#this was a fun one i don't often write draxum

[boxfullaturtles]

The great Baron Draxum + humiliation or left to bleed

It doesn't even cross his mind that, even after everything, there would be people who still hated him.

He has protections on the apartment Michelangelo had given him, he's not an idiot. But Draxum doesn't see the point in barricading his living place with tedious layers upon layers of spells. As long as he's not in the Hidden City, who cares what he's doing.

Someone cares, obviously.

Someone cares because Draxum has come home from a long shift of serving lunch to ungrateful human brats and found he's not alone in his apartment.

There's a knife between his ribs before he can register the other presence.

It's not enough to bring him down, but it's enough to severely wound him. Especially from a blade specifically meant to counteract a yokai's natural healing abilities. There's hot blood staining his clothes, pouring through his fingers as he presses them to his wound. It's hard to breathe, his gasps sound wet and he feels like he's drowning--a punctured lung, probably. Shit.

The blade bites into his thigh before he manages to put distance between himself and his assailant. A cough scrapes his chest and he tastes metal on his tongue.

He lashes out with his vines, adrenaline numbing the blinding pain, and smashes his attacker into the wall. The energy it takes leaves him staggering, leaning against the kitchen counter to keep himself upright. Baron Draxum will not be downed by a simple knife wound, he refuses! He is stronger than this!

The way his breath wheezes thickly says otherwise.

A flash of the knife flying at him and Draxum throws himself to the side to avoid it. But his attacker has chased their weapon, snatching it from the air and whirling on him with a ferocious precision. An assassin, then, a trained professional. Well, at least it's not some hapless nobody, that would have been embarrassing.

His vines do a decent job of blocking their strikes as he backpedals, trying to create distance. But they are persistent and he is rapidly growing weaker.

They break through his defenses and dig their knife deeply into his chest, slicing easily through his shirt--useless, no defensive properties, no armor, just fabric. The red spray leaves a streak across his attacker and Draxum falls to the floor.

He's bleeding profusely in two places now and his vision is going dark and fuzzy at the edges. There are patterns of crimson dancing across the floor of his apartment. He doesn't try to get up. He wasn't going to win this fight, not after that initial blow. He's nowhere near as strong as he used to be.

A glance up at the assassin finds them staring back without expression. All he can see is their eyes, cold and hard and professional. Draxum lets his head hang, breath stuttering. There's a creak of floorboards and he knows he is alone. The assassin knows their job is done. Draxum cannot hope to recover from this on his own and no one will be coming for him, not this late in the day, in the middle of the week.

He is a dead man.

He lets his eyes close. Well, it'd been a decent life, all things considered. He hopes his death does not make Michelangelo cry. (He knows it will. He wishes he could apologize. He wishes he had hugged Michelangelo more.)

His blood is cooling rapidly as it pools around him, sticky against his fur. His breathing is shallow. His thoughts are slipping away.

Somewhere close by and yet miles away, there is a bang of a door slamming open. Someone is laughing.

The laughter breaks off abruptly,

"...Barry?"

[nights-flying-fox]

Baby's First Halloween

Mikey forces Draxum joining him and his family for trick and treating.

My @rottmnt-secret-gifting gift for @bambiraptorx :] Happy Halloween!! Don't judge the title, I am either very good with them or terrible with them TwT Sorry this is shorter than I planned, but I hope you still like it!!!! I saw that your fics featured Draxum a lot so I tried writing something that is both Halloween themed and from his pov, I hope he is in character and you enjoy it :> Also on AO3 <33

 Baron Draxum had yet to understand humans. Yet to like them. But he had thought he had an idea of them (other than the fact they all were annoying). Spending months among them had given him a new chance to observe them better. At some aspects they were just like he expected them to be. In other aspects though, they proved to be more interesting than he thought they were. That wouldn’t happen often, but still was worth mentioning.

 Nowadays he didn’t have a problem living among them, he had gotten used to them, and to their behavior. He knew the basics; he knew what to expect from their society.

 Then Michelangelo showed up at his door with a costume in his hands and Draxum once again was lost.

 “What the heck is a Halloween?” Draxum stared at the mutant.

 “You don’t know Halloween!?” Mikey exclaimed. “It is okay, I can teach you everything!”

 “I am not interested.” Draxum replied.

 “Too late!” Mikey grinned as he walked in. Draxum knew he had no way to escape from the boy. He let Mikey get in with the costume he held. “So, Barry, Halloween is a human holiday- one of the best even- which I’m sure you’ll love!”

 “I doubt that.” Draxum had learned about some. They were nothing like yokai holidays, and they made no sense at all. He was sure this would be no different.

