#softshell in human clothing

[raphaelesbian]

I read the new chapter of Softshell in Human Clothing by @hoonharpoon and one particular bit absolutely slaughtered me. I was dying. I immediately sent it to like 3 different people. so I had to draw it ghkldsghkshg. Like overall it was a very intense chapter but just this image of Raph saying. just the dumbest shit. and thinking it was a checkmate. while Splinter has to turn away to question his parenting choices, to have raised such a dumbass son (/aff). I'm obsessed.

Also a closeup of their silly faces fhasghkdg

[hoonharpoon]

Good news, bad news.

I just updated Softshell in human clothing. Sadly, AO3 went down right after. Sorry for breaking the whole site, that's my bad y'all. It couldn't handle my fanfic

[sleepmuchneededhonestly]

MEMES! :D

@hoonharpoon remember Softshell in Human Clothing? CAUSE I DID SO I MADE MEMES!

Here they are!

Also, enjoy this extra meme for What Does it Mean to be Hero?"

Gosh why it is so blurry- I fix it later when I have the time TwT

[zeawesomeness]

Hopefully I got the design you imagined right! I almost gave him brown hair until I remembered in the fic he was described as having black hair. Either way, hope you like it!

A Softshell In Human Clothing is by @hoonharpoon very much recommend reading

[everythingbutdragons]

mf probably got baby fever so bad he once considered mutating you into a soft shell aswell (with permission ofc) just so then he can actually have a biological child with you...

-🐠

He definitely did.

It was during his season and he'd been so clingy for the past couple days. Continuously showing you pictures of baby animals (mostly human and softshell) and then cooing at you. Literally cooing. He snuggles up to your stomach just to lay his head on it, listen to you breathe.

Baby proofs his lab- he's so out of it it doesn't matter whether you have a child or not, he is doing it. All of his dangerous projects are away, blankets and pillows just kind of thrown randomly everywhere. But his bed is a nest- completed with your clothing and his

It gets really bad during the middle of his season before he kind of mellows out. Everytime he fucks you during this, he's asking to breed you- albeit in a less...... appropriate way. This mfs mouth is so dirty-

Very whiny. Due to not being able to have a biological child, you tell him he can try breed you. Immediately gets louder, chirping and churring as his thrusts somehow double.

When he does cum, it's.. a lot. But with it comes the temporary clarity. So he makes sure to clean you and himself up before rearranging his nest- again.

He only really ever considers it when he's out of his mind horny and his hind-brain is set on filling you with baby softshells.

[fun-fact-generator-3000]

Rise of the TMNT Donatello Headcanons

(Based on things I or people I know have experienced.)

Long post ahead.

Donnie is a huge puzzle lover and every time he finds a new puzzle game to play, he rants/explains it to his brothers. (Leo tunes him out every time.)

On one such occasion, Donnie was ranting about the glorious creation of RegEx Crossword and Leo told him it seemed boring, so he's taken to writing Leo insults in RegEx shorthand.

When he was younger, Donnie would mess with his brothers by eating something that tasted disgusting and not reacting at all, then saying, "that was good," and giving his brothers the food to try.

Unfortunately for Leo, Donnie would usually go to his twin to infodump about a new topic, but it made Leo very good at gift-giving to Donnie.

Donnie is definitely touch-averted, but the kind where he will not tolerate touch from anyone at any time unless he initiates it. When he does initiate it, it is hard to get rid of him. (And in those cases it is rarely ever hugs, more like attacking Leo.)

Donnie frequently uses words like "hath," "doth," and "thou."

Donnie hates the phrase "me neither," and will get annoyed when his brothers say it. (It's NOR DO I or NOR HAVE I)

When Donnie is working in his lab, he gets very frustrated at any noise, even ambient noise, so when people walk into his lab during one of these moods, he will get very snippy with them.

When playing games like Headbanz or 20 Questions, Leo gets very annoyed because Donnie is way too specific. He will ask questions like "am I a vertebrate?" or argue semantics like whether ketchup is technically a fruit/fruit based. Eventually, this leads to both of them asking questions like, "in a nutrition label, would a fruit be one of the first three ingredients listed?"

Donnie is insanely curious and will constantly ask questions. Splinter used to lecture him about whatever topic he asked about when he was a child, but as he grew older he resorted to google or the library. (He is constantly bringing out his phone to google niche questions like, "the volume of a typical human body when fully liquefied including connective tissues.")

If he is into a task or project, he physically cannot sleep because his brain is thinking too much, and will stay up for hours without realizing it, but if he does not want to do something, it will take him literal days to do it, if at all.

He loves documentaries and video essays.

However, he also is a huge fan of any and all TV and movies. He has a list of movies he has heard people talk about that he wants to watch.

When watching sad movies, his brothers will periodically look over at him, trying to "catch" him crying because they cannot believe he does not cry during movies. Despite not crying though, Donnie gets extremely into movies and has to sit for a while afterward to process and then rant.

Donnie chews on things when he is preoccupied (especially because softshell turtles typically have a strong bite). This can be things like bottle caps, pens, and especially the hem of any shirt if he is wearing one. As such, all of his "human" clothes have holes in the collars.

Donatello is a very fast reader when he is interested in a topic, but if he is not interested, it is almost impossible to read because he just starts thinking about something else.

Similarly, he cannot read aloud because he reads too fast for his mouth to speak. This also causes him to frequently stutter or stumble when info dumping because his brain is going too fast to convey through spoken word.

He is extremely pretentious about grammar. For example, he constantly annoys Leo by pointing out any dangling participles.

Donnie is a very adept sarcasm user, but he frequently misses other people's sarcasm, especially Leo's.

He is a major perfectionist. When things go wrong or he is not immediately an expert at something, he gets very frustrated and snaps at those around him.

Donnie loves coffee, of course, but not to wake him up. He drinks coffee because it slows down his endless stream of ideas and plans enough for him to think. However, too much caffeine makes him sort of dazed or spacey.

Donnie is the type to be super organized and neat, but as soon as he starts a project, that goes out the window and his workspace becomes his own version of organized chaos.

Both he and Leo sign swears and insults at each other from across the room.

He loves cryptograms and fictional languages and will write messages in writing systems like Anglo-Saxon runes or alien languages (like from Jupiter Jim).

He LOVES drawing blueprints. He is decent artistic already (as shown by the chainsaw-made snow sculpture), but he really enjoys drawing blueprints with a straightedge and ruler and ends up hanging his favorites on the wall.

Donnie has a very high pain tolerance and would do things like poke needles through his epidermis to freak his brothers out.

He is a collector of junk. While most of it is sectioned off and organized, he also has bins of spare wires, screws, and tubes.

When he was young, he took apart everything. Nothing was ever safe. Radios, music boxes, flashlights, etc., all would be taken apart and strewn about to be studied.

Donnie is a proud Oxford Comma supporter!

He cannot use the same dish twice. If it is out of his sight for a minute, it is automatically contaminated. (Splinter hates this)

He loves nerdy science songs or science parodies of songs.

However, he also loves musical theatre and does mini performances of soundtracks.

He is constantly over-prepared. He keeps a first aid kit, flashlight, swiss army knife, pen, pencil, etc. in his battle shell at all times.

Because Donnie is much more flexible than his brothers due to his soft shell, he often sits in weirdly contorted positions that they cringe at.

When he was 5, Splinter wrote "good job" on a slip of paper and Donnie has kept it ever since.

He talks like an old man. For instance, he complains about "punk youths" and the state of the younger generations, despite being one of the said punk youths.

