#mentions of Bayverse and 03

[turtles-n--cats]

Warriors AU: 2012 gang pt2

Finally finished enough of the 2012 characters to make a decent part two

With this we’ll finish the last of the siblings, and a few others. There is some mention of a couple OCs in this post. I have a handful I've tossed into this au of mine, and I’ll share all of them in their own post later

As before, we’ve got a long post, so all can be found under the cut, and once again Credit for the bases used goes to Rockyspotted on deviantART

Karai, aka Viperpaw: Her name is a reference to her mutation in the show. Seeing as how no one is getting mutated in this au, the name will have to do. She’s a dark silver classic tabby with gold eyes. 

Originally named “Harmonykit”, and Splinter’s first-born, Viperpaw was stolen along with her younger brother Bravepaw(Leo). While Bravepaw was recovered, She was presumed lost along with her mother. She was raised never knowing the truth, brought up to despise her birth father and his clan. Her mentor in nightclan is 2012 Tigerclaw, who is still named Tigerclaw. (they do not get along)

Casey Jones, aka “Casey” or “Wolfpaw“: Casey’s nothing if not loyal (and a fair bit impulsive) in the show. Wolves are epitome of loyalty. He’s a black ghost ticked tabby with a white mask marking on his face, and brown eyes. He’s surprisingly big for his age

Casey’s a former kittypet who’s currently on trial as a warrior apprentice in Sunclan after then found him holding his own against a fully trained Nightclan warrior. His mentor is Fennecfur (the Bayverse version of one of my OCs)

April O’Niel, aka “April” or “Leopardpaw”: Her name was pretty much just based on appearance, though a little on how her temper is occasionally like a raging wildcat. She’s brown-ish orange marbled bengal cat with blue eyes

Much like Casey, April is currently a trial-apprentice in Sunclan. Her father was forcibly recruited by a gang of terrifying cats roaming the twoleg place calling themselves the “Krang Gang”, and who’ve been kidnapping kittypets from their yards. Her friend Casey told her about the clan cats thinking maybe they could help her. She currently still stays in the twoleg place at night. Her mentor is 03 April, aka Dawnpelt

And lastly we got a lil bonus for you: Tang Shen, aka “Spiritpond”: I did a lil research on the meaning of her name, and ended up having to look up each word of her name individually. The name Tang means “soup” or “hot water”, and Shen means “Spiritual” or “deepthinking”. A pond is technically soup if you think about it, so her name is “Spiritpond”. It also, in this case, has a double meaning cause she’s dead.  She’s a silver lynx-point tabby, like Leo, though her points are a touch darker in color than his, and her eyes a deeper blue.

She died trying to rescue her daughter from Poppystrike/2012 Shredder, She currently spends most of her time watching over her kits from starclan, occasionally walking among them as a ghost, not that they can see her.

[captainofthedauntless]

hii i really like your writing!! <33 i was wondering if we could get something for y/n asking their turt to be their valentine? i was gonna ask for bayverse but i saw your rules said you were most confident with writing 2003 so whatever you like best! take as much time as you need!! <333333 p.s. heres a cookie *cookie*

Hi lovely! We're all cool pretending it's still Valentine's, right? Awesome.

I chose Bayverse for now, but plan to do the 03 guys soon! I took the friends-to-lovers route here, I hope you enjoy.

(As always, set post-movies!)

So you want to ask a turtle out.

Don's an observant guy, so it's not that he's completely shocked that you like him. But to have that suspicion, quiet and dangerous in the back of his mind, confirmed? To have you ask him directly? He's mystified. It's one thing to think he might have a chance, but it's another thing altogether to have a chance handed to him on a silver platter.

So when you catch him in between tasks and offer him a box of chocolates- a brand April had brought down one time and he had mentioned really enjoying and you had somehow remembered, because apparently he wasn't the only observant one here- and smile at him, warm and fond and visibly nervous, he's left blinking at you. Then, apparently taking his pause as a lack of understanding- or just trying to fill the silence, he couldn't be sure- you speak.

"Would you be my Valentine?"

And he's gone. Don.EXE has stopped working, would you like to restart? It's like static in his mind for a beat, two, and suddenly he's nodding quickly and a smile is growing on his face and "Yeah! Yeah, of course- yes. I'd love to."

He shares the chocolate with you, and on his, like, seventh piece, he finally works up the nerve to ask you if you meant "Valentine" like romantically, and your laugh is good-natured enough that he can't even bother to be embarrassed.

"Like romantically, yeah."

"Cool, cool. I thought so, but it's not actually an exclusively romantic term and- interestingly enough there seems to be a rise in platonic usage, I was just reading an article about it the other day-"

He goes on for several minutes. You listen patiently, and right as he's about to apologize for the tangent you ask him a question and he's grinning like an idiot and launching into an answer and it's officially the best Valentine's Day ever, and he's already plotting ways to get you back for it.

Leonardo is, honestly, a little irritated. Not because you asked! No, no, he's elated- ecstatic- about that. He's so happy he doesn't know what do with it all.

But you beat him to it, and that's... it's a little frustrating. The turtle was slow, and he's not the biggest fan of the irony.

He had a plan. He had a whole plan- he finally worked up the nerve to tell you he cared for you (he wasn't willing to say the L word just yet, but he did love you, and it was getting to be too much to ignore), he'd convinced April to get him your favorite chocolate (he'd gathered intel from your "secret" stash at your place, where you kept the good stuff out of Mikey's hands. He had been very stealthy and was more than a little proud of himself and a lot in debt to April- he'd be watching her favorite awful TV shows with her for months), and he'd written you a short poem (and edited, and scrapped, and rewritten said poem) and tied it to the heart-shaped box of sweet goodness with a blue ribbon.

He'd proceeded to convince himself that was a little too much, and swapped the blue for silver.

Leo had rehearsed exactly what he'd say. He knew when he'd do it, where his brothers would be (well out of the way, with a clear unspoken threat of extra patrol and training if they went off-plan), and what he would eat for dinner beforehand so that he had the absolute smallest possible chance of his nerves hijacking his stomach.

And then you show up with forget-me-nots and gardenias tied up in blue ribbon, which. First of all, that explains why you wanted to borrow his book on flower language a few weeks back. Secondly, the message of secret love, true love, respect, and shared history, all tied up in his color? It nearly kills him.

"Leo, would you do me the honor of being my Valentine?"

"Stay right here," He says firmly, dashing off to his bed before he could process your owlish blink. He pulls the chocolate box out from underneath it and rushes back, smiling sheepishly at the way your concern immediately melts into fond amusement. "Only if you'll be mine."

"Deal," You laugh, trading him the fragrant bouquet for the heart-shaped box, and he busies himself with inspecting and smelling the flowers while you read his poem.

At the end of the day, he earns himself a hug, a kiss on the cheek, and a Valentine, so maybe you asking wasn't really the issue he thought it was.

Mikey beats you to asking.

He asks you a week ahead of time, and it's a real splashy affair- he goes all out, pestering April into helping him get all kinds of candy and a big, orange stuffed bear with a heart in its little paws and a pink basket big enough for all of it. He begs his brothers and father to give him the living room of the lair for the evening, and even agrees to do Raph's chores for a week and a half in exchange. He sets the basket up on the couch, tries out about three hundred different combinations of the million lights littering the lair to create the perfect "romantic and intimate but not too suggestive but not too dark but not too bright" ambience, and absolutely agonizes over the playlist of easy, romantic R&B.

