#not using it for anything if not as an insult for Donnie specifically

[allthenicknamesweretaken]

Throws this at you and scurries away

[jadetheblueartist]

I LOVE YOUR MONA VERY MUCH I MUST KNOW MORE.

Questionssssss

How did she become a nexus champion? Did she just sign up for fun or anything else? (Also love the fact it’s like pro sports for her)

What’s her relationship with everyone once she gets to know them?

What species is she? (I think I might know the species but I don’t know the name)

If you’ve come up with any lore for her, do tell :>

+ any fun facts?

(No need to answer any/all of these!)

I am very intrigued and have more random questions I can ask if you so desire :D

OH ALSO HER CHARACTER DESIGN IS JUST SO COOL. HER NEXUS OUTFIT AND CASUAL ARE AWESOMEEEEEE

IM SO GLAD YOU LOVE HER EEEEEE I HOPE I CAN GIVE YOU GOOD ANSWERS (also while I designed her specifically for the shark au I might just say shed be the same in my regular universe headcanon so like it all applies across aus I guess hahaha who knows she and frida might even be friends honestly)

-So something I learned when browsing through the twitter q and a’s is that there are hidden cities at every big city around the world, but they aren’t all underground. They didn’t go into it but they’re all hidden in different ways. Idk where specifically but Mona is from a different city and one of their sports is gladiatorial fighting and she was very good. So she decided to move to New York and go pro. Right now she’s getting free housing and food from the Hotel plus other benefits as she does fights at the Nexus. She thinks of Big Mama as just a sorta weird boss, but overall okay. She doesn’t know that Mama is just playing her and would not let her leave easily if she ever tried but she’ll find that out eventually.

-Well for starters, she and Raph start dating pretty soon due to the boys (minus Leo) setting them up. As a couple, they’re very sporty/ lovey-dovey power couple. They equally like doing active competitive stuff as well as watching movies together. They’re pretty similar while Mona is a little more strategic and thoughtful where Raph isn’t, and Raph is more understanding and caring where Mona isn’t. Teehee I love em

She and Donnie are chill. He takes it upon himself at first to be the stern “you better not break my son’s brother’s heart” (even though he did the majority of the work to set them up, he’s just dramatic) then he’s sort of a wingman for them both to each other? Like he thinks of himself as a bit of an expert at the science of love and they let him have his fun. Mona’s sense of humor is light bullying, so once Donnie gets over his wingman phase they just go back and forth with the most unserious insults whenever they see each other. Like casual name calling as greeting (“Hey, Forehead.” “Greetings, Bearded Lady.” Idk something like that I’m not creative)

She and Mikey are good buds. He third wheels a lot so they get to know each other pretty well. Mona is an eldest child so she’s used to having that little sibling presence and they bounce off of each other well. It’s sort of a “Mona jokingly challenges that he can do something and after a bunch of shenanigans they prove he can do the thing.”

She and Leo were kind of iffy at first. Leo finds love disgusting so when Donnie and Mike were trying to set up Raph, Leo was standing to the side making remarks and giving reasons why Mona wouldn’t be a good fit for Raph (she was trying to steal his color). Once he accepted that she was gonna be around and was more relaxed about her, they started having fun. She’s used to be a Jupiter Jim fan but hadn’t watched it in a while so Leo was more than happy to infodump at her and drag her into an intense movie marathon. They would also do the light bullying thing but also they team up and direct it at Donnie.

Splinter’s happy his sons are integrating in some way with other yokai. But the fact that one of his boys has a girlfriend? Now that’s all he could hope for. He’s very nice and chill towards her and is more of an accidentally embarrassing dad to Raph. They try not to bring up her current employment around him tho…

April is grateful to have another girl around. They both are pretty passionate people so they do fun stuff together. Mona’s pretty down for all the adventures and weird stuff involved so they go adventure together, probably to witch town specifically (with a disguise for April and leaving Don at home).

She a bearded dragon yokai and also lava so whatever the mix of those two is

As for lore and fun facts all that I have probably got covered up there hahaha

Feel free to ask the more random questions ^^ helps flesh out her character when I have to come up with answers to questions

THANK YOUUUUUU IM SO GLAD YOU LIKE OT I WAS KINDA SCARED TO DO THE ARMOR BUT I THINK IT TURNED OUT CHILL

Oh actually fun fact her little brother is Mondo

[goldenspecter]

Did the ask about the whole Leo being above and manipulative not go through? I'm not pressuring you or anything it's just that sometimes I get anxious if people don't give me some kind of responds to an ask such I'm not answering this types and what not it's completely fine if you don't of course also I'm talking about the ask that was made about the 2007 fight post about Leo and raph fighting constantly here's some of what your wrote in case you don't rember the post it's kind of old

your post: Once again, I am wishing Rise fans can praise the movie without insulting/demeaning other iterations of TMNT. It's absolutely frustrating, as a fan of all the iterations plus Rise, constantly seeing people go "Rise did the Raph/Leo fight better than other where it's not just "Who's a better Leader/Leader" fights!" when not that's not the case. Rise didn't do it 'better' than the others, they just made it much more explicit, without using leadership as the framing of the fight, but the other iterations are not actually fighting about Leadership.

again sorry if this comes off as peer pressuring I'm just trying make it clear what post I'm talking about so were both on the same wave length again I apologize if this is annoying.

Hi anon!

Yes your ask did get through, the only reason I didn't answer quite immediately was due to me not really being on Tumblr this past week. I saw your ask and was intrigued because it's a BIG /pos question, I had to ramble to my partners @dakotafinely and @namiikilo about this, and share my thoughts with them about what you asked first.

I also wanted to present my answer in a way that makes sense, hence why it took me so long. So don't worry about pressuring me, I just wanted to take time and make sure I could convey my point in a coherent manner. Sorry about causing the anxiety /gen

This is the original ask:

Since the way you worded your ask leans more towards Bayverse Leo from how you included certain actions only he does, I have to compare him to 07 Leo to make my point. Here are my thoughts, as coherent I can make them:

The Short Answer: I think Bayverse Leo, as a whole, was an attempt by the writers to expand upon 07 Leo's characterization, but fundamentally misunderstood what made 07 Leo so infuriatingly perfect.

The Long Answer(buckle up):

07 Leo is, at his core, a natural evolution of how Leo would have matured as an adult Pre-Rise. Perfectionism and having such a high standard on himself of all people combined with the knowledge of him being so good at what he does, would heightened his arrogance and beliefs in his own skills.

This is how it was/is before he took the journey, across the world that kept him separated from his brothers for over a year. Leo has been expected to be perfect for so long there would only be a matter of time before that expectation jades him, that he would become a bit of an asshole who wrongly believes he doesn't need to lower himself to anyone's standards because he is the standard.

*I discuss things that are mentioned in the prequel comics, specifically the issue that discuss and expands upon Leo's Journey. So I'll include screenshots from the wikia that explain the events in that.

** I also own these 5 prequel comics!

However, since he went on the trip by himself, and with none of his brothers, especially Raphael, to keep him in check, his ego and sense of self got warped, and especially with the things he's gone through on his journey. He learned all of these things from his journey but never actually put them in use towards his own family in several different ways:

Leo lacks compassion when it comes to his brothers and why they took on their jobs and new roles and scoffs at April when she's explains to him what they do. He lacks the compassion to inquire with his brothers and the way they were all hurting-- Mikey feeling like his family isn't whole anymore, hence his nostalgia for the good days, Donnie having to care for their arguably disabled father while also working an at home job, Raph having the trauma of witnessing an former vigilante who seemed to understand him die in front of him, and that being how he got the Nightwatcher armor we see in the movie(Promise he would take it because David, the vigilante, didn't want anyone in his family/police to figure out who he really was.) Compare this to Bayverse Leo, who audibly and explicitly hears and knows how his actions harm his family, but chooses not to engage with it and dismiss their feelings.

Leo lacks humility and refuses to understand his brothers as they've changed. Because of that, he refuses to try and understand his brothers as the people they are now.

07 Leo is extremely selfish and shortsighted because of how he constantly frames the journey he went on was for them, to better himself for them.

He lacks the courage having the courage to even consider how badly they were effected by him going on this journey.

He most importantly lacks community that he continually estranged himself from

Each one of these things that's bolded or italicized is a trait that he was supposed to have learned and fully understood on his journey.

In my eyes, the things that makes 07 Leo stand out from Bayverse is more so how all of these external components worsened his fractured development. Bayverse, in a way, engineered those components that fractured his development.

07 Leo has never actively gone out of his way to revoke or invalidate his family's autonomy, right in front of them compared to Bayverse(who as a reminder forced Donnie to lie to his brothers about the possibility to be human and got on Raph when he called him out for revoking their autonomy to make a choice at the chance of gaining privilege where they are currently systemically disadvantaged), but does it in the way that can be perceived as him doing what is best for his family. Examples being him not wanting to admit or entertain the idea that the night watcher is going good or that his own family made the choice to idolize the vigilant on their own—he believes that night watched is encroaching on his territory and also being a bad influence to his brothers, primarily Raph and Mikey and fights to stop Nightwatcher from being a bad influence on the two and the fact that Leo perceived his own methods to be effective, combined with his own hypocritical view of Nightwatcher—or him attributing fault to everywhere else but 07 Leo potentially being part of the problem as well.

However, you can possibly argue that because the world has jaded him so hard and he has forgotten the point of community, the world had literally made him hate humans on his training journey. It eroded him of certain things that by the time he gets back home, he just doesn't have that compassion he supposedly learned on his training and doesn't learn to dig within himself to practice empathy to his brothers and doesn't bother seeing them as who they are now, he literally scoffs at the idea of who they have become when April tells him and expects them to fall inline as perfect soldiers and obey orders, to erase what made them them, doing unto them as what has been done to him.

In addition, along with him being a pretty perfect development for a character like Leo, pre-rise,he has been expected to be perfect for so long there would only be a matter of time before that expectation jades him, that he would become a bit of an asshole who wrongly believes he doesn't need to lower himself to anyone's standards because he is the standard.

Leo's and his family's arc in the 2007 movie is about growing up and fixing a broken family caused by abandonment from pretty much all angles, Bayverse Leo is the one who's the agent and inevitable cause of abandonment nor is he mired by the tenets of nostalgia among him and his family either and the unwillingness to grow up and mature.

Could this be more coherent? Absolutely, maybe in the future I'll make a video essay giving a full retrospective on the 2007 movie and especially with the frustrating yet beloved nuance of 07 Leo's character.

Either way! Hope you enjoyed hearing my (still somewhat disjointed) thoughts! <3

[juukeboxx]

General Headcanons - Michelangelo

Here we are with the last batch of general headcanons for the turtles. This time it's for everyone's favorite party dude Michelangelo! These have been a lot of fun to write, so I plan on going into iteration specific headcanons in the future :) Keep in mind that these headcanons are for no one version of Mikey in particular. Enjoy!

Word count: 674

Mikey is a very creative turtle. His mind is constantly creating little scenarios with characters from his favorite mediums (usually comic books, movies, and video games) so he’s constantly doodling.

Ever since he was a kid he’s always doodled on himself with pen or marker. He still does this.

At one point he was also super interested in the culture around graffiti. Graffiti is a pretty common thing in New York and he's always wanted to try it himself. So he found some spare cans of spray paint lying around an alley and started practicing. Turns out he really likes doing it! Some of his art has gotten noticed by some big graffiti artists on social media and it makes his heart soar seeing much more experienced artists giving him praise.

Super super active. He loves skateboarding the most, but Mikey will play any sort of sport if invited. He has a lot of energy and sports just allows him to release that energy while having fun.

Absolutely the best cook in the entire family. He especially likes cooking with one of his brothers or even Splinter. Leo isn’t really allowed in the kitchen but Mikey has him do simple tasks so that his oldest brother is included. Baking is not necessarily his jam because baking is an exact science, but he can make a mean batch of brownies.

Everyone knows that Mikey is very experimental with what he puts on his pizza. Sometimes it will be duck a l'orange pizza, but other times it will be sardines and jelly beans.

Mikey loves being around people. In fact, he thrives when he's surrounded by his friends and family. It brings him a lot of comfort being with the people he loves the most.

The whole part of being a ninja is staying in the shadows. Mikey, however, has a pretty hard time doing this because his natural curiosity causes him to wonder off and explore. There have been multiple occasions where he's been seen by kids walking the streets of New York with their parents while he was out exploring.

It was Mikey's idea to do a game night once a week. They bust out the snacks and pop and it's the winner of the previous week that decides which game they play that night. He is currently undeafeated in Mario Kart.

Like Donnie, it takes a lot for Mikey to get mad. He just always has such a positive and bright attitude it’s really hard to find anything to bring him down. But where Donnie would rather talk issues out and use diplomacy, Mikey isn’t afraid of throwing hands and starting a fight. The worst thing anyone could do is insult his friends and family in front of him.

Mikey has a big heart and he wears it on his sleeve. He cares very deeply about people, but the consequence of that is that it hurts him immensely when they’re gone. It feels like the end of the world to him.

He admittedly has a bit of a problem with spacing out. Sometimes he'll get so lost in his thoughts that he'll stare off into space for a little while. It usually takes one of his brothers tapping his shoulder or calling his name a few times to help bring him back.

Mikey is super proud of his combat abilities. He's a quick thinker and moves fast on his feet which makes it hard for enemies to attack him. He gets incredibly excited if his brother's ask him how he pulled of a certain move since he gets to show off a little bit.

Mikey knows that he isn't the smartest, that he isn't much of a strategist or that he isn't the strongest when it comes to raw strength. But he is, in a way, the glue that holds the team together. His wealth of positivity and being able to look at any situation and see the glass as half full is what pulls his brothers out of even their darkest moments.

[turtlecleric]

Things in Symphony that I'm still wondering about, even after Chapter 22

1. This line: Now that you’re keeping your window locked pathologically, the old game of sneaking in via the fire escape is off the table.

2. The guy who beat up the asshole in the coffee shop. Is he actually just a random person? Or will he come back and turn out to be important later?

3. "lbjean_87’s Insta profile" is a reference, I'm sure, but idk what exactly other than the "87" for the 87 cartoon

4. “Oh, that’s such a relief,” he says, closing his eyes and sighing into your palm. “I’ve been making spreadsheets of things I’ve wanted to try for several days and wondering how best to bring it up, especially considering—well. It’s quite helpful that you did so yourself. Excellent work, consultant.” What would Donnie have said after "especially considering" if he hadn't cut himself off? Is that a nod to him thinking she likes Leo?

5. “I won’t change my mind,” he [Donnie] assures, making you shake your head. He sighs. “Yes. I promise.” In his mind, why is he so sure he won't change his mind about conducting the touch experiment? Because it's such a relief to touch someone again? Because he loves her? Because he's just that curious about the results/committed to seeing it through so he can touch his family again? Does he even know why he's so sure?

