#like no wonder mikey like draxum so much

[bluezeri]

seeing how Leo is so obviously splinters favorite in almost EVERY generation is making me so sad

[somerandomdudelmao]

So, Casey's a turtle mutant, and he has obvious links to Leo (skin markings + color), some subtle links to Mikey (Shell design), and a very subtle link to Raph with his fangs.

I wonder though, how long did it take them to notice that he has fangs? And just how much did this…

Hurt to see?

Not to mention that the fangs could probably be written off as a link to Donnie, since spiny softshells bite pretty hard and Casey hasn't had physical contact with Raph's original body in about 10 years.

Raph sees the kid he was basically a dad to, as a turtle, with physical traits of his family, and almost no trace of himself. Casey doesn't remember him, and he resembles Leo more than anyone else. It hurts. But Casey and Leo are so happy, Raph can't ruin that. So he doesn't.

He shows annoyance/exhaustion at the unexpected mutation, and it's more directed towards his brother's tendency for scietific chaos that the actual mutation.

He also seems to avoid Casey until Draxum arrives and is able to "fix" Casey. Leo, Mikey, and Donnie all actively bond with Casey over being a turtle mutant. Raph barely shows up in this episode, and directly interacts with him even less, barely even paying attention when Leo throws Casey at him, and not even fully addressing Casey the whole episode (from what I remember).

Anyway, imagine Raph finding out Casey's mutation was never actually reversed and feeling a bit of pain because Casey wanted to stay a turtle mutant so he would always have a reminder of his family, and still not seeing much of any trace of himself.

Ok, now imagine Casey's fangs getting a bit too big and developing a snaggle tooth.

That's all ok byeee!!

Oooooouuuuh~ A little fact about Casey's mutation - originally, at some point I wanted to make him a snapping turtle instead of a red-eared slider. He had a spiky shell, little claws.... and a tail...also....like...Spiky lil tail....Yes. (Don't ask me why he had it while turtles don't. My concepts don't have logic~)

But then I thought it would be weird...where would he find that kind of dna? So, yeah... It's just the fangs. Maybe if I'm in the mood I'll come back to this topic haha~

Also, I want to add that even though Raph was the first one to adopt Casey, that doesn't make him the only real parent or smth. Leo literally raised that kid for ten years. He didn't take the title of father away from Raph. He joined it. And he was doing a good job of telling Casey about Raph. The only problem was that Leo could only talk about Raph from his own, brotherly point of view.

Casey grew up knowing what Raph was to Leo. And he was too young (and traumatized) to remember what Raph was to Casey.

[tizeline]

I wonder how the movie is gonna go over since Leo lost the key

Hhhh the fricking movie. Again, I'm still very much figuring things out and this might change, but here are some of my thoughts.

I've already mentioned how I kinda want to focus on Mikey's and Donnie's relationship during the events of the movie, as opposed to in canon where the focus is on Leo's and Raph's. By the time of the invasion, the Hamatos and the Draxums overall get along well enough to hang out and work together, it's mostly Donnie and Mikey who don't really get along. Because of that, in the AU the four turtles team up and go after Warren and Hypno when they steal the Key like in the movie. But instead of Leo wanting to show off being the reason why they lose the Key, it's because Mikey and Donnie can't stop bickering for two seconds and that getting in the way of the mission.

After that I'm not really sure how the rest of the invasion plays out. I want, at the very least, for Mikey to have some type of arc where he starts out hostile towards Casey Jr purely because he's a human, and then throughout the whole ordeal learns to trust him.

....Mmh, maybe Donnie will get taken by the Krang while protecting Mikey... 🤔😈 Donnie, who's been treating Mikey with indifference at best and straight up contempt at worst, shielding Mikey with his own body to protect him from the Krang and being taken prisoner as a result, would probably not be something Mikey expected him to do.... Listen, I know this AU is mostly silly-goofy, but the angst potential here hell yeah 😈😈😈 Mikey would feel so guilty about it too, it's all fun and games to argue with Donnie when they're not in immidiate danger, but Mikey would never wish serious harm on Donnie. That's, despite everything, his brother!

In general, Mikey'd be struggling a lot more during the invasion considering how much he relies on his mystic powers in the AU and the fact that the krang can block their access to their mystic powers. He's decent at non-mystic combat, but this is THE KRANG we're talking about, decent isn't gonna be enough.

[nights-flying-fox]

Some things I wanna talk about in new rottmnt comic!!

SPOILERS‼️

Triceraton Empire!! So it confirms there are triceratons that survived the Krang (considering we saw a skull of theirs in Technodrome). Also my friend Banjo ( @little-banjo-frog ) mentioned how it probably is a reference to 2012 bounty hunter shark-cyborg!!

Another thing is how it is confirmed its the good future. And Raph has lost one eye and his right arm!! And Mikey lost his hair... in the 20 years that passed.

In the future Draxum and Todd seem to be staying with the family!!

Leo ended up dimension hopping for months! What did he see, where did he go, how did he return home?? (Giggling because i got an au based on that hehe!! This is my favorite fact anyways let's move on)

Also April looks so cool guys...

RENET MENTION!! Mikey and Renet have been working together!! (I'm still wondering why he looks like his bad future self tho djdjsk)

Lil Leo seeing Big Leo!! Idk I think it is silly and cute :D

FRIDA REVEAL

THIS PANEL. We already had seen the pervious page. But this panel: other than their dialogue I love their expressions. Present Leo seems scared (considering what the previous time travel event was about, not a surprise), but also "i can't stay mad at you". He seems to respect/admire his older self. Meanwhile Big Leo looking at him with a smile, softly... That guy doesn't hate his young self. He seems to care for him so much (which considering the plot... yeah makes sense), but it's nice to see his old self being nice with his younger self ♡

CASEYS BONDING ToT

I FORGOT TO ADD BUT TODD HUGGING PIEBALD DURING SPLINTER'S DEATH!! Did Todd take her under his wings??

Lastly- BROTHER AND SISTER?? Is he talking about Camille- if they met Frida already, the sister would be Camille probably. But who is the brother? Kirby, Slash, or a new character? Also rip Splints :(

What do y'all think??

[angelpuns]

50au Part 24

TW FOR VIOLENCE/FIGHTING/BRIEF CHOKING

Leo was having a hard time keeping up with….everything. Struggling to parse what was real and what wasn’t. 

If he weren't in so much pain he'd wonder if those birds really had done him in and he wasn't lying in the med bay imagining all this. Alone and practically comatose.

But his leg and his head and everything ached too badly for it to be a dream or some kind of weird hallucination. 

