#guess I have to do something kind of ~spooky at some point | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

tangledinink · 1 year

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Chapter Eight of I'm Sorry, Teenage Mutant What Now? is up! The Hamatos talk to some extended family in hopes of getting some answers... but they mostly get more questions. Read on ao3 or below the cut!

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"Mikey."

Hm...?

"Mikey!"

Couldn't they tell he was sleeping right now...? He was having a really good dream... Just... Five more minutes...

"MIKEY!"

Ah! Okay!!! He was up!

Mikey kind of squeaked in surprise, flopping down on his bed a lot harder than he was expecting. In fact, he hadn't been expecting to flop down on his bed at all. And what was Leo doing in his room? He kind of blinked, a bit dazed for a moment, staring at his brother.

"... Did something happen?" He asked after a second, still a bit out of it. What was going on? He had been dreaming, he remembered, which was not unusual for him. He dreamed almost every night, for as long as he could remember. He and Dad had been cooking together... They were making something, but he couldn't remember what now, the dream already fading away, retreating to the corners of his mind... But he had been so excited, and his dad had...

Oh. Right.

Dad wasn't here. Dad was missing. Mikey's expression dropped as the memory came back to him, and he lost Dad all over again, all the grief and anxiety and fear coming crashing back.

He hadn't enjoyed dreaming as much lately.

"Uhm, yeah something happened!" Leo all but shrieked, his eyes blown up wide. "You were floating! And glowing!"

Mikey blinked slowly at him. "... What?" He said after a minute. "Uhm. Leo. Are you okay? And... what are you doing in my room?"

"I don't-- I-- that's not the point!" Leo snapped, his face flushing dark as he scowled. "The point is that you were doing spooky magic stuff in your sleep! Which is definitely not normal! What the hell is going on?! Did you do that on purpose?! Are you possessed by a demon!? I told you to stop going on that Reddit forum!"

"What?" Mikey gawked, his brows furrowed. "What are you even talking about? And what Reddit forum?"

"The one with the guy! And the pan?"

"... The hundred coats of seasonings guy?"

"Yeah! That one!"

"You think that the hundred coats of seasonings cast iron pan guy possessed me like a demon?"

"I'm saying that that kind of behavior is clearly of the devil!!!" Leo cried. "I mean, come on! A hundred coats?! And also that you were definitely floating a second ago!!!"

"Uh..." Mikey frowned a bit, his brows furrowing. This was... not really in-character behavior for Leo. Was lack of sleep finally getting to him? He did seem pretty convinced about this whole 'floating and glowing' thing, and... well... things had been kind of weird recently. His mind wandered vaguely back to his notebook, may it rest in pieces, and he bit the insides of his cheeks.

But floating? Glowing?

"Do you think maybe you were dreaming, Leo?" He ventured after a moment, tilting his head to the side.

"What?! No! I was not dreaming! I mean-- I was, before, but I mean, I wasn't during that part! I woke up! I swear!"

"Are you sure?" Mikey said, doubt beginning to creep into his voice, despite his best efforts at keeping things level. "'Cause, I mean, I know we're all kind of stressed..."

"Look, I know what I saw, okay!" Leo insisted. "Everything was... orange! It was like you ate a bunch of freaking fireflies or something! You were in the air! And, like, okay, yes, maybe, I had a crazy dream also, and I guess I must have sleepwalked in here, which is weird but that doesn't mean-- I know what I saw! There's no way I imagined that, Mikey, there's just no way--"

Mikey listened for a while, all droopy-eyed, still half-asleep, before he slowly scooted over to the far side of his bed, pulling open the covers for the other.

Leo groaned loudly in frustration, dragging his hands down his face and glaring at him for a moment. Mikey was afraid he was gonna have to argue, which he was not awake enough to do, before Leo finally climbed into bed with his brother, all grumpy and indignant as he did so.

"This is not over."

"Mmhmmm..."

"We're not done talking about this, Miguelito."

"Mmm..."

"I know what I saw. And this is not an admission of wrongness, either! I am doing this for your sake!"

"Leo. Shut up."

Leonardo grumbled loudly, rolling over onto his side, the two of them comfortably back to back under the covers, but thankfully, for once, did as he was told.

---

“Dad,” Leo whispered excitedly, hoisting himself up onto their father’s bed by the sheets. It took a few tries, but eventually, he managed to get himself up there, scrabbling up to the surface and scooting across the mattress so that he could shake his dad’s shoulders. “Dad. Dad!!!”

He watched his father startle slightly as he was awoken, his eyes bleary as he stared at his child, mouth agape. “Hm…? Wha…?”

“Dad! It’s really important.”

“Wha… what is it, Blue?” Dad mumbled softly, smacking his lips a few times, but still rolling over in bed so that he could face his son properly. “What do you need?”

“What comes after seventy-nine?”

His dad blinked slowly, fighting to keep his eyes open. “What?”

“What number comes after seventy-nine? I forgot.”

Dad mumbled softly, taking a moment before he finally responded. “... Eighty. Like how eight comes after seven, remember, my son…?”

“OH! Yeah! Eighty!!!”

“Yes. Eighty.”

“I was counting the stuff on the fish poster.”

“Mmmm…”

“‘Cause I couldn’t sleep.”

“Mmm-hmmm…”

“And ‘member, ‘cause, you said, uh, you said before that if I couldn’t sleep, I should try counting stuff? So I was counting all the different things on the, uhm, the fish poster, with the shark on it. That’s my favorite poster. It’s better than the basketball one, even. Donnie agrees. But, and, and I was counting it and I got all the way up to seventy-nine!” Leo declared proudly. “But then I forgot what came next. There’s still more stuff on the poster.”

“Mmmm… very good, Blue…”

“Yeah,” Leo said, beginning to pull some of the covers aside. His dad grumbled a bit, but his eyes were already closed again. “I’ve never counted up that big before all by myself.”

“Very impressive…”

“Do you think I can get to a hundred?” Leo questioned, burrowing in with his father, pulling the blankets back up over both of them. “All by myself?”

“Mmm-hmmm…”

“Donnie can count to a’hundred. And then even higher than that!”

“Mmmm…”

“I wanna do it, too,” Leo whispered, curling up small, tucking himself up against his Dad’s side and clinging to him slightly. His feet were kind of cold from the walk over, so he pressed them up against his dad’s legs to warm them back up. “It’s gonna be so awesome…”

“Mmmm.”

“... Dad?”

“Mmm?”

“Do you think there’s a whole hundred things on the fish poster for me to count? Or will I run out? ‘Cause I don’t know exactly how many is on there. Just that it’s more than seventy-nine.”

“Leonardo…”

“Uh-huh?”

“Go to sleep,” Dad mumbled tiredly, wrapping an arm around his child, squeezing him tight. “I am sure things will work out. Right now, just sleep.”

---

April was not expecting to get jumped before she even made it to the breakfast table. She wasn't exactly excited about it, either, stumbling a bit as Leo grabbed her by the arm, yanking her down the hallway to literally corner her. Hey now, wait a minute-- this had been her plan!

"April, something's wrong with Mikey," Leo hissed fervently under his breath, his eyes narrowed into slits, and April's heart fell into her stomach.

"What happened?!" She immediately demanded, her eyes wide, a million possibilities flying through her head. Oh god, she knew she should have kept a closer eye on him-- she knew he was more upset than he was letting on and yet she still--!

"I caught him floating above his bed last night. And glowing! Like the freakin' exorcist or something!"

April's expression rapidly shifted.

"Okay, I know you did not just give me a heart attack for no goddamn reason Hamato Leonardo."

"What?!"

"This is not funny! I thought something really bad actually happened!"

"I'm being serious! Come on, April, you have to believe me!"

"Uhm. Okay. Well, first of all, let the record show that I do not have to do anything," April scoffed, placing a hand on her hip, giving the other a rather unimpressed look. "Second of all, while we’re here, let the record also show that I also do not appreciate you picking a fight with my mom yesterday!"

"ME?!" Leo gaped, his brows raising up. "I didn't pick a fight with her! She picked a fight with me!"

"What! She did--"

"Look, this is so not the issue! April, I'm being serious! I saw Mikey floating last night! It was freaky! He was sleeping and he was just, like, hovering over his bed! And I don't know what to do! If I tell Raph, he's just gonna freak out, and you know Donnie will never believe me!" He begged.

April narrowed her eyes.

"... When's the last time you slept?"

"Oh, come on, April!" Leo groaned, throwing his head back. "I slept last night! I swear! Ask Mikey! I really, really did!"

"Ask Mikey?" April echoed. "Leo, what were you even doing in Mikey's room to begin with?"

"That's. Uh. Well, that's beside the point!"

"Leo."

"This isn't about me--"

"Leo!"

"Okay! Fine! I don't know!" He groaned, wrinkling his nose, squeezing his eyes shut. "I don't remember, okay? I think I was sleepwalking or something, but I really was awake for the Mikey part! Something for real weird is going on with him! Remember when his notebook caught on fire?"

"I thought you guys said that that was a cover story," April said, pursing her lips. "And I hope you know how this sounds, Leo."

"I do, and I know, but now I think... I dunno, maybe it actually happened? I mean-- I just-- I dunno how else to explain this stuff, April! You saw Dad disappear too! You know that wasn't natural, I know that you saw it."

"Look, Leo, I know that you're under a lot of stress, and you don't always sleep very well..."

"April. Please," Leo pressed again, his voice tight and his eyes wide. "Come on. I don't know how to deal with this on my own. I need your help."

April sighed softly, her shoulders slumping a bit as she examined the other's expression. Why did he have to look so goddamn sincere and pathetic...? That just made this so much harder!

... But, as much as she hated to admit it, he... did have a little bit of a point. She had run the scene through her head about a million times now, and she still had no idea what she saw. Yoshi and the intruder had been right in the middle of the room, and then they just weren't. How did something like that happen?

"... Okay, fine," she relented, frowning as she crossed her arms over her chest. "Let's say I believe you. Which I'm not saying I do! What are we supposed to do about it?"

Leo gave a sigh of what might have been relief, pursing his lips slightly. "I dunno," he admitted. "But something weird is going on. So I think we're gonna have to do some digging..." He scrunched up his face. "... And that means we might have to get Donnie on board."

"I thought you said he'd never believe you," April said, knowing that he wouldn't.

"He won't. So we're gonna have to be... creative," Leo said, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. "C'mon. Let's go."

"Uhm, no? I'm getting breakfast first."

"Ughhh. Seriously? Fine. Breakfast, and then let's go."

Ooh, April was gonna kill this boy. Though she was, admittedly, a lot less inclined towards violence once she had a wildberry poptart in her system. Reluctantly, she followed Leo upstairs to the third floor to rap on Donnie's door. Leo cautiously peeked his head inside, creaking the door open slowly.

"Heeyyyyyy, Donnie...? You up?" The two of them peered into the room where they found their brother, hunched over their computer. They barely even turned to face them before they began signing.

'Leo, if this is about hacking Mrs. O’Neil's phone again, I already told you, you would still have to get parental consent to go on air, you're a minor--'

"What?!" April yelped. Scratch that last part about feeling less violent, she was going to strangle him. "Leo!--"

"HAHAHA, Donnie, I have no idea what you're talking about! This is completely unrelated to that other request that I definitely never made of you!" Leo laughed loudly, swinging the door the rest of the way open and darting his way inside before April could smack him, flitting over to his twin's side as if that might protect him. April growled softly, swinging the door shut behind her as she followed him in. They were so lucky that she was making an effort to be extra nice to them.

'Okay, then, get out of my room?' Donnie suggested dryly, turning back around, their hands returning to their keyboard as soon as they had finished signing, eyes immediately back to their computer screen. Or, computer screens, rather. They had at least five monitors pinned up, all of them doing different things as Donnie tapped away, staring at the glowing screens intensely. April didn't even wanna try to follow whatever the hell they were trying to do, nor think about how much sleep they had been getting recently. At least some. She knew from past experiences that he was not capable of pulling actual all-nighters without his brain turning to straight-up mush. He’d get all loopy and confused, and it was admittedly pretty hilarious, but not very effective. He could, however, get away with two-to-three hours a night and come out the other side functioning, but cranky. She suspected this was the current situation.

"Well," Leo began, leaning over the desk slightly. April watched Donnie's eyes twitch with annoyance. "We were just wondering, uh, if you had made any progress with your... whatever it is you're doing?"

