ase. any pronouns. queer. main/spam account: @robotorion am I a writer? an artist? an animator? who knows. mostly posting: tmnt / transformers / marvel
reblog if you’re a writer who’s very terrible at responding to comments from your readers, but has read them all and loves and appreciates each and every single one of them very dearly
Considering how I used pneumonia as a reference for some of Raph's hanahaki symptoms, it makes ironic sense that I'd have pneumonia for over a month 😅
I'm better now, and I've finally figured out the chapter I've been stuck on for months, so schoolwork permitting, I should be able to update ERICA really soon!
What are some of your favorite character relationships/dynamics in TMNT, and why? Is there anything that you particularly like seeing explored with them in fan works (art, writing, comics, etc)?
Leo and Raph feels like an easy answer, but it's probably my favourite! I especially like the 2012 dynamic the best, them feeling like the "twins" of the series in my opinion. They're a lot more similar than they realize and I love reading works where they figure that out and come to a better understanding of each other
I think Leo and Casey is also very interesting to me. They both value honour and justice respectively, but go about it in vastly different ways (depending on the iteration). They have a mutual respect, and I love seeing when they work together (especially in 2012 and IDW). I also kinda ship them in those iterations, but their platonic dynamic is just as/more important to me.
The Raph and Casey relationship is also a fav, but seeing how it's kind of a staple in the franchise, I'm not really sure what else to say about it lol
Which TMNT Write Fight fics were your favorite to write/read?
I haven't gotten through all the fics I wanna read yet, but I think so far the top contenders have been Get Used to It, And Suddenly it was Too Much, and Uncommon Denominator
It still kinda blows my mind how many fics got written. Everyone did such an amazing job <3
Heya guys! It's your favorite blueberry flavored son of a bitch here!
SO! After running all the numbers and double triple checking, I'm here to bring you all the FINAL POINT TOTALS from tmnt write fight! Among a grand total of 70,403 points...
Hamato Clan with a whopping 31,201 points and 113 prompts filled
And then the Foot Clan, with 39,201 points and 98 prompts filled
An unbelievable upset! The Foot has overtaken the Hamatos by a grand margin, their plan of taking things slow and making longer fics paying off big time! Congratulations to all of our Foot Clan writers!
Not only that, collectively, you all wrote a total of 500,929 words!! To put that in perspective, the entire Lord of the Rings trilogy is 481,103 words, and you all wrote more than that in the span of a month. Pretty impressive stuff!
Thank you all again for participating, this was an amazing event with a way bigger turnout than we expected! We don't want to confirm anything quite yet, but we are hoping to do another one of these at some point (though likely a different month next year) and keep this a regular event for the community! With that, we're hoping to (maybe) release a survey at some point soon for people to share feedback and help decide how this event looks moving forwards. Until then, keep writing ninjas!
TMNT 2003, Donnie not coping as well as he seems with both the aftermath of Good Genes and how that indirectly led to the Foot Mystics being freed (bonus if Hurt/Comfort ensues)
I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it :)
Word Count: 4021
Donatello liked to think of himself as the most sensible among his family. His scientific mind was easily capable of putting logic first in any given scenario, and dealing with any emotional fallout after the fact. He knows this quirk has more or less become a skill in the last couple years, given all the wild adventures he and his brothers have found themselves on, adventures that often compounded on top of each other with hardly any breathing room in between. That’s the old saying, isn’t it? Out of the frying pan and into the fryer?
That was probably the best description he had for the events of the last couple months. First it was some mutant monsters, courtesy of Bishop’s outbreak, then a persistent cold that refused to break, which naturally culminated in a seemingly blackout weekend that started in April’s apartment and ended at Area 51 of all places, after which Donnie was told he’d actually transformed into a raging monster himself. Huh…
The downtime after that was consequently spent resting by order of his family, and trying in vain to remember any of it for himself. Though he had noticed some small changes in that time, his logical mind concluded that he would just take longer to heal. He was the only mutant affected by the outbreak, after all. His recovery was bound to be different, right?
Weeks that felt agonizingly slow in the moment became far too brief when they were whisked away to Japan to train with the Ninja Tribunal, and informed of the looming threat of the Shredder Tengu and his Foot Mystics. None of them could afford to rest with the world at stake, and it meant everyone was essentially teetering between deep exhaustion and tense anxiety. The lighter moments were few and far between, and even those had been tainted by the deaths of their new friends and the Tribunal at the hands of the Mystics.
