#i know most people follow me for tmnt stuff

[spicy-apple-pie]

Thank you @cdelphiki for giving us a Damian that is a normal(ish) eight year old boy.

(GO READ THE IN FOR A POUND SERIES RIGHT NOW ITS SO GOOD)

[tmntkiseki]

The very long post where I talk about all the stuff I like from each of TMNT 2003's three art styles (and nitpick at the stuff I don't)

Seasons 1 - 5

When most people think of TMNT 2003's art style, they are thinking of the first five seasons. The dark muted colors, the heavily muscled designs of the turtles, the dynamic lighting effects that change depending on the location, time of day, and the weather. But what is it about the style from the first five seasons that is just so damn tasty?

Interviews with Peter Laird reveal that in terms of the turtles' appearances for the 2003 series, while he doesn't dislike the 1987 turtles, he did find them too cutesy for his liking and described their designs as being "puffy" and "kind of inflatable." The way the 2003 turtles were designed with heavy, well-defined builds was to firmly establish them as ass-kicking superheroes capable of inhuman feats of strength and agility in combat. This is even reflected in the choice to give them white slits for eyes like their Mirage comic book counterparts, which further emphasizes just how serious and intimidating these versions of the beloved characters are meant to be.

One of the things that really does stick out with me with the turtles is the use of "shade with black." Ever since I started learning how to draw in middle school, I've always been told to never shade with black; it looks flat, the colors aren't as deep, your art will suffer for it, etc. But for TMNT 2003, the choice to shade with black is actually of benefit to the series. People love TMNT 2003 for arguably being the darkest and grittiest animated incarnation of the TMNT with a lot of scenes that REALLY pushed the limit of what was okay to show on children's television, and color choice does so much to set the tone of the kind of story you're telling. I especially love it when the shading is used to emphasize expression, like when the turtles are angry or scowling. (Pictured: Raphael during "Meet Casey Jones.")

While on the topic of shading; it's amazing how dynamic the lighting is for this series. As I mentioned earlier, depending on whether a scene takes place indoors, outdoors, underground, underwater, during the daytime, during night, in the rain, etc. the lighting changes to reflect whatever situation the characters find themselves in, whether they're in a hard fought battle with the Shredder or just relaxing in the lair. Lighting for scenes is further affected by things like monitors, candles, street lamps, and other things, and it really brings out both the characters and the environments. (Though I can imagine it was incredibly taxing on the animators, who didn't have access to the same technology that's available now.)

Obviously if I had to nitpick, one of the biggest shortcomings of the 2003 series primary art style is the fact that there isn't a lot to differentiate the turtles from each other physically. If you take away their colored headbands and weapons, the only thing you have to tell them apart is their skin colors; Leonardo is forest green, Raphael is a deep emerald green, Donatello is olive green, and Michelangelo is myrtle green. Without those differing skin tones, there really is nothing setting the brothers apart from each other other than their headbands and weapons (something that the Fast Forward and Back to the Sewer did fix to an extent.)

And this is definitely a "me" thing, but to an extent, I do find the way their builds are drawn is a bit too... bulky? I know they're mutants, that cartoon/comic book style is all about exaggeration of physical features, and that the whole point of giving them these well-defined muscles was to make them appear powerful and athletic, but I dunno man. When I think of ninjas, the first things I think of are "speedy" and "acrobatic," followed by "strong," and while you obviously need a considerable amount of muscle to wield the weapons and perform the stunts that they do, there is a point where too much muscle does ruin the idea that that these turtles are just as fast as they are strong. But, again, it's a "me" thing and I'm pretty sure there are a LOT of people who would disagree with me on this.

Fast Forward

I mentioned in my last post that, believe it or not, I actually do prefer the overall art style for Fast Forward. Why? There are certainly arguments to be made about why Fast Forward's art style is inferior to the first five seasons; for instance, the lighting isn't nearly as dynamic, the designs are simpler and not as detailed, and the overall color palette is far more saturated. So why do I like it so much?

Well, simple: It ultimately boils down to personal preference.

Given my minor ramble about how I don't like how bulky the builds were for the first five seasons, Fast Forward is (to me) an improvement in terms of how the turtles are portrayed in terms of physical appearance. They still undeniably have a lot of muscle to them, but it looks a lot more natural and I can believe they are as fast and agile as they are strong. Fast Forward was also the season where they attempted to individualize the turtles' physical appearances a little more, and while there could have been a bit more effort in that regard (like keeping the missing chunk in Leo's shell from seasons 4 and 5; seriously, why is that gone?), I think they succeeded. Donatello is the tallest and slimmest, Raphael has the most muscle and broadest shoulders, Michelangelo is the shortest, Leonardo is a nice middle ground, etc.

I also really, really love the designs for turtles' gear this season. A lot of people have mentioned how good the turtles look in black/dark colors, and they really do look more like proper ninja this season, albeit future-themed. The praise I have for the designs extends to the supporting cast and villains as well; the future setting, with all its aliens and technology, offers so much in the way of creative potential, and characters like Cody, Darius, Bishop, the Dark Turtles, and many more all have very appealing designs despite being simpler than the earlier seasons.

However, for all that I love about Fast Forward's art style, there are two aspects to it that I have a massive love-hate relationship with.

First off: The shape of the turtles' heads. They are basically pentagons/hexagons this season depending on the angle they're drawn from and this actually isn't the worst thing if you're learning how to draw the 03 turtles? Because visualizing their heads as pentagons/hexagons is actually very helpful when trying to draw them as they appear in earlier seasons. However, in the context of Fast Forward, the more geometric shapes of the turtles' heads is almost too simple and does make them a little... dopey looking at times. Which becomes even more confusing as to why they went with such basic shapes for their heads when some of the official Fast Forward art uses a much rounder style for the heads that looks SO MUCH better in comparison.

The other aspect to Fast Forward's art style that I have a love-hate relationship with is the overall color palette, which was a consequence of the season going for a lighter, more humorous tone when compared to earlier seasons. It's funny because normally I absolutely love bright, vibrant colors and it doesn't actually look bad knowing Fast Forward's tone, but given I'm one of the people who does not like how different the writing is from previous seasons and how much it affected both the storytelling and characters, obviously I want my Fast Forward turtles with darker, more muted colors. (Though keep the glowy bits. I love my glowy bits.)

Back to the Sewer

And now we get to probably the only art style from this series that I do somewhat dislike.

So, let's talk about something that was originally an issue for me, and is an issue for a lot of people who watched this season: the fact that the turtles' eyes are visible through their masks. Obviously, after six seasons of the turtles only having white slits for eyes, this change is pretty jarring and back when I first started watching Back to the Sewer, I was not happy about it either, especially with just how cutesy the eyes are (and normally I'm the biggest fan of cute; one of my favorite "junk food" anime is Acchi Kocchi, for crying out loud.)

But after actually watching Back to the Sewer, two things happened: first, I got used to the turtles having their eyes visible, and eventually I realized that this is actually to the turtles benefit. The turtles are arguably at their most expressive in Back to the Sewer, and the eyes further help individualize the turtles; Leonardo and Raphael both have smaller, more angular eyes, while Donatello and Michelangelo have rounder eyes (likely to make them look more youthful compared to their older brothers.)

I still don't totally like the 03 turtles having eyes, but again, that's probably because we literally spent six seasons with just white slits and when compared to the changes Fast Forward made to the show's art style, the ones in Back to the Sewer are even more extreme and it just feels very unnecessary. (Based on early concept art of Leonardo for the season, it looks like they were trying to mimic the style of the 2007 movie, which would explain the eyes, as well as changes to Splinter's design and April getting completely redesigned.)

