#but he's not really a big deal to the kids or really to yoshi

[britt-kageryuu]

It's very much likely because I've been reading alot of Monkie Kid fan fics, but what if the concept of Courtnapping, exists in Yokai Culture in Rise TMNT?

It would make sense, since we know next to nothing about Yokai in Rise.

Plus it kinda fits what happened with Splinter/Lou Jitsu/Yoshi Hamato, Big Mama kinda courtnapped him, but then probably freaked out about her instincts, aka might eat him, so she tossed him to the arena to show him off... kinda.(?)

Then Draxum, under the self induced excuse of using Lou for his experiments, courtnaps Lou to his lab.

But things went wrong because no one is really explaining this stuff to Splints, and he escaped with his newly acquired Turtle Children.

Now fast forward to when the Turtles are at least mid teens, post Kraang/Krang, and they keep having odd interactions with the Yokai of the Hidden City. Maybe an attempted Courtnapping or two.

So they either go to Hueso or Draxum to learn WTF is Going On!!! (They will never go to Big Mama because she'd make them take a deal or owe a favor or something.)

The Turtles definitely have mixed reactions to learning these new things about Yokai culture. Though whoever they go to is slightly confused/concerned on why they don't already know this stuff.

From here it all just depends on if there are any specific pairings with the Turtles. Like adding crossovers, dimensional travel, ect, ect.

Like maybe one the turtles get the urge to courtnap someone, maybe they have to save April from being courtnapped, unless it's Cass, then they're like 'Good Luck Sis', because Cass is scary.

Though the image of someone trying to courtnap Raph is more funny than it should be. This is how Raph may fall for the person, or just gain a slight crush.

I have a partially scraped LMK/Rise crossover where the whole courtnapping thing is brought up, and they wonder if by some demon/yokai law, Big Mama and Splinter are technically married, but not officially. I just haven't bothered to write it out because I keep getting stuck on exposition and like little to no plot!

The amount of times I've typed Courtnap/Courtnapped/Courtnapping, and how not weird it sounds now is interesting if weird.

[istadris]

@nuctoria I'm answering this on its own because I have a Very Important Question : is Luigi or Bowser the one laying the egg? Because Luigi being the carrier would have so much potential on both hilarious and angsty side!

For the angst, I recommend this excellent fic : It Was a Mistake (Some TW to take in account but don't worry it'll certainly end well!

In fact, let's go with this idea of Luigi discovering (to his great shock) that Koopas and humans are reproductively compatible and Koopas have a wonderful bit of magic that helps their partner's insides adapt to egg laying.

BUT! I am not here for angst but for humour, so humour me with this other scenario :

After a one-night stand they both agreed should be forgotten, Luigi and Bowser don't interact for months. But one day Bowser learns that Luigi is taking care of an egg...and of course, he doesn't put two and two together and instead of coming to the obvious conclusion, he scoffs in anger, convinced Luigi is going after every Yoshi or Koopa laying down for him.

"Am I not good enough for him?? Now he's off adopting eggs from some random hussie?? Well GOOD FOR HIM!! It's not like I care about him in any way!"

(to be fair to him, because of weird Koopa biology, if he thought an egg would be laid, he would fully expect to be the carrier).

But because the Kooaplings are NOT dummies (well, not all of them), they immediately understand what happened. And they react to the news by "new baby sibling? Well we can't let the Mario Losers keep a child of the Koopa king, let's get it back".

Big.

Mistake.

Oooooh boy, is it a big one.

When the Koopalings show up and try to snatch baby Koopaling, Luigi snaps. You mess with baby, you get Mama Luigi.

He sends them all packing back to the Darklands with broken shells, twisted tails and a newfound respect for Luigi. Such a fearsome mama!! Sure, they really, really want to get their future sibling back now, but Luigi has more fire than expected! Where was that courage all this time?

Thus, as the good, loyal and diligent kids they are, they scheme a whole plan to force Bowser to meet with Luigi again. Completely out of filial love, and not at all because Luigi now terrifies them and they would rather send Dad to deal with him before facing his Poltergust again.

...."Hey, how much do you think it would take to bribe Mario into helping us?"

[dandylovesturtles]

just a little write-up for one of my sillier AUs that I have in my head because I was thinking about it and just wanted to chat about it. this is all meant for spooky funsies so don't take anything too seriously here.

I do plan to write one of my Bad Things Happen Bingo entries set in this AU (no idea when I'll actually get around to it, but anyway) and maybe some other things in this AU if I feel like it. It just floats around in my head sometimes.

this is very very vaguely inspired by the old show So Weird, or more specifically the hazy memories of So Weird that I have from when I watched it as a child lol

ROTTMNT Paranormal Investigator AU!

Timeline:

instead of being a martial arts clan, the Hamato clan is a clan of psychics, people who have a mystical connection to the paranormal and supernatural, able to see things other humans cannot. their task is to keep the balance between our world and the world of the supernatural, and to protect humanity from particularly malicious spirits, demons, and cryptids

after losing his mother to the fight against a demon, Hamato Yoshi decides to leave the clan and eventually becomes a famous movie star

unfortunately with no one around to keep balance, the forces of the paranormal start to encroach on the mortal world more and more, wreaking havoc

the boys are still mutant turtles and Yoshi still ends up a rat. how? idk. honestly it's not important. it's a thing that is mostly lampshaded in this AU lol I just still wanted them to be turtles. I think Draxum is still here and he still wanted to make warriors using the Lou Jitsu DNA but the whole thing went astray and now he's just like their weird uncle they call sometimes when they have a problem

as they get older, various dangerous paranormal events convince Yoshi that he needs to begin training his sons in their clan's ancient arts and honing their psychic abilities, so that they can begin to restore balance in the world

uuuunfortunately he's super rusty and the kids are still learning so they have to do a lot of investigating of rumors and tips that get sent to them. this means a lot of legwork and a loooot of nothing. like 95% of what the boys deal with are misunderstandings, hoaxes, and rich assholes taking advantage of local legends for nefarious schemes

the other 5% though... those are the doozies

Yoshi has an apartment in New York that the kids grew up in but now they spend a lot of their time traveling the country in a big ass camper (van life)

also April is here

Leo

the skeptic

up until they ran into their first real paranormal occurrence, Leo was fully convinced that all this ghost stuff was nonsense and his dad was just trying to come up with some kind of publicity stunt since his acting career is behind him

after their first real paranormal occurrence, he believes it's real, but he's still super skeptical that most things they hear about are going to amount to anything

and 95% of the time he's right, which he always reminds his brothers of and this is very annoying to the rest of them

he still enjoys traveling around in the van though so he doesn't complain much

super good at scouting out clues and noticing things that the others don't...when they can get him to actually engage with what they're looking into

Leo is on the lower end in terms of psychic ability, but specifically his psychic powers have manifested as essentially a giant negation field. He can't be possessed, enthralled, hypnotized, or compelled, cryptids tend to shy away from him, he naturally rebuffs other supernatural creatures, etc.

this doesn't really help with trying to convince him that these things are real because they tend to run away from him

