#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 Y��kai, 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.

[ryobitheaxololt]

OH OH!!! I GOT ANOTHER ASK/QUESTION!!! :0

1. I KNOW YOU SAID DON AND LEO ‘HATE’ EACH OTHER (BUT IN LIKE A BROTHER RIVAL THINGY) AND RAPH IS VERY PROTECTIVE OVER ALL, ESPECIALLY MIKEY!! SO SO SOOO!!!! I WAS WONDERING-

DOES SPLINTER EVER GET TO FORM SUCH BONDS WITH HIS SONS? LIKE FROM A PARENT FIGURE?? BECAUSE THEY ALL HAVE ALREADY HAD GUARDIANS/PARENTS, AND SO I IMAGINE IT WOULD BE- ODD…. SO YEAH!!! :)))

2. DO THEY CHANGE INFO THEIR CANON OUTFITS ONCE RHEY ARE HOME? LIKE DO THEY HAVE A REBRAND OR SOMETHING??? I SORT OF HOPE THEY DONT BECAUSE I LOOOOOVVVEEE YOUR DESIGNS- BUT IT ALSO WOULD MAKE SENSE. MAYBE LIKE A LESS INTENSE VERSION??

(PERSONAL) 3. DO YOU ALLOW LIKE FANMADE COMICS, OR ANYTHING? I WANNA DO ONE OF YOUR ‘INTERACTIONS’ INTO A COMIC!!!! (ITS OK IF NOT!)

ANYWAYS THATS ALL I GOT RN !!! BYE BYEEE

I SHALL ANSWER THIS TOO!

1 - Does Splinter ever get to form such bonds with his sons?

He quite does, it's very hard at the start but he eventually does!

With Mikey he did became more protective and careful, especially that he has now 3 brothers, and he can't give Mikey all the attention like before(even though it was not much), so they end up getting more separated. Since Mikey knows how much their brothers need a loving parent, he has tried to teach his moves with Dr.Feelings to Splinter but it doesn't work out. Mikey feels kind off left out sometimes, especially since Splinter has tried to do more with his other siblings, but he says to himself that they need it too, so he tries to help him.

With Raphael, he absolutely loves Raph, except for the part with Draxum, for Splinter he is amazing at being the leader and very great for things, since Raph is used to rules and being told what to do, he ends up telling Raph what to do most of the time. They are not that close, but still hang out, he tries to learn of Raph and try his best to be caring and great for him.. sometimes it just doesn't work out.

Between this three people, one of the major conflicts of the AU happens, especially for Raph and Mikey.

With Leo, he is not very great with him, since Leo is more.. bratty than his Rise version, he seeks attention and praise, Splinter gives the littlest words of affirmation and Leo is already very happy, Splinter has considered of Leo being the leader? Yes, but he is not fully ready yet. He got along with him a lot like Mikey, and he helps Splinter with Raph, though with Donnie he fights 24/7 and he tries to make Splinter see what Donnie do, but most of the time, he doesn't show up, that is something he questions a lot.

With Donnie, he became one of his favorites, since he makes a lot of gifts for Splinter, and things for him to be more comfortable, and he was also the one he raised for a little bit and got back home, i plan them to have one of the cutest reunions to be honest. Splinter knows how Donnie is.. for the most part, he knows how hard change is for him, so he often asks what things he did in the Foot that they could make here, and some events he enjoys.

Overall, he is very good with them, trying to learn the new things of Donnie, trying to make Raph learn some father love(daddy issues), giving Leo some advice on how to be the leader, but with Mikey, since he is used to him, he kind off lefts him behind sometimes.

2 - Do they change info, to their Canon outfits, or rebrand?

Sort-of-ish?

Kind off-

We first see Leo with an little change, not to much, he said quote: "You need clothes Mikey, how will you show your Razzmatazz better if you dont look like me?". So he mostly sticks with the normal clothes he has, he just adds more things and more pouches, cuz he tries to carry things for his brothers. He also adds the TMNT symbol, changing his jewelry for it.