'No,' Donnie responded coldly, bristling as he glared at their screen. 'If I made any progress, Nardo, I would have told you by now. I haven't found any leads online, I haven't been able to track Dad's smartwatch, I haven't found him on any security footage,' Where was he getting security footage feeds? Actually, nevermind, 'or anything else that's helpful, okay? I'm doing my best! If you have a problem with it, why don't you--'

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, easy! I'm not trying to critique or whatever!" Leo defended, putting up his hands. "I was just thinking, uh... what if… we went through some of Dad's stuff?"

Donnie all but growled, like actually for-real growled, giving Leo a look. Every time they had to stop typing to respond to their twin, they looked just a little bit closer to a crime of passion. 'I just told you, I'm going through Dad's stuff.' They pressed, their ASL sharp and choppy with frustration. 'I've already gone through his social media, through all his files, his emails, I've been through his phone--'

"No, no, I mean, like..." Leo hesitated a second. "Like, his physical stuff. Like... go through his room."

Donnie paused. He frowned a bit, looking Leo up and down suspiciously.

'Why?'

"I don't know. I just. I think maybe we might find something," Leo pressed. "I mean, we've tried everything else, right? Maybe there's something useful in there."

'Dad wouldn't want us looking through his stuff. The police already looked anyway.'

"Oh, like he'd be tickled about any of the rest of this situation? I think Dad would want to come home!" Leo said, raising a brow. "Maybe the police looked, but those guys are idiots, and we haven't. What if we find something, Donnie? Something actually helpful?”

Okay, that was a pretty good argument, April had to admit. Dee could be pretty hard to reason with once he had made up his mind about something and emotional appeals very rarely worked. But... April glanced over at Donnie out of the corners of her eyes, biting the insides of their cheek. She knew Donnie missed their dad. All of them did. Of course they all did, and it wasn't like Donnie missed Yoshi any more than their brothers did, that's not what she meant, but...

Donnie hadn't spoken since he had gone missing. They barely left their room, barely ate, barely slept... All of them were having a hard time. Donnie just... didn't always deal with change and stress that well. This was the longest Donnie had been non-verbal in years, and just...

All she meant was that having some sort of a lead instead of repeatedly banging their head against the wall up here by themselves might be good. And she was sure Donnie knew that, too.

'Fine,' Donnie relented, pushing their chair away from their desk so they could get to their feet, visibly wincing as their joints no doubt protested after being in one position for so long. 'But if I end up mentally scarred, I'm gonna be annoyed.'

---

Donnie was tired.

They were no stranger to exhaustion, either. They found that it was a common companion. Sure, they were an athlete just like their brothers, and capable of plenty. They rarely found themselves winded or out of breath. The amount of activities and commitments that filled their calendar had always felt reasonable and manageable to them, though they recognized that it would be enough to overwhelm many. Coding marathons and long study sessions didn't bother them.

But sometimes they were just... fucking tired. They hated how quickly they tired as compared to their brothers, but it had been this way their entire life. They'd go to a sci-fi convention, and Donnie would enjoy himself, they'd be happy to be there, but they would just... get so fatigued so quickly. Even with their headphones on and their brothers nearby, even with a carefully planned itinerary of their day, they would still always find themselves exhausted halfway through their trip and lagging behind. Mikey, Leo, and Raph were always raring to go, thrilled at the chance to take on the next thing, and he'd be trudging behind them wishing he could lay down and just take a nap. God forbid they have any change of schedule or inadvertent last-minute plans; then he'd be worn down even quicker.

The world was a lot to take in. Emotions were a lot. And processing it all took so much out of him. It was frustrating. Especially when they knew they weren't the only one wearing thin right now. They knew full well that everyone was having a hard time. They knew that Leo wasn't sleeping, that Raph was running himself ragged worrying about everything... which was exactly why they had to keep going.

There had to be an answer somewhere. Some way to fix this. Everything had an answer. People didn't just disappear.

Their dad had to be somewhere. This was just a fact. All he had to do was figure out where.

... Which was proving much more difficult than he had anticipated.

Usually, he was not one to be dragged into Leo's stupid schemes or plots, but at this point, they were running out of other options. Nothing else they had tried was working, so... desperate times, desperate measures?

And going through their dad's room was certainly a desperate measure.

It wasn't terrible, but it... definitely wasn't clean either. Donnie made a face as the three picked their way in, closing the door behind them and flicking the light on. God, why was there so much dirty laundry all over the place?! Note to self, figure out some kind of solution to avoid this in the future. A modified Roomba, perhaps? Ugh, whatever. Focus.

"Where do we start?" April said, wrinkling her nose and looking around the room.

"I dunno. Just... start going through stuff, I guess. Look for anything weird. There's gotta be something useful," Leo mumbled, stepping forward, beginning to thumb his way through old magazines stacked up on the dresser.

"Are you sure about this, Leo? This feels sort of... wrong," April said, kind of wrapping her arms around herself, clearly having second thoughts. Donnie couldn't say they blamed her. There was a sort of 'ickiness' to this whole thing. They felt a bit like a child going through their mother's purse.

"Look, if either of you has a better idea..." Leo huffed. As Donnie, unfortunately, did not, they got to work, quietly wishing they had brought their gloves with them as they began sifting through their dad's stuff.

For the most part, they were quiet, only occasionally speaking up (or signing, as the case may be,) to ask a question or grab the others' attention. It wasn't as if there wasn't anything interesting to be found in here, either. There was. There was plenty of interesting stuff. Thus far, the group had uncovered at least one Lou Jitsu body pillow (ew,) a bunch of paperwork that their father had seemingly neglected to actually fill out and submit yet, ("Are these tax forms?") the evidence of at least three crimes that they had thought they had properly disposed of, ("Why is he hiding this from us!? What does he have planned?!") and about a gazillion snacks that he had squirreled away in various hiding places in his room. But, so far... nothing useful.

"Hey... what about this?" Leo asked after a long period of silence, no sound in the dimly lit room aside from shuffling.

Donnie, who had just been preparing to break into their father’s nightstand, glanced over and gawked for a moment.

'His altar? Seriously, Leo? It's not bad enough that we're rifling through the rest of his stuff, you want to tear apart that, too?'

"I'm not gonna hurt it! But we might as well explore every option!" Leo insisted, shrugging, trying to look casual. Donnie didn't buy it for a moment. "Plus, like... look at this stuff. Some of it is kinda weird, right...?" He mumbled, beginning to grab a few trinkets off the shelf. "Here. Look at this."

Donnie frowned, but he made his way over anyway, accepting the item Leo pressed into his palm. It was some weird necklace he had never seen before, carved out of porcelain or something, with these symbols painted along the front and sides. It was very pretty, and Donnie was certain if he did his research he could find a fascinating cultural history behind it, but...

None of that was gonna help find their Dad.

Donnie was going to protest, but Leo was already passing a new item into their hand, waving April down with a, "come here, come look at this," and Donatello sighed, resigning themselves to their current position. None of the things Leo had handed them, however, meant anything to them. They were just... things. Things that Donnie could research, sure, but what use could that possibly be here? These were just knick-knacks! They grit their teeth as they sorted through them, growing more and more irate. They were just silly items that their dad collected for sentimental purposes, they had no meaning, there was no secret here for them to unveil, and no way that it was any help in--

Their fingers brushed against a folded scrap of fabric, and their eyes locked on the pattern of red thread sewn along the inside.

Donnie froze.

They recognized that pattern. Setting the other objects aside, he carefully unfolded the fabric, (What was this? An obi?) running his fingers along the seams of it. It was a fairly simple emblem, a circle with stripes running through it like the spokes of a wheel, smaller circles inside of each part. He swallowed hard, leaning in a bit closer. He... recognized this. He had seen it before. Where had he seen it before...?

"... Donnie?" April said, sounding kind of far away. Donnie ignored her. They were busy.

They absolutely racked their memories, pulling desperately at every neuron in their head, reaching into every fold of their mind, trying to figure out where he had seen this, because he knew he had, he was certain of it. This meant something, but he had no idea what. He just... felt like it had to be important. So why couldn't he remember?

Come on. Come on. This is important. I can feel it, they hissed internally, gritting their teeth.

"Dee? Did you find something?" Decline call. Busy right now. Stop talking. I'm trying to focus.

We need to know this. I need to be able to understand this. Come on, stupid brain, work! Dad needs us. I have to know this. So tell me what this is! I swear I know--

All at once, the room lit up with a violet glow, this dazzling gleam flooding the room for an instant. They could hear something rattling in their father's closet. For just a moment, some sort of shape, made out of light itself, began to stitch itself into his hands, around his fingers, around the obi he was holding.

Donatello gasped loudly, dropping the fabric like it had burned him and leaping back. The light disappeared all at once, fading away like it had never been there in the first place. All three of them gaped in silence for a moment. The air crackled with leftover energy, lingering like smoke after a fire.

Eventually, however, Leo found his tongue again, whipping around to face April.

"I told you!!!"

---

The restrictions of his new working conditions were... challenging. Not insurmountable by any means, but they did, admittedly, make progress much slower than he would like.

Much slower.

After a period of 'laying low,' he had of course made another visit to the Hamato household, intending to repossess his experiments, Lou Jitsu or not, but was frustrated to find a powerful mystical barrier had been placed over the apartment. At his full power, Draxum was certain he'd be able to break through, but in his current state, it was... an obstacle. He had been forced to retreat and reevaluate.

He should have known that Lou Jitsu would seek reinforcements to keep him out. He curled his lips a bit at the other's cowardice, hiding away rather than facing him, but it didn't matter. They couldn't stay inside their little palace forever. Sooner or later, he knew he would be able to catch them outside of the protection of their home and reclaim what was his. They would join his side willingly once he spoke with them, he was sure.

In the meantime, he prepared.

He had already drafted about three dozen different tests he would want to run to measure how well his initial experiment had fared over the past fourteen years or so. It was obviously less than ideal that they had spent so much time in uncontrolled conditions, and that they had been under the influence of Lou Jitsu rather than himself, but… still. They existed. That was enough. The data he could gather alone would be invaluable. He had spent a great deal of time collecting all the various materials he would need to examine things like cell growth, mutation capacity, and any number of other biological factors. Humans hardly had the quality of components available to them as compared to what he could find in the Hidden City, but... it would have to do. He couldn’t risk showing his face in the Hidden City right now.

The torturous part was the absolute breadth of resources that the humans lacked.

Hunched over a make-shift desk he had fashioned, deep in his likewise make-shift sewer laboratory, he snarled in frustration, balling up his fists around stacks of papers and uncompleted checklists. Every lab and pharmacy he broke into, he never found everything he needed. Human technology was so primitive… Not to mention their dismal grasp of alchemy. And every item he was unable to procure he would be forced to fabricate, which would use up precious mystic energy, which would only lead to him falling farther and farther behind in his timeline--

How long could he afford to wait!? Every day, the prophecy loomed further over his head. He could feel the breath of danger hot on the back of his neck. He had already wasted so much time, and here he was, his goal literally within his sight, and yet…!

He swept the papers from his desk with a violent thrash of his arm. It was childish, he knew, and he would only regret it later when he had to clean it all up again, but it made him feel better in the moment. He sighed deeply through his nose as he watched the lists slowly flutter back down to the ground, his shoulders slumping slightly…

Only to pinch his brows together and frown when the papers… instead began to flutter behind him, all whisking away in unison, darting unnaturally past him.

“What the--?”

Draxum had just barely turned, glancing behind him, when the cool violet light behind him blossomed into a full-blown sigil, pulsing firmly to his back and promptly beginning to swallow him whole. Draxum gave a surprised shout as he was sucked inside the magickal door, writhing as he did so, clawing desperately at the air. But he had nothing to hang onto, and in mere moments, the doorway he had been forced through blinked shut behind him-- leaving only the doorway up ahead.

He only had seconds to prepare himself. But he already had his feet beneath him as the portal spit him out somewhere new, his head whipping up immediately to face whoever dared summon him here.

“What’s going on? Who brought me here?” He spat, every muscle in his body tensed and angry, ready to fight. He had no idea where he was. Some human alleyway, it seemed, sad and dark and wet as they typically were. He was almost convinced he was alone before he heard a gravelly cackle bounce off the walls, the echo sounding like pebbles scraping across sand. Two bouncing red flames emerged from the darkness, and he tensed, baring his teeth in a silent warning.