Donnie

fully believes that the paranormal is real but takes a highly scientific approach to it. he is going to crack the science behind ghosts and he's already got the spot in his room made for his resulting Nobel Prize. he's gonna be Donatello Hamato, Father of Ectobiology

builds them all kinds of ghost/demon/cryptid hunting gadgets, and is the one that handles all their equipment anywhere they go

reads books on ghosts and cryptozoology and then writes truly scathing reviews on good reads

is also the one who does upkeep on the van (it's only nice as it is because of Donnie)

claims to only care about evidence during a hunt but then has a tendency to get carried away when he thinks he's on the trail of something interesting

still, he can come around to a natural explanation like Leo if he sees enough evidence

he's also on the lower end in terms of psychic ability; what he does have gives him information. he's able to see the threads of how spirits connect to and interact with our world, able to tell at a glance when a footprint or dropping is not of natural origin (even if he's never seen it's kind before), able to sense when there may be some evidence the others can't see in the room. sometimes spirits are even compelled to beam knowledge directly to Donnie. also, demons or spirits trying to disguise their true faces doesn't work on him.

which actually freaks him out sometimes but he doesn't tell them that

the twins' psychic power also manifests in a lowkey Twin Sense in this AU; they can't literally read each other's thoughts, but they can feel when the other is having strong emotions or is in pain, and they'll just get a Bad Feeling if the other is in trouble of some kind

Raph

sits somewhere between Leo and Mikey/Donnie on the skepticism scale, but frankly he doesn't care if it's natural or supernatural as long as he can help

cryptids never like him and this bums him out. some of them are cute :c

on the flip side he seems to be a calming presence for certain spirits, especially childish ones

very scared of getting demon possessed, doesn't mention it

actually kind of loves when the solution turns out to be some kind of bad guy and then he gets to help hunt down and catch and unmask them, like some kind of super cool police detective

is the defacto leader because he's the oldest/biggest and no one else wanted the job anyway

drives the van when Yoshi doesn't want to (the others drive it sometimes too but Raph and April are the only ones with an actual license)

has a much higher psychic ability than the twins, able to sense when there is something supernatural in the area, able to talk to spirits, able to touch spirits and demons if they've crossed fully over into our world even if they are normally intangible. means he can punch a demon in the face if he wants to. he's able to do various rituals and exorcisms if needed as well, and can often banish spirits or demons if he knows what they are and how to best get rid of them. often does protection wards on his brothers when he thinks there's something dangerous around.

Mikey

a true believer, but doesn't think it's a puzzle that can be solved like Donnie does. there are things about the world and universe that are unexplainable, and he likes it that way

if the solution is something natural he's pretty much useless at helping though

"don't run off-" Mikey is already on the other side of the haunted house

is easily the most restless when cooped up in the van and prefers when they decide to camp at a campsite. loves sleeping outside.

Leo and Mikey are still close, but have a very highkey sibling rivalry over their differences of opinion with regards to the supernatural and what they're even doing

even still, Leo tries to stay close to Mikey to protect him (but Mikey often runs off so its a moot point)

unsurprisingly, Mikey is the strongest psychic of the bunch, and is in fact ridiculously strong. he can sense the presence of spirits, can communicate with them even if they haven't fully crossed over into our world, and can even do some minor mind reading and tell when people are being untruthful or compelled (he has to actively choose to do it though so his fam's privacy is safe. sometimes he gets visions of things that are about to happen. unfortunately he's also very vulnerable to possession and compulsion because of this, and cryptids are attracted to him, for good or ill. sometimes the things they cross are friendly or just looking for help, and Mikey is happy to do so! other times... not so much

April

she already believed in the supernatural before meeting the boys and meeting them just cemented her worldview for her

she loves ghost hunting/paranormal investigation for the thrill of it all

goes with the boys whenever she doesn't actively have to be in school; demands all the details when she can't be there

the one walking in yelling WHAT'S UP DEMONS, IT'S YA GIRL

along the way she picked up Mayhem and he's her pet now. he can teleport her to the boys if they need her help and she's still in New York

absolutely no psychic ability but she does have a bat

Yoshi

almost as powerful as Mikey, but retired

gives the boys lessons but otherwise usually stays in the van watching TV while they're actively investigating

only steps in if he thinks something terrible is about to happen

usually it's fine

[mousermayhem]

Hi! I'm its-a-reptile-thing (sending asks from the main). Would love to hear your other ideas on "what if Shredder was an okay dad?" And as a followup, how does this change Karai's dynamics with other characters?

(I'm more comfortable with asks and reblogs. Hope that's alright!)

Yeah! I’d said DMs before cause I wasn’t sure if I wanted to put it all out there yet, considering it has been forever since I saw 2012 so my recollection is vague. And sure Good Dad Shredder could be done for really any iteration with Shredder and Karai but this is particularly for 12. So uh. Apologies in advance for anything I misremember but hey it’s an au anyways lol. Under a cut cause it’s long.

- Most important bit of this to me is that Shredder really doesn’t lie to Karai a whole lot. He makes it clear he hates her father but had no real ill will towards her mother and since Yoshi hadn’t come for her after the fire he took on raising her as her Uncle. (Will probably need to change a bit of what happened with all that but oh well) Hell, legally her name is still Hamato Miwa and she goes by Miwa at school. Karai is just what Saki calls her as a nickname cause she’s stubborn as hell.

- Despite being fully trained and able, she’s not allowed to join in any revenge plots and she Will be grounded if he finds out she’s been fighting the Turtles instead of doing homework.

- Speaking of the Turtles, Saki has no real issue with them and would rather not fight children. In fact it’s another point on his list of reasons he hates Splinter cause why are Teens out there doing vigilante shit. This is also an issue he has with his henchmen cause he keeps telling them to leave the kids alone but they all have individual beef with the turtles and keep trying to fight them.

- Saki has like. Normal Guy hobbies and activities outside of revenge. He teaches beginner martial arts classes at the local rec center on Thursdays.

- The big reveal is not that Karai is Miwa but that when confronted with that information she’s like ‘Uh yeah of course I am’ and is just fully embracing the revenge plots. Or, trying to without being grounded.

- The Kraang are a major issue though so Karai and the Turtles are able to strongarm Saki and Splinter into a truce but Karai still sees Saki as her dad despite him never letting her call him that, and Splinter has to deal with letting her go.

Bonus: Karai and April actually go to the same school but were never in any of the same classes until one semester they are and are assigned to do a project together and April has a bizarrely normal time at their house.

[starsfic]

Reaching Out

Summary: A few hours before the mutation, Yoshi and Draxum try to talk things out. It doesn't go well.

Ko-Fi

-_-

Hamato Kouki opened the door to his townhouse and nearly slammed it back close. 

Only a hand, gripping the door, stopped him. “What are you doing here?” he said, glaring at his brother-in-law. Sure, maybe it was a little harsh, but harshness was justified, considering he had heard crying from Yoshi’s bedroom.

“What has your brother told you?” Baron Draxum rumbled back.

Kouki released the door to cross his arms. “Not much,” he admitted. Barely three hours ago, Yoshi had come knocking with the turtle tank and visible red in his eyes. It was the second time since he had started seeing Draxum and the first since they had gotten married. “Just that you guys had a fight, and he wanted to sleep over until you both calmed down and could talk.”

Draxum stared at him, and Kuoki resisted a shudder. It wasn’t the first time he felt like Draxum stared at him like he was nothing more than a specimen to dissect. He had always been uneasy around the baron, but he seemed like a saint compared to Big Mama.

Now, he wondered if he was wrong.

