#I do actually like splinter and casey though

[aberooski]

Okay so, if y'all know me you know I adore tmnt. It was my obsession before I ever watched even the original YGO much less GX. And now I'm watching tmnt 2012 for the first time, I'm about halfway through season 2 and honestly you guys are so lucky I'm not live blogging it because well.... I don't like it 💀

I will say I'm enjoying season 2 more than season 1 so far but still 💀

[indieyuugure]

Heyyyy! I love ur comics so so so much!

Quick question(s), what would the turtles’ voices be like? Would they sound like someone from Brooklyn, or something more like the og turtles? Also, could you do potential voice claims, like celebrity or not? Ty babes, love your stuff!!

Hahaha 🤣 thanks!

I think the turtles wouldn’t have very much of a Brooklyn accent (maybe Raphael a bit, but just slightly), Casey would have a really thick one though—thick enough actually that I try to write his dialogue in a way that you can hear it. April probably wouldn’t have any accent at all.

I actually do have a video of what voices I think would be nice!

I don’t remember if I posted this version or not, but regardless, this is the newest/current version of the voices I like for them:

Leo: Will Friedle

Raph: Justin Cook

Donnie: Steven Yeun

Mikey: Robbie Daymond

Splinter: Greg Baldwin

April: Alice Lee

Casey: Matt Lanter

Karai: Alison Lohman 

Shredder: Eric Bauza

These will probably change slightly at some point in time again because I’m so incredibly indecisive, but for now these are them!

Good question! :]

[goodlucktai]

What if I said 10 & 20 as portal duo thanks so much

dialogue prompts

10. “I don’t care. I’m not leaving you.”

+ 20. “Get away! You’re hurting them!”

for my beloved meeks

x

They weren’t supposed to be here. It’s stupid, but it’s the first thing that springs to Mikey’s mind. 

Leo had only recently graduated with honors from those initial grueling physical therapy sessions that usually ended in tears (not always Leo’s) to daily exercises that got easier and easier until he was breezing through them the way he used to breeze through everything. 

If he went farther than two steps away from his arm crutches Donnie appeared out of thin air looking ready to breathe fire at him, and Raph was in the habit now of holding Leo out at arm’s length immediately after every hug in the manner of scruffing an unruly kitten to double-check he was wearing his leg brace and compression sleeve, and Mikey had learned the hard way what everyone meant when they said medics make the absolute worst patients. 

But for the most part Leo was doing really good! He was hitting all his marks and only driving everyone a tiny bit insane—well within the allotted Leo amount! 

So when he had smiled that crooked, conspiring smile at Mikey the minute the coast was clear and said, “There’s no better strengthening exercise then sneaking out with my favorite little brother for a past-due victory smoothie,” what was Mikey supposed to tell him? No??

It did occur to him, a tiny little guilty whisper. Leo was healing. He’d been so badly hurt. Even Splinter, who spoiled Leonardo rotten, hadn’t given into the slider’s constant pleas to rush the recovery process along. They were going by the book. Literally, since Donatello had stepped up as team medic in the interim. Don and Raph and April and even Casey were all very good at not bending an inch no matter how many tragic looks got sent their way. Mikey wasn’t very good at that at all. 

And anyway, joy had drowned out that whisper with a shout. He lit up with it, that newly-discovered supernova inside him curling up like a happy cat in a patch of sunshine. There’s a very big part of him that will always be what it’s always been, no matter how old he gets, or how powerful his mystic arts become—he’ll always be Michelangelo, and Michelangelo will follow Leonardo absolutely anywhere. 

So he said, “I’ll get my hoodie!” and darted out the door with zero ninja stealth, clipping his shoulder on the frame and almost crashing into the table in the hall. Leo laughed behind him, and the unrestrained sound made Mikey feel like he could float. Maybe he actually did for a second or two. 

He’ll never forget those horrible minutes after the portal closed, after Leo’s comms went dead, when he had wondered if he would ever hear his brother’s voice again. When he wondered what, exactly, his last words to Leo had been—they almost certainly weren’t I love you or please don’t leave so they didn’t count. 

To make up for it, he wanted to tell Leo everything every chance he got. He wanted to make him laugh all the time. He wanted to crowd into the little twin-size infirmary bed to watch movies or do art projects that got glitter everywhere. He wanted to sneak out for smoothies even though it would get them in big trouble, because that was literally why he helped save the world in the first place. 

And now he’s standing in a dim sidestreet, an orange streetlight buzzing dully above him, two smoothies melting in his hands. It’s their usual shortcut home, through a bunch of foreclosed apartment buildings and a dead end road. Leonardo is in front of him, shoulders stiff, ninpo humming weakly beneath his skin like a tired little beetle that shouldn’t be up from hibernation just yet. 

Across the road are half a dozen humans in what looks like riot gear labeled TCRI and a man in a black suit. The man somehow looks more dangerous than the people in police armor. 

“Leo,” Mikey says in a small voice. His brother doesn’t answer, but he does shift his weight to put Mikey more firmly behind him, which is answer enough. 

And Mikey thinks, We weren’t supposed to be here. No one knows where we are. 

The man in the suit starts talking into the bulky earpiece he’s wearing, but Mikey can’t make out what he’s saying over the buzzing of the streetlamp and the pounding of his own heart in his ears. All he hears is Leonardo murmur, “Mikey, go.”

“No,” Mikey’s mouth says automatically. It doesn’t even need any input from his brain to say it. Because no. 

“Mike,” Leo says, in his best leader voice. But his tone is urgent in a way that borders on being scared so closely it must mean he’s actually terrified, or he would never have let Mikey hear even a hint of it. “I’d go with you if I could. I’m sorry I can’t.” 

His hands tighten on his crutches. He can’t run. He’s still healing. He should be at home, doing his exercises with those little pink dumbbells in the warmth and safety of the lair, complaining the whole time in between tossing out ideas for dinner. 

Mikey should have said no to sneaking out the way Donnie and Raphie would have instantly said no. He should be better at taking care of Leo the way he needs to be taken care of, the way everyone else does so easily. 

The armored people start to shift to the side, moving around Mikey and Leo in a wide formation, hands on the guns holstered at their waists. Containing them. The man in the suit is still talking, face inscrutable behind the tinted glasses he’s wearing, but his face hasn’t twitched away from their direction even once. 

“Hey,” Leo says, bringing Mikey’s attention back. “Don’t look at them, look at me.”

He’s smiling over his shoulder like it’s any other back-alley brawl with the mutant of the week or a handful of those Foot soldiers who never know when to quit, and not a horrible high-stakes situation in which Mikey stands to lose one of the most important things in the entire world if he makes the wrong move. 

“Just get home and get the guys, okay? Then come right back for me. You can outrun these goons without breaking a sweat. You can do anything.”

Mikey drops the smoothies and the cold wet soaks through one of his sneakers instantly but he needs his hands free so he can clutch the back of Leo’s stupid hoodie. He needs to hold on tight and make sure whoever tries to take his brother away knows exactly what kind of knock-down drag-out fight they’re in for. 

“I don’t care,” Mikey says, too loud in the stillness. “I’m not leaving you.”

He wishes he were a snapper like Raphie. If he was big and strong and had a shell that was as good as bulletproof armor, he’d scoop Leonardo up and shield him from the guns and run them both away. 

If he was a genius like Donnie, he’d have one or a dozen gadgets on his person that would have saved them. 

But he’s just Mikey, who isn’t big and strong, who isn’t a genius, who isn’t one of the people Leonardo is willing to step down and be weak in front of and depend on. Just Mikey, who Leo saved all his best jokes for during painful rehab, like it mattered to him that Mikey didn’t see him struggle. Just Mikey, who Leo always lifts both arms for the second he sees him coming and squishes into the world’s best hug, even if he’s pissed off at everybody else. Just Mikey, who Leo wants to get better for, be the best for, be one of the constant things on this planet Mikey never needs to doubt, like gravity and sunrise and overpriced street food. 

Because there’s a very big part of him that will always be what it’s always been, no matter how mature he gets, or how accomplished a ninja master he becomes—he’ll always be Leonardo, and Leonardo would do anything to make sure Michelangelo keeps smiling. 

Leo is also very stupid, because he doesn’t seem to understand that Mikey will never smile again if his big brother goes away. 

When the TCRI agents explode forward at some signal Mikey missed, and grab the brothers and drag them apart, Leo stumbles and falls when his crutches are wrenched away. He’d probably be making a smart-ass comment if his jaw wasn’t clenched, the sudden fall probably radiating pain all the way up his spine, distress making his gold eyes burn neon yellow. 

Like a flip was switched, all the panic inside of Mikey evaporates into a red-tinged mist. 

The supernova inside him sleeps most of the time, because he’s not big enough to contain its multitudes yet, and it doesn’t want to cause pain. It only wants to shine light in dark places, it only wants to help. But it wakes up with a fury and fills every inch of him to the brim and the overflow spills right out of him, lifts him right off the ground, makes his voice a resounding thunderclap when he yells, “GET AWAY! You’re hurting him!” 

Staggering back and shouting in alarm, the agents begin firing, because humans in a panic are trigger-happy creatures, even well-trained ones like these guys must be. Every round fired disintegrates the second it meets the glow pouring out of Mikey, disappearing before it can do harm. 

“Holy shit,” Leo says, eyes wide. It’s the way Mikey imagines he probably looked at Leo, when everyone else feared Raphael was a lost cause but Leo put his hand on Mikey’s shoulder and told him, I’m not giving up on him. I’m not leaving him behind. A sailor lost in a storm and their first glimpse of the lighthouse in the dark, close enough to save them.

“Hold your fire!” the man in the black suit barks suddenly, his voice viciously angry. “I did not clear any of you to fire!” 

Mikey doesn’t care who the scary Men In Black guy is, or what reason he has for tracking Mikey and his brother down, or why he’s calling the dogs off now. He cares about helping Leo get back on his feet, scooping the crutches up off the ground and getting Leo’s arms in them, and staring right into Agent Sunglasses’s stupid face while the supernova burns and burns and burns inside him. 

Try it, he doesn’t say. Just try it. If the Krang couldn’t take my brother from me, what hope do you think you have?

He feels Leo’s arm slip around his, locking them together at the elbow. Leo’s ninpo, a soft breeze instead of the playful gale it’s supposed to be, weaves through Mikey’s own to lead it. 

‘Like this,’ the wind tells the sunburst, guiding it through the process it wants it to take the same way bigger hands used to guide a smaller Mikey through katas, readjusting his arms and poking him playfully on the beak when he scrunched it in frustration. The golden portal that opens beneath their feet costs him nothing, appearing as effortlessly as Leo’s spinning blue ones always do. 

