A Gift For @allosaurids

Rise April Challenge 18: Sleep

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Please just go to sleep. It’s not that hard, just sleep. Just sleep. Just sleep. Sleep. Sleep. Sleep. Sleep. Sleep-

Leo groaned into his pillow and rolled over on to his back. The mantra had been repeating endlessly in his mind for he didn’t even want to know how long, and he just wanted to sleep.  

Leo has had insomnia since he was young, the feeling of desperately reaching out for sleep, only to be met with more exhaustion was an old friend at this point. But it could be worse.

When the four brothers had researched their respective species, they had found that Red Eared Sliders only needed about 4-5 hours of sleep a day, meaning that Leo didn’t need as much shuteye as the others. But those few hours were very important. But on these long nights, when Leo’s mind wouldn’t let his body rest, all he could do was wait for the sun to rise and drown himself in coffee in hopes of driving back the heavy pounding on his limbs.

Leo sighed and sat up. He just needed to accept that he wasn’t going to slip into the dark, and just try and relax till his brain let him sleep. He leaned out of bed, stood up, and headed to the kitchen.  

Leo’s ninja training helped keep his movements quiet as he filled the kettle and placed it on the stove. The familiar routine made him feel more centered and present, rather than just floating around in the sea of nondescript stress and exhaustion that was his mind right now. He opened one of the cabinets and considered the different types of tea inside.

Lavender, Chai, Jasmine, Marigold, Chamomile, Chrysanthemum...

…

…

…

…

...what was that noise?

Oh shoot!

The kettle had begun to whistle. The shrill sound having just barely started before Leo leaped over and yanked it away from the heat. He just stares at the stove for a moment before flicking it off and placing the kettle down.

Damn, he didn't think that he was this far along. He had to have been zoned out for at least a few minutes for the water to start boiling, which meant that he was starting on his way to sleep deprivation. That was never fun.

Leo grabbed a mug and the first box of tea he felt without looking at it. He placed the teabag in the cup and poured the water.

He watched the steam float away from the mug, transfixed by its swirling, twisting patterns. There and not there all at once. It looked like it should be whispering in hushed voices that he couldn’t understand, it looked-

Focus Leo, focus. You can stare at hot water vapor later.

He picked up the mug and walked into the living room, turning off the kitchen light. He settled down on the couch and covered himself with one of the throw blankets. He considered turning on a move but decided that the remote was too far away for him to even try.

So, Leo sat in the silent darkness.  

The lair draped in a stillness that only came when everyone was asleep, an overpowering sense of solitude that flowed around Leo like water. It was a little scary, but this was a part of the insomnia that Leo could enjoy. The only part of it really. It was like having a secret, like these moments were something that was just for him alone. Even if he was half out of his mind with exhaustion.

Leo relaxed into cushions and peered out into the endless shadows. The mug was warm in his hand and the blanket was soft. He took a few sips of his tea as he looked at the empty shadow-covered room but set it down on the table before he even drank an eighth of it.  

He didn’t try and force his brain to shut off, he had already tried and failed to do that all night, he just allowed it to wander. Leo let this mind think without paying it much attention and just sat and stared at nothing.

Soon Leo found his brain’s ramblings fading in and out. Going from half formed thoughts to white noise and back. Good. It meant that he would finally get to sleep, he just had to let it happen.  

Don’t force it, don’t make it, just let it happen.

It took him an hour to completely slip away, and even then, he still woke up several times. But Leo, slowly, managed to sleep his way through the night and into the bright morning of the next day.  

Prev - Next - Masterpost Ao3 Link: Here Please check out @zee-rambles who came up with this challenge and look at @rise-april-art-challenge to see more submissions by other fans. Please give me feedback if there is anything I should work on.

Rise April Art Challenge 14: Spar

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Ao3 Link: Here

Sparing had never been fun for Donnie. It was tiring, and he would much rather be in his lab being a genius than in the dojo being a punching bag. It didn’t help that Donnie could never pull his punches correctly. He was never sure how much force to use, so he would either just barely tap his brothers or leave them with bad bruises that would last weeks. It was frustrating.

So, when Mikey had asked him to spar with him, Donnie had tried to redirect him to Leo or Raph. It wasn’t working.

