#this is for now bc i think this fic deserves it!

[pedroshotwifey]

Hello

My drabble ask is infidelity 🫣 with Joel.. but readers current bf is really toxic and doesn't treat her well and she's planning on leaving him anyway and Joel says that he doesn't want to share and that he wants to be with her 🥺

Oh I can't tell you how excited I was for this 😈 I might have to make another infidelity fic bc holy shit 👀 (obviously I don't condone this behavior irl, but ooo is it hot in fic)

*****

“Oh shit,” Joel grunts. “Little wider for me, baby, you’re too fuckin’ tight. Poor lil pussy ain’t been gettin’ fucked right.” 

Your face heats at his words, but you obey, whimpering as you help him spread your legs further apart, your muscles aching in a delicious way paired with his cock dragging in and out of your slick cunt. Your back arches, your head getting thrown back onto your pillow as he hits something devastatingly deep inside of you. 

“Fuck, Joel,” you whine, pussy fluttering around him. You feel like all your senses have been cut off, your sole focus on the way he’s stretching you out for him. 

“Tha’s right, baby, call my name. Sounds better than that fuckin’ boy you think’s so good for ya. You know he can’t make you feel like this. His dick’s probably as shriveled as his damn brain.”

You hate the way your pussy clenches upon hearing Joel talk shit about your boyfriend. It’s wrong—god, it’s so wrong—but it feels so fucking good. You know he can hear the way you fake coming around Liam’s cock most nights, knows the difference between the way you moan Joel’s name so gutterally and the way you have to say your boyfriend’s like it’s an obligation—a chore. 

It took him a few weeks to get you into his bed. A few weeks of him comforting you after fights and tantrums from your boyfriend. A few weeks of you trying to hold back your lustful gaze from your much older next door neighbor. A few weeks of you ignoring how he looked at you the same way. 

It took your boyfriend hitting you for you to finally listen to what Joel was telling you, what you knew was true. 

Joel was there waiting at his door when he saw Liam leave the apartment. It’s a good thing he didn’t see what happened before, because he probably would have killed him. You slept with him that night not only to distract him from your freshly blackened eye, but also because you came to that realization. 

Joel would do things for you that your boyfriend would never even consider. It wasn’t until he split you open on his cock for the first time, gave you four orgasms, then fed you, showered you, and held you tenderly until you fell asleep, that you understood that’s what you deserve. What Joel kept insisting you deserve. 

You deserve the way he’s making you drool right now, using your legs as leverage to pummel into you at an ungodly pace. You deserve the way you both fall apart at the same time, clinging to each other and moaning and licking into each other’s mouths like you’re trying to consume each other. You deserve the way Joel showers you in dirty praise as you pant and catch your breath after coming for a third time. 

And Joel deserves the way you’re going to go back to your apartment and pack your shit tonight.

****

More drabbles here

[flowercrowngods]

i’ve decided to send an ask for each story you posted in the wip game kdnehdhs who did this to you? lives rent free in my brain 💛💛 (@a-little-unsteddie)

thank you so much 🥰🤍 still slowly working my way through the asks, so have a few more words to make up for the wait 🫶

who did this to you (pt.4) // tales of blue part 1 | part 2 | part 3 | read on ao3 🌷 preceding snippet no 1. | no. 2

Finally, finally, the familiar sound of Wayne‘s old truck rounding the corner into the trailer park interrupts the tense silence that seems to have fallen over all of Forest Hills tonight, and Eddie has half a mind to run out there, run toward them and get the whole story. Just to be sure that everything is fine. Just to be sure that Steve’s still… That he’s still there.

He stays right where he is, though, staring at Buckley‘s wild hair, feeling her shadow walk over him as Wayne pulls up to their driveway and stops. She is right in the centre of the headlights, but still she doesn’t move. Eddie wants to scream at her. Wants to nudge her and shove her out of the way — imagines it, imagines all the alternate universes in which he finds her wide eyes scared and unseeing as Wayne‘s voice sounds behind them, telling them that Steve didn’t make it.

Except in this one, Wayne said they’re coming home. In this one, shit like that doesn’t happen to eighteen year-old boys and their friends.

Aside from that girl. Barbara Holland.

