#tmnt has been on the more accepting side

[love-strikes-thrice]

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Getting real suspicious about the conflation of fantasy with reality in fandom.

"You must only read good and pure things! Otherwise you're secretly evil (smiley face)" is the song of book burners and history revisionists.

The growing number of fans treating shipping as a sign of moral purity is troubling at best and terrifying at worst.

Never trust someone who tells you to police your thoughts.

Never trust someone who tells you that bad thoughts are the same as bad actions.

And most of all.

Never trust a purity spiral.

Fandom

ID End]

I really think everyone needs to truly internalize this:

Fictional characters are objects.

They are not people. You cannot "objectify" them, because they have no personhood to be deprived of. They have no humanity to be erased. You cannot "disrespect" them, because they are not real.

[lactoseintolerentswag]

Rise Characterizations Pt. 3!!!

Now that Leo and Raph are done, it's Donnie's turn for character analysis as a writing reference. So without further ado,

Donnie Character Notes

Language Habits:

Straight up talks like a redditor who hasn't touched enough grass (affectionate)

Oscillates between very scientific paper polished, sometimes adding a dazzle of shakespearean for dramatics, or abbreviations/a shorter version of a word with a more fun connotation (i.e. "brekkie" instead of breakfast)

Uses food as surprised exclamations or curses, "oh my peaches and cream", "banana pancakes!"

Emphasizes each syllable of a long word when he's excited or trying to make a point. Conquered becomes con-qu-ered

Either exaggerates his speech or speaks in deadpan

The science terms he uses as battle cries aren't chosen at random, but rather are related to the action/subject at hand, i.e. yelling "fibonacci" when throwing his spinning tech-bo

Will overly describe an item or a situation, and often gets caught up in these observations before processing what just happened

Will repeatedly yell "help!" when he's distressed and/or outnumbered

Refers to Mikey as "Michael"

Refers to his brothers as "brethren" or "gentlemen"

Refers to splinter as either "father", "papa", or "dad" depending on the weight of the situation

Refers to his tech as his "babies"

Answers the phone with, "You're conversing with Donatello"

Uses "gesundheit" instead of bless you

Personality:

The fixer, he supplies the family with tech and resources. He always has a trinket made for the situation at hand and/or offers his knowledge/data collected. He's always prepared to help. Even with outside resources, he likes to feel useful in solving their problems (i.e., building Todd that dog park)

The theater kid, in a similar vein to leo, Donnie has his own style of dramatics. He often uses shakespeare-like language, is mentioned to regularly recite the jupiter jim musical soundtrack, and has a music mode for his battle shell. He belongs on a stage, or at least thinks he does

Not good at lying, despite the glamour he can put on in the spotlight. This may be due to the side of himself that over explains his thoughts

An over-thinker, who really tends to over-complicate things. His first theory or idea will always be the most extreme buck-wild concept. After some filtering, he still word vomits

A dreamer/big idea guy. He does have big ideas and goals. A lot of these he's able to put into place, although some go a little haywire (see Albearto). He doesn't do things in halves, and puts everything into a project

Meticulous, someone who's very detail oriented. As mentioned before he tends to over-complicates things. This may be impacted by his love for data and collecting information (he does record Everything for a reason)

Always on the edge of violence, which is surprising. Donnie's not known as being the angry archetype of tmnt, but he can get a little violent in his fighting style and does often cite his desire to use lethal force

Low empathy, which is mainly due to his issues processing and recognizing emotions. He's been pegged as unemotional, but in canon he's rather emotional and expressionate, just lacking the skills to process such emotion (he's just like me fr)

Praise motivated, as seen with his interactions with Splinter. Also desires the praise of his brothers, who he doesn't feel understand him with all the teasing that's sent towards his direction. This also pushes him to seek validation and acceptance in other groups (i.e. the purple dragons), to feel a sense of security or belonging

Ignores his own mistakes, and will often pretend like they didn't exist or ever happen. This most likely has to do with his desire for praise, so he feels bad when he fails. If he never made a mistake, he never has to feel bad

Miscellaneous:

Fourth to unlock mystic powers

Uses "Bootyyyshaker9000" as most of his usernames and passwords, with his alt. username being "Alpha-Bootyyyshaker9000"

Has a fear of bees, spiders, and of course beach balls

Breaks the fourth wall the most

Loves the smell of pineapple, hates the texture

Has a hobby of rooting around in the junkyard and dumpster diving

Uses cheat codes in video games

Mikey's next of course :)

[mbruben-stein]

Hi how are you I been wanting to know if you would like to do the tmnt 2012 turtles x female s/o reader who has the personality of Liz bóveda from the owl house

TMNT 2012 boys dating a s/o who has the personality of Luz Noceda.

~Leo~

Leo would likely be drawn to his partner's optimism, creativity, and kind heart. As someone who can be overly serious at times, he'd appreciate how they bring more light and laughter into his life.

There might be times when Leo gets frustrated by his partner rushing into things without thinking them through, since he's more cautious and likes to plan. But he'd also admire their bravery and determination to always do the right thing.

Leo's partner would be very accepting and non-judgmental about the fact that he's a mutant turtle. Their open-mindedness and "weirdness" would help him feel understood.

When his partner's insecurities emerge, Leo would be caring and protective, doing his best to build up their self-esteem. He'd reassure them that he loves them for exactly who they are.

Leo's sci-fi geekiness would be something they bond over, as his partner shares a love of fantasy and adventure. They'd probably get into heated debates over their favorite Space Heroes episodes.

In challenging times, Leo would be inspired by his partner's resilience and refusal to give up, even when they're struggling. He'd support them through hard experiences and mental health challenges.

Overall, while they have very different personalities, Leo and his partner would bring out the best in each other. His steadiness and her spirit would create a balanced, loving dynamic.

~Raph~

Raph is initially taken aback by his partner's boundless energy and enthusiasm, but he quickly grows to find it endearing. Their optimism helps balance out his more pessimistic outlook.

Raph's partner often encourages him to express himself more openly and embrace his softer side. Over time, he becomes more comfortable sharing his feelings with them.

When Raph is in one of his stubborn or hotheaded moods, his partner uses their creativity and quick thinking to help diffuse the situation or distract him.

Raph is very protective of his partner, especially knowing how cruel the world can be to people who are unique and don't fit in. He relates to their experiences of being an outcast.

His partner absolutely adores Chompy and Spike and showers the pets with affection, which secretly makes Raph melt inside. Seeing his partner bond with his beloved pets means a lot to him.

When Raph's partner is struggling with self-doubt or insecurity, he goes out of his way to build them up and remind them how amazing they are, even if he's a bit awkward in his delivery at times.

Raph loves his partner's bravery and willingness to stand up for others. It reminds him of his own strong sense of loyalty and justice. He admires their inner strength.

Overall, while they may seem like an unlikely match at first glance, Raph and his eccentric partner really balance each other out and bring out the best in one another. His toughness and their empathy and optimism make them a power couple.

~Donnie~

Donnie would be drawn to his significant other's creativity, enthusiasm, and out-of-the-box thinking. As an inventor, he appreciates someone who approaches challenges in unconventional ways.

His significant other's optimism and ability to see the best in others would help balance out Donnie's more anxious tendencies. They'd reassure him when he gets frustrated with failed experiments.

Donnie and his girlfriend would bond over their shared geeky interests, like fantasy novels, roleplaying games, and sci-fi movies. They'd have marathon sessions introducing each other to their favorite series.

Donnie's girlfriend would be fascinated by the amazing gadgets in Donnie's lab. While Donnie usually prefers to work alone, he'd make an exception to show off his inventions to an appreciative audience.

When his darling is feeling down about being different, Donnie would remind them that being unique is what makes them special. As a mutant himself, he understands the struggles of not fitting in.

Donnie would go out of his way to cheer up his significant other whenever they are missing the Boiling Isles, even attempting to recreate foods and games from the demon realm.

His significant other's impulsive nature means Donnie often has to jump in and rescue them from risky situations. It stresses him out, but he can't help but admire their bravery.

Overall, Donnie's brothers would adore s/o and how happy they make Donnie. Mikey especially would click with s/o's excitable personality and they'd enable each other's wild ideas, much to Donnie's fond exasperation.

~Mikey~

Mikey would be drawn to his significant other's eccentric, energetic and optimistic nature. Her enthusiasm and creativity would inspire and excite him.

They would bond over their shared love of fantasy, comics, and geeky interests. Mikey would be thrilled to have someone to geek out with.

Mikey's silly sense of humor and party dude attitude would mesh well with his significant other's own quirkiness and playfulness. They'd constantly be laughing together.

He would admire her determination, bravery and strong moral compass. Seeing her stand up to bullies and fight for the underdog would make Mikey proud.

Mikey would be very affectionate and physically demonstrative in the relationship, always wanting to hug, cuddle and shower his significant other with love. She would find his open adoration endearing.

He would be protective of her, especially knowing about the bullying and ostracism she faced growing up. Mikey would do everything he could to make her feel accepted and valued.

During her low points when her insecurities and self-blame resurface, Mikey would be caring and emotionally supportive, trying to cheer her up with his signature humor and optimism.

They'd go on fun, imaginative adventures together, exploring the city and play-acting fantasy scenarios. With Mikey, his significant other could fully express her creative, geeky side with no judgment.

Mikey would be fascinated learning about the Boiling Isles and magic from her. He'd pester her to teach him spells, even if he couldn't actually perform magic himself.

Overall, Mikey's kind heart, goofball charm, and unabashed adoration would help his s/o heal from her past hurts and insecurities. With him, she'd feel truly accepted and free to be herself.

[itzzaira]

✨️Masterpost✨️

• My name is Zaira, but feel free to call me Zai!

• I'm a writer and artist, mainly in the rottmnt and tmnt fandom. I have way more stories than this one on my AO3 (mainly one-shots) both rottmnt and tmnt 2012 (recently been requested to write 2003 too so I am looking into that) but can't link them all individually, so I would recommend checking my ao3 if you were interested ^^

My AO3, Deviantart

The wrong side of the portal: a ROTTMNT and TMNT 2012 crossover

He could feel his pulse.

His brother was alive.

