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truths33k3r4 · 26 days

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CHAPTER 26 - Blurs and Pixels

Mikey blinked away the growing tears on his face as he shook away the memories he had re-lived in his mind.

No. That’s all in the past. Don and Raph are home now- stop thinkin’ about it-

Mikey clicked with his tongue to fill the uncomfortable lack of sound looming in the room. His leg began to bounce again as he plucked at the stray threads from the couch cushions.

Mikey. Hated. Silence.

There’s silence when there’s no life. There’s silence when a joke doesn’t land. There’s silence when he’s ALONE.

Nope- stop it. Leo’s right there, I’m not alone. Quit it, brain. La~la~la~la not listeninggggg ~

Just to prove it to himself, the youngest turned his head to face Leo, who was now silently asleep deep into the couch cushions.

Yup- there he is- my fearless leader. He’s right there.

Mikey quietly hummed to himself in contemplation as he inched closer to Leo’s side.

Just… move…. Slowlyyyyyyy...

As smoothly as he could manage, he slid next to Leo and gently placed his head on the oldest’s shoulder. Mikey took a silent deep breath as he cozied next to his brother, the warmth of each of their bodies wrapping them cozily.

.. A nap doesn’t sound so bad right about now…

. . .

After THOROUGHLY sanitizing Lotus’ implant, Don had been hard at work trying to decode the infuriating piece of tech. His keyboard clicked and clacked as the images of his monitor reflected in his glasses’ lenses. He’d decoded technology before, but nothing this advanced. Normally it would be re-wiring the toaster, or installing an emergency alarm-

Don’s focused pupils constricted slightly.

His breathing started to hurt.

His hands which had laid firmly on his keyboard, working with precision and practice, began to misspell words. Every time he tapped the backspace, the sound got louder as his shoulders raised in irritation.

Focus Donatello. Get your scrambled brain back to the mission at hand.

After misspelling the word “ what “ as “ wuht “ he had given up, sighing loudly in defeat as he swiped off his glasses to clean the lenses.

So much for actually getting some WORK DONE.

He had lost so much time. SO. MUCH. TIME. Everywhere he looked in the lair something needed to be fixed or tightened or re-installed. Even as he was decoding the implant, his eyes would stray to land on the two new leaks dripping from his ceiling. Thankfully, the light pitter patters of the sky’s condensation only fell onto his bed, and NOT his computer. Still though, it bothered him greatly.

Ok. Add that to the list.

Don pulled back his sleek, dark purple chair from his desk as he reached into one of its drawers. He pulled out an untitled lavender notebook.( He hated when he would start a new notebook with its own title, and then later in its pages change the subject, resorting the title plastered on the front to be nearly entirely useless, so he left all his notebook covers blank. ) Once he landed on a blank page, he wrote of the two new leaks as numbers seventy-one and seventy-two on his list of to-do’s.

Seventy-two. Hmm. I expected there to be more..

As his eyes began drifting through the pages, taking note of all that needed to be done, all that he had failed to do, he felt his heartbeat begin to quicken. His hands clenched and wrinkled the notebook’s pages as his anger grew. He could feel a pulsing burn spread over his cheeks as tears started to form on the corners of his eyes.

Stop that right now, Don mentally shouted at his own body, I do not need this emotional crap- have you SEEN the SIZE of my to-do’s??! SO MUCH needs to get done and I will not sit here and cry- I will use this time CORRECTLY and LOGICALLY. Crying like an infant is neither logical nor correct- SO STOP IT.

With a defiant rub of his arm to erase the liquid nonsense, he tried to go back to his computer. His eyes needed to squint with how bright the screen now shone, which was.. a bit concerning seeing how earlier his vision was just fine.

Probably just the stinkin’ tears…

As he tried to focus harder, squinting even more, the image didn’t change.

But his tears were gone…

He decided to do a little experiment.

He closed his left eye, and his vision returned to what it was before. Nothing was out of the ordinary as he could clearly read all his notes on his computer, the glowing light now faded to a more comfortable level.