He's the one to greet you at the metaphorical front door of the lair and guide you into the living room, and when you look at him quizzically- and hopefully, he notes with delight- he takes your hands and a deep breath.

"Angel, would you be my Valentine?"

"Dammit, Mikey..." You grumble, and if it weren't for the grin you were biting back and the way you were squeezing his hands like you never wanted to let go, he'd be pretty damn scared right about now. "I was gonna ask you. I had a whole plan."

"You can still ask me later, gorgeous," He says with a big grin of his own. "I'll totally act surprised."

"How kind."

"That's me. Now, uh, you're kinda leavin' me hangin', here."

"I'll happily be your Valentine, Mikey."

Raph was not going to ask. He did not see this coming, did not see your feelings, did not think twice about his plan to spend Valentine's Day like he always did: with extra-buttery popcorn and rom-coms.

His plan was to basically not think about how you'd probably be spending it with someone, happy and laughing and smiling.

No, you hadn't mentioned having plans. No, you'd never mentioned a significant other- or even a love interest. No, neither of those things stopped him from assuming.

So when you waltzed into his space with a knock at the entryway and a big ol' grin, he was preparing himself for a whole ooey-gooey story about whoever had swept you off your feet. Preparing himself to act like that didn't eat him alive.

And apparently the lucky bastard had gotten you flowers, which was not helping.

"Hey, Big Red," You say fondly, leaning against the wall and fiddling with a flower stem and looking like a daydream, and his heart did something funny in his chest. "You busy?"

"Why, wanna gloat about your night?" He asks, fighting to keep his tone in the realm of playful and away from anything bitter and yearning.

"Was hoping to ask you a question, actually."

He hums a question of his own, now thoroughly confused.

"Would you be my Valentine?" You ask, holding the flowers out sweetly.

He, in a brilliant moment of zero filter, says "What the fuck?" and your smile drops the smallest bit and he very seriously considers tossing himself off of the Chrysler building.

You open your mouth, and he launches himself out of bed before you can get a word out, gently pulling the flowers out of your hand.

"Why?" He asks gruffly, very clearly avoiding your gaze as he studies a delicate petal.

"...Because I... have feelings for you?" You half admit, half ask, sounding as confused as he felt and staring at him with wide eyes. "If I've read this wrong-"

"No." He forces- forces- himself to look you in the eye, which lasts all of about a second before he's counting it as a win and looking back at the flowers. "But I'm not sure it's somethin' you should read."

"I'm not sure I asked that."

And he can't argue with that, because he knows the tone in your voice, knows he'd be better off arguing with the wall. But he can question it, because.... well, for a lot of reasons.

He should ask a lot of questions. Like "why?" and "did you hit your head?" and "is this a prank or somethin'?", but all that comes out is "Me?"

It makes you smile for some reason, and you step forward a little and duck into his line of sight and meet his eyes with about three and a half times the sincerity he could handle. "Who else?" You ask simply.

He has about a dozen retorts to that, but with you holding his gaze and heart hostage, he just nods. "Okay."

[britt-kageryuu]

So looking over the many weird pizza that pops up in the TMNT canon, whose is the weirdest/grossest?

The 87 Turtles that have had icecream, cereal, candy, caramel, fudge, fruit, peanut butter, clams, marshmallows, shredded coconut, popcorn, and much more, on their known pizza combos.

The comics are a mixed bag of weird topping, I mean apple cores and milkweed on a pizza?

Anyone who's seen 2012 Mikeys pizza mixes know how weird they can be, i.e. the pizza milkshakes, pizza noodle soup, anchovy jalapenos with jellybeans, the one with spider eggs on it!

Rises Run of the Mill Yokai Creepy Supreme Combo (or whatever it was called), with tentacles that talked to you while you ate it!

03, Bayverse, MM/TotTMNT, (plus a few others not mentioned) get a pass. 03 and Bayverse never had any weird pizza, and MM/TotTMNT haven't shown us enough to judge just yet.

[heymickie]

𝗳𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗼𝗺: tmnt 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘀: casey jones / raphael x reader (gender neutral) 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗱𝘀: 960 🐭: i am re-doing my older stuff, minor fixing and fitting it with my aesthetic. this isn’t really a ship fic, but I had the idea of a feisty friend of casey jones finding out about the turtles. also, friendly reminder i smush ‘03 TMNT and Bayverse together so when i talk about Casey it’s ‘03 Casey. 𝘁𝘄: quick mention of death, cursing, use of "toots" 𝗽𝗹𝗲𝗮𝘀𝗲 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗱 𝗺𝘆 𝗰𝗮𝗿𝗿𝗱 𝗯𝗲𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗿𝗲𝗾𝘂𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗶 𝗱𝗼 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗴𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗺𝗶𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝘁𝗼 𝗿𝗲-𝗽𝗼𝘀𝘁/𝘂𝘀𝗲 𝗺𝘆 𝘀𝘁𝘂𝗳𝗳 𝗰𝗮𝗿𝗿𝗱 ʚ🍓ɞ 𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗸𝘁𝗿𝗲𝗲

“Fuck you, Jones,” you called out. In the last few months, you’ve been worried about your childhood friend. Casey usually tells you everything, but as of late, he hasn’t been sharing anything with you. You noticed he has been out all night and sleeping most of the day away. “Are you going after the purple dragons again? Is that what’s going on? You told me you stopped doing that!”

Casey sighed. He truly hated upsetting you. You have been his friend since you were both kids. You were his only constant for a while after his dad died. Casey knew he could trust you with the turtles, but he was afraid you’d stronghold your way into fighting with them. “One, I told you I would stop doing it alone, and b,” he backed up, noticing you got closer. You getting closer usually meant you would start batting your eyes and win the argument, “I can’t tell you, Y/N!”

“I am tired of that fucking argument, Casey!” You picked up his pillow off his couch and threw it at him. It didn’t hurt, but it was enough to convey that you were really pissed that Casey was choosing to push you out like this. “You know I’d do anything for you, but you’re treating my worries like a fucking joke.”

Casey groaned, moving to pick up his pillow off the ground. Lately, he has been sleeping on the couch instead of in his room. When he came in at five in the morning, it was the closest place to pass out. He should have figured you would put together that it meant he wasn’t sleeping at night again. He wanted to explain that he was safe, especially now that he had the turtles, but the thought of putting you in trouble freaked him out. No matter how well you can protect yourself. “Y/N! Fucking st-,” he suddenly heard something heavy land on his fire escape. When you heard the noise, you started running over. He tried to grab your arm to stop you, but it was too late. You came eye-to-eye with big green eyes.

“Who’s the toots?” Raphael asked, looking past you to Casey. Casey growled, his efforts lost for nothing. He tugged lightly on your arm to pull you away from the window, so Raphael could climb in. You hadn’t even realized you froze in shock until you stepped back on a soda can Casey hadn’t cleaned up with a CRUNCH.

“What the fuck?” You finally questioned out loud. You finally turned to look at Casey. “Jones! Were you that scared to tell me you’re a damn furry? Seriously?!”

“WHAT?!” Casey shook his head and said, “Y/N, you got the wrong idea here.”

“You see a big ass turtle, and your first thought is ‘furry’?” Raphael questioned. You turned to him, giving a shrug. It was really the random red mask that made you think furry, but somehow you felt like this green thing wouldn’t appreciate hearing that.

“Well, someone better tell me what the hell is going on,” you demanded.

“This is Raph, the friend I met when fighting the purple dragons.” Raph gave you a three-fingered wave. “He’s not a furry. He’s a mutant turtle… and a ninja.” When you didn’t pass out, Raphael raised a brow.

