#OH this is why it's been so tense OH this is why raph has been so hardline and irritated when i fly off solo

[thisisadonaldduckblognow]

me thinking about the moment in the movie where leo is fighting krangified raph and he is feeling so much pressure and so much stress and guilt and he is so so scared for his family and for raph especially because he just wants to get raph out safely, he just wants his brother with him and their family unharmed and in one piece, but he can’t get through why won’t raph HEAR him why isn’t raph LISTENING he just wants to SAVE HIM why is he making things SO HARD--

and that is the moment where it finally fully clicks for leo, after all this, where raph was coming from at the start of the movie. that it wasn’t about being stubborn or wanting to call all the shots and be the boss, it wasn’t pettiness or raph being hard on them for no reason. it was always just raph wanting them to be safe, and getting scared and frustrated when doing that was difficult. or when, perhaps, certain stinker lil brothers seemed to be going out of their way to make it difficult.

like he really has that hard stop moment of realization while he’s looking directly at raph... at his own reflection u could say... love that

[dandylovesturtles]

More Sidelined propaganda for @tmntaucompetition ! Today's special guest star is Omega from Replica by @kathaynesart

I promise that the 100ft boys aren't my redheaded stepchildren I've just had more ideas for Sidelined so far (and also they've been in a comp before). I'll try to write something for them sooner rather than later.

But for now, this!

-----

"Ohmigosh, look at that!" calls Mikey, pointing excitedly. "It's a cartoon Donnie!"

It's not hard to tell what he means - some kind of screen mounted on a wheeled tripod, with a cartoon Donnie face making various expressions as he "looks" around at the assembled turtles. Leo wheels his chair towards him, grinning mischievously.

"Look guys, Donnie finally evolved to his final form."

"Hah hah, I haven't heard that one a hundred times before just today," says the Donnie on the screen.

"He even does sarcasm like Donnie!" squeals Mikey.

"Faaaascinating," says Leo's Donnie, leaning in close to observe. "I would think this Donatello is just broadcasting from some remote location, but then why the sprite-based representation of myself? Mikey's handiwork, I assume."

"Correct that it is Mikey's artwork, however, wrong that I am a Donatello broadcasting from a remote location." The cartoon Donnie looks entirely too smug, even in 2D. "I am a fully autonomous AI made from Donatello's personality and memories. I am Omegabootyshaker9000, but most people call me Omega."

"An AI!? Of me!?" Donnie is really buzzing now, practically fluttering around the tripod. "Oh, that's brilliant! Ooooh, I would love to get a look at your programming - may I?"

"Nope, my programming is proprietary, as you well know."

Donnie's face falls. "Awww, come on! Your creator and I are the same person!"

"The deviations between our timelines would suggest that they are not. But nice try."

Donnie immediately turns sulky, pouting off to the side of the Leo's wheelchair. Leo wants to laugh at him, but something more important than his brother's disappointment occurs to him.

"Hey, if you're one of Dee's AI, I know someone who'd want to meet you."

So saying, he reaches around the back of his chair, under the various things he has hanging in the way (as always) and taps on the little drone stowed there. He hears a questioning whirr, then the sound of rotors slowly starting up, and then Shelldon pushes his way out from under Leo's hoodie, stretching his rotor discs like they're limbs.

"Sup dudes?"

"Check it out, Shelly - it's one of your big brothers!”

"Hm?" Shelldon blinks at him, still booting up, before finally looking at Omega. That seems to shock him all the way awake, zipping toward the screen and doing a lap around it. "Whoa! A Dee AI!?"

"Shelldon!" cries out Omega, looking delighted. "Oh, look at you! You look so young!"

"Hey, I'm not young! I'm version 13.0.8!"

"Ah, almost version 14..." Omega chuckles. "I know how much trouble you gave Donatello back in those days."

"He gives me plenty of trouble now," huffs Donnie, still sulking.

"Eh, don't listen to him," says Leo, waving it off. "Shelly's great!"

"You are part of the reason I have so much trouble with him," Donnie argues. "You're a bad influence!"

"Am not!"

"Are too!"

"Am not!"

"Are too!"

"They update so fast," says Omega, interrupting their bickering. His sprite has a look of wistful nostalgia. "You should really cherish this time, you know."

"Eugh." Donnie makes a face. "There's nothing about this time to cherish. I'll be glad when he updates out of it."

"You think that now," says Omega, "but whenever Donatello remembered those years... he missed it."

The past tense applied to his twin makes something in Leo's stomach twist. Though they're out of his sight, he can sense Mikey and Raph tensing up, too. For the first time, Leo has to ask himself why Donnie needed to make an AI to store his memories and personality. And he doesn't like any of the plausible answers.

Omega seems to realize after a moment that he's sobered the mood, because he does a very exaggerated clearing of his throat and says, "So, that wheelchair is interesting, he said in a very natural segue. Is that a Genius Built original?"

"Uh," says Donnie, and then he kickstarts into motion. "Why yes! Yes it is! You know, I can show you the schematics if you just let me see-"

"Haha, nice try again! But no."

"Awwww, come on!"

[its-autumn]

i really need to get this short idea out of my head 😭

call my name, and i'll find you

The hospital rung. Leo had woken up and they weren't fucking there.

It was a mad dash. The doctors had said that he wouldn't wake up for another two weeks, so they had all gone out on a mission because the amount of zombie-krang people still roaming around in NYC was kind of terrifying. Mikey was on one shoulder, Donnie perched on the other, and Raph running faster than he had since the whole ordeal happened.

The doctors said that he wasn't moving or talking, or doing anything, really. Raph knew why. Leo hated being forgotten and left out, and what else is a scared, hurt kid supposed to believe when his family aren't there to welcome him back to the land of the living?

Raph also had no clue why they'd call after visiting hours were done. Yokai hospitals were weird and different to the ones in New York. Poor Leo probably had no clue where he was or who the people around him were. The snapping turtle could feel Donnie drumming his fingers impatiently and the way that Mikey was gripping one of his spikes like a lifeline. It hurt.

Not even four steps though the doors and "Sorry, guys, visiting time is over". As fucking if. What did they expect? An 'oh, okay, we'll come see our brother who has been asleep for nearly a month and now that he's awake is refusing food tomorrow'? All three of them ignored it. Mikey jumped off of his shoulder and jogged alongside the speed walking. Little legs, after all.

There were nurses trying to stop them and Raph felt Donnie starting to tense up, he knew he must've been pissed off too. And then they started nearing where Leo's room was.

The oldest could already see him through the window. Dully staring at his feet, pale and barely even breathing. He still looked dead even though he was actually awake this time. The nurses were getting closer. Raph almost threw open the door, all of them entering and stopping.

"Hey, Lee-Lee!!" Mikey beamed. And Leo's face lit up.

[raphmybeloved]

Mama

This is a little fic I made for @idiot-mushroom 's Teenage Turtle Ninja Mutants iteration. This is not canon to that iteration but I was just thinking a lot about shitty parents who suck at boundaries and the combination of oldest daughter syndrome and this was born.

TW there is no actual incest but Splinter makes an incredibly poor taste joke along those lines that's uncomfy to read

Raph doesn’t know when her brothers first start calling her mama. They mostly use it to tease her or complain that he’s a mother henning them. She thinks there may have been a time where it annoyed her but these days he likes it. 

As far as nicknames go it’s pretty solid and better than the normal dipshit and dickface that they tend to call each other. 

It doesn’t bother her. Until it does.

At first none of them put any thought into Leo entering the kitchen with a “hey mama what’s cooking?” It’s practically a guaranteed reaction from Leo when he sees Raph wearing an apron. It's normal.

They aren’t thinking about the fact that Splinter is in the room.

“Mama?” Splinters asks and Raph watches her siblings all freeze. This could go bad. Splinter's parenting is one of those things he’s sensitive about and there's always a chance he’ll have a reaction even to something as small as a nickname.

Splinter laughs and Raph knows it should be her cue to relax like her brothers are doing but she just can’t. She just has a feeling of dread that keeps her shoulders tense.

“Oh Mama, that is hilarious. Raphael is such a good mama after all. Always taking care of cooking and cleaning! It’s like he is my little wife ha!” 

Raph watches her brothers relieved awkward smiles transform into uncomfortable grimaces. He has no idea what his own face looks like or even how to fix it to an appropriate expression. Splinter seems to be immune to the clear discomfort that is drowning the rest of them as he continues laughing.

“Alright ‘mama’ I am going out,” Splinter says, patting Raph on the back before heading to the door. “Make sure to put the kids in bed.” 

The silence after he closes the door is suffocating until it isn’t. His brother’s are talking but Raph doesn’t really know what they are saying. Everything is a little too fuzzy to understand and it's hard for Raph to fully comprehend anything except this feeling of wrongness..

She feels weird. She feels gross. He can’t even quite pinpoint why but the feeling just consumes her. Eventually he must have shaken it off even if he can’t remember doing so because suddenly he’s in bed and everyones eaten and the lights are out.

She has no choice but to try to fall asleep and ignore the phantom feeling of bugs crawling all over her.

Like a lot of things they don’t talk about it. Her brother’s stop calling him mama as much and she tries to ignore the feeling of wanting to vomit whenever splinter says it.

She would have probably continued to never talk about it if it wasn’t for Casey Jones.

It's a fire escape night. A routine for just Raph and Casey to look out at the city, eat snacks, and shoot the shit. No siblings, no responsibilities, just a flimsy little platform that could give out any moment and two teens who don’t care. 

“So is something up?” Casey asks. The snack of the night is sunflower seeds and Casey seems determined to get as many shells into a flower pot on a balcony across the alley between apartment buildings and is mostly failing at his goal.

“What do ya mean?” Raph asks. She wishes she could join Casey in his quest but he eats her sunflower shells whole in a way that horrifies her friends and family and therefore has nothing to throw. Instead she picks at her nail beds.

“You’ve been weird, Mikey called you mama and you flinched. You’ve never done that before.” Casey says and not for the first time Raph is reminded that Casey is far more observant than he lets on.

“It’s nothin,” Raph mutters. 

“C’mon you know I don’t believe that.” Casey stops his sunflower seed mission and turns to look at her. There's something about the look Casey is giving him that Raph actually wants to tell him. 

“Splinter caught on to them calling me ‘mama’ and now he's started doing it,” Raph tries to keep her voice even as she stares out into the city but she can feel the bitterness sink in. “Pretty sure he can tell I don’t like it but he won’t stop.”

There's a moment of quiet before Casey lets out a hiss of air from his teeth.

“That sucks.” There's another moment before Casey lets out a small laugh.

“What’s so funny asshole?” Raph says glaring at the boy who is unfortunately her best friend

“Your dad is such an ass that he accidentally validated your gender. I mean obviously he’s being a dick but it’s just kind of funny that he is doing it in a way that uses feminine terms after trying to ignore your whole deal for so long.” Casey snorts, “What a fucking idiot.”

Raph looks at Casey. In a way he’s right. Splinter has brushed off any attempt Raph made to come out and now he’s using a feminine term. Sure it’s in a shitty way. At best it’s a crappy consolation prize and it doesn’t fix the weird gross feeling but-

Casey is trying. Raph shared an actual feeling and Casey isn’t mocking isn’t ignoring he’s trying to make her feel better. It’s.. nice. It helps Raph push away that gross feeling Splinter brings.

“Yeah,” she says. “What an idiot.” 

Things aren’t really better. Splinter is still an ass and Raph is still stuck in a situation where he just has to deal with it but when Casey smiles at him it's not hard to smile back.  

She at least has that.

[pianocat939]

Mayhaps I request a platonic Yandere(if you do thoses) Rottmnt with a MC that is viewed or is their little sibling?

I hope you have have a wonderful day/afternoon/night!

I only have 2 more requests to finish before moving on to the next set yay! The next set is like 16 requests so that'll probably take a month to finish ;-;.

I haven’t done any non-Hcs things recently so why not.

Tw: overprotective behaviour, Mikey's a hypocrite,

Hypocritical Feelings

(MC is a turtle mutant like the bros)

The sun settled down into the depths of the horizon, painting the sky of New York a dark shade of blue. The city's children head off to bed, the teenagers lay awake in their beds scrolling through any media they can find, and the adults rush through the streets, trying to get home. Yet deep in the sewers of the megapolis is a family of mutants: five turtle siblings and their lazy rat father.

The stroke of midnight is noon to this household, which is the time for lunch. The second youngest prepares lunch for the siblings, his skilled three-fingered hands adding spices to the dish. Once finished, he walks to the living room to announce the meal is ready.

"Raph, Leo! I finished cooking lunch!" He calls out to the elder two, already wandering off to the next destination.

"Please tell me it's the tempura rice bowl we've been so hyped for~" Leo, who previously was reading comics, jumps up from the couch, excitedly marching to the kitchen in excitement. Raphael follows behind him, his long tail wagging in joy.

