#wish there was more of mikey and especially donnie but oh well

[3rdsday]

Who was gonna tell me that the 2007 TMNT movie was actually really good

[tizeline]

What are some of your favorite character relationships/dynamics in TMNT, and why? Is there anything that you particularly like seeing explored with them in fan works (art, writing, comics, etc)?

LMAO so I started listing my favorite duos and I realized that it's just. Literally any duo with Donnie in it. Doesn't matter which duo, if Donnie is there I'm probably gonna like it, regardless of which iteration of TMNT (yes he is my fave, how did you guess)

Okay but putting Donnie aside for a second, another dynamic I adore is Leo and Splinter cuz like aifdjskhasf Leo in every iteration is such a daddy's boy lmao. And seeing how his need for Splinter's approval effects him, both in the iterations where Splinter is a good parent and the iterations where he's... uh, not quite as good of a parent is so compelling to me.

Raph and Casey. I don't think I need to explain this one, they're besties in every universe. I also enjoyed Raph and Jennika in the IDW comics quite a bit.

And listen, I KNOW the whole Leo and Raph feud is a bit overdone at this point, but I DON'T CARE, I like it! I feel like rottmnt especially changed things up in an interesting way, instead of Raph not wanting to be bossed around by Leo, it's basically Raph trying to get Leo to boss him around and Leo refusing to act like a leader.

Also April's relationship with the turtles in general, but especially in rottmnt. April having known the turtles for years before the show starts is a great idea and I'm really hoping future TMNT iterations decides to go that route as well.

Oh and I really like Draxum's dynamic with Mikey and Donnie specifically! I know I said I wouldn't bring up any more Donnie dynamics haha but I still wanted mention this, Draxum and Donnie are so similar and I really wish we got to see them interact more in the show

[paintedkinzy-88]

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Now, on the “jealousy” question…

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

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

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

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

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

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

[avgfandomguy]

Oh no someone (me) dropped their ideas for more rottmnt sports episodes (@nickelodeon bring back the show and also hire me as a writer please please please please)

Raph- Centric (Hockey)

This would happen prior to the movie but basically the clan is playing hockey for God knows why and Raph is in the goalie box (because he's big, has quick reaction time, and is nimble). He has to deal with being in one spot and not interfering with , say, someone checking Mikey into the wall, or Leo being a showboat a la the pizza puffs episode. According to the show he's no longer the leader, and having to put himself in that box is hard, and now he's literally in a box where he can't interfere (goalies can't just go to center line and get into a fight)

And of course b-plots of Donnie, Leo, and Mikey bickering on the ice and some real awkwardness between our resident hockey players, Casey Sr/Jr

Mikey-Centric (Tennis)

Of course this is inspired by Mikey's outfit in "Clothes Don't Make the Turtle". This time Draxum and Mikey are having father-son bonding time in the hidden city by entering a small tennis tournament (side note - Draxum insists the sport was invented by Yokai). The competition starts off friendly but Mikey slowly gets ugly with encouragement from Draxum and a new personality, Dr. Draxum, emerges that is mean-spirited and a sore loser. Mikey gets more and more unhinged as it goes on, but when he breaks a racquet, Mikey gets really upset for having those feelings and Draxum has to comfort Mikey. The episode ends with normal Mikey back and friendly, even losing the competition. Also Draxum is basically a soccer mom in this.

Leo- Centric (Bloodsport)

Leo's back in the Battle Nexus at the request of Big Mama (and maybe a bribe). He's there to reprise his two victories and to try and defeat the current Nexus champ. He's doing great for half the fight, then his mystic starts acting weird due to a bracelet a "fan" gave him. He starts getting that inferior feeling because he can't rely on his mystic anymore in front of thousands, nay millions, of people, but he ends up figuring out the issue and pulling through and winning, which sends the loser into a spiral, which he helps solve and maybe creates a real rival for Leo (admit it, he's got the perfect base for a rivalry and thus could also be where Usagi is introduced by popular demand).

Donnie- Centric (E-Sport)

Donnie enters in a city-wide E-Sport competition and he's gotten pretty far and he ends up running into Jase from the Purple Dragons without the rest of the team and the two end up connecting over their shared love of video games and shared annoyance of Kendra (reminder that Jase and Kendra are step-siblings). However, Kendra hacks the competition to steal the cash prize and Jase sides with her fur the time being and there's another Purple Dragons-Donnie fight.

After the fight however Donnie and Jase keep in touch to play video games and practice for next year's comp, gaining Donnie another human friend!

(Can you tell I love the sports episodes? They're always done so well and can explore so much of a character and I really wish we got more, especially with such an athletic family. There's so much that could've been expanded on in this show and I wish I got the chance to watch it when it was airing)

[angelmichelangelo]

i feel like also the most underrated duo of all time is don and raph. like especially in 2012 their back and forth is so funny. “gentlemen….and raphael” and “that’s so adorable, and sad. its sadorable” but they also stick up for each other and fight very well together and i wish they got more screentime. smash and smarts forever! their dynamic in rise is more fleshed out but its still underrated as hell

oh !! fr !! before the disaster twins even existed, 2k12 raph and donnie were my Twins to ever Twin.

i just love them they’re suuuuch middle kids and it’s just super cemented because raph calls mikey little brother a lot and not donnie so i imagine they fought and argued on it some over who ELSE got to wear that title before settling on “hey why don’t we both get to be big brothers to mikey :D”

they work so well in 2012. raph genuinely loves his brother a whole lot, as you said he just has his back a lot especially regarding the whole april thing (which is interesting because in the very early days of 2012’s conception, it was raph that was supposed to have a crush on april! pretty cool that they flipped it and raph sorta acts like dons unofficial wing man throughout haha)

ive probably mentioned before but the leatherhead ep is one of my ultimate favourites just purely because of all the donnie and raph moments throughout! even with leo there, that whole dynamic is just really well written (and when they go to dimension x to find mikey, again they’re SO funny together?? ugh i love them)

brains and brawn for the win all the time :D

[bluepeachstudios]

GitS Asks!

It's all good ;P and no, not yet! He's been trying, especially with Ghost sleeping a lot more recently, but he has not yet succeeded. The problem is that Ghost can hear Don prepping the tagging gun.

Oh yeah. He regrets it a lot. Especially when Leo goes "well if you hadn't LEFT-" all dramatically. Leo's half-joking, but it really does just. Stab Ghost with guilt. He wishes he'd been strong enough to stay with them when they were younger. He could've helped Splinter a lot more, and they wouldn't have such abandonment issues now.

Ghost enjoys the absolute chaos coming from them even though he would never listen to this kind of music itself. Technically spoilers, but the boys don't actually tell Ghost that they're going to perform at Albeartoland. It's a very secret thing. Can you imagine the heart attack that man would have? It'd be insane.

He does. This is exactly why he printed out the pictures.

He's still a bit stubborn about it, but Ghost can get him to cave and admit fault pretty quickly.

Ghost has met them both! Dr. Delicate Touch he appreciates. It lets Mikey get out his anger, even though there's definitely kinder ways to put things, but Mikey generally pulls Dr. DT out when he's needed. Dr. Feelings, Ghost always gently puts his hands on his shoulders and tells him thank you for the reminders, but Mikey doesn't need to be the family therapist. He can help by being a little brother. Ghost will help them if they're having problems, as best he can, and they can talk about it as a family.

Mikey asks who's going to help Ghost with his problems, and Ghost just rubs his head and changes the subject.

Maybe one day Splinter accidentally leaves the manhole cover off as he's sneaking out for supplies. Maybe the kids followed him. Maybe Ghost is in the Hidden City, too far from his way home to get to them fast enough before they leave the safety net of his cameras.

He doesn't know what happened. He just knows that he finds only Mikey, hidden tucked away beneath a dumpster inside of his shell. Ghost pulls him out and coaxes him out and Mikey bawls and tells him that Leo and Raph and Donnie were taken by somebody.

Ghost takes Mikey back to the lair and is waiting there when Splinter arrives. There's a bit of panicking and yelling between the two. Splinter's scared Ghost has hurt his children, Ghost is angry at Splinter for being so careless. So begins Ghost's hunt.

Raph isn't easy to find, but he is the first purely because he's still on the surface. The EPF has him, and Ghost has been hunting for mentions of the EPF since he first saw youkai. He's never found any, but following what happened to the kids via camera shows Donnie and Leo being taken into the Hidden City while Raph was basically sold by a yokai in disguise to the EPF. It's been two months already.

