happy pride month! 🏳️‍🌈 this one goes out to all our queerplatonic folks out there. your identities and relationships are valid!

made with the Draw With Me app via my beautiful spouse, who gifted me an ipad and stylus for my birthday. love you, nifey! 🩷

YOTP subject: Raytello March - Fairytale AU

Donnie and his brothers are kappa guarding a small town, but one day their efforts seem to be thwarted at every turn; crops are stolen, boats are overturned, rugs are unwoven, the temple is wrecked, tools go missing... determined to catch the culprits in action, Donnie stakes out a project he’d been working on and manages to ambush one of the perpetrators - which turns out to be a group of noppera-bo! where the others of its kind are giddy to cause mayhem and hijinks wherever they go, there seems to be one noppera-bo who’s reluctant to join in the sabotage - a young trickster named Erkleid. to Donnie’s surprise, not only does Erkleid offer to help restore order to the town, but he also seems to share a lot of the same affiliations with Donnie, including a complete obsession for the town’s prized library. maybe, with the shapeshifting trickster’s help, Donnie will actually be able to brave the lands to visit unimpeded... - lines by me colors by @michi0no <3

YOTP subject: Raytello February - “Different”

major major spoilers for The Song of Your Heart, a scifi tmnt fic by yours truly. here’s a snippet from the chapter in question below the cut:

“Long shadows crept along the walls towards them, and rounding the sharp bend lumbered two nightmarish organisms. The three turtles had never before seen anything like them; they were so large they just barely fit in the corridor on all fours, which was how they walked. All four limbs on which they crawled ended in bizarre hand-like appendages, neither claws nor feet. Both creatures had unnaturally long bodies, from their front and hind arms to their torsos to their necks.

The lights in the hallway were bright enough that Mikey could make out a gross blotching of colors that made up their scales, appearing in bright blue and pale green. The slightly hunched backs of the monsters each looked to be made up of shell-like plates and protruding bone.

As they drew nearer, Leo, Raph, and Mikey stayed frozen, none of them daring to so much as breathe too loudly; so far, it didn’t seem like the creatures had noticed them.

And then a surge of emotion burst from Nollpak Ozinfa’s mind, engulfing the three brothers in a miasma of despair. Suddenly, they understood. Through Nollpak’s quick observation, skills in puzzling out situations at a rapid speed, and ability to share their findings telepathically as a result, all three of them understood.

“No…” whispered Leonardo under his breath.

Raphael’s face was a mask of shock. The twin sai shook in his hands.

A long time ago, Mikey had amused himself in the main medical bay by doodling pictures of everyone on one of the iPad-like touchscreen tablets. He’d drawn his brothers and a few of the medical technicians before scribbling out an amusing sketch of Donnie and Ray kissing like a dime-store-novel book illustration. At the time, Mikey had considered giving Ray a mouth, as he’d been unsure how they’d kiss otherwise, but quickly discovered that Ray with a mouth was horribly, uncannily creepy. So he’d erased it with haste.

Staring at the figures looming ahead of them, Mikey now realized that he’d been right.

Ray did look creepier with a mouth.”

took a whack at @rosevoliii’s tmnt style meme using my anxious alien oc, Ray. this was super fun to fill out, 10/10 recommend. a lot of them look similar because you can only draw this fucker differently so many times

now onto the yotp challenges, in which i’m sure i won’t be equally as lazy about, nor will i lie about the previous statement

YOTP subject: Raytello January - Historical AU

my entry for the yotp challenge for the month of january featuring an au in which Donnie and his brothers are members of the Hamato ninja clan in feudal-era Japan. they train and live in secret, having been nearly wiped out by their rival clan. one day, Donatello was ambushed by several ninjas of the Oroku clan and just managed to escape with only minor injuries. he’s discovered, separated from his siblings, by a strange forest creature with bioluminescent markings and a soft telepathic voice. to Donatello’s surprise, the entity immediately tends to his wound without regard for its own safety. the gentle creature intrigues Donatello, who’s hesitant to flee after the selflessness the creature showed him. the being introduces itself as Erkleid, a member of an elf-like spirit race that’s been living hidden among humans and mutants for centuries, and whose impulsivity and intellect seems to compliment Donatello’s personality perfectly...

