#child of Draxum

[popcornrya]

Tell me about them again? Please?

———

(Mikey and Iodine sit in their usual meeting spot, some little apartment building rooftop nestled in between some taller buildings as they sit on the edge of the roof over looking what they can see of the city)

“I just wish that my brothers would have a little more faith in me…”

Mikey confided. Iodine sighs softly with a sympathetic smile

“I guess that’s the price of being the baby huh?”

Io asks

Mikey is a bit annoyed at this

“I’m kind of jealous.”

Io admits with a little laugh

“It must be so fun to have siblings, you always have people to hang out with.”

Iodine suggests

“Yeah… but sometimes they just don’t wanna… they’re too busy to hang out with me…”

Mikey sulks a little

“Well, personal time is important too.”

Io shifts the focus

“So you don’t have any siblings?”

Mikey asks Io shakes her head

“Nope, just me.”

“you must get lonely then huh..?”

Mikey asks imagining what life would be like without his brothers

“Yeah… but, I get to hang out with you! And I get to hear all your stories, and I hear about you and your brother’s adventures, It’s kinda awesome, sometimes I try to picture your stories in my head, it always looks crazy! You must live such interesting lives.”

Iodine gushes warmly

“Yeah, we kinda do.”

Mikey realizes

“Can you tell me more about your brothers?”

Iodine asks sweetly

“More?”

Mikey laughed amused by Iodine’s unwavering interest in him and his big brothers

“Of course! Hm, well my big big brother is Raph, he’s the oldest, he’s also the most protective. He’s kinda our leader, always looking out for us and trying to be the responsible one. He might be really big but he’s really a big softy, he likes plush toys and animals, even if animals don’t like him back.”

Mikey describes, Iodine soaking up every word

“Then there’s Leo and Donnie, they’re twins, or at least Leo says so… Leo likes to make jokes a lot and he kind of interferes with our plans a lot too… usually trying to show off and stuff but whenever we’re in a real mess and Raph can’t get us out Leo will. He’s also the self appointed “face man” but to his credit he is good at it.”

Mikey nods agreeingly at the thought

“And… the last ones Donnie right?”

Iodine inquires

“Mh, yeah. Donnie is-… well Donnie is smart like really smart. And he’s always making new things, sometimes he makes stuff for us but it goes wrong and ends up being more of a problem than help… he means well though, … most of the time…”

Iodine giggles

“And you’re the artist huh?”

Io asks

“Yeah and I got my Razzmatazz and flair baby!”

Mikey announces proudly

Io laughs

“That you most certainly do Michelangelo.”

She agrees as Mikey smiles feeling seen and appreciated.

—————

This little writen snippet actually kinda goes along with this comic section not really? But happens around the same time? Sorta?

Bad end remix Comic chapter two part one.

Io loves hearing about Mikey and his brothers, being a sheltered only child with an overprotective and somewhat controlling father leaves her quite lonely and isolated at times… but after meeting Mikey she quickly came to view him as her little brother, spending hours listening to him vent, tell stories, even making art together some nights leaving their home lives on the back burner for a while just so they can enjoy being truly seen and free to explore and make their own decisions without the stress of being babied and talked over.

Mikey and Iodine at their most content and free~ this is actually how they met, spray painting. And they’ve been thick as thieves ever since.

[hatekawa]

3 MONTHS TW: VISIBLE VITALS (NO BLOOD THO)

Information Part 4 Draxum got emotional, I wonder why Previous, Next Masterpost

[red-rover-au]

Read my fic, their terrible family is fun I prommy

[turtleblogatlast]

No but like every time I think about Splinter and what he had to go through just to keep the boys alive, my heart hurts for him so badly. Is he perfect? No not at all, but none of them are and by god does he love his sons.

The fact that all of them are alive, and grew to thrive despite the circumstances surrounding them is a testament of how much Splinter loves his boys. He raised four babies following the most traumatic time of his life, all alone with nothing but the sewers to house them (to hide them.) I feel like he’s not given the credit he deserves for all he’s done.

And I get that it’s easy to hold up his flaws and faults when it comes to parenting, I myself like looking into them because flawed characters are super interesting and said flaws make them more realistic and engaging, but he tries, and again, so many others would have given up on the boys or failed along the way but Splinter didn’t.

