#a yokai goose or something

[turtleblogatlast]

With how often his portals screwed up in the beginning, there’s absolutely no way Leo didn’t end up in multiple scenarios where he was trapped in random places chasing after his odachi as it gets separated from him, causing him to have to chase after it as it somehow evades his grasp in increasingly comedic yet unlucky ways.

[giggly-squiggily]

~Nozel Silva Headcanons~

Hi hello your girl Squiggily is brain rotting still over this beautiful man so here's me yelling about him for however long it takes me to write these :P

~For tickly headcanons~

First things first we must address the elephant in the room: He does his own hair. Actually, he does all his siblings hair- he had since they were toddlers. He's got that whole "personal bubble, back off" attitude to pretty much everyone that breathes, so he feels more comfortable doing it himself. Also- big brother energy.

Absolutely believes in ghosts- not just curses but spirits and such (might also believe in Yokai- thanks Yami) He'd never admit it cause he doesn't want to come off a coward or weak, but if there's a loud noise in the middle of the night you KNOW he's searching for whatever the sound is, grimoire in hand. One time Solid dropped a spoon during a midnight snack run and a half-asleep bed headed, no shirt, battle ready Nozel busted in like: "BRING IT ON DEMONS!"

No one knows after the first time he treated Noelle harshly he flew up high into the sky with his mercury bird and screamed until his throat was raw and the tears on his face stopped feeling like acid. Nor does anyone know about the sting in his palms from digging his nails in when sitting by Fuegoleon's bed, willing him to come back. He's too proud of a person to ever let even his family see him break.

He's feather sensitive- I'm calling it like it is. His neck isn't even that ticklish but if you manage to steal a feather off his uniform and torment him with it he'll die. (Rill found paint brushes also worked nicely for this- he almost lost them though through a sludge of mercury. He's since got Yami and Fuego to help.)

Has a stupidly nice singing voice- especially when it comes to lullabies. Before all the bad happened, he used to sing to Noelle when she was a baby, rocking her in his arms as he hummed out a song their mom sang him. He won't ever confess to it, but sometimes if it's late and his guard is down you can catch him still singing it.

Nozel's got a sharp glare and even sharper tongue, so verbal comfort isn't...his forte. That said, he has the patience of a saint and has the best advice for most if not every situation. He looks at things logically, and if you can get past his sharp tongue you'd find a rather helpful solution waiting for you. (That said- he isn't stubborn; if you feel like he's being too harsh or blunt say something. He will try to soften his words if requested.)

Absolutely amazing with kids. No one expects it cause he's so...him, but he grew up with three younger siblings and two of them still act like brats even today so he's got the whole child thing down. Whether he actually wants kids depends heavily on where he's at in canon- pre You-Know-What, absolutely not. Post You-Know-What, maybe? He'd be a good dad y'all I'm calling it (Credit to @/duckymcdoorknob for Dad!Nozel thoughts)

Very few things make him laugh naturally but the ones that do are as follows: Fuegoleon attempting to cook; the one time Solid as a kid tried to feed a goose and got chased for a good 30 minutes (he still grins at the memory from time to time) and watching Mereoleona and Fuegoleon bicker. It won't earn you full belly laughs (Well- Fuego's cooking and the goose memory will) but you'll see him smiling in his hand from time to time.

For someone so proud, if you're his S/O and kiss his cheek without warning, he will get so flustered. I'm talking ears bright red, stammering through his words, won't meet your eyes cause he's suddenly very interested in the ground or the thread of his sandals or just- anything else. It's stupid cute and he'll never acknowledge it. Same thing if you kiss his hand, he's DEAD.

Can't draw to save his life. Even his stick figures look bad. "Hey Nozel why are you drawing a wiggly turd on your notes?" "....it's a stick figure, Rill." "*sucks teeth*.....yikes." Yami hasn't let him live that one down, even after Nozel threatened to stab him with a pen.

That's all I got for now! Thanks for reading!

[honey-rye]

abt the dad au: 🏠💵🐱🫵(projecting)🧶😈?

abt barista by day, ninja by night: 😍🐱👹🍍(everyones)🍕? abt mamas boys: 💵(not lee and dee cuz big mama yk)🫵(projecting)🔥🔬🦸?

ooh, multiple au question.

Dad Au:

🏠 - What's the lair like?

I picture it kinda like the pre-shredder lair and the post-show lair combined. like it's the same abandoned train car/sewer area, but they've expanded it and made it more their own. it's like an apartment building in the sewers with your brothers and their partners. where they have their own space but they also have shared spaces where they do things together if that makes sense.

💵 - How do your turtles make money?

the boys are adults,, they have,, jobs,,,

Raph has an actual job. he personally rebrands the Hidden City Police, and makes sure they're running things right, and he gets paid for his good work. Mona also works there, though she works her own investigative unit.

Leo works in Jax's shop, and was barely able to negotiate shared ownership.

Mikey,, probably does art commissions or something on the side, and teaches mystic stuff for a living.

and Donnie? a mystery. he probably sells his designs, his tech, does something to earn as much as he does. it even baffles his partner

🐱 - Do any of your characters have pets?

Jax has a "cat" he calls KeKe. April has Mayhem if he qualifies. The kids definitely want pets but the parents are like "no way, at some point you have to draw a line and decide "what am I going to deal with today?" not this."

🫵 - Who do you project onto the most?

I don't think I project onto any of these dudes, not in the Dad Au at least

🧶 - Does Raph knit?

no, because fuck knitting. he crochets baby blankets for the twins tho, and little socks he'll hold onto forever because he's sentimental like that. I think every so often he'll make something for one of the kids birthdays.

😈 - Is Mikey a little shit?

he's definitely the most likely to spur the kids on or join in on the fun, but I wouldn't call him a little shit.

Barista By Day, Ninja By Night (Human/ Coffeeshop Au):

😍 - Are there any romances?

does a separated Lou Jitsu and Big Mama count? maybe some background flirting, maybe some April/Casey or Caprisun, or Casey/Raph,

🐱 - Pets?

I think. they should have a shop cat. for the coffeeshop. because yes.

👹 - Are there yokai/supernaturals in this universe?

no yokai, but if mystic stuff counts as supernaturals, then yes.

🍍- Who likes pineapple on pizza?

Leo. Mikey likes anything on pizza, anything.

🍕- Favourite pizza toppings?

Leo is a Hawaiian Pizza stan. Donnie likes the classic peperoni, and sometimes a build your own where he makes his brothers either question his sanity or question why they never thought of it. Mikey likes anything- Donnie thinks he's gross for some of his combos. Raph likes a good Brooklyn style, but he's also all about the meat lovers.

Mama's Boys Au:

💵- How do your turtles make money?

Mikey and Raph rely on the mysterious amount of money Splinter has in a rainy day funds box, usually reserved for groceries. Other than that, they scavenge. April being the only human means she can get a job, so she occasionally picks the boys up something nice.

🫵 - Who do you project onto?

I might actually project onto a couple of these dudes. Lee being non-verbal is mostly taken from my experience being non-verbal, and his stims are things that I do. Dee I think I project a lot of my internal annoyance and irritation onto. I put a lot of my creativity and crechurness in Mikey too.

🔥- Is Leo accident prone?

Lee is very careful, he learned early in his life that being clumsy wouldn't get him far, but there are times when Dee catches him being a Silly Goose. He also is allowed in the kitchen, it's Dee who isn't.

🔬- Is Donnie only interested in tech?

Dee loves technology, but he was exposed to mystics first. His favourite part of being interested in both is learning and experimenting with combining the two which- doesn't always pan out. But hat's the fun of it.

🦸- Is Casey a Vigilante?

Casey is part of the Foot Clan to start. She has a change of heart and loyalties... eventually.

Thanks for the many many questions Breeze! <3

[expectantdaddies]

Kirito had never embraced his destiny. Born into the ancient Nakamura clan—shinobi who had hunted malevolent spirits since the Heian period—he found himself trapped by ancestry and expectation. The clan elders had trained him since childhood to track yokai through urban landscapes, to bind unclean spirits with sacred techniques passed down through generations. His nimble body was covered with protective talismans tattooed in invisible ink, activated only when he channeled his ki.

Yet each morning, Kirito found genuine satisfaction in the mundane ritual of crafting perfect lattes at Moonlight Café in Shibuya. The café job provided more than just a convincing cover story—it offered an escape from his suffocating legacy. The steady income supported his modest apartment, while the flexible schedule accommodated his nocturnal demon hunts. Most importantly, it positioned him in Tokyo's beating heart, far from the scrutinizing eyes of clan elders who dictated his every move from their hidden compound.

The café also brought Naoki into his life—a corporate attorney whose tailored suits couldn't quite conceal the powerful physique beneath. For months, Kirito had perfected Naoki's order (double espresso, hint of vanilla, no sugar) while exchanging increasingly bold glances. Kirito would intentionally brush fingers during change exchanges, memorizing the warmth of Naoki's hands.

After weeks of building courage, Kirito scribbled his number on Naoki's receipt, heart pounding as he slid it across the counter. That evening, his phone illuminated with an invitation to dinner that weekend.

Their first date unfolded like a dream—a foreign film at an arthouse theater, sakura viewing in Yoyogi Park, and finally, an invitation to Naoki's luxurious high-rise apartment. There, Kirito discovered that Naoki's controlled professional demeanor melted away in private, revealing passionate depths that left both men breathless by morning. What began as physical attraction quickly blossomed into something deeper as they discovered shared interests in obscure films, traditional cooking, and midnight conversations about everything and nothing.

Meanwhile, clan intelligence had identified their most significant target in decades—the last heir to the Matsuro bloodline, whose witch-queen ancestors had once controlled armies of yokai that terrorized medieval Japan. The heir reportedly lived somewhere in Tokyo's sprawling metropolis, possibly unaware of their latent abilities. The elders dispatched Kirito to eliminate this threat before ancestral powers could awaken.

For weeks, Kirito traced arcane signs across Tokyo, following spiritual residue and consulting ancient scrolls. The trail led Kirito on a wild goose chase all over the city as he tried to narrow down the heir's spiritual signature, until to his horror, he realized that the heir was Naoki. The revelation struck Kirito like physical pain—the man he'd fallen for was his assigned target.

That night, Kirito revealed himself, tanto blade trembling in his grip as he confronted his lover with the truth of both their identities. To his astonishment, Naoki responded with calm resignation.

"I've known what I am since childhood," Naoki admitted, making no move to defend himself. "My grandmother revealed our bloodline before she died. But I've chosen to not use these abilities. I have no interest in power or vengeance—only in building a normal life, practicing law, perhaps starting a family someday."

As dawn broke, they reached an understanding. Kirito's mission was specifically to prevent the witch heir from "unleashing terror upon humanity." If Naoki never accessed his powers, the mission was technically fulfilled. They sealed this pact intimately, their bodies joining as Kirito silently abandoned his assassin's purpose.

Three months later, Kirito discovered something extraordinary—his body had conceived. Now five months along, Kirito maintains his cover at the café while filing careful reports to his clan. He truthfully states that he is "containing the witch heir's powers through continuous spiritual intervention," neglecting to mention that their passionate nights together and growing commitment form the basis of this intervention. The elders are satisfied with his reports of neutralized supernatural threats.