This is all for now. I always think of more, so I may make a second post of this with new ones I think of. Most of these are just from my own childhood.

[anime-greek]

HI! I am absolutely intrigued by your Krang!au!! The designs are great and the concept & your execution of it has me hooked.

Is there anything to it, or details that you haven't had the opportunity/reason to share but have wanted? I'd love to hear more!

There’s quite a bit I haven’t shared here but have on my IG, and also bonus!

From IG:

The boys current ages are :

Leo: 20

Raph: 19

Mikey: 19

Donnie: 17

Currently only Cassandra is the one human they completely trust and have around, however she is constantly covered up in clothes and armor. This is due to her growing up with them while in the foot clan and even then, while humans ridiculed and belittled them cause of jealousy, she was the one to see them as equals and above. It’s been so long to Donnie (and even her) that they completely forgotten she IS a human.

It’s been four years since they defeated and took over the Krang by dawning on the dark armor. Which means that Donnie was 13 yo at the time :)

The hidden city is now mostly above ground thanks to the four. The citizens accepted them as rulers due to them constantly helping them in various ways and protect them.

Only Leo is referred to as the King while his siblings as royals. Even his siblings call him King/Ruler and often forgo calling him brother.

For the dark armor: Leo has the helm, neck piece, shoulder guards, and feet of the armor. Raph as the gauntlets. Donnie has the torso. Mikey has the legs. Mikey is the only one who wears very little of the dark armor and separated the rest (gave leo the feet, and huginn and muninn have the other pieces). This is because the armor badly injured his legs during the fight so this is the only way in his eyes.

Leo is granted the ability to see through any object and walls as long it’s not Krang technology. Which kinda stinks since he’s in the technodome most of the day. However the dark armor still tries to persuade him in multiple of ways. It’s one of the reasons why Leo is so resentful and aggressive towards humans and takes a lot of convincing to be nicer.

Donnie has been stuck in the technodome in their own little lab this entire time. Leo doesn’t grant them permission to go out. So they just resort to learning about anything scientific related and create their own stuff. This led to them wanting to create mutants from humans and had Timothy, a gift from Mikey, as their first subject. Leo accidentally created him without realizing as he was trying to kill him. Since Donnie has been stuck, they’re more prone to being trustworthy of humans and their inventions. Donnie is also Leo’s favorite. Leo is extremely overprotective due to them being younger and a softshell (a reason why they also got the torso of the armor); as well as their power being unstable.

Their powers:

Leo can still teleport but it’s just his own body with clouds (like Nightcrawler). He can still transport others but it takes more energy. He needs to visualize the area or know the longitude/latitude coordinates to go there.

Mikey has a scream that can absorb mystic energy and a lifesource . He can take a tremendous amount of it. He can also expel it in any amount and does it when he flies over the hidden city to keep it flowing while on patrol, like a little bee. Also creates an invisible shield around the city. huginn and muninn have the stealing ability a little bit (they need to bite the being), but they give the energy to Mikey. Their screams can also act as a location zoning and summon Raph and/or Leo. Mikey has been called a Banshee because of this.

Raph can grow/shrink his body at will. The biggest he has been is 20FT, as he’s wary of the destruction he can cause. His body is practically indestructible and takes a lot to damage him. He also has a mouth along his plastron, so he can eat stuff that way.

Donnie can suck up any amount of energy/electricity from any being or thing. They can also create a biogrowth that entraps beings to preserve for later consumption or take in all at once (of a large group). However they have a bottomless ’stomach’ and can get carried away and succumb to overeating in a frenzy. Only their siblings can snap them out of it.

The turtles can speak to each other in a weird turtle chirp/krang language. They developed it when younger and Draxum had encouraged them to continue communicating that way only to each other. To help them talk about stuff they don’t want anyone else learning.

Stuff not discussed before:

EPF/TCRI constantly try to steal their resources (Krang tech/empreyaen) and resorted to offering rewards to any human who can bring them anything. Resulted in many casualties as the hidden city is very protective and believe it can be used against them.

April had never met the turtles before but had heard stories. She is completely neutral to them despite joining the EPF. They’re always hiring and since her mother died recently, she needed the money. Like many others, her first assignment was to infiltrate the Hidden City. She somehow ended up going into the technodome and running into Donnie.

Donnie decided to help out her as a ploy to test his mutagen on her (once Timothy stops eating their recent batch) in the future.

Mikey wants to be Leo’s favorite and often gets into mischief or purposefully gets in trouble/trap just to summon him to be saved. (This also means it’s a no good to make April be found.)

Later on Donnie tricks Leo into making a promise to not have April hurt or killed. Leo tries his damnest to keep it cause as stated before, Donnie is his favorite. His kinda mad Donnie had tricked him but can’t help be a little proud. April takes advantage and see how much she can push Leo.

Leo’s always seen in the throne room giving assignments and orders to his soldiers and staff. His generals are Raph and Slash, lead scientists are Leatherhead and Lupelele (OC).

They’re all intersex and polysexual. Also identify as pangender (exception Donnie, who identifies as agender). Leo, Raph, and Mikey do not care what pronouns others use for them.

They all pretend to speak ‘properly’, even referring to each other by their full names instead of nicknames (ex: Leonardo). But you can notice their language is super limited at times, especially when compared to Donnie (who knows more words). It’s an act to appear older and smarter to others. Only April catches on this and secretly test if they know what she’s saying at times.

The siblings never heard Leo laugh in YEARS. Like genuinely laugh, without it being mocking or ‘evil’. His real laugh is the type where you can’t help but join along because of how silly it makes the situation. April will be the one to help resurface it again, which makes them all start to trust and respect April.

She told him the stupidest pun she can think of.

[nani-nonny]

Lying in bed kicking my feet as I write out all the sudden inspiration I have for Distorted Mirror hehe (currently at 3.5k words and still going)

I can already see F!Donnie smacking P!Leo for calling him old haha

I’m thinking of making Distorted Mirror a long oneshot but eh I’ll get there when I get there

Anyways, snippets under cut

#1: Welcome to the future, Leo

Leo turns around, preparing to look below for a safe spot to open his portal, but instead finds himself falling face first into the ground.

“Oof!”

An explosion in the distance makes Leo’s heart jump and suddenly fumbling to keep a fast pace. He flinches when the sound of gunshot blasts at his side. The sharp clang of metal meeting metal sends a chill through his body. A flickering flame followed by the snap of a whip makes him cower and cover his head.

What is happening?

He was in New York just seconds ago. Last he checked, New York wasn’t a battlefield.

Everything is so loud—chaotic, even. He can hear so many footsteps rushing to and fro, heavier footsteps in the distance calmly taking steps unlike the crowd—or what sounds like thousands—of footsteps that scurry close to him. So many voices are shouting—shouting things he can’t hear clearly over the booming reverberations that deafen his ears enough to make them ring.

With all the sounds he can hear, it feels like he stumbled upon some kind of war movie.

And accompanying all these sounds is the weird, stale scent in the air. It’s dry enough to make Leo cough and cover his mouth with his hand for some relief.

“Check on the leader!” A voice cries out over the explosions, followed by the sound of a machine gun shooting endlessly.

A hand pulls Leo’s upper arm and forces the slider to finally look up.

