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Livia was about 12 years old when she noticed something was wrong.
She was with her brothers watching the newest Lou Jitsu movie, obviously starring her father, who even though he wasn't so present in his children's lives, made a point of taking them to their premieres, trying to spend as much time as possible. with them in a superstar life. In one scene of the film, she ended up marveling at the powerful antagonist of the film, not that she didn't like the performance of her father, but whenever she played with others she couldn't be him, so it's always good to look for new characters (and preferably incredibly strong).
Even when they got back home, AGAIN, she had to be the rescued damsel since she was the only girl in the movie, even though she loved getting ready (vanity is something you err on the side of) it still isn't like she enjoys just standing by and watching. his brothers fight.
"The Donnie who will be rescued this time;"
"What do you mean me? You're being the victim!"
"So Mikey"
"I thought I was going to be the mummy in the 5th movie"
"I'm not going to be the one to be rescued today, I want to get back to playing with you-"
"So you want to be the hero who rescues the girl?"
Raph speaks but without any evil in his eyes, Livia thinks a little... She didn't want to be the hero, but she just didn't want to be the maiden "You always play dirty in the lair games! For once let's play something everyone can enjoy-" Livia didn't even finish listening to her twin and went to her room (quite irritated), grabbing
her skateboard and heading out of the house.
...
"Stupid joke, stupid game, stupid Lady Lara..." She mumbled as she got closer to the nearest lane, it wasn't fair... Everything she had won was on her own merit, maybe it was just a way for her brothers to get revenge her? It's definitely something that she doesn't know, but she only came back because her older brother invaded the place hunting her at night, not that it was very difficult after there were several reports of fights between children there.
...
The twins' 14th birthday, each of whom can invite their own friends from school, in addition to obviously their older sister April, has now turned to civil war in the name of cake flavor. Livia insistently wants a chocolate cake and the evil genius wants a strawberry flavor with powdered milk, in the end each flavor had to be divided in half, the point is that that was not all that was shared. After starting to organize the party, the tastes of the twins did not make them enter into any consensus of decoration, guests and games, and this made their father let each one do what he wanted in each part of the house.
Livia had many plans with her side of the party. but it didn't work out as well as she thought, when it came time to buy the decorations, Raph and Mikey volunteered to go while she and Donnie made the guest list, that first. It was clear that they knew almost all of the same people, even if she stayed with a slightly more popular group and always hung out with the basketball boys, in terms of getting along they were the same, and well, it became a competition of who delivered the prizes. invitations first.
The most terrified thing she'd seen that day was the ruffles that took over half of the room, where the Jim Jupiter posters should have been, not only that but the twin's side was themed with? What was it supposed to be? Star Wars? Both went crazy with the mess that was made, apparently some magic made New York stores have extremely limited options for decorating birthday parties, unfortunately it was the most that the youngest managed to do, even trying to get something that looked like the ideas original and differentiate the two brothers, at least her twin would have the more technological style she wanted, while she.... Thinks she needs to spend the allowance she was saving to buy banners and anything that reminds of space, instead of a party of a pink princess adventure that was being presented.
Did she hate pink? Definitely not, even her eye shadow over her vitiligo was in a ruby pink tone, which always accompanied her with her bold makeup and marked eyeliner, but that didn't stop her from feeling extremely uncomfortable with something that represented her so little.
...
She got irritated, and it wasn't a little, but a lot, that "party rivalry" thing was the biggest massacre she could have, few of her friends went, and those who arrived preferred the theme of her twin, because in that same Today there's a big championship between the schools, so not even their usual groups went, just people closer to the family in general and who didn't study at the same school as their brothers. It might even have been a little better with her older sister's company, but the decor, lack of friends, and an environment that represented so little to her just completely infuriated Livia.
Donnie has often been called the manic genius or the evil twin, but he definitely doesn't know how far his counterpart can go when her months-long planning goes awry, and she won't settle for her childhood friends who put on makeup stopped talking about boys on the left side of the room. She would never ruin her brother's party, but how could he ruin his own if in her personal opinion it was already a disaster? She already knows the right idea to deal with it...
...
While everyone else was eating outside the room, a bowl full of blue paint was simply thrown onto his wall, then another and another. Christmas lights taken directly from the garage began to be cast on the various ruffles now stained, no one saw the birthday girl of the moment leaving with a piggy bank full towards the center of a city and buying random things that would preferably shine and stain. Several black lights were placed in the sockets, and many neon sticks were thrown on the floor along with confetti, and now several different colored paint balloons were thrown into place, far from the strip that separated its half, and suddenly the music stopped abruptly. ambient calm that was playing in the place and was exchanged for a more agitated one.
Well, it was no surprise that everyone showed up to see what had happened, Lou just looked and thought "the current generation is a little strange..." And Raph, the weak hand of the group, almost had a heart attack, seeing not a single thing like a war zone but his sister completely covered in paint he's afraid not to wash off, and with the shit-eating smile she has on her lips, it didn't take much to know that she was well pleased with what it was done here.
"WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING?"
"Just making this party more like me, or did you want me to walk down those stairs in a Victorian dress?"
Mickey felt a little offended that the decorating effort was so slighted, he looked at that mess and had a look of understanding on Livia, that they probably should have picked up on something that deviated from the delicate tone that her sister just doesn't have, maybe make a mini have in place might have been a good idea? At least his face was satisfied, he even felt the place was missing something.