6. Sinclair at one point refers to a Ren. Renet, maybe?? 👀 Will we ever meet her?

7. Vi's visceral reaction to Leo scaring her in the kitchen vs. All the times she's been in genuine danger. With strangers she isn't afraid to stand her ground, even with guys much bigger and stronger than her who are actively trying to hurt her, she still doesn't react like she does with Leo. Is that because Leo is Just That Scary or does she have a history of people, specifically people she trusts, people who are close to her, being violent?

8. [Raph talking] "you can’t be stupid like that,” he says, making you flinch. I've noticed, even before chapter 20 when it gets really really bad, she often refers to herself as stupid or uses stupid as an adjective when describing what she's doing. Her flinching when Raph uses that word specifically has me wondering if "stupid" was used against her a lot in the past (by Alopex maybe?) or if she's always had A Thing about thinking she's stupid.

9. Donnie's various reactions to Vi being in danger/insulted. He reacts VERY strongly to her being bruised by coffee shop guy and when they run into her old standmate and he insults her. But after the thing with the guy in the park and the time she was almost SHOT his reaction is really... mellow. It confuses me.

10. Engage alarm 16-44-SD - I wonder what the significance of the numbers and letters are?

11. Why does Vi call Sinclair by her last name instead of her first name (June)? Grace calls her June... Is it because Vi is so bad at names and by the time she finds out Sinclair's first name is June she's already spent too much time referring to Sinclair by her last name to really change it?

12. What WAS Leo doing while Vi was showering before the 4th of July party? Was he really just eating cookies?

13. “He’s got me on security protocol 27-L-Alpha, but family’s allowed through on that one, so you can go ahead in,” Shelldon says - Again I wonder about the significance of these numbers and letters.

14. Donnie uses italics in the group chat. You can't do that in regular text chains, right? Is this like a discord-type situation? Or is it because they're all using phones (most likely) made by Donnie and he somehow added that feature? (This is so not important, I know, I know, but I'm curious okay?)

15. Chapter 20, during sex - He’s saying something; his mouth is moving but you’re too fuzzy to think, too lost to hear. I wonder what he said?

16. Also Chapter 20, after she Realizes - If Donnie says anything, you don’t hear it. I wonder if he said anything here. Was he still talking to her, trying to figure out what was wrong? Or watching her in confused, shocked silence? I don't know which is worse.

[ordin-arily]

Request: Hello! I love your ROTTMNT fics and I wanted to know if you’re taking any requests! If so I’d love to see a Donnie x reader story where the reader is scared to look or sound dumb in front of Donnie which leads to her always avoiding him and him being confused. Ultimately she learns to not worry about it and that he is totally head over heels for her.

Here’s your fic babe! (i took a few liberties here, apologies if it’s not exactly what you wanted!)

Warnings: language

Notes: 2nd person pov & I don’t think I make any mentions of a specific gender here, so GN reader for this one!

“Okay, what is going on with you?” 

You can’t say you necessarily expect those words out of a blowtorch-wielding Donnie cornering you in his lab at 9 a.m. on a Sunday.

It almost feels horror movie-esque, the size of his lab coat, the blue glow of the flame in the reflection of his visor, the way you’re backed against the edge of the table… You might be fooled if not for the fact that it is, once again, 9 a.m. on a Sunday. Hell, you’re still wearing your sleep shirt! 

In your groggy, debilitated state not twenty minutes ago, you managed to slide on a pair of jeans, but that was about as far as you were willing to go.

Honestly, it's the audacity of him asking you to be here at this hour on a weekend. You really weren’t going to come, hemming and hawing something about not being much help with matters pertaining to science and whatnot, but he was absolutely adamant that you were the only person who could aid him in this particular conquest. 

That fucking liar. 

This is an ambush! You put on jeans for this… Doesn’t that mean anything to him?

“What’s going on with me?!” you retort. “You’re the one waving around an open flame."

It takes him all of two seconds to realize you’re right and he closes it immediately, putting down the tool and removing his protective gear altogether. Now he looks like himself. Which makes this whole intervention thing that much more unnerving. 

“You know what I mean,” Donnie insists. “You’ve been avoiding me like I’m infected with the bubonic plague. Why? Did I do something?” He continues to ramble on about not thinking he did anything but that, honestly, he’s never sure because he has a habit of insulting people at an entirely subconscious level which, to varying degrees, he’s trying his best to work on.

Donnie goes on tangents like this when he’s especially wound up and it hits you all at once that this is his way of trying to break the awkward tension that’s steadily built its way between the two of you from weeks of nothing more than bare-bone interactions, if any at all. Hi’s and bye’s and gotta go’s and see ya later’s—and he can’t take anymore. He’s doing his best to push past this weird energy, but you can’t help catching those nervous little flitters in his voice. He’s… really bothered by this. 

Your heart sinks at the realization. 

Of course, Donnie is great at hiding the things that genuinely get to him but after months of friendship, you’re beginning to discover his tells. You decide to tread carefully.

“No, you didn’t do anything. You’ve just… you’ve been busy, you know? And I get that.”

Donnie looks at you. It was a weak attempt at a lie anyway but, apparently, he decides to indulge you: “Okay... Well, I wasn’t busy yesterday. It was movie night and you barely said two words to me.”

Out of all the Hamato clan, you’ve always been closest to The Smart One, so this distance isn’t something he’s used to. He’d glanced over several times last night to see you giggling with Leo, his arm slung around you, bright grins etched into your faces. You traded whispered secrets and knowing looks with his brother, the same way you always do—did—with him and… Donnie found that he wasn’t totally alright with that.

“I don’t know,” you say softly. “I guess I wasn’t sure what to say.”

“You could’ve asked me about my upgrades to S.H.E.L.L.D.O.N. 4.0. He actually buttered your popcorn last night! It was a pretty simple mechanic really; I just overrode his previous commands to factor in melting temperatures and distribution techniques. The latter was the most difficult to perfect due to—"

You squeeze your eyes shut, trying to focus on his every word, but he speaks so fast and it’s difficult to keep up with all the technical jargon and formulas that go way past the ones escaping you in chemistry class.

“Are you even listening, Y/N?” 

He huffs out a breath and you know it’s from a place of loneliness. No one quite listens to him the way you do. They don’t ask pertinent questions or keep eye contact with him or nod after every few words—all the things that make it clear you’re really, truly giving him the time of day. He gets so excited with the right audience… But, you’re not paying him that kind of attention anymore and it sends him absolutely reeling.

“Yeah,” you tell him unconfidently and almost leave it at that, before your agitation gets the best of you. "No—no, Donnie, can you speak, like, a little slower, please? We’re not all born brainiacs like you, okay?” 

It’s your tone. It’s too explosive and you just know he’s got you now. So much for treading carefully.

Donnie so rarely falls silent in the middle of an exchange which makes the way he deflates so much more devastating. Your cheeks flash hot with embarrassment and you will that burning in your eyes to just stop—please, can everything just STOP for one goddamn fucking second?!

“Is that what it is?” he asks quietly, shoulders at his knees. “It’s all the science-talk that’s bothering you?”

You take in a deep breath and smooth your hair back, summoning everything you have in you to keep your composure intact—or what’s left of it. 

Everything’s fine. 

“No, of course not. I just, I’m a little tired and I need you to slow it down. Please.” “That’s not true, is it?” Donnie’s persistent in a way he usually isn’t. He’s readying himself for an argument—spoiling for it, even—but you don’t have it in you. 

He gets close, towering over you in a manner you don’t especially care for and that’s it, that’s your last straw. Donnie might make you feel inferior intellectually, but you won’t let him do it physically too. 

These are thoughts that swarm your head and threaten to boil over into that fight he’s preparing himself for... until you meet his pleading eyes for one meaningful moment. This idea you had that he was trying to intimidate you... he’d never do that. You know that. 

You see it in his expression; he’s apologetic for something he doesn’t even know he’s done. Just like that, the cloud of resentment hanging over you poofs into nothingness. 

“Please,” he tries again. "Just tell me.”

You collapse onto one of his work stools, feeling sick to your stomach. 

“The other day, um…” Your voice is shaky. You couldn’t hate it more, feeling like this. So weak and pathetic and… stupid. Just really stupid. 

He takes the seat beside you, form hunching, gaze fixed on the tiled floor. You understand, suddenly, that this is him trying to give you the space you need to be vulnerable. The gesture makes you want to burst into tears so you bite your tongue lightly and focus on the pain for a minute. It’s a trick you learned a long time ago, one derived from not-so-great times, but that’s no one’s business.

You swallow and press forward, blurting it all out at once: “I keep failing my science labs.” Your heart is in your throat. "And my math tests, and my history essays—god, it’s so bad. I can’t do anything right.” That last part comes out as a whisper, voice lost to the sheer humiliation of it all.

Cs and Ds (and a few Fs from Professor Wagner, who doesn’t like you all that much) have been littering your academic work all year. It’s just… so hard to concentrate sometimes, and the lessons are boring and you’d rather spend your time doing literally anything else.

Donnie opens his mouth to say something when you continue.

“The other day, I came in here. I was going to ask you for some tutoring, you know, since you’re so good at all that stuff, but April was in here with her engine model. And I figured, okay, April’s good at school. This is fine.”

Donnie’s breath catches at the memory. He knows where this is going.

“I thought it looked so cool. It seemed like the most intricate thing and I mentioned that I didn’t think I could ever create something like that. Because I can’t—I failed the circuitry quarter too, by the way.” You let out a little self-deprecating laugh, but this isn’t the part that stings. “I... told you I thought it looked complicated and you said—”

“And I said 'even first graders could do this.’” He shakes his head, visibly upset with himself. 

You close your eyes, not exactly keen on hearing those words again.  "God, I’m sorry, Y/N. I can’t believe I said that. I should’ve known. I should’ve noticed—”

“Look, it’s okay. It doesn’t matter.“

“Yes, it does. I wish I could take it back. I do take it back."

You don’t have to worry about this kind of thing with Leo… Or Raph, or Mikey, or even April. No wonder you’ve been distant. Man, he feels like shit. Him and his big mouth... 

Every time he’s teased his brothers for not knowing things plays through his mind. Every time he said algebra was “so easy” and physics is “for children, April, come on” and “how do you not know the quadratic formula, Mikey, we’ve been over this!” The comments were hardly directed at you, but you’d been in the room for most of them. He may as well have been taking shots at you the whole time...

“Whatever, I just—I didn’t want to look dumb in front of you after that, I guess. Every time I saw you, you were always doing something important, and it just felt like—I don’t know—you're so much smarter than me.”

“I’m smarter than everyone, Y/N! That’s my whole thing—okay, look.” He turns toward you fully now, staring at you intently enough to keep you holding his gaze. “I’m… Without my tech, I’m…” 

His body moves and sways in time with him as he searches for the right thing to say. It would be endearing if not for how nauseous you feel. 

"My biggest asset to my team is my mind. And if I pride myself a little too much on it, it’s only because I’m insecure about… ugh, a lot of things.” He gives you a cursory sheepish laugh. "But, you… You’re…” He pauses again, inner gears whirling.

“I’ll give you a minute,” you joke halfheartedly.

“See! That! Exactly. You’re quick and sharp and sociable, and you’re skilled at so many things. I can’t believe I’m saying this, but there’s more to life than academia. You don’t need to be good at science for me to think you’re smart, Y/N. I already think you’re brilliant. Promise.”

You peer up at him, hesitant. This sounds like something he’s only saying to make you feel better. But Donnie’s never been able to comfort people for shit, so maybe there’s some truth here.

You try your hand at a nod. “I’m sorry I’ve been avoiding you. I just got… insecure, I don’t know."

“Okay, how about we make a deal. We don’t act on our insecurities anymore. At least not with each other.”

You consider this. Donnie’s solution-oriented, yet another thing you admire about him. “I... Yeah, okay. That’s doable, I think.”

“Good. I missed you.” 

Wow, feelings too? It’s one hell of a morning.

And then he smiles down at you in a way that feels somehow different from the side smirks and self-satisfied grins you normally get from him. It feels… intimate. Like it’s for your eyes only.

"If you need a tutor, I would be… honoured,” he tells you sincerely. "And I’m a fantastic teacher, so we’ll get your grades back up within the week. Mr. Science guarantee or your money back.”

“No… And here I thought you were offering your services for free, out of the kindness of your heart.” 

It’s safe to say any of that earlier tension is gone, devoid, caput. You can breathe a little easier now and the feeling of relief is incomparable.

“Oh, poor, sweet, naive, Y/N.” He reels you in close and pats you on the head in a show of taunting pity as you writhe out of his grip stubbornly, unwilling to stand such mockery, even for the bit. “It’ll cost you exactly one coffee date.”

Out of his grasp, you tilt your head at him, not sure what to make of that request exactly. Are you being asked out right now? (Holy hell, has Donnie been flirting with you this whole time?! You really are dense...)

He doesn’t give you much to work with as far as social cues go, but your answer will always be a resounding yes, so you suppose semantics don't matter all that much for now.

“I’ll take you on all the coffee dates you want if it means reaching Donatello-level intellect.”

A haughty guffaw escapes him as the two of you start your way out of the lab. “Oh, Y/N. Poor, sweet, naive—“ He punctuates each word differently, in the same cadences as before and it’s the most Donnie thing ever.

It makes you want to knock him upside the head, but you settle for shoving him on the shoulder instead, only drawing more cheery cackles out of him. 

“I’m kidding. But not really, let’s set achievable goals for ourselves, hm?”

“Kick me while I’m down, why don’t you?”

You’re not expecting it, but something ghosts along your knuckles. When you look down, you find that Donnie’s hand has wrapped itself around yours. He gives you a small, affectionate squeeze, one you oh-so graciously refrain from commenting on. There’s a possibility you’ll scare him away if you acknowledge any of this and that’s the last thing you want to do. 

He must know your own feelings are just as frail, because he’s still talking about school.

“So, what are we starting with? I’m partial to science of course, but math might be an enjoyable experience, relatively speaking.”

“Why don’t we start with breakfast?” You enunciate the word sardonically, as though it must be a foreign concept to someone with a work ethic as ridiculous as his. “You are aware it is 9:30 a.m. on the worse half of the weekend, yes?”

“Oh, poor, sweet, naive—“

“DONNIE!”

He breaks out into more obnoxiously sweet laughter and you can't help it, you join him despite yourself.

“Come on, Von Ryan. Our first coffee date of many."

[egg-on-the-run]

I got my first proper request and I literally accidentally deleted it. Am I stupid? Yes. Did I immediately panic? Yes. Do I remember what was on it?........ mostly.

Haha anon I hope you see this I'm so sorry but ily.

The turtles s/o who's usually very calm but just bursts into anger.

Notes: swearing :) I think it's funny

Leonardo:

He's used to a very calm s/o, you like to meditate together, he's always been good with helping you with breathing exercises.

You both like to keep arguments to a minimum, and even when fights do take place there isn't a lot of yelling

But when your mother came to visit :) that was just :) a lot of pressure :)

And she stayed in your apartment :) for a week :) everything was fine :)

Leonardo hadn't seen you for an entire week, not an overly long time, but certainly not pleasant. And he knew that you got stressed when you couldn't see him often. So as soon as you texted saying you had dropped your mother off at the airport, he immediately came round.

