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adelrambles · 5 months

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Tips on Writing Bishop

I've been asked a couple times for advice on how to write a good (03-style) Bishop, and I'm well-aware he can be a bit tough to get a grasp on. As someone who's studied him specifically to learn how to write him as accurately as possible, I figured I'd compile some thoughts in case it'd be helpful to anyone else. I know a lot of Rise takes on him are basing off the 03 version, so maybe this could help generate ideas, too. SO!

Big Overall Points!

At the core of EVERYTHING Bishop does are two primary motivations. The first: the protection of the earth. What this means to him can get tricky, because it doesn't necessarily mean protecting the people, at least not all of them. But it will be better understood alongside the other:

The second: The protection of his sense of safety. Bishop has been deeply traumatized, and everything he does is born of a want to avoid that pain ever again. In his mind, earth is a safe area, a controllable factor, and anything outside it is a danger that must be eliminated. This is why he will still be willing to put himself and other people on the line in service of this; any sacrifice is worth the greater goal. (It's worth noting, Bishop will claim the first as his motivation freely, but is likely not consciously aware of the second.)

Bishop deals in Big Picture ONLY. Another reason Bishop will willingly throw away anything, including the lives of the people he claims to protect, is that he seems incapable of understanding things on a small, individual basis.

Bishop is a cold personality. He does not have strong displays of emotion. He does emote, but for the most part it's muted, so I recommend using emotional bursts very sparingly. (In my own writing, as an example, I try to limit my use of exclamation marks in his dialogue as much as possible.)

At his core, Bishop is afraid, and his response to fear is aggression. This also makes it particularly difficult to talk him down, if he's put in an emotional state. His response to not being in control is often violent retaliation.

With those basic tenants understood, let's move next to some major personality traits:

Bishop is a controlling personality. This is a direct result of his trauma response. Things that can be controlled are safe, therefore he must control everything. If something cannot be controlled, it's a threat that must be eliminated. If he doesn't know why something happened, he becomes angry (including even when it benefits him.)

Bishop is very low-empathy. When writing him, I try to keep in mind that he cannot put himself in the perspective of others. (Or if he can, he doesn't care to.)

Bishop is a sadist. He gets personal enjoyment from hurting others.

Bishop likes fighting, but only when he's winning. He will quickly leave if he can't see a guaranteed victory.

Bishop is paranoid. This is probably self-evident, but it's the reason he's often so well-prepared even when things don't go to plan.

Bishop genuinely seems to enjoy science. He's shown to be far more lenient with scientist characters than anyone else, and he seems to involve himself in his scientists' projects to a degree. Enough to, at the very least, understand their work. (Given he was the one set to dissect the turtles, it might also be argued he has some medical or biology background, himself.)

Bishop is an opportunist and scavenger. He can roll with failures as long as he can find something to get out of it. If he's presented with an opportunity to stab someone in the back, and he has something to gain? He'll take it without a second thought.

Bishop is deeply self-blind. For all his perceptiveness and strategic prowess, Bishop is not very self-aware in the slightest. He is completely blind to his own hypocrisies, and thoroughly confident in his own righteousness.

Bishop adapts fast. He accepts situations for what they are and acts (Though he may still be angry about them, or what have you.) This is likely a skill developed via longevity; the world around him has changed rapidly, but he doesn't feel out of place at all.

Bishop will take extreme risks and thinks wildly outside the box. Also self-evident, if you're familiar with the plans he enacts throughout the show. He'll put a lot on the line if he thinks the reward is worth enough, and he's willing to go to extreme lengths to get what he wants, even if his plans would be considered crazy by normal standards.

Bishop is persistent. If he wants something, he won't stop until he gets it. If he fails, he'll retreat, make a new plan, and try again. It is very difficult to convince him to back down (and certainly not on moral grounds.)

Habits and triggers I've noted:

Being restrained of any sort puts Bishop in a panic. He is more likely to have an emotional response in these scenarios, and seems to have (an albeit muted) desperation to escape. (See: Leatherhead restraining him in the first encounter; His reaction to being trapped on the surgical table in Head of State.)

When being duplicitous or suppressing a reaction, Bishop will go to adjust his tie. This could possibly be considered his tell.

Bishop seems to have a particular fear of aliens blending in as humans. His slayer project was built around the assumption that this is a common threat. (Worth noting: This makes The Shredder the model of the exact threat Bishop is afraid of. Technically, Bishop himself may also fit the description of a threat shaped like a human.)

Writing considerations:

In 03's narrative, Bishop is EPF and EPF is Bishop. Narratively speaking, any organization Bishop is head of acts as if it is an extension of his will and character.

Bishop is shown to strike fear and/or discomfort into most characters he interacts with. Anything beyond this is an outlier, and will draw a reader's attention.

Dialogue-wise, Bishop is generally succinct and blunt. He does dabble in gloating, though, and especially likes to upset others. If he's given a chance to be mean, he'll usually take it. It can help to consider he has a Mission Mode and a Normal Mode. When it comes to Mission Mode, he gets straight to the point and hates unnecessary talking. Otherwise, he's still not very talkative, but will take the time to make pointed jabs or talk through a plan. A lot of his sense of humor seems to be rooted in how He's Better Than You (And You're Going To Die Painfully.)

It's a common pitfall that Bishop is depicted as seeking out the turtles. In 03, once he gets their DNA, he's done with them. Any encounters after that are incidental. Bishop does not care about anything that won't effect his greater goal. If he's targeting another character, it should have to do with a greater plan.

Bishop is an extremely competent combatant, shown to be able to handle up to 7 opponents at once. For a breakdown on his fighting style check out my other post on that!

Bishop is hard to kill, and oftentimes he accidentally contributes to his own defeat. (The hook from Bishop's Gambit is an example I get a LOT of mileage out of, as a perfect symbol of his self-defeating prophecies.)

We almost only ever see Bishop in the context of his work. While it could be construed that he depersonalizes himself, it's much more clear that the narrative depersonalizes him. As far as we, the audience know, Bishop's work is all that he is.

It's unclear if Bishop was released from his abduction or escaped. Depending on which you ascribe to, this can have ramifications for his mindset on how to deal with the alien threat. (Personally, because so much of his inability to cope hinges on a feeling of helplessness, I believe he was released. If he escaped on his own power, that undercuts it, somewhat.)

Thematically-speaking, Bishop parallels both his own torturers and his own victims at the same time. He has perpetuated the cycle that traumatized him in the first place by trying to fight fire with fire. (In that vein, I don't think he's capable of understanding that, not seeing aliens as people in the first place, just dangers. Considering how deeply ingrained his trauma is in his worldview and actions, it would probably ruin him, if he were ever able to actually grasp it.)

Bishop and EPF are likely a commentary on the military of the time 03 was coming out. This can be something worth keeping in mind, when figuring out his greater themes in your story, though it can just as well be discarded if it doesn't fit.

Adding to that, Bishop has an extensive american military background. His skills and knowledge will reflect that.

Bishop also plays on and references a number of real-life alien conspiracies. It can be worth digging through conspiracy history to drum up ideas and themes, too.

The ethical and philosophical quandaries of Bishop's body-hopping and humanity tend to not hold too much weight, because Bishop, himself, doesn't seem to care.

If I think of more I'll certainly be adding on to the reblogs of this post! Or, if you have more thoughts, please feel free to add! If you're in the mood for more Bishop ramblings, that's practically most of this blog atm, but this post is a particular favorite. If you're interested in Fast Forward!Bishop, specifically, consider this post! (also read Taking Pawns. slipped in that self-promo, nice.)

#agent bishop #tmnt 2003 #tmnt 2k3 #teenage mutant ninja turtles #And man I still gotta make an analysis on 2012 Bishop #my man is so underrated #There are only a handful of fics out there that include him at ALL and for the most part I find he's blended with 03's characterization #Which takes away what makes him fun in his own right and muddies 03 Bishop's character basis imo #anyway I had this post on the backburner for a while and finally got the motivation to finish her up #And of course if ever there are more questions on characterizing him I'd be happy to help! I love rambling about this guy ad nauseum #oooh stray thought I should do one for Rat King too. Went through that guy's episodes recently theyre GREAT #I've also been very tempted to compile most of these posts into a big ol video essay. idk if I could pull it off but it sure is an idea

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redstringraven · 2 years

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TMNT-tober: day 6 - fears

i sometimes remember leo looked a literal cosmic horror in the eyes and just said

“nah”

#tmnttober #tmnttober2022 #tmnt 2003 #tmnt 2k3 #tmnt leonardo #;hannah draws #;tmnt #;leonardo #[ i've been relistening to season 3 of malevolent while finishing this ]#[ appropriate ]#[ draws the horrors whilst listening to the horrors ]#[ also this thing is canonly still alive in 03 and no one did anything with it so i GUESS I GOTTA-- ]

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from-the-clouds · 1 year

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texas sun - joel miller x f!reader - vol. ii

series masterlist | series playlist | writing masterlist | previous chapter

chapter summary: Joel tries, and fails, to keep Sarah away from you, and you get to know the family across the street a little bit better. It’s a slow burn, so let the yearning begin, baby! pairing: pre-outbreak!joel miller x f!reader words: 7.7k chapter warnings: some light angst, alcohol use, references to marijuana use, parental neglect. divorce mention, implied age gap. reader has daddy issues - shocker! a/n: Was absolutely floored by the love on part one. Seriously you all are the best. I hate doing chapter summaries because I don't like giving away too much info, so I'd suggest just reading this. This story might end up being a longer than six parts, because I don't want to rush anything and it's been really fun to write these relationships as they form! Let me know what you think :)

-March 25th, 2003-

Joel cannot keep Sarah away from you.

Unfortunately, he can’t blame her. Unlike him, she doesn’t need an excuse to show up on your doorstep after school and on the weekends to be in your company. Still, he doesn’t technically know you that well, and he imagines you didn’t intend to see her as often as you did after extending some kindness to his family for one night.

Despite the two of you having not spoken since you helped him with the Tommy situation, Joel feels like he knows you, or is getting to know you, just from the snippets of information Sarah drops to him, which is then followed by a barrage of questions.

“Do you know she grew up in New York City? Have you ever been there?”

“She gave me her old tennis racket. Do you think I could start taking lessons?”

“She says her brother got her front-row tickets to The Strokes last year. You like them, don’t you?”

Joel decides to give Sarah a talking to about her tendency to wander over to your house whenever she sees your car in the driveway. Perhaps you are just being friendly, and feel bad saying no each time she’s asked to come in. He tries to broach the subject with her one morning in the kitchen while she’s eating breakfast. They’re already running behind, her for school, himself for work, but neither of them are in a rush. If you’re already late, what’s an extra ten minutes?

“Take it easy, alright? She might not want company after a long day at work,” Joel leans over the countertop, hand wrapped around a mug of hot coffee, watching her shovel cereal in her mouth.

“Dad, she said I could come over whenever,” It’s accompanied by an eye roll, which is a new thing that had started about six months back. Teenagers. Well, almost teenagers. She’s still the sweet kid he’s always known, he’s just playing with fire trying to talk to her at seven in the morning, an indent on the side of her face still fading from where she slept on a crumpled pillow.

Joel was at least grateful that she did have occasional company on nights when he was working late. It made him feel better to know Sarah wasn’t alone.

“What do you even do over there?”

“Homework, reading….watching TV.”

“So the same thing you do here?”

Sarah thinks about it. “Well, no, because she’s teaching me to knit.”

“And what does she do while you do your homework?”

“She works too. Or makes calls.” Sarah smiles a little. “It sounds like people ask her for advice a lot. She does give good advice.”

“Better than mine?” Joel holds his hand over his heart with mock offense.

