#I would literally not complain at all I would lose my god damn mind (in a good way)

[moongothic]

In reference to this post; I was gonna reply in the comments but once again, it got too long, and I figured I might as well make a brief post about this because shit's interesting but the OG post was getting so long I didn't want to extend it any further. So. New post.

But I'm also going to make this a lowkey follow-up to this post, where I briefly talked about whether or not Crocodile is worthy of a redemption. Because I did have multiple people reply to it, mentioning they don't think Crocodile needs a redemption, which isn't wrong. Villian redemptions come down to personal preference (some people like them more than others generally speaking), and the specific circumstances of a character and the story they go through. (Personally, I am a fucking sucker for a good redemption story, and One Piece? Has how many redeemed villians? Kuma, Hatchan and Bon-chan? Perona too? Buggy and Mr 3 if we're generous??? I'm sure I'm forgetting someone, but the ratio is quite low is my point) The reason I want to bring that up again, is that depending on what Crocodile's trauma really boils down to (**since we don't know for sure what it is**), it could go against the very core messages of One Piece if he just dies without that trauma being resolved. And at the same time, if his trauma is what I think it is, then he can not heal from it without being redeemed. And the opposite is true as well, if his trauma isn't what I think it is, then he doesn't need to heal from it, and he doesn't need to be redeemed. I do have a whole separate post slow cooking in my drafts right now so I don't want to go too deep into that subject here and now. But the point is. If we want Crocodile to open up and be vunerable and heal from his shit, it means he's either getting a redemption arc or redemption in death. The latter is way fucking sadder, but again, a whole separate post.

BTW quick apology but I figured since there's a bunch of shit in this post that I've written about separately before, I might as well link to those posts for like context, so people can get where I'm coming from with my nonsense while keeping this post brief-ish

BUT ONTO THE ACTUAL SUBJECT As I have kind of mentioned before, I do think Crocodile probably has multiple layers of trauma going for him

We know losing to Whitebeard Did Things to his psyche for certain

I think it's very plausible he might've been betrayed by his former crew if he ever had one

I think it's likely Dragon didn't take too well to him transitioning

And between that and Crocodile already having tried to kill Luffy multiple times, he probably believes his son would never accept him as his other dad, especially since he already hates him.

(And I do think it's likely he might have some additional early childhood trauma based on how Oda writes these things normally but whatever that could be is an absolute mystery)

And if I'm right and those are (some of) the different layers of his trauma, then for Crocodile to open up and heal from it you'd need to do it step-by-step, layer by layer

I think Luffy accepting Crocodile would be the most important thing, above all else. Because if Crocodile loving and caring about his son is the only shred of humanity left in him, if Luffy is the only thing Crocodile cares about anymore while believing no one else will ever do so for him, then having that feeling returned is the key to getting Crocodile to just start to heal. If his son can't accept and forgive him then what would it matter what anyone else thinks? In my mind, Luffy is The Sledgehammer that can break Crocodile's walls.

But that's the first layer, the first step to getting Crocodile to become vunerable

If he does have that betrayal-based trauma, then I think finding people who would actually follow him and be loyal to him would help him heal on that front. And... This probably sounds strange, but I think Mihawk is the best candidate for it. Not just because he could be to Croc what Zoro is to Luffy (in many ways), and not just because of the Romancing SaGa 2 comparisons, but because Crocodile does already seem to respect Mihawk on some level. Like he specifically invited Mihawk to start Cross Guild with. IDK if they have like shared history before or if it's just because they're Fellow Former Warlords or simply because he knows Mihawk is strong and in a vunerable position (after losing his Shichibukai Rights) or what, but despite Crocodile saying he doesn't trust people, he seems to trust Mihawk enough to invite him. And he seems to respect Mihawk's opinions on things, like he might view themselves as equals. So if Mihawk, The Greatest Swordsman In The World of all people, genuinely expressed faith and loyalty to Crocodile... Yeah, I think that would do a lot for Croc. Especially if Mihawk found out about Crocodile's baggage and chose to follow him despite/because of it.

But if we want Crocodile to Heal ALL THE WAY. He and Dragon need to have a talk.

Which will not be easy, considdering like.

Look at that fucking expression on the panel on the right. Dragon is more than likely beyond furious with Crocodile over what he did in Alabasta. And for good reason. And frankly, I can't tell if they can ever come back from that.

(Sidenote, but this page these panels are from (from Chapter 1058) follows immidiately after the page where Buggy introduces Crocodile and Mihawk to Cross Guild, Dragon's placement on the bottom right of this page matching perfectly where Crocodile was placed in the previous page. So considdering what Dragon says and the expression he makes... Man, if there ever was a way for Oda to tell us what Dragon thinks of Crocodile without explicitly having him say it, yeah, this would be it)

And I'm sure that even if Crocodile got over whatever heartbreak might've happened between him and Dragon and just moved on... The fact that Dragon never called Crocodile and warned him about their son being a pirate, with a bounty, who might be on his way to the Grand Line, where he could stumble his way to Alabasta, where Crocodile was famous for his Pirate Crushing Heroics mind you... Yeah. Crocodile would have a perfectly understandable reason to be furious at Dragon too. He almost killed their son without knowing because Dragon never warned him, never told their son's name to him, never told his OWN full name to Crocodile.

So needless to say.

They have a lot of differences to overcome. Things they've done that they'd both need to look past, forgive and forget. Somehow. And I'd be lying if I didn't admit I'd find it damn near impossible to happen.

But can you imagine, if despite everything, Dragon still loved him? And was sorry about whatever the fuck happened 19 years ago? And didn't want to lose him again?

I think that would be the thing that would help Crocodile heal all the way in the end.

If Luffy is the first step, then Dragon is the last.

#Moon posting #OP Meta #Crocodad #Sir Crocodile #Either that or Mihawk and Crocodile actually get together #Honestly doubt Dragodile will happen because. I can not imagine Oda giving us a canon gay couple #I would literally not complain at all I would lose my god damn mind (in a good way) #I just think Crocodile has too many deathflags (If Crocodad Real). Like he's probably going to sacrifice himself protecting someone else #Probably Luffy. Maybe Dragon. He's probably gonna die is the point. #It's more likely he dies loved and forgiven than gets to live loved and forgiven #But like I said that's a whole different post I've been struggling to write for almost two weeks now lmao #Mainly because the sheer amount of deathflags make me so impossibly sad I don't wanna pick it up again jdhgkfg

[tangledinink]

Chapter Twelve of I'm Sorry, Teenage Mutant What Now? is up!!! It's the moment you've all waited for-- the reveal. :000 They boys discover some things about themselves (things they once knew) and visit an unfamiliar place (a place that was once familiar.) Read it on ao3 or below the cut!

[ prev ]

The group’s shocked silence lasted for two, maybe three seconds before it quickly morphed into chaos.

“That’s him! That’s the goat!” Mikey shrieked, pointing wildly. “That’s the goat who has Dad!”

“Leo! Call 911!” Raph commanded. Leo scoffed loudly.

“No way! I wanna kick this guy’s ass. Make Donnie do it.”

“What?! No fair! I’ve called 911 the last six times! It’s someone else’s turn!”

“You have not! I called 911 last time!” April protested.

“That one doesn’t count!”

“Well someone’s gotta--”

“Enough!” Goatman snarled, absolutely bristling, waving his arm sharply. The air around them suddenly felt colder and stiller, and Leo shuddered, gritting his teeth as his posture stiffened. “I am not here to listen to your silly arguments. I am here to bring you home, so you can finally fulfill your purpose.”

Leo gave a short snort of laughter. “Hm, yeah, tempting, but our Daddy actually taught us not to go with creepy sheep strangers, even if they offer us free candy, soooo…”

“What?! Candy? No! I’m talking about your purpose! The reason you were created-- to eliminate the human threat! Come with me, and I can unlock your full potential!”

“How many divine purposes have we got again? ‘Cause I’m starting to lose track,” Mikey complained. Leo rolled his eyes.

“Eliminate the human threat? Yeah, uh, maybe you haven't been paying attention, but in case you haven’t noticed, we’re literally humans.”

The yokai paused for a moment. His face twisted, and he hunched his shoulders back before he gave a forced laugh. “Humans?” He echoed. “Humans?! Surely you aren’t fooled by those silly trinkets! You can’t possibly, actually believe…”

“Oh my god. This guy is, like, for real crazy,” April observed, raising her brows.

“No, you are fools!” He hissed in return. “Humans?! These ridiculous forms are completely fabricated! These are not your true selves! You are experiments! You are soldiers! You’re mutated turtles-- my greatest creations! The creations of Baron Draxum!”

“Baron Draxum? Okay, well, we’ll deal with him when he gets here… Oh… Oh-ho-ho wait! You’re doing that, like, sinister talking-about-yourself-in-third person thing, aren’t you! Oh my god, that’s rich!” Leo snorted.

“Hey! Only Raph can use the third-person!”

“I’m sorry, did he say turtles?” Mikey questioned.

“Oh my fucking god…” Leo laughed, clutching his stomach. “Turtles? I’m sorry, we’re mutant turtles?”

“This guy can’t be serious,” Raph muttered.

“Uh, yeah, I’m pretty sure we would have noticed by now if we were reptiles,” Donnie scoffed, one hand on his hip. “Let alone subjects of some kind of biochemical experiments. Which I am intimately familiar with, by the way. Do you have any idea how many community gardens I’ve been banned from?”

“This can’t…” The yokai shook his head, a hand on his brow. “How could you be tricked by such simple magic? I will show you if I have to.” 

“Oh, I’d love to see that,” Donnie muttered.

“Come with me--”

“You are out of your damn mind if you think we’re goin’ anywhere with you!” Raph cut in.

“Maybe if you prove that turtle hypothesis thing you have going on, we can discuss it from there,” Donnie laughed, one brow quirked, sounding caught somewhere between exasperated and amused. Honestly, this whole thing was a little bit fucking hilarious. It was also fucking horrible and scary because their dad was missing and a magic criminal had them cornered in an alley, but like. Seriously. Mutant turtles? You can’t make this stuff up, dude.

Draxum sighed very deeply, scowling at their group.

“Very well,” he said, and he snapped his fingers.

Things became unfunny very, very quickly. 

If the air had become cold earlier, now it became startlingly hot, just for a moment, the alley rising up at least five degrees, and Leo heard this choked, startled gasp that he immediately recognized as his twin brother. At the same time, a blinding, almost familiar flash of white light overtook the alley, and Leo hissed, flinching away. 

When he looked back, he was horrified to find that where his brother had been standing just a moment ago there was instead some sort of green, scaled creature, their eyes slitted and their skin leathery and bumped, and he thought, what the hell happened to my brother? And after a moment of silence, all of them staring in dazed shock, the reptile flailed, floundered, held its own hands up to its face as if to examine them, and promptly began screaming. 

And Leo recognized his own brother's screams, so instead he was thinking: what the hell happened to my brother?!

“What did you do?!” Leo shrieked. Behind him, Mikey screamed, too, and he could hear April spluttering out an impressive string of curse words. He just barely resisted the urge to race over to Donnie’s side, to check if he was okay, (he’s not okay, he knows he’s not okay,) to try to help him, to fix it, because he couldn’t just turn his back on the enemy in front of them-- couldn’t ignore the very obvious threat.

“I simply removed the cloaking enchantment as he requested,” Draxum responded calmly. He even looked amused, almost, the very corners of his lips turning up.

“You what!? What the hell are you-- fix it!!! Turn him back!!!” Leo demanded, his voice rising with the very edges of panic, his pulse climbing ever-steadily higher the longer he listened to his siblings scream.

The other sighed deeply, tilting their head to the side. “Do you still not understand? Fine, then. I’ll show you as well.” 

Snap.

Leo wouldn’t describe the experience as painful, but it really wasn’t pleasant, either. He swore he could feel his skin being stripped away and reforming; it was like his skeleton itself was being rearranged, his entire body becoming fluid for just a split second before solidifying again in new places, new patterns, new spaces. An unfamiliar weight pulled at his shoulders, forcing his spine to bend, and his hands and feet fell in a way that now felt unnatural to him. His skin seemed to lay over his muscles differently now.

He was vaguely aware of Mikey screaming somewhere behind him a second time, echoing Donatello’s continued wails. 

“Guys?” April bit out, her voice high and frightened.

What the hell happened to him?

“What-- what did you do?” Leo repeated himself, his eyes wide, straining, because his vision was ever-so-slightly different than it had been a few seconds ago and he didn’t know how to adjust. He swore to god he was frozen in place. He wasn’t sure when he had ended up on his knees, but he was shaking so hard, he supposed he wasn’t surprised.

What the fuck happened to his body?

“Now are you convinced?” The yokai pressed. “Now, we will be going to my lab whether you want to or not. We can either do this the easy way or the hard way. I would highly recommend the easy way,” he hummed, giving a sharp sweep of his arms. Wind tugged at his back and Leo had just barely the presence of mind to glance behind him, his eyes widening in horror to see this huge expanse of black opening up behind him. 