Just as Mikey was about to pull him back, his hand froze mid-air, screaming suddenly filling his ears.

Different voices, voices that belonged to him- his brothers, filled the air, all different kinds and messes of different conversations jumbled together, unable to know what conversation was about what, overwhelming his senses.

Behind the portal, he could see different versions of his family- a shorter Raphael, a beast Leonardo, a crazy Michelangelo, an abusive Splinter, a dead Donatello, all different kinds of stories and worlds.

The worlds closest to the Prison Dimension.

Which world was theirs?

Or

After the events of the movie, instead of bringing Leo home, Mikey manages to somehow, bring his brother to the 2012 dimension instead.

Now, unable to reach his brothers and his ninpo acting odd, the 2012 crew has to find a way to return the younger Leonardo back home.

While the rise dimension tries to find ways to accept their loss.

TWSOTP art:

Chapter 17 - "No matter what you must sacrifice..." - Chapter 19 - Finally, he opens his eyes - Chapter 21 - "I'm gonna make you wish that I. Stayed. Gone." - Chapter 21 - "When you're feeling sad and blue..."

Random art:

Rottmnt group hug - "Alice, Alice, heart and soul" 2012 Mikey-centric animatic - 2012 group hug - "Perhaps we're twins after all" - profile picture - "I'm... happy for you." 2012 fanart of a fanfic - rottmnt sunset duo "purring" - "Loser baby~" 2012 and rottmnt Mikey duet - Interesting outfits... - Leonardo family guy death-pose - "Rating things my brothers and I did! :D" - Whitering butterflies || Artpiece for the story - "Why do you hurt the orange one so much?!"

Random writing (on tumblr):

"Some Sunny Day." - future Raphael centric

"Withering butterflies" - future Michelangelo centric

• My au is participating in the tmnt fandom family reunion! ^^ however it is too much to try and link all of them now- so I will try so later ^^

[hermit-searching]

TMNTposting Raphael edition (Part 2):

Part one can be found here. I really wanted to talk about my favourite little guy but I didn't feel like I had enough space to get all my thoughts down in the last post. So technically the entirety of part 2 is dedicated to 87 Raphael.

When asked who my favourite version of Raphael is, my answer is always a tie between 03 and 87 Raphael. I'm probably biased because they're the versions of Raph I grew up with, well 90s movies Raph is also in there but I really don't remember enough about the movies besides the Ninja Rap scene and I haven't rewatched it yet. The point being, 03 Raph tickles that itch for "more traditional Raphael" while 87 Raphael...I kinda just vibe with the little guy.

At face value he seems about as much of a traditional 'hot head' Raphael as Rise. Neither of them really fit into the "explosive temper" territory as 03, 12, 07 or the original Mirage comic Raph. He's a silly little dude. He likes playing dress-up, stand up comedy, and acting. Of all the versions of Raphael, he's definitely the most 'kid-like'. He's childish, he'll heckle his buddies for laughs, he even tells Shredder to go suck a lemon in the first episode. He's hilarious! But that type of comedy usually ends up getting him, and the other 87 turtles lets be real, into crossovers that horribly mischaracterize the poor kid.

As much as I loved TMNT 03, Turtles Forever is such a disservice to what TMNT 87 was, and who the 87 turtles are. 2012's second crossover with 87 also follows the TMNT 87 hate train, and it's so frustrating as a fan of most TMNT media. I get that the OG cartoon was super silly and tame compared to the others at face value, but every time someone says this I need to remind them it's 1) a cartoon from the 80s, and 2) lowkey really dark the more you think about it.

Such as:

-every time slavery is brought up and a plot for some other planet

-the entirety of the Red Sky seasons

-the humans of TMNT 87 always threatening to eat and or shoot the turtles because they're mutants

-the whole mutant hate sentiment being an allegory for the civil rights movement

But this is a post about Raphael. He's definitely still a funny little dude. But a lot of his humor stems from sarcasm and his cynicism towards the world. Raphael, is well aware humans are not fans of him or his compadres, and often sides with Donatello whenever he and Leonardo get into arguments about helping the humans. Their human friendship circle pretty much just ends with April and that's a dubious friendship at best since they're more or less a bridge towards her next scoop. None of them are really fans of Irma, Casey rarely appears, and the other human characters in the show are usually trying to turn them into kebabs until Dirk Savage the Mutant Hunter which already kind of says enough for itself.

This poor kid is honestly the bravest little dude. More often than not he'd rather run from a fight, or push Michelangelo into one for him. He's scared a lot, really giving off those youngest sibling vibes that are rare for Raphael. He's such a little scaredy cat that he his voice will sometimes sound like a squeaky toy. If Turtles Forever was correct about anything, it would be that Raphael would absolutely burst into tears meeting his Mirage counterpart.

But despite this all, Raphael is still probably the bravest version of Raphael they've ever created. Even though he'd rather scram, and read comics or watch TV. Despite knowing humans have it out for him, and will never accept him into their society. Even though he knows every time he saves them it will be a thankless job, Raphael will fight until his last breath. Like every other Raphael, he will protect the people and city he loves because that's who he is!

One of my favourite episodes in TMNT history has to be Raphael vs the Volcano because it really shows who 87 Raphael is as a person. There have already been a few posts about it recently who have all been far more coherant than I ever will be but let's do it anyways.

Raphael vs the Volcano:

-Donatello's latest invention, a health machine, malfunctions leading Raphael to believe he's unhealthy

-after panicking in the sewers a little bit, he goes back to the lair, only to overhear Michelangelo and Donatello lamenting over the loss of their dear friend.

-assuming they're talking about him, and that he only has a day to live, Raphael runs off, deciding that despite the fact the world sucks he's going to use his last day to make the world a better place

-he does a bunch of good deeds, increasing in danger, wearing a musketeer costume while the other turtles and April try to catch him

-some botanist is mad that a rich lady is taking credit for his discovery so he decides to eliminate all organic life on earth...not really important for Raphael's character except the fact he catches wind of this and takes this as his last deed before croaking.

-Raphael literally jumps into a live volcano to get the canister of anti-life juice, only escaping seconds before it erupts because the turtles arrive in time.

-the lesson of the day? don't jump into live volcanoes.

There's so much to unpack about this episode, but it'd mostly be reiterating the same things I said earlier about him. With a time limit on his life Raphael, despite the way he's been treated by the world will let go of his cynicism and crankiness to help people if it benefits everyone else. The kid shakes the moment he realizes it's been a huge misunderstanding and he's perfectly fine. Throughout the episode he's even saying things like "yeah too bad this is gonna be my last day". Like...he is CONVINCED he isn't making it to adulthood. If you think about it, it's basically what the other Raphs are as well, without the super explosive tempers. They're all just good-natured kids who have circumstances weighted against them, but they'll do whatever they can for the safety of their friends and family.

Please PLEASE give the 87 TMNT cartoon a chance if you've never seen it before. I promise it's actually good, and it has some extremely funny episodes.

[alwerakoo]

Baby Blue (Chapter 4)

Rise of the TMNT Leonardo/Yuichi Usagi Chapter 4 of a longer fic THIS IS PART OF A SERIES - might be confusing to read without context

AO3

--- They sit in silence for a moment before Leo finally asks:

“Is that why you live with your aunt?” Out of his entire family, Usagi mentioned her the most. Which is an honor on a par with being the largest slice of pineapple on a Hawaiian pizza. Which was quite an achievement, seeing as in most cases they were only neutral statements or anecdotes. “Mhm.” Usagi shifts a little further, to the side, so that he can better watch the hazy horizon, which Leo accepts with only a slight disappointment.

Not that he lets it be known, because these kinds of thoughts did not fit their current conversation in any way, and really, it all made him feel rather embarrassed. “Me and my brother,” Usagi adds. He picks up the plushie, previously thrown aside, brushing the dust off the green material in an almost apologetic gesture. And then he reaches out his hands, promptly handing the toy over to Leo.

Obediently, Leo takes it in a slightly awkward hold. “Oh, right.” It's easy to forget that Usagi is not an only child. True, he didn't have the same little, annoying habits as April (who still hasn't gotten used to the concept of sharing), but Leo always had a hard time imagining siblings he doesn't treat as extensions of himself.

He's not sure which of them is more normal in this aspect – him or Usagi. Probably neither.

“Yeah, exactly.” “So, I guess you two also 'don't get along'?” Leo asks, purely rhetorically.

“We don't,” Usagi replies, not without a hint of bitterness.

He clearly wants to add something more, and Leo has no intention of rushing him.

His friend leans forward a bit, twisting a loose thread from his pants around his finger. Leo wonders if he's cold in just his undershirt. He probably is.

For a moment he considers offering him his hoodie, and then he realizes how stupid it sounds, even in his own head.

“I guess he never quite forgave me for killing our mom,” says Usagi. “Fucking hell,” says Leo. He suddenly feels very grateful for the stuffed animal on his lap, mostly because he has something to hold onto tightly. With some care, because his claws could use a little trimming. “Was that too weird to say?” Usagi asks. He's probably just embarrassed, because he raises his shoulders, hunching slightly, as if trying to curl into himself as much as possible. “That's...” Leo thinks for a moment. The thought that he doesn't have to worry too much about the usual rules of social interaction fills him with peace. The thought that Usagi might honestly believe what he's saying – something bitter.

The anger is sudden, but not unexpected; it's lighting a match he's been holding onto for a while now. It has a familiar shape; something like how he always feels when he sees Raph with Splinter. Fierce and protective. Even if this is different. There's a certain understanding in Usagi's voice, an acceptance of the painful truth. It's not soaked in denial, some sad version of love. Usagi knows his family doesn't like him. Leo knows his father can't stand him. But only one of them is able to admit it without a shadow of shame. “Did he tell you that?” Leo asks. Something in his tone must betray how hard his hearts are beating, because Usagi frowns, studying his face. Leo wonders if he can read the truth just from his eyes, like Raph does. Probably not. Maybe it's a part of Leo reserved exclusively for his oldest brother. “No,” Usagi admits, but there's something stubborn in his voice. “But I know he thinks that.” He was wrong. Usagi was bitten. He can see it now; all the short and long, and pink, and faded scars he's covered in. And yet he doesn't hesitate for a moment, as if to him, everything that Leo holds hidden deep inside himself, is as easy to say as objective truth. (Things like the thought that he might hate his father. Or that he doesn't hate him as much as he should.)