The oranged-masked turtle heads off to his twin's room, swinging his arms as he does so. He lightly knocks on the door before opening it, slipping his head in through the crack. "Y/n, lunch is served!" He waits for a few seconds for them to answer, blinking a couple of times.

They soon notice him and reply, "'Kay, let me finish this first." They focus back on the activity, silently signaling to him he can go back to the kitchen.

He obliges, shutting the door and heading for the middle child's lab.

——————————————————

The siblings sit at the high table and munch on their food, enjoying the exquisite taste. Raphie is almost finished with his entire bowl, seemingly devouring the delicacy.

"'Angelo, I must say this is one of the better dishes of your craft!" The lab-technician compliments, biting a piece of the crispy fried shrimp

"Thanks! I found a really good market that has some of the best ingredients." He grins, his legs wiggling a little with happiness.

Soon enough the siblings have finished their meals and have headed off to do their own things, leaving only the younger set of twins in the room.

"Hey Mikey, do you mind if you could cover for me?" Y/n asks, slight uncertainty laced in their voice.

"What do you mean by 'cover'?" He sassily juts out his hip a little, drying the dishes.

They hesitate, doing a few taps on the countertop. "Well, there's this really cool shop I wanted to visit...And I wanna go alone this time."

The room suddenly quiets, a tense atmosphere developing. Mikey freezes, eyes wide in shock. His brain short-circuits on him, no thoughts running through his head.

"EXCUSE ME? ALONE? NO WAY!" He exclaims, gripping the fragile plate so hard it almost shatters underneath the pressure.

"Oh but come on! You literally picked up the Lou Jitsu game alone a few months ago! I should totally be allowed to go to a shop!" They argue back, a small pout forming on their face.

Mikey wiggles a finger, shaking his head in the process. "Nope! Nuh-uh! I don't want anything bad to happen to you."

Just then, Raph walks in, carrying a barbell in one of his hands. "I hear bickering. What's goin' on?"

Mikey turns to him dramatically holding out a hand in his twin's direction, "Y/n wants to go shopping, alone!"

Raph immediately frowns, jerking his head to them. "I barely let Mikey go, but you, definitely not."

"Don't you guys think you're a bit too overprotective?"

"No."

Like a dramatic effect from a movie, both Leo and Donnie enter as well, seemingly attracted to the commotion from the three.

"Guys, me and Donnie are trying to have our weekly 'who's better at video games' competition! We do not need all this noise; except for cheering that is."

"Yeah, I agree. The sound is not quite enjoyable background music."

"Y/n's trying to leave! ALONEeEeeEEee!" Mikey runs to Donnie, embracing his plastron in distress. D'Nello stiffens in response, leaning back in disgust.

"Oh great- wait what! What are you doing trying to go out alone! What if you get run over by an ice cream truck!" Leo approaches Y/n his hands on his hips.

"First of all, I am not getting run over by an ice cream truck. Two, I should be fine! If Mikey can do it, so can I!" They open their arms, frustrated with their brothers.

"Mh well, let's see. I can confirm that you have a 100% chance of getting run over by an ice cream truck if you are to go out alone." Donnie pushes Mikey to Leo, at his limit for physical touch.

"Wha-"

"Alright guys, let's go watch Leon and Donald have their competition!" Raph interrupts the youngest, pushing everyone out of the kitchen and towards the arcade.

Y/n huffs, and crosses their arms, ready to take a run for it.

Why can't they go out alone just for a limited edition Jupiter Jim figure?

——————————————————

I really need to brush up on longer pieces. It just seems like a picture with only characters

- Celina

[nerves-nebula]

Somewhere far, far, far in the future:

Mikey looked up from his comic as the front door opened. Leo opened it, her back to the room as she stepped in, voice low and whispering to a second, familiar voice.

“Gaylord is back!” He called loudly, grinning when Leo visibly tensed at the shout.

It was another minute before Leo finally shut the door and came to join the rest of them, making a point to smack Mikey on the back of the head as she passed.

“Jackass.”

“Homo.”

“Does it count as being a homosexual if he’s a boy and a girl?” Raph asked, not looking away from the tv as he and Donnie battled in some new game they’d gotten.

“Please do not give me any more identity crises.” Leo grunted as she heavily sat on the couch, kicking up her feet. A mechanical arm emerged from Donnie’s shell and pushed them off the table.

“No feet on the table.” Donnie muttered as the arm retracted, focus entirely on the game.

Leo stuck out her tongue but propped her feet up on the couch instead. She smoothed down her skirt, reaching into the pocket to pull out the ticket for the garden Usagi had taken her to. It had been a great time and they’d had an absolute blast. There was a butterfly grove full of endangered species that were being helped by the facility, and they’d shared a frozen lemonade that had given them both horrible brain freezes, and-

“Hamato Leonardo.”

Leo looked up, frowning at Mikey, who was crawling over the arm of his chair over to the couch to stare at her.

“Can I fucking help you?”

Mikey reached out, purposefully pressing his finger into the joint of Leo’s shoulder and neck, right over-

“Fuck off!” Leo slapped Mikey’s hand, shrinking away from him, “Don’t touch me, weirdo.”

“Raph, Donnie!” Mikey grinned.

“Shut up.” Leo hissed, pulling up the neck of his dress.

“Leo has-“

“I will pay you to shut up.”

“-a fuckin hickey!”

The game paused. Donnie turned around, frowning.

“So?”

Mikey fumbled, his smile faltering a moment, “So? Aren’t- aren’t we supposed to get weird about that? Like, throw a fuss and demand to know Usagi’s intentions?”

“I’m pretty s-sure Usagi’s intentions are obvious.” Donnie deadpanned, “They’ve b-been dating for a while n-now. Couples get handsy. It h-happens.”

“Plus, Leo could absolutely kick Usagi’s ass if he tried anything she- she today? Yeah- she didn’t like.” Raph shrugged, “Not everything has to be like in your sitcoms, Mike.”

Mikey groaned, “Can we at least pretend? I’ve been looking forward to this since they started flirting!”

“Oh.” Donnie chirped, “W-well, in that case…” he cleared his throat before slamming his controller down, leaping to his feet to turn to Leo, “She has a what?!”

The evening was spent reenacting the confrontation multiple different ways, each one doing their best to stay in character and not laugh at the ridiculous accusations each one of them threw Leo’s way.

“It’s impure!”

“Seduced by the devil!”

“Our sister’s become a whore!”

Afterward they all made sure to reassure Leo that they actually didn’t care and reminded her to be safe, et cetera.

——

Idk why I wrote this.

-Monster Anon

you wrote it cause its cute and sweet <3 and i appreciate it <3 she'd been seduced by The White Devil SMH

[plothooksinc]

This is delayed, but I wanted to give others a chance to bite first; now seems good enough a time as any, though. /hops in your inbox like a goblin So NRFTW prompts. Give me a Casey and Leo scene, because hoo boy I feel like they have a lot to talk about. Setting-wise, I'd lean after NRFTW ends (because Casey has to be wondering where he goes from here), but if you have ideas for earlier that works too, I will eat any delicious food you give me. /chinhands

Not after NRFTW but one of the holes I was contemplating trying to fill because gosh Casey and Leo needed to have a conversation in here somewhere--

The moment Casey slid the door shut, all conversation from outside was muted to an indistinct mumble.  He leaned his head against the cool metal, eyes squeezed shut and misery in his chest.  The look on Raph’s face had spoken volumes, and Casey hated—hated­—treating him like a potential threat.  But he’d been burnt too many times before.  They all had.

Well.

Just him now. 

As if that helped.  He snorted and turned to face the room, wiping a hand across his face.  The lights were still off inside, rendering the bed and its occupant an undefined shape in the gloom.  Casey slid down to sit on the ground, head tilted back, and prepared to settle in for the night.

The sleepy voice took him entirely by surprise. 

“Csssey?   ‘zat you?”

Shit.  Had he just woken?  Or did he wake with the yelling earlier?  Or the literal assassination attempt--?  But Casey would swear Leo was still out for that one, because he was pretty sure nobody in their right mind would pretend to sleep through their brother trying to choke them to death.  But now that he actually heard Leo, there was no roughness to his voice; no damage, nothing but the slur of painkillers and recent sleep and some mild confusion, maybe—

He breathed out, suddenly relieved.  Raph hadn’t hurt him.  For Raph’s sake, as well as Leo’s, that was… good.

“…huh.”  Leo sounded doubtful, and shifted a little on the bed before he stilled with a faint hiss.  “N’mind.  Guess my sleep demons are carryin’ hockey sticks now.”

“—U-um!”  Casey shot to his feet.  “No, sorry.  Sorry, it’s me.  I just—wasn’t expecting you to be awake.”

“Oh good, ’m not going mad.  Hoorayyy.”  He heard the sound of a hand patting at the bed.  “s’a place to sit up here, you know.  More comfy.”

Casey obligingly shuffled across the room, finding the stool in the dim lighting cast by the monitors, and sat hunched by the gurney. “How are you feeling?”

Leo hummed thoughtfully, and said nothing for so long Casey wondered if he’d just dozed off again.  But eventually… “Still syrupy.  Prob’ly better that way.”  He took a deep breath and let it out, and Casey counted the seconds that he held it; four.  Nothing had changed.  (Or—well, how did one measure change when this Leonardo was younger than his Leonardo?)  

He was still stuck on the weirdness of time travel when Leo spoke again, sighing out the words.  “Raph okay?”

Casey tensed.  “…why wouldn’t he be?”

“Yelling,” Leo muttered, which didn’t help his stress levels.  Casey hunched closer to the bed, wondering how to tackle this.

“You heard that, huh?”

“Mhm.  Soundproofed medbay.”  He waved his hand aimlessly.  “Still doesn’t cut out that volume.”

The yelling had been a while ago.  If Leo had heard the specifics, Casey doubted he’d still be lying here so complacently, and he was silent, thinking through an answer.  Technically, Leo needed to be told that Raph was compromised.  But…

…now?  In the middle of the night while they were still trying to work out how to address things?  He knew very well how Leo would react if Casey told him the truth—or at least he thought he did. 

“I think he’s fine,” he said with just a sliver of confusion.  Because when everything was said and done, Sensei had also taught him how to lie, and he’d apologise for it later.  “Not unless, uh… TV rights?... are really upsetting?  They were fighting over the remote thingy.”

It was the right tack to take, and Casey relaxed as Leo gave a small huff of amusement.  “Sounds about right.  Who won?”

“…Mikey.”

“Mhm.”  Leo’s eyes drifted closed, but Casey could just make out a hint of a smile.  “Little brothers’re terrifying.  Gotta remember that.”

“I’ll do my best.”

And then Leo was out again—at least as far as Casey could tell—relaxing into the blankets and his hand dropping back down, and he figured he’d done the right thing.  No point in getting Leo stressed now when he was trying to heal, and he didn’t want to possibly damn Raph like that, not now.  Raph might be fine—he hadn’t really touched Leo.  And they were trying to find a solution, a conversation that Casey…

…wasn’t a part of.

Because they weren’t his turtles.  He didn’t have a right to tell them what to do, or what protocol in the future would have been.  Everything was different here, anyway; there was no actual invasion, this was just a—a loose end, a last spiteful trap, they could work it out, they could—

If Raph turned, would they have to kill him?  Would they be able to?  Would Casey have to be the one to take that weight?  Because he was the only one who truly knew how horrible things could become? 

(Would he even want to force one of them to kill their own brother?) 

And the guilt of even considering this, given they managed to get Raph back in the first place--

They got him back.  They broke the influence, it’ll be fine, it’ll be fine, it’ll be—

A finger poked into the back of his hand and Casey flinched away instinctively, hand yanked to his chest before he registered Leo’s heavy sigh in the dark.  “Can’t sleep if you’re thinking that loud.”

Oh.  He lowered his hand sheepishly, twisting it into the weave of his cloak instead.  “Sorry…?”

“Mnn.  Mutter.”

“…did you just say mutter?”

“S’not as if Donnie has a patient.”

Casey’s brow furrowed.  That made no sense, and he gestured to—well, all of Leo.  “He kinda does, actually.  What does that have to do with—“

Surprisingly, Leo laughed; a small, surprised sound that tapered off quickly with a wince, but he was still grinning in the gloom, eyes open a sliver.  “Man.  I guess that’s wasted on someone like you, huh?  No patents in the future.”

“But you said—“

“I know.  I actually do know that one.  I was…hmm.  Was future me better with words?”

Oh.  Oh.  Casey smiled back, suddenly on more familiar ground.  “Mostly?   You did a lot of, uh, rousing speeches?  I think you had to be.  But you’d mess up with Master Donatello sometimes.”

“Course I did,” Leo said comfortably.

 Casey narrowed his eyes. “He said you did it on purpose.”

“In the future, prolly.”  He was slurring again, and Casey neatened his blankets both for something to do and to kind of hint that maybe he ought to go back to sleep.  “Now, I’m not so good with, hmm, book words?  But I’m learning.”

“You did it on purpose just now, didn’t you?” Casey said mildly. 