Ghost doesn't use guns, but it's the first time he really thinks about it. Unlike usual, he has no plan. Instead, he goes in, mystic ability blazing out of pure rage and desperation. He finds Raph in a small cage, muzzled and whimpering in fear until he recognizes Ghost. Ghost gets the muzzle off, gets him out of there. Kills Bishop for good measure with Raph tucked into his cloak so he can't see.

He doesn't find Donnie for a year since they were grabbed. He doesn't have the power of technology in the Hidden City like he does above-ground. He gets him out of there. Leaves the Battle Nexus in ruins and Big Mama very dead.

Leo is with Draxum. Draxum is finding out he's terrible with kids. Leo is causing chaos wherever he goes. Draxum is fine with giving Leo back to be raised. He'll come back for him, though.

(I realized how long this was getting halfway through and went the more silly route with Leo fhgdkjfgdh)

Raph: may I present to you.... peepaw Brothers: cheering wildly Ghost: =.=

Surprise child you get gay depression instead!

These are fun thoughts fhgdkjfgh

Ah yes, approved and added fhgkdjf

Ghost can tell he's got self-worth issues. He doesn't approach it head-on, instead he's just trying to gentle push Leo in the right direction. He knows being a teenager is rough. Especially with how their lives are. But he also doesn't want Leo wallowing in that mindset for too long.

=================================

drainiandream asked:

It suddenly just hit me rereading chapter 27 that Ghost actually holds himself to a much higher standard than he does his own Splinter, even in hindsight. Like he always speaks about his own father in the highest esteem, and clearly doesn’t hold any blame or resentment toward him for “letting” them lose a good chunk of their childhoods to fighting otherworldly threats. Despite how much it clearly hurts him, he’s never entertained the idea that 03 Splinter was at fault for any of it (as he shouldn’t, tbh! 03 Splinter is fucking phenomenal in terms of parenting in any series with kid/teenaged heroes that have one present. I can’t actually think of another cartoon in general that had an informed parent in the loop that still did everything he could to protect them/wasn’t weirdly okay with child endangerment due to cartoon logic) And yet despite him clearly understanding this about his own father (or at the very least not allowing himself to look back critically on the people he’s lost), he clearly thinks he should be able to do better. The one unwavering thing about Ghost is his desire to keep the boys as just kids enjoying kid things. He’s still trying to hold onto that hope that he can do it even now, despite the piling warning signs that he’s in over his head (they all are). He blames himself when the kids worry about him or get into trouble he can’t prevent. Unfortunately for him, it’s a universal constant that the reason they become heroes/save the world is simply because they’re the only ones who can. It’s honestly a really interesting and potentially painful realization, if he ever has it. He resembles his father so much without even realizing it, and is going through the exact same emotional struggle 03 Splinter did during the series. Hell, it’s probably the one common ground (besides love for their sons) that he and Rise Splinter will have now as things get progressively more dangerous. I just. Man Ghost’s Splinter would be so proud of him today and no one in the Riseverse can even tell him that.

Ghost is incredibly hard on himself. He's depressed! He's got anxiety! Spending 24 years alone meant that all those bad thoughts were never interrupted. Everything negative he ever thought of himself was never interrupted, it just compounded on itself over and over until it was no longer a bad thought to him but the truth.

03 Splinter would be so proud of his son. He would be sad he never tried to reach out for company in a world where he could have (in the Hidden City) when they came from a world where they couldn't. He'd be sad that Ghost is torturing himself when it wasn't his fault.

Rise Splinter's the only one who could tell Ghost that his father would be proud of him, but coming from Splinter, it feels cruel. So Splinter says nothing, and Ghost continues to punish himself.

HEHEHEEE I'm glad you enjoyed it!! :D It's still so wild to me that people talk about GitS in real life. Or like. Not to me? Like this is a weird thought process I know but hear me out; the fact that people like something of mine enough to talk about it to their friends or partners or family is insane. Like. Holy shit. You're spending time and energy to talk about something that I spent time and energy making??? w i l d.

[hyperfixationiris]

(In advance I apologize for any grammatical or syntax error that I may have, English is not my first language).

The Separated AU by @cupcakeslushie has been my complete adoration and obsession in recent days, so (with the author's permission) I created this playlist for Separated!Donnie!

I have chosen the songs mostly for their lyrics, so the musical genres may be all over the place, hehe.

The title comes from the mini comic "Thirds", also part of the Separated AU and creation of Cupcakeslushie, because damn, that interaction between Donnie and Splinter hit me hard.

That there are thirty-three songs (Three Three) in the playlist is... totally a coincidence! But it is one of which I feel very proud!

You can listen it on YouTube here or on Spotify here (I recommend the YouTube version more, since on Spotify I couldn't find all the songs or not in the versions I wanted).

Below is a brief explanation of why I chose some of the songs, (you can ignore this if you like) But enjoy the music and go see the Separated AU, I recommend it with all my heart!

(This part is very based on my interpretation of Sep!Donnie, so I may be wrong about some things.)

— "Saint Bernard" and "Cradles" are the first songs for being the ones I most associated with Donnie. The first for talking about being a failure and that there is something intrinsically "wrong" with you. The second I associated with his way of seeing the world and the fact that he does not perceive what has been done to him as abuse.

— The instrumental melodies I chose I feel they are a good reflection of his mental state, especially in one of his episodes.

— "Papercut" was a song I heard and it was immediately like: "Oh, yes, this is Donnie talking about Three and the hallucinations he has of his brothers".

— "Immer Sie" is one of the few songs I chose with a specific moment in mind, in this case: Donnie attacking his family because he felt they were leaving him behind and abandoning him. The song speaks of a desperate and almost aggressive love, in addition to having in its lyrics a fairly broken syntax. That is why I think it can reflect Donnie's altered mental and emotional state in that specific moment.

— There is a song that clashes a lot with the others and is "Lovefool (Remix)". However I think it represents the affectionate behaviors, although sometimes too intense, of Donnie, as well as his need to be loved.

— I think "Pale Machine" is a song that would play once Donnie was rescued by his family and once he was living with them. Although he is very happy and basically the situation is a dream come true, that does not mean that all his problems are fixed.

— Two other songs for specific moments are "What I've Done" and "Cop Graveyard". I am referring to the moment Mikey finds out about the collars his brother made for Big Mama, and when Donnie realizes that he basically helped Shredder poison Leo's mind.

— "Rolling Girl" is the first of the comfort songs, being a reflection of the way Donnie sees himself and how his family is doing everything possible to help him out of that vicious circle.

— I see "Demons" as a song dedicated to the relationship between Donnie and Vee (which I love). In turn, "Devil Town" would be Donnie's relationship with Leo, Raph and Mikey.

— "New Soul" is basically Donnie on the road to recovery, with its ups and downs.

— Finally, "Somewhere I Belong" is not exactly a happy or entirely positive song, but whose central theme is something that Donnie has been working on and has wished all his life: a place to belong to.

And with this ends my TED Talk, thanks for coming.

[oleander-nin]

Idk if I already asked you this but could you do headcannons for how Mikey,Leo,Raph,and Donnie would react to begin told by draxum that they belonged to y/n before he stole and mutated them

(you could do separate or together Idc)

A/N, not important: Sorry it took so long, I've been busy and I'm currently quite sick. Also, just didn't really know how to go about this. Reader is at least 5 years older than the TMNT, or else it wouldn't make sense. So no romance in this one(don't know how I'd stick it in anyway.) I also kinda just, didn't know how to do this one? It was a special ask, I'll give you that anon. Sorry it's such sucky, I struggled. Any criticism is welcome, constructive or not. This is supposed to be a gender neutral reader, so if I screwed up somewhere, please tell me.

Tw: mentions of the turtles being pets, feelings of unease, emotions, idk what else

Words: 723

Summary: The ROTTMNT turtles find out they once belonged to you.

All:

Completely flabbergasted.

Not expecting this at all.

Confused.

Upset.

All the emotions.

You had told them about the four turtles you lost 13 years ago.

That’s why they all bonded with you, you all thought it was funny they were all the same species.

They saw you as another parental figure at this point. Or at least as an older sibling.

They also all felt very weird about this.

You technically owned them.

That didn’t really sit right with any of them.

Very much unhappy and confused turtles.

Mikey:

Very much upset

He really liked you, and he knew how sad you were when your turtles were stolen because you confided in him about it.

Knowing he was one of those turtles made him feel icky.

Wished Draxum never told him this.

In the back of his mind, he knows it’s not that deep

That everything’s still the same.

But he can’t help but feel sad about it.

Ends up buying you a new turtle to ‘replace’ him and his brothers.(After asking if he could of course. He doesn’t want to just bombard you with a new pet you don’t want or can’t take care of.)

Probably is the one to tell you the news as well, probably when giving you the turtle.

