#there is always a klunk in TMNT

[brightlotusmoon]

His name is Klunk, obviously.

[brightlotusmoon]

i love mentally ill girls and their cats

[a-really-cool-blog-name]

what IN THE ENTIRE GOODNESS OF THE WORLD was the mirage April plot line about, man???

Like I've never read the original mirage comics and I've never seen someone who says they're a fan of the original mirage comics which is weird cuz they're the original but I've just never seen one so I get told information and I have no idea if it's true or not and then I look it up and sometimes IT IS

Like what do you mean that April wasn't real and was made by like a magic pen but also saw this by becoming like a cockroach and traveling into the past or some crap like that and might just disappear at any time??? What do you mean she like runs away after finding out this information and then gets like attacked by a bear or something and then becomes like a vigilante??? What do you mean Casey just adopts a child in the meantime???

What do you mean the Shredder's killed in the first issue by Leonardo just straight up decapitating him immediately but then it's brought back by the foot clan feeding his corpse to worms and now he is the worms before he's killed again??? What do you mean by splinter is just a regular rat who just like lived for 15 years like just like that??? What do you mean splinter just raised the turtles to specifically kill the shredder and like not much else?????? What?????

What do you mean Donatello witnesses the actual real life comic artist Jack Kirby get like sucked into a dimension of like his own creations and then just has to like accept that that happened??? What do you mean?????? What do you mean all of these ideas were immediately scrapped the next time they had to do something what????

Why was none of this ever elaborated on????

I've never in my life seen a mirage fan so I can't confirm any of this information without heavy googling so I might have gotten something wrong or like missed something like incredibly weird but I just what??????

[camarilla-arts]

some... Cats?

[charcoaldustonmyfingers]

Comics Masterlist

Hi folks! I'm going to put all my comics and various fandoms in one place here, so hopefully they'll be easier to navigate :)

Fandoms are Zelda and TMNT with some Sonic!

~<><><>~Zelda Comics~<><><>~

May Forever Find Always - TotK AU

The Fall (Part1) (Part2) (Part3)WIP

Nothing Left To Lose (Part1) (Part2)

Gloom HaaAAAHH!

Equestrian Mountaineering

Free Arrows

Ancient Heros Mask (Part1) (Part2)

Intrepid Journalists

Little Hawk

Skyward Bound - Zonai SS AU

Updated Designs

Zonai Designs

Shenanigans

The Beginning

Fi Design

Dragons

Finding Zelda

Meeting Dragons

Loftwing WIP

Extras

Sneak Peek Dragon Fight

Dragon Link

Goat Dad/Mom solidarity

Zonai Mask Salesman

Imprisoned Sky Fight

Heros Bane Ganon

~<><><>~TNMT Comics~<><><>~

On the Off Days - RotTMNT AU

In Defense

Happy(?) New Year

The Creature (Part1) (Part2)

You're How Old?! (Part1) (Part2)

Good Listener (Part1) (Part2) (Part3)

Little Shadow (Part1) (Part2)

Finding Draxum

Free Protein

AU Mamas Assistant

Vougeing

Tech Support (Part1) (Part2) (Part3)

RotTNMT Klunk

Shell Quirks (Part1) (Part2) (Part3) (Part4)

Language! (Part1) (Part2)

ADHD and Sleep

Hands Tell a Story

Sick Days (Part1) (Part2) (Part3)

Movie at Aprils

Nail Painting

Steamed Buns with Hubris

Sleight of Hand

Dramatic Idiots

The Bean

Taco Crimes

The Perfect Gift (Part 1) (Part 2) (Part 3) (Part 4)

Donnie Needs Glasses

Little, No Matter How Big

Found-me-downs

Hand-me-downs

Smarts and Crafts

Da Vinky

Unfortunate of the Face

Portal Two

Sewer Sweet Sewer - TMNT 2003

Pestering Privilige

Same as it Never Was

The Burden of Trust (Part1) (Part2)

Klunk

Careful With Your Wishes and Sleepover

Turtle Necks and Brotherly Bonding

03' Designs

Extras

RotTMNT Skeletal Studies (Raph) (Donnie) (Leo) (Mikey) (Splinter)

RotTMNT Anatomical Study

Lone Raph and Cat

Drafting

Battle Shell Study

Raph and Dorky Pals sketches

Baron Draxum sketches

Clothing Challenge rottmnt

~<><><>~Sonic~<><><>~

so I played forces...

so I played frontiers...

Super Sonic Heroes! (Part1) (Part2)

DC Heroes

[brightlotusmoon]

So say we all.

I've only had Klunk for one episode, but if anything happens to them, I will commit atrocities

[dysfunctional-doodle]

Hello. I hope I'm not bothering you, but I was wondering what's your personal headcanons on the Bayverse Turtles? I may have spelled headcanons wrong, so correct me if I am wrong.

(Dude I always spell headcanons wrong I got you)

Oooh hc time! Random stuff really, but:

Mikey has ADHD and Autism. I mention it very briefly in my tmnt chat fic, but I read a fanfic with this idea and it just fits so much for me. Especially the ADHD, which I think the creator of the movie confirmed somewhere anyway?

Donnie has chronic pain in his upper back/spine area, specifically where the shoulders are. To me, he just seems to have a more awkward, uneven build compared to his brothers - he is thinner and taller, yet his shell is still huge. So i kind of had this hc floating around. Idk if other people like it but eh. Cant be a nerd without a bad back I guess

Mikey and Donnie are definitely the younger brothers. Mikey being almost a full year after Donnie, and Donnie being about half a year after Raph and Leo (who are the same age)

Raph knits. Basically confirmed anyway. Specifically he learnt to knit after they were struck by a particularly harsh winter and needed blankets - Raph, being the only one that wasn’t too weak/in hibernation mode at the time, learnt how to knit to try and protect his family when he couldn’t fight the enemy with punches and kicks. He still knits blankets for them every year when the winter grows cold. They keep every one, so they have the comfiest beds

They share a room. 4 giant turtles crammed into one room with rickety bunk beds and hammocks is very funny to imagine

Leo loves romance movies. In particular the TV movie ones.

Leo had a similar attitude to Raph when he was a child until Splinter went missing for a few days whilst scavenging for food (he was fine in the end…mostly. A hasty escape from a warehouse caused him to injure his leg and be forced to hide until he could gain enough strength to return to his sons). When seeing his brothers grow hungry and scared over the few days he took charge, becoming much more of the Eldest Brother figure.

Mikey idolises Leo. He wants to be just like him one day. He thinks he’s the coolest. (It makes Leo’s comment about his head “always being in the clouds” hurt so much more)

Mikey gets a Klunk eventually, saved from being drowned. Her siblings were not as lucky (yes, I am very much writing a fic for this)

Donnie’s favourite pass time is computer science/programming/IT based activities, like how 2012 Donnie seems to enjoy chemistry the most and 2003 Donnie leans heavily towards engineering.