“Come on, Dee!”

“Mikey, I don’t want to!”

“Just one round, please.”

“No. It’s never just one round!”

“It is this time! I promise!” Mikey’s wide eyes and puffed out lip were wearing down Donnie’s defenses, and the soft shell did not want to have to deal with a grumpy Mikey.

“Fine!” He groaned and walked towards the dojo. Mikey yelped in victory and followed behind.

Donnie picked up a wooden bo and swung it around, trying to adjust his mind into the right patterns for fighting his brother. He turned to face Mikey, only to find him kneeled down and fiddling with a boombox.

“Mikey, what are you doing?” His younger brother turned to him and smiled.

“I know you don’t like sparing, so I thought I could help make more fun.” He hit the play button on the box, and a fast electric song filled the room.

Mikey turned up the volume till it was blasting and nodded to the beat, picking up his nunchakus and lengthening the chain.  

Donnie knew this song. It was heavy on the base, so deep he could feel it in his bones. He felt spikes run up and down his arms, and his legs were tensing and relaxing to the swings of sound that the music used. He could feel the desire to move well up inside of him as the rhythmic, electric spikes pounded into the room.

“Did you go through my playlist?” He asked, but Mikey just swung his hips to the music.  

Right.

Left.  

Mike slid his way onto the mat and took a fighting stance. Donnie slowly followed suit.

The music spiked for a moment and Mikey struck. His chain whipped out, and Don brought up his bo to block it. But the move was different than normal.

Mike had swung with his whole body, spinning completely around causing his weapon to be drawn back. It was an ineffective move, revealing too many openings that Donnie could take advantage of if he wasn’t so confused. The music spiked again then fell, Mikey then swung his nunchakus one way, then the other.

Right  

Left

Another spike. His brother charged Donnie, moving to ensnare his chain around the soft shell's arm. He dogged (Spike) and Mikey swung for the other arm.

Right

Left

Donnie finally attacked back, knocking away his brother's second swing and going stab to the chest. Mike leaned back, (Spike) then leaned forward and spun his weapon. Donnie ducked before he even saw Mike go for his head, and before he even had time to question how he knew, he dropped to ground.

Spike. He swung for the legs.

Mikey jump back into a handstand and (Spike) flipped forward trying to land on Donnie back. Don rolled away and leapt to his feet and struck for Mikey’s shoulders.

Strike, Right

Strike, Left

He was doing it now.  

There was a lull in the music and the two looked at each other. Mikey had a smug and happy smile on his face. While Donnie just looked shocked.

“Why?” He asked, and Mikey shrugged.

“You like dancing. Fighting’s like dancing, all we needed was a beat.”

Donnie smiled and they both fell back in their fighting stances as the music picked up again.

-

“Come on, Dee! I wanna eat!”

“Just one more round, Mikey!”

“Uuuuhhhh. Worst idea ever!”

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Ao3 Link: Here

Please check out @zee-rambles who came up with this challenge and take a look at @rise-april-art-challenge for more submissions from other fans. Feel free to give me some feedback if I should improve on something.

Moments Chapter 3: Dr. Delicate Touch

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Ao3 Link: Here

Tensions had been running high in the Hamato household for days now. Raph and Donnie had been fighting, Raph and Leo had been fighting, Donnie and Leo had been fighting, everybody was fighting with everybody. Mikey doesn't even really remember the reason why it started, he only knows that every attempt to apologize or to calm everyone down had only caused more harsh words to be exchanged and more feelings to be hurt. And honestly, Mikey was just getting sick of it.   

Even still, he might not have done anything about it. The fighting may have lasted another week before fading into obscurity, and it all would have gone back to normal. But Mikey was tired. He had stayed up all night for the first time, and when the morning had come, he had been barely able to keep his eyes open, and of course, when he went down to breakfast everyone was pointedly ignoring each other or glaring at each other. But Mikey had been too emotionally and physically tried to give a damn, just sat down with a thump and tried to eat his cereal in peace. Then, Leo decided to open his big mouth.  

"So, you're really going to pretend that nothing happened?" the Slider said, glaring at Donnie.   

"I don't know what you're talking about," Donnie responded coldly, not looking up from his bowl. Mikey squeezed his eyes shut with a despite, silent plea for his brothers just to stop.  

