#and you can see Raph understanding the extent of his issues when he sees his memories

[sillyandquest]

Haven't mentioned that Mutant Mashup AU in a while, might as well bring something up that I've been stewing over for ever since I saw this YouTube video by skulltrot.

It's a really good analysis on Leo and why he does the things he does in the movie. It even explains a few minor details you might've missed during a first watch, as well as a few other details that are mentioned in the series.

After watching this video I've seen Rise Leo not as an overconfident teen whose goofy for personal amusement, but an insecure kid who covers up that fact by telling jokes.

I'll explain more on Blue's character in the Au under the cut so you don't have to read it if you don't want to, but just as a reminder.

2012 gang's nicknames are:

Leo = DaVinci

Raph = Sanzio

Donnie = Niccolo

Mikey = Simoni

Splinter = Yoshi

April = May

Casey has the same name.

Rise fam's nicknames are:

Raph = Red

Donnie = Purple

Leo = Blue

Mikey = Orange

Splinter = Lou

Casey = Cass

April has the same name.

Now for Blue's character. I'm gonna focus on his insecurities here, as well as a bringing up his relationship with his brothers and cousins.

In the Au, Blue lives with his brothers and lives a few tunnels away from his cousins so there's plenty of interaction between them all. However, that also means that Blue picks up on his family's talents quickly and feels very insecure by the time the Au begins. Similar to canon, Blue doesn't tell anyone about his insecurities, using jokes to hide what's going on beneath the surface. It's hard for Blue to be vulnerable, even in front of his family. This was partially influenced by this father and uncle's relationship with each other, as well as how they treat Blue himself.

Yoshi and Lou absolutely care for Blue and don't want to see him hurt, it's just that they have so many other turtles to look after that sometimes Blue gets overlooked. He's not the only one either, Purple, Sanzio, Niccolo, even Simoni get overlooked from time to time. It also doesn't help that Blue's father has a habit of ignoring his issues through TV and other distractions. That meant Blue didn't get as much emotional availability from Lou as he should've growing up. Leading to Blue's lack of communication with his father, it just feels awkward at this point because Blue doesn't know if his dad will take his issues seriously.

Yoshi was a little different as he saw Blue growing up to be just like Lou and was worried Blue would turn out that way. That's why despite both sharing a similar sense of humor and getting along well, Yoshi was harder on Blue than the rest of his nephews. That led to Blue feeling like his insecurities were a weakness he needed to fix and feeling uncomfortable bringing them up to Yoshi.

Blue also doesn't like to bring his insecurities up to his brothers.

Blue noticed Red taking care of the family alongside DaVinci when their Dad and Uncle would fight. He understood, even at a young age, that something was wrong and that Red and DaVinci were stressed out over it. That's partly why Blue doesn't want to tell Red about his issues. He feels like Red already has enough on his plate and doesn't want to add more or feel like another burden his older brother needs to shoulder. Red and Blue do still tease and prank each other, as siblings do, but when it comes to internal issues that need to be addressed, Blue hesitates.

Purple is a different story because emotions are hard for him to get right. He tries, but Blue doesn't want to make his twin feel awkward or uncomfortable if he can help it. Even if Purple can understand being overlooked sometimes by the adults in their life, Blue doesn't feel the need to explain if it means an awkward infodump.

Orange is the closest to understanding Blue but isn't fully aware of the extent of his older bros issues. Blue is fully aware of Orange wanting to help and Dr. Delicate Touch his way into solving the problem, but Blue doesn't like how pushy Orange can be. Orange has a lot of energy with a passion comparable to his cousin Sanzio, but that eagerness to help isn't what Blue wants. Especially when he wants to protect Orange and not burden him with his issues, similar to Red.

The absolute last person Blue would explain his issues to is DaVinci. While Blue looks up to his oldest cousin, he feels inferior in many ways. DaVinci is strong, confident, efficient in battle and projects and air of safety that everyone can feel just by being around him. Blue wants to be like that but feels like he can't, that he's too weak to ever achieve that level of strength. DaVinci is pretty much the object of Blue's insecurities. That's not to say they aren't close, they both love Space Heroes and spa days. They care for each other, it's just that Blue can't help but compare himself to his cousin and other family members.

Sanzio is in a weird place though. While he would absolutely relate to Blue's struggles and maybe even offer some really good advice, Blue just doesn't explain to Zio. Blue is fully aware that Purple and Zio have an agreement between them, not the specifics just that there IS an agreement, and doesn't want to mess up with what they've got going on. Eventually, Blue will learn to lean on Zio after a talk with both him and Purple.

Simoni is similar to Orange in that Blue doesn't want to bog Simon down with his issues. Simon is fully aware that Blue's got some stuff to work out and is super go with the flow about it. He's not gonna pressure Blue into explaining something he's not ready to talk about and is totally cool with providing distractions. Blue appreciates that and spends the most time with Simoni because of it. Blue likes to divert his attention whenever his self criticism, or boredom, become too much.

The only person Blue willingly explains his issues to at the beginning is his cousin Niccolo, even the ugly parts.

Nico is calm, gentle, willing to listen and not give any feedback unless asked for it. Blue doesn't want others to find the solutions for him, he wants to find them on his own. He knows his brothers mean well, but Blue feels weak when he finally gets vulnerable in their presence. Blue wants to feel in control of his issues and Nico understands that. To others, Nico's silent presence might feel like detachment, but he's always listening and that's what Blue wants.

The Hamato's hooman friends are in a funky middle.

The Jones' definitely aren't the ones Blue would go to for insecurity assistance. Him and Cass aren't close enough for Blue to ask her for help, plus I think he'd view her as friend by association. She's a little intense like Orange so that doesn't help her case. Casey may be good at keeping a secret, but that doesn't mean that he's good at keeping a secret from his friends. Blue likes his secrets kept as such. Casey Junior lands in that same boat where Blue doesn't want to burden him anymore than he already is. I mean, kid lost everything and is considered the lone survivor of a doomed future. Maybe Blue might ask if his older self had any self care tips but just very subtly.

The O'Neil's try to get him to open up in their own ways. Blue doesn't go to Kirby or Carol unfortunately because he had a hard time leaning on adults growing up. April definitely encourages him to talk to DaVinci about his issues mean while May asks him to talk to Red. Both do their best but Blue is stubborn and stagnates a lot of the time.

