#mystic tots au

[dianagj-art]

Turtle parade! They are going places!

These are (I think) all the turltes One has interacted with, I'm pretty sure I'm forgeting someone but I have bad memory so ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

the full image:

SLAU by me :3

Mystic Tots @thr-333

Red Rover by @red-rover-au

Empyrean Weeping and Feral Leo by @cupcakeslushie

Coin Toss by @gemini-forest

Tentative Devotee @s0fti3w1tch

The Night @y0unginhumans

Life Mission @daedelweiss

Never Better @less-depresso-more-espresso

Even More of a Disaster @3lectricinsomnia @teaableu

Bloodbath @trubblegumm

If you haven't seen any of those aus go check them out and give them some love<3!

Edit bc I forgot: video I used as reference/inspiration

[separatedleoau]

Donnie: explain

One: no <3

Tot!Leo from Mystic Tots by @thr-333, BB!Leo by @trubblegumm, TD!leo/Trainee by @s0fti3w1tch, TN!Leo/Green by @raymustardd, Future!Leo/Red by @red-rover-au

also Green's "lossers duo" shirt Ray did, and the cheerleader uniforms Val and Buwan did, overal context @tmntaucompetition

BONUS!

he is texting Red

[sweeneydino]

Guess little orange was taking all those naps for a reason.

[phoebepheebsphibs]

I have ideas... I'm making plans.

...Let's see where they lead...

If you thought because they were kids that meant they wouldn't be exposed to the horrors... you were wrong.

[s0fti3w1tch]

DOUBLE-HANDED BACKHAND SWING

Context: TD!Leo/Trainee jumped out of the bleachers after SLAU!Leo/One (@dianagj-art) turned a Mystic Tot (@thr-333's AU) into a baseball

Aftermath:

w/ @trubblegumm's BloodBath Leo, @thr-333's Mystic Tots Leo (little cameo with the rest of the turtles and Splints), @gemini-forest's Coin Toss Michael

Below cut, first drawing w/o the blur and vfx

[thr-333]

@gemini-forest why would you give him a bat?!?! As if I wasn’t screwed enough! Guys don’t even bother voting for me, just call an ambulance.

@ separatedleoau @tmntaucompetition

[cray-cray-anime]

CMONNNN TIE SWEEEEEP

Vote mer turtles!

@quewp1 - Mer Turtles @thr-333 - Mystic Tots

[paintedkinzy-88]

Curse of Icarus Masterpost

You said if I believed enough, I would fly... Why didn't I?

Brief Summary:

When Splinter foiled Draxum's plans to create super soldiers, rushing to escape before the lab collapsed in on itself, he happened upon another of the scientist's experiments: reviving the ancient yokai species of dragons. With little time to think about it, he snatched up the three eggs and single dragonet, heading for the sewers of New York.

Now, years later, Leo is the only one of his brothers unable to take to the skies — yet quite possibly the one who wants to the most.

Important Links:

Tumblr Tags: #Dragons Rise AU, #COI AU, #Curse of Icarus

Initial Post

Reference and Extra Doodles

Sketch Gear Refs

Tot Leo

Art trade with hitwiththetmnt!

Something like Flying

Crossover — Noodles Meeting Noodles

Blep

Painted dragonet

New friend!

Mother of Dragons Sketch

Something’s Wrong: Raph, Donnie, April, Mikey, Casey

Ancient Mystic Warriors

Krang Apocalypse Designs

Twin Cuddles

Doodle Dump with Dragonet Pile

[thedemisapphic]

Wait I got a thought… and I haven’t done any research, I’m just curious. Would it be possible to accidentally make a portal to the prison dimension from the Hidden City? Like maybe from the Crying Titan since there’s so much Krang stuff lingering around.

Not a permanent one, but truly a mistake where it opens for a few seconds, sucks in what it can, and then shuts off. Which fills the Prison Dimension with a lot of junk.

And if this is possible, it made me think… what’s the likelihood of a separated AU where one of the turtles ends up in the Prison Dimension the whole time? And they don’t find their lost brother until the invasion, when everything crosses over? It would probably be after they’re all tots, because the baby turts wouldn’t survive. So like Splinter takes them sightseeing and one of the kiddos gets sucked into that random weak spot that formed a brief portal. And Splinter wanted to try to get them back, but he struggled to keep the rest of his kids on the ground during those few seconds as it was. So he really just has to bail and take it to heart, the guilt eating him alive.

