#because you just sort of end up with... “rise of the tmnt” and “rise of the guardians” again

[untitled-tmnt-blog]

I should have been working on something else, but instead I turned Leo into Jack Frost again... whoops.

[katsettee]

I totally get people talking about rottmnt and not being into because of the cartoony madness and exaggeration. I get it, it’s grating for some

But that acceptance goes OUT the window as soon as the same person vehemently swears up and down 2012 is the best tmnt rendition 💀💀

The incest one??? With the horrible writing? THAT one?

[liketheletter-l]

SUMMARY: (read ch1 here!)

Hold up. When did he decide he’s going to learn—or, re-learn—chess? Leo. Does not know. Really, his brain gets ahead of him sometimes. But he doesn’t even bother tracking the thought process back, because it just… feels right. It makes sense. It makes him excited, actually. To have something to sink his teeth into. Something to focus that fizzy, spinning thing in his brain towards, something he can funnel all this excess energy into. He can get into it, learn all the terms and the fancy moves, get the full scope of it under his grasp until he can win again and again and again. And it’s going to be awesome. It’s going to be fun. (Leo doesn't sleep for a week. Leo gets really good at chess.)

CHAPTER 2: "still fun! Sort of!"

“Nardo—” “Hmm, this doesn’t look that urgent to me.” Leo taps a finger to his lips thoughtfully. “Nardo, I will disassemble your molecules—” Leo flips his hair so it hits Donnie in the face. “Unless, y’know, you don’t want to play for some other reason.” He spins around and leans artfully across the desk, examining the LEDs lining Don’s ceiling, stroking his chin faux-pensively. “Like, maybe, I dunno, you’re scared you’ll lose." Hook. Line.

IT'S FINALLY OUT! based on @tangledinink's TMWN au!!

details under the cut!

Chapters: 2/7 Fandom: Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (Cartoon 2018), Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles - All Media Types Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Donatello & Leonardo (TMNT), Leonardo & Raphael (TMNT), Leonardo & Michelangelo (TMNT), Leonardo & April O'Neil (TMNT), Leonardo & Splinter (TMNT), Donatello & Leonardo & Michelangelo & Raphael (TMNT) Characters: Leonardo (TMNT), Donatello (TMNT), Raphael (TMNT), Michelangelo (TMNT), April O'Neil (TMNT), Splinter | Lou Jitsu Additional Tags: Angst with a Happy Ending, Hurt/Comfort, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Alternate Universe - Human, sorta - Freeform, Alternate Universe - High School, Donatello and Leonardo are Twins (TMNT), Disaster Twins Donatello and Leonardo (TMNT), good god they really are, Self-Esteem Issues, Insecurity, Miscommunication, Leonardo Needs a Hug (TMNT), Sleep Deprivation, Insomnia, self-care so bad it's borderline self-harm, Autistic Donatello (TMNT), Leonardo Has ADHD (TMNT), (But he doesn't know it yet), Chess, Chess Metaphors, Unhealthy Coping Mechanisms, He/Him and They/Them Pronouns for Donatello (TMNT), the uniquely horrible feeling of losing at chess, Sibling Love, Sibling Rivalry, Hijinks & Shenanigans, silliness, Angst and Humor

[toy-powerhouse]

The Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles turtles have some serious “No Friends” energy: Or the turts lack a support network of allies and friends, so it makes the series feel empty

Maybe one of the biggest failings of Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (out of many other failings) is how the titular characters lack a (non-familial) support network. They don't really have any friends or allies, and what few friends/allies they do have are very underappreciated, underrepresented, and underutilized (Todd Capybara and Señor Hueso) or "upgraded" to the much more valued status of family members (April and Draxum).

Despite possibly being the most attention-seeking turtles ever to be created so far, they never seem to have any desire to receive attention from outside the family unit. They're all so insular despite constantly showboating in a world where largely no one has any issues with them being mutant turtles. For the most part, the whole world, both human and Yōkai, is their oyster, and they’re free to roam around and mingle as they please. Yet they're largely content to remain detached from it all. And, that lack of connection makes the series, and its entire universe feel so empty and so small in scope. This emptiness is made especially obvious when compared to other TMNT adaptations that do give the mutant turtles a stronger and plentiful network of friends/allies or at least have the turtles working towards building such close-knit ties with others outside their family unit. The 2003 series was so chock full of friends/allies, it ended on a big damn wedding attended by all the folks they befriended. Even if RotTMNT continued beyond 1 ½ seasons and a movie (technically, it’s two seasons, but let’s be real, season two is too truncated to count as its own season), it’d be highly unlikely that the turtles of that series would ever amass that many notable friends/allies.

We see some glimmers of interest that the turtles have in being a part of a world outside themselves, but aside from those fleeting instances, their disinterest in anything apart from themselves is palpable and never challenged in any major way. This limits the characters’ experiences, their development as well as the overall narrative. It makes all their wacky adventures or dramatic exploits seem repetitive and hollow in a way better kids’ shows mitigate with a compelling cast of supporting characters (i.e., friends and/or allies for the protagonists).

Instead, what RotTMNT lacks in platonic support it more than makes up for in enemies, albeit mostly underdeveloped enemies. The turtles just sort of gain enemies time and time again (because they’re usually unfunny obnoxious screw-ups), which makes their lack of reoccuring friends/allies even more noticeable. Big Mama, Warren Stone, Hypno-Potamus, Repo Mantis, Meat Sweats, the Purple Dragons, Ghostbear, Baxter Stockboy, Sando Brothers, etc., (Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, more like Everybody Hates the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, lmao). You get the idea; the turtles seem to have a talent for making more enemies than friends/allies.

But, with friends like the turts (correction: turds), who needs enemies?

The biggest middle finger the series shows to the idea of allies is when in the season one finale, “End Game,” the following allies join April and Splinter to rescue the turds as the B-Team: Bullhop, Franken-Foot, S.H.E.L.L.D.O.N., and Todd Capybara. Only for the quartet to be captured immediately and left for dead because they’re never brought up again in the episode. While each of the so-called "allies" of B-Team aren't given much respect both in- and out- of universe, Bullhop (real name Stanley) may be the least respected. In short, the turds ruined Stanley's life, showed little grace to the poor guy before he got unceremoniously ousted from the series. He got mutated by the Oozesquitos the turds had accidently released from Draxum's lab, the turds let him stay at the lair with them for a bit to make amends but were on the verge of kicking him out because he was annoying to live with (Gee, those sure are a lot of pots calling the kettle black…), only for him to leave anyway of his own volition. He then shows up one more time in "End Game" to get captured by the Foot Clan, and because this was his last appearance, it's probably fair to assume that he died/was killed while the other three managed to escape unscathed. RIP Stanley, I know he must be ballet dancing his heart out somewhere in cartoon heaven.

It's characters like Bullhop combined with other infrequently or one-time occurring allies like Casey (Sr.), Señor Hueso, Marcus Moncrief (aka Jupiter Jim), Sunita, Piebald, Red Fox, and so on that show how little the series wants to commit to giving the titular characters a stable support network built on trust and camaraderie. The closest we get to a true, ride or die ally and friend is Todd (see “Todd Scouts” and “Anatawa Hitorijanai”) and even he barely gets any respect. In “Anatawa Hitorijanai,” he provides them with a haven away from the Shredder when he’s taken over New York, forges them weapons they use to save the day, and he receives no thanks or any real acknowledgment for doing any of it which makes the turtles come off as very ungrateful to their greatest ally and friend. The way in which the series represents friends and allies is, at times, tinged with a dismissive, even mean-spirited undertone that feels like a slap in the face to themes and messages that the franchise often represents.

