#LOU. REDEMPTION. ARC. WHEN?!?!

[lousirs]

Hi!

It’s me again and I was wondering what is the solution for Lou’s situation?

Like he was alone for who knows how long (with short amount of time with Ox, but that ended terribly) teaching these dolls. Of course that time he was probably isolated from the rest of the doll’s. And in the end of the movie he is basically degraded to janitor so he lost his purpose (train dolls) and I guess to identity (he isn’t perfect anymore, everyone hates him) is basically unneeded. And of course he still can’t go to the Big world.

Like I know he should face punishment for what he did. But still what do you think they should do with him? (They can’t just leave him to do the janitor job, at least I don’t think that’s the solution.)

Thank you for your answer and have a good day:)

hello again :)

yeah, lou's situation is literal hell.

he's stuck in doll purgatory, he's lost his purpose as a mentor and teacher, he's forced to clean up after everyone (which must suck because i'm guessing the prettydolls and uglydolls are going wild with messiness)(lydia literally covered her face in green paint for the hell of it so)...

my solution? MAKE HIS SITUATION LESS UNBEARABLE. he'll never be able to leave, so why not at least make him feel welcome? he did wrong, of course, but in the end he was probably following protocol. because who would want a doll that is below standard? not the factory, that's for sure. that'll ruin their reputation.

i want lou to have a friend so bad. like, someone that isn't concerned about the big world as much as everyone else, who reaches out to lou despite how others treat him, and show genuine kindess to him, which allows him to become a better doll because of it. i want someone to stick up for him, realise that what he did was wrong, but also realise that constantly humiliating him and isolating him isn't going to help anything. i want lou to open up to this friend, about the years of lonliness and pain he's suffered through being a prototype, having to watch endless dolls leave him to gain the love he will never obtain.

the friend could be anyone, really. my personal take is that it's nolan. yes, i know that lou called him ugly and left him to the dog, but lou called loads of prettydolls (and the uglydolls) ugly (so it wasn't really targeted)(nolan was just one example out of many) and he left his own henchmen (tuesday) to take the bullet for him during the gauntlet, not just nolan. lou only cared about the uglydolls failing, he didn't care at the time about anything else. nolan sending lou to the washer was karma for lou sending the uglydolls (and perhaps the prettydolls) to the washer as well. and besides, the other dolls were wanting lou dead with his stuffing teared out. nolan basically saved him there. also, lou being captured by the dog is additional karma for not saving nolan (and stopping tuesday from saving him) earlier.

anywho, i think nolan would be the best option for pre-existing characters (since nolan seemed to like lou despite lou's insults)(and nolan seems like an empathetic sweetheart)...

i may be slightly biased as a nolou shipper and nolan and lou being my favourites, but i've always thought that they would become friends. not instantly though, lou would probably still be hostile to everyone (because of trust issues and general anger) and get mad at nolan for throwing him in the washer, but ya know. it's a slow-cooked friendship.

moxy or ox or mandy are also decent options, though i think with them, they have more history with lou, and were treated worse (just my opinion though)(but he did try to recycle all three of them at some point). they could work, but it would need for lou to realise his mistakes, and for the other doll to forgive him (either after he apologises or they do some reflecting idk).

a totally new character could also work.

but i want in the end for lou to apologise to the dolls he's hurt, and for them to eventually forgive him (or at least tolerate him) and allow him to feel included. to feel loved. that would be nice.

...or just do what the doll jail AU is doing. send that silly doll to jail why not--

[tizeline]

Some snippets into Donnie's relationship to his brothers in the Separated AU

So after having figured out that Donnie is in fact their Long Lost Brother, the Drax Trio obviously want him back, and while Donnie is initially excited to find out that he has a bunch of siblings, he's less excited to find out that they're a bit, uh, evil. And they keep insulting April!! How dare they!!! Not to mention, he already has a dad, he doesn't need a new one! So no, Donnie isn't planning on just leaving his current family behind for this new one, and his brothers react to this in various different ways.

As much as Mikey wants Donnie back, Dr. Feelings understands that this is quite the adjustment for Donnie and that he may need some time to come to terms with the fact that he actually belongs with them and not with the humans. Mikey doesn't wanna force his brother to reunite with them, so instead he tries to convince Donnie to come home willingly through various ways. I mentioned this in an earlier post, but AU Mikey is essentially trying to give Donnie a redemption arc like Canon Mikey did with Draxum

Raph, however, sees Donnie and immedietly goes full Protective Big Brother Mode. He thinks the best course of action is to "forcefully rescue" (kidnap) him and and then convince him to stay and be apart of their family. He's can't help catastrophizing about all the way his baby brother is definitely being mistreated by Lou Jitsu and April and all the other evil humans oh NO they have to SAVE HIM!! The only reason he doesn't is because no one else in the Draxum family thinks it's a good idea

And then Leo. I'll go more into detail about Leo's character in this AU at a later dat cuz hhhhhhh but basically, he's still dealing with pretty intense Middle Child Syndrome and the LAST thing he need is another middle child joining the family! Why are all his family members so obsessed with getting Donnie back anyway? He's already clearly chosen the human side so why waste their time on him! .....Now that's not entirely the whole truth, he's kinda ecstatic when he first meets Donnie, except Donnie doesn't seem to care about them any, which... ouch.

Another way to describe their dynamic would be similar to their canon dynamic, a lot of friendly bickering.... except they don't really know each other and are also enemies here so like.... UNfriendly bickering.... which is just bickering lol. They fight a lot, is what I'm getting at.

Anyway you know the family dinner scene with Draxum in season 2 of the show? Yeah, Mikey tries that tactic here too. Like I said, Mikey wants to be patient with Donnie, but he does eventually get a bit tired of Donnie acting so hostile all the time so he starts organizing hangouts for the four of them (attendence is mandatory!)

And poor Donnie, this whole situation is a bit of an emotional rollercoaster for him, as you might imagine. Reuniting with your secret lost family is fun for all of five seconds before you find out that they're actually kinda messed up uh oh. A big reason why Donnie acts so hostile towards his brothers is because it's easier for him to just dismiss them as mere enemies that he feels no attatchment to. He's basically being made to pick between this new family and his old one is Not Fun.

[hainethehero]

POC can forgive Tommy. That's a valid opinion, and it's not my place to inform them of their feelings on racism.

However, both Hen & Chim never imply forgiving Tommy after Tommy decides to treat them like they are humans (Chim specifically mentions still being isolated because of his race years after he started). They treat him kindly because they are kind people, even before he acknowledges them. Nor does Tommy ever apologise for some of his behaviour. Hen even goes as far as to state that she is not friends with people who had left the 118.

As a woman in a historically male industry, I've heard women get negative descriptions/comments for things men are praised for and had their opinions/requests ignored only for a man to bring up the same thing and it be heard. Tommy's brand of misogyny is still around. Based on his comments/tone in 7x03, I'm hard pressed to believe he's changed in that aspect.

A lot of people tolerate people who hurt them because it makes situations easier. (Not any less painful)

Y'all really need a crash course in contextualising/comprehension/media/plot literacy.

AGAIN-

Tommy's character was never intended as a mainstay. So all the redemption/reconciliation that happened, was only able to be shown in a small montage. The show isn't going to allocate a lot of time or a full episode for a redemption arc for a character that was not meant to be permanent.

The montage however, did show that Tommy Hen and Chim all reconciled. IT IS IMPLIED. That's why in later episodes, Chimney could still call on him to put out the house fire that nearly killed Eddie. And that's why he could still be trusted to be contacted when they needed to rescue Bobby and Athena.

Because Tommy's character didn't have the luxury of a full episode to redeem himself, the audience is expected to contextualize their reconciliation. We didn't see Tommy actually apologize, but we do see him and Hen and Chimney embracing each other after having a farewell party for him. That shit wouldn't happen if Hen did not like him/reconcile with him. Therefore IT IS IMPLIED.

