#Donnie does get treated a bit like a baby but the family just really doesn’t want him to get hurt again

[sharoscylla]

For the teenage mutant florida turtles:

🫵 Who do you project onto the most?

🩹 Who is the Medic?

🧓 Who is the eldest sibling?

👶 Who is the youngest sibling?

🫵:

🩹:

👶🧓:

[bambiraptorx]

Your body horror baby story gives me such mixed feelings because on one hand it’s so wholesome in how much Donnie is so dedicated to his little monster baby and loves them so much. Then on the other hand half the family doesn’t like Bea which I understand is a trauma response but that’s Donnie’s baby that’s so heartbreaking. Beas name for Raph being “Scared” and Mikey being “Angry” absolutely shattered me. Honestly does Donnie have any resentment towards how his family views his kid. Like I hope they’re in therapy working on that trauma because Bea is a literal baby and doesn’t deserve that suspension on her. Hell, most of her horror creature behaviors could just as easily come from Donnie.

I also want to be very clear I don’t want to come off as angry at you or hating on your story. It’s genuinely incredible and the fact I’m so emotionally invested is a testament to how well written it is. I just adore Bea and would fight god for her

Honestly yeah, it's a very complicated family dynamic. None of the family members that are uncomfortable around her want to hurt or get rid of her (partly because they know Donnie and Draxum have had mechanisms in place since the beginning to deal with a situation where that might be necessary) but that doesn't exactly go a long way in creating positive interactions.

It's also hard because, especially when she's younger, Beatrice doesn't quite understand that they don't like her. They can understand that Mikey is angry and Raph is scared, but they don't really get what's causing that. It's similar with Casey Jr being scary, because while he's not really allowed to spend much time around her, he's the one constantly looking for signs that Bea is going to reveal what he thinks of as her true Krang nature. He's the one expecting them to become a threat, and Beatrice can pick up on that.

Donnie... understands why his family sees Beatrice the way they do. He does have some trouble remembering what actually happened during the invasion, but he knows enough to be aware of just how bad it was. He knows that Raph is scared of Beatrice because of his latent fears of being used by the Krang again. He knows that Mikey uses his anger as a defense against the self blame he holds for letting Donnie go into the Technodrome in the first place. And he gets it. That doesn't stop him from wishing it was different. It doesn't stop arguments from cropping up here and there about how Beatrice gets treated.

The family does start working on therapy eventually, but it's kind of piecemeal, not everyone at once. Leo's actually the first to start, and him openly admitting he has a therapist is sort of the push his family needs to look into it themselves. It certainly doesn't fix everything, but it helps them to process stuff a bit more.

I'm glad you like this au so much! It's been super fun sharing it!

[goldenspecter]

Cosmo’s TMNT Masterpost

(Rise, 2003, 2012, and others)

Here’s where you can find pretty much everything I’ve ever made for the TMNT fandom! Fanfics here[haven’t gotten the courage to post fanart here yet], hope you guys enjoy my work. Reblogs are appreciated!

Fanfics

1. Finding my way home(and moving forward)

Out of sheer curiosity, Leonardo and Donatello looked up, and there it was.

A portal.

Had the Universe really taken pity on them? Had it really heard his desperate prayers for one more chance?

It was not like the ones they had seen before, it was an irregular circle made up of several shades of blue, completely different from the perfect and symmetrical pink triangles of the Kraang.

Leonardo and Donatello looked into each other's eyes for a few moments, "Should we go in?" Donatello asked, almost shouting, drawing the attention of the others, who quickly turned to the portal and to see each other, then the two brothers in question.

"It's our best bet, and our only chance," replied Leonardo.

Or rather, with the 2012 kids' home gone, they end up in the Rise verse after a strange portal shows up. Therapy is needed, and start the slow process of healing from their trauma.

(Rise/2012, Work in Progress, written with @keeryd​ )

2. Strawberry Cookies:

"Mikey here was just about to tell me what we could do to cheer Raph up while he's sick," Donnie says. "Mikey continue?"

Now that Mikey had both of his older brothers attention, he grins. "I was thinking we make strawberry cookies!" He does his jazz hands as he says this and is met with looks of something that he can only put as disapproval. "What?"

"You do know that everytime that we have tried to make it-" Donnie starts.

"We mess it up and Raph has to come in and save our butts from burning the cookies?" Leo finishes, "What would be different this time?"

Mikey huffs, "We are doing this so we can cheer him up and to prove that we can do something on our own!" he says, "That's what got Raph sick in the first place!"

Or rather, Raph gets sick after helping his brothers recover from the poisoned pizza puffs. Mikey, Donnie, and Leo take a shot at baking cookies for Raph while trying not to burn their kitchen down.

(One shot, complete)

 3. Chicken Fried Rice:

“I only poured in half a pot of rice,” Donnie complained.

Mikey stared at him, really stared at him before he spoke. “You do realize that rice expands when cooked right?” he said, “You do realize that?”

Donnie was silent, looking away from Mikey.

“Donnie!”

Donnie makes chicken fried rice. Mikey watches over. Shenanigans and brotherly fluff ensue.

one shot in which Donnie is in the kitchen, cooking rice and Mikey, Mikey is positive he should have gotten Donnies braincell. 

(One shot, complete)

 4. Tea Time with Hortense and Patty: 

"Sooo," Raph starts. She's always been weird with awkward silences. "Are these grandma kinning hours?"

"Grandma hours!" Mikey exclaims excitedly. "Grandma time!!!"

"Ah, if it isn't our favorite girl and her little brother!" Hortense tilts her head over in their direction slightly. "Are you going to join us? We were just about done arguing," she says.

---

Today is Tea Time. Two old ladies have a tea party, one of them forgets to bring the food, and they are joined by Mikey and Raph. A good time is still had.

(One Shot, Complete)

5. One of those Days

When Donnie woke up this morning, he woke up with the familiar thrum of anger and irritation running through his body with more intensity than normal. Rubbing the crust out of the corners of his sleep-addled eyes, he jerkily grabbed his phone and turned off the alarm. It's one of Those Days, Donnie noted. Those Days where Donnie isn't capable of handling Mikey's over-enthusiastic optimism or Leon's chaotic trickster nature. His safest bet is to hang out with Raph, his calm and mellow demeanor always helped calm down before Donnie went on a rage fest and say anything he couldn't take back.

Or, Donnie and Raph help each other out, balance each other, and make things a little less difficult.

(One Shot, Complete) 

 6. Gift Hunting: 

“It’s Leo. Tiny Leo,” the voice answers. “I need your help with something.”

“What is it?”

“I can’t say until you say yes first,” Leo says. “It’s really important though.”

Angelo is silent, weighing his options. He could say no, he really could-

“Please, Angelo, you’re the only one who can really help me with this,” Leo pleads.

Rather, Angelo and Leonardo go out in the streets of New York to help the blue banded turtle find gifts for his brothers' sixteenth mutation day. Bonding and fluff ensues.

(One Shot, Complete)

 7. Aftermath:

“Raphie bear?” Mikey called out, gently tapping Raph, with relief washing him when Raph turned his head to face him. “What’s the matter teddy bear?”

“Th-thi-this doesn’t feel real.” Raph stuttered out, his voice cracking as a sob broke through. “I’m not really here. Neither are you and everyone else. I’m still alone with Draxum and his minions. No one’s coming to save me because I was stupid enough to get captured and no one wants such a worthless turtle like me.”

In which Raph was kidnapped and tortured by Baron Draxum and his family has to deal with the aftermath of it.

(One Shot, Complete)

 8. To Be the Eldest

Donnie, the second youngest in his family, wishes he was the eldest for once. Then one night, Donnie gets his wish granted and now he was three small turtles in his care.

Donnie adjusts to being the eldest, comes to some realizations, and makes a promise to his (now) younger brothers.

(Work In Progress)

 9. Wanted: Snaggletooth 

Dr. Noel bent down on his knees in front of Raph, a manic smile that showed too many teeth coming about on his face speaking of pain and suffering that has yet to come. He stretched out his hand towards Raph’s face, placing a thumb under his mouth, pressing into his snaggletooth. “Beautiful. Just as I expected,” he crooned, pulling out a syringe and injecting it into Raph’s neck, pushing the contents of the syringe into his system.

Raph’s eyes fluttered as he started losing consciousness, watching through hooded eyes as Dr. Noel's smile grew even wider, with his last thought right as darkness consumed him being that he hoped his family would find him before it was too late.

Post S2 Finale, Dr. Noel remembers Raphael, his snaggletooth, and manages to find and capture the red masked turtle. It doesn't end well for Raphael.

(Work In Progress)

 10. Dimensional Differences:

They bow. Not like one of those pretentious bows like she would do at Yokai parties and not like the ones she would do with her brothers when they hosted tea parties. They bowed deeply, heads stopping at her stomach, one hand closing around their fists. This spoke of respect and honor.

And that unnerved her a little bit. Why are they bowing so deeply?

“Thank you,” they said in unison. It’s unnerving to April and she felt the uneasiness coming from her brothers too.

“Why are you thanking me?” She said finally, voice sounding foreign to her.

“You saved my life?” Baby Leo said slowly, voice tinged with confusion. “That was an honorable thing to do?”

April blinked, “It shouldn’t be considered honorable for doing what any big sister would do,” she said. “That’s not honor, that’s just being a good older sibling.”

In which April, Sunita, Casey, and the turtles end up in the 2012 verse after a mishap with Leo's ōdachi and stay with the 2012 turtles until they can go home. They find out a lot of things that don't quite jive with them. Some things are the same, some things are different and they're not quite sure how to handle those differences.

(Rise/2012, Work In Progress)

 11. Mind Meld Part Deux:

“Oh thank Galileo that you all are back to normal!”

“What do you mean we’re back to normal?” Raph questioned, pulling back from the hug. Mikey and Leo also pulled back to stare at Donnie. “We’ve-we’ve always been like this?”

Donnie went quiet. He shouldn’t have said that.

“Donnie, what did you do?”

The brothers found out about Donnie’s Mental Intelligence Reprogrammulator. Arguments are had, words are said, words that tear a rift between him and his family, and it’s up to Donnie to earn his brothers’ forgiveness. The only thing is, will he get it?

(Work In Progress)

 12. I'm a little kid and so are you(don't you go and grow up before I do):

The 2003 turtles somehow, someway ended up in the Rise verse, with Rise Splinter and his turtle tots, and stay with them while the boys try to figure out their way home. 2003 Raphael got attached to his tiny counterpart the moment he laid eyes on the tot. (Raph centric)

(Rise/2003, Work In Progress)

 13. Dimensional Self-Isolation

Post S2 Finale, Raph finds himself trapped in the 2012 universe and has a difficult time coping with all of the differences that this world has in store for him. From new villains, unfamiliar familiar faces, and the way the 2012 boys and Splinter treat each other and him, Raph has a heavy plate on his hands during his long term stay.

(Rise/2012, Work In Progress)

14. A Collection of Turtle Thoughts

A collection of drabbles and ficlets about Turtles I've been writing since October 2020. Ranges from humor to hurt/comfort, I have it all.

Requests are open. SFW only though.

(All Iterations, Work in Progress)

If y’all reblog, read, and share my work, I’d really appreciate that! Anything and everything is appreciated, money or not! Thanks folks 🐢💕

[tmntgirlie]

TMNT x Reader

Prompt: It seems that a brother of your S/O has a bone to pick with you

Leonardo’s S/O

You had been dating the Fearless leader for a few months now

As every relationship, you had your ups and downs with Leo, but it generally was a very smooth relationship

You found yourself taking after some of his mannerisms

It took a turn when you began treating his brothers not only like your brothers, but how Leonardo treated them as well

You were a little bossy

Leonardo found it endearing that you mimicked him in that way, but you saw how Donatello now looked at you

He started to ignore you when you walked into the room

It made you uneasy

You didn’t realize how when you talked to them, your tone started to change

When Mikey started calling you ‘Miss Mini Leonardo’, you got the hint

You had been taking it too far

You finally approached Donatello

He refused to look at you

“Look, I know you don’t like me. The least you can do is acknowledge that I exist”

Donnie was not having it

“You fail to realize how you’ve been treating us. You may be dating our brother, but you aren’t him. We don’t need another leader in the family”

His words stunned you

Sure, Mikey had called you a mini Leo, but it finally stuck

You sighed

“I’ve been getting ahead of myself”

“It’s normal to mimic your significant other’s mannerisms, but that doesn’t mean you treat us like he treats us when we’re on duty. Treat us like family. I’m sure Leo feels the same way”

You took his words to heart

In the coming weeks, you caught yourself sounding bossy in front of them

It happened a lot

It didn’t sound right for you to bark orders at them

You caught yourself mid-sentence sometimes, took a deep breath, and changed your tone

Even Leonardo noticed, giving you small glances and smiles as he saw you disciplining yourself

One day, Donatello approached you

“Thank you for listening to me”

All you wanted was for them to like you as much as Leo did

Well, maybe not that much

Raphael’s S/O

Dating Raphael was like a dream

He doted on you, was so affectionate, he truly treated you like his Queen

Well, in isolation at least

Outside of the bedroom, he was mainly possessive of you, wouldn’t let you out of his sight

You noticed Mikey look at the two of you often

He never smiled when he did

You just figured he was jealous, wanted somebody for himself

One day, you finally asked Raph what Mikey’s deal was

He never talked to you

“He thinks you’re taking me away from him”

You take Raph away from Mikey?

You didn’t quite know what to say

After all, Mikey had spent all of his years with Raph

They grew up together, for Gods’ sake

You’ve only been in their lives for a couple months, tops

When you approached Mikey, he tried to act nonchalant about it

“What? I’m not looking at you guys or anything”

Lying through his teeth

But you were stubborn, and you didn’t back down

He finally admitted it

“I like you alright, Y/N, but I feel like you’re changing Raph”

“I’m changing him?”

“He never just wants to play videogames with me anymore or go boarding. He just wants to spend time with you”

As he continued to speak, you could sense something different in his voice

Mikey was scared he’d never have his brother again

Did you really change Raphael that much?

You didn’t know what to say to him, so you just nodded and ran back to Raph’s room

It was basically your room as well now

When you explained to him what Mikey said, you had to hold him back from charging out to talk to Mikey

“Don’t make it worse, please”

“Baby, he thinks you’re changing me. Does he really think you have that much power over me?”

You gave him a look

Yeah, you did have that kind of power over him

Maybe it wasn’t such a good thing

He sighed

“You’re right. Whatever. I guess I have been spending more time with you than with my brothers recently”

That started a conversation on what you and him could do differently

You had basically moved in at that point, so there wasn’t a time where you weren’t glued to his side

You both decided that he needed to detach himself a little from you to spend more time with his brothers

They were his brothers, after all

You respected the fact that in reality, you were just a girlfriend

They were brothers for life

Plus, there were some things you could do for him that his brothers absolutely couldn’t

Donatello’s S/O

Not a day went by that Donatello didn’t pull you into his lab to show you something new he had made

Sure, most of the things weren’t completely groundbreaking, but he usually made them for you

And you absolutely loved them

Oh, the thought that went into these things that he made for you

One day while Don was showing you this new feature he added on your phone, Leo stormed in

He was not a happy camper

He began questioning why Donnie was wasting his time making things for you when he could be doing so much more for his brothers

They had needs for new things, too

Leonardo was used to Donnie reporting everything to him, making things at his request

Now, he was constantly either with you or making something he thought you’d like

Donatello instantly got defensive, saying that everything he made for you, he made some other version for his brothers

He wasn’t picking favorites

But Leonardo was not having it

No, in his mind, brothers needed to come first

Brothers needed the most up-to-date tech and gear for the benefit of the family and New York City’s safety

Yeah, he went there

Brought up the whole safety of the city thing

You didn’t have a single word to say

You had never asked Donnie to make something only for you and not his brothers

Donnie was right- when he made something for you, he made stuff for his brothers as well

Now, we won’t get into the quality of the items

He did sometimes give you the best version over his brothers

That was Leonardo’s problem

The conversation ended with you leaving in tears

Leonardo and Donatello remaining in the lab, death glares flying all over the place

“I’ll create what I please. You may be our leader, but you’re my brother first. Respect my priorities. Just because I love her doesn’t mean I love any of you less”

He had never admitted out loud that he loved you before

Now Leonardo was at a loss for words

He had no idea you guys were in love

In his brain, he somehow thought… Something else

He really thought that you were somehow taking advantage of Donatello and his knack for tech and science

As Donatello continued, Leo caught that that was not the case

You finally came out of your room, eyes still a bit pink and puffy from crying

You really did not like yelling

Leonardo found you and started showering you in apologies

Man, could that turtle apologize

Better than YouTubers really

You accepted his apology, but sternly stated that his tone from earlier was not welcome in your ears

Leonardo nodded

“I think Don is looking for you. Don’t distract him too much”

It was a joke spoken too soon, but you let it go

You knew Donnie could make it better

Michelangelo’s S/O

Dating Michelangelo was like a nonstop party

He was always up for anything you wanted to do

A Marvel movie marathon?

Hell yeah

Playing Mario Kart until you could barely see straight?

Obviously

In the mood to be smothered in love and affection?

Mikey was your guy

You couldn’t think of a time in your life when you felt happier

Every day with Mikey was your new favorite day

A couple weeks into your relationship with the youngest turtle, you noticed one of his brothers scoff when you suggested a new activity for the two of you to try

You tried not to let it get to you, but as the weeks went on, it happened more often

Raphael, it seemed, had a bone to pick with you

At first, you thought it was the fact that you kept Mikey busy playing games with you or trying new recipes

When you offered Raphael a controller to play along, he always said no

Maybe it was just you, but it seemed like Raph flat out didn’t like you

Now, you weren’t the most confrontational person

But this was the best relationship you’d ever had, and damn it, nobody was going to ruin it for you

One day you had offered Raph the controller to play along with you and Mikey

When he said no, as expected, you huffed

“What is your problem with me?”

That was not the right thing to say

Oh, not at all

Raphael absolutely exploded on you

Rambling on about how you were a huge distraction for Mikey, how he was less motivated to train, all he ever wanted to do was spend time with you

Wasting his time with you

You could feel something in the pit of your stomach

You swore you weren’t going to cry

You were surprised when Mikey stood up for you instantly

“What are you talking about, bro? Y/N is the best thing that’s ever happened to me! Why can’t you just let me be happy for once?”

Raph didn’t say anything

“Our whole lives has been training, staying secluded, staying in the sewers with nobody to talk to but ourselves. Fuck me since now I finally found someone that not only accepts me, but wants to spend time with me and loves me for me”

You hadn’t yet said that you loved him yet, but it was pretty obvious

“Be happy that I found someone to put up with me, bro”

Mikey pulled you closer to him, eyeing his brother in a way you didn’t think was possible for the youngest turtle

Was this his defensive side?