“The ‘crazy dude’ that taught you to not go so crazy on a whole ass gang? The dude that achieved what I couldn’t?”

“Pretty much,” they said in unison. With a sigh, you pulled the pillow out of Casey’s hand and moved to sit on the couch, holding the pillow to your chest. Casey looked like he was waiting for you to process the whole mess, while Raphael just stood near the window, ready to book it if you started freaking out. After a long minute, you sighed, looking at them both and asking them to explain.

You understood why Casey felt like he couldn’t share - he had these creatures to help protect, and together he was helping the city that you both loved. It just hurt that he wouldn’t tell you. You were his best friend, and you were starting to wonder if this red turtle was taking your place.

“Y/N?” Casey pulled you out of your thoughts, moving to sit beside you. “I really only wanted to protect you. I promise. These past few months have been insane, and I really didn’t want to drag you into it. And don’t say you would have stayed out of it because we both know that ain’t true,” he added, pulling a soft laugh out of you.

“I know,” you let out. It made sense. The turtles were only out at night, so he would need to. Plus, you knew he would never meet someone like April with his own charms. She’d slap him in two seconds if he hadn’t had a buffer. The fighting with friends also explains why Casey has been having fewer injuries. You appreciated that. “I want to know more. Meet the others and actually get to know April without that stupid cover story. I should have known you wouldn’t meet her at an antique store.”

“That part is true, just probably not the way he told you,” Raphael interjected. Casey rolled his eyes and looked over at him, asking if it was cool with him if you met Splinter and the brothers. “If you trust them, then I do, Case,” Raphael sent you a wink that made you smile.

“Don’t be flirtin’ with them, pal,” Casey warned before getting up. “Get up, Y/N, let’s show you the side of New York you have never seen.” He held his hand out for you to grab and pull you up.

Edit: I want to be clear nothing is wrong with furries and this Y/N wasn’t judging Casey for being a furry just not telling them. Also, Casey doesn’t mind furries either, the comment just shocked him.

[percyaugod]

This is what I meant with the racecar thing. Forgot to put the reasons I chose each turtle. Even if some were just flimsy or barely had any there were reasons.

To make it fun and more challenging I wanted one turtle from each dimension, but never repeated the turtle. There had to be at least one type of connection.

87 Leo being Raph:

A. Trench coat. I had to pick an 87 turtle for that alone.

B. The way Raph reacts to Mrs. Cuddles reminds me of 87 Leo and his fear of snakes.

C. Would see him being the leader as the natural option even though Leo as the leader would also make sense to him.

D. The catchphrases. While not as often as in the crossovers (Turtles Forever why did you do my 87 boys dirty like that?) he does have the "Turtles fight with honor" and "Turtle power".

E. It did amuse me how much he seemed to like being "violent" in the 2012 crossover episode. It also fits well with Rise Raph who likes to smash things.

Bayverse Donnie being Mikey:

A. Trying to get Raph to let him do things/giving him a heart attack. Bayverse Donnie asking to be let be the badass for once and jumping out a plane, Rise Mikey's wanting to go on his first solo mission.

B. Big turtle being a small turtle is hilarious to me.

C. Dr. Feelings. He's a smart turtle still, even if it's not being used for tech or science. I fully believe he's an actual Doctor and is still essential to his family's functioning. Him wearing glasses.

12 Raph being Donnie:

A. Training animals.

B. Emotionally adopting things. 12 Raph with Spike/Slash and Chompy, and Rise Donnie with Shelldon and the PSDD from the sentient bed mini-episode.

C. Violence is the answer.

Extras I realized later:

D. Purple turtle son with fire! (Let's not ignore Shelldon sounding like 12 Mikey either)

E. Rise Donnie talking to Rise Splinter and mentioning if he was a tiger. Very specific animal for that voice.

F. Rise Donnie believes in Big Foot, who is not only real in the 12 universe, but Raph has met. Also that pizza with a face is a thing in the 12 series.

G. Looking at 12 Mona, I say "cute but mean" type.

H. Some of this implies that Rise Donnie either remembers some of who he used to be, who he really is, or follows his instincts a lot more than we thought and they're telling him things like "this is right" or " this is supposed to be this way".

03 Mikey being Leo:

A. Since Rise Donnie is a Raph and Leo likes messing with him, he's required by law to be a Mikey

B Battle Nexus Champion.

C. The number of crimes 03 Mikey has committed and Rise Leo having a wanted poster.

Extras I realized later:

D. Lose their arm in an apocalypse scenario.

E. Ends up going over the side of a building and is saved by a Raph.

[mistressoftherant-blog]

TMNT Fandom Issues

I think I've already mentioned this before, but I've been seeing it happen more and more lately, and it's infuriated me enough to make another post about it. Can people please stop dragging other turtles and other 'verses in where they have no relevance?

I was watching some Donnie vids on TikTok and, without fail, almost every video had someone in the comments going, "Oh, but Mikey solos", "Oh, but Leo solos", etc, etc.

No one cares. Genuinely, wholeheartedly, someone making a post showing cool clips of Donnie fighting or being angry, is not inviting a bunch of people to come whining in the comments about how much cooler their fave is.

I see this the most with Mikey fans who refuse to shut up about The Last Ronin or Rise!Mikey and will shove them into everything, even posts that they have absolutely no connection to.

I was mostly watching videos of 12!Donnie, and whenever I looked in the comments, there'd be someone mentioning how one of the other turtles solo. And whenever anyone would be like, "well, Mikey doesn't actually solo', The Last Ronin would be wheeled out as an argument.

The Last Ronin has no bearing on any other iterations. Just because Mikey is the last one standing, and is incredibly strong, in that version does not mean that he's the strongest in every version. If any other turtle was the last one standing, they'd probably end up just as strong as The Last Ronin. Even so, stop drawing Last Ronin into conversations that aren't about him. If I'm discussing 03!Donnie for example, I do not want to hear about how amazing Last Ronin supposedly is. The character and plot do not interest me at all, and every time it's thrust into my view by someone clumsily trying to take attention away from another character or 'verse, it makes me even less inclined to ever give it a go.

And before anyone comes at me with the whole "Mikey has the most potential canonically", I would like to highlight that having the most potential and being the strongest are not the same thing. If he put more effort in, sure, maybe he'd be the strongest in every 'verse. But as it stands, the strongest is usually Raph, and the best fighter is usually Leo and/or Raph. (No, I am not counting Rise!Mikey as the strongest turtle to ever exist because most of his physical strength is reliant on his mystic powers. The Bayverse boys can straight up yeet storage containers with no powers).

Also, just because Donnie is usually one of the weaker fighters (I would argue that he is one of the strongest in 87 and Rise, though Rise weirdly tries to nerf him after the Draxum fight), doesn't mean that he can't keep up with his brothers. He is not weak. They all work with heavy machinery, train daily, and are great with strategy for the most part.

Deliberately going onto posts/vids/fics only to diss the character that they are about and try to shove your own fave down people's throats is not going to win you any friends. It's insufferable. Why don't I start going on any posts about Mikey or Leo and say how dumb they are compared to Donnie? It would be an unfair comparison as Donnie is made to be the smart one, but that's what Leo and Mikey stans keep doing to Donnie content. Donnie isn't meant to be the strongest or the best fighter, which I've accepted, but that doesn't mean he isn't a BAMF in his own right, with some pretty cool fight scenes.

