now this is fascinating. as far as I know there's always been kind of a mystery if the turtles are biologically related, and this is a really interesting take on the idea. poor Donnie, being so scared of how everyone would react, but at the end of the day it doesn't matter, cause their still family. nice story.

I just can't put my feeling into words for this story; A fantastic fanfiction of the hurt and comfort kind, fluffy and family-lingering, all while fleshing out the characters the way they deserve it! Thank you very much for writing! :)

Pretty impressive! The style, your character evaluation, execution, the dialogue between characters. It's all so real, so... just so freaking real. I am very impressed.

Hey, this was really good, and very touching. And it's funny because I had actually thought about this same thing, too. It had occurred to me that, based on their eye color, Mikey, Raph, and Leo couldn't have gotten their human DNA from Splinter, and must have gotten it from someone else who had touched them before the mutation, like an employee or a customer. Donnie's the only one that could potentially be biologically related to Splinter. And then I thought maybe I was reading way too much into this, but obviously I'm not the only one! But like you said, it doesn't really matter because DNA doesn't make a family, and the Hamato family has a special bond we in the fandom adore. Good job exploring this concept. I really enjoyed it.

This story was really good and really helped pull me in to the world of apriltello. I have always been a TMNT fan, and loved this story so much that I thought of making it into a comic that could be presented through office powerpoint. I wanted to ask your permission before finishing it though.

I like April at the end.

this is a really good story.

Figured it was about time I sat down and actually typed out a review for this fic! I find the concept really interesting. On one hand I, like you, find the idea of only one of the turtles being related to Splinter to be kind of off putting because they're *brothers* and they have that bond, and that's what they're all about. On the other hand I've read a lot (read: maybe one or two) fics where the big reveal is that none of the turtles are related or maybe three are but the fourth isn't, so throwing Splinter into the mix is a really interesting take on the whole issue and makes me go yeah, I might just be able to work with this (but again, like you said, probably only in the 2k12 cartoon).

Ignoring the whole thing with Splinter and Donnie being compatible blood donors, the way Donnie was handling the situation made me think that you were going the whole Raph/Leo/Mikey are related and Donnie's the red headed stepchild route, which would've been sad, but I feel like it's even worse with the Donnie-Splinter connection, because not only is Donnie not fully related to his brothers, but he obviously fears rejection from Splinter and just... the thought of a child hiding a blood relation for YEARS because he fears that the person in question is alright with having him as a foster/stepchild but would reject any claim of an actual blood bond... That's just... wow, that's painful. I'm glad Splinter set him straight on that one.

On a lighter note, I loved Donnie's tendency to blab when he's nervous, and for some reason the thought of Donnie launching into technobabble as he hands Leo the donor chart and Leo just staring at him dead pan, not really caring about the specifics at all, makes me laugh.

This was a well thought out and detailed theory. It also sits well within the realm of possibility- I can imagine a human Hamato Yoshi wandering into a pet store, asking to see the turtles, picking up one, examining it thoughtfully, then giving a wayward glance to the remaining babies in the tank, thinking it might be a shame to separate them, telling an employee he would buy them all and then placing a not yet named donatello in a box while the pet store worker scooped up the remaining turtles while he went to sanitize his hands. I'd often wondered about the turtles different eye colors... its not uncommon for pet stores to mix litters into one tank, but I thought it was weird to give the Turtles human eye color instead of yellow, or just make them all green. But If Splinter's human DNA triggered their mutations, it made sense that they would have more human features, but then why not all brown? Being Japanese, the DNA for Blue (like Leo and Mikey) and green (like Raph) would not be there. I'm sure the animators just thought the different eye colors would add to the character's personalities, but I like your more scientific hypothesis better. I'm also glad I'm not the only one who over thinks the minute details of a cartoon.

I like to know if you ever make a sequel i like the idea of Donnie being the one related to splinter, just because he's my favorite character. But even though it doesn't matter I still wonder what be going on with splinters mind and see if he's looking to see if the two have any other similarities.

0_0...Splinters real...SON! I did not see that!

This was really sweet-I can totally see why Donnie would be uncomfortable telling his brothers that news, even though it doesn't ultimately matter. Great scenes with both April and Splinter; all their reactions felt very in-character. I always think that Splinter seems at his best when he's dealing with the boys one on one, so that scene felt especially like it fit with the show. Great work!

Oh gosh Donnie baby let me hug you forever

This was really well-written and went into some interesting concepts. I kind of want to see something like this explored on the show, but like you said, it wouldn't matter much because screw DNA, they're brothers and everyone's a family and happiness. In terms of the turtles, though, I always theorized that at least Leo and Mikey were blood-brothers - mostly because of their physical features, of course. Including Raph in that lineup isn't a far step off, given that he and Leo look pretty similar too in terms of facial structure, etc. - I've actually seen some theories on the internet that Raph's green eyes are a side-effect of the mutagen, in that he got a splash of it in his eyes. The idea that Donnie's the only one with Splinter's DNA is intriguing, though; I'd always wondered why Donnie looked so similar to Splinter, and then there's the other short guys with their blue and green eyes over in their corner. Haha, the Karai interaction would be kind of funny to see, I think...

Oops I ended up rambling. Oh well. It was a great story, and I enjoyed reading it. Hopefully we'll get to see more TMNT stories from you soon!

I really enjoyed this story. It was very well written, and a great plot idea. Plus it had a bonus injured Don with a very attentive and worried Raph at the beginning, so bonus points for that. What made this story extra good was your attention to little details, for example leo needing to be in contact with don so he tucked his feet under his calf, and when Splinter just wanted to sit and be thankful and watch his don breathe before announcing Don was awake- stuff like that adds and extra layer to a story that is wonderful. Great job. Think the brothers will ever find out Don's secret? Epilogue or second story, eh? :)

That was sweet! I loved it! And the last part with the Kevlar was really funny. XD I'll be honest, though, I'm having a little trouble picturing the guys wearing Kevlar. Where would they get the material, anyway? Probably from that military junkyard where Donnie got the components for the t-pod... I'll stop talking now. Anyway, great story! :)