#Raph can absolutely take teasing Mikey too far

[iztarshi]

Sunset Duo are so cute in 87. Raph and Mikey are always close in anything but with Donatello shifting into the A-team dynamic with Leo they shift more into the B-team dynamic of quietly entertaining and taking care of each other.

[dancingdonatello]

hey so how do you think the rottmnt boys would deal with their s/o cutely yet shyly asking for cuddles. They seem a bit out of it and don’t have their usual energy. When they actually do cuddles, s/o admits they were having bad thoughts and they just wanted to cuddle with their favourite turtle for some comfort?

rottmnt x gn reader

Raph is absolutely the best one to go for for this. He’s huge and can wrap himself around you almost completely. He’s warm, almost unnaturally so, and he barely squirms or moves, never wanting to disturb you.

When you admit to him why you wanted cuddles, he won’t let go of you for at least another hour. He hates when you’re not happy or anything like that.

Leo denies you at first, just trying to tease you and see that mildly frustrated expression of yours that he enjoys so much. But when your face crumples, he immediately brings you into a hug.

He feels even worse when you tell him that you’ve been having a bad day. Since then, he never ever teases you regarding cuddling ever again. Other things, however? Those are still fair game as of now.

Donnie thinks about telling you how he has so much work to do. It’s not like he’s lying. He’s got piles of blueprints to sort through on his desk. It’d be pretty hard to get stuff done with you clinging to him.

But something was telling him to give in. When you finally told him what was going on, he lets out a quiet sigh of relief. If he had turned you away and found that out later, he would’ve felt horrible.

Mikey always takes any excuse to cuddle. He already has a feeling that you’re pretty upset too so he tackles you into the closest piece of furniture. He always coos over you too when you ask for cuddles.

He is by far the best one to go to talk to. He always knows how to get you feeling happier by the end of your guys’ time together.

[katanablue]

H! How are you? I hope you are doing good

I saw your requests re open so I hope you don’t mind this, but can you do an “first kiss” Headcanon / scenario with either 2007 or 2003 tmnt boys with a very friendly reader (she jokes w them, is super relaxed around them, etc etc) , but whenever someone flirts with her she short-circuits lol, blush, get flustered, clumsy… kinda doesn’t believe the flirting is for real (due to low self esteem) , until the kiss happens, and there’s a “switch” “oh. Oh.” Moment w then and then they become more affectionate/ passionate ?

Hopefully this makes sense! Please and thank you, hope you have a good day

I’m going with the 03 boys!! Sorry that this isn’t exactly what you wanted 😭😭 I changed it a lil bit. Thank you sm for requesting!!

. . . . . ╰──╮꒰💙꒱ ╭──�� . . . . .

• Leo doesn’t know when it happened exactly but at some point during your friendship with him and his brothers, he could physically feel himself become about significantly calmer. Your laughter made his heart flutter, his lips curl upward into a smile without really realizing it, and he found himself always looking at you whenever he made a joke (a good one at least). It didn’t take him long to figure out that he has a crush on you and it seemed that you felt the same. Then again he wasn’t sure since you tended to be extremely friendly with his brothers as well.

He tries flirting with you, as subtly as he can, since he knows you don’t exactly take to flirting too well. Ever since he witnessed Mikey call you ‘babe’ that one time and saw just how much a stuttering mess you became, he’s taken it upon himself to be more cautious about it.

So he’ll do little things here and there; bring you tea, pull out your chair, take the invisible lint off your shoulder. You’re none the wiser, thinking Leo is just being a good friend, the respectful ninja turtle in blue. And he is! He just wants to let you know that it means something a little more than friendship.

One day Leo decides to kick it up a notch, wanting to compliment you directly on something. It’s when you laugh and smile with all your teeth that he seizes the opportunity.

“You have a beautiful smile.” He says calmly, warmth in his eyes as he watches you start to laugh out of nervousness.

“Oh uh, I uh, no— I don’t…” You try to dismiss his compliment, even going as far as to cover your mouth so he can’t look at it anymore. Leo reaches to gently take your hand in his, lowering them down and giving you a firm squeeze.

“Yes, you do. It’s beautiful. Just like you.”

You stare at him, trying to rack your brain for a response but finding absolutely nothing. Leo can’t help but chuckle, tilting his head a bit to the side.

“May I kiss you?”

If your brain wasn’t fried before, it’s definitely out of commission now. He waits for you to answer, accepting the very stiff tilt of your head as an okay. He leans in and brushes his lips against your cheek, interlacing your fingers with his and pulling back. Even as the seconds tick by you still feel that tingle from his mouth on your skin, your lips twitching up into a shy smile.

“I’d like to give you another kiss, after I take you out on a date. If you’ll let me?”

He gives you another peck on the cheek after you agree.

. . . . . ╰──╮꒰❤️꒱ ╭──╯ . . . . .

• You and Raph had a sort of… special relationship. Sure you joked with the other turtles but with him? It was a whole different ballgame. You teased each other to no end, poked and prodded, made jokes. He used your head as an arm rest even though you were both nearly the same height and you liked to push his buttons to near explosion but of course never saying anything out of hand. It was a fun relationship, one you both love and cherish.

Except for the times he flirts with you.

You never know if he’s serious or not, and you never really stick around to find out because once those compliments leave his mouth it’s like all logic leaves your brain. And oh how Raphael loves it when you’re reduced to a cute pile of mush. He totally 100% means it every single time, but since you’re not one to take his words to heart, he uses it as an opportunity to flirt with you with no restrictions.

His most recent flirtation, one you can’t even recall at the moment because it was just so ridiculous, has you spitting the first thing that comes to your mind.

“You wanna kiss me so bad, it makes you stupid!”

Raph chuckles and crosses his arms across his plastron, looking at you with a smirk and a raised eyeridge.

“Yeah I do.”

…What?

“What?” You sputter, looking back at him with an incredulous expression.

Even this was crazy bold for the red clad turtle, he could fully admit that. He takes a hold of your chin in between two of his fingers, keeping you in place as he gets closer.

“Yeah. I do.” He repeats and makes a very pointed glance at your lips. You blink several times at him, unsure how to respond.

“You don’t… mean that ahaha…” You try to write it off as another joke.

“Care to find out, sweetheart?” He teases and gets even closer, his breath fanning over your warm skin.

“S-sure.” You say quietly, hearing nothing except the hard thrumming of your heart in your ears.

Raph will make fun of you later for your response, but for now? He kisses you softly, still holding your chin and even placing his other hand on your back to keep you close. He pulls away after a few seconds, his smirk now a bit more tender.

“Still think I’m joking?” He mutters, stroking your jaw with his thumb.

No, you don’t think he is.

. . . . . ╰──╮꒰💜꒱ ╭──╯ . . . . .

• “Donnie!” You call out excitedly, making your way quickly but cautiously into his lab. He’s in the midst of working on something, protective goggles on as he uses a torch on some metal sheet. He doesn’t notice you until you’re in his line of sight, the terrapin perking up once he catches a glimpse of you.

“Hey!” He shouts in greeting as he turns off the torch, straightening his posture and lifting the goggles off his face. He beams at you with a wide grin, grabbing a rag and wiping his hands clean before making his way to you.

“Check out this new gloss I got.” You present to him a rectangular pink translucent tube, rose gold flakes decorating the inside with a clear gel. Donnie crosses his arms and smirks at you, amused at your actions.

“You came in here to show me your lipstick?” He laughs.

“First of all, it’s gloss, get it right. Second of all, yes! This one changes color based on your pH.” You mumble as you twist and turn the tube in between your fingers. “Kinda wanted you to explain how it works since you’re smart.” You roll the top off the gloss and apply a fresh coat on your lips, sliding and pressing them together to even out the application. Donnie watches with a tender smile, plucking the makeup from your fingers and reading over it.

“Well actually it’s all the same shade,” You can feel your mouth twitching into a smile, secretly always loving it whenever Donnie went into full explanation mode for something, even if you didn’t fully always understand it.

“The product formats that use the color-changing ingredients are usually anhydrous—“ He pauses when he sees you squint your eyes at him. “No water.” He adds, stepping closer and handing you back the tube. “So the pH shifts color due to the environment into a pink shade.”

You nod as you take back the lipgloss and put it back in your pocket, “Cool.” You respond and turn to glance at your reflection in a piece of metal. “Wonder how you’d look with it.” You comment offhandedly.

“Well it’s not exactly sanitary to share makeup products.” He chuckles. He can feel his heart start to pick up speed, the thought that came into his head suddenly making his palms sweat.

Donnie knows you have a crush on him, he may not be as perceptive as Raphael but he picks up on the signs you subtly try to hide away from him. Like how you falter for half a second whenever he says he saved you the last slice of pizza or how he wants you to be the first person to check out his latest invention because he loves your enthusiasm about them.

You try not to think too much on Donnie’s actions, not letting yourself believe that the smartest brother could possibly ever have feelings for you. No way. No how.

“So then what do you suggest we do?” You laugh, turning to look back at Donnie, being confused when you spot the sudden change in his demeanor. He’s twiddling his fingers in a circle, looking off to the side and rocking on the heels of his feet. He looks nervous? Hesitant also since it’s like he leans towards you but then backs up at the last second.

“Donnie?”

It’s now or never Einstein!

You barely have time to blink before Donnie has his mouth pressed to yours, gone before you can even register your shock and confusion. He smacks his lips together, tasting the gloss and spreading it to make it even.

“Wha… you— kissed? Me—?” You stammer, bringing a hand to your mouth as you stare wide eyed to your best friend. Donnie chuckles bashfully as his brain runs a mile a minute, finally looking back up and locking eyes with yours.

“Well, as I said, sharing products isn’t very sanitary, and I deemed this the best way for me to try your lipgloss. And if my calculations are correct, they usually are, you have a crush on me which is good because I also… have a crush on you.” He trails off quietly, anxiety ridden in his stomach as he watches you process his words.

“You… have a crush on me?” You whisper, frozen in your spot. He nods, trying to determine on whether or not he was actually wrong for the first time in his life.

“Can I kiss you again to prove it?” He suggests shyly. He has to hold in his laughter when you go to place your hand behind you on his workbench and end up pushing over some of his tools and papers. You let out a sound of surprise, quickly going to straighten it up but end up making more of a mess. Donnie lets a chuckle slip out and steps next to you to help out.

��Maybe we can start with a date first if that’s okay.” He suggests, smiling bright and blushing hard when you nod your head in agreement.

. . . . . ╰──╮꒰🧡꒱ ╭──╯ . . . . .

“Revive me, revive me!!”

“I’m trying!!” You squeal in laughter, pressing buttons and inputting combos into your controller to get your character to move and make their way to Mikey, whose character was currently knocked unconscious on the ground, a comical rotating circle of stars above their head. Mikey bounces in his seat, tapping his feet rapidly against the floor as he watches in anticipation, getting more and more nervous when enemies continue to make their way towards you.

“Use your shield!” He cries out.

“Mikey stop, you’re stressing me!” You yell back, nearly on the edge of your seat as you swiftly dodge and evade the enemy attacks. You have to get to Mikey’s character quick, nearly less than 30 seconds before he completely disappears from the game and can only come back one you complete the level.

“Save me oh save me, my knight in shining armor!” He makes his voice high pitched, causing you to laugh and get hit with an attack, losing a good chunk of your health.

“NO!” You both screech, standing up from the couch.

Focusing all your attention, you maneuver and kill only the necessary enemies until you’re standing right on top of Mikey’s body, pressing a button to begin the revival process. Mikey’s muttering repeatedly to himself, his hands clenched tightly around his controller when suddenly—

“Yes! Yes!” He shouts, immediately countering any oncoming enemies. Within a few minutes you successfully complete the level, giving each other a sharp high five once you were back in the home world.

“Oh my Prince Charming, how can I ever repay you?” He puts the girlish voice back on, clasping his hands together and holding them against his cheek while he bats his eyes at you. You laugh and put a finger to your chin in mock thought, humming loudly and looking around.

“What can my fair lady offer?” You ask, deepening your voice and posing your fists against your hips. Mikey looks at you mischievously, getting an inch closer to you.

“How about a kiss?” He puckers his lips at you, making obnoxious kissing noises. You laugh shyly, pushing your finger against his forehead to move him back.

“Haha, very funny.” You retort, fighting the heat that creeps upon your cheeks.

“Aw, come on. You don’t want a kiss from a beautiful princess like me?”

Your heart skips, brain going into overdrive as you attempt to conjure up a response but coming up with nothing. Did he know about your crush on him? Was he trying to do tell you that he feels the same? Did he—

“Hey cutie, I can practically see the steam coming out your ears.” He playfully pokes at your cheek.

“Shouldn’t joke about kissing people, Mikey.” You grumble under your breath, feeling the way your face just goes up in flames. Mikey pouts at you and takes a gentle hold of your arm.

“But I’m not joking, I do want to kiss you.”

“Huh??”

He nods and tugs you the barest bit closer.

“I like you, you like me. Why wouldn’t I want to kiss you?”

The controller slips from your hand and clatters onto ground. You know Mikey isn’t playing around when his eyes don’t even break from yours to look down. The silence feels like it stretches in for eons.

“You… want to actually kiss me?”

He nods.

“Genuinely? You like me?”

Two nods this time.

“I… uh,”

“Please let me kiss you. Or should I take you out on a date first? It’s obvious I haven’t done this before. Maybe—“

“Mikey!” You cut him off, placing your hand on top of his, finding your fingers curling around his.

“Let’s start off with that date.” He grins at you, unable to stop himself from pecking your cheek in gratitude.

“Sounds like a deal, dude.”

[angelmichelangelo]

(This is @deadlyflan, I just can't ask from a side blog. Hope you feel better soon! --Kya)

Writing prompt fun!

One of the boys needs medical attention.

But like, for a stupid reason. In a "my brothers are never gonna let me live this down" way. Like a "Gave yourself a black eye with a wii controller" kinda thing. The aftermath of "Hey guys, look at this! [*disaster.*]" Real "How did you get stuck in a jar?!" sort of stuff.

