#also interesting to note is that Mikey doesn’t seem to have his own identity? i used to scoff at ppl who made theories about him not knowing

[bloominstorm]

Wakui really tryna make me stop slandering Mikey out here.

[curlsofsagesmoke]

TMNT (2012) characters as dysfunctional family roles

here I go again analyzing a kids show that ended four years ago. anyway, I saw a tiktok by user doinbigthink where they gave a quick overview of the six kinds of dysfunctional family roles, and I immediately thought of tmnt bc it’s my current hyperfixation. so I spent almost an hour doing research and writing up this analysis, as one does.

as a preface: dysfunction in a family can be caused by anything from someone struggling with addiction to a parent being abusive or unavailable/neglectful to someone having narcissistic personality disorder (npd) etc. etc. Usually there is one person who is the root cause of this (very deep seated) dysfunction and the others in the family (often the kids) fall into these roles in order to cope.

Leo: The Hero

The Hero is often the oldest child. They cope with the dysfunction in the family by being high achievers or perfectionists, and they need a sense of control in order to feel safe within the family. They are seen as very well-adjusted, balanced, and high-functional and are often used as an example of how well the family as a whole is doing. They may allow this misconception to continue (whether consciously or unconsciously) in order to hide the family’s problems. They may be parentified as children (that is, forced to take on a parental role for their younger siblings) and usually feel a lot of pressure to solve the family’s issues. With Leo in particular, you see these two behaviors in the way he approaches leading his brothers as well as the way he obsessed over bringing Karai into the family for Splinter’s sake after discovering her true identity. As an adult, the Hero is often drawn toward romantic partners who are emotionally unavailable (again, see Leo’s crush on Karai) and tend to throw themselves into their work (Leo’s obsession with ninjutsu)

Leo: The Golden Child

The Golden Child is not a dysfunctional family role but instead describes a relationship that develops between a parent/guardian with npd and one of the children in the family. In these cases, the parent tends to favor the Golden Child because the Golden Child exhibits all the traits the parent loves in themselves. In Splinter and Leo’s case, these characteristics are their devotion to ninjutsu, their general temperaments, and their more spiritual/mystic natures. There are MANY examples of this favoritism in TMNT canon; for example, Splinter teaching Leo his reiki technique (the healing hands) in “the deadly venom” because everyone things Leo is the most capable of learning such an advanced technique (in the episode, Donnie says that he doesn’t think anyone else on the team could’ve done what Leo did, i.e. using the healing hands on himself and saving the others from karai). The parent has a volatile relationship with the Golden Child and often their love is conditional (that is, the parent will favor the Golden Child as long as the Golden Child continues to act like the parent). Because of this, the Golden Child often has trouble establishing an independent identity (see: Raph calling Leo “Splinter Jr.”, though I can’t remember if this happens in 2012 or just in the 2003 version). The Golden Child may also participate in the narcissistic parent’s abuse against the other children in order to protect themself (this is less explicit in canon, but I think that Leo’s leadership style fits this bill)

Raph: The Scapegoat

The Scapegoat is often the second child. As the name suggests, they are often blamed for things that go wrong in the family regardless of whether it was actually their fault or not. Scapegoats are often very aware of their position in the family and as a result they may feel rejected, isolated, and unlovable. I think a good example of Raph feeling like this is the fact that, early in the show, he only openly expresses his emotions to Spike. Scapegoats learn that negative attention is better than no attention (especially from a parent/guardian) and they often engage in high risk behaviors such as sex, drugs, etc. (in Raph’s case, his reckless fighting style and the way he seeks out fights, and this also explains his temper and overall angry demeanor). Because of this, they tend to get into a lot of trouble and are often singled out as the child who needs individual help (aka therapy) even though the root problems lie with the family as a unit. In cases where the parent has npd the Scapegoat is often pitted against the Golden Child. This is called splitting and it is another way to distract from the family’s deeper issues. I feel like I don’t need to explain the way that Leo and Raph are pitted against each other.

Donnie: The Lost Child

The Lost Child, as the name implies, often fades into the background. Usually this is on purpose in an effort to keep themself safe, as they might be scared to draw attention to themself or rock the boat, especially in an abusive household. They may often feel ignored or neglected and are often described as loners who have difficulty developing social skills or self-esteem. Like the Hero, the Lost Child is often used as an example of the family’s stability and success because they aren’t causing trouble. They tend to struggle when forming friendships/romantic relationships, and they are usually praised for not needing a lot of attention/being independent. Because of this, they feel safer when they’re by themselves. Although Donnie does cause trouble sometimes (see: all the times he’s blown some shit up in the lab, the Mutagen man thing, etc.), he’s not seen as the troublemaker. Raph (and Mikey, to a certain extent) definitely takes that title. Donnie is often alone in his lab---working, admittedly, but he still tends to isolate himself, and he is often seen as the most socially awkward of the brothers (see: his relationship with April). There’s also this very interesting exchange from the episode “Enemy of My Enemy” when they’re in the Shellraiser and Leo is about to take the stealth bike to help Karai:

Raph: Hey, the stealth bike’s my thing. Leo: Now your thing is sucking it up. Donnie: Hey! That’s my thing!

Mikey: The Mascot

The Mascot is often the youngest child. They use humor and goofiness to diffuse tension and distract the family from their issues, though when this works, they feel increased pressure to continue to step in when things become tense or volatile. The Mascot acts from a place of anxiety and trauma, and they may have bouts of depression. They also tend to feel as though they cannot express their negative emotions (because they often see themselves as responsible for their family’s happiness). They tend to bend over backwards for people with little regard for their own safety/comfort, and they are drawn to intense and dysfunctional relationships (whether romantic or platonic) where they will be called upon to diffuse tension. This can be seen in the way Mikey approached his friendships with both Bradford (pre-mutation) and Leatherhead. Mikey is also very rarely shown as being sad, angry, or depressed the way that the other three are, and it’s only in times of extreme emotional distress (like the season two finale) where he drops his humor. Even in the midst of tough battles or tough situations, Mikey tends to insert himself into the middle of the tension and is almost constantly cracking jokes or trying to keep things lighthearted. When he does show more negative emotions, it’s in (mostly) one of two ways. One, giving comfort or seeking comfort, usually from Raph (again see the season two finale, where he hugs Raph to calm him down after Splinter “dies” and seeks comfort from Raph in the Party Wagon as they’re driving away from the city). Two, acting combative with Donnie.

Note: Mikey and Donnie acting combative

This second one in particular is really interesting to me because both Donnie and Mikey exhibit a level of comfort/feeling safe with each other that they don’t display with the other two. Mikey only ever gets physical with Donnie (their little slap fight in “Turtle Temper” or attacking him at the end of “The Creeping Doom”), while Donnie only ever purposefully antagonizes Mikey to get a reaction (slapping him in “Turtle Temper”, which prompts the slap fight, or teasingly insulting him at the end of “The Creeping Doom”, which prompts Mikey to attack him). Mikey likes to get under Raph’s skin, but he never retaliates when Raph gets physical with him. Donnie does occasionally argue with Raph and Leo, but usually backs down after Raph threatens him with violence (see “New Girl in Town”), and with Leo it never escalates past a verbal fight (see the season two finale, “the fourfold trap”). Actually, it seems that in Mikey’s and Donnie’s relationship, they take on the roles that you usually see in Raph’s and Mikey’s relationship. Mikey antagonizes Raph and Raph retaliates; similarly, Donnie antagonizes Mikey and Mikey retaliates, but neither of them would act this way toward their other two brothers.

Splinter: The Root of the Dysfunction

I’ve made a lot of allusions by now to Splinter having npd, or at least some narcissistic tendencies. There are many times where he shows favoritism toward Leo or acts in a very stubborn or even self-absorbed manner. In the season one finale, for example, he refuses to help the turtles fight and only leaves the lair after april is kidnapped by the shredder. In “the pulverizer returns”, he makes the turtles switch weapons (for literally no good reason), they almost die in a fight and switch back, and as punishment, he takes their weapons away entirely; this isn’t addressed in the episode, but i do believe that if they’d had their weapons, they could’ve prevented timothy from being mutated in this episode. (Admittedly there are times when he apologizes, admits he’s wrong, and changes his mind, which is why I hesitate to say he exhibits fully narcissistic behaviors). There’s also the physical aspect of their relationship. He’s teaching the turtles ninjutsu, so you can expect a very physical relationship in the form of training, but there are times when he causes the turtles pain for the sake of pain as punishment (e.g. randori, which we see a few times, or when he goes for their pressure points, or when he trips mikey in the episode “monkey brains”, or when he stabs raph with his cane in the episode “turtle temper”, and these are just the examples i can think of off the top of my head). There has been discourse in the fandom about whether these characters (splinter and raph in particular) are abusive, and i don’t want to get into that. However, i think it’s undeniable that splinter raised his kids with the intent to turn them into child soldiers, and also i fully believe that this (plus his parenting style) is the root of the dysfunction in the hamato family.

