Mustang was very brave to build his team with a chronically-single french man, a guy who was born for IT in a world without, a guy who's definitely from their equivalent of New York, two orphans that are homeless by choice, his not-wife that he has a suicide pact with, and Vato Falman
if i didn't know better, i'd think you were still around
little angsty disaster twins snippet i posted on ao3 a while ago. thought it might be cool to post it here too! cw for major character implied/ referenced death. enjoy!
-----
He walked past his room again.
At this point, it was starting to become an exercise in futility. It was like a data point to be measured, a new tally to be marked down, how many times could he walk past his room in a day under the guise of doing literally anything else. Checking the kitchen to see if they needed more eggs. Ducking into the dojo to see if Raph had let up on his everlasting training routine since he had last checked on him, seeing if Mikey needed more salve for his aching arms. Walking behind dad’s recliner to see if he had moved an inch, at all, or if he was still stuck watching the same stupid infomercial reruns in lieu of getting up and helping mend the chaotic, broken stasis that his sons were stuck in.
It had been almost five months. Four months and sixteen days, if you wanted to be perfectly exact, but man, who was really counting?
(He was. Donnie was.)
It was, truthfully, stasis. The time had passed, but nobody acknowledged it, not really. It was still August fifth. Maybe it would always be August fifth. It felt that way. Sure, they moved around it, this gaping hole of just, loss, the grief in its totality, like it didn’t exist, but the proof of it persisted every time Donnie walked past his room, and he wasn’t there.
Leo was supposed to be in his room.
Leo was supposed to be in his room so that when Donnie walked in after fruitless efforts of getting a specific line of Python to code, a blanket would be lifted so Donnie could crawl in and commiserate in Leo’s insomniatic company. Leo was supposed to be in his room so that Donnie could bring in two sugar free Redbulls and turn on a Five Nights at Freddy’s video essay, staying up until four in the morning discussing with Leo which game contributed the most lore to the series. Leo was supposed to be in his room so that Donnie knew exactly where to find him when he got a text from Leo that he was heading topside for a slushie run and wanted Donnie to come with him. Leo was supposed to be in his room so that Donnie could come bug him to share his Switch so they could play Mario Kart.
Leo was supposed to be in his room.
And all Donnie could do was walk by, adding more tallies to the count for every time he did, wishing he could push past this inane thing, this fear, of walking into Leo’s room, and having to face the total eclipse of acceptance that his room would always be empty.
It had been almost five months.
He wondered if Leo had ever taken the mug he had been drinking his peppermint tea in back to the kitchen, the tea he had made the night before the world ended, or if it was just collecting dust now on his nightstand. He wondered if Leo had taped up the left corner of his Jupiter Jim poster that had fallen down, or if it was still hanging off the wall, doomed to be stuck that way for the rest of time. He wondered if he had remembered to plug in his laptop, or if it was still sitting on his bed where it would remain forever paused on whatever movie he had turned on to help him fall asleep.
Donnie could try to rationalize to himself all he wanted that he walked past Leo’s door everyday to check on the state of the lair. To check on the state of his family, as they too tried to process their grief. He could give himself a million reasons as to why it wouldn’t be alright for him to finally just walk into Leo’s room, a room that was now made to hold his memory, a mortuary for the people who loved him, love him, so much. In truth, he was scared to see the same stasis that he saw in Raph, saw in Mikey, saw in his dad. Their life was an ellipsis, waiting for the resolving sentence that was Leonardo to make them truly whole. If he walked into Leo’s room, if he finally let himself be brave, the pause button he had placed on his own life would start playing again, and the feeble control he so painstakingly allowed himself in his grief would finally be unraveled.
The feeble, tiniest hope still left in him that when he walked past Leo’s door, maybe he might hear the shitty eighties glam rock Leo so loved to dance to, or a Ghibli movie he had watched a million times, or hell, maybe even Leo’s voice and his wonderful, dazzling laugh as he talked to someone on the phone.
He still had this small hope inside him that perhaps Leo wasn’t truly gone, just somewhere far away where Donnie couldn’t quite reach him, and any minute he might portal back into his room where Donnie could find him again. That seeing the portal close, the portal that painted the early morning New York City sky in so many beautiful shades of brilliant colors, had just been a terrible dream. And he would wake up any minute now, and the one color the sky couldn’t take away from him, his most favorite shade of blue, would be waiting for him like he always was.
But the dream didn’t pass. It never did.
Donnie felt like insanity personified, and maybe he was. Doing the same thing over and over, hoping, wishing, praying for a different result.
My name is Mohammad, and I’m reaching out in a moment of desperate need. I’m a father of three young children living in Gaza, and we are caught in the midst of a catastrophic war. Our home is no longer a safe haven, and the future here seems increasingly uncertain. 💔
I’ve launched a fundraising campaign with the goal of raising $40,000 to relocate my family to a safer place where my children can grow up in peace and have a chance at a brighter future. 🕊️🇵🇸
Unfortunately, my previous fundraising efforts were abruptly halted when my account was terminated without explanation. However, I remain determined to keep fighting for my family’s safety and well-being. 🫶
If you could take a moment to read our story, consider donating, or simply share our campaign with others, it would make an incredible difference. Every act of kindness, no matter how small, brings us one step closer to safety and a new beginning. 🙏
Thank you for your time, compassion, and support. ❤
https://gofund.me/fd1faea2 🔗
if anyone has the funds or ability to donate !!! or reposting this to boost it. <3
was reading little kid with a big death wish (@remedyturtles) and wanted to play around with visualizing leo and sensei's headspace and putting it alongside the outside world and i'm mostly happy with it so i'm posting it
The dialogue on this part was written by my friend and she is so funny but she doesn’t want me to credit her so I’m just going to sing her praises and let the masses love the idea of her humor
We've already seen in canon that Donnie and change are at best a tumultuous combination; I think that'd get ramped up to like 1000 after Splints' passing
Originally it was just the first drawing with April but it felt wrong not to include all of his sons.
tangentwithtanner
baratheonpilled
titsay
amandla
germansingergirl
snowghoul
gracieabrams