[moss-and-marimos]

Tmnt 2012 headcanons of mine/my designs for them:

Both donnie and Mikey have scars from their respective vivisection attempts, their brothers stopped it before it could get too far, but there’s still scarring around their collar bones and the top of their plastrons, they both comfort eachother about it, it’s one of the few things the other brothers can’t quite understand bc they didn’t experience it

Mikey still has residual electricity powers from that one part of s5(? If I’m remembering correctly), they’re just small ones but sometimes you can see lichtenburg figures on his fingers/hands before they fade

^ he has used this to make the toaster go wild on leo and the fridge spray water on donnie before

Donnie rarely sleeps in his actual bedroom, so when karai stays over that’s normally where she sleeps, but sometimes it’ll also serve as a room for april or Casey

April and leo are really close, she’s a much needed break from responsibilities sometimes and will take him to do human things like raves or parties or even just grocery shopping

Karai and leo are really close (/p) they understand the burden of being an oldest sibling and having the weight of the world put on you by your father

I do not care for 2012 splinter as a parent

Raph kinda took up the role of father like leo took up the role of mother a little bit, he helps organize the lair and actually really likes organizing stuff, just doesn’t when his siblings are around because it’s overwhelming (cough he’s autistic cough)

Leo uses mobility aids after his incident with shredder, normally forearm crutches, a cane, or on better days just a knee brace

All of them experience psychosis symptoms to some extent, leo probably has the most delusions, I think donnie would have a lot of auditory hallucinations, Raph would have a lot of tactile hallucinations, they all get a lot of paranoia but especially leo, they all try to hide their symptoms from the other because they don’t want to seem “weird” or “crazy”

Sometimes donnie will go to April if he’s having bad paranoia or just generally a bad time with his symptoms, she helps him calm down and do grounding exercises

Mikey and leo are actually really close and hang out a lot and talk about space heroes and other comics

Raph needs wrist braces

Raph is actually the cook of the household, he finds it calming and the routine is nice

Donnie still hates himself for not finding a way to turn Timothy human again yet

^ he made a fake note from Timothy and left it for Timothy’s mom

Like leo can’t be trusted with the toaster donnie isn’t trusted with the blender (this was probably Mikey’s doing)

Aprils eyes reflect in the dark and sometimes will glow, a lot of the time they turn pink/purple like the kraang

April can turn her fingers/arms into tentacles, she found this out pretty late in the show timeline and is trying to hide it from the turtles because she knows how much of a hard time they have with the kraang and she doesn’t want them to hate her

Probably all of them have BPD and are sensitive to rejection

Mikey in particular has cracks/scarring on his shell from getting attacked by slash

After everything with slash Raph is really careful what he tells chompy about his brothers

Raph and leo are both either transmasc or transfem, I’m a big fan of both of those headcanons so I kinda use them interchangeably some

When leo came out as aroace spec he was worried he wouldn’t be accepted, Raph was the first one to comfort him and would threaten to beat up anyone who was an asshole to leo

Raph has abandonment issues

Karai and leo will go stargazing, leo has a space special interest and his favorite constellation is the Big Dipper

The first time the turtles really clearly saw the night sky was at the farmhouse, all of them, especially leo, were in awe a little bit, Casey and april didn’t really get it bc they were used to seeing the stars and being out

It was also their first time seeing daylight so much so you better believe at least one of them got sunburnt

Mikey’s favorite activity at the farmhouse was cloud watching during the day, which leo would sometimes do with him

Leo’s favorite activity when he was recovering was stargazing, on occasion Mikey would join him, Raph always wanted to but was too anxious he would intrude

Donnie keeps special teabags for leo to help his throat after it got messed up from the fight with shredder

Leo can’t talk too loudly or too much or it’ll fuck up his vocal cords, sometimes he’ll push it and get yelled at by april and/or donnie about it

April can’t get salmonella bc she’s part kraang but the other humans can, once she gets mutated karai can’t either

April, Casey, Donnie, and Raph still have slightly extra pointed teeth from being turned into vampires

Multiple times Mikey or Raph has had to stop Donnie from pulling at his plastron during a breakdown, especially after the vivisection it gets bad, Donnie has a lot of issues about not being human

It kinda dawns on everyone later how serious Mikey sprinkling himself with mutagen actually was, he’s not stupid, he was so desperate to feel as good as his brothers that he was willing to die for it, so it only kinda registers later on that it could probably be considered a suicide attempt, everyone makes sure to spend more time with him after that and make sure he knows he’s loved and when he does good they let him know

Not a headcanon but I think about it sometimes that Mikey has cannibalized a man

Mikey likes spending time in Donnie’s lab and learning chemistry stuff

Mikey one time steals buys Raph a paint mulling set because he knows how much Raph likes painting

Raph can and will easily carry Mikey on his shoulder

Donnie doesn’t like to be picked up, but if he needs to sleep or eat and won’t leave his lab Raph won’t hesitate

^ on days when Leo’s leg is acting up and he can’t, Raph is in charge of getting Donnie out of his lab

^^ on one occasion Raph was out of commission too, so leo sent Mikey to do it, Donnie didn’t think he would be able to but Mikey picked him up easily, he’s a lot stronger than he looks

Leo teaches Mikey healing hands after splinter dies

Leo still has splinters cane, he thinks about using it instead of his own sometimes, but Raph convinces him not to, he can’t stand to see his brother putting more pressure on himself to become splinter junior, he knows how their dad fucked them up a little bit and even if he won’t say it directly he knows it can’t be good for leo

^ sometimes he’ll make Mikey hide splinters cane if leo is really thinking about it

Raphs bandana tails are all torn up because he chews on them

Mikey’s bandana tails are short so that he can’t chew on them

April introduced them all to chew jewelry and they all are big fans but they go through them really fast because of their nonhuman teeth

Donnie chews on his bandana tails too but not enough to damage them

Raph and Donnie train together outside of official sessions, donnie asked Raph to help him get better at combat and so that’s what they do

Raph is horrible at rollerskating at first but eventually gets really good

Mikey isn’t the best but really likes rollerskating anyway

Donnie prefers ice skating because he can do it with Casey but falls on his ass every time, Casey thinks it’s hilarious

Raph also goes ice skating with Casey some time

Leo doesn’t like ice skating. He wants to, for Casey, but the cold is triggering and it aggravates his knee and it’s just a bad time, he has a breakdown about it the first time he tries and he still feels guilty for “ruining” the night