[danzinora-switch]

Typing the Turtles (ROTTMNT) Part 2 - Donatello

This started out as an investigation into the turtles’ insecurities, because one thing the show does so well is demonstrate that they are still teenagers. And being a teenager is a confusing experience - there’s angst, drama, exploring one’s identity, a lot of growth, and overall figuring out who you are. That’s a messy process, too! And we see this mess in our turtles: they mess up, they’re learning, they self-doubt, they have fears and insecurities, but they’re also discovering their strengths and how to overcome their inner obstacles.

So after thinking about all this way too long, here’s my psychological breakdown of each turtle (I’ll be referencing MBTI and the Enneagram, but will include links for more general information on those if you don’t know what I’m talking about).

Donnie: INTJ, 5w6

The Architect, the Investigator, the Problem-Solver, the Observer

Firstly, getting into this analysis means that we have to step away from the stereotype that all INTJs are cold, aloof, and unemotional. INTJs, especially Turbulent ones, do express emotion, and we’ve all seen Donnie’s dramatic ‘theatre kid’ side. I’m not going to ignore that. He manages to be both thanks to the INTJ’s tertiary function Introverted Feeling (Fi). Extroverted Feeling (Fe) really allows one to connect and empathize with others’ emotions. Fi, however, is a more internal experience of feelings, and has trouble connecting with others without having been in their shoes. I happen to think Donnie is in a strong Ni-Fi loop, as well, which would make sense because fighting bad guys every day while trying to save the world after discovering a Mystic City which upbends everything you ever knew is pretty stressful. https://www.psychologyjunkie.com/2017/06/21/intjs-loop-understanding-ni-fi-loop/

And it’s super interesting that he often expresses his emotions by literally saying them. “Evil laugh! Relishing chuckle! Gasp!” (Mind Meld) and, one of my favorites, he literally says “Sad face emoji” in Many Unhappy Returns.

So while we DO see Donnie experience and display his own emotions, we also DON’T see him all that affected by other people’s emotions. He’s still pretty stoic in Mystic Mayhem after the delivery guy gets mutated, cracking a joke about imitation crab. He’s unaffected by Todd’s puppies in Repo Mantis, and the only one immune to Warren Stone’s sob story in Warren & Hypno Sitting in a Tree. Pizza Pit shows it best when he’s unaffected when Mikey’s favorite pizza place collapses until the same thing happens to him. Fi at work vs Fe.

As for Donnie being a 5w6, keep this core motivation in mind: “[Fives] Want to possess knowledge, to understand the environment, to have everything figured out as a way of defending the self from threats from the environment.” https://www.enneagraminstitute.com/type-5

Donnie at his Worst: Donnie vs. Witch Town gave us this gem of a line: “Because I’m the science guy! If mystic powers can do everything I can do, but better, then why would you guys even need me?” And while people have pointed out his need to be needed, I argue it’s a little more accurate to say he has a need to belong. His role in the group is the Brainiac, the Science Guy, the Smart One, and so his very identity is tied into fulfilling that role. A 5’s core fear is of being useless, helpless, or incapable. Mystic powers rendering his tech redundant, and thereby him useless, would be a pretty big threat to the security of his role in the group (that 6 wing kicking in). And remember a 5’s core motivation: to understand the environment as a defense. And he still doesn’t understand mystic energy. It’s pretty infuriating, so he’s pretty insufferable about it.

[Note: seeing mystic power as a threat probably didn’t kick in until their fight with Shredder in Many Unhappy Returns. Prior to that, his brothers were still learning how to use their magic weapons, but Donnie already understood his tech well enough to use it effectively (see their first fight against Baron Draxum in the pilot). But against the Shredder… all his tech was useless. Only the hanky, the hanky, was even marginally effective. His brothers’ weapons were now way more capable than anything he had to offer… core 5 fear. And to cope? Learn all you can about your fear/threat. Except he still hasn’t figured it out; we see even in Air Turtle that he calls Draxum for the mystic expertise instead of formulating his own hypothesis].

We’ve seen this insecurity about his place in the group before. In Mind Meld, as his brothers become more like him, his role is challenged. “Hey, you’re trying to get rid of me, that’s what I do to you!” “But, I thought purple was my... my thing.” When he first meets the Purple Dragon he immediately wants to join them because he sees them as tech peers. In Man vs Sewer even though he professes that it’s his day off, he doesn’t react well whenever Leo does ‘his thing’: analyzing the situation and drawing a conclusion. His self-worth seems to be tied to what he has to offer the group, and we hear that even in his song in The Mystic Library about proving himself.

Besides his insecurity, Donnie is practically allergic to blame. (Interestingly enough, he’s more okay with being wrong and others being right sometimes… sure he’ll deflect, but it doesn’t seem to get under his skin the way being at fault does). He will repeatedly deny fault and shift the blame to someone else when something goes wrong. He denies creating AlBearto in Al Be Back, says the incident with the Purple Dragons in The Purple Jacket is entirely April’s fault (she is not amused) and puts the blame for ditching Todd off on his brothers in Todd Scouts. The one time we see him own up his mistakes is in Mind Meld when no one (except Shelldon) is around to see it. “Yup. I beefed up.” This is definitely an area he needs to work on.

Average Donnie: Donnie cares for his brothers, but that doesn’t always get across in the best of ways. Take the episode Donnie’s Gifts, for example. Donnie never actually got a chance to explain how the gifts work, but we can see protective elements in each of them. Raph: please use your head and don’t just blindly rush in! Mikey: ohmygosh that is so dangerous, please be careful and don’t get hurt! Leo: stop poking the bear, Leo, it only makes him angrier! It makes sense that a 5 who has external fears of the world and has their own protective equipment (the Battle Shells) would extend that to his brothers. And Donnie was able to recognize that even though his brothers got the wrong message, he could move past that and call for a group hug. In the Purple Game he is super anxious to make sure his brothers are okay and not mostly hurt. Insane in the Mama Train also reveals the invention of the Panic Button… and who designed that?

Donnie also seeks a lot of validation. He takes pride in his work, and when his work is appreciated he gives that appreciation back tenfold [such as when he shows off the Turtle Tank to his brothers (Fast and Furriest), or when Splinter says he’s proud of him (Turtle-dega Nights: the Ballad of Rat Man)]. The flip side is that when he’s not getting the validation he needs from others he’ll create it himself, which comes off as arrogant and egocentric. See Smart Lair, when Sheldon 1.0 plays messages of Donnie’s self-worth all night, and is programmed to favor him. Or when he takes full credit for defeating a bad guy: the silverfish in Donnie’s Gifts, and scaring Draxum away with his disco ball in Shadow of Evil. When he gets the recognition for all his hard work from the right people, though, it inspires him to do great things. There is danger in getting validation from the wrong people, however, as we saw in Big Mama’s case in Bug Busters.

Donnie at his Best: Donnie’s at his best (and most relaxed) whenever he’s learning or building something. He gets super excited and happy attending April’s school (The Purple Jacket) or going to the library (The Mystic Library) and wants to attend college someday (The Mutant Menace). The INTJ/5 seeks to absorb information and he’s constantly energized by it.

He’s also energized when he can put that information to use, such as when building something. Did Albearto need a total tear-down in War and Pizza? No. But Donnie had fun making him ‘dazzle!’ How did Donnie cope being in the woods in Todd Scouts? By building an impressive tree fort. Donnie’s projects actually relax him, because he’s exercising his strength and capabilities.

This also works for his method of attacks and plans: Know Thine Enemy. He studies Warren Stone in Newsworthy when they meet him and is the only one who remembers he regenerates by Warren & Hypno Sitting in a Tree. Donnie and Mikey are able to successfully scam Repo Mantis in One Man’s Junk because they know how he thinks. Donnie thwarts everything the Purple Dragons do and can bring Shelldon home because he knows how they operate  (The Purple Game, Breaking Purple). He can restore his brothers to their rightful minds in Mind Meld because he knows himself. 

Also: music. The fact that one of his Battle Shells has a music mode (Mascot Melee), that he remembers things in song form (The Mystic Library, Donnie vs Witch Town), and that he likes to dance (Stuck on You) is so pure and adorable.

Donnie Relationships: 

(while Donnie does see his brothers as dum-dums at times, he admits they’re fun and pretty great to have in Mind Meld)

Raph: We really need a Donnie and Raph episode, but even without one there’s some moments we can look at. I already discussed in Raph’s analysis their general similarities. Donnie doesn’t think Raph always has the brightest ideas, but still has soft moments with him such as giving him $20 at the end of Mind Meld, designing the ‘captain’s chair’ of the Turtle Tank to Raph’s lumbar settings, and appreciating Raph’s pirate accent in Snow Day. They are both protective of their brothers, Raph with his fists and Donnie with his tech. It’s interesting that (I believe) they’re the reverse of each other on the Enneagram: Raph is a 6w5, and Donnie a 5w6. So they both understand the risks involved in what they do (mostly: Donnie still ate poison and Raph still goes on ‘smashcapades’). I really want to see a team-up between them.

Leo: I’m all for the Disaster Twins trope, but to me an episode that epitomizes that isn’t one like Lair Games, where they’re at each other’s throats, but Operation Normal. They’ve apparently done the grandma-getup before. They wind up playing as good cop, bad cop in Fast and Furriest. Sure, one’s high-strung, and one’s laid-back, which can get on each others’ nerves, but there’s also a lot of making up. Brotherly betrayal passes back and forth between them, but never crosses a line. And the numerous times they unconsciously mirror each other can be found with a simple search of the Disaster Twins tag. I’m interested to see more episodes where they work together, even in the background, just because they can get up to wild shenanigans.