The agent’s face goes slack with shock the second before the turtles disappear. 

They land on the sofa with enough force that it almost collapses, and Leo makes a pained noise, hands pressed to his plastron like he’s trying to contain a full-body ache with sheer willpower. Mikey scrambles off of him and falls off the sofa for his trouble. His clothes are prickly, like he’s covered in static electricity. A magazine left on the coffee table begins to move, pages flipping as if in a breeze. One of the beanbag chairs lifts up slightly, like gravity has gotten lighter in that specific spot. 

He feels too big for himself. There are multitudes inside him, a million different things that are all true at the same time. He’s still so angry, and he’s still so afraid, and he’s still just Mikey, who couldn’t be what Leo needed him to be until the last possible second. 

Just Mikey, who Leo saves his best smile for. Just Mikey, who Leo hugs like it’s the easiest thing in the world to bring another person that close and trust them right next to his heart. 

“You’re the most amazing thing I’ve ever seen,” Leo says, like it’s another truth Mikey can keep for as long as he wants. Forever, even.

There will be hell to pay when their brothers get home. There’s a brand-new danger their family needs to be made aware of. Leo tried to leave him behind again and it reopened a wound that was still raw and healing.

But for now that wild star in his heart doesn’t need to burn so bright. It can put all the furniture that began to float back down and go back to sleep. And Mikey can press his face into the cracked print of Leo’s favorite Chappell Roan hoodie and say, “Hope you enjoyed your last taste of freedom for the next hundred years.”

Leo laughs, but doesn’t let go of Mikey right away. He clings extra hard for an extra long minute.

He would have left, Mikey realizes, but he didn’t want to go. When he was alone on the Technodrome, staring down a monster and a portal and the truth of how to save everyone, he didn’t want to go. If there was any other choice, he would have taken it. He would have come home. 

Mikey isn’t Leo, who will do what he has to do no matter what it costs himself. Mikey isn't Raph or Donnie. Mikey is and always has been the spoiled baby of the family, who will do exactly what he wants to do and damn the consequences. He’ll tear a thousand holes open in the universe if that’s what it takes to keep his family together, and if the Hamato ancestors don’t like it then they can come and take their ninpo back. 

They can try, anyway. 

[igotparasiticbrainwormscalled911]

ROTTMNT headcanons

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On the longer side of a read, spent an hour thinking of all these headcanons

Its now 6AM,

Goodnight!

Raph;

- Obviously Raph has some anger issues, but, he tries to do certain shit to make him „less angry,“ and more calm. A few examples would be him drinking tea or meditating, it works for him, sometimes.

- Raph's more than the smashy Smash Guy! After-Movie Raph constantly thinks about what happened in the Contents of the movie, and what he learns in said contents.

- Raph is able to put forth a lot of his anger when going on missions because of whst goes down on them. He was chilling with doing that all till the movie, afterwards feeling any sort angry or violent emotion made him disgusted, it always made him think about what he did under the Kraang's control.

Donnie;

- Donnie just straight up avoids ANY emotions Happening around him, strong feelings and he gets a strong feeling to flee the scene.

- Donnie's the one who lacks the most empathy out of all of the turtles which I can get more into later.

- Donnie's a germaphobe which is kind of silly to think about, Like, Yeah, the Turtle who grew up in the dirty sewers is a clean Freak? YES. Yes Bro.

- Donnie just has bountiful amount of peculiar phobias.

- Donnies autistic, duh

Leo;

- I'm not going to lie, I do Genuinely project on Leo so A handful of headcannons are just my personal projections.

- Leo bites the skin around his nails but oddly enough not the nails themselves.

- Leo has Generalized Anxiety Disorder but tries To Play off his anxiety and „Act Cool“.

- Leo's got some sort of Hero complex, but, he struggles to take situations Seriously, which causes him to Mess Up missions on a few occasions.

Mikey;

- I feel like Mikey's little orange spots just glow sometimes, or maybe just his body in general. I made this one mainly cause I thought its some silly Mikey shit he'd do.

- A quite common headcannon in the fandom that I just agree with is After-Movie Mikey having some sort of nerve damage in his hands.

- Mikey is emotionally intelligent, but just straight up aggressive with it. If you can't get in touch with your feeling around Dr. Delicate Touch then you're cooked.

- After-Movie Mikey also constantly thinks about the what-ifs, like „What if I wasn't able to make the portal,“ or „what if that didn't work,“ etc. He gets all sad thinking about, the possiblity of That Actually being the way Leo goes out, and solidifying in his 13 year old head the fact that they could die doing their missions, like, forreal.

Turtle Dynamics (?)

- Leo and Donnie BOTH are insomniacs theres no way they aren't.

- They all definitely have some sort of PTSD ESPECIALLY After the Movie bro

- Leo &Mikey have ADHD and I feel like either of them are capable of having AUDHD.

- Mikey sneaks out a LOT to go Graffiti, if the turtles know theyll either try to come with, stop him, or turn a blind eye. Raph would either try to come with or stop him from doing it, while Donnie would probably just turn a blind eye, and then Leo would either or honestly.

- Mikey's the easiest to open up to out of all of them, he's got the best advice and he's a great listener. Donnie's the worst to open up to, he gets awkward, quiet, and worst of all, sweaty. Leos mediocre at comforting people, and Raph tries his best to help.

- Raph's the Tank, Leo's the DPS, Mikey's the Support, and Donnie's the Tech Guy. (Donnie's a Tank for sure)

-They all smell like soap and cleanliness and nothing else.

Casey;

- Casey lives with the rest of the family Happily Ever After the Contents Of The Movie though he still misses his turtles. He still frequently thinks of what they would say or do in certain situations, like he still looks up to them for Guidance even though they're gone.

APRIL OOOOO'NEEILLL;;;!!!!

- APRIL O'NEIL IS APART OF THE FAMILY;!!!!

- The turtles treat her like a sister and a Equal. Splinter treats her like a niece, or a daughter. (Niece is fits better for their Dynamic IMO)

- April usually calls Donnie when she wants help with something, since hes more straight to the point than the others.

UNDER CONSTRUCTION ! ! !

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Hey so if you made it this far down, congratulations! Thank you for reading : )

This is a New Tumblr and I'm trying to get more posts out and get my account all sorted and whatnot.

I'd really appreciate any comments, dms, notes, etc. I'm probably going to add more to this post, whenever I think of whatever headcanons nd all

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[iscdisc]

I guess this could be considered more of a genuine question-??

But does anybody know why there's this opinion or take (I guess?) that 2012 April was hesitant to express her true feelings / properly reject 2012 Donnie and Casey because she was worried that everybody would stop talking to her or hate her because of her choice? It would be especially helpful if it's coming from somebody who actually shares this specific headcanon / interpretation !

This is a concept I've seen every now and again (Mainly in fanfictions-), and personally I find it very confusing- I'm not saying that the actual dilemma of it doesn't make sense, because I know that's a realistic scenario that can happen to people, especially girls / women-! But I feel like in the context of 2012, I don't exactly understand why people would have this take with April? Disregarding the fact that April blatantly encourages this weird dynamic with Casey and Donnie from time to time because these writers are idiotic and don't know how to write teenage girls at all, we see April speak her mind a lot in the show and not reflect on it or stress about the consequences of doing that whatsoever. The main cast of characters rarely question April or give her any pushback either (And when they do, they're often painted as the one in the wrong in that situation-). While I understand Donnie was very off-putting in the sense that he rarely would take, "No." for an answer (Often times pivoting or redirecting his approach instead of actually stopping the behavior- I mean, did you see his plan to get April to hang out with him in Season 1? 💀 Lmao), I still don't see how this would deter April from being blunt about rejecting his advances?? I don't see how this would have prevented her from being as vocal as she usually is about her opinions or stance on something.

I feel like the writers didn't do this because it obviously would put more of a spotlight on the fact that Donnie was a huge creep and blatantly misogynistic towards her many times- Not to mention the fact that his entire character felt like an incel self insert that everyone *had to feel sorry for". 💀

There's also the fact that his Brothers were discouraging his crush on April more than they were encouraging it, making fun of him a lot of the time / making jokes at Donnie's expense. So I don't understand why April would get some kind of push back or face some form of ostracisation from the group as a whole if Donnie's brothers weren't even that encouraging of this relationship pursue in the first place-?? Not to mention the fact that Master Splinter / his Father even seemed to be on April's side here, given that he tried to communicate to Donnie that he can't force April to like him back in S2 EP 4, "Mutagen Man Unleashed"-

In regards to Casey, I really don't know why that would be the case either-?? Not only did he have that whole story in S2 EP 6, "Target: April O'Neil" about his best friend since childhood Nick ending their friendship over something so stupidly inconsequential, with Casey openly accepting that decision even though it hurt his feelings- But the pushiest he ever really got (in my opinion) was his introductory episode ("Mutagen Man Unleashed"-)? Sure he still had a few moments about hugging and physical closeness with April (A boundary she clearly established-), but these moments are a lot more spaced out throughout the show compared to Donnie's + Casey never gets to the same level as Donnie when it comes to his interest in April romantically- At least, from my perspective (And again, I'm technically disregarding it for the sake of this argument, but April did have her flirtatious moments with him- Something she didn't have with Donnie at all. Sure April would give Donnie cheek kisses and hugs, but she wouldn't flirt with him in the same way she would flirt with Casey- You know what I mean?).

It's honestly not that big of a deal, I just find myself being very confused when people choose to go this route in their personal / fanon 2012 works with April-? I'm not saying it couldn't have been a better way to approach April's lack of making a decision when it came to those two, because it honestly could have been. It would have been at least more understandable and relatable to some people than April just stringing them along for no specific reason and being incredibly hot and cold about her feelings towards them (Again, for no specific reason- Other than the writers not wanting to commit to anything for the sake of "teenage drama" I guess- Lmao). So this was more of a genuine inquiry about the subject ! 😭👍✨

[our-happygirl500-fan]

Something that I think is kind of interesting is what Rise did with the traditional Leo & Splinter dynamic, throughout the different iterations of TMNT Leo is usually the one to take after Splinter the most & the same is true in Rise as well.

Leo: Relax. We’ll do what we always do. Ninja in, ninja their faces, ninja out.

Splinter: Once the hounds sniff out the boys, I ninja them out!

It’s been shown that Leo can often have a similar style of both talking & thinking as Splinter has as in the movie Leo was also shown to say similar phrases to things that Splinter had said in the show, Leo’s original plan to save Raph being to ‘ninja in, ninja out’ is also similar to Splinter’s plan to save the Turtles in the episode End Game.

