#wow look at that a post from me NOT about Leo

[turtleblogatlast]

Headcanon that Mikey first got into art because he saw that Raph didn’t have any markings like Donnie, Leo, and Mikey did, so Mikey wanted his big brother to feel included, so he took some of the paint Splinter had managed to find for them and painted all sorts of blocks and swirls and circles and stripes on Raph

Mikey found that he had a lot of fun doing it, and felt even better about it after seeing Raph’s wide smiles at the results

It became a thing after that, of Mikey doing art for his family, but it eventually becomes something he just likes doing

He still most often creates works for his family anyway though

[theyluvkarolina]

𝐆𝐄𝐓 𝐇𝐈𝐌 𝐁𝐀𝐂𝐊!

Part 2 of `` 𝐈’𝐋𝐋 𝐋𝐄𝐓 𝐘𝐎𝐔 𝐁𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐊 𝐌𝐘 𝐇𝐄𝐀𝐑𝐓 𝐀𝐆𝐀𝐈𝐍 ``

· . ୨୧⭒๋࣭ ⭑ ` ` well isn’t it the conciquences of my own actions! ` ` ⊹ ‧₊˚

𝐒𝐔𝐌𝐌𝐀𝐑𝐘 ୨୧ After heartbreak, Y/N decides she’s done with rich men in Formula One. Well, that’s what she thought at first. Besides, what better way to get back at your ex that does competitive sports than to get with his main rival?

𝐏𝐀𝐈𝐑𝐈𝐍𝐆 ୨୧ Lewis Hamilton x Fem!Reader, Ex!Max Verstappen x Reader

𝐖𝐀𝐑𝐍𝐈𝐍𝐆𝐒 ୨୧ Mentions of Jos and some slut shaming (not saying directly)

𝐀/𝐍 ୨୧ oh how i love this sorta trope. Will be working on one more request!

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y/n.l/n ✔︎

liked by alexandrasaintmleux, charles_leclerc, roscoelovescoco and others

y/n.l/n tante y/n spending time with her favorite nephew while mom and dad are out on date day 🩷 (also met a new friend(s) while on a walk🫣!)

tagged ; lewishamilton, roscoelovescoco

3,218 comments

charles_leclerc ✔︎ fatherhood is tiring 😞

→ y/n.l/n ✔︎ i will gladly take leo off your hands 🤗🤗 → charles_leclerc ✔︎ no thank you!!

alexandrasaintmleux the prettiest 🩷

→ y/n.l/n ✔︎ says you 🥹🫶 → charles_leclerc ✔︎ am i interrupting something..? → y/n.l/n ✔︎ yes you are actually

lewishamilton ✔︎ great seeing you!

y/n.l/n you ✔︎ as well! sorry for stopping your run! 😭 lewishamilton ✔︎ no need to worry! it was fun catching up 👊 landonorris ✔︎ “interuppted your run” uh huh… 😏 roscoelovescoco should have brought snacks

username1 LEO LECLERC!! 🗣️ 🔥

→ username2 leo *SAINT-MLEUX leclerc

username3 TANTE Y/N!!

→ username4 she can be my aunt anytime → username5 i’m tired of this @ username4.

username6 ROSCOE MENTION

username7 the lewis hamilton tag??? 🤨

→ username8 NO BECAUSE WHY IS NOBODY TALKING ABOUT THIS?? → username9 call me delusional but what if lewis and y/n get together 🤭🤭 → username10 yeah you’re delusional!! → username11 i mean… considering they both live in monaco and it’s break right now for f1… i wouldn't be surprised if they start getting friendly

username12 her outfit is so 😍😍

lewishamilton ✔︎

📍 Monaco

liked by kimi.antonelli, tommyhilfiger, irinashayk, and others

lewishamilton fun day out 📸

4,971 comments

username13 lewis serving as usual 🥱

username14 UHM…. SIR LEWIS CARL DAVIDSON HAMILTON… WHO IS THAT WOMAN?

→ username15 based off how she dresses and who he recently met, it has to be y/n no way it’s some other girl.

landonorris ✔︎ a new missus??? 🤔

→ username16 tell us what you know @ landonorris. → username17 this is a threat @ landonorris → username18 stalk lewis @ landonorris → landonorris fucking hell guys let me live i’m as lost as you 😞😞🙏

username19 the y/n and lewis collab was something i did NOT know I needed….

username20 we lost him ladies 😞😞👊

→ username21 lost him??? nah we lost HER

y/n.l/n ✔︎ too fun!

Liked by lewishamilton

→ lewishamilton favorite part was when you fell in the water 🤣 → y/n.l/n ✔︎ we promised to not talk about that…

username22 what do you guys know about y/namilton post y/nstappen breakup??

→ username23 bro thinks lewis hamilton will get with max verstappens ex 💀

y/n.l/n ✔︎

📍 Monte Carlo, Monaco

liked by lewishamilton, rebeccadonalson, maxverstappen1 and others

y/n.l/n rest and relaxation ☕️ 🌞

3,210 comments

username24 my girl knew the assignment

→ username25 and got graded a 8/8 🤭🤭

lewishamilton ✔︎ oh wow 😍

lewishamilton ✔︎ the prettiest girl in the world 💫

→ y/n.l/n ✔︎ oh?? 😳 → username26 UHMM… → username27 lewis… i don’t think you know you’re on your main… → username28 lewis’s comment isn’t wrong she knew how good she looked 😫 → username29 PRETTIEST GIRL IN THE WORLD??? → username30 OKAY WE SEE YOU SHOOTING THE SHOTS HAMMY → username31 HAMMY??? 😭😭

username32 the max like???

username33 the way she’s so much more happy now with all the max drama subsiding :(

username34 great now she’s moving on from one driver to another 🙄

→ username35 honestly! i’m suprised no one called her out on that. → username36 champion hopper 😂

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lewishamilton 🩶

tagged ; y/n.l/n

7,654 comments

y/n.l/n ✔︎ mwah mwah 😽

→ lewishamilton ✔︎ ❤️ → landonorris ✔︎ yuck. → carlosainz55 ✔︎ don’t worry guys lando is just jealous. → landonorris ✔︎ jealous??? as if → landonorris ✔︎ okay maybe a bit.

username37 IS THIS THE HARD LAUNCH??🫣

username38 I KNEW THEY ALREADY KISSED BUT DAMN

username39 THEY DIDN’T EASE INTO IT 💀

username40 LEWIS AND YN SAID “fuck the soft launch” 😭😭

username41 Rip max verstappen pre-y/n breakup, you would have loved this baddie…

→ username42 @ username41 nah max didn’t fight for their relationship he doesn’t deserve y/n in her hottie era → username43 @ username42 YOU SPEAK THE TRUTH!!

username22 WTF DID I SAY @ username23

→ username23 i plead the fifth.

alexandrasaintmleux écoute ici, petite merde. tu lui brises le cœur, Charles et moi serons devant ta porte, les couteaux à la main et prêts à frapper. Elle mérite le monde et tu ferais mieux de le lui donner. ❤️ 🤗

→ username44 alex being such a sweet and supportive friend 🥹🫶 → username45 DID WE READ THE SAME COMMENT??? → username46 french speaker here 🙋 i can confirm that alex did infact say how happy she is for y/n and lewis and that she can’t wait for them and y/n and charles to go on double dates!! → username46 that is what i would say but she very much said the opposite!! → lewishamilton ✔︎ oui oui madame. 🫡

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[pumpkinbxtch]

heyyyyyy Idk if you're still accepting requests for apollo if not that's fine BUTTTTTT if you are could you do a fic with him being so protective of the reader(like someone being rude to her at camp). Because you know how protective he is of his sister now imagine that but on the love of his life.

the weight of names

— apollo x daughter of hebe!reader

warnings: language, mentions of harassment.

a/n: Hello, to know if my requests are open, it usually says in my description or in my pinned post. Fortunately, your request came in before I closed them so it's fine. Thank you!

Things had changed at Camp Half-Blood. Some campers you used to hang out with were gone, and even though it wasn't forever, you missed them. You stayed year-round, stuck with the others who, while not bad company, just didn’t click with you, and you couldn’t figure out why.

— Ha, ha. Piper McLean's best friend — you heard behind you and rolled your eyes dramatically, fed up with it all.

— Yeah, tell us. If she has so much money, why doesn’t she take you out of here and bring you with her?

You weren’t surprised by their accusations; it was almost routine. Today, they picked on your friendship with Piper; another day, it’d be Annabeth or Jason. When they wanted to show off, it’d be Percy and Nico, and when they were really unbearable, Frank, Leo, Hazel, or even Will. But no matter what, the cherry on top was always...

— Or your god friend.

There it was, of course.

— Yeah, they say it’s Apollo — mocked a girl who seemed to be a daughter of Hermes. Had you ever gotten along with any of them? Maybe the Stoll brothers, but now only one twin was at camp, probably too busy dealing with ten other kids to keep his sister in line.

You never denied or confirmed anything; it was easier that way, but sometimes they were annoying. You wondered if they skipped the awful welcome video that ended with: A safe place for everyone.

In the end, they weren’t doing anything different from any public school, but it was worse: The outcasts bullying an outcast.

— Get lost, will you? — you sighed tiredly, and they let out a long "Oooh" that made your hand itch to strike.

—What? — challenged an Aphrodite girl with her hands on her hips. — Are you going to attack us with rainbows, little Hebe girl?"

— Maybe she took the 'little' part too seriously,— mocked another, a Demeter kid, and you wondered if you could burn all his crops with light projection, but you dismissed the idea. You’d never stoop to their level.

— Wow, great joke, Lionel. It’s not like you’ve told me that a thousand times already. — Your sarcasm made him angry, and he took a step towards you, ready to fight. That was the great part about camp; no one was truly defenseless except the newcomers, so challenging someone was easy, but you ignored him and headed to your cabin.

—Stop — commanded the Aphrodite girl, and you felt a sudden stiffness in your legs that made you fall to your knees. Their charm speak.

