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quailxcrossing · 7 days ago

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SNIFFLES AT YOU hiii i just saw your oc ask thing i am rubbing my little hands together like a fly im gonna copy and paste these emojis i hope they dont break lol 🌠 Leah ☀️ Imogen 🌙 Maiceo 🌒 Maiceo again if thats allowed 🌔 Auï ⭐ Fracture 🌟 Evie 🌙 Esperanza

HELLO!!!!!! :3c

🌠 - What is your OC’s greatest desire and how far are they willing to go to obtain it?

Leah just wants to be happy and chill, man. she's actually quite wayward right now; her life sorta got uprooted and her habits got switched up on her. she isn't sure what she wants right now either...neither would she be certain how far she would be willing to go. right now, just moving through the motions of life is enough...she's def a character who went through a lot and now she's just trying to pick up her life again. i suppose that is a desire of its own!

☀️ - How well does your OC deal with isolation?

Imogen deals with it BAD she deals with it really bad. she hates being alone she hates people leaving her she hates the idea of being by herself and having no one around and having no one to talk to!! she is constantly seeking her dads or her dad's friends out to speak to, she needs reassurance, she needs people.....

🌙 - If given the chance, what is one thing about their life your OC would change permanently? BARKS.

Maiceo would change their card, thus changing their position as the Hierophant. this is a desire that Maiceo has that is so deep that Maiceo doesn't even realize they have it, it is so ingrained in how they think and behave, yet so deeply ANTITHETICAL to their entire mental structure that them realizing they would want to do this would break them completely :P :3 being the Hierophant is all they know and all they ever think they could be, and to wish it away is so against what the Hierophant represents, but oh how badly they do wish they were anyone else.

if given the chance, Esperanza would go back and redo her actions which lead to her survival and revival. she would do this to give back a life to her friend, who she believes deserves it more than she does. maybe doing this would finally smother her guilt

🌒 - Under what circumstances is your OC their most genuine self?

This really made me think "does Maiceo really have a genuine self anymore?" but i think I just realized Maiceo's genuine self is just rather unpleasant. standoffish, invasive, living on a hair trigger, paranoid, stressed, self-flagellating, miserable- Maiceo is all of these things quite often. always, even. Maiceo has a second genuine self, but I want to stress this one does not make the first any less real. Maiceo's FALSE self- the self-important, smug, professional Hierophant- THAT is a mask. Maiceo's second genuine self is similar to the first, although it is also thoughtful, inquisitive, considerate, awkward, and dramatic. this side of Maiceo only comes out in tiny slices when it can be alone with Georgiana, which is not often, or occasionally when around Esperanza, although she often gets the Hierophant mask. Maiceo tries to keep Esperanza away from the first Maiceo. They tried the same for Georgiana, but they had a way to make Maiceo break down (this used to be a good thing, but became sour over the years)

sorry i just. fucking looove Maiceo its horrible how much i love maiceo its ruining everything

🌔 - Does your OC take well to intimacy or are they pricklier than a cactus?

Auï loves intimacy, he is highly affectionate!!! he does give a bit of a front he's prickly, but i think thats just. in comparison to Goat. Goat makes Auï look like he hates smiles and rainbows and kittens. but Goat is not a fair comparison. Auï is just a very sweet guy who is very lovey to all of his friends, he loves to give gifts and is incredibly thoughtful about his choices and he pays a lot of attention to those around him! he loves snuggling too, touch is his main love language (which i remember so fondly makes my friend SO mad at me, because i took touching others away from him for years, but thats just the story idk...)

⭐ - What do people assume about your OC? Do they question the quality of their character? WITH TURRIE THIS IS SO EASY. BECAUSE PEOPLE ASSUME SHIT ABOUT HER ALL THE TIME

she is just a little gal. i know this. but i think on first glance, in real life and in the story, a lot of people assume "oh she's the little sunshine of the group" or WORSE "oh she's the mom friend" she's NOT there is not Mom Friend these people are UNPARENTED (honestly if anyone, Auï is the closest, but he's more of the Older Brother Friend) Turrie is not the mom and she is not tiny and sweet and innocent, she's terrified of everything so she locks into people-pleaser mode but deep down she's a highly competitive med student who signed up to do experiments on a human test subject and only freaked out when she was already in so deep and she feared for her life and that FUCKED HER UP.

sorry i have so many thoughts about how Turrie is portrayed, but i love it bc everyone is falling for her trap

🌟 - What is your OC’s drive to action, their call to adventure?