He wasn't sure his brain could make half this stuff up anyway. 

Donnie and Mikey had explained everything to the rat, who had then promised to help. After he took a nap, of course.  

Everyone seemed a little pissed off at that, but Leo was relieved. He already hated having to rely on a bunch of strangers that insisted they were family, he didn't want to add another into the mix. Even if he was Lou Jitsu ( which Leo really didn't believe that part of all this) 

Hell, maybe Jupiter Jim was uncle and was really a snake or something. 

The rest of the day was spent planning, for the most part. 

Donnie figured out exactly when he seemed to reset and said it was a breakthrough, though Leo didn't know how exactly it would help. He was going to forget either way, and it wasn't as if they could prevent it happening. Until Donnie said he was going to have Leo stay up past that point and see if it made a difference. 

Annoying, but Leo was at these guys’ mercy and all. 

He did learn a lot throughout the day. 

Mikey was a good cook. He was also the youngest. And even though he had this emotional maturity thing going, Leo could tell he was one wrong move from crying about this entire thing. 

The big guy, Raph, was the oldest. And he was super over protective and kept treating Leo like he'd break. He also wasn't as touchy-feeling as Mikey, but Leo figured if was more because of the circumstances and that Raph would hug him til he popped if he had the chance. 

Donnie was the really interesting one. They were twins, which Leo was guessing on based on a lot of context. Stuff from the montage, the way Donnie acted and the way he seemed to mumble ‘my Dumdum twin’ under his breath whenever he got the chance. He was really smart, too, Leo could barely keep up with half the stuff he talked about. 

At first he thought Donnie might be the leader, but Raph seemed to be more in charge than he was letting on. But the dynamic was still weird. Mikey definitely wasn't the leader. Leo figured he couldn't have been, because what Leader would get himself shot with a curse and then run around avoiding his problems all the time? He definitely wasn't leader material. 

Not that it mattered, because Raph had already told him they weren't going anywhere today. 

There was also the issue of Baron Draxum, the villain that had thrown Leo off of a roof and overall was just an untrustworthy bastard. They all thought it was weird that he remembered Draxum, but Leo didn't trust the guy as far as he could throw him. He definitely wasn't family. 

But he was helping them for some reason, and Leo was forced to let the yokai into his home to do so. Even if the thought made him want to be sick and made the panic and anxiety he'd been holding back all day simmer dangerously beneath the surface. 

Baron Draxum was working on the cleansing salve and promised he was almost done, that they could do the ritual tomorrow. Leo didn't like the sound of Draxum doing anything with his head, much less going into his memories. 

He brought it up with Donnie that night, while Donnie fixed the camera in the corner of his room. 

“ Are we sure it has to be him? Don't you all have any other yokai family members that weren't literally evil….?” Leo muttered, huddled in the corner of his bed. 

It was dark in the lair now. Everyone else had gone to sleep, while Donnie had Leo stay up so he could observe the resetting. 

His thought was that, maybe if Leo didn't sleep, the reset wouldn't be able to happen. Even if it was time based. 

“ Sadly, no. I would personally not love Draxum rooting around in your head either, even though I respect him as a fellow scientist and all,” Donnie answered, sitting on the edge of Leo's bed and prying apart the camera, “ but he's the only person we really know that can do all that mystic bullshit,” 

“ This all would have been so much easier if it were some kind of clinical mishap. At least then you'd be showing progress at this point, and we could probably fix it with surgery or something,” he huffed, holding up the light, “ there. You're going to forget it's up there, but at least you won't get freaked out again by the light,” 

Donnie started to put the camera back together with a sigh, still rambling. 

Leo got the feeling it helped him calm down. Even though he didn’t really understand why, he was feeling slightly calmed by whatever Donnie was going on about. Even if he was having a hard time keeping up and his head throbbed. 

“At least tomorrow we can do the ritual and put this all behind us. I've already got plans in case you somehow have lasting side effects, and of course a medical plan for your leg,” He clicked the last piece in place and headed to remount it to the wall, “ which you're obviously going to have to follow, Nardo. You were a terrible patient after the- when you got hurt, and we will not be having a repeat of that. I'm sure Dr. Feelings has his own plans about the emotional effects of all this and-”

Leo didn't have a chance to ask who Dr. Feelings was. 

The world went silent, Leo slumping forward like- 

Leo blinked awake, hunched over in the corner of his bed, his knees up to his chest. Someone was talking, but he must have just left his TV on, because who could possibly be talking? 

He fumbled for the remote on his nightstand, blinking away the sleep and fiddling with the power button. But when he pressed it, the noises didn't stop. In fact, the TV turned on when he did that, the fuzzy static making him frown. He turned it back off.

Someone was talking. Someone was in his room. 

In the corner of his room, in the dark, loomed a figure. They were tall and thin and shadowed, and Leo's first thought was that it was some kind of sleep paralysis demon. But he could move plenty, and his leg was starting to ache so badly that his knew he wasn't asleep. 

Leo rubbed at his eyes in an attempt to clear them, focusing in on the figure with a grimace. Still tall and still shadowed, but less threatening when he saw  a purple hoodie and the fact that the person was standing on a small step stool. At first he couldn't see what they were doing. But as they stepped down to admire their work, he understood. They were installing a camera.

In his room. Where he was sleeping. 

To watch him and-and do know god knows what with the information. 

Leo sat as still as he could, the figure suddenly turning to face him. They were a mutant like him, maybe even a turtle if he had to guess. Three fingers, green skin, a tail. No shell, as far as Leo could tell. Unless it was hidden well beneath the hoodie. But that didn't matter much, because all he could think was how someone could be in his room. 

The figure stared at him for a moment, no longer rambling to themselves. 

“ ‘Nardo, you okay?” They murmured, voice dropping to something closer to a whisper. 

Leo swallowed down the rising panic, glancing around the room for his swords. They weren't here. He always kept them by his bed, so why weren't they…?

Leo turned back to the mutant. This guy must have hidden them. He must have planned this so that Leo couldn't fight back…couldn't run. 

“ wh-who are you?” He asked, pieces of a plan starting to fall together. He had to fight. The mutant wasn't much bigger than him. He could fight, even if he was never good at hand to hand combat. He just had to lower this guy's guard first. If he could get him monologuing, then surely it'd be an easy fight. 

“ what are you doing in my room?” 

“ shit, did you reset?” they suddenly seemed panicked, quickly checking some sort of strange tech on their arm, “ I must have miscalculated, you weren't supposed to reset for another hour, at least-”

Now. 

