#BUT RAPH BEING BAD AT STRATEGIES? RAPH?

[ilk-insolence]

Raph Is A Great Strategist

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

(long post ahead!)

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

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

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

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

[indieyuugure]

May I ask how much do you know about ODD I have it. And I tell you it’s not I don’t want to do anything it’s the fact I hate being told what to do I can do it I just don’t want too if some demands I do it. Raph is a lot like me we both hate being told what to do it’s not that we are dumb it’s just we don’t see the point or how it benefits us. Like why should I learn maths if it won’t benefit me. That sorta thing. Yeah I am shutting up now I said to much!

(For those who don’t know: ODD, “Oppositional Defiance Disorder,” is a diagnosis used to describe a person who is often unreasonably resistant to being told what to do.)

Lol, do I know about ODD.

Well my sister and Dad are probably the most ODD people in the entire world and I’m around them all day everyday so I would hope I know what people like that are like 😂 I can’t tell you how many negotiation strategies and psychological tricks I’ve had to learn throughout my life to convince my sister to go along with my ideas, I could probably write a book on ODD.

Honestly, Raphael being resistant to being told what to do is pretty common in the TMNT universe since it’s a pretty big part of his underlying personality and power struggle dynamic with Leonardo. Usually this is dubbed as his “rebelliousness” which is probably a good colloquial term for this as well as “Authority defying” and “very Independent.” I don’t think this is anything new, I just stuck that label on him.

I think 2012 Raph is the best example of this type of person. He does what he wants regardless of whether Splinter or Leo told him it’s a bad idea or he shouldn’t. I think the scene in “I Think His Name Is Baxter Stockman” is a good example.

Leo and Splinter: Don’t go up to the surface!

Raph: Well now I’m gonna do it extra!

I think the best way to describe this is as the “Well since you said so, now I’m not gonna” mindset, if that makes any sense.

[yellowhollyhock]

because I'm the shield

I was trying to write a little scene between rise Raph and Mikey since his overprotectiveness is something they've argued about. But that's turning out slower than I expected and will have to be for another time--maybe will fit a different prompt when it's done, who knows.

I've been rewatching some of 2003 season 4 and having feelings about shield Raph.

Fight scenes do show a lot of him throwing himself between his brothers and physical harm. But season 4, with the family relationships strained, highlights something else, which is Raph shielding his brothers from Master Splinter and each other. Especially Leo.

I learned from the tmnt fandom that sai is meant to defend against sword. And that's so fitting for these two.

Raph defending his brothers from Master Splinter mostly looks like being the loudest and most openly rebellious to draw attention away from (honestly mostly Leo and Donnie) blatantly doing what they're not supposed to do (like traveling to an alternate dimension without telling anyone or fighting the Foot alone. Seriously they call him and Mikey the impulsive ones??). And Splinter isn't a danger to the turtles, he is very loving in 03, but his opinion matters to them and Raph makes himself the squeaky wheel so the others can stay squeaky clean.

But about Leo. Two things going on season 4: Raph is (trying to) protect Leo from his own inner thoughts, verbally replying to his anxieties with positives or neutrals; and Raph is on guard to keep Leo off Don and Mikey's case.

I just watched Aliens Among Us and found it especially sweet when they're all on the roof to watch the President how Raph and Leo interact. Leo is upset with Don and Mikey for fooling around, and says out loud that by even coming to watch they 'may as well ask to be dissected.' (Because it's gonna be a Bishop episode so Leo obviously has to foreshadow that. They just had Bad Day, they will not watch as the various enemies their memories pulled from do in fact torment them.) Anyway, it's the way he keeps a pretty calm, almost lighthearted tone while he talks Leo down from his catastraphizing, drawing attention away from his other brothers who were getting yelled at in the process. And this is just an example of how Raph acts this season.

side note, I adore how these two specifically could be talking about their favorite flavor of potato chips and look like they're plotting a murder. This is a picture of Raph getting as close as he can to physically beating up Leo's inner demons.

Another small moment in this episode that I loved: Raph grabbing Leo by the shoulder with, "Whoa, where are you going? Don't you think we need a plan?" and Leo's plan is 'take out every alien we see.' This is not a Leo at the top of his game, in spite of what he told Splinter last episode about 'doing whatever it takes to protect this family.' Raph knows it. He and Leo have different strengths and different approaches, but he knows a healthy Leo would be analyzing the situation, briefing them all on what they should most likely be prepared for and what information they lack that everyone should keep an eye out for. Leo is an analyst, that's one of his greatest strengths. And he's not doing that.

it's literally like 'hey bro are you okay? you've barely picked apart the enemy's battle strategy or lurked in the shadows.' Leo isn't doing the things he loves and Raph notices.

Also speaking of Bad Day. Here's a picture of Raph telling Donny it's not his fault.

Again he looks like he's plotting murder but he is actually speaking in the softest sweetest voice to his stressed out little brother. This is a turtle who just watched his best friends get blown up by people who were looking for him and his family.

That is all ❤️

[shantechni]

I don't think we talk enough about the boys' different reactions to Splinter's brief chance of becoming human again, as well as the possibility of him regaining bits of his past that were once thought to be gone for good.

Human once more?

When Donatello first presents Splinter with a beaker of retromutagen in The Lonely Mutation of Baxter Stockman, he's evidently excited and expectant of a similar reaction from Splinter. And Leo's expression is mild yet very telling of how he feels about what Donnie did; they're both willing to give Splinter his human form again.

Raph and Mikey are almost on the opposite side of the spectrum though.

One could easily pass their reactions for being surprise or shock at Donnie making enough for Splinter, but the fact that only Donnie and Leo are shown with favorable reactions kind of solidifies the possibility of them not being fond of the idea, at least not right away.

Of course, Splinter passes up his opportunity so Kirby could get his turn first, but Stockman buzzes in and ruins whatever chances Donnie had of fulfilling his promise. And by the end of the episode, everyone looks disappointed, including Mikey and Raph.

Like many things in this show, it's not really explored further or touched upon again (there's probably no need for that), but the duo's initial reactions give away their thought processes: Splinter becoming human again? What does that mean for us?

After all the hullabaloo with Stockman though, they clearly align with Leo and Donnie on the matter and feel bad that the vial of retromutagen was lost. Splinter doesn't speak much about his human life outside of giving his sons cautionary tales, but he doesn't hide how much he misses it at times either, so it's only natural for the boys to want to give him what he misses. Ultimately though, Splinter tells them not to worry about the retromutagen situation since he's content with where and who he is now, and the boys no longer appear forlorn.

Shout out to that 1987 episode with a similar premise✌🏽

That would've been the end of the turtles trying to give Splinter any semblance of his old life if not for the S1 finale.

Karai's our sister!?

The boys only have a relationship with Karai because of her connection to Splinter and his life as a human, which goes hand in hand with why they went through so much trouble for her.