1. Who is it, and what'd they do?

2. How are each of their brothers reacting?

3. What's the long-term teasing look like?

hello! :D and oh this is an interesting question!

if we’re talking 2012, i would wager absolutely it is leonardo

he’s a very prideful turtle, kind of holds all his biggest emotions inward. he’s the eldest and the leader so he kind of gets the impression that he’s not supposed to ask for help (shakes him by his shoulders like noooo!!!)

we saw in that one episode where they play king of the mountain (again. episode names just. disappear outta my brain i swear) that he likes doing stuff by the book, so im imagining he might try and do something a little different just to kind of keep up with his brothers, but ends up like rolling his ankle pretty hard or falling and spraining his wrist — nothing too drastic but enough to hurt, and certain embarrassing enough to not want to tell anyone about it.

donnie would be mad as well as the first to figure it out when he sees leo limping about or clutching his arm a few days later. he’s secondary medic out of their group and immediately goes on a tanget about how concealing an injury can do worst damage as he’s patching him up. leo kind of lets him ramble on about it, knowing that his frustration comes more from worry than anything else like actual anger. he doesn’t like to see leo hurt and whilst he does know the basics of medical care, he’s not all that confident in it, so when it’s leo getting hurt it’s a lot of pressure on him to fix it (cue leo then being thrown through a window and going into a three month long coma lmao)

raph would be very sympathetic. we saw how he was with leo during the farmhouse arc; he never pushed leo and gave him plenty of space and room to heal. whenever leo fell or groaned or seemed down because of his injuries, raph was instantly always there to try and pick him back up. he can butt heads with his brother on a lot of thing, but as two pretty stubborn headed, prideful turtles, he knows not to push him on this one, and actually is pretty sweet about the whole ordeal, even if he could potentially tease him about it

mikey i would imagine is a lot less lenient and gives in to a lot of teasing. and i say this because he’s the baby!! he’s just copying what the others do to him when he’s been hurt!! “aw man, leo, that ankle is FUDGED! hm, guess we’ll just have to chop it off. yup. it’s gotta go. donnie! bring me the chopsaw!” he can tell with his sixth sense that leo’s ego is a little bruised, so he’s instantly there to rib him a little and make him laugh about it rather than feel upset about what happened. he knows not to take it too far, and even if he did, raph is there the rein him back in. he enjoys being babiest of brothers when he knows it’s nothing too serious and enjoys making him smile :)

[rainyraisin]

How do Leo's siblings react to her coming out? :D

Raph as the token cishet isn't as knowledgeable regarding this kind of stuff as his brothers would be so he doesn't really get it as much as they do at first, having to go ask Mikey and Casey about it because he doesn't want to put Leo in that position since it was obviously very difficult for her to even tell him about that, him being one of the last people in the main 6 to find out. She doesn't need him questioning her. But after he speaks to them he gets it a bit more and starts silently supporting her, doing the gifts thing he's been doing for Mikey and Donnie all these years like leaving her a skirt he fitted for her. He knows he can't really be there for her in the emotional sense like the others but he can at least show he supports her via gift-giving.

Mikey on the other hand is very hands on with his support, he and Leo finally getting close again like they had been before Leo kinda went all robot mode. He's always liked to braid and style April's hair so he does the same with Leo's mask tails. He also puts together outfits for her since she has absolutely no fashion sense (she's so loser/aff). He's not as good at helping her handle gender dysphoria and stuff like Casey would be but he tries his best to support her on that side of things and always makes sure to compliment her, even phasing out teasing entirely for a while until Leo brings up how it kinda makes her feel left out a bit.

Donnie kinda struggles with it. He's easily been the most hurt by Leo and even though he knows her reasoning behind it now it still doesn't change the fact that he's been broken down by her time and time again. Even as Leo starts trying to make up for her actions, he still can't bring himself to separate the old Leo from the new Leo, because she still feels just as fake as she's always been. So when Leo comes out, it just feels like another excuse, another reason as to why she beat him down until there was nothing left, projecting her own frustrations on the one person who would've understood, even when their 'family' seemed too far gone. He knows that's not why she told him, he knows deep down that it wasn't just another miserable attempt at an excuse for her actions, but he still can't bring himself to respond when she tells him, just asking her to leave him alone like he has been since everything started to settle down and he finally set his boundaries with her. But he knows he's being a hypocrite. He knows he's just hurting her like she hurt him, like some sort of twisted revenge. He doesn't want to be that guy, that person, but he still can't bring himself to even be around her, let alone talk about something as heavy as this.

So, when Leo is out of the lair one day, he puts something in her room. One of his flowers he's been working on recently. He doesn't really know much about Leo, she only ever talked to Mikey and even he got shut out eventually. But he knew her favourite colours, at least. And even if he couldn't talk to her, he could at least communicate his feelings via flower language. So he leaves her a blue delphinium. A flower that symbolises an open heart, yet also brings with it levity and fickleness, with his intention being "I'll love you no matter what. Even if we can't move past this just yet, I'll change my mind." If she understood his intentions, she never mentioned it, but she did seem a bit less desperate to prove herself to him following that. A bit less fake and calculating. And a bit more genuine in his eyes. It made it a little bit easier to see that she truly was trying to change when it wasn't being shoved in his face. Even though they talk even less about it than Raph and Leo do (as Donnie and Leo don't really talk at all), he takes to leaving her little bits and bobs here and there as well, mostly just a rock he found cute or a plant clipping, but she gets the sentiment. They start talking again around the finale.

Thank you so much for the question!

[rise-april-art-challenge]

HOLY-*AHEM* I am getting SPOILD TODAY! Where to start! First off…THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR PARTICIPATING! I LOVE ALL OF THEM! Now…let’s get to it…

1. Can never go wrong with April. Our Queen! Literally the BEST APRIL, and I will NOT take any SLANDER! Love her sassy pose and the “I just woke up, what do you want,” expression on her face. And of course, it would be Donnie calling. Rare to see her without her glasses, but she still looks fire! Nicely done!

2. PFFT! Of course, seeing the future, we can all bet that Leo gets pretty tall…buuut, I’m betting his growth spurt is late, puberty coming to boys later and all…but I LOVE the idea of the brothers teasing him for being short…and this idea is growing on me. Short Leo only means he gets all the cuddly bear hugs, which I am totally on board for. And Mikey, ever the competitive troll. Whether Leo likes it or not, his lil bro learned a thing or two from him. Great take on the prompt, very clever!

3. BWAHAHAHA! And I thought Leo being a short king was funny! Casey, relax, there are ways to be a parent without sacrificing your gay identity. And yeah, I see Casey as Cass’ biological child. He looks WAY too much like her for him not to be. Also, ANY art with those two interacting is gold! @nickelodeon We NEED to see this meeting happen! Bring back Rise of the TMNT!

4. T_T Wh-why-WHY!?! You had me all happy with Cass and her son and then you BREAK MY HEART WITH SPLINTER AND HIS MOM!?! HOW DARE! But, I gotta say, that is SUCH a heartwarming idea. The fact that his mother was always with him, that she was silently supporting her baby even if she could not reach him. Splinter being half in shadow and half in light is such a clever motif. And I love how gently his mother is holding him. Making me feel things…you get points as an artist, but I am also SO sad now.

5. Haven’t seen anyone draw Senior Hueso so far! And, excuse me? No joke? Then what is that whole, subtle, funny jab about Hueso not trusting Piel? The swag in his pose, pushing his pirate bro back while he’s busy being the waiter to end all waiters. We need more Senioir Hueso @nickelodeon! Bring back RISE!

6. With a prompt like “Professor” I got A LOT of Donnies! I absolutely LOVE that you won’t with Mikey instead! Look at him! He’s so DONE with his brothers’ nonsense. If Raph makes sure they make responsible decisions overall, Mikey makes sure that they’re taking care of their mental needs. Also, LOVE The line “running from PTSD forever.” The boy would be a great coach one day. And it seems like no matter what, the disaster twins are going to disaster. Love it!

7. Naw man, Leo knows LGBT rep when he sees it. But for real, I would be okay with either or. I know that Nickelodeon cannot officially say anything because there be judgemental people out there, but I KNOW these two are not just roommates. But hey, who said their private business is any of Leo’s business huh? And the fact that Warren is wearing a little suit? Where these two on a date? Hmm? Seems suspish to me. You have a great sense of humor! Thank you so much!

that’s like..a lot of fanart

Ok, so I’ve actually been doing the Rise April Challenge for a whole week now, but I decided to make 4 big posts instead of 30…..

Day 1. April O’neil. No comments, just our Queen

Day 2. Competition

Been thinking too much about size difference between sliders and softshells. I’m obsessed with the idea that Leo’s gonna become  the short king of the family ‘cos Mikey is learning to levitate only to mock his tiny bro. 

Day 3. Casey& Casey Jr.

I headcanon Casey as Cassandra’s biological child, and my silly brain can’t help but come up with jokes about gay confusion. Girl, relax, you can top both

Day 4. Dream

Couldn’t stop thinking about the fact that Splinter’s mother knew about “hot soup” which means she also knew about Nexus and Big Mama. Obviously, ghosts can’t do much in material world, but sometimes just being there is enough to turn a nightmare into a dream. You are not alone.

Day 5. Bottle

I was really tired and couldn’t come up with a proper joke. But Hueso is still a man of my dreams

Day 6. Professor

Not only boys are stupid but all the Hamatos. Everyone else is just lucky not to sleep in a turtle pile, ‘cos when somebody’s nightmares wake Mikey up he becomes relentless. Maybe it’s a good thing tho, you can run from PTSD forever

Day 7. Nonsense

Silly Leo, they’re not gay. it’s called being partners in crime/if you were a woman i would marry you/best rommies for life

[tmntxthings]

HII! Hru? Great I hope :)) can you write about everyone having a sleepover and it’s rlly late and everyone’s asleep except reader, then it splits into how the brothers would individually react to reader crawling next to them and sleeping back to back bc reader doesn’t wanna bother them but also wants to be close, if it’s not too much could you also include April? If not that’s perfectly fine! ^^

Tysm for your time! Have a great day/night!

Next to You

author’s notes: hiiii, im doing fabulous classes were canceled last minute for thanksgiving XD i hope you enjoy & ty for requesting <3

warnings: fluff c: that’s it, oh & unedited

—————————————————————————

You opened your eyes, trying to hold back a sigh. You could tell from the deep breathing and slight snoring around you that everyone else was fast asleep. What surprised you the most was that Donnie and Leo of all people were asleep. They usually were insomniacs like you.. but you guessed it was a good thing that they had finally managed to get some shut eye. You on the other hand were still struggling.

You tried to distract your brain with events of today. The sleepover had started off with a bunch of competitions in the arcade. DDR being the main event, and probably what led to everyone being so tired. After that Mikey had ordered everyone pizza. Then the movie marathon started and didn’t stop until everyone was yawning. Instead of going to their respective rooms, the turtles all decided to continue the slumber party in the projector room. A big pile of blankets and pillows were placed in the middle and slowly but surely everyone settled down for the night.

Raph

Quietly you sat up, rubbing your eyes as they adjusted to the dark room. Looking around, you found Raph not too far away and silently made your way to where he slept. You had a pillow and a blanket in your arms and as quietly as possible you placed them next to the red turtle.

You then laid next to Raph, scooting until you felt the hard curves of his spiky shell. You finally allowed yourself to sigh, feeling slightly better now that you were next to his calming presence. Maybe ten minutes later you fell into a light sleep. Sometime later though Raph turned over in his sleep and you were awoken to him throwing an arm over your stomach and pulling you to his chest.

You were so tired that you couldn’t find it in yourself to get flustered as you snuggled your head into his plastron. He was so warm! His snores were just deep rumbles that were lulling you to sleep. It didn’t take long for you to finally slip into a deep slumber. Raph of course woke up at the crack of dawn. Stretching and opening his eyes to find you, looking absolutely adorable pressed into his plastron. Thankfully no one else was awake to tease him about how dark green his cheeks turned. He allowed himself to rub his face into your hair atop your head before slowly getting up. Though he made sure to put a big red pillow as his replacement for you to cuddle into.

Leo

Minutes went by and still you were unable to fall asleep. It was starting to get on your last nerve and with frustrated tears in your eyes you quickly got up from your spot. Dragging along your blanket and carrying your pillow as you found Leo wasn’t that far away. You quickly made your bed next to his, and laid down right beside him.

Sniffling slightly as you scooted backwards until you felt his smooth shell against your back. Leo turned around immediately, groaning slightly as he was a light sleeper. Your hand went you to cover your mouth hoping you hadn’t just woke him up. “You okay?” He mumbled behind you. “I’m sorry,” you whispered, regretting having come over and ruined what little sleep he got. “Its okay, what’s wrong?” He said as he pressed his face into your hair, an arm going around your middle. “Can’t sleep,” you sighed. He hummed and moved back slightly to start playing with your hair.

You lasted maybe 5 minutes before your body relaxed and the tension in your shoulders left you. Sleep overtook you and Leo held in a chuckle, moving to snuggle his face into your hair again as he went back to sleep too. Unlike Raph, Leo was not a morning person, so the two of you would definitely be woken up by the rest of the group, hovering over the two of you. Taking embarrassing photos and cooing over how cute the two of you were.

Donnie

You were staring up at the lair ceiling when a glow of a phone screen could be seen in your peripheral. You knew who it was immediately and you hurriedly grabbed your things before plopping down behind the purple turtle. He didn’t say anything as you got comfortable, you got as close as you dared. There was a few centimeters between his soft shell and your back. “Need something?” Donnie spoke up after a few moments.

You shook your head and then realized you needed to say something. “No” you replied and that was it. Your eyelids were starting to blink slower and slower as you noticed the glow of his phone power off. You listened as he shuffled and got comfortable again. Then out of nowhere, you felt him scoot back those last few centimeters, his shell grazing your back. Your eyes widened, sleep evading you. It was just such a shock! “Dee?” you whispered and he mumbled a reply. “Goodnight,” you said changing your mind about bringing it up. “G’night,” you barely heard him say.

Unlike Leo, Donnie woke up at a decent hour. He sat up, listening to Raph’s feet pad away. He groaned and stretched and looked over to you with a fond expression. Then he was up, heading for the kitchen to make his morning coffee.

