#what if… Draxum got what he wanted?

[its-wabby-stuff]

What If... Draxum got what he wanted?

Baron Draxum, the creator. Draxum is a very proud man, and usually takes credit for his creations contributions and successes. He teaches them to be proud as well, he teaches them to help, he teaches them to fight, and accidentally started pinning his elite team against each other. The spars were meant to be helpful, but he didn’t see how that created an atmosphere of competition and sabotage until it was too late.

Slider (Leo), the perfectionist. Constantly hoping to prove himself, he never lets himself make a mistake. This wins him title of leader from Draxum, but he still feels like something is missing. Because of this, he is very strict on his subordinates and does not allow mistakes or disobedience without punishment. He has manipulated his way into making all of them believe he is the strongest. Really he’s beginning to crack under the pressure and the lack of control.

Snap (Raph), the obedient. The right hand to Sliders leadership, and also selectively mute. A condition brought on by pressures from Draxum and reinforced by Slider, that lead to the belief he had nothing good to say. He is hyper observant due to this repression, always watching and capable of smelling out lies and fear. He is often used as a shield, protecting all of his younger—- fellow soldiers. He is often found shadowing Slider. He can’t admit that he cares.

Shell (Donnie), the favorite. With seemingly little effort, Shell managed to impress Draxum with his high intelligence. Their deep rooted similarities had the two create a bond so tight, it’s transparently impenetrable. Slider resents Shell for his ease of life and Shell for Sliders high and mighty tude, causing the two to squabble often and aggressively, but the respect for each other runs deep. He’d always have Sliders back, and he knows he can expect the same.

Box (Mikey), the underdog. Being the youngest of Draxums army hasn’t boded well for the energetic, clumsy little warrior. With the high expectations from his superiors, he feels insignificant and useless only desiring a chance to prove himself. A solo mission to the surface caused him to begin questioning everything he’d been told. He wonders if he’ll be strong enough to fight against everything he’s ever known.

Yoshi Hamato, the pacifist. Unable to stop the raging threat of Baron Draxum in his past life and aware of the threat he possesses, Yoshi re-evaluates his life and decides to quit running. Settling down to run his New York City dojos in order to prepare the next generation for an inevitable fight. He prepares for the day he may run into his sons.

April O’Neil, the rebel. Taken to martial arts classes as a kid in the hopes that she’d make some friends, she found the best of them in her Sensei. She learns of his life, his successes and failures, and vows to help him in whatever endeavor he faces. She didnt expect to make friends with the enemy she’s been trained to defeat.

The Plot:

In general this is a story with Box as the protagonist and Slider as the antagonist.

Box meets April, and through a specific series of events the two end up becoming friends. To prevent this forbidden friendship, Slider orchestrates a mission to reveal the twos natures to each other, resulting in the mutation of Hamato Yoshi. However, this doesn’t act as a deterrent, and Box’s insubordination continues.

These meet-ups, with April and Splinter, cause Box’s abilities to grow, which directly threatens Slider (or at least it feels that way) cause it seems to come without reason. Slider manipulates Box into thinking he’s nothing without them, while balancing the supportive, mentor, older “brother” feel. Basically he builds up a dependence.

Box’s increasing freethinking results in him leaving the hidden city permanently to join April and hopefully, peacefully stop Draxum and his brothers. This results in a confrontation with Snap, who for the first time in his life, disobeys and lets Box go, buying him a few extra minutes before Shells system goes off. This action infuriates Slider and he snaps, nearly killing April and Yoshi. He is stopped by Box, and April is saved from drowning by Snap.

Box officially dons the name Michelangelo, or Mikey. Ever confused by Snaps actions, he begins sneaking in notes and such to Snap. Draxum forms an alliance for the dark armor with the foot clan, and with Sliders help, takes it over. Snap befriends Cassandra who befriends April after Casey tried to steal Sunitas boots (a call made by Slider to test the recruits loyalty. She failed). This leads to Snap and Cassandra’s eventual leave of the foot clan as they join Mikey, who teaches Snap how to speak up for himself. He dons the name Raphael, or Raph.

Slider loses his grip even more with the loss of his right hand man, his shadow. He orchestrates leads with mutants for the last of the Dark Armor pieces, and using a microchip Shell had placed in the oozsquitos, is able to control Yoshi into bringing them the final piece. He bargains his life to see Mikey again, and expresses his udder hatred for him as Mikey tries to convince Slider that he’s going about it all wrong. Slider threatens to kill Yoshi if he keeps talking, but Mikey calls his bluff. Draxum then puts on the last piece of the armor, and The Shredder is brought to life, draining Draxum of his power.

The commotion causes Mikey to escape, with Yoshi, and a close to dying Draxum. While Slider and Shell officially take over the foot clan by controlling The Shredder via a mystic collar courtesy of Big Mama. They begin a rampage against the surface.

April helps a dying Draxum and injured Yoshi recover, while Mikey, Raph, and Cassandra search Hamato scrolls for a solution. Mikey and Raph begin a search for their clans ancient weapon, and discover Karai. Mikey and Raph convince Draxum to help them, and they release Karai from holding back The Shredder.

When The Shredder breaks through its mystic collar and suddenly gains an intelligence, Slider and Shell have no choice but to submit to him to save their own skins, and keep their Hamato energy a secret. They go on the hunt for Yoshi (a win for Slider as he presented the idea, and it won him praise) halting their surface take over.

Karai, though weak, is able to give advice to the boys hoping to reunite their family. A speech to Draxum about family also shows him how much he cares. The three makeup, and are then joined by Cassandra, Snap, April, and Yoshi. The Shredder then attacks their sewer lair. Slider loses himself more upon seeing Draxum not only be on their side, but be affectionate with them. Like he doesn’t even know what’s real.

The fight ends with Slider killing Karai. Mikey screams and Raph has to carry him off as they escape via tunnels, with Cass, April, and Draxum. Shredder then turns his aggression toward Slider for killing their Hamato, and Shell saves his ass by presenting the kidnapped Yoshi.

Mikey and gang find a safe enough place to stop. Mikey tells Raph he’ll never forgive Slider. Draxum says that it is his fault. April then reveals that Karai was already dying, and that during the fight, she had passed over her soul to her. They then comment on the outfit change they didn’t notice. Karai tells them there is still hope.