Feels weirded out by the situation, but is glad you’re understanding.

Drifts away from you a bit, not really knowing how to go about being near you for a while.

Donnie:

Despite the initial panic and unease he feels, Donnie’s mostly chill about it.

He knew he came from somewhere before all this, but he just wasn’t expecting to know he was stolen from you.

Never really brings it up to you.

In his mind, it doesn’t matter anymore. He’s no longer a pet, and he is his own person.

Everyone comes from somewhere, he just happens to come from the pet shop down the road you visit frequently.

Oh well, at least he now knows.

Tries to ignore it to the best of his ability, not wanting to acknowledge it much more than he has.

He ends up being a bit more distant for a while, mainly accidentally.

He just doesn’t know how to talk to you for a while knowing what he does.

Gets back to normal a bit more once he learns Mikey spilled the beans.

He just ignores that it happened and brushes it out of his mind to the best of his ability.

He has more important things to worry about, where he came from doesn’t matter.

Raph:

He thinks it’s weird, but is more on the chill side.

He has no idea how to feel about it, so he just…. Doesn’t.

He, like Donnie, ignores it.

Doesn’t bring it up, refuses to comment on it when asked, and changes the subject when prompted.

He doesn't distance himself from you at all unlike Donnie and Mikey.

He still enjoys hanging with you, and wouldn’t lose that for anything.

Especially not over something so stupid.

Probably forgets after a couple weeks honestly.

It just doesn’t matter to him at all.

He’s still the same Raph and he knew he was once a normal turtle, so why would it matter where he came from?

Is admittedly a bit disappointed he wasn’t some cool wild turtle before, but he gets over it quickly.

This is how he ended up, and this is how he’ll stay. 

Leo:

Straight up doesn’t believe Draxum.

One, why would he remember who they were stolen from?

Two, why would Draxum steal from a person instead of a breeder, or a pet shop?

It just didn’t make sense to Leo.

Either way, he didn’t care too much.

Even if they did belong to you at some point, and that was a big if in his mind, he thought it was hilarious.

If he gets to you before Mikey, he’s telling you through laughs and jokes.

Can not and will not take it seriously.

Finds it even more hilarious if it’s somehow proven to be true.

Constantly brings it up when you’re near.

Jokingly asks you to re-adopt them if he and his brothers ever get turned back into normal turtles.

All in all, after the initial shock wore off, he genuinely doesn't care and sees it more as a joke than anything.

[foxsoulart]

Tmntember! All prompts and aus are selected at random by not me!

Prompt list

@truths33k3r4

Prompt 2 with Ghost Abduction au

9/21/24

Raph discovered he wasn't such a big fan of heights anymore. The lurch in his stomach and the flutter of his heart when he looked down from the window clued him in. He regretted getting on the world's largest ferris wheel. It had seemed like such a great idea at the time, Raph loved carnival rides especially the ferris wheel. But not today apparently, not the day they went out to leave their problems for tomorrow, today the view and height reminded him far too much of the Krang ship. The normally comforting sway of the car only increased his nausea. And looking out the window was bad, bad, bad.

Raph was def panicking.

It's fine, the ride will and soon and I can get off. Nothing to worry about just hold on a little longer.

Raph clutched his knees and sat up straight, breathing in and out measured and slow. Counting each exhale and inhale. He got to somewhere in the two hundreds before he realized the ride was not moving like it should have started to several moments ago. It sat completely still, almost like it had been shut off yet it was still lit up.

He risked peeking down through the window to see what was happening. Some guy, probably the ride attendant based on what Rpah could see of his clothes, was holding a megaphone and yelling something to all the passengers. Raph would have been able to hear him more if not for his thoughts drowning everything else out.

Not good. I'm stuck up here? No, I can just pry open the door and ninja my way down. Wait, what if that causes problems for the other passengers? Raph doesn't understand how these work like Donnie does.

Donnie's knowledge of the workings of carnival rides gave him absolute trust and absolute distrust in them, which was the only reason he would ride any of the creaking ones.

.

.

Speaking of creaking, Raph could hear some now. Unfortunately it was not the ferris wheel restarting.

Oh please don't be something falling apart.

The sound did come from the ride and it was outside his car but other than that Raph couldn't identify it.

Raph had his hands on his ears and his head between his knees when he heard the door on the left creak in protest to being forced open.

"Hey, you good?" The softly voiced question had Raph sagging in relief.

Leon crouched in front of him. Brow creased in concern. He gently rubbed Raph's knee in a soothing motion. Raph sucked in a shaky breath.

"I'd like off this ride." Voice wet.

Leon nodded in agreement. "Donnie's  working on it. Seems the ride had a technical malfunction, should be fixed in a jiffy. For now, we just hang out here and chat, that good?"

"Yeah."

"Cool.

Well I know Mikey wanted it to be a surprise but I think I'm allowed to spoil it due to the current circumstances."

"Mmm, he might not forgive you." Raph warned, curiousity eating him up inside instead of anxiety.

"Eh, he'll understand." Leon made a dismissive motion. "He won you a giant teddy bear, that chocolate brown one with the red ribbon."

Raph had his eye on that bear since he saw it, but he sucked at the game it was prize for so he had resigned himself to not getting it after so many failed attempts.

"What?!" Raph whispered in barely contained excitement.

"Yup, now do me a favor to save my shell by pretending to be surprised when you see it."

"I can't make any promises but I'll try."

"Good kid. Looks like this is our stop."

Raph blinked in surprise, he hadn't even noticed they had started moving again. In awe of Leon's ability to distract and calm, he wished he was that good at it, Leon seemed to always know exactly how to distract them from their problems to calm them down. Must be a Leo thing, comes hand in hand with not dealing with their own problems. Raph mentally rolled his eyes at that thought, by golly was it true.

Raph shook that thought, that was a problem for tomorrow. Today was for fun and stepped out of the ride to his waiting family. The breeze refreshingly crisp and uplifting.

"How about we go find that candy apple stand?"

A chorus of yeses and cheers went up and away they went. Afterall today was for fun.

//

And Raph with his prize because extra fluff

[taffycandyqt]

What are some of your favorite character relationships/dynamics in TMNT, and why? Is there anything that you particularly like seeing explored with them in fan works (art, writing, comics, etc)?

Oooooo! First I'll just knock out my favorite ships!

I like a lot of the romantic stuff they did in the 87' series so we got Mikey x Kala, Raph x Mona, and Leo x Lotus. Mikey x Kala I especially like. Idk why I just think its so cute but extremely underutilized and underappreciated. As for Donnie I haven't really seen any ships with him that I actually like so...🤷‍♀️. Let's not forget 87's sweethearts Krang x Shredder. Love those two honestly. I also really love 03' April x Casey, but I feel like that's a given. I also like Shinigami x Karai, but as a concept. I don't ship them in 2012 because there is nothing remotely romantic about their interactions, at least to me personally. But I really like the idea if a romantic relationship between them and the kind of complexity it could potentially add to a version a tmnt. I feel like I'm forgetting one but oh well!

Now in to dynamics in general, I really love the idea of two people being isolated with each other for an extended period of time. This with any two of the main cast (turtles, Casey, April, and Splinter). There is no particular dynamic in there that I like better than the other, frankly I just wish we got more of this. There's so much to learn about a character and who they are when they are stuck with one other person for too long. I also feel like it gives the opportunity for some really deep conversations that would not happen otherwise. This goes for every version of the turtles. I also really like the idea of venus and the turtles. I haven't seen anything with her in it yet but I would really like to see how the turtles act with a sister. This also goes with Frida.

As for dynamics outside the main cast that aren't romantic I really like April and Irma from 87', Leo and Usagi in 03', Donnie and Leadtherhead in 03', Raph and Ms. Morrison in 03, Shinigami and Karai in 12', Leatherhead and Mikey in 12', Big Mama and Draxum in rise, Donnie and the Dr in 03', Mikey and Silver Century in 03', turtles and Karai in rise, Sheldon and Donnie in rise, and probably more that I can't think ofr right now.

[lykaios2]

Let You Down

my first rise fanfic to be released to the public!! hope you guys like it

cw: minor kidnapping, angst, hurt/comfort

word count: ~2660

Donnie sat in his lab, working away at yet another machine. Raph, however, had other plans.

"Donnie."

"Hm?" Donnie looked over his shoulder.

“Let’s go, bud. We’ve got training to do.”

What? Oh, right. Be there in a minute.”

“Sure Donnie, whatever you say.” One minute passed as Raph waited patiently for Donnie to come out of his lab. Then five minutes. Then fifteen minutes.

“Whenever you’re ready.”