Huh. Interesting..

Then he closed his right eye.

The view of his computer pixelated into a glowing square on his wall. All the codes and words and notes on his desktop now deteriorated into nothing but faded lines. He focused as hard as he could, shifting his glasses, squinting his eye, but the distorted view stayed the same.

At first, he questioned if he needed to update his prescription.. But the piercing sting in his left eye forced his whole train of thought to go careening off its tracks. He hissed in pain as he covered the offending sensory organ with his hand. And then a memory hit him so hard he found himself on the ground, clutching his now racing heart.

. . .

It was just reaching sunset, the sky alighting with vibrant orange and pink hues. He and Raph had finally been allowed by Sensei, ( and a very reluctant Leo ), to go on their first mission on their own.

Raph had just found some kind of cd player in the piles of scraps at the scrapyard. It was a little dented, very dirty, but worth a shot to revive.

Mikey loves his music, so perhaps this player could make a good 13th birthday present.

Don contentedly placed it into his satchel as he and Raph continued to search for more useful items.

And then… something sharp jabbed into his neck…and his thigh… He instinctively raised his bowstaff defensively as Raph readied his twin sais.

“ WHAT THE HECK WAS THAT??? DON!! “

The world began to distort and blur as he felt every muscle in his body begin to defy his will. The sky of the lot lit up with a blinding white light. Before his brain could catch up, he had hit the unforgiving pavement. An ache shot up his shoulder and hip at the impact, as his glasses and staff both scattered out of his reach. He found he could only unleash a low groan at the pain, slowly watching as his body fell into the darkness creeping into his vision.

He felt so tired.

Tranquilizers he had thought to himself as he heard the muffled sounds of his twin crying out as a dart was thrust into his leg. And then another into his arm.

“ R-raphael-l.. “

“ D- Don!- “

His twin fell to the ground next to him.

He had to act fast. He needed to warn his brothers NOW. He put all his focus into pulling out his phone. His hand hesitated only for a moment as he pushed down onto the Panic button.

His fingers hadn’t even let go of his phone as a heavy-duty boot came down, crushing them under its merciless pressure. Don cried out as whoever it was that was stepping on him twisted their foot, further injuring his fingers with a sickening *CRUNCH*. With all the strength he had left, he kicked the offender in the most sensitive area he knew of. Said person then cursed loudly and fell backwards onto his posterior, freeing Don’s mangled fingers.

THANK YOU, ANATOMY CLASS.

Don turned over onto his side, now facing his fading brother. Raph fought tooth and nail to stay awake, but his body, too, was slowly turning on him.

Grasping onto their last moments of consciousness, they looked each other in the eye, intertwined their hands, and squeezed as tight as they could.

The sounds of a helicopter and footsteps coming from every angle echoed into nothing as they finally gave in to the darkness.

When Don woke, he was met with a literal gun to his head.

At least.. he thinks it was a gun. The brutes who took him and his brother captive had taken away his glasses. Rude. When he tried to stand up from the chair he was sitting on, a heavy tug of chains sounded, keeping him from any movements past raising his cuffed hands to his chin. By the fact that no one came and disciplined him for trying to stand, he assumed he was alone.

Even with blurry vision, he still tried to get a hold of his surroundings.

It was dark. That much was obvious. The only light Don could see was peeking through four thin rectangular windows above him and Raph.

RAPH.

Don could sense his brother’s shell slumped against his own. He calculatedly backed up his head and leaned over his twin’s shoulder. Thanks to the deathly quiet room, Don was able to hear Raph’s slow, but steady breaths.

Thank God…

He nudged Raph’s head gently. At first there was no response, which was somewhat normal seeing how he would normally need something with the sound range of one hundred and twenty decibels to wake up his fiery twin for school when they were kids; Raph’s always been the heaviest of sleepers.

So, to counteract his twin’s tendency to sleep like a grizzly in hibernation, Don gathered as much spit in his mouth as possible, and sloppily licked the side of Raph’s face.