“...I am here to talk,” Draxum’s rumble made him blink. He could see those eyes narrow behind his mask. “Are you going to stand in my way?”

“Is now really a good time?” It was said on instinct. “I mean, you made Yoshi cry with whatever your fight was about.” Yoshi rarely cried, not even when times were lean, and Kouki doubted that he could protect him from hunger and cold, much less the Foot. To have him crying now, on the night his nephews were supposed to be created, suggested things had gotten bad between them. “I really think you should wait until tomorrow.”

Draxum’s cold gaze had briefly softened at the mention of Yoshi crying. “I’m aware that it is most likely too soon,” the baron rumbled. “However, I want to talk. Not just for us, but for our children.”

Kouki stared at him for a second longer, internally debating what to do. On one hand, he was eager to be an uncle. On the other hand, he was a protective big brother with an in-law he had never really liked. It felt like both parts of him, both parts of his family, were yanking his heart one way or the other. Finally, one part won out. “Okay,” he sighed. “Come inside. I’ll talk to Yoshi.” He held up a hand before Draxum could step inside. “If he says no, you have to wait until tomorrow. Deal?” He held out a hand.

“Deal.” Draxum simply stepped past him to stand in the living room. He didn’t sit or anything. He just stood there with arms crossed. If Kouki didn’t know better, Draxum would’ve made a very convincing statue. Excluding those eyes. Those eyes bore into his skin.

“Okay.” Kouki closed the door with a sigh. The fact that Draxum hadn’t just shoved his way in and marched upstairs was progress. He marched past his brother-in-law, trying to ignore the intense stare, and headed up the stairs.

The hallway was decorated with pictures, both of him and Yoshi, framed movie posters, and Yoshi’s art. Kouki glanced at the pictures and came to a pause at one. Here, a week after Tang Shen had found them, kid Yoshi posed in a cute tuxedo, his grin wide and chubby-cheeked. Kouki found himself sighing at the image before continuing his march down the hall.

Hopefully, he was doing the right thing.

He came to a stop at Yoshi’s door. He didn’t hear anything. Still, he knocked. “Yoshi-kun?” 

“The door’s open.”

He opened the door and stepped inside, being careful to close the door behind him. Yoshi had cleared his desk of any art supplies to set up the turtle tank. He glanced over his shoulder at him, holding tweezers full of some kind of sponge. The redness had faded from his eyes, just a tad, but some pinkness lingered. A tired smile spread across his face. “Hey.”

“Hey. Uh, Draxum’s here.”

Yoshi blinked. “Excuse me?”

“He’s here. He said he wanted to talk. I said I would ask you-” Regret hit like a truck. He should’ve sent Draxum away. Hell, he didn’t even know what their fight had been about. “I said I would ask you. He’s downstairs. If you don’t want to, I made him agree to leave-”

“I want to talk to him.”

Kouki blinked. “You do?”

Yoshi nodded. “It’s been long enough.”

“It's been three hours.”

“It's been long enough. We’ve had time to cool down.” Yoshi handed him the tweezers. “Could you stay here with the boys? Leonardo’s hungry, so I'm trying to feed him.”

“Sure.” Kouki waited until Yoshi was at the door. “Let me know if you need backup.”

“Thanks.”

The door shut behind him.

Kouki turned to the four turtle tanks. The hawksbill dubbed Leonardo stared at him, or at least the sponge. He and the box turtle had gotten a little bigger since Yoshi had saved them. The leatherback was way bigger now, to the point that Kouki was tempted to get another tank for him.

Hopefully, they wouldn't need the tank.

It would probably be fine. Yoshi had his ways to soothe and calm Draxum. Things would probably be a little messy at first, but it would be fine.

He was sure of it.

-_-

Yoshi closed the door and collapsed against it, glad Kouki was distracted with the turtles. His children. His and Draxum’s children.

Draxum.

Gods, Draxum.

His first instinct was to flee, just grab the turtles and his brother and maybe Tang Shen, and run. Except Draxum was persistent and would chase after him to the ends of the earth. Especially if it meant that his plans succeeded.

His plans to destroy humanity. His plans to use Yoshi to create super soldiers and have their sons, those little turtles floating in the tank, lead the charge. It was fucked up.

Worse of all, Yoshi couldn’t say he was surprised.

His love had a hatred for humanity, excluding a few he liked (basically just Yoshi and, by extension, Tang Shen and Kouki). He knew he had trauma from the wars that raged long before Yoshi was born, based on the nights when he would be awoken by Draxum’s nightmares or wake up to an empty bed. He often spoke of the injustice of the yokai being forced underground by ancient agreements and forced into hiding if they dared to go to the surface. Yoshi had nodded in agreement, voicing his agreement for the injustice.

But this? Taking over a world that had no knowledge of the yokai? Using children, their children to spill blood? Yoshi couldn’t handle that idea.

Yoshi’s hand reached up to fiddle with his wedding band, a lovely sapphire ring that had been in Draxum’s clan for centuries. But there was a chance. Draxum could be reasoned with, under all his passion and determination. He loved Yoshi and allowed him to speak on matters that honestly didn’t concern him. Yoshi took a deep breath and steeled himself before heading down the hallway. This time would be no different. He was sure of it.

Draxum stood downstairs, as Kouki said. He looked like a statue, carved handsomely and standing so still, excluding his eyes. Those eyes warmed when they met his. Draxum relaxed his stance, dropping his crossed arms. “Yoshi,” he said.

He paused at the bottom of the stairs, suddenly feeling ridiculously small. It was like the first time he had tried to confess his feelings to the baron, half out of his mind with blood loss while the other man tried to stitch him up. He knew Draxum didn’t mean it, but it was still there. Yoshi took a deep breath and straightened up. “Draxum.”

There was a pause, and then Draxum raised an arm. Yoshi didn’t pause to come over at that sight, more than willing to accept affection when Draxum offered. He wrapped his arms around his husband’s broad body, sighing into it. “I missed you.”

“We’ve only been apart for a few hours.”

“Yeah, so?” Draxum made a soft noise above his head, a mix of a chuckle and a huff. Yoshi smiled at the noise, pulling away to allow him a look. There was no visible mark from the vase he had thrown at him during their fight. Still. "I'm sorry for throwing that vase at you."

"I forgive you. I apologize for the way I worded things," Draxum didn't look apologetic, but Yoshi was willing that was based on the mask. "I should have considered how you would have reacted."

Okay. Yoshi took in a deep breath, held it, and released it. "Were you planning on telling me?" he asked quietly, staring at Draxum's chest in order to avoid those piercing eyes. "Or were you going to keep me in the dark until you couldn't hide it anymore?"

"I was going to tell you, eventually." Draxum squeezed him tighter. "I did not want to disturb you with thoughts of the future. But, I promise, I would have told you before the first attack."

...the first attack.

"...you already have that planned?"

"I must," Draxum's voice was a low rumble, and if this was any other day, Yoshi would be soothed. "I worried about telling you this, but there's a prophecy."

Wait. Oh no. No, no, no…

"Something will come in the future and threaten all yokai," Draxum's grip was tight, too tight. "It has to be humans. It's the only thing that makes sense-"

"NO!" Yoshi yanked away hard enough that Draxum stumbled back, eyes wide. He reached forward, cupping his husband's face as he tried for a smile, even as it felt too wide. "No, no, believe me, it isn't. The threat is gone. I made sure of it."