There is a showdown at the weeping Titan. Yoshi tries to talk to Slider and Shell as they tie him up. He says The Shredder does not care about you, but your family does. Slider says he’s been waiting to kill him since day one (it’s a cover. Shell realizes this. He also realized that Sliders losing his grip).

Mikey, Raph and crew show up- new mystic powers activated and a fight ensues. Mikey tells Slider that all he ever wanted was his respect, and Slider tells Mikey that he never had it (also not true). Shell watches Yoshi, and Draxum is sent to retrieve him. This confrontation isn’t crazy really, as Shell relinquishes Yoshi to Draxum anticlimactically. He tells Draxum that Slider is going down a dark path, and he can’t leave unless Slider comes too, or they’ll lose him forever.

Slider and Shell then turn on The Shredder, which had been their plan for a while, unlocking their full extent of mystics in the fight and destroy him with the help of the whole gang, Slider leading the pack. Karai and Saki, their free ghosts, tell Slider that family is everything, and that he is not alone, and then die. Mikey then goes up to Slider, and tells him that he forgives him. Slider spits, saying he didn’t do it for Mikey. Then disappears, without Shell.

Mikey and April co-lead their little help everyone team. They help rebuild the city and try their best to help relationships with the surface and Yokai to get better, along with the relationships with each other. Mikey holds out hope that Slider will join them, eventually. Slider has been fighting in the Battle Nexus to clear his head, being Big Mamas champion for a couple months. And one day, he receives a warning from a young kid named Casey Jones, that the future is in serious danger.

The Movie:

Foot Lieutenant and Foot Brute take over the foot clan again and plan to release the Krang. Slider ignores the human kid for a while, but Casey is persistant, telling him that he knows who he is and that he trained with him and even telling him secrets he shouldn’t know. Slider then tries to fix the problem by himself. Casey goes to get Mikey. Slider causes a big seen and accidentally releases the krang, when his brothers get there to save him. They lose their mystics but get the key.

Slider presses Casey for telling on him and Mikey says it’s good to see him. Casey tells everyone how bad this is. Slider says they just need to destroy the key. Mikey takes charge, which infuriates Slider, who then ignores Mikey’s orders and sneaks away. Casey follows Slider, who has the key, and they go look for answers in the Hidden City, particularly with Big Mama. (Casey is following Slider around like a dog and he doesn’t like it).

Shell, adjusting to the name Donnie, is taken by the Krang when Mikey’s team goes to confront them. His A team, consisting of himself, Raph and Yoshi, go looking for Slider, while his B team, April, Cassandra and Draxum, go looking for more of that extreme weed killer.

Slider and Casey, are found by A team, and Mikey tells Slider that the krang got Shell. He also confesses that he doesn’t think he’s very good at this leadership stuff and he could use his brother’s help. Slider turns him down. Casey gets mad at Slider and starts telling him how frustratingly stubborn he is, and what he’s like in the future. Slider then turns around, and agrees to help Mikey.

Using the key as their base point, Slider comes up with a plan using all the angles and they make their way into the building. Twist in the plan when Donnie comes out all krangified and steals the key back, but it doesn’t deter Slider. Part of the plan was opening the portal anyway- now they just have to get them through. Draxum and Raph will fly the ship back through the portal while him and Mikey get Shell. April, Cass, and Yoshi will keep things at bay on the floor. Casey is responsible for the key.

Draxum and Raph manage to fight off Brother Krang and Draxum takes the plunge into the ship. Mikey and Slider make their way to the top. The fight against Krang Donnie starts a squabble with Mikey and Slider. Mikey yells at Slider why he can’t just be vulnerable for two seconds. Then, when the ship starts moving, Prime pulls everybody up, suddenly unamused. Slider then apologies to everyone, then targets Shell, who breaks out of the krangification.

The four fight together (Draxum can’t keep up), and give Prime a run for his money until he decides he’s had enough. Donnie and Raph are blown off and Raph saves both of them from the blow just in time. Mikey and Slider are left up top. Slider tells Mikey there only chance is keeping him on the other side, by going there with him. Everyone listens on the comms. The two jump into action, and pull Krang back into the prison dimension. Slider tells Casey he’s not so bad and to close the portal. At the last moment, Slider switches Mikey out. Mikey tries to run back in, to grab Slider with his chains, but the portal closes before he has the chance, sending him flying away in the explosion.

Draxum, who stuck around somewhere, winds up saving Mikey and returning to the other boys. Mikey passed out from the explosion but wakes up only a couple minutes later. He frantically tries to get Slider back, and eventually, it causes him to open a portal. Draxum, Raph and Donnie all support him as they get a very beat up Slider out.

He cries, as he asks them why they did it, after everything. Mikey tells him he doesn’t deserve to die because of his mistakes, they make him human. They love him and they just want him to come home. They all hug.

End scene. The whole family is preparing for a party, patched up and clamoring. It’s a welcome home party for Leo. He nervously walks in, and then Mikey pulls him into a game. Leo doesn’t know what that is, and Mikey explains the rules. Before he can finish, Leo bursts out laughing, which startles everyone. He explains that the game is stupid, but this is the first time he’s ever felt- happy.

And they live happily ever after, or something like that…

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Thanks for making it to the bottom. If you have any questions, leave me an ask and I’ll give you an answer! Likes and reblogs and appreciated!! 🩷

[thedawningofthehour]

OMG this is my chance!

Ok, I'll try to keep this as under PG13 as possible, one thing that headcanon and I think most of the fandom also agrees on, is that Draxum is Pure, in an old fashioned sense of the word.

Sure, I can see him kissing a boy when he was like 14 under a tree on a moonlit night. But beyond that, he's as pure as a maiden.

Meanwhile, Splinter has enough experience to teach a class.

My point is, Draxum is a submissive top and Splinter is a power bottom (At least with Draxum, Big mama top him so hard)

What do you think?

I mean, I doubt that Draxum has had no experience. He's been around for a while-he probably did dumb stuff when he was younger and more social/drank more. But he's also very Stupid about it and oblivious to everything.

Splinter was absolutely a giant hoe though, like this was a children's show and they still somehow managed to get 'this man has snorted cocaine off a hooker's ass' across with his character design. I don't know if he's actually bisexual, but he has most definitely had sex with men. Probably while doing copious amounts of drugs.

And yeah, Big Mama pegged him for sure. I feel like she'd make that a requirement with anyone she dated.

