#so like leo does try to stop it but he kinda fails and is like. god fucking DAMN IT I HATE MSYELFLFLF FUAGHGFHVGGDHVGRHFGYGH SSLITLOTJSLITF

[yumeyumeappleo]

,

WOAH A WHOLE ASS DRAWING I MADE OF ROTTMNT THAT WAS PARTLY INSPIRED THAT LFIE IS STRANGE THAT I UPLOADED HERE AND ENDED UP DELETING A LONG WHILE AGO CAUSE I DIDNT LIKE IT>!?!??!

[turtleblogatlast]

[ cw: risk taking behavior / circumstantial self harm kinda / ignoring of injuries / self-depreciation / slight ooc-ness but for a reason! / ]

Post invasion, Leo is fine.

More than fine! He’s better than before, even. That is, if you don’t count the slightly cracked shell and still healing bones, but those are only a problem when the weather wants them to be!

Leo really is better in the ways that matter.

He’s not as cocky, not as self-centered, and overall just more heroic in general if he does say so himself.

Raph even said he was proud of Leo!

So obviously things are going well.

But.

It’s not enough.

Leo’s better, sure, but he’s still got work to do.

So - and here’s something that will probably make his brothers faint on the spot - he needs to train.

_____

His brothers do not faint, but it’s a near thing for Raph. Mikey has to fan the snapper’s face and Donnie almost brings out the smelling salts before Raph shoots back to his feet with an excited grin.

Leo’s big brother gets teary eyed soon after and envelops him in a bear hug, saying once again how proud he is that Leo is growing up.

Leo lets himself be hugged, even hugs back as fiercely as he can, because unbeknownst to Raph, this marks the end of Leo’s childhood.

He lets himself be hugged like a kid one last time, looking through the hole in Raph’s shell all the while.

_____

Leo only trains the regular way with his brothers and occasionally April and the Caseys, but most especially Raph.

But of course that’s not enough, it was never going to be.

So he goes through the motions of the stretches, the spars, the meditation, and then he leaves.

He makes sure to have his excuses ready, usually defaulting to Hueso as his go to since his brothers are easily bought off with the promise of pizza. Leo hasn’t yet found the tracker Donnie installed in him, but when he does that’ll be dealt with too! But for now, this should be good.

See, the invasion made him realize something.

It’s not about him, but it was his shortcomings that led to everything going to hell.

So he just…needs to get rid of those shortcomings.

He’s working on it, gaining fighting skill in training, but there’s more he needs to do, more skills he needs to train.

Leo watches intently as Repo Mantis swindles someone, he memorizes the sleight of hand that Hypno performs, he sneaks back into the Mystic Library and is so quiet the hush bats forget he’s there, he talks Big Mama into honing his manipulation, and he even sneaks into human hospitals and reptile veterinary clinics to get a clue on more serious injuries.

And after any of these, he heads to Run of the Mill to compete in the Maze of Death.

_____

This is his twelfth time going through the (newly remodeled and even more deadly) Maze of Death, and would be his fifth time winning. The first three times had him waking up in Hueso’s office, and each time he wakes his old persona shines through.

He always waves off Hueso’s annoyance and questions and insists on trying again next time before he steals some pizza and bails.

The skeleton actively tries to stop him from entering the Maze after the first time, but hey- mystics are allowed before you enter.

It’s easy enough to teleport on by.

Harder to meet Hueso’s - and later his brothers’ - eyes when he fails again.

When he first actually won, Hueso congratulates him in that typical deadpan tone of his.

“Ah, felicidades, Pepino. Now you can move on, sí?”

“Hm? Nah, boneman! That run was sloppy!”

And then Leo runs off before Hueso can stop him.

He doesn’t even look at his picture on the champion wall when he next comes around. It’s not much to look at anyway.

_____

His second win is much like the first, and only his third win is actually acceptable.

But he knows the field too much now. He needs a challenge.

When he attempts to go through it blindfolded, he’s quickly shown how much he doesn’t know the Maze. So, obviously, he loses again.

He got a bit more banged up that time around.

“Pepino, basta ya, you’ve already won. Where are your brothers?”

“I can’t stop yet, señor! This is for my brothers - no les digas, please.”

Even if Hueso wanted to tell Leo’s brothers, they haven’t been in enough for him to get to, and it’s not like Hueso has their number since Leo’s the one Hueso usually contacts. For now, Leo’s safe to continue as is.

Though his injuries are getting harder to hide, and there’s only so much his shell in particular can take.

So to speed things up, he incorporates the blindfold into his regular training.

His brothers question it, of course, but hey, he initially got the idea from seeing Lou Jitsu do it in the third best Lou Jitsu movie, so it comes as a great excuse now.

He’s only a little put off by how fast Mikey adapts to it when the others try.

“I dunno-“ Mikey shrugs when asked, “You guys shine so brightly anyway, a mask doesn’t do much.”

Seeing their mystic energies is pretty cool, Leo can admit.

He just wishes he could grasp that himself - and that it was useful for a death maze.

_____

Leo’s training pulls off eventually, and soon, after a few more losses, he wins a forth time. But it’s a near loss, and a near loss is the difference between someone living and dying.

He’s gotta go again.

Hueso’s more insistent than ever, though.

“You must stop, Pepino.”

“But I can do better-“

“You don’t have to! Your shell is bleeding - ¡por tu propio bien, poner fin a esto!”

“I told you, this is for their own good! For everyone’s own good!”

He forgets the pizzas when he leaves. He claims sickness when he hides under his covers.

He ignores how childish the act makes him feel.

_____

Leo’s getting better, and his reflexes and tact in training shows this. His other training of his subterfuge and medical skills also prove to be useful.

He’s pretty good at hiding injuries, now! Though not so good at hiding a pained shell. Even Donnie looks at him with blatant concern (and understanding) when Leo can’t help but take a sharp breath whenever he lands on his back.

It’s hard not to go right back into waving everything off with jokes like he used to. Deflections are easier when they’re annoying!

But- this is just another reason that he needs to get better, right? So his brothers won’t worry. He doesn’t need the spotlight anymore - he’s over that, thanks.

He squashes down the part of him that perks up when Splinter says he’s growing up. He actively kills the part of himself that cries at the same phrase.

_____

So. Yeah. This’ll be his twelfth time running the Maze. And, hopefully, his fifth win. Maybe he really will move on after this.

The Hidden City is pretty big! There’s probably a bigger challenge somewhere.

Maybe Big Mama has a more secret Nexus hidden away, out of the public eye.

Well, whatever. That’s a future problem for him to figure out, yeah? For now, he carries on like usual, teleporting to the entrance of the Maze and diving right in.

Even blindfolded, he works his way through, dodging and weaving and feeling as he goes. He even tries to evoke his inner Mikey and calls on his mystic energy. Not enough to cheat, but enough to feel.

Usually, when Leo teleports, he swears he feels every part of himself disperse into particles. Now, with energy thrumming under his scales, he can feel particles everywhere.

It’s not refined enough to tell him everything, and he gets a fun new burn and a nice whack to the back by getting distracted. Still, it gives him more than he had before. It makes him more aware of everything, like he licked a finger and held it in the air to feel the direction of wind, but every direction blew wind, all in different ways.

He makes it to the end with minimal injuries after that, and sure, his shell is screaming at him now, but he thinks he did a shell of a good job.

…Ah, he needs to cut that out, huh? Man. Maybe Donnie’s collar idea was a good call after all.

Leo needs to be a hero. Not a face man. Not a failure.

Not a kid.

_____

Leo doesn’t smile when the Minotaur takes his picture again for the champion wall, and he doesn’t listen when she tells him to “go home and never come back.”

He doesn’t plan to, anyway, yeesh.

He’s tired as he trudges out of the exit, and Hueso catches him when he stumbles.

Hueso doesn’t say anything. Leo doesn’t either.

Or, he doesn’t, until he feels a familiar large hand helping him up as well.

Leo’s face whips up as he flinches back, eyes wide as they meet with a worried (so, so worried) Raph’s.

“You told them?” Leo asks Hueso in betrayal, heart thudding wildly in his chest.

“Pepino…”

“Told us what?” Mikey pipes up from behind Raph, coming closer to get a better look at Leo, “Leo, what’s going on?”

“Your shell has been having pretty big setbacks on its healing, is this why?” Donnie demands, glaring fiercely as he motions toward the Maze.

Leo feels unmoored. “I-“

“Leo.” Raph interrupts, and no Leo doesn’t want to hear it- “Are you okay?”

And Leo wants to say “it’s not about me”. He wants to say anything that proved he learned his lesson, that he’s not a liability or worse, an active danger to his own family.

He wants Raph to continue being proud of him. He wants his brothers to trust him.

Instead, he passes out.

_____

The next time his eyes open, Leo’s on his side, staring at his blue lava lamp.

He knows without looking that his shell is re-bandaged. He knows his other injuries have been dealt with too.

And unless Leo learned how to do some pretty impressive medical sleepwalking, he knows he’s not getting away this time.

All three of his brothers being in his room prove that.

“What’s been going on, Leo?” Mikey asks, and his voice cracks partway through.

He’s looking at Leo like he’s searching for something, but Leo doesn’t have anything to show. Nothing’s hidden, he just did some light spring cleaning is all, throwing out all the parts he didn’t need.

All the parts they didn’t need.

And yet despite everything, he can feel himself falling back into old ways, a grin tugging at his beak and lackadaisical deflection on the tip of his tongue.

Maybe he should let that part of him show, just for once. It wouldn’t seem like too much of a setback would it? And he could really use a fun pun right about now-

No.

No it’s not about him. He needs to remember why he did all this in the first place.

“Okay- sorry, guys.” He smiles, softly, quietly, “I guess I got too caught up in training. I’ll work at it some more, don’t worry.”

“Oh, I see. Training. That’s all it was, huh? Training.” Donnie hisses more than says, nearly vibrating in anger.

“…yeah?” Leo nods slowly, because, uh, that’s literally the most honest thing he said. It was training.

“If it’s just “training” then why the secrecy, hm? Why in Curie’s good name did you prefer to sneak around rather than, oh, I don’t know, tell your family?”

Leo feels his shoulders rise at Donnie’s aggression, defensiveness welling up in him, “It was my training! Nothing went wrong, I’m getting better!”

“Better?” Raph asks incredulously, “Leo, you’re wasting away. A tap to the shell stuns you for minutes, you lost weight, and your dark circles are worse than Raph’s ever seen them! You aren’t getting better-!”

“YES I AM!”

The words rip out of Leo before he can stop them.

The room is silent as his brother look at him, all wearing expressions of hurt that Leo put there again.

“Yes I am.” Leo reiterates, shaking, “Because- if I’m not-“ He squeezes his eyes shut. “If I’m not-“

Then what was all this for?

Arms slowly wrap around him, and he knows now from the feel of the mystic that it’s Mikey.

“You’ve gotten faster, and sneakier.” Mikey says quietly. “When I accidentally cut my hand, you knew exactly how to take care of it.” His voice grows firm, and he backs out of the hug, “But those are your skills. You, though, you’ve been…you’ve been…”

“You’ve been dilapidating before our very eyes, and trying to hide it.” Donnie finishes, jaw tight. “You think we wouldn’t notice? After everything?” To Leo’s horror, Donnie’s voice is hoarse with tears, “You absolute dumb dumb.”

“I- but I need to train. The Maze is-“

“Leo, we don’t care that you ran through the Maze. We care you did it alone.” Raph says quietly. “We could have joined you, any time.”

“But- but I’m doing this for you-“

“Listen to your brothers, Blue.” They jump as a new voice joins the fray, heads turning to see Splinter make his way into the - frankly crowded - room.