“Yeah yeah, one more minute.” Raph waited one more minute. He sighed.

“You know what? Just… join us when you’re ready. I’m not going to sit here waiting for you any longer. Next time, I’m not going to wait at all.” Donnie turned to face Raph.

“I’m sorry, this is just very important-” He had a different expression on his face.

“You know what else is important? Training. What if something happens to one of us? Or all of us? We need to be prepared. Especially after what happened with the Kraang. We barely all made it out of there alive.” Donnie took a sharp breath as he recalled the events that had occurred not even a year ago. He let it out in a disappointed sigh as he turned back to his machine to finish it up.

“He’s…right. I do need to be prepared.”

Donnie sat on the couch in the main area of the living room, scrolling through his phone. He was bored, waiting for something interesting to happen.

“Oh, Donnie~” That was the wrong kind of interesting.

“Leo, what do you want now?” grumbled as Leo turned the corner.

“Well, it’s not what I want per se…”

“Just get to the point, Leo.” Leo rolled his eyes.

“Man, you’re so boring, but I guess if that’s what you want. Raph told me that we need to do night patrol.” Donnie was now really regretting wishing something interesting would happen.

“Did he say anything else?”

“Nope, just walked into my room and told me to come tell you.” Donnie was quiet for a minute before he spoke again.

“Whatever, I don’t think I have a choice anyway. Meet you at the entrance in five minutes.”

“Come on Donnie, turn that frown upside down! Just look at the beautiful night sky.”

“I would rather look at it without being haunted by the thought that it could be ruined at any moment by responsibilities.” Donnie lamented. While he did quite enjoy the night sky and its stars, both for science and their beauty, his attention had to be focused on other things.

“I suppose. But we can enjoy it for just a moment, can’t we?”

“...I don’t see why not.” They sat in silence, looking at the stars for a moment before Donnie spoke up.

“Well I suppose the time has come. Why don’t we do a little scan of the area?”

“Oh, I wish it would have lasted longer, such beauty is but a-”

“Shut it, Shakespeare, I’m trying to focus here.” Donnie typed something into his tech-gauntlet while Leo looked over the city skyline. However, they both failed to notice the Foot Clan henchmen that had snuck up behind them during their conversation.

“You know, Mikey told me the other day…hm? What?! Hey! Donnie! Help me!” Leo cried for help, but Donnie didn’t understand the severity of the situation.

“Hold on Leo, I think I’ve got something…ah! Here we go, there are some Foot Clan lackeys right over-” Donnie looked around for Leo, who was nowhere to be found. Donnie noticed Leo’s odachi on the ground.

“That’s strange, Leo’s never without his odachi when he’s on duty…” He turned back to his tech-gauntlet to run another scan.

“Leo was just here, but his tracker says…he’s on the other side of town?! And it looks like he’s been captured!” Donnie froze for a second, unsure of what to do, before calling Raph and Mikey.

“Raph! Mikey! Leo’s been captured by the Foot! Meet me outside the lair!”

“Right!”

“Got it!” Donnie hung his head before hurrying off, while saying under his breath,

“Maybe if I would have been paying more attention…”

The three of them hurried off to Leo’s last known location according to Donnie’s tracker. They burst into the abandoned building in which Leo was being held captive. Despite their many numbers, the Foot Clan henchmen were no match for the turtles. They were swiftly disarmed and defeated, and Leo was released.

After everyone had returned to the lair safe and sound, Donnie started to head back to his lab to recover from the eventful night. Before he could get far, a frustrated voice called his name from behind him.

“Hold it right there, Donnie.” Donnie turned to face Leo, who was visibly upset.

“Can you make it quick? I’m kinda tired-”

“No Donnie, you’re going to stay and listen for as long as I am going to talk.” Donnie was more awake now.

“Is something wrong?”

“Uh, yeah! Hello? Earlier tonight? You just let me get captured! That’s not like you.”

“I-I’m sorry, it was a mistake.”

“Just a mistake, huh? That could have been pretty costly. What would have happened if you were a little too late? I could have been GONE”

As soon as the words were out of his mouth, Donnie’s mind was instantly filled with flashbacks to the invasion. To Leo’s sacrifice. That couldn’t happen. Not again. He couldn’t be gone.

“Look, Donnie, I’m sorry, we’re all tired. Just go get some rest and we can talk about this tomorrow.” Donnie snapped back to reality, trying to keep a straight face.

“Hm? Oh, yeah, okay. Good night Leo.” Donnie trudged back to his lab, all the while thinking to himself [You stupid idiot. It was all your fault. How could you let this happen? You better shape up, or else he might not make it back next time.]

“I-I’m sorry Leo…” He mumbled as a single tear streamed down his face.

“Mikey!”

“Donnie! Get Mikey! I'll cover you!” Mikey had taken a slash across the chest while fighting, and was starting to bleed.

“Hold on, I got this!” Donnie was holding off the enemy, but he couldn't make it to Mikey.

“Leo! Grab Mikey and run, we can't win this fight without him.” Leo nodded and ran over to help Mikey. He quickly removed his bandana and tied it around Mikey to stop the bleeding.

“Donnie!”

“Raph?”

“We need to retreat! Mikey’s been hurt, and we can't fight without him.” Donnie cursed himself yet again as he started to make his way away from the battle.

The scene kept playing over and over again is Donnie’s head as he sat in the med bay, watching over Mikey as he lay unconscious in the bed. All he could think about was how he had let down Mikey. He couldn’t make it in time. The constant self doubt was starting to truly set in. [They're all disappointed in you Donatello. They're starting to not believe in you anymore. All you do is let them down. You're failing them.] The tears rolled down his face as he looked at Mikey again. He tried to speak, to say something to him, but the sobs made it nearly impossible to say anything. Not like he would hear it anyway. But Donnie was taken aback when Mikey coughed himself awake, seeing Donnie in his emotional state.

“Hey, cough what’s wrong?”

“Oh, it’s uhm…nothing. You should be resting.” Donnie tried to compose himself, at least until Mikey fell back asleep.

“That’s a lie and cough you know it.”

“I’ll be fine. For now. But right now you need to get back to sleep.”

“Fine, only because I can’t do anything else anyway. But we’re talking about this later.” Donnie smiled.

“Okay, okay. Now, sleep.” Mikey smiled back and closed his eyes.

“Good night, Donnie.”

“Good night.”

Some time later, everyone sat in the main area lounging around, when Mikey appeared from the med bay, looking fully recovered.

“Wow Mikey, looking good!”

“Yeah bud, almost like nothing ever happened.” Mikey gave a big grin.

“Maybe, but I’m still a little stiff from being bedridden for so long. Where’s Donnie?” Mikey looked around.

“Back here, silly.” Donnie raised his hand to signal where he was seated behind Raph and Leo. Mikey ran over and gave him a hug.

“Thanks Mikey. Feeling better now?”

“Mhm. Also, I wanted to say that…I don’t blame you for this. And if you blame yourself, I want you to know that you shouldn’t.” Donnie stopped for a second to process what Mikey had said. It was a bit unprecedented, and certainly unexpected.

“Oh, uhm…thanks.” Mikey got up and started to stretch his sore muscles.

“You know what would do me some good right about now? A good fight.” Before anyone could respond, loud rumbling and many screams could be heard from the surface.

“Right on cue. C’mon guys, we got work to do!”

Upon reaching the surface, the four turtles looked around for the source of the problem. It didn’t take long for them to find it.

“The Purple Dragons? I thought we got rid of those guys.”

“Looks like we thought wrong.” Eventually, the leader of the pack stepped up to speak to them.

“Looks like our little plan worked. Hello everyone, so glad you could make it.”

“Kendra. What do you want this time?”

“Oh, nothing much, just here to make things right.” Kendra turned to Donnie.

“Von Ryan, I’m sure you remember that fateful day in which you stopped me from taking over the world.”

“Like I would ever forget it.”

“Well, that day, you took away something very important to me. So now, it’s my turn to take away the thing most important to you. Boys!” Donnie watched as the two other members of the group disarmed and captured his brothers he tried to fight back but Kendra stopped him before he could get anywhere.

“Now, if you ever want to see them again, come meet us at our headquarters. I’m sure we can work something out. Bye bye now~”

This couldn’t be happening. They were gone. The panic started to set in. Donnie was rarely without at least one of his brothers nearby. And this time they were in danger. This had never happened. He didn’t know what to do. The self doubt had really started to set in now. [They’ll never forgive you for this. It’s a lost cause. You probably couldn’t even rescue them anyway.] By some miracle, April happened to be nearby, also investigating the cause of the discord. She looked around and saw no one but Donnie.