Those stupid Mystics.
Their most recent encounter with them was still at the forefront of Donatello’s mind. How could it not be? Considering they’d managed to resurrect their master from his grave and nearly put Karai in one of her own…
And they dropped the bombshell that’s been rattling Don’s head all night.
You are the ones who sealed her fate.
Without you we could never have freed the Shredder,
For it was you that freed us.
When you took that crystal on behalf of Agent Bishop,
You set a chain of events in motion that led to—
Everything that was currently going wrong in their lives.
He couldn’t dodge quickly enough. He couldn’t recognize his cold for what it really was. He couldn't be there to help Leatherhead, which left Bishop and Stockman as their only other option.
And they still couldn’t entirely fix him.
Don had made it into the bathroom earlier to wash up and prepare for another day of waiting to see what might happen, but having the revelation from the Mystics intruding his every thought has also managed to bring up issues he thought he’d set aside.
Like the fact that his nails are still tougher and sharper.
It isn’t by much, no where near as bad as his brothers had described from his temporarily monstrous state, but they still weren’t back to normal. Donnie tried to cut them just before they’d been Shanghaied (as Mikey put it), only to nearly break the clippers with how much extra effort it took. Even the scissors struggled with the job. If that wasn’t enough, it seemed his nails would only grow back into the same pointed shape, regardless of how flat he cut them.
Don couldn’t really convince himself that it was just in his head either, that it was some anxious response his brain manufactured if his nails got too long, because while they took a month or so to grow back, the scarring was always there.
He didn’t have to be a genius to understand why. He went from being 5’2” and 180 pounds to over seven feet tall and double his weight in a matter of seconds. He knew there’d be stretch marks, and considering how fast the “cure” took effect, he’s surprised he didn’t have more. Donnie wasn’t necessarily bothered by them cosmetically, but the fact that they were always there served as a constant reminder that their weekend at Bishop’s was real, and not just some wild story his brothers had made up to freak him out.
Don’s also not entirely unconvinced that his temporary growth spurt may have affected his actual growth, too. He and his brothers had only just turned eighteen, and he was sure they were bound to grow at least once more, mutated status not withstanding. In the weeks since his recovery though, he’s noticed himself looking down at his brothers more and more, which just felt wrong. They’ve been the same height for so many years, and being next to the youngest among the four, he didn’t expect his growth spurt to happen first. Rationally, he knew it was possible, but a deep part of his brain kept whispering that it wasn’t probable.
Unless there was something helping it along.
With this whispering in the back of his mind, Donnie began checking every drawer and cabinet in April’s bathroom for a tape measure. He rustled desperately through all of them, knowing he could’ve been quieter and more respectful of their host’s space, but his anxiety was taking on a mind of its own. Eventually, he found what he was looking for, and let the tape unroll until it was just touching the floor. Don moved in front of the mirror, holding the tape upright in one hand and pinching it off with the other where it met the top of his head. He slowly brought it down to see—
5’6”
—He really wasn’t imaging things, huh?
His infection had left him permanently scarred, permanently changed, and may now lead to the end of the world—
Nope! Nuh uh. Don was not going to hop on that little train of thought right now. Shredder and the Mystics were out somewhere, plotting their next move. Karai has yet to wake up, let alone recover from all her injuries, and they all needed to focus on understanding these new “Dragon-forms” of theirs before they could even think of using them in battle again. Donnie took a moment to breath, to find his center, and move all the spiralling fears to the back burner. There’d be plenty of time to deal with them when the world wasn’t at stake.
When he finally felt fit enough to leave, he reached for the doorknob and flicked off the light—
Red…
His eyes… were red!
Don yelped, backing away from the shocking sight until his shell collided with the wall, staring in abject horror at the glowing orbs reflected in the mirror.
He knew they were his. Despite the almost complete darkness of the bathroom, he could still see himself in the mirror clear as day.
His normal self.
Donnie takes careful steps back toward the mirror, reaching for the light switch hesitantly.
When he flicks it on again, everything seems fine. His irises are invisible beneath the white membranes, and opening those reveals their natural hazel colour.
When he flicks the light off, the burning red returns.
On again, nothing.
Off again, bloody crimson.
