#Donnie is my one true love for a reason
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really called smn a ho
SGSGSGSGSGSGDFSFSFSFSF ARE YOU KIDDING ME??? GOD DAMN DONATELLO HAMATO OVER HERE MURDERING HIS ENEMIES IN COLD BLOOD-
This gives me the vibes from that one vine that goes-
"I said whoever threw that paper, you're mom's a hoe."
#oli talks#ooc#muns ramblings#mindless ramblings of a madman#asks#ask and you shall receive#teenage mutant ninja turtles#rise of the teenage mutant ninja turtles#rise of the tmnt#tmnt#rottmnt#tmnt 2012#tmnt 2k12#teenage mutant ninja turtles 2012#tmnt donnie#tmnt 2k12 donnie#Donatello Hamato#if any new tmnt fans are looking for a sign to check out the 2012 series here's your sign lmaooooo#Donnie is my one true love for a reason
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HI!! 💕💕
can i request a donatello x gn reader who has a pet softshell turtle? i saw a tiktok where raph and donnie were holding their turtle species and omg it was so cute- 😭💕
have an AMAZING day/night!!
donnie x gn reader
“Donnie, it’s time you meet someone very important to me.”
That’s what you had told him a few days ago. Now, he stood at your doorstep dressed in the fanciest of clothes he could find. He was prepared to meet and impress your parent.
He wasn’t prepared for you to laugh at him when you opened the door and saw him.
“What?” He asked. You didn’t answer and instead pulled him into your house and up to a room that you had never let him go in before. “What’s going on?”
“As much as I love seeing you in a suit,” you paused as you fell into another bout of laughter, “you might want to take it off.”
“Why?” He demanded before you opened the door. Only then did he see the reason why.
The room was mostly empty, just filled with bins and food containers. But in the middle and most obviously the center piece of the room, there was a large pool of water.
“You… have a turtle.” He was flabbergasted. “As a pet?”
“And another as a boyfriend.” You patted him on the arm before you walked over. You picked the turtle up and it squirmed unhappily in your hands. “Look! It’s a soft shell too.”
“Amazing,” Donatello said flatly. “Now where is your parent that I was supposed to meet?”
“You were supposed to meet her!” You held the turtle in your hands out towards him. “Isn’t she pretty?”
Donnie turned to leave.
“Aw, Donnie…” you whined. “You’re hurting her feelings.”
Donnie scoffed again but stayed put. You smiled victoriously.
“Come on,” you sat down on the floor and patted the floor in front of you, “let’s just hang out.”
Your boyfriend reluctantly turned around and sat in front of you. He looked very unamused but you didn’t care. You set your pet on the floor and it immediately hissed at Donnie.
“Wow, she does not like you.” Her long neck reached over and she bit onto the finger of one Donnie’s hands that had been laid on his lap nearly. “She really doesn’t like you.”
“It’s because she knows I am better than her in all ways,” he said emotionlessly, even with his finger in the turtles mouth. “You are nothing compared to me,” he whispered lowly to it.
“Not true.” you shook your head. “Watch. Daphne, let go.”
“You named it Daphne?”
“Look!” You interrupted with a screech. “She let go! She listens better than compared to you.”
“What? I listen,” he defended himself but you were moving on.
“Daphne, sit.” The turtle coincidentally laid down when you said it. Donnie groaned when you cheered. “Such a good girl,” you cooed and picked her up. She bit you this time.
“Can it balance chemical equations?” Donnie scoffed.
You looked over at him, shocked at how… displeased he looked. His arms were crossed and his eyebrows were furrowed.
“Can it develop and operate highly dangerous and radioactive weaponry? I don’t think so.” Donnie’s eyes were burning holes into your poor turtle.
“No, but it is cute.” You held poor Daphne a little closer protectively before you had an idea. “Donnie, just hold her. Feel the connection.”
“Feel the connection,” he mocked you. But he still took the turtle into his hands when you passed her over. He inspected it with a grumpy look. “Looks healthy.”
The turtle reached forward with its long neck and touched its snout to his.
“Oh my god,” you breathed out and took a hundred photos. “I am printing these out and plastering them all over my walls.”
It was all fine until Daphne started to churr. She had crossed the line.
“Daphne!” You snatched her back. “That is inappropriate!” Donnie snorted and shook the mud off his hands with a sigh.
“I guess she’s alright…” He interrupted your chastising of Daphne. “Still can’t take over the world though.”
You rolled your eyes but smiled. “Yeah, yeah, you’re one of a kind, Donnie.”
leo | raph | mikey
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hey so how badly do you think the rottmnt boys would be easily persuaded into things by their s/o? Who has self control and who throws caution to the wind for their s/o? Like their s/o is not manipulating or anything. Just like “No! I’m not joining”. “*genuine sad understanding doe eyes* If you’re sure, I wanted you to be the one to come with me though since I love you so much and I’d feel better with you there, but if you’re uncomfortable, it’s ok” if their boyfriend changes their mind, s/o is confused at the sudden change but look ecstatic? Or like they make their boyfriend angry and s/o is like “I did that? I’m sorry. I didn’t realise *genuine sad doe eyes. Makes it very hard to stay mad at*”?
Honestly, the rise boys are all so hungry for affection in their own ways. I feel like they are all pretty weak to their sweet little s/o. Also the one shots aren't exactly the best example of the headcannons but I was STRUGGLING so this is the best I got.
Weak in the Knees
Rise turtles (separately) x reader
How easily can you persuade them using your irresistible charm??
Warnings: Mentions of shooting as a hyperbole to emphasize a point. Not explicit. No deaths. Only in Donnies. Angst? ends happy so its fine
Established relationship
Fluff, crack
Donnie:
We all know Donnie is a sucker for praise.
You ask him to do something stupid or dangerous with you it will be a no.
You want him to step away from his work for a break? absolutely not.
You want him to accompany you to Witch town. ARE YOU CRAZY?
Buuuuuut. If you just so happen to have thrown out a couple compliments his way beforehand.
It will almost immediately be a yes or a "Sigh! I suppose!"
Let's be honest here too, there is a lot to compliment Donnie on.
You praise him for his work, a gift he gave you, helping you, or for literally anything he is already wrapped around your finger.
But if you praise him and then add a little kiss on the cheek or hand. Maybe a small hug?
He would literally let you shoot him if that's what you wanted.
Bro is so in love with you it's not even funny.
Not to say he doesn't draw the line somewhere. No bees. No spiders. And NO BEACH BALLS.
Oh and nothing that could phically harm you in any way.
He ain't about to let you get hurt on his watch.
It doesn't matter how many times you call him the most handsomest genius boy and kiss his nose, you are not diving off the empire state building for him to catch you mid air.
"Donnnnnnnniiieeeeeee!" you slumped towards him as you drew out his name. After you got to him you rested your head on his battle shell. Your hands were positioned on either side of your head laying flat on his shell as well.
"Yes my dear?" He chirped. He wasn't very good at initiating physical touch. Don't get me wrong, he tried, he just let his Donnie overthink get the best of him more often then not. So when you initiated, it was very welcome.
"I looooove youuu." You answered him, "your the sweetest boy I've ever met, did you know that?"
This got Donnie to set his tools down real quick. You always liked to compliment him at random times. At first he thought there was a reason behind it. You wanted something, you wanted to get away with something, you wanted him to forgive you, ect. But no matter how many times he conducted the experiment. No matter the duration of time it took. The results were always purely random. You did it simply because you wanted to tell him how much he meant to you.
And honestly, it was his favorite thing in the world. The only problem was that it would always catch him off guard. There was no consistency to your charming onslaught so it was always left as a surprise till the very last minute. His face burned red as he proceeded to just stare at his work, trying to look like he's trying to figure something out.
"I'm not sure. You say I'm a lot of things," he tried to keep his voice even as he spoke to you.
"Well it's true! Your the sweetest, smartest, and most perfect boyfriend ever and your my absolute favorite."
At this point Donnie was trying to hard not to happy stim. Not because he's not comfortable stimming around you, infact he does it all the time. The thing is, even after all this time he still wanted come off as a cool, emotionally unavailable bad boy. What he conveniently doesn't remember is that he's already willing done things that counter that image. You don't need to tell him that though.
"Thank you dear. You're quite lovely yourself," he told you. He folded his arms and sat stiffly trying to keep his stimming under control, eventually opting for some speedy finger tapping.
"Awwwwwww, thank you my love!!" you said as you finally lifted your head off his back to lean over and kiss his cheek.
This caused him to jerk in his chair and mess with the weight distribution resulting in him tipping and falling right on the floor. Instinctively he reached for the table in an attempt to break his fall. Unfortunately, he ended up grabbing his current project instead. As Donnie fell a component of his invention was ripped from it's position and landed on the floor beside him.
"Oh mi gosh! Are you okay?!" you rushed to Donnie's aid and helped him off the floor.
"I'm alright, thank you," he smiled at you softly and went to pick up his chair.
"I was just caught off guard is all," he told you, but as he bends down to grab the chair he noticed the crucial piece of his latest invention laying off to the side of it.
"GASP! Nonononono!" he picked up the piece and scrambled to his work desk to inspect the damage.
"Nooo!!" He wined in frustration. He rubbed his eyes with his thumb and index as he tried to calm himself down.
"Donnie? What's wrong?" You asked as you inched your way to his side.
"THIS!" he exclaimed shoving the broken piece in your direction before dropping his arm and turning away from his project to pace around the room.
"I'VE BEEN WORKING ON THIS FOR WEEKS AND NOW I HAVE TO BACKTRACK AND REDO DAYS OF WORK! ALL BECAUSE YOU-" he stopped talking immediately when he say your face. He had originally turned to look back at you in order to emphasize his frustration. Seeing the look on your face though, made him instantly regret letting his frustration get the better of him.
"I- I'm sorry. I- didn't mean for that... I just wanted to... um..." you were on the verge of tears and couldn't think of anything to say that would fix the issue. So you just clasped your hands together and looked to the floor.
"I'm sorry," is what you eventually settled on.
"No! no, I'm sorry," Donnie told you as he approached and grabbed your shoulder while placing the other in his chest. He leaned his head down in an attempt to catch your eye as you kept your eyes locked on the ground.
"I shouldn't have yelled like that, and besides it wasn't your fault anyways. I was the one being careless in the first place." He eventually placed his and on your other shoulder and leaned down more, practically begging for you to look at him. When you did, your eyes were big and glossy with tears that streaked on your cheeks.
"I shouldn't have distracted you," your responded and you looked back to the floor.
"No, hey, your not a distraction," he told you in a gentle voice. He stood up straight and pulled you into a firm hug, burying his snout in your hair.
"Your the best thing that happened to me. Your never a distraction," he was really hoping this got through to you.
"Really?" You sniffed.
"Really really. Two reallys," he told you. With that you adjusted to wrap your arms around him and then lay you chin in his plastron.
"Do you think ice cream would make you feel better?" you asked.
"Me feel better?" he questioned. You were the hurt one, you were the one crying. Why were you concerned about his feelings?
"Even if you think it's not my fault, no doubt you're still upset with the amount of work you have to redo," you explained, "and ice cream always makes me feel better. So would ice cream make you feel better?"
He gave you a small laugh and traded the hug to hold your hand.
"Firstly, it's not your fault," he spoke matter-a-factly while waving his other hand around dramatically, "And secondly, ice cream sounds delightful."
So with that you both made your way to the kitchen. Donnie ended up not eating any ice cream at all and instead opted for flavorless juice. He was happy enough watching you eat your ice cream with a big smile plastered on your face.
Did he have a lot of work to redo? Yes. But as long as your there it might not feel as long. He might have to make a 'no flattery while one is working in the lab' rule though. For safety.
Leo:
Remember how Donnie had a line? Yeah, no Leo doesn't have that.
Due to this, and his already mischievous nature, you can already get him to do pretty much anything just by asking.
However he does have a responsible mood. If he's in that mood nothing will work.
you know what I mean. Like how he acts in the movie while their driving in the turtle tank?
like that, just without the internal and external issues clouding his judgment.
It's s not a bad mood, it's just not good for getting what you want.
Lucky for you he's not usually in that mood, and if he is it's usually not so bad that you can't bring I'm out of it.
That being said Leo, like the rest of his brothers, needs praise so badly that it's kinda sad.
Any praise will work but if you want him to do something absolutely idiotic to the point that even he thinks so? Your gonna need to make him feel ✨special✨
Your gonna need to pull out the my man, my champion, special man, and perfect baby.
Names like that, that make him feel like a million bucks.
If he's showing off to you, one compliment will butter that sucker up like you wouldn't believe.
He would literally do anything for you, it's not even funny, bro has no standards.
"Y/n! Hey! Hey! Y/n look! Look at this sick trick!" Leo called to you from atop their indoor skating ramp. You were on the floor below talking with April while Leo skated.
"Okay sweets I'm watching!" You call back to give him the go ahead.
With that Leo was off down the ramp. As he came up the other side and was propelled in the air he flipped the skateboard from beneath him and then landed perfectly on top as gravity pulled them back to the surface. When he came back up the other side Leo jumped off the board and looked down at you with a big grin on his face.
You and April clapped and he came down to meet you.
"What did you think??"
"I think that was awesome. Your my talented man for sure," you told him sweetly as you kissed him on the cheek. Leo blushed slightly at this before puffing his chest out and holding his skateboard all cool guy like at his hip. He used his other hand to point at himself with his thumb.
"Well not everyone can be as skilled as ah-THIS!" He boasted while punctuating his sentence with a dab.
"Okay, Mr. Talented," April teased, "If your done I'd like to tell you the reason I stopped by today."
"What?" Leo said with fake shock, "You visited for a different reason other than admiring my rad skills?"
"impossible I know," she snarked to play along with him.
"So what's up April?" You asked.
"I was working my new job as a part time graveyard day guard and I saw this totally creepy and totally abandoned house right outside my post!"
"April if you're about to tell us you saw a ghost," Leo told her.
"No! But I DID want to find out if there COULD be ghosts in there."
"Why are you telling us this?" You ask.
"Because, I'm not gonna trespass on abandoned property by myself. That's just asking to be kidnapped," she answered while folding her arms.
"I don't know April, I better stay here and keep practicing my skating skillzz, right y/n?" Leo said.
"Well I think it sounds cool April! I'd be so down to go with you!"
"Heck yeah! Girls trip!"
You two high fived and right as you hands made contact Leo popped up in-between the both of you and clasped yours and April's hands together with his own.
"Though I suppose it would be unbecoming of me to not do my chivalrous duty to you both and tag along as a safety precaution."
April looked unimpressed at Leo's forced attempt to be cool in front of you whilst also begging for your attention. As you and April let your hands down Leo's went with them and you took his empty palm in yours shooting him a soft smile.
"So what time did you have in mind?"
"Oh, I was thinking like right now if y'all aren't busy," April told you.
"Sounds good to me, come on Leon!" You said as you dragged Leo to the Lair exit.
-
Apon getting to the building it was abundantly clear that it was very abandoned and very illegal to trespass. A rusted chain link fence surrounded the building with warning signs plastered all around it. Though, it was to dark to clearly read them without a flashlight.
"Uhh, guys?" Leo started, "Are you sure we should go in there? There are way too many signs around this place for them all to be just 'no trespassing' signs,"
"Do I hear someone who is scaaaaared?" Teased April. This prompted an offended gasp from Leo who put a hand to his chest.
"SCARED?! HA! I'll show you who's scared," he snarked at her before opening a portal to bypass the fence straight to the front door. He gestures for you and April to enter first. Before you followed April in you turned to Leo.
"everything will be fine, and if something does go wrong I know you could bail us out," you smiled sweetly at him and then stepped into the portal. Leo straightened up and blushed, then sauntered confidently through the portal after you. It felt good to know you trusted him so much.
As all three of you stood at the front door you heard the sounds of the house creaking on the inside. The old wood constantly fighting to stay upright. April pushed open the door with a loud creak and shinned her light into the entry. It was dark and messy. A brownish carpet greeted you along with a broken sidebar cabinet. stairs leading up to the second floor were covered in dirt and old enough to be one big splinter. Next to the stairs was an entrance to a different room. There were also different rooms on either side of you as well. As you all shines your lights to get a better look you could see the dust particles littering the air.
"I'm gonna go investigate upstairs!" April told you before disappearing to the second floor. Leo had gravitates towards the right side entryway before turning to you and gesturing for you to follow him.
"I think this is the kitchen," he said, turning his head back. You filled him as you both inspected the room. You broke looked around and noticed some light scratching sounds coming from what you assumed to be the pantry. As you opened the door the smell of rotten food and crap hit your face and you immediately gagged. You plugged your nose with your hand and you used the other to direct the flashlight. You didn't look around for long though as you saw a small, fast moving figure rush past your foot. You let out a short yelp as you stumbled backwards and out of the pantry slamming the door shut.
In an instant Leo was by your side.
"What?! What happened?! Are you okay?!" he gave you a once over looking for any injuries you could have procured.
"Yes! Yes," you sighed out patting his shoulder, "I'm okay, just a... rat. Or something,"
"Okay. Umm, just stick close to me for now ok?" He asked you. He was clearly a little nervous, about what exactly though you couldn't say. He grabbed your hand as you both made your way out of the kitchen.
"You've been hearing those sounds too right?" He asks as he turns to you. You both stop under the archway separating the kitchen d the entryway.
"W- what sounds?" This was, admittedly, making you a little nervous yourself now.
"The scratching. Like something's in the walls," he said in a hushed voice as he squoze your hand. You didn't at first but as you sat and listened, sure enough. Scratching. Or... Scurrying? It wasn't consistent but it happened often enough.
"Yeah," you answered in the same muted tone.
"I think we should leave," Leo told you, "Whatever this houses issue is it's not gonna be ours. Let's grab April and VAMINOS."
Before you two could take more that a stepp up the stairs you hear a loud crash and the house starts to rumble. April begins to scream and you can hear her rushed footsteps against the floor and as you both try to find her you ended meeting her at the top of the stairs.
"RUUUUN!! GO GO GO!" she yelled at you. She pushed you both aside and grabbed Leo by his mask tails to pull him along. Before you two started running though, you see what April was running from. I giant hord of mutant silverfish. They took up the entire hallway from floor to ceiling and they did NOT look happy.
As Leo was being tugged along by April you were tugged by Leo who still hadn't let go of your hand. In trying to position his body to run forward easier and April still holding on to his mask tails, it ended up turning his mask on backwards and obscuring his view. As all three of you exited the house Leo tripped out the door on top of April causing you to fall on top of him.
"LEO PORTAL! PORTAL NOW!" April yelled at him.
"I CAN'T FIND MY SWORD!" he told her frantically trying to fix his mask so he could see.