You were already screaming the moment you walked in the door.

"Oh she has some nerve! Some nerve! Speaking to me like that!"

"I'm guessing you're car ride went smoothly."

"She's been bugging me all week! When are you getting married? When are you have kids? I want some grand babies before I die! Ugh! She's obsessed with maintaining this perfect image all because her friend's kids are married and making babies like rabbits!"

He stayed quiet, not exactly sure how to comfort you. It wasn't like he could provide you with these things, and by the sounds of it, your mother would never approve of your huge turtle boyfriend.

"She just can't get that I'm happy! I have my own life and it's perfect the way I want it to be! I have a perfect boyfriend! You're a fucking delight! She–she's just so obsessed with her image that she'd never get that!"

"You... You think so?"

"I know so! She's too stubborn and she'll never get how fucking great you are and it just— UGH! It fries my brain."

"Even though I... I can't give you all those things... I can't legally marry you, we can't have kids."

"Even if you could give me a mansion and a diamond ring, or if all you could give me was a-a fucking walnut! I love you Leonardo, not that prim and proper white satin wedding she's made a thousand Pinterest boards for. I love you, I just wish she would get it."

Leonardo leaned down and kissed your cheek

"I love you too."

He believed in dealing with anger appropriately, but seeing you defend him with such passion made him feel so much more secure.

Raphael:

He's seen you angry before, he encouraged it. He's all about helping you with your confidence, teaching you to not be afraid to take up space and stand up for yourself.

But holy cow. You were mad that night.

He'd warned you not to take the trash out at night, wait to the morning — or better yet, he'll take it out for you when he came to visit after patrol.

But you are Raphael's girl. You are stubborn.

So you take the trash out, and some absolute creep decides that "flirting" in a dark alleyway in the key to a girl's heart.

Raphael swooped in, told the man to scram. But bold and drunk, the man spits back with a "Oh yeah? And would she want anything to do with a freak like you? What are you gonna do? Hit me? Aw, big angry turtle, you're gonna scare your girlfriend away."

It was two of his biggest insecurities. His appearance and his rage, especially in regards to scaring you away. It was a low blow, Raphael should have known to just walk away.

But he clammed up, he'd never admit when his anxiety got the best of him and you don't blame him.

"Oh go fuck yourself. If a vile man like you doesn't scare me, why the hell do you think a good man like him would?"

"A good man? He's not a fucking man! He's some freaky turtle thing, a pretty little thing like you deserves a real man."

"And are you a real man?"

"More real than your little pet."

The next thing you knew, the man was on the ground. You assumed Raphael knocked him out, but Raph's standing behind you and you're the one with your hand in a fist.

"Oh my god. Oh–Oh Raphie I knocked him out! O-Oh my god!"

"Holy shit Y/N! You probably broke his nose!" Raphael is grinning, shaking your shoulders.

"I didn't mean to hurt him."

"He deserves a broken nose at the least for messing with you! He was an asshole and he needed someone like you to set him straight!"

"I, um, well, I suppose he did! Saying such horrible things about you, I-I guess he did need someone to put him in his place."

Raphael ruffled your hair, "Thank you, my knight in shining armour."

"That make you my Prince?"

"Your Prince who was right about not taking the trash out at night."

"You've got to be fucking kidding me."

He appreciated you standing up for him more than you could imagine. And he found it mighty hot how hard you hit that guy. Seriously! He must be a good self defence teacher.

Donatello:

Donatello loves you so much, loves holding you and hugging you whenever he can. He adores it when you sit on his lap while he works.

But do you like to cuddle when you sleep? Tough luck. Getting him to bed is like trying to lick your own elbow: near impossible.

Regardless, you try. Because every once in a while Donatello is too tired to fight and he will go to bed.

Tonight is not one of those nights.

"Baby, please, just come to bed. Everyone's already asleep."

"I'll be there in a minute, just go on without me."

You sigh, not really seeing the point in fighting. Instead you return to his bed, trying to keep yourself awake playing games on your phone. When half an hour passes, you go back and try again.

"Donnie come on, aren't you tired? I just want to cuddle."

"I just need to put some stuff on a hard drive, April's writing a new article, she needs it for tomorrow."

You sigh once more, "Promise you'll come to bed right after?"

"I promise."

Donatello's bed is comfortable, but it's more comfortable with him in. You force yourself to stay awake; despite your exhaustion you're determined to cuddle tonight. It's all you want.

But it did not take an hour to put some documents onto a hard drive. And he's being awfully loud for just typing away on a computer.

"Are you fucking joking right now?!"

He jumps, almost dropping the box of beakers in his arms, "Hey love... Can't sleep?"

"You're rearranging your lab?! Why are you—since when do you rearrange things, huh? What the hell?!"

"I just y'know, thought things needed a change..?"

"Oh, and now is the time to change things, really? Of all the times to move your fucking beakers you decide to do it in the middle of the night after I specifically asked you to come to bed? Seriously?"

He gives a nervous grin, the kind that usually made you smile in return. But it was late — rather it was early at this point — and you were cranky.

"You can sleep without me, you're a big girl." He teased.

"I want to sleep with my boyfriend! I want to cuddle! Is that so much to ask for?!"

Donatello blinked, "You're right, I'm sorry, but I swear, I promise, I'll be ten minutes, honest."

"You can finish this tomorrow. If you're not in bed in the next ten seconds, I am going to scream and wake everyone else up."

"Don't be ridiculous—"

"Ten."

Donatello jumped, quickly moving to shove supplies in cupboards a little recklessly. You continued to count down from ten, storming off back to his bed for hopefully the finally time this night.

By the time you got to the very firm "Three... Two... One..." Donatello was racing to bed, dived in beside you, crashing and knocking your heads together.

He'd never tell you, for fear you'd let it get to your head, but he kind of liked it when you got bossy.

Michelangelo:

Anger and Michelangelo just don't mix. They just don't. He's the king of communication, he's tries his hardest to avoid fights at any and all costs. You've always appreciated his determination to talk things out with you.

But with his brothers? He shuts down, he goes quiet and just accepts whatever blame they put on him: he knows they don't mean it, they only say mean things when they're angry.

But it hurts, hearing his big brothers tell him he's stupid, that he's childish, that he's lackadaisical.

"What kind of word even is that?! I swear Donnie must read a thesaurus as a bedtime story.."

So he's allowed to complain, and you let him ramble when he comes to visit. He sits on your bed and the words just tumble out of his mouth, lets you move around the room tidying up while he rants.

"I just—Raph keeps calling me stupid. And I just—I-I just—You know, sometimes I believe it."

You freeze, sweater only half folded and turn to him, "But you're not stupid. Just because you're not some brainiac like Donatello doesn't make you stupid. If that was the case, then I'm stupid, Raph's stupid, April, Leo, Splinter is stupid. Do you think we're all stupid?"

"Well—no, but—"

"But what?"

"But I... I am a little stupid."

"No you're not! Mikey, how many times has you out of the box thinking saved the day? Y-You were the one who suggested playing friggen buck-buck to take down Shredder! Y-Your skateboarding—hoverboarding skills saved the world. You think your brothers could do that?"

Mikey scrunched his nose up, "That's not smart though. They're right. My-my focus is all over the place, I-I could never come up with a plan like Leo, I could never have half the brains Donnie has, and Raph just—he gets things that I don't and I-I am stupid!"

"I need to have a word with your brothers—"

"And that's another thing! Everyone still treats me like I'm some kid! I don't need you to have a word with them! You're not my mom."

"Then you have a word with them! But sitting here and complaining about things that just aren't true isn't going to change anything!"

He's taken aback. Much like himself, you hardly ever yell, never ever raise your voice at him.

"I am not going to stand here and let them insult you day in and day out! Either you do something about it, or I will!"

He blinks at you, you're aggressively folding the sweater in your arms and grumbling about how you could definitely take Raphael in a fist fight if need be. You mumble something about how nobody gets to speak to your boyfriend like that, and it finally clicks with Mikey.

"Alright. I'm going to talk to them," He's mostly talking to himself, "I'm going to show them that I'm not some stupid, ditzy, lackadaisical kid anymore. I'm your boyfriend, and nobody gets to speak with me that way!"

You beam at him, anger disappearing within the second with his newfound confidence, "Hell yeah! Nobody insults my boyfriend!"

"Your boyfriend!"

"My boyfriend!"

"Your boyfriend!"

His brothers' version of a wake up call is to point out his weaknesses, tell him what needs to be corrected. But you much prefer to build him up, point out his strengths.

But jeez, he does not like your angry face.

[twin-disaster-tutel-brainrot]

SeeD here, and ohoho I have some ✨thoughts✨

first of all, Remi, your list is shit, 100% wrong, how dare you even say that /j

secondly, I don't really agree with your reasoning, even in places where I agree with your list.

so here's my opinion on their favourites rank list 1 by 1 and the reasons behind it:

Raph's brother ranking:

Mikey

Leo

Donnie (canon)

I agree that Mikey is Raph's fave because he's the youngest, as the mother hen it makes sense for Raph to have a soft spot for Mikey. but it's also because it's implied in the show that Raph and Mikey used to be really close when they were younger, and kinda drifted off as they became older. I'm specifically talking about one of the deleted episodes that had them go on a mission together, iirc it was said that that episode was gonna explore their dynamic in that way.

in my opinion, they used to be very close, but then drifted apart, Mikey started hanging out with Donnie more because he's not overprotective and Raph started hanging out with Leo because he's the most enthusiastic about the whole crime fighting thing.

Leo is the second favourite since he's the impulsive snarky second in command. Raph argues with him a lot, sure, but it's because he's scared Leo's arrogance will get him hurt. he sees Leo's potential as a responsible leader and tries to encourage him, but most often than not ends up angry at him for his snarky and careless additude.

Donnie is the least favourite not because Raph doesn't enjoy his company or anything, but simply because they have different interests. Donnie seems to like secluding himself in his lab (which, mood), while Raph prefers more roughhousing and going outside for patrols. Donnie's interests are sciency stuff Raph has no idea about, and as much as Raph tries to be supportive, he doesn't seem to know how to encourage or give constructive criticism to his brothers without using his baby voice.

Mikey's brother ranking:

Raph

Donnie (canon)

Leo

with Raph, it's the same reason I believe Mikey is Raph's favourite, they were very close as kids but drifted off and started arguing more, but they still secretly miss each other's company.

I believe Raph used to spoil Mikey for being the youngest, but as Mikey grew up and started being more mature and independent (or started to imitate Raph's independence at that age), Raph was too slow at changing his treatment and kept talking to him like he's a young child. Which made Mikey obsessed with proving his maturity and hate being babied.

Donnie is the second favourite because he doesn't act like Mikey is a child, and lets him chill with him a lot. they don't seem to have that many shared interests (aside the interests all 4 of them share), and have their moments of squabbles (Shell in the Cell, the whole thing with Mikey calling dibs on stuff Donnie wanted),but they get along well enough, each one does their own thing.

Donnie never insults his immaturity, and only slightly his intelligence (which seems to be a running joke he does with everyone), he probably lets him do what he wants most of the time, and has less boundaries.

Leo is the least favourite for one reason: sibling rivalry.

Leo has an obsession with proving he's the best at everything, and Mikey has an obsession with proving he's just as mature and capable as his older brothers, which causes them to be very competitive. I have a feeling a decent amount of their competitions ended up with one of them getting hurt and having Raph separate them (probably taking Mikey's side).

Leo's brother ranking:

Donnie

Mikey

Raph

Donnie is the obvious favourite, there's a reason people call them the disaster twins. Leo and Donnie have that special relationship in the show, which is kinda hard to explain to non-twins, but it's definitely there. I don't think I've ever seen them genuinely argue in the show, not like Leo argues with Raph or Mikey. they just kinda have their thing, y'know? or maybe I'm projecting, who knows.

the second is Mikey because he's the younger brother who he loves and encourages, but also have a deep rivalry with.

Leo usually tries to shut down their competitions while still having the last word about who won. I feel like it's a combination of "I don't want to compete with my little brother, he's just seeking validation" and "wait, I'm seeking validation, I can't lose to someone younger than me". he looks to be torn between proving himself and letting his brother have his moment, which makes it harder when Mikey keeps bragging about his wins to his face, and his snarky additude makes him do the same when he ends up winning.

and then there's Raph, the older brother that won't get off his shell about taking things seriously and being more responsible. Leo is paired with him the most out of all the brothers, but they also have the most arguments.

they're both leaders, one by necessity and one by nature, and both don't actually want the role, so they end up fighting a lot about what to do in battle while also trying to push the other to stay or become the leader. and the way Leo deflects is with humour, so it ends up reading as carelessness and apathy towards the situation.

Leo probably thinks Raph is constantly mad at him, so he feels less close to him than the others. that's why he's Leo's third favourite while he's Raph's second.

now, you might be thinking to yourself: "SeeD, that's literally the exact same list but with more detailed reasons, you said you had disagreements with Remi" and that's when I present to you:

Donnie's brother ranking:

Donnie would never rank his brothers.

yep, that's it. I refuse to believe Donnie would ever consider the concept of ranking his brothers by favourite to least favourite, he genuinely cares for all of them and deciding who he loves "less" is something he will not get behind.

he would also hate the idea of being loved less or more than his brothers.

that being said: Leo (twins), Mikey (hangs out and listens to his infodumps but have less shared interests), Raph (don't really hang out or have shared interests)

Favorites Lists

Rise Ramblings #342

In "Lair Games," when Donatello was in the infirmary, there were a few captions that I found very intriguing.

So, it seems as though each turtle has listed their brothers from most to least favorite. Hmm.... Raphael's Favorite Brother Rank List: 1) 2) 3) Donatello (dead last, oof!)

Michelangelo's Favorite Brother Rank List: 1) 2) Donatello (right in the middle) 3)

We also know that Leonardo has a soft spot for the boy in purple.

So, I'll just call it:

Leonardo's Favorite Brother Rank List: 1) Donatello (The "Beloved Brother") 2) 3)

Now, there are a few blanks for each brother. Who do you think are: • Raph's most favorite and second favorite? • Mikey's most and least favorite? and • Leo's second favorite and least favorite?

Also, what would Donnie's favorites list be?

Donatello's Favorite Brother Rank List: 1) 2) 3)

I have my speculations, but I want to see what you guys think and why.

All comments and reblogs are welcome! 💜

[webrokethe4thwall]

Can you write a Fanfic where Rupert Swaggart finds his own brooch and gets his live back?

Sorry for the wait @the-deku-guy, but here’s your request!

Brooches before Swine

A large man adjusted his trench coat and fedora as he scanned the stalls of the jewelers’ black market. He was not searching for your standard silver necklace or ruby ring, but a brooch. Specifically, a cloaking brooch. Meat Sweats was once again on the hunt for a mystic cloaking brooch. However, even now as he looked over the charms laid out on the table, his hopes plummeted. Several brooches, ranging from simple to ornate to tacky, were lined up, but none of them were mystic.

