#deb writes

Example of writing through prompts below:

Will Raph know what caused Angelo’s and Leon’s arm-marks?

What’s the “risk” of the alters dividing into ninpo-clones?

Does R!Leon know that Draxum was trying to break free? Does he think R!April may be in danger?

What happened with Big Mama after receiving the “item” from Splinter?

How do X character interact with Y character? Do they get along?

Here's an example of a Written Prompt covering the two striken prompts of the list above n.n

There may be some prompts that last for several chapters, others that can be covered in a single one. I’ll try to keep a semblance of continuity as things get through (so if X and Y character left off in a sour note in the last published chapter, they won’t be buddy-buddy in the next prompt without justification) and leverage the chapter’s notes if something needs extra clarification.

So yeah, as of this date: Jan 2024 the writing prompts for TEB part 2 are open. I’ll come back to edit this post and make a separate announcement if/when prompt-time closes. 

Example of Prompt Writing (2.3K Words)

“What happened?” Raph asked, not for the first time, nuzzling at the odd marks on Angelo’s arms that twisted and grew like roots of an old tree. All the way from the tip of his fingers to small shoulders, the swirling lines crossed over each other at random intervals. Leon had similar markings as well, although his were less curly, looking more like dry, cracked paint.

His questions about what happened in his absence were always met with just a general gist of things — we focused on a way to find you, then a way to reach you! —  and whenever he tried to delve into the specifics he was mercilessly redirected to other topics. Raph hadn’t been able to insist much about it, with his mind scrambled as it had been these past few days, since Mind Raph had been busy catching up on everything he had missed.

But today it was oddly quiet. Not a peep from Mind Raph, Puffs, or Savage, as if they all had gone behind the scenes and past a sound-proof curtain, leaving Raph alone, truly alone, at the front.

It felt odd, like something was missing. But it was also advantageous, the way his mind cleared for real for the first time in days.

Raph was carrying Leon and Angelo, trying to prepare for the oncoming Lair Games. Angelo was in his arms, while Leon was riding behind Raph’s head since “Mike had hogged up that spot for long enough already.” His brothers had playfully bantered for a while before settling in their current spots.

Raph had figured this would be as close to private space as he could get, at least in the short term, and thus asked the question that had been nagging him for days now.

“What happened?” Raph repeated when he didn’t receive an answer, this time raising his free arm to pat Leon’s thinner wrist, which he could feel resting over his head.

“These were…” Angelo rubbed at the marks of his arms, a sad but overall unrepentant smile growing slowly.

“These?” Leon shoved his forearm right at Raph’s eyes, which made him kugh! in surprise. 

He could feel Leon shifting in place, moving past his shoulder until his annoying brother was sitting on Raph’s now-extended arm. The slider leaned backwards so Raph could see him gesture with grandeur at his own forearm.

Theatrical, definitely hiding something. 

“These are like tattoos now! The design is cool, right? Pretty great? Anyone would be jealous of them? Look, listen—  look and listen,” Leon stressed when Raph opened his mouth to interrupt, a single finger raised in both warning and request. “I can come up with a different story every time someone asks in the Hidden City! Last time I talked with Huesos I told him this one was from when I fended off a shark—”

Raph huffed with frustration, shaking the arm Leon was sitting on until his brother fell with an undignified “hey!”. Once his brother was standing on his own two feet Raph rested a hand on a thinner shoulder, staring firmly down at him.

“I’m not asking for made-up stories. I wanna know what really happened,” Raph glanced down and stared at the marks heavily, because they looked like…

“Leon, these… these are scars, aren’t they?” Raph guessed in a soft whisper.

They looked like the ones adorning his own arms, the scars hidden away by bandages. When compared to his own, the ones on his little brothers looked newer. They were, definitely, the result of a very extensive injury.

Raph had been so, so afraid. Afraid that something bad would happen while he was away, when he couldn’t protect his bale. He had been terrified at the notion of something terrible happening to his family, at the concept of failing them again, that someone would die again, that he wouldn’t be back on time to protect— 

“I’m telling you they’re kinda cool,” Leon insisted, feet shifting slightly in place.