As soon as Splinter tells them the truth of Karai's lineage, Leo suddenly has a bigger reason to bring Karai to the good side. Meanwhile, Mikey deploys his famous strategy of silently determining for himself from the sidelines if Karai is trustworthy. Though he admonished Leo for trusting her in The Alien Agenda, he doesn't expresses distaste and distrust for her to quite the same extent as the others (especially Raph), and he's also the first to openly acknowledge her as their sister. Raph and Donnie are constantly honest about how little they think they could grow to trust her, and they have a point; she was raised by the Shredder and is their sworn enemy under the Foot clan, how can they trust her?

Even when she briefly fights alongside them against Tiger Claw, Donnie and Raph still have their doubts. Leo tries to argue his point like usual, but Raph sounds so done with Karai when he reiterates that she was raised by the Shredder. No amount of blood ties will change that.

But when Leo bears witness to how heavily Karai's absence weighs on Splinter, his determination forces Raph and Donnie to put aside whatever animosity they had left and decide to save her.

And, after Karai gets mutated through a series of unfortunate events that will surely be blamed on the wrong party by a literal psychopath, the rest of the turtles bear witness to Splinter's pain as he closes himself off in the midst of another grieving process.

They feel bad for what happened to Karai, but the way they go on to speak about the situation in A Chinatown Ghost Story tells us that they mostly feel bad because Splinter feels bad, a huge change from before when Leo was the only one feeling the guilt. They aren't so close to her to feel genuine grief, but their father lost his daughter for the second time, and it's up to them to find her.

The situation especially hurts in the beginning of The Fourfold Trap because, usually, helping Splinter would bring them together to aim for one mutual goal, but the stress gets to everyone and Raph even goes so far to call Karai a lost cause, a statement that instantly ticks Mikey off. Splinter does his best to mediate by telling them that he's thankful for the four of them, but the boys are too painfully aware of the problem to accept the sentiment.

She was what little Splinter had of his past life as a human, and the boys clung to her so much that they, without realizing it, began to see her as an integral part of their little family.

[purplemessidk]

Raph and Leo's dynamic drives me crazy because it evolves so much to the point of the movie. In the first season they always worked together and complemented each other very well. Leo was the brain cell and was aware of the danger of the missions, but if something bad happened, it was Raph's responsibility. As the show progresses, Raph takes things more seriously, and while he was never the best at attack plans or strategies, he no longer considers fighting villains to be a superhero game.

But then Leo is the leader, and we know that he often runs away from his problems or responsibilities (like the episode where they met Big Mama and Leo abandoned his brothers), so it's no surprise that he avoided the responsibility of being the leader of the team (taking his brothers to play instead of training for example).

Raph is no longer the leader, but he has to act like one because Leo is not, the problem is that this feeling of protection comes from paranoia that something will happen to his family, he wants them to be prepared for anything and probably in the time after Shredder he made them train a lot. Leo on the other hand just wants to act as if nothing happened, he doesn't agree with Raph's paranoia so he decides to contradict him, leaving Raph with the only option of taking responsibility again and return to the previous dynamic. But Raph only sees his younger brother ignoring a very big responsibility that he always had to deal with, he wants Leo to take things seriously and assume the responsibility that corresponds to him.

In the end, Leo does it, takes responsibility, gives his hero speech, makes a plan, and fights the Krang. But in the end a major decision is made, a leader's responsibility is to keep everyone safe, so he does it, he does it by locking himself with the Krang in the Dimensional Prison.

And for a moment, there was no time for Raph and Leo to resolve things, it was just left with a conflict that had been going on for months, a conflict they never resolved, a dynamic that wasn't even half of what it used to be.

[torturedblue]

Just got to the end of season 1 of Rise yet again, and this time it’s really given me some extra thoughts and perspective about Leo’s behavior in the movie…

So we know at first Leo is goofing around like he usually does after the Dark Armor spits Draxum out. Undoubtedly with a huge boost of confidence from just defeating their Big Bad season 1 villain by merely creating total chaos and throwing plans out the window. After all, “we be we” right? Which leads Splinter and Raph to yell at him a lot while he just constantly insists “they’ve got this”. Which, sure, but Leo baby you have to actually fight and get focused for that to be true 😂 But it keeps Splinter’s doubts up all the while they’re moving through the Battle Nexus arc, and Leo doesn’t really get Splinter’s approval for his while big plan until he proves he knew what he was talking about all along and the Nexus crowd is cheering them on

“They love ya, Pops!”

“It was all you my son!”

They spend scene after scene with Leo insisting they’ve got this while working his Face Man routine on the Spiderwoman up until he gets thrown in the “kraken’s den” with Rat Jitsu and it’s not until then after he says it was all part of his plan and Splinter again doubts him, that Leo’s had enough of his lack of faith and failure to really pay attention to his strategies enough to say “How come no one trusts me? None of you have any faith in me, why?” Which, ouch.

And it’s kind of the same when they get back to the rest of the team. We know Raph was very unhappy with Leo bouncing on them even though the plan was actually Splinter’s, and as soon as they get back he chews Leo out for leaving them high and dry. Thus Leo’s “when I said you guys got this I meant that” speech. Raph remarks about how accurate Leo’s guesses were about how things went when they were gone, and when Shredder shows up again Raph asks if Leo’s sure about this to which he replies yet again “Trust me.” And while it may be with a confident grin, after all the previous events of the episode it makes me sad to hear the way Leo asks for trust again.

(Which, I love my guy Raph, but after watching him also doubt Leo for the whole episode it does make it hard to believe when he finally says he does)

And I could go off on a whole other tangent about Bug Busters and how Leo saw everything that Big Mama did coming beforehand unlike his brothers—like altering the terms of the deal Raph made with her at the last second—which allowed him to expect exactly that in Many Unhappy Returns and outsmart her… but I don’t think I need to.

So even though Leo doesn’t see it as much with Raph, he really had to work to earn his Sensei’s and his leader’s trust as a reliable team member. Now to be fair, he did keep his plan on the DL from Splinter up until the end, which makes it a little more unbeatable, but I always felt like he did that because someone who worked for Big Mama was always around and blabbing about what he was going to do around any of them wouldn’t have been smart.

And interestingly enough, the only episodes Raph does use him to do his Face Man thing are after all this, in Todd Scouts and Pizza Puffs, but I don’t think Raph ever did that in season one. “Go in there and do what you do best: face!” This leads me to think it’s the season 1 finale events that showed Raph Leo’s people skills and cleverness really were more useful than he thought

Looking back on all of this it really makes clear now more than ever why Leo had such hesitation about accepting his promotion to leader and acting accordingly.

Because Leo’s proven to know his family a lot better than they know him… which is actually really saddening

Even if you set aside all the other aspects of Leo being used to getting to take it easy, or seeing how when things get really serious the pressure of leadership can really get to you, or how people can actually die, like in the season 2 finale. At the end of the day we know Leo’s insecurity comes a lot from thinking his brothers or family don’t believe in him, so even after being given the leader role, how is he supposed to believe in himself?

