#me seeing any mouse in media: …okay but what if it was a rat instead-

[whisperwillyou]

I want you guys to know I have SO MANY fucking Owl House Wips

But my adhd brain absolutely REFUSES to let me focus on any single one long enough to actually finish any. I keep erratically bouncing between sketches like I’m made of Flubber.

Eventually I will get to a point where I’ll start finishing them one after another and it’s gonna look like I’m SO good & fast at art.

Don’t be fooled by future me, my friends.

It is but a feeble illusion.

For now, have an some Echo Rats changed it because I like rats and I make the rules here I drew way back that we’re supposed to be part of a larger concept where Hunter gets roped into helping Luz train her lil guy after he mentions reading about experiments where Echo Rats were trained to display the information they had consumed on command. Except then he fell in love and ends up adopting two more because eCHO RATS ARE SOCIAL THEY AREN’T SUPPOSED TO BE KEPT ON THEIR OWN, LUZ, HE HAD NO CHOICE-

Hunter 🤝 Echo Mouse: *consumes information from books with a voracious appetite and then repeats it verbatim whenever prompted*

[revchainsaw]

Sonic: The Hedgehog (2020)

Sonic: The Hedgehog (2020)

Greeting my flock of film freaks and welcome again to the Cult of Cult. Todays offering is a bit more of the mainstream blockbuster variety, but as films based on Video Games are still actually quite niche and vastly underestimated I think we should open our hearts to Sonic: The Hedgehog and hope that we find it a pleasing tithe to the cult. I am your beloved minster, The Reverend Chainsaw, and welcome to today’s service.

The Message

I must confess to the congregation that I was drinking mighty heavily of the lord’s Tennessee sour mash when I was taking in this movie. That said, I think that this is a great movie to have a drink with and I mean that in the best possible way. 

Sonic: The Hedgehog is of course based on the Sega video game franchise and stars Ben Schwartz as the titular blue rat. Schwartz brings his brand of high energy enthusiastic comedy to the voice role. While Schwartz is particularly on brand for Schwartz, is he on brand for Sonic? I’m not entirely sure, but I’m also not entirely sure I was ever in love with the old ways. I am not an avid fan or consumer of Sonic media and perhaps that means I am in a poor position to say. I am most familiar with the Sega games and Sonic cartoons from the 90s, and from what I have grasped the more recent entries with their more anime centric and high lore plots still owe quite a bit to the attitude era of the 90s. Sonic was a hero but he was also a bit of a cross between Mickey Mouse, the Flash, and Bart Simpson. As an angsty 90s boy I wanted to eat chili dogs and go very fast that was very appealing to me, but I’m not so sure it would be appealing to a vast audience of older millennials, or even todays kids. And though I think it would be a fair criticism to say that Ben Schwartz is playing sonic as basically the superhero version of his Dewey Duck from the VERY VERY good DuckTales reboot, I don’t think that it’s necessarily a bad thing. 

Dewey Duck the Hedgehog is a small mammal (also not a rodent, I wanted to say rodent and apparently hedgehogs are not rodents, just googled it) from an alien planet where his adoptive mother, an owl named Long Claw, fears that he will be hunted for his special powers, which I think is just super speed but it might be other things. In line with these concerns after an attack by pursuers Longclaw gives Sonic the Moses treatment and floats the special blue boy down the metaphorical river. Unlike Moses, however, Sonic is not found by ultra rich ultra powerful extra special people but is instead alone. Sonic lives alone in exile outside a small American town as a sort of local cryptid.

Thus begins a charming adventure. Through a poor decision to use his powers while working out some personal issues, Sonic inadvertantly draws the attention of the U.S Government and their nasty big brain baddy Dr. Robotnik. Sonic recruits a small town police officer with big city dreams to assist him in finding his magic rings so that he might flee from earth to an uninhabited mushroom kingdom. 

Now about these two human characters. Officer Everyman is played by cyclops from the X-men franchise. The actors name escapes me and so does the characters, and while, yes, I just looked up if hedgehogs were rodents, I will not be looking up this information. I like the review better this way. It makes me laugh. And while I don’t remember his name, I do remember that he used to live In Mt. Juliet, TN.  Anyway, what you should know about Officer Goodguy is that he drives a Toyota Tacoma!

That Toyota Tacoma is also continuously abused by the mad machinations of our films biggest draw: Jim Carey as Dr. Robotnik. If we were to pitch a Sonic movie, I don’t think anyone would jump to Jim Carey as the must have for the role, but after seeing this film, boy was it the best choice. The way he chews the scenery and plays off the rest of the cast and situations is just so much fun to watch. It’s fantastic to see Jim Carey back in a larger than life role. The Decision to play Jim Carey as the kind of condescending nerd who has taken their lack of social skills and leaned in as opposed to working on themselves was a brilliant choice. We’ve all known that kind of guy who tries to play the misanthrope just because they are too egotistical to recognize their flaws. Here Dr. Robotnik has given up on human connection in favor of subordination. His intellect is his only value, and thus he demands everyone around him acknowledge intellect as the only quality that matters as he has. It was a great choice.