Leo loves house plants

Raph hates house plants

Donnie is blind as hell without his glasses and spent a lot of his younger years unable to see much. Once he could finally see he suddenly was given a world with endless possibilities and potential

Leo is terrible at technology. I’m talking 80 year old woman bad. He always clicks on scam ads and blows up computers. Something just doesn’t click with him and technology

They all have heavy turtle instincts due to them, like 2003, being just turtles rather than a mix of human dna. This causes them to have instincts and qualities turtles have such as retreating into their shells, brumating (at least partially), chirping, etc.

Donnie has a major sweet tooth

Raph can’t stand most sweet things

As kids, they would spend most their time looking at the human world and pretending they were with them.

Donnie is autistic, and has a lot of stims when he is happy that involve chittering and chirps.

Leo cheats at every video game/board game they play due to the eldest sibling advantage

Mikey loves to draw his own comics

Their Christmas hip hop album is fire

Raph is actually the cook, and is quite good at it. Mikey always burns things or they are undercooked because he’s too impatient, Donnie experiments and Leo blows everything up

That’s all for now!

[brightlotusmoon]

[side-shuffling-hyperfixations]

TMNT - 2 Tbsp. of Tenderness, 5 tsp. of Hope

Summary: Mikey's Valentine's Day preparations end up being more bittersweet than he anticipated.

Getting all of his brothers out of the lair at the same time without him, without getting suspicious and for a stretch of time long enough to achieve his goals was easier said than done.

On a good day (meaning a bad day in terms of the crime rate, a good day in terms of kicking butt opportunities) patrol could take a solid five hours but that kind of came with the expectation that Mikey would go along. He could have feigned a cough to get out of it but then Donnie would insist on staying to give him a thorough checkup (boo) and then Leo would feel compelled to stay to hover and dote on him (aww) and then Raph would…well, he’d probably still go, claiming he shouldn’t have to miss out on busting heads because of Mikey’s problems, but sooner or later he would return with half a pharmacy’s worth of cough syrup and maybe even a new comic to keep Mikey occupied while he got better (double aww). And if Raph were to find out he’d gone out of his way to procure these things when Mikey didn’t actually need them, he probably wouldn’t see a new comic until he was thirty. That would leave a lot of issues to catch up on.

Not to mention the more pressing issue: he still wouldn’t get the chance to pull their surprise together. Faking a cold wasn’t enough. This would require a round of keep-away with multiple layers of forethought and strategy, which…admittedly wasn’t always his strong suit but that’s why video games invented multiplayer mode!

Master Splinter was surprised but pleased by his suggestion, citing it as a “vast improvement” on his plan from last year, which—duh. Last year’s idea to prove that pranks were an official love language hadn’t even been given a chance at life! Mikey had gotten his hands on gallons of pink glitter and a dozen canisters of silly string, only for his omniscient father to give him the infamously stern stink eye in advance, which instantly clued his brothers in that he was up to something. Big brother bops upside the head were apparently a love language too because that was the only gift he got that day. Hip-hip-hooray, just what he always wanted, they all knew him so well.

Honestly, after he ratted him out (do not laugh at the forbidden pun, Mikey) last year, Mikey was being pretty generous letting Master Splinter in on this year’s efforts but the wheels were actually in motion this time. That was indeed a step up, because their father knew the rest of them pretty well too. His all-seeing eye had picked up more than just imminent pranks over the years—namely, all the ways his brothers’ actual love languages could be manipulated and exploited and turned against them to suit Mikey’s purposes.

That sounded a lot better in his head. To suit Mikey’s also very loving, heartfelt purposes!

Introvert though he may be, Leo was also an old soul, and old souls were always age-old suckers for some deep Quality Time, especially one-on-one. Master Splinter would take him out to a nice thinking spot overlooking the park where he could talk the talk at great length about Master Yoshi and Japan and wise proverbs and all that juicy jazz. Leo being Leo, he would hang on every word like Klunk on the curtains. Mikey just had to hope they wouldn’t get so deep into the convo that they forgot to come back eventually.

When he and Splinter let April in on the plan, she thought it was really sweet, which—double duh. Was Mikey not obviously the sweetest one? Her part was to pull some overcomplicated tech stunt to break her TV—and just when she was planning a romantic movie night with Casey, oh, nooo, what terrible timing! When you need an overcomplicated tech stunt to repair the one you pulled off, who you gonna call? Why, Do-It-All-For-You-Donnie, of course! Mr. Acts of Service himself! You’ve got a friend in me~!

Even Casey was in on it, considering he deserved an explanation for the delay of the aforementioned romantic movie night, and he was eager to shoot his shot at being helpful. It was a straight shot, couldn’t possibly miss. Raph, ever the rough and tumbly, would get a heaping helping of his favorite thing, Physical Touch, through a game of slam hockey—and if he showed any signs that he was getting sick of it, Casey knew all the most irritating things to say to goad him into another round. (That much Mikey had full confidence in; it was something he and Casey had in common.)

Mikey couldn’t even remember the last time he and Klunk had the lair entirely to themselves. Free reign to wreak havoc of the most wholesome variety!

It didn’t take long for all available nooks and crannies on the kitchen counters—and most of the dining room table—to be pulled into the process. He was notoriously loath to do the dishes but try as he might to do Future Mikey a favor and dirty as few of them as possible, Present Mikey always seemed to end up with two or three or maybe twelve more taste testing spoons than he had anticipated over the course of his work.

Although that could technically be construed as his brothers’ fault for having such diverse tastes to test, he mused as he stuck his tongue out to catch some sugary cloud particles kicked up by two heaping cups of powdered sugar—and then another tablespoon for good measure. Donnie wouldn’t complain. In fact he might not even notice if it failed to breach the layers of sugar rot that had already tainted his taste buds forever, courtesy of the totally-top-secret stash of candy he hoarded in his so-called “specimen jars”. Maybe in a surprise twist he was the stealthiest ninja of them all (watch out for the quiet ones) because Leo and Raph somehow remained oblivious to his hiding spot and ended up blaming Mikey whenever the good candy went missing before they could get their hands on it. For that injustice—and to buy his silence—Don had recently compensated him with twenty bucks.

Mikey had spent that twenty and much more on the ingredients for today so it better be enough to make a dent in Donnie’s sweet tooth. To that end he considered for a moment and added another two tablespoons until the powdered sugar coalesced into a sort of Play-Doh consistency, into which he could pack the heaps of maraschino cherries that had been sitting by on a paper towel. It was like rolling dozens of miniature snowballs, soft and light until submerged in a mix of melted milk and dark chocolate. That was where the original recipe would have ended but Mikey went out of his way to roll them again in a swathe of diced almonds to satisfy Don’s recently acquired craving for a satisfying crunch somewhere in his meals.