“Oh, wonderful. We’re just going to mosey on past all that stuff you said. Awesome. Great.” Mikey put his head in his hands and wished he had hair to tug on.  

“You’re not even going mention what you said yesterday?” Raph asked, eyes narrow. Mikey could feel himself losing control and getting closer to a breakdown every second.  

“Don’t start with me, Rapha.” Leo snarled and opened his mouth to say something else that he would most certainly regret later, and Mikey felt the moment he lost it.  

“Shut up, Leo. You’re not helping.” Mikey said. The others all stopped and stared at him. “What? He’s not. He’s just mad 'cause he knows he’s in the wrong, and he can’t worm his way out of it, so he's pointing out everyone else's mistakes.” There was silence for a moment then Dee, still a little unsettled but determined to use this to his advantage, shakily smiled and turned to Leo.  

“Ha! See Leo-”  

“Oh no, Donnie,” Mikey interrupted before that could get off the ground. “Just because he’s trying to deflect, doesn’t mean he isn’t right. You need to get off your high horse and quit pretending you’re better than us because you’re smarter!” And you!” Mikey said pointing at the eldest brother, and the others watched as Raph leaned away from his younger brother. “You need to quit it with the passive-aggressive stuff! Just say you are angry and hurt! We don’t need you pretending you’re not and then ignoring us or saying backhanded stuff! Comminate! It’s not that hard!”  

Mikey then turns to the whole group and grits his teeth.  

“All of you know you’re wrong! But none of you are going to come out and apologize and would rather keep shouting at each other because you don’t want to lose whatever weird and annoying game you’re playing!” Mikey was waving his arms and then slammed them down on the table. “Well, guess what? It’s not a game! And if you don’t stop, I’m going to tie you together, and dangle you over the sewer fallout! And I will be happy and smiling while I do it, so don’t TEST ME!”  

By the end, Mikey was breathing heavily and the others had backed up several feet. The wind had drained out of him and slumped slightly.  

“I’m going back to bed. Don’t wake me up.” He left the three of them in the kitchen, and marched back into his room, collapsing onto the bed and curling up into his shell until he fell asleep.

-

When Mikey awoke, he groaned and popped out of his shell keeping his eyes closed. He was already forming an apology in his mind to his brothers for his sleep-deprecated shouting earlier. So, when he opened his eyes and found the three brothers surrounding his bed, he squeaked in surprise and then groaned again once he realized who was there.  

"Look, guys-" he said, but was quickly interrupted.  

"We're sorry, Mikey," Raph said, and Mikey blinked.  

"What?" he asked, feeling an intense amount of whiplash.  

"Yeah..." Leo said, fidgeting with his hands. "We shouldn't have been fighting so much, you were right."  

"As much as it pains me to admit it," Donnie said avoiding eye contact and crossing his arms. "You were right, and we could tell that our fighting was hurting you too. We should have been more considerate."  

"We've all already apologized to each other and made up," Raph said. "So, we just needed to apologize to you as well."  

Mikey was overwhelmed, and quite possibly in shock. This was so different than what he was expecting when he woke up. But he felt a rush of relief that the fighting was finally over.  

"Thanks, you guys," he said, feeling a smile. "And I'm sorry about being so mean."  

"You were just a tad mean," Leo said with a dismissive wave. "Honestly we needed more than a little delicate touch, doc." Donnie clapped his hands from where he was standing.  

"Well now that all the sticky emotions are over, I am getting back to business." He turned around and waved back to the others. "You three enjoy yourselves doing whatever it is you do."  

Ralph rolled his eyes and turned to Mikey.  

"Do you want to play Animal Crossing with me?" Mikey shook his head.  

"Nah, I'm going back to my nap," he said.  

"Alright," Raph said and nudged Leo. "Come on, Lee."  

"Alright, Alright," Leo said exasperated. "Night, bro," he called back.  

"Night," Mikey said and curled up with a smile.  

-

I know this is late, stuff happened. Thank you for reading. Let me know if there is anything I should work on.

Thank you to @sariphantom for hosting the Rise August Challenge, which this is inspired by.

@nickelodeon Please save Rise.