We're not even sure if he'll be a mainstay in season 8. Or of he'll just be a peripheral character like before. The point is, his character won't be fully fleshed out until they decide if they're giving him a full arc as a main.

So y'all are crucifying his character before it even gets a chance to flourish because he's getting in the way of your preferred ship. It would be so much better if y'all can just admit that instead of virtue signaling & using racism as a means to justify your horrible behaviour towards not only Lou (who's just doing his job & now have to deal with delusional fanatics who send him death threats & make up lies about him as a person when they don't know him at all), but also fans of the show who like the BuckTommy ship.

Additionally, y'all have taken to socmed and have made the entire show about this, being absolutely INSUFFERABLE in all of the cast's comment sections whenever they post anything remotely related to buddie or Tommy. It's why Oliver deleted X, and it's why Ryan has a hard time being on socmed, why Aisha has her comments limited & why Tim Minear had to make a post about y'all sending him death threats after he didn't include the karaoke scene. It's insane behaviour.

It's also not lost on me, that y'all typically do this to female characters who get in the way of your preferred ship.

[dandylovesturtles]

Whats Draxum’s redemption arc in sideline look like (if he even gets one lmaooo)

thanks for the ask! this got long so I'm putting a lot of it under a cut

at this point, I have committed to Draxum's redemption arc in Sidelined, because I like Draxum and I love a good redemption arc haha. That said, as I've said a few times before, it wouldn't be easy for him, and it definitely wouldn't go down like in the show, where Mikey just kind of drags him into it. he'd have to work for it himself

it's probably good to start this by talking about my own interpretation of Draxum and the Draxum characterization I'm working with in this AU. while I love a good Evil Bastard Draxum, in canon I read him as more of one of those people who truly believed he was the hero so hard he tipped over into villainy on accident. which doesn't mean he didn't enjoy what he was doing, and he's definitely uncaring of the lives around him (he's got some of that mad scientist spark), but in contrast to the Foot Clan who are actively trying to subjugate the whole world (presumably under the belief that they'll get to be the top brass in the new world order), Draxum is actually just trying to save his people. a noble end, even if the means he's choosing involves eradicating another race of beings entirely. and I'm generally of the belief that if Draxum had actually kept the turtles, if he had been in charge of their raising, he might have initially started out thinking of them purely as warriors to be molded for his aims, but eventually would have come to see them as their own people, as children (yes, it's entirely possible to raise children and still have disregard for them as people, but I'm giving Draxum the benefit of the doubt in this one).

however, Draxum didn't raise them from babies - they just showed up at his house one day, raising weapons against him and blowing up his lab. so he's still thinking of them purely as warriors - young and inexperienced warriors, sure, but warriors nonetheless. he's not really thinking about how they're only teenagers, about how they might have dreams and wants and needs that have nothing to do with fighting, how they actually love and care for each other as a family. I said this in another ask, but Draxum thinks the idea of them calling each other "brothers" and Lou Jitsu "father" is actually laughable. in his mind, it's just pointless to even read any kind of family structure into their relationship. they are at most superiors and subordinates.

when Draxum put Leo in the Dark Armor, Splinter saw it as his fourteen-year-old son, his Baby Blue, being tortured and possibly killed right before his eyes. Draxum saw it as sacrificing a pawn in front of a general.

of course, callous disregard for a living person is bad no matter how you see it, but there's still a definite difference in perception here.

it's not until 1, Draxum realizes he was horribly wrong about what the Armor is and what the consequences of awakening it are, and 2, he witnesses the way the family reacts to what is happening to Leo, not as group of warriors down a man but as a family desperately trying to save a loved one, a piece of themselves, that it finally clicks for him what he's done.

Draxum goes on a long soul-searching retreat after that (he's also hiding from the Hidden City government but that's a side note). how could the love he had for his people drive him down such a dark and reckless path? how could he not see what was right in front of him, until he caused serious damage to the place he was trying so hard to save? how could he be so callous to someone who, annoying as he may be, is ultimately innocent?

initially he does this soul-searching far away from the Hamatos. he still has his powers in this timeline, so he makes do with stealing and finding places to take over and live. but at some point he starts thinking, maybe he wants to try and make amends for what he did, even if it's in just a small way. and even with his humbling he's still a little full of himself, so he's like, of course this ragtag bunch would want the help of Baron Draxum

(they do not)

so he starts by trying to give them practical help. he can imagine that Leonardo has significant medical issues following his time in the armor, and while it's not his primary field he knows enough about healing draughts to get by, and while there's no magic potion that will "fix" Leo, there are ones that can help with the pain and fatigue, in some ways better than human medicines, and that can help strengthen his immune system. He tries to give these to the Hamatos (specifically Mikey and Donnie while they're out scavenging one day) and gets pretty soundly rebuffed. Donnie is in "kill on sight" mode, and while Mikey is more likely to at least hear Draxum out, he also has no reason to trust anything the man gives them, especially when he suggests they feed it to Leo. so they don't take the offerings initially. Draxum eventually settles for leaving them in a cache near one of the sewer tunnel entrances, if they want it.

and then Leo gets really sick, and is in a lot of pain. Leo's immune system, like everything else about his body, is pretty weak following the armor, and he can't fight off the flu or an infection as well as he could before. so Leo is sick and in pain and Donnie and Mikey remember the cache of healing potions.

(I actually considered writing this fic awhile back and then never did haha, but here's what I had in my notes for it:

Splinter kneels on the side of the bed. "I'm sorry, Blue. We'll get you more medicine soon."

Leo reaches one hand out and Splinter takes it quickly. "Daddy," he whines, tears starting to roll down his cheeks, and oh, Donnie realizes, Leo really is hurting.

He quietly and casually deletes the last ten minutes of audio in his recordings. No one else needs to hear this.)

again, they aren't stupid - they aren't just going to feed Leo some random potions given to them by the guy that hurt him in the first place. but they can go find out if the potions are legit. so time for a trip to Witch Town!

they probably have some kind of misadventure while they're there (I'm imagining Mikey is joining Donnie and April this time), but they do manage to ascertain that the potions are legit. still, they end up getting the same potions made by someone else instead, just in case. but they remember that Draxum did try to help them, that time.

I imagine this happens several times, where Draxum just shows up to help them, they tell him to get lost after, before it starts to sink in that maybe Draxum is actually trying to turn things around. I don't think it ever quite gets to "Mikey calling him their second dad" level, but they do start to accept him as a begrudging ally and eventual weird uncle.

he has to seriously and sincerely apologize to Leo first, though. and Leo doesn't want to forgive him at first, and that's okay. these things take time.

anyway that's all. thanks for the ask again!

[aesthetictarlos]

You know what's funny? I watched both Hen Begins and Chimney Begins when they first aired in the USA so we're talking about 2018/2019 and I've never re-watched them so I didn't even remember who Tommy Kinard was when they announced he was coming back. I was like "who is Tommy?" and I wasn't excited AT ALL because 1) I didn't even remember the guy and 2) I didn't think his storyline arc would be interesting AND THEN— Then Lou Ferrigno Jr came back with all his hotness and tenderness and brought Tommy back with an interesting storyline and an awesome "redemption arc" and kissed Evan Buckley so tenderly, grabbing his chin and not only he made me fall in love with Tommy Kinard but he also made me fall in love with BuckTommy and I just—

[lover-of-mine]

See I have two questions I’m confused about now thanks to this deleted scene video and the BT response to it.

1) the Hen didn’t respect her queer elder.

Weren’t the BT fans like just last week? Throwing a fit over people calling Tommy Old and saying it didn’t matter how old he was. He wasn’t that old. And even going so far to DM Tim to try and find out his age. And now suddenly it’s “respect your elders”

We’re not gonna touch on the way it also reads as them saying the female poc needs to respect her superior white man 🙃

But also nice of them to I guess admit Tommy is old? Which brings back to what they originally were mad at about..?