From the point the chase begins the film becomes a road trip flick, and despite the fact that Sonic could supposedly cover the distance required in the blink of an eye we watch the ins and outs of our heroes relationship as they learn what home, and being a hero mean to them. By the climax it is pretty by the numbers, Sonic has come to feel at home on Earth and now that he has friends who care for him they can begin to make a world from which neither will have to flee; and of course, they beat the bad guy. FOR NOW. we are treated to an even crazier Dr. Robotnik stranded in the Fungus Dimension bent on revenge.

The Benediction

Now for all things Holy and Profane in this film, please rise for the Benediction.

Best Scandal: Sonic the Cosmic Horror

The original look of this film was mired in dread when the early footage and trailers dropped revealing a hideously uncanny hedgehog monster in the form of sonic. The memes are amazing, the toys are unsettling, there’s still plenty of Quasimodo Sonic stuff out there floating on the web and I suggest that you search it out, the laughter is good for your heart. Also if anyone wants to send me any creepy sonic merch I’ll take it. 

Thanks to the work of online fans and internet harassments, the studio felt it was going to lose money on the project and reeled back the release allowing for the design department to give us a more cartoony but less frightening alien monster. I mean he’s a cartoon, it’s okay for him to look like a cartoon. 

Best Scene: Noodle Dance

It’s hard to choose, and it feels a bit biased, but there are a few scenes with Dr. Robotnik that are just what make the movie more than a forgettable IP adaptation. Not that Ben Schwartz wasn’t doing great as the character but I feel Sonic as a whole would be lost in the milieu of CG spectacles and Super Hero Origin stories that we are bombarded with every year if not for Jim Carey’s performances; and even with them Sonic: The Hedgehog is not completely out of those woods. That said, I think Dr. Robotnik’s Alone Time Dance Party has to be the stand out sequence in my memory. I can’t really speak to what makes it so enjoyable, but damn if it isn’t just the best scene in the movie.

Best Character: Silicon Valley Dr. Robotnik

Do I even need to say it? It’s Dr. Robotnik. I’m not a fan of this villain from any other media. I always found Dr. Robotniks look unappealing, I’m not a huge fan of his powers, or using robot henchman. it always struck me as pretty boring how Sonic didn’t have a cool rogues gallery (i’m talking about 90s sonic) the way Mario did. However, they did something with the design, characterization, and performance that just made him such a fun villain. Also, my friend Jacksons mom said I looked like him and it didn’t hurt my feelings so.

Best Actor: Jim Carey

Jim Carey. It really seems like he’s all I’m talking about in this movie. Once again, I think Ben Schwartz did great and Sonic IS basically Dewey Duck in this movie. Dewey Duck is my favorite part of the rebooted DuckTales series, BUT he is just outmaneuvered by Jim Carey in this role. I think it’s a compliment enough to say that Ben Schwartz was even able to keep up with his energy, let alone play his quicker perkier foil. 

Worst Scene: Toyota Tacoma Commercial

Sonic: the Hedgehog’s worst scene would probably have to be the forced friend fight between Sonic and Officer Wachowski  during the car chase. It’s an overproduced weightless car chase scene with a contrived buddy cop controversy meant to force apart our heroes so that they can ultimately grow a little and come back together later in the movie. Not that I mind a movie like this to be so by the numbers, but it just felt like two of the blandest things on this movies plate being forced into one scene. I do like the idea of giving me the crap part of the dish in one flavorless generic bite, but that still doesn’t save it from being the worst scene in the movie. 

That Toyota Tacoma took a beating though.

Worst Feature: Nothing Ventured/ Nothing Earned

I’m sure many fans would feel that the worst feature of the film is that it isn’t loyal to any previous lore laden version of the character, (probably the one they like the most). In the portrayals of both Sonic and Dr. Robotnik there were decisions made that drastically differed from the ways they have been portrayed before. Sonic is naïve and idealistic, a bit childish, Dr. Robotnik is driven by a lot of insecurity. Where are the Chaos Crystals and my original character Grindy the Wolf Cub?

But I think that these are over all positive choices in a film that otherwise chose to play it incredibly safe. In their cautious approach to appeal to the widest possible audience the film makers gave us a pleasant and appealing cartoon romp but we are left with little to hold on to. The worst feature of Sonic: The Hedgehog is it’s safety.

Summary:

Sonic: The Hedgehog is often touted as “the first good video game movie”. A label that I disagree with wholeheartedly. It is certainly a good video game movie, but it’s not the first, and it is not by leaps and bounds better than other video game movies as a whole. It’s a sub genre that gets a ton of disrespect, and in a world where the biggest criticism levied against the Super Mario Bros is that it’s not a faithful adaptation, I don’t understand how Sonic the Buddy Cop/ Road Trip comedy is escaping that attitude.

All that said, I had a good time with this movie. But it felt like playing on the playground as a toddler. You have fun and then you leave and you don’t really remember what you played or who with. I’ll think about Jim Carey and Dewey Duck, but I had a hard time hating or loving anything this movie did in any strong way. I usually feel that a movie that is “bad” or “corny” or “shlocky” is always better than a movie that is generic, or pointless, or boring. Sonics pleasantness and cheerful energy just barely save it from being another Transformers franchise. I get that origin stories are hard, so I’m eagerly awaiting the next installment, and hopefully it’s going to do something that sets it apart. Probably not. 