Mikey-- (Mikey? They were small, they were wearing Mikey’s clothes, it must be Mikey--) yelped loudly, the inky cloud yanking him from his feet. April jumped, attempting to grab her baby brother, though she only succeeded in falling into him-- both of them swallowed up into the portal. Raph gave a strangled howl of protest, diving right after them, and Donnie was sucked up as well, disappearing from Leo’s sight. His heart thudded wildly in his ears. He could feel the magick yanking at him, trying to pull him in as well. 

But Leo had always been the fastest. 

Every shred of him was screaming to follow, to chase after his family, to go with his sister and brothers, but he tensed his muscles, his stance widening and holding firm as he set his sights back on the yokai towering before him. A tiny voice in his head whispered in his ears that following wouldn’t help--

No, he had to move forward. This guy was the one hurting them.

Get him.

Leo wasn’t sure if he had leapt forward or if he simply was there. Everything was moving too quickly for even him to follow, the blinding white of panic and rage eating hungrily at the edges of his vision, threatening to overtake him. Either way, he lunged, a cry of protective fury wringing itself from his chest.

 "Stay away from my brothers," he snarled, his own throat staggering painfully with the force with which he screamed out his warning, his hands flying forward to grab the yokai by his throat, slamming into him at full speed. He felt the alien velvet fuzz of Draxum’s skin beneath the tear of his fingernails (claws) even as the pair of them were flung from their feet. Gravity was stolen from them both, the portal behind them reaching out to consume them. 

Everything went black. For just a second, tumbling through nothingness, floating through the sizzling rush of magick itself, Leo couldn’t see anything. He couldn’t hear anything, all he could feel was the body of the yokai against him, struggling against his grip, attempting to throw him away. 

And then this bright, searing lavender light came singing through the world. It didn’t reflect or bounce; nothing was lit up by it. Leo still could not see himself, could not even find the outline of his own hands or fingers. But this brilliant, complex pattern of the palest, gentlest pastel purple lit up bright before him, swirling and twisting in foreign shapes, and Leo just barely recognized that the ribbon of runes they formed echoed the shape of the yokai he had just grabbed.

The body he was clinging to went limp.

The next second, the wind was knocked out of him as they made impact with stone, light coming streaming back into his universe. Leo found himself landing in a heap in their new location, the portal disappearing behind them. Oddly, however, the crash landing didn’t hurt near as much as he would have expected it to.

“Leo!” He heard Raph cry. Leo groaned, still dazed, looking around blearily. Where the hell were they? He glanced over at the yokai who he had yanked through the portal with them, only to find them in an awkward slump just a few paces away, completely limp and seemingly unconscious. 

“Are you okay? What happened?” Raph demanded, moving quickly to his side. Mikey was already all bundled up in his arms, shaking like a leaf and absolutely clinging to him for dear life like he was going to fall apart if he let go. And Leo couldn’t even blame him if he did. Mikey had always been the smallest of them, and Raph always the biggest, but Leo thought dimly that the size difference between them now was fucking bananas.

Jesus christ. Raph was fucking huge. And… spiky. Was he a goddamn dinosaur? What the fuck.

“I-- yeah-- I-- I think the goatman got knocked out--” He stammered, still reeling slightly, trying to collect himself, to gather himself, adrenaline still rushing through his veins like it was a racetrack. 

Somewhere in the background, Donnie fucking screamed, and Leo immediately forgot about everything else, his head whipping around. 

“Donnie!” He cried, on his feet in a second, rushing over to his brother’s side. He had no idea where they were, not having yet taken stock of the location. He was only dimly aware that they were someplace cold and dark, with stone and concrete above, below, and around them. Donnie had pressed himself up against one of the walls, his entire body rigid and his head bent forward, his arms fluttering wildly beside his head in such a way that Leo recognized he was fighting not to hit himself. Good job, Dee. The screaming continued, but every wail that wrenched its way out of Donnie’s mouth was short and grinding, repeating itself over and over like an alarm. It was fucking terrifying. Not for him, but for Donnie, because he could tell that they were completely, totally not in control. Just panicking.

“Hey. Hey, hey, it’s okay, I’m right here, Don. It’s alright. It’s okay, you’re safe, I’m right here, hermano,” he tried to soothe, forcing his voice down, calm, steady. He knew better than to touch Donnie, but he would reach over just long enough to tap a button on the side of his headphones that he knew would flip the device into white noise mode. Donnie jerked slightly in response, and the screaming stopped, at least, but he didn’t relax. His arms still fluttered and flapped anxiously, and he shifted just enough to begin rocking back and forth, clenching his jaw and grinding his teeth so hard that Leo was afraid he was going to hurt himself. His chest absolutely shook with the panicked, shuddering breaths he was taking, hyperventilating so hard that his entire body trembled in response.

“Come on, Donnie, it’s alright. It’s okay. We’re safe, Mikey and Raph and April are safe, we’re gonna be okay, but you’ve gotta breathe, dude. Can you try it with me? Like this? We’ve gotta calm down a little bit--” Leo pressed on because this was not his first rodeo. He wasn’t quite as adept at handling these things as their dad was, and at this point, Donnie was pretty good at avoiding meltdowns and panic attacks, armed with tools and tricks and years of therapy, but sometimes they were unavoidable and Leo had always known how to calm them down, always been able to step up and help, the same way Donnie could for him--

But Donnie wasn’t calming down. Donnie wouldn’t even look up at him. Rather, Donnie scrunched up harder, curled his lips, and fucking hissed at him.

And, okay, look, it wasn’t the first time Donnie had hissed at them. Donnie used to love to hiss at people when they were little kids, though nowadays he was more likely to express annoyance with declarations such as “groan” or “scoff” or “eye-roll.” But he didn’t hiss like this.

He sounded fucking feral. Even more than that, he sounded fucking terrified. He looked like a goddamn cornered animal, his eyes blown out and huge, the scaly skin that now made up his form stretched tight over shivering muscles and his lips drawn back over sharp, pointed teeth. And Leo looked down at his own clawed, three-fingered hand and came to a horrible realization.

He couldn’t help because Donnie couldn’t recognize him. They were panicking because they were in this crazy, fucked up body that wasn’t theirs, and Leo was in a fucked up body that wasn’t his, and looking at him was just a reminder of everything wrong. He was just scaring them more. His being here was just making things worse, and Leo’s throat tied itself in a knot, swelling up as the backs of his eyes pinched with the thought.

“April,” he called, his voice cracking slightly as he desperately turned to look for his sister. She wasn’t far off, watching from a short distance with obvious worry, and she blinked in surprise at the sound of her name.

“Help me.”

---

If Leo was being completely honest, he hadn’t even realized that Donnie wasn’t still nearby. The two of them typically stuck together like glue whenever they were at school. Leo would usually lead the way, and Donnie would trail after, with Leo doing most of the talking and socializing for both of them. And once Donnie got sick of whatever they were doing, he would simply drag Leo off to sit and read or work on some project or puzzle for a while, and Leo would oblige and keep him company. Donnie was always close by, and Leo wasn’t even aware that this wasn’t currently the case, too absorbed in his latest arts and crafts project, until he heard a telltale, high-pitched whine from across the room.

He was on his feet in seconds, abandoning the activity and his classmates to scuttle off in search of his twin brother. Luckily, he wasn’t too hard to find. Both because he was pretty loud, and also because their substitute teacher was crouched down next to him. She was nice enough, Leo thought, but not quite as cool as Miss Mitchelle was, and he wasn’t sure if Donnie liked her at all. It definitely didn’t seem like he liked her too much right now with how he was all balled up, and Leo wasted no time at all in planting himself physically between the two.

Donnie immediately gravitated towards his brother and Leo moved a bit closer in turn, giving Miss Substitute (he didn’t remember her name,) a very displeased look.

“He doesn’t like whatever you’re doing,” he declared firmly.

Miss Substitute’s expression twitched and faltered for a moment before it settled back into something patient and pleasant, though Leo still didn’t quite trust it. “Leo,” she said, “I was just trying to talk with your brother--”

“I can talk to him,” Leo assured immediately, not bothering to listen to the remainder of her sentence because he couldn’t imagine it would be all that important or interesting. He turned to face Donnie instead. “It’s okay. I can always understand him, ‘cause we have a secret twin language. We made it up. Only we can speak it,” he declared proudly, crouching down to lean in towards his brother, his arms wrapped around his knees.

Donnie was still whining a bit, curled up into a ball and shoved halfway inside of a cubby, his arms crossed protectively over his head as he rocked. And yeah, he was obviously upset, though Leo wasn’t completely sure why yet. As such, he got to work, conversing with his twin in the previously mentioned secret twin language.

… And.

Okay.

So.

They didn’t actually have a secret twin language.

But it was close enough! It wasn’t a language, per se, ‘cause it didn’t have words, just noises and chirps and trills and squeaks and babbles. But he still always got the gist of what Donnie was saying, and Donnie would get the gist of what he was saying, too, so it worked. Sooner or later, he could pretty much always get an understanding of what Donnie was meaning based on the inflection or tone of his noises, as well as calm the other down enough so that Leo could coax a couple of signs out of him, so Leo figured it was close enough to language.

Plus, the ‘language’ itself always seemed to kind of settle Donnie down when he was upset like this. Once Leo started humming and squeaking at him, Donnie gradually started to answer with his own chirps and clicks, and, little by little, Leo watched their twin’s body untense and unwind. Leo grinned, moving to sit properly by him, and Donnie moved closer, edging just a bit out of his hiding spot so he could shove himself up against Leo’s side instead, resting his head against his shoulder and settling in there, an indignant scowl still on his face.

Leo grinned, puffing out his chest a bit as he shot Miss Substitute a look. See? He told her so. He and Donnie always understood each other, no matter what, and he could always fix it when Donnie wasn’t feeling good! He was basically the best brother in the entire world. Confident that he understood the problem, he turned back to face Miss Substitute.

“He said you’re not doing the schedule right, and we’re supposed to do math right now,” he announced, crossing his arms over his chest. And he hadn’t even noticed, but Donnie was right, they did usually do math lessons during this part of the day-- not arts and crafts. “And also, he doesn’t like the paper fish we’re doing ‘cause the glue feels bad. So we gotta find something else to do,” he insisted. “‘Cause otherwise Donnie and I aren’t playing.”

Donnie nodded a tiny bit from behind him, and Leo beamed with pride. Understanding Donnie and calming him down wasn’t even that hard. He didn’t get why adults besides Dad had such a hard time with it sometimes. You really just had to listen to him. 

---

It took a while for April to calm Donnie back down, (or at least get him as calm as they possibly could be in such circumstances,) but she managed after a bit, his panicked breaths eventually dying down into something a bit more even and steady. Thank god. Mikey thought dimly to himself that he had never seen Donnie freak out so bad, but... he supposed he couldn't really blame him. 

He frowned a bit, looking down at his own, unfamiliar hands, and he curled up a bit more, his tail tucking in (oh my god, he had a tail,) as he clung to Raph's plastron (oh my god, Raph had a plastron.) And though it still held comfort, the fold of his biggest brother's arms, bundled up close and held there, this place that he had known his whole life... it suddenly felt foreign, too. Everything was hard and jagged and cold. And even worse-- it was unfamiliar. 

He kept staring at his own hands because he couldn't stop himself, and it made his stomach wobble. He wondered bleakly what his own face looked like because he had no idea. He wouldn't even recognize himself in the mirror. 

 Now that Donnie had finally settled a bit, though he was still curled up and pressed just against April's side, just barely not touching but still squeezed up small against her, Leo finally got up to his feet-- only to immediately lose his balance, falling over onto his back with a loud clunk.

"Leo!" Raph's eyes widened, his muscles immediately bunching up, ready to jump up and go grab his brother. Mikey could tell that he was just barely resisting the urge to scoop up all three of them and bundle them up in his arms and just hang onto them for a while. He had been sitting here long enough for Mikey to notice how fast his heart was beating. Mikey’s was keeping pace. Leo kind of flailed for a second before he managed to redirect the momentum to roll over onto his side, getting himself back onto his hands and knees. A wry, strangled laugh forced its way out of him.

"Alright. Well. Pro tip: center of gravity is weird now," he remarked dryly, his voice strained. "But the good news is falling doesn't even hurt anymore! So that’s great!"

It didn't get a laugh out of anyone. After a moment of hesitation, Mikey slowly wriggled his way from Raph's grip, making his way over to Leo's side. He didn't dare try to walk after watching Leo's attempt, noting that it seemed to be more difficult now without the rush of adrenaline to aid them, so he instead stayed in a crouch, sort of half-hopping-half-crawling over. Raph followed shortly after in a similar manner.

"Can I see?" He questioned softly, and when Leo didn't deny him, he leaned over slightly, moving his hoodie (which was now a very awkward fit,) out of the way enough so that he could examine the edges of his brother's new shell.

(Oh my god. His brother's shell. What kind of a sentence was that? What kind of weird, fucked up make-believe world were they suddenly in? Leo was his brother. He didn't have a shell. He had cool brown skin. He had bouncy blonde curls that Mikey had helped him bleach and dye a red streak in. He had vitiligo 'stripes' over his eyes. He had a bad habit of cycling through boyfriends and insomnia and a shockingly large vocabulary... but he didn't have a shell. He didn't have scales or stripes or claws or a tail.)

