#just really wanted to draw raph and Casey from 2003

[seagull-scribbles]

Just the two of us~

[deadtiredghost]

Tmnt facts that are canon cause i said so:

All Leo's are sci-fi fans of varying degrees of old sci-fi series/movies

But MM!Leo thinks the old movies are old and thus has no major franchise to obsess over, he is just big into any of the more modern movies of the genre: I'm thinking Interstellar, Blade Runner, idk many more. And then he started watching Final Space and eventually got into Futurama.

But he still would think the other Leo's are old and a bit lame for enjoying old anime so much.

All the Donnie's and Leo's are the musical fans, but that doesn't mean that Raph and Mikey can't enjoy a musical too! Especially 2003!Raph who grew up watching shit like high school musical and teen beach movie with Leo and Donnie.

The 2003 boys all teamed up to sit on Mikey and tape Mikey's mouth shut cause he would dramatically and badly sing the songs otherwise.

2018 crew are hard into Hamilton of course while 2012 have a knock off version of it that flopped but Mikey loves.

2003 have a musical version of Lost Boys and Faries that could possibly be comparable with some rap songs and some emotional ballads.

Bayverse and MM have batman while 2018 have a weird mixture of some irl media and some really obvious knock offs. 2012 has Wingnut and Silber sentry as comics to replace Marvel and DC in their universe and we all know how 2003 is on superheroes.

All the Mikey's are naturally talented at drawing apart from 2012 who's skills apparently just got transferred to literally every single one of his siblings.

2012!Mikey's writing looks like chickenscratch and his drawings are chaotic in an abstract art kinda way, while 12!Leo can draw anime, 12!Karai is decent at drawing anything reallt, 12!Donnie preffers skatching items and backgrounds rather than people and 12!Raph is the one who does art the most in the fam.

The 1987 turtles are stuck in 1987 and have been since 1987. They like crossovers for the change of pace but 87!Raph and 87!Donnie very much dislike how other turtles have treated them in the past so take any and ever chance to fuck with their alternates in retaliation, feigning innocence well enough that they keep getting away with blatantly insulting their iterations to their face.

Leo is the tea drinker in the family across iterations but most of the iterations don't drink coffee - rottmnt gets into coffee wars (sans Leo and Splinter) but other than that 2007!Donnie and Bayverse!Raph are the only rabid coffee drinkers.

most of the Donnies drink energy drinks if they want a caffeine boost - the nonbinaries and their Monster especially.

The MM kids aren't allowed coffee because Splinter read a watched of child-raising YouTube videos and banned it. Of course that doesn't stop them from sneaking out. MM!Donnie is trying to convince him to allow coffee while MM!Raph just sneaks in his energy drinks.

2003!Casey was convinced the turtles were adults for at LEAST the first month into their friendship.

The ampunt Mikey wears stickers is directly proportional to the amount of leeway Splinter gives him - with the used-to-be-human Splinters being more strict on not personalising his weapon while the used-to-be-rat Splinters such as MM gives the go ahead.

The outlines of this rule are 03!Splinter and 18!Splinter of course who have entirely different ways of handling their adhd child.

And then there is bayverse!Splinter who said fuck the stickers, yes of course my 15-year-old children can have tattoos.

(And yes I firmly believe they were 15 in the first movie, and I attribute their tattoos to Splinter not really seeing the harm in it, or caring much as long as it won't hurt them.)

18!Leo is biologically the eldest but no one knows this apart from Draxum who will never tell at this point. Splinter aged them based on size.

On the other hand, 03!Leo is the biological youngest but only Donnie knows this (science shit to find it out) and will never tell anyone because he found out that 03!Mikey hatched first and that information can never be allowed to get to the turtle in question.

2012 Casey is transfem but doesn't know it yet and 2018 Casey is what 12!Casey will look like at 20.

All Donnie's watch anime and all Mikey's watch horror movies - despite how much they may or may not scream at the horror movies.

07!Mikey sells art online and 07!Leo becomes a language tutor in their 20's. Ironic as 12!Raph attempts to sell art online but becomes too emotionally attached to his work and 12!Donnie attempts to tutor for a time but is a terrible teacher.

Leo is a basketball or baseball fan, Raph likes wrestling and basketball, Donnie will partake in basketball or volleyball and Mikey prefers dancing but is open to playing anything... just not watching.

Splinter always watched the tennis, becuase his grandmother did. Leo likes to put it on but doesn't like playing it.

Mikey will forever be confused why the others enjoy watching sport. This stemms from when he was 12 and trying to watch his cartoons and Splinter would always take control of the TV during the Olympics. Mikey is still very salty and has an agenda against the Olympics and any other big sports match on their communal TV.

All the Leo's before 2012 just didnt use the Internet or any electronics as a kid and thus struggles with electronics massively.

Conversely 2012 and 2018 Leo were both on tumblr as kids and read fanfic about Space Heros and Jupiter Jim respectively.

And in addition: Donnie was on the Internet far too much as a kid.

(12!Donnie will never tell but 12!Mikey befriending Chris Bradford on Facebook hit a bit too close to home.)

After Don, Raph is the best at mechanics, other than 18!Raph who is kinda shit at them.

Splinter taught all of the turtles first aid but Raph and Mikey are patched up the most by the other two, which leads to the other two being more confident and skilled at first aid.

Leo's first aid experience is very much similar to an army medic, using improvisation based on his prior knowledge without any of the proper hospital procedure while Donnie's is much more based on his research into medicine and thus much more clinical.

The outliers are the 18!kids cause Donnie finds biological shit kinda disgusting unless he HAS to do it.

And then there is the 87!turtles who don't really get hurt for longer than an episode's run time. Despite this every single one of them are able to accurately and skillfully carry out any medical procedure should the need arise becuase cartoon logic and convenience. It is a skill they have and its usually 87!Donnie ordering them about while 87!Raph plays nurse.

Mikey and Raph spray paint together sometimes in all iterations other than 87.

87!Mikey and 87!Leo have never kmowingly committed a crime.

Mikey looks up to Leo most out of his siblings, and Leo would look up to Mikey in turn if he could get over the jealousy towards his youngest brother.

There is not a single itteration where Leo doesn't sometimes kinda wish he could be more like Mikey - he has never voiced these feelings and hates that he feels this jealousy.

If you wake Leo up from sleeping he will be alert, a bit grumpy about it, but will never turn you away. He rarely gets a full good night's sleep anyways, ans becuase of this he is prime target to bother when he is awake... up until they turn 14 where Leo gets into the habit of pretending to be asleep so Mikey doesn't bother him and starts meditating until he falls asleep.

The prior headcannon excludes rottmnt and mutant mayhem.

Mikey starts bothering Donnie more and joins him in the lab late at night a lot.

If you dare to disturb Raph's beauty sleep you will get a pillow to the face and a shouting to at the least.

Everyone of the turtles loves Kung Fu Panda or whatever similar movie exists in their world. They won't admit it but its because Poe reminds them of Mikey.

Raph maintains that he doesn't like physical contact much to get out of hugging the sweaty humans in his life. He is actually fairly chill with hugs he just hates the feeling of sweat on his scales so much, and learnt that the hard way when Casey brought him in for a hug after a fight and he shoved him off and blustered a bit. But any of his siblings hugging him is fine, he only ever shoves them off out of annoyance.

Donnie is the least huggy turtle, but he will sometimes lean his full body weight on April - which is fine in most iterations but some cannot handle the weight, I'm looking at Bayverse.

If Mikey were a human he would be a borderline nudist when home and everyone who lived with him would complain about it.

Like [insert hair covering here] and a fluffy dressing gown from when he was 9 wrapped around the waist if you're lucky.

[yzafre]

who wore it better – 2003 v 2012 episode comparisons

I said I wanted to do this in my 2003 thoughts post, and I’m gonna. I've been picking away at this for a couple weeks now.

I’m focusing on places where they actually recycled a storyline rather than adapted general concepts.  Fugitoid and the space arc is an example of the second method – Robot Scientist with a connection to a Dangerous Machine is a shared concept, but the stories are different.

“Ohhh how did we end up here we’ve GOT to figure out how to get home, our Dad might still be in danger” versus “we HAVE to collect the McGuffins before the enemy or earth is going to EXPLODE. AGAIN.” You know?

Comparing those types of adaptations could be done, but it’s not what I’m interested in here.  I specifically want to look at the places that made me think “oh, 2012 just copied this” while I was watching 2003.

Now, obviously this is extremely subjective.  So take this as me defending my nominations for winner in these categories, rather than some sort of objective truth.  I am presenting my dinky power-point on why you should vote for my favorites.  Ect.  Your preferences may be different!

My ramblings on the episodes got long (should I have split this into parts? maybe! didn't though), so uhhhh...

tl;dr: Scoring got weird at 3.5 to 2003, 3 to 2012, and two draws.

Key takeaways: 2003 better matches my personal tastes, and what makes 2012 good is the stuff specific to its iteration, rather than copying 2003

With all that taken care of, here’s my opinions, in very messy order.

Meet Casey Jones vs The Good, The Bad and the Casey Jones

So, this was the very first episode that made me sit back and go: wait.  This is just.  The same thing? 

Raph loses a fight, loses his temper violently over it.  He then goes out to get some air and runs into Casey, getting into a fight.  Raph goes back and apologizes to his brother, and then they have to deal with the Casey situation.  Eventually they’re friends.

That being said, they do handle things a bit differently inside of those plot points, in a way that makes me very split on which one is better.

So, this episode is doing two things: introducing Casey (at least to the turtles, in 2012’s case), and spotlighting Raph’s anger issues, and the shows handle both of them differently.  So let's look at them:

Raph and his anger

I want to start with the positioning of the episode within the wider series.

This is the 4th episode of 2003.  At this point, they’re still setting up the characters and your understanding of them – so this is really here to say hey, our Raph has a temper, that’s going to be a thing going forward. (I'm watching '87 right now, and while I've heard Raph gets more of his anger late in the series, at the beginning he is... not that. So signaling this for people who might have watched the previous show is valid.)

After this, I don’t remember there being other episodes that are Explicitly About Raph’s anger issues?  That’s not to say there aren’t any – there very well could’ve been some that were just so boring I don’t remember them, which would be a whole other issue – but what I remember of him being, to quote the show, a “hot-head” is integrated into other stories.

For 2012, this is nearly halfway through season 2, and is one of 3 episodes I can think of off the top of my head that at least start out framed as a lesson on Raph’s anger issues.  (The one with the guy that turns into a spider mutant, this one, and…. Okay so I don’t remember the details but I’m Pretty Sure I remember there being another one post-space arc).

Now, in theory this is good – having a sort of long-term journey recurring throughout the series.  In practice… eh. 

This is very subjective, but from the way the topic was constantly put on the shelf until they wanted to use it for an episode, to the way it was all extremely surface level and used mostly for jokes, it didn’t do much for me.

That aside, let’s look at the content of the episode itself:

Raph's anger issues have two different tones here.

2003 Raph’s snapping at Mikey is framed a lot more seriously – and a lot more dangerously – than 2012 Raph going at Leo.  And, accordingly, ‘03 Raph is a lot more horrified at his actions, whereas ‘12 Raph is more petulant, unwilling to fully own up to his mistake.

That carries over to when they’re “getting some air” - ‘03 Raph is blatantly angry with himself, where ‘12 is complaining about his brother’s not getting it.  I do think some of that frustration with himself is buried underneath, but it's interesting to note the difference between how aware of it they are. (Of course, ‘12 also didn’t try to brain his brother over the head with a metal pipe.  So.)