Donnie is really cautious around Mikey at first when he gets his electricity powers, he remembers the electricity simulation thing he was put in and doesn’t want to go through that again

Mikey would listen to cbat to piss off his family because it’s funny

Leo still has his broken helmet from when he died in space, it’s kept on a shelf, he thinks about it a lot

Mikey has a pair of lab goggles because he does so much chemistry stuff with Donnie

Casey never wears safety goggles in the lab even when he should, april wears hers though

Transfem leo feels a lot of dysphoria about having a shell indent

Transmasc Raph feels a lot of dysphoria about not having a shell indent, but being friends with Casey and finding out that amab humans have flat chests makes him feel better some

The turtles can and will eat raw meat, maybe even should (april found this out when she brought over an expensive cut of meat to cook only to find it gone later, it was an awkward explanation when the turtles remembered humans don’t eat raw meat)

^ april could eat raw meat bc she’s part kraang but she hasn’t tried so she doesn’t know that

^^ it was quite the change when karai had to start eating more rare meat

I don’t think this one fits with the canon timeline but shhhh I think it would be funny if karai taught leo how to drive who then taught everyone else

Not super a headcanon but I think the brothers would be a lot more worried about leo talking to the hologram of splinter when they were in space than they actually were in canon

All of them are lactose intolerant except Mikey who fucked around with chemistry stuff and cured himself of lactose intolerance, to this day neither he or Donnie really know how he did it but he can eat so much pizza now

Donnie and leo both like architecture, they found this out on accident but it’s one of the only things they have in common interest wise besides insects

Leo deserves a pet I think he should get to keep the wasp and it imprints on him and is very sweet, for personal preference I’m making it more bee-like so it’s fuzzy

Donnie (I think? I might be thinking of the wrong turtle idk I’ll check my fanart later) has a crack/scar from a crack in the left side of his shell, it’s hidden under his arm but you can see the edge of his plastron is damaged from it

There’s probably some I’m forgetting but yep here’s some of them!! Feel free to ask me more about them or use these B)

@idiot-mushroom sorry for the @ but I figured you would want to see

[myers-meadow]

"It's probably new to be committed to another person as an equal, instead of as a master (although with Raphael I like to think the boundaries are very blurry)."

Well, from my understanding, 'doing Raphael' is basically Haarlep 'doing their job' (or at least part of it if we're going with the theory that the incubus is spying for Mephistopheles). If you want to be with Haarlep, the fact that they are an incubus and all that comes with that will be something you would have to accept or else one or both of you would just end up miserable and resentful. There would definitely be an adjustment period as both parties try to figure out what the boundaries of their relationship are, as Haarlep can't just not do a major part of their job (and probably wouldn't want to either, since it is how they feed and forbidding Haarlep from literally feeding themself unless it is from you would have some... icky vibes—like forbidding your partner from eating unless you made it for them) but the incubus also has to learn how to be in a romantic relationship and what that means.

i agree with letting Haarlep do their job - I don't think that's the issue with a relationship being new. I think the underlying crux is that for as long as Haarlep has been with Raphael, he's served him as a master (even though he's probably manipulative enough and absolutely looks out for their own best interest at all times). For an Incubus it's more than their job, it's in their nature. I like Haarlep exactly as he is, no matter how he gets his nourishment. 🥰

Is it canon that Haarlep spies for Mephistopheles? After death, Haarlep says he was a gift from Mephistopheles, so Mephistopheles knows and was involved to some degree. I like to see the relationship between Raph and Haarlep as amicable and even good at certain times. They must known each other quite well. It may be a gilded cage, but being Raphs personal incubus probably is better than half of other very likely scenarios for an incubus - especially if Raphael manages to get the crown. Imagine it; a self serving incubis hearing about Mephistopheles' ambitious, naughty, half mortal son (he likely heard it at mephs palace, bc his letter states he's returned there if raph is dead). Perhaps he can play into that. Perhaps he can use that to an advantage. Lots of possibilities;;

Even if Raph and Haarlep like each other and are happy with each other, there is still probably a divided power dynamic in place.

Anyway I love the poly ship between Raphael x tav x Haarlep - no matter how dysfunctional it gets ✨🥰. I love it as much as raph x tav and Haarlep x tav and I ship Haarlep and Raphael together as well. They may be dysfunctional, or toxic to some extent - theyre devils. I like them bc of that I think. There's wonderful writing potential in all scenarios and constellations.

In short; when I wrote about adjustment while being with an equal, I meant that not only the romance would be new to Haarlep, but also the fact that the power dynamics aren't present (or at least not in the way they are when Haarlep serves a master). No hierarchical power dynamic means that he can figure out for himself what he enjoys and how much of it, on his own terms. No more faking affection 🥰.

[nerves-nebula]

OKAY HIII I'M BACK AND I BINGED A LOT MORE OF RISE TMNT AND YOOO??? I AM HERE TO GUSH ABOUT IT

SIDE NOTE BEFORE EVERYTHING I SAY THEY WENT SO FUCKIN HARD ON THE ANIMATION OMG IT IS STUNNING AMAZING SUPERB!!! HOW DOES IT LOOK SO GOOD AND AESTHETICS AND ?? I WANT TO CHEW DEVOUR BITE BITE ABSORB IT

(break down and thoughts and everything below.SORRY THAT ITS LONG I AMM. OBSESSED. THIS IS LIKE A WHOLE PAPER ON THEM SORRY BUT NOT FULLY SORRY BUT SORRY)

After the first half of the first season (? i am using a totally definitely legal sight that does each episode as 11 minutes and I'm on what it says is episode 38, if one actual episode is two of those 11 minute ones then I'm guessing I'm around episode 19?)

Maybe earlier than that BUT LIKE AFTER THEY SET UP THE WORLD THEY LIVE IN???? OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG HOW DID I NOT WATCH THIS EARLIER??

Raph is so cool Love him, like he's big and spiky and probably the softest in terms of open outwardly affection towards the group (he does the most group hugs I'm pretty sure? if not HEADCANNON that when they were little and any of them had a bad dream Raph got everyone into a little turtle pile and they could hug it out and feel safe)

Leo!!!!! I AM GETTING SOME OF THE GENDER VIBES!! So far his character feels the least dove into? Like Donnie has episodes where his character is a focus and so does Mikey and Raph to an extent but so far Leo feels more like part of a duo rather than fully solidifying his own persona (to me and I'm no where near done the show SO that most likely changes!) BUT ALSO that feels like it adds to his character in terms of I think he's the second oldest?