I don’t really like thinking up stuff like this where Leo ends up getting thrown in because there’s SO MUCH of that stuff with him, it doesn’t appeal to me in the sense of coming up with my own ideas.

We see Raph Krang content a lot. I’ve made my own fair share of it. So he’s ruled out, simply because I’ve had my fill lol.

That leaves Donnie and Mikey.

And I think Mikey would end up being the one to survive.

Donnie is a softshell turtle, which means he truly can’t endure the violent nature of the Prison Dimension his whole life. It would kill him. Even if Krang took him in, they aren’t nice creatures.

Mikey would end up being the one to get sucked into the portal.

So imagine the day of the invasion, when the three Krang come through the portal, behind them comes Mikey. Unsure if he’s krangified or not!! But it’s hard to tell who he is at first. The only one who can identify him is Casey, who has seen him before.

I think I’ve decided I don’t want him krangified, at least not in the same way Raph was. But like… a little of both. He is FIRMLY connected to the hive mind. Rather than developing his Ninpo, he strengthened that. And Krang kind of just… infected him. So he has awareness, but can maybe summon tentacles like they can?? Gotta make the smaller creature useful somehow.

During that first fight, they realize that it’s Mikey. And Mikey doesn’t recognize them at ALL at first. They try but Mikey plows through them.

And I don’t know how we’d get here, but I can see Mikey eventually recognizing Leo. And he acts before he can think, TAKING RAPH’S PLACE to save Leo from Krang. And Raph, who was gonna do that, is just kinda watching, still hurrying over. Mikey faces IMMEDIATE reprimand and Raph skids past him, planting the escape pod on Leo’s chest before Leo can break out of his shock. And Leo then is left watching BOTH of them get stuck there. This it’s important- Mikey can’t be left alone without a Hamato with him at this point.

Somehow, while Raph and Mikey are together, Raph helps Mikey unlock his Ninpo. Something he NEVER GOT TO DO before. And if we’re going to save whoever gets sacrificed, uh, WE NEED HIS MYSTIC HANDS. Because if Casey is here at all, it means they saved Mikey in his timeline and he was able to develop his ninpo. So Casey is aware of how powerful Mikey CAN be, even if today he’s at square one. So Casey is still able to plant that seed amongst his family.

Or, who’s to say Donnie can’t make a portal? Because Mikey, I think he has the most mystic potential. Isn’t limited to ONE THING. He can do a lot with what he has. Maybe Donnie could do it? Like him and Mikey actively working together?

I don’t know, but I like this idea :3

[hyacinthstears]

an attack on @5ilent5cience

I spent so much time making sure everything's perfect only to find out that no its not! by the time I posted it I noticed I didn't finish the shading on the budlings and now I want to punch my self in the face.

Other then that this was fun to draw and I love me some turtle tot angst!

The setting is inspired by my work in progress Mystic Odyssey AU, a rottmnt future au based on the Iliad and the Odyssey. Big Mama is suppose to be Scylla but I haven't gotten around to designing her yet and this was the first time I've drawn her so I just settled for a big half spider thing.

I'm also so mad I couldn't find away to get points for putting in two characters just causes Big mama's not on the site, I spent so long on her 😭

Anyway hope you like it!

[sweeneydino]

F in chat for shortest father run.

[meggahamicide]

I wanna ask about ‘The Incident’ so bad 0_0 but I know it’s spoiler territory… So instead, can I ask about everyone as kids?

This may not be in line with the asks you’re asking for,,,, but did Vermin know he had brothers? and vice versa, did Splinter share that there was a fourth turtle / even know if that fourth turtle was alive? And then any other fun turtle tot info you wanna share. I don’t know if I have any clarifying questions about the AU as a whole, but I still wanna ask things wwww I hope you don’t mind!! 🙏🏻🤍

I'll just avoid anything that enters the spoiler zone, or keep it very vague, but as for if Vermin knew he had brothers, I'd say... no? He knew that Draxum tried to mutate three other turtles, but other than that, he figures that the others died either during or soon after their mutation and didn't have much of an emotion attachment to them. And even then, he only knows that they existed because Draxum had documented the experiment in a book that had all of his research notes in it.