Eddie swallows, his eyes flitting between bright lights to the silhouette of Buckley right in their centre. Like a doe, he thinks. Terrified of what she’ll find.

Don’t you wanna know? Eddie wants to ask her. Don’t you wanna see? What are you afraid of? What did you see? Who is he, Robin, and who are you? Why the fuck won’t you move?

In the end, it is the sound of a car door slamming shut that snaps Buckley out of her stupor, and she all but flies off the steps towards the truck. Towards where Eddie can vaguely make out the shape of a badly bruised face, the play of light and darkness not enough to conceal the deep purple splotches or the sluggishness of his movements as he raises his head. Turning toward Buckley like a flower to the sun.

She presses her hand to the window for a second, just looking at him — and Eddie is glad he can’t see either of their faces. He has a feeling that what he’d see there would haunt him forever.

[evansbby]

okay it’s been too long, i need to write a dilf!Ari fic like NOW.

[sunsetsandsunshine]

~ Ticklish Hands ~ 

HELLO FELLOW PPL! 

THIS FIC IS A GIFT TO THE WONDERFUL @rottmnt-supremacist

Ler: April👩🏾‍🦱💚

Lee: Raph🐢❤️

Warnings: None :)

Summary: Donnie, Leo and Mikey inform April on a little secret Raph has been keeping from her; chaos follows.

———————————————————————

Raph was chilling in his bedroom, listening to music with his headphones on while snuggling his favorite squishmello: Mr. Stripes the Zebra. He was sitting criss-cross applesauce on his red fluffy carpet he put next to his bed a couple days ago.

Suddenly, there was a knock at the side of his curtains. He took off his headphones and put them on his desk. It was most likely one of his siblings…and to be completely honest, was scared for the reason why they would come into his room…not that they would do anything bad of course! It’s just his siblings always found a way to make they’re visits to his room…interesting.

If it was Leo, he probably wanted to show Raph yet another TikTok of the Lightskin Stare trend with Olaf from Frozen that Raph’s sworn he’s seen more times then he’s even breathed. If it was Mikey, he probably wanted to show him another recipe he made. Mikey was getting…creative in the kitchen and wanted to try some different flavors! Like his famous Pickle-Pizza-Chocolate Cake-Ice Cream wrap…sounds delicious, right? If it was Don, he probably was coming in with a 25-26 page slideshow on why Raph should allow him to steal the government's secret stash of uranium…

Don’t ask…

And if it’s April? She probably came in to trash-talk her classmates about how they were just “stuck up rich kids who can’t pull their heads out of their own asses.” Which Raph knows more than 89% of April’s classmates deserve that insult.

Has all those scenarios happened before or is Raph being oddly specific?

Take a guess.

“Come in!” Raph exclaimed, preparing himself for whoever walked into his room.

“Hi Raphie! Your brothers told you your little secret…” April grinned as she went directly in front of Raph, sitting down. Raph cocked his head to the side in confusion. “Wait…what? What secret? Raph doesn’t keep secrets…” The snapper turtle said, putting his finger to his chin and wondering in thought. What secret? 

That time he ate all of Mikey’s leftover birthday cake? No…that couldn’t be it. He was caught red-handed by the birthday boy himself for that one. He has the bruises to prove it…

What about when he stole all of April’s nail polish for himself to try? Uh…no, couldn’t be that either. She actually found him in the bathroom trying to paint his nails with her light blue nail polish: Periwinkle. He knows that blue is Leo’s thing but he must admit he did look pretty good! But he does remember having more colors than periwinkle on his nails, and with April’s help he was able to have pretty nice nails. So that can’t be it.

The snapping turtle wondered, what in the actual shell did my brothers tell her? Because if he himself can’t even remember what kinds of secrets he’s told his brothers who knows what they told his elder sister. And judging by that Cheshire grin April had plastered on her face, it was something really funny he did or really embarrassing. 

“What did they tell you?” Raph gulped, fiddling with his fingers in his lap. April innocently smiled, cracking her knuckles. “Give me your hand.” April said, reaching out to Raph with one of her hands as if she was grabbing something. The snapping turtle hesitantly put one of his hands in hers as she turned it upward so his palm was facing the ceiling.