The two different versions also shifted what they chose to have “spelled out” versus implied.  What I mean is.... okay, so ‘03 had Raph explicitly say “What is wrong with me” – that frustration with himself I mentioned earlier – where it’s kind of buried underneath for ‘12.

On the other hand, ‘12 Raph flat out says he wasn’t angry, just “determined to win,” when explaining himself to Splinter, whereas with ‘03 the reasoning comes from Raph’s “You think you’re better than me?” line during the fight (and a bit of Mikey’s taunting, the menace), allowing you to (very easily, let's be real, I don't know that you can really count this as subtext) connect the dots on how it escalated.

So, that leads to their fight with Casey – where they both get carried away, before coming to their senses and questioning what they’re doing (and subsequently getting surprise-attacked).  The difference here is that ‘03, upon calming down, went back to trying to talk some sense into Casey (using the lessons he’s obviously trying to absorb himself), while to me ‘12 Raph just kinda seemed disoriented by it all?

Which. Fair.

Next step: the apology.  VERY different receptions.  The ‘03 brothers greet Raph with worry and care, and take his apology quietly and warmly, whereas for ‘12 they act like this is another Tuesday, a bit dismissive, and tease and taunt him through his apology.  I’m not trying to disparage the ‘12 turtles here – not exactly – more so observing the difference in tone once more.

When people say the ‘03 turtles feel older, I think this is a huge part of it – the ‘12 turtles’ behavior feels very “stupid teenager”.  And I mean that in a genuine, fairly affectionate way.  I remember being that age, I was dumb.  You don’t know how to handle all these strong feelings, you have no impulse control. Also around 2012 I remember being genuine being deeply uncool, so. But ‘03 are demonstrating a higher level of emotional maturity, compared to that, and it does make them feel older.

Anyways, after that you get the reunion with Casey, having very different tones.  ‘03 purposefully tries to reach out and rehabilitate help Casey get himself under control, whereas ‘12 diverges into a surprise attack by the Foot where Raph and Casey bicker their way into teamwork.

Overall, ‘03 takes a more... introspective? Approach to Raph’s anger, where ‘12 flickers between being slightly emotional and using the situation for humor or cool action scenes – it feels like setup for an arc that I never felt we got satisfying payoff for.

For my tastes, I think I prefer ‘03 for the Raph part of the episode, if only because it remains thematically cohesive till the end.  From start to finish, Raph is trying to impart the lesson he wants to learn to Casey.  With 12, it feels like the “Raph’s anger issues” thread got a bit lost/abandoned in building up the Raph-Casey dynamic.

Speaking of...

Casey Jones

I think ‘12 is the better Casey intro episode.  There, I said it.

I know, I know!  It’s not technically where we meet Casey, we already saw him interacting with April (also scenes I like), but... although having finished 2003 I think ‘03 has the better overall Casey (mostly because they give him like. Actual personal connections to the world), ‘12 has the better initial burst of character, in my opinion.

His little intro monologue is so stupid, and I love it.  The skates and the little taser-gloves he obviously put together himself (and the fact that we only got one episode of Donnie and Casey bonding over this kind of engineering is criminal???).

The initiative to follow Raph down, his reactions to Splinter, the entire subway tunnel chase scene, where his and Raph’s rapport is building up... it’s good stuff!  I like it!  Maybe there’s a bit less depth in some places – we don’t get the personal connection with the Purple Dragons, how it ties back to his family – but his character voice, his initiative and impulsivity, and his creativity all come through.

It’s such a shame they didn’t do more to add to his character throughout the series in ‘12, because he had a fantastic early showing.  But then, that series didn’t seem interested in doing that for any of their characters, to me.  Sigh.

But... just looking at the episode itself, I'd give the Casey have to 2012.

So... draw?  Great way to start off, I know.

Shredder Strikes Back vs The Invasion (or: Leo gets thrown through a window)

So, this is a tough competition, we’re gonna have to take this point by point, I mean -

2012.  It’s 2012.  Are you kidding me.

Okay, look.  2012 already has an advantage just on moving this from halfway through season 1 to the season 2 finale, but, I mean... come on.

With 2003, there was barely any build up with the Shredder.  We’d seen him sort of being in charge of the various villains since early on – but the turtles didn’t see that!  For them, he showed up, tricked Leo, Splinter gave some back story, they fought and then Splinter seemingly killed him.  It just... wasn’t that dramatic? To me??

So when you have Leo thrown through the window, whispering “he’s back”, I was just like... I see no reason for this level of dread.  It doesn’t feel that personal, or important, or.... anything, really.  I know 2003 came first, but having watched 2012 beforehand this was kind of a letdown.  Didn’t feel earned.

Now, 2012 on the other hand....

Shredder has been a constant, ever-increasing threat since the moment he showed up in Season 1.  It was already personal with Splinter, yes, but then he also became a subject of looming dread for the turtles themselves.  And it doesn’t come out of nowhere. 

Like, yes, we, the viewers, were aware 2003 Shredder survived, but otherwise he was just hanging out off-screen, doing who knows what.  He wasn’t on the mind.  2012, on the other hand, showed the way Shredder was slowly amassing power, planning for something.

And then you add the Kraang on top of it.

Like, seriously, making this a two-prong threat is. Mwah!  The boys are falling apart, stressed by the time-limit of the upcoming Kraang invasion, disagreeing on how to handle it.  And then the argument gets cut short by their home being discovered – they don’t even get a chance to choose their path together, because they have to run, and everything’s chaos, and they’re still focused on the Kraang.

And that’s when the Shredder comes in.

This is insult on top of injury with everything going wrong that possibly could.  This is an immaculate payoff to the set-up they’ve been doing all season. This is fantastic.

And when Leo is thrown through the window, you feel it – the dread, the horror, the regret.  It really feels like the breaking point of “we can’t take any more” that leads to them retreating.  It has a weight to it that 2003’s version was sorely missing.

When it comes to Leo getting thrown through a window, 2012 takes the win, hands down.  The stakes, the drama, and my investment are all so much higher than they were in ‘03, no contest, it’s my favorite part of ‘12.

What comes after, on the other hand....

Tales of Leo + The Monster Hunter vs Season 3a (or, the Farmhouse Arc)

Maybe it’s unfair to compare 2 episodes to 8 episodes.  And maybe this is diverging from my “only episodes that are directly connected” rule I stated in the beginning, but I need to get this off my chest.  Because I just.  I’m not impressed by 2012’s farmhouse arc. 

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Warning: rant ahead, this is VERY subjective and heavily based in my personal tastes.  Reminder that I do genuinely enjoy 2012, I just think the farmhouse arc is the lowest point in the whole series and is representative of what I find to be the weakest aspect of the series’ writing across the board.  That being said.

I see what 2012 was trying to do, by drawing out Leo’s recovery over all those episodes, giving the characters some space to breathe.  But they didn’t do it well in my opinion, and honestly the whole thing.  Flounders. 

2012’s best feature is its plot writing, how one episode tumbles into the next, Rube Goldberg machine-style, across an entire season.  But at the farmhouse, they’re removed from the greater plot, and that’s not doing the writing any favors.

And it’s not that the episode ideas are bad – I generally think they’re pretty interesting!  It’s just that without the inter-connected plot, they need something else to push them from “okay” to “exceptional”.  Usually, this would be where deeper characterization and relationship building would kick in instead, but uh.  I don’t personally think 2012 is great at that.

They under-cut the message of the episode with Big Foot, the Casey and Donnie friendship doesn’t really go anywhere after this, every other episode where inter-personal issues are only dealt with on a very surface level become even more obvious and a bit annoying without the greater plot to distract from it. Yes I know this is a kids show, but A:tlA had already finished airing at this point, also on Nickelodeon.

I think there’s a consistent issue with character writing in 2012 where they do what looks like set-up with no intent to ever give a meaningful pay-off or significantly change the status-quo, and that’s very much on display here.

And it’s not that there was nothing good in the season – I liked what they were doing with Raph, and how he was trying to help/encourage Leo, while somewhat bungling it in very realistic ways.  It was a fascinating look at what this Raph acting at his best as the Lancer trope could be, and I genuinely wish they leaned into it more later down the line.

Also, I’m always thrilled to see the Leo-April friendship get some focus, so Eyes of the Chimera was a favorite.  But across the board... the season didn’t wow me, and the longer it went on, the more I could see the cracks.

It all tops off with Vision Quest, which was my biggest disappointment in the entire series, the point at which I had to really stop and reset my expectations on what kind of story the writers were interested in telling.  The summary describes them having to go on a spiritual journey to really face themselves and their weaknesses, and I was so excited!  But then it was just.  Really surface level.  And occasionally confusing.

Raph needs to work on his temper, sure – but how is this any different than any of the other episodes about it?  Do we look at all at where his anger comes from?  A deeper way to handle it?  No, of course not.

Mikey needs to focus, stop getting distracted – I mean, yeah sure I guess.  Not a particularly interesting way of handling it, though.  Also, even if he manages it here, I know it's not going to pan out to the rest of the show, they’re not giving up their easy source of humor for the younger demographic.

And Donnie needs to... stand his ground? What?  I was so caught off guard.  It’s not that it’s completely out of touch, we see him coming up with complex paths to his goals, trying to think his way around of problems, ect, but... it was never really highlighted or presented as a real problem other than maybe the episode on instinct over thinking too hard?  It just felt really disconnected from anything else they were doing with him.  A genuinely interesting pay-off scene, with no solid set-up.

And Leo.  Oh jeez.  My friends.  WHAT is up with how they handled Leo’s knee injury?  The pain is just in my mind? It's not real??  Really???  No, thank you.

Like... I think this was supposed to be a riff on what Splinter says about ‘03 Leo’s coma, and him being trapped in his head due to fear – but because in ‘12 they tied it to an actual, specific physical injury, the execution falls apart. 

(Especially when they use the same flash-effect they used on Leo having issues with his knee of Splinter having issues later in the series but I probably shouldn't take that into account here.)

I mean, his quest is the closest to being satisfying, because they had lain interesting groundwork with his struggle with recovery and his insecurities in previous episodes, but then they just completely bungle it at the end! Argh!

I was so excited for Vision Quest, but this didn't tell me anything new about the characters or progress the characters in any meaningful way! It had no effect on how the characters are written going forward. So – other than some admittedly very cool fight choreography – what was the point?  Was there one??  It felt like putting on the trappings of an emotionally deep story without any of the actual, you know.  Depth.

I am clawing at the walls. Look at all the potential you wasted.

And yes, I’m aware this is all very subjective, and again part of a show for kids, but that’s how it hit me.

The 2003 farmhouse arc, on the other hand, was very short, and I think it benefited from that.  It had two episodes, and it knew what it was doing with both of them.  They felt purposeful, in the larger arc of the story.

First episode: they make their way to the farmhouse, Leo’s in a coma (according to Splinter, one driven by his fear), and his family tells stories of when he was brave/strong as a little kid to try and bring him out.

Wonderful, amazing, I love this episode.  So much character work – both in the past and present!  By going back to when they were kids, it helps us contextualize the turtles’ relationships by making them simpler.

In showing early memories that probably started cementing their views of each other, we see the core around which they developed.  By seeing which memory each brother chooses to present, we get some insight into how they each see Leo.  It gives us a point A to our current point B, which allows us to extrapolate the line between the two, how they developed.

And then you also get the little moments of how the brothers are handling this catastrophic event, how they react to the stress, to seeing their brother so hurt – Raph especially!  It’s pure character work and I love it.

After that, we get one episode of shenanigans, which is both representative of that “space to breathe” after Leo woke up, and also gives space for the B-plot (which is the truly arc-important plot) of Leo, now awake, dealing with his own handling of this stressful situation.

