#both can and will co exist for raph

[seagull-scribbles]

Love her even though I’m not supposed to ❤️ she keeps me up

[chaifootsteps]

The most annoying thing for me so far is the fans and the haters that refuse to acknowledge there is a middle ground. The fans refusing to acknowledge that the show is not good but its ok if you like it and the haters refusing to accept that there were some legit funny moments (and let's be real the plot had a great 'idea', too bad they ruin it because of the way the show it's written).

You cab like the show, that's fine. But it wasn't perfect. It had a lot of hit or miss moments (especially miss). But I think it was entertaining. And that's very important at the end of the day. Pretending like it's the worst thing to ever exist is really stupid, I mean it's not great but it's not that bad either.

I can say it was predictable and a little disappointing. And rushed. Felt like they combined 2 or 3 seasons in 8 episodes (we could have a separate season for the Angel situation and the War with heaven because they were both so rushed it was underwhelming)

I think the problem looming over and behind it all is Vivzie. Vivzie and her posse of Spindlehorse higher up buddies are this ugly blight on the show, the ones who slipped Raph's rape fetish comic scenes into episode four and then yelled at survivors for three days, the reason for the Sir Pentious rape joke.

If it weren't for Vivzie and co, the stealing and workplace abuse, the underpaid animators, the pain they've caused? I'd be a lot more eager to say "This is dumb, but I like it."

(You know what it reminds me of? Rent. Rent is so, so fucking stupid, and even when I ate it up as a kid part of me always knew that, but it's an enjoyable kind of stupid.)

[bluepeachstudios]

GitS Asks

(These are from before Chapter 30 came out)

They're unprepared but they make up for it in their tenacity and flexibility!

You. Are you spying on me? Squints

OUGH </3

Yeah, Don will make friends with anyone! He's often torn up over them leaving, as well. Ghost just lost too much. He's scared to get close to people because they might leave, or he might leave, but the kids kind of kidnapped him, so.

Spirit thinks that Leo's unfocused but he definitely doesn't mind it. He does think a lot about "is this how I would have been had I not been the leader?" He loves Leo, though. He loves that he gets to be silly goofy and a kid.

Spirit thinks Raph makes a good leader when he's not panicking over his little brothers. He's got a bit of learning to do, and some helicopter brothering going on, but Spirit gets it. This Raph isn't as angry. He can't afford to be as angry and reckless as Spirit's Raphael.

Probably Splinter, considering he's more skilled as a ninja but also incredibly used to Rise logic fhgkdjfhg

Oh yeah Mike would have a GRAND old time with the villains. He'd love the banter, love the theming. God he'd be delighted. All the villains are confused because he always gets so excited to see them.

Yup! One way or another, Don gets mutated.

The TV shows, movies, books, songs, entertainment media. There might be equivalents in this dimension, but not all of them exist. He wishes he could read Justice Force stuff because that's what his Mikey was most into, but it doesn't exist in the Rise Dimension. There are songs he can't quite remember the lyrics to but the melodies are stuck in his head. Some stuff just. Doesn't exist here.

Bringing back the Michelangelo saying "So THAT'S where you've been you WHORE" joke for this one

Arguably yes. In another dimension, Splinter lost his son the same way Rise Splinter lost his mother. It makes him worry that he's going to lose his sons again, so he withdraws further, which only worsens his depression. When Ghost withdraws, the kids go and drag him out, because they know that they can. They probably tried, when they were younger, to spend time with Splinter even when he felt bad, but he snapped at them sometimes. They would leave, and he'd feel even worse about himself.

Ghost being around means he doesn't have to worry about them as much. Ghost can do that for him. Ghost is a better father than him. Like Ghost said, he's a terrible father. So why bother trying?

I feel like I've definitely answered this before or it's in the fic, but he likes to bake with Mikey and do drawing stuff with him. Ghost only does blueprints, so his drawings are all very technical, but Mikey likes to do this thing where he takes Ghost's technical drawings and paints them all wild and colorful and it's a very nice juxtaposition.

With Leo, Ghost geeks out with him. They read Jupiter Jim comics together, they watch Lou Jitsu and Jupiter Jim movies, Leo will infodump about theories and headcanons and basically fanfic ideas he has, and Ghost will happily listen. His big brother used to listen to is infodumps, so this feels like repaying him, somehow.

Raph and Ghost usually train, or Ghost shows Raph how to build things. Raph's a big guy, he's a bit clumsy, he's never felt like he could build or make anything before, not like Mikey or Donnie, who are creative as all get out. But Ghost shows him he just needs the right medium. Metal is good for Raph because he can bend it easily, and he starts enjoying welding. He helps Ghost with a lot of the bigger repairs around the lair. Otherwise, they'll sit and read next to each other. They get cozy.

Yeah. That's why during "Same As It Never Was" short story, when Ghost intercepted Freshly Mutated Lou, they both kinda just. Broke down to each other and then. Y'know. Raised the kids together. Co-parenting. Generally much better off than Ghost continuing to isolate himself.

-------------------------

Anonymous asked: I really do love how you make a point to emphasize that mutated Ghost is a scared animal more than a monster. 03 didn’t really give the time or depth to explore Ghost’s psyche as much. (Not that it’s a bad thing! It’s my favorite arc for a reason and part of it is just the nature of a visual and auditory medium rather than a written one, plus the nature of weekly episodes and the audience being a bunch of kids who are freaking out over their favorite character, it simply makes sense why they didn’t dwell on that and instead focused on his brothers’ reactions to it instead.) As a complete animal nerd to the point where animals and animal behavior is basically a special interest of mine though, it REALLY scratches an itch when writers actually take how animals actually think and behave into account rather than just defaulting to stereotypical monster behavior. An injured animal IS the most dangerous thing you can encounter in the wild for a reason. They’re scared. They’re in pain. They’re worried you want to kill them and therefore think they have nothing left to lose and will fight with everything they have to get you away from them. On top of it all, Ghost has just enough of his mind left to seek stuff out but not know /why/ he does the things he does. He follows scents that are familiar. He didn’t chase the boys or lunge until they got too close. He still tries to hide. Leo’s right when he says Ghost still doesn’t want to hurt them, it’s just that for once animal panic and self preservation instincts are making him forget everything else. He doesn’t understand that they’re trying to help him. A scared animal doesn’t want to fight, it just wants to be safe. -- (Keep Scrolling Anon)

This is a very good analysis on what I wanted Ghost to feel like. He's in a massive amount of pain. He's scared. He wants it to stop, but there are things reaching for him. He doesn't know that he's hurting the people he cares about, he just knows that he's being hurt.

@hrshlandturtles Yup! Fridays seem to be a good day to do stuff. A lot of other fics update on Saturday or Sunday and Friday is a good time for people who were busy with school or work to read the chapter after getting back for the weekend.

-------- The following ask happened after Chapter 30 released!

:') I'm very sorry for everyone's pain. I tried to warn people.

[theanonymousninja247]

FOLKS OF TUMBLR!

PRESENTING FOR THE FIRST TIME EVER ON ACTUAL PAPER AND NOT JUST A FIGMENT OF MY IMAGINATION, THE ONE AND ONLY…..

✨💙 VINCENT 💙✨

The GOODEST Boi to exist in the history of EVER. I have been working with his concept for 2 years now and this is my first attempt to actually capture him, so many thanks to the ever incredible @kittpunk144 for helping me get out of my comfort zone and inspiring me to get the boi out there🧡🙌🏼

More Fun Facts About the Boy Below ⬇️ 💙 ✨

Name: Vincent

(After the one and only Vincent Van Gogh)

Nickname: Go-Go (Only Mikey and Me)

Age: 24

Gender: Male

Species: Morrocy Tortoise

Height: 6’ 3”

Occupation: Todd’s Blacksmith Apprentice and Co-Todd-Scott Captain

✨ Fun Facts ✨

~ This man can not walk through airport security because he is packing SO many hidden weapons like it’s not even funny. When I say he’s armed, I mean he is ArMeD. He is CoNsTaNtLy working on some new blade as he’s learning to perfect his technique. Baby Boy is a Mary Poppins when it comes to weapons because there is no telling what he’s gonna pull out next.

~ He’s got a nervous tick! Most Morrocoy Tortises use head movements as a form of communication and Vincent is no exception. You can tell what his mood is depending on how he bops his head. ⚠️ WARNING: Man will headbutt you and ram into you to show affection ⚠️ (but don’t worry, he is a shy respectful boi and won’t do so unless express permission is given because he understands he big)

~Baby boy is so incredibly tender and shy like the ultimate gentle giant #strong silent type and unfortunately is incredibly socially awkward. Very innocent and somewhat gullible this man desperately needs social interaction (#he knows sign language to help cope) and enrichment so please come say hi!

How Vincent Interacts with the Boys 🧡💜♥️💙

🧡: First person to meet after Todd. Best buds like ever. Vincent sees the similarities between Mikey and Todd so he naturally gravitates to him as he sees him as a safe person. They get along swimmingly as Vincent thinks the world of Mikey, seeing him as incredibly socially apt and emotionally mature and lowkey the brother he never had. As such he’s like MEGA protective of Mikey in a very ninja kind of way because he KNOWS Mikey can take care of himself. Basically sees Mikey as the man and not the baby brother for once and I think Mikey finds that refreshing.