"HERE TAKE IT!" you said handing it to him. The silver fish where almost in top of you by the time Leo took the sword in his hands. With a swift swing of his sword the portal was opened and all three of you stumbled through it closing right as the silverfish burst out the door.
All three of you lay on the ground between where the two skate ramps met, panting and trying to gather yourselves.
"Everyone okay?" April asked out of breath.
"Yeah," you breathed out.
"All good here," Leo puffed.
"Great..." April sat up sluggishly, "I'm gonna head out then, see ya."
And with that she stood up and left the lair. You both waved her off best you could from the ground. You both just laid there for a while catching your breaths.
"Let's never do that again," Leo said after a while.
"I don't know, I kinda had fun," you told him.
"You have got to be kidding me," he looked over at you unimpressed.
"Ya know... I saw this abandoned processing plant a couple days ago," you said turning your head to look back at him.
"Y/n. We almost died."
"And now we know to be prepared for hords of mutant silverfish," you looked at him, "Please?"
"Uuugggg. FINE. But not for a while, I need a break from whatever the heck today was," he told you.
"Sounds good to me!" You chirped and cuddled into his side.
"Yeah yeah," he playfully rolled his eyes and wrapped a lazy arm around you.
Mikey:
Oh he is just the sweetest little buttercup to you.<3
Surprisingly though, he also is the hardest to persuade.
I mean come on, doctor delicate touch loves you but he will be quick to tell you why a certain idea is....... not so great.
That being said if you get really sad about him saying no he will do everything in his power to make you happy.
He'll make your favorite food, watch your favorite movie, play your favorite game, whatever you want that isn't the first thing that you wanted.
Out of all brothers, Mikey is the one who need praise at the most normal amount.
You guys will probably have compliment competitions while cuddling.
So safe to say praise isn't going to get this dude to do stuff for you.
However, Mikey is able to see how his brothers feel like they can't fully express their feelings and wants them to feel safe enough to do so.
Frankly he wants everyone to feel comfortable enough around him to express their true thoughts and feelings.
So if you are the kind of person to emotionally shut down or pretend like everything is fine when it's not?
He will be a bit more willing to do stuff for you.
Again, there is a line. A straight cut no exceptions line.
Buuuuuut he might be willing to find a couple loop holes just so that his darling can feel better.
Piece of advice tho, don't push it. If he feels like you don't respect his boundaries that's gonna be a whole other issue.
"Hey Mikey!" you chirp as you enter his room, "What'ca up to?"
Mikey looked up at you from the floor, you could see the canvas in front of him and got increasingly excited to see what he was putting together.
"Oh just paintin', like one does," he tells you with a cheeky smile.
"Okaaaaay," you smile back, playing along, "What'ca paintin'?"
At this Mikey looked to his right and then his left, like he was scoping out the area for spies. Except it made less sense since it was his room. Then he looked back up at you and gestured for you to come join him with his hand.
You sat down on the floor and cozied up next to your boyfriend to which he revealed his masterpiece. It was a family portrait of Splinter and his brothers from when they were younger.
"We took this picture a couple years back," he handed you a small photo, "it was always dads favorite so I'm painting it for his birthday!"
"That's so sweet Mikey!"
He smiled and blushed at the compliment. You turned back to the painting. It was beautiful. It was the same picture but Mikey had taken some creative liberties with the colors. They were bright, vibrant, and harmonious. The painting felt like it was buzzing with energy because of it. It felt warm and inviting and at the same time unpredictable. The way the lines, colors, and textures went together, it almost made the painting feel alive, and it was hypnotizing.
"It looks like you've finished, right?" you ask, turning back to him.
"Almost!" He perks, "I just have to add a few finishing touches and it will be done!"
"Weeeeeeelllll," you said mischievously, "Since they're just finishing touches, maybe I could help."
One of the first things that people find out when they meet you is that you suck butt at art. When you met Mikey he tried SO HARD to teach you but no matter how hard you tried it just never clicked. You always saw it as a cute 'opposites attract' sort of thing honestly. The proficient artist and the one who couldn't draw a dot right it they tried. How romantic.
So when your little tease entered the space Mikey knew exactly what you were trying to do.
"Oh no no no my dear," he played along, "You see, I feel your artistic talents are needed else where."
"Else where?" you questioned with big doe eyes feigning innocence.
"Yes. Else where," he told you again, still with his playful expression.
"You mean," you picked up one of his used paint brushes, "HERE! you said as you lunged forward attempting to pin him down in order to paint his face. Attempting.
"NO NOT HERE!" he giggled trying to keep the paint brush from making contact with his face. He had been mostly successful but you still managed to land a couple good swipes.
You both continued to wrestle and giggle as time went on. At one point Mikey flipped you both so he was the one pinning you and reached for a paint brush of his own. You managed to wiggle free in the nick of time and this led to you both running around his room with paint brushes in hand. Every now and again one of you would corner the other, but the other would always manage to escape leading to the chase once again. At one point you realized that you might be able to catch Mikey off guard. You see, outside of cornering each other, all you guy have really done is chase the other and try catch them.
So in a moment of what you deemed to be 'brilliance' you took an abrupt stop and made a sharp turn on your heel to face him. However, that resulted in Mikey crashing right into you and you both falling straight to the floor.
"OH ME GOSH! Are you okay y/n?!" he scrambled to get off you quickly and inspect any possible damage to your person.
"Yeah, I'm okay, I think. Just landed on something hard," you told him as you picked yourself up.
When you looked back at him there was an expression on his face that could only be described as soul crushing horror. You were so confused, and concerned until you followed his line of sight and saw exactly what you landed on.
His painting.
His super sentimental and lovingly handcrafted painting meant as a GIFT FOR HIS FATHER. and now, there was a hole straight through it. Not a small one at that. Not to mention some of the paint was still wet and had gotten smeared and smushed at the impact. There was absolutely no salvaging this painting.
"Oh Mikey I am so sorry," you were horrified at what you had caused. Mikey didn't look at you, he didn't respond either. He walked towards to ruined canvas and slowly knelt down to pick it up.
"I- I didn't mean for this to happen Mikey I'm-" he cut you off.
"Can you please go? We'll talk later, I just need to be alone right now," still without looking at you. You were so heartbroken you had to hold in your tears.
"Okay," you told him in a shaky breath. You left the lair that night, and for the first time since you've known the guys, you left in a considerably worse mood then what you had when you got there.
The look on Mikey's face haunted you that night. You hate to think that you were the one to cause that pain. You were the one that hurt him. You wanted to make it up to him but you didn't know how. It's not like you could remake the painting for him. Heck you couldn't even paint!
You decided it would be best to stay away from the lair until Mikey invited you back. Fortunately for you, it only took about four days for that to happen. Unfortunately for however, it was through a very distressing text that read 'We should talk'. Eeeee 😬
Before you went you baked some cookies to hopefully help lighten the blow. You may not be able to... 'art'... BUT YOU COULD BAKE. When you met with Mikey it was in a secluded area of Todd's Puppy Land, or whatever its called.
"Hey y/n," he said giving you a weak smile and finally looking at you. He looked tired. Like he hadn't slept since you both last talked.
"Hey Mikey," you responded, "I uh. I brought cookies." You gave and awkward smile and his expression softened. He motioned for you to sit next to him on the bench. As you did you placed the cookies between you both as to give him some space.
He sighed, "I'm sorry y/n, I didn't mean-" you cut him off.
"YOUR SORRY?! WHAT DO YOU HAVE TO BE SORRY ABOUT?!" you were exasperated.
"Well I-"
"NO! I ruined your painting that took you forever to make that you made for your dads birthday! If anyone should be sorry it's me!"
"Thank you," he told you, "and I accept you apology, but it wasn't really your fault. It was an accident due to us both being reckless."
"But I started it!"
"And I didn't stop you, *sigh* listen. I didn't mean to scare you like I did. I just get very emotionally attached to my art so I was having a lot of feelings that day. I want to make it very clear that I don't want to break up with you and I'm not mad at you."
At this, you let out a sigh you didn't even know you were holding. When he looked back at you he was shocked. Your eyes were glassy with tears and your cheeks were red. You looked so sad. And so sorry. Oh, if he didn't already regret what he said to you that day he sure did now. How could he had asked you to leave?
"I still feel bad about it," you told him looking down at your hands. He moved the cookies behind him to close the gap between you both and pulled you into a hug.
"Hey, I get it. But if it makes you feel any better I was able to fix mistakes I made the first time and clean up areas I had previously messed up. On top of that I'm pretty close to being in the same spot with its progress that I was last time," he said, trying to console you. you pulled back to look at him.
"You mean you repainted it?"
"Well yeah. It's pops birthday gift, I had to," he smiled at you.
"Didn't that take you weeks to do?!"
"The first time yeah. But I kind couldn't sleep until I was back to were I was before sooo"
THATS WHY HE LOOKED SO TIRED! HE HASN'T SLEPT IN FOUR DAYS!
"Alright well someone's going to bed right now," you told him, picking up your cookies and dragging him by the wrist. He happily complied and followed you back to the lair. Not before thanking Todd for letting you guys use his space.
Overall, you both were just glad that everything was back to normal.
Raph:
Oh bb. He's so soft for you.
Bro will kiss the ground you walk on.
He's also the most responsible.
However most responsible does not mean least chaotic.
I mean the dude tries to lift a bus and ate a literal phone.
So honestly, I can see him being pretty open to a lot of stuff as long as your safety isn't jeopardized.
Notice how I said 'your safety'?
Yeah. Again, remember the bus incident? I refuse to believe that he wouldn't do something stupid for you as long as he's the only one with a possibility of getting hurt.
That being said, like Mikey he has a line. Unlike Mikey that line is drawn with chalk and is very easily swept away.
Now Raph does not like crossing this line. I mean who likes compromising their boundaries?
But he will do it.
Raph is very susceptible to peer pressure and if it's coming from you of all people? He'll do it.
He won't be happy about it after though.
Like he's happy your happy but he will being to feel like his feelings don't matter to you the same as yours matter to him.
So for the sake of this poor boy please don't press further if he said no the first time.
It makes him feel like a bad boyfriend. :(
You and Raph were cuddling on the couch watching Jupiter Jim movies. As per the usual when you both are bored and have nothing better to do. You were positioned on his lap knees pointing to the side so you could rest your head on his chest.
"Hey Raphy?" you said grabbing his attention.
"Yes?" he said looking down at you.
"You wanna crash a wedding?"
"What?!"
"Do you. Want to. Crash a wedding. ... With me."
"And why are we crashing a wedding?"
"Fun," you told him, "but also I'm bored."
He giggled at you. You were such a little cutie and he could never get over it.
"What would we be doing?"
"Oh ya know, dancing, eating the food, photo bombing. The ushe," you shit him a cheeky smile.
"Okay, one question though," you nodded at him, "how are we gonna do that with... this whole situation," he told you gesturing to himself.
"Sweets, we're in New York. You put on a suit jacket and act like 'this whole situation' is normal, most people will chalk it up to eccentricity," you told him.
"You sure bout that?"
"I've never been so sure about anything in my entire life."
"Well I guess we have a wedding to prepare for," he said nuzzling his snout into your cheek.
"YESSSsssssssssss!!" you exclaimed.
---
After a quick social media search you found the perfect wedding to crash. You and Raphael dusted off your best wedding attire and set out on a mission to have a good time.
You guys had made it to the reception so you just walked in and pretended like you belonged there. Raph was obviously still a little worried about walking in full green skin and three fingered but you assured him it was fine. And you were kinda right. He definitely got weird looks but he tried his best to follow your advise and pretend like was nothing was wrong. So for a while now body bothered you guys.
"See? What did I tell you, no body even cares!" You smiled at him as you pulled him to the dance floor.
"Yeah, I guess," he told you a tad nervous. He smiled at you regardless and you're both began to dance.
It was a fun, up eat song so you and Raph jumped along in your own little world. Twisting, turning, and shimming to the beat, it felt like you both were walking on air.
After dancing for a couple of songs straight you guys decided to try some of the refreshments. You took some lemonade and the little cheesecake bits and found a vacant table. You both chatted about little things, telling jokes and having a good time.
Eventually someone from the party approached you. She was a skinny old woman. Not old enough to be grey haired and senile but just old enough that she had plenty of wrinkles.
"Excuse me, I don't believe we've met," she told you as she sat down her to you, "what are your names?"
"Oh, I'm y/n and this is Raph," you gestured to him and he gave a small wave.
"Well it's nice to meet you. I'm the brides aunt Tina."
"Well in that case, congrats! I'm sure your so happy for her!"
"I am, Oliver seems like such a a nice man. He treats Sara so well. On that note, who are you here for? The bride or the groom?"
Raph sweat dropped, he didn't like lying and it made him nervous that he might have to if you both wanted to stay.
"Oh we're not," you told her honestly. Raph was relieved for about half a second before he realized that now you guys might cause a whole other scene.
"I'm sorry, not what?"
"Here for either the bride or the groom. We don't know either of them, we were just bored and wanted to dance."
"Wh-," her face showed her absolute disbelief, "This is a family and friends even you can't just waltz in uninvited!"
"Well I mean. You can. We just did. Wether or not that's a respectful thing to do is an entirely different debate though."
Tina's face was starting to turn red.
"Well! I'm going to have to ask you both to leave!" she demanded raising her voice while she stood and pointed to the exit.
"Hey, what's going on Tia?" the bride asked putting a hand on her aunts sholder.
You leaned back in your chair resting your arm over the back of it while you took a swig of your water.
"These two hooligans weren't invited! They don't know anyone here!"
"Well that's hardly fair Tina, I thought we formed a connection over the last five minutes," you teased which prompted Raph to shoot you a disapproving look. Tina looked absolutely appalled by you attitude.
"What?" you questioned Raph with a giggle, "Come on this is kinda funny."
"Your making her upset!"
"Eh, she would have been upset anyways,"
"DONT IGNORE US GET OUT! SOMEONE CALL THE POLICE!" Tina was full on screaming now, which prompted Raph to shoot out of his chair. He apologized quickly and picked you up by your sides and ran you both out of the wedding.
"Awwwww I wanted to grab some more of those cheesecake bites before we dipped."
Raph shook his head and smiled.
"Your unbelievable."
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Chapter Twelve of I'm Sorry, Teenage Mutant What Now? is up!!! It's the moment you've all waited for-- the reveal. :000 They boys discover some things about themselves (things they once knew) and visit an unfamiliar place (a place that was once familiar.) Read it on ao3 or below the cut!
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The group’s shocked silence lasted for two, maybe three seconds before it quickly morphed into chaos.
“That’s him! That’s the goat!” Mikey shrieked, pointing wildly. “That’s the goat who has Dad!”
“Leo! Call 911!” Raph commanded. Leo scoffed loudly.
“No way! I wanna kick this guy’s ass. Make Donnie do it.”
“What?! No fair! I’ve called 911 the last six times! It’s someone else’s turn!”
“You have not! I called 911 last time!” April protested.
“That one doesn’t count!”
“Well someone’s gotta--”
“Enough!” Goatman snarled, absolutely bristling, waving his arm sharply. The air around them suddenly felt colder and stiller, and Leo shuddered, gritting his teeth as his posture stiffened. “I am not here to listen to your silly arguments. I am here to bring you home, so you can finally fulfill your purpose.”
Leo gave a short snort of laughter. “Hm, yeah, tempting, but our Daddy actually taught us not to go with creepy sheep strangers, even if they offer us free candy, soooo…”
“What?! Candy? No! I’m talking about your purpose! The reason you were created-- to eliminate the human threat! Come with me, and I can unlock your full potential!”
“How many divine purposes have we got again? ‘Cause I’m starting to lose track,” Mikey complained. Leo rolled his eyes.
“Eliminate the human threat? Yeah, uh, maybe you haven't been paying attention, but in case you haven’t noticed, we’re literally humans.”
The yokai paused for a moment. His face twisted, and he hunched his shoulders back before he gave a forced laugh. “Humans?” He echoed. “Humans?! Surely you aren’t fooled by those silly trinkets! You can’t possibly, actually believe…”
“Oh my god. This guy is, like, for real crazy,” April observed, raising her brows.
“No, you are fools!” He hissed in return. “Humans?! These ridiculous forms are completely fabricated! These are not your true selves! You are experiments! You are soldiers! You’re mutated turtles-- my greatest creations! The creations of Baron Draxum!”
“Baron Draxum? Okay, well, we’ll deal with him when he gets here… Oh… Oh-ho-ho wait! You’re doing that, like, sinister talking-about-yourself-in-third person thing, aren’t you! Oh my god, that’s rich!” Leo snorted.
“Hey! Only Raph can use the third-person!”
“I’m sorry, did he say turtles?” Mikey questioned.
“Oh my fucking god…” Leo laughed, clutching his stomach. “Turtles? I’m sorry, we’re mutant turtles?”
“This guy can’t be serious,” Raph muttered.
“Uh, yeah, I’m pretty sure we would have noticed by now if we were reptiles,” Donnie scoffed, one hand on his hip. “Let alone subjects of some kind of biochemical experiments. Which I am intimately familiar with, by the way. Do you have any idea how many community gardens I’ve been banned from?”
“This can’t…” The yokai shook his head, a hand on his brow. “How could you be tricked by such simple magic? I will show you if I have to.”
“Oh, I’d love to see that,” Donnie muttered.
“Come with me--”
“You are out of your damn mind if you think we’re goin’ anywhere with you!” Raph cut in.
“Maybe if you prove that turtle hypothesis thing you have going on, we can discuss it from there,” Donnie laughed, one brow quirked, sounding caught somewhere between exasperated and amused. Honestly, this whole thing was a little bit fucking hilarious. It was also fucking horrible and scary because their dad was missing and a magic criminal had them cornered in an alley, but like. Seriously. Mutant turtles? You can’t make this stuff up, dude.
Draxum sighed very deeply, scowling at their group.
“Very well,” he said, and he snapped his fingers.
Things became unfunny very, very quickly.
If the air had become cold earlier, now it became startlingly hot, just for a moment, the alley rising up at least five degrees, and Leo heard this choked, startled gasp that he immediately recognized as his twin brother. At the same time, a blinding, almost familiar flash of white light overtook the alley, and Leo hissed, flinching away.
When he looked back, he was horrified to find that where his brother had been standing just a moment ago there was instead some sort of green, scaled creature, their eyes slitted and their skin leathery and bumped, and he thought, what the hell happened to my brother? And after a moment of silence, all of them staring in dazed shock, the reptile flailed, floundered, held its own hands up to its face as if to examine them, and promptly began screaming.
And Leo recognized his own brother's screams, so instead he was thinking: what the hell happened to my brother?!
