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thegirlwiththeninjaturtletattoos · 1 year

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Every Rose Has it's Thorn

-Part 1-

>Part 2

Universe: Teenage Mutant Teenage Turtles (Bayverse aged-up turtles)

Rating: NSFW, R for swearing mostly MINORS DNI

Raphael x OC (female character)

Tags: Trigger Warning- drugging, assault, violence, original character, slow burn romance

Hi! This is my first attempt at writing. I have been wanting to do an OC fic forever, and I was so completely inspired by @sultrysirens oc characters that I wanted to make my own (Seriously, go read their stuff it's amazing!). Anyways, the beginning is a bit dark and scary, but I'm so excited to continue the story. This series is centered around my original character, Rose.

Enjoy and let me know what you think!

-Rose had a shit day and heads to a local dive bar for a drink, only to soon realize her day is only going down from here.

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“Fuck, that’s good.”

Rose Soriano took a swig of the drink that the bartender had slid to her across the lacquered bar top, gifted from some guy a bit down the counter. She raised her glass in thanks and gave an awkward half smile, appreciative for the second round but hoping he wouldn’t take her acceptance as an excuse to wander over.

She was wrong.

As she nursed the blended scotch in her glass, the tall white dude sauntered over and sat down.

“Hey, my name’s Mark. What’s a pretty girl like you doing here all by yourself?” The blonde spoke with a cocky smile plastered on his lips, brown eyes a little hazed with drink and oozing confidence. He looked nice enough; handsome in a boring way, not bad to look at- but just like every other 25 year old white guy in New York. If she had been interested in dating at the moment, Rose may have given him a shot in another life. But unfortunately for him, she was in no mood for this brand of bullshit tonight.

She had a shit day and just needed some time alone with her thoughts.

“Hi, yeah uh, thanks for the drink but-” She waved a delicate hand in his direction as she spoke, but he cut her off before she could finish her thought.

“What’s your name? Are you from around here?”

She rolled her eyes.

“Look man, thanks for the drink and all- but I’m really not interested.” Turning back to her scotch she tried to ignore the uncomfortable silence between them, and the bubbling frustration resonating off the young man pestering her.

“What, we can’t just have a conversation? Who said that I was trying to pick you up or anything, maybe I was just looking for some company.” He shifted in his seat, legs turning so he faced her as his tone turned sharp in the quiet space between them. “Now are you gunna tell me your name or what? Like I bought you a drink, the least you could do is tell me who you are.”

Sigh.

Of course things could never go the easy way, he just had to be difficult.

Rose shifted uncomfortably at the counter, her shoes dangling just above the foot rail as she perched on her stool. She was short, not even 5'4" with a petite and curvy hourglass frame that fit snugly on the seat. Her luscious mane of copper curls cascaded over her shoulders as she tensed into the counter, the blonde highlights peeking out from her bangs and glowing in the low bar lighting as her deep, emerald green eyes side-eyed the man sitting next to her.

After a lengthy internal debate, she decided giving her name would not kill her, and hunched further against the bar top as she answered him.

“Name’s Rose. Nice to meet you.”

“See, was that so hard?” Mark sneered, making her outwardly cringe as she immediately regretted her decision. “So, why are you here by yourself? Boyfriend ditch you?”

Rose snorted, eyes rolling as she looked back to her glass.

She was incredibly beautiful; she knew it, everywhere she went people knew it- she couldn’t escape it.

But after years of bad experiences with men she had a bad attitude and a big mouth, which usually led to them running off, tails between their legs, when they tried hitting on her in public like this. Normally she only went out with friends and would’ve told this man off in a heartbeat, but being alone at the bar, and after everything that happened today, she was left feeling a little vulnerable and less bold than usual.

She glared over her glass at him as he rested an arm on the bar top next to her.

“That is honestly none of your business, and I would really prefer to be alone dude. Besides,” she turned to point out some young women giggling at the other end of the bar, “those girls seem way more your speed.”

As she turned back, she saw movement in her peripheral vision, but when she looked again at her surroundings nothing had appeared to have changed, so she dismissed it.

Mark flashed a cocky smile at her but seemed to take the bait.

“Aight, your loss. But if you change your mind I’ll be over there waiting, hot stuff.”

Giving a wink, he stood up from his seat and left Rose’s side to go chat with the young 21 year olds in the corner.

“Thank god that’s finally over. I thought he’d never get the hint.” She mumbled into her glass, finally relaxing again.

She took another hit of the scotch, and let her mind wander back to the events of the day.

Rose had come home from a gig to find her boyfriend of eight years in bed with another man, and while she was upset and hurt, she also didn’t know how to process the new information.

She felt guilty, mostly. She may have pushed him into the relationship when he wasn’t ready, and he had been stalling on proposing but wouldn’t give a reason why. With everything in the open now she felt like a weight had been lifted, that maybe she wasn’t unattractive- her boyfriend was just gay.

Shaking her head, she took another swig, wincing at the burn as it slid down her throat.

Her now ex-boyfriend had promised that he wouldn't be at their shared apartment tonight, so she could process what happened and make a plan on what to do next.

God, she hadn’t even called her brother yet. That was going to be an absolute nightmare of I-told-you-so’s. She had written off his comments about her relationship and ignored the signs: the lack of affection, the constant trips out of town, the hanging out with friends that she wasn’t invited to that would end up as overnighters.

Hell, she still loved Nick, but her heart ached for the both of them. How long was he suffering in silence about this, and why didn’t he just come out and talk to her? They had been friends before they started dating, and they were supposed to be a team, right?

Damn, this is a mess.

Her eyes were glued to the remaining liquor in her glass as she swirled the liquid around, the last of the melting ice cube clinking against the sides of the container.

A fucking mess.

Signaling the bartender, she paid her tab and finished the last of her drink.

Rose slid off the stool, and as she stepped towards the door, suddenly the room started to spin.

Did I drink that much?

Shit.

Desperately trying to regain control of her body, she took a deep breath and moved quickly on unsteady feet out the main entry doors for some fresh air.

Once outside, the cool September air whipped against her face as she adjusted to the darkness of the city street.

The lights from the bar's front entry were growing fuzzy around the edges, and she couldn't tell if it was from the panic in her throat or the hum of the liquor in her system.

Rose shook her head and quickly stepped into the quiet alley next the bar, trying to maintain her composure while methodically trying to retrace the night's events.

Luckily her apartment building was close by, but she wasn’t sure she could walk with how much everything was spinning out of control.

Two drinks?

Yes, they were strong. But two had never been an issue before.

Then it hit her.

“That FUCKER!”

The arm movement that she dismissed earlier- he must have put some kind of roofie in her drink when she turned her head.

Remembering what she could about the drug, she immediately stuck her finger down her throat trying to ralph up anything she could muster. Cringing at the action, and hoping she wasn’t too late, she got up what she could and dug into her bag for her phone while stabilizing herself against the wall.

Just as she tried to hit the call button on the screen, her phone was smacked out of her hand and she felt a force knock the wind out of her, leaving her gasping for air and falling to the ground.

“ We can’t have you doing that, now can we? Not after how long I had to wait for you to finally get up and leave- you don’t want to be rude, right?”

Mark and another man that she hadn’t seen before were standing above her, smiling and laughing to themselves.

She was still present enough to know how much danger she was in, but could barely see straight enough to even stand up, let alone fight her way out of this.

Fuck.

Mark bent down to grab her hair at the scalp and forced her to look up at him. “Now, we’re going to all play nice, and as long as you behave you’ll be fine.”

With his last words she felt a knife press against her throat, the blade thick and sharp. There was a stinging sensation as blood was drawn where the point of the metal was stabbing into her skin. And she couldn't help the wince that curled the other man's lips up into a sneer.

The other man flicked his eyes back to the alley entrance, and jutted his chin at Mark to head further into the darkness.

Her assailant yanked on her hair, in an attempt to drag her up on her feet and get her to comply. As she clumsily stood and took a few swaying steps with them, the knife left her skin and came to rest at his side, still a threat but no longer drawing blood.

Rose’s mind was swimming too much to think of a full plan, but she knew she had to do something.

No se saldrán con la suya sin pelear conmigo, malditos cabrones- I’d rather die.

An old saying from her Dad popped into her mind as she stumbled in Mark’s grip down the alley:

Lucha hasta el final, chaval; Go down swingin', kid.

Hearing movement somewhere nearby that wasn’t the two men, she made a decision.

Hopefully whoever was nearby would hear her and help. Or, at least she gave it her best shot- no regrets.

Gathering up her courage, she went for it. Rose knew she would have a few seconds, and she had to make them count.

Using what strength and focus she had left, she turned in Mark’s direction quicker than he could react and palm striked his nose. She felt the crunch of his cartilage in her hand right before he cursed loudly.

“WHAT THE FUCK BITCH!?!”

She had already started to turn and run, but her movements were slow due to the drug in her system.

Giving everything she had, she screamed.

“HELP, SOMEONE PLEASE HEL-”

She was tackled to the ground before she could get to the street and felt a hard kick to the ribs as someone held her down. The pain was so intense she wanted to cry, but there was no air left in her small body. The kick had winded her again, and she was left gasping as the strikes continued.

“You -fucking- bitch-” Mark huffed in between thuds of his shoes against her chest. He stopped the barrage and spit on the ground near her face. “If you thought it was going to be bad before- you have no idea what you’re in for now.”

The other guy moved from restraining Rose on the ground and grabbed her hair again. She was bleeding now, red smeared on her skin like blush.

“You’re gunna get it bitch, and you’re gunna be beggin we kill you.” He chuckled darkly and turned back to Mark, grabbing the knife again and holding it against her cheek.

Mark stood off to the side, eyeing her smugly as his nose dripped with his own blood.

“First, we’re gunna start with cuttin off this pretty hair of yours.” He sneered, obviously enjoying himself.

Rose was barely hanging on to consciousness and felt a tear run down her cheek, knowing this would be her last night on this earth and these pricks were the last thing she’d ever see.

I tried, Dom.

I'm sorry.

Suddenly, a figure landed behind the men with a powerful thud on the pavement.

“Now that’d be a shame to wreck her pretty hair, don’t ya think Leo?”

The men jumped at the gravelly voice behind them, and audibly gasped when three other figures emerged from the shadows.

One of them stepped closer.

“I believe you’re right, Raph. It looks like these boys don’t understand the meaning of chivalry.” The figure leaned down to look both trembling men in the face. “Let go of her. Now.”

The man holding her tightened his grip on her hair, and Rose could feel his hand shaking. She yelped from the pain and the first figure that had spoken growled under his breath.

“You gunna fuckin make me, freaks?!” The man sneered and flicked his knife in their direction. “Just leave us alone and we won’t hurt y-.” He had barely finished speaking when the first figure grabbed the man’s neck with one hand and lifted him off the ground.

He let go of Rose and the knife to grab at the massive fingers around his throat, and she sank to the ground unconscious as the blade clattered to the asphalt.

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Raphael and his brothers had been cooped up for so long in the lair that they were all going a bit stir crazy.

Master Splinter had not been feeling well, so the team had stayed home to care for him in his old age for a week or so while he recovered. Donatello and Leonardo were the main care-takers, while Raphael and Michelangelo mostly tried to stay out of the way.

As a result, the two spent most of their time in the weight room, annoying their brothers with the constant clinking of metal all hours of the night.

Tensions had reached a boiling point this afternoon, when Donnie had been trying to nap on the couch. Mikey and Raph had snuck up behind the sofa and flipped it, sending their brother flying with a squawk as he flailed to the ground.

As a result, Mikey and Raph were sentenced to bathroom cleaning duty for a month, and once Sensei was tucked in for the night, the team headed out to patrol.

They had stopped for a moment atop an apartment building in the dark of the city, waiting and listening. Donnie had been combing through the police scanner, but it was a quiet night in NYC.

Well, as quiet as the city gets anyway, Raph thought.

There was the constant hum of cars, horns, and people bustling around 24/7, but he loved it.

New York was home, and even though they would never be able to live like humans, he still wouldn’t trade his life for the world.

As Raph was lost in the view of the city skyline, a yell from a few blocks over caught the turtle's attention.

The team jumped into action, headed to the source of the noise.

Each turtle had a different style of traveling from roof -to-roof, and Raphael laughed as he watched the youngest flip through the air over a billboard- Mikey loved to show off with his board any chance he got.

“It’s crazy that no one’s noticed ya Mike," Raph huffed as he swung over a gap between buildings, “with how much you mess around ya’d think we'dve gotten caught daily by now.”

“Oh you’re just jealous you don’t have my mad skills, dude” Mikey gloated, doing a front flip over the side of a ledge with a wink to prove his point.

The red banded turtle shook his head and smiled- as much as his brothers annoyed him, they were family, and he had to admit the guy had some serious acrobatic talent.

Not that he’d ever tell him to his face.

They arrived at a building overlooking an alley next to a dive bar, and saw two men entering the dark side street. Raph narrowed his eyes as he watched them, and froze when he saw their target.

A young woman leaned on the outside wall of the bar, clearly shaken and digging in her purse for something. In a moment the men were on her and she was knocked to the ground, gasping for air.

He jolted forward, but a firm hand on his arm signaled him to halt. It took everything in him to not rush down, but he knew better than to start a fight with Leo over “who the leader was” again.

He looked over to Leonardo, who eyed the scene for a moment before pointing to the nearest vantage point, and they made their way down to the alley.

As Raph moved, he watched the woman as the men spoke to her in hushed tones. Her hair was captivating and out of place in the dark alley, almost a copper halo of curls surrounding her face, and he couldn't help but stare as he climbed.

Focus, gotta focus.

As they prepared to leap down into action, the woman did something that none of the turtles expected.

She broke one of the guys' noses and was running back to the street, yelling for help.

Raph almost smiled; this girl had some brass balls. She was in this life-or-death situation, and chose to fight her way out instead of cowering.

“ Leo, we've got to get in there, but she’s too close to the street now. We’ll be seen.” Donnie looked down at the well-lit street and alley in front of them. There were cars passing by, but no pedestrians; so maybe she would get to the street so they could apprehend the men in the alley without her seeing them.

“Yeah, Don. Just let me think for a minute.”

He was right.

They could not expose their family and risk their safety, but they also needed to uphold their oath to protect the citizens of this city.

It's their duty, as heroes of New York.

Leo huffed to himself and chewed at his lip as he kept his eyes focused on the scene in front of them.

“Leo, we gotta get down there."

Raph was close to snapping. He watched in horror as the men caught up to her and took her down, beginning a fierce barrage of kicks to her chest.

“I ain't waitin’ Leo.”

Raph leapt off the building and landed behind the men, his brothers following suit. He figured he would have to answer for not following orders later, but he just couldn’t watch this happen.

His feet made a loud thud boom in the quiet darkness directly behind the men.

The woman was conscious but fading, and as Leo took the lead in trying to convince them to surrender quickly, Raph watched as the man that had a grip on her hair tightened it. She cried out in pain, a tear streaming down her face, and Raph lost all control he had over his anger. The guy said something to him, but he didn’t hear it.

Before he realized what he was doing, he was gripping the man’s throat in one hand and lifting him off the ground.

The prick was struggling and begging for his life, but all Raph could see was the beautiful woman on the ground, bruised and bleeding.

Mikey scooped her up in his arms, and Donnie began checking her vitals on his wrist scanner.

Raph could faintly hear Leo saying something, and it took a minute before he heard him clearly.

“Raph, put the guy down. Cops are enroute, and you’re going to kill him.”

He loosened his grip and let the unconscious male slip from his hands, slumping on the ground.

“Payback’s a bitch.” Raph chuckled darkly. Coming back to his senses, he felt a little guilty.

A little.

“Donnie, is he dead?” Mikey's voice was steeped in worry as he poked his head over Raph's shoulder, the woman still cradled in his arms.

The purple banded turtle looked over at the man before turning his attention back to the bigger problem at hand.

“No, just unconscious. She, however, is not doing well and will need medical treatment.”

Turning to Leo he commented as his fingers danced over his scanner, eyes scanning the digital displays, “I think they gave her some sort of drug. Her blood alcohol level is low, but she seems to be under the influence of something. I worry that a hospital would not know what to look for if we just dropped her off. I would be able to test and treat her in the lab- “

Donnie cut himself off as his monitor beeped.

“Her vitals are dropping, Leo. What’s your call?”

“Call Sensei and let him know we’re having company. Let’s move out boys.”

#bayverse tmnt #bayverse raphael x reader #tmnt bayverse #tmnt x oc #tmnt fanfic #bayverse raphael #every rose has it's thorn #tmnt aged up #my writing

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julianobungus · 10 months

Note

Another idea about the Infinity Train.

When creating Cars, One-One is inspired by what he saw when viewing Memory Tapes. Watching the tapes is his only way to see what is outside the train. So he rolls on other people's memories, looks at different places, things, creatures and at the same time reads the recorded thoughts of the owner of the memory.

In this way, he learns about new concepts and uses them when creating new cars. For example, he learned about the concept of dinosaurs in one memory, and the concept of baseball in another, after which at some point he made the Dinosaur Baseball Car.

But he also takes concepts from recorded thoughts. Some Passenger could at some point in his life think about what dinosaurs playing baseball would look like, and One-One read this thought and decided to embody it in the form of a Dinosaur Baseball Car.

And thus, the Denizens of the Dinosaur Baseball Car can either be based on the images that the Passenger came up with, that is, the Passenger came up with the appearance, names and backstory for each dinosaur, or they were entirely created by One-One.

The conflict with Amelia happened because One-One did not want to create a car exactly copying something that already existed. He could have created several cars based on concepts from Amelia's memory, while she wanted him to stuff all these concepts into one car. She needed a car that would copy the city where she lived and in which there would be Denizens who would look like and consider themselves to be people from that city.