Oh, you liked that

Raphael clicked his tongue

“I guess. Good for you, Mike, finding someone to put up with you that also beats you in Mario Kart”

Mikey scoffed

“She’s just that good. She’d beat you, too!”

Raphael wasn’t having that

He snatched the third player controller and gestured at you to start the race

It definitely took you by surprise, but it really shouldn’t have

These guys were passionate, they were all each other had

You hoped Raphael wouldn’t hold your relationship with his brother against you any longer

[sylvain-writes]

A Little Understanding (Leonardo x Reader)

Rated: T Gender Neutral reader, stutter, anger, feelings of being misunderstood/left out, loneliness, studying abroad, understanding, comfort, established relationship

You’re tired of ‘friends’ thinking it’s cute and/or funny when you misspell or misspeak words, when you get stuck in your stutter, and when you miss cultural references. All you’re asking for is to be heard. And for a little understanding. (This can be read as a companion piece to To Be Seen but is a stand alone fic.) for @whygz

Winter’s chill stung your eyes as you dropped from street level to the sewer below, but you barely felt a thing. At least on the outside. The snow-dusted cars, the holiday window displays, none of it caught your attention while your thoughts simmered and raged inside. 

You seethed and your blood boiled. The events of the day swirled and raged like an animal caged. Your chest ached as your frustrations clawed to get out. 

The Lair, that place of safety and understanding, was almost within reach. You longed to see your real friends, and put the bullshit of university life behind you - even if only for a few hours. 

It grated at your nerves to know you’d have to see your classmates again tomorrow. Even now, those people who you thought were your friends, were still blowing up your phone wondering why you left the library in such a rush. 

They couldn't see what they'd done. They didn't hear the way they spoke to you. They didn't really know you and they didn't seem to care.

You couldn’t speak to them.  Not when they didn’t understand. No, not when they pretended not to understand. 

If you can listen hard enough for context clues, and you can sort through their in-jokes and memes and every little cultural reference… then they can take five seconds to wait for you to sort your thoughts. They can take a moment to listen to what you’re actually saying and wait for it to sink in. You work so hard to ‘not have an accent’, to find the right words, while it seems like they don’t try at all. 

But sticking up for yourself is a losing battle. You’ve tried. You’re tired of going beet red in front of them, telling them to stop and hearing them tell you how cute it is when you’re upset. You’re tired of stumbling and stammering and falling into the stutter you’ve worked so hard to train out of your speech. But that only makes them giggle and coo and treat you like you’re a child. As if only a child is sweet and innocent enough to trip over their words. 

You stomp through the tunnels, your feet knowing exactly which turns to take even while your mind is focused elsewhere. You don’t even realize you’ve made your way into the Pit until you’re walking into Michelangelo’s chest. 

You both step back, you apologizing, him looking down at you with a curled lip and annoyed frown. It seems neither of you were paying attention to where you were going. But he's set to blame you.

“Hey!” He says, his New York accent almost as thick as Raphael’s tonight. “I’m walkin’ here!” 

At first you’re surprised. You’ve never seen Michelangelo angry. Certainly, he’s never been angry at you. Then he throws up his arms in exasperation and repeats himself. "I'm walkin' here!"

Heart pounding, you’re mid-apology when he starts laughing. 

“Dustin Hoffman, Midnight Cowboy!” He shakes his head as he walks past you, still laughing as he goes. 

And the anger in you vibrates from your chest through your throat until it’s pushing past your lips in fiery words, “Cala a boca!”

And he does. Michelangelo, king of pranks and jokes and laughter, snaps his mouth shut in an instant. His voice drops low, all hints of exaggerated accent gone as he gently asks, “What? What’d I do?”

“You don’t get to laugh at me!” You’re still shouting. You hear it. You see the shock in his big blue eyes as your voice gets louder instead of softer. And you wish you could take it back. This anger isn’t for him. But he’s safe and he’s here and he’s getting it all. “Just because I didn’t understand doesn’t make it funny!”

You’re so wrapped up in your own anger at everyone and everything, and shame at yelling at Mikey who’s trying desperately to listen and understand, that you don’t notice Leo step into the room behind you. 

“Hey, what-”

You spin on your heel to face him. “Leo.” 

Seeing him standing there, head tilted in confusion, your face flushes so hot your eyes start to burn.

“Baby," he asks sweetly, "what’s going on?”

“No, don’t-” you start, while Mikey holds his hands up in peace.

“Leo, it’s OK," Mikey tries.

“It’s not,” you argue. 

“Baby, talk to me.”

“Don’t do that!" The shouting scrapes your throat raw as your hands curl into fists at your sides. "Don’t… don’t… don’t talk to me like I’m… don’t call me baby when…” Your fingernails dig into your palms as you struggle.

Donatello is already theorizing as he comes down from his work station. “I believe you’re objecting to Leo’s use of the endearment ‘baby’ whilst you are in crisis. Perhaps it comes across as patronizing? Infantilizing?”

Your eyes blink owlishly at Donnie. With all that’s running through your head, you can't keep up. He speaks too quickly and too strangely for you to translate it all. 

You close your eyes to block out the world, lean your head back, and finally it all comes out in a shout, “I’m not stupid!”

The crash of heavy dumbbells hitting the floor is the only sound as the voices of the turtles fall silent.

“I’m not stupid. And… I’m not a baby. I’m not cute. I’m not funny.” Your chin falls to your chest and you dig your hands deep into the pockets of your hooded sweatshirt. Tears slide down your cheeks and over your lips as you mumble. “Eu só sou eu. I’m me. Just me.”

"Leo," it's Raph speaking now, "maybe we should…"

He's hushed and you release a broken sigh. 

You don’t even notice your shoulders are trembling until you feel Leo’s hands rest atop of them to hold you steady. 

“I know you,” Leo says so quietly you almost missed it. “I see you, remember?”

“It’s hard!” you whimper as the tears continue to fall.

“What is?”

You shrug and sniff and wrap your arms around yourself before you answer. “This. All of it.” 

You’ve been away from your family for eight months. And keeping the turtles a secret for more than half that time. Even with the friends you’ve made, it so often feels like you’re alone in this crazy city in a foreign country. You want to tell Leo just how alone and lost and angry you feel by the way people take you for granted, but he pulls you into his arms and the intensity of it all starts to fade away.

Leo holds you for a minute and when he pulls back a bit you notice you’re the only ones left in the room. He leads you over to the couch in the Pit and sits you down. 

“I’ll be right back,” he says, but you aren't ready to let him go. He kisses your hand before releasing it. “Right back, I promise.”

When he returns, there are steaming mugs in his hands and a blanket slung over his shoulder. It’s sweet and he looks all kinds of cute and cozy as he plays the part of a gentleman. But a cup of cocoa and a cuddle isn’t going to solve anything. However, maybe, you think, it can help you get through the night without ripping another unsuspecting sweetheart’s head off. 

“I really have to apologize to Mikey.” You’re embarrassed for losing your cool with him

Leo gives a little nod, but doesn’t push anything but a warm mug into your hands. He slides into the space between you and the armrest of the couch, snuggles close to your side and brings his own cup of cocoa to his lips. "I take it things at study group didn't go so well."

Your tears start up again, but you have no more words. It feels like you've been allotted only so many words in a day and you used them all up before getting to your boyfriend. That breaks your heart and makes you cry harder. Even then, they're silent tears. 

"I used to feel alone all the time."

You raise your head at Leo's confession. He's had sensei and his brothers, April and Casey. But, you realize, that's an awfully small circle of people to know and to trust.

"They didn't really understand me. They didn't get me." 

You lean into Leo's side remembering what a struggle it was for him the first time he opened up to you. And you've seen how hard he works to lead his brothers, to hold the family together. To find their strengths and make use of those in balance. 

But his brothers so often think he's too hard on them, too serious, too focused on training. 

"I got left out and made fun of… it was lonely. Until I met you. You listen. You take time to get to know me, to understand."

With Leo's presence a solid comfort beside you, his words coming steady and smooth, you calm down enough to find words. You shift your body toward him before you speak.

"You were quiet, in the beginning. Had to listen really hard to get to know you."

"Pff," Leo turns away with an almost laugh. "First time I heard I was quiet. The guys complain I'm always barking orders and-"

You lean in and kiss his lips. A simple thing. Chaste. Barely a touch. "I'm not the guys," you remind him. "You can always talk to me."

Leo snuggles in closer. You take your mugs and set them on the coffee table so your hands are free. But before you can wrap your arms around him, he pulls you into a hug. 

In his arms it's safe and quiet and warm. "It really sucks," you whisper.

Leo hums as he brings his lips to the crown of your head. "It really does." He lifts you into his lap and the blanket comes with you. 

Soon his hand is in your hair, his fingers running through it. And he swears a little when his fingers catch on your curls. It doesn't hurt, but hearing him swear has you burying your face in his neck. It’s mostly to hide and muffle your giggling. Judging by the way Leo takes your face in his hands and peppers you with kisses after, he doesn’t mind the bit of laughter. You know he’s happy to have helped you find your smile.

[teetlesandnimjas]

What if in the explosion the brothers got separated?

This is a villain turtle au- if you don’t want to read it you can scroll past! I know it’s a cliche concept but it was fun! And I like doing my own spin on things.

(Note in this au when they’re mutated they are a little older, young kids, as this idea wouldn’t work if they weren’t SEMI competent. They’re still 13, 14, and 15 in modern times, but when they’re first mutated Mikey is 3, Leo and Donnie are 4, and Raph is 5)

Donnie: got scooped up by Draxum in the end, and works as his assistant first, son second. He has a similar position to Foot Recruit; despite being fully capable of actually being useful, he is treated with little respect and does mundane tasks like running errands and fixing random, broken objects. He is trained constantly but is told over and over again that he is “not good enough” yet. Despite this he puts his heart into everything he does. Broken clock? Sure he’ll fix it and it’s got LAZERS now! This causes him to accidentally make problems, and Draxum thinks that Donnie is “a complete and udder fool” which is further from the truth. Villain Donnie is a lot like canon Donnie personality wise but a bit more serious. He does not approve of Draxum’s use of mystic powers, and resents using them himself. He refuses the axe Draxum tries to give him. Draxum has little regard for what Donnie thinks and does, and therefore has an awful relationship with him. And yknow Donnie’s abandonment and self-worth issues? Yeah crank that up to 11. Basically Donnie hates Draxum and the Mystic City, and the Shredder going rouge is the last straw. “WATCH ME! ILL WIPE OUT THE HUMAN THREAT WITHOUT YOUR STUPID MAGIC! YOU HEAR ME BARON DRAXUM- I DEFY YOU!”

Leo: made his way to New York via Senior Hueso. Originally I was going to have him raised by Hueso but then realized it wouldn’t make a lot of sense- so Senior Hueso picks baby Leo up off the streets but ever the wanderer Leo walks right through the GIANT PORTAL IN THE WALL. From there Foot Brute, attempting and failing to find members for the clan, picks up this tiny, promising turtle off the street. “What is that thing?” “I dunno but he’s cute- and we’re in need of members” “That is an actual child” “so?” And then Leo is raised by his two dad- I mean sensei. I put raised lightly. He was treated better than Donnie but he was never given a lot of attention, and therefore turned to causing trouble to get attention. And not just from his dads, from anyone he can. Causing mischief in the city actually helped him in his training, as he became very skilled at sneaking, fighting, and stealing. He butts heads with Foot Recruit a lot because of his constant need for approval and attention. She finds him genuinely annoying while he just views it as “playful teasing.” That comes back to bite him the butt upon meeting Donnie, who comes along to help make form the Shredder armor, but he does not want to be there. Forced to work together, Donnie gets sick of Leo’s crap real fast but they don’t really hate each other, but in the moment they needed to play it off like they did and therefore gave the impression to the other that they DID hate them. Confusing, I know. Draxum tries and fails on multiple occasions to nab Leo but if he does he realizes it’ll put a major dent in his plans. So he forbids Donnie to speak to Leo. But no one stops Leo from talking to him. But Donnie’s coldness and Leo’s cruel banter really doesn’t help them get along. The moment Shredder goes rogue and the Foot Clan collapses, Leo flees in fear. “What if” this and “what if” that but mostly because he tried to take out Shredder and ruined his clan name. But even on the street, Leo remains the same annoying, much more cruel and dark humored mutant.

Mikey: Got scooped up by the Mud Dogs and taken to Big Mama, dragging only Lou’s glasses with him since even as a toddler he picked up anything shiny he saw. I plan to draw the interaction between tiny Mikey and the Dogs (and how Mikey got his name in this au) but that’s a surprise. Anyways pretty quickly he got entered in the Battle Nexus. Think about the appeal that fight would have! Just a couple years of training and then bam! “Introducing Hakka-gu! Our youngest fighter ever- only 8 years old!” And having natural talent and capabilities he was an instant hit. And he wasn’t treated horribly, after all Big Mama couldn’t risk one of her most profitable champions running away. But he is still treated as nothing but that- a profit, a marketable product. No one calls him his real name anymore, no one cares about him, just his capabilities. When he gets injured it isnt “are you okay?” It’s “is your body okay?” And sometimes he’s treated like an idiot- especially by Big Mama. He was never taught language and has very botched speaking patterns because “intelligence isnt important for a champion.” Well eventually he has enough of that, and through a bloodbath, he is able to escape to New York. Now he’ll get respect- he’ll make them respect him. But he gets quickly spotted by the Foot Clan and Draxum, as he’s in the way. Upon finding out about the plans to wipe out humans, he knows he has to stop them. Who can respect him if THESE GUYS wanna take over the world? He’s not getting mistreated again. But when the Shredder goes rogue he panics- he cant stop it but... he knows who can. He goes crawling back to Big Mama and strikes a deal. A better champion. Better than him. And she takes it, although in the end she makes some... alterations to the deal. But this doesn’t stop his quest for respect, and he ultimately heads back to New York.

Raph: Savage! He’s alone, a young child who doesn’t know where to go. He panics, and rampages all the way to New York. After a good, long, temper-tantrum, he finds himself in an alleyway, climbing into a sewer. And there he eats rats, he sets up a not-so-homely-home for himself. He flashes in and out of his anger, but he is almost always emotional and looking for some sort of control in his life. He gets that through rampages, causing destruction in any way he can. Usually he doesn’t make TOO much of a mess but he’s brought down a few buildings in his time. Eventually, upon seeing a rampaging demon-armor in the streets and seeing 2 figures trying to stop it (at this point Mikey is getting Big Mama) he realizes there are others out there like him. And then begins a struggle for control not over the world, but over himself too. There are times he gains control and although lonely, he knows he must learn. He learns English in flickers, and it isn’t perfect, but he can communicate. He can talk to them. Now he just needs to stop hurting them.

Extra notes:

In this au the only one with their weapon is Donnie. Mikey and Leo are skilled with the weapons they have in canon (the Ōdachi and Kusari-fundo) but they do not have mystic powers. Raph is... well... Raph. He can’t fight with weapons well but he can pack a punch.

Mikey is still a chef and artist, taking a liking to the ability to create, but just like with everything else he “needs to focus on his fights” so he can’t have interests. A kid like Mikey HATES this and any time he can he sneaks away to bake and draw. Usually this is at 2 am.

Leo has anxiety. The minute something not in the plan happens, or a loud noise, or having to talk to someone without a script, he goes into fight-or-flight mode. He often finds that the answer is to fight.

Raph is not necessarily evil- he is an antagonist but he is not evil. He simply has no control and lashes out at everything. That’s why he stays in the sewers. Nothing down there’s moves other than rats, bugs, and the water. But he has to get violent urges out some how.

April is a reporter-in-training in the au, as she never met the turtles until after the Shredder incident. She’s immediately interested in it, as she is everything “supernatural” and she gets dangerously close to some of their fights. I don’t know how they meet yet or if she becomes friends with any of them.

After the Shredder incident, the only thing stopping each turtle from destroying New York is each other. Seriously. They keep getting in each other’s ways because “I want to take over the world, not THEM!”

They all have certain villain stereotypes. Donnie is sort of a mad scientist, Leo is a teasing, monologging villain, Mikey acts like a nut case but has a certain intelligence to him, and Raph appears as a total destroyer.

In the end they get redeemed and find out they’re family, but it takes a while. Mikey is the one to hunt down Draxum, while Leo stalks him. Upon finding this out, having 3 out of 4 looking for each other, they find each other pretty fast. And there’s a big dramatic apology scene with all 3 of them, and at first Donnie thinks they’re conspiring against him and ambushes them but is only met with three harmless turtles who refuse to fight him. They tell him what the deal is and Donnie is shocked. And then he’s pissed. “WHY DIDNT DRAXUM TELL ME!? YOURE LYING! LIARS! NO!” In the end he realizes the truth, but it takes a little “talk” with Draxum. And then Donnie nearly commits murder. Don’t worry they stop him. But there’s no Draxum redemption arc because Donnie would continuously try to commit a felony. April is also somewhere in there and like gives the brothers goodness lessons but idk where that fits in I’m still working this out shajajajajaj

[divine-motion]

don’t fucking interact if you ship t/cest and minor/adult ships

more shitty phone photos of sketchbook sketches for my tmnt fan incarnation/tmnt 2012 rewrite bc i have no shame and i’m having fun with it! pictures should have captions since i spent time writing them out, but tumblr might mess it up, so in case captions doesn’t work: 1. left to right: leo, donatello up, raphael down, michelangelo 2. Casey Jones up top, April O’Neil to the right, donatello in the middle and karai at the bottom 3. casey and don again, raphael to the left, mikey at the bottom just bc i liked how their their expressions turned out and didn’t want a bunch of negative space so don and case appear again 4. size chart featuring turtles. left to right: leo, don, mikey, raph 5. sketchy Slash design. big boy.

general thoughts character stuff below the Keep Reading. A Lot of rambling below so beware!!