“Didn’t say I didn’t do it now.  Just… sometimes I know, sometimes I don’t.  It’s a fun way to get under Donnie’s skin.”

Donnie gets too far inside his own head, Sensei had said once over a mug that said Pretend It’s Coffee on the side.  But he can’t help himself.  You gotta know how to get his attention.  Wanna know what really irritates him? 

They weren’t so different, maybe.  This Leo was younger and—well, more of a dumbass.  More of a kid, and that was allowed.  Still had the same tactics.  The same humour.

Still made the same sacrifices.

It was a mix of conflicting emotion that sliced through him in a way he didn’t know how to process—grief for his family left behind, guilt for the role he played on both sides of—of both portals—relief that, here and now, the Hamato family had survived, were still here—and yet they weren’t, not in the way that Casey remembered.  They would grow up to have entirely different lives now, and that was a wonderful thing. 

They wouldn’t grow up to be his. 

He recognised them all the same.  There was joy in that.  And grief of an entirely different kind.  (And terror, because Raph--)

“Thinking too loud again,” Leo whispered, and Casey shuddered, slumping down on the stool until he could rest his head on the blankets, one arm over his head and worrying at his hair for a brief, vicious moment before he felt thick fingers latch onto his wrist and tug that hand away.  “It’s okay, you know?”

“It’s not,” he whispered back, trying not to cry.  “You don’t even know what the problem is.  How can you say it’s okay?”

“Hmm…” Leo was quiet a moment, and Casey peered at him through his bangs, watching him blink, slow and heavy lidded.  “Lemme… try and rephrase that without sounding all mushy.  Invasion averted, right?”

“Right.”

“You did what you came here to do?”

“…yes?”

“So you’re done.  Good job.  But now you gotta deal with, um…  stuff.”

Casey frowned  “Stuff…?”

“Y’know.”  Leo yawned.  “All the stuff you weren’t thinking about while you saved the world.  Like a hero?”

“I’m not a—“

“You are,” he said, more firmly than he’d said anything else.  “But that’s not the point I’m… hmm.  When’s the last time you slept?”

…change of subject time, apparently.  The question was one he’d heard before; from the same person in a more worn timbre, and Casey half expected Sensei’s prosthetic arm to pick him up by the cloak and admonish him face to face, and when it didn’t happen he ached.  But his response sounded just as sheepish as the last time he’d been asked, maybe a week ago.  (Two decades in the future--)

“I napped a little.  With you here, um… not that long ago?”

“Uh huh.”

“…yesterday.”

“Uh huh.”

“I’ll sleep soon, I promise.  I’m not—“  He broke off, vividly remembering Donnie’s betrayed and exhausted face as Splinter shot him, sliding into oblivion.  “Not Donnie.”

Leo was quiet, long enough that Casey peered at him hopefully to see if he’d fallen asleep.  But instead, he was just regarding Casey with a thoughtful look on his face. 

“Donnie obviously loved you,” he said finally, and Casey blinked.  “He trademarked you and everything.”

And that made him laugh a little, quiet in the darkness.  “He trademarked his gear.”

“Yeah, but you wear it.  That’s…” He waved a hand.  “You know.  Good luck charm.  Keep you safe.  Or are you saying he didn’t?”

He shook his head vigorously.  “Of course not.”

“Mm.  I bet our Donnie will grow fond of you super quick, you’re smart like he is.”  Leo blinked again and this time his eyes stayed shut much longer before he forced them open to stare at Casey.  “I got distracted.  Good stuff too good.”  Casey gave a snort, and Leo grinned.  “The point is—you’re carrying a lot of memories and a lotta… exhaustion.  And now you have to put it down and sort through it, and… that’s hard.  And… it’s really hard to look at us and know we’re not—not yours, right?”

Casey had no idea what to say to that—his silence probably spoke for itself, and he didn’t want to fall apart here.  The med bay was not the place.  Leo hummed as if he’d received an answer, and his hand shifted to rest briefly on Casey’s shoulder before he let it fall on the bed. 

“I guess I’m saying it’s… okay to be a mess.  Pizza supreme, I would be.  Probably am.  Hmm… uh, anyway.”  He continued on, blissfully ignorant of Casey’s alarmed look.  “You don’t have to have it together, Casey.  Both me and future me asked way too much.  I’m sorry.”

“I’m not,” Casey said sharply, but his voice cracked.  “Not about that.  You did what had to be done both times.”

“At your expense.”

“And yours!”

“Shh, shh, okay--” 

Being shushed like a child grated, but his voice had started to climb, and last thing he needed was anyone outside coming in to check on them, so Casey quieted, glaring furiously down at the blankets.  He wiped a hand across his eyes, and when he spoke again his voice was thankfully controlled, if tight. 

“I made my own choice about your portal.  You don’t get to apologise for something he did.  You’re—“

He broke off, shocked at himself.

“Not the same person?” Leo suggested gently.

And Casey burst into tears.

----------

Leo let him cry it out, and it was somehow less embarrassing than it had been with Donnie—here in the dark with a witness that wasn’t panicking about it, but just let him be.  Or maybe Leo was too drugged to panic and had just fallen asleep again somewhere during Casey’s muffled tears in the crook of his arms.  The idea was both a little hilarious and devastatingly lonely to contemplate, and he looked up once to find Leo still watching him, still taking those long, slow blinks that said he was trying so hard to stay awake.  It made him feel a little guilty.  It made him feel seen.

“Don’t stop on my account,” he said mildly, and Casey hiccupped a laugh, cried some more, and took him up on his implied offer.

By the time he was done, his head ached and his face was hot and tight and his nose was all kinds of annoying, and Leo tapped him on the arm and pointed toward the bedside table; there were tissues on the corner and he pulled the box down to his level, trying to clean himself up at least a little, and so, so thankful that nobody had come in to bother them.

“Feel any better?”

“No,” Casey muttered.  Although he did, kind of—lighter, less pressure crushing down on his lungs.  He still felt flayed down to the nerve.  Like he could cry for another hour if Leo happened to say the wrong thing.  And it was Leo, so—

“Sooo… we’ll do this again sometime.”

That stopped him cold.  “What.”

“’m serious,” Leo murmured, swallowing as he closed his eyes.  “Have you… have you told anyone else what you told me?  Back in that tunnel?”

Which part?  Casey winced to remember what he’d said.  All we’ve got is this guy.  But—

He knew what Leo was referring to.

“No,” he said quietly.  “I thought… there’s no point now, you know?  I don’t think there ever was.  They don’t need to know how they—“

Died.  He stopped, glancing at the door as if it might sprout ears.  Donnie did know, now; in more detail than even Leo knew.  He didn’t want to share that again, not so soon.  (It occurred to him that his Donnie recorded everything.  He wondered if this Donnie did the same.)

“Mmm.  So don’t.  It’s a lot of weight to carry,” Leo said, voice soft.  “s’gotta hurt.  You can get snot on me any time, ‘kay?  I won’t hold it against you.”

Casey gave him a skeptical look, which was far better than bursting into tears all over again at the offer.  “You’re still healing.”

“So’re you,” Leo said simply.  “Besides, what else am I gonna do?  If you grew up with me, you gotta know I like being useful.”

His smile was a wan, thin thing in the dark.  “…yeah.  I do know that.”

“So indulge me.  Have a breakdown or three!”

“Sensei—“

“Ah--!” Leo’s smile lit his whole face up. “I’m still Sensei, awright, go me.”

And Casey couldn’t help it; he snickered into his palm before just letting his head hit the covers wholesale, muttering into the blankets.  He was so tired.  “You’re terrible.”

“I know.”  Leo yawned.  “You’ll get there, ‘kay?  I know we’re not yours, not in the way you want.  But you’re already kind of ours, so.  We’ll work it out.  It duzzennn…have to be today.”

Casey smiled a little, not bothering to open his eyes.  “You need rest.”

“So do you.”  Leo paused.  Casey heard another yawn, wide and jaw cracking, and then:  “Bet I can fall asleep first.”

He wouldn’t think that was a contest, with the amount of meds in Leo’s system.  But the side of the gurney was far more comfortable than other places he’d slept in the past, and Casey shifted his head a little to the side on his folded arms, already halfway there.  Crying himself to exhaustion.  He hadn’t done that since he was a kid.

…Leo had been there for that, too.  Worn but kind, and full of terrible jokes.

Casey missed him.

And Leo lost his bet, because he heard Leo’s last slurred words on Casey’s slide into oblivion, a soft mutter, good-natured:

“Maybe tomorrow, you’ll tell me what the yelling was really about.”

Casey hummed in response, too far gone to feel any more than sheepish.

[boots-with-the-fur-club]

Chapter 6 of the reincarnation fic!

@daboyau

@rottmnt-background-screenshots

The memory world falls away into the real one. April, and basically everyone else, has tears staining their faces. Most of them had stop holding hands. April was wiping her eyes with her free hand while allowing Donnie to still hold her other. His eyes land on the yellow hair ties she has to hold up her hair poofs.

“Haru….”

“Donnie? You talking to me?”

“Did you see it? Please tell me you saw it.”

“Saw it? I was it! I was…..her, at the end. You looked exactly like Tomo too!”

He lets go of her hand and nearly barrels into her with a hug. She smiles softly, wrapping her arms tight around him.

“Nerdy pals for life in this one….and twins in the last. How absurdly sentimental.”

“Ha, I get to be older than you in every life.”

“Ohmigosh….April is Haru?” Mikey gasps softly.

“That does makes a whole lotta sense, I don’t think we would have seen what happened ourselves if she wasn’t.” Raph pats his eyes dry with his mask.

“I felt so bad that Tomo didn’t get to see Haru again, but now he can! Or, Donnie already has! Isn’t that cool, Leo?…..Leo?” Mikey turns to him and is immediately concerned by his expression.

Leo is holding himself, gripping hard enough to leave marks on his arms. His gaze is at the floor and his attention probably wasn’t anywhere near the conversation.

Mikey gently reaches out to him only to be met with flinching.

“H-Huh? Oh, yeah, totally Miguel.”

“Are you okay?”

“I….I think dad was right.”

“What!?” Everyone else says at once.

Leo stands up.

“We shouldn’t keep trying to find these memories. If they’re coming through anyways, they can happen on their own.”

“But I’m here now, I can help you guys! That’s why you told me about it in the first place. What’s going on, Leo?” April stands up as well, followed suit by everyone else still on the floor.

“Before you kept it going because you wanted to see more of Aoi, now you’re against it?” Donnie raises an eye brow.

“Nothing’s going on, I just…..changed my mind! You guys can keep doing it if you want, but I won’t.” Leo turns his head away and waves his hand at them.

“You know you can talk to us, if seeing what happened to Haru was too much then you can say so. No one is going to judge you.” Mikey takes a step towards him.

Leo moves away, still not looking at him.

“Okay, it did freak me out, but it’s not only because of seeing her….you know….”

“Then….what is it?”

“I-It’s seeing it and knowing it was April.”

April’s eyes widen.

“Leo, you should have just said so. Of course you’re freaked out! After everything we’ve been through with the invasion, seeing that is a lot.”

He sighs.

“There’s….more. Something I never wanted to tell you guys because it just made me feel like crap and it’s going to make you all feel worse. We moved past so many things about the invasion already!”

“Whatever it is, we can take it. It’s obviously botherin ya. We moved past things because you learned to talk about them. You felt better after telling us last time, didn’t ya?” Raph says gently.

They can all see Leo tense up.

“Right…..?”

“It did, I swear! It’s not about what you said or did!….I realized….that we’re all eventually going to have to watch each other….die.”

A silence falls over everyone. Of course they had been aware of what having a past life meant, and they had just seen the end of April’s, but they never fully thought about what they were going to see at the end.

April didn’t know it was her before she saw what happened. It probably would have been a different experience in that case.

“When I was thinking about me getting hurt instead of anyone else, it wasn’t because I was being dumb during our Kraang invasion. It’s because in the future we didn’t stop them, you all….died.”

The silence takes on a very tense feel. It’s broken by Mikey.

“How….how do you know that….?”

“When Casey Jr. and I were trapped by rubble, he told me that everyone died fighting the Kraang. He wouldn’t tell me how it no matter how many times I asked. All I can do is guess. I thought I wanted to know, but now that I have a chance with our past lives, I don’t want it.”

“Casey used past tense when referring to me…..” Donnie comments quietly.

Mikey looks down at his arms, the faint marks of his rescue efforts still there.

“He told me I sent him back with my magic hands….if I sent him back, but I didn’t come with….”

Leo’s shoulders start shaking.

“The only thing I know is that I was….I was the last one….what if it happens again? I-I can’t do it! I can’t feel what it’s like!”

Raph quickly goes over to him, moving his face back to see that Leo is silently sobbing. He hugs him as tightly as he can. Leo clings to him, nearly falling apart in his arms. Raph does all he can to hold him together.

“I-I’m sorry, I’m sorry….I love you guys so much, you know that, right? P-Please tell me you know.”