What remains unspoken is that the child growing within him represents something unprecedented—a merging of witch and ninja bloodlines that might someday transform both legacies. Every night, as Naoki rests protective hands against the swell of Kirito's abdomen, they whisper plans for a future where their child might choose their own path, free from the constraints of ancient feuds.

If you like my work, Buy Me a Coffee.

Kirito, pregnant ninja.

If you like my work, Buy Me a Coffee.

[nerves-nebula]

While we know how Splinter will handle finding out about Abe (being his usual abusive self by being a victim blaming asshole), what about Big Mama? Does she care enough about Donnie to help him deal with and heal from being groomed and getting SA'd? Would she get him any kind of justice? Like would she go after Abe and give him a painful end (like he deserves)?

Big Mama never finds out, or at least doesn't find out until YEARS later, but I've mentioned before that she does actually hold some affection for Donnie. she likes him, he's kind of like a puppy/son or something hah.

BUT for the sake of fun i'll tell ya what would happen if she knew: she would definitely get him into yokai therapy, possibly deciding to just kidnap him and keep him with her. she knew his home life wasnt good but even SHE has standards yknow? and if things got that bad without his dad caring, well, she's not leaving her little golden goose tech genius in that kind of situation.

If she could manage to get Donnie to tell her who did it, which would be HARD, she'd throw Abe into her battle nexus. if he managed to survive the first few fights (unlikely, Abe is not a fighter) she might get annoyed and kill him herself.

She wouldn't tell Donnie about it tho cause Donnie clearly doesn't want anything to do with Abe. it wouldnt make him happy to know he'd died awfully, it'd probably just traumatize him more.

OBVIOUSLY Donnie being kidnapped would draw the attention of his siblings but we'll cut it short here. i'm not about to write an entire speculative fanfiction about this alternate timeline rn.

[thedawningofthehour]

This is kinda random but I stumbled across something, if you still wanted to make Cass a goose but are thinking about the chaos she could bring with the ability of flight, I noticed that a lot of the bird yokai have regular arms with just feathery fingers in case you wanted to just nuke her op-ness… just sayin…..

Geese aren't really OP because they can fly though. They're beings of madness and chaos in a small, feathery body. (to be fair so are all birbs-I think of my bird thirteen feet tall with razor-sharp teeth and I have a new fear of dinosaurs) Kind of cowardly on the creators part. Think about the world-building implications of some citizens being able to fly!

Oh my god though, she would be so sad if she got turned into a goose but couldn't fly. Galois would probably build some sort of flying machine for her. And then one for himself, so they could fly around causing trouble. (Draxum is so tired)

[enthblaze]

short thing before sleep takes me:

"Oni," members of the Foot Clan whisper. "Demon. Yokai of the night. The shadow creature from hell."

The thing that takes them from their beds as they sleep, that hunts them down on simple patrols and leaves dismembered bodies in its wake. Always slick with blood that trails mockingly around them, leading them on wild goose chases for something that hadn't gone that way in the first place.

It taunts them as it slinks in the shadows, as it hisses and nips at their feet before darting away. It plays with them like predators with prey. Then suddenly, three heads shoot out at them from the depths rather than an expected singular one, and they take down half of the group before the creature emerges to takes down the rest.

All the while, the soldiers never get a good look at it. Always flashes of light, like glinting metal, but nothing more. And no one has ever lived to tell the tale of the three heads and their glowing white eyes and bladed tongues filled with venom deadlier than sin.

"Punishment," some conclude, after the horrors they've committed.

"Revenge," others shoot back, all the while eyeing the armoured man to blame for it all.

They cower as they hear the pipes clang, when items are knocked over in empty rooms, and when the shadows seem to bend at will, yet they know the darkness is concealing something far greater than what their measly minds could ever conjure.

"Oni," members of the Foot Clan whisper.

"Oni" would be correct.

[sundove88]

Here are more stories:

Parasyte: A Hand in Need (The Girl Without Hands)

Yuki Yuna is A Hero: Petals of Promise (The Chrysanthemum Vow)

Berserk: A Test of Courage (The Tale of a Youth Who Set Out to Learn What Fear Was)

Guilty Crown: A Weightless Dance (The Light Princess)

Lyrical Nanoha: What Lies Within (Riquet of The Tuft)

Beyblade: A Tail of Deceit (Tamamo No Mae)

Aikatsu: Lady Loyals (The Twelve Huntsmen)

Mob Psycho 100: Path of The Hero (The Bold Knight, Apples of Youth, and Water of Life)

Clannad: Falling Cosmos (The Star Money)

Azumanga Daioh: Horsing Around (The Magic Horse)

Free! Iwatobi Swim Club: Hidden Depths (Tokoyo and The Sea Monster)

Lucky Star: Unbearably Adorable (Masha and The Bear)

Toradora: Scaled Up (The Snake Prince)

K-ON: Ballad of Monoceros (The Fair Maiden and The Snow White Unicorn)

Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid: Dragon of The Alps (Heidi, Girl of The Alps)

Samurai Champloo: A Little Bravery (Issun Boshi)

The Rising of The Shield Hero: An Unlikely Journey (The Traveling Companion)

Corpse Party: Revenge of The Ronin’s Bride (Yotsuya Kaidan)

Hetalia: The Vacation of All Vacations (Around The World in 80 Days)

Pop Team Epic: The Perfect Storm (The Sun and The Wind)

Digimon: Frog Wild (Tiddalick,The Thirsty Frog)

Yuri on Ice: Cold Reception (Mother Holle)

Crayon Shin Chan: Luck of The Mooner (Hans in Luck)

Belle/Ryu to Sobakasu no Hime: A Love For Music (Eros and Psyche)

Fist of The North Star: A Warrior in Emerald Armor (Sir Gawain and The Green Knight)

Shugo Chara: Golden Eggs, Golden Hearts (The Goose That Laid The Golden Eggs)

Anohana: The Flower We Saw That Day: Bravery Beneath The Hood (Tatterhood)

Your Lie in April: Song of Determination (Orpheus and Eurydice)

Osomatsu San: Uncharted and Unknown (Sinbad)

Inazuma Eleven: A Game of Courage (The Wolf and The 7 Little Goats)

Little Witch Academia: Toil and Trouble (The Sorcerer’s Apprentice)

Panty and Stocking With Garterbelt: The Puppet’s Secret (Coppelia)

Akira: Thread of Destiny (Theseus)

Elfen Lied: Spiritual Bonds (Giselle)

Angel Beats: A Matter of Love, Life, and Death (Romeo and Juliet)

Higurashi When They Cry: Crimson Escape (The Robber Bridegroom)

Ghost Stories: Scary Fairies (Fairer Than a Fairy)

Samurai Pizza Cats: Sneaky Yet Skillful (Clever Gretel)

I Want to Eat Your Pancreas: Leaves of Resilience (The Last Leaf)

Monster: Feline Instincts (Belling The Cat)

Chihayafuru: Blades of Determination (Ushiwakamaru)

To Love Ru: Stone Beauty (Pygmalion)

Usagi Drop: Someone To Help (The Little Red Hen)

Death Parade: Grim Charity (Godfather Death)

Violet Evergarden: The Path of One’s Will (Tam Lin)

Trigun: A Test of Loyalty (The 3 Snake Leaves)

Made in Abyss: Little Hands, Big Changes (The Ants and The Grasshopper)

Baccano: Forgiveness is Divine (Les Miserables)

Symphogear: The Beauty of Mistakes (Bright, Deardeer, and Kit/The Story of Blondine, Bonne-Biche, and Beau Minon)

The Prince of Tennis: A Little Big Match (Gulliver in Lilliput)

Perfect Blue: Web of Perfection (Arachne)

Is The Order a Rabbit: Spinning Up a Plan (The Three Spinners)

Komi Can’t Communicate: Heiress in Disguise (Costanza/Costanzo)

Summer Wars: True Treasure (Treasure Island)

Houseki No Kuni: Set in Stone (The Stonecutter)

Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End: Rose of Destiny (The Little Prince)

Date A Live: Til Sabotage Do Us Part (The White Bride and The Black One)

Nura: Rise of The Yokai Clan: Melon Madness (Urikohime)

My Dress Up Darling: Very Fairy Fashion (A Midsummer Night’s Dream)

Yona of The Dawn: Swallowtail (Why The Swallow’s Tail is Forked)

Maid Sama: The Value of Effort (The Diligent Girl and The Lazy Girl)

Lum Invader: Extraterrestrial Assistance (Androcles and The Lion)

Darling in The Franxxx: Self Love Too Far (Echo and Narcissus)

Midori no Makibao: The Heart of A Champion (Black Beauty)

The Saga of Tanya The Evil: Metallic Entrapment (The Iron Stove)

Wedding Peach: Something Sunny, Something Moony, and Something Starry (The True Sweethearts)

Weathering With You: Into The Eye of The Storm (The Legend of Rain, Thunder, and Lightning (A Cambodian Legend))

The Disastrous Life of Saiki K: The Falling Sky (Chicken Little/Henny Penny)

High School DxD: A Bad Case of Beauty Sleep (Sun, Moon, and Talia (The Original Sleeping Beauty))

Introducing Anime Ever After!!

Ever wanted to experience classic fairytales but through the lens of legendary and lesser known anime?

Well, Anime Ever After is for you!!

Synopsis: An anthropology of famous stories from around the world retold through the lens of legendary and lesser known anime, with modern twists, turns, and lessons about. From the depths of the sea in DBZ: Waves of Freedom (The Little Mermaid) to the realm beyond the clouds in One Piece: Beyond The Sky (Jack and The Beanstalk), this ever expanding treasury of tales has something for everyone.

Framing Device: An anime loving teenager is telling classic fairytales to the kids they babysit as bedtime stories- with a twist!

Side Note: Nursery Rhymes being adapted is more for Shrek. So they won’t be here- sorry about that. But they do a good job at it. This anthology is meant for readers 12 and up, due to some of the themes in some of the stories.