“Recently acquired” meaning not long after that whole…second mutation biz.

It was just a new food preference, nothing to be overconcerned about. Just…something Mikey noticed, as de facto chef. As long as it was diced almonds and not his leg, he was cool with it! This new normal, this new recipe for Don. A bleeding heart wrapped up in a soft center, pulled down by the dark to resurface as something with a thicker shell. A little harder, a little sharper, a little more bite but when you cracked into him, at his core he was the same sweetheart as always.

And that was the kind of roundabout metaphor that would earn him an odd look (and had already, considering the puzzled mew and flick of the tail he got from Klunk, who had sensed some kind of shift even from his perch on the back of the couch) so Mikey didn’t dwell on it, adding an impromptu third roll of the cordials in some rainbow sprinkles to lighten everything up.

Raph’s tastes were pretty characteristic too: extra dark chocolate and mint extracts and oils added to taste. In Raph terms, “to taste” was enough to make anyone else’s throat burn and eyes water. The first few—handful of—well, the first several times Mikey had made these chocolates, Raph didn’t hesitate for a second to look a gift turtle in the mouth and complain that it didn’t pack enough punch. By the time the ratio of extract to essential oil had been finessed to his satisfaction, the filling could have been advertised as a two-in-one toothpaste and mouthwash.

A net loss for Don, who had learned the hard way not to sneak any of those sweets into his stash—but a net gain for Mikey! Raph’s stink breath, often aimed in his direction by way of Grumpy Gus growling, did indeed get a little fresher! And he was less likely to growl at him any more than necessary if Mikey tossed a bag of these babies onto his pillow as a peace offering after one of their spats. He’d heard from April that fancy hotels would leave a mint on someone’s pillow to sweeten up their deal. Why stop at one? When it came to winning Raph’s favor, more was always better.

So why had it been so long since Mikey last made them? Raph probably could have used small comforts like these over the course of…everything, all the things that had happened to stress him out and piss him off and leave him in a lurch. To be fair they were all pretty deep in that same lurch for a while, trying to pull themselves back together while Leo just kept falling further apart, further away. Whenever they couldn’t pick themselves up, Raph had always been strong enough and stubborn enough to grab ahold and haul them up, no matter what it took. When Leo just kept pulling away, when he was eventually sent away, so far out of reach, Raph had taken it pretty hard.

Mikey had too, obviously. Well, no, not obviously, because he had done his best not to let it show. Raph obviously had the anger covered. Don had denial, still persistently looking to Leo even though he knew he wasn’t there, while Master Splinter had his quiet sorrow and Mikey…had it covered. They couldn’t all be stewing or fretting or moping. He was convinced that someone had to maintain a sense of normalcy so Leo would actually find something recognizable when he came back. (He wouldn’t anyway, what with Karai and her cronies turning the lair and their lives upside down, but he couldn’t have known that at the time.)

Making cheer-up chocolates for Raph would have forced Mikey to acknowledge just how wrong everything felt, how wrong it had felt for so long by then. So…maybe Don wasn’t the only one in denial. Maybe Mikey hadn’t done very well by Raph then, failing to make that effort, failing to reach out with a pick-me-up (however small) when he was down, as Raph so often reached out to all of them in his own way.

Or maybe Raph would have seen right through it and it wouldn’t have helped at all. But he could have tried. More was always better with him. Anything would have been better than nothing.

…Geez, this dark chocolate was getting a little too dark for him to work with. Time to sweeten it up with a little condensed milk and honey. Cause that was Raph at the end of the day too, wasn’t it? Mikey realized with a faint chuckle as he watched the dash of honey spread in satisfying ribbons. The ones who didn’t balk and recoil at their first taste of him, the ones who stuck around long enough to get past the bitterness, eventually they’d catch a hint here and there of warmth like gold.

With Raph’s mint chocolate cups patiently tempered (there was irony for you), molded and now setting, he could focus on Leo. Funny how his recipe was the simplest but Mikey was only just getting to it now…What was it a wise man said, “the first shall be last” and all?

That happened to Leo a lot. Putting the others first. Mikey had pointed that out to Raph and Donnie himself and here he was doing it again by habit.

He was just saving the best for last, he reminded himself as he shuffled through mini-muffin liners. Between Don’s no-show, no-share policy and Raph’s extract overload, these chocolates were the ones he could actually eat too. Even if they were a gift, Leo wouldn’t mind if he snagged a few. When it came to benign, inconsequential everyday things like this, he could rarely ever say no to him.

Always, always putting the others first. That was Leo’s every day and what did his aimless train of thought call it? “Inconsequential”?

Okay, hold up.

Mikey dropped his utensils with a clatter, gripped the edge of the kitchen counter and took a nice, calming breath. It wasn’t actually all that nice; the permeating mint made his throat catch and put pressure behind his eyes, as did the welling frustration. Whatever funk had built up in his headspace since the others’ departure, he needed to boot it out of the lair with them, ASAP.

This was supposed to be a good thing. This was a happy thing, a surprise to remind his bros how much he loved them! It wasn’t supposed to get him all worked up; it wasn’t that deep.

Wasn’t it, though?

Some days, special days, he and Donnie could talk. Deep talks they couldn’t have with Leo and Raph, the kind Leo and Raph couldn’t have with them. They’d sit on a rooftop and talk about…anything. Fears, dreams, wishes they would have made on the stars if their luck was ever kind, and Don would soften and lean on him and the cool breeze would whisper trust, peace, quiet, and it always stayed between them.

Some days, rare days, he’d get a hug from Raph—not just a squeeze over the shoulders from alongside him, not a fake-out that ended in a surprise swat to the head, a jab to the ribs or a teasing tug of his mask tails—but a real full-body hug, and that golden warmth would pour into him, radiating safe, safe, safe deep down to his bones and he never wanted to let go.

Some days, priceless days, he’d find just the right words to make Leo actually laugh out loud. Mikey could count the occasions on one hand but watching the stoicism and stress melt away and knowing he’d done something for Leo, for once, set off starbursts of pure, simple joy, joy, joy and they’d share a deep belly laughing fit until everything ached and they were both in tears because they didn’t want it to end.

Some days, any average day, he could look around at them just going about their business and love would bubble up and curl around his heart and squeeze with such ferocious familial force that it felt like it would burst. It was that deep. And then, inevitably, his head had to ruin it by reminding him of the last time—the last dozen times he thought any of them could have been ripped away from him. And they still could be.

(And they probably would be, one day.)

He couldn’t let that happen without them knowing beyond the shadow of a doubt how loved they really were.

When something warm brushed his leg, Mikey couldn’t help but startle. He hadn’t even noticed Klunk’s approach until he was winding between his ankles, nuzzling his head against his shin with a soothing purr. It was grounding.