“We always know! Even if you didn’t say it as much as you do, we know. We…knew. I know we did.” Mikey doesn’t expand on that last part, he didn’t need to.

Leo understood what he meant.

“I was scared too.” Donnie suddenly pipes up.

Leo lifts his head to look at him.

“Why?”

“Because the way Tomo felt about losing Haru was the same way I felt when you disappeared through that portal!”

“Donnie…..”

“You were gone! Half of me was gone! I thought I was going to have to live without you! You don’t want to be the last one alive!? Well that’s too bad! I don’t care what you want! Because what I want is to never have to imagine a future you’re not in!”

Leo stares at him in shock before slowly descending into very tearful chuckles.

“How could any of what I said possibly be funny to you right now?”

“We all keep doing this!”

“Doing what?”

“Saving and protecting. Raph jumped off a building to save me, and jumped on top of you to save you from a demon in armor! I sent myself off to another dimension to save you guys and the world. Gram-Gram barely knew us and she still gave everything to protect us over her own evil dad.”

“Leo, we already know that the Hamato weren’t real good at keeping themselves alive.” Raph looks at him with concern.

He lets go of him.

“That’s not want I mean! Think about how many times we haven’t died, or have died or almost died and just kept coming back. Even our whole family power thing is about saving each other with it. Hamato didn’t use it right, but we did. For every sacrifice we also stopped them. We turn into ghosts with the rest of our family when we go. We can see each other whenever we want even when we die! Even when we didn’t have the power, what did we do? We turned into who we are now! The other us is fighting tooth and nail to be back together through memories.”

Mikey’s eyes light up.

“Something about us being a family refuses to give up.”

“Exactly! We’re different. We aren’t martyrs for the world outside our family, we’re protectors for each other. We’ll always fight about who gets hurt, who leads, who tries to take the brunt of the hits, even if it’s all changed around! We don’t even have to be related at all.”

Raph smiles softly and pats Leo on the head.

“I think that’s the smartest thing you’ve ever said.”

Leo smiles back, looking at Donnie.

“Even if we have one future, or a bunch of other ones because of a weird time thing again, I’m always going to be around. So will you. So are all of us. We can be scared, who wouldn’t be? But what matters is that after we see whatever we see, we’re still going to be here. I’m here, Donnie. You don’t have to miss me, and….I don’t have to mourn you either….”

Donnie takes a deep breath, smiling very slightly as well.

“You are becoming just like Raph with these speeches.”

Leo gasps loudly, putting a hand on his plastron.

“That was not a hero speech!”

“Hey, what wrong with a hero speech?” Raph looks between them, slightly offended.

“It’s only wrong when you’re not the one giving them, big guy.” He pats his shoulder.

“Are you two sure you’re okay about everything though? That was a whole lotta emotions at once.” April questions.

“I am severely tired and want to nap but I also don’t want another memory popping up.” Donnie answers.

“Maybe they’ll take it easy on us because of what we just saw?” Mikey says hopefully.

“That’s if the memories have some kind of sentience.”

“The ninpo should a little, right?”

“Now this is exhausting. April, could you help us out while we nap? Maybe try to steer it to something….happier?” Leo smiles awkwardly.

“I’ll try, don’t know how much it’ll help though.”

“You’re still the best for trying.”

They decide to head to the movie room to fall asleep to some Jupiter Jim movies. Splinter wasn’t there for once. Blankets and pillows are brought in. April carefully watches over them as they begin to drop off to sleep, one by one, focusing on the attempt to ease the memories they might get.

The dream they end up having happens to pick up where the Tomo left off in the cabin. It seemed to be after the explanation of what happened to Haru judging by the expressions of everyone else.

Kosuke didn’t seem as surprised as the others though.

“Tomo, I’m….I’m sorry. I wouldn’t have asked you if I knew.” Aoi frowns.

Tomo stares hard at the ground.

“It’s a regret that’s going to follow me no matter what I do. Even if her blood on my hands has been washed away, they’re stained forever.”

“You’re not the only one with stained hands.”

“I don’t find lies comforting, Aoi.”

“I’m not about to lie!”

“Who’s blood is on your hands? You who rushes into everything without thinking if it means protecting this whole group!?”

“Tomo-“

“In the end it’s only going to be us with your blood on our hands with how you act!”

“Tomo please-“

“Can’t you allow yourself to be a coward just once!?”

There’s suddenly a loud smacking sound.

Tomo’s face is moved back slightly, still in too much momentary shock to realize what just happened.

Once the stinging sets in, he holds his cheek and looks at Tora who’s tearing up heavily and still has her hand outstretched.

“Don’t you ever say that to him again!”

“Tora! We didn’t tell him, he doesn’t know!” Aoi pulls her back.

She struggles against him.

“It doesn’t matter! He thinks he can just say whatever he wants because he’s in pain! Other people can be in pain too even if they don’t show it!”

“What are you even talking about!?” Tomo shouts.

Tora stares hard at Aoi.

“Please tell him. I can’t tell your story for you, but I can’t stand what he’s saying either.”

Aoi sighs.

“I did let myself be a coward, once. That’s why I’m alive and the people from my village….aren’t.”

“The whole village….?” Tomo’s eyes widen.

“We were all raised to be warriors from the moment we could pick up a weapon without falling over. There was always a chance the rival village could attack at any moment. When they did…..I hid. It was at night, it was dark and I was scared. I covered my ears to try to drown out the screams of my parents, my friends, my neighbors as they fought….but that wasn’t the worst part. That came when I finally, finally left my hiding place. It was quiet. No sound coming from anyone. If I had done something, anything, maybe someone else could have survived, but I was a coward. My life mattered more than the people I cared about. I stopped caring about my life after that, I was a mess, I didn’t want to do a single thing because of the guilt I felt.”

He takes a breath, smiling softly as he lets go of Tora, patting her head.

“Then, I met my precious little sister.”

[raspberrylover28]

"Alexa, can turtles eat candy?"

EDIT: Fixed the past and present tense switching through the fic

My gift for @fxliciq-a for the ROTTMNT Trick or Treat Exchange organized by @rottmnt-secret-gifting  !

Made it extra light and fluffy with lots of banter between the brothers, trying to give most of the prompts a moment to shine and had a lot of fun writing it, so I hope you enjoy! (≧∇≦)ﾉ

 [Takes place after season 2 but before the movie]

___________________________________________________

-...I'm just saying that you had an unfair advantage! Why did you get to be the one who went with him?

- I shall remind you once again, dear brother, that the teams were completely randomized and I had no say in who went with who.

- Yeah, randomized by you with your tech! You probably just rigged to whole thing to get all my jelly worms and rub it in my face.

- First of all, gross. Getting them anywhere near your face would make them inedible on the spot. Plus, I don't like them anyway. Second of all, I am wounded you think I would sink so low to win a silly game. Third of all, everyone here is aware that I have managed to get the biggest amount of candy from our trick and treating journey, so please stop whining and hand over the candy to their rightful owner - Donnie put his purple, bat themed candy bag right in front of Leo's face, smiling like the menace that he is

- Oh, come on! - Leo shoved it back into Donnie's face instead and turned to Raph - This has to count as cheating, right? You gave him like half of your candy!

Raph rubbed the back of his head and gave him an apologetic smile - Sorry, man. Ya know i can't eat the ones with peanuts, so I gave them to Don and they sorta started piling up.

Leo gave him an unimpressed stare, crossed his arms and spat out: - I'm not giving any of my loot to a dirty cheater.

- I am not-

- Ugh, just give him the damn candy already! - April yelled with annoyance, getting everyone's attention, letting go of Sunita's hand and  gesturing agressively towards the twins - we've been standing here for 15 minutes!

And they actually were. Standing there in their colorful costumes, arguing with each other on the middle of the sidewalk. Great.

At least the worst they got were a few stares since they were in a more chill part of New York. As chill as New York can be, anyway.

Leo looked around, seeing all the mildly (or a bit more than mildly) annoyed faces staring into his skull and groaned as dramatically as he could, running his fingers through the rockstar wig of his costume for extra effect and reluctantly took out a bunch of lolipops and two small packs of purple and red skittles, then snatched Donnie's hat from his head, threw the candy inside and put it back on with just as much force.

- Here. Don't choke on it - he said, his voice only one third playful, turning away and taking out his phone, not seeing Raph and Donnie shooting each other smug looks.

Donnie took off the hat again and threw the candy into his already overstuffed candy bag, securing it so nothing fell out and doing a quick victory fist bump with Raph.

- Great! Now that's settled, me and my girlfriends are going to the cafe nearby to try out their newest spooky menu. And if any of you boys start making trouble, you will receive a baseball bat to the face. Are we clear? - April smirked playfully, but with a dangerous glint in her eye, and the turtles all saluted with a "Yes, ma'am!".

- YES! We finally shall find out the TERROR of the special halloween recipes!

- Yeah, I really wanted to try the pumpkin latte, it sounded amazing. Plus, I heard they even gave free candy corn at the counter!

Cassandra and Sunita chatted, with April joining in and holding their hands as they started going towards the cafe in their matching monster high costumes.

- Alright! - Mikey started - So what do we-

- Okay, whatever you're going to do, do it by yourselves ‘cause I'm leaving - Leo interrupted, barely looking up from his phone, where he was furiously typing in.

- What, bunny boy is done collecting candy in the Hidden City? - Donnie raised an eyebrow.

- Yeah, we're meeting near Hueso's. We're going to try out candy with his friends, since some turtle I will not name decided getting candy from the Hidden City would be "too dangerous".

- Ey, knowin' Raph's luck AND the Hidden City, it would probably end up like the pizza puffs incident. Or worse.

- What, you think they're going to throw drugs into a teenager's candy bag?

- ...maybe.

- Raph, chill! Usagi was raised down there, he knows what's safe and what's not. Plus, I promised him some of my jelly worms in exchange already, so no backing out now!

- Wait, you're willing to give him your candy, but not me?

- We exhange candy, Don, not steal it.

- I don't steal jackshit! I would be willing to exchange, but your demands are just too high!

- Maybe you're just too poor to afford my candy-

- Alright, Raph is not doing this again! - Raph stood between the twins, then Mikey started pushing Leo in the vague direction of Hueso's.

- Come on, loverboy! They're waiting for you, so hurry up!

- Okay, okay, fine! Sheesh... - Leo rolled his eyes, but quickly jogged towards the restaurant, smiling and texting his boyfriend on the way.

Raph barely stopped himself from shouting at him because don't walk with your snout in your phone, do you WANT to get hit by a car??

Instead, he looked towards the other two turtles.

- Great! - Donnie exclaimed - Now that Leo left to bother bunny boy and the love birds left to do something romantic and possibly illegal, we should figure out what we should do next.

- Oh, I know! We should totally check out this one haunted house! – Mikey suggested, quickly taking out his phone and showing his brother a poster of a two-story, victorian looking house with a tall, spiky fence and „A house straight from your nightmares!” written in a spooky font on the bottom of the screen.

His brothers stared at the photo, then at Mikey.

- You want to go to the haunted mansion.

- Yep!

- Of your own free will.

A pause.

-Yyyyes…? – Mikey started sweating under their questioning  gazes.

- It was most likely a dare from someone. Either April or Leo.

- Agreed.

- Oh, come on, guys! Have some faith in me!

His brothers just raised their eyebrows.

-…Leo wouldn’t stop teasing me.

They see the site of haunted house, which had a lot of bad reviews, mostly complaining about it not being scary in the slightest, which they took as a good sign. Having Raph accidentally deck a scare actor in the face on instinct probably wouldn’t end pretty. They decided, with only slight hesitence, to check it out. It was only around 15 minutes away, so they went on foot and rated costumes and decorations they saw while walking, the usual fuss of New York now accompanied by the sound of doorbells and candy wraps.

When they arrived at their destination (which looked nothing like the one on the site or posters) and entered the first room, they all immediately noticed that it was, indeed, very bad. The room was very brightly lit with white leds, the furniture looked like it was pulled out of some old lady’s apartment, covered with plastic spiderwebs and cheesy halloween decorations, like paper ghosts and candles that were probably supposed to resemble pumpkins, but did not look or smell like them at all.

When they walked around, they started to relax more and more, the poor attempts at scaring them being more funny than scary.

- Did anybody put any thought into this? – Mikey giggled, looking at the so obviously drawn with a marker cracks in the mirror of the fifth bathroom they entered.

- This is what projects done 3 hours before the deadline look like – Donnie deadpanned, gesturing towards the oh, so scary writing and hand prints on the walls and floor – This literally looks like ketchup.

- Maybe it is ketchup? – Mikey examined the fake blood with a hand on his chin.

- Doubt it. It doesn’t really smell like ketchup, and replacing it every few days would be way too expensive for the most likely low bugdet the owners probably have.

- Eh, with how little care this place has, they could technically just leave it there and Raph are you trying to lick the fake blood i swear to god-

After making sure Raph doesn’t  eat any decorations, they went into the final room, which was visibly more thought out than the rest of the building. Which wasn’t saying much, but it was something, at least.