He had been through all of the black market stalls, antique malls, and even online auction halls. Each location yielded the same result: nothing. The former celebrity chef released a frustrated groan. He had been so close to reclaiming his old life with the last brooch he had found here. If only those two pesky girls—the curly-headed one and the slime-ball—hadn’t stolen it from him and ruined his plans!

And to add insult to injury, they had trapped him in that backwater barbeque studio. Did those amateurs not understand how to properly prepare meat before cooking it?!

“Rubbish, pitchfork-wielding hicks,” Meat Sweats grumbled, stalking away from the broach district. “Don’t know the difference between brine and a bay leaf.”

Regardless of the past, Meat Sweats was determined to regain his fame, his cooking show, and his previous life as Rupert Swaggart. Nothing and no one was going to stop him! …Well, except for his lack of a human appearance. Meat Sweats continued to mutter under his breath. He had seen other mutants—pardon, yokai—with cloaking brooches. Why was he unable to find one? Maybe there was a recall for some kind of mystical enhancement.

“One moment,” Meat Sweats grunted. “A memory stirs.”

He put a fist to his chin as he thought of a past conversation. It had been a few weeks ago with a tiny worm mutant whose name completely slipped his mind. The fellow had said he purchased a mystical enhancement jewel from some mystic shop disguised as a secondhand corner store.

“If that’s the case,” Meat Sweats mused, “perchance a visit is in order.”

That very night, the pig mutant went to the corner store. He pulled his clothes tight to his frame upon entering the store. He didn’t much care if he looked suspicious; he just didn’t want the police called on him tonight. The first thing Meat Sweats saw was some skinny greasy guy standing behind the counter. This fellow must’ve been the cloaked yokai. Meat Sweats took in the man’s lackluster appearance, baseball cap, and vague scent of chevon. After taking a moment to size each other up, the mutated chef decided to break the silence first.

“I heard that you sell delectable jewelry in this establishment,” Meat Sweats said.

“Oh, we sell all kinds of things here,” the man stated. “Lamps, dolls, and toasters to name a few; but yeah, jewelry is in the mix. The name’s Clem!” He gave Meat Sweats a lazy onceover. “You, uh, looking for something particular, friend? Nudge, nudge.”

“Nudge, nudge?” Meat Sweats asked. “It’s ‘wink, wink,’ matey.” What a peculiar character.

“Clem, get your act together!” The man shook his head in self-deprecation. Giving the password away again because he forgot an idiom. How embarrassing!

Before Meat Sweats could fake curiosity over what Clem meant, the man began shedding his disguise. The now purple goat yokai rang the bell on the counter, revealing hidden compartments in the displays that contained his mystical wares. Clem spread his arms out, showcasing the jewelry on his shelves.

“You said you’re looking for jewelry,” he droned. “What kind?”

“Cloaking brooch,” Meat Sweats stated, tearing away his trench coat. “Can’t really go on live television looking like this, now can I?”

“Wouldn’t really recommend it, no,” Clem said after a low whistle. “I’ve got just the thing.”

He knelt down behind the counter and pulled up a tray laden with stunning brooches. Clem plucked one up and handed it to the pig mutant. Meat Sweats turned it in his metal hands, admiring the star-shaped silver with a shining pink pearl in its center. He pinned the brooch to his collar and gave it a little shine. Soon his body was wrapped up in the soft pink glow of the mystical cloaking energy. Meat Sweats looked at himself in the counter’s shiny surface. It was perfect.

“All kinds of handsome is me once again,” Meat Sweats, now Rupert Swaggart, grinned.

With a wink and kiss sent to his reflection, Rupert threw a few bills at Clem. He had no appetite for goat yokai shopkeepers at the moment. No, it was time for Rupert to reclaim his previous life in full.

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A few nights later, Mikey upped the volume on his kitchen television. It was time for Kondescending Kitchen, and he was determined to make the perfect risotto!

“Are you ready to unleash the flavor?!”

Mikey came to an abrupt halt. That voice…it couldn’t be! He focused fully on the television. Meat Sweats, disguised as Rupert Swaggart, stood front and center for a cheering audience. Not good.

“Guys,” the box turtle yelled, already reaching for his kusari-fundo, “we’ve got a problem!”

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Rupert left the stage with the sound of the audience’s queued cheers pouring into his ears. He smirked to himself as he entered his dressing room. It was quite refreshing to hear after months of absence from his television career. The station manager even said that she was going to schedule an interview about his dramatic transformations and his unexpected final return. Yes, his cloaking brooch shining brilliantly on his apron was working greatly in his favor. The chef grinned as he picked up the night’s winning dish: pork risotto.

“Time to savor my victory,” Rupert hummed contentedly.

“Not a chance, Meat Sweats!”

One yellow and four green blurs swept into Rupert’s vision. No, not these reptilian nuisances and that ruinous girl! While Rupert hadn’t done anything more than reclaim his television program from an undeserving rival, Meat Sweats should’ve known that these pains in his tendrils would catch wind of his return.

“Not you rotten eggs!” Meat Sweats snarled, ditching his disguise in favor of his more combat-ready pig mutant appearance.

“You know it!” April defiantly retorted. “Which poor yokai did you steal this brooch from?!”

Now Meat Sweats was genuinely confused.  He was also annoyed, but he had some modicum of integrity. He never stole the brooch. He didn’t even steal the first one! He bought both pieces fair and square. Granted his newest item was from a slightly more legitimate business. Nevertheless, why are these pests coming after him tonight?! He hadn’t even attempted to eat or poison anyone recently!

Before Meat Sweats could state his innocence, the fight was on. Raphael and Donatello charged him head on, while Leonardo and Michelangelo went for his sides. Meat Sweats easily knocked all four of them back with a swing of his meat tenderizer. He nearly missed April reaching for his rose gold cloaking brooch.

“Hands off!” Meat Sweats roared, stepping away from the girl and raising a protective hand over the shining pearl. “This is me own brooch!”

“Oh, yeah?” Mikey challenged. “Show us the receipt then!”

Meat Sweats, fed up with these annoying teenagers that always seemed to pop up in his life, shoved the seedy secondhand shop’s receipt into the smallest turtle’s face. The turtles and girl clearly didn’t expect this response. All fighting stopped, and it appeared the children were taking a moment to process the strip of paper between the pig mutant’s gloved fingers.

“Satisfied?!” Meat Sweats demanded.

“Wait,” Raph said in disbelief. “You actually, legitimately bought a cloaking brooch?”

“How much does one go for?” Donnie asked, squinting at the too small smudged numbers.

“Enough to get the job done,” Meat Sweats stated, stuffing the receipt back into his pocket. “Now, leave me be before I cook you all into turtle soup!”

“Not so fast,” Leo said. “Why do you need a cloaking brooch anyway. You’ve just been trying to eat and poison people this entire time. Did you want to do that when you were human, too, or is it a pig thing?”

Meat Sweats sighed in exasperation. Maybe he should’ve just let the fighting go on until either he passed out or they ran off. It was too late to find out, in any case. Now he had to converse with, ugh, teenagers about his rather tame plans and not-so-tame eating habits.

“Pig thing,” Meat Sweats stated shortly. He rubbed his cloaking brooch and reactivated his human façade. “I’m taking back what’s mine with this brooch. My show, my fame, and my life need my human face. I’m not about to let some mediocre fry cook take over my kitchen!”

The so-called chef the station had replaced him with was barely out of culinary school his skills were so dull. It boiled Meat Sweats’ blood. Whether those pesky teenagers liked it or not, Rupert Swaggart was making a comeback. Kondescending Kitchen needed him! Meat Sweats just needed a human face to rescue it. While some people were accepting of mutants or cosplay junkies, the public eye required a certain degree of discretion.

“How do we know you’re telling the truth?” April asked. She gave Rupert a distrustful once over.

“Not a problem!” Mikey interjected. He slid himself between his siblings and the returned celebrity chef. “We’ll just enroll him into my Evil League of Mutants Going Good Rehabilitation Program!”

“His what?” Rupert asked, baffled by whatever the exuberant turtle was rambling about.

“It is Michael’s method of transforming our enemies into allies,” Donnie drawled. “It has been showing promising results for Draxum. Though there may be a learning curve.”

“Yeah,” Leo reluctantly agreed, “but Draxum’s the only one that Mikey has worked with so far. How do we know it’ll work on this guy?”

“That’s easy,” Raph stated, fully confident in his baby brother. “Since we know that Mikey’s program worked on one of the worst people we know, we’ll help him with setting Meat Sweats on the right path.”

“And keep Mikey from getting star-struck,” April muttered, eying the way Mikey fawned over the sweaty chef.

Rupert rolled his eyes. What is wrong with these kids?! Were they seriously discussing the future of his moral status in front of him? He didn’t need to put up with this!

“Don’t I get any say in this?” Rupert demanded.

“No!”

All the teenagers glared at him, except for the orange clad turtle who had stars in his eyes. The audacity!

“Rubbish,” Rupert grunted.

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For weeks, Meat Sweats was under the unnervingly close surveillance of the Mad Dogs. A ridiculously unsuitable name for those five obnoxious kids. He despised how involved they forced themselves to be in his life. Telling him what to do and what not to do. It was annoying! Don’t eat the mutant silverfish this, and don’t sabotage your culinary rivals that. He was sick of it and was very vocal about his displeasure.

However, the teens didn’t seem to care nor let up in their efforts to conform him to the moral high ground. The chef didn’t know if reclaiming his glory was worth the hassle. At least he didn’t have to waste energy tenderizing their bones anymore. Michelangelo even had a realistic view of his character in spite of his fanboy attitude towards Rupert Swaggart.

The box turtle never expected him to become 100% kindhearted, if he ever became nice at all. However, Mikey did put limits on Meat Sweats and made him stick to some simple moral codes. Rupert just wanted to get his status as “Most Pretentious Chef in New York” back on track. Unfortunately, the youngest turtle did not allow him to perform any of his deliciously underhanded tricks on his competition.

“Meat Sweats!” Mikey admonished. He had just caught the reforming chef about to pour mystic poison into his delightful pizza puffs. Again. “What are we supposed to do with our culinary competition?!”

Meat Sweats released an annoyed grunt. He was getting tired of repeating his supposed mentor’s lessons, but it was mildly better than the intermittent fighting they used to go through.

“Out-serve them with quality meals, not quality poison,” Rupert droned. It was verbatim from one of Chef Mikey’s many “Maintaining Healthy Competition” lectures.

“Exactly,” Mikey said in a condescendingly sweet tone. He took the poison from Meat Sweats’ grip and yeeted it into the distance. “Now put on Rupert Swaggart, and let’s make filet mignon!”

Meat Sweats rolled his eyes at the young turtle’s antics but went along with it. Michelangelo was a decent enough chef for his age, proving his potential by the way he prepared that salmon when two drooling snakes were baring down on them. Rupert Swaggart activated his cloaking brooch and picked up a knife. He may as well humor Mikey with an attempt to mature his talent.

“Not a bad idea, lad,” Rupert agreed. “Filet mignon with roasted asparagus and,” he smirked, “truffles.”

Mikey’s eye twitched at the traumatic memory. “Not funny, sweat sock.”

Meat Sweats laughed uproariously, and even harder still when he saw Mikey’s annoyance growing. It was fun messing with this one. No matter what the chef threw his way, the young turtle always bounced back with an even snarkier reply. He might make a Kondescending Chef out of the boy yet. With no further preamble, the two mutants proceeded to craft a fine meal of filet mignon over roasted asparagus drizzled with mushroom sauce.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A month later, Rupert’s program established itself as the most popular food-related show on television once again. Crimes related to a food truck driven by a pig mutant plummeted as the celebrity chef made more public appearances. He had finally achieved his goal. Now Meat Sweats could kick back in his apartment, resting in his easy chair, and let the adulation from his fans inflate his ego, and his wallet, once more. A loud knock on his door broke him out of the moment, and the door being kicked open entirely had the pig mutant falling out of his chair.

“What in blazes?!” Meat Sweats shouted, quickly activating his cloaking brooch.

“Sorry for the door,” April cheered, giving no sign of remorse at all. “But I come baring gifts, and they’re heavy!”

April lifted several plastic bags filled with groceries. Rupert gave the girl an annoyed glare. He got up from the floor, set his door back into place minimal effort, and stared his “visitor” down. The chef didn’t know why she was in his home without her turtle friends, but he did catch the delightful aroma of raw meat, seasonings, and vegetables wafting from the bags in her hands. April immediately went to the kitchen and dumped a few wrapped lamb chops, fresh artichokes, a jar of capers, and several other ingredients onto the countertop.

“What are you doing, girlie?” Meat Sweats asked, dropping his disguise.

He was well used to the turtles’ surprise visits, but they always came in through the window or a portal into the living room. April rarely came by herself, so the chef had yet to learn her favored way of barging in.

“Setting up an apology,” April replied, organizing the meat, spices, and other ingredients.

“A what?” Meat Sweats was taken aback. This teen had been screwing up his life for months. Why was she apologizing now? What was she apologizing for?!

“You’ve been doing pretty good since you got that cloaking broach and went into Mikey’s rehab program,” April snickered. She rubbed the back of her neck sheepishly. “And I started feeling kinda bad about trapping you in the ‘Sauce That Hog’ studio.” Meat Sweats frowned deeply at the memory, and April had the sense to move on to the ingredients on the counter. “So I brought over all the ingredients for fancy lamb chops.” She waved the bag of artichokes enticingly. “Including some mystic artichokes fresh from the Hidden City.”

Meat Sweats snorted at the attempt to woo his culinary pallet. He may not spend much time with the girl, but he knew April could kiss up to anyone’s better nature once she found their Kryptonite. His was fairly obvious, and the chef took great pride in flaunting his cooking skills.

“So you thought that catering to me superior culinary taste with mystic produce and corner store mutton would make up for that torment?” He wasn’t going to let April off that easily though.

“It’s actually hogget from my cousin’s farm,” April corrected. “She raises the best meat livestock I’ve ever tasted, so I thought you might like to try it.”

“No kidding?” Meat Sweats, surprised that April knew different types of lamb meat, looked at the wrapped meats inquisitively.

“It’s sheep meat,” April smirked, “not goat.”

“Why must you pun like the blue one?” Meat Sweats grumbled. “Just give me the ingredients and watch me—”

“Unleash the flavor!” The mutant and teenager chorused.

Meat Sweats wasn’t expecting that either. He gave April an odd look. Mikey was his fanboy, so what was her excuse? April just grinned.

“Mikey got me to watch a few episodes from his favorite seasons of Kondescending Kitchen,” she explained. “What can I say? It’s a catchy line.”

“Yes, well,” Meat Sweats countered, “it’s my line.” He knows it was a lame comeback, but he really didn’t know how to respond. One minute he and these kids are at each other’s throats, the next he’s cooking filet mignon and lamb chops with them. He shakes his head and gestures to the other side of the sink. “Hand me my knife block. I want to chop up these artichokes for a marinade.”

