finished my turtle designs for my 12+rise au/iteration <3
Sorry this post might be long,, im just kind of spewing out my ideas for each turtle,, sorry if it's hard to read,, writing is not my best skill and I have a hard time explaining myself cohesively </3 General Ideas This au is set in a world very similar to rise, in terms of worldbuilding,, so there is a hidden city and everything This is also a separated AU! With Donnie being raised separately from the rest of the turtles,,
THIS BOTTOM PART WAS MADE BEFORE THIS POST,, I hope it explains whatever's in this post a bit better ⤵
retconning how Draxum names Donnie,, I think Draxum would reveal himself to Yoshi (as a yokai) a little bit before he takes Yoshi prisoner,, as he is the one who asks Yoshi to get the turtles he needed (albeit Yoshi was a bit confused on the purpose of the turtles, as Draxum did not reveal his plans for mutation until after he had taken Yoshi prisoner)
Yoshi knew Draxum was a scientist, so he had assumed the turtles were there to be studied,, and he ended up naming them before he was captured,, so when they whole mutation happened and they got split up, Donnie already had his name > this relates into why the other three turtles know Donnie's name even though they don't know him,,
Yoshi had a hard time after his mutation,, both dealing with the grief of losing one of the turtles who he now associated with as a child, and also with Draxum's betrayal,, so Donatello could not just be forgotten, thats why the turtles know they had a fourth brother,,
ALSO IMPORTANT, they know he is associated with purple because I think Yoshi would have told Draxum of the stories of the Hamato's history, especially the four ninjas (red, orange, blue, purple),, and he had kinda color coded the turtles before his inprisonment too,, thats why Draxum gave Donnie his ninja mask (as a sort of homage to Yoshi) and made it purple
it's why donnie has his other color patches too,, he doesn't particularly care too much about the idea of having brothers (so he thinks),, but the patches make him feel a little less lonely
Background Lore The turtles were created by Draxum and mutated with both human (Hamato Yoshi) and yokai (Baron Draxum) DNA. During Yoshi's escape from Draxum's lab, the lab explodes, and Donatello is lost in the rubble, so Yoshi only takes three turtles with him back to the surface and into the sewers. Donnie is found by Draxum and is raised by him
You can find more Draxum specific lore here! All the turtles are aware of the existence of their lost brother(s).
Donatello - in the hidden city
blurb Donnie is a very ambitious turtle. He finds that he needs to know everything about mystic botany (his special interest related to Draxum's plant mystics), and is very prone to plant related explosions,,
He can be a bit of a know it all, and it is most definitely intentional,, he is very proud of his smarts, it is something he knows is his strongest skill. Despite this, he can have moments of insecurity regarding what he knows, mostly due to Draxum's concerns about Donnie being very similar to who he was before he became a father.
Ninjitsu is not one of his strengths, considering he is learning from Draxum as opposed to an actual master. He relies heavily on his plant made bombs and elixirs during fights, and is far better at swinging his pole around like a bat instead of a bo. He is more of a distract and escape kind of fighter, rather than staying to defeat his opponents. Self defense is his #1 His lab is in a greenhouse Draxum built a little bit away from the shop,, mostly so Donnie could stop exploding the shop and scaring away customers.
Design
Him being the only one with pants is literally because he was raised in the hidden city. His patches have meaning though. He knows of the existence of his brothers,, Draxum has mentioned them before, he has mentioned Yoshi too, and the idealistic future he had in mind for everyone. With this knowledge, despite knowing he has a good life and a loving father, Donnie can't help but feel like theres a gap in his relationships, like he misses people he's never met. The patches are meant to be a little way to fill that gap, that even if he doesn't know them, they are there with him, in a sense. His mask is in a bow because it is meant to "twin" with Draxum's bun. It was the way Draxum had tied it when Donnie was younger and he hadn't bothered to try tying it someway else. Scars. He has some large scars that cover his arms and extend under his gloves. Due to his experiments and subsequent explosions when he was younger and first trying out new things, he got injured quite a lot and they left scars. These aren't something he is ashamed of, in fact he likes when people ask about them because he thinks his stories are funny (they aren't).