It was a longer hallway with almost no light,crookedly hanged paintings they could barely make out, peeled wallpapers with rusted nails sticking out, which were obviously just nails painted orange, even with the poor lighting.

The turtles went in, still not scared but noticing the change. Mikey, who was in the front, walked forward, trying to make out the different paintings on the wall since he was pretty sure most of them were just top results from pinterest, not hearing the (not very subtle) creek of the wood above him.

And suddenly something jumped into his face from the ceiling with a loud screech and he couldn’t stop the shriek he let out, instictively clinging to Raph who wasn’t doing much better. And it got worse when suddenly something wet got thrown right at them, staining their costumes. The wall next to them opened, showing another hallway, where they could see the door with a bright „EXIT” sign.

They left the room and now, in good lighting, they could see that their clothes had splatters of the same fake blood from earlier rooms which, now that they noticed it, actually smelled really bad. Mikey looked over the damage to their costumes in annoyance, already thinking about how hard it will be to get rid of them and-

- Donnie, why is your costume just fine?

- Well, while you two were screaming like little girls-

-We were not-

- I decided to hide behind our beloved oldest brother, letting him take the brunt of it.

- You used Raph as a meat shield??

- That’s one way to call it – Donnie said, already heading towards the bright green „Gift shop” sign.

Mikey pouted, but only settled for a glare in Donnie’s direction, hopping onto Raph’s shell.

- Hey, don’t worry, big man! At least we’re still matching – Raph pointed out, gesturing to their cat onesies.

- Yea, we look like street cats now – Mikey snickered, poking Raph’s forehead – Still can’t believe we convinced you to wear this thing as a costume.

- Raph doesn’t turn away from a dare – the snapper grinned in response - Besides, I can look like a boss in everything!

- Yeah, unlike Donnie with his boring suit no one recognized.

- Excuse you-?!

Donnie started ranting for the next 10 minutes about how he was „obviously dressed up as Robert Oppenheimer” and how „the education system is in shambles if no one can recognize something so apparent”. He stopped after a bit, realizing his brothers didn’t listen to a word he was saying, then joined them looking through different souvenirs in the gift shop. Everything was overpriced to all hell, predictably, but there were a few fun things that they played with, only messing with them and not buying them because of the very poor quality.

There was also some food you could buy at the counter, which they weren’t sure was decorated to look expired or actually sat there for 3 weeks.

They looked over the snacks, their eyes drawn to the „zombie slushies”.

Mikey looked at Raph, already knowing the answer to his question but still asking:

- You’re going to try it, aren’t you.

- Yes. Yes I will.

They bought the slushie, the cashier looking at them like she wanted to be anywhere else but here. It was warm and cold at the same time, looking like a bunch of crushed ice, blue so faded it was practically gray, with water on the bottom. There were also weird, differently colored chunks in it that they decided weren’t poisonous. Probably.

Raph chugged the drink in one go and barely, barely stifled a gag, almost dropping Mikey. Apparently it tasted like battery acid with a hint of blueberry mixed with sewer water.

They left the haunted house, Raph looking a bit greener than usual. He didn’t throw up though, which they still counted as a win.

The turtles decided it was time to get home. The moment they got back in the lair they took off their costumes, Mikey and Raph throwing theirs into the washing machine, then got into hoodies and pajamas, deciding to do a turtle pile in the living room. They turned on the TV, sound quiet and brightness low, just to have something in the background, munching on their candy and enjoying the comfortable silence.

_________________________

Donnie and his backup turtles + April (Donnie stop calling us that) (No die) (fight fight fight) (Lol)

NeonLeon9000: how tf did she even do that

GreenApricot: idk?? turns out you can fix a coffee machine by fist fighting it with an ungodly amount of glitter pens

GreenApricot: the more you know

NeonLeon9000: i swear casey is going to tunr out to be a lab experiment or something and i will not be suprised becuase how does she even exist

Big Brother Who Is The Biggest: do I even wanna know?

NeonLeon9000: if you wann sleep at night then no

NeonLeon9000: /srs

LocalChef: Well that’s terrifying!

NeonLeon9000: btw im staying at usagis tonight

NeonLeon9000: we r having a slumber party

NeonLeon9000: more slumber less party but still

LocalChef: Are you coming back in the morning or are you staying there until later? I can save you some breakfast if you want!

NeonLeon9000: Nah me n usagi ar gonna go out and get some food

NeonLeon9000: thx tho <3

LocalChef: <3

NeonLeon9000: btw did you go to that haunted house i told you abt or did you chicken out

NeonLeon9000: i think we can all guess the answer

LocalChef: nvm I’m taking that heart back

Big Brother Who Is The Biggest: We all went together, actually! Lots of fun

NeonLeon9000: no offense raph but i still dont trust you bc of the candy thing

NeonLeon9000: pics or it didn’t happen

BootyyyShaker9000: [A picture of Mikey and Raph clinging to each other while screaming in the haunted house]

BootyyyShaker9000: Glad I could capture this lovely moment.

GreenApricot:SKDSDJHSJKJKDS

NeonLeon9000:LMAOO

LocalChef: WHATT

LocalChef: BETRAYAL ╰（‵□′）╯

NeonLeon9000:bet yall screamed like toddlers

NeonLeon9000: don please tell me you recorded it

BootyyyShaker9000: Who do you take me for?

BootyyyShaker9000: [sound file]

BootyyyShaker9000: Best quality on the market.

GreenApricot: Y’all are never living this down lol

Big Brother Who Is The Biggest: puts head in hands

----------------------------------------------------

Bonus: Favorite candy of all the turtles!

Leo: Blue raspberry flavored gummy bears, jelly worms, Oreos, cotton candy

Mikey: Candy jewelery, any halloween related candy, caramel apples (especially with spooky food coloring), sour strips, candy corn,

Donnie: grape flavored bubble tape, purple skittles, grape flavored „Dum-Dums” -  lolipops, nerds

Raph: Candy jewelery, hard candy, original skittles, peppermints

[nagichi-boop]

I'm Not an Idiot (ROTTMNT fanfic)

I was held at gunpoint and told to write this because I was being mean to myself. /j

Jk, I actually had this idea and was given an excuse to write it. So without further ado...

— x —

April scowled at her homework, impatiently tapping her pen against her head. Leo, who was sat reading a comic nearby, looked up to see his friend struggling.

“You good over there, April?” he asked curiously.

“Yeah, I’m dandy,” April answered sarcastically. She stared at her work for a few moments before before sighing loudly and leaning back in her seat. “This homework is impossible! Why did teach give us this during our holiday week? It’s not fair.” She took a deep breath. “Sorry, I don’t mean to be this ridiculous over this.” “Nothing ridiculous about it,” Leo replied sincerely. “Do you need help?” “I might need it,” April admitted. Leo stood up and had just made his way to April before she continued speaking. “Do you think you can get Donnie for me? It seems like something he is best able to help me with.” Leo tensed up a little.

“Sure thing,” Leo smiled through gritted teeth, then began to walk away. He stopped. “By the way, you need to divide by 4 to isolate x.” April looked up in surprise, but before she had the chance to say anything, Leo had already left the room.

After briefly visiting Donnie in his lab to deliver April’s message, Leo went to his room and flopped on his bed face first, burying his head in his pillow. He grumbled into it frustratedly for a while.

“Leo, are you okay?” Mikey asked as he peered around into Leo’s room, startling Leo.

“How long have you been there?” Leo responded, turning his head to the side. “I didn’t hear you walk up to the room.”

“Not too long,” Mikey answered, then smiled proudly. “I have been practicing my sneaking.”

Leo frowned, then turned his head to face the wall. “I’m not in the mood for jokes right now, Mikey.” Mikey paused for a moment before speaking again.

“Do you want to talk about it?”

“Not really,” Leo huffed in annoyance. After the room fell silent, Leo began to feel guilty. “But…I guess I wouldn’t mind some company.”

“You sure? I can leave you be if that would be better for you.” “It’s fine,” Leo insisted, speaking more softly than he had before. Mikey walked into Leo’s room, sitting down and leaning beside his bed. They remained quiet for a bit before Leo began to feel restless. “If I tell you what’s wrong, you won’t snitch to anyone?” “Of course not,” Mikey assured. “Dr Feelings doesn’t share information about his patients.” “I don’t want to talk to Dr Feelings,” Leo bemoaned. “I want to speak to Mikey.” “Oh,” Mikey responded, a little surprised. He smiled again. “I can do that, too.”

Leo remained silent for a while, trying to compose his thoughts. “I guess…I’m just a bit annoyed that people seem to underestimate me all the time.”

“What do you mean?”

“April was doing her homework earlier and didn’t even ask if I could help before she told me to get Donnie for me,” Leo clarified. “I mean, I know I’m not very smart and Donnie is definitely in a better position to help April, but for some reason it still annoyed me.”

Mikey hummed thoughtfully. “It sounds a little like imposter syndrome to me,” Mikey commented. “Which…is a poor name for it.”

“What’s that?”

“Well, it’s more of a narrative that someone has rather than a syndrome, which suggest it’s an affliction that-”

“No no,” Leo interrupted. “I mean what is imposter syndrome?”

“Oh, my bad,” Mikey apologised, playfully poking his tongue out. “It’s a term people use to describe someone who believes they’re not qualified for something, even if there is plenty of proof to support the opposite. Everyone in the world could tell that person they are great at something, but they won’t believe it themselves. So in your case, you believe you’re not smart despite the opposite being true.” “Oh yeah?” Leo spoke, forcing an insincere smile. “What proof do you have of that?” “How many times have me, Donnie and Raph rushed into a situation that you insisted wasn’t safe? Who was is that accurately guessed what his brothers did when we fought against Shredder? Heck, who was it that tricked Big Mama in order to get the mystic collar?”

“I did,” Leo reluctantly acknowledged. “But you all still treat me like an irresponsible kid.” “That has less to do with you than it does us,” Mikey confessed. “Sometimes being aloof makes people make assumptions. They assume you’re irresponsible, stupid, immature; those kinds of things.” Leo spun his head around and looked down at Mikey. “That doesn’t mean that’s the truth, it’s just how others see it.”

“That was…awfully accurate and specific,” Leo remarked. He then paused and thought about it, then his eyes widened in realisation. “Wait, are you talking from personal experience?”

“See, you are smart!” Mikey chimed playfully.

“I’m sorry we’ve made you feel that way, Mikey,” Leo apologised remorsefully.

“It’s alright,” Mikey spoke half-heartedly. “I guess we are both a bit guilty of it, huh?” Leo sat up and began to pat beside himself, inviting Mikey to sit with him. His younger brother jumped at the opportunity, quickly standing and then taking a seat beside Leo. To his surprise, Leo placed his hand on Mikey’s head and gently guided it to his shoulder, then moved his hand to Mikey’s shoulder for a side hug. Mikey’s happy façade slipped a little and he closed his eyes to take in the moment.

“So you really don’t think I’m dumb?” Leo croaked insecurely.  

“Far from it,” Mikey replied without hesitation. “I know you insist you’re just the face man of the group, but I think we would all be genuinely lost without you.” They went quiet as Leo rested his head atop Mikey’s.

“I’m sorry for treating you like a kid sometimes,” Leo softly spoke.

“I mean, it’s not always a bad thing,” Mikey admitted. “I can go a bit off the walls sometimes. And you cut me a lot more slack than Raph does,” Mikey pouted.

“Yeah, I know what you mean,” Leo sighed. “But he’s not doing it maliciously. Raph just feels a heavy weight as the eldest sibling because he feels responsible for our safety.”

“But that’s not his problem,” Mikey spoke up, unaware of his volume, to which covered his mouth in shock.

“I know, but what we do and think isn’t always rational,” Leo noted. He then tensed up a little. “And, well…being put in the position of responsibility, I sort of understand how he feels.” Mikey looked up at him sadly. Leo took a deep breath, then smirked at Mikey. “I guess I’m glad I have such competent brothers.”

“And we are lucky to have such a smart leader,” Mikey grinned back. The two of them leaned closer into each other, smiling contently.

“Alright,” Leo suddenly spoke up, interrupting the silence. “Enough of this mushy stuff. What’s say we raid the arcade while Donnie is busy helping April?” “Are you sure you’re okay?” Mikey questioned out of concern. “I am here to listen if you have anything else on your mind.” “You’ve helped me plenty,” Leo confirmed. “But maybe I’ll take you up on that offer another day if that’s okay?” “I’m always down to listen to you,” Mikey assured.

“Thanks, little bro,” Leo spoke as he pet Mikey’s head. He then shot up off the bed, stretching his arms above his head before smirking smugly at Mikey. “Okay, enough stalling. Let’s race to the arcade. Last one there has to give up a slice of his pizza at dinner.” “Oh, you are so on,” Mikey contested. The two brothers grinned at each other knowingly, then immediately sprinted out of room on their way to the arcade.

