mushu from Mulan. My little baby’s all grown up and saving China.”

“It’s a tattoo,” Enjolras said impatiently. “Literal children get tattoos.” 

“Not legally, but sure,” Bahorel said cheerfully, before turning to the business at hand. “Anyway, you good with the design?”

Enjolras nodded. “Yep.”

Bahorel made one final adjustment on the digital artwork before printing it for tracing. “So where do you want it?”

“On my wrist, right here,” Enjolras said, indicating the spot where Grantaire’s tattoo was.

Bahorel raised an eyebrow. “Really?”

Enjolras scowled. “Why do you say it like that?” he asked defensively.

“Nothing, I just…” Bahorel shrugged. “That’s not where I’d recommend a first-timer get a tattoo.”

“Why not?” Enjolras asked, gripping his wrist with his other hand. “Does it hurt?”

“Pain with tattoos is relative,” Bahorel hedged. “What hurts for one person may not hurt at all for someone else.” He gave Enjolras a measured look. “That being said, anywhere where there’s lots of nerve endings and no fat tends to be more painful, yeah. Like your wrist.”

Enjolras squared his shoulders. “It’s fine, I can handle it.”

“Enjolras.”

Enjolras’s scowl returned. “I can handle it!” he insisted.

Bahorel gave him something of a pitying look. “Enjolras, you passed out at the ear piercing place at the mall.”

“So?”

“So you weren’t even the one getting your ear pierced!” Enjolras’s scowl deepened, but he couldn’t deny it, and so said nothing. Bahorel sighed and patted his knee. “Look, when it comes to facing down half the police force in full riot gear, you are as brave as can be. When it comes to an ouchie, you’re…”

“I’m what?” Enjolras asked, his eyes narrowing as he glared at Bahorel.

Luckily, Bahorel was not easily intimidated. “Kind of a wimp,” he said bluntly.

“That may be the meanest thing you’ve ever said to me.”

Bahorel snorted. “What can I say, the truth hurts.”

Enjolras shook his head, undeterred. “Still,” he said stubbornly. “I told Grantaire I wanted to get it here, so I’m going to.” He paused. “And besides, if it hurts too much, we can always stop, right?”

“That is true,” Bahorel said, nodding. “It might leave you with a stupid-looking tattoo, but we can stop at any time.”

Enjolras took a deep breath. “Then let’s do it.”

— — — — —

Grantaire hovered almost nervously at the door as Enjolras let himself into the apartment. “So how’d it go?” he asked, automatically looking at Enjolras’s wrist, hidden by the sleeve of his hoodie.

Enjolras winced. “Um, well, it went,” he said, a little weakly.

Grantaire’s eyes narrowed. “Let me see it.”

“Grantaire—”

But Grantaire had already caught Enjolras’s arm, tugging his hoodie sleeve up. “C’mon, show me—” He broke off, a frown furrowing his forehead as he stared at Enjolras’s unmarred wrist. “There’s nothing there.”

“That’s not entirely true,” Enjolras muttered. “There’s a tiny dot.”

He pointed helpfully at something that resembled a mole, and Grantaire stared blankly at him. “Didn’t this happen in a Friends episode?” he asked.

Enjolras shrugged. “Maybe.”

Grantaire let go of Enjolras’s wrist. “So you didn’t get a tattoo,” he said bracingly. “That’s fine. I promise I don’t love you any less because of it.” 

Enjolras scowled at him. “I didn’t say I didn’t get a tattoo.”

Grantaire gave him a look. “The dot does not count.”

“Not the dot,” Enjolras snapped, before sighing. “Look, Bahorel tried to warn me, and he was right. It hurt like a motherfucker.”

Now Grantaire looked torn between pity and amusement. “That tiny little dot hurt that much?”

Enjolras ignored him. “So I asked him where the least painful place to get a tattoo is.”

“Somewhere with padding and not a lot of nerve endings,” Grantaire said promptly.

Enjolras nodded. “Right.”

Grantaire frowned slightly. “So he told you to get it on your outer arm, right?” he asked, and Enjolras suddenly couldn’t quite meet his eyes. “Please tell me he told you to get it on the outside of your arm.”

Enjolras cleared his throat delicately. “Not quite.”

