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personne-writes · 1 month

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Resources for Writing Injuries

Patreon || Ko-Fi || Masterlist || Work In Progress

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Head Injuries

General Information | More

Hematoma

Hemorrhage

Concussion

Edema

Skull Fracture

Diffuse Axonal Injury

Neck

General Information

Neck sprain

Herniated Disk

Pinched Nerve

Cervical Fracture

Broken Neck

Chest (Thoracic)

General Information

Aortic disruption

Blunt cardiac injury

Cardiac tamponade

Flail chest

Hemothorax

Pneumothorax (traumatic pneumothorax, open pneumothorax, and tension pneumothorax)

Pulmonary contusion

Broken Ribs

Broken Collarbone

Abdominal

General Information

Blunt trauma

Penetrating injuries (see also, gunshot wound & stab wound sections)

Broken Spine

Lung Trauma

Heart (Blunt Cardiac Injury)

Bladder Trauma

Spleen Trauma

Intestinal Trauma

Liver Trauma

Pancreas Trauma

Kidney Trauma

Arms/Hands/Legs/Feet

General Information | More

Fractures

Dislocations

Sprains

Strains

Muscle Overuse

Muscle Bruise

Bone Bruise

Carpal tunnel syndrome

Tendon pain

Bruises

Injuries to ligaments

Injuries to tendons

Crushed Hand

Crushed Foot

Broken Hand

Broken Foot

Broken Ankle

Broken Wrist

Broken Arm

Shoulder Trauma

Broken elbow

Broken Knee

Broken Finger

Broken Toe

Face

General Information

Broken Nose

Corneal Abrasion

Chemical Eye Burns

Subconjunctival Hemorrhages (Eye Bleeding)

Facial Trauma

Broken/Dislocated jaw

Fractured Cheekbone

Skin & Bleeding

General Information (Skin Injuries) | More (Arteries)

femoral artery (inner thigh)

thoracic aorta (chest & heart)

abdominal aorta (abdomen)

brachial artery (upper arm)

radial artery (hand & forearm)

common carotid artery (neck)

aorta (heart & abdomen)

axillary artery (underarm)

popliteal artery (knee & outer thigh)

anterior tibial artery (shin & ankle)

posterior tibial artery (calf & heel)

arteria dorsalis pedis (foot)

Cuts/Lacerations

Scrapes

Abrasions (Floor burns)

Bruises

Gunshot Wounds

General Information

In the Head

In the Neck

In the Shoulders

In the Chest

In the Abdomen

In the Legs/Arms

In the Hands

In The Feet

Stab Wounds

General Information

In the Head

In the Neck

In the Chest

In the Abdomen

In the Legs/Arms

General Resources

Guide to Story Researching

A Writer’s Thesaurus

Words To Describe Body Types and How They Move

Words To Describe…

Writing Intense Scenes

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Masterlist | WIP Blog

If you enjoy my blog and wish for it to continue being updated frequently and for me to continue putting my energy toward answering your questions, please consider Buying Me A Coffee, or pledging your support on Patreon, where I offer early access and exclusive benefits for only $5/month.

Shoutout to my $15+ patrons, Jade Ashley and Douglas S.!

#reference #helpful #useful #injuries #reblog

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personne-writes · 2 months

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Rise and Fall

One-shot - Mikey & Raph - 1700 words

Here's my main contribution to the Sunset Duo Zine hosted by @punnybee-zines! I'm very proud of this angsty lil thing and very happy for the experience in the zine. You can find on ao3, if you'd rather!

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This is an evening like many others.

A breeze is blowing between the skyscrapers, the streets are bathed in the sun’s last hours.

Raphael likes this time of the day.

It reminds him of old habits and childish plays, an aftertaste of an era that’s been left to decay. A memory of the years he shared with his brothers.

They used to venture outside around this time, escape from the lair and find buildings to climb. Raphael’s steps take him somewhere he knows by heart: a street where once stood brick walls covered in grime. All that’s left today is a reconstruction site - and his shattered hopes for some kind of new start.

Each step he takes there feels like falling apart.

He doesn’t know why he still comes. What are the odds he’ll find his brother here? Raphael is aware he’s always been the nostalgic one. When he goes back to places he finds meaning in, he usually stays lonely until the morning.