[bambiraptorx]

For Minor Interference, you've mentioned that Draxum and Splinter are REALLY not going to get along. Also that Draxum hasn't really been thinking about how turtles' lives have been, but I'm thinking it's possible he's giving more consideration to his creations' history due to the events of the last few chapters.

On Draxum's part, so far I can see his assumption of "food scarcity" for the turtles. What other things is he assuming right now about the turtles' upbringing/parental figure/life in general, if I might ask?

You know that scene in canon when the fam ends up in their house after the whole Battle Nexus New York thing? Where Draxum looks around and is like "No one would ever look for us in this disgusting sewer hovel?" I'm reasonably sure that he didn't know up until then that the turtles live in the sewers.

MI! Draxum is going to find out sooner than that, and he's not going to be happy about it. There's a lot of things that the boys have never experienced due to having a very sheltered/isolated upbringing, and some of things are things that kids really should have. (For example, doctor's appointments.)

On a related note, as of the most recently published chapter, Draxum still has heard nothing of a parental figure, so he's kind of assuming that there isn't one. He's actually going to be more concerned about the boys' homelife once he finds out that they do have a parent and were still raised in such isolation.

(To be fair to Splinter, it's very reasonable that he didn't want his kids interacting with either the human or yokai worlds, given that there were people dangerous to them in both, but raising your kids in the sewers is never ideal. Not even close. It also doesn't help that once the boys weren't little he kinda just... left them to their own devices. Just because your kids are teens doesn't mean they don't still need you.)

[spiderwingz]

dp x rottmnt au where danny falls through a portal and ends up in the hands of big mama where he becomes the next battle nexus champion to fill the hole that lou jitsu left. i’m not sure what happens next but maybe those two make a deal where if danny wins a certain amount of matches, she’ll help send him back to amity park. then the turtles find danny, help him escape, and they’re all becomes friends from there

[ilivelikeimtrying]

Watching a compilation, and check it:

Draxum's first idea for the turtles matches some of their earlier counterparts.

[pickledcarrotsandradish]

I’m gonna talk about my sep au with what if Draxum got his way!

CW: Child Abuse

Like. What if during all the explosions and bam boom pow of the lab explosion, Splinter sadly doesn’t get away with the turtles? Draxum is like “Wow, that was dramatic. But! I have my turtles now.”

He’s able to eventually take over the Hidden City and declare war on the Human World. And it goes very well for him!

Here’s the thing. I do believe that Draxum would make a good dad if he wanted to. And in most situations and universes, I think he would want to! He would want to take care of these little goobers and raise them with love and affection. The dude really is a total softy once you get past the very thin outer crunchy layer.

And this Draxum doesn’t want anything to get in his way from saving Yokai from the human threat, and that includes himself. This is a Draxum that makes every wrong turn, hardens his heart every chance he gets, and ignores the wailing of his conscience until he can’t hear it anymore. Stays so focused on taking over the human world until he wakes up one day and realizes he has almost achieved his dream. All it had cost him was his soul.

Relations with the turtles

Draxum didn’t create them with the intention of them being brothers. If anything, he doesn’t want them getting any bright ideas that if they banded together they could take him down. So with his idea of “raising them” includes things such as: having them only work together on his pre-approved missions, keeping them separated for much of their childhood, etc.

[daedelweiss]

“LIFE MISSION: SAVE MY BROTHERS” 💖 The Red Knight’s Mission (Episode 1: The Buried Memory Page 9-18) ( tw: bright colors, eye strain )

we finally meet the tots!! for this set, i wanted to explore their origin and the real reason why leo put himself through this ritual. he thought maybe if he could see his brothers, he'll know what to look for. i can't imagine how he felt seeing them for the first time (not as a tot).

also if drax looks ominous, that's because he's being seen by leo's perspective! he already has a bias against draxum because of the stories he'd hear from his dad so that distorted his view on drax completely. little does he know how similar they'd be 🤫

the next set will be the last set for "the buried memory"! we'll finally find out how the bros got separated in the first place... and how they came upon the conclusion that donnie didn't make it... after that, there will be a new episode and that time, we'll finally know what happened to raph  thank you again for supporting this comic!! 🥰💖

BEGINNING / PREV / NEXT (coming soon) • ( 🌿 please do NOT repost, edit, trace, use, and/or sell 🌿 )

[sad-leon]

Part 1 :D

and here i present, Finding Home :D

This is a seperated au that focuses on Leo and how he grows as he learns what "home" is

Not all the parts are gonna be this long, but I wanted a solid start. I don't have an update schedule either, but feel free to ask questions :D

Masterpost || Next

A bit of background if yall want it:

When Splinter drops Leo in the explosion, all he sees is the turtle disappear into smoke as the lab is actively collapsing. He assumed Leo died and left to make sure none of his other turtles got killed.

Draxum picked up Leo and look care of his wounds. Leo has scrapes on both sides of his shell from being stuck in the ground, along with a scar on his right arm. Draxum tried raising Leo for a few years on his own before realising it would benefit both of them if he had help, so he turned to Big Mama.

Bug Mama and her assisstant, Galileo, help raise Leo for years. Gali teaches Leo how to speak, though he still chirps quite often, especially when sad or startled.

A bit of Gali lore: Big Mama had orignally named her Leo when Draxum gave Gali to BM. Gali didn't like having that as her name, so Big Mama helped her find a new one and they settled on Galileo.

Splinter takes the boys to tour the hidden city so they're not caught off guard by mystic stuff and yokai like he was. That's when Mikey spots Leo on TV and Splinter recognizes the son he thought he lost immediatly :)

About the sword comment: I'll reveal more in the comic itself, but Leo and Draxum made a deal that if Leo could prove his strength by winning the Battle Nexus championship 5 times, he'd train Leo with the mystic sword.

How the Battle Nexus works in this au: there are always battles going on, but once during each season, a championship/tournament is held to name a champion.

This is technically Leo's 7th tournament, but 5th victory

[paintedkinzy-88]

Something's Wrong: Raph's POV...

Out of the three brothers, Raph's the one to notice something was up first. And, unfortunately, it was only because he ended up in a situation Leo wasn't used to and briefly caught glimpses of those walls being down. He only saw this "sad look" a handful of times for the first few days of his grounding before Leo was more accustomed to having a running partner again. (Raph was forbidden from flying for two weeks, as per "doctor's" orders.)