He speaks like he knows his place in all of this. Like there's some peace to be had after the initial realization that not all love can be unconditional.

Leo has been living in it for over ten years. He doesn't think there's anything waiting for him on the other side. “That's stupid,” Leo says. “You know it's stupid, right?”

Usagi doesn't answer for a moment, looking back at the horizon. “Even if I did, I was, like, one minute old,” he says. “I think I can be forgiven.” “It wasn't you.” “Then what?” Usagi looks at him again. “The doctor?” It sounds like a completely honest question, which isn't all that weird for Usagi, but it still throws Leo off his rhythm for a moment. Enough so that he finally stops tightening his fingers around the innocent plushie's neck. “Well...” He thinks for a moment. Thinking slows his beating heart a bit, at least one of them. “Most likely, probably an infection. Or a hemorrhage.”

Usagi nods, like they were having a perfectly normal conversation and coming to perfectly normal conclusions.

“Sounds about right,” he says.

Leo presses his lips together, considering his words for a moment. “Parents are overrated,” he finally says, because he thinks it might make Usagi laugh. It does. “Trust me, I know something about that.” “Hmm. Lou Jitsu is overrated?”

Leo grimaces, wrinkling his nose. Then he quickly realizes it probably makes him look like Donnie, so he stops. “Never meet your heroes,” he says. “Don and Mikey can attest to that.”

He knows that Usagi is only joking, but the thought that he might actually meet Splinter one day fills him with a new kind of fear. And anger. Usagi nods. “Donnie really hates your dad,” he says. Leo knows that, but the revelation that his brother's feelings are so sincere that even Usagi knows about them fills him with a wave of rather complicated feelings. Mostly good ones. He raises his hand reflexively, smoothing over his chest where he can feel Donnie's heartbeat. “He has his reasons.” He doesn't want the conversation to turn to his family (or rather, to one of its members). Firstly, because he's trying to be a good friend, and secondly – because he's a coward. “Listen,” he says, leaning down to look him in the eye. “If you ever need to... Take a break from your family, you can always call me.”

Perhaps 'you can always come over' would be a slightly nicer offer, but also an impossible one for many reasons, only some of which involved his father. “Thanks.” Usagi tilts his head, resting his cheek on his shoulder. “I usually just go over to your brothers'. Mr. Barry said I'm always welcome.” Leo's eyes widen a little in surprise. “He did?”

Usagi smiles a little “No.” Before Leo can respond in any way, the pocket of his hoodie buzzes to life. He reaches into it, pulling out his phone, and gives his friend an apologetic smile when he reads the name in the middle of the screen. A name and a pizza emoji, because ever since it became his exclusive property, Raph had saved all the contacts on their old phone in a pictogram form. Leo isn't entirely sure why, but there's something funny about it, and definitely worth mocking.

He swipes on the screen, lifting the phone to his ear. “What's up?” And then the smile on his face falls completely. Leo jumps to his feet, so abruptly that he almost trips over his own legs. He reaches behind his back, grabbing his sword. “What do you mean prison?”

***

When Leo sees his brother again, he seems to be in a much better mood than when he left him. He sensed it even during the phone conversation. Raph has one of those smiles you can hear even in his voice – one of the few traits he shares with Mikey. (Sometimes, Leo wondered whether it might be a trait they both inherited from Splinter. But he's never seen him smile enough to notice.) “Hey!” Raph raises a hand, waving as he meets them halfway. Leo catches up to his brother before the portal even starts to close, gripping his forearms and pulling him closer. Up close, Raph seems mostly unharmed. Leo shakes him lightly, just to be sure. “What do you mean prison?” He's not angry. More impressed, because although the game of 'Who would end up in jail the fastest?' stopped having any significance in their family since Mikey came into the picture, Raph has never been high on Leo's personal list. He hadn't been on it at all, actually. But his brother seems rather unfazed by the whole experience, if not quite the opposite, which definitely calms Leo's already frayed nerves. “You went to prison without me?” He adds with theatrical drama, shaking his brother once more. Raph lets him.

“Hi, Usagi.” Raph nods in greeting, clearly just for the sake of ignoring Leo. “Look at the shirt I got.”

His plastron is now adorned with a white T-shirt, spelling out: 'I WENT TO THE BATTLE NEXUS AND ALL I GOT WAS THIS LOUSY SHIRT'. The font and color scheme are one of the worst Leo has ever seen, and he's pretty sure Raph wasn't wearing it earlier that day. Mainly because he wouldn't let him leave the house in it. Some of the spikes on his shell have already torn through the material, but Raph seems unbothered by it. “I have one like this, too.” Usagi nods in appreciation, like it's something to be proud of. “Are you going to tell us what happened or not?” Leo reaches into his pocket, pulling out his phone. “Did you text the others?” “I called.”

Just in case, Leo sends Donnie another text. He gets a somewhat vague reply, that mostly conveys that it will take them a few more minutes to get to the Hotel. Leo asks if a portal wouldn't be a more convenient method of transportation, to which Donnie responds with a very firm ''no''.

Leo chooses not to think too hard about it. Raph's story turns out to be as simple, as it is absurd and hard to believe. Leo, sitting across from his brother with his legs pulled up on the couch, taps his finger against his cheek, slowly digesting all of his words. Usagi mostly just seems amused, munching on another biscuit and squeezing his dinosaur in the crook of his elbow. “But you don't even look the same,” Leo snorts, looking at the poster on the table. “That's what I told them.” Raph shrugs. Leo hears the faint sound of thread tearing. “That's racist,” he says. “What happened to those guys?” “The ones you helped rob the police.” Usagi lets out a short laugh. “Don't laugh,” Leo scolds, but only gently, and only because Raph has a bit of special treatment today. “Raph doesn't do well under pressure.” Raph raises his shoulders a little, clearly embarrassed. “I don't know. Big Mama said she'd take care of them.” He straightens up a little, almost beaming at the memory. “She's really nice, you know?” Big Mama and Raph had met only once before, and under less than favorable circumstances. Personally, Leo still kept her on a long leash. It wasn't often that he met someone like her. Someone full of energy and charisma, and wit, and fake in almost every way. In a way, she reminded him of himself. It made something in his chest tighten painfully and irrevocably. Sometimes, he felt the same way about Mikey. But Mikey was his brother, and that made all the difference. But if Big Mama was as charming and pampering with Raph as she was with Leo, he couldn't really blame him. “I know,” he says, short and clipped. Leo isn't entirely sure where Big Mama might be right now, but she left Raph in a room with a thickly draped curtains, soft couches, water, and a plate of biscuits (now almost completely empty), so he doesn't hold it against her that much. “She was really nice,” Raph repeats, wringing his fingers a little. “And she said I could visit her anytime I wanted.” At that, Leo frowns a little. There's a strange feeling rising in his chest; one he tucks away deep in the back of his mind to reconsider at another time. “You should.” Usagi nods eagerly. He's still holding onto Leo's yo-yo, which fills him with a unique sense of pride. “They serve awesome salmon on Thursdays.” That seems to catch Raph's attention, but before he has a chance to add anything else, the door to the side of the room bursts open with a sudden bang, slamming against the wall. Leo quickly realizes why the paint in that particular corner has so many white gaps. Mikey reaches the couch in just a few steps. “Raph!” He reaches out, wrapping his arms around his brother's neck from behind and leaning forward, probably so he can shout into his ear more easily.

“Hey, Mikey.” Mikey squeezes his arms tighter (which might've hurt if it was anyone other than Raph), pressing a loud kiss to his cheek. “I’m very proud,” he says, and he does sound it. “For going to prison?” April asks, emerging from the hallway, just behind Donnie. Her hair and cape are slightly stained with soot. Leo wonders if it has anything to do with the blossoming bruise on Donnie’s arm. “Of course,” Mikey confirms. “Prison is a very important stage of development.” “Oh,” Donnie huffs, running his hands over his staff. “But when I-”

“Because you wouldn’t survive in there,” Mikey cuts him off, firmly. Leo bites his cheek, like he’s actually thinking deeply about something. “You’d kill everyone there and then yourself,” he states finally. Donnie looks at him for a moment, tilts his head, then shrugs, as if that’s not the worst scenario.

“And what happened to you?” Usagi finally asks, staring intently at April's shoes.

Or her foot, because she somehow managed to lose one of them.

Leo only listens to their story with one ear.

Maybe that's unkind of him, but the whole day has left a mark so intense that he feels it in his bones. He's tired, in all the possible ways, pressing his shell into the back of the couch so hard that he almost sinks into it. But somewhere between the lines, Raph shifted to sit beside Leo, letting him rest his cheek on his shoulder, which was nice.

He quickly straightened up again, as soon as he realized that Usagi was still in the room with them, but it was the gesture itself that mattered.

Now, Raph nudges him gently, leaning in and lowering his voice, as if he could actually shout over April and Donnie's heated argument. “How was your date?”

Leo blinks.

Suddenly, he feels a lot more awake. He straightens up, running his hands over his shoulders and nervously glancing at Usagi. “It wasn't a date,” he lies. “Oh. Sorry, I assumed,” Raph says. But then he frowns, looking at him with something almost worried on his face. “Was that homophobic?” For a moment, Leo only looks at him in silent disbelief. “What?” Leo feels his lips stretch into a smile. “Whatever,” Raph huffs, slightly offended. Leo laughs quietly, resting his forehead against his shoulder for a moment.

***

On their way to The Lair, Usagi sends him a text. >And when do you talk about your home life? Leo replies: <Wait and see.

[iztarshi]

Not me coming up with a rough outline for what I'd do with a TMNT iteration. Much of this is just me throwing in all the ideas I'd like to play with and then dividing them by which ones work well together.

Season One:

Shredder and Krang trying to bring the technodrome through and take over the world. Less a new plot every week and more ongoing attempts to bring it through while the turtles and April try to figure out what he’s up to.