However, many years later, when One-One became a Conductor again, and Amelia began to help fix the damage she had done to the train, he decided to finish what Amelia had not been able to do for all these years. He finished the Unfinished Car.

He removed the jam pond and the holes from which the wind blew, added walls to unfinished buildings, fixed gravity and everything else. After his work, the city began to look like the city where Amelia lived, except that instead of humans there were turtles. And the turtles forgot that once the city looked different and they had to adapt to different things. Now they think their Car has always been like this.

After that, One-One calmed down, as he really didn’t like the existence of a clumsy unfinished car. And at the same time, the finished car did not contradict the rules and the idea of the train, since there was neither Alrick nor any other human person in it, only a lot of turtles. There was nothing that would have motivated Amelia to stay on the train forever.

Now I wonder how Amelia would react after One-One showed her and Hazel the Finished car

Ooh, a fascinating and fun idea!

Honestly, I'd imagine Amelia to be pretty upset, since he went and did it anyway after she was told not to and punished for trying. I'm not sure how Hazel would feel honestly. Maybe less alone since there are other turtle denizens? Comforted?

#infinity train hazel #infinity train amelia #one-one

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paytato435 · 11 months

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Chapter 8: How to Light a Firecracker

The Twin

Donnie was finally free to get started on the new swords for Leo, and he let Leo know this by blasting this message over the intercom of the lair for everyone and their dog to hear:

“Donnie to dum-dum your presence is requested in the lab, over.”

“Dum-dum to Donnie, this turtle has FEELINGS!” Leo shouted back from the kitchen table where he was trying desperately to decipher his own Biology notes. Some kid named Gavin in his class seemed to have actually taken pity on him and gave him a few pointers, but he was still very lost. He was grateful for Donnie’s distraction.

“Bring Todd’s sword up too, over,” Donnie added.

Todd’s sword? Leo didn’t like that.

But he also trusted his brother, so he complied. Leo ran over to his bedroom and fished around the trunk at the back of the train car to find the sword he’d buried under anything and everything he could find. Once upon a time he had sleep-portaled himself to the gas station and accidentally stole an entire snack aisle. Now that the twin of this sword was stuck in a prison dimension where theoretically a giant pink alien could escape and destroy the world, he did not let his unfortunate habits put anyone needlessly in danger. It was also why he had retired the sword. Honestly, he should probably break it just to make sure the connection was forever broken, but Draxum refused to let him; they couldn’t predict what the consequences of such an action might be.

Leo pulled the sword out from the trunk and paused. It was heavier than he remembered. Or was it…

Leo drew out Mikey's kitchen knife katana and held it in the opposite hand. They both looked exactly the same, but the kitchen knife katana was slightly lighter. He hadn't noticed it before. And if he thought about it, both of them were lighter than the odachi Shredder had broken, because it had been an actual sword.

Maybe that bobcat was onto something.

His replacements didn't have the same strength. Perhaps a garden trowel was insufficient.

"Come on Leo, I don't have all day!"

"Coming!" Leo sheathed the swords and ran upstairs.

Leo would like to take this moment to retract his previous assertion that Donnie would ever envy Synth's forge. It seemed Donnie was perfectly capable of getting his own hands on his own furnace and accessories that would suit him just fine.

The softshell in question had also dressed himself for the part, sporting large boxy overalls and boots, with insulated gloves sticking out of his back pocket. He was checking the temperature of the furnace when Leo walked in.

"It's about time!" Donnie huffed as he flipped up his goggles.

"You are really excited about this, aren't you?" Leo noticed. He didn't think he had taken that long to get upstairs.

"You gotta strike the iron while it's hot!" Donnie reached out and took both of Leo's swords off his back and looked them over.

"Uh, yes?"

"It's a metaphor for inspiration, dum-dum," Donnie rolled his eyes.

"Ooooh. Yeah, it's harder to see when you're literally going to be striking iron."

Leo watched Donnie look over both swords closely.

"The one in your right hand-" Donnie swung the right hand sword right over the anvil and it snapped in two like a sheet of ice. Leo shrieked.

"What are you doing?! I was still using that! Mikey's gonna kill me!"

"I wanted to know what happened when it broke," Donnie explained, ignoring his brother's panic.

"I could have told you that! I've already broken… nevermind."

Donnie looked up at Leo for the first time since inviting him into the lab.

"I had an idea while you were telling me about Synth's curse," Donnie smiled with excitement.

"Oh?"

"Well, it first came from Mikey when he used his portal to bring you back home.” Donnie admitted, tipping his head to one side. “The reason it succeeded was because Raph and I were there to combine our ninpo."

"And if you hadn't he would have died," Leo remembered. He also remembered how panicked Casey had been when they had told him what happened. Apparently that kind of portal was the last thing future Mikey had done before he died. Ninpo was a useful tool, but it had limits and rules they hadn't yet explored.

Donnie nodded.

"Mikey didn't seem to know how much he was giving until it started to scar his arms; that's not ideal. So I thought, if we can't always be right there to support each other or become otherwise incapacitated, what would we do?"

"That's quite the scenario you've made up in your head."

Donnie shrugged. "It pays to be prepared. And I've got a medium of which to now apply my theory!" Donnie gestured to the Todd katana.

"Can you give me the short version?" Leo whined, crossing his arms. He could hear Mikey downstairs getting started on dinner and he was hoping he could convince him to make his wicked pizza quesadillas.

Donnie sighed, and gave Leo a scowl.

"I can install a transmitter in your weapon that will let you have access to my ninpo at the same time you use yours. Think of it like DS Download Play."

"Say what now?"

"I mean exactly what I said-"

"I could use your giant drill thingy?!?" Oh that was way cooler than pizza quesadillas.

"Maybe?” Donnie raised an eyebrow at the idea. “It's all a theory at the moment. But that's one feature I think we could all use at some point. Maybe you could use it to teleport further or with greater accuracy. Maybe Raph could make extra clones of himself. I don't know if I could send the signal back so I'd have access to your ninpo but-"

"Donnie that sounds AMAZING," Leo grabbed Donnie and shook him by his shoulders. "But what do you need Todd's sword for?"

"You know the link between this sword and its twin?" Leo nodded. "I think I could program your weapons to also have safety features that would prevent your ninpo from going haywire in Mikey's case, or stop you from accidentally teleporting yourself somewhere you shouldn't be."

"Like parental controls?" Leo asked, narrowing his eyes.

"Would you hate me if I said yes?" Donnie gave a pained smile. "It's not that I don't trust the both of you, and you would have access to override it, I just don't-"

"No that makes sense, Don," Leo interrupted. Donnie looked surprised by the agreement. "There's a difference between being proud and being stupid. I trust myself, but I'd also like to never ever again find myself in that prison dimension."

Sweet pizza supreme he had nightmares of that place enough.

"Well, I'm glad we're in agreement," Donnie sighed, looking very relieved.

"How long is this gonna take you?"

Donnie squinted and slouched a bit under Leo's gaze.

"At the moment I don't know. I have to figure out how the connection between the Todd katanas work first. Then it could be a few days just for the transmitter itself, then there's the coding, and of course I haven't even made the darn swords yet…"

"I'll hold out," Leo grinned. "I can stay out of trouble for a few days."

"Soooo… how's Tama-eggy doing?" Leo asked when he returned to the kitchen. Mikey was right in the middle of slicing an avocado with the paring knife. When Mikey looked up at his brother, his eyes were sparkling.

"This is the best knife ever!" Mikey squealed. "It cuts through everything like butter! Look at my onions, look at my tomatoes!" Mikey gestured to bowls of said diced vegetables. They looked perfectly ordinary, if Leo was being honest, but he pretended to be excited for Mikey's sake.

"Yeah, they look great," he noted, taking his seat at the bar again and looking back down at his bio notes. Ew, no thanks. He pushed the notes aside. "So are we doing Mexican for dinner?"

"Tacos!" Mikey confirmed, scooping out an avocado pit. "You gotta build them yourself though. I'm going out tonight."

"Again? You’re becoming quite the social butterfly.” Leo propped his elbows up onto the counter and leaned in.

“I joined the art club!” Mikey told him excitedly. “A few of the members are going out to some chalk art event, and they invited me!”

“Sounds like fun.” Mikey bobbed his head up and down and went about throwing together ingredients for his guacamole. Leo eyed Tamanegi, which was now set to one side by a cutting board.

It was just a knife. Leo didn’t think there was anything special about it. And yet the fact that he was explicitly told not to use it made him reach out for it.

Mikey slapped his hand away before he could even graze the handle.

“Hey! You know you’re not supposed to-”

“Touch it? I wasn’t going to use it,” Leo defended himself, standing up.

Mikey looked from the knife, to Leo, and back again.

“Are you going to tell me that you know it doesn’t like me too?” Leo asked, a little frustrated.

“I don’t know, I don’t get it,” Mikey shrugged.

“How am I supposed to become friends with an inanimate object? How am I supposed to do that without touching it?” The premise was ridiculous. There had to be something they were missing.

“Kinda like a fish,” Mikey turned his head to one side, in thought.

“More like Piebald II,” Leo rolled his eyes. “At least you can feed a fish! A knife just sits there! Am I just supposed to exist within its vicinity for a set amount of time?!”

“Maybe you could just wash it?”

“I guess??” Leo threw his hands up in the air. “Should I sharpen it too? I don’t even know how to do that!”

“You could google it,” Mikey suggested, pulling chicken out from the fridge.

“Ugh, just what I need, more homework,” Leo groaned. “Speaking of, I don’t think this whole school thing is gonna work out, Mikey. I don’t understand any of it.”

“We’ve been in school for two days,” Mikey pointed out. “We just need to catch up. April offered to help if you need it.”

Leo groaned. He wanted to give up. Life was so much simpler before when he didn’t have all these responsibilities.

“If it’s that bad, just rinse the knife off and we can figure out sharpening it later,” Mikey told him, picking up on Leo’s stress.

“No no! I got this!” Leo insisted, raising a finger in mock confidence. He reached forward and picked up the knife.

For some reason, he suddenly had the feeling like he might burst into flames. As far as anyone could see, it was just a knife. There was nothing special about it, he told himself. And yet, he felt like he was somehow committing some kind of taboo just holding it.

“Maybe you should put it back down,” Mikey suggested, as if he could read his thoughts.

“You feel it too?”

To his surprise, Mikey nodded.

As soon as he set it back down, the tension evaporated.

“Are we imagining things?” Leo asked. “It’s… it’s not magic.”

“I don’t know,” Mikey shrugged, stirring his guac thoughtfully. “Maybe.”

“Maybe I’ll just put it in the dishwasher.” The uneasy feeling returned as soon as he picked it back up, but Leo forced himself to ignore it as he reached into the dishwasher and put it down. As he did, his hand bumped into the rack, and the knife slipped from his hand.

“Ouch!” the blade slid across his finger as it dropped into the silverware caddy.

“You alright?”

“It cut me,” Leo whined, standing back up, and showing the cut to Mikey.

“Dude, you are toooooootally cursed.”

While You're Away

"Stick your tongue out," The doctor barked.

Sunshine complied, and the gator lowered his head to peer back into the young musk's throat.

"Say aaaahhhhhh,"

"Aaaahhhhhh."

"Sufficient." The gator stepped back and Sunshine's mouth snapped shut.

"Aside from the memory loss, it appears there is nothing wrong with you," he concluded.

Sunshine frowned at the larger reptile.

"Do I need to repeat myself? There is nothing wrong with you."

Sunshine narrowed her eyes and took a breath.

"It doesn't even bother you?"

The gator looked at her with surprise. This was the first time he'd heard her talk.

"Your memory loss? No. Plenty of warriors here in the Nexus have it. It is not a priority."

"Do I have brain damage?"

He gave her a sneer and turned away from her and back to his computer, logging her results.

"It's not worth solving. Go back to your room."

Sunshine crossed her arms.

"Now," he growled menacingly.

This is how it had been since day one. Vague answers, no solutions. They wanted her to be their next champion, but they didn't care about her own wellbeing outside of that. She had nothing to compare it to, but her heart told her things should not be like this; now more than ever after her conversations with Casey.

She wondered if she had family somewhere outside the Nexus. Maybe they were looking for her. She wished she had a family as nice as the one Casey had.

Sunshine left the office and rolled her shoulders as she made her way down gaudy hallways to her room.

These people here in the Nexus were bad; she could feel it. Was she even supposed to be here? Big Mama said she had found her in a place far, far away, but she never said how.

Then there were the other two mutants- they didn’t know anything either. Had they been found together? Why was she the favorite among them? She didn’t want to be the favorite. She wanted answers.

In the evening she was sent to train with Synth, the blade master. Sunshine didn't really care for swords, but Big Mama insisted she needed some kind of weapon for the arena. Big Mama was all about marketing and what would sell.

"Stand up straight!" Synth rapped on the back of Sunshine's shell with his practice sword. The girl stumbled, catching all her weight with her right foot. She felt off balance all the time, so naturally Synth called her out on it all the time. But if she stood up straight, then she'd just tip over onto her back! There was no use arguing with the bobcat- he'd just smack her again and glare at her with his ugly bug eyes.

Sunshine did her best to correct her stance, and raised her practice sword. Honestly, a weapon this long only further upset her balance. Perhaps she'd be better off with a dirk or some knives, but Synth insisted on a sword. "You'll get used to it," he'd say. This was ridiculous. She felt like a fish out of water.

Synth came at her with heavy and direct encounters, taking massive swings straight to her face, torso, and legs. He insisted her first skills must come defensively, but it seemed like a power fantasy on his part. Every swing threatened to knock her over, and when he got tired of playing with her, he would knock her over, just because he could. It was embarrassing. Sunshine wondered how she was ever going to survive her first challenge in the arena.

When she regained her composure, Synth came at her quickly, and it took everything in her to jump out of the way.

"Yer slow!" Synth taunted, turning and kicking her in the carapace. She stumbled but didn’t fall; Synth was going easy on her.

"I'm literally a turtle!" Sunshine pleaded, turning to face her adversary. "What do you expect me to do?"

Synth came back at her again, and this time she blocked him, keeping her weight forward to maintain her balance. She was too far forward, however, because with a quick twist to bring her down, Synth brought his right leg up and kicked her in the side of the head. She crumpled to the side.

"I expect ya to get up and try again," he ordered, standing upright.

Sunshine did not get up. "Why? What's the point? Why do I have to fight?"

"Yer going to be the next champion."

"I know that… by why me." Sunshine emphasized.

"Get up!" Synth barked.

When she didn't, Synth kicked her again, sending her flying across the training room.

"It doesn't matter why," he growled. "As long as Big Mama says you fight, you fight. You fight 'cause she says so. And you'll do what she wants because that will make 'er happy. If she's not happy, no one is."

"This is stupid! Why does everyone listen to her?"

Synth closed the distance between them and Sunshine scrambled to her feet, backing her shell up against the wall.

With a speed that Sunshine could not even perceive, he snatched her sword arm and brought it up to her tympanum. With his other hand He tapped the sword with his claw and it made a short clink.

His ears twitched in disappointment.

"Ya hear that? It fuckin hates you."

"Well I'm not a fan of it either," Sunshine bit back.

"Well ya betta find a way to get it to like ya, because if ya don't, yer gonna get yer ass handed to ya out there."

"And I should care about that because….?"

"You wanna lose?" Synth sneered.

"Maybe she'll lose interest," Sunshine looked away.

"Lose interest?" Synth backed off from her.

"Do ya know what happens to her pets that don't fight?"

Sunshine had thought about it, but didn't really know. She knew they didn't stick around.

"They end up worse than the losers. Losers make a comeback. Losers stir up drama, plot revenge, garner sympathy."

Synth gave her a one-eyed glare.

"Quitters don't sell. She'll eat ya for dinner, if yer lucky."

Sunshine shuddered.

Synth picked up his sword and pointed it at her chest.

"You'va chance. Big Mama actually likes you. That's why she wants ya to fight. It's as simple as that. Life is easier when she likes ya, so you have to keep tryin'."

"Well maybe she would like me more if I had a weapon that actually worked for me," Sunshine pointed out.

"If you'va better idea, let me know. I'm just a swordsman. But it can't just be yer fists. Hand to hand martial arts don't sell like it used to."

But in the far back of her mind, something was telling her just the opposite. It didn't make sense; she couldn't keep herself upright half the time, but she had this sense she used to be able to move a lot better. Like she knew how to throw a punch, but it was as if all her settings were reset and she couldn't adjust. What was wrong with her?

She didn't have time to think about that now. Instead, she took a few steps from the wall, and reset her stance.

"Whatever. Let's just get this over with," she mumbled.

The session did not get any easier. Sunshine was knocked over so many times she got dizzy. Maybe she didn't have brain damage before, but now?

Her arms, legs, and face were covered in bruises. The last time Synth knocked her down, it took everything in her to keep herself from throwing up.

"Get up," Synth ordered.

Sunshine couldn't move.

"I said get up!" He took a step towards her.

"Can't..." she moaned.

Synth rolled her over onto her plastron with a shove of his foot. Her stomach lurched at the motion, and she lost control. Synth peddled away from the mess with a face of disgust.

"I'm not gonna say it again, kid. You gotta get up. When shit is the hardest, that's the last time ya can give up."

Sunshine squeezed her eyes shut and gritted her teeth. Her head was throbbing, and her legs were shaking. Her arms dragged through her sick as she slowly propped herself up. Her breathing was shallow and uneven. How was she supposed to stand?

There was no way she could keep going like this.

She didn't remember getting up onto her feet, and yet there she was, swaying like a fucking willow tree in the breeze. She wiped her face with the back of her hand and spit onto the mat. When she looked up at Synth, she saw he was reracking their practice swords. It was over?

"See, I knew you had it in ya," Synth chuckled to himself. Where had that smile come from?

He walked over and held out his hand. Sunshine just stared at it.