Mikey

You rolled over, staring at Mikey’s shell. He was fast asleep, the outline of his body going up and down as he breathed in and out deeply. You smiled, wishing you could pass out as easily as he could. You rolled one more time, your back firmly against his smooth shell.

You could feel his rhythmic breathing and you found that it was comforting enough for you to finally start feeling tired. You might’ve fallen asleep if Mikey didn’t start kicking all of the sudden. His feet bumping into yours and the rustling up the blanket. You shot up, startled by the sudden movement and your movement in turn scared Mikey, as he too shot up into a sitting position. “Y/n?” He croaked, his voice cracking from having slept so deeply. “Yeah?” You whispered as the two of you looked at each other groggily, the fear immediately leaving as you both realized it was just the other.

“Can’t sleep?” He asked patting the spot next to him for you to move even closer. You were about to say that you almost had, but you kept it to yourself as you nodded and moved closer. His arms going around you to hold you tightly for a few seconds before loosening. “My world famous cuddles will put you fast asleep,” he said lowly, almost falling into sleep himself. “Go to sleep silly,” you chided, looking up to see him trying to keep his eyes open. “You first,” and you shook with silent laughter, if only it was that easy. But as his hand went up and down your arm soothingly you were out like a light. “Sweet dreams Y/n” Mikey sighed as he passed out right after you.

Mikey was also an early riser, though not as much as Raph. Mikey woke up before Donnie though. He was happy to see you still sound asleep in his arms. And he stealthily removed himself from you, ninja mode style, as to not wake you. He had to start on breakfast!

Bonus! April

You really didn’t want to bother April, but you didn’t think you were going to be able to fall asleep anytime soon. You rolled over until your back met hers. “mmm.. Y/n?” She murmured groggily. “Sorry April,” you squeaked, not realizing you would wake her up that easily. “Its cool, but you okay?” She asked, her voice started to wake as she pulled the covers higher. “Just tired, yet I can’t sleep.” You confided and April nodded to herself.

She knew Donnie and Leo suffered from the same thing. Though she wondered if Dee ever got sleepy! Of course he did but he sure didn’t act like it! “Wanna try talking about nothing for a while?” April offered, her eyes were closed, but her mind awake and she’d talk to you throughout the night if that’s what you needed. “You’re the best,” you smiled and unbeknownst to you April’s face broke into a wide grin, “Yeah well, that’s what friends are for.”

The two of you talked about earlier today, plans in the future, college, her interests and hopes in journalism. You found that your voice became softer, and you started just humming in response instead of saying real words. “Goodnight Y/n” April whispered as she hadn’t gotten a response from you after a good couple of seconds. You hummed again and April smiled to herself as she slipped back into dream land.

[shelltasticday]

Turtle bros with a short S/O ? Maybe HCs idk I thought it be a funny /cute idea 🦋

Hello anon, thank you for the request! Hope you enjoy!

The guys with a short s/o!

▉ ▉ Raphael ▉ ▉ ● Raph, to nobody's surprise is used to being the tallest person around, so you being short is not something he notices at first

● He does find it cute how small you are compared to him, specially when you're hugging or cuddling and you look tiny. You're a bit engulfed in his arms, but it's okay because it makes you feel safe

● Absolutely ready to be called for help reaching stuff or seeing over crowds. He has no trouble picking you up or letting you sit on his shoulders. Would be great for concerts, honestly

● Probably calls you "little angel" or something like that and if you don't like it he'd correct himself like "I mean- big angel", like he does with Mikey

● The most mindful of the four about the height difference, he leans down or sits with you for kisses, etc

▲▲ Leonardo ▲▲ ● Listen, listen, he loves you, but that doesn't mean you're safe from him making jokes about it. Of course he doesn't do it aaaall the time, but one once in a while is to be expected

● Loves to use your head as an arm rest when he's teasing you. He also has tried to pick you up like a cat, much to your dismay

● Gives you lots of nicknames regarding it, "shorty" "shortcake" "smurf". It's not constant because he has plenty of other nicknames for you, but they do come around

● Makes you stand on your tiptoes for pecks, but that's how far his teasing goes. He leans for actual kisses and the like

● He's prideful when you ask him help to reach something, but he does take care of not leaving anything too high for your comfort

▌▌Donatello ▌▌ ● Not too fazed about your height, he doesn't point it out either. Sometimes he does forget to look down when talking to you

● If you have conflict about your height he'd offer to build tech for you, it's not to compensate it's to optimize, or so he says

● Maybe extendable-retractable platforms for your shoes, or maybe a gadget like his spider arms to reach stuff? He'd like to know what you'd find more useful

● He finds it cute when you hug him and he can really notice the height difference. He likes it when you share his big hoodie and your head sticks out right under his own

● I think taking pictures with taller or shorter people is sometimes difficult but I think you can trust his selfies with you to be just right

⬤⬤ Mikey ⬤⬤ ● He's a bit surprised when he notices you're actually shorter than him, but he doesn't really think too much about it

● He really really likes holding you and resting his chin on top of your head. He just feels very close to you and comfy that way

● He's not the tallest person either, but cooperation makes the difference. For reaching really high up stuff you either get on top of his shoulders or he teaches you how to climb safely

● He knows the advantages and struggles, so where he can help you, he does. But you also enjoy getting the best out of it together. Being able to shop in the kid's section? Shielding from the sun by just standing next to the other three? Hell yeah

● You're quite the power team, honestly. Do you know the "what's up, shorties?" vine? That one, that's the vibe

[moxfirefly]

Hello~ From your smut prompt list. Numbers 2 and 44 for TMNT Bayverse? I’d say either Raph or Donnie. Raph would prob be more fitting but I’m curious to see what Donnie would do 🌝

Listen a jealous Donnie is something that I’m all for cause it’s a different type of jealousy compared to what Raph’s would be

So I’m going with him 👌

Rated Explicit (18+ Only)

It’s illogical, Donatello thinks.

To have this little nagging fire inside of his chest, this is expected after all. You’re beautiful, absolutely breathtaking in every sense of the word.

And yeah you’re his, and he is yours but that nagging little pin prick of self deprecation won’t leave.

He remembers staring at the comment on a harmless photo you had posted.

‘You’re so fucking hot’

It had read, the guys profile screams basic, he didn’t have much going for him aside from doing shit like this on any girls profile. Still it nags him, cause it’s not the only picture and the comments don’t remain as ‘tame’ as that one.

That same day you had walked into the Lair in nothing but short jeans and a flannel that often dipped off your shoulder. Donatello doesn’t like this twisting and churning in his stomach.

He doesn’t like jealousy.

Doesn’t like how his brain goes into primal mode and how willing he is to fight god himself if it looked at you funny. It’s worse cause now he’s hyper aware that everyone including his own brothers have stared at you at some point. Even if Leo shakes his head and shamefully adverts his gaze back to his book. Irritation doesn’t begin to cover his feeling when Raph clearly can’t keep his gaze away from your ass and Mikey still actively (if albeit friendly) flirted with you.

Maybe he’s reading to much into it. Still he goes a little harder on them when they spar. Sleep is definitely extremely needed after he blocks all the creeps from your page. Going to the garage had been a good idea, he could take out whatever frustrations remained in his body on repairs, soldering hell maybe even breaking apart things with a hammer.

He doesn’t expect to quell his jealous frustrations with you...

Against the truck...

With one finger deep inside of your heat and the other shoved a little too roughly into your mouth.

But this is kinda helping a lot, like way more.

Because he knows his comment was stupid, like sexist possessive boyfriend levels of stupid. Donnie has never once had an issue with your clothing choices, has never told you to not wear this or that but it’s the outfit from the picture that garnered so many disgusting men to say so many unnecessary and disrespectful things.

The second the words ‘You shouldn’t wear that’ leave his mouth he’s already wishing he could backpedal and explain that it’s not you, it’s the creeps. And yes words like ‘too revealing’ ‘not appropriate’ leave his mouth in word vomit and god why can’t he just shut up he thinks to himself.

You’re stunned nevertheless, brow raised and arms crossed and can’t you see your breast are barely in the short summer dress! Donnie swallows, fist clenched.

Then of course you had to go and say it, defiant little brat that you are.

“Make me”

Donnie bit the inside of his cheek, he took off the goggles (he hadn’t even started his repairs) and calmly walked towards you.

“Okay then” His voice was low, even, just too collected for how it had been seconds before.

And thus here you both find yourselves. On the side of the truck where no one can see either of you but fuck if they walked around the sight would be too much. Your back against his smooth plastron, he’s gotta hunch a bit due to his stature but that means his mouth is close to your ear. “You want to be a brat? You want everyone’s eyes on you?” The tone of his voice makes your skin break out in goosebumps, wow he’s actually angry.

You clench harder around his finger, he’s finger fucking so hard the palm of his hand smacks against your clit. Each resounding wet noise drives you closer to cumin. “They can all look, fuck it they can all ogle and fantasize and maybe even hope...” He lets the digit in your mouth slip out in order to gently grip your chin. He moves your face to better look at him. Then your eyes go so impossibly wide at his words.

“At the end of the day, this-“ He emphasizes with a hard thrust of his hand. “This pussy, is mine and mine alone, yeah?” You somehow nod, legs already shakey and unable to keep you up. If a stupid little dress caused this then, you guess you’re gonna have to wear this a little more often. “Don-I can’t,” Your legs are officially checking out and he knows, he wraps an arm around your waist and holds you close to himself as the first orgasm is pulled out of you via his finger.

Donnie doesn’t let you rest, he doesn’t even let your brain boot up again when he’s hauling you towards the table he has for working on parts of the truck. He sweeps everything out of the way, the clatter echoing and you’re sure somebody has to have heard that. Regardless of, he doesn’t seem to care, he bends you over the table, nearly rips the dress when he pushes it up passed your rear and yanks down your underwear. You grip the edges of the table, hearing things behind you, watching Donnie’s glasses roughly be chucked onto the table and the snap of suspenders.

You stick your rear out for him and hear him groan makes a spike of cockiness but it’s short lived when Donnie pushes into your sopped heat. You rest on your forearms, mouth open but no sound can come out that isn’t a choked breath. Donnie bottoms out with a lengthy ‘yeessss’ that’s growled out. It doesn’t seem to be enough though, because he bends down, arms trapping you and he holds the end of the table. He’s so close, suffocatingly close and god do you love it.

The angle adds a burn to your cunt, Donnie loves it. He feels your heat tightly squeezing his cock and he hasn’t even moved. “They wish they could, they wish they could do this” He says it right against your ear, every syllable tickling you and making you shiver. “If only they knew that at the end of the day, you walk around with my seed in you” He licks the shell of your ear before biting down on the back of your neck.

Hard.

Hard enough you yelp, hard enough that your hand reaches for his and he cups it. “Please, please...” You surprise yourself by actually stringing two words together when overwhelmed and heated to this point. Donnie makes sure to drive into you hard enough the table rattles and you yelp and squeeze your eyes shut. He slams again and you both moan together. You want to turn your head, you’re still worried somebody might walk in.

Donnie’s amused by that.

“Scared? Scared you’ll be found like this?” He gets up from your back and grips your waist, you know he’s giving you more room to look, to watch with baited breath and the possibility of it all only makes you wetter. You wanna play along, he’s been nothing but a jealous fuck this entire time, so why not hit him with one little blow and get his gears truly going.

“I hope Raph walks in” You say, voice shakey but teasing. Donatello’s thrust still, he glares down at you.

“I hope Raph gets to see me like this” You bite your lip before licking them slowly.

Donnie literally growls. He doesn’t give you enough time for another taunt when he drives into you quick and deliberately. He fucks you, he honest to god just fucks you like you’re his favorite toy and he’s been having a bad day, which he kinda has. He drives into you and doesn’t stop until he’s pulled three more orgasms out of you. He doesn’t stop, the sight of your sweaty, overstimulated body and barely able to scream anymore voice keep him going.

For good measure, just to reassure you, he manages for you to cum one more time. His muscles burn, he’s breathing to hard, delaying his own release always felt good but this? This was something entirely different. “Say it, say it or I’m giving you another one” He demands and you squeeze him because part of you wants to but another logical point is telling you that won’t walk right for the next few days. “I’m yours! Fuck Donnie I’m yours!” You feel him kiss the back of your head before pulling out. The daze isn’t enough to not make you look behind, he hasn’t cum’d yet so why...?

Donnie wraps his hand around his stiff length and pumps fast, he wants to mark you like this, it doesn’t take him long to cum. He finishes on your rear with a low lengthy moan, some of it shooting far enough to get the back of your dress.

“Jerk” You barely find enough strength to glare, even if his tired grin makes your stomach fill up with butterflies. “I’m gonna apologize but not right now” He wipes the sweat from his face with the back of his forearm. “You can start by cleaning me up” You hear several pops when you stretch a bit.

Nothing prepares you for Donnie kneeling and licking his own seed from your left cheek. You watch entranced as he pushes down the hem of your dress to cover your modesty. “I like jealous you” Comes your soft and honest voice. “Don’t, it’s not fun” He’s feeling all manner of things, even the gooey chemicals his orgasm brought but there’s still shame. You manage to stand back up on wobbly feet, you reach up and pull his face down and kiss him, literally tasting him.

Kiss him in a way that quiets all those negative thoughts and jealous images.

“I am, irrevocably so, yours” You caress his jaw, letting him close his eyes and hug you so tightly to himself.