last part for now of the Insight’s main crew; bff edition. details below

left: Gehaol Viqsar, second to the head of the scientific team on the Insight. he’s insightful and compassionate and brilliant, specializing in genetics and bio-organic studies. Gehaol is one of Erkleid’s closest friends, having been a fellow scientist to Erkleid’s late mate, Nenfurt Torma. they’re extremely close, with Gehaol often going out of his way to give Erkleid extra help or sneak him things he might want from the labs. he’s still relatively young, but a valued member of his team. in the Another Voice series, Gehaol is invaluable as being the one to figure out a way to separate Erkleid and Donatello’s dangerous telepathic and genetic bond.  scales: ghostly pale blue bioluminescence: pale green age: 99 Earth years song: Astronaut in the Ocean, by Masked Wolf

middle: Erkleid “Ray” Naera, one of the youngest medical technicians on the Insight at a mere eighty-five years old. Erkleid is an extremely anxious individual, overthinking everything and seeking approval for his every action. he specializes in emergency medicine, being similar to an EMT on Earth. he is one of the five Caandensaurs in his entire race capable of bearing live eggs, making him an important member of his dwindling society. Erkleid has a deep crush on one of the Earth specimens his people abducted from the planet, Donatello, because of the identical brainwave frequency he shares with Erkleid’s deceased mate, Nenfurt Torma. Erkleid is sweet and attentive, willing to bend over backwards for Donatello’s safety and comfort. he appears here as he does at the end of the Another Voice series, sporting some... choice scars from a traumatizing event from the story’s third act.  scales: electric blue bioluminescence: canary yellow age: 85 Earth years song: To Tell You the Truth, by Written by Wolves

right: Enpaui Drefin, the head scientist on the Insight, and one of Erkleid’s close friends. his specialty lies with a healthy bit of everything; Enpaui is very intelligent and works with everything from technology to biogenetics. he’s often mistaken for lacking the Caandensaurs’ traditional heating bands, because the coloring of his bands is nearly identical to the color of his scales. a caring and logical individual, Enpaui is hard-working and enjoys taking notes on everything and anything he can get his hands on to study.  scales: robin’s egg blue bioluminescence: pale yellow age: 101 Earth years song: Royal Beggars, by Christina Rotondo

Donnie grinned at him. “Told you I’m a fast learner,” he said. Before he stopped to think, he took Ray by the chin, pulled him low, and pressed a tiny kiss to the smooth scales where a mouth would have been.

They both froze. Ray’s eyes were wide, his pupils dilated. The yellow scales on his cheeks brightened, followed by the ones on his neck and body.

Donatello sat stunned by his own actions. His face burned uncomfortably. His breathing had hitched and now came in shallow gasps. The warmth from before was back, tingling deep in his stomach. ~

whoops, all fanart for my own fic illustration for chapter 22 of The Voice in Your Ear

all aboard the Insight, there’s no going back now!

Donatello x Erkleid “Ray” Naera OTP couple meme that literally nobody asked for. fun to do, but goddamn, i wish i had a better stylus. no palm rejection, no tilt, no pressure sensitivity. hence the art is just bad. me fingies are tired.

