#keyboard turtle

[cherrysandcats]

Dail turtl

Omg its a koopa troopa

[emojiturtledaily]

Day 898: 🐢 & 🐸

[png-magician]

[tmntkiseki]

So this is one thought that has rotated in my brain ever since I watched through the entire 2003 series for the first time, but as much as I love Donatello and consider him my favorite turtle, there is one not-so-tiny thing that bugs me and that's the fact that he does probably go through the least character development of the four turtles despite going through some genuinely terrible shit.

When I think of some of the stuff Donatello goes through during the series, the stuff that makes me think "Good lord, WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS TO MY BOY," the three incidents that stick out the most are the Triceraton Mind Probe from the Space Invaders arc, the entirety of Same As It Never Was, and the Outbreak Saga/Good Genes Arc. The Triceraton Mind Probe scene is one that is physically painful to watch. Don is writhing and screaming the whole time as the probe rapidly picks through his memories trying to find information on Professor Honeycutt's whereabouts, and it's clear that at one point he becomes so scared that he begs for help from his father. Fortunately, his spiritual connection with Splinter allows him overpower the device and short circuit it, but if he hadn't had such a strong bond with him, who knows what would have happened.

Same As It Never Was... what needs to be said at this point? Donatello gets transported to a bad future where the Shredder rules the world, Splinter and Casey are dead, and the turtles have disbanded after their version of Don disappeared 30 years prior. Donatello watches all three of his brothers die protecting him, and at the end of the episode laments the fate of his poor brothers and just how nightmarish the world is before he's warped away. And that's just the tl;dr version.

Good Genes arc, though, oh my god. I feel a major reason why this arc is so good is because it plays on an idea presented on Same As It Never Was--that is, Donatello, with his level head and ability to come up with ingenious solutions to problems the turtles encounter, is what's keeping the team together. As a result of the Outbreak virus, Donatello undergoes a secondary mutation that turns him into a violent, aggressive monster and it's stated because of reactions with the Utrom mutagen already in his blood, his body is breaking down; if he's not cured, he will die. The knowledge that Donatello may perish if nothing is done is bad enough, but even just not having their brother there mentally is enough to mess up the entire team dynamic. In their desperation to save him, they go so far as to make a deal with Bishop, who Leonardo openly compares to the Devil himself, and their actions ultimately lead to the events of the Ninja Tribunal arc the following season. It was the single most dire situation the turtles were in since Exodus, and it wasn't even an entire galaxy at stake; just their beloved brother.

But despite all that, Donatello doesn't actually change much as a result of these events. That's because, more often than not, the stuff that happens to him is more used to fuel his brothers emotional reactions and development than his own. Good Genes is probably the best example of this because even though Donatello is the one physically suffering during the arc, it's Leonardo, Raphael, and Michelangelo who get all the interesting emotional reactions to their present situation; Leonardo finds himself almost completely lost on what to do without Don, and Raphael and Michelangelo, who are absolutely devastated over Don's transformation, spend much of the arc eerily quiet when compared to their usual selves. The only thing we get in terms of Don is the fact that he doesn't remember what happened while he was "sick," and is thus frustrated by how much his brothers end up coddling him in the wake of the incident (which unfortunately isn't all that important since we're about to enter the Ninja Tribunal arc.)

It really is unfortunate that Donatello doesn't go through much development because I otherwise love everything about him. Besides his intelligence, techno savvy, and ability to quickly pick up skills that might be useful to the team (I'm also very biased towards his Bō not due to its strength as a weapon, but it's amount of utility both in and outside combat), I'm absolutely floored by just how nice and gentle he is. He's still got plenty of sass hidden in his shell and can be quite snippy when he's annoyed, but he shows a lot of emotional sensitivity and is very empathetic; this is especially shown in his sibling dynamics with Raphael and Michelangelo, whose relationships tend to be the most...tumultuous? Of the turtles. I don't have a better word for it.

As an aside, I genuinely feel like The King doesn't get enough credit where it's due because yeah, it's a touching tribute to the late Jack Kirby, but it's important as a Donatello-focused episode because it's not focused on his status as the genius inventor of the turtles; instead, we look at his nature as a kind, friendly individual who is very sentimental and doesn't take loss very well. He quickly strikes up a friendship with Kirby, who is one of the few humans not to reject Donatello just because he's a 5'2" mutant turtle, and they end up having a fun adventure in the alternate dimension where all of Kirby's drawings end up disappearing to. Unfortunately, Donatello is unable to pull Kirby back through the portal in time as it's closing; the alternate ending, which is closer to original Mirage issue the episode is based on, really hammered in just how deeply this affected Don, since he absolutely refuses to talk to Raphael and walks off to be by himself, gazing solemnly at the drawing Kirby was able to send through the portal. "Life at best is bittersweet. Take care of yourself."

God damn it, my poor son.

[asummersday]

NEW CHAPTER JUMPSCARE ‼️

The rest of the day passes normally. Donnie avoids him, but he’s also avoiding everyone, holed up in his lab all day and not even bothering to come out when Mikey calls him for dinner. That’s fine by Leo, who’s glad for the reason to avoid Donnie.

Sorry this took so long, I had almost zero motivation to write for six whole months :)

[rui-drawsbox]

Comm for @ CitrusCynical! Part one bc I'm working on a few more ♪

[captaincolorblob]

Fandom: Donnie probably hates puns lol

Also Donnie:

[yumeyumeappleo]

donnie <3

me?

actually drawing something?

wow

also i made the background like that cause it’s more fun to draw when it’s not just an empty white void staring back at you after two days of no sleep

[desceros]

the animal eroticism of thinking about the 40k one shot you wanna write when youre supposed to be working on the next chapter of your long fic

[highectolordcommander]

Hey guys look

It's a beetle

[proshippersstimming]

⚣ ⚣ ⚣ ⚣ ⚣ ⚣ ⚣ ⚣ ⚣

Michelangelo x Leonardo from Rise Of The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles stimboard as requested by an anon!

[cherrysandcats]

Am bored

Want to start parody blog

No idea if I need to do some sort of ritual for that

Goodbye! 💕

Here's a diamond turtle my phone's keyboard created

[emojiturtledaily]

Day 835: 🐢 & 🦈

[weheartstims]

Hi!! It’s me Star again! (The one who requested the oddsock stimboard!) l was wondering if you could possibly make a Rise of the teenage mutant ninja turtles stimboard, in particular a Donnie one? Possibly with purple and tech themed gifs? :D

Donatello (ROTTMNT) with purple technology!

🟣|💻|🟣 💻|🟣|💻 🟣|💻|🟣

[kinun]

What if transfem Leo becomes Venus..

[condemnhim]

My two main hyperfixations right now are tally hall and the teenage mutant ninja turtles.

But what if they were combined?

Welcome to Turtle Hall!