Is the A-plot of this episode quite as good as some of the ideas for the 2012 episodes?  Honestly, no, but just the fact that it’s carrying the Leo recovery story pushes it ahead.  We see Leo struggling with his failure, Raph stepping up to herd him back on the right track – the idea of physically remaking his swords to remake himself!  And, though we don’t know it yet, how hard Leo takes this is great foreshadowing to how he reacts going into his season 4 breakdown.

And then, having done the character work they wanted to accomplish, the writers go back to the main story.  The characterization here matters (and also is good) in a way that whatever is going on in the 2012 farmhouse arc just.  Isn’t. 

In my opinion.

Okay, rant over, winner is obvious, moving on.

Triceratons

Again, we’re not comparing most of the space arcs, as that’s apples to oranges, but there are two episodes that caught my attention:

Rogue in the House vs Dinosaur Seen in Sewers!

Here we've got two episodes where the turtles find a Very Confused Triceraton and trick him into helping them.

I like the 2003 one better.

Honestly, it comes down to the context of the episode.  Rogue in the House comes after the turtles have been in space and when they know more about who the Triceratons are.  2012 on the other hand is a sudden introduction to a new arc.

2003 also... questions the ethics of their decision more, by the end.  It’s a bit more empathetic?  And I appreciate that.

I will give 2012 credit that translating “we’ve been dropped into the middle of a war where both sides are bad” over to be attached to the Kraang, which they’ve built up already as a powerful alien threat, was clever.  It doesn’t have the same edge of commentary that “and one of these sides looks just like us humans” has, but it is clever use of their existing world-building, and I like it.

The Arena vs The Arena of Carnage

The most obvious connection in the 2012 space arc – the turtles get thrown into a gladiator arena.

Now, 2003 does have an unfair advantage in this comparison, as The Arena is heavily bolstered by the set-up work done in The Big House, giving you a sense of place, stakes, connection to the other characters...

That last bit is where my bias and personal taste shows: I really love the turtles making any kind of meaningful connection with other characters, and I find this more convincing in the 2003 version than the 2012 one.

But 2012 also weakens itself in its own right by doing some setup here with no long-term pay off.  You’ve got your fellow prisoner, who turns out to be a Triceraton who objected to the leadership's decisions... and after this episode, that means nothing!  Cool, okay.

Like I get that was a part of the episode they’re pulling from, but if they’re not planning on reusing that long-term story, then they really could have cut that aspect all together.  I know they have enough creativity in them to adapt the concept of “stuck in a gladiator arena” to do something more interesting, they’ve proved they have it in them.  They just... didn’t, and the plot point didn’t translate well.  Ah, well.

2003 also wins this one.

City at War vs... City at War?(???)

Look, I am only comparing these because they use the exact same name.  Otherwise, it’s nowhere near a fair comparison.  For 2012, this is actually part of a couple episodes where they talk about there being a power vacuum after the Shredder is out of the picture, but...

Can we be so real?  They don’t even get close to the scale of 2003.  Like with the farmhouse, it’s not that they don’t have any good ideas – I like the Don Visioso episode quite a bit – but it never gets to the depth or scale I want it to. 

Like, 2003 made it visually obvious that the city is falling apart, that things are really out of control, in a way you can feel. Though, honestly, I’m not even sure 2012 could reach the levels of 2003, because they never put as much effort into making their NYC feel... real?  I guess?

Also, the 2003 City at War arc is just.  It’s really good, guys.  It did such great work on Leo and Raph’s characterization, the danger in the city is palpable, the tension is thick, and then you add Karai on top of it all?

You’d think 2012 could push this, given the added dimensions to Karai and her connection to Shredder, but it ends up falling short.  Point again goes to 2003.

What a Croc! Vs It Came From the Depths (Leatherhead)

So. I am painfully biased, because It Came From the Depths is my favorite 2012 Mikey episode, and I thought What a Croc! was... just okay.

I frequently bemoan that 2012 didn’t lean more into long-form character arcs for their story, and this is one of the central episodes that defined my desire for Mikey’s arc.

The instant compassion and understanding he has for Leatherhead – the way he recognizes and is willing to work with his trauma responses, but also is childishly impatient with the process when it gets messy later on, showing he still has some maturing to do – it's great, and I love it.  I didn’t find the same kind of depth in the 2003 episode.

On the other hand, long-term I like Leatherhead better in 2003, just because he’s more present as ally, friend, or even family.  2012 Mikey’s always excited to see Leatherhead, but you don’t exactly see them hanging out.

But this is about the episode, and for that, I’ll give it to 2012.

Renet (Time Travails + Return of the Savanti Vs Turtles in Time + Tale of the Yokai)

I’ll be real with you, 2003 gains points with me just because this is another example of 2012 poorly shoving in romance. I would like to make it clear – I don’t have an objective issue with the turtles being in romantic relationships.  It’s just... don’t put it in there if the writing's going to be so... bad. And boring. And unnecessary.

Additionally, this particular example put me off a bit more because... hm. Okay, the episode starts with Mikey going “I'm never gonna get caught up in all that!" Only for the show to do the writing equivalent of saying "of course you will, as soon as the right person comes along. And here she is!"

And uhm.  Okay, so, I’m asexual with a big ? when it comes to romance.  So that framing is..... nghghghgh I don't like it. Like I get the joke, but it still gave me the ick.

Also it was another infatuation-at-first-sight situation like Donnie which. Is a romantic trope that is So Stupid, you CANNOT tell me that's how it actually works, I don't believe you, and also it makes for stupid, boring writing. So there.

Ahem.

Once you get past that, there’s points to be made for both episodes.  The way the 2003 turtles find Renet just kind of tiring but can’t help going along with her anyways is very funny to me, but 2012 lets them do Tales of the Yokai, and I enjoy the concept of them getting to see what Actually Happened Back Then, rather than just hearing subjective stories of it.  Adds some texture.

I dunno on this one – if it’s Time Travails vs Turtles in Time, 2003 wins, but once you move on to Tale of the Yokai I give it to 2012.  Call it a draw?

Loosely inspired by

Okay. So. These are things where I can’t say “Oh, they were just doing this story again”, but where I think there might have been some heavy inspiration.  Your mileage may very on these, and you could think I’m completely wrong, but I thought they’d be interested to talk about.

Even if they are from Back to the Sewers.

The Engagement Ring to The Power Within Her

April gets magic jewelry that possesses her, goes on a rampage?  Admittedly, the set-up is very different, as is the tone, but... well, you have to wonder.

I thought The Engagement Ring was one of the better episodes of Back to the Sewers, but as entertaining as it was, I’m still going to give this to 2012, I think.  I like things that have more build-up to them, and they did pretty good at setting up this episode ahead of time, building up that dread.  And it just did more with the concept, you know?

Also, it fit well into my interpretation/re-write of April’s character, so.

Identity Crisis to Brain Worms

I mean.  Turtles get brain-washed by the Foot, have to be broken out of it by being reminded of memories/who they were.  Methodology of the brainwashing is very different, admittedly, which is why I put this down here rather than in the main section!  But it’s similar enough for me to connect them.

This is another situation where I think 2012 took a concept and further developed it.  The brain worms are fantastically gruesome, and really treated like the existential horror it should be.  The amount of fics I’ve seen expanding on the brain-worms concept is proof of how it hooks in people’s brains.

Another point to 2012.

Conclusion

So let’s run a tally.

I'm not sure the two Back to the Sewer episodes count, but I also maybe have broken my rule on the farmhouse arc... I guess we could count those as half points?

Casey Intro: Draw

Window: point 2012

Farmhouse: half-point 2003

Lost triceraton: point 2003

Gladiator arena: Point 2003

City at War: point 2003

Leatherhead intro: point 2012

Renet: Draw

Losely inspired: cumulative point 2012

So that's... 3.5 for 2003, 3 for 2012, and two draws? Pretty close.

Realistically, I think these should be the two takeaways from my opinions:

First, 2003 better matches my personal tastes. I'm a character arc girly, and 2003 gave a lot more attention to that aspect of their writing than 2012 did, and that affects my opinions. See: the Vision Quest rant.

Second, what makes 2012 good is the stuff that’s specific to its iteration.

The way they adapted the Hamato Yoshi backstory from 2003 to be about Splinter and Shredder, making Karai Splinter’s stolen daughter, and how that whole plot line plays out.  The way they make the Kraang a whole organization, and their alliance with Shredder.  The full season, Rube-Goldberg machine buildup of plot.  These are all the thing that make it excel.

So... yeah. That's my thoughts. Your opinions might be different, and - if you're nice about it, please - I would love to hear your thoughts on what I've said, which episodes you like better, and why you like them! Shows hit different people, well, differently!

[lavena]

Tmnt headcannons and a psa for those like 3 toxic ppl

87

- Raph can get the highest flips pit of all his brothers

-Leo found out how to make the brushes used for Kanji n such for fun and will sometimes make wallpaper with his favorite quotes

-donnie breaks the fabric of the universe at least once a week and no one is surprised

- mikeys accent is fake, he actually has a Bronx accent, he just liked the sufer persona so much he decided to commit

90s

-Leo got the go ninja go song stuck in his head for years

-Raph is the best break dancer and will go to clubs with his brother sometimes

-Donnie will sometimes escape to scap yards for hours on end just tearing appliances apart

-mikey has anger issues, as seen by him beating the shit out of a punching bag in the deleted scene (April's drawing of mikey)

2003

-leo will get "the batman" voice whenever he is stressed

- mikey has night terrors

-Raph knits

-dons guilty pleasure is Celtic sings (tir na nog, teir abhaile riu)

2007 (dint mind me leading this tf up)

- raph learned Spanish because one of the kids he met on the street as Nightwatcher spoke it and raph wanted to be able to talk to the kid and make sure he ls alright

Leo get vivid nightmares after the Winters debacle

-mikey after working as cowabunga carl has nightmares

- Raph got shot when he first started being a vigilante

-don and mike are twins

- Dons tech support leaves him more sarcastic than ever, which is really funny for his brothers, but leo gets whiplash for the first bit after he gets home

-don holds a grudge against raph and leo, and sometimes their father but never enough for it to affect their family

- Leo got really good at hiding in the shadows to the point he scares the shit out of raph in the mornings

-raph started watching tellanovellas with their father after his nightwatcher thing

-mike will bake custom cakes for his cowabunga carl gigs for an extra price, at first it wasn't very successful but then word spread that they were the best goddamn cakes around and people started to ask for cakes even if they didn't have a kids birthday. Let's just say having a turtle at your quinces or receptions became an inside joke.

