knocks on your door i have a fake fanfic title:

"Big, broken, Red heart"

My immediate thought is Future! Raph comic?? I've only seen like two of those smh HE DESERVES FUTURE FICS TOO!!!!

anyway, maybe F!Raph survives and he gets to go back in time??? Anyway he saves the timeline or whatever but fnds it too painful to stay with his family, as much as he wants to. So it's more about wanting vs not wanting to stay kinda deal?? mannn thining about hwo differently he would handle saving the timeline than F! Leo or any of their other bros might. Like he grabs present Loe and is just like ' I don't blame you for this. We were just kids. I get it now - you're a great leader when you lead the way YOU want to' orrrr smthn lke that? Like F!Raph understands now that Leo wasn't jsut being a brat, he was scared asf and was trying to lead the only way he could think of!! I have many thoughts on their dynamic in the movie okay :)

I'm not v good at writing Raph but I'll give it a go:

Raph's footsteps echoed through the tunnels, far louder than they had in his youth. He wasn't too late. He wasn't too late to fix this!

He bounded into the lair, shouting carrying through the subway tunnels back to him. He remembered this. it was one of those things he'd been thinking about since the kraang had taken over. How he and Leo didn't have to fight like this. Sure, Leo was egging him on, but Raph knew better now. He understood Leo so much more now that his little brother was gone.

Raph stopped at the top of the stairs, breaths coming out ragged and shallow. CJ wasn't here yet. But then again, he probably didn't know how to get to the lair. Raph would have to find him later - he had to do this now. The key - as much as he wanted to go for it on his own - it could wait. It could wait for him.

The shouting stopped at his entrance, his heavy breaths and footsteps giving him away. He'd long lost the sight in his right eye, but he could still see the vague shapes of himself and his brothers. He'd know them anywhere.

They leapt into action immediately, but Raph was faster than he used to be, even if he was getting on in years.

Mikey was fast and unpredictable, whipping his chuks out and immediately going for the capture. Raph knocked them away easy, grabbing the youngest out of the air and tossing him away. He was holding back, just a little. He didn't want to hurt them, after all. Leo was on him immediately, kicking off of his arm, portaling behind him and going for the back shot. Raph heard the static of the portal before it appeared, turning and grabbing Leo's outstretched leg. He flung him away, too, the slider crashing right into..himself. Younger Raph.

Donnie was suddenly in his face, his bo whipping through the air with a sharp sound and landing a blow on Raph's arm. It was sort of like being hit with a cardboard tube - he'd lost feeling in that arm years ago. He grabbed the bo and spun, Donnie backwards several feet and landing easily.

" Who are you!? How'd you find this place?" Donnie snarled, Leo reappearing next to him, " I didn't get any kind of notifications - the security system should have alerted us and lasered you into pieces!"

(mehhh idk what to put here)

Raph sighed deeply, his breath crackling in his chest. He squeezed Leo's shoulders, marveling at how tiny he used to be.

"Leo. Nothing that happens today is your fault. You can't take all the blame when Raph was arguin' back just as hard.." he chuckled, watching Leo's face change as he spoke, " You were just a kid. Hell, we were all just kids thrown into a shitty situation..."

He swallowed thickly, unsure what to say. He'd always been shit at pep talks.

" Look, you got a good head on your shoulders. You lead however ya need to and Raph will back off a little....he's just scared, Lee. And I know you are, too"

Raph pulled him into a tight hug, Leo's arms hesitantly coming up and squeezing him back. Raph turned to his past self. H looked tired. Did Raph himself always look that tired?

He guessed it was the burden of responsibility from a young age, Yeah, that would tire anyone out.

"c'mere, kiddo" Raphael pulled his past self into a hug, the fact that he was so small comapred to Raphael making something fragile in his chest curl up and cry a little. Right, they were all just kids.

" I'm sorry ya had to carry everyone like that...I know how hard it is. Leo's gonna be a fine leader, okay? Just..learn ta talk to him" He murmured, " I know we've never been great at that kinda thing, but he'll get it. I promise he'll get it"

Hello!! Are you still doing the WIP game? If you are, either King and Court or Love is Never Lost - you choose! If not, no worries! Hope you're having a good day! :)

I am indeed, lovely! Soemone else asked about Love's Never Lost so I'll tell you about King & Court! ((WiP ask game is here!)

It's set early on in the series, and is basically about Merlin deciding to make sure Lancelot stays as a knight, and how that affects the politics of Camelot and gathers Arthur's knights to him sooner. I've got about 15 chapters in my drafts over on Patreon at teh moment, and it's probably going to be the fic I focus on after Hiraeth!

Summary: Loneliness is an insidious thing. When Merlin looks at Arthur, he sees not just a prince waiting for his time to rule, but a young man struggling to find his place in the world, with little help from anyone else.

The truth is, Arthur needs more than the friendship Merlin can offer. He needs people he can trust: men and women who will become his court and his confidants, and if he is going to survive to take the throne and lead Camelot into its golden age, he needs them sooner rather than later.

Finding loopholes in Uther’s laws is no easy feat. Court life is a dangerous game, but it’s one Merlin has every intention of winning so that Arthur can have knights of his choosing by his side.

And then there is the matter of his magic…

And a snippet below the cut, to spare people's dashes a bit! From chapter eight, jsut after the griffin has been slain.

If he were a less honourable man, Arthur would have downplayed Lancelot's achievements to the King. Honesty did not earn him any favour with his father, who had swiftly demanded to know in their too-short meeting why it was not Arthur himself who had claimed the glory. There had been no pride to be found in explaining that he had been unconscious, or that a handful of knights had lost their lives. There was nothing chivalrous in the petty thought that if only his father had listened, perhaps those same knights would be alive when the dawn came. Instead, when he left the throne room, it was with the familiar, sick sensation of failure dogging his heels. Uther's praise was rare at best, and his disappointment never failed to wound. He felt bad enough knowing he would have to tell Merlin that the King had decided a paltry purse was reward enough for Lancelot's bravery. Perhaps the man himself would be grateful, but Arthur did not want to bear the idea of Merlin's face, pinched and pained, as if he felt Lancelot's disappointment twice as harshly. He thought back to what he had seen when the Griffin was slain: the two men standing toe-to-toe, Lancelot's hand firm and sure around Merlin's shoulder. Arthur had been too addled and far off to make out what he was saying, but he knew the tone well: heartfelt and rich with sincerity, he employed it himself when making his most solemn oaths. Whatever Lancelot had been saying to Merlin, he had meant every word, and something deep in Arthur's gut panged at the possibilities. Then there had been what he had thought he had heard last night, on the very cusp of slumber. A dream, he had decided: a blow to the head and a stressful night ganging up on him to make him imagine things, but why that? Why of all things had his fuddled mind imagined Merlin confessing to magic? He shoved the thought aside before it could do more than flash through his head. He refused to give it any consideration. Camelot was a lethal place for anyone to come under the suspicion of sorcery. Even a hint of it was enough to sentence a man to death. Enough to sentence Merlin.

Chris: We’re going to try come back to RPing

Our cat, a day later: Is dying on the kitchen floor, seizing and twitching from what is likely organ failure

Me: No we fucking ain’t apparently