THAT SAID, they did go all out with the turtles' attire for Back to the Sewer. Stuff like the cybernaut armor, the stealth suits, the goofy fantasy garb from the MMORPG they end up playing, and the tuxes they wear at April and Casey's wedding are all incredibly appealing and while, again, I don't like the lighter tone of this season, they probably wouldn't have been able to put the turtles in these outfits had it still been dark and gritty like seasons 1 - 5 (I have seen quite a bit of fanart of Donny in his Sorcerer outfit and that makes me a lot happier than you realize, haha.)

Sadly, my compliments to Back to the Sewer do end there and it's probably for the best that I end this post here anyway since it's 3:15 in the morning and I'm falling asleep at my keyboard. (I can't wait to wake up tomorrow and see just how many typos I made.)

Thank you for listening to me ramble about my TMNT 03 art opinions and have a good day/night!

[satirates]

Rise of the TMNT fans, I need your advice. I'm a huge TMNT fan from the early 2000. I've watched and loved every single movies, shows and comics in the franchise (yeah, even the strange one like the 90s TV show and the Bay movies. I just really love the turtle bros)

The only one I haven't watched in its entirety so far is ROTTMNT. I started watching it when it came out in 2018 and I thought it was so good! It is different from other iteration, as expected with every new TMNT shows. This is what I love with this franchise, and Rise follow up right in its predecessor's path. But three things kept me from going past the first 10 episodes:

1. This show is overwhelmingly fast to me. The brothers are trowing jokes and quips so fast and it never really stopped to breath for 10 seconds. The lack of clear storyline didn't help this feeling, since it didn't give me an anchor to focus on while the other stuff is being thrown on screen as fast as Sonic throw himself at a chilly dog. 2. I know it's more of a ''me problem'', but Leo is SO different, it's literally difficult for me to think of him as the same characters as his other iterations. I love when the writers change things with the turtle's personality since it keeps the franchise fresh, but it was never to THIS extend. Watching rottmnt felt like entering a room where everything has been shifted a little bit to the left, as expected, and then you realize that someone has replaced the couch by a huge ping sofa. I'm still not sure how to deal with the pink sofa. I've never had one before. Also the sofa has the same voice and personality as Dewey from my favourite 2010s show, which is probably 50% of the reasons why it's hard for me to love him now that I think of it.

3. Terrible interactions with people in the fandom that were quite mean (I've felt Now, here's my question to rottmnt fans: should I give this show another go? Will it get less overwhelming and more focused with time? Will Leo grow into the character he's supposed to be, while keeping the traits that make this version of him so unique? Is the fandom welcoming, or treat me like garbage because I like, praise and critique most of TMNT medias, including some that are really different from Rise?

I really want to like this show. I don't want it to be the only one I don't like. Maybe I need to watch it in French so I don't get thrown off by Ben Schwartz too much

[tizeline]

Now that we're entering into 2024, I'm asking some artists and writers that I follow:

1) What is the one piece you're most proud of from this past year?

2) What are some pieces that you would have liked more people to see? If you can include links, I'd love to go check them out!

3) What were your top three favorite pieces (art, comics, fics, etc) that someone else has made this past year?

(As always, no pressure to respond! Feel free to just ignore, or let me know if you'd rather I not send you these kinds of asks in the future.)

Oh this is fun! :D

1) The drawing I'm the most proud of this year is actually one I never ended up posting lmao, so I suppose this is the perfect reason to actually do that

I always feel a bit self-concious about posting non-fanart drawings cuz they don't tend to gain as much attention. Which, I am fully aware that there are more important things than clout! But I am a simple woman, I crave validation 😔 Anyway, I am still very happy about how this one turned out. I very much prefer drawing characters over enviroments, which led to me being way worse at drawing enviroments than characters, so I've been pushing myself for the last couple of years to get better at drawing backgrounds and surroundings. While I still definetily have a lot of room for improvement, this illustration here is the best I've done in drawing enviroments yet.

2) Again, original stuff don't tend to get as much attention (which I fully understand btw, I don't wanna make it seem like I'm complaining too much, I very much appreciate any and all support I get!!!!) but this post with some doodles of my OCs as well as this random drawing of some forest with a big stone head lying in it are a couple of posts I wouldn't mind if more people saw so..... the links are there if ya wanna have a look 👀

3) Oh man, I've seen so many awesome artpieces this year, i can't guarantee that these are my actual top 3 picks, but here are some that I could remember liking (and that I also managed to find lol) (also these are in no particular order

This GIF was the first piece of RotTMNT fanart I ever reblogged and it's still glued to my mind it's just great honestly.

Man I do not like Timothy in the 2012 TMNT series at all but MAN do I love the way pinetreevillain adapted the character for the Rise universe! He's made quite a few comics of Rise!Timothy and he made the character so extremely likable I just hdsjhgjakfga also Pine's artstyle is delicous yummy yum go check out his art now!

I really like those reanimation projects where a bunch of people collaborate and reanimate induvidual segments in their own style, and there was recently one of those released that was a remake of The Clothes Don't Make The Turtle episode from season two of RotTMNT and it's great! Go and watch it here!

[davidmariottecomics]

Goodbye IDW! Hello Something New!

Hi there! 

After seven years and some change, today, 12/22/2023, is my last day at IDW Publishing. It's for good reasons. Things just timed out that my last day could be the last work day of the year for IDW and in the new year, I'll be starting a new job elsewhere. I'll still be in comics and once I can talk about the new gig, I'm really stoked to be letting you all know. So, today, I want to say my goodbye to IDW. 

But first, before I get to that, I did have something else notable happen this week. I sent my last tweet!  I'm officially shutting down my Twitter at the end of the year and if you see a Twitter account claiming to be me after January 1st, it's an imposter. If you'd like to keep up with me, however, I've got good news! There are lots of other ways to find me still. Here are a few! 

Check out and bookmark my website! Get access to my blog, plus lots of behind the scenes stuff and new projects at my Patreon!  Subscribe to a newsletter version of my blog for free at Buttondown!  Follow my blog on Tumblr!  Keep up with my main socials: Bluesky and Instagram (I'm @davidmariotte at both)! 

Okay, with that out of the way, let's talk about it. This is not my first time saying goodbye. In fact, almost exactly a year ago, I said my farewells to Transformers, one of the hallmarks of my IDW run. I don't want to revisit that too much, so if you want to read about my early days at IDW or that part of my career or a big list of thank yous to my collaborators, you can! And while I've had significant runs with other books, most notably Sonic the Hedgehog which with January's Sonic: Fang the Hunter #1 will mark 100 issues of Sonic at IDW under my editorial eye, or my personally exciting, if shorter runs on stuff like Godzilla, Samurai Jack, the Hasbro Action books, Canto, Scarenthood, The Kill Lock, The October Faction, Wynonna Earp, Brynmore, Atomic Robo, or literally so many other books, I don't want this to just be a retrospective on the work. In fact, I'm largely not interested in talking about the past when I say goodbye this time. 

IDW has afforded me a lot. They've helped me find my place in the industry. They let me do some writing. They let me do a lot of editing. I learned various other skills both through directly on the course of the job and through my own interest because of what I was doing and seeing there. I have made true lifelong friendships. And I have made comics. So leaving feels weird. I'm very bummed to be leaving a place that really has been my home (and for the past couple of years, has quite literally been mostly at my home) for so long. But I am even more excited about what's to come. On my side, I can't announce it just yet, but watch this space for some big news soon (after a couple weeks of much needed vacation). 

Talking about the future I actually can say a little more about, I wanna tell you how excited I am for IDW. Yes, I'm leaving, but IDW remains home to so many people--both at the company and our freelance creators--and so many projects that are close to my heart. Next year is their 25th anniversary. That is an impressive feat in not just the world of comics, but any industry. For the milestone, they've got a lot of cool stuff planned. 