(I thought Donnie was the second oldest but hmmm if they're more like twins than the rest of the brothers then it kinda feels like they both tried to be the protective second oldest sibling and the second youngest at the same time and rapidly switch between each other, but like clash heads if both try to fill that role at the same time? MIGHT be head canon stuff at this point, but I need to watch more to find out. Leo DEF has something going on, like please Mx. can you reveal your hidden secret self that isn't based entirely on how we see you interact with others? like who do you think you are Leo...)

Mikey! What a fun guy, he's like. The same vibes as that "I'm just a little man, just a little man and it's my birthday. You wouldn't hurt a little birthday boy would you? on his very big special birthday day? I'm such a little guy why hurt me?". Head empty no thoughts, he's got the DVD screen saver (corner bouncer) playing on loop and probs the THX loud effect. I hope he gets more time to shine because he kinda feels like he swaps between being just for comedy and someone that wants to prove themself(which would then help them feel better about themself and improve their own self worth and stuff)

DONNIE!! MY GUY DONNIE!! HOW DID THEY MAKE A CHARACTER SO BITABLE. MY MAN IS AUTISM. HE IS MY AUTISM CREATURE. <- I thought his design was cool at first and then I saw him exist

Donnie is so character though like sorry to the rest of the turtles but Donnie is going to be my new blorbo, new little skrunkle that I'll probably project onto. He has all the issues and none of them. He has that "no one understands how my mind works and I must study other's and the world just to be partially accepted" vibes WHILE ALSO having "the world will adapt to me. If not through understanding, then my force" sorta vibes and ? the range! He's dynamic, he's wild, he probably orders the exact same thing at one specific restaurant if he's ordering for one.

APRIL!! YO SHE IS GREAT! I love how we learn more about her slowly like she's a character living her own life that happens to appear in this show, like I'd fully expect her to have a show on her own and her here is cross overs (compliment). So happy to see where they go next with her, I am like a cheer leader she can do no wrong. She could plan to kill me and I'd give her a thumbs up and say that she should believe in herself and her ability to cultivate her own life. SAD that the people at her school aren't nice, but I feel like that adds to the whole "oh the outsider must be lying about who they are if they act like someone else when not in school/[insert environment] vibes/story lines some things get into. Like we fully understand why she acts like that and get a more objective perspective of everything. She makes me feral in the sense that I want her to have the world (she also reminds me of my younger sister xD)

I also am so thrilled to see that NOT all or most of the main human cast is white. Like that's a huge think that sucks with western animation and honestly the first episode having the white guy be the first experiment and overall kinda dumb was so cathartic. Like yeah, ANYWAYS we don't need to get into my personal issues xD

All of the turtle brothers have obvious/noticeable behaviours impacted/caused/influenced by trauma and GROWLING SHAKING SCREAMING!!!1

Raph being alone omg. Splinter was probably an even worse father then and maybe not even a mutant yet??? And either Raph found the red thing and that's why splinter called him red or splinter grabbed the first thing and just colour coded him. The balll is probably his first friend and the fact that the football is vaguely turtle shell shape is giving me emotions.

Leo I feel like he always needs to prove himself because maybe he didn't have a lot of chances to be alone? He's the second oldest so idk how long there would've been between him and Donnie joining but I fully feel like when Raph realized he had a brother he tagged along with him everywhere and probably tried looking out for him more because he might've been (as a younger child) like "why is he smaller, is he okay? will he get hurt?". Leo my man are you okay you seem like you just compartmentalized everything :(

Mikey I think needed more attention and Splinter did very little so a lot of his earlier development would have been focused on getting all that important attention from his (not by that much) older brothers who ALSO were in that situation. He's got the vibes of someone that in years time (maybe few maybe a LOT of years) he'll be like "heyyy wait a minute do I use humor to cope with everything and heyyy are these things maybe not just fun little quirks?" <- neglected younger sibling vibes where he had to fight for attention where he never had time to ever figure out who he was outside of the four brother unit

DONNIE!! HE HAS SO MANY ISSUES!! Okay but the fact that he's low empathy is NOT one of them I will fight people on that. He is great and pretty relatable as someone who struggles with displaying emotions and voice inflections (I try, but when I first learned to speak I didn't realize you had to move your mouth into shapes a lot (I thought they were exaggerating just so I'd understand) so I'd be like 5 and doing ventriloquism instead of speaking properly.) <- this is one of the things I'm adding to my head canons for him. It's why he exaggerates a lot of his hand-when-speaking actions (and body movements) and apologizes for not having the right tone. Just quirky neurodivergent things :3 )

okay okay but seriously Donnie both somehow manages to be the clearest with how their childhood/life conditions negatively impacted him and also the least affected. I think it's compounded by even if he was human and not a mutant turtle, he still wouldn't be able to fit into the mould of a "normal" human, so as a mutant turtle he sticks out even more. Might've been something he struggled with until later because rn in the series it seems like he's embraced that a lot more, although still struggles. I could go on, but he fits my brain's vibes for "projection mode engaged" so yeah, babygirl

Donnie has autism and Mikey has adhd no questions asked. Raph is on the neurodivergent spectrum but in a less defined way (DEFINITELY HAS SEPARATION ANXIETY!!) and Leo is the token neurotypical that adopted neurodivergent behaviours and mindsets because that's what he grew up around. So he gets the same outsider feel of being different while coincidentally having his difference be that his brain is ""more normal"" <- heavy quotation marks.

uhhh final thoughts because I could ramble for days.. Splinter so far sucks I think that there's something really weird in the vibes of him purposefully raising all the turtle brothers in a way where the only times they got much validation/even just acknowledgement was through them obsessively watching all the films he was in. Like idk something about the vibes of him not telling them at ALL that that is him but heavily encouraging them to act out his movies in front of him gives off something weird.

SIDE RANT ABOUT THEIR COLOURS!! I AM SO INTRIGUED ABOUT THIS ELEMENT

Also like Splinter calls them by colours which he probably colour coded them all just to tell them apart (maybe why they always wear the masks? Because that's the only way they felt external validation of their lives and existence that wasn't just through the four of them??)