“Yes, Chef,” April saluted.

“Cheeky girl,” Meat Sweats commented.

He and April made a delightful set of lamb chops topped with marinated artichokes and seasoned capers. The chef figured that if the return of Rupert Swaggart meant being badgered by those annoying Mad Dogs, then there are worse fates he could have been forced to endure. They weren’t as awful as he dreaded. If he didn’t enjoy being a jerk so much, he may have been tempted to even call them his friends. He still might. Just not when they were around. He had an image to maintain after all.

[tmntallthewaydown]

Tales of the Hidden City Writing Appreciation Post Pt.1!

The last batch of episodes, Tales of the Hidden City, were excellent. As an animator, it’s easy to get bowled over by the visuals of the show and just rant about those, but I wanted to spotlight another awesome part of Rise of TMNT -- the writing!

The writing is always fun in the show, but there were parts of these episodes that I really wanted to call out for how clever and great they are.

Each of the Tales of the Hidden City eps puts the characters in a situation where their strengths are negated or challenged. (Also, big cheer for a bunch of episodes finally exploring the Hidden City. It’s such a fun location, I want to see it all.)

Donnie Vs Witch Town  an episode where Donnie’s tech can’t solve the problem Raph’s Ride Along  an episode where Raph’s heroics are seen as anything but Hidden City’s Most Wanted  an episode where Mikey’s peacekeeping can’t keep the peace Bad Hair Day  an episode where the face man’s face ain’t enough

I figured I’d do a separate post for each episode so it doesn’t get over-long. 

I’ll be focusing on character development mainly since that’s what stood out to me most!

Donnie Vs Witch Town

Directed by Abe Audish, Written by Ian Busch, Storyboarded by Alicia Chan

*Spoilers for the episode!* I won’t do full recaps, and assume you’ve all seen the ep if you’re reading this..

We start with Donnie referencing the Shadow Fiend in the Battle Nexus. 

“Rumour has it, this Shadow Fiend is quite the fierce champion”

I’m assuming this line’s here because the writers want to keep dropping us tantalizing crumbs to set up the Shadow Fiend as being an important figure in this season. The writers want to keep them present and in our minds as well as let us know that whoever the fiend is, (I bet we all have guesses), they’ve gotta be making quite the name for themselves if even the Turtles have heard of them.

April says she’s headed to Witch Town, whereupon Donnie is horrified. I think horrified is the right word.

“Drop it, D.” “Why not ask me? Mr Science!”

The “Drop it, D” is an elegant way to imply this conversation is a continuation of one they were having pre-episode. April is already very done with the discussion.

Donnie’s line is great because it’s one of two times in this episode that he calls himself ‘Mr Science’ or ‘The Science Guy’. Here, the line comes off as triumphant and proud, but later there is a feeling of desperation to it. It’s a really nice parallel to set up at the beginning, so we can hammer home the duality of what that label means to Donnie.

To preface, this episode deals with Don’s self worth being tangled up in his ability to do Science good. Because of this, he does a lot of projecting in this episode. For the most part, you can assume any time he mentions ‘Science’, he is actually talking about himself. Basically, substitute that word for his own name, and it makes the subtext more obvious.

Here, have these just because they’re fun.

Don ‘helping out’ with various Science Fair projects. April has a good reason not to ask him for help again.

A nuclear powered cooking multi-tool?

The Erupting Volcano. The floor is literally lava.

The Classic Potato Battery experiment.

“Hmm. That must have been the work of another Teenage Mutant Ninja Dummie.”

I’m calling out Donnie’s response here just because I enjoy the consistency the writers give to the way he handles failures. Innnnn that he will feign complete ignorance of the incident and claim it must have been someone else entirely.

--

“You turned a cuddly animatronic bear into a psychotic robot bent on destroying us? No? Got April Fired? Mmm? Nothing? Mmm?” “That does not sound like me, no.”

- from Al Be Back

--

In general it’s an established part of his character that he has problems accepting failure.

Donnie deflects blame in many other episodes - to April in ‘The Purple Jacket’ and to his brothers in ‘Todd Scouts’ off the top of my head. This trait is pertinent to this episode in particular because the apology we get at the end of the episode from him is by far the most full and cohesive admission of blame he has given in the two series so far. I’d say it’s a step forward on the level of Leo’s apology from the ‘Air Turtle’ episode (another great episode showing Leo’s growth towards becoming a team player!). 

Either way, it’s nice that we see him redirect the blame early in the episode so the moment can provide more of a contrast to him coming full circle and accepting the blame later.

One last thing about the line - I put my hands up to admit that this may be me overthinking it, but Don essentially calls himself a dummie here. Whether this was intentional by the writers to hint at his insecurities or just a fun line, I couldn’t say - but since it relates back to events later in the episode I thought it might be worth mentioning.

Moving on, Donnie accompanies April to Witch Town despite it being the last place he wants to be. It’s our first hint that his obsessive need to convince April that all Mystic stuff is garbage might run a bit deeper than just vocal teasing. 

April calls him out on being closed minded and we get

“Oh I’m sorry, I was just stewing over how everyone needs to be more like me.”

Of course we know that’s not how he really feels, as we’ve all seen that episode.

The writing here is nice and subtle. It lets us know that Donnie isn’t being honest. He’s giving April sass, but the sentiment he’s expressing is false.

The episode continues with Donnie comparing every feat of magic to it’s scientific equivalent until April essentially tells him to can it if he doesn’t want a bat to the plastron. The witches show off, prompting exclamations from April at how amazing their magic is.

Then we get one of my favourite lines from Donnie as he snaps.

“Your Mystic Magic is not amazing, it’s simple and soft. There, I said it.”

That soft is a word that Donnie would use as an insult, associating it with something he dislikes and looks down on, is very affecting. You know what else is soft?

The writing here is so revealing and wonderful. They could have used any insult, but the writers chose to have him express his frustration in a way that sheds light on the way Donnie sees himself. It gets right to the root of the problem he has in this episode, which is that without his science and tech, Donnie doesn’t feel like he is particularly ‘Amazing’ either.

That April calling magic amazing is what prompt’s Don’s snap, rather than any of the words of the townsfolk, is one of the clues we’re given to the truth behind D’s drive in this episode. The writers will bring that back later on!

So April and Don are kicked outta Witch Town when Don’s improv musical performance to convince April to let him help her instead ends up blowing up in his face.

Popping this here because watching Donnie get deservedly smacked by April at this point was very cathartic for me. Dingus.

Donnie offers to help the witches in return for them helping April. It seems sweet at first, but it becomes plain fairly fast that this is really another opportunity for D to try and prove that science is king.

“Ah would you look at that. Banished, and I still saved the day.” “Wait, is that why you did this?” “Nooo! It’s because I was sorry - about being closed minded - about how wrong I were.”

Again, it’s up to the writers to show us that Donnie is lying about his motivations here. That little bit of incorrect grammar (saying ‘were’ instead of ‘was’), calls out to us that something is up. Donnie is smart, and it’s out of character for him to word things sloppily. It lets us know that all is not well, and that things are yet to be resolved, internally at least.

I couldn’t help calling out this wonderful posing, even though I’m trying to focus on the writing. It really sells us on the dissatisfaction brewing between them. Gorgeous acting from the animators.

The peace offering potion the witches were making seems to work, and Donnie wastes no time in trying to rub their faces in the fact that science provided one of the ingredients - until it becomes clear that Donnie’s contribution has soured the brew. He tries to avoid blame and responsibility, as we’ve seen him do in previous episodes (and earlier in this one). Nothing I’m calling out here besides the novelty of seeing a mob of witches trying to lynch a scientist - a bit of a historical reversal!

The big bad is storming Witch Town and Donnie gets ready to smack down - specifically “because when I defeat it with my tech, they will have to admit science is better!”

It’s worth saying that on the word ‘they’, he points directly at April. Because as we’re about to discover, it’s not actually proving to these random villagers that Science is best that’s important to him (though maybe that would be nice), but about proving to April specifically that Science is best. Thank you animators/storyboarders for making that subtext more explicit!

At this point we as the audience have had it up to here with Donnie’s bullheadedness. The reveal that D’s gripe is personal and April/brother specific, rather than just a frustration with Witch Town in general, goes some way to explaining why he is so obsessive over it.

Donnie’s Tech Bo breaks in the conflict, and we get the awesome reveal of April’s Mystic Bat. She is of course, badass with it and kicks butt. April saving Donnie’s hide with Mystic Magic prompts the confrontation between them that is the emotional heart of the episode.

“Why are you so obsessed with proving me wrong on this!?” “Because! I’m the Science Guy! (sigh) If Mystic Powers can do everything I can do but better, then why would you guys even need me?”

Here is the payoff to the opening ‘Mr Science’ line from earlier in the episode. The wording is similar, however this time the line is tinged with defeat. The duality revealed is that Science makes Don feel powerful, but without it, he feels powerless.

The visuals that go hand in hand with the dialog are very telling here, too.

The image of Donnie holding his broken Tech Bo isn’t just to show us that his technology isn’t enough to win, that it can be broken. It’s also showing us how he sees himself, drawing a direct comparison between Donnie and his broken Tech. He’s not always perfect, but he’s ultimately useful, right? Until he’s not. I’ve no doubt that this was a deliberate move from the Storyboarders, and I think they sold the moment brilliantly.

His words make it clear that Donnie believes that “if Mystic Powers can do everything I can do but better”, ie, help April with her project without blowing her classroom up, why would she not keep going to Mystics instead of him in the future? 

With her not ‘needing’ him for scientific assistance any more, he sees no reason for her to continue hanging out with him. This ties back to the clues the writers dropped earlier in the episode, that suggest he doesn’t regard himself highly without his science. 

The obsession this episode with disproving how ‘Amazing’ Mystic Magic is in front of April makes a lot more sense through the lens that he is fighting to keep April’s friendship.

“You Guys” expands this sentiment to include the rest of his family. If his tech ends up letting down the team and is unneeded then by extension, he would also be unneeded.

As viewers, we know this is untrue. Even beyond the fact that these characters rely on one another emotionally, we saw Don fight alongside his brothers in ‘Insane in the Mama Train’ - all of them tech-less and Mystic-less - and they kicked butt, even if they did end up being eventually captured. However, it’s clear from the writing here that this isn’t how Donatello himself feels.

“You’re not important to me because of your tech, you’re important to me because of you! I don’t think Mystic Powers is better than Science. If anything, they’re stronger together, just like us! Right?” “Right!”

April’s comeback is wonderful. Super eloquently written and gets right to the heart of his insecurities. First undermining the thought that if Don didn’t have tech, she wouldn’t need him, then framing Mystic Powers as something that will bring them closer together. Beautiful writing! 

I also want to just celebrate how the writers handle April’s characterisation as being someone who is super excited and curious about any kind of Mystic Magic or supernatural shenanigans. I really like this consistency in her character where she is way into anything otherworldly or unexplained. I hope we get to see more of it in the future!

We get to see April and Donnie kick butt together which super fun! I’m very happy we got another episode with these two, the way they bounce off one another is really enjoyable to watch.

“I was wrong to not be more open-minded. It’s just that Mystic Powers are the one thing I have not been able to solve. As a man of Science, it is maddening to finally come upon something that you do not understand. Especially when your dum-dum brothers totally do, and they wave their dum-dum weapons in their dum-dum hands all the dum-dum time! But that is just a long way of saying I am sorry’.

The apology is very articulate, letting us know that D is truthful here. It’s a nice little payoff when compared to his earlier lie with April, where the writers had him fudge his words to imply his dishonesty. 

April actually believes him this time too, judging by the lovely acting here. 

 We’re treated to this perspective on Donnie’s feelings, which reveals a couple of interesting things to us. ‘The one thing I have not been able to solve’ indicates that he has previously attempted - and failed - to understand Mystic stuff, which is new information. It goes against our impressions from the rest of the series so far (that he is simply disinterested). We also learn that his brothers’ understanding of their powers has created a knowledge imbalance that is a frustration to him. I very much hope that the show keeps taking steps in this direction with Donnie, just because I would love to see an arc that results in him getting more involved with the Mystic side of things.

To wrap up the episode, I really appreciated the way the writers handled the internal conflict in Donnie Vs Witch Town. There was a lot of subtlety and subtext in the writing, which I am absolutely here for. Donnie’s end reveal really recontextualizes the earlier shenanigans in a meaningful way, and marks a step forward for him. April has her Bat now, and Don is a little more open to Mystic Powers as a possibility! I’m excited to see where we go next! 

Thanks for sticking with me, if you got to the end, and I hope you found it as interesting as I did! ‘Raph’s Ride along’ is the next ep I’ll dig into.

[nightmarenoise]

TMNT 2012 First Impressions

So, I actually made my first experiences with the brand with Rise of the TMNT, which I love very much, thank you, but since I am now on vacation and have a lot of time to kill, I started watching TMNT 2012.

I’m only a few episodes in, but I have Thoughts and Opinions ™ that I felt like sharing with you regardless.

• I kinda like Raphael more than I thought I would. Sure, he’s a far cry from Rise!Raph, but I was expecting more of a constantly angry murder hobo than what I got. Sure, he’s still a murder hobo, but he’s more of a disgruntled teen and you know what, he’s 15

• Michelangelo is another pleasant surprise. Yes, he’s dumb, but he’s also a ray of sunshine. So far, he’s not as annoying as I was expecting, because most comic relief characters, when overused, can awaken that primal urge to throttle, but so far, I haven’t experienced that with Mikey

• I’ve always liked Donatello and I always will be here for adorkable science disasters. Though, from what I’ve heard about his behavior towards April down the line, I’m curious as to whether or not I will change my tune

• Leonardo feels kind of flat to me. It’s understandable that he wouldn’t compare positively to Rise!Leo, whom I also used to strongly dislike at first, because I don’t jell with those ego types. So far, he’s not bad, just feels kind of flat. He’s the leader, he’s trying to be responsible while also trying to emulate his favorite character from the TV show he hyperfixates on. What a mood.

• Splinter, I’m on the fence about, but when have I ever not been. 

• Ngl though, having a hard time getting over the fact that his and Shredder’s rivalry starter over a love triangle. That’s just, wow. Okay then.

I appreciate the show trying to teach kids valuable lessons, such as

‣ When you see a pretty girl get kidnapped, you have to help her cuz she pretty. Forget about her dad tho

‣ Don’t let insults get to you

‣ Online friends are fake friends

‣ Don’t let Mikey have your experimental military-grade hardware

‣ Drones are bad

‣ ??????

• My only grievance is the show’s focus on action over emotional beats and that means April suffers. Rise has a higher focus on characters over plot. We’re introduced to her as damsel in distress that we have to save because Donnie thinks she’s gorgeous. She’s freed but her dad is kidnapped. Instead of dwelling on that for a moment, she’s like “Well, good thing I can live with my aunt. But since we’re out of time for this week, I’m going to be fine, just drop by occasionally to further the various subplots I am now involved in. Don’t worry about my emotional stakes, I promise I won’t take the focus away from anything important” and then we don’t see her for some episodes, or she just randomly drops by to chill with the Turts without much introduction to the lair. Not even a comment or anything. I dunno, it felt rushed and like you could have gotten more out of that

•Krang, my guys, my dudes, just talk in your mother language when speaking to each other. I’m 89% certain that would be more specific and efficient

• The theme song will never not slap

In summation, it’s a very different show from what I’m used to, but also different from what I expected. It’s definitely enjoyable though, it’s gotten a few laughs out of me and I’m interested to see where it goes from here.