💜: Somewhat of a glorified Teacher/ Student relationship. Vincent loves to learn and Donnie knows a lot and is more than happy to have a captive audience to listen to his infodumps. They are both introvert buddies and love to weld together, unfortunately feeding into each others drives to build something crazy and dangerous

♥️: Vincent is a BIG BOY (he works in a forge and helps herd Todd’s puppies so you know he’s got those good hugs) and the only person he’s ever really hung around with is Todd (smol) so first interaction with Raph is ultimate intimidation. He’s not used to someone being bigger than he is, he’s never had a big brother, and Mikey adores Raph, so Vincent has NO idea how to interact. So poor baby resorts into the most painfully polite little gentleman you will ever meet. He’s so respectful and cautious it actually hurts.

💙: Ok. So sure, Leo wore blue first but Vincent wears it better. And by that I mean, once Vincent gets out of his shell (literally) he’s actually really naturally suave and sweet. So when it comes to Leo, Vincent thinks he has incredible potential and skill but gets frustrated when Leo tries to hide behind an air of flippancy. All Vincent knows is how to be genuine and doesn’t understand why Leo can’t be straightforward sometimes. It’s a small lowkey rivalry kind of thing between the two, so it makes interactions interesting.

Also shout out to @saspas-corner for being the first person to here the whole schpeel and help me really flush out his character 🙏🏼🧡

ROTTMNT OC TURTLE BASE!!! 🐢✏️

Was bored and decided to make a ROTTMNT base for people!

Please credit if you use it!!! Don’t be too scared to tag me I’d love to see what you guys come up with!

‼️‼️NO NSFW I DONT WANNA SEE THAT SHIT‼️‼️

[goodlucktai]

If you’re still taking fic prompts, how about some good ol’ fashioned woodyangelo cos you write them so so well and I can never get enough of them both 💛

set in 2012 'verse, but the turtles are all different ages, like they are in rise <3

x

They weren’t sure about Woody at first. None of Mikey’s brothers were, it wasn’t just Leo. 

The guy was just so… normal. He wasn’t thrown into their lives the way April and Casey both were. He didn’t prowl around dark alleys in the middle of the night, picking fights with crime lords and brain-shaped aliens in power mechs. His hobbies had absolutely nothing to do with sharp weapons or parkour. 

So it just didn’t make sense. There was no common denominator. He had no stakes in the game. He could walk away from them at any time and upend their entire existence and it wouldn’t cost him anything. Just because he hasn’t yet doesn’t mean he won’t. 

But it was a mistake to say as much to Mikey. ‘Mistake’ is putting it lightly. 

Leo has absolutely never seen his littlest brother’s eyes turn so sharp. Mikey drew himself up like he was bracing himself for a knock-down, drag-out fight. It was like looking at a younger Raphael, except he burned hot, and apparently Mikey burned cold. 

“You don’t like any of my friends,” Mikey said plainly. His arms were crossed and he wasn’t budging. “You call Mondo annoying right to his face, and you’re scared of Leatherhead because he’s stronger than you so you’re always weird and rude around him, and every time Renet comes to visit you look at her like you think she’s stupid. And I can tell, ‘cause it’s the same way you guys look at me.”

“Woah,” Donnie said, putting up his hands. His eyes were round and stunned. None of them had come into this conversation expecting it to spiral into an outright confrontation so fast. “We don’t think you’re stupid.”

“Sure,” Mikey said in a tone that made it sound like he was actually saying ‘yeah, right.’ His mouth was set in a firm line, brows drawn together under his mask. “So are you gonna tell me to stop hanging out with Woody? Is that what the point of this was?”

Originally? Yes. But Donnie was stricken, and Raph kept shooting sidelong stares at Leo that said Abort, Fearless, abort! as clearly as if he was shouting it. But more than that, it was the way Mikey was looking at him. 

He looked like he was ready to get his feelings hurt, and it was the first time he’d ever looked at Leo like that in his entire life. 

Leo was doing his best to lead the family without Splinter’s patient guiding hand, but there were days that he really struggled. Days that he’d give anything to see his father again, so he could ask for one more answer, one more moment of wisdom. 

But he didn’t need anyone to tell him what the right answer was here. 

“No, Angie,” Leo said quickly, the old nickname slipping out on its own. “I’m sorry I came at this so wrong. I just want you to be careful, okay? You know I—I worry.”

Mikey’s expression softened. Underneath the unfamiliar angry, defensive shell, he was still the sweet kid that brightened all of their days. He surged forward and Leo readily enveloped him in a snug hug, swaying him side-to-side in a playful way. 

“It’s okay, Leo. I’m not very smart, but there are some things I know for sure. And I know Woody’s good.”

“Okay,” Donnie said, breaking up the hug with a brisk clap. Now he was the one who looked ready to go on a warpath. “We’re talking about that next. You are not stupid.”

“And I’m not scared of Leatherhead, that's dumb,” Raphael blurted, like he couldn’t go another second without saying it. So the Woody conversation quickly winged away in another direction, but they all ended up talking about things that needed talking about, and Leo soaked up their company the way other turtles basked in sunlight. 

It would be easier if he could protect his brothers from every uncertainty and every stranger and every heartache, but doing that would sabotage all of the potentially good things, too. And Leo’s brothers deserved every good thing the world had to offer. What the world didn’t offer, Leo would take for them. 

He still wasn’t sure about Woody—that hadn’t been cleared up at all—but he wasn’t going to deny Mikey anything that made him happy. Leo’s job as big brother and stand-in parent was to step in when things went wrong and make them right again. Until then, he would just pray they didn’t go wrong. 

When Christmas Eve rolls around, the lair is packed. There’s music and cheesy Christmas movies and a rich spread of food. All of their friends make an appearance, even if they can’t stay. It’s so different from the Christmas celebrations of his childhood that it might as well be a scene from some alien planet. Splinter raised his sons with warmth and love, but he had been so alone in the world. Leo and his brothers are really lucky to have as many people to count among their family as they do.

He almost misses it entirely when Woody shows up. Maybe he would have, if Mikey hadn’t shouted out loud in pure glee. He watches his littlest brother jump down from Leatherhead’s shoulders and sprint across the lair at full ninja speed. Woody is laughing when they collide.  

Leo isn’t close enough to hear their conversation over the noise of the party. Casey and Shinigami are doing karaoke now, for some godforsaken reason, and they could easily drown out everything else within a ten mile radius. 

But he can see the brightness on both of their faces, the dimpled grin Woody’s wearing as he absorbs Mikey’s special brand of light, the easy, familiar way they lean into each other’s orbit. 

They start to venture toward the kitchen, and like an act of gravity, Mikey’s closest friends peel away from the party to fall into step with them. 

“—thought the movie tickets were my present!” Mikey is protesting, a big theatrical pout on his face. “The Force Awakens was amazing, and the theater was so cool!”

“The movie tickets were a red herring,” Woody replies. “My sister works there and it was really easy for her to get us in, especially because she’s been trying to get fired for weeks now. Your real present is actually in your house already. I had no idea how to get it down here by myself, so April and Karai helped me smuggle it in yesterday. I think they hid it in the pantry.”

Now it made sense why April has been guarding that particular corner of the kitchen so fiercely. Rockwell almost lost a hand when he went looking for some chips earlier. She tips her snowman-shaped mug at Woody in solidarity and he nods gravely back. 

Leo is curious. He drifts over to join April when she moves over to stand just inside the doorway, propping up a wall. There’s a crooked smile on her face. 

“You’ll want to see this,” she says, so certainly that Leo believes her. 

The present, when they wrestle it out of the pantry and onto the kitchen island, is fairly big, and it’s easy to see how one skinny teenage boy would have struggled to get this into the tunnels by himself. Mondo immediately plucks the bow off the box and smacks it onto the top of his own head, because he’s—

Leo catches himself. 

Because he’s a kid, Mikey’s age, mutated at fourteen years old and abandoned by his family and left to make his own way in the world. And maybe he’s annoying sometimes, but that’s not all he is. 

“I’m a gift,” the gecko says proudly. 

“To the world,” Renet and Woody say at the same time, utterly serious, and Mikey laughs. 

He enlists Leatherhead’s help in unwrapping his present, because the metric ton of tape Woody used is no match for the alligator’s knife-point claws. Then all the paper comes off, and Mikey takes one look at what's underneath, and the smile falls right off his face. 

It’s a KitchenAid Artisan stand mixer, in bright buttercup yellow, with a bunch of attachments included in the box. Leo stands a little taller, eyes narrow as he takes in the scene, trying to suss out what caused that expression on Mikey’s face. 

He looks absolutely dumbfounded. He thumbs at a corner of the box like he’s making sure it’s real. 

“It’s exactly the one I wanted,” Mikey says really quietly. He’s clearly overwhelmed. “I never said anything. How’d you know that?” 