April: 15 years old, trans and bi. local fifteen year old telepath finds out that not everyone is able to feel what other people are feeling, something she’s been able to do since she was six after she played in that one weirdly glowy puddle (early Kraang mutagen attempt that only managed to mutate April in the sense that it gave her telepathy, was originally intended to make humans become part of the Kraang hivemind). she’s largely unfazed by the existence of mutants and aliens, taking it in stride, and finds out about the Kraang - and meets the turtles - while snooping around TCRI business (aspiring journalist that she is) and accidentally witnessing the mutation of Snakeweed. her telepathy, which later as she grows in power alongside the turtles extends to telekinesis and basically possession, is very useful whenever she gets into a scrap since she can predict what moves her opponent will make, thus letting her dodge their blows effectively. personality wise she is a very determined and driven young girl, incredibly curious (and cannot mind her own business, she wants to know all the drama while not having to be part of it... which makes her very fortunate to be a telepath. listen she’s 15 she’s allowed to misuse her powers a little bit. as a treat.), playful, and cheerful, and she’s an extroverted autistic. in her spare time between her studies, she likes to play bass, sing, read, and write. that, and investigating whatever shady business is going on in town, and she makes it very clear to the turtles that even if they weren’t going to deal with the Kraang, she’d continue to try to stop them herself. she would like to not live under the threat of her or her loved ones getting mutated, thank you very much! and, you know, it’s kind of exciting. kind of.

i know it’s bc i have brain issues when it comes to parent figures but i am very much leaning towards Splinter not being... a good dad. i don’t think 2012 Splinter is a good dad anyways but i’d probably amp it up, make him a mix of 2012 and idw probably. i’m still mulling it over but like, remember in the season 1 finale when leo is watching his show and thinks the captain guy making a totally unnecessary sacrifice is a heroic move, and then Splinter tells leo (his fifteen year old child) that leo should know what or who to sacrifice, more or less telling him to sacrifice his brothers’ lives, potentially?? i know there was a lot at stake but hello??? i remember watching it and being like me: ah i see, this is showing that splinter is wrong and there is no need for any sacrifices as seen in the show when the captain Goes Down With His Ship for no reason other than just sacrificing himself, and leo will see that- leo: *tries to sacrifice himself twice in the finale, both times being kind of unnecessary/seemed like if he had just hurried or done something slightly different there would be no need to stay behind, and he gets out fine with no consequences, seemingly no injuries, and does Not learn anything, his brothers don’t even get sad when they think he died or get mad at him for pulling such a dumb move) me: surprised_pikachu.jpeg

like that moment haunts me. has any other splinter told their sons to sacrifice himself or his brothers? has any other splinter put that on them??? idw doesn’t count if he has bc he’s more explicitly supposed to be bad so???

sometimes writers think they’ve made an uncle iroh but they really, really, really haven’t. also his backstory is the same as in the show

anyways. Donatello: 15 years old, bog turtle, nonbinary (he/they, doesn’t mind being called brother but doesn’t like to be called “boy” or “girl” or whatever), bi. he isn’t in love with April. no creepy incel shit here. donnie is instead more like a mix between his Rise and 2003 self. he has trouble expressing himself and is pretty introverted, but he is very altruistic, kind, and compassionate. a lot of his inventions are made to help people and he was driven to learn about science and engineering because he wants to find a way to reverse splinter’s mutation, to give splinter his life and humanity back. he feels like he needs to know if splinter would just abandon them if he wasn’t a huge rat man, needs to know if there’s any part of splinter that blames them for being constant reminders of his mutation. other than that, he also likes to make inventions because he’s a dreamer and wants to experiment to see how much of the unknown he can push beyond. also, the best liar out of the turtles. also fairly good at compromising and prefers to solve conflicts without violence he can get a little... “obnoxious 15 year old genius” at times. even when he’s helpful it can come off as a bit “poor dear isn’t as smart as me”, and while he usually gets along well with Raph, he doesn’t handle Raph’s temper well at all (calls him “Wrathael/Wrath” and thinks he’s being super clever) and gets really dismissive of Raph’s “outbursts”.

Michelangelo: 13 years old, diamondback terrapin, unsure about the gender and sexuality thing but he doesn’t think he’s exactly cis and definitely not straight. a bouncy ball of sunshine and surprising emotional maturity and emotional intelligence! more so than his emotionally constipated brothers, at least. it’s on his thirteenth birthday (it was leo’s idea for them to pick dates that would let them have their own birthdays instead of sharing the “Mutation Day”, Mutation Day being another special “holiday”) that the Plot would be set in motion, as he’s finally allowed to go to the surface same as his brothers, and on this first night out they meet April and the Kraang and other mutants. he is a goof still, but he’s capable in his own right and gets frustrated when people treat him like a baby or an idiot because he’s not. he doesn’t always treat everything with the seriousness it should but like. he’s thirteen, he’s having fun. even so, he’s very insistent of taking responsibility whenever he does do something wrong and gets mad if someone tries to take the blame for something he’s done. definitely the most compassionate and empathetic out of the turtles, he’s quick to make friends and is very persuasive due to his earnest nature and good heart. much like donnie, he prefers to solve conflict without violence but does enjoy knocking skulls a lot more than donnie. unlike donnie, though, he is almost overly forgiving and not petty at all. he’s well aware that his kindness and forgiveness may be taken advantage of, but he still likes to approach people with an open hand, even if he knows that it may end up getting bitten. oh, and his hobbies include drawing, cooking, singing, and dancing. he likes to express himself!

Raphael: 14 years old, mississippi map turtle, trans, bi. all his fury is compressed within his tiny body, that’s why he’s so angry all the time! no, he’s not angry all the time, but he does have a short fuse. he absolutely hates his anger issues which leads to a lot of self-loathing, and a lot of frustration as his family members either don’t take his anger seriously or don’t have the tools to help him with it. he’s the physically strongest out of the bunch and the least agile. he loves animals and plants a lot and keeps a lot of flowers in his room, hoping that he can one day become a gardener. as his idw self, he wants to watch things grow, but no matter what he does he seems to be best at destroying things. he’s also the one most self-conscious about how the human world perceives them, as he greatly fears rejection, and is the first one to see something positive with people getting mutated - namely, that maybe this way mutants will be more well known and finally accepted by society, so he’ll no longer be trapped in the sewer until the end of his days. so yeah, he’s a huge optimist, in truth. also he’s great at knitting - great at creating and taking care of things in general - and there’s no leo and raph rivalry this time around. he can get mad at leo but not really more than he gets with his other brothers.

Casey: 15 years old, nonbinary (they/them), bi. teen vigilante who gets inspired to fight mutants and the big time criminals (no beating up pickpockets or shoplifters or whatever, just the ones that are really hurting people) and gets roped into the turtle fam after meeting raph and becoming unexpected friends (everyone was expecting it, once Casey realized that mutants are people and not weird monsters. well, not all the time, anyways). they struggle a bit in school not because of a lack of trying but a lack of time, as their parents work full time jobs and someone has to take care of casey’s little sister. their parents are very loving, but they only have so much time, so casey takes it upon themselves to take care of their little sister when their parents are busy and/or burned out from work. that, and they run into the classic dilemma of vigilante work clashing with school work. as always, they have a short fuse, they’re pretty cocky, they like beating ass, and they like hockey a whole lot. hockey, vigilante work, school, and taking care of their little sister... yeah, they have a lot on their plate. oh, and making their little inventions like the taser glove and their puck bombs, something that they bond with donnie over.

Leonardo: 17 years old, Central American wood turtle, trans, gay. he doesn’t fall in love with his sister oh my god. ahem. so, leo is raised from the start to be a Leader and has to mature very quickly, learning to be an adult way earlier than he should’ve, and as such he is very stoic and quiet, and doesn’t seem to have any hobbies, instead just doing chores and training almost constantly, and when he’s not doing that he’s reading or sleeping in his free time. he’s incredibly protective of his younger brothers and his other allies/friends, even if he acts distant and detached most of the time, and removes himself from situations where they’re having fun to not be the stick in the mud. he loves his brothers and admires them greatly, believing they could be So Much if the surface world would just accept them, and as a result he tries to be The Soldier so his brothers won’t have to. alas, they still get caught up in the Kraang and Shredder business, which frustrates him internally. he is the best fighter out of the turtles on account of having more years to train (and convincing Splinter to wait a few more years before they got Real training bc Come On Dude They’re Kids) but it’s the Only thing he’s good at, along with stealth and his sharp eyes. he absolutely sucks at talking when it isn’t about a mission or something he can script easily in his head. in his mind, he’s supposed to be more of a weapon than a person, an idea that isn’t exactly encouraged by Splinter... but not exactly discouraged either. his arc would be very paralleled with Karai’s, as they would both learn to hate their dads... also, absolutely down for murder, and a lawful neutral at best, putting his family and friends’ safety above all other things and following a strict personal code. doesn’t care too much for society’s laws, though.

Karai: 16 years old, demigirl, lesbian. same backstory as in the show, she’s born as Miwa but gets taken by Oroku Saki and raised as his daughter. however, she doesn’t exactly want revenge against Hamato Yoshi because she believes that he killed her mother. she never knew her mother, so it’s much more difficult to hate someone for taking her mother away, even if it does mean that she never got to know her mother. especially since her father rarely spoke of what her mother was like, and much more about how much he hates Yoshi. instead, her need for revenge is more for the possibly idyllic life she was robbed of, since she believes that maybe, just maybe, her father Saki would’ve been a kind father that would’ve let her have a normal childhood and not be molded into a warrior from the start if her mother still lived. and hey, maybe Tang Shen would be a nice mom too. being trained in the art of deception, Karai has a tendency to talk a lot and say very little, or at least very little that is true. she is rarely ever sincere and acts as if she’s taking nothing seriously, which is part of her defense mechanism to never let anyone close or see her true self. she mocks pretty much everyone, ally and enemy alike, but especially likes to make fun of her father’s henchmen and is always the first to point out their failures. while she does value honor to some extent, she is a bit “flimsy” when it comes to loyalty, especially after the truth about her father is revealed. when that is revealed, she at first just feels very numb, learning that not only has she been nothing but a tool and a weapon for the Shredder from the very start, but also that the idyllic fantasy where her mother still lived, perhaps her life wouldn’t be so different after all. she looks at leonardo and sees a reflection of herself, that her “real” father chose to train his sons the same way the Shredder trained her. she feels stupid for feeling like she’s been robbed of even a fantasy, but it still enrages her. of course, this also inspires her to stay with the Foot Clan... just to get the kill on Shredder.

... yeah. that got long. ahem. i’m very passionate about this unfortunately!! anyways i might draw/write more for it because no one can stop me and i’m having fun

[warfear]

WHAT’S GOOD, PARTY PEOPLE ?     the name’s mads :    twenty - four summers young, in love with cj from dawn of the dead (2004), mortal enemies with amc’s the walking dead and so very excited to be here. thus, without further ado, below the cut you’ll find the basics—the general gist—about my horrible, poorly written bastard children. 

trigger warnings for : cancer, death, kidnapping, abuse and assault !!

APOLSKIS, JULIAN      —      twenty-four, comic store clerk.

BASICS :     born in seattle, julian moved to fort elms when he was a whooping eleven years old. why, you don’t ask. well, because he got diagnosed with a gnarly case osteosarcoma and his father took ONE LOOK at that hospital bill and vanished into thin air, that’s why ! so, mommy dearest took her kids and skipped town as well. for less horrible reasons, of course. since then, his cancer has came and went and came back again. until finally it went for the last time, taking his leg with it as it did. he’s cancer free now ! three years and counting. we do love that for him … depressing facts aside, he’s in a punk rock band because we gotta Stick It To The Man. they suck but he’s decent on the drums and that’s all that matters. him. yeah, he’s a bit of a prick. a lovable prick. loves to play the devil’s advocate and hates talking about his feelings because ~ romantic trauma ~. but other than that, a decent guy, alright ! put some respect to his name. 

WANTED CONNECTIONS … 

ex - girlfriend :     bringer of trauma … she was his second ever girlfriend and their relationship was good, okay ! lasted almost two years. and then, without warning, she dumped him, THROUGH A NOTE. left without a word and that was that. a big bitch move, i’d say. 

mother :     the best mom there is ! worked three jobs to support her family after the deadbeat left, and is overall the best person juli knows and will ever know. she’s a second generation polish immigrant and very insistent on julian retaining his jewish heritage. pops was christian, so … gross. 

father :     not much to say about this bastard except he hasn’t spoken to his own children in thirteen years. not as much as a birthday card ! who knows where he is now. we’d like for him to be dead in a ditch but odds are he has a new family. i’d love for julian to knock him out, please hit me up for that. 

hospital buddies :     like i said, he spent most of his childhood in a hospital. so he must’ve made at least one friend there. they can be a teenager, they can be a senior citizen — as long as their friendship was thrust onto julian by sheer proximity and boredom. he’s obviously well now but i’d like for him to have a sliver of his past life close. 

DIMEO, BRANDON      —      thirty-five, mall cop.

BASICS :     very italian. a walking italian stereotype, really. his family is huge and he’s close with them all. too close. i’m talking yearly hunting trips, weekly family dinners, and a mother who still does his laundry. which means, yes, he’s a momma’s boy. a bit of a scrub, if you will. flopped out of the police academy in his early twenties, as he’d almost done high school, and settled for acting cop at the local mall. he’s a bit of a dumbass, and by a bit i mean a lot. unintelligent to the point where he can’t do basic math. emotionally unintelligent to the point where he can’t have a long - term relationship. we do love that. also a big fan of the charlie’s angels television series, AS HE SHOULD BE. he’d be an angel of charlie’s if he could be …

WANTED CONNECTIONS …

ex - girlfriend :     i’m talking first and only. probably didn’t get together until his mid - late twenties, and didn’t last that long either. probably had issues with his weird relationship with his mother, probably didn’t appreciate that he couldn’t clean his own house, probably wanted a man and not a little boy. she definitely dumped him. oh, well.

family :     he has A LOT. two parents ( i was gonna say obvi but is it obvi, i don’t think so. check yourself @ me ) and three brothers … but he’s the baby of the family, physically and mentally. i feel for his mother. i’d love for him to have a kid cousin, though. like one girl ( except his mommy ) he treats well. it’d be cute, shut up.

friends with benefits :     pretty self - explanatory. no strings attached, no commitment, no expectations … it’s all poor donnie here can muster in life. so do give it to him, please and thank. 

broskis :     he needs friends ! who aren’t other mall cops ( sorry egg take it up with HR ) … maybe dudes he’s known since high school, his OG home - boys. either to enable his antics or to call him out on his shit. i’ll take anything for brodawg over here. 

KINNEY, SAWYER      —      twenty-two, vet student.

BASICS :     god’s favorite. just kidding … i don’t think her love for him is much reciprocated. first dropped off as an infant @ the local church’s doorstep, then adopted. all is well ! no, her adoptive parents die in a car crash thirteen years later. she was there, too. sole survivor … even her baby brother passing away in the accident. shit’s tough, my dudes. she still has her older siblings, but who cares about them. was diagnosed with epilepsy shortly after ( she hates it, thanks ) and now lives with a disorder to remind her even more of the event. BIG YIKE LET’S MOVE ON … she’s a ray of sunshine ! loves animals and soccer to death. a social butterfly with no concept of personal space. insistent on not minding her business, plagued by a constant need to be liked by EVERYONE. book smart, emotionally intelligent … yet a whole dumbass. we love to see it.

WANTED CONNECTIONS …

cousins :     fun tidbit, after her parent’s death she moved in with her uncle and his children. so, give me those very children ! her siblings are both older than herself and i’m dying for some same - aged partners in crime here. who played soccer with her after school ? who tried beer with her for the very first time ? i am WAITING.

soccer pals :     captain of the local girl’s soccer team, since seventeen baby, sawyer’s in dire need of her soccer pals. y’all ever see the netflix original girls with balls ? yeah, me neither, but that could still be them versus the zombies. they’re all so close and athletic i NEED them to team up against the undead.

toxic church friends :     i’m not calling christianity toxic … i’m calling white church going pinterest loving bitches toxic. i just think it’d be neat for her to have people from that part of her life really pushing this ~ religious agenda ~ onto her further. you know, shaming everything that she does. WHY NOT ! can’t think of a single reason why not, actually.

someone to get under :     look … last year she got DUMPED by her boyfriend. it was rude as hell ! you don’t need to know his reason, okay … she did no wrong, mind your business … either way, give me SOMEONE ELSE for her to focus on so she can finally get over that skinny motherfucker. it doesn’t have to be reciprocated AT ALL, homies. she can thirst from afar … as long as her attention is redirected from ex - boyfriend to wow - possible - boyfriend. ja feel me ? cool.

OSWALT, KEVIN      —      twenty-one, waitress.

BASICS :     born in fort elms as rowan blake, this teensy bitch had a good life going. two parents, three older siblings, one cool ass dog… you get the gist. but all things must come to an end, no ? so, when rowan here was five years old, she was approached by a teenage girl by the name ryan, and booboo the fool as she was, rowan followed this older, much cooler girl right into a stranger’s car… and then rowan was no more ! she spent the next year thirteen years of her life as kevin oswalt, living with her new sister and new mother — creepily nicknamed mama. to say her life with the oswalt’s was good would be… well, it’d be a lie. because kevin wasn’t the first kid they ‘napped, and neither was she the last. lets just say that house was a shit - fest and we should be glad she managed to run away at the tender age of seventeen. by sheer luck, she wound up back in fort elms and by even more luck, she managed to get an education and graduate. unrealistic ? take it up with 2016 me. other than that super fun backstory, kevin’s baby. she likes books  ( always has, though it was her only form of entertainment for a good chunk of her life there )  and she likes french fries. she’s still discovering the world around her, even if she has been out and about for about four - ish years now. so if she’s a BIT NAIVE, then excuse her…

WANTED CONNECTIONS …

ex - boyfriend :     not to go into too many details but kev’s introduction to the dating scene was less than ideal… barely legal and kept under wraps for A YEAR. it sucked, okay. not a good first experience, IN MY OPINION. kevin has another but she’s stupid. EITHER WAY, that left her kinda fucked - up when it comes to relationships. so, when she started dating her other ex circa summer 2017, she was pretty not - that - into - him. sorry we can’t all be over our 30 year old boyfriends… she never even said those three little words and them bitches dated for a year. TRAGIQUE.

brother :     tragically, throughout the years, kevin’s brother is the single family member not picked up and that’s just… fucked, if you ask me. either way — his name is marcus blake but you can change his first to whatever ! he’s the sibling she was closest to as a wee bairn, alright. and i need him here… even if he wouldn’t know her as his sister anymore, but seeing as kev has managed to weasel her way into the blake family through mother and sisters REGARDLESS if anybody remembers or not, i’d say they’d cross paths anyway. oh, and he’s in a band… which isn’t to say juli’s, i mean it could be, but that’s not what i’m saying… anyways, that’s all.

bad influence :     kevin’s too nice. and i don’t like it. so, please, pretty please, give me a plot of pure mayhem. somebody less outwardly chaotic than pippa but more scheming, and maybe capable of convincing kevin to grow a spine. think penelope and josie in legacies… but not gay. i mean, it COULD be gay. i’m not saying it HAS to be gay… mind your business.

victim by proxy :     okay, hear me out… the oswalts are crazy people, and although kevin would like to be excluded from that narrative, she simply cannot. so, consider giving me somebody with some sort of connection to the kiddos missing  ( alternatively : to the man she shanked… girls, ya gotta read her bio, i’m not exposing her further :see_no_evil: )  so kevin’s guilt can just SKYROCKET. that’s fun, right ? make friends with some poor bitch who’s little bro went missing, knowing full well what happened… sickening, kev, get help.