2) redemption arc

I’ve seen multiple BT fans now saying after this clip they are getting the Tommy redemption arc finally. (He’s not) BUT

I’m confused on what exactly he’s being redeemed for? Haven’t they been saying for months now that Tommy didn’t do anything? It was Sal and Gerard. Tommy was innocent. Tommy maybe did some light teasing per Lou. Buddie fans are just exaggerating and hating on Lou/Tommy to hate.

So if Tommy didn’t do anything…then why does he need a redemption arc…?

Now I admit I’m not a fan of Tommy. And I don’t know if any of the BT fans read your blog but if you post this and they do, I am genuinely curious about their response to these questions because it really doesn’t seem like even they know which argument they are trying to make for this character.

The thing with the elder gay is even crazier when you realize Hen has been out longer. Last week there was the tantrum because realistic he's closer to 50 than 40. Now he's the elder queer?? I did see that coming tho, because they have been fighting queer women the whole time, them turning on Hen was a matter of time. And the redemption thing, you're asking for logic from a group that has proved multiple times they are incapable of logical thinking. But they have been scrambling trying to find a redemption for him. "he was abused as a child" "he was young and impressionable" (I think that's part of how mad they are at the idea of him being older, they need him to be as young as possible during the begins episodes to justify his actions) "he was protecting himself in the ways he could" none of that is actually backed by canon, so they were hoping Hen would say all is forgiven since Hen was a victim and queer. They very much want the show to make it so Tommy was a victim of Gerrard too and was acting that way to protect himself.

[buckera]

Hi! I hope you don't mind me chiming in, but I just wanted to add that while it is true that this fandom does tend to hate women, it also just hates anyone and anything that comes between buddie. See people hating on Tommy, hating on Lou (commenting and saying he is ugly, etc.).

mm yes but in all fairness — unfortunately — the Tommy/Lou hate started when they announced his return; and that was before the bucktommy storyline was even a thing.

it stemms from people not understanding redemption arcs, growth and complex storytelling.

I said this before, but I'll say it over and over; you don't have to like any character, but if you got time to actively hate on a fictional character you have issues™, if you think harassing actors doing their jobs is okay, you might wanna see a professional about it and get better, because your misery shouldn't be other people's problem!

however. I think regardless of Tommy's background and previous appearances on the show, they would still hate him for coming in between buddie, yes. hence why I specified every actress/actor who played a love interest for either Eddie or Buck.

there is just no winning, I just hate that actors who are truly just doing their jobs getting hate because some people have never been told 'no' as a child or are still those children, not being said 'no' to irl and think they should just get whatever they want, whenever they want without nuance and can't just have fun and enjoy the show for what it is.

[outrunningthedark]

I would understand the outrage against tommy had the the last time we saw him, he left in a way still framed as a bully and bigot and on bad terms with hen and chim. But that’s not what happened. When he left, it was clear they were all friends and fairly close too. Then we continue to get a couple random mentions of him between season 3-7 from chim. Then he comes back in season 7 and why does he come? because CHIM calls him up. and did y’all see Hen’s reaction to seeing Tommy? She most definitely was pleased to see him. If he wants Buck’s love interest they would not be so obsessed with his behaviour from 15-20 years ago

All of this. Ofc. I'm ngl, sometimes when I see a Buddie stan bringing up how he mistreated Hen and Chim I have to wonder whether they actually sat through non-Buddie episodes pre-season 4 or if they just skip to the parts where things got "good". Because Tommy's "redemption" was very much established before he ever came back this season. Does that mean people have to like it? Nope. But characters getting redemption arcs with little to no build up, and even if they don't "deserve it", is what this show does. If that's such a problem...why are those people even watching? Why are they still here? And if the answer is for Buddie...fandom isn't dictating canon. People need to separate what they ship from what they see on screen when they're not the ones writing the scripts. Also, gonna say something that might come as a shock, but as much fun as BuckTommy fans are having with the invisible string theory (that they are not taking as seriously as others think, lol), Tim could not have predicted that he would actually get approval for Bi Buck nor that Lou would be willing to take on the role as the LI. Would Tommy have been an asshole if Tim thought "We might be able to bring him back for Buck in 5 years?" Obviously not. But Tim wanted to introduce a LI with a connection to the 118, with a connection to Buck's co-workers and friends so that it wasn't just some guy showing up with no last name and no backstory. (And this is what REALLY has the fandom so angry, right? He's not getting the same treatment as Marisol.) It just so happens that THAT guy was Tommy.

[mighty-mepoe]

Interesting (All Might) fic finds

Cute/Slice of life fics:

Slightly Cracked by Krisington

Really sweet, a bit bitter at the start.

The more Izuku made friends at UA, the more he realized that All Might was just as friendless as he himself had always been. Despite All Might's insistence otherwise, Izuku found this to be completely unacceptable.

Secret Identity fics:

Yagi-Sensei by Swiftwidget (or also HERE)

<3

A short drabble inspired by a post by alicekaninchenbau on tumblr. An AU in which "All Might" was not hired to teach at U.A. but instead Toshinori Yagi teaches Foundational Hero Studies and no one but Principal Nedzu, Recovery Girl, and Izuku know he is All Might. Toshinori actually does come through the door like a normal person.

Mr Yagi by Swiftwidget

Amazing, makes me smile every time.

Mr. Toshinori Yagi from the Second Secretarial Office: A kind, generous man with an uncanny knowledge about the Might Tower Staff who never hesitated to make their days brighter. At least, that's how they knew him. / Inspired by the Vigilante 006 Beta chapter in which Detective Tsukauchi meets Toshinori Yagi at Might Tower for the first time.

Missing Everything by Haptronym

Izuku misses a very important reveal and ends up with a villain-filled soda bottle instead. In the ensuing chaos, he befriends someone named Toshinori Yagi. All Might misses the chance to make a snap decision and ends up mentoring a very heroic, very determined child who has no idea who he really is.

No Such Thing As a Hopeless Case by Origamidragons

I read this fic ages ago and it has lived rent-free in my brain since then. Dead since 2019, but what is written is worth reading.

The story of how Toshinori Yagi (not All Might, Toshinori Yagi) singlehandedly defeated his archenemy's League of Villains by accidentally adopting them all. Or: Toshinori's gonna redemption arc everybody, just watch him.

GOT THIS POWER THAT IS TAKING ME OUT (shall I go now? you'll like it, you'll be the hero) by canbreathe, debesys (canbreathe)

Heart-warming.

<<"You do not have any kind of teaching qualification, do you Yagi-san?" "I, um," he desperately grabs at straws, "cleaning? I've done. Cleaning.">> All Might, or rather, Yagi Toshinori, becomes a janitor at U.A. It goes much better than expected.

Badass Small Might:

to measure time by sundefeater lou (sundefeater)

Dad Might becomes feral.

Five minutes. Five goddamned minutes. He had just wanted to restock some essential supplies at the nearby konbini while Izuku got some much needed rest with the aid of the last of the cold tablets and a cool compress. Or: Izuku is sick, the villains don't care, and Toshinori has had it up to here with these assholes.

Mr. Yagi by writers_writers

Beginning of manga-Bakugou learns some practical lessons.

With Aizawa still out of commission on the Monday after the USJ attack, the question is, who is going to teach Class 1-A. All might is out recuperating as well and the rest of the teachers are already stretched thin working on the security on top of their own classes. The kids are shaken and on edge from the devastating events the week prior and need someone with a steady hand and a kind voice to get them back to a sense of normality. It's a good thing that All Might's secretary offered to come in for the day just to keep an eye on them.

Yagi-san by soulofdarkandlight

All Might finds a way to be a hero without using his quirk.

When Nedzu asks All Might to retire, he surprisingly agrees. Little does he realize, it's All Might who agreed, not Yagi.

Harmony in War by Quisanne

(Restricted to AO3 users) Dad-Might and Dad-Zawa for your enjoyment. Also some Bakugrowth towards the end. I just love Aizawa's POV.

Aizawa and All Might go on a warpath to raze Aldera Middle School to the ground. A story in which Aizawa is the one smiling at people and All Might is the one intimidating everyone.