He’s their father, for all his faults he did his damndest to make sure they survived.

[circusinarun]

Draxum is not really happy to meet his family...

...But his sisters are! :]

Vespera, Oriane and Avize!

Hehe heh, ma sheep gurls!

Don't look at Ori's height, she's older than Drax, so... Draxum's the youngest kid... :]

[raphmybeloved]

Thinking about the rise turtles and the whole Draxum and splinter situation is so fucking funny. Like imagine you have two dads. One is a former Hollywood actor who in addition to generational trauma has even more trauma due to being used as a pit fighter by the woman he once loved and also body dysmorphia after being mutated against his will. Your other dad is a warrior alchemist war criminal who uses your first dads dna to make you because he wanted to do war crimes and commit genocide on all humans. War crimes dad is now a wanted man who has given up on the whole destroy the human race thing to instead be a lunch lady a job he genuinely enjoys. The two have never been in a relationship together. They are extremely divorced

[dianagj-art]

He has things to say!

thanks @red-rover-au for leaving this in the tags, it did an amazing promp

[cappydoodle]

random hc: Donnie and Leo play paper-rock-scissors to decide what their age order is whenever someone asks. Yes they do this Every Time the question comes up. No they don’t actually want to know who’s older

[tizeline]

This was his way of testing their fall damage, Leo was first and last lmao

hELP

Alternatively, Mikey managed to unlock his floaty levitating mystic abilities really early on and Draxum wanted to check if his brothers could also use such powers

[citruslllad]

decided to make a turtle mutant April design to go with my human brothers designs! as it says, she’s a northern diamondback turtle, which i decided on to go with the whole baseball thing she got goin on

[bambiraptorx]

I've been thinking about what Minor Interference would look like if it weren't for Draxum's oath holding him back. It would not be as light-hearted, that's for sure, especially since (at least at first) the oath is the main thing preventing him from hurting them.

So I wrote a blurb about it obviously.

Content warnings: child abuse, implied/referenced violence

Mikey's used to it by now, and some part of him hates that he is.

The pain of a broken arm is familiar, enough so that he can tell it's broken in three places. Better than shattered, but a pain in the ass to have healed, and from the looks of it, at least one of the breaks has shifted enough to require setting.

"Do you know what you did wrong?" Draxum asks. His voice is the odd sort of gentle it gets after their practice battles end.

Mikey swallows. "I, uh, I hesitated too long. I'm... too used to someone covering for me." He'd also gotten to used to Draxum's vines coming from two or three directions at most, but it's not like that particular brand of going easy on Mikey and his brothers resulted in less injuries anyway.

His mouth is dry, but no more so than usual after a lesson. No biggie, he can ask for water after the healing.

"Precisely. Had this been a battle with your brothers, your tactic might have worked, but was it only you against me. The four of you are a unit, yes, but that does not mean you will always have them by your side." Draxum takes Mikey's arm in his hands, his fingers hovering just above the skin. "Now, what kind of break?"

"Three fractures across the arm. One in the ulna, two in the- the uh-" Mikey scrambles for the name of the other bone- "the radius, sir. It feels like the radial breaks are incomplete, but the ulna split completely."

Draxum nods in approval. "Good. You've gotten better at recognizing your injuries, Marigold. It will serve you well on the battlefield."

He watches as Draxum's mystics flare a half second before settling across his arm. Draxum is careful, so careful, with setting the bone and then knitting the broken pieces back together. Mikey barely even flinches anymore, but even so, Draxum's a gentle healer. But they've both gotten used to the healing process by now, if from different sides of it.

He knows, even before he's told, when Draxum is done. He's able to sense it by now. It's kind of convenient. He flexes it experimentally once Draxum pulls his hands away, turning it this way and that to see if anything feels amiss. Draxum did a good job, as always. The only thing off right now is the itching, and that always goes away quickly.

Sometimes he wishes Draxum wasn't so good at healing, but he's only gotten better over the course of their training. Must be all the extra practice.