Sarah groans. “Relax, don’t get jealous…there’s just stuff I can talk to her about and not you. Girl stuff.”

“Girl stuff? What like, boys?”

“No, you wouldn’t get it.”

“I was a boy once.”

“Ew, dad, gross.”

“How is that gross?”

“Just- not everything is about boys, okay?”

Joel isn’t going to argue with that, and Sarah eventually goes back to finishing her cereal.

“Alright babygirl,” he raps his knuckles on the counter after he’s finished his coffee. “I’ve gotta load up the truck, and you better get going, or I’m gonna get an earful from Miss Davis.” He grabs his keys and his wallet, then yanks a baseball cap over his mess of hair that’s long overdue for a haircut.

“Oh, I bet she would love an excuse to talk to you,” Sarah slides out of her seat with her empty bowl and marches towards the sink to rinse it out, grabbing his empty mug on the way.

“What do you mean?”

“Don’t you remember how giggly she was at parent-teacher conferences?” Sarah says. “I’ve never seen her so happy before.”

It’s Joel’s turn to roll his eyes. He’d pegged it as unusual, but never considered it was because Miss Davis was into him. He wishes Sarah isn’t so….observant.

Over the years, Joel has basically kept his head down, doing his best to keep things together. Because of that, he feels like he’s sort of lost his ability to pick up on when women are interested in him. And it’s safe to say, in general, he’s had a pretty uneventful love life since Sarah’s mom left.

For the most part, he got by on flings — one night stands, casual no-strings-attached arrangements that always fizzled out. Joel had never been a man who liked that sort of thing, and ultimately craved a deeper level of intimacy, companionship, but he had trouble sustaining anything more. And even when he thinks of the more serious relationships he’d had over the years, those were also never completely satisfying.

The fact of the matter was that when you had a kid, you weren’t just looking for someone for yourself anymore. For most people, introducing their partner to their parents is always a big deal. But for Joel, it was always introducing girlfriends to Sarah. Over the last decade he’d only ever introduced her to three different women, and at that point he had usually been dating them secretly for several months before deciding that it was serious enough. It always felt like he was trying so desperately to ensure they liked each other. But he could tell that Sarah was never quite comfortable with any of them. And when they’d start asking about moving in, marriage, and babies — he’d always panic. It was reasonable for them to want those things, hell, he wanted those things. But it had to be the right person. He knew he couldn’t bring someone into his life, forever, that didn’t love Sarah like a parent should. Like he did. No one ever would, and because of that, he knows there’s a good chance it’ll just be the two of them forever.

So, even if Sarah’s teacher, as cute as she was, were to ask him out, he would never be able to go. But less for the latter reasons, and more because he knows he’d never hear the end of it from her.

“Alright, that’s enough. I’m leaving in five minutes…with or without you.”

“Nooo!” Sarah screams in mock panic, scrambling upstairs to brush her teeth.

Joel exits through the garage, grabbing a few extra tools from his workbench that he needs for the job today and a saw.

When he opens the garage door, the harsh sunlight is the first thing to greet him, and then he sees you.

You’re in your driveway across the street, barefoot and in a short, black silk robe that’s cinched at the smallest part of your waist. Next to you is a man in a suit, holding a briefcase and trying to straighten his tie. He can’t do both at the same time, though, so he pauses and turns to you, murmurs something, and you slow to help him, your fingers wrapping around the tie, tightening where it’s looped around his neck and tucking it into place, straightening his lapel before stepping away. The type of domesticity that doesn’t happen with a one-night-stand.

It makes sense, he thinks. That you’re with someone like that. It’s the world you’re in all day. And even though he’s standing in his own fucking driveway, Joel feels like he’s seeing something he’s not supposed to. Or maybe, he just doesn’t want to be seeing it.

Joel tears his eyes away, putting his stuff in the back of the truck – the toolkit, the saw, glancing over to see the man kiss you on the lips and mutter something unintelligible before getting in a shiny, blue sports car. You nod, offer an easy smile, and stoop to pick up the newspaper. The car's engine roars to life, and you cross your arms, looking after it until it peels out of the cul-de-sac.

The bashful smile you’re wearing drops instantly once it’s out of sight, and he watches you pinch the bridge of your nose, and tilt your head back to the sky.

He turns before he gets caught, and slams the back of the truck shut, which is a little ignorant in hindsight. Joel looks over his shoulder to see your attention has shifted, and you’re shielding your eyes and squinting at him.

Great.

“Hey Joel,” you wave, your opposite hand pulling at the bottom of your robe, in a futile attempt to cover yourself. You look good, obviously, but it makes Joel feel a little guilty to make the observation because it’s clear you didn’t actually intend to be seen like this.

“Morning,” he answers.

“Where’ve you been?” you ask, crossing your arms across your chest.

“Busy. Work.”

“That’s no fun but…same here, I guess,” You shuffle forward hesitantly.

Joel takes a beat to think about what he’s supposed to say in response, but doesn’t get the chance, because you speak up again.

“Hey uh, not to put you on the spot, but were you actually serious about fixing my step the other night?” you ask.

Before he can answer, you continue.

“It’s okay if you weren’t, but I twisted my ankle on it the other day, so I need to get it fixed before that happens to someone else. I was thinking maybe I’d just call-”

“No-”

“It’s no big deal if you can’t-”

“No,” Joel cuts you off. He had been biding his time, waiting for the right opportunity to bring it up to you, not realizing that taking said time probably made him look like an asshole. “Don’t call anyone else, I can do it. How about Friday night? Will you be around?”

“Friday?” you answer, pondering. “Yeah, that works. I have a friend from out of town coming to visit, so I’ll be home early because I’ve gotta pick her up from the airport.”

“Alright, I’ll try to cut out early, too.”

“And also I can pay-”

“Stop it, I”ve got you, don’t worry,” he waves his hand.

You smile at Joel. He’s sure it means nothing, but he gets some satisfaction from how sincere it is compared to the one you’d given the guy you had been escorting out of your home.

He feels himself grinning back, and you open your mouth to speak, but are cut off by the sound of his screen door slamming. Sarah stumbles down the steps, backpack hanging off one shoulder, headphones to her walkman around her ears, holding her bright pink windbreaker in one hand and a book in the other. She looks at Joel, then you, standing in your driveway, and her face lights up as she calls your name.

“Hey, Sarah,” you wave.

Sarah opens her mouth to speak, and Joel knows whatever she’s going to say will start a much longer conversation that unfortunately they just don’t have the time for.

“She’s gotta get to school,” Joel tilts his head in the direction of his daughter before she can say anything. “But I’ll get that done Friday.”

“See you then!” You turn on your heel, and he looks away for a second to Sarah before glancing back in your direction, and you’re already gone, the only evidence you were there being your front door slamming shut.

Joel waits until he and Sarah are in the car on their way to school before he speaks again.

“She’s never mentioned a boyfriend or anything, has she?”

Sarah doesn’t even look up from her book. “No.”

Joel nods, and it’s quiet for a moment.

He hears Sarah’s book shut. “Why?” she turns to him, and she’s got her eyes narrowed, like she’s trying to figure out what the question really meant. He’s never seen her make that face before, and it’s a little terrifying, because it looks like she could see right through him.

Joel wracks his brain for a good enough excuse. “If she has people over, I don’t want you hangin’ around adults I don’t know.”

That seems to satisfy Sarah, and the skeptical look on her face disappears. If anything, she seems slightly annoyed by the comment, which is definitely preferable. “Well, you don’t have to worry about that because it’s never happened.” Sarah plays with the dials on the radio, changing the station until it lands on one playing The Chicks, her favorite group. She hums along to the song, filling in the gaps whenever the radio cuts out, and looks out the window.

“Alright.”

─── ･｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

-March 28th, 2003-

“Oh, I wanna come!” Sarah jumps up from the couch and joins Joel in the entryway. It’s Friday evening, and he’s about to head out the door to your place.

“You’re stayin’ in tonight.”

“What? Why?”

“Well first of all, you’re grounded, in case you don’t remember.”

“You don’t even know what that means, though.”

Joel shakes his head, because she’s right. He’s never had to ground Sarah before, but when he’d gotten a call from her teacher that she had failed her last math quiz, and was close to not passing the class, he figured it was an appropriate punishment. “I’m pretty sure it means you can’t leave the house.”

“But this is barely leaving the h-”

“Second of all,” he cuts her off. “She told me earlier this week she’s got a friend visiting, so it’d be rude to intrude if that’s the case.”

Sarah groans, throws her head back, and falls onto the couch dramatically. “But I’m so bored.”

“You could study. Practice dribbling, clean your room, clean your bathroom-”

“Dad, it’s literally Friday night.”

“And?”

“All that stuff is so boring.”

Joel can’t help but chuckle. “Look, when I get back we can watch a movie. This won’t take long.”

She sits up a little, placated. “Okay, but it’s my turn to pick.”

“Deal. I’ll be home in an hour or so,” he steps out onto the porch.

There’s a special kind of glow in Texas about an hour before the sun sets. Warm light filters behind the trees, casting the leaves and anything else it catches in a golden halo. Joel takes in the view for a moment as he walks across the street, skipping the rotten step and knocking on your front door.

You answer it quickly. “Hey, you wanna come in?”

Joel supposes he doesn’t have to, and could just let you know he’s here, stay out on the front porch and just get the job done, but he accepts your invitation anyway.

There’s another woman sitting cross-legged on the couch, two half-full glasses of wine on your coffee table, music playing low on some speakers in the corner. The front windows are open, despite the chill of the evening, and your sheer curtains billow in the breeze.

“Claire, this is my neighbor, Joel,” you say. “He’s helping me out with the steps. His daughter’s Sarah, the one I was telling you about. ”

“Oh, yeah.” Claire’s face lights up in recognition. “Joel. Nice to meet you.”

“You too,” he nods.

“Claire’s visiting from New York. We grew up together,” you explain.

“Oh, yeah?”

“Her and I were roommates at boarding school,” Claire explains, finishing off a glass of wine. “We got into a lot of trouble together.”

“Hmmm, if I recall, it was more like you got me into trouble, but sure,” you say.

“You were bad, if not worse, than I was.”

Joel smirks, and you turn to him, changing the subject. “She’s jetlagged, so we’re just staying in for the night.”

“But…we’re still getting drunk, obviously.”

“Oh yeah, that too,” you say flatly, although to Joel, you don’t seem drunk at all. Luckily, your friend answers his question with her next sentence.

“This one isn’t very good at keeping up, though,” Claire tilts her head in your direction, then finishes off the glass of wine in her hand.

“You sound like Vincent,” you roll your eyes.

“Oh, how is Vincent?”

“Wouldn’t you like to know?” you cross your arms and look at Joel. “She always had the biggest crush on my brother, and it was dis-gus-ting.”

“To be fair,” Claire clears her throat. “At the time, he was pretty dreamy. And if we’re being honest….he still is…too bad he’s married.”

“Divorced, actually. But still…” You wrinkle your nose. “Gross.”

“Divorced?” Claire sits up, jaw dropping. “When? Why didn’t you tell me? What happened?”

You raise your hands and shake your head, like it’s too much to get into. “It’s a long story. I’ll tell you about it later. Sorry, we’re being rude,” you turn back to Joel. “Can I get you anything? Want some wine?”

“I would, but it doesn’t usually mix well with power tools,” Joel answers. “I should be good, though, I brought everything I need.”

“Great well… I’ll let you get to it, then.” you pad across the floor to return to your friend on the couch. “We’ll be in here if you need anything.”

“Sounds good,” Joel nods at you and your friend before stepping back out onto the porch.

