#splinter tmntu

First we have master splinter!! I edited his face slightly from last time to match more with his human design. He was one of the mutants that was fused which I said in another post. He was in his 40s when mutated and the story takes place 13 years afterwards so he’d be somewhere in his 50s or maybe early 60s (I haven’t thought of an exact age for him yet lol). His memory is often spotty and Leo catches him often telling things differently than they went. The four turtles admire him deeply and are constantly striving for his approval since young. Though some try harder than others. He’s somewhat strict but he does really care about them even if he’s… not always so great of a father, or mentor. Raph and Donnie especially are somewhat critical of some of his teachings. He’s especially hard on Leo.

Next is Leatherhead!!! His design is an obvious wip lol not much I can say about him other than that I plan to have him in the second part and he becomes closest with Mikey. Also he’s one of the few that didn’t start as a human.

Thirdly is Venus!! Another character I can’t say much about without spoilers O_o … but I will say that despite being a turtle she is not related to the other four lol but she is connected to Karai, also she started as human

Jennika :3 she’s a relatively high ranking member of the foot clan … umm not much to say yet

Lita!!! Im still workshopping her story and she’s probably not gonna be in the first two parts but rn she’s connected to Casey (not related)

Krystal. She’s Baxter’s sister, and the two started several projects together, including the mousers, which were creatures they wanted to serve humans. Baxter proposed to make a ‘cure to mortality’, and the two didn’t see eye-to-eye on it, and no longer work together. She is the one who sort of discovered/created the mutagen, though it’s in Baxter’s hands now.

Irma!! She’s April’s only friend outside of Casey (other than the turtles). The two bonded over their shared love of music. She’s not too relevant until the second part lol

MONDO GECKO!! I’ve changed him slightly since I last showed him lol but he’s still the same gecko. He’s somewhat absentminded at first because when Mikey first meets him he’s pretty freshly mutated, so he doesn’t say much at first. But once he does start to come over that initial daze, he matches Mikey’s hyperactive energy and he plays a key part in figuring out the missing person situation

Slash. I colorpicked from Baxter, Shredder, and his eyes from Casey for his palette. He’s one of the mutants that didn’t start as human, and also one of the first mutants (not counting the turtles and splinter 13 years prior). His story is one of the first things to happen in the second part so I’ll just leave it at that ;3

AND LASTLY!!! MONA LISA!!! As you can see she starts as human (I even made her a human design!!! for some reason????). She was a college student who was struggling to raise her little brother after the death of their parents T_T

SORRY THAT WAS SO LONG!!! I wish I could say a little bit more about the characters but most of the information is stuff for the story itself T_T I’m still figuring stuff out for side characters since the first part is very turtle centric (with April and Casey of course) but now that I’ve done the outline for it I need to start working on ideas for the second part where all of these characters start getting important roles …. Also working on reworking the first chapter for release so there’s that!!! ^_^ and um obligatory bonus but this is the only thing I have rn with no context

🐢 - Are your turtles different species?

NO they’re all just generic turtles, unlike all of the other chars I didn’t design the boys with specific species in mind, just based them off previous incarnations T_T Although with side characters I have tried to think of species (like with Venus I designed her with Diamondback terrapins in mind! :3)

🦹 - Who is the main villain?

The main villain in the first few parts is technically Shredder!! He’s the one now controlling the mutant experiments, has connections with the Purple Dragons, and he has his eye on Master Splinter. Shredder was not aware the boys or Splinter were alive, and only takes over the experiments after discovering what became of them. His hatred is mostly directed towards Splinter, though he’s not fond of Baxter, either, despite working with him. Hhh I think I should leave it there :3

🏠 - What is the lair like?

Ah I really wanted to actually draw the boys’ rooms and stuff but I suck at scenes LOL … so take these very rough sketches of their rooms I scratched together