He didn't know what was wrong, exactly, and Leo definitely talked circles around him if he ever got the opportunity to ask, but still. It put Raph on high alert.

Donnie's POV

OH SIDE NOTE: I actually totally forgot this detail in the Something Like Flying comic here, but uh, being held over the edge of the building by Draxum actually tore Leo's webbing a bit. Nothing bad, but still a significant detail, and I wanted to point out that error ;w; my bad bro, I got it right here at least lmfao.

[aleksiej]

does rottmnt donnie dislike touch?

i have rewatched all of rottmnt and am ending this debacle once and for all (at least for me lol)

based on the two seasons, the movie and the comics (tho the comics don't really bring anything to this conversation) i think i have the answer to one of the more controversial topics in this fandom

(no, it's not the yuichi vs usagi debate, usagi obviously wins that no sweat)

so, does donnie dislike touch?

in the series, he is shown being fairly touchy with his siblings throughout the series, with some exceptions i will try to list now, tho not with proper episode names as i am not looking them up, sorry not sorry:

pilot episode, captured by draxum in a cacoon with mikey he's visibly uncomfortable and tries to get away

mikey's solo mission, he doesn't look at any of the and in response to a hug he pats mikey's head with a metal arm from his battle shell.

glued together, he's showing visible discomfort at being forced into close (touching) proximity of his brothers, tho that discomfort is somewhat elevated when they do a second go-round after the sticky foam ball got crushed

that time splinter caught everyone in a trap hanging in the lair (i think it's the forest survival episode?), he's, again, uncomfortable and the first to find a solution to their entrapment, be it on his phone

there's probably more, but that's what i remember from the series and spread out on about 60 episodes it's noticeable, but not a deciding factor, especially since donnie's also seen being fine with touch. now, the movie offers us even more of a look into donnie's relationship with touch. this list will include every instance presented i can think of, in no particular order.

during leo and raph's fight after they lost the key, donnie jumps on raph's back in an attempt to stop him from advancing in the fight, as mikey tries to shield leo. it's a very quick decision and doesn't seem to particularly trouble donnie.

after the kraang come through the portal and the turtles escape-pod out, mikey's panicking and grabbing cj, also causing him distress. donnie grabs mikey under his arms like a plushie and is shown to carry him until leo gets back with a panic attack and news of raph, upon which leo starts at cj with a fight in mind and donnie and mikey keep him away. again, no distress is coming off of donnie, no more than the regular situation call for (although he gets more logic-minded and quiet as the movie goes on with only small donnie moments breaking it up, which seems to be how he reacts to stress, but that'll be in another fever post)

he's touching mikey sometimes during the subway battle, but it's most likely he either didn't notice or didn't care, considering everything else happening in that fight (ps the kraang train is my favorite villainous entity in the franchise, give me more of the kraang train and i will give you my soul)

he's shown very visibly having sensory issues (very relatable) throughout the whole movie because of the kraang. not necessarily to do with touch, oh except for the part when he had to get EATEN BY THE TECHNODROME THROUGH HIS BARELY TOUCHED AT ALL SOFT SHELL which is shown to be a sensory nightmare and awful to touch and yes, i had night terrors if that, thank you very much.

at the very end, they all hug with no visible problems except for the fact that they are on staten island. that is to say, there's one important scene still, it happens before the end, but i wanted to have space to gush about it so here we go.

the famous scene of raph grabbing donnie and mikey flying through the air, yelling "don't worry donnie, it's not a hug, it's a rescue". probably the most important thing said in accordance to donnie's relationship with touch.

in my personal opinion, donnie doesn't mask (i mean look at his behavior) or if he does, he does it, rarely in public and even rarer with just his brothers. so every one of the hamato clan knows at least the most important of donnie's boundaries, especially related to the autism, as it's handled well within their family structure (both donnie's and mikey's autism is) . so, if raph calls out to him to warn about the hug he's giving donnie and treats it like a potential bad thing, there are really only two conclusions we can get to.

one, donnie doesn't like/hates physical contact. disputed by just about everything else in the show, except for the listed above exceptions.

two, donnie being open to touch or not is conditional. and considering the mentioned exceptions and raph's rescue from the movie, there's one similarity we can notice between them.

the touch affecting donnie is happening without his consent and without a form of escape.

(except for when donnie's hugged by mikey in his solo mission episode, but considering he's already kind of detached, i'm assuming he's just not up to it and so he uses his robotic extra arms to give comfort instead of ignoring his little brother which aww)

that's the uncomfortable part, the unpredictability and lack of a way to detach himself. aka, donnie's just like me for real. lmao.

donnie probably doesn't mind touch and welcomes it, but needs to be in control of the process and be able to leave if he gets overwhelmed. and his family knows that, hence raph's words in the movie that led so many people astray...

this might just be another evidence of how well donnie is written as an autistic character, both with his low empathy not being demonized and not preventing him from creating bonds (tho sometimes making it difficult) and the fact that the most common opinion of autistic people (that they hate touch, which is something a psychiatrist brought up as evidence of me not being autistic) doesn't apply to everyone.

as a summary, rottmnt donnie is probably the best version of donnie right now and he doesn't hate touching, he just has to touch on his own terms. extremely valid, extremely relatable.

[our-happygirl500-fan]

A few years ago, Nickelodeon did a video for World Turtle Day where they talked about some Turtle Facts on the different Turtle Species of the Rise Turtles

Narrator: Leonardo, the wise cracking hotshot, is a red eared slider

And something I found interesting about the video is that it talked about red eared sliders being territorial

Narrator: Red eared slider’s are peaceful & mostly harmless turtles but they can also be very territorial so don’t mess with their home or they might send you home

A lot of turtles are known for being territorial especially soft-shell turtles which are very territorial so I was kind of surprised that when talking about territorial turtles they specifically chose to mention red eared slider’s being territorial over any of the other species of turtles which made me wonder if that particular fact was chosen due to Leo’s characterisation.

Leo: Hey, nobody does that to my brother! Except my brother.

Leo: Back off, he's ours. Apparently.

Throughout Rise Leo has been shown to be extremely protective & defensive of his friends & family jumping to defend or protect them whenever someone tries to hurt them in any way which can be seen when Leo gets protective of Raph in the episode Shell in the Cell or when Leo immediately defends Frankenfoot from the Foot Clan the moment he learns that Raph considers Frankenfoot a friend in the episode Sparring partner.