“Dad, I-“ Leo begins, but trails off, suddenly more unsure than ever in the face of his father.

“It’s good you’re finally picking up training! Especially for your brothers’ sakes! But there’s such a thing as going overboard, you know.” Splinter pokes a sharp claw into Leo’s plastron, “Just because you’re dragging it out this time, doesn’t make this any less of a sacrifice. My son, you’ve taken after Karai an awful lot, haven’t you?”

Leo just looks at his father. At his brothers. Then, he looks down at his calloused hands, bandaged and scarred from overuse.

He swallows dryly. “Is that a bad thing?”

He feels his family crowd in around him, feels his father’s hand on his shoulder.

“It’s not wrong to want to be better, Leonardo.” Splinter says, softly and with so much grief and guilt that Leo can never begin to understand, “But you were never bad to begin with.”

Leo’s breath hitches.

“And-” Splinter’s hands rise up to frame Leo’s face. “You are much too young to ever consider sacrifice the best answer.”

“You got me to relax, Leo. So I’ll do the same for you.” Raph grins, eyes wet, “We’re still kids, right?”

And-

Leo smiles, watery but genuine. “Yeah, Raph. We are.”

[the-fandom-is-now-my-life]

Same anon from last time, but skskfjd I have so much to yap about?? Especially about my personal favs

The last Ritsu fic just make me think of Leo version, for some reason. Because like, this man, this guy, this Satan spawn if he was sent to the future and somehow, miraculously ended with Leo, he straight up the type to go into denial.

Like, him?? Leo?? The 600k influencer?? Where all of his fans is dying to be with him and a much better option (dramatic ass) somehow ended up with the NPC?? He's having an identity crisis because did he lose his taste in people already?? He blame Darkwick for not allowing to leave all the time because he ended up settle down for the "Honor Roll" or the "Useless NPC"

He probably think or believe he ended up with MC because she must've been desperate to be in a relationship. Of course, he's the Leo after all, everyone would wanted to be with him, even the basic NPC themselves. (Spoiler alert; he's the one who fell first and hard. Who's the one into the chick now, Leo?)

The diabolical streamer gets married?? (No click bait)

Leo wakes up in an unknown yet familiar room where he discovers some things about the future

Wc: 2,1K

Notes: it's implied you two were about to have sex.

No beta, if I have to close the document again I will die. Who would have guessed rewriting the same thing three times would make you fed up with it? /S

If leo is kinda ooc let's just say the anomaly made him more mellow jsjs

The thumping pulsation of his heartbeat inside his skull, pushing against the bone seeking to burst, does an unsurprising better work at waking him than any alarm clock, the pain ripping the sleep away from Leo in each of its quick waves.

One of his hands falls between his eyebrows, applying force against them that rolled down his temporal to the occipital where it pooled as honey-thick pleasurable pressure, even though it did an underwhelming job at soothing the ache to say the least. It's unlike any hangover he had ever gotten.

“Why in hell does my head hurt so fucking much?” It isn't like he has been drinking lately, ever since coming to darkwick the only chance at getting drinks was when he gets an R&R accepted, which Alan hasn't done in a good few days. At one point he thought that obscuary’s bar might sell him booze, given Romeo's complaints about a ‘drunk’ Haru, but they were just anomalous drinks that mimicked it so he wouldn't get a hangover either way.

Extending his hand towards the nightstand Leo starts patting around trying to find his phone to call Sho so he gets him some aspirin or something. After a few failed attempts he reluctantly starts opening his eyes slowly only to see that his phone wasn't there. Did he forget it at the bar? Or maybe sober designated driver Sho decided to take it away so he wouldn't embarrass himself?

Before he can even start cussing his friend out a whiff of sweet chocolate catches his nose. Could it be that he finally caved in and made him the trendy chocolate pastries shaped like dachshunds he has been asking him to? He always refused to, saying things like ‘cooking isn't the same as baking’ or ‘it’s really precise, I can't just throw things in a bowl and hope it works out’ but it seems he is humoring Leo again.

Now in a better mood, he peeks a leg under the unusually nice and heavy comforter and starts looking for his slippers still laying down. When he finds one he sits up and follows the smell.

Dragging his feet across the tiled floors Leo doesn't notice how different the floorplan -or everything really- is to Vagastorm, the white paint on the walls pristine rather than dirty with dubious substances and the hallway has a lingering scent of bergamot and sage clinging to clean AC cooled breeze, totally different to the drowning rust and oil hanging in suffocating hot air. Strangely enough he doesn't notice either how naturally he navigates without even one though forming, almost as if he was familiar with it.

Stopping just under the arch leading to the dining room, his enthusiasm falters as the white plate on the glass table was holding, disappointingly, not his pastries but cut up brownies with some red flakes over, maybe chili flakes? It would still be a spicy dessert so curious he reaches a hand over but before his fingers even graze it a playful voice scolds him like a little child.

“They are still hot! I don't want you whining about stomach ache”

If ghouls weren't more sturdy than humans Leo is 100 percent sure he would have gotten whiplash with the way his head snapped towards the right, surprised at your presence. Despite what he might have normally done, going on and on about how much of an obsessive fan you were for hanging out around his room and how he would make Darkwick get a restraining order on you, something inclined him to do nothing, almost feeling like it was obviously natural for you to be here.

It isn't until you start walking towards him, a playful smirk on your face, that he notices that there is a baby no older than ten months hanging on your hip.

Now beside him, your hand combs his bed hair, raking his scalp with the blunt end of your nails, the few times his ashy gray hair tangled around your fingers and got pulled, his nerves and spine trembled slightly. Even if he reasons pulling away –He cares so much about his hair, spending a good amount of money and time on it only for a nobody NPC to spread skin oils on it?!– the surprising ease that came with your touch urged him to stay and rest against the warmth

“Did Emmy wake you up? it's unusual for you to wake up so early” looking through his eyelashes, the black minimalist asymmetrical clock with cherry red arms points to 7:30. How come he woke up so early? When he spends the night editing or doxxing he barely can stand at 12:45. The sleep still hanging to his yellow eyes reminds him of when Alan bangs on his door to force him to train “were you editing that video up late?”

“Video?”

Putting your daughter in the highchair you start tinkering inside the kitchen, cutting some berries and fruit, grabbing a plastic bowl shaped like a panda and putting a dollop of yogurt before sprinkling chia seeds “weren't you doing a summary video for our anniversary? Your fans are kind of pushy about it, and I know you defend them saying they are mostly teens but…”

Tuning out the rambling as background noise, Leo's yellow eyes meet matching ones on the high chair, looking up to him with such an innocent love he can feel awkwardness seeping out of his bones, seeing something so small and weak put so much trust on someone who regularly scams rich old men.

“But I guess it's whatever” coming back to the table you settle the bowl in front of the toddler and face him again, now slightly worried “are you feeling alright, Leo?”

“I must be missing too much sleep lately” the words leave his mouth before he can even think about them

“Sho mentioned sending you some things for it if you wanted them”

“Hmm… guess I should see if I can finish it already” Leo reaches for his phone that was laying on the table and unlock it as he walks to his study, a big desk with a three monitor setup and a green screen. Throwing himself on the couch Leo opens his Whatsapp and sees that his chat with Sho has a bunch of notifications, most if not all videos.

Leisurely scrolling through the miniature one of them catches his eye.

It's an off centered video inside his Vagastorm dorm, very obviously taken as a prank on him.

Both of you are laying down on his bed and seeing something on his phone.

“I don't like that one, you look weirder than usual” without giving you a chance to refuse he scrolls to the next picture.

“We have gone through 45 pictures, what is the fuss about?”

“A makeup brand wants to send a PR package for Valentine's so you need a proper headshot” scrolling away 5 or more photos in rapid fire he sighs into your shoulder.

“Why don't we take a few in my phone?”

“No way, your camera sucks”

“If it's so much of a drag why not just decline? It isn't like you need some spare cash ”

“If I don't post -anything- for Valentine's my fans are going to think we are going through a hard patch and you already saw how weird they can be” it is very obvious for you that he means last Valentine's when a swarm of fans chased after you two like paparazzi. Even then he digs his head deeper in the junction of your neck and his arms hug you closer.

“Is that all?” You ask teasingly and he mumbles something into your skin “hum? I didn't catch that”

“I want all those bastards to know you are mine”

For a second it almost seems like the video froze but suddenly the half of his body he can see is dragged off screen to the right side of the bed.

“Aren't you too sweet to be the demonic influencer~~?” The phone's audio managed to catch some soft mwahs.

“Stop slobbering over my face I have to meet-! Oh~ I don't mind this too much actually”

And the video cuts to black.

A curse towards his friend slips from his mouth before wondering why exactly he has a slight memory of the event like staring at a rock under muddy water.

Sighing and turning off his phone Leo's devilish yellow eyes turn to the monitor displaying the screensaver. It isn't even one second before his natural curiosity takes over and wants to start snooping, wanting to see any future trends or blackmail he could use -would it even be snooping if it's his own computer?- and as soon as the wireless mouse moves the oh so famous video pops on the editing app.

The frame he left it at was the ending of the wedding ceremony, just after the telling of vows. At the beginning it is quite far away, just enough to distinguish who they are by rough features but as the couple -or some reason it's less embarrassing to say couple than say you and him- get closer to kiss so does the camarographer, quickly panning closer until both of your faces are encased in the frame. His caramel eyes dripping with such sweetness it reaches out from the screen to his tongue and makes him sick.

“Aww, looking kind of sour over here” your hands smooth the shoulders of his pajamas before digging each thumb under his shoulder blade attempting to undo years of hunching over work and making him sit up straight “feeling kind of jealous I haven't been paying much attention to you lately?”

Sliding a hand up the column of his neck, the nails softly scraping the skin making him sigh and almost inaudible “NPC” Through half open eyes Leo sees your face getting closer and how your lips curve into a smile.

“Back to that stupid name like back at the academy? Last time I checked I was LI” hot lips climb up and around his neck and behind his left ear “reminiscing about those times now? How about we reenact something else from back then?” slowly he moves his head to the side, Instigated by the thumb pressing on his cheek. Instinctually he opens his mouth.

Something wet enters his mouth and his hair is pulled up dragging his head above water.

“dude, are you okay?!” Sho yelps, patting him harshly on the back to get the water out of his lungs “I knew this wasn't a good idea”

Roughly Leo elbows Sho let him go and he sits on the floor feeling his lungs and nose burn each time he breathes in.

As his sight stops being obscured by thick black fog his surroundings get clearer. It was supposed to be an offhanded mention by their teacher but, after the class insisted, he took them to an exceptionally big marble bird pond he claimed a person could see their future in if they dipped their head in yet he refused to allow any of the students to do so.

Unsurprisingly Leo's curiosity got the better of him and Sho fell alongside him, sneaking in to see if it was true.

Just behind Sho someone he wishes didn't have to see in a while appears, you.

“What is the NPC doing here?”The question fell from his lips almost like a hiss.

“Alan saw you two leaving Vagastorm after curfew and asked me to check” given how Leo seemed still too winded to stand sho tells you to help him drag him back to their dorm. As you hunch besides him and slide his arm behind your neck you notice something under his shirt “Leo, you have a cut there!” it isn't weird noting how he was positioned and the somewhat sharp edge of the birdpond.

Your fingers dance over the thin but long cut just above his clavicle, the white skin irritated red.

Regardless of how innocent this touch around his neck was, it was impossible to separate it from the previous sight into the future with the current one.

Now with newly gained strength he swats your hand away “don't get so handsy so quickly, NPC” and slides both arms over Sho's shoulders who just sighs and carries him princess style.