[awarmbowlofhomemadesoup]

Leoichi but make it Oblivious x Oblivious part 2

See part 1

Part 3

Leo and Usagi would be insufferable together even if everyone but them had realized that they were into each other. 

The turtle bros are casually physical with each other and Usagi had rubbed off on that with Leo, like grabbing Leo’s arm and dragging Leo’s attention to whatever distracted him this time. 

Leo and Usagi would definitely do victory poses together after defeating a bunch of bad guys (the others could tell they had practiced). 

Since there’s almost a foot of height difference between them, Usagi would sometimes use Leo’s shell as a landing pad or a springboard. Their team-up practices made Leo get used to bracing his feet each time. 

They definitely hype each other up, Mr. Greatest Swordsman Ever and Mr. Greatest Ninja of All Time.

Leo once confided in Usagi that who would want to date him if they found out he almost caused the world to end in the most devastating invasion anyone could ever imagine. 

Usagi immediately jumped to defend him. “That’s not true, Leo! You’re pretty and funny and strong, and you strive to do better! Anyone would be an idiot not to see that.”

Leo blinked before putting a hand over his mouth. But he wasn’t going to be one-upped in such manner. “Aaaw, you’re pretty awesome too, Usagi! Screw your grandfather’s tragic love life! If anyone would choose over you, they’re an idiot when you’re cute and dependable and-”

And because Usagi’s face was cupped by Leo’s hands in Leo’s attempt to drive the point home, Usagi’s voice was muffled when he interjected, “I think you’re handsome too, Leo!”

Gen, who was walking by at that point, aged 10 years in exasperation over the two before continuing on his way. 

Stupid Sparring

Usagi once mentioned the time he defeated a guy with a table. Leo mentioned the time he used two swordfishes to beat up bad guys. 

They ended up in a match against each other with Gen, Kitsune and Chizu cheering Usagi on while he has no weapon but a table, while Raph, Don and Mikey rooted for Leo armed with nothing but a pair of swordfishes. Both parties are waiting to make fun of their champion if they fail spectacularly. Donnie, of course, recorded the whole thing for his Youtube channel. 

Top comment of the YouTube video asked when would the rabbit and the turtle kiss.

How They Actually Spar

At least once a week, their spar would be a serious, learning-from-each-other, battle of skill and strategy. Then Usagi would respectfully thank Leo and Leo would mirror him since the formality is part of Usagi’s culture, and to Leo’s extent, his own. 

The rest of the time, it’s a sort of playful banter and showing-off-to-friends-brothers spar that somehow goes into an escalating self-feeding cycle of rivalry-to-tension-to-more-rivalry-to-more-tension because Usagi always rose to a challenge and Leo was competitive. They would often end up on the floor, too exhausted to even be confused about what the heck was that about.

A Moment in the Minotaur Maze

Leo wanted to go to the Minotaur Maze again to get his face on the wall of champions. Usagi wanted to go too because he, Gen, Kitsune, and Chizu couldn’t reach the maze's center in record time. 

Neither brothers nor friends wanted to go. So it was just Leo and Usagi.

“Good, maybe this time you’ll figure it out,” Kitsune said. “Figure what out?” Usagi asked before being dragged by Leo away to their epic quest. 

Said epic quest ended sourly when Leo had a flashback. They got out of the maze with Leo’s mood in shambles, frustrated at himself for having a flashback and failing at the maze again.

After making sure that Leo was alright, Usagi marched straight back to the maze and cheated.

Leo was flabbergasted out of his funk when Usagi presented his picture next to Leo’s in the Wall of Cheaters.

“I thought samurais are supposed to be honorable,” Leo said.

“An honor that I can regain,” Usagi said with dramatic loftiness, “when we’ll try again next time. But for now,” he gestured at their pictures together, “Anata wa hitori ja nai,” he finished in his native language to let Leo know that he meant it.

Usagi wondered why Leo was looking at him like that. 

The next day, Chizu, Gen and Kitsune stared at Usagi’s picture on the said wall. 

“And I cheated,” Usagi proudly said, “on purpose.” (“That’s the point of cheating, Usagi,” Gen said)

Reflections in the Night

On those nights when insomnia hits and Leo couldn’t distract himself with his family, Leo privately reflects. 

Leo knew that he could be egotistical and Usagi could be too. But that’s the thing. Usagi’s ego is based on valid confidence in his sword skill and a positive aspiration to be like his ancestor. While Leo’s ego comes from a feeling of lack and doubt. 

Leo was very much aware that while Usagi chased aft his ancestor Usagi like a beacon of light, Leo was chasing after the light that was his Usagi. Which was why Leo valued their friendship. A lot. More than he would let on.

He hoped their friendship would last for a long, long time. 

The First Base is Adoption

It was a while before they let Usagi know that Case Jr. was from the future.

When Usagi asked about himself, Junior said he had known Master Leonardo as a single dad his whole life. Usagi wondered what he meant by that. 

Leo happily said that at least they gave Splinter a grandkid in the alternate future timeline.

Usagi was silent as he thought of how isolated the turtles were before they knew of the hidden city, and how Auntie raised him alone on a farm. “Do you want to adopt together someday?” he asked.

Leo gasped, “You’d do that for me?”

“I’d do it for us; besides our friends and your brothers, we’re a team.”

At this rate, Chizu, who was in the same room, threw up her hands before saying, “I can’t.” At this rate, those two would have kids before they’d even start dating. 

The Fell Asleep Together Trope

Leo and Usagi once fell asleep together in the Hidden Lair’s living room. It looked less than a reason to cover Mikey’s eyes and more like the impression of a body dumped on top of another body. Leo’s temperature ran cool, and Usagi’s ran warm. Together they both achieved a perfect balance that conked them out deeper into their sleep. 

They woke up with the worst cricks on their necks.

[imagionationstation]

random idea I had.

so y’know those role swap aus? Where like…Mikey’s the serious leader, Raph’s the tech guy, etc etc.

what would it be like if we added April and Casey?

like…swap Donnie and Casey? Or something like that? Idk bro. It’s a random idea I had lol

Role swap AU: An AU where characters swap their roles for a period of time with the subsequent story exploring how plot events alter, diverge, or stay the same because of this swap.

So…

I’ve never been one for role swap au’s tbh. I think there was only one that ever caught my attention, but the characters were so insanely on point that I could envision the show in my head. In all the body swaps that I’ve read, it’s Splinter being like “ya’ll could benefit from being in someone else’s shoes. Here’s what we gonna do”

I prefer a character being forced to manage in another’s brain/body for some time. There’s so much potential in those 🤩

What are April and Casey’s roles?

I suppose Casey is more muscle, but April seems to tilt between brains/muscle as it pleases her. She absolutely wants to be seen as a warrior, but she works with Donnie in his lab during research and making connections and whatnot.

“Added April and Casey” implies that the role swap includes everyone, so just swapping Donnie&Casey feels shortsighted. (I don’t mean that to be offensive in any way. I’m thinking outloud.) We could give Casey’s role to Donnie, but with the wide group of people, I feel like Donnie’s role should go elsewhere. If that makes sense?