Grantaire closed his eyes for long enough that Enjolras was pretty sure he was counting to ten in his head. “Please tell me you did not get a tattoo on your ass.”

“In his defense, he was right, it really didn’t hurt that much,” Enjolras said helpfully.

“Enjolras—”

“And before you say anything,” Enjolras said, just a hunt of a threat in his voice, “I happen to love it.”

Grantaire groaned and ran a hand across his face. “Of course you do, you’re not the one who has to look at it! Whereas now I, every time I want to fuck you, will have to see—”

Enjolras glared at him. “If you want to keep fucking me, I would maybe not finish that thought.”

Grantaire sighed heavily. “Fine,” he said resignedly. “Are you at least going to show me what you got?”

“Fine,” Enjolras said, matching Grantaire’s tone, and he turned, yanking his jeans halfway down his ass. “Here.”

For a long moment, Grantaire just looked at it, the tiny tattoo now adorning Enjolras’s ass. Then he reached out to very lightly trace his finger across the clear bandage covering it. First, a mini replica of Grantaire’s heart tattoo, and then—

“A semicolon,” he said quietly.

Enjolras nodded, glancing back at him. “Yeah. For Project Semicolon. Because a semicolon is when an author could’ve ended a sentence—”

“And chose not to, I know.”

Grantaire was quiet for so long that Enjolras began to feel like he had made a colossal mistake, and he quickly told him, “I know it’s your story, not mine. But it’s also a part of you, and if you had chosen differently, you wouldn’t be a part of my story. And my story would be—” Enjolras broke off, and swallowed hard before telling Grantaire, “Well, frankly, it’d be a hell of a lot less fun. So I hope you don’t mind.”

Grantaire shook his head. “I don’t,” he said. “I really don’t. In fact, I love it.” He turned Enjolras around to kiss him. “And I love you.”

Enjolras grinned, more in relief than anything. “I love you, too.”

For a long moment, they stayed like that, wrapped in each other arms, half of Enjolras’s ass cheek still hanging out. Then Grantaire kissed his cheek before asking, “You do realize this means we can’t have sex for like two weeks until it heals, right?”

Enjolras blinked. “Wait, what?” 

And Grantaire just laughed.

[fullmoondagger]

WHAT I LEARNED FROM MY LATEST ART BLOCK ABOUT CREATIVITY AND EXISTING AS AN ARTIST:

Hi so Hi I'm Fullmoon and I'm a digital artist and a writer (@fullmoondaggers-art​) and from last november/december to april/may I have been in a mortifying creative block that was AGONIZING to say the least. My art's back now although it's at a very small pace but . I'm free ! (or back into my cage?)

I'm making this post mostly for myself but also to share this experience with others because that may be interesting or helpful? Please do take everything uder the cut with a grain of salt I’m merely a creature spilling thoughts about my own experiences and ideas . Love and Light

Some people may scoff at me because 6/7 months of art block may be nothing to them but it was a LOT for me- I never had such a long period of no art juice and it was very disorienting and horrifying.

For as long as I've been able to hold a pen and had to survive through the torture that is school, I've been drawing. All day long, everyday. Doodles on the edges of my notebooks, on scraps of paper when teachers took away my notebooks, and on my arms when the teachers took away my scraps of paper. I drew my little characters, then my little ponies, and I will forever look back at how terrifyingly productive I was in 2016. How did I manage to put out a fully lined and colored drawing almost every day after school ? While gay?

Jokes asides I've always drawn, and fast. Everyone seems impressed with how fast I draw, myself included.

(WHAT do you mean you drew this in 8 hours? wtf Luke)

And I used to draw all the time. When I wasn't playing games or watching shows, I was drawing.

And all of the sudden, it stopped. Creativity juices stopped flowing. Might have been caused by some personal events, and me stepping out of a fandom to other interests that is feeding me less in terms of nooks in which my art fungus can grow (the BATIM fandom rules. Genuinely. Legacy of Kain also has so much to offer), but either way, I was entering a very uncreative moment in my journey as an artist.

It hit hard !

