Ive Seen A Few AUs Now Where The Baby Turtles Where Like, Actual Baby Turtle Sized Or At Least Palm Sized,

I’ve seen a few AUs now where the baby turtles where like, actual baby turtle sized or at least palm sized, so I wanted to know; how would your ‘12 Leo react to a baby Donnie who could fit in the palm of his hand? (I know the ‘12 turtles were a little closer to actual toddler sized, but just imagine)

*squints at you and wonders how much you know about my “In Which” activities on A03*

Anyway. That- is a very loaded question.

So let’s keep imagining.

Imagine discovering this little turt. Imagine him being scared and confused. Imagine him desperately clinging to your attempts to comfort him, despite him not truly knowing who you are.

Imagine if he was completely untouched by harm, and every time he leaned against you, it was like he was trusting his whole body and soul into your care. Every time he smiled or giggled, it was like that little piece of happiness was reserved for you alone in ways that you could never hope to deserve. Every time that he cries, he looks so helpless and heartbroken that all you can do is frantically search for a way to make it better.

Now.

Imagine if this tiny, precious green gremlin of a creature could fit in a single hand. Imagine watching him getting stuck on his carapace and trying to roll over, only to fail over and over. Imagine realizing just how tiny and dependent he is. Imagine that ever time he shifts in your arms, you remember that if he fell, he’s so small that his shell hitting the ground might crack it. Imagine watching him try to crawl and realizing that anything could very easily crush him.

You’re a powerful ninja that can break his arm simply by holding him too tightly. He’s fragile, so fragile that any everything around you is a potential danger that could hurt him.

Imagine if every instinct in your being is constantly on edge and screaming- protect- protect- PROTECT- PROTECT- PROTECT-

Saying this would disrupt things would be an extreme understatement. Forget any kind of self-care/training/patrols, this kid wouldn’t be able to take his eye of lil’ Dee for a second. It would be almost obsessive, the way he can’t stand the thought of putting him down, much less handing him off to anyone else. As long as lil’ Dee is in reach, he’s safe.

Leo will make sure of it.

“Hey, Leo?”

The brother in question doesn’t look up from where his gaze is trained on the braced form of their tiny brother, who is busy trying to figure out how to eat the teddy bear that is several inches taller than him. The leader holds the toy as he lays propped in the crook of his other arm, and Donnie consents to chewing on the fingerless hand, furry arms clasped in six fingers that don’t quite understand how to release yet.

Mikey steps forward and drops on the other side of the couch, repeating his name for the tenth time. “Earth to Leo!”

With Mikey’s insistent voice next to him and hard to miss, he starts and glances to the side. “What?”

Used to his random space-outs by now, Mikey reaches out a finger to curl around the teddy bear’s arm, putting very little force into prying it from Donnie’s mouth. Donnie kicks his legs and growls, playful and determined, unconsciously locking his jaw as tiny fingers dig into the fur. Leo flinches at the sudden movement, but other than shooting him a wary side-eye, says nothing.

But maybe that’s because Mikey had yet to stop talking. “So we talked about it and April says that she’s cool to help take Donnie tonight. I know you don’t want anyone else messing with him, but it’ll only be a few hours. And he likes me and he likes her and we all talked about it, and Raph and Casey’s going to be doing Vigilante stuff far away from here and I know what you’re thinking, but we-”

“Wait, wait, wait, stop.” Leo mutters as he shakes his head, worn-out gaze moving to train on Mikey. “What’s happening tonight?”

Leaving no room for argument, Mikey raises a finger to the sky and then pokes his plastron. “You. Are sleeping.”

“I… Already sleep.” Leo argues anyway, already disengaging from the conversation to let go of the teddy, returning his attention to the turt. The furry head covers the small plastron, stuffed body in Leo’s lap, and Donnie releases his jaw, looking curiously at it.

“I haven’t seen you sleep once since Donnie got small.” Mikey argues as Leo sets a finger on Donnie’s side, preventing him from being able to roll around when he squirms.

“I never said I did it a lot.” Leo mutters reluctantly.

“How about yesterday? How many hours? Six?”

“Mikey…”

“Five? Four? Three?”

“I know my limits.”

“Tell me you at least got an hour.”

A heavy sigh as his shoulders slump, and he somehow seems more tired than before. “I don’t know, Mikey. It’s not like I’m counting.”

“And that’s going to change as soon as April gets here.” Leo looks up as if just queuing into their plans, and Mikey reiterates. “She’ll take Dee, you’ll set an alarm, and go to sleep. If anything happens, which it won’t, I’ll-”

“No!” Leo snaps, both turtles look equally startled by his proclamation. His eyes harden suddenly. “No, Mikey, I’m fine. Seriously. Leave it alone. I’ve got him.”

“Dude, you’re barely eating and you’re not sleeping.” Mikey argues firmly. “We talked about it and we think-“

“Thank you for making plans for me behind my back, but I’m fine.”