If content does not contain your fave character, do not shoehorn them in, and/or degrade the character it's actually about. It's rude, annoying, and it's part of the reason that certain parts of the fandom (*cough* Rise *cough*), get such a bad reputation. All you are doing is making people hate your favourite characters and series, which means less chance of getting content including them.

Also, Rise!Fans, stop trying to make Mayhem posts about Risem I saw a video saying that the fight scenes in Mayhem are awesome (which they are, the animation I'd beautiful and the flow of the fights scenes is handled incredibly well), and one of the first comments was about how "I've not watched the movie yet, bit I doubt that they can beat the Rise first scenes." Firstly, if you havent watched the movie, shut up. You cant compare something you haven't seen with something that you already watched. Secondly, it is entirely possible to say that the fight scenes in both are great. Here, I'll do out right now, I think every iteration of TMNT have some great fight scenes, and Rise and Mayhem bitj definitely have something beautifully animated and choreographed scenes.

Honestly, the fandom has started making me hate most versions of Mikey on principle because they constantly force incorrect characterisations of him down my throat (he's the strongest/wisest/best at feelings, but he's also a sweet abuse little uwu bean that can do no wrong. He's incredibly smart but also mega innocent. He's amazing at reading people, but he also.just wants to believe the best of everyone. It's all so contradictory, and pretty much none of it ever actually fits Mikey).

It's the same with Rise Leo. Most of the fandom seems to make him into someone he's not, siphoning personality traits from other characters and iterations (like making him team medic, making him the one that likes to dance and sing, or the one that gets on my nerves the most, making him as smart as Donnie. That isn't his role, and none of the turtles are ever as smart as Donnie. Don't even try and fight me on that. Leos may be more strategic, but in outright booksmart intelligence, every Donnie takes the cake).

I feel like I'm probably going to get a lot of complaints about this seeing how popular Mikey and Rise!Leo are, but I am just so sick of trying to enjoy content for Donnie when every other comment section is being flooded by people dragging him to try and make their fave appear superior. If you want to gush about Mikey or Leo, go to content made about them where your input will be appreciated, rather than deliberately pissing other people off.

This may possible be my longest rant yet 😅 Congratulations to anyone who made it this far down!!

[whispering-about-the-tmnt]

3 and 34 for as many Mikeys as you want!

Ooh! Food questions!

3. 🕛 - Favorite midnight snack?

Gonna get it out of the way right off the bat that every Mikey will go for that leftover pizza! But, since they hardly ever have any leftover pizza, there are options! (If I don't mention an iteration, that's because I don't know it well enough to form a headcanon for it!)

87 show - A classic 80s kid! He's going after those Hostess Pudding Pies!

90s movies - Anything crunchy and annoying. Chips, usually!

03 show - Cereal, in all its disparate forms. Especially if there is a prize in the bottom of the box (remember those?).

07 movie - The leftover cake from the parties he worked at (the pieces he didn't give to Splinter, that is!)

Bayverse - Anything leftover in the fridge. He's a big turtle, he needs the calories no matter where they come from!

B v. TMNT - Oreos and milk! He can't get enough!

ROTTMNT - I am not too familiar with him in this version, but for some reason I picture him being really fond of leftover Chinese food!

MM / TOTTMNT - He's a PB & J kinda guy!

Bonus My 70s Au - He really loves to bake, so whatever he made earlier in the day is what he's eating overnight!

34. 🍿 - Favorite movie snacks?

87 show - He's a classic popcorn kinda guy!

90s movies - Again, chips or anything else crunchy and annoying!

03 show - Nachos with extra cheese

07 movie - Goobers, Whoppers, and Raisinets

Bayverse - Calzones - all the joy of pizza, but easier to eat in the dark!

B v. TMNT - Popcorn again!

ROTTMNT - Jelly beans and Skittles!

MM / TOTTMNT - Cool Ranch Doritos, just like his dad!

Bonus My 70s Au - Once more, whatever goodies he baked that day!

[rottmnt-honeybea]

It's (more or less) Q.B.'s mutation day!!

Today she was mutated into the charming little bee mutant we all know and love.

So get ready because here's an unnecessarily long list of Quinn Bea Santos hc's, not limited to Rise:

• Q.B. has suffered from chronic migraines since she was 8. Hence why the mystic migraines she has as a mutant can incapacitate her.

• She absolutely uses her migraines as a form of self harm

• 1987 Bea could be described as a Damsel in Distress with a mean streak.

• 87 Q.B. is called Bea by everyone except for Splinter and Donnie, who both call her Quinn.

• 2003 Q.B. is the most toxic person ever. She is not above manipulating people to get what she wants. A trait she got from her father 👀

• 03 Bea was (unknowingly) mutated by her father.

• Bayverse Bea is the first instance where Bea was a bee first.

• Bayverse Bea is the quietest of the Bea's. Not in voice, but due to the fact that she just will not talk. She communicates a lot via vibrations, sign language, and charades. She CAN talk, she just choses not to more often than not.

• 2012 Q.B. is a return to Bea's status as a Damsel in distress, but she quickly gains her mean streak.

• 12 Bea lives with her family even after her mutation, but they're eventually replaced by the Krang and she has to move in with the boys.

• MM Bea is the second time Bea was first a bee and not a human.

• Rise Q.B. is the only version to have her wings ripped off.

• In terms of most violent to least violent it would be: 2003, Rise, Bayverse, MM, 2012, 1987.

• 2003 Bea has kissed all of the brothers (she lived for the drama it stirred up, even if she hated the fallout-well well well, if it isn't the consequences of her actions) And she is closest with Leo.

• 2012 Bea is closest friends with Mikey

• Rise Bea would say her favorite brothers are Raph and Mikey

• 1987 and Bayverse Bea would say Donnie is her favorite

• MM Bea would say Leo and Donnie were her closest.

• 2003 Leo has tried SO many times to get Bea to be a good person. It does not work.

• Rise Bea is the only Bea to have chlorokinesis, BUT 2003, Bayverse, and MM Bea are all very proficient gardeners.

• 2012 Bea is more a chemist than a botanist. And she frequently has to remind Mikey of this when he makes bold assumptions about what her mutant abilities do and don't do.

• in terms of: "is Quintello Canon?"

- 1987: Very one-sided early on, but eventually develops into a mutual feelings thing. Confirmed.

- 2003: Yikes. They kiss and go on a few dates. But neither is mature enough to commit to anything serious. It's very casual.

- Bayverse: Yes. It started from a kiss-in-the-heat-of-the-moment thing and just kept going. Definitely had to have a "what are we" conversation bc neither has a lot of social graces.

- 2012: It's Complicated. But long story short, yes.

- Rise: Yes. If you're here reading this, you've probably read/are planning to read/are reading about it right now. Does this even count as a spoiler for you guys?

- MM: They are the dorkiest, most awkward lil things. Neither has had much in the ways of socialization. They're trying to convince everyone that they're just REALLY GOOD FRIENDS

• 1987, 2003, and MM Bea are all raised by a single father. A scientist. Who (typically) works for TCRI

• Bayverse and MM were both bees BEFORE they mutated. But Bayverse Bea was found and kept hidden by April and her family, and MM Bea was found and kept hidden by Dr. Barry D. Santos.

• 2012 saw the introduction of the Santos Family - Antonio, Beatriz, Miguel, Lina and Rita.

• 2003 and Rise Bea are the only ones with Weapons

• Rise Bea and 03 are Battle Nexus Champions

• in terms of names:

- 1987: As mentioned, everyone calls her Bea except for Splinter and Donnie, who call her Quinn

- 2003: Went by Quinn as a human, but goes mainly by Bea now. People only call her Quinn when they're serious about something.