TMNT is a franchise that’s narrative is built on connection and the desire for misfits to find acceptance. In many adaptations, the turtles pine for meaningful relationships outside themselves and Splinter. And, while this theme doesn’t need to be the focus of every adaptation, its absence in RotTMNT does strip from the characters an extra layer of depth and misses out on an opportunity to make them more relatable to members of the audience, especially those who’ve ever felt alienated.

If RotTMNT wanted to focus more on the familial relationships of the titular characters instead, that would be one thing. However, even the development and depth of those familial relationships are lacking. For instance, Splinter’s neglect of the turtles is never truly confronted along with the impact of Raph’s parentification (the underdeveloped family dynamic is something to be expanded upon for another entry in my lengthy list of grievances with this adaptation).

There was so much potential to explore new relationships for the turtles outside their own little world. The introduction of Yōkai opened new possibilities for the characters with them being able to be among other non-humans (the underdeveloped role of Yōkai and their Hidden City is also a topic for another day). Even the more lenient human world offered a new perspective. But, like all things surrounding Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, it was just more wasted potential.

[hi-there-buddies]

Voltron vs Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles:

How one team feels like close friends, while the other feels like family

I’m sure anyone who has watched Voltron past season 3 understands that there is a severe lack of meaningful interactions between the paladins as the show goes on. The Voltron paladins often call themselves a family, even all the way back in season 1, but there is something that’s so obviously wrong with that wording. Team Voltron isn’t a family, not because they aren’t blood related, but because they don’t feel like one.

This oddity always confused me. I mean, the Voltron paladins sort of act like a family sometimes, but other times they act like they’re just barely acquaintances.

And it didn’t hit me why the paladins calling themselves “family” felt so weird to me, until I began rewatching Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

Now, for the people who haven’t watch TMNT, the characters have surprisingly similar dynamics with Voltron. Rise of the TMNT actually has an INCREDIBLE amount of similarities with Voltron, but that’s actually not the only TMNT show I’m gonna be talking about.

Now, the main difference between Voltron and TMNT in my mind, is that the Voltron team feels like close friends, while the TMNT team feels like genuine family. There are 2 main reasons for why Voltron just utterly fails at trying to create a familial relationship between the paladins (not including Allura) and I’m gonna try my best to explain them:

1. The paladins didn’t all know each other before the show starts. Now this usually wouldn’t be a big deal when trying to establish something like found family, but what really destroys the whole “family” idea, is that you have Lance, Hunk, and Pidge, who know each other as friends, and Keith and Shiro, who are very very close. So already, the show is giving two characters a HUGE head start over the others, and this automatically makes these characters stand out from the “family” the show is trying to push. In turn, this makes Lance, Hunk, and Pidge less important in the eyes of the audience. To remedy this, the writers tried to give each of these characters families that they cared about/wanted to get back to, so they’d all have the sort of “head start” Keith and Shiro had, but it just doesn’t work. Mostly because Keith and Shiro are both paladins and therefore both apart of the Voltron “family”. What I’m trying to say is that the show automatically makes the audience view Keith and Shiro as “the important ones who are much closer”, which makes incorporating them into a found family just not work.

Looking over at TMNT, they don’t have this problem, and that’s mainly because ALL of the turtles have a strong bond with their mentor figure, Splinter, and they all are close to each other. Every TMNT show goes out of its way to show this. Sure, Splinter may talk to Leo more, or Raph may get mad at Mikey more than the others, but it’s very clear that they all care for one another the same amount. I mean, you don’t see TMNT fans thinking that Leo cared about Splinter more than Raph or Mikey or Donnie. No, they all care, and the audience is able to understand this even with limited screen time between Splinter and the turtles, because the TMNT shows set a precedent that the TMNT and Splinter not only knew, but already loved each other before the show began. Now, I’m not saying that the Voltron team should’ve know each other and already have been close with one another before the show started. Found family is often with people who have just met. The problem arose when they had Keith and Shiro be much closer to each other before the show started, than to the other paladins. You can’t do that when you’re making found family. You have to have them all know each other before hand, or not. Because if you do what Voltron did, then you just end up with a relationship that feels like a dad favoring one child over the others. This obviously leaves a bad taste in many people’s mouths, so people decide to ignore it and focus more on a “friend” dynamic, as someone liking one friend more than the others is much more palatable to watch than a father liking one child over the other.

2. Voltron just doesn’t SHOW the paladins being a family. The Voltron writers fell into a pretty deep “tell, don’t show” hole when they started to refer to the paladins as family. They tell and tell and tell you that the paladins are family, but there isn’t any displays of it; subtle or otherwise. It just makes the audience clock out on the whole “family” idea. Like, characters bickering with each other once in a blue moon isn’t them “acting like a family”.

Looking back to TMNT, it is very clearly shown from the first few episode of every iteration that these characters are family. Again, this doesn’t need to be the case, as found family tropes usually take a while to establish the main family, but you’d expect Voltron to start doing it by season 3. Now, what do I mean by “very clearly shown”? Well, first of all, characters argue, but not the mean spirited arguing that Voltron characters participate in, in the guise of ‘teasing’. No, they just genuinely banter with each other. They also care about each other in small ways. I mean, look up any “Leo being a mom” compilation on YouTube and you’ll know what I mean. Often you’ll see the turtles making food for each other, or messing around with skateboards in the lair together. When characters talk, it’s like they know each other better than the audience knows them. They mess with each other, but when things go south, they help each other out and, most importantly, APOLOGIZE/MAKE UP FOR IT (This is a HUGE pet peeve of mine when it comes to Voltron). An example of this is in the TMNT 2012 episode where Mikey becomes friends with Chris Bradford. Raph, Leo, and Donnie (mostly Raph) kinda make fun of him for it, but when Bradford nearly kills Mikey, they are all there to make sure he’s safe. Raph even talks to Mikey directly at the end, letting him know he’s a great guy, who Bradford didn’t deserve to even be friends with.

The utter lack of “show” in Voltron makes characters look like absolute jerks when the writers try to make them bicker the way the turtles (aka siblings) do. For example, that one scene when Lance is upset that Allura and Lotor are hanging out together. Pidge and Hunk make fun of him for it, and it feels so wrong. And it’s because they didn’t earn that teasing. It also feels wrong because even siblings wouldn’t go that far. I mean, compare this to TMNT 2012, in which even Raph eases up on Donnie about having a crush on April, after he teased him. Like, ya, some teasing may happen, but it, firstly, has to feel like it’s actual sibling banter, and, secondly, has to have the ones teasing make up for it later. Pidge and Hunk don’t do this. They leave Lance absolutely destitute, and they couldn’t care less. I honestly don’t think any of the paladins apologize to Lance for all the times they shit on him, except for Shiro. This approach in turn makes the paladins feel like friends that are kind of jerks, rather than family that occasionally goes too far.

These 2 main points come together to create a relationship between the paladins that feels like good friends at best, and bitter acquaintances at worst.