He and Kouki had made sure of it their first few weeks in New York. They had taken the pieces that they had been able to get away with and hid them everywhere they could think of. Tang Shen had been a great source of help.

Draxum didn't seem reassured. He leaned back, looking concerned as if Yoshi had started speaking in tongues. "You... made sure of it?" He nodded, feeling more like a bobblehead. Draxum reached forward, voice concerned. "Yoshi, you're confused. I think you need to lie down."

"Oh, fuck you," Yoshi yanked away from the hand on his forehead, suddenly and fiercely angry. Questions about their relationship were starting to bubble back up. "I know you have a history, I understand that I will never ever be able to understand it fully." He was like his father, speaking of a war that had continued on for years for their clan even when the yokai retreated. "But that does not mean every human has to suffer for it!"

"Yoshi-"

"Look, I..." Yoshi sighed, reaching up and rubbing his temple. "I can't explain it. Maybe in the future." He pushed past Draxum, heading up the stairs. "We'll talk tomorrow once I'm calmed down."

He should've known Draxum wouldn't leave it like that. 

A hand grabbed his wrist. Yoshi turned, ready to snarl at Draxum, only to feel something slam into his face. He stumbled back, his face aching from the blow, only to feel the hands that had been gently wrapped around him just a few minutes ago dig into his hair, hard enough that he cried out.

His head slammed into the wall, and the world went dark.

-_-

He wished that it did not have to be like this.

Yoshi's lovely face was scrunched up, his cheek throbbing with an angry red handprint. As Draxum scooped him up, cupping his head, he felt something wet and sticky meet his fingers. He rarely winced at violence, but now he winced.

It was different with someone you loved.

"How dare-" He looked up in time to dodge an enraged punch from Kouki. He must've heard the noise. "DARE YOU-!" Draxum dodged another punch, managing to get Yoshi over his shoulder. With him out of the way, it was all too easy to grab Kouki's wrist and send him flying right into the glass table in the center of the living room. Kouki's enraged yell died out as suddenly as it started.

Draxum stepped over the glass to eye his brother-in-law, various cuts and bruises staining his form. Ah. Based on the faint rise and fall of his chest, he was still alive. Draxum snapped his finger, sending some vines around the man, tying him up before picking him up. There was no need to have him running loose, trying to fulfill the Hamato legacy of yokai-killing.

With the Hamato brothers out of the way, Draxum was free to go after his true prize.

His steps were quiet as he headed upstairs and down the hall. Yoshi's door opened without a creak, allowing him entry.

And there, nestled safely in their tank, were four baby turtles.

Draxum picked up the tank as a portal opened. There was no time to waste. He needed to have things ready before Yoshi woke up.

Once the turtles were mutated, he would need to train them. Hopefully, he would have time to make his husband understand. Once he did, things would be perfect.

The yokai would have the surface and he would have his family.

[leadenn]

EVEN MORE MOM TANG SHEN

part four I think I don't fucking know I write I don't do math

Raph follows Shen around like a little duckling, all the boys do when she's home since she's gone most of the day, but Raph is basically her little shadow. She calls him that, she arrives home from work and locks the door behind her and she asks where her little shadow is. Then Raph, upon hearing her voice fucking barrels towards her at high speed and demands he be picked up. Mikey and Leo also demand hugs when she arrives home but Donnie would prefer a little pat on the head when she ccomes home.

She's very much a boy mom not in the weird gross way but as in she just loves her sons and gets dirty and gross playing with them bc they're four boys that live in the sewers eight months of the year. Also, post move into the sewers Shen doubles her budget for hygiene bc she can deal with being the crazy widow recluse lady with a cane but she REFUSES to also smell while being that lady.

The risk of being stinky is the only thing she doesn't like about her family life tho, like she adores her sons.

She spends time with Donnie by helping him learn (he often doesn't need help, but she knows he doesn't want to hurt her feelings by telling her that. Shen finds it very sweet) and reading to him. Tbh some of the books he asks her to get for him are beyond her understanding but anything to make her little genius happy. If he wants to listen to free lectures online about physics? She'll happily listen with him. She never wants him to lose interest in learning or feel embarrassed about his passion for science and learning. Despite their situation, she knows that her boy will do great things.

Leo and her read together, and it's things more within her area. History and literature. Sometimes Mikey joins them, but books are usually a Momma and Leo activity. He also is the most interested in their heritage. She's happy to answer any questions about history or folk tales from their culture, and the way his little eyes light up remind her of Yoshi back when they were kids and Shen would tell him and his disgrace of a "brother" stories from her books. She also notices he likes helping her and Yoshi care for his brothers but she never lets him think that it's his job. She does enjoy watching him play big brother though, it was adorable

Mikey has a giant imagination, and he loves to play pretend. He doesn't need to hear stories, because he prefers to tell them. He makes plays up, he makes little puppets out of things he finds around their home in the sewers, and he puts on shows. He likes books, but Shen thinks he'd be better at writing them than reading them. She's happy to encourage his creativity, and she'll always be his biggest fan. If he wants to write or make art as he grows, Shen will move heaven and earth to show how talented and bright her boy is. How? She doesn't know, but she'll do it.

Raph, her little shadow, is happy doing anything she does. He helps her with chores, he helps her cook, he asks her questions about people and what the surface was like, and despite how much he loved their home and family she could tell he wants more. So Shen and Yoshi did their best to give him everything. He loved ninjutsu, he loved playing with his brothers, he loved the books and movies Shen provided them, but he wanted more. As sweet as her little shadow is, he acted out because he wanted to have more than what was safe. It breaks Shen's heart, but there was nothing she could do to make the world a safe place for her boys. Most days, he's content to be Shen's little shadow and be a good student for Yoshi. Shen knew that this wouldn't go away with age.

Also I think Yoshi would assume Shen no longer loved him or felt attracted to him bc of how he looks and just stayed to help take care of their sons. That isn't the case and it takes several years for Yoshi to really accept that Shen loves him no matter what he looks like.

"Are you still 6'1 and muscular?" Shen asked him, and he stopped cutting the cucumbers for the smashed cucumber salad they were making. He had casually mentioned it being okay if Shen was uncomfortable around him. She had just let out a sigh of annoyance. Yoshi was confused, but nodded in reply. "Then don't worry." She said, leaning over and kissing his cheek.

"I love you." He said, because he felt as if he never said it enough. He didn't save their daughter. He didn't save Shen from getting injured to the point of disability. He was a giant rat. The only thing he's provided her in their marriage that he didn't eventually ruin was their sons. Yet she stayed with him, she loved him, she ran her hands through his fur, she kisses him many times a day, and she melted into his arms when he held her.

"I love you too, Yoshi." She said, leaning over to kiss him. She stopped, and glared at the cutting board. "And if you want me to continue loving you, you'll cut the cucumber slices correctly."

He smiles, and kisses her nose. She pokes his with her finger. He smiles wider.

[tmnt-obsessed-ace]

What if the events of Lost But Never Found (your au with the amnesiac 2012 Leo turned battle nexus champion) happened in the same universe as Ghost In The Shell (SAINW Donnie adopting the rise kids) how would Ghost react to that?