A faint movement in the sky draws his attention. At the top of the crane looming over him, a cape is lazily dancing with the wind, its fabric catching the sunset light. Raphael would recognize its owner anywhere.

It doesn’t take long for him to go up. The crane’s metal skeleton is sturdy enough to bear his full weight with nothing more than a few creaks of protestation, but settling in between the crossbars asks for more delicacy. He twists, shifts, tries to make himself small until he finds a sitting position he feels mostly comfortable in.

On his left, Michelangelo doesn’t stir.

Raphael’s throat feels tight as he realizes his brother is almost within arm’s reach. It’s been years since they’ve been this close. He finds himself stealing sideway glances as subtly as he can, which is not very.

If his math is right, Michelangelo must be about forty-two now, but he looks older. There are a few too many wrinkles at the corner of his eyes, a few too many gray strands in his dark hair. Signs of restlessness or side effects of his powers, Raphael can’t really tell; either way, he can’t help but frown at the feeling that his little brother is growing older than him.

He stays silent for a couple of seconds before gathering the courage to speak.

"It's good to see you."

Michelangelo gives a noncommittal hum.

“It’s been, what…” Raphael starts and trails off as his gaze wanders over the building site.

He already regrets this sentence. He’s sure they both remember the date. Michelangelo had been all over the news that day he'd finally caught the criminal he’d been after for months - although the titles weren't talking about his success as much as the way he got there. The damage he’d left in his wake. The demolition Raphael had seen with his own two eyes.

“... it’s been a while,” he finishes evasively.

“I suppose so,” Michelangelo huffs, and doesn’t add anything.

They sit awkwardly for a while. Well, Raphael thinks it’s awkward. Their feet are dangling in the air, the sun is nearing the end of its slow race down behind them, and try as he might, he can’t think of anything to say that wouldn’t come off as sad or reproachful.

He almost startles when Michelangelo speaks.

“You couldn’t help it, could you.”

Raphael tears his eyes from the outline of the city and sends a confused sideway glance to Michelangelo, who’s staring numbly downwards. Far below, the shadow of the crane is spreading over the reconstruction site.

There is no escaping that talk, apparently.

“I had to jump in," Raphael sighs. "That building was about to crumble.”

“I would’ve caught it.”

“You can’t catch a build-”

“Yes! I can!” Michelangelo snaps, his voice colored with anger. “You would know that if you just let me do my thing and didn’t interrupt like -”

“I know, I know! I've seen you fight against the Shredder - shit, we were just kids when I saw you give hell to the Krang. But there's launching an empty tower in the middle of the sky and then there’s keeping a city building from crushing hundreds of people!”

“You just don’t trust me!”

“This ain’t nothing to do with trust and you know it.”

“Do I?” Michelangelo laughs, but it sounds cold and sarcastic.

Raphael knows that tone. This conversation isn't going anywhere and he doesn't feel like indulging it, so he just shrugs and goes straight to the point.

“Look, if you’ve got something to say, just say it.”

Michelangelo hesitates for a moment. He bends his legs, grabs his knees close to his chest and rests his chin there. There’s a frown on his face when he speaks again, his voice firm.

“I’m still mad that you left us.”

Raphael snorts in disbelief before he can help it. “I left you?”

“You could’ve stayed with us. Nothing had to change at all. We used to live together, things used to be simple, but you just had to leave and go play hero on your own.” Michelangelo’s stare to the ruins below them turns into a glare. “You couldn’t help it.”

“Oh, for - I came back!” Raphael exclaims, throwing his hands in front of him. “Yes, I’d grown up, and I needed some space, but I came back as often as I could. I was there for everyone’s birthday, I was there for the Lair Games, heck, I was there for your goldfish's funeral -"

“How thoughtful,” Michelangelo hisses.

“- and when they grew up and went their own way,” Raphael continues, ignoring him, “Donnie and Leo still came back, too! We weren’t living together anymore, but we were all back home for big moments, we were there for each other -”

“It wasn’t the same -”

“You disappeared, Mikey!” To Raphael’s frustration, the words come out almost as a shout. He sighs, shakes his head and levels his voice. “When you decided to move out, you knew you wouldn’t stick around like we did. You barely even answered your phone. We've been worried sick."

Michelangelo throws him a bland look without lifting his chin from his knees. “You’ve always worried too much about me.”

