#mikey and april could be psychic siblings

[this-world-of-beautiful-monsters]

violently smashing my two major fandoms with an F together as a form of procrastination

A question for the ages: WHICH Avatar character matches up with WHICH Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle one and WHY the fuck should anyone (besides me) care? We'll answer at least one of those questions for you tonight, dear viewers!!!!

First up

Neteyam - Leo

Eldest son, blue theme (like I could say this for all the Sullys, but shush), can do no wrong except when one of the siblings stubs a toe and then the Guilt, daddy's favorite solider who's also a huge dork (like we don't see a lot of evidence of this in canon for Neteyam but let me have this), Neteyam's Untimely End vs Leo getting treated as such a punching bag by each TMNT iteration that throwing him through a goddamn window is an established franchise staple by now.

Kiri - Donnie

A case can be made for April-Kiri parallels (particularly for psychic powers re 2012 April, my beloved, and dead mom syndrome) and also Karai-Kiri (for dead mom syndrome, how often I've mixed up their fucking names while writing), but Kiri-Donnie fits the siblings theme, so there. They're tech nerd-nature nerd solidarity, autistic Entities of unparalleled death and destruction, happy to destroy government property, younger siblings pretending to be above the Chaos while very much not, and in desperate need of a nap and a stiff drink.

Lo'ak - Raph

Rage issues. Daddy issues. Big brother issues. Relatively smol and Keenly aware of that fact. Adored by the (smart) fans, cursed by Eywa/God. Makes strong bonds with animal fwends and also collects traumatic experiences like magnets collect nails. 100% either in a fistfight or sobbing into his pillow rn. In a family living at the bottom of a fucking sewer and/or on the run from the government, still manages to feel like an odd one out. Someone needs to introduce Lo'ak to emo music, it would fuck him up so much /pos.

Tuk - Mikey

Youngest and most excitable sibling, heart of gold and jaws of steel. Optimism that remains in the face of innocence slowly being shaved away by Events. Hates being left out or left behind, committed to various Schemes and Plans with historically mixed outcomes. Has definitely either killed a man or will do so as soon as the opportunity presents itself.

Spider - Karai and April

Spider's kind of an unholy amalgamation of April's Token Human We've Shared Traumatic Experiences With journey and Karai's At Odds With Creepy Undead Father Figure And Complex Relationship With Less Creepy Father Figure (see below) arcs. Basically part of my ongoing psyops plans to Feminize That Boy (don't worry Karai-Kiri and April-Kiri parallels, I still love you). Also, Leorai/Apritello and Speteyam/Spiri (mix and match at will) have exciting interspecies and/or vaguely incestous vibes we should all strive for in our weird fanfics.

Jake - Splinter/Hamato Yoshi

Tired dads trying their best and just so happening to raise The Kids as soldiers-warriors along the way. Exciting and confusing relationships with the concept of this thing you call "death." Shameless species hoppers, even though Jake did it on purpose while TMNT writers in various iterations have to come up with increasingly more convoluted ways for it to happen to Yoshi against his will. Is not afraid of violence, especially when it comes to their homoerotically homicidal relationship with

Quaritch - Shredder

Big Bad of the story, or at least the one everybody pays attention to. The Bitch Who Refuses To Die. Unhealthy, possessive, genuinely quite creepy (/pos) obsession with sort-of-kid who ended up in his care through Unfortunate Means. Will destroy everything he remotely cares about and sit in the ashes with surprised Pichaku face before finding someone to blame. Refuses to let go of a fucking grudge, be it with aforementioned homoerotic-homicide buddy or various children.

Neytiri

Technically the best Neytiri parallel in terms of family relationships would be Tang Shen, Splinter's wife and the pseudo/actual (depending on the iteration) mother of his children. However, Tang Shen has an unfortunate history of being Dead Girled and Ghost-Momed in a way that puts her more in common with Grace or Tom Sully (rip). Still, Neytiri has a lot in common with the vengeful demon ghost version of Tang Shen that exists primarily in my head.

BONUS

Payakan - Casey Jones

Outcast from society, defender of the weak, wanted by the authorities. Combines genuinely passionate belief in justice/revenge with an equally genuine talent for wanton violence and destruction. Has an interspecies bromance with Lo'ak/Raph that puts Achilles and Patrocles to shame. Someone definitely needs to introduce Payakan to emo music, too, not to mention death metal--he'd start a band to put those Little Mermaid fuckers to shame.

Questions? Comments? Concerns? Arguments? (you're all wrong btw) Only know me from one of these fandoms and have no idea what the hell I'm taking about? Hit me up in the reblogs!

[brightlotusmoon]

Electric Mikey is still canon just hidden where we can't see, shut up

In a PM with an equally bitter salty writer fan:

Re your latest review of my Sunshine Child story! You said “Story: He Is Quantum (Part Three of The Sunshine Child) Chapter: 1. From: Silexwitch I so enjoy these. Mikey and his blossoming powers. I really like how they each have their own reaction to his telepathic sendings. I’d love to see them try and figure that one out, but then again Leo is spiritual, Raph is emotional and Donnie is logical, so I guess it makes sense. But Donnie’s theory if Mikey could telepathically/empathetically make someone do something, that’s going to be a real test, one that might be pretty damn scary for them”

OMG you are so enjoying these, Mikey and his blossoming powers! Do you even know how happy that makes me?? AAAAAAAAH I love even small comments like this

Ahem.

Yes, and now Electrokinetic power will be added because Mikey damn deserves it.

I am so bitter that I will do an entire backstory where Mikey’s original mutation was that point five chance of making a psionic mutant on Earth, and the Utrom Council realizes it. Like my series “Mikey The Lifegiver” but closer to whatever canon does. Thus I will follow the episodes and tweak them! See I am so bitter that Bishop drained Mikey’s powers that I will make sure it didn’t happen. And whilst controlling the electricity, Mikey develops more psychokinetic ability, like energy manipulation with healling and empathy that projects to become clairvoyance and telepathy. How does that sound?? I mean it might as well be an AU of my AU.

Plus, I plan on waiting for the Father and Renet episodes but my firm headcanon is that Electric Mikey retained some power and only uses it in between episodes where the audience cannot see. That’s the fanfic domain ha ha hahaha

[paintballexplosion07-blog]

TMNT x Mitsuri !reader

Upon first impression the group would assume that you’re weak/not fit for fighting

This is mostly b/c of your dainty looks and shy personality

Also you have a habit of suppressing your strength so people won’t be intimidated by you

It would definitely be one of those interactions where they assume that you can’t fight but when they see you in action they are all instantly shocked

As far as attraction goes I think you would interest Mikey and Raph the most

The rest including Casey would see you as very pretty and attractive but not their type

💜Donnie: Would definitely bring out the mad scientist in Donnie with your unique physical strength and her Love breathing

Would also want to study your weapon

Would definitely be amazed by your unique muscle density and want to experiment on you April or Raphael shoos him away if they see that you’re ur uncomfortable

💙Leo: was at first worried about letting you tag along one of their missions

He was quickly proven wrong for doubting you when he saw you fight

Leonardo would mostly be interested in your unique sword-whip and how you use it with your fighting style

Leo is very fascinated by your flexibility as well

He would also want to meditate with you and maybe have you demonstrate Love breathing

He would want to also teach you his fighting techniques as well

Upon hearing that you have a lot of siblings Leo is more likely to open up to you about himself his worries as a leader/Older brother

Leo finds your compliments endearing

Like April he is very calm with you and will encourage you to embrace your strength and be confident in yourself

❤️Raphael:

would be the one to spar with you most

He would be the one who doubts You the most on combat skills but I think he’d be really impressed by your strength

I could see something like this happening

He would be interested in you teaching him more about fire breathing since you (Mitsuri) was trained in it by Ringoku you would talk him through some techniques but be unable to demonstrate it since she never achieved flame breathing herself

He would try to get you to be more confident in your strength

Would most likely develop a crush

You boost his confidence when you compliment him

You once complimented him after watching him spar and he melted

He tries hard to impress you with his strength someone (Leo or April) may have told him that you were looking to date someone stronger than you

You would also shock the turtle brothers with how much you eat which is way more than the 4 of them combined!