Overall Grade: C

James Marsden! I just remembered!

[that-shamrock-vibe]

Disney+ What To Watch: My Top 10 Favourite Disney Classics

#2. Aladdin

Okay so there are several reasons as to why this is my #2 favourite and most of them come from a completely nostalgic point of view. But the main reason is this is the movie that first became the doorway for me to access multiple medias within the Disney franchise, not only the movies but also the television series and the video games.

But another reason why this is at #2 is because this is my sister’s favourite Disney Classic and so growing up we watched this a lot as well as my #1 favourite and so we were able to almost recite the movies word for word.

The sequels also play in hand as to why this movie is at #2 because they’re the only complete trilogy of Disney classics we own and, despite the dwindling quality of the sequels, it stands the original in a great light in comparison as well as the fact the sequels aren’t particularly required to get the most out of the first movie.

Also, Aladdin is the first time I was able to truly appreciate animation both in character design and scenery. Everything from the Arabian Desert as the Peddler rides towards Agrabah to the world-building seen in “A Whole New World” is simply magnificent.

In terms of story, it combines the best elements of rags to riches, prince and the pauper and even the liar-revealed plot devices we see a lot. But whereas the live-action adaptation made Aladdin come across as arrogant and power thirsty when he was accepted as Prince Ali, this version made it seem like Aladdin had no other choice but to continue lying.

The theme of the story is simple yet thoughtful, it’s about being happy with who you are and that someone should like you for you and not for your wealth or title.

This has proven a great message for younger people to retain particularly as they go through adolescence, which is why Aladdin or really any major Disney movie isn’t just for little kids and instead transcends the ages because I believe anyone of any age can learn something from a Disney movie if they think on it.

The characters are all very likeable, even the villains, this is why I love this movie. Jafar and Iago are the villains of the movie and Razoul the head guard serves as a tertiary antagonist of sorts, but all three are portrayed in such a manner that you either love to hate them or in some cases are rooting for them.

This was also the first Disney Classic movie where I felt genuine threat to a Disney hero because yes being cursed to sleep is a real “hopelessness” situation, but the amount of times Aladdin is put into a genuine hopelessness situation in this movie from being trapped in the Cave of Wonders, to being knocked unconscious in the sea to even being banished to the arctic...all of this is real no-win in terms of how to overcome it...unless you have a magic genie and flying carpet which is why I love Disney.

I do think there’s a lot more comic relief in this movie then in a lot of other Disney Classics as effectively everyone aside from Aladdin, Jasmine and Jafar are comedic characters. Abu does have serious moments and the Genie has a lot of pain being masked with his humour but they’re all hilarious for the right reasons.

On the subject of the Genie...do I even need to say why this character is so brilliant? Not only is he voiced by the late great Robin Williams who makes the character so iconic, but you would think after so many times watching a movie that the excitement of him would wear off, yet sure enough every viewing when it’s the build up to his first appearance and every subsequent time he is on screen, 

Jasmine is one of the best Disney Princesses. She, along with Mulan and Belle are probably my favourites of the Disney Classics era and Jasmine remains one of my favourite female Disney characters to this day.

Aladdin is a great leading character, not only is his story from being a street rat to faking his way into being a prince very cleverly done, but the guy is just so likeable you want him to do well. He’s a charmer but he has a heart, he’s not so much a hustler as doing what needs to be done to survive.

Jafar is one of the great Disney Villains, not only was it great that he was a male sorcerer villain, because up until this point we had only really the greats being the Ursulas, the Maleficents and the Evil Queens, but also he had all the best qualities of the lesser-known male villains that had come before him, such as Edgar the butler, with the fact he started off the movie serving the good guys before his true intentions were revealed.

As for the animal sidekicks, and I include Carpet here, it, Abu and Iago all had great moments where they either shined or were simply funny. When Gilbert Godfried is voicing a parrot you know he’s going to be a comedic foil rather than a sinister one.

Musically, “Arabian Night” “One Jump Ahead” “Friend Like Me” “Prince Ali” “A Whole New World”, it’s a complete soundtrack for me and one of few Disney classics where I love every single song.

I touched upon it with The Rescuers Down Under but Disney branching out around the world rather than make believe kingdoms contained within Europe (largely France and Germany) was really a great move for the Mouse House and capturing that Arabian theme and feel was really enriching for the property.

Overall Aladdin is a fantastic movie that branched out into two sequels as well as a continuing television series. Also the Aladdin Sega game was one of the first games I ever played. I love the movie, but my #1 is irreplaceable for me.

So what do you guys think? Post your comments and check out more Disney+ What to Watch Top 10s as well as more Top 10 Lists and other posts.

[blazehedgehog]

“Youtube can’t be that stupid, can they?”

That’s a thought you might have, until it happens to you. Last night, it happened to me. Half my subscriptions feed on @youtube vanished into thin air.

At some point, Youtube switched over to the same system that a lot of social media portals on the internet are adopting: a “curated” feed of content, where a computer algorithm tries to show you things it thinks you’ll like, as opposed to a full, uncensored, uncorked feed of everything. The idea is that you’re much too busy to sit and look at every single individual item that comes through your device, so it picks the “important stuff” and only shows you that.