I'm not going to blow up IDW's spot and say anything about what's coming up too early. Just to talk about the things that are already public knowledge, you've got things like the new TMNT: The Last Ronin sequel! The TMNT ongoing on it's road to issue #150! There are cool new originals like Golgotha Motor Mountain! There's the launch of the aforementioned Fang the Hunter which is IDW's first Classic Sonic mini-series and sees 100 unique issues of Sonic at IDW and is just laugh-out-loud funny and full of such good action! And I'll tease this, when the Sonic ongoing is back with issue #69 in May, you'll be in for an absolute treat as that series runs up to #75! 

I know some readers of this blog don't read a ton of American direct market comics. You aren't "Wednesday Warriors" who go to the comic shop every week. You like the comics you like and I've been graced to be a person working on those comics. If you aren't as familiar with how these comics work, let me assure you of a couple things. The books I was editing and many unannounced projects that I set up will still be happening. Because of the timelines of comic production, you'll still see my name in IDW books for a few more months and, at the same time, you'll see new credits creeping in. And if we've done everything right, that'll be about the only thing you'll notice is different, at least at first. As the editors really take the reins and take over, we'll both be in for the treat of the unknown! I'll be reading them with a good sense of professional jealousy. 

Now, there's one other book that has been announced for next year and I wanted to do a special call out for. Godzilla: Valentine's Day Special went to press this week. It's the last IDW book I saw all the way from inception to completion. And, in many ways, it's kind of a really good analogy of a comics editorial career. I think, genuinely, this may be the book that went from conception to reality the fastest in my career. I think it took... less than a week from a half-joking suggestion of doing a Godzilla Valentine's Day book to getting Zoe Tunnell's pitch in and approved by Toho and getting it on the publishing schedule. Usually these things take a bit--people are working on other projects, licensors need time to review things, whatever other bumps happen along the way--but this was like lightning. Everyone just got it instantly. And then Zoe turned in the script and it was great! Things continued, as they do, and then... we got a curveball or two. I won't go into too much detail, but major thanks to Sebastian Piriz and Rebecca Nalty for getting it done and having a book that we were all so proud of that I could send to press this week. And it struck me on that final press day that despite the curveballs we had been thrown, when it came to actually getting it approved, everything was so easy, straightforward, and smooth. When you read it in February, if I've done my job right, maybe you'll remember seeing somewhere that there were some curveballs. But mostly, you'll just have a really good book in your hands. (BTW, you did JUST MISS the final order cutoff on that, so do check in with your shop about still trying to get you a copy!) 

Most of the time, after a book like that goes to press, an editor gets ready to do it again--maybe in a few minutes or days or the next week. For the first time in a long time, I won't be getting ready to do it again at IDW. That's a complicated feeling, but I'm so excited for the future. 

The best metaphor I've been able to come up with for what is happening is it's like I've been working in a one room office constantly for the past seven years. It's got that dull office lighting, you know the kind. Each day, projects come and go across my desk, and as they otherwise disappear into the world, I put up one of those glow-in-the-dark stars as a memory of it. And each day, I work with so many people--my coworkers at IDW who've helped foster my growth, my collaborators as both a writer and editor who have made so many stories with me, all the folks where things never quite lined up but we kept trying, and the readers who are an inherent part of the ecosystem, the reason we make what we do. And so, for each of those people, I put up a little glow in the dark toy. 

Now, for the first time, I'm going to get up and leave the office. As I flick the switch behind me, everything in there that has been soaking up light for years now glows. Some of the glows are slight. Some are so fantastically bright, it feels like they're drawing attention through the walls of the room. Together, they make the room brighter than it was when I left. Now, sometimes, I might sneak in to borrow a toy--make a copy of it for the new office I'm doing the same thing in. Other people will certainly do the same and make they've got their Evan Stanley figure on their shelf. If I ever return for a longer time, I'll be so glad to flick the light back on and let them all absorb even more light to glow an even longer time. If I don't, I rest happy that the glow goes on and forever people will be able to come back and discover some part of it. And I'll start working on a new office soon. 

If I keep going,  I'm a little afraid that I won't be able to stop. So, for now, I'll just say again, thank you. The future is about to be very exciting. Next year is for the creators you love or don't know you love yet, the books that are going to light you up that you've come to expect and the ones that will catch you by total surprise. While there are a lot of things I'm going to miss deeply and books that I'm going to wish I had gotten to do more on, I also have the really exciting experience of getting to see this stuff as a fan of IDW, just like you. And, hey, I hope you'll be a fan of the stuff I do next too! 

As for next steps, like I've said, I'm not going far. I'll still be in comics. I'll share the news when I can.

Before that, I'm getting a little break. Not too long, just a few weeks, and obviously the holidays are part of those, but in my time between my jobs, I'm going to be working on some personal projects. I put together a little tracking list recently and I have something like 40 projects in various stages of gestation right now. Obviously, I'm not going to be working on all of those at once, and chances are, some of them will never see the light of day, but I'm going to be working on trying to bring a couple of them to you in the new year (and beyond). If you're an artist that I've had the pleasure of working with in the past and you think you might be interested in peeping the list and seeing what we could do together, let me know. You can reach me on my website contact page, through my email, or through Discord (feel free to ask if you don't have it!). 

And if you read this blog, you'll see me hyping my last IDW projects up until we run out of what I left behind. Simultaneously, once I've got stuff to start hyping up for my personal projects and for the new gig, you'll see those start to pop up here too! I'll also keep talking about making comics and my thoughts on the state of the world and whatever else it is I blog about here on a regular basis! 

Thanks for reading. Bye-DW! Next week, I'll be doing a little Best of 2023. But for now, onto our regular features. 

What I enjoyed this week: Dungeons & Daddies (Podcast), Reverse 1999 (Video Game), Nancy (Comic), Lego Masters (TV show), Out There Screaming: An Anthology of New Black Horror (Short story collection), Yu-Gi-Oh: Duel Links (Video Game), Cunk on Earth (TV show), I'm a Virgo (TV show), The Boy and the Heron (Movie), an easy last week at IDW, all the well-wishes that've already poured in, leaving today to celebrate Christmas with my family and then have some downtime to work on my stuff, signing the paperwork for the new job, not being on Twitter anymore, getting all of our mail out in a timely fashion for the holidays, Chainsaw Man (Manga), I picked up Superman and Hawkgirl, so excited to get caught up on those, and knowing that in leaving this job, there are certain folks I just get to deepen my relationships with as friends, instead of co-workers. 

New Releases this week (12/20/2023): Godzilla: The War for Humanity #3 (Editor) Godzilla Rivals: Jet Jaguar vs. Megalon (Editor)

Announcements: The Cartoonist Cooperative is still doing E-Sim cards for Gaza. You can donate a digital sim card so that residents can get access to the internet and have more functional phones and, in exchange, get some comics or a drawing or whatever else is available from the many participating artists. Additionally, the CC is hosting their mini-comic awards! It's a cool way to maybe get your mini-comic recognized and make some scratch!

You can also give more directly. If you don't have money, and I get it, you can call or fax or email or show up at the offices of your representatives. Keep your eyes open for actions too, whether they're another general strike or demonstrations and marches in your area. Given the nature of the things, they often come together fairly quickly, so do exercise your due diligence. Also, of course, being informed and just giving your time to Palestinian journalists and writers is incredibly valuable. 

While Becca has got some things brewing for next year (and now on a schedule), you should reach out if you'd like to work on comics with them! You can find their gallery on their website and also, y'know, maybe pick up a few things for belated gifts while you're there!

Finally, I called out my Patreon earlier. You can support me (and boy, that would be cool during the time between paychecks because vacation is nice, but living is still expensive) and get not just this blog, but a lot of cool special features like extra posts, comics, infographics, and more! At the $10+ levels, you can also access stuff like a holiday gift guide I made, a podcast pilot for a spicy show with Becca, and a ton more! 

Pic of the Week: Happy holidays from Becca and me! If you wanna full card in your inbox, lemme know! 