“Well, are we wrong?” Raphael shoots back. “All I learn about you these days, I hear it from the news. Do you have any idea how that feels?”

Michelangelo gives an incredulous chuckle. “So you all leave but I’m the one who should feel guilty that you’re not there?”

“Is that your excuse? Your brothers become their own people and you erase yourself from the family, act all reckless and hot-headed -”

“The way I handle things is mine to deal with.”

“Look where it gets you! After what happened here,” Raphael gestures towards the construction side, “they’re debating if they should still call you a hero.”

“Oh, is this what you’re so upset about?” Michelangelo says slowly, purposely, and if voices could kill, his tone would definitely be poisonous. “Am I tarnishing the reputation of the family?”

There is a familiar rush of adrenaline coursing through Raphael’s veins in that instant, the telltale feeling of his own heartbeat getting louder. He is starting to lose his patience. It baffles him, the way that even after all these years spent apart, his little brother still knows how to get on his nerves.

“Doing the right thing was never about fame,” Raphael grumbles in an effort to keep his cool.

“How can you say that with a straight face,” Michelangelo deadpans.

“You’re just trying to push my buttons, but you know what? I won’t apologize for not being a teenager anymore.” He must be onto something, because Michelangelo stays quiet and looks away. “Yes, I moved out of the lair first,” he goes on. “Kids grow up and leave the nest. That’s what families do! That’s what they do literally everywhere on the planet.”

“Normal families, maybe.”

“We’ve been over this already. What we are doesn’t make us any different from -”

“Yeah, yeah, spare me that argument, alright?” Michelangelo interrupts, sighing and rubbing at his forehead tiredly before getting up on his feet. His movements aren’t as swift as they were in the past, Raphael notices, but he’s confident enough in his body that he doesn’t grab the metal to stabilize himself. Michelangelo locks gazes with him, a strange look on his face. “I don’t care that it happens to other families. I didn’t want it to happen to us. All I ever wanted was to keep us all together. That can’t be that hard to understand, even to you - especially to you.”

The words find an echo in Raphael’s mind, but it’s distorted, like it’s been twisted and cut to fit into a box too tiny to accommodate it. He feels like they are having two separate conversations, like they are talking about different things entirely, like whatever he has to say won’t even make its way to his brother’s ears. He feels like they are running circles.

He stays silent.

Michelangelo hums and lifts his chin up. He stretches his fingers, and chains that seem made of golden light appear in his fists. “Well, I think that’s enough small talk for today,” he says. “Or for this year.”

And, with that, Raphael watches Michelangelo jump off the crane. His chains anchor themselves to the metal a few feet down, then a few more, and in a matter of seconds, there is only one turtle left in the area.

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This is a story like many others.

The premise of a pointless encounter; a missed reunion with a long lost brother.

Michelangelo hates that he feels upset.

He thinks of loneliness and anger and regret, of many memories he would rather forget. Of the hopes he has so fiercely tried to smother.

He used to believe time would somehow rewind, bring him back to an age when life still felt kind. Michelangelo tries to keep his thoughts at bay, searches for a solace he knows he won’t find. He wanders the rooftops drowned in the sun’s last ray, lets his memory fly back to brighter days.

Each step he takes there feels like running away.

#sunset duo zine #sunset duo #raphael #raph #michelangelo #mikey #rottmnt #rise of the teenage mutant ninja turtles #sea turtle conservancy #zine #zine contribution #writing #save rottmnt #unpause rottmnt

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personne-writes · 2 months

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I just discovered foodtimeline.org, which is exactly what it sounds like: centuries worth of information about FOOD. If you are writing something historical and you want a starting point for figuring out what people should be eating, this might be a good place?

#reference #useful #reblog

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personne-writes · 2 months

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Resources For Writing Deaf, Mute, or Blind Characters

Despite the fact that I am not deaf, mute, or blind myself, one of the most common questions I receive is how to portray characters with these disabilities in fiction.

As such, I’ve compiled the resources I’ve accumulated (from real life deaf, mute, or blind people) into a handy masterlist.

Deaf Characters:

Deaf characters masterpost

Deaf dialogue thread

Dialogue with signing characters (also applies to mute characters.)

A deaf author’s advice on deaf characters

Dialogue between deaf characters

Mute Characters

Life as a Mute

My Silent Summer: Life as a Mute

What It’s Like Being Mute

21 People Reveal What It’s Really Like To Be Mute

I am a 20 year old Mute, ask me anything at all!