Leo launched himself off the bed and at the stranger, hands outstretched to grapple him. The mutant shrieked in surprise, and Leo took him to the ground easily.

It hurt his leg, bad, but he had to fight! He wasn't gonna let this guy get away with whatever evil surveillance shit he had planned! 

“ ‘Nardo, stop- you've got to listen to me-” the mutant growled, teeth snapping dangerously at Leo's hands. He quickly grabbed their wrists and held them to the ground, far too relieved that the mutant didn't have a weapon on them, “ Leo-”

They kicked and twisted under him, but Leo was stronger. He quickly moved to straddle their legs, wincing when they kicked Hus injured one a little too hard. 

“Fuck- WHAT ARE YOU DOING IN MY HOME!?” Leo growled, leg wound throbbing in time with his heartbeat. He held his position though, the mutant struggling against him. 

“ L-Leo, it's me! I know you're confused, but I'm your brother” the mutant whined, hands clenching with the effort it was taking to fight him. They were a lot stronger than they looked, Leo straining to keep them from moving. “ Leo, please! Let-let me explain!” 

They sounded scared. And terribly desperate. 

It unexpectedly grated on Leo's nerves, a feeling like pity growing inside him. No, no he could not feel bad for this guy! A mutant who was lying to him and had literally invaded his home! 

“ tell me the truth Or I’ll kill you” Leo hissed, trying not to think too hard about the pain or the pity or the nagging feeling in the back of his head that made him want to hear this guy out, “ what were you doing with the camera? How'd you get in here?” 

The mutant let out a shaky sigh, “ I am your brother. You were cursed to forget your family and-” 

“STOP LYING!” Leo reeled his fist back and punched the mutant hard, trying not to focus on how the crack beneath his fist  made him feel sick, “ YOU'RE NOT MY BROTHER!” 

Blood gushed from the murant’s nose, their eyes widened and panicked. He squeezed his eyes shut for a second, the sight of it making him feel so fucking sick and he didn't know why. 

This mutant was going to hurt him if he didn't hurt them first. They were going to watch him and use the information to get him. He knew it, he already knew their plan, so he had  to fight back while he had the upper hand. 

He reeled back to punch the mutant again, but they stuck an arm out to stop him, grabbing at his neck and trying to choke him. But they were too hesitant, like they were afraid they'd hurt him. 

Too bad Leo wasn’t afraid to hurt them. 

He threw another punch, but the mutant tightened their fingers and he choked at the last second, nearly missing their cheek. 

Leo let go with his other hand to try and wrench their hands away from his neck, suddenly sucking in a panicked breath. This reminded him too much of- he couldn't breath and it was just like-

Leo squeezed his shut, his throat closing despite the mutant barely squeezing.

He tried not to think about it. Just fight. Fight this guy, don't think about how similar it feels to- 

Something pricked his neck and Leo opened his eyes, the mutant let go of his neck and pushed him off, scrambling away from him. 

He felt dizzy. 

“You-” Leo rasped out, but he couldn't make the words work. He couldn't move. Everything seemed to be falling down around him, the world going dark. 

And then he was nowhere. 

-----

lemme know if this needs more warnings. uuuuh yeah I wanted to write this part bad cause haha there will be consequences to Leo's actions ;) Regardless of whether he remembers them or not

I hope this bit isn't too OOC for Leo specifically, I think if he were cornered he could get real real violent so. Yeah.

Also I drew a doodle for this (which is why I wanted to write this bit) TW FOR VIOLENCE/CHOKING BELOW

Sorry Donnie you are also getting more traumatized :/

Part 1 | Part 23 | Part 25

[daedelweiss]

AHHHHHH!!! THE TRAILER IS SO GOOD!!!! I'VE ALREADY WATCHED SEVERAL TIMES!!!!

I can't wait to see this story unfold!

I have to ask, what was your favorite character to make a clothing design for? All of the designs look amazing, so I was wondering if you have a favorite.

i'm actually proud of all my designs and had a lot of fun figuring everything out! i wanted the designs to conform to canon and make it look like it can be in the show but i've also put my own spin and flare to it!

at some point, i'll make turnarounds of all the characters and detailed explanations of why i designed them like so but here's some bonus fun facts about the bros' design~

leo's design will always integrate all his brothers' colors. he's closest to canon because i want to keep the canon element of the show and not change too much.

raph's design is actually inspired from lou jitsu's fit! most especially the shoulder guards. just as a reflection on how much big mama wants him to be the next lou jitsu.

mikey's design is the one that lacks his color the most because his colors mimic draxum's armor and has his opposite color to show how much his authentic self is repressed. the only thing that represents him is his burnt orange sash around his waist.

donnie's outfit is designed to show as little of his turtle self as possible. when he has his mask on, the only thing that hints of his turtle self is the green on his gloves.

both raph and donnie's designs have M's all over it to signify how they are big mama's "property" and are treated as such.

[paintedkinzy-88]

I have a 12AM idea that I’ll never do anything with but I want everyone to suffer with me.

When Splinter got the Rise boys, he assumed their ages based on their size: Raph was oldest, then Donnie, then Leo, and then Mikey. And April was their big sister. They’ve lived by this standard, it has always been true, no one has questioned it, and everyone ultimately likes their role!

Ya got big, protective, teddy bear older brother; book smart, chaotic, but also very protective older twin; street smart, also chaotic, gremlin child, gay younger twin; and the emotionally smart, empathetic, impressionable, heart of the group youngest.

Then Mikey befriends/reverse-adopts Draxum. Who looks at them like they are stupid when he hears this family dynamic... And proceeds to absolutely shatter their world. ᕕ( ᐛ )ᕗ

Leo hatched first, by a significant amount of time, making him the oldest, then Raph, then Donnie, and Mikey stays the youngest. Like so many other TMNT iterations. Rise!Splinter just got it wrong.

Cutting so this isn’t super long on my page:

Now Raph is struck with this realization that he may be the biggest brother, but he is not the big brother. And that’s been like. His thing. Protecting his younger bros, always being there for his younger bros, keeping this damn family in line, laying down punishments and lectures and the such when need to or when Splinter isn’t there. But that’s no longer his responsibility. That was never his responsibility. But he doesn’t want to give that up! He doesn’t think he CAN tone that down and be more carefree (more than he already is I mean, bro is still a kid).