Leo: Sorry, I missed that. Can you repeat everything from... well, everything?

Grandpa Sho: Yoshi! You never listen to me

Splinter: What was that? I wasn’t listening

It has also been shown that Leo has some of the same avoidance tactics as Splinter as in the movie Leo expresses a similar actions when he is trying to avoid talking to Raph about being the leader of the team that a young human Splinter expressed when he was trying to avoid his destiny as a Hamato to spend his life protecting the world from the Shredder.

It is also possible that Splinter also might have trained primarily with a sword when he was younger as we see a sword in a young Splinter’s bedroom similar to how we sometimes see swords whenever we are shown Leo’s bedroom.

There have also been a few people who have pointed out that Splinter had a similar pose in the episode Turtle-dega Nights: The Ballad of Rat Man when throwing Donnie as the future version of Leo did when throwing Casey Junior through the time gateway.

Future Leo: Casey, when you’re done saving the world, do me a favour. Grab a slice!

Splinter: Bring home the win boys

Members of the Rise team have also said that putting Leo in a Lou Jitsu outfit in the episode Many Unhappy Returns was also partly meant to be symbolic on how Leo is the Turtle most like a younger Splinter

However though Splinter & Leo share a lot of similarities unlike most iterations of TMNT where those similarities make Leo arguably the Turtle closest with Splinter, in Rise those similarities actually cause Leo & Splinter to clash with one another.

Leo: What do you even know about training anyway? You’re just a rat

Leo: Trust me

Splinter: I do not!

Leo: No! I’m not going back to whats-his-rat

Splinter: Oh why did I ever trust you to handle this? My other sons would’ve taken this seriously!

There are a few times in Rise where Leo & Splinter clash where Splinter seems to not like Leo’s attitude or Leo seems resentful of Splinter however even though the two clash there is still a lot of love between them both.

Leo: Dad was right, and we were so mean to him

Leo: Locked in a cage, failed in our mission, held for ransom by the Foot, and none of us gave him grandchildren! Somehow I think he wanted more

Leo is shown to regret whenever he lashes out at Splinter & seems kind of visibly upset at the prospect of disappointing him

Splinter: Where is Leo? And, uh, Future Boy?

While Splinter has shown concern over Leo’s safety & has literally fallen to his knees in grief at the prospect of loosing Leo.

Splinter & Leo both love each other in Rise but I think it is kind of interesting where Rise has taken what previously made Splinter & Leo so close in other iterations & instead caused them to clash instead

[thebadchoicemachine]

I’m absolutely deranged right now BUT

2012 AU where April is the only one left. Ever. Life on other planets is gone too. The turtles got warped into a cosmic eldritch state (technically gods but like them as people are for sure super dead). The remnants of them follow April.

Donnie is now a force of inspiration, Raph of strength and passion, Mikey of chaos, and Leo of clarity and stealth.

April travels dimension in their ship now, searching for a world just like hers that she can just hop into. Since the multiverse is infinite but she no longer ages she can search infinitely. This drives her a little insane obviously. She’s also run into a LOT of worlds where one of the main four or splinter is dead or where they don’t exist at all.

Then she crashes into ROTTMNT world. Wants a break to hang out there for a moment. Needs a break.

Anyway, then the Rise gang has to deal with this alternate dimension “”April”” who’s clearly Unwell mentally but also can keep up with every turtle in their respective field for some reason?

April goes “MIKEY! Why’re you so small here? You still a weirdo? Good. RAPH! Whoah are you guys different species here? Donnie! You’re even more purple that I was expecting, nice! Can you help me with a tracker—LEOOoooo…. there’s nothing familiar about you to me! but I am happy to see you too!”

After a LOT of convincing they let her stay. They slowly bond discussing their dimensions differences. Eventually April starts saying some really weird things, asking questions about death in fits of solemness, talking to herself as though the tmnt are there, stuff like that. Especially to Rise!April.

Rise!Donnie after snooping investigating her stuff gets it in his head that she had gone insane and killed everyone and was plotting to kill them. His evidence? The braided cloth she wore around her neck was actually all their masks.

Rise!Raph calms him down like “hey. That’s crazy.”

Leo integers with the evidence that SHE (Other [2012] April) is crazy.

Mikey, who’s been oddly silent and hasn’t stopped staring at the masks, (the only one who’s put the empathetic pieces together of the loss April must be going through) begins to ask “What if she just—“

Other April is standing in the doorway with her hockey stick, casting a shadow on all of them. She’s visibly furious, and honestly terrifying as she rushes toward the brothers.

Instead of attacking them, though, she just shoves them out of the way and frantically begins braiding the masks back together.

“You can’t separate them,” she scolded, panic and anger and a deep forlorn in her voice. “They have to stay together. How’d YOU feel if I tore you from your bro—“

She stops realizing how they’re all looking at her. Apologizes. Says she’ll leave now.

Mikey says wait and asks very very gently if she’d like to talk about it. Other April stops. Then breaks down a little.

One emergency session with the whole family gathered later, Shedder asks Other April to begin talking, if she’s ready. She numbly shrugs and says “it’s a short story. I lost everything.”

Splinter goes into a really wise and comforting lecture about how there’s always something left as long as she’s around but Other April snappily stops him.

“You don’t understand. I lost EVERYTHING. It’s not just my dad, or Splinter, or Casey, or Leo, Mikey, Raph, or Donnie. It’s all gone. I can never go home because I don’t have a home to go back to.” She starts tearing up, processing emotions she’s spent lifetimes avoiding with her search. “When Earth was destroyed I thought ‘that’s it. I’ll never be sad again. I just watched billions of people die, I watched my whole life—every human’s entire world—implode. How do you even grieve that?.”

She explains her whole story, though the others ask a lot of questions when she gets to what exactly happened to the turtles, and her goal of finding a home exactly like hers but without an April.

They all agree she’s 100% insane, but genuine, and IS their friend. Lots of good family stuff happens and In the end, Other April is unable to be convinced to abandon her mission of finding HER friends again, but is a lot less one-minded about it. Donnie helps rig her up a way to track the dimensions she’s in both so she can search easier and so she can return eventually.

They all say goodbye, Rise!April gives her the biggest hug imaginable and a bunch of weapons. The boys send her off with a copy of just about every Lou Jitsu and JJ film they can think of, and she’s off.

[shantechni]

"2012 Mikey is Abused" and other constant complaints that, quite frankly, don't make sense

Since one Reddit user (who shall remain anonymous) inadvertently made me type out an essay I intended to write and post in a more coherent manner at a later date, I will be using their comment and my response.

Anyways, the comment itself starts off fairly normal and agreeable:

But then I see the next three points and my sleep-deprived mind just goes off the rails, so let's start with the second point:

Let me preface this by saying I absolutely do not condone the writing here because everyone under the sun will agree that we could've easily had the "Karai is our sister!?" plot twist without Leo and Karai briefly developing feelings for each other.

The problem is that this brief development of feelings is wildly blown out of proportion by the fandom, so much so that it makes it seem as though Leo and Karai actually had anything legitimate going on between them.

The "incest-eqsue garbage" between Leo and Karai is almost nonexistent outside of the writing room. They openly crush on each other for a whopping six episodes by way of verbally teasing each other and being at odds before Karai tells Leo that she's the Shredder's daughter. That's it. He is not pursuing her after that (hardly ever did, not even to the extent that Donnie pursues April) and Karai isn't remotely fond of him anymore after he broke their deal. Then, after we find out alongside Splinter that she's actually his daughter, he tells Leo towards the end of Follow the Leader. We don't get a reaction, actually nothing on Leo's side since the Foot Clan is mostly absent with April being the main point of conflict, even in Target: April O'Neil because April's forgiveness of the turtles is the main focus.

Leo eventually attempts to tell Karai the truth in Wormquake! and The Manhattan Project and she obviously doesn't believe the poor guy, she just wants to kill the turtles and Splinter at this point. Leo doesn't tell her because "he still likes her", but because, in his own words, it would change everything. She deserves to know the truth and Splinter shouldn't have his own daughter cursing him at every waking moment. When she tricks the gang into bringing her to the lair under the guise of her finally accepting the truth, Leo is ecstatic and his first thought is for her and Splinter to make amends. He's upset that Raph still can't fully trust her in the end when she fought alongside them (who can blame Raph though, he's cradling an unconscious brother after a plan gone awry), and that's the end of that.

They dedicate two episodes to the guys attempting to rescue her because Leo has enough brain cells to worry about what the Shredder could be doing with her, and Raph makes a jab at Leo on one instance when they find her (there is absolutely no romantic undertone, Raph just picks at his old crush on her and their tendency to tease each other at the worst times). Then, when she wants to get back at the Shredder for ripping her away from a life she never knew was her's, Leo attempts to aid her because he knows it isn't wise to face someone like that alone, especially with his henchmen there.

There's one last self-aware jab at their past feelings in S5, of which Karai awkwardly remembers and forgoes mentioning, and that's the last you see or hear of that.

As much as I dislike it, I'd take this narrative over the Donnie-April-Casey hurricane any day.

It seems that 2012 Mikey's mere existence is a sore spot for fans because Jesus Christ this gets brought up way too much.

Mikey is not written as a complete idiot, he's written as someone who doesn't see a reason to take everything so seriously, has odd habits, and doesn't always think things through, yet is shown to be highly capable and intelligent when the situation calls for it. Yes the writers left much to be desired at times, but to say they wrote him to be a "complete idiot" and left it at that is just offensive. I'll ignore all the miraculous things Mikey can do with Kraang stuff and Dimension X and focus on what other things he's shown to be capable of.

Mikey was a temporary learning model for Donnie in how to fight without thinking, or in better terms, how to fight instinctually without becoming bogged down by your own mind. Splinter's lesson is shown in a comedic manner, but that's ultimately what helped Donnie defeat Falco.

Another interesting thing is his ability to keep his composure when no one else around him can do so. I mentioned this briefly in another post, but it really stands out to me how he put Leo at the top of his priority list in Invasion Part 2. He's as worried for Splinter as Raph and Donnie are, but they have with them a crippled and unconcious Leo who needs medical attention asap, compared to martial arts master Splinter who's older and wiser than the three of them combined at times. Even when they eventually find Splinter and lose him, he keeps the gang in line by reminding them, as well as himself, that Splinter can take care of himself.