"I don't wanna hafta carry you back to yer room, Sunshine," he explained. She took it tentatively. That was the first time he’d called her that.

"There we go, missy. Look at you, the crowd's gonna love ya."

She stumbled, but Synth caught her and pulled her arm over his wiry shoulder.

"Hold on tight kid, this is gonna suck." He grabbed a hold of her waist and they slowly made the long walk back to her room.

How to Light a Firecracker

***CONTENT WARNING: violence, descriptions of a panic attack and self-harm.***

Casey walked alone to the library today. After practice, Angel hadn’t even bothered to change out. She had walked off the field too quickly; she didn’t look over her shoulder or stop to chat with her friends. As far as Casey could guess, she just went straight home. She hadn’t said a word to him all day.

What the did he do wrong? Had he been that insensitive? She had stared at him as if he was the one responsible for her friend disappearing. Like he was something dangerous. And… he kinda was but like… it wasn’t as if he was going to hurt her. He felt guilty but also extremely frustrated; how had he scared her so badly?

The questions that he didn’t dare ask her gnawed at his gut as he tried and failed miserably to get his homework done. After only about twenty minutes of staring at the seat she had occupied yesterday, he slammed his book shut and forced himself to move on to the hotel. It was Friday anyway, he figured. There would be plenty of time to work over the weekend.

“A little human, here? Surely not,” came a low and familiar voice as Casey made his way up to the front desk of the Nexus Hotel.

Casey looked up and saw the same slippery alligator from Lucy’s Cafe.

“You…!” they both stepped away from each other in surprise.The alligator’s eyes lit up in recognition.

“Leatherhead! What are you doing on the floor?” The alligator spun to face an owl yokai in a bellhop uniform.

“Eugene, I-”

“I’m so sorry for the disruption Mr. Jones.” The owl called Eugene gave Casey a slight nod.

“So we just have human guests staying here now?” Leatherhead growled quietly.

“Not a guest,” the owl clarified. “He’s Big Mama’s property.”

The description made Casey flinch. So that’s what they thought of him. He wasn’t surprised, but that didn’t keep his stomach from turning.

Leatherhead turned to look the boy up and down.

“I don’t suppose I can borrow him, do you?”

“You may not. He’s needed to help the stinkpot assimilate.”

“Sunshine,” Casey corrected.

“The turtle?” Leatherhead looked back to Eugene inquisitively.

“Yes.”

“How does another human help assimilate my mutant to the arena?”

My mutant.

“You made Sunshine?” Casey asked. Leatherhead ignored Casey’s question. He didn't even look in his direction.

“That is a good question, Professor,” the owl peered over at Casey. “Give it up,” he stretched out a feathered hand.

Casey glanced over at Leatherhead a moment; it was humiliating to be treated this way. Reluctantly, he handed over his charm.

Leatherhead’s transparent lids blinked in wonder as Casey shifted into his turtle self.

“Another one… fascinating,” he tipped his head. “Perhaps I misjudged you and your friend,” he whispered.

Casey glared at the gator.

“I think you’ll find my assessment of you hasn’t changed.”

“A sympathizer,” Leatherhead tapped his long, scaly snout. “And yet you hide from the humans anyway. You’re a hypocrite, then.”

Casey wondered if anyone would mind it much if he clocked the gator in that snout.

“Can we go see Sunshine already?” he asked Eugene instead. He didn’t want to cause any more trouble. He had enough already.

“Certainly, follow me.”

Casey could feel the watchful gaze of the gator as he was led down a dark hallway. It didn’t let up until they had turned a corner.

“Who was that?” he asked the bellhop, when he hoped he was out of earshot.

“Professor Leatherhead. Head of mutant research and development.”

“At the Nexus? What does Big Mama need a scientist for?”

Eugene spun his head 180 degrees and continued his walk forward without missing a beat.

“You’re in charge of the musk turtle’s emotional wellbeing. He’s in charge of her physical wellbeing.”

“So… did he turn her into a mutant?”

The owl’s head turned back as they had reached a service elevator.

“Why does Big Mama want mutants?”

The owl did not follow Casey into the elevator, but swiped his keycard to the restricted floor Sunshine was kept on.

“I thought you of all people would know, turtle,” he sneered as the doors closed.

When Sunshine woke up, everything was numb. She couldn’t even move. Her eyelids were too heavy, her head weighed the same as a mountain. Her legs and arms were buried under hills of sand.

Sand… mountains; it was wild to know that something existed, and at the same time have no recollection of having seen them. She could see them in her mind's eye, but they were detached from everything else she knew. There were a lot of things like that in her head; little puzzle pieces, fractured until she could find them all.

Despite the weight of everything, her mind was surprisingly alert. She could hear and smell just fine, and she could tell she was safe. Perhaps she should just go back to sleep. What point would staying up be if she couldn't move?

And yet the idea of sleep just did not compute at the moment. Logically, she should be recovering, but she just couldn't rest. Slowly, her eyes fluttered open.

Oh, that was probably why.

Casey's big green face was staring right back at her.

"Ah! Sorry, sorry! I was just-" The teen stumbled back away from her bed, waving his arms apologetically. "I didn't know you were up, I was just worried, I'm really sorry that's so creepy…"

Sunshine rolled her eyes.

"Are you alright?" Casey asked when she didn't say anything.

"Can't move," she grumbled.

“Do you need help?”

It took far more effort than it should have, but eventually Sunshine was able to drag one arm out from under the covers.

“I think… I think I got it.”

After about a minute of struggling with her uncooperative body, Sunshine finally brought herself upright. All the while, Casey stood by patiently. She noticed his face lighten a bit when she was finally able to sit up.

“Synth said you haven’t eaten yet, did you want me to get you something?”

“What are you, my butler?” She snorted. “We’ll go to the kitchen together. If I don’t stretch…” she cracked her neck. “I’m just gonna feel worse.”

Casey shrugged. “As long as I don’t have to carry you.”

“Did Synth tell you…?” Casey’s pained smile confirmed that he had.

“I hate that creep.”

“Yeah, I've noticed he’s not exactly the fan favorite around here,” Casey crossed his arms. “He was a little vague on what happened, but I get the feeling he was making it sound better than it was.”

“He kept knocking me over,” Sunshine grunted, trying to stand up from the bed. “Fought him until I was dizzy and then threw up.” She sneered at the thought. “He kicked me when I wouldn’t get up.”

She finally brought herself to her feet, but when she looked over to Casey, she almost fell back down into the bed. His face had twisted as he let out a low snarl. The noise seemed to catch both of them by surprise, as he suddenly shook his head… as if to dispel the action away.

“You alright?”

“I should be asking you that,” Casey pointed out, looking her up and down. Sunshine looked down at herself and saw the collection of bruises running down her arms and legs. She was still wearing the shorts and tee she had been practicing in. They were stained and crusty from the incident before.

Embarrassed, she spun around and swung open the doors to her wardrobe and hid behind them, trying to find something else to wear that didn't reek of her failure.

“Guess it doesn’t matter much what I think,” Sunshine huffed. “If Leatherhead says I’m fine, I keep going.”

“Fuck that guy, that might get you killed!” Casey said from the other side of the door. She noticed his shoes had turned away from her as well.

“It might,” Sunshine admitted, thumbing through hangers. “But I… I don’t see what I can do about it.”

She heard a little knock on the wardrobe door and she peeked her head from around it.

‘I’m getting you out as soon as I can,’ Casey signed angrily. ‘This is wrong.’

Sunshine felt tears start to form in her eyes. ‘Thank you.’

Thinking it was best to give Sunshine some space, Casey let her know he was going to wait for her in the hallway.

However, Casey hadn’t even stepped out of Sunshine’s room to let her get dressed when he was stopped by a hulking, sweaty figure standing in the doorway. A cracked and wrinkly hand was raised to Casey’s face as if to knock the door that had suddenly given way. Casey stepped back immediately, and looked up at who was trying to bother Sunshine now.

It was a nine foot tall rhinoceros man. When the rhinoceros looked back at the turtle half his size, he didn’t seem all that happy. His pierced nostrils let out a wet puff of unamused air.

“Huh?” he grunted dumbly.

“Casey, what's up?” Sunshine called from her wardrobe.

“It’s… uh-”

“Hey, Stinkpot!” the rhinoceros called out instead, shoving Casey out of his way and stepping into the room.

And, Casey didn't quite know why, but he took that shove very personally. This was the third time he'd been ignored today. Not only that, this asshole had just invited himself into Sunshine's room when she was hurt.

And while the turtles back at home had no problem walking around wearing absolutely nothing, Casey wasn't about to assume that Sunshine was comfortable meeting strangers in her vomit-stained athletic wear.

Rude.

“You doin’ alright? Heard you got the snot kicked outta you-”

So he had walked in even knowing what state she was in.

Casey didn’t know if it would work on account of the mutant's size, but he kicked out the giant's legs from underneath him; he fucking deserved it. What the was he doing, barging into someone’s room uninvited? The giant collapsed onto the floor.

“Hey hey hey, there punk, whaddaya think you're doin’?” Casey spun around and saw that the rhinoceros was not alone.

Now there was a nine foot tall warthog in the doorway. Well, that wasn't much of a surprise; Sunshine had mentioned them previously. He was just as ugly as the rhinoceros. They both wore torn denim jackets with colorful buttons pinned over them, and black leather pants. Unlike the rhinoceros, who sported a checkered bandana around his neck, this warthog wore a pair of tinted 3D glasses and had a dyed mohawk. Casey couldn’t believe it, but he smelled even worse than his wrinkly comrade.

Even though the warthog had asked Casey what he was up to, he didn’t actually wait for an answer. He turned away from the turtle boy and bent down to help the other to his feet.

“What… Rocksteady… what are you doing here?” Sunshine asked in a clearly frustrated tone. She had peeked her head out from behind the wardrobe door but was clearly still not dressed.

“Heard Synth did a number on you, chica,” the rhinoceros answered, standing up. “Wanted to see if you were alright.” The oaf looked down at his oversized combat boots and shuffled them nervously against the floor.

“And you just decided to let yourself in?” Casey asked, snarling.

“Hey, back off there, ankle-biter!” the warthog snapped, peering over his glasses at Casey.

“Oh I’m sorry, should I have just let two massive zoo animals into Sunshine’s room uninvited?” Casey snapped back sarcastically.

“You listenin’ to this guy Steady?” the warthog chuckled. “He thinks it's his job to gatekeep Stinkpot!”

“Gatekeep?!” Rocksteady squinted his beady eyes at Casey. “Who you think you are, kid?”

"Give me a fucking break-"

“His name is Casey. Now would you two please get out?” Sunshine shouted.

Rocksteady gave the musk turtle a one-eyed glance before turning back to Casey.

“You’re the little freak she keeps talkin’ about, aren't ya?” he grumbled, bending over to Casey’s level.

“Yeah, sure, that’s me,” Casey frowned, shoulders tense. He wondered just how much Sunshine had told them.

“Come on sand bag, let’s get out of here,” the warthog snorted. “Give the girls some space.”

“Not this one,” Rocksteady smiled, snatching Casey up by his shirt. “He’s coming with us.”

“Hey! Put me down! Hey!” Casey squirmed in the mutant’s grip, but it was useless.

“Hey hey hey!” Bebop mocked. “How about a chat, little man? I wanna know why Mama won’t shut up about you two.”

“I love your chats, Bebop,” Rocksteady chuckled.

Without further ado, Casey found himself being dragged out of the room and into the hallway. Sunshine called after them, but there seemed to be no stopping dumb and dumber.

While Bebop closed the door quietly behind them, Rocksteady tossed Casey out away from them. The turtle landed down the hall, on his back. He struggled to turn himself over.

"Look at fancy feet now, Bebop! He's just as clumsy as lil' Stinkpot!" The two of them burst out laughing uncontrollably, and Casey felt his face heating up in embarrassment. He didn't remember the last time anybody had knocked him onto his carapace like that; one of the few disadvantages of his oversized shell.

Still, he was far from helpless. A quick rock to one side and he was over and back onto his feet again. Now he was just pissed again.

"Alright wrinkle cake, it's my turn with the spiky one!" Bebop announced, pushing his way past his friend and sizing Casey up. "What kinda little rat tries to shmooze over our little Stinkpot, huh?"

"Your stinkpot?" Casey growled. "She's her own person."

"Hah!" Bebop looked like he wanted to spit. "That's coming off a bit stale from Mama's little bitch!"

"Bebop!"

"Sorry sorry, what would you call him then?"

"I'd call him a little leech, Bops."

"I don't know what you're talking about," Casey glared.

"A lyin' leech," Rocksteady corrected himself, to Casey's ire.

"Whatever, whatever. Liar or cheat, he kisses her feet, yeah?" He snorted at his own rhyme.

"You've been feeding Little Miss Sunshine lies, haven't you?"

Casey didn't even know where to start with the two. They seemed too thick and too misinformed to be the type to listen.

"What the fuck do you two really want, huh?" Casey finally snapped.

The idiots gasped in unison.

"Bops… did you hear that?" Rocksteady blinked in surprise, his tiny eyes shifting to his friend.

"Clear as day, Steady," Bebop huffed, narrowing his own. It seemed what they really wanted was an excuse. They were just two meatheads looking for a fight.

"We outta wash that mouth out, huh?"

"He looks like he'd struggle a bit too much for that right? I'm not gettin' my finger snapped off."

"We could put him in the washers in the basement?" Rocksteady suggested.

"Nah, those are top loaders. I wanna watch him. Don't Meat Sweats gotta glass dishwasher in the kitchen?"

"Aw he'd be thrilled to have a turtle in there!" Rocksteady nodded earnestly. "We could watch his big head get hit over and over by the spinny thing!"

"You watch the dishwasher run for too long man," Bebop guffawed.

"Well maybe if someone hadn't broken the tv…!"

And Casey had thought Angel was insane.

"Doesn't matter triple toe," Bebop rolled his eyes.

And then he suddenly lunged for Casey who, despite his usually guarded state, had totally dropped the ball while listening to the nonsensical bickering. He had also greatly underestimated the warthog's speed.

Big meaty hands caught him by the sides and hoisted him up like an infant. This hold however, Casey could counter. Slamming a spined elbow into Bebop's arm caused him to flinch back immediately and drop Casey.

"Holy hand grenades!" the warthog yelped in surprise. He shook his arm in a panic, continuing the stream of perfectly PG curse words while Rocksteady laughed at his blunder.

Casey decided he was done standing around waiting for them to decide what he was. Instead, he took the opening of Bebop nursing his arm to deliver a sharp kick to his opposite side. Bebop buckled at the snap, howling like a wild animal in pain.

Duh.

"Bebop!" Rocksteady's face swapped to concern and he rounded on the (comparatively) little turtle, but the rhinoceros didn't really stand a chance. He charged in, horn lowered, but it was too predictable.

Jumping, Casey flipped over the rhinoceros mutant and swung his heel into the side of the rhinoceros' thick skull. The change in momentum knocked Rocksteady right into the still panicking Bebop.

They floundered pathetically on the floor, Bebop shrieking under the weight of the rhinoceros.

On any other day, that would have been enough. Bebop had stopped laughing when his rib had broken, and Rocksteady seemed to lose his fighting spirit when he saw Bebop gasping for air underneath him.

But that didn't mean they were sorry.

With a shove and his boot on Rocksteady's neck, Casey leered at Bebop and waited.

A worried glance to his friend was all he needed to raise his hands.

"Alright kid, you got us. No dishwasher."

"And?" Casey pressed into Rocksteady's neck. He sputtered and gasped helplessly.

"We're sorry!" Bebop yelped. "We're sorry."

"For?"

"For callin' you a bitch and a leech."

Casey sneered. "I don't care about that."

"For throwin' you across the room!"

"Try again."

"Uh… uh…"

"CASEY!"

Casey's head snapped up and saw Sunshine, now dressed in joggers and a black hoodie, standing there in her doorway. All too quickly he remembered the fear in her eyes when she'd mentioned Bebop and Rocksteady to him the other day.

But now she wasn't looking at them.

"Sunshine," he stood up slowly. His blood ran cold, and his muscles stiffened. He didn't know what to say to those frightened brown eyes.

Sunshine approached and Casey shuffled back so she could look at the two distraught mutants. If Casey hadn't just gotten here, he would have ran away. He had to stay here with Sunshine. The threat of Big Mama was the only thing keeping his feet in one place.

But Sunshine didn't look like she wanted anything to do with him either. He didn't want anything to do with himself, honestly. So he leaned against the hallway wall and slid down to the floor.

Well, he tried to anyway; the spines on his shell dug and tore into the plaster as he went.

Well shit, there went his favorite shirt.

Casey retreated into Sunshine's room when help came to take Rocksteady and Bebop to the infirmary. He didn't want them to look at him. He wanted to crawl up into a ball and disappear. He wished he was small again. When he leaned against the window in Sunshine's room, he once again found himself playing with his hair. It was the only thing on him that felt safe.

It was stupid. He had just scared Sunshine and seriously hurt two of Mama's fighters, and instead he was about to have a panic attack over his body again. What had set it off this time? His shell on the wall? Getting stuck on the floor and those two laughing over him?

Spiky one? Triple toe? That last one wasn't even directed at him.

All of it. It was all of it. All of it all of it all of it.

Casey slammed his elbow into the glass behind him. It chipped away, shatterproof, but also cut into his scales and sent shooting pains up toward his shoulder.

Stupid stupid stupid stupid…

He hoped he hadn't fucked them up too badly. A broken rib less than two weeks before Bebop was scheduled to fight; that wasn't good. Would Mama keep him locked up here? Would he be stuck like this forever?

His breathing hitched as he choked back a sob. He couldn't cry here. He had to be fine. Even if it wasn't fine, he had to believe it was-

"Casey?"

He heard Sunshine shut the door behind her as she stepped into the room, but he didn't dare look up.