In front of Leo is a rodent yokai with a huge, bushy tail covered in singed fur. The yokai is wearing what can only be described as scraps of cloth dirtied in, well, dirt and what Leo hopes to be is dry ketchup. Over the yokai’s snout is a purple gas mask of sorts with a small D on the lower jaw—it looks way too close like Donnie’s logo…

The yokai’s eyes widen and his hold on Leo’s upper arm weakens. He drops the teen and looks over his shoulder at a human wearing the same gas mask. He glances between Leo and the human who pressed her finger to her ear.

The yokai finally stops to stare at Leo who stares back at him with the same look of confusion, “This—I don’t—where is the leader?!”

#2: Donnie

It’s Donnie, that much Leo can tell from the purple battle shell and purple bandana. But the Donnie he knows doesn’t have a purple, metallic right arm. The Donnie he knows doesn’t wear a face covering gas mask. The Donnie he knows isn’t this tall or muscular. The Donnie he knows isn’t covered in more stripes than himself. The Donnie he knows isn’t a young adult.

This “Donnie” doesn’t seem to notice Leo standing at the other end. This “Donnie” is hunching slightly and stretches his back with a few pops before turning and walking down the hall towards the mess hall. Much to Leo’s dismay, the door to the room this old “Donnie” came from closes faster than he could anticipate.

So Leo steps cautiously down the hall to stop at the door to the mess hall.

Leo doesn’t open the mess hall door with the armband, and instead opens a portal at a corner and steps through. He hugs his back close to the corner, his swords creating distance between himself and this stranger that looks like a slightly older Donnie.

The older “Donnie” is wearing purple pants and a purple utility belt. One of the pockets is struggling to stay closed due to all the small tools it carries. On the softshell’s arms are a pair of armbands, one completely teched out and the other less teched out and more for defense with its padding. He wears a purple battle shell similar to the one Leo remembers, but has a few scratches revealing the black, metallic material underneath.

“Donnie” is standing on a square platform created in his mystic powers that attached itself to the wall. He is staring at the broken camera Leo had tampered with. He reaches into the overstuffed pocket on his utility belt and gets to work with a slow, incoherent mumble.

Leo remains planted in his corner, still unsure if this is really Donnie or not, despite the similarities.

Nothing in his heart and mind tells him to be careful. Usually, at times like these when he’s faced with a stranger, his gut would steer him in the right direction. It would tell him not to trust someone just as it told him about Big Mama. It has saved him many times and not once ever gave reason to doubt. So why isn’t it working with this weird-looking Donnie?

“So, Leo, care to explain why you messed with my equipment?”

Leo freezes. “Donnie” sounds so much like Donnie, but… older? The voice definitely belongs to a Donnie, but not his twin.

#3: Late Twenties

“What happened to you?” Donnie asks as he scans Leo with furrowed brows.

“What happened to you??” Leo counters as he sheaths his swords on his back. “Why are you so tall? What is this place? And why do you look so old?”

Donnie reaches for his hip and whips out his bo staff to quickly smack Leo.

“I’m in my twenties, Brat,” Donnie retorted as he set his staff down for support as he leaned on it.

Leo slightly turns away from Donnie to rub the new ache on his head. Under his breath he mumbles, “Old is still old… you should round it to thirties.”

Donnie’s eyes narrow and he turns away slightly, side eyeing Leo as he raises his wrist to his mouth. Under his breath he counters, “Look in the mirror, String-bean.”

[saga-project]

He could do this. Surely he could search through the lair, find some proof of whether the turtles were like Papa or weren't, and then figure out where to go from there. Even though his chest felt tight at the thought of Papa finding out. Even though the knowledge that he'd had empyrean used on him without him even knowing left a sour taste in his mouth. Even though he wasn't sure what it was going to prove, exactly.

Cain couldn't just....leave the Syndicate behind. Could he? They'd taken him in. They'd....he'd been nothing before he'd met them. They'd trained him--

(until his bones cracked)

They'd clothed him--

(and then torn that same clothing to shreds when they whipped him--)

They'd given him everything he wanted--

(locked him in a dark room, starved him--)

He couldn't be ungrateful. He couldn't just throw all of that away. He....he had to make sense of all of this first.

Thank heavens everyone seemed to be out on a shopping trip at the moment, with Splinter snoozing in his arm chair and completely dead to the world. Which meant no one would mind if Cain rifled through their personal belongings for a hot minute. They may have shown him mercy so far, but the softshell was not going to test the limits of how far their hospitality would extend should he disturb something that was meant to be off-limits.

A search of the blue and red one's rooms didn't turn up anything useful. Neither did Mikey's room, although he was careful to not disturb the many works in progress that the box turtle had scattered throughout the space. He was not going to be bold enough to go into Splinter's room and try to rifle through there. A father's living space was strictly off limits. Cain knew better than that. And he hardly though the training dojo, garage, pool area or kitchen were going to turn up anything that he could use.

...Well. Maybe the kitchen would offer proof that they were poisoning his food. Still.

"Ugh. This was stupid. Why did I think this was going to work. I should just--" Cain paused in his pacing to survey the hallway for a moment, squinting. He was.....pretty sure he hadn't seen that closet door on the way in here. There was a chance that it just contained linens, of course, but....didn't humans generally keep closets as extra storage space?

What the hell. Cain walked over, deftly twisting the knob to open the closet with a quiet click. His bionic eye scanned the space, whirring softly. Hmm. Nothing out of the ordinary in here. Just a few boxes and....wait a second. Those boxes had a label on them. He squinted through the darkness, clicking on the overhead light and revealing the dusty, blocky Sharpie letters.

FOR DONNIE

....Cain should have just walked away. He really should have. But the box seemed to beckon him closer as he stood there, making him curse his goddamn curiosity under his breath as he edged up to it and gently slid the flaps open. He was sure it was going to just reveal frivolous junk, after all. Certainly not anything that was of use to him. Certainly nothing that could reveal that he had ever been someone worthy of love, worthy of---

....he froze.

The box was full of so many things. What appeared to be gifts--sensory cubes and mind puzzles and binoculars and models of the solar system. What appeared to be a star projector of some kind, which definitely did not make his breath catch in his throat. An Atomic Lass plushie. Some assorted cards. Cain bent to pick one up, flicking it open, his good eye widening as he read.

Donnie, It's like....our thirteenth birthday today, I think? The big number! We're finally teenagers! I'm not really looking forward to it, though. Because...Dad forgot and bought two cakes. It reminded me that you're not here. I....I've never NOT looked forward to a birthday before. Has it really been three years since you....

I don't wanna think about it. You can't be DEAD. Can you? You were always smarter than I was. You would've found a way out of there. Dad said to stop looking because it's been a while and...but I won't give up! I'll find you! I'll find my twin. I'll bring you home. Then I can apologize for all the awful shit I said. We can sing our song again and watch Atomic Lass and fling popcorn at each other and turn the star projector back on even though I'm getting old for it. It'll happen again. It WILL.

....If you forgive me for all that. I was awful. I....I really miss you. Happy birthday. Wherever you are. - Leo

He opened more cards as he went on, eyes darting over each and every single one, a pained wail building in his throat as they got more and more despairing the longer they went on.