Along with that is when Splinter was kidnapped in The Manhattan Project. Mikey was quick to intervene when Raph was angry with Leo for allowing Tiger Claw to coax him into calling Splinter, and he reminded the two of the problem at hand: they have Splinter, let's go find him and take him back. There are so many other moments when he becomes the levelheaded one in response to the chaos or disorder surrounding him.

Mikey is a highly skilled fighter, he's emotionally intelligent, he remembers the weirdest things that eventually aid the team, he's street smart, he's a fast learner (ex: Bradford's secret kata, as well as the temporary use of the plasma katana in Target: April O'Neil), he's great at distracting enemies without needing to become bait, he gets insecure about things, he has photographic memory, he's the most outgoing of his brothers and therefore ends up with the most friends, he's quick to adapt to a situation and think of a plan, he can throw together seemingly random ingredients to create exactly what Donnie would struggle to create, he knew exactly what to do to find Casey after his run-in with Tiger Claw, the list goes on.

Heck, just to add to this, Mikey is the one who saves the day in three separate stories in S5. 1) His temporary electric powers save the world from Dregg and the Newtralizer, 2) he convinced Frankenstein's monster to join their side, retrieved the scepter from Savanti and Dracula (he accidentally broke the scepter while he was at it, but that helped) and cured Raph and Donnie of their vampirism, and 3) he was the one who repaired Kavaxas' seal and made him reopen the portal to the Netherworld so the dead could return.

The brothers don't always take him as seriously as they should or listen to him, and that's understandable at times, but when they do, they're reminded of the fact that Mikey, in his own way, is intelligent.

If I had a dime for every comment I've seen about this, I'd be rich enough to buy the TMNT series from Viacom and right every wrong they made with the 2012 series.

These abuse allegations are as bad as people putting Markiplier in the same tweet as problematic Youtubers and saying something wild like, "these content creators should've been cancelled a long time ago." I feel like people who say the brothers abuse Mikey are either an only child or genuinely have a warped sense for what actually counts as abuse, and I'm not even trying to be mean, those are just my thoughts. I shouldn't even have to comment on this, but the fact that people are still seriously believing that to this day is shocking.

Would you also like to say that Raph was abused in Turtle Temper when Splinter had the boys ceaselessly taunt him in that little exercise? Or that the boys abused Raph everytime they downplayed his anger? Or that Raph abused Donnie by threatening to hit him if he didn't find Snakeweed's hideout? Or that Leo abused Donnie everytime he stressed him out by rushing him for answers? Or that Donnie abused Mikey because Mikey flinched 2cm to the right when Donnie raised his hand to playfully knock at his noggin? Or that Leo was abused by the team because they took forever to view him as their leader? Or that Splinter abused the boys because he was "too rough" on them during training?? Or that April abused Donnie because she "constantly led him on"? Or that Xever and Bradford abused Baxter???

I'm losing my mind over here

Mikey is never physically or emotionally abused by his brothers, the show speaks for itself. But if you somehow aren't listening, go look up a textbook example of abuse, or better yet, look at Karai.

Abuse is the Shredder locking Karai in a dungeon when she tries to escape to her real family and going so far to become a peak manipulator by saying Karai was hurting him by making him lock her away. Worse than that, he starts brainwashing her with mind controlling worms so she has no choice but to obey him. Even before then, he's lowkey uncaring of her wellbeing: he treats her like any other soldier of his and doesn't listen to her when she tries to tell him something. He doesn't address her concerns about the Foot bots nearly finishing her off, instead telling her, "disobedience comes with a stiff penalty, especially for my daughter," when she objects to him telling her not to take action against the turtles while he's gone.

He only ever pays her any attention or gives her praise when it benefits him and his vendetta against Splinter.

Splinter and the turtles are the farthest thing from the image of a family filled with abusers. Raph openly apologizes to Mikey when Splinter tells him to stop picking at him in Shellacne, Raph comforts Donnie when the brainiac is somber after forcing Timothy into the equivalent of a cold sleep, Raph apologizes when his anger gets the better of him and he hits Leo harder than intended, Donnie apologizes when he realizes he shouldn't insult Raph when the guy is visibly upset, Leo regrets doubting Donnie about Metalhead, etc., etc.

Even beyond apologies, Raph is the quickest to entertain Mikey and vice versa during a mundane moment, Donnie never kicks Mikey out of the lab, Leo plays around with Mikey when the situation doesn't call for him to be their fearless leader, and Splinter is quick to advise Mikey during Karai's Vendetta and Shellacne. There are even times when the guys just go along with Mikey's antics because there's no harm in doing so, and often times Mikey needs a moment to be silly.

If you think play fighting, teasing, or getting a little physical with a sibling is the equivalent of abuse, particularly in the context of TMNT of all things, you need to do some re-evaluation.

[qoldenskies]

Foaming at the mouth and begging for more wwww content

What is the brains and brawn duo like? Like from first meeting, getting to know each other, and the twins moving in

What is Splinter’s thoughts n the twins after finding out they’re alive and what is his relationship like with them like? Both individually and together.

Does Donnie crave parental approval still? Has anyone ever told him they’re proud of him? Can I squish his cheeks and bury him under 1000 weighted blankets?

donnie is draxum's.... favorite. if you want to call it that?

it's apparent draxum is kind of scared of him, though. he holds him to more restrictive standards, and he entrusts leo with a lot more responsibility. it's a big reason why donnie will come off more sheltered and naive-- leo's been going out and doing his own shit since he was a lot younger. a lot of donnie's freedoms are pretty recent, and even then they still keep shit from him, and he still knows better than to misbehave. the consequences are usually nastier, although leo gets a bigger helping of animosity from draxum on the daily. it's a big reason donnie seems so calm-- these are the ways he built up his walls. he's actually pretty shy and avoidant? if one of them needed to shout, leo would do it. leo has been raised to lead donnie from the start, although those expectations get worse and worse for him once draxum starts putting his plans into motion.

point is, this heavily influences both his dynamics with splinter and raph, who are both positive figures in his life... once he gets to know them, that is. splinter does not have much of an opinion on donnie and leo until they're right in front of him, because there is so much going on with the dark armor and some other things i cant talk about yet. for all intents and purposes... splinter's family is right here. he has to do what he can to protect them. they cant take in two other kids with how messed up their circumstances already are, never mind two kids that he's been told are hostile from raph. which is true for leo, i suppose.

but he's overjoyed to see them again. he's actually blocked out most of his memories of the whole experience because it was very traumatic, so he cant remember much other than the fact that he named them. he actually assumed they might have just died, and it hasn't really processed to him that they'd also count as infant children-- that's the only way he could really cope with it all, just to think of him as other turtles lost as collateral damage. he didn't have much time to linger with two children he already had to take care of.

donnie walks into his life first, haggard and harrowed for reasons i cant talk about yet. splinter tries to express to him that he's allowed to take up space, but donnie is almost perfect. better than raph and mikey have ever been. donnie tries to give him everything, he's polite, he's quiet, he's not clingy, he makes himself scarce when he doesn't think he's needed, although he's closer with mikey and eventually raph. splinter just assumes that's kind of his demeanor, that it's not all the fresh trauma speaking, because it's easy to glean that sometimes he will be completely straight-faced while having the time of his life...

and then leo enters the family.

if donnie is the perfect child, leo is the exact opposite. loud and annoying and destructive and violent and mean. leo is so intensely mean, ESPECIALLY to splinter. he's vicious and taunting and overprotective of donnie, to a concerning degree. he doesn't trust anyone and he doesn't talk about what he went through. they try and communicate with them and he essentially spits in their face. he's amicable with casey and kind of april, but raph mikey and splinter can all go choke and die for who he cares.

but what splinter learns through leo's appearance is that donnie is... different. leo takes donnie's polite, fawning behavior as something to challenge. he sees him suck up to splinter and gets ANGRY and standoffish, and it causes splinter to realize that both of them are scoping him out. leo is waiting for splinter to snap and hurt them. donnie thinks that everything will go right if they never step out of line. both of them argue constantly about each other's approach because they're both very protective of each other. and donnie's a troublemaker himself, and deep down leo is a sweetheart. splinter just hasn't been able to see this because both of them distrust him so much.

it makes him worry that draxum was a lot worse than he actually was from the start. the truth is, things are more complicated than that and they have some fresh new scars to explain their behavior. but up until the dark armor was complete, draxum did start to act increasingly worse, lashing out in fits of paranoia and having periods of mania (this is meant to mostly be a psychotic break due to several extreme stressors and a lack of sleep, btw).... this influences leo's behavior more than donnie's, but donnie has a reason to be wary and afraid. draxum betrays his trust and feelings of security in a really horrifying and monumental way.

both of them need parental approval, and both of them need to adjust to the completely different style of parenting that splinter presents and the more free lifestyle. but splinter notices how donnie lights up like a christmas tree when he tells him he's proud, and he notices the wary gleam of hope in leo's eyes when he's given the same approval and attention, no caveats or expectations.

they both end up a lot closer to raph, though. leo takes some time to get close to him, but they're inseparable when they actually bond and stop fighting all the time. they bother him like attention-starved cats. it's not a stretch to say they lowkey kind of imprinted on him-- they act like raph is their Person, although donnie confides in mikey and leo overall a lot more lol

[paperlifted]

A Turtle By Any Other Name...2!

[Season 1 tally here]

The season 2 tally of names used by the turtle family in TMNT 2003.

As per the first count, this includes all direct addresses, names given to a third party, and names dropped during the pre-episode narrations. This time around, I also added in April and Casey, and tallied up what names the turtles use when referring to themselves.

Additional notes below!

• Master Splinter is this season's top name claimer, with an impressive 106 mentions despite actually having something of a smaller onscreen presence compared to the first season. Out of sight, maybe, but never out of mind - especially when Leo's around to bring sensei into the conversation. Accordingly, Splinter only says someone else's name 27 times in total, compared to the first season's 54.

• Raph is yet again behind one of the few cases of the turtles calling Splinter their dad, courtesy of s209 'Reflections': "Too bad [the Shredder] forgot about one thing - a little 90-pound weapon of mass destruction we like to call dear old dad." Aka, a line that made me laugh aloud because no! No 'we' don't! Mikey also joined in during the Battle Nexus arc however ("it's like finding out your dad is Superman!"), which was of course full of some really sweet father-son moments in general.

• Mikey tops out the brothers with 90 mentions (which puts him significantly in the lead of second place Leo's 75), and he owes a chunk of it to the fact Don simply will not stop with the gratuitous favouritism. It's not even as though they spend that much more time alone together! I honestly think Donnie just likes saying it - first word, anyone?