ROSILIO, ODETTE      —      thirty-five, florist.

BASICS :     flaky defined. dropped out of high school, dropped out of california, dropped out of her own wedding … i mean, the list goes on. originally from mexicali, mexico odette moved to chino, california at the ripe age of five. her mother then proceeded to lose custody six years later. * that one vine vc * WAY TO GO, PAUL ! in and out of foster care since, eventually choosing to stay out for the remainder of her teens. until she got herself knocked up ( not by choice but ait ) and was forced to move back in with mommy … but hey, it all turned out fine in the end ! and when her daughter was four years old, she dipped forever. she’s since been living all over the states, only moving to fort elms five - ish years ago. and has indeed stayed put since. even if she did manage to pull a runaway bride. a bit of a bitch move, but at least she’s consistent. ish. because she’s not a bitch, okay, she’s simply … out of fucks to offer the world. can i get an amen. 

WANTED CONNECTIONS …

ex - fiancé :     like i said … left at the altar, that’s gotta knock you down a peg. or two. but she didn’t mean to stomp on his balls like that. in fact, they were very much in love at one point. dated for about two years until marriage was brought up and well, cold feet took over. and there’s no coming back from being a no show at your own wedding, is there. so that was that. marriage over before it even started. they didn’t get much of closure but that’s life for you.

mother :     a horrible mother, plain and simple. she was in and out of jail when odette was in her custody, mostly due to drug related charges which was … not cute, girlie was like eight years old. though who knows, maybe she’s cleaned up her act, and maybe she’s ready to get back in her daughter’s life. or maybe she’s just looking for money … either way, get miss marisa to washington !

employees :     i want … snotty teens, or early twenties bitches that she’ll have to manage. she’s had it with her own daughter, why not add more children for her to boss around. that, or somebody at work who she doesn’t wanna clock. an ally amongst the flowers. 

chino friends :     odette did indeed spend her early to mid teens on the streets and she must’ve made some friends along the way except for kai ( here’s your one mention of the simp @ salem ) … either some bad influences or some good ones. y’all ever seen the movie thirteen ? exactly like that. give me some blasts from the past to bring out the old odette.

[sin-binboi]

Mikey Was Walking to the Kitchen To Make himself Some Delicious Coffee, Fresh And Milky! He was Chatting with Ice Cream Kitty, Smiling proudly at His Proud Assistant and Pet. "you Should've SEEN How Ugly She Looked form Behind Kitty!" Mikey was Laughing "She Literally Had a Sack of Potatoes in a fucking Dress! It was HILARIOUS!" Mikey Laughed as Ice cream Kitty was Smiling. Stuff's Been Rough for him. First his father leaving Him With PTSD, then His Brothers, it was Pleasant to see him Smiling. It was Going Just  Fi- "Watch your Mouth Next time Wil Ya?" That Voice, Made Mikey's Whole Day Change. He Growled Low, Almost broke the cup he was holding, His Eyes Grew Cold, And He felt Anger boiled."Raph...." Mikey said, Low and Cold Not looking at him Raph walked up to Mikey and Nudged Him "So Mikey-Wikey How's it feels getting your Baby Bottle, eh?" he Shoved Mikey a tiny bit, Being Playful in the push. "Fuck. Off." Mikey said Stern. trying His best Not to take the Nun-chuck's Blade and Slice this Dude's throat Raph Looked at him, Snickering. "Mikey Please.-" "Mikey Please My Ass." He said, Getting More Angry "Not Get your No-good-out-of-shape-ass Out of Here." He said, As Ice cream Kitty tried to calm Mikey down. Raph Kept going "What if I don't Want to???" That took it. Mikey Grabbed The Boiling Hot coffee Pot And Smashed It Into Raph's Face, Causing Raph to Scream, Mikey's Coffee to Drop and the glass Shatter, And Ice Cream Kitty jumping near the Coffee Maker, Watching the Two Brothers Fight and throw Words. Mikey was Ontop of raph Chocking him "YOU FUCKING BITCH!" Mikey Only saw Red, Everything Boiled......Everything If Leo, Donnie, and Casey and April didn't break the two up, Mikey would've Killed him. Raph Tried to hit Mikey, but Had His Arms Gripped on "THE FUCK IS YOUR FUCKING PROBLEM!?!" He Yelled Mikey Spitted Out "YOU! FUCKING BITCH!" Mikey Almost broke free and Nearly tripped Donnie, but thankfully donnie stood. The Two were Separated, Leaving Ice cream Kitty, growing Worried about Mikey "Mikey? can we talk" Leo Said Looking at him worried Mikey Closed His book he was reading, Looking up Annoyed "Yes." He said, Super Cold, That It Made Leo Jumped. Leo cleared his throat "Um..So. Mikey." He said Not to be awkward, But Mikey's cold glare Shook him "How's Everythi-" "Pretty Good. I am reading a Book on Electronics" He said, Looking at his book and Not at his brother. Leo Looked at it "Oh.....kay...." He said Scratching his head Leo continued "So Mikey How Have you Been?" Mikey was reading at this Point "I Have Been Good. I talked to April 20 minutes ago, Fed Ice Cream Kitty Her treat, And Currently Reading My Book. Now if that's All you're asking to Distract  me Than Please" He said reading Leo was offended "What? Mikey No-" Mikey Jolted up "you think I don't know what the fuck you're doing Leo?" he said Loud and Bitter "Why the fuck do you Even FUCKING TRY??? " Mikey Slammed His Book on the Ground " I DON'T WANT TO BE WITH YOU GUYS! I JUST WANT TO BE ALONE! " Leo Yelled Back "We Barely Even SEE you! You Legit Left Us Yesterday Without Even Telling us! And As your Brother and Leader-" " BROTHER AND LEADER MY ASS! " Mikey Yelled " GOD YOU GUYS ARE FUCKING SUFFERING! " Mikey and Leo didn't Notice, but The group Piled around the door leo Yelled back "Mikey! Please! Calm Down!" Mikey Yelled Almost getting closer to Leo "CALM DOWN MY ASS! YOU DON'T TELL ME WHAT TO DO! SO HOW ABOUT SHOVE YOUR SWORD UP YOUR BLUE ASS!" Leo Sighed And Looked at mikey. He noticed the group, but didn't look at them "Mikey Please Calm Down.. Can't we talk Like Normal Brothers?" Mikey, On the Bright Side, Only calmed a Little, but Still had the Loud Cold Voice "Well Leonardo, Firstly, We Aren't Brothers, We're Not Even Blood related. And Don't Tell Me to Calm down, I'm not your Slut." Leo Jolted "I didn't say that Mikey!" Mikey Looked right through him "Sure does Sound Like it" 1-2: More Headsets ~~My Favorite Is Spike~~ I’m Hella Redesigning The Cheese Sandwich One, Very Off IMO And Not my Taste :/

3: This Picture was for My 3rd Class! And since I Love luna and Not celestia I decided to draw Luna cause I’m a proud Luna Fan <3 (Sorry celestia fans; She just sucks IMO)

4: My Baby, His Name is Michael (Michael Bryant Jr.III Full Name) He Might be Old, But He’s Still Going Strong! (He had him for around 5 years and He’s a Proud little member of our Family) He’s been getting out of his shell A Lot Lately. He’s Been to the Vet thankfully, And That vet trip Gave him wonders. Which Makes me very happy. He’s Now Squeaking, He’s Always going towards Us (Always Kissing someone. Cute fucker.) And He’s Just Like a human family member XD

5. Art-that-was-never-colored-so-call-it-Lineart-Art Picture Of Mikey. tbh He’s My Favorite Ninja Turtle and I Love him <3 

6. TMNT Cracked!Verse! Mikey Has a LOT going on! I’ll Copy and Paste some Backstory, And Dialogue that I typed on discord to my bestie <3

Name: Michelangelo Hamato -Mikey- Nickname: Shell-fur-Brains (Brothers) Mike (April ONLY) Mikester (Casey) Build: His Average Height Parents: ????? (Biological) Master Splinter (Adopted) Bio: (Might Be Long XD) Michelangelo Hamato, or for short, Mikey. Is the Youngest of the Crew. The Holder Of Nun-chucks, The Heart of the Family, And Mostly, The Fun in the Family. Mikey Was always Pranking, Being Silly on Missions (All Missions Need fun!), Doesn't really Listen to his Brothers, And Mostly, Be Himself. He Had a Loving family, April and Casey, things Were going Well. Until that One fateful Night, The Death of His father and Master, Splinter. It Might've Not looked like it, But He was a Changed Turtle. He Stopped his Pranking, Stop being funny, Being Silly. It Left him With a Strong Post-Traumatic-Stress Disorder. Which Also Mixed in with His Brothers Words (All the words they call him tbh). After that, he did What they wanted him to do....."Grow up" And He did. Hell, He did QUICK! He turned Silent, Mute, Cold and Harsh If Angered, Left without Notice, And Even Changed the world Around him. It was Grey, reliving the death of His father, The times He Messed up pretty Badly, Everything Swarmed.The Only One He talks to, Is His Loyal Pet Ice Cream kitty. She's the Only One He'll vent to if His Brothers Piss him off. He Also Gotten a Very Very VERY Foul Mouth, And Does Not Hesitate to throw An Insult, threat, Heck! He'll Point Out One thing Wrong on you! This Leads to his Brother Being On His Shell 24/7, Him Leaving And Staying Gone for a Long time, And Even Locking himself in a room Just to not be Bothered. This Went on and on Until He Had Enough. He Packed his Belongings, Grabbed Ice Cream Kitty, And Left without a trace. The Family was In Look for him all around! The Sewers, Pizza Place, Everything! Even the Rooftops! First a Day, Then a Week, And Then A Month. No Contact. He didn't bring His T-Phone (Smart Bastard!) He Left it, which REALLY didn't Work. It was a Miracle When Mikey Came Back, but With Scars on his body. Turns out He was In a LOOOOOOT Of fights. This Lead to Arguing, Yelling, And It Ended Horribly. So finally. Mikey Used all his Smartness, All the Stuff he Knows, And Made a Small Creation. He called it "The Ranger". It Mostly Disguises himself into Anything He Pleases. And Even Collecting Spirits for his Own Use! The Only one He's not mad with are April and Casey. But Mostly April April Hung around him when she catches him leaving and come With. This Lead to April Crushing on him Super Hard. Mikey returns the feelings, And Shows by smiles, And Winks. Also Hugs! if Mikey is in the Mood! Donnie Also is a Salty Hoe for the crush. Raph And Mikey Fight a Lot to where Weapons are drawn Leo Being the Leader, Takes it calm, Which Pleases Mikey some, though he's still annoyed

"Mikey? can we talk" Leo Said Looking at him worried Mikey Closed His book he was reading, Looking up Annoyed "Yes." He said, Super Cold, That It Made Leo Jumped. Leo cleared his throat "Um..So. Mikey." He said Not to be awkward, But Mikey's cold glare Shook him "How's Everythi-" "Pretty Good. I am reading a Book on Electronics" He said, Looking at his book and Not at his brother. Leo Looked at it "Oh.....kay...." He said Scratching his head Leo continued "So Mikey How Have you Been?" Mikey was reading at this Point "I Have Been Good. I talked to April 20 minutes ago, Fed Ice Cream Kitty Her treat, And Currently Reading My Book. Now if that's All you're asking to Distract  me Than Please" He said reading Leo was offended "What? Mikey No-" Mikey Jolted up "you think I don't know what the fuck you're doing Leo?" he said Loud and Bitter "Why the fuck do you Even FUCKING TRY??? " Mikey Slammed His Book on the Ground " I DON'T WANT TO BE WITH YOU GUYS! I JUST WANT TO BE ALONE! " Leo Yelled Back "We Barely Even SEE you! You Legit Left Us Yesterday Without Even Telling us! And As your Brother and Leader-" " BROTHER AND LEADER MY ASS! " Mikey Yelled " GOD YOU GUYS ARE FUCKING SUFFERING! " Mikey and Leo didn't Notice, but The group Piled around the door leo Yelled back "Mikey! Please! Calm Down!" Mikey Yelled Almost getting closer to Leo "CALM DOWN MY ASS! YOU DON'T TELL ME WHAT TO DO! SO HOW ABOUT SHOVE YOUR SWORD UP YOUR BLUE ASS!" Leo Sighed And Looked at mikey. He noticed the group, but didn't look at them "Mikey Please Calm Down.. Can't we talk Like Normal Brothers?" Mikey, On the Bright Side, Only calmed a Little, but Still had the Loud Cold Voice "Well Leonardo, Firstly, We Aren't Brothers, We're Not Even Blood related. And Don't Tell Me to Calm down, I'm not your Slut." Leo Jolted "I didn't say that Mikey!" Mikey Looked right through him "Sure does Sound Like it" Mikey Put on his Hoodie and Left the Shelter. Those Bastard Pissed him off enough, he need Fresh air. Finally He got to the Surface, And Sat on the Edge, Looking at People Passing by. He Grabbed a Ball On the roof and Threw It at a Moving Car. He didn't give two fucks. "Y'know, You Shouldn't do that Mikey" A Soft voice came from behind him Mikey felt a Small Smile on his face "Well? Not Like They Know it was me" He turned, Seeing April Looking down at him April sat Beside him "you really got into it with Raph today Mikey. you Legit Had him in a choke-hole." She said Mikey Shrugged "He'll walk it off." April sighed and shook her head "Mikeeeyyyyy-" Mikey rolled his Eyes "He made me mad, I Fought Him." April sighed "I know raph can be mean all the time. but Lord you Had him Blue and Purple By the face!" She Punched His Arm Mikey Smirked And Playfully said "Oops." April Rolled her eyes, Looking at mikey. His Eyes.........A Beautiful Blue-Grey.......So Hot- I Mean Cool! She felt her Face Heat up Mikey Looked at her "you Look Like If Raph Had a Period And Pissed on your Face" April Smacked his Cheek "Shut up!" She Said squeaking Mikey Laughed Shortly "Ow" He said Playfully.

Mikey Was Walking to the Kitchen To Make himself Some Delicious Coffee, Fresh And Milky! He was Chatting with Ice Cream Kitty, Smiling proudly at His Proud Assistant and Pet. "you Should've SEEN How Ugly She Looked form Behind Kitty!" Mikey was Laughing "She Literally Had a Sack of Potatoes in a fucking Dress! It was HILARIOUS!" Mikey Laughed as Ice cream Kitty was Smiling. Stuff's Been Rough for him. First his father leaving Him With PTSD, then His Brothers, it was Pleasant to see him Smiling. It was Going Just  Fi- "Watch your Mouth Next time Wil Ya?" That Voice, Made Mikey's Whole Day Change. He Growled Low, Almost broke the cup he was holding, His Eyes Grew Cold, And He felt Anger boiled."Raph...." Mikey said, Low and Cold Not looking at him Raph walked up to Mikey and Nudged Him "So Mikey-Wikey How's it feels getting your Baby Bottle, eh?" he Shoved Mikey a tiny bit, Being Playful in the push. "Fuck. Off." Mikey said Stern. trying His best Not to take the Nun-chuck's Blade and Slice this Dude's throat Raph Looked at him, Snickering. "Mikey Please.-" "Mikey Please My Ass." He said, Getting More Angry "Not Get your No-good-out-of-shape-ass Out of Here." He said, As Ice cream Kitty tried to calm Mikey down. Raph Kept going "What if I don't Want to???" That took it. Mikey Grabbed The Boiling Hot coffee Pot And Smashed It Into Raph's Face, Causing Raph to Scream, Mikey's Coffee to Drop and the glass Shatter, And Ice Cream Kitty jumping near the Coffee Maker, Watching the Two Brothers Fight and throw Words. Mikey was Ontop of raph Chocking him "YOU FUCKING BITCH!" Mikey Only saw Red, Everything Boiled......Everything If Leo, Donnie, and Casey and April didn't break the two up, Mikey would've Killed him. Raph Tried to hit Mikey, but Had His Arms Gripped on "THE FUCK IS YOUR FUCKING PROBLEM!?!" He Yelled Mikey Spitted Out "YOU! FUCKING BITCH!" Mikey Almost broke free and Nearly tripped Donnie, but thankfully donnie stood. The Two were Separated, Leaving Ice cream Kitty, growing Worried about Mikey

Fixed Minor Mistakes in my Spelling (It’s not the best)    

Aaaand Have a Small thing

He's The King of his Own Kingdom Under the Sea and He Had Legit Everything and I mean EVERYTHING

6. Mikeeeyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy Cracked!verse Addition <3 aaa He was fun to sketch XD

[spectrumscribe]

Maybe something with one of those weird soulmate AUs? Like "You can see through he other's eyes when you're dreaming" or "There's a time on your skin counting down when you'll meet them" or something along that effect. Any pairings fine! (but bonus if it's capritello and they're confused because? its all three of them?)

(I spent two days on this I hope you’re happy anon)

((AO3 VERSION))

Every person- every person-is born with a countdown on their wrist. Every person. Not animals, just people.

So when Yoshi accidentally becomes the father of fourfreshly mutated turtles, he’s surprised to find that they have those countdownswhere they didn’t before. Tiny little watches printed on their green scales,ones that will grow in size and coloration as they age; all the little handsticking down merrily on the bodies of four children who’ve just become actualpeople, instead of just animals.

That fact is part of why Yoshi takes them into his arms-quietly mourning that his own watch has long since stopped ticking, crackedthrough the surface of it, and now hiding beneath his new fur- and chooses toraise them as the people fate has decided they in fact are.

Except, he notices at a later time, when they’re not on therun and he’s not newly trying to figure out how to be a father of fourrambunctious boys- that the child he named Donatello is a bit… odd. Odder thanjust being a turtle.

He has a clock on his right wrist, as is the most typicalspot to have one, but also… on his left wrist.

Yoshi stares at this revelation about his son, unsure ofwhat exactly he’s supposed to do about it- he’s never heard of such a thingoccurring, is it a side effect of once not being a thinking being?- butultimately decides there isn’t anything he can actually do about it. His son ishis son, whether he’s a turtle with two soulmate clocks or not.

He puts it aside, and doesn’t really question it afterwards.