Yk what April’s taking Leo’s role, I’ve decided. Not because “haha she’d probably be bad at it” but because I think she’d find a potential to be a leader when given the chance and that would be neat.

Mikey can take April’s place bc it would give him the chance to be more involved in things. “You never question April when she says she has a feeling about stuff! “You always let April help out in the lab!” “You let April check out leads solo!” He wouldn’t care that she’s a human or that she has psychic powers. She got to when it came to helping the team so that’s what he gets to do.

Raph can take Mikey’s role because he deserves to know what it’s like for his main role on the team to be bait. He can’t always fight mutants head on because he has to keep them busy so his brothers can take the baddy down. He can’t protect his brothers because he’s meant to headed in another direction. That would drive him nuts. (I’d think it’d be cute if he demanded to know how Mikey could stand it and Mikey’s all chill like “I just trust that my big bros have it covered like they always do” and then he’s utterly humbled.) He’d also be put in the position of having to be the “face man” (of sorts) and make friends with optional allies. Stop being grumbly and glaring for five minutes to hold a conversation. It’ll be his ultimate struggle.

Casey can take Raph’s role because it’s basically his role except he’s not able to play the loner game anymore. The fam always kind of lets Casey do his own vigilante thing during the series, but now that’s not allowed. And Raph makes it very clear on day one. His job is to be by their side when something big is going down. And if being the leader’s second is the way to accomplish that then he has to deal. He can complain, he can whine, he can make the leader’s life impossible- but he has to be there when they need him. PERIODT.

Donnie can take Casey’s role because he deserves to not have to be a big part of the game for five minutes. There’s no monumental role, no impossible task, the fate of everything is no longer on his shoulders- he can just, fight. And when not on the field, he can do as he pleases. He’s not expect in the lab, in the dojo, in any kind of strategy planning- he can pick one or he can hang out. He can snack, he can videogames/shows, he can read comics, he can run away the surface- he has essentially free range when he’s not actively on a mission. (The only downside is that he actually does like having people rely on him and look to him for answers. He likes keeping his hands busy with purpose. And punching baddies 24/7 gets kinda old.)

Leo can take Donnie’s place. He’d be the most capable of taking on the role of genius since there have been scenes where he pays attention to his brother because the mission depends on it. He admits to helping out in the lab on occasion, or he’s seen with Donnie discussing blueprints, and he’s probably the most likely to be able to actually listen to Donnie’s written instructions or notes and not blow up the lab because he got frustrated or decided to wing it. (Plus, Leo should see the kind of stuff Donnie has to deal with on a daily basis.)

But anyway. That’s just my thoughts on the matter.

[mistressoftherant-blog]

TMNT Fandom Issues

I think I've already mentioned this before, but I've been seeing it happen more and more lately, and it's infuriated me enough to make another post about it. Can people please stop dragging other turtles and other 'verses in where they have no relevance?

I was watching some Donnie vids on TikTok and, without fail, almost every video had someone in the comments going, "Oh, but Mikey solos", "Oh, but Leo solos", etc, etc.

No one cares. Genuinely, wholeheartedly, someone making a post showing cool clips of Donnie fighting or being angry, is not inviting a bunch of people to come whining in the comments about how much cooler their fave is.

I see this the most with Mikey fans who refuse to shut up about The Last Ronin or Rise!Mikey and will shove them into everything, even posts that they have absolutely no connection to.

I was mostly watching videos of 12!Donnie, and whenever I looked in the comments, there'd be someone mentioning how one of the other turtles solo. And whenever anyone would be like, "well, Mikey doesn't actually solo', The Last Ronin would be wheeled out as an argument.

The Last Ronin has no bearing on any other iterations. Just because Mikey is the last one standing, and is incredibly strong, in that version does not mean that he's the strongest in every version. If any other turtle was the last one standing, they'd probably end up just as strong as The Last Ronin. Even so, stop drawing Last Ronin into conversations that aren't about him. If I'm discussing 03!Donnie for example, I do not want to hear about how amazing Last Ronin supposedly is. The character and plot do not interest me at all, and every time it's thrust into my view by someone clumsily trying to take attention away from another character or 'verse, it makes me even less inclined to ever give it a go.

And before anyone comes at me with the whole "Mikey has the most potential canonically", I would like to highlight that having the most potential and being the strongest are not the same thing. If he put more effort in, sure, maybe he'd be the strongest in every 'verse. But as it stands, the strongest is usually Raph, and the best fighter is usually Leo and/or Raph. (No, I am not counting Rise!Mikey as the strongest turtle to ever exist because most of his physical strength is reliant on his mystic powers. The Bayverse boys can straight up yeet storage containers with no powers).

Also, just because Donnie is usually one of the weaker fighters (I would argue that he is one of the strongest in 87 and Rise, though Rise weirdly tries to nerf him after the Draxum fight), doesn't mean that he can't keep up with his brothers. He is not weak. They all work with heavy machinery, train daily, and are great with strategy for the most part.

Deliberately going onto posts/vids/fics only to diss the character that they are about and try to shove your own fave down people's throats is not going to win you any friends. It's insufferable. Why don't I start going on any posts about Mikey or Leo and say how dumb they are compared to Donnie? It would be an unfair comparison as Donnie is made to be the smart one, but that's what Leo and Mikey stans keep doing to Donnie content. Donnie isn't meant to be the strongest or the best fighter, which I've accepted, but that doesn't mean he isn't a BAMF in his own right, with some pretty cool fight scenes.

If content does not contain your fave character, do not shoehorn them in, and/or degrade the character it's actually about. It's rude, annoying, and it's part of the reason that certain parts of the fandom (*cough* Rise *cough*), get such a bad reputation. All you are doing is making people hate your favourite characters and series, which means less chance of getting content including them.

Also, Rise!Fans, stop trying to make Mayhem posts about Risem I saw a video saying that the fight scenes in Mayhem are awesome (which they are, the animation I'd beautiful and the flow of the fights scenes is handled incredibly well), and one of the first comments was about how "I've not watched the movie yet, bit I doubt that they can beat the Rise first scenes." Firstly, if you havent watched the movie, shut up. You cant compare something you haven't seen with something that you already watched. Secondly, it is entirely possible to say that the fight scenes in both are great. Here, I'll do out right now, I think every iteration of TMNT have some great fight scenes, and Rise and Mayhem bitj definitely have something beautifully animated and choreographed scenes.

Honestly, the fandom has started making me hate most versions of Mikey on principle because they constantly force incorrect characterisations of him down my throat (he's the strongest/wisest/best at feelings, but he's also a sweet abuse little uwu bean that can do no wrong. He's incredibly smart but also mega innocent. He's amazing at reading people, but he also.just wants to believe the best of everyone. It's all so contradictory, and pretty much none of it ever actually fits Mikey).

