Chapter's almost done, I swear! College is a handful right now but I haven't forgotten all you darling readers! It'll be up within the week at the very least. Also, EpicThunder101 has informed me that they have created a story called braces that was inspired by this fic (this one! I'm so touched!). All of you should go read it, Sebastian is freaking adorable! She has also given me permission to use Sebastian in this story although his placement in this fic will be slightly different than in 'Braces'. My heart exploded when I was told about this fic, exploded! Thank you!
Reveiws:
coldblue: I'm giving you ¾ of a cookie! You've almost got it all! To answer your questions.
I'm not sure yet if I'll have Amy become a mutant, I'll probably decide after she's appeared a bit in the chapters so I can get more used to her character.
Yes, Gio's style is very similar to Jets, I adore the hook blades! :)
Gio will figure out Kurai is Miwa but not for a while. Maybe a little bit before Splinter does but Gio's attention will be focused elsewhere for most of the time so it'll take awhile for him to notice anything odd.
Thank you once again for your character, I adore her already! Also thanks for the review, yours always makes me really happy. Sorry if I seem overly blunt but I've got class in 10 minutes and I wanted to post this before then.
EpicThunder101: Thanks for the grammar stuff and also everything I mentioned above. It seriously means a lot to me in case I haven't told you that a thousand times. Once again, thank you!
WaterSumo: Awww, thanks for your concern. I'm glad you like the story:)
Littlebabyturtlelove: I was wondering where you were! And shhhh, no one's supposed to know about him yet ;). Gio is a cutie, I agree!
leo0256: Hmm, I didn't notice I was doing that. Sorry, I'll try to fix that a bit. I'm going to be going into Gio's character a lot more once Shredder shows up, that's going to be the pivotal point into what is going to happen to him. Right now he's not really sure of who he is but after that his character solidifies and he gets a more stable persona.
Ali-Abbasi: Thank you, I'm glad you like it. I feel like such a jerk for all the crap Gio has to go through and the stuff he will have to face in the future. I can't help loving the angst! My sister keeps telling me I love to torture my character but I can't help it! It forms who they are!
GirlforGod99: Well I love you! Seriously, you're awesome. Thank you for all of your help, I'm sorry the actual chapter isn't up yet. Hope this at least partially makes up for it!
koko: I think so to. I wish my big brother was like Gio *sigh*
Crystal013: Thank you!
Alrighty, I think I got every one. If not you have my permission to rage and rant but please no killing or maiming. I'll get the next chapter up soon, I swear! If not then maiming may be allowed but please avoid my hands.
Thanks for reading and please review!
Name's Raph. Not Raphie, not Raphael, just Raph. Don't know why it matters to you but I like bashin' skulls, Spike, and my family I guess. I got four brothers and a dad, might've had a mom but I can't remember anything before the mutation. Doesn't matter. Well since you're total strangers and I will never see you again, might as well get this crap off my chest. Ever tell my brothers about this and I'll pound your face into the dirt.
Gio's a great guy and I really look up to him even though he's a complete idiot most of the time. Don't know how he can go around all happy all day, if I was cooped up in the lair all the time I'd probably explode. Pisses me off. He should just say what he wants, not hold back cause he doesn't wanna 'hurt our feelings'. Screw our feelings! He should think of himself for once! And the hell is his problem, thinking everything is cute? Something is seriously not right in his head. Love him though, he's my brother. My big brother. Leo always lords it over us how he's older and in charge but I think we're way closer in age to each other than to Gio. Leo's more of my almost twin (damn it all, I hate that), but Gio's got the obsessive older brother thing down pat.
Speaking of good ole Fearless, he can be a total bastard; especially since he became the leader. I mean, he was an asshole before that but he was my brother then and I could handle it better. I haven't seen my brother for a while, all I've seen is the irritating fearless leader who puts a damn clear line between family and team. Leo still shines through though. When he's watching that show of his, when we're just hanging out and eatin' pizza, when Mikey's done somethin' stupid, or those rare times when he and I just kinda sit in the main room in silence. That last bit doesn't happen anymore and I hate soundin' like a sap but I miss it. Leo used to be my best friend, we'd do everything together. Now he's changed and I've been getting angrier and angrier and I have no idea what to do. Still, shit happens and I gotta grow up. Things aren't going back to normal, not for a long time, so I guess I just gotta suck it up and deal with it.
Donny has changed a bit too I guess. Ever since we were allowed on the surface he's become obsessed with his little toys. Don't really get it but he's been a lot happier. Out of all of us Gio's illness has put the most stress on him. Not cause we care any less than him but cause he actually knows exactly what's goin' on with him and I know he doesn't always tell us everything. Don can have a guilt complex bigger than Leo's sometimes and it's just as annoying. He puts all the blame of not findin' a cure on himself and blames himself every time one of us doesn't heal as soon as we should. He's a pacifist at heart and I know it bothers him to take the family's pain on himself. Out of everyone Donny's the one I can talk to and even though I know it adds to his pain I can't help it. He's the voice of reason and the best at calmin' me down. I never really paid much attention to Don when we were younger but we got a lot closer after my 'incident'. I got a lot closer to all my brothers after that.
Right now I'm probably closest to Mikey. Ha, hard to believe even for me. The little knucklehead hasn't changed, not even a bit. He's the light of the family hands down and without him this family would have fallen into depression a long time ago. We owe a lot to Mike (not that'd we'd ever tell him that, he's got a big enough head as it is) and I almost feel bad for beating him into the ground after one of his pranks. Almost. Still, we make up for it when we hang out. The kids got good gamin skills I gotta admit, and he can actually fight pretty well when he puts his mind to it. Still can't beat me but he's good. If only he'd watch his back more often. Can't even count the number of times I've had to save his shell cause he wasn't payin' attention, the doofus. All of them are like that. They get so focused on one battle they can't pay attention to their surroundings. That's why I train so hard, so I can focus on everything so I can always be there. It bothers me not knowin' what their doin' so I tend to know what, where, and when they do anything at anytime of the day. Call me paranoid but I wanna be able to stop somethin' from happenin' way before it does.
Last on the list would be Master Splinter. Splinter's our dad, not by blood but that don't matter. He's given up a lot for us and I respect him a lot. Probably never gonna be able to pay him back for everything he's done. You can't help but idolize the man and though I know I'll never be just like him (that's more for Leo, the suck up) I at least wanna be enough to be proud of.
That's what no one in my family seems to get. I don't care about bein' perfect, doin' what's right, or any of that crap. If I wanna do it I will and if I don't I won't. I'm fine with who I am. Yeah, I got a temper, so what? That's just a part of me that will never go away and I'm fine with it. I love my family, however much I hate to admit it. But when Splinter lectures me on my anger issues every god damn day, or Gio starts givin' me that disappointed look, or Fearless lectures me on how much I have to change, or Donny gets mad at me for bein' myself, or Mikey fucking flinches when I so much as look at him it really starts to get to a guy. I would never hurt them, least not to bad, and I try not to be angry all the time. Why do they want me to change so damn bad? It gets real stiflin' down here when no one seems to like the 'real you'. Assholes.
I used to try to be different. To be better. Got depressed for a while before I realized it just wasn't me, so screw them. But they're my family, and family sticks together no matter what. S'not all bad, I really do like hangin' out with them. They're my brothers, I gotta like them you now? Even with all the crap they put me through, even though they don't seem to like me for me, even though they've tried to change who I am, I love them and I always will. They do love me to, I'm not an idiot. They don't want to do that crap. I love them and they love me.
But sometimes that just isn't enough.