Donnie grows up with two clocks on his wrists, and questionseverything about that for years to come. He’s not human, and was originally ananimal- so who could those two people be? It makes him fret, because what ifthey hate him for what he is, or worse, what if they’re not even capable ofthoughts? What if they’re not human at all, and he’s destined to find two animals as his soulmates?

His brothers all have single clocks, but Donnie has two, andwhile they all sometimes worry of just who they’re fated to meet, Donnie feelshis worries are doubled.

—

April O’Neil is born in a farmhouse, surrounded by whatlittle family she’s got. Her mother and father hold her between them, and curlaround her in exhausted relief. In their eyes, she’s a perfectly healthy baby,and the doctor confirms this when they call him over in the morning.

Except, April’s wrists have twin clocks on each, and herparents are terrified of what that could mean. Terrified of the heritage theyknow their daughter has, and how it’s already begun affecting her. April maylack any obviously alien features, but the knowledge that she isn’t entirelyhuman weighs on them both.

But, they love her too fiercely- futilely, for they knowthat one day the Kraang will come for her- to ever consider ostracizing thegreatest expression of their love together. Her mother kisses them each day,and prays to all the powers there are that her baby girl gets to grow up andmeet these people; that they’ll protect her from the forces that want her fortheir own gain.

When April’s father is forced to leave his wife- hissoulmate, his other half, the only person he’ll ever love- it’s like tearing apart of himself off, and he carries April away in his arms as his clockshatters across its surface.

April’s wrists are covered from then on, now that they livein the city and not an isolated farmhouse, and her father warns her that sheshould never show others her twin clocks. April grows up confused by herclocks, and wonders on and off of just who those two people she’s destined tomeet could be.

She only finds vague stories on the internet of other twinclocks, or erotic fantasies that make her lips purse and force her to clear herbrowser history. Her father never speaks a word of his worries about herclocks, but she can feel them anyway. She worries too, but is mostly curious.

Who would those two people turn out to be? Were they alsofated to meet one another, like she was fated to meet them? Or were they not,and it was just her meant for them but not them meant for each other. Shedaydreams vaguely about it as she gets older, and can never put concrete facesto either of her soulmates. She just hopes they can make things work, ascomplicated as the whole idea seems.

—

Casey Jones is born in a hospital, and while his bizarredual clocks are documented, no media story ever comes of it. Kind nurses anddoctors keeping things confidential, for the sake of the family as they go backto their small apartment.

Casey never really decides what he thinks of his clocks.They’re just there, and that’s that. Mostly, he thinks of himself as somethingspecial; after all, no way a single person could ever handle the whole CaseyJones experience all on their own.

His father and mother pat his head, and tell him thatwhoever his two soulmates are, they’ll probably think he’s as amazing as hehimself thinks. Behind his back, they trade fondly exasperated glances, andknow that fate will work things out for him. Their own partnering happened, andmillions of other ones have over the eons; such as how fate wills it for eachcouple. One boy with two clocks might be a bit strange, but Casey is Casey, andhe tends to make things work out for himself one way or another.

Casey grows up with armbands around his wrists- like mostother kids have, since society is strange with customs like that- and a generalcertainty that whenever he meets his soulmates, they’ll probably all get alonggreat.

The more the merrier, right? Love happens as it’s meant to,no ifs ands or buts. That’s how Casey treats the whole thing, and even afterhis mother passes, and his father’s clock shatters across its surface, he keepsthe confidence that his own soulmate meeting will work out fine. Fate is fate,and while Casey tends to say he makes his own, he’s fine with the idea ofgetting not one but two people tojoin him on his quest to be the most metal person alive.

He grows up excited for the day he’ll meet his soulmates,and expecting the whole thing to go off without a hitch.

—

Clocks stop the first time you come into physical contactwith your partner.

Donnie catches April, and exactly that happens.

Their wrist clocks- which had been ticking down down downfor days, and they’d been antsy about the fateful meeting, worried andwondering- chime loudly as Donnie holds April in his arms, staring at her.Stunned.

April finally opens her eyes, having closed them tight andonly startled open both by not hitting the pavement and her clock’s chiming -sees Donnie- and promptly shrieks.

Donnie shrieks right back, drops her, and April faints deadaway before she can really acknowledge her clock. Donnie is too distracted bynot getting killed, and doesn’t have enough brain space to notice a clock onhis wrist is done counting down.

And then April is gone, swept away in a van with men who allwear the same face, and Donnie has a moment to tear off his wrist wrappings tostare at it.

He stares at it. And stares at it. And tries to wrap hishead around what’s just happened.

“…dude,” Mikey says, grimacing along with all their brothersas they stare at Donnie’s wrist. “You just met your soulmate.”

“And then lost her right afterwards,” Raph adds unhelpfully.

“…wow,” Leo says, inching away from Donnie. “Awkward.”

Donnie’s mouth gapes, and he can’t find any sound besides awheezy whisper of, “Oh my god she was my soulmate.”

“Yep,” Raph says, patting Donnie’s shell comfortingly (not).“And she got kidnapped literally right after. Good job with the firstimpressions; the screaming really sealed the deal.”

“Oh my god SHE WAS MY SOULMATE,”Donnie screeches. He grabs the closest sibling near him- Leo- and drags hisbrother close to his face to further shriek, “And she literally just got kidnapped WE HAVE TO GO GET HER RIGHT NOWHOLY FUCK!!”

“Oh boy,” Mikey says under his breath, and that sums up thegeneral mood Donnie’s brothers are all sharing.

April wakes up, far across town and in a prison that glowsin unearthly ways. She’s more preoccupied with checking if he father isalright- he is, if shaken- and seeing if they can get out, than she is withremembering that one of her clocks stopped.

And then she does remember, when she’s banging on the windowof their cell and glances at her wrists and realizes oh my god one of her clocks stopped.

She hurriedly removes her armbands, and finds her rightwrist’s clock has stopped moving. Now, it’s got a pleasantly glowy tint to thesurface of it, which will fade as she and her new partner spend more timetogether.

April stares at it. And stares at it. And realizes itstopped when that thing had caughther.

April sits down hard, trapped in a literal alienenvironment, and completely unsure of what fate has just brought into her life.

—

The fact that the girl’s first reaction to him was to screamin fear stings in places Donnie always knew it would. But, she’s his soulmate,and he’s going to get her back whether or not she’s afraid of him.

They break April out of the compound, and when it comes downto the moment- where April is being carried off in a helicopter and he’s aboutto lose her, and Donnie yells at her to trusthim and holds his hands out- she does, and she jumps, and he catches her asecond time.

April jumps because she’s desperate, and because somedistant part of her says yes, I can trusthim. Shell and all.

She loses her father, and that puts a damper on things. Shecan’t think around that fact- or around all the earth shaking things she’slearning about the world tonight, like aliens and mutants- and just doesn’thave the space to approach the elephant in the room. She can’t see Donnie’swrist anyways, wrapped in bandages like it is, so she decides to addresseverything later, when her mind feels less like a smoothie.

Donnie can’t see her wrists when they escort April home, toher aunt’s place, and he doesn’t know how to open his mouth and ask to see ifher clock stopped, too. Or, if she has twoclocks, like him. Or… if she actuallywants him as a soulmate. Donnie hasnever been more aware of his inhumanity than he is in that moment, sayinggoodnight to a normal girl and promising they’ll be in contact again soon.

A part of Donnie is elated that he’s not fated to an animal;a larger part is painfully worried April will reject him completely. He keepshis wrist covered, and vows to confront the situation… later.

April is distantly and completely shocked that one of herfated partners is a mutant turtle. She has no idea how to absorb thatknowledge, let alone figure out what to do with it, so she decides she’llconfront the situation… later.

Donnie’s brothers all exchange glances behind his back, andshrug. So one of them met their soulmate; the rest of them have months, years,even, before theirs. None of them are really sure how to help their brotherthrough this, and even less sure how they’re supposed to interact with Aprilabout it.

They ask if Donnie is going to talk to their father.

Donnie says he’s not sure.

April’s aunt sees her stopped clock as April goes to brushher teeth, and asks with wide eyes just who she’s met on this traumatic night.

April says she’s not sure.

Both of their separate family members are unsure how to helpApril and Donnie, and decide to give them space to deal with the issue whilethey attend to others. (A missing father and an orphaned daughter; aliens arereal and dad I swear we actually punched some in the face.)

—

Eventually, because they can’t avoid it forever, Donnie andApril very, very, very awkwardlybring up the topic of their clocks. At the same time. Standing alone inDonnie’s lab, finally done dancing around a subject they know that everyone hasbeen watching them avoid.

They stare at one another for a long moment, and then,moving with the same carefulness, they unwrap the covers over their wrists.

They only remove one, the one with the clock that chimed thenight they met. Privately they’re still deeply afraid of showing their secondclock, for personal reasons and for ones unknowingly mutual.

April stares at the stark way Donnie’s clock stands outagainst his large, green scaled wrist; Donnie in turn, stares at the stark way April’sclock stands out against her small, pale skinned wrist.

“So…” He says quietly. He clears his throat awkwardly. “Iguess. I guess we’re soulmates?” His voice cracking on the last words; utterlyterrified that just because April is sort of their friend, she’ll turn him awayfor who and what he is.

April looks up from comparing their wrists, and Donnie isdistantly relieved that she looks as uncertain as he feels. “I guess so,” Shereplies in a soft voice. She smiles tightly. “I can’t say I ever expected-well, someone like… you, Donnie.”

Internally, Donnie flinches, because that’s understandable.“I know,” I’m sorry, he doesn’t say.He covers his wrist, rubbing it as he tries to keep a calm head. “Um. Guess thesame could be said to you? I never really knew what to expect from mys-soulmate. Since I’m. You know. Me.”

April blinks, finally catching how tense Donnie is, andreaches out for his hands. “Well, that would be something I’d be unsure of too,if I were you,” April says kindly, taking Donnie’s hands in hers as he watcheswith unsure eyes. She meets them, and steadies herself as they link themselvestogether. “But I guess fate works things out, one way or another.”

Donnie tries not to stare at how their hands look sostrangely right together, and attempts to hold all his anxious thoughts at bay.“I’ve been told that, yes. And- and do you think this is… fate? Us?”

He barely holds back following questions. Is this okay? Are you okay with me being me?Do you not want me? Do you want this at all?

“You saved my life,” April says. She squeezes Donnie’s largehands as she does. “And you turned out to be a really great guy. I think that’sproof enough.”

“So… are you…? Are we…?” Donnie doesn’t want to say it outloud, not when he’s still so unsure of the answer. He struggles for anotherbeat, and manages a hopeful, “Can we try?”

“I think we can,” April says softly, staring up at someoneshe never expected to have in her life, and is grateful to have met regardless.Then, she remembers her other wrist, and her mood sours. She bites her lip, andglances away from Donnie. “But there’s… there’s something you should know,before we go forwards with this.”

“…there’s something you should know, too, about me,” Donniesays, shoulders slumping slightly. He feels dread returning, because even ifApril will accept their attempt to try something between them, could she acceptDonnie having another partner, somewhere in the future? And what if thatpartner was against it as well, when they finally met them? And that is assumingthe person would even want Donnie as a soulmate. He’s already been so lucky,he’s not sure if it’ll hold.

April releases Donnie’s hands, clutching her still coveredwrist. She’s worried now that Donnie will be upset by her other clock; theirsituation is so precarious as is, new and unfamiliar, and what if her otherfuture partner can’t accept Donnie or the dual relationship? She’s only knownhim for a short while, but she can already tell that Donnie isn’t someone sheever wants to lose. Even at the cost of her other soulmate.

April pulls off her armband the same time Donnie removes hissecond set of wrapping.

“April, I’m sorry, but I’ve got-”

“Donnie, I’m sorry, but I have-”

They stop, and stare at one another.

“…another soulmate,” They whisper together, staring at eachother’s wrist. They blink in confusion at one another, not quite convincedwhat’s happening is happening.

Donnie purses his lips, and April thins hers.

Well, this makes things even more complicated.

—

“So, what, we have- individual other soulmates? A jointother soulmate? Is this a fourway or a threeway, my god.”

“I have no idea, Donnie. I have no ideas about anythinganymore. I don’t think it even really matters- four or three or- fuck, what ifit’s two other people, who also have another person besides us- how many damnclocks could this go?”

“I don’t know and I think I feel a little dizzy.”

“I can’t believe having a mutual other soulmate is suddenlythe easy outcome here.”

“I know. This is like something out of Leo’s bad fanfic bookmarks.”

“Leo’s- Leo’s what?”

“I am the only person in this house with a computer, and Leoroutinely forgets how to clear the history of it after he uses it.”

“That’s. Well.”

“I feel slightly violated when he reads them.”

“Eugh, same feeling here.”

“Let’s not talk about that anymore. Please.”

“You’re the one who brought it up.”

“I know. I regret it deeply.”

“Again, same feeling. Gross.”

“So… um, anyways, can we… can we try the kissing thingagain?”

“…you know, that sounds like a better topic of conversation,so yeah. Let’s do that.”

“Okay, uh, cool, great, how do I angle- oh- mmph-”

“Shh. No more talking.”

“I’m. I am on board with that plan.”

—

They figure out a relationship after that, one that worksfor them and is as unconventional as their lives require it to be. Their secondclocks keep ticking down- their individual destined meetings at differenttimes, furthering the question of just who the other(s?) to their relationshipwill be. But, for the most part, their lives are too hectic to ponder deeply onwho the person(s) will be.

Particularly when Mikey’s clock rings loud and clear in themiddle of a fight, and is echoed by a matching one-

-which happens to be on the wrist of a massive mutant crocodile,hell-bent on murdering everything in his path.

“Oh boy,” Donnie says, exchanging glances with his olderbrothers as Mikey fusses over the other mutant’s unconscious body. Leo and Raphgive him equally confused and slightly panicky looks, and between the three ofthem they help Mikey drag his gigantic soulmate back to the lair. Which onlyhappens because Mikey turns a sternly stubborn look on them all, and demandsthey do so.

Everything from there is a total mess- Donnie nearly diestoo many times, and has his face grabbed repeatedly- and the night eventuallyboils down to Mikey proclaiming that the crocodile is in fact his soulmate andalso called Leatherhead now.

And Donnie thought hissoulmate situation was strange.

At least Leatherhead apologises for grabbing Donnie’s faceso much. He’s possibly one of the only people to have ever apologized forassaulting his person, and he also builds excellent traps and Donnie wants tipsfor that, so he ends up forgiving the newest addition to their family.

Mikey and Leatherhead spend much of their spare time gluedtogether after that, and Donnie asks his older brothers if he and April were asgrossly PDA as that, what with Mikey and Leatherhead curling around each otherin plain sight on the couch every chance they get.

“Oh yeah,” Raph confirms. “Except worse, because there wasall this pining before that.”

“It was actually quite sickening,” Leo adds with a solemnnod. Donnie gives him a flat look, says “browserhistory,” and watches Leo go satisfyingly pale. Raph has a similarpaleness, because once again, Donnie is the only one in the house with alaptop, and he knows more about his brothers’ search history than he everwanted to.

Nothing eventful having to do with their clocks happens fora while, post addition of Leatherhead to things. There’s a brief interludewhere Leo unsubtly sulks around that Karai isn’t his destined soulmate, butthey all ignore his whining or remind him that his clock has always said thathis soulmate is years further into the future. (Later, they are all very, very,very, very glad Karai was not Leo’ssoulmate, because while their lives are strange and complicated, that is onebucket of incestuous worms none of them ever want to tip over or evenacknowledge ever again. And besides, Shinigami probably would’ve murdered themall if they tried.)

Then, after experiencing near death and near heaven with hermore times than he can count- April leaves them.

And Donnie’s heart breaks in half.

—

April breaks her own heart, storming away from her bestfriends and her partner, who betrayedher, and took her father a second time from her.

She doesn’t have a clear plan to anything- nothing besidesneeding to be away from them all- andjust tries to be an ordinary girl for a while. Like one that helps fellowclassmates pass their grade.

Which goes along fine, pleasantly distracting from all hertroubling thoughts and drawing her attention from everything. Including thesteadily ticking clock on her wrist and its silent twin.

Or, it goes along fine and distracting, until Casey clapsApril on the back after a late night study session, and two sets of chimingalarms go off. They’re the only two people on the street, so there’s not even aneed to check their wrists if it’s their alarms that have just gone off.

“Oh… ooohhhh-!”Casey exclaims, gaping at April. “Oh my god! It’s you!”

April is as stunned as he is, and can barely react beyond astuttered affirmation, before Casey sweeps her into a hug. He’s laughing loudand freely, and looks utterly elated that April’s his soulmate. The sheeropenness he has with everything, his emotions, his thoughts, his dreams, drawsApril out of her shock and makes laughter bubble up in her chest.

Casey hears that laughter, and it makes something warmappear in his chest. He’d known he kind of liked April in a vague sense, likemost casual crushes he’s had over the years, but now he knows he likes her. Likes herlikes her. His study partner was one of his destined partners; who’d havethought?

He twirls her around, and presses a messy kiss to her cheek.It makes April giggle, and Casey feels like he wants her to make that sound ahundred times more right then.

“So, just to clarify,” He says with a grin, still holdingApril off the ground and almost too-light to feel anything beyond her body onhis. “You’re my soulmate, and I’m yours, and we’re gonna do the dating thingnow, right?”

April’s gone through nothing but harshly painful thingslately, and the spot of kind-of normalcy Casey’s become in her life is oneshe’s started cherishing. Now, he’s looking at her like she’s got everythinghe’s ever wanted, and she finds his goofy smile so much more endearing for it.

“I think so!” She laughs, feeling free of burden for thefirst time in weeks. Casey replies with a vague, “cool,” and moves to press another kiss to her. This time Aprilsees it coming, and meets him halfway for their first proper kiss. She’s alittle tired of thinking and worrying about everything; she chooses to kissCasey and feel nothing but glowing happiness at least for now.

“Oh yeah, by the way,” Casey mumbles after a few repetitionsof those affections. “I kind of have a second soul clock, hope that’s not gonnabe an issue here.”

That brings all of April’s other thoughts rushing back, andshe leans away to give him a wide eyed look. “What? Seriously?”

“Uh, yep. Pretty sure. See?”

April stares at the uncovered wrist of Casey’s left arm, andhow the clock on it is still ticking along. She blows out a harsh breath, andgoes to bare her own wrists. “Well, I think I’m alright with that, so long asyou’re alright with… this.”

Casey stares at April’s two wrists, both clocks stopped atdifferent dates and time. He looks her in the eyes, and says very clearly,“Well, that makes everything a little more complicated.”

“You’re telling me,” April says tiredly.