You heard the laughter behind you and squeezed your eyes shut, trying to relax when a dull thud interrupted their laughter, turning it into groans. At the sudden change, you looked over your shoulder and saw them on the ground, piled on top of each other, blinking repeatedly. You’d seen that effect a few times but never thought it could be that.

— Good thing you were looking the other way — said a voice, startling you. Next to you was him, his curly brown hair and blue eyes you liked to see, but only secretly.

—Apollo — you breathed in disbelief, making him smile. He tried to take your hand, but you pulled away, blushing. He understood; it wasn’t the moment, but he wasn’t going to stand by either.

—You — he turned, his Converse kicking up dust as he walked to them. The Demeter kid clicked his tongue at the sight of a tall, skinny guy with brown hair and blue eyes. He found it trivial, but campers watching from afar started murmuring.

—Who are you?— he asked, and at the same time, one of Hephaestus’ sons, Harley, came out of his cabin due to the noise. Seeing the guy, his eyes widened.

—LESTER?— he shouted so loudly Mount Olympus might’ve heard. The god smiled amicably. The other three looked confused.

— Is that your name?— asked the Hermes girl in a tone the old Apollo would never have forgiven. He narrowed his eyes but then just nodded.

— Yeah, let’s say it is. Or at least one of my names — he smiled, but it wasn’t a warm smile; it was full of disdain. — They call me that, but leaving that aside, know my name it's not helpful to you 'cause I’m also known for not tolerating injustice.

—Uuh— mocked the Demeter kid, and Apollo’s eyes bore into him.

— I’ll tell your mother — he accused, and the kid swallowed hard. —I know her well. Now...

He straightened up, looking down at them. One tried to get up, and Apollo snapped his fingers, pinning him to the ground again, which scared them, making them wonder if there was a child of some god of gravity around.

— Don’t bother this young lady anymore, and let me clarify something — he looked at you challengingly, making you blush, — yes, I’m her friend but not just that, she’s my-

—Enough — you interrupted nervously, and he smiled apologetically. Right, boundaries. He was learning that with you.

— Anyway, You need to stop. — he said firmly, and the three kids raised an eyebrow.

— Friend? When did I say that...— the Hermes girl recapped her words and realization hit her, — No.

Apollo nodded.

— Yes.

The dark way he said it sent a shiver down their spines, and he raised an eyebrow as he leaned towards the Hermes girl.

— And I’d recommend being careful with names. Ann, also daughter of Marlene.

Despite being the god of the sun, the coldness in his voice was relentless, and fear gripped them violently, making them run away screaming like babies.

The campers who knew him approached to say hello, but before he gave them his attention, he came up to you.

— Don’t let them do that anymore — he whispered in your ear, and you nodded. His hand caressed your cheek, and you smiled the smile he loved, resisting the urge to kiss you in front of everyone.

— See you — you said, watching him get dragged away by the other campers.

[so-fuck-what-im-dreaming]

Date Night | Damiano David

Pairing : Damiano David x Reader

Prompt : A post I saw a while ago where someone was talking about a speakeasy they had been to that also doubled as a tattoo parlour and I couldn't stop thinking about it...

Warnings: Poor Italian translations, bad tattooing process and aftercare, not proof-read

Word Count: 2527

“Are you ready to go Amore?” He asks, walking back into your shared bedroom and standing behind you as you looked in the mirror, slipping your earrings in. “Though I don’t really know why I’m asking, considering I have absolutely no Idea where you’re taking me,” He says with a soft laugh as he places his hands on your hips, pulling you into him.

“I promise you’ll love it,” You assure him as you lean back, resting your head on his chest.

“I’m sure I will,” He says as he starts to kiss your neck. The warm Rome air was flowing through the apartment, all the windows and doors open creating a nice breeze. This was your happy place, here with him. “Mmh…let's get going,” He teases, pulling away from you.

“You just don’t like surprises do you?” You ask him as you put your sandals on, buckling them at your ankle.

“You know I don’t” He says with a grin as He spritzes himself with his cologne. 

You left the apartment hand-in-hand as you walked towards the metro station, it was only a few stops away so you were quickly off again. You double checked the distance when you got out and it was only a five minute walk. You passed the Circo Massimo and you reminisced about when Damiano played there a few years ago. You had only been dating around a year when He begged you to come, guaranteeing you it would be the best night of your life and He had definitely not been lying. 

You had heard the band practising before, even having sat in on some recording sessions…but there was something different about seeing them perform, seeing Him perform. Damiano was almost a different person. He was raw, unapologetic and very fucking hot. Not that He wasn’t anyway but somehow it had been taken to a whole new level.

“It should be just here…” You say looking down at the map on your phone.

“Are you sure Amore? I think your map might be wrong…” He says looking around. You spot what you’re looking for. A dark wooden door with a golden ‘T’ and matching knocker.

“Follow me,” You say with a wide smile on your face as you pull Damiano with you. You knock on the door three times followed by saying the word ‘Sfizio’. A moment passes before you hear it unlocking and the door swinging open. 

“Benvenuti Signore e Signora,” The Doorman says, nodding in your direction as you walk past him. 

“Welcome to temptazione,” You say quietly to Damiano as you both take a moment to soak in the atmosphere. There’s a light haze of cigarette smoke and the smell of expensive cologne filling the air as you’re silently led to a booth in the corner.. 

“Wow…where did you find this place?” He asks, both of you sliding into the dark green leather lined booth.

“Friend of a friend is one of the owners…it opened up a few weeks ago and as soon as I heard about it I knew I had to bring you,” You say, not wanting to give up the biggest secret yet.

The lady who had sat you left a menu card and a small piece of paper. ‘you’ll be seen at 11’ 

“What's that?” He asks as you look at the paper.

“The second surprise of the night…but it looks like you’ll have to wait,” You tease him

“You just can’t help yourself can you?” He asks and you just shake your head. You had just over an hour to kill until it was your turn so Damiano offers to grab the first round of drinks. By half past you were two drinks in, Damiano’s arm wrapped around your shoulders as you alternated between slowly kissing and quietly talking. The next half an hour seemed to go pretty quickly and soon enough you were being escorted down a dark hallway, your boyfriends fingers laced into yours as you followed,

“Leo will be your artist tonight, godere,” She says before leaving you. You turn to Damiano and you can see all the pieces starting to click into place.

“Is this what I think it is?” He asks and you nod, a smile spreading across your face. You had gotten a few tattoos in the past, nowhere near as many as He had and you had been saying for years that you wanted to get them done together some day. “-and you want to?” He asks and you nod again. When he sees your reaction you're pulled into his chest, lips colliding with his. “You’re perfect” He whispers before you're interrupted by the sound of footsteps coming down the hallway.

“11 O’Clock?” A guy asks as he comes into the room.

“Yes,” You answer and He pulls back a curtain revealing a large leather chair and a tattoo station.

“Do you know what you want?” He asks and you look over at Damiano. 

“I was wondering if we chose for each other,” You suggest, and Damiano’s wide smile was a good enough answer.

“Do you want to leave it as a surprise?” Leo asks, opening a drawer and pulling out a black silk blindfold. You were definitely not a stranger to a silk blindfold. “ I can wrap it up for you so you can wait until you get home to see it? Quite a few of our couples do,” He offers and you both like the sound of that.

You were always slightly nervous before a new tattoo and Damiano knew that. “Let me go first, Amore,” He says, kissing your forehead. “Where do you want it?” He asks.

“Where have you got space is probably a better question,” You reply with a smile and He starts to unbutton his shirt. He shrugs it off and hangs it up on the hook behind the door. As he looks at himself in the mirror trying to see where you could put it you can’t help but admire him. A soft smile rested upon your lips as you let your eyes roam over his body.

“Up here Amore,” He says, directing your gaze back up his chest. “Either the top of my ribcage or just above my waistband?” He suggests, pointing out the two areas.

“I think here should be perfect,” You say, brushing your hand over the top of his ribcage. Damiano heads over to the chair and lays down. 

“Do you know what you’d like Signora?” Leo asks.

“I do, can I have a pen and paper…wouldn’t want to give anything away,” You say smiling up at your boyfriend. He quickly hands them to you and you draw out your design. “If you can do it as close to that as you can, that would be amazing,” You say and he nods. Leo hands you the silk blindfold before leaving the room to make a template of your design.

You moved towards Damiano, walking around the chair so you were looking down at him. He sits his head up slightly so you could tie the blindfold around his eyes.

“Oh how the tables have turned,” You say quietly, moving to sit on the edge of the seat. You slowly run your hand over his chest, paying special attention where his new tattoo will be. You lean down to press your lips to the base of his neck, slowly kissing your way up towards his jawline.

“Per favore…Amore,” He says but you’re interrupted again. Leo pays no mind to the position he found you in as he showed you the template.

“It's perfect,” You say with a smile, getting up and moving to sit in the chair on the other side. Damiano turns onto his side so Leo can reach his ribcage. The tattoo takes about five minutes, maybe not even that. He moisturises the area and covers it up so it’s hidden from prying eyes.

“That means it’s your turn, Amore,” Damiano says, pulling the blindfold from his face and smiling at you.

“I guess it is…how do you want me Signore David?” You ask with a grin as He stands up and walks you over towards the mirror. 

“May I?” He asks and you nod, before taking the back zip of your dress in between his fingers and pulling it down slightly. The dress hung around your waist, revealing the laced bra you wore underneath it. He moved his hand onto your stomach, dragging one of his fingers along the area where your skin disappeared under the lace. “What about here?” He asks.

“I like it,” You say with a smile and He seems pleased with his decision. You look down and see Damiano pulling the black silk out of his pocket. 

“Your turn,” He says as he ties it around your eyes. You feel his fingers lace into yours as he leads you over towards the chair, you carefully sit down, making sure your dress doesn't fall any further.

“Signore? Your design?” Leo asks Dami, who asks to speak to him away from me. Leo leaves the room and I can feel Damiano coming back over to me.