“Tell me, Raph. Do your hands happen to be ticklish?” April asked, not even waiting for an answer before she scribbled her fingers over Raph’s palm.

Oh.

those.

little.

SHITS. 

Raph was SO going to get them for this later…

“Pfft- Ahahaprihil!” Raph giggled, curling his fingers inside of his palm but only was able to curl them midway as April gently pulled back his fingers, not letting them curl. Raph came out of his sitting position and started squirming; lightly kicking his feet and squirming from left to right. “Stop squirming, Raph. I need to see if this tickles!” April demanded.

“Ihihit dohohoes tihihickle!” Raph yelled, covering his face with his free palm blushing a bit because- really?! Why did she think Raph was a giggling mess right now lightly kicking his feet at her feather-like touch across his palms? 

April then lightly started tracing over Raph’s wrist, causing the snapping turtle to throw his head back and cackle, kicking his legs on the floor trying to get his hand out of April’s grip. “AhahaHAPRIL! PleHEASE!” Raph cried, falling down on his shell due to how much he was laughing which gave April an opportunity to climb on him and scratch her fingers along his sides. 

Raph clamped his hands over his mouth, not wanting to get April satisfied about his reactions to her tickly touches. His sides weren’t even that ticklish! He’s fine. Pfft, tickling? What’s tickling? It doesn’t tickle at all�� he’s fine-

April lightly grazed a finger on his shoulders, causing the red banded turtle to let out a girly scream, descending into laughter. 

Well, fuck. 

“There we go~! There’s my laughy Raphie!” April teased, now scribbling back to Raph’s sides. The snapper mentally cursed himself for even letting himself let his underarms be exposed in a situation like this. Because- it’s April. Not that he would openly admit it but she was probably the best tickler of the family. I mean- Look how much he’s laughing right now!

April started slowly moving up and down Raph’s side; only tickling him with her pointer finger on the both of her hands. “AHAHAPRIL NAHAHO WAHAIT!” Raph squealed, trying to push April’s fingers away from his ribs.

“What are you getting so worked up about, hmm big guy? Oho, you didn’t think I was gonna go…there, did you?” April teased playfully, poking near but nowhere close to Raph’s underarms as the turtle let out loud shrieks at the poking. 

“Stop squirming, buddy~! You’re making it really hard to tickle your good spots~!” April smiled, but the tease only worsened the squirming. 

“AhaHaPRIL! IHIT TIHIHICKLES! ReeReEhEEheE! PLeheHEASE!” Raph laughed, shaking his head and kicking his feet lightly, trying to get out from April’s hold. April smiled at the childhood nickname Raph said throughout his laughter, chuckling as the snapper turtles face started glowing a bright red. She hasn’t even been tickling him all that long!

“Stop squirming or I’m going to tickle your underarms.” April threatened which caused Raph to immediately stop thrashing and just laugh his heart out, weakly kicking his feet behind April here and there. “YOhohoHOUR’E tihihiHICKLING MEEHEE! Ihi caHAHAN’T hehelp ihit!” Raph whined as April only rolled her eyes in amusement. 

Suddenly, the second youngest of the Hamato Clan walked into the room, closing the curtain and walking to April, standing next to her, completely unbothered by his brother getting completely tortured by they’re older sister.

“Hey, April. Do you know where Mikey is? I wanted to show him this meme I found!” Leo giggled, rewatching whatever meme he had pulled up on his phone. “Oh! Mikey said that he was going to go to Baron’s place today, didn’t he tell you?” April said turning, her head to Leo but still tickling the sides of Raph’s ribs, switching between pokes and light scratching to keep him in stitches. 

“Ugh! No one ever tells me anything!” Leo groaned, turning his phone off and putting it in his sweatshirt pocket. “Thanks, I’m gonna go bother Dee. See you later, Riri!” Leo chirped, turning around to the exit. “Also, make sure to not kill Raphie over there, okay?” Leo chuckled, opening the curtain and leaving Raph’s room. “I won’t~!” April sang, kneading both of Raph’s thighs behind him.

Raph whined throughout his laughs as he kicked his feet and lightly pushed at April’s hands, trying to get April off of him. “NAhah! StAHAP! AHAHAPRIL!” 

