#so glad to be back in the tmnt fandom

[mad4turtles]

Mikey and Leo bonding?

I can't freaking believe I did this on the same day cos damn if the muse is acting up. Ironically, here's me not at all projecting onto my favourite orange boi :)

Operation Rest Day

Creativity comes easy to Mikey most days. That's his 'thing'; Donnie does machines, Leo has his one-liners and comics and Raph is their big bro leader with a heart of gold. That's how they work, though there's room for interchangeability here and there.

But art has always been Mikey's domain. When the muse hits just right, it feels like an explosion, a tingle in his fingertips that has him reaching for a brush, can or a pencil, a buzz in his stomach or a flutter in his heart. Or it's a quiet, building thing, and he'll be sketching ideas for hours or days; the experience is tiring, but the results are worth it.

Other times the muse isn't there at all. Nothing comes to mind. Nothing sings or speaks to him. Nothing inspires him to do anything, and he'll look at his paints, pencils and blank canvases for hours to feel something, think of anything, and only see a block.

Today, he sees red. He throws his brush and canvas to the floor and stomps out of his room.

His fingers twitch, and his body tingles and feels hot all over. His eyes sting and fill up unbidden as he sniffs, throwing himself on the beanbag chair in the t.v room. It's empty save for him; Dad must be sleeping, Donnie's in his lab and god knows where Raph and Leo are. That's fine. He wants to be alone right now.

(He'd stay in his room, but that's where all his stuff is, and he can't look at them right now without wanting to smash everything. Art supplies, the good ones, are hard to replace.)

Mikey hugs his knees to his chest and stares at the projector playing some mindless game-show. He tries to feel something, anything but numbness or anger welling in his chest where joy and colours live.

Every time. It's just 'art block'. It's not Shredder or Foot Clan levels of 'so bad I wanna cry', or even Meatsweats levels of 'my dreams got crushed now I don't feel like doing anything'. So why, every time, does he get so upset? It's stupid.

Tears prick his eyes, and he sniffs.

The armchair squeaks as a lazy body plops onto it from behind, hanging upside down. “Why're you crying?”

Mikey doesn't look away from the screen. “... m'not. Go 'way, Leo.”

“Oh-ho-ho no, no, absolutely not,” Leo slides down further until his head nearly touches the floor. Mikey still doesn't look, but he can hear his older brothers' grin. “You're still too young to be doing the whole 'teenage angst, leave me alone' thing, that's me and Donnie's thing. But mostly Donnie, only he's more asshole than angst, but whatever. Soooo, I ask again: why're you crying?”

Mikey hunches into his shell, hiding his face. “Nothin'. It's dumb.”

“Not to me,” Leo flips neatly off the armchair, crouching beside Mikey and peering inside his shell. His smile is wide with his brand of cockiness but softer at the edges. “C'maaaahn, just tell me. If you don't I'll just poke you 'till you do, or I'm gonna get Raph and he'll baby you—”

Mikey pops his head out so fast he nearly headbutts an unsuspecting Leo, who flails back with a squawk.

“It's just a dumb art block, okay?” Mikey cries. Leo stares at him, leaning back on his hands. Mikey groans and runs a hand over his scalp, tugging at his mask tails. “I got—I got nothin', man. No razzmatazz, no inspiration, no muse, no nothin', and it sucks! I wanna draw, I gotta, it's, it's like right at my fingertips all the way down to my toes and shell and everything, but when I sit down to do it, it's like—nothing comes out! All I see is red and then I get mad for no reason and I gotta do something but I can't, and, and—”

Two striped arms pull him in for a hug. Mikey falls silent as Leo rests his chin atop his head, fingers softly drumming the back of his shell in a pattern Mikey knows and follows:

tap tap breathe in, tap tap breathe out.

“Doesn't sound dumb to me, little bro,” Leo says after a few beats of quiet between them. The t.v is silent, too; Leo must've muted it during Mikey's spiral. He cuddles Mikey closer, and Mikey finally returns the embrace, letting the frustrated tears flow.

Leo gives him a minute, then nudges him. “You eaten yet?”

Mikey thinks. “What time is it?”

“Like one pm.”

“Damn. Guess not.”

“Cool,” Leo claps his shell once and then stands, lifting Mikey up with him. Mikey squeaks in surprise but lets Leo manhandle him onto his back and loop his arms under his knees piggyback style. "Time for 'Operation Rest Day'. Step One: Food. To the kitchen, post-haste!”

'Operation Rest Day'? Haven't had one of those since last month, when April's exams hit her hard. Despite how it'd started with April calling Leo almost in tears, it had been a good day. Movies, pizza, ice cream and a state-of-the-art blanket fort ala Donnie. Was Mikey's block really bad enough to warrant this, though?

Still, he won't say no to a good excuse for cuddles and food, so Mikey wraps his arms loosely around Leo's neck and his legs around Leo's waist, perching his chin on his shoulder. “Do you even know what that means?” he asks.

Leo pouts. “Donnie says it, so it's gotta mean something about going somewhere.”

“Donnie says a lot of things.”

“Too many things.”

“So much things,” Mikey giggles.

Leo snickers as they enter the kitchen. “The many-est of things—”

“Okay,” a voice drones from a perch on the island, “now you're just being mean. And annoying. That's par for the course for Leo, but still.”

Leo smirks at Donnie, egged on by Mikey's giggling; he should probably stop, but he won't. Twin Banter is his favourite show. “I'll take that as a compliment, my good man,” Leo says with an exaggerated bow that nearly has Mikey bowling over him, “and I humbly request you move your nerdy ass so I can get to the fridge.”

Donnie doesn't look up from his phone. There's a half-eaten sandwich on a plate beside him, and his mask is speckled with dark spots of oil; he must be taking a break. A rare sight. Mikey feels sorta bad for making Leo make him move. “And for what reason must I relinquish my comfy place, brother?” he asks.

Leo straightens and looks Donnie in the eye. “Operation Rest Day.”

Donnie's head snaps up, the cogs in his brilliant brain turning a mile a second. His eyes shift to Mikey—probably noting the drying tracks on his mask—“Oh,” he says and hops off the table, taking his sandwich with him as he makes his way out of the kitchen. “There's pizza and some of April's brownies on the bottom shelf.”

Mikey cranes his head to follow Donnie. “Ain't that your pizza, Dee?”

Donnie doesn't turn around, typing again into his phone, this time more urgent. “I'll have the next last slice of pizza,” he says. Warmth surges in Mikey's heart, and he almost feels like crying again. “Should I get Raph?”

“Under no circumstances will you tell Raph. Yet.” Leo barks, shifting Mikey off his back to sit on Donnie's vacated spot on the table while he roots through the fridge. “He'll baby him, and Mikey's not in the mood. Nor am I.”