Mikey: Mikey’s probably the turtle Donnie most gets along with. They’ve had several episode team-ups: Repo Mantis, One Man’s Junk, Turtle-dega Nights: the Ballad of Rat Man, Breaking Purple, etc. Donnie may be the team academic, but Mikey has strong emotional intelligence. They get along pretty easily, making plans together (One Man’s Junk) and protecting each other (we see Donnie protect Mikey in Repo Mantis and Bug Busters, but we see Mikey protect Donnie by pulling him out of the way in Smart Lair). Donnie helps Mikey focus on the goal at hand, and Mikey helps Donnie communicate better with others. They’re a good team with a pretty solid foundation.

Ultimately, Donnie’s an inventive turtle who wants his brothers to be safe but is still wrestling with a lot of insecurities and unhealthy stress levels. I’m excited to see how he grows into real confidence and utilizes his strengths as an integral member of the team.

For more information on the INTJ and Enneagram 5 personality types, click here:

https://www.16personalities.com/intj-personality

https://www.crystalknows.com/enneagram/type-5-wing-6

https://thoughtcatalog.com/heidi-priebe/2016/01/mbti-and-the-enneagram-2/6/

[nightmarenoise]

Some thoughts on TMNT 2012

I finished watching the entirety of the TMNT 2012 series a while ago and boy, do I have some thoughts™. First of all though, the following is going to be my opinions and you’re free to disagree with them. If you feel like attacking me for expressing these opinions though, I’m just going to have to ask you to take a minute and consider that you are about to be a bitch online over an eight year old children’s animated show, and that maybe you should find something else to base your entire identity around. Secondly, I don’t hate the show, not by any means. It was fine. It was fine. It was fine, you guys. I wouldn’t have watched it otherwise. I watched usually about half a season per day because I have too much time on my hands but if I do more than 13 episodes, my puny brain will implode. That being said, I understand that the binge watching might have affected my judgement, because having to wait for a new episode to air each week hits different, I know. Still, I came home after work each day, cozied up in bed and watched 13 episodes of turtle shenanigans before going to sleep and my sleep schedule has never been better. But I digress. Also, I will compare 2012 to Rise, because that’s the only other TMNT show I’ve seen and because this is my post and I want to and it’s only initially.

I feel like the main difference between Rise and 2012 is that Rise is a character-driven show, while 2012 is ultimately plot-driven.

Why do things in Rise happen? Because a character wants something (the boys want to buy their dad a nw robe, April wants to spend a normal day with her new friend, etc, those are just from the top of my head). The motivations are ultimately mundane, and then the story goes from there.

Why do things in 2012 happen? Because the plot said so. Sure, the characters grow and change, but they’re ultimately vehicles for the plot. We don’t really take a minute to let the characters breathe. Usually, things happen because the Turtles saw something on patrol and they’re on patrol because they know the plot is waiting out there to get them.

The show starts with April’s dad being kidnapped by the Krang (/Kraang? It’s unclear) and April herself being spared this presumably gruesome fate because Donnie saved her at the last second. She then goes on to live with an aunt we never see.

We also don’t see much of how this affects April at first. Sure, she is shown to be sad and wanting to get her father back, but the episode ends on the Turtles leaving her at her aunt’s place and then we’re done for the day. Hell, the next time we see April, she just casually drops by their place to show Mikey how to make online friends.

Maybe that’s just me being overly criticial, but I could have done with more time between those moments, showing her coming to terms with things, her normal day-to-day live, or heck, even just going to the lair for the first time.

But we don’t get that because plot has to happen.

April isn’t the only character who suffers from that, but I feel like it affects her the most.

The writers seem to have learned their lesson, because when April loses her dad for the second time, to mutation this time around, she blames the Turtles (which isn’t wrong) and then doesn’t talk to them for a month while presumably going back to her aunt, who I suppose never asks any questions. She only goes back to talking to them when Casey tells her a similar story and she realizes something something, hurting someone without meaning to. Which is fine, but it’s also not really, because it implies April being rightfully upset isn’t valid, because the Turtles didn’t mean to mutate her dad and it was an accident, but it feels like it tone polices someone for experiencing a loss and not letting her take some time for herself to come to terms with that.

But y'know we need her, in part because she’s The Special, but most importantly, so one of the most tedious love subplots can happen.

I know they explained April’s specialness as her being a human/Krang mutant and the Krang needing her unique brain to mutate the entire planet because …reasons. Except for when they later attack New Yok and then don’t need her for that anymore. On that note, I do not understand Krang’s plan at all. Time passes faster in their dimension and they’re kind of at war with the Triceratons and have trouble with the Utrom, so they want to leave (even though the Triceratons are clearly also in our universe, so why not pick a different dimension to take over entirely? There’s established to be ten) and mutate a planet to take over. This is all well and good, except they’ve been at it for about seven million years? Krang takes credit for creating the first humans with mutagen and it’s been mentioned that they steered human evolution to the point where they could create a human/Krang hybrid, such as April. But why did they only have one? They lost track of her when her dad and her fled to New York City, wouldn’t it have been more convenient to have more mutants to do their vague mutant stuff they require by the plot to take over the planet?

Even if we assume that this first mutation means that the first humans didn’t surface between seven and five million years ago, humans haven’t evolved that much in the last couple thousand years. Why wait so long? It must have been billions of years for the Krang.

I know it’s a cartoon and stuff, but they could have easily removed that problem by cutting the line about Krang taking credit for human evolution and for the Krang having been with us for thousands of years. It just creates problems.

Speaking of problematic, the romantic subplots. So, Leo wants to bang his sister, Donnie is creepily obsessed with the first human girl he’s ever met and Mikey is such a good boy, he gets two love interests, because one isn’t enough for all the love and goodness contained in orange boy. I still think it’s weird because all of these love interests are humans, but I gradually got over that. I managed to think about this without physically convulsing for ten whole minutes, for starts.

Okay, so Donnie/April is just bad. The writing and the execution are bad. The characters are fine, I love Donnie, even though he focuses way too much of his time and attention on obsessing over April, but I can let that go on account of him being a teen dealing with his very first ever crush. April though  is frequently made to be a callous bitch who knows of his feelings and leads him on when she wants something, but pushes him away at all other times. I vividly remember the time New York was overrun by Krang and April helped Donnie bandage his injured arm and he was about to confess his feelings to her and she pulled too tight to get him to stop. Instead of being up front about it or just telling him that she either liked him or not or that now just wasn’t the time to focus on romance - all of which super valid in their own right. Rip the bandaid off, girl. None of them look especially good coming out of this.

It gets worse considering that after seasons of back and forth and even introducing Casey to give us a love triangle, everyone’s favorite thing in media and April redeeming herself by also being That Way to Casey and by redeeming I mean informing us that she just isn’t really fit for a relationship because she is very toxic in handling them, the whole thing is just kind of dropped forever. There’s no payoff. We spent so much time watching Donnie agonize over this, get worse, then get over his stalker-ish tendencies and get rewarded with a kiss and then nothing ever happens. They don’t even have a conversation about their feelings. The show tries to make it seem like there’s a special connection between April and Donnie because she kills him and then feels bad and brings him back, but, no. That’s not how any of that works. Ultimately this whole thing feels like a huge and infuriating waste of time. Fourth place. And that’s a kindness.

Leo and Karai get third place, mainly because of the incest. Neither of them is as toxic over this subplot and it also has the common decency of not taking up that much time, but it’s still weird. I don’t have much to say here. I guess it was dropped in the end, but maybe also not, but at least there weren’t 30 episodes about Leo agonizing over Karai while she was being weird and also she had her own thing going on and felt like a more fleshed out character than April despite getting less screen time. Third place.

Mikey gets silver because while he’s flirting with two human girls, they both seem to be exclusively into it and also he’s much more mature about dealing with it than his supposedly intelligent brother. Get this. Mikey, being mature at something. None of these ships are confirmed, but it’s a nice change of pace.

Raph takes gold because he fell in love with a girl after she beat the crap out of him and nothing is more valid than that.

Okay, the plot feels kind of rushed, in that they’re confessing undying love after kissing twice, but one, they’re teens and two, this is just the best we’re going to get out of this show.

Casey, well.

Casey exists. He doesn’t add all that much to the story. He has a delightful dynamic with Raph, coming in just after Slash confronted him with his worst traits and then reinforcing the “be a vigilante and do good”-angle and that’s nice. Outside of that though, he tries to hit on April, he hits things with his hockey sticks and I guess he has a family he cares about that we never see. Oops.

I’m very ambivalent about Splinter. I do get him and he’s a good sensei, but kind of a lousy father? Sure, his entire life went up in flames quite spectacularly, but as soon as he realizes his daughter is alive, he often seems to prioritize getting her back over the lives of the four sons he actually raised and spent the last fifteen years with? Also, he’s a dick to Mikey? He gets better later and then he dies. Hm.