“Leo’s just gone to make the template…he’ll be back in a moment,” He says quietly, only a few inches from my ear. “I think it’s going to look beautiful Amore,” He says, tracing the area again with his finger…then something else…you can feel his breath on your stomach so it must be his tongue. 

“Dami…” You moan softly but he stops…drying the area so nobody would know. 

“Later, I promise,” He says, gently squeezing your thigh as He sits up…Leo having come back into the room.

“Signora…do you mind taking off your bra…I think the fabric might get in the way,” He asks and you sit up, a guy's hands, who you know for a fact are Damiano’s wrap around you, unhooking the bra and moving it away. Your nipples peak at the sudden cold air, then an alcohol wipe to disinfect the area is gently brushed over the area before the design is transferred onto your skin.

“Just stay nice and still for us Amore,” Damiano says, relieving you of any worry or concern you had. 

“Signore…would you like to do it?” Leo asks and there's a moment of silence.

“That's not up to me…Amore?” He asks and you quickly agree.

“Yes, of course,” You say, butterflies erupting in your stomach at the thought of Damiano tattooing something that would be on your body forever. You could still hear the music from the bar as they concentrated, the only other sound being that of the tattoo gun. You didn’t find it particularly painful and before you knew it, it was done. Damiano followed the same routine that Leo did with the aftercare before wrapping it up.

“You did so good,” Damiano says as He kisses your forehead. The silk blindfold is untied, left to drop into your lap.

“I’ll leave you two to get dressed…the charge has been added to your bill. It was a pleasure working with you Signore e Signora,” Leo says with a smile before quickly leaving the room. You loosen your bra slightly so it doesn’t affect the dressing before you pull your dress back up, over your shoulders. Damiano had already buttoned up his shirt by the time his hands reached for the zipper again, gently tugging it up.

“That was amazing Amore, thank you so much,” He says, kissing your shoulder blade.

“Thank you for tattooing me,” You say with a slight laugh. Damiano would later tell you that Leo had been following him on social media so had seen that He had tattooed before, so the whole ‘would you like to’ was a farce.

It was nearing midnight by the time you got back to the bar, both of you deciding to finish your drinks before heading home. Damiano’s jacket was draped over your shoulders as the cool air settled in on your journey home. The metro was quiet and the streets near your apartment were even quieter.

You had decided that you would both wait a week till revealing your new tattoos, wanting to give them time to heal before seeing them for the first time.

..................

The next week flew by, Damiano back in the studio, You were back in the office. It was a pretty unremarkable week that was all counting down towards the day you would finally see your tattoo. Damiano had ordered your favourite food for delivery, you had eaten whilst watching a movie you both wanted to see, a very nice bottle of red wine had been cracked open but both of you knew what the other was waiting for.

“I think it’s time,” You say to him as the film finishes.

“I think so too,” He says, getting up from the couch and taking you by the hand. He led you into your bedroom and towards the mirror. He pulled your shirt off of you whilst you unbuttoned his. Dropping both onto the floor in a crumpled heap. You watched as He moved to his bedside table, pulling out a very familiar black silk blindfold. “I’m going to clean it up before you see it, ok?” He asks, tying the silk around your head for the second time. He takes your bra off and can feel him peeling away the adhesive dressing. He headed into the bathroom and grabbed a damp towel, gently brushing it over the tattoo making sure it was clean and healing properly.

He positioned you in front of the mirror.

“Ready,” He asks and you nod, he removes the blindfold and you look down at your left breast. The dark black inked words cupping it. ‘Il Ballo Della Vita’ Curved around, identical to his, but this time in his handwriting, done by his hand.

“I…I love it,” You say, slightly lost for words. “It’s perfect Dami,” You say, unable to take your eyes off of it. You finally managed to tear your eyes away from it to turn around, pulling him down into a long and drawn out kiss. “Thank you,” You whisper with a wide smile on your face.

The silk is wrapped around his eyes now, damp towel gently wiping at the tattoo before letting him see. You were very impressed at how much it looked like your handwriting…Leo had done a very good job. You untied the blindfold, throwing it behind you and onto the bed as Damiano’s eyes travelled down his own body, locking onto the written words. ‘Sarò ciò che respiri’ Your favourite line from the song He wrote about you.

“You are what I breathe…” You say quietly, now it was his turn to be unable to tear his eyes away. It was very rare that Damiano was speechless…his whole job was putting his emotions into words…but this had stumped him.

“I…” He tries to say but to no luck. You smile to yourself…you definitely won. “It's perfect…you’re perfect…fuck, I love you so much Amore,” He says pulling you into his arms. “How about we put that blindfold to another use?” He asks quietly against the shell of your ear.

finite

[naviaknell777]

Dyeing/Cutting Your Hair Headcanons!

All ROTTMNT boys x gn reader (romantic+established relationship)

[Requested from Quotev. Requests currently CLOSED] Posted 10/31/23, happy Halloween!

On a whim, you decided it was time to change up your look

You’ve had this hair length and color for a long while, and it was time to change things up for once!

So impulsively, you booked the soonest appointment to your hair salon, deciding that it would be a surprise for your boyfriend as well

You directed the hairdresser the way you wanted your hair, the shade of the color(s), and by the end of it, you could barely recognize the person in the mirror, but you couldn’t be happier to see the new you with your new hair style!

You just hoped your boyfriend would be happy with your new look!!

Raph

Wasn’t expecting the new change, but loved it anyway!

He really doesn't care what you change your hair to, or even if you got a new tattoo or piercing, he just love you

No matter what you look like he loves you either way, but he thinks your new haircut and color is amazing

“Wow! Your new look is awesome, [n/n]!”

“Ooh, and that color is perfect for you too!”

He’ll throw a thumbs up as well, smiling cause he just loves you so much

Will stare at your new hair for a bit, he’s just absorbing the new look

Overall, thinks you look lovely per usual!

Bonus points if you get it dyed red though, he’ll blush a bit more than normal

Leo

He’s a very go-with-the-flow kinda guy, so despite you not impulsively cutting/dyeing your hair before while you two were together, he’s not surprised when you impulsively do it

“Wow babe, you look good!”

“That color is really working for you!”

Will ask for a turn around from you so he can get a 360 of your new hair

Will probably touch your new hair too (unless you two explicitly stated boundaries when it comes to not touching your hair) just because he wants to

Bonus points if you get it dyed blue, will tease you about it specifically, and very much would love your new hair more if you had it dyed his signature color

“What, you love me so much you had to dye your hair blue? Can’t get me out of your head, huh?”

Mikey

Surprised and screamed cause he thinks you look amazing (not that you don’t normally look amazing, but you know what I mean)

Not actually sad he didn’t know about it but would’ve been happier to know about it at least right before you got it cut and dyed

“Ohmigosh [n/n]! Why didn’t you tell me?” He pouts “I so would’ve joined you or helped you pick out a shade of color!”

“Not that you don’t look amazing, because you do! I just like doing things with you!”

Would appreciate to know and go with you next time because he loves spending time with you and wants to experience it with you in the future if/when you get it cut/dyed again

Bonus points if you dye it orange, will fond over it

“Aww and your hair is orange now too! I love it so much!”

Donnie

Would definitely like to know ahead of time

He wanted to be mentally prepared for the new look

He likes to be an organized and somewhat prepared guy, so when you come to the lair with a new haircut and color he has to do a bit of a double take

Tries to be so supportive though

“W-wow, [y/n], your hair-“ and he smiles a bit awkwardly

It’s not that he’s mad at you, just a bit disappointed he didn’t know ahead of time

He still thinks you look handsome and beautiful and loves you no matter what! Just wants to know changes like this ahead of time is all

“You look good!”

Bonus points if you dye it purple, likes that you (probably) thought of him when choosing that color, will tease you lovingly like Leo

“Purple suits you well, [y/n].” And he smirks

Overall loves your new look, even if it did take him by surprise at first!

——

All Rights Reserved ©️NaviaKnell777 2023

[meruz]

sorry if this has been asked before, but i wanted to ask about your lineart! the weight and line economy are just so nice, i get stars in my eyes looking at your lineart and doodles. could i ask what your approach to lineart is and what tips you might offer?

Wow I love these questions - Line is so interesting!!! It's a really big topic so I feel like any tips I give will be just barely scratching the surface. It's like deceptively simple...any given line drawing is essentially taking all the information we glean from seeing something irl ie light, shadow, dimension, texture, perspective, etc and boiling it down to the simplest possible visual information.

I think most commonly my line is informed by light source so like. thicker more continuous lines face away from the light and thinner more broken lines towards. and a lot of my spot blacks r simply cast shadows.

here's a more extreme example

BUT like everything to do with art there's no hard and fast rules. I use blacks when I think it'll be effective or interesting and I leave them out when I don't need em. umm couple things I find myself doing a lot... using spot blacks to make the separation between characters clearer. I like casting shadow in between characters so its easy to separate and read their silhouettes even when they're mashed together.

u can go even further to purposely create a silhouette like

to draw attention to a finger or tongue LOL. There's some comic book artists who are absolute masters at this type of stylization. Alex toth and his spiritual successor Chris samnee come to mind for me right away.

(toth)

(samnee)

I feel like I'm also often using line weight to separate planes receding in space

im naturally a really heavy handed and scribbly drawer(...?) draftsman. and im nearsighted so when i see things i percieve and break it down into big shapes over thin contours. so stuff like spot blacks and shadows came easy to me, the tricky part was making the rest of the lines lighter when they needed to be so the blacks could actually have impact LOLL. a lot of effective visual communication is about balancing contrasts. like I had to really train myself to press less hard on the pen. I think this is actually really evident if u go back in my archive to older sketches LOL

I actually feel like a lot of how I trained my hand to tackle line weights was thru stuff like hand lettering where you rly have to focus on being sensitive to that kind of thing.. contrasting strokes etc.

also exercises like figure drawing will have you flexing those muscles constantly

I'm starting to just regurgitate lessons from freshman year of art school so I'll stop here with the demos but yeah...I hope this was helpful!? I love line!!! I want to get even better at line work so I can feel confident posting work that's only line no color or value... I'll leave you with a bunch of artists who I think have particularly expressive and beautiful linework (not including toth and samnee who I already mentioned and who's work I love so much). You can probably learn much more from them than you can from me...!