"I'm fine."

He felt rather than saw her join him in leaning against the glass.

"They got in a fight with each other again," she whispered.

What? That didn’t make any sense. He had hurt them. He shouldn’t have done that. Somewhere in there, he knew he’d crossed a line.

"I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm-" but he was cut off, because Sunshine put her hand over his snout.

He looked up at her in surprise. She didn't look scared of him anymore.

"You broke up the fight between them," she lied. She forced a smile onto her face. "You did a good thing."

Casey's eyes widened, but he didn't trust himself to say anything. Internally, he cursed the tears running down his cheeks and onto her hand. She was covering this up. He was a horrible person and she was lying for him.

"Dinner's going to be brought up to the room because I'm too tired to go anywhere right now, ok?"

Casey could only stare dumbly back at her.

"We're going to be fine," she assured him.

We're going to be fine.

Prev. Masterpost Next

Bonus: If Bebop did put Casey in the dishwasher animatic

Notes: When I write aggressive or upsetting things I like to listen to very chill music. It doesn't make any sense. So I was listening to Give Up and if i could make it go quiet while writing this. It fucked me a up for the evening, not gonna lie.

Gonna be taking a little break after this one. I have a bunch of projects piling up and I'd really like to take the time to make sure this story get the love and attention it deserves. Thanks for reading!

#rottmnt #casey sas au #snapper and stinkpot #casey jones #rottmnt casey jr #rottmnt fanfiction #rise angel #rottmnt leo #rottmnt donnie #rottmnt bebop #rottmnt rocksteady #bebop and rocksteady #leonardo #donatello #tw: violence #tw: self-harm #tw: panic attack #Spotify

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the7thcrow · 2 years

Note

CORYNN HI

belated merry christmas if u celebrate!!! wow im so late but let's pretend im not 🙂

i hope that you're doing well and enjoying the rest of this year!

also a question that has been on my mind lately, what is the inspiration of your username? i'd guess it's because of that book, 6 of crows? maybe i got the title wrong woops hehe but yeah!! feel free to explain it or not :) and also, if you'd like to, recommend us some books!! i'm not a native english speaker so i'm looking for a few books to read in english :^)

take care of yourself! and have a good day <3

so I had just finished typing a giant response to this when my laptop died and deleted the whole thing💀 so here we are for round two.

if you were late for christmas wishes, then I am like, horribly horribly late. so instead.. happy new year! hope it treats you well ash <3

as for my username, yes it is inspired by six of crows hehe. I made this account way back in 2017 and didn't rlly use it, but when I came back to write fanfic I thought it was kinda cool and kept it even though the blog has nothing to do with the series lol.

but as for book recs, ofc I have some! admittedly I haven't read much in the last year or two, so some of these I read a while ago and am not sure if they still live up to how much I loved them years ago, but I figured i'd include them anyway:

all time favs:

the secret history by donna tartt: this is like, my all time favourite book, when people ask this is what i say. it's the only book i've bothered to read twice. admittedly I know it isn't for everyone, as it's highly satirical and slow-paced, but if you're alright with that I can't recommend it enough. i'm low-key an avid hater of first person narration 99% of the time, but richard's perspective in this book is so deliciously horrible I can't help but love it. honestly i could talk about it forever. highly recommend.

the way of kings by brandon sanderson. this book is literally everything I could ever hope to achieve with my writing. so complex. such amazing characters and development. insane world building. and so massive. it's like 1200 pages, and there's four more with the same amount that are already out, of what will become ten. it is a commitment, but I think it's so worth it (I'm currently almost done book 2, and will be immediately picking up book 3). if you like fantasy this is my number one rec.

the grishaverse by leigh bardugo. given my username i'm sure this isn't a surprise lolol. this series includes some of my favourite characters across any form of media. it includes the shadow and bone trilogy, the six of crows duology, and the king of scars duology. personally while I think the shadow and bone trilogy is the weakest instalment (mostly bc I don't like first person narrative) it's where I would start. fun story, great cast, and a good way to settle into the world. they're also YA so they read pretty easy.

some other books/series I recommend (with variety for your reading preferences):

an ember in the ashes quartet by sabaa tahir

the raven cycle by maggie stiefvater

1984 by george orwell

turtles all the way down by john green

they both die at the end by adam silvera

the troop by nick cutter

illuminae by jay kristoff and amie kaufman.

#hope that helps <33 #mutual pals🕺🏼#asks #peachy-yabbay

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perseusjackson-jasongrace · 3 years

Text

breaking it down to find a meaning

neighbours au?

this came out of literally no where. I was getting ready for bed and I had "I wanna love somebody" by We Three stuck in my head and then I opened tumbles and this just poured out of me? Yea I literally wrote this in the tumblr post option. no google doc we die like lovers.

I point this out only to say this is defs not edited lmao. I didn't even expect it to be this long it was supposed to a tiny drabble?

please enjoy!

[all images have alt text]

There are exactly three things wrong with Percy's current living situation.

1. He has far too little lounge space for his terribly long body. His shins have hit the coffee table six times today in his attempt to maneuver from sitting on the couch to standing.

2. The spare bedroom is not a good enough sound quality for his guitar or his drum practice. The bathroom is much better. He cannot practice in his bathroom forever, or ever.

3. His neighbour is undeniably, completely distractingly hot.

He hasn't allowed himself to rate the problems in order of most troublesome because he's a little ashamed about which one might take first place.

Since moving in one week ago Percy has had many opportunities to arrange and rearrange every aspect of the tiny two bedroom— or one bedroom and a makeshift studio— apartment until he could walk around it blind. He knows not to step on the third floorboard from the left wall on the way to his bedroom because it creaks unpleasantly and he thinks his downstairs neighbours are going to shove a hot poker through the roof just to brandish the annoying foot that keeps making the noise. He knows that the oven setting has to be juggled just right for it to go on. He knows the curtain railings in the living room are far too thin and brittle— he will have to replace them before the month is out. He knows you have to turn the hot tap in the shower three times and the cold tap four to get the exact perfect temperature. What he doesn't know, however, is his neighbour's name, or the colour of their eyes, or anything about them. All he knows is that they're hot.

But today, bruised shin and all, Percy is determined to introduce himself. If for nothing else but to gauge just how upset they might be when he starts up what his mother used to lovingly call "Melodic Madness".

So far it takes the reign as number one reason he's had to leave his previous living spaces. Mr Chiron from Strawberry Valley, who told the landlord the noise was so loud it made his steel kneecaps rust. Creative, but Percy isn't sure it's feasible. Then there was Minerva from Olive Grove who took one look at him and told the landlord he was a drug dealer, or worse, a drug user. He had raised a brow, couldn't stop his lip from tugging up, liking the way the ring that hugged his bottom lip stretched deliciously. He almost killed her on the spot. He would have laid lillies at her funeral and she would have risen again to throw them away. The last place, a Mr Hedge. Percy was glad to leave him behind. There were baseball bags swinging and yelling almost as loud as he played every time they crossed paths. For his own safety Percy didn't even wait for the man to call the landlord before he wad tucking his drumsticks in his pocket and high tailing it to, here.

Here being Sunset Gardens. Here being in this small apartment that fit him almost perfectly. Here being one knock away from meeting his new neighbour.

Percy wonders, as he looks at the soft cream wood of the door, if he should have worn a turtle neck to hide the snake tattoo wrapping around his throat. Or maybe a button down and a tie, to hide the swirls of ink on his arms. The black t-shirt he has on, a normal longer length to his usual cropped look, is clean and soft from use. He decides it'll have to be good enough because he can't wear button downs all the time. How ever will he afford all the ties that come with the obligation?

Percy knocks on the door.

There's silence behind it. The silence of sleepy world, too cozy-can't move. The silence that doesn't wish to be disturbed.

The door opens.

His neighbour's eyes are blue. Bright blue. Startling blue. Blue enough to make his lungs feel a lack of oxygen. He's reaching for the sky and it's getting harder to breather the higher he gets.

"Hello." Says his neighbour.

Percy is flying closer to the sun than Icarus ever will, ever could.

"Can I help you?"

He needs to stop staring. He needs to say something that doesn't make him look like a gaping angel fish. All starry eyes halos and floundering for relief from the air. Do fish know how beautiful the sky is? He imagines if they did they'd all kill themselves trying to get to it. He's doing it right now.

"Hi," He grins. Teeth white, straight, flossed because his mother forced him to learn the habit. "I'm Percy, your new neighbour."

"Jason," The voice is warm, deep. He knows if he lay his head on that spectacular chest he'll feel every vibration when this blue eyed spectacle talks. It'll be like getting into a really nice car and feeling the seats rumble beneath you.

"How are you finding the apartment?"

They're still standing on his door front. Jason won't relent his sanctuary. Percy won't toe over the line, curiouser and curiouser as he is.

"Good. Living room is causing some bodily harm," He waves to his shin, "But otherwise very good. Cozy."

"We share a wall. I don't know if it's your bedroom and mine or..." His neighbour trails off.

"It's my spare bedroom against you." They both glance to his door, light from his lounge flooding the passage in a perfect parallelogram.

"That's actually what I wanted to talk to you about." He's looking into the sky again. Watches as hair falls over that golden forehead. His hands— tattooed "amare" on his left fingers and "amari" on his right— twitch to push it back, to grasp the white strands, to know what light feels like. He tucks them into the pockets of his sweatpants. He tells them behave. The twitch in their hiding place. He doesn't let them seek.

"What about it?" Jason is frowning, in that worried way that says he's used to bad news and he's tired of it too.

"I uh," Percy's eyes flicker around the world. "I play guitar and drums. I'm using that room as my music room."

"Oh." The relief in Jason is a pointed arrow straight at his heart. Even cupid could never shoot something so potent. "That's okay. I'll use your music as inspiration when I paint."

Percy is Icarus three seconds after he believes he can fly. Percy is Patroclus when he feeds Achilles. Percy is Hercules after completing his first trial. Percy is a hero and a warrior and the luckiest person alive. Percy is alive.

"I hope you're good." Jason shrugs as if he hadn't tattooed a permanent place into the underside of Percy's ribcage.

"I hope so too." He manages to say back.

"I'll show you what I can create from you the first time and you can judge." Those blue eyes are so wide with innocence. Not the innocence of life but of words. His neighbour has no idea what he's doing to him. Has no idea that he is about to go home and make song lyrics out of all these declarations.

"I look forward to it." He smiles wide. It's ocean deep with happiness.

There are exactly three things perfect about Percy's current living situation:

1. The kitchen has a gas stove enough counter space for him to make bread and his mother's gumbo

2. His bedroom is big enough for him to fit a king sized bed easily. He is a sprawler when he sleeps and he cannot be happier to sprawl across never ending expanse.

3. His hot neighbour is perfect.

#Jercy #Jason grace #Percy Jackson #pjjg fanfic

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skylarmoon71 · 4 years

Text

Leonardo x Reader- Oneshot (TMNT 2014/2016)

So in honor of black history month, I decided to write this Fanfiction.

As a black woman, it is important to recognize and be proud of who I am. And to all the beautiful black women out there, be proud and thankful for all we’ve achieved. I hope my readers will enjoy this little fiction as much as I liked writing it. There is also a little information about my hometown in this.

Enjoy!!

"Hey Leo did I leave my.."

"Right here."

Leo was holding your pack of hair ties in his hand. He smiled, and you flushed, taking it with a small thanks.

"You saved my life, I always lose these. Just bought them too." You were so excited for the movie night yesterday that you came right from the store with everything that you shop for that evening. So of course when you got home and couldn't find them, you assumed you left it with the turtles.

"Alright guys quit flirting." Raph buzzed passed, and at that moment you were thankful for your dark skin, because it would be that more embarrassing if Leo could see you blush. Leo brushed off the comment, just shrugging his brother off.

"Don't mind him, he's just mad cause Mikey beat him again in Mario Kart." you giggle, following Leo to the living room.

Easy days like this were nice. Saturdays were what you looked forward to. Friday nights you'd all get together and watch a movie, and Saturdays were reserved for pure relaxation. You moved over taking a seat next to Mikey, and his grin grew wide as he looked at you. You smiled, despite your slight confusion. "Do I have something on my face?" you chuckle.

"Nah brah, it's just your hair." your eyes widened, and you reached over wondering if maybe it was getting unruly again. "Oh crap is it crazy!" you asked, self consciously. You had it loose today, curls falling at the sides. It was puffy and curly at the same time. Almost like a kinky afro. Generally you'd pull your hair back in a high bun, or even a side one. But you couldn't find your ties earlier, and you were really not feeling it to comb through it today.

"Are you kidding! Your hair is amazing, everytime you come it's like in a different style." This time, you were surely blushing. "O-Oh..thank you..." It was no secret that you had untamed hair. You loved it though. Growing up there were people that made you feel a bit insecure about it. Most of the kids at your school had such tamed and straight hair, while you had curly kinky locks. At times it was a challenge styling it, and it did take a while on most days just to get it under control, but it's what made you, you. Your hair was your heritage, your strength.

Leo was watching you from his spot, and he couldn't help but agree with Mikey. It wasn't just your hair that was different, it was everything. He remembered the first time he asked Master Splinter about the differences in humans. He was a kid, probably nine or ten. He didn't know much but what he'd seen Donnie show him when they'd sneak to the surface to peek through the drains.

Looking back he realized just how everyone varied. Hair, skin, eyes. It was so fascinating to him. He loved it all. The diversity, to him it was incredible. As sad as humanity was sometimes, there were occasions that they would surprise him. The world was far from perfect, but there were moments where unity just inspired him to fight harder for the citizens.

You were a clear example of that. Meeting you was not just eye opening but also educational. He'd forever be willing to learn new cultures. So whenever you gave him or his brothers a small history lesson when they questioned something you did or said, he found that he was that more intrigued by you. They'd known you for just a few months, yet it felt like years of friendship. They were still learning more about you, everyday. Now that he thought about it, you weren't born in New York.

"(Y/N), you said you were born in the Caribbean right?"

The way your face spark to life never fails to make his heart pick up.

"That's right, I'm surprised you remembered that. Think I told Mikey the second time we met. He wanted to know why I talked so funny."

"Yeah, what was the name of your country again." Raph questioned from across the room. He was presently doing pull ups on the metal bar.

"Trinidad and Tobago. That's where I was raised, I moved here with my parents four years ago."

"Dude say that thing you did last time." Mikey called excitedly. You rolled your eyes.

"What thing?" Leo asked curiously.

"The way they say what's up is so cool. (Y/N) says it's english but it sounds completely different."

Now Leo really wanted to hear. His sapphire gaze turned on you, and you nibbled on your lip.

"I-It's isn't anything great it's just a greeting."

"I'd like to hear, if you don't mind of course."

You didn't mind at all. Leo was your weakness.

"Wais de scene."

"Seee!! You can't tell me that's english!"

Mikey was jumping up off the chair laughing and now so were you.

"You sounded different too." Leo notes. Your accent was different from the New York drawl he used too. It was nice.