A hand on his head disrupts his thoughts enough for him to look up. "Excellent job, Marigold," Draxum says. "Now, send in Larkspur for me, but stay on standby. He's gotten rather arrogant lately and I may need to put him in his place. You'll get some practice with healing magic today, I think."

"I- yes, sir," Mikey responds. Heart rate elevated, stomach twisting, hands shaky. He's nervous, he knows, but it doesn't matter. It's not like he can get out of it.

And that's the worst part, really, his quiet acceptance. He's gotten used to this, whatever it is (and if he puts a label to it he knows he can never come back from that, so he very carefully doesn't name it), but he hates it all the same.

But it's not like he can stop it, and these thoughts aren't helping him any. Carefully, he packs them up and sets them in the furthest corner of his mind, where he won't be distracted by them. It's easier that way.

[bigdvmnhero]

enamored with the thought of rise mikey never living up to his full potential because: he doesnt have to

he's not weak or naive or anything like that - in fact, i think if he wasn't the Family Baby, doomed to be coddled by raph until he's idk 30, mikey might've been one of the stronger fighters. i mean his weapon of choice in this iteration is the infamous kusarifundo; viciously hard to practice without hurting yourself. idk how splinter managed to train him in those 5-minute commercial breaks. the chains are also fire-generating btw. and the fire might be sentient?? who knows. his affinity for mystic power is off the CHARTS. first episode in - first episode!!! - mikey's opening the gate to the hidden city bc yeah, he can do that. his brothers cant. at 15 he rips open a portal out of sheer faith. no one is teaching him this shit btw. he just pulls it off. just child prodigy tingz

he's pure potential, unpolished and untapped, and he gets to be the carefree younger sibling bc his older brothers decided to bear the burden of leading and protecting the clan. everyone knows mikey's special, but no one's rushing him to fulfill his destiny or whatever. he gets to eat pizza and cook fun elaborate meals and goof off like a kid, bc he IS (for now)

meanwhile mikey in the bad future timeline: a literal time god, balding at 30, the only reason why humanity ever gets a second chance in the first place

[red-rover-au]

The tsundere parent era

[thedawningofthehour]

I wanted to make a joke about Draxum using La Chancla on his shitty children and then remembered that he doesn't have feet.

But then I imagined Tigerclaw whipping off his sandal and chucking it at Cass, hitting her, and then having it do a full boomerang turn before he casually raises his hand and catches it, all without ever looking up from what he's doing.

[nerves-nebula]

Raphael’s Amputation Saga:

Warning, I had absolutely no idea how to end this one

——

He shouldn’t have been playing alone. He knew that, in the back of his mind. If any of the others tried to do what he was doing he would chase them down and drag them back home.

But Raph was different. He was bigger and smarter and stronger. He could find his way back because he was older and he knew how to not get lost. Plus, Leo had gotten Mikey and Donnie to play a game of knights and dragons with him and Raph hated that game. Leo always made him be the dragon. He didn’t like being the dragon. The dragon was the *bad guy*.

He also knew which sewer grate usually dropped all the coolest toys. From above he could hear human kids yelling and laughing, but he knew not to look. Looking meant someone could see him.

So he waited, holding onto his tail as he splashed in the water. It was getting really long, just like Dad’s. He liked using his tail to copy what Dad’s did, practicing to make it move the way Dad moved his when he taught them their ninja stuff.

He could swear he was getting better with it every day. He didn’t trip on it as much and he was good about making sure it wasn’t dragging where Mikey could step on it (even if Mikey thought it was funny). He could move it around easier, too! Donnie and Leo played a game to see who could jump over his tail longest while he was wagging it and it was the funnest most greatest game ever.

But now he was waiting.

He held his tail in his mouth as he bounced in the water of the drain pipe, giggling as he went. Maybe no one would drop a toy today. That would be sad, but at least he had some time to play by himself!

If he didn’t get any new toys today maybe he could come back and sneak up when it was dark. Sometimes kids forgot toys on the playground itself and he could take them to share with his brothers. Donnie was really good at fixing anything broken, too, so he could just grab anything!

Maybe he could convince them to play superheroes again and they could-

Something terribly loud happened up top. It was sharp and painful, banging multiple times. Something smashed against the grate of the drain and Raph froze, terrified.