Blind Characters:

The 33 Worst Mistakes Writers Make About Blind Characters.

@referenceforwriters masterpost of resources for writing/playing blind characters.

The youtube channel of the wonderful Tommy Edison, a man blind from birth with great insight into the depiction of blind people and their lives.

An Absolute Write thread on the depiction of blind characters, with lots of different viewpoints and some great tips.

And finally, this short, handy masterpost of resources for writing blind characters.

Characters Who Are Blind in One Eye

4 Ways Life Looks Shockingly Different With One Eye

Learning to Live With One Eye

Adapting to the Loss of an Eye

Adapting to Eye Loss and Monocular Vision

Monocular Depth Perception

Deaf-Blind Characters

What Is It Like To Be Deafblind?

Going Deaf and Blind in a City of Noise and Lights

Deaf and Blind by 30

Sarita is Blind, Deaf, and Employed (video)

Born Deaf and Blind, This Eritrean American Graduated Harvard Law School (video)

A Day of a Deaf Blind Person

Lesser Known Things About Being Deafblind

How the Deaf-Blind Communicate

Early Interactions With Children Who Are Deaf-Blind

Raising a DeafBlind Baby

If you have any more resources to add, let me know! I’ll be adding to this post as I find more resources.

I hope this helps, and happy writing! <3

#useful #reference #reblog

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personne-writes · 2 months

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site that you can type in the definition of a word and get the word

site for when you can only remember part of a word/its definition

site that gives you words that rhyme with a word

site that gives you synonyms and antonyms

#helpful #reference #vocab #reblog

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personne-writes · 2 months

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Happy to finally share my entry for @abbeyofcyn's CTIYS! (With a tiny bit of complementary writing)

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Their colors

For the hundredth time that morning, Leonardo finds himself unable to keep from checking on each of the tots. He gives the eldest’s hand a squeeze, carefully readjusts the position of the youngest on his shell, tests the strings securing the twins. Satisfied, he nods and lets his eyes wander.

The weather is ideal for a hike. Everything is quiet and slow around them, and he realizes he’d almost forgotten the feeling of an air so pure. The sight of a sky so clear. As he gets lost in the deep blue expanding endlessly in all directions, something tugs at his heart, and he almost misses the rich, angry, vibrant colors of the sky he’s known for decades. The sky he left behind.

But then a tiny hand pulls at his fingers, brings him back to reality, and when his gaze comes down to the crest of the hills, he recognizes spots of their colors everywhere he looks. He sees reds in the foggy mountains in the distance, purples in the rocky edges and cliffs, oranges in the dry grass at his feet. A smile blooms on his face.

The people you’ve lost never really leave you, he thinks.

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Many many thanks to Cyn for hosting this Color-this-in-your-style! It's such a great concept. I find coloring pretty enjoyable, and if the amount of amazing entries is any indication, I'd say I'm not the only one!

#abbeyofctiys #abbeyofcyn #ctiys #coloring #writing #rottmnt #rise of the teenage mutant ninja turtles #leonardo #leo #f!leo

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personne-writes · 4 months

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HERE WE GO

The Zine is published

and available to purchase! For just $5, you'll get 110 pages of Raph and Mikey from Rise of the TMNT, and the best part? All of your money goes toward Sea Turtle Conservancy!

Buy it on ko-fi!

#IT'S OUT!!!#EVERYONE PLEASE CHECK THIS OUT #it's been such a pleasure to write for this zine as well!#rottmnt #rise of the teenage mutant ninja turtles #sunset duo #zine #sunset duo zine #rise of the tmnt #raphael #raph #mikey #michelangelo #rise raph #rise mikey #writing #reblog

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personne-writes · 4 months

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ALMOST THERE!!

Now that the holidays have calmed down, we are happy to say that the rest of the pins have arrived, and our books have safely made it to our shipping mod! We can now begin our next phase! But first-

🐢ADDRESS CHANGES🐢

We have sent an address change form in a email to all buyers to update information if needed! Please make sure to fill out said form by JANUARY 15th!

If you do not need to change information/bought a digital bundle/already emailed us then you do not need to fill out the form!

Cowabunga ninjas! We're almost there!