“Bye, senpai” Sho shoots you a quick goodbye before going away with Leo who he notices is far too quiet than usual but as he looks down he finds him blushing and even his ears dusted with cherry red “why are you even red faced? It isn't even the first time I hold you like this… Oh don't tell me-”

“Shut the fuck up”

“First bet you lose”

[x7mafiadetective7x]

analysis and excitement time!! tottmnt style! spoilers for the new trailer and me picking it apart 😋 ☆

i’m not exactly trying to figure everything out, even though i have theories and lots of analysis in my noggin about the who, why, what, when, and where (especially in regards to their location when seperated.)

i’m mostly just going to cover: what the turtles are going through, what’s going on with the krang/Cynthia Utrom/Bishop, and any easter eggs or potential characters we see.

let’s start off with Bishop! cuz oh my god, if they’re going to be the first opponent the turtles face, i can’t imagine the lead up to shredder.

im used to Bishop being a super climactic, build-up to the big bad thing that’s going to happen kinda character, so i’m kind of surprised to see them being used first. especially as an immediate villain!

the FIRST thing that catches my eye is the robot-cams on the turtles, presumably when they’re separated, and the big screen telling Bishop to ‘RETURN TO BASE’ — i have theories about their tie to Cynthia Utrom, but we know Bishop was a rebellious character against the utrom/krang throughout other gens so i don’t think it’s telling them to return to Utrom— unless they’ve freshly gone rogue to try to stop Cynthia’s plans (hence why they wanna get rid of mutants.)

the robots Bishop uses remind me heavily of ROTTMNT.. especially that one on the left! we see more being possibly made to the right, and that kind of clues me into it being a factory of sorts.

we also see them take over the city moments after their reveal!

the turtles look like they’re all back together and donned in robot parts. Raph is wearing a faux wrestler’s padding, Leo in some sort of samurai get-up, Donnie in a cyborg cosplay, and i’m not entirely sure what Mikey’s trying to look like, other than ‘i’m gonna beat your ass.’

this kind of reminds me of Shredder! maybe it’s just the metal, sharper weapons, and the way Raph’s holding his dual sai..

i don’t think we get enough turtles in armor at all. in 2012 we barely got to see their noir armor when fighting the shredder, and imo it was super hardcore!! so i’m happy to find that they’ve added this to TOTTMNT.

time to analyze what is happening to our fave terrapins!!

what we know: they’ve all been transported to different locations/dimensions, they’ve been separated, and know that they can find each other.

let’s start with mikey’s situation, since we’re introduced to it from the beginning of the trailer via voice-over.

my idea is that he’s been transported somewhere in the future, and he’s with some scientist that knows them all by name— and gimmick. he tried to recreate a mutant, and that’s why we see a Pigeon Pete look alike.

besides that, he rags on Mikey for not having a ‘thing’ like his brothers while following him around. (people r always underestimating him — even in-show.. cannot catch a break i swear) i’m not sure if this rando has a destination, but it looks like Mikey does!!

we also see Raph with the purple dragons, and a MOTORCYCLE!! i MISSED motorcycle Raph so bad.

He is also shown in a barn with two other characters in a seperate trailer, but I have no idea who those guys could be.

Raph seems less concerned with finding each brother unlike Donnie.

Donnie opens up with a ‘I have to find my brothers, I have to save them!’ which is SUPER. cool TO ME. we got such little protective Donnie in other gens and i’m super excited to see his stress level rise in TOTTMNT.

it looks like he’s forced to un-hack what Bishop’s done to New York’s devices (unsure if this is all devices, or just all important systems like train stations and billboards/adverts.)

ALL while there’s robots after him. UGH. i can’t wait to write major angst about this kid.

unfortunately, for me at least, we see the least of Leonardo.

what we DO see of him is mostly combat, and quips. i’m super humored by the failed confidence which is a super different from most Leo’s!! (2012 Leo hero-quipping because he wants to be one, Rise Leo passing the charisma check 24/7, and 2003 Leo not really giving af as much so he just sounds dorky and cool whenever.) he looks like he’s fighting multiple robots in different areas, unlike Donnie who we only see in a train station, and Raph we see fighting multiple things (people and robots.)

i hope he gets to have as many badass moments as Donnie and Raph seem to have, because i’m afraid of him turning into ‘generic leader personality’ SO BAD. i dont think he will, but i’m not ready for him to be pushed aside during fights like how Mikey and Donnie was in 2012 at first, just so he can be the main star in relationship issues and stuff.. BUT i do think we will get a huge chunk of ‘i can’t do this without my brothers’ angst!!

we also get a glimpse of April and Leo interaction which i was the MOST scared of!! it looks like it takes place in a different episode than the Bishop one, along with the trailer where they’re all in halloween costumes (or party costumes???)

i cannot wait for this little party mix up. it’s super teenagery sounding and i always wanted more teenage, slice of life-ish (i don’t think we will ever get a filler without some slicing and dicing) episodes in tmnt!!

anyways. thanks for reading if you’ve gotten this far! tottmnt seems a bit more childish than past gens but i’m sorta excited for it!! august 9th here we come ^_^

[cupcakeslushie]

With the newest update, it's got me thinking a lot about Karai's role in this au. More on her actions and treatment of Leo and what lies in the future for her. It's been mentioned and made obvious that the "sibling" (i say in quotes since Karai doesn't even see Leo as an equal) relationship between Leo and Karai is nothing short on unhealthy and toxic. Thus, Leo learning what a real relationship with siblings is with the Hamato family. Karai wants to be the better soldier in the Shredder's eyes and seems to take any opportunity to bring down Leo. But something I keep thinking about is what happens to her after Leo has the emperyon removed and (along with the apocalypse future) after stopping the invasion. Basically, is there still a chance at some sort of redemption for her, or are her actions throughout the au unable to be forgiven. It's said that after Leo leaves the Foot, she tries to prove to Shredder that she didn't even need him to begin with and can handle herself just fine. The only time we've seen her act nice towards Leo is right after the session with Kitsune, where Leo is pretty out of it, but who's to say how often that happens. And then there's Leo himself and how he sees Karai after all that happens. Does he just try and forget about her, or does he hold any kind of resentment like Shredder. There's the question of whether he would be willing to forgive her for her actions. Though this isn't even taking into how Karai wasn't actually Shredder daughter but Splinter's instead.

I know that the answer to this is most likely spoilers, but I could into a whole character analysis on whether redemption is an option for Karai or if she's reached a point like Shredder. It would be interesting to hear you thought on what you can say. Though for the time being, I can wait to see what happens! Thanks for coming to my TedTalk, I hope you have a great day, and remember to stay hydrated! :D

Some of the future stuff is kinda spoilers, but I will say, she’s not a monster on the same level as Saki. She’s certainly not an angel, but she will have her own arc and we’ll see how the chips fall.

At the moment in the comic, Karai thinks seeing Leo fail is a necessary stepping stone to proving her own worth and she’s very bitter over Leo earning a commander title before her. Once Leo leaves, and she has most of Saki’s attention on her, she realizes that the Shredder will never be pleased, Karai starts to rethink her feelings toward Leo, and realizes how much she misses how they used to be. She also has no idea of Shredder’s full plan to create his own dark armor to imprison Leo.

In the past Karai, Usagi, and Leo were…friends (after a rocky start) for a very few short years. Usagi being probably the most distant, for the obvious reasons of hating Saki and the Foot Clan. But with Karai and Leo following him around, training together, and bunking together, he eventually stops taking his anger out on them, and becomes a reluctant participant in their childish hi-jinks. Unfortunately, that does not last long.

Around a year before Usagi manages his escape, Leo’s goofing around on a mission leads to Karai getting seriously hurt. As a result Saki punishes Leo so severely and Leo gets the crack on his plastron. Usagi goes to see Leo, but it’s like he’s a totally different person after that. Leo no longer smiles or jokes and takes training much too seriously.

Karai isn’t much better. She seems to meet Leo’s cold attitude with one of her own, and her teasing becomes much harsher and biting. They all grow distant and Usagi sees no other option but to try and escape. Usagi even extends his hand to Leo when the two cross paths, hoping that Leo would snap out of this strange, new personality he’s adopted, but when Leo doesn’t even react, Usagi turns and leaves for good.

Things get even more strained without Usagi around to act as mediator. The only time Karai allows herself to show she cares, are the moments after Leo’s sessions because he is so out of it. She assumes he doesn’t remember enough that she can be a little softer with him, and Leo usually never calls attention to those times, so who knows.

Once Leo spends time with his family, and sees how a healthy sibling relationship should look, he often wonders how things might’ve been different growing up in the safety of the Hamato Clan. When the family learns that Karai is actually their sister, Leo makes it his mission to save her from the Foot Clan.

[nerves-nebula]

In your neglected au, what is Leo and Splinter’s relationship like?

Been having trouble articulating what the dynamic is like (since its still pretty new) so I made a handy “Pros and Cons of Being Splinters’ Favorite” list :) maybe this’ll answer some of your questions

Pros:

Affection from dad 

Compliments from dad

Lighter punishments when doing things wrong (none of the other turtles would only get screamed at for breaking Raphs arm, they’d prolly have stuff confiscated or be forced to do some kind of manual labor as a punishment) 

Insane superiority complex (I AM A GOD NO ONE IS AS GOOD AS ME)

Gets told stories/myths/family history the others are left out of (Leo was aware of Shredder & the foot clan a long time before the others were told about it)

Cons:

Being responsible for everyone else (if the group fails a mission, then LEO failed to lead them, and he won't be punished as hard but Splinter will either imply its his fault or make the others hate him more by saying they slowed Leo down or something)

Being ostracized from siblings who are mad they aren't treated as well

Splinter doesn’t actually understand Leo all that much. Rather, he projects onto Leo in a way where he implies he knows Leo better than Leo knows himself. This is kind of ROUGH and really fucks with Leo’s sense of self.

Seeing how the others are treated makes Leo constantly aware that his position is not inherent to being splinters child/son, and if he fucks up hard enough he might be replaced (terrified of failure/being treated like the others) 

Self esteem issues/need for approval

Insane superiority complex (IF ANYONE EVER SHOWS ME UP OR EMBARRASSES ME I’LL KILL EVERYONE IN THIS ROOM AND THEN MYSELF)

General other notes: Splinter sees a lot of himself in Leo when Leo starts excelling in their training early on. As they get older Splinter sees Leo more and more as an extension of himself in a really toxic no-boundaries kind of way. Obviously he doesn’t have any concept of boundaries regardless, but it’s especially bad with Leo since he actually tries to spend time with Leo.

SPEAKING of spending time with ppl: Splinter will occasionally have one on one training with Leo, which isn’t always even training, sometimes it’s just Splinter venting to his literal child. Splinter will sometimes do this with the other turtles too, but not nearly as much as he does it with Leo. Usually if he vents at his other kids it's just because they were around him at the wrong time or something. It’s even RARER for him to ask one of them to come speak to him, and half the time when he does that it’s because he’s trying to fix something about them he's noticed he doesnt like.

When leo does something wrong Splinter tells the others “You’re all brothers you need to stick together and love each other” and when anyone else fucks up he basically tells them “You are such a disappointment/I expected as much.” or some other negative thing. 

Splinter was not at all prepared to be a father and took the turtles from Draxum as more of a “fuck you for mutating me” than a desire to protect the innocent. He wasn’t sure how intelligent they were at first and kinda treated them like pets until it became clear that they were like. Actually Children. And by that point he’d become attached to them so he kept them. 

Leo hangs on Splinters every word in a way that the others haven’t since they were like, ten years old. He doesn’t believe the others when they say he’s being manipulated or when they complain about Splinter. Because to Leo, he’s winning because he’s trying harder than them.