Anyway, I just needed to get this off my chest and put it into words. Because it has been BUGGING me. Let me know if you agree, or have any points you’d like to add! I’m sure there are other reasons the paladins don’t feel like family

[nerves-nebula]

Hello. I have never seen an "teenage mutant ninja turtles" show, comic, or movie. The characters however, appeal to me. If any one show or movie would suffice, where should I begin? Other sources have not been helpful.

OHHH GODDD OK WELL. OK SO. the thing is that different iterations are SO different i'm not entirely convinced that comparing them to each other is very ?? helpful?? a lot of people these days get into tmnt through the 2018 animated show Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja turtles. HOWEVER, that show only has like 2 seasons and is not the end all be all of the tmnt universe.

it's kind of hard for me to advise you to watch or read any one specific piece of tmnt media to get into it, because I kind of just already knew about it the entire time growing up?? like i never really actively watched it but i was generally aware of the concept for my entire life.

and i'm not sure exactly ABOUT the tmnt characters interests you, so i wouldn't know where to point you.

with all that as a disclaimer here's some of the more popular film/tv shows (I'm about as lost as you when it comes to the comics to be honest)

ROTTMNT/rise of the teenage mutant ninja turtles. it's the newest series as far as i know and it has fantastic animation. it's very funny and lighthearted most of the time and the boys even get magic powers (eventually) it's the one that really got me into tmnt. this one kind of switches around the roles of the characters. Usually you'll see Raph being depicted as the rash one, or the one with anger issues who strikes out on his own (and i still think thats true to an extent in rottmnt) but he, as well as Leo, are definitely portrayed in a different way than normal in rottmnt. which i like tbh it's fun. (i could write a whole essay about how their characters are different but also kind of the same in rottmnt vs other media but that would take all day)

TMNT 2012 series. The 2012 series is very influential as well, and heavily beloved by many. I haven't seen all of it yet, but it's biggest drawbacks (to me at least) is its very 2010's american childrens show style of comedy which can come off as uncomfortably cruel/annoying if you aren't ok with it. it's also an early years CGI animated show, so sometimes things don't look as good as they could. STILL it's definitely interesting and i like the dynamics between the brothers there so I'd give it a chance.

TMNT 2003 series. honestly i havent heard a lot about this one, but i really like the style and ive watched a few episodes of it, and it's definitely solid, sorry i can't say much more than that.

TMNT 1987 series. also can't say much about this one but it is hella goofy from what i've watched of it. it's also the original cartoon series i believe, airing as a sort of "saturday morning cartoon" situation.

TMNT 1990 movie. this one is part of a trilogy of tmnt movies, but i've only seen the first and a half movies. I really enjoyed the first one, it was a fun time and kind of campy, and the guy who plays casey jones is cute. this one is live action and the turtle costumes can look off putting to some people, but personally i liked them.

im sure people in the replies/reblogs of this post will add their opinions too haha

[desceros]

Okay PLEASE I have to know your opinion-

So you know how sometimes you look at people and just like- yeah, they’d be a golden retriever for sure. Or a chihuahua.

If the Rise Turtles were a dog breed, what breed would you think they would be? I’m definitely seeing Donnie as a herding dog wanting everything to be organized his way, Leo as a guard dog, Raph would definitely be a giant ass clumsy dog breed that doesn’t realize how big he is. Mikey has got to be some type of hyper terrier of sorts.

fascinating question!!! behold the power of an autistic person who loves dogs and tmnt

donnie: dachshund

wow sam favorite breed for favorite turtle OK LISTEN THO!!! dachshunds are sooo smart but stubborn as hell and want to do things Their Way. picking up a new toy and instantly playing with it so hard it explodes into fluff. taking direction well but only if you have a good relationship with them and they trust you. sassy attitudes, a penchant to attach themselves to one or two people and be distant to others, looks great in cute clothes, a fragile back that needs protecting--DRINK THE KOOLAID!!!

leo: akita

so this one was actually also very easy for me. akita are very much Family Over Everyone Else, and i always see leo as being very protective of his brothers (to a self-destructive point even). they don't trust other dogs or animals (much like leo doesn't trust other mutants or yokai), but when it comes to their people, they're goofy little goobers that love to play and have fun and snuggle. they're super smart, but need good training in order to achieve their potential, otherwise they'll have a tendency to do their own thing and that never ends well. wow who put this picture of leonardo hamato in the akc handbook

raph: great dane

i was torn on this one thinking some kind of livestock guardian dog at first since he worries about his brothers so much and always puts their safety first. only problem is a lot of them are bred to have mild temperaments, and, uh, [gestures at raph]. for that reason, i settled on the great dane. they're guardian dogs who care intensely for their family and are very, very sweet. but their large size and caution against strangers is quite intimidating, and they need to be properly trained against being aggressive to strangers. also, yknow, big.

mikey: pumi

pumi are well-known small dogs that are work-hard, play-hard dogs with the CUTEST curly hair. sound familiar? they're pretty good at watching the family, but often times they're a bit too busy bouncing off in the corner because these dogs are like. adhd in canine form. always need stimulation. always need exercise. gotta bounce move play bark play run RAZZ MATAZZ. also they're cute and mikey is cute.

[los-ninos-tortugas]

I’d love your thoughts on…Bayverse tmnt.

This has languished in my inbox for far too long. Quite honestly I was gonna try to come up with some sort of funny meme answer to this and drew up completely blank so instead I'm gonna do sincerity,

It's... it's bad but I still kinda love it? In a weird way? These movies give me weird emotions because I did genuinely enjoy watching them but I'm also very aware that there's... Stuff going on. I've definitely taken my fair share of pot shots at these movies in the past because it's funny, But after seeing this behind the scenes video I do think there's something kind of interesting to talk about; how much thought went into this... for it to still come out pretty mid. Which probably sounds a little mean, and not for nothing I do commend the crews insistence on using a practical set and effects where they could because honestly yeah, it does look awesome. And overall I do think the movies have pretty impressive visuals and the action sequences are a lot of fun but I don't think those things can really save these movies from the weaknesses that just come out of the script itself.

Now I'm not gonna lie it's been a hot minute since I watched these movies so I'm kinda going off my memory here. Could I have taken the time to rewatch them before answering this? Probably. But I didn't so here we go.

The Turtles:

I actually don't really hate their designs? I have a very vivid memory of people making a big stink about how they looked when the first movie came out back in 2014, although back then I wasn't a fan so it all just kinda went over my head. I'm still not a fan of them having lips as opposed to beaks but that's really the only part where I kinda draw the line. I weirdly kinda liked that they tower over all the humans and that their physicality matches just how strong they are in this movie. Their first fight scene is so chaotic because you can't see them yet (again, their ability to sneak around so effectively in spite of their size also adds to the impression they make) but enemies are just flying. Karai is quickly losing control of the situation, Foot Clan grunts are getting thrown into the walls and cracking the subway tile with the force with which they're thrown. The way the scene builds the anticipation for the reveal is really well done in my opinion. Do the turtles look like teenagers? No. Absolutely not. And admittedly this did give me a little bit of cognitive dissonance because I kinda kept forgetting that they are kids with the exception of a few scenes. But they do look like mutants so points for that I guess. And it's pretty cool to see what elements from these turtles seemed to end up carrying over to Rise and Mutant Mayhem. Stuff like the tech on Donnie's shell and his glasses. Raph's bandana, and the turtles wearing more clothes overall. The fact that they're purpose made science experiments this time rather than the result of an accident. Like as much as Bayverse gets kinda treated like the black sheep of the turtle iterations it would be unfair to say it had zero influence on what came after.