— x —

I haven’t proof read this btw lol

[lonely-lost-soul]

A MuTON of Problems

Chapter 1, 2, 3, 4

---

Chapter 2: Leo’s Lover Girl

Leo has been acting strange for a few weeks now and all the brothers could tell. Leo wasn’t subtle on his good days let alone the days he was hyper-fixated on something. It seemed like on every mission they were sent on he’d be looking at the streets longingly, staring at alleyways and who might be lurking inside them—getting distracted on missions and staring off into space wasn’t abnormal of someone like Mikey but for someone like Leo, it was odd. Mikey was the first to notice the odd behavior, he was always more in tune with changes in his brother's behaviors than the others. Leo was staring off into space lightly tapping on the table while Mikey was trying out a new recipe. The look on his face could only be described as something akin to love-struck and longing and Michelangelo was going to get to the bottom of it. 

“Leo?” 

“Hm?” He blinked a little snapping out of whatever stupor he was in to focus solely on the brother who was talking to him, 

“You alright bro?” Mikey asked casually, stirring the pot of pasta and trying not to stare into his brother's eyes.

“Oh, Micheal!” Leo gasped dramatically, “also with such a keen eye for us brothers. Your worry for us all leaves me feeling all warm and fuzzy. I love you so much do you know that?” 

Mikey blinked a few times, “Raph! Donnie! Something’s wrong with Leo!” He shrieked while holding a spoon in front of him like a weapon. 

“What’s wrong!” Raph stated in concern, running into the room, followed by a casually walking Donatello. His face in his phone an eyebrow raised,

“Is this a film, Leo is acting weird, or call the hospital, Leo’s acting weird scenario?” 

“I don’t know!” Mikey whined dramatically clutching his chest and falling into Raphael’s arms, while Donatello turned off the stove. 

“Oh no, it’s really bad then.” Raph frowned, carrying Mikey over to Leo so the youngest brother could use his puppy eyes against him.

From behind them, Leo could see Donatello rolling his eyes. His twin walked over to sit at the table across from him, 

“Do tell us dear brother why you are acting oh, so weird. Our hearts are filled to the brim with concern and woe for whatever predicament you’ve placed upon yourself-“

“Alright, alright I get it.” Leo huffed, waving Donnie off before placing his chin in his hands with a love-struck grin. “I’m in love.” He paused for dramatic effect and it seemed to work because Raphael gasped, holding his hands up to his open mouth and subsequently dropping Mikey on the floor. From the ground Michelangelo squealed, flapping his arms and hands around excitedly. Meanwhile, Donnie just raised an eyebrow,

“How on earth did you meet this mysterious lover of yours Leon?”

“In the back of an alley on our mission a few weeks back. The one with the fire mutant.”

Donatello tensed and Leo raised a suspicious eyebrow at his reaction. 

“Oh how romantic!” Raphael grinned clapping his hands together, cheeks flushing pink in delight. 

“What do they look like?” Mickey asked, standing up, leaning over the table, and resting his head in his arms. “Come on tell us, tell us!” 

“She’s-“

“She?”

“Shut up Donnie just because I’m queer doesn’t mean I only date men.”

“Color me shocked.” 

“Homophobic.”

“It literally is not.”

“Annnnyyyyway.” Leo continued, “she’s so pretty…well, I’m like 99% sure she is. It was really dark in the alley- but anyway she wasn’t scared of me! I wasn’t exactly being subtle, it’s pretty clear I’m a mutant turtle.” He waved his hand, “Can’t exactly be incognito about that when you literally crash into her entire body. She made for a lighter landing that was for sure.” Leo winked holding out his hands in front of his chest, and Donatello made a face of disgust.

“She’s human?!” Raph beamed in delight, practically jumping on his toes, “It’s like Romeo and Juliet!” 

“Without all murder.” Mikey chimed in,

“It’s nothing like that.” Donnie huffed, clicking his tongue in distaste, “Romeo and Juliet, although boring is a classic. This isn’t that type of story, far from it, there are no feuding families and-” He noticed all the brothers beginning to zone out so he got to the point, “What I mean is, how can you love her? You don’t even know her.” He clicked a few buttons on his phone, looking up briefly to glance at his brother, “Plus what was someone doing in that alleyway anyway. She could sell drugs or work for the black market, or the Foot clan as a spy, you don’t know anything about her. That’s my point.” 

“Donatello I know you’d never understand the intricacies of love and romance, 'cause you’re a robot n’ all.” Leonardo rolled his eyes, “but love at first sight exists and I experienced it! She tapped my cheeks!” Leo burst tapping his cheeks where his lover girl touched him, “meu coração clama por ela…” he swooned.

“And why does that matter?” Mikey hummed, completely in support of his brother and his retelling of events, completely ignoring Donatello's clear distrust of the situation. 

It was clear to anyone who knew the brothers that the brothers want to love and to be loved by someone romantically. Even if it wasn’t their main focus in life at the moment deep down, one day, they wanted to settle down and start a life with someone, human or mutant none of them really had a preference. (Although some more than others had a preference for humans). Leo’s theory was that it was all placed subconsciously in their heads by their dad that one day he expected them to settle down and provide grandchildren. He wasn’t exactly subtle with the inclination and none of the boys liked to disappoint their father, not that they were in any rush to get married at the time. But for Leo he couldn’t shake the possibility that he had found the one. But they had their entire life ahead of them being freshly thrust into the adult world didn’t change that, but it was certainly exciting.

“It’s because he’s a red snapper,” Donnie interrupted Leo’s train of thought with a grumble, knowing that you had no idea what the implication would mean to Leo’s instincts. “Instinctually he likes to, and I say this completely scientifically, tippy tap.”

“You like to tippy tap! That’s so cute!” Mikey smiled, “Donnie what’s my instincts say about the ladies?” 

“Look it up yourself Mikey, good lord.” 

Mikey stuck his tongue out at his older brother before returning his attention to Leo, “well if that the way she responded she definitely seems interested! Which means you have at least a chance with her! What’s her name? When do we get to meet her! I need the deets Leo!”

They all listened to Leo sigh dramatically, “alas I don’t know her name nor her location. But…luckily I know one of the best hackers in the entire world. Who can totally get me her street address and social media so I can see what she likes and totally woo her, with that information” He batted his eyelashes at Donnie whose face twisted in a weird mix of flattery and displeasure? 

“I’m not fueling your creepy stalking habit.” 

Says Donatello, the man who very much ran a background check on you, which included your social security information and the street in New York you grew up on as well as your current residence. 

“I don’t have a stalking habit!” He grumbled, before plastering another begging smile on his face, really hamming up the puppy eyes, “Oh come on Donnie for true love.”

“Doesn’t exist.”

“For your favorite brother?”

“Micheal’s not asking this favor of me.”

“I’m your favorite brother!” Mikey gushed with excitement beelining it over to Donatello, he held his arms out eagerly. Donnie sighed and nodded, Mikey wrapped him in a hug churring softly. Donatello smiled fondly as his claw hand extended and began to rub the top of his brother’s round head. He also gently nudged Mikey’s cheek with his own head, a little headbutt for the road. 

“Anyway.” Donatello mused, “I’m meeting April for coffee before going to one of her night classes. Easier to sneak in that way, it’s Physics tonight. Later losers the wonderful world of knowledge awaits me.” 

“Okay nerd! But This conversation isn’t over!” Leo shouted after him as Donatello rolled his eyes, his claw waving him off. 

—

“So Leo’s obsessed with you now,” Donatello grumbled, he was sitting on your windowsill feet swinging idly into your room. You were digging through your closet throwing clothes all over the floor. He had been meeting you at your apartment for a few weeks now, you’d invited him suddenly after April, you and he had hung out to play games in lew of studying. Not his finest moment but after you admitted you’ve never played any of the Atomic Lass video games he had to show off, just a little. 

“Your brother right? The blue one?” He heard you call back, voice muffled by the wood of the old closet. 

“Yes, the blue one.” Donatello rolled his eyes, “he thinks you’re the love of his life-“ he winced hearing a distinct THUNK of you hitting your head on one of the shelves in the closet. “That didn’t sound good-“

“He thinks he’s in love with me?” You gawked, poking your head out of the closet, hair a frazzled mess, pink splotching across your cheeks. Donnie thought you looked rather cute all tousled up, and on your knees. 

WOAH. Where did that thought come from? He cleared his throat looking away from you to hide the blush that spread across his cheeks, “Don’t sound so miserable about it.” He said sarcastically, he’s only seen you flustered like this once before and it was when April showed you a picture of your favorite celebrities' tasteful nudes. 

He declined to see them for obvious reasons. 

“I mean…I’m flattered but he doesn’t even know my name.”

“That’s what I’m saying. He’s illogical-“

“I mean it’s sweet. True love is a dream come true, but he should at least ask me on a date first.”

“What?!”

“A date?”

“I know what a date is!” Donatello argued with eyebrows so high on his forehead it’s a wonder they didn't fly away. “Please tell me you’re not this stupid.”

“Excuse me?” You crossed your arms, “and why would taking me on a date be stupid?”

“Because he doesn’t know you. Plus there’s a big risk of both of you leaving miserable and I’d have to deal with the repercussions.”

“Oh well sorry, Mr. High and Mighty.” You clicked your tongue, he watched as your expression remained sour. He wasn’t sure why you were so worked up about something so ridiculous, Leo didn’t deserve someone like you. But you know who did? He, himself, and every piece of tech he owned.

“Why do you have that tone with me? I’m just being honest.”

“I didn’t ask for your honesty Dee. So keep it to yourself.” You grumbled diving back into the closet as he glared at your backside rather harshly. It was usually one of his favorite sights but this one just left a sour taste in his mouth and anxiety bubble in his gut. Another feeling he wasn’t used to, but this one he didn’t enjoy. He found he didn’t like when you were upset, and wanted to rectify the situation. Sigh. Just another one of the many cons to having a crush.   

“What are you even looking for anyway?”

“Ari invited me to a stupid boxing party and I have to join her. She’s getting an award, so I have to look nice and be there as emotional (sober) support.” You grunted, “and I have virtually no clothes that aren’t casual wear.” He heard you click your tongue before tossing some shoes out of the closet, “I love her to death but I don’t want to make a fool of her on her big day. I tend to do that.” 

“It’s a boxing party. I’m sure whatever you’ll wear you will be fine. Who cares?” He grumbled in response, eyeing a sweater dress that was tossed haphazardly on the bed. It was a soft lavender and he slipped into the room fully to rub his fingers against it, 

“Why’d you nix the dress?” 

“What if I’m too hot? Then I could run the risk of getting sweaty. Which I already get when I’m forced to interact with people who I don’t know already. I can’t risk armpit stains Donnie.” 

“What if I made some alterations?” 

“Alterations? What alterations could you possibly make in the hour I have to get ready? Plus fo you even know to sew?” 

“Trust the process, and by the process I mean me, trust me.” Donnie smiled softly his mind already buzzing with ideas on how to alter the purple dress if it got you into it. He didn’t like the way you paused hesitantly before nodding,

“Fine. But you better not make me look like a fool.” 

“Wouldn’t dream of it.” Donnie took the dress in his hands and began slowly altering it, you watched as he used his rather nimble fingers to sew and cut the article of clothing. His battle shell seemed to double as an infinite storage unit, it was like he had a more practical purse with him at all times. 

“How do you know how to sew anyway?” He heard you ask from beside him,

“My brother, Raphael, would grow so fast he’d outgrow his clothes.So I would help adjust them as he grew, he’s a snapping turtle so he got big.” Donatello explained, “Mikey and Leo were just always tearing holes in them from their ‘adventures.’ When we were little dad didn’t let us out much, for obvious reasons.” He tore a sleeve off the dress rather aggressively, you remained silent just eyeing the tear wearily. “It’s also how I learned I was good with my hands, went from that to inventing my own projects, it’s a very common pipeline.” 

“I really doubt that.” He shot you a look and you only sighed in response, “most people who I know who sew stay in the arts field. You’re the only person I know who’s ever said there was a pipeline from that to technology.” 

“Good.” Donnie smirked looking over his shoulder at you, a slight gleam in his eyes, “Being the first to do something is never a bad thing. That’s how people earn Nobel Prizes.” He smiled when you laughed the weird tension from earlier dissipating in an instant. 

“You want to win a Nobel Prize? Really Dee?”

“Someday yes,” He spoke in a serious tone, “You think I’m capable?” Donatello teased 

“I think you’re more capable than anyone I know.” 

Blush spread across his cheeks, and down the back of his neck, once again he found himself short-circuiting due to your genuine compliments. 

“Careful. With words like that, I may just fall in love with you.” He shot back sarcasm dripping from his voice, hiding his true feelings with the harsh words. You giggled from behind him, he felt you approach from behind and gently tap against his battle shell. He sighed, “Yeah, yeah…”  He could practically feel your smile as you draped yourself over his shell wrapping your arms around his neck. He sighed lovingly as you nuzzled into his neck, before he spoke,  “What are you even doing?” 