Btw, look for the posts that have anime ever after on them as one of their tags. Here’s the list of tales (So Far):

Dragon Ball Z: Waves of Freedom (The Little Mermaid)

My Hero Academia: Heart of Glass (Cinderella)

Attack on Titan: Red Hood (Little Red Riding Hood)

One Piece: Beyond The Sky (Jack and The Beanstalk)

Naruto: Sleeping Shadow (Sleeping Beauty)

Sword Art Online: The Match Player (The Little Match Girl)

FullMetal Alchemist: Iron Wolves (The 3 Little Pigs)

Fairy Tail: Mirrors of Deceit (Snow White)

Inuyasha: Soul of The Beast (Beauty and The Beast)

Bleach: Brushes of Fate (The Magic Paintbrush)

Fruits Basket: The 12 Dancing Zodiacs (12 Dancing Princesses)

Black Clover: The Frog Knight (The Frog Prince)

Hunter X Hunter: Spreading Your Wings (The Ugly Duckling)

Demon Slayer: Demon of The Northern Wind (The Snow Queen)

Black Butler: Beyond The Tower (Rapunzel)

Yu Yu Hakusho: Sweet Temptation (Hansel and Gretel)

Doraemon; Fearless Feline (Puss in Boots)

Gintama: Peachy Keen (Momotaro)

Sailor Moon: Lady of The Waxing Moon (Princess Kaguya)

Haikyuu: Bear-ly Faltering (Snow White and Rose Red)

Railgun: Little Warriors, Big Impacts (Thumbelina)

JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: All That Glitters (Rumplestiltskin)

Yu Gi Oh: Diamond in The Rough (Aladdin)

Konosuba: The Royal Test (The Princess and The Pea)

Tokyo Ghoul: The Crimson Amulet (The Red Shoes)

Akame Ga Kill: Fashion Gambit (The Emperor’s New Clothes)

Ouran High School Host Club: Wings of Perseverance (The Wild Swans)

Rurouni Kenshin: The Ronin’s Trials (The Steadfast Tin Soldier)

Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagan: Cage of Steel, Heart of Platinum (The Nightingale)

Cowboy Bebop: Written in The Stars (The Weaver Girl and The Cowherd)

Death Note: The Golden Pen (King Midas)

Neon Genesis Evangelion: No Strings Attached (Pinocchio)

Fate: The Chosen Sword (King Arthur)

BanG Dream!: Melody of Deceit (The Pied Piper)

Code Geass: The Princess and The Pig Man (The Swineherd)

Jujitsu Kaisen: The Light Within (The Buried Moon)

Blue Exorcist: Blazing Bonds (The Firebird)

Spy X Family: Secret of The Statue (The Happy Prince)

Magi: The Labyrinth of Magic: The Enchanted Key (Alibaba and The 40 Thieves)

Re:Zero: Gilded Feathers (The Golden Goose)

Saint Seiya: Divine Trials and Godly Tribulations (The 12 Labors of Hercules)

The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya: Claws of Gold, Hearts of Gold (Goldilocks and The 3 Bears)

One Punch Man: A Hero’s Humility (King Thrushbeard)

Future Diary: Wishful Obsession (The Fisherman and His Wife)

Sket Dance: A Tale of Three Tricksters (The 3 Billy Goats Gruff)

Precure (All seasons): The Sweetest Holiday Ever (The Nutcracker)

Food Wars: A Recipe For Courage (The Brave Little Tailor)

Spice and Wolf: Against All Odds (The Princess on The Glass Hill)

Noragami: Stolen Sun (Amaterasu and The Cave)

Monogatari: Secret Confidants (The Elves and The Shoemaker)

Steins;Gate: Azure Secrets (Bluebeard)

Tokyo Revengers: Neverlanding, Never Faltering (Peter Pan)

The Promised Neverland: Emerald Truths (The Wizard of Oz)

Toriko: Sweet Pursuit (The Gingerbread Man)

Kill La Kill: A Royal Mix Up (The Prince and The Pauper)

World Trigger: The Silent Springtime (The Selfish Giant)

The Seven Deadly Sins: Curse of Shade and Malice (The Shadow)

Cardcaptor Sakura: Salt and Sugar (The Salt Princess/Cap O Rushes)

Assassination Classroom: Honeyed Words (Diamonds and Toads)

Way of The House Husband: Out of The Cage (Jorinda and Joringel)

Danganronpa The Animation (It covers all the games): Makoto in Wonderland (Alice in Wonderland)

D Gray Man: Song of The Sparkling Swan (Swan Lake)

Persona 5 The Animation: Way Down We Go (Hades and Persephone)

Soul Eater: United We Stand (The Six Who Went Far)

Puella Magi Madoka Magica: The 5 Magical Musketeers (The 3 Musketeers)

Aggretsuko: Four Man Band (The Bremen Town Musicians)

Tokyo Godfathers: A Holiday Journey (A Christmas Carol)

Revolutionary Girl Utena: Emotions Set Free (The Princess Who Never Smiled)

Sonic X: True, Blue, and Noble (Hans The Hedgehog)

Magiknight Rayearth: Noble Flame, Changing Tide, and Guiding Wind (The 3 Princesses of Whiteland)

A Silent Voice: Beyond All Boundaries (East of The Sun, West of The Moon)

A Whisker Away: A Feline Fairytale (The White Cat)

Your Name: A Little Bird Told Me (The Singing, Springing, Lark)

Love Live: A Fateful Adventure (Journey to The West)

Captain Tsubasa: Winging It (The Seven Ravens)

The Ancient Magus Bride: Entrapped Beauty (The Lindworm)

Overlord: Seeds of Trust (The Juniper Tree)

Delicious in Dungeon: Cooking Up Trouble (The Magic Porridge Pot)

Medaka Box: The Truth Above All (The Goose Girl)

Chainsaw Man: Demonic Assistance (The Golden Bird)

Taikobo: Legend of The Lost Kingdom (Urashima Taro)

Revue Starlight: Masked Secrets (Phantom of The Opera)

Ginga: Nagareboshi Gin: Path of The Canine (The Boy Who Cried Wolf)

Dr. Stone: Into The Wilderness (The Jungle Book)

Fire Force: The Flames of Charity (Robin Hood)

Shaman King: Mystery of The Marsh (The Marsh King’s Daughter)

Rave Master: Cloak of Secrets (Donkeyskin/Many Furs)

Ranma 1/2: Loyal, Brave, and True (Mulan)

Karakuri Circus: The House Within The Woods (Vasilisa The Brave and Beautiful)

Devilman Crybaby: Three Hairs of Gold (The Devil With 3 Golden Hairs)

The Irregular at Magic High School: Ring of Enchantments (The Bronze Ring)

Bobobo: One Hairy Tale (Prince Hyacinth)

Shakugan No Shana: Three Dogs, Three Heroes (The Tinderbox)

Nisekoi: Yellow With Affection (The Yellow Dwarf)

Kaiju No. 8: Don’t Get Salty (Why The Sea is Salty)

Kinnikuman: A Mission in Patience (The Tortoise and The Hare)

Oshi No Ko: The Price of Stardom (Little Brother and Little Sister)

Case Closed: Stolen Hearts and Stolen Fortunes (The Master Thief)

Pokemon The Series: An Electrifying Rescue (The Lion and The Mouse)

Hyperdimension Neptunia: The Animation: A Tale of a Thousand and One Nights (1,001 Arabian Nights)

Dragon Quest The Adventure of Dai: A Ribbiting Adventure (The Frog Princess)

Dr. Slump: A Quacktastic Journey (Drakestail)

Katekyo Hitman Reborn: Windows to The Soul (One Eyes, Two Eyes, Three Eyes)

Kochikame: From Faux to Genuine (Don Quixote)

Yo-Kai Watch: Cat Artist Unknown (The Boy Who Drew Cats)

Kaguya-Sama: Love is War: To Love and To Be Loved (Turandot)

That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime: Feathers of Joy (The Blue Bird)

DanMachi: Forgotten Evil Unleashed (Pandora’s Box)

Hellsing Ultimate: Blood Ties (Dracula)

Claymore: The Monster Unleashed (Frankenstein)

Thanks to @sam-rexian and @crystallinedreamsfinelypowdered for helping with some of these!

[remmushound]

Curse of the Clans part 56! @scentedcandlecryptid @selfindulgenz

“Get back…” Splinter held his arms out to force his sons to back away as the smell of the predator overwhelmed his senses. The immense form of the yokai was already emerging from the darkest corner of the large space, heavy muscles rippling as he dragged his belly across the floor.

The snake just kept coming, more and more of it uncoiling from the shadows in a seemingly endless chain. Gray scales were flecked with ash marking, more black along the head and down a portion of the neck. There were no arms or legs, but still a suit was draped over the yokai, and on its belt was a holster that carried a very familiarly wrapped bottle releasing a knoxious scent.

“Bishop…” Even in the monstrous form he had taken, Splinter recognized the snake immediately.

“Is it that obvious?” Bishop’s form shuttered as he laughed, pulling himself up to a height that towered greatly over the mutants below, his head brushing against a series of wires near where the chest of the mech suit would be. “You know who I am. Is it too much to guess that you’d know what I am?”

“You’re an uwabami…” Leonardo said slowly.

Bishop seemed genuinely surprised, but then his open mouth curved into a smile. “Correct…”

“How’d you know that, Leo…?” Michelangelo frowned, clinging tightly to his brothers arm as he hid behind Leonardo.

“I’ve been researching all kinds of yokai.” Leonardo said, “Figured it might help on one of our missions; figured right, I guess. The name means Great Serpent, but the only thing great about you is your ego.”

Bishop hissed out an amused laugh. “Funny.”

“What’s funny is the fact that you didn't think to hide that.” Leonardo pointed to the bottle, “Because, well known fact about Uwabami, they make a habit out of drinking sake liquor. I had my suspicions, but Theres one tiny little detail I still can’t quite wrap my head around. Why would a solitary yokai live anywhere near a community, let alone a whole city? It just doesn’t make any damn sense. That’s what was throwing me off.

Bishop laughed. “Well, where there are people, there is food. And here? They practically walk right into your mouth.”

“Of course.” Leonardo nodded; he glanced back at his brothers, smirking as they all got their weapons ready. “And another thing that’s been boggling me. Why bother helping us at all? I’m guessing you’re kinda buddy-buddy with Krang since this is his ship, yet the advice you gave us seemed to be pretty solid. Why send us on that wild goose chase at all instead of just killing us outright?”

Bishop hissed through his teeth and pulled back, starting to coil around himself as Leonardo’s words, piecing together the facts like an intricate puzzle, cut deeper than any knife.

“Unless…” Leonardo mused, tapping his chin. “You were scared we’d find Krang and fix the rift before he could get free. If you’ve heard the stories all about us, you know how lucky we tend to get with ancient evils. You needed an excuse to send us away and buy time for the rift to break, because you knew us curious little creatures wouldn’t be able to resist poking our noses around the new mystic hotspot in Japan. You were scared that we would just happen upon the site, so you felt the need to separate us. Because you know how strong we are as a team, and having other creatures do your dirty work absolved you of any blame. You’re a coward.”

Bishop reared up again, fury flashing like flames dancing in his eyes. “You dare call me a coward?!”

“Yes.” Leonardo answered evenly, “Because that is what you are. Why didn't you kill us as babies?”

Bishop began to circle. “At the time, I didn't know what you were, or what you would become. I had no reason to hunt you, but now I do.”

Leonardo and his brothers kept on a constant swivel to keep their eyes on Bishop at all times.

“Even now, you’re just trying to buy Krang time, aren’t you?” Leonardo dared.

Bishop didn't answer the question with anything but a low growl. “If you are so knowledgeable of my kind, then surely you know of the power I possess?”

“You’re a constrictor. You have no venom, no powers.”

Bishop mused. “Right yet again. I can squeeze the life out of a human in seconds.”

Leonardo’s gaze was steady. “It is a good thing, then, that I am not human.”

Donatello saw a flash. Powerful jaws latching, the screams of his father. Bones crushing, blood pooling at his feet. He blinked and the vision was gone, replaced by the uwabami Bishop’s eyes glancing ever so slightly toward Splinter. He lunged, and in the same instant Donatlelo lunged. The softshell crammed his bo staff into the snake’s open mouth, and when Bishop tried to bring his mouth down to latch upon Splinter’s neck, he was met with the great resistance of the staff and a slash in the roof of his mouth from the blade. He pulled back, roaring as he shook his head violently to dislodge the weapon. When it finally came loose, flying out of his mouth and skidding across the floor, the inside of his mouth was frothing red, and he was even more furious.