Mikey wasn’t as annoying as I feared, going in. He was still stupid, but he had his moments. I also didn’t find him as funny as some of the writers probably hoped, but he was fine. He’s a good boy who deserved better every step of the way, but his brothers and Splinter are kind of not nice to him despite him being just as capable as his brothers. Neither is the show, often making him the butt of a joke or downplaying his achievements (producing super-retro mutagen, saving all his brothers from parasite wasps and the one time he saved the city from cannibal pizza it was treated like a “it was all a dream or was it” and nobody believed him). He doesn’t get a lot of development, but he’s the goodest boy.

Raph again surprised me. He arguably underwent the most development, dealing with his many demons and getting a grip on his temper. This was especially apparent in the Northampton arc when he did chores without complaint and helped Leo train.

Leo on the other hand, started as the leader of the team and ended the story as the de-facto leader of the family and also he was stronger now. I don’t know. Being a leader was his defining trait from start to finish and while he agonized over that, he wasn’t allowed much development outside of that. His first meeting with Karai introduced this subplot about him wanting to be irresponsible and do his own thing, but that was quickly dropped and never brought up again. I liked him best when he was being a dork over his favorite TV show or that time he went to space and on his first outing tried to hit on an alien lady. I would have liked to see more of that Leo, because that Leo was actually interesting.

Donnie, I don’t know. Most of his time was poured into the world’s worst romantic subplot and outside of that he had some traits, but he was mostly there so he could analyze things, develop antivenoms at the drop of a hat, finally create a retromutagen and build 152 vehicles. I like Donnie, but there isn’t much to talk about that isn’t directly tied to April. Except maybe how he promised to turn Timothy back into a human and then never did, even though we keep seeing his frozen remains in the back of the lab. For shame, Donnie. For shame.

To the show’s credit, a lot of the mutants looked horrifying and creepy. They had a tight grip on that horror vibe and it was great. They maintained a balance of comedy and horror and while it wasn’t great, it was a nice reprieve.

I hated Shredder and I know I was supposed to, but I will never get over what a petty bitch he was.

The thing that hit me the hardest was probably the destruction of Earth at the end of season 3. I was legitimately upset about that, so that’s probably a good thing. But when five minutes into the next episode Scrooge McDoctor Who did some timey whimey bullshit to reverse it, I was not any less upset. Make of that what you will. (No, I’ll explain, I felt cheated and it was cheap and annoying. Just when you think the show has some balls, it pulls a “sike” and then flips back to the status quo, usually). The space arc was simultaneously interesting and also not, with a lot of predictable plot threads, but at least we got more locations  than the same two nocturnal New York streets all the time.

The ending though was super weird. The other turtles then went into space and probably died or some shit, because they never show up again and also the Fugitoid’s head is alive in orbit, but whatever, no time for that because we have to go back, for the 50th time, to the Foot!

The plot has no time to unfold because the plot needs to happen.

Do you ever think the writers squabbled a lot? It kind of feels like a lot of them wanted to do their own thing and then someone else meddled with that and then we got a patchwork of unconnected threads, left loose and dangling.

I was surprised when we got some buildup to April’s growing dependence on her alien crystal and even one episode dealing with its powers before we got to the episode dealing with the crystal’s effects on her. That sort of nuanced pacing was new. I was also initially very sure that this subplot would only find its payoff in the season finale or half season finale, like most other plot threads usually did, but no, it got its own separate episode.

Yes, they went all Dark Phoenix, but the ending was super anticlimactic, because April killed Donnie and then someone reminded her of it and she felt bad, so she stopped being possessed by evil. They fucked up on the home stretch, but they tried.

I never liked the time travel episodes with Renet much, they felt weirdly intrusive and adding nothing new to the plot. It felt like the first one only happened so we could meet Tang Shen before she died and that didn’t add a whole lot of anything. It confirmed things we already knew and introduced Mikey’s love interest and that was that.

The show tried to do a thing about anti-mutant racism once, but it sure is a good thing that the only people racist against mutants were the mafia, so we don’t have to worry about making a nuanced take here. They could have done something really interesting, but then went for simple black-and-white-morality instead.

My favorite episode was when the boys played Dungeons and Dragons with a sparrow mutant.

The worst part of the show though was its fifth season. First it seemed like it would just continue from where the fourth season had left off with Shredder being revived - because like a good villain, or herpes, Shredder always comes back - by the worst looking dragon I have ever seen in my entire life, but then that arc surprisingly ended after four episodes, shocking me to my core. Almost as shocking as Donnie almost killing a guy, but then deciding not do at the very last second. Again, feels like they could have done more here, but then they didn’t.

The fifth season started with two arcs that seemed to tie up loose plot threads, like Shredder’s revival and the bug alien guy I could have sworn died when he was yeeted out of an airlock coming back to enact his grim revenge, all so Raph’s girlfriend could live on the same planet as him and then never appear on the show ever again. Also Mikey died and his brothers were sad for five seconds before going about their business and then he came back with superpowers and then he conveniently lost them at the end of the episode, because the plot doesn’t have time for things that are emotional or interesting. Then there was that time the writers were like “What if we made Yojimbo, but with anthropromorphic animals and also the turtles are there” and it existed and the Turtles added very few things to the story and then went back to their dimension and never talked about it ever again. Or the time they said “what if we made Mad Max and also everything was terrible” and so they did and Leo became a hulked up war criminal but everyone forgave him because he wasn’t himself but immediately snapped out of it after seeing his brothers and Raphael was on steroids and Donnie became a robot in what I assume was a reference to the comics where he died and became a robot and also Donnie ended up being the only one whose body died, but considering what became of his brothers, he was probably the best off? And Raph had amnesia just so he could say he had amnesia and it didn’t actually factor into the plot once because he immediately recognized Mikey. I don’t know, I hated that special.

But at least it gave me emotions. The best part of the “that time travel demon is back and trying to monster mash” arc was when I remembered that I could browse tumblr on my phone while it was on and then I didn’t bore myself to death and also didn’t miss anything of value.

The series finale was fine. Nothing to write home about, but perfectly fine, even though the show threw an awful lot of shade at the 1987 version.

I feel like the most jarring thing about the fifth season was that the show spent four seasons going out of its way to present itself as something with a cohesive narrative and a plot that goes on and on and then we get these disjointed stories, some of which have absolutely nothing to do with the story at all. Just the writers throwing some idea at a wall to see what sticks because they either didn’t have any ideas anymore, or too many, but the end result wasn’t great and I’ll recommend newcomers to stop after the fourth season, because for real.

Tiger Claw existed and he was infuriatingly capable and powerful and then his sister chopped off his arm and then he got a robot arm and that was it forever. I don’t know, some episodes felt more pointless than others, but some managed to be fun or interesting and some just added something they thought was fun and it ended up never mattering again. 

Some characters disappeared randomly, like the dove guy and I don’t care enough to ask what happened there.

Karai’s mutation being reversed off-screen was super bizarre. Sure, her being able to change at will as metal as heck, but it felt weird and incomplete and like I missed an episode. Maybe I did. It was also infuriating how her venom was a plot point in one episode and never brought up again after that.

Outside of that, I don’t have much insight to offer. Other people already exlained how the fight scenes, while nice, are not very accurate, especially the bo staff moves, or how the show is very dark, not in tone, but in actual absence of light and lots of greyscales or how most characters have singular traits rather than fleshed out personalities, especially the supporting cast. How there isn’t a lot of diversity in the human characters and how figure-hugging a lot of April’s and Karai’s clothing is (shoutout to April’s yellow shirt, it’s uncomfortable to look at, cheers) or how the female characters are frequently damselled.

I liked when the animation added personality to the characters because the writing sure didn’t think it had time for that.

All in all, it’s a mixed bag for me. It’s a fine show to watch if you have the time and it’s not all bad and I can see why people enjoy it, but it’s not for me. I liked some episodes enough to watch again, but I feel like in nine out of ten cases, I’ll opt to rewatch Rise instead because it has more of what I personally like, but I won’t think less of you if you enjoyed this version of the show. I’m not telling people that one version of the Turtles is superior to the other, just that I think it’s important to take off those rose-colored glasses and be critical of the things you consume every now and again.

But if you prefer plot-driven shows that can be surprisingly dark, you might enjoy this. Or you could watch Avatar, because it has that as well as three-dimensional characters and better worldbuilding.

Thank you for reading my way-too-long thoughts about an animated kid’s show.

[threewaysdivided]

I appreciate the response. Yeah, among other adjustments, had the plot been handled a little differently, I feel like Sam’s relationship with her parents could have evolved into something like that of Danny and Jazz and their parents. And don’t get me wrong; I still like Sam, too.

(In reference to this post and follow-up ask.)

Good to hear from you again 😊

I think there were a lot of things across the board that could have been tweaked or edited to improve the integrity of the series.  If I had to boil down the problem with DP to a single point I’d probably say it’s that the most interesting parts of the show are the characters/world/implications but the writers (or some of them anyway - I suspect there might have been some conflict between Hartman, the lead writers and the execs’) wanted certain plots, aesops and gags, and chose to brute-force them in regardless of whether they actually worked with what was already there.  Basically, it lacks consistency and internal logic.