“Hey Donnie, what was that? Donnie?” No response.

“Hello? Donnie? Snap out of it, what happened?” Donnie finally noticed April and immediately broke down.

“April, sob they’re gone and sob I don’t know what to do…” April brought Donnie into a hug, trying to calm him down.

“Hey hey hey, let’s calm down before we jump to any conclusions.” Donnie let himself go into April’s arms for a minute.

“Some deep breaths…okay, now what happened?”

“Well, we were trying to investigate what was happening out here, and then…next thing I knew, the Purple Dragons had taken Leo, Mikey, Raph…then it was all a blur from there.”

“The Purple Dragons? I thought we got rid of them.” Donnie just shrugged.

“Well, we gotta go get them back, right?” Donnie shook his head in response.

“Correction: I gotta go get them back.” April looked at him, confused.

“Alone? Really? I mean, not that I doubt your abilities, but they can be quite dangerous.”

“It’s…personal. And anyway, if I do end up, y’know…losing them…I still need someone around.” April thought for a moment, but eventually decided to let Donnie do it on his own.

“Just…be careful. Please. I don’t want to lose all four of you.” Donnie looked at her and let out a small smile.

“Wish me luck.” April nodded, and Donnie sped off to the headquarters. A short time later, Donnie arrived.

“Well, no time like the present.” Donnie carefully entered the headquarters.

“They don't seem to have much of a security system here.” Donnie said as he calmly strolled into the headquarters. He had to be on his guard though, this wasn't his territory. As he proceeded through the halls, he was unsure of how he was going to find his brothers. He didn't know where they were being held, let alone how to get there and any obstacles he might face along the way. He was thinking about what to do when he heard footsteps coming from down the hallway.

“Boys! Make sure you're watching for that stupid turtle, he's probably already here. I need to make sure he doesn't find the lab.” Now Donnie had something to work with. He quickly hid as he waited for Kendra to pass by, and made his way to the lab.

When Donnie got there, there was no immediate sign of his brothers. While he was disappointed, he figured there was a reason that Kendra didn't want him there. He began to look around for anything that might lead to his brothers. After what seemed like forever, he finally found a keycard, labeled “Chamber 2”.

“Well, it's better than nothing.” Thankfully he had passed a room also labeled “Chamber 2”, so he carefully backtracked until he finally made it. He put the keycard in the slot and…

“DONNIE!” There, in the center of the room, hanging high above the floor, were his brothers.

“Leo! Mikey! Raph! Hold on just a second, I’ll get you guys down from there!” Mikey pointed to the control panel, and Donnie rushed over to try to bring them down.

“Verification required? Hmm…I can probably use something from this keycard to bypass this.” Donnie started working to disassemble the keycard, looking for something that might be useful.

“Ah, here we go. Now I just need to…got it!” Donnie used the control panel to lower his brothers and disable the special cage they were trapped in. Donnie started running over to his brothers with tears in his eyes, when…

“Raph…”

[…You know what? Just… join us when you’re ready…What if something happens to one of us? Or all of us? We need to be prepared…]

[He was disappointed in you.]

“Leo…”

[…What?! Hey! Donnie! Help me!…That could have been pretty costly. What would have happened if you were a little too late?…]

[You weren’t there to save him.]

“Mikey…”

[…Donnie! Get Mikey! I'll cover you!…We need to retreat! Mikey’s been hurt, and we can't fight without him…]

[You couldn’t make it in time.]

The tears turned from joy to sorrow as Donnie looked at each of his brother’s faces, each time recalling what had happened, how he let them down, he thought. Before he could even make it to his brothers, he fell to his knees on the ground.

“Raph, Leo, Mikey…I’m sorry.” They all look confused.

“Sorry for what?”

“I’ve let you all down…I can’t do anything for you guys. You guys can go…I’ll just stay here and deal with the Purple Dragons.”

“Whoa whoa, hermano. Explain yourself.”

“Well, I never go to training when Raph asks me…when you got captured, Leo, I could have been there to save you, but I wasn’t…and Mikey, well, I couldn’t make it to help him in time.”

“Donnie, I told you not to blame yourself for that. And anyway, you came here and saved us! On your own! You may have made some mistakes, but we all know you would never truly let us down.”

“Yeah, I-I wouldn’t…”

“Come here, Donnie.” Donnie walked over to his brothers, where they all gathered around and hugged him.

“We love you no matter what, and we know you love us too.”

“He’s right.”

“You guys mean it?”

“Absolutely.” Donnie looked at his brothers for a second before letting out a smile.

“Haha, thank you guys…now, let’s get out of here before I do anything else stupid.”

[starlightshadowsworld]

(Casey raised by Shredder AU)

What happens with the whole Kraang? Does Casey stay in the city to find Shredder and Karai? Does he flea with the turtles? I can imagine in the moment he helps the turtles most of the way but leaves last minute to 'find his family' in his words. With Leo in his condition they don't have much of a choice but to flea and they want Casey to come but can't force him. So they leave him there and Casey no longer has to pretent.

I can imagine Casey being torn. And despite wanting to be see his father and sister, he needs to see Leo.

I imagine in this version Shredder became super shredder against his will.

Forcefully mutated by the Krang for his betrayal.

I can see a few possibilities.

But either way Casey is torn behind Leo and his father.

Both are his family.

What I see happening is that with tensions high and Leo injured.

Someone says something they don't mean.

And Casey feels like he's been slapped.

It's his worst nightmare come to life.

The reveal takes place prior to this, Casey had revealed himself to save his friends.

And they had accepted him.

.... And now... Now much like their fathers, once brothers they now stand on opposite sides

He tries to go to them, begging and pleading that this isn't what it looks like.

"Get back!"

"Raph, please listen to me man."

"Raphael... Only my friends call me Raph."

"... Please... He didn't mean too it was the Krang."

"You take one more step and I'll end you, Jones...oh wait that's not even your real name is it. I don't even know you..."

Raph carrying Leo and walks away, his brothers following.

None of them look back.

Except April.

April who hugs him and gives him the address of the farm house.

They just hug each other, Casey begs her to believe him.

"I do, I wish you didn't have to hide but, your my best friend Case. That doesn't change....but you should go make sure your dad's okay."

He promises he'll make sure hers is okay too.

She gives him a smile full of tears and he gives her one back.

"And that's how I know you've always been you. Don't be a stranger, Casey."

"Be safe Red."

And than she leaves.

And Casey, Casey walks through the city now covered with Krang.

The sadness and pain in his heart transforms into rage.

They did this.

And they would pay.

"Goongala!"

I'd have it that months later when Shredder is healed, he urges Casey to go see his friends.

Reassuring him he will be okay.

Casey heads out on a bike he built and heads back to the farm house. But as is the theme, shit has gone down.

Perhaps it's the dream beaver shit or something.

Either way he shows up to help April save the turtles.

And by this point Raph feels ashamed, they all feel guilty but especially Raph

Leo's up and he's made his disappointed in his brothers quite clear over their treatment of Casey.

Casey smiles at Leo, saying he's glad he's back and talking with him and April.

Raph goes to say sorry, but Casey looks away and April offers to show him around the place.

But Raph, as well as Donnie and Mikey are determined to make this right.

(Donnie and Mikey didn't do anything, which yeah being a bystander is not good.)

[nani-nonny]

First of all before reading and reviewing

Nani, for unknown reasons share your location, i wanna just visit you, me & my rope/j

The CHAPTER we've all been waiting for!! The chapter I'VE been waiting for!! IS HERE!!!

Oh lordy lordy, leo just walking slowly to the window and seeing CJ... So beautiful how their eyes met and here like " Yes! Yes!! Finally after 6 chapters!! Finding Casey Junior movie reached it end!! ".

And even tho i liked your snippet of where leo show off! I loved this part more where Leonardo asks for their help especially leo because it makes me think " He needs you! " and everytime leo roll his eyes or just drop a joke, i can't help but feel he's happy inside and giddy but won't show it!

The fight kick in and the foot already made a mistake..

I don't know if i said this before but i love it when parents get angry on behalf of their kids and like go instantly " beast mode " or " parent bear mode ".

Still trying to deny it and am like " yeah after this mission you gotta face the music "... Okay maybe AFTER getting better because he had opened his wound... AGAIN!

I love how the WHOLE foot were so scared they couldn't even move! I love how mikey and leo were sock and when i read the part where leo was more then impressed i immediately thought " oh he's forgiving him and he's happy ge's stepping + plus he cares " lol.

And then Donnie oh! Donnie, that flash bomb was... Well a BOMB (ba-dum-tss).