Later on, in the episode where everyone canonically gets their mystic weapons, instead of taking the crystal, Donnie takes the book. As far as Splinter knew, Vermin had died in the lab's destruction, so when Donnie tries to confront him about their missing brother, Splinter is equally surprised. I think I've mentioned previously that Donnie (and somewhat Mikey) is aware that something is missing, but he wasn't entirely sure what it was until he finds the book and it triggers his mission to hunt Vermin down and get him to join their family.

Now, if you were lookin' for cute kid stuff, I won't give it to you here. But as a treat, I'll give you a little Post-Incident snippet. (warning for blood and injury!)

Before the incident, the family wouldn't fear the surface as much and would often find shelter in old warehouses and condemned buildings. They enjoyed people watching from the shadows and even had tentative safehouses throughout the city where they would retreat if too many humans were around their temporary dwellings. The sewers weren't their home until after.

The event takes place when they're all young still (Mikey is 7, Donnie is 8, and Raph is 9) and it ends in what is, in the majority, permanent injures for Raph, Mikey, and Splinter.

Mikey ends up getting injured the most, grabbed by both his left leg and right arm, breaking the bones around the joints in his elbow and knee and leaving him required to wear support braces and use mobility aids on occasion. Chronic pain shows up as he heals, (I might make a separate post about that since it's such a big thing and I can't really dump all the aspects that go into something like that here) and a head injury gives him amnesia surrounding the incident, but he gets nightmares that he can't remember when he gets stressed or overly exhausted.

Raph ends up with a wound that cut across his eye, blinding him on his right, and has problems with letting his brothers out of his sight for too long. Although I haven't redesigned him yet, one of Splinter's ears gets ripped off along with half of his tail. Because Donnie was the most defended, he didn't get injured past a few scrapes and bruises, but he does have a hatred for having to be protected now. Cue, his obsession with giving them the most overpowered and completely automated defense system when they finally hunker down somewhere defendable: Shelldon.

[teetle-time]

…so the writing demons grabbed me by the throat this morning and wouldn't let me go until i wrote this. anyway @hasello the cousins au is living in my brain rent-free so i hope u don't mind that i took a crack at something first-meetings-y with rise and 03 and wound up with 2.5k words of the babies :D

〜

The rat who once was Lou sprinted down the rain-slick alleyway with one arm clutching his boys to his chest and the other digging through his pockets.

"I saw it run this way!"

He bit back a curse; his pursuers were still hot on his trail.

And his tail.

Heh.

What a time to be alive.

The mystic key bumped against his fingers, and he quickly snatched it out of his pocket and darted to the nearest wall. He needed to be quick and precise.

…well, he at least managed speed. He spent too many precious seconds glancing back to watch the beams of light bounce ever higher just a turn away, so he really had no idea if his sigil was anywhere near accurate.

As if in answer to prayer, it lit up, opening a circular portal for him, and he leapt through without a second thought, pocketing the key as he fell.

His luck held out long enough for him to hear it close behind him without any of the humans chasing him shouting in surprise.

It did not hold out long enough to actually drop him into the Hidden City.

Instead, when the portal ended, he stumbled out into a long tunnel, directly in front of another rat with four humanoid turtles around them.

No-Longer-Lou froze like a deer in headlights, staring at the strangers and heaving for air.

The strangers all mirrored him, freezing in place and scanning him in all their various capacities.

The other rat spoke first: "My, isn't this unexpected?"

A snort forced its way from No-Longer-Lou against his will at that, though he quickly brought a hand (no, he had paws now) to his mouth to stifle it. "I- I'm so sorry, I just- I didn't mean to- This isn't where-!"

"Peace," said the other rat, carefully maneuvering the turtle in front of him a bit to the side and standing up. "Whatever circumstances brought you here, it is clear that you have been moved by the strings of fate, rather than by choices of your own design. You mean no harm to us, yes?"

"I-I- yes."

"And we mean no harm to you," soothed the other.

No-Longer-Lou breathed heavily for a moment more, but then his attention was quickly arrested by motion in his arms.

Raphael- the quickest to grow, but still so, so small- screwed up his face. "Papa?"

"I'm right here, Raphael," No-Longer-Lou murmured, reaching into the sling to give the boy's hand a squeeze.