There are a lot of reasons that’s bad. Notably, you’re letting someone else decide what you like. Not even a person, actually, but a computer, who is merely using mathematics to connect dots to things that people similar to you also like. Bob, Jerry, and Diana all like cat videos, Markiplier, and ironic movie reviews. But Jerry? Jerry also likes mean prank videos. I mean the really nasty ones, where the person pulling the prank should probably be arrested for being such a jerk. Jerry will laugh until he wets himself at these videos. So the algorithm can do one of two things:

Start showing Bob and Diana mean prank videos, which makes them unhappy.

Stop showing Jerry mean prank videos, which makes Jerry unhappy.

Neither option is great. But the algorithm has spoken! All hail the algorithm!

Tonight, what the algorithm told me is that some of my most-watched channels (Two Best Friends Play, GiantBomb, GameHut, etc.) weren’t what I should be watching, so they hid a lot of their recent videos. Here’s a list of the videos published in the last 24 hours that they hid from me:

If it’s grayed out, it’s a video I could not see until I unsubscribed from that channel and resubscribed. At first, I thought maybe it was just a problem with the new Youtube layout. If you stick “?disable_polymer=true” or “&disable_polymer=true” to the end of most Youtube URLs, you can get back to the old site design, and once I did that, it started showing me some of the videos I was missing, though definitely not all of them.

And as I started going through my entire subscriptions list, I realized Youtube has been hiding a LOT of videos from me, and for an uncomfortably long time. For example: Konjak is getting ready to release his new game, The Iconoclasts. He’s been posting gameplay footage, among other things, but his last three Youtube videos? They never appeared in my feed. The newest episode of AVGN, about wrestling games? I never saw it. What happened to Retsupurae? Turns out, Youtube thought I was better off without them. Several videos from Drew Scanlon’s “Cloth Map” series? Invisible to my eyes. Almost one quarter of DigitalFoundry’s Youtube output? Not important to me, thinks Youtube. What about “Primitive Technology,” a channel dedicated to videos of a guy building houses and tools out of mud and sticks? I subscribed to sometime in March or April, had two videos show up in my feed, and then it was never seen again. The Gaming Historian? I had no idea he did an episode on Steve Jobs. I always MAKE time for Gaming Historian videos, watching them before I’ll watch anything else. Can’t do that if his channel doesn’t show up in my subscriptions feed. Which it didn’t.

And the list goes on, and on, and on. Youtube very likely has hidden dozens, if not hundreds of videos from me in the last few months, some of which I would have liked to watch.

Sure, you can combat this: unsubscribe from the channel and resubscribe. That works, right? Only to a point:

They cap the number of channels you can subscribe to. They won’t tell you how many, they won’t tell you in what length of time, but I made it about a fifth of the way through my subscriptions list before it started throwing this error at me. Currently, I cannot resubscribe to Lucky Hit.

Ah, but the other solution is the “bell.” Ring the bell next to a Youtube subscription button, and that tells Youtube that it’s an important channel to you.

But that changes how Youtube works: do this, and Youtube will begin sending you notifications about new videos instead of just presenting you with the subscriptions feed. As somebody who has their own channel, and cares a great deal about that channel and the community that leaves comments on my videos, this means that my notifications go from telling me about new comments to being a mishmash of comments and videos. Who thought that was okay? Who thought that was something somebody wanted? This is the definition of reinventing the wheel. There was nothing wrong with the subscriptions feed. It did not need to be “fixed.” It was working as intended. But, according to Youtube, now we need a second, separate subscriptions feed, one that takes up the same space as comment responses. That’s smart, right?

And, unlike Twitter, unlike Tumblr, there’s no option to turn this off. Youtube doesn’t even tell you that it’s doing this at all. The only hint is when you mouse over the bell -- “Get notified about every new video.” As opposed to only getting notified of SOME of their videos.

I am seething with anger, over here. I made a choice, I subscribed to these channels because I wanted to watch their content. If it’s too much for me to handle, I’ll unsubscribe from some of them. What I don’t need is Youtube or any other site holding my hand and only showing me what they think I want to see. I’m a big boy who can handle seeing everything I want to see. 

And then, at the end of all this, comes my ultimate worry: how many people are subscribed to MY Youtube channel and have missed videos I’ve published because the algorithm thought I wasn’t being interesting enough? How much money is this system costing people on Youtube who depend on viewership as their jobs? What kind of financial damage does a disaster like last night do, when Youtube started hiding almost ALL of my favorite channels from me?

We’re rats in a maze and Youtube’s the one who decides if we get the cheese. That’s an unsettling thought, isn’t it?

[tmntreasures]

Honor Among Thieves Ch.12

Another night passed and it was morning again. Aida had left for her home early before the sunrise, and was back before noon. However the turtles were still asleep due to being night turtles, and Bonnie was just starting to stir from the couch.

She licked the roof of her mouth a few times and blinked slowly as she sat up. Her hair was a frizzy mess, due to sleeping on it while it was wet. She sniffed and looked out into the lair, her eyes wandering over to Donatellos’ station. It had been a while since she checked her social media pages, and she wondered what was going on in the world above. She glanced around the lair, looking for the purple turtle and when she didn't find him she grinned. She hopped up from the couch and quickly rushed over to the computer stand.