💛April: would probably be the first to befriend you I feel like the rest would feel wary around you because your shyness is a different personality than what they’re used to like they try to be gentle so they don’t scare you away

She loves your hair 🥰

April would be very impressed and want You to teach her some of your fighting techniques mostly in flexibility

April would be the most patient with you and is willing to help you out of your shell

April with her psychic ability would sense that You were hiding her strength

Thinks its cute that you complement people in your head

Thinks it sweet that you want to get married to someone who can oppose your strength

Is there for you whenever you’re feeling unsure of yourself or anxious

💀Casey: is wary of you he assumes she wouldn’t last very long

Might not like you at first because he thinks you’re lame 😒

He thinks you are too nice to be a fighter

When he sees you in battle he is lost for words how can someone so meek be so fierce?

Definitely wants someone like you on his hockey team

Would be attracted to you physically but Still thinks your too nice though

🧡Mikey

Was also one of the first to befriend you

He thought you were afraid of him at first but then realized that you were just shy

Thinks you’re cute

You once complimented him out loud and it gave him a major ego boost

Fell head over heels when he saw you in battle

Is fascinated with your flexibility

Thinks your sword is awesome

He loves sparing with you and tries to encourage you to be more confident in battle

He doesn’t like that you’re insecure about your unique looks and abilities

Tries to encourage you by cheering you on during training and in battle

Wants you to teach him how to use your sword and in turn he teaches you how to use his nunchucks

Likes that you both have unique fighting skills

He begs you to teach him some of your fighting styles

Mikey loves cats so he enjoys hearing that most of your moves are feline based when you teach him love breathing

I could see him mastering love breathing out of the four of them

Tries to show off infront of you so he’ll look stronger

Likes that you eat a lot and will sometimes challenge you to eating contests

Loves it when you cook for him and his brothers (but mostly for him)

You’re definitely a forced to be reckoned with

Once they get to know you better they all become more expressive around you

Overall everyone would see you as their little sibling

[spectrumscribe]

Hiiiii. I am a simple anon; I like seeing our Turtle bois being happy, being stupid silly, having fun, and being giggly. That said, a game of hide-and-seek for the old-times sake of feeling like kids again where now being teenagers, cheating of all and every kind is ENCOURAGED would lead to any kind of shenanigans. Obviously, right?

in a whimsical imagining, here’s the 2012 kids having fun and being the total dorks they could have been, set in the woods of the farmhouse :))

Raph turns in a slow circle, listening intently for anysounds out of place, peering into the thick darkness of the woods for anyshadow that casts wrong. He hears a flutter of bird wings to the south, thecreak of insects in the grass to the east, the subtle sound of grit shiftingunderneath someone’s foot-

He spins and chucks a paint bomb at the person he’s located,and- stops, hearing the splash of the bomb but no cry of dismay. Raph headsover to investigate, and groans when he sees a contraption of rope and rockcovered in red paint. A classic misdirection.

“That’s cheating,Donnie,” Raph says aloud.

“You can’t cheat in a game that only has one rule! And ninjahide-and-seek tag’s only rule is that you’reit until you hit someone else!” Donnie exclaims gleefully from somewhere in thedarkness. Raph wings a paint bomb at where he thinks his brother’s voice iscoming from, and only succeeds in scaring off a rabbit hiding in the bushes.Donnie cackles- voice coming from a totally different direction now.

“I hate being it,” Raph grumbles, picking at the yellowpaint flaking off his shoulder. “It’s way more fun the other way around.”

“Then you shouldn’t have let me catch you~” April sings fromthe canopy. Raph isn’t even going to try hitting April; she’ll just bounce thepaint off a psychic shield and splatter Raph with his own bomb.

Raph turns and looks back towards Casey, who is sitting infront of their campfire. “Are you going to help me?” Raph asks, gesturing infrustration at the vague whereabouts of his terrible, horrible, cheatingsiblings and friend.

“What do you want me to do?” Casey says, lazily spinning marshmallowson a skewer. “Unless you want me to bring down half the forest in the process, I’mnot gonna be much help. Finesse and stealth aren’t my game, dude. Hence, this.” Casey points at the folded paper hathe’s being forced to wear, reading Nature’sWorst Friend.

“You knocked down a whole tree, you’re a menace, Casey,” Leosays seriously, probably from the west of the small clearing. Raph growls andchucks a bomb that direction, and gives a yell of fury when it doesn’t land itstarget. It doesn’t help that a series of tiny rocks pelt him from the oppositedirection right after, followed by Leo’s taunting laughter.

“The key to winning the game is keeping calm, Raphie,” Mikey says, using his holier-than-thou calm voice. Hisimpressions of uncle Iroh never managed to have the same vibe, even after yearsof practice. “You have to listen to the forest, sense the disturbances we’re creating. We don’t belong here, and itknows. We’re creating ripples through its ecosystem just by breathing its air,like Casey caused a cannonball worthy splash by knocking down that tree-AACKK-”

“The key to winning the game is waiting for someone toforget to shut up,” Raph says,smirking as Mikey drops out of the tree he’d been in. His brother is scowling,red paint covering half his face and most of his neck. Their other two brothersand April laugh from the darkness at Mikey’s defeat.

“Villain monologuing,” Casey says sagely, blowing out theflames of his marshmallows. “It’s the easiest way for the hero to kick theirass- kick them in the crotch while they’re distracted, and then kick their assfor good measure.”

“Thanks, Casey,” Mikey says dryly, wiping the paint off hisright eye.

“No prob.”

“Have fun being it,”Raph jeers. He just laughs at Mikey’s pissy expression as he ducks into thedarkness of the forest; fist bumping Donnie as they pass each other and moveinto new positions for the next round.

[thatcrazyfanfictionwriter]

Secret of the Sewers: New Home

The Shellraiser made its way across the bridge leading into Manhattan, everyone keeping their eyes peeled for even a hint of the Foot looking for them. Thankfully, there didn't seem to be so much as a single motorhead out in the city.

"Ya know, with how mad that Shredder guy was when we left, I was expecting a few more guards watching the border." Raph commented.

"You're right, Raph." Donny agreed. "So where is everybody?"

"Maybe he thinks there's nothing to look for." Leo suggested.

Casey looked over his shoulder from the driver's seat.

"You might be onto something Leo." He called. "Think about it, two of you are supposed to be dead."