-don and mike are up at the crack of dawn, mike cause he likes to bake the cakes the day of so they don't dry out and the frosting doesn't get the weird hard bits after refrigerating and don because he needs to inject coffee and acetometaphin into his veins to deal with these stupid fcuking people

-leo had to use an automatic rifle once in the jungle and he vows to never again

-raph and Casey spent one too many times out till the break of dawn, Casey almost got fired, but raph and him made up a story, put on voices and treachcoats all that jazz. Now Caseys boss thinks he has ties with the mafia... it gets really runny when April finds out and chases them down

-don and mike spend mornings listening to lowkey but hyping songs to get ready in the morning " a boy named pluto" mainly because don can't handel anything loud and mike will cry if the song doesn't have some kind of sway to it

- Raph became the nightwatcher after witnessing the og guys death, poor guys traumatized

2012

- mikey is the best at disappearing, but only after don invested the egg shell smoke bombs

- Leo voice box was permenatly damaged when he was attacked b4 the farm house arc, it gets really bad when he is stressed

- Raph after the whole brainworm thing (is that cannon or fannon, im like 70% sure it's cannon but idk) gets really spooked around insects and worms, especially if he can hear them moving

- Donnie got a chem set for Christmas from his brother, but he knows they really just stole stuff from nycu, he loves it

2018

- Raph gets sad sometimes that he isn't smaller cause he wants to be help, his brother make sure to give him a really big group hug, doesn't solve anything but he knows he is loved

- Mikey spray paints, it started with the sewer walls, but now he does abandon buildings too

- Donnie built himself the best noise canceling headphones, and then built all his brothers pairs because they kept asking to borrow them

- Leo ugly laughts at the fnaf sb freddy memes, all of them, it makes everyone who hears it wheeze

2023

- Leo is so goddamn anxiety ridden, this poor boy

- Finally a raph that does violent right, yeah it might (read deffo will in hs) end up bad, but never for his brother, cause he protects them with that violence and anger

- Don definitely learned how to speak Korean so he could watch k-pop interviews as they aired

- Mikey is a natural at martial arts

That's all I got for now, but quick psa

There has been a bit of toxicity regarding raph fans, like 3 of them. Everyone else is great, so for anyone experiencing hate from those people like @theunicorncomic-blog and @incorrect-2003-tmnt-quotes ( like people are being toxic to them not that they are toxic) along with anyone else experiencing toxicity from the 3 Raph fans

I am so sorry, I know it can be stressful and they seem to like to target things that are personal. So just remember it doesn't matter who your favorite is, it doesn’t matter if you hate a character, we are tmnt. We are TMNT and we love our ninja boys, and we always will. Embrace the new iterations, learn of the old, no matter what it will bring you joy to see our boys out n about getting love.

Spread love and affection, and ignore those who are violent without reason.

And for those like 3 toxic raph fans, I get that you are upset about people disliking raph or feeling like his personality is costing other characters, but something to remeber is that, we love raph, he is a great character, what we are upset about is that the writers make him "angry, strong, rule breaker" and nothing else, they don't let him grow, they don't let him experience, for example the other characters start out as this. " Mr. Rules, Ninja, Leader by name only" and then let him grow to " leader through experience, kind, and willing to risk it all for his family" another " know it all, annoyed, non confrontational" and let him grow to " empathetic, strong willed, smart" they allow the other characters to grow, while sticking with their base. So the Raph we want to see at the end of a series is " willing to do anything to protect, strength through family, and angry at injustice" we can see it be set up in 07 and 03, but the others leave him as an angry, violent jerk who is funny mind due, but non the less we are left wanting more from someone who tends to be one of the more focused on characters.

TLDR, we are upset that Raph suffers as a character from lack of mobility, in a main position he has the options to, but the writers don't give it to him, and by doing so it costs the other characters. So stop being toxic and giving your character a bad rap by using slurs against the people who have different views from you. Just remember there is way more good than there is bad, don't let these 3 ruin things for everyone else or warp your view of others

[fabuloustrash05]

Courting a Salamandrian FAQ

Just some common questions I’ve received regarding my RaMona fanfic that I decided to answer all in a singular post.

“What inspired you to write this story?”

I’ve always loved Raph x Mona, since we were first introduced to this ship back in 2015. Around that time I was in high school and one night I had a dream about Raph and Mona getting married. The dream was so vivid and had so many details down to the guests who attended, the wedding decorations, to what the couple was wearing. I was so amazed by that dream, I just had to write it. I originally planned to only write the wedding, which I thought was only going to be around 5 chapters, but as I kept working on the first draft, I realized I wanted to also add a proposal scene. Then when I started working on that, I decided I wanted to add more to the proposal, like when he realized he wanted to marry her etc, asking Sal for his blessing, etc. but as I kept going my brain suddenly went “Wait… let’s add drama!” And the rest was history.

"When does the story take place?"

About 4 years after the S5 episode When Worlds Collide. Raph and Mona have been together for 5 years by the start of the fanfic.

"How old are Raph and Mona Lisa?"

In the beginning of the story Raph is 23 and Mona is 24. By chapter 19, they are 24 and 25. By the epilogue they are 38 and 39.

“What made you decide to make Bishop the villain in this story?”

Bishop was already a canon hater of RaMona, as we saw in When Worlds Collide he was very against the idea of Mona staying on Earth, so I decided to explore that more.

Also 2012 Bishop was my introduction to the overall character. After I learned that he is supposed to be a villain in other iterations like the 2003 series, it just supported my concept even more! I wanted to explore Bishop becoming the villain he was known to be in other versions.

"What is the relationship status of the other couples that appear in C.A.S. (ex: apritello, renetangelo, etc.)?"

Donnie and April are dating, they've been together for 4 years.

Mikey and Renet are together but they are not expecting a full commitment from one another. Basically friends with benefits.

Karai and Shinigami are dating (have been for a little over 4 years) and are living together back in Japan.

Slash and Alopex are crushing on one another, but are both in denial about their feelings.

Casey has a girlfriend that he just started dating by the time of chapter 19, her name is Gabrielle. If you are familiar with the mirage comics then you'll get this reference.

Leo is single and NOT ready to mingle.

"Why does Alopex have a kid in chapter 28?"

That was a reference to my TMNT 2012 OC, Sasuke! It was also a fun way to, I guess you could say, plant the seeds for future events with my TMNT 2012 future headcanon. Getting started on the next gen of TMNT lol

“Can we see a visual of what everyone wore to the wedding?”

Sure!

"Can I draw fanart based on your fanfic?"

YEEESSSSS PLEAAASSEEE!!! DO IT!!! All I ask is to please tag me for credit and also so I don't miss seeing it! <3

“Will there be a sequel?”

As of right now, no. I never really planned for a sequel or a second story, heck I didn’t even originally plan for this story to be 30 chapters long lol, but I would like to write some oneshots of married life RaMona along with moments with their kids. I’ve already written two so far: the two parter Family Vacation Gone Wrong and Once an Enemy Now a… Friend? (Though that one focuses more on Adult!Raph with one of his kids making a cameo). Feel free to check them out!

[aquietwritingcorner]

Knitting

@tmnt-event-blog

Title: Knitting Challenge: TMNT-Event-Blog’s “Peppermint Lane” Bingo Care (Raphael) Prompt: Knitting  Fandom: TMNT 2003 Word Count: 1605  Author: aquietwritingcorner/realitybreakgirl Rating: K/G  Characters: Raphael, April O’Neil, Casey Jones, Leonardo, Donatello, Michelangelo, Master Splinter Warning: NA Summary: Christmas Day is almost here, and Raph is trying very hard to complete his gifts. Hopefully, they’ll be well received.    Notes:    AO3 || ff.net

______________________________ 

Knitting

A while back, Master Splinter had taught Raphael how to knit as a way of helping him with his anger. Raph had thought it was kind of a stupid idea, but he’d been willing to try. He’d let his anger get the better of him too many times and he was willing to try anything to keep it from getting out of control.

He’d been surprised to find that it actually helped. Something about the repetitive motion and knowing that he had to be careful with his movements had actually been calming. Unlike the physical activity that he had tried before, the concentration that was needed to do something so precise allowed the anger to be pushed to the back of his mind, where his brain unconsciously dealt with it. A lot of it just dissipated and allowed him to think through the incidents that made him angry instead of simmering in them. He began to understand why Don would go work on his projects, or Mikey would cook or draw, or even why Leo would turn to running through katas with absolute precision when they were upset. Something about having to concentrate on something that precisely helped.

And so, the knitting had turned into a habit.

His first pieces weren’t very good. They were lumpy and knotted, with mistakes in them. A lot of those were from where he had moved too fast or let his anger take over. But over time his skill had improved, his anger had smoothed out, and his workmanship had improved. And while he wasn’t necessarily fast with it, he had created some good pieces.

But what he was doing now? It wasn’t something he was making because he was angry. No, he hadn’t wanted to work on this in anger at all. What he was making now he wanted to be from him and not a product of his anger. So, he sat in his room, or in the garage, or any place, really, that seemed like a good place to go, and worked on his projects. It took a lot of time, but it was paying off, as he was almost finished with the last one. He just had a little more to go on it, and he was determined to finish it up tonight. After all, if he didn’t, it wouldn’t be ready in time, not with Christmas being tomorrow.

So, Raph sat in silence, hidden up in some of the upper pipework, and knitted, working in a soothing rhythm, for the next couple of hours. Finally, when he was finished and was satisfied with his work, he finished off, grabbed everything, and made his way to his room, where he wrapped the present and put it under the tree for the next morning.

Christmas came early the next morning, with Mikey enthusiastically announcing it to the lair. Raph groaned and rolled over in his hammock. He wanted to complain about Mikey waking everyone up like this, but truthfully, he knew that if Mikey didn’t, he’d miss it.

“Raph! Raph! Raphie! Wake up!” Mikey was suddenly in his room, shaking him like he was twelve instead of twenty-one. "It's Christmas!"

Raph reached back and swiped at Mikey. “As if I didn’t already know,” he growled out.

Mikey gave him one last shake. “Christmas, Raphie, come on!”

He heard Mikey run out of his room, heading to make sure their other brothers were up, and Raph let out a sigh and rolled out of bed. He wasn’t sure why Mikey was so insistent on getting up early. They wouldn’t be opening presents until later, when Casey and April could get there. It was going to take them a little bit, too. Mornings and April weren’t agreeing lately, so they’d get to the lair when they got to it.

Still, it was nice to be with his family. They all ended up in the kitchen, where they worked together to cook breakfast. They ate it, in relatively good moods, and cleaned up together. Splinter had them go over the lair to make sure it was clean and ready whenever April and Casey made it. They spent some time just goofing around, playing video games, teasing each other, watching TV. Eventually, Splinter called them all back to the kitchen to work on preparing lunch. By the time they heard the door open and Casey and April announce themselves, most of lunch was prepped or in the oven so it would be ready to eat not long after they opened presents.

“We’re here!” Casey called out, and Mikey scampered from the kitchen in a hurry, rushing to April’s side, as he usually did. The rest of them followed a bit more slowly.

Casey was already at April’s side, helping her down the stairs. Mikey took up the other side, grinning happily. April was six months pregnant, able to do plenty on her own, but she had long ago given up protesting the extra help, not with all of them being over-protective.

“Merry Christmas, guys,” she greeted. “Sorry it took so long.”

“Nonsense,” Splinter said. “We are simply happy that you are here.”

They made their way to the living room, Don and Leo having gone back to the sewer slider they’d lent the couple just for this, to get the presents. Once those were there and everyone was ready, the opening of presents began.

Most of the presents were things that were wanted or that were useful. Don got some new beakers, and a set of sci-fi books he’d been eyeing. Leo had a beautifully illustrated vintage copy of The Hobbit and some incense. Mikey was given an autograph from one of his favorite comic book artists and some new art supplies. Splinter was given candles and a brand new robe. April received the new book she had been wanting, and a heating pad for her back. Casey got a set of tools he’d needed replaced and a new hockey mask. Raph was given new yarn and needles and set of boxing gloves that had been altered for his hands. There were other items, as well, such as gifts of food, or smaller things, and Raph had given everyone something hand-knitted, such as gloves or a hat, or, in April’s case, a sweater that she immediately pulled on.

And yet there was one present left.

“Who’s that one for?” Mikey asked as he looked at the big box.

Leo was closest and he checked the tag. “It says… the baby.”

“The baby?” April said, automatically laying a hand on her stomach. “But he’s not even born yet.”

“Doesn’t appear to have mattered to someone,” Don said, helping Leo to bring the box over to the soon-to-be parents.

“Open it! I wanna see what’s inside!” Mikey said.

Everyone eagerly watched as the couple opened the box, while Raph shifted in place. He watched as they opened it up, and then paused in surprise. After a moment, April’s face softened, and she looked up at him.