All the screens lit up when she tapped on one of the many keyboards, and after a few seconds of booting up, an empty box showed up. The computer was password locked.

"Should've figured." She groaned and mumbled, but she was determined. She furrowed her brows and her nose scrunched when trying to think up what the turtle might use as a password. First she tried, Renaissance due to all of them being named after Renaissance artist, but that didn't work. Then she tried the words Tartaruga Brothers, remembering seeing the words on the turtle van; that didn't work either. Turtle power? She typed in, but it blinked red. For her own entertainment, she typed in Bonnieisdasexiest. She knew it wouldn’t work, but it made her giggle until an alarm started blaring off. She was unsuccessful too many times and now she had locked down the computer.

"Aaaah!" She cried out and looked around frantically. Not wanting to wake up the turtles and get in trouble, again... She jumped under the desk and searched for the power cord. Once she had found it she yanked it loose from the outlet and the computer immediately powered off along with the alarm.

Aida winced when the alarm went off and rushed over to the station. When it shut off she spoke in a hushed tone, "What did you do?" She looked around the room, making sure no one had woken up.

"I don't know!" She whispered back. "Normal computers just tell you that you're locked out for twenty-four hours, or to call Microsoft!" She leaned back on her bottom and looked up at the screens. "But of course Donatello has an alarm rigged to his!"

She stared at the blank screens and shook her head. "What a spazz." She muttered. After a moment of silence she frowned and cringed, "Hope he saved everything recently..."

"Eheh..." Bonnie smiled weakly and dropped the power cord from her hand. She stood up from the floor and stretched her back a bit. "So... How was the family?"

"They were good," she answered, covering her mouth as she yawned. "Orlan and Montae seemed up to something, but they always are." She sighed and crossed her arms. "They still asleep?" She nodded towards the closed off rooms the rat and turtles slumbered in.

"As far as I know, yeah... They're still asleep." She nodded and walked off to the kitchen, where she started to make herself coffee. "So how did it go with Donatello and Raphael?" She yawned.

"Well, they were disappointed because youuu weren't going to help," She raised her eyebrows at Bonnie and held her cup out. "But they were good after the first couple minutes." She frowned a little and mentioned, "Raph's had a lot of scratches and cracks..." Bonnie frowned a little, but she wasn't too surprised. She had only known him for about a week total, and she could already see that his temper flared up often and easy. "Well, no surprise there huh?" She laughed awkwardly as she poured the girl some coffee.

"Yeah," She frowned. "I'm just surprised nothing got infected." She paused for a second and asked, "Can turtle shells get infections?"

Bonnie huffed. "I'm a thief not a veterinarian." She grew silent in thought as she stared down into her coffee. "Now that I think about it... It must really suck when one of them is injured. They can't go to a hospital like us." She looked back up to Aida.

The girl winced at the idea and nodded. "Yeah...and I don't think April knows anything about patch work," The girl took a sip of her drink and thought. She was shocked the boys were not dead by now; then again, being mutants might have something to do with it too. It was a miracle none of them had broken any bones yet. They no doubt had to learn from a young age how to help each other out.

Bonnie stirred her coffee with a spoon thinking again about all the things the turltes had to endure without the help of the above world. How they manage to pull together this lair, the electricity, the necessities, their entertainment. It was turning into less of a sob story and more of an outstanding achievement. They had been living down here for plus eighteen years with no one else’s help but their own. Bonnie smiled a little as she brought the cup up to her mouth and took a sip of her coffee.

She leaned over the table and spoke in a hushed tone, "Okay don't tell any of them that I said this but... They're actually kind of amazing."

Aida nodded in agreement, not noticing the tall figure approaching them.

"Aww, first I'm handsome and now you're calling us amazing?" Donatello's voice made the Latina girl jump and scream.

She covered her mouth and stared at him wide eyed before finally calming down. "You! Warn us next time!"

 He chuckled and held his hands up in defense. "Sorry. Ninja-habits never go away," he smiled at Bonnie and nodded at her. "Why are we amazing?" He asked, genuinely curious.

Bonnie furrowed her brows and growled lowly.  "So I guess eavesdropping is a Ninja-habit too."

"Nooo. I just have really good hearing," He pointed to the side of his head and waved her off. "Don't worry. Your secret's safe with me," The lean turtle went to his station and clicked on the mouse to wake the monitors. His brow furrowed when nothing happened and he clicked again. When there was no response he began to press random keys. "What the...?" He muttered as he began to panic. "Wh-what happened?"

Bonnie winced out of guilt, but she felt too afraid to say anything at first. Instead, she turned to Aida for help. Aida nodded at Donatello, trying to get the girl to confess.

Donatello began to do the basic troubleshooting. First he made sure the monitors were on, but when he hit their buttons nothing happened. He cocked his head to the side and checked the towers, noticing that they were completely off. When he pushed one of their power buttons, nothing happened and that's when he saw the power cable.

"Wait...how did this...?" He muttered and crawled underneath the display, holding up the unplugged end, staring at it as he tried to solve the mystery.

