#graftedbranchesau

[cloudgremlin-tmnt]

*Pats Leonardo from the hit turtle ninja tv show* This turtle has such range you wouldn’t believe :3

I just think it would be funny. Ever since @angelpuns made a Leo raised by Todd which gives him the perfect opportunity to weaponize niceness I’ve been microwaving him in my brain. He is the Most. Yes. So have some fanart \o/

[cloudgremlin-tmnt]

@lara-cairncross your most recent mini sep au art post put this in my brain and I had to share (ft: my grafted branches Lee who grew up in fae society)

ID in alt text

[cloudgremlin-tmnt]

Prosthetics are my JAM guys, so of course my Donatello makes prosthetics.

The Dewclaw prosthetic is heavily inspired by Dani Clode’s third thumb project (Ted Talk about it) but much beefier- after all, this finger has to handle the stress of a jō staff when Dona is out crime fighting!

Ol’ Grippy was Dona’s first design back when Don only had a 3D printer to work with, and though the prosthesis itself has been upgraded over the years, the design has stayed pretty much the same. It’s inspired by Ian Davis’ work (missingpartsclub on YouTube).

And of course I’ve taken tons of inspo from other fan creators, especially @tizeline’s seperated AU:

Dona wants to know how they work Tiz!Donnie! Don has no qualms about grabbing Tiz!Donnie and studying him bc he’s another Don!

[cloudgremlin-tmnt]

Grafted Branches Krang Lore

Look every tmnt iteration needs a fun twist on the krang :3c

The only rule of magic I have for Grafted Branches is that magic cannot physically transform a living being. This is Specifically to show how the krang could have secured such a legendary and feared reputation, as the only beings on earth capable of such transformations.

The krang invasion of earth happened over 3,000 years ago, and has been tangled into the world of legend and myth.

Initially, the krang was a biotech power generator made by the Utrom (who I have to draw later bc they are fun) and with no emergency shutdown, the krang did its job of converting everything and anything into power very, very well. It’s a single organism existing in multiple bodies, and shares information through physical contact with other parts of itself. Think of it like a giant, constantly hungry mushroom and that’s a pretty good comparison ^-^

It spreads to new bodies using spores, though it can also spread through physical contact. At earlier stages of infection, a person (folk or human) will gain vitality, strength, and heightened senses. One can keep their mind and exist in this state for quite a while, though there are no cases of it being indefinite. Once the krang body erupts from the skin, the person it has infected is completely obsessed by gathering more power and is considered deceased.

There is no sure fire way to gain immunity to the krang infection, but all around the world groups formed to prevent further infection, fight off the krang, and- eventually- find a way to destroy it completely. In Japan, there were three such groups who worked together to control, fight, and seal away the krang:

Note: when I was making up the symbols I accidentally made the Star Wars Rebels symbol for the Usagi family TwT

There are many stories of the fabled three clans, but it’s generally believed that the Tsume family betrayed the other two families and sided with the krang, causing the downfall of Yokai society. A few families in modern times claim to come from either the Hamato or Usagi families (though not so much from the Usagi line, since there’s plenty of rumours that they either fell to or were corrupted by the krang as well) but the actual family lines are secretive of their ancestry. No one claims to be from the Tsume fam :3

[cloudgremlin-tmnt]

My Raph and Mikey from GB desperately need some characterization work but my head is full of the two other dumb-dumbs <3

I also felt like bullying Krang a bit <3 it deserves to be bullied <3

It took me a bit to get to a plot and lore explanation I was happy with for some stuff (namely, the Hamato ancestor spirit/kami and the connection Krang has with the siblings) but now Grafted Branches is once again microwaving in my head like a leftover plate of mushroom fettuccini ~*

[cloudgremlin-tmnt]

ID in alt text

Some Rafa <3 (and bonus Dona n Lee being the eepers) Rafa is the hardest of the sibs for me to both draw (Godzilla lookin dude owo) and characterize. He’s very comfortable with who he is and where he’s at, and just wants to keep building up the little community that took in him and Splinter. He’s a static character, unlike the other three sibs who all develop and change over the course of the Grafted Branches storyline. As the only child of the Hamato clan who is skilled in the traditional sealing ninpo (Karai can in theory she just has zero practice or desire to learn it) he generally acts as the last resort in situations, but because he IS so powerful all his solutions are just to muscle through ‘^-^ Dona hates this so much and is terrified that Rafa is gonna try to take on too much one day- Rafa does not realize the irony of this mirroring how he is terrified of Michael “jumps first asks questions never” Pedazo getting in over sun’s head in a place Rafa can’t reach:

ID in alt text

Rafa just wants everyone to be okay! Forever! But they all keep running into dangerous situations and trying to save the world! Poor guy TwT

[cloudgremlin-tmnt]

Okay maybe I slightly got inspired by my older brother who considered being a white hat hacker in his teenage years. But meet Grafted Branches April, 18 years of chaotic neutral older sister protectiveness. She’s recently graduated, got a fully paid scholarship all set for NYU’s cybersecurity program, and can hack into just about anything given enough time and materials.

I think she ended up a mishmash of 2003, Rise, and MM Aprils personality-wise (physically she’s closest to Rise). She’s not very shouty since Dona gets freaked out when ppl yell so all of that high gremlin energy is channeled into referencing vines, kicking smalltime criminal butt with the rest of the Noh Theatre Vigilante Group, and snooping where she isn’t supposed to be :3

Dona’s been doing April’s hair since she was 10 because Don finds it soothing and April likes not having to do her hair/get an expensive hair appointment. Usually twists or natural hair styles, but Don can do braids too! Dona did try to do faux locs for April once. Both Dona and April were defeated by the locs and haven’t tried again since XD

[cloudgremlin-tmnt]

More fashion turtles this time Rafa wheeee

I originally thought Splinter would have taught Rafa how to sew, but now I’m thinking maybe a different inhabitant of Red Heart Sanctuary might have taught him. I don’t have a lot of the other inhabitants fleshed out (except for Kirby and Honeycutt) so idk yet ^-^

Rafa works with machines a lot (both repairing stuff around the sanctuary and working on his motorbike) so he knows the value of a good pair of pants. However, shirts tend to catch and pull on his back, so he tends not to wear them unless going out and about around humans- in which case, it’s time for many layers and a high-vis vest!

Every folk in Grafted Branches can do simple magic works, one of which is glamour. It’s more a redirection of attention than a full cloaking/redefining of the body (unlike cloaking brooches) and doesn’t hold up to close, unprejudiced scrutiny. Kids are naturally good at seeing through glamours, and animals aren’t affected by glamour! Still, so long as a folk keeps their head down, a glamour can keep one just another faceless person in the crowd.