“Is this the sheep guy?”

“Be cool. He’s a warring warrior scientist.”

“Sweet! Triple threat.”

Were they talking about him? As if he wasn’t even there-- who did these fools think they were? Underestimating Baron Draxum would be the last thing they ever did.

Draxum rose up to his full height, clenching his hands into fists and glowering at the strangers. “I will end both of you,” he snarled. His power may be weakened, but it was still plenty enough to destroy these two interlopers. If they thought summoning him with this silly party trick was all they would need to apprehend him and collect a reward from the Hidden City Police, then they were sorely mistaken.

“Easy, easy,” the smaller of the pair bade, extending a hand outward. Draxum narrowed his eyes. “I think we just might share some of the same goals… Like taking care of that pesky Lou Jitsu. And those odd children of his,” he hissed, tightening his hand into a fist.

Children?

Right. Of course.

His turtles. Beneath his skin, his temper flared, sharp and spined, scratching against his muscles angrily. He wasn’t inclined to trust any strangers, especially given his current circumstances, but…

He supposed it was possible he might be able to find a use for these two. They were competent enough, at least, to summon him here, and he was hardly in an advantageous position at the moment… he stood to gain ground.

Draxum frowned deeply, narrowing his eyes. Perhaps he would hear them out.

“I’m listening…”

---

"Oh, HANG ON NOW--"

"Mikey--"

"No no no! So, let's get this straight. When I tell you guys that my notebook caught on fire--"

"Mikeeyyyy."

"Then I'm crazy, and also lying and covering up a cigarette addiction, apparently--"

"Michael. Come on."

"But when YOU guys tell ME that Donnie has glow-stick bones--"

"That's not what I said."

"That's reasonable?!"

"Okay, fine!" Leo sighed loudly, holding his hands up in defeat. "I will concede that, maybe, possibly, there is a slight chance that actually I was wrong about the fire thing, and also you were totally telling the truth. We are oh so very sorry, Miguel. I mean. Even though you really can't blame us…"

"BOY, I swear to GOD--"

"But this is serious! Donnie really did glow! And so did you last night! I saw you. Stop trying to deny it."

Mikey sighed loudly, crossing his arms over his chest. "Okay, magic fire is one thing, but I’m pretty sure I would have noticed if I could float! And glow!”

"Okay, look. Regardless, something weird is obviously going on! I could believe one of us just totally going crazy and starting to have weird hallucinations or something, but all of us!? We're not all just imagining things! There's something going on, and there's an answer in this chest! There has to be!"

Raph frowned a bit, not looking entirely convinced. "Are you sure, Leo? I don't think Dad would want us going through his stuff."

"Dad isn't here!" Leo cried, throwing his arms in the air. "What about that don't you guys get?! Do you guys wanna figure out what's going on and how we're gonna get him home, or don't you!? There's no way this magic stuff isn't involved somehow!"

As his brothers continued to argue, Donatello ran his hands over the length of the dusty wooden chest they had dragged out of the very back of Dad's closet. It had been all tucked away inside of a box, underneath a bunch of old clothes, mostly theirs from when they were kids. Hidden-- like Dad wanted to make sure no one found it. The same symbol that was on the obi was on the front of this chest. It looked absolutely ancient and was clearly handcrafted, locked shut with a golden padlock, and absolutely tempting the shit out of Donnie.

"What do you think, Dee?" April nudged gently, leaning over next to him. "Think we can get it open?"

For the past four days, Donatello had been all systems go, full steam ahead. He had barely slept, didn't want to eat, didn't want to do anything except claw at the wall in front of them, trying to find a way to save their dad. And so far, nothing worked.

But now here they were. With this chest in front of them. A lead, finally. Even more than that. Something... interesting.

For days now, Donnie hadn't felt much beyond numb, anxious, helpless.

Right now? He was curious.

"Yeah," Donnie said after a second. His throat felt a bit rough, a bit sore from being unused, but that was okay. "Shouldn't be too hard."

This alone was enough to stop Raph in his tracks, and Leo absolutely beamed, immediately moving to join Donnie's side. "All right! Dee's got this. If anyone can pick the lock, they can!"

"I have no idea what you're talking about," Donatello responded smoothly, pulling his bag off of his back, unzipping it and beginning to shuffle through its contents. "I've never picked a lock in my life," they added in, pulling out a small toolkit and cracking it open, immediately getting to work on the golden lock in front of them. "And anyone who indicates otherwise is clearly confused and does not have any evidence to back them up, meaning their testimony will not hold up in court. Especially considering I have four counter-witnesses right here who can attest that I would never engage in any such behavior, and in fact, we were elsewhere at the time of the crime..."

The padlock was open within forty-five seconds. Nice, new record.

Donnie could feel all four of their siblings leaning over their back, all wide-eyed as they pulled the chest open. Usually, they would get annoyed, but this was too big of a moment to fuss over. And inside, they found...

Paper.

Raph frowned a bit. "Is that it?" He questioned. "It's just... paper."

"Just paper?" Leo scoffed. "I'm sorry, what did you say? Did you say it’s just paper? Obviously, this is important paper! What's it say, Dee?"

"Wow, read the paper we found? What an innovative idea. Great plan. What an impressive pair of strategic minds you two have. Truly leaders of our generation..." Donnie muttered dryly, rolling his eyes as he moved to grab the long scrolls of paper folded up inside the chest.

And the moment he touched it-- "Whoa."

Before another question, comment, or sassy remark could be made by anyone in the group, a bright blue light burst from the scroll in Donnie's hand, overtaking them all in a shimmering, mystic glow. Mikey yelped in surprise, jumping behind Raph, who, at the same time, leaned closer to Leo, Donnie, and April, his hands moving over their shoulders, as if ready to yank them back. Donnie just barely resisted the urge to drop the paper altogether.

Mikey was, admittedly, not the only one to shriek when about a dozen ghostly blue figures burst into the room around them, encircling the group, manifesting in a cloud of gentle mist.

"Greetings, young Hamatos," one of the figures spoke, their voice soft and echoing, yet seeming to transmit straight into Donnie's mind. He swore he wasn't hearing it with his ears at all-- this was a direct transfer. "It is an honor to be in your presence. What wisdom do you seek?"

The entire group stared for a minute.

"Oh. My god," April finally bit out.

"Dad had people in his closet!? This whole time!?" Mikey yelped, his eyes wide, having half climbed on top of Raph at this point.

"Fascinating," Donnie whispered, leaning forward to swipe his hands through the man a few times, amazed to see that it passed straight through. "They appear to be holograms? Or perhaps projections...? The polygons--"

"Dee, I know that science and logic is, like, your whole thing, but I think we're kind of past that," Leo scoffed. "It's obviously not holograms."

"Please stop doing that," the figure in front of them said, and Donatello scowled, reluctantly pulling his hand away from where it was doing passes back and forth through the hem of their robe. No one let him have any fun.

"Okay, so... these guys know us," Raph ventured, narrowing his eyes almost suspiciously. "Then... who are you?"

"We are the ancestors of the Hamato Clan," the figure spoke, pride filling his voice as he gestured to the many people filling the space, all draped in identical robes-- all sporting the same circular symbol. "Our spirits inhabit the sacred scrolls of our bloodline in order to offer guidance to those who remain on earth and bear our great destiny."

"Destiny?" Leo echoed, raising a brow. "Wait wait wait... So, you're, like... our grandparents."

"... No," the spirit said after a moment. "We're a little bit older than that."

"Okay, so, like, great-grandparents?"

"Hang on, what about this destiny stuff? What destiny?" Raph barked. "Look, this is all goin' a little fast! First, we find out that magic is, like, a thing, which I'm still sorta hung up on, and there's ghosts in Dad's closet, and now you're sayin' there's a Hamato destiny? 'Cause, uh, we're Hamatos, and no one ever filled us in on that!"

"Yes!" The spirit exclaimed, and the fog still filling the room seemed to lift with his voice, rising up to match his excitement as he swept his arms up. "The Hamatos are the bearers of a great duty to all of humanity-- it is the Hamatos alone that guard the safety of the earth against a great, ancient evil, and ensure it never rises to power again. As direct descendants of the bloodline, it is your divine purpose to--"

"Are we sure this isn't a movie prop?" Donnie stage-whispered to his siblings. "'Cause, like, this kind of sounds like the plot of a movie, right?"

"I mean, he's kinda got a point..."

"We are not movie props!!! This is an ancient tradition--"

"Okay, well, that's all well-and-good, very cool, uhm, love the special effects," Leo cut in. "And I'd love to discuss this great evil thing some more later, but can we maybe take a rain-check on that one? 'Cause we've kind of got a situation right now. Any chance you guys know where our dad is?"

The movie prop blinked slowly at them, keeping quiet for a moment. "... You want to rain-check your divine purpose?"

"Yeah. Can you maybe help us out in finding our dad first, and then we'll do all the rest of it? 'Cause it seems like humanity is doing, like, mostly fine? Except for maybe the part that posts on internet forums about reality TV. And, like, Republicans. But that's all obviously gonna be a huge undertaking to correct, and priority numero uno is our Daddy, please, so do you think you can, y'know... help us out?"

Mikey, Raph, Donnie, and April all nodded fervently.

"Your father has already fulfilled his purpose in producing heirs," the movie prop responded, their voice suddenly cold. "Though he may have rejected his duty, in continuing the bloodline, he has allowed the hope that the Hamato Clan brings to live on. It is now your great honor to take up the mantle and--"

"But where is he?" Mikey chirped. "He's missing."

"Okay, look, we are not exactly omniscient, we don't just know that kind of--"

"Then can you help us find him?" Raph pressed.

"You are already years behind on training, your ninpo--"

“Our what-po?”

"We can talk about that after we find our Dad," Leo scoffed, crossing his arms over his chest. "We're not just gonna forget about him!"

"Traditionally, Hamatos are not raised by their parents, so it is not really--"

"What?!" Mikey wailed. "What kind of tradition is that? That's so sad!"

"It is a great sacrifice--"

“Sacrifice?” Mikey echoed shortly, his eyes widening.

"What do you mean sacrifice?" Raph demanded, moving closer to their youngest brother. “Sacrifice what!?”

"This is all starting to sound kind of fishy," April accused.

“How do we even know we can trust these guys?” Raph added in.

"Are you going to help us or not?" Leo cried.

"Is that why we don't have grandparents?!" Mikey whimpered.

"Hamato Yoshi can no longer be considered a priority for--"

Donnie dropped the scroll back into the chest and slapped the lid shut.

"Dad?"

"Yes, my son?" His father hummed, glancing down at his child, picking at stones on the ground at the bus stop. He had long given up trying to get his kids not to pick stuff up from off the street; so long as they didn't put anything in their mouths, he was content.

"Are we challenging kids?" Leo questioned, glancing up at his dad with side eyes.

Their dad frowned a bit, pausing whatever show he was watching on his phone and pocketing it, leaning forward to rest on his knees and look at Leonardo properly. "What makes you ask something like that, Blue?"

"Uhm," Leo paused, frowning a bit and looking to the side. "Samantha's mom, uhm, she was saying to the other moms the other day, after swim practice, that we were, uh... That we were ‘challenging kids…’ And that 'you couldn't pay her to deal with what he does,' and also she said she would tear all her hair out."

His dad hummed thoughtfully, nodding as he listened to his son speak.

"First of all," he said. "Of course you are challenging! There is no such thing as a child who is not challenging. I promise you that Samantha will have all sorts of challenges in her lifetime! Children are not meant to be easy. Children are meant to be children. And there is nothing wrong with being challenged. It makes life exciting."

Leo wrinkled his nose. "Okay," he said. "... Do we have more challenges than other kids?"

His dad laughed aloud. "I do not know!" He said. "I have never tried to raise any other children but you four. Thank god. But I can tell you that you are no more challenging than I was as a child! That is for certain."

Okay, that made Leo smile a tiny bit.

"Second of all," his father continued. "Even if you were the most challenging children in all the world, I would still never trade being your father for anything. I did not become a parent and expect it to be easy! And there is not a single thing in all the universe that could convince me to give up even one of you."

"Not even the new plasma-screen TV that they have at Target? With the super super big screen? The one so big it curves?"

"No, not even the super big TV they have at Target," his dad laughed, ruffling Leo's hair. "And if raising you boys is challenging, it is the best challenge I could have ever asked for. I must be a very lucky man indeed."