Leo: Hey, future me would be real proud of you. I’m proud of you

Leo has also been shown to be someone who cares about family more than anything else & the second someone can be seen as a family member he gets attached & would do anything for them (even put his life on the line). Which can be seen by how the second he found out that Karai was a Hamato she became ‘Gram-Gram’ to him & he was willing to fight the Shredder for her or how attached he was to Casey Junior after only a day because he knew that his future self was important to Casey Junior.

Leo: But when I see what’s happening to you, and what’s happening to them... I realised it wasn’t about me.

It has been shown time & time again that Leo’s biggest motivator is arguably his families safety which can be seen in the movie where one of Leo’s biggest motivations when fighting the Krang is arguably his family being in danger & one of the biggest anger responses that Leo has ever really shown has been due to Raph getting hurt.

It could be argued that Leo’s protectiveness over his family could possibly partially stem from the fact that Red Eared Sliders are very territorial making Leo especially protective over what he possibly considers ‘his’. As Red Eared Sliders are traditionally territorial & protective over their homes, Leo might be protective over his friends & family as they are his ‘home’ to him.

Leo being protective & possibly territorial towards his family might also explain why Leo seems to hold grudges against former enemies such as Draxum & be reluctant to trust them as Leo’s instincts may still view the former enemies as threats to what he wants to protect.

Leo: You threw me off a roof!

Mikey: Isn’t this nice? When’s the last time we all got together like this huh?

Leo: The time Draxum dropped me off a building?

It might be possible that Leo’s grudge against Draxum isn’t actually motivated over Draxum’s actions against Leo but rather because there might be part of Leo that struggles not to see Draxum as a threat to the people he cares about.

I’m not sure whether or not a red eared sliders territorial nature was supposed to translate into Leo’s protective nature over his family intentionally but I thought it might be an interesting link to make between Leo & his turtle species.

The fact that Red Eared Sliders are known for being peaceful & mostly harmless except when their home is threatened might also be similar to how Leo seems to prefer to act laid back except for when his family needs protecting.

[cyanferret21]

Weapons also have souls au

Did I just simply make 2012 & rise crossover? Yes, yes I did!

Did I also add some ✨mystic✨ to it for spice? Yes I absolutely did!!

Am I gonna do this one post and never return to this idea ever again(like I did with my rat au)? I really fucking hope not!!!

The idea itself is that one of 12!turtle’s enemy got so fed up with them that they got their hands on some mystic stuff to capture brothers in weapons and banish them to another dimension. Anything to “never see their stupid turtle faces again!”

To everyone’s surprise it actually worked. And unfortunately for turtles …. That’s how one, what seemed like normal, mission turned into catastrophe. One by one brothers got separated and locked up in their own weapon: Leo in ōdachi, Mickey in kusari-fundo, Raph in tonfās and Donnie in some strange bo stuff (I have no idea what the name of the weapon was in first episode, if you know tell me) . After this they were just dumped through the portal in whatever dimension, those bad guys couldn’t care less honestly.

And that’s how 2012 Leo, Raph, Mickey and Donnie got into Rise!dimension. But…!!! They happened to appear in Hidden city long before Draxum’s mutant warriors were even in plans. Weapons were passed from hand to hand, but never stayed long with one holder. Different yokai complained about seeing and hearing strange things the more they used the weapons. But with every next holder it was getting more and more obvious that these weapons were not just haunted, but possessed mystic powers. With this rumours going around Hidden city about ōdachi that can creat portals and tonfās that make you bigger and stronger, that’s how Baron Draxum found out about them and decided that he wanted them in his collection.

And would you believe me when I tell that that’s where Draxum got the idea for his human-destruction warriors to be turtles? When he tried to use kusari-fundo and saw a vision of a ninja-looking turtle yokai that was yelling at him to be freed and was challenging him to a fight! He was mesmerised by this creature’s body structures, the possibility of a shell to be a natural protection, ability to breathe underwater. It was a perfect choice of an animal for a warrior to be mutated from!

That’s where 13 years later, our rise!bois are coming into view! Story goes the same as in the “Mystic mayhem” episode, except…. When rise!turtles tried to use their new mystic weapon and it was malfunctioning, it was mostly cause it was their first time using it, but also cause 12!brothers were being kinda salty about not being used for over a decade and they were trying to get some fun out of all this situation. After all, who could have known that their new holders are gonna finally help them reunite with each other. Not right away, but in time…

And if you’re asking yourself right now “But what about Donnie?” Well…remember how he didn’t take the “glowy weapon”? Yeah, at some point in the story they’ll have to go back to Draxum’s destroyed lab and hope that 12!Donnie and stuff he’s in did survive the explosion.

But for now R!Donnie is just like:

Next

[dandylovesturtles]

I should be in bed lol but I wanted to write a turtle tot sick fic so here

I went into this with no plan and it ended up uh. way sadder than I intended. whoops.

cw: mentions of vomit

...

Blue slept through naptime. That should have been Splinter's first clue.

In the moment, he'd just been so happy to actually have four sleeping children that he'd taken the opportunity for his own nap, the old, tattered storybook he'd been reading them draped over his face. He never managed to get Blue to wind down enough to sleep, so he usually had to quietly entertain him with books or the tv on low until the others woke up. But his Baby Blue had conked out almost immediately today, and soon Splinter was snoozing right along with them.

Blue was also the last to wake up. That should have been the second clue.

Splinter was woken up by Orange, talking in loud, disjointed sentences with plenty of nonsense words as he played with an old plastic telephone Splinter had found them. Red was racing his toy cars, making his own sound effects as they skid across the floor and crashed into the wall. Only Purple was quiet, industriously sorting his legos by color and size.

Splinter sat up, letting the book slide off his face, and took stock. It was surprising to see Blue still curled up against his leg even in the midst of all the racket his brothers were making. "Blue?" he said softly, giving the little turtle a nudge. Blue blinked his eyes open, groggily looking around. "Naptime is over."

Blue pushed himself up into a sitting position, then rubbed clumsily at his eyes. He looked so tired still that Splinter debated telling him he could keep sleeping, even if it might make putting him to bed later more difficult.

But once Blue was up, he saw Red racing his cars and pushed quickly to his feet, hurrying over to join in the game. Almost immediately he was demanding Red hand over one of the cars and setting up an elaborate make-believe track for their race, so Splinter let it go.