To him, the others are just quitters and could probably earn dads favor if they stopped being such baBIES about everything. He takes to heart every cruel thing Splinter says about them and kind of believes that Splinter would change his mind if the others “got better” or something. Leo hasn’t yet realized that Splinter is just making up reasons to dislike the others after deciding they aren’t as good. Splinter probably hasn’t realized that either cause he thinks he’s a good person tho.

[animal-lover-forever]

And Then There Were Five.

Chapter Ten: Halloween Special; Breaking News!

“Kai! Get up! Get up! Get up!”

Kai opened his eyes to see Mikey running into his room.

“Since when are you awake before me? And why are you waking me up? What’s going on?”

“It’s Halloween!” Mikey cheered as he jumped onto Kai.

“Ow, hey! Did you have to do that?”

“Sorry, Kai, I’m just so excited! It’s Halloween! It’s the one day of the year that we can go up to the surface without any disguises or having to hide!”

“You want to go up to the surface, around a bunch of humans, and not be hidden? Are you crazy!?”

“Kai, I know you don’t like humans, but you need to stop worrying so much.”

“You fail to understand how dangerous humans can be.”

“And you fail to understand just how fun humans can be.” Kai looked up to see Leo standing in his doorway. “Mikey’s right, you’re worrying too much about this, Kai.”

“Thank you, Leo.”

“This still seems dangerous.”

“Think about it this way, Kai. On Halloween night, the surface is like the Hidden City.” Leo sipped his cup of tea before continuing. “Almost all of the humans dress up in costumes. All the humans will be so busy having fun and playing dress-up that they won't even notice us. They will just assume that we’re some totally normal humans that are dressed up in Halloween costumes.”

“Yeah! And they give out free candy!” Mikey grabbed Kai by the shoulders and started to shake him.” Free candy, Kai! Free candy!”

“Alright, enough!” Kai yelled as he shoved Mikey off of him and got up.

“What are you doing?”

“If you’re going to drag me up to the surface like that, then I will be prepared.”

Mikey and Leo watched Kai go over to his things.

“Kai, wait.” Mikey got up to his feet and went over to Kai. “What are you doing?”

Kai dug through one of the drawers in the nightstand and then proceeded to pull out a brooch. “Grabbing a useful item.”

“What is that?”

“Here’s a hint: Big Mama had one. And a bunch of her staff, actually.”

“Woah, woah, woah! You aren’t going to try and kill us or something, right?” Regardless of his question, Leo moved to be more into Kai’s room.

Kai looked at Leo as he put his belt on, attached the brooch to his belt, and activated it. Kai went from a primarily black turtle with some red on his shell and plastron and yellow stripes going down their limbs to a human with a sienna skin color and short black hair; his skin was a few shades lighter where his stripes were. Kai had on dark blue jeans and a black hoodie.

“It’s a cloaking brooch, Leo.”

“Ohmigosh! Kai! You look like a human!”

“Yes, Mikey, that is the point of a cloaking broach.”

“Oh, oh, oh! Do you have any more of those?”

“Unfortunately, no. I just have the one. But I can definitely get some more the next time I’m in the Hidden City.”

“Awesome. Does this mean that you’ll come up to the surface with us for Halloween?” Leo asked as he finished off his tea.

“I guess…”

“Great!” Mikey chirped happily. “Although, the cloaking brooch does kinda defeat the purpose of Halloween.”

Kai deactivated his cloaking brooch. “Fine, I will try to keep it deactivated, but I'm still keeping it on me just in case.” The ruins on the handle of Kai’s scythe started to glow just before it took itself off the wall and placed itself in its proper place in Kai’s belt on his shell.

“Right, and Kai, I was thinking we could put a white sheet over you. You'd be a ghost, just like when I helped you prank Don-Tron. On top of that, we could prank so many kids by having them take the sheet off of you, and you go invisible. That way, when they take the sheet off, they'll think it was a real ghost! Even though ghosts aren't actually real.”

“How can you say that there's no such thing as ghosts when there's such a thing as us!?” Mikey squawked.

“Because ghosts aren't real, all that ghost stuff can be explained. Even Donnie would agree with me!”

“Ew, gross. Why would I do that?” Donnie leaned against the doorframe and took a sip of his coffee out of a well-used coffee cup.

“Donnie!” Mikey shouted at the arrival of another one of his big brothers. “Leo says that ghosts aren't real!”

“Oh, well, I guess even morons have their moments.” Donnie muttered under his breath. “That's because ghosts aren't real, Mikey.”

“Wha-! How can you say such a thing!? Ghosts are totally real!”

“They are.” Everyone turned their attention to Kai.

“Kai, please, one would think you would be more intelligent than that.”

“Ghosts are real. Though I don't know what factors contribute to someone becoming a ghost, There are plenty of theories, but none of them have been completely proven.”

“So you’re telling me that ghosts are actually real?” Leo asked, raising his non-existent eyebrows.

“Uh yeah, ghosts exist. In fact, yokai will often go to witches to see if dead loved ones have become ghosts. And if they have, they’ll have the witches contact them so they can speak to their loved ones.”

“Woah~! That’s so cool!” Mikey chirped.

“I’m still not buying it.”

“Believe what you want, Leo, but ghosts are real. Draxum has a whole library full of books, and there are a few on ghosts.”

“Huh. Anyway, I’m going to start on breakfast.”

“Right… Well, while he’s doing that, I’m going to head to my lab. So if you need me, don’t need me.”

Kai rolled his eyes as he watched Mikey and Donnie leave his room.

“Okay then. Well, mi hermano, let’s go and put your Halloween costume together!”

“So we’re really doing this then, huh.”

“Yep! There’s no point in trying to run away from this Kai. Trust me, you’ve got four older brothers who will physically drag you out of the lair if need be. Because you will experience Halloween and all its glory!”

Kai sighed as he was dragged out of his room and into the living room so that Leo could make his costume just right. Kai didn’t understand what the big deal was; it was just a sheet. Leo ended up coloring some black circles where Kai’s eyes were with this strong-smelling ‘Sharpie’. Kai didn’t like it very much, but he delt with it anyway.

“I hope we didn’t wake you up too early, Kai.”

“It’s okay; I’m used to getting around with little hours of sleep. Draxum made sure to train me while sleep-deprived from time to time.”

“Why? What good does that do you?”

“It teaches me to focus, to be aware of my surroundings, and to not fall asleep when in battle. I was training to be in a war that would end humanity; there are bound to be times when I won’t be able to sleep for long periods of time when in a war. Draxum was just getting me prepared.”

“You don’t even know if that would happen.”

“But you don’t know that it won’t. You don’t just train to fight, Leo; you train to be prepared for any possible outcome.”

“Still seems like a bit much.”

Leo took the sheet off of Kai once he was done using the sharpie. Kai was relieved when the smell of sharpie was taken away; it was starting to make his head spin.

“Wow, you guys are up early.”

Leo and Kai looked over to see Raph and Cobalt enter the living room.

“No, you guys are up late! It’s Halloween, Raph!” Leo exclaimed.

“So? None of that really matters until it gets dark out. We can’t go topside until then, so why get up early?”

Cobalt stretched and plopped down on Raph’s feet, glaring at Kai. Kai and Cobalt have started to get used to being around each other, but the others often have to break up fights that would ‘randomly’ start between Cobalt and Kai.

“So we’ll go to the surface at night? Well, at least I’ll be able to use the dark of night to keep hidden.”

“Good, then you won’t need this!” Splinter came running in like a blur and took Kai’s cloaking brooch off of him and put it on himself, activating it. With the cloaking brooch activated, Splinter looked just like he did when he was still human. “Now, this is more like it!”

“Ohmigosh!” Leo ran up to Splinter, clinging onto him. “Dad! You look just like Lou Jitsu did in the movies!”

“That’s because I am Lou Jitsu, Blue! We went over this!”

Kai hissed, not pleased at Splinter taking his cloaking brooch. “That cloaking brooch is mine!”

“You snooze, you lose, Yellow!”

“Did you just call me yellow?” Kai chirped, confused.

“Pops!” Raph yelled.

“I am sorry, Red, I forgot!”

“Forgot what? Why did he just call me yellow?”

“So~ about that…” Leo left Splinter’s side and went over to Kai. “So you know how Dad calls us by the colors of our masks? Well, we decided to give you a mask. Except we only just decided on that, so the mask isn’t ready yet. It was supposed to be a surprise, but Dad ruined that.”

“I said I was sorry! Shesh!”

“Guys, breakfast is ready!” Mikey chirped from the kitchen.

Cobalt perked up and immediately ran to the kitchen to eat.

“OHMIGOSH!” Mikey yelled when he saw Splinter with the cloaking brooch. “Is that Dad!?”

“Yes, Orange, it is me.”

“Ohmigosh!” Mikey immediately ran to Splinter, jumping onto him and causing Splinter to almost fall over from the impact.

“Careful, Orange! I am old!”

“Has Donnie seen Dad!?”

“Of course not; he’s been in his lab since you went to make breakfast.” Leo pointed out. “Speaking of which, we should go eat before Cobalt eats all the food.” Leo took a photo of Splinter before running off to the kitchen, followed by everyone else.

…

….

……

Everyone was just finishing up breakfast– and Cobalt was trying to eat everything that Mikey was trying to put up– Stupid, greedy Beta-103! That would have never been okay with Draxum– before Donnie started making his loud entrance from his lab to the kitchen.

“Why did Leo send me a photo of– oh, my banana pancakes!”

“Hello, Purple.”

“H-how!?”

“Splinter stole my cloaking brooch.”

“I like the term ‘borrowed’ better.”

“Anyway, the cloaking brooch seems to have done its job. It picked up that Splinter was once human and gave him that form. It also picked up that he’s older than before, so it adapted his form by making him look older than he was before the mutation, which is good because it will be shocking enough that some famous human that went missing 20 or so years ago just shows up all of a sudden. An even bigger wave of shock would go down if he looked like he hadn't aged a day since he went missing.”

“Wait. What do we do about that? Dad is a famous movie star! What are we going to tell everyone when they see him?”

“That is simple, Orange.” Splinter cleared his throat and took a deep breath before continuing. “The paparazzi were vicious! They kidnapped me and locked me in a basement!”

“You expect people to believe that? I hate humans, But even I know that ‘The Great Lou Jitsu’ could hold his own in a fight. Why do you think Draxum chose to use your DNA to create us?”

“Mmmmm… Yes, good point, yellow; I am quite awesome!”

“Wait, did Dad just call Kai Yellow?”

“Why yes, Mikey, Dad did just call Kai Yellow.” Leo said in a ‘caring’ voice before talking in an annoyed tone. “Dad spoiled it just before breakfast.”

“Wait!? Dad! How could you!”

“I forgot! And I already apologized twice!”

“Dear Papa, apologizing? That’s a first.”

“Don’t make me wack you, Purple.”

“Oh, you hurt me so.” Donnie put his hand over his head as he said that in a flat voice.

“I will think about what to tell everyone. I mean, I am a famous movie star that went missing! People will eat up anything and everything that I tell them!” Splinter laughed as he said that.

“Anyway, we should go get our costumes ready! You got Kai’s ready, right Leo?”

“Indeed I did, Mikey.”

…

….

……

When it came time to head to the surface, the streets were crowded with humans. Even more so than usual. Leo was right; most of the humans were in disguises. They all had their own costumes as well. Leo was a wizard, Mikey was a mummy, Donnie was dressed as someone called ‘Albert Einstein’, Raph was a lion, they dressed Cobalt as a dog– after a few hours of chasing her down to get the costume on– they put the sheet back on Kai– which, he could still smell the sharpie on– and of course, Splinter was wearing the cloaking brooch that he stole from Kai.