[nerianasims]

Billboard #1s 1971

Under the cut.

Tony Orlando & Dawn – “Knock Three Times” -- January 23, 1971

Lounge lizard smarm. Coming on to a neighbor who doesn't even know you is not going to end well, especially when you're bugging her by note in her own home.

The Osmonds – “One Bad Apple” -- February 13, 1971

Gah, another little kid singing a love song. And one that would be sleazy if it were sung by an adult. "I can tell you been hurt/ By that look on your face, girl/ Some guy brought a sad evening/ To your happy world." Or maybe she has indigestion. Or maybe that look on her face is because you're being a total creep at her. Go away, shut up, and grow up. This song is terrible.

Janis Joplin – “Me And Bobby McGee” -- March 20, 1971

Janis Joplin finished recording this song three days before she died. Always the good ones. In this case, a great one. This is one of my favorite songs.

The Temptations – “Just My Imagination (Running Away With Me)” -- April 3, 1971

The narrator is in love with a woman he doesn't know. Whether the woman even exists is an open question. He's dreaming of finding a love to have a nice life with, "a little home in the country." The background strings give the song a fitting dreamy quality. Brilliant and moving.

Three Dog Night – “Joy To The World” -- April 17, 1971

I've loved this song since I was a little kid, and it's easy to see why. "Jeremiah was a bullfrog! Was a good friend of mine!" My favorite part now is "If I were the king of the world/ Tell you what I'd do/ I'd throw away the cars and the bars and the wars/ Make sweet love to you." It's a song I have to dance to (while sitting nowadays), and is another of my favorite songs.

The Rolling Stones – “Brown Sugar” -- May 29, 1971

Whoo boy. Okay so. I didn't know what the lyrics were to any part of this song but the chorus until a couple years ago. Mick Jagger was capable of singing clearly, but he chose to pull the marbles in the mouth technique on this one, and you can see why. If people had had the internet to look up the lyrics easily in 1971, would this have been a hit? I'm not qualified to say anything else about it.

The Honey Cone – “Want Ads” -- June 12, 1971

Her husband is cheating on her, so she plans to advertise for a replacement, specifically a "young and single and free" one. It's Motown, but not the best type. The chorus is memorable, and the song is fun, but it's nothing too special.

Carole King – “It’s Too Late” -- June 19, 1971

Carole King, with her husband Gerry Goffin, was one of the biggest songwriters of the 60s. By 1971, she'd divorced her husband and released one of the most successful albums ever, Tapestry. I've got the CD. It's a song about a breakup, but not heartbreak. They tried to make it, but it's over now. It's a resigned, adult song about some very tired people. It's not my favorite song on Tapestry; that's "I Feel the Earth Move." But it's a really good song.

Paul Revere & The Raiders – “Indian Reservation (The Lament Of The Cherokee Reservation Indian)” -- July 24, 1971

Well, it's progress since "Running Bear" and "Custer" anyway. It's well-meaning, probably. And that's the only good thing I have to say about it. Moving on, as quickly as possible.

James Taylor – “You’ve Got A Friend” -- July 31, 1971

This is another Carole King song, and her version's on Tapestry. I prefer hers. It's a little faster, and I don't like James Taylor's voice.

The Bee Gees – “How Can You Mend A Broken Heart” -- August 7, 1971

Speaking of voices I don't like. This is before the Bee Gees got into disco. I think the song itself is probably pretty okay. But the way the Bee Gees sing it is too slow and overly mannered. At least there’s no falsetto.

Paul & Linda McCartney – “Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey” -- September 4, 1971

Um... what? I think this is Paul apologizing to what the Baby Boomers would later decree was the "Greatest Generation." Sort of. There's a bit of "sorry not sorry" about it too. It hardly feels like an intentional song at all though. More like Linda and Paul were screwing around in the studio.

Donny Osmond – “Go Away Little Girl” -- September 11, 1971

Seriously? Okay, Donny Osmond is a little boy, and a little boy telling a "little girl" to go away is more odd than creepy. But also, he's already in a committed relationship and so doesn't want to be tempted to cheat when he's what, twelve at most? Sheesh. People's taste is a mystery to me.

Rod Stewart – “Maggie May” -- October 2, 1971

UM. An older woman lured a young man away from home. A really young man. A really, really young man. Not a man, but a boy. He's obviously supposed to be under 18 -- I'd guess 16 at most. The lyrics are very much about grooming. It's musically good. And the lyrics don't excuse Maggie or anything. But it's not a song I want to listen to a lot either, considering the subject matter.

Cher – “Gypsys, Tramps & Thieves” -- November 6, 1971

I had no idea "gypsy" was a slur until a few years ago, or even that it was connected with the Romani people. I think most Americans probably still don't know. And they really didn't know in 1971. The narrator probably is not Romani, but who knows. The point of the song is that she's part of an underclass that's insulted and abused, but then "every night, all the men would come around and lay their money down." A 21 year old man seduces her when she's 16 and now she's pregnant, and he's nowhere to be found. What else is an underclass for, after all? Cher sings the hell out of it. So that's two songs in a row about an adult sexually exploiting a teenager.

Isaac Hayes – “Theme From Shaft“ -- November 20, 1971

Some levity is welcome. Especially when it's this good. Damn right.

Sly & The Family Stone – “Family Affair” -- December 4, 1971

This song has a slow funk beat. Slow for funk. It's also kinda repetitive. As for the lyrics, I don't know what's going on. It starts seeming like it's going to be about how kids in a family can turn out different, but they're still family so everyone's gonna love each other any way. Then it veers off into newlyweds who are still checking each other out. I think. And then... I don't get it. The song sounds good though, whatever it's about.

Melanie – “Brand New Key” -- December 25, 1971

Roller skates used to have keys. My mom liked Melanie, so she had an album with this on it, and so this song is how I learned about that. Also, I'm pretty sure this song is about sex. "I've got a brand new pair of rollerskates/ You've got a brand new key/ I think we should get together/ And try them out you see." It's a bouncy, fun little song.

BEST OF 1971:  "Me And Bobby McGee" by Janis Joplin WORST OF 1971: "One Bad Apple" by The Osmonds

[dreamsandmirages]

Me, rewatching some 03 season one

Sees the scene where everyone kinda faces off against the five elements

Me: 👀 time to theorise and see what 03 might have (un)intentionally assigned an element to each turt and rat

Anyways this is just me rambling past midnight, I’m not the best at character analysis so I’m super open to other people’s thoughts and interpretations.

Anyways so if we go by

Turts/rat as the element that would destroy the opposing elemental guardian they are facing off with:

Raph is earth

Leo is metal

Mikey is fire

Donnie is water

And splinter is air/wood

I say air/wood because, while the og five element grid has no air, the cartoon added in air so uhh,

Also I mean splinter said sth like “I will quell the air” so hm that works out

Anyways, if we take a look at this gird/chart that google so helpfully decided to give me about wuxing, or also known as the five elements

It’s very interesting to see the relationships between each elements. While it isn’t 100% accurate to the tmnt dynamic, it makes for some interesting explorations. One element is a foil for another, but can also create a different element.

Also since raph is earth and leo is metal it’s fun seeing the “earth creates metal” because in a way, raph is one of leo’s, if not his biggest, supporters.

Also the fact that they have elements that INSULT another is hilarious when thinking about the characters

Anyways, going to wikipedia, you can read that these elements can be used as phases to describe the state in nature

Wood is spring. It’s a period of growth and vitality. Splinter is their teacher and father, being the roots of the family. He was the one to nurture the boys and train them.

Fire is summer. It’s a time of flowering and it’s filled with energy. Mikey, that’s mikey. Mikey is often known as a ninja who is brimming with energy, but also potential. He’s very much just flowering.

Earth, interestingly enough, doesn’t get ur typical season. It’s an inbetween period, or maybe a sort of extension of summer. It’s accociated with leveling and fruition. Raph is quite a steady force for his brothers. But I’ll get back on that in a bit

Metal is autumn. A period of harvest and collecting. Leo’s usually the one to harvest new skills in battle or ninjitsu. His plans can be seen as a way that they harvest a victory.

And finally water is winter. It’s a still time of storage and retreat, like tides coming back into the ocean I guess. Basically it’s bringing room for the cycle to start again. Donnie in 03 has been stated to provide a lot of stability and calm, as shown in that one episode COUGHSAINWCOUGH.

Each element also gets a north south east west connection EXCEPT earth. Earth gets, once again, the middle ground.

Moving on to the medical side!

So yeah these five elements also were connected to chinese medicine, specifically, ORGANS!

Wiki gave me this very intricate graph but here’s sth more easier to digest

There’s a lot going on, but judging from the wiki page each element corresponds to multiple aspects. Planet, mental qualities, emotions. There’s a yin and yang organ and body parts and fluids, taste and smell, as well as time and life. They really went ham, which, props to them.

I like how the emotion part has a negative and positive.

I can see why people might swap raph and mikey’s elements around. Heck, I do it too. Especailly looking at the medical side of the five elements. Raph seems more like a passion and hate and resolve guy and mikey seems to be more agreeable and joyful. But to be honest? They do kinda fit the elements that 03 might have given them. Mikey does have the capacity to be bitter and tough and raph DEFINATELY has the capacity to be sweet and honest. Also, as I said, these are not 100% what the tmnt are, just a fun link to them. Also it’s funny how Splinter, a Rat, got the scaly animal

Anyways, the wiki article offers lots more info, like martial arts and music

I’d like to focus on the martial arts side for a moment

This is mentioned in the first image as well, with water being drilling and metal being splitting. Honestly? It’s pretty similar to the tmnt characters

You might say again, “hey! Raph’s more like fire and mikey more like earth though, right?” Nah, you see mikey with those nunchucks? Sais arent exactly as explosive as a stinging attack from a flying wooden stick with metal chains.

Ahem, anyways

I really feel like mikey and raph are very two close elements (in their own way. Each of the brothers has a fun dynamic with each other). Even in the show (with what I’ve rewatched so far) mikey and raph provide a lot of tension and relief for each other. Especially mikey for raph. So in terms of the elements, mikey and raph are very,, interrwined? They both have a very outward appearance and first layer that makes u think, “well, they’d really match with this element” but but but, they also work well the other way around

Mikey is VERY energetic and explosive. He’s impulsive in his own way and burns bright with just this bright energy. Raph, while known as a hothead, is very much a pillar to his family. More often than not you’ll see raph backing up his brothers, defending them when they’re down. You’ll see him supporting his brothers off the battlefield as well, a steady force.

Anyways I cannot think of anything else to say rn so I’ll end it here

[devotedlydeepeststrawberry]

Sooouu, I started this by wanting to explain why Rise!Leo wouldn't be a good leader right now and I kinda ended up explaining where I would take the story if I wrote it. Anyway I'm a bad writer and English is not my main language so if anybody gets inspired by any of this and decides to write a fan-fiction from it, be my guest (and please link it).

First of let's start with my initial why Leo wouldn't be a good leader. Even though he has a great gut feeling (I think he was wrong only one time in the first season), is relatively good at planing, is able to motivate his brothers with his speeches and his brothers do listen to him sometimes he lacks responsibility and confidence.

Different to Donnie, who is awesome at one specific thing and seeks recognition for it, Leo does not have a specific thing he is good at. Instead he seeks recognition in medals and competitions, he is boasting about his wins because they are the only thing he has going for him and nobody else is praising him for anything, even when he is right or saves somebody. This lead to Leo thinking he is not good enough on his own, even tough he proved otherwise in Bug Busters where he was alone in Big Mama's Hotel and was still able to save his brothers. The first thing he did in Portal Jacked when his brother were lost was to go to Señior Hueso for help(sorry for misspelling his name), in Flushed but Never Forgotten he went to his father for help. Unless he can't help it, he makes sure that he is never alone in a situation that might go south because he lacks the confidence to use the skills he has.

The second point is the fact that he isn't responsible enough to be a leader. He tries to avoid responsibility for his actions every chance he gets. That's why this Leo doesn't want to be leader because he knows that he would be responsible not only for himself but also for his brothers. And that ties in with his lack of confidence. However, in Flushed but Never Forgotten, when his family was in danger he threw away his reason, went after them without a plan and took on full responsibility for the plan while being ready to be the only one to take punishment, sacrificing himself. Meaning he is only ready to take responsibility in dire situations.

On the other hand Raph, being the oldest, is used to care and be responsible for his brothers, but he cares too much. He didn't want to let Mikey go on a mission alone, his plan for better teamwork only worked because his brothers pitied him and when Donnie put their family in danger with his gifts Raph didn't want to hurt Donnie's feelings. This are things a big brother would do, not a leader. As it is right now both Raph and Leo are bad leaders, the former for caring too much and the latter for not wanting to be one.

And this where I explain where I would take the story so Leo can become a leader.

First off, Leo needs to get confidence and more leadership skills. But where would he get that? Of course by being away from his family and meeting new people. But, where?

Currently, we know three places where he can go do that:

human world(with the thing that turns yokai's into human)

The Mystic City

Battle Nexus

The human world is more for Donnie. He already has a group he fights against (Purple Dragons), and is more interested in normal school than his brothers. Aside from that, Donnie has the brains to recreate the thing that could turn them human plus he would greatly benefit from being a human. Donnie's main issues are his constant need for praise and his lack of understanding other people's feelings. For him meeting teachers who praise him and people who have the same intellect as him would do wonders on his mood. Of course he would also need to handle bullies and realize that in the real world team work and communication is really important. Plus you won't be able to choose who you work with, you need to be able to compromise and understand the other persons strengths and weaknesses, that also means putting other people before himself. Donnie also needs to understand that, as much as hates being sociable, everybody can be useful so he needs to make a lot of connection, even with people dumber than him and he is not allowed to insult them. Leo would be there to tell him that, but Donnie wouldn't listen to him until he is in a great pinch. In the end he realizes that Leo was right, but never tells him that and his live improves greatly.

Leo is a sociable person. He would be quick to make new friends and maybe be relatively popular. He wouldn't benefit at all from going to a human school.

The Mystic City is not a challenge for Leo. Aside from Draxum, there aren't really dangers he would need to face there. The last time he was there, he survived without his sword in the bad part of the city. He did have Hueso with him but why would Leo go there alone in the first place? Leo also doesn't have good mystic powers, but do you know who does? Mikey. From what we have seen of Mikey, he is friendly and creative. Mikey would thrive in the Mystic City, find friends, be creative and maybe even learn a thing or two to impress his older brothers. For why he would go there, he would want to prove himself to Raph. He is not just a baby anymore, he can survive without him breathing down Mikey's neck. Leo would be supportive, give Mikey some advice on pirates and bad places, maybe ask Hueso to help Mikey discreetly. It would work out in the end. Leo would be right once again. Raph wouldn't like all of this one bit.

