#poe!raph

Okay, I finally figure out a name so I can actually post something about it lol.

Tada! Introducing that new Rise AU I was talking about literally 4 hours ago XD

ROTTMNT Petals of Eden (POE!AU) Masterpost

Basically the premise of the story is that New York is the dream city to live in. Eco friendly, little to no crime rates, no unemployment, etc. etc. you get my point.

However, paradise doesn't come without its drawbacks. About a year ago, there was a terrible car wreck that caused a bridge collapse, taking the lives of several people, including Raphael Hamato and Barry Draxum.

Leonardo was one of the few survivors, and along with severe physical injuries, suffered a psychological break and became convinced the world they lived in was fake. Due to this, he spent a year in a psychological hospital for teens, and the main story picks up around the time he's released, stable enough to reintegrate into society again.

During that year, Donatello and Michelangelo continued in school while Yoshi "Lou Jitsu" Hamato continued his career as a producer in the movie industry, coming back after a few months break after the Accident.

And when Leo does come back, it's obvious that things are different now. And it's not just the fact that his entire character can change on a whim.

Something is still very wrong, and the Hamato family isn't so convinced anymore that it's Leonardo's "fantasies" of a virtual world.

There may be more truth to them than they realize.

TRIGGER WARNING: This AU may have certain thematic elements that some viewers may be triggered by, so please make sure to put your own mental health first! I'll be trying my best to put appropriate trigger warnings at the start of each post I make about this AU, but please remember that I'm human and am imperfect and as a result miss things sometimes.

ALSO: Please note that this story SHOULD NOT under any circumstance be used as a learning tool for dissociative disorders. It's a complicated mental condition that is already severely stigmatized. While I will be trying my best to stay as factual and correct as possible for story purposes, it is CRITICAL that everyone understands this is a FICTIONAL STORY WITH FICTIONAL CHARACTERS!

If you have questions or would like to learn more about dissociative disorders, seek professional, authentic sources. Not a random artist on tumblr who makes silly comics.

I hope y'all enjoy :)

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REFERENCE SHEETS:

Leo

COMICS:

Up On The Rooftop Trigger warnings: Suicide, attempted suicide

PBJ Talks

This is where I kinda deviate into science fiction a bit.

DID is caused, as you said, by trauma. Specifically repetitive childhood trauma, typically before the age of 6 or 9.

The big trigger that causes Leonardo's mind to split is the car wreck, which happened well into his teen years. So my reasoning is the brain injury he received in the crash, which injury happens to be a lot more than meets the eye.

The overall mess of the accident, his time in the hospital, the next few weeks that followed, and then his stay in the psych ward were a lot for him to go through all at once.

IS THE GOVERNMENT EXPERIMENTING ON RAPH'S BODY!????

Raph still has an incredibly important role to the story, even if he's dead in Eden.

But he won't be a "haunting the narrative" type of character (though there'll probably be moments like that.)

Once I get around to actually writing the story, his role will be explained.

But no, he's gone.

You specifically said Raph was dead in Eden. In Eden specifically, not the au itself. There are references to Leo having digital hallucinations, and he talks about living in a made up worlds. I'm thinking they may be in a matrix situation, and someone removed Raph and Draxum for causing issues. There was no body. Like an avatar removed from a video game, or one intentionally taken as a cover up.

So Raph and Draxum may be alive in the real world, held prisoner. Or maybe someone killed them there

:(

Writing this actually made me wonder if the simulation may be something created by Bishop or someone else as a way to contain mutants. They give them normal lives that are perfect, so they never try to exist in reality.

Or everyone is stuck there and maybe they're sucking out their energy or smth.

If you can say without spoiling things you want to reveal later, did I get anything right, or am I entirely off the mark?

Regardless, I'm intrigued and excited to see where this goes!!!!

You have some really interesting theories here :)

I was wondering what you think the teetlz are in your universe(es). I personally headcanon Leo as gay, Mikey is pan, Raph is straight, and D is bi (there ain't no way that man is straight i swear)

Anyway, really luv ur AU ❤️🐢

Hey there!

Honestly, for Woven Ties. . . idk XD

Leo of course is hands down the gayest old cis-man on the planet. When he was younger (especially in his teen years) he used to be really self conscious about it. Nowadays, he's perfectly comfortable in his homosexuality. There was a time (after Winter) where he thought he'd gone aromantic, but that theory sputtered and died when he met Usagi.