“Are you sure?”

“Yes, quite sure.”

“Even when Donnie takes apart the remote controls?”

“Yes, even then.”

“And when Mikey puts paint in his pockets?”

“Yes, even when Mikey puts paint in his pockets.”

“And even when Raph and I fight over who gets to get on the subway first?”

“Yes, Blue.”

“And even when we tear the gutter off the roof ‘cause we were trying to climb up to the balcony?”

“Yes, even when-- wait, what!? When did you do that?!”

“Nothing. Nevermind. I love you too, Daddy!!!”

---

All five of them had been lying in various states of unrest or depression about their father's room for about ten minutes now.

"I can't believe there are magic spirits in your house, and they're all completely useless dickheads." April was the first to break the silence.

"I concur," Donnie muttered sourly, wrapping his arms around himself. "I'm going back to not believing in magic."

"How can they just write off Dad like that?" Mikey sighed deeply. "Because he has kids to carry on the ‘Hamato Destiny,’ he doesn't matter anymore!? What kind of a deal is that? And what even is the Hamato Destiny? They never said!"

"I dunno," Raph said, hunching his shoulders, staring up at the ceiling with a scowl. "But whatever it was, Raph didn't like the sound of it..."

He couldn't help but wish they hadn't opened that dumb box in the first place.

All his life, he had been the biggest brother-- the brother who was the biggest. It was his job, obviously, to look after his little siblings and make sure everyone was safe. Sure, there was some leeway there, obviously. Letting Mikey dart out into traffic because he saw a dog on the other side of the street? Bad idea. Grab him. Letting Leo attempt to grind his skateboard down five flights of stairs with railings that weren't even connected? Also a bad idea, but would be really funny to watch, so we’ll let that one slide. He had been the biggest brother long enough to know this stuff! He knew what kind of stuff was actually dangerous and what wasn't, and what the best way to keep everyone safe was.

How was he supposed to protect them from this "Hamato Destiny" stuff when he had no idea what it was? And hadn't even thought that magic stuff was a thing until about twenty minutes ago? He had been pretty much sure, like most reasonable people above the age of nine, that magic was like, definitely not real. Now he was kind of feeling differently.

He wasn't sure if he liked it.

Every time he thought about it, it made his skin crawl. What the hell was it that was creeping around in their own damn shadows? And how long had it been there with them none the wiser?! Was there danger inside the strands of their very own DNA? And how the hell do you protect someone from that?

"Do you think it's bad?" Mikey ventured, glancing up at Raph from where he sat on the floor, propped up against the side of the bed.

"Well it definitely didn't seem good," Raph huffed, tilting his head a bit so he could glance over at his little brother. "Blah blah blah, bare a great destiny, blah blah blah, guard against evil-- that don't exactly sound like a picnic! And why else would Dad skip out on his ‘duty’ or whatever? I mean, there's gotta be a reason he never told us about any of this!"

"You think that's why he never wanted to talk about his family?" April said, frowning a little.

"Well, from what they said, I'm not even sure if he actually knew his family. Apparently, Hamatos don't raise their own children," Donnie scoffed, crossing their arms over their chest. "So clearly he's already broken from tradition there."

Silence fell over them once more. Raph fidgeted uncomfortably in place. His stomach hurt, he noted dully.

"Should we try talking to them again?" Mikey suggested after a bit. Leo scoffed loudly.

"They didn't exactly seem excited to help us out, 'Angelo."

"Yeah but, I mean, maybe we can convince them!" Mikey argued. "They’re our family! And it's sort of the only lead we've got. I mean. Okay, so, there's a Hamato Destiny, and also, magic exists, I guess, and, uh, maybe some of us have it...? Which is super cool and all! But... I'm not sure how it's gonna help us find Dad."

Dammit. He had a point.

"... Do you think that guy in the mask was just, like... actually a goat man?" Donnie said after a second, and Leo all but gasped, sitting up sharply.

"Holy SHIT. I didn't even think about that!" He cried, clutching his own head. "But he probably is, right!? Instead of being a stalker fan or whatever? And that's how they disappeared? He's... like... a magic thing!"

"So new theory is that a goatman kidnapped Dad?" Raph ventured.

"Well, if there's magic goatmen or whatever other kinda creatures are kind of on the table, right?" April reasoned. "I mean, there are ghosts, I guess. So it'd make sense if there's other stuff too."

"Do you think there's unicorns?"

"Mikey, so not the priority right now."

"Right. Sorry!"

"Alright. So. To summarize. Goatman kidnapped our papa for unknown reasons, magic exists, allegedly, which I'm still not entirely sold on for the record--"

"Dude, you literally started glowing purple--"

"And also the Hamatos have a very rich and magical history, a divine destiny, and fucked up childhoods," Donnie continued. "... How do we make any of that work for us?"

Everyone quieted for a moment. It was a great question.

"... Research?" Leo suggested weakly.

"You all are going to make me deep-dive satyrs, aren't you," Donnie sighed very deeply, letting their head fall back down to the floor with a dull thump. "Right. I'll start on that. Mikey, you make friends with the Hamato ghosts."

[ next ]

#sorrywhatnowfic #sorrywhatnowau #tmnt #rottmnt #rottmnt fanfiction #tmnt human au #fidgetwing #rise of the teenage mutant ninja turtles #rise of the tmnt #fanfic #writing

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calmthefuckdownalright · 2 years

Text

Protectbur HC's

A/n: Protectbur is just something I call a very protective C!Wilbur. Maybe it'll catch on after this who knows 💅

Summary: Situationns where some of the -Bur variants get a little protective 🤍

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Vilbur

"Alright Wil, I'm going to Manberg to see Niki."

"Woah woah woah what? No you're not!"

"Wil it's just to see Niki. She's on our side, besides Schlatt isn't even around right now."

"I don't care! You're gonna stay right here where I can see you."

gets very worked up over little things like this

Going out to hunt, mining trips, etc. He doesn't want you accidentally finding one of his detonation sites or setting one off

Mostly his own paranoia rather than him actually trying to protect you

Revivebur

You'd be chatting with Quackity in Las Nevadas or just outside and Wilbur would spot you guys. Him being Quackity's nemesis and your lover would definitely create some immense tension

"Stay the fuck away from Y/N you two-bit capitalist."

"They came to see me!"

"They would never. They know you're a wanker, and a bloody liar. Stay away from them or you'll lose your other fucking eye got it?"

Very violent. Very unhinged

Phantombur

Fancy boi losing his shit? Don't mind if I do 💅

I don't really know the lore in Origins but I know that Fragrance Man is supposed to be sort of a creepy guy and I know there's something with Evilza so I'm looking into it. For now we're just using Fragrance bc we love Schlatt as a villain.

"Mind letting me go?"

"No no no, you smell strange. I need you to come with me so I can investigate."

Basically he'd try and kidnap you and guess what it's dusk so your boyfriend comes swooping from the shadows with a warning shot.

"Where the fuck did the arrow come from?!"

"Where do you think Arachnid?" Phantombur would reveal himself very dramatically and have an arrow notched already pointing over your shoulder into Fragrance Man's throat

"Hey now, no need to get violent there Wilbur."

"What the fuck were you doing with my darling huh Fragrance Man? Care to explain?"

Very menacing, especially with the green eyes glowing and the unfiltered rage

We love a spooky bitch

Simpbur

Obviously he's here. It wouldn't be a protection hc without our favorite yandere-ish variant

"I will blow your fuckin head off if you don't back the FUCK up right now."

Kind of a combination of Vilbur and Revivbur. Very violent and loud and commanding despite his usual background personality

Scares people off very easily with his height and anger. The first time he protected you you didn't know who he was

"Thanks and all but who are you?!"

"Wil Soot. Wilbur really, at your service."

Very formal despite his hammering heart. Kind of had been a stalker for a while so he knew very well how to make you smile

He landed a date with you after this so all's well that ends well...

It didn't end well for the guy that was harassing you to say the least

Ghostbur

Oh...you didn't think ol' Ghostbur could get protective did you? Never underestimate me my dears

"Y/N watch out!" Someone would try and warn you but be a little too late. Well they would anyways. Ghostbur's never late for his darling

"Didn't anyone tell you to stay away from things that aren't yours?"

Very smiley while he tends off whoever tried to harm you. This is the first time he's wielded a sword since he died so you'll have to pardon his disheveled appearance once he's done

"Are you alright?"

"Yea Ghostbur, I-I'm okay now. Thanks."

"Anytime darling."

Huffy puffy Ghosts Boy but he's smiling like a fool now that you're safe

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#c!wilbur hc's #dsmp #c!wilbur #c!wilbur soot #c!wilbur soot x reader #wilbur soot #ghostbur #simpbur x reader #ghostbur x reader #phantombur #phantombur x reader #Protective hc's #revivedbur #revivedbur x reader #vilbur #bursonas #x reader hc's

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sgrumby · 2 years

Text

(1.05am) Lup: you might be a red robe but that's not necessarily a red flag. wanna get lunch some time?

(1.20) Red Robe: oh boy I just knew this was a bad idea

(1.21) Lup: listen if you'd wanted my number you just needed to ask. What did you do, steal my phone and swipe right?

(1.22) Lup: because imagine my surprise when I reinstall tinder on my stone and find that I matched with an evil ghost. I've made some bad decisions on this app but that isn't one of them

(1.26) Red Robe: maybe it was a butt swipe

(1.26) Red Robe: like a butt dial

(1.26) Red Robe: you know

(1.27) Lup: god, you're so much less spooky on tinder than in person

(1.28) Lup: although I knew that already. your pictures make you look like a dork

(1.29) Red Robe: what? I like those pictures.

(1.30) Lup: well, okay, number one, the fish pic is always a bad look. no woman sees a man holding a big fish and thinks "I'd fuck that"

(1.31) Lup: and number two, no pictures of small animals. stick a dog in there or something. I'm thinking a jack russell terrier

(1.31) Lup: also, "my interests include: magiscience and being a nerd"? c'mon man get some better hobbies. even walks on the beach would be an improvement

(1.35) Red Robe: okay the fish pic was a joke

(1.35) Red Robe: this whole profile was a joke. I didn't even realise tinder was still installed on my stone

(1.36) Lup: ah, a joke profile, but then you saw me and fell in love at first sight, just had to swipe right. happens to the best of us

(1.37) Lup: well, it doesn't happen to me, I'm the one making other people fall in love. tough job but someone's gotta do it

(1.54) Red Robe: so, downloading tinder. looking for love on the moon must be tough. getting anywhere?

(1.55) Lup: don't think you can mine me for information

(1.55) Lup: IM mining YOU for information, it'd just be embarrassing if we were both at it. it's not even mining at that point, just two idiots digging holes

(1.56) Red Robe: I'm not trying to mine you for information!

(1.56) Red Robe: just genuinely curious. How is life on the moon?

(1.58) Lup: pretty rad, I guess. I get as many hot dogs as I can steal from fantasy costco and you can jump SO high because of the low gravity. me and ko keep getting up on the roof and throwing eggs at leon

(1.59) Lup: madam director won't let us have pets, though. maybe that's why I'm so horny for jack russell terriers

(2.00) Lup: how's life, like, menacing faerun and building weapons of mass destruction

(2.05) Red Robe: nowhere near as rad as living on the moon, I bet. I live in a cave

(2.06) Lup: mmm, bad thing to admit to a tinder match, my guy

(2.06) Lup: now I'm definitely not coming home with you

(2.08) Red Robe: I actually don't have a dick in this form, so. Probably for the best?

(2.09) Lup: ah, finally, some information. sometimes has a dick. that's going in the file

(2.10) Red Robe: you've got a FILE?

(2.11) Lup: sure. spooky, red, likes fishing, has a dick - question mark?

(2.12) Red Robe: I don't like fishing!

(2.13) Lup: not denying being red, though. inchresting

(2.13) Red Robe: what are you even saying at this point

(2.14) Lup: caught

(2.14) Lup: red handed

(2.15) Red Robe: doing WHAT

(2.17) Lup: okay but for real your profile is sad. what are your hobbies. let love goddess Lup help you out. We'll fix you up with a hot lady evil red ghost in no time

(2.17) Lup: with huge bone bazongas and eyelashes on her skull so you can tell she's a girl

(2.17) Lup: or, sorry, guess I shouldn't assume. are you even into the ladies? or do you want a sexy man ghost

(2.18) Lup: with a huge bone dick

(2.18) Lup: what're you looking for

(2.20) Red Robe: either, really

(2.21) Red Robe: I don't know, someone who's brave and strong and stands up for what she believes in even if no one else does

(2.22) Red Robe: but compassionate

(2.22) Red Robe: the kind of person who'd bring you soup and comfort you if you were crying even if she didn't know you that well

(2.26) Red Robe: and huge bone bazongas obviously

(2.34) Lup: what kind of soup?