Now to the Battle Nexus. I really thought that this would be the perfect place for Leo. Being a champion is an easy bait for him, but Leo isn't dumb. He wouldn't trust Big Mama and would not easily fall into her trap. Besides the Battle Nexus is one against one, not for teams and why would Big Mama want Leo there in the first place. No. She would want somebody strong, feral, somebody like Raph. Give Raph some cutesy stuff and the trap is laid. So we have a Raph that is totally alone in the Battle Nexus for days while fighting big scary mutants and yokai. He would go crazy, and wouldn't find a way out. Cue, the other three trying to save him with Leo's plan. It fails, miserably. For the first time in Leo's life he was actually wrong at something and it could have cost his brothers lives, it was all his fault. And this time it wasn't a lesson by his father. He needed to plead Raph to calm down while protecting his other two brothers. Raph listens to Leo's pleading and calms down after a while, but in Leo's eyes Raph didn't calm down because of him but out of his own strength, since, after this, Raph learnt how to control his feral side and was able to save all four of them all on his own.

All of Leo's brothers overcame their weaknesses. They became better ninjas. Leaving Leo the only one who hasn't changed. He was still bad with his mystic powers, and the medals he earned were worth nothing.

So how would Leo grow? Simple, just like all the Leos before him. He gets to fight the same enemy as them but in a different way. There was a shot in the episode Shadow of Evil(around the 18 minute mark, can't screen shot it now) where Draxum creates a rift. On one side of it are three turtles and Splinter and on the other side, The Foot and Leo. All of them look surprised at where Draxum is. Now, this could be as to create a balance in the scene or for foreshadowing. I will choose the latter for my story.

As we know Draxum and the Foot soldiers are not on the best terms. There will be betrayal and fights in their future. However Draxum became too powerful for two soldiers to defeat, so they steal the finished armor but they don't wear it. Fast Forward to turtles plus April plus Splinter vs Draxum. Turtle family loses and the only one to escape is Leo. Leo has show to go to drastic measures for his family and is ready to accept help because he is too scared to fight alone. Enter The Foot Brute and Lieutenant with the finished armor. They tell him about how the armor grands wishes and could give Leo the power to save his family. His gut tells him that this is a bad idea but his gut was wrong before, and this was the only way to save his family. He accepts wearing the armor to save his family, together with the Foot clan.

Of course they succeed, but Draxum manages to escape. Now that Leo's wish was granted the armor or, better, Shredder takes over Leo's body. Like I said, Leo is skillful but he doesn't know how to use his skills and has no confidence but imagine Leo's skill and weapon in Shredder's hands. The turtles are lucky that the new villain isn't yet used to his new body, so he decides to escape, together with the Brute and Lieutenant.

And that's it for what we see of Leo for a while. The other episodes would be about a life style without Leo. His family will realize how much Leo has actually done for them and even start missing his jokes. They will live their lives, fail and succeed at stuff, while searching for Leo. Each turtle will get their individual episodes that seems fine, but kinda off in way. This way ROTTMNT can fulfill their promise to not be a Leo centric show because every turtle gets their own arc. They will have their own enemies and issues to fight and overcome, while Leo is just a supporting character and he importance only becomes clear once he is gone.

Now, while the other turtles had a few episodes of their story arc with some interludes for comic relief and episodes of the family members, I want Leo’s story to have one half hour episode episode, like Shadow of evil. So, what is happening with Leo?

While his his body is controlled by Shredder, his mind is trapped in the armor, together with the person who sealed Shredder all those years ago, Karai. You can imagine her anger when she realized a turtle let Shredder lose. They talk. He explains who he is, how he got here etc... Karai explains to him what ’here’ is and who Shredder is. Leo realizes he released armageddon upon the world, and, more importantly, his family. However not all hope is lost. Since Leo has Lou JItsu’s DNA, he, in a way, is related to Karai, meaning he has the power to fight against Shredder and take his body back. Leo tries calling Karai grandma, that did not end well. Anyway, Leo doesn’t know how to fight against Shredder so Karai offers to teach him and since they are in the armor Karai decides to use Leo’s memories to create a copy of Lou Jitsu to boost Leo’s moral.

Leo needed a pep talk, a bunch of stuff happens but Leo still wasn’t able to understand how she could fight against Shredder and Karai got more irritated by the minute. Meanwhile, Shredder realized what Karai was doing, knowing what and who Leo is and how dangerous the situation could get for him, he separates Karai and Leo by trapping Leo in a simulation of what happened in the war when he was sealed according to his and Kara’s memories. Bad move.

Leo was stuck in a never ending loop, where a bunch of good people died and Karai sacrificed herself to stop Shredder. Turns out Karai was quite similar to Lou JItsu since she didn’t care for her families destiny as well and that was the catalyst for her families death by the hands of Shredder. After a while Leo had enough and managed to use Karai’s training to stop the loop, turn back time and fall right into the story. He meets Karai and Usagi the young, soon to be leaders of their repective armies. Right then they were arguing about what they should do. In fact, one of the main reasons why Shredder couldn’t be defeated in the past was because Usagi and Karai would argue too much so they created two armies instead of one. Leo knew if they had put their differences aside or at least compromise lives could have been saved, so he decides to change this simulation

He acted as the middle man for the two and compromised a co-leadership. They didn’t trust him at first but with time they became close friends with Karai teaching Leo about swords and Usagi helping with the mystic powers They created an army and when the time came to choose a leader Leo was chosen with Karai and Usagi being his advisors. They managed to defeat Shredder. Leo got back to the Karai in the armor and they continued their training until Leo’s family came to save him.

The turtle plus April and Splinter used their training from their own arcs to save Leo. They were apologizing to Leo and all the typical stuff. Leo didn’t finish his training with Karai so he still wasn’t able to defeat Shredder for good but he couldn’t let Shredder use his body to kill his family, Karai understood and let him go with a last words being something along the lines of ‘Go my teenage mutant ninja turtles’, giving them their name while he just said ‘bye, grandma’.

He managed to get his body back but the armor and Shredder were still alive. Giving Leo an end goal. After this incident Leo had some PTSD to handle(he fought in war). Things happened and everybody gradually realized that Leo would be good leader and he was offered the position he accepted. I mean it couldn’t be worse than what happened in the simulation,

[msjr0119]

Love, Fate, Destiny

Part 6 - Jealous

Riley Brooks is a waitress in a ‘Dive bar” in New York. One Saturday night, her past comes back to haunt her as some unfamiliar punters enter her bar on a bachelor party- one of them being someone who she was once close to.

*CHARACTERS BELONG TO PIXELBERRY*

Tags- @annekebbphotography @burnsoslow @drakesensworld @ladyangel70 @butindeed @bbrandy2002 @kingliam2019 @bascmve01 @drakewalker04 @pedudley @captain-kingliamsqueen @duchessemersynwalker @insideamirage @of-course-i-went-to-hartfeld @kozabaji @texaskitten30 @ibldw-main @kimmiedoo5 @nikkis1983 @dangerouseggseagleartisan @gnatbrain @walker7519 @lodberg @cmestrella @hopefulmoonobject @addictedtodrakefanfic @angi15h @liamxs-world @rafasgirl23415 @notoriouscs

******

“I just came to say goodbye.”

Rileys jaw was agape. She believed that after Drake’s outburst they would talk and go back to normal. As she watched him rush out the room, she moved one foot forward deciding to follow before Maxwell pulled her back.

“Blossom, don’t run after him. It’ll cause gossip. I’ll take you to his room after. I promise.”

Riley nodded sadly, she had hoped he meant goodbye as in goodnight. If he decided to leave, what was the point in her being there- there was none.

The evening slowly drew to a close. Everyone bid each other goodnight. Maxwell held Riley back purposely making sure that everyone had gone their separate ways. Luckily, Drake’s room was close to Riley’s so no one would suspect anything suspicious.

Max opened the door, noticing his friend slumped against the bed with a bottle of whiskey in his hand. He ushered Riley in. She knew Drake liked to drink, but she had never seen him this melancholy before- to drink himself into oblivion.

“Drake?” Riley spoke softly, concerned about him.

“Ri.” He couldn’t look at her, he was still pissed off with Liam for suggesting that she completed in his social season.

“I’ll leave you two to it, I’ll stay in your room Ri.”

Giving Riley a soft smile- Maxwell left the two lovers alone, he didn’t want to play gooseberry. Riley slid to the floor, sitting next to Drake- snuggling up to him.

“Sorry.” Drake said quietly and emotionally. His head was spinning and believing he wouldn’t be able to string a sentence together. Riley cupped his cheek, ensuring that his eyes were fixated on hers.

“I’m sorry too. When Liam offered me this opportunity, I just had to follow my heart that led to you.”

Drake placed a comforting arm around her, pulling her into his warm embrace. The smell of whiskey lingered, his scent made her feel intoxicated. Riley decided to make a coffee to try and sober him up- his drunk mind wouldn’t comprehend how much she truly wanted him. They sat silence for a while, holding each other affectionately.

I don't like the way he's looking at you.I'm starting to think you want him too. Am I crazy? Have I lost ya? Even though I know you love me, can't help it.

Drake didn’t want to let Riley know about his inner thoughts. Paranoid. Constantly imagining Liam attempting to steal his girl. It’s happened before when they were teenagers. So what’s preventing it from happening again. But this time, this constant thought stabbed him in the heart like a voodoo doll. Riley was the only woman he had ever had true feelings about. These seven years, he tried to move on from her but physically couldn’t- she was a distant memory that kept reoccurring in his head on a daily basis. They both eventually stood up from the floor- Drake feeling slightly less drunk.

“I suppose I better get to my own room. I love you Drake.”

“I love you too! When this sham is over, my bags are packed to come back with you. Look.”

Riley gazed over to the corner of the room where Drake’s finger pointed. A large suitcase, had been packed. Opening his wardrobe it was bare.

“I want a future with you Riley. I messed up in the past. It’ll be the biggest regret of my life.”

“You didn’t ‘mess up’ intentionally, I understand. I just wish you didn’t completely disappear off the face of the earth and had kept in touch with me. I love you. I always have and I always will. I’ll see you tomorrow baby.”

Riley text Max to make sure the coast was clear. He soon knocked on the door, and witnessed the two smooching, saying their goodbyes.

'Cause you're too sexy, beautiful

And everybody wants to taste

That's why (that's why)

I still get jealous

*****

The next morning, Riley woke up to Maxwell bounding through the door. He gave her some privacy to get ready, before introducing her to his brother- the Duke of Ramsford. Riley believed Maxwell was pulling some sick joke on her- they can’t be brothers, she thought. Maxwell was outgoing. Bertrand was a full on snob, I mean who wears sweater vests with a blazer in today’s society. He gave the impression that he was strict, like a demon headteacher who would use the cane if you did anything slightly incorrect.

“Let’s pretend that I am meeting you for the first time at a royal event. ‘Hello. It’s a pleasure to meet you Lady Riley.’”

“The pleasures all mine, Duke Ramsford.”

Riley curtsied, whilst Bertrand took her hand in his right hand before kissing the back of it.

“Now, what did I do wrong?”

Riley smirked, Maxwell had explained to her about hand gestures. This was a test- a test Bertrand was hoping she would fail. Not that she gave a shit as she really wasn’t fighting for Liam’s hand.

“You should have taken my hand with your left hand. Otherwise it’s an insult.”

Straightening his expression out, he was impressed with her observation. Bertrand explained that the limo was waiting for them to take them to the Derby at Honeyhill Downs.

“I know this is all a sham and fake. But I’m so proud of you. I could turn you into a noble if you carry on impressing the Duke. Are you sure you’re a waitress and not lying to us all?”

“Max, I’m pretty sure I’m just a waitress. Let’s just say I’m a quick learner. And you’re a great teacher.”

*****

They arrived, and the press swarmed around her. Shit. Just breath Riley. Donnie Brine was pleased with Riley’s ‘confident’ attitude for a newbie and now stereotyped her as ‘the mystery woman.’ She also impressed Ana De Luca - Maxwell was grinning like a Cheshire Cat, his attitude was like that of a first time parent when their child begins to walk- he was proud beyond words.

Maxwell escorted Riley to the White tents, where she met Hana and Olivia- err Olivia. First impressions of the redhead wasn’t the best- she needed to make amends. Olivia seemed much more relaxed around Riley now knowing her true intentions of being here- but the Duchess couldn’t resist stirring the pot.

“Lady Riley, I’d like you to meet Lady Penelope and Lady Kiara. Penelope loves dogs- specifically little rat ones. And Kiara is so intelligent - she speaks so many languages.”

“Hi, Riley! And they aren’t rats- they are poodles who are fluffy and cute!” Penelope squealed. She’s going to be the ditsy one of the group.

“Bonjour Riley. Ravi de vous rencontrer.” I don’t speak french- shit.

“Lady Kiara and Drake had a thing a few years back. In fact it’s been brewing for years wouldn’t you say Ki?”

“Oui, Duchess Olivia. He’s so handsome. I’d love to know what he’s like in bed....”

Hana saw Riley freeze, gulping hard she noticed that no one observed her sudden change of expression, and the increase of her breathing.

“Lady Riley can you help with the drinks please.”

“Oh, of course Hana. Nice to meet you all.”

“Thankyou!”

“No problem”

They retrieved the drinks returning to the ladies in the white tent. Riley felt jealous- she needed to grab some air away from everyone. Explaining to Hana where she was going, Hana understood. Riley walked in a daze, she stumbled into a stable with some horses each in their own pen. No one will see me here. Sitting on some hay, she lifted her knees to her face, finally letting tears fall. After her little outburst, she began to admire the beauty of the horses. Feeling like a ‘loon’ she began to speak to the horses as if they were humans- startling one of them, it barrelled straight towards her after the pens door became loose.

“Easy, easy horsey! Everything’s okay!”

Riley shut her eyes, her body froze in shock- not knowing what to do. Should she run, should she stay frozen or should she scream for help.

“Woah there, woah!”

Drake calmed the horse down, before leading it back into a pen. Riley slowly opened her eyes, relieved that someone had come to her rescue.

“Nothing to worry about big fella. I’ll get this girl outta here for you. You okay baby?”

“You saved me. My hero!”

“Really? I thought I was saving the horse... these derby runners are like athletes. Can’t risk an injury over a stray human.”

“Oh charming. Did the horse knock the sense out of you?”

“Nah...in fact I got away without a scratch...Come here.”

Drake pulled Riley up, her hair was skew-wiff as if she had just woken up. He began to pull out hay from her beautiful brown curly locks. Before holding her protectively.

“You know id never let a horse trample you. I love you too much.”

“I love you too- even if you are a sarcastic son of a bitch.”