April was there too, and she was dressed as a robot, and Mayhem was tagging along in a pumpkin costume. Since Lou Jitsu would be in the crowd, April offered to take Cobalt so she wouldn’t be trampled by any fans. And Kai was thankful for that because now he won’t have to tag along with the three beings that he hates– A human, Agent 64, and Beta-103.

“Oh my God! Is that Lou Jitsu!?” Some random girl on the street noticed Splinter, and soon, people were swarming him.

“Lou Jitsu!? But he has been missing for years!”

“Oh my gosh! Where did you go, Lou Jitsu!?”

“Everyone, please calm down. I know that all of my wonderful fans have many questions about my disappearance! And I will answer them to the best of my abilities!”

“Dad, are you sure this is a good idea?” Mikey asked, going closer to Splinter.

“Did he just say, Dad!? Lou Jitsu has a kid!?”

“Actually, he has five kids.” Leo said in a proud voice as he pointed to himself, then Mikey, then Donnie, Raph, and then finally Kai.

Kai immediately hated Leo for that, as as soon as he mentioned that Kai was Lou Jitsu’s kid, the humans started to swarm him.

“Oh my gosh! You’re Lou Jitsu’s– The Lou Jitsu’s– kid!? What’s your name!?”

Kai hissed, trying to find a way to get away from the crowd.

“Here, I’ll help you out; his name is Kai. But he isn’t a big fan of crowds, so you won’t get a lot from him, but hey, come over to Leon here, and I’ll be happy to answer all your questions about the children of ‘The Great Lou Jitsu’.” Leo winked as the fans started to migrate away from Kai and more towards Leo and the others.

Kai sighed a breath of relief just before he spotted an opening in the crowd. He moved past the humans and made his way to an alleyway before he started to wall-jump between the two buildings to get to the rooftops. Once Kai made it to the roof, he took the sheet off of him just before he fell to the ground. The smell of the sharpie really did a number on him. It was so strong that it throws off his senses; It made his head spin, it made it hard to smell anything other than the sharpie, and it made him dizzy. It’s safe to say that Kai hates ‘Sharpies’, but that’s just another thing to add to the growing list of things that Subject-5 Kai hates but can’t complain about– after all, ‘Silence is a virtue.’ and besides, complaining never got him anywhere– except for in trouble, complaining did get him into trouble.

“It’s just one night.” Kai reminded himself. He pushed himself off the ground and made his way over to the edge of the rooftop to sit down. Kai looked down at Splinter and his brothers and watched as they were swarmed by fans greedily trying to get answers about Lou Jitsu’s disappearance and how he ended up with five kids. Kai didn’t see this ending soon, and now that ‘Lou Jitsu’ has made an appearance after such a long disappearance, Splinter will probably need to use the cloaking brooch more often, and Kai will have to get more for his brothers. From Kai’s high point above the ground, he could see a van approaching. It had some equipment on it, and it said ‘Chanel 6 News’– News? Kai remembers that from when Donnie was teaching him about TV.

Kai watched as the van stopped near Splinter and his brothers, and a few humans got out and went over to them. Kai could hear the humans from the van ask a bunch of the questions that the other humans had already asked. He eventually saw Leo start looking around before he made eye contact with Kai– guess Leo finally noticed that he had left. Thankfully, Leo didn’t draw attention to him; he really didn’t want to be down there. Kai didn’t want to be here on the surface, to begin with, but his brothers made it clear that that was going to happen, and Kai learned a long time ago not to argue, talk back, or try to get out of something that was going to happen regardless– that only got him in trouble– so he went with his brother to the surface, but there were a lot of humans around, and Splinter was only attracting more and more of them.

Kai wondered if he could sneak off to Usagi’s. Could he do that? sure, he could, but his brothers probably won’t be very happy about that. So, instead, Kai just watched Splinter, his brothers, and the hundreds of humans that flooded the streets below him.

…

….

……

“Kai?”

Mikey’s voice threw Kai out of his thoughts. He had zoned out the commotion in the streets hours ago. “I’m here.”

“Leo said you’d be up here... Are you doing okay? You kinda just disappeared.”

“There are a lot of humans down there, and Splinter was only drawing in more.” Kai looked down to the streets again to see that the news van was gone.

“Sorry. I wasn’t expecting Dad to use a cloaking brooch. It was just supposed to be a normal Halloween, but we can still make that happen. The news reporters left. We can still go trick-or-treating. People will still crowd around us because of Dad, but now that the news has come and gone, we might be able to walk around a little better.”

“Alright.” Kai got up and grabbed the sheet that was his costume before he walked over to Mikey.

“I see that you took your costume off. How come?”

Kai stayed quiet for a moment before he spoke up. “It’s hard to breathe with it on.”

“How? It’s fabric, and it’s not like it’s compressed onto your face.”

Kai’s tail wrapped around his ankle as he looked down at the costume in his hands. “The smell of the sharpie is very strong.”

“Oh, Kai…”

Kai had expected Mikey to be mad– he was super excited about this ‘Halloween’ after all– but he wasn’t.

“I guess we forgot that you have a better sense of smell than we do– we didn’t think about how the sharpie could bother you.”

“It’s alright, I’ll deal with it.”

“You don’t have to Kai. You don’t have to wear the costume; as a mutant turtle, people will think that’s your costume. But if you really want to, you can go home…”

“I’ll stay.”

“Really? But wouldn’t you rather go back home?”

“Yeah, but this seems to mean a lot to you guys, so I’ll hold out.”

“Alright, then, come on, we’re going to hit some houses for candy!”

…

….

……

The six of them spent another couple of hours going from house to house for candy and doing their best to avoid the fans who kept showing up, trying to ask questions. Kai didn’t really understand this ‘Trick-or-treating’, nor did he like it very much, but his brothers made sure to drag him to the houses for candy. They eventually met back up with April, Cobalt, and Mayhem before they all headed back to the lair to sort through their ‘Goods’ as Mikey put it. After everything was done and everyone was settling down, Kai went to his room– he was around enough people for today. Not everyone on the surface was a human in a costume; Kai had recognized quite a few yokai up there, too.

Kai looked around his room before he crawled into his bed for once and hid himself under the covers, going to bed. Today was a long day, and the night seemed even longer. Kai sighed in relief at finally being back home before he finally fell asleep.

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[imabooyakashootyall116]

I've never been the type of person to post my ideas online, but I'm giving it a shot(hopefully I don't regret this). So as you might know, I like TMNT, the turtles literally have my SOUL. And so, I've been thinking, what if I created my own AU! So I'm sitting here, staring at my walls, trying to think of something that is hopefully kinda original and won't get me mentally killed. Then I have a thought. What if those cracks on Mikey's arms didn't stop spreading? What if the mystic energy killed him after he saved leo? So, yes it kills him, and after it does, the grief and guilt sets in like we would expect. But Donnie's acting a little strange. Asking Baron Draxum weird question like, "do you think we could clone a person?" Draxum, not really thinking much of it answered truthfully. Yes... And no. With the right studies and materials it could be possible, but it would be extremely hard to do it successfully. Which was probably stupid on Draxum's part, this is Donatello we're talking about! But to be fair, he's pretty occupied, like grief. "Draxum? Grieving?" Yes. Grieving. He may act like he doesn't care about the turtles, but deep down, those are his sons, and he never got to tell the youngest that. But, that was all Donnie needed to hear to begin to attempt to clone his baby brother without telling Raph, Leo, April or splinter, because obviously they would stop him. Attempt one failed, attempt two failed, and many other attempts all failed. Just as he was about to give up, one last attempt, and there was a living organism. But Donnie didn't expect it to be.. a baby. In fact he didn't expect anything, he didn't think this far ahead. And now he had to deal with the consequences. He had no choice than to tell everyone what he was up to, and why he wasn't leaving his lab. They, of course, weren't happy. But they had other things to worry about, like the baby Mikey clone. What were they going to do with it? They were still dealing with the loss of Mikey, and now this? Damnit Donnie.. now they had to raise a baby that looked exactly like Mikey, sounded like him, and act like him. He doesn't have a name yet, nor does the au, but I love him already, and I bet sure enough.. it'll still be only me or friends loving him. I do think the clone would be raised by Draxum more than anyone else. I probably won't draw a comic since I suck at drawing the turtles and other characters, but I'm trying to get better at it.

[skeleton-in-a-hoodie]

There are a fair few differences between the 2012 Turtles and their DDMG counterparts. I think one of the biggest is that they're going through certain events in reverse, namely the 2012 Turts lose their father, whilst the DDMG Turtles gain one. As time goes on, they're also going to develop more similarities with the 2012 Turtles, and I think this is the most pronounced with Leo.

DDMG Leo kinda feels like he and 2012 Leo are walking towards each other from opposite sides of a street, high fiving, and then walking down the same fork in the road. They ultimately end up in a similar place, but the direction they got there is different.

Like 2012 Leo grows into his role as leader, and by the time the show ends he's the head of the Hamato Clan and is trying to fill the void left by Splinter. He has a bad habit of rushing off on his own, and bristles when someone other than him takes control. I almost felt like there was a separation between him and his brothers by the end of the show, not because they'd fallen out or anything, but because he had so much responsibility put onto his shoulders - he can't just be their older brother anymore, he's been forced into the role of surrogate father after Splinter died.

DDMG Leo by comparison both grows into being his brother's leader, but meeting Splinter also means that Leo can start acting like a kid again and enjoying what's left of his childhood. Even before the four brothers collectively claim Splinter as their adoptive father, he takes on a parental role with them, which takes pressure off Leo (and Raph too, tbh). So, DDMG Leo goes from acting like a surrogate father, to being able to just be an older brother for the first time since he was 6.

He also doesn't bristle quite so much when other people take charge, because he's used to sharing authority with Raph, and then with Splinter. Due to being a ghost/ demon thing, there's still a lot that Splinter can't do, e.g. attend parents evenings or school meetings, so Leo still does those for his younger brothers and then reports back to Splinter. But once he's home, Splinter is the one making sure everyone is clothed and fed, does their homework, and tends to them when sick.

DDMG Splinter also has impulse control issues (see him all but shouting FIGHT ME at the Piper after Mikey was possessed, and only afterwards realising what a stupid idea that was, in part because it put them on the Piper's radar and resulted in Splinter being possessioned several times). However, he does not want to put the pressure of making and executing plans solely on Leo - Leo is a child, and even before Splinter realises Leo is his son, he feels the need to ensure Leo gets to enjoy being a kid. As a result, plans are made between him and Leo - Splinter has tactical and ninjutsu knowledge that is useful, but Leo can metaphorically, and sometimes literally, grab the back of Splinter's shirt to stop rat dad running off to do something stupid. Plus Leo knows about human stuff they'll need to factor into plans, and if Leo decides to run off on a solo mission, Splinter can talk him out of it - in a way, they're each others impulse control. Donnie would also probably be involved in these discussions, with him bringing in technical knowledge the other two don't have. So battle plans are made by at least two people, meaning the pressure of coming up with a plan is shared between Leo and another person. This also means if a plan fails, Leo doesn't bear the burden alone.

As time goes on and Splinter's memory issues worsen, Leo does end up taking on more responsibility again. He's not happy about it, but he doesn't blame Splinter as it's quite literally out of Splinter's control, and he can tell Splinter feels immensely guilty about it. The only real upside is that Leo gets experience leading on his own and realises he can do it, though when Splinter ends up okay in the end, he's more than happy for Splinter to be the family head again.

