#i also haven't posted about rottmnt in a HOT second

[kozzax]

When they were young, Leo always claimed he and Donnie were twins.

Donnie brushed him off every time.

"Go away Leo. We aren't twins," he'd say, affectionately annoyed, before returning to his books and his projects. A deterrent of sorts, a statement meant to send his brother away so that he could continue with his projects alone.

And for years, this is how it went.

And then, when they were around ten or eleven, as Leo was pestering Donnie in his lab, the mechanism that Donnie had been working on broke. Leo tried to pull the twin card, to convince Donnie to step away for a bit and hang out with his beloved brothers, and-- and Donnie had already been having a bad day. His nerves were fried. His senses were blaring at him. His shell was too thin and soft to play their games, anyways. So he did as he always did, on these days. He sent his brother away.

"We aren't twins, Leo! We aren't even the same species of turtle!! We CAN'T be real twins! Leave me ALONE!"

And for once, Leo left without an obnoxious quip. For once, Leo was silent. And Donnie turned back to his project.

When Raph barged into his room half an hour later, he was startled by the intrusion. He was even more startled by the anger.

"Donnie. What did you say to Leo."

"Go away, Raph, I'm busy!"

"Donatello. What did you say to Leo. Raph's serious."

"I don't quite understand the upset. I just told him we aren't twins, and we're different species, and to leave me alone. Nothing more than usual. Why are you mad?"

"Donnie!"

"What!!"

At this point, Donnie turned in his chair to face the doorway, giving Raph an unimpressed glare.

"Why would you say that?"

"I merely spoke with him the same way I always do! This is how we work, Raph, you know that! Now leave me alone so I can fix this piece of junk," He turned back to his work, pulling his goggles down to look closer at the wiring.

"No. Dee, you really upset him this time."

"He's fine, Raph. He's just annoyed that I'm too busy to play frivolous games with him at the moment."

"Dee, he's crying."

"Raph, you know I struggle to identify when you're lying, I would appreciate it if you didn't-"

"Raph's not lying. Mikey's with him right now. He's crying."

There was a beat of silence, as this sank in. Donnie froze in place, unmoving until Raph turned his chair around to face him once more.

"...oh. I- oh, no."

"Fix it."

He pushed his goggles away from his eyes, holding onto his arms and avoiding his brother's gaze.

"Raph, I- I'm not good with... feelings. I don't know how to fix this one."

"You broke his heart. You fix it. Apologize."

"He won't believe an apology, not if it's really that bad-"

"Fix it."

"I- okay! Okay. I'll fix it. I'll figure it out."

"Good. I'm going to do damage control. Don't follow. Leo doesn't want to talk to you right now."

For once, the lab felt too quiet.

--

The aftermath of their fight was hard for everybody in the lair. Leo refused to even look at Donnie for longer than necessary, and Donnie retreated into his lab for far more hours every day than he had ever done before.

Attempts to get the two to reconcile continually went poorly.

Splinter paired them up in a training exercise, and was met with one of their worst performances since they were barely old enough to walk.

Raph put together a Jupiter Jim marathon that neither accepted the invite to, each citing the other's presence as their reason not to come.

Mikey did his best to drag either of them to sit down with the other, putting on the Dr. Delicate Touch persona and doing everything he could.

Even April, when she came over to see the rest of the family, would only ever be met with three turtles at a time.

None of it worked.

There was something broken between the two of them, now. Something that, to the rest of their family, seemed unfixable.

A day passed, and then two, and then a week, and a month, and-- nothing.

--

And then their birthday came around. A month and a week after the fight.

Donnie snuck into Leo's room long before the rest of their family could awake, an oddly-shaped present in his arms.

"'Nardo, wake up. I need to talk to you."

It took a moment for Leo to wake up enough to register who's voice was there, but when he did, he rolled over and pulled a pillow over the side of his head once more.

"Go away Donatello. I don't want to talk to you."

"But-- it's important. Really important."

"What, like the fact that I don't want to see your stupid face? Go away."

"Leonardo, please."

His brother turned over once more, opening his eyes and giving Donnie a glare.

"What. What could possibly be this important."

"It's our birthday."

Donnie's words were quiet and stilted, practiced several times over until they were just right. Before his brother could turn back around, he gestured towards the large item next to him.

"I made us a gift. Happy birthday us."

"We don't have to share a birthday anymore, since we're not twins--"

"Happy birthday us."

And when Donnie unwrapped his gift-- nothing really made much more sense, despite his wishes. It was an oddly-shaped piece of tech, rounded and almost as big as he was, with straps connecting to the edges.

"What is that. How is that worth waking me up, when I don't even want to see you right now?"