“What did you do?!” Leo shrieked. Behind him, Mikey screamed, too, and he could hear April spluttering out an impressive string of curse words. He just barely resisted the urge to race over to Donnie’s side, to check if he was okay, (he’s not okay, he knows he’s not okay,) to try to help him, to fix it, because he couldn’t just turn his back on the enemy in front of them-- couldn’t ignore the very obvious threat.
“I simply removed the cloaking enchantment as he requested,” Draxum responded calmly. He even looked amused, almost, the very corners of his lips turning up.
“You what!? What the hell are you-- fix it!!! Turn him back!!!” Leo demanded, his voice rising with the very edges of panic, his pulse climbing ever-steadily higher the longer he listened to his siblings scream.
The other sighed deeply, tilting their head to the side. “Do you still not understand? Fine, then. I’ll show you as well.”
Snap.
Leo wouldn’t describe the experience as painful, but it really wasn’t pleasant, either. He swore he could feel his skin being stripped away and reforming; it was like his skeleton itself was being rearranged, his entire body becoming fluid for just a split second before solidifying again in new places, new patterns, new spaces. An unfamiliar weight pulled at his shoulders, forcing his spine to bend, and his hands and feet fell in a way that now felt unnatural to him. His skin seemed to lay over his muscles differently now.
He was vaguely aware of Mikey screaming somewhere behind him a second time, echoing Donatello’s continued wails.
“Guys?” April bit out, her voice high and frightened.
What the hell happened to him?
“What-- what did you do?” Leo repeated himself, his eyes wide, straining, because his vision was ever-so-slightly different than it had been a few seconds ago and he didn’t know how to adjust. He swore to god he was frozen in place. He wasn’t sure when he had ended up on his knees, but he was shaking so hard, he supposed he wasn’t surprised.
What the fuck happened to his body?
“Now are you convinced?” The yokai pressed. “Now, we will be going to my lab whether you want to or not. We can either do this the easy way or the hard way. I would highly recommend the easy way,” he hummed, giving a sharp sweep of his arms. Wind tugged at his back and Leo had just barely the presence of mind to glance behind him, his eyes widening in horror to see this huge expanse of black opening up behind him.
Mikey-- (Mikey? They were small, they were wearing Mikey’s clothes, it must be Mikey--) yelped loudly, the inky cloud yanking him from his feet. April jumped, attempting to grab her baby brother, though she only succeeded in falling into him-- both of them swallowed up into the portal. Raph gave a strangled howl of protest, diving right after them, and Donnie was sucked up as well, disappearing from Leo’s sight. His heart thudded wildly in his ears. He could feel the magick yanking at him, trying to pull him in as well.
But Leo had always been the fastest.
Every shred of him was screaming to follow, to chase after his family, to go with his sister and brothers, but he tensed his muscles, his stance widening and holding firm as he set his sights back on the yokai towering before him. A tiny voice in his head whispered in his ears that following wouldn’t help--
No, he had to move forward. This guy was the one hurting them.
Get him.
Leo wasn’t sure if he had leapt forward or if he simply was there. Everything was moving too quickly for even him to follow, the blinding white of panic and rage eating hungrily at the edges of his vision, threatening to overtake him. Either way, he lunged, a cry of protective fury wringing itself from his chest.
"Stay away from my brothers," he snarled, his own throat staggering painfully with the force with which he screamed out his warning, his hands flying forward to grab the yokai by his throat, slamming into him at full speed. He felt the alien velvet fuzz of Draxum’s skin beneath the tear of his fingernails (claws) even as the pair of them were flung from their feet. Gravity was stolen from them both, the portal behind them reaching out to consume them.
Everything went black. For just a second, tumbling through nothingness, floating through the sizzling rush of magick itself, Leo couldn’t see anything. He couldn’t hear anything, all he could feel was the body of the yokai against him, struggling against his grip, attempting to throw him away.
And then this bright, searing lavender light came singing through the world. It didn’t reflect or bounce; nothing was lit up by it. Leo still could not see himself, could not even find the outline of his own hands or fingers. But this brilliant, complex pattern of the palest, gentlest pastel purple lit up bright before him, swirling and twisting in foreign shapes, and Leo just barely recognized that the ribbon of runes they formed echoed the shape of the yokai he had just grabbed.
The body he was clinging to went limp.
The next second, the wind was knocked out of him as they made impact with stone, light coming streaming back into his universe. Leo found himself landing in a heap in their new location, the portal disappearing behind them. Oddly, however, the crash landing didn’t hurt near as much as he would have expected it to.
“Leo!” He heard Raph cry. Leo groaned, still dazed, looking around blearily. Where the hell were they? He glanced over at the yokai who he had yanked through the portal with them, only to find them in an awkward slump just a few paces away, completely limp and seemingly unconscious.
“Are you okay? What happened?” Raph demanded, moving quickly to his side. Mikey was already all bundled up in his arms, shaking like a leaf and absolutely clinging to him for dear life like he was going to fall apart if he let go. And Leo couldn’t even blame him if he did. Mikey had always been the smallest of them, and Raph always the biggest, but Leo thought dimly that the size difference between them now was fucking bananas.
Jesus christ. Raph was fucking huge. And… spiky. Was he a goddamn dinosaur? What the fuck.
“I-- yeah-- I-- I think the goatman got knocked out--” He stammered, still reeling slightly, trying to collect himself, to gather himself, adrenaline still rushing through his veins like it was a racetrack.
Somewhere in the background, Donnie fucking screamed, and Leo immediately forgot about everything else, his head whipping around.
“Donnie!” He cried, on his feet in a second, rushing over to his brother’s side. He had no idea where they were, not having yet taken stock of the location. He was only dimly aware that they were someplace cold and dark, with stone and concrete above, below, and around them. Donnie had pressed himself up against one of the walls, his entire body rigid and his head bent forward, his arms fluttering wildly beside his head in such a way that Leo recognized he was fighting not to hit himself. Good job, Dee. The screaming continued, but every wail that wrenched its way out of Donnie’s mouth was short and grinding, repeating itself over and over like an alarm. It was fucking terrifying. Not for him, but for Donnie, because he could tell that they were completely, totally not in control. Just panicking.
“Hey. Hey, hey, it’s okay, I’m right here, Don. It’s alright. It’s okay, you’re safe, I’m right here, hermano,” he tried to soothe, forcing his voice down, calm, steady. He knew better than to touch Donnie, but he would reach over just long enough to tap a button on the side of his headphones that he knew would flip the device into white noise mode. Donnie jerked slightly in response, and the screaming stopped, at least, but he didn’t relax. His arms still fluttered and flapped anxiously, and he shifted just enough to begin rocking back and forth, clenching his jaw and grinding his teeth so hard that Leo was afraid he was going to hurt himself. His chest absolutely shook with the panicked, shuddering breaths he was taking, hyperventilating so hard that his entire body trembled in response.
“Come on, Donnie, it’s alright. It’s okay. We’re safe, Mikey and Raph and April are safe, we’re gonna be okay, but you’ve gotta breathe, dude. Can you try it with me? Like this? We’ve gotta calm down a little bit--” Leo pressed on because this was not his first rodeo. He wasn’t quite as adept at handling these things as their dad was, and at this point, Donnie was pretty good at avoiding meltdowns and panic attacks, armed with tools and tricks and years of therapy, but sometimes they were unavoidable and Leo had always known how to calm them down, always been able to step up and help, the same way Donnie could for him--
But Donnie wasn’t calming down. Donnie wouldn’t even look up at him. Rather, Donnie scrunched up harder, curled his lips, and fucking hissed at him.
And, okay, look, it wasn’t the first time Donnie had hissed at them. Donnie used to love to hiss at people when they were little kids, though nowadays he was more likely to express annoyance with declarations such as “groan” or “scoff” or “eye-roll.” But he didn’t hiss like this.
He sounded fucking feral. Even more than that, he sounded fucking terrified. He looked like a goddamn cornered animal, his eyes blown out and huge, the scaly skin that now made up his form stretched tight over shivering muscles and his lips drawn back over sharp, pointed teeth. And Leo looked down at his own clawed, three-fingered hand and came to a horrible realization.
He couldn’t help because Donnie couldn’t recognize him. They were panicking because they were in this crazy, fucked up body that wasn’t theirs, and Leo was in a fucked up body that wasn’t his, and looking at him was just a reminder of everything wrong. He was just scaring them more. His being here was just making things worse, and Leo’s throat tied itself in a knot, swelling up as the backs of his eyes pinched with the thought.
“April,” he called, his voice cracking slightly as he desperately turned to look for his sister. She wasn’t far off, watching from a short distance with obvious worry, and she blinked in surprise at the sound of her name.
“Help me.”
---
If Leo was being completely honest, he hadn’t even realized that Donnie wasn’t still nearby. The two of them typically stuck together like glue whenever they were at school. Leo would usually lead the way, and Donnie would trail after, with Leo doing most of the talking and socializing for both of them. And once Donnie got sick of whatever they were doing, he would simply drag Leo off to sit and read or work on some project or puzzle for a while, and Leo would oblige and keep him company. Donnie was always close by, and Leo wasn’t even aware that this wasn’t currently the case, too absorbed in his latest arts and crafts project, until he heard a telltale, high-pitched whine from across the room.
He was on his feet in seconds, abandoning the activity and his classmates to scuttle off in search of his twin brother. Luckily, he wasn’t too hard to find. Both because he was pretty loud, and also because their substitute teacher was crouched down next to him. She was nice enough, Leo thought, but not quite as cool as Miss Mitchelle was, and he wasn’t sure if Donnie liked her at all. It definitely didn’t seem like he liked her too much right now with how he was all balled up, and Leo wasted no time at all in planting himself physically between the two.
Donnie immediately gravitated towards his brother and Leo moved a bit closer in turn, giving Miss Substitute (he didn’t remember her name,) a very displeased look.
“He doesn’t like whatever you’re doing,” he declared firmly.
Miss Substitute’s expression twitched and faltered for a moment before it settled back into something patient and pleasant, though Leo still didn’t quite trust it. “Leo,” she said, “I was just trying to talk with your brother--”
“I can talk to him,” Leo assured immediately, not bothering to listen to the remainder of her sentence because he couldn’t imagine it would be all that important or interesting. He turned to face Donnie instead. “It’s okay. I can always understand him, ‘cause we have a secret twin language. We made it up. Only we can speak it,” he declared proudly, crouching down to lean in towards his brother, his arms wrapped around his knees.
Donnie was still whining a bit, curled up into a ball and shoved halfway inside of a cubby, his arms crossed protectively over his head as he rocked. And yeah, he was obviously upset, though Leo wasn’t completely sure why yet. As such, he got to work, conversing with his twin in the previously mentioned secret twin language.
… And.
Okay.
So.
They didn’t actually have a secret twin language.
But it was close enough! It wasn’t a language, per se, ‘cause it didn’t have words, just noises and chirps and trills and squeaks and babbles. But he still always got the gist of what Donnie was saying, and Donnie would get the gist of what he was saying, too, so it worked. Sooner or later, he could pretty much always get an understanding of what Donnie was meaning based on the inflection or tone of his noises, as well as calm the other down enough so that Leo could coax a couple of signs out of him, so Leo figured it was close enough to language.
Plus, the ‘language’ itself always seemed to kind of settle Donnie down when he was upset like this. Once Leo started humming and squeaking at him, Donnie gradually started to answer with his own chirps and clicks, and, little by little, Leo watched their twin’s body untense and unwind. Leo grinned, moving to sit properly by him, and Donnie moved closer, edging just a bit out of his hiding spot so he could shove himself up against Leo’s side instead, resting his head against his shoulder and settling in there, an indignant scowl still on his face.
Leo grinned, puffing out his chest a bit as he shot Miss Substitute a look. See? He told her so. He and Donnie always understood each other, no matter what, and he could always fix it when Donnie wasn’t feeling good! He was basically the best brother in the entire world. Confident that he understood the problem, he turned back to face Miss Substitute.
“He said you’re not doing the schedule right, and we’re supposed to do math right now,” he announced, crossing his arms over his chest. And he hadn’t even noticed, but Donnie was right, they did usually do math lessons during this part of the day-- not arts and crafts. “And also, he doesn’t like the paper fish we’re doing ‘cause the glue feels bad. So we gotta find something else to do,” he insisted. “‘Cause otherwise Donnie and I aren’t playing.”
Donnie nodded a tiny bit from behind him, and Leo beamed with pride. Understanding Donnie and calming him down wasn’t even that hard. He didn’t get why adults besides Dad had such a hard time with it sometimes. You really just had to listen to him.
---
It took a while for April to calm Donnie back down, (or at least get him as calm as they possibly could be in such circumstances,) but she managed after a bit, his panicked breaths eventually dying down into something a bit more even and steady. Thank god. Mikey thought dimly to himself that he had never seen Donnie freak out so bad, but... he supposed he couldn't really blame him.
He frowned a bit, looking down at his own, unfamiliar hands, and he curled up a bit more, his tail tucking in (oh my god, he had a tail,) as he clung to Raph's plastron (oh my god, Raph had a plastron.) And though it still held comfort, the fold of his biggest brother's arms, bundled up close and held there, this place that he had known his whole life... it suddenly felt foreign, too. Everything was hard and jagged and cold. And even worse-- it was unfamiliar.
He kept staring at his own hands because he couldn't stop himself, and it made his stomach wobble. He wondered bleakly what his own face looked like because he had no idea. He wouldn't even recognize himself in the mirror.
Now that Donnie had finally settled a bit, though he was still curled up and pressed just against April's side, just barely not touching but still squeezed up small against her, Leo finally got up to his feet-- only to immediately lose his balance, falling over onto his back with a loud clunk.
"Leo!" Raph's eyes widened, his muscles immediately bunching up, ready to jump up and go grab his brother. Mikey could tell that he was just barely resisting the urge to scoop up all three of them and bundle them up in his arms and just hang onto them for a while. He had been sitting here long enough for Mikey to notice how fast his heart was beating. Mikey’s was keeping pace. Leo kind of flailed for a second before he managed to redirect the momentum to roll over onto his side, getting himself back onto his hands and knees. A wry, strangled laugh forced its way out of him.
"Alright. Well. Pro tip: center of gravity is weird now," he remarked dryly, his voice strained. "But the good news is falling doesn't even hurt anymore! So that’s great!"
It didn't get a laugh out of anyone. After a moment of hesitation, Mikey slowly wriggled his way from Raph's grip, making his way over to Leo's side. He didn't dare try to walk after watching Leo's attempt, noting that it seemed to be more difficult now without the rush of adrenaline to aid them, so he instead stayed in a crouch, sort of half-hopping-half-crawling over. Raph followed shortly after in a similar manner.
"Can I see?" He questioned softly, and when Leo didn't deny him, he leaned over slightly, moving his hoodie (which was now a very awkward fit,) out of the way enough so that he could examine the edges of his brother's new shell.
(Oh my god. His brother's shell. What kind of a sentence was that? What kind of weird, fucked up make-believe world were they suddenly in? Leo was his brother. He didn't have a shell. He had cool brown skin. He had bouncy blonde curls that Mikey had helped him bleach and dye a red streak in. He had vitiligo 'stripes' over his eyes. He had a bad habit of cycling through boyfriends and insomnia and a shockingly large vocabulary... but he didn't have a shell. He didn't have scales or stripes or claws or a tail.)
He looked anyway, running the tips of his fingers over the top of it, following the curve. He couldn't quite tell if he was feeling the texture of the shell, or just the texture of his own fingers, which were different than they had been; covered in scales, the skin thicker and rougher than it had been before. Bending his joints felt odd, and he couldn't help himself from doing it over and over, as if that might help him get used to it faster.
Every part of his brother’s shell was this cool, ocean blue, just edging on teal in some places, and Mikey thought to himself that, in the very least, it matched his life color perfectly.
He swallowed hard and resisted the tears that were building up in his eyes. He didn’t want to cry right now. He didn’t even know what he was crying about. Because he was scared? Because he was overwhelmed? He wasn’t very good at not crying, but he forced it down, his hands trembling a bit with the effort of it.
"Does it look the same as mine?" He heard himself asking, his eyes flickering over to meet Leo's (which were now not something he recognized, looking more animal than person, though they still retained the same, familiar almond shape. The color, however, he realized, was slightly different. Leo's eyes were brown. All of their eyes were brown, so dark that they were almost black, but now, instead, Leo's eyes were mismatched; one of them dark blue, like water in a cove, like the sea at night, and the other dark red, like ink with blood, like black cherries.)
"I dunno," Leo laughed, though his voice was still shaking. "I don't know what mine looks like."
"They're... kinda the same…" Raph observed from nearby, leaning over slightly to examine them both. His voice sounded kind of hollow, like he wasn’t really there. Sort of far-off. "I mean. The parts I can see. Mikey, yours is more... orangey. And bumpier," he said. "And yours is spotty. Leo's is kinda... stripey."
"Yours is huge," Leo observed with a chuckle, glancing over at their biggest brother, who was always the tallest and largest by a wide margin, but now absolutely dwarfed the rest of them. "And... spiky. You're all spiky. And… and fucking huge, dude. You look like you have fucking paws. And your mouth is all..." He laughed again, scrubbing anxiously at his face with his hands. "You look like a fucking snapping turtle."
Mikey paused a bit at that, glancing over at the other.
Donnie must have said or signed something that the rest of them didn’t catch, because April spoke up next, clearly addressing him. "Uhm, no, yours is... uh. It's kind of flat? And..." There was a pause. "Oh, oh my god, it's, like, squishy!" She squealed, everyone else in the room jumping in response, before she tamped down the noise, biting her lip and getting a handle on her reaction. "Sorry! Sorry, I just. I just wasn't expecting that texture, that's all! It doesn't... feel like what I thought a shell would feel like, I guess."
"Are we different kinds of... turtles?" Mikey questioned, tilting his head to the side. He wanted to laugh at himself when he said turtles. I mean, seriously, turtles? Of all the creatures in the world, turtles? Why were they turtles?
"I guess we must be," Leo sighed, resting his chin on his knee. "We obviously look different."
Mikey frowned, and he thought that his lips might be trembling if he had proper lips anymore, but he wasn't sure if he did or if they could tremble or what that would feel like if they did. Okay, fine. Now there were a few tears.
"Does that mean we're not brothers?"
A beat of silence followed.
"We're not," Donnie said, and quite frankly, Mikey was surprised to hear him speaking. Small miracles? Kinda…?
"Yeah, we are. Don't be crazy," Raph immediately refuted, his brows (er... brows? Place where brows once were?) furrowing together, and Mikey was desperately relieved to see that the space in between still wrinkled into a crease the same way they always did. "Of course we're brothers."