#THE BOOKS LOOK AMAZEBALLS #YAAAASSSSS #LET'S GOOOO #turtles together zine #tt zine #teenage mutant ninja turtles #tmnt #rise of the teenage mutant ninja turtles #rottmnt #mutant mayhem #mm #tmnt 2012 #tmnt 2003 #etc #reblog

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personne-writes · 5 months

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Sunset Duo Zine preview!

Here's a sneak peak at my contribution to the Sunset Duo Zine! A digital zine focusing on Rise Raph and Mikey ❤🧡 Proceeds will go to the Sea Turtle Conservancy 🐢

You can preorder the stickers on Ko-Fi. The zine will be released in January 2024!

[Transcription under the cut]

This is an evening like many others.

A breeze is blowing between the skyscrapers, the streets are bathed in the sun’s last hours.

Raphael likes this time of the day.

It reminds him of old habits and childish plays, an aftertaste of an era that’s been left to decay. A memory of the years he shared with his brothers.

Each step he takes there feels like falling apart.

#sunset duo zine #raph #mikey #writing #zine #rottmnt #rise of the teenage mutant ninja turtles #sea turtle conservancy #rise of the tmnt #tmnt

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personne-writes · 7 months

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⚠️ LAST CALL ⚠️

✅️ All TMNT iterations

✅️ 40 of your favorite artists

✅️ 7 of your most beloved writers

✅️ Charity zine for the Sea Turtle Conservancy

🐢 NOW'S THE TIME TO ORDER, DUDES! 🍕

CALLING ALL MUTANTS!

Preorders for Turtles Together close TONIGHT!! Do you like super cool fanmade merch, gorgeous fanart, and gripping fanfiction? If you do, get on in here, the water's fine!

🐢turtleszine.bigcartel.com🍕

#turtles together zine #tt zine #zine #teenage mutant ninja turtles #tmnt #rottmnt #rise of the teenage mutant ninja turtles #rise of the tmnt #mutant mayhem #mm #tmnt 2003 #tmnt 2012 #tmnt 1987 #and many more!#reblog

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personne-writes · 7 months

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some people think writers are so eloquent and good with words, but the reality is that we can sit there with our fingers on the keyboard going, “what’s the word for non-sunlight lighting? Like, fake lighting?” and for ten minutes, all our brain will supply is “unofficial”, and we know that’s not the right word, but it’s the only word we can come up with…until finally it’s like our face got smashed into a brick wall and we remember the word we want is “artificial”.

#writing tips #advice #useful #reblog

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personne-writes · 7 months

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The number of times I've tried to remember this omg

Aodusj sorry if this isn’t helpful or if it’s annoying but I just saw this photo and it’s really interesting and you seem to enjoy people helping your grammar so I thought I might as well show you

Oh. My god. I didn't know that THANK YOU SM

#helpful #advice #english #reblog

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personne-writes · 7 months

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YAASSS HERE I GO AGAIN

Next are the writers @frogs-in3-hills and @personne-reblogs

#don't mind me crying in a corner #drowned in delays #everything's fine #SUNSET DUO POWER BABY!!!#oh i love these two so much #sunset duo zine #zine #reblog

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personne-writes · 7 months

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Surprise attack!

I've had the immense honor and pleasure of writing a three pages long poem for the @turtlestogetherzine and I can finally share a snippet. It's been a captivating ride and I'm amazed at all the artists and writers I've seen at work all the while!

PRE-ORDERS ARE STILL OPEN! No matter your favorite iteration of the turtles, you're garanteed to find your blorbos in there, and what's more: every purchase helps supporting the Sea Turtle Conservancy. WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?

#turtles together zine #tt zine #tmnt #teenage mutant ninja turtles #rottmnt #rise of the teenage mutant ninja turtles #rise of the tmnt #tmnt 2012 #tmnt 2003 #mutant mayhem #mm #and many more!#writing

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personne-writes · 8 months

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Cheatcode 👀

I am a(n):

⚪ Male

⚪ Female

🔘 Writer

Looking for

⚪ Boyfriend

⚪ Girlfriend

🔘 An incredibly specific word that I can’t remember

#useful #reference #vocab #writing #thesaurus #cheatcode #maybe with this many different tags i'll be able to find it back when i need it lmfao #reblog

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personne-writes · 8 months

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Oh fuck

oh god oh fuck oh my fucking god

Rise August Art Challenge

I stumbled upon @sariphantom's Rise August Art Challenge and it really hyped me up! Sooo, here's a one-shot covering two prompts: "April O'Neil" and "Sleepover". YES, I am on time for the second prompt 😎 Enjoy!