“Hear hear,” Donnie pumps a fist half-heartedly. “April says she'll be here in an hour tops, give or take traffic and whether she remembered to pump her tire, whiiich—“ Plink! Went Donnie's phone. “Yeah, no, no she didn't. Make that an hour and thirty. I'll set up the t.v room. You feed Angelo.”

“Way ahead of you, Double-D,” Leo says, muffled behind the teetering tower of food in his arms as he shuts the fridge door with his foot.

“Again, only one 'D' in my name but whatever,” Donnie sighs, a metallic claw popping out of his battle shell to pat Mikey on the head before he leaves the room.

Mikey rocks slightly on the counter, swinging his feet. “Thanks, Leo,” he says. “You really don't have to do this, but—”

“Hey.”

Mikey blinks. That's Leo's 'serious' voice, and when he looks up the cockiness in the slider's face is gone. He sets the food down and braces his hands on the table on either side of Mikey's knees, meeting his eyes. Mikey stops rocking.

“Dude, we get it,” Leo says. “It might seem dumb to you, but it's not. You think Donnie's meltdown over how his old blanket felt on his shell was dumb? Or when Raph has nightmares and cuddles his teddy bears? Or when I get worked up and flap my hands like I'm gonna take off, or when I can't sleep at night?”

“Wha—no, no of course not! I'd never—!”

“Yeah, so why do you think getting worked up over burnout is dumb? Why do you think we wouldn't care that not being able to do something you love makes you upset?”

Mikey's jaw clicks shut. Leo tilts his head and grins like he just won a chess match. Which would never happen, but still. Mikey sighs and hangs his head. “You're a manipulator,” he says with a tired smile.

Leo snickers and presses their foreheads together. “I like to think of myself more as an outcome engineer,” he says. “And tonight's outcome is my little brother getting his razzmatazz back with pizza, movies and freaking state-of-the-art blanket fort. Whaddaya say?”

Mikey giggles and throws his arms around Leo's neck, squishing him close. “I say 'Rest Day' Hooray, baby!” he chimes. Leo hugs him back just as tight, and Mikey feels again.

Later, when the family comes together for another Jupiter Jim marathon under Donnie's blanket fort, Mikey sits on Raph's left with his legs thrown over Leo's knees. It's warm, safe, bright and colourful, and Mikey no longer sees red.

Leo taps his ankle a few times: U good?

Mikey peeks over at him, catching his gaze. He thinks of all the projects he wants to do tomorrow, the paints and pencils waiting for him when he's ready, and grins. He taps Leo's knee.

A-OK.

Leo grins back and winks.

[warmpeachytea]

Sometimes I see the newer fans of ROTTMNT that came after it ended, and I just-

You guys will never know the feeling of waiting for the new episodes to air, but the show they played before it was that Alvin and the Chipmunks CGI animated show, and we all collectively lost our sanity for those few minutes waiting together as we watched the chipmunks.

Be glad.

[indieyuugure]

Your comic series is the first Rottmnt comic Iv ever read! It was an amazing first impression to the Rottmnt fandom! Could you teach me how to draw the turtle boys ( rise turtles)?

Also love the new update!

Aw! I’m so glad my comic made on good impression on you! ^v^

Of course! I’d love to help you!

So first thing’s first, here’s the boys the best I can draw them. The most important thing when learning to draw new characters is identifying what makes them look like them. We’ll start with the faces since that’s, in most cases, the point of focus.

Leo’s face is a pretty tall and vaguely pentagonal. His face is also very angular, the corners of his cheeks and top of his head are very sharp. Leo has the traditional style mask with tails that drop down to about his waist.

Donnie has that smart boi forehead and majestic eyebrows. His forehead often has a soft curve to it while, similarly to Leo, his cheeks and jaw use sharp angles. Remember too that the top of his head is flat, there’s no curve. His mask is that newer pirate style that wraps over the top of his head, with the tails looking like curvy squares.

Mikey’s face is a combination of a rounded square and a circle. The top of his head, while much rounder than Donnie’s, is somewhat square. The bottom of his face is a curve. Sometimes I draw the curve in line segments, but it’s not a requirement and won’t impact the way he looks. In general though, Mikey has a very circular face. His mask is the traditional TMNT style with the rounded bouncing tails on the back.

Raph is arguably the hardest to get right for some odd reason. Really though Raph’s face is just a shorter version of Leo’s face with slightly more exaggerated angles. His face is like a fat pentagon. Also tip: Raph’s eyes are always just a little smaller then you think they’re going to be. Trace some scenes from the ROTTMNT movie, you’ll see what I mean. Raph’s mask is the same style as Donnie’s where it covers the whole top of his head. There’s a small nick on the edge above his right cheek and the tails are tattered.

Okay, next are their markings! They play a lot in how easily identifiable they are.

I figured these diagrams should help as a little map as to what spots go where.

Alright, now we’ll look at their shells. There are many amazing diagrams and explanations for drawing their shells on Pinterest I’ve found, but I’ll sum it up here as best I can.

Leo’s shell is very sleek in design making his is profile look the thinnest of his brothers. Many people describe his general body shape as being an inverted triangle.

Donnie’s shell is very straight with hardly any curves. I didn’t include his battle shell in this since that qualifies as “gear” in my opinion, so you get to see what Donnie’s shell looks like! You’ll notice that the sides of his shell are very wide, which I’m guessing is because the curve of his carapace is so shallow.

Mikey’s shell is very similar to Leo’s but is a lot thicker and boxier(haha get it? Cause he’s like, a Box Turtle? :D I’m so lame…). He’s also much rounder and the distance between his plastron and carapace is pretty big.

Raph’s shell is probably the most complex of the boys because of all the spikes. Good things to keep in mind are that the spikes on the top of his plastron angle out, and spikes on his carapace flow up. In general think of Raph as a pentagon, he’s got big broad shoulders and arms and almost comically short legs. (And yes, I’m aware that I didn’t include the side of his shell here, it was too big to fit on the diagram. But just to give you an idea of where it should be, around the “w” in “flow” is where it should connect to his carapace.

Okay! So now that we’ve covered what the boys look like, let’s apply it to their bodies!

Here’s a quick sketch of Leo. “Oh, but Indie” I hear people say, “I can only draw basic shapes and stick figures!” Well to that I say good because that’s what I’m doing too!

For drawing action, it’s crucial to capture the energy of the character. And in a style like Rise’s energy is an iconic trait. So I’ve re-invented this “shape method” to actually be useful. The number one thing is that these shapes are loose guides as to the positioning of the body. Don’t think of these shapes as “well chests are like cubes and arms are like rectangles.” These shapes are place holders. I could replace those circles with stars and it wouldn’t change anything. I just use circles because they’re faster to scribble and stand out against the hard angles of everything else.

Here’s a picture of the shapes overlayed on the image, as you see, these shapes are guides to help comprehend a complex angle in 3D space. Sadly I don’t have much I can assist with on proportions, since I learned purely by studying total uncreepily real life people and myself (I swear I’m posing in the mirror for purely educational reasons! Okay!?).