He looked anyway, running the tips of his fingers over the top of it, following the curve. He couldn't quite tell if he was feeling the texture of the shell, or just the texture of his own fingers, which were different than they had been; covered in scales, the skin thicker and rougher than it had been before. Bending his joints felt odd, and he couldn't help himself from doing it over and over, as if that might help him get used to it faster. 

 Every part of his brother’s shell was this cool, ocean blue, just edging on teal in some places, and Mikey thought to himself that, in the very least, it matched his life color perfectly. 

He swallowed hard and resisted the tears that were building up in his eyes. He didn’t want to cry right now. He didn’t even know what he was crying about. Because he was scared? Because he was overwhelmed? He wasn’t very good at not crying, but he forced it down, his hands trembling a bit with the effort of it.

 "Does it look the same as mine?" He heard himself asking, his eyes flickering over to meet Leo's (which were now not something he recognized, looking more animal than person, though they still retained the same, familiar almond shape. The color, however, he realized, was slightly different. Leo's eyes were brown. All of their eyes were brown, so dark that they were almost black, but now, instead, Leo's eyes were mismatched; one of them dark blue, like water in a cove, like the sea at night, and the other dark red, like ink with blood, like black cherries.) 

"I dunno," Leo laughed, though his voice was still shaking. "I don't know what mine looks like."

"They're... kinda the same…" Raph observed from nearby, leaning over slightly to examine them both. His voice sounded kind of hollow, like he wasn’t really there. Sort of far-off. "I mean. The parts I can see. Mikey, yours is more... orangey. And bumpier," he said. "And yours is spotty. Leo's is kinda... stripey." 

"Yours is huge," Leo observed with a chuckle, glancing over at their biggest brother, who was always the tallest and largest by a wide margin, but now absolutely dwarfed the rest of them. "And... spiky. You're all spiky. And… and fucking huge, dude. You look like you have fucking paws. And your mouth is all..." He laughed again, scrubbing anxiously at his face with his hands. "You look like a fucking snapping turtle."

Mikey paused a bit at that, glancing over at the other.

Donnie must have said or signed something that the rest of them didn’t catch, because April spoke up next, clearly addressing him. "Uhm, no, yours is... uh. It's kind of flat? And..." There was a pause. "Oh, oh my god, it's, like, squishy!" She squealed, everyone else in the room jumping in response, before she tamped down the noise, biting her lip and getting a handle on her reaction. "Sorry! Sorry, I just. I just wasn't expecting that texture, that's all! It doesn't... feel like what I thought a shell would feel like, I guess."

"Are we different kinds of... turtles?" Mikey questioned, tilting his head to the side. He wanted to laugh at himself when he said turtles. I mean, seriously, turtles? Of all the creatures in the world, turtles? Why were they turtles?

"I guess we must be," Leo sighed, resting his chin on his knee. "We obviously look different." 

Mikey frowned, and he thought that his lips might be trembling if he had proper lips anymore, but he wasn't sure if he did or if they could tremble or what that would feel like if they did. Okay, fine. Now there were a few tears. 

"Does that mean we're not brothers?" 

A beat of silence followed.

"We're not," Donnie said, and quite frankly, Mikey was surprised to hear him speaking. Small miracles? Kinda…?

"Yeah, we are. Don't be crazy," Raph immediately refuted, his brows (er... brows? Place where brows once were?) furrowing together, and Mikey was desperately relieved to see that the space in between still wrinkled into a crease the same way they always did. "Of course we're brothers."

"Evidently, we're not even the same species," Donnie hissed out bitterly, drawing himself up even closer, even smaller, into a little ball. "It's literally impossible."

"Come on, Dee--"

"We're not even human!" Donnie snapped, hunching up his shoulders. "We're not even people!"

"Hey, look, come on you guys," April tried to soothe, holding up her hands as if to calm the group. "It doesn't matter if you're turtles! It doesn't matter to me. I love you guys no matter what--"

"Oh, wow, what a comfort!" Donnie scoffed, and April bristled.

"Okay, look, I am trying to be helpful! I know that this fucking sucks but you do not need to take out your nasty attitude on me!"

Leo suddenly laughed-- loudly, painfully-- tilting his head back and letting his shoulders slump so he could stare up at the ceiling. "Oh my god. Jesus christ. We're not people," he bit out in between his barely restrained hysterics, squeezing his eyes shut. "We're freaks, dude!"

"Leo, c'mon." 

"We're not even people!!!" He repeated. "Fuck. We never even had a chance, and we didn't even know it!... Oh my god, we’re such morons!!! Hahaha-- welp! This is it! Pack it in, boys, it’s all over!"

"Leo, chill. What are you even talkin’ about?"

"Did you know I was gonna go on T?" He questioned, turning around sharply, suddenly, to face Raph. "Me and Dad were talking about it. For, like, a while now. And I was gonna start T, finally. Do you know how much I wanted to do that? Do you know how long I've been waiting to get to do that?"

Raph frowned. "Leo... This doesn't mean--"

"How the fuck is that going to work now!?" He interrupted. "How is anything gonna work now? We're fucking! REPTILES! Raph!!!"

"I KNOW THAT!" Now Raph was yelling, too, and Mikey flinched a bit, hiccuping softly as he drew himself down, retreating slightly, halfway into his shell (oh my god, he can do that now?) "You think you're the only one who was lookin' forward to stuff? I was--" He cut himself off, breathing in deep and then letting it out slow, his jaw tensed.

"Look. I know this... sucks. But it's not gonna help to just throw in the towel right now and mourn shit that we don't even know is gone yet, alright? We'll... figure it out," he said. "We don’t even know what’s goin’ on, so let’s just… let's just try to figure it out first. Okay?" 

Leo frowned. He looked down and to the side, tightening his hands into fists, but he didn't have any rebuttal. After a moment, he took a deep breath, pulling himself up to his feet for a second time. He tottered for a moment, his arms windmilling until he found his balance and this time he stayed on his feet. He looked around the room for a moment before his eyes fell on the limp form of Baron Draxum, still crumpled in a heap some odd paces away.

"What do we do with that guy?"

All of their eyes snapped over, as though they had all just remembered that he was there in the first place.

"Did you knock him out, dude?!" Raph questioned, his eyes widening slightly. 

"No! I mean. I don't think so. Not exactly," Leo said. "It's, like-- he grabbed me and some sort of mystic-magic-whatever thing happened. He lit up with a bunch of symbols and he just... went down. I dunno what happened." 

"Well," Raph said, sighing deeply before he pulled himself to his feet as well, doing a similar rock and wobble to Leo before he figured out the new balance he had to strike, correcting his own footing. His long tail swung back and forth behind him, assumedly on instinct, to help. "We dunno how long he's gonna stay down, so we oughta find a way out of here and put some distance between us and him ASAP. We already know where Dad is, anyway."

"Maybe we can figure out where we are," Donnie mumbled bleakly, pulling himself to his feet as well. He seemed to struggle much less than his brothers did, and Mikey noted that his back rounded less than theirs. April got up as well, sticking close to his side, but perhaps hovering a bit less now. 

Mikey watched as his family rose up, one by one, finding their feet again. And something in his chest unwound and loosened again. A breath he hadn't realized he had been holding came tumbling out of him.

He didn't know his own face anymore. And he didn't recognize his brothers when he looked at them.

But they were still them. Already, Mikey was completely sure of it. And the change, while still terrifying, felt just a tiny bit less devastating. 

He hadn’t lost them yet.

Bracing himself for the coming challenge, he rose up to his feet as well. The unfamiliar weight on his back was more than he had expected and attempted to drag him down, and he stumbled slightly, nearly toppling over onto his back the same way Leo had the first time-- but Raph grabbed his wrist before he could, pulling him forward and correcting him, and Mikey was relieved to find his center of gravity once more. Usually, he would complain about his big brother stepping in, preferring to do things on his own rather than being 'babied' by his older family members, but...

 Right now, it was actually okay. 

"Okay. Let's do this." 

(They took about three steps before Raph yelped and tripped over his own tail.)

---

Though they had tied up the so-called "Baron Draxum" with whatever rope and other scrap they could find in this place, (the longer they were here, the more Donnie began to suspect it was a lab of some kind,) none of them were very confident that it would be able to hold him for very long, if at all, and so they all got to work trying to figure out an exit. But to call this place 'maze-like' was a bit of an understatement.

"This is the worst landmark ever," April hissed in frustration as they turned a corner, only to once again be met with a hog-tied yokai, face-down on the concrete. "We keep going in circles!"

"Okay, look," Donnie sighed. "I know we don't want to linger here any more than we have to, but let's look around a bit and see if there's anything useful lying around to get us out of here. Clearly just walking out isn't getting us anywhere." 

There was a chorus of grunts and mumbles of agreement from the rest of his family, and the group slowly fanned out, beginning their search. It was dark here, wherever they were. The ground beneath his feet was cold, with him and his brothers having already ditched and stowed their sneakers and boots after realizing how awkward and painful it was to walk in them with their new wide, two-toed feet. 

The space was wide and almost circular, with various tunnels branching off at different levels, all leading away to who-knew-where. Several desks and tables were scattered about the space, each surface covered in everything from charts to pipettes to oddly-shaped jars filled with oddly-colored substances. Donnie just barely resisted the urge to sit down and start working, or to begin snatching and pocketing things as he found them. Instead, he took a liberal amount of photographs of everything they found on his phone.

 His impulse control could only get him so far, however, and his eyes narrowed as they fell across a small, purpley-pink gem that lay on the desk, suspended within a small glass case. This certainly looked interesting... Geology wasn't really a passion of his, but something about this just seemed... intriguing. He couldn't quite place it...

 Surely no one would miss this, right? It was small! It would be silly not to take it, quite frankly, and he slipped it into his pocket as quietly as he could when he was sure no one else was looking. 

Now, if only he could find some blueprints of the tunnels... But that would be too easy, wouldn't it?

"So," Mikey said after a minute or so of them searching, and Donnie sighed internally. Of course, they couldn't expect him to stay quiet for that long. "If Raph is a snapping turtle, and me and Leo are turtle-turtles, then what kind of a turtle is Donnie?"

Donnie rolled his eyes, scowling. "Okay, well, first of all, do we really have to discuss this?" He hissed, immediately bristling. "I’d highly prefer we not address the proverbial elephant in the room, thank you! Second of all, 'turtle-turtle' is not a species."

"Yeah, but, like, we have turtle shells!" Mikey explained. "But April said yours is squishy. So what does that make you?"

Donnie sighed deeply. Talking about this made his skin itch.

"A softshell turtle, I suppose."

"A softshell?" Leo questioned, raising a brow. "That's a thing?"

"Yes."

"How do you know that off the top of your head?" Raph questioned.

"Some of us actually paid attention during biology classes," he responded dryly. And having a near-photographic memory did, admittedly, help as well…

"Whoa!" Mikey absolutely beamed. "That's so cool! Now we just gotta figure out what kind of turtles me and Leo are!"

"Well, I'd look it up if we had any service. And also if it was even close to being an appropriate time for us to waste our efforts on something like that," Donnie said with a roll of his eyes. He knew that Mikey was just distracting himself, finding a silver lining so he didn’t break down, but Donnie didn’t want to think about it, didn’t want to think about how much of their entire lives was completely fabricated, about how--

He snorted, suddenly doubling over with laughter.

"What?" April questioned, raising a brow.

"I just-- I just realized!" Donnie laughed. "Our... our moms must be turtles! Fucking turtles!"

There was a beat of silence as this sunk in before Raph gave a similar reaction. "Damn! I guess you're right, huh?"

"Do you have any idea how much time I wasted in therapy talking about this?" Donnie squeaked out through giggles. "I spent so much time with Mossy talking about our mom and how she didn't want us or whatever the fuck and about the stuff she did to Dad and how I couldn't remember her, and she-- she was never even real! None of that ever even happened! She was just a fucking turtle, wasn't she!? We don’t even have a real mom!"

"Whoa! Mind... blown. I didn't even think about that..." Mikey gaped, his eyes wide. "This whole time I just assumed that our mom was probably the hotel lady..."

"Yeah, me too," Leo agreed.

Donnie blinked.

"You what?"

"Well, you know, that woman that Dad was datin’ right before he disappeared," Raph said. "And she runs the Grand Nexus Hotel, right? All the articles I ever read always mentioned her."

Donnie's eyes twitched. "You thought she was our mother?" He questioned.

"Well, that's who Dad was datin’ last! And for a long time, too. It'd make sense, wouldn't it?" Raph defended.

"Yeah. You didn't think that?" Leo said.

"NO! Why would I think that?!" Donnie was laughing again.

Leo huffed in offense, crossing his arms over his chest. "I'm sorry, do you know something we don't?"

"Apparently!" Donnie exclaimed. "Guys, you've seen pictures of her, right?!"

"Well, yeah?" Mikey tilted his head to the side.

"She's pale as fuck!"

"So?"

"And our Dad is Japanese!"

"And? Donnie, what's your point?"

"We're black!"

"... Ooooohhhhh," all three of his brothers said, nearly in unison, after Donnie's argument finally sunk in.

