#it’s a Leo centric one

[rosesofenvy]

Golden Future AU Arc 2 Chapter 6 is posted!

Collab with @sha-biest - more content at #goldenfutureau

[r0b0t1me]

who youre living for

[turtleblogatlast]

hey!!! this is less of an ask and more of a fic rec tbh 😭 but have you read 'I May be Invisible, but I Still Look Good" by Dandy over on Ao3???? It's after the movie AND Leo-centric and like he gets cursed so his spirit is ripped out of his body. It's like 125k words of wonderful storytelling

OH- but for an actual question, do you have and fic recs?? or any AU's you think people should go check out?

I tried answering this before and it erased my reply orz

ANYWAY YES I HAVE read this and I absolutely love it with every fiber of my being.❤️ 100% one of my top fics to read in this fandom that I even go back to for a reread more than once. The characters are perfectly done and the set up for the story is believable with a fantastic payoff, highly highly highly recommend to anyone who hasn’t read it yet.❤️

As for recs, I’ve always been terrible at giving recs since my memory is very bad especially for ones I haven’t read in a while.😭 Off the top of my head I can recommend (note these are practically entirely Leo-centric since he’s my special guy you understand (the others aren’t forgotten at all though!!!) - and most of these are very very well known so you’ve likely already read them…):

[Note many of these are unfinished and may remain that way - please no one harass the writers for more, let them write at their own pace if they choose to write at all]

- The Neon Void by sugarpastels is absolutely incredible, the dramatic irony of it all as we follow Leo in the state he’s in and see just how broken all the Hamatos are by his “death” is just 👌👌👌 The fact that this places with one of my favorite tropes aka “Leo being in the Prison Dimension longer than canon” is just so good. Genuinely a thoroughly gripping tale that I highly recommend. It’s not complete yet (a lot of this list isn’t) but what is there is so amazing please read (though you most likely have read it already haha)

- little kid with a big death wish and firefight by remrose are another two you’ve likely seen but by god are they worth the read. Firefight isn’t done yet but it and death wish are so amazingly well written and really go into how trauma affects people differently and how ties with family can be tested in traumatic situations. Hard subjects definitely but very maturely done. (Also I misread firefight as firelight for way too long before I realized it-)

- Power Up and Times Five by pickedcarrotsandradish are both unfinished but I can’t care because what we were given is so good that I’m fine with them as they are. Both deal with Leo’s insecurities and bad feelings about himself and, very importantly, the fics go into how these insecurities establish a base for Leo’s very real flaws and how those flaws push him to act the way he does. Very interesting and compelling stuff here!! Power Up especially does really cool things for the boys’ mystic power ups, especially Leo’s, and I loved reading about the ins and outs of what they could do.

- Race Against Life, Death, and the EPF by Cass_Phoenix is just so engaging to read??? Like I love the entire set up for it - it’s feels so fresh and like you’re in Leo’s desperate situation yourself. I was so excited whenever a new chapter came out because the atmosphere was so well done.

- A Mixed Bag by GreatlyBlessed is SHOCKINGLY not Leo-centric for once haha. It’s not completed, but again, like the others above it is so good that I recommend it anyway. This story is actually a crossover between four sets of TMNT (‘87, ‘03, ‘12, and Rise) and the dynamics set up in it are SO fun I love it. Team 2 is my fave because you have literally all my faves on that team how could I not?? I also highly appreciate that everyone gets a chance to shine and that there’s no bashing at all, they’re all just very much in character and it’s refreshing to read ❤️❤️❤️

There’s a LOAD more that I could recommend I’m sure but I don’t remember them off the top of my head at the moment.😭 If I remember I’ll come back and add them in!

(Forgot about AU’s- honestly there’s some that I see and catch up on when I see them but there’s just so many that it’s a bit difficult to keep track of sometimes! I’d have to go around and fully look through many before having a solid answer haha! The ones I do see are always so well done though, I may come back and add them here if I remember 😅)

[kyymie]

this is such a rare episode- put them together, then one of them will get eaten in the end.

anyway, despite these two having the rawest talent out of the four. they both are pretty dumb at keeping themselves alive huh?

[cpunkhobie]

Ok I might actually post something to Ao3 today or sometime this week I have it drafted

[spikes-got-anger-issues]

[1] [2] ⭐️ 3 ⭐️ [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14] [15] [16]

[phoebehalliwell]

why is season 7 your friend's favorite?