“Raph, you literally tower over me, bud. You could EASILY stop me if you wanted to, but here we are~!” April teased, leaning in closer to give Raph a kiss on the cheek and scribbling her hands all over him tummy. “SHUHUT IHIHIT!” The snapper yelled, gripping his fingers on April’s wrists trying to ceases her tickle torture and then she suddenly…stopped?

“What did you just say…?” April asked, looking Raph dead in the eyes as she slowly started making her way up his sides. Then to his ribs. Now hovering over-

Oh no.

Oh. NO.

Raph couldn’t help but immediately start cackling as his sister's fingers hovered over his death spot: his underarms. He could feel the tingly sensations of her fingers slowly getting closer and closer. Raph tried kicking his feet, bucking her off, pushing her shoulders lightly but she did not move an inch. 

Oh…Raph was completely SCREWED. In the famous words of his second youngest brother: “Eugh boy…”

“AHAHA! WAHAIT WAHAIT WAHAHAIT! IHIHI’M SOHOHORRY!” Raph tried to reason. He wasn’t a scientist like Donnie but he’s pretty sure there’s a 99.9% chance that April’s going to go for his death spot no matter how many pleas he gives.

“Too little, too late, bud.”

April blew multiple raspberries on the right side of Raph’s neck, so much that he doesn’t even know how April isn’t out of breath yet while also tickling his underarms. But he couldn’t worry about that- he had to worry about not dying by the clutches of his big sister and her tickling hands. And ohmigosh did it tickle a whole lot…

And if things couldn’t get any worse, April started now randomly switching the sides of Raph’s neck where she was giving tickly kisses too; making the snapper scrunch his shoulders and shake his head. 

If you know Raph, you know for a FACT that he cannot STAND tickly kisses- it’s the actual death of him. He’s so used to roughhousing (he grew up with 3 little brothers, can you really blame him?) that he’s not used to these feather-like touches. Which makes it tickle so much f*cking more than it should.

“PLEHEHEHEHEASE!” Raph cried, hands still holding wrists and she continued her tickle torture. “Please, what little brother?” April asked, before blowing raspberries on Raph’s tummy. “IHIHI DUHUHUNNO!” He screamed.

“AHAHAPRIL AHAHA! PLEHEASE! IHIHI’M SOHOHORRY! MEHEHERCY!” Raph cried, tears building up in his eyes. April got off Raph, knowing the safe-word and lying down next to him on the fuzzy carpet as he caught his breath. “You okay, big guy?” April asked, turning her head towards her little brother. “Ihi’m fihine, sis.” Raph giggled, as April rubbed the ghost tickles away. She then got up to get Raph a glass of water that was on his desk and gave it to him. “Thahahanks…” Raph chuckled as he drank the water

The two eldest suddenly heard a crash nearby presumably in Donnie’s lab, followed by some yelling and shrieking, and…whirring?

“NARDO GET BACK HERE WITH MY GOGGLES!”

“YOU’LL HAVE TO CATCH ME IF YOU WANT THEM, FEO HERMANO!!!”

April sighed at the recus her other younger brothers were making, pinching the spot between her eyes as Raph erupted into laughter by his sister’s reaction. “We can’t leave those three alone for a second, can we?” April groaned, crossing her arms. “Yeah…” Raph sighed, standing up and taking April by the hand, helping her up. “Besides, I need to get revenge on them anyway for telling you I have ticklish hands anyway…” The snapper said, cracking his knuckles as April only chuckled at the statement.

“And don’t think you’re safe from Raph’s Revenge™, Riri” Raph grinned, poking April in the side causing her to squawk and squirm away from the touch. She glared at Raph before playfully shoving him as they exited his room. 

“Oho, I’d like to see you’d try, Raphie.”

——————————————————————— 📢❗️LEE RAPH! LEE RAPH! LEE RAPH! LEE RAPH❗️📢

ALSO…POSSIBLE LEE APRIL FIC??? 👀 

As always, hope you all enjoyed!