"Evidently, we're not even the same species," Donnie hissed out bitterly, drawing himself up even closer, even smaller, into a little ball. "It's literally impossible."
"Come on, Dee--"
"We're not even human!" Donnie snapped, hunching up his shoulders. "We're not even people!"
"Hey, look, come on you guys," April tried to soothe, holding up her hands as if to calm the group. "It doesn't matter if you're turtles! It doesn't matter to me. I love you guys no matter what--"
"Oh, wow, what a comfort!" Donnie scoffed, and April bristled.
"Okay, look, I am trying to be helpful! I know that this fucking sucks but you do not need to take out your nasty attitude on me!"
Leo suddenly laughed-- loudly, painfully-- tilting his head back and letting his shoulders slump so he could stare up at the ceiling. "Oh my god. Jesus christ. We're not people," he bit out in between his barely restrained hysterics, squeezing his eyes shut. "We're freaks, dude!"
"Leo, c'mon."
"We're not even people!!!" He repeated. "Fuck. We never even had a chance, and we didn't even know it!... Oh my god, we’re such morons!!! Hahaha-- welp! This is it! Pack it in, boys, it’s all over!"
"Leo, chill. What are you even talkin’ about?"
"Did you know I was gonna go on T?" He questioned, turning around sharply, suddenly, to face Raph. "Me and Dad were talking about it. For, like, a while now. And I was gonna start T, finally. Do you know how much I wanted to do that? Do you know how long I've been waiting to get to do that?"
Raph frowned. "Leo... This doesn't mean--"
"How the fuck is that going to work now!?" He interrupted. "How is anything gonna work now? We're fucking! REPTILES! Raph!!!"
"I KNOW THAT!" Now Raph was yelling, too, and Mikey flinched a bit, hiccuping softly as he drew himself down, retreating slightly, halfway into his shell (oh my god, he can do that now?) "You think you're the only one who was lookin' forward to stuff? I was--" He cut himself off, breathing in deep and then letting it out slow, his jaw tensed.
"Look. I know this... sucks. But it's not gonna help to just throw in the towel right now and mourn shit that we don't even know is gone yet, alright? We'll... figure it out," he said. "We don’t even know what’s goin’ on, so let’s just… let's just try to figure it out first. Okay?"
Leo frowned. He looked down and to the side, tightening his hands into fists, but he didn't have any rebuttal. After a moment, he took a deep breath, pulling himself up to his feet for a second time. He tottered for a moment, his arms windmilling until he found his balance and this time he stayed on his feet. He looked around the room for a moment before his eyes fell on the limp form of Baron Draxum, still crumpled in a heap some odd paces away.
"What do we do with that guy?"
All of their eyes snapped over, as though they had all just remembered that he was there in the first place.
"Did you knock him out, dude?!" Raph questioned, his eyes widening slightly.
"No! I mean. I don't think so. Not exactly," Leo said. "It's, like-- he grabbed me and some sort of mystic-magic-whatever thing happened. He lit up with a bunch of symbols and he just... went down. I dunno what happened."
"Well," Raph said, sighing deeply before he pulled himself to his feet as well, doing a similar rock and wobble to Leo before he figured out the new balance he had to strike, correcting his own footing. His long tail swung back and forth behind him, assumedly on instinct, to help. "We dunno how long he's gonna stay down, so we oughta find a way out of here and put some distance between us and him ASAP. We already know where Dad is, anyway."
"Maybe we can figure out where we are," Donnie mumbled bleakly, pulling himself to his feet as well. He seemed to struggle much less than his brothers did, and Mikey noted that his back rounded less than theirs. April got up as well, sticking close to his side, but perhaps hovering a bit less now.
Mikey watched as his family rose up, one by one, finding their feet again. And something in his chest unwound and loosened again. A breath he hadn't realized he had been holding came tumbling out of him.
He didn't know his own face anymore. And he didn't recognize his brothers when he looked at them.
But they were still them. Already, Mikey was completely sure of it. And the change, while still terrifying, felt just a tiny bit less devastating.
He hadn’t lost them yet.
Bracing himself for the coming challenge, he rose up to his feet as well. The unfamiliar weight on his back was more than he had expected and attempted to drag him down, and he stumbled slightly, nearly toppling over onto his back the same way Leo had the first time-- but Raph grabbed his wrist before he could, pulling him forward and correcting him, and Mikey was relieved to find his center of gravity once more. Usually, he would complain about his big brother stepping in, preferring to do things on his own rather than being 'babied' by his older family members, but...
Right now, it was actually okay.
"Okay. Let's do this."
(They took about three steps before Raph yelped and tripped over his own tail.)
---
Though they had tied up the so-called "Baron Draxum" with whatever rope and other scrap they could find in this place, (the longer they were here, the more Donnie began to suspect it was a lab of some kind,) none of them were very confident that it would be able to hold him for very long, if at all, and so they all got to work trying to figure out an exit. But to call this place 'maze-like' was a bit of an understatement.
"This is the worst landmark ever," April hissed in frustration as they turned a corner, only to once again be met with a hog-tied yokai, face-down on the concrete. "We keep going in circles!"
"Okay, look," Donnie sighed. "I know we don't want to linger here any more than we have to, but let's look around a bit and see if there's anything useful lying around to get us out of here. Clearly just walking out isn't getting us anywhere."
There was a chorus of grunts and mumbles of agreement from the rest of his family, and the group slowly fanned out, beginning their search. It was dark here, wherever they were. The ground beneath his feet was cold, with him and his brothers having already ditched and stowed their sneakers and boots after realizing how awkward and painful it was to walk in them with their new wide, two-toed feet.
The space was wide and almost circular, with various tunnels branching off at different levels, all leading away to who-knew-where. Several desks and tables were scattered about the space, each surface covered in everything from charts to pipettes to oddly-shaped jars filled with oddly-colored substances. Donnie just barely resisted the urge to sit down and start working, or to begin snatching and pocketing things as he found them. Instead, he took a liberal amount of photographs of everything they found on his phone.
His impulse control could only get him so far, however, and his eyes narrowed as they fell across a small, purpley-pink gem that lay on the desk, suspended within a small glass case. This certainly looked interesting... Geology wasn't really a passion of his, but something about this just seemed... intriguing. He couldn't quite place it...
Surely no one would miss this, right? It was small! It would be silly not to take it, quite frankly, and he slipped it into his pocket as quietly as he could when he was sure no one else was looking.
Now, if only he could find some blueprints of the tunnels... But that would be too easy, wouldn't it?
"So," Mikey said after a minute or so of them searching, and Donnie sighed internally. Of course, they couldn't expect him to stay quiet for that long. "If Raph is a snapping turtle, and me and Leo are turtle-turtles, then what kind of a turtle is Donnie?"
Donnie rolled his eyes, scowling. "Okay, well, first of all, do we really have to discuss this?" He hissed, immediately bristling. "I’d highly prefer we not address the proverbial elephant in the room, thank you! Second of all, 'turtle-turtle' is not a species."
"Yeah, but, like, we have turtle shells!" Mikey explained. "But April said yours is squishy. So what does that make you?"
Donnie sighed deeply. Talking about this made his skin itch.
"A softshell turtle, I suppose."
"A softshell?" Leo questioned, raising a brow. "That's a thing?"
"Yes."
"How do you know that off the top of your head?" Raph questioned.
"Some of us actually paid attention during biology classes," he responded dryly. And having a near-photographic memory did, admittedly, help as well…
"Whoa!" Mikey absolutely beamed. "That's so cool! Now we just gotta figure out what kind of turtles me and Leo are!"
"Well, I'd look it up if we had any service. And also if it was even close to being an appropriate time for us to waste our efforts on something like that," Donnie said with a roll of his eyes. He knew that Mikey was just distracting himself, finding a silver lining so he didn’t break down, but Donnie didn’t want to think about it, didn’t want to think about how much of their entire lives was completely fabricated, about how--
He snorted, suddenly doubling over with laughter.
"What?" April questioned, raising a brow.
"I just-- I just realized!" Donnie laughed. "Our... our moms must be turtles! Fucking turtles!"
There was a beat of silence as this sunk in before Raph gave a similar reaction. "Damn! I guess you're right, huh?"
"Do you have any idea how much time I wasted in therapy talking about this?" Donnie squeaked out through giggles. "I spent so much time with Mossy talking about our mom and how she didn't want us or whatever the fuck and about the stuff she did to Dad and how I couldn't remember her, and she-- she was never even real! None of that ever even happened! She was just a fucking turtle, wasn't she!? We don’t even have a real mom!"
"Whoa! Mind... blown. I didn't even think about that..." Mikey gaped, his eyes wide. "This whole time I just assumed that our mom was probably the hotel lady..."
"Yeah, me too," Leo agreed.
Donnie blinked.
"You what?"
"Well, you know, that woman that Dad was datin’ right before he disappeared," Raph said. "And she runs the Grand Nexus Hotel, right? All the articles I ever read always mentioned her."
Donnie's eyes twitched. "You thought she was our mother?" He questioned.
"Well, that's who Dad was datin’ last! And for a long time, too. It'd make sense, wouldn't it?" Raph defended.
"Yeah. You didn't think that?" Leo said.
"NO! Why would I think that?!" Donnie was laughing again.
Leo huffed in offense, crossing his arms over his chest. "I'm sorry, do you know something we don't?"
"Apparently!" Donnie exclaimed. "Guys, you've seen pictures of her, right?!"
"Well, yeah?" Mikey tilted his head to the side.
"She's pale as fuck!"
"So?"
"And our Dad is Japanese!"
"And? Donnie, what's your point?"
"We're black!"
"... Ooooohhhhh," all three of his brothers said, nearly in unison, after Donnie's argument finally sunk in.
"Oh my god," Donnie laughed, covering his face with his hands, scrubbing tears from his eyes. "You're all so fucking dumb..."
"I guess our mom would have had to be black. I mean. We got the Japanese half from Dad, but... I never really thought about where the other half came from..." Raph admitted, his mouth still slightly agape like he was still rolling the thought about in his head.
"Wait a minute," April said, her hands on her hips. "I mean, yeah, all that makes sense, but if you guys have secretly been turtles this whole time, then why are you black?"
"Dude, are all turtles black?" Mikey questioned, his eyes widening.
"I cannot discuss this any further. I'll get a migraine and furthermore cease to function, as I am, and I cannot stress this enough, just barely suppressing the gravity of this whole situation right now," Donnie sighed, gesturing to himself as he turned back to the desk in front of him. "Did anyone find anything yet?"
"Not yet," April sighed, shuffling through some papers. "What even is all this junk?"
"I'm not sure. Some sort of research, it seems like..." Donnie mused, sort of thumbing through a book as he spoke, reading key phrases and chunks of text as quickly as he could and making mental notes so he could refer back to it later. He was more than happy to have something else to focus on, though this would admittedly be a lot easier with human hands. "But I'm still not sure where--"
Shhhh shhhh.
Donnie paused mid-sentence, his brows furrowed. He hadn't noticed that sound before now. He tilted his head a bit to the side, turning in its direction, trying to zero in.
"... Donnie?"
"What's that noise?" He questioned aloud, though his voice was barely above a whisper.
Shhhh shhhhh.
He knew that noise. He recognized it. Where had he heard it before?
Shhhh shhhhh.
... Water, he realized with a start. The noise was running water. Of course. How had he never realized this before?...
That's what he was hearing. That's what he had heard.
"Dee? You good?"
"Guys," he said, turning just enough to glance over in their direction. His face suddenly felt like glass. It was odd. "I think... I think we're in the sewer," he said. "... And I think we've been here before...?"
Before anyone could say anything further, a new noise filled up the space.
Skrrrtttccchhhhh.
---
"What was that?!" Mikey shrieked, immediately leaping behind his biggest brother to hide. Leo and Donnie were instantly gravitating to each other as well, falling into stance on instinct as they stood back to back, each covering the other.
"It sounds like something scratching," April said thoughtfully, and true to her word, the same skritching noise clawed its way through the air a moment later, echoing slightly against the walls. "I think it's coming from over here!"
"April!" Raph hissed off a protest as she took off, heading in the direction of the sound. "We don't know what that is!"
"We will if we go look!" She chirped in reply. I mean, come on, what was the benefit of hiding over here instead of investigating? Weren't they curious either way? Besides, they were stuck here regardless-- maybe they'd find something helpful.
The noise continued as April searched, peering around corners and down tunnels, until, finally, she found her prize. Tucked inside one of the off-shoot tunnels, one of the many dead-ends that seemed to surround this space, was a proverbial treasure trove. A variety of odds and ends filled the space; various amulets and scrolls and chests and even weapons were leaned up against the wall or stacked up on the ground. In fact, a lot of weapons were in here. Was this some kind of a weird armory? Or a trophy room? What kind of sewer has a trophy room?
But most interestingly, she found the source of the noise. Inside a small, dimly lit orb, looking as though it were made of some sort of glass, or perhaps even light, was one of the oddest creatures April had ever seen, clawing sadly at the surface of its prison. It had ears like a chihuahua, pointed and too big for its head, with tufts of fur poofing out from inside, but huge eyes like some kind of a cat. Pointed tusks stuck from its mouth like a boar, but soft, downy yellow-and-blue fur covered its entire, squirrel-like body, complete with a fluffy, wriggly tail.
"AW, you guyyssss!" She called out. "Come look! It's cute!"
"April!" The guys were right behind her, with Raph leading the charge. "You can't just run off like-- jumpin' jack flash! What the heck is that thing?!"
"I dunno!" April said with a shrug, immediately making her way into the room, scooping up the orb so she could examine it, looking for a way to open it up. The little critter inside pattered about excitedly, its claws clicking against the smooth surface. "Help me figure out how to get him outta here."
"Are you sure about that?" Leo questioned. "No offense, but we have nooo idea what that thing is! Maybe it's, I dunno, locked up for a reason?"
"What? C'mon, guys, we've gotta help!" Mikey protested, turning on them with big, pleading eyes. Nice, April thought, with Mikey on her side she had basically already won. Suck it, middle children. "Plus, he was locked up by Draxum. So he can't be bad!"
"Yeah! Ever heard ‘the enemy of my enemy is my friend?’" April added in.
"I'm not convinced," Donnie said, crossing his arms over his chest. "I mean, has anyone else noticed that pretty much everything else in this room is a weapon of some kind? Isn't that maybe a bit telling?"
"Aw, come on, Dee. Look at this face!" April insisted, holding up the orb to the others. The creature, to their credit, played their part, pulling an absolutely pitiful face which Mikey immediately echoed, turning to his brothers with watery eyes.
Checkmate.
"Okay, okay, fine. Look, there's gotta be something in here that can help us bust him out..." Leo muttered, beginning to pick his way through the contents of the room with Raph, Donnie, and Mikey following suit shortly after.
"Here, what about these?" Leo said after a moment, turning to face them with a pair of twin katanas in hand. "Think I could slice that bad boy open with these guys?"
April scoffed, clutching the orb close to her chest. "Uhm, and this guy in half, maybe!" She protested. "Can we try something a little less deadly, please?"
"Aw, come on! These are cool," Leo protested, grinning as he twirled them in his hands with a metallic shwing.
"You just like them because you always win at any swordsmanship event at tournaments," Donnie remarked dryly, grabbing a long wooden staff to hold in his hands, testing the weight of it. "... That being said, should we maybe grab some of these just in case?"
"Whaddya mean?" Raph glanced over at the other.
"Well, we haven't even made it to the Hidden City yet, and we've already been attacked once," Donnie reasoned, placing a hand on his hip and frowning. "So it wouldn't exactly be a bad idea to have some weapons on hand in case of an emergency." He spun the bo staff in his hands appraisingly a few times. "I mean, obviously this is a bit underwhelming, but I'm sure I could make some improvements once we got back home..."
"Sounds like a good plan to me! Look at all the stuff they’ve got!” Mikey cheered, immediately diving in, beginning to sort through all the various options they had in the room. He chuckled darkly, swinging a pair of nun-chucks in his hands. “These’ll do…”
“Yo, guys!” Raph called, waving to get his brothers’ attention before pointing to the very far corner of the room. “If we’re gonna take stuff, why don’t we take the glowy ones?”
There was, in fact, a weapons rack filled with floating, vaguely glowing weapons, tucked away in the shadows, which only made the glow all that much more tempting. They were simply begging to be taken.
Mikey and Leo, almost in unison, gasped, their faces absolutely lighting up as they raced over to join Raph. “Ooh, dibs on the sword!” Leo cheered, immediately snatching up the odachi and repeatedly striking poses.
“Hot soup! Check me out!” Mikey snatched up a bright orange kusari-fundo, absolutely beaming ear-to-ear. Raph was nearly drooling as he laid his claim on a pair of tonfas, beaming as he gave a few experimental swings.
“They’re perfect! No one’ll mess with us now!”
“What about you, Donnie?” April questioned, tilting her head back to glance at the remaining brother. “Don’t you want a glowy weapon?”
“And add yet another unknown, uncontrolled variable to our current situation? I’m good,” Donnie scoffed, rolling his eyes. “I’ve trained with a regular, wooden bo staff. I’ll fight with a wooden bo staff, thank you very much. You all have fun with your likely-radioactive weaponry,” he said, waving them off.
“Here, April, I got something for you, too,” Mikey chirped excitedly, scampering over to present his find to her. “Ta-da!!! Baseball bat!”
It wasn’t a baseball bat-- it was a club. But close enough! April gasped in delight. “It’s perfect!” She enthused, immediately snatching it up, rolling it around in her hands and tapping it against the side of her shoe a few times. Ooh, and the weight was perfect, too. “And I think it can help us get little guy out of this ball thingie, too! Leo, come hold it still for me!”
"Aw man, why do I gotta hold it?" Leo muttered in complaint but did as he was told regardless, kneeling down to hold the orb steady, taking care in the placement of his hands to minimize the chances of broken fingers.
"Alright," April said, backing up a bit, her tongue sticking out from between her lips with focus. "This won't hurt a bit..."
She swung the club back, taking care to temper her strength, and brought it down on the little ball prison with a satisfying crunch.
"Did it work?" Mikey gasped, his eyes wide as he leaned over. The orb was not shattered nor laying in pieces; but the side of it had caved in considerably, a spiderweb of cracks blossoming from it, and a second later, it simply dissolved as if it had never been there in the first place. The creature that had previously been trapped inside cracked one eye open, having squeezed itself into the very back of its cage, flinching at the oncoming impact, gave an absolute trill of excitement, darting about in celebration.
"There we go!" April said, grinning wide, her hands planted on her hips. "See, told ya I'd get you outta there! That's better, right?"