Mikey stays normal, just adding more stickers to his gloves. But more scars.. hehehehe.

Raph had to remove some of his armor, since they didn't let him move to much, he still stays with his scarf ,pants and some armor pieces. But his chest-plate and shoes gets removed. He also gets bigger and sharper with his teeth being more sharp, we see this change in "The Evil League Of Mutants" and then he just stays like that, he just adds to his belt the symbol of the TMNT group.

Now Donnie had the most changes, he went from emo ninja to nerd ninja, aside from that, he changes his Battle Shell for something more useful, and makes one to wear it in the house only, he also gets encouraged by Mikey to make his Tech-Bo.. He absolutely did make it and went insane with it, he gives his gloves a little change, opening the hand part more and getting them painted with the colors of his brothers. I will not talk to much of it, cause for real i will stay here all day talking about it.

WITH THE NAMES NOW!

Raph and Donnie are the only ones who have different names from the canon, Raphael changes to Turtle One and Donatello changes to Foot Purple.

Donnie doesn't remember his name, so being called Donatello out of nowhere makes him confused, so Splinter and the brothers call him Purple and slowly change to Donnatello, the one who starts with the nicknames is Leo, he ends up getting used to it eventually, but it was a hard thing for him to do.

From the interaction you see, even after everything, Raph is not used to being called Raphael, Mikey and him fight for it, since Turtle One is not A NAME, but when Draxum gets his redemption arc, Mikey teaches him that that's not a name, he is not just a warrior anymore, he never was just that, he deserves a name, then Mikey tells him that Raphael was the best name. After Draxum starts calling him by that, he gets used to it, and right at the last episodes of season 2, he finally goes just by Raphael, and of course the nicknames.

3 - Do you allow Fanmade Comics or anything?

I ABSOLUTELY DO, go on have fun thinking about little scenarios of them or draw their interactions! Or just random fanarts, memes, you name it!

I allow it, as long it has credits!

Go insane with it man, I'll be absolutely happy!!

I also realized.. I haven't posted their references, i will do their post soon so you can have clearer references!

[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...

[chil-aglia]

Wassup, I have an Angst Prompt Idea in mind for ya if you wanna give it a shot? Also you don’t have to do this one right away if you don’t want to, no pressure dude:

• Angst Prompt: #35: Losing One Of Their Senses (Voice)

• Character: Giovanni

• Plot: This one is set in the Eyes On You AU, and it’s basically about the TMNT’s, April, Splinter, Draxum, and Giovanni doing a Karaoke Night sort of thing one night in the Lair and just chilling/having fun together as a family, and as they’re all doing the karaoke Giovanni decides to give it a try since he’s never done it before and he surprisingly is a really good singer for some reason, and the others are all shocked but surprised by Giovanni’s fabulous singing skills and that basically motivates him to keep doing the Karaoke Night with his family, BUT he ends up getting too into it and at some point he completely loses his voice because of how much he’s been singing, and the others freak out about it and they all feel so bad for him that they let him overexert himself and lose his voice, and Draxum ends up finding a way to fix Giovanni’s voice and his voice goes back to normal eventually (Draxum gives him an Elixir of sorts that can fix his voice) and everyone is relieved that his voice is back to normal but they all take a break from doing Karaoke Night for a while after what happened to Giovanni.

Giovanni singing?? Hello?? Rockstar AU anyone? Jk jk—

I’ll give it my best to write this cause this seems fun but it’s just hard to picture Giovanni singing like an extrovert— (which is honestly cute if you think about it. WAIT I JUST HAD A HEADCANON ABOUT HIM THAT COULD BECOME CANON, I’LL POST IT LATER THOUGH)

Sorry for any grammar mistakes btw!