"Can you tell us more." He really did love to learn, and maybe just between him, he kind of liked your native tongue.

~~~~~~

The boys were on patrol, so you figured you'd have more time to yourself. You opted for taking a shower. You'd gotten out a few minutes ago and now you were spraying your hair with olive oil as you ran your fingers through the curls. Your hand shifted to the small container of hair food, dipping in and placing it on your scalp, making sure to get it through the roots. You were glad Leo placed this mirror in his room. You had no idea why though. He didn't seem like the self absorbed type.

"I knew it would come in handy." His voice startled you a little. He closed the door on entry, and you dropped your hands. "H-Hey, I'm sorry I didn't think you guys would be back yet. I wasnt messing with your stuff or anything I just need to use the mirror and yours is so big so I thought why not and I-"

"You don't have to explain yourself, I asked Donnie to set it up here for you." you raised an eyebrow in surprise.

"Really?"

"Yeah, you're here a lot, and I know girls like styling their hair. I was hoping I'd finally get to see you actually doing it. I've always been curious about how you get it to look so beautiful."

He really did know what to say to make your heart flutter.

Damn that smooth talker.

"Gosh, are you guys on a mission to embarrass me today, you've been complimenting me since this morning and it isn't even my birthday. " you pulled your hair up into a high bun, reaching for a hair tie to keep it in place.

"Wait!" you froze, looking at him.

"S-Sorry I just...I like the way it looks when you leave it down. It's so puffy, kind of cute..." his words trailed off, and you slowly dropped your hand.

"W-Well I guess if you like it then I don't mind. " you couldn't maintain eye contact, so you turned to the items in front of you. Closing the lids of both hair products, you shift over to the sink you wash your hands from the oily substance. When you were done, you reached for the hand cloth, before you could grab it, Leo was behind you, and his hand rested gently over your palm. Your body stilled, pulse increasing.

"Leo.." it was said with so much uncertainty. You weren't sure how things got to this, heck, you weren't expecting it, but you weren't complaining. His hands ran down your arms slowly. With your back still facing him, there wasn't much you could do but hope your breathing wasn't too labored. You'd spent so long trying to keep your feelings for him under wraps. If nothing but to ensure you didn't risk your friendship. Right now though, friendship was far from your thoughts.

"I wasn't being completely forward earlier, it isn't just your hair that's beautiful. " Your heart gave a thump, and when he urged you around slowly, you couldn't bring yourself to look away from him. "Your hair, skin, eyes, lips.." the last word was said longingly, and you swallowed the lump in your throat. "It's a challenge for me sometimes, I envy Mikey's ability to just say what's on his mind. I can barely look at you for too long, otherwise I'm afraid how much harder it'll be for me to hold back." So he was holding back too, geez, and here you thought this attraction was purely one sided.

"What if I..don't want you to hold back Leo.." His blue eyes glimmered, and you swore your knees would buckle just from the intensity of his stare. His hand raised to your cheek, and you released a sigh. How many times did you imagine this scenario in your head. Hundreds? Maybe thousands.

"Then I won't." he closed the space with those three words, and you leaned into it. Leo's arms were secured around your waist as his soft lips covered your own. Your hands gripped at his shoulders, and you tried to keep them from venturing. If they strayed, you weren't sure you'd be able to trust yourself not to grope every inch of his taunt muscular body. The kiss started off slow, innocent even. It was your first one together. You were both trying to savor it. Having longed for this, it felt like a dream.

After a few moments, that tentative demeanor changed to one of dominance and hunger, one that needed to be satisfied. Leo backed you up, not breaking the kiss for even a mere second. Leo's hand around your waist moved to the small of your back, and you gasped when it landed on your butt. He heard the sound, pulling back.

"Should..I..stop.." he forced out between pants. You shook your head, diving back in. Leo groaned, giving your cheek an appreciative squeeze. The action made you open your mouth, and his tongue slipped in. You moaned, and Leo took another step forward, this time he turned, and you let out a soft sound when he fell back in the bed, pulling you with him. He barely seemed affected, taken by the sensations.

You straddled his body, parting to admire his hazed look. Your chest was still heaving, and you wanted nothing more than to join your lips again, but you just liked looking at him. Those azure orbs that were almost penetrating you. His hand ran up your thigh, and he smirked at the way you bit down on your lip.

"Did I mention that I like chocolate?"

You giggle, "I sort of figured it out hotshot." you snark back. You squeaked when he suddenly switched positions. You were now bound to the bed, literally. He pinned both your wrists, that confident smile never leaving.

"I also like being in control." That comment did wild things to your body. You didn't mind at all. He pressed into you, and you whimpered needy. "L-Leo.." you wanted him, needed him now.

"Don't worry, I'd never leave you all hot and bothered, no matter how arousing it is to watch."

"Stop talking and kiss me!"

"So bossy." He taunted.

"Leo!"

He leaned down, giving your neck a soft kiss.

"Save your voice, you're gonna need it."

You gulped, and Leo took your breath away before you could fully think about it.

You were in store for a very...busy night.

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bluesakurablossom · 3 years

Note

Hi! Hope you’re doing well :)

(I’m not sure if this is the right place for requests so I’m sorry if it isn’t)😩

This one is for Bayverse Raph!

So could you do a oneshot where his fem s/o is a famous singer, and him (and his brothers😁)sneak into one of her performances to realize that she wrote a song all about Raph and their relationship? Maybe even some naught innuendos thrown in there if you catch my drift😉😉😉😉

Oh you got it right love! No worries! Oh this ask is amazeballs! I even have a perfect song for the couple! <3 @thatonegothicgirl

Being recognized and famous, that is something that most people would want in their lives. Having so many people look up to you for what you do, inspired to be just like them, and having so much praise, compliments and fans adore you, that sounds like the perfect life. Although it's unfortunately not cut out for some. For Raphael, an unseen hero of the city who saved the world twice from darkness and destruction along side his brothers, it seems like the dream would forever be a dream. Even with the offer given by the police a few years ago, he thought it would be better off staying hidden, that not a lot of people would understand him. Not the way you did.

You were his soul, his heart, his everything. The reason he got up each morning was because of you. You both have been in a relationship for three years now and things have changed for the better. Although fame didn't work out for him, he was more than happy fame worked out for you. You were singing since you were a child and when he first heard your voice when you invited him down to your recording studio, he was smitten. You did all kinds of music from rock, pop, slow songs, but your favorite would have to be country. Even for being a city girl you just felt at home singing country. Although it could be stressful at times, you always made time for each other and could perform a private concert for him every now and again.

You were working on a new song that was an inspiration from the constant support of your lover. You sung the song softly to yourself as you wrote down the notes and lyrics, smiling how well it was coming together. Once you finished your last lyrics, you strummed your guitar as you played out the song, the melody was perfect and described your relationship with your turtle so well. You couldn't wait for him to hear it. Once you put your guitar in its case you got a call from him, playing a fast and furious ringtone. After all you both were addicted to the movie series.

"Hey baby!" His deep voice heard on speaker

"Hey yourself Vin Diesel", You giggled, making him chuckle. You actually said part of your song without him realizing it, you were so excited you had to bite your lip to from squealing "You coming to my concert tonight?"

"I wouldn't miss it for the world, have any idea where we can sneak in?"

You walked out further on to the stage that soon would be filled with thousands of your fans and spotted an overhang where the jumbotron was hanging for other events at the stadium. "I got an idea, you know the jumbotron where you guys go to Madison Square for basketball games you hide out in, you guys can hide in the one here, its right above the catwalk!"

"Sounds like a plan, be the best seats in the house!"

You smiled to yourself and looked down at your papers in your hands. "Oh forgot to mention I have a new song written up I am trying out tonight!"

Raph perked up a bit hearing that. "Well I have a feeling I am gonna love it just like all your other songs, just as much as I am gonna love seeing you in those favorite tight jeans of mine"

"Count on it big boy, well I think this one you are really gonna love, cause its pretty special, can't wait for you to hear it" You giggled innocently

"Well I can't wait to hear it, I will see ya soon beautiful!" His deep Brooklyn accent murmured before giving you an air smooch

You smiled hanging up and started to prepare for the concert. A few hours later, the stadium was filled up with every seat taken and you peeked out from around the corner and could see the many anticipating fans ready to hear you perform. You felt your phone vibrate in your tight jeans, and saw a text from your boyfriend. "Look up"

You looked up and saw Raphael and his brothers waving from inside of the jumbotron and you jumped with excitement, they were just in time. "Get ready for the new song!"

You placed your phone in your back pocket, and walked out on stage and the noise level sky rocketed, enough to drown out the noise that is made in the city you called home, as you carried your guitar waving to your fans. When you got the microphone, you smiled happily and looked up to see the boys waiting excitedly and you looked towards your fans getting closer to the mic and began to talk.

"Support. Support is everything. It helps someone get through the hardest parts of one's journey and you will always know that they got your back no matter what. Tonight I have something special for you all, this song I wrote was an inspiration for someone who has been there for me for many years and someone that I love very much, I wouldn't be where I was it wasn't for him. Whenever I would be at my lowest during my career, he was always there to make it alright. And he is out here tonight and I wanted to say, I love you Raphael"

The crowd awed at your sweet words and you looked slightly up to see your turtle looking at you with surprise, you wrote a song about you two? This was something he wasn't expecting and you give him a wink and began to play your guitar with the rest of your band playing behind you.

Somedays its just tough getting up

Throwing on these boots and making that climb

Somedays I rather not show and lie low

Before I lose my mind

But when he says baby

Oh no matter what may come my way, he ain't going no way

He runs his fingers through my hair

And saves me

Oh that look in his eye gets me coming alive

And driving me a good kind of crazy

When he says baby! Oh when he says baby!

Some nights I come home stressing mad

Feeling like running my fists through the walls

Is it even worth what I have been fighting for, I am feeling torn

Oh the hell with it all!

But when he says baby, oh matter what may come my way

He ain't going no way, he runs his fingers through my hair

And he saves me

Oh that look in his eye gets me coming alive

And driving me a good kind of crazy

When he says baby! Oh when he says baby!

Everything will be alright, just lay down my side

Let me love you through this ride

Yeah he is a perfect man of faith

When every bit of my own is gone

Something I can have in a best friend

And heaven sent me a love to lean on

When he says baby, oh no matter what may come my way

He ain't going no way, he runs his fingers through my hair

And he saves me

Oh that look in his eye gets me coming alive

And driving me a good kind of crazy

When he says baby! Oh when he says baby!

Yeah that look in his eye gets me coming alive

And driving me a good kind of crazy!

When you finished your song, the crowd went wild with cheering for your new song and you couldn't help but smile with happiness, it was a huge success. You looked up to the jumbotron and saw the boys above cheering for you and you came to lock your eyes on your lover and there was that same look in his eyes that got your heart racing and he licked his lower lip.

You blushed all pink in your cheeks and you felt your phone vibrate in your pocket. You bowed to your fans before running across the stage to get ready for your next song and you went behind the curtain and pulled out your phone to see a text from him. "Oh so my look in my eye drives you crazy huh? Well after this concert is over, get ready for a back stage experience and I think you know what is gonna happen, a new inspiration for a new song and my hands all over that ass"

"And you will get the VIP treatment ;)" You giggled to yourself and couldn't wait for the night to be over to finally have him in your arms.

#tmnt 2016 #tmnt raphael #tmnt bayverse

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writings-of-a-daphodil · 4 years

Text

Best Friends

Zuko x fem!reader

Summary: You stayed with Zuko in the Fire Nation and when he gets a little jealous he realizes he likes you, his best friend.

Requested?: Yes! This was inspired by a wonderful anon's request:

Love that you are taking requests, I’m so excited! Could you possibly write a jealous Zuko of Y/N, potentially best friends to lovers kind of thing, maybe when he is fire lord? Would love to see what you would do with something like that 😁

I hope you like it!

Fandom: Avatar: The Last Airbender

Requests are open!!

A/n: If y’all couldn’t tell by now, I suck at thinking up titles.

“What are you gonna do now, Y/n?” Aang asked as you looked out over the party with the rest of the group. You were the only one who was undecided about their plans after the war, but now that you'd had some time to think, you knew.

“I’m staying here,” you announced, smiling at Zuko. He gave a small smile back as you continued, “There isn’t anything left for me back home since somebody *cough* Zuko *cough* burned it down.”

He frowned at you. “How many times do I have to apologize for that?”

You considered the question. “Oh, I don’t know, forever?” You chuckled. “I don’t mind though, it led to me meeting my best friend.”

Zuko smiled again as you gave him a quick hug. “I need a new advisor if you're up for it.”

“Challenge accepted.”

For a while you all talked, finally enjoying yourselves. It was really nice, but eventually you were all pulled away to go and join the party. Duty called.

As you made your way from person to person, they each congratulated you on your appointment as Zuko’s advisor. Some were less genuine than others, obviously upset that they hadn’t gotten the position.

All of it made you a little nervous and when you finally pulled away from a not so genuine couple, you made your way to Zuko. You wanted to dance and why do it with a stranger when you could do it with your best friend?

You were a third of the way to Zuko when you felt a tap on your shoulder. You snapped around, months of traveling with the gaang made you expect a fight, but instead you found a man a little older than you standing there.

“You’re Y/n, right? Zuko’s advisor?” He asked.

You nodded, giving him your default charming smile. “I am.”

“Nice to meet you, I’m Lee.” He bowed and you quickly mimicked him. “I’m hoping to be on the council.”

“Oh? Where are you from?” You asked, trying to make conversation as you looked for Zuko again. He had moved in the brief time you had spoken to Lee.

“A small village that you’ve probably never heard of near another small that you’ve probably never heard of. All of the town leaders elected me to come here.”

You nodded, finally spotting Zuko. “Maybe I’ll put in a good word for you, but for now, it was nice meeting you.”

“Nice meeting you too, Y/n,” he said and you let out a sigh of relief as you left. It was so stressful just to talk to people now. They always wanted something and while Lee seemed kind it was hard to be sure.

You pushed your anxieties away though as you finally found Zuko.

“Enjoying the party?” You asked after he’d finished talking to a couple.

“If you can call it that.”

“Well, let’s remedy that. Come dance, it’ll be fun.”

Zuko nodded, offering an arm to lead you out to the dance floor.

~~~~

“Iroh!” You greeted the old man with a bright smile and a hug. It had been a few months since you’d last seen him and you missed him and his cheerful energy. And not only that, having him around always made Zuko happier.

“Y/n, it’s good to see you again. I hope you’ve been well?”

“Of course, I love the Fire Nation, especially with what we’ve done with it. Zuko’s been great!”

“Speaking of him, where is my nephew?”

“I’m here, Uncle!” Zuko called, speeding down the steps and immediately hugging Iroh. “How have you been?”

“Wonderful! The tea shop is as busy as ever.” He smiled. “How are you? I hear you’re pretty busy too.”

“Incredibly,” you agreed with a tired smile.

Iroh nodded understandingly. “Well, now that I’m here it’s time for some fun!”

The three of you turned to walk back into the palace, but a servant came rushing down the steps. “Your Majesty! Lady Y/n!”

“Yes?” Zuko asked after they had bowed.

“There’s a problem, an emergency meeting had to be scheduled.”

You sighed, but Iroh just chuckled. “Work never really takes a break.”

“Would you like to join us?” You asked.

“Will there be tea?” Iroh asked, earning a laugh from you.

“Whatever you’d like,” Zuko confirmed as you made your way to the meeting room.

You walked inside and took your seat next to Zuko, waving at those who had already arrived. Lee, who had been appointed to the council, waved back and moved to take a seat next to you as Iroh took the seat across from you.

You leaned over to Zuko. “Do you have any clue what this is about?”

“No,” he whispered back.

You sighed. “It’s probably something bad.”

Zuko was cut off from answering as a younger general, Xu, stood to address the room. He began to speak and you listened intently as he discussed a problem with the colonies: some people didn’t want to acknowledge that Zuko was the Firelord, instead they were choosing to follow ‘Firelord Azula’.

It was a problem you’d heard of before and you wondered why Xu was bringing it up now, in an emergency meeting, on your day off.

Just as you were about to voice your question Xu answered it. “Some of the leaders of the colonies have come here and we are worried that they might try something...drastic,” Xu stated.

Zuko nodded thoughtfully and you spoke up. “What do you think about giving them a tour of all the good things that Firelord Zuko has done? Maybe then they will see that he isn’t all bad?”

“Sounds like a great idea!” Lee exclaimed from your right and Zuko nodded in agreement, though there was a frown on his face. You gave him a reassuring smile and he gave a small one back.

“And you should add some more guards to Azula’s cell,” Iroh added. “But don’t let her know about this. I know that my niece is crafty, if she has hope she will act on it.”

With those decisions made, the meeting went on smoothly and you were able to get out of it relatively fast.

As people filed out of the room you turned to Zuko and Iroh. “I’m going to run up to my office real quick. I want to send a hawk to everyone about this.”

Zuko nodded. “Meet us by the turtle duck pond?”

“Yep,” you moved to leave the room, but Lee grabbed your attention.

“You know you have such amazing ideas, why do you always look to Zuko to make sure he approves?” He asked, putting his hands on your shoulders.

You gave him an incredulous look as you gently moved away. “He’s the Firelord, he has the final say on bigger matters and I’d prefer us to be on the same page.”

“His uncle didn’t ask for approval to move guards to Azula’s cell.”

“We would have moved guards to Azula’s cell no matter what, Iroh just so happened to be the one to say it.” Lee opened his mouth to argue more, but you continued, “Maybe we can talk about this another time,” you suggested, backing away. Though, by ‘another time’ you meant never.

Lee nodded. “How about at dinner tonight?”

You shook your head and gave him a fake smile. “I have plans.” With that final statement you turned around and quickly left the room. While Lee typically made you feel more comfortable in meetings, this time he was doing anything but.

You were halfway down the long hallway when you realized that you had forgotten your notes. You sighed turning around, you’d need them to write a letter to your friends. You wanted to give them as many facts as possible so they could decide what to do.

Your footsteps echoed ominously in the hall and you realized how uninviting and creepy they seemed. It was another thing you’d have to talk to Zuko about.

You pushed aside your thoughts and slowed down as you heard slightly raised voices in the meeting room. Two you immediately recognized as Zuko’s and Iroh’s, but third, Lee’s, took you a little longer.

“You were clearly making her uncomfortable,” Zuko stated and you could tell that he was irritated.

“Maybe you were just uncomfortable thinking about Y/n and I dating?” Lee asked.

“You don’t care about her, you just want power,” Zuko argued.

You heard Lee scoff. “Maybe I do. I would be a better Firelord than you. I’m beginning to think it’s your family that’s the problem, you’ll just lead this country to ruin.”

You let out a quiet huff of annoyance. The result of many late night chats with Zuko had led you to know one of his greatest fears: failing. You scowled though no one could see you. How dare Lee say that? You had half a mind to challenge him to an Agni Kai right here and now.

A few calming breaths later led you to remember that you weren’t a fire bender and neither was Lee. However, you still weren’t above fighting him after what he had just said to your best friend. You did not appreciate Lee speaking to him like that.

Zuko was handling it though. “Leave,” he ordered and you could hear the glare in his voice.

“W-What?” Lee asked, all of his fight gone.

“I said, leave. If you are going to disrespect Y/n and I then you don’t have a place in this meeting room or in this palace.”

You didn’t hear anything else as you hid in an alcove by the door. Lee walked out of the room and you could see he was seething, you’d never seen him that angry and you were glad he couldn’t see you. You did not want to talk to him.

You moved back to the door to head inside, but Iroh spoke, “I’ll have some guards escort him out.”

“Thank you.” Zuko’s voice moved away from the door. “Do you think I was overreacting?”

“No,” Iroh stated. “You were concerned for Y/n, I can see how much you like her.”

“What? No!” Zuko protested. “She’s my best friend.”

“She’s not more than a friend?” Iroh asked teasingly.

“I-I don’t know,” Zuko admitted much to your surprise.

You couldn’t imagine Zuko liking you, it was a miracle you were friends after the way you had met. Could you even be more than friends? If you really thought about it you weren’t opposed to the idea.

A chair creaked. “I’ll leave you to think about it,” Iroh said.

“I’ll meet you at the turtle duck pond,” Zuko responded, his voice distant, as the door opened.

“Hi,” You said, slightly embarrassed that you had been found listening.

“You should talk to him,” Iroh advised, a kind smile on his face.

You nodded, pushing open the door. “Hey Zuko.”

“Y/n? H-how much did you hear?”

“All of it,” you admitted feeling your face heat up.

“Oh, um-“

You cut him off. “Thank you for defending me.”