"And the rest of us fled rather quickly." April added.

Splinter stroked his chin thoughtfully.

"If this is true, then we may have an advantage." he noted. "But first, we must find a place to lay low, as well as a new home."

"Hai Sensei." Leo agreed. "Casey, know a place where we can stash the Shellraiser?"

"You can keep it at my place." Casey offered.

"You sure?" Raph asked. “The thing might turn your apartment into a target.”

"It's cool guys." Casey insisted. "I can easily cover it with a tarp or something. Besides, April's gonna be staying with me anyhow. She lost her apartment, but I didn't."

"We can keep an eye on the Shellraiser until you guys get settled back in." April agreed.

"Thanks guys." Leo replied.

Hisako leaned against the back of the Shellraiser, her mind branching out to see if anyone was around. So far she'd found no one, but she wasn't going to take any chances. Now this time.

…

Unbeknownst to the turtles, or to the psychic scanning the area, a sole figure was perched atop a water tower. It was the guardian that fought with Leonardo not too long ago. He seemed distant, his eyes cloudy behind his darkened glasses. However, when he heard the sound of the Shellraiser's engine purring, he perked up.

"Could it be?" he gasped.

He stood up, looking down at the street to see the Shellraiser making its way down the street. His eyes lit up as he jumped from the tower, running along to roof to follow it.

"I must know if she- if they all survived." He muttered to himself.

He came to a stop as the Shellraiser parked in an alleyway by a set of old tenement buildings. From the vehicle, he watched as the turtles piled out one by one, followed by their human friends and their rat master. For a moment, his heart sank, until the red-headed ally called out.

"Hisako, you coming?"

That's when Hisako emerged from the vehicle, giving a large stretch.

"Sorry guys, must have gotten distracted." she apologized.

The guardian stared, feeling as though a weight had been lifted from his shoulder.

"They're alive…. They're all alive."

He pushed the sleeve on his right wrist up, activating a futuristic looking watch on his wrist. A holographic projection activated, showing three identical women. They all had short hair that was light blue, wire rimmed glasses, and blue eyes that almost seemed to glow. When they spoke, they seemed to speak in turn, finishing the other's sentence.

"Samson."

"What is it-?"

"-you have to report?"

"High Council." the Guardian, Samson, began, "I have excellent new. The turtles have returned."

"They have?"

"And what of-"

"-the girl?"

"She lives. They all live." Samson replied.

"That is-"

"-excellent new."

"Council, I beg your permission to initiate the personal project I have been working on." Samson continued. "It could prove beneficial, both for the turtles, and for us."

The council was silent for a moment before speaking again.

"Very well."

"You have our permission."

"But know this."

They all spoke in unison for this final sentence.

"Now is not the time to let your personal feelings cloud your judgement."

Samson gave a nod as the hologram turned off. Samson pulled his sleeve back down, then jumped off the roof to begin his work.

…

After waving good bye to Casey and April, the Hamato clan made their way into the sewers.

"I hate to say it…" Leo spoke. "But we may need to crash with Leatherhead until we find a more permanent home."

"I know." Hisako relented. "Besides, without the Foot nipping at our heels, I think it's safe to see him."

"I'll bet 4 pizzas Leatherhead attacks us thinking we're enemies." Mikey gambled.

"Let's put that to a test." Leo said. "Come on."

They reached the door leading into Leatherhead's home, Donny quickly inputting the code. They all jumped in, looking around the darkened home for any sign of their reptilian friend.

"Leatherhead?" Hisako called. "Leatherhead it's us!"

There was no answer at first, but then a scaly hand came out of the darkness, grabbing hold of Hisako's arm, yanking her off her feet. She let out a yelp, until she realized she was being pulled into a large hug.

"Hey big guy." Hisako said happily, patting the croc on the back as Mikey found the light switch.

The lights came on revealing Leatherhead holding his lifelong friend in a hug, a tear rolling down his face.

"You just disappeared." He said softly. "And then those… men began to tear apart the sewers. I feared the worst."

"I'm okay Leatherhead." Hisako insisted, pulling back so she could face her friend. "I'm sorry we scared you."

Leatherhead then noticed the scar on her face. He ran his claw along it gently, his eyes getting that angry glow.

"What did they do to you?" he asked.

The others instinctively took a step back as Hisako rubbed the back of her head.

"Would you believe I'm lucky that I didn't lose a kidney?"

He growled at the thought of those men hurting her in such a manner.

"They will pay for this." He promised.

That's when Leo stepped forward.

"We'll all make sure of that." He announced. "But for right now, we need a place to crash until we find a new home. Would you be willing to help us?"

"After everything you all have done for me and Oracle, it is the least I can do." Leatherhead told him. "Stay as long as you need."

The turtles all let out a sigh of relief, then went to settle down. Splinter took the large chair that the turtles had located for Leatherhead, claiming it as his place of rest. Hisako just remained in Leatherhead's arms, a few more questions on her mind.

"Leatherhead, how long were the motorheads searching the sewers?"

"If you mean the men in the helmets, they were searching for many weeks." Leatherhead answered, walking over to the mattress that served as his bed. "However, as time went on, their patrols became less and less frequent until they stopped all together."

Hisako smirked, looking over at the turtle pile forming on the rug.

"Looks like you were right Leo." She told him. "The Foot must have decided we weren't coming back and decided to call off the search."

"We'll talk more on that in the morning sis." He told her. "Get some rest."

Leatherhead curled up on the mattress, pulling Hisako close to him. The others looked over at this, then moved over to the mattress as well, using their scaly friend as a pillow. The crocodile didn't seemed to mind. In fact, he seemed to smile a bit as the group drifted off to sleep, happy to be with his friends once again.

…

The next morning, the Hamato family set out with Leatherhead's blessing to search for their new home. They'd barely made it ten minutes into their search before Mikey began to make jokes.

"On this episode of House Hunters, Sewer Edition, the Hamato family is searching for the perfect corner of the NYC sewers to call their own." He announced like a TV narrator. "Their old home was trashed after the eldest of the Hamato siblings was foolish enough to-"

"Mikey, cut it out." Leo interrupted.

"I told you we never should have introduced him to HGTV." Donny commented.

"What?" Mikey questioned. "I think it would be an awesome show."

"Yeah right." Hisako quipped. "What kind of loser would want to watch a show about us?"

They all shared a laugh at that, even Splinter chuckling a bit. After it died down, they all got back on topic.

"In all seriousness though, what are we gonna do for a home?" Donny asked. "It took us weeks to find that abandoned subway station for Leatherhead, the odds of us finding another home for us are not in our favor."

"Well maybe we can use the opportunity to upgrade to a pad above the sewers." Mikey suggested. "Maybe a water tower or something?"

Splinter shook his head.

"No my son." he declared. "Our place is below the surface. While we have made great strides in forming a strong bond with the surface, it is still too dangerous to live up there."

Mikey let out a groan.

"Hai Sensei." he sighed.

As they passed a tunnel leading deeper into the sewers, Hisako paused. From deep within the tunnel, she could hear a voice echoing. It was resonating in her skull, like a siren's song.

This way.

She turned towards the tunnel and began to walk down it. This went unnoticed by the others until Raph decided to ask for her opinion.