(2.36) Red Robe: hah

(2.36) Red Robe: potato, I think

(2.37) Lup: huh

(2.37) Lup: I make a mean potato soup

(2.38) Lup: maybe I'll bring a flask next time I go on a mission, just in case

(2:38) Red Robe: I mean, I can’t eat in this form, but you could come over and I could watch you eat soup

(2:40) Red Robe: wait

(2:40) Red Robe: is that weird?

(2:40) Red Robe: sorry that’s super weird right?

(2:41) Lup: I mean, yeah, but I might be down to eat soup in your spooky cave sometimes

(2:42) Red Robe: really?

(2:43) Lup: yeah I bring the soup you bring the

(2:44) Lup: bones?

(2:44) Lup: is that anything?

(2:44) Red Robe: not really, but you can come eat dinner anytime

(2:44) Red Robe: if you want

(2:45) Red Robe: no pressure

(2:45) Red Robe: :)

(2:46) Lup: :P

(2.46) Lup: thats a spoon not a sticky out tongue

(2:46) Lup: like a soup spoon

(2:47) Lup: I gotta sleep but I’ll catch you soon?

(2:47) Lup: for spooky prophecies or soup?

(2:48) Red Robe: maybe a bit of both

(2:48) Red Robe: sweet dreams, Lup

#the adventure zone #blupjeans #writing #marty helped me write this one too full disclosure

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batmanisagatewaydrug · 6 months

Text

okay whatever!! I'm doing NaNoWriMo I guess!!!

I'm fully expecting to fall off the wagon at some point, probably this coming weekend because I'll be at a conference, but idk I like having structured writing motivations. and it's a YA thing with a VERY informal conversational voice so hopefully I can just chill and have fun.

first 1800ish words here. meet Cara, she's 18 and a werewolf and not doing so hot.

Where do I even start?

That’s not a rhetorical question, I have no idea. I’ve never really done this before, you know? I’ve never actually had to explain myself to anybody. Growing up, everyone always knew exactly who I was and what was going on.

Well, not everything. I mean, a lot of people actually had no idea what was going on with me for a really long time. That was actually part of the problem.

So suppose I start with the day that everything started falling apart? It makes as much sense as anything else.

That was the day we were supposed to be getting back to school from winter break. I remember really clearly that I slept in so late that Dad had to come and tell me it was time to get out of bed, which I he hadn’t had to do since I was a little kid and still adjusting to the routine. Every morning since I was thirteen, we get up early together to make breakfast and go patrol around the town.

Sorry, do you know about… I mean, you obviously know what I am. That’s not what I’m talking about. But how much do you actually know about the werewolf thing? Most people don’t really know much unless they grow up in a town with a local wolf around. It’s a lot simpler than most people think it is but it’s also a lot more complicated, in other ways.

I don’t even know if I’m making sense. You remember what I said, about not being used to having to explain myself very much?

Okay. Um. Just let me know if you have a question, I guess. Basically, what happened that morning is that Dad came and told me I had to crawl out of bed and I scrambled up and got dressed in the warmest, baggiest clothes I could find, and then we had some oatmeal together, and then we both went out back on the porch and turned into giant wolves so that we could run around the town borders and make sure nothing spooky was afoot. Got that?

Cool.

Like I said, we’d been doing that a long time. Every morning since seventh grade started, when I finally started getting a handle on my wolf stuff. And I was a real pro about it, even though I love being in bed, so I guess Dad probably thought it was weird that he had to tell me to get up. It wasn’t like I had been sleeping in over Christmas vacation; we never get a break just because of holidays. I mean, monsters don’t care that it’s Chrisitmas. Heck, the year before that we had to deal with a bunch of snowmen that came to life and started attacking people up at the ski lodge.

Did you hear about that? We did kind of blow up the lodge, but it was an accident. And it worked, so… You know.

Sorry. Am I avoiding the subject? I don’t know, I don’t think so. We haven’t even gotten to the hard stuff yet.

Me and Dad. He made oatmeal with strawberries and cream for breakfast, it was great. And then we went out to circle around Silver Falls and make sure everything was normal, which it wasn’t, but we didn’t know it yet that morning. Normally we can smell it coming miles away, right? I sort of mean that literally, because the sense of smell when you’re a wolf is like… I can’t describe it. I’ve never known how, when I’m human. It’s like having an extra eye open up seeing stuff you can only kind of squint at normally, and everything that’s usually fuzzy or invisible is suddenly so obvious. And then you change back and it’s just gone, like trying to hang onto a dream after you wake up. And our hearing is great too, which also helps. It’s hard to surprise us.

But there’s also just, like, a sense. Like a feeling, like when the town is in trouble we can feel it as clearly as if there’s something creeping up right behind us and breathing down our necks. My friend Ruby says that normal people learn not to pay attention to it when they have a feeling that something’s following them or they can’t stop glancing over their shoulders, because in normal people that’s just anxiety or paranoia. You take pills for it and go to therapy because it’s bad for you to feel like something is out to get you all the time, so you make it stop. But Dad always taught me and my brothers to listen to those instincts, because when werewolves feel like they’re in danger they’re usually right.

That morning everything was normal, though. All of the tracks in the snow were normal animals, ones that we knew. And no strange scents in the air. It was just a nice run with my dad, a good way to start the day off.

Most days actually are quiet, you know. For every day we’re tearing around town trying to catch a monster before it can kill someone, there are dozens of mornings that we just get to go for a run and stretch our legs. We can’t talk when we’re wolves but it’s still nice, hanging out. Sometimes Dad will stop to point out something cool he doesn’t want me to miss, like some baby animals or a pretty sunrise or flowers growing when it’s warm. I always get what he means. And I appreciate that he does it. We go fast when we’re wolves, like, faster than anything else can run. So it’s easy to miss things. And he always says it’s important to actually pay attention to the land and everything living on it, so that we remember why we do this and what we’re protecting. Because if you lose sight of why you do it, then you get… I don’t know. Weird?

I definitely ended up getting weird.

But we made it back to the house with no incidents, which was great. We were definitely thinking it was about time for something to happen soon, though. We never go more than a few months at a time without something cropping up in Silver Falls. The last big thing had been some gremlins at the trade school, gathering up scraps to build a mech suit. That one was… it was fun, honestly. I had never fought anything like that. And Hector thought it was really cool, because he likes robots and stuff like that. It was actually kind of downhill after that? I mean, not really, but we had kind of been getting worse since then. Like the gremlins were the last time we had something in common.

Hector was sort of my boyfriend, by the way. Or my fiancé, sort of. I don’t know, I hate that word. We weren’t even technically engaged, I guess. He had never actually proposed, but everyone knew what would happen after we graduated.

Do we have to talk about this part right now? I’m going to get to it, I swear, but there was other stuff. I swear I’m not avoiding it.

I was avoiding Hector, though. Not on purpose, it had just kind of happened over break. I don’t know, we’d been hanging out less and less, and then over break it was just so easy not to see him at all. He’d gone back to Florida with his mom for Christmas, to visit their family there, and I didn’t want to bother him. Or think about him at all, really. He’s a nice guy, really, but it was…

No, hang on. I’m doing this so out of order. We’ll get back to Hector, I swear.

Okay. Okay. So I got back home from this patrol where nothing happened, and we were running a little behind because I’d taken so long getting up, so Mom and the boys were practically already out the door. Um, I’ve got three brothers. Colin, Caleb, and Cooper. My parents liked the double C name so much for me that they just kept on rolling with it.

The boys are all normal. Only the firstborn in each generation gets the wolf gene, and it only bounces if something happens. Like, my dad actually wasn’t supposed to be a wolf, but his brother died when he was a teenager fighting some tree monsters with my grandma. It only shifted to Dad after that, on the next full moon after his brother was gone. So Colin would only be a wolf if I died too young to have a successor, which is… I don’t know. I won’t let it happen. Colin doesn’t need to worry about that.

It’s weird, actually. Colin was fourteen when all of this happened, and Caleb was twelve, which was how old I was when I started wolfing. And when I was twelve I felt so mature and ready to start taking all of those responsibilities on with my dad. I was so impatient for it, and I hated that it felt like I took so long. Like, I was kind of a late bloomer. But I think back to Caleb being that age, and even Colin being fourteen, and I don’t know. They’re babies. They’ve always seemed like babies to me. But I would look at my brothers and their friends and how young they were, and how totally clueless, and it just seemed crazy to me that I was already running off to life or death fights at all hours when I was their age.

Sorry, I got sidetracked. Anyways.

So Mom was already dressed for work at school, and had the boys wrangling all of their books and lunches together and stuff, and she told me if I wanted a ride with her then I needed to move fast, so I told her not to worry about it. And she said:

“If you see Ruby before I do, give her a hug and tell her congratulations for me.”

And I didn’t know what she meant, which was weird, because Ruby was always doing something that deserved a hug and congratulations, but I also always knew what it was because Ruby was my best friend and I thought I knew about everything going on with her. But I was confused and Mom could tell, so she went:

“She got another three acceptance letters over break.”

And I said, oh, right, yeah, like I had known all about that, so Mom dropped it and gave me and Dad little kisses goodbye and left. Which was kind of silly in my case, I guess, since she worked at my school and my school wasn’t huge, so we would definitely see each other again before too long. But it was sweet, though. I don’t want to sound like I was complaining about my mom loving me or anything.

#nano 2023 #NO ONE has to read this but crossposting to tumblr will keep me motivated #pls feel free to send encouragement or bully me as needed

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spectralsleuth · 4 months

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Now that we're entering into 2024, I'm asking some artists and writers that I follow:

1) What is the one piece you're most proud of from this past year?

2) What are some pieces that you would have liked more people to see? If you can include links, I'd love to go check them out!

3) What were your top three favorite pieces (art, comics, fics, etc) that someone else has made this past year?

(As always, no pressure to respond! Feel free to just ignore, or let me know if you'd rather I not send you these kinds of asks in the future.)

This is such a sweet and fun ask!! Thanks so much! I enjoyed seeing other authors answering this it’s so hype to get it myself.

1. This is hard to answer, because this year I tried to do something different with every fic I posted. When I got a concept I very pointedly didn’t shy away from it because it seemed difficult, or I thought I might be bad at it, so there’s something that makes me proud with each one. IF I HAD TO CHOOSE THOUGH I’m going to cheat and pick two.

What it Will Be I’m proud of this because it fell out of me SO EASY. I felt like the process of writing it was a testament to how hard I’ve been working at improving all year, and it came together very quickly and very well. I’m also proud because I incorporated @heckitall ‘s comic page to base it off of, and I’d never tried writing fic for a visual media like that. It was super fun!

On the OTHER end of the spectrum is Case of the Hidden City vs Lou Jitsu because it is VERY technically and narratively complicated and is by far the most ambitious thing I’ve ever written. It’s very hard, but I am VERY proud because I haven’t QUIT it. It’s not complete yet, but it is a good amount of the way there and I’m excited to finish it. Probably once I’ve recovered from surgery lol.

2. This sounds insincere maybe, but I really am happy with the engagement I get on my fic. I really do write my fic for me, and while I love to make sure as many people who want to read it can find it, at the end of the day I don’t like assigning people homework! I went through my whole works list and scratched my head and really tried to think of there was anything I wanted to plug, and I don’t think there is!

I guess I’ll post my lowest viewed, my Swanatello fic! @tangledinink ‘s AU I’m sure everyone’s familiar with lol. I knew that one would be lower when I posted it, if only because it has prior required reading (Swanatello). But I wrote it mainly because the AU was starting to reach a critical point and I REALLY wanted to write fanfiction of how I fantasized an ending might be, so I could go back and read it for comfort. I love Odette and the lore Kayson made for his AU, so I’ll plug this only because I think some people may have missed it!