It wasn't until Donnie turned it over that the gift began to make more sense. It was a faint blue-ish green, with three lighter circles running down its back in somewhat shaky paint. A mirror of Leo's shell.

Confusion spread across Leo's face as Donnie secured the shell on his own back, before looking up at Leo again.

"Now we're the same. We're real twins, 'cause we have the same shell, see? We're-- we're real twins, Leo."

There was a beat of silence, as the two stared at each other in the dark of night, before Leo reached over and pulled his brother into a hug. For once, Donnie didn't't deny it.

"This doesn't fix anything. You owe me like, big time."

"I know."

"In that case-- I missed you, Donnie."

"I missed you too Nardo."

--

It took time for them to heal again. For the awkward energy that filled the lair to dissipate and return to it's usual air. But eventually, eventually, Leo and Donnie grew back into their usual banter. Sometimes, it seemed as though the experience had brought them even closer than before.

The shell he'd made to mimic his twin's would become Donnie's first ever battle shell. Every iteration afterwards, as he grew out of them over time, would grow further from its original purpose. By the time they were solidly in their teens there was little hint that it was ever meant to be an imitation of Leo's.

That first shell is kept in Leo's room, though. Sat atop a shelf, and gifted to him when Donnie grew out of it, as a reminder that the change in shells didn't mean that they weren't still twins. Real twins. No matter what science had to say about it.

[ryanthel0ser]

I am not afraid of starting a conversation with a wildfire

Thoughts on Rise of the TMNT (no matter series or the movie)

I adore Rise, Rise is what got me DEEP into TMNT.

I was a casual fan since I grew up watching the other iterations (I still remember watching the first season of 2012 as it premiered) but Rise is what really yanked me down into the hyperfixation depths. I love rottmnt so much, I've got the mad dogs on my laptop, a tshirt, and the Donatello bust from TheArtofColinStein.

I binge watched both seasons in 2 days and then watched the movie and was crying so hard at Raph's sacrifice I had to pause the movie just to stop and breathe I was weeping so hard. I have to emotionally prepare myself still for like a week before I watch the movie because it DESTROYS me.

I actually started using my Tumblr account to engage with other Rise fans and as you can see in my pinned I started an AU that involves peepaw Leo (I'm working on it I promise). And if you look in my archive you can see I've used that rottmnt tag just a bit sssjsjs

[aslitheryprinx]

Reasons I Love Rise!

(because I'm tired of seeing posts where people claim to like rise, but then do nothing but bash it!)

Character design! All of the characters designs, whether main characters or even side characters, are super unique and fun! The turtles all have designs that match their personalities both in this show and, imo, their general character through every version. They're my favorite turtle designs, with Batman vs TMNT coming in at close second.

Filler! Of course not every episode is a hit. But rise reminds me of 03 (early seasons at least, I haven't gotten to the later ones) in that even when there Is a filler episode, it doesn't feel like we're wasting time, or just waiting for the next plot episode. Most episodes feel fun and engaging! We're watching the turtles grow, and having fun while doing it.

Tone! The way this show balances tone is pretty well done! It's, at it's core, a more lighthearted version than others like 2012 or 2003. It's probably closer to the 1987 version in tone, though not exactly the same. However, it can still have it's serious moments when it's important!

Relatability! Now, obviously, these are cartoon characters, so their personalities are exaggerated pretty often. But! Even with that, the characters in this show feel very real, especially in the more heartfelt moments! For example:

-Donnie shows his love through gifts, and has trouble understanding emotions

-Splinter cares deeply about his sons, but (potentially partially due to his own trauma) doesn't give them the attention they deserve.

-April is an incredible friend, but sometimes just wants to be normal.

-Raph does his best to be a good big brother, and sometimes the pressure gets to him.

Family!!! At it's heart, this is a show that focuses on a family! That's something that's great about TMNT as a whole, that family is important. That's especially present in rottmnt: Anatawa hitorijanai. This is also a personal preference, but it's really nice to have a show where there's almost no romance. There's enough to the show already that there's no need for idk a love triangle or something. Platonic and familial relationships can be just as meaningful or more as romantic ones!

Animation/Fight Choreography! Mostly focusing on the second bc I was rewatching Insane in the Mama Train a while back and Oh my God??? It's so well done? Like I love love LOVE fights that are as fluid as dancing. It's just so fun to watch. There's so many fight scenes, mystic powers or not, that are just Fun! Mikey and Cassandra's fight in Hot Soup the Game, when Splinter fights all four of the turtles at once in.... the episode whose name I forgot, the 'fish n ladders' fight, the series finale fight? Just all so good.