Dadmight:

The Best Day by Nicnac

So cute! All fluff with a tiny bit of angst in the predictable place. Worth a thousand reads.

All Might saves Izuku from the slime villain when the boy is only four years old. Things proceed accordingly.

Quirkless Yagi Toshinori:

Thunder by Hayato (TheLennyBunny)

Yagi Toshinori manages to become a quirkless hero in the harsh world of his youth.

This Autor has a whole mountain of amazing fics.

In this universe, he never meets anyone. He sits as an island, isolated, standing with stacks of notebooks and muscles gained from years of self-defense. He tells his middle school counsellor he wants to be a hero, and she laughs in his face.

Angst / Harsh fics (no bad endings):

Statistic by aconstantstateofbladerunner

When victims and bystanders are gaslighted into believing it's their fault, help is difficult to come by.

In a world where All for One was defeated the first time around, new villainous groups are constantly bubbling up just under the surface of society. New crimes need new tactics, so in an effort to flush out an alleged anti-quirkless group, All Might decides to go undercover as Yagi Toshinori, quirkless middle school teacher. But Toshinori hasn't been quirkless in a long time, and he learns the hard way how much things have changed.

Toshishan and Baby 'Zuku (I Know How the World Treat Us) by 18ems_girl

Super-cute! And it has some iteresting character studies.

A de-aging quirk affects Izuku and Toshinori and, while baby Izuku is happy to meet heroes, teen Toshinori is scared because he knows people treat quirkless kids awful.

Humour:

When Monologuing To Your Nemesis Goes Wrong by Ilentari

Crack. Also SPOILERS.

Ugh, he didn’t want to be subjected to this boring monologue anymore. Perhaps this was All For One’s plan? Rant to him until his ears began to bleed? All For One cleared his throat and started back up where he left off, and All Might sighed in irritation. “Why are you like this?” he groaned, wanting the villain to shut up. All For One initially had seemed annoyed by the interruption, but quickly brightened at the question. “I’m glad you asked!” He flourished his hands dramatically. “You see, once upon a time there was a baby born as evil as one could be—” That was stupid. All Might snorted. “Babies aren’t born evil.”

Take My Place on the Witness Stand by Quisanne

Hilarious. (Restricted to AO3 users) I also recomend the rest of the Series.

[Officer] Name, age, current address, and quirk, please, if you would. [Suspect] I'm afraid I can’t tell you most of these things. [Officer] Oh? And why would that be, I wonder? Would it allow us to track you down and find your stash of other stolen IDs? [Suspect] ...It's a matter of national security. [Officer] Yeah sure, and my mother is a late descendant of the Emperor. ----- OR: Yagi Toshinori gets arrested for having All Might's possessions on him and his friends are amazingly incompetent at getting him out. Maybe they're having too much fun with this.

The Torrid Affair of All Might and Yagi Toshinori by Speedwagons_Glorious_Mane

Super-fun.

It's the perfect cover. No one will ever suspect that All Might and Yagi Toshinori are the same person if everyone thinks they're dating.

Healing (literally):

Flashback by Psyckosama

Amazingly self-indulgent. A bit spicy at times. Really well written even if at first it seems it will be a chaotic fic.

On the day Izuku Midoriya was to receive All Might's quirk, the sacred torch of One for All, a young girl glowing with a corona of power runs up to the mentor and student yelling for them to stop as she desperately contains the energy within her. After pleading with Izuku to, impossibly, take One for All from *her*, she lays the weak and crippled Toshinori Yagi's hand upon her sparking horn and All Might is reborn in his prime. But who is this mysterious girl, how did she know the fateful exchange that would be taking place on that isolated beach, and what ominous portents does her appearance that day fortell?

[tmntxthings]

hi! can you do a rottmnt x sibling!reader where splinter wasnt able to rescue them from draxum and so the reader grew up to be draxums assistan, i need the sibling angst

has a bonus they have a redemtion arc like draxum

Lost & Found

author’s note: anon, i think you’re a absolute genius, this might be super long (I’m writing this before I start heh) honestly there are a lot of ways this could play out, but I’m going to hone in on your request for some sibling angst and let that take me where it will! thank you so much for requesting c; hope you enjoy~

p.s. >.< i haven’t finished season 1 on netflix (I’m rlly close tho like episode 23 I think) sooo im kinda lost in the sauce with ‘draxum redemption arc’ life’s been super busy as of lately I hardly have time to write much less watch the show *cries* but I shall find out what you mean sooner or later!!!

warnings: angsty angst, cursing, violence, abuse, sibling!reader, comfort ending

> part two <

—————————————————————————

[13 years ago]

After Draxum had injected him with the ooze, there was only so much time Lou Jitsu.. no, Splinter had left. To escape, to grab the turtles and each one was in a different capsule. Splinter was weak, he didn’t have time, and had barely broken into the fourth’s when Draxum burst into his lab. Lights were flashing red, everything was so loud. Draxum was quick to block off the last cage, that held the fifth child, the final turtle. Splinter didn’t want to leave you. He hurt everyday knowing your fate was in the hands of the lunatic named Draxum. And yet he had hope, that someday, you would finally be reunited with your brothers. But they weren’t ready, none of them were. Splinter was too old now, he had run out of time. It would be up to them, Splinter decided, when they finally showed him they were ready, and capable of facing you. Because Splinter knew that whatever you had turned into, it would be something completely different than his sons. A powerful mutant under the influence of the mad scientist and manipulator, Draxum.

。・゜・(pov change: you)・゜・。

[the present]

You knelt before your creator. “I’ve got a mission for you,” you kept your head bowed, knowing the consequences of looking up too soon. You had been on the receiving end of many ‘lessons’ and you were too old to be beaten for anything other than failure. And that was something that only happened on rare occasion. “Get rid of the pests that keep interfering with my work.” Draxum sounded irritated. It was unusual, he normally didn’t seem phased by anything, and if he had a tone it was arrogant and full of smug confidence. “Yes Draxum,” you rose to your full height. Looking up into those cold, calculating eyes that had raised you. “Don’t disappoint me.” If you fail I will squeeze your shell until another crack forms. You could read between the lines, hear the underlying threat. “I won’t.” you muttered as you turned your back on him, leaving the Hidden City, going into the human realm. New York City is a real piece of work and that’s putting it politely, you thought as you emerged into an alleyway. The smell of trash flooding your senses. “Alright fellow turtles, prepare for your demise..”

。・゜・( pov change: everyone )・゜・。

“This is greatttt,” Leo said sarcastically. Waving his ōdachi around making little portals. He was utterly bored. “Sometimes Leo, heroes have to wait for crime to happen,” Raph was leaning down over the edge of the rooftop looking down at the streets below. “In any case, isn’t that a good thing! No crime means no bad guys,” Mikey said rocking back on his heels, nonexistent eyebrows waggling at Leo. His older brother rolled his eyes, “then what are we here for let’s go back to the lair!”

“Hold on I’m picking up something,” Donnie said looking down at his wrist tech. Leo waited a whole 5 seconds before complaining, “yeah a whole bunch of nothing!” Raph shot a look at Leo, telling him to shut up silently, the blue turtle only stuck out his tongue. “Bingo!” Donnie’s wrist tech flared up in a flash of color, “What was that Leo?? A bunch of what??” He goaded his twin, smiling smugly. “Let’s hear it Don,” Raph prompted not wanting to waste anymore time. “Two streets away, northwest, someone’s breaking into-“ “Bla, bla, bla time to goooo!” Leo cut Donnie off and waved his sword into a big circle. “Oh no no no, it’s only two streets awayyyyy~!” Donnie yelled out as they all fell into Leon’s portal.