OK sorry they’re a bit of a mess my hand is still killing me but most of the stuff in the lair is sort of old or thrashed because it was stuff either Splinter found on the side of the road, in the garbage, or something Donnie put together out of what Splinter found lol ,, excuse my handwriting but basically Raph has always had his own room, which is kind of messy, he has a bean bag, his charmander plush, a few comics, his gameboy (technically was supposed to be for all of them but he did NOT share), a rug, and his bed is almost always messy. He doesn’t like cleaning. Donnie has his own room now but he used to share with Mikey. This is explained in the story but basically Leo gave up his room for Donnie so that the two wouldn’t keep fighting. Donnie’s room is the only one with a door because he personally made and installed it. He has a desk and a little lamp he uses to make all of his stuff, and his bed is usually neat solely cuz he doesn’t often use it. He also has first aid stuff and hoards several parts that he may or may not need. His bookshelves are almost crammed full and he also has a little cd player Splinter retrieved!! Very sparse and random selection of cds though. OK!! Finally we have Leo and Mikey’s room. Leo hadn’t changed the room at all when he moved in with Mikey, leaving anything Donnie left alone, and just using the storage spaces for any of his stuff. His bed is usually neat and he makes a point to keep his side tidy. Mikey has lots of plushies and his bed is usually messed up, especially his blankets since he kicks them off. TwT … He also has a small chest at the foot of his bed where all of his art stuff is and a stack of coloring and notebooks he’s filled. They have a big rug and a small blue lamp, and the mirror was Donnie’s. OKAY IVE SAID SO MUCH ABOUT THEIR ROOMS!!!! The dojo, washroom, etc is all described pretty early in the story I think?? So I’ll stop here T_T sorry I ramble

🩵 - Is there a Venus in your au?

YES!! I posted her recently !! :3 I don’t have her human design yet T_T but like I said there she’s connected to Karai. I will say that her mutation had much different circumstances than all of the others O_O … and she’s not an immediate ally to the boys

💚 - Are there other turtles in your au?

Other than the main 4, there’s currently Venus, Slash, and two more I haven’t posted yet cuz spoilers. None of them are, like… siblings to the turtles or anything, and there’s no ‘secret fifth turtle’, but there are other turtles! :3

🐇 - Is there a Usagi in your au?

Currently not! :( I have considered adding him though lol but he’d probably come much later in the story, like sometime after the first two parts. Right now I only have clear plans for the first two parts (foggier on the second) and the very beginning of the third.

🫵 - Who do you project onto the most?

DEFINITELY a mix of Mikey, Leo, and April ,,, I’m especially putting Leo through it to feel better about my own problems haha

🍍 - Who likes pineapple on pizza?

Def Leo or Mikey. Mikey would like the strong acidic taste of pineapple and Leo would probably like the way the tomato and pizza tastes together :3 though he’d probably be more reluctant to try it than Mikey would. Meanwhile Raph and Casey would HATE pineapple on pizza, esp with Casey specifically hating pineapple hehe

🧶 - Does Raph knit?

No but I can see him learning to sew from Leo or April so he can make some cool stuff :3 he’d probably learn after he accidentally tore his plush and wanted to fix it, though he’d probably poke himself with the needle a bunch, he’s not very good at being careful

🤖 Does your Donnie have a robot child?

I plan to have him make one at some point! It’ll probably start as a small, nonverbal little creature for simple tasks that he slowly adds more and more to and eventually realizes he’s grown attached to it hehe … which is rare for him. He really likes to make cool things and especially loves convenience so it feels inevitable for him to create something to do things for him, even if it’s just to bring him stuff from the kitchen or turn off the lights

💏 - Does/Did Splinter have a significant other?

Yes! She’s not alive anymore O_O … but he did have a wife prior to being mutated but none of the turtles remember her and he doesn’t like to talk about her so they basically know absolutely nothing about her. Now, he doesn’t really have anyone but the boys. I think he’d be too traumatized from how it went with her to ever think to start a relationship like that again.

FINALLY THE MOST IMPORTANT QUESTION!!!!!! Would they think you’re cool?

Mikey is a definite YES!!! He’d think you’re so cool and want to draw with you for sure hehe I feel like he could get along with just about anyone, you two would def be friends

Leo would probably be anxious at first to meet you but I think you two could be very good friends too :3 he’s generally just very anxious but I think you’d remind him of April which would ease his nerves ,, ALTHOUGH he’s very protective of his brothers so if you did something to hurt one of them (I doubt you would) he’d be quick to lose trust

Raph would be a bit of a tougher nut to crack but you’re really nice so he’d probably grow onto you quick if you just praised him enough lol just don’t hurt his brothers or friends and you could totally be buddies

ok this is where it gets hard to say but I don’t think Donnie would like you much at first T_T he has major trust issues, especially towards people who are very nice (heck, he takes FOREVER to grow onto April and Casey), and he’s the one with the most apprehension towards humans, so he’s probably gonna be much harder to be friends with…. :(

April and Casey would definitely love you though!!! You’d probably match April’s energy and she’s just generally always looking to make l friends hehe and as long as you don’t come off as ‘threatening’ to Casey he’d probably be quick to latch onto you, too!! So overall they’d probably all love you except maybe Donnie, who’s definitely harder to befriend… BUT NOT IMPOSSIBLE!!!