The screen door shuts behind him, and the birds are quieting down for the night. He only has a little bit of sunlight left, but this shouldn’t take him long. Just as he is about to get started, he hears your friend’s voice, muffled, from inside the house.

“Okay, I thought you were lying because your taste in men is usually questionable, but you’re right, he is really cute.”

“Dude,” you interject, and Joel hears a sound of impact, like a smack on the arm. “Lower your voice the fucking windows are open.” Claire starts giggling, and you continue. “You know you don’t have to say, like, every thought that comes into your head.”

He hears your friend laugh even harder, and eventually you join her. Joel shakes his head, but even after he starts working, can’t keep the grin off his face.

─── ･｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

-April 5th, 2003-

It has been the longest week of your life. Work had been hectic – you’d spent the last five days going to so many meetings and dinners with potential clients that you had almost no time to do your actual job. Plus, your visit from Claire had already wiped out nearly all your energy, since you had spent the whole last weekend showing her around Austin, entertaining.

Normally, on a Saturday like today, you’d do a number of things – the first of which would be to sleep the fuck in. The ideal schedule would go something like this: You’d get out of bed in the early afternoon and immediately order some kind of takeout – most likely pho, or ramen, or some other type of soup. You’d get high, eat the takeout, and then watch TV until you’re tired enough to go back to bed in the early evening. If you’re feeling motivated at all, you might change into a fresh pair of pajamas before you crash again. It would be the ultimate lazy day, and you had desperately wanted it.

However, the past version of yourself had made plans to play tennis in the morning with some friends, and then check out a new breakfast place in the city. Sometimes you hated how optimistic she was about your ability to wake up before 10 a.m. While you weren’t excited to play tennis, you were excited that there was, at some point, going to be food involved.

So you dragged your ass out of bed, rifled through a box of clothing in your garage (one that you still had yet to unpack) to find a tennis skirt and visor, and then got in your car to go play all before 8 a.m. Then, you’d had your ass handed to you by your friends on the court. It was a little humbling to realize that you weren’t very good at tennis anymore. The last time you’d seriously played was when you were still in school, and you’d originally started because your father had wanted you to be involved in an extracurricular activity. According to him at the time, anything involving the arts – music, dance, drama – didn’t count. You had challenged this idea, and it had escalated to become one of the top ten worst fights you’d ever had with him. After that, you had learned that it was better to just do as you were told.

You’d joined the tennis team, and started to pick up on how intrigued your father was by the trophies and ribbons you’d bring home when you did well. He started to ask you questions when he saw them, pat you on the head and say things like ‘that’s my girl’. Regardless of whether or not you liked playing, you had finally found a way to earn his attention. So, you got better. One time, he even came to your school to watch one of your matches. Of course, when you lost that one, it all kind of crumbled. But you still stuck to the sport since that’s what all your friends were doing, even if it didn't get you what you wanted.

On the drive home from your morning out, belly full of breakfast and ready for a nap, thinking of your family brings about a terrifying realization.

You look at your phone. Shit.

April 5th.

Immediately, you dial a number on your cell. You’re aware of the dangers of talking while driving but you know if you don’t make this call, you’ll never hear the end of it. The line only rings twice before it’s picked up.

“Hello?”

“Vincenzo!” you say with your best – but probably horrible – attempt at an Italian accent.

“Well, well, well….if it isn’t the estranged daughter…” the familiar timbre of your brother's voice answers. “To what do I owe the pleasure?”

You roll your eyes. “Well first of all, fuck off…” We're off to a great start. “...and second of all…Happy Birthday.”

You hear your brother’s chuckle on the other end of the line, a noise that you’d been on the wrong side of – laughing at you, not with you – more than once, but your heart aches a little at the sound of it now. I miss you, you wish you could say, but you keep it to yourself.

“Thanks, I’m surprised you remembered,” he says, lightly.

“I’ve never forgotten.”

“There was that one year-”

“Oh my god, I was like twelve.”

“You were fourteen.”

“Okay, well, sorry…It’s been over ten years and it hasn’t happened since.”

“It feels like you’ve forgotten more than once, but that might just be because it’s pretty much the only time you ever call me these days,” Vincent says, and if you were with him, in person, you’d be able to tell by the look in his eyes whether or not he was joking. But over a cell, you’re not sure at all.

“That’s not true,” you say, turning your car into your neighborhood. “But I mean, the phone does work both ways.”

“Yeah, yeah, whatever,” you catch something flippant in his tone.

“Do you want this to be a nice conversation or are you gonna be an asshole?” you ask, maybe a little too matter-of-factly, but at least you can determine whether or not it’ll be a waste of your time to try and be cordial. If he’s in a bad mood, you know it’s pointless.

“Relax,” he says, and you hear a hint of the teenage boy you once knew. “You’re always so ready to argue with me, I’m joking.”

“Very funny,” you say, and try to be nice about it, because deep down, you know Vincent is right. You don’t talk to your brother enough to argue with him when you do speak. You take a deep breath to steady yourself. “So what are you doing on your big day? Anything special?”

“Nothing really special, I worked out, had lunch with a friend, and I think I’m having dinner with Elizabeth tonight.”

“Oh…really? Elizabeth?” At the mention of his soon-to-be ex-wife – or maybe current ex-wife? You’re not sure – you’re surprised.

“Yeah she and I are uh….talking still, I guess. For Ethan, mostly, but…I don’t know…the divorce isn’t finalized, and I think now that I’m seeing a therapist and shit, maybe we can work something out. We’ll see.”

“And do you want to work something out?”

“I mean, she’s only the love of my life so yeah, it’d be great.”

“I think so, too. How is Ethan, by the way?”

“Oh he’s great,” you hear your brother’s smile over the phone. “Just a big ball of energy, and so fucking smart. He told me he misses you the other day.”

Your heart lurches at the mention of your sweet, five-year-old nephew. “You’ll have to tell him I said hi, and that I love him.”

“Yeah, yeah, I will,” he answers. “You know, next weekend I’m having a proper birthday party. We’re all going to the Hamptons. I could fly you out here, you could tell him in person.”

“I can’t, I got shit to do,” you answer a little too quickly, turning the car into your cul-de-sac.

“What uh, your little corporate gig keeping you busy?”

There’s a subtle dig in there, little.

“Maybe.”

“I’m telling you, all I have to do is phone a friend, and we’ll find you something here that’ll pay a thousand times better and won’t have you working weekends.”

“I don’t work weekends,” you say, pulling into your driveway. “And I’m not interested.”

“You like making yourself miserable, don’t you?”

“Vinny,” you say, exasperated, putting your car in park. “I’m happy here.”

“In Texas? I don’t believe it,” he says. “And you know, at this point, you’ve proven whatever you wanted to dad. After everything you’ve done, he probably respects you. Like, you did it. You cut yourself off, you made a name for yourself, you don’t need us anymore. Congratulations, amazing. I get it. But you should come home now.”

“Vincent,” you repeat yourself. “I’m not going back. You know what it was like for me. For you.”

“You’re my fucking family too, you know? You can’t just let him control every decision you make,” he says, and he’s not quite yelling at you, but he is sounding a lot more stern than he was before. “And by the way, it wasn’t so bad. You and I always got along.”

“Even if I move back, things will never be like they were.”

“You don’t know that.” he says it with such a deep sadness in his voice that you want to take back every cruel thing you’d ever said to him – not just from today, from forever. And then he speaks again. “You know, you used to be so sweet when we were kids….I don’t know what happened.”

I do, you think. “I had to look out for myself.”

Before he can respond, you change the subject. “Anyways, you should move out here instead,” it’s only halfway a joke.

“I’m not leaving New York.”

“Well, I’m not leaving Austin.”

“Well…” he says, clicks his tongue. “Then I guess things’ll just stay this way.”

“I guess so.”

You wish you could offer more. But he has never understood. The silence on the other line is so loud, your ears are ringing.

“Look, I just pulled in my driveway, I gotta get going.”

“Yeah.”

“But have a nice day, okay?” you’ve gotta turn this conversation around because it went so far off the rails. “Tell Elizabeth I say hi, and I hope you do work things out with her because you know I think she’s great. And give Ethan a kiss for me.”

“I know, and I will,” you can see him closing his eyes, fingers pinching between his eyebrows.

“I love you.”

“Yeah…okay,” he says, like he doesn’t believe you, and it’s a punch to the gut. As usual, you weren’t able to say the right thing. Tears start pricking the back of your eyes, guilt twisting deep in the pit of your stomach.

“Goodbye,” in one swift movement, you end the call and get out of the car, slamming the door shut. You’re sad now, but it’s only a matter of time before you become angry, which is always easier to deal with, so you just gotta suck it up until it passes.

Trying not to be upset is such a high priority that you don’t hear your name being called right away, and when you turn around, it’s too late.

“Hey!” Sarah Miller is skidding to a stop in front of you, wearing boots that look a size too small for her feet, dressed in athletic clothes with her hair pulled back. “My dad says I’m not grounded anymore so I can-” she falters when she sees your face. “Are you okay?” she asks.

Clearing your throat, you fix your expression and try to shake away the lingering disappointment like dirt off a kitchen rug. “Yeah I’m fine,” you lie. “So does that mean you passed math?”

Since that night you let her stay when she was locked out, you’d seen quite a bit of Sarah. It was a little unconventional, and you probably needed to find friends in the community that were more age appropriate, but you enjoyed her company. She would hang out and do homework at your house while she waited for her dad to get home from work. You had always valued your independence, and told yourself you preferred to be on your own, but whenever she left, your house always felt a little emptier than you remembered. Maybe you needed to get a fish or something, since Martini’s appearances were few and far between.

“Not yet, but I did get an A on my last test. I hate to say it but my dad was right…studying actually helps.”

“Yeah, that tends to be true,” you say, relieved at how easy the smile comes, and you glance over your shoulder to see Joel standing at the edge of his driveway with his hands on his hips. He looks fucking good, and you’re almost sort of mad about it, or it’s hopefully just the irritation kicking in after the conversation with your brother.

Does Joel know? He has to. It’s like having whatever the male version of a siren is living across the street from you – working with his hands, being a doting father, and mowing the lawn shirtless when it’s hot out. And apparently this was a record-breakingly hot spring, because you’d seen that more than once. Not that you minded, though it only made you want a closer look. Years ago, you probably would’ve scoffed at what sounded like a suburban mom’s wet dream, but actually experiencing it, you felt differently. There was just something about him.

You give Joel a wave, and he waves back, shifting his weight from foot to foot like he’s trying to decide if he wants to come over and talk. As usual, he seems like he’s got somewhere to be, but he’s too polite to tell you to fuck off.

“How have you been? I’ve hardly seen you,” Sarah says. “Did you play tennis today?” she pokes at the racket that’s hung over your shoulder. “Were you serious about teachin’ me to play this summer?”

It’s hard not to be amused at the barrage of requests. You admire her ability to be so enthusiastic, so open, something that most people are unable to do, but for her, is effortless. She’s older than your nephew, but you get the same kind of relief from interacting with both of them. The kids are alright. At least, some of them are.

“Of course,” you answer, and notice that Joel is slowly and hesitantly making his way up your driveway. It’s upsetting that everytime you run into him, you conveniently look like shit – like last Tuesday when you’d just rolled out of bed and were still in your robe. Or right now, after spending the whole morning chasing after balls on a clay court, scuffed knees and hair slick with sweat. But you suppose that’s sort of what neighbors are for.

“Hey, how’s it going?” you ask Joel.

“It’s goin’,” you take him in as he gets closer, notice the way the arms of his t-shirt are just a little too tight because of his biceps, and feel like you need to take a cold shower to wash yourself of this morning. “Babygirl, we should probably get going.”