Whatever could happen one day wasn’t happening today. Right now he was home with his little buddy, his brothers were safe with people who cared about them just as much as Mikey did, and he still had work to do.

Homemade or not, chocolate couldn’t hold a candle to everything his brothers did for him, everything he wished he could say…but it was something. An honest effort, however small.

You don’t have to make yourself less important or less happy for our sakes. You make me happy already. I love you.

You don’t have to keep pretending to be strong when you’re sad. I want you to be happy again too. I love you.

You don’t have to hide the good things away to deserve them. You deserve to be happy. I love you.

The good, the bad, the weird, the ugly, any of it. All of it. I love you.

“Ah, shell. I don’t think any of these recipes called for see salt,” he muttered with a halfhearted chuckle as he scrubbed the back of a chocolate-stained hand over the stray tears slipping free. “Guess they call for a whole lotta sap though…and a whooole lotta hazelnuts that aren’t going to skin, roast and chop themselves.” Klunk mewed, pawing at his toes. “Yeah, yeah, you’ll get a couple too, once they’re kibble-sized—but just a couple, if I want Leo to get his two trays’ worth. The things I do for love.”

[brightlotusmoon]

Do you see this shit, Klunk?

Klunk sees.

[popculturebuffet]

TMNT Month Finale: The Christmas Aliens (TMNT 2003) (Comisson for WeirdKev27)

Merry Christmas all you happy turtles! Christmas time is here again, so it's time for hog chocolate, nog, and christmas specials and we're beginning the Christmas season and ending TMNT month with a damn fine one.

I'm happy to end this look at TMNT on my faviorite of the 5 cartoons so far. I love the others: 87 has goofy charm and tons of creativity, 2012 does the second best job in the franchise of crunching down years of diffrent continuities into one and updating a lot of 87's ideas, Rise is a feast for the eyes and has plenty of belly laughs and weirdness and what i've seen of Tales matches the film best it can while expanding on it, letting the brothers breath as indivduals.

2003 however just has that magic to me. Part of it was nostalgia: while I grew up with leftover 87 turtle toys, 2003 was MY turtles, with 12 year old me consumed by it's style, the best voice actors for all 4 turtles, and it's gripping story. At a time when not a ton of cartoons were seralized TMNT 2003 embraced longterm storytelling, with Season 1 largely following one storyline with the next and most having consequences, with a sprinkling of fun one offs sometimes adapting single issues of the comic sometimes doing their own thing. It's one long epic saga I definitely need to revisit more often both on this blog and just for funsies.

It also is a stellar adaptation, taking a good chunk of the Mirage Comics that TMNT came from and faithfully bringing them to screen while still giving them depth and clarity the original comics sometimes lacked. That includes today's episode, an episode i'm shocked i'd never saw and thank Kev for suggesting when I needed a smaller review to finish out the month and for sponsoring.

The Christmas Aliens adapts the Michealangelo Micro Series. Micro Series were a bunch of one shots, the label a fun jab at how many mini series marvel put out in the 80s and 90s. The Microseries issues are important though as they helped flesh out each turtle on their own, and with the exception of Donetellos where he teams up with Jack Kirby to fight aliens

Each one had some impact on the universe as a whole: Raph's introduced Casey, Leo's lead into the Foot Clan's return, and Mikey's introduces his cat Klunk. It's a tradition the IDW comics picked up and ran with, having one shots not only for the turtles (as always plot relevant) but also April, Casey, Splinter, and the Fugatoid, with a second 8 issues focusing on their foes: Krang, Shredder, Baxter Stockman, Aloplex , Hun, Old Hob, and of course sharing an issue for their debut, Bebop and Rocksteady. It's something I love as it gives character spotlights easily, the micro series name is fun and it's something I wish IDW had done more with or would bring back, as it spread to Transformers and MLP and could easily be used with TMNT again or any other properties they pick up.

All four mirage micro series issues were adapted for the series: Raph's was adapted as "Meet Casey Jones", Donnie's as "The King" Leo's as "The Shredder Strikes Back Part 1", and Mikey's with this episode. In fact Christmas Aliens is weirdly the only one not adapted in season 1, being adapted in season 3 instead. I do get the wait as Mikey getting Klunk meant their being driven from the lair in season 1 would of been harder to do knowing a sweet innocent kitten would be left behind at best, though I still tilt my head at why it took till season 3 when there seemed to be room in season 2 for a fun runoff. Regardless it's a fun adaptation i'm glad to have finally seen that captures mikey as a character and the christmas spirit all in a tight 22 minutes. And you can join me in unwrapping this christmas present under the cut.

We open with our usual cold open, with Mikey in a car chase putting the hammer down and giving some random goons hell. I would've preferred if they started slightly earlier in the plot, not giving away that Mikey has to end up driving the truck but it dosen't harm the story either.

One kickass theme song and Mikey is enjoying Christmas Eve drinking in the warm glow. It's adorable as hell, and ripped directly from the comic. In fact his whole subplot is pretty much a panel for panel remake of the comic with some very slight changes to fit with the series better or just because i'll point out as we go.

It's infectious to see Mikey so excited, enjoying the snow even if he has to wear an itchy scarf to blend in, and how happy everyone is. It's a part of Mikey I wish got emphasized more in adaptations, with even this one slipping on it from time to time: his heart. Mikey may be the goofiest and usually the one to keep the surfer dude accent as a not to his 87 self, but he's also the kindest of the group, the one trying to reform enemies and who takes the violence and losses the hardest. He's an empathetic kind young man who just wants to help. It's why the IDW version is my favorite as while still quick with wisecracks and youthful energy, he has an innocence and tiredness from the fight I love.

2003's a close second though. Wayne Grayson has my faviorite voice out of the Mikey's so far, a nice mix of sarcastic fuckboy younger brother and kind weirdo. This episode is a perfect showcase as it gives him some more range, just being happy and innocent as he enjoys a winters day, borrowing a sled from Ash Catchem to do some sick tricks and just being a big old kid. It's also a nice moment of peace in the turtles chaotic lives.

Along his shenanigans Mikey finds a tiny kitten, cold and in the snow and picks him up, adopting the little guy on the spot. It's something I'm glad does seem to be a consistent thing for mikey, adopting a pet cat, adopting Klunk in this cartoon, the mirage comics and the IDW comics and adopting ice cream kitty in the 2012 cartoon

Clap, clap for the best 2012 TMNT Chracter CLAP!

So as Mikey gets a forever friend, the turtles spend the b plot getting ready for christmas, which is an addition to the cartoon and a truly great one. The bits back at the lair are just the turtles enjoying each others company and basking in the season: Donny bakes cookies, April brings a tree with a grumpy casey's help.. for which he gets the door shut on him.