[ghostlypanda]

the amount of love i have for this ep is unlimited (˃̣̣̥▽˂̣̣̥)

[angelmichelangelo]

can we just talk about how easily mikey is able to take on his brothers that are possessed and not holding back at all? he had some serious untapped potential in this show that was so wasted

[evilpenguinrika]

not me writing a one-shot with expectations of it being fluffy good feels only to have it evolve into unintentional angst 😔

[cicadidae-tm9899]

I've binged all of rottmnt in 2 days AGAIN. It's 2 am and i just started the movie and I'm crying already

[sonicunleash]

how i sit being a rottmnt leo fan at the same time of being so so so annoyed by so many rottmnt fans being OBSESSED with leo and completely ig oring everyone else and making every au leo-centric like sans-style and making him so out of character and you can just tell they're L//FLS fans and i just feel sometimes like shadow the hedgehog

^^ shadow the hedgehog ^^

[bluezeri]

seeing how Leo is so obviously splinters favorite in almost EVERY generation is making me so sad

[junsei-draws-rotasu]

The reason why I don’t write 2012 Leo agsnt much because I can’t take it and I might end up give him even more than canonical trauma, and the other is the fact we got enough agsnt in the show itself. You can’t see it unless you really look and think about it.

[lostinbooks14]

Times in the Wilderness

Leo comes to the Wilderness School

Leo had his head down in the car, his face buried in the paper bag in his hands as he tried to keep himself from vomiting.

Goddammit he hated cars. He hated wherever he was going too. And the stupid court for saying he had to go there. And all his stupid foster parents and his stupid Tìa and his stupid fire curse and his stupid self for ruining everything.

"Leo," his social worker sitting next to him called sharply. She was middle-aged. Probably in her late forties, with light brown hair pulled back in a bun. She was about his height, but he couldn't really tell because of her heels. She was wearing a frilly green blouse and black tight skirt. He thought she was trying too hard.

She'd been really nice to him the first few times they met, but eventually she'd given up. He couldn't blame her. He'd been in eight foster homes and orphanages in the last five years, run away from six of them- her patience was probably wearing thin.

When they caught him five days after he ran away from his eighth home, he'd been taken to court. They said they'd put him in a mental hospital if he ran away again. And he'd overheard his social worker saying she'd be fired if he didn't find a home soon.

"Leo, are you even listening to me?"

"Sorry, m'am," he mumbled, glancing up from the paper bag for a split second.

"Look, kid, I don't know why you keep running-"

"I told you he-"

She ignored him just like everyone else did, "But I need you to stay put this time, ok? My job's on the line here. I've got a kid who's college fees I need to afford, and another who's getting married soon."

"What if someone hurts me?" He mumbled, tears stinging the back of his eyes. Everything was happening way too fast.

"This is a school for children like you," he knew what that meant, delinquents "Teachers are always on the lookout for any signs of bullying. You'll be fine."

He didn't say anything, what was there left to say anyway? She always said he'll be fine everytime he was taken to a new home. He never was.

They'd finished going over the bumpy roads now, he could see the school just up ahead.

It was just a normal building, victorian style, no barbed wire fences or barred windows. Appearances can be deceiving, he knew that better than anyone. But no bars was good. He would've gone insane if he'd been locked behind bars, especially after that incident.

OK, he was not going to think about that.

Or about where they were taken to after it.

Or about what happened when they ran away.

Or about where he was taken to after it.

Yup, he could do this. Totally.

"Leo, we're here."

He got out, leaning on the door of the car for a few seconds to get the puke taste out of his mouth before taking his backpack. It was blue and worn and held every possession he had left. It had been with him for six years now. It was probably his best friend at this point.

A smiling man met them at the door. "Hello, you must be Leo and Mrs.Patroner. I'm Mr.Donovan, head teacher here. We're very delighted to have you here." Somehow Leo doubted it, he could clearly see the sweat on his bald head. "Let's go talk in my office, shall we?"

The school looked old, he supposed it would've looked grand if it weren't for the dirt and mud splatters on the carpet. There were high ceilings and steep wooden stairs curving up eight stories. He couldn't see any machines anywhere, not even a lift. He really hoped the dorms weren't at the top. The thing that caught his eye, though, was the fireplace.

He shrank back from the golden flames involuntarily. They were dancing and licking at the wooden logs, and Leo felt that familiar tugging sensation in his gut. It always appeared when he was close to flames, as if they were calling out to him. Begging him to make them hotter and brighter and stronger. Leo turned away.