But anyway, for this kind of thing, practice is the only remedy. Just draw action pose after action pose. Trace scenes from ROTTMNT and the movie to teach your eye to see what things should look like and to train your brain to recognize patterns of shapes and angles.

I hope you found this at all helpful. I’m not really sure how great of a teacher I am but people keep asking questions like these so I guess I’m okay. Glad you liked ROTP so much and I’m glad it made such a good impression on you! ^v^

Good question! :]

And of course if you have more questions, feel free to ask. Here are some previous asks about drawing I’ve gotten that you might also find interesting:

Tricks for Drawing Extra Expressive Faces

More Tricks for Drawing Expressions

Tips and Tricks to Drawing Non-Graphic Wounds

Basic Guide and Tips for Drawing the 2012 and Rise Turtles

How to Draw 2012 Raph’s Fire Ninpo

Nailing The 2012 TMNT Style in 2D

Important Concepts in Drawing Female Characters

[the-peak-tmnt]

I love this new kind of TMNT fandom SO MUCH. I juuuuust barely know how to use Tumblr, but I feel so spoiled here now lol! You are all so creative and talented and amazing and I love everything you guys make 😭

I wish younger-me had known that the fandom would grow to this point, or that the fanbase would expand beyond my cowaboomer demographic, or that someday I would actually know more than just one other female fan.

I drifted away from TMNT after I graduated college/fell out of touch with that friend. I'm so glad Rise brought me back to TMNT, and that @sugarpasteltmnt has helped her decrepit old sister navigate Tumblr so I can enjoy all of your art/gifs/comics/theories/fanfics.

I don't know what the point of this post is lol. I'm just so psyched, getting back into TMNT has been a fucking blast

[blitzxiiru]

I just found you and I love your posts, if the like/reblog spree was any indication. I was looking through your blog at work and it gave me so much energy.

I wanted to know what you would think of a tmnt/Undertale crossover. I don't know if you even like undertale, but I've been thinking about nonstop since I thought of it. Wether the boys have the game, or they're actually in the universe, I think it would be super cool.

hello!! welcome to my silly blog :) i’m glad my posts helped give you a little energy boost for work, i know how tiring working can be, take care of yourself!

oh man this brings me back to the ABSOLUTE GODDAMN HURRICANE amount of undertale aus back in the day. christ, there was so much and i genuinely couldn’t keep up. practically anything you could think of — like candy, space, swapped roles — there at LEAST one post about it that was mixed and matched with undertale. i left the fandom years ago though, it was getting super toxic atp and i stuck to looking at it from afar

to answer your question — if the boys were to have undertale, it was released in 2015, so they would’ve had the game when they were like 18?? donnie would be scrounging around in the sewers and stumbled upon some thrown away copy of it

raph would defo be the one to instantly start off killing everyone towards the genocide route. laughs maniacally while doing so, and everyone is concerned for his mental well-being

• “bRO WHY’D YOU KILL THE LITTLE FROG DUDE”

• “IT WAS LOOKING AT ME WRONG. IT WAS BEGGING ME TO JUST FUCKING KILL IT”

• “raph, we’re having a therapy session tomorrow.”

mikey would be the complete opposite of raph. he’d be the most pacifist and try to befriend everyone despite the monsters trying to kill him. he was devastated when he couldn’t save asriel. his favourite is undyne

• “KILL HER, MIKEY. KILL THE FISH AND CHEW ON HER BONES AND FLESH”

• “WTF IS WRONG WITH YOU NO???? I WANNA BE HER FRIEND!!”

• “mikey she is literally trying to murder you”

• “I DONT CARE WE CAN BE FRIENDS SHE REMINDS ME OF LEATHERHEAD”

donnie would be the one to try to actually try to get all the endings. doesn’t matter if he has to go genocide or pacifist or neutral, he’s going to get all the damn endings. he secretly enjoys doing the genocide route bc it was a challenge, nothing more! (totally)

• “donnie you’re hogging the game”

• “leave me alone leo i’m currently trying to get the true pacifist ending”

• “i don’t care donnie take a break you’ve been playing for 10 fucking hours”

leo would try his best to be pacifist, but in the end he got the neutral ending because he killed some monsters along the way. he swears it wasn’t his fault — the game activated his fight or flight

• “LEO NOOOOO WHY DID YOU KILL UNDYNE”

• “WHAT WAS I SUPPOSED TO DO, NOT FIGHT BACK???? SHE WAS ATTACKING ME”

• “i thought you were being pacifist”

• “I WAS. I WAS TRYING OKAY.”

[eternalglitch]

Hi! I've been following your story since probably the 5th chapter (I'm not sure exactly), and it's absolutely amazing! I ran across the anamatic for it first, and I wasn't entirely sure what I was looking at. I had only ever known the 2007 movie version of tmnt. And then the description said it came from your story, and I love reading, so I checked it out. There, it said to watch the show first, and I was like, nahhhh. It'll be fine. I know the characters, the 4 boys, splinter, Casey and April, the Shredder. What more was there?

Oh boy. As soon as I read the name Draxum, I was confused. I thought maybe I was misremembering Shredders real name. But then who was Big Mama?

So I caved and went to find the show.

I was the same as everyone else who started it. "What in the world did they do to them?!" I really didn't like Splinter. The designs of the boys were so weird. Why was Raph acting so childish? The whole caboodle.

But I was informed by anime watchers years prior that when you first start a show, you need to give it the 3 episode test: watch the first three episodes before you give your final verdict. The first three are vital for the show writers and artists and producers to play with and figure out how the show is going to move forward and what style they'll fall into. They have the first three episodes to gently flush out who the characters are without bombing the watchers with info. So I did.

It was exactly what I needed to get through college. It actually retaught me how to laugh at shows again. How to be engaged. How to enjoy something again.

And as soon as I finished the show, I went right back to your story and finally understood who the characters were.

And coming fresh from the show, the characters I read in your story were like I never finished the series. Everything about them was the same. You drew their personalities out perfectly.

I wanted to share my findings and did the exact same thing I went through for a friend. I showed her the video, and she got excited. I told her of the story, but that it only made sense after the show. She watched the show and enjoyed it all. I gave there the link to your tale, and she ate it up. I thought she might have a breakdown as she waited for each update.

We got both our brothers into the show. I got another guy friend to watch it, and finally convinced another friend to watch it. The first friend got HER friend to watch it...

Really, it's all because of your story that I have a whole friend group that I can talk about turtles with.

So thank you 😊

-🐢

P.s. I hope for healing well and that your Lil rat buddies are doing much better.

I have actually had people read lfls with zero turtle background knowledge before, but if you are trying to map it to a different iteration it is definitely quite different. You probably joined around the 10th chapter, since I don't believe I had any serious fandom presence or fanart let alone an animatic until around that time.