The little yellow beast threw itself into her lap, wriggling with joy and nuzzling at her with an enthusiastic wag of its tail. "Okay, okay! You're welcome!" April laughed, giggling as she allowed the creature to clamber about in her arms, allowing it time to bounce about before it finally began to settle again.
"Any chance you know how to get out of here, little guy?"
---
Raph looked up from his phone and his tea at the sound of mail plopping down on the table, glancing over to examine the letters his father had just tossed over in his direction.
"For you," Dad remarked, sorting through the remaining mail from the day.
"For me?" Raph echoed, his brows rising up. "Who the heck is sending me mail?" Curiosity took hold immediately, and he abandoned the wrestling video he had been watching previously in favor of tearing open the letters on the table.
He was surprised to find college brochures inside. His father, however, did not seem all that surprised at all, even adding a couple more to the pile.
"It seems you are in high demand," Dad teased, smiling the tiniest bit. "I have received a few emails as well from recruiters recently."
Raph paused for a moment, rolling this idea about in his brain, trying to figure out what it meant and what it tasted like before he forced a small laugh, rubbing the back of his neck nervously.
"Guess they haven't seen my grades yet," he joked weakly. Dad hummed softly, pulling up a chair so he could sit down next to his eldest son.
"Nonsense," he scoffed. "Your grades are fine, Raphael. You've simply tricked yourself into thinking they're not by comparing yourself to others," he added, giving the other a knowing look. "And besides that, this is hardly the only thing that matters. I have told you many times that grades aren't everything. My grades in high school were terrible!" He remarked with a laugh. "And your career in sports is very impressive."
"I guess," Raph said, wrinkling his nose up a bit as he leaned over the table. Easy for him to say. He had a hard time wrapping his head around the idea of colleges being interested in him when his three younger brothers were right here in the same damn house! Had they really meant to send these to Hamato Raphael?
Dad's hand moved to rub little circles into his back, and he nudged his son's teacup a bit. Raph agreeably took a sip, allowing the warm liquid to trickle down through his chest.
"I know you have not always enjoyed schoolwork, Raphael," Dad finally spoke again. "But you are not stupid. You may very well have the most common sense of any of my children!" He chuckled. "And you have many talents besides that. You are a remarkable athlete, and I know I do not have to drag you over to the trophy wall to prove this to you, but I will if I have to. You are only sixteen and you are already the captain of multiple sports teams... not just anyone could handle that! It is difficult to lead a team. But you have always handled this with grace. And teaching children! That is a talent in and of itself. That is no easy task. Trust me, I know," he said, smiling slightly. "But you are doing so well with your new job. And I am very proud of you."
Raphael glanced over at his father, for just a moment, hesitating like he wanted to say something, but then biting it back.
"You don't have to go to college if you don't want to," Dad added. "If you decide that is not the path for you, that is fine. I won't be upset or disappointed. I did not go to college, either! But I would hate for you to not even consider it just because you don't think you're good enough for it," he pressed. "I know you've always said you intend to pursue a career in sports of some kind, but this is very much an avenue to achieve that if you'd like. Many professional athletes get their start through college sports, you know. And I can already name half a dozen universities off the top of my head who would be thrilled to have you on their team in a couple of years!"
He sighed softly.
"But you do not have to decide right now, my son. There is still plenty of time for you to consider all of your options."
Raph glanced over at his father, shifting a bit in his seat, before looking to the side.
"Uh. I dunno, Pops. I mean. I'm not good at tests and all that junk. I mean. College football could be good 'n all, but, uh..."
He hesitated a second, sort of scratching the side of his jaw, hesitating a bit. "I dunno. Maybe I could... I mean. We could look at it, at least. I was kind of wonderin’ about, uh. I dunno… Just, lately, I was thinkin' about... studyin' early childhood education, maybe?..."
[ next ]
#sorrywhatnowau#sorrywhatnowau fic#rottmnt#rottmnt fanfic#rise of the tmnt#rise of the teenage mutant ninja turtles#rottmnt au#rottmnt human au#tmnt
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Why I Love 2012 Raphael
A TMNT 2012 Character Appreciation/Character Analysis Post
If you know me or follow me here or on Instagram then you know that my favorite Ninja Turtle is Raphael. More specifically, Raphael from the TMNT 2012 series. Nowadays, this version of Raph gets a lot of unfair hate from fans (new and old), which I find to be ridiculous. So I decided to show this turtle in red some love and express my reasons as to why I love 2012 Raphael.
To start, I wanna give some love and appreciation to Raphael’s voice actor, Sean Astin. His voice was perfect for the role. I feel so many other Raphael voices try too hard to make him sound manly and more of a giant muscular brute, often forgetting that he is just a teenage boy. Sean does a good job making Raph sound tough when needed, but still making him sound like he is a teenager. He does a great job balancing Raph’s rude attitude but also his gentle and sweet side as well. Also he nailed those girlish screams! XD I feel voice actors nowadays don’t get a lot of recognition, so I wanted to show my appreciation here.
The biggest thing I love about Raphael is his development in the show. I’d argue he had the most/best character development among the four Turtles. We all know how he is in the beginning of the series, being rude, hotheaded, constantly picking fights with Leo and other characters. The show makes it obvious that Raph in S1-2 is scared of his own emotions and feelings, the only time he truly opens up and expresses himself is when he talks to his pet turtle, Spike. The best way I can describe Raph’s character is that he is the “tough guy with a heart of gold” trope. I believe one of the show’s producers, Ciro Neili, even confirmed that was their intention when creating Raph’s character for the show. Raph is a brute, a hothead, but deep down he's a big softie. A lot of Raphael haters seem to forget or ignore that fact about his character. Yes, he is mostly known throughout the fandom to be the hothead, he is the muscle of the group, but he is also the protector. Raph knows that, so if he comes off as weak, then he loses that title. Deep down Raph, and the people around him, know that he is a big softy who loves and cares for others, but he keeps up this tough guy persona in order to protect and seem strong for the ones he loves most.
As the series goes on Raph learns to open up to others, he grows to respect Leo as a leader and seems to control his temper way more by Season 5. On rewatch I notice in S4-5, Raph only ever gets mad for valid/understandable reasons, mainly when someone is hurting/threatening his loved ones. How did this happen? I believe Raph’s development started when he lost Spike in season 2.
Slash and Destroy is one of my favorite Raphael focused episodes and I will stand by and say that this episode was the beginning of Raph’s character development. In the episode, Raph’s pet Spike gets mutated and becomes Slash, targeting and attacking Raph’s brothers. As a reminder, up to this episode, the only person Raph could express his true feelings to was Spike. Everytime Raph ranted negatively about his brothers, Spike was there to hear it, causing him to have a negative view on Leo, Donnie and Mikey. Slash shows pure hatred for the brothers, especially Leo. After brutally attacking Leo, Slash smiles and says “Been looking forward to that for a long time.” The mutagen warped Slash’s brain, making him go crazy and viciously attack Raph’s brothers because like Raph said earlier in the episode, he doesn’t need them. Raph gets a visual representation of his words and negative thoughts towards his brothers in action through Slash. Slash’s purpose in this episode is to represent all of Raph’s anger and frustration he’s had for his brothers over the years based on what he told Spike. By the end of the episode, Splinter comforts Raph and suggests that he should “focus on the friends he has in the present''. For all of Raph’s life, he trusted and relied only on Spike, but Spike is now gone, so Splinter indirectly advises his son that it is time to trust and rely on others, to not bottle up his emotions, advice that Raph takes.
As the show goes on, Raph slowly progresses, opening up more to others, which will eventually lead to him having two great things in his life come season 4 (but we’ll talk about them later).
Casey was another part of Raph’s development that some fans don’t notice. Donnie makes a comment that Casey being around is like having two Raphaels. While Raph and Casey become best friends because of their similar personalities, Casey is also a reflection of Raph. When around Casey, Raph has to be the level headed one, the responsible one. He criticizes Casey for not being stealthy like a ninja in the S2 episode Newtralized and not planning ahead in the fight (remind you of anyone? *cough* Leo *cough*). When they first meet, Raph gives Casey the same exact advice his father gave him earlier in the episode that “anger is a dangerous alley”. Casey is a more reckless version of Raph, something Raph unknowingly sees and tries to help and protect, he has to be the mature one in their dynamic, opposite to when he’s teamed up with Leo and gets to be the rebel again. It’s like he’s getting a taste of his own medicine.
Not to mention, Raph met Casey after he lost Spike, having a new friend he can rely on. Later on in the episode Newtralized, after meeting Slash, Casey says, “Is that your old pet turtle? The one who got mutated?”. This little piece of dialogue is so important to Raph’s character but it sadly goes over a lot of people’s heads. It indirectly tells us that off screen, Raph has opened up to Casey and told him about a traumatic and hard time in his life. Progress that we will continue to see as the show goes on.
Season 3 Raph at the Farmhouse was the peak of his character development! Raphael took charge in that arc. He became the temporary leader of the group when Leo was out of commission due to his injury. After losing their father (reminder they thought Splinter was dead by this point), being chased out of their home and the city, and losing to one of their greatest enemies, Raph stepped up. He took care of everyone. He made sure that Donnie, Mikey and even April kept up with their ninja training, he was the one who is always prepared during an attack or new threat (ex: when he and the others were trapped in the geyser in the episode Eyes of The Chimera and he was the only one with a grappling hook to help them get out, criticizing his brothers for not being true ninjas and how they should be prepared for anything). April even states that for months, Raph stayed by Leo’s side when he was in his coma, refusing to eat or sleep, and when Leo did wake up, Raph was the first to help him get back on his feet, taking him out on walks to help get his strength back.
Raph not only was there for Leo, but he was there for Donnie. After Donnie gets heartbroken when April rejects his music box gift in the episode A Foot Too Big, Mikey is sympathetic, but Raph hits Donnie with a much needed reality check. He tells him bluntly “It's never gonna happen, Donnie. We're mutants. She's a girl. You're a giant talking turtle. The sooner you get used to it, the better.” Even with that though, Raph acknowledges his brother’s broken heart and quickly tries to cheer Donnie up and get his mind off April with some training. Then later in the episode, when Donnie expresses how uncomfortable he is with Big Foot’s romantic gestures, Raph once again nails it perfectly by telling him, “Now you know how April feels.” Some may say what Raph said was mean and how he should’ve put him down more gently, but in truth this was something Donnie needed to hear and no one else was gonna do it any time soon! Someone had to open his eyes to the situation, and Raph was the perfect candidate.
The final brother dynamic in the farmhouse arc with Mikey and Raph was little when it came to screen time, but Raph still shows how much he loves his little brother after Mikey gets captured by the Punk Frogs in the episode The Croaking. As soon as he sees Mikey, Raph drops everything mid fight to hug his brother, relieved for his safety, though the hug abruptly ends after Raph and Mikey find the situation to be “weird”, a very brotherly response if you ask me XD
With this, we know full well how much Raph loves his brothers. Despite his “lone wolf” attitude in season 1, Raph makes it clear from the very beginning that he does care about his brothers more than anything else in the world. He's loyal, he stays by his brothers' side and has admitted countless times that he would rather die than see them get hurt. "I have no problem risking my own life, but risking my brothers?" (S1 ep14) and he states this again in the next season, “Sorry, Slash. My brothers come first, no matter what.” (S2 ep7). Raph makes it clear (to the audience) that his brothers and his family always come first (so I don’t know why fans keep saying he hates them).
Also, anyone that says that he abuses and is a bully to Mikey needs to go touch some grass because that is a big fat lie and you obviously didn't watch the show (or you're an only child). Brothers are going to fight and pick on each other. That is normal! As someone with an older brother (who is much like Raph btw), I can confirm that siblings to this and in the end we still love each other and have each other’s backs. Out of all the brothers Raph is the most protective of Mikey. The second he learns that Mikey is hurt or someone wants to harm him he is the first going in for the attack or the first one to take action to protect Mikey and bring him to safety.
I mentioned this earlier, but I love how Raph grows/learns to respect Leo as a leader, though he still questions his brother’s judgment from time to time. By season 5, in the episode The Forgotten Swordsman, Raph and Mikey are out on patrol and start talking about Leo. Mikey expresses concern for Leo to which Raph says “He just misses Master Splinter. Being sensei's hard on him. I just wish we knew-”. Raph gets cut off, so we never know what he was going to say, but I headcanon he was going to say “I just wish we knew how to help him.” Raph acknowledges Leo’s growing stress and pressure of being the new sensei after Splinter’s death and he wants to help out anyway he can, but he (and everyone else) just don’t know how. He looks up to and respects Leo and cares about him a lot more than fans and even he himself believe.
Though we see very little moments of them, my overall favorite brother dynamic is Raph with Donnie. I like how Raph is the only brother who is direct and tries to help Donnie move on from his crush on April because he worries and cares for Donnie and knows he’s sensitive when it comes to his feelings. Even when Raph shows disapproval of Donnie’s crush on April, Raph will still be a wingman for Donnie. In the episode Operation: Break Out, after rescuing April’s dad from the Kraang prison, Raph starts hyping Donnie up in front of April to make him look good. Also Donnie refers to him and Raph as “The New A Team” in the episode Arena of Carnage (Mikey does too at one point in another episode, but later he calls him and Raph “Team Awesome”). I just think Donnie and Raph are a fun team and a very underrated sibling duo of “brains and brawn” in the series. It deserves more love and attention from fans.
I’ve talked about how much Raph cares for and is loyal to his brothers, but he is the same towards his friends too. He's protective of April, being the one to go rescue her from the Kraang in the episode The Kraang Conspiracy. He’s even the one who’s words get to April when she was possessed by the alien Za-Naron in the episode The Power Inside Her, reminding April about how much she cares for Donnie which gives her the strength she needed to free herself from Za-Naron’s control. Raph shows he cares for Casey's safety when they do dangerous missions that are out of Casey’s element and was the one who made sure Casey was safe when he was cursed by Alopex’s blade in season 4, and despite their past, Raph is always worried and shows concern for Slash.
Raph shows throughout season 2 that he has faith in Slash to turn to the side of good (something Raph gets proven right about later on). Raph is even one of the first people to trust Slash when he returns with his new team The Mighty Mutanimals in season 3, despite Leo's harsh judgements and suspicion.
The strange thing is, it is usually the other way around, with Leo wanting to make allies and Raph being the distrusting one, a dynamic switch we will see again in season 4…
I can’t make a 2012 Raphael appreciation post/character analysis without talking about the queen herself, Mona Lisa! As mentioned previously, Raph is a softie, and one of the biggest examples of that is when it comes to his relationship with his love interest, later girlfriend, Y’gythgba aka Mona Lisa. When trying to survive on the ice planet, Raph is the only one to suggest that he and the others should team up with the Salamandrians to find the metal they need to fix their ships and get off the planet. Though Raph’s plan is highly motivated by his newfound feelings for Mona, he knows that it is the best option that can help save his family and friends, and despite Leo dismissing the idea, Raph sneaks off alone to convince the Salamandrians himself.
Raph’s feelings for Mona Lisa have always interested me, specifically how he fell for her. Unlike his brothers with their love interests being the cliche “love at first sight”, Raph’s was “love at first fight”. We all know how Raph fell for Mona, they fought each other after a misunderstanding and after one good punch to the face Raph was smitten. He quickly began admiring her strength, acknowledging what a power punch she gave him, and amazed by her skills and spirit as a warrior. Raph admits right from the start that he loves Mona because she's “bigger, stronger and a better fighter than” him. He never once feels that his masculinity is being threatened when around her, and throughout their relationship never told her to not be herself. He loves that she's better than him as a warrior and can beat his shell! He shows excitement at the suggestion of him and her sparring together someday in the episode The War for Dimension X. He adores her, and never cares about others' judgment regarding his relationship with her. When Casey laughs at him after discovering his crush on her, instead of denying his feelings or getting angry at Casey and later the others for mocking him (something we would expect Raph to do), Raph instead continues expressing his romantic interest in her to everyone. He opened up about his feelings to others! If S1 Raph met and fell in love with Mona, I’m convinced he would’ve been a tsundere and just be in denial about it the entire time, not wanting to look soft because he has a crush. Raph met Mona at the perfect time in his life. He has emotionally mature. In truth, I think Mona made Raph a better man and was the key to help him continue his character growth throughout the rest of the series.
A good example of how much Raph has changed and matured is when Mona betrayed him in the episode The Evil of Dregg. Discovering that his first love, the one person he trusted “more than anyone in the galaxy” betrayed him, broke Raph’s heart and his fighting spirit. When Mona pleads for forgiveness, you can understand Raph’s anger and now he’s not quick to forgive her, but even when he’s mad at her he still loves her. Look at Raph right before Mona goes off into battle:
If he was truly mad at her, he wouldn’t be looking back, his back would be fully turned, refusing to have his eyes meet with her’s. He looks back at her but he’s not looking at her with anger or hatred, it’s sorrow. Raph still cares, he’s just hurt at the moment. Because of the betrayal, Raph believes that everything he and Mona have been through meant nothing to her, but then Mona assures him that his doubts are wrong when she tells him that she loves him for the first time, and that’s all Raph needed to hear to bring back his fighting spirit and run into battle to join her. Raph even snaps and tries to kill Lord Dregg after he harmed Mona and shows just how far he’ll go for her if someone ever tries to harm her (he does it again in S5 when Bishop insults Mona, he quickly jumps in to defend “his woman”). By the end of the episode, Raph and Mona reconcile. Him forgiving her shows how much Raph has grown as a character. S1 Raph would never have forgiven her, he would’ve held the grudge and not let go of it, but this Raph knows what Mona did was out of her control, she was blackmailed, so Raph did the mature thing, understood her situation, and forgave her. Him forgiving her shows how strong their love for each other is, and they keep on showing how much they love one another throughout the rest of the series.
Some other little details about Raph’s character that I like is that he's an animal guy. With his first pet Spike and the rooftop pigeons, we see a side of him that everyone else rarely gets to see. This minor trait about his character speaks a thousand words. It shows that he is gentle and caring at heart despite his tough persona he gives out to everyone else. We see this not only with Spike in seasons 1-2, but also later in seasons 4-5 with his new pet, Chompy Picasso.