"Oh my god," Donnie laughed, covering his face with his hands, scrubbing tears from his eyes. "You're all so fucking dumb..."

"I guess our mom would have had to be black. I mean. We got the Japanese half from Dad, but... I never really thought about where the other half came from..." Raph admitted, his mouth still slightly agape like he was still rolling the thought about in his head. 

"Wait a minute," April said, her hands on her hips. "I mean, yeah, all that makes sense, but if you guys have secretly been turtles this whole time, then why are you black?"

"Dude, are all turtles black?" Mikey questioned, his eyes widening.

"I cannot discuss this any further. I'll get a migraine and furthermore cease to function, as I am, and I cannot stress this enough, just barely suppressing the gravity of this whole situation right now," Donnie sighed, gesturing to himself as he turned back to the desk in front of him. "Did anyone find anything yet?"

"Not yet," April sighed, shuffling through some papers. "What even is all this junk?"

"I'm not sure. Some sort of research, it seems like..." Donnie mused, sort of thumbing through a book as he spoke, reading key phrases and chunks of text as quickly as he could and making mental notes so he could refer back to it later. He was more than happy to have something else to focus on, though this would admittedly be a lot easier with human hands. "But I'm still not sure where--"

Shhhh shhhh.

Donnie paused mid-sentence, his brows furrowed. He hadn't noticed that sound before now. He tilted his head a bit to the side, turning in its direction, trying to zero in.

"... Donnie?"

"What's that noise?" He questioned aloud, though his voice was barely above a whisper.

Shhhh shhhhh.

He knew that noise. He recognized it. Where had he heard it before?

Shhhh shhhhh.

... Water, he realized with a start. The noise was running water. Of course. How had he never realized this before?...

That's what he was hearing. That's what he had heard.

"Dee? You good?"

"Guys," he said, turning just enough to glance over in their direction. His face suddenly felt like glass. It was odd. "I think... I think we're in the sewer," he said. "... And I think we've been here before...?"

Before anyone could say anything further, a new noise filled up the space.

Skrrrtttccchhhhh.

---

"What was that?!" Mikey shrieked, immediately leaping behind his biggest brother to hide. Leo and Donnie were instantly gravitating to each other as well, falling into stance on instinct as they stood back to back, each covering the other. 

"It sounds like something scratching," April said thoughtfully, and true to her word, the same skritching noise clawed its way through the air a moment later, echoing slightly against the walls. "I think it's coming from over here!"

"April!" Raph hissed off a protest as she took off, heading in the direction of the sound. "We don't know what that is!"

"We will if we go look!" She chirped in reply. I mean, come on, what was the benefit of hiding over here instead of investigating? Weren't they curious either way? Besides, they were stuck here regardless-- maybe they'd find something helpful.

The noise continued as April searched, peering around corners and down tunnels, until, finally, she found her prize. Tucked inside one of the off-shoot tunnels, one of the many dead-ends that seemed to surround this space, was a proverbial treasure trove. A variety of odds and ends filled the space; various amulets and scrolls and chests and even weapons were leaned up against the wall or stacked up on the ground. In fact, a lot of weapons were in here. Was this some kind of a weird armory? Or a trophy room? What kind of sewer has a trophy room?

But most interestingly, she found the source of the noise. Inside a small, dimly lit orb, looking as though it were made of some sort of glass, or perhaps even light, was one of the oddest creatures April had ever seen, clawing sadly at the surface of its prison. It had ears like a chihuahua, pointed and too big for its head, with tufts of fur poofing out from inside, but huge eyes like some kind of a cat. Pointed tusks stuck from its mouth like a boar, but soft, downy yellow-and-blue fur covered its entire, squirrel-like body, complete with a fluffy, wriggly tail.

"AW, you guyyssss!" She called out. "Come look! It's cute!"

"April!" The guys were right behind her, with Raph leading the charge. "You can't just run off like-- jumpin' jack flash! What the heck is that thing?!"

"I dunno!" April said with a shrug, immediately making her way into the room, scooping up the orb so she could examine it, looking for a way to open it up. The little critter inside pattered about excitedly, its claws clicking against the smooth surface. "Help me figure out how to get him outta here."

"Are you sure about that?" Leo questioned. "No offense, but we have nooo idea what that thing is! Maybe it's, I dunno, locked up for a reason?"

"What? C'mon, guys, we've gotta help!" Mikey protested, turning on them with big, pleading eyes. Nice, April thought, with Mikey on her side she had basically already won. Suck it, middle children. "Plus, he was locked up by Draxum. So he can't be bad!"

"Yeah! Ever heard ‘the enemy of my enemy is my friend?’" April added in.

"I'm not convinced," Donnie said, crossing his arms over his chest. "I mean, has anyone else noticed that pretty much everything else in this room is a weapon of some kind? Isn't that maybe a bit telling?"

"Aw, come on, Dee. Look at this face!" April insisted, holding up the orb to the others. The creature, to their credit, played their part, pulling an absolutely pitiful face which Mikey immediately echoed, turning to his brothers with watery eyes. 

Checkmate.

"Okay, okay, fine. Look, there's gotta be something in here that can help us bust him out..." Leo muttered, beginning to pick his way through the contents of the room with Raph, Donnie, and Mikey following suit shortly after. 

"Here, what about these?" Leo said after a moment, turning to face them with a pair of twin katanas in hand. "Think I could slice that bad boy open with these guys?"

April scoffed, clutching the orb close to her chest. "Uhm, and this guy in half, maybe!" She protested. "Can we try something a little less deadly, please?"

"Aw, come on! These are cool," Leo protested, grinning as he twirled them in his hands with a metallic shwing.

"You just like them because you always win at any swordsmanship event at tournaments," Donnie remarked dryly, grabbing a long wooden staff to hold in his hands, testing the weight of it. "... That being said, should we maybe grab some of these just in case?"

"Whaddya mean?" Raph glanced over at the other.

"Well, we haven't even made it to the Hidden City yet, and we've already been attacked once," Donnie reasoned, placing a hand on his hip and frowning. "So it wouldn't exactly be a bad idea to have some weapons on hand in case of an emergency." He spun the bo staff in his hands appraisingly a few times. "I mean, obviously this is a bit underwhelming, but I'm sure I could make some improvements once we got back home..."

"Sounds like a good plan to me! Look at all the stuff they’ve got!” Mikey cheered, immediately diving in, beginning to sort through all the various options they had in the room. He chuckled darkly, swinging a pair of nun-chucks in his hands. “These’ll do…”

“Yo, guys!” Raph called, waving to get his brothers’ attention before pointing to the very far corner of the room. “If we’re gonna take stuff, why don’t we take the glowy ones?”

There was, in fact, a weapons rack filled with floating, vaguely glowing weapons, tucked away in the shadows, which only made the glow all that much more tempting. They were simply begging to be taken.

Mikey and Leo, almost in unison, gasped, their faces absolutely lighting up as they raced over to join Raph. “Ooh, dibs on the sword!” Leo cheered, immediately snatching up the odachi and repeatedly striking poses.

“Hot soup! Check me out!” Mikey snatched up a bright orange kusari-fundo, absolutely beaming ear-to-ear. Raph was nearly drooling as he laid his claim on a pair of tonfas, beaming as he gave a few experimental swings. 

“They’re perfect! No one’ll mess with us now!”

“What about you, Donnie?” April questioned, tilting her head back to glance at the remaining brother. “Don’t you want a glowy weapon?”

“And add yet another unknown, uncontrolled variable to our current situation? I’m good,” Donnie scoffed, rolling his eyes. “I’ve trained with a regular, wooden bo staff. I’ll fight with a wooden bo staff, thank you very much. You all have fun with your likely-radioactive weaponry,” he said, waving them off. 

“Here, April, I got something for you, too,” Mikey chirped excitedly, scampering over to present his find to her. “Ta-da!!! Baseball bat!”

It wasn’t a baseball bat-- it was a club. But close enough! April gasped in delight. “It’s perfect!” She enthused, immediately snatching it up, rolling it around in her hands and tapping it against the side of her shoe a few times. Ooh, and the weight was perfect, too. “And I think it can help us get little guy out of this ball thingie, too! Leo, come hold it still for me!”

 "Aw man, why do I gotta hold it?" Leo muttered in complaint but did as he was told regardless, kneeling down to hold the orb steady, taking care in the placement of his hands to minimize the chances of broken fingers.

 "Alright," April said, backing up a bit, her tongue sticking out from between her lips with focus. "This won't hurt a bit..." 

She swung the club back, taking care to temper her strength, and brought it down on the little ball prison with a satisfying crunch. 

"Did it work?" Mikey gasped, his eyes wide as he leaned over. The orb was not shattered nor laying in pieces; but the side of it had caved in considerably, a spiderweb of cracks blossoming from it, and a second later, it simply dissolved as if it had never been there in the first place. The creature that had previously been trapped inside cracked one eye open, having squeezed itself into the very back of its cage, flinching at the oncoming impact, gave an absolute trill of excitement, darting about in celebration.

"There we go!" April said, grinning wide, her hands planted on her hips. "See, told ya I'd get you outta there! That's better, right?"

The little yellow beast threw itself into her lap, wriggling with joy and nuzzling at her with an enthusiastic wag of its tail. "Okay, okay! You're welcome!" April laughed, giggling as she allowed the creature to clamber about in her arms, allowing it time to bounce about before it finally began to settle again.

"Any chance you know how to get out of here, little guy?"

---

Raph looked up from his phone and his tea at the sound of mail plopping down on the table, glancing over to examine the letters his father had just tossed over in his direction.

"For you," Dad remarked, sorting through the remaining mail from the day.

"For me?" Raph echoed, his brows rising up. "Who the heck is sending me mail?" Curiosity took hold immediately, and he abandoned the wrestling video he had been watching previously in favor of tearing open the letters on the table.

He was surprised to find college brochures inside. His father, however, did not seem all that surprised at all, even adding a couple more to the pile.

"It seems you are in high demand," Dad teased, smiling the tiniest bit. "I have received a few emails as well from recruiters recently."

Raph paused for a moment, rolling this idea about in his brain, trying to figure out what it meant and what it tasted like before he forced a small laugh, rubbing the back of his neck nervously.

"Guess they haven't seen my grades yet," he joked weakly. Dad hummed softly, pulling up a chair so he could sit down next to his eldest son.

"Nonsense," he scoffed. "Your grades are fine, Raphael. You've simply tricked yourself into thinking they're not by comparing yourself to others," he added, giving the other a knowing look. "And besides that, this is hardly the only thing that matters. I have told you many times that grades aren't everything. My grades in high school were terrible!" He remarked with a laugh. "And your career in sports is very impressive."

"I guess," Raph said, wrinkling his nose up a bit as he leaned over the table. Easy for him to say. He had a hard time wrapping his head around the idea of colleges being interested in him when his three younger brothers were right here in the same damn house! Had they really meant to send these to Hamato Raphael?

Dad's hand moved to rub little circles into his back, and he nudged his son's teacup a bit. Raph agreeably took a sip, allowing the warm liquid to trickle down through his chest.

"I know you have not always enjoyed schoolwork, Raphael," Dad finally spoke again. "But you are not stupid. You may very well have the most common sense of any of my children!" He chuckled. "And you have many talents besides that. You are a remarkable athlete, and I know I do not have to drag you over to the trophy wall to prove this to you, but I will if I have to. You are only sixteen and you are already the captain of multiple sports teams... not just anyone could handle that! It is difficult to lead a team. But you have always handled this with grace. And teaching children! That is a talent in and of itself. That is no easy task. Trust me, I know," he said, smiling slightly. "But you are doing so well with your new job. And I am very proud of you."

 Raphael glanced over at his father, for just a moment, hesitating like he wanted to say something, but then biting it back.

"You don't have to go to college if you don't want to," Dad added. "If you decide that is not the path for you, that is fine. I won't be upset or disappointed. I did not go to college, either! But I would hate for you to not even consider it just because you don't think you're good enough for it," he pressed. "I know you've always said you intend to pursue a career in sports of some kind, but this is very much an avenue to achieve that if you'd like. Many professional athletes get their start through college sports, you know. And I can already name half a dozen universities off the top of my head who would be thrilled to have you on their team in a couple of years!"

He sighed softly.

"But you do not have to decide right now, my son. There is still plenty of time for you to consider all of your options."

Raph glanced over at his father, shifting a bit in his seat, before looking to the side.

"Uh. I dunno, Pops. I mean. I'm not good at tests and all that junk. I mean. College football could be good 'n all, but, uh..."

He hesitated a second, sort of scratching the side of his jaw, hesitating a bit. "I dunno. Maybe I could... I mean. We could look at it, at least. I was kind of wonderin’ about, uh. I dunno… Just, lately, I was thinkin' about... studyin' early childhood education, maybe?..."