Drake crashed his searing hot lips onto Riley, she was intoxicating. He didn’t know how many more opportunities he would get with her alone. Grabbing her dress, he yanked it upwards and over her head before thrusting against her. His jeans tightened at the sight of her. Unzipping his jeans, she pulled out his cock gently stroking it before increasing the speed. Slipping his fingers underneath the elastic of her lace underwear, he gently pulled them to her ankles before Riley kicked them away. Laying her gently on the hay she spread her legs, positioning himself in between them - admiring her beauty. Removing his shirt, discarding it on the floor with the other clothes- she began feeling his bare muscled chest. Kissing her neck passionately, he needed her. She needed him. Losing themselves into each other’s touches. She felt her wetness slipping onto his manhood, as he entered her slowly. He took her nipple in his mouth and cradled her other breast in his calloused palm. Rocking in the perfect sync, the pair couldn’t contain their moans. Grunting as he exploded inside her -he fell to the side of her. Riley rolled over in to Drake’s arms.

“That was unexpected.” She said seductively, whilst running her finger over his chest.

“You know how I like to surprise you. Good job you got lost and I followed you.” Winking at her, he was feeling content and glad he listened to instincts.

“Yes. Even though it’s kind of creepy that you were following me. I suppose we better leave- we have a lawn party to attend. And Maxwell will be fretting.”

“It’s not creepy. If we have to go through with this charade, I’m keeping my eye on you and protecting you. I love you.”

“My knight in shining armour. Love you too Walker.”

[yobaba30]

Brace yourself, dear reader, for today’s topic is rage. Not just any garden-variety rage, but its narcissistic kind, one of the darkest and most destructive manifestations of our Shadow.

A narcissist’s rage is always there, sometimes barely under the surface, sometimes hovering above it in the form of sadistic cruelties dispensed casually without specific reason, just because (that stupid dog was in my way, you are so fat and ugly, only idiots park their cars in this spot, and no one talks to me like that — any or no reason would do). There are, however, solid enough explanations of its existence.

You may have heard of Donald Trump’s very bad day the other Tuesday — or rather what would have been a very bad day for any normal person / presidential candidate confronted with his inaccuracies and lies. For Donald, however, it was just Tuesday as usual, complete with playing the Perpetual Victim™ of the Cruel and Unforgiving Press, and humiliating people who dared to question him about these pesky things known as facts.

The sordid as usual spectacle was instructive, as is everything else coming from the man, in the dynamics of narcissistic pathology.

First, the bombast. His over-the-top pronouncements about his huuuge charitable efforts are meant to shock and awe the audience into unquestioning submission.

Second, should any audience member retain his or her bearings and still manage to persist in their questioning, next comes the unloading of the massive victimhood complex designed to cow them into silence filled, presumably, with commiseration and appreciation for the Put Upon Donny and His Unique Suffering (and, oh, how he suffers! only a narcissist can suffer so — you mere mortals / losers cannot possibly comprehend it).

Third — since, remarkably enough, the first two options did not quite work, a sign perhaps that some of the press members are growing spines — there followed a predictable, but still shocking, dose of sadism in the form of insults, direct and less so, meant to shut everyone up for good.

It is instructive to watch The Donald, who epitomizes dishonesty and sleaze, rage at the reporters for being “dishonest” and call them sleazy — for trying to extract some honesty and truth from him. He shames them — or futilely attempts to, given that his moral standing is non-existent and reality is decidedly not on his side — with the ease and force that indicates the extent of his own fear of shame.

This sequelae, seen above, in response to shame is classic for any narcissist, especially one of this extreme caliber, for very obvious reasons:

The narcissist tends to be very sensitive to shame, which he perceives as humiliation: a blow to his ego (sense of self) and/or a threat to what he sees as his important status compared to others. This sensitivity is the reason why he tends to lash out at those who shame or appear to shame him in any way. His reactions to shame are grossly disproportionate to the “offense;” he will hold grudges and seek revenge sometimes till death, his own or his “offender’s,” whichever comes first. Hell hath no fury like a narcissist scorned.

Shame is so difficult for a narcissist to tolerate because it arises from an exposure of some flaw of his to others. He has many serious shortcomings; but in his own eyes he is perfect and surpasses everyone else, as he will let you know time and again, directly and not. He must retain this grandiose delusion of superiority and perfection at all costs because this is all he has. His bigger than life persona hides an empty inner core, devoid of meaningful values and attachments. A prick of shame exposing any flaws in the narcissist’s façade has a potential of deflating it and effectively destroying him since there is nothing of substance to fall back on within his inner world.

The rage with which a narcissist reacts to shame or humiliation thus deflects attention from his inner emptiness. That rage is often a predominant emotion, particularly in a narcissist who feels chronically deprived of the admiration and perks he believes he deserves (and as his need for admiration and perks is bottomless, so then is his sense of deprivation). It does not take much to provoke it: a simple, neutral observation or a request can suddenly unleash it on an unsuspecting victim.

The vehement defense against shame is also another reason why a narcissist never takes responsibility for his behavior. Why should he anyway, when he’s perfect and does no wrong? Nothing is ever his fault, no matter how great a mess he creates. Responsibility is always projected outwards, onto others, as blame. Admitting his culpability in anything could lead to shame and cracks in the false façade that defines his character — and his ego won’t allow that. It is a matter of life and death, ‘psychically’ speaking.

The flip side of his shame intolerance is his desire to humiliate others. It comes as naturally to him as breathing. He derives pleasure from inflicting on others the kind of pain he himself wants to avoid at all costs. Humiliating other people is almost as satisfying as winning. It helps that the two often go together in the narcissist’s life. In fact, humiliating others is itself a win. And he likes to win.

What we have seen in Donald’s behavior was a relatively mild version of narcissistic aggression in response to shame, but it gives us a glimpse of what’s beneath it. We are still in the wooing phase, and Donald is, believe it or not, on his best behavior.

He is still The Charming Donald (or what passes for charming in Trumpland), trying to curry our favor and votes. If he makes it into the White House, then we will get to know his true self, unhampered by all these frivolous niceties.

We must appreciate the often sadistic and always revealing quality of insults dished out by The Donald at the people who try to confront him with reality, because, in the Freudian-slippage way, they expose his shadow — take this one, directed at ABC’s Tom Llamas on Tuesday:

You’re a sleaze because you know the facts and you know the facts well.

In this breathtaking attack, The Donald conveyed more than he wished. While his intent was to imply that he was being unfairly (but of course) criticized by the reporter who should know better, he let us know, Freudian-slippage style, what we have observed time and again: that reality as we know it with its pesky facts is optional — and threatening — for him, because he lives in his own version of it, where we all should join him (if we knew what’s good for us).

This again ties in with his pathological defense against shame. A narcissist’s facts and facts as most of us know them are distinctly incompatible, and you bring it up at your own risk.

Should the truth — those inconvenient realities of his life and his character as the rest of us see them — be revealed, he would be emotionally annihilated, so he cannot allow that. Yes, a narcissist would kill, easily, to protect his fragile ego from this unforgivable, to him, insult of the truth.

That narcissistic rage attacks can be deadly we see in, for example, the tragic and seemingly incomprehensible instances of lethal domestic violence where a narcissistically injured spouse, usually a husband, lashes out at his wife who may have offended him “for the last time” by confronting him with some imperfection of his (as in, Would you take your shoes off the table, please?). We can also see it, brazenly displayed, in the lives of genocidal tyrants. Saddam Hussein, for instance, was known to invite his advisers to give him honest feedback, and then execute those who took the honest part seriously. Ditto Stalin.

The epidemic of gun violence in the US, particularly mass shootings — a persistent clamoring of our Shadow to pay attention to its presence, something we equally persistently refuse to do — is also driven largely by narcissistic rage. During a news conference several days ago about the UCLA shooter, the chief of LAPD said the following:

Everybody tries to look for a good reason for this. There is no good reason for this. This is a mental issue, mental derangement.

He was correct that there is no good reason for this and that “mental derangement” is the cause — but we should learn to identify and name this specific mental derangement, called aggrieved entitlement, which is a form of narcissistic rage, already. Our failure to do so, repeatedly and with the kind of stubbornness that suggests willful blindness, is deadly. Whatever other difficulties the UCLA shooter may have experienced, we can assume with a fair degree of certainty that narcissistic entitlement and rage were among them, as it is nearly always the case. For it takes a grand dose of faith in one’s specialness to believe that one has a right to take another’s life — or many — in revenge for whatever slights, real or imagined, one may have experienced.

Tom Llamas’ offense, like those unlucky honest Hussein’s advisers, was, in addition to confronting Trump with cold facts about his charitable inactivities, ignoring those central facts that comprise the narcissist’s reality:

It is not, however, as though his understanding of himself and the world is entirely fact-free. There are three major facts around which his whole reality is organized:

1. I am great.

2. People unfairly malign me.

3. I will show them (they will pay).

Those are not just beliefs — they are facts etched deep in his psyche, and they evoke corresponding emotional states of 1. grandiose pride, 2. sense of victimhood and resentment, 3. desire for revenge, all of which form the core of his sense of self and motivate his actions.

“You’re a sleaze because you know the facts and you know the facts well” — the real facts, about the narcissist’s unsurpassed and unquestioned greatness — and you choose to ignore them. You will pay.

Trump’s gratuitous putdowns hint at the reservoir of narcissistic rage within. If physical violence (or a lawsuit) is not an option, sadistic insults will do. We all remember his gleeful mockery of a disabled reporter; yesterday, he gave us another example when talking about John Kerry’s accident in France last year:

He goes into a bicycle race, and he breaks his leg, and he’s incapacitated. And you know what they’re saying to each other? ‘How dumb is this guy? How dumb?’

The crowd laughed, as WaPo reports.

Narcissistic rage is easily evoked by the weakness of others, which the narcissist finds contemptible and deserving punishment, sometimes giving us hints at his own early traumas he may have experienced as a weak and helpless child at mercy of his harsh and/or cruel caretakers.

It also gives us a close look at other aspects of his shadow. Here is what Trump said about Hillary Clinton this week:

She’s a total mess, she’s unstable, and she can’t be president.

And how he responded when asked why he engaged in Twitter wars with Elizabeth Warren:

Because she is a nasty person, a terrible senator, and it drives her crazy.

These grade-school level barbs, which, like everything else that comes from the man’s mouth, are based on projection, tell us most about his shadow, facts which he does not want to — cannot, at a risk of grave injury — acknowledge of himself: that he is a nasty person, a total mess, unstable, terrible at his job (whatever it really is), and easily driven crazy by petty insults and criticisms. Oh, and that he can’t be president. If only Donald listened to his shadow��

Narcissistic rage is one of the darkest and deadliest forces known to mankind. Before it erupts, it usually simmers and percolates for a long time, fueled by resentment, envy and entitlement, the latter always aggrieved as the narcissist’s need for adulation and glory is insatiable and he can see the world populated by the undeserving, inferior people who nevertheless dare to be happier and/or more successful than he is. It thus creates enemies out of the innocent and often weak who become vessels for the narcissist’s hateful and envious projections.

These sustained projections form a basis of an attitude called the narcissism of minor differences, first described by Freud, where we exaggerate small differences in people who are our neighbors — their dress, the shape of their noses, etc. — in order to feel superior to them and exclude them from our group. This attitude, like anything else based on fear and hatred, easily infects others, already narcissistically predisposed; and the sharing makes the hateful projections grow and spread. The co-existent phenomenon of collective narcissism, which intensifies the in-group ties (and which is unsurprisingly associated with authoritarianism) at the expense of excluding and demonizing those who do not belong to our group, strengthens this pathological, but common and predictable enough process.

Once established as a more or less legitimate shared worldview, the narcissism of minor differences leads to an easy dehumanization of The Other, entrenched in racism and other forms of prejudice. It culminates in mob actions, gang violence, terrorism, and endless internal conflicts and wars, which — because of their grand scale and the magnitude of destruction — are the ultimate expressions of narcissistic rage and the deadliest manifestations of our Shadow.

And we allow this to happen.

Much cyberink has been spilled on analyzing Trump’s enduring appeal to American voters, and lauding his purported political mastery. This predictable but misguided adulation that stems from widespread narcissistic collusion and denial it creates (and the other way around) is exactly what the narcissist desires and aims at extracting from others.

It is unforgivable that our media not only legitimize this destructive individual, but imbue him with all kinds of special skills, attributing to him, with admiration and awe, political genius and media savvy.

Not coincidentally, the same happened with other leaders in human history who shared this character defect: while they were ridiculed by some, they were lauded by the press, domestic and foreign, for their “eloquence” and “brilliant political skills” as they peddled their grandiose dreams of glory alongside contempt and hatred for their “enemies,” The Others.

“This is a marvelous demagogue who can really inspire loyalty.”

“This guy is a clown. He’s like a caricature of himself.”

That’s how the media both idealized and devalued another similar character from the past who set out to show the world how great he was and how much adulation he deserved, Adolf Hitler.

This happens every time with an extreme (psychopathic) narcissistic leader / public character, because his pathology evokes just that very kind of response in people, media people included: it makes us either laugh in disbelief and contempt, or idolize his hyped-up “skills” — which are really nothing more than expressions of his pathology — often both at the same time. And while the public is both amused and mesmerized by the future tyrant’s larger-than-life persona, he ever so persistently marches toward his ultimate goal unimpeded — because the number of those who fall for his narcissistic manipulations is always too large.

The predictable and co-occurring idealization and devaluation are two emotional states that generally define a narcissist’s attitude toward himself (idealization) and others (devaluation; see the insults discussed above). He projects them, primitively — i.e., without any self-reflection or inhibitions, as there is no functioning conscience to impose such “obstacles” on his mental processes and behavior — onto the world and constructs an entire ideology from them.

When dressed up in grandiose and empty sloganeering on patriotism, faith, national purity, and other perverted “ideals,” this pathological process is mistaken for “political brilliance” and other such dangerous nonsense, as it inspires too many people to follow the leader, even if straight into an abyss. His irresistible pull lies not in any specific policies he may be promising (and being blissfully unacquainted with reality, he is always short and/or vague on those), but in the feelings his words engender in his followers, specifically a narcissistic identification with the strongman, which compensates for his followers’ inadequacies; and narcissistic rage, which the strongman embodies and already unleashes on the nation through inciting chaos and violence. The only promises that matter are those which bring in a possibility of revenge for the real and imagined hurts of his followers. That, too, is our Shadow at work.

This phenomenon, part of narcissistic collusion that develops between narcissistic leaders and their followers in any human group and organization, is as common as it is dangerous. It should be obvious that any promises and “serious” pronouncements such a leader makes are not worth the air he wastes uttering them. The only “skills” that he possesses come from his emotional primitivism combined with his grandiosity and lack of conscience, which allow him to unleash the disordered contents of his psyche on the world without any inhibition or compunction.

This appeals to and “awes” people who are psychologically similar, but frightens and repulses, correctly, the rest who are not as primitive and/or disordered and who see where this dangerous process leads. Unfortunately, too many journalists, not to mention Trump’s admirers and supporters, apparently belong in the former camp, as their shadow dangerously colludes with his.