#see raph and leo showing more

[kstarlitchaotics]

I remember watching 12 turtles before but rewatching besides of Donnie's weirdly crush on April it's not bad at all

[turtleblogatlast]

I think a lot about Leo standing up for his brothers in the things that really matter to them.

Like- Leo is the one who immediately pushes Mikey and Donnie into finding Raph the second it’s clear that their oldest brother is missing because he knows Raph can’t handle being separated like that.

Leo is the one who stands up for Mikey when Mikey wants to go on a solo mission, actively vouching for him and being the one to convince Raph into letting Mikey go, because being independent and proving himself just as capable of standing on his own two feet as everyone else means so much to Mikey.

And Leo defends Donnie’s honor in particular when his brothers’ intelligence is insulted because Leo is well aware of how important Donnie’s smarts are to him - and how important having those smarts valued and acknowledged is as well.

All this goes right into just how well Leo knows his brothers. For as much as he’ll tease or fight with them, he knows them, and he loves them.

[forgetful-nerd]

The 2012 TMNT boys have died or have almost died so often that, at this point, they probably have some sort of unspoken “no one’s declared dead until we find the body” rule.

[ilk-insolence]

Raph Is A Great Strategist

Numerous times in the show Raph has shown to have a preference for straightforwardly punching his problems away rather than think up a more complex solution. Like how his immediate fix to getting Mayhem out of the mirror in Mystic Library was to punch everything in the bathroom but the mirror. However, when Raph understands the situation requires more in depth strategy, he’s shown to be an incredibly capable tactician.

(long post ahead!)

In nearly all the plot heavy episodes like Shadow of Evil, Many Unhappy Returns, and the season finales, Raph gets moments where he’s highlighted for his strategic thinking. In Insane in the Mama Train, he’s the one who figures out which eyeball-button goes to the front car with the dark armor, because “‘it was the only button [the Foot Clan] didn’t want me to press!’” [21:05]. He’s also the one who came up with the scheme to defeat all the (known) combatants in the train, with Leo specifically attributing Raph as the deviser during their mind meld [19:46]. In Many Unhappy Returns, after spending a single night waylaying the Shredder, Raph formulated a plan using all the tricks the team learned, seamlessly transitioning the mystic collar Leo acquired into it [19:53], to defeating the Shredder. Additionally, he’s repeatedly called for a retreat during fights, like in Shadow of Evil, Shreddy or Not (Finale pt 2), and the movie, when he can tactically recognize that a battle couldn’t be won. Each time, the show/movie implied that that was the right call, for the family to lose the fight but win the war.

And it’s not just that Raph is good at strategy when he’s pushed to be more serious; the show characterizes him as passionate about creating plans, he enjoys doing it. Literally in the first episode, Mystic Mayhem, after the turtles’ initial plan failed of getting Splinter out of the living room to touch his Do-Not-Touch Cabinet, Raph immediately started devising a new plan that involved “ten chickens [and] a gallon of rubber cement” [9:35]. It was convoluted, sure, and they didn’t end up using it, but it was inventive and the opposite of reluctant. This is also shown in Bug Busters, where Raph planned out dousing Mikey in honey to attract the oozequitoes [2:52]; Snow Day, with the idea to freeze Ghost Bear like in Jupiter Jim Pluto Vacation 4; and Raph’s Ride-Along (and also Bad Hair Day), where Mind Raph created multiple schemes to get the criminals arrested. The show wouldn’t have made Raph be so creative with his plans if they were trying to characterize him as someone who didn’t like strategizing.

So does why Raph do stupid shit sometimes where he doesn’t think things through at all? Well, even though Raph is good at strategy and enjoys doing it, it’s clear his immediate impulse is still “punch the problem in the face”. In fact, all the turtle boys contain the fascinating dichotomy of being incredibly smart in some areas, and the dumbest teenagers alive in others. Just look at Donnie. It’s also how Raph is a loving protective older brother, and the guy who shoved Leo into a wall so hard he disappeared in one frame for shits and giggles (The Mutant Menace x). None of this means that Raph is bad at strategy though.

tldr: Yeah, Raph has a lot of dumb and, frankly, insane moments in the show, but he’s still an incredible tactician who’s plans consistently saved his family and sometimes the world. He's a great strategist.