[ next ]

#sorrywhatnowau #sorrywhatnowau fic #rottmnt #rottmnt fanfic #rise of the tmnt #rise of the teenage mutant ninja turtles #rottmnt au #rottmnt human au #tmnt

[ecoamerica]

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[local-idiot0]

HOLY SHI-

(AAA 50 LIKES ON MY 1ST POST EVER TYSM GUYS YOU ARE AMAZING)

(TIKTOK COULD NEVER LMAO)

This isn’t the greatest first post ever made but I feel like I need to address the elephant or elephants in the room. Believe it or not, Bowuigi or Bowser x Luigi, took up literally my entire YouTube shorts lately. And all because of that damn trailer. So much so, that Bowuigi for like the past couple of months has made me lose my GOD DAMN MIND.

I literally ended up liking it because I thought it was kinda funny and it seemed kinda cool. I’m bi, so I fw it. About a month later, this was no joke. This was literally just a ship I liked. I feel like this is mostly how new Bowuigi fans ended up finding it in the first place, so it’s nice to know I’m not alone. With that said, I have NO IDEA show Nintendo didn’t notice ANYTHING ABOUT THE BOWSER AND LUIGI SCENE. I ain’t complaining, I just think it would be funny if someone working on it secretly supported Bowuigi. (Let’s be realistic, they probably aren’t but I really want it to be a reality) That or, they didn’t think as far as we thought they did with the movie. Either way, I’ll see what happens on the big screen.

Sorry Mario, your Luigi is in another castle.

( I gotta start using that tagline more it sounds cool)

Edit: OH MY GOD

Edit #2:

I really don’t want to get my hopes up for it to burn up in flames. And I just don’t mean the “MUisiCal SiDe oF BoWsEr”, no. I mean the ENTIRE movie. Because this could either go 2 ways. The first way being that something actually insane happens between them and the internet turns into a fiery blaze on twitter and everywhere. The second being we get our hopes up way too high to be shot down way too easily and simply write off the movie for getting too excited about it and overestimating our chances.

It’s an all or nothing bet we have and if we lose, we’ll have to shrug it off and say maybe next time. But I’ll be honest, I don’t think Nintendo would purposefully add scenes that had Bowser and Luigi doing something insane like getting real close to romance. I think Nintendo had no idea of the sheer power of the internet and how one little scene that they didn’t really think Bowuigi fans would lose their minds over it.

I’m still very confused that in the trailer Bowser and Luigi just continue to get gayer and gayer. Do you guys got any theories/thoughts?

#bowuigi #bowser x luigi #mario movie #crisp rat #bowuigi ship #luigi x bowser #Stan Bowuigi #forgive me father for i have sinned #super mario bros #luigi nintendo #smb #Super Mario bros ship #lgbtq #gay love #Nintendo #lgbtq ally

[katsumiiii]

⚔︎ — zoira (aka zoro x mira)

⚔︎ — nonchalant, laid-back bf x outgoing, shit talking gf

⚔︎ — synopsis: diff interactions between zoro and mira !

✵ — zoro and mira are literally perfectly balanced. epitome of the laid back, chill boyfriend and the polar opposite, hyperactive girlfriend.

✵ — zoro has accepted that he can’t keep mira in check. though often he doesn’t attempt to. he can’t help but find it attractive watching her argue back and forth with some imbecile, or putting a peeping tom in their place. he’ll only step in if the situation gets out of hand or somebody tries(and fails) to put hands on her. in that case they might leave with a couple missing fingers !

✵ — mira is extremely competitive, which zoro finds to be the cutest thing in the world. she’ll always challenge him to drinking contests knowing good and damn well she’ll lose.

✵ — “if I win you have to do whatever I say for a whole week.”

✵ — “alright, if I win I get to train you for a week.” and he’s wearing that signature smug smirk because even though he loves her dearly, he would never hold back just because she’s his.

✵ — “fine. don’t be so fucking cocky.”

✵ — “m’not, I just know you’re gonna lose.”

✵ — “whatever asshole.”

✵ — loves when she gets smart with him. he’s always had a thing for strong minded women so whenever she so much as rolls her eyes or smacks her teeth he gets excited. zoro isn’t an overly dominant male, he has mutual respect for his partner (as any man should !), but he also knows she loves it when he puts her in her place.

✵ — “zoro don’t be a dick. there’s no reason for us to rush into battle without any information.”

✵ — “when have we ever had information about our opponents? our captain is in danger, and I’m not going sit and have a goddamn tea party while luffy needs our help.”

✵ — “so then what? you think slicing shit up will solve all our problems? you sound like a fucking meathead.”

✵ — “watch it. I understand you’re cautious, but I’ve already made up my mind.”

✵ — though it may seem like they would butt heads a lot, they don’t get into any ‘real’ arguments often. the most they may do is light bickering here and there.

✵ — “zoro! pick red or blue.”

✵ — “uh, blue.”

✵ — “alright so I’m choosing red then!”

✵ — “WHY’D YOU EVEN ASK ME??”

✵ — “why not!”

✵ — zoro has been conditioned to have mira by his side while he sleeps, so whenever he has a nap planned he’ll physically remove her from whatever it is she’s doing to continue his sleep session.

✵ — “nami do you think this top will go well with these-”

✵ — “bed, now.”

✵ — “god you sound like a neanderthal”

✵ — “don’t care.” and he’d pick her up as she’s complaining about his lack of manners and plop down against the mast of the ship, sitting her in his lap and placing his palms against her waist. “go to sleep.”

✵ — “mhm..whatever you say zo’.”

✵ — overall zoro and mira are too cute and I ship so bad !!

#don’t even get me started on the shenanigans that occur when he gets her lost #SELFSHIPS FOR THE WINNNN #selfships ! #zoro + mira

[khorai]

This Fandom exhausts me…

I've had more than enough of some (many) of them reducing the characters to a single aspect of their personality and then having the total nerve to complain about it.

I swear to God, if I see one more post about Sakura accusing her of having a personality revolving essentially around Sasuke and then going on to accuse Kishimoto of sexism, I'm going to lose it.

It's certainly not Kishimoto's fault if their messed-up minds have fundamentally reduced a character like Sakura, a young girl with dreams, aspirations, doubts, insecurities, steely determination, and a warrior attitude, to some kind of appetizer for Sasuke.

It's not Kishimoto's fault if they took her insecurities, her pain of always being left out, her low self-esteem, her guilt about her team, her relentless struggle to measure up to her teammates, and minimized it to fit their absolutely absurd headcanon of her.

It's not Kishimoto's fault if they reduced a character like Sakura to her love for Sasuke. It's a part of who she is but by no means all she is.

And it's certainly not his fault if they have fundamentally built a Fanon version of her in their heads that has absolutely nothing to do with her real character. The worst part is that when she doesn't meet their exaggerated expectations, they are the first to scream sexism and bad writing (which always go hand in hand).

The only sexist thing I see here is that they have turned a balanced, credible, and highly interesting character in my opinion into a one-dimensional character who lives only for a guy, and it's more than frustrating.

Sasuke has been the catalyst for Sakura's change, that's an undeniable truth and you'd have to be really stupid to deny it, but so what?

Which important character in Naruto hasn't been influenced by someone at some point?

It's literally one of the themes of the story at this point.

Naruto himself wouldn't have become half of what he is now if it weren't for Sasuke's existence, but apparently when it comes to Sakura fucking Haruno, it becomes "her life revolves around a guy".

I'm sure if it had been Ino (or any other woman for that matter) to whom Sakura had shown such a level of dedication, the tune would have changed.

The Fandom would have been like "aww their love is so beautiful" or "they are so cute" but since Sasuke has a pair of balls, the author is called crappy, sexist, homophobic, and full of other garbage like that because he didn't adhere to their headcanon.

As for Sasuke, it's the same.

The next asshole who talks about Sasuke as a cold, lonely, emotionless individual that half of this damn fandom wants him to be will face my bitchy attitude. Sasuke is not without emotions, on the contrary, he loves too much, feels too much (it's almost a curse for the Uchiha).

And what's with this bullshit about "Sasuke is a bootlicker for Konoha"?!

Because he decided to sacrifice years of his life to keep those he loves safe? (namely his family and his damn best friend?)

Because he didn't meet the screwed-up expectations that some of his fans and antis had/have for him, he's Konoha's dog now?

This fandom has turned Sasuke into at times some kind of non-conformist anti-Konoha rebel, at times into a selfish asshole, abusive and sexist slash shitty father (depends on which part of the Fandom you enter), when he is none of those things. They have removed (trampled on) all the complexity of his character just to advance their own dubious agenda and then have the complete audacity to insult Kishimoto?

Oh yeah, something else…

…In which manga is Sasuke dependent on Naruto? In fact no, in which manga is Sasuke even dependent on anyone…?

At what point is it declared - even implicitly in the manga - that Uchiha fucking Sasuke could be forced to do something he didn't want to do?!

The only person who has managed to manipulate Sasuke, even just a little, is his older brother, but besides him, who else can claim to have this right?

Absolutely no one.

Sasuke is a great character with agency and incredible character development, thank you very much. I don't care about people's ideas about him, I don't care if they ship him with this or that character or if they don't ship him at all, I couldn't care less about their fantasies about his sexuality, I just wish they would keep their personal grudges and their absurd headcanon away from his canon character, in other words his real character.

I don't see why some people are trying to turn his character into something he's not. If they are not satisfied with him as he is, good for them but they should stop twisting the official canon to fit their fantasy.

Sasuke is complex in many ways, but not so complex that it warrants adults to get his character characterization completely wrong. If they really want to overanalyze a manga for 12 year olds, they should at least do it well.

#sakura haruno #sasuke uchiha #anti naruto fandom #naruto shit #pro kishimoto #if you can't be bothered to understand a character then shut the fuck up #they deserve better fandom

[hermanunworthy]

!DNDADS S2 EP34 SPOILERS!

here are my thoughts on the new episode!!! this time im actually writing them out in real time. ive been so so excited for this one

- no normal fact damn. thats okay though will i support

- oh god are they doing this w their comedy personas.

- IM SO NERVOUS FOR THIS STRANGER I CAN ONLY IMAGINE HOW SHES FEELING ABOUT THIS LMAO

- i love how tori didnt even get an introduction to scam it was just like oh yeah theres a guy here named scam likely

- LINK JUST SHOWING GARFIELD ON HIS PHONE lincoln li wilson bless ur soul

- somehow the audio quality of link being on a microphone extra loud makes this so funny

- istg the moment hermie has a line im gonna scream and jump up and down

- ANTHONYS IN FUCKING JOKER MAKEUP????

- THE COMPLETE SILENCE AFTER THE PLANES JOKE.

- i literally forgot that disney movies have anime remakes now in dndads i was so confused for a sec WAIT TORI DOESNT KNOW THIS OMFG IMAGINE HER CONFUSION

- WAS NOT EXPECTING THE SUDDEN TAYLOR ANGST HE WAS SCARED ABOUT HIS MOM DYING AS A KID??? ARE U JOKING??

- honestly though i think taylor opening up like this through comedy makes sense

- link is so supportive of taylor awwww

- BETH MAY PREPARING MISOGYNISTIC JOKES WHILE EXPECTING TO PERFORM FOR A MAN HELPP

- NORMAL IS LAST OH GOD

- OH GOD HES TRAUMADUMPING TOO

- i think its so funny and ironic how scary is the only one who doesnt drop lore about her family in her set

- OHHHH MY GOD THE CHAPARRAL ROAST. OH YEAH. I LOVE THE DIRECTION WILLS GOING W THIS (NORMAL DOESNT GET MAD HE GETS EVEN)

- HERMIE SAID A SINGLE WORD I REPEAT HE GOT ONE WORD IN FOLKS

- WILL IS SO GOOD AT THIS. GOD

- HERMIEEEE

- THE WAY MY FACE FUCKING FELL WHEN HE STARTED DIRECTLY ROASTING HERMIE. OH NO

- "im sensitive about that :[" MY LITTLE GUYYYYY NO

- NOOOOO NORMAL WHAT ARE U DOING THIS IS SO MEAANN THIS IS TOO FAR

- HERMIE IS CRYING???? OMFG NO

- NORMAL TOLD HERMIE HE LIKES HIM!!!!!

- will campos is carrying this entire episode

- GOTHCLEATS????

- IM LESS THAN HALFWAY THROUGH THE EPISODE AND I AM ALREADY LOSING MY GODDAMN MIND

- hermies up now i am so fucking scared. this episode is NOT going the direction i thought it would omfg (not complaining at all im just in shock)

- *applauds hermie along w tori* (I CANT BELIEVE ANTHONY IS DOING THIS W JOKER MAKEUP)

- HE JUST HAS DC JOKES.

- thanks for the existential crisis/aging/suicide jokes hermie i really needed that on my bday 😅😅 /s

- IS HERMIE OKAY????? THERE WAS SM TO UNPACK THERE. I CANT DO THIS

- "im saying were all thinking about how i would be better off dead" IM KILLING MYSELFFFF

- nobody hmu ever again /j i am never going to stop thinking about the fact that hermie is canonically suicidal

- TORI SCORED LINCOLN HIGHER THAN TAYLOR LMAO

- HERMIE LOST.

- i had to take a big ol break just to process that shit. fuck. this is somehow making me even more insane hermie brained wtf

- HERMIE IS TELLING THEM TO JUST KILL SCAM???