Before Rise, 2007 was the only iteration of turtles I knew as well, by chance.

And I'm very glad my story created so many good opportunities and memories for you! Thank you for the very sweet ask <3

[sunsetsandsunshine]

Hey~! :D

Idk when or if you're releasing another fic for TMNT 2012 anytime soon, buuuuuut can I ask for some headcanons in the meantime~? 😇

If you have any to share that is. :3

Ofc you can my fellow Anon! (Funny you mention TMNT 2012- I’m literally working on a fanfic for it rn but shhhhh- didn’t hear it from me…)

~ TMNT 2012 Tickle Headcanons (pt.1) ~

Look at my children 💞✨💖💞💕🫶🏾🫶🏾- absolute angels who wouldn’t hurt a fly /j

I’m glad the fandom just…universally agreed that Leo is the most ticklish out of his brothers

It just makes sense

Mr. I’m-so-serious-and-I-have-to-set-an-example-for-my-younger-brother’s is ticklish???

Who would’ve known!

Definitely not Leo that’s for sure-

Was taken aback just by how ticklish he was and how much he liked it

I feel like Raph can say the t-word as if it’s just an everyday thing

Like to him, it’s just an everyday word. Sure, tickling itself is embarrassing, but the word? Meh. Not really.

Uses that advantage ALL THE DAMN TIME while talking

Saying shit like: “The adults or just having a tickle fight. It’s fine, you guys.” or “That tickled my fancy!”

As he just evily watches his siblings crumble at the mention of the word

He’s such an asshole ISTG /aff

Master Splinter knows his sons enjoy tickling so he always tickles them but uses excuses like “You need to be able to sense where I’m coming from, my son.”

As he’s just brutally tickling the hell out of one of them

He’s the tickle monster they all agree to never ever EVER cross paths with

(They love they’re Dad with all they’re hearts but he can be one hell of a tickle monster)

Mikey is the kind of person who will tickle his brothers with every single chance he gets

Leo’s meditating and he’s ignoring him? Tickles.

Raph is whining and bitching about Mikey’s awesome cooking skills? Tickles.

Donnie is being grumpy? Tickles.

He will take every moment in the day to tickle his older brothers

Which is simultaneously his downfall but he really doesn’t mind

He absolutely loves hearing his brothers laughter- it’s his favorite thing in the world

Ever since Leo got thrown through that window (R.I.P. buddy) and was in the tub healing, there were scars and cuts on his shell

He’s extremely self conscious about it and frequently tried to hide the back of his shell sometimes- thinking that his shell looked utterly disgusting and he shouldn’t have to let his family see it

Donnie, being the medic of the family, would always remind Leo that he shouldn’t be ashamed of his scars- that they loved him- scars and all

And sometimes (all the time), Donnie he will lightly trace over Leo’s shell scars, playfully scolding Leo about how he shouldn’t be ashamed of himself or anything about himself and that he should love himself for the way he is because he’s perfect

And Leo’s just all embarrassed and giggly whenever Donnie does that; squirming and blushing like a tomato, not being able to do anything but just take it

(I put a pt.1 to this bc most likely I will be adding on to these. I have so many HC’s for these dumbass turtles it’s honestly concerning. I hope you enjoyed reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it!)

@itzystopkiddingmenowloco @skye-minecraftyt-blog @tickleebug @vxlepop @mythica0 @someone1348 @snugglyfluffle @prettychillbrainfreeze @td-obsessive-therapist-friend @charismakat

My fellow TMNT 2012 enjoyers 💖💞💖✨💕

[artsywriter25]

Let’s talk about the Kung Fu Panda 4 Trailer 

Okay, we finally got the trailer after waiting for so many months! 

First things first, my reaction to the trailer. I thought it was decent, I didn’t react too much but that doesn’t mean I didn’t like it. I couldn’t stop smiling seeing Po again, I was expecting to see more but this is just a tease. There probably is more that they can’t show us just yet. I watched this trailer multiple times. I’m gonna go on and talk about the things I like and things that I didn’t like. 

=

The Pros: 

- The animation looks great as always. I was hoping they add in the hybrid animation but the one they’re using is still amazing. 

- Po is now using his jade staff to make combo moves which is awesome and I can't wait to see the creative battles. 

- I like Zhen so far and Aquafina’s voice fits her. I know people are saying her design looks weird but I think it looks fine, and I have liked Aquafina since seeing The Farewell. 

- The Chameleon looks beautiful! If you pause during her transformations she actually looks scary. DreamWorks made a frecking chameleon scary, how do they do that?!

- I like how they kept the animals at their accurate heights like it took me the fifth watch to realize how small Chameleon was compared to Tai Lung yet she took him down easily. 

-Speaking of Tai Lung, he is so back! The fact that he is on the poster could be hinting at a possible redemption arc so for those die-hard Tai Lung fans out there, I’m happy for you. 

-I’m also happy they even got Ke Huy Quan to join the cast. I grew up watching The Goonies and after seeing him in Everything Everywhere all at once, I said that he should be in a KFP film and I’m glad he is.

The Cons:

- The jokes are okay, the only one that made me laugh was Po choking on the flower petals. I hate fart jokes, I know that’s what made DreamWorks famous like Sherk but it doesn’t fit well with KFP. Hopefully that’s the only one and there are not too many gross jokes. 

- I like we’re getting new characters but I’m afraid they won’t be complex characters with arcs of their own but just there as comic relief. 

- I’m already annoyed by those crazy rabbits. 

- Tai Lung cannot catch a break. First, his chi was taken from Kai and now the Chameleon took his chi, I hope he doesn’t end up as a punching bag for the rest of the film. 

-I noticed there is a lack of a color theme, I had always theorized it would be purple but I keep seeing gold, green, and white. That’s not a good sign.

- Okay this is just my nick-pick but I was shocked to find out they got Viola Davis voicing the villain. I like her in some movies but she gives me this impression of those actresses with big egos. Honestly, her voice is nice but I need a full clip of her to get a full impression. 

- Lastly, there is no Furious Five. I saw how the fandom is freaking out about this, but I think they are in the movie, just not for long. While I’m sad we don’t see them, the reality is there really is no other purpose for them but to help Po. I still think they may show up at the end for the final battle. I don’t know what the actors are doing right now, but Seth Rogan came out with his movie this year, TMNT: Mutant Mayhem, so he’s probably busy writing the sequel. As for Tigress, I won’t be surprised if she doesn’t have speaking lines because Angelia Jolie is too busy dealing with her personal issues and her divorce right now. 

=

Okay I got the pros and cons out of the way, now I want to talk about what I think may happen in KFP4. There are some things I’ve noticed in the trailer and I have too many theories and so many questions running in my head and I need to write it out. 