"What do you think Hisako?" He asked, turning around.

When he saw her going down the tunnel, he stopped short, confused.

"Hisako?" he repeated.

This drew the others' attentions as they saw Hisako disappear into the tunnel.

"Uh, where is she going?" Mikey questioned.

"Let's find out." Leo declared.

The five mutants quickly took after Hisako, following her deep into the unfamiliar tunnels. Her slow pace slowly became a slow run until she broke off into a dead sprint, the same voice echoing in her head.

Keep going. This way.

The others were beginning to have to struggle to keep up with her, running at full speed.

"What is wrong with her?" Raph questioned. "She's never done this before."

"Maybe all that time at the farmhouse has made her stir crazy?" Mikey suggested.

"Either that, or she knows something we don't." Donny added.

"Whatever the case, we cannot afford to lose her in these unfamiliar tunnels." Master Splinter declared.

"Right!" the turtles all said in unison.

They then chased after their sister in the unknown tunnels, following her into a five-point intersection. She paused for a moment, as if trying to figure something out, giving time for her family to catch up with her.

"Hisako what's up?" Leo asked.

"Yeah," Mikey agreed. "Not cool ditching us like that."

"Shh!" She hissed, closing her eyes as her fingers went to her temple. "I'm trying to figure out which way it went."

The turtles exchanged confused glances.

"It?" Donny asked.

Before the purple turtle could ask for further clarification, Hisako's eyes snapped open again and she darted down the tunnel just to the right of the middle tunnel. The others let out a groan and took off after her once more.

"Okay, any idea what's going on with her?" Raph asked.

"No." Donny admitted. "We've never gone this far before. I don't think any of these tunnels are on any map I've seen?"

"Then why is Hisako running around like she owns the place?" Leo argued.

"Maybe she has voices in her head making her do crazy things." Mikey joked.

The others were about to debunk him, but it made a little too much sense.

"If that is true, then what is the source of the voice she is hearing?" Splinter mused.

Finally, Hisako came to a stop in front of a dead end, a large wall of brick and water pipes that wasn't worth Hisako's sudden strange behavior. As the others skidded to a stop, they all looked at Hisako with confusion.

"Care to explain what that was all about?" Donny asked.

Hisako didn't answer. Instead, she walked over to a small panel next to the door. She flipped it open, revealing a keypad. She imputed an 8-digit key code as if she knew it by heart, then closed the panel. Once she did, there was the sound of something moving, then the entire wall shifted and opened up like a scene from a Harry Potter movie. It revealed a rather large door, one that seemed completely out of place amongst the mildew covered brickwork of the sewers. They all stared at it for a bit, wondering where it came from.

"What the shell?" Leo whispered.

Hisako blinked a bit, shaking her head.

"The voice… led me here..." she muttered to herself.

The large door then hisses slightly before sliding open, revealing a large alcove inside, easily the size of a two story house. While the entire place was covered in a thick layer of dust, it was obvious that this alcove was in very good condition. There were several various sections of the alcove that could be considered rooms, an entire wall that was dominated by an array of television screens, and a few large counters arranged in what appeared to be a work area. Walking in, the turtles could see what appeared to be a large kitchen area, and even a large area that could serve as a dojo.

"Guys..." Donny gasped. "Are you seeing what I'm seeing?"

"Well, if you're seeing what I'm seeing, then I think we just found our new pad." Raph answered.

"Agreed." Splinter added.

Mikey let out a cheer before running in at full force, jumping onto the second floor balcony with a cocky grin.

"I call dibs on this room!" he shouted.

"This place is incredible." Leo marveled. "Hisako, you said a voice led you here?"

"Yeah..." Hisako replied, trying to find it again. "I don't know why but… I just… I felt like I knew it from somewhere… somewhere… safe..."

"Well, whomever the voice belongs to, be sure to thank them if you ever meet them." Raph announced. "This just saved us weeks of house hunting and HGTV jokes from Mikey."

Hisako let out a giggle, leaning against the wall. As she did, she felt herself push a button, one that opened up a large pair of doors right next to her. The others all blinked, coming to investigate.

"Is that-" Donny began. "An elevator?"

"If it is, where does it lead?" Raph wondered.

"I found it, I test it!" Hisako declared, jumping inside and slamming her hand on the button she found.

"Hey!" they all called out, running to the door.

It closed just as they came up, causing them all to crash into it. Splinter watched and shook his head as his sons untangled themselves from one another.

"It's a good thing we don't have noses." Mikey groaned. "Or else I think a few of us would have broken ones."

The doors then slid open again as Hisako practically darted out.

"Guys, you have got to check this out." she insisted.

Curiosity filling them all, the turtles and Splinter all piled inside the elevator, Hisako hitting the button again. They felt themselves going up, then they stopped, the doors opening to reveal an old, dilapidated garage. Leo approached the doors of the garage, opening them to take a look.

"Huh." He said in surprise. "We're on B street south, on the completely opposite end of Manhattan from the old lair."

"The place looks like it's been abandoned for a while now." Donny noted.

"Let's check." Mikey suggested.

He ran his finger along a dust covered gas pump, sticking his finger in his mouth. Almost immediately, he began coughing and sputtering.

"Yep, that's dust." He wheezed. "I have no idea what I thought was gonna happen with that."

"Large, hidden, underground lair, an elevator to the surface, and an abandoned garage for us to use as a surface hideaway." Raph listed off. "If this place wasn't made for us, then I'm a monkey's uncle."

"That sounds like an interesting family reunion." Mikey joked.

As Raph gave Mikey a well-deserved smack on the head, Samson watched from the window of the garage. With a smile, he turned and walked away, his hands in his pockets as he vanished into the rising sun.

…

A few days later, the turtles and Hisako were scavenging around their old lair for anything salvageable, leaving Splinter to complete the cleanup process of their new home. As they looked around the remains of what used to be their home, they all felt like a piece of them had broken inside them.

"Our home…" Leo lamented. "For seventeen years."

"The only home any of us have ever known..." Hisako said sadly.

"And those foot bozos trash it in a matter of minutes." Raph snarled, looking at the remains of his punching bag. "When we meet that Shredder guy again, I'm gonna feed him his helmet!"

Hisako glanced over at the sagging sack of cloth that was once Raph's bag, giving a sympathetic smile.

"Bag's beyond repair, huh?" she commented.

Raph looked at his bag, then sighed, giving a half-hearted shrug.

"Eh, I can get another one." he replied.

"Good idea." Hisako replied, sifting through the remains of the living room. "One shaped like a human. Shell, we can even find a Motorhead helmet to dress it up with. That'll make you feel better."

Raph gave a snort.

"Heh, Maybe I'll make a kuro kabuto out of tin foil and make it look like the Shredder.” He thought, “Then I'll really feel better."

As Hisako sifted, she grinned as she grabbed a large shoe box filled with several different DVDs. She grabbed it, straightening up.

"Hey Mikey!" she called. "Guess what? Your DVD collection survived!"

"Yes!" Mikey cheered.

Leo, who was helping Don in his lab, managed to find several pieces of equipment that were still intact.

"Looks like most of your equipment is still in working order." Leo noted.

"That's a relief." Donny replied. "At least I won't have to start from scratch."

Mikey emerged from a rather large pile of debris, several picture frames in his hand.