There's also a nice variety of guests from other episodes: We have Angel, casey's little sister figure from the episode of the same name, the Professor, a kind homeless man who trades the turtles various things for clothing and who they helped save from the Junkman, two other homeless persons from the same camp, and the Silver Sentry, a superman style hero who Michealangelo idolizes and worked with during his career as the turtle titan. We also get one big non sequenter of a guest apperance as the Grand Daimyo, head of the battle nexus arrives. The Battle Nexus is a once every few years tournament and the site of the best arc of the series, the Big Brawl. it also allowed the turtles to meet our two final guests: Miamoto Usagi and Gen.

Usagi is the star of Usagi Yojimbo, a long running indie comic. Creator Stan Sakai met Eastman and Laird as the furry books tended to get put at the same tables and became fast friends. As a result Usagi has had guest appearances in the Mirage comics, IDW COmics, and the first three cartoons, with 2003 having easily the most. He and Leo exchange swords

And in general it's a charming subplot. We get fun antics like Casey trying to get a smooch with mistletoe with the help of Raph and Angel, and Raph and Casey arm wrestling the Sentry, who takes a dive so april can win as a joke, and gets cookies as a reward. It's fun seeing Sentry here as he's so delightfully awkward. He and the homeless folks are blindfolded with Sentry noting he can see through it but going along with it for Splitners sake, and delighting in the cookies. It's great holiday fun and a nice use of the supporting cast, as well as a kind reminder of how many friends the turtles have picked up.

The rest of the plot is all Mikey as he goes through one hell of a Christmas Eve. He doesn't have to free Nakatomi Plaza but he might've wished it. He goes to the toy store. In the original story it was to shop , here it's to gaze adoringly, something Leo correctly guesses. I love this Christmas Story style window gazing and it just adds to it and removing the present thing isn't a bad factor as we really only need one Ninja Turtle stories where their shoping at the last minute. He presumibly sung some opera on his way there.

However his winter fest ivies are interrupted when he hears some noises and finds some goons hijacking a truck of little orphan alien dolls. The goons are the same ones as the pilot minus the blue haired guy what got murdered who also what got a spotlight in the dreamwave comics.

Mikey follows after they knock out the store owner and tucking Klunk in his coat, proceeds to fucking ski after them, grabbing a loose extension cord hanging out of the truck. It's not only a nice case of chekovs gun for the sledding earlier, showing he can winter sport well, but it's also a really fun action set piece, with mikey easily dodging and only stopping when the guy at the wheel smartly brings him forward so the others can shoot.

Mikey is a ninja turtle though, so he simply dodges, dips inside the back of the parked car and ambushes the two assholes before jumping into the back to do a beverley hills cop. He dose'nt spend long burning doing the neutron dance though as he heads up front and saves the car. Unfortunately the thug called for backup and in a change from the story Mikey has to out drive a speedster.

I love how he gets out of this too: when the car tries to ram him, he decides "what would raph do" and picks up speed, the car darting out of the way and getting taken by the cops. Unfortuantely said cops, who mikey called for, think Mikey's a robber and he has to avoid them for a few minutes.

Having successfully evaded the police Mikey returns to his family who are all pissed.. mostly Raph. Which isn't a high achievement but given he nearly killed mikey for less earlier in the series, best not to test him. Mikey gives a speech and then says how they can all help out. We cut hopefully after dinner to the orphanage where all the turtles are dressed up as elves, along with Usagi, and splinter as santa, a touch I could not love more. The guy from the toy store is also there so presumably the cops still aren't looking for mikey. Ther'es only room for one turtle in jail and it's steve. Steve knows what he did. Fucking steve.

So we end heartwarmingly as the turtles pass out presents, an orphan gets to pet a cat and Casey gets a kiss because why not it's Christmas. A wonderful end to a wonderful episode.

The Christmas Aliens is one of the best episodes of TMNT 2003 i've seen, a delightful Christmas episode oozing with Charm. Focusing on Mikey was a brilliant choice in the comics and a fun christmas subplot for everyone else was a great way to get the story to episode length without padding it out. It allows the original story to be adapted as is with only one additional action set piece and klunk becoming a ginger (He was grey in the color verison of the black and white comic), but still be a satisfying episode and it's fun to see the best family in fiction just have a nice moment of piece. I'm shocked there hasn't been that many other turtles christmas adventures; Two in the IDW comics, both versions of christmas aliens and we wish you a turtles christmas are it and we frankly could use more. Perhaps we could get a mutant mayhem special. Until then though we've got possibly the best you could get out of the premise to keep us warm and I intend to revisit this one each winter. Thanks for reading, i'm pullin for you, we're all in this together.

[justalittleobsessed]

You Should Know Better

My @tmnt-secret-santa-2024 for @morrigan-cotk95!

Prompt: Leo getting captured and believing that no one is coming but his family saves him. Your choice if it's because his captor convinces him that he's alone or if he gave the order for them not to come for him because it would be too dangerous and they refused to listen.

I've never written a fic fully from Leo's POV, so I really enjoyed writing this! Merry Christmas and enjoy your fic!

 “They’re not coming for me.” He tells the agent from where he sits in his cell, cradling his arm to his chest, “They’re not.”

The agent hums, watching him from the other side of the bars. “Yes, you were very heroic, weren’t you?”

He doesn’t know if what happened could be constituted as “heroic”. As a matter of fact, if he were to ask his brothers, he thinks they’d have very different opinions on the matter. But he knew this: it was him or them, and he’d always pick their safety over his own.

Leonardo had known something was off about the whole situation from the beginning. From the lack of security to how easy it was to access, the thing spelled bad news a mile out. Then Don found the logs, found the maps. Then they found the security cams.

It was all game over from there. This info was important– they had spent months looking for a lead to the Shredder’s whereabouts, and now that they finally had the info it was too big of a win to just give it up.

So when they were ambushed on their way out he made a call. As a leader it was his job to make calls for his team, and as an older brother it was his job to make sure his younger brothers were safe.

Needless to say when he slammed the security doors shut on them and told them to get out and don’t come back for me they… did not seem the happiest.

The last look of his family before everything had gone dark hadn’t been the best one, but it didn’t matter. They were safe, they had the info, and Leo… he could survive.

He has been for the past two days– locked up in who the hell knows with a broken arm to boot, praying that his family is okay with the info in hand.

Eventually he’ll make it out, he will. But leaders have to make the hard decisions, the tough orders. This was the right one. This was the one keeping them safe, keeping the information where it needs to be, where it can be used.

“You messed with our things. Took out a fair number of my men. You understand there’s consequences for that, right?”

“I understand perfectly fine.” He hisses, sitting up straighter. The movement jostles his arm, and he winces with it. Donny will kill him later if he injures his arm more than it already is. Whenever that is. Whenever he gets home. “I just don’t care.”

The man’s face stretches into a slow, cheshire-cat grin probably in an attempt to scare him. All it does instead is make him think of Mikey and Raph, who’d be picking apart this man with badly timed comments piece-by-piece. He cracks a smile of his own, although much more genuine than his captor.