He continues toggling the light switch as his brain struggles to make sense of this new quirk of his. The reflection staring back at him was clear, despite the minimal lighting in the small room, the only source other than the main light being a small emergency bulb plugged in just above the vanity. He couldn’t recall at the moment if his night vision’s been any better in the last several weeks, but he figures a hulking turtle monster would probably need it for killing hunting its prey. He hadn’t had much opportunity to catch a glimpse of his own reflection while they were training in Japan (nor did he want to, given the state of his scars). If his family and friends ever noticed anything in the low candlelight they were often surrounded by, surely they would’ve brought it up with him, meaning they hadn’t seen it, which meant it wasn’t as bad as he thought and he could probably forget about it until—
“Donnie!”
The interruption, coupled with a hand snatching his own away from the light switch, startles Donatello out of the spiral. He catches Leonardo’s eyes in the mirror, gazing back at him and full of worry.
“You trying to round up April’s electricity bill or something?” The elder speaks with a soft chuckle, but they can both tell it’s forced. The concerned stare never drops.
“No, I…” If they haven’t brought it up, that means they haven’t noticed… “It just stopped working for a minute. All good now.”
“Really?” Leo squints at him, “I was sure I could see the light flickering from down the hall.”
“… I must’ve had the wrong switch then,” Donnie tries. “It was the fan that wasn’t working.” He toggles the other switch to prove his point. “And now it’s working fine! Sorry about that, Leo.”
Donnie really tries to get past his big brother, but a hand catches his upper arm before he can make the doorjamb.
“Don, look at me.”
He refuses at first, keeping his gaze locked on the tile floor. He doesn’t want Leo to notice.
“Please…”
It’s the desperation that breaks him, so Don slowly looks up.
He’s definitely shorter than me now.
“What’s going on with you?”
Leo speaks so gently, so patiently, like he was afraid of scaring off a wild animal, and Don finally let’s everything boil over.
“It’s my fault.”
He doesn’t know when he started crying, or when standing became such a chore, but Leo catches him before he can fall, and lowers them both down against the vanity.
“Talk to me,” Leo pleads, as he pulls him into a side hug and rubs his upper arm comfortingly. “What do you think is your fault?”
“Everything,” Donnie breathes out. “The Mystics were set loose because you guys had to save me, because I couldn’t move fast enough. Everyone that they’ve hurt, that The Shredder hurts, it’s on me!”
“Don—”
“And I thought I could ignore it. If I could focus on fixing everything and saving the world, I could worry about the why and how later. But my scars, my body… it’s always gonna be different and it’s always gonna be proof of just how bad I—”
“Donnie.” Leo grabs him by both shoulders, turning to face him head-on. “Listen to me, and listen well. This is not your fault.”
He wants to protest, but Leo presses on. “None of us knew what the Mystics really were when we stole the crystal. And I don’t think we would’ve even considered the possibility of another Shredder before Splinter and the Ancient One first talked about him. You might be a genius, Don, but as good as you are at preparing for the future, you can’t predict it. I promise, it’s nothing we would ever hold against you, so there’s no need to hold it against yourself.”
As nice as it was to hear, Donnie’s still not convinced. “You heard what the Mystics said, though. This nightmare wouldn’t even be possible if I hadn’t gotten infected in the first place.”
Leonardo’s expression softens, but the determination doesn’t go away. “You can’t take what the Mystics say to heart. They’d say anything to distract us if it made defeating us easier. Besides, the day you were infected, it could’ve easily been one of us instead. We all make mistakes sometimes, and no matter how good or bad they work out, we just gotta move forward and learn from them, not spend time dwelling on them.”
“It’s harder when your mistake could bring about the end of the world, though.” Donnie draws further into himself, and Leo can feel the argument becoming lost. He thinks for a moment, drawing on anything that might truly make Donnie believe him.
“…If you really need someone to blame for this, then it would be my fault.”
Donnie’s face shoots up like a rocket. “No. What— why would you even say that?”
“Because we were the ones who stole the crystal,” Leo puts simply. “You had no say in the decision at the time, and since I’m the leader, the responsibility falls to me.”
“Leo, that doesn’t make any sense, even by your own logic,” Donnie argues emphatically. “You didn’t know about Shredder and the Mystics either, and you were still doing it to save me.”