… That… may not have been a good idea.

It was effective…. But at the cost of Don’s nose getting thwacked by Raph’s shoulder.

“ HHUGHHH! .. Raph!..ughhhhh.. “ Don moaned as his face grew a painful shade of red.

“ WHY. Would you DO that?! “ Raph scolded, whilst he attempted to rub off the remainder of Don’s spit with his shoulder.

“ Nevermind that. What can you see? “

“... Skies a blue.. Red roses too- “

“ RAPHAEL. “

“ Dude, you gave me an opening- “

“ I’M SERIOUS, RAPH. What do you see?.. “

The older twin looked around the room.

“ Looks like we’re in some kinda garage… I can smell motor oil and grease, and there’s a box of tools on a bench to your far left. “

“ Are there any cameras? “

Please no. Please no. Please no-

“ Yeah, there’s one in the corner of the ceiling. Pretty sure it can see us. And it’s blinkin’ red, so I think it’s on. “

Frickgoshdangit.

“ Wait- why are you askin’ me to look around? Don, CAN YOU SEE RIGHT NOW??? Did those JERKWADS BLIND YO- “

“- No, dear twin of mine. I simply can’t see because the insolent koalas stole my glasses. My eyes are still functioning properly. “

“.. The what now? Dude, aren’t koalas all cuddly ‘n stuff? “

“.. Yes, and they have one of the smallest brain-to-body ratios of mammals. “

“....”

“... They’re Dumb-Dumbs. “

Don felt a heavy sigh leave Raph’s body, not only releasing his built up steam, but also a small chuckle.

“ Ok.. You said there’s tools to my right? “

“ Left. “

“ Right..ok- “

“ Dude, I just said left. “

“ -NO- RAPH- ‘RIGHT’ AS IN CORRECT. “

“ Then just say ‘correct’, man! “

“ I DID, YOU SON OF A SPITEFUL POPTART. “

“ Ppfft- Dude seriously, you need better insults. I got a list we can go through when we get ho- “

The two brothers flinched at the sound of two metallic clicks.

Don REALLY wished he could see right now.

Judging by the way Raphael’s whole body tensed it wasn’t anything good.

“ Raph. What is going on? “ The purple-clad turtle whispered.

“ There’s two guns pointin’ at us.. And I think they’re loaded… Any ideas, Brainiac? “

“..Working on it.. “

“ Work faster… “

That's it for this chapter! :) We're finally getting to what happened to Don and Raph, and man it's gonna be a ride. ;)

Hope you enjoyed!

~ Melissa

MASTERPOST <- PRIOR CHAPTER NEXT CHAPTER ->

#tmnt #my version of tmnt!!#the strength in weakness #SIW Mikey #SIW Don #SIW Raph #SIW Leo #Hurt #Stressed out Don #Brotherly cuddles #tw darts #tw capture #tw tiny bit of blood #tw drugged #tw trauma

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turrondeluxe · 8 months

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always happy about the fact that in 2012, mikey often asked donnie questions if he didn't understand something and donnie always answered no matter what

this can be seen in a bunch of episodes but my favorite example of it it's the one in half shell heroes where mikey is extremely excited to be in the museums and is the one actively asking donnie questions about the exhibits they saw and also actively listening to donnie's explanation (before raph got silly lmao). he was very excited to learn!!!

And while it's true that mikey would lose interest quite fast if the explanation got too lengthy with too many technical terms, it doesn't change the fact that he does retain the info donnie is always rambling on about different things!!! (even if mikey himself doesn't notice he's doing it lol) and also i find it very sweet that no matter if donnie himself got annoyed, donnie would always answer the questions. no matter what. he would always try to explain if he didn't understand something

This is prob because mikey is the one brother who is often seeking out donnie to pass time around him Meaning that donnie might have used mikey as his rubber ducky whenever mikey hangs out with him while he's working (explained him a lot of his experiments and theories while trying to solve them himself and in this way mikey also learnt in the process WHILE spending time with his brother! win win!)

