Bean | 20s | Hobby writer and artist | Canon and OC content | current focus: 2k3 TMNT | No Tcest | Working through my issues by writing about emotionally unavailable men being reluctant guardians
BEAN, MY FRIEND. IGNORE THE DOOR, I HAVE QUESTIONS.
Hi, so I'm figuring out children OCs and it's your fault so here's some questions pertaining to Don, Daphne, and Misa.
1: You might have already answered this and if so, whoopsie pls answer again. How exactly did we end up with an lab accident baby? Misa is the cutest, so I gotta know.
2: Initial reactions to Misa? Not just from Don and Daphne (though they are mainly who I'm interested in knowing), but from the other Turtles/Splinter/April/Casey as well?
3: How did you pick Misa's name? It's very pretty
Hello Crim! Thanks so much for asking! Come take a seat get comfy đđ
How exactly did we end up with a lab accident baby?
Ah yes, so short answer is basically Don was being irresponsible (ie working late while tired) and accidentally made a test tube baby who grew very quickly. By morning, she was infant sized. He literally became a dad overnight.
Longer answer involves some prior context:
After the events of SAINW and Exodus at the end of season 3, Don is mentally struggling. A lot. He's terrified of losing his family and friends, that one day they'll get into a bad situation, and their luck will run out, and that one of his brothers could end up seriously hurt enough that he won't be able to save them. He's desperate for a solution, a contingency plan, some way he can quiet these very understandable fears he now holds in the forefront of his mind.
And one day, after seeing one of Bishop's genetics labs, he finds a solution. Don decides to replicate the technology he found and create clone bodies for himself and his family just in case they ever needed them. He uses his own DNA to make his first prototype. His first several attempts are failures but eventually he gets one that's stable and begins to grow properly. Unfortunately, he fails to account for just how sterilized the environment needs to be in order to grow proper clones and a couple other factors. Not realizing this, he passes out at his workbench and wakes up to find a fully formed baby mutant turtle growing in his makeshift stasis tank.
The little one looked a lot like him, which was expected given that she was meant to be a clone of his, but she had a few notable exceptions. The most obvious being that she was a girl, but another was the color of her eyes and some skin discoloration in more inconspicuous spots on her body like the bottom of her foot or the inside of her knee. These mutations that separated her from being a clone of her father came from impurities in the DNA sample. Somehow traces of other DNA had found its way into her cells.
I'll give you three guesses whose it was...đ
2. Initial reactions to Misa?
Which leads us to the fun part: everyone's reactions!
Don was convinced he was dreaming or hallucinating for a good few minutes right after he woke up and his mind was still foggy from sleep. When he realized she was real, he didn't know what to do. He wishes later on when she's a bit older that there had been some magical moment of connection when she opened her eyes for the first time or something that he could tell her about but truthfully, he was panicking.
Obviously he couldn't hide a baby from his family for very long so they all found out the same day he did. To say they were flabbergasted is putting it very mildly.
Raph, once he can find his words, is just incredulous at how his brother managed to do this. Misa entering the picture just complicates what they're all currently dealing with (external plot bs that I haven't totally figured out yet) and Raph is just about ready to kill his twin.
Leo, meanwhile, takes the longest to process this out of anyone. He's just dead silent, internally screaming for like five minutes straight, trying to figure out what the hell they were all going to do about this. He's already past his limit worrying about his younger brothers for the past 20 something years, adding another little one into the picture nearly breaks him in that moment. He has the most "ok this is a thing now APPARENTLY so how are we gonna mitigate it?" solution-oriented outlook.
Mikey is much more receptive to the news once gets over the initial surprise and the most willing to immediately help out. And he proves to be extremely helpful once they all learn the ropes of how to feed, change, and entertain the baby.
I'd say the initial family conversation probably went like this:
"What the hell do you mean ya made a baby, Don?"
"I don't know."
"Bullshit. How long were you gonna wait to tell us that you and Daph--"
"Daph had nothing to do with it."
"...What?" said everone in unison.
"She was never pregnant."
"She got YOU pregnant?!"
"No, Mikey."
"...You cheated on her?!"
"Seriously, Raph? No!"
"Then whose baby is this?"
"Mine. Just mine. I--made her. I guess. On my own. In the lab."
Leo thus far had not said a word and was just staring at the wall.
Mikey broke the silence. "...So I'm an uncle now? Can I hold her?!"
Master Splinter held up a hand. "Not so fast, my son. We must first discuss how to move forward with this new development. And while we do that, I will be the first to hold my first grandchild."
Splinter moves into grandfather territory lighting fast, probably because he kinda had to do the same thing with fatherhood back when he first found all of them. He takes the baby off Don's hands while they all run around making changes to the lair to make it more baby friendly.
The next several days are spent trying to find proper food for Misa and Don making her a place to safely sleep. And of course everyone adjusting to the baby's schedule. Misa's a crier and when she's upset everyone will hear about it.
April is the first of their friends to meet Misa. She's as shocked as everyone else but is also very happy to meet her. Misa, for her part, is extremely confused at what April is and cries until April gives her back to her dad. April takes this in stride and offers to keep a look out for baby clothes and fetch formula or diapers for Don if he needs it.