The other rat's eyes widened at the name. "Now, that is a one-in-a-million chance, indeed."

"Why's he got a baby with my name?" demanded the turtle wearing a red mask over his eyes.

It was No-Longer-Lou's turn to be surprised. "Raphael? But then…"

He took in the colors of the masks on the other three turtle boys' faces.

Purple, blue, and orange.

"Donatello? Leonardo? M-Michelangelo?"

Silence.

At least, until the turtle boy in orange leaned over to his brothers and whispered loudly, "How does he know our names, dudes?!"

No-Longer-Lou's sons roused at their names, and he quickly realized his mistake as Michelangelo began to fuss. "Oh, oh, no, Michelangelo, please, it is alright, please don't-!"

Michelangelo may have been the youngest, but he had a record-shattering set of lungs, for sure.

The moment Michelangelo began to wail, Leonardo jumped in with him, refusing to be left out, and then Raphael was crying and Donatello was shoving his tiny head into No-Longer-Lou's chest with his hands over where his ears would have been and the rat could feel his own ears on the verge of bleeding-!

The other rat's back straightened, and he turned to the older turtle boys. "My sons, I still have some of the supplies I scavenged when you were tots. Raphael, the pacifiers. Leonardo and Donatello, the blankets. Michelangelo, the pillows."

The boys nodded seriously, wincing as the cries reached a peak before darting across the tunnel and digging through various chests and boxes. Meanwhile, the other rat carefully took No-Longer-Lou's arm and led him towards the chair the others had been gathered around in the first place. "Please, have a seat. I would quite like to hear the tale of how you came to this place-"

-an ear-splitting cry from Leonardo-

"-but first, we must calm your children," finished the other rat with a tired smile.

No-Longer-Lou nodded just as tiredly and began to gently bounce his boys. "There, there, your Papa is right here, we are all together, and…and we are safe."

The other rat's expression warmed.

"I got the pacifiers!" called the older boy named Raphael, charging back over and brandishing the four objects in one hand.

"Excellent work, Raphael," praised the other rat as he took the pacifiers.

The boy beamed.

"These should do for now," the other rat said, pressing one into No-Longer-Lou's paw. "These were enchanted by an old friend of mine to allow them to keep up with beaked babies."

No-Longer-Lou managed a weak smile at that, then carefully reached in to nudge the pacifier against Michelangelo's mouth. "Here we are, little Orange. Wouldn't it be nicer to suck on this instead of crying?"

Michelangelo hiccuped, but after a moment of what seemed like confusion, his mouth closed around the pacifier and he looked up at No-Longer-Lou with wide, wet eyes.

"One down, two to go," chuckled the other rat, handing off another pacifier. This one went to Leonardo, who contented himself quickly once he had something to do with himself. He seemed to be gnawing on the pacifier, rather than sucking on it, but No-Longer-Lou chalked it up to curiosity at the foreign object.

Surprisingly- or perhaps not- Donatello was the next one to need something to work with. Raphael began calming down after a few moments of being the only one still crying, but when Donatello caught sight of Leonardo messing with the pacifier, he turned an utterly betrayed stare up at No-Longer-Lou until he gave the boy one to fiddle with.

With the remaining pacifier in hand, No-Longer-Lou smiled wearily at Raphael. "You may be a bit big to use this, Red. Do you still want to try?"

Raphael nodded firmly. "Raphie's the big brother. Gotta be the bestest essample."

No-Longer-Lou handed the pacifier over, and…yep, it was completely dwarfed by his son. Still, his boy held it in his mouth and smiled over at Michelangelo when the two met eyes.

Michelangelo blinked, then smiled back.

"Blanket delivery!" called the bigger Donatello, carrying a pile of blankets nearly as tall as he was.

Next to him, his brother Leonardo fussed. "Donnie, I told you I could have held some!"

"Easy, Leonardo," chuckled the other rat, easily lifting the blankets from Donatello's hands. "How about you make sure our visitors are tucked in and comfortable?"

"Okay, Father," chirped Leonardo, immediately doing exactly that- and perhaps peeking into No-Longer-Lou's arms a few times to peer at his boys.

Little Raphael watched the bigger boy curiously, then said around the pacifier, "Raphie thought we were th'only turtle people."