He might've did red first because we see him wear a lot of red, and blue is the stereotypical opposite of red so it makes sense to choose that second. Red vs Blue stereotype, etc etc. Maybe why Leo is competitive too? Because he felt his first experiences were being compared to Raph?

It's interesting that Donnie got purple because that's a mix of red and blue, so maybe Splinter wanted to give them some sort of cohesive theme at that point? Like a sliding scale of colours? Maybe it started because Raph and Leo both gave Donnie some purple, idk tho.

Purple is heavily used to either represent (evil) tech or just Donnie and Donnie has the most attachment to the colour so there's definitely something going on there.

Maybe Splinter didn't even realize there was a third turtle kid until Raph and Leo found a way to get Splinter to recognize there was a difference at all (maybe why Donnie in particular strives so much for acknowledgement by Splinter? Because his earliest life was defined by being mistaken for other people?

Mikey being Orange feels like Splinter gave up and didn't want to go with yellow (the more obvious choice as it's a primary colour, kinda surprised Donnie didn't get assigned yellow) and maybe did the same thing with Raph where he just took some spare material (he wears a lot of gold and orange in hems and whatnot) and just plopped that on Mikey.

Kinda shows how Mikey is separated by the rest by being born the youngest, they might've had some sort of living routine set up before he was there and he didn't have much say in how it adapted? Like Leo and Raph are opposites or could've been intended as opposites by Splinter, and with Donnie being so close to the same age as Leo (but his soft shell making him more prone to injury and therefore requiring both Raph's and Leo's protection) he fit into the middle but still closer to Leo (<- Donnie thought of himself as the middle child between them three for sure, but both Leo and Raph think of him as the youngest out of the three).

Mikey being orange shows that's he's kinda excluded from the twins thing that Leo and Donnie have, and might be closer to Raph because of that. After all Mikey and Raph are the only ones with masks on the warm side of the colour wheel (also adding that Mikey is a combination of red and yellow, with yellow not symbolizing anything so maybe that's adding to Mikey's vibes of being an outsider/different/unique?

He's loud in all the different ways that Donnie is (which was probably worse earlier than it is now currently in the show) and struggles with focusing his attention and thoughts where Donnie struggles with the opposite. Both Leo and Donnie saw themselves as middle siblings and treat may tried to treat Mikey similar to how they treated each other (in terms of "this is how I know how to interact with younger siblings and you are younger so this is right, right?" sorta way)

Raph would've had the experience of having two fairly different younger siblings, so he adapted more easily to the personal needs of Mikey as a younger brother? Like he unlocked his emotional intelligence earlier and could recognize (possibly comparing their behaviour to Leo?) that both Donnie and Mikey are different (more obviously neurodivergent, both probably would've been special needs kids).

Plus Donnie would be struggling more with his low empathy, perhaps not recognizing it at all and being constantly confused about others, further pushing him into the younger sibling role for both Raph and Leo because they might see that as him "struggling with something basic" (heavy quotation marks)?

Which would make Mikey (who is a fairly emotions driven person) and Donnie have difficulties communicating/Donnie having difficulties being a decent older brother. And Leo being worried and distracted by Donnie having a soft shell and maybe falling into the trap of "hey Mikey's shell is hard like Raph's and Mine so he's probably going to be okay, not like this bozo over here".

ANYWAYS I AM FERAL OVER THIS THE COLOUR SYMBOLISM AND HOW IT COULD REFLECT THEIR RELATIONSHIPS WITH EACH OTHER AND DYNAMICS BUT ALSO SHOWING HOW THEY WERE TREATED (as creatures to be colour coded rather than named and raised) IS OUGOUHGOUGUHGOU !!1 <- howling

FINAL NOTE: I keep thinking about how Donnie might have first gotten into science by testing which materials could help make him less "weak" (cover up the soft shell) and how his soft-shell-only years could have been defined as him being the "official most fragile" brother. And how finding a way to mimic a hard shell would be what he needed to officially be more equal to the rest of the brothers, and how he might've fallen in love with science then but it's intrinsically tied to his self worth and need to prove that he can pull his own weight/be helpful enough to stick around and be treated as an equal. And how his science experiments might have been what got him some of Splinter's earliest acknowledgements and AAAAA

Like maybe before he was "the purple one" he was "the soft shelled one" or "the weakest one" or (more extreme) the "defective turtle" (because turtles are known for having hard shells, so why didn't he?). And how he leans into the purple so much is because he's trying to erase that feeling of being defined as not a name or not even a colour, but by how "weak" he was, and his intelligence could be some level of survival mechanism to not be stuck in a loop of negativity towards himself and be an equal in an already extremely small world where his existence itself is "a crime against nature" so to speak.

He will be loud about being the purple one because he'd even give up being the smart one because he would much rather be defined as even a singular colour than just "the defective one". That's why he'll make bad(?) choices if it's got something to do with the colour purple, because unlike the rest he wasn't even dignified a colour when he was young and feels like he has to fight for it or earn it, to some level.

<- I am so normal about him I swear I swear I'm not biting him like a dog and rapidly shaking him like a chew toy. I am so normal about him your honour

A LOT of this is based on where I am in the show now and my educated guesses on what I know about the characters and what I've watched and YEAH I could be completely wrong about their early lives maybe they like, all fell out of a tube one by one and the "big time difference" between their ages is like, minutes vs seconds lol. Maybe it's entirely head canons maybe I've done analysis. BUT YEAH ANYWAYS THOSE ARE MY THOUGHTS THANSK FOR READING IF YOU DO GET THIS FAR, I AM SO FERAL ABOUT THIS SHOW AND I AM BLAMING YOU (compliment, positive, cheering in the distance)

IM Always happy to make someone feral about my favorite Media.

There’s wayyy to much here to really respond to but I basically agree with most of the stuff you’ve said. (and the only stuff you've got wrong you only got wrong cause you havent finished the show lol)

The thing about the colors is that Red, Blue, Orange, and Purple are already the TMNT colors and there’s no way you could get away with changing them in a new reboot without people getting mad, I think hhahfadsf. THAT BEING SAID I think your analysis of their colors is still very fitting and cool and interesting, even if the out-of-universe reason they are that way is cuz that’s how they’ve always been.

