Whispering About The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

I have a lot of writing going on right now, so I won't be working on this right away, but I had the spark of a story enter my mind and I wanted to get a few details down to add to my to-write list.

Now, at the moment all I have is the idea, so I figured I would do a little audience participation to work out the details! So, without knowing exactly what the story entails, and only knowing that it will have both comedy and dramatic elements, AND that it will involve one character (which will be decided in a later poll) getting injured in such a way that it alters their perceptions in a very specific way...

Spoilers for my 70's TMNT AU (and in particular, for the latest chapter of Duck and Cover!)

A lot of these details will be showing up in future stories, but for the sake of filling in the blanks...

Admirers of unusual pets will probably be happy to know that in my 1970s AU Leonardo has a pet crow. He rescued the little idiot (affectionate) when she got her head stuck in a soup can as a fledgling... which is why he named her Campbell.

Campbell, or Cam, for short (and yes, that is an allusion to Cam Clarke!), was injured when Leo found her, and so has only one functional wing. Because of this she can't fly, but she can hop really well, and sometimes awkwardly flutters a few feet up onto tables and chairs, then makes her way from there onto counters and such. She has a habit of taking things from the workshop, infirmary, and kitchen; so when stuff comes up missing from those places, Don, Raph, and Mike generally know to go check Cam's nest in the corner of the dojo. This is really rather like a game to her, and she likes it when they discover what she took from them.

Cam has a complicated relationship with Klunk. She sometimes likes to steal his food, but at other times she will steal food to give to him. Once in a while, she will willingly play the "victim" when Klunk is in a pouncy mood, but he never hurts her. On occasion, they even cuddle together to sleep.

She has learned to mimic a few words, including "hello" and "sensei" and "good girl", and sometimes she gets chatty and just won't stop cawing. She has also learned to mimic Klunk's meows, which seems to confuse the cat. Like wild crows, she has different calls for different situations, including ones that communicate that she is scared or lonely or hungry or just being playful.

When Leo goes out to do his ninja thing, Cam will usually join him, riding in a pouch on his hip or perching on his shoulder. She knows never to make noise when she goes along with him. She isn't much good at helping to steal things or break into places, but sometimes he likes to give her the chance to nab little items while they are out.

I look forward to adding her to future fics, including one that covers exactly when and how Leo found her!

Anyone wanna try to guess what kind of unusual pet Leo has in my 1970s AU? It'll be showing up in the next chapter of Duck and Cover 😁

Woohoo!

💵 How do your turtles make money? Or do they only scavenge?

I actually answered this one here! (short version: they're thieves)

👤 Are there any oc’s in your au?

No major ones. At the moment, the only ones I have are very minor (the owners of a couple bodegas and a pizza shop waiter), and they aren't even going to show up right away.

Thank you for the ask!

Let's see!

🐢 Are your turtles different species?

Nope! And that's actually a plot point for a future story! It revolves around the whole reason the turtles were mutated in the first place.

🐱 Do any of your characters have pets?

Well, Mikey has Klunk, of course! But also, Leo has a somewhat more unusual pet that will be showing up in the next chapter of Duck and Cover (I know not a lot of people are reading that, but I still don't want to spoil it, so I'll just say stay tuned...).

🧓 Who is the eldest sibling? 👶 Who is the youngest sibling?

Grouping these ones together because they both have the same answer: Nobody knows! They all hatched at about the same time on the same day, and Splinter was too overwhelmed to keep track of who crawled out of their egg first. Still, Leo acts like the oldest sibling, and the other ones are fine with that (and with him being the de facto leader)!

Thanks for the ask!

And another 70s AU poll!

Not gonna beat around the bush with this one! Either Raph or Mike is going to be farsighted and will have to wear glasses for reading and doing fine work; while the other is going to have an issue with their hands that is somewhat limiting and frustrating but workable. Their ability to fight or use their weapons is not affected by either condition due to their training. (Both conditions are present in my family members and I felt they should have some type of representation in media, if only in fanfiction).

Points to keep in mind:

Raphael is the medic/doctor of the group, and has to do a lot of fine work and reading of medical texts.

Michelangelo is the artist of the family and does most of the cooking; so reading cookbooks is a big deal, but so is the need to handle cooking and art supplies.

Ready for more audience participation regarding my 70s AU?

I am not yet going to tell you what it is all about, but I will let you know that I have planned a dramatic event, and that I have narrowed it down to happening to either Mike or Don...

Okay, my friends! I did indeed end up posting the first story/recipe in my TMNT cookbook! Again, it ties in to my 1970s AU, but you know it will fit into most versions, anyway!

So, anyone for carrot cake?

While I am trying to get back into the swing of things,, I figured I might as well mention that my 1970s AU April O'Neil is roughly based on 70s actress, Barbara Rhoades.

Hmm... I think when I get my 70s AU up and running I might go ahead and make a TMNT Cookbook to go with it on AO3. I just know Mikey would be baking up a storm down there in the fallout shelter...

I did a little mental crop rotation, holding off on editing the next chapters of Something Wicked and Passage to do something a bit more lighthearted...

Meaning I actually got the first draft of the first story in my 1970s TMNT AU done, and I may actually post the darn thing some time before the 2070s roll around...

As I mentioned yesterday, here is the layout for my 1970s TMNT AU Lair (fallout shelter). My son and I had a lot of fun doing this! I doubt there are any questions, but if you want to know anything, ask away!

Edit: I had the wrong streets mentioned when I first posted this, so I edited it to put the right ones on!

Okay, popping on here to say that while I didn't get any actual writing done, I did get the floor-plan/layout for my 70's AU Turtle Lair / fallout shelter pretty much finished (with help from my 19-year-old!). I may post that tomorrow, if anyone is interested!

Kind of curious, because my 70s AU Turtles wear pants around their home, and I was wondering about other people's AUs...

As strange as it may seem, after nine years of posting to AO3 I have yet to make either a series or collection there... and I am actually still uncertain of their respective functions. But since I am in the process of plotting out several stories in my 1970s AU, I believe that some kind of organization will be called for; so I thought I might ask other writers how they go about organizing their Alternate Universe iterations on AO3.

I appreciate any additional advice on the matter, as well!

For the iteration / AU asks, I assume!

70s AU, by the way!

16. Were the turtles and Splinter mutated intentionally?

Well, yes and no!

When the Turtles began their mutation they were actually in their eggs, which had been injected with the mutagen by a scientist. Without getting too deep into the story (which will be told, by the way!) let's just say that Yoshi (a human at the time) came into possession of the eggs, and that after they were hatched some of the mutagen got into a fresh rat bite on his finger. So, while the Turtles were purposely mutated, Splinter was not.

17. Do any characters get mutated during the story?

Not so far as I have yet planned!

64. How did Splinter meet the turtles?

Oh! I guess I will have to get a bit into the story, then! But just a bit.

Simply put, and without too many details, as a human he was a thief and was hired to steal the eggs. Then there was a betrayal, yadayadayada, and he kept them, instead.

I already posted the height polls for Leo and Raph in my 1970s AU, and it looks like Leo might end up being 5'2" (although 5'4" is creeping up there!) and Raph will be 5'0"!

Now we go on to our resident genius...