“You’ll care soon enough.” The man threatens, then exits stage-left, obviously thinking he’s more threatening than he is. It’s fine. Leo will get out of this.

It’s fine.

He’s fine.

He just has to wait.

–

It’s only a few hours later when something happens.

Above an intercom turns on loud noice from the feedback making him wince, before a familiar voice comes through. “Attention everyone! As the Battle Nexus– ow! Hey! What was that for?” A whiny voice rings out, much too close to the microphone. “This is the Turtle Titan speaking– wha– Raph, c’mon dude! I’m trying to make an announcement here!”

“Yer tryin’ ta be annoyin’!”

“Am not! I was about to give an intimidating hero speech to scare them! But nooooo you just had to mess it up, didn’t you?”

“Intimindatin’? Mike, you couldn’t be intimidatin’ if ya tried!”

“Sure I can! You guys just never let me be!”

“Bullshit. Yer about as intimidatin’ as a Klunk.”

His baby brother scoffs in offense. “Oh, so now Klunk isn’t intimidating? Nice try, Raph. Lady Klunk is a fierce warrior known for her prowess and cunning. Comparing me to her is like saying I’m the most intimidating person you know.”

“…I don’t even know what to say to that.” There’s something thumping around the microphone, loud and close as they continue to bicker back and forth. “Now how’d ya turn this thing on? I’ll show ya how to actually be intimidatin’. Is that it?” Some more shuffling and low, indistinct mumbles, and then “Whaddya mean it’s still on?! I swear to–”

A pause, then a third voice comes through. “Can you two stop for two seconds? I almost… there! Got him! Leo, don’t move alright? Oh, and you’re an idiot.” Then the speaker cuts out and with it so do the lights.

He sits there in the silence that follows, mouth turning down into a frown at the thought of his brothers coming back for him. They were supposed to stay away. That was the whole point, to get out with the info and away from all the danger.

Yet here they are, exactly where Leonardo didn’t want them to be.

He should’ve known he’d never get his brothers to listen to his orders. Eighteen years, he should know that by now. They all seem to have selective hearing when it comes to his orders, and it irks him more than he can say sometimes.

They’re in for a lecture when this is all done, that’s for sure. There’s a reason Leo gives the orders he does, and if they would just listen every once and awhile, then maybe they wouldn’t have the issues that they have.

Light pattering of feet, almost imperceptible sounds from down the hall, and he instantly knows it’s one of his brothers. “Hey asshole, I’m here ta get ya out.” Raph appears, and even in the dark Leo can make out the ever-familiar scowl.

His brother picks at the lock and opens the door a few seconds later. “Raph, you guys shouldn’t have come. I told you–”

“Shut it.” He crouches in front of Leo, looking at him inquisitively. “Can ya walk or not?”

Leo moves to stand as he answer, biting his lip against the pain (and against his better wishes), allows Raph to pull him the rest of the way to his feet, swinging his right arm over his shoulder. “How are we getting out now?” It’s said a little sarcastically, a little jab at them because surely they wouldnt’ve–

“Through the front door.”

Oh, they didn’t. “Raphael.”

“Leonardo.” He retorts, leading them down another hallway. “It’s taken care of, yeah? We jus’ gotta get your dumb ass outta here and then blow this place ta smithereens.” Blowing buildings up is not a part of the ninja code. “Yeah? Well I don’t give a fuck.”

He proceeds to not give one all the way out to the van at which point their younger brothers meet up with them, and by the time Leo goes to give his protest to all three of them, Donny is tapping something out on his computer, Raph is jumping into the driver’s seat, and Mikey, with all the excitement of an amateeur pyromaniac, exclaims “BOOM!”

The building explodes.

As they drive away, Leo figures he should probably be more upset by that fact.

–

After, as his arm is getting put into a cast, that Leo realizes that he’s in for a lecture all of his own. “Of… of all the idiotic things to do! I expected better from you, Leo! We all expected better. Leave you behind, like hell!” Donny continues, as he wraps the cast around Leo’s arm. “I can’t believe– you’re supposed to be level-headed! We’ve talked about this, multiple times!”

Leo has wisely been keeping his mouth shut throughout the ordeal, as Donny has been on a rampage for the last twenty minutes, not giving Leo a word in edgewise. It’d all be very amusing if Don wasn’t doing the best job of the four of them of being intimidating right now.

Behind his purple-banded brother Raph and Mikey stand around, both of them in silent agreement. Mikey nods in agreement every once and awhile, bouncing on the balls of his feet, while Raph just gives him a death stare, although that seems to be a normal occurrence.

However it’s the air of disappointment and fear that really pieces through to Leo, the underlying panic in Don’s voice, Mikey’s nervous taps, the clenching of Raph’s fist.

“I’m your leader and most importantly your older brother. It’s my job to take care of you. If–”

“And whaddya think our job is, Fearless? If we had listened ta ya,” Raph begins, pushing himself off of the wall and stalking over to Leo, “Which I know is what ya were just about ta say, ya still would’ve been in tha damn cell fer who knows how long, injured and alone.”

Donny finishes off his cast, sitting back and crossing his arms. “He’s done.” He tells Raph and Mikey, then looks back to Leo. “You’re good.”

Raph stares at him for another second, before nodding. “Good.” He shoves a finger towards Leo, scowl becoming bigger, more pronounced. “Don’t do it again.” Then he stalks off out of the lab and out of sight, and towards the nearest punching bag, if Leo knows another about his red-banded brother.

Mikey suddenly takes the spot that Raph just vacated, still silent. “…Mikey?”

“You’re dumb.” His baby brother tells him bluntly, and for some reason that makes him feel more guilty than anything else that’s been said to him today. “Say it.”

“Say what?”

“Say you’re dumb.” Mikey stares at him evenly, obviously expecting him to comply.

Leo sighs. He hates his little brother and his stupid voice with this damn puppy dog eyes. He doesn’t feel like it was a dumb move on his part, but… “I’m dumb.”

“Glad we agree!” His brightens for the briefest of seconds, then he seems to remember he’s trying to be serious and schools his expression once more. “But you’re still in trouble. So I’m not gonna.”

He looks to Don for an answer, but his brother has suddenly looked the other way, finding it a convenient time to put all the supplies away. “ …not gonna what?”

“I’m not gonna draw on your cast. So there.” Then he stomps off after Raph in his very petulant and little brotherly way.

“Well now you’ve done it.” Donny remarks, finally turning back to face him. “You’ve really pissed him off now.” It’s said lightly, an undertone of teasing, but the accusation is there all the same. Leo rubs his hand over his face, shaking his head. “I give it an hour.”

“I didn’t mean to… I just wanted you all…”

His brother puts a comforting hand on his arm, smile softening just the slightest. “We understand why you did it, Leo. It doesn’t mean it was a smart decision, okay?”