He bit down.

He didn’t know why he bit down, but he did.

Raph knew he had sharp teeth. He’d bit Leo once when he was mad and Dad had had to give him stitches. Leo had been angry and scared for days after.

He didn’t realize just how much his bite hurt.

He kept his teeth clenched, though. Why wasn’t he letting go? Why couldn’t he let go?

His teeth sunk deeper into his own flesh.

The noises up top were still loud. He could hear some people screaming. He couldn’t understand their words but they were loud and there were so many and everything smelled like blood- so much blood.

—

He didn’t remember getting home. He must’ve let go of his tail at some point, but his mouth still tasted like blood.

He looked down at his tail. He must’ve dragged it through the water because it was less gross than he thought it would be, but it was still bleeding.

He had to hide it. Dad hated when they got hurt. He’d been in big trouble when he bit Leo and Dad would be so mad that he’d hurt himself. How could he do that? Why did he do that? Why didn’t he just *let go*?

He ran to the bathroom and tore into the first aid kit. They had to keep lots of stuff in it because Mikey was really good at getting scraped up and Donnie got sick a lot, so it wasn’t hard to find some bandaids to cover the bites.

He whimpered as he stuck the first bandage, the fabric soaking through with blood almost immediately.

He was gonna need a lot of bandages.

—

His tail wasn’t getting better. The bleeding had stopped but now it was turning gross colors and it was turning black. It hurt really bad, too.

Thankfully, Dad hadn’t noticed yet. He had been a lot more cagey lately, determined they didn’t leave the lair. Apparently whatever that loud thing was the other day was actually really bad and dangerous. He pretended to be scared to hide in his room but his tail hurt so bad he couldn’t help but cry.

The gross colored bit was spreading too. At first it was just in the scab, but by now it was spread almost halfway up his tail, making it hard to move it at all without hurting really bad. Worst of all, the bite started smelling bad and was oozing some gross stuff that he knew was bad.

He cried, hating himself for running away. He should’ve just listened to Leo and played the dragon. If he was a dragon he wouldn’t be hurting. He wouldn’t be hiding from everyone under his bed, sobbing, wishing he could curl his tail around him for comfort.

Donnie had already come in to check on him, but Raph had been able to get him to go away. Mikey and Leo wouldn’t be as easy to convince, and if Mikey or Leo found out he was hurt then they’d tell Dad and Dad would yell at him.

He was already in pain, he didn’t want to be yelled at.

He clutched his teddy bear close, burying his beak it its matted fur, staining it with more tears.

—

“Red! Why didn’t you say anything?”

Raph wailed, clinging to Draxum’s neck hard enough to start choking him.

“Why the hell did you let it get this bad?” Draxum hissed, trying to pull Raph’s arms looser around his neck while not dropping the already injured child, “This is terribly infected! Spirits alive, the end of it is practically already dead.”

In the end, Mikey or Leo didn’t have to find him. Draxum stopped by for a random visit and came looking for him. Now Mikey was crying and Leo and Donnie were holding him, looking at him like he was dying.

“What the hell do we do?”

“Well first we need to clean it and see how bad it is. Fuck, this is *not* what I meant when I said I had a doctorate, rat.”

The tub’s water was cold. He cried as the water touched his burning hot tail, painful and so shocking his vision went white.

Dad and Draxum continued to argue.

One of them grabbed his tail and pain laced through his body, ripping up through his spine, and he passed out.

—

When he woke up he was cold. He had a blanket placed over him and he was laid on the couch. He carefully moved to look at his tail.

It wasn’t better.

Someone had wrapped it in some white bandages, but he could see the gross ooze seeping through, and it still hurt.

He whimpered, pulling the blanket over his head, trying to hide.

“You have to consider that it will have to be removed.”

That was Draxum. He was using the voice he used just before him and Dad started yelling.

“Removed? And who will do that, Draxum? You?”

Dad was also using his going-to-yell-soon voice.

“Would you prefer the infection spread?” Draxum snapped, “It’s no wonder that it got infected in the first place, you’ve made your home in a den of filth.”