Charles dana gibson LOL

Matias bergara

tonci zonjic

naoki urasawa

Daniel warren johnson

shiyoon kim

michel breton

also yoji shinkawa, tomer hanuka, leo romero, I feel like I'm gonna post this and think of so many more. there's so many good artists...!

[risestarkiss]

Oh, something about Leo’s (physical) strength that I feel like the show just dropped in there and then didn’t really elaborate on (probably cause there was no time cause this was like the third to last episode) are two separate moments in his fight with Karl in Battle Nexus NY. Where there’s like a literal anime moment of him catching Karl’s fist and just full on stopping it, then looking at Karl all smug and going “right?” And then in that same fight when he hits Karl with a pie in the face so hard that it creates one of those anime/cartoon type gouges in the earth behind Karl from the force of the hit. I don’t have gifs cause I’m on mobile, so I hope this makes sense. Every time I watch that scene, I’m like, are they trying to tell us something? Like, is the point that Leo’s gotten a lot stronger with Splinter’s training? Which is a good point, it’s just… not really expounded upon outside of his newfound confidence in his strength. Also, I know the whole point of that fight was to be funny, so exaggerated Looney Tunes-esque violence made sense as a visual choice, but it’s that single word that trips me up every time and makes me think it’s more than just situational for the sake of the bit. Like Leo really is just that strong now? Sorry for the rant, I just saw your post and NEEDED to talk about this moment.

WOW! I never noticed the way Leo absolutely destroys Karl in that fight! I'm sure it's due to the context, but still.

Leo really shows off his strength, unnecessarily so!

I just so happened to be working on the addendum to that post when you sent this ask, so your timing is perfect! The reblog is now up with all of the contributed examples of strength.

I made sure to add this point under the Leo section. Thanks for the contribution! 💜

[justsome-di]

Now a Pulitzer Prize winning book (don’t fact check this, just trust me) and featured on Obama’s 2023 Summer Reading List!

You should be reading Nobody Ends Up Dead in a Bathtub, Everyone Keeps Their Organs! Why? See above.

It’s a good story if I do say so myself. And if you read it, you’re a cool kid. Don’t you want to be a cool kid? This is something called peer pressure, and it usually works.

But for real, if you read Nobody Ends Up Dead then you’re going to go on a good adventure with good characters I guarantee you will love. Not to brag, but it is a pretty good story. There’s funny one-liners, a cute plot, and relatable characters that have been developed for years. Just heed warnings at the beginning of chapters. NEUD deals with some heavy topics such as eating disorders.

NEUD is officially all online for free. But you can still access bonus chapters and short stories on Patreon for only $4.

Links: 

AO3

Wattpad

Patreon (Patrons had early access to the whole novel and also get exclusive short stories with the characters and sneak peaks for new projects!)

Netflix Previews

Characters’ Playlists

You can also check out my carrd if there are any updates to how/where I post, it’ll probably be the most accurate place to find new or updated links.

Transcript under cut:

The Story is Dope

A New York office worker and a sex worker get set up on a date--one thinking it's a real blind date, the other under the impression it's an ordinary appointment. After realizing it was all a shitty prank, they set out for revenge. Their plan: show up to an upcoming Halloween office party as a genuine couple, convincing the pranksters they genuinely fell in love and refusing to let themselves become the butt of the joke.

Our main characters are Alex, an awkward admin assistant for a medical company who hasn't been on a date since he was a teenager, and Damián, a sex worker who seems way out of Alex's league but keeps insisting on spending time with him so they can perfect their revenge scheme.

The novel features a diverse cast and explores sex positivity. I also like to believe that it portrays sex work well. Damián is a hardworking man, doing what he loves, and meeting mostly great people along the way--but he also would benefit greatly if sex work was decriminalized and therefore had better resources at his disposal.

If you're looking for a story with LGBT characters that's mostly light-hearted but still packs a punch every few chapters, this is it! Overall, it's a happy story.

The Characters!

oh boy the characters!

we got Damián who's hardworking and doting on his lil bro but oh wow does he have some angst

we got Alex who is nothing more than a burning ball of anxiety trying his best--all too relatable

Leo, Damián's bro, is an ally, and he will make sure everyone knows. Also has angst.

Eve, Alex's lil sister, is an edgy teen who's failing calc and runs a queer book club

together, they're a weird lil dysfunctional family

I'll be honest. There's a lot of love in this story. From me and among the characters. The characters love each other, and I think the readers love them, too.

It touches on a lot of loneliness--inspired by how I've felt since Covid started--and a lot of the conflicting emotions that come with being gay. What happy endings do we deserve? What about happy middles?

It's a touching book about learning to be a better person and finding people who love you--platonically and romantically.

Here are some of my fave parts:

And then there was a streak of gray hair that shocked Alex. A streak of gray hair off to the side, nestled close to a salt and pepper beard. Textured hands held cocktails. Little, subtle lines creased when mouths laughed. Alex held his breath. On the packed floor, they were the only people Alex could see. They were laughing and holding each other and enjoying themselves, firmly in the place they knew they belonged. Flashes of teeth pressed against each other, disappearing for long seconds at a time.

--

“Sorry,” Alex said. “Your arm got heavy on top of me.” “You’re a little mouse of a man. I didn’t mean to crush you.” “I’m what?”

--

“A dog!” Damián cooed as he sat across from the lesbians. “His name is Yam,” Martin said.

“His name is Yam,” Damián cried. Kris and Clara released Yam and gently nudged him to Damián. Ecstatic, Damián picked him up and set him on his lap. “His name is Yam,” he repeated to Alex. “I heard.”

--

But he couldn’t deny that he was having a good time. It was like intense yoga with the perk of having a cock shoved up his ass. He was going to feel limber as fuck after.

--

“Can I do anything?” Alex asked. “To help cheer you up?”

“You don’t have to worry about me.”

“I’d like to. If you let me.”

--

“Wow this sounds great where can I read it?”

Tumblr @justsome-di

Watpadd @justsome-di

Patreon @just some di (link on Tumblr)

AO3 @justsome_di

Updates every friday!

[goosewriting]

Baby 🥺 (rottmnt Leo x reader)

summary: a turtle baby suddenly appears in the kitchen, and he looks suspiciously a lot like Leo

relationship: Rise!Leo x GN reader (established)

warnings: fluff!, vague mention of childbirth

word count: 2.5k

A/N: inspired by this post by @jasontoddisbest !! listen there’s some real gems in there, if someone out there writes them or sees them written, please tag me! i’d love to read the others :’) excuse any mistakes,, i wrote this at 2am sfdsdff

More “Baby 🥺” versions: Leo (you’re here) | Raph | Donnie | Mikey

(english is not my first language. constructive criticism and grammar corrections are very appreciated!)

— — —

It had been a little over a year since the turtles had defeated the Krang. New York was slowly but surely recovering, as were you all.

Your boyfriend, Leo, was the one with the most nightmares since then. He would wake up in a cold sweat, often screaming in his sleep. You were by his side, trying to support and comfort him to the best of your abilities.

It was a lazy Saturday afternoon, just like any other. You were kicking Leo’s butt at Smash Bros, much to his annoyance. You were both sat on the floor in front of the screen, as he took a pillow from the sofa to throw at you. It landed in your face with an ‘oomph!’, blocking your view, and that’s when Leo did his move, winning the round.

“Hey, that’s cheating!” you cried out, pouting at him. Leo gasped in mock offense.

“Puh-lease.” he set down the controller and grinned mischievously at you. “You wanna know what real cheating is?” He crawled closer.

“Leonardo. Don’t you dare” you said, pointing an accusing finger at him, knowing exactly what he was about to do.

“Oh I very much dare!” he laughed, climbing on top of you and tickling your sides. You laughed and huffed, slightly slapping his arms and begging him to stop.

“I’m sorry I can’t hear you over me winning fair and square” he teased you, tickling you harder.

“Alright! Alright, y-you win, plEAse stoP” you breathed hard between laughs, tears on the side of your eyes. Leo climbed off triumphantly and pulled you up, bringing you to his chest in a hug instead. You hugged him back, trying to calm your breathing.

“Why do you have to be such a sore loser” you mumbled into his chest with a grin, and he was just about to retort when you heard weird zapping sounds, followed by a thump and the soft cry of surprise.

“Did- did you hear that?” you pulled back and asked Leo.

“Yeah, it came from the kitchen. Go get my sword.” he said in a low voice and sneaked to where the sound had come from.

You were scanning the room looking for his weapon, wondering where he even left it. In his room maybe? Just as you stood up, you heard Leo go “aaw~”, so you guessed it wasn’t a threat anymore. With every step you took you could hear Leo cooing.

“It’s okay little man, no need to cry” the turtle said with a voice you’d use to talk to a dog, or a small child maybe.

You entered the kitchen with a confused look, and before you was Leo crouching on the floor, picking up a little turtle toddler. A turtle tot.

“Look at this, Y/n!” he said, standing back up to his feet, with the turtle in his arms. “There was a weird portal thing, that just zapped closed, and it looks like this little guy fell through.”

“Aw, he looks a lot like you, actually!” you commented, seeing how the little turtle also had red markings around his eyes, but these were more circles rather than half moons.

“I think he hit his head” Leo said, gently rubbing the toddler’s forehead. The toddler looked like he was doing his best not to cry, but when he saw you approach, something in his face changed and he let go, crying, and stretching out his little arms towards you.

“Aw, poor thing” you said and picked him up into your arms. “There, there” Once the kid hugged you and clung onto your shirt, it calmed down immediately. You patted softly onto the shell.

“Wow, looks like he feels safe with you” Leo said, and then grinned. “Well, he’s smart to like you, if he’s anything like me.” You just playfully rolled your eyes.

“We gotta figure out where he came from; I’m sure his parents must be looking for him” you pointed out, starting to look around the kitchen for clues.

As you were both checking behind some boxes, you heard Donnie’s voice from the hall.