[cryptids-lair-of-hyperfixations]

i feel like talking more about tmnt (2012) and rise of the tmnt. i’ll probably just refer to them as “2012″ and “rise” as this goes on since it’s easier.

but specifically i want to talk about the character designs just because i think about this a lot.

i’ve never seen the original renditions of the tmnt franchise, but i’ve seen like, screenshots and i’ve seen what they looked like insofar as the art style is concerned. and the turtles all look like carbon copies of each other with the only difference being that they’re color coordinated. and not to talk badly about ancient shows, but that’s not great character design.

the 2012 show kind of had this problem too. they did their best giving the turtles unique head shapes, but in my opinion that’s only slightly better than just the color coordinating. it’s not great, but they tried to make the characters look unique to each other. this is also specifically concerning the character silhouettes. the only unique thing the 2012 guys have is head shapes.

and even then, i think if i was shown the silhouette of 2012 leo, i’d probably have to see what weapon he was holding before i could safely answer leo.

this is part of why i love rise’s art style so much. the turtles look so super unique to one another, they all have such different silhouettes. the 2d art style works super well for these types of designs! donnie’s goggles and head shape give him a unique silhouette to leo - not only that, but even smaller details like their bandanas are super different from each other. 

something else that makes designs really good is like, when you can immediately tell a character’s vibe just by seeing only their design. i only know anything about the original tmnt because, well, none of the characters have drastically changed. i mean, donnie’s always been the smart one, raph’s always been a brute, mikey’s always been goofy... but looking at their designs in the original show? can’t see it at all. i think the best the 2012 show was at this was raph’s design! the ripped bandana and the little nick in his shell. you can almost immediately tell he’s definitely going to be the local hothead/the aggressive type.

yet, in rise, raph is the largest of them all and he has spikes, his bandana still has a nick in it. you can tell just by looking at his design that he is the big brother, he’s still a brute, he’s just more of a tank.

(something else i think rise did right is making the turtles different species. it adds more personality and that unique quality. it’s honestly perfect and makes sense in this context. speaking of context, i think the origin story in rise makes so much more sense than what was going on in the 2012 show.)

i think the character writing drastically improved in rise. obviously anyone who saw the 1987 or the 2003 show take this with a grain of salt because i’ve only seen 2012 and rise, but...

when i went back and watched a few episodes of the 2012 show, the guys absolutely despised each other. quoting something i said on discord, “it feels like tmnt 2012 was written by someone who didnt have siblings but figured Oh siblings never get along so they're just gonna DESPISE each other"

now, take that with a grain of salt too because i am an only child and that is how i grew up, but i don’t think normal siblings would just... behave like that, i guess. it’s constant fighting with the 2012 cast, like they’ve never tolerated each other in their lives. you grew up with only each other, no outside world, and you can’t get along for one second?

i would understand the occasional teasing, mockery, or fight... but what was going on in the 2012 show is none of those things. it’s like they love hating each other more than they actually love each other. (now, keep in mind on my rewatch so far i’ve seen the first 2 episodes, and the episode where casey is introduced. i don’t know the ins and outs because it’s been maybe 10 years since i’ve watched the 2012, but jeez.)

i don’t know the ins and outs of sibling relationships because like i said i didn’t grow up with siblings, but i have friends who i consider siblings, and im not constantly fighting w/ them or whatever the 2012 show had going on. so, again, take that with a grain of salt. anyone who grew up with siblings feel free to let me know how you feel in the notes.

but this is to say that i really like their dynamic as a team and their dynamics in pairs or trios. they’re fun, and they love each other, and even when they’re teasing each other you can tell there’s some level of unconditional love. they’re messing with each other, being annoying on purpose, even sometimes completely screwing up missions, and yet they still love each other because they’re brothers. they’re homies and it’s awesome to see that.

anyway this is getting long so i’ll be done rambling for now. 

i’m bad at tags.

[memes-in-a-half-shell]

Business AU - Working Late, Part 7

Part 1 || Part 2 || Part 3 || Part 4 || Part 5 || Part 6

sdfsfdgdfgf

^^^^^ my actual thoughts after writing this.

There was no denying that he was still thinking about that Saturday night. The feeling had been extraordinary. It’s been some time ever since he felt like this, but there was also something more. And he couldn’t quite place his finger on it.

First thing he did on Monday when getting to work was to lock himself in his office, his thoughts empty as he repeatedly drummed a pen against his desk, his gaze hardly focusing on anything. He did call for someone though at some point, taking this waiting time as an opportunity to collect his thoughts into something comprehensible.

Some knocks were heard at the door, a single “yes” escaping Donnie, an approval for the newcomer to come in. Next came into view another turtle adorning a red do-rag, this one much more massive when compared to the bespectacled mutant. It was none other than Raphael, the muscular terrapin a rare sight in the building as he was often more out to meet clients than stuck behind a desk.

“What’s up?” he started, closing the door behind him. “I’m on a tight schedule, so it better be important.”

Raph did frown a little as he noticed his brother’s composure, the purple clad mutant’s eyes speaking volumes.

“I, uhm... I need some advice,” finally said Donnie.

“What kind? A client’s giving you troubles?” added the other, taking a seat.

Donatello tsked, quickly waving that query away: “No, I know how to deal with those. ... It’s more of a personal matter. A... relationship one.”

Raph’s eyes widened a little, then relaxing his stance with an amused smirk.

“Well, well, well... back in business, I see? I thought that receptionist situation would keep you out of the market for quite some time.”

“Oh please, that girl was crazy. I’m just glad she moved out of the city. ... It’s been more than a year, I’ve moved on.”

“What’s the matter then?” added the red clad terrapin. “You forgot how to socialize or somethin’?”

Donnie quietly chuckled, leaning back in his chair, then thoughtful.

“Oh no, I’ve been socializing, alright... I just don’t want to fuck it up, you know? Things have been going so well now and on this last Saturday we took it a lil’ further-”

“How much further?”

“We kissed.”

“Bro, that’s nothin’.”

Tension was broken for a moment, both brothers snickering. That did help Donnie and calmed his thoughts a little.

“Who is it though?” next asked Raphael. “Someone working here or... ?”

“She’s a project manager for our creative team. She got here from Montréal a couple months back and we met one night by pure coincidence as we were both working late. Her name’s Véronique, but I call her Vee.”

“Oohh, already on a nickname basis, now that’s a feat,” teased the other.

“Please, she asked me to call her like that on the first night we met.”

“Ay, you know I’m just pokin’ some fun at you. ... What’s the matter, then? Why aren’t you talking about that to Leo or Mikey?”

“Because,” started Donnie. “Leo would try to dissuade me into pursuing this relationship, and Mikey well ... you know him. He’d say: ‘Invite her to my place and have her swim in the pool. Girls love pools!’,” mimicked the purple clad mutant. “... You know he’d only want that so he can have a look at her as well. I ain’t having none of that shit.”

Raph laughed once again, acknowledging those statements.

“And, to be frank,” added the bespectacled one. “I value your judgement. You get straight to the point and that’s what I need right now.” He leaned foward a little on his desk, hands joined. “So my concern is; what should I do next? We have interest for one another - we openly expressed as much. We obviously have a good chemistry together... but how do I know she’s the one? ... She feels different from anything, anyone, I’ve ever been with before, may it be in terms of relationships or not.”

“Easy,” shrugged Raph. “Have sex with her.”

“Raph!”

“I’m serious! ... You wanna know if she’s the one? Show yourself vulnerable before her. If there’s something more between you two, it’ll click.”

Donnie sighed, closing his eyes and rubbing them in slight annoyance.

“Okay so what, I just have to sleep with her, no strings attached? I hope you’re not suggesting for me to force myself upon her.”

“Hell no, stupid. I said be vulnerable, not a psycho,” frowned the red clad mutant. “Look ... you wanted my opinion, there it is. I believe in deep connections, and if right now you’re already feeling something special between you two, I don’t see what’s bad about wanting to explore that and see if there’s truly something more. ... Also, people can fuck for the fun of it, I hope you know that?”

Donnie exhaled sharply, half of a smile next on his lips: “I suddenly regret asking for your opinion, but I do see your point.”

“I’m sure you can be a gentleman about all of that.”

“My brain turns to goo whenever I’m with her. I try not to show it, but damn... I don’t think she’d get to that point though, I don’t know...”

“As long as it naturally gets there, that’s what matters. ... Those things are felt, Donnie. I’m not saying to rush it, but rather to not be scared.”

The purple clad one conceeded, lowkey admiring his brother’s wisdom about the matter. He finally rose from his seat, inviting Raph to do the same.

“Alright, I won’t take more of your time. You’ve given me enough food for thought.”

“‘Bout time, I have to go Uptown, I’ll be late ‘cause of you,” Raph teased, playfully nudging his brother’s shoulder along the way.

“Har, har, very funny,” added the other, opening the door so both could exit the room.

As they were about to say their goodbyes, a voice rose, followed by the light clicking sound of hurried heels against the floor.

“Donnie, good timing!”

Both turtles turned their attention to a woman coming their way; Vee. She was holding a pile of documents, already taking some apart and then handing them to the tall terrapin when she was next to him.

“I’ll need you to sign some of these before Wednesday. Some designs for an upcoming project need an approval and I thought you’d be the best for that task. And I- ...” She stopped, finally noticing the other mutant. “Oh, I’m sorry, am I interrupting something?”

“Absolutely not,” smiled Donnie, properly holding the documents now. “We had just finished our small meeting, actually.” He gestured the woman to his brother: “Raph, this is Vee, our newest project manager addition.”

The red clad turtle grinned, extending his hand to the human in a proper greeting.

“Ah yes, Donnie mentionned you a couple of times.”

“Oh dear, I hope it wasn’t in a bad way,” lightly laughed Vee, shaking Raph’s hand.

“I would never,” reassured Donnie gently, his free hand instinctively resting at the small of her back.

A faint blush appeared on the woman’s cheeks, next adjusting her hold on the documents as her handshake with Raph ended.

“Not to be a party pooper, but I’ve gotta run,” she said with a smile. “I have a lot of stuff to hand out. Have a good day you two!”

She made sure to cross Donnie’s gaze before walking away, wanting to express her small longing to him. As she was back on her way, Raph did not hesitate to follow her frame, judging her for a moment. He finally looked back at Donnie with a look of approval.

“... Brother, you got taste.”

Donnie only replied by hiding his face with the documents he was holding.

***

Raph had said to not be scared, but Donnie couldn’t help still feeling that way. A part of him wanted to spend every moments with Vee, but on the other hand he didn’t want to appear too clingy or demanding. Gotta savor it like a fine wine, he’d try to reason. ... But frankly he just wanted to chug the damn bottle.

It was a Thursday afternoon, and so far he had only exchanged some words with her on Monday, then Wedneseday when he handed her back the approved documents he reviewed. Then he’d retreat to his office and think. And think. And think.

A ping from his computer got him out of his reverie, noticing a direct message notification.

His heart skipped a beat, his lips forming a thin line as he thought about what to answer.

Hey, wanna bang? Gosh, he felt dirty thinking about that... Keep it natural, Donnie, you don’t have to think about that for now. See where things go from there, naturally.

ABORT MISSION. ABORT MISSION. ABORT!!!! He felt so goddamn cheesy after sending that.

If it were up to him 100%, he’d get on his feet right this instant and sweep her off to anywhere she’d want to go. But he tried to keep it cool:

You’re the best one so far...

More like I’ll be lying down on the floor, a blushing mess. He couldn’t erase his smile, rereading again and again this conversation. He’d definitely have to think of something!

***

Later in the afternoon, as people were finishing their day, Donnie had reclused himself back into his drawing room, continuing some work on the Lowline plans. He was so focused that he did not hear Vee come in, the woman calmly making her way to his position.

“Hey...” she started softly, leaving a hand on his shoulder.

Donnie gasped, his hand holding a pencil jerking and leaving a long mark on the paper. Both froze, eyes wide as they witnessed the horror.

“Oh my god, I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you that much!” apologized Vee, already on the look out for an eraser. “Here, let me help you with that.”

“No it’s alright. I, uh...”

Donnie’s sentence died as the woman was now hunched close to him, already removing traces of that nasty mistake.

“I could’ve done it. I...”

His voice was hushed, having a hard time to keep focus on Vee’s movement, prefering to look at her features instead.

“I ... I could do it,” he added.

Vee slowed her movement, finally looking at Donnie.

“Do what?”

He paused, his heart drumming in his chest.

“This...”

He delicately placed a finger under Vee’s chin, not even needing to move much in order to bring them both closer for a soft kiss. The woman was surprised at first, but she quickly melted, not even denying that she had been craving the feeling as well since that Saturday night... She dropped the eraser, her hands prefering to trail along the mutant’s scales. As they broke the kiss to breathe, Donnie brought her closer to his sitting position, Vee now standing inbetween his legs. No words needed to be said, this sudden electrifying feeling passing through them. The terrapin’s hands couldn’t get off of her, either lost in her hair or tracing her back. The more they joined in a kiss, the more they wanted to be closer. At some point the turtle acted on instinct as he rose up, his hold on the woman’s hips as he laid her against the inclined drafting board. The paper crinkled underneath, but he gave no care in the world about that. Their kiss was heating up, a low pleasured churr rumbling in Donnie’s chest as he stood close to Vee’s core, feeling her desire as strong as his.

The distant sound of people talking and laughing, still around and about to exit the building, brought them both to a stop - looking at the room’s entrance, as if afraid someone would pop in at any second.

Both were lightly panting, their smiles shy after what happened. Donnie took that moment of grace to study Vee’s features, gently brushing away some wild strands of hair off her face. He straightened his stance back up afterward, helping the woman back on her feet.

“Welp, and here I came only to wish you a good evening,” chuckled Vee, adjusting her clothes.

“I’m sorry,” added the mutant in a similar tone.

“Don’t be ... I liked that.”

She rested her hands on his chest, slowly rubbing the fabric of his shirt over his plastron.

“I can’t stay late tonight, but I won’t prevent you from doing so. ... Just don’t stay here too late though.”

“No promises.”

“Please, don’t overwork yourself,” softly pleaded Vee.

“Don’t worry...” he reassured with a smile, a hand cupping the other’s cheek.

They added one good evening kiss. Nothing more, nothing less. A pleasant omen for feelings to come...

((Part 8))

[skylarmoon71]

AU Leonardo x Blind Murdock Reader (TMNT 2014/2016)- Chapter 8 (A)

“Pizza!!!”

Mikey tosses a slice, and you just step to the side as it falls flat on the floor. The orange clad turtle lets out a loud gasp, over dramatic. You just roll your eyes.

“Can you for a minute just pretend that you know, maybe I’m blind and I’d appreciate it if you placed the food on a plate like a normal person?”

Donnie nods. “I apologize on Mikey’s behalf, sometimes he forgets. I guess we all do.”

Donnie lets out a little snort, and you laugh. “I’m touched, still. Don’t throw food Mikey, it’s rude.”