“C’mon, amigo, of course I knew,” Woody replies. He’s a little self-conscious now.  “I had to do a lot of extra deliveries to save up for it. But I figured I had lots of Christmases to make up for. And I wanna be around for all the rest of them, too.”

Mikey sniffs, and then starts rubbing his eyes, his shoulders trembling. 

“Aww, Mikey, nooo,” Renet says, sounding choked up, “if you cry I’m gonna, like, start bawling my eyes out! Please think of my eyeliner!”

“They don’t have waterproof makeup in the 79th Dimension?” Mondo asks judgmentally. 

Leatherhead chuckles warmly, a low rumble that sounds more like a growl than laughter. He’s so laughably big he barely fits in their kitchen, but he fits. It has a lot to do with the way he smiles at Leo’s baby brother, like he knows exactly how special Mikey is. 

All of Mikey’s friends look at him like that. Even Mondo, skating in circles around the kitchen island, is sort of grinning to himself. 

“Can you stay the night?” Mikey asks wetly. “I’m gonna make homemade cinnamon rolls for breakfast with my new mixer.”

“Mikester,” Woody says, resting his weight on his elbows and leaning across the island to give Mikey his undivided attention, “I would literally rather die than miss your homemade cinnamon rolls.” 

“Hard same,” Mondo adds. 

Renet sighs, puts one arm around Mikey’s shoulders and the other around Leatherhead’s snout, tugs them both in really tight, and says, “This Christmas is one of my favorites. I come back to it all the time.”

“Stop trying to give me an existential crisis!” Woody demands, tossing a napkin at her. “I have enough of those on my own!”

Leo glances at April, and finds her already smiling back at him. The last stubborn guard around Leo’s heart folds, just like that. He gazes across the room at the ragtag little group his brother picked out for himself and realizes for the first time that he has a lot less to worry about than he thought he did. 

Woody wasn’t forced into this subterranean life of secrecy and subterfuge and war. He could bail anytime he wanted and leave these abandoned subway tunnels behind for good, the way any normal person probably would, and there would be nothing that Leo could do to stop him. 

He doesn’t have to stick around. Which makes it even more special that he’s still here. 

And he looks at Mikey the way everyone who loves Mikey looks at him. Leo would know that look anywhere. 

[temporaryturtlebrainrot]

The story of being human

(basically I can't draw anthro and decided to come up with an in-universe explanation as to why I draw turtles as humans) (set in spring/early summer 2022) (2407 words)

[relevant pronoun guide (headcanon):

Donnie - they/them

Mikey - he/she/they + fire as neo

Raph - varying from he/him to they/she depending on the day + red as neo

Casey Junior - any traditional pronouns + life and time as neos

Leo - he/him

April - she/they

S.H.E.L.L.D.O.N. - it/its

Splinter - he/him

Todd - he/him

Casey Senior - she/it

Sunita - she/they/it]

°°°

Even though it pained them to admit it, Donatello actually found alchemy fascinating. There was just something in it, in the fact that it was structured, like their beloved science, yet raw and unbridled, akin to all other mystics.

So, when Angelo decided to study his mystic powers with ✨𝓹𝓻𝓸𝓯𝓮𝓼𝓼𝓲𝓸𝓷𝓪𝓵𝓼✨, they readily followed their littlest sibling to the Hidden City. That had been less than two years ago, but they'd both made a lot of progress in their respective fields. Mikey, for example, learned to float, and tried to annoy Raph by being "taller than him", but... he just asked her for head pats (it turned pretty depressing when it turned out that red has never experienced the heavenly head pats, even when he was small, since they'd already outgrown Splinter and April by the time those were discovered, and Mikey promptly decided to make up for all the lost time).

The results of Donnie's apprenticeship were much more interesting, though. Because after they were done with all the basic minerals and crystals, the healing potions, making of the mystic weapons (!!) and anti-ageing potions (reverse, which they'd promptly given Splinter and preventive, which after some consideration and advice from Casey Junior went to Mikey), they were allowed to experiment on their own.

Naturally, they went and decided to come up with anti-mutagen. And the first step to anti-mutagen is mutagen, for which they could have gone to Draxum for help (they didn't) but couldn't use his notes, because, well... they didn't exist anymore. So, research from scratch it was. Naturally, the whole "mission" did not lack in funny occurrences - like, for example, the time their prototype turned CJ into a kitten for a few weeks, and though it was a case of the mutagen itself being non-permanent, Junior still has the ability to purr and cat ears that pop up when it's emotional to show for it. The next batch had Mikey and Raph both end up with actual, human hair, which Leo was very jealous of, but they were forbidden from further testing it on him, so... Another incident, though less funny and more happy, was when they'd accidentally mutated S.H.E.L.L.D.O.N. into a cyborg. April was the one helping out at the time, and somehow it ended up with her genetics, not Donnie's, so apparently they're co-parents now, since that batch was permanent. After that though, they finally reached something similar enough to the original that one antidote would work for both, and really, anti-mutagen wasn't very complicated from then on (this one they tested on Repo-Mantis' cat, since Mikey has wanted to steal it - provided they were successful - ever since Junior was back in times own body).

And, well, they were successful. So, Mikey now has a cat (newly named Ikki, after the Avatar character), Splinter has his human body back, and Todd has a sample he can use whenever he wants.

And everything is great. Except the fact that their notes have been stolen. Well, there goes the happy ending. For the past two-or-so weeks they've been going around, trying to figure out who was behind the crime. With no clues and still no clue.

Until. The six of them (that is, turtles, April and Junior) were camping out on a roof, watching out for Meat Sweats, when a mist appeared around the pig mutant and... knocked him out?

"Well, that's weird." April announced in a tone of someone who just spent fifteen hour straight babysitting a bunch of kids and can't really be bothered by anything they do at this point (which to be fair isn't completely inacurate), but before anyone could say anything else, Mikey, ever the kind-hearted one, went down to check on their enemy. They all held their breaths, waiting for any sign from the youngest turtle, until

"He's passed out!" fire yelled "And looks like a normal pig! But I don't kno.." there was a thud. Those still gathered on the roof looked below, then at one another, gazes full of worry. April let out a sigh.

"That... that can't be good." Raph whispered, panic lacing their voice.

"Obviously." Leo fought the urge to roll his eyes. "The question is, what exactly is that"

"Well..." April bit her thumb slightly "It's a gas? That's something... Mikey said Swaggart looked a normal pig right now, didn't she? That would mean..."

"Gasp! My mutagen!" Donnie interrupted suddenly "Whoever stole it, they must have gassified and modified it into some sort of pro-mutagen!"

"So you're saying our little sibling is down there being mutated into god whats know and we're just sitting here!? Let's go!"

"Raphael dearest, we do know what Angelo is being mutated into. A human, of course." Donnie stated, while Leo pulled on their eldest siblings mask tails to stop them from jumping right down.

"So, uh, any ideas what now?" Leo asked no one in particular, and, once again, April was the first one to respond;

"Well, first of all, D, do you have any of the antidote with you?" the purple turtle nodded "Good. Now, I'm texting Cass and Suni to come and help out, since you three are also at risk... Three, right?" she asked after glancing at Junior, who was exceptionally pale - perhaps out of fear of being permanently changed into a cat.

"Yes, the solution that resulted in Catsey" Donnie made air quotations when they said the name "as all of you insist on calling it, was far too removed from the final product to activate it this way."

"Great! So, D, get the antidote out, please. One vial goes with Junior to fix Swaggart, and then you take Mikey home asap, because you're both still babies, plus we don't know how long the knock-out lasts."

"I'm not a baby though, I'll be 17 soon! That's old."

"You're not 17 yet, and you're the youngest here, hence, baby. Anyway. When the girls get here, Leo will go with Suni to Todd's to warn him, and slash or administer his dose if he's already been hit. Raph and Cass will get one vial and hunt down Bullhop, and Donnie will come with me and we'll deal with street annoyances. Got it?"

"That's not fair, why do I have to go to Todd while all of you get action?" Leo piped up with his hand raised.

"Because Sunita is not the physical type, so she's unlikely to keep up wirh wild-style-chases involving Bullhop, or be able to lift up Raph. And I'm taking D because I don't trust the rest of you - except maybe the baby squad" (here Junior hissed) "-with handling more than one vial." Leo looked like he wanted to argue further, but in the end he just shrugged.

"Fair enough, I suppose. Case, you don't need to wait on us. In fact, the sooner you get Mike home, the better, probably."

"Huh?.. Oh, okay.. Well, that's me out." with that Casey grabbed the provided vial, shot up a peace sign, and jumped down. Just like that.

"It never ceases to amaze me just how recklessly brave that kid is." April shook her head.

"Well, he had to loose that leg somehow" the cynical reply announced the arrival of Cassandra and Sunita, with the former being the one to speak "Hey guys."

"Hey Cass. Sunita." Raph greeted back, voice tight. "Shall we get going? The sooner we're done, the better"

"Don't you mean shell we get going?"