He calls his daughter babygirl? There’s no way he was being serious, that it isn’t some ironic joke, or part of an act. You always assumed that was just something you saw in movies.

“Because I did so well on my test my dad is takin’ me on a hike,” Sarah says, and then her face lights up. “Wait….you should come with us! Dad, can she come?” Sarah whirls around to face her father.

Joel looks down at Sarah, and then up at you, and then at Sarah again. “I mean, that’s fine, but…she might have other things going on.”

It’s hard to tell if he’s trying to give you an out, or if he’s hinting that you shouldn’t come. And you probably normally wouldn’t want to go, but the alternative is moping around your house and thinking of all the things you could’ve said differently to your brother to ensure the conversation would have gone better than it did. You’re always desperate for a second chance to do things over, and do them right.

You look between the two of them, back and forth. “I mean I would totally, I just…don’t want to interrupt a father-daughter activity-”

“You aren’t,” Sarah says so quickly that Joel looks offended. “I couldn’t leave the house this week so we’ve been spending too much time together.”

Joel frowns. “That’s rude.”

“What?” she says. “It’s true.”

Joel sighs. “She’s right, though. You wouldn’t be interruptin’.”

“Please?” Sarah begs, and you realize you can’t say no even if you want to. You wonder how Joel was even able to ground her for a week, looking in those big, innocent eyes.

“Yeah, just…uh, could I put my stuff inside and maybe change?” you ask, gesturing towards the house.

Joel nods, and Sarah rocks back and forth on her heels. “Yes, yes! Take as long as you need.”

“I’ll be fast,” you assure her, and duck inside.

─── ･｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

Halfway into the hike with Sarah and Joel, and you’ve decided you’re out of shape. You try to tell yourself there could be another reason you are so out of breath – you already worked out once today while playing tennis. But that doesn’t seem like a good enough excuse. Of course, you’re trying to play it cool, because you’re not about to embarrass yourself. Sarah is entertaining you with all kinds of talk about school, and soccer, and sleepaway camp she gets to go to for two weeks once school's out. And you suppose the pain you’re in right now is also welcome distraction from thinking about Vincent.

However, you can’t dip away from the group to rest for a second, because Joel is already trailing behind, and he’d catch on. However, his distance – several paces back from where you and Sarah walk – is not because he’s out of shape. On the contrary, he seems to be putting almost no effort into the steep climb. He’s on his own, head on a swivel, kind of like a brooding security guard, and you wonder if he feels left out.

You steal a glance over your shoulder to take him in, shrouded by the verdant foliage. He looks at home in this environment, sun-kissed and rugged, a finger hooked behind the strap of a leather bag he carries over one shoulder, his gait measured. Aloof, but there’s a quiet confidence to him that draws you in, causes your stare to linger just a touch too long, so when he turns his head straight, his eyes catch yours. You focus back on the trail ahead.

He hasn’t said much since you’ve started hiking, or in the car, even. Most men are easy to read, but so far, Joel has kind of stumped you. There were times, during the night that you’d helped him bail his brother Tommy out of jail, that you had thought maybe he was- no. He’d been pretty tense in every other interaction you had, so you still couldn’t decide if he had been flirting with you.

And he was older than you, you were pretty sure. Not so old that it wouldn’t be out of the question for him to be interested, but enough that, depending on the type of person he was, might see you as a little too young for him. And he had a kid, responsibilities.

You were a-single woman with a high-powered career, one cat and a fish on the way. You slept in on the weekends, refused to learn to cook for one, and got violently stoned on your back porch a minimum of three times a week. In suburban Texas, most of the women your age were long since settled, and you were an outlier. It was fair to imagine that Joel probably didn’t see any real promising future when he looked your way…. or maybe he was more of a one-night stand kind of guy, and didn’t care about that at all. This was not necessarily information you needed – but you wanted it anyway.

Not feeling like an outsider would be one upside of moving back to New York – you could be exactly yourself, and still blend right in. It was one of the parts you missed most, besides Vincent. Your heart sinks, and you realize that the hill you’ve been climbing has flattened out, and so you’re able to think clearly again, which is why you’re thinking of your brother.

Sarah has pulled away, and is wandering towards a clearing. Your eyes are on her form, bounding up ahead on the pathway, the sunlight peeking through the leaves dancing on her skin, when your foot lands on a loose rock, and slips out from beneath you.

Please, God, n- You don’t even get the chance to plead yourself out of humiliation, because there’s a steady hand on your hip and your back collides with a broad chest.

“Gotcha,” Joel’s voice is right in your ear — when did he get that close?

He’s solid, strong, and for the shortest, sweetest moment, you’re overwhelmed by him – get notes of his bar soap (pine, cedar, mint) mixed with whatever laundry detergent he used, and just the faintest bit of - Fuck. In one swift movement, he brings you upright like you’d never slipped at all, then pulls back. The skin on your hip smarts even after his hand drops away.

“You alright?” Joel steps beside you, watching Sarah, who stands with her hands on her hips, her back turned to you both.

“Yeah,” you nod. He looks back over at you. “Come on,’ he tilts his head towards his daughter, and you walk beside him to where she’s standing.

The whole hike you’d been so occupied with bullshit. Trying not to think about your brother. Trying not to act too out of breath. Trying to not let Joel catch you staring, although you’d already failed at that. But now, you wish you wouldn’t have been in your head, because what you’d come to see made worrying about all that seem stupid.

Stretched out in front of you was a wide creek with moss-colored water that flowed down over layered slabs of rock, and crashed into the waterfall’s churning basin. The sun hits the mist in just the right light, and casts a series of rainbows midair, which move and shift as you turn your head to study the lush, tree-lined shore across the river.

You’re standing with one hand on your hip, and out of the corner of your eye Sarah shuffles back a few steps to stand beside you, looping her arm through yours, her cheek on your shoulder while you both enjoy the view.

“I’m glad you got to see this,” she says, and you can just make it out over the sound of the falls. “Isn’t it pretty?”

“It’s beautiful.”

Joel’s hands land on Sarah’s shoulders as he steps close behind you both. She straightens, leans back against him until he wraps his forearm across the front of her in an easy embrace, and she grabs for his wrist with both of her hands, tucking them beneath her chin. A pang of familiar grief stirs inside you at the sight, and you turn away, back towards the view.

“This is the only time of year it’s worth seeing,'' Joel says to you. “It dries up in the summer.”

“It’s still pretty in the summer,” Sarah pipes up.

“Not as pretty.”

“Can you get me the water?” she asks. Joel grunts an affirmation and a moment later you hear the sound of a zipper.

When you’ve had a considerable amount of time to contemplate life while looking at the water swirling across the granite, you turn to find Sarah sitting on a rock, struggling to peel an orange, and dropping each tiny piece of skin she can get off into Joel’s begrudgingly outstretched hand.

You use the opportunity to stretch your calves against a nearby tree.

“Have you hiked before?” Sarah asks.

“Here and there,” you say. “But not often.”

“Why not?”

“Well this is basically a workout. I don’t like working out, I’m pretty unathletic.”

You’re surprised when that draws a smile from Joel.

“But you play tennis.”

You shrug. “Eh, kinda.”

“Me and my dad go hiking a lot.”

“That’s sweet,” your eyes flicker from hers to Joel’s, because they are both staring at you, and you’re pretty sure, though it’s hard to tell from this distance, that their eyes are the identical shade of caramel. Sarah finishes peeling her orange and Joel pockets the scraps of skin. She eats a slice before offering you both your own, and you step closer to accept it.

Sarah’s taking her last bite of orange when Joel speaks up.

“Should we head back?”

Sarah turns to take one last look. It’s mid afternoon, the slant of light from the sun as intense as it can be, and you squint when it reflects back off the water and into your eyes.

“Yeah, we can,” Sarah decides, and it’s clear that Joel would have stayed there for as long as she wanted. It wasn’t up to him.

The hike back isn’t nearly as difficult. It’s all downhill, and Joel leads. Sarah stays behind with you, and clings to your arm while she teaches you how to navigate the trail without slipping. Back at the trailhead is one steep step that drops off into a puddle of stagnant water.

Joel jumps down first, and turns to offer his hand to Sarah, who takes it and leaps lightly, landing on two feet on the other side. You aren’t sure what you’re expecting, but it’s not for Joel to offer you his hand to you as well. But he does.

“Careful,” he murmurs. And of course, you could’ve easily done this yourself, with no help. It’s a two foot drop and an inch of water. But you accept it anyways, putting some of your weight against his hand as you hop down, noticing how he doesn’t waver.

By the time you’re long since settled in the car, pulling into Joel’s driveway, you can feel sleep tugging down your eyelids. A steaming shower and a pair of pajama pants is imminent, and it’s like your body knows. Surely, you will still probably feel guilty about your brother, but you’re convinced that you won’t lose sleep over it, which you consider a win.

Sarah, who insisted that you both sit in the back together on the way home – leaving Joel in the front alone – gives you a quick hug after you’ve gotten out of the car, and then plucks the car keys from her father.

“Sorry, I drank a lot of water and I have to pee!” she says, before jogging up the walkway and unlocking her front door.

Joel lets out an exasperated sigh, but turns back look at you with startling warmth.

“Thanks for having me, I really needed that,” you tell him, and you’re not sure why you feel compelled to be honest with him, but continue on. “My brother and I got into it on the phone this morning, so if I didn’t go I probably would’ve spent all afternoon moping in bed.”

“I’m sorry,” he says, voice soft. “Is everything okay?”

“Yeah, it’ll be fine,” you say, quickly, brushing it off. “Siblings, you know?”

“Yeah,” he nods, but you can tell he isn’t convinced. “I know.”

“How’s Tommy, by the way?” you ask. “Staying out of trouble, I hope?”

“He is,” Joel answers. “We actually have a big project we might be about to book. Pays well, and will keep us employed for the next year.”

“Oh that’s exciting,” you nod. “So what I’m hearing is…if my step rots again, you wouldn’t have time to come fix it?”

“No,” Joel chuckles again, and you’re dizzy after hearing it. “I’d make time.”

You take a deep breath. “Good to know,” you shuffle a few steps backwards. “I better get going, though.” He doesn’t answer right away, and just as you’re turning to walk across the street, Joel calls out to you again.

“Hey,” and you pause, facing him again. “I wanted to ask you if…” he hesitates, blinks and shakes his head once before continuing. “If Sarah is coming over too much. If you want, I can tell her to cool it.”

“Are you kidding?” you ask. “I don’t mind at all. She’s great company, really.”

“You sure you’re not just sayin’ that to be nice?”

You sniff, look at the ground, then back up to him. “I’m not actually very nice.”

He studies you. “I’m not sure I believe that.”

“You hardly know me,” you shrug, and his eyebrows pinch together very briefly before his expression neutralizes. “I’m just saying….if I didn’t like having her around, you would know.”

He bobs his head slowly, and you turn back around to walk to your house, glancing at him from over your shoulder.

“I’ll see you around.”

- - - - - - - - - -

taglist: @yaskna @venomous-ko @lomljigg @yeehawbitchs @ay0nha @eldahae @lol-im-done @melancholicmelanin @reggies-floatie @omniscientqueer @superflymaterial @mikkorantanev @zbeez-outlet (i'm sorry if i missed anyone, i didn't tag anyone that didn't explicitly ask!).

part iii

#are we surprised that reader has daddy issues? odds are if you are reading this fic about the video game/TV DILF of the century you do too #i mean i certainly do #Joel Miller x reader #Joel Miller #Joel Miller x f!reader #joel Miller imagine #Joel Miller series #joel miller the last of us #the last of us #the last of us fanfiction #Pedro pascal #TLOU HBO #TLOU fanfic #TLOU series #texas sun

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sharkbait-tmnt · 4 months

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✿ Doodles

I was sitting next to my sister with my laptop open when she asked me to draw for her! The funny thing is she doesn't care for TMNT like I do so this was all literally just to keep me entertained haha

Sister: draw Nardo

Me: which one?