I was getting anxious about opening SAI. I was getting anxious at plugging my tablet in my laptop. I could NOT do anything creative. Even when I got short spurs of ideas I would just give up and close the program, because it wasn't worth it anyways, no one would care, no one would want what I had to give, because my art didn't look professional or didn't stand out as much as it should. I was very deep set in the idea that uploadable art was fully lined and colored, colored sketches could be acceptable under some strict criteria. Let's not even talk about fic, I'm still very much a beginner, and the topics I like to write about aren't very elevated anyways.

1- THE ART OF TRICKERY

Brains are mischievous little machines, but once you understand that you're above it, it's nothing but a roach under your heel. I had to redirect my creative drive to something else than art and writing, so I tried my hand at HTML, a tiny pathetic bit of 3D modeling, painting patches for my jacket etc.

SAI and Tablet were making me anxious? Well, What about mouse and MS Paint? Why not try Adobe Flash ? Pencils and watercolor makes you shit? Ballpen and scrap paper. Grow up. This cool artist uses Paint 3D to work, why not give it a shot? Try some new ways of sketching, new fun art styles to mess with.

(Animated on Adobe Flash as a little test, I had a lot of fun !)

It was baby steps towards some recovery, and it did help ! It took me a while, but I was finally able to open SAI and draw and ENJOY it.

2- THE ART OF SEEING YOURSELF

What do I create for?

I draw for myself, for my horny little ideas, my cool character designs, to get out some funny things that are inside my head, to put my favorite characters in situations, to make them look hot as shit. I draw for other people too, sharing is important and vital as a fandom artist on the Internet. I want my art to be seen and enjoyed by other people who also enjoy what I'm creating about. I make to share, I don't want most of my art to be seen by only myself. I don't draw for fame, although being mildly known in my tiny little niche communities would be nice! It's not something that I cling to too tightly.

What is my artist identity ?

Early 2000's cartoons, 90's Anime, 2010's Internet, Art Nouveau, 1930's cartoons, Symbolism, Medieval art, BDSM/Kink, some French Comics, throw it all in a blender, and you get a blurry image of me.

Things are a bit difficult here. I don't feel like I have an "art style". I love to try new things, new techniques, new shapes. My art pieces rarely resemble each other, which is something I'm very self conscious about and I'm learning to accept. The thing is, every other artist around me has that Thing that makes their work so recognisable, and I don't feel like my art has that "Oh, that's Fullmoon" spark. At first I thought something was wrong with me, but I think it's really only a matter of perspective, I don't see it because I don't have the step back from my work to do that.

I wish I knew what makes me unique as an artist, but also I don't think it matters that much.

3- THE ART OF NOT GIVING A SHIT

(Little edit I smashed together somewhere near the peak of my art block, just because I wanted to see Applejack and Arthur Morgan hanging out. I think they’d be besties)

Art block taught me to Let Go. I couldn't draw anymore, and I felt like I was free from something that had been cursing me for so long but also completely lost without my shackles. I didn't really have an outlet for my Needs to fidget and make things and share them, and I was feeling like I would never be back to where I used to be in art. But also I knew it was cyclical, just like everything else in life is, and everything would fall back in place in due time. Sometimes you need to not give a shit if something turns out ugly or unperfect or never gets finished ever. keep them tucked in a corner and pull them out when you feel like you could have a better shot at them. It's OK to give up ! If you don't feel it's right, if you're not enjoying the process, just Let Go. If you're enjoying it regardless, just keep on going, the beauty of creation is that it's about fun and discovery. Nothing is eternal, and projects come back from the dead.

(Original idea from my art block VS when I picked it back up when i got my power back, lineart done on Adobe Flash because SAI was still too intimidating to me, and also lining on Flash is FUN)

4- WHAT DID THIS BRING ME

I think I have a very different approach to making art now. I don't draw every day, but It doesn't weigh on me that much anymore, as it should. I make things for fun, I don't want to aim for a masterpiece every time I pick up my tablet and turn the music playlist up. I draw whatever I want to, because I'm in impossibly niche communities anyway, so whoever will see it will see it, and I love them for that. I'm able to let things sit for a while and pick them back up later, which is VERY HARD for me in general. Maintaining a brand is bullshit and will kill you.

I’ve been writing again as well, and while I don’t think it’s too important, it’s fun !!

I have fun making things and learning things, and I have discovered new things I probably wouldn’t have gotten otherwise;

- I can roughly animate on Flash !

- I have a website I wrote myself !