- Bayverse: April decided to name her Bea, so that's what she goes by. The "Quinn" part of her name is gone for this iteration.

- 2012: Back to Quinn Bea. Only Leo and Splinter call her Quinn. Everyone else calls her Bea.

- Rise: Donnie calls her Querida because he has feelings for her. Most people either call her Q.B. or just Bea. But never call her Quinn or Quinn Bea unless you want to be kicked across the face. Most people have their own little name for her. Splinter is Yellow. Draxum is Ms. Santos. Raph is Lil Sis. Leo is Flower Power. Yadda Yadda

- MM: Dr. Barry thought the name Quinn was fine for a little girl, and when he needed to scold her "Bea" just kind of came out, so she became Quinn Bea. She goes by Quinn until she makes a social media page, then she starts going by Q.B., and when she befriends April (and then later the boys) she goes by Bea.

• All of the Bea's are excellent coders. (Hackers, in 2003 and Bayverse's cases, as in, they're definitely on some governments list kind of hacker)

• 1987, 2003, and 2012 Bea are all 15 when she meets the turtles.

• Bayverse, Rise, and MM Bea are all 14 when she meets the turtles.

• MM Bea and her dad take care of two stray cats. She has affectionately nicknamed them Huginn and Muninn 👀

• 1987 and MM Bea are the only ones with a semi-normal sleep schedule.

• If Q.B. had never mutated she would have grown up to be:

- 1987: a librarian

- 2003: a computer programer

- 2012: a computer programer

- Rise: an agrologist (person who studies the science and technology of producing and using plants for various purposes)

• Rise and Bayverse Bea both know rudimentary sign language

• 2003, Bayverse, 2012, and Rise Bea are all three-fingered

• 1987 and MM are both two-fingered

• 1987, 2003, and 2012 Bea does not have a second pair of arms. Bayverse, Rise, and MM do have the second pair.

• All Q.B.'s are (whether the art style permits it or not) furry. She is covered in fine, dark fur everywhere on her body.

• Bayverse, and MM Bea have eyes that look like compound eyes, but they have distinct human-like pupils.

• All of the Q.B.'s have such dark brown eyes that most people mistake them for black

• Dr. Barry (MM) is terrified of the idea of Q.B. flying

• It takes several seasons for Q.B. (2003) to forgive her father for mutating her.

• In the Bad Future (Rise) only Q.B.'s father survived the initial invasion. But he dies a few months before she can come topside.

• 2003 and Rise Bea are the only ones to have children/descendants

• 1987, 2003, and 2012 Bea wore glasses before mutating, but didn't need them after mutating

• Bayverse Bea wears glasses when she's working

• MM Bea doesn't need glasses

• Rise Q.B. did not need glasses before mutating. The UV and mystical sight she gained from her mutation caused her to need glasses (which Donnie kindly made her goggles...in his life color) and her human disguise has glasses.

And lastly, because this is honestly getting very long:

• Q.B. was originally going to be a villain related to Big Mama

[terrahlee-cup]

@britt-kageryuu You started this so now you get tagged when I talk about it more. I’ve been trying to figure out which machine from Horizon Zero Dawn and Horizon Forbidden West would be each version of Donnie’s favorite. I have ideas, but I’d definitely be interested in other people’s thoughts because I don’t normally do a ton of analyzing Donnie’s character lol.

2003 Donnie:

Okay, so 03 Donnie is generally fairly calm/sweet but of course has his mad scientist moments as you do. A very combat-focused machine just doesn’t seem like his thing— even though a lot of the things he builds in the show have/can double as weapons he seems to be more focused on general utility than anything. I swear like 90% of what he builds seems to be vehicles lol. He’s not a pushover in a fight, sure, but his brothers seem to watch his back a lot. I could see his favorite machine being one that lets him focus on something he’s doing without worrying about his surroundings as much. Several of the machines in the games act as lookouts: Watchers, Burrowers, Longlegs, and Stalkers (sort of). Donnie would probably find the Watchers and Burrowers adorable, but Longlegs and Stalkers are more middle to late game enemies that you can’t usually one-shot after like two encounters. I think if he got most excited by just sheer range of abilities his favorite would be the Stalkers. I mean they turn invisible, place mines that also act as flares, and are just fucking annoying to fight because they’re fast moving targets (I love them too but HOLY SHIT STAY STILL FOR TWO SECONDS SO I CAN SHOOT YOU).

2012 Donnie:

Okay, so 2012 Donnie was… probably the easiest for me to choose at least a general favorite group of machines for? He’s constantly looking for better materials and complaining about how often his bo breaks in the show, so the literal gathering machines would probably be interesting to him. Y’know, just a bit. The primary two I think could be his *favorite* though are the Shell Walker or Tideripper. The Shell Walker isn’t a material gatherer itself, but its main “thing” is the boxes it carries around on its back. One of these would make material runs so much easier, and it can definitely carry more than Donnie can on his own. Tideripper on the other hand can gather materials from the ocean, but it can go on land as well so in theory it could still collect materials from there. Also, turtle sub.

2014/16 Donnie:

Did you expect him to be here? No I’ve never mentioned bayverse on here? Well, I like bayverse so he is. I think his favorite machine would either be the Scrapper or the Snapmaw. The Scrapper is simple enough: extra materials for inventions— useful and also they kinda look like a dog? This Donnie gives off ‘would like a pet’ vibes. The Snapmaw might be a bit less of an obvious choice lol. It’s an aquatic combat machine, not really in line with the trend of more utility-based machines. Honestly I mainly picked this because I think he’d find them neat. There is a little more to it, though. For one, he doesn’t seem to be struggling with getting materials as much as 12 Donnie, and the bayverse turtles are so fucking tanky he probably wouldn’t be too worried about someone sneaking up on him like 03 Donnie. The Snapmaw can watch his back anyway as long as he’s on the ground, so eh he’ll be fine. But yeah, mostly he’d just find the Snapmaw cool as hell.

Rise Donnie:

Look, he likes big loud things that go boom what do you think his favorite would be. Surely not the giant t-rex looking machine with like 5 different weapons on it nooooo. …

So, yeah, I think his favorite machine would be the Thunderjaw. There is no big reason for it except hehe big machine go boom. This version of Donnie is unhinged and made a whole ass giant drill for hero poses what else do you want from me. (I do think the headcanon that he goes bonkers with security in the lair after the Krang is interesting, but I think it’s hilarious to have every other version think a lot about utility and then Rise Donnie just points at the giant t-rex thing and goes: I like that one it shoots lasers.)

That’s it that’s all I got I need to go actually get shit done now enjoy the rare Donnie post lol.

[misteria247]

I was re-reading "a universal collision" and on chapter 2 when Leonardo mentally making notes about his counterpart/brother counterparts that had me thinking about ur own turtles forever au. I wonder if he did it again with his other counterparts and maybe, JUST maybe... they took mental notes of him and his brothers as well? 👀

(Also i hope ur feeling better boo! ❤️)

Ahhhhh now that you mention it and now that I'm thinking about it, 12 Leo (Leonardo) most definitely obverses the other turtles in the Turtles Forever AU. It's like second nature to him, he's a strategist and an eldest child, he's been doing this kind of thing for most of his life so as soon as he sees the others, he's instantly making little mental notes on them.