Extra
He gets his love for mystic plants from Draxum
He was given the choice to have a Bo, but he found out he couldn't manipulate the wood with his elixirs and ditched it for the metal pipe ("The sound is makes when it hits someone is way more satisfying.")
Has been banned from the Mystic Library on multiple occasions, they Librarian can never seem to get rid of him
Despite his interest in mystics, he is not very good at it. It's why he clings to potions and serums to manipulate plants > It is also another one of his insecurities. He wants to make his Dad proud, but him failing at what his Dad excels at makes him feel like he won't ever live up to him.
Raphael - in the sewers
Raphael is very short-tempered and withdrawn. He feels great love for his family, but he very much follows the "distance makes the heart grow fonder" phrase. He prefers to play lone wolf and do his own things, but he does try to hang out with his brothers from time to time, no matter how much the situation displeases him.
He has always struggled with socializing. Even though it's just his brothers and Splinter, he has always felt like he is missing part of himself, maybe he sticks his idea of Donnie very close to his heart. He hangs the idea of the family protector over his head and takes it very seriously. He was not grown enough to protect Donnie, so he will make sure that now he can protect everyone else. Despite this protector role, he distances himself away from his family. If a ninjitsu master could lose one turtle, who's to say what a teenage mutant turtle could lose too.
His strength his quite literally his strength. While not as proficient as Leo, he is fairly skilled in ninjitsu, though he finds much more enjoyment in showing off his brute strength in his moves, rather than being light on his feet. He moves himself like a tank, which can sometimes be his downfall and he ignores when an opponent might be stronger than him, because how could he ever let himself be weaker than someone else.
Design
Kneepads. When he first got his kneepads, he didn't like that it was so similar to his brothers, so he bleached and dyed them to match his mask. Literally his only reason was "I want to be different." Mask. The jagged edges were entirely accidental, but if you ask Raph, he'll say he did it on purpose. No one really knows how his masks got so torn, and he has made is clear that he won't ever tell the story. Scar. The scar on his plastron is a reminder that he is not invincible. He got it when he went into the sewers beyond the lair for the first time when he was younger. Got afraid of his own shadow and tripped onto his sai. It is not a scar he is proud of. Ribbon on his sai. Similar to his brothers, he also likes to hold a piece of Donnie with him. He puts the ribbon on his sai because he finds enjoyment and fighting, and he wants Donnie to feel the joy he does.
Extra
He is a hobby botanist. Of course, being in the sewer and all, he can't get very complex plants, but he does enjoy growing flowers and herbs.
He'd never admit it, but when it's just him and Leo, he enjoys their spars. It's something he considers an emotional outlet, though it's not very effective when they are sparring with an audience ("Leo just likes to show off to Splinter and it ruins the whole thing!").
His relationship with Splinter is a little strained. He doesn't know it, but Splinter wants so desperately for Raph to see himself beyond his self-imposed purpose of being the protector.
Michelangelo - in the sewers
Mikey is very joyous and whimsical, in simple terms. He tries to see the good in everything around him, and is capable of switching the mood of a situation from gloomy to lighthearted very easily. However, despite being able to lift other's moods, he has a hard time processing his own negative emotions.
Even though no one asked him too, he feels a lot of pressure to keep the lair bright and happy, or at the very least, not sad, a habit he developed when he was younger and Splinter's depression was much more severe than it is now. He does this by annoying Raph out of his room, or asking Leo to skateboard with him, or cook dinner for the whole family to eat together.
He is the most gifted at ninjitsu. He doesn't do much to develop his skills like Leo does, but when he was younger, he was the always the quickest to get the hang of a move, especially if it involved a lot of moving around. He loves to play keep-away with his opponents, jumping around and dodging hits, similar to how he likes to mess with Raph. He doesn't like to take his fights too seriously, because "Where's the joy in that?"