Donnie has been shot down from his title of big brother and oldest twin. He is now one of the youngest. He may not be as commanding as Raph, but he was sure as shit the second in command a lot of the time. Aside from his chaotic, semi-lethal tendencies, Raph could usually trust him to keep himself and the others in line when it really matters. Heck, Donnie was probably the one Raph took to the surface the most to get supplies once he hit a less shy age, because Donnie wouldn’t wonder off like the others. But now, what he has known as truth is not accurate at all. He’s more shaken by the fact they’ve all been wrong for their entire lives, and that he’s the younger twin (no, he’s not even a twin at all, why does that freak him out so much), so he doesn’t really fear any relationship between them changing.

Leo has the most dramatic change though… He’s one of the goofballs! Both a younger brother and a middle child, thriving in the childish chaos and vague invisibility as he’s able to generally be silly and not face consequences. He doesn’t have those expectations on him, nor does he want it like Raph does! But now, he’s been shoved to the top. Is he supposed to be like Raph now? Does he have to take total control? Be more responsible, more genuinely confident, more practical? The thought alone is stressing him tf out. He was already questioning his role on the team, he doesn’t need to feel like he’s REALLY been doing less than he should have been!

Meanwhile, Mikey’s watching his family fall apart and bicker and stress themselves out.

Ultimately, they decide it doesn’t fuckin matter. They are comfortable in their family roles, and that doesn’t need to change. The whole situation may have brought some concerns to light (namely: Raph’s stress, Leo’s insecurity and invisibility, Donnie’s need to fix everything to support them all, and Mikey’s overwhelming emotional empathy) but that’s probably for the better!

Still, that bombshell definitely screwed up the family for a good few weeks while they figured themselves out all over again.

[remedyturtles]

on maybe a lighter note, i am also currently rereading death wish (something must be in the air), and i myself was wondering if sensei could see casey in a similar manner to the way the boys got to see him via draxums spell. mostly so case could get to actually hug and see his dad again, even if just for a short moment, it's a concept that i thought was super sweet and would likely help both sensei and casey deal with This Whole Situation.

oops tripped and wrote 1.3k abt this my bad

[]

"Open your eyes."

Casey hugged his arms closer to his chest, heart thumping.

"Come on, hermano." Leo coaxed, jostling him from the left, a grin in his voice. "You made it in here. Don't you want to see?"

Casey wasn't sure he wanted to see, because he'd convinced himself that this wasn't going to work, that he'd climb into Leo's mind and find only darkness. That he would never see his dad again. Casey told himself it was okay, over and over, that he was okay with what he had been gifted back, that he'd thought he lost. Even if it didn't look like his dad.

But Mikey had put a bunch of effort into learning the spell from Draxum specifically for this moment. Casey carefully peeled one eye open, and a shiver ran over his skin. The atmosphere was undeniably different than reality, it had the same sensation of walking into someone else's house with your shoes on.

The ground looked like resin, back-lit with sparkling glitter, and there was the thick trunk of an enormous tree right in the middle of a gorgeous midnight blue sky, dotted with stars and constellations. The branches cross-cut through the huge ceiling and the roots crawled out in tangled fingers reaching towards their feet.

"Woah." Casey said, because this wasn't what he was expecting at all.

"Isn't it neat?" Leo spread his arm and spun in a circle, tipping his head back at the scenery. "Who knew something this cool could exist in my brain, right?"

Casey approached the tree, hand out, and pressed his palm to the bark. The sensation that washed over him was a warm bath of rosewater.

"That's Sensei." Leo told him. "Metaphorically. I have actual Sensei in here too, the tree is just a representation."

Casey had heard them say that Sensei was a tree, but it was different to see it. The knots and branches, budding green leaves and the humming feeling that ran up his arm when he curled his fingers against the bark.

"Are you ready to see him?" Leo asked, from behind him.

There was a second of quiet. Casey shut his eyes again, breathing. He didn't know what he was scared of, it seemed silly to be this afraid. But he was, because he'd accepted he wasn't going to see him like this again. And that was fine. He wasn't upset, he was grateful.

Except Sensei was in here, as he knew him, and Casey's heart splintered in a grief he could not name. Losing something, getting it back different, but being offered the chance to see the original again. Would it ruin that gratefulness? Would it hurt too much to see that version and see the shadows that should be standing behind him?

Sorrow soaked through the rough texture. Casey gathered it up tight and found his bravery from the well inside him. He said, "Yeah, yeah, I'm ready."

"You sure?" Leo said, and the worry was a lemon taste in the air. It was weird being in his head.

Casey turned around to give him a smile that he meant wholeheartedly. "Yeah, I'm good. It's just a lot."

"He is a lot." Leo agreed, and pointed behind the tree. "Head that way. I'll give you space to do that on your own. I'll be over here, I'm gonna get Mikey in so we can see who can climb the tree the fastest."

"My money's on Mikey." Casey said.

"I will take that bet." Leo grinned huge, only to immediately soften it. "Go on. He's waiting for you."

Casey trailed his fingers on the trunk, feeling the tingle like static electricity as he circled around the back. The vast night sky continued on infinitely, and it took care to step over the roots and not trip. Casey kept his eyes on his feet until he was back on that sparkling resin-like floor, heart pumping hard, as if it was trying to punch out of his rib cage. He stopped in place, afraid to raise his head.

"Now it's easier for me to appreciate now how much taller you've gotten." Sensei said.

The sound of Sensei's voice felt like a crack splintering up a pane of glass. Casey's breath caught in his throat, sore. That familiar timbre was enough to renew his bravery, and he looked up.

Sensei. The impressive height, broad shoulders, and crinkling around his eyes. The dark circles, scarring up and down his skin, and the old sorrow that he could never quite shake. All wrapped up in persistent love and care that poured off him.

Casey used to wander around bases looking for height above the crowds, remembering his heart leaping when he spotted green in the masses. Recognizing an approaching figure from gait alone, trailing behind and holding one large finger in his whole small hand. Leaping full speed at this exact image after a long mission without his dad.

He didn't feel like he'd gotten any taller. Right now, he felt about five years old. He finally breathed again, the shaky inhale dangerously close to fracturing into something else. He said, "Hey."

"Hi." Sensei smiled, and the crinkles lit up around his eyes. And he sounded just as nervous as Casey.

And that just wouldn't do. Casey closed the distance between them, not wanting his dad to be afraid that this was -- he wasn't even sure what Sensei was thinking, that he'd disappoint him or something stupid like that. So instead he threw himself full speed at Sensei with the complete confidence that he would be caught.

And he was. Sensei bent his knees enough to swoop him all the way up, singular arm iron tight and lifting him straight off his feet. Casey muffled the singular sob that escaped into Sensei's shoulder, keeping arms locked around his neck. No matter how afraid he'd been coming in, he was more terrified to let go now.