"Found the family photos!" he cheered.

"Nice find Mikey." Raph congratulated.

"Yep." Mikey agreed, pulling the photos from the frames. "Frames will need to be replaced, but the photos themselves are intact."

Hisako let out a groan, despite the smile on her face.

"Just tell me the ones of me got slashed." She begged.

Mikey chuckled, then flipped the photos so she could see them. Her groan became genuine as she saw the photos.

"And just when I thought I was finally free of those painful things." she lamented.

"What?" Mikey questioned. "You look great. You may not have had long lair like you do now, but at least we took pictures after you weren’t a stick anymore."

"But I looked like a dandelion!" Hisako moaned.

The other turtles began laughing a bit.

"You kinda did." Leo agreed.

"Yeah, and that weird bow you found for her didn't help much, Mikey." Raph added.

"Hey, I thought she wanted to feel girly." Mikey argued in his defense.

Hisako smacked him upside the head, eliciting another bout of laughter from the others.

"So that's what that looks like when I do it." Raph mused.

Leo, still chuckling, waved for everyone to calm down.

"Alright guys, back to work.” He declared, “Mikey, slide those photos with your DVDs so they don't get damaged any more than they already are."

Everyone nodded then resumed work. Donny continued scavenging his lab, Raph went to work in the dojo, Mikey took his stuff up to Renaissance Motors where the Shellraiser was waiting, and Leo began sifting through Splinter's room with Hisako. The two of them winced at the amount of damage the little room alone sustained.

"I can't believe it." Hisako whispered.

"Me neither." Leo replied.

Hisako looked over at her brother, sensing his guilt rising to the surface once more. Hisako quickly punched him in the arm, causing the blue turtle to yelp in surprise.

"What was that for?" Leo asked.

Hisako gave him a 'what do you think' look, crossing her arms. He let out a sigh, rubbing his arm a bit.

"You know, sometimes your powers are a real pain in the shell." he commented.

"Trust me, I know." Hisako agreed, beginning to sift through Splinter's drawers. "You don't know how happy I was when Sensei helped me find the off switch. No more hearing every passerbyer's thoughts on accident. You don't want to know what most of them were thinking half the time."

Leo let out a snort, then he came across a fallen shelf, one that used to house the few mementos of Splinter's life as Hamato Yoshi. He picked up the shelf, revealing the two pictures. Both had slight char marks around the edges from the fire, but the pictures themselves were still in good condition. The first was of Yoshi with his wife beneath the Sakura blossoms, and the second was of him, his wife, and his child in New York during the Chinese New Year parade.

"Sensei will be glad to see these survived." Leo commented. "The frames are even still intact."

Hisako looked over at the photos with a smile. Then her eyes locked on the woman in the photo. Her eyes went wide as several hazy and warped memories flitted through her head. She grabbed the frames, looking at the woman with such an intensity that Leo blinked in confusion.

"Uh, Hisako?"

She didn't seem to hear him, caressing the woman's face.

"Tang Shen..." she whispered.

"Yeah, Master Splinter’s wife.” Leo remarked, eyeing his sister wearily. “Sis, are you-?"

"I gotta go." Hisako interrupted.

Before Leo could even register what she'd said, she'd bolted out of the room, sliding out of the lair and making her way towards their new home. The others watched her go, exchanging glances. Wordlessly, they all dropped what they were doing, going after their sister.

…

Splinter had finally finished the last of the dusting and sweeping, wiping beads of sweat from his fur. Even without most of their stuff, the alcove was already beginning to look like an actual home. He'd managed to set up a door to his room, as well as arrange the mats in the dojo. Once his children returned with the last of their stuff, then it truly would become home.

Setting the broom aside, he prepared to sit down for a moment of meditation. He had just closed his eyes when the door hissed open. He let out a sigh, smiling slightly.

"It never fails." He said to himself.

He stood up, straightening his robe.

"I was expecting you to use the elevator," he remarked as he turned towards the door. "What were you able to scavenge from- Hisako?"

Hisako stood in the doorway, breathing hard from most likely running the entire way from the old lair to the new one. She had two picture frames in her hand and was leaning against the door frame to try and steady herself.

"Are you alright my child?" Splinter asked, walking towards her.

Panting heavily, Hisako held out the picture frames in her hand towards Splinter. He took the photos, his eyes widening when he saw the contents.

"These survived..." he said with no small amount of relief in his voice, "I was afraid they had been lost."

"Sensei..." Hisako wheezed. "We need…. To talk…."

She continued to try and catch her breath as Splinter took her arm, ushering her towards the room he had claimed as his own. He sat her down, then went into the kitchen to fetch a small glass of water. He brought it back, allowing Hisako to down the glass in a single gulp. Once she set her glass aside, Hisako took a deep breath.

"Sensei… Tell me about that night."

Splinter raised an eyebrow, sitting down in front of his daughter.

"You have heard this story many times, my child." He commented. "Why the sudden desire to hear it again?"

"Please, Sensei." Hisako insisted.

Splinter looked at Hisako, seeing a glint of desperation in her eyes, as well as more than a dose of confusion. Curious, Splinter cleared his throat.

"It was about 17 year ago." Splinter began. "My daughter… Miwa… awoke in the night after a nightmare. She'd dreamed her pet turtles, the very four who would become your brothers, had been turned into monsters."

His eyes became glassy as he was taken back to that night. Hisako could see the events playing in his head.

"She begged me to take them out to the shed for the night." he continued, his voice becoming quieter. "And when I did… that is when the large chemical truck crashed into my home. The resulting explosion covered me and the turtles in the mutagen that transformed us into the beings we are today, and the fire killed my darling Miwa… and my beloved-"

"Tang Shen." Hisako interrupted.

Splinter gave a small nod.

"Yes." He told her. “I miss them both every day, but I know that both of them would not wish for me to wallow in misery.”

Hisako hesitated for a moment, then straightened her back.

"Sensei..." she finally said. “I… I have something to tell you.”

Splinter blinked in surprise, prompting Hisako to explain further.

"It was back at April's place," she clarified. "When I went head to head with Karai. When I did my thing… you know…. The dark phoenix mode?"

"Yes, I do recall your release of power." Splinter noted.

"Well, usually I don't remember doing it, like back in That Place with Him."

"Usually?"

"It's different this time..." Hisako paused for a minute, as if unsure of what she was saying. "I mean, I remember pieces… snippets of memories that aren't mine… I can only assume they're Karai's."

"My child, you are not making any sense." Splinter told her. “What is going on?”

Hisako took a deep breath, then spoke up once more.

"That name… Tang Shen’s name and her face… are engraved in Karai's head."

Splinter paused, unsure of what to think about this new piece of information. He stroked his chin, contemplating what this could mean.

“Tang Shen’s name?” He asked.

“Yes.” Hisako replied with a nod. “I think she knew her… personally I mean. But that’s not possible. Karai’s only three years older than us, so she would have been a toddler at the time.”

Splinter felt his heart skip a beat at Hisako’s words. He didn't dare get his hopes up, but a part of him was beginning to wonder if it was possible…

"Hisako, what else do you remember?" he questioned, fighting to keep his voice steady.

Hisako closed her eyes, trying to drudge up the memories she's seen. Since so much time had passed, not just since the incident but for Karai as well, it was proving to be difficult.