"Leo Valdez, yes? You've got quite the resume here," the man laughed nervously. "So, uhm, you'll be boarding with four other boys-"

"Couldn't he have a private room?" Mrs.Patroner interrupted, glancing at him nervously. "He's had a bit of a rough time over the past year," Wow understatement of the year- "so it's probably better if he could stay alone?"

Mr.Donovan looked confused. "Why?"

Mrs.Patroner looked uncomfortable so he spoke up.

"I'm a psycho, sir. I have violent tendencies. Killed a bunch o' people last year," he nodded at his file, forcing himself to keep his voice steady. It'd be worth it if he could get a room alone. He didn't want to talk to anyone any more than he had to. He pretended to count on his fingers, as if their faces hadn't been haunting his nightmares for weeks "Like three, right?"

"He didn't do it on purpose!" his social worker cried, glaring daggers at him. "And the term psycho is very strong, Leo. You can't just throw it around."

"Just saying what you were thinking, m'am," he shrugged.

"Well, uhm, I'm sorry, miss," the head teacher started, choosing to just ignore him. That was fine with him. "You need to pay extra for private quarters. As for the therapy sessions the court ordered, he will have two per week to start with. Ms.Loraine is very nice. Leo can talk with her after you leave. Get his school schedule and all that. Afterwards he'll be assigned a student to show him around. I'm thinking Piper McLean, she's here because of her tendency to steal, but other than that, she's a very sweet child. He'll be getting his uniform and books from the school of course. And he's been assigned to Year 10, though he should be in Year 7, since he's still twelve. I must say he's got an excellent mind."

"Got that from my pops," he grinned, Mrs.Patroner looked at him wearily. "He was mighty good at running away too ya know. Took off three days after I popped out, or so I heard."

Thankfully a knock on the door prevented anyone from reacting.

"That must be Ms.Loraine. Come in!"

A lady came in, dressed in a nice beige coloured business suit with her golden shoulder length hair curling around her shoulders. She wore a white shirt under her coat, a gold chain encircling her throat. Her eyes were large and green. She looked young. Leo bet all his money- well he would've if he had any- that guys went to therapy just to stare at her.

"Good afternoon! I'm the school therapist. You must be Leo."

His social work gave an encouraging nod.

"Yes, miss."

"Come with me to my office? I'll talk you over the school rules, the subjects you'll be taking, and about your mental health for about an hour. After that classes will end and Piper will meet you at my office."

"Sure. See ya m'am," Leo gave a mock salute and practically ran out the door.

[soundwavemain]

We’ve Still Got Hope

Chapter 1: Waiting

General content warning for descriptions of the dead, people actively dying, and other apocalyptic scenarios.

Casey was used to running all her life. It became a familiar face during an alien apocalypse–turning tail and running like her life depended on it.

Because it did. It does.

Being the only person with, at this point, a decade of formal martial arts training and an extensive understanding of ninjutsu, it surprised no one that Casey turned out to be a natural scout. Her ability to quickly, and more importantly, quietly move through the outside world meant the difference between their survival and termination. She saw the outside more than anyone else on their team. Followed by Leo who refused to be left in the dust even with the responsibility of their world already creasing his brow deep enough to rival Raph’s chasm.

Still, as their resident medic, Leo was more useful in the caves, tending to the injured and ill, than scurrying across the wasteland that they once called home. After liberating a kraang camp, the medical bay–little more than a large cave branching off to the left of the entrance–was at full capacity. It probably wouldn’t empty anytime soon considering Casey’s current mission.

Casey surveyed her surroundings–desolate, bleak nothingness, hollowed-out buildings harboring phantom nightlife–as she darted through the empty city. Her mask’s HUD displayed no live biometrics nearby. She sighed, disengaging her mask despite the multiple Donnie alerts telling her not to. It felt uncomfortable shoving her hair back from its perch atop her head but sometimes Casey found it easier to perform reconnaissance without the distracting pop-ups.

This far from Metro Tower, there weren’t even kraangified humans to worry about striking down. Donnie sent her this way because he got energy readings indicative of a camp jailbreak. He mapped out the general radius of where any survivors would hide. Years of following the genius’ lead meant Casey trusted Donnie’s judgment. Still, that didn’t stop her from grumbling about the lack of activity.