• Leo pares way back on full names for his brothers this season, which one could argue is a sign that he's starting to come into his own more - less the Splinter Junior style of leadership, and more the big brother.

• Remember how I said the brothers using each other's full names doesn't indicate much about their mood? Well, if April O'Neil full names you, watch out - chances are she's not pleased. We also got some rather scathing Leonardos from Raph this season, courtesy of the City at War arc.

• The one thing that surprised me most was watching the trend re: Don and Donnie do a turnaround. Leo still favours Don, but by a much smaller margin, whereas both Raph and Mikey suddenly came roaring out with a major preference for Donnie! Unlike with Leo and the full names, I can't think of anything that's changed about the relationships involved, and there continues to be no tone-mapping - he might be a fond Don and a worried Donnie or vice versa, across all brothers. It could be a Doylist thing: a change in the writer's room, or some unconscious bias of their own slipping in. And if the trend keeps going across the remaining two seasons, season one might just go down as an outlier.

• Don at least stays consistent with his personal trend of mostly only referring to each brother by one particular name, though he mixes it up a little with Splinter, and even threw in a single 'Case'.

• Unsurprisingly, Mikey finds the most reasons to name-drop himself, and he tends to favour Mikey when he does, especially if he's introducing himself to someone else. His Michelangelo's are more often theatrical.

• I did actually count the bro-use this season, but decided not to put it in the final tally because then I'm setting myself up to count my sons and dudes and... it gets silly. For the curious, though, Raph and Mikey are (predictably) the majority users, with only 3 bros from Leo and 1 from Don.

• This wasn't really a big season for April and Casey, but I did find it sweet that April usually refers to Splinter by his more formal name.

[catbowserauthor]

TMNT 2012: Final Thoughts

Started my rewatch a few weeks ago and finished it up this weekend!

I have a lot of thoughts. Some good, some surprising, some bad.

Overall—solid show. It’d rank 2nd for me (87 and 03 are still tied in first place) and I can absolutely see how it pulled in a new group of fans and became their staple. It’s a great combo of old and new ideas and most of them are executed pretty darn well.

Thoughts on the cast worth mentioning:

Sean Astin as Raphael is a match made in heaven. Once the writing really got the hang of his character, he delivers those emotional beats pitch perfect.

Rob Paulsen as Donatello has its own charm to it. It took me a while to not hear 87 Raph but I do like the characterization he brings. It has a bit more bite than other versions which is nice to see.

Mae Whitman as April works really well. For all my grips with the character herself, the voice work I can’t find any flaw with. She delivers anger really well.

Greg Cipes as Mikey is fine. Like, I don’t have any issues with the voice work. I wish they’d let him have a few more serious moments because Greg SELLS those. My issue is a lot of the writing for Mikey, it has nothing to do with Greg’s performance.

Seth Green as Leonardo is really well done. He’s probably my favorite of the VAs for Leo in this show. Especially in the later seasons, he sells the big brother/leader role just as much as he sells the teenager geek. Him being comforting to any of his brothers is great and I eat it up!

Thoughts on the characters:

I don’t like April. I just straight up don’t. I dislike they made her a psychic(because I think it would have made a lot more sense to give it to Mikey), I dislike the love triangle, I dislike her attitude (some episodes worse than others) and I just…don’t think she adds anything to the team dynamic. I’d have preferred her to be a reoccurring character who popped in every so often but they made her a series regular and I…don’t like it.

(I actually liked her friendship with Irma and was so mad they made her a Kraang)

Casey is fine. He’s kind of annoying but once things get going, he doesn’t bug me too much. Anything to do with his interest and April and thus with Donnie is 👎 but overall, I don’t mind him.

Splinter I remain divided on though I do appreciate him more on this rewatch. I still think he could be overly stern, played some blatant favoritism, and was not as wise as he gets credit for but he’s okay. I do like the humor they use with him and when he has genuinely heart felt moments with the turtles, it is so sweet to see. I just wanted more of it.

Karai…okay, so I’ve never really been a huge Karai fan but I like this one. I wish they’d stuck with her just being Karai and not Miwa though. (Yes, I know that was the plan from the beginning but I digress).

Mikey…oh, my Mikey. They could have done so much with this Mikey and sometimes they do! When the writing is on fire for Mikey, I’m in love. But they make him the punching bag/idiot WAY. TOO. MUCH. God! I do love we still get references to his spiritual energy (his instinctual fighting, heart, and references to ‘bad feeling about this’ is why I say they should have made him the psychic, not April) his out of the box thinking and empathy but they, much like 03, decide all/most comic relief must be on him and it hurts my heart…

Donnie is a lot better than I remember and truthfully my biggest issues with him are the love triangle. That causes most of the issues with his character. Eliminate that and you eliminate most of my problems with him. But…he does tend to hound on Mikey way too much (sometimes deservingly so) but “he never really matured past 6 years old” REALLY? Really? Little comments like that give him this superiority feel that I _don’t_ like at all.

Leonardo really gets his bearings in season 2 and I loved seeing his journey onward. By the final season, I adored Leonardo and it was really cool seeing him go from student to ninja then to leader/Sensei himself. It’s a dynamite end for the character.

I love this Raphael! Which really, really surprised me. The first couple of episodes you can tell they were figuring him out (hence the more bullying than brother behavior which I don’t like) but once those pass, we get a beautifully in depth character who truly loves his family and takes on the protector role so well.

THE LOVE TRIANGLE

Burn this thing with fire. My God! I hate this aspect of the series! And you know, I wouldn’t even be against it if they decided to make April a couple with one of the turtles…just like I wouldn’t mind if she ended up with Casey.

Heck, she could outright reject them both!

….

BUT COMMIT PEOPLE!

Decide an angle and stick with it! But they don’t! And when Donnie finally decides to lay off of April…she leads him on! She also shows interest in Casey.

They go back and forth so much and they still never commit! Even to the very end! Don’t. Do. That.

DECIDE, DAMN IT!

THOUGHTS IN GENERAL:

So, let’s get this out of the way:

—don’t like the ‘Mad Max’ episodes. Hate ‘em. Some of my least favorite of the series. In my mind, Owari is the end and Season 5 is a series of one shot adventures, the Mad Max world is an AU. I hate the idea that such a world is where they end up.

—Splinter’s death should have been reserved for the end. I get the whole reverse time to stop it only for it to be inevitable angle they were going for but it kind of cheapens his final death. I would have had him captured by the Triceratons and earth destroyed so the turtles still have to go in their time travel trip but it reserves that true gut punch for the end.

—This series probably has the absolute best finale in Owari. It’s intense, it’s heartfelt, it wraps things up beautifully. I still wish all the turtles had been part of the final blow to Shredder, not just Leo, but still really solid ending! And ending it with Splinter’s death and Leonardo taking over as head of the family is the perfect bookend to Leo’s arc.

—I mentioned it before but I think the psychic powers should have been given to Mikey. They hint at him having more spiritual awareness than his brothers (the fight without thinking, the hunches, his adaption in Dimension X, his empathy and creators confirmed the light around him on the roof in Owari was spiritual power) so giving him that would have made total sense. Then we would have: “Leo the master ninja leader, Donnie the brains, Raph the strength and protector and Mikey the heart and psychic.” Would have allowed more time for Mikey to have development and an interesting dynamic with his brothers. And Splinter! This Mikey gets almost no time with Splinter!

—April can still train to be a kunoichi, I’m cool with that but don’t let it pull away from the brothers. Their arcs should be the focus.

—On that same angle, like I mentioned before, I don’t like Karai being Miwa. I saw it coming, I think most fans did but I think it would have been a far more powerful arc if Miwa truly had died with Tang Shen and Karai chose to go with the turtles because her own moral code demanded it. Splinter gets the Shredder’s daughter but not by force. But because she CHOSE it.

Now, as for the seasons themselves, worst to best:

Season 1:

They were still figuring the characters and plot out and it shows. This one isn’t bad but you can tell they were still seeing what worked and what didn’t. Season 1 has some great “moments” but the episodes as a whole felt much choppier and I don’t see myself revisiting many of these. I especially like a lot of the characters much more later on.

Season 4:

I’m one of those people who don’t really like the Space Arc. There’s nothing wrong with these episodes. I enjoy Professor Honeycutt and the new environments but overall, the feel and plot of the episodes simply don’t hold my interest. It has some great moments, much like season 1, but no real episodes I find myself rewatching a ton.

Season 5:

With the exception of the “Mad Max” episodes these adventures are a super fun dynamic. It’s neat to see the turtles as a well oiled machine but now Leo has to figure out how to truly be the leader of his clan. There’s some great sweet moments, they’re entertaining and it makes for a fun “epilogue” of adventures.

Season 3:

So, according to the fandom, you either love the farm house episodes or you hate them. I fall into the love category. I’m a fan of horror which probably helps but I really like this setting. There’s a lot of time for bonding with each other which is my favorite part of the franchise. There’s definitely some things in here that fall flat but a pretty solid series of episodes.

Season 2:

Here we go! This is where I really think the show found its footing. The characters are consistent, the plots interesting and we get some really emotional beats. Ending it with them having to flee is a dynamite cliffhanger and having Leo taken out and mutated Karai still missing really gives us that sense of dread. To quote Raph: “For the first time in my life, I have no idea, little brother.”

I really enjoyed this rewatch. Definitely know some episodes I’ll be revisiting. And maybe…might play with some fanfic in this universe? We’ll see.

[indieyuugure]

Hiya Indie!! A questiom for Indie TMNT that occured to me outta nowhere... what kind of voices do you think they would have? Like, I noticed every iteration have very different "sounds" to all the turtles, so I was wondering!! Any specific VAs in mind, or just general ideas?

I love your art btw!!! Your comic composition and art style are great!!! ⸜(｡˃ ᵕ ˂ )⸝♡

I actually answered a similar question awhile back! Link here

Though, a few of my ideas have changed since then so here’s the new set:

Leonardo: Mark Whitten

Raphael: Clifford Chaplin

Donatello: Josh Brener or Adam McArthur

Michelangelo: Robbie Daymon

Master Splinter: Greg Baldwin

April O’Neil: Ashley Johnson

Casey Jones: Marc Thompson or Jason Ritter

The Shredder: Eric Bauza

Karai: Mae Whitman

These are just samples from various characters these people have voiced before to help give you an idea of what they sound like in my head, so I imagine they would have a different performance playing these characters.

Leonardo talks more naturally than Rengoku, Raph has a light Brooklyn accent, Mikey talks like a surfer dude, April sounds less like a child and more like a woman(kinda like 03 April), and Karai is a little more serious sounding.