Bonnie looked back to Donatello; her hands clenching on tight to her mug. "Uuuh..." She groaned. "I uh- may know what happened."

He popped his head out from underneath his desk and looked up at her. "Oh yeah?" He already had an idea of what it was, but he wanted to hear her say it.

"Welll..." She trailed on and adverted her eyes. "I wanted to use your computer, but I didn't know the password... And I didn't want to wake you guys up sooo..." She rubbed at the back of her neck and smiled awkwardly.

He sighed a little and thought about how tedious it would be to reboot some of the programs that were forced to close, but he didn't get mad. "Don't worry about it," He nodded at her and disappeared beneath the table to plug the power cable in. "Though next time you can just ask," He said as he crawled out from the space. "The password's right here anyway," He pointed to the little post-it note on one of the monitors. "Mikey kept forgetting it, so that's why it's there."

Bonnie smiled and sighed a little in relief when he didn’t get mad at her. She put her cup down on the table and walked over to his station, picking up the sticky-note. "Cowa-bunga90?" She read slowly with a raised brow.

He blushed a little and shrugged, "It was our catchphrase when we were kids."

Aida smirked and looked at Donatello. "So, just curious. Did you guys ever try to socialize online?"

"Eeh, we thought about it," He admitted, turning on the computers. "But it was too risky. We might get attached to the wrong people. Our enemies have a better chance of tracking us or our friends down. And I think it would make us want to go to the surface more often," He frowned a bit and began to go through a couple of rebooting programs.

"So...no online girlfriends?" Aida asked.

He snorted and shook his head. "Yeah right. Do you know how many crazy men are posing as women online?" He gave them both knowing looks and shrugged. "Plus...I think we'd get a reputation as heart-breakers." He returned his attention back the screen to make sure everything was running smoothly.

"Mr. Donatello, the heart-breaker." Bonnie repeated and leaned up against his desk with a smirk. "I think you'd be more likely to get your heart-broken." She teased and reached to tap the bridge of his glasses.

Aida nodded in agreement, "Yeah you do seem pretty fragile."

Donatello ignored their teasing and continued, "No seriously! We could never meet up with anyone because, ya know..." He gestured to himself and huffed, "Instant break up material here."

The Latina girl frowned and tried to encourage him, "Well...ya know. I'm sure there's someone out there who doesn't care."

He gave her a look of disbelief and raised a brow. "...Riiiight."

"I don't know... Once they got a look at these guns," Bonnie squeezed at one of his biceps playfully. "They might change their mind."

His cheeks turned pink and he awkwardly pulled his arm out of her grip, trying his best not to think anything of it. "Haha! I mean...well...I'd hope," He rubbed the back of his head, fiddling with the tails of his bandanna. "O-oh! Speaking of social media..." He turned to the girls and pointed to one of the monitors, "If you two need to check anything out, use this area. Just don't be on it for too long, alright?"

"Got it." Bonnie nodded her head. "...And thanks." She hesitated to say but smiled when she did. "Thanks for... everything so far."

He smiled at her but panicked a little when he felt his stomach flutter a little at her words. He stammered a bit and cleared his throat. "W-well, you know. Whatever it takes to make us less scary!" He laughed awkwardly before shutting his mouth quickly. This was bad; it was really bad. He knew he had to leave so he shifted his weight and began to walk off. "I think Master Splinter is calling for me. I'll leave you girls to it. Have fun!" He waved at them before walking away quickly, running only after he disappeared behind a corner.

Aida's eyes were wide at the realization before her mouth opened in shocked awe. She smacked Bonnie's arm and kept her voice down. "Putaaaaaa! Did you see that?!"

"Ow, hey!" Bonnie pushed her hands away and furrowed her brows at her. "See what?"

Aida gestured in the direction the giant turtle ran off in. "He likes you!"

Bonnie snorted and looked at her in disbelief. "What?... No. He's just being an awkward nerd because well... he is one!" She pulled out the computer chair and plopped down it. She grinned when the password worked and went straight for her twitter page.

Aida clicked her tongue and leaned against the desk. "Alriiiight. But one hundred pesos says he's gonna get you something reaaally nice when he finds out your birthday." She peeked at Bonnie's twitter and frowned. "I do feel bad though...they must get lonely ya know?" She looked at the girl. "I know they have each other but that's different."

"Aww, c'mon now. It's not like we can do anything about that." She said, not looking away from the screen. "I mean--there probably are people who would be in to them. They just have to try harder if they really want a relationship." She shrugged and was silent for a long time while she scrolled down her dashboard. Eventually she glanced over at Aida with a mischievous look on her face. "Fuck, Marry, Punch, Leonardo, Raphael, Michelangelo?"

Her cheeks flushed red for a second before she began to giggle. "Okay, okay....lemme think..." She tapped her chin in thought, the grin still big on her face. "Punch Mikey, only because he looks the softest and I saw what happened to your hand when you tried to punch Raph" She counted on her fingers as she answered. "So...I guess fuck Raph and hope I live, then marry Leo."

"Aww, I'm flattered." Leonardo said as he passed by them and into the kitchen.

