#neuropsychology of michelangelo

[brightlotusmoon]

Congratulations to myself for completing forgetting that I wrote this.

wait what other terrying stuff did Mike do?? I can't recal any specific ones?

i’m gonna be late for work really quick here so this’ll be brief and without much citation for now.

but like, right off in the very first episode mikey meets a ‘human’ guy in an alleyway, and what does he do? he nearly gouges the guy’s eyes out. this was actually a kraang robot suit, so it was fine, but yo, if it hadn’t been?

and there were a bunch of little things, kinda day to day, in terms of how lackadaisical he is about a lot of stuff? like, oh they’re in the middle of yet another deadly battle. great time to start laughing in someone’s face. really not unnerving or anything (but this goes for majority mikeys throughout the iterations).

factor in that also, when it comes down to things, mikey is the better ninja in his family, even over Favorite Son/Student leo- demonstrated by that one scene where leo was in full mystic ninja mode (arguably the mode when they’re at their peak skill) and mikey not only got right behind leo without his brother noticing and grabbed him around the face and chest, but mikey had been shadowing leo like that since he left the lair. all without ever being sensed by the brother who’s they’re leader.

plus, the whole fact that he picked up an ancient disc thing, stuck its pieces back together with bubblegum, and just kinda. told the demon to stfu and stop killing people. literally no one else had even gotten the thing to respond even slightly- not even april, who is their most powerful member by the end of the series- and mikey barely held it a few seconds before he figured out how to use it.

this is all out of order but the whole dimension-x thing too, beyond him wearing an enemy soldier as a hat. none of his brothers- not even donnie, who’d been studying the dimension and usually has some inkling of how to cope with a new situation- could’ve survived in d-x as easily as mikey did. and he didn’t just survive for however long he was there (days, weeks, months?), he thrived in the hostile territory of the dimension. he had fun, running around in a world that has no ceiling or ground, is filled with flora and fauna that actively tries to kill you, and not to mention has an occupying sentient race that wants nothing more than to kill him and all of earth.

so yeah. it’s a lot of things, built up over time, that make 2012 mikey a rather scary individual. i’d specify more but i really do have to get to work.

[brightlotusmoon]

Okay, TMNT Fandom.

I saw a post by a young fan saying that the Ninja ninja Turtles were now as old as their parents at forty. So I'd like to know who else is as old as or older than the ninja turtles franchise.

I'll start: in 1984 I was five years old. I saw the cartoon in 1988 and fell in love and I'm still there, in love. It's really deep. I don't think I can climb out.

Goobers.

[brightlotusmoon]

[brightlotusmoon]

mikey ask game: 6 and 13!!

6. do you have any mikey-centric fic recommendations? (including any your wrote!)

Wellll... I wrote Mikey and Mikey only and all my Bookmarks are Mikey fics sooo

13. what’s something about mikey that nobody seems to talk about that should be talked about more?

I think I have rambled on at length about that since 2017, and a LOT of people have either picked it up or had very similar ideas, but we really really need to get rid of this lasting idea that Mikey is The Stupid Turtle. Hell, online search results still auto fill it. I know I spent over twenty years pushing the 'Mikey Is ADHD and Autistic and emotionally intelligent' headcanon but alongside it I kept begging the fandom to write fics where Mikey isn't being dunked on as the team class clown or adorable moron.

[brightlotusmoon]

December 2024: A Google search on the characters suggested my own Tumblr posts to me.

TMNT 2003 headcanon: Mikey vs the Superhero World. TMNT 2016 Headcanon: Mikey vs his own mind.

I love so much that fellow fic writers have gone into detail about 2003 Michelangelo’s unspoken experience in the superhero world Ultimate Draco sent him to - I headcanon that he never told his family that he killed Sliver, and now at age twenty he still gets horrific nightmares and panic attacks. If one of the brothers catches him in a nightmare or panic he lies and babbles about monsters or everyone dying or something. He actually remains in a PTSD Depression and has become the greatest method actor at being the cheery silly annoying joyful loud Mikey he needs to be. This lasts for at least a month before he manages to break free. Splinter and Leo start to notice that the supply of special tea that contains nootropic anti-depressent calming herbs has been dwindling and gets slowly replaced. They don’t question it since everyone has bad dreams. They don’t realize it’s all going to just one person, the one they least suspect.

Nobody suspects Michelangelo to be perpetually sad, upset, anxious, most of all clinically depressed. Everyone knows he has combination ADHD and Autistic traits. But major depression? Cyclothymia? Dysthymia? Pfftt, nah, this is MIKEY. He’s an eternal sun, he’s a constant shining beam of light, any kind of light, he’s the embodiment of happy, he’s fun personified, he’s organically cheerful as a spiritual state of being, he’s the element of wind and laughter. If he were depressed, it would be a prank, right?

Nobody considers those sayings about happy people being sad inside, how laughter hides tears, smiles hide pain. The ones who laugh the loudest and smile the most are hiding the heaviest darkness and the deepest pain, they want to absorb the sadness and pain of everyone else, they would rather hurt for others than see others hurt. Mikey is the family goofball and class clown, he’s the one who cheers them up, lights their way, lifts their hearts, replenishes their spirits, boosts morale. He’s not supposed to succumb to that dark agony. Right? Right?

Poor Mikey.

