#little boxies donatello

[snoftshell-snurtle]

@iztarshi i was in such a rush to draw donatello doing this i forgot to give him safety gear. he's just making minor adjustments to whatever it is. it's fine. it's totally safe and fine

[iztarshi]

I was feeling really discouraged about my drawings, but although this is scruffy and sketchy it's also the best boxie shape I've done yet! I am improving.

Donatello's markings have got messier and he's acquired a few splotchy ones on his legs.

His outfit is mostly about practicality. He often winds up making things in the field - sometimes by ripping through scrap metal with his bare hands - so he really needs the gloves. Boots are awkward for him to acquire, at least the fitted kind that would let him climb easily, but he also scrambles up heaps of scrap a lot, so he's got layers of wrapping on his feet. His pockets were inspired by future!Don from Archie who has a belt made entirely of pockets. He deserves them.

I remembered the scars on his carapace this time, if you can make them out with all the sketchy lines. He tends to blow things up and also tends to deal with this by going into his shell to protect his limbs. He's by far the most scuffed up turtle.

I avoided torn mask tails and band-aids because I feel like those have become Raph signifiers and he wears his mask short, anyway. But he does have a tear in the back of his glove.

[charcoaldustonmyfingers]

Biblically accurate Leonardo! Real red eared sliders look like they have a little cat smile and stick their noses straight up in the air, it’s so cute! They are also very square looking, with boxy little heads and shells. I think you can tell the ball python inspiration in his head shape here tho, I’ve drawn a lot more snakes than turtles in my time lol

Real turtles’ shoulders are actually fused to a shoulder girdle formed by their shoulder blades and collarbone within their shells, so their arms kinda stick out elbows up and aren’t super flexible. Being mutated, the brothers would have flexible shoulders and independent bones in there, but I think they’d still have the thinner skin and soft scales around their necks, shoulders, and thighs that allows them to tuck into their shells and on their outer arms and calves I think they’d have much thicker scales to protect those soft parts.

They probably can’t fully fit into their shells due to their mutation, but I think the idea of them still being able to pull their heads in like a seal is quite funny.

Imagine swinging a sword at him and his head just goes “swoop!”, and then all there is is his nose poking out and he’s glaring at you all huddled in his shoulders. If I was a Foot Soldier I’d incapacitate myself just from laughing, no fighting needed.

[Raphael] [Donatello] [Michelangelo] [Extended Family]

[iztarshi]

Little Boxies AU

in personality these turtles are a lot like 87 and I haven't thought out the differences yet, so this is more about physical box turtle things

Like most male box turtles they have bright red eyes.

They can go fully into their shells but are too big to close off like normal box turtles, instead the hinge gives them extra mobility by letting their plastron bend at the waist.

They're pretty good at swimming but only to the level of a good human swimmer and they can't hold their breath for much longer either.

They are cold-blooded (at least within cartoony limits that let them still be ninjas) and brumated the first few winters after mutation. Then Shredder happened and they realised they can't take the winter off. It would be dangerous to go in and out of brumation all the time so Donatello fixed the heating up, Splinter got them a kotetsu, and they all stay awake.

The classic trenchcoats are filled with hot water bottles in winter, although later Donatello makes coats that are more like electric blankets. They have trouble fighting in heavy coats, though, so they still hate fights in winter.

Ice is their nemesis, it hurts their feet if they don't wear shoes, and even if they do wear shoes they tend to fall over.

The sewers are kind of better for them than a normal apartment would be because they need high humidity and as a species adapted for woodland they can handle the shade. They do need to bask and have a bunch of out of the way spots and rooftops where they can do it.

Donatello does not like high humidity in his lab, though, for practical reasons and has dehumidifiers set up. If he's been in there too long the others will worry about him getting dehydrated.

Like all box turtles they hate being off their territory, so they don't leave New York much. Leo especially gets very anxious when they do.

They love mushrooms and would be able to eat some that are poisonous to humans, but they've never considered trying this.

[iztarshi]

Can I ask about Little Boxies AU Mona Lisa?

10) How they deal with pain.

12) How they sleep.

18) Special talents they have.

10) She'll take painkillers if they're available, she's not the type to endure for its own sake, but she also doesn't like to complain. She's more likely to grin and bear it and focus on the mission. I think she's also a little embarrassed that she's easier to hurt than the turtles, her newt skin is just softer than scales, and she'd rather not draw their attention to that.

12) On her back, I think. Either way it hasn't changed at all from when she was human. She also uses an electric blanket because it is very strange for her to adapt to being cold-blooded and blankets not making her any warmer now she's not producing heat for them to trap. Having something that does produce heat when she wants it is soothing.

18) She's a chemist, so she has that as a special talent (Donatello is more engineering and some computer programming rather than all science ever) and she does wind up learning some medicine (Splinter isn't living with them by this point - I'm not explaining why because it's a surprise for if I do get this whole story written - and he was the medic up until then).

She can dance, too. I think she's actually a dancer and a gymnast rather than a martial artist to begin with, although that gives her a base to work from as soon as she starts being trained.

And she's great at banter.