AAAA TYSM FOR ALL OF YOUR ASKS!!!! :3 I like to include bonuses with my posts but my hand is killing me rn so I just have these two unfinished doodles as bonus today T_T

“is there gonna be romance???”

It’s not gonna be a central part of the story but there is some :3 okay. now here’s where I finally reveal that the entire story was originally a short rasey fic idea I had a while ago and scrapped. then when I picked it back up again rasey was still meant to be a very central part of the story. I kind of toned it down slowly until I got to the point where I didn’t even know if I was gonna have them be canon or just leave it sort of implied (to be decided….). So there you have it without Rasey there would be no TMNTU LOL

okayyyy them aside I also originally had Aprilnardo plans but again that kind of ended up in the same case as Rasey, maybe even more so because of something I cannot say for spoilers. Also I know I make Jonatello jokes a lot but it’s just for fun I never intended them to be together cuz they lowkey hate eachothers guts lol. Other ships I’ve considered briefly are Apritello (I thought it’d be interesting cuz of Donnie’s aversion to humans and then him falling in LOVE with one?? Hehe) and then April x Casey (in the earliest version of the story they were kind of strangers and Casey hits on her lol) and before I added Shinigami, Jennika was actually supposed to be in a situationship with Karai lmao. On that topic, one relationship I do completely intend to have is Karai and Shinigami ^_^ they kind of have a secret relationship thing in the current version of that, so not quite the same thing I planned for Karai and Jennika. Oh and both Splinter and Shredder had wives but they’re DEAD so that doesn’t really count….. oh and the stockmans both had spouses but Krystal isn’t with hers anymore… uhh Cassandra has a husband (aka Casey’s stepfather) hrmmm…… tbh I guess a lot of the romance adults aside is mostly just implied right now instead of explicitly shown but I’ve only got the first two parts fully planned so we’ll see where it goes ;3 I’m fine with anyone shipping any of my characters together though as long as you’re respectful and obviously no TCEST or anything of the like ^_^ oh and I don’t have a bebop or rocksteady (yet) but if I did they’d probably be together too heheh

oh and um one weird thing I cling onto as a theme is love being stronger than hate so it’d be kind of weird not to make an acknowledgment of romantic love (even if familial / platonic love is the main focus of the point) so overall yeah there will probably be important romances (Shinirai aside) EVENTUALLY I just don’t have the full plans (I wrote this part in after finishing the ask list so sorry if I just repeated something I already said T_T)

“how do each of the characters react to being sick? like catching the flu?”

When it comes to the turtles, they actually aren’t really used to getting sick, atleast at first. There actually was one time when they were kids (I had an exact timeline for this but idr remember so let’s just say 9-10-11 years old) where Donnie got REALLY ill, like to the point where they weren’t sure he was gonna make it. And like, they’re kids so obviously they didn’t k is what to do, Splinter was trying his best but Don couldn’t keep down anything, not even water, and he had a really high fever. Given what they were they couldn’t really seek medical help. The experience made him somewhat of a germaphobe and both him and Leo freak out when one of the others get so much as the sniffles because they’re scared it’ll get to that point again. I think even once they started going to the surface though they probably wouldn’t get sick much cuz even though they don’t really have much exposure to the outside germs or whatever, the mutagen was kind of partially designed to enhance the immune system…. hmmm definitely something I need to think about more though cuz I need to take in to account autoimmune disorders. ANYWAYS I digress…….. in short, if Leo was sick he’d probably quarantine himself to keep the others safe, Raph probably wouldn’t GAF and he’d be all ‘ah I’m not THAT sick I can handle it’ or sleep the whole day away, Donnie would try to work through it and then fall asleep at his desk, and Mikey would probably snuggle into a blanket and shovel ice cream in his mouth while watching TV OK turtles aside I feel like April would DESPISE being sick. Like when she’s even just a little sick she’s MISERABLE. So much as the sniffles or a bit of a sore throat and she doesn’t want to do anything. She’d be VERY irritable for like two weeks straight. O_o

“do your turtles shed? if so, how do they deal with it? like, do they soak in the bath tub for a while, pick at their skin? etc.”