Evie's call to action is kinda just what the ask said honestly! she is very called to adventure! she idolizes travellers and brave knights and monsterhunters and she wants more than being confined to the Pewter City! she wants to protect her best friend as she goes on her own journey, and she wants to see the world!!!!! please please let her out of here!!!!! she wants to touch grass, she's never seen it before

#quail talks #i love my characters thank you so much #i love maiceo....thank you for letting me talk about tuesday OCs

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rottmnt-residuum · 2 months ago

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Hi, I've read the Residuum comic, and I think the characterization of the boys is really good. I was wondering if you have any tips on how to write them? Especially Mikey, please.

I'd actually recommend re-watching the show with one character in mind. All my notes on the turtles come from doing separate re-watches for each of them. The key is to ONLY watch the character you are focusing on.

In the end, you'll probably be happier with your own personal interpretation. As we are with ours lol

TL;DR

Massive post under the cut

To preface: we'll be contrasting (this Mikey) against the fandoms version of Mikey, as our interpretation is very different. Don't worry if you prefer the fandom version, there's nothing… wrong per se with writing him this way. We just find him flat and uninteresting. (Main author: not me, I just hate him, lol).

Every reader or fan comes into a story with their own biases and experiences. A ton of our view of Mikey is based on how our siblings acted. We see Mikey as the young sibling that got preferential treatment from the whole family, simply due to being the youngest, but is now aging out of the privilege. Which all youngest siblings do at some point or another.

The fandoms version of Mikey is empathetic, naive, vulnerable, co-dependent and quite often a door mat who cries at the drop of a hat. And as much as the fandom like to say that people love him… when this particular character archetype is in other media, they seem to attract the most criticism. Mable pines, Bolin from Korra, people rag on Aang all the fucking time, and Steven Universe is a whole other bag. These characters don't deserve it, and yet it happens anyway.

To flatten Mikey to simply 'the baby' is a disservice. We don't see or write Mikey as the fandom “baby” version (cinnamon roll uwu). Part of this comes from having multiple siblings, so we interpret the times when Mikey does the puppy dog eyes as typical younger sibling bullshit, mostly by the way that the other turtles rarely react to it, if at all.

The other turtles traits can also get projected onto Mikey. Mikey being the fandom therapist is in the same category as this. He isn't a therapist, he's a psychology nerd who likes to psychoanalyze people and meddle in their relationships. (Donnie and Shelldons relationship, Splinter and Draxums...) he's not trying to resolve your emotional issues. Of the turtles, the character that cares the most about people's feelings is Raph. And Leo is more of a consoler than Mikey ever is. It flattens all the turtle's characterizations when you start doing this because you are ripping out parts that are integral to another characters' complexity.

Co-author has told me that they've seen people become confused when going into the show after only reading fan fiction or coming from the movie. They see his characterization as inconsistent and become upset when their view of him is contradicted. This also happens when a fandomized version of him becomes the primary characterization that they use. Sometimes when this disconnect happens (or if they just don't like the character), Mikey characterization is swung in the complete opposite direction.

They make him manipulative and abusive, or someone who is hyper violent and avoids being held accountable for anything. This is an uncharitable interpretation of him and can come off as pretty racist depending on the circumstances. (like if someone considers the turtles black or not)

Every version of Mikey is a shithead (affectionate), even this one. Especially this one, really. When Mikey not doing the "baby schtick" hes mean. If you pay attention to what he's saying, and just not his tone of voice, he's consistently saying pretty mean or condescending stuff. (You could take this as simply naïveté, but he still says mean shit pretty often regardless)

The times he does say genuinely nice stuff the turtles don't exactly expect it from him, at least, in the early season. And while he is mean, and seems to find saying mean things to be funny, Mikey isn't cruel. Nor will he ever be.

This shit-headery behavior is found in both 2003 and 18 Mikey. They have a degree of social intelligence that lets them use it to annoy people into doing what they want. 18 just has the advantage of being baby faced and having better tonal control. He's good at using people's perception of him to get what he wants.