For Sam in particular I think there are a few things that could have been handled better:

First one’s more a general complaint at the show and might light a fire under my notes but heck lets go there anyway but the writing has kind of a sexist bent that really doesn’t fit the characters or need to be there. Considering how much Danny and Jack are shown to love and respect Maddie and Jazz there’s no way they’d call their involvement in Genius Magazine “the swimsuit edition”.  Paulina might be traditionally feminine but “She surrendered her individuality for a boy! I’m so proud of her!” is not a line that any human girl in the history of human girls would say unironically.  There’s also a few too many jokes that basically boil down to “male character is emasculated/ vulnerable/ likes feminine-coded things, hyuk hyuk hyuk”.

I’m bringing this up not just because they’re gross cheap gags but because for Sam specifically, this pervasive low-key contempt for women and femininity in the writing, especially the tendency to portray almost every non-sympathetic girl her age as one-note, brainless boy-crazy cliches that she can’t connect with, really does not help her character.  I would have loved to see more genuine interaction between Sam and the other girls, even if it most of it was Kim Possible-Bonnie Rockwaller style antagonistic rapport.  We could have seen her develop some kind of tenuous connection with one of the A-listers, or even just have a secondary-female-character to be cordial towards - kind of like Mikey is for Danny and Tucker.  Hold up, outside of Valerie, Star and Paulina are there any named secondary girls at Casper High?  Sam doesn’t seem to have a single female friend in the show and considering how vocally judgemental she is, it can almost read like she’s rejecting them outright for being girls, which really undercuts attempts to make her seem feminist. (I mentioned it in a past tag but this feels like an early-2000s-male-writer mistake of equating Female Empowerment™ with the ability to tear down other women and belittle traditional femininity - which isn’t so much Feminism as it is Internalised Misogyny.)  Even just mixing up the pairings to put her with Star instead of Kwan in Lucky in Love would have helped.

I’d have also liked to see more awareness of and consistency in the conflict between her activism and her wealth.  It kind of undercuts the significance of her activism when you realise that she’s wealthy enough to make these choices with little cost to herself; it’s much easier to go vegan or buy renewable/ recyclable /sustainable /fair-trade when price isn’t an issue, especially if you also have serving staff to offset the time cost.  Once you notice this it makes her activism feel more tokenistic, and also like she doesn’t really understand her own privilege when she tries to push her agendas onto the school/ her classmates without considering why they mightn’t be able to do so as easily.  It’s also weird because the source of her family’s wealth is a cellophane-toothpick-wrapper (i.e. something that basically produces litter) but she still seems very comfortable enjoying the material benefits despite her pro-eco anti-consumerism sentiments.  It’s bizarre that she’s more concerned with the social consequence of ‘fake friends’ than the ethics of capitalism.  It can come off a bit “do as I say, not as I do”. 

It would have been nice for the show to give more screen time to reinforcing that Sam is aware of that conflict and is making an active effort to hold to her principles even at the cost of personal comfort; maybe showing some unease at the source of her wealth, trying to live below her means and only spend up on ethical/ eco-friendly/ sustainable products, op-shopping or hand-making her goth accessories, going out of her way to re-use or re-purpose things even if buying a new one would be ‘better’, actually showing or referencing her doing substantial hands-on activities (e.g. going off-screen or taking the boys to do tree-planting, litter pickups, soup kitchens, animal-shelter work etc).  Just something to help make it clearer that she genuinely cares and isn’t just doing the low-mess lip-service activities because she enjoys indulging in the image of Wokeness™.

These things would have helped regardless of how her family was written but let’s hop back on topic and talk about them.  I don’t have any prescriptive preference but let’s spitball a few different options and how they could have played:

#1 Sam’s parents don’t respect her interests and want her to fit a mold

In this case I’d make it that they don’t really pay attention or show much caring for who Sam really is as a person; their image of and interactions with her are more of a fantasised version of the ‘perfect’ daughter they want, they make very little effort to encourage her actual interests and are perhaps restrictive about what they let her do in the few moments when they do bother paying close attention (you might compare to some versions of Tim Drake’s Parents from DC Comics).  Classist, overly image-conscious, snobby and superficial.  

This would be the most sympathetic portrayal of her character without changing it very far from how it is in DP canon - helping contextualise why Sam is so fiercely defensive of her autonomy, why she pushes so hard when trying to get her opinions across and why she’s so judgemental of rich people and disdainful towards classic femininity - even possibly explaining her more hypocritical/ manipulative/ entitled traits as learned behaviours.  It would also give her more legitimate reason to be less empathetic towards others - after all even if they have struggles and family troubles it’s still better than what she’s dealing with (Danny’s parents may not be attentive but hey, at least they love him for himself, right?)

For this version I’d probably put her arc around growing past the “suffering olympics” model of viewing other people’s pain, but also in her finding family in Danny/Tucker/her Grandmother’s circle of connections, learning how to have healthy power-balance and communication in her relationships with others (aka: getting over her hypocrisy and realising that assertiveness is about communicating that “I matter, and so do you”) and pulling away from her parents’ influence - maybe even living with Ida a lot of the time.

#2 Sam’s parents are well-intentioned but overbearing

For this one, Sam’s parents would genuinely want the best for her… only they have an overly old-fashioned and restrictive view of what “the best” is and are a bit set-in-their-ways.  They’d probably view “hippies” and “goth” stuff as “dangerously rebellious hooligan-activities” and likely to be somewhat patronising about Sam’s passion for it being “just a phase”.   They’d be worried about her hanging around “the Fenton Kid” and “the Foley Kid” both because Danny’s parents are kind of irresponsible screwballs about safety but also because they put a lot of value in image due to their belief in social connections being the way to get ahead.  Them pushing Sam towards classic femininity and specific activities would be less about disrespecting her identity and more about their overly narrow view of “success” and worrying that she’s going to end up losing valuable opportunities and “wasting her life” if she keeps on down her current path.

This would still give Sam more sympathetic context for her views on femininity and pushiness about self-expression. 

Personally I think the arc I’d like to see here is one themed around responsible/considerate assertiveness and valuing alternative perspectives.  Sam coming to realise her own hypocrisy - that she can’t push her views onto others while complaining about her parents doing the same - developing more sympathy for Danny as she realises that he’s in a similar position with Jack’s insistence that he’ll inherent Fentonworks and his parents’ narrow-mindedness about ghosts, interacting with other girls and seeing their perspective, learning how to assert her opinion while making allowances for others’ (maybe an alternative version where she connects with Star in Lucky in Love and, after Aragon’s defeat in Beauty Marked, Sam still says she personally thinks it’s dumb but then steps down and lets Star win because she understands that Star values it), and getting her Grandma’s help in convincing her parents to widen their perspective while still responding to their concerns.

(This one has the overall kindest message and I think I like it best).

#3 Sam’s parents are trying and Sam’s actually the problem 

This one is the one that’s the least sympathetic to Sam.  Her parents still don’t get the Goth/Activist thing and they have some concerns about safety but they understand that it makes her happy and they’re okay with it so long as she’s not getting into trouble or mixing up with anyone that could hurt her.  Them pushing her towards more feminine/optimistic things is less pushing and more trying to encourage some hobbies that offer a bit more common ground.  They might have reservations, and they might not always have time, but they would like to be part of their daughter’s life… except for the problem that Sam has wrapped herself up in a teen-drama persecution complex and got it into her head that they “won’t accept her” are “pushing her to be someone else” and “don’t understand” so there’s no point even trying to explain or connect.  In this one Ida isn’t taking sides on purpose but she ends up accidentally enabling Sam a little because Sam reminds her of her younger days and she likes spoiling her granddaughter (and doesn’t much care for her daughter-in-law).

In this case Sam’s flaws would be framed much more as flaws born of her making superficial snap judgements, thinking she knows better and being too proud to admit she’s wrong.  There would definitely be moments of her coming across as an entitled, privileged holier-than-thou brat who invents problems because she likes feeling sorry for herself, especially early in her arc.

This version of the story would go the hardest on Sam with the general lesson being “you need to respect that other people are people who have their own problems, feelings and needs that are as real and valid as yours”.  She’d still have good qualities and Danny and Tucker would still obviously like and value her but there’d also be times of strain where they don’t want to hurt her feelings but are clearly getting worn out with the nonsense.  At its worst, maybe a “you’re like mustard. Great in small quantities, but a lot of you is…a lot” type confrontation.

I’d also give the secondary cast the most fleshing out, agency and sympathetic-ness here, and have beats where Sam has to realise that they’re lot more complex than her 2D stereotyped view of them and are dealing with actual serious problems to which hers are largely non-issues by comparison.  I’d probably play Dash and Paulina similar to in the fic Alibi (go read it, it’s good) - Dash being gay and performing aggression because toxic masculinity, insecurity, and being terrified of anyone outside the A-listers finding out (still not okay that he’s a bully but at least more understandable), while Paulina is hiding high emotional perceptiveness behind her pretty face and deliberately bearding for him to keep bigoted parents/ teachers off his back.  I’d also probably have a subplot in an alternate Life Lessons where Sam follows Valerie around because jealous/possessive and, like Danny, ends up realising that she’s working two jobs to help her Dad with their financial problems.  Basically she’d be getting hit with the Reality Stick a lot.