“These are because of me, Raph,” Angelo answered softly, making a gesture for Leon to drop the act. The slider pouted slightly but did remain silent, stepping closer to preventively pat Raph’s shell comfortingly. This couldn’t be good news. “It’s something we discovered about my own ninpo.”

“Your ninpo… hurt you?” Raph asked softly.

“We didn’t know it could, that’s the thing about discovering new stuff, right? Kinda like— ehm, well, not sure if that’s changed here or not, but before you… got here,” before you got lost, sounded more fitting in Raph’s head, even if Angelo obviously tried to approach that topic delicately. “You were also kinda new to the whole clone-thing, right?”

“Yeah,” Raph nodded slightly. “I still don’t— don’t know how it really works.”

“You had clones up and about when we arrived here, though?” Leon asked with interest, still patting his shell. The pre-comfort meant Raph wasn’t going to like their answer at all, it wasn’t reassuring.

“I don’t know how— it just happened, and I can’t recall… why. It felt odd, like something was wrong.”

Like he was not really himself. Like he was incomplete, missing pieces of himself that were very important for his own integrity. Like Raph had smashed their system as if it were a porcelain plate against the floor, and the clones were all the biggest shards, and they had fallen somewhere out of reach and Raph would never be able to glue them back together into a usable plate.

If Mind Raph hadn’t arrived when he did… called the clones back where Raph couldn’t, he wasn’t sure what he would have done to be whole again. Maybe he wouldn’t be whole again?

“You didn’t feel like that when we fought the Shredder,” Leon’s voice had gained that edge he used when he was digging at something out of concern. A mix of his medical voice and his confident spokesman pose.

“It was different,” Raph admitted. “The clones I made when we fought the Shredder were weak, dispelled at a single blow. I wasn’t trying to make them strong, cause the Shredder was a lot stronger and faster than us… the clones were just distractions, and all of us— we all were in each of them?”

Did that make sense?

 “System-wise?” Angelo helped, and Raph sighed in relief at being understood.

“Yeah. We all— the whole system, we were in each clone, when we fought the Shredder. With the Krang it was… different.”

He was left alone, stranded, out of place. He had been missing pieces from a puzzle that would not show a complete image ever again.

The risks of dividing our consciousness are too many. Puffs’ cold, no-nonsense voice had said that once, and this time Raph inwardly admitted there may be an ounce of truth in that warning.

“We can try it again, this time together,” Angelo offered, patting Raph’s plastron softly. “So we can help if something goes wrong.”

“Yeah, being together makes the risk lower,” Leon agreed pointedly, which made Angelo nod and rub at his own arm tellingly. 

The gesture brought Raph back to his original inquiry, and he huffed an annoyed growl.

“Wait, stop distracting Raph!” He chided, letting Angelo down so he could take a knee in front of them both. He was being serious about this! “Your arms. What park of Mike’s ninpo caused this!?”

“Oh yeah,” Leon snapped his fingers as if just remembering, even though it was obvious he had been kinda hoping Raph would fully forget about his original question.

“I could feel your ninpo,” Angelo smiled up at him warmly, and the spike of frustration dulled down. “Even from so far away, apart by whole dimensions, I could still feel your shield Raph. It blinked in and out of existence, but it was there.”

Raph looked at his unoccupied arm, the memory of warm, hopeful nights resurfacing. The orange glow of slithering chains that had stayed with him until he fell asleep. “Your chains…?”

“Yeah. I tried to wrap them around your shield every time I could feel the red come up.”

“But it stopped after a while,” Raph said sadly. “I could— I could see your chains Angie, wrapped over my ninpo’s shield on my arms… they were tiny, like cute little snakes. They were warm and comforting.”

“Can snakes ever qualify as cute and warm?” Leon muttered lightly.

“It brought us comfort too,” Angelo chirped softly, in higher spirits. “It helped Dee a ton so it brought us some hope too, ‘cause previous to that it was like searching for you in the darkness with nothing but a light torch. With the chains making a path, it was like turning on the light that led to the door! Your door!”