In the cases where I put two voices it’s because I like both, so Donnie in my head sounds like a mix of both of the voice actors I chose, as in like a combination of their speech patterns and mannerisms.

Though in the case of Casey Jones, I do like both of the voice actor’s voices, but I have a major bias towards Casey Jones having a heavy Brooklyn accent much like 03 Casey.

I’ll probably change my mind again, but for now this is what I’m happy with! Many of these choices were actually suggested by BasketballCam2 on Deviant Art, so credit to them for finding these!

Good question! :]

[imagionationstation]

I don’t know what’s going on with my brain but it has been AU gender swapping Donnie so hard the past few days.

I’m just going to fix the series in a few simple steps:

Donnie leaning heavily on April only because she’s the first other female that she’s gotten to interact with ever

Leo getting some female interaction so he sees Karai as a potential friend instead of immediately crushing and the later reveal isn’t as conflicting since they’re just battle besties

Casey stays decent and awesome without the “battle for April” plot making his character hard to truly appreciate

The brothers are more supportive of Donnie and her attempts to form a relationship with April & Donnie doesn’t have to talk to a jar of guts and mutagen because they know how secluded she’s been, so they’re more free with advice like hey, maybe don’t stalk her and just text her or somethin’, mkay?

Splinter visibly checking up on her activities in the lab throughout the series because he has no idea how to raise a female (he was counting on Tang Shen for that) but he does his best to let her know he cares by supporting her in other ways 💜🤎

More softie Raph moments with his sis so the haters in the audience don’t hate him as much as they unreasonably do

Mikey doesn’t need to change. He just gets to have some more of the “emotionally intelligent” moments that we were deprived off.

I can’t think straight with all these bubbling rewrites help me-

For anyone who cares, also my favorite tidbits:

Splinter not realizing that Donnie was female at first and the name Donatello just ends up sticking. Donnie will die on a hill that Donatello is gender neutral even though her family and friends know it’s not. It’s a topic that they just avoid bringing up

Her brothers use Dona when they’re teasing her

An explanation as to why canon Donnie’s figure is just so randomly different from her practically identical brothers

The shock of Irma isn’t as crippling because April still has Donnie as her devoted female bestie & now the farmhouse era is a lot less stressful and complicated for April and the viewers

Role model Leo still exists & Donnie has a crisis over him bonding with Karai and that creates tension for a while & Four Trap is actually Leo accusing Donnie of not trying hard enough because of that past debacle and “try harder” has clear purpose

Donnie gets an official ✨ big sister ✨ and that means that good-guy snake Karai exists in the series more as the reptilian mutant females bond

Overprotective brothers over their sister (and-)

The sister who appreciates it but there are some moments where she gets tired of them treating her like she’s not as capable as them (not true, but how she interprets their actions) and one episode decides to prove herself (Operation Break Out)

Potential for Casey/Donnie but currently undecided

Consistent “girls are so emotional” jokes that are beyond cringe but the viewers have to tolerate them anyway bc 2012 humor

Broken Foot actually having an affect on Karai since she almost took part in killing off her only sister

Donnie’s biggest fear is that her brothers will one day get tired of her because of how different she is/feels and then she’ll be alone & this fear is the main debacle that she struggles with through the entire series instead of the weird love triangle thing

It’s okay everyone I’ll shut up now and go sit in my corner bye ✌️

[theyhavetakenovermylife]

Can you write about the Last Ronin where we were his girlfriend before everything went to shit and we meet him again but he also get to meet his child as well? Btw I frickin' love your fanfiction, I hope you keep expanding you work.🥹

16 Years: part 1 (Angst)

TLR!Michelangelo x reader

Part 2 (18+) Part 3 (18+)

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A/N: Thank you so much🖤 I feel like writing for TLR has opened whole new world of writing for me, and I will love to do more, even if I cry every time😭🖤 I had “Tout L'univers” by Gjon’s Tears playing on repeat as I was writing this, so when I tell you I was bawling my eyes out, I was BAWLING. For some reason I just had to make everything worse for poor Mikey😭

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Warnings: Spelling, The Last Ronin and The Lost Years spoilers, loss of loved ones, loss of child, mentioning of suicide, trauma, self hatred, crying (not just in writing, omg), and probably a lot more.

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For 16 years, Mikey had tried to live with the spirits of those he had lost. Trying to find peace with them, and let them be. But he just couldn’t. Mikey just couldn’t rest with all these faces he used to love surrounding him, knowing that he could not help them. Raphael, Leonardo, Casey, April, the Fugetoid, Master Splinter, Donatello, Gerel, Shaka. All of them haunted him, speaking to him, telling him what to do. His brothers even went so far as to belittle him for his actions and failures. Every. Single. Day.

But if there was one face that Mikey couldn’t handle around him, it was yours. He dared not to look at you, nor the child you carried on your hip. The pain from seeing the two of you, in complete silence, not speaking a single word, being the only ones that actually did as he asked - staying quiet and letting him think. He looked at you once, the pain of seeing you and the young child in your arms, was almost enough for him to end it all before he even made it to Korea.

But though Mikey never looked at you, he felt your presence with him everywhere he went. You always followed closely behind, carrying your little bundle of love, just like you did the day he lost you…

Mikey hated how clearly he remembered it. It had been absolute chaos. They never had a chance. Leo had told him to bring April and the Fugetoid, all making sure nothing happened to you. You, Mikey’s girlfriend, who had been in the second stage of your first pregnancy. You, the only woman that Mikey had ever loved. You, the only person who was willing to let him think of something, other than his horrible war of a family feud, and his so-called destiny. You, the love of his life, and the only reason Mikey has seen a reason to fight in the first place…

Mikey had lingered for too long. That’s at least what he told himself. He should just have done as Leo had said, and gotten you out of the building. He should never had hesitated. If he hadn’t, then maybe you wouldn’t have been caught in the explosion. Then maybe you, April… and the kid would still have been alive.

Mikey still remembered how strangely numb he had been when he woke up from the explosion. His body ached all over, but it was as if he felt nothing. You were all gone. There was no way any of you could have survived that explosion. Leo, the Fugetoid, Casey, April, you… and them. That was what Mikey referred to the long lost life as - them. Giving them a name would just slowly kill him over time, making everything harder than it needed to be. Almost as hard as it was so leave the ruins of your grave, without trying to look for your body. But as much as Mikey wanted to stay and look for you, he had to leave for the last family he had left, before they too were gone.

But like always, he was too late for that too. Donnie and Master Splinter was already far gone when he made it to Japan. That was Mikey’s breaking point, and the first time he wished to end his suffering. Everyone was gone. His friends, his brothers, his father, the love of his life and his unborn child. Mikey was angry. Not just at the world around him, but himself. He could just have stayed with the two of you. He could have found you and laid you to rest. Giving you, his brother, his friends and his child a proper burial. But he didn’t, and he hated himself for it.

Mikey hated himself everyday. He hated himself for not being able to protect you, and he hated himself for not taking care of you. And taking care of his own damn child. As he forced himself through the snow of the Japanese mountains, as he trained under Master Yip, when he momentarily went blind in Mongolia, and when he had to fight for his life in Ukraine, before finally defeating Death Worm in Italy, all Mikey could do was think about you and how hate himself. But soon he learned that there was only one way to make up for his mistakes. Revenge. Revenge for all that had been done to his family. Oroku Hiroto would have to feel the pain that Mikey had been feeling for the past 16 years. And that was what Mikey came to New York for. Revenging all of his family, especially the one that didn’t even have a name.

But as it has happened so many times, Mikey’s plans did not go as he intended. His first assault on Oroku Hiroto was a failure to put it frankly, leaving him wounded as he had to retreat to the sewers he once called his home. Here he intended to do what any honorable ninja would do - take his own life before the enemy could get him. But then, for the first time in 16 years, life had better plans for him, the universe deciding to keep him alive once more. Mikey’s wounds were so great, that he passed out of blood loss before any harm could be done to him. That was when Casey Marie found him, calling out for her mother, telling her to help.

Mikey woke up in a warm bed a few hours later. Confused, he scanned his surroundings, wondering if he was dead. It looked like the lair - his old home. But then he saw April, and for the first time the world shone a light upon him. April, his dearest friend, was alive. In all these years, she had been alive. He learned that she was not alone. Her daughter was there too.

“Is it just you and your daughter down here?”, Mikey asked as he slowly swung his legs over the edge of the bed.

“No”, April answered calmly, a smile spreading over her face. “We do live with two others. I really think you should meet them, Michelangelo. Right now they’re out in the sewers, looking for stuff to bargain with on the Black Market, but I think they could be home any time soon”.

And as if April’s words were magical, distant clatter of metal could be heard, alerting them to people entering the lair.

“Aunt April!”, the voice of a young man yelled, the volume of his voice getting stronger as he approached the room. Then he barged in, proudly holding up something in his hand. It looked like a little metal lump with wires sticking out all over the place. “See what I found! Can you believe it?! Someone just dropped this into the sewer! Don’t they know how much this is worth?! Idiots! Imagine the comic books I can get out of Tinker with this! I can finish father’s old collection!”

Mikey froze at the sight of the boy. It was not his impressive height he had for a teenager, nor the muscles on his arms that shocked Michelangelo, but it was the color of the boy's skin. It was green. Light green to be specific. Mikey’s eyes wandered over him, taking him in, ignoring the growing smile on April’s lips, or how the boy suddenly seemed to notice the large turtle’s presence in the room. Mikey’s mouth was dry as he saw the three slender fingers on his hands, his lack of hair, the outline of what looked like a plastron on his front, and the unmistakable shell-like shape on his back. And his eyes, strangely recognizable.

The boy’s hand fell to his side, the metallic object suddenly not seeming interesting anymore. His eyes wide as he took the stranger sitting on the bed. Mikey in turn just stared. The two of them looking with their mouths agasp.

“Yoshi”, a voice sounded out in the hallway, breaking the silence. Mikey’s heart almost stopped. He knew that voice. It was the voice he had longed for so long. The voice he had blamed himself for silencing. Yet there it was. Just outside the door. “Be nice to your aunt. She might be working…”

You froze in the doorway. Mikey almost broke down. It was the face he had forced himself to look away from for 16 years. The face of the silent woman that used to carry a baby around wherever he traveled. You looked older, but still as beautiful as the day he first met you. Your eyes sparkling with the same light he fell in love with, all those years ago.

“Mikey?” you whispered, holding back a sop as your eyes began to water. The mentioning of his name caused the boy’s eyes to flicker.