[nerves-nebula]

chelloooo the tmnt getting more racist thing is actually rlly interesting to me because I don’t think it’s getting more racist , I just think that as more and more pieces of media with good Asian representation come out (eeao, amphibia, and even elemental are the first things I can think of) there’s more stuff to compare it to and realize that tmnt is just… not it. And that although it’s gotten less blatantly stereotypical, it just hasn’t followed the curve of good Asian representation in media. It continues to be lacking. It improves in small ways. It’s just slow 

and I also think it’s because how tmnt handles japanese and east asian culture in general took such a fucking nosedive with mutant mayhem. Look at splinters entire character and the fact they learned to be ninjas from mostly popular chinese movies. Like almost everything about this movie shows how much the creators were looking through it with an orientalist lens

Like. I don’t think tmnt is getting more racist, I think the amount of racist shit is staying relatively the same.* So as western culture and pop culture starts to be less racist, tmnt starts to look more racist as a result. And also because socially and culturally speaking, tmntmm is Rlly Bad. Like look at it once with ANY IDEA of racist stereotypes and it’s Bad. It would have been fine like any year before 2023. But compare it to any popular piece of media that’s come out in the past 1-3 years and its…. Lord. It’s not it ………

(I like tmntmm etc. I just have to ignore a lot of the racist stuff in it, as I have to do with most pieces of media. But for something that came out in the 20s it’s so much harder to turn a blind eye to it than other stuff.)

*imo it improves the most with rottmnt. But that show was also racist in other ways, just not towards japenese culture. It handled being asian american and an immigrant surprisingly well

(also for judas’ followers who don’t know me I’m asian 👍) -angie and jonah

OHHH YOU PUT IT PERFECTLY INTO WORDS. Tmnt isn’t really getting more racist it’s just improving very very slowly compared to a lot of modern media.

Like it feels weird when racist stuff happen in old media but you kind of expect it in old movies & tv- but when it’s still present in modern day it’s kinda more noticeable.

And yea I feel a similar way about mutant mayhem, it’s very good in a lot of ways! Racially isn’t one of them!

Not even just with Asian stuff either- which I think you’ve covered pretty well here- but from a black perspective it’s not great either. superfly is kind of weird to me cuz he’s clearly black and his coding is clearly pulling from black culture and he’s all macho and chains and I love that for him. I think he’s so cool.

But he’s basically just another one of those villains who’s an oppressed person who’s faced violent discrimination and fought back- and that in itself is framed as explicitly evil. Him telling the story of how he was being chased by a mob and faught back is when we’re supposed to start thinking he might be evil.

and so he’s like, coded as an activist or civil rights leader, but instead of fighting for equality rights he wants to kill all white people (in a metaphorical sense) and it’s like oh ok cool. This again. Greatttt.

Anyway point is: ur so right

[indieyuugure]

Hi! Let me start off by saying that I absolutely adore your ROTP series. This is also one of the very few Rottmnt/2012 crossovers in existance that does justice to both verses and doesn't put a biases on any. I love this comic.

Now that aside, I need to get something off my chest. I wouldn't have gone on Anon but experience has taught me that opposing opinions will make the followers of a blog insult and harass you so I tend to err on the side of caution. You see, I Love Love Love TMNT. And I love 2012 series, it's something I relate to so much and grew up with. It's my most favorite version of TMNT.

But the thing is, ever since the Rise movie got released, I've been seeing nothing but slander against the 2012 series and it breaks my heart every time I come across it. It has escalated to an unfair point that I've seen even 2012 fans who love it just as much begin hating aspects of it. I mean, don't get me wrong, it does have its flaws but it's unfair how highlighted those select few flaws are to the point of extremely biased comparisons and blame games and general 2012 slander which half the time doesn't even comply with canon. Moreover, literally every TMNT has its flaws just the same.

And recently, I've been seeing an increase in posts on your blog that have 2012 slander undercurrents or simply blatant frustrations with it. I love the comic but keep seeing this hatred still is just... it hurts ya know. Like really actually hurts.

So if possible, can you plz tag such posts with something I can filter out? (And let us know what that tag will be?) You don't have to but I really really love your art and comics, it's just the 2012 slander again that hurts me and I don't want to see it anymore. I've been seeing it everywhere.

Again, plz don't take this the wrong way, it's just something that's been hurting me and I had to get it off my chest. And find a solution to it that doesn't involve blocking or unfollowing because I genuinely do love this fancomic

Thank you for your feedback!!💕 (seriously feedback is extremely appreciated to me!)

I sorry my posts came off as 2012 slander, I really never meant it like that. I will admit I do critique media pretty aggressively, but I never mean it in a hateful way. TMNT 2012 is one of my absolute favorite shows and I love everything about! It’s the weird quirky stuff about it that while yes, I will criticize, I still love. It wouldn’t be the same without it. Just like the weather, I will complain about it, but I don’t want it to actually change.

I will try to be more conscious of how my posts are perceived, I really never wanted there to be a bias on my blog. I love all of TMNT for all it presents, and I don’t want to ever be slanderous!

Thank you again for your kind nudge! I’m very thankful to have people like you who’ll tell me if I’m making a mistake! I truly do love TMNT 2012. I can’t fix what I’ve said, but now that I know, I can be sure to be more careful to not sound biased going forward.

Again, I’m very sorry it came off that way, I didn’t mean to be so harsh. I never want to harm a series’s reputation, especially one that I love so much!

You are truly appreciated!💕

I know this won’t fix the things I’ve said, but I’ll say 3 of my top favorite things about 2012:

I love the way they depicted characters! They do an amazing job using indirect characterization that makes the characters feel so real. The characters don’t have to tell you things about themselves, you learn about them from the way the interact with each other, the way they solve problems, the things they like and dislike, and even what they’re doing in the background! It really feels like you’re there getting to know these fun people and go on adventures with them! Truly amazing!

I love the way the turtles look! Seriously I think they look so cool, and at the same time cute. They’re visual designs inspired me so much in my art and I will watch hours on end of them because they’re just so freaking cool!

I love the way their stories are told! The episodes are so well paced that it never feels boring to watch an episode! Believe it or not, I have never once wondered how many minutes are left on an episode. It’s so good at sucking you in and addicting you, that while I was watching it for the first time, I was straight up binging it and would be forced to put it down by my parents. Several times I would stop to eat something and have that weird “wait, who am I? What is my life?” Thing you get from a really good story. The stories and arc pacing are so good that Indie TMNT, my original series is using massive inspiration from 2012.

Once again, I am truly sorry for coming off as slanderous. Thank you for being so brave and telling me what many people were probably thinking. I want to do better. Thank you! :]

[sheep-turtles-and-pizza]

Now that we're entering into 2024, I'm asking some artists and writers that I follow:

1) What is the one piece you're most proud of from this past year?

2) What are some pieces that you would have liked more people to see? If you can include links, I'd love to go check them out!

3) What were your top three favorite pieces (art, comics, fics, etc) that someone else has made this past year?

(As always, no pressure to respond! Feel free to just ignore, or let me know if you'd rather I not send you these kinds of asks in the future.)

1) I'm very proud of the apritello day 4 one, I truly enjoy taking the time doing this (probably the longest I've ever took since I start tmnt fanart on tumblr lmao) I really loved how it turned out.