Casey learns about Misa through Raph ranting to him and he books it down to the lair because he just has to see her for himself. No one lets him hold the baby (a correct decision) but he has the most intense staring contest with this 10 day old infant mutant turtle who looks at him like she's seeing a new species of animal. He asks MANY questions, all of which Don answers somewhat reluctantly or not at all. One such question was a repeat of Mikey's.
"So...was Daph pregnant and I just never noticed?"
"No."
"....Did she get you--"
"Why the hell does everyone keep asking that??"
Eventually everyone notices the color and shape of baby Misa's eyes and Leo is the first one that makes the salient point to Don that he needs to tell Daph ASAP. When April visits, she echoes the sentiment.
Don is reluctant to do so not because he's afraid that Daph will leave him, but that she'll feel obligated to stay with him if he tells her that Misa is technically her child-- biologically speaking. Daph spent her childhood trapped in a situation she couldn't escape from under the thumb of someone who made her feel obligated to stay and remain loyal to him. Don knows this and hates the idea of potentially trapping Daph in a situation like this especially since they had not discussed kids to any significant degree at this point in their relationship.
He has a conversation with Splinter about it and his father is the one that finally motivates him to take action.
So Don does break the news to her but holds back on telling her about the particular detail that Misa has some of her DNA. He makes sure to tell her one on one first and break the news as gently as possible even though he almost feels sick with stress. Daph is quiet for a bit as she processes the information but then proceeds to ask a series of questions (ie how long has the baby existed? How long has he been keeping this from her? why? How did this even happen? etc etc)
Don is much more patient with answering her than he was with Casey. After several long minutes of questions, she finally asks if she can meet the baby since Misa is pretty much going to be present whether they break up or not and Daphne would prefer getting to know her. They decide to put their romantic relationship on hold while they figure out this new stage of life Don has thrust himself into. Daphne helps him out with Misa over the next year or so and eventually decides to become her mother now that she's aware of just how much work it will be and has had time to really sit with the idea. (this takes a long while)
Daph is not really a natural parent and she struggles a lot with being overwhelmed/overstimulated at times, but she tries her best and is blessed with a village to help take care of Misa so that eases her and Don's stress considerably.
Bonus reaction:
Bishop also learns about Misa eventually and is floored at the idea that Daphne somehow birthed her (he doesn't know how Misa was created so he makes the same logical assumption everyone else does). He's caught between being horrified/disgusted and absolutely fascinated at the scientific implications of Misa's existence. He's of course interested in her and this is something Daphne anticipates even before she knows that Misa carries her DNA and it makes her extremely protective of Misa. As much of a threat as Bishop may be, he does NOT know what he's in for when he starts antagonizing his daughter about wanting a sample of Misa's DNA.
On a more unserious note, I have this mental image of Bishop interrogating Don about this where he basically accuses Don of baby trapping his daughter.
"You baby-trapped her. And you did it without even having to get her pregnant."
"That's not what happened--"
"It's brilliant. Very clever of you, Donatello."
"...what??"
"I'm honestly a bit irritated that I didn't think of it first."
"HUH??"
"If I knew that all I had to do to get her to stay here was make a test tube baby to entertain her with, I would have done that years ago."
"...You have got to be the worst father on the face of the planet."
"Says the one who actually put that plan into action."
"There was no plan! This whole thing was an accident!"
3. How did you pick Misa's name?
Thank you! So her full name is Artemisia but her family tends to call her by her nickname, Misa, more often than not. But I chose her name because one of my absolute favorite artists is Artemisia Gentileschi who was a massively skilled Italian painter during the Baroque period. It's not quite a continuation of the Renaissance artist name trend Splinter gave all the guys but it's close enough! (The Baroque period came right after the Renaissance)
Aside from it kinda fitting into this naming trend that Splinter started with his sons, Artemisia Gentileschi's work is extremely expressive and dynamic. It always gave me the impression that she was a deeply ambitious and passionate person. Her work never strayed away from depicting the ugly side of the stories that other male painters tended to portray in a more softened light. For example, one of the most well-known and depicted scenes from the Bible, 'Judith Beheading Holofernes,' was a piece done by many men before her and they often depicted Judith as a meeker hesitant participant in the objectively brutal act, but Artemisia chose to frame Judith in way that made Judith's ferocity and determination come through. She gave her agency and power. (It is kind of a gruesome painting so I won't show it here but if you're interested, look up Artemisia's depiction of 'Judith Beheading Holofernes' and then compare it to, say, Caravaggio's version. Stark difference.)
BUT ANYWAY I loved the idea of naming Misa after her because to me it's a name that both sounds beautiful and carries a certain weight. It's a name that matches Misa's curious creativity which she gets from her father and her fierce unyielding spirit she gets from her mother.
Though Daphne is not involved in picking out her name (because Misa is initially just Don's baby until Daphne eventually decides to become her mom) I think she deeply approves of it. It's the name of an artist, someone who chose a life of making incredible breathtaking things rather than a life of destruction. Daphne is all too familiar with the latter and wants her daughter to grow up knowing none of that.