It's the same with Rise Leo. Most of the fandom seems to make him into someone he's not, siphoning personality traits from other characters and iterations (like making him team medic, making him the one that likes to dance and sing, or the one that gets on my nerves the most, making him as smart as Donnie. That isn't his role, and none of the turtles are ever as smart as Donnie. Don't even try and fight me on that. Leos may be more strategic, but in outright booksmart intelligence, every Donnie takes the cake).

I feel like I'm probably going to get a lot of complaints about this seeing how popular Mikey and Rise!Leo are, but I am just so sick of trying to enjoy content for Donnie when every other comment section is being flooded by people dragging him to try and make their fave appear superior. If you want to gush about Mikey or Leo, go to content made about them where your input will be appreciated, rather than deliberately pissing other people off.

This may possible be my longest rant yet 😅 Congratulations to anyone who made it this far down!!

[annonniiiiieeeee]

how does usagi, katsuichi, and tomoe ame react to leo’s score of 11, leo’s murder spree, and leo winning the games

Leo’s score

They are impressed/shocked.

It’s rare for anyone to score that high

District 12 has never scored that high.

They have no idea why or how he got that score. What secret skills he has. They have been watching all of the tributes trying to come up with strategies for their kids but Leo had never seemed like a threat.

He is now

They tell their kids to avoid him. The 11 could be from survival skills but most likely at that high of a number it was from combat skills.

Later on once the games are over Usagi can think about how impressive that score was and how talented Leo is with duel blades. But those are thoughts for after Leo wins the games not before, not when there as two kids Usagi’s trying to keep alive.

The murder spree.

I just wrote about this but I’m going to make Leo’s allie come from district 10.

A young 13 year oils boy named Rakuyou

He is one of Usagi, Tomoe Ame and Katsuichi’s tributes

When Leo first finds the boy they are all certain it’s over for the young boy. He’s already injured and Leo is an unknown and dangerous tribute.

Instead Leo helps the boy out. He endears himself to all three victors. Leo gains nothing from helping the boy. Killing him after all that hard work would just make Leo look cruel and monstrous to the people of the capital. He endears himself more when he takes the kid under his wing.

They had all had to kill young kids or watch them die in their own games. They all wished they could have helped the younger kids like Leo is doing. If their 13 year old can’t win Leo wouldn’t be a bad victor to have among them.

Then Rakuyou dies. They all knew it was going to happen. Usagi won at 14 and Casey at 13 but that was with massive capital support and or years of prior training. Rakuyou had none of that. The boy didn’t stand a chance and if Leo hadn’t found him and helped him he would have died much sooner

They think they’re about to watch Leo die as well but he stays back until the careers leave. He has a small burial for Rakuyou. Nothing the size or scale of what Raph would do but it is the precursor. The first time someone mourned a different district.

Then he’s on the hunt.

He goes after careers and careers along.

Usagi and Tomoe Ame think they are going to watch him die but Katsuichi’s been at this a while. He can recognize a man on a mission.

Leo starts taking them out one by one. Usagi and Tomoe ame are equal parts impressed and disturbed. The Leo they and watched up until this point was gentle now he taking kids out left and right. They know it’s necissary. It’s how they won their games. But it’s still jarring to watch and they barely know Leo.

Katusichi is not ShopRite’s though he is saddened that the games claimed another gentle soul to their blood lust.

Or had they

Leo stops.

Leo stops when the last career falls. He doesn’t hunt down the other tributes. There’s no point they didn’t kill his friend.

Katsuichi’s shocked. He’s never seen anyone stop after a rampage like that. Usagi and Tomoe Ame don’t know what to think. Leo should keep going. He should keep fighting like this and win. Not sit down and wait for the enviable.

Leo’s victory

On one hand Leo’s spree plays into the districts being savage, on the other his stopping makes it very clear. He was avenging a little boy who died to soon. He is a capital favorite. He was charming in interviews. He made a splash in the parade. The capital people love him.

While president saki doesn’t like Leo’s morning of another tribute Leo still fits the role of victor well. He’s a savage. He also looks so broken by the death of his friend and his own actions. He doesn’t mind letting Leo win if Leo can survive

The game makes need the games to end, Leo’s not hunting and the other tributes are hiding, so they force a disaster. They flood the arena. Leo, a red ear slider, is the best swimmer in the group.

To Katsuichi this is the game makers letting the capital favorite win. It’s happened before. That doesn’t mean he’s not impressed by Leo’s performance. Leo is scarily comps dent in combat yet he choice to help another tribute. Katsuichi’s will remember that. He will remember that Leo tried to help his tribute. And he will repay the favor

Tomoe ame is surprised by the victory. He is the first victor from 12 ever. But she’s surprised he had the strength to swim. After his rampage he seemed to just give up.

Usagi is glad he won. If it couldn’t be one of his own tributes that won at least Leo seems to have some honor to him.

Leo seems dazed in his post interview. He gets the reputation of being a little crazy. He’s still charming and appealing but every now and then this haunted look over takes his face. It’s very prominent in the post interview.

None of them get to actually speak to Leo h til his victory tour and the next year tribute parade.

[yellowhollyhock]

https://www.tumblr.com/yellowhollyhock/741343527513079808/not-sure-if-youve-already-been-asked-this-but

Can you imagine the ultimate betrayal Raph felt when Casey with Leo? Yeesh I feel that pain too much.

Yesss

Also Casey's explanation made least sense to me. it feels more than anything else that the writers are trying to drive home Leo being Correct whenactually it's not a black and white issue at all.

Leo and Mikey are saying things have gotten worse, they have the power to help and it might in some way be their fault so they should help. All of this tracks okay except 'it might in some way be their fault.' Like my dude. If getting rid of one powerful guy who was hurting people turned out to have consequences you don't like to the point where you think it was a mistake, then where is the logic in solving that problem by taking out more guys??

And that's the part Casey focuses on. He says "I was always taught you should fix your mistakes no matter what." Trying to stop other equally bad people from filling the vacancy that Shredder left isn't fixing your mistakes. It is literally doing the same thing again. And okay yeah if you feel like that's your responsibility now because you done it once. I can see that. But do you see how the cycle of violence will never end (isn't that the brilliance of the show? the underlying tragedy? the fact that these teenagers have to face these realities where even and especially when they're trying their hardest to always do what's right, the answers aren't always clear and sometimes they do harm? (I absolutely would not say more harm than good in this case, Shredder was dangerous and stopping him did protect innocent people no Leo I don't care what the crime reports say of course there's going to be an increase while the power is shifting, it will level out once someone's in power that's how these things work, yes I understand in the meantime people are getting hurt how exactly do you intend to stop crime in NYC forever. Yes I know you want to protect people I think that's wonderful. but you need to pause and be practical if you want your good intentions to prove efficacious. Also have you considered that a lot of the actual members of these gangs are people like Angel? If you wanna change up your strategy because you feel like you made a mistake, why would it be to choose a bad guy to put in power and/or fight them all, and not to reach out to the guys at the bottom and figure out what their unmet needs are and cripple the big crime organizations as much as you can by taking care of the people society wouldn't. AND WHY WOULDN'T THAT BE THE APPROACH CASEY TOOK, THE ANGEL THING WAS LITERALLY HIS EPISODE))

Ahem. I got off on a bit of a tangent there. (parentheses within parentheses (and it's more than half the paragraph) (teehee (sweats))). But the point is yeah! It feels like Casey only understood bits and pieces, which makes sense because the turtles do tend to not Explain things to him, and yet without fully understanding and before trying to, he takes Leo's side. It's almost like he saw that Raph was getting mad at his brothers and, knowing how much he cares about them, wanted to nip it in the bud before things got bad. But boy buddy that was the wrong approach because I really do think that was the last straw for Raph. mortifying when visiting friends side with your family against you. devastating when it's your best friend.