“Raph… you did this, didn’t you?” she asked.

“Bro,” Casey said, a bit of awe in his voice. “This is…”

“I just—I wanted to make sure that I had it done in time,” Raph said. “And I know he ain’t due for a few more months, but you’re also getting the nursery ready, and what if he comes early? I just wanted you to go ahead and have it.”

“What is it?” Mikey asked, trying to peer into the box. “What did he make?”

Carefully, April began pulling out the pieces that Raph had knitted, using only the softest of yarns that he could find. A pale blue baby blanket with silver running through it. A navy blue bumper for the cradle, and another for the crib. Soft washcloths and towels in shades of blues, greens, browns, and tans. A shawl for April, that was big enough to wrap around her and the baby, and buttoned, so she could nurse if she needed to. Hats, mittens, booties, swaddles, and sleeping sacks in various colors and sizes. A half-dozen pacifier holders in different colors. A cover for the infant carrier, to keep the baby warm. And three soft toys, one of which rattled.

“Bro…” Mikey breathed out.

“You made all of that?” Leo asked.

“Raph, that’s incredible,” Don said.

“Well done, Raphael,” Splinter said.

“They’re so soft,” Casey said. “And there’s so much.”

Raph shifted in place again, not sure what to do with the amazement of his family. “It was no big. I just looked up stuff that babies would need, you know? And I figured, well, I could make some of it. It just sort of… kept going, that’s all.” April carefully set aside the items in her lap, and pushed herself up, heading over to Raph. She threw her arms around him, hugging him closely. “It’s wonderful, Raph,” she said. “They’re beautiful and perfect, and so much better quality than anything I’ve seen. It’s a wonderful gift. Thank you so much!”

Raph hugged her back, his nerves fading as he did. “It ain’t nothing, April,” he said. “Just what I could do to welcome him in.”

April pulled back a little, smiling at him even though her eyes were moist. “It was the perfect gift, and I couldn’t have dreamed of anything better.”

“Merry Christmas, April,” he said, and then moved his hands down to her stomach. “And Merry Christmas, little guy.”

A gentle pressure rested on his hand, and April laughed.

“Merry Christmas, Raphael,” she said, “From both of us.”

Raph smiled. It really had turned out to be a good Christmas.

[annonniiiiieeeee]

I HAVE COME /kicks door/ Hello there my dear friend :D its good to have you back /virtual hugs <3/

Anyways heres my question

Sooo the Tenshu gang know they cant go into the upper word /aka New York/ at daylight bc of the humans and stuff..... but what about the goverment? specific a certain person whose name starts /w B 👀 who by asares del destino just kidnapted the turtle fam and did experementions with them. How would the Tenshu gang react to that? :)

/also me wanting to make so many drawing of your books and ideas but doesnt have the time bc school *proceeds to cry*/

Thank you my friend it’s good to be back.

I eagerly await whatever beautiful art you are will to bestow upon me.

But here’s the thing. I always forget about Bishop’s existence.

I haven’t reached that part of 2003. When I do I will let you all know and I will have more feelings about it.

Honestly Rise is so different from it predecessors in that it is very bright. Yes they acknowledge the fact that Bee York won’t be cool with …. This whole situation.

But they are also the only turtles to really go to the surface in daylight. They are in cosplay which is a lot more common then in 2003. They also have a whole mystic city to explore.

Rise has a much lighter tone to it. It still has its big emotional moments and the characters still have depth. But just even in it’s color palette it is much lighter.

2003 is very dark. It opens with the purple dragon as street thugs robbing people in and armor car. I’m pretty sure they were ready to kill Casey bull publicly beating him in like episode five. It is grungy and fits the dark super hero tone of shoes from that era. It’s not bad, but by any means. It doesn’t shy away from the cruelties of the world and the horrors of being mutants.

Yes the show is fully ridiculous in moments. Everything with the aliens comes out of no where and yet perfectly fits. When you watch it your like. “Yes what wonderful plot development” but when I try to explain it to my brother I would like I’m on crack. I love it so much.

That being said. Bishop a government agent that is here to experiment in the turtles. How does he fit in. In 2003 I can totally see it. I’m not at the part yet but it makes sense in there dark world that someone like that would exist and eventually come after them.

In rise the tone is so light. It’s hard to pitcher him in the show. Now after the movie? Where the government comes in to collect the remaining Krang?

Ya I can see someone like this showing up. Maybe he is crazy conspiracy theories that no one took seriously until the aliens show up. Maybe the government has deals with the hidden city to ignore mutants in New York as long as they aren’t causing harm.

Cause that’s the other thing. Rise has a lot of mutants that are just running businesses and not hiding. Like Repo liturally change the name of his business to Repo Mantis. He’s not hiding. Neither is Todd.

I don’t think Bishop can be this big scare government agent because the rise government doesn’t seem to care that mutants are in the street.

But a fanatic with a YouTube Channel? Or even a scientist studying evolution? Think like the crazy dentist. (Who I want to tackle some day because what the heck? He wants to go after Raph and boy howdy at I going to make that happen)

If Bishop exist in the rise universe he has to be his own entity because again their government does not care.

I will let you know more once I get to his 2003 arch but if y’all got ideas let me know.

[goldenspecter]

Cosmo’s TMNT Masterpost

(Rise, 2003, 2012, and others)

Here’s where you can find pretty much everything I’ve ever made for the TMNT fandom! Fanfics here[haven’t gotten the courage to post fanart here yet], hope you guys enjoy my work. Reblogs are appreciated!

Fanfics

1. Finding my way home(and moving forward)

Out of sheer curiosity, Leonardo and Donatello looked up, and there it was.

A portal.

Had the Universe really taken pity on them? Had it really heard his desperate prayers for one more chance?

It was not like the ones they had seen before, it was an irregular circle made up of several shades of blue, completely different from the perfect and symmetrical pink triangles of the Kraang.

Leonardo and Donatello looked into each other's eyes for a few moments, "Should we go in?" Donatello asked, almost shouting, drawing the attention of the others, who quickly turned to the portal and to see each other, then the two brothers in question.

"It's our best bet, and our only chance," replied Leonardo.

Or rather, with the 2012 kids' home gone, they end up in the Rise verse after a strange portal shows up. Therapy is needed, and start the slow process of healing from their trauma.

(Rise/2012, Work in Progress, written with @keeryd​ )

2. Strawberry Cookies:

"Mikey here was just about to tell me what we could do to cheer Raph up while he's sick," Donnie says. "Mikey continue?"

Now that Mikey had both of his older brothers attention, he grins. "I was thinking we make strawberry cookies!" He does his jazz hands as he says this and is met with looks of something that he can only put as disapproval. "What?"

"You do know that everytime that we have tried to make it-" Donnie starts.

"We mess it up and Raph has to come in and save our butts from burning the cookies?" Leo finishes, "What would be different this time?"

Mikey huffs, "We are doing this so we can cheer him up and to prove that we can do something on our own!" he says, "That's what got Raph sick in the first place!"

Or rather, Raph gets sick after helping his brothers recover from the poisoned pizza puffs. Mikey, Donnie, and Leo take a shot at baking cookies for Raph while trying not to burn their kitchen down.

(One shot, complete)

 3. Chicken Fried Rice:

“I only poured in half a pot of rice,” Donnie complained.

Mikey stared at him, really stared at him before he spoke. “You do realize that rice expands when cooked right?” he said, “You do realize that?”

Donnie was silent, looking away from Mikey.

“Donnie!”

Donnie makes chicken fried rice. Mikey watches over. Shenanigans and brotherly fluff ensue.

one shot in which Donnie is in the kitchen, cooking rice and Mikey, Mikey is positive he should have gotten Donnies braincell. 

(One shot, complete)

 4. Tea Time with Hortense and Patty: 

"Sooo," Raph starts. She's always been weird with awkward silences. "Are these grandma kinning hours?"

"Grandma hours!" Mikey exclaims excitedly. "Grandma time!!!"

"Ah, if it isn't our favorite girl and her little brother!" Hortense tilts her head over in their direction slightly. "Are you going to join us? We were just about done arguing," she says.

---

Today is Tea Time. Two old ladies have a tea party, one of them forgets to bring the food, and they are joined by Mikey and Raph. A good time is still had.

(One Shot, Complete)

5. One of those Days

When Donnie woke up this morning, he woke up with the familiar thrum of anger and irritation running through his body with more intensity than normal. Rubbing the crust out of the corners of his sleep-addled eyes, he jerkily grabbed his phone and turned off the alarm. It's one of Those Days, Donnie noted. Those Days where Donnie isn't capable of handling Mikey's over-enthusiastic optimism or Leon's chaotic trickster nature. His safest bet is to hang out with Raph, his calm and mellow demeanor always helped calm down before Donnie went on a rage fest and say anything he couldn't take back.

Or, Donnie and Raph help each other out, balance each other, and make things a little less difficult.

(One Shot, Complete) 

 6. Gift Hunting: 

“It’s Leo. Tiny Leo,” the voice answers. “I need your help with something.”

“What is it?”

“I can’t say until you say yes first,” Leo says. “It’s really important though.”

Angelo is silent, weighing his options. He could say no, he really could-

“Please, Angelo, you’re the only one who can really help me with this,” Leo pleads.

Rather, Angelo and Leonardo go out in the streets of New York to help the blue banded turtle find gifts for his brothers' sixteenth mutation day. Bonding and fluff ensues.

(One Shot, Complete)

 7. Aftermath:

“Raphie bear?” Mikey called out, gently tapping Raph, with relief washing him when Raph turned his head to face him. “What’s the matter teddy bear?”

“Th-thi-this doesn’t feel real.” Raph stuttered out, his voice cracking as a sob broke through. “I’m not really here. Neither are you and everyone else. I’m still alone with Draxum and his minions. No one’s coming to save me because I was stupid enough to get captured and no one wants such a worthless turtle like me.”

In which Raph was kidnapped and tortured by Baron Draxum and his family has to deal with the aftermath of it.

(One Shot, Complete)

 8. To Be the Eldest

Donnie, the second youngest in his family, wishes he was the eldest for once. Then one night, Donnie gets his wish granted and now he was three small turtles in his care.

Donnie adjusts to being the eldest, comes to some realizations, and makes a promise to his (now) younger brothers.

(Work In Progress)

 9. Wanted: Snaggletooth 

Dr. Noel bent down on his knees in front of Raph, a manic smile that showed too many teeth coming about on his face speaking of pain and suffering that has yet to come. He stretched out his hand towards Raph’s face, placing a thumb under his mouth, pressing into his snaggletooth. “Beautiful. Just as I expected,” he crooned, pulling out a syringe and injecting it into Raph’s neck, pushing the contents of the syringe into his system.

Raph’s eyes fluttered as he started losing consciousness, watching through hooded eyes as Dr. Noel's smile grew even wider, with his last thought right as darkness consumed him being that he hoped his family would find him before it was too late.

Post S2 Finale, Dr. Noel remembers Raphael, his snaggletooth, and manages to find and capture the red masked turtle. It doesn't end well for Raphael.

(Work In Progress)

 10. Dimensional Differences:

They bow. Not like one of those pretentious bows like she would do at Yokai parties and not like the ones she would do with her brothers when they hosted tea parties. They bowed deeply, heads stopping at her stomach, one hand closing around their fists. This spoke of respect and honor.

And that unnerved her a little bit. Why are they bowing so deeply?

“Thank you,” they said in unison. It’s unnerving to April and she felt the uneasiness coming from her brothers too.

“Why are you thanking me?” She said finally, voice sounding foreign to her.

“You saved my life?” Baby Leo said slowly, voice tinged with confusion. “That was an honorable thing to do?”