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Not mine, but BEAUTIFUL!

doodled a little Marta while rewatching knives out, definitely one of my desert island movies (all time fav category)

last straw

Rise April Challenge 22: Father

Prev - Next - Masterpost Ao3 Link: Here !TW! Implied Depression and Self Hatred !TW!

There’s nothing that triggers it. There isn’t a grand event that snapped all the pieces into place, it just hits Yoshi one night as he lies in bed waiting for sleep.  

I’m a father.  

It hits the man like a train. His body stiffens like he’s back in the arena and about to be attacked and he jumps up, sleep gone from his mind.  

I am a father. I have children.  

His hands shake and he tries to remain calm. But his mind is filled with his few memories of his mother. Soft, gentle, loving. Gone. Gone from his life in a second. Leaving him to grow up without her. She never saw him earn his first colored belt in martial arts, she never had talked to him about his first crush, or been there for his first audition, or to help him pick out a ring for the person he thought he would spend the rest of his life with.  

She was just gone. And part of Yoshi hates her for it, for choosing some sacred duty over her own son. He was a child. Did she really think that some story from an old dusty book would be a good enough reason for him to accept being abandoned?  

It hurts.  

Yoshi hasn’t admitted that to anyone in years.  

Not when his mother left, not when Grandpa Sho only called him up after years of silence to demand he quit his career as an actor to follow his “destiny,” not even when the women he had loved had lied to him and tortured him for spectacle.  

But now, in the dark of the New York City sewars, rat hands clamped over his mouth in shock at the idea of being a father, Yoshi lets the pain take hold and cries.  

He cries for the first time in what felt like years, breaths coming out in hiccups, and he tries to hold himself together. But it’s a losing battle.  

God dammit! How had anyone ever thought he was a powerful warrior? How could anyone look at him and see a champion? A star? Not that anyone would think that now. Not with a naked pink tail and shaggy, dirty fur.  

Whatever he had once possessed that made anyone think he was worthy of admiration was gone, burned out of him with his humanity.  

And then, the world had decided to give him 4 sons. Decided to make him a father. Why?! Why did those wonderful, amazing boys have to get him as a father? Surely, they deserved better. They deserved better than a vain movie star that only cared about his own fame. They deserved better than a chained-up beast made only to spill blood for others entertainment. They deserved better than a sewar rat, that couldn’t even stop crying over a death that happened years ago.  

They deserved better than him.

-

Yoshi doesn’t remember falling asleep that night, but he still wakes up the next morning. And the next. And the next. And the next. And the next.  

He does his best not to be bitter over the fact that his eyes still open every morning, because he is a father. His sons need him. But as they get older, they start to need him less and less. So, he pulls back from them.  

Because they deserve better.

Prev - Next - Masterpost Ao3 Link: Here

Please check out @zee-rambles who came up with this challenge and look at @rise-april-art-challenge to see more submissions by other fans. Please give me feedback if there is anything I should work on.

Beautiful, Wonderful, Spectacular, Showstopping-

@nickelodeon bring back Rise

What if like, they really snapped🤔

Moments Chapter 2: Disaster Twins

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Ao3 Link: Here

Donnie and Leo loved to get each other gifts. It started with small things when they were younger. Leo brings home a bundle of wires from dumpster diving, or Donnie finds sparkly plastic jewelry for Leo to wear around the lair. There was something about seeing an item and instantly thinking that the other person would like it.

-  

On their 8th birthday, Leo pulled Donnie aside from the celebration and towards their room. Donnie grumbled at Leo's excited giggling and yanked his hand back to sit down as soon as they were through the door and alone. Leo didn't seem to mind, still smiling like a madman.  

"I got you a gift!" Leo said, and Donnie just rolled his eyes.  

"I know you did. You're not very good at keeping secrets. The only thing I don't know is where you're keeping it." The slider glared at his twin and with a huff reached under Donnie's bed. He then pulled out a small cardboard box with a bow on it. Donnie raised his eyebrows.  

"You hid it under my bed?" He asked.  

"Uh, yeah! Why would you look under your bed?" That was a fair point, Donnie conceded, then reached under his extra pillow, and pulled out a similarly sized box. Leo grinned and shoved his box into Donnie's hand before snatching the other one.  