The sharpness of Leo’s tone can slice like his katanas. It only further proves how tired he is, as normally he would understand their concern rather than jump to the conclusion that they were working against him. He’d be annoyed, rather than angry.

Mikey stands his ground. “You’re tired.”

“I’ll survive being tired until Bishop’s team finishes the cure!”

“We don’t know how much longer that’ll take!”

“I don’t see why that matters!”

“That’s because your brain’s mush cause you’re tired!”

Donnie’s face scrunches with uncertainty as he looks between them, and Leo catches onto his unease, taking the forgotten bear and flinging it at his brother. Mikey catches it before it can hit him square in the face and Leo gently cups Donnie in his hand, standing up and stating, “If I wanted to sleep, I would sleep. So back off.”

“Leo-”

Leo’s already leaving. “Not up for debate!”

“Leo!”

Mikey stands up and waves his arms in a vent of frustration at the turned shell, but Leo ignores him, heading for the bedroom and slamming the door behind.

“You’re kidding!”

Mikey’s hushed gasp draws April’s attention from her studies, closing the laptop to set it to the side and joining him in the hallway. She stops by Leo’s door, peeking over his shoulder curiously.

From the light spilling in, she can see Leo curled up on the floor, his side leaning against a pillow to keep him from rolling left. His left arm hangs over it, hand slack over a tiny body like a shield, and Donnie cuddles into the blanket nest underneath him. The only form awake is Chompy, sitting near the nest like a little guard, tail tapping the floor as he blinks sleepily at the both of them.

“Chompy. Really?” Mikey whines, completely aghast. “Chompy?”

“At least he’s sleeping?” April offers off-handedly, trying to pretend she’s not equally as upset to be robbed of a chance to play with the hand-size turtle infant. “That’s something?”

“Yeah.” Mikey admits with a sigh. “Guess he really was tired if we haven’t woken him. And Chompy’s a pretty good alarm system…”

She places a sympathetic hand on his shoulder. “We’ll try again another time.”

He groans playfully, and then grabs hold of her hand, tugging her arm back the way she came. “Fiiiine. But we got all evening free and someone’s gotta watch Chris Bradford reruns with me!”

“Mikey.” She laughs as she plants her feet. “I have an essay-”

“Aprriiiiilll!”

“Shhhh!” She glances into the room as Chompy chirps. “Alright, alright. But I’ll have to multitask.”

“Deal!” Mikey hurries into the main room, and April turns to grab the door knob. She watches the tense hand over Donnie’s shell relax again, a sigh leaving his lips as the area quiets, and she wishes them and the watchful alien a soft, “Sweet dreams.”

Chompy settles to sleep as the door shuts, and April heads to the pit.

“So, how many times have you seen this episode?”

“Only seven!”

“Only seven, huh?”

They are so used to it that now they play bingo with their traumatic experiences, like if Leo sacrifices himself again, or if someone falls off a building, or who died this time, etc.

Winner gets free pizza.

insert event where the 2012 and Rise turtles went through a life or death situation Leonardo: wow that was tough, anyways, Donatello, hows the “times we went through traumatic situations” board? Donatello: Oh were at 100 now! This is mind blowing! Raphael: 100? I thought we were at 80 Michelangelo: Dude! Seriously?! Bro, Leonardo, you gotta buy us 100 pizzas for the occasion! Leonardo: Come on guys, you know we can’t eat that much Michelangelo: You gotta do it dudeeee!!! It’s for the occasion! Pizza! Pizza! Pizza! Donatello: Pizza! Pizza! Pizza Raphael: They’re right, you know. Leonardo: sighs alright, opens wallet you guys win. Michelangelo: YEAAAA THATS WHAT IM TALKING ABOUT! Leonardo: Hey, guys do you want some as well? I doubt they’re gonna eat it all so maybe we should share

looks over to the rise turtles Meanwhile Leo, Donnie, Mikey, Raph are about to gain ptsd that’ll haunt them for years.

Okay so fic recommendations from me! Also absolutely no t*cst some of you are ew

Crossovers and 2012 fics

When the world crumbles - by Starryeyedace3/@tmnt-obsessed-ace (if you are uncomfortable with getting tagged then please tell me)

Quick explanation: 2012 and rise crossover which the 2012 kraang do another Invasion and the boys go through the portal to get to dimension x but they get to the rise dimension and leonardo is going through it

Sunshine of the woods - again by Starryeyedace3 or their tumblr name

Quick explanation: rise!mikey gets sent into the 2012 dimension in early season 3 and the boys will help him get back home when they get back to New York

Lost but never found - again by Starryeyedace3 or the same tumblr name

Quick explanation: 2012!Leonardo gets sent into the rise dimension and gets amnesia and rise leo quickly becomes his new friend and basically wants to protect him

They also have another au called same story different font in their blog check it out!