April blinked, “It shouldn’t be considered honorable for doing what any big sister would do,” she said. “That’s not honor, that’s just being a good older sibling.”

In which April, Sunita, Casey, and the turtles end up in the 2012 verse after a mishap with Leo's ōdachi and stay with the 2012 turtles until they can go home. They find out a lot of things that don't quite jive with them. Some things are the same, some things are different and they're not quite sure how to handle those differences.

(Rise/2012, Work In Progress)

 11. Mind Meld Part Deux:

“Oh thank Galileo that you all are back to normal!”

“What do you mean we’re back to normal?” Raph questioned, pulling back from the hug. Mikey and Leo also pulled back to stare at Donnie. “We’ve-we’ve always been like this?”

Donnie went quiet. He shouldn’t have said that.

“Donnie, what did you do?”

The brothers found out about Donnie’s Mental Intelligence Reprogrammulator. Arguments are had, words are said, words that tear a rift between him and his family, and it’s up to Donnie to earn his brothers’ forgiveness. The only thing is, will he get it?

(Work In Progress)

 12. I'm a little kid and so are you(don't you go and grow up before I do):

The 2003 turtles somehow, someway ended up in the Rise verse, with Rise Splinter and his turtle tots, and stay with them while the boys try to figure out their way home. 2003 Raphael got attached to his tiny counterpart the moment he laid eyes on the tot. (Raph centric)

(Rise/2003, Work In Progress)

 13. Dimensional Self-Isolation

Post S2 Finale, Raph finds himself trapped in the 2012 universe and has a difficult time coping with all of the differences that this world has in store for him. From new villains, unfamiliar familiar faces, and the way the 2012 boys and Splinter treat each other and him, Raph has a heavy plate on his hands during his long term stay.

(Rise/2012, Work In Progress)

14. A Collection of Turtle Thoughts

A collection of drabbles and ficlets about Turtles I've been writing since October 2020. Ranges from humor to hurt/comfort, I have it all.

Requests are open. SFW only though.

(All Iterations, Work in Progress)

If y’all reblog, read, and share my work, I’d really appreciate that! Anything and everything is appreciated, money or not! Thanks folks 🐢💕

[hypnotised-hazard]

Could I just say something here considering the rise movie is coming up and shit I wanted to share my predictions since it's just a week away. So yk how everyones going on about this being similar to mutant apocalypse from 2012 and considering a lot of 2012 references and hell even va cameos in rise I find it fair to draw from that conclusion

BUT being the zany little 2003 tmnt fan I am I have found a few things that REALLY SPEAK TO ME and some 2003 fans may know exactly what im going to touch on. Which is the season 3 episode "Same As It Never Was"

Before we unpack I would like to say spoilers for 2003 tmnt and I 110% agree you should REALLY CHECK OUT THIS SERIES it's highly underrated okay ON WITH IT!

First off im going to be pointing out the obvious the apocalypse like future [because imagine if I had a nickel for everytime thats happened in tmnt.] There's a sorta form of opposite into how the future is told but they are both alternate timelines were everything is taken away by a krang/umtron antagonist of the present dimensions time which...

Both take the role of a very familiar guy we all know and love.

And weight is on one person who wants to defeat it and therefore has to come up with a plan to stop them or else everything they know will be destroyed that person probably knowing they could lose something in the process.

And while I'm on it I wanna address some speculation I have about that whole machine Leo's coming out of in that shot. He looks heavily traumatised by what he's seen in that pod of some sort with the whole plot line about the apocalypse future I wouldn't count it out of the question that he's seen the future Casey's from or something similar to that and he could've seen that he's lost almost everyone and probably due to him being the leader this weight has been put on him even more because everyones looking towards him for advice and more amplified by casey being his student he doesn't know. So if they lose he truly believe its his fault. it's absolutely similar to Donnies experience in 2003, were the whole world goes down the drain just because he went missing so theres this giant burden on Don were he tries to fix everything hes supposedly done in this alt universe only for his plan to kill his brothers in the process going back to his dimensions brothers traumatised.

So that's lovely two traumatised turtles who definitely aren't scarred for life.

There's also some smaller similarities I've found between the two like

-A future were at least one or more of the turtles are dead [rise please have the balls to kill raph and don on screen like 2003 /j]

-uh oh looks like someones lost an arm

-present Casey dying [or at least its most likely that rise Cassandra has died as Casey was named after them and we didn't see her anywhere in the trailer and probably if your grandson is basically going back in time to save you and your family you'd probably be there lmao.]

-April's a commander and alive [listen rise future April isn't seen in the trailers but I presume shes alive because she's greeted by Casey meaning Casey knows her and Casey also looks like they see April first rather than the turtles because he's probably looking for his next instruction. Even though its a bit of a stretch why shes not in the trailer is probably because she's kinda doing the same as 2003 april in same as it never was which is running camps or forms of rebellion camps and probably is why shes stated as a commander.]

Okay again some of these are speculation but GOD DAMN a lot of these can definitely be classified as similarities and damn as a 2003 fan I can see where they're going with this and even though same as it never was is literally the greatest tmnt episode of all time HOLY FUCK it's a mental RIDE and going into this movie is definitely kinda like how i felt going into same as it never was for the first time everything seeming perfectly fine THEN BAM HIT THE FAN this movies truly gonna be awesome I can feel I'm not ready

[blueboltkatana]

I'm gonna make tmnt 2003 headcanons for the turtles because this fandom must be kept alive at all cost! Here i go beware of longpost, cuteness, angst and gay:

Part #1-> Leo:

- the day he stops making dad puns is the day Shredder resigns and becomes a farmer

- whenever he makes a really corny one Mikey just drops everything and acts like he's having a stroke

- Cannot cook to save his poor life but it will not stop him from trying, he just wants to help Mike! "Hell no out of my kitchen Donnie just fixed the microwave!"

- Loves gardening so much, he's not the best with animals but he kills it with plants. He's got a green thumb if you know what i mean...

- He can only cook well when he's drunk. How'd they find that out you ask? They all got hammered when they turned 21 and blue boy got up and cooked breakfast at 3am and it was delicious how the fuck?!

- they have pics (thanks April and Casey) of him looking extremely concentrated while cracking an egg. April framed it.

- he was a pretty picky eater as a kid but outgrew it

- doesn't partecipate in prank wars because he's too op and outpranks everyone (except master splinter) so he's been banned

- is the only one who studied japanese well and has lengthy conversations with master splinter.

- walks into Donnie's lab when it's time to eat and just looks at him, doesn't speak a word, just stares deadeye for a few seconds and then leaves. It scares Donnie shitless every time but it gets him out of the lab so...

- calls Mikey *Raph* by mistake all the time, only does this with Mikey, still can't understand why he does that

- is a clean freak and very minimalistic. Which means he avoids Mikey's and Donnie's rooms like the plague.

- watches anime with Mikey (who forced them all to watch at least one) and comments on the fight scenes all the damn time. Raph does that too, and they fight about it constantly

- his favorite thing to do is to pick up on popular trends once they've died and do them around Mikey to drive him crazy "noo someone ate my yogurt!" "Ah that's so sad Alexa play Take on me" "Leonardo i am begging you to stop"

- Donnie is skinnier than his brothers since he doesn't eat much, being in his lab working all the time and all, so Leo walks in every hour to make sure he stays hydrated and has a snack. And smacks him in the head once in a while to "get the engine working"

- Being the oldest, he used to lie to his brothers about things to make them seem cooler than they are or just to sound like he knew his shit, Donnie caught on quickly unfortunately

- he still keeps his old teddy bear to sleep with, then again that's better than Mikey's 5 feet long Sasuke body pillow

- Raph used to make a bit fun of him for not showing any interest in girls as in "are you too honorable for hormones as well?" Until they figure out he's gay and it's a very "Ooohhh" moment for the whole family

- he has trouble sleeping sometimes and when it gets bad you notice cause he knocks into things

- he does the very unhealthy thing of "instead of dealing with this i will exhaust myself then pass out" and that usually results in a braindead turtle wandering around the lair eating cereal at 6 pm and not responding to his own name until the third call then passing out on the couch

- he still keeps some of Mikey's earliest comic drawing attempts, the first thing Raph knitted him (a cute beanie) as well as this toy car Donnie fixed all on his own for his birthday, because he's a sentimental slut

[we-rate-tmnt]

I request: Leonardo. Please and thank you 🙏.

Idk if everyone loves Leo or if my header and avatar just remind everyone about this amazing blue boy. (This one’s super silly btw. I’m just sillier as time goes on. Character development I guess?) 

The iconic leador Leonardo (1987)

Bro idk why but I loved this Leo. I have a tiny memory, especially with this version but I clearly remember that I thought he was the funniest and the coolest. I mean, he had swords, what was I supposed to do as a 7-year-old. NOT like him??? Anyway, while Raph was the best at insult comedy, I think Leo had the best puns and punchlines. I really like how nonchalant this Leo is compared to his iterations, going along with really silly ideas and having fun along the way. But because of this, his leadership is a little forced at times, he seems like such a chill and fun dude that when he gets serious, I have to squint and ask ‘are you Leo? Or were you just putting on act a moment ago?’ Or my perception is entirely warped over time. Either way, good turtle boy, could have used some work tho. 5.7/10

Here comes grumpy lad wooo this is all read very monotone btw Fearless Leader (2003)

What. What the fuck happened. I was actually so confused when Leo turned really angry and serious and almost manic. I thought that episode when he popped into Casey’s window and was like ‘Hey bitch lets go beat the shit out of some lowlifes’ I was WOAH THERE BUDDY BACK UP BACK UP BACK TF UP. It was so sudden to me and when it was finally explained, it made some sense??? Like yeah, character development is great an’ all but this ain’t it chief. I can’t imagine what it was like having to wait for these episodes to release one at a time. Bc I watched every episode back to back on Youtube and I was genuinely bamboozled. But when you have an experience like that where guilt is weighing down on you from a situation you couldn’t control, it would’ve been HELLA HELPFUL to have at least a flashback, like a line saying ‘I was so useless!’ at BARE MINIMUM. Like right after Shredder is booted off to Planet Zula, Donnie would notice that Leo didn’t seem all that happy and would ask why and Leo would get upset and yell at Donnie saying that ‘You wouldn’t understand’, ‘You don’t know how I felt, how I feel because of that’, etc. Like you don’t even have to say he felt guilty or helpless, just give us something to grab onto. We’re merely six-year-olds who thought they could climb the YMCA rock wall in easy mode but instead the script riders harnessed us up on the hard one and wouldn’t let us come down until we rang the little bell at the top. I think that is the only problem I had with his Leo. The sudden change of calm and decisive to angry and irrational was so jarring that it felt unnatural without that crucial context. If you want a surprise reveal, at least hint at the reveal (like just about every Disney movie with their ‘twist’ villains) not wait until the very last moment. I think this might be my least favorite Leo and I think the season where he stood out the most and seemed the strongest was Fast Forward (Which was GOOD FIGHT ME), especially in scenes with Dark Leo, his clone. He sees so much of himself in Dark Leo but he also sees something he had once grasped (AKA the poorly written character arc, I CANNOT stress how bad I thought it was). Although, I honestly think he’s a really good character and he’s a pretty neat guy. However, this score is entirely held up by Fast Forward and his connection with Usagi, sword bros to the end of time. 3/10 (2 for FF and 1 for Usagi)

And now a Leo that makes me genuinely feel UWU Leo (2012)