“Yes, let’s change the subject from you wanting to mutilate my child to the state of the home I’ve struggled to build for said children.” Dad hissed and something smacked against the stone.

“They are my children too!” Draxum finally yelled, “You think I want to remove his tail? I’m not the one who let him play in disgusting waters!”

Raph sobbed, quiet and muffled beneath the blanket.

They wanted to cut his tail off?

He wrapped the blanket tighter around himself, sliding off the couch, whimpering when his tail slid down onto the floor.

It hurt, but he didn’t want to lose his tail.

He could fix it.

He always fixed it.

Whenever Mikey got infections they cleaned them with cold water.

He knew where to get really cold water.

He could fix his tail and come back and show Dad and Draxum and they’d stop yelling and be so proud of him for fixing the problem all alone.

Maybe they’d even give him a reward for being brave and smart.

He stumbled across the lair, heading towards the east, where the coldest water was.

He could fix this.

—

Raphael was gone.

Splinter had lost the kids before, usually while they were playing, and he’d had his fair share of heart attacks from searching for the missing turtle.

This was different.

Raphael was ill. Not like Donnie, who got sick practically every other week, but actually ill. His tail was severely infected and the fever resulting from it had him delirious. He talked in his sleep and cried more in the past day than he ever had in his little life. The sound was both grating and heartbreaking.

He didn’t understand how this happened. Or, even worse, when. As much as he was loathe to admit, Draxum’s words stung and he was overly aware of all the unclean spaces of their lair. He would have to have the boys help him clean from now on. Their little hands would be able to clean the harder to reach spaces easier.

“This way.”

Draxum held some mystic compass in his hand. They’d had to dig one of the filthy bandages out of the trash for the magic to connect to Raphael, guiding them through the sewer tunnels to find where the boy had wandered off.

He couldn’t quite tell if he was furious at his son for wandering or terrified that perhaps he was having another delirious episode induced by the fever. Perhaps it was both.

Draxum lead them down a tunnel, his leggings pulled up and cinched tight around his thighs so they wouldn’t get soaked in the frigid autumn waters. They moved as quickly as they could, only communication through directions and an occasional grab of the hand.

(He did not enjoy holding Draxum’s hand through this. It was not comforting and did not help him through his panic.)

He swore they would never find him. They had been running through the sewers for what felt like hours. Would Raphael even be alive at this point? Would they be able to revive him? Would he lose one of his children? Would he have to explain to the others why they would never see Raphael again?

“He’s here.”

Splinter’s breath stuck in his throat and he dropped Draxum’s hand, hurrying forward into the tunnel. He could smell his boy, his nose twitching as he hurried forward, almost falling onto his hands as he forced himself to keep moving, to find his baby, his little boy-

Raphael was curled in on himself, half submerged in the frigid water. His face was under the water, oh fuck, what if he’d drowned?

He grabbed him, dragging him out of the water and off to the side of the tunnel, unable to hear anything but the blood in his ears and the frantic pounding of his own heart. He checked for a pulse, for signs of life, anything to tell him that his child was alive.

Raphael coughed.

Splinter nearly sobbed.

—

Raph wasn’t allowed to play for a long time.

Dad tried to explain to the boys as best be could, but Mikey didn’t understand. Donnie got sick all the time and he was able to keep playing after a few days. Leo got hurt constantly and he never had to stop playing. Why couldn’t Raph play with them?

“Raphael is very hurt and needs to heal. Playing could make it worse. Leave him alone.”

Playing never made anything worse, though! And Raph was the best to play with because he was so big and his shell was super easy to climb and his tail was the best jump rope ever.

Leo listened to Dad, but he clearly wasn’t happy about it. Mikey had found him sitting in front of Raph’s door a few times, claiming to be “guarding” him. Mikey knew he was just waiting for an excuse to go in.

Donnie locked himself in his room. Whenever Mikey snuck in he found Donnie on his computer, looking at things with way too many words for him to care. A few times he managed to get Donnie to take a break and play with him, but that usually didn’t last long.

Mikey missed Raph.

So obviously the only logical conclusion was that he had to go see Raph.