I think the turtles have to reveal themselves fairly early (long before the technodrome arrives at the end of the season) and there’s some wrangling back and forth with public image between Shredder and April. Shredder’s better at swaying public opinion than he is in 87, although he’s not the smooth operator Ch’rell is so much as a bombastic storyteller.

Punk frogs, maybe? Could cross over with Shredder trying to frame the turtles. They’d be convinced over the turtles’ side by the end of the season but would be interesting to have them as Shredder's team for a while.

Winter is a massive problem, the turtles have never had to stay awake during the cold weather before, so a lot of focus is on them struggling to fight crime while being cold-blooded. The farmhouse arc does happen, with Leo’s coma being as much brumation as injury since he was left outside in the cold. Might be a fun place to use box turtles being able to revive after seemingly freezing to death.

Defeating the technodrome at the end and sending it back to Dimension X.

Season Two:

After learning that Shredder and Krang can make forays into this dimension from Dimension X the turtles decide to take the battle to them before winter arrives again and go to Dimension X themselves. The war between the Federation and the Triceratons is going on here. The turtles start off in Federation territory, where they meet the Fugitoid and some pacifist Federation teenagers who call themselves the Neutrinos.

After escaping Federation Territory into Triceraton territory, the turtles learn that the Triceratons lead an alliance of reptiloid species and the turtles fit in surprisingly well in their territory. The difference between how they are treated and how the Neutrinos and the Fugitoid are treated gives the turtles a taste of being on the other side of privilege and acceptance for once.

Eventually they have to escape from the Triceratons as well and get the Fugitoid to safety.

Triceratons may attempt to invade Earth in the finale?

Season Three

Shredder and/or Bishop (because I don’t want to involve Lord Dregg) manage to turn public opinion against mutants.

Draxum, a mutant karakul ram, has created HAVOC to fight back. He's also secretly responsible for the mutation of a lot of its human-to-mutant members (the animals, which are the ones he really identifies with as a sheep himself, being mostly the result of Shredder and Krang creating mutants as distractions or to stir up anti-mutant sentiment). This is where the turtles meet Mona Lisa and maybe Mondo Gecko. They already know Leatherhead as an enemy but she (based on 87 but female because I wanted the maternal instincts as a background alligator thing) is here too.

Mostly I want to do HAVOC better than 87 did, because that's an interesting idea, but apparently the mutants had all been made against their will, knew that, and still supported Titanus?

Mona Lisa is instrumental in figuring out what Draxum is up to and joins the turtles' team afterwards. Mondo cares and will help out but remains less of a fighter.

Shredder and Krang need to be properly defeated (killed? depends how the tone of this turns out, but they’re really hard to get rid of alive) at the end and their lies revealed. Draxum’s lies, on the other hand, may be best not revealed (except to the mutants he created) if we don’t want anti-mutant sentiment to get even worse.

[istherewifiinhell]

the ways in which we are So Fucking Back, cannot even BEGIN to be communicated.

[Splinter Forever. Story: lloyd Goldfine. Art: Khary Randolph Colours: Emilio Lopez Letters: Tom Napolitano and Shawn Lee]

[ID: 03 show styled comic, the turtles crowd around splinter with looks of concern/relief. Splinter doing his best to hug them all back but saying "You so know I could have freed myself anytime I wished too..." Splinter narration: ...And, even if given forever... END] Next narration: I could not have dreamed of one better.

idw 40th anniversary book. various caps i took cause i really liked them (by they way the few stories i did NOT cap is not cause i didnt like em by any means. and for some it was cause i was TOO SAD! i liked them SO MUCH! they HURT to LOOK AT. kay thx)

book creds. Editor: Nicolas Niño. Supervising Editor: Jamie S. Rich. Design: Nathan Widick

might as well start with the 03 one cause its already up there

[ID: 1. Action shot the turtles jumping thru a window, in varied cool poses, rimlit in blue moonlight. Leo: Mikey, thin out the foot! Donnie, free Splinter! Shredder's mine! Raph: I got hun! Mikey, singing: Turtles, count it off! Splinter, narrating: Here, I speak not of mutation… but of my sons, could I ever have dreamed I would become a father. 2. Action shot of turtles and Splinter together, all yelling a "Hai-yah!" Splinter narration: Never has there been a father prouder of his children. END]

ur reminder that 03 is the one that was literally just a rat b4 mutation. sometimes life hands u 4 reptiles and some weird alien go and u go. okay these are my beautiful children now

and you know the tweets like. i gotta accept u didnt make the tmnt? u gotta accept youll DIDNT draw a rat this SICK. his swag. unparalleled.

[ID: Splinter punching the Shredder, cropped close, the line of motion accented by his rodent features, carrying from his tail and digitigrade leg, to the pointed tip of his snout. His fur nicely emphasized from show style. END]

okay in presented order now. (again. only the ones im emotionally strong enough for) it opened with eastman's, four pages to a poe poem, Deep lorey in its own way. ALSO SAD!

[Monsters. Story, Art and Letters: Jim Lawson Colours: Steve Lavigne]

[ID: A very squared jaw turtle style, bold black likes of varying thickness, lots of hashing. It's Raph turning to look over his shoulder with a "Hmp", mask tails flowing behind his head. END]

eeeeee lookit him. mwah. [me explaining] u see. mirage turtles. there so lumpy. and thats EXCELLENT

[Gang Wars. Story: Tristan Jones. Art: Paul Harmon Letters: Tom Napolitano]

[ID: Rounded head, prominent beak, almost movie puppet turtle style. Art has strong penwork , filled with hatching, but soft impressionistic colours, looking both loose yet detailed. 1. Mike is carrying a women as he climbs a ladder. She's tipped almost complete upside down over his shell. Her narration: You perspective shifts... Soft pinkish hue lights them from below. 2. Mike jumping from the roof with a cheerful "Gotta run!", smiling and offering as salute, both nunchaku in hand. Warm golden light hitting his front as he's half turned. END]

HI. I dont recognize your name (YET) Mr harmon sir. but would u like my award for most gorgeous colour rendering on any mutant turtles ever ever in the whole wide world. (sobbing) mikey.... my boy. my beloved loved boy

(there was comics also repping the image and archies runs here. neither of which ive read yet, SORRY. all the same they were both VERY CHARMING)

[What About Tomorrow. Story: Eric Burnham. Art: Sarah Myer Colour: Luis Antonio Delgado Letters: Shawn Lee]

[ID: 87 show styled comic. Raph is quipping to the villain (or perhaps the audience) "Don't tell me… Sherlock Holmes?" He has a hand on hip, side eyeing Donnie very strongly and says "Don't give me that look, Donatello. He said guess!" Don is looking at him so incredibly flatly. END]

have u literally very seen something more perfect than that. look at their fucking FACESSSSS. urghh. characterization? perfect. u can hear it. i controlled myself here. i didnt cap the entire fucking comic

[ID: Splinter smiling, eyes close, we see what he is reminiscing on. His human self, reading a book and holding the for normal baby turtles. He say "When I was Hamato Yoshi, I could never have guessed I'd become a mutant rat. Or that I would raise four turtles into heroes I am endlessly proud of. END]

LOOK AT THIS FUCKING RAT. and his turtle sons. (he doesnt call them sons in this cartoon but their his fuckinngggg sons.)

splinter forever we covered.

[Kraang Among Us. Story and Art: Ciro Nieli Letters: Shawn Lee]

[ID: A 2012 show styled comic, Nieli's style having a punky marker quality to it in comic form. 1. Drawn small, the turtles character-fully posed. Raph casual and aside, Leo earnest out front, Mikey excited and ready, Donnie last, interest in a beeping gadget. 2. Leo bowing on the ground solemn/serene. 3. Graphically bold panel, Mikey has a hand up, smiling cockily, saying "STOP! …My turn. Hit it, Ice Cream Kitty!" Ice cream kitty, (indeed a cat made of Neopolitan) Clicks on a boom box. 4. Donnie says "This can't be good…", with a look of shock at his gadget, wall of text Beeping behind him. A sort of pink viscera explosion just barely in view. END]

which im particular stunned by seeing nieli's creations rendered in 2 dimensions. they looks so fucking good! tho, from all the other aesthetic makers within the show, it totally make sense, the sort of, graphic pop grime. donnie in partic looks so cute, feel like his look is possible BETTER suited for this than the cg, sorry stringbean.

no raph stunner shot sorry he was only in like 2 panels lol.

Rises "Farewell Story" was here. In which Andy Suriano made me cry and cheer and. GUH. look on the internet. u might see some shit. Also a showing from IDW mainline in "Father's Day"... can u maybe GUESS? fantastic gut punch.

[Teen Spirit: Story: Ronda Pattison Art: Pablo Tunica Letters: Tom Napolitano]

[ID: The current mainline comics look, influence from Campbell. The turtles are round and bulky, a light touch used defining the contours of their heads. Wearing grey lose clothes and white limb wraps. Clean detailed black line, water colour like detailed render. All five turtles in a rocky forest, various states of concentration to summon colour coded magic energies. Jennika on her stomach, kicking feat, playful. Leo hunched close to his, looking intent. Raph with tongue out, first in one hand. Donnie, in eyes closed mediation. Mikey, his hands over head, a rain of fallen leaves from his dispersed magic. He says "Whoops!" END]

Pattison I recconize as a prolific idw turtle colourist. tunica i dont but is another i WILL have to be on the look out for. who doesnt like the sophie campbell era of turtle. they are SOOOO. everything. to me.

bro. which fucking continuity has them all so fucking cute magic hijinks mentored by the SHREDDER. cant wait to find out (i think there was some ghilbi visual ref moments esp. in his panels. VERY CUTE. lord help us all) looook at them. look at raph :p. LOOK AT JENNY JENNY JENNIKA.

okay. thats it. hey guys? turtles is good.

[rhinestoneposts]

WARNING: Tcest, turtle bros kissing, and a lot of cussing. If that’s not your speed, move on!!

I’m writing a story that has Tcest (RaphXDonnie) and I need some feedback from tmnt/tcest mutuals on how to write this scene properly 😮‍💨

For content: Raph and Donnie shared one kiss a while back, and neither of them have talked about it or done anything about it, just pretending it didn’t happen. Now, they get paired for patrol, and it all blows up.