Mikey could only nod, feeling his heart pump his blood so fast that he was starting to get dizzy. You ran to him, hugging him tighter than you ever had before. His hands tightened around you, his throat knotting up, making him fight for air. He buried his face against the crock of your neck, feeling all of your muscles move as you sobbed against him. You cradled his head against you, holding him against you, tracing his head, shell, shoulders and arms.

“I’ve missed you so much, Mikey”, you sobbed, bringing his head up to look at you, before placing a quick kiss on his lips. That was what broke him. He returned your quick kiss with urgency before he broke down in tears, hiding his face against you once more. 16 years of fear and pain finally boiled over, Mikey could finally let it go. At least for a short while. He almost clawed at your clothes in order to get you closer to him. It was as if no physical connection was enough.

“I’ve missed you too, (Y/N)”, he choked out, letting the tears fall as your comforting hands made shapes on his skin.

“Mom?”

Still holding on to Mikey, you turned to look at the boy. The poor guy looked so confused, but Mikey had a feeling. The boy most likely also had. Both of them just waiting for her to confirm what they had already guessed.

“Yoshi, sweetheart”, you said, wiping a tear away, before reaching out a hand to him. “Come and say hello to your father”.

Neither Yoshi or Mikey said a word, staring at each other as he made his way over to you. April wiped one of her own tears away, before she left the room with a smile, closing the door behind her. It was time for the three of you to catch up.

You slowly moved out of the way, letting Yoshi stand in front of Mikey. None of them knew what to say. All they could do was look at each other, trying to calm their erratic breathing. Then suddenly, Yoshi launched forward, wrapping his arms around his father in a tight embrace, the tears rolling down his face. Mikey hugged back immediately, finally getting a chance to hug the kid he thought he had lost.

“I’m sorry, Yoshi”, Mikey choked out, trying his best to keep calm. “I’m sorry I couldn't take care of you and your mother”.

“It’s okay, dad”, Yoshi said, smiling even though his eyes were overflowing and his body was shaking. “I took care of her while you were gone”.

[sealofarchives]

Hello, could you do a Rottmnt headcanon of what kind of relationship Leo, Raph, Donnie and Mikey would be?

Headcanon: The reader might need 4 rings in the future since they couldn't decide on one turtle. (Requested prompt)

A/N: sorry for bringing up watt/pad again but, I did at least a couple of oneshots towards the reader in a poly relationship with the guys. So I had a bit of deja vu seeing this type of prompt again (probably around 5 years of writing) but anyway...

One last note: It was a bit difficult to understand the wording towards this particular ask. I already had some unpleasant interactions with "those fans" so I hesitated for a bit with this one.

So please double check your asks before sending it because I don't want to end up with another semi-hiatus because of asks that were out of my control...

If this isn't the kind of relationship you're into, then just skip this one.

Leo

He honestly wasn't expecting you to make the first move.

And tbh, he kept pacing around his room by the time the new feelings bonked him on the head. Like "Ooooh no... (Y/N)'s actually really really really cute..."

Surprisingly, he went to Splinter for advice. Part of his soul left his body when the rat man explained the importance of that special relationship in a lovey dovey manner. But, actually listened slowly realizing Splinter's previous relationships ended in failure. Especially with how things are with Splinter and Big Mama.

Its close to the end of the week when you suggest that idea to date all four of them. And you were very much taken back that he's okay with it. Though he can't promise not to be jealous from time to time. But, he and his brothers will make sure not to break your heart and will swear by it.

- More likely to do surprise visits (or alerting you with a text that he's dropping by for a few minutes. sometimes close to an hour or more if he's not really in the mood for a night patrol)

- Accidentally starts light hearted competitions with him and his brothers trying to impress you. He's still gonna be a showboat but tones it down the moment you pretend to ignore him.

- He's a bit insane and brave with the idea of wanting to meet your family members (the ones that you feel comfortable with). Or towards people that have been there for you in those darker times. Aside from April and his future self being close to a guardian figure to Casey Jr. And the brief time he and his family had with Karai, might be the reasons why he wants to reach out more. Mostly starting small though since the mental scar from the Krang and Shredder really changed him as a person.

Its usually Mikey or Donnie that challenge the red slider turtle to a friendly game on winning your affection. And when he's not feeling up to it, he just waits when Raph's turn is over and asks for your TLC (tender loving care).

Despite the horrors, he's still the same ol whiner. And will probably latch on to you with the most saddest eyes. That you're luckily immune to as you hold hands with one of his brothers for the start of the next week. Donnie has used a spray bottle with water at him and still does it even when its not his turn.

Raph

Very confused about the idea and trying to make sense of it.

It might be close to a few weeks where he finally understands. (mainly asking from April because his brothers can make it sound more confusing)

He hasn't really thought that much about the existential dread of the mutant/human relationship until seeing either Leo or Donnie silently anxious about it. Like the alligator snapping turtle is always more focused on keeping his family safe. And with you as a partner (and potential future spouse) being shared with him and the rest of his brothers. Mind Raph is pestering him even more just to say it out loud than just waiting for you to lead the relationship.

He'll eventually get used to it and given his oldest brother status. Takes it with ease being more patient compared to their high energy.

- Doesn't realize he acts like a "proper gentleman" (or gentleturtle as Donnie would say) when Raph opens the door for you while you're carrying boxes or something. Or offers to help you with the heavy lifting. Even Splinter calls him out on that behavior.

- When its his turn dating you, you get immediate "dibs" on everything. He plays very innocent with you but on his brothers. They always work together on a prank back at him for being annoying about it.

- Tends to look at your hands sometimes. He blushes thinking about how soft it feels around his face and lightly tracing around where its safe to touch his spiky shell.

While he always has good intentions, his brothers heavily hate the 'chaperone or third wheel checking in on the date idea'.

- It's mostly brought at least once a month and the trio usually try to tell you ahead of time before it happens again.

He'll be slightly grumpy whenever the trio share a single brain cell about a really stupid thing that he won't get.

- And he'll whine for a bit if you end up taking their side so, just take his side to save him from another wrinkle on his Raph chasm.

Donnie

He's silently making a fuss about it during the first month.

And a bit at himself, for waiting so long to ask you out. Before you went ahead with the bold move of "I don't want you guys to fight over me so... Is it okay if I date all four of you?"

It takes him a long while to get used to it. Or when Dr Feelings notices the softshell turtle not being open and honest about this relationship with you.

However once he's fully settled in, a very charming and laidback sort of relationship.

- I always get the vibe he uses 'dearest or darling' as his term of affection towards you. (His brothers used to tease him about it but, on days where bad luck decided to give this turtle a break and more on them. They're pleading for your help and whether you want to add fuel to that fire. That's on you)

- To me, he has that dramatic hopeless romantic energy. The only difference he pulls it off better than the dense couples in rom com movies/shows. With the amount of words he knows, at least a few or almost all of his compliments at you will send your heart into a flutter.

- At least every now and then, he'll try to dazzle you with something. Either one of his incredible inventions or surprising you with your favorite thing. (He'll boldly insist he was a step ahead getting it as a surprise. Even though his brothers actually chipped in to avoid another "The Purple Game" incident)

He sort of has a friendly rivalry with Leo on trying to make you laugh.

- If he starts to gloat about it, especially winning with the claim "Told you I was the funniest."

You kissing the softshell turtle's lips will instantly shut him down. use that power wisely

He unfortunately has jealousy issues by the time his turn is up.

- Like pretending to give the cold shoulder until you need help with something he's an expert at.

Mikey

Very much the mature one taking this relationship seriously.

Even though it took a few days with Donnie's help to get a better understanding of your idea of the poly relationship.

Dr Feelings and Dr Delicate Touch are working overtime because of these dumb dumbs sometimes.

Despite that, absolutely the sweetest turtle boyfriend. (and best future turtle husband material out of the four of them)

- While he has the Lou Jitsu charm, Mikey's bundle of sunshine is a whole another level. You can't help but, slowly break into a smile from his toothy grin.

- If you're the type who takes a long while to warm up to pda. He'll mostly stick to handholding and ask whenever you want a hug or kiss from him. (He's definitely more warm as a result of the mystic fire-based energy and ninpo that just naturally went with the flow towards him. So you sometimes fall asleep on his shoulder without realizing it)

- More likely to make any boring task you dread doing into a fun adventure. You both have matching hats from a previous grocery trip and pretended it was a mission from one of the Jupiter Jim comics.

His brothers were totally not jelly about it.

Very much tries to hide his embarrassment from his brothers suggesting 'better date ideas' to the best of his ability. He glared a few times at Raph with the chaperone idea. The usual youngest not getting along with the oldest brother sort of deal. So whenever you're around, the biggest sign is a strained smile on his face while lying that everything is okey-dokey.

- He almost clamped his shell shut when Splinter immediately disapproved the ideas with something even more embarrassing.

The only downside is he might go to some extreme lengths with how stubborn his brothers act.

- So you might need additional help from Splinter or April to prevent a new doctor persona along the lines of Dr Chaos.

[goodlucktai]

if you’re taking suggestions for the leosagi series you wrote - maybe leo with champion when shes a little older being a menace? or just leo and yui on a date. idk whatever u want :)))

read on ao3

x

At first, Yuichi didn’t know why Leonardo was so annoyed about his family crashing their dates. The Hamato siblings were fun to be around and folded Yuichi into their shenanigans as though it cost them nothing to include him. And it was always worthwhile to see Leonardo in his natural habitat—those sweet and silly and childish sides of him that only came out of their shell at home—so he never minded when he drove down to the lair to visit Leonardo and their time together was never time alone together. 

Then Leonardo came over to Yuichi’s house to watch a movie and Yuichi’s cousins invited themselves into the den and each made it their life’s mission to make Yuichi wish he was an only child. Leonardo thought they were hilarious and encouraged their antics like the troublemaker he was but Yuichi firmly resolved to never laugh at him for complaining about his brothers ever again. 

“We should go out sometime,” Yuichi said pointedly, staring very hard at the unrepentant little fluffy faces peeking at him from the porch windows. “We could get dinner. Or go skating. Or vandalize public property. I’m not picky.”

“Or all of the above!” Leonardo chimed brightly, the blue light of a portal flickering playfully behind him. He squeezed Yuichi’s hands and added, “I like the way you think, Snowball. Let me know when you’re off work on Friday and I’ll come steal you from tío.” 

He leaned in like he was thinking about going for a kiss, then seemed to remember they had an audience and backed off again with a nervous giggle. 

Goddammit, Yuichi thought with feeling. The constant scrutiny was actually ruining his entire life. 