hmm I thought about this for a little while and decided they would shed but probably less frequently than the average turtle would, so very rarely, with Raph and Leo having the most frequent sheds. Raph would definitely pick at it, like a scab, and I honestly think he’d probably be most annoyed with the shed, to a dramatic degree. Leo would try to get the others to soak but he’d be largely unsuccessful when it came to Mikey cuz of his disdain for water lol. I think Mikey would end up irritating the skin by scratching at it. Donnie would probably be too grossed out to pick at it. Hmmm definitely something I have to think more about

“how well do they all treat their bodies? who treats their body like a temple and who treats it like dirt?”

omg this question made me realize that none of them are all that kind to their bodies O_O

OK ummm with Leo he does enjoy baths, and tries to get rest but being who he is he’s always hiding injuries, big or small, so he doesn’t feel like a liability. this is totally not gonna blow up in his face in the future whattt hehe … also I mentioned I think but he really bad about skipping meals and constantly overworking himself past the point of exhaustion… also he has a bad habit of ‘punishing’ himself for his mistakes so yeah not too great

Raph works out a lot and he generally does do basic self care like eating enough, sleeping right, etc but he’s also very bad about not tending to his injuries or behaving very recklessly cuz he feels he can ‘take it’ / ie feels he has something to prove there…. I genuinely can’t remember if I talked about this before but he also had somewhat of a history with self harm where when he’d get upset enough he’d bite or beat himself, though he doesn’t really do it much anymore

I’m not gonna sugarcoat it Donnie treats his body like shit. He doesn’t like to eat, sleep, etc as I’ve said cuz he feels it’s a waste of time and he could be creating stuff in the moments he’d use on doing that kind of stuff. He has the least amount of energy and motivation when it comes to caring for himself and I’ve honestly been writing him with depression in mind so yeah. He’s not doing so great. I feel like Leo and Donnie do help eachother stay somewhat healthy by constantly getting on eachother about eating / drinking and taking breaks haha. Leo will be like “Donnie when is the last time you had a meal?”, and Donnie would shoot back with, “When’s the last time YOU had a meal?” And there’d be this awkward silence before both get up to eat something…. so it… kind of works out?

I don’t feel like Mikey is purposely mistreating his body and honestly he’s probably the best off of the turtles but I wouldn’t say he treats it like a temple or whatever. I mentioned it a few times but he specifically has an aversion to water and he’s probably dehydrated more often than not, and he REALLY doesn’t like baths so Leo basically has to scrub him down every once and a while to keep him clean. But like if he had an injury he’d go to Donnie, he eats right, and he tries to sleep normally but he has insomnia so he struggles ,,, with raph he’s also the most insecure / hateful of their mutated form and realllyyyy wishes he was human. Or a cat. Cats work too

With Casey he was malnourished when Raph meets him and he honestly eats so much junk food. He’s not like consciously out to sabotage himself but I don’t think he much cares for his body, or atleast doesn’t really go out of the way to show it special care. He’s pretty reckless and gets injured easily because of it

April’s probably the healthiest of the six. She gets plenty of exercise but doesn’t overwork herself, she tries to take care of her appearance cuz she really wants to make an impression on others, and she eats relatively normally. She grew up without any women in her life but instead of trying to go into things blind I think she’d do a lot of research so she’s probably got a better understanding of her body than the others have of theirs, and I do feel she’d go out of the way to take care of it ^_^

“do any of your characters enjoy sleeping with plushies??”

RAPH AND MIKEY!!! Raph specifically has a Charmander plush that he looooves but he’s pretty embarrassed of it until Casey hypes it up lol and Mikey was the kid who ended up with any of the plushies Splinter brought them, usually cuz he’d snatch them. He really loves animals so he has a bunch of animal stuffies and also a SpongeBob one. His bed is like 80% plushies which is funny considering he usually doesn’t even sleep in his bed. They were his favorite thing to play with as a young child

“do any of your characters vocal stim? I'm pretty sure Mikey meows :3 but is there anyone else?”

yesss mikey is a meow-er (and generally any sounds starting with m specifically) and the only one of them who really has any vocal stims, he specifically likes to repeat sounds (which Raph has always found annoying). Raph and Leo also stim but not vocally ^_^

“how did Donnie get his interest in tech?”