- Painting on fabric is very fun actually !

- So much anime and manga. God

- I can sit back and feel Okay about not being an art machine !

I say that as a horrid little hater, but I think it's so important as an artist to cherish and adore everything you make. Give passion to the world and it will give it back to you in other ways. Play Soul Reaver

[bokura-no-digital-world]

Jou Week 2022 - Day 3: Gomamon

Days: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] Title: My Duo Characters: Jou Kido, Taichi Yagami, Gomamon, Takeru Takaishi, Hikari Yagami, Himawari Mizushima (OC). Summary: 5 moments of Jou and Gomamon throughout the years. I let my pencil fall on my desk for what seemed to be the hundredth time that afternoon. It had been almost a month since we came back from the Digital World and school was about to come back, but I just couldn’t focus on my homework. So I stood up and walked to my window, unable to stop thinking about Gomamon. I couldn’t help but wonder how he was. I had no idea how long I had been sitting there, but at some point Shin knocked on my door saying someone called me. “Hello?” I grabbed the phone and went to sit by my window again. “Hi, Jou.” “Taichi, is everything okay?” “Yeah. I mean, no. I miss being at the Digital World. I miss Agumon and getting into new adventures with him and all of you.” I took a deep breath. So I wasn’t the only one after all. I mean, I knew I obviously wasn’t, but I hadn’t talked to them for about three weeks, because I was studying literally all day. “I feel the same way. But we can only hope they are okay. We don’t know how or if we’ll ever be able to go back there someday.” “That sucks.” “It does, but there’s nothing much we can do.” “I would love to have Agumon here with me. Wouldn’t it be amazing if they could live with us forever?” I have thought about that every single day since we came back to Odaiba. “That would be perfect.” “We should talk to Koushiro, maybe he can find a way to get the portal to open again.” “Taichi, they don’t need us anymore.” I managed to say, though the words hurt me as they came out of my lips. Still, I forced myself to keep on. “The Digital World is at peace right now. Maybe the best thing right now is to just leave our partners as beautiful memories.” “I don’t like that idea.” “Me neither, but there’s nothing else we can do.” “Yeah.” I glanced at my desk and looked down for a moment. “I should go back to studying.” “Me too. I have homework, but I can’t concentrate at all.” “Me neither. I’ve spent the whole day sitting on my desk, but only managed to write two pages. I will try one more time.” “I should do the same. Alright, I’ll talk to you later. I just wanted to see how you were doing.” “Thanks for checking on me, it meant a lot to me.” “Of course. Don’t be a stranger, okay?” I couldn’t help but smile. “I promise. I’ll talk to you later.” “Bye, Jou.” I lowered my hand after the call was ended and stared at the horizon, wishing we could find a way to back to the world that taught me so much. Suddenly, a boost of confidence took over me. There was no way it would be the end of my story with Gomamon. A smile appeared on my lips as I fixed my glasses. I knew we would meet again someday. Wherever he would be in the Digital World, I knew he was thinking of me. I walked back to my desk and finally was able to do my homework.

About fifteen minutes later, Koushiro was standing in front of the bathroom mirror taking a final look at himself after he fixed his tie. Then he returned to his bedroom and grabbed his two favorite colognes. “Tentomon, can you help me with something?” “Sure.” The Digimon landed beside him. “What do you need?” “Which one do you think it’s better?” He sprayed the perfumes on his partner and he immediately started sneezing. “Oh my God, I’m sorry! I didn’t know you were allergic to perfume.” “The smell is very strong.” “I think so too. I’m very sorry about this.” “Don’t worry about it.” Tentomon said tearful. “I get so emotional seeing you getting ready to go out on a date. I’ve been waiting for this moment so long.” “Oh no, don’t cry, Tentomon. It’s not a big deal, really.” “To me, it is. I’m so happy!” “Silly.” Koushiro couldn’t help but laugh. “So which one?” “The second one, for sure. Where did you get it?” “That’s my favorite one too. Takeru gave me for my birthday last year. I didn’t enjoy the scent back then, but now I think it’s not so bad.” He sprayed some of the cologne on himself and turned to Tentomon. “So, how do I look?” “You look great, Koushiro!” “Do you think it’s too formal? Maybe I should take my tie off.” “Maybe a little, but if you’re comfortable about it, that’s what matters.” “I am, but I want to try something more casual.” “Like leave the top button open like Taichi does sometimes?” “That’s a little too much for me.” The man laughed and removed his tie. “What do you think?” “Definitely without tie.” “I think so too. It’s settled then.” Koushiro put it back on a hanger and put it away. “Are you ready?” “Can’t I really go with you? I promise I’ll stay outside and won’t bother you.” “It’s safer if you stay with Jou while I’m out. I promise I will pick you up when the date is over.” “Okay.” “Come on, it will be fun with him and Gomamon.” “I know, I just really wanted to meet your girlfriend.” “She’s not my girlfriend, Tentomon.” “But she will be.” “You’ll get to meet her soon, I promise. Let’s go, I’m already late to meet her.” “Alright.” Tentomon followed his partner closely out of their apartment and then to the garage.