2) Probably my meemaw april au stuff lol. Go see it with the #Meemaw Apple tag! She cool! Badass and beautiful! I need to make some real comic about her fr 😆

3) Eeeeee yes I love that part:

▪︎ Omg omg! Mark swap, from my darling @venelona-turtle-den . This is just the smartest and funniest thing ever!! Hahaha. This is one comic I don't mind re-reading multiple times at all, yes ùwú. It's so goofy and it never fails to make me smile. Her art is what I watch to comfort my sad ass hihi 💖💗

▪︎Pillow fort, from @beebopurr . So sweet and comfy, with all the gang awwww úwù!! I could feel the coziness from my cold kitchen ok!! The way they draw the turtles (especially Leo) is just so unique and yet so close, so true, to the show. I don't know how they do that but it's epic. Their art is EPIC!!💖💫

▪︎Splinter having the time of his life with Donnie, from @mightyanxiety . My sweet bananas Hhhhhhhhh!!! It's so cutiedorable, I'm MELTING!!He draws baby teetles so AAAA MY HEART I don't even have the words!! Curses words! Their faces is so squishyyy I wanna book their nose! The artstyle so soft, it makes meh cry 😭💗

[meruz]

another ask post

i mean i also read it because a friend whos rly into queer SFF fiction circles recced it but she did kinda lead with "the writer used to write hs fanfic...tasmyn..taz...?" to which i replied

of COURSE I read the locked tomb because i heard taz had written a book. of course. ill consume most any media made by a beloved homestuck bnf. thats also why i played undertale. and read like..snotgirl. and idk... watched the new dub of neon genesis evangelion.

if u made homestuck fanwork 10 years ago and havent even made it since chances are I still remember and I love you for it.

sdlkfhsg its funny you sensed that because that drawing did in fact start kinda more........ well, I'd be lying if I said my hands never wrought a drawing toeing over the pg-13 line LOL...

NOT to say i have a secret stash of porn or anything. in general im more interested in the implication of sexuality or mature themes over any explicit depiction. like everything i draw is so softcore itd almost feel silly to make a nsfw acc for anything.

but im not rly jumping to post anything on main either bc i get the sense i have a lot of kids in my social media following. it varies from site to site and fandom to fandom but the themes in my work often circle around childhood, coming of age etc and in general i like stories about kids so the fandoms i draw for have a lot of kids in them. even stuff like IT (stephen king) which is about kids but isn't necessarily for kids.. there were a lot of kids in that fandom lol.

actually thats why ive been censoring swears in comics lately because the tmnt fandom comes across to me as a little young...IDK I've had MULTIPLE people ask me what "sodomize" means because of the joke in this post and I'm like... I Cannot be the one to explain this to you. you have to look it up on your own klfsdhsdg like i wouldn't be doing this if i were doing a comic for mgs or even homestuck wherein the characters textually swear constantly LOL but sometimes u gotta change tacks depending on the faces u see in the crowd yknow.

i HAVE been thinking abt drawing nsfw of sunspot/richard rider/kobak from x-men red just because that comic seemed to be really asking for it. who knows.. if the need rly arises maybe my separate account policy will change.

its rly more a matter of the fact that i havent read/watched much of any other iterations... im sure id like most lol. I like most things related to my interests regardless of quality. i rly like the marvel ultimate alliance games for instance. sometimes seeing my fave guy is enough he doesnt have to be well written LOL. i dont exactly have a wealth of free time tho thats the real impediment.

i did watch the 2007 movie on new years eve and found it quite charming overall. and i have read about 30-40 issues between the mirage and idw comics. still feels like im barely scratching the surface but i liked em. i rly want to read all the sophie campbell stuff bc i think her work is interesting. jason aaron will be a mixed bag i think lmao. i say as the worlds biggest Wolverine and the X-Men (2011) fan.

hmm this is kinda hard bc i feel like i naturally draw very loose and the hard part for me is tightening it up. maybe some suggestions tho...

1) hand excercises. i think its easy to forget this when many artists sit in front of the computer all day but drawing is a physical activity u do with ur actual...bodys...muscles lol. if u feel urself tightening up it might help to strech (any google search for "artist hand excercises" should yield good results) or do a page of loose practice strokes like..big circles. long lines. scribbles. that kinda thing. whatever feels good for ur hand. this is also just good to do as a general warm up before u sit down for any drawing sesh.

2) draw further away from the canvas. as a general rule...when ur painting traditionally you do the big strokes with your whole arm outstreched and a long handled brush. and when you do the details its smaller wrist movements and a shorter handled brush. so it might help to take a step back or push back from ur chair a little.. or hold ur tablet a little further away. and hold your pen further away from the nib.

3) change mediums / brush types. some brushes and mediums are more suited to loose sketching and some more inclined towards detail work. so changing ur tool could help. also! i personally have this problem where sometimes if im using a brush i feel really familiar with the pressure to make a "good" "finished" "perfect" drawing is greater... if i want to force myself to loosen up ill switch to a tool i dont use as often so it feels like the pressure is off. a lot of times for me this is switching from digital to traditional. but sometimes its switching from a small pen to a big marker. or a smooth pen to a textured one. or a nice brush to a shitty dried up marker.

but also every body is different so i dont think these tips will work for everyone. u should listen to what ur body and mind tell u and how drawing feels to you

bro just sign up and set it up i dont think theres much to it... i dont rly think too much abt my itch.io store because its digital goods so u just upload the file and let it do its thing. no distribution work needed on ur part. youll notice i barely even advertise my itch unless i have smth new on there lol.. its easy. but good luck!!!

idk if im the best person to ask this im more a comic fan than i am a comic professional... a comic hobbist.

well. scott mcclouds understanding comics and making comics are good books on the craft. i think i had to buy them for a class in art school once.

other than that idk just keep at it. comics are really laborious i think for a lot of people the hardest part is sitting down and doing it.

i think a lot of people have a very instinctive understanding of how to read comics and what they look like so whatever you think seems like good way to tell the story you have in mind, its probably right. if u get stuck, study comics that have done something similar. most people in comics are relatively self taught and actually it can be problematic bc you can tell when a lot of comic artists are all copying the same like 5 old white guys LMAO. but on the flip side if you make sure to reference and study broadly your comics will almost assuredly feel unique.

sorry im responding to this anyways. this is just a really nice ask. i like when people reference my older work bc i feel like sometimes theyre subtly implying it wasnt very good LMAOOO. but its true! at least compared to the work i make now ^^ and the fact that im still making art is whats keeping me from being embarassed abt how much of my old art just floats around online lmao im never ashamed to be growing and learning. isnt that a nice thought <3

[oleander-nin]

Request Guidelines/Masterlist

I wanted to organize more....

Request Guidlines? Idek if y'all want to request tbh:

REQUESTS ARE: CLOSED

Reader will almost always have gender neutral pronouns, but if I'm in a good mood, I might do gendered labels(boyfriend, girlfriend, etc). Most likely not though.

NO YAN! Y/N

I can write, angst, fluff, yandere, romantic, platonic, and AU's.

You do not have to request yandere, I love writing other stuff too.

I will NOT write NSFW, incest, child x adult(unless platonic), oc x character, character x character, abuse(can be mentioned), or sexual assault(at the most, it'll be a very BREIF mention). Please don't cross my boundaries.

I do not like writing a 'willing' reader x yandere character. It feels gross and like I'm romanticizing the toxicity more than I'm comfortable with. If you request this, I will either delete it, or make it stockholm/give it a not happy ending.

You can request up to 5 people in a fic/headcanon. If it gets too many, I start to struggle and then no one will be happy. if you request more than 5, someone's getting cut.(More than 2 will most likely be made into headcanons as they're quicker.)

If not stated outright, I will decide whether it's in headcanons or fic format. Please be specific if you want it a certain way.

Please don't be mean towards anyone. You can make fun of or yell at me all you want, but don't be a jerk to others.

Don't be scared to request. I love getting requests/asks.

I don't mind dark stuff or horror. I might cut down because it's public, but I will try to keep it as close to your request as possible.

PLEASE BE SPECIFIC. DON'T JUST SAY "_____ X READER", THAT MEANS NOTHING TO ME. If you're stuck, just give me a verb, or look through my prompt list, but please don't just say someone x reader.

Please don't request certain body types. I don't want to write about a skinny reader, or a chubby reader, or a reader with curly hair blah blah blah. It's really hard for me to think of ideas for it, and there's already hundreds of fics out there like that.