I was heavily inspired by that scene in brokeback mountain where they aggressively hit and grab each other before having s*x. I feel like something is missing and I really want to capture that masculine, “refusal-to-accept-I’m-gay” kind of vibe. Also, writing kissing scenes is hard… any advice would be much appreciated!

______________________________

The night air hung heavy with humidity, the heat coming up from the city traffic made the mutant brothers’ skin sticky with sweat. It was difficult to tell if there was any activity worthy of stopping for because of Donatello’s consistent run across the rooftops. Since the past few weeks had been quiet on the streets, the team felt it would be better to split into pairs, thus covering more ground with ease. Leo paired himself with Mikey, leaving Raph and Donnie to take the Lower East Side. Neither one gave any indication of opposition towards this decision. As the purple and red banded turtles ran, Raphael stayed a few yards behind Donnie, his brows permanently furrowed together. Finally, Donnie slowed to a stop.

“Hold up,” he said, peeking down into an alleyway. Raphael came up beside him to look. Below them was a couple, their wobbly movements indicating they were intoxicated. The man had a woman a few inches shorter than him pinned to the wall and he was mumbling incoherently, the woman’s incessant shifting and glancing around being the only indication of discomfort. Donnie watched for a moment before he whispered.

“Think it’s a date gone wrong?” Raph merely shook his head as they watched. The two of them sighed when the woman looked around once more before forcing the man into a fierce kiss, her hands grabbing his and moving them over her body.

“More like a date gone right,” Raph retorted before he backed away from the building’s ledge. Donnie clicked his tongue and stood up.

“Hopefully Leo and Mikey are having better luck than us,” he said as he turned to face his older brother. Raph was staring at him with his brows still etched together, but not in his usual angry manner; they had a softness to them, a twinge of concern. His fists were clenched too, which put Donnie on edge. Donnie matched his expression.

“What?” he said. Raph said nothing as his fists tightened. Donnie kept his glare and grabbed hold of the band that came across his chest to hold his bo staff, shifting it a little to a more comfortable position. They stayed like this for a moment, the sounds of the couple in the alleyway below having left and leaving nothing but the hum of the city to fill the air. Donnie wasn’t sure why he looked away first – perhaps the tension got to him more than he would have liked to let on – but he did, and it sprung Raph into action. Raphael stomped towards him, fists finally coming undone as he reached up to touch Donnie.

“What are you-” Donnie looked down at the shorter turtle, his heart starting to race as Raphael’s hands grew frantic trying to find a way to grip Donnie.

“What are you doing- What are you doing-” Donnie spoke quickly as he roughly swatted away Raph’s hands, though they were quick to reach back up again as soon as they were hit. Raph was able to grip the back of Donnie’s neck and pulled him down to his size, their foreheads and cheeks bumping into each other as the push and pull of the two turtles continued.

“Raph, I don’t want-” Raph forced his lips into Donnie’s. Donnie’s eyes shut as he tried to shove him away, separating them just far enough to throw a punch that landed square on Raph’s jaw, but his head swung back, that etched expression unchanged and his hands still having an unrelenting need to have a hold on Donnie. Quickly catching a good grasp on Donnie’s wrist and the back of his head, Raph pressed his mouth into Donnie’s again, this time leaning in to force Donnie to the edge of the rooftop so he couldn’t step back and create enough space for another punch. Donnie let out a sound of protest and hit his free hand into Raph’s shoulder, but to little avail. Raph squeezed his wrist and Donnie’s breath became a fast, heavy pant through his nose before he wrapped his free arm around Raph’s neck, their teeth hitting as Donnie moved his lips aggressively. Raph released his wrist and Donnie was quick to wrap it under Raph’s arm, flattening his hand against his shell to press him in closer. Their kiss became messy as swollen lips fought to be more tightly pressed together. They both panted whenever their lips separated for half a second, both sets of hands moving and fighting for a better position to grip and hold. Donnie’s head was swimming, the sweat on his skin mixing with Raph’s made him nauseous and it took everything in him to keep his knees from buckling. They ended with his hands cupping Raph’s face, their foreheads pressed hard together so he could tilt his jaw away and get some much needed air in through his mouth. Their hot breaths mingled, and it wasn’t until they opened their eyes to look at each other that Donnie moved his hands to Raph’s shoulder’s and shoved him away, causing him to stumble back.

“Raph, what the fuck!,” Donnie screamed, quickly moving away from any rooftop ledge so he couldn’t be pinned again. Raph’s face contorted and he scoffed.

“Oh don’t you fucking start with that high and mighty bullshit,” he shouted with an accusatory finger pointed in Donnie’s direction. “Ya been thinkin’ bout this just as much as I have! Don’t think I haven’t noticed those goddamn stares durin’ training, or at dinner – way to be fucking subtle!” Donnie scowled and shook his head as he threw his arms up.

“Fuck off, Raph! I didn’t want any of this! Whatever this is-,” Donnie made a gesture between them and Raph scoffed again, rolling his eyes in annoyance.

“At least I’m doin’ somethin’ about it! You’re the one pretending like nothing happened-”

“Because we have to!” Donnie shouted back, his palms up and out in defeat. “We can’t be doing this, you know that as much as I do, it’s wrong and- and-”

“You shoulda thought of that before you started kissin’ me like your life depended on it, Don.”

“Fuck!” Donnie screamed as he dropped to a crouch, his grip on his head tightening when he tucked his head between his knees. Raph swallowed and took a deep breath before he swiped the sweat on his forehead with his forearm.

“What do you want?” he asked. Donnie huffed and shook his head.

“We need to stop this. We can’t be doing this. If the others knew-”

“That’s not what I fucking asked, Don, don’t make me ask again,” Raph clenched his jaw but kept his gaze on his brother. Donatello stood up and looked at Raph with his brows furrowed, eyes hooded.

“Ya tell me right now you neva want any of this eva again and I’ll stop,” Raph said firmly, but there was a slight lowering of his voice as the sentence went on, “but it has to be what you want – not whateva the others think or what’s right and wrong.” Donnie’s expression softened as he looked into Raph’s green eyes, his shoulders feeling heavy as they sagged. Donnie swallowed and spoke plainly.

“I don’t want to do anything like this ever again with you.” Raph showed no signs of surprise or disappointment but rather shifted his jaw and gave a small nod before looking down at the ground.

“Alright. Then tha’s that,” he said. They stood there for a moment in silence, Donnie’s face twitching into a frown as he stared at the ground as well. Suddenly, Donnie’s T-Phone started to ring. He let it play for a few seconds before answering.

“Hey, it’s pretty dull over here. How’s it going for you guys?” Leo asked over the phone. Donnie cleared his throat before responding.

“Nothing much. Other than a run-in with some Purple Dragons. Got one good hit on Raph before we took them down,” Donnie said, earning a glare from Raph for how easily the lie slipped off his tongue. Mikey was heard in the background on Leo’s side making fun of Raph for getting hit by such an easy opponent.

“Alright, I’m thinking we pack it in for the night. See you at home,” Leo said before hanging up the phone. Donnie slipped his phone into his belt and waited a second before making eye contact with Raphael, who was glaring back and gently rubbing at the blooming bruise that was starting to form on his cheek.

“Sorry,” Was all Donnie said before they turned and started on their way home.

[antimattercontainment]

🩷🩵💔 - for the TMNT ask game!

Thanks for the ask! I'll be drawing from TMNT 2003 and Rise to answer these, as those are the two iterations that I know best. So! In no particular order:

🩷 - Top 3 moments that warm my heart:

TMNT 2003 S02E25: The Big Brawl (Part 3)

Donatello: "Don't even think about touching him!"

At this moment, Donny still suspects that Usagi was the one who poisoned Leo, so he's pretty prickly with our favorite rabbit samurai. I love this scene because it's a great example of Donny being protective of his family. Plus, there's just something about the turtle who's generally regarded as the weakest fighter of his family fiercely protecting the one who's regarded as the strongest.

See the rest under the cut vvv

Rise of the TMNT: S01E15a: Mind Meld

Raph: "Is it my skate-hawks idea? You see, they're hawks! That we strap to ourselves! And then--!"

Leo: "You say the word, I'm ready to go wrangle some hawks!"

This is obviously a silly little moment, but I love that Leo is just immediately ready to support Raph in his plan. Leo really was an excellent right hand man to Raph before he was thrown into leadership (and Raph was thrown out of it).

TMNT 2003 S01E03: Attack of the Mousers

Raph: "This is it! It's been fun, guys."

Mikey: "Even me, Raph?"

Raph: "Even you, Mikey. Especially you."

Raph and Mikey bicker all the time, but their love language for each other is razzing each other. When it comes down to the wire and it looks like they might not make it out alive, Raph is honest in the fact that he is so damn fond of his baby brother, no matter how much he drives Raph crazy.

🩵 - Top 3 moments that make me laugh:

TMNT 2003 S02E25: The Big Brawl (Part 3) (again)

Raph: "WILL! YOU! SHUT! YOUR! TRAP!?!"

Mikey: "Why? Does my talking bother you? Am I distracting you somehow? Making you lose focus? Messing up your concentration?"

What can I say? This episode has The Range. This is just before Mikey defeats Raph in the Battle Nexus, by irritating him badly enough that he gets sloppy. I love how Mikey weaponizes his goofball behavior like this. He is 1000% aware of what he's doing to Raph, and I love it. Especially since Raph went into this fight absolutely certain that he was going to beat Mikey.

Rise of the TMNT S02E02a: Man vs. Sewer

Mikey: "Someone could get really hurt on this."

Mikey: "LET'S SEE HOW FAR IT SWINGS!!!"

I mean... just look at it. It gets me every time 😂

TMNT 2003 S03E02: Space Invaders (Part 2)

Mikey: "So, do these work like Earth grenades?"

Mikey: *pulls the pin on one of the Triceraton's grenades and runs to cover just before he explodes*

There's just something inherently ridiculous about the comic relief character cracking a joke and then grusomely murdering an invading alien soldier. This Triceraton blows up off-screen, but just barely.