- THE FACT THAT I JUST DID A DRAWING OF SCAM AND HERMIE WHOLESOME FATHER SON BONDING BEFORE THIS EPISODE. GOD

- "u dont like me, u idiot" 😦

- MY FUCKINGGGFG FACE RN. I. I

- NORMAL IS TALKING ABOUT MARRIAGE WTF

- IM LITERALLYYY GETTINF OAKWORTHY CONFESSION SCENE. ON MY BDAY.

- HERMIE DIDNT DO IT FOR HIS SCHOOL???

- HE. HE. HE DID ALL OF THIS FOR HIS DAD. HES LITERALLY JUST LIKE ME FR.

- WHAT THE ACTUAL FUUUUCK. OAKWORTHY NATION. WE ARENT REALLY WINNING BUT HOLY FUCKING SHIT

- THIS IS LIKE WHEN GLENN WAS SAYING THE ONLY THING LEFT FOR HIM IS TO KILL HIS DAD THIS IS SO UPSETTING

- ANTHONY ASKING IF NORMAL ACTUALLY GENUINELY LIKES HERMIE. I CANT DO THIS

- GUYS WE GOT AN ANCHOR BREAKING W LOVE BC OF OAKWORTHY. JUST LIKE WE WANTED

- will campos really holding on strong for us. normal is gonna fix hermie if its the last thing he does ig

- THE BABY AT THE BEGINNING OF THE SEASON WAS STEWIE????

- THERES STILL LIKE ANOTHER HALF HOUR LEFT I FEEL SICK

- NICKYS BACK i wasnt expecting him this episode yippee

- THEYRE IN SPACE. AND HERMIE IS THERE. THIS IS THE PERFECT EPISODE FOR ME

- im being so serious guys when i say i think this may be my fave episode of the whole season so far it is boggling my mind and smashing my heart to pieces and im loving it

- "u can be polygamous in space" there are so many good lines this episode

- I LOVE HOW EXCITED BETH IS ABOUT THE TELEBANGLE

- i also love whenever freddie talks about sciencey mathy stuff that i dont understand

- ARE THEY SERIOUSLY ALL MARRYING EACH OTHER??? IS THIS REALLY WHATS HAPPENING???? HELPP

- SCARY SIGNED AS TERRY. W A HEART. YALL.

- THIS EPISODE IS A FUCKING FEVER DREAM I SWEAR

holy fucking shit. what a rollercoaster. so yeah guys i think that was my fave episode of the season wow. what a bday gift to me. herman unworthy is just like me fr. i am going to take an eternity to recover from this.

#dndads #dndads spoilers #dndads s2 spoilers #siren says

[chimchimmarie]

POV: that one time you sat Jimin down to finally have “the talk” and confess your feelings, but you got nervous and started rambling. 🥲😖😩😫 (oh, he knows..😅)

It has been almost half an hour now since Jimin agreed to sit with you in this room where you, Taehyung and Jungkook have managed to lure him in, and apparently lock you both up until you can (in the words of tae) “figure your shit together.”

Jimin has had this whole cool facade going on as he sits on a chair opposite of you. But it’s slowly crumbling. He’s not going to lie.. he’s seconds from losing his shit.

Well, for starters, being locked up in a tiny room with you is something he only thought could happen in one of his wet dreams.

Jimin has had the biggest crush on you ever since that fan meeting. But you were clearly oblivious for reasons like Min. Freaking. Yoongi. So there’s that.

Jimin remembers it clearly. The day he first met you.. in that darn fan meeting.

You know, The one where Jungkook called dibs on you only to get shut down by him faster than Jin could ever finish his favorite tuna sandwich.

Jimin feels like it was only yesterday.. That damn fan meeting..

The one where you were caught simping on Yoongi the whole time.. and had never even spared him (nor Jungkook) a glance until it was his turn to sign your album.

He could only wish you could have been as excited as he had been to meet you.. but you only had eyes for yoongi.. he still remembers how you just literally kept staring at his hyung for the whole 5 minutes that Jimin had spent with you despite all his efforts to make your first interaction as memorable as he wanted to be. And that made him sad.

Now here you are. Almost a year later.

With eyes only for him.

Jimin still can’t wrap his head around this whole scenario. You’re sitting on the side of the bed, red as a beet and rambling like crazy because you’re clearly nervous.

Were you really nervous because of him? Does he make your heart race? He wishes it were the case, Because you sure make his go crazy.

You’re looking at him like how you once did with Yoongi. He’s not sure when it started happening but he won’t complain.

This is you we’re talking about. The girl of his dreams. The one he would literally give anything to have. If only you weren’t so into Yoongi.. if only he could have his way…

For a minute he lets himself get lost staring at that cute little mole you have under those sweet looking plump lips.. he wonders what they taste like- they must be sweet as honey, he thinks.

You flail your hands for the umpteenth time and your sweet rambling voice brings him back to the moment..

“Jimin.. what i’m tryin to say is.. you know.. uhh.. i just… i think.. you know,it just happened.. and i’m like, what is wrong with me?? So I asked the guys.. and.. you know..Because i was clearly not thinking straight before.. but now i am! Yeah.. i know what i feel.. now I am.. you know.. i’m sure.. don’t get me wrong.. okay??“

Wait a minute.. Is this what he thinks this is?? Are you trying to confess right now?? No way! Are you really??

Oh. My. God.

He’s about to lose his mind.

Jimin is losing his mind! He is.

He was Just about to do something about his feelings for you. He even talked to Namjoon about it the week before over drinks.

But here you are beating him to it. He meant to do it first. But this isn’t a race he tells himself.

He can’t help but let out a smile. God! why are you so cute!? You’re going to be the death of him. He knows it. He mentally slaps himself to focus on more pressing matters.

He doesn’t want to ruin this moment for you.. and for him, too. He decides he’s going to hear you out and not get ahead of himself.

But god damn! You’re being dangerously cute, he doesn’t know if he can hold it in for longer. He’s literally seconds from grabbing your cute little face and pepper it with kisses.

“Alright, okay! Yes.. so What i’m trying to say is… uh, you know.. we’ve been friends for almost a year now and i can’t believe this has happened. but Tae said that things like these are normal among friend groups.. and Jungkook said I shouldn’t let this pass.. because.. because.. uhh.. uhm.. darn it! I forgot what Jungkook said!!!” You ball your hands into fists and look at Jimin with a new found determination.

Jimin moves his hand to touch his nose in an attempt to hide the smirk that escaped him. And you still go on rambling like your life depends on it.

“Ugh!! Anyway.. uhm.. Tae said it’s cool.. and you know, like really really cool… like you know.. normal.. typical.. common.. normal— wait i already said that! No, wait.. what i mean is—”

Jimin knows.

Jimin definitely knows now.

He hopes you could find a way to just let it all out.

Because he can’t wait to accept it and just kiss you already.

“-what i really want to say is.. Jimin, i.. uh… i… “

This is it. Jimin’s eyes go wide in anticipation. He wants you to say it. He wants to hear it from your sweet lips.. that its him you like.. not yoongi.. not anybody else. Just him. And only him.

“Jimin.. i.. i think i..uhm.. ithink-i-likeyou—!!” it came out rushed but the cat is finally out of the bag.

Wide-eyed and seemingly out of oxygen, Jimin struggled to stay alive. Why does it feel like he suddenly forgot how to breathe?

He looks into you. You’re so pretty as ever, maybe even more beautiful in this light with Your blushed faced and Your eyes that went wide the moment you blurted that you like him.

He zeroes in on your pink lips and no words had to be said. He kisses you like he was hungry for your taste.

He takes your lips and devours it like only you can save him.

You kiss him back and he still can’t believe it.

You like him. The girl of his dream likes him back. This can’t be real.

You pull away for air and it brings Jimin back to his senses.

“I’ve liked you since the day i saw you.” He manages to let out in a breathless haze.

“What?..”

“I like you. I’ve liked you since the fanmeet.” he presses in for another kiss.

“What..?! You do?!”

“Yeah. You don’t believe me? Ask Jungkook.” Another kiss.

“What?.. wait.. he knows?!”

“I literally had to fight him off to get noticed by you. And i’ve never stopped since. But you only had eyes for Yoongi hyung.”

“I— I didn’t know. Jimin..”

“It’s okay.. we’re here now.. it’s all that matters.”

He takes your lips and kisses you again.. and again.. and again..

until Jungkook’s voice rumble from outside the door.

“Yahh!! It’s about time! You better believe it noona! I called dibs on you but Jiminie hyung wouldn’t budge!”

“Yah! Shut up Jungkook! You’re ruining the moment!…Hey Y/n!!! I’m talking to you.. you better treat my soulmate well or else i’ll shave your head! You hear me? I mean it!!” Taehyung threatens you and you know he means it.

You smile at Jimin’s kiss and he’s still so out of it, he thought he heard Taehyung’s voice but your lips are more important right now.

#bts #park jimin #bts jimin #jimin #bts bias #bts chimchim #jikook #jimin park #bts imagines #bts bangtan boys #chimmy #jimin imagine #parkjimin pov #bts pov #bts scenarios #bts scenario #jimin fics #jimin fic #jimin reaction #jiminxreader #jimin x reader #jimin x you #park jimin x y/n #jimin fluff #jimin idol au #jimin x you x taehyung #jimin x oc #idol!park jimin #jimin drabbles #jimin x y/n x jungkook

[rexismycopilot]

Babes let me tell you the last few days at work have been an entire shit show I’m like literally can’t even so I’m here to tell you about my thoughts on Anakin and Obi wan at the gym

Listen the 24 hour gym is literally free serotonin hit at literally any time of the day how ever many times you want in a day for ten dollars a fucking month. Like Anakin gets hooked on going all the time quickly (especially because he gets horny after the gym and Obi wan is always horny for him especially after the gym and who’s passing up orgasm serotonin on top of gym serotonin? Not Anakin.)

Obi wan isn’t always free to go to the gym whenever he wants to go so anakin ropes Ayala into going. There are these TikToks of friends going to the gym with the sound of “He might not look like he gets bitches but honey that dick was eleven inches” while working out and that is them. Like mind ya business and keep your headphones on the gym is for gossip and gains babes

If they get a home gym anakin is not allowed a shirt to work out in. And he has to wear his cage because core work outs are regular. (Listen maybe this is too kinky? Idk but obi wan just sitting there watching anakin do his work outs. Anakin getting more and more squirmy cause he can see Obi wan’s dick getting harder just from watching and it’s making anakin feel so desperate but he has to keep doing his work out so daddy can get off because he likes watching his boy work out)

And a POOL Like I said Anakin on the Beach rights but Anakin by the Pool rights as well. Especially when he lifts himself up and he’s just dripping water like a green god all tanned skin and lighter hair, because fucking hell anakin spends a shit ton of time out side now and his hair is lighter and his skin is darker and it makes obi wan feral (anakin taped a design right where his swim trunks land on his waist and now he has a little sun there thats paler than the rest of his skin and obi wan has yet to recover come that Christmas)

But since we’re at the pool Obi wan does burn he stays in the shade while anakin splashes in the water but that doesn’t stop the Freckles. Anakin has to hold back dropping to his knees every second of the damn summer because his daddy’s shoulders are speckled to high heaven and there’s even some across his nose that use to be so light and now they’re prominent and his daddy just looks so good

They obviously end up fucking in the pool probably late at night? Or maybe when they know their neighbors are on vacation

Oh wait! I thought of this today while stretching with my friend.

Anakin hates stretching after or before workouts his daddy has a hard line about stretching and warming up once he realizes that it could cause an injury or cramps if you don’t and he makes anakin do it by himself, but he always helps anakin stretch after (at home) because one it’s an excuse to tease anakin with firm touches to sensitive areas and “I don’t know why you’re acting like this anakin I’m just helping you stretch out.” But during the whole thirty seconds obi wan is pushing his right knee up to his chest his other hand is gently smoothing back and forth closer and closer to his cock and hole. Anakin is panting and whimpering a pleading for obi wan to please please please fuck him.

Okay, I know this ask has a lot of great ideas in it, but my mind decided to 100% focus on the pool.

I don't know why I never thought of them having a pool (probably because it's pretty rare where I live where it's just cold all the damn time)

OKAY BUT Anakin spending a lot of time spending and outside and Obi-Wan diligently applying sunscreen and watching Anakin from his poolside chair as he reads. ripriprip rex 🫠

And also, the freckles that Obi-Wan would get!!! Omg! I'm losing my mind. Also at the late night pool sex. Also at Obi-Wan watching Anakin clean the pool.

Now onto the gym ideas!! My brain has also latched on to Aayla and Anakin going to the gym together! Two besties working out together, complaining, being silly.

And Anakin gets to take all that home to Obi-Wan 🥺 And also, imagine how proud Plo would be too because working out is supposedly good for mental health (i call bs because to me working out is actual torture, but maybe it'll go better for Anakin lmao)

but also Obi-Wan making anakin do a bunch of pushups while Obi-Wan just casually jerks off and anakin is not allowed to stop until he physically can't anymore

#ask #lielullabye #fifty shades au #obikin #spicy

[curlsandsnakes]

Groceries

Eddie Munson X OC

“Elder Henderson! Wait up!” His voice traveled through the grocery store aisles forcing her to turn around with an exaggerated eye roll and a delicate hand propped on her hip.