Oho :)

Imagine being Ghost for a second. You and your family just managed to send the Shredder back to its Prison Dimension (or at least you hope that Big Mama would keep her word on that, but knowing her its honestly a gamble) and as you're going home, Leo suddenly runs ahead yelling that they need to hurry, they need to go help Indigo. Who the hell is Indigo?

Well when you and your family get back Leo hurries to the medbay, and you naturally follow him.

Only to see another mutant turtle wearing strange armor and wraps, badly injured, covered in so many scars, barely conscious and most importantly, holding a knife to Donnie's throat.

Well he is until he passes out from bloodloss and exhaustion.

How are you even supposed to process that?

Once he's out of the of the armor (so many more scars were hidden underneath) and bandaged up, a blood test is drawn.

And it turns out that not only is this turtle actually a mutant, but a biological match to Hamato Yoshi.

Aka Splinter.

Even worse, this kid says he's been fighting in the Battle Nexus quote "For as long as I can remember" (which for Indigo/Leo is only 4 months. He's been in this dimension for 4 months and he cant remember anything before the 4 months so... :3)

Ghost is devastated. This...this is one of his kids. One of his children was forced to fight in the Battle Nexus for so long that he doesnt remember anything from before the Nexus. (not really but thats the only conclusion you could draw based on the many MANY scars it makes sense to come to that conclusion)

How did this happen? Did Draxum make another turtle using Splinter's DNA? Or was Indigo created at the same time as the others? If so why did he get left behind? How did he end up in the Nexus and in Big Mama's clutches?

Did...did Draxum sell Indigo to Big Mama? Or just give him up? Did Big Mama have Indigo trained purely to fight in the Nexus? She's clearly not above putting loved ones in the arena, she did it to Splinter already.

Still raising a child just to make him fight to the death? Thats so unbelievably evil and cruel. Ghost thought Big Mama wouldnt stoop that low.

But the scars covering Indigo's body (some of which are several YEARS old), the pure exhaustion in his strange eyes, the pure survival instincts so deeply ingrained into this kid is all the proof you need.

Can he even be called a kid? He looks older than the kids, even older than Raph. Indigo looks like he's 18-20 at the minimum...but if he's truly been fighting in the Battle Nexus for years it would make sense for him to look much older than he actually is.

Ghost understands, god he understands, in the Battle Nexus every fight is life or death, kill or be killed. Recovering from that ordeal is beyond difficult. And Indigo has presumably been in the Battle Nexus for much loger than Ghost has.

So I can imagine that Ghost would be the most patient while trying to help Indigo adjust now that not every moment is a fight to survive. (Especially when dealing with Indigo's very murdery tendencies. If Indigo feels like you are a threat to either himself or his brothers there is a very HIGH chance you will end up dead. He became one of the top FIVE battle nexus fighters for a reason.His current body count is 301 for a reason)

But Ghost is also the most protective over the new family member. (You thought Ghost was motherhening the Rise kids wait till he starts with Indigo. If Big Mama or Draxum even look at Indigo they better pick a god and pray. Indigo is still healing and Ghost will be damned if he lets his new child suffer anymore than he already had too.)

Indigo is basically Ghost's worst fear for the Rise kids come true. A kid who lost his entire childhood fighting battles that werent his and didnt have a choice in the matter. He didnt get to be a kid.

And now Indigo has dozens of scars, physical and mental, all because of Big Mama being a selfish asshole and force her own child to become a battle nexus champion

But...things will start to make Ghost question how true his current theory is. Like for example, Indigo is physically different from the Rise kids. (Short and stocky, round three toed feet) the strange nightmares that start becoming more and more frequent as time goes on (and oddly specific too, like sinking in the ocean, helmet exploding in outer space, getting attacked by a metal monster in the winter, getting thrown through a window, decapitating a metal and bone monster) the fact that he primarily uses twin katanas as weapons, little mannerisms that keeping showing up that remind Ghost too much of Leonardo.

And the gaps in the story dont help. How old was Indigo when he first started fighting in the Battle Nexus? Who trained him before that (because it is OBVIOUS that Indigo has gotten formal training that the Battle Nexus would provide) why doesnt Indigo recognize Draxum? Why doesnt Draxum know who Indigo even is? Why does Indigo act so much like Leonardo sometimes that its uncanny?

Too many things dont add up about that story

However unlike Donnie, Ghost can understand keeping secrets (he has so, so many secrets) so he doesnt try to pry too much. But he cant help but wonder what exactly happened to Indigo

Little does Ghost know, that Indigo already has a family thats looking for their big brother...

(@bluepeachstudios I borrowed ghost for a second, also love GITS its one of my favorite fics now)

[yellowhollyhock]

thinking about. When Hamato Yoshi becomes Master Splinter

Especially 1987 but I think this applies to 2012 as well. maybe not so much Rise, but idk it could in some ways

Extremely traumatic to have your humanity taken from you in that way.

But let's also talk about the fact that this was done to him... by humans. His experience with humanity has been that they are violent, greedy, corrupt. Okay so that was mostly Shredder, but he also spent some time just out in the streets. I mean the story is different and focuses on different things with each Splinter but, rat or human, the base of the story is usually that he fled Japan (where he experiened extreme violence) and landed in New York City where he had nothing. The Splinters who were rats, canon deals more explicitly with their view of humans as.. not evil exactly (except mutant mayhem), but not good. In need of protection and guidance, at best.

But what about Hamato Yoshi rejecting his humanity? It was taken from him unwillingly, and for someone who likes to be in control it would make sense for his coping mechanism to be reinterpreting his situation as an ascent to something purer. And this could explain in a way how he trains the turtles to be heroes. Their family is above humanity, almost like instead of beasts he thinks of them as spirits. There has to be a word, right, for that literary device where the nonhumans are less corruptible? like Smurfs. does what I'm saying make sense

Basically his mutation made him a rat, and in order to avoid the trauma of his body being involuntarily changed I think he chooses to see this as a sacred experience. Rat > Human. He will be more sly, more disconnected from earthly vice, more resourceful, less wasteful.

Now contrast this with the turtles mutation experience.

Generally we don't see them wanting to go back to being regular turtles; they want to become more human. The mutagen didn't even 'mix' them with a human, it enhanced their strength and intelligence and a lot of other random wonky things that made them seem humanoid. For them becoming human-adjacent was the same thing as becoming aware. Without the mutagen, they wouldn't know each other's names, wouldn't be able to enjoy pizza or video games, certainly couldn't learn martial arts. From their pov, humans are above them on the scale. Humanity is something they chase, try to understand and immerse themselves in, and rejection from that world hurts.

Master Splinter, then, to them, took a big fall for them. I could almost compare it to a parent giving up a career in order to be a parent. The older they get the more they realize, first that it happened, and then that it had to happen because of them. They have to give him another chance at that other life, because it's their fault he lost it (from the pov, at least).

And I just. Think about when he scolds them for those human vices he's made himself believe his more animal state will help him overcome. Laziness, gluttony, envy (hoo boy envy. whole other post), selfishness. He pushes them to train, and keep the lair clean, to protect them from becoming what he once was.

And it's really sad because what he once was. Was human. Just human.

And it's the wrong word for the turtles, but it's the same concept. Just let your kids be human. Let them be teenagers. And to his credit, he does try. He allows them their pizza and video games and human friends. But he also seems constantly on guard for their sakes. Not only will the human world reject them, something he experienced himself and doesn't want to face, but it also has the power to ruin them. Like where they are is the ideal and becoming more human-like could make them.. more inherently bad. He wants to keep them in his own little world because he's crafted one where being what they are is an honor, not a shame. But he can't comprehend how, living under his roof, the turtles are still experiencing an entirely different world.