💔 - Top 3 moments that make me cry:

TMNT 2003 S04E14: The Ancient One

Leo: "I'm sorry. I did the best I could. I did. The best. I could! There WASN'T! ANY MORE! I COULD HAVE DONE!"

This moment--where Leo is unknowingly fighting a physical manifestation of his guilt--is the amazing resolution to Leo's season 4 PTSD arc. In the previous season's finale, the only way he could think of to keep the Shredder from leaving Earth and going to conquer the stars was to blow up his ship... with his whole family still on it. The Utroms saved them at the last second, but for 13 episodes, Leo has been struggling with the guilt of not being good enough to win at an acceptable cost. This scene is the first time we see him start to forgive himself for that--to recognize that he had done everything he could, and that the fact that there were forces outside of his control wasn't his fault.

Rise of the TMNT: The Movie

Yeah, yeah, obviously when the portal to the Prison Dimension closes, but I mean this exact second. When the camera pans from the New York side of the Technodrome explosion to the Prison Dimension side, the music suddenly gets all quiet. Gone is the gravitas of the deep low brass, and all that's left is a drawn out note by the strings. Yes, they've beaten the Krang, but that doesn't mean that they won. Not in a way that is worth the cost.

TMNT 2003 S03E21: Same as it Never Was

Donny: "My brothers... my poor brothers. This world... this future... it's a nightmare.

I couldn't make a list of top 3 TMNT moments that made me cry without "Same as it Never Was". The part immediately after Donny kills the Shredder always gets me. It should be a triumphant moment, but all of Donny's brothers are dead because of his plan. It isn't anything except solemn. I'm pretty sure SAINW was the original "bad timeline where everyone dies" of TMNT. And Sam Riegel's voice acting here adds so much to it.

[aquietwritingcorner]

Touch-Starved

Title:  Touch-Starved     Day: Febuwhump 2023, Day 1: Touch Starved   Word Count: 1347   Author: aquietwritingcorner/realitybreakgirl Rating: T   Fandom: TMNT 2003 Characters: April O’Neil     Warning: NA     Summary: April reflects on the fact that her boys, her turtles, are touched-starved for a softer affection, and the path it took to get them to accept hers.   Notes:  Ehhhh, not that whumpy, really, but it’ll do for now.   ff.net || AO3

_______________________________

Touch-Starved

 It was something that April had not noticed at first. Ever since four mutant turtles and one mutant rat had come into her life, she had done a lot of observing. Part of it, she thought, might be owed to her nature as a scientist. But a lot of it had just been trying to figure out how to fit in with such a close knit, isolated, odd family.

It retrospect, the fact that they were so close might have been why she hadn’t noticed it at first.

Physical contact, she had noticed, was a big deal with the brothers. Sure, sometimes they were swatting someone away or someone off, but a lot of times they would just let it stand. Donnie would be working on something, and Mikey would lean on his shell and ask him a million questions. Mikey would be watching something and taking up the while couch, and Raph would plop on whatever space he could find, draping a leg or an arm across Mikey. Raph would be reworking the leather wraps on his sai, and Leo would sit right next to him, knees touching as he worked on the leather wraps on his katana. Leo would be reading a book, and Don would come up behind him, sitting shell to shell as he read one of his own. And they all had a tendency to reach out towards Splinter, usually to help him with something that he didn’t need help with. He, in turn, would reach out to them, giving them small, reassuring touches as he made his way by them or stopped to talk to them.

Of course, being teenaged boys, some of the touch came in the form of slaps, flicks, punches and shoves, but that was to be expected. And just as expected was some of Splinter’s discipline too. Touch for practicing their ninja skills also made sense. You couldn’t practice sparring with someone if you didn’t touch them.

Yet, she noticed, it was reserved for only family.

They never reached out to others with more than a professional or polite touch. There was always something reserved or guarded about it, as if they were expecting it to turn on them. And to be fair, she could understand why. She had screamed the first time she met them and been afraid. From what she understood, the first time Raph and Casey met, they had gotten in a fight—which honestly wasn’t a big surprise, if you knew those two, but it did emphasize her point.

If someone wasn’t family, then the boys were very tense around touch.

Casey had wormed his way into friendly touches faster than she had. It honestly made sense. His type of touching was closer to their expected touching. The friendly slaps, and hits, the shoves. Even just sitting side by side and working on a project in the garage, or debating the finer points of engine maintenance. They were all rough-and-tumble boys, and, once Casey was accepted, his way of touch fit right in.

Hers had been different.

Splinter, bless him, had raised four very fine boys. But he was only one person, and he did not have the same softness of touch that she did. Call it a motherly instinct, call it a feminine touch, call it a difference in early childhood experiences and socialization—whatever you wanted to call it, her touch was softer than his.

It had actually distressed her at first. They welcomed her warmly into their family, always glad to see her, and they reached out to her well enough. But whenever she reached out to them, putting a hand on an arm, sitting close to one of them, leaning on someone’s shoulder (or shell, once she learned that was alright), there was a tenseness to them.

She has asked them once if she was doing something wrong, or if she had done something to offend them.

“No!” Leo had said, quickly and emphatically. “No, you’ve not done anything wrong at all!”

“We actually really like it,” Mikey had said. “It’s just that you’re so…”

“So…” she had prompted.

“Yer so soft and squishy,” Raph had said, with all of the tact and emotional intelligence of a fifteen-year-old boy.

“Soft and squishy,” she had repeated, raising an eyebrow.

“What he means,” Don had cut in, before Raph could dig himself into a deeper hole, “is that your touch is different. Its… softer. More… more maternal, almost. And we’re not used to that.”

“Don’t get us wrong, Master Splinter had done a great job of raising us,” Leo had said, quick to defend their father, “but there’s something different about your touch.”

It had clicked with April then, what was happening. They were, at least in some capacity, touch starved. Maybe not in a clinical, diagnosable type of way, but they were definitely starved of a softer, more maternal touch. It had honestly made her want to be maternal with them, or at least sisterly, but she also hadn’t wanted to push her boundaries.

“Should I stop then?” April had asked, not wanting to make things hard for them.

“No! No, don’t stop,” Leo had said, and then seemed to realize how quickly that had come out. April couldn’t help but be amused at the slight blush that rose on his cheeks. “I mean—um—”

“He means that we all really like it,” Mikey had said. “It’s warm, but in a different way. Like… like the way those TV shows make moms and big sisters look.”

“It’s something new to us,” Don had said, “but that doesn’t mean that it’s bad.”

“Just… give us time to get used to it,” Raph had put in. “But don’t stop. Yer family, after all.”

So, April hadn’t stopped. She had kept up the touch, and, after a while, found that they weren’t as tense about it. Donnie didn’t even blink at her sitting squished side by side with him when they were looking at coding on a computer, even leaning into it. Mikey welcomed her legs draped across his lap when they were watching something and he took up the whole couch. Raph didn’t mind it if she leaned on his shell to look over his shoulder at an engine part he was messing with. Leo affectionately let her lean against his shell as they both read their own books.

After that, it was like a dam had opened, and they eagerly soaked up any affection she gave them, even seeking her out at times for it. She found herself scratching shells, having turtles fall asleep on her, casually having a hand placed on her, or someone moving her to where her legs were draped on them, or she was leaning into them. The soaked up her attention like the sun, and she made sure to give all that she could.

After all, if she didn’t do it, who would?

It was honestly a crying shame that no one else would ever give these touch-starved boys the affection that they needed. They were so caring, so kind, so gentle. If they had been human, or if mutants had been accepted, then April had no doubt that these boys would have no trouble gaining friends or even gaining a family of their own one day.

But they were outcasts, set apart no matter where they were, and she knew as well as they did that the possibilities of more than this life were slim to none. They would likely never receive the affection that they deserved to have.

So, if she didn’t do it, then who would?

No one, that’s who.

That meant that April would. If it meant she was doing it for the rest of her life, then she would give them at least a portion of what they deserved, even as she cursed the fact that the world was so cruel as to withhold this basic need from them. April would make sure that her boys were never touch-starved for softer affection again.

After all, what were big sisters for?

[ayosdesignz-blog]

Hey so about fictional newyork?

All the mutants, mutates, freaks, geeks, sneaks, and geniuses seem to congregate this big small area without really overlaping all that much even when the characters are owned by the same company.

And that's just not fun enough.

Please keep in mind that I had no access to comics as a child. l have not had the opportunity yet to get my hands on comics now to gorge myself on and am MOST familiar with the old 80s/90s cartoons/shows and subsequent movies.

I am aware that the marvel movies are having heros occupy the same space in cinema. I'm aware of the spiderverse and even got to watch the 1st movie. I'm even aware that in more recent years (I think?) There was an official animated movie special that had Batman and the teenage mutant ninja turtles working together.

But I have yet to hear of any such thing for the TMNT meeting Spider-Man. And that's just wasted opportunity in my opinion.

So I wanted to ask my fellow fanfic readers (and fanfic writers if you see this)

Can ya recommend me a cool Spideypool fic that has the fantastic four, avengers, x -men acknowledged to exist and interact as friends. Team red being a thing and Spider-Man being one of the few to know the TMNT are real and works with them periodically as well as learned additional fighting skills from them with them helping to train his spidey sense some with their ninja skills. And Spidey in turn has 4 additional hero friends he can be himself with and they know who he is(who they gonna tell? Plus they keep distant surveillance on his loved ones for him) and were even introduced to his loved ones as a safety measure. Everyone likes Aunt May, Mikey especially likes the treats and trinkets she always has on hand to give them when they secretly visit her when Peter is too busy to so she isn't too lonely.

I basically wanna read a fic where Spider-Man grew into his heroism with 4 ninja turtle friends no one knew about. As an adult he managed to make his own punloving team in team red. Has worked to slowly introduce TMNT to other accepting allies/friends of his he thinks will mix well.

And while the xmen have a snooty gate keeping model of "mutates aren't real mutants" they're still nice in general and Kurt/Nightkrawler becomes their newest bestie while Master Splinter and Beast and the Thing are tea drinking buddies.