"Not funny, Leo." Raph grumbled before walking off "Let's find Bullhop."

"Cass.."

"Gotcha'. Lead the way big guy. I'll see the rest of you guys later" Cass shot a peace sign of her own, making everyone realize once again how similar she was to her future child (or rather how similar life was to her), which was still something no one managed to get used to.

"Okay, let's move everyone. C'mon D!" April took off towards another nearby roof, Donnie following closely. Leo looked at Sunita for a moment before making a move in the opposite direction.

"Let's get this over with, huh? We're on easy mode. Maybe we'll even get some lemonade to boot." he smiled at his temporary partner. Sunita blinked at his quick change in attitude and almost inappropriately chipper tone, but soon fell into step with the slider.

"So, I noticed we weren't given a portion of... whatever that is they were distributing... why?" Sunita asked after they've been walking in silence for give or take 15 minutes.

"Oh, Todd's already got some, we just need to make sure he takes it. Amyway, you seen any good movies recently? Wait, no, better question. Are you, April and Cass together? Because April won't say and we've got bets going."

"And, pray tell, why should I tell you if April doesn't?"

"I'll share my winnings if I got any?"

"Deal." they shook hands "We are dating. For nearly three months. What else could be bet on... Our first date as trio was cinema, April's been dating both of us before we dated each other - she and I were together for five months, and she's been with Casey for six and a half-" ("Yes!!") "- and she asked me out, but we were both asked out by Casey. I think that covers the bases?"

"It does, and we've got a hundred to split because no one else bet on there being a more than a month between a line forming and transforming into a triangle."

"Neat. So, what exactly were you betting on?"

"Well, we wanted to start with yes or no, but no one would bet on the no, so that was abandoned. Then we bet on how long it's been, price is right rules. Donnie won that one, he bet two and a half months. I bet five.. Then it was who got together first, which I honestly thought was you and Apes. That one is a split pot between Mikey and, again, Don. Raph bet with me and Junior bet you and Cass, strangely enough. But then again he only recognised the two of you as their moms, so I guess it kinda makes sense. Then we wanted to bet line to angle to triangle vs line to triangle, but again, everyone was on the same side, this time wrongly, so that also was scrapped, and then we bet on the time between couple slash trouple, again with price is right rules. I bet month and a half there, and the next closest was D, who bet three weeks, but I still won. That's it. And there were twenty bucks a person in all pots, so total of three hundreds in circulation... Aaand we're here. There's no mist..."

"But no Todd either, it seems. Unless you see him?"Sunita looked around, trying to find the man.

"Nope... just that suspiciously blonde capybara..." Leo stared for a moment "yea, thet's probably him."

"Great, let's give him the thingy and go back. It's kinda cold."

"Yeeeaaa... I think it should be in the med kit in the kitchee..." Sunita turned around when she heard the splash, finding Leo to be faceplanting in a nearby puddle. She went over, picked him up, placed him in a sitting position and went inside the house.

"Okay, med kit in the kitchen..." she murmured to herself as she walked "med kit in the kitchen... oh, here! bandaids, bug spray... anti-mutagen. Huh, convenient that it's labeled. Okay, no time to dwell. Give that to Todd, take Leo home."

She walked over to where the "suspiciously blonde capybara" was sitting, completely unbothered, and forced the conents of the bottle she'd found down its throat before walking back to Leo. She picked him up with a grunt and draped him over her shoulder, determined to get to the turtles' house (yes, house. Splinter bought one once he was human again) as quickly as possible.

It took her slightly longer than she would've liked, but she got Leo there with only hints of discolouration. Right in front of the door, she'd run into Casey with decidedly-not-green-anymore Raph slung over her shoulder. She shot them a panicked smile, whispering theatrically

"Let's get in fast, I don't feel like finding out whether they actually wear shorts." The yokai snorted at that, symphatising, and knocked on the door. To their surprise, the person who opened was neither Splinter nor Junior, and they panicked momentally, thinking they got the address wrong, until the unknown kid turned and called for Casey's help in getting the passed out duo inside. Yeah. The kid turned out to be Mikey. Sunita was honestly a bit surprised at their appearance - she'd expected east asian, but they seemed to be somewhat mixed (blasian, as humans say) - but she looked very good nonetheless. With the kids' help, both older soon-to-be-no-longer-turtles were taken into one of the bedrooms and promptly hidden under blankets to avoid anone seeing anything. Mikey then laid out some change of clothes and they left the room to await April and Donnie's return. And, talk over what happened;

"So, did you get Bullhop alright?" Casey adressed their mom first

"Kinda. We wandered into a mist, big guy passed out, I left... them? him?-"

"It's been they them recently, yes."

"Okay. I left them in a safe spot and went on alone. Couple minutes later I find a passed out bull, so I assumed it was the right one and got it over with, went back to Raph and came here. But you know, they're really freaking heavy, that one, even for me."

"Cool" Mikeys eyes looked like they had stars in them "What about you, Suni?"

"It was alright... we didn't find Todd, just a normal - well, suspiciously blonde - capybara, but thankfully Leo knew where the thing was. Weirdly though, there wasn't any mist there, and he still passed out."

"Maybe it's a residual effect?" CJ wondered, only to immedietely shrink into herself when everyone looked at him "You know, like those things that stay in the area? Th-the Kraang had a couple of bombs like that." with every word Casey seemed to become smaller and smaller, and only Aprils arrival saved them from disappearing completely.

"Everyone good?" she said right as she kicked the door open, carrying Donnie like a sack of potatoes. She was met with a variety of vaguely confirming noises, and that seemed to be good enough. "Alright." her shoulders sagged with clear relief "By their absence, I take it Raph and Leo have been hit?"

"Yeah, they're in the cuddle room." April nodded, and marched over to subject Donnie to the same procedure. The others looked after her until Sunita broke the silence;

"How do we think they'll look?

[tmntxreader-fics]

TMNT Raph’s Karma (PART 3)

The final part in this series has arrived!

And... I hate it. BUT that could also be because I’ve stared at it blankly for at least 2 hours a day for what feels like eons and only type 50 words per session. 

Make sure to leave a comment!

WARNINGS: Cursing

PREVIOUSLY: 

“I didn’t know how to handle you. Not your temper or anything, that’s the same as before I can deal with that. When it comes down to it, I just didn’t know how to handle the fact that I’m-” you choke on the last words and you feel like you’re ready to puke at the blank expression that’s found it’s way to his face.

“The fact that you what?” Raphael questions, his voice as monotone as his expression. You vaguely notice that your chest is heaving up and down as if you had only just finished your gym session, in reality you are more anxious than you’ve ever been knowing exactly what’s about to come out of your mouth next.

“The fact that I’m in love with you.”

The silence that envelops the room is deafening; and it’s only because you’re watching Raphael like a hawk for some sort of a reaction do you manage to catch that he’s trembling.

You breathe out shakily, your voice during the confession had almost like a plea for mercy rather than a statement. His entire face has slackened and if you had to guess you’d say that he’s trying to decide on whether you’re simply fucking with him or not. 

This somehow, (and to your utter dismay), serves as a motivator for your nervous rambling to make a grand entrance, “Obviously I’ve never experienced love before but I think what I feel for you goes way beyond stupid attraction. I think I’m- I just, honestly Raph, I think I’m in love with you and I’m fucking terrified by it so I thought avoiding you would somehow solve it but I see now that I was so fucking stupid to do that and I’m sorry; I shouldn’t have done that, I-”

Your anxiety induced rant is cut shorter than expected when a large hand is swiftly but ever so softly placed over your mouth. The terrapin has moved so close to you that you find yourself struggling to remember to breathe, his presence thieving all the oxygen in the room. A molten gold gaze finds yours, burning with undecipherable intensity and you shiver when he grinds out the questions, “Are you playing a joke on me? Are you being serious?”

You’re unsure as to whether you should nod “yes” or shake your head “no”. You opt to, instead, place your hand over his own and slowly pull it away from your mouth. “I’m serious,” you trail off. There’s so much you want to say, you want to make it clear that you didn’t fall for his transformation; not for the size of his biceps or his new height. You want to tell him that you’ve been falling since you met him, that only when you were forced apart for 8 months did you finally understand that you had felt more than friendship.

“No,” Raph rasps and your heart drops. 

No. No? ‘No’ to what exactly? No to your feelings? Your confession? Your existence?? You watch helplessly as he leans in slightly but not in the way you want him to. His demeanour is almost intimidating, you would be alarmed if you couldn’t see the wetness collecting in the corner of his eyes. In that moment, catching the way the light glints off the misty sheen in his gaze, you realise that he’s vulnerable. Afraid to open himself up to the chance that you could honestly love someone like him. “If you really felt that way, you wouldn’t be ignorin’ me. You can’t even look at me no more and you expect me to believe that you feel somethin’ for me?”

You know instantly that he’s right, that whatever you say from here is going to seem like excuses but it doesn’t stop you from trying. “It was an immature way for me to deal with it, I know. I’m sorry,” you plead, trying to catch his eyes that have averted their gaze to the floor on the right. “I just, I didn’t know what to do. You’re not the same as you were, honestly you make me nervous now.”

