I've Survived All My Finals!!!

I've survived all my finals!!!

Best one? Chemistry. Even though it was at 8:00 a.m. on Monday, Chemistry was my easiest class this semester by far. I even had time to write some of the FNAF lore on the back; I had been joking with my professor that I would tell him all the lore one day.

Worst one? Experimental Physics. It should have been easy, but my horrible time management skills wrecked me. It wasn't a traditional final, but a project with an accompanying poster, presentation, and lab report.

So yeah. My life is no longer chaos. ROTTMNT incorrect quotes will resume tonight!

Pole-bear Withered Animatronic Redesigns: Part 2

Part 1 here

~

Today, we have the spookmeister himself,

Withered Bonnie

Fitting with my Freddy redesign, I wanted to give Withered Bonnie a more retro, antiquated feel to his outfit. However, fitting with his general demeanor and design trends in pole-bear's works, I also wanted to make sure he kept a more fun and casual aesthetic as well. And you know what? Vests are amazing for that! I think his vest + arm garter combo give him a "Wild West bartender" vibe; this way, he doesn't look out of place next to Freddy, but he still feels like a bit of a free-spirited wild card compared to his grizzly companion. I did consider giving him darker pants to match his garter/buttons/shoes, but khakis just felt right.

As for his "withering?" I bandaged up his right hand, gave him a sock in place of his left shoe, and tore up the left sleeve to make it look like a cascade of wires.

And here's his face...kinda. Not really a face. I guess it's his head? There's not really much to say about a faceless bunny man, but he's here and ready to make face puns.

Chica's up next. :)

Support and Love

To distract myself from the impending doom that is finals week, I'm continuing my stupid little fanfiction journey. I think I've earned it, anyway; I wrote an entire five-page history essay in four hours yesterday.

~

Four days have passed since Regiomontanus initially met their prospective new siblings. They've been flitting back and forth between their temporary New York residence and the other turtles' lair, but they haven't truly spent time anywhere else. They have made a concerted effort to hide their appearance from as many people as possible. This has been effective so far; aside from their parents and a few doctors, no humans have seen their recently mutated form, at least not up close. Their stealth has also been quite necessary. Attempting to live a normal human life as a sea turtle mutant is akin to swimming through the Sahara Desert--technically possible, but not worth the trouble at all.

Sticking to the shadows isn't so bad, though. The turtles of the New York City sewers have, at minimum, been open-minded toward Gio's presence. Leonardo remains skeptical of them--not aided by their increasingly apparent similarities to his nerdiest brother--but he does not yet wish to make a scene. Raphael makes a more obvious effort to be courteous, but he too is a bit wary. The others have, for the most part, been downright pleasant. Michelangelo was the first to embrace Gio after learning of their plight, and he was even the one to suggest adopting them as a sibling; his optimism regarding the situation has not yet changed. Donatello was initially even more suspicious than Leo, but he used his logical mind and advanced technology to put his doubts to rest, and he has found some common ground to truly connect over with Gio.

At the very least, even if the siblinghood falls through, some sort of connection between Gio and the turtle brothers seems to be in the cards.

Over the past half-week, with some help from their new acquaintances, the new mutant has grown ever so slightly more accustomed to the drastic changes in their body. They are still slightly put off by their chartreuse skin coloration, but they feel a bit more at ease in the presence of spring, lime, spruce, and forest green complexions. The chocolate chip-like markings extending down each of their limbs startled them at a first glance, but their concerns have eased somewhat upon seeing appendages decorated with stripes, spikes, spots, and zig-zags. Their heavy shell threw off their balance for a while, but their center of gravity has gradually adjusted to compensate for it.

They're also discovering advantages to their new form. They have been tested by Donnie twice so far for mutation-related enhancements. Appropriately, two have been documented at this point: augmented underwater sight, and drastically increased lung capacity. Gio has made some independent observations, too. They have noted a heightened ability to hear low-frequency sounds, as well as an uncanny boost to their sense of direction. "Official" tests will be performed over the next few days to confirm that Gio's findings are real. They are exhilarated to continue making discoveries like these.

However, they also miss the feeling of a "normal" life.

As delighted as they are to be in the lair with their new companions again, they can't help but sigh wistfully as they reminisce about their human friends. Mikey hears, and he can't help but want to turn their gloom into glee.

"Hey, Gigi," the box turtle says as he seats himself next to his potential sibling. "Are you okay?"

Gio's posture corrects itself, and they snap into a more positive facade. "Oh, uh, yeah. I'm fine. Just thinking about something."

"You sure? You don't have to tell me if you don't wanna, but I also don't want you to be sad..."

The sea turtle sighs once more, this time with a marked lack of protest. "Okay... It's just... I'm still trying to come to terms with this whole 'being a turtle' thing. You and Donnie have really helped me get used to, well, physically being a turtle, but... I miss my friends. I've been texting them, and I know I can keep doing that, but I know I can't really see them again when I look like this. I used to play board games with them every day, and now I can't do that ever again." They gulp silently, barely holding back tears.

"Aww, hey, you don't know that...! If they're really your friends, they won't care how you look! They'll still love you for who you are."

"I...I know. But I can't take any risks. You know that just as well as I do..."

Mikey looks dejectedly at the floor. After a few seconds, though, his expression brightens again.

"Heeeyyyy...! You know what?"

"What...?"

"There's one human we can introduce you to."

"Wait, what?"

"Yeah! She's been friends with us for years! Just let me call her up!"

Before Gio can raise any questions, Mikey stands up and lifts them into a standing position beside him; they tower over a foot above him, yet his sheer energy and strength mitigate any issues the height difference would pose. He presses a button on his phone, then sets it down horizontally across from himself.