Angelo looked at the verge of tears, like he was reliving that shake-grounding relief all over again, and Raph churred and brought him close to his chest, so he could rest his chin over the youngest’s head.

“You found Raph,” he reminded, transmitting the feeling that everything was fine, it was alright now. They were together again.

“Yeah,” Angelo chirped an acute sound, relief somehow mixed with deep sorrow. “It was— the day I couldn’t connect with you anymore was so, so scary—”

“Something pink suddenly popped up,” Leon took over the story as Angelo delved into incoherent, discreet sobs, and Raph sat down to cradle him comfortingly, extending an arm towards the slider too.

“Pink…?” Raph prompted confusedly.

“Apparently the Krang of this place. It was like a brick wall between our worlds, Dee’s portal machine couldn’t get past it, even after he managed to lock the destination. So we found the right door, but couldn’t open it.”

“But I could,” Angelo admitted softly, patting at his chest in silent request for Raph to stop hugging so strongly. “Your ninpo didn’t feel as strongly anymore, but the red appeared like a dying candle, and I— I tried to reach it. I was focused on reaching it. My ninpo charged up like it never had before, and I felt the need to extend my arms so I did.”

“There was an outline of a golden circle sparking in front of him,” Leon added, making a circular motion with his arm. “It was working, I could feel it. But the more power Mike poured out…”

“The more the lines grew,” Angelo admitted sadly. “It felt like frayed nerves, kinda. But I was so close to opening it, I didn’t wanna stop there.”

“Dee was sleeping for the first time this century,” Leon rolled his eyes with concerned but fond exasperation. “So I didn’t wanna wake him up. I turned on the machine, so we could use that power instead of Angelo’s. The lines were growing past the elbows though, so I grabbed him too. Something— I guess instinct told me that would help.”

“It helped with the strain, yeah,” Angelo admitted, making a gesture so he could hug Leon for comfort too. A hug within a hug, like a Matryoshka’s doll, was Angelo’s favorite way of comfort. Raph churred louder at the familiarity. “But after a bit the lines started to grow on Leon too.”

“In the end it was too much and we had to drop it,” Leon shrugged, like it wasn’t important. “But the lines didn’t disappear.”

“Kinda like frayed nerves, yeah. Moving our fingers was kinda rough for a while,” Angelo admitted, opening and closing his palms as if marveling at his own capacity to do so.

Something in Raph shivered at the implications. “How bad it was—” 

 “But we found something that could help us in the Mystic Library!” Leon interrupted Raph’s question with a cheerful chirp. “Cassandra helped draw the healing ritual, considering Angelo couldn’t, and it worked perfectly!”

Leon escaped from the youngest’s grasp, giving Raph a mischievous look right before hopping on a shoulder, returning to his original place right behind Raph’s head. “Look at this! Marvel at my Three Star Hurricane!”

He felt the familiar, harmless but incredibly annoying slap of wet — eugh! — palms over his cheeks and the top of his head, and Raph complained a disgusted “LEO!” as he growled and grabbed one of the offending arms to flip his brother off him.

The slider laughed, unrepentant, fingers wiggling, arms wailing as he landed on his feet effortlessly. A demonstration of just how well he had recovered.

“Oh yeah, nothing hurts anymore!” Angelo reassured, demonstrating his arm’s mobility in a less-annoying way by hugging Raph’s arm strongly. “We’re ok now Raph.”

It didn’t change the fact that this had happened because of him, because they had tried to find him so desperately. If he hadn’t gotten lost in the first place—

We wouldn’t have met our other little brothers? Mind Raph interrupted with what felt like a quirked eyebrow, and Raph’s concern at the unnatural silence in his mind dulled upon hearing the familiar voice. There’s no point in regretting something we had no control over. We did the best we could with what we had. Isn’t that enough?

Raph let out a breath he hadn’t realized he was holding, shoulders relaxing minutely. The injuries on his brother’s arms had healed fully, leaving only scars in their wake. A permanent reminder of old pain and hurt, just like the one adorning Raph’s own arms.