The bigger Leonardo paused for a moment, then looked at him. "So'd we."

Leonardo- the baby- met the other Leonardo's eyes, then spat out his pacifier- and yes, it was much more chewed-on than before. "Hi! Hi, hi, hi! I'm Leo!"

The other Leonardo blinked, then grinned. "Me too. It's a good name, right?"

Little Leonardo nodded, shaking his entire body from the effort. "Daddy pickeded it!"

No-Longer-Lou chuckled. "Feeling better now, are we?"

Little Leonardo nodded again, just as energetically. "Mikey no sad no more!"

"Did somebody say Mikey?!" crowed the older boy of the same name, wildly waving pillows over his head as he ran over.

"Midey! Midey! Midey!" cheered the baby around his pacifier, flailing his arms.

"That's right, little dude!" Older Michelangelo grinned and peered over at him as soon as he skidded to a stop in front of No-Longer-Lou. "We're the mightiest!"

"MIDEYST!" shrieked the baby in glee.

Little Donatello winced and paused his inspection of his pacifier to glare witheringly at his youngest brother.

"Careful, Michelangelo," chastised No-Longer-Lou. "Your brother has sensitive hearing, remember?"

Baby Michelangelo blinked, then frowned very seriously and wiggled until he was able to grab Little Donatello's arm in a hug- or rather, a- "Dondon hubbub."

Little Donatello's glare softened, and he went back to fiddling with the pacifier with his free hand. It seemed the hinge on the back occupied more of his attention than the squishy part meant to be sucked on.

The older Michelangelo pressed the pillows in his hands to his face. "D'awww, they're so cute!"

No-Longer-Lou smiled warmly. "They are, aren't they?"

"It seems like we've established that we have similar taste in names," chuckled the other rat. "Though, just to be sure, might I ask yours?"

No-Longer-Lou's smile turned bitter. "It doesn't matter. I'm only a splinter of the man I used to be, anyway."

The other rat's eyebrows rose. "What curious phrasing. I never was a man, but the name I was given before my mutation by the family I was brought into was…well, Splinter."

No-Longer-Lou straightened in the chair at that. "Curious indeed…"

After a moment of thought, on a half-formed hunch born of one too many late night sci-fi movie marathons, he continued, "You know, before my own mutation, I'd more-or-less befriended a rat in my- well. A rat. I…I'd chosen the name Lou Jitsu years ago, but…the name I was given was Yoshi."

A shaky breath from Splinter. "…Hamato Yoshi?"

No-Longer-Lou steadfastly kept his focus on his boys. "I haven't deserved that name in a long time."

He kept the part about not wanting to be associated with his family's 'traditions' firmly unsaid.

"You okay, Papa?" asked Raphael, reaching up to pat at his face.

"I will be," No-Longer-Lou said, pressing a kiss to the boy's forehead.

Splinter gently laid a hand on No-Longer-Lou's shoulder. "I swear to you, you and your children will be safe here for as long as you need. I don't know how you came to be here, but I will help you return home if you so wish."

No-Longer-Lou nodded, thickness rising up in his throat and clogging it.

"Mr. Lou, can I see Baby Mikey?" asked the older Michelangelo, setting the pillows down.

Both rats' eyebrows rose, and Splinter asked, "Mr. Lou?"

"Well, if he doesn't use that Yoshi name, and we can't call him Splinter because you're Splinter, then he's Mr. Lou!" Older Michelangelo crossed his arms and nodded decisively, his point made.

Splinter and…and Lou met each other's eyes with equally bemused expressions, then Lou looked down at his boys. "I don't know. Orange, would you like to see Big Michelangelo?"

"Bihmidey!" Michelangelo said seriously, patting at Donatello's arm before wriggling upright and peeking out at the older boy. "Bihmidey hi?"

"Heh, yep," said Older Michelangelo, beaming widely. "Hi, li'l Mikey!"

The baby chirped excitedly, bouncing in place until Older Michelangelo reached over to pick him up. Lou watched carefully, but it seemed the older boy had at least some idea of how to hold a young child, as he easily hefted Little Michelangelo against his side.

"I wanna see the babies!" exclaimed Older Leonardo.

"Me too!"

"Yeah!"

Little Leonardo giggled and clambered out of Lou's arms too quickly for him to react. "Hey, hey, hi! I'm big boy!"