Part of it was him wanting to help the others and the other was genuine intrigue with the way things worked. Like when they first got the TV he was just completely amazed and wanted to pick it apart to figure it out. It truly started when said television broke and he played around with it until it was fixed and from that point on he kept fixing and ‘inventing’ things. If Splinter would bring anything no one wanted or used he’d scrap it for parts (he hoards a lot of parts in case he ever needs them), and slowly as he figured things out he made more and more advanced things. The others would praise him or get excited about his gadgets and it gave him an odd sense of accomplishment that he DEFINITELY did not get a lot of as a kid. I guess it did kind of end up becoming unhealthy though as he began placing all of his worth into what he could make / do and now neglects his wellbeing in favor of working on his projects.

“is there a questions that you have been dying for someone to ask? answer it!”

Hmm I don't think there’s a specific question I wanted to answer but there is some random stuff I’ve been wanting to talk about but haven’t found the chance to squeeze it into any posts….. the thing with rasey starting the whole fic was actually one of those things lol so without further ado I will now drop completely random story information:

the stockmans and shredder both knew the turtles as human kids and frequently saw them prior to their mutation, but after Splinter and the boys were mutated everyone thinks they are dead and a funeral ceremony is held for them despite there being no body or evidence of them dying. Baxter doesn’t recognize the turtles at first but Shredder will immediately connect the dots …… also Baxter ends up working under Shredder (they actually were working together before the mutation incident but went their separate ways and Baxter began working for the Purple Dragons) but they both DESPISE each other. unfortunately Baxter doesn’t really have a choice

Also random but Donnie and Splinter both just straight up lie a bunch and I won’t always acknowledge it I’m just gonna trust readers to catch it

ok one last random answer: the date. TMNTU was supposed to be set this year (so 2026) and originally it was supposed to be somewhere between June-August for the first part but then I remembered….. summer break…… and uh since school is somewhat prevalent for April during that part I moved it and now it’s supposed to take place between late May - early June (the entirety of the first part takes place over a course of like 8-10 days I think), and there was supposed to be about 3-5 months between the first and second part…….. I don’t have set days for their birthdays but Leo’s was meant to be January 2010, Karai’s would be February 2009, Raph and Donnie’s would be March 2011, April’s May 2011, Mikey October 2012, and then Casey was born in December 2009 (so Leo, April, Karai, and Raph and Donnie have already had birthdays before it starts)

“how do each of the turtles text? like do they use emojis? do they use proper grammar and spelling? etc.”

Leo would probably have the best grammar and honestly driest texts. He’s the guy who puts periods at the end of EVERY text and I don’t think he’d really use emojis, he’s probably drop a :) here and there, and I don’t think he’d use abbreviations either (like brb, idk, etc)

Raph I don’t think would care to double check his grammar or spelling, and I think all of his longer texts would be incomprehensible because he doesn’t understand commas (none of them went to school so there knowledge / education came entirely from what Splinter taught them or what they’d figure out themselves through what little they had). I think he’d pull an emoji here and there like 😡😡😡😒😒😐😐😐. Also he’d like caps way too much

Despite being the smartest I feel like Donnie would constantly make typos because he’s typing so fast and at some point he just gives up trying to correct them so half his texts look like this (exposing myself here cuz I couldn’t find better examples):

and I think he’d only use emojis or kaomojis when he’s displeased. Like not :) or >:( but he’d really love to drop a ;-; or -_- in the chat lols

Mikey would be the most expressive. He’d pull ALL the emojis and kaomojis. He’s gonna :3 :D O_O 🧡 😋 😼 🔥 his heart out. I think he’d like to keysmash too hehe but I don’t think he’d pay too much mind to his spelling, and given that he’s always read the least of the four (and yknow. Dyslexia) he would probably misspell stuff a bunch

“if you had to choose from all your characters from tmntu who's your favorite? if you chose a turtle, who's you favorite non turtle character?”

I love all of them but Mikey is probably my favorite 🥹 I really adore him he’s very important to me. non-turtle wise I really adore Karai. Some other special mentions (other than the turtles ofc theyre all four my sons) : Mona, Krystal (she wasn’t supposed to be too important but I did get attached 🥹), Casey, April, and then I’m growing onto Jennika and Bonnie as I work on their stories too….. probably more I forgot I just get attached way too easily LOL

“(I can't remember whether or not I've asked this before) who likes pineapple on pizza and who hates it?”

You did ask this so I’ll screenshot the answer but also

I forgot when I originally answered that Mikey specifically asks for pineapple pizza in one of the scenes LOL so Mikey is definitely the one enjoying pineapple pizza, and Casey would probably quietly judge