fun shit below, or not

Age: their age difference seems enormous, but for Ray’s species, that’s very young. in normal human culture, he’d be about 21. in their story, Donnie is still rather young at just past 16. Gender: Ray’s species are reptilian, and don’t possess sexually dimorphic anatomy. each individual has a prehensile hemipenis and a cloaca with no secondary sex characteristics. the only difference between them is who can lay eggs, and who can gestate them. when it comes down to it, Donnie doesn’t care all that much about gender. they’re giant sentient turtles, what does he care about gender norms? Spoons: the only reason Ray is the big spoon 90% of the time is because he’s that much larger than Donnie, who just makes for the world’s tiniest jetpack. Clothes: neither of them really wear clothes normally, but if Donnie so much as glanced at something Ray had on, Ray would give it up immediately. Pet Names: Ray is ALL about the pet names. he’ll call Donnie everything from “my love” to “darling” to his species’ intimate name for a mate, “Mi’luta.” Donnie, meanwhile, just gets embarrassed and sticks to casual nicknames. the only time he would get cutesy is behind closed doors. Intro/Extro: they’re both pretty introverted, although due to his occupation as a medical technician, Ray can handle being around people longer than Donnie can.  Affection: Donnie is a shy boy that stumbles over every word when he’s trying to be affectionate; his love language is definitely through actions, whether that be by making/fixing something or going out of his way to plan the perfect evening. as for Ray? he’ll do an equal amount of showering Donnie with loving words and thoughtful actions. when Ray’s in love, he’s in LOVE. Confession: this one’s on Ray. the circumstances around their initial meeting are awkward and weird at best, and it’s taken Donnie quite some time to feel comfortable with Ray. in a moment of desperation, Ray confessed first, afraid Donnie was going to leave him. Bugs: Ray has never seen an insect before in his life, but would be curious after he stopped screaming. Donnie’s more likely to get excited and infodump about whatever bug it is before gently putting it outside. Car: Donnie’s a technical genius who built a car from near scratch and learned to drive in New York. Ray is a doctor and has never had to operate a moving vehicle before.  Cooking: this is ALL Donnie. hailing from a species of telepaths who feed on information, Ray’s never had to physically make food his entire life. when he tried, it was horrible. he’d find a way to set a bowl of cereal on fire. PDA: again, Donnie’s the shy one. he’d be a bit nervous about public displays, no matter how infatuated he is. and despite his crushing anxiety, Ray has zero hesitation when it comes to showing his scientist Mi’luta, as well as anyone nearby, just how much he adores him. Overprotective: Ray. he’d do anything to keep Donnie from danger. he’d take a bullet for Donnie. he’d mutilate his fellow crewmembers to save Donnie. he’d risk life-threatening surgery to save Donnie. he’d even fight every single brother single-handedly to keep Donnie safe. fun fact: only one of those four statements is false - the rest he has done in the past. now Donnie? he knows full well Ray can handle himself, and he’s a ninja, so he can handle himself, too. however, if Ray was ever in danger, he’d stop at nothing to jump to his aid. Experience: where Donnie has fallen flat on his face when it comes to past relationships, Ray actually had a mate before him. they were together for two years before his mate died due to health complications.  H0rny: Donnie could take it or leave it unless he’s really in the mood. Ray? he’s got it bad for Donnie. real bad. Awkward: you all know Donnie is a gigantic fuckin dork. Ray’s more likely to get confused than awkward. Jealous: Donnie’s still adjusting to the way he feels about Ray, but it still irks him when others mock Ray or threaten him. as for Ray... well. if you so much as look at Donnie wrong, he’ll be hissing and wedging himself between the two of you. Ray’s clinginess is a huge issue for their relationship. he once [SPOILERS REDACTED] █████ ████████ ██████ ██████ ███████ ██ ███ ███ ███ ███████ ██ ████████ ██ ██████ ████████ ██ ██████.

full body practice of Erkleid “Ray” Naera from my bizarre tmnt fic The Voice in Your Ear. this is hella feckin’ old but still the best goddamn sketch of his body type i’ve ever done.

some Donnie x Ray doodles courtesy of @michi0no. we absolutely love how expressive Ray’s ears are.

art goes along with the AO3 fic The Voice in Your Ear by yours truly

Donnie cleared his throat weakly. “Thank you,” he murmured. “For… that. That really helped.”

There was a small smile in Erkleid’s voice. < Not only is it my current responsibility to assist you in any way necessary, it is also something I feel is owed to you for everything we have… everything I… have put you through. >

Still panting, Donatello let the alien hold him, sitting limply against him, simply enjoying the feeling of relief now the growth spurt was over.

—

an illustration to go along with chapter 8 of my fanfic The Voice in Your Ear

(thanks @michi0no for helping me with the goddamn metal, I hate metallic textures so much)

“I’m here.”

a doodle for my fic The Voice in Your Ear of Donnie and his unlikely mental mate Erkleid Naera (or ‘Ray,’ bc even Donnie thinks his name is a pain in the ass)

AO3 link, story is somewhat NSFL, proceed at your own risk: https://archiveofourown.org/works/36752872/chapters/91683274

Spotify link, because I am but a simple creature who makes a playlist for every occasion: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2D0zpN2tI1GMTQHvqZd3vm?si=FUZvJYIaTO2meSKtXWB-5g

< I… am sorry. >

< You will be sorry, Erkleid Naera. You will be very sorry. >

sneek peek spoiler at a future chapter of The Voice in Your Ear, featuring a powerful character you’ll love to hate. story link below

once more, inks by me and colours by the super awesome @michi0no