So Po’s Jade staff is definitely going play an important role in the story, it seem to have a connection to both the living world and the spiritual world. My guess is the Chameleon wants the staff for a higher purpose of her plan or she needs it to travel to the spirit world herself. We can see her summoning spirits over to the living world, capturing them, and literally eating their chi away. Chi is what helps the spirits stay in living world but Tai Lung’s chi was taken and we don’t know how this will affect him. He may be stuck there until he can get his chi back. 

I noticed in one shot of the trailer there are these strange boxes in the room where Tai Lung was fighting and I realized those are cages. The Chameleon is probably planning on keeping the villains as prisoners to take more chi from them. Knowing Po, he’s going to see this as wrong and wants to save the villains. I know it’s a stretch but I think it could happen. It would be so cool seeing Po, Tai Lung, Shen and Kai working together to take down the Chameleon.

But the question is what is her motive in all this? Why does she say to Po ‘we are not so different you and I’? If she is a powerful sorcerer then why does she need his staff? They better not say that she was never taken seriously enough, there’s gotta be more to it.

And there is Zhen, who I want to know the most. I’m sure they would show some flashbacks to her story and show why she became a criminal. For some reason, I keep thinking she maybe leading Po to a trap, which I hope that’s not the case, but she seems to know more than she lets on. Po didn’t know who the Chameleon was until Zhen explained to him and she knows where she lives. I hope she doesn’t end up being a backstabber because this character is supposed to be the next Dragon Warrior, it would be hard to forgive her if they went that route. 

But these are just my theories and questions that I have. There’s really nothing else to say other than despite my cons, I’m still hyped to see this film and praying to god this will be still good. They may put up another trailer later on, if it’s good enough I’ll write my reaction to it too.

But tell me what you guys think? 

[aquietwritingcorner]

Exposed Lies

Title: Exposed Lies Day: Febuwhump 2024, Day 6 Prompt: “You lied to me” Fandom:  TMNT 2003 Word Count: 3970  Author: aquietwritingcorner/realitybreakgirl Rating:  T Characters: Donatello, Leonardo, Raphael, Michelangelo, Splinter, April O’Neil, Casey Jones Warning: Summary: Now that their lives are settling into the new normal since Karai’s attack and Leonardo’s return, everyone has time to compare stories and let events settle in. However, one realization exposes a thread of lies that have been covering up one turtle’s secrets for years.    Notes:     ff.net || AO3

____________________________

Exposed Lies

“I’m so glad that you guys found a way to be here!” April said as she passed out drinks to everyone. “And that we finally have the time to catch up without interruptions. You have no idea how worried I was.”

“Sorry about that, April,” Leo said, accepting the drink she gave him. “We couldn’t risk it. Not only would it put you in danger, but it would have exposed us as well. It wasn’t worth the risk to any of us.”

“I understand,” she said, settling next to Casey. “It was just hard.”

The brothers and Splinter exchanged glances.

“Yeah,” Raph said after a beat of silence. “We get that.”

For a moment, no one said anything, although it was clear that memories were hanging heavily over them all.

“So…” Casey said after a moment. “You never said. Just what happened anyway?”

Again, all of the turtles and Splinter looked at each other, as if trying to figure out what they wanted to say.

“It started with the proximity alarms going off,” Don said, looking at his cup for a moment, and then back up at April and Casey. “They only went off for a second, maybe two, and then they shut off.”

“Shut off?” April said. “They’re not supposed to do that.”

Don nodded. “I know. I immediately headed over to my computer, but before I could so anything, the Foot burst in.”

“They had, like, huge mechs, and lasers!” Mikey said.

“Not to mention all the regular Foot,” Raph growled out, his free hand going to his sai. “They swarmed the place, and there wasn’t anything we could do about it.”

“Partway through, Karai appeared, in the Shredder’s armor,” Splinter said. “She demanded to know where Leonardo was and ordered our deaths.”

“In the end, we had to retreat,” Don said. “Abandon our home.” He took a breath, and held it for a moment, it clearly hard for him to think about. “I took Master Splinter, and we got in the Shell Sub. But there were Foot waiting for us near the exit point. I tried to shake them, but I couldn’t. Eventually, I buried the sub in the silt at the bottom of the river, grabbed the porpoise device, and Sensei and I exited. Right before I went out, I set the sub to leave the area, and it took off while we stayed hidden.” He shook his head. “The Foot destroyed it.”

Splinter reached over and put a hand on Don’s arm. “But we lived,” he said. “And your quick thinking saved us both.” He looked back at the group. “From there, we ascended to the surface, where we found places to hide until Leonardo found us.”

“That sounds harrowing,” April said, reaching over to give Don’s shoulder a squeeze. “I’m sorry about the sub, Don.”

Don gave her a smile that didn’t quite reach his eyes and shrugged. “I’m just glad that we managed to get away. I don’t know what we would have done if they hadn’t bought that.” He brought a hand down to idly rub his leg. “We weren’t in any shape to keep fighting.”

There was another beat of silence, and then Casey spoke up again.

“Okay, so that’s what happened to Donnie and Master Splinter, but what about the rest of you?” he asked.

“I booked it to the elevator,” Raph said, “and up to the garage. I hoped I’d have a moment to breath, but the Foot were up there, too.” He scowled as he continued. “I made my way to the Battleshell and busted out of there. But the Foot were waiting. They sent a freaking helicopter after me. The second I saw it shoot off its missiles I knew I had to jump ship. The Shell Cycle was in the back, so I jumped on it, and busted out the back just before the missiles hit the Battleshell and blew it up.”

He stood up, pacing just a little. “I booked it outta there, and I didn’t think they saw me, but I wasn’t gonna take any chances. I abandoned the bike and caught the D Train to Coney Island. I hid there, with no idea if anyone was alright or even how to find them, until Leo found me, and told me they were all right.” He balled up a fist and hit the back of one of April’s chairs.

“The Foot owe me a new bike,” he growled out, although it was clear to everyone that wasn’t really what he was upset about. Leo walked over to him, putting a hand on his shoulder, giving it a squeeze as a look passed between the two of them.

There was a pause, and then, after a moment of silence, April looked back at Mikey. “What about you, Mikey?” she asked. “What happened to you?”

The orange banded turtle looked up at her from where he was sitting on the floor. “I grabbed Klunk,” he said. “Or, well, Klunk came to me, and he and jumped in the tunneler. You’d think,” he said, with an air of annoyance, “that a guy could get away in a thing that tunnels through solid rock, but nope, turns out, that’s not the case. One of those giant mechs followed me and stayed hot on my tail. I figured pretty quickly that there wasn’t going to be a way for me to get away, so when I saw a place, I grabbed Klunk, and we bailed.”

He shook his head. “Dude was so focused on the tunneler he never even saw us. I watched for a second, saw him trash the tunneler, and then I got the shell out there.” He shifted, pulling his knees up to him. “Klunk and I moved around a bit, trying not to stay in one place too long. When Leo found us, we’d been holed up in the subway tunnels for a couple of days. I was super glad to see him!”