So that’s how they end up here; Yuichi has his bike helmet tucked under one arm, watching with amusement as his boyfriend stands in front of his assembled family and lays down the law. 

“One last time: what are you not going to do,” Leonardo says in a no-nonsense tone, arms folded across his plastron, borrowed purple bomber jacket glittering where the living room lights hit the sequins. He’s unfairly cute. 

“Stalk, supervise or spy,” his siblings recite with varying levels of agreeableness. 

“And what will happen if I catch any of you doing any of those things?”

“You’ll portal our favorite belongings into the ocean.”

“And I will catch you,” Leonardo adds dangerously. “My phone is on, I’m sharing my location, I’ll be with Yui the entire time, and we probably won’t do anything crazier than trying that new Greek restaurant on 9th Ave.”

“You’d try Gyros Stop without us?” Michelangelo demands with a look of absolute betrayal and wet, shiny eyes. Yuichi honestly can’t tell if he’s kidding or not, but Leonardo is completely unmoved.

“Pushing your luck, Miguel. I’ll bring back baklava.”

The crocodile tears dry right up. One camera shutter sound later, Leonardo is staring at Casey and Casey is staring at the floor, new phone clutched guiltily to his chest. 

“I promised April I’d get a picture,” he whispers.

“If you go into the settings you can turn the sound effect off for next time,” Donnie says, leaning over his nephew’s shoulder.

“Next time?” Leonardo all but shrieks.

“Hey, so you two should get going, huh?” Raphael interjects quickly—probably because he can sense the situation rapidly deteriorating by the second. “Have a good time! Tell Raph all about it later!”

Yuichi and Leonardo finally make it past the turnstiles with only a few more dramatics for the road, hopping down into the tunnel where Yuichi’s bike is waiting while Splinter’s pointed reminder of the curfew for little turtles echoes boomingly around them. 

Said little turtle looks seconds away from dying of mortification and busies himself with shoving his helmet on and pretending his father isn’t still talking about what he’ll do if ‘my Baby Blue comes home with even a single scratch!’

“Get me out of here before I do something drastic,” Leonardo grits out. 

Yuichi pulls his own helmet on and slings a leg over his bike. He twists around and pats the seat behind him, smiling. 

“I’ll go real fast, Stripes. Just hang on tight.”

He knows for a fact that the Hamato brothers have motorcycles that Donatello built from the ground up, and that even little Michelangelo can outdrive people three times his age. And Yuichi has floated the idea of Leonardo coming down to the Hidden City on one of the shell hogs so they could have a drag race with Kitsune and Chizu, which Leonardo agreed instantly was the best idea he’d ever had. 

But for now it makes sense to share Yuichi’s bike. It's date night! And it feels like Yuichi is literally the king of the entire universe when Leonardo wraps his arms snug around Yuichi’s middle and props his chin on Yuichi’s shoulder, knocking their helmets together playfully. 

There’s another camera shutter sound behind them, and Leonardo whips around like he’s going to surrender to the Cain Instinct once and for all. Biting back a bark of laughter, Yuichi revs the engine really loud and takes off. 

It’s late and the sky is overcast, which means that when they turn onto the street from the underground it’s to a smear of headlights and bright neon signs and glowing storefront windows.   

None of the Hamatos seem particularly interested in Cloaking Brooches, beyond the single time Yuichi heard them curiously pondering what their human forms would look like while they were waiting on the popcorn in the microwave. Brooches aren’t particularly hard to come by, and Yuichi knows for a fact that there are a bunch in a drawer at home somewhere, but when he offered to bring over a few, he got a round of “nahh”s.

“Embrace the turtle, baby,” cheerful Michelangelo piped up.  

“Maybe pops would want one,” Raphael added thoughtfully. “We’ll have to ask.”

“It’s New York,” Donatello explained, since Yuichi probably looked as confused as he felt. “No one pays attention to anybody else. At best, the humans won’t even notice we look weird because they’ve got their own stuff going on. At worst, they will notice and automatically assume we’re in costume and not care why. What a town.”

So when they pull into a drive thru for smoothies, Leonardo just says, “Leave your helmet on, they won’t say anything,” proving it when he leans over to pay for their drinks with his phone and his sleeve rides up past his wrist. The teenage cashier clocks his green skin, visibly decides she’s not paid enough to care, and smiles at them brightly when Leonardo tips 25%. 

The Hamatos have lived in—or beneath—Midtown their entire lives, so Yuichi is comfortable deferring to their experience. He doesn’t think he’ll tell Auntie, though. 

They wind up at a little park with a wooded waterfront area, almost entirely empty due to the threat of rain. There’s one dim, buzzing streetlight that offers a warm orange glow against the tree coverage and overcast sky, so the two of them gravitate that way. 

Yuichi can see a few other people on the walk path, all the way down at the other side of the park, looking as though they’re making their way out.  

“There’s so many people in every corner of this town but you still manage to find little pockets like this where nobody’s around,” Yuichi says. “It seems impossible.”

“The Hidden City is like that, too,” Leonardo says, hopping up to sit on the railing that separates the greenery from the water. “Every time you take me to one of your secret hangout spots I’m like, ‘Wait, there’s a billion yokai half a street over, how is it just the two of us here?’” 

Yuichi laughs and says, “That’s fair. Did you get pineapple-banana this time? Let me try.”

“You gotta branch away from strawberries and cream, there’s a whole world out there,” Leonardo complains, but gamely switches smoothies anyway. 

Hanging out just the two of them takes much the same shape as it does when they hang out at the farm or the lair. They talk and watch videos on their phones and recreate TikTok dances they’ll never post but save anyway. The only big differences are the ambient noises of the city—traffic and sirens and music and humanity—and the lights on the water behind Leonardo that frame him like a movie scene. 

And also that there’s no nosy siblings to get in the way when Yuichi leans in for a kiss. He does exactly that, mirroring Leonardo’s smile, when suddenly his boyfriend’s gaze cuts to something over his shoulder and he goes through the five stages of grief in rapid-fire. 

“Pizza Supreme,” the slider mutters, letting his forehead bump against Yuichi’s in defeat. “Gram-gram’s laughing at me, I know she is. I mean it’s free entertainment at this point.”

“What?” Yuichi says, turning around. “What did you see?”

“My all-time least favorite B-list bad guys, probably up to their same old stupid tricks.” Leonardo puts his hands on Yuichi’s shoulders to guide him out of the way as he hops down from the railing. His attitude has cooled slightly, a gleam entering his eyes that wouldn’t look out of place in Donatello’s. Which definitely means trouble. “Hey, morons!” he calls. “Stop trying to out-ninja me, I’m so far out of your league it’s actually insane!”

There’s a beat of silence, less than a handful of seconds, and then a dozen humans in dark clothing reveal themselves. Yuichi spends a lot of time with a ninja clan these days and still finds it a little unnerving the way they can spill out of the shadows soundlessly. Even Leonardo and his siblings, with all their bright colors and larger-than-life personalities, can disappear into thin air like it’s nothing. 

These ninja wear hooded cowls with a burnt orange emblem that give away exactly who they are.

Yuichi’s hand goes to Edgewing, belted at his hip. He knows exactly who to blame for the Krang invading New York City—and ultimately for the battle scars Leonardo and his brothers all bear as a result. He only has to take one look at the healed gashes that stand out stark white against the pretty blue of Leonardo’s carapace and it’s enough to make him want to start breaking faces with an eagerness Karasu-Tengu-sensei would disapprove of. 

“Can we please just cut to the chase here?” Leonardo says, hands on his hips. “I’m a busy guy, and frankly, you picked the wrong night.”

At the beginning of the evening, the only solid plans on Yuichi’s itinerary had been dinner and driving around really fast to hear Leonardo whoop in his ear and maybe going to that drive-in movie theater in Brooklyn the turtles loved because it was screening the original Jurassic Park trilogy this weekend and Yuichi had only seen the first one. 

Maybe he should have been surprised to end up engaged in a sword fight with his boyfriend’s hereditary enemy in a cute postal-stamp sized park in Manhattan, but he’s not, really. Part of running with the Hamato clan is learning really early on how to roll with the punches. 

And—he’s taking some mean glee in this. Sue him. When he slams the hilt of Edgewing into a cowled face and hears the crunch of cartilage he goes, “Ha,” under his breath, and only feels guilty for a second about what sensei would have to say about it. 

“Aren’t you guys embarrassed?” Leonardo calls out to the gaggle of Foot ninja he’s fighting, sounding more annoyed than anything else. “All of your overlords either leave you for dead or sick a squishy pink brain parasite on you.” He glances at Yuichi and adds, as if he had somehow missed the entire alien invasion earlier in the year and this was his first time hearing about it, “It was a whole thing.”

“You know, I do have the Internet.”

“You have dial-up. I didn’t even know what that was until Donnie Googled it.”

If Yuichi wasn’t already in love with this guy for an embarrassing number of reasons, watching him fight five to one without breaking a sweat definitely would have helped him get there. He doesn’t even need the edge his ninpo gives him; fighting an enemy like the Krang kind of makes everything else seem like small fish in comparison. 

By the time the last ninja has crumpled bonelessly to the ground, Yuichi’s muscles are burning in that pleasant post-workout way. And his mind is completely free of everything except a giddy runner’s high. So when Leonardo tilts a smile at him, already reaching for his abandoned smoothie, Yuichi doesn’t think. 

He just closes those four steps between them, takes Leonardo’s face in both hands, and kisses him. 

It’s perfect, obviously. Even with the sound of a nearby eavesdropper squeaking and then being soundly muffled. 

“Okay,” Leonardo says very calmly, and disappears in a flash of cyan. 

Somewhere in the wooded part of the park, there’s multiple shrieks and the sound of Raphael pleading, “No listen, we weren’t spying I swear we were, uh, we were—” 

“Geocaching,” Donatello fumbles, “what an insane coincidence that it took us here, he lied convincingly. Nardo, you know how susceptible I am to both peer pressure and FOMO—”

“You guys are so cute!” Michelangelo chirps enthusiastically. “Ow! And totally a power couple, you should see the pictures we—Lee, ow, ow, okay, I’m sorry I’m sorry—”

Yuichi sighs, and looks down at the Foot ninja beginning to stir weakly on the ground nearby. 

“I’m so lucky,” he confides in them, the truth of it a warm little star in his heart, and then slides out his phone. 

Donatello added him to the Hamato family plan ages ago, which means he gets service everywhere and data speeds he didn’t even know were possible. Yuichi finds Gyro Stop on GrubHub and places a pick-up order for enough spanakopita and baklava to feed however many of Leonardo’s siblings he decides to leave alive.