“Of course.”

You smiled at him. “About what I heard after that...”

“Oh, that,” He repeated, flustered.

“Mhmm,” you proded.

“Well, I-I guess I like you then.”

You chuckled at how spontaneous this situation was, but quickly realized it wasn’t a good idea. You moved over and sat in the chair next to Zuko. Taking his hands you beamed at him. “I like you too...even if you burned down my village.”

He groaned. “I’d like you a lot more if you’d stop binging that up.”

“It’s all a part of our story, the good and the bad.”

****

Tada!!! Thank you so.much for this request and I hope it's what you wanted! I hope y'all have a fantastic and safe day/night! I wish you all the best!

P.S. I am open to requests!!!!!

P.P.S. If you want to be on my taglist for all things Zuko, feel free to ask. I hope it works and please message me if it doesn’t.

Taglist: @duh-dobrik

#zuko x reader #zuko x y/n #zuko imagine #zuko x you #prince zuko imagine #prince zuko x reader #prince zuko x you #prince zuko x y/n #fire lord zuko #a:tla imagine #a:tla zuko #a:tla x reader #avatar: tla #avatar the last airbender #best friends #requested #request

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amyscascadingtabs · 4 years

Text

expecto patronum

Post-The Fugitive. Jake and Amy talk Harry Potter, patronuses, and love.

✨read on ao3 ✨

“Hey, babe, I’m home!”

The door makes a distinctive clicking noise behind Jake as he locks it. It’s only one of the many sounds he’s getting used to; his new home is full of them, and they’ve become much more noticeable now that he’s here every day. He’s known his way around this apartment for a long time, but living there, permanently, is different. It’s a good kind of different, though.

“In here!” Amy shouts from her – from their – bedroom, and Jake hurries to hang up his jacket and bag before going to greet his girlfriend.

He’s coming home late tonight. A questioning at work dragged over after a surprise confession, and as exciting as those are, Jake’s bitter over missing dinner and Property Brothers with Amy. He half hadn't expected her to be awake still, but once he was finally free to text her that he was on his way home, she replied straight away to tell him she'd be waiting. Rosa had teased him about how wide he’d been smiling, but Jake hadn’t found it in him to care.

Amy’s laying on her stomach in bed with a thick book leaned against the pillow, resting her chin against one hand as she reads and holding up the cover with her other. Jake recognizes the book; it’s Prisoner of Azkaban, the third book in the Harry Potter series. He was reading it himself a few weeks ago.

“Ah, Harry Potter. Good choice.”

Amy closes the book against her index finger and looks up at him. “Yeah, you inspired me. How was work?”

“We got a confession,” he grins. “It was dope. Guy just started rambling, pretty much told us his whole life story for some reason, and now we have him. I even got to call the victim’s mom, tell her the news.”

“Sounds like a good day, then.”

“Yeah. Missed seeing you, though.”

“You see me all the time, babe. We live and work together.”

“I know, so it makes me feel even weirder when I don't!”

Amy laughs, letting out that adorable chortling sound he only ever hears when they're alone. Then she looks back to her book, scooching closer to her preferred side of the bed, and Jake takes that as an instruction to change into pajamas so he can join her.

Any regular night, he would probably have taken time to shower and brush his teeth first, but it's been a long day. He simply undresses instead, smirking as he notices Amy’s subtle side glance when he takes off his shirt. This, these small moments of appreciation between them, is yet another one of the parts he loves most about sharing a life with her – it’s nearly midnight, he’s exhausted and he remembers Amy mentioning starting her period, so sex is almost guaranteed to be off the table – but she still makes him feel attractive, makes him feel confident and wanted. He never realized how much that being an equal exchange meant to him before their relationship.

“So,” he asks her, “where are you up to in the book, then?”

“Almost finished the whole thing,” she says, looking very proud of herself. “I’m at the time-turner chapter. Harry thinks he saw his dad cast a patronus from the other side of the lake, but then he realizes just saw himself.”

“Man, that part was so sad.”

“You think so?”

“Yeah!” Jake huffs, crawling underneath the covers. “I just… felt for him, you know? He wishes he could meet his parents, just once, even if he knows it's impossible. He wants this family he never had.”

“It makes you realize how in the end, he's just a kid. A brave kid, but a kid.”

“A kid in desperate need of therapy.”

“Amen,” says Amy, flipping a page. “Hogwarts mental health services do seem to be severely lacking. Did you know the dementors were inspired by the author’s own experiences with depression, by the way?”

“Really?”

“Yeah. Dark creatures with the power to bring out all the worst memories in your head, making you feel like you’ll never be happy again. Like you can’t even remember what it’s like. And the only way to defeat them is to hold onto the very happiest moments of your life and create a shield out of them.”

“Kind of deep for a kid's book,” Jake reflects, and Amy nods.

“Maybe. But it's not pushed on them, either. It's a way for them to understand, without knowing that they're understanding. I always loved that about the Harry Potter books,” she says, a sudden dreamy look in her eyes. “They're just… intelligent.”

Jake means to agree with her, but then his body remembers he's been at work for the entire day, and out comes an embarrassingly big yawn that makes Amy laugh.

“Long day? I can read to you if you want.”

“Dreamgirl,” he mumbles. Amy rolls her eyes, but then she reaches out to pull him closer, her left hand running through his hair as she holds the book with her right, and he can see her smiling.

Jake's not sure how long she's reading for. He loses track of time, but frankly, he doesn’t mind. Amy's reading voice is low, peaceful enough to relax him but varied enough to entice him at the same time. Her fingers keep brushing through his curls as she reads, tracing soft circles on his scalp. He listens to her read the part where Harry and Hermione fly on Buckbeak to rescue Sirius, and it doesn't matter that he read the book himself just a few weeks ago, because he could listen to her voice forever.

He gets to do that now, he realizes, because they live together now. It may only have been a week, and not completely without its challenges, but it already feels like one of the best decisions of his life. Even though they were spending almost every night together before as well, there’s something special about coming home and Amy already being there. Not because they’ve made specific plans for her to be, but because that’s the norm, because home is the same place for the two of them now. There’s something intimate about getting to share a routine with her, working out a system for who gets the bathroom when in the morning, adding stuff onto the same grocery list. Even seeing his t-shirts next to hers in the dresser puts a smile on his face in the morning. It feels grown-up, and it feels stable, and it feels right.

He wonders sometimes if he could have imagined this the night she knocked on his door to tell him screw light and breezy. Honestly, he probably could have, even if he was too proud to admit it to himself in the beginning. But after a year and a half of dating, of which six excruciating months were spent apart (and hopefully no more will ever be, he thinks), Jake couldn’t care less about pride. He loves Amy Santiago, and he wants to spend all the time he can with her, give her everything and share his life with her for as long as she’ll let him. That, if anything, makes him proud. In any case, it’s like he said that first night undercover as Johnny and Dora – there’s really no one else’s opinion he cares about more than hers.

Amy finishes the chapter, reaching for a bookmark before putting the book on her nightstand.

“There,” she laughs. “That’s your goodnight story.”

“Mm, one more chapter.”

“Mm, no. It’s late, babe.”

“I have a question,” he says then, knowing it’ll garner her attention and give him some more treasured quality time before they really have to go to sleep. Amy raises an eyebrow and shakes her head lovingly at him, but then she nods. “Harry’s patronus is a stag, right? Like his dad’s animagus form. And in the fifth book, Hermione has an otter, and Ron some kind of dog.”

“A Jack Russell terrier. Yeah, why?”

“How is your patronus determined? Like… how does it know?”

“It’s supposed to reflect your innermost personality,” she answers, not missing a beat. “It represents something about you that makes you who you are. Something that gives you strength, I would say. So for Harry, that would be the thought of his parents fighting for him.”

“I like that,” Jake says. “A lot of things in that universe are just grossly poetic though, aren't they?”

This makes Amy chuckle. “Very true.”

“What do you think yours would be?”

“Oh. Hmm.” She presses her lips together. “I don't know. What do you think?”

“We could find out,” He grins, reaching for his phone. “I’m sure there's a BuzzFeed quiz.”

He's right – and although Amy rolls her eyes at him at first, they end up having a laugh at the quiz, picking the options they think best suit the other one and shrugging when the results suggest Amy’s would be a horse, and Jake’s a stag.

“The descriptions are pretty accurate, though,” Amy says, reading from Jake’s phone. “Brave and fearless, and your greatest asset is your ability to love. Sometimes you get a bit hot-headed and impatient –” Jake fake-gasps. “– but your friends are your source of peace, getting you through the good and bad.”

“I still think it should be a ninja turtle,” he mutters. “But yours is true, too. Loyal, smart, underrated badass.”

“It just gave us the same patronuses as Harry and Ginny.” Amy smiles. “They do get together later, so I guess that works.”

“Spoilers! I haven’t gotten to that part yet!”

“Oh, come on, it’s really obvious.” She kisses the pouting grimace off of his face. “Different question. What memory would you use to cast your patronus?”

“I have thought about that,” he confesses, blushing. “It’s a three-way tie. The first time you told me you loved me. That evening when you stood outside my door and told me you wanted to be with me, for reals. Maybe even our first date, after the bet. All of those, together… I think they’d make a damn good patronus.”

“Wow.” Amy almost looks taken aback, like she wasn’t expecting that moment of sincerity. “I’m surprised you didn’t just say the first time we had sex or something.”

“Would you have wanted me to say that? Wait, is that yours? Santiago –”

“Oh my god, obviously not –”

“Obviously? Wow, hurtful, much –”

“Just let me finish!”

“Title of –”

“Stop!” Amy’s shaking with laughter, holding her hand on top of his mouth just for a second. “Stop, stop. What I meant to say was that it’s the same for me. That’s what I’d think of, too.”

“Even the bet? Even though you lost?”

“Yes, babe. Even though I lost.”

“So it wouldn’t be the first time we had sex, then.”

She smirks. “We’ve had better since.”

Then she leans over him, and her lips are on his, insistent but soft at once. His heartbeat’s speeding by the time she pulls away, and it satisfies him to see that her face is a little flushed, too.

“For the record,” Jake mumbles as she rests her head on his chest after, “this, right here – would also work for a damn good patronus.”

“Oh, yeah. No dementor would stand a chance.”

“Mm. You’re a nerd, but I love you.”

“I love you, too. Goodnight, babe.”

“Goodnight,” he whispers, wrapping his arms around her and allowing himself a brief moment to revel in the feeling that’s started growing in him recently.

Forever, this could be forever.

#my writing #b99 #brooklyn nine-nine #peraltiago #jake x amy #b99 fic #jake x amy fanfiction #peraltiago fanfiction #this is so self-indulgent wow #harry potter

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emilykinncy · 4 years

Text

Normily My Caffeine Withdrawal Podcast episode (transcript of certain parts)

EK intro: I first met Norman Reedus working on The Walking Dead of course. Over the course of my four seasons on our show, I got to know Norman better and better and we became good friends. And in a sort of interesting parallel, our characters storylines also became more intertwined within the show. Norman is so special, he seems to have endless amounts of creative energy that I find incredibly inspiring. He also has great taste in music and coffee which makes him a perfect guest for this podcast. Welcome back to My Caffeine Withdrawal, I am so incredibly excited to share this episode with all of you today. Norman has so many fans and I know this to be true because everyday someone in my life or someone on social media asks me ‘hey, how was it working with Norman? What is Norman Reedus like?’ Well, now today you guys are going to get to know Norman in the same way that I know Norman! We talk about how Norman got into acting and when and why he moved to California, as well as what his life was like as an artist first starting out in Los Angeles. We talk about a book he’s been writing! And he tells a lot of great stories! But first, Norman explained his current coffee setup situation and how he’s currently weathering the quarantine from Costa Rica.

This gets long so putting it behind a cut!

I put a timestamp of where each segment starts at the end of them!

NR: Hi Emily!

EK: Hi!

NR: I just set this up cause I’ve been listening to your podcast which I really like and I know it’s heavy on the coffee so I brought my coffee setup down the mountain in my backpack on the motorcycle and this is my coffee jam here (I’m not 100% sure of the last 2 words) so, this is what I do. You ready?

EK: Yes!

*NR shows her & describes his coffee process*

EK: What was the thing um, on Instagram, you posted this picture of a hummingbird, that was crazy! What made you post that?

NR: It’s this person that I’ve become friends with, they only try to post positive things…*he explains more about the person & post* (starts at 6:08)

EK: You wanna hear something kind of crazy about the hummingbird thing? I don’t know if you know this about me but I’ve definitely gotten more like spiritual…but like *Emily giggle* this is gonna sound crazy and I don’t even usually talk about this stuff, but I sort of have this sign of when I’m like guided where I’m supposed to go, and my sign has been a hummingbird. And you had text me and I randomly looked at your Instagram and saw—

NR: Wow

EK: —It definitely was like one of those where like ‘go there’, maybe it was just if there is a god or whatever just being like ‘oh nice, connect with your friend, you know, like connect with Norman…’

NR: I actually believe all that. When I texted you I was having breakfast at this place by the beach, the lady that makes the honey, by her place. And I was listening to your podcast with Lennie. And I had already heard Lauren’s and I was listening to Lennie’s, and at the end of it you were like ‘you know what I hope during Covid everyone can reach out to a friend’ and I was like ‘I’m just gonna text her’ so I texted you at that moment. I have the same thing with a bird like my dad, before my dad died he was always talking about cardinals, those red cardinals. So everytime I see a cardinal I think the same thing. And then the night before, Danai called me out of nowhere. I hadn’t spoken to Danai in forever. And she’s like ’what are you doing?’ and I’m like ‘I’m sitting on my patio with all the lights off…’ and there was a meteor shower, it was called like the Gideon meteor shower, this huge meteor shower that happened. And I saw 21 shooting stars before I went to bed. I pay attention to all that shit—

EK: Yeah

NR: 21! And I was like talking to her I’m like ‘there’s 11! There’s 12!’ and it just kept going. I believe all that stuff.

EK: I grew up Catholic so I kind of, like…religion in general felt sort of overwhelming even though prayer and stuff like that came naturally to me and then just over like the last like 5 or 6 years or so I’ve like really embraced it where I’m sort of like ‘yep, I think these things are happening, I have little signs that tell me like where to go…’. I guess I don’t really talk about it with people much but it’s just, like I read about it and stuff. Yeah.

NR: I believe it, I believe all of them. I’m not really religious but I believe all those signs all the time. I see little signs in everything, yeah.

EK: Yeah! (starts at 9:38)

EK: That sounds like you’ve had a very productive quarantine, or whatever this corona-pocalypse quarantine time.

NR: I’m not good with sitting still, you know what I mean, so I’m always doing something.

EK: Yeah! Yeah. I mean that’s one thing, when I was thinking about—when I was around you more working on the show, was that you were always…like you know sitting down to dinner and then like noticing this saltshaker and this fork should be next to each other in a certain way and then you can take a picture. You know what I mean, like I remember that about you like always making something, I guess. Or looking for the art in it or the picture. Or, you know, which um—

NR: it’s ADD or something I dunno what…

EK: I admired it because I feel like I can be so slow. Like, I love making stuff but I can sort of like piece it together over weeks and then I finally do—like in my head somehow, like I’m more of like a turtle! You know just like—

NR: Yeah but you make music! I mean, we all wish we could write songs and perform songs. You know, you make music. We all wish we were musicians, you know what I’m saying, so. (starts at 18:18)

EK: I remember you telling me a story of how you got an agent by like going to a party and then someone said ‘do you want to be in a play?’ and then you were the understudy and then the guy just happened to have to call out so then you were in the play, you didn’t have to be the understudy and then an agent—and that’s how it all started with acting, um, *laughs* did I just tell your story for you?!

NR: You’re right. No, no you’re exactly right. That’s exactly what happened. (starts at 26:08)

NR: I actually made an album, a music album

EK: You did?!

NR: Yeah

EK: Oh, that’s—you wrote all the songs and stuff? Or did you—

NR: I didn’t write any of it. And I didn’t really sing it, it’s more of a spoken word thing

EK: Yeah!

NR *tells story about how this came about, which involves an igloo*

EK: Wait, why were you in an igloo in Switzerland?! *laughs*

NR *tells more of the story…it’s long ok I don’t wanna transcribe it sdhfhsfh*

EK: Yeah I wanna hear your album! I mean…

NR: It’s out—

EK: It is?!

NR: It played…it did pretty well in France, it was on the radio and shit

EK: Yeah, will you email it to me or something, so I can…

NR: I will. Yeah yeah.

EK: I also wanted to make sure today to get some of your music picks because I remember back when we were on the show you always gave me the best music, like stuff that I hadn’t heard. I don’t know if if it’s just like because of your friends in New York or like maybe you’re a little bit older than me so you know different bands than I do. But, I remember like Dinosaur Jr., you like introducing me to Dinosaur Jr. Like I didn’t really know Dinosaur Jr. before you

NR: That’s crazy that you don’t know Dinosaur Jr. then (? I really can’t tell for sure that last word he says)

EK: I know! I think I might have pretended that I kind of I knew but like you introduced me for sure and I like totally dove in. But yeah during this quarantine, what have you been listening to?

NR: *lists some bands* Sean Lennon’s band that he made with Les Claypool is really good. He was on Ride with me.

EK: Oh, he was?! I’ve only see—I haven’t seen all the episodes of that, I’ve only seen, um, a few of them (adsdfdjf don’t lie Emily it’s probably actually 0 but we all understand babe) (starts at 35:10)

EK: It was so fun to talk to you today

NR: Yeah I miss you! I miss you, it’s good to see you and hear you.