“Guys, guys! There was some weird energy spike just now, did you see anything-“ he stopped in his tracks when he entered the kitchen. The little turtle in your arms turned around to give the purple-clad turtle a quizzical look. Donnie looked at Leo, then at the little one, then at you, and his face seemed to go through all stages of grief before deciding that yes, he indeed should at least try to figure out what was going on and why you had a little turtle in your arms, instead of ‘nope’-ing himself out of the situation.

“Y/n. Why do you hold a turtle child that looks suspiciously familiar” Donnie said in a flat voice.

You both were explaining what happened, when Raph came into the room. He squealed in glee, cooing at the baby, and even carried it off to play while you three tried to make sense of everything. The little turtle didn’t seem intimidated by Raph in the least. Even Mikey joined in on them playing. The little man was having the time of his life.

Back in the kitchen, Leo, Donnie and you sat at the table.

“So you’re saying the portal was yellow, just like the one Mikey used to… get you back?” Donnie asked.

“M-Maybe? I’m not sure” Leo said, holding his head. “It was very quick, I just saw some zappy lights, is all.” You stroked his back in an attempt to comfort him. Thinking back to that night wasn’t easy for anyone.

“Donnie” you started. “Are you suggesting that it’s not where the baby came from but from when?”

“That is exactly what I’m suggesting.” He sighed. “There goes the space-time continuum, again.”

“Well, we have to figure out a way to get it back, right?” you asked. “I mean, his family must be worried sick, and he’s stuck here with us, poor thing.”

“Uhm, excuse you?” Leo said with a smile. “For having just left your timeline, I can’t imagine anything better than being stuck here with us.”

“Right, right” you laughed. “Then I guess we’ll make his stay as enjoyable as possible. Meanwhile Donnie will figure out something, right? He always does.”

You gave him a thumbs-up and took Leo by his hand, guiding him out of the kitchen.

Donnie groaned, but made his way to the lab. Maybe he’d find a way to backtrack where the turtle came from. Getting an idea on where to start, he came back to the living room where all of you were playing, hiding something behind his back.

“Will you hold the child for a second? I need to do something real quick.”

“That sounds awfully suspicious” you said, squinting at Donnie, and standing between him and the kid. “Whatchu got there?” You nodded at his hidden hand.

“I just need to take a quick blood sample, to know where or when he’s from. It’s just a small prick, really.” Donnie showed you what he was holding; it looked like a pen. Since it wasn’t a full on syringe, and it could help the baby, you decided to allow him to pass you.

Getting a cookie from the kitchen, you picked up the little turtle, Donnie making quick work of getting a blood sample. When he felt the prick, the baby squealed and cried, but you managed to calm him down quickly, offering him the cookie, which he gladly took, sniffling.

You and the guys spent the majority of the afternoon just playing with the kid, taking turns to watch it. Even Splinter joined in, as his heart melted at the sight of the little turtle tot, reminding him of his own sons when they were little.

Donnie ran some tests to see if there were any hints on substances present in the blood that could tell him a specific location of the baby’s origin, as well as a couple other tests.

When his computer beeped, signalling a test had successfully finished running, he looked up from his desk to check the result. He pressed a couple buttons on the tech pad on his wrist, taking a sip of his mug while he waited for the text to appear. When he saw it though, he spat his drink all over his work station.

“You can’t be serious right now…” he muttered, checking the results again. Yup, they were unequivocally true.

He stopped and considered for a moment what to do, if it was wise to tell the others or not, but then he just thought ‘Screw it, the timeline is already messed up anyways’, and he called you and Leo over.

Upon hearing your name being called, you left the little turtle on a pile of cushions you had placed on the floor as a makeshift bed for him. He had just fallen asleep. As had Mikey and Raph, who lied not very far on the floor, surrounded by cookie crumbles and empty milk cartons.

Giving the little turtle one last glance over your shoulder, you and Leo made your way to the lab. Donnie was standing leaning back against his desk, both hands before his face, with the fingertips touching.

“So, what’s up?” you asked him, coming to a halt in front of him, Leo next to you.

Donnie didn’t say anything, just looked at you, then at Leo, and sighed. Leo and you shared a confused look.

“There’s no easy way to say this so I’ll just say it as it is.” Donnie paused. “And the problem here isn’t that it’s something hard per se to say, it’s just weird-“

“Just tell us, Donnie” Leo interrupted.

Once again he looked at you both, and it was starting to scare you a bit. What he was about to tell you, was it that bad? Was the little turtle really sick or something?

“I ran some blood tests, comparing it to your samples, and as it turns out: the little turtle in our living room is you two’s biological child.” Donnie said in one go. “Of the future.”

“We have a kid?” Leo asked in disbelief.

“You have my blood samples?” you questioned.

Leo turned to look at you, with a giant smile on his face, his gaze softening. With the look he was giving you, the blood acquired without your consent was quickly forgotten.

“We have a kid!” Leo repeated, picking you up and swirling you around. You squealed in surprise, hanging on for dear life.

As he came to a halt, he just held you, looking at you with the most lovestruck face you had seen him make yet.

Somewhere in your brain you started to question the mechanics of the whole thing though. Were the chromosomes even compatible? Was he actually born or did one of you lay… an egg? Do turtles lay eggs?

You shook your head to get rid of the images in your head, deciding to focus on the fact that Leo was just as ecstatic as you at the thought of having a kid with you. After all, he’s the one you want to spend the rest of your life and maybe have a family with. Except that that last “maybe” just transformed into a “definitely”.

Seeing that you weren’t answering, Leo pulled back a bit to look at you.

“I mean, it’s okay if it’s not something you want. It’s just- I’ve been trying to envision this for quite a while now. And having him just there in our living room, it’s surreal-“ Leo was starting to ramble, and you shut him up with a kiss.

“It’s okay, Leo” you held his face, resting your forehead on his. “It is what I want, just… not now. There’s a lot we need to figure out before we can even think about going there.”

“Right… I love you so much, Y/n” he whispered.

“I love you too, Leo” you replied just as quietly. Leo kissed you once more, and pulled back, turning to where Donnie had been.

“So, do you know how to send him back-“ he asked into the empty lab, because Donnie had been long gone.

Seeing that he wasn’t in the room anymore, Leo grabbed your hand and you both went back to the living room. Approaching the turtle tot, you kneeled down on each side and just watched it peacefully snoozing.

You gently stroked over his little cheek, and his tiny hand came to curl around your index finger. He looked so content.

Glancing back up to Leo, you found him fondly looking at the little turtle. You had never seen him make an expression like that, and for some reason, it moved you at your core. You could feel tears pricking at the back of your eyes, and you blinked repeatedly, trying to get rid of them.

Just as you were about to ask him what kinda future he had envisioned, there was that zappy sound again.

Looking to your left, a bright yellow light started expanding, and stepping through it came none other than an older version of Mikey. You just sat there, unable to find the words.

Leo must have felt the same, because he opened his mouth but nothing came out. This Mikey looked around for a bit, and sighed in relief when he saw the baby. Silently making his way over as not to wake up your time’s Mikey and Raph, he sneaked to where you were, and picked up the little turtle, careful not to startle him awake.

“Sorry, I swear I looked away for one second and he was gone!” Mikey whispered with a sheepish smile.

“Remind me never to let you babysit our kid again” you softly laughed.

Leo’s heart skipped a beat at ‘our kid’.

“Ah, so you know…” Mikey said. “Well, you were bound to find out at some point anyways.” He tiptoed back to the portal, saluting you both.

“Oh and by the way” he said over his shoulders with a wink. “It’s not just one!” And with that he was gone again, the light disappearing with a zap.

You blushed furiously at his comment, going stiff. You looked at Leo, who had also a bit more colour on his cheeks.

“We should totally start looking up baby names” he finally said after a moment, scooting closer to you and slinging his arm over your shoulder.

“Nuh-uh” you responded, nuzzling into his side. “You’re forgetting a step there, dear” you jokingly brought up your left hand to his eye level and wiggled your left ring finger. You felt him tense up slightly at that.

You had only meant to joke, but realising what you just implied, you looked up at him to take it back. Before you could talk however, he held your hand and kissed your knuckles.

“I know. I can’t wait to make you my spouse” he mumbled into your skin.

“So… where’s the child?” Donnie asked, having appeared behind you out of thin air, with a fresh mug of his drink in his hands.

“Back where he belongs” Leo said, giving you a smug grin. You just sat there, avoiding both their eyes, blush going from the tip of your ears to your neck.

[dandylovesturtles]

a wild cmh leo, uh… doesn't appear! he leaves a sticky note on your contestant's forehead reading 'good luck in the competition!'

100ft:

“Hissssss… Who just touched me!? …Oh… Oh! A delightful message!”

“Donnie! There you are… Uh, what are you doing?”

“Searching for the person who put this on my forehead. My current theory is that they had some kind of reflective suit that dispels all light, rendering them invisible. With technology like that we would surely escape in record time!”

“Riiiight… How about you come back to the group and we can look together, okay?”

“No, see, you cannot look for him, April, because he is invisible and- nooooo! Release me from this harness and leave me to my science!”

“Nope. You run off, you get the kiddie harness.”

“Nooooo!”

Sidelined:

“Oof! Hey, who did that!?”

“Hmm, I didn’t see anyone there…”

“Omigosh! A ghost!”

“No way, Mikey, ghosts aren’t real.”

“…Well, I don’t know if he’s a ghost, but that Leo certainly does seem to be made of pure mystic energy…”

“Wha- you see him!?”

“Through my goggles. He ran away giggling.”

“Hah! I knew it.”

“It’s actually a ghost!? …Of me?”

“…Leo-“

“Wow, what a haunting surprise! Hey, wanna check out the speakeasy? I hope I can get down to it.”

“Leo!”

“It’s okay, Mikey. We’ll wrangle him later.”

Bonus IMBI:

“Aren’t you going to give me one?” Leo bats his eyes from his swaddling of blankets.

The other Leo rolls his eyes. “You aren’t competing, remember?”