Rotting corpses littered the mapped-out path Casey took. Families, lovers, children–all huddled together in their last moments. It was rare for Casey to find someone completely alone. Usually, one corpse lay not far from another. They died waiting.

Waiting for her to save them. To complete her duties as resident rescuer. To do a damned thing in this apocalypse.

Casey clenched her fists so tight her knuckles went white. She turned from the skyline, trying to shake the vision of all the dead she’s seen over the past eleven years. Raph always reminded her that the lives they did save mattered just as much. And it helped to think of the people she was able to liberate.

But she knew. They all did. No matter how hard they tried, how fast she ran, there was only so much their small team could do to save the vast amount of people under the kraang’s control.

A soft sound brought Casey out of her thoughts. Her mask immediately engaged, snapping onto her face as she braced herself for an attack. She turned this way and that but nothing came at her. Despite the lack of impending doom, Casey remained tense.

Then she heard it again–a whimper. Something so inconsequential that she almost wrote it off as her overactive imagination running on fumes after a three-day scouting mission.  But there it was! Quiet sniffles muffled by something. Casey glanced at the alley below and noticed a dumpster turned over on its side. Down the fire escape, she went until her feet touched the ground.

She approached the dumpster, cautious in case it happened to be a kraangified child. Years of rescues taught her that they seemed to just wallow and cry until they perished, consumed by the alien flesh. A shiver ran down her spine at the thought. She hated seeing that more than anything. Something about kids being transformed into something they couldn’t even sustain felt like being stabbed in the heart.

Her brownie troop, all calling out for her. Where was she? They needed her.

The lid opened easily enough. No new grime encrusted its sides since people didn’t use outdoor trash bins anymore. Too exposed. Too risky. Plus, the smell of garbage usually caught the kraangified’s attention, bringing them to its source like bloodhounds.

Once open, though, the dumpster released the pungent odor of a rotting corpse. Casey thanked her paranoia for once since her mask, when engaged, minimized most scents due to its filtration system. She peered inside and saw a dead woman staring back at her, gaze unwavering. The woman seemed calm, almost like she made peace with her untimely demise. Her cheeks were gaunt, any visible skin stretched taut over her bones. Her eyes, sunken in their sockets, bore holes into Casey. She broke contact first and looked down at the woman’s midsection.

There in her hands, impossibly small and sickly pale, laid a baby, its hair ruffled up from resting against its mother’s chest. It didn’t seem to have much baby fat which was unsurprising. What with the state of the world and all. But its eyes, too big for an older kid, pointed to the fact that it couldn't be older than two years. That’s when Casey realized the other scent hanging in the air–shit.

Oh. Donnie owed her big time for this.

Casey had about as much knowledge about children as Dr. Delicate Touch knew about feelings. Which meant absolute jack shit. But, one thing she could surmise from what she knew about apocalyptic landscapes was that they would have company soon. There was no question that she could make it out of there before enemies arrived but what of the kid?

She glanced at the baby whose tiny fist clenched its mother’s shirt like a lifeline. Reaching out for it, the baby turned away. It made another noise, louder this time. First smell, now sound–the kid couldn’t help its case. Casey grabbed the baby from the woman’s hands, prying its fist open. It had a tough grip for a baby. It whined at her, kicking its tiny legs and smacking down its little fists onto her arm as she set it on the ground.

Casey looked around for something to clean the kid. Its mother’s clothes were out of the question. She could practically hear Leo shouting at her about the high bacteria content in unwashed clothes and the rate of infection. That also ruled out the cloth scraps covering the kid. That only left…

Oh, ho ho. Donnie owed her so much.

Trying not to think about it too hard–because if she did, she’d start cussing and more noise was the last thing they needed–Casey removed her sash. It wasn’t ideal. Hell, none of this was ideal. Children were hard to keep around in the apocalypse. Small and defenseless and weak–

Casey found her brownie troop, well-versed in combat enough to take on O’Neil, strewn about Fifth Avenue. Their weapons still clutched in white-knuckled grasps, eyes wide open. Watching.

She discarded the soiled sash and picked up the kid who still fought against her. Her HUD alerted her of enemies slowly making their way toward her location. More pop-ups appeared as she docked her weapon. Donnie’s voice kept saying it was a bad idea to put away her weapon when in pursuit. She dismissed his A.I. The kid kept hitting her chest but she just pressed it closer to her side, holding its bottom so it wouldn’t slip off, and ran.

...