I also headcanon that's something Casey's dad used to say to him, about fixing your mistakes. So that's an entire angsty thought for another post.

(more headcanons Angel and Casey's dads used to be friends and Casey would be old enough to remember when her dad left and would've heard the things his dad, who would never leave his family, would have had to say about a friend he'd once respected) (Angel is my special interest within my special interest) (or one of them anyway XD)

You know what's also so sad is I really think Donnie was on Raph's side and would have countered Leo much more calmly than either Splinter or Raph could. But he didn't. Because they couldn't stop Leo anyway and so he did what he thought would keep the family together rather than what he thought was best, because he saw how important it was to Mikey, and boys ohh man I get it. I get his side of things in this best i think. But ouch. Raph really needed just one person who he felt was actually listening and would stick up for him. And Casey didn't listen and Donnie didn't stick up for him. And that's not the norm for them.

[viviski]

Rise of the tmnt has some of the best characterization that I've ever seen. I have some plot related criticism (which becomes unimportant given the target audience of the show, you know children don't notice plot holes lmao) but I can analyze the characters much more than any big shot Marvel or Disney movie I've seen.

So here we go (remember this is my own free interpretation and analysis, I am well aware that I might get things wrong):

Each of them are smart in some ways but dumb in others:

Donnie: academically smart, technology genius, very hard working, determined, passionate but has a hard time understanding emotions (which doesn't necessarily prevent him from being considerate though)

Raph: common sense smart, responsible, experienced ("Do not eat THE POISON!"), but he's bad at strategizing (his plans are kinda bad lmao) and he can't keep his cool under pressure sometimes

Mikey: emotions and feelings smart (heck, even Dr. Delicate Touch gets the job done when he wants to take care of a situation) but completely lacks common sense (this may be due to him being younger than the others though)

Leo: he's plain smart. He's really good at strategizing, tricking people, he knows the right thing to say to people at the right time, he can keep his cool under pressure, BUT he's lazy and inconsiderate at times. Also very academically dumb (like come on who doesn't know what "nigh" means lol)

I could make an allignmennt chart out of this. And a circle:

Leo can do what Raph can't (strategy), Raph can do what Mikey can't (common sense), Mikey can do what Donnie can't (empathy) and Donnie can do what Leo can't (working hard).

[One note about Leo and Donnie: it's so on point that Leo is lazy because achieving things come very easy and natural for him, thanks to his social skills and quick thinking, while Donnie has to work hard by making machines (I mean for him it's actually easy and fun but it's still a lot of work) and using creativity to invent new things that can help him through everyday life. Both of these ways of living are effective though very different. In their case, one can't do the other. Now it's not like Leo and the others never work hard, but Donnie is on an exceptional level so that's more of his thing, just like everyone else is on an exceptional level on their own thing.]

And that's why they're 1) the perfect team because they complete each other 2) the perfect cast of characters because every viewer (mostly teens of course) can relate to at least one of them (if not all of them)

There's also some parallels and things in common with all the characters too (they are brothers after all) even if it's for completely different reasons:

Donnie and Leo both have high self esteem (most of the time), which sometimes develops into arrogance and self centered behavior, but mostly because they're actually hiding insecurity

Mikey and Raph are both very considerate of others and are always concerned about everyone (even though Raph is like that because of his morals, he feels like it's his "duty", while Mikey is just a spread love kinda guy lmao) and naive

Both Raph and Donnie are well aware of their responsibilities (Raph saved Leo and Donnie shielded Mikey in the film)

Mikey and Leo are both good at socializing

Leo and Raph are both leaders (Raph more as a caretaker while Leo more as a guide) who occasionally don't trust their fellow team members and take burdens all on their own (just look at the entire plot of the movie lol)

Mikey and Donnie are very different, I can't remember anything they have in common at the moment but maybe that's just me

Lastly, it's so great and well written how everyone changes across the show:

Raph learns to trust his brothers more and to not take burdens all on his own (the season two finale was all about that)

Leo learns to be more trustworthy, less arrogant, and more responsible as he does things prepared to face the consequences in the end (mainly in the movie, in the show he doesn't have a lot of character development)

Donnie learns to accept and be open minded about others even if he can't fully understand them (he realizes that he can't "fix" his siblings, but he actually needs them for who they are) and he also learns that others do the same for him (that time April told him something like "we don't like you because of your tech, we like you because of you" had me sobbing)

Mikey becomes generally more competent, mainly in fighting? Cause he can throw entire cruise ships and buildings? I can't really think of more deeper character development, he's the nicest loving ray of sunshine ever even though he can be harsh if necessary, he's a pretty balanced guy that's all. But maybe I missed something I dunno

I can really do some high school literature homework level analysis lmao this show is amazing

[aristoltekitsune]

Sketches of the my take of the cast of the teenage mutant ninja turtles: it includes characters from rottmnt, tmnt idw and the tmnt 2012.

The oldest to youngest (characteristics might changes over time)

Splinter(30-40) he is the father of the turtles. He is a caring father that will do anything for his kids. He is the main medic in the family and teach the family how to fight.

Raph(17): he is the oldest brother and is twins with venus. He is a leatherback sea turtle. He is the muscle and brawns in the family. He has a kind heart like rise Raph but can let his anger get the better of him in the heat of battle like in the 2012 series. He can also be too overprotective with his younger siblings.

Venus(17): she is the oldest sister and second oldest in the family. V is twin with Raph and is a eastern musk turtle. She is very strict and is very bossy. However she is caring and focuses her engery in ninjutsu training

Donnie (16): he is the third oldest sibling. D is a spiny soft shell turtle. He is the sarcastic one out of the bunch and is the head of tech in the family. He loves being dramatic and offend focuses on his technology rather than practicing ninjutsu skill. However he is still a decent at holding his own when going on missions.

Jennika (15): she is the fourth sibling. J is a pink bellied sidenecked turtle. She is the most aggressive and headstrong in the group. She loves rock music and would happily hit a guitar over the enemy hit if she wants to. Jenny will play the guitar and sing to high heavens. She is the one that won’t let anything hold her down. She is also the one that will cuss the most.