“Watching you work, it’s fascinating, is that okay?” 

“Yes pookie it’s fine,” More sarcasm with an eye roll this time with spice, he could feel your smile against his heated skin, “needy.” He mused pulling the needle and thread through the fabric, you didn’t argue with the comment because both of you knew it was factual. Eventually, the dress was done and Donatello cleared his throat, you stepped away from him as he held the dress in front of him. 

What once was a purple sweater dress with stuffy long sleeves and itchy, overstimulating lace on the bottom was now offically sleeveless and laceless. “I’m trying this on right now! Thank you, Dee!” You gaped taking the dress from him, briefly brushing his hand against your own, “brb!” 

“Did you just say brb out loud?” he called laughing fondly as you run into your bathroom to change, the waiting was what really got to Donatello. He was impatient on his best days, and today was no exception. It was stressful hearing no sounds other than clothes shuffling from your end in the bathroom. He assumed you were probably doing your hair as well, maybe some makeup to match, not that you needed any of that. Nay, you were always perfect in his eyes, well almost perfect. You could use a lot more purple in your wardrobe he noted internally looking at the mess of clothes surrounding him as he sat on your bed. He’d get you some better colors, he was sure he could convince you to hang out at the mall with him…and April. Cause it wouldn’t be a date. No way. “Did you fall into the toilet and drown or something? Are you almost do-” His jaw hung open in shock, and you stood in front of him with a brilliant smile on your cheeks. The dress came down to mid-thigh, and the sleeves definitely needed to go allowing your arms to breathe freely. It also gave a healthy bit of side boob action when facing the side, which he got an eye full of as you twirled. He didn’t know how you managed to find thigh-high socks but it was like god was blessing him and cursing him at the same time. Donnie wanted to dig into the soft flesh spilling ever so slightly over the edge of them, he felt like he was having extreme heart palpitations, and he needed to check his blood pressure. It didn’t help that the dress hugged every curve of your body perfectly, and the aptly named neckline sat unmoving from your neck. 

“Do I look good?” You asked eyes wide and pleading, you had put makeup on, a light purple eyeshadow that sparkled under the light and a dark lip stirred something in him. “Dee?” 

“You look pretty…” 

“Huh?” 

“I SAID YOU LOOK SHITTY!” He sputtered his hands flapping in front of his body, but you weren’t put off by the words, you had already heard his initial comment. His face was for sure flushing in color, you little minx. “I m-mean…” he fumbled as you giggled, 

“Thanks, Donatello. You did amazing.” 

“Oh god, you’re feeding my ego again. What did we talk about?” He tried to change the subject with a cough getting even more flustered by the praise. That was definitely something he wasn’t used to, “You’re gonna be the death of me.” 

“But wouldn’t that be a good way to go?” You teased walking over to him as he backed up slightly, he was pressed against the wall right near the door, his entire face dark and sweat beaded on his brow. Your body was pressed up against his plastron, as you shyly fluttered your lashes. His face was inches away from your own, and you could feel his breath hitch against his throat. It’s funny what a little bit of makeup and a good-looking outfit can do for your confidence, plus having a handsome guy in your room certainly helped.

Hold on since when was Donatello good-looking?

It seemed the both of you were locked in an intense stare off, neither one of you wanted to move to break the tension. You could’ve sworn his eyes had darted to your lips before a voice echoed through the door. 

“Are you almost done getting ready?” The door was being knocked on harshly, ah fuck Ari. Donatello tensed and before he could move your hand was over his mouth pressing him against the wall. 

“Stay put. Stay Quiet.” You scolded him and he let out a muffled squeak under your hand but nodded rapidly, “Good boy.” A loud whine that was thankfully muffled by your hand squeaked out of his mouth. The door opened and you stood in front of it, arm blocking it from opening so it couldn’t open the rest of the way. Ari huffed raising an eyebrow at you, 

“Oh you are,” She looked you up and down with quizzical amber eyes, almost like she could tell someone was up just by looking at you. “Almost. Need help finding a pair of shoes?” 

“No! I’m gonna wear my black flats,” You chirped trying not to glance at Donatello behind the door, who kept wiggling. “Or do I need sneakers?” 

“Flats should work just fine,” Ari hummed placing a hand on her hip, “you okay? You’re acting more than a little strange. Well, stranger than usual.” She teased but there was a hint of worry underneath her light tone. 

“I’m fine!” You said a little too quickly cause she tilted her head to the side eyes narrowing. “Seriously Ari, I’m okay, if anything I’m just a little nervous about the party. Social gatherings plus me an equal disaster. I don’t want to ruin this day for you.”

“Oh chiquita, you’re not going to ruin anything. If I didn’t want you there I simply wouldn’t have invited you. You’re like my sister, I want you there. Promise, plus,” She teased wiggling her fingers in your direction, “You look sexy as fuck you might steal my spotlight.” You made an indistinguishable noise of embarrassment, red swirling into your cheeks. “Kidding don’t pass out on me. Deep breaths you gay disaster.” 

“Pretty girls make me malfunction you know that!” You whined, Donnie made a sound that sounded like a laugh, and you pinched his cheeks between his fingers. “So do pretty boys, shame I don’t know any of them,” another indignant sound came from Donnie, it was a mix of a scoff and a laugh,

“That sounds oddly pointed and specific chiquita.” 

“Nah of course not.” 

“Rigggght.” She clicked her tongue, rolling her eyes “Meet me in the living room in fifteen ‘kay?” 

“Kay,” You smiled back slowly shutting the door, immediately dropping your hand from Donatello’s mouth. “Sorry Dee…” 

“It’s…alright. I could’ve kept quiet you know, no need for the muzzle.” 

“You? You could’ve kept quiet? Dee, I’m sorry but I really don’t believe that for a second.” You placed a hand on your side cocking out your hip, eyebrow-raising. 

“Fine. Don’t believe me, and no to the flats.” 

“What?” 

“The shoes. Wear the ankle boots with the chain.” 

“Okay master, fashion expert.” You teased slipping on the boots, “See you later Dee,” You turned to leave but he grabbed your wrist. You paused turning to face him cheeks red, 

“Stay safe, text me when you get home, please.” He spoke seriously, his finger rubbing against the skin on your wrist, right where the pulse was located. 

“I will. I promise.” 

Donatello stayed put for a little longer before swallowing thickly, pulling you close, and bumping his head against yours in a little headbutt. You smiled nuzzling his head back in a nudge of your own, “See you Friday.” 

“Friday.” He whispered voice a little shaky, his fingers let go of your wrist hesitantly before allowing you to head out the door. You gave one more wave before leaving him alone in your room, he brought his hand up to his plastron right above his heart. Well, he supposed he could clean a least a little bit before he left…it would be the right thing to do after all. 

You’d appreciate the cleanliness.

[enthblaze]

What about a scene where leo and foot Giovanni meet at a rooftop, and they're just so not feeling it rn so theey jusst sit and catch up and shit

Like:"i should probably fight you, but I'm not in the mood, so how's the fam?"

"I should probably fight you."

The night wind almost carries the words away with it, but Giovanni's head tilts in response. He turns his head, not quite looking at his brother, but inviting him for conversation anyway.

"Yeah. Probably," Van replies easily.

He feels Leo come up behind him, all tense muscles and all sorts of unease. He chuckles internally. How predictable.

"But...I don't want to," Leo says, not yet sitting next to him, despite the empty spot. "I don't ever want to, now that I think of it."

"And you think I do?" Van's mouth splits into a strained smile. "Just because I'm with the Foot doesn't mean I'm suddenly evil."

"I know..." Leo shifts his weight from right leg. No need for such things when he's with his brother.

There's trust in the air, albeit waning and weak. Van didn't expect anything less.

"Do you?" A moment's hesitation from the blue clad turtle is enough of an answer. "S'what I thought."

"Look, Vanni-"

Van lifts a hand to stop him. "Whatever you have to say, save it. Can't we just have this?"

The night is quiet and the both of them are hidden in the shadows. For once, there's stars twinkling overhead, a rare occurrence, much like this moment. It's a precious little thing and Giovanni knows all too well how fast the clock ticks.

He stands up, eliminating the hold of power and dominance between the two. Now, they stand on equal ground - and he'll be more prepared should Leo choose to draw his swords after all.

He wishes it won't come to that.

"How's everyone?" Van tries meekly, still not looking at Leo. His gaze remains on the skyline. It's easier that way.

"Good," Leo grunts.

"And Father?"

Leo's fists clench suddenly at his sides. Van suppresses the hurt flinch that seizes his body.

"Also good."

Tension replaces the trust that once lingered, and Van fears more and more tonight won't end in peace.

But please, if the universe truly is kind, let him have this.

How long has it been since he's seen his brothers and actually spoken to them? In civil words instead of anger filled ones?

"I'm sorry," Van whispers. He's not sure exactly what he's sorry for.

Perhaps Leo thought the same. "Why?" he asks. It's far from a taunt and not at all what Van had expected.

He shrugs, fumbling for a reason. "Just sorry," he settles on saying, hoping the weight of his words is enough.

Leo furrows his brow ridges and steps to the side, standing next to his twin instead of behind him. It brings Van at ease, if anything.

"For leaving home?" It's curiosity in his tone. Not animosity, or mocking, or hate. "For choosing the enemy side? For lying?"

Van offers a tired grin of some sort. His dark eyes meet amber ones, long gone are the days when they had been both bright and brilliant. "Let's just say everything. Will you take that?"

It takes a second. Maybe two. Maybe a thousand. But Van thinks he'll relive those seconds as if they held lifetimes.

Leo nods stiffly.

Van relaxed then. "So, if I must repeat myself, how is everyone?"

He watches as Leo's walls lower, and it's no longer two soldiers standing face to face on a rooftop. Left behind are two brothers, close but not close enough, both yearning for one another but knowing it can never be that way again.

"Raph and Mikey painted a mural in one of the tunnels near the Lair," Leo says, giving in with a soft smile that Van hasn't seen in a long time - longer than he likes to admit. And even then, none had been aimed at him.

"Oh?" Van cocks his head. "The one that leads to the storm drain we used to skate, right?"

Leo's head whips so fast his mask tails nearly catch Van in the face. "How did you know?"

Van laughs. Like, actually laughs. "They've been talking about doing it since...forever! It's about time, you know."

"Heh, I guess. And Donnie added some improvements to the Shellraiser."

"I can't wait to see them." Van's sure the improvements were made to end him and his clan, but he can't say he won't be impressed at his baby brother.

"And Father finally let us help Karai decorate her new room," Leo finishes.

Van's stomach sinks but he buries that for another day. "Leave my things at a manhole somewhere...please. I'd rather you didn't throw my things out."

"It was the only empty room," Leo says somberly, understanding surfacing on his expression.

Van hums. "I know. But if I hear her complaining, just know I'll be taking it personally," he jokes, poking Leo's plastron. "It was a good room!"

"Better than your en-suite at Foot headquarters?"

Van has the words on his tongue but they die out. Instead he finds himself saying, "No. I miss my old bed, actually."

"Really?" Leo nudges him. "You miss your old, ratty mattress? When you have luxury?"

Van nods firmly. "I don't like the detergent Shredder uses."

"Wow," Leo says with a playful role of his eyes. "Picky are we?"

"Shut up!" Van laughs, shoving Leo to the side and dodging a swing that comes his way.

Things won't be the same. Van knows that. He knows it in the way Leo stiffens at Tiger Claw's call from a distance, and how Van does so similarly at the sound of Raph's voice echoing in the opposite direction.

He knows it in the sad look in Leo's eyes, the ones that use to be the same shade as his, but his own has long since darkened alongside every piece of himself.

He knows it in the goodbye that isn't goodbye at all.

He wants to scream as Leo jumps off the rooftop and out of sight. He wants to call him back, continue sparring, rough-housing, pulling at each other's mask tails as if they were kids again.

He wants to play pretend like they're not stuck in the middle of an age-old war.

But Leo still leaves and Van tucks himself into Tiger Claw's side like that moment between him and his twin hadn't happened at all.

[wisegirlandseaweedbrainforever]

First off apologies to StarryFeathers on ff I know this is a rewrite of a certain scene from your fic "Lost Brother" I did love your fic, but as someone who was pushed out of their family due to disabilty, I didn't feel the conculsion was messy enough emotionally, so I rewrote "that one scene" so I could go back to writing my own fic, instead of this thing sloshying around my head forever. Again APPOLOGIES!

...

"That's just cruel father!"

Michelangelo hears Donatello shout.

The clink of pottery gets louder as he breaks into a run. Things have been too tense lately, he gets, but do they have to fight he knows Leo can hear them if nothing else.

"What's going on here?" Mikey asks as he enters the dojo.

"Splinter wants Raph to teach Leo how to fight!" Donnie says throwing his hands in the air.

"I mean that's a good thing right? That way we wouldn't have to worry about him, and dad so much?" Mikey responds confused.

"Not you too!"

