#the neuropsychology of michelangelo

[brightlotusmoon]

2024: I had forgotten. Thanks, tag search.

[brightlotusmoon]

Okay, TMNT Fandom.

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

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

Goobers.

[brightlotusmoon]

[brightlotusmoon]

mikey ask game: 6 and 13!!

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

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

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

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

[brightlotusmoon]

That line is memorable as hell. Fist bump.

Do you think Clark Kent's first few major articles were about the continued presence of lead pipes in parts of Metropolis' water system

[brightlotusmoon]

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

[brightlotusmoon]

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

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

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

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

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

[brightlotusmoon]

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

Yes it will! Yes it will!

[brightlotusmoon]

@remmushound I'm having ideas for a meditation session between Bay Mikey and Rise Michel where Rise gets to see 03 Mike do cool shit.

Mikey f*cking murders someone part 1

[brightlotusmoon]

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

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

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

[brightlotusmoon]

Favorite version Of Mikey

Uhhhhhhlhhmmmm

I need to think about this.

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

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

Rise Mikey is a very very close second.

[brightlotusmoon]

I love exploring 2003 Mikey from a psychology standpoint because around that era, most folks with ADHD were forced to mask. False ego, false confidence, desperate for real validation and willing to play the fool for it. I was already in my 20s and just diagnosed so I was often irritated that canon never let us see Mikey's masks drop beyond plot specific moments that were too few. I basically took him as a character and adopted him. I always tried to explore who he was when he wasn't goofing around and during darker intimate moments. I saw so much potential for cyclothymia, rejection sensitivity, hyperempathy, repressed emotional traumas, false memories, chronic nightmares and parasomnias. Anyone who thought 2003 Mikey as the most emotionally resilient was a good thing probably didn't understand how resilience is built from trauma.

This thought brought to you by a post in my FB ADHD group about Impostor Syndrome and being more of an introvert but with strong extrovert qualities. Wondering when they get to truly be themselves in a world not built for them. Especially the ones who are also autistic.

Just don't get them angry.

[brightlotusmoon]

Mikey relieving group stress by rambling about apparent nonsense ADHD style until everyone stares him is annoyingly effective. It's happened in every single iteration, it's almost one his trademarks, and these days I'm seeing more fic writers realizing that Michelangelo's humor is actually pretty fucking morbid and he chooses to be light and perky on purpose. Because I do that too.

[brightlotusmoon]

Anyway, a recent conversation brought up one of my favorite headcanons from the last twenty years: the turtles trying on human cultures and rules as if they are trying on clothes.

Which extends to really any humanoid characters with nonhuman instincts.

My personal idea of the Ninja Turtles is that they're animals with human psychology, rather than adolescent humans in animal bodies (although that's literally the idea behind the IDW Turtles, with reincarnation). And the best thing about that in fanfic is to take it to extremes or to mix it up.

Why should they live with or by human morals that are subjective? Or, would they follow those moral codes with a nearly cultish zeal because it's strange to them?

In my 2012 AU I wrote how each turtle was fascinated by aspects of humanity that are seen as marginalized. Mikey loves wearing silk and dresses and genders, for example. In my Bayverse AU, they're all kind of obsessed with why humans want to hurt each other over trivial things. In my 2003 AU, they're more integrated in society which makes them even more cynical if not more specifically fascinated. They are often split, too. Mikey and Donnie seem more connected to human culture through art and science. In Mirage, Leo eventually after a century becomes a bodhisattva, for example.

In Mirage, Mikey becomes a published author under a pen name. In fact, that was basically his main arc, how he just wanted to make art for people. Splinter's talk with him in "The Path" was both a backhanded compliment and a prediction, for how he walked the furthest from Splinter's path yet could certainly teach an old master. (And then his cat died.)

The idea is trying out human traits and behavior to see what fits, which is also why they don't have to be fixed. Mikey can be a deep thinker for example.

Also, Mirage Splinter sought to achieve nirvana beyond animal or human and the Rat King slapped him down hard in the City At War arc. That was an incredible dialogue.

I feel like Splinter's desires absolutely influenced the boys in their own ways, bad and good. Mikey wants to be accepted because he shines so brightly, but why not as himself? Must he become a different entity to truly feel love? (Spoiler: No. But that's the point.)

[brightlotusmoon]

@genius11rare this fic!

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

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

Remember—they're never only comments.

[brightlotusmoon]

And now the question is: How much angst can I keep squeezing out of a psionic epileptic with brain injuries, hypertonia, clinical depression, insecurities a mile wide hidden under inherent carefree optimism, and a burning desire to love and help anyone?

@remmushound

@roseyturtles

@imagine-turtles

@ulisabarbic-blog