Raph said you're probably dead and I yelled at him and I didn't mean to it reminded me of how I yelled at YOU--

Maybe you're mad at me. I don't know. Can you just give me a sign either way? Then at least I'd KNOW where you are. If you were alive or dead or--

I don't think I'm going to find you. What if I'm not a twin anymore? What if the last words I said to you were that I HATED you. I can't do that, please come back--

Don't tell anyone but I went up on the roof tonight and SCREAMED until I went hoarse because I was just so ANGRY at everyone for pretending you were gone--

I hope wherever you are, you're proud of me, I'm trying really hard to make up for--

Cain flung them aside, digging through the other boxes. Art from Mikey. Painted rocks with what a younger brother who had never really known his older brother probably thought he would like. Plushies with notes on them from Raph. And then there were pictures. Pictures of Donnie. Pictures of him building a snowman and sticking his tongue out in concentration as Leo loomed up behind him with an armful of snowballs, pictures of him being comforted by a figure that must have been Splinter as his cuts were bandaged, pictures of him shrieking in silent exuberance as he and his brothers played. Pictures of Donnie looking happier than Cain ever remembered, with a great beaming smile on his face and two working eyes and no metal embedded in his shell yet.

And he remembered. Remembered Red and Blue and Orange--

"In English, Eeensteein." "It's EinSTEIN, you reprobate-" "Hi Mikey! You wanna watch me make a circuit?" "Yaaaaaaaay! Circuits!" "Yeah! When you're older I'll teach you all about them. We'll build stuff together and I'll take you on road trips and we'll draw and swim and---" "R-Raphie? C-c'n I sleep with you?" "Did you have a bad dream?" "Y-yeah. S-some monsters were comin' t' get me." "No monsters 'r gonna get you when I'm around! I'll BEAT 'em!"

Remembered what his younger self, the one in the video that Theatre had shown him, had said--

I'd never forget my brothers. I don't want to be bad! They were supposed to bring ME home, not him-- We're supposed to be TWINS-- What if I can't come back--

And he reared back with tears in his good eye, pressing his hand to his mouth with a shaky sob.

Red and Blue and Orange were Raph and Leo and Mikey. They were his brothers. Splinter was his father.

He was Donnie, not just an imposter sent to take his place.

He hadn't been found by the Syndicate. He'd been taken.

His mission was to kill his own brothers.

And after he'd never felt like he belonged anywhere, that he'd never felt worthy of love or affection or care, here was proof that someone had shown all those emotions towards him, once upon a time. That they still did. And Cain couldn't pretend anymore. He couldn't pretend that his "lapses" weren't just repressed memories coming back to haunt him, he couldn't pretend that this wasn't all so familiar to him, he couldn't pretend that the reason he liked the turtles showing him such care was because some part of him knew what it was like--

The pictures dropped from his shaking hands as he stood, feeling like his entire world view had been shifted. Feeling relieved and terrified all at the same time. He....he needed to go tell someone. He needed---

His friends. He needed his friends.

He needed to know what Donnie had been like.

[blackfire-fanfiction]

Recording how many words of fanfic I read per day (May 11)

Today: 34,117 words Yesterday: 11,683 words Top this Month: 159,713 words

Doing stuff. Yes.

[Fics I read today under the cut]

Chapter 6 of The Future Left Behind by Styx13 Chapter 5 of A Mixed Bag by GreatlyBlessed Chapter 4 of ROTTMNT - Coin Toss by GeminiForest Chapter 3 of Mystic Memories by nagichi_boop Chapter 7 of Stronger together by Theawesomeninja_XD Chapter 92 of calling out from the multiverse by 14Passionz (14Muffinz) Softshell in Human Clothing by HoonHarpoon Chapter 13 of "So How's the Trauma Treating You Guys?" - A 2012 x ROTTMNT Crossover Chatfic by AzarRosethorn

[raphaelesbian]

Not sure if you’re still up for answering ask game questions but if you areeee 23, 27, and 36? 👀

Oh hell yeah, absolutely!!!

23.) What is one of your favorite TMNT fics?

Oh man, this is always such a difficult question fhsakldghsdkl this fandom is SO talented and there's so many amazing ones out there!! I try to always recommend a different fav lmao, since I do have so many that I will repeatedly reread, so:

Chain Reaction by roktavor, where Raph is captured and strung up by some hunters to lure his brothers in. It's only 7k, so a quick read, and it's just so good! Very in-character, lots of very funny moments, as well as being some nice Raph angst and brotherly love.

Softshell in Human Clothing by HoonHarpoon is a fantastic ongoing 2012/Rise fic, where Rise Donnie post-movie is thrown into the early-S1 2012 universe, which I just thought was such a fun dynamic! Plus the characterization on 2012 in particular is just. Chef's kiss. Spot-on. And whatever is going on with Donnie and [REDACTED] is super interesting and I can't wait to see where it goes!

27.) What is something you love to see in TMNT art/fics?

I love a good animalistic turtle! Not TOO far beyond canon, but hissing in surprise/fear/pain, shedding, eating worms fhksdahglk (ty melon for the newest chapter of Freaky Friday, which btw is ALSO a really good fic that could go under the previous question).

Also, 2012 turtles being more Japanese. I've made a few posts about it lol, but I am strongly of belief that all four are fluent and the English in the show is partially non-diagetic. I headcanon that Japanese was their first language, though they also started learning English super young. So basically any time they speak Japanese in a fic, or it's mentioned at all, I am just very 🥰🥰🥰🥰

36.) Which character do you have the hardest time writing/drawing?

Oof, excellent question 😭 Out of the main characters... probably Shredder? I feel like I could write 10k words of analysis on the man no problem, but actually trying to write his dialogue is tough. He can be so CARTOONISHLY evil at times—even when I can comprehend (imo) his thought processes and intentions, actually translating that into writing is very difficult.

Drawing-wise, Splinter fsdaghldksg. If I don't have a pretty direct reference for what his face would look like from a specific angle, I pretty much give up XD

ty so much for the ask!!!!! ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

[hoonharpoon]

Not so quick sketch of Softshell in human clothing. I was trying to focus on shading and lighting, but I may have dropped the ball, sadly.

[qoeww]

WELL, I LIKE THE PROM IN THAT WAY

You need someone to take you to the prom and softshell turtle is here for help.

Character: Donatello

Writing type: Headcanon

Warnings: None just fluff <3

Author note: I'm sorry if I made grammatical mistakes, English isn't my first language ༎ຶ‿༎ຶ

Prom night was approaching. Everything was almost done. Except for one thing: Cavalier.

Two days left to the party and unfortunately, there is no one to take you to the prom. Why did everybody find their date at the beginning of the year? While thinking anxiously, you ripped off the skin near the nail with your teeth.

"Hey, what's that anxious aura?" Leo pressed the skateboard with his foot and caught it in the air.

"I'm just worried about prom."

Now you caught all turtle brothers attention. Perfect.

"Prom? Where you dance to music with your friends?"

You nodded. "Yep Mikey."

"Aaah, Doctor Feelings loves the prom so muuuuch!" Mikey crossed his hands on top of his chest.

"Oooh, and don't you choose queen and king end of the night?" (You could see reflection of he is imagining himself sitting at the throne in his eyes.)

"Prom..." You turned your head to the purple turtle when you heard his muttering. His eyes were shining and eyebrows had lifted.

When he felt your eyes on him, he cleaned his throat and looked another way. Classic Donnie, trying to act like irrelevant, bad boy behavior.

There was no one who didn't know that he loved school so much. He always finds reason to come to school.

Like one day you just texted him "I lost my cat eraser ;-;" After 2 seconds he was holding a new eraser (Purple. Purple eraser.) And stayed for the whole day.

"Hey D. Do you want to go to the prom with me?"

Well, for one minute absolute silence reigned in the lair.

"YOU ARE TAKING DONNIE?"

"I wanna come too." Mikey gripped your left leg and hugged.