These turtles in particular are also really riding the coattails of the superhero movie genre back before we all got tired of it. I feel like unlike a lot of the other iterations-- and while TMNT does kinda fall under the superhero umbrella from their comic origins they also kind of originated their own specific subgenre within that that has a very specific... TMNT-ness to it if you know what I mean (i.e. street sharks, battle toads, gargoyles if you really squint)-- these versions of the turtles are more like straight up superheroes than any other version. They're literally bulletproof, they have super strength, speed, and agility. They can survive in hostile environments that would otherwise kill normal humans- really they might as well have slapped capes on them. There's also this weird cartoony-ness to them. Like they specifically operate on cartoon logic while the rest of the world still operates on regular real world logic. It does take me out of it a bit when it does happen.

As far as personalities go (and this is where my memory gets a bit foggy so bear with me here) Raph and Donnie stand out to me the most and I think that's because they both end up being really empathetic characters. The first movie actually kinda becomes Raph's movie and he gets a lot of screentime and character development. The second movie is definitely a bit more Leo focused but I think it's split a little more evenly overall between all of them. But Raph and Donnie are definitely my favorites in this version. Leo is a bit bland in my opinion. At least compared with other versions I've seen. Maybe on another rewatch I would reassess that but for now he just seems like he's kinda there. He's the leader and that's his job. (Again, the BTS video does more to explore his personality than I think the movies really do, so it's like, how did all this thought go into this for it to still not show through?) I feel like the writers just didn't know what to do with Mikey. He gets a bit more development and character in the second movie (the line delivery on the "we aren't monsters" scene comes to mind. Real gut punch every time) but in the first one he's unfortunately just kind of annoying.

Master Splinter:

Oh is Splinter here? Coulda fooled me. I've said it before and I'll say it again, his one purpose is to provide exposition and then exit the plot as quickly as possible when he is no longer useful. Yes he gets critically injured in the first movie and I feel like it's supposed to raise the stakes- it does not. I do not care about him even a little.

April O'Neil:

Okay I'm conflicted because I love Megan Fox and I really think she tried her best with what she was given to work with. The movie almost did a good- there was kind of a weird but self aware joke about April wanting to be a real journalist and pursue more hard hitting stories but the news network very obviously hired her to put her on television to objectify her and have her do puff pieces and boost their ratings because she's attractive. And I'm like "wow that's actually some really self aware commentary on how Megan Fox has been treated by the industry and by Michael Bay in particular it's really cool that they put that in a movie produced by him- oh nevermind there it is they're objectifying her for the rest of the movie." Which is really unfortunate because the way she plays this kind of more manic and slightly unhinged version of April who is maybe not super socially aware is very funny (cue April slapping a conspiracy board and presenting it as serious evidence to her boss). I think her having a connection to the turtles pre-mutation is a pretty cool play on their origin since usually after being dropped in the sewer they cease to have any connection to the kid that bought them from the pet store. But having April and the turtles remember each other is honestly kinda sweet. (Along with the fact that she gave them their names.)

Casey Jones;

Fuck that guy. That's not Casey Jones because Casey Jones is not a goddamn cop.

Vern:

Exists.

The Bad Guys:

Eric Sacks: Okay I haven't seen anyone else point this out but it's driving me nuts. Has anyone else noticed that this guy's origin story is just The Karate Kid but if he turned out evil? Like he tells the story and I literally had to pause the movie because it blew my mind that they just Did That. I was just going "that's just the plot of The Karate Kid. He just explained the plot of The Karate Kid in this movie as his origin story, they just stole it. AND IT"S THE FUCKING JAIDEN SMITH VERSION NO LESS WTF???" Like is it just me? Am I crazy? They fucking did this earnestly and it's driving me up the goddamn wall.

The Shredder: Motivations, what are those? Crime? Money? I guess? If someone could tell me what the hell this man's actual motivations and goals were in this movie I'd appreciate it because I have no idea. This character has zero personality, I can remember zero of his lines, his costume is dope as hell. I don't understand why he's here except that maybe the writers were contractually obligated to put him in the movie. He's literally The bad guy in all the turtleverse how is he so goddamn unmemorable in this movie??? And in the second one? Sir I feel like you should have more of a reaction to finding out extradimensional aliens are real than going "Okay we work for this guy now." and then proceed to tear apart the fabric of reality for him based on like a two minute conversation. What were you hoping to get out of this arrangement, I know the movie probably said it but like everything else that has to do with the antagonists I cannot remember.

Karai: Is here. I guess. Also just way too cool with learning that mutants and aliens are a thing, never reacts to anything. I'm sure she has lines in these movies, could I tell you anything she said or anything she did that would be indicitave of her having a character or a personality? Nope. She exists to be a henchwoman and that's about it.

Bebop and Rocksteady: Probably the only memorable villains in all of these movies, and that's only because they're funny.

General Krang: Why did they even bother dude. Disappointment.

Honestly after writing this I might go rewatch these movies, because this has just reminded me that their whole deal is kind of wild to be honest. And I probably could go on even more but this has already gotten pretty long. Thanks for the ask and I'm sorry it took so so long. But it was fun to do this kind of break down, and I kinda wanna do more in the future with other tmnt stuff, idk I'll see where that goes or not.

Thanks for reading <3

[my-name-is-bunnyfoxy]

Back on ur Tumblr after awhile.

Just wanted to ask if u saw the newest (I think) Tales of the TMNT series trailer.

I thought it looked great.

Very curious to see the boys separated.

Also nice to see more April.

And more April and Leo stuff; I love her, and they are so fun and funny and together.

It is so funny to me that Leo basically looks so worried and/or like he is is going through it in some way in ever trailer and/or teaser basically.

Nice to see some more of him being more confident, silly, dramatic, and cocky though in the new teaser. Because those can be so him too.

It was also very cool to see more Donnie in the new teaser, he wasn't in the last one much, and he got some cool/nice stuff in the newest one. My dude is really worried about his brothers.

Also, we got Bishop too! I love her voice.

Anyways, done rambling about the new trailer. I was sad it TOTTMNT didn't come out in April, but if it coming out in August means the people behind the series can take it easier and try to give a better series, I can wait. August isn't too far off anyways.

Last of all, just like a picture of urs with TMNT 2012 Rise and Leo redesigns, and thought they looked great! Esp. TMNT 2012's ones, but Rise Leo's looked great too

(and I still love Leo having red eyes. I hope people start giving TMNT MM Leo red eyes, because 1. I think they are cool and I now really like Leo w/ red eyes, 2. I just think they would suit TMNT Leo's dinosaur-looking person, and 3. I thought I saw a screenshot of the movie, like a close-up, of some ending scenes when Leo wasn't wearing his mask and was going to school and wearing normal clothes, that looked his eyes were (kind of) red)

Also, loving u drawing TMNT 2012 Leo in his cocky/confident-looking, iconic pose of leaning on his sword(s). LIke, people would think that would be something Rise Leo would do (and he would), but TMNT 2012 Leo defin. would and has too.