"There was one memory…” she remembered. “I remember I thought it was weird because it felt…. Tampered with."

"Tampered with?" Splinter repeated.

"Not by… well, someone like me." Hisako replied. "More like, she's altered the memory herself. Everything was fuzzy, some voices didn't fit… it just didn't seem right."

"Was there anything that did seem to fit?" Splinter questioned.

Hisako nodded, her eyes still closed.

"Sensations mostly.” Hisako answered, “The air rippling from an explosion… The heat of a fire… and something scratching at me all over. It's hard to tell what it is but… amongst the smell of smoke, there's this… Sweeter smell. Like flowers of some kind, but I don't know the scent."

Splinter's eyes went wide. He clutched his chest as he remembered.

"The Rhododendron bushes..." He gasped. "That was Miwa's favorite hiding spot whenever we would play hide and seek..."

Hisako gave a small nod.

"The bushes protected her from most of the damage, allowing her to escape with only a few patches of burned skin. We just didn't see them because her tattoos covered them all."

As the realization sank in, Splinter found himself unable to keep the unbidden tears from falling from his eyes.

"Then… it is possible…. That Karai..."

"Is Miwa." Hisako finished.

"WHAT?!" Mikey's voice exclaimed.

Both Splinter and Hisako turned towards the door, Hisako mentally pushing it open. Once she did, all four of the turtles stumbled into the room, landing in one giant turtle pile.

"Ow..." Mikey groaned.

"How long have you been standing there?" Hisako questioned.

"Long enough." Leo replied, untangling himself from his brothers.

"You ran off!" Raph yelled. "Again!"

"I'm sorry guys." Hisako apologized. "But… I had to know."

Donny stepped forward, approaching Splinter.

"Sensei… is it possible?" he asked. "Could Karai really be Miwa?"

Splinter remained on the ground, fearing his legs lacked the strength to stand.

"I had always hoped, even prayed that by some miracle my family survived." He said. "Now, I learn that perhaps my prayers did not go unanswered as I had believed."

"If that's true, and Karai is Miwa, then she needs to know the truth," Leo announced.

Raph crossed his arms, not exactly agreeing with the idea.

"Leo, did you forget about what happened the last time you trusted her?" He demanded. "Karai's bad news, and frankly, I think she'd sooner turn us into turtle soup before she'd listen to a word we have to say."

"I hate to admit it, but Raph may be right." Donny concurred. "How can we ever trust her?"

"Nobody said we had to trust her." Leo argued. "We just need a way to draw her out so we can talk to her face to face."

"And when she calls us a bunch of liars and tries to kill us?" Raph asked.

Leo hesitated, then Splinter spoke up.

"I have no illusions about how difficult this mission will be." Splinter admitted, "But, we must try."

"Hisako," Leo spoke turning to his sister. "You wouldn't have happened to get any Foot locations from Karai along with this info, did you?"

Hisako gave a smirk.

"I think I got something that could work." she told him. "What are you suggesting?"

"I'm suggesting that we let Shredder and his cronies know that we're back in town." Leo told her. "Turtle style."

This was met by a chorus of cheers from the others, each of them raising their weapons in anticipation.

[brightlotusmoon]

When you look back at a fic you wrote and abruptly realize that you have been just writing about your own self through your favorite character and it's just so ridiculously blatantly obvious and all you can do is just laugh at yourself.

****

Karai glided out of the lab and looked around. “Why on earth are you all so quiet? He’s fine.”

Donnie couldn’t stop his leg from bouncing. He needed to do something. “We…are ridiculously protective over Mikey, and he doesn’t really like it now that he’s psychic. He’d rather be our protector. It’s weird. We’re not used to it. And he’s learning too rapidly, I worry it’ll overwhelm him on several levels and…”

“Why?” she snapped. “Afraid the great genius would be out-brained by a culture-obssessed lesser-educated hyper kid brother with language mix-ups?”

Donatello stared at her. Karai smirked back.

“Ooooh, burn,” Casey giggled. April elbowed him.

“Not…not exactly, actually.” Don straightened up and set his mouth. “More that his divergence in thinking from the basic average will provide some minimally offensive blocks in his path to soak up knowledge about his predicaments.”

“What, that he won’t be able to figure out the right way to calculate a steep rooftop jump with telekinesis because he sees something shiny in his peripheral vision?”

“Actually…yes.”

Karai frowned and tilted her head. “Well. I suppose I can’t argue with that. But I really hope you don’t intend to even subconsciously make this harder on him. Any of you.” And when she turned, the other turtles scrambled to glare at her.

“Excuse you,” Leo said, “we’ve done nothing but support and encourage him.”

“In your own convoluted ways,” Karai shrugged, sitting and crossing her legs. “He’s very young and young at heart, he doesn’t think the same way you would, Leo. You might say something that could cut at him, twist the wrong way. He might see something as a backhanded compliment.”

Don ducked his head, his eyes moving from side to side. This was…unfortunately true. They should have been past all this. It wasn’t Mikey’s fault that his personality was so loud and encompassing, and it wasn’t Mikey’s fault that Donnie needed quiet calm in the lab, Leo needed steady concentration in the dojo, Raph needed…whatever Raph needed to vent.

Speaking of. The stone sentry pose creaked, joints popping, and Raph shot green fire. “Look. I may have been cranky and rude with Mikey because he was an annoying little shit, but he’s my baby brother and he’s s’posed to be an annoying little shit, and I’m supposed to get riled up so I can vent! I get that I smack ‘im too hard, I can hurt ‘im sometimes. But I fuckin’ love him, okay? So cut that shit out and quit bringing up the past like that, Karai.”

“Ain’t sibling rivalry grand?” Mikey’s voice rang from the infirmary, and Raph was the first to run to it.

***

[spectrumscribe]

In your teenage mecha ninja turtles fic what's all of the main 6 doing with their lives? Are Donnie and April just collecting degrees and being geniuses? Are Leo and Usagi making use of dimensional skype calls? I'm so pumped to hear what you think they're doing.

In this fanfic of mine, the main six have all aged as well as six human/mutant disasters possibly can, and this is what my version of things has them doing:

April and Donnie started a company together once alien/mutant rights were established; the company is O’Neil laboratories and majority of their work is in sciences that no one else for a long time could even comprehend. Very world changing stuff. Donnie is mostly only involved with the scientific portion of things, he remains the top scientist and likely will even after death, while April is a tiny devil in a suit that continues to crush their competitors/saboteurs under her fist. She might be pushing ninety, but she is A) still a kickass kunoichi, and B) the most powerful psychic this side of the galaxy, possible in all the known universe. She’s a scary as hell old battle ax, and Donnie is a grumpy old codger. They live together for convenience and because they’ve remained best friends their whole lives.

Casey and Raph got restless around sixty or so, and ended up becoming travelers. Like, inter-dimensional and universal travelers. When they’re on earth Casey and Raph spend most of their time crashing at April and Donnie’s place, but otherwise make their way through dimensions and galaxies as they feel like it. Traveling with them is typically Casey’s daughter, Shadow (they couldn’t stop him from giving her that name, trust me they tried), who is buff, stubborn, and too much like her uncle and dad. Their time spent on earth is getting longer lately, since they’re really getting up there in years, but they remain the hellraisers they’ve always been.