NO SPOILERS but later on Donnie has an ep that basically confirms his tech and self worth are connected and idk if you know this, but Donnie and Mikey canoncially have autism/adhd. 

I LOVEEED reading ur thoughts on the characters and their minds and im SO GLAD you like it ahsdfasdf

[misteria247]

If I may add onto this-

The way I see it. Leo's reaction to everything later in the series could actually be a trauma response to some extent.

Him lashing out and acting like a dick at times could be Leo getting overwhelmed with everything, like a cup that's been filled too much. I mean think about it. Leo's a boy who like his brothers was forced to grow up way too fast, but unlike his brothers Leo had a lot more responsibility placed upon his shoulders. And Leo takes those responsibilities very seriously, so much so that he's willing to literally throw himself in the line of fire to protect the ones he loves. And because of this tendency of self sacrificing himself, Leo's had several moments where he's nearly died or actually died and had been brought back. Not to mention the numerous injuries he's gotten some of them life altering, and Leo due to his sense of responsibility always pushes himself to the brink and beyond that to get the job done. Leo acting like a dick later in the series actually makes a lot of sense when you take these things into account. Added with Leo not really having anyone that he could vent to or who understands just how much pressure he's under, and Leo's got no choice but to bottle up all his thoughts and feelings and his trauma.

Now imagine bottling all of this up.

And it builds and builds and builds up. And with this buildup there's more added to this slowly cracking bottle. And then it finally becomes too much.

Leo snaps.

And there you have a possible conclusion as to why Leo supposedly becomes a dick later within the 12 series. Does it make it okay that Leo sometimes lashes out at his loved ones?

No it doesn't.

But.

Leo's a 15 year old boy. He's a teenager who's responsible for the lives of his family and friends. A boy who was forced into a lot of fucked up situations and a lot of traumatic moments both that he experienced and that he'd witnessed with his brothers, father and friends. He's young and he's been through so much in the short span of his lifetime and hell he ended up taking over the entire Hamato clan at the age of 17. It's a lot to deal with even under normal circumstances.

Leo doesn't have many options, especially since he's a giant mutant turtle. It's not like he can go to therapy to help him handle his emotions.

Like I get what you're trying to say but I also don't think that Leo needs to be put in a bad light when just like Raph with his flaws and issue, Leo has his own struggles and traumas and reasons as to why he sometimes reacts to some of the situations the way he does.

I feel we don’t talk about this a lot or it’s never acknowledge but it blows my mind that people say 2012 Raph is the asshole of the group when 2012 Leo is right there!

As the series goes on, Leo becomes a massive dick and is just rude and/or judgmental of everyone he comes across including his friends and brothers.

[cupcakeslushie]

One criticism I have for the movie is the Casey/Leo confrontation scene. It just felt kinda cheap coming from Casey. Like idk I know what they were going for with the rose tinted glasses coming off and if the guy who worships you calls you out then you know you have to get it together but still. From anyone else I would have felt like "Yah Leo! Stop being a butt!" But with Casey I was just like "What grounds do you have to say all this?" Especially when he was the one who motivated Leo to make a mad dash for the key in the first place. IDK, I know I'm probably in the minority on this.

PS: Sorry for ranting in the asks and I love your posts!!

Honestly Casey wasn’t saying anything that hadn’t already been said by the rest of Leo’s family. I think the scene was just as much for Casey’s growth as it was for snapping Leo out of his stubbornness. For Leo though, I’m sure many other, more articulate fans than I, could break down Leo’s reasoning for his behavior at the start of the movie. But I think every Leo, no matter the iteration has the same paralyzing fear of not only losing his brothers, but his own failure as a leader being the reason behind their deaths. And that’s what’s actually the catalyst for Leo’s change in this scene, not so much Casey’s harsh dressing down.

In fact as Casey starts in on Leo, and echoing what Raph, Splinter, and even Donnie to a lesser extent have all been trying to get Leo to understand, you can see Leo start to close up just like he would with them. He turns his body away from Casey and that stubbornness to ignore the issues starts to appear in his expression, but the thing that shocks him right out of it, is the news that all his brothers had died in Casey’s future. THAT is what FINALLY gets Leo’s head out his butt enough to start to consider that maybe he’s been wrong this whole time, and that something needs to change.

PS: No apology needed! I loved that this ask gave me an excuse to watch the movie again (as if 13 times hasn’t been enough!)

[comprosedreviews-blog]

Secret Heir by MJ Prince (with Monica)

'I voluntarily reviewed an Advance Reader Copy of this book'

I’m not the kind of person who likes giving bad reviews. I don’t like it because I know that when a writer makes a book, they are putting a lot of effort into writing it. I, being a writer myself, fully understand the huge time commitment and stress that comes with writing a novel.

However, sometimes it needs to be done. I’ve been sitting on this typed review for too long, watching as other people who received this ARC gave it fives and fours and I’m just like… is this because you were given an ARC? I had already given it a star rating and didn’t feel the need to bash the book, but I also don’t want a bunch of people to buy it without first knowing what they’re getting into.

I want to make it clear that this review is a reflection of the book and not the writer. Just by publishing a book, the writer has made it clear she’s a hard worker and I’m not trying to bash her.

The way I see it, books are held to two categorical standards: content and creation. I think this book failed in the former and showed promise, but ultimately failed, in the latter.

Content: Firstly, I don’t think this book was edited. If it was, then the editor did not do a great job. There were several places where words were confused for other words (almost as though autocorrect attacked the pages) and things were misspelled. If this happened a mere one or two times, it would be forgivable—people mess up and life goes on—but it happened almost every other page. A read through should have gotten rid of a lot of these mistakes, which is why I think it is SO SO SO important that we writers read our own work closely and not just once. We’ll miss stuff, it’s inevitable, but that’s what the professional edit is for.

Apart from that, the dialogue was formatted incorrectly. You’d start a paragraph with one character talking, go to the next paragraph and have the same character talking and start yet another paragraph with the same character talking. This issue was often a big deal because it left a lot of confusion about who was saying what. It looked like this:

“Kidding. But my first time was with a guy from my last band. We dated for a year back in sophomore year but long distance relationships are too hard to maintain.”

“So, there’s nothing going on between you and Raph?” Dani prods. “Not even a little kissing, groping, touching …”

Dani says both lines of dialogue, though you wouldn’t know it based on how it is written. I feel like an editor would have spotted and corrected this.