Ok, done with this very long Ask. I just hadnt been on ur Tumblr for a bit, so I had even more to say than usual. Lmao.

God this has been sitting in my inbox for a long time now. First and foremost, welcome back! I was genuinely wondering if you are still alive or nah lol-

Okay now onto everything else-

The Tales of the TMNT trailer

Honestly, I have a lot of hope the show will be pretty cool!

I loved the scenes where it implies that the turtles will have their own solo missions. This could possibly be all in one episode where they are all alone but I don't know. I'm also excited to see how much their personalities are expanded on.

From what I've seen we also got the purple dragons revealed! I like Hun and Angel so far. Especially Angel, I think she is the leader of the Purple Dragons now within this iteration. I really hope they bring back old classic characters. Personally I have always thought that Mutant mayhem would take more inspo from tmnt 1987 which I really hope that is the case and they bring back fan favorite characters.

I was honestly shocked to see Bishop as a woman. But honestly, she looks badass. I'm kind of laughing my ass of at her being a grumpy old ass grandma who has beef with literal teenagers. I do wanna see what her deal is though. Maybe she is working for Cynthia?

Speaking of- I wonder where she is? I really hope she isn't just thrown to the side or something. It seemed like they were building towards something with her character. Also, just from her last name Utrom, it's clear they might introduce the Kraang or even just the Utroms. Maybe both as well-

I genuinely hope Shredder comes in. I wanna see him really bad. Like I said I hope they bring the classic characters back.

April looks really stunning and I already love her. I really wanna see her relationship with not just Leo but also the other turtles as well.

I will be honest I genuinely thought the show was gonna be 3D animated. I was a little upset but, I immediately fell in love with the art style simply because it reminds me of a comic sort of art style.

Overall, high hopes for this show!

Now about the drawings

Thank you so much! <3

I feel like they are slightly outdated now, but I genuinely loved drawing them! And yes I adore Leo with red eyes. He just looks so cool with it.

Also 2012 Leo's pose was based off of the official renders I found.

Same with rise Leo as well!

Again- so happy you like my designs! <3

I haven't that active with TMNT as of late, but I promise I'm still here, I didn't leave. I'm just obsessed currently with toy monsters that come to life that try to kill you and that from a game I literally tried to boycott back in 2021 lmao

[boxfullaturtles]

I want to know all the things about your KH AU. Please just tell me things, because I love it.

oh Kingdom Hearts AU, how i have neglected you…. UnU what can I say about KH AU hhhmm (aside from having Raph's ref sheet half done and then getting distracted by a million other things lol) let's see........

Donnie loses his heart at some point. Not because of a Heartless or other enemy, but because he pushes himself too hard and too far.

He does create a Heartless. I don't know what kind of Nobody he leaves behind

The rest of the family do end up finding--and fighting--Donnie's Heartless. How do they know it's Donnie's? Well, aside from Mikey being able to sense Donnie's Heart, buried and smothered in Darkness, there's a certain...Donatello flavor to the way the Heartless looks.

I have not finished designing the Donnie Heartless.

How do they get Donnie back? I dunno. Maybe it involves the piece of his Heart he left with Shelldon.

What's in the half of Donnie's lab that no one ever gets to see? That's a secret. For now.

Casey's Future Leo only had one Keyblade and it wasn't Arc Hope, so Future Leo didn't have portals. In fact, Future Leo's Keyblade didn't seem like it fit him at all. A heavy hitter with a reverse grip didn't really fit his fighting style. But he made it work.

Future Mikey was so powerful that his Keyblade kind of just...floated around him, like an extension of himself. He wielded it kind of like how Sora's Final Form uses Keyblades in KH2.

Casey Junior gets a shock when he sees the present day Keyblades. And an even bigger one when Leo portals. And then the biggest one when Leo gains Synch Blade and dual Keyblades.

I love the design of Before the Fall so damn much. But I don't think it fits Leo very well overall. I think after the Krang, the whole thing is weighing heavily on his Heart and he can't let it go. So while he has a lot more faith in his family (After the Rise), he's struggling with keeping that faith in himself. It's letting doubt and Darkness creep into his Heart and it's going to take some work and character development for him to overcome this. Before the Fall is a little too heavy with Darkness for him.

When Leo DOES find himself in a better place, Before the Fall will change. To what? I haven't decided yet. I just don't think Leo should be forced to carry a burden like that Keyblade. He deserves something better.

April's Keyblade is the only one I haven't figured out a name for yet.

In the silly TMNT AU Competition comic I did, Donnie mentions a "Worlds We Are Banned From" list. This is a real list. They have been forbidden from returning to some worlds for...reasons. The reasons may or may not be because of shit they've done.

Raph and Leo sort of co-lead the group, but Raph still acts as the big brother most of the time, trying to wrangle his siblings into behaving. Except when he's acting out too, and then it's April's job.

April getting a Keyblade was an accident. Donnie accidentally did it when they were little.

What's Draxum doing in this AU? Why did he make the turtles? What are the Foot Clan doing? How does The Shredder work? Fuck if I know. What, you think I planned this or something?

Yes, there is magic that alters their appearance depending on what kind of world they land on. Most of the time, it's like a surface level glamour that only affects the eyes of the inhabitants (this is my headcanon as to why no questions why a duck and a dog are following Sora around 90% of the time, they look human on worlds with humans). There have been a few worlds where they've had to deal with physical transformations. Suffice it to say that those have been an absolute riot for everyone.

And...that's all I got. For now anyway. There is still some stuff I'm working on, but it's sort of taken a back seat to everything else...

[roninreverie]

Big Mama's Chinese Roots and a Connection to Tang Shen?

First off, to preface... this whole thing started because @caro-rolo figured out that the Mystic Portal Key doohickeys in Rise are actually just some kind of fancy compasses that have North, South, East, and West written in Chinese characters.

Now, the first thought I had to learning this was "Tang Shen" because in the TMNT universe where Japanese influence is pretty heavy, she is notable for having a Chinese name.

She is also the love interest of Hamato Yoshi in many different variations. Though in Rise, that role belongs most notably to Big Mama, with Tang Shen being a blink and you miss it easter-egg credit on the cover of Jistu for Justice:

Mama is also most likely the source of where Splinter got his mystic portal key, and she even has one of her own in her office. Judging by how much control she has over the Hidden City, from the Battle Nexus, to demolition derbies, to train stations, to crime rings, she seems to have a large control over just who all is in her city, and these keys could very well be something she controls directly.

Now, Big Mama has all the set ups for having typical TMNT Japanese roots. Even her home estate seen in "Hidden City Job" has a very Asian look to it inside and out:

Plus, the whole "her being a yokai", makes it easy to assume she is based on some kind of Japanese spider demon like Jorōgumo, Yatsukahagi/Tsuchigumo, or Ōgumo, etc.

But "Yokai" can also be used to describe the Chinese term "yaoguai" which is basically the same definition.

So if Mama were a Chinese spider demon instead, the first one who comes up on a quick Google search is "zhī zhū jīng" or "spider woman". These are 7 spider demon sisters who fight Sun Wukong in Monkey King: Journey to the West.

Here, the spiders changed into seven beautiful young ladies who wanted to eat the flesh of Sun Wukong's master, Tang Seng, which is said to make the consumer immortal and forever young.

"Tang Seng"... "Tang Shen"... sounds pretty similar.