But this also goes the other way as well, as in Universal Collision Rise Leo (Leo) did the same thing cuz obversing others is in all forms of reality a Leonardo Hamato trait. That means 87 Leo, 03 Leo, 07 Leo, Bayverse Leo, and Future Rise Leo are doing the same thing that their younger, fellow counterparts are doing to them. It's rather unnerving to the blue clad turtles, being read and obversed so closely. Since it's usually them doing this very thing, and like our favorite duo from Universal Collision, they too are incredibly hard to get a read on. Which is why whenever they meet themselves from different realities and timelines it's incredibly unsettling for them because to Leo's they're basically an like an open book to each other. It's a thing that takes them all awhile to get used to lol.

Also to answer your question I'm doing better than I have been. Still sick but it's manageable now lol.

[turtles-n--cats]

Warriors AU: 2012 gang pt1

We’re starting with 2012 because they’re the ones i have the most fleshed out appearance/story-wise, and will also be the initial focus of the AU

keep in mind two things as you look through these pictures: -ONE!!! i know very little about cat genetics, so im mostly ignoring it much the actual warrior cats series does. -TWO!!! imma end up mentioning a few cats who won’t be shared in this post. I’ll get to them in a later post.

edit: art is all done. Credit for the bases used goes to Rockyspotted on deviantART

this one’s gunna be a bit of a long post, so info below the cut!!!

Splinter, aka “Magnoliaclaw“: his name is symbolic and a reference to his clan name “Hamato”, which according to the brief google search i did, means “Noble”. Magnolia’s are symbolic of nobilty, as well as purity and perfection. He’s a brown classic tabby

he was born into Nightclan, and in this au is the actual brother of 2012 shredder (formerly Poppystrike before taking the title of Shredderstar) he left to join Sunclan after a falling out with Poppystrike when they were young warriors, and took Spiritpond (Tang Shen) with him. In this au, Leo/Raph/Mikey/Donnie are all his bio kids in edition to Karai. Karai is still stolen, raised by Shredder, and believed to be dead, though it plays out differently than the show (a given XD)

Leo, aka “Bravepaw”: I’ve mentioned in a previous post that the rise gang is the youngest, all apprenticed aged at the start of the au. Leo’s name is a referance to his nickname “fearless”. He’s a lynx-point spotted tabby (like his mom uwu) with blue eyes

I’ve got a warrior name picked out for him (and all his siblings actually) but those get to stay a secret for now. He was stolen along with Karai as a kit, though Splinter managed to get him back (barely).  His mentor is his dad, 2012 Splinter/Magnoliaclaw

Raph, aka “Pricklepaw”: he’s got a bit of a prickly personality at first glance. Raph looks the most like their dad, also a brown classic tabby with green eyes

Because of how closely he resembles his father, the two are often compared. Raph’s got a bit of a complex about it because nothing he does ever seems to live up to expectations. His mentor is 03 Casey, Eagleheart

Donnie, aka “Tallpaw”: Him and Mikey both got physical descriptor names, while Raph and Leo got personality descriptors. He’s a silver classic tabby with orangish-brownish eyes

Second youngest but easily the tallest of of his siblings. He’s a clever apprentice, but has a tendency to get frustrated when things don’t come easily to him. His mentor is Bayverse Donnie, aka “Whisperwatcher”

Mikey, aka “Frecklepaw”: there was no way i wasn’t giving 2012 Mikey a way to keep his freckles. He’s an orange spotted tabby with greenish-blue eyes, and white on his lower muzzle

A quick study, Mikey excels in his training, often to the frustration of his brothers. He gets along pretty well with most of his clanmates, tho he has a penchant for trying to befriend any rogues or loners he comes across. His mentor is Rise April, aka “Sunflowerpounce” (and she’s also the first of the Rise gang to be made a mentor XD)

[mousermayhem]

❤️💔

Ok my first attempt to post deleted itself so here we go again.

❤️ - top 3 versions of raph

1. 03 Raphie

2. Rise Raphala

3. IDW Raph

Honorable Mention to Bayverse Raph, it was hard to pick 3 cause he n IDW Raph are real close in my heart.

💔 - top 3 moments that make you cry

1. All of SAINW but most particularly when Raph dies reaching out for Leo.

2. Raph Crying over Leo

3. This shit. This shit fucking ruined me what did I do to deserve this.

[britt-kageryuu]

Welp I went down a slight rabbit hole of looking up famous New York City Locations to get a better understanding on where everything was actually located. Whenever they mention a location in New York they don't often mention which borough it's in.

Or on the other hand almost every major place mentioned is in Manhattan, and it made me confused on how far some places actually where from each other.

Now on the topic of where the Turtles would wander, I don't fully know where everyplace is relative to Boroughs or Neighborhoods, but it wouldn't surprise me to find Rise Leo wanting to wander through Washington Heights or the LES with his Bros following if only so he didn't do anything stupid.

I can't fully tell where the other turtles would go, because I don't have as much of a grasp on where they might personally what to wander. I have watched (most of) 03, 07, 12, Bayverse, 18, and MM, but the only ones I have a grasp on would probably rather travel the world, not just New York.

(I changed something on the original post when my mind was like are you sure that was is Brooklyn or was it really Manhattan? So it now says Brooklyn/Manhattan. I just didn't want to retype all the above.)

Now that I'm learning more things about New York City thanks to some shows and movies, I can't help but wonder,

Which of the Boroughs did each of the different versions of the Turtles live in?

And which part of these Boroughs did they live in/wander/patrol through?

Like it's kinda obvious a couple of the series/movies were in Brooklyn, but like where in Brooklyn? Where was their lair(s) located?

I ask because there's so many different cultures the Turtles could've been influenced by other than what Splinter would teach them. Music and Food being the first obvious influence, followed by media like shows, books, and movies maybe sports depending on the neighborhood.

Like would the Turtles pick up more languages, have different accents, use different slang?

A small part of my mind is remembering the different versions of New York (or fusion of New York) and wondering how the Turtles would handle the different architecture. Especially Mumbattan, or whatever Hobies world is.

I can't be bothered to tag this properly... to many tags!

[hatlordave]

Warriors AU: 2012 gang pt1

We’re starting with 2012 because they’re the ones i have the most fleshed out appearance/story-wise. 

keep in mind two things as you look through these pictures: -ONE!!! i know very little about cat genetics, so im mostly ignoring it much the actual warrior cats series does. -TWO!!! i prioritized fur-color and markings. a lot of the eye colors DONT match up. I’ll replace all these images with my own art later -AND THREE!!! imma end up mentioning a few cats who won’t be shared in this post. I’ll get to them in a later post. 

edit: art is all done. Credit for the bases used goes to Rockyspotted on deviantART

this one’s gunna be a bit of a long post, so info below the cut!!!