The algae is always greener on the other side - by ObsidianCreates on ao3/@obsidiancreates (if you are uncomfortable with getting tagged then please tell me)

Quick explanation: crossover between rise and 2012 and they watch their own shows that's basically it

The last ronin becomes a discord admin - by MelonPalooza/@melonpalooza (if you feel uncomfortable with getting tagged please tell me)

Quick explanation: ronin becomes a discord admin and 2012, 2003 and rise are there too its just a silly discord fic

Wedding bells and magic portals - again by MelonPalooza

Quick explanation: capriltello wedding and rapmona have babies that are gonna hatch, then a portal thing happens and they are in the rise dimension

We are infinite - by celestron_oOo on ao3!

Quick explanation: 2012!leo gets sent to the rise dimension and meets his counterpart but it's good! Also gram-gram training!

The question is violence and the answer is pizza - by anonymous on ao3!

Quick explanation: 2012!donnie makes a group chat with rise because he lost a bet and then he quickly realizes that making the group chat was a good thing, also 2012 crew are like parental figures for rise

Sunset linings - by @iamheretemporarly (if you are uncomfortable with being tagged please tell me)

Quick explanation: 2012 boys have to defuse the mutagen bomb but get sent into ronin's dimension

Shredder's Vendetta - by Cass_Phoenix on ao3!

Quick explanation: super shredder tries to posses leon and the 2012 boys help him and his brothers to get rid of super shredder

Two souls - by virgilisspidey on ao3! Also in tumblr

Quick explanation: 2012! Leo fucking dies in his own dimension and is now a parental/brother/mother figure and only rise!leo can see him, he renamed himself aoi, also they sometimes rewrite some of the rise episodes with aoi in them!

Now to the non crossover fics! 2012 time!

Fusions - by AmevelloBlue on ao3!

Quick explanation: after the episode of plan 10 a weird device appears and I just love this idea

What is wrong with me - by averie_sol on ao3!

Quick explanation: 2012!Leonardo has autism (just like me frrr) and is transfem, also aprilnardo!!!

Deadweight - by MorikoTheHalfAngel on ao3!

Quick explanation: 2012 season 3 fix it fic where Leo's healing is more realistic its good!

Breaks And Cracks In The Surface - by Deiohx on ao3!

Quick explanation: another season 3 fix-it-fic!

Fuse box - by alltheyears on ao3!

Quick explanation: leonardo centric but his brothers are worried about him

Terminator - by KawaiiNinja on ao3!

Quick explanation: mikey's T-phone gets accidentally mutated and sends the boys to the among us game, also this is after season 4 (also it has a lot of violence)

The shock of victory - by sailor_the_robot on ao3!

Quick explanation: they get back to the lair after beating super shredder, raph helps leo get the blood off

Ashes - by sklyully on ao3!

Quick explanation: timeline takes place at "follow the leader" but it's with leonardo almost dying, read it! It's good!

All that bends also breaks - by runen on ao3!

Quick explanation: leonardo with ptsd and trauma almost dies in the lair if he didn't call mikey, so basically leonardo tries to heal himself

Never love an anchor - by ILOVEDYOULIKETHESUN

Quick explanation: 2012 season 1 finale which leonardo almost drowns if the brothers didn't save her, also uses she/he Pronouns!

Blah Blah Blah - by WhaleSharkPrince on ao3!

Quick explanation: I know the name of the fic is missliding but the fic is very angsty and uh I cried yes, also leo uses she/her Pronouns! Uh hahah yeah..where's the tissues

Fearless leader - by Evesbese on ao3!

Quick explanation: after splinter passed away leo just suggest they go to the farmhouse and uh the others and him are not taking it very well

Where it all began - by @probably-not-a-rutabaga on tumblr and their ao3 is TinyPotato02

Quick explanation: I don't wanna explain the whole fic so I'll just say that splinter raised leo as a soldier instead of a son and told him to ignore his brothers

Late night conversations (In a Bathroom from the 1980s) - by hopefullysimple on ao3!

Quick explanation: the brothers are just chatting in the bathroom and share childhood memories

Drifting away - by fireworksinthenight on ao3!

Quick explanation: follow the leader episode fic!! A lot of self doubt, depression and wating to not lead anymore, leonardo just goes through a hard time

So yeah I'm a dad now - by RavagedRed on ao3!

Quick explanation: 2012!raph becomes a dad to a 4 year old girl who got mutated into a turtle tot and her name is Lita

New Stars (happy hearts) by Tirayed on ao3!

Quick explanation: transfem leo fic! She tells raph first and gets so scared to tell the others but they're just happy they have a sister, also!! Leo's knee injury!

Whoa this took so long and I just love those fics!

Now I'm gonna go and take a snack goodbye! <33

No witchcraft allowed on the basketball courts

I love these aus so much

Please make the sillies tie I'm begging

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GO CHECK EM OUT

I may be invisible, but I still look good - @dandylovesturtles

Two Arms Left - @intotheelliwoods

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SOUND ON 🔊

can we talk about how 7 yr old me's fave tmnt episode was fucking Parasitica, OF ALL EPISODES???