#hell Rise brought me BACK to TMNT

[snackugaki]

idk life being life and art block being art block but

damn, some of y'all either got no fucking manners, can't mind your business, can't keep your shitbird mouths shut when there's nothing nice in there to start, bumming out people I know because clinical foolishness is going around

here's a wip I guess; tmnt (general) fans I fuck with you and sorry ig for not bullying some turtles for the giggles

tmnt (rise) fans... guys are on some thin motherfucking ice, fix your posture if you can't fix your fucking attitudes

[baxterstockmanisthecenterfold]

old follower from when you were Baxterstockmanismyson, why'd you delete your old blog? What made you come back?

I pretty much explained why here

But to some it up basically, I was just sick of the harassment & constant hateful responses my friends & I Myself would receive almost daily because of the most simple opinions.

Hell I actually remember this one time I was making a rant about 2012 Stockman's character mishandling & I brought up the Rise turtles for 2 seconds & even made a stupid joke about how I'm surprised no one accused the 2012 ones of racial profiling & this one user took it so seriously they harassed me & my followers the rest of the day

I also can't help but find this bit from them ironic considering they could have did the exact same thing with my post & followers.

This isn't even a one time thing too. As I just said. The fandom would just take EVERYTHING too seriously & attack anybody that disagreed with them in any shape or form & a lot of my best friends at the time were victims of cyberbullying because of them including me. Yes I could have ignored them, & most days I did tbh, but every once in a while there was always that one miserable person that just wanted to PERSONALIZE their attacks to me just because I said I didn't like Apriltello or something & they made their insults PERSONAL, to the point where I couldn't help but NOT ignore it. I already suffer from Anxiety and Depression & EXTREMELY low self esteem to the point where I second guess my talents. From my art to my appearance to even questioning why I still exist. If I should even STILL exist.. At that point in 2021 when I deactivated Baxterstockmanismyson I had already been going through enough stressful situations in my life, worrying about a ton of real life personal stresses in my life. And the unnecessary bullying from the fandom consisting of grown ass adults mind you was the last thing I needed. I had actually received yet another hateful message in my askbox because of one of my hot takes the day before I deactivated & it honestly fucked me up majorly so it was the last straw. I deactivated & I overall QUIT & Left the fandom entirely ever since, I just didn't see the point in staying anymore when there's little to zero good memories in it.

I would be lying if I didn't say I did miss some aspects. The one thing I missed the most being Baxter himself. Any version of him. Especially considering he's actually the entire reason I even got into TMNT in the first place (but a story for another time). He's beyond my favorite character, he's my comfort one, my boy ever since I was 12. Then Mutant Mayhem was announced along with the fact that Baxter was in it (& played by FUCKING Giancarlo Esposito) my interest was peaked to say the least. Especially after I found out he looked like this

I'd even say it was honestly the only reason why I saw the movie (even if he was only in it for 4 minutes) which I admit even outside of Baxter, I did end up enjoying it. It was also nice to talk about tmnt again to my Girlfriend & a once mutual friend at the time. Just making it our own personal bubble having zero contact with the fans, especially as I saw literally NOTHING changed just by people's reactions to Mutant Mayhem April smfh. So I assumed it was the right choice.

Another year went by. Things are different once again, that mutual friend I mentioned earlier is...no longer our friend.. and it was back to radio silence in terms of anything turtle related. I had started collecting figures at this point in time & with the release of Human 1987 Baxter & Mirage on the way, I figured it wouldn't hurt to FINALLY add Baxter to my shelf like I always wanted to years ago. Even finally start making custom figures for him that don't exist & it was a fun, exhausting but also therapeutic experience in a way. Especially getting the chance to finally look back at the mad scientist all the way from day one. From schulpting, to talking about him & even looking up other perspectives on him. Even if it was mostly misconceptions like always when it comes to him. And it got to the point where I wanted to let out an outlet to just really let out Stockman talk & facts about the guy that no one knew or already did but with a story behind it. Even taking inspiration from AskSpideypool's @ sciderman & their blog being the most dedicated blog to really get & understand Wade Wilson & Peter Parker with pages worth of history to back up the knowledge. It's honestly how I feel with Baxter Stockman if I'm being legit with you. So about maybe 3 months later or so, I decided to create this new blog, a new start. A blog to just really share & show all I know about Baxter & even find other people that feel the same way. Just a little Baxter bubble that I can have & feel safe in. It's also why you noticed I haven't shared NON Baxter stuff on here yet. To put it short. I'm not really back in the TMNT fandom. Sure I'll post about Baxter Stockman. But that's the ONLY thing I'll go as far as posting. I wasn't too far off when I said I only watched MM for Stockman & the fact that the fandom hasn't changed their ways based on MM April's reception.

I want absolutely nothing to do with the fandom's drama or possible drama the second I step into current TMNT events & I share my thoughts on them even if I had thoughts anyway, I honestly don't really care anymore aside from Baxter.

To sum it up: Unless it involves Baxter, I genuinely don't give a shit. So a heads up if I'm ever asked about something non Stock related like my thoughts on this video game or this ship ect I'm gonna ignore it. I just don't have the mental strength for the drama anymore. And it's not like the fandom itself even cares about Baxter let alone care enough to get mad over a hot take about him which I've yet to see (aside from some 30/40 something year old idiots on Instagram & Twitter that genuinely believed he was always a white guy & him being black is new) so I feel safe in my Stockbubble.

Anyway, hope that clears things up. Both why I left & how this new blog works.

[wingedcupcaketimemachine]

Scattered Remains (TMNT 2012 and Rise! Crossover)

Summary: After April’s enhanced psychic powers destroy Donnie, she attempts to bring him back to life. But, the purple turtle she finds is not her own

Warnings: Spoilers for TMNT 2012 Season 4, Episode 22

A/N: I’m finally done with the first chapter! If this does well, I might create a comic based off of it on my art account!

Fic starts below cut

TMNT 2012 Masterlist

Rise of the TMNT Masterlist

Main Masterlist

“Red, is that really you?” Casey asks, as he cautiously approaches April.

“I think so. But Donnie,” she says with teary eyes, “What have I done.”

The group stands still for a moment before Leonardo breaks the tense silence.

“It’s not your fault April. You had no control,” he says.

“But it is!” she gasps, looking up at him through her tears, “It was all me in a way. If only-”

She pauses for a moment, focusing on the broken crystal shards.

“Donnie’s not gone! He wasn’t really destroyed, just molecularly scattered,” she says as she faces the turtles and Casey, “I can bring him back.”

The boys watch in anticipation as April’s powers hone in on Donnie’s energy. If she can bring him back, she can make her family whole again.

She has to bring him back.

The turtles and Casey watch as blue sparks fly through the air, forming the silhouette of a body.

The turtles watch, full of anticipation. Their brother wasn’t gone. He was coming back!

Their excitement quickly turns to horror as they realize the figure in front of them is not Donatello.

Though not their missing brother, April still managed to bring another mutant turtle to the place where Donnie had been vaporized minutes before.

This turtle seemed younger, maybe by a year or so.

Raphael breaks the stunned silence as he holds a sai against the neck of the unfamiliar turtle.

“Who the hell are you? And where’s my brother?”

“Woah, Raph! Chill out dude!” says Michelangelo, pushing his brother out of the way, “He’s just a kid. And he’s scared.”

Michelangelo was right. The mystery turtle was still pale and shaking even as Raphael released him from the ground.

“It's ok mystery dude! We’re not gonna hurt you…anymore,” says Michelangelo, glaring pointedly at his hotheaded brother.

Raph rolls his eyes in annoyance.

“What are you doing Mikey? This is some random mutant that April brought here with her freaky crystal powers. We have no idea what it’s capable of.”

“Mikey’s right,” says Leo after a long stretch of silence, “This turtle is just a lost kid. He was brought here with April’s powers, which means he’s our responsibility. We have to take him back to the lair.”

“Are you crazy Leo? We have to focus on finding Donnie. Our brother is lost somewhere and you're focused on a random mutant we found on the street!”

Before another argument could break out, the mystery turtle interjected.

“Your brother’s name is Donatello?”

The group of teenagers looked over in shock. Michelangelo was the first one to respond.

“Yeah, dude. He disappeared when April got possessed by a freaky alien crystal.”

“The same crystal that brought you here,” says April in shock, “I was trying to find Donnie, but it brought you instead.”

“So that means…you’re Donnie?” asks Casey.

“Yes,” says the other turtle, “Just not your Donnie..”

“We have to get back to the lair and talk to Master Splinter. We’ll come up with a plan to find our Donnie and get this Donnie back home.”

“Seriously Leo?” Says Raph, “You’re gonna believe him just like that? Even if he is a Donnie he’s not our brother. We can’t just take him to the lair.”

“Think about it Raph,” says Casey, “If April accidentally brought the other Donnie here, our Donnie is probably stuck wherever he came from. Trustingthe other Donnie is our best bet.”

Raph huffs, but doesn’t argue any further.

“That’s it then. We’re headed back to the lair,” said Leo, “April, you should probably come with us. Maybe you can help Donnie replicate the research that you and Donnie did on the crystal.”

April and other Donnie both nod in agreement.

“I might be able to use other me’s research to try to replicate a similar

kind of technology that could get me home,” said the alternate Donnie, “If all goes well we should be able to find your brother too.”

The group looks to Raphael, gauging his reaction.

“Fine,” he said after a beat of silence, “But that doesn’t mean we trust you. All we need you for is to get Donnie back.”

The group sits in tense silence as Raphael stalks off towards the Shellraiser.

“Don’t worry about Raph little dude!” says Michelangelo with a small smile,

“He’s just worried about Donnie. He’ll come around.

“Mikey’s right. It’s nothing personal…probably,” says Leo before looking over to the Shellraiser, “We need to get back to the lair and tell Master Splinter what happened.”

“It’s late, I should probably get home,” Casey finally speaks up, “Let me know if you come up with any ideas on finding Donnie.”

The group watches as his figure retreats into the night before following

Leo into the Shellraiser.

[raylaui]

1.) What was your first exposure to TMNT?

9.) Who is your favorite version-specific turtle?

27.) What is something you love to see in TMNT art/fics?

1) My first exposure to TMNT was a handful of hand-me-down VHS tapes from my cousin. My brothers and I watched those a LOT!

You know the "Hey man I brought back some takeout" "It's Shredder!!!" "Where?!"

That episode was one of them.

9) Favorite version specific turtle? Dang, that's difficult.

But if I had to pick just one: Rise Raph

27) Something I love to see in fics is when the brothers go through hell and high water for each other. The higher the stakes the better! And exploring reactions to traumatic events? A little PTSD sprinkled in? How does the family deal with the deeper effectsof their vigilante life? That's the good stuff.

Bonus points for dorky sibling dynamics (reminds me of my own family)

And a happy ending is a must! I cannot do "no comfort" fics. Even if it takes a while I need that little promise it is all worth it.

[torturedblue]

My thoughts on the new TMNT MM trailer in which no one asked for 😊

Part 2

Oml them sharing the same room is everything 🥺 Makes me wonder if the creators figured with slim pickings for sewer homes there are limited “bedrooms” in the lair so Splinter gets his own while the kids all share, or if they’ll actually have a big spacious lair like in every other iteration and the guys just like rooming with each other like that 🤗 They seem just as close as the Rise turtles so far but even more so with this detail

Mikey with drawings of stars above his head is so adorable and reminds me of the glow in the dark stars people put on ceilings 🥹 very accurate on the artists’/creators’ part 😌👌🏽

Raph actually wanting to go to school is a crazy change to me considering every other one (except for Rise Raph probably) would probably never want to ever do that. It’s showing some very much desiring of human-life the Raphaels don’t usually have. I’m already loving this Raph’s new dynamic

A girlfriend? Whoa slow your roll you’re like twelve dude climb back into your car seat 🤨 (also y’all cannot tell me they’re teenagers these mfs look and sound twelve at BEST hell they look even younger than the Rise turtles they are whole ass TWEENS)

Also with the time being almost 3 AM I’m surprised they’re in bed considering their nocturnal tendencies, so this almost makes me wonder if they got grounded and sent to their rooms early after Leo snitched 😂 🤔 Maybe this whole conversation was brought on by them complaining afterwards that they can’t even get some pizza without it being a problem and wishing they could fit into human life

Loving that Donnie has a whole TV set up in his nook lmao I aspire to be this comfortable on a daily basis

Ok, dude snitching wasn’t cool lmao but I don’t think he could help himself. From these posts about the boys it sounds to me like he’s working towards eventually becoming leader of the team but isn’t there yet? So I’m guessing the fear of being caught lying with his brothers made him think it would jeopardize his position or make Splinter think less of him. Suuuper curious to see if this Splinter is a little too hard on him/them or if all the nervousness and high-strungness is mainly coming from Leo himself. (Guess we know why he was so stressed during the teaser now lol)

“Don’t use that word like that!”

*overlapping incoherent mumbling*

“I mean it’s 2023, Mikey 🙄” LMAO

[void-writing]

If you want to share, I'd love to hear more of your Rise TMNT and DCU crossover, please!