“That was fun,” Donnie grumped, while Mikey snickered. The portal had put them 7 streets away from their target, and effectively ruining any sort of hero work that night. “Look if I don’t practice how am I gonna get better at it,” Leo said thinking he was being pretty logical. “How about practice before an actual patrol? Huh? Ever thought about that my dumb dumb of a brother?” Leo peered over at Mikey and started mimicking Donnie’s voice. Mikey had to hold in his laughter, hand slapping over his mouth loudly. “Enough you two,” Raph chided, “it’s already over with let’s just get back to the lair, we’ll try again tomorrow.” When Leo grabbed for his sword this time, Raph stopped him, shaking his head, “practice on your own time like Donnie said,”

“Tch,” was the only reply Leo could come up with. He wanted to say something like, you guys are just jealous my power is ten times awesome-er than everyone’s combined. But he held himself back, somehow, someway. Who was he kidding, “you guys are ju-“

Something whizzed past Leo’s face connecting into Mikey’s and slamming him back and onto the ground he skidded a couple of feet before coming to a stop. “OW!” Mikey groaned as his brothers came running, a collective “Mikey!” yelled out in worry. They formed a circle around the youngest, “What the fuck was that?!” Raph said as he looked around for any signs, any clues to what had just pummeled his little brother. “Felt like a fist to me,” Mikey coughed as Donnie knelt down over him, making sure he was okay and then helping him up. Leo was on guard too, “why don’t you pick on someone your own size!” he barked out. “You saw it??” Raph said still searching, only giving Leo a glance. “No but I’m guessing whatever it was chose Mikey for a reason,” Leo explained, eyes narrowing in on a billboard.

Raph nodded his head and they were off, both jumping up and weapons drawn for anything that was on the other side. “Huh, nothing,” Leo commented as Raph huffed in frustration. The moment they had left Mikey’s side, Donnie had a matter of milliseconds before he was thrown back on his shell. The air being knocked straight out of his lungs as Mikey’s eyes widened and yelled for his brothers as he threw out his mystic kusari-fundo hoping to wrap whatever it was that kept throwing them to the ground. But as the chain wrapped around its target Mikey hadn’t been prepared to be jolted forward at such speed, he was practically half-dragged, half-flying after whatever he had caught. “GUYS,” he screamed in panic as he zoomed forward, leaving his brothers in the dust as they called out for him to let go. But Mikey didn’t listen and when he finally landed on a rooftop, somehow on his feet, he was tense, and more than a little scared to be facing whatever this was without his brothers.

You looked down at the chains wrapped around your torso. Bright orange, your shell facing your opponent not worried in the slightest. “I see you’ve stolen something,” you commented and Mikey just held onto his weapon tighter. “Borrowed actually,” he corrected- a turtle?! Mikey blinked and his grip loosened immediately. He saw the state of your shell, his stomach rolled, his own shell tightened as if he could feel your pain. You felt the slack and turned only your face. Black bandana waving in the wind. “You” Mikey said stunned, “you’re like us!” He couldn’t help it, a smile of recognition replaced his frightened features. You scowled, not returning the sentiment. One second you were yards away from Mikey and the next you were throwing him onto the rooftop again. He cried out in pain, “I’m nothing like you.” And even though he was hurt, his innocence was too pure to be shot down. “But you’ve got a shell, and a bandana,” he groaned out as he forced himself up. Noticing you had released yourself from his binds the moment you had him on the ground.

“Get away from our brother,” Raph hollered as he came down as a huge red figure of power. You side stepped, letting the cement feel his wrath instead. So the orange wasn’t the only one who stole. A purple drill came next, you jumped into the air it missed your feet by centimeters as you came back down, your eyes widened in surprise for the first time this fight, as you didn’t touch the ground but went through a blue circle. Suddenly blue was all you could see, and you activated your power, a black shadow surrounding your body and time slowed, you watched as the portal ended and the blue one was ready and waiting with a sword held out. You landed with grace, crouching immediately but you didn’t need to, while in your power form you were faster than all of them combined. You kicked the blue straight in the groin, feeling somewhat irritated that he had gotten the best of you for a split second. He went down as you continued to move, not wanting to be caught off guard again, you went back to normal form after you put two rooftops in between you and the four.

It was a stare off. All but the Red had felt how powerful just your fists and feet were. It was his turn, and then you would destroy them completely. “What do you want!” Raph roared, angry that he hadn’t been able to protect his little brothers. “Nothing from you,” you let your voice be carried by the wind. Unable to find such passion like the Red one, no one but Draxum could make you howl like he just had. In fear and anger, in anguish and pain. You took a step forward, all but the Red flinched. You found that quite funny. “Then just leave us alone,” Raph begged, standing over Mikey and Leo while Donnie stood a little staggered next to him. “I’m afraid I can’t do that,” you said taking another step forward. Why were you wasting time like this? Answering his buffoon questions, for what? You gritted your teeth from your own condescending thoughts. “Why?!” The red exasperated. “Because,” you glared reaching for the sole tantō (short sword) behind your shell. You only unsheathed it when necessary, but all these questions were grating your nerves, “I was ordered to.” And maybe that was what pissed you off the most. As you lunged forward eyes seething with pitch black rage.

Raph braced himself calling onto his power to create a shield from the shadow that was hurtling towards him faster than anything he had ever seen. He tried to keep his eyes open, but at the last second he flinched closing them tightly hoping his shield would hold. “Boys?” Splinter said in confusion. They had all just been saved by Leo’s well-timed portal and if it wasn’t for the near death experience he would have boasted about it proudly. Raph fell back on his haunches, his weapons dropping limply from his hands. Mikey was the first to recover, “Dad you’ll never guess what just happened!” Bruised everywhere he exclaimed, “we met another turtle!” “Met?” Donnie shook his head, “that Michael, was not a meeting, that was a blindside!” He had to hold his side wincing when he raised his voice.

Splinter fell back into his recliner. “So you finally crossed paths,” it had been a weak whisper. Silence stretched on after that as Splinter relived that haunting night. Where time hadn’t been on his side, not enough to save everyone. “What do you mean dad?” Raph asked, breaking the silence. “The night I rescued you all and myself from Draxum’s lab, I hadn’t saved everyone that night,” his voice sounded far away. The brothers all looked at each other, shock and confusion written on their faces. “Are you saying, that we just met our sibling out there tonight?” Donnie expounded, eyes bugging out. Splinter nodded. Another collective silence. “Well, they wanna kill us,” Leo put plainly, trying to get up. “No they don’t!” Mikey said defensively. All three of his brothers turned on him with crazed expressions. “I’m serious! You heard them, they were ordered to come after us!” Mikey had his hands out as if it were obvious. Splinter kept silent, Leo looked doubtful, while Raph and Donnie both shook their heads.

“It doesn’t matter Mikey, if Leo hadn’t portaled us outta there, we would’ve been turtle soup.” Raph said, and he wasn’t joking. “Yeah but, maybe if we talked to them, showed them that Draxum isn’t their real family, then maybe-“ Mikey was cut off by Donnie, “No. Mikey listen to yourself! You wanna go back out there after three of us got pummeled and Raph was about to get sliced?!” Mikey’s cheeks puffed out in frustration, they weren’t listening to him. “…maybe Mikey’s right,” Leo pipped up looking at his little brother. “What if one of us had been left behind?” Splinter winced. Leo paused, continuing after awhile, “shouldn’t we at least try?” Donnie scoffed, “try what exactly, reason with the trained killer of a psychopath who wants us dead?!” Mikey nodded. Raph blew out a long breath. “Not anytime soon,” he said giving in, he couldn’t help it, looking at it the way Leo had put it. He’d try. “Once we are healed a hundred percent and Leo practices his portals more… then we can try talking,” Donnie glared at them all. “If this backfires I don’t care if it’s my last dying breath, I’m saying I told you so,” with that he was off to his lab. Mikey smiled to himself, hoping this would work, that you would listen, and see that they were your real family.

After Raph’s orders were carried out, all of them healed up to the max, and Leo did practice on his portaling, it was time. “So how’re we gonna find them??” Mikey questioned as they all exited the manhole, Raph the last out and covering it up. “The Hidden City,” Raph said, since they knew who was behind your strings aka Draxum. “Righttt,” Mikey agreed. “We’re breaking into Draxum’s,” Donnie explained further for his little brother to catch up to speed. They all knew he had zoned out when the plan was being discussed, Mikey was too excited. Which had all of his older brothers worried for the impending disappointment they all expected. “Alright, breaking into Draxy’s,” Mikey said rubbing his hands together in mischief, finally up to speed.