"Oh, Case." Sensei said, and kissed the side of his head. It erupted a nostalgic joy, painful and old, slotted back into place. He'd felt that a thousand times before, just like that. It felt right.

Casey merely tightened his hold in response. The glass fissured and split. He gasped for air as it shattered, and he began to cry.

"It shouldn't matter." Casey hiccuped, barely able to catch his breath. "I didn't want it to matter. I wanted -- I want it to be enough, just to have you in my life. I don't want to care what form."

Sensei hummed, and lowered them to the ground, gathering Casey in his lap and tucking him under his chin.  It broke the shards into smaller flakes, because this was his dad who could surround him completely, protect him from the world even with just one strong arm. Casey curled up small and selfishly relished the feeling of safety. The sensation of it was so unbearably familiar.

"I don't think there's anything wrong with that." Sensei said, after a moment, squeezing reassuringly. "We can be grateful for what we have and equally grateful for a moment like this."

Casey soaked in the warm rosewater feeling, and reached to curl his fingers on the edge of Sensei's plastron, the tears streaking down his cheeks. He said, "Thank you."

Sensei pressed his smiling mouth to the top of Casey's head again, and said against his hair, "I love you to death, Casey Junior."

"You've loved me past that." Casey hiccuped, and squeezed his eyes shut painfully at the overwhelming rush. "I love you for a billion years."

"Oh it's a billion now?"

"I'm ambitious."

Sensei chuckled and squeezed again, in all the ways he'd been missing.

Casey didn't think about when they'd have to let go. They had a billion years, after all.

[beanieable]

It’s time for TMNT headcanons again!

Here’s the first post I made a while ago.

This has been in my drafts for a few months now, so have at it.

2003

Donnie went down a deep rabbit hole on the multiverse after Turtles Forever. Raph had to listen to him talk about and eventually drag him away form the whole thing every time.

Leo and Mikey have spots under their eyes. They’re a lighter shade of green than their scales. You can’t see them usually because of their masks.

In turn, Raph and Donnie have spots on the palm of their hands. Donnie on his left, Raph on his right. If they hold hands the spots over lap. The spots look like little hearts.

Raph and Donnie are twins. Change my mind. The og disaster twins. They walked to Rise disaster twins could run.

2012

Puppy dog eyes work wonders on Leo. All his brothers use it against him, even Raph.

Raph has a heart shaped spot in his shoulder. Donnie has one to match him on his neck.

(Jonatello) Casey kisses the heart spot on Donnie’s neck a lot. He loves doing that.

Leo actually has some faint freckles like Mikey. They just faded out as he got older. If they stay at the farmhouse long enough in summer and go out in day time, they’ll be more visible.

Raph and Donnie are twins. Anger Management Duo my beloved. As the middle children with anger issues they were in time out a lot and one day just decided they were twins.

They made Mikey think they have twin thelepahy. He still believes it years later. Leo believed it for a hot minute too.

They solely became twins to spite their brothers. Mikey was obsessed with the idea of twins for a bit and Leo thought it’s cool too. While Raph and Donnie didn’t really care for the idea, Leo and Mikey got them stuck in time out. Mikey pranked them, they wanted revenge and Leo snitched. Mikey and Leo can’t have a twin if the middle children are twins. 😈

Rise

Donnie and Leo need glasses. But only Donnie wore them when they were kids. Nowadays they mostly wear contacts but they do wear their glasses often too. Mainly when they’re at home.

All four brothers the same happy stim. They wag their tails. I wrote a fic where I included that. Here. But basically it started like this, when Raph was just a normal turtle he found wagging his tail fun and just did it. Then the twins can along and copied him and then Mikey copied them as well. And despite their mutation it just stayed.

Raph turning savage is not really a thing anymore post Season 2 finale. The turtles can feel each others ninpo and knowing his brothers are always with him in a way helps keep his separation anxiety in check. It might still happen but it’s also easier to snap him out of it now.

The turtles are bilingual. They know English and Japanese. Obviously Leo also knows Spanish. They spoke more Japanse growing up, until they met April. They also taught April Japanese. Cassandra is Latina/Korean and knows English, Spanish and Korean as her native languages but learned Japanese when she joined the Foot. CJ knows all four languages, always has. In the bad timeline Cass only spoke Korean with him, April only English, Leo only Spanish and Raph only Japanese. Mikey and Donnie spoke both English and Japanese with him.

Medic Leo. But also, full blown doctor Leo. After the movie he, with Draxums help, got a doctorate degree in the Hidden City.

As much as Leo enjoys being a doctor and fixing people he’s also very interested in dissecting things. He almost dissected Warren once. Raph stopped him. But no one knows if he’ll try doing it again. Spoiler: he will.

Older twin Donnie supremacy here. That said, he may be second oldest but he has no authority over the other two.

Tales/MM

Donnie got April into K-Dramas. They watch them together.

The reason Raph is missing a tooth is Mikey. Mikey accidentally knocked him over the head with his nunchucks and Raph stumbled into a pole. Then he tooth was gone.

Mikey is the medic in this one. I just thought it’d be cool since he he seemed pretty interested in it during the mechazoid arc.

[dancingdonatello]

HI ITS 🦆 ANON THE ONE WHO MADE AN AO3 CUZ OF YOU! AND YES I DID MEAN REQS I JUST CANT TYPE FOR SHIT 💀

I WAS WONDERING IF YOU COULD DO LIKE VILLIAN!TURTLES HEADCANONS?

LIKE DONNIE AND MIKEY MIGHT HAVE BEEN RAISED BY DRAXUM, AND DRAXUM NUTURED DONNIES LOVE FOR SCIENCE OR SMTH AND MIKEY MYSTIC POWERS WERE TRAINED BY DRAXUM TOO

AND MAYBE LEO WAS RAISED BY BIG MAMA

IDK ABOUT RAPH BUT YEAH!