“The responsibility doesn’t solely fall on you, Don—”
“But it doesn’t fall on you either! I thought you already got that through your head when you were with the Ancient One!”
They’re both surprised by the outburst, and Donnie feels like he’s sinned somehow. None of them really talked about Leo’s guilt complex after his trip abroad unless they really needed to, and Don’s just gone and used it against him like it was nothing.
He was just making things worse.
“Leo, I—"
“No, Don, it’s okay.” Despite what Donnie believes, he does in fact look okay. “You guys don’t need to walk on eggshells around me anymore. I know I still have things to work through, and I am, but that’s not why I would be responsible for all of this.”
“Leo, you’re not—”
“It’s because I would do it all over again, knowing the Mystics would be set free, knowing the Shredder would be set free, as long as we got you back.”
The silence in the bathroom is heavy. Donnie is too stunned to speak for a moment, and what comes out is ripe with disbelief. “How… how could you say that? How can you even justify that? I’m one person, one mutant. I’m not…” He feels like he’s gonna start crying again.
“You are to us,” Leo pleads, gripping his shoulders tightly. His face takes on a faraway look before he continues. “I don’t know if you remember, but you would’ve died without a cure.”
Donnie remembers. Leatherhead gave him a complete rundown of what had happened as soon as he was coherent enough to receive it. “Leatherhead was the one who found it, though.”
“Yeah,” Leo confirms, “and he admits that without Bishop’s lab resources, he doesn't know if you would’ve received it in time.”
Donnie hunches uncomfortably. He can’t really argue with that.
Leo turns back to him, looking earnestly at him. “We can’t survive without you, Don. If saving the world means losing you forever, I don’t think I could live with making that call, and I know Raph and Mikey couldn’t either. You’re too important to us, and I need you to see that.”
He says it like a confession, and for a brief moment, Donnie is struck by an image of his brother thirty years older, more haggard and world-wearier than he could ever believe, blinded by combat, but still no less of a warrior.
He realizes for the first time that things could’ve been even worse than they already were. His logical mind starts firing again, and he wonders just how long the Mystics have been looking for a way to break free of their prison. If it hadn’t been Bishop, would it have been someone else? Would his brothers have been left to fight them off without him, or with a monstrous version of him who couldn’t support them the same way he could now?
Would they have already fallen apart before they had the chance?
That alternate future was already a frightening enough nightmare for Donatello. The idea that it could have easily come to fruition in his own dimension, and so soon too, was paralyzing. Thinking about this, he supposes he’s grateful that it hadn’t been worse. The fact that he and his brothers were all here, together, meant that they had a better chance of succeeding, just as they had there. The future may be unpredictable, but in his case, it at least set a precedent.
The reminder of his monstrous potential does derail his relief, however, as Donnie takes in the marks he can see from his position on the floor. He musters his courage, but still worries what kind of answer he’ll get when he finally asks the question that’s been plaguing his head for months. “Even if I came back from Bishop’s different? Or… wrong?”
Leonardo feels the shift in his brother’s anxieties, and follows it just as quickly. “There’s nothing wrong with you, Donatello, I swear.” He gives Donnie a once over. “Your scars, they don’t cause you pain, do they?”
Don shakes his head.
“Then the way I see it, they’re proof that you survived. Proof that you’re strong enough to get through whatever life throws in front of you. It’s nothing you need to hide, and it’s certainly nothing you need to be ashamed of.”
Leo massages his left shoulder as he says this, and Donnie can picture the chunk missing from the shell on his back. He knows his brother is speaking from experience, and supposes he can be grateful that most of his deep muscle pain had subsided during his recovery.
“What about my eyes?” He asks.
Leo tilts his head at him. “What about them?”
Donnie slips out of his brother’s hold, standing to face the mirror again. Leo quickly follows suite, glancing between his brother and their reflections. Don looks him in the eye one last time before he shuts the light off again.
As expected, his irises glow bright red beneath their membranes.
“Oh, wow.”
Donnie turns toward his brother’s reflection anxiously.
He looks back reassuringly. “It’s not bad, I promise. Just surprised me a little.”
Don’s not sure he believes that. “Have you guys really not noticed?”
Leo shrugs. “Our membranes glow under certain lights too, don’t they? It could just be this one that’s setting it off.” He points to the orange-tinted emergency light.