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[hwiyoungies]

I’m still suffering but I’m back✌🏽 Have you seen that meme that says “Cuando vea ____ no diré nada, pero habrán señales” (when I start watching ____ I won’t say anything, but there’ll be signs)?, that will be both of us with OP when we get that third piercing on our left ear LOL

And boy, yes, they have been in that dessert for way too long LMAO like I don’t wanna miss everything so I’m not skipping any parts, but I’m definitely watching at x1.25 speed bc I’ve just realized this arc lasts until 130 and I’m not even on the 20s😭

Iñaki’s and Taz friendship definitely cured some of the sadness in my soul, but same I would to get more sneak peeks behind the work. I have watched some videos about the make-up and wig work, the staging and props, I saw some performance proposals for Zoro’s introduction and I love how despite changing many things, they never gave up on including the middle finger LOL I just find very interesting the process of discerning which ideas make it into the final product, I’m a nerd what can I say😔✌🏽

SANJI AND CHOPPER CARRIED THE CREW IN THIS ARC they were very impressive😌✨ but okay mini rant that you might find funny since you’re clearly far ahead LOL 1) the heck no one d*es HAHAHA LIKE everyone. somehow. miraculously. comes back alive and I’m glad for the good guys, but damn people it feels like only Arlong and people from the backstories d*ed 2) again, glad no one from the crew d*es (for now?😭🤞🏽) but boy does it hurt to see them getting thrashed :c </3

I did enjoy Ace’s appearance respectfully<3 LOL but seeing Zoro smiling and laughing more frequently definitely does something to my brain<3 Also!! Saw you got your wisdom teeth removed: congratulations!!🥳✨ and since Spotify wrapped just happened, what’s your song #12?? Was going to ask based on the episode of OP I’m at but it’s already the 100s so the last two digits will do LOL

LMFAOOO if that ain't me. also wait do you speak spanish or this is like, the meme you know LSDKHGKL it's very important to me as a spanish speaker because i have one stupid ass op video i can't show anyone because it's in spanish and i've been going insane because it made me cackle (but also would have to ask what's your stance on shipping (not like hardcore i will fight others if they don't like what i like but like hehe their dynamic is fun))

honestly i respect you so much for not skipping anything because i just skimmed through over 10 episodes worth of someone's backstory (they've been dead for a long time so i'm like 🧍‍♀️ we didn't learn anything new with this but the lore is great i guess)

had no idea about that LMAO honestly it fits zoro so much that no matter what he was going to be flipping someone, actually that's something that i love about the live action like yeah let him and sanji curse we know these two idiots are the worst when it comes to cursing LMAO part of me is hoping that we'll get like a documentary kinda thing with the behind the scenes or maybe more behind content for the second season

NO BUT THAT'S SOMETHING I'VE BEEN COMPLAINING ABOUT AS WELL, like yay for the main crew not dying i won't have psychological damage because of it, but what do you MEAN not a single bad guy dies either some of them should've had their heads chop off give me a break

pre time skip zoro was so goofy and beloved truly a gift, god i can't wait for you to get to a certain part and lose your mind about him tho LMAO and i diiiiid! finally have all of them out, this last one is not bothering me as much so i'll take that as a win as well and i'm just happy to be done with the whole thing LMAO and my #12 song is tití me preguntó by bad bunny which honestly, a bit shocked by because i didn't think i listened to it that much. what's your 81 song i gotta know 👁👁