#wait what was the tag for this again | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

horizonandstar · 1 year

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OK SO. who want more thoughts of “heehoo i import sun and moon into my oc world :]”

i have Comics and Pictures in my brain that i cannot draw out so the next best thing is giant text post under the cut

lot of explanations and context incoming! i did not fucking realize that importing sun and moon into the world would actually be beneficial as all hell

they have inadvertently helped me worldbuild on the lore with all the gods and stuff and im actually happy with how it came out! i had god lore before with a bunch of pieces that i knew would happen but it was all janky, disconnected, and i just did not like it

pro tip that apparently works, at least for me: imagine what if blorbos exist in your oc world. you just gain free worldbuilding apparently

OK OK NOW ONTO THE SUN MOON PART. there’s still missing parts and i’m not done with them yet but here’s what i’ve got so far

sun’s name is gold and moon’s name is silver, and eclipse is their father (because i just like dadclipse for reasons that are unknown to me) and eclipse’s name is most likely saturn. shit does saturn even exist in this oc world. ANYWAYS i just straight up ripped the 7 planetary metals, i saw the associations that the several metals had with the sun/moon/planets and went oooh cool. this part may be scrapped or reworked later, it’s a bit shaky. it is really shaky actually

BACKSTORY: reincarnation is a thing in the oc world, maintained by the god of rebirth, whose role i originally created to stand in for the y/n character but now they’re an actual oc. oops. the god of rebirth is canon in the lore now. no more y/n character my bad

they are the one god that has no true name! assuming you know every god’s true name and everything, you hold the least power over the god of rebirth. the closest to a true name you can get is ouroboros, which is a title equal to god of rebirth anyways

to the other gods, ouroboros is known for being MIA, and very hard to track that it’s usually not worth the effort. the reason for that is because they’re usually off living their next life as Some Animal and keeps going to their next life. however, recent events means that it’s actually possible to track down ouroboros, now that they’ve stopped bouncing off to live their next life and are actually staying down as a god for this while

why? the world is Mega Fucked. gods are concepts given form, and some guy killed a majority of the pantheon. as you can imagine, this has some Extreme Consequences

the most relevant god to ouroboros (and some other gods) that got killed is the god of death. life, death, and rebirth are a trio of gods, and now death is missing, so life and rebirth have to step up. life is doing his best to pull people’s lifespans out and cut them shorter, which doesn’t work that well

rebirth has to keep a lot of things from coming back and living their next life, which makes them incredibly ill to essentially go against themself. the navigator, an entirely separate god that used to have nothing to do with all of this, is also stepping in to fill death’s role as best as he can by tracking down the wayward souls, and forcibly cutting people’s lives short if he finds them living past what should’ve killed them

everything is just not dying :V this includes disease too, so flu season is Hell On Earth

rebirth is still letting a few souls through, but keeping a lot of them behind what is basically a gate. 2 of the souls that rebirth lets through is sun and moon :]

WHAT WAS SUN AND MOON’S PREVIOUS LIFE BEFORE THEY WERE REBORN AS HUMANS? I’M GLAD YOU ASKED

THEY WERE GIANT FUCKING MACHINES FUUUUCK YEAH

the machine lore isn’t all that well built yet but before The Apocalypse, humans were just building giant machines and vibing with them. like i am imagining shadows of the colossus here (mainly the bird honestly) but they look a lot more mechanical

yes, the machines are alive. rebirth is also surprised, they thought they’d have to keep back the billions of microbes that made up the machine (like rain world!) from going to their next life, which, yeah, they did have to do that, but the machines themselves each counted as One Guy too which made rebirth go ! (exclamation mark)

rebirth is very excited about this and takes the opportunity to introduce themself to the boys when the 2 of them made a crooked little shrine in their backyard

eventually into adulthood, i have some possible events that might happen

1) moon nearly dies (he was like👌this close to dying and was in a lot of pain) when a Mysterious Person shows up, asks if he “accepts the consequences of their help” (he agreed), and then gets better!

the other living fears, if they ever meet him, call him Nyctophobia (they don’t even ask for his name) (why is spellcheck trying to get me to rewrite Nyctophobia into Arachnophobia). turns out the Mysterious Person was a living fear that turned him into one of their kin

except, Uh Oh, that sure had consequences! he and his family watches day by day as he becomes less human and become more of a living shadowy wisp. he becomes more hungry the more along the transformation is, until he figures out what his new form feeds on: the fear others have of the night and of the dark.

-side note: i say fear but it’s pretty flexible. fear, doubt, etc, as long as it’s a Thing the person embodies, they feed off of it. moon’s Person was Imposter Syndrome, who at one point, took the imposter part of it pretty literally

EDIT: i feel like i should describe moon’s meeting with this guy further. moon definitely knew something was up even before they opened their mouth, given that he was talking to his doppleganger

2) i’m not too sure what to do with sun. i’ve been juggling the idea of him becoming the emissary of a god! he gains powers, and in return, helps them with their duties and whatever tasks they assign him. i’ve been bouncing him as emissary of the moon or as emissary of the hunt

if he’s the emissary of the moon, he actually performs duties more related to the sun inside. the god of the sun is dead (which is why there’s a Big Fucking Ice Age and why a majority of humans live underground now), and the only person who can take over is the god of the moon, who’s doing a shit job at it since the sun is not under his domain and control

sun is going to struggle taking over the god of the moon’s solar duties though, since the powers he gets from this is related to the moon, not the sun

if sun instead becomes an emissary of the hunt (a position i thought of giving to moon a few times), then he hunts people down! it’s not limited to humans, anything that’s alive is free game. at some point, the god of the hunt joins the cycle trio (life, death, rebirth), filling in death’s missing role alongside the navigator (who guides people to rebirth)

#wait what was the tag for this again

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turtleblogatlast · 5 months

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

Post invasion, Leo is fine.

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

Leo really is better in the ways that matter.

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

Raph even said he was proud of Leo!

So obviously things are going well.

But.

It’s not enough.

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

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

_____

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

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

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

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

_____

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

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

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

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

See, the invasion made him realize something.

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

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

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

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

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

_____

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

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

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

It’s easy enough to teleport on by.

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

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

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

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

And then Leo runs off before Hueso can stop him.

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

_____

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

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

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

He got a bit more banged up that time around.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

_____

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

He’s gotta go again.

Hueso’s more insistent than ever, though.

“You must stop, Pepino.”

“But I can do better-“

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

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

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

He ignores how childish the act makes him feel.

_____

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

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

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

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

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

_____

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Not a kid.

_____

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

He doesn’t plan to, anyway, yeesh.

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

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

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

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

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

“Pepino…”

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

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

Leo feels unmoored. “I-“

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

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

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

Instead, he passes out.

_____

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

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

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

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

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

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

All the parts they didn’t need.

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

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

No.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“YES I AM!”

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

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

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

Then what was all this for?

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

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

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

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

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

“But- but I’m doing this for you-“

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Leo’s breath hitches.

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

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

And-

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