There’d also be more instances of Sam getting directly called out by the other girls. Fleshing them out as people and showing that their dislike is less superficiality and more because she unfairly judges and antagonises them all the time.  Giving them more agency in Beauty Marked and have them be direct about “we know you’re just here to be smug about how much ‘Better’ you are but have you considered that we’re doing this for ourselves and actually enjoy it?”.  Having Paulina be less “tee hee I am indeed a Witch” in Parental Bonding and more “Ugh fine, fine, I don’t really like him that much but you were being so obviously Jealous and Judge-y and I figured if I played a little you might actually step up.  But fine, if you’re sure.  Here’s your necklace back, I’ll let your dorky ‘friend’ down tomorrow.  But pro-tip?  You like someone you gotta go for it - otherwise don’t complain when your boy-toy gets taken by someone who actually means it.”  (Still petty, but emotionally intelligent pettiness, which… not really much better, but at least more interesting.)  A lot more of Sam realising that she’s not a particularly good feminist and that she’s no more entitled to Danny’s affections than anyone else.

To be honest, while I could say the most about this version and there’s a lot of potential drama there it’s the one I like the least because it means canonising my least favourite proto-abusive bad-faith narcissistic reading of Sam, casting her as an almost-villain and essentially punishing her over and over until she character develops into a decent human being.  Sure it’s an important message about how you treat others but it’s not a very nice or kind story and while there might be the odd fic that makes it cathartic I can’t say I’m a huge fan.

Again, if I had to pick, I’d probably go with something like #2. 

But there we go.  Another thrilling instalment in the “overly long posts about Sam Manson” saga.  

Hope you enjoyed it and thanks for stopping by!

[dyketectivecomics]

Guess who has two thumbs and cant wait to finish things before publishing them!!!!!!!!

(just a preview for the Night Force fic that I keep talking about and never actually get around to finishing apparently)

...

While Zachary held nothing but love and respect for his cousin in his heart, he was starting to become every bit annoyed with her as she lingered in Shadowcrest’s foyer. As she pulled sticky notes from her hat, he did his best to indulge her, taking them each carefully from her, only half-listening as she gave him reminders to go along with each note.

“-and Mikey’s helped me make arrangements for Sasha, but the rabbits in the West Wing will be your responsibility, Zach,” she repeated as she handed the last sticky note and adjusted her bowtie immediately after. “As will the rest of Shadowcrest. This space mission shouldn’t last longer than the weekend, but please remember to-”

“Relax, Zee. I’m the pinnacle of responsibility.“

“That is what has me worried,” she grumbled, fixing her top hat so it rested perfectly atop her head. “OT EHT REWOTHCTAW.” A portal opened in swirling shades of blue and violet, and just before the magician stepped through, she turned one last time to her cousin, her voice having just a hint of a threat of violence. “And no parties.”

And with that final word, the magician disappeared.

With a flourish, Zach tucked all of the notes up one sleeve and pulled out carefully signed envelopes out of the other, double checking the names on each as he flipped through them. When satisfied, he held them aloft, cleared his throat, and chanted a simple spell to send them on their way.

“REVILED SETIVNI OT YM STSEUG.”

And just as soon as they disappeared in a flash of light, he pulled up the sticky notes once more and turned from the foyer to make preparations. He made sure to properly dispose of the notes in a bin around the corner.

…

More than anything, she wanted one dinner, one last semblance of the order she had from before. Just one ritual untouched by the magic and mysticism and mortal peril she faced when outside of the Williams’ home. Idle chit-chat and polite interruptions over mundane things were a welcome pace.

Normalcy. Something so sweet and now so sacred. Something she had been so severely lacking with the latest fantastical adventure that Baron Winters had dragged her unwillingly into.

And for just a few minutes, it seemed as if she may just have it.

But all too soon, Raven found herself sighing in annoyance when she recognized the ostentatious calligraphy that adorned the envelope as it popped into existence and fell right onto her dinner.

Of course Zatara would find a way to contact her at such an inopportune time.

She’d just revealed her biggest secret to her family days ago, by sharing her secret identity and almost all that it entailed after that disastrous first mission with Winters’ so-called new Night Force. She’d only just regained her teachers’ trust, after her aunt and uncle had stepped in to cover for the unfortunate mess she’d caused. She’d just been settling into that old routine that had seemed another lifetime ago.

And now Zatara was about to compromise all of that again for…

She wrinkled her nose, vexed as she read further through the card.

He was inviting her to some, so-called, exclusive house party?

She scoffed at the thought, folding the invite over and setting it aside. She only got a few more bites of green beans in, before she could sense everyone’s eyes on her. A gentle thrum of curiosity, with opposing hints of excitement and nervousness.

“Is that from one of your, um, Titan friends, honey?” Alice asked delicately, breaking the tension that had formed around the table. Always leave it to Aunt Alice, to cut right to talking about elephants in rooms.

“It is only Zatara, being a nuisance,” Raven explained, waving a dismissive hand as she picked at her food with her fork. She started to wonder where her appetite went as she felt another thrum of excitement around the table then.

“Wait, like, Zatanna Zatara?” Mary-Beth asked with a gleam in her eyes, “So her magic is all real, like yours?”

“Not quite like mine,” Raven found herself correcting, and winced a bit as she realized she failed to keep the venom out of her voice. “And also not from her. She has a cousin. Zachary. Much less talented, and much more annoying.” She paused a moment, sensing the growing curiosity that hung in the air, answering the unasked question.

“He has invited me and our… mutual acquaintances to a party this weekend. But I do not think-”

“You should go,” Jack said between bites, carefully swallowing before continuing. “It’s good for a growing teen, to be around other people that share your interests, even when you don’t always get along with them.”

“I appreciate the sentiment, Uncle Jack, but I already have friends-”

“But not friends that are… magic,” he pointed again with his fork, a sly smile forming on his face, “Besides, I don’t remember you telling us you had any other plans this weekend.”

“It is clear across the country-”

“Rach- Raven,” Alice said, catching herself, “If you keep finding excuses for why you couldn’t, you’ll never see the reason why you should.”

“That’s deep, Mom, where’d ya get that from?” Mary-Beth laughed, and soon the discussion derailed back into mundanity.

And as the conversation drifted, Raven wondered if spending the weekend just outside of Gotham with her fellow Night Force members would be such a bad thing after all. She certainly didn’t know them well enough to develop any strong feelings, positive or negative, towards them.

And Uncle Jack had made a good point, about her not having plans in the first place…

…

Shadowcrest was exactly how she had imagined it. Victorian gothic architecture that matched every other estate in the countryside. If pushing just past Gotham City’s limits could be considered countryside, that is.

Unlike many of those estates, which had fallen into vacancy and disrepair over the years, Shadowcrest stood tall and proud. The roofline looked as if it had just been patched in, the paint as vibrant as the day it first touched the paneling, and the whole building absolutely hummed with energy. A magical building, indeed, and one that had Raven pausing at it’s doorbell as she lifted her hand to buzz herself in.

She cursed her momentary hesitancy under breath before pressing the bell with a tad more force than necessary, rolling her eyes as “Abracadabra” could be heard playing throughout the manor.

‘Leave it to the stage magicians to have a sense of humor,’ she thought idly.

When Zach opened the door, he looked as if he were trying to keep the surprise off his face. Certainly, it wasn’t often that a Teen Titan darkened his doorstep, in civilian clothing no less! But he couldn’t seem to help himself as his eyes traveled over her body to take in her outfit.

The yellow sundress was a shock, but not at all unflattering on the teen empath, sported with tan flats and a jean jacket that was her only protection against the first chilling winds of autumn. An outfit much more telling of her point of departure, from sunny San Francisco, than her current destination, in the dreary American Northeast.

“So, she doesn’t dress like she’s ready to attend a mid-2000s Fallout Boy concert, like the rest of us,” he noted, a smirk beginning to grow on his face. Raven made her own mental note of his comment as she took in Zach’s own outfit for the evening. He had evidently ditched the tophat and tails for more comfortable jeans with strategically placed holes, and a shirt sporting a band’s logo that she couldn’t immediately place.

“I am only here because I am curious about your library, Zatara,” she said carefully as she pushed past the boy, “Let’s not make this any more difficult that it needs to be.”

“Only you would see an invite to an exclusive party, and have eyes solely for the library,” a voice called lazily from the next room over, making Raven pause as she changed her direction towards it.

To the left of that oh-so-grand foyer that hinted around a more timeless design, was a classically victorian-style tea room, where the rest of their teammates had evidently made themselves at home, much to Zach’s very tangible frustration.

Raven could practically taste the mingling emotions in the air, wafts of annoyance and hints of glee. And once again, that common, nearly electric undercurrent of excitement and anticipation. The room was like a powder keg with so many players ready to go. She wondered idly how the others must have felt, with so much energy once again in the air.

Klarion was placed the furthest away, draped lazily along an armchair with his legs hanging off the side. He gave the empath a quick nod before turning back to the tablet in his lap, hands glowing in time as he appeared to be mixing and experimenting with how the tech was adapting to his magic.

On the loveseat, Traci was engrossed in her own conversation with Kid Devil, who Raven recognized only from brief encounters before this whole mess with Winters had begun. Eddie Bloomberg had only just run into these powers of his not too long ago, after all. The pair briefly acknowledged the empath before returning to their conversation, Eddie’s hands becoming more animated as Traci laughed along with his antics.