3. Three works!! JUST THREE?? AUGH.

little kid with a big death wish

By @remedyturtles ! This made me leak tears the whole way through, so huge CW’s obviously. Not only was it one of the best fics I’ve ever read, but I got the privilege of seeing how talented Rem is behind the scenes a little and saw how they write and work and I really want to emulate them going forward. One of many all timer fics for me, for sure, I’d love to read any original fiction they put out.

The Whispering Forest and Other Tales

By @sroloc--elbisivni and @kithnkin ! I love love LOVE the feudal Japan fusion, the research, and the perfect blend of Usagi Yojimbo’s universe with what the Riseverse would have been like in this era. Even the little segues into what they’re wearing and eating is endlessly fascinating to me. Every single character is written to be the best and most interesting version of that character I could imagine. Theres Leosagi, there’s a PB&J murder mystery, there’s spookiness- AND Raphael Hamato gets wifed up!! WHAT MORE COULD YOU WANT? I love people that write a fully fleshed story that could be a standalone universe, without losing ANY of the flavor or humor or narrative of the original source material.

And last is I’m Sorry, Teenage Mutant What Now

@tangledinink has such a good grasp of family and writing, and realistic portrayals of what would HONESTLY HAPPEN if you discovered literally any aspect of the ROTTMNT narrative. Not even taking into ACCOUNT the turtle nonsense, how do you unpack a family that’s been devoted to destroying a magic monster and sacrificing themselves, or a Dad that fought in a death match battle royale for over a decade, or a RIVAL CLAN OF NINJA? All the characters are written SO WELL, and Kayson does a fantastic job of never letting the characters or story fall into cliche tropes. Their characters are always super detailed, to the point where I really feel it if they’re hungry or hurt or itchy. Which is a weird thing to point out but they make sure you really FEEL the situation. Also like, turtles in highschool? Body dysphoria? My CO-CEO of Hamato Yoshi???

What a great year!! I had so much fun in fandom this year and made a lot of friends.

#rottmnt #tmnt #ask #friendlyneighborhoodterrapin #there’s so many others i want to mention #fic #fic rec #my fic

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xxsycamore · 1 year

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𝐏𝐮𝐦𝐩𝐤𝐢𝐧 𝐂𝐚𝐫𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐞𝐭𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐚𝐭 𝐒𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐭 𝐆𝐞𝐫𝐦𝐚𝐢𝐧'𝐬 𝐌𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧 🎃🎃

► SYNOPSIS:

The residents show off their Jack-o'-lanterns, and the competition is tough.

Meanwhile, someone is missing from the scene.

▍characters: MC, comte, leonardo, mozart, arthur, theo, isaac, vincent, dazai, jean, sebastian, napoleon

▍rating: G

▍tags: Humor; Crack; Mentions of Blood

▍wordcount: 2,238

masterlist

▍a/n: Happy Halloween, everyone! I hope you enjoy this. Have a spooky day <3

It's almost Halloween in Saint Germain's mansion, and as per tradition, MC takes it upon herself to properly introduce the residents to the fairly new holiday for their current time period - hoping that it would bring nothing but fun times for anyone. This year she steps up her game by adding an element of competition to the pumpkin carving.

The dining room is transformed to accommodate the display of the spooky creations - chairs put aside and pumpkins lined up to be rated by the trustworthy judges, namely MC and Comte. Why them? Because they've been scouted as the most unbiased ones, in theory, because they're practically biased in everyone's favor. A loving father figure and a loving…babysitter and caretaker of the mansion. It would make do.

"Alright everyone, let's get started! We're going to be harsh. Remember, this is all just a silly little competition, don't take anything personally!" MC announces, eyes moving from one end of the long table to the other, meeting some excited and some conflicted faces.

***

She puts her attention to the first in the line, Arthur, and begins examining his creation alongside Comte.

They're both puzzled by what they see.

Arthur's pumpkin is… well, first of all, it's not horny. MC is not sure how Arthur would've been able to convey his unrestricted slutty nature into the shell of a pumpkin, but she figured he had his ways. The thing in front of them, however, gives off a different kind of emotion…something to do with deep emotional dread. The face of his pumpkin looks as if it's been tortured. More interestingly, there appears to be something written on the sides…? MC and Comte lean in and squint in order to read the tiny text, but Arthur hides it before they can make anything of it.

"It's notes. For my book. I had to write them down before I can forget."

The tone is nothing like his usual one. Looking up from the pumpkin, MC's blood freezes as the sight is more frightening than the pumpkin itself. Arthur looks sleep deprived, his hair a mess, his foot tapping aggressively against the floor at a fast pace. Right, he did mention something about going through writer's block…

"Oh. By Jove, I really need to go."

A word or two about taking care of himself is well in order, yet MC feels a little betrayed by his lack of interest in this mansion bonding experience.

"Jeez Arthur, your book is not going to go away!"

"No, I mean… I really need to go… to the toilet. I think I drank one too many coffees, Luv..."

***

Next up is Theo, who is finally finished laughing behind his, err, friend's back, and as soon as the two judges are in front of him, his expression undergoes a fast metamorphosis from smug to frightened. He has his pumpkin facing him, preparing it for a dramatic spin which would reveal the carved face on the other side.

"I'd be careful on your place. Especially you, Hondje. Try not to wet your pants."

"Just show it already…"

"Ahem." Theo coughs and tries to build up the tension again, "I made the face of one of the most dreadful creatures known to humankind."

You in the morning waiting for pancakes?, MC thinks, deadpan, while Comte is smiling emptily - he's seen everything. He is not easily amused at this point.

Finally, Theo spins the pumping, revealing…

Revealing…

A cat's…face?

"A cat's face?" MC and Comte's voices overlap - it's one part an honest guess, because it's not the most prominent cat's face they've seen - and one part surprise. And then it clicks. Theo is scared by cats, so naturally…

"HOW are you not scared. These creatures are just vile. I barely managed to carve this."

Uh-oh. The situation is laughable, and Theo is angry. He expects his efforts to be appreciated. As if by telepathy, MC and Comte both nod and smile, passing the notepad to each other to put in their impressions, just like how they did for Arthur's creation. Theo looks smug again. They move on.

***

Napoleon's pumpkin is…

"Well, that sure is a pumpkin."

Comte nods, hand on his chin. "It is, yes. It has a strong Halloween motive to it."

Napoleon blinks, his smile growing a tad more awkward, waiting to hear more.

"A classic Jack-o-Lantern. I almost see the stock photo watermarks over it."

"The what?"

"MC is trying to say that,"

"If all the pumpkins here were the characters of a mobile game, this one would be the poster boy!"

Napoleon is even more confused. But if anything, he prides himself in having good intuition. And the thing it is telling him now is…

"Are you saying that my pumpkin is boring?"

***

The stakes are high for Vincent. Not that every artist is necessarily good at all art mediums there are, much less when it comes to the complex art of pumpkin carving, but the excitement is huge nonetheless. Vincent chuckles shyly at their bubbling curiosity, and like Theo, spins his pumpkin to reveal its face.

It's not a face, however. It's a whole landscape - fields upon fields, threes in the distance, scorching sun above with its rays portrayed for effect. The most eye-catching of it all is that Vincent found a way to stay true to his unique style - the elements of the landscape are consisting of many dashed lines carved into the surface, achieving that familiar feeling of movement present in all his canvases. It's a masterpiece on a pumpkin.

After a round of applause beginning with the judges and following through all of the room, Comte and MC are ready to fill in their remarks on the notepad, but…

"That…wasn't very scary now, was it?"

Vincent rubs the back of his neck, understanding his mistake. "I couldn't bring myself to put any scary elements into this. I'm sorry. The competition's spirit filled me with one too many bright emotions!"

They don't deserve Vincent.

***

Leonardo's pumpkin is outright steampunk incarnate. It's a very intriguing thing to look at, with various types of screws forming the smile and two nuts for eyes; most likely scrap parts from his various intentions and the things he is fixing back in his room. It's the embodiment of the phrase "work smarter, not harder" since the judges notice that there is barely any carving done here. They take back a point for that, impressed or not.

***

"I don't understand this."

"I do." Comte says, eyes scanning over the few lines of sheet music carved into the pumpkin instead of a face, by Mozart. His knowledge of playing the violin comes in handy in understanding the creation of the music genius in front of him, and he analyses it to his best extent.

"It's threatening music notation.", he states, visibly feeling threatened by whatever is going on on this staff. MC doesn't get much of it, but she can tell that it is something absurd-looking, just on the verge of not making sense yet passing for actual music, ruining the lives of the ones convicted to play it.

"Thank you."

***

"On first look, it's a normal Jack-o'-lantern," Isaac explains, a slight smile on his face, gloves on, eyes protected behind goggles. Naturally, the other contestants move a few steps away from Isaac out of concern, but their eyes stay close to what is happening in front of him. The attention is a little too much on him, so he wastes no time processing the demonstration. "But when I add the hydrochloric acid…"

Isaac pours a small amount of the contents of a vial to what appears to be a hidden container inside the pumpkin - the result comes quickly as the lid of the pumpkin is put into place and tons of white fog-like smoke pours out of the Jack-o'-lantern's mouth. Isaac's smile grows just a tad wider while everyone is busy looking at his creation and wowing, and the following round of applause is welcomed by him, too. Maybe that competition wasn't much of a bad idea, after all.

***

"I was inspired by Ai-kun's invention."

Comte and MC raise a brow, mirroring each other almost perfectly, albeit Comte still manages to do it in his own refined way. Isaac is voicing out his frustration in advance and everyone is waiting to know.

"Let me demonstrate." Dazai brings his own pumpkin into view, which, by the way, has a very comical expression. Maybe it's that the eyes are too tiny, or the mouth too crocked, but there is something goofy about it for sure. What is more interesting, though, is that Dazai appears to be spinning a handle at the pumpkin's backside.

Soon its "guts" start to spill through the opening of its mouth, seed and pulp and all that, wave after wave. It's spooky for sure. A bit like a parody of Isaac's creation, but spooky nonetheless. A point for that.

"So what's the mechanism behind it?" Comte asks, notepad propped up against his chest reminiscent of a curious student in front of his professor. Dazai is amused to catch his interest like so, and probably everyone else's at that matter and hurries to explain.

"I burrowed the meat grinder from the kitchen and put it inside."

***

By the time they reach Jean, the last contestant, their hopes are high again. After Dazai nothing can manage to be as much of a headache or to potentially require a conversation on how kitchen appliances are not borrowable for Halloween decoration.

"Jean, what is this?"

A haphazardly cut-out triangle for one eye, eyepatch over the other. A vertical cut in the place of a mouth.

"It's me."

***

Alright, that's all! Comte and I will discuss the results in private and decide on a winner… though I can already tell it's gonna be a hard job."

The dining room gets rowdy with conversation.

"It's a shame that Sebas didn't get to compete as well."

"Yeah, I was thinking the same."

"Man, he would've LOVED to see everyone's demonstrations. I can imagine him, diary in hand and everything."

"He has a diary?"

"It's fine Vincent, we don't have to pretend we don't know when he's not around."

"Anyway, why isn't Sebastian here, anyway?"

"Huh? No really, why is he not here?"

"Where is Sebastian?"

"Good day, Messieurs."

The dining room's doors open with a bang, pushed by the force of a familiar figure. It's Sebastian, but his state is unrecognizable. His usually neat and clean butler's uniform is now all dirtied up with… bits of pumpkin pulp? Is this what it is?

"Forgive my rude demand, but," he puts the object he was holding, namely a pumpkin, on the center of the table. "I would like to participate as well. I hope you're accepting late entries."

It's a…

A whole pumpkin, untouched in the means of carving, not even gutted out yet.

But what it does have, is a butcher's knife stuck in it.

And an ominous red stickiness all around.

"Sebastian, calm down." Comte is the bravest to speak first, keeping his composure. "I know good lawyers. You know I'd never let you-"

"Oh but what's the need, Monsieur Le Comte? This is merely some rouge I spilled."

It's Comte who sighs in relief, but it feels like it's also everyone else in the room.

"I spilled it because I was busy making ten pumpkin pies. You generous messieurs have left me with…quite the material to work with. Copious amounts of it."

Eyes are meeting eyes across the room, some glued to the tips of their owner's shoes instead. No one dares to say anything.

"Some were left in separate bowls, which is fine. But some were left in the sink."

Sebastian grabs the handle of the butcher's knife and effortlessly retracts it from the pumpkin. He takes a cleaning cloth from his back pocket and begins to wipe it clean while talking, still keeping his eyes up. Out of respect.