“You’ll pay for that!”

***

“CASEY!” Raphael’s eyes followed the girl as she was tossed carelessly through the air, her body gone limp the moment she was struck. She flew over the group too stunned to do anything but watch, and disappeared out of their sights. “NO!”

Draxum grabbed Raphael around his plastron and pulled him to safety just as Krang tried to a massive foot down on him.

“Go!” Draxum snarled, “Find her you fool!”

“But…” It was all Raphael could say; he couldn’t breathe, couldn’t think. His mind felt as if it had been shut down and the only thought that was still online was screaming at him to go find her.

“I’ll handle this. Go!” Draxum commanded.

And Raphael was running. Draxum didn't watch him leave; he couldn’t look away from Krang, not for a second. This mech was so much like the Council of Heads, so robotic and still, mouth hanging open even as Krang talked through it.

“April.” Draxum said as he fell back to address the girl in green, “I am going to throw you at him.”

“What?” April gawked.

“I am going to throw you into his mouth.” Draxum repeated.

“Uh. No you ain’t.”

“Yes I am.”

Draxum gave her no chance to argue before picking her up and tossing her through the air like a football. April screamed, her feet pedalling on nothing as she tried to make sure she landed upright. It didn't work. She ended up on her side, rolling and slamming hard into something cold and metal. But at least she had made it, right? She was definitely inside the mech, and the thing she saw before her when she was finally able to process the situation was definitely… something.

“Oh?” Krang said almost softly, bringing two tentacles to cross over. “Who are you?”

“I’m a bad bitch, that’s who.”

The words escaped before April could stop them. Her body was sore all over now, stinging and burning and pulsing, but still she brought herself to stand. There wasn’t much inside of the mech suits head, a large operation station in the center holding the giant, blobish menace; wires and pipes worked to support him, digging into the folds of his flesh, and in front of him was a control panel so complex that April didn't bother trying to work out. The rest of the space was empty, and in the back was something that might have resembled a throat, sloping into a dark abyss below. April could hear the echoes of a fight from deep down in the mech suit's belly.

“Well, Bad Bitch, it is time for you to go.”

Krang went to pull a lever, but stopped when there was more screaming. April immediately recognized the voice as Sunita, and not a second too soon. Sunita was flung through the mouth in much a state that April had been, reaching out desperately as Krang moved to dodge her. April reached for her friend but Sunita slipped through her fingers and the young yokai just kept screaming as she plummeted down the throat of the suit until her shouts stopped with a great splat.

“Sunita!” April was still reaching out for her even as she disappeared.

“Oh. How sad.” Krang nodded, “Oh well. Back to business.”

[bambiraptorx]

Some of the stuff going on in this AU:

There was a pond on the college campus that attracted geese at certain times of year, and Draxum somehow almost always ended up getting attacked by a goose every school year. He also insisted that the goose started it, every single time.

He had massive beef with one of the English teachers, for no particular reason. They just really hated each other.

He was still the creator of the turtles, but with yokai being able to live among humans, the boys were raised above ground by Splinter.

I don't think I ever ironed out how that happened tbh, but anyway Draxum was probably just the guy they saw at birthdays and holidays growing up? Not a huge part of their lives until their later teens

Leo's a theater major, and liked freaking people out by practicing injury makeup (think bruises, black eyes, etc) and just. going to class like that. He wanted to see if it was convincing lol

Donnie and April lived in the same dorm building on different floors and shared a couple of gen ed's, which is how they met

Draxum taught one of the gen ed's they shared (idk which one but probably biology or chem or something?). Donnie and Draxum kept their connection pretty hidden, but April overheard a few things and ended up piecing them together.

The funny thing about the whole "Draxum as a teacher" thing that shows up in a couple of my AU's is that it actually came from one specific AU that never really went anywhere, a college AU. The basic idea was that April doesn't meet the turtles until college (and also that it was a world where yokai had already been revealed to exist, and coexisted with humans to some extent).

April would have met Donnie and Leo first, probably from sharing some classes with them, and Draxum would have been a weird old eccentric professor who taught at their college. Man I had some insane lore for that lol, he was kinda the Wild Teacher that most people on campus had heard of.

I never really went anywhere with that AU, but I liked the idea of Draxum being a teacher enough to stick it in other AUs lol.

[singthebodyelectric-tmnt]

Intermission

Donatellos in Untitled Goose Game:

It was a lovely day in New York City...therefore statistically, something horrible will happen. There is a bush in Central Park, and in that bush, a honk sounded. Out popped a Goose with a purple bandana tied around its neck. He looked left, then right, then gave out two honks. Two goslings popped their heads out and they each gave out an affirmative honk. The Goose emerged from the bush with its goslings tumbling and waddling after him. It was a lovely day in New York City...and the Donatellos are horrible Geese.

“Oh fuck, it’s the horrible Goose and its spawn,” groaned a vendor of the gardens. “It’s just a goose, how bad can it be?” “When you see it in action, you’d take back those words” Riri and Cass were having a staredown across each other. Their respective counterparts looked at each other, then at the girls, then at Sunita eating nachos on a bench in between the two booths.

Sunita shrugged, “When it comes to cookies and brownies it’s serious business with those two”.

Riri grit her teeth and forced a smile, “At least I’m selling cookies for a cause. TO SAVE TREES CASS!” Cass smirked and thumped her chest, “HAH! When I take over the world with these brownies, WE WOULD  BE ABLE TO SAVE MORE TREES BY FORCE”. Lillie and April squinted at the Caseys. Casey shrugged as CJ carried over more boxes of brownies, “At least she’s enthusiastic”. April was about to comment back when she felt a tug on her pant leg. She looked down to see a little gosling with a little violet cape happily waddling up and down and honking at her now he has her attention. “Aww!” Both Lillie and April cooed. April set down the box of cookies and picked up the gosling. “Hey, there little guy! Oh my gosh. His little cape! So cute!”. The gosling preened at the attention. “He’s a very enthusiastic baby for something with a broken wing,” observed Lillie. The gosling honked and wibbled its tail feathers. Lillie smiled, “Aw cute baby! Riri get over here! Look at this cutie pie”. Riri came over to see what the fuss was about. Cass grinned, “Not that they’re distracted, we’re gonna crush these sales!”. She then turned to her brothers to see them huddled over something that was hiding under their booth. “Guys?” CJ was the first to surface with something cupped in his hands, “Look Cass, the little guy was stuck on our tablecloth” A sad, quiet honk came from the little gosling with red eyes and a lavender ribbon loosely tied around its neck in CJ’s hands. It trembled fearfully. Cass dropped the box she was holding and rushed over to CJ, “Oh no! Poor thing! Where’s its mama?” So busy were the Caseys and Aprils with the two goslings, no one noticed the Goose took a box of cookies from the Aprils’ table, casually waddled over to the Caseys’ booth, and swapped a box of cookies with a box of brownies. He then waddled back to the cookie table and placed the box of brownies on it. No one even noticed the switch.

No one but Sunita, eating her nachos in amusement. The Goose waddled over to her side, settled there, and then gave a loud honk. The two goslings honked back and scrambled back to the Goose. The red-eyed gosling buried itself under its parent’s feathers, the caped gosling took its time, honking and twirling in glee to the joy of everyone witnessing it. There was a screech and then, “THE HECK IS THIS APRIL!? Why did you sneak your wares into mine? That’s playing DIRTY !” Riri pounded her fist on her table, “Pot calling the kettle dirty, Jonesy? What about this box of your brownies mixed in with mine!?” “I DIDN’T DO IT!” “NEITHER DID I!” “HAVE AT IT O’NEIL!” “PUT YOUR MONEY WHERE YOUR MOUTH IS JONES!” April and Lillie looked at each other, then at the Caseys. Oh no.

Sunita watched the ensuing carnage then eyed the Goose. “Good job raising hell guys,” she divided her nachos and gave the non cheesed bits to the Goose and its goslings. The goslings happily snack on their hard-earned loot. The Goose gave a hjonk of thanks toward Sunita’s way and waited for its children to finish before it ate.

They need the energy to cause more mayhem and the day is long. --- It was noon. Foot Brute and Foot Lieutenant surveyed the city from their vantage point. “Well Brute, what is our agenda for today?” The Brute smiled and said, “The same thing we do every day, sir. Try to take over the world”. The Lieutenant smiled, pleased that his partner and daughter were still in the business, despite their initial struggles. Leading the Foot Clan is exhausting without backup. There was a tiny honk in the vicinity of their feet. They both looked down to see a gosling with red eyes staring at them. “Aww”, Foot Brute cooed. He picked it up gently and asked, “Where’s your parent, little one?” A scream curdled the air and they looked down to the streets to see their daughter screaming her lungs out being chased by her friend...and chasing after them some kind of robot. Foot Lieutenant sighed and massaged his temples. “Oh, Casey… what now?”

Foot Brute put down the gosling in a safe place, “I’m sure your parents will find you little one. Stay put”. He then followed his husband and easily hauled a large contraption upon his shoulders. They did not notice another gosling hopping off the contraption proudly holding a screw in its beak. Out of the shadows, the Goose emerged. The goslings regrouped on their parent’s back and the Goose fluttered down to a staircase. There were more denizens of New York to bother. ---

Baron Draxum stared down the pest of New York City, the great Goose of Central Park, as screams erupted all around them. The Goose narrowed its eyes at the sheep yokai and raised its wings in a threatening manner. They were at a standstill. “NOT THE FACE, NOT THE FACE!!!,” pleaded Warren as a gosling with a cape cackled in glee over the worm mutant. “Darling, hold still, please! I’m trying to not harm you and the little one,” Hypno said nervously as he tried to grab the little dramatic gosling.

“Well, if you don’t do anything fast, I’M GOING TO GET EATEN!”

Draxum looked to the side to see Todd gently picking up the red-eyed gosling that had outsmarted Repo Mantis and Meat Sweats from a pile who were now screaming at each other. Draxum glared at the Goose who seemed to radiate smugness back at him. “If I give you what you need, will you and your children leave this human-mutant soiree alone?” The Goose seemed to think about it. It lowered its wings. It agreed. Draxum sighed. Can this day get any weirder ? ---

“Oh my, my! What a delightful treat to watch!,” Big Mama clapped her hands excitedly as three of the Mud Dogs tried capturing the Goose, who was nonchalant about the damage it was doing.