Sister: Leon

Me: who next?

Sister: Dr. Feelings

Me: okay, now who

Sister: Raph

Me: which one?

Sister: obviously there's a theme . . . mutant mayhem child Raph

Sister: we gotta finish it up with live action Donnie

Me: *looks up bayverse*

Sister: No, I meant the other one

Me: ʘ ʖ̯ ʘ

Sister: I think you should draw Shredder shredding a guitar

Me: which one though?

Sister: I guess the one we're watching right now (2003)

I FEEL SO PROUD TO KNOW SHE STILL GETS INTO MY HOBBIES JUST CAUSE I LIKE THEM <3

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charlottan · 6 months

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every book i read at least a good chunk of in 2023 ranked under the cut grin😁

1. American Gods (2001) by Neil Gaiman (currently reading) - simply a terrific book. Neil Gaiman at what I believe to be his best. Classic novel

2. Dhalgren (1975) by Samuel R. Delaney (currently reading) - monolithic 70s postmodern book that touches on issues of gender and race. very very good

3. Shantaram (2003) by Gregory David Roberts (currently reading) - very loveable and long book about the true story of an Australian man, arrested on heroin charges, who escapes prison to India and gets involved in arms trading. I'm only on like page 70 out of 900 but I'm deeply in love.

4. Going Postal (2004) by Terry Pratchett (currently reading) - discworld’s postal service! Plenty of hijinks. excellent book

5. Catch-22 (1961) by Joseph Heller (currently reading) - classic anti war satire, what can you say. Still ridiculously funny, the humor really doesnt age at all. it’s very screwball in a way that holds up. Such a joy to read

6. Sirens of Titan (1959) by Kurt Vonnegut - beautiful book, definitely my favorite of the three Vonnys that i finished this year. you can feel his love, as always

7. Cloud Cuckoo Land (2021) by Anthony Doerr- Charming book that spans multiple characters and time periods, all concerned with an ancient codex that symbolizes a sense of faith. I don't really remember this one much but I know I had a lot of fun reading it. Would recommend to anybody

8. Hell’s Angels (1967) by Hunter S. Thompson (currently reading) - very interesting book about, of course, the Hell’s Angels motorcycle club. Thompson becomes a fly on the wall, giving the reader a very, very, perhaps almost too close look at the bikers’ ways and rituals. Very good book if you’re into that sort of thing

9. Infinite Jest (1996) by David Foster Wallace (currently reading)- not much to say about the old Jest. classic annoying book. i read a good chunk this year :thumbsup:

10. Bag of Bones (1998) by Stephen King - average 90s era King. still just as gripping as his 70s and 80s work but with a more comfortable writing style i think. pretty good

11. Detransition, Baby (2021) by Torrey Peters (currently reading) - not much to say about this one really. Its pretty good so far though, pretty classic transfem lit

12. The Dead Zone (1979) by Stephen King - this book had a terrifically gripping second act but then it kindof goes off in a different direction in act 3. Or rather, it feels like act 3 could have been its own decent short story, with the first two acts together being their own novel.

13. Equal Rites (1987) by Terry Pratchett - transmasc king. Girl wants to be a wizard instead of a witch, average discworld novel, nothing memorable but still pretty good

14. Galapagos (1985) by Kurt Vonnegut - Ok vonny book. It definitely had some strong Vonny moments but overall felt a little Different from the rest of his stuff. But maybe in a good way

15. Deadeye Dick (1982) by Kurt Vonnegut - middling vonnegut novel. It was ok. But an ok kurt vonnegut book is still a really good book

16. On the Road (1957) by Jack Kerouac - classic beat novel. pretty good if you're into slice of life 1940s/50s stuff, which you probably arent, but if you are and you haven’t checked this out, go for it!

17. Nevada (2013) by Imogen Binnie - Decent, however it felt very bare bones in a way that, for instance, Detransition, Baby makes up for.

18. The Rum Diary (1998) by Hunter S. Thompson - To be honest I don’t remember this one At All but i know i read it in like 3 days so its gotta be good. Still cant put it too high in the ranking though sorry hunter

19. And the Hippos Were Boiled in Their Tanks (1945) by Jack Kerouac and William Burroughs - first ever book written by either of them, and it’s ok. It’s supposed to be a murder mystery but the murder doesnt happen until like the last 20 pages so idk

20. The Colour of Magic (1983) by Terry Pratchett - first discworld. Not that memorable but i wouldnt say it was bad either

21. 1Q84 (2009) by Haruki Murakami (dropped) - I really wanted to like this one. And i did, *mostly*. However, Murakami has this writing style that is obsessively technical and formal and makes for incredibly unnatural monologues, for one thing. This is just a personal preference though; I know it's very acclaimed. I'm honestly sad I couldn't make it past the writing style to enjoy it at least enough to make it through.

22. The Road (2006) by Cormac McCarthy (dropped) - too edgy

#book talk

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mcflymemes · 11 months

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PROMPTS FROM HOW TO LOSE A GUY IN 10 DAYS * assorted dialogue from the 2003 film, adjust as necessary

you can't lose something you never had.

what other girlfriends?

i want you to respect me.

hey, what's wrong?

you see, the key to this game is being able to read people.

so tell me how long have you guys been seeing each other?

you know what? you did your job.

you are the first girl he ever brought home.

uh, she's not here.

oh, you are never going to pull this off.

i respect you for respecting me.

do you have an ethical problem with rifling through a woman's purse?

watch me.

you're up, you're down, you're here, you're there, you're like a frickin' one woman circus.

you're not going to burn his apartment down or bite him or anything?

is that too soon to be seeing a therapist?

i'll be clingy, needy...

i was just a girl somebody picked out in a bar.

our love fern! you let it die!

what's wrong with that?

i don't think i can be with someone who doesn't like animals.

i can't eat in front of you! i have to go to the bathroom.

yeah, you know what? big deal.

he's inviting me over to his house for dinner.

it's a woman's purse, all right? it's her secret source of power.

you wanted to lose a guy in ten days? congratulations. you did it.

true or false: all's fair in love and war.

so that's what i was, huh? i was a guinea pig. somebody you can test your theories on?

i've got a feeling about this one.

like... do blondes really have more fun?

that's what i'm talking about.

no honey, it's just sleeping.

ooh, call him in the middle of the night and tell him everything you had to eat that day.

why this place?

it's like a week.

look who made the trip with me!

i love you... but i don't have to like you right now.

you're already falling in love with me.

now you can even use it as a little twist in your story.

there are many dark and dangerous things in there that we, the male species, should know nothing about.

look, just give me back the necklace. then you guys can go on and kill each other.

it looks like the inside of a raincoat.

that's a good idea. maybe we should bet on it.

i'm gonna make you wish you were dead.

you gotta name it something hyper masculine, okay?

is she on to something?

in that case, i better get going. take care of our love fern, honey.

i can't eat in front of him!

nothing. it's beautiful. you're beautiful.

she's got an interview in washington.

you're not a therapist, are you?

you know what, due to intense humiliation, the king has momentarily abdicated his throne, okay?

you owe me three hundred bucks.

don't you break his heart now.

tone-deaf and drunk is not a good combination.

it's our love fern!

c'mon, blow. nobody likes a mr. sniffles.

look look look, wait a minute.

you have to take it away before i gag.

have you looked inside?

now, i'm going to go back inside and finish watching "sleepless in seattle." nobody screw with me.

i'm taking this love fern with me!

we got a whole bunch of work we have to do, but we're still on for poker at your house this weekend?

why do they always forget my bacon?

when are you seeing him again?

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yellowhollyhock · 8 months

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Donnie and Raph

The Raph and Donnie dynamic is very important for any tmnt and 2003 does it so well.

Raph is so protective of Donnie. There are probably dozens of posts that say it as well as it can be said. Just watch any episode. Nobody lays a finger on or says a word against Donnie that doesn’t have to deal with Raph.

But why is he so protective of Donnie specifically? He jumps in front of Leo and Mikey too at different times, but it’s obvious he’s especially watching out for Don. This may be partially just out of necessity. The writers kind of made Don a weaker ninja (not physically less strong, but clumsier ninjitsu), otherwise he would be way OP being the tech guy and a ninja. (He still is kind of OP.) The brothers are all pretty close in skill but if there is one who needs someone to watch his back in a fight more than the other guys, it’d be Donnie. So is that it?

I choose not so. Raph has so much confidence in Donnie, not just his smarts but specifically his fighting. Look at the H.A.T.E. episode; Raph talks him into jumping from one moving car to another. And when Donnie finishes and just says “Raph, get down,” not explaining till later that he removed the Plutonium core, Raph is expecting an entire nuclear explosion and he just lets his little bro body block him. He’s pretty chill considering. Then in the ninja tribunal arc, when Donnie is able to tap into his mystic powers, he’s shocked and ecstatic and the first thing he does is look at Raph, who isn’t shocked at all. He just gives him a nod like “see I told you. Are you as proud of yourself as I am of you yet?”

So maybe it’s that he knows they need Donnie? He is the one who gets the most excited about weapons and vehicles, he’s probably thought about the fact that Donnie is the reason they’ve had those. But that doesn’t really fit Raph. He’s not the strategist, he makes decisions based mostly on emotion.

So he is emotionally attached to Donnie in particular. Probably because Donnie is the one who most openly looks up to him. When Raph helps out Mikey or Leo in battle, their focus still stays on the battle. Sure, they’ll holler a thank you. But look at Donnie’s face every time Raph jumps in front of him or yells at him to watch his back. Look at his face. Wouldn’t he be your favorite brother, too?

I think their mutual admiration has a lot to do with their opposite strengths. Raoh is impulsive, aggressive, but proactive and reliable. Donnie is flexible and resourceful, also passive and kind of unpredictable. Donnie helps Raph stay calm in an emergency. Raph helps Donnie stay focused and grounded in reality.

They also just bond over causing chaos together. Total enablers, both of them.

I’ll get into favorite moments because there will be a lot

Raph: I hate bugs!

Donnie: From the look of things you also hate (everything Raph accidentally broke) (it were an accident) (seriously Donnie can be such a bully sometimes—)

Raph: It really pisses me off.

Donnie, with The Fondest expression: Raph, everything pisses you off.

Raph: Not everything! … Okay, everything.

Raph, about football mascots: What about something more reptilian?

Donnie: The Turtles? Sadly the lowly turtle has been saddled with the stereotype of being velocity-challenged.

Raph: … say what. (No literally Donnie he doesn’t know what you said—)

Them playing video games together, forcing Mikey to give them a turn because he hasn’t in forever. You can just imagine the lead up. “Raphie, no one is paying attention to me.” “Hey don’t worry we’re gonna play that new game you were talking about tonight.” “There’s no way, Mikey always plays. He always plays.” “Oh yeah? Oh yeah?”

Raph: Those bozos May be tough, but Donnie here learned to drive in New York City.

(He offered to drive earlier. He does not trust Don’s driving but he still gets into the car—or completely unknown vehicle—with him every time.)

Raph’s “I gotta hand it to Donnie” intro

Donnie: Raphie? We got a problem down here.

Raph, already on his way to help: You think I don’t got problems up here?

Leo, about Raph: He’s crazy!

Donnie: Yeah, nuts… hey Raph, wait up!