it also helps donnie because accompanies him while not letting him get lonely in his lab 24/7, sometimes explaining things to someone makes it better to understand it yourself AND it's shown in the comics that donnie is quite used to his brothers just Living as background noise and literally cannot function without it lmao

They are literally the two smart kids in the family even if none of them notice it and it's all because mikey looks up to his brother and is like an sponge with donnie around. donnie is actively teaching mikey and mikey is learning! even if they have no idea they are doing it

#fer silly twt rambling #i wasnt going to post it here but i think yall will like this one lol #STEM KIDS!!#they mean so much to me #literally is so important to me that donnie; if not stressed the fuck out by a lot of things going on; would always explain calmly to mikey #thats his only little brother!!! hes thoughts are prob 'if mikey asks i must answer. im such a cool older bro'#makes my heart warm with joy #ALSO #mikey looks up to don and wants to do the same things as don does based on how he mimics him in that one ep where donnie is silly goofy #i need an ep of 2012 b team visiting museums and being happy and excited about learning #the b in b team stands for best friends!!!#tmnt #tmnt 2012 #tmnt mikey #tmnt michelangelo #tmnt donnie #tmnt donatello

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navree · 8 months

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i will say, john apparently having memory issues is genuinely putting me in arthur's headspace in a way nothing else has yet because i feel blind now too. i can't trust john's descriptions as factual, i can't know that we don't really know who noel is and that he's just a newcomer (and harlan voicing literally every character doesn't help at all), i can't even have a firm idea of what's going on, because the person i'm relying on to be my narrator, the same person arthur's relying on to be his eyes, is demonstrably no longer reliable (and for me as a listener it's actually worse cuz unlike arthur i know john's lying about something and that he's got an ulterior motive due to his deal with kayne that arthur is entirely unaware of). it's very good, and it also creates a sense of unease and dread which is good for a horror podcast.

#personal #malevolent #malevolent podcast #it's been days since i listened to that episode but i am still Stressed Out #i am literally nervous while listening to this stuff man i feel so off kilter #it really does feel like flying blind and i don 't like it #i mean i do from a storytelling perspective it's really great #(and it's also the first time i've ever appreciated harlan being the only voice actor)#but also i just want things to be good again #remember when they were good for like two episodes once #that was nice

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oohbuggypie · 28 days

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I CANT BE TAME AND REGULAR RIGHT NOW EXCUSE THE CRAZINESS I GENUINELY DONT EVEN KNOW HOW TO WORD THIS BUT !!! YEAH IM BREAKING DOWN THE LYRICS TO THIS SONG AND HOW THEY REFLECT DON AND BULL'S DYNAMIC DEPICTED IN @goferwashere's LATEST PIECE OF WRITING !! GO READ IT IT MAKES ME INSANE SRSLY. SO THESE R THE LYRICS::

**(song above is Shades Of Cool by Lana Del Rey;; the section takes place from 3:49 - 4:31 . please read the disclaimer / warning at the end of this post !!)

OKAY . BREAKING THEM DOWN TIME.

"your hot, hot weather in the summer" - (real quick: i would change the 'your' to 'you're' as it would make more sense in the context of describing their lover as a feeling; if not, it makes less sense. anyway!!) so this lyric makes me think of how, as Don begins using his manipulative ability to alter Bull's state of mind, the feeling the victim succumbs to when hearing his voice is described as bringing a sense of "warmth and comfort." to describe Don's manipulation effects as "hot weather in the summer" makes sm sense to me because, much like the sun's radiance and the general relaxation/freedom that comes with the summer season, Don's manipulation makes Bull feel a (false) sense of safety and enjoyment. further, in closer context to both the song's general tones and siren mythology, the description of Don's manipulation being akin to "hot weather" can also be taken in a more sultry / seductive manner; in the story, Don uses intimate gestures like tracing along Bull's hand, cupping his face, wrapping himself around his arm, drinking directly from the same cup as him, etc. in what id assume is an attempt to be more alluring / welcoming. along with this, Don's handsome appearance and charisma seems to sway Bull's judgement slightly. Bull does have a reaction to these gestures , being flushed in the face and appealing to Don's demands the first few times he's asked. however, this feeling gets its meaning changed fairly quickly.

condensed: the feeling of Don's manipulation is akin to the warm days of summer, a freeing and typically sweet feeling. Don invokes feelings in Bull that can be related to the sentiment of summer's heat.