They went the same route they had came when April had been with them. It seemed like they were always trying to rescue someone from here, first Mayhem, now you. All the turtles peered down into what had been an exploded lab last they left it. Now it was fully refurbished and off to the side you came into view.

Horror. Raph tried reaching for Mikey to cover his eyes, but it was too late. He had seen, your limbs were spread far apart, vines wrapped tightly around your wrists and ankles. But what held all of the turtles stares was the thick vines that were in a vice-like grip around you torso, around your shell. Draxum appeared from a doorway. “Not tight enough?” He commented as your head hung to the floor, but as the grip tightened around your shell you gasped, head lurching up once more. This had been going on for days, ever since you had returned, since you had failed. “Why are you being punished,” Draxum questioned as you panted in pain, it was getting to the point where you would pass out. “ANSWER ME” his voice raised in authority and anger, “I-“ the vines tightened again and you finally screamed out in agony. New streams of tears flooded down your cheeks. “Say it.” He seethed, “I f-failed you,” you sobbed. Head falling in front of your body unable to keep it raised any longer. “You are pathetic and weak. You expect me to believe those pests outsmarted you?” He spat in disgust. “They had mystic weapons,” you tried to explain, you hadn’t realized how vital the blue one could be for escape. You were paying for it now. “Excuses,” Draxum shook his head, “I gave you a mystic weapon, I trained you and this is the result I get?” Your head was swimming in pain, it was becoming hard to breath and you knew what was coming next, the sound haunted you in your sleep. Crack! “Please!” You begged, knowing it was useless because you had been through this before, “I’ll do better, I’ll get them next time just give me one more chance!” You’d say anything, promise anything if it meant you could save yourself from the living nightmare you were experiencing.

An fiery orange chained whipped out of nowhere and snagged Draxum up and off the ground. “Leave them alone!” He cried out, tears pouring down his own face as he yanked his weapon backwards, continuing to pull Draxum away from you. Raph’s fist was three times its size, and punched the sheep yokai, slamming him to the floor of his lab. Donnie and Leo were quickly cutting away at the vines that held you hostage. Leo catching you before you fell to the ground. “Let’s go!” Leo called out as Donnie positioned himself defensively, his mystic tech aimed at Draxum’s figure that was still on the ground. He turned and faced the turtles he had created, his face pure fury, “Y/N!” He bellowed and that was the last thing you remembered before you slipped into unconsciousness.

[one week later]

“They should be waking up any moment now,” a not so familiar voice said informatively. “But when exactly??” someone whined. “They’ve been through a lot just give them time,” someone else chided. “Look” another voice said, and as your eyes moved underneath your eyelids, listening intently and very much awake, you realized they must’ve noticed you were up. “Hello?” you squinted open one eyelid, and orange was so close you could see down to his esophagus. “Mikey, give ‘em some space!” red said exasperated as if he had said it a million times already. “What did I tell you guys, any moment!” purple said as a matter-of-factly. “We get ittt,” sighed blue. All of them had curious eyes on you, the red had one weapon drawn, and purple had a finger hovering over a button. Blue had his arms crossed and orange was still in your face. “We saved you!” He explained, “from Draxum’s crazy” “psycho” “sadistic” “ass.” They all had a word for your creator. And they all seemed to be waiting for you to say something or do something. You slowly opened up both eyes, “please back away orange,” you phrased it as nicely as possible but the frown on his face couldn’t be missed. “Told ya,” Raph chuckled, silently putting away his weapon. “So how old are you?” “And what kind of turtle are you?” “What’s your mystic power exactly?” “Are you hungry?” Mikey pitched in last, recovering from your first sentence to him. It seemed to be the only question you would acknowledge as you nodded slightly. The rest looked at one another, with wary expressions. “Where am I?” you decided it was better to be the one who asked the questions. “In-“ a hand slapped over Mikey’s mouth. “Why don’t you go get them some pizza?” Raph said. “Oh right! Be right back!” He said bouncing away. The three older ones sighed in unison. “Look Y/n,” you blinked no one but Draxum had ever used your name. “You’ve gotta answer our questions first,” the red one claimed.

You wondered if you were fully recovered. Because if so, you’d rather just leave than have to sit through an interrogation like this. You could feel the unwelcomeness roll off these three. But as you did a mental check, you knew you would have trouble using your power and making a speedy escape. So you sighed, admitting defeat nonverbally. “I am 13 years old, a diamondback terrapin, and to put it shortly speed,” Donnie went to say he wanted the longer more detailed version because he obviously had gotten that. But Raph stopped him. You were Mikey’s age. Raph couldn’t believe it, how polar opposite the two of you were, and it crushed him to think how Mikey might have been in your place. “I see,” Raph murmured. “Now my turn?” You asked, prompting for an answer to your earlier question. “We’re in the sewers!” Mikey answered coming back into the room. Leo face palmed himself. “What?!” Mikey exclaimed, “they deserve to know!” and he handed you a plate stacked high with slices of pizza.

“Well I guess we’ve got a lot of catching up to do,” you gave Mikey an inquisitive glance as you stuffed your face. You hadn’t eaten in what felt like ages. Raph and Mikey both smiled at the sight of you eating heartily. “Because we’re family!” Mikey explained as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. And that had you swallowing, you looked around the room, these four were your brothers? “Draxum never told you?” Donnie asked quietly, and all you could do was shake your head. You kept looking all around, like suddenly everyone in the room looked different looked more familiar. And you hadn’t realized it when one tear streaked down your face. “Family?” You echoed. Draxum had never used familial terms between the two of you. He was your creator and you were his creation. Black and white, plain and simple. You always believed you were on your own. The thought of a family, it was too good to be true. “Yeah!” Mikey cried, the instant he saw the tear go down your cheek. And space bubbles be damned! He leapt on top of you hugging you close, “you’re our family!” Mikey said and the rest of the gang piled in, more tears were shed, even from Donnie. It was a miracle you thought, and maybe finally you could be happy, here with your family.

[getindumdums]

I made a fan design/edit of Big Mama's assistant based off the red and black "Painted Turtle". I'm calling her "V" as the number 5 like the movie V for Vendetta.

Concept

I'm exploring concepts for my Get in Dum-Dums fic and I believe I found the right combination of personality for the plot to take her as serious as needed but is still humorous. She is annoyed by the rise gang and hates their guts. Ridiculously serious, quiet, loyal, and 'happy' where she is at Big Mama’s side. Her fighting style is a foil to the bros so she take them all on, (mainly martial arts, maybe a master of all their weapons last ronin style).

The moment her face gets revealed there's a constant Izma gag where she's described as "scary beyond reason".

Like:

Some Yokai: "Hey! You’re sister was looking for you!"

"Sister?" Rise bros who had been running, freezing.

"Yeah. I pointed her to where your friend went."

Leon: "Claws? Fangs? Scary beyond reason?"

Yokai snaps his fingers, "That’s the gal!

*Collective frightened gasps!

And the worst, most horrible, trait of all. To the Rise bros' horror. She HATES pizza.

Mikey is insistent to get her that redemption arc despite this blasphemy (angrily proclaims it). And she only begins to slightly come around to the food (forcibly by Mikey) when she IS redeemed. And when is redeemed, she looks EXACTLY the same.

(Also she maybe has straight up 03/12 Karai storyline rip. Except. Leo's gay (and trans). Big Mama seperated au vibes. Big Mama being evil still, but still in love with Splinter drama. Tricks the turtles evily, relunctanly teams up with said turtles, only to do a final 'change to the terms at the last second' to save Lous life. Maybe.)

[ravi-is-my-beloved]

https://www.tumblr.com/ravi-is-my-beloved/758074130005377025/bringing-back-a-problematic-character-to-be-bucks?source=share

A couple of the things (aside from a lack of redemption) about Tommy's reappearance that make me uncomfortable.