EK: I miss you too, I’m going to check out that sock method…although I think it’s just pour over it’s just with a special…reusable—

NR: Yeah, a dirty sock

EK: Yeah, but something about it, yeah….*both laugh* Thank you for being on here, it feels so good to like chat with you

NR: Yeah, I miss you it’s good to hear your voice

EK: I miss you too, yeah. *she starts talking about twd & the connection with everyone etc* (starts at 41:36)

NR: *after he mentions everyone from the cast he’s still in touch with* You get these friendships with people and it becomes a big part of your life, your friends on the show, so. I’m glad I’m talking to you

EK: Yeah, I’m glad I’m talking to you too. (starts at 44:03)

From Emily’s end blurb: I hope you guys enjoyed Norman and I’s little catch up call over Zoom, I hope that you learned something new about Norman you didn’t know before. You know, Norman and I really hadn’t connected much over the last couple years (we all know this Emily and we pretty much all know why lol) we’ve just been on sort of different paths (yeah, that’s a way to put it I guess haha) but again and again I’m finding that one of the blessings of this time, being stuck at home, is remembering and reconnecting with people I care about and people that care about me. Maybe you have a friend you used to work with that you haven’t caught up with for a while and now you’ll feel inspired to send them a little text saying hello.

(How do they literally have chemistry on a *podcast* okay bye I’m going to go fly into the sun now)

#emily kinney #normily #i remember the old days ok i'm not putting this in the nr tag lol #jeez this took a while...i feel like i'm back in 2014-17 lol #can't believe he invited himself on the show lmaoo #like i can but...why is he like this #i realize that isn't said specifically but it's kinda the natural conclusion

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hopevalley · 3 years

Text

Season 8, Episode 7: Before My Very Eyes

This episode sure was a rollercoaster, wasn’t it?

Let’s dive right on in. :)

Plotlines:

The Love Triangle & Allie’s Adoption

Ned & The Canfields

Christopher’s Performance

Clara and Jesse

I guess you could say the plotlines were better written together/integrated in this episode than in previous ones. There’s a lot going on but most of the filming and plots just...rolled together?

For example, the saloon as the “gathering place” where multiple plot points take place simultaneously was really cool IMO. It helps the town feel livelier.

The Love Triangle & Allie’s Adoption

The love triangle is...an enigma. I’m probably in the minority of not really being that invested in who Elizabeth ends up with, but I doubt I’m in the minority regarding my general feelings on the love triangle: I want it to end.

I think we’re at a point where it’s just super frustrating for everyone involved, and we’re stretching the limits of suspension of disbelief when it comes to the audience.

I don’t think we’d be as harsh on the triangle if we had double the episodes a season. We get a whopping 12 this season, more than we’ve gotten in a long time, so space is limited, and time is limited, and we know she’ll reach a decision toward the end of this season, so there’s that...I don’t know...pressure I guess, on the characters and the episodes to showcase things in a manner that feels natural and moves well.

For what it’s worth I’m fine with Elizabeth’s turtle-pace, but with only 6 episodes left (5 after this episode aired), knowing she’ll pick someone soon (and it will probably be Nathan)... It makes it really difficult to stomach the Lucas scenes—not because I don’t want to see her with Lucas if she won’t end up with him, but because I feel really bad for Lucas!

Especially with the intense fourth-wall-breaking level of awareness Lucas seems to have regarding the situation. Yes, I’m talking about the line he quoted.

“Every man has his secret sorrows which the world knows not.”

That’s only half the quote. This is the full quote:

“Every man has his secret sorrows which the world knows not; and often times we call a man cold when he is only sad.”

—Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Sure, it’s applied to Henry, but it seems almost...too knowledgeable to me?

So, the quote is from the novel Hyperion: A Romance, published in 1839. Longfellow’s wife Mary died in 1836 after a miscarriage. Overwhelmed by grief Longfellow took trips to Europe and spent seven years trying to woo Frances Appleton. She eventually agreed to marry him.

Hyperion was inspired by this. Paul is the main character. He travels through Germany after the death of a friend, and falls in love with an Englishwoman named Mary Ashburton. She rejects him.

To say this was a thinly-veiled autobiography of sorts is, uh, an understatement. To have Lucas quoting it in When Calls the Heart feels...odd. It wouldn’t surprise me if this was an omen of sorts, but...we can’t forget Lucas’s parents’ history: his mother refused to marry his father for years, just like Frances refused to marry Longfellow.

It’s not a bad quote or anything...it’s just...frustratingly on the nose.

I did appreciate Elizabeth’s admission of not wanting to be one of Lucas’s “secret sorrows.” They’re courting publicly anyway, everyone knows it. It’s time for them to be a little more open about it, at least in little ways. Him squeezing her hand on the saloon table shouldn’t be a big deal at this point.

If this was the storyline we were getting for Elizabeth (her slowly working her way toward something with Lucas) I’d be happy with it. I’m still Team Nathan but I like Lucas a lot this season and would be content with a storyline for him.

THE THING IS...I don’t think that is going to happen, and it makes me feel terrible to see him getting strung along like this. Elizabeth doesn’t come off as “has feelings for Lucas and is just nervous about showcasing it” for multiple reasons. First, she was very PDA-like with Jack, and secondly, that’s just...not how the scenes seem to be written. You can assume her reasoning but she never once is the one initiating and then backing off. He always initiates. She always backs off. It’s unbalanced and makes me feel bad for Lucas.

I really hope we get to sit inside his head a bit longer/more seriously at some point. Maybe he’s aware of her feelings for Nathan and is willing to try anyway because he believes that to some extent love is a choice? That would be really interesting tbh.

As it is, I just feel sorry for Lucas. Not that I think Elizabeth wouldn’t have hangups with Nathan, too, but I just feel like Elizabeth’s hangups with Nathan are more fear of what she is feeling/fear of what could happen to him in the future/fear of her heart being broken again, whereas with Lucas it’s almost like she’s not feeling it and trying to force that kind of affection with him makes her feel weird/gross/bad.

I definitely think she has a good friendship base with Lucas, but if the feelings aren’t there, they aren’t there.

Sorry, my thoughts are muddled. There wasn’t a lot going on with the triangle in this episode in terms of...triangley things. I just wish Elizabeth would choose so that the plotline could go away. I’m tired of seeing people strung along.

Nathan was pretty good in this episode. I appreciated his talk with Allie a lot; choosing to be kind and want good things for someone you like is a good example to set. I feel like in the café Allie’s dialogue about Elizabeth smiling at him was off; she probably should have said something more like, “If she doesn’t like you like that, then why does she smile at you that way?” might have sounded better. (He could have said “what way?” and she could have batted her eyes at him lmao.) Allie already knows Elizabeth is courting Lucas...and if we’re to believe the smile directed at Nathan is what tips Allie’s invite consideration to her adoption ceremony, then that would have been a better way to approach it (instead of “Did you see the way she smiled at you?!”).

I really loved that Lucas got Nathan and Allie a little gift. Honestly I just want Lucas and Nathan to be friends or something because the actors have good chemistry together and there’s a shortage of good male friendships in the show that feel Good. I wonder if we’ll find out what the gift was at any point?

The end with Allie only inviting Elizabeth to the ceremony was hilarious. I wanted to actually see the ceremony (because Nathan promising not to leave her was SUCH a good line, I almost got emotional over that and I wanted to see it put into play again) but the imagery it left us with (it looks like a wedding...) was clear enough haha.

Poor Bill, stuck in the middle of that.

Speaking of Bill, the adoption being “on him” was really sweet. And then of course Bill can’t keep the moment tender because he’s always so Uncomfortable with Feelings, but it’s still very sweet.

Ned & The Canfields

I don’t have a whole lot to say here, but I really appreciated this storyline. It wasn’t the best-written surgery-medical-wise, but it felt heartfelt and that’s what matters.

Florence running around trying to do everything herself while also stressing out about Ned really felt...real. And then of course Rosemary getting appointed to the phones and gossiping forever...hahah.

I’m glad I saw the writing on the wall with Joseph; of course he’s a former pastor! I really am intrigued by what his “plans” are that are not church-related. I like that they tried not to make him exactly like Frank, but boy what I wouldn’t give to see them both pastoring in Hope Valley. Then Joseph could pursue his dream while also pastoring a bit, and so could Frank. It’d be nice, and they’d probably get along swell.

Seeing more faith/prayer in the show has been great. Also, Joseph and Minnie are so cute together... I adore them.

Christopher’s Performance

And here we are, talking about the man of the hour... Christopher. Henry’s “secret sorrow” or the product of Henry’s secret sorrow? It almost makes me think he got over Nora with Christopher’s mother and she cut off ties with him and married Jerry the banker.

Henry’s opinion of Jerry is obviously not great, but he’s respectful enough to not talk badly about him. It makes me wonder if Jerry is a worse man than Henry is, though. Maybe so? I wonder if we’ll get more information about it.

They really did a good casting job with Christopher; he manages to look similar enough to Henry and kind of...mimic his way of smiling and movement that’s almost uncanny.

Of course...as Rosemary says, she knows a performance when she sees one.

I’m wondering if Bill feels similarly...

But boy do we know how Lucas feels! Lee tells Lucas that his pocketwatch has been missing “about a week now.”

Lucas confronts Christopher and instead of Christopher being like, “Oh no! I’ll keep my eyes open in case he dropped it somewhere or maybe the chain broke!” he’s really sarcastic about it?

He then tries for the second time to control Lucas (treats him like...he can order him around/bully him) by asking if Lucas found him a bigger room yet. This dude has a serious ego. The sound of Lucas intentionally shutting the door after this was delicious, though.

“If I find that you’re picking pockets, I don’t care who you are or why you’re here. You’ll be on the next stage out of town.”

Christopher just...almost smiles and stands up. “I didn’t steal any watch.”

Lucas says, “And I should believe you?”

Christopher responds with, “That’s your choice.”

Lucas leaves, and then Christopher pulls the watch out of his pocket.

He seems to feel a little guilty when he reads the inscription...but still. He’s so skeevy.

And then he takes the flowers Jesse drops off the ground...to give to...Rachel... Honey, you got a big storm comin’... She knows he’s bad news but I guess she’s into it. Yikes.

And then we have the scene where Mike comes to Henry with a great idea he has, and is interrupted by the arrival of Christopher. Henry tells him he wants him to teach Christopher everything he knows. Mike’s enthusiasm dries up right away.

I think Mike also realizes Christopher is bad news.

And Henry’s just so excited to be “looked up to” and “seen as a father of sorts” that he can’t see what’s right in front of him. Normally he’d be attuned to bullshit just as clearly as Bill and Rosemary and the rest, but...his bias is in the way. He wants to fix his past so bad he doesn’t realize it might not be worth it...

I hope Mike keeps his idea to himself but I have a super bad awful feeling he’ll admit it to Christopher and then Christopher will pitch it to Henry as his own idea. I feel sick just thinking of it!

Clara and Jesse

Clara and Jesse were starting to repair things juuust every so slightly and then he gets mad that she’s shortening her skirt and...it all goes to hell.

It’s not that I don’t love a little drama but this is just...I don’t know. Maybe too much? I liked Clara’s discussion with Joseph because he tells her the honest truth (and he’s full of advice, for better or worse, just like me HAHA): you can’t repair your marriage if you’re not around one another to even begin to heal the wounds/talk about things.

I’m not very invested in these two as characters these days, and I’m not sure what would fix it, but this spat being dragged out for ages ain’t it right now. I’m keeping an open mind, though; it could go somewhere interesting...and at least it didn’t get resolved in one episode.

Also, I appreciated Clara venting to Bill in that “I still care about him very much way” while Bill tries (somewhat awkwardly) to support her choice(s). He’s in a bit of a tough spot; he can’t offer advice freely because not many people are going to take marriage advice from a divorced man who didn’t marry for love in the first place anyway. It’s just good to see him trying to act supportive for Clara.

Other thoughts:

I see we’re getting more of the plotline where Bill has to give up his uniform, but he actually made a really good point in this episode about that. He did earn it! And then insult to injury...trying to make him give up his horse, too?

It’s cute that his horse’s name is Hero; I feel like that was stated much earlier in the show (maybe S3 or S4?) but I’d forgotten it, tbh. How wholesome.

“Am I being prideful?” I think this was a good question for Bill to ask, and honestly it probably took a bit of courage for him to even ask Lee about it/admit that maybe he was being a bit prideful. But like, it’s okay to take pride in your work/the work you’ve done. He did earn all of it and it’s not really fair to ask for him to give it all up. The jacket is one thing (it’s a physical item; yes it shows all the hard work he put in but it’s just an object), but the horse? That’s an emotional bond and it’s rather cruel to break it.

Lee excited to try on the jacket was literally the cutest thing, and I loved that Bill folded and let him try it on. Honestly? Lee looked pretty good in it!

That scene was the definition of BOYS WILL BE BOYS, hahaha.

Also, Elizabeth’s line: “Haven’t you ever lost someone so close to your heart that it tears you apart?” was SO CRINGEY. I don’t know how that made it into the finished episode. Please, writers... read this shit aloud before you film the show. READ ALL YOUR WRITING ALOUD TO HEAR THE CADANCE. I’m literally begging you.

But also, the whole concept is still cringe. You don’t know Dylan, Elizabeth. You didn’t know Colleen. You don’t know if he loved Colleen or not. You don’t know why he ran out on Allie. You’re projecting? Maybe? But even if he did fall to pieces over Colleen’s death, that was no reason to hurt poor Allie who had nothing to do with it and did nothing wrong.

They should have edited the line to say something slightly different. “Tears you to pieces” would have sufficed. And not rhymed on accident.

Last thing for now...the lack of Carson and Faith in this episode was amazing. I know the surgery with Ned will push Carson to either take the fellowship and return to Hope Valley to be of more use there and/or push him to just stay where he is because there’s no one else in the area with his skill level.

I think I’ll be happy with it if he becomes an area surgeon more than a regular doctor... it would help him and Faith both feel necessary for different reasons. And also, he was a surgeon when he arrived in Hope Valley in S4, so it’s clearly his strongest point (and best training/experience).

So uh, how ‘bout that preview for next episode, though? WHOA.

Hopefully this isn’t too scattered; work has gotten a lot busier since the weather got nicer, so I have less time to write without interruption lmao.

#when calls the heart #season 8 spoilers #season 8 shenanigans #analysis and meta discussion #character studies and information

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baby-grayson · 4 years

Text

Sweet Enigma| Part 7

words: 2.7k tw: discussion of death/sickness, angst tags: @wheezeatmedolans @styles-dolan @prettyboydolan @evergreendolan @baby-turtles @dolanstacoma @kombuchagray @not-gbd @graysavant @someonetogray @dolansficsandpics @batgirl009 @voguekristens @letsgoget-high @crossedbone-kat @graysonsdollface

Ethan was angry. Ethan was very very angry at his brother. Outwardly, he knew to be understanding and compassionate in Grayson’s very trying time. But as a business partner, he silently wished that Grayson would end his romantic escapade with a past flame and return from Jersey to help Ethan launch two business endeavors: the lingerie & underwear line to extend their clothing company and the Wakeheart bath bomb launch.

When Ethan looked to Twitter, to find Sherry’s public break up with Grayson: all frustration left his heart. Even from 3,000 miles away, he could feel his twin brother crushed under the weight and impact of his own lovestruck decisions. Ethan managed to get him on the phone later that night, surprised to hear Grayson’s cool tone, “It’ll be alright E,” Ethan could hear some rustling from the background of the call, “I’m flying home—taking a red eye and I’ll be there in the morning.”

“You’re coming back?” Ethan was surprised: at both how confident Grayson sounded but also how quickly he was turning from his impromptu escape.

“Yeah but—yeah you can wear that one—sorry, but I want to go see Sherry. I want—I want to apologize in person, maybe see if I can do anything to make this better on her.”

Ethan’s eyebrows raised when he heard a girl’s voice in the background. He hadn’t asked Grayson about the photos of him and Kate, but he never pegged his brother to be unfaithful, even in the rockiest relationship, “Make it better?” Ethan mentally swore at his brother for being so idealistic, “You were caught out chea—with another woman Gray,” Ethan groaned into the receiver, “Are you sure going to see her is the right thing?” “Yeah I am,” Grayson sighed in acceptance, “I have to try—to try to apologize more than anything.” Grayson eyed Kate’s back as she innocently left his bedroom, “and E—I wasn’t with her, not like that when I was with Sherry. We’ll talk more when I get home but—those pictures make it look a lot worse than what it was.” “So, you’re saying you tracked down an old girlfriend to be nothing but platonic?” Instead of trying to mask the disbelief in his voice, Ethan leaned into it—hoping the comic edge took the sting off his words.

“No—” Grayson made a grumbling noise over the phone, “got it on in the shower a few hours ago.” “Gray!” “I know—I know. But she’s—I know that I need to apologize to Sherry and sort through everything right now before we can—before I have a chance with her. But like I said, I wasn’t with her when I was with Sherry, I wouldn’t lie to you about that E.” “Okay yeah bro, you didn’t have sex with her—sure. But your heart wasn’t with her?”

Ethan’s observation struck a chord in Grayson’s heart: joining the symphony of guilt that had been building in his soul over the past few weeks. For someone as familiar with pain as Grayson was, he hated causing it in others, especially when he considered them good people. He considered Sherry a good person, for all her faults. She was loyal, dependable, and positive. Despite his growing feelings for Kate, he was genuinely broken when he tried to face the emotional trauma, he caused his former fiancé.

In a white and gold bedroom in a house on the hills, Sherry Maddox clutched a framed photograph in her hands. Her long nails clacked against the glass of the frame while she sneered down at a happier version of herself, Grayson, Ethan, and Ethan’s ex-girlfriend on a beach in Tasmania. The only physical photographs Sherry owned were of her and Grayson from the past 18 months. She much preferred Instagram, but Grayson’s nostalgia had inspired her to collect happy memories of the two of them: memories that transformed her heart into a tainted space, left empty by the memory of who she thought he was.