And aren't there also some animation ties from ROTTMNT to Lego Monkey King? Tangent side note, but there's a spider demon queen in that universe too and guess what? SHE'S PURPLE!

And where did Mama and Lou Jistsu first meet? On set of one of his movies "Crouching Shrimp Hidden Tiger Prawn" in 1984. A movie where an actress like Tang Shen could very well have ties to? (We'll come back to this at the end.)

Another chip in the Chinese vs Japanese bucket is Big Mama's Security Team:

At first, I thought their distinct faces represented Blue Japanese Hannya/ Oni masks, but what if they're supposed to be Chinese Nuo masks instead? Not unlike Zuko's Blue Spirit mask in ATLA.

You could also argue these guys are wielding a sort of Qinglong Ji or Fangtian Ji, which are Chinese spear or polearm weapons. (But if anyone knows what those spear thingies are really called, please let me know, it's driving me nuts!)

...

In conclusion, I got sent on a massive rabbit hole because of a fictional compass and regret nothing! 🧭

Now what is Big Mama's connection to Tang Shen? Are they related? (The actress does look a bit purple.) They could be sisters like the 7 sisters of the Monkey King lore. Did Mama seek to get rid of Tang Shen so she could get closer to Lou Jitsu herself? Are they the same person? Is Big Mama based on Japanese or Chinese folklore? Did any of this make any sense at all?

Let me know what you think, and thanks for joining me for another deep dive into another one of my random ROTTMNT theories!

EDIT: (PS- Sorry, if the "read more" messes the order of these up, but the scroll was annoying me in my own tags.) 😅

[hotsoupthemusical]

Why Lou?

I'm assuming you're referring as to why this musical is centered around Lou Jitsu?

In all honesty, all the credit goes to a post I came across while casually going about my day. I was in need of a project to hyperfixate on, and to just keep myself busy!

But on the other hand, I've always had a sort of soft spot for rise!Splinter.

Yes, he can be a terrible father, at times even neglectful, but I feel it just adds to the charm of the show itself. Many people hated on Rise of the TMNT for being different from other iterations because of the vibrant colors, and the artstyle, and especially the characters.

I know the basic "people hate the turtles because they're different," but I don't see enough people including the fact that a huge part of why RotTMNT is hated on is because of this iteration's version Splinter.

Calling him a lousy father and master, rise!Splinter has gotten a lot of hate, and I'll be the first to admit that, yes, he does deserve some of it, but I can sympathize with him.

Not only did he watch his mother "die" as a child [when he was probably around the age of six or seven mind you], he had to grow up on his own.

Later he chose to chase after his dreams of becoming a Hollywood star, even if it meant leaving his childhood behind. I know some people call him rude or heartless for leaving Grandpa Sho so easily, but if I speak anymore about their relationship I might end up going on a rant that spoils the whole musical-

Afterwards he finds that the woman he loves is not even human, gets down on one knee only, to get rejected, kidnapped, and forced to fight to the death!

And after all of that, he's kidnapped once more and has his DNA stolen, which is used in an experiment without his consent, and then out of no where, with no warning whatsoever, he's a father of four!

After all of this, I wouldn't blame him for wanting to take things easy.

Sure, yes, he was a terrible dad, but he changes. He grows as a character, and it's evident throughout the series [Might touch this topic some other day] as he grows to accept his ancestry as a part of him, and if this isn't enough to make you want to produce a whole musical, I don't know what is. /lh

[pokeformerz]

Fandom etiquette post covid is ABYSMAL and I'm blaming Tik Tok and Twitter for it.

Like I'll be on Pinterest and it's a fanart of Rise! Mikey and Donnie playing video games and half the comments are like "Look at this BROTHERLY LOVE!!!1! No t-cest here!!!"

And it's so annoying because, like, obviously there's no t-cest in the post, but why do these people have to scream it in the comments every time? Like if you're worried about potential t-cest just... DON'T INTERACT???

Or on Ao3, where they straight up do not read tags, but read the fic, and then get mad at the author for OOC or Dub-Con or Non-Con or violence or whatever, and they're trying to report the author for it??

Or the CONSTANT "this story has mild dub-con but I don't support it as an author, it's part of the story!!" in the A/N of a fic like... since when did fandom have to be soooo sooo kid gloved??

Or the entitlement that comes to what the human form of a non-human character should look like, when there isn't really a cannon human form. AND! IF THERE WAS? People will 👏still 👏have👏headcannons👏 but these new age fandom-police losers will straight up death threat a person for a headcannon because they are so anal about things being cannon they're SUCKING THE FUN OUT OF IT!

"This character should be x,y,z race."

No, dumbass, this character should be A ROBOT. This character should be a GREEN MF TURTLE. This character should be A DEMON. Like for fucks sake!!

And the root of the problem? It's the mentality that's come from Twitter, and Tik Tok where there ALWAYS has to be some sort of moral betterment that some random user is morally good because they avoid difficult topics like SA in their fanfiction, or that they're so GOOD because they think human ninja turtles should be black (even if they end up being racist to Asians in the process, by erasing the fact that whatever fanart has the tmnt as Asian and these dweebs just go "Durr hurr why r they white").

They're straight up not tagging things properly on Ao3 because they're so morally good that they wrote "rape" like "r*pe" to censor it, but now people who actually had that tag blacklisted are seeing that content again all the time because "r*pe" ISN'T HOW TO PROPERLY TAG SOMETHING.

Like 10 years ago, people headcannoned Optimus Prime as black, some headcannoned him as white, some headcannoned him as Asian, and if we didn't agree with any of the headcannons, we fucked off and didn't harass the OP for their headcannon. It was a norm (that I believe was better respected back then) that if you didn't like something, you didnt interact with it, you could click away to another thing! But now? If any person makes a headcannon that's different from what these people think the norm should be regardless of whether or not it's cannon, that person is going to be TORN APART. If your headcannon is different from the "fanon norms", you must be morally wrong and you must be a horrible person.

Because if you think a non-human character's human form is light skinned? You must HATE every DARK SKINNED MINORITY EVERRRR!!!!!1!

Because if you have a Non-Con scene or reference in your fic you wrote? You MUST be a RAPIST IRL!!!!!!1!!

Because this "Morally Good Fandom Police" bullshit comes hand in hand with ZERO respect for the already established Fandom community structure/etiquette, and a complete lack of critical thinking skills whatsoever. That the new age fandom wants to be an individualist experience where the single user needs to make everyone else cater to them, rather than that user cater their own experience to what they know they want.

I'm gonna be honest tho, I'm sure I got the 10 years ago thing wrong, I may have been in fandom a while but I'm not gonna ignore that some folks have been around way longer than I have. So if this has been an issue for a while and I was just blind to it earlier, that's a me issue I guess.

TLDR; I think new age fandom is so focused on being morally right that they're ruining the experience for people who have been in fandom for decades.

[secreterces5]

🦋 Hi, I'm Charlie! This is my art blog! I also have a main (secreterces-charlie), a turtle blog (teenagemutantninjatrauma) and a somewhat DST oriented blog that is more like a second main (charlie-charlie-yes-i-am-here). Recently added a Deltarune OC ask blog (secret-horses) the art from which will likely show up here too!