[jellybeanium124]

speaking of characters never learning critical information from s1 in s2, do you think izzy thinks stede and ed are dating now? was he laying awake at night after episode 4 when ed was let back onto the ship, writing gentlebeard fanfiction in his head about them having gross disgusting ooey gooey emotional sensitive makeup sex?

[nerosdayinanime]

auuuhhh crying thinking about muichiro and giyuu.....

[amee-racle-ofmyown]

the heist!mark brainrot is consuming me…, just imagine mark n the viewer meeting for the first time as little kids to shoplift candy or smth together ╥﹏╥

the (brain)rot consumes!! I can relate

my dear anon... LISTEN. I am a big advocate for childhood friends captaineer, it's one of my favourite headcanons, but a childhood friends AU for the heist partners? that's something I hadn't considered until now. and it's adorable. I had to write something for it asap because I was INSPIRED. I hope you enjoy💖 thanks for sparking the idea!

Heist!Mark x reader (not explicitly romantic at all it's more about the friendship in this one) | Words: 1,317

You are in the kitchen of your shared home base, unloading the groceries your heist partner has just bought, when you pick up a bag of sour candies, smiling quietly to yourself. He's always been a fan of them.

Turning the packet in your hands, an old memory drifts to the surface of your mind:

You don't remember exactly how long ago it was, but you couldn't have been much older than maybe ten.

Your father was busy working, and had reluctantly sent you to the store with a small list after you insisted you could handle it on your own.

You slipped the folded piece of paper out of your school bag and scanned the list of items. At the bottom was a note that read, ‘Remember to stay hydrated, kiddo! :)’

You walked around the supermarket collecting the few things on your list and placed them in your trolley. On your way to the checkout, you passed through the candy aisle and slowed to eye the products on display.

‘Aren't you going to get anything?’

Your head perked up, shocked at the sudden voice addressing you.

There was a boy next to you with dark hair, looking at you inquisitively. He seemed to be about your age. He might have even been slightly shorter than you.

You must have been standing here for longer than you realised if it had prompted him to ask you about it.

You shook your head.

‘Why not?’

‘Oh, um. My dad only gave me enough money for what we need,’ you said timidly, showing him the list.

‘Ohh, that's too bad.’ Then, a small yet undeniably mischievous smile appeared on his face. He glanced discreetly up and down the aisle. ‘You know you can just — ’ and he took one of the small packets of candy off the shelf and slipped it swiftly into his pocket.

Your eyes went wide, stunned. Both from the fact that he was suggesting you steal, and at the speed and subtly with which he'd enacted the crime, as if he'd done it dozens of times before, if not more.

‘What are you doing?’ you spoke in a harsh whisper.

‘It's no big deal,’ he said in a lower voice than before, but one that still felt entirely too loud. He slipped another bag into his pocket.

You did not want to associate with this boy any longer.

You pushed your trolley away and towards the checkout, handing your items to the cashier.

You were unhappy to find the boy waiting for you when you exited the store, shopping bag in your hand.

‘What do you want?’ you asked, a little standoffishly, frowning at him.

‘There's no need to be rude,’ he said with a small pout. ‘Y'know, I think I might have seen you at school a few times.’

To your dismay, he followed along as you started walking home. When you pressed him, he simply said, ‘Hey, I'm not following you! I live down this way too, I promise!’

As the two of you walked, he chatted annoyingly by your side. What was more annoying was that you found you didn't mind his presence. You were a quiet kid and you didn't have many friends. Having someone to walk home with you was kind of a nice change of pace.

Just as you thought this, though, you immediately chided yourself mentally. You and him were not friends. You weren't going to be friends. This boy was a criminal and he wasn't even sorry about it.

You frowned in thought.

Oh no, what if he got caught? What if you went to juvenile jail for being an accomplice to theft? What would Dad say? What would Mom say? What if—’

‘Hey, are you listening to me? You haven't responded to anything I'm saying.’

You simply sighed as he pulled you out of your thoughts.

‘Are you still mad about the candy? I told you it's not a big deal.’

You stopped as you realised you were approaching your front door. The journey seemed to have gone a little faster than usual.

‘Really?’ you finally replied in an exasperated tone. ‘That was no big deal for you? That was stealing. Stealing is wrong.’ You couldn't believe you had to spell it out to him.