“Awww, come on! Is that any way to treat an old friend?” He wiggles around in his blanket cocoon. “Your invalid friend, no less!”

“Sheesh, you’re needy,” says the other Leo, but he’s smiling to take the edge off. “Fine, here.”

He scribbles something on the post it, slaps it on Leo’s head, and then takes off before Leo gets a chance to read it.

Chuckling, he reaches up and takes the sticky note in his fingers.

‘get well soon’

He definitely doesn’t tear up at that. But he does tuck the note into his pouch for safekeeping.

@tmntaucompetition

[travlersjoy444]

2012 Donnie x reader Incorrect Quotes

Got a request to do a Donnie version of this Raph x reaader post, so here it is lol

Side note, I did this with 2012 Dee in mind, but most versions should work fine.

***

(Y/N): I’ve been dropping them the most insanely obvious hints for like a year now. No response.

Donnie: Wow. They sound stupid.

(Y/N): But they’re not. They’re really smart actually. Just dense.

Donnie: Maybe you need to be more obvious? Like, I don’t know… “Hey! I love you!”

(Y/N): I guess you’re right. Hey Donnie, I love you.

Donnie: See! Just say that!

(Y/N): Holy fucking shit.

Donnie: If that flies over their head then, sorry (Y/N), but they're too dumb for you.

(Y/N): Donnie.

***

(Y/N): Am I right, Donnie?

Donnie: I’m almost certain you’re not, but to be fair, I wasn’t listening.

***

(Y/N): Donnie, you love me, right?

Donnie: Normally I’d say yes without hesitation, but I feel like this is going somewhere I won’t like.

***

Mikey: Ooh, somebody has a cru-ush

Donnie: Pfft, I don’t have a crush on (Y/N) I just think they’re cool, it’s not like I stay up at night thinking about them.

*Later that night*

Donnie, very much awake: Uh oh.

***

Donnie: *pretending to joke* So when are you going to go out with me?

(Y/N): I don't know. When are you going to ask me to?

Later..

Leo: And you just ran away?!

Donnie: I didn't expect them to flirt back!

***

(Y/N): Ugh, crushes are so dumb.

Donnie: I know. Whenever I’m near the person I like I just start acting stupid.

(Y/N): But you’re always acting stupid?

Donnie: ...

Donnie: Yeah, don’t think about that too hard.

***

Donnie: Did (Y/N) just tell me they loved me for the first time?

Leo: Yeah, they did.

Donnie: And did I just do finger guns back?

Leo: Yeah, you did.

***

Donnie: So you're looking for information on this thing, huh? Well, I feel like it must be from far away.

(Y/N): What makes you say that?

Donnie: If it's something even I don't know about, then I'm sure nobody else must have a clue. So it's gotta be from some faraway place. Impeccable reasoning, isn't it?

(Y/N): Donnie... You don't have a clue about this thing, do you?

Donnie: *screams in anger*

***

Donnie: I don't need to go to bed. I'm not tired, I'll be fine.

(Y/N): But, darling, I'll be so lonely without you. Come curl up in my arms so I can feel whole 

again.

Donnie: O-oh. Well. Are you trying to seduce me into healthy sleeping patterns??

(Y/N): Is it working?

***

Donnie: I’ve never been in a snowball fight before. I don’t know the rules.

(Y/N): What?

Donnie: Is there a point system, or is it to the death?

***

Donnie: There's no way they like me back.

April: (Y/N) would throw themself in front of a moving car for you.

Donnie: (Y/N) would throw themself in front of a moving car for fun.

***

Donnie: Do you want to play 20 Questions?

(Y/N): Sure!

(Y/N): What's your favorite color?

Donnie, laser fucking focused: Triangle. Do you like men?

***

Donnie: Look, I know you think my judgement's clouded because I like (Y/N) a little bit.

April, holding Donnie's notepad: You doodled your wedding invitation.

Donnie: No, that's our joint tombstone.

April: My mistake.

***

April: Is this your plan B?

(Y/N): Technically, this is plan P.

April: Plan P? Is there a plan M?

(Y/N): Yes, but I marry Donnie in plan M.

Donnie: I like plan M.

***

April: How the hell did you crash the car?!

(Y/N): So I was just driving today, right? And my navigation told me to go straight.

(Y/N): I was like "woah, that's homophobic". Instead, I went gay. And, THAT'S when I got into an accident.

April: ...

Donnie, with a proud smile: And THAT'S who I'm in love with, ladies and gentlemen.

***

Donnie: Where are you going?

(Y/N): To get MYSELF a birthday gift cause somebody didn't get me one!

Donnie: I told you I did! It's coming here on Friday!

Mikey, knowing full well that Donnie got (Y/N) an engagement ring: *eating popcorn*

***

Donnie, sweating: (Y/N), there’s something I need to ask you-

(Y/N): Finally! You’re proposing!

Donnie: How’d you know?

(Y/N), gently: Donnie, you’ve dropped the ring five times during dinner.

(Y/N): I even picked it up once.

***

Raph: So, are you two dating now?

Donnie & (Y/N): Yes.

Raph: Why?

Donnie: I happen to find (Y/N) very appealing.

Raph: Yeah, I can understand that. I'm trying to figure out what's wrong with (Y/N).

***

(Y/N): That's ridiculous, Donnie doesn't have a crush on me.

Mikey: Yes they do.

Leo: Yes they do.

Donnie: Yes I do.

***

Donnie: We both look really good tonight.

(Y/N): You know, if you'd just said that I looked good, I would have said, "So do you."

Donnie: I couldn't take that chance.

***

Leo: Do you love Donnie?

(Y/N): Yeah, I do.

Mikey: Leo! I told you I knew it! You owe me 100 bucks!

Leo: We all love Donnie. You should've asked if they were IN love with them.

(Y/N): I thought that was implied.

Leo: ...

Mikey: ...

(Y/N), looking straight at Leo: Congrats Mikey, you just won 100 bucks.

***

Mikey: *sees (Y/N) and Donnie together*

Mikey: They're cute. I would put them on a boat.

Leo: You mean... you ship them?

***

(Y/N), texting: Donnie, will you please go to sleep?

Donnie, texting back: What makes you think you didn’t just wake me up?

(Y/N), yelling from the couch: I CAN HEAR YOU WORKING JUST SHUT THE FUCK UP AND GO THE FUCK TO SLEEP!

(Y/N), texting: Just a hunch :) You goin’ to sleep soon?

Donnie, texting: I’m trying

(Y/N), yelling again: TRY HARDER I HAVE A 5:45 AM MEETING TOMORROW BITCH

(Y/N), texting: Okay, don’t stay up too late or you’ll be cranky :)

***

Donnie: (Y/N) isn’t picking up on my hints.

April: What hints have you given them?

Donnie: Well, I think about them a lot.

Donnie: And sometimes I even think about talking to them.

***

(Y/N): Why is it that I always lose things as soon as I need them?

Donnie: Actually, it's not that you lose things when you need them. You lose them a while before. It's just that you LOOK for things when you need them.

(Y/N): Okay yeah thanks Donnie, that's great but WHERE'S THE FUCKING FIRST AID KIT?

***

(Y/N): How petty can you get?

Donnie: I once edited a Wikipedia article to win an argument I was wrong about.

***

(Y/N): Why are you late?

Donnie: A technical error occurred, causing an unexpectedly long bout of unconsciousness.

(Y/N): Overslept?

Donnie: Overslept.

***

(Y/N): I’m in love with you.

Donnie: We called off the prank war last night at midnight, dork.

(Y/N): I know.

Donnie: Ah. Okay. Um. Cool. Neat. Very cool. Cool. Cool. Coolcoolcool-

[thyme-in-a-bubble]

AHHH CONGRATS ON 5K YOU DESERVE IT 💙🎉

angel eyes - send me a sfw request!

I think I saw you post you made a cake a couple days ago, or it was a reblog, either way! It looked delicious and made me think of a neighbor or someone making Peter Parker a birthday cake after No Way Home. Cause the thought of him being alone on his birthday makes me wanna sob 🥹😭

a/n: yes!! I did bake a cake the other day! it was delicious

word count: 710

∼ gentle reminder that feedback, but especially reblogs are the way you support writers on here ∽

masterlist | join my taglist |  join my 5k celebration! 

Head tilted to the side, resting against the banister, you finally perked up when the figure you had been waiting for finally appeared, “Peter!” you shot up from your spot at the top of the stairwell, “hi!”

Faintly startled by your unexpected presence, he quickly plucked out the ear pods and sputtered, “oh, hey, Y/n,” slowly climbing the remainder of the steps as he carefully found your eye, “what’s, um-, what’s up? Why are you sitting out here?”

Sucking in a deep breath, you asked him straight out, “are you busy right now?”

“No,” he drew out in a curious tone. 

“Really?” your smile grew, “okay, well, I kinda have something I wanna show you.” 

“Me? You-, you wanna show me?” his eyebrows shot up as he gesticulated towards himself, “uh, alright.” 

Ushering him with you, it didn’t take long before you were both stepping over the threshold into your apartment, your legs instantly carrying you towards the fridge. 

Ripping it open, you grabbed the tall treat dominating the entire middle shelf and gingerly turned to present it to your neighbour, “tada!”

“Wow, that’s-,” taking in the airy cream and fresh berries adorning the top, he blurted, “you baked a cake!” though still with an air of confusion as to why you wanted him to witness it.

“I baked you a cake,” you clarified. 

Mouth falling open, he uttered, “you what?”

“Happy birthday,” you said giddily, though your grin swiftly melted as he just continued to stand there completely and utterly stunned, “oh, wait, is it not your birthday?” you checked nervously, “I just remember that you told me you’re a leo,” you rambled, thinking back to the day that he moved in and the random things your scattered brain thought was crucial to ask him, for some reason questions about his astrological chart and his favourite movie as a child happened to be the kind of queries you bombarded your new neighbour with as soon as you first met him, “and then a few weeks ago I just couldn’t stop thinking about it and so I asked our landlord, and he said the 10th of August, but maybe he was wrong…”

As if finally coming back to life, Peter breathed, “you baked me a cake?”