I usually won't write a mutant/non-human reader because of personal preference, but if you request like "drider reader who's lived hundreds of years and breathes fire . . . etc", I'm going to delete it. In my mind, that's probably just an OC, and I don't want to write it. Also I just hate writing non-human readers so if you want it to be a non-human reader, it's going to take me a while to get to it. And even then, I'll probably just write it and skip the non-human part.

I reserve the right to refuse any request, and can silently delete a request if I deem it necessary/just because I want to.

If you feel your request is taking too long, message me or send me a ask in my inbox. I'll reply as soon as I can.

What I will write for:

TMNT(all versions but the 1990's, Bayverse, and 2007 movie. I don't know enough about them.)

My Hero Academia

Haikyuu!!

The Disastrous Life of Saiki K

Undertale(All Au's, no Deltarune)

Creepypasta(Depends on the character, some I won't write for.)

Five Nights at Freddy's (All games, but not the books)

How to Train Your Dragon

Assassination Classroom

Avatar the Last Airbender

Welcome Home ARG

Danny Phantom

Spiderman: Into the Spiderverse/Across the Spiderverse

The Owl House

Garten of BanBan

Darkwing Duck

The Amazing Digital Circus

Avengers/MCU

Transformers(Transformers Prime, Transformers: War For Cybertron Trilogy, Generation One, IDW1, Transformers: Animated, Transformers: Cyberverse, Bayverse Movies)

Masterlist:

200 follower prompt list

Writing advice

TMNT

MHA

Subject to change

[artistic-intrxvert]

The rottmnt turtles ( hopefully not too much) with this preteen (like 12?) reader who’s just sneaking around and watching them “defeat crime” and writing it down, basically describing them as “cool” and just wanting to be friends with them. With drawings of them and the turtles. Also they try really REALLY hard to not get caught because they seriously do not want them to see their “notes”. Also 2012 tmnt honestly brings me to tears sometimes so I’m gonna give rottmnt a chance-

Hello there! YOU ARE MY FIRST ROTTMNT ASK AAA IM SO EXCITED :D i have a serious hyper fixation on this show and i need help hahah- I had a lot of fun doing this and I hope you enjoy!

Warnings: None! (Some swearing but i do that a lot so it's not really all that different lol)

Prompt: (PLATONIC!!)Rise!Donnie, Leo, Raph, and Mikey with a child!reader who admires them

-

Donnie

I feel like Donnie would be the first to notice, and at first he wouldn’t really care all that much

In fact I think he’d respect that, if one needs notes about something then one needs notes

Pretty cocky about it too, why wouldn’t one want to know about the glorious and most intelligent turtle Othello Von Ryan?

But at the same time he also is quite suspicious of you and makes sure to keep an eye out in case you try and tell anyone of the turtle brothers existence

Honestly takes too long debating whether or not to tell his brothers

One day they all spot you taking your notes, Donnie knew a little bit about it since he has his high grade tech (he has his goggles after all, he probably knows your writing down something)

Let’s say they tried to confront you, wondering why and how the heck you managed to get on the top of one of the buildings and if you were in any danger

Yeah let’s just say you got scared and fled the scene leaving your notes behind

Donnie was the one that took it, claiming he can read any hand writing and wanted to make sure it didn’t have any personal information that could be used against them

I’m reality, he was quite curious to see what you were writing down

Turns out, you were doodling the turtles and yourself all in a picture with the classic ✨sun in the corner✨ and at the top said “friends” but he could see that it was erased and rewritten a few different times, as if you were hesitating to write it

He flipped through the pages and were impressed with how much notes you got that were accurate considering the fact you've been watching from a distance

While one would find it creepy, he can’t really hold it against you, children have people they admire and look up to and it just so happens that he and his brothers are the ones you look up to

Definitely tried to return the notebook, successfully spotting you in your usual spot, searching for your beloved notes

He talks to you, asking about you and how he’s intrigued by your notes (he's very impressed but would never admit that out loud)

He asks if you would like to meet his brothers and maybe ask about some stuff to help your notes so that he can make sure you "have the right information"

He's still his cocky self, but I think he'd understand where your coming from

We don't don't about his obsession with atomic lass-

Leo

SO. FUCKING. COCKY.

When he saw you taking notes from a distance every time that he and his brothers went out to do patrolling, he'd notice you being around the first few times or so, assuming you lived around that area

But then he noticed that you always seemed to be wherever they were

At one point, it hit his skull that you were following them

Only difference is that if he somehow found out before Donnie (highly unlikely btw) he'd point it out almost immediately

He would just kinda be like, "is it just me, or does this kid seem to following us?"

The others would notice too and agree to try and see if you were following them

Upon being confronted you tried to explain something but we're too nervous and ran off, leaving your notebook behind

Donnie was about to snatch it when he did, claiming he was going to read it first before Donnie hogged it to himself

He flipped through the pages and saw the drawing you did

Honestly thought it was creepy at first but then realized that you just wanted to be friends and looked up to them

Leo is the greatest ninja the world has ever seen, so it would make sense why you would want to be friends with him and his sidekicks brothers IM SORRY I HAD TO QUOTE THE MOVIE AND I PROBABLY SHOULDN'T HAVE BUT I COULDN'T HELP IT-

I feel like at some point he'd confront you it would be the day after he found the notebook you left behind and he would give it back and ask you about what kind of hobbies you do and what inspired you to watch him and his brothers

I think that he would eventually start talking to you often and eventually invite you to the lair sometimes. You would basically be a really close to of his

I think overall he'd be very smug and cocky about it but would deep down be honored that you would choose them to be the ones you look up to

Raph

Raph would probably be one of the ones that doesn't notice this until someone else points it out. I also think he could also be the one to see it first. It just depends

Raph would be so honored that you looked up to them, he'd notice you following them and would go out of his way to offer you a smile before they'd go back to the lair

One day you leave your notebook alone after an encounter and he notices you dropped it

He wouldn't go through it surprisingly

One of his brothers would get to it first and would go through it, meaning he'd had to try and get them to stop invading privacy

Once he gets a glance, however, he feels so touched at the drawing you did and the detailed notes you've written down

He may not be the best at understanding complicated notes, but he knew how much thought and accuracy went into writing them down

Raph would try his best to return the notebook to you the next time they went out to fight bad guys

When he does return it, he places his hand on your head and ruffles your hair (if you don't have very long hair [shaved or buzzed] or if you have no hair at all, he'd give you a head pat)

He'd encourage you to ask them anything if you had questions, but would lightly scold you about being out and about at night by yourself

As long as you were safe about it, you may have just found yourself a new friend AND a kind of parental figure

Mikey

LOVES. YOU. SO. MUCH. (Platonically, of course)

He wouldn't notice at all, it was definitely pointed out by one of his brothers

He'd be a little worries about you being alone in New York by yourself given how you look to be around 12 or so

He'd confront you after a few different times they'd notice you, advising you to not be out so late

You didn't listen like the little shit you are

Eventually, they all had noticed and tried to confront you about it since they were rather curious

The pressure of talking to the turtles you looked up to had to a little nervous and you took off before they could talk to you

You did, however leave your notebook behind

Mikey looked through the different notes and flipped until he saw the drawing

He thought it was the cutest thing ever! He loved drawing and art related things himself, so he was really excited to see that you liked to draw as well!