He used said arms to pull both, his least and his most annoying brother, into a hug. 

“Sorry you got hurt,” Raph said softly, trying not to cry. This was all he could do. He hadn’t been there to help them avoid it, hadn’t been there for their recovery… he was just here now, witnessing the aftermath of their efforts.

“It’s not a big deal. We love ya’ Raph-a-la-la,” Leon let Raph squeeze him hard, for once not complaining about the lack of personal space and oxygen. Raph really couldn’t ask for a kinder brother.

“We can have sleepovers to paint over them?” Angelo suggested, the familiar spark of chaotic creativity entering his gaze. “Customizable tattoos!”

It was not the first time his little brother offered that, considering he had liked to paint over Raph’s scars when he was little. The tradition had been lost after Raph grew uncomfortable with it, after he finally gave his brothers the general gist of what had happened with Draxum. After Angelo finally got to know what had caused them for real.

Raph hadn’t been able to stomach the idea of little Mikey painting art in his arms, looking at him with that understanding, sad look that was much too old for his real age. 

“Yeah, we can make a game of who comes up with the best designs, huh? Spoiler alert, it’s gonna be me,” Leon closed his eyes and gestured at himself like he was royalty, which made Raph snort.

He glanced at his bandaged arms. Raph didn’t like looking at his scars. He didn’t like it when others saw them either, because something always changed in their gaze, in their expression, in the way they treated him afterward, and Raph didn’t like dealing with it, he would rather not think about it.

“Yeah… I guess we can,” Raph admitted hesitatingly.