When i read it was purple i was like " oh it's ON!! The whole team is here!! " and i lowkey giggled when the Leonardo closed the door behind him last seeing was the lieutenant, i immediately imagined April opening the door violently and accidentally hit the lieutenant xD

The next part where Leo open the portal but i didn't read when he stepped in i was thinking " Wait was he the last one to step in? " which means he saw how Leonardo and CJ treat each other 👀 (don't mind me, just thinking how leo would wish old Leonardo treating him like that).

And the last part

Just made me so giddy, made me smiling! AAAAAHHHH AM SO HAPPY YOU DON'T KNOW!! YOU TRULY DELIVERED A GREAT CHAPTER NANI!!!! THANK YOU ✨💙

*sees your well-meaning threat* teehee

Idk what you’re talking about

Anyways yippee!!! CJ’s back!!

And Lil Leo agreeing to help F!Leonardo definitely made his wee-lil heart jump with joy! The old guy is paying attention to him!

When parents go in Mama-Bear mode>>>>

It’s the greatest thing ever, and also the scariest to be victim of lol

Although F!Leonardo is in denial, it’s funny that he is truly protective of the baby because the baby is seeking protection from him which he’s abiding to.

And Lil Leo being impressed by F!Leonardo’s show of protectiveness is Lil Leo realizing that F!Leo cares lol what a silly lil guy

Donnie with the bomb made me happy to write because he’s showing how much he has grown in terms of his ninpo skills hehe

Omg you made me realize that I forgot to write when Lil Leo went through the portal lol (he hesitated to go through after Raph, and only witnessed F!Leonardo fall to his knees before he willingly ignored it after CJ fell to F!Leonardo’s side) I have to fix that hehe (this is what I get for not editing for a longer period of time)

Casey Jr was just embarrassed to call F!Leonardo “Dad” in front of so many people hehe, to everyone else, CJ calls F!Leonardo “Sensei”

Thank you for reading, sniper!! I always look forward to your reviews lol (not to put pressure, again, you don’t have to :D)

[lonely-lost-soul]

A MuTON of Problems

Chapter: 1, 2, 3, 4

Chapter 4: Friendship Soup 

Donnie was quick to gather supplies, his brothers had their own fair share of sick days so he was more than a little experienced on the matter. Donatello wasn’t the greatest at ‘being nice’ to those who were sick but for some reason, he hated the idea that you were suffering, especially because he could do something to ease your discomfort. He knew comfort would be your number one wish and had already prepared to hug you if you needed that form of consolation. His duffle bag was packed and he poked his head into the kitchen, empty…perfect scenario, he tiptoed into the kitchen and slowly pulled a thermos full of Michelangelo’s world-famous Get Well Soon Soup. Hopefully, he wouldn’t miss the thermos too much but he would have to make do. Donnie could always engineer a better one once you were better and- 

“Donatello, what are you doing with my soup?” 

FUCK. 

“I simply do not know what you mean. I’m not holding any soup dearest, yet youngest, brother.” He scoffed raising an eyebrow and hiding the soup behind his back, sweat beading on his brow. 

He was such a terrible liar and Mikey could see right through him, as always.

“Right sure.” Mikey mused, “and where are you taking all of your ‘I’m sick’ supplies to?” 

“April’s.” 

“That’s a lie.” 

“As if you know that I’m lying-” He tried to salvage this dumpster fire but his brother not so subtly cut him off.

“You have a tell. Your eyes shift to the left and you purse your lips. You’re lying, is it for your girlfriend?” 

“WHAT ON EARTH ARE YOU SPEWING?!” Donnie shrieked unable to hide his inflamed cheeks from his brother, “It's…she’s just a friend.” 

“AH-HA! So there is someone. Well in that case I’m gonna join you.” 

“Scoff. She’s sick. You’re not coming-” 

“That’s not soup in your hand. You want my soup I meet this mystery girl.” 

Donatello blanched, “What’s…in here then?” he held it at arm's length suddenly,

“I don’t know Leo found it in the hidden city and tried to make a meal out of it.” 

“Oh gross.” He dropped the thermos as it burned him, “Fine. You come and make her soup. Deal?” 

“Deal!” Mikey squealed latching onto Donnie’s arm with a loud laugh, meanwhile, Donnie only pouted. 

Another day spent with you was going to be ruined. It seemed like every single one of his brothers had an infatuation with you, would Mikey be the exception? Statistically, the odds weren’t in Donatello’s favor, but then again they never are. “You cannot tell Raph and Leo about her,” Donnie said seriously as they stood in the alleyway next to your apartment, Mikey only looked at him funny. 

“Er why?” 

Donnie was silent slowly blinking at Mikey as he gasped out loud pressing his hands to his cheeks. “Ohmigosh! So she?” Donatello winced nodding slightly, “and they both-” Donnie cleared his throat once more, “YOU ALL HAVE A CRUSH ON THE SAME GIRL!” 

“Volume ‘Angelo!” Donatello snapped pressing his fingers to the bridge of his snout, “Look it’s not ideal. But so long as they never see her ever again everything will be fine.” 

“Ya’ know for the smartest one of all four of us you can be pretty stupid.” Mikey sighed tapping his foot on the ground and Donnie looked back at him completely horrified at the comment, “They’re gonna find out Dee.” 

“Yes but hopefully after all their nonsense crushes have faded into nothing and I can reintroduce her to them as…as you know…” Donnie tapped his fingers together shyly, and Mikey gave him a borderline sympathetic look. 

“They’re always gonna remember their dream girl.” Mikey rubbed the back of Donnie’s battle shell, “You gotta tell them, plus it’s only fair you let her choose too, she’s met all of you after all. Have you even offered to reintroduce her to all of us?” 

“No.” 

“Deedee.” 

“What? Is me keeping her my secret so wrong?” 

“I’m not dignifying that with a response.” He narrowed his eyes and Donnie withered, how was his little brother being so emotionally mature right now while he was whining like a baby? This wasn’t becoming of a grown mutant at all but even still, he was selfish, he barely wanted to introduce you to Mikey. “Look if it makes you feel better I can guarantee I won’t fall in love with her.” 

“You haven’t seen her yet, or met her. Don’t count your theoretical chickens before they theoretically hatch.”

“Whatever you say.” Mikey rolled his eyes, “what floor?” 

The two mutants found the window to your room rather easily, the lights were dim as the brothers slipped inside. You had made it a habit to leave the window unlocked for Donnie’s impromptu visits over the months you’ve known him. Donnie’s eyes softened seeing you not in bed while the bathroom light was on and glowing. 

“Oh, poor thing…” Mikey whispered with a frown, Donatello stepped forward and knocked gently on the door. 

“(Y/n)? It’s Donnie, I brought my brother to make you some soup…” His voice was gentle, and Mikey had to admit he was taken aback. Not once had he heard his brother use such a soft tone when talking to someone who was sick, in fact, he doesn’t think he’s ever heard Donnie speak so softly at all. 

“You’re brother?” 

Oh, the poor thing sounded exhausted. 

“Michelangelo, the youngest, pronouns he/they, he’s the artist I told you about.” 

Aw! Mikey wanted to coo, Donnie talks about him. 

“...okay hold on…” Donatello stood away from the bathroom door, it opened and Mikey let out a sad sound. You were all wrapped up in an orange blanket, slippers on your feet and the saddest look Micheal has ever seen on a person ever. 

“Hi,” You smiled sleepily offering a gentle wave, “usually I’d offer food and drinks but I’m incapacitated at the moment.” 

“Oh, no worries at all!” They were quick to shake their head, “I’m here to make you feel better after all, my soup is a cure-all to any illness!” 

“It cures hangovers too?” You teased a spark of light appearing in your eyes, there it was, that’s what Dr. Feelings liked to see. 

“Absolutely. Don just needs to go grab some ingredients we didn’t have at the base. Is it okay if I stay with you? He’s the only one with a nano-cloaking broach.”

“Hmhm…it’s fine. Sorry if I’m bad company.” You gave his brother a weary smile, eyes crinkling at the corners, Mikey tutted slightly seeing the bags under your eyes.

“You won’t be,” He looked over at his brother and nodded as if to say I got her covered. Donatello sighed softly gently nudging his forehead against your own, a soft reassuring noise came from his throat, one he wasn’t entirely prepared to make in front of Mikey. 

“I’ll be back in a few. Listen to Mikey he’s a lot more useful at this feel-better stuff than me.” 

“Yes sir,” You teased softly knocking your forehead back against his, he churred softly under his breath. “Come back soon though okay? Please?” You whispered eyes wide and pleading, Donnie couldn’t say no to that face so he just nodded before disappearing out the window. Michelangelo turned to you with a smile, bright-eyed and bushy-tailed as usual, 

“Let’s get you off the floor and into your bed how’s that sound?” 