Perhaps naming their daughter after a creator of beautiful things will somehow bless her future with nothing but beautiful things. That's the hope, I think.
On a secondary more superficial note, I've also seen 'Artemisia' mean 'gift of Artemis' or something along those lines, which is noteworthy and fitting to me because I associate that particular goddess with Daphne a great deal. This is a whole different tangent I could go on but Daphne actually has a code name when she starts training under Bishop and when she does fieldwork for the EPF, and it's 'Athena.' Purely surface level wish fulfillment name given to her by her shitty dad/commander who wants her to be one of his greatest weapons of war against aliens and mutants. As a person, Daphne much more so connects to the interpretation of Artemis as a young woman who protects her fellow huntresses and those who cannot protect themselves. So I like the idea of her eventual daughter having a name with that kind of connection. Makes it even more special.
My entry for @yoursocialchameleon DTIYS challenge đ
Donnie takes Jun' to go see the 'stars' purely out of spite because she doesn't believe that they're lanterns (she actually does believe him but she clocks his know it all attitude very quickly and figures playing ignorant is the best way to secure his help. She is correct đđââïž)
They fall in love over the days it takes to get to the kingdom. Donnie is in denial about his feelings the entire time until he watches her light up at the sight of the lanterns floating over the water đđ
Anyone else think 2k3 Donnie would be the most romantic partner ever?
I'm talking handmade gifts tailored to his partner's interests and needs, planned out dates, quiet loving words in his partner's ear as he cuddled with them after a long day of work, etc.
Absolutely heartbreaking that Bishop's ONE heroic selfless act was a split second decision to save the life of a terrified five year old who he then proceeds to emotionally neglect and groom into becoming a special operative for the EPF.
The absolute tragedy is that this moment is a glimpse into who he could be if he only decided to be that person (aka the Bishop in Fast Forward). A better father figure, a better person, someone more concerned with how their actions affect others rather than preserving their own sense of pride and security. He could have chosen to be better. The instinct he had to save Daphne's life proves this.
He does one good thing in a high-pressure situation where he has to actively risk his life, with no ulterior motives, and he NEVER chooses to indulge that side of himself afterward. At least not until his relationship with Daphne is beyond repair.
That moment is the reason why Daphne clung to him for so long as she grew up. He was a beacon of safety in a world where she had been left alone and scared without her parents. He was someone she held in the highest regard until she realized that he was not and had likely never been the person she thought he was.
And it completely guts her when she eventually learns about how he does change long long after she leaves him and the EPF behind. It's a slap in the face almost, a gut punch. Because what do you mean he decided to be better? He can't be. It's not possible. Why? Because if he was actually capable of change, if he was going to change for anything or anyone, he would have changed for her...right?
Daphne is hopeful to adopt these two special Inuta.
In regards to the safe space requested by Authority, Daphne has access to a special island that has plenty of secure places for Authority to keep her baby. There is a spot Daphne would specifically suggest on the northern side of the island on the mountain top, a spot no one, not even Daphne, would be able to visit aside from Authority. The spot has a cave where Andromeda can safely stay with his mother and Authority can rest knowing that they are alone and secure.
The island does have a few different occupants, one being the keeper of the land named Philomena (a close friend of Daphne's), who is a seasoned naturalist and understands very well the needs of some creatures to remain in solitude. Philomena will have no issues leaving Authority to her own devices to care for herself and her baby and will happily set up a magical shield around the cave area as extra security if Authority would prefer it.
There are a few other creatures on the island: a Valkrite (a stone winged creature that also prefers solitude), a wyrm (a small social companion to Philomena), and another inuta named Char (also a companion to Philomena).
None of these creatures will be able to reach the cave area and will keep their distance if Authority leaves briefly to go hunting around the island for food. The island has many such resources that would allow her to hunt for herself and her young. If she is tired one day or sick however, Daphne is very willing to bring her some meat (as shown in the image) and water to an agreed upon meeting spot to make Authority's day easier and less stressful.
Daphne is happy to allow Authority all the freedom she wants to live on the island and visits it often enough during the week if Authority ever needs anything and wants to make a request. Daphne understands that Authority is under a great deal of stress and is happy to remain in only as much physical contact as Authority allows. She just wants Authority and baby Andy to be comfortable and safe.
The cave is on the northern most part of the island and everyone else tends to stick to the southern end so Authority will have plenty of space to stretch her legs and eventually help Andy exercise and hunt as he grows up. The island has more than enough room for her baby to grow into adulthood without ever being bothered by any inhabitants if Authority and Andy choose to remain secluded. If eventually they decide to venture out and make contact, everyone is very friendly (though the Valkrite may choose to remain secluded to their own area of the island which is far away from Authority's spot).
Daphne is happy to provide regular updates as well on how the two are doing and will gladly work with Authority to return to the inuta sanctuary for checkups.
Congrats, Authority decided on your application! She debated over and very carefully considered each application, but finally settled on yours! She is thankful to everyone who applied and offered her and little Andy a place in their homes. It will take a while for her to adjust and relax enough to properly explore her new home, let alone even thinking about letting Andy wander around, but she is thankful for all the thought and care offered to her so far. Some of the soon-to-be first-time mothers housed in the same ward of the medical center as her and Andy asked her to stop by whenever they come around to visit. They enjoyed their talks with her and want to show off their litters when they come.