Splinter reached out and put a hand on Mikey’s shoulder. “We are all thankful for Leonardo,” he said.

“I’m just glad everyone was alright,” Leo said, making his way back over to the group with Raph. “I was scared stiff when the Ancient One told me that you were all in danger, especially since it took so long to get back home from Japan. I held onto the hope that you were all alive, although I admit that I was even more worried about it when I got April’s note. But in the end, you were all aright and we’re all together again, and that’s what matters.”

“Yeah, but it had to be terrifyin’ to see all those vehicles trashed,” Casey said.

“Oh, you have no idea,” Leo said. “It sent a spike of fear through me every—"

A sharp gasp and a thud cut him off, and all eyes quickly turned to Don, who had suddenly stiffened up, his glass having fallen out of his hand and landed on the floor.

“Don?” Leo said.

Don didn’t look at him. He didn’t seem to be looking at anyone. “The tunneler’s been destroyed,” he said.

Everyone else exchanged a look.

“Um, yeah,” Mikey said carefully, laying napkins on the spill and sitting the cup up. “I told you that, bro. Like, a couple of weeks ago.”

Don took in a couple of sharp breaths, his chest heaving with them. He shook his head slightly. “No, no you don’t understand. The tunneler has been destroyed. That means—” He took another shuddering breath and brought a hand up to cover his mouth, curling into himself slightly.

“Means what?” Leo asked, but Don didn’t answer him, a slight shake starting up instead.

“My son?” Splinter asked.

Don let out a sharp breath that sounded more like a sob than anything. “It can’t happen,” he said, his voice choked up. “It means it can’t happen. I stopped it. It can’t—it won’t—happen! I—” This time Don did let out a sob, even as he curled over himself, his mask growing wet.

Everyone looked at each other, everyone clearly equally bewildered by Don’s behavior and words.

Raph moved next to Don, putting an arm across his shell. “Donnie, what are you talking about?” he said. “What can’t happen? We don’t understand.”

Don let out a sound that was half a sob and half a laugh. “You won’t die!” he exclaimed. “I won’t kill you! I stopped it! I stopped it from happening, and now I won’t have to go through it again and I can stop being so paranoid and scared because I won’t disappear, and I won’t kill all of you!”

Don laughed again, a slightly hysterical edge to it, nothing having been made clearer to his family.

Splinter moved closer, and Raph backed off, letting his father take his place. “My son,” Splinter said, placing a hand on Don. “Donatello. We do not understand. We do not know what you’re talking about.”

Don looked up, tears still falling from his eyes, and looked at everyone as if seeing them there for the first time. “When Drako and the Ultimate Ninja sent us away—I never told you where I went,” he said.

“Uh, yes you did,” Mikey said. “You said you found yourself in a world with a wizard who could make things come to life by drawing them, but didn’t realize that’s what he was doing, and you helped him stop his drawings and protect a city.”

Don shook his head. “No. No, I lied about where I went,” he said. “That’s what happened with Kirby.”

“Wait—my tenant?” April said surprised. “I thought—I didn’t know what happened to him! He just disappeared after the building blew up!”

Don shook his head. “No, I—I never told you. Because it hurt and then everything happened so fast after that I just didn’t think about it. No, he found a crystal, put it on his pencil, and drew things that came to life but disappeared after a little bit. Except a portal.” Don took another sharp breath, a shudder running through him. “We went through it, found another world on the other side, including a city that was under attack. It turned out that the things Kirby was drawing were traveling to that world when the disappeared and were attacking the city.”

Don looked back down at his hands. “I helped him defend it, we defeated them, but when we headed back to the portal, it was starting to shrink. Kirby insisted that I go through first, but by the time I got through, it had shrunk too small for him to come through.” Don’s fists clenched. “I couldn’t bring him back—I couldn’t save him. And I didn’t know how to deal with that. So, I just didn’t tell anyone.” His breath hitched. “And then—when I came back—I couldn’t—I couldn’t tell you all—I just told you that story instead.”

“You lied to us?” Leo asked. “But—why?”

Don let out a sob, closing his eyes even as the tears increased. “Because I couldn’t—I couldn’t let you know what I did. I couldn’t let it happen! Because—because—”

“Because you killed us?” Mikey said, recalling Don’s earlier words.

Another sob escaped Don, and he nodded.

“My son,” Splinter said, his voice soft. “Tell us, please. What happened?”

For a moment, Don didn’t say anything, just sat there, shuddering in his father’s hold. No one said anything, waiting until he was ready. Finally, Don began to speak.

“I arrived in the lair, but it was thirty years in the future,” he said. “It was trashed, everything destroyed—except the tunneler. I didn’t know what to do, so I headed topside. But as soon as I got up there some sort of police or security force was there, demanding that I come with them. I was going to comply until I saw the Foot insignia on their uniforms. Before I could do anything, though, they were attacked from the shadows. The attacker took them down quickly and efficiently.”

He looked up, locking eyes on Mikey. “It was Mikey. Only older. And missing an arm.”

Mikey’s eyes widened and he gulped, drawing his arms inward.

“We got out of there, and he explained what had happened. He told me that I had disappeared thirty years beforehand, and in those thirty years, that the Shredder had taken over. That he had gone back to the Utroms and enslaved them, and then come and enslaved the earth. It was an industrial wasteland. The people were forced to work eighteen-hour days, and he had complete control.” Don looked down. “But that wasn’t the worst of it.”

Don shuddered and leaned slightly into Splinter’s hold. “He took me to Sensei’s grave,” he said quietly. “He said that the lair was attacked, and that Sensei gave his life to protect the three of you. He said that after that, Raph and Leo split. ‘When you never came back, Donnie, well, everything just fell apart. We were a team. Without you, it just didn’t work. Guess we really needed that level head of yours.’ That’s what Mikey told me. That it all fell apart because I wasn’t there.”

“Donnie, no!” Raph said, kneeling in front of his brother. “Me and Leo, yeah, we’ve gotten crossways before, but we wouldn’t ever just abandon everything like that!”

“Never!” Leo said, coming up as well, laying a hand on Don’s shoulder.

“Good,” Don said, looking up at them, his mask damp. “That means that it worked.”

Raph and Leo exchanged a confused glanced.

“What worked?” Raph asked.

Don sniffed but didn’t take his eyes off of his brothers. “I couldn’t let the family fall apart like that,” he said. “So… so I found ways to try to strengthen our bonds. Or, well, all of your bonds. More suggestions for family activities. Suggesting activities that the two of you could bond over. Making sure that all of you spent good, quality, family time together.” He stared at them, eyes determined, even through their dampness. “I wanted to make sure that you wouldn’t tear apart.”

“Well, that explains a lot,” Mikey said. Heads whipped towards him, and Mikey just looked back at them. “What? You guys didn’t notice the way Don would be out of his lab more, or how he kept finding things to do that we all liked, or that you two could bind over?”