By the time Chompy enters Raph’s life, he has matured. The purpose for Spike was for Raph to have someone to talk to about his feelings and express himself without judgment. Spike was like a therapy dog. Chompy however is not that. Raph has learned to open up by this point in the story, so he doesn’t need Chompy to talk about his personal problems and frustration as much as he had with Spike. Yes, Chompy is there to listen to Raph but at this point in the story Raph is open and expressive and not afraid to show his feelings to others. Raph has probably mention things to Chompy he still wouldn’t say to others (like in The Tale of Tiger Claw, he talks about Mona Lisa to Chompy, seeming that this isn’t the first time he’s done this), but Chompy isn’t a pet for Raph to vent to, instead he was a way for Raph to learn a new responsibility. Chompy is just a baby who just needs someone to love him, to look after and care for him, and Raph is that someone. He took a big responsibility to take care of Chompy after it was believed that his mother, Tokka, was killed. Raph doesn’t need another therapy dog, no, Chompy needs a caregiver, and when Tokka returns to take back her baby, she sees how much Chompy loves Raph and decides that it is better for him to stay on Earth with Raph where she knows he will be safe. I will always stand by this: Raph needed Spike, Chompy needed Raph.
This is probably an unpopular opinion, but I think Raphael is more similar and a parallel to Splinter than Leonardo is. Leo may be Splinter’s “best pupil” and next in line to be sensei for the Hamato Clan, but Splinter and Raph have a lot more in common than the show’s canon or even the fandom acknowledge and it hurts to think of the wasted potential. Raph obviously inherited Splinter's temper. We see in flashbacks that when Splinter was a young man he had an uncontrollable temper that Shredder could easily manipulate, and we still sometimes see that temper blow up in the show when Splinter is upset and disciplining his sons. There’s more similarities though than just them both being hotheaded. They both have a love and appreciation for art. Splinter mentions in Lone Rat and Cubs that he always wanted to be an artist, and it’s well known he loves the renaissance artists. Raph being an artist is a cute and fun little detail about his character that I really like and you see many times in the show, but fans barely acknowledge. He’s the one who painted the Venus pin up girl on the Party Wagon, he gives his girlfriend the nickname “Mona Lisa” (which he indirectly tells her that every time he calls her Mona Lisa he is reminding her that she is a beautiful work of art), and names his pet "Chompy Picasso" after the artist Pablo Picasso. Not to mention that both men know the pain and fear of the woman you love dying in your arms. I love Raph’s relationship with Splinter in the show, and it’s honestly way more interesting than Leo and Splinter’s.
I love their little “Spike, chew on your leaf…” bit in season 1 and how they bond over the Japanese mantra to help Raph overcome his fear of insects in season 4 (btw Raph being scared of bugs was so fun, I like the trope of the big strong dude being scared of something so small and harmless). The episode ends on a fun note, Splinter tells Raph to not tell the others of the mantra cause he “might use that trick on them one day”, showing that Splinter has a devious fun side to him similar to Raph’s.
Is 2012 Raphael perfect? Not at all. No character is. He still has flaws, but I feel that’s what makes him such a fun character still. I feel he had the best and most character development in the series. I love his voice actor, I love his character development, I love his relationship with his brothers, friends and girlfriend, I love all the little character details about him from his love of animals to his passion in art. It’s just my personal opinion, but I think 2012 Raph is the best version of Raphael. He has faced injustice in this day and age with fans misrepresenting his character and hating him for the wrong reasons. You don’t have to like him, everyone has their own opinions on certain characters and I respect that, but there’s a time when not liking him goes too far with saying he’s a bully and abuses his family. The haters can go argue with a wall, 2012 Raphael is the best and I love him, and I hope this post made you appreciate him a little bit more too <3
#tmnt analysis#character analysis#character appreciation#long post#tmnt 2012#tmnt#teenage mutant ninja turtles#tmnt raphael#tmnt raph#raph tmnt#raphael hamato#tmnt leonardo#tmnt donatello#tmnt michelangelo#tmnt slash#casey jones#tmnt casey#tmnt mona lisa#april o'neil#tmnt april#master splinter#tmnt splinter#nickelodeon
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“Answer our other questions first! I don’t trust you after everything you’ve done! After everything you’ve caused! You….you helped kill my brother!” Donnie screeches, hand on his tech bō shaking so badly out of anger he worries he might break it.
“I never meant for you to be harmed this way. You won’t believe me when I say it, but none of this was born from malice. I haven’t spoken until now because there was no need to. As for why I’ve been tormenting you….it’s for a reason you are not going to easily accept.”
“Just say it already!” Leon insists.
“I did it because I was asked to.”
Raph nearly hits the hand with his fist, just barely hitting the ground next to it.
“You think we asked for this!?”
“No. You didn’t. Someone else did.“
“Who!? Who would ask for this to happen to us!? To everyone else!?” Donnie asks.
“To put it simply, the people who made you.”
“W-We don’t even know our original parents….” Mikey comments.
“No, not just you. Your entire world. Everyone in this competition is formed from a collection of ideas from an author or authors. These authors gave you the titles you go by. They sent you here to compete. To meet other characters in their own stories. To promote their own stories. That’s how this started. No Fun in Fungus, they simply sent an “ask” of mushrooms, spores. Then your author wanted more, one for each of you.”
“What possible reason could there be for doing this to us!?” Donnie grits his teeth.
“To give more to your story. To bring you all closer together. I too was created in this way, for this purpose. I have merely been a tool to different beings. It may sound ridiculous, maybe even insensitive, tragic, but you should consider what you have gotten. What you’ve learned. When Karai was brought here, you were even told not to think too hard about such a concept.”
Each of the brothers want to make the argument that it’s crazy, but they do in fact remember what the competition mod said to them.
“Even Misa giving you those flowers was an ask sent by an author. These asks…..they were all in good fun. Hurting you was just to make comfort all the better. You were never supposed to die. You were never even supposed to be seriously injured. I just enjoyed seeing all the stories coming from the spores so much. It’s gone too far. It’s why I want to help now, before someone is killed in a way they can’t come back from. No Fun in Fungus was already over, they were supposed to rest. You all still have a lot of story left to tell, it’s not supposed to end here.”
The four of them take in this crazy amount of information they’ve just been told. Can they really trust the hand after all they’ve been through?
“What can you even do to help?” Leon questions angrily.
“The spores are not the only item I possess, as you know. I am intertwined into your and No Fun in Fungus’ storylines. For that reason, I am able to bring out what is called a plot device.” The hand moves to the side, revealing TNT charges connected to an empty base.
“There’s nothing in there.” Donnies says dryly.
“Sometimes plot devices are there to urge the story forward in different ways. In order for this to work, I need mystic energy from each of you. That may be difficult for Michelangelo in his current state, perhaps I could find another one-“
“Mikey, my brother I love so much, I did not bring you back from the dead for you to kill yourself again. Lay. Down.” Leon threatens.
Mikey lays back down.
“It does not have to be him. Because of your being separated at first, you haven’t had the chance to completely understand ninpo. It seems only Mikey truly has.” The hand explains.
“You mean the sacrificial martyrs? Why would we want to know about them? Mikey’s been doing that way too much already!” Leon complains.
“Hamato have sacrificed themselves numerous times, that is true. You’ve seen it be true. Ninpo isn’t inherently about dying for a cause. It’s just how it’s been used a lot, considered the only way. It also has been used to save. Out of love. You’ve seen that too. Ninpo is about the connection to your family. That’s why Donatello was able to use it. That’s why Mikey woke up and used it. When you’re about to lose who you hold dear, your connection strengthens more than ever.”
DvD glances at Mikey. They stare at each other for a second or two. It’s true that they’ve been through an experience nobody else could, or should, truly replicate.
Maybe DvD sort of understands why the NFIF group are the way they are. Obviously he knows how it feels to want to protect his brothers after almost losing them, but what he’s learning is why they’re so willing to throw away their lives even for people who just look vaguely like family.
It’s so much easier to experience pain than to experience someone you love going through pain.
It’s a sentiment he wouldn’t have even considered before everything they’ve been through. Something Draxum never would have let him ponder.
He loves his family.
It’s messed up, they lost years of being able to know each other, there was so much distrust, and things aren’t even close to perfect right now.
But this is his family.
Even April, who has zero blood relation to them but still went through all this just to help.
Misa, who’s yearned for family and takes the role of an elder sibling because she wants to take care of others despite her young age.
Karai, who is related to them but wasn’t originally even supposed to know them if her mission had succeeded.
Something he’d protect with his life.
The hand brings the container closer. DvD looks back at it and hesitantly puts his hand on it. A purple, glowy, shiny substance pours inside. He takes it back after a moment, feeling like he was drained a little bit, but otherwise fine.
Raph and Leo look down at it in surprise before the latter takes on more of a bitter expression.
“I’m the one who took care of Mikey. I protected him. I did my best every single day for years to feed him, clothe him, give him what he needs. I was there for him longer than any of you. Why don’t I have powers like him and Donnie? Are….are they closer….than we are?” Leon frowns deeply.
“No! Leo, I love you just as much! I promise! That’s not how it is-!” Mikey voice cracks from how raw his throat still is.
Raph gently rubs his shell.
“He’s right. Connection to family doesn’t mean how much you love them, but how you think about yourself in relation to them. Insecurity about your place in it.” The hand stares.
Leo feels all eyes on him and starts messing with the material on his pants to avoid addressing what was just said.
“Welp, no insecurity here. Must be something else.”
“The fate of the multiverse might be in danger at this point, you’re going to avoid talking about what we already practically know? Why you left Mikey before-“
“I don’t want to talk about it!” Leo yells, interrupting.
He holds onto Mikey tighter.
Mikey presses his cheek against Leo’s and nuzzles into it as much as possible.
“I….I haven’t….gotten over anything. When I got spored, it reminded me of everything I’m afraid of. I….I…..still can’t accept that any of you love me! I-It’s hard work to even like me, loving me? I-Impossible! Nobody actually does! I-I made Mikey feel like he has to be loyal to me because I took him in. I forced him to never leave me and then I left him! And then he forgave me because he’s so nice and lovable! He’s a pretty painted picture but I’m just a bunch of shredded pieces that I can’t tape back together! Why can’t someone just finally sweep it all up into the trash!?” Leo sobs.
Raph, Donnie and Mikey’s jaws all drop. They’ve been aware of just how hard it’s been for Leo to understand that he’s wanted, a real, true part of the family. What they didn’t know is just how lowly he really thinks of himself.
Leo sniffles.
“I’m cursed. I always have been. Even if I am a part of this family, I shouldn’t be. Look what happened! To Mikey! To gram-gram! To all of you! Not just now, but before too! And you saw what happened to the NFIF guys! Leo helped feed me and Mikey and then he went missing and I just know whatever is happening in that room to him is awful! NFIF Raph held me and tried to protect me and he’s still back there too! You’re all going to get hurt or die or worse with me around! I-I should be alone, I should at least be punished for everything I’ve-!”
DvD, surprisingly, is the one who pulls Leo into as tight of a hug as he can manage without hurting him.
“Shut up.”
“Wh-What? Is….is this supposed to make me feel better or are you angry?”
“Both! The only person who thinks you’re not worth anything is you! How dare you say that I don’t care about you!? I do! You should care about you too! You want to stop being a burden!? Then don’t make us live without you! If you weren’t here, Mikey would be dead right now. If he hadn’t wanted to be with you and didn’t leave those families, we wouldn’t have this family. We wouldn’t have found each other. Give yourself more credit.”
Leo goes back to hiccuping sobs as he buries his face in DvD’s shoulder.
Mikey starts crying as well, despite how much he’s already been doing.
“I-I’ll rip up my picture a-and we can make one up ourselves! I-I can give you tape! J-Just please, d-don’t go again! I-I love you so much!”
Leo pulls him more into the hug, they wet each other’s faces with their tears.
Raph wraps around them all.
“You told that other me before about how you know he’s not a bad guy. How we’ve all made mistakes. You should give yourself the same benefit of the doubt. You aren’t cursed, bad things……just happen. A lot. What was going to happen to the NFIF guys would have without meeting you. But now because they met us, we can help them. There’s not a day that goes by where I’m not glad you’re in the family, Leo. I love that I know you. I love you.” He rest his chin on top of Leo’s head.
Leo and Mikey keep crying until they’ve finally calmed down.
The hand once again offers the container towards Leo.
“How….do I do it?”
“Think of your family as a something within you, and release it. Raphael, you as well.” The hand urges.
“What? Me? But didn’t have any breakthrough or anything…..”
“Right now is the moment you feel closest to your family. It may also help to remember who is not here, and wanting to get her back.”
Leo and Raph nod, both placing their hands on the container. Red and blue pours in before the hand takes it away.
“Where…..are you going to find a replacement for me?” Mikey brings up.
April suddenly bursts inside the room.
“You guys! He took Misa!”
April had kept walking until they could no long hear Mikey scream. It took everything she had to not go back to help. Misa wanted to go back too, but as grown up as she thinks she is, nobody should be seeing that.
Nobody should be experiencing that.
It’s not like the turtles were adults either. They shouldn’t have to listen to their brother scream and beg for the nightmare to end. It’s something they have to do though because the only good adult they have around has been taken.
It’s painful to not be able to do anything else, but this is incredibly important. Misa needs her right now.
“Is….little big brother….going to be okay?” Misa asks, looking up at her with wide eyes.
“He’s got everyone else with him, they’re going to do whatever he needs them to.” April assures.
Misa looks down.
“I want to help Raphie too.”
April bites them inside of her cheek. Guilt for leaving him is gnawing at her as well. Wasn’t there anything else she could have done? All that guy has being doing this whole competition is trying to protect everyone from the spores.
Who protects him?
“We’re going to, when we have a plan.”
“But….but it’s going to be too late!” Misa whines.
“Hey, we don’t know that. Maybe….maybe the void guys helped out and he’s coming back to us now!” April suggests, vaguely aware it’s probably a huge lie.
Misa pouts until footsteps draw her and April’s attention.
“Raphie!!” Misa shouts excitedly shouts, wriggling out of April’s arms.
“Misa! Wait!” April reaches out too late.
The young girl runs up to NFIF Raph who picks her up. They smile at each other.
“Hey, kid. Glad I found ya. I have something real important I need you to do.”
“How can Misa help?”
“I need to borrow your portal sword.”
Misa gladly hands it to him.
April sees a glowing, blue tear roll down his cheek.
“Misa! Get away from him!”
Misa looks at her in confusion before seeing Raph’s eyes fill with blue. She begins grabbing at her sword but he keeps it out of her reach. He then holds her tight, close to his plastron and tucked under his arm.
Raph’s smile falls. The glowing tears fall freely down his cheeks with no signs of stopping. He looks over at April with a sorrowful expression.
“I’m sorry I couldn’t keep my promise. I really tried. I just….there’s no reason for me to fight anymore. My family is all back there. Even if I did fight, everything I do fails.”
“Raph! That’s not true! Fight it, we can save your brothers together! You don’t have to do this!”
“No, doing this is the only way he won’t hurt Misa. It had to be me. All we need is the sword and to use her as bait. She’ll be okay. I’d promise, but….my promises don’t mean much…..” He opens a portal.
“No! Raph! Misa!” April poofs to get close, but ends up falling on top of nothing after the portal disappears.
“Where did he take her!? Back to that room!? Are they sporing her again!? She can’t survive that! Mikey didn’t!” DvD panics.
“Hold on, what do you mean he didn’t-WHY IS THE HAND HERE!? IS THAT TNT!?” April points.
“Be not afraid-“
“IT TALKS!?”
UIFY Raph explains what happened. April feels like her feet are stuck to the floor. It’s only been 15 minutes and things somehow turned even more disastrous.
“H-How are we going get more ninpo!? That could kill Mikey again!”
“It can come from you-“ The hand starts.
April slams her hand onto the container.
“I want to save them! Please work! Do your magic thingy!”
Shockingly, it does work. Green pours into the container and the colors all being swirling with each other. They glow even brighter.
“This should be enough. I can set up the charge behind the wall that houses the main mushroom.”
“Wait, won’t that hurt the other me?” Leo brings up.
“He’s survived worse.”
“That’s not a good reason!”
“He’ll be alive and the spores will be gone. Is that not what you want?”
“It is, but-!”
The lights suddenly shut off.
DvD quickly turns on the light from his phone.
“Oh what now!?”
“Hello everyone in the competition! It’s your new overlord, Audrey III!” Donnie’s voice calls from a speaker in the room.
Oh no.
DvD quickly searches the room for some medical masks which he puts on and passes out to his brothers and April once they’re found. If he thinks what’s about to happen is really happening, they need protection.
Leo careful puts Mikey’s on for him and then carries him on his back as they all leave the room.
There’s panic and chaos everywhere from the sudden darkness. People are bumping into things and shouting.
The nearby vents start releasing the familiar, sickening spores.
“Don’t resist. Or do, your fear is tastier that way.”
#tw death mention#rise of the teenage mutant ninja turtles#rottmnt#no fun in fungus#rottmnt until i found you#until i found you au#tw selfhate#2018 tmnt#rise of the tmnt
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TMNT : Mutant Mayhem X Gender Neutral Reader dating headcanons
Note(s): 2003 has me in a chokehold so I might accidentally mix their personalities, also you can probably tell who my favourite turtle is 💀
I've only seen this movie once, and I can't afford to go to the cinema again so I'm sorry that I didn't write a lot!
Leonardo
Leo basically has a full time job of trying to impress you, one time he even tried to drive a car and do tricks for you. It, unsurprisingly, went so bad that Splinter grounded him for a week.
While Splinter has always dug in that humans were dangerous and hateful, which is semi true, meeting April and you have diluted Leonardo's faith in that. He realises that you're just... People. People who make mistakes, who need to change, and who largely, have changed.
He likes learning about things you take for granted everyday, what was school like? Have you ever been to a restaurant? Do you like going outside a lot? Do you have a pet? Etc, etc.
Leo needs to try really hard in school because he's not naturally talented in science or math like Donatello, so he appreciates any help you can give him! He surprisingly likes homework, he views it like training, sort of like something to improve his skills.
He 100% searches a 'how to flirt' wikihow and gets absolutely slammed by his brothers for trying some of the worst pickup lines in history on you.
Leonardo wants to train you with self defense skills if you don't know any already, he puts on the training videos that Splinter used to learn himself and teach Leo and his brothers, so that you two can at least spend time by training together.
Raphael
Despite loving violence and fighting, he's always happy and his rage is never directed at you, he even tries to get you to let out your anger by training sometimes.
If you don't know how to fight, or don't want to learn, then he's perfectly fine with just giving you one of his sais and letting you stab a punching bag with it, or something.
Raph occasionally gets into more friendly fights and sparring matches with his brothers or classmates, he's always bragging to you about how cool he was and how awesome it was to fight.
He likes it when you initiate hugs or hand holding, it's not that he's embarrassed or doesn't want to initiate affection, or even have it at all, but Raph isn't the best at guessing what you want without outright asking. Which he does do a lot, but he feels awkward constantly asking for a hug, and he lets you know that he's always up for one.
Raphael doesn't want you in danger, but he does 100% egg you on to participate in fights and pull some chaos, even if minuscule.