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Weird

1600 words, no particular warning needed

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"Pass me the screwdriver, will you?"

Donnie lets his hand open in the air for a couple of seconds, then another, before wiggling his fingers. When, still, nothing comes, he increases the volume a notch.

"Screwdriver?"

No answer.

Not bothering to pull his goggles off, Donnie tears his eyes away from the Turtle Tank radio system to look at the figure standing beside him.

Leaning against the desk, April has her eyes locked on her phone, expression bored.

Shrugging, he makes a few steps to get the tool and gets back to the matter at hand. He is deep into focus again when she suddenly decides to talk, distracting him.

"Do you think I'm weird?"

The question is simple enough, and April’s voice is nothing but neutral. In reaction, Donnie's chuckle is immediate and genuine.

"Oh, that's a good one," he grins, amused, putting his welder down on the table.

"It is?" April asks.

"I don't know, April, you tell me!” he says as he tugs at a few wires to test them. “You're the one attracting extraordinary situations like a magnet."

"Right," she says, and something sounds off.

Lifting his goggles over his forehead this time, Donnie turns to her and notices the slightest frown on her face. The social behavior studies he despises must have gotten something right, because surely enough, Donnie feels himself frown in return.

"Oh snap," April jerks when her phone pings, "is it Wednesday already?!"

"Wednesday, August 16th," he provides absentmindedly.

"CRAP!" she shouts, straightening up and walking away in a rush. "My English assignment! Gottagobye-"

"See you later," Donnie calls after her, and stares at the empty doorway for a second or two.

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Later that day, the atrium of the lair is the theater of an impromptu brainstorming session.

"We wanted to go for another Sewer Tire Ride. Why not bring her along?" Raph cheerfully suggests. "Those are always fun times!"

"Except when some of us get separated from the group," Leo mumbles as he fiddles with his skateboard's wheels.

Mikey shakes his head with energy. "Guys, there's no way April will want to swim in the sewers."

"Plus," Donnie adds, "it's not exactly an activity I'd call normal."

"But she ain't exactly normal either," Raph remarks.

"Sheesh, Raph, you can't say to a girl she's weird," Mikey jokes, and misses the way Donnie flinches.

"Well, it's not the first time she frets about this stuff," Leo points out, holding his chin. "She could probably use something classic, for once."

"Aaand we're back at the beginning of the conversation," Donnie sighs in defeat.

"Let's focus for a second," Mikey says, holding one hand up in front of him, rubbing between his eyes with the other. "What's a thing we do that's both enjoyable and normal?"

The silence that follows is so dense they can almost see it with naked eyes.

"Okay then," Raph pushes, "what's a thing humans do that's both enjoyable and doable for us?"

"That eliminates everything sewers related," Donnie thinks aloud.

"And Turtle Tank related," Mikey adds.

"And heroes related," Raph pouts.

Leo snaps his fingers. "Ooh ho ho, I think I know just the thing!" he says in his best I'm-awesome-and-I-know-it voice, which makes everybody subconsciously tense. He flips his mask tails before making finger guns at his self proclaimed twin brother. "Donnie, you're loaded, right?"

Donnie cringes.

He doesn't like this.

He doesn't like this one bit.

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April’s conception of normality might be a bit skewed.

“I found Mayhem in the streets,” she’d told her parents when she’d first brought her new pet home. It’s a mutant dog thingie I picked in a mad goatman’s lab, she hadn’t said. And it also teleports, she most certainly hadn’t added.

“I’m going for a sleepover at my friends’!” she tells her parents now as she leaves with her backpack. You know, the giant turtles living in the sewers, she doesn’t say. Whose father is a rat formerly known as an action star movie, she definitely doesn’t add.

On her way to the nearest manhole, she tries to take a guess at whatever the plan might be, knowing full well it’s a lost battle. The boys have been rather vague with their invitation, like they often are. Hey, you should come over for pizza night, they say before dragging her in a maze of death. Yo April, wanna come see Leo make a fool of himself as a basketball mascot? they ask and then end up playing against a full team of mystic monsters. Not that she minds, really; she’d die before admitting it, but that maze pizza might’ve been the best she’s ever had, and she finds herself having fun all the way with whatever situation they get themselves into.