"high, high, neglectful lover" - in the literal sense of the song, i believe the use of the word "high" implies that the lover is constantly under the influence of drugs; in this context though, i prefer to think of the word "high" as in a power trip. Don is shown to be on his high horse constantly due to the overwhelming abilities he holds over his peers, being able to demand anything from nearly anyone. alternatively, closer to the original context of the song, i suppose the "high" could also correlate to the feeling of Don's manipulation influence. the victim loses their own proper coordination, their thinking is impaired, and in Bull's case his temperature even rises, causing sweating. all of this could reflect the symptoms of somebody under the influence, similar to how Don puts all of his victims under a "trance" of sorts. moving along to the second part of the line; in this writing, i don't believe that Bull and Don are implied to be in a relationship of any form. however, they do almost seem to reflect feelings for each other, seeing that Don touching Bull's hand makes the latter blush, and Don's heart rate picks up when Bull touches his face (this could be due to the fact that Bull was moving beneath command, causing Don nervousness - but my interpretation is the former). so in this scenario, i believe Don would take the role of "neglectful lover" - as mentioned in the previous paragraphs, Don is shown to use sweet and intimate gestures with Bull; however, we know that they're devoid of any true meaning and that he's doing them simply to appear normal to outsiders that can't tell his victim is under his control, or to persuade his victim before manipulating them. however, Don does present himself as caring for Bull, such as constantly adjusting his attire and even cleaning the sweat from his forehead, and an important factor is that Don - for the first time - feels guilt whilst manipulating Bull. this seems to happen only when he's dealing with him in specific, and to me that deepens the idea of Don being the neglectful lover because , despite being aware that what he's doing is wrong, he pushes that guilt aside and continues to manipulate Bull.

condensed: Don holds an overbearing amount of power among his peers. he also induces symptoms / feelings similar to drug use upon his victims when manipulating them. Don plays the role of a "lover" that does not express true care for their partner and ultimately harms them.

"hot, hot weather in the summer" - oh my goodness this is one of my favorite parts of the song when reading it along with the writing. in the story, as Bull begins regaining his consciousness back, we learn that he can hear Don's voice almost as an outer force. as i covered in the first paragraph, the "hot weather" starts as a pleasant and seductive feeling for Bull. it's swaying, comfortable, and warming. however, as the breakdown in the song intensifies and the guitar whines over the drawling vocals, the pronunciation of the phrase begins to lean towards sounding pained;; bringing a bit of personal description into this, summer where i come from can become so intense that it starts to feel painful on the skin and is no longer enjoyable. this is exactly the feeling i think Bull experiences; that "hot weather" Don induced no longer feels like freedom, it's becoming a dreadful burning. a detail that i adored and stuck out to me in the writing is that Don's voice is so intensified in this state that Bull shields his ears, wincing at the height of the volume. this contributes more to my point that Bull's slow awakening and the summer weather reflect one another; much like how the beating sun becomes overstimulating and unbearable against the skin, Don's influence that was once sweet starts to slowly morph into a more agonizing experience, both mentally and physically for Bull.

condensed: the sense of comfort and warmth that Bull initially felt when being manipulated by Don slowly transforms into a painful feeling as Bull begins to escape the manipulation's trance.