Donatello
He's a complete dork and LOVES to try and impress you with knowledge on your favourite musical artists, TV shows and movies, etc, etc. Donnie gets super into anything you're into, and he even tries to subtly get you interested in things like K-pop or science, if you're not interested in them already.
Always rants about his interests, he could go on for HOURS about the hidden messages in a music video, especially when he can get out more often and speak to more people about what he likes.
He's so curious about humans and their biological functions, don't be weird not like that, he always used to watch documentaries to Splinter and his brothers confusion.
Donnie frequently imagines what life would be like without a shell, with his skin a different texture, with his ears all weird and sticking out, he constantly asks you questions about living as a human.
He adores it if you know a lot about biology, especially if you know about turtle biology, even if he and his brothers are different than regular turtles for obvious reasons.
Donnie loves holding your hand, whenever he's nervous, or if you're nervous, he likes squeezing your hand and just holding it for a while. Even if it's kind of awkward because of his three fingers.
Michelangelo
Mikey loves showing off his ninja skills to you. Oh, you're just watching a movie? Watch him do the stunt from that one scene about fifty times.
He doesn't have much of a 'taste' in movies or music, he just sort of watches whatever captures his interest. His most watched media consists of an intense crime documentary and Pingu.
Mikey loves hugging you, no matter what you're doing he just (･ω･)つ⊂(･ω･) His favourite way of hugging you is from behind, because then you can do whatever you want and he isn't bothering you, but he also gets to give you a hug.
As the youngest sibling, Michelangelo loves getting you involved in pranks that involve screwing over his brothers. He will beg you, BEG YOU, to let him stand on your shoulders to place a bucket of water on top of a door, to help him dye his brothers masks the wrong colours, basically anything!
He loves making friends and would like to meet your friends and family, that is if you have any or have a good relationship with them, and if you do, he's trying to impress them so he can in turn impress you.
He also expects you to get along with his family, you don't need to constantly hang out with them, but he likes to have the knowledge that his family accepts and trusts you, he also likes to have the knowledge that you trust his family.
While not being the most perfect and strong guy, he has full respect for you and he shows it in semi unconventional ways. Mikey constantly likes to play video games with you, and while he's never been able to play the newest or most expensive, he may or may not steal a game or two just for you.
If you have a console, PC or even just a god damn phone that can handle a decent game, expect you two to play for HOURS.
What shows both his family and you that he does truly love you is when he gives you a slice of his pizza, if you're vegan or allergic to his favourite flavour, he'll order what you can eat instead of what he wants.
His brothers genuinely have a full hour of just staring in shock at you and him when that happens.
#mutant mayhem#tmnt#teenage mutant ninja turtles#teenage mutant ninja turtle#teenage mutant ninja turtle mutant mayhem#teenage mutant ninja turtles mutant mayhem#tmnt mm#mm tmnt#tmnt x reader#tmnt x gn reader#tmnt x gn!reader#leonardo x reader#raphael x reader#Michelangelo x reader#donatello x reader#leonardo x gn reader#raphael x gn reader#Michelangelo x gn reader#donatello x gn reader#leonardo x gn!reader#raphael x gn!reader#Michelangelo x gn!reader#donatello x gn!reader#mutant mayhem x reader#mutant mayhem x gn reader#mutant mayhem x gn!reader
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OKAY HEAR ME OUT
I wake up in the night alot and struggle to get back to sleep unless rock myself like a damn baby.
So what about a one shot where reader is napping on rise donnie lap while he works and they wake up and get restless trying to get back to sleep so he rocks his chair back and forth so help them!
your idea has been heard
I decided to keep this one short, I didn't think it needed a super long story
anyway here you go! hope you enjoy
Like a Mother to a Child
rise donnie x reader
cw: sweet adorableness
word count: 826
It was another peaceful night in the lab. There was very little noise, which was a true rarity in the Hamato household. Everyone was doing their own thing, except for you and Donnie. Donnie enjoyed it when the lair was quiet, and he said enjoyed it even more when you were there with him. There were a lot of reasons he enjoyed your company, but it was mainly so he had someone to talk to who he knew would actually listen.
You were in his lab, laying on the floor while he rambled on about his newest invention. It was a sort of win-win situation for you two, he got to tell you all about his work, and you got to relax and listen to him talk. Even though you didn’t always understand what he was talking about, you thought it was cute the way he would talk and talk about his passions without a care in the world.
“…and so when you connect the transformer here, it runs the power to here, which allows the computer to…”
“Interesting. yawns Man, I’m kinda tired. It’s so quiet, I’m starting to fall asleep.”
“Oh? Why don’t you lay somewhere else? The floor can’t be comfortable.”
“Yeah, it’s not so fun when you’re trying to sleep. Would you mind…if I sat on your lap while you worked? It would help me sleep.” He chuckled.
“Sure, darling. Come here.”
You got up from the floor and stretched before walking over to his chair and settling yourself comfortably in his lap. He smiled and kissed your forehead before returning to his work. He continued to talk, but softer now that he knew you were trying to sleep. Almost in a whisper, but not quite. As you started to fall asleep in his lap, you snuggled close to him, wrapping your arms around him and resting your head on his shoulder. Every minute you sat there, you came closer to sleep. Donnie’s quiet voice, the noises he made while he worked, and even the soft and gentle rhythm of his heartbeat all came together to create this perfectly calm and relaxing environment. Before you knew it, you had fallen into a deep slumber. Donnie only figured this out himself when he tried to talk to you, but didn’t receive an answer. He only smiled again and kept working.
He worked long into the night, trying his best not to wake you up. You slept peacefully, never letting go of him. Everything was going well, until he dropped something big on the floor. The noise woke you up, much to Donnie’s dismay.
“…hm? What…what was that?”
“Oh, I’m sorry my love, I dropped something on the floor. I didn’t mean to wake you up.”
“…mmm, s’kay. I’m jus’ gon’ go back to sleep…”
“Of course, good night.”
You snuggled up to Donnie again, expecting to fall back asleep quickly. You were tired, so you started to get a little frustrated when 20 minutes passed by and you still hadn’t fallen asleep yet. You tried blocking out noises. You tried humming to yourself. You tried different positions, trying to get comfortable. But nothing was working.
“You okay, y/n? You’re a little restless.”
“Yeah, I just…can’t seem to fall asleep again.”
“Oh, I’m sorry. That was my fault, I didn’t mean to.”
“No no, it’s okay. You don’t need to blame yourself.”
“Well, it’s still my fault, and I feel a little bad. Is there anything I can do to help?”
“Uhm…I don’t know. I don’t really have anything to help me fall asleep.”
“Hmm. Oh, there is one thing that used to help me fall asleep. We could try that.”
“What were you thinking?”
“Here, get up for a second if you can.”
You got up from his lap, and he moved in his chair. He beckoned you back, this time holding you like a mother holds a small child. When you sat down, he started to rock his chair back and forth.
“What am I, a four year old?”
“Hey, be quiet. You can’t fall asleep if you’re talking, dum-dum.”
“Okay, okay, I’ll shut up.”
He continued to rock back and forth in his chair, slowly, back and forth. You were laying your head on his chest, so he was able to watch as your eyelids slowly started to shut.
“Hmm, this is nice.”
“See, it’s not so terrible. Is it helping at all?”
“Mhm…I think I might be able to fall asleep again. Just…hold me…and keep rocking…”
“Heh, okay love. Just for you.”
Donnie continued to rock his chair, and hold you close to him. Your eyes eventually shut all the way. It was so comfortable, you could just…fall asleep right there…
“y/n? y/n? Ah, I suppose you’ve fallen asleep by now. Well then, good night. Again.”
He gave you one more kiss on your forehead before laying back and falling asleep himself, with you in his arms.
#lykaios writes#tmnt 2018#rottmnt#rise of the tmnt#teenage mutant ninja turtles#donnie rottmnt#donnie x reader#rottmnt x y/n#rottmnt x reader
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Top Ten Posts of 2023
I decided, why not? ^^
I'm limiting this to fics/analysis/headcanon/etc posts I made during the year and skipping over anything that isn't my actual creative work. That said, if you're curious, my actual top post was this funky screenshot from episode 2.
10. Everyone's just fine with Donnie modding the moon buggy? (362 notes)
It occurred to me that despite being MASSIVE nerds for the Jupiter Jim franchise, the bros seemed awfully chill with Donnie taking an actual on-set moon buggy and modding the hell out of it.
A few people argued with me in the notes that the Turtle Tank is so cool no one could possibly be mad about it and I do think that's fair. The Turtle Tank is easily my favorite thing Donnie made in the show.
9. Splinter and Leo talk post movie (443 notes)
And then his dad walks in and says, “I would like to talk to Blue, please. Alone.”
And suddenly Leo doesn’t feel so good anymore.
This is the most recent tumblr fic I've done (I think lol), so seeing it make it this high felt pretty good. I love Splinter and his boys... they make me emotional.
8. A headcanon about the Disaster Twins (445 notes)
I have a headcanon that the twins are lowkey always trying to get each other to laugh.
This is still true.
7. A showcase of Donnie's injuries in End Game (462 notes)
So everyone talks about Donnie getting his shell shredded by the Shredder in Many Unhappy Returns but I feel like it’s underappreciated that that happened to him coming off of getting his ass beat in End Game like
One of the first posts I made when I made this blog haha. Poor Donnie |'D
6. Donnie records everything (617 notes)
broke: Donnie listening to what happened in the prison dimension
woke: Donnie showing Raph Leo’s big damn hero speech since he wasn’t there the first time
The main reason why this has so many notes is because @roseverdict wrote a great fic down in the notes that you should all go read.
5. Leo asks Donnie a favor (829 notes)
“You might as well tell me what you need,” he says, turning to his computer and pulling up his list. “I’ll assess it and prioritize.”
“No, no, that’s okay. It’s nothing,” Leo insists.
“Nardo.” Donnie levels his best stare at him. “What is it?”
I love writing the Disaster Twins being soft and you guys love it when I write it too.
4. Present Donnie and Future Donnie have a little disagreement (CAS AU fic) (1,242 notes)
“What was I supposed to do, tie him to a chair?”
“Yes!?” says Mini-him like he’s stupid, which warrants a scoff.
Shoutout to @skcirthinq who doodled a comic version of their conversation.
3. Casey Jr. and Uncle Tello troll Present Donnie (CAS AU fic) (1,701 notes)
Casey Jr, says Uncle Tello’s voice.
Uncle Tello?
Do you want to see something really funny?
This is my actual fic with the most notes! I'm glad you all enjoyed this silly little take on what was actually an incredibly intense moment in Cass's original comic.
2. Mikey contacts the Hamato ancestors (2,054 notes)
future Mikey: *trying to contact the spirits of the Hamato for advice and guidance in the apocalypse*
Donnie’s spirit: Hello, you are now communing with Donatello.
I can't believe you guys gave over 2K notes to the stupidest joke I've ever made. Shoutout to @nonymous06 for this artist's rendition.
and finally, drum roll please.....
My top post of 2023:
1. A very silly idea for a separated AU (4,283 notes)
non-angsty ROTTMNT separated AU where the boys meet online and bond over their shared love of Jupiter Jim and skateboarding and Lou Jitsu. Then one day they agree to meet irl for the first time at a con and decide to dress as turtle aliens.
This post spawned an adorable fanart by @thatsmutbean , this hilarious fanart by @onionninjasstuff , and an entire fanfic called new phone who dis by @rbtlvr
This has been an incredible year! My love for ROTTMNT has not diminished in the slightest and I still have lots of ideas, so I hope you guys stick with me for 2024. Thanks again! Happy New Year!!
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TL;DR Hey, I’m reading into stuff (character design, I will never stfu about the rottmnt character design) again. Overthinking it like a true Donnie kinnie 🫡
So, I thought the mask tails were in order of age in rise. But, I’m unclear on which mask tails between Donnie & Mikey and Leo & Raph’s are longer/shorter. BUT. Another thing with their mask tails is that the two younger have shorter mask tails and the two older have longer mask tails (I’m a firm younger twin Donnie believer.) Furthermore, when we look at, for example,
MIKEY’S mask tails, they’re quite symbolic of him as a character.
They’re the only ones that are really rounded to that extent (Leo’s are more rounded too, but in a longer and less bubbly/circle way) Mikey is a fun, bubbly, optimistic character. Hence why Mikey=circle. They’re also shaped kind of like a paintbrush - the actual brush part, that is - which is interesting.
LEO’S are more triangular and curve much like his sword. Also, since they’re longer, we don’t see them very often (same with Raph’s) because of how the physics of the mask tails work.
The reason for Leo being a triangle, I’m not entirely sure. But my working theory (haven’t read anywhere why, though it’s likely somewhere) is because a lot about him is sharp. Sword, markings, face, body shape, mask tails. However, his personality is, ironically, the opposite. He’s also the more fun type, and definitely not a villain - even if he may see himself as one or, at least, the ‘blame’ during the movie - (sharp angles in character design are typically associated with villains) But his mask tails being a rounded triangle is really interesting. It’s like he’s smoothing out his personality (cough, cough, face man.) but he’s still “sharp” (loud, ‘annoying’, funny, quick-witted.)
RAPH, I don’t know too too much about, however- you also don’t often see the tails of his mask (because it, like Leo’s, is longer.) It’s jagged like his shell (again, ironic, because he’s pretty much a big softie - although on both the exterior and interior, he is/can be very tough.) He’s harsh on himself more so than he is on his brothers, taking it as his duty to protect them, to lead them, to keep them from harm.
I refuse to retype what I just typed, so I took a photo:
OK, so for DONNIE, I don’t have really anything to say (because I’m tired and my phone’s overheating ^^ he’s still my favourite and I love him dearly.)
But, his mask tails are more rectangular. Donnie = Rectangle, as we all know. (Galactic forehead, cough cough) And Donnie’s mask tails, with him being a younger brother and his mask tails being shorter, are more visible (again, physics.)
That’s it, he’s a rectangle. Shape language and such that goes more into his personality, yadda yadda, like I said - tired.
Anywho, that’s also a big part of a point that could be made about the episode(s) where they went through more formal training and their outfits were completely the same. They were one, completely. Raph and Leo even mind melded. But, that also means they weren’t themselves (we be we, baby.)
This is also a very long winded way of saying Donnie is the younger twin (I accept no other answers (jk ^^))
So, I hope somebody actually reads this rant. And, remember, I know this likely might not actually mean anything. I’m an analyst. I love their character designs I WILL NOT BE SILENCED.
But, that’s just a theory… a game theory!!
xoxo
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It's Not Fair
Pairing: Bayverse!Raph x GN!Reader (platonic), a hint of Bayverse!Leo x Reader (established relationship)
Summary: The bros had a fight. It's nothing unusual. Except this time you decided to show Raph his equal.
Genre: angst with good ending. Sibling love.
Masterlist
"Well if you just listen for once this wouldn't have happened! How many times do you need me to remind you, huh?"
Leo's voice boomed as they all stepped into the lair. Making you flinch, you quickly looked towards their way. Again? You thought worriedly.
You love the brothers. You care deeply for them like your own family. Usually April would be the one who breaks up the fight and it mostly ends up with them retiring to their rooms. But when she's not around you'd take her place. God knows how the situation is handled when none of you are around. Cough cough. The ha'shi.
You marched your step and hurried yourself to the brothers but damned your tiny legs they were too fast. You saw Leo already went to the meditation room. For obvious reasons to keep his mind busy. You saw Donnie making his way to his lab as always to keep himself distracted as well. You know he often got his mind troubled just by witnessing his older brothers fight.
Let's not forget Mikey. Poor guy, he wished he could help but his title stopped him from having that ability. Unlike his brothers, he just slumped himself somewhere in the main room. You just asked him if he's okay and he'd hesitantly reply in return although you already know the full answer to that. You just gave him a comforting pat on the shoulder and went on your way to search for Raph.
Speaking of which, he was the first to vanish. If you remember correctly he stormed off like a kid having diarrhea. But joke aside though, he was obviously pissed. You don't know what came over you to go check up on Raph first but your instinct is never wrong when it comes to these guys.
When you arrived at his door you knocked on it a couple times. You didn't get any response so you knocked again. "Just shoved it back up your ass, Leo! I don't wanna hear it." You heard Raph's muffled growl from the inside. "It's me." You said softly, enough for him to hear you.
Silence filled the air when you heard shuffles in his room before hearing the door being unlocked. You turned the knot and stepped inside. His room was not in the best condition, though you took notice that he's the second to have the cleanest room after Leo.
"What do you want?" He asked annoyingly. He had his back/shell facing you while sitting on his messy bed. "Just wanna check on you, big guy." He scoffed, "Yea? Why don't you check on your boyfriend there? Bet he needs all the attention from his partner right now to suck all his inner demons." You shrugged as you made your way to him, "He can take care of himself." "And I can't?" He cut you off, looking at you from his shoulder.
You stopped your track, keeping his question hanging then he turned back around. You bit your lips trying to think of any comforting words to say to him. He may be the toughest, the biggest brother but you are sure that he's the most sensitive among his brothers. He always kept his emotions guarded. Keeping the reputation he'd say. And you can't exactly argue, it is quite true if you were him.
You sat down on the edge of the bed, keeping your distance to give him as much as space he needs.
"Listen I," you started. "I know I'm not the best at words but I'll try my best to keep you from going on edge." You paused and took a deep breath, "I know you and your brothers had each other's differences but you guys always manage to keep everything in line even when times are tough. I know you had your differences with Leo and it's always gotta be with him ain't it?"
You paused again, cocking your head a bit to search for any kind of disapproval from him. He didn't move so you continue, "I'm not trying to say that he's right all the time, of course not. He makes mistakes too. He cares about his brothers. All he ever wanted is to just keep you guys safe and I'm sure you are too. Y'know, you're not so different from him if you think about it." You smiled when you pointed it out.
You can feel Raph silently disagreeing with your statement so you quickly added, "You guys are like the strongest when it comes to being the brawn. You two had the same sense of humour and sarcasm." You made motions with your hands as you speak to avert the dullness in your speech. "You ever realized when you guys would split up he would choose to partner up with you instead like all the time? He prefers teaming up with you 'cause you guys are the 'A Team', my guy." tilting your head at him as you said those words coyly.
"He needed both brain and brawn. He got the brawn sure but you got extra muscles, that's why he's the brain half the time too. He would've chosen Donnie but he didn't. 'Cause he needed that balance. Balance is key. You guys are like the yin and yang, you know I'm saying?"
Now fully turning to him, not asking for him to return the action. You put your hand on his back/shell. "What I'm trying to say is, you guys are inseparable. All of you. You guys needed each other. I know things not always how you wanted it to be but we'll figure this out together. We always do. Siblings fight, they argue. That's normal. And then the next day you guys will be cool like nothing happens after tea time." You patted his back/shell in comfort as you let out a heavy exhale.