[hyperfixatinator]

ROTTMNT Theory: Donatello's Hidden Role

After rewatching ROTTMNT (shorts and movie included), I realized something about Donnie's character that I've hardly seen anyone mention, and I'm going to talk about it in depth here.

I'll assume you've already watched the series and dive right in, but spoiler warning under the cut in case you care about that.

Let me start with something seemingly off topic. Raph is the oldest of the four brothers, which landed him the responsibility of keeping his younger siblings safe when their father was unavailable. (Not trying to bash Splinter. He's gradually grown to be a better parent later on, but you can't deny he was fairly neglectful in the beginning of the series)

The constant pressure Raph went through was brought up in the episode "Anatawa Hitorijanai", and then the movie showed he still struggles with it now.

He's constantly shouldering the burden of being their family's sole protector, but is this the truth? What if I told you there are actually two protectors in the family? And that the other one was Donnie all along?

When you look closely, Donnie is surprisingly protective of his loved ones. I did a tally of how often each brother exhibits what could be protective behavior, and Donnie was in second place (29) after Raph (35). Some of these choices are debatable, but here's a bunch of examples as pictures.

Would you believe me if I told you I still have a couple smaller examples I had to leave out due to the picture limit? And that's not even including the few moments where Donnie and Raph ever-so-subtly parallel each other.

All things considered, Donnie and Raph aren't so different. Raph is the primary protector who faces the threats head-on with his physical strength, while Donnie is the secondary protector who tends to use more distant methods with his tech and wit. However, when push comes to shove, Donnie will also step up to take direct action when he deems it necessary.

They may be the brains and the brawn, but they both use their respective skills to defend and support their family.

[satorisoup]

people will think im ordinary until they say one (1) thing about tmnt and all of a sudden im explaining the entire lore starting from the 1990’s movie & why donatello is the best turtle i fear… T^T

tag limit fights me… i must yap… please listen… SOB </3

[thisisadonaldduckblognow]

bangs pots and pans

raph was never any less suited to leadership than leo

raph was never any less suited to leadership than leo

raph was N E V E R any less suited to leadership than leo

idk how many times i can say it before it sinks in that in rise there was never once any point where that was the point being made

if you just like leo’s character better than you like raph’s, that’s fine! if you just like it better when leo is leader, that’s fine! i have no issue!

but we need to stop trying to circle that leadership change back to somehow being about better or worse or ~more cut out for it~ because it sucks to throw the great job raph did through the series under the bus in order to prop up leo’s good qualities. 

they’re both great leaders. they both have strong suits and weak suits in the role, they both have growth and development when they’re in that role. they BOTH make on-screen mistakes in that role and aren’t very good at it at first! not getting a more in-depth explanation about it in the movie or series stinks and it’s very interesting to explore, but seriously. 

[gornackeaterofworlds]

The Mad Dogz- a startling mix of soulful vocals, electric guitar, techno beats and a hip-hop background track. Featuring Leonardo, the smooth boy wonder in blue, Donatello, the emotionally-unavailable bad boy, Raphael, the the gentle giant, and Michelangelo, the sweetheart who tells it like it is. Coming to a sewer cistern near you!

Rottmnt x Alvin and the chipmunks au, started when I saw this post from @mobiitez

Individuals:

[turrondeluxe]

Angry mikey so underrated tbh

fr. his anger was literally the biggest emotion he had on the trip to mikeys mind episode. and it seemed that it was pent up anger too, meaning he bottles that up probably because he doesn't let himself actually feel that anger.