They don't ever truly get it, either, that he doesn't see his mutation the ay they do. And it's not that I don't think he ever sees becoming a rat as a fall from grace. I'm sure those feelings also exist. But he cultivates and acts on this other idea because it's simply more useful to him than self-pity. And that's really cool of him on some level! Empowering to reject humans just as thoroughly as they rejected him; he deserves a story where what happened to him all worked out for the best and was his destiny all along. It's just... he also didn't take the time to heal (how could he, given circumstances?), and that does affect how he treats his children.

Does any of this make sense? It's just a very interesting dynamic

[blanceyblance]

Ok, but the current Rise turtles family tree it's really funny because its so wacky they are

The descendants of the Hamato Clan, a clan with a mystic art passed through generations powerful enough to stop the Shredder from terrorizing Japan

The sons of Lou Jitsu/Hamato Yoshi an action movie star famous enough for people to have all kinds of merch, AND was also a powerful Battle Nexus Champion good enough for Draxum (who hated humans) to want to use his dna for his soldiers. So he was big with humans and yokai.

Draxum was like, well off? He had like a castle before they burned his lab. And was important enough to be able to talk with the Council of heads. Is he an actual Baron? What's his deal? Anyway, since the turtles are his kids, are they related to yokai nobility?

Now, they actually have two other siblings in Piebald and Sloppy Joseph. A goldfish mutant and a pile of sentient meat.

And the missing sisters, we have confirmation that one of them is Big Mama's assistant and the other one is trapped in another dimension. (I will never forgive being robbed of Frida Hamato honestly)

The Shredder is their grandpa and it just sounds so funny. But the way it works here is that they can summon the souls of past Hamatos. Can you imagine the boys inviting Gram gram Karai to thanksgiving or something and having her interact with Casey. Or they talking with Saki in a very awkward family dinner.

Let's not forget our favorite time traveler boy

And the little floating AI who is like a son to Donnie

And Todd, their funny uncle who somehow got accepted into the fam.

What I'm saying is that, this is Addams family level of wacky and we deserved to explore more of them and what does it mean for the turtles.

[its-wabby-stuff]

I am proposing another Rise Separated AU that I wanna call the uncommon swaps. Here’s a little about my (probably not going anywhere) separated AU.

Starting with Donatello:

-raised by Splinter as an only child. Splinter doesn’t tell him anything about his brothers or his previous life as Lou Jitsu or Yoshi Hamato. The kid does not need to be burdened with problems he cannot fix.

-uses his full name. Doesn’t have brothers to give him any sort of nickname. Still meets April when he’s about 9, who nicknames him Don. They are BFFs.

-feels alone a lot despite always having his dad and April (who’s often at school). Builds himself little robots to keep him company and absolutely unhinged projects because he has no one to stop him. He keeps them for himself and has not had a reason to use them yet.

-still trains in ninjutsu. He uses a wooden staff until he makes his techbo.

-has this belief (after performing an at home DNA test from an ancestry kit) that he was once human like Splinter (he knows Splints was once human but not who he was) and was mutated somehow, but he doesn’t get any answers. Wants to be human.

-when he’s about 11, he creates some kind of machine, excuse, or disguise allowing him to go to school with April.

-Splinter, using his plentiful stealth powers, is still keeping a watch out for the other turtle boys, hoping they are not in the hands of Draxum and his evil plans.

Now Leo has been scattered around the most in these AUs, so this is just my favorite option-Leonardo, now named Prince:

-raised by Big Mama. She sent Gus after the two gargoyles who stole her champion (and love of her life), who followed them back to Draxum’s lair. Gus brought back Leo, who was a tiny, very scared little turtle. After a report from Gus, Big Mama put two and two together and realized this turtle had been- mutated from her champions DNA.

-At first, Big Mama had no feelings for the turtle and kept it to teach Draxum a lesson about stealing from her, leaving the turtle in a tank on her desk while he was still tiny and small. Eventually she put him in training, where he showed great talent. And after Leo started talking his way out of training and up to see Big Mama, she really started taking an interest.

-Prince is an excellent manipulator and blackmailer. He used to sit in meetings with Big Mama where he was asked to put on his baby charm and it would get people to make deals with them.

-Prince dual wields Katanas

-Prince becomes her child. And she starts to see Prince as the potential future she could’ve had with Lou Jitsu if her commitment issues hadn’t caused her to make him fight in the Battle nexus. She tells Prince about his father, the champion, and some stories about their time together.

-Prince becomes a hidden city celebrity, making ads for the Battle Nexus and doing various deals for hidden city company’s including Huesos pizza joint. And eventually, when he’s deemed old enough and talented enough to not get mangled, Big Mama allows Prince into the Battle Nexus as her next Champion.

Next up is Mikey:

-Mikey and Raph were taken by Draxum, until Raph decided to take a bite of Draxums hand and he dropped the Box turtle on his shell and down a drain pipe that led back to the surface.

-Mikey was found by a little girl with a spicy attitude who was about 3-5 years old, who decided to keep the weird looking turtle.

-When the girl was 7, she signed up for every clan in New York and was accepted into all of them, choosing to join the foot clan. She took her turtle, who was now like human baby sized and starting to talk, with her.

-In the foot clan, they were only known as foot recruits. But Casey and Mikey (not short for Michelangelo) gave each other nicknames.

-Mikey isn’t a known Hamato, but his potential was present in every bit of training they did. He stood out amongst the recruits as a special case, but he’s not treated like anything special.

-Mikey prefers Nunchucks, with the little blades attached to them. He knows the foot clan portalling ability just like Casey

Now it’s Raph’s turn:

-Raph was taken by Draxum. He cursed the loss of the Box Turtle and the others, but he was glad he had gained at least one, and the one he expected to be the strongest.

-the experiment had been interrupted half way through, and he had not expected them to still be baby turtles. Still he thought it for the best to be able to train and grow the turtles he wanted.

-Draxum isn’t good with names, so he put that task on Hunnin and Muggin who wanted to name him something cool. They thought Blaze or Jax. But though Spike seemed fitting.

-Spike grew up with a soft heart and mild anger issues. Draxum used his soft heart to tell him about the threat humans posses to Yokai kind. Spike got to know a lot of hidden city Yokai.

-Spike is very protective of Yokai and really does believe the humans are a threat. Known as the Hidden City protector. He’s a bit of a vigilante in the Hidden City.

-Spike is a little spoiled. Draxum gives him whatever he wants especially when he’s a good boy. He hasn’t had many bad experiences.

-Spike thinks of Draxum as his father, but Draxum prefers he doesn’t call him that, having Spike call him Master, and address him as sir. Draxum does feel fatherly toward Spike, and is very proud of the warrior he’s made. Despite his plans coming to a halt those 13 years ago, he’s built up quite nicely and believes he may have a chance at beholding the support he needs to eradicate the humans.

-Spike uses the mystic Tonfas

Some extras:

-Spike knows about Prince and vise versa, but they’ve never met. Draxum and Big Mama do not allow it. They have beef.

-The brothers do not think they are brothers. Except Prince thinks Don is his twin when he discovers who his dad is.