I cannot stress how much I like this guy! Like his design is so appealing, his dedication, his obsession with Space Heroes, like I FUCKING LOVE IT. And everyone knows, that shit with Karai, at first when they didn’t realize they were related, I can let slide but kajsdflksadf what even like why did the writers feel the need to add in more ‘love interest’ implications like yuck yuck yuck. The only two interactions with Leo and Karai that I really like are when Leo defeats her using the healing hands technique and when Leo has a goth/emo/punk/idk I’m new here phase and they team up and EXPLOSIONS. He was introduced to us as being incredibly naive and his idea of leadership is from some old cartoon that’s basically star trek but ethically questionable. After his fights in season 1, to the finale with the technodrome, you can see his growth. He’s able to formulate plans and make life or death decisions. BUT WAIT THERE’S MORE. When Leo got hurt, I felt like the oof sound effect mixed with some tears I normally shed at some Shojo manga bs. While the episodes following were super weird, it was a nice way to help Leo recover, not only physically but spiritually (Although I don’t remember the spirit arc at all except the epic Raph vs Fishface fight, so we’re skipping that). When Master Splinter really died, you could tell there was a huge impact on Leo, but he had to remain stoic and lead the family now. A lot of heartbreaking moments in this series came from Leo and I’m glad they took at least some thought into developing him. Tiny head Leo will haunt my nightmares, but the giggly fanboy will warm my heart constantly. 6/10

I only have one word for this Leo (Heroes in a Half Shell: Blast to the Past)

This is a super crazy bad idea accent on the super crazy bad part have I mentioned it’s also a really terrible idea/10

Okay, spoiler alert, didn’t really think this Leo was that grand Leo (2014/2016)

Painfully average. He didn’t stand out that much, Raph was part of the focus and had that touching scene at the end, Donnie was ICONIC and Mikey (with his weird-ass eyes) was super lively and funny! Leo? Uh, I don’t remember a single line he said. Because he never really grabbed my attention, I don’t have too much to say on this version. The Raph and Leo fight felt forced and the whole ‘keep this stuff that could turn us human a secret’ was pretty pointless and was added just to cause drama, I don’t even remember what that Splinter and Leo conversation was about. Design-wise, really neat! You can see some more traditional Japanese clothing/style mixed with modern (I’d feel a lot better about this assumption if some could tell exactly what the heck he’s wearing, but I get traditional Japan warrior vibes from it) in his look which was super neat! Other than that, if you like him, please tell me why because I don’t get. He was just kinda eh. 5/10

AHHH MY BOY YASSS WHOOO!! Neon Leon (2018)

Okay, I loved Ben Schwarts already from Parks and Rec but like him being Sonic AND Leo, like DUDE. He’s super funny by himself but teamed up with this shows writing and animation, it makes it hilarious. I literally love this Leo so much, maybe because we’re alike but honestly, he’s amazing. I love his design with the red and yellow crescents accenting his skin and livening up his color pallet. He has a very healthy and natural dynamic with his brothers, he’s the first to know what’s wrong and tries his best to make up for his actions. This is really prominent in the most recent episodes, along with the episode portal jacked. In both, Leo is separated from his brothers. Portal Jacked is in a more literal sense, while Air Turtle handles in more of an emotional sense. While both are brief, Leo sees his error and tries his best to make it up to them. I love his dynamic so much and it’s so nice to see something like this compared to the unnecessary drama and tension between the brothers in the previous series. It’s refreshing and this is something a younger audience needs to see; instead of fighting, it’s better to work together and improve yourself along the way. Improvement is a big theme for Leo here. He’s a goofball, makes jokes at every opportunity and isn’t quite skilled at fighting or using his weapon. But he grows over time, he learns to manage his power and he’s working on mastering it. He’s trying to put aside his narcissism more and focuses on his family. I think the approach they took with him rising to leader rather than slapping it on his forehead was the goddamn best decision they could make. He’s making plans, finding loopholes, helping out and getting out of his comfort zone. I cannot stress how well this show has handled Leo, along with the other characters. I can’t wait to see more episodes about his growth and I am awarding him with one of the greatest honors I could give... 10/10

Storytime: I drew a super cute 2012 Leo, you should look at him. Shameless self-promo, but you should follow me on my main blog bc I’m nice and I draw pretty pictures. Also. I have a little 2012 Leo Happy Meal toy??? I think??? guarding my window and he’s been there for YEARS. I need to bring him in and refresh his paint job.

Wow! I didn’t expect this many requests for Leo, so the blog will be momentarily spammed with the requests, but it shouldn’t be too much! Up next should be the last turtle (Mikey) and then we can get to some REALLY great requests I’m eager to answer. As usual, please comment and reblog! I’d love to hear your opinion!

[divine-motion]

don’t fucking interact if you ship t/cest and minor/adult ships

more shitty phone photos of sketchbook sketches for my tmnt fan incarnation/tmnt 2012 rewrite bc i have no shame and i’m having fun with it! pictures should have captions since i spent time writing them out, but tumblr might mess it up, so in case captions doesn’t work: 1. left to right: leo, donatello up, raphael down, michelangelo 2. Casey Jones up top, April O’Neil to the right, donatello in the middle and karai at the bottom 3. casey and don again, raphael to the left, mikey at the bottom just bc i liked how their their expressions turned out and didn’t want a bunch of negative space so don and case appear again 4. size chart featuring turtles. left to right: leo, don, mikey, raph 5. sketchy Slash design. big boy.

general thoughts character stuff below the Keep Reading. A Lot of rambling below so beware!!

April: 15 years old, trans and bi. local fifteen year old telepath finds out that not everyone is able to feel what other people are feeling, something she’s been able to do since she was six after she played in that one weirdly glowy puddle (early Kraang mutagen attempt that only managed to mutate April in the sense that it gave her telepathy, was originally intended to make humans become part of the Kraang hivemind). she’s largely unfazed by the existence of mutants and aliens, taking it in stride, and finds out about the Kraang - and meets the turtles - while snooping around TCRI business (aspiring journalist that she is) and accidentally witnessing the mutation of Snakeweed. her telepathy, which later as she grows in power alongside the turtles extends to telekinesis and basically possession, is very useful whenever she gets into a scrap since she can predict what moves her opponent will make, thus letting her dodge their blows effectively. personality wise she is a very determined and driven young girl, incredibly curious (and cannot mind her own business, she wants to know all the drama while not having to be part of it... which makes her very fortunate to be a telepath. listen she’s 15 she’s allowed to misuse her powers a little bit. as a treat.), playful, and cheerful, and she’s an extroverted autistic. in her spare time between her studies, she likes to play bass, sing, read, and write. that, and investigating whatever shady business is going on in town, and she makes it very clear to the turtles that even if they weren’t going to deal with the Kraang, she’d continue to try to stop them herself. she would like to not live under the threat of her or her loved ones getting mutated, thank you very much! and, you know, it’s kind of exciting. kind of.

i know it’s bc i have brain issues when it comes to parent figures but i am very much leaning towards Splinter not being... a good dad. i don’t think 2012 Splinter is a good dad anyways but i’d probably amp it up, make him a mix of 2012 and idw probably. i’m still mulling it over but like, remember in the season 1 finale when leo is watching his show and thinks the captain guy making a totally unnecessary sacrifice is a heroic move, and then Splinter tells leo (his fifteen year old child) that leo should know what or who to sacrifice, more or less telling him to sacrifice his brothers’ lives, potentially?? i know there was a lot at stake but hello??? i remember watching it and being like me: ah i see, this is showing that splinter is wrong and there is no need for any sacrifices as seen in the show when the captain Goes Down With His Ship for no reason other than just sacrificing himself, and leo will see that- leo: *tries to sacrifice himself twice in the finale, both times being kind of unnecessary/seemed like if he had just hurried or done something slightly different there would be no need to stay behind, and he gets out fine with no consequences, seemingly no injuries, and does Not learn anything, his brothers don’t even get sad when they think he died or get mad at him for pulling such a dumb move) me: surprised_pikachu.jpeg

like that moment haunts me. has any other splinter told their sons to sacrifice himself or his brothers? has any other splinter put that on them??? idw doesn’t count if he has bc he’s more explicitly supposed to be bad so???

sometimes writers think they’ve made an uncle iroh but they really, really, really haven’t. also his backstory is the same as in the show

anyways. Donatello: 15 years old, bog turtle, nonbinary (he/they, doesn’t mind being called brother but doesn’t like to be called “boy” or “girl” or whatever), bi. he isn’t in love with April. no creepy incel shit here. donnie is instead more like a mix between his Rise and 2003 self. he has trouble expressing himself and is pretty introverted, but he is very altruistic, kind, and compassionate. a lot of his inventions are made to help people and he was driven to learn about science and engineering because he wants to find a way to reverse splinter’s mutation, to give splinter his life and humanity back. he feels like he needs to know if splinter would just abandon them if he wasn’t a huge rat man, needs to know if there’s any part of splinter that blames them for being constant reminders of his mutation. other than that, he also likes to make inventions because he’s a dreamer and wants to experiment to see how much of the unknown he can push beyond. also, the best liar out of the turtles. also fairly good at compromising and prefers to solve conflicts without violence he can get a little... “obnoxious 15 year old genius” at times. even when he’s helpful it can come off as a bit “poor dear isn’t as smart as me”, and while he usually gets along well with Raph, he doesn’t handle Raph’s temper well at all (calls him “Wrathael/Wrath” and thinks he’s being super clever) and gets really dismissive of Raph’s “outbursts”.

Michelangelo: 13 years old, diamondback terrapin, unsure about the gender and sexuality thing but he doesn’t think he’s exactly cis and definitely not straight. a bouncy ball of sunshine and surprising emotional maturity and emotional intelligence! more so than his emotionally constipated brothers, at least. it’s on his thirteenth birthday (it was leo’s idea for them to pick dates that would let them have their own birthdays instead of sharing the “Mutation Day”, Mutation Day being another special “holiday”) that the Plot would be set in motion, as he’s finally allowed to go to the surface same as his brothers, and on this first night out they meet April and the Kraang and other mutants. he is a goof still, but he’s capable in his own right and gets frustrated when people treat him like a baby or an idiot because he’s not. he doesn’t always treat everything with the seriousness it should but like. he’s thirteen, he’s having fun. even so, he’s very insistent of taking responsibility whenever he does do something wrong and gets mad if someone tries to take the blame for something he’s done. definitely the most compassionate and empathetic out of the turtles, he’s quick to make friends and is very persuasive due to his earnest nature and good heart. much like donnie, he prefers to solve conflict without violence but does enjoy knocking skulls a lot more than donnie. unlike donnie, though, he is almost overly forgiving and not petty at all. he’s well aware that his kindness and forgiveness may be taken advantage of, but he still likes to approach people with an open hand, even if he knows that it may end up getting bitten. oh, and his hobbies include drawing, cooking, singing, and dancing. he likes to express himself!

Raphael: 14 years old, mississippi map turtle, trans, bi. all his fury is compressed within his tiny body, that’s why he’s so angry all the time! no, he’s not angry all the time, but he does have a short fuse. he absolutely hates his anger issues which leads to a lot of self-loathing, and a lot of frustration as his family members either don’t take his anger seriously or don’t have the tools to help him with it. he’s the physically strongest out of the bunch and the least agile. he loves animals and plants a lot and keeps a lot of flowers in his room, hoping that he can one day become a gardener. as his idw self, he wants to watch things grow, but no matter what he does he seems to be best at destroying things. he’s also the one most self-conscious about how the human world perceives them, as he greatly fears rejection, and is the first one to see something positive with people getting mutated - namely, that maybe this way mutants will be more well known and finally accepted by society, so he’ll no longer be trapped in the sewer until the end of his days. so yeah, he’s a huge optimist, in truth. also he’s great at knitting - great at creating and taking care of things in general - and there’s no leo and raph rivalry this time around. he can get mad at leo but not really more than he gets with his other brothers.