There were also a lot of redundancies. And, while redundancies are forgivable and bound to happen from time to time, the amount that they appeared and the scale that they appeared on, made me feel like my intelligence was being insulted. That frustrates me as a reader for two reasons: 1. I’m not stupid and 2. My time is being wasted. I shouldn’t have to read the same thing twelve different times. Here is an example of this:

“And I’m your grandfather .”

I don’t think I heard him right, because that can’t be true. I stare at him in disbelief.

“What?” I’ve stopped moving completely now. Shocked into stillness. Well, that’s not what I was expecting. At all. He doesn’t say anything, letting me digest his words.

“You’re not—you’re not my grandfather. He’s dead,”

Now really, all that was needed was the last line of this quote, and at MOST we could have also gotten that she had stopped moving because of shock—but we were told in six different ways that the character was surprised… which, when done to the extent it was done in the book, is beyond frustrating.

IN SUM: What gets me most about the content is that these aren’t things you can be subjective about. They are mistakes—mistakes that could have and should have been buffed out. Objectively, there were major content issues that can’t be separated from the story no matter how hard you try. If you don’t care about this sort of thing, then more power to you, but it genuinely made it hard for me to read.

Creation: Creatively, the plot showed promise. I agreed to the ARC because it was a book I genuinely seemed interested in. The world of Eden that the author created was fascinating and intriguing. I loved the little ties to real world mythology thrown into the mix (and though I hate to admit it) I loved the school setting with magic underlying the plot.

All of this created something that I would have considered an AMAZING story, but it fell short.

I simply cannot support the asshole love interest trope. I can’t do it. Not only was it impossible for me to empathize with Raph who appeared to have a predatory desire for the main character that started and ended with how hot she was, but also he was a complete jerk to her and that fact was overlooked a billion and a half times.

Honestly, I don’t like the idea of young readers reading this and thinking that this is a desirable man. Look for someone who will treat you right, not just for someone who has the perfect pair of abs.

AND I THOUGHT that the author was going to end up making Raph an antagonist. End up finally, for once, having the main character end up with someone good and healthy for them. But that just wasn’t the way of this.

The main character also came across as stupid. She denied how pretty she was throughout the whole book in spite of everyone telling her she’s hot and in spite of all the gawking she received by the hormonal teenagers in the book. She also had no idea why Raph paid attention to her, even though the story is in first person POV and she listed out repeatedly (thank you redundancy) all of these facts that spell out he wants to go out with you.

It was basically like this for pages:

He keeps wanting to hang out with me. But he doesn’t like me. I don’t see why these people keep saying he does. He told all the guys at school not to go near me. He isn’t being as much of a player. He touches me a lot more. He gets angry when other guys flirt with or looking at me, but I DON’T GET WHY EVERYONE IS SAYING THAT HE LIKES ME.

I wanted to shake some sense into her. I liked her no bullshit attitude, but the way she acted undermined that, making it feel more like a ploy to make her appear strong and less like a personality trait that gave her any dimension in character. Also, how could she like this guy? And don’t tell me she didn’t, because every chance she got she described how immaculate he looked and she continuously forgave him for everything.

I did like when she blew up his car though. So there’s that. Not that this is a healthy way to deal with your emotions… but he totally deserved it.

IN SUM: The plot line// world had potential but was substituted for little more than an unhealthy romance. The book idealizes the idea of women having to pretend they don’t know their own self-worth and abusive relationships and was genuinely super predictable.

Would I recommend it? No.

thanks for reading, 

Monica

[fireinclined]

family headcanons

things that kill cassandra (no really it’d be kinder just to stab her)

the boys calling her ‘mother’ instead of ma, mama, mom or any other variations

the boys calling her ‘cassandra’ instead of ma, mama, mom…etc

the boys calling SOMEONE ELSE ma, mama, mom…etc

raph calling cassandra mom for the first time

raph calling cassandra mom made her feel like she had been completely accepted into the family, and to be honest this was the first time she felt like part of a family since capella was destroyed.

though her mother and sister are still alive and she loves them, there will always be a rift between cassandra and her mother because cassandra can never tell her about atlas.

and brooklyn makes it clear that she doesn’t really even view cassandra as a sister anymore, saying verbatim, “i like you better as a friend than a sister.” while cassandra doesn’t understand the distinction between sister and friend, she is hurt by it- to brooklyn, she can’t be both her big sister and her friend (which is a whole other can of worms).

the family dynamic

the family dynamic does change when you throw cassandra and paola into the mix, but it’s not entirely for the better. splinter does still favor leo, and pays more attention to raph because he is more vocal about his problems, and now cassandra’s there, and she does shower donnie and mikey with attention- but now splinter has an excuse as to why he doesn’t try to bond with donnie and mikey more.

and yes, cassandra does kick him in the ass every now and then to go spend more time with donnie and mikey, but it’s still…not quite enough. cassandra, for a long time, doesn’t really see this as that big of a problem, because she had the same sort of relationship with her mothers. evelyn showered her in attention, and cammilyn was much more distant. cassandra doesn’t really dwell on that- she attributes the huge rift in her relationship with her mother to atlas rather than the fact that…she really doesn’t know her mother all that well.

you know who would be a great character to explore this with, and make cassandra see how 1. most of the issues with her mom now come from how distant she was before capella fell and 2. that this sort of …splinter parenting leo and raph and cassandra parenting donnie and mikey system is very, very flawed?