Voiceless (Giovanni Oneshot)

Warnings; Little bit of angst? (Also one of the more tamed down versions) losing your voice, slight depression, etc

—————————-—————————-—————————-——————

Giovanni watched with both curiosity and anxiousness. The lair was packed with family and friends, it was dark until the disco lights were turned on and spun around the colourful lights.

Food and drinks on the table, tv on in the living room as whoever was standing held a microphone in hand and sung their hearts out to the lyrics displayed on the screen, music filling the air.

Leo had mentioned this to Giovanni a few days ago where he explained that they were going to host Karaoke Nights every now and then. Making it a party.

Why? He wasn’t sure. Maybe there was no actual reason to suddenly doing this. But Giovanni was fine with it. He knew what karaoke was. He’d seen a few times on shows or just little performances made by his own brothers if they were too worked up to sleep properly.

But this was…bigger than he thought. Everyone who was a friend of the turtles were here, each cheering and loudly singing along to the song that was being played and sung. Honestly Giovanni was getting a bit overwhelmed. Drinking tons of water to distract himself whenever he felt the familiar panic rise in his chest.

Everyone has a go at singing, most going multiple times. Even Draxum had a shot at singing, horribly he might add, but still actually participated.

Only one who didn’t sing at all tonight was Giovanni. Mikey pressed the microphone close his brother's cheek, begging him, encouraging him to take part in the family activity.

“Please? We promise we won’t laugh or anything like that!”

“I’m not sure I could—“

Leo leans down from behind the couch that Giovanni sat on. “Aw, come on Hermano! Show us what you got.” Leo added, smirking as he knew teaming up with Mikey to convince his older brother to do something works majority of the time.

Giovanni looked between the two and to the tv. “O-okay…just one song.” He agrees, holding in a startled jump when everyone else claps for him happily.

He gets up, grabbing the microphone from Mikey and hesitantly standing in the middle to face everyone. “Pick a song I would know though, please.” He politely asks, his attention on Donnie who nods in agreement as he scrolls through the playlist, landing on one and pressing play.

Giovanni perked up slightly at the familiar tune. Okay, he’s heard this one a few times to remember the lyrics. This should be easy.

He looks to the screen, double checking the lyrics as he waits patiently for the cue to start singing.

Was he nervous? Oh yeah.

Did he think he was a good singer? Absolutely not.

He inhaled before opening his mouth and letting the words flow from his throat.

“Uh, she was always dealing with the devil. She was always into taking those chances, yeah…”

He grips the microphone as he breathes in, “She said she met a couple other women who were into going late night dancing, yeah. Then she fell in love with a pill that could take away all her pain, uh….”

He tilts his head slightly towards the screen, concentrating on the words being shown to him.

“Then she fell in love with a whole new drug that could fill her veins, and then…”

His singing grew louder.

“She's high! She lives in the sky…Tonight, she's satisfied. Rolling back her eyes. But then she starts to cry…Everything is turning to black. All in one night, she just went to heaven and back.”

Giovanni continued to sing the rest of the song, for a moment he forgot he was even in a room full of people. When he finally stops, he pants to catch his breath as he focuses his attention back onto the others.

Silence followed and he grew anxious at the stares. Until April starts clapping, “That….was amazing!” She complimented, shocking Giovanni who stared at everyone who also clapped and shouted their praises at him.

Giovanni didn’t realise they actually liked his voice; he always be sounded horrible. But this…oh, he may have just found a new thing he liked.

-----

Ever since then, Giovanni has been nonstop singing, especially on karaoke nights where all he wanted to do was sing. The praises and compliments of others had kept him going.

It was obvious to anyone that Giovanni was really into karaoke, and they loved that for him. The poor guy needs a hobby after all.

Last night however, Giovanni went a little too hard on his vocal cords. As the next morning, he awoke with a very sore throat, if he tried to swallow anything he’d gag and cough, and that would still hurt him regardless.

He tried to call out for help, but he froze in shock. He couldn’t utter a single word out. It was too hard for him to do so. It was straining.