When Donnie yells at them for accidentally throwing a frisbee at him and instead of snapping back Raph and Leo are both like, Hey baby bro are you okay? Have you been sleeping enough? Do you wanna talk about what’s been bothering you? Leo is precious here too but that’s how he always handles things, Raph is being soft specifically for Donnie

SAINW when Raph sees Donnie again 😭

#tmnt #tmnt 2003 #2003 donnie #2003 raph #2003 tmnt family dynamics

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ghostwritesthings · 8 months

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A Promise To Keep

Summary: its September 26th 2003. The day was supposed to be the best day ever. Finally five years old but the world ends that night so does life as you know it.

Warnings// cussing, blood, non descriptive car accident. If there are any I should put feel free to tell me! I don’t want to offend anyone and am just starting out so helpful things are welcome!

September 26th,2003 Los Angeles,California

It’s my fifth birthday, mama is doing my hair while I eat my breakfast. I can hear daddy and bubba getting ready while mama quietly hums as she ties white ribbons in my pigtails to match my pink dress with little white daisies, the dress bubba got me last week.

“Good morning angel. How old are you now? 15? 20?” Daddy greets as he enters the kitchen with Bubba.

“Daddyyyyy I’m five not 15!” I respond through giggles.

“Happy Fuckin birthday sis.”

Mama scolds “William Steven Anderson! Watch your language!”

“Sorry mom” Billy responds with a wink to me causing me to giggle even more.

“Thank you Billy!” I say while finishing my breakfast and my glass of orange juice.

“Alright little sis, do you want me to take you to school?” Then in a whisper so only I can hear, “I’ll stop and get you ice cream…” Billy says with a smile.

Excitedly I nod, “Yes I wanna go with you! Mama, daddy can I pleeeeease ride with Billy…” I say giving them my best puppy dog eyes. Mama and daddy share a look before daddy responds.

“Alright peach, Billy drive extremely careful you understand?” Billy rolls his eyes at daddy before kissing my cheek and saying,

“I know dad I’d never put her in danger she’s too precious. I love her too much and I’m the big brother I keep her safe it’s my duty as her big brother.” I smile at Billy while I grab my backpack ready to leave with the promise of ice cream.

“Let’s go bubba we gotta hurryyyy.” I yell to Billy while dragging out the last word. Billy tells mama and daddy bye while I do the same quickly so we can go. Billy grabs my car seat before helping me into his truck. I buckle myself in as he does the same before taking off.

The rest of the day goes by quickly, we eat dinner, I get to open my presents and I got to help mama make sorbet as my birthday dessert. After having my sorbet with everyone I have my bath, brush my teeth and then go to bed.

I’m woken up by a loud noise, I get out of bed and open the door just as Billy rushes up to me.

“Bubba? What’s going on?” I ask while still trying to wake up.

“We gotta go ok? I’ll grab your shoes, go get bun bun quick.” Scared and confused I rush to grab the pink bunny that Billy got me when I turned three. Billy comes back with my shoes in his hand and scoops me up.

“Close your eyes ok? I’ve got you I promise.”

“What about mama and daddy? Where are they?” I ask confused as he rushes me out the door and puts me in his truck.

“They aren’t mama and daddy anymore.” Billy responds while quickly driving away while I buckle myself into the seat.

“Bubba we don’t have my seat! Mama says it’s dangerous to drive without it!” I say worried while Billy drives quickly towards the highway, I still don’t know what’s wrong.

“I know but we had to hurry, I’m sorry I won’t hurt you ok? You gotta trust me.” As we turned onto a street is when I see them, they look like people but now they look like monsters as they run after people.

“Billy? What is that?”

“I don’t know but I won’t let them hurt yo-“ then suddenly there’s a loud crash and everything goes black.

“Y/n! Y/n! You gotta wake up come on” I can hear Billy as I start to wake up, he sounds frantic. When I open my eyes he lets out a big breath.

“Billy? What happened?” The car is upside down and Billy gets me out quickly while looking around us, scanning the area.

“We got into an accident but we are ok just some scratches.” He explains while wiping at the blood that drips down my face and checking for more injuries.

“Are you ok bubba? Please don’t let the monsters get me I’m scared.” I cry out as he begins to run, I don’t know where we are going but maybe it’s somewhere safe with no monsters.

“I won’t. They will never hurt you I promise. We are gonna go into the woods find somewhere safe out there.” I notice then as he’s carrying me he also has daddy’s gun, I hide my face when we start running scared of the monsters.

Once Billy gets into the woods pretty far it goes quiet, no monsters we can see or hear. We stop a little later after it is still quiet with no run ins, Billy sets me down and kneels down in from of me to match my height.

“Ok we are gonna stop here so we can rest ok?” Billy cradles my cheeks while telling me his plan

“Bubba will we be ok? I don’t wanna turn into a monster.” I ask with tears in my eyes and my bottom lip wobbling.

“I promise you I will not let anything hurt you. It’s you and me forever, I promise.” Billy calms me down with his promise.

“You and me forever bubba, I love you.”

“I love you too peach.”

September 26th 2003 my fifth birthday and the day the world ended.

———————————————————————————

A/N : alright so there we have it! Prologue to my series “A Promise To Keep” I hope y’all enjoy and let me know how I did if you would like! I will most likely have a sporadic posting schedule due to my motivation being up and down but hopefully I’ll work something out! Thank you for reading I’ll hopefully see you in the next chapter! -Lexi/Ghost

If you wonder what I listen to while writing I’ll link it here-

#joel miller x reader #joel miller #joel the last of us #the last of us #eventual smut #joel and ellie #outbreak day #prologue #first fic #Spotify

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flamingplay · 7 months

Note

What are your favorite Coldplay songs???

Hiiii, dear!!! Thank you very much for the ask, this really put a smile on my face, grateful it was you who asked! :')

So, let's go with the favourite songs list (you can comment if you know some or wanna check out some, would be twice honored haha!)

Violet Hill is one of my most special ever songs, a bridge to the person that is not walking on this planet anymore and a little story of how I introduced my favourite guitarist with the stem from it to this close person [link]... Btw, "it was started by Brian Eno and finished by Brian Eno" in a literal sense - Eno produced that album xD

All I Can Think About Is You is a gorgeous song with such a great build-up, that guitar note at the end is the main nerve of this whole feeling. A shame they played it only once in Tokyo and that's it...

A L I E N S turned from a song that reflected on me feeling compassionate about refugees to a song that represents me. Gotta love myself some unusual 5/4 time signature.

Prospekt's March / Poppyfields my appreciation to this song with its hidden track Poppyfields grew lately even more. The key is in the lyrics

Daylight is the song that made me feel THINGS while delving myself into watching Live 2003 as the first choice of live performances. I heard Jon there singing and playing and nothing that occured in the documentary afterwards made me change my mind about the band, all thanks to Jon xD

I Ran Away comes from the perfect b-sides era, that was difficult to pick one from "A Rush of Blood to the Head" era but this one in particular went with me through thick and thin

Death and All His Friends is an important song that can support me any time. An epitome of the whole Coldplay mood. Incredibly beautiful and underrated.

How You See The World No. 2 is the song that makes me miss the band making very broad statements. They still do but in another way now. All ways are important still though! (also Jon for once is not an atmnospheric carrying force but the whole main course of the song)

Arabesque... As Jon once said in 2001, "There's nothing wrong with jazz!", or how it all turned out 18 years later xD

Speed of Sound is a song that started it all for me. I first heard it in 2005 and had no idea who was behind this song as it was in just non-stop playlist on one of the local radio stations. YEARS later, in 2009 the life has changed

Midnight is a song that became the most unexpected ever, that was an experimental "love at first sight" for me. During one of the dark moments this song became some kind of a collaboration link between me and one Ukrainian embroidery artist.

Here I will draw the line before I remember some exclusive extended intros and outros live songs and add more xD Hope you'll enjoy anything here! And wishing you an amazing day!

#asked #answered #softboi-jon

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hungry-skeleton · 10 months

Note

hey question how do i get into red vs blue because im genuinely curious about it and want to watch it👀👀👀

Honestly the best way to do it is just watch it! Despite its length (currently 18 seasons with the last season on its way) it probably won't take you long to finish. The episodes themselves aren't really that long and you can finish a whole season in about an hour or two

Here's the official playlist of the whole series!!

Some things to note if you really wanna commit your life to rvb

The r slur is used a handful of times in the early seasons, surprisingly not as often as you might think for a series made by old gamers. They eventually stop using it though. Keep in mind this show started in 2003 which is older then quite a lot of people on this site so I think they can get a little slack for the early episodes having some out of touch humor (doesn't make it right of course but yknow, what can you do)

Series starts kind of slow but starts ramping up pretty quick, if you feel a bit bored to start don't give up right away! I recommend getting through seasons 1-2 first which should only take like 2 hours

The entirety of season 14 is a half-canon anthology series. I recommend not skipping it though, it's very enjoyable

There's a bunch of mini series that take place in random places in the timeline on the playlist too, DW about watching them in order they aren't even required but they're fun!

Everything after season 13 might not be canon actually we aren't 100% sure on that but it's also like... Kind of canon too.... We'll cross that bridge when we get to it

The series does have a fall out later on because of changing writers but it never really gets BAD just.. Not as good

Except season 16. Fuck season 16. All my homies hate season 16. And you gotta watch it for context in season 17 I'm so sorry it's so bad it's sooo bad

EDIT: I changed my mind skip 16-18 entirely they're gonna be non canon anyway and I swear to you there is literally no entertainment value in any of them don't fucking watch them they're so horribly bad <-is watching them

Now a lot of this stuff might sound discouraging but if anyone is actually willing to give this series a try I REALLY do recommend it! It's probably one of the best examples of adult comedy. Adult comedy shows (especially animation) sometimes fall into the trap of needing to be excessively violent and sexual and mean in order to be mature but that inadvertently makes the series feel very immature. Red vs Blue DOES make sex jokes and it is violent sometimes but it's never in an overbearing and childish way (except season 16 that's literally all that season is I'm so sorry) it executes its humor great, it relies a lot on just how insane the MCs are in a relatively normal world and it's so entertaining whenever we leave the bubble of the main cast and realize "oh these guys are just fucked up"

It has great characters and a story that really hooks you when you don't expect it to. If you're still willing to try it PLEASE do! It's an icon of pop culture for a reason!

#an ask

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aquietwritingcorner · 3 months

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Time Loop

Title: Time Loop Day: Febuwhump 2024, Day 11 Prompt: Time Loop Fandom: TMNT 2003 Word Count: 4745 Author: aquietwritingcorner/realitybreakgirl Rating: T Characters: Michelangelo Warning: Summary: “Mikey, hurry up! You’re going to be late for training!” “Huh?” Mikey turned to look at Leo, and nearly choked on the toothpaste foam that was in his mouth. He coughed, spitting out what he could, and hacking up the rest. Leo shot him a flat look. “Come on. I don’t think choking on toothpaste is an excuse Splinter is going to accept again.” Mikey blinked at his brother in the mirror. “I, uh… yeah. I’ll be there in just a minute, Leo.” “Just be quick. I’m not making excuses for you again.” With that comment, Leo was out of the doorway, Mikey hearing him leap over to the training area. Mikey blinked at his reflection in the mirror. What… had just happened? Yeah, Leo had come in and interrupted him brushing his teeth, but it felt like there was something more going on. Like he had just been-- “Mikey!” Right, right. He’d come back to that later. Notes: If I had more time, I would have worked in more references. As it is, I prewrote the first draft by staying up too late before a con, and have now spent three days at a con, and need to pack for a week long stay at my sister’s which means a six hour drive. I’m exhausted and this is as good as it’s gonna get for now ^^; ff.net || AO3

________________________________

Time Loop

“Mikey, hurry up! You’re going to be late for training!”