Leo (14): he is the fifth sibling. lee is a red eared slider. He is shy and normally sidelines himself from the rest of his siblings. However he is very caring snd would be the one to try to encourage the with bad jokes. He is the the second medic of the group and also comes up with most of the strategies for the missions. He also focuses his studies with the mystic arts, medicine, and ninjutsu. He also loves plants and gardening

Artemisia (14): she is the sixth sibling in the family. Artie is a Chinese golden thread turtle. She is the affectionate worrywart that will always listen to her family when they need to be heard. She is also the one to try and de escalate fights and try to make peace. She loves reading book and writes poems in her journal.

Mikey (13) : he is the seventh and second youngest sibling. He is a bog turtle. Mikey is the agile and playful one out of his sibling. He is able to be quick on his feet and pick up new skills in seconds. He loves to sketch, cook and helps Jennika with making music.

Lita (6): she is the youngest sibling in the family. She is a albino soft shell turtle. She is very shy and is mainly close to Leo, Jenny and Artie. Even though she is to young to go on missions, she still tries to help the family in any way she can.

Characters that are work-in-progress

Slash(18): design is still in the works but will be an alligator snapping turtle.

Rat king: unknown and is still being worked on for the time being

Cassandra and Casey jones jr: I’m planning on making the siblings but I’m still contemplating on how their dynamic in the family.

April O’Neil (17): not to sure but she will probably be a mix between rise and the 2003 version.

[oozeofthecovenant]

Plans and Sabotage

Leo is THE strategic genius of the gang. He has amazing visual imagery and he's great at formulating plans... under controlled situations. He likes to be calm, collected and in the lair when he formulates his strategies— it's where he thinks the clearest. However, the high-stakes nature of the situations they end up in causes him to shut down and be unable to make proper, rational decisions for his team...

...Which is where Mikey comes into play. As the team's second-in-command, he's always the person for Leo to fall back on. His ability to remain calm in chaos paired with his impeccable intuition skills makes Mikey very important when bailing the team out of whatever high-pressure last-minute sticky situation they manage to find themselves in. One thing that's for sure; when Mikey realises something is wrong, you LISTEN, or face the consequences.

Since they don't have time for him to explain his idea, the brothers can only trust him and hope that he's right; and to make things worse his plans are often so chaotic and nonsensical that even Donnie has doubts as to whether Mikey can actually pull it off, but they never have failed in doing so. Yet.

Donnie and Raph are usually comfortable with taking the sidelines, but that doesn't mean that Leo doesn't include them when strategising though, he needs them for other things and needs to know if they are willing to/can do it. Plus, they're family! Of course they're included!

Donnie handles nearly everything behind the scenes, since he is the weakest compared to his brothers due to his upbringing prior to being found by the Hamato Clan, he would always be placed far from the battle site when it can be helped. Don't be fooled though, he's usually the most important part of the whole operation; as the resident science and machines guy he's mostly responsible for all the tech involved in that operation, as well as a lot more others. He's occasionally the errand boy. While Donnie focuses on all of the technical aspects...

...Raph is always situated at the frontlines of battle. Being the most built paired with his special interest in boxing, sparring and all things battle?? This makes him the PERFECT person to be fighting in the frontlines, and he loves the job that he is assigned. Plus, whenever he feels like he's fighting for his family, he feels a sense of... serene.

However, Raph has a problem with controlling his temper. He's impulsive, and he has a strong sense of justice. Those three traits are a recipe for disaster especially when dealing with big bad people who are out to kill your family. He'll jump at them and once his sense of justice gets in the way of his rationality there's no stopping him.

Afterwards comes the guilt: After the rage episodes— often once they're safe at the lair, Raph would express intense guilt, apologising profusely to Leo for ruining his plan and always needing Mikey to save them. Leo understands and would respond with an "It's okay, you couldn't control it, I'll help you with it."

Raph is aware that this is a problem and has been trying to stop himself from losing his temper. He'd try everything under the sun to keep his composure but it's just so hard, especially when you're in a stressful environment full of people you detest who just made a threat to your family's safety, where natural instinct overrides everything you've tried to rewire about yourself.

And while Leo understands that Raph doesn't mean to do this, he does feel hurt deep down when this happens, since that was HIS plan that he carefully constructed, and yet it almost never works out. Sometimes, he doubts himself as a true leader because of this, and other times, he can fault Raph for ruining it. I wouldn't be surprised if he snapped at Raph once or twice for going off at the bad guys, or even hurting him to some capacity in a fit of panic, trying to stop him from sabotaging the plan he just constructed.

Leo would then realise what he just did wrong, and then feel guilty HIMSELF for his own panic/anger induced episodes.

While Raph is the main perpetrator for the group's sabotage, the others also do ruin plans half the time as well. Leo for one wishes he were Leos from other iterations: as disciplined as he wants to be, he's secretly a fun lover. Well, it's an open secret, his brothers KNOW this, and oftentimes use this to their advantage.

They tempt Leo, "ooo you wanna do something fun with us instead of patrolling for Splinter so bad ooo" and 9/10 times he gives in. Of course, this leads them to a lot of trouble a lot of the time. Leo's also known to ignore Mikey's gut feelings, because sometimes his feeling goes against what Splinter says, and Leo would always pick Splinter's order over Mikey. He knows the consequences, but he doesn't wanna disappoint Splinter. Mikey always has his "I told you so!!" moment afterwards.

Donnie isn't immune to this BS even if he's the most cooperative turtle most of the time. He's usually honest about his abilities, but sometimes ego can get in the way of what he can do. Especially after meeting the big shot scientists, like Honeycutt or Mr O'Neil, he tends to constantly try to prove his worth by overestimating his own abilities.

"Oh, er... of course I can hack into this never-seen-before Utrom security system!" and he ends up setting off an alarm. Most likely, Honeycutt would talk some sense into him after he finds out about this.

Mikey can screw up, too. He has ADHD and can be impulsive, so he's known to act against his own gut feeling when his heart overrides his gut. Having extremely high empathy, and just generally being a silly dude overall, he tends to drop any and all existing plans if there's a [perceived] life at risk. For example, a hologram injured cat. Even though his gut feeling is telling him that this is wrong, he could ignore it because he doubts his own intuition, refusing to risk a life just because "he got cocky with his abilities."

[angelissufferingwithoutherbees]

OK OK- so I have some hcs! And I want to share them- so don't be mean or anything please. Thank you. (Btw these are Rottmnt hcs, not a surprise I know.)

Leo- he's Bisexual. Like come on we can all tell he's a little fruity. There isn't any evidence that doesn't prove he's not fruity. He likes to mess with Donnie about how much he likes science and technology but he actually studys biology. He's the youngest twin out of him and Donnie (only a minute older). He's taller than Donnie even though it's younger.

Donnie- they l love listening to hyperpop I know it! They're aroace (cuz he isn't that interested) and non binary. They treat their tech like their children, anyone that says a bad thing about them will get a "SCOFF" They also tease Leo about him being the youngest twin even though they are a minute apart. They play strategy video games like Tetris and virtual chess. Speaking of chess they're really good at chess.