 Mikey sat on to the couch and placed the costume by his side. “Halloween happens during the night of 31st of October, and people celebrate it by trick and treating, watching horror movies, putting scary decorations everywhere…”

 “Is that why I have been seeing bat and pumpkin replicas everywhere?” He asked rhetorically, interrupting the teen.

 Mikey grinned, “Yep! People like to decorate and get into the Halloween spirit early! That’s what October’s about baby!”

 Draxum gestured to the costume in front of him, “What’s with the costume?”

 “Oh! I made it for you!” Mikey beamed. “The most important thing of Halloween is how you look. You gotta wear a costume if you are celebrating it. And you’ll terrific!”

 He reached and held the costume in his hands. “You dress up ridiculously?” Draxum questioned, inspecting the costume with more detail now.

 “Sometimes some people do, but majorly it is about looking scary.” Mikey explained.

 Draxum eyed the costume again. He couldn’t see how these clothes were supposed to be scary. He didn’t mention that though.

 “I mean, you don’t exactly have to wear a costume since this whole situation”- Mikey gestured to Draxum like whenever his family said that phase- “but, traditions are always better!”

 Draxum suddenly realized what Mikey meant, “So that’s the thing all the yokai got excited about every October.”

 “Huh?” Mikey blinked at him with confusion.

 “Every year yokai get excited about going to surface and walking among humans freely for a night.” Draxum explained. “I never understood the excitement for a thing like that, and so I didn’t find it worth to check and lose the time I could prepare my plans.”

 Mikey hummed, “Humans somehow can’t tell the difference between mutants and costumes most of the time, which is much better for us!”

 “As I had said before several times, they aren’t smart.” Draxum commented.

 “Don’t be rude, Barry!” He got up, “After all we’ll have some fun among them soon.”

 Draxum looked at Mikey, and then at the costume. “I’d rather to pass the offer.”

 Mikey shook his head, “No! Way!” He exclaimed. “You are joining us this Halloween!”

 “You?” Draxum didn’t like how it sounded.

 “Yep! Since you have never enjoyed this amazing holiday, why not join us?” Mikey said, hugging Draxum’s arm.

 The mutant raised a brow, “I am not sure if your family would like that idea.”

 “They won’t mind.” The boy chirped happily. Draxum wasn’t convinced but he didn’t try to fight against him.

 And so Draxum was once again had found himself in a situation he never expected to be in, thanks to Michelangelo. He had no idea why, but the boy always found a way to make him join his ideas or do what he asked for. Maybe it was because of how it was almost impossible to escape Mikey’s persistence. (It was definitely not because he cared for the boys he had created. Not at all.)

 He looked at the costume again and sighed, he was gonna hate it.

 He hated it.

 Mikey had made him some sort of red imp like costume. Draxum had no idea how the boy had managed to get him wear it (maybe it was the fact behind his niceness he hid the scariest person known to a yokai). When the rest of boys and April had seen him, they burst into laughing. By the way they joked, he suspected that him they were very excited to see him like that for a long time. Leo made so many terrible jokes and teased him the whole time, more than others. So much that Draxum was sure even the others were tired of his puns. He also knew that Donnie and April had taken many pictures of him. All Draxum was glad nobody that knew his glorious days (other than the Hamatos) saw him like that.

 Eventually they moved to trick or treating part. He still didn’t understand any of this. A part of him wished people would let them do their trick, so he could show what powers he got and scare all of them. (He was sure that was the meaning of trick.) Just like the old days. Shame it wasn’t “safe or legal”. Humans seemed to be afraid of him even in this ridiculous costume, so that was somewhat better.

 As the night kept going on, Draxum noticed the many yokai walking among the streets. Some having fun, drinking and enjoying the night in a different way, some spending time by trying out or checking out normal human things and technologies. They all seemed very happy. Both humans and yokai… odd. Then he looked back at the boys. They seemed very happy too. Even Leonardo was not caring that Draxum tagged along (by Mikey’s force). It was different than any other night. One night free for all to walk among each other peacefully.

 Maybe Halloween wasn’t that bad.

 After a time, they finally returned to the lair, where Splinter laughed so much that he ended having cramps and a coughing fit. Draxum had retorted pointing out how stupid his costume looked, but Splinter paid no mind telling him how amazing it looked on him and that Draxum had no taste at all. Draxum disagreed, not understanding at all how the stupid fake teeth and cape looked amazing on him.

 Then as the teens examined the candies they collected (which was surprisingly a lot); Splinter began searching for something. He victoriously announced, “I found it!”

 “What is it, rat?” Draxum asked, more to kill time than being curious.

 “Lou Jitsu’s special edition horror movie marathons.” Splinter explained proudly.

 Draxum looked at the small box Splinter held. “I thought you were an action movie star?”