Donnie supposes that’s possible, but the fact that it’s visible even beneath the protective membrane concerns him. “What if it becomes a problem on missions? Or it gets worse?”
“Then we’ll deal with it if it happens,” Leo asserts. “You don’t know that it ever will, Don.”
You can’t predict the future, he recalls.
Donnie chooses not to tell him about his nails, given how they might fall into that same state of limbo, but from where they stand in front of the mirror, the other change is made glaringly obvious.
“I’m taller than you guys now,” he whispers.
“What?”
“Oh, come on,” Donnie faces him, now slightly annoyed. “I know you’ve at least had to notice that.”
Leo shrugs again, seeming somewhat guilty. “Maybe a little.”
Despite the apprehension, Don’s surprised to see no discomfort in his brother’s expression. “And that doesn’t upset you?”
“Should it?”
Donnie scoffs. “We’ve been the same size our entire lives, Leo. It doesn’t bother you that you need to look up at me now?”
“Well,” he thinks, “it would probably bug me more if you were rubbing it in my face all the time.” He finishes with a chuckle.
Donnie frowns. “I’m serious.”
“So am I.” Leo makes sure to give Donnie his most sincere expression. “Look, for all the things the four of us have in common, we still have our differences. I don’t expect that to change as we get older, and I’m sure you know that it won’t.”
Donnie thinks for a moment. He’s never really investigated their mutations all that much, aside from what’s required for medical treatment and general upkeep. Though they were all originally exposed to the same ooze, that couldn’t guarantee they’d all be affected the same way, or how they’d be affected in the long term. They were still just teenagers, after all. They could potentially have years left to grow before they stopped.
“Besides,” Leo continues, “having your growth spurt first doesn’t mean much when it’s only a few inches. Mikey could very well be looking down at you by next week.”
The mental image is like a jump scare. After recovering from the shock, Donnie shoves him by the shoulder. “Why would you say that?” He laughs it off before he can think about it too hard, laughter that Leo immediately joins in on. They eventually go back to sitting on the bathroom floor as it tapers off.
The silence that follows is a lot more comfortable than it had been before. As they catch their breath, Donnie can feel that at least a few of his anxieties have simmered down for the time being.
Leo wraps and arm around Don’s shoulders, squeezing him slightly. “Regardless of who ends up being the tallest, or how tall any of us get, just remember that we’ll always be brothers, so we’ll be dealing with it together.”
Donnie smiles up at him. “I know.”
“And we’ll do the same with the Tengu Shredder,” Leo remarks, smiling back at Don. “Right?”
Donnie’s a little surprised by the return to their original conversation.
He doesn’t answer fast enough, apparently, because Leo leans in and repeats, “Am I right?”
After everything they’ve talked about, every argument proposed and rebuked, Donnie finds he can’t really disagree with him right now. “Yeah, I guess you’re right.”
“Of course I am,” Leo replies cooly. “I am still the oldest, after all.”
Donnie knocks into his side, feeling fond exasperation for just how cheesy his big brother can be when he’s trying to cheer them up.
The sound of footsteps makes them both look to the door, where Raphael appears a second later. He switches the main light on, blinking like he’s still half asleep. He peers for someone at eye level before his gaze drops to the turtles huddled together on the floor. “What’s going on in here?”
“Nothing.”
“Impromptu sibling hug.”
Raph pinches between his eyes. He’s definitely just woken up. “One at a time, please.”
“Just get down here,” Leo exclaims.
The two seem to have one of their silent conversations before the red-clad turtle complies. “Fine, if no one else cares that this is a bathroom, I guess.” He takes a seat beside Donnie, looking them both over unsubtly.
He must find something that tips him off to Don’s prior distress, because Raph looks at him a bit softer now. “Seriously, you all good, bro?”
Donnie glances back at Leo for a moment, who has a knowing smile on his face. It makes him more confident that everything will in fact turn out okay. “Yeah,” he turns to Raph, smiling. “I think I will be.”
Raph smiles back at him, joining the hug and squeezing him tightly.
He’s about to complain about the air his lungs are losing when Mikey appears in the doorway, surprising all but him.
“Woah woah woah! You’re doing a group hug without me?”
“Mikey, don’t—”
Raph’s protests fall on deaf ears as the youngest leaps at the huddle, crushing the air out of all of them when he lands.