Raph- he's Pansexual bean and he has a collection of stuffed animals. He also has lots of animal pins! He definitely watches those hello kitty shows. He feels he must protect his family, even if it hurts him. He works out from time to time. After training or after a battle he always needs to take a nap.

Mikey- THE BOI! He is bisexual! He will decorate his siblings and their weapons with stickers. He painted stuff (like flowers) on his walls. He grew up watching Mr. Maker (like me!) He also loves spray paint art. He listens to Mad Tsai a lot... He takes naps with Raph as a protection thing. He reads Jupiter Jim comics with Leo. And he tries best to hang out with Donnie but usually accidentally brakes something. Oh and he's very clumsy lol-

Yeah those are my head canons! Let me know if I should do more!

[junsei-draws-rotasu]

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III 1990 (Live reaction blog)

When I saw the poster, I thought this was a Christmas-themed film, which is odd, but hey, that means Santa would surely be the villain here. Until I look more closely. It's time travel, meaning Renet! So, without further adu, let's hit start!

Starting at Japan, 1609, so specific.

The opening sun is like Lion King, but more war like

Whoa, did they really filmed this in a beach while riding a horse?

Gasp! A ninja!

Oh? A runaway prince?

Oof—smooth transition

Why are dancing?

Fun training montage

Aw Raph, why hit the music ?

Ah yes, the universe really likes proving Rapheal wrong

Oh! April got a new haircut! Neat!

I'm jealous, I wanna look like a boy sometimes

So, no renet? :(

Another great transition!

We’re obviously continuing where we left off

The western outfit stands out when it’s sorounded with Japanese samurai’s armor

Ooooh, son talking back—wait, war?!

Oh, so suddenly your worried for you son’s well being when you were moments away decapitating his head until you were interrupted by Walker

Why is there must on the ground?

Dramatic much, prince?

Kozo means brat, right?

Siding with the enemy? Hmmm… I have no sides yet since I don’t have all elements to decide

Wow, serious anger issues, prince Kenshin

Oh wow! The turtles were documented?!

They don’t look like Kappa! Look up a Kappa and they don’t look like them!!! Where’s the weird bowl flower that Kappas supposed to have?!

April! Just drop the staff!

“She’s a man!” Wish it were that easy

Now how will April communicate when she can’t understand Japanese?

Obviously, the rat has more fear than a turtle

Looking great April, still jealous of your hair tho

How come that managed to travel with you? Wait, do you even have a bra with you?! Wait, is the prince wearing your bra???

Just splash him with sewer water guys

Oh! Good, at least April won’t be killed since they can speak English

I forgot being called a witch is bad

That might be very expensive guys!

Damn, April has no fear. Granted, he life became crazy, so I don’t blame her

April! No! Just say no! My gosh

Good for the prince being complimented

Eeey! Casey Jones! Good to see you!

Why would you need someone to help a MASTER ninja???

I’m about to comment on how old school trap until I remember she’s in the past

Why is that man so sweaty???

Glad she isn’t the first

Are this steel bars or sticks? If sticks, April should make a plan then escape

That’s Casey??? Huh???

Oh, mistaken identity

Ah yes, love, whatever

Mikey got a point

More like Teenagers

Oh heat, Mikey idea worked!

For honouuuur!!! I say this sarcastically

And Mikey is riding the horse with style✨

“I swallowed a Frog… hope it isn’t an ancestor” Since when your Part frog???

A Ninja?

Will this ninja be Karai—wait, is this Mitsu?

Now I wonder who stole those

As always! Listen to the master!

Hearing honour guards from Kenshin father is weird than hearing it from Kenshin

I don’t see the difference between the normal and honour armor

Or they could’ve guess they were killed instead being missing

Guns gets rekt in TMNTverse or any superhero universe.

I’m pretty sure the clan sustain itself from traders. Sure traders need costumers, but they look for one

Shut up, Niles

The disrespect! Ugh

Agree with the sweaty man, Niles is annoying

Stop calling the sweaty man fat! Clearly there’s a reason why he’s chosen to look over prisoners!

Bruuh, I feel the disrespect for rounded people

Are we going to do some killing?

No? Okay

Seriously, number is the strategy? Alright

Okay, I just heard a robotic “I’ll be back” wtf. Is it my website or the actual movie?

You mean facies(poop)

Oh, Fake-Casey got left behind

Why did you guys prison Mikey in your vegetable storage?

Fake-Casey?! Where did you come from?

Don’t flirt with her! She already have a Casey back home

Yeah! Plam strike!

Glad there isn’t any kills, cuz I’m pretty sure thats the revolution group

It’s too early for a victory dance guys. We’re halfway through the movie rn

Ugh, colonizers

Yoshi!? Heh???

There's no thoughts behind his eyes

When they screamed, Mikey proceeds to laugh menacingly.

As they ran away, Mikey continues to mess with them

“Clint Eastwood?” Who?

Niles 😒

Put the fire out! That’s what you do!

You the hero Mikey!

Oh? Does Leo have magic hands in this version?

Oh, CPR. Wait! MEDIC LEO 1990 version!

Wow, Leo has a Talent for horses

Is it me or did your skirt got shorter, April

He could adapt. That’s what humans are good for…

Ah yes, the good ol’ Telly. That’ll work for distracting them

You burnt it Mikey.

Look at Raph, giving non-violent advice 🥹

Aw, Look at this Feudal Japanese men becoming American modern men, he says with sarcasm

This are the honour guard? 🤨

Knew we’ll get murder

In this tugged of war between Raph and Mikey, I bet they’ll break the septer

Man, this kid is dark

Wait is that—

So it was Yoshi who got it! Wow

Gasp! I didn’t expect that! I thought it was Yoshi being a kid wanting to Raph to stay longer! Not this tactical decision of war!

I don’t buy it old man

Betrayals everywhere!

Knew Fake-Casey was bad news the moment he plead for freedom

Looks like the Daimoy is a coward

So, first turtle kill is from Leo?

An indirect death with bell???

No? Aw

“Who’s your Tailor? “We’re naked” Mikey is killing me rn XD

Yes! Psychology play!

You should’ve kept a poker face to make your bluff effective

Oh… did walker just killed the Lord?

Nvm, he got a new haircut on top of his haircut he got from Leo

You really love that bird huh?

Weird Cut, but okay

Mikey! Why?!

What about Splinter?! Or Pizza! Mention Pizza, bet that’ll change their minds

Yeah, Mikey is just staying because of Mitsu isn’t he? 😒

Omg, not the warriors removing their clothes XD

Man, I like this warriors attitude

And Mikey got left, didn’t expect that

Oh! Nvm! Glad he’s back

I understand nothing going on here

Heh???

Hockey! *bows*

Kenshin learned that move from modern times!

Aw, Splinter making his son laugh 🥹