When he finally saw you again, he handed you the notebook and offered to lend you some art materials or to sometime draw with him

It would take time to get him to invite you to the lair, but it would eventually become a very frequent thing

Very flattered but also very excited about the drawing

Sorry that this was finished so late :( life has been annoying as hell and making me not have motivation or the time to write as much as i used to. Nonetheless, I am very slowly getting back into the swing of things. Hope you have an amazing rest of your day/night and remember to drink your water <3

-artistic-intrxvert

[yellowhollyhock]

Why is trying to make friends in this fandom so hard?

hey it's okay

I don't have a reference point for how hard or easy it is to make friends compared to other fandoms because tmnt is the first fandom I've made an effort to make friends in, but I will share a few things I've learned

-just post. at first you will get 2 or 3 notes on a phenomenally good day. but keep posting. the more posts you have the better an idea people have of what you're about and therefore want to follow you. btw this doesn't have to be original posts, reblogging is good for this too

-related, make sure you're tagging in a way that people can find your stuff. tmnt is great, but if you specifically love the 2012 show tag with tmnt 2012 so that other hard core 2012 fans are seeing your stuff. And if you hate the 2012 show (or whatever other show or character) tag bashing, being a considerate tagger will mean less likely to get blocked, and people who have that content filtered can feel safe following you if they never have to see it

-follow people. find the ones who post what you want to see, reblog their stuff, tag it with all the unfiltered keysmashes and emojis in your heart. the more chances people have to see you, the more likely they'll want to get to know you

-message people. I have lots of people in the fandom who I'm aware of and fond of but don't talk to, simply because it's a large fandom. there are probably people who are aware of and fond of you who don't know that you'd like to be friends. or even if they have no idea who you are, most people will respond positively to 'hey i like your posts/art/stories/gifs and I'd like to be friends'

-participate in events or ask games. start your own if you want. I met a lot of great people through March for Raph, made a lot of friends during the booping of April 1st, again in tmaynt. When I first got on tumblr I always felt shy about joining things, like a vampire who needed an individual invitation, but after running an event I realized that of course people just want participation. it's not weird or pushy, it's how fandom works and they'll be excited for you to be there

-if you have ao3 make your usernames match or put your link in your blog description. or other accounts if you use them to connect with people from tumblr just make that findoutable in some way. I just added my tumblr username to my discord bio today after realizing ppl in the server I'm in had no way of knowing I was also the same person who bothers them on tumblr lolol 💀. embarrassing for me but easy fix! and makes making friends easier because well, people will recognize you from around y'know?

-block people. don't be afraid it's not an insult. if they're consistently posting stuff you don't like, neither of you is hurt by blocking them. And if someone is actively mean to you definitely block them

I hope some of this helps. I'm really sorry you haven't found this easy. It is a large fandom so it does partially come down to luck. In my experience it's been a very welcoming community, I really hope that given time you find the same

[whyamiheretumbled]

TMNT Smarts(Spoilers for IDW!)

@smudged-kaleidoscopeThis part will be about TMNT and how the fandom and creators view their smarts! And how it can be extremely weird..

Everyone assumes that Raph is genuinely too rash and reckless to make good decisions.now,Raph is reckless and easily stressed(even in 1987 or Rise), but that doesent mean he's stupid compared to Leo, which a lot of ppl *seem* to think

Raph is protective of his brothers, and is constantly shown that they shouldn't follow his behaviour(Seen when Leo allows Karai to enter the Turtle's car in 2012,the Pizza Puffs ep of 2018,or even in 2003,City at War!)

While he IS reckless, it seems he really wants his brothers to just stay on the damn task and get the job done. Not to mention, he tries to keep them safe. While he can be irrational, that doesent mean he wants to watch them follow his behaviour(2003 Raph says, "I hate when Leo starts reminding me of myself",not a direct quote)

Raph's smarts are less analytical focused and way more SURVIVAL focused, which actually brings us to Mikey <3

First of all, Mikey has never been a baby. In mirage, his anger and violence actually rivaled Raph's,Dr.Feelings and Delicate Touch both exist, in 2012 Mikey straight up punched someone hard enough to break their nose, hell, he threw a couch out of a window.

Mikey is constantly underestimated due to his baby face, gullible tendecies, empathy, etc, bcuz adding on to being genuinely the youngest, he is ALSO the most optimistic out of his brothers, and the one who understands emotions the best

Mikey is typically street smarts, or emotional smarts, seen in Mutant Mayhem with his Improv Club, or seen in 2003 where he instantly gets along with kids, or 2012 and the whole Acne episode

Mikey isn't stupid by any means. Sure, he may not pay attention or have a difficult time understanding stuff, but even in Bayverse he's shown to have smart moments. Unfortunately,due to his silly persona,he is constantly downplayed(Though The Last Ronin shows what happens when Mikey needs to focus because he's lost everything)

If Mikey had more motivation, say for example, being tricked into sex and having babies(mirage),he would probably try to be way smarter. But either way, it's constantly shown he picks things up easily and can think quickly! 2012 and Rise are both great examples <3,as well as moments in 2003

Now, we all know Donnie is smart. That's his big thing, his smarts. But he's his own special kind. He uses his own pros to his advantage, and while this can also slow him down due to not wanting to change his ways, this can also help him!

Seen in IDW, Donnie uses his flaw of ignoring Leo's orders and his pros of his tech to trick the Shredder, I won't go in full detail, but it comes at a price.

Anyways, Donnie is shown to havequick thinking at least, when he can anyalze a situation. He is actually VERY reckless, seen in 2003 building missiles into his car, or 2012 going on a killing rampage.

When he can't anyalze something, he jumps into it.Unlike Mikey, he lacks the ability to quickly access a situation, but he gains the abilities unlike his brothers to quickly map out a plan using logic,common sense, and his brain

Now Donnie had his dumb moments, because he DOESENT WANT TO ACCEPT THAT OTHER PEOPLE CAN BE RIGHT. you may think no, he wants to listen to others, but being so smart he sometimes thinks he's better than other people and superior,shown in multiple iterations, highlighting Rise, 2012,1987,and IDW.

Donnie's smarts run way deeper than knowing mathematics and engineering and etc, they stem into being able to study a problem and find out an efficent way to solve if, unfortunately,he doesent always want to realise he's allowed to need or want second opinions...

Leo's will be very short. He is a analytical and strategic thinker. He maps out plans, focuses on the battlefield, uses people like chess peices, highlighting in 2012 and Rise. I'll go deeper another day(that's what she said)

AHEM. Now, people constantly assume because Leo's brothers aren't the same type of thinker he is,that they're not smart. They're easily stubborn, can be tricked, not fully access a situation, doubt themselves, etc...

But Leo struggles with many of these things, the narrative is just pushed to make it seem like he's always in the right, however, he does almost always go through character development(at the cost of his childhood)

Leo is can be emotionally stunted, act manipulative(seen in 2003),jist be plain rude(2012),because he's leader/strategic,and wonders why no one would listen to him.

If he allowed his brothers to have input,it would be beneficial for the four of them, as they all contain qualities needed to make good plans.,and are all smart,and while I hate this saying, they're smart in their own way.

Mikey can answer philosophical questions, he doesent have the general care for others or his own regard like Raph generally does, Raph has survival skills but doesent know when to be calm, etc etc

[14muffinz]

Asking some writers/artists I follow:

Is there anything in your fic/comic that you as the author know about, but won't end up in the actual story?

oh for sure

i'll start with the TMNT stuff first because of your PFP, but we gonna be here a while.

[lab rats stuff at the bottom]

warning: fic spoilers galore

In WIBE, one of the characters we meet is Yuichi Usagi, who works at the human ROTM. He also works in the original ROTM. He was robbed while on a trip to the Hidden City, and is originally from a different city entirely. Hueso is doing his best to help him out, but it'll likely be a long time before Yuichi gets to go home.

Some other WIBE background characters in WIBE include: MM!Kendra, MM!Robyn O'Neil, MM!Irma, & MM!Casey Jones. I don't have a lot to say abt Kendra and Irma, since it's been a long time since I wrote any of it down, but I can give it my best shot with Robyn and Casey.