"I just want you to know that, whenever things get heavy, especially for you, don't act like I only care about Leo's well being. You're part of him too. I have to make that count. It's not fair to just let him steal all the attentions and comforts away while he gets to be at peace and you guys don't. Ain't that right?" You give him another pat before hearing a sniff coming from him.
"R-raph?" You stood up from the bed to get a clear look at him. He quickly turned away from you. Practically begging for you to not see him in that state. "H-hey, what's wrong? I'm sorry dude, I didn't mean to.."
He hated being like this, being vulnerable, especially in front of you. His brothers already saw his flaws; he didn't need you to see them too. Who else is going to see him as the tough guy when he already broke down to you? He hated this. Fighting with his brothers and he gets sensitive and then you manage to crack his shell. He hated that.
"No, ding-dong. It's just some stupid dusts in my eyes. It's nasty, go away!" He used his hands to shoo you away. You silently chuckled and passed him the tissue box you fetched from at the corner of his room. He wastes no time grasping it with his giant hand, quickly wiping his tears and blowing his nose.
You helped him by throwing the dirty tissues to the small bin, tidying up his bed and placing his comic books back to its place. You two stayed like this for a while, enjoying each other's silence after he had calmed down.
"You good now, Raph?" You put your hand on his shoulder and give it a comforting stroke. He nodded, "Y-yea. Guess so.." as he had a hard time trying to make eye contact with you. You responded with an assuring nod. "Hey, uh…thanks. For... whatever that was." He rubbed his neck as he said so. You pulled a soft smile. A thanks is always enough for you. You know how hard it is for him to actually admit stuff like that out loud and you appreciate his effort. "Anytime bud. Anytime."
#tmnt x reader#tmnt raphael x reader#tmnt raph x reader#tmnt bayverse x reader#tmnt 2014 x reader#tmnt 2016 x reader#tmnt 2014#tmnt 2016#tmnt bayverse#tmnt fanfiction#tmnt fic#tmnt raph#tmnt raphael#tmnt leonardo x reader#tmnt leo x reader#tmnt leo#tmnt leonardo
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⚡︎ ┊ TMNT : Finalized designs & Headcannons.
⚡︎ ┊ Finished my official designs, now I can make comics and such without them looking different every time.
!! HEADCANNONS BELOW IMAGE, FOR ANYONE INTERESTED.
⚡︎ ┊ HEADCANNONS.
Leonardo
Cannot be sneaked up on (Will catch whoever tries)
Lots of night terrors
Light sleeper
Loves bubblegum
Superiority complex
Talks to himself out loud
Really good at lying (Best liar in the family)
Always smells good
Very overprotective (especially over Mikey bc he's the youngest)
Annoying older brother vibes
Argues with Raph the most
Sleeps with one eye open (literally)
Allergic to dogs
Only turtle who CAN cook
Can't watch horror films (they freak him out)
"IDC" Thinks about it for hours
"I'm not scared!" Freaks out
Hates bugs
Raphael
LOVES Halloween. (Has decorations all over his room)
Heavy sleeper
Snores but says he doesn't
Mr.Sarcastic
Picks on Don the most
Swears in nearly every sentence
Metalhead
Bedroom? No, Mancave. (Barely leaves his room)
Talented artist
Plays the bass guitar
JUGALLO RAPH REAL!!
Hates everything and everyone.
Edgy middle child attitude
"IDGAF!!" Starts crying
Likes Mikey more bc he can playfight rough with him.
True crime >>>
Horror movies >>>
Works out to calm himself down
Only shows his "cool" art to his brothers, keeps everything else hidden
Always looks angry no matter what
Can't control his tone of voice (Speaks really loudly, and aggressively)
Hates being told what to do
Deathly terrified of roaches
Missing a tooth (From a fight with leo)
Donatello
Very very VERY tired
Mr.Fix-it
Germaphobe
Neat-freak
Really picky with food
Won't eat spaghetti or most noodles bc it reminds him of worms
Hates wearing most clothes because they make him feel trapped
Gets hiccups when nervous
Doesn't drink coffee, though likes energy drinks
Must double check everything a billion times
Throws a fit when someone messes with his plans, or things
Swears as much as Raph
RARELY in his room, mostly in his lab.
Hates the smell of dust, sage, and greasy food
Likes collecting pens
MOOD SWING KING!!
Paranoid all the time
Insomniac
Almost always accidentally falls asleep in his lab.
Sticky notes, sticky notes, sticky notes
Can only draw mechs and vehicles, cant draw anything else
" We're poor as dirt " Has thousands of dollars hidden in his room.
Has to wear glasses but doesn't around his brothers (they pick on him :( )
Likes psychological horror better than visual horror.
Slouch king
yells a LOT
Listens to techno music when making inventions
#1 oingo boingo fan
Has slight bucked teeth
Speaks with a lisp
Michelangelo
Spoiled younger brother vibes
Loves video games
A LITERAL GOD AT DANCE DANCE REVOLUTION
Hates being left alone, or away from his brothers for long periods of time
ALWAYS asking Donatello for money (usually a yes)
LOVES candy (especially sour)
Borrows April's camcord to take stupid videos
Cracks every bone in his body when nervous
"The vibes are off right now…"
" Dudezz!! " " Chill out brozz " type of guy
Wears braces!
Always doing stupid shit
PRANK LORD
#ILOVEBEINGATURTLE!!!!
Sings in the shower
Puts on whole concerts for no reasons
Plays the drums
LOVES play fighting with Raph
Likes cooking, but cant do it good.
"CAN WE KEEP IT!!"
"I licked it, it's mine"
Steals from everyone, thinks its funny
Hides Donnie's tools for fun
Talks too fast
#digital art#artists on tumblr#teenage mutant ninja turtles#tmnt#tmnt redesign#tmnt design#tmnt headcanons#tmnt 2012#tmnt leonardo#tmnt raphael#tmnt donatello#tmnt michelangelo
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Character ask game: Donnie + 2 & 3!
Send a character + one or more of these questions!
2. Favorite canon thing about this character?
I think this goes for a lot of people, but I just love how freakin' nice Donny is. He has his moments of sass and occasional ribbing on his brothers, yes, but he is an extremely empathetic individual who shows a great deal of kindness and consideration towards others, and is always willing to help others when they need it--April, the Underground Mutants, New York City's homeless population, etc. That said, he's not a pushover and knows when to say no, which is something I really admire about him. (It may not seem like a big deal, but as recovering people pleaser, I've struggled a lot when it comes to asserting my boundaries in friendships and otherwise just staying true to myself out of fear of being rejected and abandoned.)
3. Least favorite canon thing about this character?
I already had my whole ramble a while back about the fact that although Don goes through some genuinely terrible shit over the course of the 2003 series, he doesn't actually go through all that much character development when compared to his brothers. While I don't think he needs a multi-episode arc where he ends up spiraling due to his trauma (in fact, Back to the Sewer tried to do something like that and it did not go well at all), at the very least, it would have been nice for the show to acknowledge what he went through and provide a reason for why a lot of the stuff he went through didn't affect him in the long run instead of just... never bringing it up again.
#teenage mutant ninja turtles#tmnt#tmnt 2003#tmnt 2k3#tmnt donatello#asks#jellojellojello#Made some edits because I felt like I was being too snippy
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Can't Take My Eyes off You
Loosely inspired by this post by @fabuloustrash05
⚠️TW: One mention of food⚠️
Synopsis: Hamato Yoshi– or, Mr. Splinter is a very wealthy man, owning multiple dojo's across New York City. When he announces a gala event in hopes of his son, Donatello, finding that special someone, your parent's force you– New York City's "IT Girl" to attend. What could go wrong?
Everything was set and ready. The food was from all around the world, Splinter had hired the greatest orchestra in town, and everything about the room screamed "I make eight figures!"
To put it nicely, you were an IT Girl. You were beautiful, rich, had deals with multi-million dollar brands, and the media loved you.
You made your way to the food table, heads turning by the mere sight of you.
This event was supposed to last for five hours. You only knew of Mr. Hamato because your younger cousin attended one of his dojo's.
You had never met his son, Donatello, prior to this. You had heard of him and his intellect, but had never met him in person.
"Oh, mi gosh!" You heard a voice squeal.
You turned to investigate the sound, only to find a humanoid turtle donning an orange bandana standing a few steps behind you.
"Hello, can I help you?" You asked him.
He was buzzing with excitement. "You're Y/N, you were on the cover of Vogue last month!"
You chuckled at his excitement. "And you are?"
"Oh–" The boy blushed, "I'm Mikey, I'm a really big fan," Mikey told you. "Can I take a picture with you?" He asked bashfully.
"Sure!" You popped the last finger sandwich in your mouth and crouched beside him, flashing your famous smile.
He waved as he walked away, cellphone in hand, likely to post the picture somewhere.
You continued on with your night, chatting up a few of your other rather famous friends.
"Not to sound rude, but," You furrowed your eyebrows. "Why are you here? You already have a girlfriend." You asked.
Your friend Kelly, a model, huffed. "My sister was invited, and you know she can't be left alone for more than five seconds," she laughed.
The two of you heard a gasp, followed by an "Oh my god, it's you!"
You both turned to see your mutual friend, Iseul, a kpop idol. You smiled as the three of you caught up with each other's lives.
You three laughed and genuinely had a good time. But during the entire conversation, you had a weird feeling. Like you were being watched.
▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎
From across the room stood– for lack of a better word, the prettiest girl in New York.
Y/N L/N, the quote-unquote "IT Girl" of New York was talking with two other girls. Kelly Blare, a model from Newfoundland, and Kim Iseul, a Korean singer known for her stunning appearance.
Y/N was mostly known for her modeling career. For some reason, brands fought to the death to even have one of their products in the background of an Instagram post.
She was on every billboard, every cafe window, every magazine cover, everything! You couldn't walk down the street and not see her face.
Everyone knew who she was.
Everyone knew her name.
Mikey was a big fan of Y/N, using her modeling shoots as inspiration for his various art pieces and following her on every social media he had.
The press adored her! Always praising her actions and beauty, painting her as this divine being who could do no wrong.
And Donnie would be lying if he said he didn't have even the smallest crush on her.
Donnie never expected himself to be one of those lovestruck fools, blindly admiring someone he barely knew. In fact, he laughed at the idea. Him, falling in love? Heavens, no. Impossible!
He never cared for the various celebrities and socialites his father met with. But when he saw you, something changed.
He hated to admit it, but the gossip was true: you were more beautiful in person than in a picture.
But there he stood, face redder than Raph's mask. A bead of sweat ran down the side of his head as he watched you laugh at something Kelly said.
Pathetic. He was pathetic.
You had captured his heart, just as he feared someone would. The sight of you nearly making him forget how to breath, captivating him with your presence alone.
But you looked so unreal! You've most likely had thousands, if not millions of people profess their love for you. What would make Donnie stand out from the rest?
Donnie's heart stopped when the two of you locked eyes. He dropped the glass he was holding and found himself running in the direction he came.
▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎
You chased after the person. "Wait, come back!" You called to them.
You found yourself running through the various hallways of the estate, the person not stopping for a second.
"I just wanna talk!" You called desperately, picking up your speed.
With every twist and turn, you tried calling out to the person, hoping to persuade them to stop and talk.
The person ran out the nearest door they saw, you quickly following in pursuit.
Your legs burned, begging to rest. But you weren't going to until you stopped this stranger in their tracks.
You climbed a steep, grassy hill. There was a large, looming tree standing at the peak, a bench underneath it. Sitting down, you smiled.
"Hi, what's your name?" You asked. That was a good conversation starter, right?
"I'm Y/N," You told him, hoping to gain his trust. "I like your suit!"
The person scuffled to the other side of the bench, you only following. They fiddled with their jacket for a few seconds before muttering a response.
"I'm sorry..."
You were confused. "For what?"
"For staring..." He admitted.
You bounced your knee, a smirk growing on your face.
"Well," you leaned forward– not to close, but close enough that you could see him blushing. "I'll forgive you if you tell me your name."
He bit his lip, looking to the ground. Sighing, he met your eyes.
"Donatello..."
You gasped. "Donatello? As in, Donatello Hamato?" You asked him curiously. He nodded.
"And you're Y/N," his ashamed frown began turning into that of a smile. "The prettiest girl in New York,"
You're reaction was a mix of shock and flattery. "Well, I think you're the smartest guy in this city," you told him.
Donatello's face went red. "Really?"
You nodded, "I've heard of all the different kinds of tech you've made, it's pretty cool!"
His face lit up, smiling like a child who saw Santa Claus. Someone praised his tech? He's been waiting for this!
The two of you rambled on about your interests, your passions and your dreams for hours.
From the corner of his eye, Donnie saw April and his brother's cheering him on from inside the house.
He rolled his eyes, ignoring his family and his blush for the time being, focusing his thoughts and smile on your adorable rants.
He sighed, realizing what was happening to himself. He, who laughed in the face of Cupid, was head over heels for the prettiest girl in New York City.
In the span of four hours, you had managed to make him smile and laugh more than he had in a single month.
But down the line, you and Donatello are as happy as can be. Whether sixteen or sixty, one thing is for sure: he couldn't take his eyes off you.
#virgils stuff#virgil writes#rottmnt#rise of the teenage mutant ninja turtles#tmnt#rottmnt donnie#rottmnt donnie x reader#donnie x reader#tmnt donnie x reader#tmnt x reader#rottmnt x reader#fem reader#female reader#spotify#frankie valli#can't take my eyes off you#music#Spotify
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Can you do headcanons of how the rottmnt(and the 2012 turtles if you really wanna) turtles would react to their gender neutral s/o getting mutated by the ozzsquitos into a raven/crow mutate
(Remember you don't gotta do it if you don't wanna)
Thank you and good night 😘
turtles react to s/o mutated into a corvid
rottmnt turtles (non poly) x gn!mutant!reader
summary: so as it turns out, oozesquitoes kind of suck. their stings hurt a lot more than you’d think, not to mention you’d suddenly sprouted feathers. maybe you should find the turtles.
word count: 544
a/n: thank you so much for requesting!! i have searched more random corvid facts over the last however long it took me to write this than i ever have in my life and i lowkey forgot english at several points. hope you like this!
◢◤◢◤◢◤◢◤◢◤◢◤◢◤◢◤◢◤◢◤◢◤◢◤
Raph . . .
“okay, okay, this is fine, (y/n)’s a mutant - OH MY GOD (Y/N)’S A MUTANT”
he’s not as much worried about you being a mutant as he is how you react to being a mutant
eventually, however, the dust’ll settle and you’ll get more used to your new form
after everyone adjusts, raph finds that he really admires your feathers
they’re just so pretty and smooth??
if you let him, sometimes he’ll just pet your feathers really gently
he thinks you’re really pretty / handsome / whatever term you prefer in general
he always did, of course
it’s just that the crow form really fits somehow?
after you get mutated, he seems to make extra sure you don’t get caught up in anything else
he has three little brothers he needs to worry about, he does not need more stress
long story short he’s overprotective
•°. *࿐
Leo . . .
most humans don’t want to be mutants.
leo is very aware of this.
so when you come into the lair covered in feathers going “hey so y’all are never going to guess what happened”
that was. something.
as long as you don’t mind, he doesn’t either
if you do, though, he will absolutely (attempt) to punch draxum the next time they cross paths
he gets you shiny things
it doesn’t matter if the shiny instinct actually transferred to you, he’ll just see a particularly shiny button and go “ha (y/n)”
oh and you better be braced for the dumbest bird jokes you’ve ever heard
or, worse yet, bird based pick up lines
probably sends you the average crow lifespan off google captioned “</3 you will be missed”
•°. *࿐
Donnie . . .
donnie’s google search history got really bizarre really quickly
“my partner is a mutant”
“help my partner got mutated”
“what to do when a radioactive mosquito turns your partner into a bird”
now knows several corvid facts and will tell you all of them! (threat)
“hey (y/n), did you know that crows have funerals?”
for some reason, he can’t for the life of him figure out whether you’re technically a crow or a raven, and it drives him nuts
this will not stop him from nitpicking anyone who calls you one or the other
if you do want to go back to being human someday, he’ll be researching a potential remedy in his free time
you’re the only one allowed near his experiments when they’re in progress
this has always been true but now he has the excuse “corvids are some of the smartest animals on earth”
•°. *࿐
Mikey . . .
it takes mikey a little bit to process that you’re actually a mutant
just because it never occurred to him anyone could get mutated
he never considered the possibility until it actually happened
he kind of just stood there for about ten seconds. blank faced. no thoughts.
similar to leo, he gives you shiny things
but no no no
not just shiny things
he makes you a shiny BRACELET
it clinks together a lot, and probably has a couple jingle bells on there, so it’s incredibly impractical
but it’s made with love
if you ever feel down about missing your human life, he does his damn best to cheer you up
he will bring you your favorite pizza and give you hugs until you feel better
#tmnt x reader#rottmnt x reader#gender neutral reader#reader insert#tmnt raph x reader#tmnt leo x reader#tmnt donnie x reader#tmnt mikey x reader
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so for tonight's deranged purple posting let's consider one of my favorite things, the Domestic Life
it's at the point where you've moved into the lair. you wake up and go to bed every day curling little cursive love letters into donnie's shell, because now that you're here, he's not as obnoxious about fighting bedtime. not when it means getting to watch you fall asleep, propped up on his elbow, and a little tender smile on his face, thinking up a way he can record your dreams so he can make them come true.
and he also thinks about how you always, somehow, know when he needs a cup of coffee or a little snack while he's working, even before he does. he's never hungry, not anymore. before he can even think about it, there you are at his elbow, placing a plate out of the way and dropping a little kiss to the back of his head before you go back to doing whatever it is you do, not interrupting him, just supporting him quietly.
or how everything smells like you now. how he can come up behind you and burrow his beak into your shoulder and smell the same detergent that's on his clothes; how he can pause in the middle of making his bed to grab his pillow and smell your shampoo and his soap; how your breath mingling with his in every kiss carries the same toothpaste; how your perfume clings to the air in his lab and makes it so forever you're on his mind.
the nights where you paint his nails and he rubs your shoulders while watching movies with his brothers. watching you drink tea with his dad and complain about how cold it's getting as the nights get longer. the mornings where you hum little love songs into his plastron because you're trying to find a reason to stay in bed. asking him what he wants on the grocery list since you're about to head out. finding the song he was listening to in the lab yesterday new on your latest cleaning playlist. the sound of your laugh down the hall. your coat next to his by the door.
the little pieces of you everywhere that make the mosaic of home.
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