“Man, you’re like a bossy little sister.” Mikey comments. You can’t stop the smile that graces your lips this time. It doesn’t fail to warm your heart when they make statements like that. To Mikey, it may not seem like much, but to you it means the world that they actually consider you family. Raph walks up from behind you, resting his hand on your head, giving a quick pat.

“Hey kid.” He knows that title annoys you, that’s why he does it. There’s probably a stupid smirk on his stupid face. It’s then that you really think about something.

“Your face…” You have absolutely no idea what they really look like. Apart your morphed view of what the world looks like, you don’t have an actual visual.

“What’s that?” Donnie is sipping on a juicebox, and he just barely hears what you mutter.

“I have no idea what you guys look like.” you say solemnly.

“Umm, I could be wrong but isn’t that how blindness works.” Mikey gets a tap on his head from Raph at the remark.

That sparks Donnie’s interest. 

“You’re right, why didn’t I think of this before!” he rushes to stand right in front of you. “Feel my face!” you take a small step back at his excitement.

“Uhh are you sure?” You’d never really tested that theory, and it was kind of weird asking to feel around someone’s face.

“Yes! According to what I’ve recorded on your abilities, you assess most of what you internalize is done kinesthetically. Therefore you should gain a very decent mental picture from the feel of our facial structure. Please, begin. “ Donnie really was a scientist.

You take a seat, and Donnie is beaming with excitement. When you reach out cautiously, you don’t know why you’re so hesitant. Maybe it’s the fact that no one’s ever asked such a thing of you. The minute your hands make contact, your body straightens and you marvel at the feel of his skin. It’s a bit rough, but also smooth, and the image that’s slowly building in your mind, you can almost see him. Your fingers nudge the glasses perched on his face, and you apologize, but you're grinning just as wide as Donnie because it’s been years.

The only other person that you’ve ever felt is your father. Donnie's smile drops slowly when he sees the tears now rolling down your cheeks.

“A-Are you okay!!”

He’s concerned that possibly he crossed a line. You hate this and he’s forced you into something. The smile doesn’t leave and you pitch forward, wrapping your hands around his neck. Donnie’s confused. You seem happy, but you're still crying.

“Thank you Donnie..” you whisper. It’s then that it hits him, and he smiles too, returning your embrace.

“You don’t have to thank me.”

One by one, you take chances, you’re shocked that even Raph agrees to let you touch his face. Your fingers dance along his nose, down to the scar. The mental picture of Raph is pretty handsome, and maybe somewhat rough. You guess his face fits his personality perfectly. You poke his nose, letting out a giggle. This particular feature is so cute, you can’t help it.

“You’re really enjoying yourself aren’t you.” sarcasm is expected.

“Definitely.”

“What are you guys doing?” It’s at that moment Leo walks in. You pull away, fidgeting with your fingers

“(Y/N) was touching our face so she can tell what we look like, Donnie says it works!!” Leo's gaze refocuses on you at the explanation, and your face turns red. You can feel his gaze just boring into you. Even without sight. “Is that so..” the way he says it, almost contemplative. Somehow thinking of touching him, it erupts a completely different feeling.

You don’t know what to say, or do stop your own erratic heartbeat. It’s so loud, to the point that you feel like you’ll get a headache.

The beeping from Donnie’s machine’s catch everyone’s attention.

“Thank you..” you mutter. Saved by the beep.

“Looks like we have a busy night, gear up.” Nods around the room, and you’re already moving into fight mode. You keep an extra pair of clothing at the lair, just for moments like this. Good thing too. You’re heading for Donnie’s room to grab the outfit. As you buzz pass, you feel the air, and you can tell that it’s Leo you dodge on the way over. He doesn’t say much, just watches, and you guess that’s why you’re a bit nervous. You try to ignore it, if nothing but to keep your body from reacting to him.

“It’s gonna be a tough night.”