The thing is, there’s nothing in there that she can bring up in casual conversations with her classmates, which leads to her barely sharing any of her personal life at school. Which leads to her feeling like an outcast, at times.

April’s nature being what it is, she doesn’t mull over it. Right now, she’s quick to shake the blues away, and she’s excited as ever when she reaches the lair. The boys greet her with a glee she’s delighted to see, and they start speaking all at the same time, explaining they’re actually going out for the week-end. That’s hardly the first time something like that happens, April thinks, not reading too much into it - okay, maybe she’s getting a little suspicious over the Hamato family’s growing agitation. Raph’s hands are stimming, Leo and Mikey keep on interrupting each other, Donnie has his sacred board shorts on and Splinter is carrying an honest-to-God suitcase. With wheels.

She can’t help but squint skeptically when they leave the Turtle Tank in the garage and get in an old-school van instead - probably a rental car. Raph makes himself as small as he can to fit at the back of the van, and Donnie hits the road as soon as everyone’s settled. April’s wariness is short lived, though, with how easy it is to vibe with the pop music blasting on speakers; how funny it is to take sides when Raph and Leo fight over which song to put up next, how good it feels to join Mikey and Donnie as they sing their lungs out, or how amazed she is at the way Splinter recognizes the landscapes around them as they get out of New York.

April half expects their destination to be some kind of yokai residence, or maybe something along the lines of a mystic cave. She’s actually surprised when they pull up in front of a cute, cozy, perfectly typical little cottage next to a pond, lost in the middle of nowhere.

The boys jump out of the van like the seats have been burning their butts; April reminds herself they’ve probably never been driving for this long before. She’s glad to stretch her legs, too, and the excitement takes over her once more as they go exploring their house for the night, bickering over who gets to take which room, making “whoops” of victory with every new discovery in the closets and whistling in appreciation at the size of the bathroom, which looks like it can handle even Raph.

If April wasn’t so thrilled, she would marvel at how casually the whole week-end flows, at how domestic and relatable this sleepover is. She’s too busy hosting a cannonball competition in the pond to think about how different it feels from their clandestine dives into New York rooftops’ pools. Too busy decorating her homemade pizza to realize how common the ingredients are. She’s so focused on her Monopoly strategies to try and remember when was the last time she played board games with anyone, and she’s too captivated by the local frogs’ loud singing at night to bother with any kind of late evening existential questioning.

Her sleep is so sound that the rays of the sun aren’t enough to wake her up the next morning; she gives a silent nod to her past self for putting up an alarm and sneaks her way downstairs, fully intending on making breakfast for everyone. She revels in the way the smell of eggs and bacon wakes the whole house up, laughs at Leo’s repetitive yawns, puffs up at Mikey’s praises on her cooking. She smiles as Donnie instinctively checks his phone, forbids Splinter to wash the dishes - that’s the least she can do to express her gratitude - and joins Raph for a little morning jog around the pond. When they pack up again, each of them seems lighter than they had before the trip.

It’s only on their ride back to the city that it dawns on her. There are a lot of things they could’ve done differently this week-end. They could’ve gone to a mutants-friendly place, or gotten some fancy Hidden City pizza. They could’ve traveled with the help of Leo’s portals, or stayed in the lair for a movie night like they usually do. She knows how sincerely she would’ve enjoyed each of these options.

But the truth is that she’s glad for the road trip. She’s charmed with the cottage, and baffled with the simplicity of it all.

This is definitely something she could tell her classmates all about, if she wanted. And maybe she will, when the opportunity presents itself.

Right now, though, she’s just content to lay her head against Mikey’s shoulder and to drift off, lulled by the sound of Leo’s bragging about some imaginary victory at RISK and by the smoothness of Donnie’s driving.

From then on, they pick a new place to spend the week-end at least once a year, and they all look forward to those moments just as much as the Lair Games.

#GUYS WOULD YOU LOOK AT THAT #ART??#FOR MY ONE SHOT???#IT'S MORE LIKELY THAN YOU'D THINK #lux I can't express how grateful I am #THANK YOU!!!#writing #art #luxtoony #rottmnt #rise of the teenage mutant ninja turtles #self reblog

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