I am so so glad you asked : D

I've been trying so hard for so long to think of how the Rise boys misadventures would align with DCU, mostly because I was thinking about post-movie JL investigations into the Kraang Invasion. HOWEVER, I was rewatching the series with a friend semi-recently and we hit the "Battle Nexus: New York" episode and it abruptly hit me that Superman--who is in the state of New York (bc in my version of canon, Metropolis is in New York and Gotham's in New Jersey, as god intended)--would probably be high-key alarmed about the City That Never Sleeps going completely silent except for four teens and five adults, one of which being clearly the one behind it all (that one being Big Mama).

That line of thought honestly made me entertain the idea of Superman being like...the Turtles' weird uncle figure who checks in occasionally like "you good?" but I don't know all of where I'd want to take a story like that.

This honestly kind of spun around in my head for a while until I was hit with a lightning bolt of genius in the form of a very vivid daydream about Daily Planet Intern April O'Neil absolutely tearing into Lex Luthor because he had the sheer audacity to compare Superman to the Kraang in her presence, and a befuddled (and slightly flattered) Clark Kent holding her back from bodily attacking Lex like:

The fic that I'm writing is going to be a mega long one-shot of April being an absolute menace to the supervillain population of Metropolis. She's basically going to be a mini-Lois Lane but like five times more feral because this girl won't so much as flinch at the nonsense Supes deals with on the regular.

On the hero side, April kind of Tim Drakes her way into becoming Superman's unofficial-official sidekick on account of how she just forcibly inserts herself into dangerous situations and refuses to leave.

Hilariously, April doesn't put together that Clark is Superman for a while because her threshold for what constitutes as weird is so messed up that anything that Clark does that might flag as suspicious doesn't even ping for April. Lois and Jimmy have a bet in the background over how long it will take for April to figure out Clark is Superman.

Some other highlights knocking around in my head include:

April babysitting Jon for Clark and Lois so they can go on a date night. April cements herself as the coolest babysitter ever in helping Jon defend the Kent House from an incursion viscous tiny alien critters that Jon brought home from space on accident. Both are trying their hardest to not use powers in front of the other with mixed success.

On a similar note, April cultivating a big-sister relationship with Conner because you cannot tell me that he wouldn't fit right in with her collection of genetically engineered super-soldier brothers born from unethical experiments by a man convinced doing this will save his people, using DNA stolen from a powerful warrior he has homoerotic tension with (from a certain perspective regarding Lex and Clark, lol). Like seriously, Conner's backstory fits the Rise boys' so well. I can't not make April adopt him as little brother #5. Maybe for the hell of it I'll turn Conner into a turtle mutant and have him dick around with the Hamato boys, mostly in making Splinter question if he's been miscounting how many sons he has this entire time. Ah. Fic for another day.

The triumphant return of April's crane license (with bonus forklift certification)

Clark being a living jungle gym for this 4'10" menace to his confusion and everyone else's delight.

The Hamato boys making a surprise visit to the Daily Planet as April works with Lois on an article (because she missed their weekly call and the boys immediately assumed the worst) and April trying desperately to keep her dum-dum little brothers out of Lois's sight as they scamper around the office like it's a playground.

April unknowingly endearing herself to Wonder Woman when she stops by in civilian form to meet up with Clark for JL business.

April getting herself in way over her head trying to do a bit of investigative journalism alone and the Supers coming to bail her out (as a reminder to everyone--including myself--that April is not invincible).

And, of course, the reference to the Batman vs. TMNT movie that I mentioned in the last ask I did on this where the boys break into the Bat Cave and Donnie calls April to gloat that he was right about Batman's secret identity and meanwhile Clark gets a call from Bruce about the four teenage mutant menaces running around his lair and how they're connected to a specific Daily Planet intern Clark knows.

It's just really funny to me to imagine Rise!April being unleashed on Metropolis because Ninpo or no, I don't think anyone there would be prepared to handle the powerhouse that is April O'Neil. The villains of Metropolis quickly come to know and fear her because she will more often than not charge them with the nearest blunt object and somehow--despite not having a meta gene (they have checked)--she hits like a freight train and can keep up decently well with Supers (writing this out now makes me realize that it would be plausible that a conspiracy theory starts floating around Metropolis' criminal underground that April O'Neil is secretly Kryptonian in some capacity, only for it to be swiftly disproved when she grand-slams a chunk of Kryptonite into the Atlantic. Somehow this makes her more terrifying).

But yeah, April is just having the time of her life at this internship, blissfully unaware of how many minds she's breaking just being herself.

[yanohawxcm]

Intrusion - TMNT COMMISSION

2000 Word Simple Scene Commission

Purchased By @theeyeofthearchive

A steady fog began to roll through the air, clouding the already dark night sky. The docks themselves were empty, overhead lights flickering and buzzing with a harsh luminescence. All the workers had gone home for the night, trucks sat unmanned in fenced off yards and buildings empty save for crates and containers from the days deliveries. The only thing to disturb the silence was the slight grinding of a manhole cover being lifted and cast aside. From the depths emerged several hulking figures. Cloaked in shadow, they made their way across the docks. Avoiding every stray beam of light as they centered on a particular warehouse near the back. One of the figures produced a sai from its side, jamming it into a padlock on the fence surrounding the warehouse, and busting it open. With a path inside, the figures rushed to the nearest open entrance. A window that had been left ajar. Once inside, one of the figures located the lights and turned them on. The once black interior of the warehouse now lit up to reveal an impossible number of shipping crates.

            “Donnie, status report on the location of the kraang artifact.” Leo called out, surveying the area for any sign of trouble.

            Donnie looked down at a small PDA he had brought with him, kitted out with other bits of electronic scrap and wires, antenna, and blinking lights. Its screen displayed a possible, though not exact location for some sort of unknown object. Once examining its position, Donnie replied.

            “Looks like Casey’s information worked out. It’s near the back of the building, probably in one of those blue cargo containers. We should start there and make our way closer to the signal.”

            Leo nodded, then motioned towards Mikey and Raph. “Keep watch while me and Donnie check for the artifact.”

            “We should exercise caution. We don’t know what the artifact is, only that it was brought in under the cover of top-secret cargo and emits a huge energy signature.” Donnie’s PDA beeped and hummed loudly, scanning, and flashing as it searched for their target.

            “Noted. We’ll try not to damage it.” Leo replied.

            “Imagine if the artifact was like, some sort of kraang microwave. For reheating weird space alien takeout. That’d be kinda rad now that I think about it.” Mikey mused, kicking back against a crate, and fiddling with his nunchucks.

            “No, it’d be kinda stupid. Its probably some sort of death machine or cosmic time bomb or whatever messed up thing they’ve got in reserve for us.” Raph bit back, taking his job of standing watch a bit more seriously. His arms crossed and sai in hand.

            “Yeah, but like, imagine if its some sort of supped up space ride! With hotrod flames and intergalactic fifty-sided fuzzy dice on the rearview mirror. Think Leo would let me drive it?” Mikey peaked up with an excited tone.

            “Hell no, he won’t even let you touch the TV remote anymore after you-”

            “Would both of you just shut up and stand watch.” Leo called back angrily, turning to follow Donnie further into the narrow paths between containers. Slowly inching their way towards the mysterious signal on Donnie’s PDA.

            All the while, from far above them in the warehouse rafters, a fifth figure was observing the group in silence. They kept tabs on the turtles locations, and when they separated the figure moved in closer.

            Leo felt their presence for a moment, his nerves suddenly shooting up and a feeling of unease rising in his chest. He heard faint movements from all around him, darting between shadows and behind corners. The constant, burning feeling of being watched singed its way into the back of his skull. Instinctively, he readied himself to draw his Katana’s. 

            “Any closer to the source?” He asked, his nervousness clear in his voice.

            Donnie nodded and pointed to a particular container that stood out from the others. It was damaged, whatever previous company name that had been painted on its side had long since faded. Both brothers studied the container up and down before coming to a high-tech pad on the containers door.

            “It’ll take me a few minutes to crack the encryption.” Donnie said, stepping up to the pad and plugging his PDA into one of its panels. “I’ll let you know when I-”

            Time seemed to slow for a moment, everything around them screeching to a sudden halt. Leo had heard it the moment it rang out. A shifting of air so subtle, that anyone else would have assumed it was their own breath. To the well-trained ear however, it was the distinctive sound of action. Leo drew one of his blades and swung it up in defense. It clashed almost immediately with the side of a thick, wooden quarterstaff. At the other end of that staff, was a massive creature. Covered in shadow, though barring a striking similarity to the brothers in its silhouette. As their weapons collided, Leo called out for Raph and Mikey. Donnie stood back, protecting himself and continuing to work on the lock.

            Raph was the first to round the corner towards Leo’s cries. Stopping for a moment to assess the situation. Leo was fighting with what seemed to him to be a blur. An opponent much closer to them in skill then some street thug or foot clan assassin. Leo’s sword cut through the air with a deadly precision. Meeting the staff over and over again, deflecting a relentless barrage of blows and strikes. The two fighters moved quickly, using any advantage they could to gain the upper hand over the other. At one point, Leo got in close enough to strike the stranger, though he only managed to graze their shoulder before they reacted. Lifting their knee up and striking Leo in the stomach, tossing him backwards into a stumbled roll. Raph ran to face the stranger next, but Mikey overtook him, leaping from above out of nowhere with his nunchucks flailing around in the air.

            “Sneak attack!” He screamed, entirely missing the point of a sneak attack as he came crashing down on the stranger. He held on tight to their body as they thrashed about.

            Eventually, the stranger was able to toss Mikey off, rolling him into Raph and knocking both turtles to their feet. By now, Leo had gotten back up to his feet and was ready for round two. Steadying himself, he spoke to the stranger. His voice stern and solid.

            “Who are you, and who do you work for.”

            The stranger didn’t reply, only narrowing their eyes and bounding towards Leo. They leapt into the air to strike from above, and for a moment they exposed themselves to the light. Leo’s eyes widened as he caught a glimpse of the strangers form.

            “Wait!” He called out, raising his sword to block their attack and roll them over his shoulder. “We don’t have to fight, lets talk about this for a second!”

            As the stranger recovered from the roll, they spoke their first words. Revealing that did not do they look like the brothers but sounded like them as well. Albeit, with a more feminine tone.

            “I don’t talk with those who work for the kraang.” She snarled.

            “Kinda already doing that my dude!” Mikey sprang out from the strangers left, a bit more serious with his strikes this time. The unpredictable motions and angles of his nunchucks proved to be a bit more of a challenge then Leo’s sword. The stranger getting hit a fair few times before they let out a loud grunt and charged Mikey head on. Using their shoulder to bash the turtle against the side of a shipping container and knocking him out of the fight for good.

            “Got it!” Donnie’s triumphant exclamation drew the attention of the stranger, who now ran towards the turtle full force. Donnie readied himself but couldn’t lift his staff quick enough to meet the others. He was knocked to his feet, his weapon falling to the ground. The stranger picked it up and examined it for a moment, as if trying to discern its origins before they accidentally discovered a mechanism within the staff’s core. With a slight twist of the wooden staff, a blade emerged from one end. Donnie didn’t need to see the strangers’ face fully to know it had made them smirk a little.

            Rising to his feet, Donnie began fending off the strangers attacks by hand, bruises scoring his arms as he tried blocking each hit. Then, the stranger swept out his feet with the staff, cutting Donnie deep along the side of his leg.

            “Enough!” Leo roared, delivering a harsh blow to the strangers back that threw them forward. “We don’t work for the kraang. If you’d just listen for a moment, we could explain why we’re here.”

            “There’s nothing to explain. You’re after kraang tech, and I can’t let you get your hands on it.” The stranger stood once more, their vigor to fight almost impressing Leo. If this stranger weren’t trying to stop their mission, he might have even offered them a position on the team.

            “We need that kraang tech. The less secret space-whatever’s in the hands of those alien freaks the better. If you’re gonna stand in our way sobeit. You won’t last long.” With those final words, both Leo and the stranger charged each other. The stranger using Donnie’s modified staff and Leo using his drawn swords. Blades flung and swung about. Slashing and cutting anything they came across. Leo took the initiative in the fight, pressing hard towards the stranger. His aggressive yet calculated strikes coming close to overpowering her. A few times he even managed to surprise her, landing blow after blow and cutting up her body bit by bit. Though no matter how close he came to beating her, she just kept going. Pushing through the pain and tracking Leo with an intense, single-minded will to beat him. As the battle raged on, she overtook Leo’s strikes. Using one of the shipping containers as a launching point and striking Leo with the side of the staff. It landed right across his head, knocking him unconscious. As Leo’s body fell to the floor, the stranger staggered towards him. Their breath heavy and stagnant. They lifted Donnie’s staff up, ready to stab Leo with the retractable blade when suddenly, they heard movement behind them.

            “Hey douchebag!” Raph called out, drawing their attention. “You dropped this.”

            Raph swung the strangers quarterstaff like a bat, striking them in the face so hard he thought he heard a crack. The stranger fell to the ground next to Leo, who was now pulling himself back into focus.

            “Thanks for the save, Raph.” Leo groaned, holding his bruised head in his hands.

            “Nah don’t mention it, I’ll save you the embarrassment next time and stop the next chick from beating your ass a little faster.”