Deadpool meanwhile has been long gaming it to try to wife up Spidey even while accepting whatever he can get. And loses his shit once he's finally introduced to the TMNT because he'd hope they were real but didn't expect them to be for some reason. He's always wanting to spar with them for fun. And lightly flirts of course.

Team red and TMNT spar and the turtles use the spiderman and daredevil's senses as a game to increase stealth whereas the other 2 use it to increase their awareness. Deadpool tends to switch sides in the game.

[erikaogrady]

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Movies Ranked:

10)

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2014)

I didn’t watch this in theaters despite it coming out at the peak of my Turtles obsession. I only recently watched it in anticipation of Mutant Mayhem, and while there are a few good things in it, overall I wasn’t really missing much.

It’s been talked about to death but these designs really don’t work. Realistically the Ninja Turtles would probably look kind of gross IRL, but on film it really doesn’t work if we’re supposed to like them. Michelangelo especially is really hard to look at (his face is way too human with his weird turtle lips).

The Shredder is really over designed and under characterized. It’s really clear that Eric Sachs was intended to be the Shredder, and with reshoots making them separate characters the Shredder becomes really generic (not that I would have liked them whitewashing the Shredder).

I actually really like this version of April, she’s incredible unhinged. Megan Fox is definitely putting in bare minimum effort (which I can’t blame her for) and there is a lot of gross over sexualization of her (I did not need to hear Mikey talk about how she’s giving him a turtle erection). But overall she was one of my favorite parts.

There are also a few cute moments of the Turtles being brothers, like the elevator scene. The rivalry stuff between Leo and Raph being so central to the movie is kind of disappointing because thats so overplayed in Turtles media and its not particularly well done here.

9)

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows

Out of the Shadows is definitely an improvement on the first film, but I wouldn’t call it a good movie. It’s really stupid, but also very fun.

Bebop and Rocksteady are a pleasure to watch, and they’re actually really well designed. Most of the jokes with them land well, and the fight scenes with them are generally pretty good. It’s a shame that they’re positioned as Casey Jones’s rivals however, because this is by far the worst version of Casey there’s ever been. He’s really whiny and a cop for some reason. The whole movie actually has some weird copaganda going on.

The Shredder is definitely more of a character in this one, but he still isn’t that interesting. Krang is well designed and cool to see in live action, but there’s nothing all that interesting done with him either.

I actually really enjoy the main emotional through line of the movie with the Turtles considering whether or not to become human so they can be accepted. There are definitely parts that don’t work (Raph destroying the mutagen isn’t probably built to, the Turtles deciding not to take the credit for saving the day at the end doesn’t make a ton of sense), but the emotional stuff is pretty good. Mikey’s reaction to the police considering them monsters is an excellent scene.

8)

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III

This is another one I hadn’t seen until very recently because I had always heard bad things, and honestly I think it’s sort of underrated.

I really like Mitsu and Yoshi, and their bonds with Mikey and Raph feel really real. Mikey wanting to stay behind at the end feels earned.

The costumes really let this movie. After the amazing Henson Turtle suits in the first two movies these really look cheap and break the suspension of disbelief. The humor also relies a lot on slapstick that doesn’t really land.

I imagine that if I had seen this movie as a kid (like I did the previous two live action movies) I would have ranked this a lot higher, but as is while I didn’t hate it like most people seem to it also didn’t stand out much and wasn’t all that memorable.

7)

Turtles Forever

Turtles Forever is a ton of fun. It’s actually the first TMNT thing that I ever watched. It doesn’t quite live up to the highs of the 2003 series, but it’s also definitely better than most of the final two seasons.

There’s a lot of really fun references in the movie, and seeing the drastically different animation styles side by side is a lot of fun. Adding in the mirage turtles at the end is an excellent addition, and I like that it pokes fun at all three different versions of the characters.

Where things fall apart a bit is the lack of any returning voice actors from the classic series. I know this is because the 2003 series in non-union while the original voice actors are all union so it was a legal thing, but it does make the 80s Turtles feel a lot less authentic. The replacement voices are pretty good matches though (other than Leo’s). The writing for the classic Turtles is definitely kinda off. I’ve only seen the first two seasons of the 80s cartoon but I know that the Turtles were never quite as goofy as this movie characterizes them. The 2003 Turtles are also at time a bit overly cruel to the 80s Turtles.

Overall while Turtles Forever is really fun it doesn’t have much substance beyond being a fun celebration of Turtles History. I don’t think that’s a knock against the movie, but it does keep me from ranking it any higher.

6)

Batman vs. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

Batman vs. TMNT is pretty similar to Turtles Forever in that it’s a ton of fun and full of references, but isn’t especially deep.

I absolutely love the character designs for both the Bat Family and the Turtles (these are actually probably my favorite designs for the Turtles besides Sophie Campbell’s IDW versions).

I kind of expected that I’d rank this one a lot higher, but while I have a ton of fun watching it I don’t really have much to say about it, and it doesn’t have the emotional depth that the movies higher up on the list have.

5)

TMNT

TMNT is a bit of a mixed bag. It has some things that are absolutely excellent and others that are incredibly average.

This is another movie that has the Leo/Raph rivalry front and center, but this movie handles it so well. Their rooftop fight in the rain is both beautifully animated and emotionally fulfilling. This isn’t a case of Raph just angsting for angst sake or Leo just being a boring stick in the mud, they both have interesting character flaws that contrast each other in really compelling ways.

While Raph and Leo are handled really well, Mikey and Donnie don’t really have anything to do here. And while I understand the parallels the movie is trying to make between the Turtles and Max Winters and his brothers, it doesn’t quite work because Winters and the generals are incredibly generic.

4)

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze

Secret of the Ooze is a very silly movie. The changes they made from the first movie because of parent complaints are very clear, so this movie is definitely missing the gritty atmosphere that the original movie had.

I really like that this movie puts Donatello in the lead role. Pretty much every other movie (TMNT 3 being the only exception) focuses on Raph or Leo. The emotional core of the movie is really well executed. The scene of Donatello lamenting the fact that they were created by accident and Splinter reassuring him that their origins don’t change anything about who they are is really good.

A lot of the silly humor lands for me, which could be because I watched this so much as a kid, but that keeps me from being too bothered at the tonal shift between this movie and the original.

3)

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1990)

This movie is sort of the platonic ideal of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Honestly all of the top 3 are really close in quality and I could see myself swapping around the order depending on the day.

Considering the budget on this movie the Turtle costumes are incredible, and the fight scene choreography is so good considering how heavy and cumbersome those costumes must be.

While Raph and Leo definitely get most of the focus in this one Don and Mikey definitely get a lot of fun stuff to do. I love how much focus on family this movie has, and it does an amazing job of contrasting Shredder and the Foot with Splinter and his sons. This is one of my favorite versions of the Shredder and the Foot, both in terms of design and characterization.

April and Casey are both great here as well. They have good chemistry together and they both feel like real people.

I really like how small scale everything is, it allows the focus to be on character and is a nice change of pace compared to most superhero movies made today.

2)

Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Movie

Rise is definitely my favorite TMNT series. It makes a lot of changes to the characters and lore, but to me the best part about this franchise is how much things are allowed to change and evolve.

I love this version of Leonardo (this is one of the only versions of TMNT where someone other than Mikey is my favorite Turtle) and his arc in this movie is excellent. He goes through so much trauma in this movie and it’s incredibly emotional, and he comes out the other side so much more mature. His relationship with Raphael is also super interesting and such a good subversion of their typical dynamic. Their fight toward the end of the movie is so good and emotional.

Mikey and Donnie also get a ton to do, and I love how much emphasis is put on Donatello’s soft shell and how it’s treated like a disability. This version of April is definitely my favorite and it’s great seeing her get to do some reporting and continue her trend of using construction equipment.

The Krang are absolutely terrifying in this movie and really feel like a threat. There’s a lot of genuine suspense where the Turtles feel like they’re in real danger.

Overall this is a great ending for my one of my favorite versions of the Turtles that allows them all to grow as characters and come together as a family.

1)

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem

I came out of Mutant Mayhem with the biggest smile on my face. It might be recency bias that I have it as number one, but I also have not been able to stop thinking about this movie since I saw it.

I really love these versions of the Turtles. It’s awesome seeing the Turtles actually be voiced by teenagers, and their dialogue always feels natural. They also really feel like brothers both in how they make fun of each other but also in how they show their love for each other.

I just said that Rise April is my favorite but this April is definitely a close second. I always like when April is portrayed as weird and kind of a freak and this version definitely feels like someone whose only friends are mutant turtles.

I like how much emphasis is put on the Turtles wanting to fit in. It feels like a much better version of what Out of the Shadows was trying to do. It also makes a ton of sense for these more authentically teenage versions of the Turtles. I like how Splinter and Superfly tie into that as well and how they act as foils to each other.

I really wasn’t expecting the Turtles to actually end up being accepted by humanity by the end and I actually really like how they did it. The way that regular people played a role in the final fight was super cool and gave me Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man vibes.

I’m really excited to see the series and sequel, seeing the Turtles go to highschool sounds really fun and seeing these versions of the characters who are so young and inexperienced at ninjitsu go up against the Shredder is gonna be really interesting.

[writinandcrying]

I'd like a Match Up if you wanna! .o. Preferably for Rise but I'm familiar with every TMNT verse starting at '03 and forward if u thought of any others.

I'm just a gay/demisexual (a guy match plz!) demiguy (he/they) who's kinda short(?) I'm 5'5" at most but I haven't checked in a few years ngl. Appearance wise I shift between pastel or alt stuff is all.

I'm an ENTP and 9w1! I have a lot of trouble properly expressing or understanding emotions due to my Autism but I try to battle that by being blunt and asking questions! I'm also constantly stuck battling between people pleasing and my anger issues that make me wanna snap. To kinda combat that my anger is now p much pointed at myself so I don't hurt anyone or their feelings. But I'm trying to better myself with the "Do No Harm but Take No Shit" mindset. I generally make myself do my usual "im the funny friend" routine, but that lead to a lot of ppl assuming I'm stupid, so I'm trying to find a balance between that and showing other sides of myself :') I show my love through Physical Touch and Acts of Service! And I think I respond well to all Love Languages? Except I can be bad at accepting gifts bc of a dumb inner voice going "Oh so u manipulated them I to giving u smth" ...oop. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Ahh I really like Animation, Horror, and Comedy shows/movies, especially analyzing them. I kind of want kids in the future? I'd be more willing if I trusted my partner with my Lows (hopefully they trust me with theirs too ofc) or if I could skip the baby part tbh. I really enjoy baking, reading, and video games, but I like physical activities when there's a sort of clear goal? Like playing Volleyball or Soccer, but not just a general run or jog. But I'd love to travel the world in moderation too, I just want to make sure there's always a great place to come back to.