You already know.

~~~~~

By the time you make it back your knuckles are sore. Mikey and Raph are as energetic as ever. They seemed more hyper than when you left. You dodge a ball that Raph tosses to the orange clad turtle. You just lift your hands with a ‘really’ look.

“I knew you’d avoid it. “

Sure he did.

“(Y/N), your knuckles are bleeding. “ Donnie notes, removing his goggles a bit concerned. You’ve figured as much. You can smell the faint scent of iron in the air.

“It’s fine, it doesn't even hurt.” That’s not enough to convince him.

“Let’s get that cleaned up. “ Leo walks into the room, and you guessed he’s heard from around the corner.

“Yeah, Leo’s amazing when it comes to injuries!!”

Mikey shouts a bit too enthusiastically. Poor Leo, with the way the youngest turtle was so reckless, it must be a regular thing. You kind of want to deny him. Being alone with him, it’s not something you think you’ll be able to handle. But you don’t have a choice. If you refuse, the rest of them may realize that something’s up, and you really don’t want his brothers in on what’s going on with you two.

“S-Sure.” That was a terribly unsteady response.

So you followed Leo, and he didn’t say a word the entire walk to his room. He opened the door for you to walk in, and you did. Standing a bit awkwardly at the center. Leo smiles from his spot, moving and taking your arm gently as he guides you to the bed. His touch is so soft, and far different from the ones you’re given on a daily basis when individuals try to help you cross the street, or get up a flight of stairs. He’s actually holding your hand, and you love the warmth. You take a seat, and Leo moves to get a few things.

“I think this is the second time that I’ve had to patch you up. I’m starting to think you’re getting hurt on purpose. Just so you can get me alone.”

There’s a playful teasing in his voice, and although you know he’s not being serious, you blush. Leo notices, and he’s come to realize that the sight makes him a bit nervous as well. Lately everything you did affected him. Your head lowers, and you’re picking at your dark pants.

“Sorry, I’m sorry if I’m making things awkward between us.” Leo walks over, and there’s a little bit of defeat in his words.

He rests the items down, moving closer. He stops when he’s just a few feet away, and you have to assume it’s because he thinks that’s what you want.

“The last time we spoke I assumed and I didn’t even ask if it was something you’d be interested in exploring. I didn’t give you a chance to tell me what you feel and I realize that must be the reason you’re always so tense around me now. “

That’s far from the reason. You aren’t uncomfortable, just a bit stunned.

After his little confession you started going over everything, and you realized that until now, you’ve never really opened up to anyone. You’ve distanced yourself to keep from experiencing anymore pain. The worst way to live. So when Leo said those things, it threw you off. You weren’t sure how to respond, because at some point you’ve come to care for him so much, and the prospect of him returning those feelings was horrifying.

“I’m not uncomfortable, and you didn’t just assume Leo.” His head lifts.

“Leo I...I haven’t had a very good opinion of myself for as long as I can recall. Until now I’ve..I think I’ve hated myself. That’s why I couldn’t believe it when you said those things, I didn’t want to because I feel like I don’t deserve it. “

“(Y/N) you deserve far more!” you smiled at the indignation in his voice.

“The way you treat me, talk to me...It makes me believe that. That’s why I need time Leo. I just think I can’t fully get into something with someone when I’m still learning to love myself. I need a chance, because the way I feel about you, I want to keep it for as long as I possibly can. “ Leo moves in, and he hesitates for a while, but then eventually, his palms rest on your cheek. You close your eyes, entranced.

“I don’t care how long I have to wait (Y/N). If it’s guaranteed that I get even a chance to be with you, then I’ll wait for as long as I have to. “

It’s not going to be easy, but you're thankful. For Leo, his brothers. Everything that has led to this point. Given you a chance to trust again.

[imma-lil-teapot]

TMNT 2003/2k3 Headcanon: Crying - (Leonardo)

Feel free to scroll past this first part if you’re not interested in my silly rambling and nonsense. I won’t mind. Promise. ;)

Okey-dokey then, with the global epidemic that is the Coronavirus well in action and most of the world stuck in lockdown (starting this Friday for us too), felt like getting the ‘ol creative juices flowing with a little headcanon-y thingy in preparation for -possibly- more fandom writings to keep myself busy during the house arrest (well... it kinda is!) and hopefully my mind off all the bad news. :( 

Also, this is totally my first one on the blog! WOOT! Please bear in mind that I’m SUPER rusty! Haven’t written in ages so there are bound to be typos and all matter of general errors scattered throughout the post. Don’t pet them! They bite!  

Anyhoo~ Despite attempting to create and share with the goal in mind to uplift spirits, I decided to start on a rather upsetting subject (PLEASE DON’T LEAVE! They end on happy notes ;) ) because, Imma just come and say it, I enjoy seeing my favourite characters shed tears (not for just any old reason -their personality plays a huge role in this- and CERTAINLY not for sadistic reasons, land sakes no! But... well, you’ll see~ ;) ) It makes me all gooey and fuzzy inside to see them display such raw emotion and I just wanna leap into the TV screen to hug and console them. I dunno why. Maybe I’m nuts like that. (Remembers Raph crying at the farm when Leo was badly injured and wishes she could just hug them all and take away the pain) Oh well, if you enjoy visualizing the same, then *High Fives*. :)

So yeah, if you read the title, you’ll know this is based on the 2003/2k3 series (my favs). Hope you all enjoy~ :D Grab tissues cause sad turts ahead! :’(

Jibber jabber stops here~

TURTLES~

LEONARDO - You are here

RAPHAEL

DONATELLO - Coming soon

MICHELANGELO - Coming soon

WARNING(S): Because of the subject, Angst and Hurt/Comfort will be present.

RATING: G (General)

WORD COUNT: Don’t have the foggiest.

ANYTHING ELSE TO ADD:

And apparently gifs too, so without further ado: (Completely unintentional but in actuality, totally intentional rhyming)...

TO THE HEADCANONS~~~~

~LEONARDO~

-- It’s no easy feat to make the leader in blue turn on the waterworks. Leo won’t cry for any old reason. It’s not because he has no emotions, far from it, but being the leader of a small ninja clan -who happen to be family as well- is no easy task in itself: he has a lot on his young shoulders and deals with many issues on a daily basis few his age ever have to.

-- It’s because of these reasons that Leo doesn’t cry often. One of the lesser likely to out of the four brothers. But when he does, it’s an emotionally distressing sight to behold. 

-- Leo tends to cry whenever those closest to him -namely his brothers, his father/master and truest friends- are severely injured or are in a dire situation. Remember his angry/moody arc? The thought of losing any of them causes him great pain and distress, especially if he were the cause of any of it, and when that happens, he can’t stop the dampness that forms around his eyes and soaks into his mask. 

-- He’s not fond of crying, especially in front of others, even though he fully comprehends its normalcy. He feels he needs to be everyone’s rock, their fortress of physical and emotional stability to turn to for strength when things get rough... So when the tears start to fall, he feels he can’t show them, can’t allow them to watch him crumble under the gripling weight of helplessness and anguish.

-- He frantically wipes at his eyes and desperately attempts not to sniffle, but it’s a hopeless battle, for his tears are already a steady stream. 

-- He’ll try to hide when possible, usually retreating to his room to allow the worst of the emotions to spill over before returning to the others... Though he may be in there a while: when Leo lets his emotions go, it can be just as powerful as his red-banded brother’s rage. 

-- He spares no time in making sure the coast is clear for the tears are already streaming by the time he reaches his futon, and there’s no stopping them now as he lets himself drop to his knees, only halfway onto the mattress. He purposefully leaves the room unlit, cloaking his form in the darkness. 

-- He sniffs a few times as he shuffles up against the wall, sitting upright against it, bringing his legs up and hugging them loosely and droops his head against a single knee pad. 

-- His voice desperately wishes to escape. To express its misery. But he won’t allow it to, often placing one hand over his face in a bid to quell the sadness and remain silent in the battle against his own inner turmoil. He refuses to let anyone see him in that state of utter sorrow and vulnerability.

-- He whimpers ever so slightly and coughs a few times as breathing becomes difficult. He knows this episode won’t be over any time soon. Fortunately, he keeps some tissues next to his bed for such rare occasions and tries not to blow too loudly. He thinks back to the last time he cried so hard... It’s been a while. It felt like a build up. 

-- Time has been forgotten as he’s lost in deep thought. By the time he slips a hand across his eyes, only the material of his mask is still slightly damp. He clears his nostrils a couple of times before considering whether he was ready to return to his family. He’d of course straighten up his bedding beforehand, and would also require a trip to the bathroom to wash his face. A true ninja leaves no evidence. 

-- Leo tries to put the horrifying images out of head before leaving his quarters. He doesn’t wish to be weighed down again and thus maybe cause his emotions to come out a second time. He knew someone would catch on that time. Instead, he holds his head up high, focusing on the there and now to carry him forward.  

BONUS EXTRA~

-- Failure is also one of his greatest foes. Leo despises it, but not in the irrational sense; he fully comprehends that in order to grow, one has to lose in order to learn and thus, succeed in turn, and while it can frustrate him when he’s unsuccessful at mastering a martial arts technique for example, he understanders it’s part of the process and that no one’s perfect. 

-- It’s when his slipups could spell casualties or death to his family and/or friends is when it weighs down on him like a boulder strapped to his shell. 

-- A really big one. 

-- And it hurts. So much so that it causes him to become despondent and often teary-eyed when no one’s looking.

-- Boi Bloo might also cry from especially sad movie scenes. He gets seriously into the story, and when the scene is just right -perfect music, perfect timing etc.- you may just catch Fearless with watery eyes. 

-- He can’t help it. After all, he’s a leader, and very caring and kind-hearted individual, so movies showing children or anyone/anything defenceless getting hurt has him not only visibly upset, but also angry at the cause. He’s a softie like that. 

-- He won’t have a meltdown, of course, but the tears are definitely there. Just don’t tease him too much; he’s easily embarrassed by it. ;) 

BONUS EXTRA EXTRA FEMALE READER OR S/O EDITION~ (Can also use an OC/FC insert if you wish, up to you)

You had figured something was up by the time you’d finished greeting everyone in the Splinterson household except for the Turtle you’d long to see most and he hadn’t made his presence yet known. 

The idea that he must’ve been practicing or meditating swiftly vanished when Mikey told you he’d been in his room in the dark for the past few hours. “The guy hardly ever naps, and even so, never this long.” He’d told you. “I dunno, (Y/N), we were about to check on ‘im when you arrived, but maybe you should be the one to. Think he’d really appreciate it.” And there was absolutely no argument from your side as you were already making your way up to the room.

You didn’t know what to expect as you neared the doorway. Could he possibly still just be sleeping? Meditating in the dark instead of his usual spot by the training area? Or... was he sick? The latter now had you concerned and you picked up your pace... Only to pause mid step when an unmistakable sound reached your ears: a sniffle.

Had it come from within his room? It was the only logical explanation as everyone else was downstairs. You were truly perturbed now as you stood outside the doorway and called out the ‘eldest’ Turtle’s name.

There was some shuffling to be heard but you were unable to tell for sure what he was doing -probably trying to neaten up his bed- “(Y/N)? Just a second, okay?” he responded in a rather awkward verging on frantic tone, and you were certain you heard another sniffle escape him. 

That, along with the way he’d replied really didn’t help to put your mind at ease. “Leo, are you alright?” Nor was the pitch blackness in which he remained concealed in.

“Yeah, just... l-looking for something.” There was some more shuffling as if to prove his point, but you were having none of it.

“Then maybe this,” you began, turning around to flick the light switch, “will help?”

“No! Wait!” But it was a split second too late for as soon the brightness illuminated the entire room, you had caught the telltale signs of an emotional meltdown in progress plastered on his face before he quickly turned away and briskly wiped an arm across his face, attempting to hide the shame... or perhaps embarrassment? 

“Leo...?” your heart and voice softened, “Hey, what’s wrong?” You automatically walked to him, closing the gap he was now trying to form. 

“Nothing,” he lied, and acknowledged it was a fruitless attempt but still couldn’t stop himself. Autopilot panic mode was enabled now. “It’s nothing.” 

Unfortunately for him, autopilot mother hen mode was activated for you as you reached with both hands to his carapace and shoulder, gently turning him to face you. “I can see that it’s something.” Your words were gentle, and you wanted nothing more than to take away his pain. “Look at me, Honey.” His body was turned but his head remained to the side. It was clear he didn’t want his obvious distress on display, even to you. “Please, Leo?” You tried again, and slowly but surely, his eyes met yours, and you felt your heart sink further.

The fabric of his mask was wet and eyes were still red with fresh tears that threatened to fall. He appeared so broken and helpless as he stared at you, and even though he uttered no words, you could practically hear him despairingly ask “Is this what you wanted? To see me at my lowest?” from his expression alone. 

Never had you witnessed the leader of this band of mutant brothers cry. At times you had wondered if he ever did, and yet here he was; the incredible pillar of strength and dignity you had come to know and adore, in tears and so dejected that you couldn’t stop your own eyes from becoming damp the more you gazed at him. “Oh, Sweety...” You whispered as you felt your soul shatter. It was too much to bear. You slowly wrapped your arms around him, one around the midsection and the other over his shoulder, and buried your face into his leathery neck, offering every ounce of comfort you could muster.

It didn’t take him long at all to sink into the embrace and return the action. Beyond the point of concerning himself with showing the pain he felt -or the wetness now soaking into your shoulder when he placed his forehead against it- he sniffed and finally allowed the tears to fall once again as fresh waves of emotion surged throughout his body.

And this time, he couldn’t keep the whimpering to himself.

“Shh~ It’s okay, it’s okay,” you soothed, lightly patting and rubbing along the scutes of his shell as he weakly sobbed, finally letting go of all the sadness that gripped him. 

You weren’t even aware of what was wrong, and you most likely wouldn’t find out til later once he calmed down, but right now, he just needed you to hold him. Hold him until the hurt was gone... And so you would. 

AND THAT’S ALL SHE WROTE!

ALL THE FEELS!! I EMBARRASS!!

OMGosh, this turned into a monster! The mother of all HCs!! :O No seriously, this wasn’t meant to be this long! I was suppose to squish all four into one itty bitty little post, but then it just grew... and grew... and GREW! Personally, I blame the Reader Bonus but I’d be damned if I didn’t enjoy writing it! ;P You guys here on Tumblr got me slightly addicted to them and have wanted to attempt some myself so... Anyhoo~ I can’t really say if I’m entirely content with the whole thing, I dunno. I feel some parts are better than others (writing style-wise) but yeah, I really need to get back into the swing of things...

Speaking of which, I DO plan on adding my two cents on the other bois as well, but judging by how this one turned out, they’ll most likely all be this length, more or less, so each Turt will get his own post so I can really jot down those details with all the freedom in the world! That being said, I can’t say when they’ll be added but hopefully soon-ish. :) Raph's next on the list!

Thank you all so much for the read and hope you enjoyed~ :D

~Drag0n Mistr3ss’ Random Fandoms*

[missbeautyandherbeast]

It’s Nice To Have A Friend

Michelangelo X Reader

Summary: Taking people under your wing was your thing until four mutant brothers took you under theirs. It still didn’t stop you from taking one of them under your wing. Until you screwed that up from miscommunication and some harsh words. Can you fix this? How are you supposed to express emotions when you barely understand the situation? Is it too late to save what you broke? Can you save your friend?

A/N: For the ever-lovely @brightlotusmoon, here’s my drabble into Mikey, making his a round character in my own mind as well as on paper. I hope I did him justice, and you justice. 

Word Count: +3,200

Warnings: Angst, panic attacks, self-loathing, fluff, abuse

Was living underground with four large mutant turtles weird? Sure.

If you wanted to call it that. To me, it was a family, as it was to them, brothers and a father. They had all welcomed me with curiosity and hesitancy as I showed immunity to mutagen, and retro- mutagen—both of which happened in Donnie’s lab after a mishap and me tripping over my own feet.

It freaked me out, to say the least. Again, the questioned seemed to be: what was wrong with me? Again I felt different, out of place, with no answer as to why. I loathed it.

To Donnie I was something to be studied, he tried to hide it and he did pretty well, but I caught the nuances. I wasn’t opposed to it too much, I wanted answers as well. But I wished that I was a bit more than an experiment.

To Leo, I was someone to protect. Whatever was different—wrong—about me he wanted to be kept safe from Shredder and the Kraang. Which I understood, but I also refused to fight, or even learn how. I could defend myself, but I refused to go on the offense, or hurt anyone, even if it was someone trying to hurt me. I knew this frustrated him, but he respected my choice of pacifism.

Raphael and I fought. A lot. Not physically, but verbally. He reminded me too much of my abusive older brother that I had finally gotten away from by moving to New York, and there was something about him that sparked anger in me. I found the confidence to snap back at him when he made offhand rude comments, to anyone. Most of the time Leo stepped in and reprimanded Raph before things could get too far. If the red brute didn’t back down, Splinter intervened.

Then there was Mikey. He was the only one who didn’t treat me differently because of who, what I was. Instead, we played Mario Kart until I got good enough to beat him, sometimes. I showed him my comic books and TV shows, and I watched him fall in love with them as I was. We spent nights reading fan theories, working on cosplay, and jamming to Taylor Swift.

It’s nice to have a friend. 

.................................

And Mikey was the one I stood up for the most against Raph. As soon as I started to notice that Mikey was his favorite target, I got a bit more observant. Signs that I knew, because I had the same reactions around my own brother.

“You actually like that stuff? You’re so weird.” Raph muttered as we started to binge Doctor Who.

“Says the one who spends every minute of every day looking in a mirror, or working out.” I snapped back.

Raph scoffed and walked off as Mikey was silent beside me, looking down. I leaned against him as the show continued. Slowly he relaxed and we ended up, like always, tangled in blankets, passed out, as the show continued to play.

Raph seemed to back down after a while, now that I was always there to fight back against him. There was a solace around the Lair when the comments ceased to exist. Sometimes they were there, like teasing, or light-hearted jokes, but nothing that cut too deep. I made sure of that.

It was nice to be a friend.

....................................