As it happens, very unfortunately, Donnie has been watchingthe whole exchange on a rooftop he stopped on after patrol.

He watches his soulmate kiss another man- a real man, a human- who is assumable her second soulmate, and feels hurt andfear curdle in his stomach. If Casey is her other destined partner, and sheobviously likes him already, then where does that leave Donnie?

He wants to leap down from the roof, confirm that they’restill just taking a break from each other, that April isn’t going to leave himfor Casey, see if Casey is the other half of him, too-

-but Donnie knows he’s still got time on his clock, almostweeks until it’s supposed to hit zero. And, he knows that he can’t go downthere. The streetlamp April and Casey stand beneath is a spotlight he can’tenter safely, and that fact makes his shoulder slump in defeat.

He leaves without saying a word to either human on thestreet below, and waits in his home underground to see what April’s decision isgoing to be; about them, about Casey, about everything.

—

April comes back to Donnie, and they spend hours apologizingto one another through the night. They’re not meant to be apart, however deepthe wound they put in their relationship was. Soulmates- when the other isalive and well, and you’re the sorts who need to be regularly close to oneanother- need to remain together. Being apart from each other felt wrong, and it’s hurt them both.

There are kisses and apologies and a long, long talk inDonnie’s bedroom about what the future holds. April tells Donnie about Casey,and Donnie says he knows, he saw them on accident the night their clocksstopped, and that he’s sorry for spying.

April admonishes him for stalking her- (“I was just checkingup on you, I swear!” “I have five knives and a bladed fan on my person at alltimes, Donnie. I was fine.”)- butforgives him after a few minutes of more kisses. She missed him fiercely, andthat alone is enough to make her forgive him; even more so for the genuinesorry-ness he has for the intrusion.

“…I saw you show your wrist, before I left,” Donnie adds alittle while later. “I didn’t. I didn’t stay to see how he reacted.”

April sighs, and nestles her head a little closed toDonnie’s neck. “He said he was fine by it, so long as I was fine… for him havingthe same situation.”

Donnie’s brain actually stops for a moment. Confused.

“Um. What??”

“I had the same reaction.”

“Oh my god. I can’t believe it.”

“Mine are both stopped, but his other one is still ticking,”April taps Donnie’s left wrist, where his watch counts down still. “Like yours,so there’s… is hope the right word for this?”

“I don’t know,” Donnie says, looking at his still runningclock. “God I hope the infinite second soulmate theory isn’t real. April, Idon’t think I could handle this chain going any further.”

“Truth be told, I’m not sure I could either.”

“So what do we do? Are we- am I supposed to meet him? Shouldwe arrange it right when my clock’s supposed to stop?” Donnie pauses, old fearsand worries rising again. “And even if he’s not my other soulmate, he’s stillyours and I’m- I’m yours too, but not- human. April, what if he hates me?”

“He won’t hate you,” April says firmly, putting a protectiveand leanly muscled arm across Donnie’s plastron. “And if he does, I’ll smackthat empty head of his until he doesn’t. We’ll make this work, Donnie. I don’twant to lose either of you.”

“…do you already care about him that much?” Donnie askssoftly, both warmed by April’s protective conviction and a tinge hurt by herattachment to Casey only weeks after meeting him.

“Yeah, I think I do,” April replies, just as soft. “That’sjust how this soulmate thing works; you can’t fight it.”

Donnie nods, understanding that this isn’t something theycan change, and something he would never ask her to. “Okay. Okay then, we’llmake this work. I promise.”

They decide not to plan any sort of meeting between Donnieand Casey until their clocks stop, and they get confirmation of things straightfrom fate itself. If they’re each other’s soulmates, destiny will find a way tobring them together. Trying to force it wouldn’t work.

Donnie is watching his wrist’s clock tick down, anxiouslyworried that he’s home and it’s nearlythere- when a noise startles him and his brothers off the couch, and theyturn to find an intruder in their home.

The masked psycho bellows a challenge at them as they chargeone another, and the second Donnie’s fist makes contact with the man’s mask-

-two sets of chiming alarms go off, and everyone freezes.

“Oh no way,” Donnie whispers, staring at the mad man whobroke into his home and tried to kill them all.

“Oh fuck me,” Saysthat mad man, staring at Donnie with equal horror.

“God dammnit,Donnie,” Raph says, and the fight resumes as they try to restrain this personwho is apparently Donnie’s soulmate.

They get the mask off- and Donnie’s not sure what he expects,but the Halloween terror makeup isn’t it. The crazy teen bares his gap-toothedsneer at them, and snarls in Raph and Leo’s hold. Donnie is slowly putting thepieces together, stunned and shocked and failing to take in the situation fastenough, when April emerges from the dojo to yell, “Casey?!”

“You know thisguy?” Raph asks, and Donnie makes a weak sound in his throat as Casey- Casey- shakes off his brothers.

“April, you knowthese guys?” Casey spits with the same amount of disgust Raph did. And he turnsimmediately to Donnie right after, pointing an accusing finger at Donnie. “And you- the fuck did you do to my soulclock?!”

April’s eyes go wide, same as Donnie’s father’s, and Leowhispers the ever favored words, “Ohboy,” under his breath as he gets out of range. Raph and Mikey quickly followhim.

“Me?!” Donnieaccuses right back. “You’re- you’re the one who made mine go off! You’re the psycho who broke into my house!”

“House?! This is thefucking sewers!”

“Abandoned subwaytunnels, thank you very much!”

“Fuck you! What’d youdo to my clock?!”

“I don’t know, WHATDID YOU DO TO MINE?!”

“I DIDN’T DO ANYTHING, YOU’RE THE ONE WHO DID SOMETHING TO MINE!”

“Oh my god,” April says despairingly, putting her head inher hands and wondering what powers decided her life needed to be thisdifficult. Master Splinter pats her shoulders comfortingly, and tries to find atidbit of ninja wisdom to impart to his third son’s struggles. He finds none,and settles to for separating Donatello and Casey before they can do more thanfrantically shout at one another in their fear and shock.

—

“So, he’s a mutant turtle,” Casey says in a reasonablevoice, once the metal robo-ninja apocalypse is over and he’s sitting in akitchen full of appliances older than he is.

Said mutant turtle and his- their??- soulmate exchangeglances.

“Yeah, that’s me,” The mutant says. “Formally introducingmyself, I’m Donatello. Yes I’m a turtle, yes I’m a ninja, yes I’m April’s othersoulmate. And apparently yours as well.”

“I know this is a lot to take in, Casey,” April says gently,reaching to Donatello’s hand and grasping it in hers. “But Donnie’s a good guy,and I’m hoping you’ll give… us, achance.”

“He punched me in the face,” Casey deadpans.

“You broke into my home,” Donnie deadpans right back.

“Boys,” April saysin a warning tone. They had their screamfest and fighting earlier, now is timefor talking like sensible people. Donnie ducks his head, and mumbles, “Sorry,April,” and Casey mumbles the same. April shakes her head; it’s barely past tenthirty and she’s already worn out from tonight’s events. “So how do we do this?Are you two going to be able to get along at all?”

Donnie and Casey glance at each other, and share a resignedsort of look.

“I… guess I cangive this a shot,” Casey says reluctantly. This wasn’t at all what he’d beenexpecting his partnering to end up as. “Although honestly, I’m not entirely onboard with where this is going.”

“Same to you, Jones,” Donnie says coolly, burying the tingesof hurt he feels from Casey’s tone. This could go very bad very fast if he-they- weren’t careful, but Casey also aggravates him deeply, so Donnie findscourtesy a bit hard to muster.

April gives Donnie’s hand a squeeze, and sighs to herself.However this is going to go, it won’t be easy. Not with her two boys already atodds with one another.

But then again, when has anything in her life ever been easy?

—

There’s hardly any time for Donnie and Casey to get to knowone another before the whole world comes crashing down around them.

There’s so much loss packed into one horrible day, andeverything moves too fast to even take in- but somehow, Donnie finds a momentwhile April is bandaging his arm to say what’s been growing in him the pastmonths.

“So, um, since it’s kind of the end of the world all overagain… I just wanted to say how I feel about you,” Donnie says softly, hopingher father won’t hear the confession and his brother will give them space.

April pauses her tending to Donnie’s quick first-aid, andlooks up at him, already feeling the importance of what Donnie is trying tosay.

“I love you,” Donnie says, and it’s the first time he’sadmitted it out loud. He fights the instinctive worry that it won’t bereturned, because they’ve been through so much together; he knows that even ifApril doesn’t say it back, they’ll still survive this. “And even if we dietoday, I want you to know you’re the most amazing soulmate I could’ve gotten. Idon’t regret anything, and I think I don’t ever want us to be apart, even as…difficult, that could turn out to be.”

April stares up at him, softly stunned, and then smilesslowly as her heart swells.

“I love you, too,” She says quietly, and for a moment,there’s none of the disasters outside and there’s only them. “And I think I’dlike us to be together for good, too. And,we will be, because none of us are dying here today. I won’t let that happen.”

For that brief pause in their complicated lives, there’sjust the two of them, and the miracle they’ve come to consider theirrelationship. Two clocks each, and yet, they’re still making things work.Against all the odds- despite April’s inhumanity, and Donnie’s even more so-they fell in love, and though they’re young, they know it’s real and they neverwant to lose it.

Before the rest of their group meets up, before Caseyarrives and brings with him the part of their relationship that’s still budding,before Leo flies through the window more dead than alive- they take a momentmore to bring their foreheads close, and promise each other they’ll get throughthis, together.

They link hands as the world tries to end around them, andkiss quick and fluttery. No time for lingering, they’ve got a city to save.

—

It’s somewhere after that, when the world slows to astandstill and they run out of things to hit. When Casey is stuck in a barnwith someone he’s fated to love and still not sure how he feels about that.It’s somewhere during that time, that they lay down the barbs they’ve beenexchanging over and over since they met, and just… talk.

April takes long shifts at the diner in town, and sleepswhenever she isn’t working. Sometimes it’s with one of her boys, but more oftenit’s alone. Her powers are shifting, growing again; other minds are becomingexhausting to be around constantly, and her soulmates understand she needsspace to herself after a long day of overstimulation.

So that leaves the two of them, unfamiliar with one anotherand trying to broach that barrier, if only for April.

It’s easier than either of them expected, once they let goof their suspicion.

Donnie finds that Casey isn’t half obnoxious as he likes toportray, and in Casey’s opinion neither is Donnie. When Casey comes back fromfarmhand jobs, he’s often too tired to put up his usual bravado; it givesDonnie glimpses of the teen underneath that, and he slowly begins to find bothsides of Casey endearing. Alternatively, Donnie will sometimes burn himself outby not sleeping for days, and it leaves him too tired to filter his outwardemotions and conversations. Casey finds himself kind of liking the mutant whenhe’s not spewing words no one but dictionaries know, and starts to empathizewith what Donnie’s had to deal with the past few years.

Sometimes it’s easier to not talk at all, and that stillleaves plenty to do.

There are farm repairs and car parts to tinker with. Caseyadopts the truck as his personal obsession, in place of being able to find anenemy he can actually fight. Donnie gets drawn mostly against his will into theproject, and is convinced to put down his mutagen experiments from time totime. Casey’s not quite the numerals and logic sort of thinker like Donnie, butCasey’s hands-on and kinesthetic type method makes sense once they really getinto things.

April sometimes stops by, leaning on the barn doorframe andsmiling fondly to herself as her boys figure themselves out. The best moments,in her opinion, are the ones where they’re so caught up in debating or buildingor just laughing together, and don’t even notice she’s there.

She’s not there when her boys kiss for the first time, butshe does hear about it later from both of them.

It happens same way most things do for them- kind of onaccident, a little bit messy, and an action taken in the heat of the moment.They’re elbow deep into the old truck’s still not quite functioning engine,when they slowly lose track of what they were saying, and close the last bit ofdistance between them both.

Donnie kisses Casey, and Casey kisses Donnie, and neither ofthem thinks it’s anything like kissing April, but are fine with that. This issomething new, something different- something for just them.

They sort of stare at one another when they break apart, notentirely sure where the kiss had come from or if the other wanted it to happen.

“Uh…” Casey says, trying to find something to say. “So- Iguess that happened?”

Donnie blinks owlishly, seeming just as caught by surpriseas Casey feels. He gives an awkward half smile. “Uh, I guess so?”

Casey can’t tell if he’s supposed to move away, orapologize, or what. He decides to go with one of his other impulses, and leansslowly back in.

Donnie has the chance to refuse, but he doesn’t evenconsider doing so, and leans in as well.

It’s again messy, again completely new, but it’s sort ofwonderful for those things, and they embrace it.

—

Fate finds a way, one way or another.

Fate finds them sharing a bed for the first time, the nightafter Casey and Donnie broach the final barrier between the two of them.

April feels stable enough to have people close to her onceagain, and even if she didn’t, she would have done this anyways. The three ofthem are still new, still learning each other, but this is real, and it verylikely could be love.

She’s exhausted as she falls asleep, like she always feelsthese days, but she’s warm and cared for between the two most important peopleshe has in her life. They all fit together on the queen sized bed with minimalsquishing, and somehow find it to be one of the best sleeps they’ve had inmonths.

Donnie and Casey exchange brief questioning glances- is this alright? Is this really alright forus?- but don’t find any sign of either of them not wanting to be close likethis.

It’s the first time they share space so intimately- sleepingas a trio, and not in separate duos- and it’s hardly the last. But, the firstis always the first, and often the most special.

It’s an act of trust, deciding to really try being the destined three they’remeant to be. And it’s one that they all know the weight of.

April opens her eyes briefly the next morning, sees andfeels the sleep that still holds her boys, and smiles softly as she rejoinsthem. Her mind doesn’t hurt when it’s just them, her ambient senses findingonly affection in each of her soulmates, and she feels safer than she has inmonths nestled between them.

Casey stirs only once, blearily confused in the dead ofnight that he’s suddenly missing a portion of the blanket on his legs. He findsit pulled towards Donnie’s side of the bed, and rolls his eyes before tuggingit back from the reptile’s hoarding. Before he closes his eyes again, heglances at the two people in his bed. April and Donnie seem so right, sleepingpeacefully like that against one another, and he finds that he feels none ofthe jealousy he originally did for them.

Donnie doesn’t sleep for a long time, watching his partnersdrift off before he does. He scarcely can believe this is happening, thatthey’re really here and that they care for him, despite all the flaws he countsin himself. He worried so much that his twin clocks would lead him to peoplewho could never love him, and yet, he finds those worries swept away, staringat April and Casey’s sleeping faces.

When they finally do drag themselves from the comfort ofbed, it’s only because Mikey cruelly comes in and drags the covers off byforce. The action elicits groans and curses, and only encourages Casey to hidehis face in April’s hair, April to burrow deeper into the sandwich she’smiddling, and Donnie to put an arm across the whole pile to hold the humans’heat close to him as long as possible.

“You’re all gross,” Mikey says, shaking his head at hisbrother and friends. “Me an’ Leatherhead are way less disgusting with PDA.You’re all straight up public nuisances at this point.”

“This is my bedroom,Mike,” April gripes from under her boyfriends. “You’re the one being a public nuisance right now.”

“And for the record, you and Leatherhead are downrightscandalous sometimes,” Donnie adds grumpily, already feeling his pleasantwarmth fading.

“Snnrffmrrgmff,” Casey adds incoherently, further mashinghis face into both April’s hair and the pillow.

Mikey clicks his tongue at them all, and leaves them to dragthemselves back to the land of the living. Taking the blanket with him, thelittle shit.

“’m gonna kill your brother,” Casey says when they finallysit up; hair a complete snarl and with a shadow along the edges of his jaw.

“I’ll help you,” Donnie says, and leans over to kiss thestubble on Casey’s chin because he can. Casey mumbles something about using therain barrel and some rope, and gives a kiss in return.

April just groans from the bed where she still lays, andthen shrieks as both her soulmates elect to take advantage of her ridden upshirt and shock her to wakefulness with a tickle attack.

They’re both banned from kissing her until after breakfastfor the trick, but April lets them sneak in for smooches anyways as they servethemselves dubious pancakes.

—

There are many hard experiences after that, and one of theonly things that get them through it is the bond they’ve forged.

War and strife dog them at every turn, and the moments theyhave together are few. But, they’re still there, and that’s enough to get themthrough each new tragedy.

They go to space, after losing everything they’ve ever hadin one fell swoop, and thought it’s an experience rooted in a catastrophe, it’salso a blessing.

Donnie’s never been able to go anywhere public before. Now, he has the opportunity to see wholeworlds that won’t even blink at the sight of him walking down the street. Thegrief of losing his father still clings to him, but the elation of feeling normal for once nearly eclipses that.

He can go into shops, restaurants, theaters; any and all theplaces he wants to without worrying of being killed just for being himself. And,for the first time, he can hold the hands of his soulmates in plain view of theworld, and have no judgement cast on that fact.

He gets to visit cities filled with people and relationshipsfar stranger than the three of them, gets to talk and kiss and laugh with Caseyand April in all those places and not have to feel ashamed of it. Donnie getsto experience having soulmates without feeling guilty that they can’t ever livenormal lives with him; because out here, they are normal, and it’s the most amazing feeling ever.

They almost die more times than they can count, lose trackof the planets they scour and visit, and fight through grief and regret thatwill likely never go away. And, April and Casey get to see Donnie light upevery single day in a brand new way, and it only cements the feelings they’vecome to have for him.

Donnie and April fell in love years ago, and April and Caseyfell for each other fast and hard; Casey and Donnie finish the trianglesomewhere in the depths of space, and seal the deal with promises and impulsivetouches.

The sleep cycle they do, when April’s powers are too rawfeeling to be close to anyone at the moment, it’s just them as they trysomething they’ve already both tried with April in the past.

April said she never minded, that she thought Donnie wasperfectly amazing just as he was- but his fear lingers up till the last momentbefore he and Casey cross the line. Donnie stops, just before that line, andcan’t even bring himself to properly voice his question. If Casey really wantshim like this.

“Hey, look at me,” Casey says, turning Donnie’s head backtowards him. He cups Donnie’s cheeks, and in the low light of the room hestares his soulmate dead in the eyes. “I don’t care that you’re not human.April told me you were worried I would, and this is me telling you I don’t. Okay?”

Donnie feels exposed, and disbelieving that he could be solucky twice- and asks in a waveringvoice, “Really?”

“Of course,” Casey says, drawing close again and putting hisnose to Donnie’s. “I love you, don’t I?”

And even though he’s heard Casey say it before, even thoughApril has said it a hundred times more than Casey, Donnie still struggles tofully believe those words that have been given to him.