Another difference between him and 2012 Leo is that DDMG Leo is much more aware of his Splinter's blind spots. DDMG Leo respects and loves rat dad, but he knows that Splinter either doesn't think things through all the way (DDMG Splinter is very single minded) or hesitates too much because he's aware he has a habit of rushing in and making a mess of things, so Leo knows that sometimes he's going to need to prompt Splinter.

He also takes Splinter's advice with a pinch of salt, not necessarily because it's bad advice, a lot of Splinter's advice is helpful, but more because Splinter doesn't remember what being human is like, so sometimes the advice he gives is more applicable to ghosts or demons than humans. Also this Leo is used to not having an adult he can turn to when he has a problem, and has seen first hand that adults don't always know what they're doing or what the answer to a problem is, so he's naturally more critical of what Splinter says and asks more questions.

[bellysoupset]

🍜 Dear soup,

For Sickness Sunday, what are your OCs pain tolerances like?

💕,

Wussifer

Hi @wussifer! Happy delayed Sickness Sunday, I think we should all get used to the fact I'll never answer things in a timely manner 🙈 I'm sorry

Alright for my blorbos in order from highest pain tolerance to lowest:

Vince - THE highest pain tolerance from the group. It's very very difficult to have Vin cry from pain, he'll suck up anything. Cramps get to him, but that's not because of the pain itself, its mostly because they mess up his emotional side. Like we saw in the car accident, he will absolutely try to walk off a concussion and broken ribs.

Lucas - Very high pain tolerance, but that does not stop this man from being such a whiny baby about minor stuff. He loves cuddles and he'll play up the amount of pain he feels if it means getting it. That said, if pain gets in the way of something he wants, like a championship or Bell's graduation for example, he'll blissfully ignore it.

Bella - On par with Lucas. She feels more pain than he does, but she whines less, so they kinda balance each other out. Just like Luke though, if it's something serious she'll want to walk it off and if it's something minor she's like 🥺 give me cuddles 🥺

Jonah - King of pragmatism, his pain tolerance is pretty mid range and he doesn't hide things. This doesn't mean he stays put when he's ill, if he has work he'll go to work regardless of knowing and telling Leo he feels like death. He's "it is what it is". I think he feels the same amount of pain as Bella, more than Luke and definitely more than Vin.

Wendy - Pretty low pain tolerance. She's not exactly "whiny" but it's not hard to drive her to tears and she definitely wants cuddles and to be fussed over. In all cases except for tummyaches related to "eating too much". Very specifically that, for example a stomach flu would have Wendy acting as normal, but eating too much and getting consequences brings up her ED past and so she doesn't want Vin or anyone fussing over her because she feels like she's "gross", like its a moral failing on her part.

Leo - This poor dude. The lowest pain tolerance from the group. He's NOT whiny, but everything hurts so much, it's not hard to have him teary eyed, it's not hard to have him nauseous from pain. With Jon more than the others, but Luke and Vin too, he will allow himself to whine, but not with strangers. Which does not mean he won't become a pitiful mess regardless, because he can't control his pain tolerance.

[nani-nonny]

So now!! The waited part two AND ch 16 of WDS IS HERE!!!✨✨✨✨✨ AM SCREAMING

I really really love how when i wake up at like idk 7 AM or so in the morning only to see multiple notification and one of those are your fic notification!! It makes me already giddy and stimmimg trying to calm my heart before i start reading and then stops remembering i have a morning routine to do first before that!!

So back to the review (trust me, my heart STILL beating fast even remembering the fic✨✨ that's how badly am excited!), We start back at the kids FIGHTING tooth and nail for our peepaw's attention! I just looves it, it's funny and oddly wholesome, and leo begin a grumpy old man - with too much PTSD in that shell - is just sitting there and watching the drama unfolds while trying - keyword trying but not hard enough - to stop them ONLY to be saved by old man splinter 😂

Man why do i feel splinter WANTS to say " get use to it because it's gonna happen daily " and walk as the ghost brothers and sister give them their privacy that they needed, it is right that after the scary battle, the injuries and taking care of everybody? Big blue didn't have his time to let... Well.. Everything sink in his brain! It's like delay panic.

I feel so happy that splinter asked f!leo to go with him shopping because he not only needed some sort of quite but quality time with his dad! So they teleport to hidden city market and it does remind me of few funny things (something relate to my memories when i was just a little girl).

Splinter giving leo ONE job to do and he fail miserably - i don't kinda blame him, IT'S BEEN 20 YEARS! -.

I... LOVE how he is able to avoid scammers and pickpocketers, this screams how well aware leo is and i LOVE IT!! The cool vibes of " i may be old but don't mess with me! " vibes 🤩

He finally meets the 03 cat klunk! (03 tmnt Mikey had an orange cat i don't remember if it was named klunk or not), and just knowing her lower part is broken just BREAK my sensitive heart, i can't bear to see an animal hurt THIS bad especially if they can't defend themselves.

And we reach the 2nd part the spoiled clip part of the store owner, before we continue this guy reminded me of that one background guy in cass apocalypse comic where he was screaming at casey when leo turned smol? Remember him? Yeah he reminds me of that guy.

So back at store owner he drops jokes, insults and comments left and right - missus pfft - and we reach that champion pants, believe me i almost SCREAMED FOR THAT PANTS!! THEY FIT HIM!! tho he didn't wear it yet - wait is I'm blue fic, big blue wear them?? -

I honestly never thought leo would drop the WHOLE summary of his existence and war to the store owner but man, HE BELIEVED HIM?!?! WUT?!

So NOW leo - with cute little Klunk - going to find ol' splinter and he's fighting so hard for a discount - ngl that reminds me of my mom, she fought a guy for 15% discount - and then dropping the tea!🤣 i honestly wished i was there to egg him on " spill the tea sis! Spill the tea! ".

Leo luckily went back home without much difficulty only to see a new challenger had been added to the fight... CJ! Now my bet is with CJ! He will kick ass.

Am glad Klunk was there to calm everyone down because i think they would've been to the second phase; using REAL weapons.

I think because leo was older he was weak against orange's puppy eyes - AND EVEN SAID WE TOOK DONNIE IN 😂😂😂😂-.

But then realize blue is missing and that gets me worried a bit, maybe it's the part where he and blue play video games? Hopefully.

Oh geez I wanted to reply to this sooner but I got a bit busy

Anyways,

Leonardo not trying hard enough to stop the teens from acting up and messing around the lair is peak fatherhood. As long as he doesn’t hear crying then they’re okay /j

Delayed panic is perfect for Leonardo’s situation lol, it was one after the other for him. He honestly didn’t get a true moment of rest.

Splinter is lowkey trying to solve the issue with Leonardo referring to him as “Splinter” instead of “Dad”/hj. Gotta spend quality time with Leonardo to fix, even if Leonardo can’t do the one thing he asked lol

Leonardo’s awareness being so high is so important to me you don’t even know /j he won’t let any detail slip past him

Yes Klunk! I honestly spent a good amount of time thinking about what to name the kitty but then I remembered 03 Mikey’s cat and thought to give the kitty the same name as homage or I guess Easter egg to a really good show

The yokai clothing hop owner that Leonardo met was kind of inspired by the real talkative (questionable) guy from the first chapter of DMD hehe. But selling the champion pants is totally not referring to the battle nexus (in a silly way, we won’t be getting Leonardo in big mama’s ring) but I like to think that there are yokai who sell off brand battle nexus champ merch lol

And Leonardo admitting to his creation (although twisting the truth to seem a little more believable for the yokai) made me laugh a little because he said it either such conviction that it was believable lol

Leonardo returning to the chaos was a struggle there were so many people to take account for in writing but blue going missing kind of makes it easier

Sadly we won’t be getting the moment where Leonardo and blue play games and that won’t happen until Casey jr gets into school. :)

Thank you for taking the time to write this review(?) of ch.16! It means so much :))))) <33333

[starlightshadowsworld]

This might be a bit long since I have a lot of questions-

1. Does behind the hockey mask Casey ever struggled to get his family by? Like I'm going to assume he pays the apartment bills, does he ever struggle with to pay?

2. What was April's reaction when she first meet Casey in your Raph adopts feral cat Casey au? I mean he's a 14 year old that acts like a cat and is kinda quiet.

3. Do you remember that one episode were the 7 are fighting Super Shredder and he trys to throws Raph off a building. The only reason why Raph didn't fly off the building was because Casey skated in between Raph and the ledge. Well Casey ends up flying off the building and almost falls to his death, but he managed the grappled hooked himself to a balcony barely though. What if he's grapple hook failed? (I like angst)

There was another question but I can't remember it...oh well :)

Thanks for these!!!

1. Yup yes he does.

I mean Casey basically lost both his parents and had to raise Angel when he was 12.

So you can imagine it was hard for him to get money.

Not many people wanted to hire a 12 year old. And he had to figure out how to pay said bills.

It took a while before he could get to where he is now, and he got fired multiple times from jobs.

For being unable to show up to his shifts, either he was bad injured, passed out, his dad having the mother of all hangovers and needed looking after or just being unable to get Angel a babysitter.

And it's gotten, somewhat easier with Angel being older but she's still a kid.

But Casey worries about money a lot, he works in sketchy areas and odd hours, some treat him like a nuisance, others pretend he's invisible.

Few actually see a scared kid, like Mr Murakami and allow him to bring Angel with him and slip him tips at the end of the night with leftovers.

And that's without mentioning that Arnold has stole Casey's money for rent and food at times to go hit the bar.

So Casey has to hide it too.

.

.

2. Hehe their meeting was actually a reunion.

See April knew Casey, sorta.

They went to the same school as kids, they didn't know each other but they were aware of who the other was.

Like not friends but in the same class sorta thing.

And at times saw him wandering about and just... Befriended him by sharing her snacks with him.

Because that's what she did with stray cats so... Why not a person?

Food = love

And just yeah got him to see she wasn't a threat and she would talk about who knows what.

Sometimes asking him questions but he never answered so she stopped.

Casey never really responded, just nomming on the snack. But he always met her in the same spot.

She was very worried when he went poof.

When they met the turtles were trying to give her a talk like what to expect and hey our friend is a lil different but he's very sweet you just gotta be patient.

... Only for Casey to light up, wander over and nuzzle her cheek.

Which made her giggle and hug him like Casey!

.

.

3. That scene is like, embedded in my brain.

I like to think he'd make it, but be horribly injured fighting through on pure adrenaline because of the rush of the fight.

Uses last of his strength to close the rubbish disposal crusher... Thingy on Shredder after Splinters passing.

Everyone is so busy looking at mourning Splinter they don't notice.

Or the blood that quickly spilling from Casey's trembling body.

Raphs the first.

Running to him and steading him as Casey sways and falls into his arms.

"Can't hurt... You now..."

He wheezes.

That's when they all see Shredders corpse.

"Case..."

"Raph.."

"I'm here, Casey I'm here."

Casey blinks and pokes his cheek with a giggle but Raph is pained.

"Tell.. Angel... Love her"

"Tell her yourself, asshole." He says but the bite is gone.

"Raph"

"I'm here, still here Jones."

"H-hur..." Casey coughs up blood onto his hand.

Raph feels his own run cold.

Begging Casey to stay with them as they begin to get him and Leo to safety.

Casey ends up blacking out, barely able to make a weak peace sign before his arm drops still.

And you could have it he dies from his injuries in Raphs arms.

Or

And what I prefer 😅

Casey falls into his own coma. Donnie works so hard to stabilise him, but much like Leo no one knows if its enough.

Leo everyone knows hell wake up, it's just the wait that's killing them.

Casey tho... Casey's lucky to be alive.

Casey's body is covered with injuries.

It hits them how lucky he is to have survived this long.

How much he's done for them.