“Thanks for that, Mikey,” Leo squeaks out.
“No problem,” Mikey replies as he moves into a more comfortable sitting position. “Every team needs their star player, right? And no one gives better hugs than this guy.”
He proves his point by wrapping his arms tightly around Donnie, who’s now trying to figure out how Mikey knew they were in there for him. He stops thinking about it when the others join in from either side, instead focusing on the warmth, belonging, and love he feels being at the center of the turtle pile.
“Not that I wanna cut this short, but I’d still like to brush my teeth sometime today,” Raph teases.
They all laugh at the complaint, but manage to stay huddled on the floor for an extra fifteen minutes. If the lighter moments were gonna be few and far between right now, they might as well savour every second of them.
(written for @tmnt-write-fight for @13runningsomething)
Fandom: 2012 TMNT
Prompt: 2012 leo dealing with a heart condition after he almost died in space (doesn't have to be angsty; mostly interested in seeing how he deals with it or how it's affected his training/abilities and daily routine)
Word Count: 1122
Posted on AO3 too!
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Leo always knew something was off about him growing up.
He ran out of breath quicker, couldn’t stand up in the same spot for too long, and absolutely hated the heat. He quickly disregarded those things as weaknesses, signs that he just simply wasn’t training hard enough. He became obsessed with the dojo, fighting and training and pushing himself to his limits. Enough that he passes out. But surely, that only meant he was getting stronger. That he was pushing his limits higher.
Right?
Well, that space incident sure proved him wrong. He guessed that his body was barely holding it together, that all it took was one good shove for everything to topple over. Now he was even more out of breath, couldn’t stand for as long, and the fucking heat. He tried to hide it from the others, he couldn’t let his team family see him as weak. Emphasis on tried. But his brothers had been more wary about how Leo was holding up after his heart fucking stopped for a bit.
Who knew there was a name for it? What did Donnie say again? Vase…bagel…something? He couldn’t quite hear anything after waking up from the makeshift tilt table test that Donnie forced him to do. That wasn’t fun at all.
“It’s like POTS but in the opposite direction.”, Donnie had explained to him. “Instead of your heart racing, it actually drops lower and lower until it stops completely. But you’re not dead, your brain just takes a minute to start the heart back up again and you’ll be fine.”
“So my heart likes to stop at random moments?”
“...Not exactly but sure.”
And things haven’t been the same since after that. New things were added to his everyday routine. New diet, new training plan, new precautionary measures. Just new, new, new. Trying to find a balance to it all. Not to mention the threat that if nothing works, he’ll need a pacemaker. Not sure how that would work or how he would even get one. But he was not about to fuck around and find out.
Each day started the same. Wake up, and immediately begin chugging water. It took a while to get used to. Not to mention the nausea that followed. Leo basically lost the appetite for any breakfast at this point. And after he’s finished chugging a bottle, he had to take a salt shot. The how took a few options. Liquid IVs were nice, you could just mix them in the water. But they are very hard to come by, always out of stock in most stores and incredibly expensive. Salt tablets were simple, just needed to chug water bottles before and after taking one. If you could stand chugging, Leo couldn’t. Especially in the mornings. Then, when all else fails, a teaspoon of salt down the hatch. Yuck. It basically all boiled down to this: Stock up on as many LIVs as possible and if he just so happened to have run out, then suck it up and chug it down.
And that was just the morning.
Then there was diet. Donnie stated that people with dysautonomias needed to have high sodium diets. But just think about all the foods that are high in sodium. And it’s basically a diet consisted of fatty junk foods. Leo was not a big fan of that. A warrior should have a proper meal regime with all the food groups and even then, it was nothing but gross to add extra salt to everything. It made him sick most of the time. He hadn’t been doing a good job keeping up with that but…no one needs to know.
But the training. Apparently his heart condition would go off due to certain triggers. The main one being overexertion. (The other 2 mains being caffeine and alcohol but it wasn’t like Leo was much of a coffee guy or alcoholic). If Leo overworked himself, he’d pass out. And if he passed out, his brothers would lecture him, and if that happens, then it turns into a fight about Leo’s pride and how he shouldn’t be told what to do because he’s the leader and…
Well, it’s best to avoid it.