-Splinter has a box that is filled with the other boys weapons.

My mind is actually running with ideas for this. I can already imagine how they all meet, and what there interactions are like. So let me know if you want to hear more about my uncommon swap au.

Part two

[ilikekidsshows]

The Battle Nexus arc is possibly my favorite off-world story in this show. It really expands the Turtles’ world into this multiverse thing, where the idea of multiple universes isn’t farfetched at all and traveling between them isn’t even new. It also gives a good way of giving Splinter a more fleshed out past outside just being Yoshi’s companion and the Turtles’ dad. Splinter’s gone on his own adventures, he has old friends he sneaks out to see because he knows his kids will make a big deal out of it all if they knew. It really builds Splinter up as a more complex character. The way the showrunners want to also give focus on Splinter has been visible since season one, though, since it’s Splinter specifically who has an intense hatred for The Shredder, that he grapples with whenever they encounter each other.

Splinter also voices a concern that his adventures might be too dangerous for his children to mimic. It makes me wonder if the Turtles decided they shouldn’t worry their dad by telling them about the dimension-hopping they did with April in the previous episode. It’s the first time the Turtles have traveled between dimensions instead of just space as a team, although it wasn’t Donnie’s first rodeo. (This episode had a nice call-back to that with the Kirby episode characters being contestants.) It would be a fun kind of similarity between the family members if none of them had actually told each other about any of their universe-hopping before.

[shinader]

Yoshie Koda

Hey fellas I'm doing the thing again! Rambling about the OC yippee! Once again I'll be starting with describing my thoughts behind the name!!

For Yoshie, I had a few names thought up. When giving these characters first names I always consider the meaning behind the name so I go through a list of Japanese names along with their meanings. And when I can't settle on one I present it to my lovely beloved @mrfamousthirsttrap to choose for me and she went with Yoshie (好恵) which, according to the site I use, means nice favor/grace. Pretty fitting as I'll elaborate on in a minute but girl only chose the name bc it was similar to Yoshi.

As for Koda, the whole debacle with THAT will be in the next post when I introduce her husband. It's his name, after all, she simply happily took it. I never established a maiden name for her, either. Not important for the story I have to tell.

Yoshie my beloved<3 She has an important role in both the protagonist's & deuteragonist's lives. For Mr. Takeshi the Protagonist, well, she is the weapons tutorial lady. For those familiar with the Yakuza series, you likely remember Kamiyama, the illegal weapons dealer. In Yakuza 3, to unlock every weapon in his shop, you must get certified by the stranger that's training on your private beach. Yoshie is effectively the Kamurocho equivalent of that guy, keep fighting her and get access to more weapons.

Describing her like that makes her seem like a lifeless NPC only meant to be used for gameplay purposes but that is certainly not the case. Each time Takeshi gets a new certification he also gets closer with Yoshie, learning more about her and her connection to the whole story that's unfolding. On top of that, she ends up as a sort of mother figure to Takeshi, something he desperately needs.

Yoshie's connection with weapons runs deep, she's constantly training her body to use them every day, keeping maintenance on them to make sure they're always combat ready, and takes training others very seriously. Unfortunately for her, a lot of what she deals with is illegal, so she's a criminal through and through.

That criminality is etched into her body, same as a yakuza. Yoshie didn't always have tattoos, of course, but when she got engaged to a man in the Yakuza she got sleeves. If her and her husband's tattoos are overlayed on top of one another, they would connect perfectly. They are permanently bonded to each other and the darkness.

With all female characters I'm creating for this story, I want to make sure their story is deeply interwoven with femininity. Yoshie herself is mostly to do with Motherhood, as themes of Family is of course big in this story. There are all sorts of ways a family can be made, and though she's never had a child of her own, that doesn't stop her from caring for others as if they were her own. I mentioned above her thing with Takeshi, but I haven't yet elaborated on Ceddy.

When Ceddy was born, Miyazaki was understandably blindsided by the whole thing. He wasn't sure what to do in the slightest. He wasn't meant to be a father, he was barely a responsible Patriarch as it is, an actual child would not survive with him. That is, that's what he thought, but Yoshie was adamant he keep him, take responsibility for his actions, and raise him right. She, of course, volunteered her and her husband to help raise him. It takes a village, after all.

Yoshie had always loved kids. It always felt natural to simply care for them. However, due to her and her husband's jobs, it would be irresponsible to add a baby to the equation. So they decided they would never raise a child together.

Ceddy, however, was already born. His best chance was with them. So Yoshie made sure they took that chance. Though Ceddy calls her "Auntie Yoshie" she is the closest thing to a real mother he has. And she made a great call, too. Miyazaki was surprisingly a natural and if it weren't for his job he wouldn't really have needed help from the Kodas. There isn't a day that goes by that Miyazaki isn't grateful for their help with everything, though. The bond between the Miyazakis and Kodas is much, much greater than blood.

And next time, I'll put a little close on their little story when talking about Shin Koda!!

[sibillascribbles08]

Tell us some behind the scenes lore about Artificial Phoenix that probably won't make it into the fic proper!

Oh lordy, there's a decent chunk, and a few things I don't wanna go into just yet because it could kinda sorta spoil some stuff later on buuut

Sho does occasionally hang around the turtles as closely as Atsuko does, but he intentionally stays out of their reach because he still partially blames himself for the path Yoshi went down.

This defo won't be in the actual fic, Amarantha is in fact still alive, but Draxum won't see her again until after the movie plot (that I sadly won't be writing out because not enough changes imo).

Lou Jitsu had quite a history with Marcus Moncrief and initially considered contacting him for help after escaping the hidden city, only to discover the actor had gone a bit off the deep end. (What he doesn't know is that Big Mama kidnapping him is partially what started Marcus's massive decline in his mental health oops). He has some books in his room about the actor to try and figure out what happened to him.

Genuinely so sad we couldn't actually visit the thrift stores in the fic (maybe a drabble I could do one day). Some of the owners got very familiar with Splinter and his sons and one of them even offered a trade system since Donnie could fix some of the stuff in their shop.

Splinter was a support pillar for Hueso when he was dealing with his divorce lmao

Draxum moms funfacts! Belladyna is the fully sheep mom, more purple in color and thick curly hair to go with it. Draxum inherited her vine magic. Camarin was built more like an ox (and she was also trans and had some massive horns which Draxum always admired). Her magic is more stone based. Their powers combined is partially why they stuck with farming.

While Splinter didn't really need to eat food or drink stuff while being undead, he kept doing so anyway out of habit. That being said, sometimes he'd forget to for way too long and sometimes his sons would notice and worry.

Carol did have some romantic feelings for Splinter at one point, but never pursued them while he kept being avoidant about certain things (particularly his kids) and now... welp

In canon Splinter has a huge trophy display, but this doesn't exist in AF, any of those he managed to recover have remained in a box since.

This MAY get mentioned but it's highly unlikely, in the back of one of the scrapbooks is an old poster that features Holly Blue that Splinter happened to find buried in the back of Hueso's ad board. It's all he had to remember her with.

Okay this is more a teaser and less a fact, there's a specific reason Draxum's magic came back and I'm excited for that reveal when we get to it

I'll stop there before it goes on too long haha

[skeleton-in-a-hoodie]

In The Road to Hell au, when the kids were young, Donnie tended to be the one staying at the Lair to look after them. He'd still help the rest of the team on missions/ patrol, it was just his role was more like Wade's from Kim Possible, so like hacking into stuff, sending a drone he could pilot, doing quick research as and when needed.