‘They won't notice a couple tiny bags of candy are gone. My mom says big companies that own supermarkets are greedy. They make loads of money anyway and don't pay enough taxes.’

‘Does your mom know you're a thief?’

‘W- well, no, but-’

‘That’s what I thought.’

He looked a little disheartened.

‘Please don't tell anyone. I'm sorry if I upset you,’ he said quietly, looking down.

You hadn't really expected an apology from someone like him. You sighed again.

‘I won't tell, but don't expect me to just go along with it. And don't act like we're best buds all of a sudden. We don't know each other. You don't even know my name!’

‘Well, what's your name?’

You gave him a slightly surprised look before telling him your name, albeit hesitantly.

‘Look, I have to get going now…’

You fumbled with the shopping bag as you reached into your coat pocket, feeling for the house key, when you suddenly felt something that wasn't there before. It made a crinkling sound beneath your touch.

‘You didn't.’ You pulled the candy out of your pocket. ‘When did you—?’

The boy grinned at you.

‘I thought you could have one of mine.’

‘I don't want your stolen candy!’

‘Judging by how you looked at it earlier, I think you do. And besides, stolen treats taste better!’ he called out, already walking away.

‘Wh- SHH!’ You hoped none of your neighbours had heard.

‘I'm Mark by the way! See ya, buddy!’

You stood outside the front door, dumbfounded.

Finally you let yourself in. Your dad wouldn't be home yet for a while.

You put the shopping away and sat down at your kitchen table, staring at the stolen goods in front of you.

You could try to put it back but… that would be more suspicious.

You figured, the deed had been done. There was nothing you could do now, so you may as well make the most of it.

You tore the edge of the packet and popped one of the candies in your mouth, savouring the sweet and sour combination on your tongue.

Maybe Mark was right. It did taste extra good. But maybe it was just because you'd been craving it.

What a weird kid.

‘Stealing is wrong, huh…?’ you mumble under your breath. You look down at the candy in your hands. It's not the same brand as the one from back then, but you imagine it tastes more or less the same, from what you remember.

Present day Mark is the one to pull you out of your musings.

‘Hey, what's with that face you're making? I know that look, buddy. Are you contemplating your life choices??’

You chuckle softly.

‘Just… got reminded of something. I suppose I got lost in nostalgia for a moment.’

‘Oh yeah? Penny for your thoughts?’

You turn and smile at him.

‘This just made me think of an annoying little boy stealing candy from a supermarket. And his reluctant acquaintance who ended up getting dragged into his antics for the foreseeable future.’

It takes a second for it to click.

‘Ohhhhh.’ You watch as realisation turns to him smiling fondly at the memories, which turns to him snapping his attention to you with a fake-offended look.

You laugh at his expression.

‘Wait, hey! Annoying?!’

‘Mhm.’

‘Excuse you, I was a wonderful, sweet and positively charming child.’

Your laughter rings out in the kitchen, full of mirth, and he shakes his head at you with a familiar lopsided grin, and you are so grateful for the cheeky little boy who approached you that day.

[rearranging-deck-chairs]

ohh do you think the reason they cut uh this:

and added this:

LEADER: Your Master awaits, Doctor. YASMIN: Doctor, what does it mean by that?

is because they didnt want to imply the doctor actually told yaz about what time told her? graham voice: shes still not explaining anything then?

[feralsteddie]

It’s the not knowing, that gets him.

The not knowing what could’ve happened if Eddie Munson had made it out of that fight.

They’d barely known each other, spent a few days fighting monsters after a few months of barely acknowledging each other over the head of their mutual friend after a few years of avoiding each other in the high school hallways.

But those few days were something. It took him a while to realise that, or, to come to terms with the fact that it probably wasn’t all in his head, but they were.

He spends more time than is probably healthy thinking about what could’ve happened, even if he forces the thoughts to stay inside his head, where they can’t hurt Dustin any more than his death already did.

Would they have been friends? Linked together similarly to him and Robin? He could see it. Nights where the three of them curled up on his bed until the sun rose and they could breathe again. Evenings spent watching movies and getting high and talking until their voices gave out.