From an outside perspective, it wasn’t actually that hard. But to Mikey it was a super dangerous stealth and infiltration mission with probably dire consequences. His obstacles: Leo and Dad. He’d have to distract them both if he wanted to get into Raph’s room.

He hurried to the kitchen, digging through the pantry until he pulled out Leo’s favorite cereal. With a mischievous giggle, he upended the box, dumping it onto the floor in a big mess, leaving the box aside before running off again to hide.

Sure enough, eventually, Mikey heard Splinter shout for Leo, sounding very upset. Leo hurried off from his spot in front of Raph’s door. Mikey dashed over, sliding in without a sound. He flapped his hands, grinning as he tiptoed over to Raph’s bed.

“Raphie?”

Raph didn’t respond.

He circled around so he could see his brother’s face, and frowned when he found he was asleep. It was the middle of the day!

“Raphie.” He pushed his hand against Raph’s nose, “Raphie, wake up.”

He grinned when his brother’s eyes finally slid open and landed on him. His pupils were HUGE, but he looked at Mikey with familiarity. He trilled, soft and sad, his hands moving slow to reach out for Mikey’s.

“What’s wrong?” Mikey climbed up onto the bed, laying down next to him, “Are you hurt?”

Raph chirped an affirmative. He wrapped his arms around Mikey, resting his head against Mikey’s plastron, churring sleepily.

“You can’t play?”

Raph shook his head.

“Oh. Can I stay and nap with you?”

He nodded.

“Okay lemme get comfy.”

They adjusted a bit, laying down together so Raph could hold onto Mikey like a big teddy bear, and Raph quickly fell back asleep.

Mikey didn’t. His mind was going way too fast, so instead he imagined cars racing on the back of Raph’s shell, humming their engine sounds as Raph snored on his chest.

He didn’t understand why Raph couldn’t play, but it was easier to accept after seeing him himself.

Mission successful!

Draxum watched Michelangelo sneak into Raphael’s room from his spot in the corner. He went completely unnoticed, glancing up from his book as the children spoke for just a moment before curling up together. Splinter would want him to chase Michelangelo off, to let Raphael rest after his amputation, but it seemed the usually overly-excited child was willing to be calm and so he saw no harm.

Plus he really didn’t want to deal with any crying.

Later he would chide Michelangelo for breaking the rules, but for now he supposed it was okay.

——

I loved writing Splinter being scared for Raph’s well-being. Dude’s just trying to keep four kids he never asked for alive and now one of them is sick and missing???? Shit fuck fuck shit oh fuck oh shit

Featuring half-decent Dad(?) Draxum.

-Monster Anon

FUCK I FORGOT TO POST THIS when i first read it SOBB

no but i fuckin !!! LOVE THIS!!! I love the way Mikey's little kid brain doesnt really understand until he sees raph SSOBBBb Raph leaving to try to fix it and cause he's scared of draxum & splinter shoutinggg, guhhhghasgdhsdf

and LEOOOO keeping GUARDDD aUAGHAUDG

[techn0tony]

Some Separated AU angst (and yes, Donnie made those scratches and dents on the walls. He is the strongest of the two brothers, and so he can do this kind of damage pretty easily.) <- I actually have lore reasons for this that I will explain sometime in another post

TW for child abuse and self harm mentioned in the context for this art. This gets really dark:

When Donnie has meltdowns or fights Draxum about something, Draxum locks him up in a room as punishment until he calms down. And he doesn't let Mikey comfort Donnie. Eventually, Donnie gives up and quiets down. The awful treatment leaves him numb and depressed for a good while afterward.

Obviously this is horrible and is really bad for both of the brothers. It just causes Donnie to panic about being alone in a dark room for hours, with the overwhelming frustration that his so-called "father" doesn't care about him, and Mikey gets sick worrying and feeling frustrated and helpless about being forbidden to comfort Donnie. Mikey has to listen to his brother's screaming and sobbing and pleading, and there is nothing he can do to help him.

The boys have been emotionally neglected their entire lives. Draxum believes this is what's best for them, but it has been horrible for them. Donnie often bottles up his issues, and he also has a lot of angry outbursts that usually lead to him hurting himself or destroying things because neither he or Mikey have been taught how to manage their emotions in a healthy way or learn good coping skills.