A quick addition from the doctors at the sanctuary: They ask that you keep an eye on Authority's leg with the scar for us! Her doctors worry that the wound that caused the scar did a bit more damage than she's letting on. She never really got comfortable enough here to show any sign of weakness or pain from it, and we're hoping it was because there is none, but her doctors would like the extra set of eyes on it for them!
@beansketches You adopted the Daffodil Queen: DAFFY!!!
If âstop and smell the flowersâ were a creature it would be Daffy! She loves to take her sweet and pleasant time wandering around and looking at things! Flowers! Clouds! Sunlight shining on a pond! (Careful she will try to jump in!) Daffy is the ideal pouch princess and companion for lazy adventures and riding in a bicycle basket~
Don isn't an immediate comfort to Daphne. His outward gentle demeanor downright freaks her out initially when she meets him. Granted yes he's in the middle of patching her up after a brutal encounter with a crazy guy who tried to abuct her and other homeless people, so she's naturally on edge.
BUT
She isn't used to being treated with care. Don has her laying down on a blanket, his coat bundled up and placed underneath her head to act as a pillow so her neck didn't stiffen while she was unconscious from the pain of her injuries, and he's tending to her wounds as gently as he possibly can.
When she wakes up panicked, he gives her space and lets her calm down, talking to her with a steady even voice. He tells her his name, that he's only here to help her.
He waits patiently as she gets her bearings and once the situation eventually registers, she realizes he isn't a threat. Through all of this, he does not touch her again until she gives the go-ahead to continue.
It's months until she sees him again and years until they get to a place in their relationship where she feels comfortable being totally vulnerable with him. In that time, she slowly adjusts to being treated like a person by the community she's built around herself.
It never occurred to her before just how lonley she had been at the EPF until she made it out. There had been no lack of privacy in her old life, every aspect of her diet, education, and training schedule controlled and scrutinized by Bishop, her overbearing father/commander. When she made a mistake, he made it known and let her deal with the aftermath. Approval and praise were less than rare, kindness and comfort, practically nonexistent.
When she finally escaped the base, she had no reason to believe the real world would be anything different than the one she had known. But there were people who were kind. Not a lot, but enough.
And Don...he was like no one else she'd ever met. He was smart, insanely smart, but he never spoke down to anyone not on his level. He was warm and thoughtful and caring towards everyone, not just the people in his personal circle. He engineered solutions to near impossible problems all because he wanted to help someone who needed it. He was even tempered, gentle, and soft hearted.
After a lifetime spent amongst mostly apathetic soldiers and under the thumb of a cold calculating commander who only claimed her as his child behind closed doors, Don was a breath of fresh air.
He was a spark in the darkness, a soft place to land.
Every single thing about him was gentle.
And despite her intentions to keep her distance, she soon found it difficult to do so. He was so easy to talk to.
Even after he learned that she'd been lying to him for years about her past, all he wanted to know was why. And when she told him the truth: that she was terrified that he and his family would want nothing to do with her if they knew she had been bred to hunt people like him and how desperately she wanted to keep her new life separate from her old one, all he did was ask if she was okay.
Immediate understanding, no judgement, no accusations, just compassion.
That's when it sank in how deeply he cared.
And when put into those terms, is it any wonder how hard she fell for him afterward?
đąđ€ a preview of my short story for the red & rude zine!!
huge thank you to @kobbers for creating the spot art! ;o; it's wonderful, and i can't wait for y'all to see how it frames the page, too.
i'm so grateful and excited to have been a part of this zine, and to work with this team again--as well as meet all the other creators. all of you knocked it out of the park; thank you so much for having me!
PREORDERS ARE OPEN until May 24th!
all profits will go to The Sea Turtle Conservancy!
I find this very difficult to ask and I feel really guilty even putting this online, but I kinda need help financially with something important to me and my family.
If you havenât seen on my Kofi, my motherâs bathroom has basically broken. The people who installed her bath did a really bad job, and as a result the whole thing needs replacing because it leaks bad enough that itâs leaking into the kitchen. My mother couldnât afford a better house when she was forced to downsize, and so she now has to try and pay the cost of all the repairs, which totals to around ÂŁ2,500. Sheâs on disability benefits only and needs a bath desperately due to her disabilities, but cannot pay such a large price. I unfortunately canât just give her the money as I donât have the money even with my savings from years of saving at university. I feel terrible for asking, but Iâm putting a new goal on my Kofi to try and pay for this for her, and I need some help. I donât want people to donate if they canât or donât want to - I know how awful the cost of living is right now, but every little bit will help manage this insane cost.
Iâm going to link my goal below, and if anyone is kind enough and able to donate even a single dollar, I would be forever grateful. I feel so shit for asking for help, and I really donât want to, but it is what it is. If anyone is willing to donate I thank you eternally. Sorry for being so pathetic to ask, feel free to ignore this if you canât. I completely understand.