Bonnie jumped and turned quickly. "Jesus Christ!" She held her chest as if her heart was gonna pop out of it.

"That's not my name, but I'll take the compliment." Leonardo grinned and grabbed a box of mini wheats cereal from the kitchen table, then walked off in the direction of his room.

"Getting reeealll tired of this ninja shit!" Bonnie hollered out.

Aida felt her face turn bright red before she covered it with her hands. "Oooh Dios mío! No puedo creer que haya oído eso. Solo matame ahora," she whimpered into her palms before snapping her head up. "Anyone else want to pop in unannounced?!"

Very slowly, Raphael inched out of the darkness. He had originally planned on scaring the girls, but after seeing Leonardo beat him to it he decided against it. "Morning," He waved at them before pointing at Aida. "Also, no. I could probably crush your arm with my thumb," he chuckled.

Aida flopped her hands to her sides and huffed. "Oh good. Guess Michelangelo knows I want to punch him then, huh?"

“Maaaybe" Michelangelo answered and then dropped down from the ceiling.

Bonnie jumped again, then growled. "What did I just say?!"

He jumped up onto his feet. Putting his fist to his waist and puffing out his chest proudly. "We're ninjas! We're supposed to sneak up on you! Wouldn't you feel a little concerned if we didn't?"

"We're girls!" Bonnie gestured back and forth between herself and Aida. "We're supposed to have gossip time without guys knowing!" She responded.

Mikey huffed, "Pssh! Then you need some practice." He looked to Aida and shook his head. "And I'm hurt. Literally in that scenario." He frowned a little.

She gawked, wishing the floor would open up and swallow her. "I didn't mean any of it! It's just hypothetical!"

Raphael smirked and walked by the girls. "It's okay, Aida. Everyone wants to punch Mikey," he grinned at his brother and went into the kitchen.

"Yeah, especially me right now…" Bonnie grumbled, but turned back to the computer.

"Look," Michelangelo took Aida's hands into his. "I realize now, what I said about April being Bae was stupid..." He stopped and rubbed her hands with his thumbs.

She froze in place at the intimate gesture, completely shocked he was apologizing for that. It also made her panic. Her heart began to beat faster and the way her legs began to shiver was concerning; so she quickly hopped off the desk and pulled her hands out of his grip. "D-don't worry about it," She began to step away quickly, going in the same direction Donatello had gone in. "I mean, you've known her longer and she's super hot. So, uh...I gotta go. Dooo...things." She turned and walked off quickly before running off the same way the leaner turtle had just minutes ago.

"Ah-What? Wait!" He reached out to her, but she was gone. "Ugh..." He groaned and rubbed the back of his neck. "She didn't let me finish."

"What were you going to say?" Bonnie asked, but didn't look away from the computer screen.

"I was gonna say... You're all my Baes! No side chicks, just a polyamor--"

"I'm gonna stop you right there!" Bonnie said loudly and swiveled around in the chair to face him. "Have you ever talked to a girl for longer than three minutes?"

"What?" Mikey shrugged. "I thought it was fu--"

"Ah! Ah!" She interjected again. "That wasn't the answer to my question."

He furrowed his brows and crossed his arms. "Of course I have! You're not the only girls I know!"

She rolled her eyes. "I'm assuming you're talking about April."

"Yeah…" He nodded.

"Okay, but was she actually have a conversation with you, or were you just talking her ear off?"

He huffed, but his eyes widened a bit when he thought back on the conversations he had with the news reporter. They did seem to be very one sided… "S-so what're you saying?"

"What I'm saying is, stop being a total fuckboy and just be real with her for once!" Bonnie lightly kicked him on the side of his leg. "She thinks you're funny, but she doesn't want you to be funny all the time! Try and be serious every once in a while."

"I'm not a fuckboy, and I can totally be serious!" He chuckled nervously and looked back to Raphael. "Right?"

The red-clad turtle shook his head at his brother. "No, Mikey. You're a total fuckboy." He crossed his arms and shrugged. "Why do you think I want to punch you all the time?"

"What?..." His shoulders slumped in defeat. "But-- All I've got is jokes." He looked to the floor and frowned. "That's what makes me, me. Leonardo is the leader, Donatello is the smart one, and Raph is--Raph. I'm supposed to be the funny one!" He put his hands to his chest.

"And you still can be! Just- tone it down a little." She gestured a descending motion with her hands.

Mikey hummed in thought, still uncertain of what she was saying.

"Trust me on this." Bonnie said as she turned back around to the computer.  "Oh and don't compare girls to other girls. Ever." She finished.

"Don't worry, we already gave him that lecture," Raphael said before freezing at what he said. He hoped she wouldn't pry, and if she did, Leo might not like it.

"Well it seems like it didn't get into his head the first time," she said nonchalantly. Not even picking up on what Raphael had really said.

Michelangelo looked a bit relieved when she hadn't caught on and he laughed nervously. "Got a big skull to get through..." He knocked on his head before turning slowly. "Thanks for the advice though!" He said and walked off elsewhere. He wanted to go find Aida and talk to her, but Leos words echoed in his head and he looked to the floor with a frown. Why does this always happen to me?... He thought.