"Well, (Y/N) I don't think this is your best idea because we don't look like hu-"

"AHA- YES, yes I'm coming. Which hour did you say?" Donnie proudly stood up and stepped in front of Raph.

You give every little detail about prom and leave the lair like how you did 1 proud and 3 disappointed turtle.

And yes, Donnie showed off how you choose him over them.

After Donnie gives himself a break to drink water, Mikey said "Wow, you are going on date with them."

He spat out all of the water in his mouth

Realization hits him now.

He. Is. Going. To. Prom. As. Your. Date.

OH SHOOT

Maybe it is a friendly proposal, maybe it is not. You two had not opened your feelings to each other and he was sure you have things for him but he didn't want to understand wrong and make himself look like stupid.

But no worries, his brothers are here for help!

2 days passed like hell, he tried to listen to all his brothers tactics. (Except Leo's cheesy lines because he believed if he says them to you, you would bust your ass out of party)

When the day come, he wore his suit and come to your door.

He pulled back his hand everytime he tried to knock the door and it took almost 5 minute.

You opened the door because of the noise, there is a Donnie fighting with Mind Raph.

He tried to smile at you but... It is kinda scary but you didn't tell him

He doesn't know what to do, don't blame him

"Ah D... You look so handsome." You tried to stop yourself from laugh

Ah, yes. The compliments he deserved and waited for long time

While walking to school he gave compliments to your look

Oh boy, if your clothes his color, it will boost his ego and will be more confident (You guys are matching and looking like a real couple)

After coming to the party, it didn't took so much time to Donnie understand this place isn't for him.

Yeah, he likes dancing, fun (and proving his dance moves are better than others) but he didn't like the idea of doing it in a cramped space where bodies collided.

But he is refusing to tell, he is sipping the drink you took for him and trying to talk like a "normal human teenager" (Splinter please tell this child teens don't act like at Rivalde)

"D, come with me. I have a thing you would love"

You hold his hand and dragged him to the schools corridors.

After arriving technology club's door, you took out the keys

Teenagers don't notice what was taken from them while dancing

"Since we are in the last days, dead electronics will be thrown away. Soooo I thought maybe you would like to take them"

Donnie instantly forgets all the stress and dives between the pieces inside the box.

"OH MY GOSH, I can use this for my Mixer-3007-A and these pieces will let me update Sheldon's..." He explains to you what the pieces will do or not, excitedly and shouting a little

His face is looking so cute: eyebrows are frowning and his cheeks are slightly red from excitement; he looks like a crazy but cute scientist.

After analyzing all the pieces, he turns to you to tell how he is happy

But you are not here

BROKEN HEART HURTS SO MUCH-

Where are you? Did you get bored and leave him? He starts to fell unconfident

Mind Raph yells at him to find you so he do

He opens the door rapidly and almost bump at you.

"Where are you going D-"

"I THOUGHT YOU LEFT ME"

*sigh* "I just told you I was gonna get some snacks"

Let give him a minute to have a little flashback and remembers it.

After remembering he quickly apologizes and helps you to carry snacks.

You both sit on the floor and grab Donnie's hand and pull it towards you.

"Donnie, you don't have to be so nervous, just be yourself. The time we spend is really fun, don't push yourself."

Donnie really doesn't get it, yes it's nice to spend time with him he admits but that's not even the point of the prom. You need to dance and hang out with your friends.

You just need to explain the thing important is not prom, him. You liked the prom in that way.

The night is progressing very sweetly, you two even dance to the music heard from all over the school thanks to the speakers. (Donnie even shows you his moves to justify his username. Just. Wow-)

[remmushound]

The Purple Ooze, chapter 3

Tags: @brightlotusmoon @selfindulgenz @scentedcandlecryptid @digitl-art-monstr @dakotafinely @ilo-artistry

When Leonardo had finally left him alone, Donatello got back to studying. Almost immediately, he fell into a roadblock from his own brain. He found himself reading the same sentences over and over and not processing it even after several attempts. He found himself misclicking, misspelling. He found his hands slow and unwilling to listen. He was tired. Maybe a ten minute nap would do him some good, but no more than that. He didn't have much longer to explore this discovery! He put the brooch in one of his drawers and locked it, set an alarm, and went to sleep…

Six hours later, Donatello woke to a sharp prodding and to the sound of April’s loud, assertive voice.

“Helllllooo? Doooon-ieeee!”

“April?” Donatello could hardly see straight.

“Yeah. You were supposed to meet us an hour ago.” April finally came into focus, hand on her hip and school bag slung over her shoulder. “And now we’re not going to school today because I am not going around normal people smelling like fresh sewage.”

“It’s okay if you overslept…” Sunita’s voice was soft and understanding, her smile pure. “Can I have my brooch back now?”

“Overslept…?” Donatello slammed a hand to his forehead, “How? Why didn't my alarm go off?”

Donatello picked up his phone to investigate, and found his alarm turned off? Had he done that? He must have; his brothers would all still be asleep at this hour.

“Oh… r-right, right.”

Feeling more than a little disappointed, Donatello slowly pushed himself up from his chair and, not unlike a zombie, opened his drawer and rifled through it. And rifled through it again, and then some more. It didn't take long before his searching became frantic.

“Donnie?” April asked, confusion giving way to a cold suspicion.

“Uh…” Donatello was frozen like a statue, not even blinking. Then, he moved so fast he might have teleported, ripping open another drawer and looking through it, and then another, and then another, “No! No no no no no, it was right here! Where’d it go?!”

“Was?” April said, eyes widening. “What do you mean was?!”

Donatello kept searching, and searching, and searching. He didn't care about the mess he was making— he could always clean up a mess, but he needed to find that brooch!

“Donnie?” April’s voice was a laced threat, “What did you do?!”

“I— I didn't—“ Donatello was unable to defend himself as the looks on both of his friends’ faces rendered him speechless.

Sunita had a haunted look, mouth hanging open and burning eyes staring but not seeing. April’s face was distorted in anger and disbelief, lips pulled back, brows furrowed. Sunita’s expression broke and soon came the tears as she collapsed into herself.

“Sunita, I didn't—“

Sunita ran, her sobs growing more distant as she disappeared out of the lab, but April didn't immediately follow. Instead she stomped over to Donatello. The softshell, as instinct guided, covered his head and flinched away expecting a strike. All he got was a stern, angry gaze that was much worse than any injury could be.

“I can’t believe this, Donnie.” April pointed her finger at Donatello and made him fall flat on his carapace as he tried to escape the touch. “You’re seriously going to pull this?”

“I— It was right here…” Donatello’s voice was like a mouse.

“Sure it was Donnie. You got until the count of three to give me that brooch.”

“I… I don’t have it!”

“One.”

“April— I— I’ll find it— it was in the drawer—“

“Two!”

“April—“

“I gotta go find Sunita.” Her voice was bitter as she turned her back on him.

Donatello could only watch with pure heartbreak as his friend left him alone, calling after Sunita as she pursued her yokai friend, and left her best friend alone with his thoughts.

It had been right there. He knew it had been, he put it there in the drawer and locked it for safekeeping! Wait… he LOCKED it! But he knew he didn’t unlock it. How did he open the drawer without a key? Looking around, he couldn’t even find the key.