While Donnie just checked to see if his side got dirty along with the guests who just went into a state of shock or went back to the kitchen not having the mindset to deal with a family conflict, Micky grabbed some crepe paper that was on his arts supplies and started spreading them around the room. While Raph was freaking out about how they were going to clean up after, Li looked at his little brother and just joined him, with finally someone getting into the messed up patterns that she and her mind were in, because this was being so much more normal for her than anyone else. would think in her head, just getting rid of what felt completely wrong about her.
In the end the three (along with April who joined the paint war) paid more attention to this little dispute than attention to the others for the rest of the party. Livia didn't mind, she didn't mind being seen as a lady anyway.
...
Magic weapons were the surprise of the year for the brothers, and knowing that they weren't exactly their father's biological children wasn't very expected either, even if in some strange way Draxum managed to have a little bit of his DNA inside them, but anyway, don't worry. need to think about it so much when his younger brother brought the guy who kidnapped him like fetuses for ONE DINNER. That's right, a dinner party, what could go wrong? Well, Donnie got along better than expected with the guy who tried to throw her off the roof a while ago, and Raph even seemed to try to give him a chance since his younger brothers were getting along so well... truth all excess one, they always say " son of fish, fish is", and this term applies to Lívia as well as anyone in comparison with Splinter, both father and daughter had remorse and distrust against the scientist, and well, April until the he accepted, but he is always one step closer to protecting his younger brothers.
In the middle of the forced dinner that Micky put them through, Draxum made a comment that froze Livia's head. "I was surprised by the sex you developed when you were in my laboratory, I really believed that you would all be male" and that comment in itself moved her a lot, although it had a whole context of her twin brother asking about how Draxum arranged human fetuses and the was modifying to become warriors (even though he didn't answer that first part). Livia began to wonder, what if she was a boy? But the idea didn't appeal to her, in fact she thought, she didn't think it appealed to her being a girl either - she just didn't know how to feel about herself, having no security about what she was, if there was something wrong with her for just be lost. For the rest of dinner, sarcastic remarks and hateful indirections were cut short, blue didn't sleep well that night.
...
She bought a new black shirt with the print of a band she didn't even recognize the name of, but she thought it was great. It was rather baggy, so she grabbed one of Raph's old jackets and put it on top. Particularly Livia's fashion was one of the most iconic things about her: great jewelry, make-up, although not excessive, strong, and several embellishments and bands in her dreadlocks.
She was now wearing a hot pink eyeshadow that faded to a more pastel shade at the end, but now it didn't cover the natural blemishes of her skin. Kitty eyeliner and false eyelashes were visible, and a burgundy lipstick was on her lips. Her hair was tied in a bun, in her ears were large hoop earrings, and over her jacket a silver chain was placed, not too big, but at the same time flashy. To finish off her look before going to school she opted for baggy pants but tucked them into a black high top all star, considering a cap or not, but that didn't matter now.
She was looking at herself in the mirror behind her door, satisfied with the result, and mentally evaluating her outfit according to some trends of the moment, then she ended up remembering the night of dinner with Draxum a few weeks ago. Nothing about her clothing could be too specific, were they a bit "masculine"? "Female"? Her beauty is always praised wherever she goes, obviously there are days when she dresses like a real preppy girl or days when sweatshirts dominate her wardrobe, but can she define herself as something more than another? She just liked the striking details every day, but otherwise, should she dress like this? Thousands of thoughts invaded her head when someone knocked on her door:
"Li you have exactly 18 minutes and 47 seconds to drink coffee and get in the car"
Great, Donnie to scramble her thoughts, but that's ok, stuffing her sword in her suitcase she dashes out to grab a slice of toast and runs to the vehicle the older one was starting, apparently ready for another big game of Football on the team. school, maybe thinking about other things really helps.
...
Battle Nexus. Something she particularly loved to participate in. Outwit Big Mama and be a new champion and recognized? The best feeling of victory in the world, not only that but how good she looked in her parents' outfit (only going into detail for needing to take her bra off before the battle due to it being soaked by a discarded soda on her head).
Do you know the biggest advantage of all this? Her having fought alongside her father, showing her combat skills and with her portals, and something that definitely cannot be denied, the crowd's screams calling her simply "greatest" "champion" "blue" and "L" made her simply feeling... Well, in addition to having an inflated ego, not having to deal with her internal gender conflict that she was having recently, and with Shedder's defeat, returning to the hidden city and even if by few, being identified like that only brought a relief. This is normal? That was a question that apparently didn't have an answer yet, maybe it's finally time to show your questions to something reliable... Someone who will undoubtedly answer everything you need....
...
"Okay Google, I don't even feel like a woman, much less like a man, and I like things of both genders"
An answer wasn't something L thought she could find, but she did. Non-binary, neither the term "she" nor the term "he" applied in Livia, was Livia still an appropriate name? She never felt uncomfortable with it but maybe another one would suit her better? Maybe it was a detail they worried about later, it's not like L they had any habit of keeping something kept to themselves, although he had just discovered something about himself, nothing more practical than going to talk to his family, because , they will need support to discover themselves.
Raph was watching a movie with one of his brothers in the living room, when he suddenly sees Lívia running down the stairs and stops in the middle, looking into my eyes:
"I need to tell you something"