All that bottled up anger would have definitely exploded sooner or later tho (more later than sooner tbh)

it would have been interesting to see. Maybe it would have shown more after all the shit they went through and when they were having a somewhat of a peaceful life

Mikey and his anger issues is honestly a very underrated fact but one that is very much possible to have escalated as they grew older.

[asummersday]

Share some more ROTTMNT headcanons?

the hamatos have movie nights and board game nights. there’s no schedule for them, sometimes someone will go “movie night tonight?” or will text the gc “board games? i’m feeling some murder mystery tonight” and that’s how it goes. everyone participates. even splinter, and he complains but only to put on a show. he enjoys it. they play uno, clue, game of life, they play new and old games, play the ones they like more often, and throw out ones that suck. donnie has a spreadsheet for it (of course he does). mikey and splinter, surprisingly, are fucking RUTHLESS during monopoly. the wins are always tied between the two and that one time leo won by complete accident (thats what he says. donnie doesn't believe him ONE BIT because his twin is a lying liar who lies). everyone loves monopoly just because the chaos and the backstabbing is the most entertaining part.

mikey had a “copy everything donnie does/eat/likes” phase and leo had a “copy everything raph does/eat/likes” phase. (i am a firm ‘leo is the younger twin’ truther)

april an leo are face mask and skin care routine besties. she’s the reason he even KNOWS what both of these things are. she��s also the reason he even makes his dumb puns, because SHE makes them (and 9y/r leo was smack in the middle of his ‘copying his big bro’ phase. it extended to april, who basically became his big sister). donnie constantly tells her he still has not forgiven her for that (jokingly)

Lou Jitsu was ABSOLUTELY Sexiest Man Alive at one point i'll tell you that

donnie’s eye starts twitching when he’s annoyed (mostly when leo annoys him). it happens so often that it starts twitching when leo isn't even in the same room and donnie will go “leo's doing something stupid again”

leo doesn't fall asleep easily but when hes a sleep my mans ASLEEP. nothing can wake him up. hes usually a light sleeper but when he hasn't slept in 3+ days and passes out at 12:30pm on the couch? he's literally dead to the world. his brothers take FULL advantage of this. stacking food/objects? yes. drawing on his face/arms/legs etc? for sure. mikey paints his shell sometimes. he once painted all of starry night without leo waking up once.

raph is wary of cass when she first joins, but when they find how many interests they share, they become almost instant best friends. they're inseparable and hang out all the time its amazing. everyone is terrified of them because they've seen how violent their sparring sessions get.

mikey watched lilo and stitch when he was like 5 and instantly zeroed in on the whole ‘voodoo spoon’ thing and tries to do the same thing. his dad and raph are extremely concerned (and slightly off-put. mikey was a weird child)

when he was younger, he had a terrible case of separation anxiety. it gets better as he grows older, and then comes slamming back full force after the krang. if his brothers aren’t in his immediate sights, he will just. panic. it takes… too long for him to stop having panic attacks when he wakes up and one or two of his brothers aren’t present (especially leo. he latches onto leo the longest after. it takes nearly as long as leo’s recovery does for mikey to be able to sleep without leo in the same room)

splinter, the old sap, actually has hundreds of pictures of his boys growing up. so much that he has dozens of photo albums spanning the years. you can tell exactly when april shows up in their lives because one day she’s not there at all and the next its like he got a fifth kid. he loves leafing through them on occasion, reminiscing and definitely not crying. not all the albums survived the shredder, but enough did to still recount the years. after the invasion, splinter moves the albums from his room and into a shelf in the living room. (hes caught his kids more than once poring over the books, either alone or huddled together on the floor. he always leaves, allowing them this moment alone.)