He inhales sharply and turns a narrowed stare to meet yours, “why? ‘Cos of my size? You think I’ve changed but-”

You cut him off before he can continue down the path that you had already dissuaded, “No! Not because of that!” You grit your teeth, there’s no way that you can further embarrass yourself at this point so you try to come to terms with the fact that admitting everything and anything that you feel towards him will make things easier to process. You steel yourself before speaking, holding tight to your resolve. At least, if this goes wrong, you can just ghost and it’s not like they can just catch you awkwardly at the local coffee shop. 

“The way you talk, the way you look at me, everything between us has changed now. Maybe it’s just me, maybe I’m making up this tension in my head, I don’t know,” you breathe. “You went from cute to charming and now, as bad as it sounds, instead of me messing with you it’s the other way around and you’re good at it. I didn’t know how to deal with being at the disadvantage and it came to a point where it wasn’t just a game anymore for me. So, I was avoiding you instead of owning up to how I felt and I’m sorry for that, Raph.” 

You look down at your feet, unable to handle the indecipherable stare of someone you’re attempting to confess your feelings for. There’s a pregnant pause before Raph exhales slowly and deliberately, your stomach feels heavy with nausea at the sound. You want to reach out and touch him; your bodies so close but, strangely, the small distance between seems like a mile.

Raphael breaks that distance with a hand placed on your shoulder, enveloping the entire curved structure. You look up sharply but you’re careful to convey a neutral expression. The words that exit his mouth next make your face drop completely. 

“So, what you’re saying is,” he begins, eyeing you with decisive intention, “I’ve got fucking mad game and now you’re obsessed with me?” 

Your jaw drops and, for the first time in a long time, you’ve been rendered completely speechless. 

Raphael’s lips twitch before they curve upwards and stretch over his teeth. His laugh is boisterous and loud, almost startling you from your shocked state. 

“What?!” You exclaim, bashing your open palms against his plastron. “Are you serious, right now?!” 

He grabs your hands that had been whacking his chest, subduing your feeble hits easily. His laughter makes you want to die of embarrassment, a blush forming on your cheeks with pigmented colour to rival his bandanna. 

“Piss off, you oversized meatball,” you snap at him, wanting nothing more than to just disappear. 

“Aw, come on short-stack, don’t be like that,” Raph chuckles, his fit of amusement slowly settling. 

“You were the ‘short-stack’ first, be original,” you retort, rolling your eyes. 

“Nah, alright, I’m sorry,” he states, his voice still seeping with mirth. He takes a knee, barely a few inches shorter than you even in this position. A golden gaze seeks out your own and you reluctantly meet his eyes, both of you sobering up. “Look, I know exactly why I love ya, but I don’t know why the hell you’re into me. You could get anyone and ya settle for some fuckin’ swamp monster who can’t give you nothin’; not even half of what ya deserve.” 

He clenches his jaw, and looks at the ground briefly before turning back up to face you, “Being with me will rob you of anythin’ normal. Hell, I can’t even take you out on a proper fuckin’ date and that’s the most basic, simple thing in a relationship!” 

You narrow your eyes and, this time, it’s your hand that muffles his next words. “You listen here, pinhead. You better listen close,” you huff, “I don’t want basic. I don’t want simple. I don’t want what’s normal. What I want is you! Your time, your company, your attention, your love, your advice; none of that requires socially acceptable activities.” 

You take your hand off his mouth and he stares at you for a long moment, a small frown marring his face. “You say that now but when I can’t meet your parents or your friends or take you to a restaurant for our anniversary, what then, huh?” 

“We will cross that bridge when we get there,” you state. He bites his lip as if attempting to prevent himself from opening his mouth. “Raph, I’ve made what I want pretty clear but in the end it just comes down to whether you’ll have me or not. Whether you want to give this a shot or not. It’s your choice and I’ll respect whatever decision you make.” 

Instead of an answer, there is a pregnant silence and your heart feels as if it’s nestled itself into your throat. You understand his hesitance, this is not going to be an easy relationship. It will reach breaking points, there will be moments of weakness, you both will stress and Raphael will always have that lingering self-doubt. You also know that you want it all; the hardships, the yelling, the arguments, the crying, the breaking point. If the person is worth it, it’s those mutually broken moments that create the strongest foundation. Once you build upon them the only way from there is up with no need to ever look back. 

“You...” Raphael trails, visibly bewildered. “Are you actually askin’ whether I’ll have ya?” 

You raise an eyebrow at the wobble in his voice, only offering a hesitant nod. 

“Oh, you’re a fuckin’ idiot,” he states, his words a breathless sob. 

 You would have liked to retort, you really would have. 

However, as you taste Raphael’s tears on your tongue, you concede that your lips are fairly... preoccupied. 

[recentanimenews]

The Rising of the Shield Hero S2 – 05 – The Ost With the Most

Berg, Therese, and New-Look Glass are not in the bowels of the Spirit Tortoise to fight the Shield Hero and his party. No, they’re there to deal with one of their own: a fourth Hero from their world who is only causing shit for his own personal gain. Berg proposes a truce and team-up; Naofumi refuses, but says if they don’t want to fight, they can do whatever else they want.

Just like that, they part ways, even though both parties are looking for the Tortoise’s heart. Instead, Naofumi & Co. come upon a dragon hourglass. Ost recalls that it’s used to indicate how many souls the Tortoise has consumed and converted into the power that would create a barrier against the Waves. Berg & Co. seemingly find the real heart first.

Naofumi’s party soon finds what they believe to be the heart, but encounter the fourth Hero from Glass’s world, who clearly matriculated at Generic Anime Bad Guy U. Long, wild gray hair, glasses, a quasi-military uniform, and a devil-may-care attitude…he sucks, and I just want to punch him. But he is the wielder of the Book vassal weapon, and even Ost’s attacks go right through him.

When this guy doesn’t heed Naofumi’s order to release control of the Tortoise and give back the souls he stole, he lets the heart’s defense system kick in, forcing Naofumi to protect everyone with his Meteor Shield. Filo and Raph fan out and attack the heart, but as they do, they cause Ost to cry out in pain, and she eventually passes out.

This whole time inside the body of the Tortoise, Ost has been doing some serious soul-searching. Once her existence was so simple: collect souls with the greater good of protecting the world from Waves. But then why does she empathize and feel with the people whose souls she’s supposedly designed to take?

The answer, it would seem, is that she isn’t really the Tortoise’s familiar. Even with the Tortoise’s head and heart destroyed, she remains, and opens a path to its deepest depths.

The Book Wielder is there, annoyed they’ve made it this far, and reveals that Ost could be more accurately described as the Spirit Tortoise itself. She is its very core, which means if Naofumi & Co. are to succeed, they must kill her…which is exactly what she asked them to do when they first met.

By: magicalchurlsukui

[gemturtle]

The Ninja Turtles and the Louds (TMNT/TLH Crossover) - Summary and Ideas

Hello everyone, this is gemturtle here saying that what I'm planning to do here is a TMNT and Loud House crossover series called "The Ninja Turtles and the Louds". Here's the summary:

In this AU, the Loud Family have moved over from Michigan to New York about 3 months ago. Lincoln Loud, who is the only boy in a family of 10 sisters, is feeling very stressed and uneasy about his new life in Manhattan and having new friends like Clyde and April. But one day while being chased by purple dragons, he was saved by 4 weird strangers who turn out to be 4 giant talking mutated turtles who can do ninjitsu! With these new friends/brothers, Lincoln, his sisters, April and the turtles will embark on living with the difficulties of normal life and going on numerous adventures and battling against ninja, mutant, alien, and mystical threats, all while remembering the importance of family. This is a crossover series that shows the bonding between 2 unusual families.

Major TMNT Characters: Leo, Mikey, Donnie, Raph, April, Casey, Hamato Yoshi/Splinter, Shredder, Irma, Karai, Kimiko, Ice Cream Kitty, Tiger Claw, Hun, Leatherhead, Old Hob, Krang, Eric Sacks, Bebop, Rocksteady, etc.

Major TLH Characters: Lincoln, Lori, Leni, Luna, Luan, Lynn, Lucy, Lana, Lola, Lisa, Lily, Clyde, Lynn Sr., Rita, Howard, Harold, Bobby, Ronnie Anne, Mr. Grouse, Agnes Johnson, etc.

Genres: Action, Adventure, Comedy, Drama, Sci-Fi, Fantasy, Martial Arts, Coming-of-Age, Slice of Life, Friendship, Family.

Rating: T (For drama, dark violence, blood, etc.)

Pairings: Leo/Karai, Lincoln/Ronnie Anne, Lori/Bobby, Splinter/Tang Shen, Lucy/Rocky, Rita/Lynn Sr., Howard/Harold, onesided Lori/Clyde, onesided Lincoln/April etc.