“Huh?” Mikey turned to look at Leo, and nearly choked on the toothpaste foam that was in his mouth. He coughed, spitting out what he could, and hacking up the rest.

Leo shot him a flat look. “Come on. I don’t think choking on toothpaste is an excuse Splinter is going to accept again.”

Mikey blinked at his brother in the mirror. “I, uh… yeah. I’ll be there in just a minute, Leo.”

“Just be quick. I’m not making excuses for you again.”

With that comment, Leo was out of the doorway, Mikey hearing him leap over to the training area. Mikey blinked at his reflection in the mirror. What… had just happened? Yeah, Leo had come in and interrupted him brushing his teeth, but it felt like there was something more going on. Like he had just been--

“Mikey!”

Right, right. He’d come back to that later. Right now, he had practice to get to. Mikey spit in the sink again, rinsed his toothbrush, and hurried to training. He’d figure this out later.

Practice, however, was brutal, with Splinter teaching them a new, highly difficult move. None of them got it right, no matter how many times they tried, and it was clearly going to take a lot more practice before they could. By the time they finished, Mikey had mostly forgotten about the weirdness of that morning.

Mikey groaned as he lay on the floor with his brothers, all of them collapsed from the day’s work. “Ooohhhh… I just wanna lay here forever,” he said.

“Forever isn’t long enough,” Don quipped back.

“If we’re still here tomorrow, think Master Splinter will take it easy on us?” Leonardo asked.

“My guess is no,” Raph said.

“Tomorrow—wait! What’s today?” Mikey asked.

“Uh—” Raph didn’t get the chance to even finish before Mikey was leaping to his feet.

“It’s my day on duty at the Justice Force!” He took off. “I gotta go, tell Sensei I’ll be back later!”

With that, Mikey was off like a shot, heading straight for his room and his limited closet. It didn’t take him long to pull out his costume, don it, and then jump on the sewer slider, heading straight for Justice Force HQ as soon as he was in open water.

Fortunately, he wasn’t late, and he parked the sewer slider in his customary area before heading into Headquarters. He waved at more than a few other superheroes who were around and headed to his station.

Technically, as a member of the Justice Force, Mikey could come here anytime he wanted. He took advantage of that more than once, coming to read over files or just because his brothers were getting on his nerves. But when it was his duty day, Mikey’s job was to sit at the main desk and monitor the feeds for problems. It was boring work, honestly, as there wasn’t usually anything that required major superhero work that popped up on the radar. There were often minor things, like fires or helping the police, but very few things caused him to have to call up the Force.

Instead, Mikey spent a lot of his time reading through the files, occasionally shooting a minor situation that he knew applied to his family, or that Casey and Raph would like to go deal with his family’s way. But even if it was boring, Mikey still enjoyed it. After all, he was here with real life, actual superheroes, and he got to read their secret files! How much better could it get? So, he settled in, checked all the feeds, and got down to his reading.

About half his shift had passed before a loud alert suddenly sounded, jerking Mikey out of the files. “Huh?” he asked, and then shook his head, turning his attention to the screens. He hesitated over one for a moment, and then skipped it, going straight to another. “Uh-oh!”

Mikey quickly reached for the communications panel. “Turtle Titan to Justice Force! We’ve got a supervillain downtown! I’m not entirely sure what he’s doing, but it looks like he’s making people freeze! The cops aren’t having any luck!”

The com line crackled. “Understood, Turtle Titan. Silver Sentry is on his way.”

“Nobody, too.”

“Nano is joining them.”

“Tsunami will respond.”

“Chrysalis is in route.”

“Ananda is heading out.”

“And Turtle Titan is on his way!” Mikey said, setting the console to feed them information, and then leaping over it and heading out.

By the time Mikey arrived, the rest of the Justice Force was already there—and it wasn’t looking too good. Whoever this villain was, he already had Tsunami and Nano frozen in place. Ananda was currently stuck, using her giant robot to hold some debris off of some citizens. Chrysalis and Sentry were coordinating their attacks against the man, keeping him busy. As Mikey watched, he saw Nobody in the shadows, coming up in a sneak attack. Unfortunately, the villain wasn’t so easily fooled.

“You think I didn’t know that was coming?” he said with a cackle as he trapped Nobody in the same field, he had Tsunami and Nano. “You are all so predictable to me!” he said, moving his hand. As Mikey watched, Nobody appeared to move backwards, just like he was being rewound.

The villain’s head moved around, slowly. “Just like I know that the Turtle Titan will be here soon,” he said, swiveling his head to look straight at Mikey.

Mikey gulped but pushed forward anyway. “You’re not going to get away with this!” he said.

The Villain laughed again. “As if you could surprise me!”

He raised a hand, and with a flash of inspiration, Mikey knew exactly where he was going to aim it. Mikey juked to the left, instead, the bolt missing him, and the villain looked surprised. He fired again, and again, but soon Sentry and Chrysalis demanded his attention. Fine by Mikey. He moved around quickly, silently, and waited for his opportunity.

Suddenly, the villain managed to catch Sentry in his beam, and Sentry flew backwards—literally. It was as if someone had rewound him. Mikey’s eyes widened. That’s what it was. This guy controlled time. But how? Mikey watched him as he played with Sentry, fast forwarding and rewinding him, before turning his attention to Chrysalis.

The vest. He used the controls on the vest—and he seemed particularly protective of what looked to be some sort of metal flask or container. Mikey would bet all of his comics that whatever that was, it was important to making his vest work.

And then, suddenly, Mikey saw his chance. The villain had to throw up both of his hands to combat Chrysalis’s powers, and Mikey darted forward. He grabbed at that metal container and the villain screamed at him, even as if felt like it burned his hand.

“No! Not again! You imbecile, you’ll just keep trapping us in—”

“Mikey, hurry up! You’re going to be late for training!”

“Huh?” Mikey turned to look at Leo, and nearly choked on the toothpaste foam that was in his mouth. He coughed, spitting out what he could, and hacking up the rest.

Leo shot him a flat look. “Come on. I don’t think choking on toothpaste is an excuse Splinter is going to accept again.”

Mikey blinked at his brother in the mirror. “Uh… wait. Wasn’t I just…?”

“Just running late for practice again?” Leo said. “Yes, yes you are. Come on, I’m not making excuses for you again.”

With that comment Leo was out of the doorway, and Mikey stood there, dumbfounded. Hadn’t he just been… somewhere else? Like in a battle or something? A superhero battle? He distinctly remembered superheroes.

Shaking his head, Mikey went to grab his toothbrush again and winced. He looked down at his hand, blinking in surprise at the burns on it. “What the shell?” he said. “How did those get there?”

“Mikey!”

“Yeah, yeah, I’m coming!” he yelled back down, grabbing the first aid kit. Maybe he could get one of his brothers to help him bandage it.

Splinter was already there by the time Mikey arrived, and it was clear that he wasn’t happy with Mikey’s tardiness. “Michelangelo. You have delayed your brothers in—what is wrong with your hand?”

That got everyone’s attention, and Mikey shook his head. “I dunno, Master Splinter. The last thing, or, well, kinda the first thing? I’m not sure. But I was just brushing my teeth, and then I saw that on my palm. I don’t know where it came from.”

Don took his hand. “It looks like a burn,” he said. “But I’m not sure what from. Heat, yes, but there’s something odd about it.”

“How does it feel, my son?” Splinter asked.

“It doesn’t really hurt,” Mikey said. “Just feels kinda tingly.”

Splinter hummed and nodded. “Then, my son, allow Donatello to bandage it, and, if it is not going to interfere, lets allow our lesson to continue.”

They did, with Splinter teaching them a new, highly difficult move. To his surprise, Mikey caught on faster than the others, although he was far from perfect. He’d need to practice with it a lot. But something about it seemed familiar, although Mikey couldn’t place what or why. Splinter praised him for it, and then ended the lesson, leaving the four brothers to dramatically collapse on the ground.

Still, something was bothering Mikey. He just couldn’t remember what.

“Hey,” he said. “Today. There’s something about—” he cut himself off and sprung to his feet. “It’s my day at Justice Force Headquarters! Tell Sensei I’ll be back later!” he said.

He ran to his room, changed, and sped out the door. That had to be it. That had to be where the weird feeling he was having about the day was coming from. He’s almost forgotten it was his day on duty!

Mikey rocketed to Justice Force HQ where he quickly settled in behind the console. He pulled up the files to read as he usually did—although these felt familiar for some reason—but he couldn’t get rid of a nagging feeling that was telling him to watch the screens. It was a good thing he did, because it wasn’t long before a supervillain appeared. Mikey put out the call, the Force responded, and then he headed over that way himself.

By the time he arrived, the Justice Force was either incapacitated, busy, or engaged. Mikey watched for a moment, eyes widening as he watched the villain use his powers on Nobody.

“He controls time,” Mikey said to himself, just as the villain looked at him.

“So, we meet again,” the villain said, and Mikey started.

“What? Dude, I don’t think we’ve met,” Mikey said.

“Don’t play games with me, Turtle Titan!” the villain growled out. “This time, I’ll take care of you sooner!”

“This time?” Mikey said, but he dodged the beam that the villain shot at him, flipping away.

The man seemed intent on catching him for some reason, and Mikey had to wonder if the “this time” was significant. Still, Mikey was pretty good at playing bait, and he let the villain try to get him, at least until Sentry could get his arms around him.

“I’ve got you!” Sentry said, and the villain screamed.

“You think I’m so easily controlled!” the villain screeched, hands going for a device on his vest.

Mikey knew, somehow, that it was important that he not reach that on his vest, and he dove forward, hand clutching around some sort of flask or other metal container. The man screeched at him again and it felt like it burned his hand. And then—

“Mikey, hurry up! You’re going to be late for training!”

“Huh?” Mikey spit his toothpaste out and turned to look at Leo, bringing his hand up to his plastron.

“Come on,” Leo said. “I don’t think—whoa. What did you do to your hand?”

Mikey blinked at his hand, which looked burned, before looking back up at his brother who had hurried over. “I, uh, I think we might be in trouble, Leo.”

Leo frowned, taking Mikey’s hand. “…Come on,” he said after a moment. “Let’s get this patched up, and you can explain what you mean.”

Once in the training area, Mikey sat still while Don examined his hand, but his mouth was running a mile a minute.

“—and I don’t know! I feel like I was doing something really important. I remember the Justice Force being there—wait! It’s my turn to work today! Maybe they were in trouble!—and I remember a supervillain and something about… about a vest? I think I grab something, and then—then I don’t know. The next clear thing I remember is Leo yelling at me to get my shell to training.”

“Sounds like a dream to me,” Raph said.

“But these burns aren’t part of dream,” Don said. “They’re real.”

“Could it be something mystical?” Leo asked. “Some sort of warning or something that goes along with a vision or premonition?”

“Hm… perhaps,” Splinter said. “But until we know more, we will continue as normal. Donatello. Will Michelangelo’s hand prevent him from training?”

Don frowned. “I don’t think so,” he said. “Not unless we’re doing something intensive with the hands.”

Splinter shook his head. “We are not. I will teach you something new today.”

They all got up, and the lesson started. What Splinter had to teach them was new, and also very difficult, but it felt familiar to Mikey, and he got the hang of it quickly, much to everyone’s surprise.

“Mikey, how did you do that?” Leo asked him.

Mikey shrugged. “I dunno. It just felt… familiar.”

Splinter hummed. “The lesson is over for the day. I must go meditate on this.”

His brothers all went to sit down, but Mikey headed towards his room.

“Where ya going?” Raph asked.

“It’s still my turn on duty at the Justice Force, weird day or not,” Mikey said. “I’m gonna change and head over.”

“Just be careful,” Leo said.

“I will!” Mikey called back.