It popped up behind Heinous Green and honked. The oni stiffened then slowly raised his fist to grab it. The Goose then jumped as Heinous’s fist connected to his face. Mickey and Leonard both made a grab for it and slammed their faces together for their efforts. The Goose plopped around Big Mama’s office in search of something. Danny raised a perfectly trimmed eyebrow at Big Mama. “Are you sure you don’t want me to let this creature out of your office, Ma’am?” Big Mama put a finger to her chin. “Absolutely. Not until I find out what it’s looking for”. Danny shook his head and then looked down to see two goslings hiding behind a potted plant watching their parent cause chaos. Ah . That explained it. He kneeled and reached inside his suit to take out a couple of crackers to give to the goslings. The caped one gleefully grabbed a cracker and began munching. The red-eyed one with the ribbon fluffed up its feathers and began to cry. At once, the Goose hurried toward him, put its children behind it, and hissed at him. Danny put his hands up, “Easy. I know why you’re here. I got kids too, a tiger cub and a kit. You can leave after we give you food, right?”. The Goose had bared its terrifying numerous sawed teeth, then it stopped. It huffed when it noticed that its other gosling was also eating. Danny offered the Goose the wrapped package of crackers. The Goose narrowed its eyes at him. Then it honked and took the crackers from Danny. The Goslings climbed up their parent’s back and the Goose plopped out the office with its beak in the air. Danny sighed. Those crackers were for his little Alopex and Tigerclaw, damn it. Big Mama patted his shoulder with a small bag of unicorns and gold. “Well spotted. I too have children, four teenage boys to be exact, and I do know how they get hungry easily. Buy your children a good meal instead of light snacks, yes?” ----

“It is a wonderful evening in this rooftop garden, Master Splinter,” Splinter said arranging a potted plant on the ground. “It is, Master Splinter,” Lou agreed, sitting crossed-legged on the ground with a tea set in front of him. Next to him was the Goose with a purple bandana around its neck, sitting peacefully, eyes closed. Splinter sat in front of them and poured himself a cup of tea. A few meters away, the two goslings were trying to scale a miniature tower. In the background, screams of despair rose as mild annoyances cropped up across New York. Splinter raised a brow, “You were busy today, Goose-san”. The Goose did not bother to answer. The caped gosling hauled its brother onto a platform and used itself as support so that the red eyed gosling can reach the bell at the top of the miniature tower. “Incredible display of acrobatics from your children, Goose-san. We prefer this to your usual method of pecking the base of the tower until it topples over and you can reach the bell. It is very expensive and time-consuming to keep rebuilding the tower”. The Goose opened its eyes and stood up, welcoming its children for their victory, the red-eyed one holding the bell in its beak and the caped one hopping up and down and around them. The Goose waddled away from the garden with its children and Lou waved, “See you next week, Goose-san!” More screaming and wailing can be heard in the background. ---- The Goose of New York carried the bell to their little neck of the park. It carefully hung the bell on their security, which was a long line of yarn and bells hanging on it. The Goose gently put its sleeping children under their favorite bush. It stared at the lights of New York City. The silence of their little spot was quite calming and the Goose decided it was done for the day. It was a beautiful night in New York City and the days that follow will be beautiful as well. The Goose thrummed pleased at the day's events. But not for long. Peace was never an option.

[popculturebuffet]

The Legend of the Three Caballeros: Mt. Fuji Whiz and Thanks a Camelot Reviews: Thank God, No Daisy (Comissioned by WeirdKev27)

Saludos amgios and welcome to the final sprint of THE RIDE OF THE THREE CABLLEROS. If your wondering if this is a bit soon.. that’s because it is. While I planned to do the episodes as is before.. this bottom half of the series so far has been so good I couldn’t bare waiting days to get to the next episode just as things are getting really good, especially after the last episode’s cliffhanger. So today, I intend to FINISH the series, with an epilogue next week for my look at the cabs as a whole via a top 12 moments list. Plus i’m already excited for the next retrospective, so there’s that. And yeah Kev’s funding ANOTHER one and you can too.. serioulsy just shoot me an ask for any solo episode or arc you wan’t covered. But now’s not the time for shameless plugs, it’s the time for adventure and to sew up a cliffhanger! So come with me after the cut for some ghouls, ghosts and arthur won’t you?

PREVIOUSLY ON LEGEND OF THE THREE CABLLEROS:

And now the conclusion...

Mt. Fuji Whiz:

First off... let’s talk about the episode titles for the series since I don't think I have yet. 

It has bothered me for the ENTIRE run of the series how terrible most of them are. There all a pun of some kind on something involved with the episode.. but out of 13 episode titles the only ones I like are World-Tree Caballeros, No Man is an Easter Island, Stonehenge Your Bets, Nazca Racing and Thanks a Camelot. And most of them fit the theme of the episode with the exception of Stonehenge: World Tree is a clever pun they couldn’t NOT use, no man fits the theme of the episode as bad as that episode is, Nazca Racing is just another good pun and fits the race at the end, and thanks a Camelot while a very simple one, fits the story of that episode, i.e. everyone's dissatisfaction with Arthur’s training. More on that later. Point is the rest are just.. really cringe inducing puns. And I do LOVE a good pun.. but that’s a GOOD pun, not obvious ones about a “pyramid life-crisis” or a play on gee whiz in 2018 for god’s sake. And the finale title is just.. really awful as they gave up entirely and named it after square dancing for HOPEFULLY no adequate reason. And look the series is a comedy first with the action second, pun titles would be fine.. their just so bad it sucks all the pun out of them. See what I did there? THAT’S a pun. And not even a great one, but it’s still better than this. It feels like the titles were an afterthought and it’s obnoxious. and frustrates me every time I have to type them out. And with only four episodes left I had to get it out sometime. 

So moving onto the actual episode we pick up with the ending of last episode: Death killing the Cabs and Team Sheldgoose. And as we see shortly. he wasn’t bluffing. We pick up with them in the underworld in a dmv line. My god.. it’s even worse of a beaurcrcy than Beetlejuice. Feldrake informs the cabs where they are and Donald, being Donald, dosen’t have the patience to wait in line with the bilions of souls down there, especially since the take a number thing gave them a number that needed to be printed on both sides.. and their at 4. Good gag though. So Donald storms out the moment he sees and exit and our boys head into the city of the Damned. Sheldgoose meanwhile decides to do his best Karen and demands ot speak with the manager.. whose another Sheldgoose it turns out. Uh-Oh.  After the credits our boys explore the city and hoping not to get hit with more ghost cards, find shelter in a little tavern owned by none other than Clinton Coot, Donald’s Great-Grandpa and father of his grandmother Elvira Coot. Clinton initally mistakes the boys for their ancestors, and is disapionted in meeting donald, but once he learns their the ones that inehreted his Cabana, he’s exastic to meet and learn about them. We also learn he had a collection of fragile frontiersman figurines.. which cleverly, are all various versions of Scrooge from life and times. His second cowboy outfit from the side story “The Vigilante of Pizen Bluff”, his prospector outfit from “Terror of the Tranysval”, his klondike prospecter outfit and him finding the goose egg nugget from “King of The Klondike” and him bitterly hauling a sack of his loot into town from the same story. Also some palet swaps of all but the last one because animation is expensive. Panchito.. destroys them all while putting down his pIzza. “NOTHINGS BROKEN”. Clinton then invites the boys to have a sip of his memories, literally he drains some out and despite their relcutance the cabs take a chug.  They reveal prettty much.. every nagging question about the cabana. Clinton, after finding out about his ancestor Duego Duck, the original cabs version of donald, Clinton traveled the world and the 7 seas, everybody’s looking for something.. and he was looking for every trace of the cabs, and their mysterious ally, who we know as Xandra. He gathered all of it, hence the massive collection of books and magical treasures in the cabana, eventually finding their hidden lair and building his cabana on top of it, founding New Quackmore with Sheldgoose’s own great grandmother.. who betrayed him and took the institute from him. His consolation prize was finding Ari and the atlas but he couldn’t open it like the boys and is curious what they found. I absolutely love this and while I feel Clinton’s history would’ve worked better as an overaching mystery, there were seeds for all of this planeted throughout the season, with Sheldgoose being in charge despite the name and Clinton being involved, Shelgoose’s mention a sheldgoose has always been president, and the tease last episode. Still would’ve liked MORE exploration and build up to this , but what we got was facenating upgrading Clinton from a footnote on the duck family tree, to a throughly loveable character: A guy who was so fascenated by his ancestor’s adventures he became an adventurer himself and who lovingly catalogued eveyrthing the guy and his friends ever did.. and had some heartrending reasons why we’ll get to. 

 As Jose leads in with not what but WHO, and likely tells clint about their adventures, a clever way to get that exposition out off screen, we cut back to the world of the living. Xandra is beating herself up, if not literally over things, and while the girls just suggest going to the underworld via zoom point, Xandra points out that won’t work. There’s only one way in: Charon, the greek ferryman of the dead.. and she realizes that’s exactly how, while the girls try a seance.  I’ll just cover the séance stuff now. The girls hold a séance to summon the boys, finding some unfinished business (A piece of said pizza) and having ari dress like a fortune teller because eh why not. There’s some good gags and stuff, but it’s mostly plot irrelvant, only hurting Panchito’s brain at first, then summoning him just as their about to fight a Tengu, with humphrey eating the pizza finsihing the buisness. Not a bad plot at all and certainly refreshing after all the Daisy nonsense last episode, but nothing really important.  Meanwhile let’s also get to Xandra’s subplot, which is both mroe relevant and funnier and again i’ll be covering all at once for convience. Xandra finds that the horn to summon Charon... is now a sax.  Huh so THAT’S what pamela anderson’s character CJ was doing when she was introduced on baywatch. 

Anyways turns out Charon’s reinvented the old boat and since Xandra’s an immortal he offers her a free ride. It’s now a cruise ship with him as the captain, voiced by voice acting legend Jim Cummings who does a fantastic job. The reasonings also brilliant: he wasn’t getting many WILLING souls with his creepy old setup, so he reinvinted things and now has a packed house, plenty of coins and a nonstop party. He even gives us an add for the buisness... this whole thing is fucking amazing and deserves to be praised and is the series at it’s best: taking something mythic and giving it some wacky but still clever tweaks. Xandra eventually gets annoyed as he isn’t going into the city so she can’t look for the cabs and takes the wheel, cursing her to be the captain now, but she just uses that to get in and finds clinton who agrees to guide her to the boys... we’ll get to where he guided them in a moment. 

And that moment is now, Clinton tells the boys there is a way out, but it involves fighting the Tengu, which is misdentified as a falcon despite, even as someone with only a surface knowledge of yokai, I knew it’s modled after a crow, or at least some versions are as it turns out.. and so is the one here so how did they screw that one up?

Point is they need to get past it, and are on a timer as when the Creepy combination of jack skeltington and that moon from Majora’s mask that’s in the sky sets and night ends, their stuck. But first they run into a guard who says they have to fill out paperwork.. and his superior is intend on that, his superior being unsuprisingly sheldgoose, who got the gig since his family runs the afterlife. Oh goodie the rich also somehow run death....

But Donald decides FUCK PAPERWORK, throws it in the air and they run for it with Sheldgoose sicing the tengu on them, which looks awesome by the way. Panchito disappears as mentioned before just as they get a plan but returns in time to free his friends and they triumph.. only for Sheldgoose to not take this lying down and summon his entire family to kick their assses. So both sides power up: having learned the trick from clinton earlier, the cabs inflate.. part of their bodies while sheldgoose forms a voltron style fusion made up of his ancestor’s heads.. with the caveman as the crotch. 