Older Raphael darted forward to keep Little Leo from tumbling to the ground. "You sure are, yeesh! Don't hurt yourself!"

Little Raphael whined. "Leo, don't fall down like that! You'll get a owie!"

"S'okay, Raphie!" Little Leonardo grinned up at his brother, then at Older Raphael. "There's two Raphies! That's even more Raphie! Gonna be saferest!"

Little Raphael whined again, but after a brief moment where Older Raphael's eyes grew suspiciously moist, the older boy blinked quickly before grinning at his younger double. "You heard 'im. I'll keep your bro outta trouble, swear."

Little Raphael scowled. "You better."

"Did you want to come out and keep an eye on them?" asked Older Leonardo knowingly.

That got a nod out of Little Raphael, and the older boy helped him climb down to the ground.

With only Donatello left in his arms, Lou couldn't find it in himself to be surprised when the older Donatello peered at the younger boy. "What about you, Tinytello? You wanna come hang out?"

Little Donatello hissed in displeasure and flipped the hinged handle on the pacifier up and down more quickly.

"I'm guessing that's a 'no,' then," said Lou. "It's nothing against you, I promise. Today has simply been…a lot."

"Oh, I can get that," agreed Older Donatello immediately. "Like, I dunno what you were doing before you came here, but it didn't look very fun. And now a bunch of big brother wannabes are getting all up in his space and playing with his bros without him? I'd be on-edge, too."

Little Donatello's handle-flipping stilled, and he shifted to look at Older Donatello's chest. (Wasn't there a turtle-specific word for that part of their shells…?)

"I'm close, huh?" asked Older Donatello. "Figured it'd be something like that. That's okay, Tinytello! Sounds like you've been having a rough time of it. Do you want me to go do something else, or should I stay put?"

Little Donatello's forehead furrowed for a moment, then he gravely held the pacifier out to the older boy.

Lou's brows shot up. "Huh. I know Purple is unique in many ways, but he usually isn't so quick to decide a stranger is worthy of a gift…even if that gift belonged to the stranger, first."

Little Donatello frowned when Older Donatello didn't immediately take the pacifier, then gave the handle a demonstrative flip before shaking the pacifier a little.

Older Donatello's eyes widened, and he carefully took the pacifier and gave the handle a tentative flip.

Little Donatello chirruped, shifting in place to get comfy in the crook of Lou's elbow in such a way as to keep watching the older boy.

Splinter chuckled as the two Donatellos went back and forth, flipping and chirping. "I do believe your son has found a new friend in mine."

Lou huffed a weak laugh of his own. "I suppose he has."

He took the opportunity to scan the tunnel- or rather, now that he had a moment to think, the room within the tunnel.

Little Raphael and Older Leonardo stood aside as Little Leonardo cartwheeled in circles, ooh-ing and aah-ing whenever the younger boy glanced their way. Older Raphael kept a hawklike eye on the toddler, constantly circling around him to place himself between Leonardo and the nearest obstacles. Older Michelangelo hopped around the room, bouncing the baby with each hop and getting the both of them to giggle madly.

Little Donatello yawned contentedly and smushed the side of his face against Lou's arm, still watching Older Donatello bemusedly flip the handle of the pacifier.

Lou felt the adrenaline that had kept him moving for the past hour finally begin to drain, and it quickly became a struggle to keep his eyes open.

Splinter's hand came down on his shoulder and gave it a squeeze. "Rest, Lou. You and your sons are safe here. The rest can wait for now."

Lou nodded tiredly, and his eyes fluttered shut before he could have any further say in the matter.

[thr-333]

I enjoy crossovers I think splints would end up being pretty nonplussed about multiverse craziness a very useful skill for his future(hint hint nudge nudge)

[thr-333]

I feel like these together make an accurate picture

@ separatedleoau @tmntaucompetition

Sep!Leo - dianagj-arts / separatedleoau Mystic Tots - thr-333

[paintedkinzy-88]

For the rottmnt dragon au, since Leo is jealous of the others ability to fly etc etc, do the other brothers also have elements of Leo that they’re jealous over?

Or follow up question: what are some very unique traits to each of the brothers and their “species” of dragon?

…This’ll definitely get so long, I apologize in advance XD

I’ll try to highlight which paragraph is for which character, maybe that’ll make it easier???