I decided to put something in “The Brightest Fire” about Mikey having residual trauma whenever Master Splinter chastises him… for anything. That combined with Mikey’s new ESP and acquired disabilities from the battle in the first chapter, Mike is kind of a mess but he still hasn’t told anyone about the Sliver thing. Donnie is the one who draws it out during physical therapy, since Don already confessed about his own experience in that Alternate Future Of Death.

I might write a separate oneshot around Mikey breaking down. I might need help coming up with details.

Tagging @mysillylittlesoapbox, @silexwitch, @hummerhouse, @nannysknickerleg, @everyday-im-preaching, @saiyanqueenreads, @catchoow - you all are good at psychoanalyzing ninja turtles.

I’m also doing a long fic about the 2016 film Turtles set a few months after the film in which Mikey becomes severely depressed with ideations, I just need triggers for him. Detective Casey Jones and Field Reporter April O'Neil would obviously be the ones to help since the boys are just kids, sheltered isolated yearning teenagers who grew up too fast and still can’t and don’t know how to fix their hurt brains, not even child prodigy engineer Donatello who will fully desperately admit he needs help to help his breaking family. I actually adore the movies’ AU with a mild Casey being a cop becoming a detective, with Raph being soft and gentler, with Mikey having ADHD and Anxiety, with Don using found tech to keep learning, with prideful Leo being knocked off his pedestal by his brothers’ emotional issues. Plus Mikey has the sweetest faaace.

[brightlotusmoon]

Okay, so now that more of us understand that with ADHD, the rampant inconsistencies are a huge part of the disability, ie executive dysfunction and dyspraxia and time blindness and hyperfocus yada yada yada, I'm going to dig back through all my Mikey And His ADHD posts to spot times I talked about his rejection sensitivity frustration moments. Especially 2003, who didn't get much screen time when it came to exploring the hidden depths behind the goofiness. In this essay I

[brightlotusmoon]

I think people mistake confidence with arrogance. At least that’s what I think (I am referring to the anon who said people think you have a complex) you are an activist they see the word activist they think oh that woman is arrogant they judge you before they get to know you which sucks. I find your takes intriguing and thought provoking.

You're correct, that's what it's about. I've also been told that I come across as not worth bullying. It's hard to chip away at someone who has spent decades learning how to shield properly, who has already chipped away at themselves, opening up their vulnerable sides, showing people that they've already gone through the process of self scorn and come out with a stronger sense of self, knowing that things will keep growing and changing.

Let's take that down its obvious path to 2003 Mikey, whose confidence has always been mistaken for arrogance and brattiness and asshole behavior. He's a person who is already in touch with what he wants. That can come across as him being callous, insensitive, unknowingly insulting. But he's got a lot of generosity, kindness, understanding, hyperempathy, an uncanny ability to soothe emotional turmoil.

In fact, a wonderful fanfic by our archivist @hummerhouse explored Mikey's capacity for acceptance, his lack of greed for big things, how he's satisfied enough to know all he needs is his loved ones, his family being safe and together and able to chill out and not worry about being hunted, perhaps to sit in the sun with them and bask.

(The Last Ronin strips that from him like being flayed alive, isn't that fascinating?)

[brightlotusmoon]

audhd mikey will be CANON in tottmnt ‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️

Yes it will! Yes it will!

[brightlotusmoon]

Michelangelo Proved He's Actually TMNT’s Smartest Turtle

...and Michelangelo is a party dude. Based on those personality traits– which have more-or-less been held up through the ages– one would assume that the smartest Turtle on the team is Donatello, since he does the machines (obviously), with Leonardo being a close follow-up as leadership of a ninja clan presumably requires intelligence. In fact, the last Turtle fans should expect to be the smartest is Michelangelo since ‘party dudes’ are notorious for being immature and making poor decisions–but in reality, nothing could be further from the truth.

[brightlotusmoon]

They're Mutants So Human Rules Don't Really Apply | Archive of Our Own

Am I really the only one with tags like that in the TMNT AO3 fandom?

Good thing I'm also under 'Autistic Michelangelo' and 'Michelangelo Has ADHD'. I don't think that was even a thing until a few years ago.

[brightlotusmoon]

Favorite version Of Mikey

Uhhhhhhlhhmmmm

I need to think about this.

(I mean, there's the Mikey in my head who's cobbled together out of all of them.)

I'd say IDW is my favorite, because he's so clearly a blend of Mirage, Archie, 1990, and 2003. And Kevin himself made him.

Rise Mikey is a very very close second.

[brightlotusmoon]

@genius11rare this fic!

If you ever feel like you don't contribute to fandom because you "only" comment—

A regular serial commenter just joined a fandom Discord server I'm on and people are coming out of the woodwork to thank her for her service to the fandom, expressing how much joy her comments on their works bring them.

Remember—they're never only comments.

[brightlotusmoon]

When fellow fans want to make comics and fics based on your character analysis essays that you've been Tumblring for literally over half a decade, you know you've made it as a Fan Who Knows Things.

[brightlotusmoon]

@this-world-of-beautiful-monsters has a list of Mikey Angst fics. Mine are on it, obviously. It's a great rabbit hole. Wow, I've gotten more confident with plugging my work.

I recall multiple people asking me for recommendations.

Enjoy your angst, fellow Mikey Whump Lovers.

(hello, precious child, I will break you)

[brightlotusmoon]

YES.

[brightlotusmoon]

...asking that question on the Sir This Is The Autism Place website has proven to be absolutely fascinating. This entire blog of mine began as a thesis on the neuropsycholgy of a fictional character in 2016. I have years and years of Infodump.

the spn drama could take a whole year to explain in the least so i’m good