Design
When he was younger, he discovered his love for leg and arm warmers and it carried on with him as he got older.
Mask. His mask tails used to be long like Raph and Leo's when he was younger, however he found that he hated it when they got in his face when he flipped out, so he decided to DIY cut them himself. He was honestly aiming for them to be about chin length, but he didn't take the time to measure and cut them way shorted than intended. He makes is work though. Kneepads. He painted on his lighting and smile himself. Straight up told Splinter, "These are so sad and boring!" and spruced them up to fit his vibe more. Plastron Sticker. He made it to keep the brother he never got to meet* close to him. He remembers Splinter's grief when he was younger, and how losing Donnie had hurt him, so he wear his purple sticker to feel like Donnie is there with him. He'd never admit it to anyone, but sometimes he talks to himself (sticker) as if Donnie were there, albeit a bit out of character as he can only assume what kind of turtle Donnie would've been. * Under the assumption that Donnie died in the lab explosion
Extra
Mikey loves to cook. It starts out as a way to get everyone together, but as he learned more, he found that he had a lot of fun in the kitchen. He has definitely improved since his was younger, and sometimes wishes he could go back in time to tell his younger self that jelly beans do not belong on pizza.
He always been keen on trying new things, especially anything art related. Jack of all trades.
He doesn't know it yet, but similar to his talent in ninjitsu, he shares a similar talent for the mystic arts.
Leonardo - in the sewers
Leo is very proud of himself and who he has, as well as his family, or at least his idealized version. He might not express it too much verbally, but his family means the world to him, and he bases his entire self around that idea. Sometimes it's hard to prioritize himself, and he has has many lectures from Splinter about learning to be his own turtle, though he is not really sure how to to do that.
When he was younger, he wanted nothing more than to be like the heroes Splinter had told stories about. He carried this want into his teens, though thought a bit more realistically, Leo wants to be someone his whole family could be proud of. He wants people to look at him and think that his whole family must be great like him too. Perhaps he fell a little too hard for the idea, as he puts unrealistic expectations onto himself,, it's borderline self-harm. But he has to do it, he has a name to live up too, and no matter how unhealthy this mind-set is, he thinks he's doing pretty great.
Leo is very skilled in ninjitsu. Mikey may be able to catch onto something first, but its Leo who excels in refining that into perfection. He has the practice grace of a learning master, and tries his hardest to fight honorably. This honor doesn't exist during his and Raphs spars however. Just for that little moment, Leo can slip out of his perfectionist mask and show that he can be just as rough as Raph.
Design
Mask. He is the only one with his original mask still intact as it was when it was given to him. He takes great pride in taking care of it,, almost obsessively so. Raph and Mikey love to mess with him about it.
Bandages. He wanted to keep his wraps all the same color, to portray himself as more "mature." ("It's not mature, you just look boring! The brown washes you out!", "A ninja doesn't worry about looking 'washed out,' Mikey.") He compromised with Mikey to at least have blue elbow protection.
Purple Ribbon. Leo doesn't really feel that same connection that Mikey and Raph do. In fact, he doesn't feel very positively at all about it. He centers himself around protecting his family, and so far, all this dead turtle has done is make his family hurt and grieve. He wears the ribbon for his family, but beyond that, he does not care for it.
Extra
When he is alone, he likes to watch his space shows. He knows his family knows about his enjoyment for them, but he prefers to enjoy it by himself. He doesn't need them teasing his childish behaviors.
This does extend into his love for stars and space in general. His room is decorated in cheap, glow in the dark stars. If he could be born into a different life, he'd like to have been and astronaut and fly across the stars.
He has a hard time listening to ideas other than his own. HE is meant to be the one to lead his brothers to success. If they don't listen, how are they supposed to win?
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OUUGH, SORRY THIS IS A LOT, i hope some of it makes sense, ive been on this tab for 5 hours actually,,
I have stuff being planned for splinter but i need to figure out his design, incase anyone caress,, aaa writing is so hard