Thirty minutes later, Blue tugged on Splinter's old sweatpants and said, "Daddy, my tummy hurts." In hindsight, this is exactly when Splinter should have put it together.

But the kids rarely got sick - a benefit of whatever Draxum had put in the gunk that turned them into this, Splinter assumed. Which was a blessing, because he was pretty limited in what medicine he could get in his condition. The boys having a hearty immune system was one of the few things Splinter had going for him.

So he hadn't moved to that conclusion. Instead he said, "Do you need to go potty?" and Blue had considered that very seriously for a few seconds before nodding and rushing off to the bathroom.

Orange threw the plastic phone into Purple's meticulously organized lego piles and Splinter moved on to the next crisis without another thought.

It was at dinner, when he caught Blue pushing his food (mac'n'cheese!) around without interest, that it finally clicked that maybe he should be worried.

"Blue, what's wrong?"

Blue didn't so much as look up. He shrugged, swirling his noodles around and around.

Splinter would be embarrassed to admit how long it took him to remember their earlier conversation, but it eventually came back to him. "Ah... Is your stomach still hurting?"

Blue's face scrunched up in misery, and he nodded.

Splinter groaned in exasperation. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"I did!"

"I mean after you went potty."

Blue grimaced. Instead of answering, he scooped up some mac'n'cheese and stuffed it in his mouth. He looked like he regretted it as soon as he'd done it.

"Do not spit that out," said Splinter immediately, because mac'n'cheese was one of the few things Purple would eat and if Blue spat it out in front of him it would go on his Bad Foods list for at least a month. And Orange had a habit of mimicking anything Blue did, which would only compound the problem.

Blue chewed and swallowed the mouthful agonizingly slowly. He looked so miserable afterward that Splinter felt bad about it.

"Are you going to throw up, Blue?" he asked, and got a furious head shake in response. "Are you just telling me that?" Another shake. "Do you want to keep eating?" A third shake. Splinter sighed and took his bowl from him. "Alright. I'll put this in the fridge, if you want it later."

Their mini-fridge was already stuffed full, but Splinter would simply have to make space, or throw all this mac'n'cheese out. He wished they had a bigger fridge, but just getting this back to the juncture in the sewers he called a home had been difficult enough.

He wished he had a bigger fridge. He wished he had a house. He wished he had a pediatrician to take Blue to. He wished he wasn't a rat man. He wished he and his kids were... normal.

It was a bad thought. He knew that as soon as he thought it, and he tried to push it down. The kids didn't need to know they weren't normal. That none of this was normal. He knew that, but...

"Throw up?" he heard Purple say, and then the telltale sound of him pushing his bowl away. Mac'n'cheese was on the Bad Foods list. Splinter groaned.

...

He found their old thermometer after the boys were finished eating. Getting a temperature from Blue was near impossible because he moved it around too much or spat it out before time was up, but Splinter would have to do his best.

After three tries, he got a reading that seemed accurate enough. Blue's body ran colder than a human child's, and it had taken observation and trial and error for Splinter to learn what constituted as a fever. As it was, Blue was only two degrees above his normal. So at least that wasn't too worrying.

He was still complaining that his stomach hurt, though. A stomach bug, then? Or just something he ate? Usually Red was the one who would put random things in his mouth unless Splinter kept a careful watch, but Blue and Orange were... adventurous eaters, too. It was possible.

They continued with their normal bedtime routine. Another thing Splinter had going for him was that his boys loved baths; getting them into their makeshift tub, even with lukewarm water, was always easy. From his research, Red, Blue, and Purple were all aquatic turtles, and Orange was not one to be left out of his brothers’ games no matter his biology.

Blue wasn't excited for bath time tonight, though. He sat quietly in the tub, making grumpy noises anytime he got splashed and playing only with his favorite blue shark toy, ignoring everything else. He definitely felt bad. Splinter was feeling increasingly terrible that he hadn't noticed.

He got them all toweled off and into their pajamas. Then into the pallet beds he had for them, all in one big shared alcove, a tattered curtain strung up for a semblance of privacy. They would need something more as they got older, but for now the boys seemed content to share space.

He tucked Red, Purple, and Orange in, then turned his attention to Blue. He had found an old bucket earlier that he (theoretically) used for mopping, and this he presented to Blue.

"If you are going to throw up, please do it in this," he told Blue. "We don't have any spare sheets."

"Not gonna," said Blue grumpily, pushing the bucket away.

"Ewww," whined Purple. "I don't want to share with Leo if he throws up."

"Not gonna!" Blue insisted, glaring at Purple, who glared back. Splinter sighed and pushed the bucket at Blue again.

"I am serious, Leonardo," he said, and that got Blue's attention. "If you throw up, do it in this bucket."

Instead of answering, Blue rolled over and scrunched himself up in a ball. That was the best Splinter was going to get, he supposed, so he just sighed and put the bucket next to Blue's bed.

"Good night, boys," he said as he got to his feet, ignoring the crackles from his back and knees.

"Good niiiight," came three echoes. Blue was giving him the silent treatment. Alright.

He went back to his own bed, sectioned off by an old divider screen he'd managed to find. Hopefully they could at least get through the night without disaster striking.

...

According to his beat up alarm clock, it was only two hours later when Red showed up by his bedside, shaking him awake urgently.

Splinter groaned his way into consciousness, blinking groggy eyes until his eldest son came into focus.

"Leo threw up," came Red's predictable report.

Splinter sighed, pushing his sheets aside and rising from his futon. "Did he make it in the bucket?"

Red's expression was not encouraging.

...

He had not made it in the bucket.

Blue sat stock still in the puddle of his own sick, eyes teary and expression a mix between stunned and embarrassed. Purple was pressed as close to the opposite wall as he could get, hands pressed tight over his nose and mouth. Orange was at Blue's side, patting his arm with his chubby little hand.

"Blue," Splinter snapped as soon as he saw the mess. "Why didn't you throw up in the bucket!?"

"Didn't think I was gonna," Blue croaked.

"Well, you did. All over your sheets." Splinter ran his hands over his tired eyes. "Now you have nothing for tonight. And who knows if I'll even be able to get the stain out. I may have to go all the way to the surface to get new ones, and do you know what a hassle that is!? The bucket was right here, Blue!"

"I'm sorry."