Unlike Leo, Casey wakes up at times, barely aware and not even knowing where he is.

Sometimes he's begging for his dad to stop.

Sometimes he's comforting Angel.

And other times staring blankly.

He's never awake for long.

He wakes up properly after Leo does.

I like to think he pulls an Oracle from Batman, unable to fight so much anymore he works on his tech know how and is the guy in the chair.

Tho it takes him a long while to get to being okay with that.

Casey Jones has always been a fighter.

When he thought he was done for he protected his people, his family, avenged Leo and Splinter.

Just him being the one to be helped now, and just having long term issues and disabilities such as having frequent migraines, losing his hearing and having chronic pain because he can't boubce back from it all like nothing anymore.

Raph having to deal with that guilt and doing his darndest to help him thro it.

Casey having to accept help, feeling powerless, grieving himself and learning to accept help and that he's not okay.

And he and Leo supporting each other because they both find understanding in the other.

The protector being the protected.

(Casey still drives speed Demon tho, he'd do anything for the others. I'd say Donnie was the OG driver but after he got possessed Casey took the wheel.

He luckily didn't get hurt any worse.)

Sorry that was hella long I hoped I answered them well 😅😊

[taki118]

SuyaLight Master Post Part 18

I really like these two there’s not a lot of content for the fandom as a whole soooo here’s my submission as I get every moment of these two royals who literally share a braincell (and I love them for it) First up this is just on the manga if you are anime only its going to have stuff you havent seen, yes even with what the anime covers (so read it) and there will be spoilers so beware. If you prefer Demon Monk/Cleric/Leo (which I don’t really get) I am sorry this isnt for you. Lets go! Part 1 is here Part 2 is here Part 3 is here Part 4 is here Part 5 is here Part 6 is here Part 7 is here Part 8 is here Part 8.5 is here Part 9 is here Part 10 is here Part 11 is here Part 12 is here Part 13 is here Part 14 is here Part 15 is here Part 16 is here Part 17 is here

So Suya wants to make bedding for Twilights Grandpa and get the help of her would be saviors

Even when Suya doesn't know his relation to Twilight she seems how similar the two are

I like how Twilight calls Suya out then apologizes for her.

Thats an interesting way to put it grandpa, anyway they get her soul back

So Suya sprouted cat ears after being in the underworld but Twilight isn't worried and outright says it would look cute

But he soon sees the concern

So its take two of Sherlock Suya and I think its cute that she won't switch Twilights established position in this game

So everyone accidentally gets sent to Twilights special vacation island and get leave. Soon he's the only one not there and gets jealous like a kid.

So Suya helps restore the powers of Hades, Zeus and Poseidon by turning them into an idol group and Twilight is appreciative of her efforts however

It worked too well and I gotta assume thats Twilight yelling

Its some genderswap insanity and here's face blind Suya once more

Suya tries to figure out why Twilight is so concerned and Twilight says its cause it leaves a bad impression for the army but Suya says they were always adorable and thats just so sweet

Suya also points out Twilight isn't all that intimidating anyway

It is rather funny that Suyas appearance doesn't change much and as a said note she does have some traditionally masculine traits

But Twilight realizes that a spell this strong just appearing is something to be concerned about and Suya is actually a little shocked and maybe impressed by his decisiveness here.

But that kinda goes away quick as he tries to take a play out of Suyas book and fails.

Suya tries to warn him he went too far but doesn't listen and gets embarrassed.

He gets more and more depressed as people don't recognize him, Suya tres to reassure him which is very sweet.

Twilight really has a complex about this as it adds to his feelings that he's not a good Demon King, again Suya tries to help him but well shes not the best at that

Soon enough the story gets back on track with the help Suyas lingering spiritual connection.

The culprit is revealed and they get their OG bodies back. It revealed to be the missing Guardian member, he had done a spell that cause him to be invisible and make everyone forget him.

He then explains he'd been trying for sometime to get everyones attention in this state but every attempt was over shadowed by SUyas nonsense.I just love the look Twilight gives her.

As everyone has turned back a meeting is happening and Twilight is torn on what to do but Suya says she will handle the guardian.

But Twilight kinda knew SUya was up to something as she exploited the guardians good will.

I really wanna post more cause we get some good Suyalight content soon but tumblrs 30 photos rule means I gotta stop here.

[a-tale-of-legends]

Honestly now that you said it, yeah, Sonia was a bit jealous of how it went from Leon and Sonia to Leon and Raihan. She loves them both, but with her own insecurities ( failing her strategies), losing the fun out of battling, the pressure of the gym challenge in general, seeing her best friend find someone who just. Seems to be on the same wavelength as him. More than you were. It sucks! It really sucked, and she can't help but feel jealous of that. And she feels worse when she catches herself. Like oh my god, why am I getting jealous of my closest friends ever. When Raihan tries to reach out, she can't help but step back out of the shame ( and her own pride tbh). She couldn't bring herself to tell Raihan or Leon but. Maybe Nessa? Or rather, Nessa was the one that sternly told her to spill the beans because she looks miserable, and obviously withdrawing from the others and honestly it kinda hurts so what's up, what's wrong. And at that, Sonia just breaks like a dam. It was honestly then when Nessa suggests she quits. And then she does. It doesn't stop the jealousy she has. Nessa strives forward, like she always does. But I think bc Nessa was the one that made Sonia open up made it feel less icky. That they could be open and honest with each other. It's really nice and something that Sonia really needed.

( Hisses) Yeah, seeing Naomi Hop and Carol throughout the gym challenge brings back memories and how she acted back then. Seeing Naomi go from ( rightfully) frustrated to " oh my god, I'm probably ruining his life, I'm taking away his dream" really put things into perspective( "is this how Leon ever felt? .....") In general seeing the kids momentary fallout just. Hits her in a way she didn't realize it would, and makes her take a step back and reflect back to the old days. How she ended up withdrawing herself, assuming the worst, never really resolving things. Mind you, I think they're still friends by swsh, I mean obviously, but things are...awkward.

-----

Raihan, Leon and Sonia shenanigans are very much a highlight across their journey. Someone has to be the responsible one and it's usually a game of hot potato on who it is. Raihan is usually the responsible one when Leon and Sonia decide to show how much they are committed to the bit/ endlessly curious,all of which is usually Raihan's fault for egging them on. He eventually gets used to it but MAN was there an adjustment period.

Also Raihan is very bitter at how much better Nessa is at telling scary stories.

Raihan: How come you get to a spooked reaction out of Leo and Sonia I've been trying for ages now.

Nessa: Maybe you just suck at ghost stories-

Raihan: Hey!

Nessa: And don't act like they aren't fascinated by my stories too!

----

( Nods ) Yeah Nessa was definitely a popular girl growing up. Though I don't think she was above rough housing haha. Being a fisherman's daughter means she has to know how to wrangle her catch after all! Modeling definitely came later I think. In her teens, like you said. The way I always saw it was that after the gym challenge she knew she wanted to continue battling, but wasn't immediately scouted to be the gym leader- maybe work as a gym trainer till she was ready. Raihan could have been the same but I'd need to think of how the whole " intense rivalry of ten years" would fit so. Shrugs. I'll work on it lol.

Oh! Leon and Nessa bonding over how big the world is and how many strong trainers there are....that's really sweet. Nessa is more so interested in the ocean angle of it all, but it being a talking point between them is so sweet.

Leon: ( thinking) .......You think I mean beat a Kyogre?

Nessa: Absolutely not.

Leon: Why not?!

Nessa: Because I'm gonna beat it before you, duh.

Leon: What?!

Raihan, whispering to Sonia and Piers: We're not just gonna let them fight the god of the ocean, right?

Sonia: Nope.

Piers: I think I'll leave that to you too....

-----

Ouuugggghhh you're pretty much right here about Leon here, even the bit about everyone taking a bit of Leon and not giving back. That's very much what's happening here. Leon- or rather Champion Leon, is a spectacle, something to be consumed without any real consideration for Leon himself.

The way I imagined Soul's death was actually at the end of Leon's journey, possibly after he became Champion, since I wanted Soul to at least see Leon achieve his dream. That could change once I. Reexamine swsh and it's timeline for the Legendverse BUT going with your idea here....I think the usage of Soul was more of a byproduct of Leon's mind than anything malicious on Eternatus' part, I think. I don't think Eternatus exactly has control over the dreams themselves, let alone the ghost pokemon that are attracted to its energy. Leon's pokemon are strong though. I think they'll be able to face off the ghosts just fine!

Eternatus' bones radiating the environment makes sense. Gosh, I'm just remembering that Bede was looking for wishing stars within the Galar mines too.

What was the young adults (Nessa, Raihan, Sonia, Leon, etc.) gym challenge like in Legendsverse when they were younger?

And any foreshadowing or hints to Eternatus?

I'm stilllllll figuring that out, especially bc it's been a while since I exactly expressed my ideas of what they were like back then. I'm gonna focus on Leon, Sonia, Raihan and Nessa. Maaaaaybe Piers. We'll see. This will be long so buckle up!

Leon and Sonia are gonna get grouped together for now bc man. The parallels. I haven't fully decided who endorsed them. I wasn't sure if I wanted Leon to be endorsed by Rose and Sonia by someone else, or if Rose endorsed Sonia ( like in the manga) and Mustard endorsed Leon ( old friend of Gerardo, mayhaps?). The point being that these two went on their gym challenge together.

Sonia was the better trainer.

....At first. Sonia was someone who Leon could not beat when they were younger, and in the earlier part of their journey she really was the better trainer, and favorite of the media. Of course, among the favorites, there were plenty of people who called her a nepo baby and thought she was ruining the sport. Leon wasn't that shabby of a battler. But in terms of skill,back then, he wasn't as good as Sonia. But what he did have was passion and determination. Leon knew from the jump what his goals are. He wants to become champion and he wants Galar to become stronger for it. So even if he wasn't as skilled as Sonia ( yet) he was going to claw his way to that top just everyone. And people noticed that. That fiery passion, that light that he had. It was a much more gradual buildup compared to the success of Sonia who was kinda hit with everything from the jump ( can't imagine that really helped with her enjoyment of the gym challenge),and once Leon started going he could not be stopped. And when you just keep going, someone has to get left behind right?

Personality wise, again something I haven't fully thought of. I used to like the idea that Leon was shy, but I think it fits him more that he was always this full of energy and ....I dunno expressive? But also hard to read. Someone who's determined, who's passionate, who has a good laugh, but you always don't know what he's thinking. That. Sonia....I feel she used to be rather confident in herself. Dare I say, she might have been a smart alek back then,willing to "um actually" someone ( Raihan. It was Raihan). But she was still Sonia. She was still awkward, and kinda uncertain of herself at times. She has a tendency to get in her head that just keeps her stuck - oh hey Hop, what are you doing here? ( This kid and his many parallels).

Where Leon gradually became a force that could not stop, Sonia....well. The gym challenge was wearing her down. Like I said, she has a tendency to get stuck in her head. She would make battle plans, said plans fell apart, and she was left floundering her way through a battle. Everyone's eyes were on her and....and all her friends were so bright. Leon was so bright. They all were bright. They all knew what they wanted....did she know what she wanted? When was the last time she enjoyed a pokemon battle? ......

I'm of the mind that Sonia dropped out of the league around the 7th gym, so at Melony's gym. She had won, said gym, but at that point she could have sent herself that she wasn't having fun and just felt. Lost. Her friends were also so far ahead too so. No way she can make a comeback now, huh? I think this is when her and Leon's friendship breaks bc just like Hop and Naomi, it's been them. Sonia and Leon, against the world. I can't imagine what it's like watching your best friend give up ( even if in the long run, it was literally the best option for her mentally), having that friend just. Close herself in. And there's already a big gap between Sonia and Leon by this point, so when Leon turns around to check on her, not only is she far away, but she's most likely walking in the opposite direction. Or at the very least, too far away for him to reach. It's been awkward after that. But this is about the gym challenge so. Story for another time.