"Some were in questionable kitchen utensils and other places. A large amount - on the floor."

Napoleon is brave, too.

"Sebastian, we are going to help-"

"What? What was that, Monsieur Napoleon? We're going to hold a competition for doing Sebastian's chores for the rest of the day? Oh how I'd love to be a judge in that! Do count me in."

Before Sebastian gets too scary to be around, the residents head towards the kitchen, carefully going out of forehead flicking range. Arthur is there as well, fortunately having finished his business in the toilet for the time being.

"Ah. Another thing. Since you told me to think of a way to add to this year's Halloween spirit, and I had plenty of time in my hands back in the kitchen all day to think, I've come up with an idea. I hope it will be to your liking."

"Do tell, Sebas. Your ideas never disappoint." Leonardo tries to lighten the atmosphere, almost giving Sebastian a pat on the back but deciding to refrain from doing so at the last moment. He is the head of the small group on their way to the kitchen, everyone already knowing their fate. "I thought we could cut off on fake blood expenses for decoration purposes. We will be decorating with your blood, Messieurs. It's not like it would be lethal to you if I were to borrow some. As far as I'm concerned."

a/n:

"Threatening music notation" is a reference to a twitter account with the same name for which I joked about being run by Mozart.

"But what was the first place prize in the competition?" I . dont. know. Maybe you have a suggestion? Either way, I doubt they'd get to that part anytime soon. Maybe Sebas can have it?

I wanted to draw what the pumpkins look like but I doubt i'd ever have the time for that :D If anyone happens to want to do that instead, i'd LOVE to see them!

Taglist: @arsnovacadenza @ale-teodora @kimi00twin @otomelady @privilegedpancake @g-kleran @thehappycat123 @theuwuisunreal @kiyokirigiri-22 @pumpumnnnp @thesirenwashere @ravenarld @kimmy-banana @devonares @animeworldsposts @randomanimatedhusbandoseeker @galaxyprison @sadshaxk @pro-cat-stination @acethephoenix256 @ikevamp-shrine-2 @nad-zeta @crystal13unny @keen19thcenturygoatsstudent @lordsister @ikemen-banshou @themysticalbeing @canaria-blackwell @otome-scribbles @rhodolitesrose @fun-ghoul-neela @salty-fed-up-bitch @coornn @cilokgoang @kpop-and-otome @queen-dahlia @kisara-16 @chaosangel767 @ikemenlibrary @queengiuliettafirstlady @aurora-morning @aquagirl1978 @ikemenlover24 @violettduchess @mcofthemansion @tiny-wooden-robot @joy-the-reader @atelieredux Let me know if you want to be tagged/untagged!

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anartificialsatellite · 3 months

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So I can't play a lot of video games because anything 3D where the camera moves around a lot with the player character makes me very motion sick pretty quickly. I used to be able to play these sorts of games, but as I've gotten older it's gotten worse and I haven't been able to for a few years now. (I thought finally getting glasses would fix it and it does kind of help, but not enough.) This sucks because it does mean that I miss out on a lot of games, but it also has forced me to broaden my horizons and try games I might not have found otherwise.

One of the places where this becomes more of a problem for me is the horror/thriller genres - I think there's especially a tendency to rely on 3D first and third person perspective (and especially first person) in games that are meant to be scary or creepy or whathaveyou, because when you limit the player's field of view it's not difficult to make them feel trapped and uneasy, and it lends itself well to jumpscares.

...Which makes it all the more impressive, imo, when a game that doesn't use that still succeeds at building that sort of atmosphere and immersion. So!

Here's three of my favorite scary/spooky/creepy atmospheric games without a 3D first or third person perspective:

The Excavation of Hob's Barrow

This point-and-click adventure game has 2D pixel graphics, an excellent soundtrack, and a fascinating and compelling folk horror mystery at its center. Antiquarian Thomasina Bateman travels to an isolated English town on the moors to pursue research for her book on the barrows of England, and (as one usually does in this genre) discovers something strange and sinister lurking beneath the surface. I finished this game in about 2 sessions, by which I mean I've got 10 hours of playtime on it and the only reason it wasn't one session was because I had to stop and do normal human things. (I found this game because I'm a fan of one of the publisher's other titles, The Shivah, a kind of weird and super short detective style adventure game whose main character is a bitter, depressed rabbi, and I really recommend that one as well.)

Oxenfree

Not really horror, I guess, but definitely a supernatural thriller? We'll go with that. Another adventure game, this time one where your choices affect the story. The main character is Alex, a teenage girl who, along with some friends and some non-friends, is spending the night on an island that was once home to an old military base. Using a radio, you unintentionally open a portal and find yourself facing the supernatural effects of a decades old naval disaster. The art is gorgeous, the music is absolutely tits, and there's some really cool gameplay mechanics, as well. I'm also a sucker for spooky radio shit, so when I came across this game I was all over it.

It's got a sequel, Oxenfree II: LOST SIGNALS, which is a similar style game set on a nearby island some time after the events of the first game, and I also super recommend that one, too.

FAITH

I'll start with a caveat for this one: I've only played Chapter 1, because when I first bought and played it that was the only part that was out. I can't speak for any of the rest of this game, and annoyingly, it looks like you can't buy Chapter 1 by itself anymore.

In this retro-styled game you play as a priest returning to the site of a failed exorcism, so if demonic posession and that kind of Catholic religious horror isn't your bag this game probably won't be either, but even as someone who is not Christian, I super enjoyed it. It features 8-bit graphics that remind me of Atari and some old DOS adventure games I haven't played in almost two decades, as well as some truly creepy rotoscoped pixel art. The sound is just as old school as the art and is used to deeply unsettling effect, and I was continuously impressed by how the dev managed to make such a creepy game in this style.

If you've got any others, please share them with me! I absolutely love this kind of thing and am always happy to add more to my "to play" list.

#video games #horror games #the excavation of hob's barrow #oxenfree #faith the unholy trinity #please share your faves with me if you have them i love scary game and i hate throwing up so this is an ongoing search for me

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stayarmytinyzenmoa-l · 7 months

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NCT Spooky Season [Day 7]

Mischief Managed

TW: Language, Ghosts, dead bodies, gun use, break-in-and-enter Genre: Comedy Pairing: Liu Yangyang x Reader YN Pronouns: Not specified Word Count: 1.0K Prompt: “Who says I can’t be a sexy ghost?”

Notes: I can't ever write Yangyang as not your Bestie okay Prominence ruined me Disclaimer: Please remember that this is an AU and a work of fiction, obviously the idols mentioned/written about in this story would never partake in these actions. The idols mentioned in this work are meant to be seen more as face claims rather than the actual idols themselves.

Feedback is greatly appreciated!! Thank you for reading!

"I still can't believe that of all the people I'd be spending a whole eternity with... it's with you," you watched Yangyang phase through walls repeatedly, changing his expression each time he came back and even once changing his whole outfit.

"Wasn't this the plan anyway?" He asks after finally settling down.

"I mean... I guess, yeah," you shrugged, looking down at your non-living body. "Still, though, I can't believe I died with you."

"And in such a lame way too," Yangyang tries to kick his own non-living body, but his foot just phases through just like with the wall. "Do we even know that guy?" He points at the burglar rummaging through your drawers. You shrugged.

"First of all, why the hell would I know him? Second of all, fuck you," you looked at him, "in comes a burglar with a gun, what do I expect? Best friend to pull me out of the way but no, he ducks behind me and I get shot first, then before he could move he got shot too so what's the point?!" You groaned.

"Yeah, fair, sorry I used you as a living shield," Yangyang floats over to the window but, when he tries to exit, he is thrown back into the flat.

"And we can never leave?! What kind of bullshit-"

"Hey! Okay, hold on, it can't all be bad," Yangyang floats over to you and wraps an arm around your shoulder, "how about we do some silly ghost stuff?" His eyebrows wiggle and you roll your eyes.

"Deal."

"The fuck?" The burglar pulls your desk apart. "These bitches don't have anything! Fuck, they really lived like this," he pulls your textbook out and rifles through the pages, he looks back at your motionless body. "You should thank me for putting you both out of your misery," he snickers. Then he hears something fall behind him and, when he turns back around to the desk, he noticed that he cup holding your pens and pencils had toppled over. "Huh..." he puts it back up and, once he does, he hears something else fall behind him and his head whips back, finding a sheet now thrown over the bodies as well as the lampshade toppled over. The burglar pauses and stares at the sheet before looking at the lampshade, which was still rocking back and forth from the impact of falling.

"Wack," the burglar shudders and goes back to ransacking your apartment, until he hears the dresser drawers fly open behind him and he walks backward until he hits the desk, grabbing onto it's edge for support, while clothes were thrown out of the dresser and into random parts of the room, and as soon as the nightstand fell over the burglar screamed and ran out of the apartment.

Meanwhile, you and Yangyang were losing your shit. Both of you were laughing your asses off like it was the funniest thing you'd ever seen, and to be honest it kind of was.

"Yo, Yang, quit rummaging through my clothes.

"I've been looking for this shirt," he pulls it out and, for a brief moment, it stays in his hold before it fell to the ground.

"Well, you found it, too bad you can't wear it anymore, dude," you shrugged and Yangyang groans.

"Oo... what's this?" He digs a little deeper and you walk toward him to see what he found and, in seconds, he pulls out the lingerie set and, if it could, you were sure your face would've heated up. "All for me?"

"Hell no," you groaned and, once you tugged it out of his grasp, you heard the sound of a thread snapping and the lingerie set fell to the floor. But, strangely enough, you were still holding the set, only this time a more ghostly version of it.

"How'd you do that?!" Yangyang tries to find his favorite sweaters now.

"It ripped and now I'm holding it? You held the set to your chest and looked in the mirror. "Ooh, Yang, maybe I can be a sexy ghost?"

"Found it!" He pulls a shirt out and hands it to you. Once you grabbed it, he took his side and yanked on it, causing the shirt to rip down the middle and allowing Yangyang to pull up a "dead" version of it. “Look at us! Let’s scare the shit out of whoever moves in next.”

“Oh, shit, here comes DJ,” you watched Xiaojun walk in and near scream his head off.

“Fuck, I forgot I invited him over,” Yangyang sighs. “Sorry, Dejun,” he folds his hands and you sat next to the spot Dejun fell over at.

“That idiot…” Dejun was in disbelief.

“I know,” you make a sorry attempt at consoling him.

“He was only supposed to kill Yangyang.”

“What?” Your hand lifts.

“What?!” Yangyang’s shout was louder.

General Tag List: @stopeatread @bat-shark-repellant @raeincitizen @umbralhelwolf @yangsrose @kazooms @sadcoffeecritic

NCT Tag List: @cherrylovr @minjiville

If you want to be added to either tag list or removed just send me a reply to this post, and ask, or a DM and I’ll add you as soon as possible!