So a fight insues that’s fluid and beautifully animated, and Xandra even arrives to provide backup, with Charon relieving her because he’ could loose his five star rating. I hear you man I struggled just to get my island up to a four. So it becomes a gorgeously animated and awesome fight with Clinton joining inn, finally able to be one of his heroes. He also reitarates something he told donald, that it’s not the journey.. it’s who you take it with and part of his love of the cabs was never having companions like that. Donald takes it to heart and our heroes take their leave, Clinton finally having achieved his lifes’ work. They decide to see japan because why not. Maybe they’ll run into hannibal there. 

And to tie things off, Shelgoose and Feldrake, whose spent the etnire epsidoe still in the staff depsite being dead and...

And find.. a demonic version of Donald in a devil costume, from that short with the devil and angel Donald's.. okay I have some questions. 

He sends them back and we’re out

Final Thoughts for Mt. Fuji Whiz: One of the series best. It’s well paced, has an amazing concept and both sideplots have some form of relevance while being utterly hilarious, especially the charon one. Seriously best bit character of the series calling it now. Already headcanon him as part of the ducktales universe. Along with a lot of this actually. IT’s good stuff and despite the series falts episodes like this prove why it really needed, and still needs, a second season. 

Thanks a Camelot:

Our heroes return to the land of the living with Xandra and to the Cabana, and while Donald wants to relax a bit, Xandra being an ass shoots that down. Though her reasons are valid: Feldrake has been stepping up his game with every scheme.. which is true. HIs last two schemes, not counting his post mortem one, only BARELY didn’t kill them and actually did kill them, and him too but that wasn’t on purpose. They need some good old fashioned hero training so Xandra’s taking the to king arthur and camelot, which of course are still around, to get it and since his training involves leaving everything behind, they leave htier weapons and other stuff behind including their amulets.. which haven’t come up since but are now since their important to the finale i’m guessing and they’ve been wearing the whole time. The girls are tagging along too as they want to document things because the plot says so but their entertaining so fine and leaving Ari and the Bear to guard. And the barrier.. more the barrier.  So with our heroes off Feldrake decides they need to strike and Sheldgoose has a plan to get around the barrier to get Humphrey’s spark: hide inside a cake and have humphrey so overcome by his desire for cake he comes to them. Feldrake is unimpressed but it works.. and even better as he drags them in.. but apparently while Feldrake’s protections are keyed to our heroes bloodline.. coot’s only extneded to feldrake. Which makes sense: he was friends with a Sheldgoose and probably didn’t consider her an enemy till he’d already set the spells, and cleverly, and i’d forgotten this till writing this review: Sheldgoose has already BEEN on the Cabana grounds once and to the doorstep, in the first episode when he visited the yardsale and in the finale of the second when he showed up to give Donald his check. So the show even showed it.. we just didn’t think about it or assumed having the ring meant he couldn’t now. But nope Sheldgoose is inside and Humphrey’s knocked out. 

Back in merry old Camelot, I apolgoize for having a deficit of spamalot and Monty Python refrences, our heroes meet King Arthur, voiced by former star of said spamelot John O’ Hurley, who I was going to give a good treatment and go into his career.. then I found out he’s VERY conservative, pro trump even post riot and generally kind of an ass in how he conducts himself soooo instead a hearty

Does a good job here, still a weasel fiesta. So King Arthur trains our heroes.. via motivational statments, trust falls and what not with his knights who get the same traning, one of which is Gallhad, a frog voiced by the same guy who viced Kermit on muppet babies. Yayyyyy. The girls wonder off, finding Merlin, whose busy with spells and such and clarfying which one is which. They give him june’s phone as Merlin has a video game addiction but Arthur forbids it because well. he has a problem why wouldn’t he.  Ruined Todd Chavez’s life it did. I mean it’s exceptional now but it took a bit of living on a drunken horse with serious issues couch. 

Anyways, Donald soon gets fed up because.. hes Donald. And because.. Tony kinda leans on the more classic constantly angry donald in this one, since he DID help write the lines. It’s not BAD mind you.. but I prefer the melding of his comics and shorts self other works did, the smug ego and everyman desperation to be noticed and liked from the comics mixed with the ego but also tons of rage of the shorts. Kinda like how Daffy had his own egotistical smartguy version merged with his screwball version for the Looney Tunes Show.. which i’ve been rewatching lately. Even better than I remember, highly underated. 

My point is this Donald, as we approach the end .. isn’t for me. He’s just not as intresting as the cloudcuckoolander panchito or the smootha nd wise jose. He ballances them well, being the more direct angry one to panchito’s unpredicablity and Jose’s smooth compemplation. He’s not BAD, and i get why some would prefer this one over Ducktales, as he’s more in line with his classic characterzation.. but I just prefer a more nuanced Donald and this one isn’t it. He spends most of the series either complaning, pissed off, or pining for an ungreatful she demon. There’s not a lot of notes compared to Jose or Panchito, as Jose isn’t just a ladies man or a charmer but a fairly smart guy who has pretty damn good plans and Panchito isn’t just spacey but, kind brave and with his own moral code. They just got more fleshing out as things went and Donald didn’t and it’s disappointing. 

So Donald gets fed up with the training, and calls out it’s only motivatoinal, with the other cabs agreeing, if more tactfully, and the knights.. also agreeing, pointing out King Arthur dosen’t even do his own goofy self motivational exercises and abandon him.. at the worst possible time as the girls conjur up a super powerful magical dragon. So the knights leave him to it and Arthur is too cowardly to face it. So the Cabs do what he won’t and charge in to defend the holy grail, called the grail of immortality here for ..r easons, and fight the dragon.. and Arthur joins them, inspired to finally get his groove back and gives the knights a rousing speech and even reconclies with donald. So our heroes fight the dragon and nearly die, before the rest of the round table pitches in, and the girls find the dragons scroll and impulsively burn it.. which destorys it. So the day’s saved, and Arthur apologizes to everyone and decides to give the boys proper combat training as thanks. Also we get a really funny bit with Merlin, who throws the phone into the fire.. and much like the dragon, apparenlty it was tied to the employee who activated it because he suddenly and horrifcly burns up. PFFT. Dark but beautfiul

But of course what about the Sheldgoose subplot. Well I saved that for now to cover it all at once SO: Sheldgoose pokes around, being annoyed by a dart board of his face and what not and tries to find something to fish the spark out with... but Ari finds him and proves to be entirely useful, beating Sheldgoose down into the treasure chamber and getting inot a fight with him. Sheldgoose holds pace.. until Humphrey wakes up and with the odds against him they throw him out. Meanwhile Feldrake zaps a dog that was going to get peed on him but when sheldgoose is ejegted is surronded by dogs and clearly didn’t escape as he dosne’t want to taklk about why he smells to sheldgosoe. He is ABOUT to berate him for failure again.. but Sheldgoose points out he swiped something more important: The amulets. 

Proving once again Sheldgoose is the real power in the team. 

Final Thoughts on Thanks a Camelot:  This was a fun one. While finding out about John O Hurley was... unfortunte.. he does a decent job and the episodes a fun take on camelot with, as usual , really excellent gags, pacing and a hell of a fight scene with a dragon. Good stuff as usual

NEXT TIME; It all ends! It’s a visit to some yeti’s before one final dance betwen good and evil and one last set of episodes for this retropsective! Be ready! 

[asterinjapan]

Karatsu explored

Hello again!

Seems like I can't stay away from the sea for long, because today i visited another coastal town. Lesser known than Kagoshima, but beautiful in its own right: follow me under the link for my day trip to Karatsu!

Okay, so I readily confess that Karatsu only recently caught my attention, due to it being used as the setting for a series I like. I looked into it and found that the town is mostly known for pottery and the Karatsu Kunchi festival in November, but it also has a castle and a beautiful pine forest, so i was convinced to check it out.

I took the subway to Meinohama, checked out for my JR line transfer, aaaand found out I had to go back through those same gates, haha. In my defense, I had to check out here, because otherwise I would have been charged the full ride until Karatsu, and I didn't get myself a JR pass for nothing!

The train brought me to Karatsu station - me and like, 5 other people, this was a really calm ride. But the views, oh! The weather continues to be clear and sunny today, and with the tracks to Karatsu leading all but through the bay, the sea views alone were worth the trip. I tried taking pictures, though well, good luck with that in a moving train, pff, so i just sat back and enjoyed.

Once in Karatsu, I checked out the maps, only to be handed like 5 folders with maps and coupons and what not. They were really helpful here at the tourist office; if you just come here without plans, they'll help you plan down to the detail, I'm sure.

But well, if you know me a little, you'll know I already had a plan, haha. First, the castle! It was a 20 minute walk from the station, and since this one wasn't on a hilltop like Nakagusuku, I had quite the relaxing if slightly warm stroll. The city looks lovely underneath the blue skies, and soon enough, I'd arrived at the castle.

They offer an elevator ride for 100 yen up to the top, but I was like "yeah, whatever, I did Nakagusuku the hard way too" and refused. To be fair, the staircase wasn't super long, but it was super uneven and I had a hard time keeping my balance from time to time. I didn't fall or anything, but I can see why the elevator is an option even if you're able bodied, yikes.

But the climb was rewarding with beautiful views across the bay, the pine forest and a lovely seating area that should look amazing in spring, as it's overgrown with wisterias.

Into the castle I went! It had five floors in total, with the second and third floor repurposed as a museum (this castle is a 1960s replica of the original, and they very recently renovated it). It was very informative, covering the history of the castle and the area with a lot of details, although all in Japanese, so I confess I skimmed a lot and read the ones that peaked my interest. That's how I learnt there was allegedly a demon (yokai) in the moat at some point, haha, and that the castle was also known as Maizuru castle, or "dancing crane". Understandable: the castle is white with dark roofs and a dash of red in the beams of the balcony, so it looks the part. I also learnt that the mascot of the city is a dog called Karawan, with wan being short for, uh, dog (well, "woof", so an informal word for dog). He featured in the video giving more explanations, as a person in a full on body suit, but he only barked and everything was subtitled, haha.

Eventually I made it to the top floor, where you can enter the balcony and enjoy the sea breeze and wonderful sights. I could see the islands in the bay very clearly as well as the Niji no Matsubara pine forest: niji means rainbow, and from this high up, it obviously had that shape. Oh, and I saw a hawk (? eagle?) up close! He kept flying above the castle grounds, so i sort of caught him on camera, haha.

So that was lovely, and I was already happy with my day trip. Next, I continued just a bit further to cross the Maizuru bridge, to take a picture of the castle from that side with the bridge in frame. There was a charming Japanese style cafe nearby, so I hopped in for some matcha latte and a traditional sweet. They were very kind here, offering me both menus, but i opted for Japanese (hard mode: it had no pictures) and they kept talking full Japanese, no English thrown in. Don't get me wrong, it's super considerate how often people try to talk to me in English, but I notice that my Japanese just instantly improves once I just hear the language without interfering language. That's not a criticism but an observation, haha. I mean, I wrote my thesis on the class Japanese as Second Language! Gotta use it sometimes.

The tea and sweet were great, and upon checking out, the sweet lady had a talk with me about where I was from and where i was going. I was so proud, I managed to uphold a whole conversation without a single English word on either side! Whelp, my standards sure have lowered. Ah well.