“My name is Willow, Eddie Munson. Stop calling me Elder Henderson. I’m literally your age.” Her nose scrunched adorably as she turned away and reached for something a little too high on the shelf above. He pulled it down for her and placed it in her cart, bowing slightly when she smiled gratefully before continuing her shopping.

She really was too damn pretty to exist. Silky honey blonde strands always resting on sun kissed shoulders, rose petal pink lips offsetting the green and gold of her eyes and soft smooth skin that wafted peaches and cream every time she walked. She was like something off an album cover and he couldn’t help but stare every time she dropped Dustin off at Hellfire club.

Willow had moved away the year she graduated, He remembered her getting some huge scholarship to a school in New York. He hadn’t even graduated and here she was packing her things up and getting out of Hawkins, he could still feel the sting of jealousy that burned him when he found out he would have to repeat the year.

It all changed only six months later, that jealousy turned to sympathy when both of the Henderson parents divorced and decided they didn’t want the responsibility of children. It was unheard of, both parents abandoning their child? It just didn’t happen. It left Dustin without a guardian and Willow was forced to come home and take care of him, losing her big chance at getting out, at making something of herself.

Still, she never complained, never treated Dustin like a burden, never made him feel any less than the coolest kid on the planet. It was why he was so drawn to her, he was fairly certain a therapist would say it was because of his own parental issues. His mom had died when he was very young and his dad never stuck around leaving him with his uncle at the trailer park. Maybe seeing someone step up like Willow had for Dustin did something to him psychologically, who knew. All that he did know was that she was an amazing woman and she was pretty enough to make his eyes hurt.

Now she was working full time at the elementary school, fortunate enough to have had connections that got her in as a first grade teacher without a degree. She was also practically raising the three boys and red headed girl Dustin hung out with. He couldn’t count the times he’d seen them all scramble out of her Volkswagen as she chased after them with an abandoned textbook or a crumpled lunch bag.

“It’s a good thing you’re here actually,” her voice broke him out of his thoughts, she was standing in front of him holding out two different bags of chips. “Which one gets eaten faster at the club, dustin told me to get snacks for your apparently “game to end all games.” Tonight but I have no idea what you all like.”

Eddie squat down and put his hands on his knees as he pretended to really examine the two bags “hmmmm” he mumbled “this is a very tough decision” he smiled up at her and was more than a little pleased to see her trying to hide her own smile behind a teasing groan.

“I quit with you people.” She sighed playfully, tossing both bags into the cart.

He bumped her hip with his and pulled out one of the bags, placing it back on the shelf. “Always the blue bag love, always the blue bag.”

She shrugged her shoulders before turning confining down the rows with Eddie in tow falling into step at her side. “So why is the game so late tonight? I don’t mind considering it’s Friday but they’re usually much earlier.”

Eddie sighed

“Normally I take the late night shift at the bar during the week so I’m able to go after the club but someone snatched it up before I could this week so I have to go right to work after school and i won’t be done until around seven.”

Willow turned directly towards him now

“I swear to god Eddie Munson, if you don’t finally graduate this year I’m coming to that school myself and walking you across the graduation stage.”

He chuckled and shook his head

“Oh I’m definitely graduating this year. And when I do I’m getting my own apartment and getting the hell out of that trailer park.” He shuddered.

The gorgeous blonde giggled “well in the meantime you know you’re welcome at our house anytime. We have a spare room. Although it was previously occupied by the devils themselves so if you’re into spirituality it may not be the best place for you.” She said bitterly.

She was talking about her parents room, he could see the anger in her eyes when she spoke of them. God what kind of idiots could leave the two best kids on the planet?

“Haven’t you heard? I worship the devil?” He stuck his fingers by his head and stuck out his tongue goofily. Snorting when she smacked his arm.

“That’s Hawkins for you, what they lack in creativity they make up for in bigoted imaginations.” She was placing her groceries on the checkout counter and he moved over to bag for her. He wasn’t certain what he felt for Willow Henderson, she was amazing and beautiful and smart and kind and if he was a braver man, a smarter man he would ask her out in a heartbeat. Hell he’d marry her right in the center of town.

But he wasn’t brave and he wasn’t smart and she deserved someone who was both of those things and more, preferably someone with a job that wasn’t serving drunk Hawkins Residents stale scotch and cheap beer. She deserved someone just as bright and shiny as she was.

“This weekend Dustin wants to go to the lake, I’m taking the boys and max and El is coming down for the week so it would be nice to have someone my age there to keep me from going insane.” She handed her card to the cashier and looked up at him with those wide Bambi eyes.

“Are you asking me to chaperone with you sunshine?” He raised a brow and grinned.

She placed her bags back in the carriage and rolled her eyes “if that’s what you want to call it then fine: yes I’m asking you to chaperone and lay on the lake with me and watch a bunch of children try to drown each other.”

His palms started to sweat a bit, he’d wanted some alone time with the older Henderson sister since he’d laid eyes on her a year ago. He wasn’t about to miss out on this opportunity.

“I’ll meet you tommorow at your house around 10 ish?”

They made their way out of the store and willow nodded excitedly

“Perfect! Thankyou, it can be a lot when it’s just me and all the kids. Lord knows Nancy isn’t going to be helping out.” She mumbled.

Eddie helped place the groceries in her trunk and laughed

“Happy to help. Will you be wearing a bikini?” He smiled innocently.

Willow whipped around

“I’m your dreams Munson.” She slipped into the drivers seat and he leaned against the window.

“Every night Henderson.”

He liked the way she blushed, just for him.

“Don’t be late!” She called out as she drove away.

He grinned at the retreating car

“Not a chance in hell.”

#stranger things #stranger things fandom #eddie munson #eddie munson x oc #eddie munson fanfic #Eddie Munson fanfiction

[ursie]

Omg I just got done arguing with my brother abt the Trial and when I asked him where he got his sources he said "everywhere" like??? Why does this always fucking happen? Every damn time I argue with friends/family about anything I am always the only one who actually read the research. Like idc how much you like this person a tiktok/twitter thread is NOT a source! My sister honest to god told me she doesn't watch the news because she doesn't trust the media😭 and while to an extent that's valid you have to be critical about this! Check WHO you're listening to, their qualifications, and their potential bias. Yeah I'm not going to trust a neoliberal newspaper owned by a billionaires opinion on socialism or billionaires, but I can trust the article citing experts on global warming. I wouldn't trust a tiktoker with any of those things

(you can take personal opinions/accounts on social media into account, like a disabled persons experience/an activists anecdote, but things like this are more-so exceptions and should be coupled with more information as well)

The anti-intellectualism and general lack of critical thinking is so so dangerous and there's real fucking consequences. Millions of people JUST fucking died because of massive misinformation(and general lack of empathy) we just. We can't keep doing this. We cant. Propaganda and misinformation WORKS! Why else would governments and corporations (and as we've just seen, influential individuals) spend millions of dollars on it?

Every time I thing about this case, and how horrifyingly effective Depp's campaign has been, I feel so fucking unsettled because it's not a "in a few years ppl will feel guilty" thing, it's a "lives are being ruined and this is a terrifying case study" thing

I'm the only person I know who knows of the case that supports Amber, I'm also the only one I know who's read articles and not twitter threads about it. People think that when you hear so much of something, it's true. Or they just take things at face value. But you CAN'T do that, you really fucking can't(and when you ask people their sources they get defensive, please for the love of god you can say you don't know enough to have an informed opinion. Social media thinks that strangers are entitled to you're opinion, and that you need to have one but you DON'T. Having an ill-informed opinion is worse than not having one)

I'm just so tired of having these neverending conversations. For YEARS(though obviously there's been issues™ before the mid 2010s, I just wasn't mature enough to follow them all) it's been just hit after hit. Human rights are under fire, the simple act of living is increasingly prohibitively expensive, people lost their damn minds and followed a lying fascist into an attempted coup and it's just continuously another fucking thing. And people can't even read a fucking article before jumping to tell false info abt it

TLDR: everytime someone links "evidence"/souces and my browser pulls up twitter, I lose years off my life

NO LITERALLY LITERALLY GO OFF LIKE?? everyday people on tumblr complain about people not talking about x or not knowing about x and everyday I’m just like. Watch the news?? Read the paper?? Read independent journalists?? There’s options guys 😭 and yeah literally depps entire fandom is getting their sources from tiktoks and Twitter 😭

#asks #anon #tw abuse #tw johnny depp

[kinnsporsche]

guess who?? it’s kp anon!! damn this forest episode was such a different vibe than the stuff we’ve seen before. I felt like I was watching different characters (did they film this early or something?) but I’m not complaining it was still amazing 1/7

they finally talked and kinn could be himself and show his soft goofy side!! they were so cute, p teaching him to fish and playing around in the water and stuff. and they’re just so in love?? like girl when p lied down on kinn and he looked at him smiling and nuzzled his hair??? I died a little. and the way p purposefully lost the game to sacrifice himself AAAH I thought that would be the most angsty thing I will get in this ep (HA) p finally got to see the real kinn and he’s immediately ready to give up a hand, very relatable. kinn is madly in love but what else is knew? this little shit really let himself be handcuffed to p for several days just to enjoy his company. that was so gay (affectionate) <3 AND THE ENDING!! SO MUCH WAS HAPPENING!! HE LET HIM GO HE FUCKING LET HIM GO but i knew p would turn around and kiss him, i cant with these two!! and the way p wrapped his arms around him bc he didn’t want to let go!! and kinn was holding his shirt like?? I’m honestly losing my mind they love each other so much i can’t do this anymore. and k was so heartbroken but he did it bc he loves him AAHH i just want them to be happy. BUT THEN P CAME BACK TO SAVE HIM AND KINN LITERALLY TOOK A BULLET FOR HIM LIKE?? THIS SHOW IS EVERYTHING I EVER WANTED THE YEARNING THE ANGST THE PURE LOVE THEY HAVE FOR EACH OTHER? THEY WOULD LITERALLY DIE FOR EACH OTHER I JUST HAVE TO SCREAM I’M SORRY. this is already the best bl I’ve ever watched and I know it will ruin me when it ends. I seriously can’t do this weekly thing I need to consume this whole thing at once. Sorry my messages are not that profound like your metas but I can’t remember the last time I was this hooked on a show!!!

me every day this week: i should answer my beloved kp anon but they deserve a proper response ill do it tomorrow when im not tired

also me every day this week: never gets any less tired. lets go chronic pain gang

yes yes yes the way they were so soft and tactile with each other the whole episode, the way they were allowed to just be themselves around each other!! the fishing scene was so incredible, kinn getting all giddy and happy when he was taught, the way you really get to understand that he never really had a childhood - never really got to do anything himself, things were always bought or rigged for him but this, porsche teaching him how to do something instead of doing it for him, kinn proving to himself that he can be good at things was so special to him

i could go on and on and on about how kinn played rock every time they did rock paper scissors and, porsche isn't stupid, i know that man picked up on it, i know he could have won on purpose but he didn't!! the way he was literally willing to sacrifice a whole ass HAND for him really speaks volumes for how much he cares about him

god god god, the knowledge that, as soon as porsche told him he found a knife, kinn could have uncuffed them, but he didnt because he wanted to be stuck with porsche like this. the way you can see the guilt weighing on him when they fall in the little cavern thing and porsche gets frustrated, the way kinn holds his arm so tenderly to stop his wrist from getting marked up anymore, his sad little voice when he says 'this helps us get to know each other better', thats just laced with so much guilt because he thinks this is his fault. that its just another way he's hurting porsche. and then porsche goes and volunteers to lose a hand for him and kinn is done. he knows he cant keep him shackled to him, literally or metaphorically, anymore and so he just... he lets him go. he looks at porsche and says this is how i love, i love enough to let you go.

god the hug kiss combo was so good. it was so imperfect but thats what made it so perfect because it was full of desperation and longing and panic, it was just the two of them wanting to be close and to hold on for as long as possible because they both know that this is it. this is the last thing they'll get of each other. so they hold each other so tight and clutch and kiss and grip like they never want to let go. and then porsche coming back for him!!!! because even if he was never going to see kinn again, to live in a world where he's dead, to live in a world where theres no more kinn isn't a reality he's prepared to face. so he runs back and saves him because he never had another option.

also i hope u saw the special clip they released kp anon beloved!!!! the softness of them in it fucking fuck!!!!

watching kinnporsche isnt enough anymore i need to unhinge my jaw and swallow it whole

#that apo picture is a physical representation of me when i get messages from my kp anon #answered #anonymous #kp anon

[percontaion-points]

A Four Letter Word chapters 6 & 7

Click to see the rest of the snark & image descriptions

Chapter 6

High School Sophomore Year, first day…

Oh good, just what I wanted to read about. /ALL THE GODDAMNED SARCASM

I am able to drive to school, since I just turned sixteen and I don’t have to depend on the bus or my dad driving me—the advantages of starting kindergarten a year

later than everyone else.