Iâm so sorry to ask this. I really want my mother to be able to fix this or she wonât be able to have a bathroom that she deserves after all the years of poverty and torment she sacrificed for me. I am ashamed I canât just give it to her but I canât even pay my rent for living in her house right now. Thank you to everyone for even following me, commissions have really helped and all your support is treasured beyond belief.
Link to my goal/donation fund: https://ko-fi.com/dysfunctionaldoodle/goal?g=1
I know it's a lot, but you could you answer nos. 6, 9, 13 and 22 about Daphne and Don? I am soo excited to read the latest chapter! đ„ș đđ» đ
Absolutely!
6. What is their favorite thing about the other? (Physical/personality/habits/etc etc)
Personality wise, Don loves how passionate Daphne is about certain topics and the fact that she loves to learn. She's very politically aware and stubborn when it comes to her views (kinda ironic given how her worldview shifted so much upon getting to know him and his family and The Incident before that which led to her beginning to question her upbringing under Bishop) and that's because her current worldview as a young adult is firmly staked within her own cultivated sense of morality rather than the one her father tried to push upon her. For example, since she grew up within the strict bounds of the EPF as a child soldier and went on to reject that life, she is not at all trusting towards traditional authority figures especially those in the military and law enforcement. This fear was validated when she spent more than a year after her escape as a homeless teenager and got to witness and experience the apathy of law enforcement firsthand. When prompted she will voice her opinions about how flawed and untrustworthy police and the military are, not just on an individual basis but the entire systems these people support because she knows intimately how the military operates and what purposes they serve. (And do NOT get her started on the militarization of police in the US, she will get angry and not shut up).
She has a tendency to go on passionate rants about serious and nonserious stuff (doesn't matter, if she cares enough she will TALK) and Don will always be sat for it. He genuinely likes hearing her perspective and will always be actively listening even if he looks like he isn't. It's like his own personal podcast to listen to while he's working on a project at his desk.
For Daphne, she loves his instinct to help others, how his default setting is to be patient, gentle, and kind. It's such a contrast to the cold, demanding, and impatient demeanor of her father (and generally other men) that she grew up around, that it actually set her on edge when she first met him. Her nervous system wasn't used to feeling a lack of imminent threat. But after several years of warming up to him and his family and getting used to being treated like an actual person on the regular, this trait of his is the most attractive thing about him. She loves that his care extends to those outside of his family and circle of friends. He's also always happy to explain something to her in terms she can understand and is never condescending about it. That last bit is especially relevant because she's taken her education into her own hands as an adult and she's more than a little self-conscious of how ignorant she is in a lot of areas like history, literature, art, etc. (Bishop was very STEM focused and even then, he only taught her things that he saw as relevant to her future position at the EPF).
As for physical aspects, Daphne loves his eyes and his hands, specifically the little imperfections of old injuries that speak to his devotion to mechanical and electrical engineering and continued self-education. He's a very hands-on kind of learner and that's something they have in common.
Don would say that he loves how Daphne's face lights up when she solves a problem or sees a cute animal or a book she enjoys, and while that is true, his more truthful answer is...well...
He's got muscle girl fever
9. Are there any AU ideas involving them that shake up their dynamic or story?
YES AND THEY RANGE FROM TRAGIC TO HILARIOUS
I will do my best to be brief:
SAINW AU:
Similar to the 03 series episode, Don has been missing for the past 20 years and everything has gone to shit. Daphne sticks around with April and Mikey to aid in resistance efforts against the Shredder, quietly mourning the person she fell in love with all those years ago and still desperately hopes is alive no matter how unlikely that might be. Before he disappeared they did have a baby named Artemisia (Misa for short) who was born from a lab accident rather than biologically. Daphne spends those two decades protecting and training their daughter and being an active resistance member.
Meanwhile Don is in fact alive and has been spending years trying to get back to everyone.
The whole premise is basically the Odyssey as Don is roadblocked at every opportunity from returning home to his family and Daphne is busy fending off aggressive attackers while yearning for her husband.
I like the idea of exploring how they develop as characters separate from each other for so long and getting to write them just YEARNING for each other.
Rise! AU:
In this iteration I wanted to really shake up their dynamic especially since Rise!Donnie is so different from 03!Don. I also wanted to explore Daphne choosing to take the dreaded darker path of staying with the EPF and fully embracing Bishop's influence, something that she resists and struggles with heavily in my New Friends, Old Strangers AU of the 03 series.
Here, however, she's a fully realized EPF agent and she's scary good at her job which entails hunting down "criminal" yokai for her father to interrogate. In this iteration the EPF is fully aware of yokai and aliens and Bishop is still the head of it but he has to take a more diplomatic approach more often than not so he can actually protect humanity. This often entails working with more powerful yokai like Big Mama to accomplish his goals. Under the condition that he leaves her Nexus Tournament and her underlings alone so she can continue her own work and whatnot. Much more complicated politics.
Obviously this position Daphne holds makes her an enemy of the Rise!turtles so she and Donnie have a legitimate enemies-to-lovers arc to their relationship.
She and Donnie HATE each other off the bat and that comes across in their combat. He particularly hates that she finds ways to evade or disable his tech (using magic no less!!) whenever they cross paths. Antagonistic banter is a given.