Would they have been more? There was tension, he knows tension. Could write a whole book on signals and looks and the shifts in tone. Even if he was just trying to deal with the situation he’d ended up in, and he’d been the only age-appropriate guy around, that still left a foot in the door. They could’ve cracked it open some more, taken a step inside. Could’ve learned each other. Could’ve slotted next to one another like puzzle pieces, matching their scars up when they pressed together.

They could’ve just fallen back to routine. Eddie spending time with the kids when he wasn’t. Trading looks over Dustin’s head only a bit heavier after sharing the secrets of what lurked below.

Or Eddie could’ve been swept away by the government. Or hidden away with Hopper. Or arrested in the hospital. Or taken out by the mob. Or or or or.

Not every scenario was nice, but they ran through his head anyway.

Because, the fact was he would never know. Would never get the choice to learn, to see. To either grow with him or grow separately or grow apart.

There was a whole future, full of whatever life he was supposed to have, just gone. Stomped out and leaving blood stains on the ground of the Upside Down. Leaving Dustin broken open and a name no one would let them clear and a skittish look to anyone who dared to be different, in case they were blamed for the next Hawkins tragedy.

Any of those possibilities or a million other ones he couldn’t think of, left empty and dissatisfied. Because he just couldn’t know.

[dangerous-advantage]

if you’re in the rise fandom and see this:

go read “all the ashes in my wake” by @crows-murder right now.

(yes, that is an order, and yes, pun intended.)

this post serves as a fic rec, but mainly to let me gush about how much i love this fic without filling up the author’s inbox with a small dissertation (/joking).

for the fic rec part:

leo. cursed. ella enchanted type cursed.

if you have any interest at all in absolutely phenomenal angst, clever writing with a style that’s easy to follow and smooth as butter, on-point characterization and dynamics, and basically anything you could ever ask for of a rise fic,

go. read. this. fic. right. now.

(that said, i am now going to ramble about my specific thoughts concerning the fic and it’s plot, so. possible spoilers beyond this point?)

there have been a growing number of fics in this “sub-genre” of the rise fandom involving a character (generally leo) getting cursed, and then facing off against angsty odds that make you go, “oh. oh, shit.” (/positive)

these curses also tend to involve the phases of the moon in some way, which i think is a very fun and interesting trend

i’ve enjoyed all of the fics that i’ve read which fit into this, but this particular fic may be my favorite yet

it follows a simple formula, neatly tying the a plot (the curse stuff) and the b plot (leo’s conflict with leadership and the strain it’s putting on his relationships) into a neat little bow.

while the idea of leo getting “ella enchanted” is fun on its own, it’s doubly important to the plot and the characterization, as it forces him to have to fix one problem to address the other.

in the first chapter, the author constructs the roots to this, by contrasting leo’s wily, independent nature against the inevitable conflict that will stifle his attempts to act on it.

watching him brush his brothers off, make his own choices and go off on his own, builds this wonderful sense of tension. it hooks you — what’s going to happen when that string is cut?

it plays perfectly into the underlying conflict. leo needs to find a way to overcome his fears of leading the team, or else the rift between him and his team will only continue to widen.

so what does the narrative do? it forces him into a position where he is no longer gets to choose.

this incapacitation is a powerful tool, not only because of the external force of the curse, but also that it plays off of the weaknesses of his character.

this isn’t something that he can just handwave, or take care of on his own. it’s a situation where he needs to ask for help.

but this is leo we’re talking about. of course he isn’t going to go to his brothers about this, or even tell them! but by hiding it and trying to fix it himself, he ends up caught in a deadlock of his own making.

and since it doesn’t look like he’s going to get over himself very soon, it seems more likely that he’ll end up cornered in a very sticky situation indeed (something which i am very much looking forward to seeing, if that is the plan).

it’s genius! to fix his problems with the curse, he has to address his issues with his family first.

my attempts to sound smarter than i actually am aside (/lighthearted), i am so glad this fic is addressing the conflict between raph and leo. not only that, but in a way that feels true to their characters.

unlike other iterations of the tmnt, the roles here are reversed. it’s not the stolid abs responsible leader pitted against the broody loner who wants to be leader, but isn’t the right fit.