Raph always waited for Casey whenever she went on missions. Call it devotion, call it stupidity, but he felt unsteady without her beside him. In recent years, she was the only one who got to see him laidback, at ease–or, as much calm as they were allowed in post-invasion New York City. Around his brothers and the other members of the resistance, Raph tried to keep up appearances. He knew they needed someone dependable to lead them. To keep them hidden, safe, alive.

So he was sterner than he was in his youth, quieter. Leo once joked that he seemed more like Dad than the rest of them. Raph didn’t know how to feel about it. They lost their father during the invasion and the mere mention of him, even years later, still reopened the wound he desperately kept bandaged up, away from view. Leo hadn’t mentioned the resemblance since then.

Before New York City fell, whenever Raph felt stir-crazy, he would run around until he was so out of breath he had to stop. But now he couldn’t go outside. For their safety, regular outside access was prohibited to anyone who wasn’t fast enough to outrun enemies. That left Casey and Leo free from the ban and Raph stuck inside unless a mission called for his muscle.

It wasn’t like he had anything else to do either. Helping out the injured was the most time-consuming option but his hands were too large to wield precision equipment necessary for surgery which meant he couldn’t help Leo in the medbay. Donnie assisted Leo during medical rushes anyway so Raph stuck to tending superficial wounds.

All that work ended the day before and left Raph bored. No one told him that aside from being absolutely devastating, the apocalypse would be boring. There was only so much to do inside a shallow cave system. After about ten laps around each room, someone usually told him he’d dig a path straight through the rocky floor.

He was considering asking Leo to show him a magic trick when he heard the familiar sounds of Casey cursing. A big smile wormed its way onto his face until he remembered his best friend only cursed upon returning home because they were in trouble. Raph readied his sai. He crept toward the entrance and leaped out, ready to cause hell.

Casey stared at him like he suddenly grew two heads, her arms stretched away from her body. They kept a kicking toddler from hitting her. She scowled at the poor baby, hissing out something that sounded like a curse.

“Case!” Raph exclaimed, cutting her off.

She gave him a look. One that read, “You have no idea what hell I just went through.”

Leo chose that moment to show up from the medbay, hands dripping in water. “Ugh, guys. Who moved the towels?” He looked at Casey and Raph, then the kid. “Huh.” He tilted his head. “What. Is that a baby?”

“No, Blue. It’s a fucking blimp–of course, it’s a baby!” Casey shouted.

The baby stopped moving at Casey’s tone. Their face scrunched up, turning red as fat tears rolled down their cheeks. Casey brought them to her hip so she could cover her ears as the baby started wailing.

“Make it stop!”

Raph rushed to her side, taking the baby away. “They’re not an ‘it’, Case.” He rocked the baby back and forth in his arms, pressing them against his plastron.

A combination of the gentle motion and Raph’s soft cooing forced the baby’s cries to trail off. They looked up at him, big eyes staring at him. They seemed so… small. Especially in Raph’s embrace. He brought a big hand to their face and wiped away their tears. Their fingers grasping his surprised him. They had a strong grip for a baby.

Leo joined him in looking at the baby. “Where’d you find the squirt?”

“Only thing alive I found on my mission,” Casey huffed. Her arms crossed over her chest. It drew Raph’s attention to her midsection where her sash was notably missing. “It was hiding in a dumpster with its mother. Probably waiting for help.”

“Waiting for her,” was left unsaid but Raph knew what she meant. He understood her better than anyone. Her insecurities, her faults.

Casey cried herself to sleep in his arms, begging for her troop to be spared.

Raph walked over to her and gave her the baby. He fixed her arms so she held them securely, cradling their head. With the gentle touches and possibly because they were tuckered from everything that happened, the baby began nodding off. They blinked slowly, head dipping forward so their face pressed against Casey’s collarbone. Raph nudged them so they were more comfortably arranged and smiled.

“You saved them, though. That’s good enough in my book,” he said.

You’re good. You did good.

Leo looked between them. His gaze left a prickly feeling on Raph’s skin but he ignored it. Casey didn’t bother looking up. Her gaze was fixed on the baby in her arms. Proof of what she accomplished. All the answer in this blight of a world that she did something worthwhile.

“Serviceable,” she said, sniffing.

It read, “You can’t touch me.” Unmistakably Casey Jones’ tone of complete indifference. Raph knew better. She was his best friend, after all.

I love you. I love you.

Next Chapter

Art by @fanficmaniatic