Leo actually teases Donnie about it and starts sarcastically referring to her as his nemesis and eventually his girlfriend which obviously annoys his twin. And of course it ends up coming true.
I'm going back and forth on whether or not I want her story to take the direction of her turning away from her father after getting to know the guys or if I should mark them as doomed.
13. What is one of the most pivotal moments when they are well within the timeline of their romantic relationship?
Oh this is a good one. I gotta go with the fallout of Don's mutation arc.
After the gang successfully pulls off the deal with Bishop in 'Good Genes' (s4 ep25) and Don is physically back to normal, he is absolutely not okay emotionally or mentally. The reverse mutagen impacted his initial memory after the incident but he slowly begins regaining bits and pieces from when he was mutated. These mostly come in the form of nightmares which impact his sleep and mental health. He struggles heavily with this and resorts to his normal coping mechanism: locking himself in his room, lab, or workshop to work himself to exhaustion.
Daphne notices this and gently confronts him one night. He breaks down and explains what's been going on and how he feels like he was a monster and can't reconcile with that feeling. He doesn't understand why she's still willingly sticking with him after seeing what he turned into and how he hurt her and his family while in his mutated form. This is a legitimate concern because Daphne has trauma related to witnessing a mutant killing her parents when she was very young.
She does everything she can to reassure him that she doesn't see him as a monster, that he's never been one even when he was mutated and that she would never hold against him anything he did while in that form.
It's meant to be a nice little parallel to another moment in their relationship. After Daphne's history with Bishop came out in the worst possible way, Don was the one that insisted upon checking in with her while she was isolating herself. He made it clear to her that he didn't think she was a monster for having grown up under Bishop and that he'd be there for her regardless of what she thought about herself because HE CARES.
This was before they became a couple too so it hit Daphne very hard. (It's also the triggering event that made her begin to fall for him đ)
So she does the same thing for him when he's struggling with similar feelings after his second mutation. She tells him that she isn't going anywhere and neither is his family for that matter, that he's so incredibly loved and cared for and valued far beyond his "usefulness" on the team or his "use" in their relationship.
He was her light in her darkest hour and she does her best to be his even if being gentle is not something that comes as easily to her as it does him. đđđ
22. What is each of their ideal date night ideas?
If Daphne were to plan the night, she'd take Don to a small Turkish restaurant that she discovered during her homeless days. (The owner is a very kind couple who would feed her and other homeless people any leftover food they had at the end of the night). Then she'd take him to the scrap yard and they'd make a game of who could find the best parts and construct something cool out of them. Loser buys dessert đš đ which would be from a little ice cream stand on their way home. Don loves the yard and getting to flex (ahem show off đđ) his engineering skills in a no pressure environment so she'd want to cater to that as much as possible.
Don's would definitely involve introducing her to the planetarium and then taking her on an introductory flying lesson in a helicopter (the one he stole from Shredder's tower at the end of season 1 and keeps stored at the junkyard). One of Daphne's dreams as a kid was to become a pilot. These aspirations usually revolved around her getting to see new places and meet new people since she mostly grew up pretty secluded on a military research base. So Don would probably center his date plans around her getting to see and experience things she could only dream about as a kid. đ
I loved answering all of these! Thank you đđ @mikubobba
Rules: Tag at least 3 people. There's no obligation to participate, but if they'd like to, they (and anyone else who is curious â€ïž) can send an ask containing the questions they want answered regarding your oc x canon ship. They can also reblog and tag as many people as they'd like for engagement about their own oc x canon ship if they have one (this also works for self-insert x canon or AU canon x canon too!) Have fun!
1. How did they first meet? And what was their initial impression of each other?
2. Who fell first? And who fell harder?
3. How did each realize they had feelings for the other? (I.e. the "oh no... I actually have feelings for them" moment)
4. What drew them to each other?
5. Who said "I love you" first? How did it happen?
6. What is their favorite thing about the other? (Physical/personality/habits/etc etc)
7. What is the biggest hurdle they face as couple or becoming a couple?
8. What two songs would represent their respective feelings towards each other?
9. Are there any AU ideas involving them that shake up their dynamic or story?
10. How do friends/family of each character view the relationship?
11. Who is the biggest supporter of their relationship... and who is their biggest hater?
12. What is one of the most pivotal moments in their pre-romantic era of their relationship?
13. What is one of the most pivotal moments when they are well within the timeline of their romantic relationship?
13. What is your favorite trope or aspect about their dynamic?
14. If they were to describe each other in only a few words, what would each say about the other?
15. What objects remind them of each other?
16. What scents, textures, sights or sounds remind them of each other?
17. What nicknames would they use for each other? If none, why not?
18. What does the future look like for them? Happily ever after? Doomed? Short lived but bittersweet in its end?
19. What animals would they choose to represent each other?
20. What do they think of each other's fashion sense? (If they wear clothes)
21. What are their favorite everyday activities to do together?
22. What is each of their ideal date night ideas?
23. What is an angsty piece of their lore, and how does it affect their current relationship?
24. What is a happy (dare I say sappy) piece of their lore?
25. To what degree do they engage in PDA or general physical touch?
26. What were the first gifts they got each other? Do they still have them?
27. How long did they have feelings for each other and when did they actually realize their feelings?
28. What is the most casual but loving thing they do for each other without even thinking?
29. Are kids in the cards in their future? Whether yes or no or it's complicated, explain.
30. How do they each say "I love you" in their actions?
cw/tags: whump, hurt, angst, torture, Bishop is a sick bastard even towards his own daughter, oc x canon
One of the more innocuous things Daphne hated the most about the EPF base were the floors. The constant waxing of the hallways. Her boots, newer but now well past broken in, still managed to squeak slightly as she strode down the corridor, the gray tile stretching on for what seemed like an eternity.