BROOKLYN. because brooklyn grew up with cammilyn on new capella, and while you can definitely make a case that cammilyn was more distant after capella fell because she was trying rebuild their fucking civilization…it’s not like cammilyn woke up one day and was suddenly distant from her daughter(s).  so brooklyn would be able to recognize this, and point it out.

cassandra & mikey

cassandra does see a lot of herself in mikey. from their fun loving personalities, to their struggles with adhd, and even how mikey bottles things up- something cassandra does to an extent, but she’s far more likely to…explode much sooner than mikey seems to. cassandra understands mikey’s struggles with not being taken seriously, although for her, she actively puts on this air of being carefree and scatterbrained as a way to make people underestimate her, so it’s not totally the same.

going on missions post-splinter’s space arc

cassandra is overprotective in that she would literally rather fight all her kids battles for them before, so she does go out on missions a lot more than splinter. and she’s wanted splinter to join them on missions for a long time now too. but after splinter’s death all she wants is for him to be safe. she lost him during the invasion, where she was separated from everyone for three months. she lost him after the first fight with the super shredder, where everyone was just barely hanging onto hope that splinter had survived the fall. and finally, she lost him for real in requiem. 

so now that splinter’s back from the dead and wanting to go on missions, cassandra does realize she is essentially getting her earlier wish. and she is glad that he wants to go on mission to a certain extent, but that intense fear of losing him again overpowers any happiness this might have brought her. she can’t lose him a fourth time.

capellan-earth family hcs

at the very least, the boys know and speak to their grandmother once a month.

they all love her, but she can be a bit intimidating. but she adores them all and would do anything for them.

aunt brooklyn always calls the boys on earth holidays, though this winds up with her calling them on really minor holidays, like arbor day. nobody corrects her because nobody really minds

keandra’s their uncle, and he’s the first one to spill dirt on cassandra to the kids. this is how they learned about the time she broke a datapad over a bully’s head a la anne of green gables

after the invasion, donnie calls his grandmother to see if they can get any help from cassandra’s allies in space. keandra and brooklyn actually go to earth to help out, along with one pyrrite warship with the king of pyrrah, frederick, and mitsy on board.

they don’t get much time to bond with the royal family of pyrrah, but keandra and brooklyn stay for three months after they’ve driven back the invasion.

as i’ve mentioned jayjay and owl come to stay in season 2, and everyone gets a fair deal of bonding with each of them.

in the raising april au, however, they come to earth waaaay ahead of time. finding out your mom has adopted a little girl is different than finding out your mom has become co-parents with her new best friend and is raising four boys. jayjay and owl feel like they don’t fit into the family that cassandra has become a part of in the main verse.

so april grows up with two dragon hybrid sisters who adore her. they probably? stay on earth full time. i can’t see them leaving really.

[fireinclined-archive]

FAMILY HEADCANONS

which turtle does each version of cassandra get along best with

 snowball would definitely get along best with mikey, because he’s really good at drawing her out of her shell and bringing out her fun-loving side. his bright personality really puts her at ease as well. tol ice mom and smol sunshine son get along quite well

cassalyn and leo would dEFINITELY get along. i’d imagine leo highkey gets his whole goody two shoes thing from her in verses where she’s present, and her whole thing about Truth™ is something he picks up as well. leo is definitely a mama’s boy when it comes to cassalyn

but for hellion and classic cassandra? i really don’t think there IS a turtle they get along with more than any of the others. hellion especially doesn’t have any favorites (while classic does favor mikey and donnie).

things that kill cassandra (no really it’d be kinder just to stab her)

the boys calling her ‘mother’ instead of ma, mama, mom or any other variations

the boys calling her ‘cassandra’ instead of ma, mama, mom…etc

the boys calling SOMEONE ELSE ma, mama, mom…etc

raph calling cassandra mom for the first time

raph calling cassandra mom made her feel like she had been completely accepted into the family, and to be honest this was the first time she felt like part of a family since capella was destroyed.

though her mother and sister are still alive and she loves them, there will always be a rift between cassandra and her mother because cassandra can never tell her about atlas.

and brooklyn makes it clear that she doesn’t really even view cassandra as a sister anymore, saying verbatim, “i like you better as a friend than a sister.” while cassandra doesn’t understand the distinction between sister and friend, she is hurt by it- to brooklyn, she can’t be both her big sister and her friend (which is a whole other can of worms).

why cassandra can’t be brooklyn’s friend and sister at the same time

the reason why brooklyn can’t view cassandra as both a sister and her friend is largely due to how she was so young when capella was destroyed and she was separated from cassandra. when she was little, she had a bad case of hero worship for her big sister, and after capella fell, this turned into brooklyn keeping the secret of who let out atlas. brooklyn refused to speak for six years after the fall of capella because she felt like if she spoke, the truth would come bursting out. over the years brooklyn built her sister up to be this tragic hero, and essentially made her into idea rather than a person

then, when its revealed that cassandra’s not dead, and has been alive this whole time, that perception of the perfect, tragic big sister comes crashing down. brooklyn becomes hostile and passive aggressive towards her sister. brooklyn understands on a logical level that if cassandra had known about new capella, she would have been with her sister (…probably. that’s a meta for another time). but on an emotional level she can’t deal with it.

when cassandra and brooklyn have their year bonding in space, they essentially have to build their relationship from the ground up, and become friends. brooklyn can’t reconcile the cassandra she gets to know over that year with the tragic heroine OR the absent older sister, and just…stops thinking of cassandra as a sister.

the family dynamic 

the family dynamic does change when you throw cassandra and paola into the mix, but it’s not entirely for the better. splinter does still favor leo, and pays more attention to raph because he is more vocal about his problems, and now cassandra’s there, and she does shower donnie and mikey with attention- but now splinter has an excuse as to why he doesn’t try to bond with donnie and mikey more.

and yes, cassandra does kick him in the ass every now and then to go spend more time with donnie and mikey, but it’s still…not quite enough. cassandra, for a long time, doesn’t really see this as that big of a problem, because she had the same sort of relationship with her mothers. evelyn showered her in attention, and cammilyn was much more distant. cassandra doesn’t really dwell on that- she attributes the huge rift in her relationship with her mother to atlas rather than the fact that…she really doesn’t know her mother all that well.

you know who would be a great character to explore this with, and make cassandra see how 1. most of the issues with her mom now come from how distant she was before capella fell and 2. that this sort of …splinter parenting leo and raph and cassandra parenting donnie and mikey system is very, very flawed?

BROOKLYN. because brooklyn grew up with cammilyn on new capella, and while you can definitely make a case that cammilyn was more distant after capella fell because she was trying rebuild their fucking civilization…it’s not like cammilyn woke up one day and was suddenly distant from her daughter(s).  so brooklyn would be able to recognize this, and point it out.

cassandra & mikey

cassandra does see a lot of herself in mikey. from their fun loving personalities, to their struggles with adhd, and even how mikey bottles things up- something cassandra does to an extent, but she’s far more likely to…explode much sooner than mikey seems to. cassandra understands mikey’s struggles with not being taken seriously, although for her, she actively puts on this air of being carefree and scatterbrained as a way to make people underestimate her, so it’s not totally the same.