            Leo rolled his eyes and got up onto his feet, Mikey walking over to join him and Raph as they approached the kraang cargo container. Donnie had woken up as well, his head still spinning as he stumbled towards the group. Once all together, Leo opened the container to reveal what was inside.

            “It looks like…mutagen? In some sort of incubation chamber that uses heat to keep it stable and maintain its molecular alteration properties.” Donnie rolled out in his sometimes incomprehensible technojargon. Observing the massive mechanical vat in front of them.

            “So…it’s a kraang microwave for mutagen? Ha! Score- OW!” Raph struck Mikey in the back of the head the moment he heard him say microwave.

            As the two then began to bicker, Donnie plugged his PDA into one of the vats control panels and began digging through encrypted kraang files. The further he dug, the more concerned his face grew. Eventually, he called Leo over to see what he’d found.

            “It looks like the kraang have been tinkering with forced mutations. Trying to create some sort of super mutant weapon to fuse with themselves. Apparently, they’ve been testing this stuff on all sorts of animals. Dogs, lizards, birds, even…” Donnie paused. Looking back over his shoulder towards the stranger who still lay sprawled on the floor. Leo’s eyes narrowed as he read the data on the PDA before finishing Donnie’s point for him.            

“Turtles.”

Interested In Your Own Commission?

[misteria247]

So I'd learned that apparently in the 87 version of Tmnt Leonardo has a love interest named Lotus. And it got me thinking.....

If Rise gets a season three or another movie it'd be kinda cool to see her in the show. And if she becomes a love interest for our favorite red eared slider, I think that it'd be hella cute! I mean we got Mona Lisa from the 87 series and they brought her back to the show in the 2012 series as Raph's love interest, it'd be really cool to see other characters like Lotus and hell even Kala or Rennet make an appearance or play a part in the more recent variation of the Turtles.

Cuz I desperately want Mona Lisa to be in Rise as Raph's love interest I think it'd really cool if Lotus made a comeback as Leo's love interest.

Ya know just a thought is all.

[milkytheholy1]

Apocalyptic Love: Chapter 12: The Panthers

Tmnt Masterlist. Ultimate Masterlist. AL series links

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"THE PANTHERS!" a loud chorus cried out, each brother, minus Donatello, struck with shock and slight fear. Raph wrapped an arm around Donnie's shoulders, pulling him in closer to his chest as he hounded the poor teen, "Donnie are you insane! The Panthers are one of the roughest gangs in New York, and you made a deal with them!" he screamed out, anger rising.

Donnie pulled away from his older brother, struggling to move under his harsh grip. The genius frowned at his family, offended they think so little of his competence, "I didn't make a deal with them, Raph, I simply taught them how to hack into the Foot's computers. There's a difference." he pointed out, accurately. Leo stepped forward, his eyes glaring at Donatello but he knew there was nothing that they could do now, what was done was done.

"Donnie, are you sure about this? I know you said The Panthers have been helping the people, but-"

"I wouldn't have helped them if I didn't think so, Leo. They're good guys, well, good enough." Donnie muttered the last part, but the leader heard it, shaking his head with a raised brow, "You're really filling me with confidence Don."

"No, no, I promise. Look, I'll find their hideout and then we can go talk to them ourselves." Donnie brought your laptop onto his lap and typed away, typed what? You had no clue, you were never that great with technology to begin with. "Won't they, y'know, freak out when they see you guys? No offence, it's just, Karai's mutants haven't really given the whole mutant brand a good name." you asked, cautious as to who you were talking to.

Each brother stared at you, a whirlwind of emotions shown on their faces. While Leo and Donnie looked convinced and acknowledged the problem, Raph looked angered and Mikey looked upset. But you had a point, after the Foot-branded mutants that had been roaming the streets in recent days, no one with a sane mind would want to talk to ninja turtles. Leo looked to Donnie, their conversation wordless, their eyes their own language.

Donnie's eyes bounced over to you, Leo shook his head, his eyes squinting at the tall terrapin. But the silent debate continued, leaving the rest of you in the room to look on in confusion, "What're they doing?" you asked Mikey, following along like a tennis match. Mikey shrugged his shoulders, enamoured just like you, "Not sure dude/ette, maybe they're reading each other's minds?"

"Alright, that's it!" Raph broke the tense atmosphere that surrounded your living room, he stood between the staring match and looked to their leader with a pouted face, "Enough of your stupid starin' match, how the hell are we goin' to get The Panthers to talk to us?"

"Well, there is one way." Donnie prompted, looking away from Leo and over to you. Leo shook his head again, arms waving in the air in frustration, "No absolutely not. We're not risking (Y/N)'s safety over a what if, Donnie. Not while I'm the leader."

"Well, maybe you shouldn't be the leader?" Donnie argued back, glaring at his brother. "Not this again," Mikey shook his head, eyes creased shut out of boredom, "Can't you guys do this another time?" he dragged out. Leo and Donnie refused to make eye contact with one another, the room turning silent again, the fast-paced taps from Donatello typing was the only sound loud enough to hear.

"Aha! I found it!" Donnie exclaimed after a few minutes of stillness, you all crowded around him watching as he pointed to a small garage-like building on a map. "That's their hangout, I'm certain of it."

"Okay team, we head out at night, survey the area and talk to their leader." Leo devised, flicking his head to the window to take in the sun, it was around noonish, it wouldn't be long now until dark fell. Leo felt a tug on his arm, turning he looked down towards you with your lips formed in a pout, "I suppose I'm coming with you too, you know, human relations and all that."

"No, it's too dangerous, you've already done so much for us, I couldn't ask you to do this as well." Leo walked away, slowly shuffling into the kitchen to avoid the upcoming conversation. You followed after him with a swiftness to your steps, pulling him to face you as you backed him into the counters of the kitchen. "Listen blue, you can't tell me to not do something when you obviously need help. How are you going to talk to The Panthers' leader, huh? Robot? Letter? No, you're going to need my help."

You poked a pointed finger against his plastron, suddenly feeling like your old self again, no longer shy around the mutants. Your expression was hard, brows furrowed and cheeks rosy, "We're friends now whether you think so or not, and as your friend, I want to help you any way I can. Got it?"

Leo never knew you could be scary, your weirdly calming presence juxtaposed by your harsh glare and stone-cold words; it was alluring, to say the least. Leo's eyes roamed your face, took in your stance, the small gap between you both. It reminded him of when you had first met, the way he talked to you, the small threat he delivered. How the tables had turned.

He nodded weakly, shaking his head 'yes' rapidly. Why was he scared of you? He wasn't sure, Leo had fought much tougher, greater threats, but for some reason, you scared him to his very core. A 19-year-old turtle, a trained ninja, a master someday, and here he was cowering to a human. "Got it," he squeaked out, breathing in pants when you stepped away with a warm smile, "Good, see you later." you left the kitchen with a sway of your hips, tempting his mind further. There really is no stopping you he thought to himself, his tight grip on the counters finally relinquishing.

--

Night had approached quicker than anyone had realised, the boys had crowded their weapons together and neared the rickety fire escape outside of your living room. Raph, Donnie and Mikey jumped up and climbed the stairs, swiftly moving to the rooftops and waiting for their leader for further commands. Leo stood beside you, the moon casting his face in a pale light, highlighting the deep cut across his left eye from their previous fight with the Foot.

He side-eyed you, looking your form up and down. In the time it took for it to become dark you had been preparing yourself for this mission, changing into something a little more adept for a fight if there were to be any. Your hair was away from your face, small strands waving against your skin in the soft breeze of night. "You stay beside me, got it?" his deep voice rung out, startling you for a second, but you nodded your head graciously taking his hand when he offered it to you.

You allowed him to pull you from the window, tugging you along the stairs to the rooftop. You trailed behind him like a lost dog, a warm blush circling your cheeks when you stared down at your conjoined hands. "Finally, what took you guys so long?" Raph huffed out, one foot against the raised roof. Leo rolled his eyes, "Nah bro, they were kissin' or somethin'!" Mikey teased, laughing uncontrollably. You and Leo gawked at each other, faces going pure red with the insinuation, "Wh-wha- we weren't doing that!" Leo spluttered out, he so badly wanted to curl up into his shell and die.

"Then why are you holding hands?" Donnie questioned, a teasing smile of his own across his lips. At the mere mention of your interlocked hands, you both released, your palm banging against your thigh as your breaths came out in short spurts. "Knock it off you guys, we're here for a mission, remember?" you forced out, using all your willpower to remain calm and collected. "Yeah, I agree with (Y/N), let's get a move on," Leo commanded, his embarrassed manner seemingly washed away with the thought of leading the team.

He turned his shell to face you, looking back when you didn't do anything. You sent him a quizzical look, obviously, you weren't a mind reader, Leo sighed then nodded his head to his shoulder, implying that he wanted you to get on. "Oooh~" you moaned out, finally understanding his silent demand. Getting onto his shell with slight difficulty, he whispered a small "Hold on," then leapt from the rooftops.

"Of course he would agree with them," Raph sighed, but followed after, Mikey and Donnie doing the same.

The city passed by in a blur, most of the buildings were either crumbled or abandoned, lights blinking irregularly if some buildings were lucky to have power. The centre of New York was the worst hit and the most patrolled, hence why you were avoiding that area and instead taking the long approach to get to your destination. You felt sorry for Leo, having to carry you around not once but twice now, you could feel his laboured breaths as he ran and jumped. Ducking occasionally under a low railing or flinging himself from one building to the next.

Your nails dug into his skin, silent apologies running past your mouth every time you gave your hands a little squeeze. But you eventually made it across the street from the Mechanics warehouse, the building was covered in graffiti, symbols of The Panthers and words you wouldn't repeat in front of Mikey. The lights were on inside meaning they were definitely home, you still had no idea how the Foot hadn't already stormed the building.

"What's the plan, dude?" Mikey asked, his voice a hushed whisper. Leo surveyed the scene, noting the members of The Panthers walking around the outskirts of the building. "We'll have to go in through the roof, we don't need to alert all these men, we only want to talk with their leader."

"Awww, and I was so looking forward to bashing some heads tonight." Raph groaned, arms folded over his chest in a pout. Donnie patted him on the back, cautious to use his nonrobotic arm, "Don't worry Raph, I'm sure something will happen and cause a big fight."

"Dude," you groaned, glaring at Donnie from Leo's shell. Donnie shrugged his shoulders, eyes closing nonchalantly, "What? I'm being logical here."

Moving to the rooftop of the garage, you finally hopped down from Leo's shell and thanked him quietly, you didn't want to cause more teasing from his brothers. You all split up and searched around the roof, luckily you had found a small opening, free for crawling into. You, Leo and Donnie quickly went in, braced on your hands and knees, Mikey followed next groaning at the smell.

"Ugh, you sure there wasn't another way in?" Raph moaned out, sick of staring directly at Mikey's butt the entire time. Mikey poked his head around his shoulders, an evil smirk on his lips, "What, not enjoying the view back there?" he laughed out, wiggly his toosh at his brother obnoxiously. "Shhh," Leo threatened, glaring at the two, his eyes are pure white. You had never seen him do that before, but whatever it was sent shivers down your spine, there was something just so...menacing about it.

Like that was no longer the Leo you knew, he had been replaced with...a fighter, a warrior, a ninja. You had managed your way out of the cramped vent space and wandered onto a platform held high above the ground floor of the garage. Overlooking a majority of the members of The Panthers, unaware that you were even here in the first place.

From what you could see, most of them were split into different groups with no physical separation, each performing or demonstrating a different activity. A group of guys crowed around a small wooden box, a man and a woman arm wrestling on top of it, the crowd erupted into cheers when the woman slammed down the man's hand. She stood from the crate and threw her hands in the air, the crowd explodes again with cheers and teasing comments.

Another group stood around a whiteboard, discussing plans and tactics with red markers, you couldn't make out what they had written from this distance. In the far corner sat a mass of tables, each full to the brim with Panthers eating, laughing, talking. Beside them were a few mats and a weapons rack, two members currently punching and kicking each other in a mock fight, but the swings felt very real.

"C'mon, we need to find the leader," Leo instructs, crouched down to the ground and shuffling along the floor not wanting to be spotted. You all followed after the leader, you bumped your head when he came to a very sudden stop, "Hey, a little warning next time." you mused, rubbing the top of your forehead. Leo rolled his eyes but pointed a green finger towards an office, a man was sat behind a desk with a phone pressed against his ear, a tight black suit wrapped around his body. The whole room was practically one big window with a tiny wooden door fitted into it.

"I'm going in," you gruffed out, spotting a staircase a few steps away from you. Before you could leave the turtles behind and complete the mission, a firm hand gripped your arm and brought you back to the group. Staring at the green muscle you caught Leo's eyes, "Be careful." his tone wistful, "Of course," you promised, freeing yourself from his grip and dashing off until they could no longer see you.

Seconds later the boys see you tread towards the main office, hear the wrasp of your knuckles against the splintering door, feel your anxiety as you walk into the room. Leo watched with beaded eyes, waiting for any hostile movements so he could quickly swoop in to save you.

You advanced towards the desk, the man staring at you with an unamused frown, he clicked on the phone and pulled it away from his ear, placing it screen-side down.