The miserable hiccup in Blue's voice effectively stopped Splinter's tirade, and he refocused on his son. Blue's tears had spilled over, streaking down his miserable face. He was shivering, hands clutching the fabric of his ruined sheets, wringing them tight. He looked terrified.

"I'm sorry, Daddy," he repeated. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry."

Something inside Splinter cracked.

Leo was only four, by his best guess. He was a baby, still. A sick baby, and Splinter was yelling at him about... about bed sheets?

Blue didn't know that Splinter would have to steal him new sheets. He didn't know that Splinter feared every time he did something so risky, that it might expose their tiny family to hostile forces - the human authorities, Big Mama's goons, Draxum's gargoyles. He didn't know that Splinter should be taking him to a doctor right now. He didn't know that sleeping on a pallet bed in the sewers wasn't normal.

He just knew that he had thrown up, and his dad was mad about it.

Immediately, Splinter stooped and scooped the still-apologizing Blue into his arms. He was getting bigger all the time, and, somehow, Splinter was getting smaller, but he could still hold his boys in his arms, still cradle them against his chest.

"Blue... Leo, listen to me."

"I'm sorry," Blue mumbled again, followed by a sad, wet hiccup.

"Shh, shh, no, my son, please listen." He waited until teary eyes were turned on him to continue. "You don't need to apologize. You did nothing wrong."

"Missed the bucket," said Blue, and Splinter shook his head.

"That's alright. You're sick. It is my job to take care of these things." He scratched at the back of Blue's shell with the arm holding him, something he knew always calmed Blue down. Sure enough, he felt his boy begin to relax. "Do not worry about the sheets. If Daddy needs to get more, he will. For now we will all share."

Blue sniffed, and buried his face in Splinter's chest. That was a good sign. Splinter kept up the scraching.

"I'm sorry I yelled. You aren't in trouble, Blue. You're alright."

Blue sniffled again. Hiccupped one last time. His tears were drying up, and his little voice said, "S'okay, Daddy."

"Oh, my Baby Blue... Thank you."

He still felt terrible as he lowered Leo back to his bed and started to strip away the soiled sheets, but Leo had calmed down considerably. He kept the bucket close, though, even as he laid back down again on his pillow.

"Leo can have my blanket," said Red, already pulling the old thing over. Splinter smiled gratefully at him.

"Thank you, Red. Blue, do you think you will throw up again?"

Blue shrugged. "Dunno."

"That's alright. It's okay if you do." Splinter smoothed the blanket over Blue, not tucking him in so he could move if he needed to. "I'll get this sheet washed out and be back, alright?"

Blue nodded. He was still gripping the bucket with one hand. Splinter rubbed his head, then stood up with his bundle of soiled sheets.

When he returned, with water for Blue, he'd thrown up again - in the bucket, this time. Orange was still by him, rubbing his arm, while Red sat behind him, supporting his back. Even Purple had come close, awkwardly patting at Blue's leg while pointedly avoiding looking at the bucket.

"Thank you for taking such good care of Blue," he told them, getting three beaming smiles in return.

They were all going to have the bug by tomorrow. Splinter would need to find more buckets.

[evenmoreofadisaster]

HAPPY BIRTHDAY EMD!

Hello everyone! Today @teaableu and I's EMD AU is turning 1 year old! Yay! 💖🥳

I didn't even realize I came up with the idea on Halloween until Teaa pointed it out to me, but I thought it was so funny

Anyways, we want to celebrate EMD's birthday as a way to honor how far this au has come, and, of course, to thank you to everyone who's supported and interacted with the au so far! Teaa and I have compiled some unposted art and other fun stuff that we'd like to share with you on this very special day 🖤🖤🖤

So without further ado...

This is something that I've thought about and want to share because I think it's so interesting...

At a certain age, Draxum started pulling One away for “special” training, which was basically Drax getting One to get used to taking lives, starting with small animals. At first, One had a really hard time pushing through and whenever he finally got the job done, he’d feel really guilty afterwards

He’d cry and Drax would ask him why and would say that crying about it is pointless and it won't help him.

I had this very specific idea of Draxum pulling One away from Two when they were playing + having fun then having One accomplish this task probably for the 2nd or third time and One coming back to Two covered in blood, absolutely numbed and hollow, which kind of puts a wedge between them.

By the time Draxum puts One in the nexus, One’s already sorta used to that feeling and it’s not such a big deal— but I was thinking the nexus is maybe what makes One think that killing is acceptable because when he kills he gets rewarded and maybe it’s also what makes him realize what his purpose is— and ofc Draxum’s already been feeding him that but when One is fighting in the arena, he actually gets what Draxum means ab their purpose or whatever about being warriors and stuff bc he knows he can fight and that he can kill and that he’s good at it and that’s what makes Draxum happy

and I just think this is very interesting bc this implies that, initially, One knew what he was doing was morally wrong and he could feel it but bc he was encouraged to kill and wasn’t punished for it, his viewpoint kinda got skewed

And in Two's case, he started to kill ppl maybe either after One fights in the nexus or he sees One kill one of the animals bc he sees his brother doing this and thinks “oh, yeah. I can do that” but bc he wasn’t taught the difference between what he should destroy and what he should protect, that’s kind of why he’s Like That. And it's why Draxum fears/doesn't trust him like he trusts One.

ANIMATICS/EDITS

Watch The World Burn

Blow

Deja Vu

PLAYLISTS

EMD Season 1

EMD Season 2

One + Raph

One + Mikey

Two + Mikey

Two + Raph

Raph + Mikey

MINI-COMICS...

Two's arm (coming soon)

One's heart (coming soon)

SNEAK PEEK: Smart Lair

[goodlucktai]

29 with Mikey and Leo please!

29. “Tell me where it hurts, and be specific.”

x

It really was his own fault. If Mikey didn’t want to be babied, he shouldn’t have broken his wrist. 

He was mostly just annoyed it happened in such a boring way, catching himself wrong falling off his skateboard.

Yes he’d decided to sneak off and find a sewer tunnel to attempt the full pipe loop a full two weeks before Draxum said the gross mystic mandrake tea would finish running its course, but he felt fine! His hands barely shook anymore, only when he overworked himself or let himself get too tired or too excited.

But from the look on everyone’s faces when he slunk home ungraciously dragging his board behind him, you’d think he was at death’s door. 