 Splinter stared at him, “You are so uncultured…. Thankfully tonight you will see some real good stuff.”

 Draxum rolled his eyes, “How even your movies considered good?”

 Draxum wouldn’t admit, but they were good. Not only Splinter’s old horror movies which were more of a comedy in Draxum’s opinion, but the other movies too. The most recent ones were mostly accurate about gore details too. When Draxum mentioned that it, Donnie gladly agreed pointing out some inaccuracies. As the two agreed, the rest of them were trying shushing them so they could watch the rest of the movie properly. Draxum heard how Leonardo whined, “There are two of them now”. Draxum ignored that comment, only thinking about how it meant that Donnie was good at catching details and had knowledge over that. Even though some parts made him uncomfortable, the boy had knowledge.

 At some point Raph fell asleep. Mikey, who was hiding under a blanket next to him trembled. Leo kept his hand on the blanket, watching the movie playing with candy bag in his lap. Donnie sat on the ground with his own candy bag, occasionally commending about the movie and whispering to April, who sat next to him some things about the movie. Splinter eventually fell asleep as well.

 Draxum found it interesting. How they didn’t mind him around. How this wasn’t as bad as he thought it would be (minus the costume). How it was tolerable to watch the teens joke around, scaring each other at times under the projector’s light.

 Hours passed, as the movie marathon continued one by one, they fell asleep. Draxum could stay awake longer if he wanted, but he let himself rest as well, as the rest of them slept deeply.

 At some point he heard someone getting on his feet, he felt a blanket on himself. Once he looked, he saw Splinter with another blanket, heading towards Leonardo. He had brought blankets and pillows for them all. Draxum didn’t understand why he would do that. (At least why would he bring him one. That didn’t make any sense.)

 Then Splinter saw him, “Go back sleeping before you wake them up Draxum,” he whispered. “It is three in the morning.”

 Draxum was going to say something, but he found himself not responding. Splinter was right, he could wake them up. So, he decided to not to say a word, and do as he told him to do. Meanwhile, Splinter went back to his spot, with a blanket and a pillow going back to sleep as well.

 As he fell asleep, Draxum thought. Maybe this was why it wasn’t that bad. Because even though he was forced to join them, they still included him. Because they showed him what Halloween was. And while Draxum would never say that to them, maybe it was great to spend time with this family, more than he ever thought it would be. After everything, perhaps this was a nice change…

[techn0tony]

What's an interesting fact about your seperated au that you are comfortable with sharing?

OOH OOH WAIT I HAVE A GOOD ONE -- or two I suppose actually (apologies in advance that I have a habit of giving an enormous backstory speech instead of directly answering questions TwT)

So I haven't gotten very far in writing/drawing stuff for it yet, but this interesting fact has to do with when all 4 brothers are finally reunited and adjusting to being together again after being in such different situations:

Out of the 4 of them, Donnie struggles the most with adjusting to his new circumstances, and he feels like he does not fit in with his brothers, causing him to isolate himself often even though he hates loneliness. But (here comes the interesting facts I'm leading up to) after a while he ends up becoming close to Raph in particular, and he will do things like go into Raph's room when he has a nightmare, follows him around, wants to be in the same room as him even if they are engaged in different activities.

Raph is the strong and gentle older brother who Donnie never got to have, and Raph was always doing his best to be patient and include him, and Donnie was so not used to being shown that kindness from an older family member. The other fun fact I wanna share also is important to Raph and Donnie's closeness because in my AU Raph is also autistic! He and Donnie don't share all of the same symptoms, but they still relate to each other a lot over it. Donnie was so happy to finally meet somebody else with autism and finally be living in an environment where it wasn't treated as a bad thing to have. (He didn't really get to meet a lot of people at all under Draxum's control and was rarely allowed outside, he didn't even really have friends either.)

[bambiraptorx]

I agree with moredraxum trains turtles in season one fics but I really want to see something the focuses on specifically a Donnie Draxum duo (because Mikey usually gets the head start on being the favorite child...)

Not saying you should do that!! It's just something that interests me personally

-🔮🕸

A "s1 Draxum trains Donnie in particular" fic would also be very fun, I think, especially tied to the whole "Draxum has APD" premise. For that one in particular, I think that Donnie would be extremely hyped to meet someone outside of his family that uses sign language to communicate (as evidenced by how in the ficlet Draxum automatically signs as he talks) (which may not actually make sense with how irl signing works now that I think about it) (oops).

Maybe his brothers convince him to go pretend to be on/ be interested in Draxum's side for them (doesn't take much convincing), maybe he's so intrigued by the whole situation that he starts going on his own. Like, Donnie has a throwaway line in the first episode about how he'd love to do his lab in the style of Draxum's, so it wouldn't be that hard to create a situation where Draxum's house doesn't blow up and Donnie just goes over for design inspo or something and runs into Draxum? And once they get past any active hostilities, Draxum and Donnie would get along like a house on fire.