After a few months, I felt safe enough to go back to my apartment every few nights, just to be in my own space, something that I desperately needed to stay sane. It was comforting, being back in my own small studio apartment on Cornelia. I could do what I wanted when I wanted. Play my own music, eat what and when I wanted to, wear what I wanted. I had no one to impress but me.

Mikey came over the first night that I was back in my apartment. He had a pizza and sodas for the two of us as he stood on my fire escape. I laughed to myself and let him in, going to grab paper towels.

We fell into our normal routine, nested in my bed, watching TV—this time it was season 14 of Supernatural—eating and curled up under blankets. Well, I was under blankets, Mikey radiated heat like a space heater. He finished most of the pizza while I nibbled on my one slice.

When the last episode ended, Mikey was shocked when I jumped up and threw the remote towards the TV. His reflexes were quick enough to snatch it before it did any damage, though he seemed to be in the same agitated state that I was in.

I growled. “They can’t just! It’s not fair! They! And he! And Sammy! And Jack! And UGH!” I paced.

“How is that supposed to be the end of the season!” Mikey exclaimed. “They can’t just do that!” “How is there supped to be only one more season to fix that!” I countered.

We both stared at the TV screen, in tense silence, settling down next to each other again.

“I need something to take my mind off of that,” I muttered, scrolling for another movie.

We ended up re-watching Miraculous Ladybug for like the fifteenth time. We both ended up liking the show, a weird mix of my love for cartoons and his love of anime. Nothing like a boy in a leather catsuit and a girl in polka-dotted spandex fighting an old man who loves butterflies and not his son to comfort the mind.

I rearranged my seventy-five pillows and nestled down next to the warm terrapin, allowing myself to get comfortable. Winter was setting into New York and I was about to really miserable with the oncoming cold weather. It was nice with Mikey though. I could always count on his warmth.

Letting the episodes play through, my eyes eventually became too heavy to reopen. My dreams were light and safe. They always were when I wasn’t sleeping alone. It was nice, for once, not to need melatonin, or not be up until four am, or not need my nightly counting routines to lull me to sleep.

It’s nice to have a friend. 

.................................

Once a week Donnie and I worked on figuring out what was so different about me that I was immune. It was a slow-going process because I got tired or disinterested before we could make it too far, and every brother and Splinter was keen on not pushing me farther than I could manage.

“I’m a freak,” I muttered to Donnie one week, looking down at the floor.

“Take it from a huge talking turtle, you’re not a freak.” Donnie mused, a smile playing at his lips.

“Okay, but mutagen affected you: normal. Retro mutagen affects you: normal. Me, absolutely nothing. I’m a freak.” I laid back on the exam table, closing my eyes.

I heard his gentle laugh. I simply sighed.

“No one wants a freak, Don,” I muttered. “No one is gonna want me. I’ll always be weird.” 

“That’s not true. You’re a wonderful person Y/n, anyone would be lucky to have you.”

“No one wants a freak,” I repeated, sighing. “No one can love a freak,”

He was quiet for a moment as if he were debating the notion.

“Maybe we’re all doomed then.” He decided.

I chuckled and shook my head, sitting up.

“Do you need me for anything else?” I rubbed my face and stretched.

“You should be alright for today, I’ll let you know if I find anything.”

“Thanks, Don.”

I almost ran into Mikey as I left the lab.

“Hey.” My face lit up. “You wanna watch somethin’? There’s a new series that I’ve been meaning to watch, or I could show you Rocky Horror Picture Show, that’s a classic.” I went through my mental checklist of things that I wanted him to watch, trying to settle on the best one.

“No thanks. I gotta patrol. Just came to say bye.” His voice was almost void of emotion. 

“Oh.” My face fell. “Okay, be safe.” I frowned a bit but kept my emotions under wraps.

Watching him leave, I wandered into the main room, trying to solve the look on his face and his tone, feeling like I was missing something.

“That was pretty harsh there Y/n.” Raph leaned against the wall next to the lab.

“What?” I turned my attention to him. “What did I even do? What was all that?” I gestured weakly.

He scoffed and rolled his eyes.

“Mikey heard you.” He made air-quotes: “‘No one can love a freak’? Almost sounded like me.”

“I’m still not getting it?” I stood, anxiety clawing my insides. Had I hurt Mikey somehow?

“The kid is head over heels for you Y/n, and you just told him that you’d never love a freak.” Raph laid it out, his tone was cold and distant.

I froze, panic taking over my entire form. I didn’t think, I just did. I grabbed my jacket and slipped on my shoes. I ignored Raph’s questions, I ignored Donnie’s questions. I couldn’t ignore the hands that held me back though. I thought I heard Donnie explain through a muddled mind.

“I have to make this right,” Tears were slipping down my cheeks. “I didn’t mean that. I didn’t...” I could feel my breath hiking moving towards hyperventilation. “Mikey...” My voice was broken.

I was broken.

I had broken my friend.

My best friend.

Who loved me?

...he loved me back.

The revelation was mind shattering. Both my mind and heart laid shattered, the pieces oozing into the concrete floor, refusing to be put back together.

“I’ll go find him.” Raph decided.

“No!” I shouted. “He’s going to think you’re lying. That you’re dragging him along. I have to go. I have to make this right.” My voice was squeaky and pathetic, but it was the truth.

“She’s right. Go shadow her, but she has to be the one to do it.” Donnie rubbed my shoulders comfortingly as he spoke to Raph.

I stumbled out into the cold night, cursing the frigid air.

“Mikey!” I shouted hopelessly. “Mikey, please I need to talk to you! Please!” The tears that ran down my face threatened to freeze. I wiped them away in an attempt to keep warm.

I walked quickly down the route that I knew Mikey patrolled, keeping my eyes on the rooftops, muttering his name and wiping tears away until I couldn’t anymore.

I crumbled onto a nearby bench and buried my face in my hands, sobbing for my loss, my stupid mistake, for my Mikey.

“Y/n!”

It wasn’t the voice that I wanted, but my head shot up, in panic.

“We gotta go! Now!” Raph was right beside me in a matter of moments, lifting me into his arms and taking off, in a direction that held no meaning to me.

“Raph!” I complained.

“Mikey was caught by the Kraang. Leo’s trying to get in now, but...” He shook his head as he turned another block.

Fear froze my shattered heart. The words didn’t want to process.

“Hey, hey. Hold it together kid, he’s gonna be okay.” Raph soothed, sensing my despair.

“This is my fault.” I sobbed. “I did this.”

“Hey. No. This is not... good lord kid. This wasn’t you. I swear.” Raph’s voice was hard and commanding. It reminded me of Leo.

When he stopped on a random block, in front of a random building, a warehouse, he made the mistake of letting me go.

I hit the ground running into the building, right into the center of a vast floor, filled with Kraang, and... and Mikey. When his eyes flashed to mine I almost collapsed. He wasn’t dead. I could still tell him I was sorry. I could...

“Let him go,” I whispered, taking careful steps forward. “Please.”

There was a commotion behind me, and I didn’t even have to turn back to know that it was the other brothers, coming to our aid. My eyes didn’t leave Mikey’s. There was so much hurt and betrayal in them. And now I knew why.

I jumped when a blur of silver flashed by me and into the droid closest to Mikey, sending sparks flying, and the Kraang bot dropping to the ground.

“Man, these things are always creepy,” Raph muttered.

Then all hell broke loose. Both sides advanced, and I was caught in the crossfire. Something pulled me down to the floor, and I landed hard on my wrist. I watched as Mikey’s eyes widened in horror, his eyes fixed on something behind me.

I turned and saw a gun pointed at my head, one of the Kraang’s high tech ones.

A swipe of a katana and the Kraang was no more. Leo and I locked eyes; fear in mine and determination in his.

“Go! I’ll cover you!” He shouted, stealing a glance in his youngest brother’s direction.

I leaped to my feet and dashed through the carnage to get to my Mikey. I knelt beside him, trying to figure out his bonds, thanking someone that they were only rope.

“Just leave me.” Mikey bit out. It was like a slap to the face. “I’m nothing but I freak to you anyway.”

The depressing words weighed on my soul and my body until I was held in place by the weight of his words. I had to stop my task of untying him to fight the urge to not scream and cry. I rested my forehead on his shoulder, tears making their way down my face.

“I didn’t...” I choked out. “I was talking about me. I’m the freak. I’m unlovable. I’m unwanted.” I sobbed out. “I’m so unlovable.” I shook my head, wrapping my arms around myself, looking him in the eye. “There was never a day that I didn’t love you.”

Recognition crossed his face, as I sat back on my knees, my head bowed and shoulders hunched, as I finally let go of holding my hurt back, sobs shaking my frame softly as they left my lips in unintelligible self-loathing words. My arms desperately tried to hold all of me together, but no matter how tightly I wrapped them around me, I still fell apart.

Until warm familiar arms wrapped around me tightly did I feel whole again. These arms held me together when I couldn’t do it on my own. These arms and these hands picked up the shattered pieces of my heart and took the time to put them back together with care.

“Don’t leave me, please. Please. Please.” I choked out, wrapping my arms around him, my friend, my best friend, my lifeline, my Michelangelo, my Mikey. “I love you, please,”

I could feel his hand stroke my hair gently, as he pulled me into his lap, encasing me with warmth until I wasn’t shaking anymore. I waited and prepared for the worst. He wouldn’t want me. He wouldn’t love me. He couldn’t forgive me for this. I was unforgivable. Unlovable.

I sank into these thoughts until darkness consumed me.

This is what it was like to lose a friend.

..........................................

“Let her mind protect itself. She’ll come around when she can handle it all again.” The voice was muted and muddled, and made little sense.

“It’s been an hour Donnie,” A worried voice, much closer to me, argued back.

I wanted to tell the voice that I was okay. That I was here. He didn’t need to worry. I was fine. Mikey didn’t need to worry.

“Y/n!?” He called, urgent. “Can you hear me? Y/n!?”

“M’fine...” I mumbled, my eyelashes fluttering as I opened my eyes. Intense blue eyes stared back at me; tears mixed in.

“M’fine Mikey.” I curled up further into his arms.

“Don’t let her fall asleep she might have a concussion,” Donnie warned. I wanted to glare at him. I was fine. Peachy.

I still had my friend.

I hoped.

.....................................

I blinked a few times and struggled to sit up. Realizing what I was trying to accomplish, Mikey’s arms supported me, aiding me.

“You okay angelcakes?” His voice was gentle and worried still.

I nodded, ignoring my pounding headache. I looked up at him, afraid. What now? What was he going to say? What was I going to do if he sent me away? If he didn’t love me back?

“Are you really up this time?” He asked, hesitant.

I frowned and blinked a few more times, rubbing my eyes. I noticed that one of my hands was in a brace. I stared at it with curiosity.

“You hurt your wrist. Donnie doesn’t think it’s broken, but he’s not entirely sure.” He was almost sheepish to explain the fact.

I looked up at him, waiting for more. Tensed and prepared for the worst, praying and hoping for the best.

“Did you mean it?” He whispered, cupping my jaw with one of his hands. I leaned into the warmth. “Do you really love me? Freak and all?” His blue eyes were pleading with mine, begging the fact to be true.

“Since the first night that you stayed.” My voice was raspy and broken sounding from dehydration and being rubbed raw from my sobs, but it spoke the truth.

There was a moment of deliberation on his face before he pressed his lips to mine. I wasn’t shocked. I was relieved. I reached up and wrapped my arms around his neck, my fingers twisting into the tails of his bandana. He was gentle while kissing me as if he were afraid to break me, and part of me knew that he could. If he wanted to.

But he didn’t want to. He didn’t want to break me. Or leave me, or yell at me.

He wanted to kiss me and be near me. He wanted to love me. Like I wanted to love him. Freely, openly, courageously.

Pulling away sooner than I wanted, the turtle pressed a soft kiss to my forehead before his blue eyes enraptured mine.

“You’re not unlovable. And you’ve never been unwanted.” He whispered. “I want you. And God, Y/n, I love you.” There was a small smile on his face, my breaking dawn.

“Freak and all?” I murmured. 

“Freak and all.” He chuckled.

It’s nice to have a love. 

.......................................

Curled up on the couch on a late Friday night after Mikey’s patrol, I laid gentle kisses on his neck, half paying attention to the movie on. He smiled down at me and pulled me closer.

“I don’t see why you like these movies.” He scoffed.

“Reminds me of you, us,” I whispered. “He’s so keen on protecting her, he almost loses her. He’s part of another world that she gets thrown into, and walks in it willingly. She’s different though. She’s immune to their powers.” My eyes flickered to the screen. “‘I tell you I can read minds, and you want to know if there’s something wrong with you?’” I quoted.

He chuckled and rolled his eyes.

“You’re such a dork.” He pressed a kiss to my forehead. 

“But I’m yours.” I grinned cheesily up at him.

“And I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

It’s nice to have a friend.

..................................

Don’t be afraid to comment and reblog! I love knowing what you guys have to say and I love your feedback always!

[taraninja]

Review of A Ghost of a Chance

Just in case my review is too long for fanfiction.net, I’m posting it here. 

To start, I want to apologize for the tardiness of this review. I actually began writing it after finishing Chapter 34, but thanks to College finals and the holidays it’s only getting out now. I like my reviews to in some way reciprocate the amount of effort the writer/writers spent in their fanfic, so this was definitely a multi-day project.

Firstly, I’d like to go over the characters and characterizations. Others have pointed this out as well, but you truly do get their personalities down perfectly. There were multiple occasions where I was tricked into reading this as if it were an episode screenplay, which is perhaps the highest praise any fanfic could achieve. Master Splinter is as elegant and effervescent as always, but you delve more into his character than the mere surface level; he also shows off humor, worry, empathy, concern, and of course, the love he feels for his sons and daughter is truly palpable. A great example is in his dealings with the Lotus; he is able to disagree in a way which shows honor and maturity, and even when the Lotus leave, he does not press the issue but let’s both parties (Donnie/April and the Lotus) have their disagreement and move on. It sent a perfect message to Leo that sometimes, interference is worse than simply letting an argument run its due course. I wish someone had taught that message to 2003 Leo, so maybe he could have avoided getting entangled in the gang wars.

Speaking of Leo, there are several facets of his character which have been masterfully delved into here. Something I prefer in the 2012 show is how they show that Leo is much more than just a serious and dutiful leader; he can also be awkward and silly at times, and this is perfectly encapsulated in his conversations with Karai within this story. Instead of distracting from the main plot, it melded perfectly with it and even helped to add to the plot. Karai has trouble getting used to life in the sewer, but has no problems understanding Leo and getting him to hopelessly unravel himself when talking with her. In contrast, Leo seems unsure of where he stands with her, and sometimes doesn’t know what the right approach is. Should he flirt back, or would that be too forward? Are their conversations one big game, or do they mean something to her? And are her questions meant to be taken literally, or as part of a running joke? As a master of deception, I can imagine how confusing talking with her must be. But on Karai’s part, it must be lots of fun, since it’s really more like she’s gently prodding him into taking the first step. I can still vividly imagine the chapter where they spar together, both teasing each other and then that one moment Karai thought she might have pushed too far. The tension between them was so thick that I could feel it past my computer screen, and I inadvertently held my breath as Leo drew closer and almost, ALMOST kissed her, but then revealed that he had just been teasing her back. That scene was perfect poetry, and it really showed me that you get their dynamic. You understand how and why they work, and that’s always great to see in a fanfiction.

Of course, Leo and Karai aren’t the only two lovebirds who have amazing development here, and the next two I want to gush over are Raph and Casey. I’ll admit that I didn’t really ship them before, but after reading this, you’ve made me a believer! There are of course, multiple ways a gay romance can go wrong; it can either feel too pushy, or not pushy enough, depending on the way it’s written. However, I think it was perfectly handled here. Our titular Raph and Casey start as more on the ‘bromance with benefits’ side, which works; a slow beginning helps get new shippers like me to see just how it can develop. Both of them have very similar outlooks and personalities, so there’s already that common ground between them, and then the scene where Casey gets drunk allow us to see them acting uncharacteristically caring for each other. Seeing adult Casey and Raph making out is definitely a—unique way to kickstart the romance, and a rather believable one. As someone who’s bi, I’ll readily admit that curiosity is what often causes a spark in a relationship like theirs. And again, the slow burn is the smartest move when it comes to them. Their kiss was left open-ended, as you could say ‘oh, they didn’t like it’ and not ship it, or you could think ‘hmm, I don’t think their answers were all that truthful’ and continue to ship it. I personally count myself among the latter category, but either way, their scenes have been written exceedingly well so far and I can’t wait to read more of them.

And, of course, my personal favorite ship, the one that made me get off my butt and read this fanfic; Apritello! After Chapter 34, I was squealing for literally hours. It got so bad that my roommate, who is not even a little into TMNT, forcibly grabbed my shoulders and ordered me to stop jumping around like a ping-pong ball. So suffice it to say, I have a lot to comment on when it comes to this dynamic within your fanfiction.

To begin with, I am SO glad that the music box was brought up again! When April pushed it aside in the “Bigfoot” episode, I felt so sad for Donnie and was more than a little peeved at April. It was no wonder that Donnie felt like ‘just a mutant’ with the way she was treating him; she pushed aside his heartfelt present, never lets him speak about his feelings with her, and yet continues to lead him on with hugs and kisses instead of actually being clear with her emotions. This is not to say I entirely faulted April, as having two boys crushing on you is never fun and is a situation I’ve had trouble with in the past. But nevertheless, it felt like a breath of fresh air to see the event be brought up and mentioned again between the two of them here. It gave the ship some well-needed groundedness and maturity, so that it could develop beyond just two lovesick teenagers. And oh, how beautifully developed it is! Of course, it begins rather bumpily (April, why d’ya have to take your anger out on Donnie? Him who would never fault you, ever?) with April asking out Casey for dates, keeping it a secret from Donnie, and then trying to get closer with him while not revealing anything to him. But there’s been tons of cute build-up too! The whole ‘evil scientist and best lab assistant’ bit has to be the most adorable love-speak ever, and of course, the silent glances at each other and the secret armor Donnie built is super sweet as well. And there’s no possible way I will ever forget when Future Donnie shook current Donnie to his senses and sent him chasing after April, which resulted in the most romantic scene of all time. Oh yes, it was certainly sappy; but it was a sappiness that felt VERY well-deserved and had been a long time coming. And I’m also really happy that you had Splinter inform and reassure Kirby on all the goings-on; I always feel bad for parents when their children hide things from them within stories, and it was yet another source of relief when Kirby was not only fine with April and Donnie but gave them the go-ahead. I knew he was a good father, but now I’m absolutely certain of it. And that means that April can continue her relationship with Donnie and the others without fearing for her father or focusing solely on college. Not to mention, dating Donnie can only mean good things for a future college career.