"Asil Price I presume?" you questioned, surprised by how calm your voice sounded. The man in the chair nodded, hands clasped together, chin braced on top of them, "Random person, why do you come and bother me? I know you're not from here, it must have been a long walk, hayir?" his thick Turkish accent rung loud and proud in the air, unfazed by your sudden appearance at all.

You already hated this guy, your body froze, sweat beginning to form at the base of your hairline. "I- how did you know that?" you fell into his trap, "You are not a part of The Panthers, your arms are too scrawny, noodles."

"Then why do you continue to talk to me, now that you know I'm not one of your own." you huffed out, staying brave for the sake of it. You knew this guy could easily kill you, you'd put up one hell of a fight but even you wouldn't last very long. "You got past my men, undetected even, it is quite impressive. So impressive, in fact, that I refuse to believe you did it alone." he stood from his chair, hands now balled into fists, "I-I didn't come here with anyone, just my courage."

"And where is that courage now? All I see is a coward, alone, begging for someone to save them." he crept forward, your body impulsively taking steps back, doing everything in your power to keep some distance between you both; you only hoped the turtles would soon come to help you.

- Meanwhile -

"What're they saying?" Mikey questioned, his plastron pushed against the cold concrete floor, hands perched under his chin and legs kicking up in the air. "Would you shut it, Mikey? I can't hear over ya constant blabberin'." Raph huffed his back slouched against the wall, arms folded across his chest. "Would you both be quiet? I'm trying to lip-read!" Donnie moaned, eyes purely focused on the two people in the office, but with all this constant chatter he was beginning to lose concentration.

"Ooohh, Donnie told you Raphie boy!" Mikey teased, turning his head enough so he could stick his tongue out at his brother. Raph lurched forward, pinching the tip of Mikey's tongue, "What did I tell ya about calling me that?"

"Guys, quit it! Look something's happening, be on alert." Leo spouted, turning his attention back onto you. Your body had shrunken in on itself, it worried him, what was going on? What was that guy saying to you?

An unconscious sigh left his lips, eyes full of worry. His brothers turned to him with a raised brow and quirked smile, "What?" Leo asked, head tilting in confusion. "C'mooooon, bro, when are you gonna admit you like them?" Mikey taunted out.

"Wh-who? (Y/N)? I- I don't like (Y/N) like that, they're just a friend. Besides, we've only known them for a few days." Leo stuttered out, wiping a palm against his sweaty forehead. Raph punched Leo in the arm, his form unmoving, "Give it a rest, fearless, we're ya brothers! We know when you're crushin' on someone. Ya eyes turn into love hearts!" Raph roared out in laughter.

"I- I don't get heart eyes, and I'm not crushing on anyone!" Leo defended, but it fell on death ears, "I get why you guys used to do this to me, it's pretty fun!" Donnie pipped in, throwing a hand against his head as he rolled back laughing.

A loud bang disrupts their fit of laughter, they all quickly turn their gaze to the office and see the boss of The Panthers charging towards you. With a swiftness only they could possess they emerged from the shadows to protect you.

- Back in the office -

As Asil came running towards you, your fists braced themselves for a fight, but it never came. Asil paused, his attention drawn to the shuriken in the wall, he changed from an offence position, his shoulders slumping back, he was calm and relaxed. Readjusting his shirt sleeves, he turned to the window and caught the four pairs of white eyes staring back at him.

"Come out, the game is over." he whistled out, turning his back to the shadows and moving to sit behind his desk again. The brothers formed a circle around you, protecting you like the defenceless flower that you were. You were a little disappointed that you couldn't stick up for yourself, sure you've taken down some Footbots but at least then you had a weapon, you're practically useless with your bare fists.

"Now that everyone is here, let's talk." Asil prompted, splaying his hands on the table and waiting for someone to speak. Leo stepped forward, katana blades held high, eyes white, "You knew we were here, how?" he demanded, it wasn't a question, the teen wanted answers and he wanted them now,

"Simple, I knew the little (lady/boy) didn't come here alone, especially undetected; it only made sense they brought company. Now that you're here, we can get to business, evet?" Asil looked smug, but he didn't just look smug he was smug, smug bastard.

"We want your help." Donnie threw out, stepping away from the group to approach the desk, his brothers watching his every move. "My help? And what could you possibly need The Panthers for?" Asil probed, relaxing back into the leather chair. Donnie looked in his eyes for a moment, debating on actually trusting him or not, but they had come all this way and there was no one else who could help.

"The Foot, we want to take them down but we're not strong enough on our own. We thought if we had the gangs of New York come together we could take the Foot down and restore New York back to what it originally was."

Asil admired the turtles he really did, but why in hell would he want New York to return to its former self, he owned half of the streets right now and he knew for a fact he wouldn't if New York returned. "And why would I? My business is thriving from this whole Foot empire, what would you offer me for my loyalty, turtles?"

Donnie looked back to his brothers, Leo motioned for Donnie to pull away, they'll regroup and come up with a new plan. But Donnie had other ideas, this had to work, he was the guy that had the bright ideas and he was most of the time never wrong!

"Look, Asil was it? I know for a fact that this little business of yours isn't thriving, you're nearly out of business and the only reason you haven't been shut down yet is because the Foot can't be bothered to keep law and order. I've seen every single file you've ever made on that computer and I've got plenty of dirt on you and all your members, one wrong phone call to the Foot and it could all be over for you. So do we have a deal or what?"

His brothers had never seen Donnie so unhinged like that before, sure he got angry but never like that. You were so in awe and shock that you didn't even notice your mouth hanging open wide enough to catch flies. Asil stood from his desk, he stuck his hand out and waited for the now confused turtle in front of him to shake it.

Donnie did as told, he grasped Asil's hand in a firm grip and shook hard, his eyes flickered from their interlocked hands to his beady eyes, "It is a deal, you have The Panthers' loyalty, turtle brothers."

You all did a slight cheer, finally, something was going your way. "Your skills, tall turtle, I have seen them before." Asil probed, moving to sit back down in his leather chair. Donnie rolled his shoulders, releasing the pent up stress from the previous conversation, "Yeah, well I helped your gang out a while back."

"You were the hacker that told us the Foot's encryption codes, Bosticksrcool12! Aha! My boy, you helped us take down their entire network for some families to cross the border! Thank you!" Asil jumped up, a pointed-ringed finger aimed at Donnie.

"Really? Bosticksrcool12?" Raph mused, face held with a permanent smirk. Donnie turned away from Raph with a shrug, "What? They are." he maintained. Leo approached Asil, still cautious around the man, "Do you know anything about the rebels, where their hideout could be?"

Asil frowned, shaking his head he replied, "I know of the rebels but sadly, I do not know where their base is located. Although I may know some people who do, they know everyone in the city. They've worked with everyone from the Foot to The Tanaka clan, so if anyone in this city knows the rebel's location it will be them." Asil went to his computer, searching for some files before he found their name.

"Does the Purple Dragons ring any bells?" he asked, flicking his gaze from the hue of the blue screen to the furrowed crowd. Raph threw his arms in the air, pacing with angered steps around the room, slowly creating a small groove in the floor, "Nope! Not doing it!"

"We have no choice, Raphael," Leo sighed along with his hotheaded brother, turning back to Asil, Leo spoke again, much calmer than before, "Asil, do you know where we can find them?"

"I'll print a list of their last known locations,"

"Thank you,"

It wasn't long until the Hamato Clan got the list of locations from Price, Donnie skimmed the list muttering a few sentences to himself before handing it over to Leo. The group left through the small vent they crawled into, Raph constantly complaining about their next steps. But who wouldn't complain when you have to come face to face with the Purple Dragons?

[popculturebuffet]

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 1990 Review: Still Possesses Turtle Power After All These Years

Cowabunga all you happy people! I freaking love the Teenage Ninja Turtles. I grew up with it from Turtles in Time, which was my first video game, to the 2003 cartoon, which I covered the first three episodes of last month, and on to present day as I re-read the idw comics after finally reading the original eastman and laird run of mirage, and impatiently waiting for Shredder’s Revenge to come out after a LONG drout of no good TMNT games. I”m a fan of these heroes four, their dynamic as a family, the endless possiblities that come from it’s long history and ablitlity to go anywhere in any genre, and the wonderful goofy shit that happens when you have a franchise about mutant turtles learning ninjitsu from a rat and fighting a dude covered in knife covered samurai armor. 

So with me finally covering the guys after almost a year last month and with a new movie set to debut at some point this year, I had the bright idea to revisit the FIRST TMNT movie after way too many years of not watching it. This movie is anear and dear to my heart: When I first started getting into the boys big as a kid with the 2003 cartoon, I badly wanted more turtles. But back then it wasn’t nearly as easy to glom onto some more of the sewer shock pizza kings: Streaming sites with all the cartoons on them weren’t all that accesable, dvd’s were expensive for the 87 cartoon, Mirage wasn’t reprinting the comics in any meaningful way and my local comic shop didn’t have any at all and I could only play the SNES when my brother had it set up on occasion like at our Grandma’s farm. 

As you probably guessed though there was one exception: the original 1990 movie, which I got at Walmart for 5 bucks and haven’t let go of since. It was one of my first dvds and is still one of my most precious. Said film hit the spot just right as like my beloved 2003 series, it was a mildly goofy but still fucking cool adaptation that stuck closer to the mirage comics, even more than the 2003 series would, while taking a few queues from the 87 series. This film is as precious to me as the 2003 series and a with a brand new movie coming up, I figured it was the exact right time to dig into this classic: what makes it still good to this day, what’s fun to point and laugh at, and how the heck Jim Henson got involved in this. So join me under the cut as I take a look at my boys first theatrical outing and why I still love watching a turtle. 

No One Wanted To Make This: Before we get into the film itself some background. As usual I struggled a bit, but thankfully found some help in the form of this Hollywood Reporter article.  It’s a fascinating read worth your time, providing an oral history of the film from the people who worked on it. 

The film was the baby of Gary Propper, a surfer dude and road manager for the prop comic Gallagher, aka that guy who used to smash watermelons but now has instead opted to smash what little’s left of his career by being a homophobic douchenozzle. He found an ally in Showtime producer Kim Dawson who’d produced Gallagher’s special. I don’t think there will be more of an 80′s sentence than “Gallagher’s surfer dude agent wanted to make a teenage mutant ninja turtles movie”. Propper was a huge fan of the comics, and with Dawson’s help convinced Laird and Eastman to let them option it to studios. 

It may come as a shock to you but the road agent for a homophobic watermelon man and a producer at a niche cable channel wanting to make a movie based on an underground comic book about masked turtles at a time when the two most recent comic book movies were Superman IV: The Quest for Peace and Howard the Duck, did not go well. Every door in Hollywood got slammed in their face, even Fox> Even the eventual backer of the film, Golden Harvest, a hong kong action film studio, took months to convince to actually back the film. 

Things did not get easier from there: The films writer Bobby Herbeck had trouble getting a story agreed on because Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird’s working relationship had deteroiated horribly from the stress so naturally the two could not agree on a damn thing and argued with each other. Peter Laird  made a tense siutation even worse by constnatly sniping at Herbeck and feeling he was a “Hollywood outsider infringing on his vision and characters”

Granted the script was apparently not great... but Pete still comes off as a pretnetious ass who views his weird indie comic as THE HIGHEST OF HIGH CALLINGS HOW DARE YOU SOIL IT. And continued to be kind of a prick like this throughout the rest of his time with the property. 

Thankfully the film found i’ts voice, vision and director in Steve Barron. Barron was a music video guy who knew the producers and while reluctant, eventually dove into the project rightfully thinking the film would need to be a mix of the mirage comics and 87 cartoon, keeping aprils’ reporter job, the turtles lvoe of pizza and their iconic color coding from the cartoon but adapting several stories from the comics as the backbone of the film. The guys liked barron MUCH better and things ran smoother. 

Barron also brought in one of the film’s biggest selling points and it’s most valuable asset: it’s triumphantly awesome Jim Henson costumes. Barron had worked with good old Jim on the music videos for Labyrinth, and while it took some convincing since the comics were violent as hell and that wasn’t Jim’s style, Barron eventually got him on board. This naturally doubled the budget, but given Henson’s costumes STILL hold up today and look better than the cgi used in the platinum dunes films... it was a good call. And this was brand new tech for jim, having to invent tons of new ideas and mechanisms just to make the things work, and said things still were absolute hell on the actors. Jim later ended up not liking the film for being too violent... which I find hilarious given how many muppets got eaten or blowed up real good on his show but regardless, I thank this legendary and wonderful man as without him this film WOULD NOT have worked. The costumes here look great, feel realistic, and you can’t tell the actors were dubbed much less horribly suffering in those suits. Much like Disney Land. 

The film would get picked up for distribution by New Line, and despite i’ts weird as hell origins and the long shot it had.. the film was a MASSIVE hit at the box office, owing to a combination of Batman 89 the previous year having proved comic book movies can work for audiences, the cartoon’s runaway sucess, and a massive marketing campaign. The film made it’s mark. So now we know how we got here let’s get into the film itself. 

What’s the Story Morning Glory?:

So the story for this one is largely cobbled together from some of the more notable arcs Eastman and Laird did before handing off the book to others full time as the stress of the company and the mounting tension with each other made it near impossible to work together on the book itself. 