Author's Notes:

- The idea to make this crossover series was influenced by MiniJen's Universe Falls story, which is a crossover series between Gravity Falls and Steven Universe. Just like her story, it also takes place in another universe where the 2 series co-exist with one another. I first thought of this idea when I saw the LH episode "One of the Boys" (Hated that episode btw) where the oldest brothers had the voices of the turtles and plus, they all love PIZZA! So I thought to myself, what if Lincoln and his sisters actually met the turtles? At first I wanted to be a simple one-time crossover, but I just wanted them to interact as much as possible and see how well they work off one another. I could picture Lincoln seeing the turtles as the coolest "brothers" with them being pretty much like superheroes, and they would most likely have the same interest (Reading comics, playing video games, watching cartoons, etc.), and I also picture the Loud sisters being jealous of the turtles for spending a lot of time with their only brother. But the more the sisters spend time with the turtles, the more they see that they're not so different. I want to see the Loud Siblings trying help out on the turtles' adventures in fighting evil while interacting with each other in various 'slice of life' situations, which it's a hard thing for the turtles since they have to remain in the shadows. So I thought about doing something similar to Universe Falls and came up with this idea. Plus they're both properties of NICKELODEON, so it's possible we might actually see a crossover with these 2 someday. But for now, I would like to create this series.

- I figured what's going o be different from this series between TMNT and the Loud House is that instead of Royal Woods in Michigan, the LH characters will all live in New York since it is a important setting for the TMNT characters.

- Just like Universe Falls, this series will be divided into arcs with about 10-12 stories each instead of being 26 episodes each per season like TMNT. I plan to adapt some stories from the Loud House into my series and actually re-write them so that way they would have more of an accurate continuity unlike the actual show and hope not to add so much "Lincoln Torture" since I want to make this less mean-spirited and more genuine, I also plan to reduce the amount of toilet-humor (I mostly dislike that trope). So there will be some I won't do that I mostly dislike (Such as Making the Case, The Green House, Brawl in the Family, No Such Luck, etc.). As for the TMNT side of things, what will be very interesting about this crossover I won't be using any previous TMNT incarnations (Mirage, 1987, 2003, 2012, etc.) but to make it a brand new incarnation, so I can create my own version of the TMNT characters to interact with TLH characters. Now I don't know how many arcs will be created, it all depends on how long the TLH show can go or how many TMNT stories I can adapt.

- I have a lot of ideas I want to use and some that I'm not sure of; for one, I asked a DeviantArt user LeaderinBlue84 if I could borrow some of his TMNT ideas to use for this series.

- Leo in this series will be more influenced by his 2012 counterpart, but he is also an extreme anime lover, mostly listens to classic music, creates fan art with his username LeaderInBlue84. He would kinda be like the "Star-Lord" of the TMNT series, so he and Luna would get along well. Also, he will also have a wonderful bromance with Lincoln, as he would likely look up to Leo as his personal hero and a genuine role model and Leo would look up to him for never giving up for a child his age.

- Mikey is also the same goofball prankster we all know and love, and will be the most open-minded character in the series. He would give names to new mutants and bad guys and collect stickers to put on his shell.

- Raph will be the same sarcastic hot-headed bad ass he's always been, but he does have a soft and friendlier side for Lincoln and April.

- Donnie would be the lovable nerd with a big brain. For him, I figured he would be a little smarter than Lisa but would more of a nervous wreck and a clean freak like Double D from Ed, Edd, n Eddy. I also think would could also have gynophobia (Fear of females) from a traumatic experience. While he will be used to April, it would give him a hard time with Lincoln's sisters.

- April would be a teenager like her 2012 counterpart as well, she will be at the age of 15. Unlike meeting them like in previous incarnations she would have met the turtles at the age of 10 and is an orphan girl that is taken in by Splinter. She would also have developed some training as a kunoichi. She would also have a pretty developed busty chest for her age amking her socially insecure and making some of the Loud sisters jealous, but she would still be friends with them. And instead of Cristina, I was thinking Lincoln would have a unrequited crush on April for the first few episodes, until he hooks up with Ronnie Anne.

- Casey for the beginning of the series will be a juvenile delinquent and working for the Purple Dragons like Danny from the 1990 movie, but will soon quit and become a vigilante against them.

- I'm still wondering whether to make Splinter Yoshi who was mutated into a rat or have Yoshi and his sons be reincarnated into turtles and a rat like in the IDW comics, as well as Shredder's origin. Splinter will also not just bring wisdom to the turtles, but also to Lincoln and his sisters.

- There will be some street violence, blood, and intense battles in this crossover.

- And just like most of the fandom, I hope to actually make Luna and Leni be Lincoln's closest sisters being more of motherly figures to him so it is said that they have the closest relationship.

- As the romance for this series will go, I really don't mind Anthro/Human relationships like Leo/Karai. As long as the relationship is developed like Goliath/Elisa from Gargoyles. I want to try taking a crack at having Raph/April in this series, and I figure that maybe she and Casey would date only for a while. I was also thinking of one of the turtles hook up with one of the Loud sisters, I won't say who but it might be the most ironic relationship.

- I will also have some loud siblings to have a close relationship with each turtle: Leonardo (Lincoln, Lori, Luna), Michelangelo (Luan, Lana, and Lily), Donatello (Leni and Lisa), and Raphael (Lynn, Lucy, and Lola).

- I was also thinking of having Lincoln and April keeping the turtles a secret from his sisters until the end of the first arc and the parents wouldn't find out until the second.

- I figured Lincoln would be trained by Splinter to become a ninja, and MAYBE some of his sisters, specifically Lori, Leni, Luna, Luan, Lynn, and Lucy.

- Like I said before, there will be some stories I will adapt from TMNT; like I plan to do the Search for Splinter arc but differently. Instead, April and the turtles will live with the Louds until they find Splinter.

- I also want to do multiple crossovers in the future as well; such as Ghostbusters, Batman, Usagi Yojimbo, etc.

So that's basically it. What are your thoughts on this? Think this might be a good idea? How do you think the Loud siblings will react to meeting the turtles? How will they're interactions be? What TMNT characters would you like to see in this crossover? Could you see Splinter giving the Louds wisdom? How will Rita and Lynn Sr. react to the turtles? What kind of stories would you like to see? Let me know in the reviews.

[juniperpublishers-endocrinology]

Distinct Role of Estrogen and Er (Α and Β) in Various Brain Disease Anomalies- Juniper Publishers

Background

Estrogens, the primary ovarian hormones and are accountable for the proliferation of cells and tissues linked to reproduction [1]. Along with the functions on female reproductive system, estrogens also play a pivotal role in the maintenance of physiological and pathological states including central nervous system physiology [2,3]. Due to this wide regulatory control, it is accepted that estrogens have chief functions not only in female but also in male physiology [4]. Although the physiological importance of estrogen and its mechanisms of actions has significantly enlightened, however, we are only beginning to decipher the roles of estrogen receptors (α and β) in different organs and to elucidate how subtype selective ligands acting through these receptors, can prevent or treat various diseases. Thus distinctive role of ER-α and β in various brain disease anomalies has been reviewed here in.

Go to

Alzheimer’s Disease (AD)

Estrogen deficiency has been considered as a major risk factor in AD as widespread epidemiological studies suggests that hormone replacement therapy can defend against the start and progression of the AD. Estrogen can encourage the development of nerve processes [5] and make improvements in synaptic plasticity [6]. ERs are expressed in forebrain cholinergic neurons, which are familiarly involved in learning and memory [7,8] and estrogen treatment enhances cholinergic functions in ovariectomized animals [9]. Other putative advantageous actions include escalation of cerebral blood flow [10], enhancement of glucose transport into the brain and reductions of β-amyloid development [11].

Some reports in the literature indicate that both ERα and ERβ agonists show protective effect against AD. PPT (selective ER-α ligand) and DPN (selective ER-β agonist) showed protective effect against amyloid-induced toxicity in cultured neurons [12,13]. Similar results were also observed when both PPT and DPN showed similar types of results when were administered infemale 3xTg-AD mouse model. However, other studies suggest that ER-α, but not ER-β, levels associated with AD [14,15]. Another study reports administration of PPT enhanced the capacity of estradiol against deposition of amyloid- β in brain regions (amygdale and hippocampus), however, DPN treatment did not show any effect on amyloid-β accumulation [16]. Selective ER-β agonist (genistein) improves learning and memory in AD rats via its antioxidant effect [17]. These findings clearly postulate that subtype selective estrogen receptors play a significant role in modulators against AD.

Go to

Parkinson’s Disease (PD)

Epidemiologic and clinical evidences suggest that female sex hormone may influence the onset and severity of PD symptoms. Increased prevalence rate of PD in men compared to premenopausal women (3:2 ratio) suggests that gonadal hormones mainly estrogen, plays protective role in PD pathologies [18]. Various animal studies show that estrogen deficiency in ovariectomized rats influences the synthesis, release, and metabolism of dopamine (DA) and can deactivate dopamine receptor expression and function, which is reciprocated after estrogen treatment [19]. Secondly, estrogen may also exert neuroprotective effects on DA neurons by regulating expression of neurotrophic factors. Co-expression of ERs and neurotrophin receptors in the same brain regions and existence of estrogen response elements in the genes for nerve growth factor (NGF), BDNF and neurotrophin-3 suggest that estrogen can regulate neuronal survival [20]. As far as clinical data is concerned, preliminary studies suggest that estrogen may have beneficial effects on cognition in postmenopausal PD patients and may delay or prevent onset of dementia [21].