And especially when you consider that Donnie's brothers often act as his impulse control and he is absolutely desperate to make people like him... I'm thinking that he just straight up starting evil science-ing alongside Draxum. Like they probably don't start with Donnie helping Draxum to mutate people, but Donnie would absolutely jump at the chance to do science with someone on his level, y'know? Brothers who constantly break the things he makes for them don't quite compare to someone who can genuinely appreciate the knowledge, effort, and skill it takes to build his tech.

And on Draxum's end, here's clear evidence that one of his turtles is just as intelligent and scientifically minded as he is. Maybe they start with simple experiments that won't hurt Draxum's plans if they fail or get used against him. Maybe Donnie starts tagging along as Draxum goes out to release the oozequitos (assuming an au where the turtles don't do that at their first meeting), and doesn't seem to be against humans getting mutated. Maybe Donnie gets a whole-ass villain arc as he hangs out with his new mentor.

And there's also something there about if Draxum regularly uses sign language to communicate, does that mean he has connections to yokai Deaf culture? Which would be a very cool thing to see, and also is entirely out of my wheelhouse to write about. (I don't know sign, nor do I have any connections to irl Deaf culture, so I don't think I'm in a place to create a fantasy version of Deaf culture.)

[tomiyeee]

Can I head canon Mikey and Leo’s eye colors from you please Also do you have a Fic of this AU that I can read

of course! i don't own eye color headcanons, i just picked whichever ones looked the nicest with their designs in my opinion 😂 glad you liked them enough to share that hc though! 😊💕

-

and i'm assuming you're referring to my rise genshin au? which i actually don't...have a story for at all, since i don't have a very good understanding of genshin's story/lore to begin with. this au is in all honesty pretty surface-level, at least on my end 😅

however! i've actually had a couple people write their own ideas for it. i'm not sure about actual fic fics, like on AO3 or anything since i've not gone looking, but i've had a few things people have sent in my inbox (sorry it's taken me so long to answer these! i'm not trying to ignore y'all, i promise.. i've just been busy + somewhat overwhelmed by social media in general ;-;)

i'll leave them under the cut for you (and ofc anyone else who's interested!) to read :3

from @snekplush:

Random ideas for the genshin tottmnt au my brain thought of without my concent:

Draxum is a yokai who lived through the cataclysm and knows about Ei making puppet vessel things. Maybe its because he met scara before he turned all fatui. Either way, he knows and bcs of this he wanted to try experimenting creating something similar with artificial yokai to be super soldiers to protect imazuma >:D It never actually worked though because he doesnt know that Ei used khaenriah technology to do that, and he doesnt have access to that. Eventually he cracks the code somehow after hundreds of years of research. And thats how the turts were born >:D

And then since he knows scara is a puppet he found out he became a harbinger. As he looks down at the four artificially made turtles and remembered how Scaramouche once told him about how his mother and creator, Ei, betrayed him because he wasnt fit for his purpose of holding the gnosis, Drax decides this is probably not a good idea. Also he feels a bit guilty because like albedo, they’re like artificial yokai. Artificial, but still yokai. Knowing that Lou Jitsou is someone who travels often, he dumps the children onto him so he doesnt have to worry about them destroying inazuma. That or he found out the khaenriahn orginins of puppet people, and since he experienced the cataclysm thinks theyre too dangerous and then dumps them on splinter. Use this idea however u want :D

-

from an anon:

For your rise genshin AU I feel like that everyone would just like Raph I feel like that he would just get along with everyone because of his leadership and kind nature but I also feel like there will be many misunderstandings about him like you know looks like he could crush you with a finger in actuality it is a kind person not that could be described as The most cinnamon rolls of cinnamon rolls I feel like that all of them would be like but Raph would be the most liked in my personal opinion.

I may have already asked you this but it’s basically a continuation from the last one I feel like that Ralph would get along with itto well it would probably be roped into him And his gang’s shenanigans

Why do I just imagine Ralph taking singing lessons or just singing along with Venti I just popped into my My head and it just seemed a bit funny that Ralph invented just doing like a song and Venti fighting away just to make a melody that just makes it work And people stop joining in a fight I have just make like Geo construct like head and create like a percussionist melody and everyone’s joining having a little bit of fun in Then They do a bow in just the Mora is thrown everywhere

[mad4turtles]

hello hello! first things first, i’d like to say i love all of your fics !! your way of writing fluff is so sweet !!

i also come with a fic req (no pressure, of course) !! i’d love to see a body swap fic in your style !! but only if that’s something you’d like to write. either way, i hope you take care of yourself before anything else and have a great day !!