But he doesn’t need to. He just needs to accept them, andsays, “I love you, too,” in return.

Casey grins, roguish and brash, and pushes them backtogether without a hint of hesitation or reluctance. Donnie gives into theobvious affection this boy- this man-has for him, and finally thinks he could believe that this is real, and thathe’s really in love and being loved.

April slinks into their bed some hours later, fresh frommeditation to quiet the coiled power inside her mind. She finds her boystangled together and so obviously in love it makes her heart melt. She thenslips around Casey’s back, and snuggles comfortably into the place she’s alwayshad with them. A perfect third piece to their triangle.

Three sets of dual clocks have long since stopped, each pairat a different time, and somehow it works. Fate has always intended them tofind each other, and no amount of time travel or world destruction orinhumanity was ever going to stop that.

That’s something they take comfort in- that no matter what,they would have found each other somehow and thus found this bliss- as they curl together under thethick blankets of their shared bed. They’re messy, and sometimes bicker, andare all at least a little traumatised, and they love each other.

The last part is enough to cancel out everything else.

—

Raph also finds his soulmate in space, and ends up fallinghard for a woman twice his size and with a weapon longer than his arm.

Y’Gythgba’s people have no true soulmates, but she washatched with a clock regardless. When she meets Raph, the tiny and fiercewarrior from a planet far away, she can’t help but listen to his insistingwords that they’re meant for eachother.

They’re nearly mauled, nearly frozen into icicles, nearlydie of oxygen deprivation- and come together irregardless.

They’re not the types of soulmates that need to spend alifetime together. One night is enough, talking and kissing and experiencing aonce in a lifetime pleasure. It’s enough, and then they part ways to followtheir individual paths in life.

“I get it now,” Raph tells Donnie and Mikey later, staringat his stopped clock with something akin to wonder. “Why you two just- knew.”

“Well, I was a little unsure about Casey at first… but yeah,I knew eventually,” Donnie says with a warm and understanding smile.

Mikey just shrugs. He and Leatherhead knew it from themoment they first got to actually talk together, and they’ve never questionedit since. He misses his soulmate fiercely, and can’t wait to return home.“Dunno how you can stand it, Raph. Leaving your lady out here and never seeingher again.”

“Y’Gythgba has her own thing to do,” Raph says with a fondsmile he probably doesn’t know he’s got. “If we meet again, we meet again. Ithink this fate stuff is real with that sort of thing, so I think I’ll just…let it happen if it’s going to.”

Leo quietly sulks at the table with them, staring at hisclock continuing to tick onwards. He’s got another year and some before he’ssupposed to meet his soulmate, and he’s starting to feel a little left out ofthings.

(He meets his soulmate later, one whose wrist has alwaysbeen obscured by white fur and has no knowledge that he’s fated to meet Leo.

Leo gets swept into a romance that’s stilted at first-because how exactly do you convince someone with no concept of soul clocks thatyou’re meant to be together?- but eventually finds the other half he’s alwaysbeen searching for.

Usagi is someone who meets him equally on plains Leo’salways been alone on, and draws him into new things he never would haveconsidered. He feels he does the same for the rabbit, and wins his soulmateover through steady devotion.

His siblings snicker and call his a furry without realcruelty, prodding him about his decade long obsession with cartoon characters,and Leo is too smitten to do much more than shut them up about it wheneverUsagi is within earshot.)

—

Things don’t go smoothly, further down the road. Casey andApril and Donnie face things that nearly break them apart, and come throughanyways.

Their bond is corrupted, when April’s mind and powers are high-jackedfrom her and she becomes an enemy to them all. It’s a night that almost tearsthem apart in the same way April tears Donnie apart.

Casey screams as it happens, feeling the loss and thesickening crack that goes through the clock on his wrist. It wrenches throughhim sharp and cold, and drives him to his knees as he loses a part of himself.

April screams as well, trapped in her head and horrified ofwhat she’s just taken from them all. One of her clocks shatters its surface,and it does so in time as Za’naron splits the sky with her powers. Her heartfeels like it’s bleeding out, and what little control she has of her body letsher weep for what she’s done.

She gets Donnie back, shredding reality itself to do so- andit’s only because of that miracle that they don’t fall apart.

Casey and April’s clocks mend themselves, but a silvery lineis spider-webbed through each one afterwards. Donnie was gone- for too long, too many minutes- and that scar on the three ofthem will never vanish.

April clutches Donnie close, sobbing and terrified ofherself and for him. He’s shaken and still trying to resync with reality, but Donnie’salready forgiven her as he holds her back. Casey bends, and wraps his lankyarms around them both; trying to hold his partners together as they attempt topatch the cracks split through their souls.

It takes weeks for April to even consider forgiving herself,to think that even for a second she deserves the love that her boys insist onstill giving her. But she can’t close herself off from them, not fully, andtheir steady love draws her back out of her shell. Even when nightmares plagueher- and Donnie- and Casey, too- none of them think for even a moment that thethree of them should separate.

It takes weeks, but eventually April can meet Donnie andCasey’s eyes again, and not feel like hiding herself in shame. It takes weeks,but they find their rhythm again, and resume the relationship that they’vebuilt together.

And then master Splinter dies, and Casey and April have tohold together Donnie as he tries not to break under the tragedy’s weight.

—

April loses her second father figure who’d cared for her foryears; Casey loses a steady adult influence he’d come to love and will miss forthe rest of his life; Donnie loses the only parent he’s ever had, and it nearlykills him.

They cluster close as grief takes the Hamato household, andkeep one another steady as the stages pass by.

Its months before they do, months before the grey haze liftsfrom their lives, but it does happen and they keep moving forwards.

The war is over, all their wars are over, and finally, it’sjust them and whatever they chose to do in life.

—

Donnie grew up wondering if his partners would love him.April grew up pondering just who her partners could be. Casey grew up knowingthey’d make things work no matter what.

They finish growing up together, and somehow, three sets ofdual clocks find each other, and come together as fate intended.

Whether it’s late nights in the garage, grease and oilgetting up Donnie and Casey’s arms, or hours spent in the dojo sparring withweapons and grinning at April as she shines like an open flame; whether its sneakyventures getting Donnie into their apartments, or lounging in the one placethey can be in the open, far underground; whether it’s night or day or winteror summer, whether they’re young teenagers or young adults, they make thingswork.

They make things work.

Three sets of clocks followed the course of fate they wereset on, find the love they were always meant have, and swear to never let itgo.

[jumpybox]

What he does (2/2)

Rating: T+ (just in case)

Warning: mentions of suicide, kidnapping, death of characters.

Song:  Again (Crusher-P) covered by Araki

First part 

And when you've forgotten who I am It just feels, it just feels... I'm nobody at all

It’s sad really, how he started to realize that despite this world having all the similarities with his old one, he doesn't know who he is anymore. It’s so weird for him how his family treats him better than his own. If he gets hurt just a bit, his brothers are there to make sure he’s ok and that to not try to do it like that.

It freaks him out to the point that he runs away in the middle of getting scolded by Donatello, he can't, he can't, he can't.

He can't take that. It’s too much for him. He wasn't used to that. He was used to his brothers talking, lying about what they thought about him, THAT he could take, he was used to lying and it was easy to fake his emotions. And yeah, sure, he had wanted to do it once more because he missed that.

He missed lying to himself.

Michelangelo didn’t want this.

I lost myself hitting the ground I tried to scream and made no sound I should have known it was no use

He should of never have talked to Mikey again. It only makes it worse because the other turtle, his other self, doesn't hate him or despise him for keeping him away from his family. Mikey ends up telling him stories whenever he comes to feed him, the turtle talks about his childhood, about the stuff he has done with his family and friends. All sounding almost the same to what he could remember, except it’s not.

Because Mikey has good brothers, that tease him and care for him, and worry that whatever they had said had upset him. They talk and do stuff together and enjoy it.

He listens and he hates it. No.

He hates Mikey, his life. Everything.

To try and run from The cycle of abuse, the cycle of abuse

He doesn't know how to really enjoy all that has been told to him or what’s going back on the lair. Everything is just new to him and even when he tries to lie to himself, to believe that he can actually be happy there, and just enjoy all of this.

He can't. He got used to being treated as if he wasn't totally part of the team, not taking in notice of his ideas or suggestions, of being always hit by little things he did that were so annoying to the rest.

He can't take it anymore, he can't stay there with that family, not his, never his. It’s at one point that he breaks and he runs from everything.

He goes to hide in the abandoned subway station, mind racing, trying to calm himself. But as he has to much in mind, he never realized that his brothers had ended up following him there.

Michelangelo doesn’t hear the voices calling out his name, to deep in thoughts and trying to compose himself.

But Mikey does and he calls back for his brothers.

He cries when the door is open and his brothers appear, looking puzzled at seeing him locked in a place like that, they joke, telling him that he had locked himself up there, and Mikey sobs, but is one he tries to make it sound like a happy one.

“Yeah I did, bro” he tells them and hugs his closest brother, and that’s when his brothers knows something is wrong, more so because Mikey seems a bit thinner and paler than before.

The family end up finding out soon that there are two of the same turtle and that in the last couple of months they had been living with the one that came from another world.

They don't understand at first why there is another one, but Mikey tells them, tell his brother the things the two of them had exchanged during that time, how he had looked on his behavior. How lost is the other orange clad turtle.

I am on fire A crying, burning liar

Donnie asks Michelangelo about his family, about his Donatello, asks if he can contact them, because maybe they are looking for him.

Michelangelo laughs, it’s a forced sound and he tries, he tries to compose himself, but it only ends up in him shaking and hugging himself.

He misses Donatello. He misses Raphael. He misses Leonardo. He misses his family, but he doesn't have one anymore.

He lies. Of course he does.

He lies that it was ok, that his brothers probably were looking for him.

He lies. He tells them he is sorry for kidnapping Mikey, he was simply scared and he didn't know how well would they react having two of him there.

Seeing nothing, nothing, but myself And I'm the one with the lighter

Mikey knows Michelangelo is lying, but doesn't say anything, during the last week, he saw how his other self started to break until he made the mistake of bringing his brothers to where he had been imprisoned.

But Mikey isn’t mad at that. He comes closer to the other turtle and puts his hand on his shoulder.

“Is ok to let it out” baby blue eyes stare right back at mirrored ones. “You don't have to keep hiding yourself” and is enough for Michelangelo to let his tears fall after two years.

He tells himself he doesn't feel anything. But the pain in his chest is there again, and this time he doesn't care to let all those emotions he had been hiding deeply in himself, let out and he screams.

He doesn't want to be a liar anymore.

Every inch of me is charred God, what happened to my heart?

It takes around half an hour but is enough for Michelangelo to compose himself a bit, holding for dear life to his other self, eyes closed because he can't, he can't look at the other turtles there. It hurts.

It hurts that he doesn't have a family anymore. It hurts that he was so angry with them and wished for them to be gone.

It hurts that he was still alive instead of him being the one gone and they alive.

I'm about to fall apart Again, again

Michelangelo breaks once more, this time whispering his tale to Mikey, who hugs him tighter and rubs his head and shell, silently listening to him before asking his brothers a moment to himself and perhaps a bit of water for the two of them.

Mikey’s brothers are wary, after all, how could they trust the other turtle after what he did to their little brother? But their brother’s puppy eyes is enough for them to believe, trust, not on Michelangelo, but on their Mikey.

Once alone, he listens intently to what was being said from his other self and despite trying to hold it back, he whimpers and cries a little at hearing that Michelangelo doesn't have a family anymore, that it’s his fault, his fault, his fault, his fault.

“I’m sorry” Michelangelo holds Mikey tighter when he hears the other’s apology. Why apologise to him? He was a traitor. He was a murderer. He was an angry being.

But he knew why. He always knew.

And you're never coming back And I'm not okay with that

“I know they are not the brothers you lost” he can't help but cringe at that choice of words, hadn’t Mikey been listening to him? “But they are still family and...I know that with a bit of time they can be your family too.”

He knows that he is never going to see his brothers and friends again. He knows it's going to be longer than a bit of time before he trusts another person, that they trust on him too.

What he doesn't know is why is he trusting Mikey.

No, he knows too.

He trusts Mikey because he can tell that his other self is not lying.

And he likes that. He likes the idea of someone finally not lying to him.

He can only nod at those words before being guided out from the room he had been hiding himself.

He never lets go of Mikey’s hand, he is too scared that everything is a dream.

That he lied to himself once more.

He didn’t want to lie anymore.

[evenstevensranked]

#47: Season 1, Episode 1 - Swap.com

A true piece of Even Stevens history right here, guys! This was the very first episode to air... ever! It premiered on June 17th, 2000 (yes, 17 years ago!!!) and introduced us all to a baby-faced, comedic boy wonder Shia LaBeouf. And a bright, young actress (pre-Kim Possible) Christy Carlson Romano. 

Strangely enough, our first glimpse into the Even Stevens-verse is an episode centered around a one-off character. Louis desperately wants to possess a rare trading card. Ernie Morton, the school nerd, owns the card and is willing to give it up for a price: A date with Ren. 

This one opens with Louis and Twitty at school in some computer/Geography hybrid class. As their teacher begins a lecture on Afghanistan, we get the very first actual dialogue of the series, and it’s pretty good imo:

Teacher: Now, if you turn your attention to Afghanistan... Louis: [shouting at the computer with joy] YES!!! Twitty: Louis, it’s just Afghanistan. What’s the big deal?

Of course, Louis isn’t celebrating over the wonders of Afghanistan. He’s talking to someone online who’s willing to sell him what’s clearly supposed to be a knock-off of a rare and highly coveted Pokémon trading card. This is so funny in retrospect because the entire planet was playing Pokémon Go! last year. Points for maintaining relevancy! But basically, Louis really wants to own a Roaring Drycon... Which is not a Pokémon, but is definitely supposed to be a Pokémon: 

Yes. The internet used to look like this.

It turns out, the seller of the card is none other than Ernie Morton. A frankly nasty, unhygienic, arrogant, nerdy creeper to say the least. Thank god he’s a throwaway character and only here for this one episode. He tells Louis that the price he’s asking for is a date with Ren. 

Louis says to himself: “Why couldn’t he just ask for something easy? Like my mom’s Volvo.” - This is a small, but interesting parallel to Boy Meets World and was only brought to my attention when I read through this ranking of every BMW episode. Apparently, Cory puts on music, Topanga asks where he got it from and he says “I don’t know. It came with my mom’s Volvo.” Idk. Like I mentioned before.. there are a few (stronger) similarities between the two shows. I might even start a similarities tag, lol. But, yeah. This really stood out to me for some reason. 

There’s a scene where two girls approach Twitty all flirty in the hallway and Louis makes them run for this hills after awkwardly shouting “WAAAZZZUUUP?!?” at them. (Which I’m assuming is a reference to the classic Budweiser commercial that premiered in 1999 and became a popular catchphrase.) I’ve seen so many gifs of this. I’m even guilty of using one on my about page. Louis tells Twitty that he made the deal with Ernie, explaining “Ernie just wants to hang out with a popular girl, and I happen to live with one.” Once again, reminding me that Ren is supposed to be popular! I still think it’s cool that she’s not the stereotypical, vapid popular girl you usually see though. 

Ren really wants to beat this chick Adrienne Dunmore for Service Volunteer of the Month. She’s currently falling behind her and needs to work 4 more hours over the weekend. We see another one of Ren’s early placeholder BFFs, an Asian girl named Jewel. Random, but both of Ren’s placeholder best friends were minorities. Doesn’t really mean anything, lol. Just something I noticed.

Ren staring at Adrienne all green with envy after checking their volunteer hours. But, can we talk about how Ren’s entire bellybutton and stomach is showing?! What the heck, Disney?! I know it was in style I guess. But, for an 8th grader? Also, aside from it being purple... It doesn’t really seem like something Ren would wear. Probably just a first-episode hiccup.

And here’s Jewel. She’s also very peppy like Charlotte. 

We see the Stevens family at home that night celebrating Ren’s birthday! There’s a pretty funny bit where Donnie gives Ren various pictures of himself, blissfully unaware of how narcissistic he is. The show makes good use of this later on. One particular picture of Donnie “on vacation” is seen on Ren’s bedside table in After Hours! I love good, subtle continuity! It helps make their world feel a little more real. 

Donnie’s gift in this episode. 

...and here seen in S1, E13. This is actually pretty funny. Another photo he gave her of himself playing baseball can be seen in the bottom/left, too. Haha, perfect. The only weird thing is that it looks like she has some strange Donnie shrine, lol wth. 

Louis obviously forgot to get Ren a gift and tries to play it off by saying “I got her a thing. It’s a very very nice thing. But, I got it over the internet. These things don’t just pop out of the screen” with a mouth full of cake. It’s funny, but also a little sad. Steve says “Oh, Lou. Not again...” (which I hear perpetually in my mind whenever Louis messes up) before the entire family clears out of the living room -- disappointed as he rambles off his excuses. Oh, god.. I’m seeing shades of Uncle Chuck. 

Louis is wracking his mind trying to come up with a way to get Ren and Ernie to hang out together alone. Once he gets an idea, there’s a bit where he knocks on her door to tell her. It’s been gif’d a bunch and is a very popular post on here. Being clever (and selfish) he tells Ren there’s a program called “Adopt A Friend,” where you hang out with a needy young person for a day as some form of community service. Okay, I’m actually dying now that I have to write this out, oh my god. LOUIS!!!!!!! He tells her that Adrienne Dunmore is considering doing the non-existent program, which piques Ren’s interest. We get a voiceover of Louis telling her about Ernie, blatantly lying about the kind of guy he is. Using words like “nice, giving, helpful, and great!” This is juxtaposed against a montage of the real Ernie doing various things that are the complete opposite. He’s basically the worst kind of human. 

Cut to the mall now! Ren meets Ernie and wow he didn’t even try to look good.

I can tell ya one thing -- If this was The Bachelorette, Ernie Morton would not be receiving the First Impression Rose. 

For whatever reason, Ren treats him like a special needs child or something? Talking to him in simplified English, slowly and loud as if he’s deaf or has trouble understanding. Louis said he was NEEDY! Not impaired in some way! (Well, maybe socially impaired...) This bit is kinda funny but it’s also kinda like... Wut. Anyway, Ernie takes Louis aside and gushes about how he can’t believe he pulled off this date. He does this really creepy/annoying thing where he sticks his tongue out constantly and I hate it. Ew. 

But, yes. Ernie is under the impression it’s an actual date. He even says he’ll only give Louis the trading card after he gets his “goodbye kiss.” Problem, indeed.