it’s rise!raph, who cares about his little brother and wants to support him, and rise!leo who, on some level, doubts his own ability in this new role on the team — to be anything more than “the face man.”

it’s not often where you come across a fic where the a plot and the b plot are equally engaging, but this is one of those rare cases where everything just works. it’s like i’m witnessing the first steps of some great machine, meticulously crafted, a hundred disparate parts working in tandem.

in the third chapter, the angst just works. the pay-off there feels so real, because you get it. you relate to this character. when raph is there, waiting up for him, you know shit’s about to go down. you can feel it.

if the necklace (and therefore the curse) acted as both a narrative device and catalyst, leo’s swords represent the other side of that: the last bit of freedom he has left in this godawful situation.

they’re the last bit of freedom, his only hope of escape. raph taking them (or, rather, leo being compelled to surrender them) has just glorious undertones in the narrative as a whole.

if you were to consider the katanas a representation of leo’s autonomy, it makes sense why him being forced to give them up hits that much harder.

not only is it a tense situation, where leo is fighting back but ultimately unable to overcome the curse, it cements this underlying feeling of helplessness the author has been seeding since the chapter previous.

now that we’re here, with both the a plot and b plot coming into direct confrontation with what leo wants, we recognize that leo cannot continue how he is.

sure, he’ll keep on fighting it (abs i am very much looking forward to seeing how that goes), but this is the point where we know, there is no escaping.

leo is now truly stuck. without his katanas, fubdibg the necklace to break the curse on his own is basically impossible.

and he recognizes this.

leo’s characterization throughout this fic has been some of the best in the business. he’s smart, witty, independent, calculating — probably one of, if not the best true-to-character representations of rise!leo thats i’ve seen so far.

(absolutely phenomenal job there, i cannot stress this point enough.)

in fact, all of the characters in this fic are so well-written? i’m already seeing roots for character development within casey sr. (which i am so here for, oh my gods you don’t even know), and you can’t help but be invested in all of these relationships

we’re constantly being reminded of the emotional conflict, how much of a strain it’s putting on the relationships, not just between raph and leo, but between all of them.

leo sees this, understands something has to change, but feels paralyzed by what that could mean. for him, and his family.

not to beat the metaphorical dead horse, but that scene after leo surrenders his katanas abs flees back to his room? damn. i felt that on a visceral level.

being so tired, so miserable, so helpless, when a part of you knows you’re being irrational, but having your own pride and fear get in the way of that?

not to project all over these characters or whatever, but fuck. it feels like this was written to call out me, specifically (/j /lh)

and urgh! the detail work in this is incredible!

maybe i’m just a slut for somewhat contrived narratives, and definitely contrived foreshadowing, but the way it’s done in this fic comes off as so clean and organized.

it’s like... weaving threads in a tapestry. you can see where the connect, though you’re not quite sure where they’re going, until you can step back abs look at the picture as a whole.

it genuinely feels masterful in some places, like, mother of god, leave some talent for the rest of us!! (/lighthearted)

i could probably keep talking about this forever, but i do have other responsibilities i should be taking care of, and i kind of want to reread the three chapters that are out (as of writing this) again.

who knows, maybe i’ll revisit this in the future, when i have a better basis and understanding of the underlying themes here.

for now, dear author (if you are, for some reason, reading this),i hope you don’t mind my pretentious and meandering thoughts and/or assumptions. you’ll probably see me again, gushing in your comment sections. yours is just the kind of fic that deserves to be gushed about.

[motokeith]

can we stop treating our participation in the voltron fandom as something horrific and shameful or is every single voltron post going to be prefaced with self-deprecation and disgust

[starlooove]

I’m trying not to be a hater but that tiktok and comment section pissed me off so bad.

[hesternikko]

i was taking a nap to rest and see FOREVER WINTER UPDATE hang on yall i need to recalibrate and wake up first i need to gear up this is my day today

[yardsards]

you've heard of being "touch starved", now get ready for "touch hangry"

[love-songs-for-emma]

am i going to single-handedly create a fandom about jay holt from the video game "as dusk falls"? i just fuckin might

[a-very-fond-farewell]

pumpkin gnocchi with sausage-based ragú spoke to me in a dream so I think I should really write tonight