The big red turtle watched his brother leave and huffed. His little brother had always been a hopeless romantic; anytime someone or something appeared from the surface, he would do everything in his power to be a part of it. Of course, Raphael was there to smack him back to his senses. They can be friends with these girls, but falling for them would just be asking for trouble.

The twitter page, however, caught Raphael's eye and he stared at it. "So how's Drake doin'?" He asked as he reached into his pocket, pulling out an egg. He began to fiddle with the white oval, rotating it and shifting it between his hands and fingers.

"Not so great apparently. He may have knocked up a retired porn star." She chuckled and stretched back in the seat, but she still had her eyes focused on the computer screen.

Raphael's eyes widened and he almost dropped the egg. He caught it without cracking it and simply rubbed it with his thumb. "He should get a test for that. I wouldn't trust her."

---

Michelangelo had walked off to the dojo. He slowly pulled open the screen doors and called out, "Sensei?... Can I talk to you for a minute?"

Splinter was tending to one of his bonsai plants when his son walked in. "Of course, Michelangelo," He put the pan down and turned to face him with a smile. He began to prepare a cup of tea for him, regardless if he would drink it or not. "What troubles you?"

Michelangelo walked into the middle of the dojo and sat down on his knees. He let out a long and tired sigh. "I know Leo's the leader, and what he says goes, and most of the time I agree with him on whatever it is but..." He licked his bottom lip. He was afraid of what he was about to say to Splinter, thinking his response would probably be the same as Leonardos’. "I don't--It's just-- Ugh!!" He stumbled for the right words and grabbed his head in frustration.

The rat walked over to him and sat down on his knees as well. He placed the mug in front of the turtle as he took a sip from his own. "Aah, this is about the girls isn't it?" Word had gotten to his ear that Leonardo gave his brothers another lecture, but this time about a rather sensitive subject. Splinter shared some similar opinions as his eldest son, but he also disagreed with him on a few things.

Michelangelo sighed again and looked to Splinter with a weak smile. "Heh... Am I that easy to read?"

"Yes...very," Splinter chuckled. "Plus Leonardo told me about the talk he had to give you and your brothers."

He grumbled. "It's just that… I know we're not human, so we shouldn't have the same values as them but I do!! Well... one of them at least." He looked down into his cup and frowned. "I wish I didn't because it nearly drives me insane. I don't wanna go my whole life without knowing what-" He stopped uncertain if he should finish his thought or not. "L-Love is like..." He murmured. "And since I'm a turtle, who knows? I may live past being one hundred!"

Splinter hummed in thought. Love was always a tricky subject; there were so many forms of it that it was near impossible to police it. "Of course," he finally spoke. "But you have to be cautious, not just because of what you are but what you do." He took a sip and sighed. "If you were to find someone, you'll have to miss out on many things simply because you can't go to the surface. Your enemies will use them against you. And you must be aware that you couldn't do things a 'normal' couple might." He raised a brow and put his cup down. "Even something as simple as going for a walk is out of the question."

Michelangelo stayed silent as he took in all of what Splinter had said. He was right, as always. Having a relationship would be incredibly difficult for him, and there would be so much he would miss out on due to being a mutant. The thoughts made his heart ache, and his eyes welled up, but he blinked away the tears. He put a hand to his chest and clenched onto on his straps that was placed over his heart. "I really wish I didn't feel this way." He whispered. "I wish I was like Leo. He never seems to be bothered by this kind of thing."

"Michelangelo," Splinter held up a finger and smiled. "Your big heart is what makes you unique and stand out from your brothers. No one wants two Leonardo's in this family," He chuckled before clearing his throat. "It is good to feel. But I think you misunderstood me, my son." He held the cup up again and stared at him. "I said it would be difficult. I never said you weren't allowed to fall in love. That would be foolish."

Michelangelo's head perked up at Splinters last statement. He began to smile but stopped himself when he realized he was getting too excited. He knew he shouldn't be getting his hopes up, but the fact that splinter gave him the okay to fall in love made it hard for him to contain his joy. He quickly pulled his sensei into a tight hug. "Thank you Master Splinter!" He squeezed him tight.

Splinter chuckled a little and returned the gesture. As he pulled away, he gave him a warning. "But remember, love is hard enough. It will be harder for you and your brothers," He held up a finger and made sure to sound as stern as possible. "Heart break is difficult and may be easier to come by for you. So do not rush into anything and ask yourself if you are willing to put them in danger."

"Right... With great power comes great responsibility." Mikey frowned a little and rubbed at the back of his neck.  "Just like Spidey." He chuckled.

"No! Worse!" He flicked his nose. "The moment they go to the surface during the day, they are in danger. And there will be nothing you can do to save them. You must keep that in mind!"

He rubbed his nose and grimaced. "Okay, okay!... I get it. I'll be careful. Super careful!" He added with a nod of his head. "And I won't rush into anything I'm not sure of."

Splinter narrowed his eyes at him suspiciously and nodded. "Good. If you are ever unsure of anything come to me. Or ask Raphael, he'll knock some sense into you then."

Mikey laughed again. "Got it," he said as he began to stand up. "Thanks again, dad." He smiled at him warmly.

Splinter returned the smile and waved him off. "If Leonardo says anything, send him to me."