To Save time i’m just going through what hte movie takes from the comics plot wise now to save me the trouble later:The movie takes elements from the first issue (The Turtles, Splinter and Shredder’s backstories, Shredder being fully human and the main antagonist, Shredder’s design and the final rooftop showdown that results in Shredder’s death), second and third, (April’s apartment over her dad’s old store and the turtles moving in when their home is ransacked and splinter has gone missing), the rapheal micro series (A tounge in cheek way of cashing in on the Mini-Series craze of the 80s, a one shot by modern standards and something that’s tragically been underused as an idea as only TMNT and MLP have used the idea at IDW, Raph meeting casey and their fight with one another), the return of shredder arc (One of the turtles being ambushed and mobbed by the foot and then thrown though a sky light (Leo in the comic and Raph here), the turtles being horribly outnumbered by them, Casey coming ot the rescue and metting the non-raph turtles for the first time, and them being forced to escape when the place goes up in flames), their exile to northampton (April writing in a journal, casey working on a car with one of the guys and one of hte guys looking over hteir injured brother), and finally, their triumphant return which was very loosely adapted as there are no deformed shredder clones and shredder not being dead yet in this version was not brought back by a colony of super science worms. 

So as for how this all comes together: Our story takes place in New York: A crimewave is high with muggings mysterious. There are a ton of phantom thefts going around and at most people have been seeing teens responsibile. And the police.. are at about this level of useful:

The only person doing something is April O’Neil, played by Judith Hoag. Hoag is easily the standout of the film, giving us a strong, confident woman with a wonderful sense of humor. She honestly might be my faviorite April O Neil, and given we’ve had some great ones with 2003, 2012 and Rise, that’s not something I say lightly. I honestly wish I’d recognized her in more stuff as she was both on Nashville and the mom in the Halloween Town films, and most recently was on the ScFy show the magicians. She’s a talented lady and i’m glad she’s still goin. 

April is a reporter for Channel 3 like the cartoon, though for some weird reason her boss from the cartoon is replaced by Charles Pennigton, played by Jay Patterson, whose currently dealing with his troubled son Danny, played by Micheal Turney. Pennington is horribly useless at both jobs: At work he tries to ease April off calling out Chief Sterns, who refuses to listen to April’s evidence gathered from japanese immigrants that the crimes resemble similar ones in japan in favor of trying to get charles to shut her up. Danny meanwhile is a member of the foot becase his dad thinks shouting out him and talking about him like he’s not there and generally being a dipstick will actually do anything to help him. 

I love the concept for the foot here. In addition to being a Ninja Violence Gang as always, they now recruit new members by finding kids without families or with troubled family lives and giving them a sense of family with the foot, and sweeting the bargin with a giant cave filled with arcade machines, a skate ramp and general late 80′s early 90′s kids goodies. Is it rediculous? Yes. Is it also clever as it gives Shredder an easy army of plausably deniable theives that he can pick the best out of to put in his elite that will be tirelessly loyal to him and him alone? Also yes. 

So April being public about this stuff gets her attacked, which naturally leads to our heroes coming in, first in the shadows and later directly when April wont’ give up on the case and Shredder sends some ninjas to go shut her up.. which he does weirdly as the guy jsut slaps her and tells her to cut it out like he’s on a domestically abusive episode of Full House. Raph saves her, and we get the turtles origin.. though weirdly they cut it in half. We get the ooze portion but Splinter’s past with Saki, Saki’s murder of his master and his master’s partern Tang Shen is left for later in the film and the fact Shredder’s saki is treated as a big twist despite the fact the biggest audience for the film would be kids... and kids would’ve been familiar with the cartoon where the giant brain monster routinely screeches out saki at the shredder. Maybe Barron just thought he was an alcoholic I don’t know. It just would’ve made more sense to have it all at once and let the audeince put it together. 

April becomes good friends with the turtles over a night of frozen pizza and camradrie, but the Splinters return home to find it ransacked, Splinter kidnapped by the foot, and are forced to Stay with april. Charles meanwhile tries to get April to backoff because he made a deal with the police to clear Danny’s record, without TELLING her any of this mind you, but I will save my rage on that little plot point for in a bit as Danny who he drug along sees the turtles and tells the Shredder. 

So we get the return of the shredder arc as Raph goes through a window, our heroes fight valiantly, and Raph’s friend Casey who he met earlier shows up, the two having bonded as all true friends do.. by beating the shit out of each other ending with raph shouting DAMNNNNNNN really big and dramatically into the sky for some reason. The Turtles and friends escape with an injured raph from April’s burning second hand store. She had a second hand store it was poorly established and only there because she had it in the comics. 

Our heroes retreat to a farm April’s grandma owned in Northampton, Massachutes, where Mirage was located at the time the original comics where they were exiled to the place were written and a location that has been a staple of the turtles ever since. The turtles slowly recover, lick their wounds, talk about who hooked up with who on gilligans island etc, before Leo connects with Splinter via meditation, who tells them to come back. Splinter also starts to connect with Danny and convinces him to swtich sides.. or at the very least squat in the boys old home. 

The boys return home, find danny, and prepare, Danny goes back and ends up giving away the Turtles are home.. but the turtles are ready and in an awesome sequence kick the fuck out of the foot squad sent for them with some well prepared steam vents. Casey goes to get splinter since Danny told them and with Danny’s help, finds him, since Danny found out they were gonna kill him. Casey beats up Tatsu, shredder’s right hand man, and they get him out. 

We get our final fight which is awesome up until the climax.. which is splinter casually tripping shredder with nunchucks and thier bloody history being kind of rushed and unsatsifying. Casey crushes shredder with a garbage truck, April gets her job back, more on that in a moment, she and casey hook up, and we end with the fucking awesome song T-U-R-T-L-E Power by partners in cryme. Seriously check it out it’s fucking triumphant. 

The song is just good.. cheesy? Sure but that’s half the fun. It’s the gold standard for movie theme songs for them and stacks up handily with the various animated series themes.. all of which slap. Okay... ALMOST all of which slap. Fast Forwards is aggressively medicore, which is doubly suprising to me since 4kids was REALLY damn good with theme songs. It was one of the three things they were best at along with finding VERY talented voice actors and setting japan based works in america because merica dammit.  

The plot is very solid: It skilfully packed half of eastman and laird’s run on TMNT into 90 mintues while adding things like April’s job at channel 9, the way the foot recurited kids etc. The plot flows well for hte most part and apart from one annoying subplot we’ll get to never has a moment that feel unecessary or dosen’t pay off later. And the stellar plot and fun pacing of it helps boilster the characters that do work... and help paper over the ones that are so thin the’yd fall down a grate...

Our Heroes, Villains and Annoying Middle Aged Guys:

Yeahhhh character is hit and miss here. Some are rather strong, others are the bare basics for the character their adapting and most are just to serve the plot but some work some don’t,  So let’s talk about it starting with our boys:

Raph is the most fleshed out of the turtles, being the main focus of the first 2/3 of the film, and having his anger be part of what SHOULD be a character arc, learning to temper it. And while granted MOST TMNT properties do this, to the point that Rise Raph is so loveable in part because his boisterous bruiser big bro attitude is a refreshing break from the usual grumpus we get. But at the time this hadn’t been done in every version but the 87 cartoon, so exploring it was valid.. but despite saying this should be a thing htey just forget about it and the most plot relevance he gets is going thorugh a window. He dosen’t really get a resolution.. his arc just kind of stops dead for the final half and it’s one of the film’s weaker points, one I only just now noticed on this rewatch. He’s still the most entertaining. 

Leo is the weakest of the turtles. He really lacks a personality here mostly just being leader and while his spirtual side is touched on, it’s  mostly a plot device. He’s just kinda the leader because he was in the comics to the point Partners in Cryme called Raph the leader. His role in getting taken out by the foot was taken by Raph, so he just has.. nothing to do for most of the film other than gripe at raph ocasionally and say orders. He’s probably the worst Leo i’ve seen outside of Next Mutation. I prefice that because after watching Phelous’ review it’s VERY clear those four are the worst versions of the characters, and no personality is still better than either having your team do nothing or yelling at them as your personality. I chalk this up to the Mirage Leo, and the mirage turtles to a poit being kind of bland. Not TERRIBLE characters, especially for the time, but not nearly as fleshed out or individualized as they woudl be in other adpatations, and with most traits LEo DID have, like his badassery flat out gone, he’s just.. nothing here. 

Mikey and Donnie are a double act here with both sharing a brain. Interestingly instead of his normal genius character, Donnie is Mikey’s best friend and the two simply trade jokes and schtick together. The two are interchangable.. but easily the best part of the film and a lot of the most memorable gags and lines, from Ninja Kick the Damn Rabbit! to “Do you like Penicllin on your pizza”, are from them. Thier there almost entirely as comic relief but it works, with both clealry being more modled ont he 87 cartoon turtles, a move that helps lighten the mood in darker moments. Their just genuinely charming and it’s intresting to see such a diffrent version of Donnie, and other incarnations, specifically the 2003 and Rise versions, would retain the sarcastic edge. 

Splinter is splinter. That’s about it, he’s peformed well and the puppet is amazing but he gets kidnapped a half an hour in and outside of influcencing Denny, more on that in a moment, and finishing Shredder he dosen’t do much but spout exposition. He’s not bad or anything, but he’s essentially a rodent shaped plot device. He was also puppeted by Kevin CLash, aka the guy who does Elmo. So there you go. 

April on the other hand.. is truly excellent. This might be my faviorite April. Judith’s april nicely blends the cartoon and mirage versions: She has the cartoons energy and job, but the comics sheer will and casual nature. Judith just oozes personality and her April is just a joy to watch, from her breezy chemistry filled interactions with the guys to her confrntation with Chief Sterns, knowing she’ll get thrown out by the asshole. She’s confident, and even when afraid dosen’t back down to her attackers and even helps out during the sewer ambush. I mean it’s a pot on the head but still it’s neat. She’s easily the best part of the flim and the most fleshed out of the cast. The worst I can say is they kinda shove her store from the comics, Second Time Around, in there for no other reason than it was in the comics: It dosen’t come up until it’s needed for the foot’s assault on her place. But overall.. she’s just fantastic to watch. 

Speaking of fantastic to watch, Elias Koteas is fantastic as Casey. Seriously he’s only second to the 2003 version in my eyes, getting the concept of a testorone filled average guy who decided to just go out and hit people with sports equipment after watching too much A-Team.. I mean that part of it’s not in this version but it’s implied, just right. Like judith, Elias is just really funny to watch and his big scenes, showing up just in time during the foot assault on april’s place and his fight with Tatsu are some of the best parts of the film, the former taken directly from the comics. This version isn’t without problems: His friendship with Raph, his most endearing aspect and one that has been carried throughout eveyr version Casey’s important, with the only exception so far being rise and we have a movie to fix that, is absent here. HE does save the guy, but they don’t really bond or anything. In fact he disappears for about half an hour after his big fight with Raph. But... again he’s just so damn entertaining, down to his JOSEEEEEEEEEEE Conseco bats (There was a two for one sale!).

Shredder is just a LITTLE better than splinter, if only because his actor projects a true aura of menace and I feel this version had some influence on the pants crappingly terrifying 2003 version. And the idea of the foot recurting teenagers like I said is a good one: He gives them home and a cause, they give him plausably deniable backup. And his fight with the boys in the climax is really awesome... the conclusion sucks but otherwise h’es okay. Not the deepest villian, but he has enough presence to be enjoyable.

His right hand man Tatsu, whose been adapted ocasionally since this and reimaigned as Natsu in the IDW comics, a female version, is also fine. He’s your standard grimacing goon but has enough presence to work. 

So that brings us to the penningtons. Charles, april’s boss at the station and his son Danny who’s joined the foot as he feels his dad dosen’t love him. Charles..is about as interesting and likeable as a dog turd and is the worst aspect of the film. No debate there, he just sucks. He sucks so hard he’s classified as a black hole.  The film wants you to see him as a put upon wokring dad whose frustrated with his son’s increased moodiness, skipping school and crminal undertakings and just wants to help him and loves him deep down. The problem is his actor’s delivery instead of concerned.. is just pissed. He just seems pissy and upset about the whole thing and comes off like he’s only mad about Danny doing this because he’s embarassing him and not because you know, it’s bad. When confronting Danny about stealing, he dosen’t consider MAYBE he’s part of a gang or needs help, but just wonders “Why are you stealing when I give you stuff”. Because, Dipshit, sometimes kids do crimes not because they need the stuff but because they WANT to, and because they want to act the fuck out. 

The most he does for the kid is agree to try and get April to back off the police when Cheif Sterns offers to let Danny go and not put him on record in exchange for it. The problem.. is this makes him even MORE unsympathetic. While I do get wanting to help your child, I do and it’s a sucky position... he again should be sympathetic.. but he handles the thing so badly it sucks. He just tells april to ease off, with no reason given, then fires her when she SHOCKINGLY dosen’t give up taking the guy whose refusing to take her hard work seriously or actually solve the crime wave problem to task for his shitty behavior as ANY person facing a shitty, corrput cop would. She just wants to hold him acountable and get him to actually do something. He clearly knows her on a personal level too as he talks about his issues with his son freely with her, something you don’t do with an employee unless their also a friend on some level. 