Which only left the final two players in the room, Skye Harper, who was making herself comfortably at home lounging on a summoned bean bag chair that clashed horribly with the rest of the decor, and Black Alice, sitting in the only other armchair in the room. And apparently making backhanded comments, as always.

“Guys, the coasters. Please,” Zach groaned as he snapped his fingers to hide his mumbling as he summoned more. Klarion’s feisty feline had taken most of the mats, playing or otherwise tearing them apart, as pets are wont to do.

He grabbed Teekl by the cat’s scruffy neck to berate it. “No more chewing on these ones, got it?” The cat only gave him a hiss, swatting and missing as the magician dropped it. It bounced happily into Klarion’s arms as the pair gave the magician a glare.

“At least now the party can really start,” Alice continued, stretching her arms over her head in boredom. “Demons make everything much more interesting-”

“Half-demon,” the empath found herself snapping. It couldn’t be helped, however, with how the room had shifted. That peculiar lilt the power-snatcher used just then, made her skin crawl. She couldn’t stand to let that feeling. “And how do you know that I am here to start the party? Maybe I will end it before it even begins.”

“Told you she’d be a narc,” Eddie laughed. “Everyone knows she and Za-”

With a piercing ring, Zachary’s phone chimed off, alarm magically charmed to stop all thought except what the reminder was set to. A spell that was little overdone, as Raven could feel a mild headache making it’s home right between her eyes. She didn’t need to guess, much less imagine, what everyone else must have been feeling.

“Ugh, the popcorn!” Zach groaned, “Okay, everyone stay right here, I’ll be back with the flicks and everything and then we can get this started! OT EHT NEHCTIK.”

Immediately after the magician had completely disappeared, Klarion was on his feet, heading out of the very same doorway Raven had entered from.

“You guys can stay if you want, Teekl and I are going to explore,” he declared lazily over his shoulder, heading right for the stairs.

“I don’t think Zach would appreciate that,” Skye started hesitantly, but before she could protest any further, the other teen mystics were out of their seats and similarly following suit.

“I’m going to search for blackmail material,” Alice laughed. Traci shrugged her shoulders, following close behind with a rebuttal of, “I don’t completely condone it, but I’m in.”

Eddie declared himself Klarion’s unofficial shadow and the two were off in the blink of an eye, disappearing around a corner before anyone could ask what destination they had in mind.

This left Raven to sigh wearily, recognizing Skye’s growing anxiety and knowing she would be helpless to stop the others. She was damned regardless, but she wasn’t going to let that stop her from fulfilling her promise to find Shadowcrest’s library and discover its secrets for herself.

“I could use the company-” Before she even finished the thought, the Wind Elemental was at her side, her face was split into a wide grin as she grabbed the empath’s hand, leading her down the East corridor.

“I’m pretty sure Zach said the library would be this way!” she said.

A minute later, in the now empty tea room, the magician reappeared with popcorn and movies in hand.

He let out a low curse as he realized the mistake that had been made, all too late to avoid its consequences.

[doomsteady]

I thought I might start sharing new fic chapters here before they get posted on ao3, while I wait for beta-reader feedback. If you’ve not already caught up on The Cat & The Fox, you might want to skip these posts. But if you’re a reader of that fic and can’t wait for more updates, then these posts are specially for you. <3

Some additional editing may occur before they get officially posted. But by and large, what you see is what you’ll get.

Also, I’ll keep it mostly under the cut. I don’t want to flood your dashes. Ta!

Chapter 30

25 years ago

“Mikey! You forgot your lunch!” Sherlock waves the brown paper bag aloft as he runs to catch up with his big brother. Mycroft hauls his suitcase up the steps of the coach before turning to meet him.

Mycroft smiles down at him, taking the bag from his hands and wrapping his arms around Sherlock’s shoulders in a tight hug.

“I’ll miss you, Bumblebee. Be good for Mummy and Daddy while I’m away, won’t you?”

Sherlock huffs into Mycroft’s coat collar, beating a small fist on his back. “I’m nine. Stop calling me that stupid baby name.”

“You still are a baby,” Mycroft says fondly, grinning over his brother’s shoulder when Sherlock gives him another answering punch in the arm and wriggles out of his grasp. “And don’t go into my room while I’m gone. I’ll know if you do.”

“No you won’t.” Sherlock pouts, but his ire is quickly forgotten. “Will you write to me?”

“Of course. Every day, if I’m able.”

“Mycroft, dear, don’t promise him such things. Imagine the temper if a letter arrives late?” Mummy steps forward to encircle Mycroft in her arms, speaking quietly in his ear. “He’s going to miss you too, very much. We all will.”

“I will write, Mum. I promise.”

She squeezes him for a moment before stepping back, her eyes shining with tears. Daddy approaches then, taking Mycroft’s hand in a gentlemanly shake. “Good luck, my boy. Knock their socks off, eh? We’re proud of you.”

Mycroft promises to do his very best.

In the Holmes family tradition, all boys strive for a career at MI5 from an early age. At sixteen years old, they’re taken into London for their introductory application. It has always been this way. His father worked for the government, as did his grandfather and great-grandfather, all the way back to the very formation of the Secret Service Bureau.

Even before then, there has always been a Holmes involved in the country’s governmental operations. It is a closely held family secret that during the Revolution of 1688, it was a Holmes ancestor that convinced the Commons to allow both William and Mary to take the throne of England after the defeat of King James II, despite opposition within Parliament. It was the result of King William III’s subsequent governance that directly influenced the drawing up of the United States Constitution 100 years later.

This lofty legacy should be intimidating, but Mycroft has embraced it with zeal and ambition. He dreams of a position of power and authority, and a responsibility to his country, to protect and serve her from all who would do her harm. Of all the careers a boy of his sharp intellect might have chosen, this offers everything he could ever desire.

As he looks over at his family’s tearful smiles one last time, he wishes he could stay with them just a little longer. Especially Sherlock. Mycroft worries so much for him. His little brother has never shown any interest in his world of kings and spies, and the only knights that inspire his imagination are those who ride into the hills to challenge mythical beasts atop their piles of gold. He has already set out on a different path, and it will take more than gentle coaxing to bring him back. Perhaps, after Mycroft’s training, he will be better equipped to change Sherlock’s mind about what future he would rather pursue.

A sharp tap on the shoulder tells him it’s time to leave, and Mycroft boards the coach. He finds an unoccupied seat next to the window, and waves as his family recede into the distance.

At last; this is the beginning of a new life. He can feel it. He’s not there yet, but it won’t be long now. Everything he’s worked for, everything he’s studied towards. It all comes down to this.

The trials ahead will be difficult. They will test his mental acuity, which won’t pose a problem, he is certain. But the physical training might require him to dig deep into his reserves. No matter. He is officially one step closer to his dreams. Whatever it takes, he is ready and eager to begin.

Across the aisle, a boy leans over and taps him on the shoulder, interrupting his reverie.

“Hullo. Mikey, is it? Sorry, overheard the kid say it.”

“Mycroft. Hello.”

“Jim.” The boy extends his hand. Mycroft takes it cordially. He seems young, several years younger than Mycroft, at least. “Brother of yours?”

“Hm? Oh, yes. His name’s Sherlock.”

“And he’s James,” Jim says, jerking his head at the identical twin in the seat next to him. James nods once before turning away, visibly disinterested. Jim’s enthusiasm seems unaffected. “Brothers, eh?” He grins toothily.

Mycroft thinks he spots a missing molar. He returns a polite smile, but can’t think of much else to say. Socialising with other children has never been one of his stronger suits. Jim releases their handshake and relaxes back in his seat, throwing his arms over the backrest.

“Well, pleased to meet ya, Mikey. Don’t confuse us like the rest of these idiots do, and we’ll get along famously.”

“I’ll keep that in mind, thank you,” Mycroft replies. He glances furtively at the other one before turning his gaze back to the window. Some discreet minutes later, he rubs his hand on the seat beside him.

Mental note: Jim is the one with sweaty palms.

——

Four months ago

“John, wake up. We have a case!”

It startles him awake, one hand already scrambling behind the headboard. For a blind second his mind is operating on pure instinct, a soldier’s training, lingering PTSD and an unfortunate array of half-obscured memories of being kidnapped at night. In a hot second, John is staring down the sights of his handgun at a very surprised looking Sherlock. His mind catches up a moment later.

“Jesus Christ, Sherlock.” The stiffness in his arm melts, falling to the pillow with a soft thud. John rubs the sleep from his eyes and peers over to squint at the alarm clock. He groans. “Do you have any idea what time it is.”

“Yes! It’s exactly the perfect time to catch him in the act,” Sherlock says, his eyes already lighting back up with excitement. “I’ve been tracking his movements all week. I know exactly where he is at this very moment, and this time, he won’t be getting away.” Sherlock straightens, lifts his weight off the mattress with aplomb and claps his hands together. “Come on, hurry up. Get dressed. We need to get downtown before he’s done looting the exhibit.”

John has no idea who Sherlock is talking about. It’s a feeling he’s been growing used to, being left behind, mentally speaking. Moments like this, Sherlock tends to skip over the necessary step of filling him in on the basics, his mind ever locked ten steps ahead of everybody else in its obsession with the intricate details of his deductions. It leaves him virtually incapable of conceiving of the idea that John doesn’t just already know everything he needs to.