Ooookay, I had both a field day AND a headache from this, because it's SUCH a good prompt that I'm tempted to make a part 2, but I don't know enough about a specific disorder that's a common headcanon in the fandom to do it confidently, so, for now, this will stay as a one-shot. I hope you like it, though!

---

Leo swears someone out there is out to get them. It's the only explanation he can think of as he stares at himself in the bathroom mirror.

Donnie's deadpan face stares back at him.

They'd all woken up like this. Different rooms, different bodies and different faces staring back at them on every reflective surface. Leo won't deny that he'd screamed the loudest, lamenting the loss of his beautiful face. Donnie, stuck in Leo's body (of course, why not?), had immediately blamed Leo for reasons the (former)slider cannot fathom. Probably because it's easier than blaming himself, again, with no grounds to speak of.

It had been hilarious watching Raph try to be the big brother in Mikey's little body. It was less fun to watch Mikey nearly cry after breaking everything he touched with unchecked strength and a body three sizes bigger. 

(Makes Leo wonder just how much Raph has been holding back on them. He thinks of the Kraang and quickly decides it doesn't matter.)

What matters is Leo getting back into his own body before Donnie decides to punch himself in the face. 

Draxum had laughed for thirty minutes when they called but eventually promised to have something of an explanation and a cure by the end of the day. Splinter and April weren't much better. Casey Jr, bless him, was torn between genuine concern and exhaustion—“How many 'shenanigans' can you get up to in less than three stories?!” “Stop breaking the freakin' wall!”—which, fair enough. 

Cassandra had looked at them once and demanded that 'Orange Raph' fight her. “I want to test my might against the future Mystic Warrior! With Raphael's nature, it is sure to be a battle of the ages!”

Spoiler alert: it was not. Leo thinks they're still tangled up in Mikey's chains in the rafters. He wonders if April's gotten them down yet.

In the meantime, Leo decides to... explore? Is that the right word? It sounds gross, considering the circumstances, but that's essentially what he's doing. He's lived with Donnie all their lives, and this is the closest he's ever been (or ever really wanted to be) to his twin. Plus, he's a different species of turtle now. It's so freaking wild, and he can't help himself. He's curious.

He pokes and prods in ways his touch-sensitive brother will never usually allow on a good day—he touches his face (so square, but dude, what a wicked jawline!), his arms (Donnie's always been a little broader than Leo, stronger than he lets on), pulls at his fingers (there are burns and scars on the pads from welding and training, a tooth-mark from when Leo bit him when they were three and a few more from before Don had curbed the habit with other stims), his legs (Donnie what the hell have you done to your knees? Did the Avatar take away your bending?!) and lastly—

His hand hovers over the rim of Donnie's shell.

The soft shell has often been a no-go zone. Except for emergencies (and Leo, because it's a scientific fact that sliders ride soft-shells like a skateboard, and Donnie makes the best pillow). But otherwise, touching the shell unprompted would earn them a hiss at best, and a bite at worst. Leo's body has scars to prove it. 

But since the invasion, Donnie has been... particular about his shell. Since being ripped out of the Technodrome after being subjected to actual sensory hell (Leo will never forgive himself for putting his twin through that, whether he knew or not). He barely lets anyone near it now, not even Leo, unless he whines hard enough for a cuddle. Even then, that's only after the nightmares.

He'd promised not to mess around, fun as it would be. With Raph, he might've done—a smashing spree in some condemned building sounded goddamn cathartic—and with Mikey, he'd probably dip his toe in the overflowing pool of mystic energy in his baby brother's core, maybe learn a thing or two. 

But Donnie is different. And for the first time ever, he truly, truly, understands.

He leaves the shell alone and leaves the bathroom. He'll mess with his eyebrows instead.

~0o0~

“Nardo, I require assistance!”

Oh, thank god, something to do. Leo rolls off the beanbag, stretching until bones crack, yawing wide. Donnie had said not to mess around, but he said nothing against naps, and god did Donnie need one. “'s still so friggin' weird hearing my voice talkin' with your dead-ass tone, Dee,” he calls sleepily, lumbering towards the lab. Three hours was too long and yet not enough.

“It is about as jarring as hearing my voice using dumb slang and quoting Vines and seeing my own body wearing your skirts,” Donnie calls back, with Leo's voice, and yep, it's still freaking weird. About as weird as entering the lab to see him surrounded by tech, fingers flying and hands reaching with confidence as though he were born with it. 