Raph and Leo looked at each other.

“I… guess we didn’t,” Leo said.

Mikey scoffed. “And you call me unobservant.”

“That still don’t explain what you mean by you killed everyone,” Casey said. “I mean, I guess I can see how you’d think about Splinter, maybe, but Mike was still alive, at least.”

Don sobered up and looked back at his hands. “No,” he said, his voice shaking. “It doesn’t.”

Everyone fell quiet and waited for Don to be ready to speak again.

“There was a resistance,” Don said. “Mikey was part of it. Angel, too, although I never saw her. April was heading it up.”

Casey gently elbowed April. “Hey, good on you, Babe!” he said. “I knew that you had it in you!”

April just shot him a look and shushed him.

“It was failing,” Don said, as if Casey hadn’t interrupted. “Not through any fault of April’s but just because of what they were all up against. The Foot had more troops and resources, and going after Shredder…” he looked up, and looked at Casey. “Their last attempt had killed Casey.”

Casey froze for a second, but this his face set. “I’d rather go out that way, then let the Shredder keep going.”

Don gave a nod, but continued on, once again looking down at his hands. “I asked April to get in touch with Raph and Leo. She did, but the moment they saw each other, they almost came to blows.” He looked up at his two brothers. “They were both horribly scarred. Raph… He was missing an eye,” Raph’s eyes widened, “and Leo was blind, or nearly so.” Leo shifted uncomfortably.

Don kept going. “I stopped them, and then I…” he paused, taking a breath in. “…I convinced them to go up against the Shredder again. They were all against it, Leo, Raph, Mikey, April, even Stockman and Hun.”

“Wait wait wait—” Mikey said. “Stockman and Hun?”

Don nodded his head once. “Yes. Shredder had fused them together, and the resistance had saved them from being executed.”

“Fun,” Mikey said sarcastically.

Don bowed his head again. “I should have listened to them. They should have pushed back on me more. But none of them did. I made a plan. I—” his voice got shaky, and he brought a hand up to his eyes. “They should never have listened to me.”

The tension in the room grew, as Don continued speaking.

“We used the tunneler to get into the Shredder’s throne room. I used a captured Karai Legionnaire to make an exosuit for myself. The plan was to tunnel into the throne room, let Shredder think he was getting the upper hand, and then get him into position to chain him to the tunneler and turn on the drill.” Don’s voice grew shakier. “And it worked. But… at a price.”

The tears fell faster from Don’s eyes as he continued, his voice shaking. “It didn’t take long for the tide to turn against us. Within moments Mikey was surrounded by the Legionnaires. He—he called out my name. He called to me and—” Don let out a sob. “I couldn’t do anything! They sliced him to pieces, killing him, and there was nothing I could do! He died calling for me to save him, and I couldn’t!”

Everyone stared at Don, horrified, but he continued, not even looking at them. “Leo and Karai were fighting. He had her, but then a Legionnaire came up behind him, and he turned to deal with it. She stabbed him in the back then and there. Raph saw, and he went after Karai. But she killed him, too, and he died crawling to Leo. April… April killed Karai with a rocket launcher.”

Don took another shuddering breath, forcing himself to keep speaking. “Then it was just me and the Shredder. He taunted me, called me the last of my kind. I tried to kill him then and there. But he didn’t die. He didn’t die! It was what we had expected, but I just wanted to end him.” Don’s voice turned hard in a way they hadn’t heard from him before. “But I still got him into position. I chained him to the tunneler, turned on the drill, and got out of my exosuit. Then I stood there and watched as it killed him.”

He shuddered. “I killed him. But—it was too late. It was too late for my brothers. They were all lying there, dead, and it was because of my plan, because they trusted me.” He shook his head. “I don’t care what April said about giving the world hope, what did it matter when I killed my entire family!”

Don leaned over again, his head in his hands. “I killed them! It was my plan, and they trusted me, when they absolutely should not have, because what did I know about their world? Nothing! I just pushed my way in and insisted on doing things my way, and it got them all killed!”

Don was sobbing by this point, taking shuddering breaths as he tried to breathe. Splinter’s arm curled around him, drawing Don closer to him.

“My son…” he said. “Why did you not tell us this? Why did you feel the need to lie?”

“I couldn’t face you,” he said, his voice strangled. “I disappeared, and the family fell apart. It was my fault! And then I got everyone killed, and it was my fault, my plan! How—how could I tell all of you that? How could I face you, knowing that it could all happen, and it would be my fault, I’d be the one to kill all of you? How could you ever trust me if that was the case? I—”

Don broke out in a sob again and shook his head. “But now it can’t happen! Don’t you see?” he asked, lifting his head, and looking at his family with desperate eyes. “The tunneler was essential to the plan! With it gone, the timeline’s been changed! And now—”

Don suddenly launched himself forward, grabbing onto Mikey. “Mikey, you don’t have to lose your arm! You don’t have to lose your happiness! You don’t have to die like that!”

He looked up at Raph and Leo and rocketed to his feet, putting desperate hands on the sides of their faces. “Raph, you don’t have to lose an eye! Leo, you don’t have to go blind! You two don’t have to become estranged! You don’t have to die by Karai’s sword, unreconciled!”

He whirled again and grabbed Casey by the shoulders. “You don’t have to die in a fruitless attempt to take down the Shredder!”

He turned to April, grabbing her hands. “You don’t have to run a failing resistance, and then build back a broken world!”

He turned Splinter, and practically collapsed in front of his father, pulling him in for a hug. “You don’t have to die defending your family, not knowing what happened to me!”

Don let out another sob, and clung to his father, even as his father’s arms wrapped around him. For a moment there was nothing but the sounds of Don’s sobs, and Splinter’s gentle comfort and reassurance. After a few minutes, though, Don calmed, and Splinter guided him back to sit on the couch. April draped a blanket across his shoulders as Splinter reached out and gently took Don’s chin into his hands.

“My son. You have carried this burden for far too long, alone. And while I am disappointed that you felt the need to lie to us and to hide this from us, I am also glad that you have shared it with us now.” Splinter’s face softened. “Know this, though. You were not at fault. If that family could not stay together when you disappeared, then they never had the strong bond you four have to begin with. That is not on you.”

Don shuddered and leaned his face into his father’s hand.

Splinter smiled at him, stroking his son’s face. “Furthermore, you were not responsible for their deaths. I understand why you feel as such. But in the end, just as we all made the decision on Shredder’s ship, they all made the decision when they went into battle, knowing what it could cost them and counting it worth it.”

Don shuddered again, his face twisting up as he let out another sob.

Leo moved in beside Splinter, wrapping an arm around Don. “Donnie. I know how you feel. You all know I do. But if I learned anything from my time with the Ancient One, it’s that beating yourself up about what happened, what could have been or could be, it helps nothing. And keeping a burden? All it does is break the person carrying it.” He smiled at Don and squeezed him. “Let us carry this burden with you, little brother.”