#nct #nct x reader #nct x you #nct x yn #nct u #nct u x reader #nct u x you #nct u x yn #wayv #wayv x reader #wayv x you #wayv x yn #yangyang x reader #yangyang x you #yangyang x yn #my writings #nct spooky season

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arthur-r · 17 days

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on my way to academic advising appointment and i’m so scared. cause like i am NOT good at being a history major, like it’s the most applicable major to my goals i THINK but i’m not like a lyndon b. johnson nerd if that makes sense?? like i’m interested in history on a lot more of a local and personal level, or at the same time a holistic and universal level?? i would do anthropology if it weren’t for not actually fitting anthropology either and hating their classes worse too. i’m looking at minoring in folklore which is kind of getting there, and i’m interested in the history classes my school has to offer but i just kind of know that i’m doing it wrong. like public history classes in curation and presentation aren’t really the point. history of librarianship is supposed to be supplemental to NORMAL history. i want to major in historical identity. i want to major in how history is preserved and engaged with and identified with or rejected. and that’s what a fucking history major is but it’s just not quite right. and i don’t want to talk to some weird old white man about why i’m looking at latin + folklore + queer visual culture + geographic information systems as potentially being my four classes next semester which are NONE OF THEM HISTORY. if i take history next semester it will be history of technology or history of education. WHICH IS FUCKING HISTORY. i guess i just feel so guilty for not actually being that interested in political economy. and like come ON i’m actually so fucking engaged in the real kind of history too, i’ve been studying immigration history and being so fucking invested. i HAVE OPINIONS about lyndon b johnson (i fucking hate that man like thanks for passing civil rights but that’s a bare minimum and he used it as a way to sneak in the permanent existence of an undocumented labor class of latin americans to uphold capitalism through exploitation and fear. so FUCK YOU LBJ) but anyway the point is the intersection of everything i want to do with my life all branches off of history. but it’s just not really that simple. i’m glad i’m at the school i chose and not in colorado but it sure would be handy to be getting a fucking BACHELOR OF INNOVATION in museum studies and heritage management. instead of just hanging around the in-between, taking the most incredible classes but living in the unfortunate reality where they all count for different, tangentially related fields of study. anyway the stupid advisor man is probably a really good guy. i just feel so embarrassed showing up to his office like “yeah i’m studying history. i don’t know what years were the french revolution” you know???? anyway next semester i’ll be taking a class about public folklore (coolest thing in the world) and third level latin, and then maybe something for science breadth, maybe a history class about education or technology or MAYBE the history of the american west, which just might not be very relevant to me if i stay in the midwest shdhdf like i’m so interested in mexican-american history but i’m centralizing pretty heavily in midwestern migrant experiences which are less studied and more personally relevant, and “the west” is mostly like the gold rush and stuff anyway. which i’m supposed to be INTERESTED IN as a history major but i’m not really!!!! and i might take a class about making websites and databases because i want to, and maybe a class about the history of textiles because that’s so fucking cool. but this isn’t what they WANT from me so i’m really anxious. somebody just looked at me weird for walking out of the women’s restroom and it made me think about how the problem is that my academic interests are nonbinary i’m fucking careerqueer or something AKA indecisive and weird and unemployable. but also the coolest in the world. ANYWAY wish me luck and i got this. but spooky scary!!!!

#vent cw #college talk #THIS IS SO STUPID but i just feel like the academic advisor is gonna hate me….#like it’s FINE this is a bachelor of arts it’s okay to be a weird little humanities kid it’s FINE #i just feel a bit strange. ok appointment in twelve minutes gonna head upstairs wish me luck!!#me. my post. mine.#delete later #long post #PS sorry for being a little strange past few days it’s cause i haven’t been sleeping. will be normal tomorrow if all goes well

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ceph-the-ghost-writer · 1 month

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🍁 and 💫 for the soft oc asks.

—signed @wintherlywords

@wintherlywords Hi! Thanks for the asks! I'll let Motley take these. It's never gotten a whole for itself before. Uh, content warnings for body horror and necromancy stuff on this "soft" ask game answer, I guess.

🍁 Where does your OC go when they need to have some time to themself? Would they ever have their own “comfort corner” filled with all the things they like? Do they have a favourite spot outside that feels like its theirs and theirs alone?

Motley is a necromancer, one of the dreaded Ouroboroi under the command of Hawthorne. While it doesn't need food, water, or sleep it does crave solitude (not to mention getting its freedom back--but that's another story). It prefers to find this by wandering out into the western desert wastes of the States. Something about the stark landscape and sense of space makes Motley feel almost like it has no master. It can scale the rocky cliff of a mesa to the top and sit under the infinite stars for days, even weeks before moving again.

Although it doesn't need comforts like a bed, Motley does have a room in the manor. It does have a comfy chair by a large fireplace where it likes to sit while sewing a new patch of skin onto itself or its cloak. Occasionally it'll do something more wholesome like whittle animal figurines to pass the time.

Motley doesn't want to own or be owned. It lays no claim to any one spot, simply enjoys being there for a time before moving on. Such is the fleeting nature of existence. Anyway, you have any idea how hard it is just to keep a lawn tidy? Its got a busy schedule of murder--it can't be maintaining a path and spot out in the middle of nowhere.

💫What is your favourite fact about this character and why?

Motley's skin is made of patches it's stolen from humans and sewn onto its own body. This allows it to shapeshift into said humans. Likewise, it has a patchwork cloak of animal hides. It's super cool in a macabre, spooky way, but also because it's bending the rules of magical possibility. Which is kind of the whole point of being a necromancer tbh.

#dysthanasia #answered asks #writing asks #writeblr #Motley's pretty chill if it's not actively trying to murder you #it simply wants to do evil STEM in peace #i.e. without people complaining about ethics and crimes against humanity

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just-a-space-rabbit · 1 year

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Spooky day at the job >:)

(Hero x Right Hand)

CW: none that I’m aware of, but do tell me if there are any!

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Hero hated their job! Well, that’s not entirely true, they loved to be working as a Hero, battling villains, fighting crime, and saving people. But today, as Hero looked up at the old haunted house, they hated it.

It was the third night in a row that people have reported hearing strange sounds coming from the old place. And in all three days Hero had been sent out by the agency to do a full investigation of the house. There was only one problem…

Hero jumped as a small gust of wind kicked up some leaves, only their iron grip over their own mouth stopped them from screaming. “Why me, why me, why me…” they repeated to themselves, they were terrified of this place.

Hero had not even been able to make themselves go thru the front door in any of the other days. Instead, they had circled the front of the building for hours hoping to see something in the window, or… hoping they did not see something? Hero was not sure what they wanted, apart from not being here!

They stopped at the front gate and looked up at the house. Hero tried to imagine what the house would have looked like in its prime hoping it would soften their view on its current stage. But, even with the image of a none decayed house on a warm summer day in their mind there was just something not right about this place.

“Maybe if I just get my feet past the gate” they whispered. “If you want, I can help by pushing you” said a cool voice into Hero’s ear. Hero screamed, and practically flew forward before turning around ready to fight. “Right hand?!” they yelled, as the tall person behind them when into a mad cackle “wow, if only Villain was here to see your cute face!”

“That’s not funny!” Hero yelled as their cheeks redden. “Well, at least it was efficient” Right hand said pointing to the gate that Hero was now standing on the opposite end of. Hero gulped “So, this is where you have been hanging out recently?” they continued in a smirk, as they walked past the gate, studying the house.

“I’m just fulfilling my duty as a hero!” Hero answered trying to sound brave and moving further away from Right hand who just chuckled moving even closer. “Ah, yes! Sorry I forgot all about that duty, where you walk around like a scared little mouse all night jumping at the sound of leaves in the wind”

“Well, I - I…” oh god, how long had they been watching? Hero thought as a blush spread over their face, as they tried to come up with something that did not make them look like a scared fool.

“Now, now, don’t worry!” Right hand said smugly, as Hero’s foot hit the first steps of the mansion. “I won’t tell anyone that the city’s most beloved Hero is terrified of an old house”

“How kind of you” Hero answered in a mock tone but regretted it when Right hand grinned. “So let me guess… you are here to investigate the strange noises?” Right hand did not need an answer, they knew it by the way Hero’s face change. “How about a deal? I’ll help you with your investigation”

Hero studied them for a while, they had never been able to tell Right hand’s playful and genuine sides from each other. “what’s the catch?”

“You will have to let me steal one item” Right hand answered.

Hero had an inkling that what ever that one item was going to be, they would live to regret it, but if it meant to get away from this place faster “fine…”

“Great!” Right hand said almost too enthusiastically, as they grabbed Hero’s hand, before kicking open the large front door and dragged them into the giant house. They both got a good few feet in before the echo of the door finally faded.

“Well, that wasn’t so bad, was it?” Right hand said turning back to Hero whose face that only a minute ago was deep red, was now completely pale. “Hero? Are you ok?”

“I- I… just need a min-” was all Hero could say, before the front door slammed shut, leaving the strange duo in the dark. Hero was too afraid to scream and simply stood planted shut on the soggy old carpet. “Well, that’s surprising…” said Right hand all casual. “let’s just get a move on, we don’t got all night” they began dragging Hero along, while Hero internally was cursing every part of their body that had agreed to this idea.

It’s took the duo an hour to clear the first and second floor. Both of which came out almost too empty for Hero’s liking. As most rooms have long stood without someone living in them, now there was only fallen debris, and an odd selection of broken unwanted furniture left, the placement of which seemed just wrong and illogical for its intended use.

Some of them even seem to have been moved recently, it made a shiver crawl up Hero’s spine all while Right hand was for some reason giggling. “Can’t see what you find so funny about this place!” Hero said with a huff. “Your right, there is nothing funny about this place. Which gets me to wonder, what are you even afraid of? This place has laid silent for years”

“Exactly!” Hero said louder than they meant too, startling themselves, “why have this place been silent for years, then suddenly things start to happen when there is nothing here! And there has never been anything here!” Hero started walking away from Right hand but stopped when the distance got too big and was just looking back at them.

Right hand just shrugged before they walked onward, a silence fell over the two as they worked through the last bit of the top floor and made their way down toward the cold basement.

“You know there is a rumour about this place” Right hand said breaking the heavy silence that had fallen on the two. “s-shut! I don’t want to hear any of that until I’m at least 5 miles away and the sun has risen!” Hero snapped back at them.

“Oh, come on Hero!” Right hand said in a mock insulted voice, “who knows… might be useful to your case” Hero just gave them a death stare, but Right hand continued “some people believe that Civilian, the person who build this place, was Old Supervillain!”

“Shut up! Shut up! Shut up!” Hero had it! They had it with Right hand! They had it with this cursed house! And they had it with the giant robot monster!

…

giant robot monster?

“H-Hero?” Right hand said in a quiver as their feet froze in place, as neon green eyes lit up the room, seeming to be scanning the two uninvited guest. “Holy shit! What is that thing?”

“Uh…” was all Hero said trying to remain calm. Suddenly, the multi limbed machine began to move, making horrible screak as the old parts tried to hold them self together.

Right hand tried to make a run for the stairs, but the path was already blocked, by the machines long arms. They let out a scream as the robot charge at them.

Then, there was a loud bang! as Hero lunged for the machine, several more mechanical arms busted out of it, but Hero kept fighting until the main part of the robot fell on the floor with no more limbs to support it.

There was a silent “wow…” coming from behind Hero. Turning around they saw Right hand who had just unglued themselves from the wall. “I thought to you where scared of monsters and stuff!”

“No, I was afraid I’ll find nothing here! Honestly, I was hoping there was a monster here since, well… you can punch a monster, but you can't punch a nothing!”

Right hand was not sure if they understood Hero’s logic but nodded in agreement none the less. “and what about you? All brave and giggling until suddenly there is a robot monster” it was now Hero’s turn to smirk “don’t think I didn’t hear that scream of yours”

“I- I… well, you see! Um…” Right hand stuttered, “BECAUSE there was never meant to be a monster here!” they yelled.

“What…?” Hero’s mind suddenly faltered,

“I… I lied about this place belonging to supervillain…” Right hand said, as a blush spread over their cheeks as they backed away from Hero, who just got closer to them, they felt really embarrassed now. “Why did you lie about that?! And if this is not supervillain’s base, then who’s robot is this!?”

There two suddenly jumped at the mad cackle coming from the other side of the robot. “Villain!” they both yelled as the person came into view “Oh, come on. What is with the accusatory tone” Villain smirked.

“So, you planned all this!” Hero yelled

“Yes, yes, dear Hero I did, this was all my idea!” they said as they looked down at the two. “Granted, I should maybe have told Right hand about the robot that I build to scare you so much you would jump into their arms, judging by their scream. But why spoil the fun!” Villain smirked. “I mean, it’s not easy to get you two love birds to meet at the same place!”

“eh?” was the only thing Hero was able to say, before Right hand bolted toward Villain, who quickly leaped over them before jolting up the stairs “you crazy old man! I should have known the moment I saw Hero this was another one of your ridiculous set ups!” they yelled up the stair, answered only by a faded mad cackle.

Only after the room fell completely silent did Right hand slowly turn around to face Hero, neither of them said anything for some time.

“Let’s just get out of here” Right hand said in a defeated sigh.

Back outside they were met with a light trickle of rain, as the silent night continued over the city. “I should probably get going” Right hand said as they started to walk down towards the gate.

“Hey!” Hero suddenly yelled after them “weren’t you supposed to steal something? or did you lie about that as well?”

“Oh, that…” Right hand felt they cheeks redden a bit. “Well, I… I was supposed to ask if I might be allowed to, um… well steal your number”

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first time writing a one off in months! :O

was afraid I was not going to get it done in time for Halloween, buy hey here we are :)

#Hero x Rigth hand #hero x henchman #Hero x Villain #hero and villain #young Hero #young villain #I image Villain like an old man mcgucket from gravity falls type of character

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