Watching his body handle Donnie's machines so efficiently makes Leo's skin itch. Or maybe that's Donnie's body having a natural, visceral reaction to seeing anyone touch his shit. Which is fair, really. Leo got pissed seeing Donnie in his clothes in the mirror, ready to complain about the battle shell stretching his favourite sweater, only to remember. This whole thing sucks.

“So,” Leo drags the word out, plodding over to where Le—Donnie is sitting in the organized chaos of what looks to be another battle shell. “Whatcha need, Don-tron? Dearest twin? Brother whom I love very much and would be nothing without his incredible one-liners, his charm and wit, his beautiful—”

“Just because you're saying things with my voice doesn't make any of those statements true,” Donnie mutters, sliding the goggles off his face and climbing unsteadily to his feet. Must be disorienting since Leo is not only half a foot shorter than Don but carries a slightly heavier shell. He turns to Leo, hands fluttering at his sides—

“Shit, what did I do?” Leo yelps, hopping back a step.

“What? Nothing, nothing's wrong, why're you—?”

“Your—my—you got the flutters, my guy. Sending me a lot of mixed signals, and my—your body is telling me to react by biting, and I cannot stress enough how much I don't want that.”

“Wha—oh.” Donnie clenches his hands into fists. “I'm—I'm not angry with you, Leo, it's just—this whole situation is frustrating. I can't find an answer, Draxum hasn't shown up yet, I'm not in my own freaking body, and you—your body is so different, like, your head is clearer than mine and yet just as cluttered and messy, and I can touch and smell and eat things that I couldn't before because you're not as sensitive to it, but I also can't stand up straight without tripping over my own feet because of the differences in height and weight, and I'm constantly reaching for my battle shell only it's not there because I technically don't need it for the first time in my life and now I'm doing that—thing that you do where you ramble yourself into circles when you're upset because I'm working myself up because this is different I don't like different and oh look at that my hands are flapping am I about to take off? I do not know? I need—god, Leo, I need—”

Leo watches his eyes well up with tears, hands flapping as Donnie tries to articulate his needs. Needs he doesn't normally have in his own body because of his aversions. Donnie doesn't need touch all the time. Leo does, almost constantly, as much as Mikey does. The lack of it can drive him up the goddamn wall, which is why he always bugs his brothers, or Dad, or whoever's closest that wouldn't mind being used as a climbing frame or a pillow for a few minutes.

God, this must be hell on Donnie. Much like trying to put make-up on or wrap himself up in his favourite blanket had been actual torture for Leo. 

(Just like the thought of hugging makes Leo's—Donnie's skin crawl uncomfortably. Leo kind of wants to cry, too.)

But he swallows it down like he does every other bad thing and spreads his arms. Donnie looks up with Leo's teary eyes and stares. Leo smiles. “C'mon, big brother,” he says. He means it, but he also just wanted to hear Donnie say it.

Donnie twists his face into something half grateful and irritated and throws himself at Leo, squeezing tight enough to hurt even with Donnie's battle shell. Leo feels a shudder run through him—no no no no no get off get off get off nope nope nope do not TOUCH me—and forces his arms to wrap around Donnie's shoulders, squeezing back. 

Donnie sighs, breath hitching. “Oh my god,” he says, “I have never, in my life, needed this much physical contact. Oh my god. I think I actually get you, Nardo. And Mikey, too, I guess. All this because I needed a hug. Jeezy heckin' creezy, how do you live like this?”

Leo swallows hard. “Same way you live like everything burns when you don't want anyone touching you,” he says. There's a lump in his throat, suddenly, when it hits him. “... yet you do it anyway.”

Donnie nuzzles Leo's shoulder, seeking warmth and attention the way Leo has always done—needed to—and sending more sparks through Leo's—Donnie's—system. “... well, yeah,” he says. “I knew how bad it could get for you, but... I guess I never got how bad it could feel. And besides, you guys are usually great telling when I'm open for a cuddle or when I will literally kill you on sight if you touch me, so... wait, are you—?”

“I am on freaking fire, Donnie—”

“Oh my freaking god, let go then, you idiot, that is my body's way of telling me I'm about to have a meltdown—!” 

“But you need—need a hug—”

“Then I'll go to Raph or Mikey—whichever isn't still hanging from the ceiling, just let go! You are literally seconds from crashing, come on, I'll give you my special stuff from my special closet. Christ on a bike, Leon, you're as stressed as I am, a nap won't fix it, and an unwanted hug certainly won't—”

“Don, 's too loud—!”

“Shit, shit, sorry—here, put on my headphones and take the fluffy duck. This looks like it's gonna be a bad one, so get your—my ass in the closet. Get my whole ass in there, yep, good boy, get all nice and cosy, wow you ramble a lot when you're stressed out—”

“Hisssss—“

“Holy shit that's actually scary from a different perspective, I'll shut up now. You know the drill; I'll come to check on you after an hour. I'll grab the others for a turtle pile afterwards, I'm usually in the mood for that after a bad one, but—yeah, I'll go now, love you, don't bite or hit yourself, I'm gonna go glomp Mikey in Raph's body for a spine-breaking hug.”