She had no idea why it was cleaned as often as it was. Likely something to do with Bishop's vanity or rather some vanity adjacent aspect given how he saw his work as something within the realm of godlike virtue and so naturally the structure housing such activities required more the maintenance of a temple than a military compound.
Or maybe it had something to do with this end of the base housing the laboratories and cleanrooms. Probably the second option.
Probably.
She had been occupied in the shooting range when one of the soldiers, Shepherd, came to fetch her.
"Commander wants to see you." He said nothing more than that and she didn't bother inquiring further.
Mild irritation swelled inside her chest at the thought of leaving her sanctuary early and facing her father this late in the day. Sighing through her nose, she removed her ear protection, unloaded her weapon, and dropped it off at the exit counter before heading in the direction of the research floor Shepherd wordlessly pointed her towards.
Whatever lecture Bishop wanted to give her, it could surely wait until tomorrow. She already felt the twinge of a migraine creeping behind her eyes and up the front of her skull. It was only escalated by the unreasonably shiny endless fucking floor. But just as soon as she reached the genetics lab, she wished she had more time to wander the halls.
She took a deep breath, steeling herself, as she so often did these days, and readied herself to face her commander. Then she pushed the door open.
"If this is about Robinson's sidearm backfiring again," she began preemptively, "I already showed him twice how toâ"
Her feet halted as her attention settled upon the scene in front of her. For a moment there was only the sound of the door shutting with a quiet click that seemed to echo through the oppressive silence of the lab.
Don.
How was he here? He couldn't be.
She had seen Bishop release him and his brothers weeks ago when she made her way back into the EPF with a singular intention: to give up herself in exchange for their release. To her surprise at the time, it had worked. He had even allowed her to say goodbye. Don had been more than reluctant to let go of her, but he had left in the end. All of them had.
Yet here he was not ten yards away. Kneeling on the cold tile, arms restrained behind his back, held in place by two heavily armed soldiers.
An ugly leather muzzle was fastened firmly over his face, hiding nearly everything but his eyes which caught hers in a silent desperate expression she could only decipher as an apology and plea for her to run. Her feet felt rooted to the floor.
As her eyes traveled over him in an effort to determine his physical condition, her heart dropped into her stomach when she spotted the collar around his neck. Each of the men held some sort of pole attached to either side of the contraption and she had a deep-seated nauseating feeling that the objects were not solely meant to keep Don at armâs length.
âGood to see you in active spirits.â A familiar cold voice emanated from her left and served to yank her back into her body.
Bishop looked for all intents and purposes like his normal self: dignified, reserved, and arrogant to a degree only regularly achieved by dictators, as though he was owed the world for all the work he did in the name of protecting it.
Daphne, however, couldnât help but take fearful note of the almost gleeful look in his eyes as he addressed his prisoner.
âSee, Donatello? I told you sheâd be happy to see you.â
Donnie, unable to respond, fixed Bishop with a glare that could have melted steel.
âWhat is this?â She demanded once she found her voice again, low though it was. âYou said youâd let him go.â
âI did.â Bishopâs eyes returned to her, his posture slightly more relaxed than his usual militaristic stiffness, visibly comfortable in the control he held over the situation. âIt seems someone couldnât bear to be apart from you for very long.â
Her eyes caught Donâs and the expression in them all but confirmed Bishopâs words before he couldnât hold her gaze any longer.
Don, what the hell?
âHe was caught trying to sneak in through the airducts,â Bishop explained rather matter-of-factly. âPresumably to find you since the first thing he did was demand to know that youâre alive and well. Isnât that sweet?â
Her feet suddenly regained the ability to move when Bishop began approaching Donnie. Before she could take more than a few steps, however, a pair of strong gloved hands gripped her arms and held her back.
Had Shepherd followed behind her to the lab? Had she been too consumed with her thoughts to notice him?
Instinctively she struggled to break the hold. A muffled outcry came from Don as he began vigorously straining against his bonds. What began as stifled protests quickly turned into sharp guttural screams, audible even through the thick material of the muzzle.
The pain in his voice cut through her focus on the man wrenching her arms behind her back. Fresh panic settled over her like a suffocating blanket as sparks flew from the ends of the poles and into the collar on Donnieâs neck.
âStop!â She cried out, ignoring the pain spiking up her arms as the soldier held her wrists tighter. âLeave him alone!â She didnât know the exact amount of electricity coursing through his body but she knew it was likely enough to seriously injure him if it went on for much longer.