"Wait, what are you doing?"

"I'm doing a video call. It'll be easier for her to talk to both of us that way!"

"Uh, okay, but I wasn't expecting--"

Gio's train of thought is interrupted by a voice coming from the phone's speakers.

"Hey, Mikey, what's up?" asks the caller. Said caller is a girl with tawny brown skin, wearing red glasses and a green hoodie. Her curly, syrup-colored hair is tied up in two pigtail-like puffs.

"April! Hey! We have a new turtle mutant buddy, and since they miss their human friends, I thought I could introduce them to you!"

Gio gives a silent, shy wave.

"Aww, well, isn't that nice-- Wait, 'human friends?' You mean they're a mutated human?"

"That's what they said. We found them by complete accident, too; Raph bumped into them while he was out for a walk!"

"...Huh. Not what I would've expected, but I guess it isn't impossible..." April turns her head a bit to look at Gio. "Anyway, what's your name?"

"I...I'm... I'm Regiomontanus. I know, I know. It's a mouthful. You can just call me Gio, or Gigi, or whatever."

"Well, it's nice to meet you, Gio. I'm April," she says with a smile. In response, Gio simply nods.

"So... What kinds of things do you like? What are you interested in?"

The sea turtle is nearly frozen in place, stammering awkwardly and fidgeting with the webbing between two of their fingers. Mikey takes it upon himself to intervene.

"Well, we haven't seen much of them yet, but they seem to like science; they really like Donnie's lab. Oh, and board games! That's one of the things they loved to do with their other friends."

"I see... So we're looking at another 'Dorky Pals for Life Club' member~"

"Yeah, probably."

Gio glances up in confusion. They can't help but ask, "What's the 'Dorky Pals for Life Club?'"

April gives a playful smirk. "That's just a little nickname I gave myself and Donnie for being such huge dorks."

"Ah. Then, yeah, I'd fit right in--if you'll have me, that is."

"Why don't we get together in person first? Then we'll see."

"Y-yeah, that sounds good."

"Great! Me and the boys'll put something together. That okay with you, Mikey?"

"You bet!"

"Then it's settled. I'll organize everything with you guys later in the group chat. I'll talk to you later!"

"Alright, April. Bye!"

The call concludes, and there is silence for a few minutes. However, Gio eventually finds a bit of courage to break the stillness.

"Hey, uh, Mikey...?"

"Yeah?"

"...Thank you. The fact that you'd go out of your way to do something like that... That...that really meant a lot to me."

"Aww, you're welcome!" He pulls them into a hug. Gio's posture stiffens into discomfort, but they find it in themself to permit the embrace. Mikey rests his head on their arm and looks up to initiate eye contact once more.

"I know we haven't known each other that long, but I really do think you have a place in our family--and I'm not just saying that because you're a turtle now. You seem really nice, and I don't want you to feel lonely or weird. We'll always be here if you need us, okay?"

With moist eyes, Gio wraps their arms around his small body. The two turtles hug in silence until the tears and melancholy transform into laughter and merriment. They're almost sad when Donnie arrives to collect Gio for more testing, but knowing that more fun times lie ahead, the diminutive box turtle and willowy sea turtle depart with grins on their faces.

jellogender is the cutest thing I've ever seen not in a patronizing way but in a "im gonna steal it" way

Thank you!! It has lots of definitions, so there's plenty of room to "steal" it. Here's its page on the MOGAI genders wiki.

There used to be a really neat flag for it, too--basically the same one as on the wiki, but with a white diamond in the center. I can't find it anywhere, though, almost like it's been scrubbed off the internet. But hey, the other flag is also pretty nice. :)

Pole-bear Withered Animatronic Redesigns: Part 3

Part 1 here

Part 2 here

~

Today, we have the sneaky scarecrow (seriously, she never appears anywhere outside of the cameras until she's right in front of you)...

Withered Chica

For Chica, I immediately knew I had to give her a 1930s-1950s sort of aesthetic. That's just the time range I associate with retro diners. To match, I gave her a slightly fancier hairstyle than usual; Shirley Temple was a big inspiration there.

For her "withering," we've got the bandaged arm stumps. That was always something that bothered me about pole-bear's depiction of Withered Chica; they just gave her gray gloves, not fully committing to the withering like they did with Bonnie. I also included a couple scrapes on her legs and a bit of tearing in her clothes so the damage would be more uniform.

But what about her jaw?

That's where her bow comes in. It's a bandage keeping her jaw closed. She can still move her mouth a bit, but her head isn't going to suddenly break off into two pieces.

You guys know the pattern. Foxy's next.

My upcoming astrophysics final ("upcoming" as in "literally four hours from now") is freaking me out, so I put on the Kahoot remix of One Winged Angel and drew this on my equation sheet.

Seriously, it's 4:00 a.m. I should probably at least try to get three hours of sleep, but there's a part of me that doesn't believe there's a point to it and just wants to commit to the all-nighter.

I just have to get through it. That's what I keep telling myself. Just one more day, and I get to spend time with my dogs for over a month. They're really cute. I'd ask if you want to see them, but just like in real life, I'm just going to show them to you anyway.

This is Max. I promise he has ears. They're just flipped inside-out. His favorite hobbies are sleeping, eating leaves off the road, and trying to lick everyone's faces off (if he likes them). He's scared of his own food bowl, but he won't hesitate to go near his brother's bowl. Speaking of...

Here's Timmy. He enjoys rolling around in blankets, taking his favorite toy for walks around the ground floor of our house, and begging my dad for snacks whenever he gets home from work. He actually is Max's brother; they were from the same litter. They just turned 12 in October.

So yeah. I may be screaming internally right now, but it will all be worth it tomorrow when I get to see them... :')