Why had he even risked going to sleep with something so precious in his possession?! Where could it had gone?! He couldn’t imagine a yokai sneaking in the lair without his alarms picking them up, and definitely not human! Maybe Piebald? No. She would never play such a cruel joke on her little brothers. Donatello’s brain lit up. Piebald wouldn’t, but someone else he knew just might…

Donatello kicked down the door to his brother’s bedroom, knocking it off his hinges. He had designed it specifically as a break-away door, just for such an occasion as this one that required a dramatic entrance. The room was empty. And so was the game room, and the kitchen, and any other place he might have been hanging out. Donatello found his other two brothers still fast asleep, and just for peace of mind even checked in on his father. They were all here, and there was only one person who wasn’t.

Leo...

***

The slider had run and run until he felt like he might drop. The cold rain was like a barrage of bullets against his skin, weighing down his clothes and, in turn, him as well. He didn't care about the rain. He didn't care about the cold. He didn't care about the weight of his clothes pulling him down. None of those things mattered! The only thing that did matter was that purple brooch in his hand and what it promised…

“I can be human…”

[keysszz]

Part of the Family

I wrote this a while ago, when Reparin the Baron first aired, but I still wanted to post it cause I like the story.

A ROTTMNT Fanfic

Mikey jumped from rooftop to rooftop, happily gliding as he went. It was rare when he got to be alone on the building tops of New York, and he enjoyed being by himself and having some alone time outside of the lair. He stopped jumping and looked down onto the city of New York, smiling as he gazed. The humans had looked so peaceful; though he did want to talk to them, he knew he couldn't do so.

He had to stick to the shadows, and he didn't want to scare the humans off. So he sat on the rooftop with his legs dangling over the sides. Just then thunder was heard, and Mikey jumped a bit. He knew that there was rain in the forecast, so he brought his umbrella just in case. Though he did want to enjoy his time a little bit longer, he didn't want to be caught up in the rain. He didn't know why Leo liked the rain so much, but Mikey hated how the rain felt on his scales. It made him feel slimy, and he didn't exactly want to feel like that on the way home. The box turtle stood up and walked away from the edge, making sure to look down once more to see how happy everyone seemed to be. He began to jump from the rooftops again when he spotted someone that looked familiar. He stopped on one of the roofs and looked down.

"Is that..." Mikey stared at the figure below. He gasped once he realized who it was. "Draxum?!"

Draxum was wrapped up in a brown cloth with a cardboard sign beside him. He looked to be shivering, and he wasn't too happy. Mikey stared for a bit longer before deciding to hop down and walk toward him. He knew that Draxum was a threat to them, but something inside of the box turtle told him to walk towards the enemy. He didn't know why, but he just didn't like seeing Draxum suffer, especially not like this.

Once Mikey began to get closer, it had begun to rain. He pulled out his umbrella and walked towards Draxum. The sheep man looked up and recognized Mikey, turning his head in the opposite way in response.

"Hey," Mikey said with a smile. Draxum didn't look up at him, but Mikey sat down beside him and held the umbrella over both of their heads. Draxum looked at the umbrella and back down at the ground. Mikey looked around at the scene in front of him, and he saw that the people around them were walking quickly. They didn't really like the rain either, and they walked to try and get out of it as fast as they could. He looked at the sign beside the sheep man and read what it said: "Will Mutate for Food". Mikey frowned slightly; he didn't like seeing his enemy like this. A couple of days ago, he was as strong as ever in the dark armor. Now, he looked all shriveled up and miserable. He just wanted to help him, but he didn't know how.

"Why are you here?" Draxum asked suddenly. He didn't look at Mikey when he talked, but the box turtle still smiled when he was acknowledged.

"Just wanted to help you out," Mikey said with a grin. "You looked like you needed company."

Draxum looked out from under the umbrella and into the horizon. Mikey knew it would take a while for him to talk, but something inside of him was telling him to stay. Mikey just needed a way to get him to talk more, but he didn't know what would motivate him. He then got an idea in his head.

"So," Mikey started. He saw Draxum glance at him through the corner of his eye. "How did it feel to create us?"

Draxum looked at Mikey and sighed. Mikey beamed at him, realizing that he got him to at least do something other than look at him.

"It was..." Draxum began. "An experience. You turtles weren't the easiest to mutate, but once I had gotten Lou Jitsu's DNA, it had its perks."

"Did you mutate all the time?" Mikey pondered.

"Yes," Draxum answered. "I guess you could say it was a way to express myself."

"I know how that feels," Mikey said. "I express myself with art all the time."

"I never expected for you turtles to turn out the way you did," Draxum said. "Especially Donnie and his inventions... They can be so deadly."

"Wait, you know our names?" Mikey beamed.

"I do hear you guys say each other's names," Draxum said. "I just never said them out loud to you."

"Huh," Mikey thought. He then smiled again. "Yeah, Donnie can be deadly with his weapons."

The two sat in silence for a while, listening to the rain. Mikey had begun to get cold, but he wasn't gonna leave Draxum alone, not until he could help him out.

"Hey, I got an idea!" Mikey said. "What if I found you a place to stay? Then you wouldn't have to sit in this rain all night."

"And where would that be exactly?" Draxum asked.

"I know of a place ," Mikey smiled. "Trust Dr. Positive."

Though he didn't really show it, Draxum did smile a small bit. "Dr. Positive?" he asked.

"Yeah," Mikey said. "He'll set you up with a great place to live. Now come on, we better hurry before it gets taken, and between you and me, I'm not really liking the rain that much. It's getting kinda cold."