I walked all the way back to the station next, but with a slight detour this time via Karatsu shrine. Across the street is the Hikiyama exhibition hall, where all 14 floats of the kunchi festival are on display. I decided to visit this, and wow! These floats are big, impressive and gorgeously detailed. Surprisingly, all information was translated into English, barring the video on display, but that one mostly showed the history of the festival that was written elsewhere and showed the festival in full swing. The festival lasts for 3 days in November and celebrates harvest, and UNESCO has declared it an "Important Intangible Folk Cultural Property". It's been held for centuries, and the current floats were created in the 19th century! They look very impressive on display, and i was actually kind of regretting not going in November, haha. Definitely one for the list.

The souvenir shop offered miniatures of the floats, so i got the carp and the fish lion (shachi) for myself. After that, I moved across the street to check out the shrine, which organises the event. The shrine itself isn't massive, but people make works of art here on the wooden prayer plaques (ema), so it was fun looking around here. I left through a different gate, the main entrance, which is massive and startlingly white, a beautiful contrast to the blue skies.

At the station, I had another break with a matcha shake (I drink and eat green tea EVERYTHING), and then took the train back - although I got out at Niji no Matsubara station first to check out the pine trees.

To be fair, it looked lovely, but the forest trails were full of HUGE spiders, and I'm so very much not a fan of spiders, haha, so I trailed the road for a bit until I decided it had been a good day already, no need to give myself jump scares this early before Halloween.

I did do one more thing, namely checking out a hot spring resort featured in that series I like.  It was a short visit, but they were lovely there and the route had a gorgeous view on Kagamiyama, a mountain with an observatory on top. I'd have checked it out if it was less than the 5 km uphill they listed, and if the castle hadn't already provided lovely views, haha.

And with that, my day trip ended, but not before I sent myself on a wild goose chase in Fukuoka trying to find a clearfile (half succeeded) and a nail clipper (succeeded, it clips like a dream! The stories are true, Japanese made nail clippers are something else, haha).

I'm now back at the hotel, very happy that i insisted on this trip. Of course I didn't schedule day trips i thought I'd hate, but I hadn't expected to be so charmed by Karatsu either. The weather probably helped, but still, what a lovely surprise!

I'm currently a bit jittery though, as the typhoon that's incoming is something else. I'm not sure if it's safe to go out very far tomorrow, so I'll wake up early and decide then. I'm not planning anything for the weekend right now. The typhoon is expected to hit middle and east  Japan and I'm in the west/south, but it's so massive, odds are the entire country is going to be affected. Trains are likely being cancelled at least by the east train companies, so for now, I'm just hoping my trip to the Okayama hotel on Monday is still on. I'm glad I already reserved a seat though, I can tell you that much.

I honestly have no idea what's next. Shikoku, the island I was planning to explore from Okayama, might get hit and become inaccessible, and it's still a major question what it's gonna do overall, including Tokyo. It's about 3 times as big as Faxai, the typhoon that hit Tokyo in September and from which the area is still recovering.

For now, I'm glad I'm on Kyushu, and I'll have to see what's safe to do tomorrow. Current forecasts seem to show Kyushu miiiight just get off easily tomorrow, but that’s a big if. If all else fails, there are several karaoke joints down the street. Of course I'd rather explore more, but safety before anything else.

Maybe taking it easy for a day or two isn't that bad at all, considering how busy I've already been, but I'd have preferred a less extreme incentive... Well, nothing I can do about it, so I'll just make the best of it and hope the country comes out relatively unharmed.

See you tomorrow!

[kythen]

Haikyuu!! - A Day’s Work

Title: A Day’s Work

Fandom: Haikyuu!!

Pairing: Kurodai

Summary: Kurodai Weekend Day 1 - Spirits: Shinigami AU / Yokai & Exorcist AU. A day in the life of Sawamura Daichi, professional exorcist and youkai hunter, and Kuroo, professional youkai. Also found here on AO3.

Word count: 2,405

There is nothing like an invigorating sprint through the forest to keep the blood pumping, the body and spirit healthy. But the problem here is that Daichi has been at this for three whole hours now and rather than maintaining a healthy body and spirit, he feels like he might just expire on the spot if they don't get this job over and done with.

"Kuroo," Daichi calls out with his mind, feeling the bond between them hum as he makes the connection. "We have to regroup."

"What, tired already?" Kuroo responds, a teasing lilt in his voice.

"Yes," Daichi replies, not taking the bait. "Not all of us have inhuman stamina like you do. Plus, I'm beginning to think that we're being led on a wild goose chase here, seeing that neither of us have caught up to them after this long."

"I was thinking the same thing," Kuroo admits, "but I lost track of time, or your human definition of time anyway. They're probably splitting us up because it feels like you're getting further away from me."

"Okay, then we definitely need to regroup."

Daichi focuses on the bushy tail a distance before him, which darts around trees and barrels through bushes, forcing Daichi to follow it on a convoluted path through the forest. He doesn't know why he hadn't thought of doing this earlier. All that hectic running must have clogged up his head if hadn't even thought to check if his target was still there or long gone. He throws his senses out in a wide arc before him, catching on the bushy tail and grimacing.

"Daichi?"

"It's gone. I'm chasing an illusion. A really good one."

"Same here. They must have switched out while we were chasing them because I'm sure that they were there at the start."

"Damn tricksters."

"That's kitsune for you."

"Kuroo, are they still in the forest?"

"I can still smell them so they must be nearby. I bet they're just watching us and laughing their tails off," Kuroo growls.

"We shouldn't be making this mistake in the first place. It's a rookie mistake," Daichi sighs, running a hand through his sweat-soaked hair.

"Hate yourself later. Let's regroup."

"If we suddenly stop chasing them, they'll suspect that something is up. I'll pretend to stop because I'm out of breath and you come over to where I am."

"You just want a break," Kuroo says accusingly.

"Well, I don't have to pretend to be out of breath because I am out of breath," Daichi says.

"Tsk. Humans. Okay, I'll come get you. Don't get eaten in the meantime."

Daichi slows to a jog then a walk, panting heavily as he watches the bushy tail leap out of sight. He stops in a clearing, resting his hand on a tree trunk to brace his wobbly legs, keeping his senses alert. This would be the best time for the kitsune to launch an attack on him if they were planning to, when Daichi appeared to be at his weakest. If they do, Daichi might actually thank them because it means that he won't have to keep running when he could face them out in the open. He would take a direct confrontation over an endurance run through the forest any day.

The trees around him rustle and Daichi tenses up, then relaxes when he feels the distance between Kuroo and him vanish. Kuroo lands in the clearing neatly, his paws making no sound against the forest floor. Even in the bright noon sun, his massive body is pitch-black, his thick fur stubbornly refusing to absorb any light. His two tails wave jauntily in the air as he heads towards Daichi and regards him with slitted golden eyes.

"You look awful," Kuroo remarks aloud, eyeing Daichi critically.

"Thanks," Daichi says dryly.

"As I thought, they're watching us. There's one near you and the other followed me all the way here," Kuroo tells Daichi through their mental link. "They're careful, but if you strain your senses you can pick up your kitsune shadow."

Daichi rests his back against the tree trunk and says aloud, "Let me rest for a while before we go on."

He shuts his eyes and reaches out with his senses, feeling past the giant presence before him that is Kuroo and locating a smaller, distinctively kitsune-like presence at the very edge of his senses. He can't feel the other kitsune, the one tailing Kuroo, no matter how much he strains and he breaks his concentration in resignation.

"I know where mine is but not yours," Daichi reports.

"That's good enough. I'll take one and you take the other. We'll catch them by surprise."

"Come here for a moment," Daichi says aloud to Kuroo, spreading his arms wide and looking at him balefully.

Kuroo trots over, ducking his head to nuzzle Daichi's neck. Daichi hugs him around the neck, burying a hand in his thick fur and using his other hand to fish out the talismans from his shirt, hiding his movements from sight with Kuroo's bulk.

"On the count of three," Daichi tells him, focusing on his kitsune target. "One, two, three!"

Daichi drops to the ground to slam a barrier talisman into the earth, drawing a pattern around it in a lightning-quick motion and directing his barrier to stretch all the way to where the kitsune is. Kuroo is already gone, no doubt tearing after his own target and scaring the living wits out of it. Daichi feels resistance against his barrier, clawing at its walls and searching for a way out frantically. But his barrier will hold—they are his specialty after all—and Daichi concentrates on shrinking the size of his barrier, pulling the kitsune in towards him rather than going to it and leaving his barrier talisman unprotected.

A hissing blur flies towards him, a kitsune's powerful jaws aiming straight for Daichi's neck. Daichi dodges, letting it sail over his head, and when he turns, the kitsune is on the ground with its claws outstretched over his barrier talisman, ready to destroy it.

"Seal," Daichi whispers, feeling the energy surge from the rest of the talismans he had scattered around his barrier seal. When inactivated, the talismans were mere pieces of paper that youkai wouldn't sense, making them the perfect traps.

The kitsune howls as it freezes in place, unable to move or resort to trickery while within reach of Daichi's trap talismans. It glares at Daichi as he comes close and seals it off, sticking another talisman on its side with a quick chant. Disgruntled, it stays still in Daichi's arms as Daichi clears the talismans on the ground and dispels his spells.

"Daichi!" a familiar voice sings, the sound muffled, and Daichi looks up to see Kuroo trotting back into the clearing triumphantly, holding a slightly singed and equally disgruntled kitsune in his mouth.

---

Daichi makes the trek back to the village on exhausted legs, showing the village head his two captives, the twin kitsune, and receiving his payment in exchange. He asks them for a wicker basket to place the two immobile kitsune in, sealing it with talismans all over the sides and its cover. Then he throws a checkered blanket over it to hide how suspicious it looks to the public eye.

"It almost looks like we're going on a picnic," Kuroo remarks as Daichi leaves the village hall with the cheery-looking basket in tow. He leans against a wall across the street in the form of a tall, lanky man with black hair that looks like it has seen better sleeping positions and hazel eyes that look the slightest bit catlike in the right light.

"I wish," Daichi sighs. "But no, we're going to the Fushimi Inari Shrine to drop off these two troublemakers."

At this odd hour in the afternoon, Daichi manages to grab a seat in the nearly empty train and he sinks gratefully into it, resting the wicker basket in his lap. Kuroo drops into the seat beside him, still looking at the cheerfully covered basket with amusement.

"Hey," one of the kitsune pipes up from within the basket as the train starts moving. "Your line of work seems fun. Instead of going all the way to Fushimi Inari while you're this tired, why not take us on as familiars? I bet we'd be more useful than your cat over there."

"No, thanks," Daichi replies curtly. "I already have my hands full with one."

Kuroo rests his chin on Daichi's shoulder and looks down at the basket, saying smugly, "Sorry, boys, but he's mine."

"Ooh," the kitsune chorus.

"Looks like you like some tail in your men," the first kitsune remarks slyly. "If you give us the chance to transform, we're actually really handsome as men. How about it, exorcist-san?"

"I'm going to take a nap," Daichi says loudly, ignoring the kitsune's comments about his taste in familiars and men. "Kuroo, wake me up when we're there."