Casey: 15 years old, nonbinary (they/them), bi. teen vigilante who gets inspired to fight mutants and the big time criminals (no beating up pickpockets or shoplifters or whatever, just the ones that are really hurting people) and gets roped into the turtle fam after meeting raph and becoming unexpected friends (everyone was expecting it, once Casey realized that mutants are people and not weird monsters. well, not all the time, anyways). they struggle a bit in school not because of a lack of trying but a lack of time, as their parents work full time jobs and someone has to take care of casey’s little sister. their parents are very loving, but they only have so much time, so casey takes it upon themselves to take care of their little sister when their parents are busy and/or burned out from work. that, and they run into the classic dilemma of vigilante work clashing with school work. as always, they have a short fuse, they’re pretty cocky, they like beating ass, and they like hockey a whole lot. hockey, vigilante work, school, and taking care of their little sister... yeah, they have a lot on their plate. oh, and making their little inventions like the taser glove and their puck bombs, something that they bond with donnie over.

Leonardo: 17 years old, Central American wood turtle, trans, gay. he doesn’t fall in love with his sister oh my god. ahem. so, leo is raised from the start to be a Leader and has to mature very quickly, learning to be an adult way earlier than he should’ve, and as such he is very stoic and quiet, and doesn’t seem to have any hobbies, instead just doing chores and training almost constantly, and when he’s not doing that he’s reading or sleeping in his free time. he’s incredibly protective of his younger brothers and his other allies/friends, even if he acts distant and detached most of the time, and removes himself from situations where they’re having fun to not be the stick in the mud. he loves his brothers and admires them greatly, believing they could be So Much if the surface world would just accept them, and as a result he tries to be The Soldier so his brothers won’t have to. alas, they still get caught up in the Kraang and Shredder business, which frustrates him internally. he is the best fighter out of the turtles on account of having more years to train (and convincing Splinter to wait a few more years before they got Real training bc Come On Dude They’re Kids) but it’s the Only thing he’s good at, along with stealth and his sharp eyes. he absolutely sucks at talking when it isn’t about a mission or something he can script easily in his head. in his mind, he’s supposed to be more of a weapon than a person, an idea that isn’t exactly encouraged by Splinter... but not exactly discouraged either. his arc would be very paralleled with Karai’s, as they would both learn to hate their dads... also, absolutely down for murder, and a lawful neutral at best, putting his family and friends’ safety above all other things and following a strict personal code. doesn’t care too much for society’s laws, though.

Karai: 16 years old, demigirl, lesbian. same backstory as in the show, she’s born as Miwa but gets taken by Oroku Saki and raised as his daughter. however, she doesn’t exactly want revenge against Hamato Yoshi because she believes that he killed her mother. she never knew her mother, so it’s much more difficult to hate someone for taking her mother away, even if it does mean that she never got to know her mother. especially since her father rarely spoke of what her mother was like, and much more about how much he hates Yoshi. instead, her need for revenge is more for the possibly idyllic life she was robbed of, since she believes that maybe, just maybe, her father Saki would’ve been a kind father that would’ve let her have a normal childhood and not be molded into a warrior from the start if her mother still lived. and hey, maybe Tang Shen would be a nice mom too. being trained in the art of deception, Karai has a tendency to talk a lot and say very little, or at least very little that is true. she is rarely ever sincere and acts as if she’s taking nothing seriously, which is part of her defense mechanism to never let anyone close or see her true self. she mocks pretty much everyone, ally and enemy alike, but especially likes to make fun of her father’s henchmen and is always the first to point out their failures. while she does value honor to some extent, she is a bit “flimsy” when it comes to loyalty, especially after the truth about her father is revealed. when that is revealed, she at first just feels very numb, learning that not only has she been nothing but a tool and a weapon for the Shredder from the very start, but also that the idyllic fantasy where her mother still lived, perhaps her life wouldn’t be so different after all. she looks at leonardo and sees a reflection of herself, that her “real” father chose to train his sons the same way the Shredder trained her. she feels stupid for feeling like she’s been robbed of even a fantasy, but it still enrages her. of course, this also inspires her to stay with the Foot Clan... just to get the kill on Shredder.

... yeah. that got long. ahem. i’m very passionate about this unfortunately!! anyways i might draw/write more for it because no one can stop me and i’m having fun

[brightlotusmoon]

I am proud of myself, I not only finished my fic entry for the TMNT Darkest Nights fanbook on DeviantArt in like a few days, I did not go over the word limit, plus I cut it off at a good cliffhanger moment and there is ton of room to expand into either its own full story or a chapter of “The Brightest Fire”. I’m usually awful at short stories that need to end sooner than I want. They always want to grow and be more, that’s how one novella grew into my second Novel In Progress, featuring a disabled autistic half-Fae. It’s hard to contain and confine a story with so much background. I think that’s why after I wrote the “Mikey The Lifegiver” short fic, I wound up turning it into a series (it’s at twelve fics and I think it’s done, unless this one I’m working on wants to be thirteen). I didn’t expect to write more than the two Donnie/Mikey fics that expanded on it, but then I realized how much I needed a Leo/Mikey story and a Raph/Mikey story, and then I wound up writing the “end” story, the “final” as an overall thing, using Spirit as an additional element, and the entire thing turned into an AU all on its own. I still read the first fic to myself when I have depression episodes. Hell, I still get messages via FF, AO3, and DA from fellow neurodivergent people who tell me that reading “Mikey The Lifegiver” both made them cry and helped them soothe their own depression episodes a little. That means more to me than any compliment. I mean, I did write it to help my own mental health.

https://www.deviantart.com/journal/The-darkest-nights-TMNT-Fan-Book-664201946 So, the deadline for Darkest Nights is the end of the month, so anyone who is interested who can whip up something in just over a week is welcome to do so, I can’t wait. Once the fanbook is officially published I can later post my fanfic story on AO3 and FF and DA (I actually have a profile, lol). The story will have a drawing by the one and only @sampsonknighttmnt and it’ll be specific to the storyline, which means this Mikey is psychic and epileptic, because it’s me, you know me. And even the drawing will feature that in a nifty way. Dude, I need another citrine pendant myself. Again, huge thanks to SampsonKnight for their help and encouragement and advice in our chats, and thanks to @hummerhouse just for being an inspiration whether they know it or not and also  being the expert font of knowledge for the 2003 TMNT cartoon. I keep wanting to Ask all sorts of questions to them and the @tmnt-discourse blog but I worry I’d be a nuisance and an imposition. So many questions though. PS, the discourse blog is an awesome blog. I often wonder which mods are the biggest Mikey fans. Because 2003 Mikey’s character has a lot to unpack as far as discourse goes.

I forget where I was going with this. Oh! Oh! I AM writing a new chapter/oneshot for “CFR: Mind Games” based on a dream. Leo comes out as gray-asexual same as April, Splinter says that before Don got a crush on April he thought they were all asexual, Casey admits he might be bi, April and Casey admit they’re attracted to each other, Gaia gets angry and I get to explore the poly relationship she has with Mike and Don a little more, Raph flirts openly with Casey and pines for Y’Gthgba, April and Donnie really are best friends and April continues to ask curious details about Don and Gaia’s sex life with Mikey because she’s fascinated by sex because she can’t feel desire; also I might follow the end of Season Four after all, depending on whether or not I want to keep Splinter and also on reader feedback. Sometimes I get shy about asking for feedback, because I don’t have a lot of CFR readers - or do I? They’re all on Fanfiction.net and I have no idea how many of them know I’m on Tumblr. I should add it to my profile. Also, I am working on Chapter Two of “Brightest Fire”. People were asking about that. It’s going to take some emotional labor since the characters will be dealing with some severe psychological fucking up and the fallout of stuff that was done in the past. I’m going to be calling out Splinter on a few things. The 2003 characters were made for intense psychological discourse, I think. Plus, I never had siblings so I have no idea if constant insults and light bullying among family is considered normal. I feel like the AU “The Sunshine Child” might be done, unless I feel inspired by the series finale or something. Now I see why Ciro set it fifty years in the future. We fans are going to go wild with fics and art.

[rin-the-shadow]

So this is a drawing I did around five years ago now. I don’t recall exactly what happened to spark the Ninja Turtles interest back into overdrive and lead to me hopping all over my favorite storylines of the first season, (really, it could be as simple as hearing the word “bushido” or something like, “I heard a character who sounded like Michael Sinterniklaas”) but here’s what I wrote back when I originally uploaded the picture to my DeviantArt:

I'd read an article on a fansite that said it's never really been explicitly confirmed why Raphael has such a temper in basically every series he appears in. Which is true, but at the same time, I don't think characters with tempers usually get a backstory on it; it's usually just accepted as a part of their personality as they're written. But as I read that, I thought about the fact that, in the 2003 series at least, Donnie's the one who spends the least amount of time on the receiving end of that temper, with Leo and Mikey on the receiving end for different reasons at different times. And of course, there may be lots of different reasons why Raph has a temper, ranging from frustration at not being able to do as well as he'd like, to being more of a fighter and not always having an outlet for that, or any number of other reasons. But the thing that caught my interest is that Donnie seems to be the one he loses his temper with least. And of course, I'm a little rusty on the series; it's been a few months since I really sat down and watched whole story arcs, but it seems like Donnie's the one he can communicate with the easiest. There's not that youngest-sibling-egg-you-on thing, or the rivalry element. So I was wondering if maybe part of Raph's temper could be because he isn't good at expressing himself in words. I'm mostly going off of season one, from "The Shredder Strikes" to just before "Return to New York." But I guess I got the idea since he's usually the one beating the bad guys away from the others when they're preoccupied. The way he shows he cares is by helping out with a project (like remaking Leo's katana) or beating the monsters back (The Shredder Strikes, Notes from the Underground, etc.). So I wondered if part of it is frustration at not being able or, in some cases, not being willing to express things as they are, like in "Tales of Leo," when he first gets mad that his brother won't wake up, and then winds up telling a story of when they were young, finishing with, "I don't even know why I told that story," and turning away as Splinter confirms Leo understood, since he doesn't want the others to see him tear up.

But in any event, that’s a headcanon I’ve had for awhile about 2003 Raph, that he isn’t particularly good at expressing himself in words, and so he has to find other ways to communicate with his siblings. I kind of want to rewatch the first season now, because some of the stuff that happens in early episodes like “Meet Casey Jones” is stuff that I don’t recall happening in later ones. I’m not sure if this is because it gets easier for him to express himself, or because there are more bad guys to beat off of his brothers....which I guess serves the same function, now that I think about it.

Because of a post by @brightlotusmoon, I’ve also been thinking about updating this picture, not only because I’d just like to draw more Ninja Turtles fanart, but also because that post made me realize I didn’t really include Mikey in the “how Raph shows affection” aspect of the picture. I have one of him kicking Shredder away from Donnie, and blocking his strike, I have him helping Leo reforge his swords as well as expressing concern when he was attacked by the Shredder’s henchmen, and on the flip side, I have him snapping at him during “Tales of Leo,” when he lashes out because he’s afraid he won’t wake up. For Mikey, I kind of have the moment from “The Shredder Strikes” when he pretended to be mortally injured, prompting Raph to express concern for him, and then revealed he was messing with him, which prompted the response, “I’ll turn yer lights out for real, wise guy!” but his are confined mostly to text as part of the graffiti wall.

And I do think part of that was because my marathon was fairly restricted to being from “The Shredder Strikes” up to “Return to New York,” where a lot of the focus was on the Shredder conflict, as well as Leo’s recovery from being attacked. But I’d like to have Mikey as a greater part of this piece, when I update it.