Mikey stood up as Draxum did the same. They walked down the alleyways of New York, chatting softly as they walked.

~~~~~

"See, Dr. Positive sets people up in style!" Mikey said as he walked around the room of the apartment. He learned that a couple of weeks ago that someone was moving out of April's apartment complex, and thought that Draxum would love it since he didn't have a place to live at the moment.

"It is... rather nice," Draxum said as he walked in shortly after. "But why do you refer to yourself as Dr. Positive? I thought your name was Mikey."

"Because it's my cover name," Mikey replied. "But that doesn't matter right now. What matters is that we have to decorate this place to your liking."

Mikey pointed to the box of stuff in the corner of the room. "I found this stuff while we walked here, and I think it would be perfect for you."

Draxum looked over to the box and back at Mikey confused.

"It's not everything you'll need," Mikey began. "But it will at least get you through this week. Hopefully, I can find you a bed so that you aren't sleeping on the floor every night."

"Why?" Draxum said.

"Huh?" Mikey asked. "Why what?"

"Why are you helping me?" he clarified. "We're enemies aren't we?"

"Because..." Mikey didn't exactly know how to answer that. "Because we're family. You created us, and without you, we wouldn't be here. So, I guess I'm doing you a favor, and I kinda like hanging out with you..."

They both stayed silent as the rain fell onto the window sill. Mikey eventually started to move the items out of the box, with a little help from Draxum in the process. Since he didn't know if the sheep man had eaten yet, he decided to get some ingredients from a local store to cook him something. He returned as quickly as he left, and started to prepare his dish.

"You can cook too?" Draxum asked. "I thought you were just into art."

"I like to think of cooking as another art form," Mikey said as he heated up the stove. "It helps me cope sometimes, and it is a great time killer."

Draxum looked at Mikey as he sat down on the stool in the kitchen.

"So," he said hesitantly. "Since I know two things about you, tell me about yourself."

Mikey stared at Draxum in shock, then he started to smile. He had gotten Draxum to talk to him, and he didn't even start the conversation.

"Well," Mikey started. "There's so much about me that I could tell you, but it might keep you up all night. So I'll just start with the basics. I guess you already know my age, so I'll talk about what I like to do first."

As Mikey talked, Draxum began to get more interested in what Mikey was saying. He listened quietly, making sure to hear every detail.

"And I like to go with Donnie when he looks for stuff at the junkyard. There's a lot of cool stuff out there, and if I'm lucky I can find some art stuff that hasn't been completely destroyed. But man, you should see what Donnie can create with that stuff. He can make some pretty cool things, but most of them tend to be things to shred stuff. Also, he once tried to make us all smarter, but it kinda backfired because we became smarter than him. I personally don't remember any of this, but from the number of times he told us, I guess he hated it."

"I thought he didn't show his emotions?" Draxum questioned.

"Normally he doesn't," Mikey responded as he turned off the stove. "But he does care about us. He shows his true feelings every once and a while, but it's mainly when he's near me. He talks to me more than my other brothers, so I usually know what he's thinking first. Plus he helps me out all the time when I don't feel like myself, like when I get nightmares and stuff."

"He is a softshell," Draxum said. "I just didn't think his appearance would go into his personality so literally."

"Yeah," Mikey said with a grin. "He is a softy. Anyway, I finished making some soup, you hungry?"

Mikey poured the soup into two bowls and put them on the table in front of them. They ate as they talked, and Draxum began to feel more relaxed with Mikey. He started to smile more as well, but he tried not to show it. He even laughed at Mikey's jokes, and that was a big improvement. Mikey smiled as Draxum finished his food. Yeah, it was gonna take a while for Mikey to even consider asking Draxum to forgive the humans, let alone invite his family over to talk to him. But, Mikey felt like he had done a good job at helping the sheep man adapt to his new home. He helped out the guy who was formerly known as his enemy, but after today, he could call him a friend. No wait, he was even better than a friend... he was family. He could call him a part of the family now, and Mikey loved that he could spend time with his second father, especially because he wouldn't be fighting him, but instead talking to him like he knew him for years.

[turtlestanfirst]

When they first met, it was apparently night. Artemis has a hard time with, well, time. She can't see the sun or moon, the changing of the sky as the day wears on into night. Her favorite way to guess the time is to just listen. As night comes on the house becomes much quieter than during the day. And the house really can get busy. He was called Baron Draxum, after all. He's got status, and status means people come in and out of your house all day, talking about the affairs of Mystic City. Artemis is old enough to handle some of these things when her father isn't around. And he'd been gone for most of that day, so she'd been fairly busy.

Finally the telltale sound of evening had settled in and she'd settled in the kitchen, sipping on multiple mugs of tea until her nose picked up on the scent of Draxum's cologne. His footsteps reached her ears moments after- two pairs of footsteps. The other person had a smell too, one considerably less appealing than her father's. Her first guess was an enemy, someone he would likely take down into the dungeon.

But they weren't headed to the dungeon. Artemis turned her head towards the kitchen entrance as the pair approached, an easy smile on her face despite her curiosity about the person next to him. "I was starting to worry I'd have to sleep without saying goodnight to you." The smile grew as Draxum approached and planted a kiss on her head.

"Busy day, my little munchkin," he explained. Artemis nodded.

"Who's with you?" The girl couldn't see it, but she heard something like pride in the yokai's voice as he replied.

"This is Donatello, he'll be staying with us from now on." Her face moved towards where she'd last heard his footsteps and waved.

"Welcome, Donatello," she hummed, and grinned once again when she heard his quiet reply. The familiar clop of Draxum's hooves moved away from her now.

"He has had a long day as well," her father explained. "I am going to show him to his room. Will you put the kettle on for me, dear?" Artemis nodded quickly and slid out of her seat to do as she was asked.

"Shall I send a cup up for you, Donatello?" she asked over her shoulder.

"I- yes, please," he replied after a pause. Artemis nodded once more and picked the kettle up, listening as their footsteps retreated down the hall and moved up the stairs on her left side. By the time Draxum returned, she was perched on the counter, the water slowly working its way to a boil on the stove.

"How'd you get one of them to come with you?" she asked, almost as soon as he entered the room. Clip clop, clip clop, she heard him settle on the chair she'd occupied earlier. He didn't answer right away, and the weight of his temporary silence told her there was a lot on his mind.

"He was alone," Draxum offered. Artemis sat forward, fingertips clinging to the counter beneath her. "He says he feels like his... his family doesn't value him as highly as he would like."

"And you've offered to show him his worth?"

"Yes. He is incredibly talented, he deserves to know this. If he needs someone to tell him that I have no problem doing so." Her brow furrowed slightly. It sounded like the turtle hadn't been happy with his family. Draxum had told her about the turtles and Lou before. Why would the man take them only to mistreat one enough to convince him to leave?

Donnie had a question for her too, one that popped into his head immediately after laying eyes on her. It burned and burned and burned until the door to the room he'd been given opened up and a head of brown curls appeared. Her smile was oddly comforting, and the turtle relaxed on the bed.

"I got mint tea, hope that's alright," she hummed as she set the mug down on the nightstand. Donnie shook his head.

"Perfectly fine." The mug was warm, soothing to his whole body. "Thank you."

"No problem! I'm the resident tea maker around here, so if you ever need some just holler." She offered a smile and almost stepped away, but Donnie's question tumbled out of his mouth and stopped her.

"You're his daughter?"

And she understood exactly why he would ask. Draxum didn't like humans. He was actively looking for a way to get rid of them all. And yet his child was human? It was confusing, she could acknowledge that. Turning towards the bed, Artemis gave a nod.

"I am. He adopted me when I was very young," she explained. There was silence for a few moments.

"You know he's... trying to kill off all humans, right?" Her smile was still genuine, but it carried a hint of something different as she replied.

"Never met a human I liked anyway. Goodnight, Donatello."

___________________________________

To Donnie, Artemis was an enigma. She was impossible to figure out. She used his full name for a long time and acted with all the polite civility in the world. Her guard was present at all times and he didn't know how to get over it.

To Artemis, Donnie was an open book. She read and reread him, studying the turtle as well as possible. Upon learning he was a softshell, she came to the decision that he could be more than an ally. Whether they liked it or not, both had an undeniable... hindrance in their lives. She had learned to accept it. He had not. She would help him, but to do so she would likely have to make herself vulnerable as well. Once the choice was made, she informed him calmly that because they technically shared a father they were now siblings.

Donnie had scoffed. "We're not even in the same phylum." She had grinned.