It can get a little annoying. And more than a little dangerous, when he decides to spring into the room like an over-excitable greyhound and nearly give John a heart-attack in the process. As John sees it, when they work together from the beginning they automatically fall into sync. He may not have the deductive powers of his genius lover, but he can usually keep up with him as he explains how his mad version of logic leaps from point-A to point-B. But sometimes he wonders if Sherlock doesn’t even realise it when he starts a new case without him. He has caught him, on more than one occasion, carrying on a conversation with himself as if John was already in the room.

Sherlock had been out all day today, and yesterday. The house was still empty when John came home from his shift that evening. An abandoned mug of tea sat on the kitchen counter, the only evidence of Sherlock’s presence there for breakfast that morning, however fleeting his appearance. That night John waited up, just in case, but Sherlock often got too caught up in his own little world and was still offering unsure, one-word answers to John’s texts by the time he gave up and turned in at around midnight.

It hadn’t been more than a couple of hours since John had climbed into his side of a cold bed. Perhaps it shouldn’t have come as such a surprise, then, that Sherlock chose the exact moment he entered his first REM cycle to magically reappear and summon him up for an adventure.

John presses his head into the pillow and scrunches the sides up to his ears with both arms. “You know I’d love to. But I have an early shift tomorrow. Can’t the police handle a simple break-in?”

Sherlock scoffs. “There’s nothing simple about it. That’s why it’s so interesting. None of the thefts appeared connected, until last Wednesday when he made one of the most elementary errors you could imagine���”

“That’s great, Sherlock. Really, I’m happy for you, but that doesn’t explain why you can’t just call the police. You’ve done your bit, yeah? It’s their job to catch the guy now.”

“But… Where’s the fun in that?” John opens his eyes again. He recognises that tone. ‘But Jooohhhn,’ whenever Sherlock feigns utter ignorance of why he isn’t getting what he wants at any given moment. Sherlock stands rigid and buzzing with energy next to the bed, already dressed up in his Sherrinford clothes for the world beyond their front door. Seeing him like that, looking so different and yet still so quintessentially Sherlock, is another thing he’s slowly getting used to. Though, the hair is still a little weird for his tastes.

“You could just join me in here. I’d make sure there’s fun in that.”

In the light of the open doorway, John catches the unguarded smile that slips into place before Sherlock can school himself. He reaches out a hand in silent offering, and watches the internal struggle play out like theatre in Sherlock’s eyes. But eventually he shakes his head slowly, presses his lips in an apologetic smile and employs his most effective puppy-dog eyes. John can already feel his resolve wavering. That really shouldn’t be as effective as it is on him.

“Come on, John. The other day you were saying how much you enjoy it when we’re working cases together. You said we didn’t do it often enough.”

“I did, but—”

“And I agreed with you, and promised that the next time a really big, interesting case came along, we can do it together. Remember?”

“Yes, I remember, but—”

“Well?” He spreads his hands wide. John has visions of sleepwalking through his next surgery and accidentally sewing somebody’s leg to the table. But he is right. These opportunities really don’t come along as often as he would like, they’re always both so busy. He misses Sherlock every moment they aren’t together.

If only it wasn’t the middle of the bloody night. Sherlock’s timing is impeccably awful. But John couldn’t go back to sleep now if he wanted to, knowing that if he let him go alone, Sherlock would be off tackling a potentially dangerous criminal without any backup. There’s no stopping the man once his mind is set.

And it’s just one night, John supposes. He has pulled all-nighters before. He’s not overly keen on coffee, but a few extra cups during the day will keep him going. Sherlock looks ready to bolt out the door.

“Alright,” John sighs, yawning and flinging back the duvet. “You win. Give me a sec to throw on some clothes.”

—

An hour later, the pair of them are pelting down a side-street in pursuit of their fleeing target. John is a few steps behind, keeping pace, his Sig pressing into the small of his back. At Sherlock’s signal, he’ll know when to break off, to duck down an adjacent alleyway and come around the other side of their route, trapping their quarry in a pincer movement. It’s a tactic they’ve already used to great effect in the past, so in-sync with each other’s movements that the coordination comes naturally, works beautifully. They were born to do this.

This was an excellent decision, John thinks. Better than sex, in some ways. Or, perhaps this is sex, just in a different context; he feels alive, every instinct and muscle tuned to the thrill of the chase, and he knows Sherlock must be enjoying this too, just look at him. Flying across the ground on long, powerful legs, black denim jacket flapping its wings behind him like a bat in his wake. The open collar of his shirt revealing a long expanse of creamy neck, tendons thick and straining with effort. Feet thumping rhythmically against concrete as he rounds another corner, lithe as a fox chasing a rabbit through an urban forest. John can’t help stare at him as he follows the thief’s trajectory up onto some bins and vaults over a fence in one graceful movement— a stunning, sensual creature, revelling in his element.

Out of sight, there’s a dull crack and a yelp of surprise, and John’s heart hammers in his chest as he sprints forward, yanking the gun from his waistband and flicking off the safety. He sees the thief disappearing down another alley as he makes it over the fence a little less gracefully than his partner. Sherlock scrambles to pick himself up from the floor a few steps ahead.

“What happened? You okay?” John says, panting to catch his breath. He jogs up to where Sherlock is wobbling to his feet, and has to grab his arm to keep him upright.

“Bastard was waiting for me,” Sherlock says, grimacing, brushing dirt from the back of his thighs. “Slammed my head into the wall. I’m alright, though. Come on. I’ll take that way, you head around—”

“We’re doing nothing of the sort. Come on, let me take a look at you.”

“I said I’m fine,” he insists, but John digs a pocket torch out of his coat and flicks it on, carding his fingers through Sherlock’s dyed-blond hair in search of a wound. Sherlock rants his frustration, his voice echoing off the narrow alley walls. “I should have anticipated it. Stupid! We had him, John. He knew he was about to be cornered.”

“Yeah, he did. Hey, sit down for a minute.”

“There’s no time for that! He can’t be far, we can still—”

“I’m serious, sit down, love. You’re bleeding.” John rubs his wet fingertips together in the light of the torch. Sherlock waves it away.

“It’s just a scratch. Head injuries always look a little over-dramatic, you know that.”

“That’s true, but I still want to be sure. Sit, please?” John puts on his most persuasive smile, urging him gently down with his hands on Sherlock’s shoulders. Reluctantly, Sherlock eases himself down to sit, grumbling and touching the back of his head for personal confirmation. His enthusiasm for the chase gradually deflating.

“Let’s not take any chances with that magnificent brain of yours, eh? I think you should get that looked at down at the A&E. You might have a concussion.”

“Oh for god’s sake, John.”

“Colin,” John corrects, casting a wary look above to the windows overlooking the alley. “Sherry… Please? For me. I’ll worry if you don’t.”

“I don’t need a hospital, I was just dazed. It’s already passing. See? It’s nothing to worry about. I feel fine.”

“Then will you come home, then, and let me dress it? You can’t just leave it like that.”

Sherlock casts a wistful look in the direction of his lost quarry. John crouches by him and squeezes his hand. He understands the sense of loss his mad, brilliant lover must be feeling, to have come so close to the prize only to have it slip through their fingers. Just as Sherlock trusts him to know when to cut their losses and take care of what’s more important at the moment. He eventually nods, allowing himself to be pulled to his feet, and they make their way out into the open streets.

—

John fusses at the tightly wrapped bandage, making doubly sure of the quality of his handiwork as Sherlock stares glumly across the kitchen. Bloodied clothes lie discarded in the laundry basket in favour of a flannel dressing gown and slippers. Satisfied with his work, John steps back and checks his watch.

“Right, you should go get some rest. I’ll check on you every half hour. I need to call into work and tell them I won’t be in today.”

Sherlock brushes shower-damp curls away from his eyes. He looks up at John. “You were right. It would’ve been stupid to keep chasing him. I’m glad you were there to stop me.”

A soft smile crinkles his eyes, and John leans down to press a gentle kiss to his lips. Sherlock hums appreciatively, wrapping his arms around John’s waist and drawing him closer to sit on his lap.

“Me too, love. That was a lot of fun. Much rather be running around Tok Town with you than pulling another TV remote out of someone’s arse, any day of the week.”

Sherlock bursts into giggles. The effect is contagious.

“I’d prefer that too, if we could afford it.”

“I assumed we could, until I saw our bank balance.” John’s eyes fall to the stack of bills on their kitchen counter. “If we ever go back to London, I’ll have a few choice words for that brother of yours. He promised enough to keep us comfortable for at least a year.”

“Well, you know Mycroft,” Sherlock replies, laying his head on John’s chest. John strokes his hair absently. They sit in comfortable silence for a while, holding each other in a moment they recognise has become too rare, too precious.

“Speaking of your brother…” John begins.

“Let’s go to bed,” Sherlock says, lifting his head, and John dearly wishes he could read such guarded expressions.

“Still no word?” he tries, but Sherlock doesn’t say anything else, just kisses him on the lips and slowly lifts them to standing, and John allows himself to be guided back to bed.

—

When John wakes again some time in the early afternoon, Sherlock is already gone, his side of the bed cold once more.

—