🦋 I mostly post Don't Starve and TMNT art right now, as well as attempts at original stuff :)

🦋 I do commissions! If you'd like to learn more about those, head on over to here 👉 https://secreterces5.carrd.co

🦋 I also have a ToyHouse for all my OCs and sonas and whatnot, because I keep making more, unfortunately!

⭐ General organization tags! ⭐

#🌹 charlie's art ;; #🌹 oc art ;; #🌹 self art ;; #🌹 charlie's animations

#🌹 chareblog ;; #🌹 my friends' art! ;; #🌹 other people's ocs

⭐ Ongoing stuff! ⭐

🌹 2k3 separated AU - a TMNT 2003 Separated AU! Mikey is a Timestress, Leo is a Foot Ninja, and Donnie is missing entirely. Raph, after growing up with only his dad, decides to try and find his brothers!

🌹 Revolution Radio AU - a fic I'm writing on AO3! The 2003 ninja turtles start a radio broadcast!

🌹 AHC AU - art for the Actions Have Consequences AU, co-written with @/violetvulpini on AO3, about president Bishop accidentally adopting Cody Jones and the Dark Turtles after the Fast Forward season.

🌹 Clone Zixx Theory - art operating on my headcanon that Zixx is a Bishop clone. Mostly made this tag for adding context to my art, not gonna lie.

🌹 TCAJ - To Catch a Jackdaw, a to-be-published original story of mine about different worlds intertwining and causing magical events of catastrophic proportions. Currently involving characters Aran, Flip and Iotash.

🌹 the haters club - a roleplay inspired scenario between me and a friend where several no-longer-human people team up to be racist against monsters who literally did nothing to them. they make each other worse and are besties. Currently consisting of DST Charlie, TMNT Stockman and Bishop, and TOH Belos (and Lilith, kinda?)

🌹 Survivor Charlie AU - a Don't Starve AU where Charlie is somehow dethroned and now one of the Survivors!

🌹 Magician Interview! - small DST snippets of Charlie and Maxwell's life before... well, before.

Graveyard of unlikely-to-be-elaborated-upon-right-now AUs under the cut 👍

🌹 Spider Queen Charlie AU - Maxlie but they're cannibalistic spider hybrids

🌹 DST pirates AU - Maxwell is a somewhat struggling pirate captain. Wilson Higgsbury never wanted to be a pirate but ends up having to work with one anyways. They seek out the pirate queen for help, but unfortunately, there is relationship drama involved.

🌹 Understarve AU - An Undertale AU of Don't Starve Together. Wilson Higgsbury, a human, loses his way and wanders into a world of monsters. Maxwell and Charlie are plant monsters, studying magic to hopefully one day free monsterkind.

🌹 Spilled Beans AU - A Don't Starve AU where Maxwell tells Charlie everything. They are doomed, either way.

🌹 Stolen Blessing AU - Philza Minecraft is an angel committing crimes. It doesn't work out great for him.

🌹 The Sun Can't Stop Us AU - An Apritello Rise of the TMNT AU based on the Greatest Showman movie where Donnie is an acrobat and April falls in love with him.

🌹 UDOA AU - Unwanted, Dead or Alive! A Fast Forward AU in which somehow, Leo is the only ninja turtle left standing as his family goes missing and their disappearance is pinned on him. With the help from the Dark Turtles, he now has to clear his name and find his family, all the while looking for the true culprit behind this and bonding with his kind-of-sort-of brothers.

🌹 Old Man Mikey AU - The year is 2275, and you have just graduated under your master with the title of chūnin. "Who will be my new master, though, sensei?" you inquire, unable to contain your curiosity. Your sensei names a person that you frankly didn't even think was real. "The Ancient One, of course." (Or, Mikey became the Ancient One long after Fast Forward.)

[corvid-case]

hello everyone :) I'm Corvid/Icarus/Shark, pronouns they/them!! Tone tags appreciated!!! Artist and writer, working on fics :D I don't have one main fandom I have FOUR do you like plastic ninja and turtle ninja and Minecraft block men because boy I do (Ninjago, ROTTMNT (I don't really know any other version I'm sorry guys), Life Series, Hermitcraft) I also really like Dreamzzz but I've just started that series so I have less feelings about it /lh Do YOU like silly little aus about Ninjago and Rise because I have many if you're interested I have a list I'll put them under the read more with their name, tags, and a short description :) ITS LONG IM SORRY LMAO Also yes there is shipping in some of these, not really in any of the Rise aus but in the Ninjago aus there's some, most of the time it doesn't really affect most of the story but I'll mention if it does

RISE OF THE TMNT

Initium Novum (#inau) Told from the perspective of an OC (lost turtle sibling called Masaccio (Acie)), takes place during the show and has a lot of other OCs in it if that's not your jam

What Do You Do When You Fall Into Heaven? (#fihau) Told from multiple perspectives, takes place during/after the movie and is a hurt/comfort. The same cast as Initium Novum, with some additions :) I really wanted to write the future guys man they all show up at some point

Who's That Hamato? (#wthau) Kind of an au of Initium Novum, it's what if Acie was also taken in by Splinter. Explores a different facet of them, explores how their relationships would be different in a different situation.

We Have Got To Stop Meeting New People Like This (#snpau) Another Initium Novum/WDYDWYFIH au but this one's Ninjago :) Similar to House of the Rising Sun (Shells) in that the Merge caused their world to join the Merged Realms, they all explore this new world and Acie gets to go nuts.

Boys of Summer (#bosau) Non-OC au, it's another separated au throw the confetti throw the sparkles- Leo focused, he's still with Splinter but Draxum is there as well and has been redeemed, the others found their own ways out of the lab and ended up in different places.

Rise from the Dead (#rftdau) Non-OC au, puts a ghostly spin on the story. The turtles are all ghosts that only April can see. There's no yokai and no mystics, but multiple yokai characters are still in the story, just as humans.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Critters (#tmncau) Sort of Minecraft au but not really, I just really really love the fanon Minecraft hybrids so I made the turtles into them :). They're mutants still but they've got distinctly Minecraft hybrid traits I've put sooo much thought into the traits for all the different hybrids it's so fun

Shell From Another Realm (#sfarau) A Rise/Ninjago crossover au, takes place post-Rise movie and post-Crystalized pre-Dragon's Rising. The turtles, April, and Casey end up in the world of Ninjago and try to find their way home while also trying to figure out this new world.

House of the Rising Sun (Shells) (#hotrsau) Another Rise/Ninjago crossover au, completely separate from the previous one in that this takes place during Dragon's Rising instead. When the Merge caused all the Realms to collide, Earth was one of them, and everyone ended up scattered across the Merged Realms. The Hamatos decide to settle in the Crossroads and meet some young faces.

NINJAGO

Some Assembly Required (#sarau) Completely rewrites the entire thing, based on the question "what if the bite from the Devourer didn't turn Garmadon evil and instead made him sick?" Garmadon is good and raising his children, the kids aren't really as in tune with their elemental powers, and I made a bunch of lore for it around the dragons and the other elemental masters please ask me about it please please /lh (has a couple ocs but not very many) (pretty shippy, a lot of poly relationships)

Web of Destiny (#wodau) Spiderman au, all six main ninja are a group of heroes, with Pixal as a vigilante. Other characters from the series feature as villains. The Dragons Rising cast also features.