"The blood of the covenant is thicker than the water of the womb. I'm choosing you to be my baby brother." Which was ridiculous because he was seventeen and she was sixteen. But she had repeated herself and Donnie hadn't felt like fighting.

That had been the night before, and the turtle had stayed up all night thinking about it. Growing up with siblings meant that their absence was hard on him. Accepting the girl as his new sister wouldn't be replacing them, right? Because even if he had left, they were brothers. Right? Of course, he was sure none of them were pleased with him. He couldn't blame them for that. He shook his head. It didn't matter; just like with Artemis, they weren't biologically related- not real siblings. He could choose anyone in the world to fill that spot, he didn't have to stay loyal to the three boys.

Right?

It was morning now and Donnie realized sleep wasn't coming for him, so he forced himself out of bed and tugged his mask on before going for his battle shell. Then again, he'd worn it nearly all day the day before and his shoulders were still a little sore from the heavy object, so he opted instead for clothes. He vaguely noted that one of his hoodies had been removed from its hanger but pushed that thought away to deal with later. The purple hoodie was chosen and moments later he meandered down the steps.

"Mornin' Donabon!" She was already in the kitchen, cooking away. "Coffee's already in the machine."

"You are a goddess." The turtle made a beeline for the referenced machine while Artemis chuckled.

"I know, consider it a thank you present."

A 'thanks for letting me steal your hoodie’ present, he realized. The dark blue material absolutely enfulged her, but she looked rather pleased about having it on and he didn't see a point in arguing.

"I was awake all night!"

"You were occupied all night, and I'm good at being sneaky." She sounded so smug. Almost like Leo. For a moment he wondered if she'd like him, what kind of chaos the two could cause if they joined forces. He didn't like that though so much and instead reached around and stole a piece of sausage from the pan she was cooking with, hissing at the burn of the hot food and chuckling at her complaints.

He spent most of the day in the makeshift lab he'd claimed as his own. He missed his old one, it had been decked out just the way he wanted, but he could work with this. He could make it his own. Artemis wandered in and out, but at some point came in with a book and a giant blanket and settled in the corner, not too far off from the softshell.

She was good company. Never asked too many questions, showed just enough interest in his work to get a thorough description of what exactly it was. Praised his talent, never pushed questionable buttons or tried drinking anything in his beakers. She sat and read, mostly quietly. He loved that.

After a few weeks of that comfortable silence, Donnie began rambling. Emotions were difficult for him to relate, he hadn't been able to talk about them with his brothers and he couldn't do so with Artemis. But he'd ramble about his projects and his general thoughts on things and even though her eyes didn't work they stayed facing his direction the whole time he talked. Her little hums and occasional interjections told him she really was listening, and that made him feel even better. Draxum was still someone he remained cautious about, but Artemis? He was forever bound to this girl.

A sister was different from brothers in many ways. Brothers got into wrestling matches and taught you how to fight hard. A sister came at you with a broom and taught you improvised weaponry and fighting smart. His brothers had always been obnoxious with affection; she was more subtle. Perhaps the biggest difference though was the way Artemis treated his shell.

For once, Donnie could say he understood why they'd been so worried. Maybe it was because he now had a disabled sister. Any time he saw her stumble, or bump her hip against the counter on the way out of the kitchen, or trip up the stairs, his heart fluttered anxiously. Watching her train made him worry because those weapons were sharp and she couldn't see and if she miscalculated even the tiniest bit...

"Let's make a deal," she panted one day. They'd been sparring and she'd tripped over his foot in close combat. He'd felt bad and ended up checking her for injury twice. Now Donnie's head tilted in her direction, brow furrowed curiously.

"A deal?"

"That's right. We're a team of hindered warriors, we've gotta look out for each other. But we aren't disabled so we won't check too much, get it? We're both capable of a lot, just... we need help sometimes. Everyone needs a little help sometimes."

Which was a weird thought. The logical part of his brain wanted to argue that blindness and a weak shell both definitely counted as disabilities, hers especially. And she might have known he wanted to argue because she spoke again. "Disability is a state of mind, Don. That's all." So he kept the argument to himself. But his mind didn’t change.

And she couldn’t blame him. Artemis had heard him ramble before about how his brothers had been so careful with him, like a fragile doll. Their intentions were clearly good to her, but they had allowed Donnie to grow up believing he was disabled. As his new sister, she made it her job to prove it wasn’t true. Choosing how to do so was more difficult than she’d anticipated, and the idea that stuck most in her mind did come with a little bit of worry, but a week after that conversation when the two met up for training, she decided to just go for it.

Training with actual blades had been frowned upon when she was younger, and Draxum’s mind hadn’t been changed still. So she trained with several fake kunai and throwing stars hidden on her person and worn down kakute on her fingers. Her trusty tachi was the only metal she had on her. To keep it fair, Donnie refrained from using the technological advancements he’d made to his bo. Artemis was glad, because it allowed her to gauge how good he was at fighting. And he was good. He was impressive. The turtle could defend himself- and this was what comforted her when she began to really fight, not just spar. 

“Artie, what the hell?” the turtle grunted after receiving a fairly harsh blow to his plastron. The kunoichi set her jaw and focused. Donnie narrowly missed taking a foot to the face, but froze momentarily when the tachi hit his battle shell. His frown deepened. “Artemis...”

Ignoring his confusion (and perhaps annoyance, she was fairly sure that was the other emotion she was sensing), she continued. She’d learned to fight by feeling the situation; the vibrations of her enemy’s feet on the ground, the sound of their voice and the whistling a weapon makes as it slices through the air. She let herself fall into her rhythm, dodging Donnie’s attacks and going for his weakness again and again.

It was working, she knew, because his normally precise moves were becoming sloppy. He was angry, she heard it in his growl. Artemis began pushing the envelope.

“Come on, Donatello,” she chided. “I know you can do better than that.” The bo was coming on her left. The hit was deflected and she landed a kick on his shell. 

“Stop it.”

“You can take it, Don.”

She tumbled out of the way of a hit and jabs her tachi hard against his shell.

“Artemis, stop.”

“Make me.”

She maybe should have anticipated his lunge. A squeak escaped her as the full force of the turtle’s body collided into hers and the two began tussling on the ground, weapons forgotten completely. It scared Donnie, how easily she’d actually managed to unlatch the battle shell. His body tensed and he waited- for what, he wasn’t sure.

Nothing happened.

Donnie slowly looked up at his sister. Her face was more serious than he’d ever seen. For a moment, neither spoke. The turtle struggled to catch his breath and calm his nerves. Then he sat up slowly and tucked his legs beneath his body.

“You better have a really good explanation as to why that just happened.” The girl’s lips turned into a deep frown.

“You’re better than that, Donnie.”

“Than what?”

“That!” Her arm gestured around to nothing in particular. “You’re a ninja, a damn good one. And when we spar I know you can take me without a problem. I know if I fought you with everything I got you’ve got the talent to compete. And I think you know that too. So why does that change when I go for your shell?” Donnie didn’t answer her question, and Artemis let out a soft sigh. “I have never been able to see. My whole world’s been this darkness. I don’t what stars are like or what color my own hair is- and don’t try and tell me, I don’t know what colors look like anyway.” The turtle, who’d been about to do exactly that, shut his mouth.

“I’ve got a problem, okay? And I had to accept it. I’m blind and that’s fine. I don’t like it, but I’m not letting it stop me from doing anything. I can use a damn sword, I can steal your clothes from under your nose, I can cook. I can live, Don. Even if there’s something different about me. And so can you. So what your shell’s soft? You’ve got the brain to create those incredible shell cover thingies! And they do more than protect you, they help you do all sorts of things! That’s fucking amazing!”

“Yeah, and you managed to get it off of me without me knowing,” Donnie grumbled. His sister’s face softened.

“You can make a fix for that, genius,” she huffed. Her hand reached out and moved against his plastron to find his chin. Then she tilted his face to look towards her own (she didn’t get the calculation quite right, but Donnie knew what she was going for and stared into her face anyway). “And you can get over the shell thing too, okay? If I did it, so can you.”

“It took you how long?” Artemis furrowed her brow.

“...A while. But you’re a faster learner than me. And you’ve got the added benefit of having me around to help! I can bring you into the dojo and whack you around a few times if you need it.” She could hear the smile in his voice now.

“Give me warning next time, okay?” he huffed. “I thought you had finally snapped for a minute there.” He chuckled as she whacked his arm lightly.

“What do you mean, finally?”

“You’re a crazy girl, Art.” Her grin was bright.

“Ah, but you love it!” His was much softer as he shook his head.

“That, I do.”