He could have TOLD april what was going on. She’d be furious at Stern’s naked corrpution and prioritizing shutting her up over actually solving crimes.. and thus put at least some of that energy into shutting him down or finding a way around it, going to the papers or something like that. Even in 1990 pre-internet, there were ways to get around Sterns blackmail and expose him so someone who’d actually do the job could get the job. Instead he just comes off as a selfish coward who rather than try and fight the guy blatantly abusing his power and using Charles own son as  barganing chip, goes along with it because it’s the easier option to simply bow to him instead of TRY and stop this. And it’s not like he’s even going after a beloved public figure or someone who could hide behind his rep: Sterns was blatantly failing a crime wave, April had called him out on his failrues and coverups multiple times. The public was against sterns.. finding out he tried to blackmail the media into shutting up about him would PROBABLY end him... I only say probably not because the public wouldn’t skewer him, but because police tend to escape consequences for blatantly murdering someone on a daily basis and Andrew Cumo is STILl mayor over in new york, the same city this movie takes place, 31 years later, depsite EVERYONE asking him to resign over a long history of sexual harassment and a more recent but still horrible history of hiding death numbers. I don’t doubt people being stupid enough to ignore this or the bilaws with cops being stacked enough for him to get away with it, but just because someone gets away with a crime dosen’t mean you shoudln’t try and go after them in the first place. Fuck. Charles. Pennington. 

Danny on the other hand is FAR more interesting and I think gets way too much flack when it comes to this subplot. Unlike his dad, whose dead weight, Danny is intresting: He provides a POV character for the foot’s MO in the film of taking in wayward teens, and his character arc is pretty engaging, slowly realizing the foot dosen’t care and that hte turtles are the good guys. HIs actor does a great job and while not the biggest presence, he’s not a bad addition to clan hamaoto and I wish other adaptations would find a way to use him. The pull between doing the right thing and his found family is a good struggle. My only real issue with his plot is the moviies flawed aseop about family. It tries to contrast shredder and his using the kids blatnatly with Splinter and Charles really loving their sons. And it works with Splinter and the kids because despite being a tad strict, Splinter clearly loves his sons and works with them to help them. The problem is ENTIRELY with Charles and Danny. As I said Charles love comes off as transasctional: He either thinks he can buy it or just expects it because he shot a bunch of goop into Danny’s mom after two minutes of disapointment. It dosen’t work with them because neither option is good for Danny. His father is neglectful, chooses throwing his jounralistic integrity out the window over talking to his son or his best friend about another way, and abrasive. Danny is no saint, he does do crimes, but it’s clearly a result of a shitty upbringing and the shredder and co actually offeirng him the love he desperatly craves. Danny goes to the foot because his dad is bad at his job but the film never adresses that and just expects Danny to go back to his dad because the plot says so. Danny would HONESTLY be better off with Splinter. No really. Sure he’d have to live in the sewers.. but he did so for a few weeks in the course of the movie. He’s fine down there. Splitner actually cares about him and took an intrest to him and knows how to raise a child. Let him become the fifth turtle. An aseop about family is not a bad thing: Loaded subject that it can be given how many outright abusive families exist, i’m one of the lucky ones who dosen’t have that issue, family is an important thing and can be a source of comfort and support. But this film tells you you should love and respect someone who does not love, respect or value you because he spent a minute in your mom’s vagina and that’s not how family should work and is outright dangerous to kids in an abusive situation. Love the film otherwise but fuck this aseop skyhigh. 

Final thoughts:

Overall though.. the film is bodacious. It’s funny, well paced, has an awesome cast, and outside of a certain bald asswipe... it’s a really good superhero film. Is it the best i’ve seen? Nope. Not even close and character wise most of them are as thin as a wet paper bag covered in ranch dressing. But it’s still a fun as hell with awesome corepgraphy, a killer soundtrack, seriously the soundtrack is damn excellent and only didn’t get it’s own section because I didn’t have enough to say and some of the best effects work i’ve seen in a film in the turtle suits. If you haven’t seen it I urge you to check it out: it’s a breezy 90 minutes, it’s on hbo max and it’s a shell of a time. Will I do the next film? 

We’ll see how this one does like wise and such, but I will be doing the rise film whenever it comes out this year. So look for that and keep possesing turtle power my dudes. If you liked this review subscirbe for more, join my patreon to keep this blog a chugging, comission a review if you have more turtle stuff you want me to cover, and comment on this. What do you think of the movie, what are your thoughts on the review, what can I do better, what other turtle stuff would you like me to cover/ Let me know and i’ll see you at hte next rainbow. 

[awkweirdgaming]

What have been your personal highlights during the past console generations, of you can remember?

I think I have a few games for damn near every console I’ve owned that were personal highlights for me.

Super Nintendo

Final Fight (My first ever actual official console video game that I ever played and owned. It’s what truly opened the flood gates when it comes to video games for me and not only will it always hold a special place in my heart for that but it’s just really fun to play.)

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Tournament Fighters/Turtles In Time (I can’t even begin to sum up how much I enjoyed these TMNT games. Tournament Fighters for me at that time was like the best fighting game ever; what the fuck is even Street Fighter II Turbo? Also, Turtles In Time was like that direct connection to the animated series and I absolutely loved that series so as a TMNT fan these games were so far up my alley.)

Wolverine: Adamantium Rage (That’s always going to be a highlight if for nothing else that lit-ass theme/beat alone)

The Pagemaster (It was the game I got along with Final Fight and while I never did beat that game I really enjoyed the hell out of it. Not to mention the movie is a fucking gem.)

PlayStation

Mega Man Legends (To me that’s always going to be one of the best Mega Man iterations right next to Battle Network. It’s also my first PSOne game. Lemme tell you the level of triggered I am at the fact that it’s on PSN for PS3 along with the sequel which I never got to play but nowhere to be found on PS4. That is an absolute crime and this Mega Man deserves a lot more respect and appreciation.)

Legend of Legaia (That game just caught my attention almost instantly when those commercials started dropping. I just needed it, I needed to play it and I got it and I played it and it felt just as good as I had hoped......but I never made it too far for 2 very specific reasons. 1. Did not have a memory card, could not find a memory card and 2. The damn disc got damaged so I never got to get past the very first chapter and I never got to meet that game’s Brock and Misty. I had such a connection for this game and I never got to truly play it and that shit’s gonna stick with me for fucking ever. Could never manage to find that game again and my PSOne got stolen but that part comes later.)

Battle Arena Toshniden (Now when I say I was addicted to that game best believe I was ADDICTED to that game. A lot of the characters and voice lines of that game is still imprinted in my brain to this day. I played that thing more than any other fighting game around at that time. The characters just looked so cool to me and I loved the whole different set of weapons they came with. I was obsessed.)

PlayStation 2

Max Payne (My first rated M game as well as my first PS2 game in general. There was a level of anxiety that came with playing this game because it felt so down to earth compared to everything else I’ve played before and it was so gritty that the danger was just exuding through the screen. It never occurred to me at the time that I was playing a game that would later be considered as something that revolutionized the genre as well as the industry but damn if it wasn’t making so many impressions on me.)

Grand Theft Auto III/Vice City/San Andreas (The most I can say is those games were just so much fun and felt so freeing to play. I never knew sandbox games could be such a thing and from that point on it was a whole new world. I appreciate that PS4 actually has the ports for them because I’m kinda feeling the urge to go back. GTA III was always my personal most favorite out of the 3.)

Def Jam Vendetta/Fight For NY (Rappers/actors and fighting games. Sounds like a combo that should be absolute trash but damn if they didn’t nail that shit. I would love for them to be on PSN because I need to go back.)

Marvel Nemesis: Rise Of The Imperfects (I absolutely loved the way this game played and I loved the set up to it. It is just sorely underrated in my eyes. It was dark but it was absolutely fun and I appreciated how every character felt to play. Also, those destructive arenas and how wide they’d span was my shit.)

XBOX 360

Basically everything Valve: Portal/Portal 2/Left 4 Dead/Left 4 Dead 2/Team Fortress 2/Half Life 2 (”Whats inside the Orange Box?”. I had absolutely no love for ANYTHING first person shooter related because I NEEDED to see my character on screen. If I couldn’t see my character there was no point BUT that all changed when I played Left 4 Dead. That game drew me in so hard and so fast and what made that even more impressive is I was never about horror games either but now they got me hooked. So I’m out here living my L4D life and then that just perfect commercial starts playing on television. “What’s inside the Orange Box?”. From style to presentation they just nailed the perfect vibe because it immediately caught my attention and then I’m finding out it’s a collection of games that were done by the people who made my one of my most favorite games so I gotta jump it. Needless to say I was not disappointed. I feel in love with everything. What I am disappointed in, however, is Valve feeling as if they’re too good to be on consoles now. I would like to go back to a lot of these worlds but you ain’t gonna catch me burning my PC for it.)

And now I think I will stop here before I end up going on forever which would be very easy for me to do on this subject. So yeah; there are quite a few highlights for me that are just about impossible to forget. I haven’t even gotten to touch on the handhelds. Okay; I’ll touch on 2 very quickly.

Pokemon Blue for GameBoy Color (My first Gameboy and Pokemon game and the circumstances at which I got it makes it a very special memory for me.)

Mega Man: Battle Network for GameBoy Advance (It took 2 of my biggest interests which was Mega Man and the internet and brought them together in what was in my opinion a flawless execution. I love the style, I loved the characters, I loved the story and I loved the music. If I were to ever play a GameBoy game on my television it would be for the Battle Network series.)

[strawberrymilkloadingscreen]

Painting Part 1 (A Rise TMNT Fic)

You got the call right after coming home from work. You’d barely stripped out of your work uniform when your phone rang. A quick glance at the phone and you felt all the energy sap out of you at the mere picture of Mikey’s grinning face. You tossed yourself into your bed, and brought the covers firmly around your person.

“I’ll go tomorrow. If it’s an emergency I’ll hear something explode.”

Ring!

Ring!

Ring!

You groaned and grabbed your phone off the floor and did your best to whisper, not wanting to wake April up if she was still in the house. “Yeah?”

“It’s an emergency!”

With those simply words you struggled into your jeans, and barely had your shirt over your head before you dashed out the door. A few blocks later and some shimmying you managed to get into the sewer and made your way into the lair.

“What’s the emergency? Someone die? Food poisoning? Need an exorcism?”

Everyone in the lair stared at you for a long moment, and you felt heat creeping up your neck and engulfing your face. You scanned the room until your eyes landed on Mikey’s grinning face sitting under a heat lamp.

“You better be dying. I just got off work. I have my internship with my group in six hours. I haven’t eaten-“

The words are hardly out of your mouth before Raph is plucking you up, and dumping you under the heat lamps. Pizza is shoved on your lap, and a bottle of your favorite drink is rolled beside your knee. “You need to take better care of yourself. Bustin’ in here and not even eating dinner? Are you trying to run yourself into the ground?”

“I mean I’m here aren’t I?”

Leo snickered from his spot and held out a fist which you bumped. “See, they get it.”

Mikey sat up and pulled a box out of nowhere. “Hey, so we were gonna go to this art-con thing tomorrow, and we decided to go ahead and paint our shells. We need an extra pair of hands to help.”

“And you couldn’t wait for tomorrow?”

“It’ll take forever to paint and then dry our shells. We’re full grown turtles, Danger. Not kiddies.”

“… You called me at midnight to paint your shells?”

“Yeah.”

“That is fucking awesome.” You yanked the box, and began digging through it. Paints in every shade, large paint brushes, and several types of glitter were all over the box. “So what type of design were ya’ll going for?”

“I dunno, Raph wanted to do rainbows, and Leo isn’t sure yet, and Donie doesn’t wanna do one.”

You tilted your head back to look at the turtle relaxing in the water. “You didn’t want your shell painted?”

“Ha ha, no.”

You shrugged and grabbed a bottle of glitter and a paintbrush. “So who am I painting?”

Mikey threw a few cotton balls at Donnie. “You sure you don’t want them to paint your shell, bro? They have glitttter~.”

“For the thousandth time NO.”

Mikey opened his mouth, but you pat his shoulder as you stood up and went over to Raph. “It’s okay, dude. Let’s start on Raph, and then we can get working on you. Fair?”

He grinned and grabbed the box before scrambling over to his brother. Raph had picked a rainbow for his shell, and the two of you diligently worked on it while Leo ‘directed’. It was really shaping up to look like a gorgeous piece, and you were a little jealous you couldn’t just run around with a giant paintable shell yourself.

Lost in your thoughts, you didn’t pay much attention to what you were doing until you felt a hand grab your wrist. You paused and looked up at Leo with a raised eyebrow. “Yeah?”

“Looks like you cut yourself on Raph’s shell. Might wanna clean that since, you know, we live in a sewer.”

The words hardly left the turtle’s mouth before Raph was spinning around and looking over your wrist in worry. “Seriously- I mean why? I was still!”

You take your hand back gently, and rub the blood off on your paint splattered pants. “It’s okay, dude. It happens. My skin is just pretty fragile for the most part. No worries.”

“I guess? Are you sure you’ll be okay? I can wash it off! We could get Donnie to whip up some kind of super pain killer in the lab.”

“No and no. Humans can only take so much before their brain fries.” The scientist of the group heaved himself out of the water, and knelt down in front of you to examine it. “Also, this is paint.”