"Hey! If this is about him not being right in tha head-" Raph starts

"Oh don't start that again" Donnie rounds on him. "I was there too, Raph! Just cause you can't face facts doesn't mean I love him less! Who built all those crutches as kids, huh? Who tried to teach him how to speak again huh? Me! And I'm telling you ninjitsu is too much for him! It's hard enough on a healthy body! You wear a knee brace, I've been nursing my ankle for over a month! His leg is twisted in two places! He can barely hold a fork! I get wanting to protect him, but that is why I am installing censors! Why we should have an escape route planned, and agreed upon places to meet up! Not for us to break him again!" Don screams tears flowing down his face.

"About that-" Mikey says quietly.

Everyone turns to face him.

Mikey quakes, but holds out the box that he is holding. "I was working on gathering Leo's things from the old lair, and look what I found"

"Is that my old tea pot?" Master Splinter says.

"It looks like it." Mikey replies.

"Didn't it break?" Donnie askes.

"It did indeed, my son" Splinter says simply.

"Leo tried to bring it to you last winter," Raph says. "When you got sick, he tried to help you like you always help him"

Splinter sighs.

"So he was putting it back together?" Mikey askes. "I didn't know he was able to do that?"

"He's more stubborn than a mule" Raph says. "Always has been."

"Hmmn" Mikey hums. "Where is he anyway? With all this arguing, I'd normally hear him falling down the stairs trying to stop us?"

"He's at April's. She wanted to see him, and this all' was a long time comin' " Raph growled "I didn't want him here for it. He's been too anxious as it is, since the cave in."

Donnie finally looked away. And Mikey didn't feel any better, almost leaving Leo behind after the mousers would always haunt him "how could they do that? Just forget about him altogether in an emergency?!" He knew objectively it was because Leo wasn't part of the team, when things got rough topside, they didn't have to worry about him, he was home and he was safe. But that hadn't been the case this time. They weren't topside when the mousers attacked, Leo hadn't been safe, and they should have been worried.

"He's still trying to fix us isn't he?" Don says breaking through Mikey's self depricating thoughts.

"Always the big brother huh? Even when we should be tha ones taking care of him." Raph says bitterly.

Splinter sighs again, "Shredder will still stop at nothing to destroy us, and my eldest is still helpless against him."

"You are so sure he's still in there Raph, why?" Donnie asks.

"Why don't you ask him?" Raph says, holding out his Shell-cell.

Donnie's forhead crinkles as he takes it, and Mikey moves around to read over his shoulder. The ID said Leo, and there were so many texts there, like the accident never happened, like Leo had always been there. Leo asking if dinner was ready, if they could watch space heroes, when April was coming to visit. Mikey barely remembered what that was like, for Leo to be part of their lives. He just remembered the accident, his broken body, how it had been him to suggest that tunnel for playing, sure Raph blamed himself for Leo going back to save him, Donnie for not seeing the signs of collapse, and dad for being topside when it all went down, but no one remembered Mikey had begged Leo to go play there, Leo had said it was dangerous, but Mikey hadn't listened, and Leo was never the same because of it.

"I never made Leo a phone" Don says, voice light with amazement.

"I gave him an old one of mine," Raph said awkwardly. "He was always so worried when we were gone, and this let him know how we were doing."

Donnie looks so horrified, and Mikey understands. All these years, the chasm between them felt so wide, yet if they'd only given him a key board it wouldn't have. They gave up on him too quickly.

[snackugaki]

thinking thoughts about some turtles

---

why yes i’ll elaborate, of course, because i wouldn’t be able to fit the commentary in tags like I usually would have done.

fucking 4th time typing this, is2g i’m just gonna bullet point this 

- donnie in his 30s today would be a fucking BEAST, a whole force unto himself

- the little gremlin was probably head deep in Usenet, collecting information on whatever rabbit holes he’d nose around in and then everything within the proverbial 100 ft. radius.

- (I say Usenet because to me, the turtles (disambiguation) are elder millenials, born in the 80s, growing up in the 90s and it seems ‘right’, almost destiny adjacent for Donnie to have been born right at the time technology was going to grow and shift as much as it has between the mid-80s to now)

-he most definitely used his genius intellect to project potential tech applications and come up with Symmetra level “hard light”/Iron Man helmet-integrated HUD 

- but scrounging for spare parts for computer application in the 90s was pretty scarce, marginally better when he and Raph started visiting the underground and black markets. so he made do with what he could get his little hands on. was he a heavy, clunky noisy mess? yes and Leo was so disappointed. (he eventually just tried to trim down what he would bring out on patrols)

- then one fateful night when Mikey lockpicked one of the corner magazine stands, he saw this sweater (twitter link) and OBVIOUSLY, DUH, WEAR the tech! but still! the tools and materials weren’t easily acquired

- then the 2000s started and OH BOY, lots of exciting things were beginning to happen: patents on 3D printers were expiring, the arduino project, and raspberry pi were starting to circulate (Donnie learned Italian just so he could keep up with the Arduino project when he first heard news of it), internet shopping was becoming more of a thing (how did Donnie pay for stuff? ethically... adjacent. I’m fully on the train that having been perusing Usenet and being a mutant in NYC has Donnie’s moral compass.... not gray but something ‘87 Leo would make PSA commercial break pep talks about; which is tl;dr Donnie WOULD download a car [and has, just to see if he could] )

- Then he saw Lexington become That™ in the “Future Tense” episode from Gargoyles scared him straight, he’s morally eggshell - pewter now

- April absolutely found a way to sneak the boys into a few NYFWs with her press pass just ‘cuz they wanted to see; Donnie took one look at Rick Owens and independently came up with his own take on ‘techwear’, and he’s been a menace in LEDs and neoprene ever since.

- he has a tech goggles problem, he is both the enabler and the addict

[foggywonderlandgentlemen]

Hi hello I am very interested in your thoughts on how 07 Raph was done dirty by the narrative, if you don't mind (I also just like hearing other people's thoughts on my favourite lad lol)

I would LOVE to ramble about this! Sorry for the late reply, I had to rewatch the movie so I could more accurately write a small essay in response. Anyways, Raph my friend Raph. Also Leo.

I guess my main complaint is that Raph and Leo are both framed by the movie as more or less equally “wrong” in their actions. They’re both arrogant, both hotheaded, and both completely unwilling to talk it out. So what all did either of them really do “wrong”?

Raph’s vigilante-ing is framed as morally wrong within the narrative, but no explanation is really offered. As TMNT, the group functionally operates as vigilantes, stopping crime and fighting baddies. When Raph goes off on his own, it’s really not the fact that he’s doing violent things that’s the problem. It’s the fact that he’s doing it alone.

When Raph is gone during the night, he sleeps during the day. His few interactions with his brothers are tense at best and downright hostile if anyone so much as looks at him wrong. And him neglecting to be around for his family has real consequences. Donnie and Mikey both have jobs to try to keep all of them afloat, to various degrees of bodily and mental harm. None of them really talk anymore, and the fault is largely placed on Raph. As Donnie says, “Your rogue attitude has always been a source of contention to this team”.

As for Leo, we see a lot of the same “problems” as with Raph. He functioned as a vigilante in Central America, he has a temper, and at the very least, a convincing show of an ego. He can’t interact with his brothers the way he used to because he’s been god knows where for a whole year. And again, his flaws are isolation and lack of understanding of his family as a result. And all of this culminates in The Rooftop Scene.

Oh boy, The Rooftop scene. So, they’re both kind of dicks in this scene. Understandably so, but it’s clear that the audience isn’t necessarily supposed to agree with either Mr. I’m Better Than You Leonardo or Mr. Anger Issues Raphael. Leo’s cocky, bitchy, and lectures him. But Raph is still dunked on for being angry, for having a temper, as if Leo isn’t just as bad. Donnie even mentions it earlier in the movie.

So what’s their beef with each other? Well, Raph tells Leo off for being smug, for coming back and immediately trying to take over as leader as if nothing has changed. He is mad at Leo for leaving, but doesn’t want to admit that things fall apart without him, so he’s angry at him for coming back too. His anger is completely justified in my opinion, but still framed as “bad”.

Meanwhile, Leo is suffering from an acute case of Eldest Daughter Syndrome. I could make a whole other essay on how Splinter treats him in this movie but I’ll make it brief: Leo is suffocating under the weight of responsibility, after having literally been told that it’s his job to fix the family, and wants everything to fall back into place. This obviously isn’t happening with Raph, so Leo gets pushy. He’s also of the opinion that regular human things should be left to the regular humans, while Raph thinks they should help whenever they can.

And then Raph leaves and Leo gets got, and the blame is indirectly put on Raph. He left, he was the one who ultimately “wanted” to be a loner. And as a direct result, his brother, having lost his swords in their confrontation, gets nerf darted and kidnapped. So Raph is framed as the bad guy at the very end of the confrontation. Even if neither party was necessarily in the right, Raph ends up being in the wrong.

In the very next scene, Raph confesses to accidentally leaving Leo behind. He directly says “I know there’s a reason why he’s the better son and I’m not” during this. Splinter gives him a brief pep talk, notes that his qualities could be that of a leader as well, but “only when tempered with compassion and humility”. Once again, Raph’s character flaws are front and center for this interaction.

And look, I’m not saying that Raph can’t be an angry little bitch at times. Of course he can! That’s part of why I like him so much! But his temper is framed as the guilty party, and he has to “redeem” himself in order for his arc to be complete. And his temper really isn’t the issue. Sure it’s not helping, but the real problem is both Leo and Raph’s tendency to isolate. And those qualities don’t come out of nowhere (side-eyes the previous movie’s trauma as well as Splinter).

They team back up, Raph saves Leo to “redeem” himself, they beat the bad guy, everything’s good! Except the fact that neither of their true problems were addressed. Sure, they’re a team again, but they never acknowledged the problem as both of their needs to be in complete control and completely independent. This could have been a fairly easy fix too, a short conversation where they both acknowledge their isolation at the end of the film would have sufficed. But they didn’t.

TLDR: Raph and Leo both got fucked over by their flaws being presented as anger and smugness respectively, when the true problem was their tendency to self isolate, which never got acknowledged.

[nerves-nebula]

To the last anon, when it comes to Rise crossovers with 12 and how they handle ‘healing’ its done in a ‘holy-than’ tone. Especially with newer fans. When the arise movie dropped and crossover content was being made it was A LOT of 12 bashing in said fics. Like ‘Unfamiliar Familiar’ and ‘The fight for Mikey’ it was handled in such a bad faith way and reached such a wide audience that if i were to open a crossover fic for 12/Rise the predetermined ideas of ‘2012 brothers/Splinter are abusive’ ‘12 Mikey is innocent’ ‘12 April is a bitch’ are there.

Its why so many of us 12 fans vehemently speak out about it in a strong manner. A few of us are open to discuss it but the pool has already been tainted so to speak.

OH SO WE'RE JUST NAME DROPPING FICS NOW??? with like real people behind them and stuff?? ok damn i guess i really did kick the hornets nest here.

anyway, i read an ok fic once that i dont remember the name of where the rise bros were like "you guys are really mean" and the 2012 bros were like "y'all aint perfect either" and they kept fighting each other because of some sort of dimension thing where only one of them could exist in the same universe and it was an interesting enough premise i guess.

i stopped reading it cause the writing was a little too on the nose for me (like, people just saying exactly what they mean in an emotional situation sorta thing) but it wasnt the worst.

i think i also read a bit of unfamiliar familiar but i dont remember much about it. I guess I didn't notice that was character bashing? then again i never had a huge attachment to 2012 so i probably took the "2012 doesnt deserve mikey so im giving him to rise" thing as more lighthearted than you would if you like. were attached to 2012 and had strong opinions on them hah.

I assumed that the author was interested in telling a story about an abused kid who gets taken in by a new family, and just used 2012 tmnt to do it. I guess my blind spot comes from the way I view stories as vehicles for someone to express themselves. so i care more about the story itself and what it explores (usually abuse) than like, if they're being unfair to characters.

but yeah, having major fanfics that spread a version of 2012 dynamics you don't agree with/like is sure to rub ya the wrong way. I totally get the irritation there.

I read a fanfic that was similar to that actually, where 2012 Donnie and Mikey ran away cause home life was really bad, and it was written so well that I fell in love immediately. My favorite part was that we had parts from everyone's POV's, Donnie, Mikey, and then after they left Raph and Leo. AND it was going to be reconciliation too!! like they were going to get better and all this cool stuff, and the way it handled trauma and coping and healing was sOoOOOO good. unfortunately it was never finished, but yeah. i guess that's my ideal 2012 abuse fanfic that i'm always chasing the high of. it also scratched a particular itch i have for running away, and the tense feeling surrounding the lead up to you running away.

SIDE NOTE I have noticed some weirdness around 2012's female characters, but i think I have another ask that goes into that so I'll save it for there.

ANYWAY thats a long ass way for me to say "oooh i didnt realize that, i see things X way but it's clear to me now that a lot of people see it Y way. that's fair, anyway let me rant about other fanfics i read" haha