The Dragon's Samurai (#tdsau) Crystalized ending rewrite, Pixal focused. Asking "what if their golden powers went haywire after they sent them to Lloyd, causing them to lose themselves? Also what if Nya got a golden form I'm so sad she didn't get one" Basically they get taken over by their powers and Pixal has to go talk some sense into them I lOVE PIXAL SO MUCH DO YOU UNDERST

Abnormal Reaction (#arau) DO YOU GUYS LIKE THE BIZARROS BECAUSE I DO this is entirely me wanting to have a Bizarro au they don't die after getting dusted they just regroup somewhere else and decide to go do their own thing after Garmadon gets defeated

A Different Vision of the Future (#advotfau) I'm lowkey embarrassed about this one lmAO it's a Genshin au,,,,, I probably won't write a fic for it like I will with the others but I wanted to draw it and explore the concept I don't even play Genshin anymore I'm crying

Ready Your Triforce, It's About To Have More Sides (#rytau) Do you guys like Breath of the Wild :) I like Breath of the Wild :) BotW/Ninjago crossover au besties they all end up in different points in time and get to interact with different pEOPLE lots of me messing around with dynamics

staring up at the sky (and hoping to see your face) (#suatsau) Veeeeery self indulgent self discovery au. Everyone but Lloyd is this almost godlike ruler of different concepts and they give him the chance to leave everything to come join them, and he has to make that decision.

Ninjas & Normies (#nanau) They're all just normal college students who like to play D&D, they each get a chance to run a campaign once they're taught how to play. Each campaign is based off a plot point or season from the show.

Departed and Service (#dasau) BASED ON Five Nights at Freddys NOT ACTUALLY A FNAF AU I don't know NEARLY enough about the fnaf lore to make an actual au with it but they're all animatronic characters from a very popular kid's TV show and Morro and Pixal are employees at their party place :) A bunch of side characters show up in this (Dragon's Rising cast also appears)

SPINJITZOON! (#spinau) It's a Splatoon au they're all having fun Ronin is basically Grizz he messes with their weapons and makes them more powerful (Dragon's Rising cast appears)

Pokemon Spin and Pokemon Whip (#pspwau) Pokemon au!!! There's two different parts to this, the first one starring Kai Nya and Lloyd, and the second starring Arin Sora Wyldfyre and Euphrasia! They all go on their adventures and in the second part Kai Nya and Lloyd see themselves in these kids and want to help them go farther

Adventures of the Dragon (#aotdau) Another D&D au but this one is them just living in a D&D fantasy style world :) silly things ensue this one's more just art than fully written story

Shapes and Colors (#sacau) Minecraft au! They're a group of friends who play on a server together and some of them are streamers and youtubers who record these sessions and put it out there for their fans, some of them do lore while some of them have no idea what's going on any of the time. Other elemental masters and Dragons Rising characters appear. (shippy, but mostly with their little characters that they made for the lore)

Lights, Camera, Action! (#lcaau) Silly actor au! Not much else to it

Song of the Sirens (#sotsau) Mermaid au, some of them are pirates and others are mermaids. Just some fun dynamics with some human/nonhuman shipping :)

Mobs of a Feather Flock Together (#moafftau) Another,, another Minecraft au this one is like Adventures of the Dragon in that they live in this world and also they're all different Minecraft hybrids I got really really into Minecraft hybrids man I just really like to draw them,,,, Dragons Rising cast is included

Ninjagoing Going Gone (#gggau) Sort of Scooby Doo-esque mystery au, kind of a blend between movieverse and showverse. Starring Arin, Sora, Wyldfyre, and Euphrasia, they're looking for the old heroes they used to hear about as kids who completely disappeared years ago. They find Lloyd and force him convince him to help them, even though he's not so sure he can.

These Problems Are Multi-Faceted (#tpamfau) Gem au! Like from Steven Universe! Except it's not a Steven Universe au, it doesn't follow the plot of the show at all. Super quick synopsis is Pink Diamond grew tired of the way things were on Homeworld and so rebelled, escaping with his fellow rebels to a planet already under his control. After lots of fighting and the establishment of a shaky truce, an Emerald and his crew are sent to the planet to try and bring Pink back.

[dovelydraws]

If you don't mind me asking,

What's art styles ended up influencing .. Well your art style?

Oh, this is a fun question, thank you for asking!

Hmm, I think it's a little hard to say since I've been drawing since I was basically a toddler, lol. Every little thing I've ever enjoyed has had some sort of influence. I'll try to go through the timeline though.

When I was a little kid, I had a special interest in zoology (still do! but it's not as obvious as it was back then.) I used to wake up first in the house specifically so I could turn on the tv to the animal planet channel and just watch documentaries all morning, and I carried a giant animal kingdom encyclopedia with me to school every day to just flip to random pages and read whatever popped up. During this time of my life, I pretty much exclusively drew animals- particularly elephants, canines, and horses. I had no interest in people.

I had no real interest in stylization at this point- obviously as a little kid I was never able to achieve perfect anatomy or anything like that, but I was more interested in making my animals look real than cartoonish- which meant I was never really influenced by the disney movies I was watching, since they stylized their animals so heavily.

I remember the dreamworks movie Spirit held my attention for a very long time, and I think it may particularly have been that way because the horses looked and acted more real than they did in disney movies. They were still stylized of course, it was a cartoon after all, but it wasn't to any extremes. I still find myself wanting to mimic that in my animals now; cartoon, but not cartoon-y.

I think these two gifs help illustrate my point lol.

After this exclusive animal obsession (followed by dinosaurs, and then dragons) I got really into Sonic the Hedgehog around age 11. Drew sonic characters, and made my own OCs for it, for basically the entirety of middle school. I've pointed out in the past that it seems the way I draw hands was heavily influenced by this phase

Very round, almost rubbery, where the ends of the fingers tend to flare out a little bigger than they are at the knuckles.

Then after sonic, I got into my first anime, Soul Eater, and this is really where I first started venturing into drawing people and more realistic human anatomy.

Interestingly, this artstyle seemed to also do the Sonic Hands thing, lol

After this I had a big anime phase, as well as just a general "I want to study actual human anatomy" phase during early high school. I was following a lot of skeletal/muscular system tutorials during this time.

Following that I started getting back into american media, in particular I remember invader zim, steven universe, and tmnt 2k12. I'm not sure I can really tell myself where the steven u artstyle is present in my own, but I've had people tell me they can tell I was into it at some point after saying so.

Then there was the Rubberhose Boom of 2017, with the release of Cuphead and BATIM very close together; I had a big hyperfixation on that artstyle specifically at that time, and I feel like I may owe some of the loose-ness in my artstyle to that.

Then, I suppose, we come to Rise of the TMNT. That show ended up being a major inspiration to me, and I think I owe a LOT of recent artistic growth to it. Rise pushed me out of my comfort zone big time. I always liked doing dynamic poses, but rise encouraged me to push things further, and I started drawing more backgrounds and making bolder color choices because of it as well.

I think my artstyle became just a bit more angular after drawing so much fanart as well.

And I suppose that's where I'm now at presently! Aside from media, I also can't say I'd be where I am artistically today without the influence and support of my many friends. :) I owe a lot of things about my artstyle, particularly specific things like my lineart, to compliments my friends paid me which made me pay more attention to the things I was doing accidentally that they happened to like, then making it purposeful and more refined as a result.