“No wonder it doesn’t hurt.”

You turned back to Raph, only to pout when he took a step back from you. “No offense, but I think I’m good.”

“Awe, I didn’t get to finish.”

“It’s okay, I only got to put the metallics on his spikes.” Mikey gave you a thumb’s up. “I’ll be done in a sec. Maybe start on Leo?”

“I guess.”

Said turtle went over to the heat lamp and laid on his front. “Paint me like one of your French turtles.”

“Like a soup?”

“… Touche.”

You knelt down beside him with some of the paints. “Anyway, what did you want on your shell?”

“Maybe just a few planets. I saw the new comic series for Jupiter Jim today, and it had a bunch of planets and stuff on the cover.”

You grin at that, and decide to start on a fire sun in the middle of his shell. “I thought you hated the reboot.”

“This leaves off Jupiter Jim and the Moon Queen Seven. Not even a reboot. It’s like one of those ‘hidden adventures’-“

Leo went on to ramble for a bit as you painted his shell. His love for nerdy space comics had crept into his adult years, and you found it admirable he had no shame in his hobbies. That went for all the brothers though, if you were being honest. Even if they mellowed out a little in their own ways, otherwise they were still the passionate people you had met during your late teens.

You gave a soft sigh as you finished up Leo and leaned back on your palms as you admired your work. “Looks good. Should dry quick since you’re under the hell lights.”

“It’s freezing, how are these even close to ‘hell lights’.”

“You’re cold blooded, dude. I’m not.”

You wiggled out from under the lights, before stretching out and absorbing the cool leaking through the cracked concrete of the floor. “You want me to paint you next Mikey?”

“You look like you’re gonna pass out. Maybe you should take a nap?”

You grunted when Donnie poked you with one of his extension claw things. “They’re dehydrated too.”

“I’m fine, just need to rest my eyes for a quick second.”

“Didn’t you say we could hit you if you slept flat on the ground again?” Leo asked. “I call dibs!”

You pursed your lips as you remember that tidbit. You had said it in jest, mostly, and were more than a little surprised Leo remembered something you said almost three years ago now. Jeez, where’d the time go? With a soft groan you rolled a few feet away until your body hit the water. Muffled shouting echoed through the water before a pair of hands grabbed you by your torso. You broke the water, and found yourself pressed against something rigid and warm.

“Did you seriously have to be that dramatic? You could have died? Even worse you could have given Raph a panic attack.”

There was probably no reason to be gobsmacked that Donnie of all people had saved you. It wasn’t that he was a cruel or vindictive person. Actually, sometimes you thought he was pretty fucking rad. However, he was what one would call ‘petty’ and ‘preoccupied’ even at the best of times.

You blinked when Mikey poked your nose with a glitter stained figure. “She’s in shock! We should get her to the hospital!”

“Ya’ll I’m fine.” You rubbed the glitter, only for it to transfer onto your hand. “I swear ya’ll are the most ridiculous people I met.”

“Us? You just tried to sleep in water! What are you, a fish?”

You craned your neck back to look Leo dead in the eye. “Would you flush me away if I was.”

You were promptly dropped on the ground as Leo lunged for you, but the scuffling and noogies were totally worth it if it was with the people you called family.

[chroniclesofcake]

TMNT- Elemental Collision [Ch. 2]

*Yes, this is my story that I had gotten from my dA account, written a while ago in 2014*

I’ll be posting more of this story, dw :)

In this AU, they are not related whatsoever!!!

Chapter 2: Crouching on the ground, the blue eyed terrapin was still in agony from the previous events. Leo, the older forest green turtle, tried to soothe his newly matched with slow hand motions on Mikey’s shell. Tears were still leaking out, leaving salty streaks etched on the youth’s face. This whole experience had felt too surreal to Michelangelo. Who was still unable to process what had just taken place.   “Leo, what happened to me? I’ve never felt this much of power in my life,” Mikey felt exhaustion tingle throughout his body. The older terrapin looked Mikey straight in the eyes, his deep voice resonating, “Don’t worry my lovely, this is normal for beginners to have energy blasts of uncontrolled power.” Feeling heat rise to his cheeks, Mikey awkwardly turned away. “So you know what I am, Leo?” Mikey felt a cold sensation developing in his stomach. “If I’m correct, you have the air element,” Leo carefully collected.   “Yeah, that’s right,” Mikey’s back was still facing the warrior turtle. He couldn't bare to look at Leo, knowing all the damage he had inflicted on everyone at the bonfire. However, something didn't click right with Mikey. How in the world did Leo know about the element power, and wasn't freaked out by it. Most people would have ran by now. For example, five minutes ago. “Well, what about you, Royal Lackey? What’s your element?” Mikey turned around, revealing ice cold blue eyes. Shocked at his response, Leo kept quiet. “Oh come on, you don’t expect me to believe that you know this stuff from a sheer chance,” the young terrapin darkly laughed. “You’re more intelligent than you appear to be,” the older turtle’s smirk was inching on his face. Mikey had no doubt that Leo was stalling, trying to butter him up. “It’s not about being intelligent, it’s called paying attention, now start talking,” Mikey flustered. Fidgeting in his seat, Leo looked away from the young turtle. He couldn’t bare to look Mikey straight in the face. “Damn, this is gonna be a little harder than I thought,” Leo muttered to himself. “Leo, stop muttering and tell me what the hell just happened,” Mikey growled, not pleased with the night’s events that had taken place. This wait was slowly numbing him down. “Alright Mikey, I guess I have no choice but to tell you what I know,” Leo brought his gaze back up to the air element’s eyes. Mustering all of his courage, Leo breathed out. “I’m one of the four elemental beings, my element being Water,” Leo explained. Not believing his ears, Mikey felt his heart plummet to his stomach. Mikey knew there was something unusual with the older terrapin, but he didn't know that it would be something this extensive. “Oh, and it gets even bigger than that.” Leo added on Mikey sat down on the cold sandy ground, looking up at the older warrior terrapin. Leo then kneeled in front of the the young turtle so they would meet eye level. “Mikey, what just happen was the element equilibrium, which only happens when someone of the elemental beings find their other half.” Leo’s voice echoed out through the night. Mikey wanted to intervene, but the warrior marked turtle wasn't letting up. “There are legends that say of 4 deities of the Earthly Elements that controlled the world in harmony. However, one deity could never control a single area alone, unless it’s with his partner. Each element is partnered according to the compatibility of the elements together. Wind is a very uplifting power, but it doesn't have a direct direction on where to go. It can go anywhere. But water has a direction, which helps guide air to a specific designation. Both elements work together in harmony. Same with the other elements, which are earth and fire.” Leo’s eyes turned into a clearer blue, showing his enthusiasm. “So you’re telling me that I’m the reincarnated wind deity? And that I’m now your partner?” Mikey face flashed red with rage. “Whoa, what’s going on? I thought you would be happy about this?” Leo eyes changed from a cheery blue to a murky grayish blue. Rage was filling the younger terrapin like a flood, his teeth grinding, and fists clenched. “Who the hell said I would be happy about this! I’m stuck to an asshole as my partner and everyone thinks I'm a freak! Just get away from me,” Mikey screamed out, feeling the air surrounding the two swirl around him. Leonardo couldn't believe his eyes at what he was being shown. His partner was rejecting him. At that very moment, he felt a snap within himself.Something about that made him furious, it was as if he were a boiling pot of water that was about to burst into steam. “Listen you little bitch, you don’t want to get on my bad side. I know you hate me, but if we don’t make this work, the world might face calamity!” Leo growled out, not afraid to be cross with his unaccepting partner. “Little BITCH, Who the hell are YOU calling!-” Mikey was about to rip him a new one until the sound of arrows reached his ears. “Run,” Mikey yelped and grabbed Leo by the hand and scurried out of the city into the forest. The adrenaline started to kick in as the two unlikely partners dug deeper into the dense rain forests. Screams and shouts of the civilians echoed through the trees, waking the frightened birds. The two made it to a small rocky cave, which had jagged rocks at the entrance to protect who or whatever was inside. Mikey was found in the corner of the cave, hugging his knees for dear life. Why did bad things always happen when Mikey was involved? As the shouts and footsteps quieted down, Mikey’s heart returned to a steady pace. However, something warm enwrapped him from the back. Slowly turning his neck, the young sea green turtle eyes connected with his significant other’s. Leo couldn’t bare to see the hurt in his little terrapin’s eyes any longer. “Leo, why do bad things always happen when we’re together?” Mikey murmured as he nuzzled into Leo’s neck. The warmth from the young wind deity emitted onto Leo, allowing a subtle growl to be released. “I really don’t know Love, maybe this is just how the universe is challenging us” Leo whispers into Mikey’s ear. Mikey froze and scooted away from Leo, and whispered with panic “How the heck are you doing that?” Leo looked at the young riled up turtle up with confusion, “What are you talking about, what am I doing?” Michelangelo was shocked, which turned into anger, “The whole ‘Make Mikey into a helpless puddle for you’ charade! I’m sick of it!”  Mikey then got up and made a sharp turn away from Leo and ventured deeper into the cave. Leaving the older terrapin in the dust. Leo rose up from his seat of jagged stones, and pinched his temples in frustration. This is going to be harder than he had anticipated.

[daleisgreat]

Hell Comes to Frogtown, Grunt: The Wrestling Movie, I Like to Hurt People

It has been a spell since I logged an ‘intentionally bad gifted movie’ entry. For newer readers here, my buddy Matt and I have a long tradition of gifting each other bad movies for Christmas and birthdays, and it least gives me something to rag on here about. Past entries here meeting this bad gift criteria consist of my coverage for Bounty Hunters, Hercules: Reborn and The Tooth Fairy 1 & 2. We have eased up on it this past year or two, but I still have a few sitting in the backlog box and will be covering a video today that is a three-for-one on a disc special titled ‘Wrestling Superstars Triple Feature’. Now we all may be familiar with WWE pushing wrestlers in its movie division going back 16 years, but wrestlers have been in bad straight-to-video films long before that and this disc features 1988’s Hell Comes to Frogtown (trailer), 1985’s I Like to Hurt People (trailer), and 1985’s Grunt: The Wrestling Movie (trailer). I originally watched Hell Comes to Frogtown with Matt on one of our ritual bad movie nights several years ago. It stars Roddy Piper as Sam Hell, fresh off his success in John Carpenter’s They Live. This is a cracked out post-apocalyptic movie where nuclear fallout radiation makes Hell one of the last few non-sterile males. The government discovers him and makes him a deal against his will to contract him to…..traverse the nuclear wastes and impregnate as many women as possible in order to restore the dwindling human population….seriously. The movie tries to not make Hell come off as a creepy serial rapist by having Piper deliver some meek attempts at sympathy and breaking prisoners out of a gang’s Road Warrior-esque facility. This is ridiculously bad, but in a 80s campy-fun sort of way so if you are into so-bad-they-are-good movies, especially two brew-skis in, then Hell Comes to Frogtown will not disappoint.

I Like to Hurt People is a unique beast. It barely comes off as a motion picture and feels more like something I would make if I was a young proactive filmmaker in my teens and decided to make a movie about wrestling and had no idea about assembling a cohesive plot whatsoever. That is essentially I Like to Hurt People which shows several condensed matches interspersed with backstage interviews, TV production staff losing it while trying to keep the wrestlers in check and fans being interviewed outside the ring who are all hyped up for a night at the wrasslin’ matches. I love the geriatric 80s rock soundtrack that plays nearly nonstop throughout the film that brought back fond memories of Miami Connection’s mesmerizing score. 80s NWA/Crockett fans will get a thrill with the nonstop cameos featuring stars like Terry Funk, Dusty Rhodes, The Sheik, Dick the Bruiser, Abdullah the Butcher and Andre the Giant. A controversial non-finish in the main event between Dick the Bruiser and The Sheik is followed up with an interview in the car with Sheik and his manager the Grand Wizard, where Wizard promises revenge in a cage match....and then I Like to Hurt People promptly ends. Again, this does not feel like a complete movie and is difficult to properly judge as a whole, but that aside it was fun to take in and get a dose of the fervor of southern mid-80s wrestling fandom that I Like to Hurt People encapsulates to a T.