[image description: a large, black circle on a white background. It says “feel free to pepper in some periods into that sentence”]

The blonde girl standing next to him stifles a giggle when he leans in and whispers in her ear.

Oh my God. He's flirting with her right in the middle of class. What a jerk! Erica's right.

I'm failing to see how flirting somehow equates him being a “jerk”.

Evan smiles and nods his head. He then turns his attention back to Mr. Williams who has started to go over the syllabus. I do the same, and I can't help but think that – just maybe – Erica might be wrong.

Chapter 6 summary: Despite the fact that this story is only 15 chapters long, and considering how the first five chapters were taken up by the stupid Halloween party, the narration has decided to give us these morons in high school. Although... why am I complaining? High school fits their mentality.

Anyway, too much time is spent with Zoey thinking about how she moved from Michigan last year, and how she was the new girl. It's a new school year, and she's not excited at all.

In biology class, she's hoping to be partners with her BFF, Erica. But the teacher assigns them seats, and Zoey is partnered with some guy named Evan, that Erica says that school rumors are that he's a jerk. Zoey isn't happy with that.

Chapter 7

One time, in Michigan, my friend, Claire set me up on a blind date with one of her boyfriend's friends. She couldn't tell me much about him except he was a nice guy. The whole night I had to hear about his Star Wars obsession. He even tried to show me his light saber—an actual light saber used in the movie. Plus he had to use his inhaler about a half a dozen times.

I get that it's annoying being out with somebody who has no social graces. But damn girl, don't hate somebody simply because they have a medical condition.

She sounds like a shallow bitch.

My heart loses its way in the rain that now pelts against the cafeteria windows.

Forever only friends.

Chapter 7 summary: We're now halfway through the school year. Erica has been pulling away emotionally from Zoey, which is natural, but it still sucks when you realize what's happening, and can't do anything about it. Zoey has developed a huge crush on Evan.

In science class, they're given busy work to draw various animals in whatever scientific way. Evan gushes over how good Zoey's drawings are, and how he's shit at it. In this story's usual way, this takes up too much time without actually going anywhere.

At lunch, another of Zoey's friends asks if she's in a relationship with Evan. When Zoey insists that she and Evan are just friends, only friends, the other girl eagerly asks if Zoey would mind if she took a shot at asking Evan out. “Why would I when we're not in a relationship?”

I don't even have words for this at this point. Like the girl is so dumb and afraid of starting something that she's literally been making herself miserable for more than a decade.

#A Four Letter Word #chapter 06 #chapter 07 #can we not #Zoey (A4LW) #Evan (A4LW) #random background characters are random #I would ask where the editor was but I think we all know there was none #a does not equal b #shitty women are shitty

[renemesis]

if your f/o(s) got sick, how would you take care of them? if you got sick, how would they take care of you?

Omg wow this.fits shockingly well with the f/o I was just vaguing abt umm. Ohhhh my Goodness....

Ok well. If it couldnt be guessed I'm an Aww Mite guy unfortunately(JOKE!!)

^aww mite emoji. Yeas I prefer him as a sickly old man what of it. OK ANYWAYS Toshinori is quite literally Chronically ill poor thang is coughing and spitting up blood always all the time he is skin and bones... unfortunately he has MANY issues and most CERTAINLY does not want to be treated as sickly or fragile ever he'd rather kill himself. Well that's ok bc I'm still making his silly as some STEW and TEA but in a very casual manner. So it doesnt come off as condescending or overbearing. I think on the flipside though he'd be great abt taking care of me (and anyone he cares for tbh) when sick!! Which is. Very hypocritical and contradictory but that is kind of just him unfortunately! His obnoxious hero/savior complex and lack of self care would absolutely drive him into ALSO becoming sick while trying to take care of ME sick so now we're both sick and miserable. But it's ok bc at least we're suffering together ♡ FJJFJSJGJDJ

Damn aorry for the aww mite rant. Anyways umm. Yeah I'll do a second one just for funsies. Yknow what I'll do the original old man f/o NANU!! If nanu gets sick I would lose my mind I think. Stress clean his little meowth filled home and make him an ACTUAL healthy meal to eat instead of like. Microwave dinner. I'm treating him like an injured animal and if wasnt so sick and tired he'd probably kick me out (no he wouldn't tho ♡ hes a lonely outwardly cynical but still kind old man who likes human interaction more than he'd ever admit♡♡♡) omg but if I'm sick... he'd definitely make fun of me for getting sick in the first place and complain that I'm giving him even more work to do but he'd take care of me regardless.,.., I think he would honest to God need to ask his ooby gooby baby niece Acerola for help though because. Hes not INCOMPETENT but hes not like a Soft and Comforting Caretaker and he imagines an energetic and kind kid would make better company while sick than an gloomy old guy yknow... BUT THEN WE ALL HANG OUT!! and it would be so nice despite the circumstances ♡ ok my gawd this is so long. Ummm. It is what it is I shuppose ♡

#ask #anonymous #these keep getting longer and longer the more i do them GAH. Gords nonsense never ends. holds my damn head

[diariesof-kg]

Un-Mournful.

2023_02_11

I be on twitter wishing I was a stud sometimes. Lol, the way they don't give a care in the world and gross bluntness of their minds are kind of intriguing. I have been irritated for a week now and to the unknown others don't know, but regardless it's always something a person does not do that adds to it.

I think the issue for me is, I'm at a point where nothing will ever change in this world and I should stop complaining. It's not enough venting that could heal my broken mind. I have yet to mourn my mother and I can't believe I am functioning at this time. From April to August, it's been the most unnecessary issues that I had to deal with rather than feel the pain of losing my mother. I've realized that the world honestly does "go on..." no one cares if you just lost someone close to you, life goes on and anything that comes your way, you have to deal with it, which is unfair in the most sense. Everyone is selfish in my opinion. I can't blame them alone, I should have spoke my thoughts and my mind, but sometimes its difficult and no one will understand that. I honestly wish my mom was here, I could have someone to sit at the edge of the bed and vent my thoughts out and cry, but she's gone.

I just feel like if the roles were reversed, I wouldn't do what people do to me, I'd more considerate, but that's unrealistic and not the way the world is setup. Not the way God intended us humans to be. Not the way philosophy states that humans could perfectly be perfect. I am trying to not be a burden but use the opportunity, that word is kind of eh... but to create plans and be outside and simply ask "hey..what are your plans.." but it does sound intruding. I'm not very good at asking folks, I don't want to bother them, I am not trying to come with my negative energy in their space. But yet they are all so welcoming, so it's really on me, for not taking those opportunities.

I feel sort of alone and what's so weird about it is, I prepared myself for this and I envisioned myself in this exact position. The transition of it all had its ups and downs but the establishments there made it easier, because I didn't have to really do much but notify the important entities. I honestly need to figure out what to do when I pass, because the way my sister is quick to rid my mom's phone and simply not pay the bill for a year, scares me. I need to figure out who would best be responsible with my assets. I feel like my friends wouldn't just get rid of things that meant the most, they would keepsake them or use them. Literally, my sister wanted to give away the MacBook that my mom had just bought, like what the hell. I swear people don't care when you are alive or dead. The only difference is they don't have to care when you are alive, because you still exist, but once you are dead, there is no longer that interaction or opportunity to reach out, so welp, who cares. I have never felt this alone until my mom left me. And I think that's what made me feel the pain within my body. I don't even know how I survived and didn't off myself in that moment, because I promised myself that if my mom passed, I'd have to go too.

Everyone telling me what I should do, but neither have offered to help or assist. Well, one, but guess what zodiac sign that is a damn Capricorn, Lol. I am always available with "do you need anything, do you need anything from me?" But it's never reciprocated. Lol, I can't even have a seat to mourn, I am like what bullshit is about to come forward for the next two months. I didn't even cry on Mother's Day, I just sat there in confusion looking for the tears, but now I know why. I was dealing with unexpected things, which was unfair to me. Sometimes I sit and think I can't wait to be 6 feet under, but then I know that's the end and there are places I want to visit and people I want to meet. The world will never understand us Capricorns and that's alright, because we are the world, we are mother earth and we stand on everything like the goat.

People don't understand how I love honesty and what it does to my soul. People don't like how I react after honesty. Here's the thing, I stay honest because I can't control how a person's emotions will be. But in my lifetime, when people are honest, I move accordingly, and majority of the time they are upset. All the people that wanted to be with me, were honest with me and we not together. Lol, Listen, I love truths, it allows me to free myself. How people feel or say things is exactly how they feel, the subconscious just seeps through their mouth out into the world. Why hide it, it's a beautiful thing. When people tell me how they really feel, it hurts but it also lets me know how I should move next. That's why I say it and will say it again, no one really wants me like that, it's all agendas. It's all part of the simulation. It's all part of the matrix. I am and will always be second or last before everyone else. Lol, relationships, family, etc. Meanwhile I put everyone first... how can I stop this madness? How can I be filled with less guilty consciousness? How can I not care? How do I disappear?

I just want the world to be more ...empathetic, more kind, more loving, more caring. More thoughtful...

#life #diariesofkg #friends #family #blogs

[thebrokencycle]

Part 1

So.. it's been a minute!!

My mind lately has just been all over the place. I'm in my head all the time because where I thought I would be at this age; I'm not and I don't know anymore if i'd ever get there. I am a help meat and even if I have literally 50 cents in my pocket and you say you need it i'll give it with no hesitation. That may look good in the eyes of the lord but it also looks good in the eyes on the devil because there are bad-minded people in the world. They take advantage of how generous you are. How caring and selfless you can be. I run across people like that on a constant basis to the point where I just think I attract messed up people. There was a point literally like three years ago where I was where I wanted to be in life. My kids were taken care of, I didn't need help. I was working two jobs, bills paid etc. Then I thought maybe the reason people are coming to me because they needed help so I opened my home to those people and since then I feel. like I fail the damn test. I always ask myself.... If god didn't want me to be how I am why make me this way and today 08/20.22 12:30am. I got my answer. it's okay for me to help those who also help themselves. the lesson that I needed to learn was that wicked people can be friends and family members. I realized that I don't know the difference because I assumed that if your my family blood related we'd want to lift each other up and help out but in this family it's dog eat dog clearly. I was just the exception, the black sheep. the woman who will do whatever to make sure her family is safe and protected but they wouldn't even help put on a band-aid if I got a paper cut unless there was something for them to get out of it. I mean I have family put me down about everything, my cooking, my kids, my shape, weight, hair, you name it there's been something negative about it to the point where I am use to being put down and it affects me in a way where I just stay to myself. The same people though who complains about my food are eating it, my weight, shape, hair yell me they want me to run the street with them because they get compliments, my kids are to expressive but you're always in my children's face. It is a lose lose for me. So...... (See you in Part 2)

[gikairan]

God of War Ragnarok is a Very Good Game and i dont want to imply otherwise but

There is something (spoilery) I gotta complain about

They made it a little too obvious that Kratos was going to survive Ragnarok, and the finale kinda loses a bit of its punch because of that?

Like, one of the "oh damn" moments at the end of the previous game is the hidden mural showing Kratos lying there dead. This drives Kratos to push Artreus' training during fimbulwinter - to prepare Artreus to live without him. When Artreus finds out that there was a piece hidden from the Jötenheim shrine he didn't see, and it was of Kratos lying dead... that is a real source of tension in the story? Both of them know that Kratos is fated to die, but neither of them know the other one knows that. Artreus wants to fight fate to save his father, Kratos wants to make sure Artreus is going to be okay when this happens and he still doesn't think Artreus IS ready.

Then "Kratos will die" is reinforced by the visit to the Norns. They make it very very very clear - hes going to die. Theres not any way out of this. He. Will. Die.

Every piece of prophecy finds itself fulfilled on the gangs quest to avoid the prophecy happening. It starts to feel like Kratos' death really is inevitable.....

.... But the actual game itself? Theres an optional boss you literally can't reach before the final mission. Theres a side quest you got 20 hours ago that can't be finished until the game is over (I looked up a guide to finish it before the final quest, and it instantly went "yeah cant finish it until after the story is done"). Theres tonnes of "undiscovered" on the map for each realm and literally no other quests to discover. And even if you think "well we must swap to Artreus POV for the post-game" .... Artreus never sees any of the upgrades that Kratos does. Every time you upgrade Kratos' health or rage meter, Artreus' stays the same. Not to mention that Artreus' armour is purely aesthetic, with no upgrades available. And if the optional bosses are anything like the previous games ones... you need all the upgrades you can get to tackle all of them, especially the final one. You cant be playing as Artreus post-game...

Hell, the game doesn't even hint that "hey this is the final mission, go wrap everything up that you want to wrap up" that strongly? In the previous game, it was verrryy obvious. This game... less so.

It becomes very clear that Kratos will still be playable once the story is over. And that there is new content to play after the story is over. Sure, the game could boot you back before that mission. Except... whats all these "undiscovered"s on the map then?

And i would have liked to go into the finale with a doubt in my mind as to whether Kratos would make it through, rather than being 99% certain. The finale mission is a lot of fun, and a spectacle at times, but it lacked an emotional punch because it felt like Kratos was never really in danger during it. And i think it would have been a lot stronger had it felt like Kratos was in serious danger?