Donnie shuts the closet door, and the darkness, surrounded by all of Donnie's 'special sensory things', is an instant relief.

Screw the T.V. tropes, Leo thinks as he breathes through fat tears and hiccuping sobs, rocking back and forth and squeezing the fluffy duck plush to quell the urge to hit himself. Body swaps suck. 

---

Reblogs are appreciated :3

Feel free to send me more prompts! &lt;3

[all-things-fluff-and-stuff]

Fanfiction for ROTTMNT (2018)

Tl; Dr: I have way too many ideas all of a sudden and I don't know what to do with it, lmao.

—Fanfic recommendation (When Worlds Collide, the fic is indented and a summary is included): a Leochi fic (notable tags: angst and hurt/ comfort, friends to lovers)

—Also some wonderings I have for ROTTMNT since it relates to the ideas I have for my fic

I've been wanting to write a fanfiction for a long time now about the boys, but I didn't want to write an OC centered fic, simply because I know it would be hard for me to write about the boys in balance of my OC (it would get to "Why didn't I just write my own story?" very quickly).

Then when I read this fic:

When Worlds Collide (41362 words) by celestiangel Chapters: 11/? Fandom: Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (Cartoon 2018), Samurai Rabbit: The Usagi Chronicles (Cartoon) Usagi is given a simple task by Baron Draxum. Spy on the four Hamato siblings for him, gather information, feed it all back to Draxum. The only draw? Usagi has to pretend to fall in love with Leonardo. Chaos ensues.

(FWI: The fic already has so much pain. Leo fallin' hard and fast, despite warnings from his brother இ௰இ )

I thought it would be a fun idea for the turtles to visit Japan and meet Usagi and Co. from Samurai Rabbit: The Usagi Chronicles. Then from there came a spiral of other ideas that went through my brain. I thought of so many ways for the boys go to Japan, who's going with them and why, maybe the boys have cloaking brooches and went on a field trip with April, or they won a trip to the Jupitar Jim convention in Japan.

I'm not sure if Splints would find it a good opportunity or not about having the turtles be in their families culture or not. I would imagine after season 1 he would be?

I'm also wondering about the cloaking brooches. Like, once April and the turtles found out about it, why didn't they start using it? I saw some ideas from fans, but I dunno. I think Splints has body dysphoria, so wouldn't it be better if he got one, if anything? Also also, wouldn't be good for the boys to go to school and make friends? Or is there a school for Yokai kids in the Hidden City? Why don't the boys hang out there more often and make Yokai friends?

Also also also, we couldn't get much info on the high council from when we heard about them at some point (I don't remember). I'm very curious to how the Hidden City works, and if there's one in New York, I'm betting it's in Japan, too. Maybe these hidden places are underneath major cities, so in Japan's case, it would be under Tokyo?

(Apparently the town where Samurai Rabbit takes place is called Neo-Edo?)

Anyways, there's a lot of planning and world building to do, wish me luck :)

[thedawningofthehour]

OK! I really didn't expect this! THE FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCK!!!?

We're entering the war arc, SERIOUSLY! Where did this come from! Oh my god, oh my god! I swear I thought it would happen at the end of the arc, you know! Like a big end of season event! The fuck!

Bella in jail, dammit!!! You better set her free, Fai!!! The world needs her!!! Does that mean they arrested Pax too? GOD, I HOPE SO! That boy needs a good chat so he finally understands what his beloved uncle is doing. Besides! Pax is technically Draxum's accomplice!

BTW, I had forgotten until I read BO smell that I remembered this fun fact, the vast majority of east asians have a mutated ABCC11 gene that causes them to lack the bacteria that produces that BO smell. Unless you are near a military base, it is virtually impossible to find deodorant in Japan. What you learn in a Kung Fu Panda video by a Chinese person.

So, unless turtles produce BO, all that odor in the lair is not the BO's fault.

Ahhhh I really don't know what will happen from now on, I hope it won't take you another two weeks for the next chapter, I don't care if they are shorter, just please bring Bella back.

*Fetal position* everything will be fine, everything will be fine, I haven't forgotten that we have a Turtles vs Draxum fight scheduled for the end, please make it hurt him.

'looks up some stuff'

Huh. That's really interesting. I knew East Asian people were frequently lactose intolerant, (it actually looks like lactose intolerance is the baseline and Europeans are the ones who mutated to be able to digest lactose into our adult years, which is linked to extensive dairy farming) but they also don't stink? I legitimately didn't know that.