Huffing, she slipped the photo from the back of the frame and pulled it out. She set the rose gold aside on her nightstand, letting it lean on a pile of a dozen others. In a swift motion, she passed the photograph through a shredder and watched as dozens of little strips came out the other end. The edge of the strips was not yet released from the shredder’s blades when she reached for another frame and began the process over again. Earlier that day, she commissioned an artist to construct a mosaic of herself, made from the shreds of her memories with Grayson.

The image of Kate shined in Grayson’s eyes, but her words made no sense to him, “Are you sure you don’t want to come with me?”

His voice held the full weight of a dubious question, as if the letters did not belong sitting next to each other in the words they formed. His eyes looked down at Kate, not wanting to accept the truth that they would be separated, if just for a short while, after being reunited for the first time in years. Having her again just reminded his heart of how difficult it was to be without her. She nodded and assured him, “I need to go see my mom. For real. And you need to—you have stuff you need to do without me anyway.” Kate reached up to a hand through his hair and down the side of his face.

On the drive to Philadelphia from New Jersey, Kate thought long and hard about whether or not to tell her mother about Grayson. She considered the possibility that her mother might have seen the pictures of her and Grayson in the tabloids but decided that her mother never knew when a royal wedding was happening, much less when a scandal hit the papers. She tossed any thoughts of Grayson talk out of her head: it was not official enough to put on her mother’s radar. Instead, she spent the next few days at her mother’s bedside.

She held her mother’s hand and reminisced about the good old days. She told stories about California until she saw her mother’s eyes close, welcoming the sweet embrace of sleep. Kate tiptoed out of the room and gracefully closed the door behind her. She welcomed the warm aroma of pumpkin soup as she made her way down the stairs of the brownstone and to her grandmother in the kitchen. When she let her anxieties out and asked why this had to happen to their family, their tiny family who didn’t have people to spare, her grandmother put a knowing hand on her shoulder.

In a semi-hoarse, but loving tone Bethel insisted, “Family is more than the souls you share this Earth with dear. They’re the inspiration and the aspiration of everything you want to be and everything you can be. Your mother gave you everything you need to soar in this life and the next: I should know, I taught her everything she knows.” A few of Kate’s tears spilled onto the black and white tile of the kitchen floor while Bethel continued, “Your home isn’t an anchor: it’s a port in a storm, a refuge from the hardest of times but not a forever shelter because you were always meant to sail harder and farther than the rest of us.”

As Kate’s heart wrenched with the acceptance of the hardest parts of her life, Grayson’s twisted in agony on the other side of the country for a much different reason. Impulsive and filled with hubris, Grayson never formulated a plan for what he wanted to say to Sherry: he expected inspiration to strike him with brilliance in the moment. This is how he stupidly ended up pulling the door knocker on the Maddox West Coast home and waiting on the front steps.

Grayson’s eyes went wide with fear when the door cracked to reveal the lanky figure of Calvin Maddox standing afront of two massive security guards.

“Don’t you know when to quit?” Calvin’s voice was sharp as his elbows from where he crossed his arms.

Grayson stammered and twitched his jaw, his eyes excavating the scene for some kind of a way out.

“Now,” Calvin started with his low Southern drawl. He peered down his nose at Grayson, twisting his upper lip as he spoke “Let me tell you how this is –”

“—Daddy!” Sherry’s voice cut the tension with a shrill acidic screech. She moved between the security to stand in front of her father with crossed arms, in an identical pose to him. Grayson’s mouth went dry. “I’ll take care of it,” she asserted. Minding her father’s disappointed look, she turned to the security guards and waved with her hands, “Shoo.”

Sherry gracefully stepped out of the threshold and closed the door behind her, careful to match her father’s antagonistic stare. She huffed out of her nose and closed her eyes, her hand rested on the doorknob. She looked like she was about to open the door and go back inside when she said, “What could possibly be left for you here?”

Grayson opened his mouth to start to speak but was cut off by her harsh tone, “I mean—don’t try to tell me you want me back. I would never. I could never after you embarrassed me like that—no woman who knows her worth would return to a man who pulled your kind of stunt.” Her words fired from her lips like projectiles that battered at the sack of guilt Grayson had forged in his own stomach.

Grayson nodded and balled his mouth into a tight knot, “I know. You’re better than that. And I will say this until the day I die, but I’m so sorry Sherry. I—I –I—” Grayson reached out for something imaginary in the air, “I was fighting a war in my mind and I took you down with me as collateral and you—you never deserved that. You were never anything but good to me,” Grayson’s eyes welled in kindness and sadness. Sherry stared at him coldly and narrowed her eyes: still not convinced he wasn’t about to ask for her back.

“I would never want to be yours again,” Sherry retorted, trying to anticipate his next move, “The world would never believe it. The entire world would look at me like some kind of doe eyed, brainless Nancy.”

“You have every right,” Grayson nodded, breathing heavily and feeling his chest tighten with every syllable, “You—you ended us and you had every right to Sher—”

“Every right to?” her words came so slow they were slick on her tongue. “I had no choice to. What was I supposed to do?” she sneered, “post motivation quotes on Instagram and keep telling my family that it was just a phase?”

Grayson nodded and his sweaty palms found a home in his pockets. He looked at the floor, where he noticed an obtuse patch of dirt on the toe of his shoe. “I’m sorry,” his voice was barely above a whisper, “I’m so sorry. I’ll always be Sherry. I can only imagine what I put you through—and you didn’t deserve any of it.”

Grayson was shocked when she laid a delicate, graceful hand on his jaw. She drew him in and placed a puckered kiss on his cheek, “Grayson,” she stepped away from him, “you made me an underdog,” she placed a hand on the door knob, “and everyone loves an underdog.”

She turned to leave but twisted her upper body in his direction, “Was that all?” her tone was flat and devoid of any emotion.

Grayson gnawed at his lip and circled his head, “If—well—those pictures weren’t what it looked like—that girl, she’s—”

Sherry held out an intimidating, long, perfectly manicured finger in his direction. She spoke through gritted teeth, “Don’t.” She unlocked her jaw, “Don’t tell me a single word about her. I’m not about to spend the rest of my life swimming in those kinds of comparisons.” Sherry made a calculated move to swing her backside while walking away and closing the door behind her.

***

Later that night, Kate hung up the phone with Grayson as she leaned her backpacks against the dresser in her childhood bedroom. She dropped on her bed and eyed the science fair ribbons and faded polaroids strung on her wall. One of them showed her old cat, sleeping contently on a dusty couch. A few of them featured her friend Tabby: each iteration of Tabby wearing a different hair color. Kate never had many friends: tending toward shyness and introversion. Her eyes locked on one on the far left. She sat up and reached out for it. She thumbed the faded glossy surface carefully. The photo showed her and her mom on her 16th birthday: in front of a grocery store cake decorated with a few candles. She thumbed the surface again but standing up and walking over to put it in her bag to bring to California.

On her nightstand, her phone started ringing. She stared at the unknown number flashing across the screen. She questioned the chance of a paparazzi being on the other end: she swallowed hard and pushed the thought away that it might be Sherry. Throwing caution to the wind, she picked it up “Hello?”

“Hey..Kate. How are you?” Even three years down the line, she could tell the difference between Grayson’s voice and Ethan’s.

“Hi Ethan! Oh my god, how are you?” She turned on the speaker phone and sat cross legged on her bed: mimicking a pose she used to take when Tabby would come over to gush about boys. She hunched forward, leaning in as if Ethan was in the room with her. “I’m good.” Ethan started plainly, “Gray told me you were flying back tomorrow?”

“Yeah I should be there by lunch, I’m leaving at like 6 in the morning,” she started. She sighed and looked down at the phone. In that moment, she was struck by the fact that Grayson and her had yet to share the details of their mundane lives in the past few weeks, that had been anything but mundane. “Do you two still live together?”

“Yup,” Ethan let out a breathy chuckle, “I get to smell him every morning.” Ethan sucked in his top lip, wondering if it was too soon to make that joke in their relationship. “Um but yeah I wanted to call you, say hi.” He shrugged from where he stood, “Let you know that if you need anything, I’m here.” He was silent for a moment. “I’m happy the big guy came to his senses and found you again. I think the best version of my brother happened when he was with you.”

“That means more than you know Ethan.” Kate sighed and fell back against her pillows, “I just—this is so complicated. You don’t think that’s a bad sign or anything?” She spoke openly, feeling relief to have a place to candidly think out loud about the situation for the first time.

Ethan breathed through his nose and picked his words carefully, “It’s what you make of it. And as his brother, I know I’m--I’m biased, but all he wants is just an honest chance. He’ll come through if you let him. Just because things are twisted, doesn’t mean they’re broken.” “Thanks Ethan, that means more than you know.” Kate’s words fell heavy onto the phone. She sat up, as if somehow powered by the idea that twisted did not equal broken.

“Don’t stress about,” Ethan’s voice came with a promise, “If anything, you two taught me something about love last time around. You shouldn’t be worry about it.”

A/N: I feel like this part is kinda boring and I am sorry!

#grayson dolan #grayson x oc #dolan twins #youtuber #influencer #Ethan #ethan dolan #fanfic #angst #romance #fluff #concept #blurb #smut #long fic #chapter

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only-here-for-jatp · 4 years

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Build-a-Band pt 1&2

Inspired from a tumblr post that I have lost track of. (If you see it lmk)

The boys go to Build-a-Bear.

Each chapter is told from the POV of a different person. Reggie is first up!

I tried to reference actual build a bears, but the accessories are whatever I wish into existence so there.

Can read on Ao3 here

And also below! ~1900 words

Everything had been normal since the Orpheum. Well as normal as life can be when you live with three teenage boy ghosts from the 90s and you’re in a rock band that played one of the most well-known clubs in LA. The boys still got into their crazy antics that Julie inevitably had to fix and there was still something going on between her and Luke, whatever that was. She didn’t have time to worry about it so much these days.

Ever since the Orpheum they could touch and every now and again they could become visible to Flynn or Carlos. It still hadn’t happened in front of Ray yet, much to Reggie’s disappointment but he kept trying. Ray had taken news that the boys were ghosts surprisingly well with the addition of a few extra rules. He eyed the empty space where one ghost in particular was supposed to be when he told them although if the object of Ray’s focus noticed he sure didn’t show it.

Time was passing by rather quickly these days, and soon it was the start of summer. Julie’s dad had been nudging her to get a summer job and she couldn’t help but think it might be a good idea. The band was playing regular gigs now, but they weren’t making much money. If they were going to keep going, they needed another source of income. The boys of course couldn’t be of much help with this since you know, dead, so it was mostly up to Julie.

The boys, especially Luke, were a little grumbly about her taking time away from their music. Once she explained that this was to make money for the band, they’d felt a little better about it. They still weren’t over the moon, but the pouting had definitely decreased.

This is how Julie found herself with a job that she knew really wasn’t that awful but was exhausting none-the-less.

Build-a-Bear.

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

The boys were really enjoying the fact that summer meant more time with Julie, even if she did have her new job at the mall. Reggie in particular loved having the extra people around. There was always something going on with Carlos and he’d made numerous trips to baseball practice, or to the park, or whatever was going on.

Today though, after much begging and pleading with Julie, she’d finally relented to let him tag along to her job. For the most part she’d forbidden them from visiting, saying that her job was chaotic enough without throwing three teenage ghost boys into the mix, but Reggie had just been so intrigued.

Build a Bear was apparently a place for kids where they came and made stuffed animals and you could add hearts and costumes and name them. To him that sounded like possibly the best place in the world.

When he was younger, he’d had a small chocolate brown teddy bear that he carried around with him anywhere. It came with him for the first day of kindergarten, and most days after until he found Luke. Then Sir Reginald, as the teddy bear was known as, would stay in his backpack, just in case. It’d been his support during all of the fighting, and he’d hold tight every time he hid in his closet trying to drown out the noise.

In truth, he’d never really grown out of his teddy bear but it was early middle school when Luke discovered there was a way to climb in through Reggie’s window and soon it was Luke sitting with him in the closet or pulling him out of the house to the studio to play music and wander the beach.

How exactly did one make a stuffed animal he thought? It seemed like it would take a long time sewing all of the pieces together and stuffing it? That’s a lot of work, do kids really enjoy it?? So he was very curious about this Build a Bear, especially when Julie exclaimed that they sold more than just bears! He could Build a Dog or a Turtle or maybe A DRAGON. He had no idea what he was going to find, but he was so excited to find out.

Reggie poofed into the store sometime that afternoon and immediately felt his eyes widen. This. Was. The. Best. Stuffed animals lined the walls of all shapes and kinds and colors. He stood in a sea of kids all running and screaming in sheer joy and he got it. If Julie hadn’t already spotted him, he would absolutely be doing laps right now. But he promised and he really wanted to try and keep the promise that he would be on his best behavior.

He took in the plastered on smile that edged just a little bit toward frantic, her tense posture, and the kids that were lightly tugging on her arms and knew he really couldn’t- “OH MY GOD JULIE IS THAT A STAR WARS BEAR.” He shrieked upon seeing what was clearly a teddy bear but it LOOOKED LIKE DARTH VADER and before he knew it he was poofing over to Julie, tugging on her arm much like the children while speaking so fast it sounded like a blur even to him “JulieJulieJulieJulieJulieJuliePrettyPleaseJulieCanIHaveTheBearJulieIt’sStarWarsITSSTARWARSJULIE.”

All of a sudden Julie was laughing and he stepped back to give her a curious look. Had he broken her? He hadn’t meant to break her. OH NO what was Luke going to say if he broke Julie? And Alex? Oh god please let her not be broken.

But soon he saw the soft smile playing on her lips, a genuine one this time. He smiled back at her and he watched her give him a small nod in a different direction. His eyes followed where she was indicating, and he felt his mouth drop open. There was a soft tan bear with kind of curly fur and its feet had this soft pink material on it. And he couldn’t say what about the bear it was, but it felt like he was looking at Alex.

Reggie quickly glanced at the name, “Timeless Bear” and he smiled. That was all of them exactly. Julie had come to stand next to him, and whispered softly “we can make that one, deal?” Reggie nodded, joy spreading through him quickly and he couldn’t stop his excitement from making him bounce.

Julie had a horde of kids following behind her and Reggie joined them, fitting right in if he wasn’t taller than them. And a ghost. Julie had picked up what looked like a deflated version of the bear and understanding was slowly started to dawn on how this whole process worked. But he still couldn’t figure out how they were going to all stuff and sew it.

Julie led them to this small open space and he watched all the children sit down, so Reggie followed along. In front of them was this huge machine and Reggie stared at it in awe. Was that? Was it filled with stuffing??? This was so cool! He was almost too distracted to miss Julie’s speech. Something about waiting your turn and choosing the softness levels and adding the heart.

Wait. The heart? Reggie tuned back in.

“Alright everyone, you will all need to pick a heart for your new friend.” Reggie’s eye grew wide. The shuffling of kids drew him to the little boxes filled with soft satin hearts. They were all in shades of red and pink and checkered. Julie was there talking with the kids to help him decide when he spotted a heart that was the exact same shade as Alex’s favorite sweatshirt. He pointed with a small voice and said that one. Julie picked it up as they all headed back to the big machine.

“Of course we can’t just put a heart inside our new friend. We’ve got to get it going with some magic first.” Reggie’s eyes widened, watching as Julie charmed the kids into believing with her. “First, we’ve got to rub the heart between our hands to make it warm.” All of the kids followed suit, and even though he knew Julie had the heart for his new friend between her hands he still followed suit. “Next, let’s add a little excitement! We can jump up and down for this one. Gotta have a spring in our step after all.”

“Now, give it a big hug so your new friend knows you’ll always be there for him.” Julie was making eye contact with him now and he could feel himself tearing up a little.

“Finally, make a wish and whisper it into your heart.” Reggie whispered into his hands “I wish I could stay with my brothers forever.” He didn’t know what Julie whispered to his heart, but he trusted her.

The kids bounced around in excitement, not feeling the gravity that was shifting around them. Julie stared for one long moment at Reggie before turning back to them with a smile and beginning the process of stuffing the bears. Reggie gasped so loud he made Julie whip her head around at him. THAT was how they did it. The machine did the stuffing and then it was just a quick close up! He watched the kids get their new stuffie one by one and then take them over to the “grooming” stations where you could brush them and “bathe” them before finding outfits. Reggie wandered over to the clothing section and admired all the selections. There were fancy dresses and Halloween costumes and pajamas and sports outfits and fanny packs.

WAIT. He shrieked with joy and immediately started clapping and jumping around. There in the accessories was a little black fanny pack. He started searching more thoroughly now. There wasn’t a pink sweatshirt but oooh! Was that a pink shirt! And and a baseball cap. YES.

He turned around to find Julie only to discover she was on the last kid. He walked over to her and stood patiently by as she heaved a sigh of relief. Waving them off. “Ready Reggie?” He nodded and shook in excitement. “Here!” She handed him the little pink heart and for a second he could only stare at it. But then he held it tightly in his hands and whispered in his mind.

You will be Alexander. You are the greatest drummer and one of the greatest friends a guy could have. You will be there for every heartache, panic attack, and moment of joy. You are sarcastic, but there for us anyway. Just wait until you meet the real Alex.

Julie nudged him, ready for the heart and watched as the limp piece of fabric became almost real. He didn’t give Julie much time after she finished before dragging her to his clothing selections. She giggled the whole time though, he knew that although she might act exasperated she was having as much as him. She approved of all the clothing choices, and offered one additional thing.

A small rainbow flag that had a band so it looked like the bear was holding it.

Reggie watched it all come together. He took one look at the dressed up bear and exclaimed- “It’s ALEX!!! I have to go show him!!! Thanks Julie” He gave her a quick hug and poofed away before anybody could wonder why that bear was floating.

#jatp #julie and the phantoms #jatp fanfic #Reggie #Julie #build a bear #Build a band

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