One word from Bishop and the sparks dissipated as quickly as they started. Donâs body shook from the aftermath as he nearly collapsed onto the floor, held upright only through the leverage the two attending soldiers had on the attachments to his collar. She could hear the deep breaths he struggled to take through the slats in the muzzle.
âIngenious little device, donât you think?â Once again Bishopâs grating casual tone dragged her attention back. He held up what looked like a remote, small enough to fit in the palm of his hand. It looked as though it could have been Triceraton tech but she was beyond caring enough to inspect it further. âItâs best use case is for subduing prisoners but it also has a more lethal feature.â One of his fingers pointedly grazed over a red button on the remote.
Don was still struggling to catch his breath, aftershocks occasionally twitching random muscles all over his body. Despite this clear absence of threat, one of the soldiersâ fingers twitched above what she could now see was some sort of trigger on the end of the pole in his hands.
âSo I would suggest against riling him up again,â Bishop said as he pocketed the device and turned to fully face her. The gleeful spark in his eyes had grown into well disguised yet barely contained excitement, the kind of expression he wore when dissecting a new specimen.
A sudden heat in her chest began to overtake the nausea in her stomach, as though her fatherâs words had lit a fuse inside her. When she spoke her words were quiet, dangerously sharp.
âYou made your point,â she said, making a conscious effort to keep still, to not struggle against the painful grip of the soldier still holding her in place. âLet him go.â
His eyebrows lifted slightly. âIâm afraid thatâs off the table.â
âYou saidââ
âI said I would release all of them provided that you met my conditions. And I did.â Bishop glanced back at Donnie who was only then finding the energy to lift his head. âOur deal had no bearing on what I would do if one of them decided to return to the base and stage a half thought out rescue mission.â
âYou donât need him,â she tried to reason, blunted nails buried themselves into her palms. âYou already have his DNA.â
âThat hardly rules out his use in any further research,â he replied. âBut Iâm willing to hold off on that so long as you start meeting our prior agreed upon expectations.â
âWhat are you talking about?â She couldnât hide her naked confusion at the accusation. âIâve carried out every order you and any other superior has given me.â
Bishop fixed her with a look suitable for scolding a child caught lying about stealing a treat from the kitchen. âYour progress reintegrating into your position has been less than remarkable. Yes, you do as your told, but your attitude is less than acceptable, and your work is passable at best. Not to mention the fact that youâve hardly made significant advancement towards our agreed end goal.â
No argument came to her lips and offered her defense. The last several weeks at the base had felt more like a bad dream than anything else. A nightmare she would eventually hopefully awake from. She had no doubt that her resumed training progress was lacking in his eyes, especially given Bishop's ruthless standards of performance. Standards her body was intimately familiar with and woefully underprepared to immediately jump back into after years of less than rigorous training away from the EPF.
âThatâs what this is about?â It was becoming much more difficult to keep herself cooperative and stationary. âYouâre going to keep him here because Iâm notâenthusiastic enough?â
One of Bishopâs hands slipped into his pocket, the very picture of composure and control. âMore or less.â
Her body felt rigid and cold as she watched him rest his other hand on the back of Donâs neck, who didnât have the energy or freedom to put any significant distance between them.
âThink of it as motivation, a reward even,â Bishop continued casually. âSo long as you perform adequately within your position and make proper progress, youâll be allowed to see him, say once a week. Time permitting, of course.â The smallest smile lifted a corner of his mouth. âIn the meantime, heâll be secure and well cared for.â
Don caught her gaze, dark eyes beseeching and frantic, and gave her an almost imperceptible shake of the head.
âOr,â Bishopâs arm tensed slightly, earning a small sharp exhale from Donnie as he tightened his grip, âIf you want to keep being stubborn and useless, I can busy myself with another project where Donatello here can be a more worthy use of my time.â
The furnace in her chest was raging, her heart fighting to crack through her ribs. There was no choice here and Bishop knew that.
So she swallowed down the fire rising up her throat and did her best to blunt the edges of her words. âNo. Iâll improve. Just leave him alone.â
âExcellent.â A satisfied grin settled fully onto Bishopâs face as he released his hold on Donnieâs neck. A wordless look from him to the soldier restraining her and she found herself released. âTomorrow youâll report to the range at 0500 before any other responsibilities. I expect to see the actual skill youâve managed to retain since the last time you trained here. Am I understood?â
Teeth gnawed on the inside of her cheek as she fixed her posture and avoided Donâs attempts to catch her gaze. âYes, sir.â
âYouâre dismissed.â
Of their own volition, her eyes flicked down to Donnieâs, softening slightly as a silent exchange passed between them.
Iâm sorry.
Itâs alright. Iâll fix this, I promise.
It was less than a second before her fatherâs sharp gaze cut through her momentary distraction with a silent repeat of his order.
Knowing better than to test his patience, she forced her feet to move and carry her through the lab exit, actively resisting the urge to look back over her shoulder. She was halfway down the hall when she realized she had not registered the familiar irritating squeak of boots on waxed tile until after she heard the door shut with a definitive resonant thud.