“Yeah…” embarrassment bubbling within your belly, you sat the heavy platter down on the counter, “so when is it really your birthday? I can bake you another one then if you want, unless you don’t like cake in which I can whip up something else, anything you’d-,”

“No, it is my birthday today,” he informed you, interrupting your babbling offer. 

“It is?” you felt the nauseating butterflies begin to settle within your stomach. 

“It is,” he finally returned your smile, “and I do like cake by the way.”

“Oh well, happy birthday then!” you pushed the cake towards him, “do you have any fun plans?”

“No,” he glanced down at the baked good and thought out loud, “I honestly haven’t really been looking at what date it is lately, I mean, I knew it would happen sometime around this week, but I didn’t know it was today…”

“Oh…” you then awkwardly found yourself offering, “well, I can be your personal calendar any time, if you’re interested,” instantly wincing at yourself, your cheeks heating up at how awkwardly swoon-worthy your spurted words had sounded, “anyways, this is yours,” you gestured to the cake, hoping to draw attention away from your flush, “take it and go enjoy your birthday, and I won’t take up any more of your precious time.”

Cake in hand, Peter stopped again before he could reach the exit, “hey Y/n?”

“Hm?” you glanced up, hoping that the blush had faded by now.

“Are you busy right now?” he softly echoed your question from before out in the hallway, “because, I mean, this is a lot of cake, and it would look pretty sad if I just sat and ate it all by myself.”

“Really?” you sucked in an excited breath, immediately grinning from ear to ear, “yeah! Yes! Of course-, I mean,” you finally noticed your blatant eagerness and attempted to recover with a graceless, “uh, sure, that sounds lovely, of course I’ll hang out with you on your day of birth…”

© 2023 thyme-in-a-bubble 

[desceros]

You & GB are RUINING me with your blurple villain Leo au How dare you sirs?! You've turned me absolutely feral a slobbering bitey mess /pos

Unfortunately for you activating my hyperfixation also means activating my obsessive brain spinning... Questions be upon ye!!!

Did Lamb-chan grow up with Donnie? How did she first meet villain!Leo? What did she do/say that flipped Leo from "you're a pretty dumb innocent little lamb huh" to "you're *mine* I am keeping you forever"? How did Donnie react the first time Lamb-chan came home smelling like Leo? Is that what snapped his control, the moment his instincts drove him to finally (thoroughly) demonstrate just how well he can take care of her? How did Leo react the next time he saw Lamb-chan & she smelled like Donnie?

I humbly submit these questions in the hopes that you may see fit to give me any crumbs nay even specks of delicious brain food that can be spared 🙏 pls & ty 🙏🙏

[after i gush for twenty minutes about how this is all their fault for enabling me] oh man i love questions

EDIT THIS GOT SO LONG. OH MY GOD. IM PUTTING IT UNDER A CUT also hi @gbao3 <3 please add your thoughts to this as well

so it aaaaaaall started with this post, with leo being the wolf and donnie being the sheep dog.

as such, you're childhood friends with donnie, since sheep dogs grow up with their sheep. i imagine he's basically always been a little in love with you, but it hasn't always been... ah... healthy? like. when he was young it was that kind of 'when we grow up let's get married bc we're best friends' love. and then as a teenager it became kind of an obsession. doesn't the world know how important you are to him? can't you see how dangerous it can be without him to protect you?

it's during this stage that he's maybe a bit self-destructive with it, literally at one point putting himself between you and another mutant, ending up with him having the scars on his shell. he mellows out a little as he grows older, to the point where now it's just a fact of his life that he's in love with you and there won't ever be anyone else; it's less of a fire inside of him and more just. yeah. duh? of course i love them and would die for them? zzzzz next question. but he's still very much the kind of person who asks you your itinerary down to the fifteen minute mark when you leave so he can make sure to know exactly when you'll be home.

i suspect that as lamb-chan, as much as you also love donnie, that can get a little, uh. overbearing. to say the least. i think that you have a habit of slipping out from time to time (since you live at the lair where donnie is always always always watching), just to breathe, to get away from it a little. the world looks a little different without donatello at your side, after all, and you're a little curious. so maybe you wander a little too far, sometimes.

and leo. god. leo is a breath of something that feels like air, but you're not sure what it is.

i don't have the exact first meeting pinned down in my head, but i do have this mental image of him sitting on a fire escape, one knee bent up to his chest and the other hanging down the side, a toothy grin on his face as he mockingly asks what a soft little thing like you is doing on this side of town. and you see him and you're just like, oh. he. he looks a lot like donnie. so you're a lot less scared than you probably should be, and that—that fascinates him. what kind of world do you live in where he's all but a perfect picture of the underbelly of the world, and you smile at him?

what would it take for you to look at him like everyone else does?

so he invites you to come back again. and you, well, you're just like. wow!! friend shaped!! so you do. but this time leo's not on the fire escape. he's on the ground, and he circles you a bit like a predator would. he's looking for you to be uncomfortable; to be afraid. but he made one small mistake; the shape of his smirk, now that he's close, is eerily familiar. it looks so much like donnie's, you could swear the two were twins. and it makes it so, so hard to be anything other than curious. mikey and raph don't look so similar to donnie, after all. why does leo?

so it continues like that until one day, leo says something and you laugh. and that—that hits him like a bludgeon to the chest. it's not like any laugh he's ever had directed at him before. and when you open your eyes, wiping away the amused tears, your gaze is so fucking soft. in that moment, leo realizes that he's hungry. and you—you look like you'd taste so. good.

meanwhile donnie is like. no really. where the fuck are you going. and one day he follows you and who the fuck is this guy with his arms around you. (but i think i'm going to leave that one for another day bc i have a nice one-shot in my drafts folder about how that'd play out)

[percyjacksonblog]

I finished! ToA:TDP

Oh my gosh that was such a good book. It has been so long since I’ve read a book I liked that much. I read the new Percy Jackson book this past fall when it came out and loved it, but I really loved this book. So I’m basically going to do a combination of a whole book review and chapters 30-42.

So firstly I did finish the book yesterday but wanted some time to absorb everything and sort my thoughts.

I know on my last post I mentioned that chapters 20-30 were end of the second act chapters and I still stand by that after finishing these last 12. So good.

Chapters 30-42

Calypso and Leo staying at the Waystation seems right, but it also doesn’t. Like Calypso, sure, but Leo I feel like would have felt better at CHB, or heck even New Rome since other members of the 7 are there.

Red Mercedes, I don’t picture Apollo driving anything less than that. It was so perfect.

Oh poor baby Meg. I hated Nero last book but now I loathe him.

THREE PEACHES! I’ve died and gone to heaven. For the record I don’t know why I love Peaches so much but he just cracks me up. Like I would probably lose my mind if I ever heard someone just screech “PEACHES” as a battle cry. Is there any fan art of Peaches because I need to see some.

Pokémon Go! I am so old.

NO NOT THE GRIFFINS!

The stand off was so good. Not going to lie my intuition was off for this chapter. I was positive that Commodus was going to make Apollo choose who lived. It was set up perfectly for that. I would bet that in the original drafts that was going to happen but the editors were like, “this is a children’s book, you need to rewrite this so it’s more age appropriate.”

I got a little misty eyed at the funeral. I wish it had been longer, however, looking back to TLO the short funeral makes sense.

Why does Apollo hate iambic pentameter so much? I think it’s a classic.

Oh name dropping!

Georgina just outright rejecting Apollo had me floored. It was so funny.

Grover! Wow way to just pull in a major character. I love a good Grover line though so I’m hoping he’s pretty prominent in the next book.

The Whole Book

I just…wow. I complained about how there were no real stakes in the last book, but you guys told the stakes get higher and you are definitely right.

As a whole I really enjoyed this book, specifically the last ~30 chapters. I thought it got off to kind of a slow start even with getting attacked in the first few chapters but the rest of it was just phenomenal.

I think my favorite part is still breaking into and out of the Zoo. Something about that just really stuck with me. Close second was definitely Apollo’s reaction to the death of the hippogriff and the unnamed demigod. It really humanized him. So far with each different act from both books I think Apollo has slowly begun accepting his mortality as Lester more and more.

I can’t wait to see who the third emperor is. There’s so many that it could be, Augustus, Caesar, Caligula, Hadrian!

After finishing this book I can confidently say Apollo had some major self loathing going on.

It is clear that one of the central themes of the series at this point is humanity and what it means to be human. I love it.

Not sure when I’ll start reading the third book, could be as early as tonight, could be sometime next week. People as a whole seem to be enjoying my reactions to these books so I’ll continue until I feel the consensus switches.

Vaya con queso amigos!

[lotus-sunn]

TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES MUTANT MAYHEM COME LOOK

(note does this count as spoliers to the movie??? maybe but just in case SPOILERS!!!)

(didnt you hear me SPOILERS GUYS!!!)

your still here? good then you know!

OH MY GOD EVERYONE LOOK AT ME I JUST WATCHED MUTANT MAYHEM YK THE MOVIE AND WOW I LIKED IT I WOULD HAVE TO SAY...MIKEY OR DONNIE IS MY FAVORITE AND AHHH I LOVED THE ART I WAS SCREAMING WHEN MIKEY SAID COWABUNGA

Anyway, on further notice, the April x Leo...we will see how I feel about it. I felt a little stingy after seeing 2012 Donnie and April; it practically was the same scene. but nevertheless, I will be willing to give this a shot! My guy leo deserves love and he is a teenager! So of course he would fall for someone. Of course.

But CMON LOOK ITS PRACTICALLY THE SAME SCENE

TELL ME YOU SEE IT IM NOT CRAZY I PROMISE IM NOT

i cannot STRESS IT ENOUGH THEY ALMOST SAY THE SAME THING but that will be another post where i show the similarites in the scenes. Now Im not here to say things that are mean to enjoyers of apriltello! You guys like your things, and I like mine! 