BASICALLY THEY'RE RAISED TO HATE HUMANS, BUT THEN AFTER MEETING/ENCOUNTERING Y/N THEIR PERSPECTVIE CHANGES (ATLEAST ON THE READER)

MAYBE LIKE WRITE ABOUT THEIR VEIW ON THE READER, AND MAYBE THEY INVITE THE READER OVER TO THEIR HOME, OR MAYBE EVEN TELLING THEIR VILLAIN PAERNTS THEY LIKE A HUMAN, OR ALL 3!!!-

IM SORRY I JUST GET SO HYPED SEEING YOUR WORK AND I HAVENT REQUESTED ANYTHING IN A WHILE AND I JUST SAW ONE OF YOUR POSTS AND STIMMING AND KICKING MY FEET AND OVERALL JUST AKSJDHKJFHFKJH

ANYWAY THX FOR TAKING TIME TO READ THIS AND TYPE IT IF YOU DO! FEEL FREE TO PUT THIS ON PAUSE OR JUST DELETE IT

MAKE SURE TO DRINKS LOTS OF WATER, AND EAT! AND CHECK WHAT TIME IT IS, DONT WANNA FUCK UP UR SLEEP SCHEDULE ANYMORE THAN IT IS LMAO!!!

AND STRETCH YOUR WRISTS BESTIE

🦆 anon @duckanon

<3 <3 luv u duck anon.

villain rise turtles x reader

You have something that Raph needs. He’s been tracking you for months and he knows that you have a piece of the armor he needs for the resurrection of the Shredder.

And he’s never been one for plans, so…

He breaks in through your window.

You scream and then he screams and you’re holding on with an impressive grip on the armor piece and….

And you’re…. you’re so… cute. He suddenly lets go of the glove and you go flying back, knocking your head against the wall. He lets out an eep and rushes over, cradling your head.

You look pretty freaked out at his change of heart and he doesn’t blame you.

How he’s going to explain this to the Foot Lieutenant and the Foot Brute, he has no idea.

They take your introduction pretty well. So do you, by how you actually willingly hand over the glove.

But… your reaction when you find out about the Shredder at the baseball game destroys any loyalty he has left for the Foot Clan. He can’t bear to see that terrified expression on your face when you look at him.

Leo may have snuck up to the part of the hotel Big Mama told him to stay away from. But how could she blame him? People watching was his favorite past time! Who better to watch than some stupid humans?

And when his eyes landed on you, he just knew he had to have you. He wouldn’t regret it even when Big Mama punished him. If he hadn’t have snuck up to the floors above ground, he wouldn’t never seen you.

And anyways, his was birthday was coming up… and Big Mama said he could have anything he wanted. He grinned to himself, deciding to sneak into your room that night to ‘introduce’ himself. He’d leave a sticky note and scare you. Just a little.

Big Mama adored you. She gave you all these clothes so that you could look as perfect as her and Leo. She used for entertainment for the other Yokai, even when Leo glared on with jealously.

Soon enough, she was going to get her hands on some mysterious green ooze from three other turtles that looked suspiciously like Leo. As long as Leo didn’t find out about it, you would be the perfect test subject. And wouldn’t it be so sweet to see a lover’s quarrel in the Battle Nexus? She giggles at the thought.

Donatello has been bugged by you for a while.

In one of his rare outings to New York, obviously not letting Draxum know, he had run into you. He had been trying to break into a tech store and then you had appeared behind him.

He broke your nose but he hadn’t been left i scratched.

Then he just kept running into you again and again. He was half inclined just to kill you, but he feels like it would annoy him more with how much effort that would be towards someone like you.

You were annoying and just as mean as he was to you. It irritated him whenever you came back with a comment just as sharp as what he gave you.

One day, in one of his complaining rants to Mikey, Draxum overheard. Even though Donnie denied that it, Draxum was convinced he had a crush on a pathetic human. So, he decided he would kill you. As if you were nothing. Just scum on the Earth. All so Donnie wouldn’t be ‘distracted’ any longer. By that he meant he just wanted Donnie to work insane hours so Draxum wouldn’t have to work as hard.

And Donnie… couldn’t let that happen. He wouldn’t let a single hair on you be injured.

There’s an angry turtle staring you down. Michelangelo and you had run into each other. One looking beat up and the other looking flabbergasted.

“You’re a… turtle?!”

Suddenly, you’re wrapped up in chains. That burnt badly.

“Ow!” you shriek and suddenly, just as quickly as they had come, they vanished. Big brown guilty eyes stare at you.

His face twitches before it turns disgusted. “Ugh. You smell disgusting.”

He was talking about the smell of your brunt skin. You glared at him angrily before seeing how bashed up he was. “What… happened to you?”

He was very reluctant to follow you home. And he kept asking you weird questions about other green turtles. Had you ever seen anyone that looked like him? Where? When? All these questions while you tried to stick a bandaid on him.

He also didn’t hold back on his mean comments about the human race. But as long as he sat still as you tried to rub the ash and debris off of him, you just let him talk.

Quickly, he warms up to you. It’s as if he never hated humans. He enjoys learning about everything you do and seeing all of what New York has to offer. He knows you can never meet Draxum. And even though he’s getting suspicious the more he leaves and the longer he’s out, Mikey continues to see you.

[bluepeachstudios]

Did you read the 40th anniversary rottmnt comic? Cuz I was abt to say smth but I didn't wanna spoil ya

God I did. All of the comics in the 40th anniversary were SO good, I especially loved the 2003 one. Splinter's just boasting about his kids. Also he threw Ch'rell through a window which feels like retribution for throwing Leo through a window. (ALSO HOW IS CH'RELL BACK A G A I N ???)

AND GOD THE REVEAL AT THE BEGINNING THAT RONIN IS FROM MIRAGE. AUGH. OUCHIE.

Anyway. Yes. Rise.

I was. Immediately thinking about Ghost FHGDKHG as I am wont to do. Just. Agh. Splinter died when the kids were still pretty young! They didn't look much older than they do in the show. I think it's hilarious that Draxum moved in with them though that's great hfgkdhgkd.

But jeez, Ghost with this heavy despair at watching someone who is not his dad but kind of is die. And then being hit with the "btw you have a brother and sister byeeee" he's so ANGRY. Like not only did Splinter NEVER TELL GHOST THIS, BUT ALSO. ALSO. SPLINTER DOES THIS AS HE'S DYING.

He's so angry. And in that first version, Leo's not there! So Ghost isn't even-- he's still trying to FIND LEO!!

Ough I kinda wanna write a one-shot for it but I would have to include a lot of post-GitS stuff that would be major spoilers for many things, and also some stuff is still up in the air about the movie so it would be hmmmm.

I have a complicated thought-process when it comes to GitS.

Anyway things other than the obvious that I yelled about in the Rise Comic;

RENET MENTION!!! SHE'S BEEN HELPING MIKEY WITH MYSTICISM! Is she still a time traveling lady?? Or is she just a very mystic person??? WHO KNOWS. I'M EXCITED.

Frida design reveal !!! I LOVE HER. I wonder who the brother is, considering iirc the original idea was for two sisters, and the second one would have been in "dimension x" for a long time.