Leo is a bit of a drifter on earth, moving between his siblings and friends and spending months on his own wherever he ends up next. Occasionally he’ll visit other dimensions, like Usagi’s, which has always felt like a home to him, but he likes earth best of all. He spends the most time in Japan, partially because it’s where his father was from, partially because he just prefers the culture and atmosphere of the country. Once they were really done their wars and battles, he hung up his mantle as a sensei and leader and retired for good. A lot of bad stuff happened to them over the years, and his choices directly led to some of those things. They’ve all got issues like that, even years later, but Leo feels the weight of them the most at times.

Him spending time with Karai and her wife Shinigami helps with that, since Karai’s role as the Godmother of the Foot clan is hardly an easy one. Her popular saying is that her daughter Pimiko will have to cremate her before she lets go control completely. They basically spend a lot of time being meddling meddlers and showing the current generation of crime bosses they still got it.

Mikey is the only one who remained in New York, but sometimes still goes to stay with one of his siblings/friends or goes on a road trip with Raph, Casey, and Shadow (and whoever she’s dating at that moment). Home sweet home is where he’d rather be though, even if Donnie keeps telling him he should at least buy a real house. (Mikey still prefers living off the grid, and this has resulted in Donnie and April putting money into creating a new lair for him. One they admittedly also really love being in, same for everyone else in their family. They’ve come so far from who they were as teens, but sometimes they just gotta go back to where they started.) He ends up semi-adopting his four ‘turtles’ one by one, and eventually becomes the Hamato who follows in Splinter’s steps. He’s pretty proud of himself for that and he loves all his kids down to his old bones.

Family reunions are a huge mess, since the Hamato clan has gotten pretty large over the years, but they make sure to have one every few months regardless. Family is a precious thing, and they’ve all got the lingering feeling that one of them could disappear at any time if they’re not careful. The whole process just gets even more chaotic now that Mikey has kids too, and honestly the idea of them all being wrinkly old hellraising veterans together is an excellent one. Especially now that the next generation is there to learn from them all.

[brightlotusmoon]

Damn, it B-Team TMNT headcanons, just drown me why don’t you. Empath Mikey sneaks up on Donnie watching the Percy Jackson movie and then surprises him by saying he has the entire series and he sensed Don would like them weeks ago so he made April get the books. Mikey still hasn’t convinced Raph to read them, he’s been hoping to sway Donnie first. Donnie wonders about Leo, Mikey says that Leo is too stressed about his whole “new sensei” job so Mikey has just been using telempathy to make him sleep during meditations so he comes out thinking he meditated but really he napped, and Donnie points out how manipulative that is, that Leo wouldn’t like being psychically tricked; Mikey argues that it’s good for everyone’s health if Leo relaxes, now is Don gonna read the Percy Jackson books or what because Mikey isn’t here to be lectured on using his own abilities on his brothers since Donnie does it all the time. And and Donnie wonders what the hell that’s supposed to mean, and Mikey just screams out that he’s fucking tired he is just trying to help but no one listens, no one pays him attention, he’s always underestimated, he’s glad these abilities cracked open now so he finally had something of value to contribute and he’s too fucking tired to deal with Donnie’s superiority complex and lording his science smarts over him and Donnie yells back that if Mikey would just quit goofing off and spilling his experiments and being clumsy maybe they could actually get shit done... and suddenly they’re really really yelling and screaming at each other, and Raph runs in and is actually shocked and amazed because the b-team never fights each other and he’s so weirded out that this started out over a fantasy book series, so he runs to Mikey’s room and grabs all the books and starts throwing them at his brothers, and like the first two books are hardcover so then they’re upset, and Mikey yells at Raph to quit being such an Ares, and Raph defends Ares so well that Mikey realizes Raph already read the books. But he’s still upset, so he subconsciously begins projecting emotional energies like weapons, which Raphael actually recognizes and starts fighting against, and Donnie is just staring in total confusion, and then he picks up the first book and then he’s too busy reading it to notice anything else happening, so when Mikey accidentally hits him with a wave of frustration emotion, all he does is mutter “Cut that out, Mikey, I’m cheering for gay satyrs” ...and he doesn’t even know that Leo has arrived and thanked Mikey for forcing him to sleep. But finally Donnie looks up and sees Leo, and starts up again the original argument about Mikey being responsible with his ability to manipulate people, and Leo defends Mikey by saying he needs to practice control, and Leo can handle it. And Donnie loses his shit, and finally Mikey sits him down and very gently asks his consent and permission to go into his mind and soothe him and get to the actual core of the problem, so they do this spiritual journey into Donnie’s psyche, and it’s so tangled and intense and defended and dense. Mikey helps untangle the painful parts, puts a calming agent force field around the unnecessary panic reaction part, lets out the better coping mechanisms so they can stretch, and basically turns Donatello’s stress brain into something manageable. Donnie is so happy he he almost faints. When they come out of the meditation it’s been four hours and Raph fell asleep on the couch. And Mikey decides to become the family counselor and medical assistant, and student of psychology, sociology, anthropology, and biology, so Donatello can get back to just focusing on engineering and hard sciences so he can be a little less fucking stressed all the time because their dad died without giving any love to them except Leo and even then it was mostly military commands, no wonder Mikey was spending so much time counseling Leo, who was almost killed, was comatose for three months, damaged his voice, had a broken knee, and was then expected to just lead his little brothers into suicide missions because he was supposed to, and apparently Mikey was spending time in Leo’s mind slowly unraveling the guilt complex, the martyr complex, the wonder boy complex, the golden child complex, the “shit my dying dad told me to literally parent my siblings what do i do” complex, no wonder Mikey was exhaustedly adamant about getting in their heads. And then Donnie realizes that Mikey himself was probably affected by Splinter’s death in a completely separate and complex way but Mikey completely clams up and refuses to discuss it, which really worries Don since Mikey was so skilled at helping him and Leo untangle their PTSD symptoms but Mikey refuses to help himself, so Donnie decides to go to Raphael later about all this stress trauma shit, and he realizes that he has been the only one to successfully vent his grief when he went after Don Vizioso, so Don reminds himself to call a Mandatory Family Meeting later.  After he finishes the first two Percy Jackson books. PS, Ghost Splinter still needs a good yelling at by someone other than Leo. I was never a fan of Leo, but this poor kid basically was manipulated and abused and is in turn manipulating and abusing. I fucking adore Ratdad beyond reason, but let’s face it, he was so out of character it was heart-shattering. Canon will never talk about the Hamato kids’ C-PTSD so I will, damn it.