Robyn has been diagnosed with Generalised Anxiety disorder for a few years pre-fic. She's in her first year of college which is out-of-state, and does her best to check up on her family via phone call at least every other week. She's also sort of invested in all of April's new drama, but she won't admit it.

Casey's been playing hockey for as long as he can remember, and intends to keep at it for as long as he's physically able. He's also got a knack for engineering, and I'd gamble that sometime not long after the ending of WIBE, he'd start up the Casey Jones vigilante batshittery. His parents are divorced, but he spends most of his time with his Jewish mother, and while he's never been actually taught much about his religion he accepts it as a part of his identity, and if people don't like that then they shouldn't be around him in the first place. He finds the existence of the turtles to be one of the coolest things ever, but after actually getting to know Raph and the others, it doesn't impress him as much as it used to. (If I had time, I'd add in a tiny crush on Raph, but I'm an aro with WAY too many ideas for this tiny fic)

Then there's experienced fighters, where the main thing is me ALWAYS knowing what song is playing in the background. I really love how much music is in MM, and I love being able to say hey! here's the musical vibes of the environment!

sort of on that topic, i've got a hc that any song with even small references to space are songs that rise, 2k12, and MM leo are more likely to enjoy. they don't realize these patterns, but they sure are there.

and to end off the music rant, one of these days i'm gonna make a playlist of songs that I think the rise crew all collectively agree are good enough (this is what space feels like, goodie bag, punk tactics, etc. etc.)

there's also two in one, which is based off an au by @blackfire-fanfiction. I have to be real cautious abt what I put in there, because a lot of people are looking at it instead of the extended context of the real thing, not to mention how many Thoughts that aren't really canon I have about it. For instance: today I had a good 30 minute daydreaming session abt the concept of rise!Donnie reading leonardo's notebook while he's comatose post-rise movie and finding out about the switching

in dimension desync, I poke a bit at my head canons about peni parker's movie universe and her mental health at home, and have expanded on this even further in an abandoned draft. this is going to be LONG, so here we go: Gwen Stacy and Richard Parker were around in Peni's universe before she herself was, each piloting a mech of their own [Ven#m and Sp//DR]. A few months after Peni's mother is pregnant with her, Richard dies in action, and a few months later, Ven#m sort of devours Gwen (go read the comics because it's really fucked up but idk how to describe it) So then the role of SP//DR is forcefully thrust upon Peni at the age of eleven, and her connection with SP//DR isn't exactly... perfect.

in my team blue universe, I'm fleshing the hell out of Sam-13 and Shadowcat (both from earth 65). Sam was created by corrupt parts of SHIELD (that have yet to have been identified as corrupt) but now is just a regular agent. Cap returned to their dimension when he was 14 and has been in charge of training him ever since. Cap is stubborn to a fault and is def being manipulated by the corrupt agents, but none of the kids have gotten close to that bigger picture yet. Meanwhile, Kitty was inducted into the weapon x program (or 65's equivalent of it, I don't remember much of the wolverine origin story) at the age of 8, and despite odds survived. Wolverine took her in, and she's been helping him bounty hunt since about 13, even though he's trying to stop her.

team blue is also starting to extend to universes that the spider-verse movies don't really deal with through plants that have yet to be explained. but miguel's spite at e-199999 has definitely transferred, which means that, if they were ever to interact, not many of the main team would like the mcu-vengers

in my very obscure mech-x4 series, Olivia (who is only referenced by name once in the show) is veracity's little sister, who is 7 years old. This series is more of a set of vaguely connected oneshots, but still.

i could go ON AND ON about Oliver in all of my mighty med/lab rats fics, but in short: arcturion made his hair start growing in blonde, which he hates. Horace is his adopted dad and so it sucks ass when he dies. Oliver also comes with built in hypothermia! This is also definitely a headcanon, but I think that in EF once the rats have the upgraded chips, Chase's laser bō is green instead of blue, and his super senses are togglerable (to a degree) I also like to imagine Kaz's lil bro Kyle is his number one fan and nobody in his family listens to him when he claims that Kaz is one of the bionic guys on the news.

... yeah I think that's enough for now

[paytato435]

About My Blog: 5/27/2024

Hey friends, it's been a minute! I feel like most of the people who look at my ROTTMNT stuff may already know this, but I thought I'd put this post out here just for anyone new who finds this blog or maybe just didn't know. I've taken a big break from doing anything TMNT related for the last few months, and I thought I'd just take a little time to talk about why.

To make a long story short, my silly little ADHD brain has moved onto a new hobby that now takes up all my free time. I'm in a band now!

And the rest of the story goes like this: You may have noticed I've started posting about and reblogging Waterparks and MCR stuff- they've inspired me to start writing my own music. It's really exciting because I've told myself all my life that making/playing music just isn't really something I could do for whatever reason, but I've decided that was silly and now I'm nearly four months into learning to play the guitar and it's actually really fucking fun. You can follow my silly little music journey over on my band's blog: Tornado Season.

As for my fic Snapper and Stinkpot, it doesn't feel right to abandon it. I do really want to finish it at some point, but it's going to take a lot of work to get there that I just don't think I can invest in right now. There are some major wrinkles I need to iron out even if I did drop everything I am already doing with music. That being said, I will probably have to write an ending to it at some point, because I really am proud of the story I have and I think it deserves the same love and attention I gave it almost a year ago now.

Finally, to the TMNT fandom itself: I'm over it, to be honest. I love the turtles, but the fixation I had on them has long since subsided. It's just how my brain goes, I guess. I haven't watched ROTTMNT in months, and I haven't drawn anything related to it in a hot minute either. I'm ready to move onto something new.

Thank you so much to everyone I've had the pleasure of interacting with in the ROTTMNT community! You all are so wonderful and inspiring to be around. I came to Tumblr looking for a more positive social media experience, and this honestly turned out to be such a wonderful and uplifting change in my life. I am a happier, healthier, and more motivated person because of you all.

Finally, I want to give a special thank you to my friends @randyzorra, @friskebits, @allyheart707, @karonkar, and @dluebirb. Just because we have one less thing in common now doesn't mean I don't still appreciate the shit out of all of you. I'll be around. <3

And thanks to anyone who read this far or just like... liked any of my stuff on here in general. You're a fuckin' trooper. Have a beautiful today, tomorrow, and next one. o7

[nerves-nebula]

one thing about me and how i conduct myself online is that i want to be a real person and this is the best space i have to try to achieve that, because i'm too afraid and unsure irl. i'm too afraid of physical retribution, of the ways i look compounding how people think about me. on my blog, its your fault if you read my posts! its like i've laid out my stuff on a table and if you don't like whats on it you can just leave, so i don't feel like i'm intruding by trying to talk about what i want.

and to be a real person i can't let fear of judgement control me, its like, if i can't be stupid and dumb and annoying about my interests on my own blog then i'll never be able to form a trusting relationship with anyone. so i feel embarrassed a lot, because people i respect and think are blindingly wonderful follow me here. and i don't want them to judge me for being annoying and stupid. i don't want them to see something i post and go "oh yikes no you're not what i thought at all" and disappear

but even when i get embarrassed i still post it. even if i hope that one person doesn't see this, or doesn't judge me, i still post. (cuz you always gotta be postin!! lol. but for real) if i don't let myself be annoying and stupid about TMNT, if i don't let myself say weird horny shit about violence, if i don't let myself post about my stupid original characters, if i don't let myself post about my obsession with CSA and incest and child abuse that most would find disturbing then I'll never be a real person.

i don't really know how else to describe it.

and if the people I like don't want to be around me, that'll be ok. it'll be disappointing, but its their right to be around who they like. i know i'm weird, i know to a lot of people the idea of me is uncomfortable and freakish, i know nobody looks and me and sees who i am (even if i never know what exactly they think they're seeing).

i always remind myself that i've lost worse things than internet friends. and hey at least this way the people who stick around know what they're in for, and i know they probably don't mind. hah.