Splinter, aka “Magnoliaclaw“: his name is symbolic and a reference to his clan name “Hamato”, which according to the brief google search i did, means “Noble”. Magnolia’s are symbolic of nobilty, as well as purity and perfection. He’s a brown classic tabby

he was born into Nightclan, and in this au is the actual brother of 2012 shredder (formerly Poppystrike before taking the title of Shredderstar) he left to join Sunclan after a falling out with Poppystrike when they were young warriors, and took Spiritpond (Tang Shen) with him. In this au, Leo/Raph/Mikey/Donnie are all his bio kids in edition to Karai. Karai is still stolen and raised by Shredder and believed to be dead. Leo, aka “Bravepaw”: I’ve mentioned in a previous post that the rise gang is the youngest, all apprenticed aged at the start of the au. Leo’s name is a referance to his nickname “fearless”. He’s a lynx-point spotted tabby (like his mom uwu) with blue eyes

I’ve got a warrior name picked out for him (and all his siblings actually) but those get to stay a secret for now. His mentor is his dad, 2012 Splinter/Magnoliaclaw

Raph, aka “Pricklepaw”: he’s got a bit of a prickly personality at first glance. Raph looks the most like their dad, also a brown classic tabby with green eyes

his mentor is 03 Casey, whom i don’t have a warrior name for yet

Donnie, aka Tallpaw: him and Mikey both got physical descriptor names, while Raph and Leo got personality descriptors. He’s a silver classic tabby with orangish-brownish eyes

his mentor is bayverse Donnie, aka “Whisperwatcher”

Mikey, aka “Frecklepaw”: there was no way i wasn’t giving 2012 Mikey a way to keep his freckles. He’s an orange spotted tabby with greenish-blue eyes

His mentor is Rise April, aka “Sunflowerpounce” (and she’s also the first of the Rise gang to be made a mentor XD)

part 2 will cover Casey, April, Karai and a few others

[mistressoftherant-blog]

Separating TMNT Verses and Characters

This is just a quick one, because I've been seeing this happen a lot recently and need to vent, but I really just want to say that it is so annoying when fans won't stop mentioning a TMNT series or character when a post, video, fic, pictures, etc, has absolutely nothing to do with them (this is annoying in other fandoms as well tbh).

If someone makes a post about, say, the relationship between Donnie and Raph in the 03 series, why do people immediately feel the need to start comparing it to other series, or start dragging other characters in? Or, as another example, if someone makes a post about how physically strong the Bayverse boys are, why is there always at least one person who has to jump in and be like, 'well, actually, thanks to his mystic powers, Rise Mikey is actually the strongest turtle in the TMNT franchise, and he can solo anyone'. Like, who asked? If the post is clearly discussing physical strength, and doesn't even mention other iterations, why do you think they'd care about you trying to prove that Mikey is the strongest due to his mystic abilities?

Or if you're reading a post/fanfic, or watching a video that is clearly about one character, and half of the comments are going on about someone else, or just annoying copy pasted phrases (this is worse on TikTok than tumblr though honestly, why does every TMNT post, even ones that aren't about certain characters, need several iterations of comments like 'transfem Leo solos', 'Mikey solos 'I am Rise Leos girlfriend' etc)? I probably am coming across as a bit of an ass here, or I am misunderstanding something, but I just can't see what value these comments bring to a video. Sure, people are free to say whatever they want, but if you are commenting on a video about one character, and the comment is solely a phrase like the ones mentioned above which have no relation to the topic of the video, I just don't understand the point.

When you're in a fandom with many different iterations of the source material, you need to learn that not all of the content is going to be geared towards your particular favourite, or your particular favourite character, and trying to interject them into everything is just going to engender bitterness towards parts of the franchise, certain characters, and even amongst the fandom. I think we've all seen posts that are annoyed at Rise fans constantly trying to take over posts, fics, polls, etc that have nothing to do with Rise, or trying to tell people that their characterisation is off because they are writing/talking about a different version, and some Rise fans don't always seem to realise that the dynamics are very different in other versions. Though I do tend to see this happening more with people who are primarily Rise fans, other parts of the fandom do the same thing, which can get pretty tiring.

I honestly think the fandom would all get along a lot better if everyone could take a step back and remember that not everyone is coming into the fandom for the same things. My favourite character across every iteration I've checked out, (and I have watched/read and enjoyed quite a few iterations at this point so I have experiences across most of the fandom), is Donatello, which is probably obvious from my previous posts, and if I was paid every time I've seen someone jump in on a post about, say 12 Donnie with a comment like 'Rise Donnie would be laughing right now, Rise Donnie would be cringing, Rise Donnie would never', I'd be rich enough to buy the rights of the TMNT myself. Obviously all of the Donnies wouldn't do the exact same things or react in the same ways to everything. They all have the same core, but they are also different characters in different universes with different experiences. Of my post is specifically about one version of Donnie, I don't want a bunch of people comparing him to other iterations or characters, or just generally shitting all over him.

Or a post about something traumatic that Donnie went through, and then someone leaps in with a 'yeah but the Leos obviously have it worse, they've gone through this, and this, and this.' Alright, but this is about Donnie so again, why should I care? If I wanted to discuss Leo's trauma, I'd have mentioned this in the post, or made another post about it.

I think that one of the most egregious repeating examples of this that I have seen is usually attached to the phrase, 'what about x character'. If someone creates something about one character, and you immediately hop in with a 'what about x' it kinda makes me want to scream. Say I made a post talking about how 12 Donnie actually makes a pretty good leader in some episodes, someone jumping in to say'well what about Raph or Mikey in these particular eps' would infuruate me. Or if I say, '03 Donnie really suffered in SAINW, someone jumping in to say, 'well what about Mikey, he suffered too' is more annoying than anything.

We all have to curate our own online fandom experiences, but part of this should also involve the realisation that other people are also trying to curate their experience, one that might be fundamentally differeny from what you want, and that, by trying to interject things about other characters and iterations where they arent wanted, you are probabky just going to make people annoyed.

Some people (maybe not all, but definitely some) will not want you to hop on their post and make it all about a character or series that isn't relevant to what they are talking about, and if you do so, you may face some kind of backlash. I have seen countless people grow bitter towards certain parts of the franchise/fandom and characters because of things like this (I know that I can grow irritable when half of the content that I consume ends up being buried in comments about things that are completely irrelevant). And this isn't just fans of one particular iteration or series, even though some fans have more of a reputation for doing this than others.

I guess my main point is to just have some consideration for others, and reflect on whether or not you'd be annoyed if someone commented on something that you'd worked on talking about a character you don't particularly like, and making everything about them. It can really suck, and I've seen people become discouraged when an excellent fic, character study, post, vid, etc of their favourite character gets flooded by comments of, 'this is more like x character, imagine x character in this scenario, but what about x'. Obviously this isn't the same for everyone, and some people actually do invite people to discuss other versions and characters on their posts, but I still think people need to consider whether or not the comment that they are posting is just going to end in an argument where no one comes away happy.

[stlplaybox]

Top 10 Transformers of 2019 - Part 1

If you’ve been following, it’s been two years since my last one of these. Technically more given that we’re now deep past the winter of 2020. But end of year lists have a wistful character. They keep ajar a casual window into that tricky thing that is memory lane. They crystallise memories, feelings and journeys into something that attempts to qualify and quantify the experiences of some arbitrary tract of time in our lives. When life comes faster at you with each passing season, where each year seems faster than the last, lists offer some solace, some sense of growth, some recognition of where we’ve come from. 

I guess that’s why despite 2019 seeming so distant, I’ve persisted with making this list of my top 10 Transformers of 2019. There is something different this year though. Something I’ve been plugging away at for awhile now. This year I bring together my nerdy side with my collecting and underpin it with a Transformers scoring system. Yes, I’ve developed and calibrated a scoring system for Transformers. Why you ask? Well the easy answer is I’m a data person and I like to frame the way I look and understand the world through code and data.

The longer answer is I like to understand myself, understand why I collect and like what I like. With so much available these days, it’s easy to lose track of what really resonates with us, chasing that new shiny thing, that new experience, and quickly forget why we’re buying what we buy. This scoring system is my attempt to track this and quantify not just what I have purchased but also what I purchase going forward. So this year, you’ll see me provide two scores. My “weighted”  / subjective score and an ”objective” score in brackets. Both are out of 100.  