Anyways, all in all, I really like it, and I also like the concept of a new-found family. It looks like Splinter actually gets to have a love life that will seemingly (from the looks of it) last.

unlike well these two

Also how, when the post credits play, we see the SHREDDER and that HE will be involved in maybe a new movie! But most likely, the cartoon SHOWS THAT THEY ANNOUNCED. CAN YOU BELIEVE THAT? AHHH, I AM SO FUCKING EXCITED!

Ahem. Moving on, at first I was kind of shocked at how squeaky (no offense) Donnies voice was, but it kinda grew on me after the end of the movie. i mean cmon, JUST LOOK AT HIM.

Of course his voice grew on me. Anyways I really liked the art style. First of all, it was so creative, especially how colorful it was! I mean, did you see Superfly at the arcade when he was with turtles? LOOK AT THAT EXPLOSION OF COLORS 

Also the SONGS???? ABSOLUTELY ALL FUCKING BANGERS I KNEW ALL OF THEM (the ones with lyrics yk) I NEED MORE CONTENT OMFGGG AHHH AND ALSO they ACT like teenagers (no hate to Rise they did it great as well or any other version of tmnt its just it kinda felt a little more for adluts at times or mature but thats just me dont attack me ) BUT LIKE THEY EMBRACED WHAT GEN Z IS AND ALSO THEY ACT LIKE JUST SOME FUCKING GUYS IN NEW YORK (I only confirmed that information with my cousin who lives in New York I'm taking her word for but of course take everything i say with a grain of salt.)

Personally, I'm still down with my girl APRIL ONEIL! I liked their April! I personally still LOVE Rise April more then mutant mayhems but thats juust me being biased of course! But I love how they continued with the "April is like their sister" thing and am glad they made Splinter more of a father-like rise which I EAT UP they did great!

Also while I watched the beginning I noticed how early they brought Baxter stockman up. I was confused at first but later understood but that my dear readers begs the question

Is he still alive?

Well, the movie kind of makes it look like he IS dead, but in the scene where they had him, they just took him in with them, so does that mean he is still alive? Will he come back to his mutant family?? How will he react to Superfly, his first kid, being presumably dead?

questions and more questions or should I say curiouser and curiouser? (I'm sorry.) 

Also, did any of you notice while they played the credits that THEY DREW MASTER SPLINTER FROM THE ROTTMNT?? I can't get the image now, but as soon as I do, I WILL SHOW YOU GUYS 

I also love the references to the old turtles in the credits and, I think, some of the movie scenes. 

loved that ( a nice call back)

And they also gave back Raph's sai's! Maybe they didn't want to upset the ahem uptight fans that are afraid of change, to completely tear down their movie (yes, I'm targeting you). (I saw what you did to rise. It was just a new weapon IT WASNT THAT FUCKING SERIOUS) But of course, if that was just their preference and choice, then that's cool too! 

Anyway, that's enough from me. This post is going to get way too long if I keep going, i might overload your brains haha!

so I will save you all the trouble and shorten this up and conclude my rant/friendly check in with all of you

Final thoughts:

All in all, it was a fantastic film that I enjoyed watching. It was SO worth the year I had to wait for. (Don't ask me to elaborate, please.) Should you watch it if you want to get introduced to TMNT? YES! Should you watch it if you are already a fan of TMNT, who is a nice person who isn't afraid of change??? Yes, you should!

I promise, you will love it! or at least, like it somewhat, no pressure! 

Good day and good night my fellow readers who took the time out of their day to read someones thoughts.

[angelasscribbles]

Savage Love Chapter 37: Gone

Series: Savage Love

Fandom: The Royal Romance

Pairings: Riley x Liam, Riley x Drake

Rating: R         

Warnings: Mature themes, violence, guns

Word Count: 987

A/N: Wow, I can't believe it's been five months since I posted an update for this! I've known since before I started writing it back in December 2021 how it's going to end. This is the downside of having so many ideas.... I can't work on all of them at once.

That said, this is a bit shorter than my regular chapters, but I just needed to see what Drake was doing while Riley was in Hidar in her quest to take down the Via Imperii and Leo was in Rivala getting the shock of his life. The next chapter will bring everyone back together again in Cordonia.

A/N2: I realize it's been a while and readers may be confused with all the OC's in this chapter, so here's a rundown. Nick is Riley's ex-fiance and also another GIA agent. Frederico Sanchez is Nick's informant. Saguaro Laurent is the head of The Gladius Company. Lorenzo is not in this chapter but is mentioned as a loan shark to whom Tariq owed money and who, on Saguaro's orders, leveraged Tariq's gambling debt to get him to abduct Riley (Tariq failed and was murdered for his failure, Lorenzo is in custody at the palace). Rico Mendez is the son of a former mafia don who wants revenge for Riley using him to take down his father's organization.

My other stuff: Master List.

Series Premise: Agent Riley Brooks is undercover on assignment in New York when she has a one-night stand with a handsome, mysterious stranger. Both of them hiding their true identities, names are not exchanged.  After one scorching night, they part ways, both returning to the duties they have pledged their lives to. Fast forward several months later and Agent Brooks is assigned a new case: investigate and infiltrate any Via Imperi influences in the small, Mediterranean country of Cordonia. Her cover? Posing as a suitor competing for the hand of the crown prince. Her way in? Civilian contractor and cyber security expert Maxwell Beaumont.

Drake…..

Nick and I arrived at the warehouse where we were meeting his contact in the Liberation Core. The one that had gotten me a meeting with the head of the Gladius Company.

The air in the dimly lit warehouse was thick with tension as we made our way through the maze of crates toward their rendezvous point. The echo of our footsteps ricocheted off the walls, adding to the sense of foreboding that permeated the atmosphere.

Nick's informant, a wiry man named Frederico Sanchez, stood waiting nervously near the entrance. His eyes darted back and forth, scanning for any signs of danger. As we approached, Sanchez straightened up and extended a shaky hand.

"Drake," Sanchez said, his voice barely above a whisper. "Nice to finally meet you. Nick here has told me a lot about you."

I nodded curtly, assessing Sanchez's demeanor. I could see the fear etched into the man's face, evidence of the high stakes involved in the mission. Time was of the essence; we needed to infiltrate The Gladius Company as quickly as possible.

"Likewise," I replied as I returned the man’s handshake. “Now let’s go over the plan before we meet with your guy.”

Being on the same page was crucial. If any of these guys got a whiff that this was a setup, we were both dead. Nick would stay in the surveillance van, ready as backup if necessary. He couldn’t be seen by Saguaro or any of the men he’d brought with him from New York. They’d recognize the GIA agent that had brought down their last organization in an instant.

We poured over the plan twenty times, looking for inconsistencies, committing our cover story to memory, and working out the kinks. When it was time to go, I waved goodbye to Nick and got in a nondescript sedan with Sanchez. A quick check-in with headquarters told me that they had picked up Lorenzo’s contact, but he wasn’t talking.

With any luck, we wouldn’t need him to. I was hoping to set eyes on Rico when I met with Saguaro. If he was there, I was giving the order to breach. I knew what Nick’s objective was, but I didn’t give two shits about arresting Saguaro Laurent. It was Rico I was after. The man that had sent a kidnapper, albeit a bad one, after the woman I love.

The American justice system had failed and released a known mobster, allowing him to slip through their security net. But he wasn’t in America anymore. He was on my turf, and I had a literal license to kill.

Rico Mendez would spend the rest of his life in a Cordonian prison, or he would die, and it didn’t matter much to me which one it was. All I cared about was getting him off the streets and keeping Riley safe.

We arrived at the rendezvous spot, but nothing went according to plan.

I found myself in another damn warehouse. This one was on the waterfront and, if our intel was correct, not far from the empty factory that was serving as headquarters for The Gladius Company.

We arrived first and waited. Saguaro and his men were late, which only served to ramp up the already rapidly percolating anxiety in the man at my side.

Sanchez was too damn twitchy. Saguaro picked up on it instantly. He barely glanced at me before fixing Sanchez with a piercing stare. “What’s the problem, Freddy?”

“What?” Sanchez tried to laugh it off. “Nothing. What do you mean?”

Saguaro’s flinty eyes squinted at him, then flicked to me as his hand went to his waist. I had my gun in my hand before he could pull his. “Don’t do it! I really don’t want to shoot anyone today, but I will if I have to. What’s the problem?”

Saguaro moved his hand away from his piece and put his arms in the air. A flash of metal in my periphery caught my attention. “Get down!” I hit the ground just a shot rang out. Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! This wasn’t how it was supposed to go down.

Men scattered everywhere. We were outnumbered, but not for long. I could hear Nick in my earpiece giving the order to breach. Sanchez was hit. I drug him with me out of the line of fire, ducking behind a stack of metal barrels as the rat-a-tat-tat of machine gun fire spattered all around us.

“Hey, Laurent!” I craned my neck to peek around the barricade.

The only answer I got was more gunfire. I retreated back behind the stack of barrels for safety as my team poured into the building.

Now they were outnumbered, and the warehouse was surrounded. Less than fifteen minutes later, Saguaro and his men were cuffed and being loaded into the back of several guard-issue SUVs.

“Johnson, hold up!” I jogged quickly across the asphalt to intercept the lieutenant escorting the head of Gladius Company to one of the waiting vehicles. I grabbed him by his shirt and shoved him roughly up against the car. “Where’s Mendez? Was he with you?”

“Fuck you!” He lurched forward in an attempt to headbutt me, but this wasn’t my first rodeo. I snapped my head sideways, causing him to stumble forward.

I grabbed his shoulders to steady him, then brought my knee up hard into his gut. “I look forward to interrogating you, asshole.”

I beelined for the tactical van. Bursting into the mobile command center, I demanded, “Did we get Mendez?”

“Sorry, man, no,” Nick shook his head. “No sign of him. But the good news is, we got Saguaro and his second in command. There’s a second team sweeping their headquarters now. We successfully took The Gladius Company down!”

He was far too jubilant for what I considered a botched mission. I slammed out of the van with a huff. Goddamn it!

Rico was in the wind.