Raihan....oh Raihan. It's been years and I still haven't figured out a solid backstory for him. It's driving me insane. So for simplicity sake, I'm gonna say he was endorsed by the old gym leader of Hammerlocke gym. What's their relationship exactly? No clue, and we're not gonna talk about it right now. Kid Raihan....well tbh, I've always seen him as a little chill, but have a very mean mischievous streak. A pure agent of chaos that one. He was a bit more.... rambunctious (?) back then. Kiiiinda wore his heart on his sleeve more and reacted as such- but overall, really chill. Sometimes had to be the voice of reason for Sonia and Leon ( which is incredibly funny since he is most likely the one that put bad ideas in their head/ goad them into trouble. The duality of this kid). Sonia and him would get on each other's nerves and bicker a lot bc their both smart ass kids, and depending on the subject one is more chill than the other. But it gradually just became custom for them and a form of affection! They both ended up becoming the others impulse control. Raihan and Leon.....Leon kept beating him. And despite how chill he is, Raihan has pride, so each loss just makes him more frustrated. Fortunately, Leon being Leon smoothed things over - he honestly couldn't bring himself to be so mad. Plus, their rivalry was fun! They kept each other on their toes, each move being done with great intensity and vigor. Raihan had a goal to one up Leon one day and Leon would embrace it fully. ( Leon being Champion kinda. Sullied that notion. It still exists, but with lots of outside factors going into it, specifically that their rivalry is now treated as something for others to consume and watch, not just two friends who wanted to see each other grow stronger and try and best each other). In the end Raihan was the one that faced off Leon for the champion title....and lost. And honestly, I think. He reacted pretty badly. I can't blame him, he's a kid, his loss was in public for everyone to see, and he worked so hard- I do not blame him for reacting badly. But man did it make things tense between him and Leon. Even when things settled down, and the initial issue was gone, that tenseness never fully went away, but that's getting way ahead of the gym challenge. Overall, Raihan was that chill but very mischievous friend that loved to bicker with Sonia about history and battle Leon to be the best.

Nessa....I don't have much for her outside of this very specific thing: she was competitive as fuck and a bit of a hot head. I see her carrying herself with so much dignity that the other three could not help but move aside when she was walked by. Leon and Raihan found her intimidating/scary. Sonia found her criminally pretty. I actually think it was Sonia that had Nessa integrated into their little group. Not that Leon and Raihan didn't interact with her, but Sonia was the one that couldn't help but want to get to know her. I mean, she was so confident! How on earth can she be able to walk by like she owned the place. She had to figure it out. ( Raihan: Or you just folded at the first pretty face you saw. Leon: Pfft- Sonia: SHUT UP!!!). They actually became fast friends! Nessa was friendly, if not a bit more stern about the gym challenge ( "quite fooling around and take this seriously!" <- something I can see her saying). Leon and her actually ended up getting along REALLY well! I think it's the market kids bonding over their families respective trade - humble beginnings I suppose. Raihan pissed her off a lot though. One minute they could be having a normal friendly conversation and the next, Raihan is laughing his ass off while Nessa is shaking him by his shirt. And yeah! I'm not sure when she got eliminated - yes eliminated, Nessa is not someone to quit imo. Maybe during the champion cup, maybe somewhere else. But I think she had a really good run! I can actually see her being the one to encourage Sonia to quit her gym challenge, since she saw how unhappy it was making her. I think the promise that they'll still be friends and Nessa cares more about Sonia's happiness kinda just cemented the feelings Sonia had, both platonically and romantically. Nessa is a good good friend to Sonia,even past the gym challenge and years to come.

Yeaaaaah, I'm not doing Piers I don't have much for him. I do think it was Raihan that befriended him first! I feel like he was very much that friend of a friend that didn't reallllly hang out with the others as often but would still get dragged into their shenanigans and was genuinely part of the group. He was the closest to Raihan, but still gave every one cute lil nicknames :3

And finally: Eternatus is weird timeline wise. I don't think Rose got it around the time Leon became champion. I feel that happens some years into Leon's career? Maybe in his teens. So during the gym challenge, Eternatus was still very much a fossil.....but here's an idea. Leon gets lost. Like he usually does. But it's worse here, because he's lost within the deeper levels of the Galar mines. Charmeleon is with him, so he can see, and he's fairly confident in his ability to handle the wild pokemon....but it still sucks. ( It's moments like these that makes him wish that the Galar Rangers are still a thing. Wish that his dad was there to guide him). So he's still wandering around, trying to get himself out of this strange situation....and then he sees it. On the wall,a giant fossil. Or at least, a piece of a fossil? He can't really say but it's there. Right before him. Has anyone ever seen it before? He is rather deep into the mine- he's pretty sure he's not supposed to even be there. Sonia would love to get a look at it.....he can't seem to turn his eyes away. There's something about the fossil. Something.... daunting. Something heavy. It makes his stomach sink, and he feels himself shutter a little but he can't look away. It wouldn't be until Charmeleon takes a hold of Leon's hand , looking at it's trainer with concern. Leon smiles, even if it's clearly nervous, thanks Charmeleon and turns away from the fossil. He eventually does get out of the caves, gets scolded by Sonia and Raihan and goes among his merry way. He forgets about the fossil by then. Though maybe it's still there, at the back of his mind. Maybe that's why, when he sees it again, it feels so familiar.

Just a lil plot bunny for ya :)

[j-nope-not-today]

Bay guy's somehow getting caught under a mistletoe w their crush?

TMNT reaction to being caught under mistletoe with s/o

A/n: Sorry this took so long to do 😞

Ya girl has had some serious writers block lately. But thank you very much for requesting and I hope you like it!

Raphael

He gets all smug and kinda just looks you up and down

Trying to guess whether or not you want to kiss him

So he's checking all your body language first before he pulls you in for the quickest kiss

"sorry doll just figured we gotta stick to the tradition.."

Just shrugs and stands there afterwards bc now he doesn't know whether or not he just screwed everything up

Luckily for him you most definitely liked him back

And as soon as he knew that oh boy was he ecstatic

He's gonna carry mistletoe around with him and just plant it above any doorway your walking under

"oh man you really got to watch out for that mistletoe. Sneaky plants everywhere."

You know he's behind it. But he's cute so you'll let it slide.

Leonardo

Panicked.

He absolutely fucking panicked

Because what does he do?

What does he say?

He just freezes and awkwardly laughs and waits for you to make the move

He doesn't want to make you uncomfortable and he definitely doesn't want to shoot his shot and fail

He really likes you 🥺

He doesn't want this moment to mess everything up for him

Luckily for him you got either guts or pure dumb luck bc you decided to kiss him

And oh man did he not want it to stop

He was so shy when you pulled apart

Bc omg your so pretty and you kissed him!

Expect for him to just smile at you before pulling you in for another kiss..and another..and another

Donatello

He doesn't essentially believe in the whole kiss under the mistletoe thing

But when it comes to you he most definitely thinks that weird tradition should be followed.

When he had bumped into you he hadn't expected mistletoe to be there

And you of course knew he didn't believe in the kiss under the mistletoe thing so it was a surprise when he stopped you from walking away

Of course you questioned him and of course he answered

"I thought you didn't believe in mistletoe? I mean earlier you told Leo to keep walking and explained how unethical mistletoe was.."

"No what I'm saying is that mistletoe doesn't count with any of them, but it does with me. So you should y'know follow..tradition."

He just wanted to kiss you and so he did

Just pulled you in and kissed you hard on the lips before pulling away

He was absolutely shocked with himself

But once he knew you were fine with it he kissed you again just to make sure it was real

Michelangelo

He was all for the mistletoe stuff and he hung it up in hopes he would catch you under at least one doorway

He really wanted to kiss you and be with you and gosh were you just so perfect to him

But he didn't want to scare you off with how much he liked you

So he figured to ease you into it he would just kiss you under the mistletoe and then tell you how he felt

Unbeknownst to him you already knew he liked you

It was Mikey.. everything was obvious to everyone besides him.

But he couldn't help he wore his heart on his sleeve

So when he finally caught you under one of his mistletoe traps he was so giddy and excited and ofc you kissed the boy

He was dying for it to happen and it did and it was absolutely wonderful

You didn't even give him the chance to confess when you pulled apart

"How did you know I liked you already then angel cakes?"

"Mikey it's the middle of April.. mistletoe is only during Christmas. Don't worry though it was cute and I like you too."

"Wow my girlfriend is a genius.."

[idiot-mushroom]

Where We Belong Au:

^concept art :D

Anywhizzle-

No one has thought of this idea (or at least made content out of it) that the rise!turtles were kidnapped back by Baron Draxum and raised to be warriors to fight off the human race. I think all of them would be Nexus Champs but with a little twists with every character.

Donnie- becomes Draxum's apprentice but occasionally goes on missions with Leo. Ofc he's a Battle Nexus champ, but je usually injures his hands since he's always trying out new inventions to help in a fight, so to help his strength he makes metal hand garments to up his hand-to-hand combat and shit. Even so bad guys usually just crush them (and crush his hands in turn) or they malfunction. Ofc he has ideas for other inventions, but Draxum conditioned him to only invent things good for battle or missions (his battleshell is like that so if someone falls on it/bumps into it, it can pierce the skin and make serious injuries (also he's sensitive to sound and hates when the crowd cheers for his win)).

Leo- is Draxum's personal bodyguard/bouncer. He is usually with Donnie on missions, guarding a door/person, or fighting in the Battle Nexus with his bros. If you see he has scars on his inner thighs, this has to do with an encounter with Mayhem when Draxum ordered him to stop the cute fuzzball, and Leo did. However, in order to escape Mayhem scratched his inner thighs, doing some life-or-death damage (they cut a major artery) and so he had to get treated and Mayhem got away. Leo doesn't do that many puns or jokes since he was abused for doing so for being disrespectful to Big Mama and/or Draxum.

Mikey- is Big Mama's personal bodyguard, since he's cute yet deadly. Draxum doesn't really like Mikey's individuality especially when he expresses himself through art, but Big Mama loves it and will commission him to paint portraits of her and cats (idk she seems to be the kinda person to have cats). Even so Mikey does go on missions, but usually will be Raph's medic (this'll come into play later) or Battle Nexus. He doesn't go into Battle Nexus as much as his brothers since Big Mama actually does enjoy his company so usually his punishments with be being whipped on the upper arms (as you can see his scars in the picture) or Battle Nexus.

Raph- is THE Battle Nexus Champion. He has never lost to anyone, and Savage Raph usually helps with that, but he's not more in control of it bc of it (Mikey as his medic usually calms him down after a fight). It's bittersweet when his bros come to Battle Nexus because then he can finally see them, but he knows that they'll have to fight, but he makes sure he takes more of the punches for them (why all the scars). When he was first starting out some asshole decided to slash his fucking eye and so he's blind (I think you can tell which eye in the picture), but he's not really upset about it because he thinks he looks cool. Even so, he does on rare occasions go on missions if they need to boost the team up a little.

Splinter- has never given up hope that he'd find his boys and bring them back. He never cleans their rooms, scared if he does, he's gotten rid of all the memories he had with them. They were the reason he kept living, even though he was a small rat man. They made life worth living.

He would not fail his family.

Not again.

I will post comics about this au :D

Anyone can write fanfics or make fanart or comics or whatever, just please give me credit!

And don't be an asshole and repost it.