Leo squeezes Don’s arm, trying to offer his own comfort in return. “Okay Don. Okay.” He nods, and even if neither of them fully believe Leo won’t do something like this again, the message seems to have gotten along well enough for now.

“Go rest. I’ll check up on you in a few hours, alright?”

He nods, taking the dismissal without argument. Leo may not regret doing what he did, but he does regret the way he made them feel, and that’s not something easily forgotten.

And yeah, when Don comes to check on him two hours later, Mikey has drawn all over his cast.

[atearyamallari]

New Surroundings

Second entry for @tmnt-write-fight in the bag! Big shout out to @sonderquill for providing the following writing prompt:

Klunk is new to the family and spends some time bonding with Raph. (It may or may not be against Raph's will, and Mikey may or may not have planned it)

Get ready for some cuteness guys. And as always, glory to the Foot Clan!

Words: 1687

Rating: Gen

Tags: Fluff, Fluff Without Plot, Sleepy Cuddles, No Plot/Plotless, Slice of Life

Iteration: 2003

You can also check out the fic here on AO3!

Enjoy!

//

Raph’s knuckles stung as he threw punch after punch into the sandbag. It had been hours since he started, and by now they were probably bleeding. He didn’t care, though. The more pain he felt in his hands, the less he’d think about the hundred things that were making him upset that day. It was working, too; he couldn’t even remember what had gotten his blood boiling in the first place.

Panting, he stopped and caught the sandbag as it swung back into place. Sweat dripped from his forehead and slid under his mask, stinging his eyes. His attention shifted from the pain in his hands to the growing ache in his shoulders, well-worn from his strenuous workout. Exhaustion settled over him like a warm, cozy blanket. That was enough training for one day.

Although Don had set up some heating units and insulation, some of the January chill still made its way inside the lair. Even the short walk to his bedroom was enough to cool Raph down – and being cold-blooded definitely didn’t help. His reptilian instincts were telling him to bury himself under all the thick blankets he had in his hammock and do absolutely nothing for the rest of the day. It wouldn’t be a bad idea if he couldn’t count on his brothers to bug him at some point. But while the lair was quiet and his brothers were occupied, he might as well squeeze in a nap. He stretched his shoulders, then reached for his hammock, ready to climb in.

Then his hammock hissed.

He jumped back, his hands instinctively flying to his belt where his sais normally were. The blankets shifted, then a small orange kitten peeked his head out from underneath the layers. Klunk.

His relief soon gave way to annoyance as he remembered what had gotten him so angry today. Klunk had decided to use his workout bench as a litterbox. And then Mikey had the gall to say that he shouldn’t be so upset about it. “Aw, come on, Raphie, he just doesn’t know any better!” Mikey had said. “He’s only been with us a few weeks, and he’s still not used to his new surroundings. Don’t be such a cat-hater, alright?”

Raph didn’t hate cats – in fact, he was more of a cat person than a dog person. What he didn’t like was their new pet thinking he had the run of the place. Like right now – Klunk was nested in the middle of the blankets as if the whole hammock was his personal hiding spot.

“Ya mind scoochin’ over?” Raph asked.

Klunk remained under the layers and wearily watched as Raph attempted to move the blankets around to make some space in the hammock. Each time he grew closer, he earned an angry hiss.

“I’m not tryna hurt ya,” Raph said. “I just wanna sleep here a bit. That too much to ask?”

Klunk hid deeper under the blankets until the only thing Raph could see was his glowing green eyes.

“Look, Klunk, I think you’re a little confused,” he continued. “This here’s my room, alright? And right there, that’s my hammock. You’re welcome to come in anytime you want, but you can’t sleep there. That’s my spot.”

The only response he got from Klunk was a slow blink. Raph wasn’t sure he was expecting from him, but he had hoped that Klunk would have gotten the message and jumped out of the hammock already. The coolness of the lair was starting to seep into his skin and take hold of his bones. He rubbed his arms to try to keep them warm and clenched his jaw so that his teeth wouldn’t chatter.

Maybe Klunk was cold, too. Now that he thought about it, it made sense why Klunk wouldn’t leave. If Raph were a small creature wandering around in the cold sewers of New York and he had stumbled upon a pile of blankets, he would’ve also probably made himself right at home. Perhaps if he showed Klunk an equally comfortable place to sleep in, he could him to move out. Kneeling, Raph rearranged the pile of pillows that he kept underneath the hammock. “See? You’re welcome to sleep here. Lots of soft pillows.” He tentatively reached his hand out to the kitten. “Whaddya say?”

Klunk emerged half-way from his hiding spot. Just when Raph thought he was going to leave the hammock for good, he batted his hand with his paws, raking his needle-sized claws across his skin.

“Ouch!” Raph yelled, recoiling. “Fine! You can have the stupid hammock. I’ll just sleep down here, no thanks to you!” he shouted.

With a huff, Raph rearranged the pillows on the floor and laid down on top of them. Now he wasn’t tired anymore – his chest burned with anger and all he could think about was how much he hated that stupid cat. Of course, Mikey just had to adopt a kitten as dumb and stubborn as he was. Klunk even had the same sense of youngest-brother entitlement and arrogance. At this point, his only saving grace was his adorableness, otherwise Raph would’ve punted him across the lair like a football by now.

He must have fallen asleep because the next thing he was aware of was the feeling of his body trembling. His arms and legs were stiff, as if they had frozen solid, and he could barely feel his fingers and toes anymore. It was a sign that he needed to get up and walk around and get some feeling back into his limbs, but it was too cold for him to even move. Raph squeezed his eyes shut and willed himself to sit up. But the cold was winning, taking over his survival instincts and forcing him into a state of lethargy. His head started to feel fuzzy, as if someone was stuffing it with cotton.

Brumation. Despite the haziness of his mind, Raph somehow remembered that word. Don had told him about it, about how reptiles often went into a state of inactivity when their environment became too cold. In the wild, that sluggishness would keep turtles alive. Some survival mechanism. All it did was remind Raph why he hated the winter so much; it made him feel vulnerable. It was a harsh reminder that the world was cold and uncaring, and that sometimes there was little he could do about it. There were just some problems he simply couldn’t punch or stab his way out of. The only thing he could do was take the hit on the chin and embrace the suck.

A soft meow came from the hammock above him, then he heard the blankets shift and the soft padding of paws on the floor just a few feet away. Klunk had finally gotten out of the hammock. But as much as Raph wanted to jump off the floor and crawl under the blankets, he couldn’t. The only thing he could do was curl his arms and legs as close to his chest as possible to try to get some warmth back into them.

Klunk’s light footsteps grew closer, then Raph felt his nose nudge at his hands. The kitten then wormed his way between his arms until at last, he was pressed up against his chest. With a yawn, Klunk rested his head against his plastron and began to purr.