"high, neglectful lover" - when Bull fully escapes the maze and is no longer under Don's control, it can be viewed as one coming down from their high. this is where the roles become reversed to me; he awakens to Don grasping his hand and gently holding his face with the opposite. in that moment, Don seems to be truly concerned for Bull as he twitches and acts irregularly. Don momentarily sheds the image of a neglecting, careless lover and now appears to be the sweet partner; and as Bull quickly resorts to violence upon understanding what Don had just put him through, that "neglectful lover" image is projected onto him instead. he cares not to hear Don's reasoning or explanation, but for how he will reflect the same suffering he was caused onto him. this part is so so detrimental to me because it almost makes you feel for Don. Bull appears for a short moment to be the monstrous one before we're reminded yet again who truly is the neglectful, abusive one.

condensed: Don appears to care for Bull, and he is no longer the neglecting partner; Bull takes on the latter role instead, but for a short moment only.

"you're crumbling, sadly" - to me, this line reflects the final moments of the writing, in which Bull begins choking Don against the bathroom wall as vengeance for his manipulation. on the surface, reading this from Bull's point of view, you can view the "crumbling" as Don's reaction to his punishment. he seems to almost lose his grasp on consciousness, his breathing is inconsistent, and he can't disguise the terror that Bull has inflicted upon him; the largest part of the "crumbling" is that Don's usual sauve front was dropped out of pure fear under Bull's rage . however, as we see just a moment later, Don manages to remain snarky despite his terrified state just seconds before .. so, to me, i think that this line fits just as perfectly when being read from Don's point of view;; he views Bull's immediate resort to violence / switch in demeanor as proof of weakness, and that his manipulation was powerful enough to make Bull "crumble" beneath the pressure of his trance. this also plays strongly into the afore mentioned power trip that Don is constantly on.

condensed: Bull choking Don is the former's idea of the latter "crumbling". however, Don also believes that Bull's violence towards him is an example of his victim crumbling as well.

"you're sadly, crumbling" - the very last moments of the writing show the aftermath of Bull nearly strangling Don, as the latter begs him to come back. and i think one of the most key factors of the entire story - if not Don's entire character in this AU - happens here. as Don attempts to use his manipulative power one last time to lure Bull into retrieving him, that power sputters out just as Don says "i'm sorry." i think the entire sentiment of Don's weak figure facing the consequence of his wrongdoing , asking not only for help, but for forgiveness from his victim is a turnaround moment for him. it strikes a chord that has never been heard of; Don realizes that there was no reason behind his actions, that the abuse of his power and his manipulative behavior simply cannot be justified. i think that crushing, unheard of feeling of remorse for his actions is what ultimately differentiates who truly "crumbled" in the end; Don is the one left unforgiven, regretful of his own actions and battered on the floor with nobody to sympathize with.

condensed: Don is ultimately the one harmed most by his manipulation.

OH MY GOD ITS DONE. this actually took the entire day im so srs,, like i know it's not even that much and it's written not very well but the effort that is articulating my thoughts enough so that other ppl don't just hear "LOOK HERE THIS LOOKS LIKE THAT DO U GET IT" is grueling . anyway gofer i hope u enjoy this absolutely monstrous amount of writing cuz it was all inspired by u 🩷 i reccomend reading all this and then rereading ur own story with the song in the background it will change u i Think . and i recommend doing the exact same thing 2 anybody else who can stand to read this entire post ✝️ it's literally 1 in the morning as i post this and a majority of this was written at midnight so sorry for all the janky wording nd generally bad writing but i had to get this out today or i wouldn't come back 2 it 😭 hope u can try n understand where im coming from hehe

**(i do not agree with many of LDR's statements and actions, and prefer not to directly stream her music as to avoid supporting her. if u would like to hear the excerpt from the song, i reccomend doing what i did and YouTube-to-MP3'ing it so u can download, easily hear, then delete it without having to stream her music 🩷 thank u 4 ur understanding !)

#punch out!! wii #punch out wii #punch out #punch out monster hunter au #don flamenco #bald bull #holy actual hell i am so so beat from this u do not even get it #i know a lot of this sounds not that good guys i cant stress to u how bad i am at conveying my thoughts like im nawt made to do this bro #anyway srsly i hope u get it cuz omgg my brain has truly been changed by these connections i am telling u

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