Starting with the unique traits! To get my thoughts together hahaha.

Mikey’s the fastest flier and can make those real quick maneuvers in midair! He likes testing his limits and learning new tricks, all of which give Raph a heart attack. He’s especially proud of dive bombing, where he can tuck in to basically a tiny missile. His tail’s also the most prehensile of the bunch! I gave him the long tail as a reference to his nunchuck chains, so you bet he can grab things and hang from it. Very useful in a fight!

Oh and he breathes fire. He’s the “truest” dragon of them, which is why he’s so much more mystically powerful later on.

Leo’s very similar to Mikey, but in the water. His scales are smooth and he’s physically lean, so he’s an incredibly fast swimmer — and those fins make for quick turns! He can regulate his body temperature a lot more than his brothers, making him less susceptible to the cold, which is helpful for diving. On smaller details, he has the best sight, underwater “hearing” (like he can feel vibrations in the water), and mystic talent (meaning portals are so hard to learn, and he figured it out pretty quickly, even if it might not look like it).

Donnie may not be the fastest swimmer, with his rougher scales and larger figure, but he is more physically strong than his younger brothers. He’s technically faster than Leo, but it’s only in small bursts, giving him a sort of “ramming” ability underwater. He may not be able to breathe fire like Mikey, but it’s clear he was meant to, as he can practically boil water in his throat and mouth to spit at threats. His bite is also quick and powerful, and his lack of chest plates leads to better flexibility in general!

Raph is obviously the tank of the group. He’s stronger in every physical aspect, including his jaws, wings, hands, and, more specifically, his tail. He has the sharpest claws/spines and the most durable body as well, meaning it’s incredibly hard to hurt him or even chip his spines/horns/claws. His size doesn’t make him very fast or agile, but he’s not slow either. He’s also the one that’s sufficient in both land and water (naturally, that is, now that Donnie built his own wings), though that may be more because he had to teach himself to swim well when the twins were younger…

Now, on the “jealousy” question…

Donnie has a tendency to try and match his brothers in areas he is not as naturally talented at, specifically flying and swimming. He admires Leo’s speed and diving abilities underwater, as well as Mikey’s speed and agility in the air. He has always challenged Leo in the water since they were tots, usually trying to test boosters and the such, but has more recently taken to trying to beat Mikey in flight instead. Either way, he hasn’t beaten them much even with his inventions. At this point, he’s just using the two of them as references and a challenge, and has accepted he’d likely never get to their level. (It also doesn’t help that both Mikey and Leo have STRONG competitive natures lmao)

He also wishes he had Raph’s durability, since his scales, though rough, aren’t much when it comes to protection. That’s probably his biggest concern.

Mikey wishes he could swim in general. The little guy’s more like an eagle in the water— he can somewhat swim but is very slow and vulnerable. Imagine a doggy paddle, but with the addition of flapping splashing wings. He also likes to challenge Leo to races, but aside from Mikey sometimes having an advantage in the air, Leo usually still wins. But, aside from maybe wanting Raph’s big size sometimes, the lil dude is pretty content as is!

Raph admires his all of his lil bros’ maneuverability and size (hard to hide in a busy city when you’re an absolute giant). He’s simultaneously envious and terrified of Mikey’s fire and Donnie’s boiling water abilities, too. As much as he would love to be more like a classic dragon, he also sees the absolute disaster it can be, and has been, for the two of them. They don’t need any more fires and scorch marks in the lair, thank you. Raph’s also jealous of Leo’s quick thinking and plan-making, but is equally as proud of it.

It’s all not really on the same level as Leo and flight though… a lot of this is wishing they could do something better like their brothers, or they just accept it’s not possible and move on. Leo dreams of doing something he physically cannot do, and is willing to put his life at risk to even try and fake the same feeling… He can’t accept it. Or at least he can’t move past it.

I like to think the one closest to understanding Leo’s inner turmoil is April! She’s been hanging around these living mythical creatures for years, and the best she can ever get to their level is riding on their back, and that’s really only comfortable on Donnie. At the end of the day, though, she’s the most jealous of Leo in particular, cuz as fun as it is to fly, she’s far more fascinated with the ocean’s mysteries, and Leo’s the only one who can dive deep enough to see them.