I HOPE... I hope it's Kirby hgdkghdk I would also be fine with an entirely new turtle tbh I love turtles.

Yes anyway I have many thoughts. Many, many, many thoughts.

[dodgeballstuckonthegymceiling]

May you do some rottmnt boys headcannons for how they would react if Draxum tells them that they were y/n pet turtle before he stole and mutated them

It feels weird to write this with a romantic relationship so Im going to make this plutonic.

Raph Leo Donnie and Mikey finding out there are the readers old pet.

🐢 Anime boy backstory 🐢

Before Draxum started the mutation process, before he got ahold of Splinter, he needed some actual test subjects. You where an average New Yorker, you went to school and had a part time job and even had some unique pets that you where very attached to.

A alligator snapping turtle, a softshell, a red eared slider and a little box turtle. Draxum took interest in you because of your pets. Huginn and Muninn where sent out to find the perfect animals to mutate, that's when you where targeted by him.

On your way home from a trip to the vet to check up on your little guys health you got jumped. There was no possible way to get out but you where not about to leave your pets. You tried to run but after being picked up by Draxum's vines you got thrown against a wall, passing out. When you woke up your beloved pets where gone.

Raphael

★ He was the one who tracked you down after Draxum told him he once was someone's pet. It was kinda awkward expanding everything to you but after introducing himself you immediately pulled him in for a hug.

★ He kinda gets protective of you. But not from other people! Just in general, you took care of him when he was small. It's only fair that he does the same for you.

★ You and Raph end up being the responsible ones in there little family. The difference between getting in trouble with You instead of Raph is that you always lecture them for at least an hour. Also you get to say stuff like "I raised you better than this."

★ You get invited to every family movie night and everyone fights over who gets to sit next to you because you always cuddle with the closest person. turtle?

Leonardo

★ The reaction he had was similar to the one in in the gif above ⬆️. Yes, he was a plane old turtle once but it took him by surprise when it came out that he was a pet.

★ He's a total lap dog towards you, and only you. There's no getting out of it. He'd walk up to you and plop himself down on your lap and look up. You always give in and give him shell stitches. It's not weird if it's from you, okay!

★ His brothers collectively agree that you are now basically his babysitter. He gets into a fair amount of trouble, imagen Raphael saying "if you don't stop I'm telling y/n!" Or being the one who now yells at him after making bad discussions instead of raph.

Donatello

★ Blank face before quietly saying "What?" He knew that he was just a regular softshell but surprisingly he never thought about where he came from before getting mutated.

★ He gives you random tests on your knowledge of softshell turtles. Like you could be folding laundry and he'd just say "what is the proper temperature for a softshell turtle enclosure?" He does this to try and figure out if you where a good pet owner. He's come to the conclusion that you where a pretty good pet owner.

★ He wonders about what could've happened if Draxum never stole him and his brothers from you. Things could've turned out way differently, the thought comes back to him every once I awhile.

★ You know things about him that nobody else knows, like where he likes to be pet on his shell. But he refused to believe you without any proof. He is only slightly embarrassed when you demonstrate for him.

Michelangelo

★ *New parent acquired* He got really excited and asked a ton of questions. Did you get him from a pet store? How much did he cost? Do you still have his old habit??? He needs to know theses things!

★ If you have any photos of him and is brothers as regular turtles he's going to ask for copy's. Don't tell anyone but he's working on a family album in his free time.

★ You are now his older sister figure, no you aren't getting out of it. He comes to you when he needs help or has a problem with something or someone. He says that he inherited your kindness even though it doesn't work that way.

★He lowkey love's it when you pamper him like he is still your pet turtle. Doesn't matter if he's a big guy now! He wants chin scratches and lap pillows. Also he makes Draxum apologize for what he did to you.

[midwesternvibes]

Hi! Love your One Jump au is so interesting!!! If you don't mind, I'll ask some questions ... Please feel free to not answered them if you're not in the mood ... So, is Leo like street smart? Those he still goes to Run of the mill? How Splinter, Big mama and Draxum found out the others are alive? How is the dynamic between the brothers?

OOO ONE JUMP I haven't thought about these guys in a while I miss them.... (I'm gonna divide these by question lol)

(Also cut because I cannot summarize for the life of me lol)

Is Leo street smart?

Yep! The name "One Jump" is actually after the song in Aladdin, so think of him very much like Aladdin! He's gotta steal to eat, gotta eat to live, he'll tell ya all about it when he's got the time! All jokes aside though, he's very street smart. He's all but been raised by the streets, so he quite literally knows the Hidden City like it's his own home. He knows all the vendors by name, and they know him. Whether or not they *like* him is an entirely different story......

2. Does he still go to Run of the Mill?

He used to. I'll leave it at that 🩵

3. How did the adults find out each other were alive?

In a different post I talked aboit how Raph got sick and needed to come down to the Hidden City, where he ran off and ran into Mikey (linked here). Big Mama basically saw this lost child who looked eerily like a child she once wanted to raise and took him in. Cue Draxum freakimg out for several days until he realizes that woah, Big Mama is still alive??? He goes knocking on her door and finds her playing tea party with His kid and another litfle turtle who looks just like the kid he wanted to raiss with her.....

Happy reunion all around! Raph and Mikey are excited to move in, and while Raph continues to go to school on the surface world, they still hang out all the time and the adukts are working out some kind of way to get between the surface and Hidddn City easier. Meanwhile, Big Mama and Draxum just keep wondering, well, if they're both alive, and their two kids, then what are the chances of their other two children and partner being alive as well?

4. DYNAMICS! (i live for these kids of questions!)

Raph and Mikey - Bestest of bros! Met each other first, hang out all the time, both prodigies in their fields and love to talk about their interests! Both have a pretty poor perception of safety, so they get into trouble from time to time, but are also pretty good at getting out of it. The silliest of guys, nothing wrong with them at all and I'm sure there's no danger to their relationship on the horizon! : )

Raph and Donnie- Overprotective brother extraordinare. Draxum drilled it into Raph's head growing up that Donnie is a bit squishier than the rest of them, and he kinda internalized that idea that he needs to protect Donnie, even though Donnie is a very capable person and can handle himself! They fight a lot about what is and isn't appropriate for Donnie to be doing, but they really do love each other, and outside of thise fights, they get along really well (especially when Donnie lets Raph help with explody experiments)

Mikey and Donnie- Mikey is just a touch overbearing for Donnie tbh. Donnie's used to being an only child, so Mikey's clunginess is a bit much for him a lot of the time, which drives a bit of a wedge between them. Parallel Play is their favorite thing, they love to just exist together. Mikey also doesn't treat Donnie like he's made of glass, so they like to sneak out and cause mischief and sometimes even solve crimes! They are silly, and their newest crime to solve is who in the world dares to steal from the children of Big Mama, Baron Draxum and Lou Jitsu, they're famous dammit!