Warmth radiated from the cat’s body and spread its way across Raph’s chest and torso. It was amazing how much heat could come from such a little kitten. After a few minutes, a sense of feeling returned to his arms and legs, and he could feel his hands again. When he was finally able to move them, he reached over to gently pet Klunk. His fur was soft and warm, and the steady purring filled him with a sense of calm. This was much better than a blanket.

“Hey, Raph?” came Mikey’s voice from outside his room. “Have you seen…” He popped his head inside and found the two of them cuddling. “There you are, Klunk! Aww, the two of you look so cute right now!”

A comment like that would have earned him a whole lot of shell kicking. But Raph couldn’t bother to get up and smack him upside the head. Part of it was because of the lingering cold, and part of it was because he’d have to get up and leave Klunk on the pillows. “Shut up, Mike,” he said.

“Maybe I should take a picture with the shell cell. Leo would never believe me if I just told him.”

“I swear, if you tell Leo about this, you’re gonna regret it for the rest of your life.”

Meowing, Klunk slunk out from between Raph’s arms and took a long deep stretch, his tail arching emphatically. Then he padded over to Mikey and jumped into his arms. With a gleeful giggle, Mikey spun him around. “Aww, are you finally getting along with Raphie boy?” He gently took one of Klunk’s paws and made him wave. “Yes, I am!” he said, pitching his voice into a falsetto. “I love Raphie a whole lot. And now that he’s gotten over his hatred of cats, we’re best pals.”

“That cat is way too patient with you,” Raph said with a wry grin. “And like I told ya before, I am a cat person.”

“Uh-huh. Likely story,” Mikey teased.

Now that Raph was feeling more awake, he pushed himself off the floor. “You better watch yourself Mikey. I might steal Klunk when you’re not looking.” He gave his brother an affectionate noogie.

With a meow, Klunk hopped out of Mikey’s arms. A case of zoomies suddenly took hold, and he dashed out of the room. “Hey! Wait a minute, come back!” Mikey said. “Aw man, it took me forever just to find him, too. Being a cat dad is harder than it looks, I tell ya.”

“Don’t worry about him, Mikey. He’ll turn up again.”

“You think so?”

Raph wrapped an arm around Mikey’s shoulder, and they walked out of the room. “Yeah,” he said. “I gotta feelin’.”

[brightlotusmoon]

HELLOOOO I LOVE UR BLOG AND UR ART!! UR STYLE IS SLSO CAPTIVATING TwT ❤ if ur still taking requests/are feeling up to it, can you draw one of the 2003 turtles? >:3 STAY SAFE STAY AWESOME

HEYYYY THANK U :0 !.!!!! U STAY EPIC TOO !!! omg I was so indecisive becuz all the 03 teetlez are GREAT so i let my twtter pals decide for me >:3c !! MICHEAL !!!! ( + klunk )

[hermit-searching]

TMNTposting, Michelangelo edition:

I still have favs, but I would love nothing more than to talk about the boy in orange. Michelangelo is such an interesting character, development-wise in the series. While Leos and Donnie's usually end up developing more negatively (like the emo breakdowns and all that) Michelangelo and Raph seem to always be the ones that make positive growth. And I love it. We love to see that here.

All Michelangelo's are pretty silly and goofy. They're the most laid back of all the turtles, mostly due to the "youngest brother" dynamic he has with the rest of the turtles, Rise being the most obvious one of all. With 87 Michelangelo, he's more of a chill party dude with an unyeilding optimism despite the circumstances in the later "Red Sky" seasons of TMNT 87. He's the only one of the turtles who genuinely still saw the good in things, and tried to revisit the old dynamic they had even though there was a massive hate campaign against them, and getting double mutated...among many other things. This dude, this little guy, was able to keep a steady girlfriend through all this which is insane (and adorable).

Some of the other cute things I remember about him is:

-he remembers their time being regular turtles.

-he normally sides with Leonardo whenever theres an argument (usually started by Donatello)

-the little alien star child in season 7 could have destroyed the planet but he still decided to be nice and comfort him anyways.

Also random fun factoid about the memory of being a regular turtle. Both he and Donatello or Raphael have mentioned before they spent half their life at the bottom of a glass bowl, in the pet shop. Which either implies they lived in a tiny fishbowl for a really long time, or they were really young when they mutated. The implication seems to lean more towards the latter, and the turtles mutated straight into being teenagers. It's entirely likely the 87 turtles are technically young kids stuck in the bodies of teenagers. Enjoy the nightmares thinking about that.

Now for 03 Mikey. I want to chefs kiss the writers because this series was when they started the "kinda annoying younger brother" trope for him, but somehow still managed to handle his development with absolute grace. The Battle Nexus arcs are some of my favorites in TMNT 03, personally. Both because I'm a sucker for 03 Leosagi, but also because they showed everyone just how smart Mikey can be, and that he is perfectly capable of handling a fight on his own. He's been named Battle Nexus champion, not once, but twice. The first time was more circumstance, but don't let that distract you from the fact he outsmarted Raph in a fight and still won the tournament.

And the second time? That time, he was cursed so any injury he sustained couldn't be healed and he still won! The second time was entirely on his skill and fighting alone and he won.

Despite rubbing it in his brothers faces, he genuinely didn't believe he was capable of winning the Battle Nexus tournament and I LOVE the writers for giving me that. 03 Mikey is a loveable menace.

fun things I love about 03 Mikey:

-he literally saves Klunk because he liked her vibes. on Christmas. good for him.

-despite how often they bicker, he's Raph's best friend.

-the whole thing about him (and his brothers) helping the homeless people in the Garbageman episode.

I don't really have much to say about 2012 Mikey tbh. He sure is a guy who exists. It is cool he survived in Dimension X for a few months on his own though. Good for him.

And finally, I'll leave the Rise ramblings to the other TMNT blogs out there. Because everything I say is something someone else definitely has before. And I mostly want to make these posts for the people out there who never watched the older TMNT series.

[ragnarockz]

mikey ask game, 4 and 7 :]

Hey! Thank you so much for the ask :)

4. What headcanons do you have?

I used to write SO MANY TMNT hcs! I think one of my faves is that Mikey is amazing with animals. He's very loving naturally but he really connects with animals. I always loved his relationship with Klunk in the 2k3 series.

7. what’s your favorite dynamic of him and his brothers? what makes it your favorite?

I really love Mikey and Raph and honestly we don't see it enough! I loved in the 2016 movie; when Raph and Mikey are the ones who want to take the mutagen and they go off and Donnie and Leo go off together. We really get to see their dynamic a little more and that they do agree on a lot of things together! Mikey and Raph both want to be 'different' in their own ways - they realize that they do see being a mutant as some sort of hindrance (on the outside anyway; Leo and Donnie may feel this internally and aren't as vocal) and I absolutely loved that moment in the movie with them.