Most days…Leo can’t help but want to give up on trying. He gets what people mean now when they say it’s a battle to fight against illnesses. It literally is a battle. Wake up. Fight. Eat. Fight. Train. Fight. Sleep. And repeat. It’s exhausting. And he can’t help but feel so…weak. Like he can’t support his own weight without assistance. This is not how a warrior should be. A warrior should be fully capable to handle any task. A warrior shouldn’t need help or aid to keep going. A warrior shouldn’t be so high maintenance—
THWAK! A comic book hits him on the forehead.
“Ow! Hey! What the shell, Mikey?!”, Leo gripes from his spot on the couch to his orange-clad brother on his beanbag.
“I could sense your internalized ableism from all the way over here, bro!”, Mikey taunts. “It was making me crazy! I couldn’t read my comic, it was so distracting.”
Leo sighs and crosses his arms. “It’s none of your business.”
“It is my business when it’s disrupting my comic time. …What are you even thinking about?”
Leo ponders, taking a deep breath through his nostrils. “...Did Donnie say anything about there being a cure to this heart condition thing?”
“You’d be asking the wrong turtle dude.”, Mikey mutters. “If there was one, I think Donnie would’ve already cured you by now.” The turtle sits up in his beanbag, reaching over to get his comic book back. “Why does that even matter to you?”
“Because I’m the leader! I’m supposed to be strong and capable and—”
“You don’t have to be all those things, bro.”, Mikey cuts in. “And you are strong and capable in your own way! Even then, we’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, you’re our brother before you’re ever our leader.”
“Yeah yeah I know…”, Leo mumbles. “Don’t help with…this. I’m used to people depending on me, not the other way around.”
“Well get used to it.”, Mikey scoffs, snapping his comic book back open and ending the conversation there.
What a funny thought. Get used to it. It couldn’t be that simple. Leo just wants things to be normal again. He wishes things were different. If he hadn’t gotten hurt, maybe he could be stronger than ever. Maybe he could’ve gotten everyone out of all these messes much easier. And maybe he wouldn’t have to sprinkle salt on every single fucking thing he eats.
But maybe…
Maybe he could get used to it.
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My very first attack!!! Yippee!!! I just closed my eyes and randomly selected a prompt at random and ending up getting this one! So ironic, given the fact I also have a heart condition. So I decided to give it to Leo! Enjoy the vasovagal syndrome, buddy! (There is no escape--)
It’s definitely ironic that you got this one. I really enjoyed reading it and it was interesting getting to learn about vasovagal syndrome!
I really like that Leo not only has to “get used to” his condition, but also relying on his brothers for help more, since he seems so stuck in the strong leader ideology (get cared for idiot / affectionate)
(or Day 5 of the other art challenge I said I'd finish hehe)
Leo usually tends to be my favourite turtle in most iterations, but I think 2012 Leo is also my favourite turtle across the whole franchise. The kid goes through a lot, and takes every mistake like a personal failure, but he still tries to enjoy the geekier things in life. He reminds me a lot of myself if we're being honest
This is a redraw of one of my older sketches, with the flower petals from Owari thrown in because I'm normal about them
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Likes: Hurt/comfort, angst and whump, body modification and transformation (and any dysphoria relating to it), chronic health conditions and disabilities, turtle behaviour and biology, magical shenanigans or science gone wrong, insecurities, leo and raph being the 2012 twins
Squicks: Major character death (except Splinter when it's canon), explicit sexual content, bad sibling turtles, bad parent Splinter (mediocre parent Splinter is okay), bad miscommunication, 1st and 2nd person POV
Favorite Iteration(s): 2012, IDW
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Prompt #1
- 2012 aroace Leo (can be anything really -- how he finds out, how his brothers find out; can be angsty or fluffy <3)
Prompt #2
- 2012 caseynardo -- casey is mutated during a mission gone wrong and leo helps him to cope with it until donnie's latest batch of retromutagen can be finished (preferably established relationship, casey can be any animal species)
Prompt #3
- 2012 turtles bodyswap!
Prompt #4
- 2012 leo dealing with a heart condition after he almost died in space (doesn't have to be angsty; mostly interested in seeing how he deals with it or how it's affected his training/abilities and daily routine)
Prompt #5
- 2012 Leo and 2003 Donnie bonding (they seem to have some similar traumas, maybe hurt/comfort?)