Raph and Leo- Leonardo? The fourth turtle? Dad's mentioned him sometimes, but he gets pretty sad when talking about him, so it's best to just not think about lost things!

Mikey and Leo- Who? A slider? Like a sandwich? Now that you mention it, she's pretty hungry, maybe Mama will take Mikey to go get some dinner!

Donnie and Leo- There's a blue spark somewhere, in a place Donnke can only reach when he's truly trying to connect with his ancestors. Maybe a distant cousin? He's not sure, but he's got pressing matters at the moment, don't bother him!

And I think that's it! That was fun, keep asking me questions! If you get specific enough I might answer the more vauge ones better lol, I love secrets!

First // Previous // Next

[tizeline]

What is Draxum's relationships with each of his kids?

I'd assume he's closest to Mikey due to their shared interest in the mystic arts, as well as Mikey's emotional attachment to anyone he considers family 🥰

I find it funny how similar Donnie and Draxum are in cannon and I wonder how that will play out in this AU

The same thing with Leo and Splinter were very similar to each other despite being on opposing sides.

Yeah, I'd say Draxum and Mikey are the closest with each other. Draxum loves all his sons, but he really has a soft spot for Mikey. Mikey in turn is very devoted to Draxum, I've mentioned it before but Mikey's strong desire to do the right thing paired up with a lifetime of his father convincing him that destroying humanity is the right thing has led to Mikey being very determined to fulfill Draxum's plan. Also him being a prodigy with mystic powers leads to him spending a lot of time training his abilites with Draxum.

Raph is basically Draxum's second in command, as the oldest of his brothers he of course is the leader of the team when Draxum isn't the one issuing out orders. Draxum puts a lot of responsibility on Raph, responsibility that Raph very much takes seriously so Draxum as a result also has a lot of trust in him.

Poor Leo is still very much dealing with some intense Middle Child Syndrome here lol. To be clear, Draxum still loves Leo, and vice versa, but Draxum's role as a parent has a tendency to clash with his role as a... what, a military commander? Something along those lines. Listen, he's preparing to lead the yokai into war against the humans, and with his sons on the frontlines he needs to quickly figure out their individual strengths so that can help them evolve their specific skillsets. Mikey has his mystic abilities, Raph has his physical power and Leo.... Well, we know that Leo's expertise lies in his strategic thinking, except neither he nor Draxum has figured that out yet lol. Draxum is the leader, he comes up with the plans, and Raph's in charge otherwise. He doesn't notice Leo's leadership capabilities because he doesn't even think to look for them.

Leo's situation is kinda similar in this AU to what is in canon, where his self-esteem issues caused by him not feeling like he's bringing enough to the team paired up with him being a total Daddy's Boy and craving parental validation that he doesn't feel like he's getting because Draxum is more focused on Leo's brothers so he acts out to get attention and again Draxum's parental duties clashes with his WAR LORD duties or whatever because dammit son I love you but you need to quit goofing off you're a soldier and uh.... yeah...... Leo feeling a bit like the black sheep of his family (hah, sheep, cuz Draxum's a... hah) is another contributing factor to him being the first to turn sides.

And yeah, you make a good point, Donnie being so similar to Draxum vs Leo being so similar to Splinter is.... ooooooo, that's fun, there's so much potential there. Draxum's definitely dissapointed that Donnie's so gifted when it comes to the sciences only for him to be all like "Alchemy??🤨🤨🤨 Mystic science??🤨🤨🤨 That's not scientifically accurate!🤨🤨🤨" and just rejecting almost anything yokai-related.

Actually, Leo reminding Draxum of Splinter has a lot of fun possibilites too. Draxum being all like "Ah, he's just like Lou Jitsu!🤩" while simultaniously being all like "Ugh, he's just like Lou Jitsu...😒"

[jadetheblueartist]

The New (and improved) Camille Reference!!!

Cami is a Galapagos Tortoise with albinism, which would put her as being much bigger than Raph buuuut she was a bit of a sickly child and experienced a major lack of nutrients bc of stuff so she’s currently about Mikey height!

Shoutout to @plumsodapop for giving her wonderful insight on this design, you da best (More yaps under the cut)

Spider’s Web Widens Masterpost

Anything I may have said before about Cami could be completely different now… she really went through it… But EEEEEEEEEEEEEEE on the one hand I didn’t think I’d get this done so fast but on the other I’m having a bunch of ideas and the inability to have unfinished wips so I should’ve expected this. I actually really like how she turned and while I will miss old Cami design (rip forever) and definitely prefer the new one, for now at least.

I’ve never read the idw comics but her look was inspired somewhat by Lita from that. I’d figured out I wanted her color to be pink so I figured I’d incorporate that more in her design.

Also I just scripted the animatic that is gonna introduce her part of the story and OOOOOOH BOY am I excited ^^ I’m a huge fan of Draxum as a parent so you may be able to deduce how that’s gonna start nyehehe and you know feel free to ask me any questions bc as you can see I’m feeling chatty and would love to talk about girly or anything else tbh

[angelpuns]

Does Mikey connect any dots when seeing the baby photos? In his mind Todd has a elementary schooler, probably kindergartenish? A mutant turtle baby BEFORE the oozesquitos would be weird. Or are the photos just of like a 5 year old Leo?

Not at all. While Mikey does remember the whole convo they had with Draxum upon meeting ( 'there's supposed to be 4 of you') , Splinter assured them that there were definitely only 3, and that Draxum miscounted or something.

When he sees the photos he very briefly remembers all that, but this kid is 1- way too young 2- Splinter said there were only 3. Though he does wonder if maybe Draxum had made Leo more recently or something.

He also just kind of assumes that Leo is a yokai that Todd found or something rather than a mutant. He also wonders if Leo was human before, but he doesn't ask because it may be a sensitive subject LMAO.

Because it would be way too much of a coincidence for him to also be a turtle mutant.

He also doesn't tell any of this to Raph or Donnie because he doesn't think to. So its even funnier when they all meet Leo later and Mikey is like ' oh yeah actually this makes way more sense than what I thought'

I hope any of this makes sense cause even tho Mikey is smart I do think he'd somehow find a way to still not realise. Mostly for funnies.