[ironinkpen]

I just have a lot of Big Feelings about the fact that Leo and Raph, on their first Real Serious Missions as Leaders (the movie and Bug Busters, respectively), both mess up in almost identical ways

They both ignore their brother’s advice to be more cautious (Raph ignores Leo’s warnings about Big Mama, Leo ignores Raph’s warnings to take things more seriously), have to then be bailed out by said brother (Leo saves the team from being thrown into the Battle Nexus, Raph saves Leo from getting impaled), get Donnie and Mikey captured/almost killed (trapped in the Battle Nexus, crushed in the Turtle Tank), lose an important item to villains (the oozequitos and the key) that releases monsters into the world (the mutants and the Kraang), and nearly get their brother killed (Leo gets thrown off a skyscraper, Raph gets taken over by the Kraang).

But then they both own up to their mistakes, unlock their powers, and save each other. Raph throws himself off that roof right after Leo without even thinking of his own life, and Leo throws down his weapons knowing Kraang!Raph might kill him. Because they love each other, are willing to die for each other, and now get what it means to be responsible for the team’s lives after seeing just how easily they can lose each other.

Rise said “the only way to truly understand leadership is to almost kill the one guy who’s looking out for you” and it hits me hard every time

[dangerous-advantage]

thinking about how raph, april, and mikey are less focused on by the fandom than donnie and leo, the only two main characters in rottmnt with white voice actors

[turtleblogatlast]

No but like every time I think about Splinter and what he had to go through just to keep the boys alive, my heart hurts for him so badly. Is he perfect? No not at all, but none of them are and by god does he love his sons.

The fact that all of them are alive, and grew to thrive despite the circumstances surrounding them is a testament of how much Splinter loves his boys. He raised four babies following the most traumatic time of his life, all alone with nothing but the sewers to house them (to hide them.) I feel like he’s not given the credit he deserves for all he’s done.

And I get that it’s easy to hold up his flaws and faults when it comes to parenting, I myself like looking into them because flawed characters are super interesting and said flaws make them more realistic and engaging, but he tries, and again, so many others would have given up on the boys or failed along the way but Splinter didn’t.

He’s their father, for all his faults he did his damndest to make sure they survived.

[liccy]

So, I finally made time to watch the RotTMNT Movie.... and I'm still crying! My poor Raph! Sob!

Anyway, to cheer myself up, I figured I'd draw up these two wisecrackers.

Sure! All the Leos would Love RotTMNT Raph, but I think RotTMNT Leo would totally go all Mean Girls with 1987 Raph! They have too much in common! They love the one-liners. They're considered the Comedy Relief, and they're both played by popular Voice Actors of their time.

[turtle-titan]

never gonna be enough mikey content in the world, huh 😔

[shoppingcartshells]

YELLING AT YOU OH SO AFFECTIONATELY i need to scream but I will spare you from the all caps

your fic!!!!! is!!!! beautiful!!!! it reminds me of EVRYRHING GOOD and it reminds me of such happy times in my past and it smells like this bakery but then again to me everything good smells like baked goods but YOUR FIC!!! CRADLES IT. it has become my comfort fic and gaHHkfhsjak. I’m sl normal about it I need to chew your writing. chews it. I’m chewing it.

I KEEP. LIKE. quoting it too!!! like a lot!!! its just too good and is the first fic in a while that has made me smile so many times and audibly giggle. the jokes are very very funny and you capture the turts so wonderfully and I am Going To Go Insane about how you write ninpo.

sorry for yelling jn your ask box I just finished ch30 and I saw the tumblr link and im like Aight. ANYWAY THANK YOU for this fic I am cradling you /pos /pos /pos eueueue

AAAA TY!!

i did my best to make the fic as funny and in character as possible! in make, the only reason i made it aside from wanitng that good ole crossover "hey wtf" was that the rise characters were always boiled down to things that they werent (and i could go onto a whole rant about how fandom characterization is so far removed from their actual characters that it is the sole reason i dont really interact much with the fandom and make my own content but thats not what this is about) so i am VERY glad that you enjoy how i write them!! i really wanted a chatfic that was in character as well as funny and im so glad i pulled it off!

and YES the ninpommmmm i could go Onnn but i already made a post about it so i shall refrain lmfaoo

dont be sorry about yelling in my ask box i loved to see it! thank YOU for sending it! cradles you back