The first thing is that LFJ and the Tommy stans have dismissed Tommy's behaviour as being jokey/teasing when it wasn't, it was purposely to isolate and ostracise people of colour and women. And while people have been saying they won't forgive Tommy because they've had racism & misogynistic behaviour from people like Tommy in their work and daily lives, Tommy stans were telling people to get over that.

I try not to speak about Lou because people who disagree with me will be quick to be like "Oh what about Ryan? He's problematic." And yes, they're both problematic, I don't like either of them. My sister once told me when I was in my teens and not really interacting with fandom stuff yet that it's best not to stan any actor and I agree with her. We'll never know any actor's true colors and they all have to be a certain type of way to deal with fame.

Anyways, that's my little slightly off-topic tidbit. Now down onto the real point in your ask.

The main thing that makes me dislike Tommy fans is the fact that they don't seem to understand why people might not think Tommy has changed. I understand some of his fans are people of color, but as a very rude anon once said to me, "not everyone's opinions are the same."

Not everyone thinks the fact that Tommy was in the closet while he worked under Gerrard as a satisfactory explanation to his behavior towards Chimney and Hen. Not everyone thinks Tommy's "apologies" to Hen and Chimney in their respective begins episodes were apologies. Not everyone thinks that those apologies were enough for the writers to have Hen, Chim, and Tommy all buddy-buddy in Bobby Begins Again.

And it's really disheartening to know that there are people who are so quick to tell people to get over things that a fictional character did when it can impact real people. Tommy fans all talk about homophobia and how being homophobic to a fictional character can impact real queer people (and it's true), but they don't think about the fact that it's the same way with racism and misogyny.

I've said it before, but excusing Tommy's past actions just because he was in the closet is a slippery slope. That's a real excuse real gay, racist and misogynistic men use to excuse their past behavior. And while being in the closet is no joke and can make someone fear for their lives, it's ignoring the fact that it's not an excuse to be a shitty human being to people who can't hide who they are. And it isn't just the closet excuse that's harmful to people of color either.

It's the way Tommy fans have said he has changed when the writers have given him a quite frankly, awful redemption arc. I might've said it somewhere (I don't know where though), but having Hen and Chim just be okay and friendly with someone who hasn't given them a proper apology makes real racist people think that giving an apology with that same effort is okay. And that they should be forgiven for even apologizing at all.

That's just my take on it, people will always disagree with me.

[thedawningofthehour]

2) The Show already has a Mother Gothel in the form of Big Mama. It is made clear several times that she does love Splinter. It's just that her love of power and profit was always stronger.

While I'm here I'll give my thoughts on the recent chapter.

Friendly chat between the kids! Yay, they're getting there!

I'm surprised you didn't mention how Mikey is canonically a ballet master during the conversation.

Fuck You, Draxum.

My God, The look on Gula's face if he saw the corpse on the titan.

I have a theory that the reason they don't find traces of the Krang is because their technology is so good at going undetected. That and why maybe most of it was collected by someone else (Look at the heads / Bishop).

Okay, the conversation between Leo and Mikey highlights, like, so many of my thoughts.

How Leo begins to understand that Draxum does love Donnie, but still has a hard time understanding how he would still be able to hurt him. Leo, who loves deeply and would literally die for anyone in his family, has a hard time understanding something like that.

Uhhrggg! I need the involuntarily trapped together so Bad!!!!

Leo projecting his hatred! I can't help but think that, despite everything, a little part of Leo still hurts bye this, like, imagine one day you find out you have a long Lost father, and all he's do since then is hurt you and kidnap your twin and tell you he wishes you'd never been born. Which hurts even more when you find out that same person is capable of affection, he just decide you're not worth it of it.

If I was rich and I would pay you everything I wish I could to write a one shot about these two. I know you don't know what you'll do after Doth, but would you at least consider writing one-shots? Like little What if?

I'm kind of torn on if Big Mama 'loves' Splinter or not. She definitely feels something, but I legitimately don't know if Big Mama is capable of loving someone else. Gothel was at least willing to go out of her way to make Rapunzel happy, even if there was no benefit to her-the only thing Big Mama ever does for Splinter without anything in it for her is tell his sons where the Shredder would have taken him, and that was only because his life was on the line. (also, they really tried to cram in a whole redemption arc into Big Mama at the end, and the "there's still good inside you" and "she would do anything for Dad" feels very disingenuous considering she was making literal snuff films out of the children of her supposed true love five minutes ago)

But anyway, yeah, you're absolutely correct. Whether she loves him or not, she loves money more. Which is ironic considering Big Mama is already filthy rich, but her obsession with wealth and drive to pursue higher and higher profits is so intrinsically part of her that she truly doesn't know how to separate herself from it. She doesn't know how to look at people and not see dollar signs, to not do mental calculations on how to exploit them and how much cash they could net her. And she can't bring herself to lift a finger without feeling like she's getting something in return. Basically she's Jean Paul Getty.

Big Mama isn't going to have a redemption arc in this or anything. For one, she doesn't want to, she likes what she has too much to truly jeopardize it and she wouldn't know how to be someone else. But at the same time she is realizing that the way she is has ruined parts of her life that made her truly happy. What she did to Lou destroyed him mentally and physically, and even if she manipulated him back they will never have what they had before she kidnapped him. She does legitimately like the boys, now that she's gotten to know them more as Lou's sons, (and not just the shithead teenagers who keep fucking up her shit) and she knows if she hadn't been so awful to Lou he might have returned to her after their creation. Not even going so far to say she shouldn't have kidnapped him, but if she had just been more willing to compromise, more patient with him, if she had let him retire when he stopped fighting for good-well, they might have been her sons too. And she thinks she would have enjoyed that.

But that's not what happened, and it's silly to base her behavior off of theoreticals. But still. It's softened her just the tiniest bit.

The main reason no one's found 'evidence' of this alien race is that they're just...there. Like, Galois is picturing ancient structures and skeletons and shit, because he assumes that alien colonizers would be somewhat like them. That they would build their structures out of hard, long-lasting material and any colonizing force would obviously bring enough individuals to maintain their population, even if they didn't reproduce like humans do. It is completely outside the realm of expectations to think it was a group of four aliens, that three of them have been fucking living there this entire time and are a cornerstone of the very society he lives in. It's literally like in Steven Universe everyone is just tripping over Gem shit all the time, and nobody really thinks this is weird because in their universe, it's well-known that there used to be aliens on earth.

(oh, by the way for the new people here, my theory is that the Council of Heads are Krang and came here with the dead Krang we see in the Crying Titan; the Movie Krang are a different group of Krang)

Also, consider what the Krang really like...are. Like. They don't build structures or anything. It's debatable whether they eat or sleep, or even age. They aren't building homes for themselves or infrastructure to take care of their needs, everything they do seems to be geared towards conquering and spreading what they are to every lifeform they see. Like fungi. And there would be very little evidence of this if the conquerors in question saw Earth and decided they'd rather take care of the life they found and helped create than conquer it.

Not to mention what Krang constructs are made out of. The best way to describe it is literally 'fungus but with meat,' and it's stated that the technodrome is almost entirely, if not completely organic. Organic matter preserves terribly. Like, all the fossils we have today, they're estimated to be about 0.01% of all species that have ever lived. Not specimens, species. Fossilization requires very specific conditions, so we only have fossils of the guys who lived in certain environments and whose bodies completely by chance fell into the perfect conditions for preservation. There are millions of dinosaurs that existed that we have absolutely no record of because they left no evidence. Krang matter is entirely soft tissue-it would have decomposed and left absolutely no evidence, certainly not after thousands of years. All except for their bones, and the only Krang skeleton on Earth is hidden away.

I have plenty of ideas for oneshots, but fuck if I know I'll ever write any of them. Considering how writing is my job as well as my hobby, I'm always wary of overextending myself to the point of hating it. Plus I know myself and I know they won't stay oneshots for long.