Where does this difference come from? In designing my system I recognised that how we value things differ from person to person. For instance some people place high emphasis on transformation and handling while others adore articulation and sculpt. So my scoring system attempts to factor this in by providing a “weighted” score to reflect my personal subjective leanings. The objective score is how it ranks objectively on each of the metrics scored. So that’s some context but I won’t bore you with too many more details. If there’s enough interest, I’ll write more about it sometime. But I will say this scoring system is great as I already what my top 10 for 2020 is at this stage!

A part of me was going to separate the list into transforming and non-transforming toys but I decided against it. They’re all Transformers in the end, it’s the reason we buy them. Whether its a plushie, a statue or articulated action figure they all have their merits.

One last note is I’ve also added to each figure a section called “a moment” where I try to capture a moment of where I was, how I felt when experiencing this figure. I spend a lot of time with these figures behind the camera and posing them, often in lovely natural places where I’m reflecting on a lot of things about the world, life and whatnot. There’s a range of feelings that come with that and for me that’s part of what collecting is about, the emotions these figures stir in you.

So without further ado, let’s roll out!

Honorable Mentions:

MP-44: Convoy

Weighted Score: 89.0% (88%)

Why: While its where my love for Transformers comes from, G1 is no longer where my collecting heart lies. The price, the over-engineering, and QC issues… there were a lot of reasons I didn’t want to buy this. But we lost a dear member of our community @TCracker/@hirohitokusanagi last year and this was a figure he was desperately trying to hold on for. That he couldn’t made this something I felt I had to experience. Even more so as I struggled with my own battle with cancer. This figure is a good figure but sometimes we buy things and they mean more because of the people we’ve met along the way. Simon brought so many sparks of joy with his photography and the opportunity to dedicate a shoot to him was the best way I could honour him. Whenever I shoot this figure, I think of Simon and am grateful for the inspiration he provided and his contribution to our community.

The Moment: It was early spring when this figure arrived. We were due in NZ the day after and I was in a horribly weakened state after my sixth round of chemo. But I hobbled the 2km to my post office to pick it up and shoot it that sunset. My process is to normally spend time experiencing a figure before trying to transform and photograph at sunset as its a small window of 20-30 minutes at best. But I knew time was against me and that with a few weeks in NZ it’d really bother me not being able to have a crack at it given how much it meant to me. So in the days preceding that day, I’d watched video after video of the transformation. I started sunset with the video on the big screen TV in case I needed to refer to it. It was one of my most intense shoots of the year and a lot of that pressure self-imposed. But emotionally, it was one of the most fulfilling.

Iron Factory Blue Flash

Weighted Score: 89.5% (86.7%)

Why: The only thing I owned of Bluestreak as a kid was a jigsaw puzzle. In it he was depicted in this sleek and flashy blue. From that moment, I’d always dreamt of owning an awesome blue Bluestreak. And despite happily owning the Masterpiece and Collector Club version, this was the one for me as it combined that essence with a neo-G1 design.     

Moment: Sitting by our local waterfall not long after I’d been diagnosed with cancer it was quite emotional. I remember staring blankly at it and not starting the shoot as the water cascaded in the background. Thinking about that puzzle, the life I’d led in primary school and how far I’d come. 

With that let’s get into slots 10-6!

10. Amazing Yamaguchi N-14: Optimus Prime 

Weighted Score: 90.1% (86.9%)

Why: Expressiveness is an area that’s increasing at the top of my want list for a figure and this has it in spades. Between the different hands, the stellar ab crunch and butterfly shoulder, it maximises its pure action figure focus to give us a figure that’s so much fun to pose with emotion. It’s really one torso swivel away from greatness.  

Moment: The moment comes from this year where I combined a shoot with Siege Omega in base mode where it captured all the emotion of leaving your home, being unable to stay because you need to seek refuge elsewhere. Something that I think that’s understated about Transformers is that they’re refugees and that shot really captured the weight of emotion of having to leave. 

9. Master Made SDT-06: Overlord

Weighted Score: 90.5% (90%)

Why: For as long as I’ve been doing these lists, there’s not a year I remember when Master Made did not make an entry. They continue to put out some of the most beautifully engineered and fun figures on the market and Overlord was no exception. The sharp edges of the jet half combined with the bulk of the tank are top notch. Add the extra non super-deformed head so that one can use it with Iron Factory legends and combine that with their neo-G1 take on it, this thing hits all the right spots.  

The Moment: I remember setting in for sunset in late autumn with the jet mode on an evening after I’d come home after bouncing in and out of hospital as they hadn’t been able to work out what was going on with my body other than it was failing. This sense of soaring as I photographed him was something that put a smile on my face in that moment of uncertainty.

8. TLK Hot Rod (Unique Toys K-03 La Hire)

Weighted Score: 90.7% (98%)

Why: This is the first figure where I want to talk about the difference in the weighted score and the objective score. This figure is objectively one of the best Transformers in my collection at 98/100. It scores so high across articulation, engineering, handling, aesthetic, paint job that it actually is the highest scoring figure in 2019. However it gets brought down because of one thing: connection. I gave up on watching the Bayverse movies as I just weren’t enjoying them anymore and so as great as this figure is, that’s why it ends up scaling down to 90.7. Maybe if it had more elements of G1 Hot Rod I’d have connected with it despite not seeing the movies but that’s not to be. With that, you’re right to guess that one of my strong subjective weightings is “connection“.    

Moment: It was a warm morning in September last year when I got this figure. I was sitting on the balcony with my partner and feeling awful as it was not long after a round of chemo but I remember repeatedly going “wow”, “holy crap”, “wow” as I step by step learnt all the nuances of this beautiful figure. 

7. Cross Dimension Metallic Optimus Prime (MTCD-01P Striker Manus)

Weighted Score: 90.8% (88%)

Why: The Cross Dimensions line epitomises everything I love and want from Transformers. Fresh designs that take from various parts of the expansive TF universe without being slavish to any particular part. Despite already owning the first iteration of this figure, the dark metallic red, golds and blue elevate what was already a great figure way ahead of its time. Add the extra weapons pack all tinged with orange translucent highlights and you have yourself an absolute winner.

Moment: The joy of having him wield the translucent axe was magical. While the smokestack axes look nice, they don’t pack that same punch. I spent many hours in front of the TV posing him over and over.   

6. MMC Senator Ratbat (R-42 Ultio)

Weighted Score: 91.3% (90.7%)

Why: Since Takara did the Senator Ratbat in the TG line all those years back from the United Scourge mould, I’ve loved the idea of a Cybertronian Ratbat and boy did MMC deliver. If you’d ask me whether they could’ve done it from the Stray mould I’d have laughed but its executed so perfectly and keeps a lot of the great engineering and articulation present in the core Stray design while adding the wings that double as a cape in robot mode and pincers in alt mode. It’s a menacingly alt mode and that purple is just fine.

Moment: I’d had the figure for a little while and was itching to shoot it but between treatment and friends who were visiting it took awhile for me to get to it before and when I did I was thwarted by many boring sunsets. It took me almost a whole week where the days would be fine but then offer not that much by the way of an interesting sunsets. But when I got the chance, I loved shooting that alt mode from all of its glorious angles. I remember finishing and feeling an overwhelming sense of contentment. Things were looking up, I was a healthier, a bit stronger, and fortunate enough to have a great friend come visit.

That rounds out the first half of my top 10 list. Join me back in a few days when we work through the top five and I make some other interesting data driven observations about my collection in 2019.