“Like heaven,” You smiled back at him, “sorry for being such a mess.” 

“No apologies necessary,” Mikey gently patted your back before helping you to your feet. You were a little unsteady and he flushed a little as you put more of your body weight against him. Mikey was never all that interested in dating, sure he found people physically attractive, males, females, and those unidentified he didn’t have a preference for. However, even still he had no experience with anyone of the opposite sex other than April, Casey, and Sunita, and he didn’t want to date people he considered his big sisters. Yet the closeness left him feeling exposed, embarrassed, and a little flustered. He was only slightly taller than you but was able to wrap his arms around your shoulders comfortably. Mikey led you to your bed and wrapped you up under the covers, you smiled softly, 

“Now I see where Donnie got his attentiveness from.” 

“Are we talking about the same Donatello?” Mikey snorted sitting on the edge of your bed crossing his legs so he was sitting criss-cross applesauce, “Cause Dee’s anything but attentive.” You let out a little hum, 

“I can see why you’d say that but I disagree. Sure, he can be stubborn and a bit of an asshole sometimes but he’s sweet in his own way.” Micheal listened intently his eyes sparkling at the praise his older brother was receiving. “He always checks in and makes sure I’m safe or that I get home safe if I’m walking home from classes. Even bringing you to me, it’s his way of being attentive and making sure I’m safe.” Michelangelo watched your cheeks flush and you smile shyly, “he’s thoughtful in his own way, the Donatello way.” 

“The Donatello way. I like the sound of that!” Mikey beamed brightly, “You know…I’m gonna tell him you said that.” 

“No Mikey don’t!” You whined, “he’s gonna be so mad at me!” 

“Too bad you’re gonna be my future sister-in-law I get to tease you both.” “E-excuse me? Mikey! Is Donatello telling people we’re dating?” 

Mikey grew flustered waving his hands out in front of him, “No! No, he’s not! I promise, I thought-I mean he never stops talking about you I thought maybe it was a secret. I could’ve kept it-” 

“No, no I mean Donnie’s fantastic and lovely but…I…” You swallowed blinking slowly, looking over at Mikey nervously, “I’m single and with school, I don’t know if I can focus on a relationship right now. Plus…” You puffed out your cheeks slightly, “There’s…others…”

“Others?” Mikey’s jaw dropped astonished, heart clenching for Donnie, anger bubbling under his skin. “Yokai or human?” 

You blinked a few times, tilting your head to the side, “Donnie expressed that Leo and Raph wanted to go out with me. I just…if I was in the position to date I’d want to give them a chance too. Y’know…” You spoke quietly, “but” Mikey watched you swallow thickly, “I don’t want to hurt any of them. Even if I don’t know Leo and Raph yet I don’t know if I’ll be able to break their hearts. Especially not Donatello’s…he’s acting like they are already in love with me. But how can that be?” Your brow furrowed, “They met me once.”

“So?”

“So what? You can’t fall in love with someone after just meeting them Mikey that’s unrealistic.” 

“I don’t think so. It’s over-romanticized sure, but in some cases, it can be true. Plus why do you have to choose just one? I could never if I had this many suitors.” He leaned on his knees, “you could always ask them their thoughts on the idea.”

“Humans aren’t exactly the most accepting of that idea.”

“Good thing we’re part human part Yokai.”

“You are just trying to set me up with all your brothers.”

“And me too.” He teased eyes crinkling with delight as you shoved him, “what?~”

“You just met me, you know nothing about me.” You pointed out, “you could hate me.”

“Me and Hate aren’t synonyms, I’m a lover, not a fighter...in the ways that matter at least.” He declared with a smile, “plus you’re like a total smoke show.” He beamed watching your cheeks flush dark red diving under the covers to hide your face. “Don’t get all flustered on me now!” he laughed gripping the covers you were using to protect your face and trying to pull them down. He heard you make a sound of protest desperately trying to keep the covers in front of your flustered face, he laughed in delight pinning you to the bed successfully removing the blanket from your grasp. His hands were resting on your shoulders a childish grin on his face as you looked up at him from underneath your eyelashes. He paused, hands tightening briefly on your shoulders. You gasped softly at the sensation and Mikey’s entire face turned a dark red against his skin lightening up like it was wildfire. His heart felt like it was going to beat out of his chest as he stared down at your form, a small smile on your face. 

“You’re pretty funny Angelo. I don’t know why Donnie was keeping you from me.”  

“Yeah, I don’t know why either…” Mikey lied, his voice was quiet knowing the full reason as to why Donatello didn’t let you meet any of his brothers. He was afraid they’d fall in love with you and here he was doing the exact thing Donatello feared. You laughed fondly as Mikey let out a low churr his jaw aching softly, the sudden urge to nuzzle and nip at the skin on your face and neck. 

“Michelangelo.” Donnie’s voice grunted from where he was sitting on the window sill officially snapping him out of his daze, his brother was calm. Too calm. Which meant he was pissed, Mikey let out a squeak pulling away and slamming against the metal bedframe with a clang. Donnie stepped into the room and you turned to face him a smile on your face, 

“Hey, Dee-Dee.” You reached your hand out towards him, Donnie huffed but approached gently taking your hand within his and squeezing it. 

“How’re you feeling?” He raised an eyebrow, “Mikey not being too much?” 

“Nah he’s fine. Helping me feel a lot better actually I don’t have a headache anymore.” 

“Good I’m glad.” He moved to gently nudge his forehead against your own, he churred softly and you hummed. Mikey shrunk in a little hiding into his shell his fingers awkwardly tapping together uncomfortably. Donnie used his battle shell to toss a grocery bag full of ingredients his way, “There’s enough for three Mikey. Scouted out the rest of the apartment on the way in, your roommates aren’t home right?” 

“No they’re not…how exactly did you scout that out?” You raised a brow, “Wait shut up. Our security cameras, Dee you didn’t.” 

“They were too tempting not to hack into. I’ll get you some better ones courtesy of my tech, you’re welcome a thanks is very much appreciated.” 

“Thank you, you’re amazing.” 

Mikey watched his brother's face turn a thousand shades of red at the compliment, he did always like genuine praise when it came to compliments on his inventions. Oh jeez his brother really had it bad, he watched you sit up and Donnie place his head on your thighs as you rubbed his head tenderly. Well…it’s now or never.

“(Y/n) and I were talking about dating.” 

“Oh?” His voice was clipped turning to face Mikey, his head to face his brother, a poorly drawn eyebrow raised in annoyance. Michelangelo nodded pulling out the ingredients to get a look at what Donatello bought for the soup. “Do tell me all your thoughts and feelings about it, the sarcasm in my tone should be noted.” 

“Well, we mentioned how all our brothers have a huge crush on her.” 

“Mikey!” Donnie hissed looking up at you fear eating away at his heart and all you offered was a shy smile. 

“It’s okay Dee,” You spoke tenderly, “Is this why you don’t want me to meet them?” 

“Dramatic sigh.” Donnie groaned pulling away from you, “It has something to do with it yes. You don’t know how my brothers can be, Mikey’s the only exception. Raph and Leo, mostly Leo, are great but…they’ll draw your attention away-” 

“Aw, Donatello! Never!” You cooed grabbing his cheeks with your hands, “You’ll always be my number one!” 

‘Oh god, she’s just as hopeless as he is-’ 

“Ah. Yes of course our friendship will prevail throughout all.” Donnie sputtered nodding in agreement and Mikey wanted to knock some sense into the both of them. “You rest up, I’ll help Micheal get set up in your kitchen.” 

“You sure I can go with you-” 

“Nonsense it’s our turn to spoil you!” Mikey chirped happily, “Let’s go, Donatello!” Mikey practically tugged his brother out of your room despite his protests of Mikey touching him. As they both walked towards the kitchen both Mikey and Donnie took in the decor around them. Picture frames littered the walls of three girls throughout their college lives as some pictures of their families. Nothing with your family, which Donatello took note of and Mikey was oblivious to. Little trinkets littered the table tops a combination of all their interests, all organized in their own special ways. Donnie would softly point out to Mikey which ones he knew for sure were yours, things like little crystals and shiny pebbles you found on the streets of New York claiming they were good luck charms. Both their breaths hitched seeing a small tank in the living room upon closer inspection it seemed to be a tiny spotted turtle sitting pleasantly under a heat lamp. There was a tiny name plaque in front of it as well as a few pieces of clothing crudely drawn on the tank with a sharpie. From a certain angle, it looked like ‘Finn’ was wearing a top hat. 