Leo stuck the bow to his head before ripping through the paper and rifling through the tissue paper inside. Donnie on the other hand was very careful in peeling up the pieces of tape, setting the bow to the side before unfolding the tissue paper and pulling out a white coffee mug. It was covered in designs of constellations and atoms that Leo clearly drew himself in varying shades of purple.  

Donnie blinked down at the gift in surprise and looked up at Leo, who was pulling his own white mug covered in Donnie's hand-drawn designs, these of unicorns and rainbows. Leo broke out into a huge smile and began to laugh.  

"We really are twins!" He shouted.  

"Shut up," Donnie mumbled, annoyed.  

-  

7 years later, Donnie was sitting in his lab finishing up the wrapping on his gift for his twin. He smoothed out the wrapping paper across the heavy box with steady hands, trying to dispel the nervousness that always came with getting a gift for his brothers.  

Over the years both Donnie and Leo had given a lot of gifts to each other and to the rest of their family. Sometimes it was for special occasions, sometimes they saw something that the other person would like or need and just did it, sometimes it was just because. But giving gifts to Leo always felt different.  

The thing was that, at least for Donnie, the gift exchanges were reminders of how well the twins knew each other. Donnie had a hard time understanding any of his brothers, but with Leo, it was a bit easier. He believed it had something to do with them both being people of thought, rather than action, like Raph and Mikey. Leo may have acted stupid, but Donnie knew that his true strength lay in his strategy, in his understanding and manipulation of the enemy. He tended to show it casually most of the time, but it was always still impressive.  

But the point was that Donnie understood Leo on a level that he didn't quite with the rest of his family, and each time they gave each other gifts it helped reinforce that understanding. Plus, it was an easy way to show that they loved each other, without all the complexities of emotion.  

Donnie reached out and grabbed a scrap of paper and a pen out of an old coffee mug, with purple hand-drawn constellations and atoms, scribbled a quiet "happy birthday" on the paper and stuck it under the bow. He then walked out and knocked on Leo's door.  

He heard scrambling from inside and was greeted with a bright overwhelming smile on his twin's face.  

"Finally! Why do you always say wrapping till the last minute?" Leo yelped as he pulled Donnie inside his room. Donnie didn't dignify the question with an answer and shoved the present into Leo's hands. Leo in turn put the box on the ground and shoved his own huge brightly wrapped box into Donnie's.  

It had been a tradition ever since that first 8th birthday that they would give each other their presents separate from the rest of their family just so they could have a moment with each other alone on their birthday. And Donnie always had the strangest sense of Deja Vu whenever they did it. It was always a reminder of how little he and his twin had changed as they grew older. Because Leo still ripped and tore through the paper after sticking the bow on his head, and Donnie always peeled away the tape, to the point that Leo only used one or two pieces on the whole box to make the process faster.  

Once it was open Donnie picked up a new soldering tool, remembering how he mentioned his old one was fizzing out uncontrollably, and in another box a Jupiter Jim comic book wrapped in cellophane. With a card on top that read "Mint condition ;)." Donnie felt himself start to wiggle and put down the box to flap his arms up and down, he wished he was in his wheelchair so we could spin around. He looked up to thank Leo and hug him, only to find Leo already leaning across the gap with an excited squeal, talking so fast that Donnie couldn't keep up.  

In Leo's lap was a new custom wooden chess set, with each of the pieces a different sea creature. (Except for the nights which were unicorns, because his brother never grew out of that phase.)  

Donnie hugged Leo back with a smile and patted him on the back before they drew apart.  

"This is great, Don! I love it so much! You've got to play with me later today!"  

Donnie just sighed and rolled his eyes, accepting the fact that he was going to get his butt whooped in chess because he never could be Leo at that game.  

"Later," he said. "Let's just enjoy the party." Leo smiled and bolted for the door, dragging his twin behind.  

Just like always.

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Thank you to @rise-august-art-challenge for hosting the Rise August Challenge, which this is inspired by.

Please let me know if I should improve or fix something.

Thanks Techno. Good night. o7

This is everything I love!

Sweet Brothers and then Heart Break!

Please show it Love!!!

I made a ROTTMNT Turtle Tots comic for Twitter about the Disaster Twins accidentally switching outfits!

MOVIE SPOILER WARNING BTW