While I Like to Hurt People feels like what my first wrestling movie would be like with barely any filmmaking under my belt, Grunt: The Wrestling Movie feels like what my third or fourth wrestling-adjacent film would be like if I got full of myself and would conjure up a silly Disaster Artist-esque plot over a weekend I thought would be a masterpiece, but instead was nonstop bonkers. There is a crazy 1979 flashback backstory in the opening minutes explaining why controversial wrestler ‘Mad Dog Joe’ was thought to have committed suicide after decapitating an opponent in a title defense. Fast forward six years later when the promotion’s management finally decide to vacate Joe’s title and hold a battle royal to crown a new champion. The film then follows a documentary crew who are obsessed that Joe is still alive and will return at the battle royal. Lots of shenanigans ensue as the documentary crew interviews multiple people who harass them and turn them away, with a standout scene transpiring at a hot-button, public access political talk show. Eventually everything culminates at the battle royal, but nothing can save this train wreck. Grunt: The Wrestling Movie takes itself way too seriously, and is not even campy-cheesy-bad, but instead the undesirable straight-up-bad. Avoid this one in the DVD bargain bin at all costs. As a whole, Wrestling Superstars Triple Feature is a semi-decent package, which is glowing praise when compared to this DVD’s cover art! Hell Comes to Frogtown is prime cheesy bad movie night material and I Like to Hurt People is something I would throw in to have on in the background with fellow wrestling fans. Grunt is a complete waste, but as the old adage goes, two out of three isn’t bad! Other Random Backlog Movie Blogs 3 12 Angry Men (1957) 12 Rounds 3: Lockdown 21 Jump Street The Accountant Angry Video Game Nerd: The Movie Atari: Game Over The Avengers: Age of Ultron The Avengers: Infinity War Batman: The Dark Knight Rises Batman: The Killing Joke Batman: Mask of the Phantasm Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice Bounty Hunters Cabin in the Woods Captain America: Civil War Captain America: The First Avenger Captain America: The Winter Soldier Christmas Eve Clash of the Titans (1981) Clint Eastwood 11-pack Special The Condemned 2 Countdown Creed Deck the Halls Detroit Rock City Die Hard Dredd The Eliminators The Equalizer Dirty Work Faster Fast and Furious I-VIII Field of Dreams Fight Club The Fighter For Love of the Game Good Will Hunting Gravity Guardians of the Galaxy Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2 Hercules: Reborn Hitman Indiana Jones 1-4 Ink The Interrogation Interstellar Jay and Silent Bob Reboot Jobs Joy Ride 1-3 Major League Man of Steel Man on the Moon Man vs Snake Marine 3-6 Merry Friggin Christmas Metallica: Some Kind of Monster Mortal Kombat National Treasure National Treasure: Book of Secrets Not for Resale Pulp Fiction The Replacements Reservoir Dogs Rocky I-VII Running Films Part 1 Running Films Part 2 San Andreas ScoobyDoo Wrestlemania Mystery The Secret Life of Walter Mitty Shoot em Up Slacker Skyscraper Small Town Santa Steve Jobs Source Code Star Trek I-XIII Sully Take Me Home Tonight TMNT The Tooth Fairy 1 & 2 UHF Veronica Mars Vision Quest The War Wild Wonder Woman The Wrestler (2008) X-Men: Apocalypse X-Men: Days of Future Past

[brightlotusmoon]

Hello! List 5 things that make you happy, then put this in the ask box for the last 10 people who reblogged something from you! Learn to know your mutual and followers! :3 (don't need to do it if you don't want to)

1. Neurotransmitters working correctly. I can't make my own so I use store bought, it's fine.

2. Cats. My cats. All cats. Kittens. I need a box of kittens, stat.

3. Fanfiction. Ninja Turtles fanfiction. Mikey fanfiction. Mikey angst fanfiction that gives him ADHD and psychic empathy and real emotional intelligence with epic wisdom. I've been doing this for thirty years don't make me stop now, it's how I cope. I love my sunshine child.

4. Chocolate. Preferably just plain milk or dark. Do you have any?

5. Being loved and loving in return. Hugs, give me hugs. It's dopamine, I crave it. Yes, I'm one of those autistics who loves hugs, big tight hugs that can soothe my ADHD crow brain because I get to focus on the shiny that is you rather than the shiny that is oh shit is that the depression shadow monster lurking back there.

-

I don't know who to tag but they're probably other people in the TMNT fandom. I dunno.

This fandom makes me happy. It's not toxic like some people assume, it never was, not in the thirty years I've been involved. It just occasionally has some folks who get brought in by newer iterations who start bullying thus spreading toxicity a little, usually over headcanons where the characters represent marginalized identities, which doesn't make any sense because these characters aren't even human and are animal based mutants specifically turtles which let's face it will do all sorts of bizarre things and don't need to be compared to humans who naturally fuck up each other just because someone doesn't look or behave certain ways.

I prefer corvids. And felines. And vulpines. My first real online fanfic OC* was a mutated calico cat human with my own disabilities and orientations and I made her into Mikey's best friend and then surprise lover and then surprise polyamory, because my writerbrain is Like That a lot.

I have a new OC who is a fennec fox humanoid mutant again same hat as the other and I wish I could eat strawberries all day and bounce around and nibble a person's hand to show I love them. I nibble my own hand when I'm anxious, but I'm autistic ADHD and that's stimming and it's my hand though. Oh, and a human OC, same hat, for another AU. Which reminds me that AU fics are Alternate Universe headcanons and not canon thus why the heckity hells do people threaten each other anyway, it's fantasy and we don't own it, we just play pretend and share it with each other in the hopes that we're not alone in wanting to commiserate all these nifty ideas and theories and squee when we connect and curl up when we get scolded; and the very fact that we get threatened because we have shared fiction ideas that will never work out in the real world is a sad fact I still can't wrap my head around, you would think after my literal twenty years on internet platforms I would understand everything but nah. Even the various official creators and different creators coming from fandom into franchise had the same thoughts and I remember the conversations where they said how confused they were too at fans trying to hurt each other, nobody took it so seriously. So I guess what makes me happy is seeing fans open up to each other, make creative content that resonates, rising above bullying that comes from the bullies' own fear and revulsion and hatred and conflation of ideas that shouldn't be the same but they're probably sheltered and naive anyway so I don't hate back, I was sheltered too and I'm still naive. And it's funny and weird how I easily lose working memory yet random long term storage memories keep surfacing. What makes me happy is that I still have a whole mind, full of stuff, brain all wrinkly with knowledge which makes me think of Jason from The Good Place talking about how smooth brains don't have much knowledge or information, and there goes my crow brain again, I really think I want to nickname ADHD and change it to Cognitive Attentive Tempo Syndrome, I have CATS in my brain, my brain is a Kinetic Cognitive Style room full of cats and there's toys everywhere.

I'm happy my disabled body is still standing and moving after forty years since my birth at 26 weeks back when nobody knew anything, and in a couple of months it'll be 41, and there will be even more information and education and I want to be a test subject, an example, of living fairly well past the life expectancy that they used to assume for cerebral palsy and for autism and for ADHD all separate so imagine it all at once, and the neoteny that comes with each, plus now EDS, and wow I'm giving myself so much serotonin just thinking all this, because there's also major depressive disorder that hell might be cyclothymia I dunno I'll talk to my doctors, and then there's temporal lobe epilepsy that a lot of people just die from at all ages, and I've become such an advocate and activist and alive and forever pro choice and autonomy, and my parents still adore the hell out of each other and me, and I'm teaching them through my advocacy just as they taught me, and I don't think I could ever do public speaking but maybe in a nursing college, a disability advocate speaker? Because there is always everything to learn and relearn and discover and uncover and it's important to be able to change our minds and our thinking and our habits and our coping strategies and our understanding of how things work because nothing is static everything progresses, even cerebral palsy which is surprisingly a thing that while static and progressive still leads to changing neurobiological and neuromuscular updates via neuroplasticity, my physical therapist calls me unique among all his patients, a Variable when there shouldn't be, and it makes me happy that we are discovering things about my neuropsychology and musculoskeletal system that nobody ever considered, and I want to be around to see medical science make all sorts of conclusions that could help others like me.

What makes me happy is learning, connecting, passing on knowledge, being cautiously optimistic in this nihilistic sense of how everything matters in the nothingness where nothing matters intrinsically but each small thing matters on the surface, extrinsic, how it is seen and felt and considered. People forget what existential nihilism supposed to mean. I may not matter in the totality, but I matter in the little bits that count for others like me, and that makes me happy.

[brendancorris]

The Rise of the TMNT First Thoughts

Being that Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles has always been, what I consider, my biggest fandom, I feel it’s only natural I leave my two cents on what we know so far of their upcoming 4th animated series, Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and what everybody’s been saying about it recently.

So the official designs were finally release, and of course, everybody’s mad, freaking out, and acting as if all hope for humanity is gone. I’ll be honest, the character designs are not immediately appealing to me, but something needs to be clarified first...

The most common complaint I see is “the art style sucks”. Now, it’s fair to say that the style doesn’t appeal to you personally, but discrediting these obviously talented artists and their extremely expressive and lively style is just a lie and/or lack of any real knowledge of artistic skill. Is it an appropriate style for the TMNT? That’s up to you to decide for yourself, but saying it is bad artwork is just ignorant. 

Now, just to make things clear, I myself am not super into these designs, and feel the style isn’t the best representation of what TMNT is, but I’ll never say it’s bad, and will continue to stay optimistic. Let’s not forget that most of us, myself included, were hating on the 2012 series hardcore after its initial debut. While I still don’t find the art style choice or designs to be the most appealing in the 2012 series, there’s no denying it is an amazing series - arguably the best writing the franchise has ever had. While it isn’t MY Turtles, which will always be the 87 Turtles, it’s a damn good version, and one I’m proud to see younger generations grow up with.

But when we heard April and Casey were teens, saw the Turtle designs, saw how huge Splinter was, we all wrote off the 2012 series with having never see it. Once we saw it, then we had to eat our words. Let’s not walk into the same trap over and over again. In this day and age everybody’s so quick to give a severe black and white, night and day opinion on something before even knowing much about it. You’d think we’d get sick of constantly having to apologizing for judging something based on a picture reveal when it comes out. Not saying this in particular will turn out to be great. It might suck. But we can’t possibly know that yet, so let’s stay optimistic and at least happy that our favorite franchises are being kept alive and given consistent love through the generations. The age of the self-entitled, crabby, whiny man-baby/woman-baby nerds has to end. 

As for those concerned about the story changes, I get your concern. But, again, it isn’t the first time the team was completely re-worked. April and Casey Jones as teenage kids was already a crazy enough change in the 2012 series, but then take into account April was also part mutant which gave her psychic powers, and she discovered a gem she wore around her neck that brought out evil in her and strengthened her powers to be Thanos-level is a REALLY huge departure from the prior iterations, and a seemingly stupid as hell direction on paper. Hell, Irma was a teenager revealed to be a robot body for a Krang spy. They REALLY took their liberties in the 2012 series. Even one of the most popular additions, Don’s crush on April, was completely new for that series. 

My inner TMNT-fanchild does get a bit ticked when he hears that now Raph will be the leader and Leo will be cool and narcissistic, but we gotta remember what this is. Not only a new retelling for a new generation, but a retelling of a franchise that has been retold and severely altered dozens of times. No two Turtles stories add up. Also, this is being targeted strongly at little kids. Raph has always been the most marketable Turtle, the most iconic and widely referenced/recognized, and most popular among children, so making him the leader isn’t too shocking too me. Hell, even Partners in Kryme didn’t know Raph was’t the leader back in 1990 in the official film.

One thing I’ve heard a lot of hate for is the fact that April O’Neil is African American in the new series. It’s a difficult topic to touch upon, but I feel there’s good and bad points to it. The good is obviously getting more diverse representation in lovable, iconic roles in media, especially those for younger audiences. The bad, however, is like Stan Lee once said in regards to race-bending characters. Getting diversity in media is wonderful, but changing a pre-existing, well-established and celebrated character’s ethnicity simply to meet the quota is sort of a cheap shot. April, in all animated forms, has been a red-headed Irish girl I(hence the last name). It’s just as iconic to her as the fact that Leonardo wears blue and wields katana. Ethnicity, while a touchy subject, is a part of somebody. If they want diversity, they should add new characters of diverse backgrounds, or at least change lesser supporting roles, or at least that’s how I feel. Again, it’s a touchy subject, so I can totally understand somebody disagreeing, and that’s fine to do so.

Ultimately I feel everybody just needs to cool their jets on this. We see this happen SO often with franchises these days. The internet has sadly contributed towards heightening the selfishness of fandoms, and exaggerated opinions on everything. Every fan likes to think that their version is the definitive version, and that they are superior for liking the version they do. Everybody’s free to like what they like, and even if something you don’t care for comes out, it doesn’t take your version away from you. Each TMNT series ran for years. Whichever version you prefer, there is more than enough to watch to feed your hunger. 

So how do I feel? Hard to say. I never regularly watched episodes of any TMNT animated series outside of the 87 series, but I always give each show many viewings before judging it. While this is surely not my TMNT, nor do I predict it become a fandom of mine, I’m still hyped for it, staying optimistic, and impressed by the artwork, for the most part. This art style looks like it could really make way for some great action scenes. There are some changes I’m not sold on, like some of the altered weapons and personalities, but, again, there’s 30 years worth of TMNT content with the old weapons and personalities, and I’m still giving this show the benefit of the doubt before really seeing it. I’m actually really curious to see the villain designs. Shredder could look awesome in this style. And if they bring in Bebop and Rocksteady I’ll be pretty darrn happy. At the very least, this series is once again making me excited to see which of my childhood characters will return. Mondo Gecko? Rat King? Wyrm? Mona Lisa? Slash? The Neutrinos? I’d love to see how this unique re-imagining could put a new spin on  old favorites, and breathe new life into my favorite cast of mutants since 1987.

Here’s staying positive, and let’s not make the pre-release Sonic Boom mistake twice. That cartoon turned out to be comedy GOLD (and actually my favorite Sonic cartoon to date).

And PLEASE, let’s remember there are far greater wrongs being done in the world than cartoon characters being redesigned.