“Unsure how I feel about this development.” 

“I think it’s cute!” Mikey cooed wiggling his finger at the glass, the turtle slowly blinked at the both of them before slowly sinking into his shell. “Aw…” 

“Let’s continue on Michelangelo I cannot believe I have a secret fifth turtle to compete with.” Mikey laughed as they walked into the kitchen both of them glanced at each other for a moment staring in silence. Mikey swallowed thickly before approaching the subject that has been on his mind for an hour now,

“Don?” 

“Yeah.” 

“I’m in love with her.” 

“I know Micheal.” 

“Sorry?” 

“It’s okay Micheal.” 

“You look like you wanna dissect me…Don? Donatello? Brother? PUT THE KNIFE AWAY! HEAR ME OUT!”

“Two minutes.” 

“Two! But Dee!” 

“One minute and 58 seconds.”

“So I gave her some advice right?” Mikey said in a hurry, “I suggest that she meet all of us and then choose or not choose any of us! Or better yet choose us all!” 

“What are you talking about?” He cocked an eyebrow,

“Well…I told her I wouldn’t mind dating her even if like you all were dating her too.” He explained with a little hum, “As long as we keep the weird shit to ourselves I don’t see why we can’t all be happy together.” 

“You offered her up to some weird brother polyamory! No not even, a Harem?!” Donatello practically shrieked, “How did she not kick you out for that?” 

“Cause she was considering it Dee. We can all be happy!” Mikey’s eyes twinkled in delight, “why don’t we let her meet them and give this a shot!” He clapped his hands, “If you don’t like it it’s okay…but I’m not gonna step aside.” They winked, “You’ll have to fight me for her.” 

The look Donatello gave him was downright acidic, “Seriously? I knew her first. You’re saying if I don’t participate in this I lose? This is a lose-lose for me!” 

“If you’re not comfortable Donnie you shouldn’t put yourself in that position.” Michelangelo spoke softly, “But at least talk to her first maybe I read the situation incorrectly. But you can’t keep her hidden from Leo and Raph for the rest of our lives. It’s not fair to them.” 

Donatello was silent for a few moments, brows furrowed in thought, hands tapping on his thighs. “Fine, but I get to talk to her first,” Donnie sighed softly, “Then I’ll invite the rest of you over to meet her.” 

“Deal.” 

“Now can you please make her the soup that was promised?” 

“Of course, I can dearest brother.”

[sharoscylla]

Your turtle iteration is so cool! Can you tell me more about your iteration? Maybe some more stuff about April and Casey?

Have a lovely day by the way!

Thanks!

So, April is the first one to meet Casey and brings him to the turtles for help. I am working on a comic book script for this event to try to learn how to write comics, so hopefully I'll be able to show it on here soon!

April is 15 years old. She's super into horror media and video games, and has known the turtles for about a year. Raph met her first and she considers him her BEST friend, but the other turtles are all a very close second. The two of them play video games online a lot even if they don't see one another in person that day, and they're working on a horror game together. She is kind of the opposite of Raph and Mikey - they both dream of being normal kids and being able to be normal and live around other people, but she hopes and wishes her mom would somehow fall in love with their dad, pull a brady bunch to fuse their families together, and give her unlimited Turtle Little Brother Time in their world instead of having to return to the human world. Donnie is teaching her some Turtle First Aid (as well as what Human First Aid he knows) and the two of them watch How It's Made and do cute things together. Leo and Mikey are both teaching her martial arts - Leo because he thinks it would make their dad proud if he did a good job teaching her (despite Splinter currently not knowing she exists,) Mikey because he's wracked with anxiety and has terror-visions of her being defenseless against Bad Guys. (Raph does not feel like he has to teach her anything, they're just friends who have fun together and are making fun stuff together and he really feels like he needs a friend who doesn't... depend on him for anything, poor boy.)

Casey is 16 and he's had a very rough life so far. Meeting Casey (and by extension meeting April, who introduces herself to him this way) is like a thirty-second process from Splinter going "Oh no a human" to "Oh no, a human THAT I MUST ADOPT, POOR BOY." (He does ask if April needs to be adopted, which adds fuel to the "April wants to Parent Trap Splinter and her Mom" fire, but she politely declines FOR NOW) Casey is VERY into the Fallout games and pretty explicitly models his way of dressing/weapons of choice/general aesthetic after Fallout New Vegas, which the turtle boys are too young to have played but April knows what's up. All four of the turtles feel incredibly obligated to teach Casey how to fight and take care of himself, especially when they find out that he's on the run from the same apocalyptic death cult that mutated them* mutated their dad into a rat** and chased them from Florida to the sewers of New York***. Casey likes all of the turtles equally, but has a special attachment to April, Donnie, and Mikey for nebulous Genders Reasons that he is not equipped to deal with at this time.

*= a lie

**= sort of true and sort of not true

***= only in the vague-est sense possible

(Splinter has fallen into the trap of Making Shit Up when he's not sure of the answer or is ashamed of the truth and despite having good intentions he has caused bonkers problems for his boys, mentally)

(also: Leo's decision to train April started with Leo going "Hey, Dad, GIRLS can be ninjas too, right?" and Splinter, Trans But Awkward, Firmly Stating, "ANYONE can be a girl." which did not really answer the question but Leo decided it would work as permission until he did a grand reveal of Girl Ninja April)

(Splinter then spent a couple of months trying to State To The Room that any of his sons can be a girl if they want and they can just tell him if they're a girl, that's normal and fine, just let him know, he has girl names lined up if anybody's interested)

(Donnie is Not A Boy either but he's too caught up in "Thinks He Might Not Be Alive" to put too much thought into it right now. give him a few years)

[toothlesshat]

Hello I am an anon who agrees with you and previous anon about 2012 April and I wanted to take a moment to rant if that is okay.

2012 April had so much untapped potential. I'm not sure what the writers were doing with her. It seems like they couldn't agree on anything so she became a messy character. Even her concept art made her more well rounded than the final product? (Concept art is on the wikipedia page btw). It was like she was supposed to be this silly prankster but they never took it there. Concept art of her dancing and making pizza with Mikey? Idling chatting in the rain with Donnie, unplugging his inventions to make him seem like something is broken when its not even on? Where was that April at?

I actually like her better in the later seasons cause I feel like she's chilled one more once she becomes an experienced fighter. I feel like they pushed too hard for her to be the "powerful female" in the earlier seasons in the wrong ways. Her snapping at the turtles for protecting her even when she isn't experienced enough to fight on her own? That made no sense. I feel like once she has her abilities and skills that she is more likeable because now she is "one of them" and therefore doesn't feel like she has to fight her for place on the team.

Maybe a lot of her potential was lost when they tried to introduce her as a romantic interest. Which was fine in the beginning but really should have been dropped later on. The Bigfoot episode in season 2 when Donnie basically says "hey I see I'm making you uncomfortable and I'll stop pursuing you because of that" AND THEN SHE KISSES HIM ON THE CHEEK AND SAYS "oh but you're my mutate Donnie" WHAT KIND OF MIXED SIGNAL IS THAT?

They should've dropped the romance right there and let her focus on her relationships with the rest of the turtles. It would've been a growing point for Donnie and then we could see her hanging out with Raph, Leo, and Mikey more often cause I agree, I really could not tell you how she feels about them. Obviously she cares for them and they all see her as a part of their family but beyond that? No idea. Not to mention we never even see the beginnings of their friendships in the show. They save her and then a couple episodes later its like "Oh yeah, April is our friend and she's been our friend for weeks now" but we never see that happen? She's just there all of a sudden.

Anyway, thank you for coming to my ted talk. Sorry if this was exhausting to read lol

ANON YOU’RE JUST LIKE ME FR!!!!!!

It’s like you took everything I wanted to say and put it here because YES OH MY GOD!!!! Especially the thing about them trying to drive home the powerful girl message when she couldn’t fight yet, that was so frustrating because there’s other ways to show that April is headstrong and not afraid of defending herself, but they just made her sound so damn mean in the end! It drives me crazy because April is very clearly not supposed to be mean. I almost kind of wish they just leaned into her being a bit meaner like Raph, or the prankster the concept art made her out to be. Like, I swear the writers couldn’t write a woman to save their lives unless she was a villain, and even then they still fuck it up.

I really don’t think April should be demonized like a lot of people tend to do. Especially with the whole Donnie thing because idk if anyone remembers but Donnie stalked her!?!?!?! But the criticism is just… there, yk? I don’t think there’s anything inherently wrong with the idea of her, or a lot of the things they tried to do with her, it’s just that the execution of her character… leaves something to be desired, big time.