Oh yes, and then THAT ABSOLUTE BOMBSHELL in episode—I mean chapter (oh boy you know it’s good when I start calling it an episode!) 35, where April had to watch Donnie get knocked out in front of her. My heart definitely wasn’t shattering into a thousand tiny pieces at that moment (sarcastic tone intended). I’ll get into more detail later when I discuss the pacing, but man, did that scene hit like an oncoming bus.

Of course, I can’t leave out Mikey, the Future Turtles, or the Lotus from my gushing on the characterization! Mikey was at his most hilarious within this fanfic, and I’d even go so far as to say he was handled better within this story than in the usual 2012 episodes. Able to be light-hearted, a prankster, a gamer, and life of the party while still having a certain level of gravity and groundedness goes a long way to show that though Mikey may be the party dude, he has a charm and worth that is so much more than just cracking the odd joke here or there. While Leo and the others were certainly excited to have the Lotus staying with them, it was Mikey who went the extra mile to try and learn as many names as possible. And Mikey is the one who coordinated their family movie night to try and get ‘Karaiwa’ cheerful again. He’s an absolute gem who I want to protect, yet I also know that he is beyond capable of protecting himself.

I’ll admit that the Lotus took a bit of getting used to. When I heard there would be another ninja clan, my impromptu thought was ‘ah yes, the perfect way to insert OC’s’ because that’s usually how I’ve seen it handled within other fanfictions. But it definitely didn’t feel that way here. Though they were all original characters, they only served as big of a part as the plot required and were beneficial to the story’s development, instead of detracting from it. Hachisu-no-Hana served as a great parallel for Splinter, as both are heads of a clan who had been wronged by Shredder, but who took very different responses to said wrong-doing. Wakai wasn’t around long, but he emanated a youthful simplicity that made it hard not to like him, and of course Juro and Atsuko were easy to like as well. In the end I found myself liking the clan quite a bit and was hoping for their well-being just as much as I hoped for Karai’s.

Finally, we have the Future Turtles. It’s a bit harder to speak on their personalities, since they are literally different versions of the same characters within the story, but I think they were sufficiently developed enough to stand out from their current counterparts and show how the passage of time can truly make a difference. Leo has of course become a lot more serious, and along with all the other future characters, his moral compass is more black and white. Either you are on his side, or you are an enemy that deserves death; there is no in-between. This change is devastating to see when compared to how Leo currently is, and I would certainly be interested if you ever decided to do a spin-off fic detailing how the future turtles got to their current states. A lot of details have been divulged already, but like any good reader, that just leaves me wanting even more.

Future Raph and Casey seem to do a lot more laughing and have lot more fun than I would have thought, but it makes sense in the context of their relationship and is yet another great addition to their dynamic. Being in a relationship not only strengthens their bond, but themselves as people. Current Casey definitely can’t be described as sensitive, but Future Casey is not only willing but able to lend April an ear along with some solid advice. And Raph is seen helping Leo out more than arguing with him, which really warmed my heart. After Future Splinter’s death, I can imagine how hard it must have been for the turtles; but especially for Leo, who already had a heavy burden as the team leader, but with Splinter gone, that burden can only have hardened. I’m glad Raph decided to step up somewhat and help support him, instead of escalate their rivalry. It shows maturity and caring on his part, both attributes which I believe Raph already possesses, but doesn’t choose to emphasize.

In contrast, Future Mikey and Donnie seem much more solemn than their current selves. Mikey still has that fun-loving spark, but through his calmer mannerisms and way of speaking it is evident that the future events have tampered him down just as thoroughly as they tampered down his brothers. And while Donnie’s seriousness could be attributed to the important matter at the forefront of their time-traveling visit, I believe there’s more than the fate of his family which keeps him grounded. He’s always been the problem-solver of the group, and his brother’s reliance on him can only have escalated after Splinter’s demise. Plus, he lost the ‘best lab assistant in the world,’ so there has been an additional mental and emotional burden for him to carry. And though you didn’t go into the repercussions for this in too much detail, I imagine it must have been absolutely soul-crushing to see Casey go from dating April to Raph. The thoughts of “April is so great, I would have done everything in my power to make her stay,” “how could he abandon her like that?” “Maybe April feels the same way; maybe she was never into guys” and even “maybe she only dated Casey so she could finally get away from us mutants, and now that she has, she doesn’t care anymore.” I don’t know if he’d actually think like that or not, but I can envision him doing so. It must have caused at least a temporal shift between him and the two lovers and cooping himself up within the lab has obviously become a habit at this point. If he still remains within the lab while brought back to the past while his father is alive, then there’s no stopping it at this point. But hopefully he pulls himself together in a similar fashion that current Donnie did, and fixes his relationship with April. That would certainly be an ideal ending, if not an altogether realistic one.

Alright, now to more boring aspects of the story. First off; Grammar! While this has for the most part been on-point and smooth, there are some small things which could have been better to give the story a better flow. Most of these are nit-picks, because there aren’t many faults within this fanfic, but I think they bear mentioning. There were some misplaced words here and there, like “to” instead of “too” (slightly hypocritical since I KNOW I’ve probably made a similar mistake in this review alone) adjectives which were repeated three or more times in a paragraph, and one particular (and this is the most nit-picky comment of all) word phrase which stuck out and really bugged me, which was ‘portable portal.’ I believe the first time you used it, you had just described how the portal was transferrable, and my first thought was “well, if you wrote a whole section describing it as mobile, why did you describe it as portable again?” And then I saw that phrase repeated more than five times, which just led my OCD brain to go crazy. It might also have more to do with the fact that both words have a “po-“ beginning and an “able” or “al” ending, so it sounds like a repetitive description word, but nevertheless that’s more of a me problem than an overall issue.

Next, there is the plot. I read somewhere that the best plots can be outlined in a sentence and described in ten paragraphs, which I believe definitely applies to this story. While my descriptive powers are not great enough to fully divulge ten paragraphs, I shall do my best to review it properly.

It starts out simple enough; Donnie gets a message from his future self and learns that not only can he communicate with himself past the bonds of space and time, but eventually he can meet his future self without the fear of a time paradox. As Donnie and his brothers prepare to meet their future selves, they meet up with a fellow ninja clan who also has a beef with Shredder, and multiple cases of drama ensue as a result. However, there is so much more than that to pick apart in the plot. There’s action, mystery, romance, secrecy, plus a lot of confusion and mixed feelings which help to add tension and character development. And all the character dialogues don’t seem abrupt, out of place, or like mere exposition; they all blend perfectly together to give the story the feel of a big mixing pot, with multiple themes, characters, and motives blending together to give the story/soup an exquisite taste.

I could be wrong, but I think the main message behind this story is that ‘it is not our actions in the past that define us, but our actions in the present.’ In the very first chapter, we see a lot of characters mingling together who all have argued or slightly resented each other in the past. There’s Splinter and Karai, who used to believe she was Shredder’s daughter and wanted revenge on Hamato Yoshi; Casey and April, the former who used to see Raph as a villain, and then later saw Donnie as a romantic rival; the latter who blamed the turtle’s for her father’s mutation, and avoided them for weeks afterwards; and though it’s more minor, the turtles have all had big arguments with each other in the past. But the fic starts with them all united, sharing ‘Sensei Day’ together and really rallying together as one big family. Yet even though they’d love that moment to last forever, it can’t. There’ll be new hardships, arguments and struggles they’ll have to go through, and sometimes it may seem that the bad outweighs the good, like when Karai leaves the lair to go with the Lotus. But if they don’t keep striving for tomorrow, to make the best of fate while at the same time carving their own destiny, then they’ll never know just how beautiful life can be. This is the message I think Future Donnie learned when he urged current Donnie to run after April, and what all of the Future turtles realized when they learned they could time travel to this point. It may have happened in the past, and it might be too late for their happy ending; but who says they couldn’t help bring a happy ending to other versions of themselves?

And of course, this message is closely intertwined with Splinter, Karai, and Oroku Saki. Shredder chose to follow in the footsteps of his former clan; to carve for himself a path of bloodshed and vengeance, which would dictate all the future choices in his life. Splinter had the choice to follow a similar path, but instead took the path less traveled on; the path of peace. This has opened new options for him, as he gained a new family, obtained happy memories to replace the bad, and got to know many amazing people he wouldn’t have otherwise. Who knows if he would have met April, Kirby, Murasaki, Leatherhead, or Kurtzmann if not for his sons? And while Splinter tries to tell Karai that to choose peace is to choose the higher option, Karai has been raised by the Shredder for too long, and her thoughts are obviously tainted by her false father’s teachings. After all, surely someone who hides away from a fight is the bigger coward…? Surely more honor belongs to the man who seeks out his opponents and does away with them…right?

This is all part of why the Shredder-Splinter-Karai relationship is so compelling. Karai is literally the gray line, separating Splinter’s white and Shredder’s black; she has parts of both of them within her, which makes her choices and actions truly interesting. Someone who is neutral is more relatable than someone who is wholly good or wholly bad, and (at least for me), we want to see what she does because we want to know how we’d react in those same situations. Personally, I can’t fault Karai for a single one of her actions and could see myself making the same mistakes. Even if every part of my rationale told me to trust Splinter, I wouldn’t be able to wholly turn myself away from someone who’d raised me from birth. I’d want to cut off that wrongness, that falseness from my life so I could truly feel free, and that perfectly describes what Karai does. She can’t separate what happened in her past, so she wants to cut it out; even though Splinter and the others don’t care about her past, they just want to help and support her current decisions. I hope Karai comes to realize this by the end of the fic, and that her bond with the others becomes stronger as a result of this whole experience.

For the final tidbit of this review, I’d like to go over the pacing. Like everything else within this fanfic, the pacing has been very smooth and well-handled, with one event following another like dominos falling one after the other. The first chapter starts with a peaceful scene, which leads into a comedic scene in the next chapter, which in turn leads to a romantic scene gone wrong in the third chapter. The progression feels very natural, and the slow as syrup beginning is perfect to help ease the reader into the action. I described the fic as a screenplay earlier, because the events really do take place in a movie-like pace. The tripartite structure has long been lauded as the perfect story system, and that still holds true to this day. Having three big acts which are either followed or preceded by a consecutive list of smaller acts is the perfect way to hype up your big scenes and give them more weight, which your fanfic certainly did.

I promised I would go into a little more detail for Chapter 35 and go into detail I shall. At this point I think you have the three-part structure down so well, that you’re even starting to instill it into your chapters! The first act starts out peacefully, if slightly tear-jerking; the Future turtles say good-bye to Splinter for the last time, and he had some great advice to give the four of them. Once again I found the fanfic hitting close to home with me, as my grandmother has Alzheimer’s and I know any day could be the last day I say bye to her. I swear, your fanfic is going to be one of those I return to over and over again just for the little personal tidbits of emotion it gives me!

Anyways, returning to the topic; the second part of the chapter sees the different groups initiating their plans. Leo, April and Mikey taking the secret passage by the church catacombs, and Donnie, Raph and Casey entering through Baxter Stockman’s lab. Of course, things don’t start out well for either group, as Leo’s group/Team Nerf gets the ceiling caved in on them, and Donnie’s group/Team Roof has some mutated human kids attack them. I was thinking this would be the point the Future Turtles come in to help, but since they don’t I’m sure there’s another aspect to the plan that the Leo’s are looking out for. Perhaps they realize that Karai would have split off from the main Lotus group and want to save some man-power to help her when the time comes.

And then, the third/final act of the chapter comes and gives me a minor heart attack. Three mutants aptly named Lock, Shock and Barrel enter the fray thanks to Rahzar, and don’t only injure most of the main fighters; Barrel knocks out Donnie as well. The turtles, Casey and April barely manage to defeat Barrel before the focus returns to Karai, who places herself straight in Shredder’s den amidst a throng of enemies. While cliffhangers aren’t my favorite things in the world (again; intended sarcasm), I do think it was perfectly timed here. Any more action taking place would just be too much, and at least you ended it in a way that reminded us readers of the important stakes behind their battle. Even though the turtles may be beaten and battered, it is imperative they push on; not just for their sakes, not even just for Karai, but also for the Lotus, Future Turtles, Splinter, and everyone else the Shredder has hurt. While it is true they can’t turn back time and reverse all the evil he has done, they can at least stop his hand right now, and save those that matter most to them. And that is truly the most important cause the turtles could have for their fight.

[writinandcrying]

For the matchup. Um, I guess my style of dress is hooded sweatshirts and pj pants at home, but jean jacket and t-shirt with shredded jeans and heeled boots if I'm going out. To work i wear dress slacks, heeled boots, a blouse/ blazer, and bright lipstick. Personality: ambivert (Some ppl charge me up while others exhaust me. I lean toward extrovert, but i need to recharge with alone time.) I am very "emotional" and have been working on my anger & PTSD for a long time. :) I hope that's good.

“I've been working on my anger and other mental health issues. But I like to think I'd be with someone who started as a friend and grew together over time/started falling in love when we were each in a good place emotionally (in a place where we could really give ourselves to one another). I am quite affectionate. Hugs and hand-holding. Cheek kisses. Cuddles. Playing with hair. Hobbies: running, boxing, singing, writing, and dancing. And I love to laugh, and to make other people laugh. (2) “

Hello my sunshine, Love of my life, chuchu talented angel, I hope you are safe and healthy!

I ship you with:

Raphael

(I don’t know why but everytime I search for 2014-2016 gifs it never shows up!!! How infuriating )

I think one of the first thing that would call out his attention ( I mean there’s a lot of stuff to actually admire about you in his opinion ) but! the fact that you do boxing, in his opinion its not only hot as fuck but honestly really badass. he also really likes that you wear your emotions in your sleeve ( even if you don’t at times), specially because he has always wondered to meet someone ( deep down romantically) that could understand his “intense” side, to not be afraid to actually show pieces of himself without getting a lecture ( usually provided by his older brother ) about how to act, or how not to just... be so much, how not to let his emotions run so freely, he knows things switch so rapidly in his heart, he sees and knows the difference between the thriller and exciment over anger and fear taking over, he hates that sometimes (most of the times ) people can’t really see the difference of those stages on him, but you do. And that’s what made him fall in love with you. You know him, you can see the true Raphael in the confusing mess everyone makes him believe that he is, and you also know what is it like to feel that, and it’s like a huge wave of relief which flows in his intire body to be understood by someone, you can read him better than he can sometimes ( that part he doesn’t like that much bfgfhdjsks) but he does loves that he can count on you about everything, and he hopes you know you can count on him about anything as well. The amount of times he has open his mind and heart (willing or not, he can’t help but to feel... safe, secure, protect around you, it comes naturally to him to be open with you like he has never been with anyone, sometimes feel guilty that he should be the one making you feel that, he never knew that a human could make him feel that way. but you do ) he truly hopes you know you can do the same. He loves that you are affectionate, absolutely LIVES for cuddles sections, hugs and kisses. After Mikey, Raph is the second most open regarding physical affection and he’s more than welcome to give all the love that you crave ( he will tease you FOR SURE) but def will hug you harder and tighter everytime you ask for a hug or anything, really. Adores that can be sarcastic around you and you won’t get upset by it, your love to make people laugh is something endearing to him, he wants to make you laugh as much as you make him and others smile in dark times, he sometimes wishes he could tell you how much he supports you, supports everything you do or want to, he believes so much in your potential, he wants to show he loves you no matter what, and he will love you even in your dark times, just like you do to him. ( when insecurity kicks in ) he hope you can understand his body language when he squeezes your body longer than usual in a hug, or when he just looks at you with so much admiration for how far you have become, his actions hold so much meaning, and he knows yours do too, and that’s the affirmation he needs to keep moving forward

Also just a plus: he ???? Loves your writing???? he doesn’t understand how someone can express themselves so well with words like you do ( low key jealous sometimes, he wishes he could do that too) he admires your hardwork so much, he loves reading every single draft or final piece you a willing to share with him💕🥰

I hope this isn’t confusing cuz there were so many words and feeling just running in my mind and putting them all together was kinda hard bfbfnndbfndj but eitherway Hope you liked it! Matchups are closed