Louis spends the rest of the mall sequence sneakily running around like a freaking stalker... hiding in plants and behind newspapers -- to make sure Ernie doesn’t try anything, and that no one from school sees Ren and Ernie together.

The worry in his eyes and lack of discreetness is making me laugh harder than anything else. 

Ren spends 4 hours with Ernie and actually ends up having an okay time. She genuinely thanks him for “a wonderful afternoon” after taking some photobooth pictures together -- and that’s apparently good enough for Ernie. He gives Louis the card!!! Louis is stoked, but then the remorse starts to seep in. (I love remorseful Louis, though. It helps gives him more dimension.) He notices Ren window shopping and staring at a pearl necklace ~longingly~ before they head home. 

Ren is super excited to turn in her hours at school (going above and beyond, writing an entire paper on her experience) only to discover there is no “Adopt A Friend” program. Yeah. I’d be pissed, too. Not only that, she finds out that Ernie has been telling the entire school that they’re dating. She lashes out at him in front of everyone saying she wouldn’t date him if he were the last guy on earth and storms off. A little harsh, but is it really? Ernie was way out of line spreading fake intimate stories and lies.

Ernie left in Ren’s dust, being made fun of.

This show has a lot of heart. You actually feel for Ernie here. But you also feel for Ren because she was played by Louis. But, you ALSO feel upset for Louis because he knows he f’d up. The conflicting emotions. That night, Ren is fuming after she figures everything out. Louis hides from her by hooking himself onto the back of his door. This is also a pretty popular/memorable scene. We get a micro-mini mirror talk here, as well! I love the Season 1 mirror talks honestly!!!

“Man. Tell 20 or 30 lies, and right away you’re a bad guy.”

Ren discovers where he’s hiding and we get a line that’s not exactly great, but was used on a lot of Disney Channel commercials back in the day. (“What are you doing back there?”/ “...Just hanging out.”) But a line I do like is when Ren asks “HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO SHOW MY FACE IN SCHOOL AGAIN, HUH?!” and Louis dryly responds “May I suggest plastic surgery?” 

After talking through the situation (the cover image of this post) we find out that Louis ended up trading in the Roaring Drycon card for money to get Ren the necklace she was looking at for her birthday. Awww. Ren loves it but hates the idea that he got the money from his scheme. She comes to terms with her own faults though when Louis makes her realize she only hung out with Ernie for selfish reasons. Can we also talk about Ren’s Y2K rubber band, pigtail hairstyle in this scene?! I 100% wore my hair exactly like this in elementary school -- with blue bands and everything, because I saw Ren Stevens wear her hair like that. Miranda Sanchez rocked this look too. Why was this style ever a thing? lol. Who came up with all of these crazy Early 2000s looks?! 

In the end, she turns around and gives Ernie the necklace. Apologizing & saying “This belongs to you.” Really??? WHAT A WASTE. At least keep the free necklace, Ren! Ernie and Ren makeup and he asks for a friend-to-friend hug. It’s kinda nice for a split second, but then we see his friends pop up and snap a photo of them ~embracing.~

AGAIN WITH THE TONGUE THING! What a creeper. x

This was a bit of a slow episode in retrospect. It’s super clear in my memory because Disney usually beats the first few episodes of a series into the ground. It’s a pretty safe and predictable plotline. Not a horrible episode, but definitely nothing too unbelievably special either. Not the greatest choice for a first episode, imo. Ren and Louis don’t really get to shine 100% and really flaunt that bickering sibling dynamic that the show is based on. It basically switches from Ren and Ernie sharing the screen, to Louis and Ernie sharing the screen. I mean, that sibling element is definitely there. But, you don’t really “get” that Louis and Ren are opposites always at odds. Louis just seems like a little brother who means well but messed things up for his sister, here. You also don’t really get to know anything about Louis as a character, his interest in comedy, or any of that. 

There aren’t a lot of laughs, either. But to be fair, it’s the first episode!!! Much like All About Yvette, the show obviously hasn’t really hit that signature Even Stevens stride! So, taking that into consideration.. It’s pretty solid and entertaining enough. I was going to rank it higher for the mere fact that it was the first episode to air and it isn’t totally bad, lol. But, I think I’m okay placing it here. Something else that’s a little “off” is that it’s missing that signature swing-jazz style music throughout the episode that’s so prevalent in others down the line. It uses mostly generic, quirky sitcom music. Another sign that it hasn’t found its place as a show just yet. 

This episode actually recently aired on Disney for their “Firsts on the First” marathon! They aired the first episodes of some of their most popular shows over the years to celebrate the New Year. Did anyone catch it? I did! I was actually home sick that night and it made my day so much better to see baby Shia’s face back on my television, honestly. 

Thanks for reading! How do you feel about this being the first episode ever? Chime in below as always.

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[nurturingflame]

Week In Review - 54

It’s always exciting getting to post a new section of our continuing adventure. You will see a difference in tone from the last installment and we hope that you enjoy the action to come. 

A quick question, as we are always very interested in your feedback. Would anyone be interested if we hosted an open rp event? Let us know!

Aww, Rats! 1-5

Michelangelo stared at the frozen deliciousness he'd spread out before himself on the table in Donnie's lab.  Even four days later, the room still smelled of the feast that his family, Mrs. V, and The Children of the Phoenix had partaken in.  The giant chairs that Donnie had constructed were not longer there, each of the three mutants they were made for having taken them home.  Medusa had been thrilled to pieces with her first ever chair.  Sad life never sitting in a chair, the teen thought.  Even sadder to let this ice cream melt.

The ice cream was almost gone, and his plan was to make a many scooped concoction meant to finish it off before someone else beat him to it.  He pushed the jar of mutagen, or retro-mutagen, or maybe it wasn't-mutagen-at-all, out of the way.   Donnie really needs to do a better job of putting stuff back where it belongs, he thought.  All of this lab equipment is blocking my food prep.  

"What are you doing with the ice cream on my table?" Donnie came up behind him.  Mikey turned to see his taller brother standing with his hip popped out, his arms crossed his plastron.  "Hmmm?"

"Fixing you," he drawled, "a big bowl of ice cream!"  He turned and began to scoop the dessert into a bowl.

"What were you doing before you decided to serve me ice cream?" Donnie asked suspiciously.

"Serving myself ice cream?" Mikey presented the brainiac with a heaping bowl.

"Why don't you fix Mrs. V and Phoenix bowls," Leo suggested, sauntering into the lab.  "They've been sequestered in Mrs. V's room for a long time now."

"What do you think they're doing in there?" Donnie asked, handing a bowl to Leo and taking one himself.

"I dunno," Leo shrugged as they walked away.  "I heard Phoenix say that Mrs. V was right not to imbibe, apparently she had to use her own medical knowledge on a hangover."

Ice cream is so much better than sake.  Mikey's mouth watered as his brother's voices drifted away.  Not that he had ever tried sake, but if you had to take medicine after drinking it, then it couldn't be good.  He stuffed a large spoonful of ice cream into his mouth before beginning to serve up another bowl. Piling it high, he admired it.  It sparkled in the low light, the ice crystals on the cream beginning to melt into a smooth dripping loveliness.  He took a long lick.

"Where's the one you were going to make me?" Donnie snapped Mikey out of his reverie.

Sighing, Mikey handed the bowl to his brother, just as April's voice hit his ears.  "Hi guys.  Look what I found!"

"Are you sure you measured right?" Eliza asked as she exited her room behind the Phoenix, tweaking her shirt, hoping that it would fall in more flattering creases to hide her stomach bump. They had just spent more than an hour in the most detailed check-up she had undergone to date. "Pregnant or not, adding four inches to my waist-line in a week seems a bit extreme." Her friend just snickered in a knowing way as they made their way towards the common area of the lair.

The Children of the Phoenix had stopped by in the early evening the day after the party, with their rather haggard looking mother in tow. Eliza had slept in late that day and thus had gotten a late start in cleaning up the aftermath. The boys had helped of course, though Eliza noted with no small degree of annoyance that her own daughter was MIA, mostly likely off in some hidden nook bonding with her new pet. Regardless, the result was that she was still elbow deep in pots and pans when her company arrived. She was immediately relieved of duty by an insistant Acros who then recruited his brother to his aid while Medusa when off to find Donatello. Apparently she wanted to ask the craftsman turtle if she could take her custom-built chair back to the warehouse.

When Eliza turned her attention to the Phoenix, it was apparent that the small woman was not nearly as chipper as her adopted offspring. When asked she just grumbled something about a newfound distaste for 'fine' sake and maybe a disparaging word or two about Mirakami's lineage, which Eliza hoped would not be repeated in the blind chef's company. Taking pity on her friend, Eliza put on the kettle and discretely went to ask Splinter if he happened to have any tea blends that would help. The end result was a pleasant enough tea time and chat between three adults. Splinter and the Phoenix with their 'day after' brew and Eliza with the iron enhancer the healer had made for the pregnant ferret. With lots of sugar.

As the tea was consumed the small healer had a more healthy color returned to her and was guiding the conversation back around to Eliza. Mostly as to how to ascertain the health of the babies, now that they had shown movement. However, they were interrupted by the children, furred, shelled and scaled alike. They had loaded all three chairs into the shell-raiser and wanted to deliver them to the warehouse before the Hamato boys planned to head out on patrol. The Phoenix left with the group, with the caution that Eliza wasn't off the hook, and a promise to come back soon. Today's exam was the fulfillment of that threat.

Eliza had been weighed, measured, poked and prodded, all in the Phoenix's goal to not only judge the health of the pregnancy, but to have a base understanding of Eliza's ferrety physiology, or as much as she could with basic observation. It was a lot of asking Eliza to bend this way and that, understanding how the ferret's body moved normally so the healer could then make note of any changes that the pregnancy caused. The end result was a mix between a doctor's visit and a yoga class.

As they moved towards the pit the sound of young voices brought her attention to the lab just as April and Casey were making their way there as well. Her accute hearing heard the word 'ice cream' being bantered about just as Donatello and Leonardo meet them with bowls of the sweet treat. "Ohh, snack time." She smiled in anticipation as she accepted the bowl from Donnie freeing him to return to the lab, "thank you boys I can go for this about now."

"You're welcome." Leonardo said politely while holding out his bowl to the Phoenix who seemed to be contemplating whither she wanted the treat or not.

She caught the smaller woman raising an eyebrow at her. "Hey! Don't give me that look. I've been good. But even leftover chicken gets boring after a few days. Not to mention that having Ladybug around has not being helping on the craving front. I think ice cream is a much better option."

Then the squee of "KITTY!" came through the door and Eliza caught a glimpse of an orange tabby being danced around by green hands.

"Oh for heaven's sake." She muttered as she stepped into the lab, an ecstatic Mikey cuddling a weather worn ally cat, blissfully ignoring the agitated chatter of the other teens. Her mind immediately went to how this new arrival could complicate her own situation. Not bad enough I have to keep myself from snacking on my daughters' pet, now I have to make sure the cat doesn't get to it either. Because it was plain to see that Mikey was already enamored and if he turned his watery baby blues on the rest of the family she was certain the cat was not leaving anytime soon.

"Okay, whose idea was this?" she asked the room, but a shrinking and suddenly shy April made the answer all too clear. "Really. April?" The ferret sighed in an exasperated but defeated way all parents do when there is no way out of a pickle a wayward child puts them in.

"It's only temporary." The teen tried to defend sheepishly.

"Un hun." Eliza shook her head and walked over to the ice cream spread, serving herself an extra scoop of the quickly melting treat. Hey, she deserved extra for dealing with this kind of stress. "You're telling Splinter." She declared without looking back as she deposited off the last of the mint chocolate chip in her bowl.

"Master Splinter is meditating right now," Donnie said in a pensive voice.  "You'll have to tell him later."

"Yeah," Casey Jones chuckled, "what if the cat goes nuts and attacks him when he's not paying attention?  She could feed off of his body for months!"

"There is something seriously wrong with you," Donnie snapped, crossing his arms over his chest.

"That was pretty gross, Casey," Phoenix agreed, handing the young man her bowl after putting only a spoonful in her mouth.  She turned to Eliza and smiled as Mikey let out a lovesick sigh.  "You be good," she told the ferret.  "And I'll be back."

"Let me get your bag," Eliza turned toward her room.

Phoenix held a hand out, again peeking at Mikey as he let out a squeak.  "I can get it.   Make sure you hold the cat when you introduce it to Ladybug."  She sang the last words, almost as a tease.

Mikey gasped and growled out, "Nononononono!"

"Everything OK Mikey?" April asked, waving as the healer left.

"Yeah," he said, his shell pressed against the table.  "It's cold, it's cool.  Like ice cream."

Eliza swallowed hers.  "Get the cat off the table, Michelangelo."

"Okie dokie!" he squealed, turning, grabbing the feline in his arms, and running toward the kitchen.

Eliza rolled her eyes.  "I need a nap."

For days, he had watched.  Through the eyes of Ladybug, The Rat King was able to see most of the Turtles lair, spy upon the interactions between those living there.  The girl who had taken Ladybug as her own did not restrict herself to only one or two parts of the lair, but roamed freely.  However, the girl did not go where he wanted her to go, and he had to wait until she was sleeping with her ferret-mother before he could tell the fancy rat to wander.

So the doe snuck out when the girl was solidly asleep, only once causing the ferret mutant's whiskers to twitch, into the dojo to watch the sleeping or meditating form of Splinter.

Ah, his Splinter.  The Rat King had been watching his general, his bodyguard, his brother in body, heart, and soul long before Ladybug had made her presence known to the human girl called Gwyn.  The Rat King did not want to play his hand too early, so he had only tickled Splinter's presence in his dreams, wandering in convoluted places that made little sense, places filled with cherry blossoms, old style Japanese buildings, the clinging of steel weapons, and the cooing of a baby.  But the little fancy rat doe had her eye on the rat mutant and his household during his waking hours.   It was in that way that he'd felt the weakening of Master's Splinter's mind.

Even drunk, filled with the blood warming fuzziness of sake, Master Splinter was formidable.  His mind was firm, watching the goings on about him with a nonjudgemental eye.  However, The Rat King was able to feel the rat mutant, much the same way he could feel his many brothers and sisters.  With the emotional impressions of Splinter, and the visual information of Ladybug, he had formulated his plan.  He needed only to wait until the right time.

He had thought he would have to wait longer, but fate was smiling on him.  

Ladybug saw, at the beginning of what seemed to be the ninja turtle's fighting lesson, Splinter training each of the boys, separately and together.  Then The Rat King felt Splinter's wall crack, as the sound of a woman came to his ears, met with the higher voice of another woman in typical, almost squealy female greeting.  Ladybug was no longer in the dojo, as Gwyn had scooped her up, and carried her to the sounds of the voices, showing The Rat King her mother, the ferret mutant Eliza, and the mutant healer, The Phoenix, hugging each other.

At the same time, he felt Splinter's attention shatter.  Only a shard, for that moment, was on his sons, another on their training, another on their obedience, but several more stretched out from the dojo, to the voices of the women, a recollection of how each one smelled, looked, moved.  The Rat King felt the Ninja Master's swell of affection for the little girl, for the ferret, for the healer, and he felt the body he was observing clench with desire.

Much like his own heart did when he longed for his brother, who rejected him, rejected who he was.  But no longer.

Splinter put on a blindfold, taking the lesson in a different direction, to regain his focus.  

"This doesn't seem fair," Leonardo said.

"I assure you," Splinter replied.  "It isn't."

Again the voices of the women came to his ears, as he moved to avoid Leonardo's strike, his attention split.  The Rat King reached out his desire, clear for the Ninja Master, to match that which the Ninja Master himself felt for...The Rat King could not quite tell what.

The first move was made, his second was now in the waiting.  He would have what he wanted.

Phoenix followed the flashlight down the sewer tunnel, her mind a whirl with the information she'd gleaned from Eliza in this last visit.  She was still seeing how the woman moved in her mind's eye, her flexibility was amazing.  She could practically turn herself in two, despite the two babies growing in her belly.  The way that the mutagen had modified her spine in making her an anthropomorphic ferret was fascinating in and of itself, and she had to keep bringing her mind back to the actual measurements that mattered.  She chuckled, shaking her head.  You're an obstetrician at the moment, she reminded herself.  See what her body can do for its sake after the babies come.

As her muffled laugh faded in echo, she heard, "Eek."

She stopped, casting the flashlight about to find the owner of the voice.

It was just a plain rat, grey with a pink nose, and a pink tail, and pink feet.  It lay on its side, and squeaked again meekly. When she softened her eyes, to see the glow that was not a glow that emanated from everything, she saw very little of it around the rat.  It was as if it was being suck in from the rat’s center instead of exuding out as it should.  She picked the rodent up, and held its limp, warm body in her hands.  She could feel its little heart beating against her palm.  She rubbed it gently, and as she did, she gave it some of the tingly light.  The thought and look of the process, when she was self-aware enough to watch it, never failed to fascinate her.  Everything she looked at gave off the glow that wasn’t a glow, a type of shimmering in the air that indicated its existence.  The tingly light that came out of her hands, almost of its own accord, had a different kind of glow to it, an almost light, the shimmer from it was white in color, but translucent.  It did not look like it felt.  It was a sheet, one continuous emanation of light, while it felt as if ants or spiders were coming out of her palms through her pores and into the pores of the creature she was giving it to.  She knew it wasn’t hers, that she didn’t make the light.  The light came from somewhere else, the same place as the great firebird that had come to her all those years ago, the same place as the voice that was not her voice, the same place as the poetry.

A gift from the Universe, she thought errantly.  Like Eliza's babies.

The tingling stopped in her hands, and she held the rat for a while longer.  She smiled ironically.  “Medusa would eat you,” she said to it softly.  “And here I am trying to help you heal yourself.”

The rat raised its head, as if it understood her, and then wiggled to get down.  She put it on the ground gently, and it ran off down the tunnel.  Ti stopped, looking back at her, as if waiting, ran a little farther, then waited again.  She watched it, the soft glow that was not a glow fading into the dark of the tunnel only shortly after she could no longer see its physical body.

She picked up her flashlight and followed the rat.  She turned a corner, and shone her light on several rats eating some garbage in the tunnel.  The all looked at her, squeaked loudly, and then ran off farther down the tunnel.  The one she had helped, however, waited for her to catch up, then ran off again.

She grew increasingly uneasy as she stood in the dark tunnel, deep in the sewer, away from any way out that she knew of.  A few rats, brown and gray, chittered beside her and ran forward a little, but were still well within the beam of her flashlight.

“Do I follow you?” she asked out loud, feeling rather silly as that was what she was already doing.

The rats waited.

“You know your life is getting really weird when you start talking to rats, and they answer you,” she smiled.  "And they are mutated."

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