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Gotta love saying “I might be back” and then posting nothing 😅
In my defence, my creative drive pretty much went all in on making Leo’s swords and Raph’s sais for a comic con I have coming up
(All fake weapons! They’re actually the foam medieval swords you’d find at a dollar store)
That being said, I am hoping to get the next part of Erica out by this weekend! It’ll either be the last or second to last chapter, and then I can hopefully post some other things I have in the works
Challenge begins September 1st and ends on September 30st!
I wanna give a big shout out to my amazing friends that I’ve made thanks to this show. They helped me create this art challenge by helping brainstorm prompts and double checking my editing process when making the templates! They mean so much to me, so please go show them some love!
TMNT Write Fight is a gift exchange event, inspired by @artfight and @phicphight.
Unlike other gift exchanges, you will not be assigned a specific person to exchange with, instead you will be assigned a clan. You earn points for your clan by writing fics based off of other people’s prompts. You can attack by writing for a prompt from the other clan (1 point per 10 words) or ‘spar’ by writing for a prompt from your own clan (1 point per 20 words). Clans will be randomised, but don’t let that stop you from writing for whoever you want. Though, there will be a small point bonus if a clan writes for all of the opposing clan’s prompts, so keep that in mind if you’re looking through the list.
When signing up for the event, all you have to provide is your name, your tumblr username, and at least one prompt. It’s completely okay if you join the event and don’t write a single word. You can even ask to change the prompt, as long as it is before the list of prompts has been posted.
It’s framed as a competition, yes, but we’re all here to have some fun and write stuff. Completely no pressure!
Sign-ups will be today (August 24th) through September 1st. They will be open afterwards, but it will likely take some time to be added to the event.
Sign Up Here
Asks are welcome if you have any more questions about the event.
The rules for creating your prompts below the cut.
No Smut.
No TCEST.
No hateful content (homophobia, racism, sexism, etc.)
No iteration/character bashing, we’re here to have fun, people.
Any ocs must have public content to go off of, no creating ocs inside of a prompt.
Keep your prompts 1-4 sentences long.
Crossovers are only allowed if they exist within pre-existing media (Power Rangers comic, Usagi, the Batman movie, etc.)
Prompts about specific aus (things with fics or comics or dedicated blogs and such) can only be submitted by their creators.
Specify iterations if referencing iteration-specific events, do not assume others can recognise the iteration automatically.
As an artist and/or writer, what is one thing you think you do well? What is one thing you would like to improve on?
I'm get to answer for both!
As a writer, I think I'm really good at writing emotion/mood into a scene. I know with some of my old horror scripts my friends would say they had a distinct creepiness to them that they'd refer to as the "ase voice." I can do this with any emotion but my best is definitely tension/fear
Something I definitely need to improve on is editing. No matter how many times I tell myself to edit after the draft, I still find myself doing it as I write (which isn't always bad, but if it's stopping you from writing more then...)
As an artist, I think I do expressions pretty well. I don't know if it's because I like them so much or because I act them out as I'm drawing, but they definitely come easier to me
That being said, anatomy is probably my weakest skill. I've gotten better at it since I started college, but I still have trouble making things look more natural than stiff. I specifically struggle when it comes to the turtles' arms and how they move around their shells oof
Which of your TMayNT pieces were your favorites to do?
Do you have any favorite TMayNT posts you've seen from others?
(I know you only did a handful of days, but I really liked them and still wanted to ask!)
Aw thank you so much <3
My favourite piece so far has definitely been the baby turtles one. I think it turned out really cute and I actually used it for my header too
There were a lot of great posts I saw, but I think most of my favourites came from @annaliearts (her art style in general might be one of my favourites lol)
Even tho it's well past May now, I think I'm still gonna try to finish the challenge? It's a good opportunity to practice my art, and I had some ideas for a few of the days that are just too good to pass up imo. I'm just gonna label my new posts as "art challenge" tho since as I said, it is well past May now
“Today we strike so many deer and moose. Here. How about you get some for your family back at your home later?” Saki give you a bowl of berries and a deer leg that still freshly cut off.
Mikey kinda got a bit VERY lost after his jailbreak adventure, but he's happy he got to meet Saki before the competition's big finale, and he knows his brothers will enjoy the gifts from the hunt :)
pixelskylines
kianamaiart
yousharknotpass
2087
annaxmalina
gummygunk
vaporwave
germansingergirl
areudirty