What was worse, Donnie wheeled him by the shoulders into the infirmary and deposited him right in front of Leonardo, the only person Mikey couldn’t out-stubborn, whose affable smile faded at once into that serious look that made all of his siblings straighten their spines and pay attention.  

If the skateboarding accident had happened pre-almost-apocalypse, Dr. Leo would have probably led with a joke instead of, “Tell me where it hurts, and be specific.”

Mikey resigned himself to a ridiculous amount of mother-henning for the duration his arm was stuck in its short cast. His brothers took his newly fragile hands so personally, like they were the ones who couldn’t hold an inking pen or color inside the lines or even cook a meal more complicated than lasagna without having to give up in the middle and have someone else take over. Like they were the ones who woke up shaking in the middle of the night from some distant, half-forgotten dream of disappearing into fragments of light, arms radiating pain like it was their job, a confused jumble of grief and fear and farewell on his tongue until he went and climbed into bed with papa or Raphie and let them hug it all away. 

Leo said Mikey’s wrist wouldn’t need the full six-to-twelve weeks that a baseline human’s would due to their genetic modifications—“Thank you, Barry,” they had chorused in varying degrees of sincerity (Mikey, Raph and Casey) and sarcasm (Leo, Donnie and Splinter)—but that he still needed to give it time to heal.

“You’re the toughest guy I know,” Leo had said, poking Mikey on the beak to stall the inevitable whine, “but you gotta give yourself a break, Miguelito.” 

He said it like his skin wasn’t still bruised like a peach and his shell all wired together from going one-on-one with an actual living nightmare even as he found the energy to take care of someone else. 

He sat there in the doctor’s seat, pressing carefully around the wet fiberglass to mold it to Mikey’s wrist, all his attention bent to the task. He always tended to his brothers’ hurts the same way, as if it was the most important and remarkable thing he’d ever do. 

Leo’s own casts had only been removed last month, and he was usually very good about following his own medical advice, if only because he knew his siblings would cite his behavior in a heartbeat if it meant they could loophole around doctor’s orders. So Mikey really had no choice but to sulk and accept the distant cousin of scolding he received. 

“It’s not a race,” Leo said, smiling at him. “No one’s gonna run off without you. Where would we go that’s half as good as where you’re at?” 

It was his knee-jerk reaction to smile at Mikey, like his day got better automatically when Mikey was in it, and it soothed that jangling, frustrated thing inside of Mikey’s chest that only got loud when no one took him seriously. Leo always took him seriously, was always the first of their siblings to believe he could do anything he said he could do, and that meant taking Mikey’s injuries seriously, too. 

He’d seen the way Leo had to run himself ragged making sure Donnie kept up with the treatments to his shell and Raph followed instructions on taking care of his eye to the letter. They were trying to spare Leo additional stress, but if they knew they were only compounding the stress he was already in and making it ten times worse, Mikey was pretty sure they’d shut up and take their medicine. 

Mikey wanted to be on Leo’s team, not playing against him. So he put his sulk away and put on his best listening face instead, rewarded when some nearly-invisible line of tension in Leo’s shoulders relaxed until it was gone.

Besides, it wasn’t all bad. He got to pick what color cast he wanted, and got everyone to sign it. And it wasn’t the most horrible thing in the world not to have to do any chores. 

And when Leo announced to the lair as a whole that he was going to visit his tío Hueso and bring back pizzas for dinner—in a tone that made it very clear he was not asking for permission or inviting any worrywart older siblings along—he followed it up with, “You coming, Angie?” 

Maybe because he had been under the scrutiny of worrywart older siblings, too, and understood better than anybody how close Mikey was to biting the next person who tried to baby him. Or maybe because Mikey was the exception to Leo’s rules and he always had been—always invited and always welcome and always wanted. 

In another place, in another time, Leo asked Mikey to die for him, and Mikey died for him. 

In this kinder one, Mikey jumped to his feet with a grin and said, “I’m with you!” and it didn’t cost him anything.

It should have been silly to say something out loud that they both knew was true, but sometimes it was nice to hear it.

[tizeline]

The Sep AU is super interesting, like it grabbed my brain and does not want to let go-

I find it interesting how from the Drax Trios innitial perspective everything Donnie is just justifies their opinion more-

Donnies dark aesthetic, murderous humor, dangerous machines, deadpan attitude and lack of liking of magic combined with his alleged backstory and being friends with a human? U could really argue he got indoctrinated into being a villainous mad scientist or smth. They don't know that that's just him, Donnie TM. I can absolutely see them being worried that "Long lost brother" got brainwashed so badly and how annoying that could be for Donnie himself lol

I'm also curious on Donnies relationship with Splinter. Is it better than in canon or similar to Canon or worse? Since in Canon Donnie is craving parental approval, does he still here?

Thank u for (potentially) answering :)

First of all, "Drax Trio", thank you, I needed an easier way to refer to specifically Raph, Leo and Mikey in this AU so I'm gonna steal that

Second, yeah, Donnie acting like a cartoon villain is really just cementing the Drax Trio's idea that he's been corrupted by humans. You know Draxum's villain song in the show? I can totally see Donnie putting on a perfomance like that XD Speaking of Draxum, to be fair he's very alike Donnie in the way that he's fully embracing the whole Evil Scientist aesthetic, but in that case his sons would just excuse it with "oh haha dad's just a bit silly goofy don't worry about it it's not like he's actually evil!"

Anyway, you know how Mikey basically forced Draxum into having a redemtion arc in the show? He'd try to do the same with Donnie in this AU. I've been thinking about this for a while so I'm defintiely gonna draw it, but he's constantly going full Dr. Feelings mode trying to teach Donnie how to be a "good person" and such and Donnie finds it INCREDIBLY annoying!

And Splinter! Being a single parent taking care of a child who was created to be a super soldier while living in the sewers is HARD, but not nearly as hard as taking care four of them at the same time under the same conditions. So while Splinter is still dealing with depression and burn out in this AU, he's doing better than what he is in canon. For years Splinter and Donnie would literally only have each other, so they'd end up growing closer as a result. That being said, because Donnie didn't have any siblings to spend time with, he'd end up demanding a lot more attention from Splinter. Which he didn't always recieve, because his dad is still very much dealing with a lot of emotional baggage. To summarize, Splinter is still a flawed parent, but he's not terrible by any means, he and Donnie are close, but Donnie is also a lot more lonely (especially before meeting April).