It didn’t take long for Mikey to arrive at Justice Force Headquarters, or to get settled in. He didn’t bother to pull up files, something telling him he needed to pay attention. Sure enough, a super villain appeared on and alert, and Mikey called the Justice Force in. The battle was in full swing, at least until Mikey got there. The villain focused on him, clearly intending on taking him out. Mikey dodged and ducked, struck and fought, dodging people and things that the man controlled with the knobs and buttons on his vest.

And something seemed awfully important about that flask.

Mikey jumped at it, his burned hand making contact with it. It felt like it burned worse, and the villain screeched at him.

“I do not want to go through another—"

“Mikey, hurry up! You’re going to be late for training—whoa, Mikey, what did you do to your hand?”

Mikey spit out toothbrush and all in the sink, and looked at his hand, which seemed worse than before. He knew groaned. He knew what this was. It was a time loop, and he was stuck in it.

Mikey leaned over and banged his head on the bathroom counter. “Leo, grab the first aid kit, and let’s go to the dojo. Boy, do I have a story to tell all of you.”

Leo blinked but moved to do as Mikey had said.

“—and I don’t remember everything, but I know that whatever is happening, I’m stuck in a time loop, and I think that maybe that villain guy is too.” Mikey said, as Don bandaged his hand.

“I think you watched one to many sci-fi movies,” Raph said.

“Oh yeah?” Mikey challenged. “The how do you explain this!” he thrust his burned hand in Raph’s face. “Or this!” Mikey stood back and made his way through the new move they were learning today, only a little wobbly on it. “That’s what Sensei’s gonna teach us today! And I’ve already learned it, like, three times!”

Splinter looked at Mikey, astonished. “That is, indeed, what I was going to teach you today, my sons. It’s a very complicated move, so I expected it to take you at least a few days to get the basics.”

“See? That’s what I’m saying!” Mikey said.

Leo frowned, thinking. “If this is the case, then wouldn’t it be a good idea for the Justice Force to know?”

“Probably,” Mikey said. “But how am I gonna get them to listen to me about this? It sounds crazy!”

“A warning is better than nothing,” Don said. “But I might have something that’ll help.”

“Yeah?” Mikey said.

Don nodded, and headed towards his lab, coming back with a scanner. “When people are doing weird things with time, it leaves a trail of tachyon particles. I’ve been working on a way to track those after we end up on some sort of time travel adventure. I can scan you now and see what your ambient tachyon particle reading is.”

“Scan away!” Mikey said.

“Alright. Just hang on. This shouldn’t hurt,” Don said.

“Wait—shouldn’t?” Mikey said.

“Nope, it shou—woah!” Don stared at his scanner.

“What? What?” Mikey asked. “What is it?”

“You’re covered in these particles. I’d say you’ve been bounced around several times already,” Don said. “Five times? Six? Maybe as many as nine or ten.”

“If this is true, then the Justice Force needs to be warned,” Splinter said.

“The rest of us can do some recon,” Leo said. “Maybe we can learn something about this time travel villain.”

“Why is it always time travel?” Raph complained.

Mikey nodded. “On it, Sensei!” he said, and bounded away, to get his costume and head over the Justice Force Headquarters.

He got over there as fast as he could, bypassing the usual pleasantries. Quickly calling up the Justice Force, he briefed them on what he’d figured out and showed them Don’s proof. While there were some skeptics, everyone agreed not to take chances. Like clockwork, the villain showed up, and the Justice Force went to stop him. Mikey went with them, but this time he stood back and didn’t grab for the box. Maybe if he stayed out of it, things would—

“Mikey, hurry up! You’re going to be late for training!”

Mikey groaned and thudded his head against the bathroom mirror.

Leo blinked at him from the doorway. “Mikey?”

“Get everyone to the dojo. This is going to take some explaining.”

“And you say you’re stuck in a time loop?” Don asked as he examined Mikey’s hand.

“Yeah,” Mikey said. “I start out in the bathroom with Leo telling me to get to training, and I end up in the fight with that time controlling villain. I think my hand got burned the first time when I grabbed the metal flask on his vest. It was worse after the second time when I grabbed it.” Mikey frowned. “I didn’t grab it last time, and my hand isn’t burned worse.”

“Then I bet that has something to do with how he controls time,” Don said. “And something about getting close to it, maybe even you grabbing it, has set off the time loop.”

“Okay, well, that’s great, but not grabbing it didn’t stop the time loop,” Mikey said. “So how do we stop it?”

Don hummed. “I’m… not sure. Lemme go get a couple of things.”

Don headed off, and Mikey looked over at the rest of his family.

“I still ain’t sure about this,” Raph said. “Seems kinda out there, even for you.”

“I can prove it!” Mikey said. “Look! Master Splinter was gonna teach us this today!”

He stood up and worked his way through the new form, his brothers and Splinter watching. Raph and Leo watched with amazement as he worked through the difficult steps in it nearly perfectly. Splinter nodded when Mikey finished.

“I was, indeed going to teach you that today. It is difficult, and I did not expect any of you to learn it in a day,” he said.

“Yeah, well, I’ve had the lesson at least three times by now,” Mikey said. “Something had to stick.”

“Okay, okay, so Mikey is going through time loops,” Leo said. “And we don’t know how and we don’t know why, but he is. So, what do we do about it?”

“Well, first off, we take some readings,” Don said. “This scans for—”

“For tachyons, time travel particles, yeah, I know,” Mikey said.

Don frowned a little and looked at the readings. “Oh, wow. Your readings are at about 50. A normal person would only score about a five. We usually have readings of around fifteen to twenty.” Don looked up. “For you to have fifty, then that means that either you’ve been exposed to a large amount of tachyons, or you’ve been through a lot more loops than we realize.”

“Or maybe a combination of both?” Raph suggested.

Don nodded. “Or maybe a combination of both,” he agreed.

Leo frowned. “Mikey, you said that it seems like this villain knows that you’re coming, that things are going to happen, right? Then why would he keep going back to the same place?”

“I don’t know,” Mikey said. “But he always ends up there. And when I’m there, it’s like he knows exactly what I’m going to do. I think I’ve managed to surprise him some, but I’m gonna run out of surprising moves sooner or later.”

“Unless,” Splinter said, stroking his muzzle, “you learn more.”

“Learn more?” Mikey said. “Sensei, it’s matter of hours before this whole thing starts all over again! I don’t have time to learn more moves!”

“Actually, you have all the time in the world. Maybe even the universe,” Don said.

“Huh?” Mikey asked.

“Come on, Mikey, you’ve seen enough sci-fi shows to know this,” Don said. “If you’re stuck in a time loop that’s not degrading, just going round and round, then you have an infinite number of days to do whatever you want with no consequences. In this case, if, every day, when Leo yells at you to get to training—”

“I didn’t yell,” Leo interjected.

“—you convince us that this is true, probably by getting me to scan you with this, then you can spend the rest of the day training with Master Splinter,” Don finished. “Or even working with me on something to stop this or memorizing any useful information. You literally have as much time as you need to do whatever you need to, to prepare.”

“Then Mikey can start on training with Sensei,” Leo said. “Don, you and Raph can head downtown, see if you can figure out why that villain keeps returning there. I’ll go to the Justice Force, try to talk to them and see if they have any idea.” He looked at Mikey. “We’ll try to meet back up, or at least call before the time loop resets.”

“A good plan, my son. Come, Michelangelo. Let’s see what I can teach you,” Splinter said.

Mikey groaned, but he knew this was the best plan of action.

For thirty-six loops straight, Mikey trained with Splinter all day long, learning more and skills and moves, and finding ways to become more unpredictable, so that the villain couldn’t predict him. For about fourteen loops, he worked with Don, watching as his brother designed a device that should, hopefully, nullify the tachyon particles the villain had, breaking the time loop.

And then he needed a break.

Mikey took seven time loops off, and just goofed around.

Then he was back to work, spending another twenty-three understanding what Don was building, so that he could tell Don what to do on each consecutive loop, and eighteen more doing more training with Splinter. He sprinkled in about sixteen more days off here and there, just because things got overwhelming from time to time.

However, it paid off. With all the loops, they had managed to figure out that the reason the villain went downtown was because there was a large presence of tachyons there, ones he was most likely trying to harvest. He was also draining people of their tachyons, which no one really knew the effects of. Don had built a device that would negate the extra tachyons, rendering the villain powerless, but it would need to be attached to the villain’s suit. Additionally, Mikey had several new skills under his belt, and, with Leo’s help, had analyzed the typical attack pattern the Justice Force did, and come up with a new one for them—something to surprise the other person aware of the time loop.

Finally, on Mikey’s 127th time loop, he was ready.

He didn’t even let Leo finish speaking before he spit in the sink and yelled for the family to get together. He showed them his hand, a couple of moves, and had Don scan him, the number higher each time. He gave Don the instructions on how to build the device, and then headed over to the Justice Force Headquarters, where he called them all together, convinced them, and went over the plan.

And then it was just a matter of waiting.

Sure enough, the villain appeared again. But the second he tried to start anything, the Justice Force was there, stopping him from hurting anyone. The villain looked shocked, but he didn’t give up so easily. The battle was on, and soon enough the villain was locked in combat. It didn’t take long for Mikey’s brothers to join in, either a surprise to the villain, but Mikey just waited, biding his time.

And then—he saw his moment!

He bounded forward, the villain moving to counter him. But Mikey didn’t do anything at all like the villain expected, and it sent the villain scrambling back, trying to get up a defense.

“No!” he said. “I refuse to let you ruin this!”

“Ruin it?” Mikey said as he attacked. “I’m trying to break the stupid time loop. But sure, say I’m “ruining” it.”

The villain, fortunately, was nowhere near as skilled as Mikey, and Mikey saw his opening. With the device Don had built in hand, Mikey attached it to the villain’s vest, and pulled back. The villain shrieked there was a sudden explosion, and then, for a moment, it looked as if everything lit up golden before Mikey knew no more.

When Mikey blinked awake, it was to Leo’s face hovering over him. Mikey groaned and put an arm across his eyes.

“You’re not going to tell me I’ll be late for training, are you?” Mikey asked.

“Not today, little brother,” Leo said. “Splinter has declared it a day off.”

Mikey groaned and pulled his arm away from his eyes, moving to sit up. “So, I’m assuming we broke the time loo—ow!”

“Easy, Mikey,” Leo said, helping him sit up and handing him some water and a pill. “Yeah, the time loops seem to be broken. Unfortunately, putting that thing on the villain did a number on your arm. The Justice Force healers say you’ll heal up just fine, but you’ve got to rest it for a while.”

“Dude,” Mikey said looking at him, taking the water and the pill. “Resting sounds awesome. I don’t know the last time I slept. The time loops weren’t during the night.” He swallowed the pill, and downed the water, handing the glass back to Leo.

Leo took it and smiled at Mikey. “Then rest. I’ll let the others know you woke up, but that you’ve gone back to sleep. But when you’re ready, they’re out there with a million questions.”

“Unless the main one is ‘what movie do you want to watch’ I don’t want to hear them,” Mikey said.

Leo laughed. “I’ll let them know. For right now, you sleep.”

Mike settled back down, curling up under the blankets. But just before Leo left, he called out to him.

“Leo?”

“Yeah, Mikey?”

“I just need you to do me one favor,” he said. Leo waited and Mikey went on. “Just make sure Groundhog Day, any of the Back to the Future movies, and any other time travel movies don’t make it into the stack.”

Leo chuckled. “You got it. Sleep well, Mikey.”

And Mikey did.

#febuwhump2024 #FebuwhumpDay11 #TMNT #TMNT 2003 #TMNT 2k3 #tmnt fanfic #tmnt michelangelo

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