Various animal models of PD have been used to study the role of estrogens, SERMs, and ER subtype selective agonists in the development of PD [22]. ER-α knockout mice were more susceptible to 1-methyl-4-phenyl-1, 2, 3, 6-tetrahydropyridine-induced damage of dopamine neurons than were wild-type orER-β knockout mice. In wild-type mice, only the ER-α selective agonist (PPT) was reported to induce complete protection against MPTP-mediated loss of striatal dopamine neurons and dopamine transporter, whereas the ER-β selective agonist DPN unsuccessful to do so [1,22,23]. These studies designate that estradiol mediated protection of PD is through ER-α.

Go to

Anxiety And Depression

Women are more prone to get depression as compared to men and such risk is particularly associated with reproductive cycle events [24]. Various studies have verified that the transition to menopause is connected with increasing risk for new onset and persistent depression [25]. Although the mechanisms by which changes in ovarian hormones secretion lead to development of depression are not clear, however estrogen withdrawal theory suggests that reduction in gonadal hormone during transition of menopause exacerbates depressive mood and anxiety. ERs are situated in brain areas regulating the mood and behavior through serotonergic and noradrenergic neurotransmission. Estrogen insufficiency selectively reduces serotonin receptor density in hypothalamus and the preoptic area of CNS in ovariectomized rats which can be reversed by treatment with estrogen [26]. Furthermore, estrogen also enhances the levels of neutrophic factor such as brain derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF). Estrogen and ER agonists are reported to modulate the monoamine neurotransmitter systems by controlling monoamine synthesis and secretion [27]. DPN increased the tryptophan hydroxylase 2 expression of dorsal raphe of rats, however, WAY-200070 (selective ER-β agonist) increased concentrations of serotonin and dopamine extracellularly [28].

Estrogen alterations during menopause cause anxiety in rodents, which can be modulated by estrogen administration. Female ER-β knockout mice shows poorer serotonin levels and decreased dopamine content in several brain regions of anxiety as compared to wild-type mice. ER-β deletion results decreased stimulation of synaptic plasticity by estrogen and enhancement of 5- hydroxytryptamine 1A receptor expression in the amygdala. Moreover, estradiol did not show any antidepressant effect in ER-β deficient ovariectomized mice comparative to wild-type mice. Selective ER-β agonists produced anxiolytic and antidepressant effects in wildtype mouse models of anxiety and depression, however selective ER-α agonist did not show any effect. Same study also reported that, DPN decreased anxiety in both sexes, however PPT elicited anxiogenic behavior in rats [29].

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Stroke

Stroke is the abrupt loss of brain function ascribed to ischemia which indicates a disturbance in the blood supply to the brain. Risk of stroke is lesser in premenopausal women as compared to men of the same age, but the occurrence of cerebrovascular events hastily results rise in postmenopausal women[30]. Reason behind this seems to be pasting of the protective effects of estrogen. Various mechanistic evidences of protective effect of estradiol in ischaemia include reduction of inflammation of brain [31] and dysfunction of blood-brain barrier [32]; raising blood flow of the cerebrum [33], the ability of neurons to transmit signals and cognitive function; downgrading of excitotoxic ischaemic damage, oxidative stress and activation of various growth factors and signaling pathways, to preserve neuronal survival after injury or even to promote neurogenesis in the adult brain [34]. Studies involving mice with deleted ER-α and β indicate that ER-α mediates estrogen protection of cortical neurons in animal model of focal ischemia [35]. However, ER-β is implicated in the neuroprotective actions of estradiol in mice subjected to global ischemia and agonists selective for both ER α and β can partially protect gerbil CA1 neurons from global ischemia-induced cell death [36].

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Schizophrenia

Severity of symptoms of schizophrenia is greater in males as compared to premenopausal females [37-39]. Women have been shown to differ in symptom severity depending on the phase of the menstrual cycle [40]. Higher rates of relapse in women with schizophrenia are also observed during the postpartum period (low estrogens), whereas relapse is low during pregnancy (high estrogens) [41]. During menopause, women are at risk of developing a new schizophrenic illness [42]. Additionally, premenopausal women appear to have a superior response to typical antipsychotics compared to men and postmenopausal women. Estrogen plays a protective role in women with schizophrenia [43]. Estrogen treatment may reduce negative symptoms in schizophrenic women [44,45]. Estradiol may exert neuroprotection by several mechanisms that may even vary among different brain regions [46].

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Traumatic Brain Injury

Traumatic brain injury (TBI), is an injury in the brain, causes serious disability and even death. Various studies have reported a significant gender difference in the occurrence and pathophysiology of TBI. Epidemiological evidences have shown that clinical prognosis after TBI is better in female than in male patients [47]. Estradiol has been found to be beneficial in different models of brain injury in animal models [47]. Estrogen provides powerful protection against formation of brain edema and prevents damage to the blood brain barrier, especially by reducing inflammatory responses such as suppression of the production of several proinflammatory mediators including protein expression and the levels of IL-1β, IL-6, and TNF-α. Estrogen reduces damage to the blood brain barrier by inhibiting the expression of MMP-9 and cyclooxygenase and increases cerebral blood flow by maintaining brain perfusion, reducing oxidative stress, and inhibiting the activation of microglia. The useful effects of steroids are not only limited to the nerve cells but also expand to the endothelial cells. Protective effects ofestrogen on endothelial cells may enable them to protect the BBB against TBI [47]. Studies have shown that neuroprotective effect of estradiol might be mediated by both ER-α and β on blood brain barrier permeability, anti-inflammatory activity, the production of interleukin, and regulation of neutrophil recruitment in to the brain [48].

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Conclusion

Accumulating literature shows that female sex hormone 17β-estradiol is not only a reproductive hormone that is important only in women but it is also of immense importance for development and health in men. Although there is strong evidence from both human and animal studies that estrogen is protective in various brain diseases however, its adverse effect in classic target tissues such as uterus (17β-estradiol behaves as a full agonist on both estrogen receptor (ER) isoforms) is a matter of debate. ER subtype selective ligands are valuable tools for deciphering the specific roles of ER (α and β) in physiology and diseases. These compounds have a strong potential for development as therapeutics as these initiate estrogen signaling in brain but lack the mitogenic effects in other tissues such as ovaries and breast. Moreover, the existing and newer ERsubtype selective agonists will continue to be very valuable tool for deciphering the specific roles of ER-α and β in health and diseases.

For more Journals in Juniper Publishers please click on https://juniperpublishers.com/journals.php

For more articles in Journal of Thyroid Research please click on: https://juniperpublishers.com/jetr/index.php

[symbianosgames]

The following blog post, unless otherwise noted, was written by a member of Gamasutra’s community. The thoughts and opinions expressed are those of the writer and not Gamasutra or its parent company.

This post is co-authored by Pietro Polsinelli and Daniele Giardini.

In this post we discuss two themes:   How to facilitate writing for games? Given that writing say partially generative in-game dialogue is a specific process, how can one minimize the impact on writing of values from state and output variations technicalities?   and   How to design an in-game dialogue user interface? Designing in-game dialogues doesn’t seem to generally get much attention with respect to other kinds of game assets. We look at existing usages and we point out features to be  considered when designing dialogues’ user interface.

A note on the use of the author’s point-of-view. We sometime write as “we”, in the outlining sections, and sometime use “I” as a part may be one of the authors writing his direct experience, be it Daniele or Pietro. Bare with us - him - me :-)

Stories are remarkably useful tools for creating good games, Bogost aside. But writing for games is hard for several different reasons.   In The future of dialogue in games Adam Hines is quoted:

Writing for games and writing for anything else is a totally different job. It’s more like trying to solve a very complex mathematical problem than it is a pure writing exercise.

Most media have a predetermined, linear, progress. Even when the writer tries to hide this under a complex narrative, there's only one way to go from beginning to end. Under this aspect, games are a completely different medium: writing a game means dealing with mutations, branching narratives, and is a sort of chaos theory applied to storytelling.   Hence the writing style for games needs to be quite specific - this is from Writing for Animation, Comics, and Games:  

Animation, comics, and games fall into the category I think of as “shorthand” writing. This is in contrast to prose writing, where a writer can write plot, description, and dialogue to any length, and can cover all of the senses—sight, sound, touch, taste, smell—using both external storytelling (description, dialogue) and internal storytelling (thought processes, emotional description).   This specialized form of “shorthand” writing requires the discipline to write within a structured format; to pare description down to an absolute minimum; to boil dialogue down to a pithy essence; and to tell concise, tightly plotted stories.