Oh fuck…did he lose his voice?

He runs out the bedroom and over to the kitchen, seeing his family eating breakfast, Mikey smiled, “Good morning! Want something to eat?” He offers, Raph briefly glanced over and immediately notice something was off. The way Giovanni held his throat, the look of panic and fear in his eyes, his body shaking.

“Whoa, whoa, you okay? What’s wrong?”

This had everyone on edge and immediately stop what they were doing to check in on Giovanni who walks over and grips Raph’s arm, opening and closing his mouth as he strains himself to try and get a word out, but he couldn’t.

“Hermano, what’s wrong? You can’t talk?” Leo tilts his head in question, frowning in concern as Giovanni rapidly nods in confirmation, tears swelling in his eyes as Splinter gently places a hand over his.

“Orange, contact Draxum and have him come here to check on Giovanni.”

“On it!”

-----

“Hm….” Draxum hums, his eyes narrowed at Giovanni’s throat as he gently touched the area. Giovanni sat on a chair, wincing slightly whenever Draxum softly touched his neck to examine him.

He had open his mouth for Draxum to look inside a few times.

“It appears there’s damage to the throat. My guess? From singing.”

Singing caused this?

Leo crosses his arms, raising his invisible brows at the yokai. “But he’ll be okay?” He asks and Draxum nodded, “He will. He needs to rest his vocal cords. In the meantime, I can create an antidote to help him.” He explains making the others sigh in relief.

Giovanni looks down in shame. He didn’t want to bother anyone else with something he caused.

“My antidote shouldn’t be too long. A day or two at most.”

“Thanks Barry!” Mikey smiled widely, going in for a hug. Giovanni turns away, he felt pathetic. So, he got up and walked back to his room, ignoring the stares.

-----

Giovanni hated not being able to talk, he felt uncomfortable and babied a lot by his family. He knew that they were only trying to help, but he was slowly getting stressed.

At night Giovanni would sometimes cry himself to sleep, hand over his mouth to prevent hiccups from escaping as that could potentially damage his throat further. Plus, it really hurts.

Draxum was taking longer than what he promised. A week had gone by, and Giovanni was still like this.

He hated this.

He hated not being able to voice his concerns.

He hated how everyone was treating him like fragile glass.

He hated that he was the reason he couldn’t talk, all because he got too much into singing.

He hated himself—

“Gio? Hey, good news!” Mikey knocks on the door before slowly opening it, grinning happily. The older brother flinched but relaxed when he saw who it was. “Barry‘s back with the antidote.” He informs and that was more than enough reason for Giovanni to hop out of bed and eagerly rush out the room.

He headed to the kitchen, seeing everyone surrounding the yokai who nods in acknowledgment towards Giovanni who stood in front of him.

“I apologise it took a while for me to return. But I managed to create it. Here you are.” He hands over a small vile of pink liquid, the mutant observing the vile curiously.

“It won’t hurt your throat when you drink it. The taste however might be…unsatisfactory.”

Giovanni didn’t care, he takes the little cork off the vile and raised it up to his lips, gulping it down quickly.

Draxum was right, it didn’t hurt. It tingled at most. The taste however was quite unpleasant, like it was medicine, which in a way it was.

Giovanni returns the empty bottle to Draxum as he struck his tongue out and gave a little ‘blegh!’ and shivered.

“Well…how do you feel?” Donnie calmly inquired, curious about the effects. Giovanni didn’t respond, almost as though he was a little hesitant on saying anything in fear it could hurt.

He breathed in.

“….better.”

His voice didn’t hurt anymore, and he could actually talk. He did sound a little hoarse, but he supposed that was normal.

“Excellent. My elixir was able to restore most of the damage, but you’re not at 100% yet. Continue to rest and speak only when necessary. You should be back to normal soon enough.”

Giovanni gave an appreciative smile.

He was just glad he had his voice back.

And he made a mental note to maybe not sing as much anymore.

[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.