But looking at Angelo’s beaming face, the tearful nostalgic laugh as memories of the times they had spent together in their childhood resurfaced; Raph couldn’t bring himself to regret it.

~~~~

If you wanna return to the post explaining how Prompt Writing works, click here!

If you wanna return to TEB Master Post, click here!

The 12-fam is the one doing the rescuing~ it's a short snippet, here you go!

*** Scrapped, 12 fam rescue ending ***

The white lights of the ceiling — too white, just like the lab, just like Draxum’s lab — blinked repeatedly.

Then shut down completely, so the only source of light was the oval portal, which had yet to dissipate, and the glowing web that was keeping them down.

The darkness is welcome, it is an opportunity. They can run. Portal is light.

They don’t roar, but they force their tired body to move, no matter how much it hurts. They trash against the glowing bindings. The pink aliens are going pium-pium at something in the darkness, and they can mildly recognize the sounds and scent as familiar. Tots, family, their tot family? 

“I’ve got you,” the blue one says, the glint of a sharp blade stabbing the circle that… originated the glowing net? Oh, of course, everything had a source, One should have seen it— but it was ok, they had been too worried, too afraid, Mind Raph said it was ok to be afraid, and Savage believed him. Mind Raph was nice with him, always nice...

“Let’s get out of here,” the red one urges, reaching to their arm to pull them up, releasing his grip when they flinch and whine in pain.

“Take. Child. Leave,” they said instead, gesturing to the redhead with their nose. They’re too slow, too many auchies, not safe to stay with them, they can’t protect.

“No turtle stays behind,” Third denies quickly. “Donnie, we need the spiky-bro rolley!”

“I’M KINDA BUSY RIGHT NOW!” Second screams from somewhere far away.

The lights come back up. The walls cackle with electricity as they are coated with the force shield once more, but the ceiling doesn’t get any zip-zips.

The ceiling doesn’t. It has an opening, the one the tots used to come inside, both entrance and exit.

They could escape, they all could escape.

They forced their body to stand up once more, still hugging the humanoid child. Second is cursing and running away from pink-robot-aliens, as he abandons an open panel present on one of the biggest machines. 

The orange one is screaming “Heeeeey! Over here you dumb rock!”  as he throws random things at the giant, jumping and running across the highest places of the ceiling as he screams, barely escaping from a rock fist.

“Orange. Tot… not safe. Help!” they throw the human child over their shoulder, so they can use both hands to grab onto the structure above as they jump. It hurts, everything hurts, but they’re so close, so close! They can make it, they all can make it out alive!

“Mikey we’re getting away now! We all are!” the blue one orders, even when he doesn’t jump himself. “Donnie, ETA!?”

“T-minus three, so get on running!” 

The orange tot goes up, exits the building to get to the roof, and they follow right after. The red tot grabs the purple one and helps him up, so only the blue one is left.

The blue one disappears in a cloud of smoke, leaving the enemies confused, as he jumps up and up and up...

So! For the 21st my original idea was for Raph to accompany Bradford all the way to Shredder's lair. Raph would cross paths with them right before Shredder and Karai leave to meet the 12 family. Raph realizes he was tricked, he tries to keep them from leaving the building…

But then (and this is an idea born from the comments of times long past lmao) Mikey's ninpo starts to act up.

What had started as warm love, a reassurance that "we're here with you" had turned into a desperate "don't leave." The orange wrappings were overcharged and starting to burn through the red projection, scolding chains reaching green skin.

The orange energy burns.

So Raph suddenly can't use his ninpo anymore and his arms are injured, so he gets knocked out and imprisoned. Shredder and Karai leave and the ending of canon TEB 21 happens. They encounter the 12 fam.

Shredder lets Splinter know he took Miwa. Other than that, nothing much changes from canon, the fight is a stalemate, the Hamatos manage to escape, and Shredder and Karai return to their base. They need to know where the 12 fam is hiding and the fastest way is to get answers from the turtle in their dungeons.

Karai passes by Raph's cell to go to her "room" (because her Ch21 POV would have remained) so she speaks with the trapped turtle, a bit teasing, a bit taunting, tries to see if she can get some intel by getting under his skin.

Except that's not Raph anymore, but Puffs.

Puffs, who is internally counting down the minutes it will take for him to regain movement in his injured arms so he can wreck the whole place, starting with her, the most cheeky person he's encountered so far. He regards her with a sharp gaze…

…that softens minutely the moment she tells him her name.

Karai was the one that protected them (system), gave up her life for them, the one they failed to protect.

Puffs decides to remain a "prisoner" for a short time, because at the beginning it's easier that way. For as long as he gives off the impression of weakness, then his questions are answered, and he gets to know more about this version of Karai, that only keeps getting more and more relatable for him.

At some point, he and Karai would have gotten to talk about their very similar circumstances, about how not all kinds of love are good.

The man that raised me wanted me to be a soldier, in an upcoming war against humanity.

I have no value to the man who raised me, not beyond my reseamblance to my mother, my worth as kunoichi.

Essentially, this was meant to be a healing arc for both, Karai and Puffs… the parallels of their circumstances.

The exploration of Karai as she unlearns Shredder 's teachings, cope with her trauma, understand that her real father is a rat that could also project onto her the memory of Tang Shen, even if to a much lesser degree than Shredder. She has brothers that are turtles, in her ignorance, she was trying to kill her real blood-related family…. and that's without delving into the Karai of Rise and how Raph (not Puffs) would react!

Can you imagine how long this arc would have been? 🫠🫠🫠

So that was the plan! But alas, longterm story-wise the most important piece of their arc was the healing journey of Puffs, who finds kinship in Karai.

And that healing can be shown in other ways.

Also, in the long run their arc doesn't affect the story. Shredder dies, Karai flies back to Japan... their presence was never meant to be longterm or a main focus in TEB.

Hence, I'm "killing the darling" cool concept, sounded so pretty...

If you're not familiar with what this means, this post is a good reference! (Expressed a bit like a vent tho! xD)

Thus the revised version of this arc! Very summarized~ sorry for those that wanted a more in-depth Karai bond, this is all I can do!

If you'd like to explore this though, feel free to write and add to the TEB AU collection in AO3, I'd love to read you 💕

And that's all, I believe. Thanks for reading me if you bothered to. Hope the story continues to be enjoyable even with the change of plans 🤗

I just wanna reach sooner the part where my Rise turtles come into play!