"Sure thing. Go to sleep, Daichi," Kuroo leans against him, a warm and steady weight against his side. He blinks down at the basket, smiling pleasantly and showing the kitsune razor-sharp teeth. "I'll watch them and if they get too rowdy, I'll just eat them for you."

---

When Daichi wakes up, his head is pillowed on Kuroo's shoulder and Kuroo has an arm around him to keep him from sliding off his seat.

The kitsune twins titter at him all the way to the shrine.

---

The sun has set by the time Daichi makes it back home and he gropes along the wall for the light switch with one hand, his other hand laden down with groceries. Despite the size of the Sawamura compound, only the sitting room, the kitchen and two rooms are in use, given that Daichi is the only one who lives here now. The place is too big for him but he can't bear to move out and sell his family home, not with all its memories and secrets contained within its walls.

"I'm home," he calls out in the empty house, toeing his shoes off at the entrance.

"Me too," Kuroo choruses, leaping past Daichi on soft feet as an ordinary black housecat.

Kuroo leads the way to the kitchen with his tail raised high, waiting for Daichi to catch up at the doorway. As Daichi enters the kitchen, Kuroo twines around his legs and meows piteously at his feet, nearly tripping him up.

"Fish. Give me the fish. I saw you get the good stuff." Kuroo paws at his thigh.

"Give me a minute, we just got back." Daichi nudges Kuroo away with a foot so that he can place his groceries on the table.

"Grill it please. I like it grilled with salt," Kuroo tells him, licking his chops.

"You know you could very well do this yourself. In a form that has two opposable thumbs," Daichi points out, taking the food items out of their bags. "Then you wouldn't have to wait for me."

"I'm no good with these finicky human chores," Kuroo sniffs, licking a paw delicately. "Besides, I'm more adorable in this form, don't you think?" He rolls over on his back and looks up at Daichi with big, golden eyes.

Daichi snorts as he sets up the portable charcoal grill on the floor. The modern grills built into the stovetop just don't have the same flavour, so Kuroo says. "I've seen you in all your other forms. That doesn't work on me anymore."

"Then how about this one?" Kuroo asks, his voice suddenly in Daichi's ear and not his head. There is a solid warmth at Daichi's back, hands hovering over his waist and sliding down into the pockets of his jeans.

Daichi turns and shoves the bag of fish at Kuroo's chest. "Good. You now have opposable thumbs. Do it yourself, you freeloader."

"Slavedriver," Kuroo mutters, cradling his bag of precious fish in his hands as Daichi steps away to prepare his dinner.

"You don't have to eat," Daichi tell him. "Or you can eat them raw just like in the good old days you keep reminiscing about."

When Daichi turns back around, Kuroo is already crouched over the grill, calling up a flame to light the charcoal. He is sulking and if he had his cat ears and tail, Daichi knows that they would be drooping too. For someone who is supposedly a couple of hundreds years old, Kuroo is surprisingly childish when it comes to things like this. Maybe it comes from being a cat spirit, contrary and free-willed to the end.

But after spending all these years with him, Daichi has grown to find that side of Kuroo strangely endearing, not that he would tell him. He would never hear the end of it if Kuroo knew about Daichi's soft spot for him. Kuroo would never lift a paw again to grill his own fish.

Daichi crouches next to Kuroo, watching Kuroo place each fish reverently on the grill, trying to fit as many pieces as he can on the tiny grill. His eyes are shining as he watches the fish cook on the fire, his hunger showing through.

"Here," Daichi nudges him, breaking him out of his reverie and handing him the salt.

Kuroo sprinkles it on carefully then sits back on his haunches, his eyes never leaving the grill. "I'll give some to you when they're done," he says to Daichi.

"That's surprisingly generous of you."

Kuroo shrugs. "I could probably spare one or two for you."

"That's not even half of what I bought." Daichi scowls.

"I have dibs on all the fish that enters this house," Kuroo informs him loftily. "It's in our contract."

"It is not."

"Maybe you should read it again."

"Nice try but no. I know what I wrote." Daichi stands, going back to preparing ingredients for his dinner.

"You're getting harder to fool," Kuroo complains, finally looking away from his precious fish, following Daichi with his eyes as he crosses the kitchen. "Back in the past, you'd get flustered and start pouring over that old thing immediately. It was adorable."

"It comes from living with you this long, I guess," Daichi replies dryly. "Either I stop taking everything you say so seriously or I go mad."

"I'll take that as a compliment." Kuroo grins, turning back to the grill as his fish begins to smoke.

[bambiraptorx]

#imagine seeing Leo chase after his sword as it gets transported via the back of an ice cream truck#and right before he reaches it#it falls off into a passing train#and then he gets THAT#holds it above his head#and it gets snagged by like#a yokai goose or something#props if this all happened because Leo once again just wanted rest and the universe said nah lmao#when Leo comes back to the lair Mikey turns toward him and asks ‘hey Leo how was your trip-‘#leo (covered in bruises and looking like a hot mess): *grins tightly* IT WAS GREAT.#for some reason he’s drenched in honey and covered with feathers and paint#Mikey chooses not to ask (for now)

looney tunes ass turtle lol

With how often his portals screwed up in the beginning, there’s absolutely no way Leo didn’t end up in multiple scenarios where he was trapped in random places chasing after his odachi as it gets separated from him, causing him to have to chase after it as it somehow evades his grasp in increasingly comedic yet unlucky ways.

[remmushound]

Curse of the Clan Part 37! @selfindulgenz @scentedcandlecryptid

April’s eyes slowly came into focus. Then she was blinded by a powerful light shining directly on her. She squinted and tried to look away, but the binds held her in place so there wasn’t anywhere else she could go. The sudden, sharp smell of alcohol poisoned her senses. It was potent enough to make her gag as she could practically taste the liquor on her tongue. She recognized it almost immediately, and not a second later the tall, suited man that was Bishop walked into view.

April didn't bother herself with the pleasantries, “What do you want with me?”

Bishop gave a laugh that made his entire body shudder. “Do I not even get the pleasure of a hello?”

April said nothing. Her eyes sharpened as she glared up at Bishop with nothing but hatred burning in her dark pupils. Bishop met her steadily, his normal smile curling into a devilish smirk. He reached out a hand to touch April’s face and, though she tried to pull away, she couldn’t get far, so she did the only thing she could think to do. She bit down. Hard. Bishop hissed at the bite and pulled his bleeding hand back, frowning for a fraction of a moment while he investigated the damage. Then he was smiling again, rubbing his wounded hand with his other one. April spat out the mouthful of blood and grinned at him in turn.

“You’re a very peculiar human.” Bishop commented, wiping his blood off on the pants of his suit.

“So I’ve been told.” April snorted. “Are you going to answer my question or not?”

“Mm. Humans are also so pushy and impatient.” the Bishop clicked his tongue.

April’s anger turned to hesitance, her smile to a frown as she tried to read Bishop’s face. It was hard without her glasses.

“You say that like you’re not human.”

Bishop hummed. He pulled out his flask and took a long swig of it.

“That stuff’s gonna kill you eventually.” April told him. “And so will my friends when they found out you took me.”

“If.” Bishop corrected, and then gave an almost child-like giggle. He reached forward to flick April’s nose. She tried to bite him again, but he was too fast. “If they find out.”

“They will.” April snarled. “My brothers will be back any time now.”

“Brothers?” Bishop laughed a hearty laugh, “You consider the turtles brothers?”

“Yes.” April answered evenly. “I’ve known them since I was eight. They’ll be back any time now.”

Bishop hummed. “Maybe not. Giving the missions I gave them, maybe the orange ones gets back in one piece. Maybe.”

“What do you mean?” April felt like her heart stopped and it was harder to breathe. “What did you do?”

“I? Well— I didn't do anything.” Bishop insisted, “Well, nothing except for sending them on a wild goose chase with no hopes of getting those blessings. Leo’s after a dead man, and Raph will be a dead man when King is done with him. And Donatello’s mind will be in pieces by the time Master Krang is finished.”

“You’re a monster!” April tried to lunge, snarling her rage like a wild beast.

This only seemed to amuse Bishop. He turned his back to her and walked over to a shelf, starting to root through it. “I apologize, April O’Neil. But a human cannot be caught up in yokai affairs.”

“My friends will come for me.” April restated, “If my brothers don’t come, then Casey and Sunita will.”

Bishop laughed. He turned around just enough that April could see what he held in his hand; a syringe filled with something pink.

“We’ll see.”

***

“Are you sure this is okay?” Sunita asked, shifting uncomfortably from foot to foot. “April said she was fine.”

“What friends would we be if we didn't check on her?” Cassandra asked; she already had a clothes hanger fed through the bottom of the door, reaching up inside to try and undo the hook and the lock.

“You seem like you’ve done that before.” Sunita commented.

“Who says I havent?” Cassandra smirked. She stuck her tongue out to focus better.

“And… why can’t we just knock?”

“Because she’s sleeping! Duh!”

“Well…” Sunita looked between both ends of the hallway, and then checked for cameras before saying. “I can do it faster. Now shoo!”

She ushered Cassandra away from the door. Then she pressed her cloaking broach, deactivating it so that she became herself again. She melted herself flat against the floor, slithering under the gap and into the apartment. She opened the door and gave a bow while Cassandra clapped.

“Thank you, thank you very much, I’m here all week!”

“You’re incredible!” Cassandra laughed, picking Sunita up and spinning her around before flopping her back on the ground almost roughly. “Come on!” She grabbed Sunita’s hand and yanked her toward April’s bedroom. When they got to the door, Cassandra held a finger to her lips before slowly creeping the door open.

“She’s… not here?” Sunita whispered, concern creeping into her voice.

April’s bed was empty— or, mostly empty. Mayhem looked up and gave a soft whine when he saw not his owner, but Sunita and Cassandra standing there. The lion-dog stood up and gave a low, questioning bark before jumping off of the bed and running over to to the girls. He shoved his nose at them, sniffing frantically before giving a mournful howl.

Cassandra took a sharp intake of breath. She and Sunita looked at each other at the same time with the same, horrifying thought going through their heads.

***

Mayhem’s nose was flat to the ground as he sniffed around with Cassandra and Sunita following close behind. Sunita had taken the time to return to her human form while Cassandra suited up; the self-proclaimed vigilante never left home without her gear. Up over her mouth and nose was her red face mask and over top of it was a yellow hockey mask with red markings and devil horns. She had pulled on a greatly oversized black hoodie as well and had the hood pulled up over her head to hide her features. Her black-gloved hands clung tightly to her naginata, at the ready to swing.

“Are you sure you really need all that?” Sunita scoffed.

“April is in danger!” Cassandra declared loudly, “I will vanquish the evil!” She lashed out with her weapon several times, cutting through the air. Her dramatics quickly flicked back to an almost calm demeanor. “And I will do it well.”

“She could have just gotten lost…?” Sunita suggested hopefully.

Cassandra gave a loud, growling hum. “Unlikely! She was less than a block away from home!”

Sunita deflated. She knew Cassandra was right but every part of her wanted to believe that she wasn’t. That this was all just some big misunderstanding that would correct itself before anyone got hurt. Mayhem had stopped in an alley, sniffing and circling one particular spot before howling.

Cassandra’s eyes narrowed. “And now we have the scent…”