In the following we consider how shorthand writing merged with state and variations handling can be smoothened for writers using specific tools. Methodological advances in how writing can be prototyped and tested can make a crucial difference in the quality of results (see How We Design Games Now and Why for an historical perspective) and so adding practical writing applications to your toolset can be useful.   Another feature of writing for games is that it has specific properties in the testing process: when you write say a short novel, you can do testing by printing drafts on paper, or reading it out loud, but in all cases you are working on a unique draft. In the case of in game state you need a way to do quick testing and changes while testing multiple possible results. For example this allows testing of the logic of what your characters end up saying in different situations. Narrative in games can solve problems - but it must be capable to relate and change in connection with dynamic state.   Here is a problem described by Daniele that having a dynamic flow tool that supports interactive writing and testing can probably help to solve:  

As a short out-of-theme anecdote, Pietro wanted me to write about one thing I mentioned in our talks, a thing that always kinda annoys me, and which represents a good example of bad flow. It's what I call the "wall of NPCs" effect, which is typical of RPGs but also of some adventure games.

It's when, for a few hours, you went around exploring and met no more than a couple people to talk to, then suddenly you reach a city. And kaboom, tons of people appear and, if you're a completionist / narrative - explorer like me, you HAVE to talk to each and every one of them. If the group of people was small, let's say four people, it would be a welcome change in pace. When the group is city-sized though, the flow completely breaks and you simply enter the "wall of NPCs" section of the game, which I find to be both interesting and stressful, mostly because all these people are not introduced gradually, but as a sudden presence, a feat, you have to overcome.

One solution to this problem is already used by less dialogue-centric games, where most NPCs are idiots with nothing to say. This removes depth from the characters, but keeps the flow, uh, flowing, since the player doesn't see them as a weight anymore. Still, I'm sure there's better solutions for more dialogue-centric games. Just something to ponder about.

  So let’s have a look at the existing writing tools for games.

Inkle’s Ink

A remarkable tool that allows all above is Inkle’s Ink, presented generally by Jon Ingold here and in more technical detail in this GDC’s talk by Joseph Humfrey.

  Ink is free and open source, just download it, install and there you go. Writing is linear (top down), the syntax is a markup language of sorts, and you control everything directly from text.   This is how Ink’s author sums it up:

Possible problems with this (wonderful) tool is that it seems really hard for anyone to get what is happening in anybody else’ writing, and possibly the writer herself could get lost when the text gets longer.

Dialogue as flow graph

A different approach is to write by creating nodes of a connected graph on a plane, as in the pictures below.

Night School Studio’s Oxenfree dialogue editor - image from The future of dialogue in games.

Daniele’s Outspoken (see below).   In a recent podcast by Keith Burgun interviewing Raph Koster, the latter made a wonderful casual observation about IDEs (Interactive Development Environment, Unity's in particular) embodying in their evolution some principles of game design. In the case of Unity, some of this learning by the IDE structure is built-in, and sometimes it is provided by third-party extensions. For the case of writing tools for games, let’s see an example from one of the author’s: Daniele Unity’s plugin Outspoken.

Outspoken

A while ago I (Daniele) found myself in need of a dialogue editor to use in Unity. I'm sure there's some marvellous in-house editors out there, but for what concerns publicly available stuff, I couldn't find anything that suited my tastes, most of all because all editors were pretty writer-unfriendly (except Ink, which is great but is missing a quick visual/organizational side which for me is—totally subjectively—fundamental). So I started the taxing feat of making my own internal dialogue editor, Outspoken. Please note that this is not advertising for Outspoken, especially because it is internal/for-friends-only. It's just a good example of the philosophy behind an in-house dialogue editor which I obviously know extremely well. So. The philosophy I decided to follow for the editor:

1. It must be, first and foremost, writer-centric. As a writer, I will write directly inside it, so I want its flow to be fast, easy to read/use, and pleasant. If my focus is lost and I'm distracted by the usage/complexity of the editor, the coherence and verve of my writing will resent it.

2. It must be fun to use, almost giving the writer the feeling of a comic. Because this editor is very personal to me and I'm a comic writer too, so that mindset works perfectly for me.

3. Nice to the eye, no cluttering UI. A dialogue node shouldn't be cluttered with encumbering UI, and should be as small as possible. In the end, I decided to hide all UI that is not always necessary (which means a lot of it) unless ALT is pressed.

4. Keyboard shortcuts for the win. They allow to write without moving your hands back and forth between mouse and keyboard, which is a focus-breaker.

5. It must obviously have all necessary features, and be expandable. "Necessary" as in "what I personally deem necessary" :P Which means actors, audio clip references, a custom in-dialogue scripting language, in-dialogue text blocks either randomized or chosen from variables/gender/etc, localization, global and local variables, etc.

It was a lot of work, but I used it for a few games and I can say I'm pretty happy with it (and the few friends that used it, Pietro first among them, seem happy too). Clearly, I'm also constantly evolving it.

How to design beautiful dialogues in games? Here we begin by presenting some example of existing in-game dialogues and then describing what we learned from developing several projects with such dialogues.

Learn from comics

I (Daniele) come from a strong comic culture. I loved, studied, cherished, all forms of comics — and also made tons of them. Thus when I made my first mini-adventure, Faith No More, it felt natural to me to look in that direction and start experimenting.

There's one thing comics understand very well, out of necessity. Lettering/written-dialogues are, or should be, an art. They can be used to convey emotions, mystery, fascination, as much — sometimes even more — as the text they display. Videogames instead, either consider text as mere subtitles, even when there's no audio, or as a beautifully printed paragraph from a book, sometimes surrounded by a multitude of decorations (there's just few recent exceptions I can think of, like Night in the Woods and Oxenfree, both inspired from comics). In short, every dialogue is, if not a wall, a brick of text. And that's bad: lettering can be so infinitely better. Both in how it displays text and in how it composes its elements, pulling them apart, shrinking and distorting them, giving a director's touch to their flow. Just look at these wonderful works — please enlarge those images to watch them in full glory.

Cerebus: Dave Sim and Gerhard Snapchat: Chris Ware Arkham Asylum:  Grant Morrison, Dave McKean, lettering by Gaspar Saladino Giallo Scolastico: Andrea Pazienza Elektra Assassin: Frank Miller, Bill Sienkiewicz, lettering by Jim Novak   Obviously, comics have it easy. Everything is—kind of—created altogether in there, with perfect knowledge of each, utterly static, element. Videogames instead live in a dynamic state, with lots of variables messing things up. They're much more complicated. So I'm not saying, "Look at them comics! Let's just make dialogues like they do!" I'm just saying it's a pretty cool visual culture to start from, in order to find one's own way.

Learn from games

Let’s start with a negative example, or “how not to do it” / the standard way / the obvious way: I (Pietro) chose The Banner Saga, because it’s a wonderful game and also its narrative flow is a marvel but its dialogue user interface may be its less curated feature, as you can see from the screenshots:

  The great quality of the graphic design of the game is a bit in contrast with the dialogue and ensuing choices UI. It looks like the designers have a cinematographic sensitivity, that does not consider “user interface” as deserving design attention beyond the basics.   A (very) positive example of user interface for in game dialogue is Night In The Woods (best comic-based example in our opinion - it's just beautiful):

As Night in the Woods dialogues are explored best when seen in animation (and that already tells something), check out this: 24 Minutes of Gorgeous Night in the Woods Gameplay.   For each of the examples we’ll list a recap of the design choices is expresses.   Choices for the user interface: text all caps, fixed font size, animated background, left aligned.   In 80 Days, there are two kinds of dialogues. The most used is a flow of pure text in a graphic context:

And a second less used style is with characters on the side:

Choices  for the user interface: sentence case, no balloon, left aligned on left and right aligned on right.   Now let’s see three examples of user interface for in game dialogue we (the authors) developed.

Faith No More + Nothing Can Stop Us - link

  Notes on the user interface: (Daniele) apart from the comic-based approach, the interesting thing here is the choice of leaving previous balloons present in the background. In my opinion, this helps readability, since the player can see a partial history of the dialogue (still, in a new game I'm working on, I'm scrapping this "history" concept to have single animated balloons, so it all depends on the context—see work-in-progress example of a "thought balloon" below).

In hindsight, I have to say I find the dialogue user interface of the two pictures above as nothing more than interesting experiments, still lacking a lot of the depth and charm they should strive to achieve. The one on the bottom is already going in a better direction. Whew, did I write too much here? Pietro never scolds me and then this is what happens!

  Football Voodoom - link

Choices: centered balloon text, fixed font size, standard “sharp” pointer, slight bounce of talking character.

The above dialogue design examples draw ideas and techniques from comics and game feel (see An Incomplete Game Feel Reader to learn about the latter). What is the conclusion?   The conclusion is that there is no conclusion. What are you, crazy, in thinking the creative work of crafting a dialogue user interface can be concluded anyhow? It's a constant never ending work in progress, and being inspired from comics is just a suggestion, mostly to point out a different creative direction than the "widely accepted and standardized" one :-) But games are games, not comics nor books nor movies, so it's an open ground for experimentation and for bringing your own personality in play. Cheers!   You can follow Daniele and Pietro on Twitter.