In my platonic and romantic relationships I can be frustrating bc I tend to bottle stuff up so I don't bother anyone. If I felt comfy enough and knew I didn't have to worry about my Big Fear(tm) of Abandonment then I would slowly get better at talking about things. I'm also really forgetful when it comes to my own things, like forgetting to eat, drink, or sleep or if there was anything I needed/wanted to do.. I think the only pet peeves I have is if I feel Not Heard or listened to? Or just Disregarded? I've been told with how I analyze situations but focus on emotions help others when they're in their worst moments? Like helping calm my little brother down from when angry or helping my mom or friends out of their depressive moments.

Thank you for your time! <3

hi there! sure thing <3 ill go towards rottmnt cuz it has literally consumed 70% of my brain lately lmao i match you with...

Mikey!

Honestly i can see both of you helping each other out into maturing and personal growth, Mikey knows he's clever and also still learning along the way, don't even consider yourself a bother into asking him questions cuz he loves to answer them, and if he doesn't know something, he can just asks his brothers!

Dr. Feelings make frequent visits in your hangouts, he constantly reminds you to unwind and has relaxing exercises if he notices you are bottling too much, and if someone ever tries to take advantage of your "people pleasing taste" Doctor Delicate Touch will also show up to yell tell the person to bug off

he understands the feeling of only being seen in "one light"- all mikey's (i mean in any version) suffer from youngest sibling syndrome - struggling with not being taken seriously, so he does gives you extra attention in everything you say, do, your feelings, thoughts, and if you mean business, so does he.

Honestly for Rottmnt Mikey i think he enjoys all love languages as well lmao, his top 3 are def words of affirmation, physical touch and quality time, he loves gifting you stuff as well, but if you ever mention those "oh i manipulated them into giving me these" thoughts he will fight /argue with you, like, every-time. He doesn't really get it, he tries to be as gentle as possible with your feelings, but on this topic things might escalate, he really likes you and wants to show it as well!

he ADORES that you like animation and horror too!! i headcanon that later on Mikey becomes a fan of horror/thriller movies and video games, everyone @ the lair gets scared to watch/play with him so he's more than thrilled to play and hangout with you, Mikey never really thought much about volley or soccer, but after meeting you he gets so addicted to it, even start to watch volleyball matches (specially woman league cuz they are the best mwah mwah chef kiss)

Mikey knows its hard for you to open up, so when you finally feel comfortable to, all eyes and ears on you, you are the main priority at the moment. He begins to notice you sometimes go non-verbal lke his brother Donnie (Canonically diagnosed with autism) so he knows how what to do to make you feel better or more comfortable depending on the situation

overall: your relationship is compassionate, full with hugs, kisses, snuggles (he loves to shower you with affection fr fr) and loads of fun dates! lucky you!

hope you liked it! match ups are closed for now

[countlessrealities]

📖 + TMNT ? =)

Send me 📖 + a fandom, and I’ll tell you one or more muses from it I’ve thought about writing || Accepting !

In all honesty, I've never seriously considered writing a TMNT character as a RP muse, but the thought has crossed my mind a couple of times.

If I had to pick someone, I think that my choice would be Karai and Michelangelo, both from the 2012 series (without any of that romance bullshit they forced in the show, especially for Karai. In my book there's no romance at all in that series ffs -eyeroll- I refuse to acknowledge it).

Mikey has been my favourite turtle since the very first series and I've enjoyed all his iterations. I think that I like the 2012 the most because he's the best balance of goofy and moments of depth. He's less of a comic relief and more of a character, compared to how he is presented in most of the other cartoons.

Karai is just the kind of conflicted character I enjoy. She has so much baggage and so much inner struggles, and we actually get to see them (which isn't always a given with female characters). At times it feels like she's reduced to the role of the love interest, but she also gets her own space too, thankfully. I also really like her other relationships and contrasts with the other characters, especially the bad guys! They help highlighting a lot of sides of her.

[acey-waceyy123]

Uhhh TMNT oc lore!!! (copy and pasted from my notes)

ace lore🤯 (tmnt 2012)

COUGH okay so like

Ace was a baby/toddler (like 2yrs old??) when Karai was like, 4 years old. He was abandoned by his parents and was kinda left on the street to die. Karai found him one day and was like “WOW!! FREE BROTHER!!!”

She ended up taking him home (because who would leave a kid out on the street?) and told shredder she wanted to keep him. He did NOT want some stupid little kid but he accepts just for karai’s sake.

And this ends up in what we call: FAVORITISM‼️‼️

He REALLY favored Ace’s sister over him. Karai had a better childhood than ace because shredder kinda didn’t really want him around and couldn’t care less. To justify Ace’s mere presence, shredder tried to train him into “the perfect ninja”. He overworked ace a lot and always forced him to be ABSOLUTELY PERFECT. Any less and ace would get whooped or something. He was also PRETTY manipulative to the kid.

By the time ace was 12 and Karai was 16, all the shenanigans with the turtles were starting. And this year of Ace’s life, shredder found out about uh.. the mutagen.

So he kinda tricked Ace into getting mutated with an arctic fox. You know. Just as an experiment..

Also ace was DEVASTATED when he had heard Karai was accidentally mutated. Shredder convinced him it was the turtles fault, and from there ace started fighting them a LOT more in hoping he’d “avenge” his sister. (side note: ace didn’t know Karai was splinter’s daughter because shredder wouldn’t dare let him know the truth so BOTH his kids go against him. He just lied to ace and said Karai was missing the whole time she was trapped in shredder’s lair and that the TURTLES did something to Karai. So ace was also fighting them more after that but after she was mutated it doubled because he was mad about what they did to his sister.)

(And another note: Karai did NOT support mutating Ace but she couldn’t stop shredder. Her and ace are on really good terms but she’s been busy with the turtles and whatnot ever since meeting them, leaving ace alone for the most part.)

Now timeskip to S3 of 2012. The SECOND kraang invasion happens and ace ends up getting lost.. until he spots the turtles fleeing in kirby’s van off to NorthHampton. Being a 12 year old mutant fox with daddy issues and unrealized trauma who’s currently stuck and lost in the middle of an alien invasion, he followed them.

He stayed there for three months kinda just faring on his own. A day or two after Leo woke up from his coma, he was taking a walk in the woods when WOAH SOMEONE JUST TRIED TO SHOOT HIM DOWN WITH AN ARROW?! (Ace is both an archer and a bunrai user) He looked up at the trees from where it came from and the person ran away?? What just happened??

Bros got no time to be the thinker because ace pins him down in a flash and he has his bunrai up against Leo’s throat.

They already know eachother since ace was fighting the turtles a lot after the whole Karai thing so Leo’s like “oh shoot it’s this guy”

Leo ends up finding out that ace believes the turtles are the reason for everything that happened to Karai and Leo tries to explain that shredders lying and stuff and he’s literally the worst father ever.

Ace starts reflecting on his childhood and hes like “oh shoot he might have a point”

Leo convinced him to put down the weapons and have ace stay with them (because Leo feels pity for they guy, I mean, he’s literally just some twelve year old with hella trauma and got mutated by his DAD.)

Obviously at first no one really trusts him.. especially not raph. I mean, bringing in someone from THE FOOT?! Nonetheless shredders SON? That’s a no go.

Conflict happens here and there, ace gains their trust AND THIS MARKS THE START OF ACE’S SELF DISCOVERY ARC🔥🔥

Because up until this point, he was basically nothing but another soldier for shredder thanks to how he was raised. He didn’t really know what he wanted or what he liked. All he knew was how to fight and serve. The most fun he got was purely from his sister.

Anyway, timeskip to after the NorthHampton arc, they’re back in NY and they work together and whatnot to stop the kraang. Ace ESPECIALLY helped when finding Karai. Leo was out looking for her a lot and Ace often joined him.

By now, his self discovery arc is almost done. He’s got his own personality and likes by now. But he’s still got lasting effects and whatnot (I’ll go over that later). But he’s definitely better now! And side note.. he’s the closest to Leo. Cause I said so. Also because Leo’s the nicest to him.

Now to wrap up his identity arc, they get into a fight with shredder and ace finally fights back against his dad and shoots him in the eye to help the others escape from the battle. Also he maybe cussed shredder out a lil <3

So.. aftermath. He stays with the turtles a long time. But around the time Karai makes her own clan with shinigami, ace left and went off with his sister. He’s still very close with the turtles and visits often but most times you’ll see him with his sister and her girlfriend— I mean, Shinigami.

So like he’s a pretty big perfectionist and tends to overwork himself and stuff. But he’s learned to be a bit more carefree now and to have fun. He really enjoys comics and cartoons, his favorite being space hero’s (thanks a lot, leo.) and he’s way happier than before. He’s got daddy issues and maybe some small abandonment and attachment issues.. bro can also be a little hotheaded. He HATES when things don’t go his way and he HATES when he isn’t being “perfect” or showing that he’s “better” and “worthy”. He’s also HELLA scared of people getting mad at him. He’s pretty sensitive and gentle, actually.

As for his personality? Like me. But more mature, he’s VERY headstrong, stubborn, gentle, caring, and he’s a HUGE perfectionist as said before. He hates the idea of failing even just a bit.

And as for appearance he’s basically just IDW alopex but he’s got these cool little spiral in his fur which are natural. He’s also got this belt that goes from his shoulder to his waist and it has a bag in the back to hold his bow and arrows, and the the front of the belt holds things like daggers, shurikens, smoke bombs, etc. and he has a waist band that has pockets for his bunrais. The waist band, belt, and bag are all a sort of greyish black color.