Everyone is perfectly welcome to write or draw or do whatever they want with this AU and any AU of the AU ideas they have. It's a free country, do what you want. If you make it weird and horny I might not link it to the blog, but-I'm not sure why anyone would make horny content of this, but I've also been on the internet for a long time.

[hainethehero]

same anon as before: yes, I did read your whole post. a few times.

"I am aware he apologized." - ok I'm so glad you are! But you didn't make any mention whatsoever of that in your post. You could have said it as a quick parenthetical statement e.g. "In the past Ryan defended the use of racial slurs (although he later publicly apologised)".

your post leaves your readers with the impression that Ryan just made a bunch of racist statements, suffered zero repercussion, never apologised, and then, people can and will extrapolate from that - he probably continues to be racist to this day!

"I'm saying POCs have a right to still be upset about it because it shouldn't have been a thing in the first place???" - Great! my ask never said they don't!

"Where in my post did I say Ryan was irredeemable?" - where did I say in my ask that you said he's irredeemable??

You were very fair in pointing out that fandom has said other awful things about Ryan that are definitely not true.

But to completely leave out mention of his apology seemed deceptive and biased, as it's a crucially important fact that he actually listened to people around him, realised the weight of his actions, and publicly apologised. That makes all the difference in the situation.

That's why he still has fans on tumblr. They're not "excusing his racism", they're accepting his apology and trusting that he's learned, grown and changed.

Whereas, if we're going to discuss ljfr and tommy, I would argue ljfr has given some interview answers that sound uncomfortably like he's "excusing" tommy's racism, when he downplayed it as teasing/hazing (I forget the exact wording). Neutral question - did you happen to read his interview answers about tommy's attitude towards Hen? It's rather damning.

Also, the canon evidence you give of tommy having been redeemed is imo flimsy at best, and s7 could have done a lot more with tommy's limited screentime and dialogue to really show he's a different person to what he was in the past. I don't know what will happen in s8, I'm curious to see if tommy's characterisation changes or develops at all.

I just find it truly bizarre to act like it's logical and rational to defend and give the benefit of the doubt to a fictional character, which cannot be harmed or affected by hate, which does not exist outside a fictional story, or act other than according to what the script says, rather than do the same for a real life human being, who most assuredly CAN be harmed and affected by hate, who DOES exist and do things in the real world, who has an interior life unaffected by words in a script.

The point about Ryan has already been addressed. If fans have realized that he's apologized and have it in good faith that he's changed, then that's good. If fans are still hurt by his use of & defense of using slurs, they're allowed to be. That's not for you to decide.

Lou's interviews about Tommy's early times in the show were vague at best. The canon is CLEARLY insufficient but it's obvious why. Tommy's character wasn't really a mainstay. There were no deeper aspects to his character because he wasn't meant to stick around after s2. That's why there wasn't a whole ass redemption arc for him but rather a small montage. The point was to obviously show that both him and Hen and Chim reconciled their past and became good friends. If you & stans who think like you don't get that, then y'all are CHOOSING not to get it because it would be easier to have a reason to hate Tommy, rather than just hating him because he's with Buck. Honestly, it would be better if yall just admitted you hate him cos he's with Buck. No one would have a problem with that. But conflating issues and making them seem bigger than the show intended them to be to justify your hatred of Tommy just seems disingenuous.

If Tommy wasn't with Buck, y'all would NOT give a damn about this man's character I swear.

My whole original post was about toxic buddie stans virtue signaling and conflating the issue of racism as an excuse to justify their hatred of Tommy. And how those SAME stans are sending Lou death threats & hate to him- an actor who's just doing his job.

[dandylovesturtles]

Hi, I love your Sidelined AU! My question(s) is about the emotional fallout of Draxum’s cruelty towards Leo in the original oneshot – do Leo’s brothers realize the impact of what Draxum said to Leo - since it hurt that they didn’t refute his words at the time? And what is Draxum really sorry for, if he expected Leo to die (‘I can make you a replacement son’)? (to be clear I like remorse and redemption arcs and am totally on board, just trying to get my head around it)

thank you!

this is a fair question! when I wrote that initial one shot it was not envisioned as part of a series, so if I had actually written it with that in mind there likely would be some differences, like I would have made an effort to include April and probably would have scaled back some of Draxum's more blatantly villainous dialogue. but I didn't know, and so I didn't write it that way, and now we have what we have because retcons are for cowards /jjjjj

in regards to his brothers not refuting Draxum: Leo would try to avoid letting them know how bad that hurt him initially because he doesn't want them to know that bothered him, but he's really low and ends up fighting with Donnie especially and I could see it coming out in a weak moment of bitterness that they didn't defend them, which would definitely make his bros upset, because yeah, they didn't. to be clear it's not because they actually agreed with Draxum, it's because they're young teenagers who were in a stressful situation and they were all in shock over what was happening. I think we can all forgive a 13/14/15-year-old for not having the correct emotional response ready to go, haha. and in time Leo will realize this too - they could probably all benefit from family therapy tbh but it is what it is. anyway, they do realize the impact of it on his mental health eventually and it's a work in progress to help him out of that rut.

Draxum... really wasn't thinking of the boys as, like... people, at that time? I'm not convinced if Draxum really knew what level of sentience the boys were going to have and was probably still thinking of them as animals at first. and then when he met them and realized they do have human level intelligence... well, humans dehumanize other humans all the time, and remember that Draxum was planning to attempt a genocide, so overlooking the personhood of others was a thing he was already prepared to do.

he said what he said mostly to antagonize Splinter. in his mind, Leo wasn't much more than an animal, so he wasn't really Lou Jitsu's son. like sure, he used Lou Jitsu's DNA to mutate him but that's not really the same, is it? the idea that Lou Jitsu had been off playing house with his experiments was ludicrous to him, because those aren't children, they're experimental soldier prototypes. it made as much sense to him as a trainer calling an attack dog their son.

it's not really until he's seeing their pure grief over what's happening to Leo, when he's interacting with them in a cooperative capacity, that he starts to accept that they are actually a family, and that what he's done has destroyed them. as with many situations, unfortunately, it takes seeing the hurt he's caused and empathizing with them to finally see them as people, and to regret the actions he's taken. of course, it's too little too late at that time, but he has time to make it up to them eventually... he just really has to work for it.

thanks for the ask!

[recordplayerin2014]

I am so pissed at Nickelodeon for its unfair treatment of the show. Season 2 was rushed and season 3 isn’t accessible to most fans but it’s obvious s3 was rushed too. I know most fans want s3 and I want that for them but I’m over here screaming about the seasons that were never made.

Nickelodeon stated that the show could have gone on to have 5-7 seasons if it hadn’t been cancelled.

There’s so many big and small plot lines that were hinted in the show but never got fully executed. For example, y’know big mama’s body guard? Yeah, that’s the turtle’s sister. Earlier on in the show, during the song that Draxum and the villains sang, a short scene is shown of back when the turtles were mutated. You see Lou jitsu, four mutation pods (the brothers) and two more above them (their sisters).

Turns out the turtles were supposed to have 2 sisters and through season 3, one of them (Big Mama’s Bodyguard) was supposed to get a redemption arc.

Ron Corcillo, someone who worked on the show, confirmed in a Q&A that the second sister had been trapped in another dimension for years.

He also confirmed that the family was supposed to split up to save their sisters but that’s just how far the plot was written.

If season 2 hadn’t been rushed then we would’ve gotten to see more of Karai. She would’ve helped the turtles train more with their Ninpo. Instead the show was rushed, some writers didn’t like the idea of her only being there for such a short period of time so they worked her into being a ghost during the finale fight scene.

I wish we get more seasons in general, not just season 3. I want to actually save and meet the sisters, I want to see the sisters and brothers being siblings, I want more appearances of Karai, I want to see some of the scrapped episodes be reworked into new seasons.

I want the show to be saved and go back on air. Nickelodeon, you’ve got a fan base, listen to it.