It does also say that the frequency of this gene is low among the Ainu people, the people indigenous to the Hokkaido region. Which is where I set up the Hamato clan. (most of Hokkaido is pretty rural, so I figured it was a likely place for a clan to set up in the mountains and stay relatively undisturbed while still being close to civilization) I've been writing it as Atsuko was close to 100% Ainu-and somewhat inbred, because small rural communities like that often had everyone related to each other, so there was no way to really avoid marrying your third cousin-while Splinter's father was from Honshu and had a more varied genealogical background. (they met in Sapporo when Atsuko was attending college, and Grandpa Sho hated him even before he dipped) So it kind of depends whether Splints takes after his mother or father. I think it's stated that Splinter also stinks a lot, which implies that he didn't get this gene.

There's also the whole problem of turtles don't have sweat glands, but hey we're working with pseudo-science here, and the boys are definitely seen sweating. Also alligator snappers have scent glands on their asses and I'm pretty sure at least red-eared sliders and box turtles also have scent glands, so the stink might also be partially turtle-based.

In any case, I've made too many comments and jokes about them stinking to turn back now. They're teenage boys. Teenage boys smell awful. That's just a law of the universe.

[eternalglitch]

Have you ever felt pressured to change small parts of the plot so it matches what people think will happen? I'm not sure if you ever said that Leo would use a scarf to hide his scars, but people kind of just assumed that would happen (i did too jsjs). I'm not asking for spoilers but, for example, have you felt the need to add a scarf so you won't "disappoint" your readers? (Also you won't disappoint no one! Your writing is amazing and disappointment is basically impossible with your work).

Haha! A very valid question.

Fanfiction is often written in live time, unless you are one of those writers that prewrites the whole thing before posting (my major respect but I could NEVER.) And often it is still just you and your work and a few nice comments and that is it. I would say that smaller fic will still inevitably be influenced by the fandom and what the author consumes in that fandom, but it's usually not very direct.

And then once in a while you have a fic such as Like Father Like Son, which is an entirely different monster. I have people writing theories and essays about it. (One I saw recently where ohhhh they are on to me. I won't tip my hand at all as to who or what it was, but I sent it very excited to a few beta readers like look!! My foreshadowing is working! Not even anyone in my server guessed this one yet!)

The short answer is yes. It has changed thanks to the readers. Some of the more major changes came to be because one of my friends (all met through writing this fic) hopped into my dms with art, or a thought, or a theory. And I liked it so much I asked to use it. April alone in Draxum's lab was thanks to @aoshimaonwards and a future Mikey line of dialogue is thanks to @jinbugs. I slipped in the phrase "all eyes on him" as a nod towards @soldrawss and her animatic in another chapter, and yeah, the scarves didn't even occur to me until all the fanart suddenly had it and I went "wait, yeah, that IS a great idea. How can I expand on that in a way that works?" If I don't like it, I just ignore it. Simple as that.

Having readers influence you is not something to be afraid of in your own work, so long as you don't steal ideas and ensure everyone participating is having fun (including yourself!). My friends tend to be the most influential, of course, but sometimes a comment or something will lead my brain down a rabbit hole and allows me to improve lfls in a way I wouldn't have spotted on my own.

It's not sad that this fic would be different if I had written it in isolation or before anyone knew about it and had a chance to influence me. It just has the fingerprints of people that also love this fic just as much as I do added next to mine.

THAT BEING SAID. The worst thing an author can do is 100% listen to their audience when they know it doesn't make sense for their own thing. I know and trust my calls on how things should go, and I stick with them, because that is what drew so many people to my work in the first place. I very clearly remember after the Battle Nexus arc a few people wrote me essays about how I was wrong, Leo should have been saved there, I was dragging the story out and ruining everything. Considering the arcs I had for Raph and Donnie that required the Weapon arc, plus all of the other aspects of it I had planned, I could clearly see how it was an important part of Like Father Like Son and just kept on going.

As the author, I already have hindsight of how the arcs and character development will go; the readers do not. That's where you do need the strength to trust yourself, and your writing, because if people are reading it and talking about it you are doing something right already.

You won't ever be able to please everyone. Some people might be disappointed with what I do down the line in Like Father Like Son. At this point, it's almost inevitable because I have so many of you reading it that there are a hundred different opinions on how it should go and only a single route I can choose. But I showed the people whose opinions I trust as highly as my own my plans and they were all so excited so if I'm wrong, and they're wrong, then I guess I'll just be wrong on my story's ending. This was a fanfic started for just me, and at the end of the day that's who I want to reread it and love every second of it (plus now all of my friends that helped support my silly little endeavors).