Part of it was because someone had to make sure the kids were okay, and in this au Splinter is the Turtles' nephew, not dad, and they couldn't really ask a 2 year old Yoshi to watch his big sisters. Another is that missions couldn't be postponed to fit around the kiddos' bedtime, especially the time sensitive ones.

A third reason was that Yoshi was a super sickly kid, who was always down with something, so more often than not TRTH Turts has a sick kid on their hands, and none of them wanted to leave him alone. Usually it was some form of cold or flu, because this kid's lungs weren't great even before he got mutated with rat dna.

There was one really rough week or so were Yoshi couldn't keep anything down and had a bad fever. It broke, eventually, but it stuck with everyone cause everyone was genuinely afraid rat nephew wasn't going to make it.

Donnie is the family doctor, though Mikey also knows how to do first aid and stuff like that, so he tended to volunteer to stay at the Lair and make sure Yoshi got better.

Eventually Yoshi's immune system gets better, and he goes from being a really sickly little kid to an energetic handful who climbs the walls and ceilings for fun, at which point they start slowly phasing Donnie back into patrol and missions on a more permanent basis.

This ends up having two main consequences.

For several years, Donnie didn't get much field experience, so even though he's an excellent ninja, he lags a bit behind his brothers. This makes him feel self-conscious, which he deals with by working in the lab constantly, because he feels he has to make up for not being as good as his brothers somehow. (Important note: his brothers love him and care about him deeply, so take turns kidnapping him and giving him something to eat that isn't coffee and redbull.)

If Yoshi is feeling sick or upset about something in general, he subconsciously seeks out uncle Donatello for comfort. Because Donnie stayed in the Lair whilst everyone else went on patrol and missions, he's the uncle Yoshi spent the most time with growing up, so being around him makes Yoshi feel safe and loved.

Also Yoshi has always been a mother hen, so starting when he was little, he'd sometimes disappear from the lab and then return with snacks. Donnie has eaten some truly horrendous flavour combinations because rat nephew thought it'd taste good and Donnie was too hungry to actually check what Yoshi had done and the taste didn't register until he'd eaten half of it.

[duckapus]

The Carnival of Chaos, Part 1

When Floyd finds out that the SMG4 Universe’s version of Magolor has set up a carnival in the Mushroom Kingdom, she decides to go with her local friends and check it out. Thing is, kids aren’t allowed in without adult supervision, and…

“Alright, let’s recap,” she points at Lil Coding, “Your dads can’t take us because they’re dealing with a problem in the Internet Graveyard.”

“Yeah, from what they told me it’s not so much difficult as just long and tedious, so they didn’t need my help.”

Bowser Jr. cuts in, “Papa and the bros are at Nintendo HQ working on that new game that got announced. Wonder how that’s going…”

~Here we cut to Nintendo HQ, where the bros are both high as fuck on Wonder Flowers, Yoshi is handcuffed to his parole officer, Daisy and Bowser are failing to teach Wigglers how to roller skate, those weird flute flowers won’t shut up, and Peach is an elephant.

“I want to die.”~

“...Eh, I’m sure they’ll be fine.”

“Right. Then Cody’s mom is at work, and so are Saiko, Shroomy and Meggy; Tari and Melony are doing a collab stream; Boopkins and Desmond aren’t adults; Joe’s too big; who knows what Steve, Kaizo and the rest of the side characters are doing; I am not desperate enough to ask the Guards, and Eggman is…how’d you put it Sage?”

“Due to his extensive and ongoing list of crimes against humanity, Father is banned from most public spaces, and would likely take over the carnival and turn it into a base for a new campaign of world domination.”

“Yeah, that.” The gathered kids(Floyd, Lil Coding, Lily, Cody[who for the sake of this I’m imagining is one of Karen’s kids], Bowser Jr., Sage, Jubjub and Franky) all sigh despondently, “Welp, we’re fresh out of responsible adults.”

Lily perks up at this, “So how about an irresponsible adult.”

“...I’m listening…”

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

“Hell yeah I’ll come with you guys!”

Lily grins up at Bob, “Really? That’s great!”

“No problem. Actually I was gonna head over there at some point anyway.”

“How come?”

“Come on, some guy sets up a con that big on my turf? I gotta scope out the competition, you know?”

Cody seems confused by that, “But…wouldn’t a carnival be good for hotel sales?”

BJ shakes his head, “No, no, I get it. It’s ‘cause whatever smaller schemes Magolor funds with his carnival might compete with Bob’s smaller schemes, so Bob’s gotta see how he operates and make sure he knows there’s already an artist running things here.”

“...How do you know that?”

“My Papa used to be a big name villain, remember? This is basically that on a smaller scale.”

Floyd just shrugged, “Eh, If it gets us in I’ll take it.”

And with that they’re off. Little do they know what dangers await them in Magolor’s Carnival of Chaos…

[shot-by-cupid]

Hi, how are you? I'm curious about your (or your S/I's) relationship with other Mario characters like Luigi and Peach. Are you in good terms with them? What about Bowser? 👀👀

Thank you. Thank you SO MUCH for asking me this question. There is nothing I would love more than to answer this THANK YOU. Thank you so much I love you. You’re an angel.

Now not to go over the obvious but ofc we’ve got the man himself. Mario Jumpman Mario. We’re lovers. Soulmates even. There isn’t a character in this world who has meant as much to me as he does, I was actually talking to my friend about this the other day but anyways. Not important. This isn’t about him.

I actually made a big long post already talking about Peach, but just for the sake of saking, I’ll reiterate a bit here. We are best friends. I’m her second in command, her lady in waiting. By extension of being so close to the princess I would also be very close to the toads as well.

Luigi is a character I feel i personally don’t talk about enough but obviously. If you’re going to be close with Mario you are going to be close with Luigi. They are a package deal that’s just how it is. Luigi is my good good friend and I care for him deeply.

Characters like Yoshi, Daisy and Rosalina I haven’t thought much about, but I like them both a whole lot and would also consider them to be friends as well. Most of the time I consider every character from a source to be my friends because I love all the characters so much, if that makes sense. Like I want to hang out and hold hands n shit.

And that brings us to Bowser. Despite it all I really like Bowser actually and used to consider him a platonic f/o and still largely do but it doesn’t make much sense from like. A story stand point for us to get on Y’know? So I like to imagine it’s one of those like. ‘We’re teaming up because we have to’ moments that him and Mario have except. Like. Always? We’re hanging out for some reason but we do. Have beef. We’re playing golf together but I will fight you. I will babysit your kid but we’re still enemies. That kinda thing.

And. Once again not to get unnecessarily personal on a post about Supa mario. But most of my relationships with characters stem from like. My relationships with them in real life. Like if that makes sense. Like I’ve had it bad for Mario since I was 6 so like. Obviously we’re in love. For the longest time peach was my all time favourite Mario character (even above the man himself for a moment) therefore we’d be close etc etc. idk. Smb is my special interest and it is like. One of the biggest pieces of my life and it’s really shaped who I am. It’s important to me and I love. Including myself in this franchise that I love <333 whatgfgfhg cringe okay byeee