Let Mikey have his problematic traits, but don't overexaggerate them. He doesn't revel in fooling people. He loves doing character bits, and the baby faced one just happens to be one of them. However, to infantilize or to deem him incompetent is to piss him off, he wants to be viewed as a competent part of the team and competent as an individual. He's not insecure about being young, he just doesn't want to be treated like he can't do anything.

Mikey above all is an optimistic character, he sees the brighter side quite often and is conscious of the harm his actions have on people. Mostly after the fact, but he consistently attempts to rectify the harm he has personally done to peoples lives. (Todd, Bullhop, Draxum). Food and shelter seems to be a thing that he considers to be a right. He doesn't cross a boundary twice once he learns of it, and he never pushes people too far (if he likes you, that is. if he doesn't know you or doesn't like you, he doesn't give a singular shit. But that is standard to most people.). He doesn't care about people's stuff, though. He breaks things all the time.

Mikey understands boundaries, but he doesn't automatically recognize them. He needs them to verbalized or for there to be a very obvious reaction to the boundary being crossed (unfortunately, for Todd and Donnie). Sometimes people mess up (esp. younger people), and it can take a while for teens to learn where boundary is, but he fully respects the boundaries he does know about. He doesn't act petulant when he's told about boundary, he apologizes, accepts it, and moves on. He doesn't dwell.

Mikey doesn't hold on to distressing emotions. He bounces between emotions quickly, but isn't effected in the long run. One thing Iv'e seen people often conflate is the difference between sensitive and vulnerable. Mikey is sensitive, but I have never seen him vulnerable to others. To be sensitive is to be easily influenced by the current situation. To be vulnerable is to hold that influence for a long time. Characters can have one, both, or neither of these traits. But Mikey is not vulnerable. It is the difference between compressing memory foam and a piece of metal until they deform. One will pop back, the other does not.

Those who are vulnerable but not sensitive will take longer to effect, but once you do, they will hold on to that emotion for a very long time. The vulnerable, are grudge holders. (leo). But like I've said, Mikey bounces back. What a character does has an effect on his emotions, but it doesn't make a lasting impression.

Forgiveness is another thing people like to push on him. It is not that Mikey forgives people easily, it's just that he doesn't hold grudges. He neither forgives nor forgets, but he does not ruminate. He's generally affable, first impressions seem to be a big part of how he views people. He is idealistic, and doesn't assume people are unchanging and/or evil, but he's not a mark.

Mikey isn't so much as naive or overly trusting… it's just that he's inexperienced. He doesn't get fooled by anyone in the series except meat sweats, and that's because Meatsweats is on Todd drugs. Mikey just didn't notice when he started faking. He's not… actually all that aware of people's emotional states, passively. He has to tune in to notice things like that.

Mikey isn't someone who really tries to regulate others emotions, either. The fandom like to make Mikey afraid of his brothers fighting and others being upset, but Mikey doesn't actually care. The most distressed we ever see him in a fight is in the movie, and he's not SCARED, he's just concerned (and then alarmed once it turned physical). If anything, outside extenuating circumstances (like the movie), Mikey actually seems to find their fights annoying.

(Mikey actually seems to have a pretty short fuse, but his bounciness doesn't really let it linger very long, lmao)

(One pet peeve of fandom Mikey is the constant crying, crying at fights, crying at insults, crying for no reason all the time. Sure, he tears up when he gets emotional, but when Mikey is genuinely crying It's when he's desperate, like when he's hungry, or when he's trying to save Leo from certain doom. Same thing, really.)

Mikey respects no one (we love him for this). He admires people, he admires his family: April, the turtles, his dad, Lou Jitsu. He admires Rupert Swaggert, but he respects none of them. No one is sacrosanct to the Mikey.

Above all, the way we write characters is to give them a past that informs how they act now. We view Mikey and the other turtles as teenagers that were kids, and that will be adults. Yes they all have “problematic” traits, but 1) good characters need flaws, and controversial traits are one of the best to use, and 2) they're teenagers, don't expect adult behaviors from them, also don't expect them to be kids. They're minors, not toddlers.

This is getting as long enough as it is, so we'll stop here, but this is a very broad overview of how we characterize him. There's a lot we didn't cover here, but if we even started on hobbies, or the real minutia of his quirks and ticks, or even how he feels about other specific characters... we'd be here all day. So I hope this is good enough lol