Mikey's either aroace or pansexual. If not aroace, then at the very least asexual. I haven't decided yet between the two, maybe he's both, idk. Currently, he's not really interested in relationships and hasn't ever really had the desire to be in one. That might change in the future, who knows. He's just fine and could easily live a long and happy life where he is.

Personally, I've always seen Raph as bi. He just hits me as the kind of turtle who likes men and women alike. And it's completely normal to him too, like he's always been that way. It's just until recently that he found out it was called bisexual.

I've always seen Donnie as a straight cis guy, but very supportive. He's the kind of dude who will throw hands with anyone who's homophobic to his brothers. He's the guy who buys more LGBTQ+ related merch than the actual LGBTQ+ members of his family. As for Petals of Eden. . . That's also hard, dang :') It's pretty similar in some aspects to WT. But I'm still figuring this AU out, so things might change? Maybe? For now, this is what I got:

Leo's the most difficult to figure out because of certain psychological related reasons. . . He's gay, bi, and aroace basically. Not all at once, no. Well, sometimes. It's complicated haha. . .

I'm actually leaning toward Mikey being more pansexual in this AU for some reason. Like, I can just see POE!Mikey being more of a romantic than WT!Mikey is.

If you need to know anything about me, know that no matter the universe, I always headcanon Raph as bisexual. He's just. He's bi, guys. I don't know what else to say XD

I kinda like the idea of Donnie being bisexual or maybe polysexual. And maaaybe leaning gender queer? (though I still need to figure out what that means specifically for him.)

I generally just wanted to go with some of my personal favorite headcanons for the boys, so yeah. Anyhow.

I LOVE your art its so edible I wanna eat it 🥺

Anyway. Leo. I have so. Many. Questions.

So in your recent comic, which Leo is in control here? You said he kinda had DID, so I was wondering which personality it was. Are they all aware that of project Eden? Which one of them wanted to jump off the building? Also, how is each personality defined? Obviously they have separate personality traits, but how so? (Also the light blue one is so cute and bbg and I wanna adopt him as my son 😌).

Also, do we see more about Donnie and his place in the family 🥺. Does he have anything mentally going on rn like depression of some sort. Im sure being "the oldest" is taking a toll on him in some way. Donnie is my fave so plz traumatize him plz

And finnaly Raph. His body DISSAPPEARED?!? WHAT. Literally glitches out.

Anyway, thats all for now. I love your art so much 💖. Byeeeeeeeeeeee

Hey there! Thanks so much!! <3

When it comes to the rooftop comic, the two alters (alternate identities) are Sword and Stripe. The important thing to note is that the colors are totally wrong because I made that comic before I finalized colors lol. So Sword is the darker blue, and Stripe is the paler one.

Sword is by far the most adamant about escaping Eden, and this was definitely one of his most drastic attempts at doing so. As you can see, the attempt obviously failed, ending with Stripe (who was the host at the time - "host" being the alter that most frequently controls the body and handles daily life) being triggered to front, disoriented and confused.

While most of the alters in the Leo System are aware of Project Eden to some degree, there are some who have very little understanding of it and what it means. Face (the current host) is actually completely oblivious to Eden's existence entirely, a necessary precaution for their safety.

When it comes to how each of them are defined, really I see it as a bunch of separate individuals who share a body. They don't just have separate personality traits - they are literally different people. They have different coping mechanisms, unique values and beliefs, separate memories and experiences. . . honestly, the list could go on and on. Basically everything that makes you and I different from one another is applied to them as well. They just share a headspace.

When it comes to Donnie, I'm definitely planning on going in depth with his character too, don't worry. He's for sure got some struggles going on right now, especially once Leo comes home. Having to take on the role as big brother now that Raph's gone is a daunting task, and he's got some big shoes to fill. All things considered, he's doing a remarkable job where he's at <:)

Admittedly, I haven't gone heavily into other characters yet, focusing a lot on Leo since he's got so much going on, considering that I'm basically throwing multiple characters into one lol.

I was reading qya of your POE!Au and in a moment you said that the hidden still exists, but that the people in new York didn't know about it.

So if the hidden city still exists but is not a normal part in NY it means that there are people hiding there.

But who?

I have two theories:

Or the hidden city is a part of the eden project and is where the bosses and the "mind behind the plan" hide. Like where all this project is being executed.

Or we'll, it is not a part of the project and is like a rebellion center. Maybe Raph and Draxum end up there when the accident happens. Maybe it is a place away from all this illusion where they live and a place where they can realise what the reality is.

Idk, I'm very excited for both of your aus :)