[brightlotusmoon]

"Hey, Bright, you ever gonna write that actual Neuropsychology Of Michelangelo thesis you keep talking about, or are you just gonna keep rambling about Mikey on a Tumblr you created specifically to hold notes for that non-academic pretend dissertation?" *stares* Uhhhhhh. *fidgets* Look over there, it's a squirrel! PS, Mikey is one of the most complex characters in comics and cartoons specifically because cartoon iterations have written him as a vapid goofball who is mainly good for a laugh and is the most athletic ninja of the group, while hiding one of the deepest, most intense set of characteristics shown throughout the cartoon universe from the 1980s to the present. He is kind. empathetic, sweet, good at heart, fun, funny, genuine, emotionally intellectual, warm, playful, carefree. Yet in kid-friendly media, he's the jokester, the clumsy one, the eternal child, stupid, comedy relief turned to eleven, as David Wise changed him into the vapid food obsessed surfer template for the 1987 cartoom. 2003's Fast Forward season onward turned him into a joke, and earlier episodes didn't do him favors. He was abused for laughs, he was the butt of jokes, he was stereotyped as the flighty comedian with only a few moments of badass, kickass, sweetheart scenes to shine in. Count on Mike to screw it up. Mike was the one who made the mistakes, who everyone sighed and yelled at, the one who almost didn't graduate to the next level of Ninja just because his own sensei thought he was goofing off, never mind his epic natural skills. The one some fans were hoping would get brained with a lead pipe when Raph got angry in the fourth episode of the first season. The one who was so annoying, so aggravating, so whiny, he became a meme, he became a character for fans to dump ridiculous personality traits into, so much so that the writers of the 2012 cartoon ran with it. His own family emotionally abused him and he brushed it off as normal, in every series. Fans who wrote stories turned him into the ultimate whining little sibling, embarrassing in the extreme. Somehow the movies avoided or subverted that by giving him useful talents. The 2012 show eventually turned it around and made him a wise wild card with learning disabilities, but never acknowledged his fascination with science and culture unless his scientist brother was angry with him for trying to do a science. No wonder another dimension became his home. No wonder his psychic sensitivity worked best with extraterrestrial energies. Mikey's brain responds powerfully to things beyond science-based understanding. In reading through every Mikey-centric fanfic on FFnet and AO3 and Stealthy Stories, I found myself avoiding ones that painted Michelangelo as the chucklehead, the bad comedian, the whiny brat, the one nobody wants to be around because he would screw up. I guess I project too much. As a crippled kid, I was seen as different and wrong and what if cerebral palsy was catching, in an age where so many medical conditions were uncertain. Imagine if my autism and ADHD and epilepsy had been diagnosed back in the 80s or even 90s. I reached for Donatello for the introverted science lover but I flowed with and followed Michelangelo for the carefree shining wild child whom no one could pin down. I could never move like that but I could watch him and imagine such power. Nobody called him neurologically diverse because the word Neurodivergent wouldn't be coined until much later by my mentor and friends K. But Mikey was like my brain enough for me to See it. When I began writing fanfic that I didn't realize was fanfic as a young teen, I wrote about Michelangelo hurting, bleeding, being smothered, being abandoned, about Donatello realizing how extraordinary his brain was. I have been waiting for the B-Team to become the Let's Do Science Yay team because for four seasons Mikey was in the lab watching, touching, noticing, questioning. Donnie was facepalming, groaning, making warning labels, when he could have been teaching. NickToons, that isn't how you handle ADHD and sensory processing based curiosity. Mikey's brain was always a Chekov's Gun Trope and they left it still on the mantle. Even IDW hasn't picked it up yet. Kevin Eastman has some splaining to do okay? Unless these are hints for us the fans. I dunno. I'm just a major fan with almost three decades worth of Ideas. Please, 2018 cartoon, give us a smart fierce Mikey with obvious Emotional Intelligence, with a fascination in soft science and humanity, less comic and more satire, empathic and empathetic, reading auras like a clairvoyant. The new show is supposed to be about mystical powers, so do right by Mikey and push forth his natural intuition that Mirage started*? There. There's notes for a heckin thesis. (*only slightly more likely than black April who was literally named after Kevin's black girlfriend who died and is probably meant to be half Irish and half black and started with red hair and got it dyed and curled for the rest of Mirage but everywhere else she's a white redhead so who heckin knows, all I know is what drunk Kevin told my friends in a bar.)

[brightlotusmoon]

Mikey The Ninja

Ever notice that when 2012 Mikey goes to hug his brothers, they get this snarly grimace on their face yet put up with it like “Hey, annoying little brother trying to be affectionate again. Ugh, this guy.” There are obvious exceptions. But it feels so weird to see that Nick is writing the show as though sweet, darling, wildly gifted warrior cinnamon roll Mikey is being consistently pushed around like that is his main reason for being on the team. I get that the boys have spent 15 years dealing with an overly affectionate, hyperactive, inattentive, hyperfocused, sensory selective little sibling, and they’re kind of tired. But dear gods, at least have them smile like they mean it. And sometimes they do. They do, I promise. But the times they don’t can be counted more. Ouch. This is a teenage boy who can beat all of them blindfolded if he really exercised his raw skills and natural talent. This boy has the stealth, speed, intuition, and power of a highest level ninja. This is a boy who adores disguises. 

This is a kid who wins every video game he plays, an ability that requires incredible skill, knowledge, muscle reaction, cognitive flexibility, and particular compartmentalized intrapersonal knowledge and neuroplasticity of memory. Mikey could be playing the longest con for all anyone knows. We, the fans, know he wears all kinds of masks beyond the cheerful smile that is plastered over his depressive insecurities over his place in the world. Someone needs to love him as much as he instinctively loves everyone. 

Yet Nick, and Ciro, I suppose, are similar enough to 4Kids in that they’re not sure how to write Michelangelo beyond Kid Appeal Comic Relief Mascot with lack of knowledge, innocent ignorance, naive insensitivity, and inability to word properly. I mean, 2003 Mikey loved himself so much and was so immature that I felt embarrassed for him whenever his ideas fell apart. The times when he displayed is epic awesomeness were few and far between and not praised enough. Handstands on telephone wires, people! Dodging lasers! Winning a multiverse battle champion award twice! Kicking ass without a care!  2012 Mikey, however, is still a kid and that’s okay. He needs to grow up and that’s okay. He’s really grown, even though his family doesn’t seem to notice much (and as much as Raph loves Mikey and loves to smack Mikey around, I refuse to accept that he would outright whiplash-punch him in the head just for fidgeting in an elevator. Don’t care it was parodying the 2014 film. It was too wrong. And Mikey brushed it off like nothing.).

He’s neurodivergent with learning disabilities and tons of interpersonal and bodily-kinesthetic and visual-spatial Intelligences but not much mathematical logic: he doesn’t understand bookish or wordly scholarly things, he’s a hyper teenager; give him a break. 

If someone educated him, saay, Donnie, or April, Mikey could be just as brilliant as any good geek with focused interests. He’s a natural gamer and comic fanatic, for Pan’s sake. He doesn’t need the illustrations, he just likes them. Give him a book built on powerful imaginative world-building and character development and he won’t put it down. Graphic novels - the books comics birth - are just as important in literature and public consciousness. But okay, Nick writers, keep treating him like a self-absorbed, boastful, eternal six-year-old who thinks he’s a superhero... 

Even though you know his incredible empathy shines like the sun and his psychic sensitivity saves lives, and his vast deep knowledge of pop culture allows him to navigate social obstacles with ease, and his physical acrobatic athletic speedy parkour dance powers remain unmatched... Nah, he’s the irritating, aggravating, annoying, prideful little brother who screws up, makes messes, gets the team in trouble, is too noisy and nosy for his own good, and can’t stop being a whiny brat to his big brothers. *blows raspberry* *gives finger* (This is totally going in the thesis)