Don shuddered and nodded, leaning into Leo’s touch as well. It wasn’t long before his family pressed in close, all of them lending their support to Don. Maybe he had lied to them about what had happened, but that didn’t matter. What mattered was that they were all here, they were all together, and they always would be. And that was exactly what Don needed.

[angelmichelangelo]

hi there, woodyangelo anon here... its been a minute but hope you're doing well!!

i read your fic about the promise rings and it was so sweet i could have died... i like that even though woody didn't actually appear in the fic their relationship still shone through and all the turtle brothers knew what a power couple they are. you had all their characters down perfectly and it was really great. just wanted to let you know how much i enjoyed it :) <3

AH i savoured this ask in my inbox for some time just because it gave me all the warm squishy feelings every time i went back to read it :’)

thank you so much anon <3 woodyangelo are so important to me, writing them is so therapeutic and to know others enjoy it (as small of a circle it is, in tmnt fandom) really does mean a lot :)

woody can be a tricky guy to write just because imo we don’t have enough of him in the comics but im glad that i was able to bring him to life a little in my fic ! for sure when im over my writing bug i’ll get back to writing these two goobers

thanks again for such kind words! big loves to u !!

[iztarshi]

Day 2: Solitary Confinement

Fandom: tmnt 1987

_

They normally all get turtle pox together since they’re rarely apart, so it’s unusual for Leonardo to be the only one suffering. Of course, it’s good that he’s the only one suffering. His team can still patrol the city, keep its people safe, and also they won’t have to feel like the turtle tank has run over their heads. It would be better if he was there with them, to keep them together, to keep them on track, to make the decisions before events made the decisions for them. If their leader wasn’t so weak a simple disease was keeping him down.

The sound of footsteps and the television turning on tells him they’re back safely and he sighs with relief. If only he could go out there and ask them how it went. When they’re all sick they normally tuck themselves onto the couch together, but for once it’s just Leonardo. Which means quarantine. Isolation. He could probably guilt them into bringing him the television if that was what he wanted, but he still wouldn’t be able to watch the movie with them. Instead he tries to read his book, but the words are blurry and focusing makes his head hurt worse. He puts it back down again and wonders whether he can bring himself to bother Master Splinter for a bedtime story. He’s not a little turtle any longer.

The sound of raised voices from the other room has him grabbing for his turtle comm with more relief than concern. Donatello answers and Leonardo sneezes before saying. “Let me talk to Michelangelo and Raphael. I need to tell them to stop arguing.”

“Leonardo, you’re supposed to be resting,” Donatello chides. “Raphael and Michelangelo are fine. We don’t need you worrying about us, so go to sleep.” And he hangs up.

Leonardo lies back down. They’re fine, they don’t need him, they’re probably better off with him down. And if he tells himself that’s not true it means he’s not there when they do need him. He hides his head under the pillow and tries not to cry. His snout already feels swollen to the size of his head, he doesn’t need to make it feel worse.

It’s a little while later of lying still while his body aches and his mind seesaws between anxieties that he hears April’s voice calls softly, “Leonardo? How’s my turtle doing?”

He pokes his head out from under the pillow and says, “Oh, hi, April. I don’t feel well at all.”

April comes over and sits on the bed next to him. “You don’t look too good either.” She plumps up the pillow and slips it back under his head. It’s not her day off today, so she probably won’t be staying long, but she’s good at this. At being a comforting present.

“How are the others? I heard arguing earlier.”

“Whatever it was, they’re over it. They’re just worried about you - Michelangelo’s working on cheese and tomato soup.”

“That sounds nice.” It is nice, that they’re thinking about him, although Leonardo feels bad for being glad they’re worrying. Being stuck alone is bad enough without feeling like he’s been forgotten.

“Anything else you need?” April asks.

“Well, I don’t want to bother you,” Leonardo says, making big, hopeful eyes at her, “But my head hurts too much to read my book.”

“Okay, just until the soup is ready.” April sounds so fond as she finds the page he’s bookmarked.

Leonardo snuggles down and lets her voice wash over him, enjoying the company. Maybe he’ll be able to fall asleep before she’s gone.

[trust-sancus]

NO LONGER ACTIVE

This has been on my mind for a while, but I’ve finally come to the conclusion that it’s best I step back from the tmnt fandom.

I knew going into it and making videos on tiktok would lead to an unhealthy obsession with creating and engaging in fandom content, to the point that I’d completely neglect my original art and other matters in my life. But I did so anyway for the momentary satisfaction that fandom brings.

But in truth, it has been eating at me that I am unable to focus my time nor energy toward my original work, and now it dawns on me that nearly an entire year has passed & that is a lot of time that has been wasted. Yes, it was fun, and I’m glad my work was able to bring some enjoyment to others, and that I was able to enjoy others’ work as well…..but ultimately, it has kept me trapped in place in terms of where I want to be in life.

I need to get back to creating original artwork, so I can build my business and really start toward the life/future I want.

I’ll always have a love for tmnt; that much is clear. I mean, I’ve loved them for the better part of 28 years, so I know they’ll always be a special interest of mine. But I need to keep that love contained, for my own sake, and not spend my time interacting as much with the fandom as I have been.

Not that I don’t care for you guys (you’ve been awesome tbh). It’s just that I lack the ability to focus my energy toward two things at once, and in this case, my dreams, my career, and my future livelihood have to come first. Sorry if this is a disappointment to anyone.

I really did want to create a comic for my tmnt iteration. Maybe someday I will, once I am further along with building my business. But really, I know that’s likely wishful thinking & it would be better to put my time toward original comics rather than fan comics, if I am to do any at all.

I might still draw my turtles on occasion and post them here (no promises though). And I will probably check in to maybe look at fanart occasionally. I may also randomly update my current fanfics, if only because I sometimes use writing as an outlet. But aside from that, I will no longer be very active on here, so please do not expect any prompt replies should you message me or tag me in anything.

The tmnt fan iteration blog still has a bit more scheduled, but I probably won’t reblog anything else there once it catches up, as I won’t be on here enough to look for new iteration posts.

Kudos to anyone who has actually read all of this. Sorry I tend to ramble. Didn’t want to leave any unanswered questions. Sorry if this all seems pretty sudden (it’s been a long time coming for me).

Thanks for being cool, and I wish y’all the best.

[crylin]

Hello there! :3 I have been following you for a long time now and I absolutely love the way how you draw and color! So smooth and beautiful! I also have noticed that recently you draw a lot of FF stuff (I am a fan myself ever since FF7 back in 90's) but I also have noticed you have drawn Turtles too which I love as well! :) I wanted to ask are you, at some point, going to draw turtles again or is your main interest in Zack etc. for now? :3 Thank you and have a lovely week!

Hey-hey! Thank you very much! ♡ I'm very glad that you like my drawing style and color ♡( ◡‿◡ ) Ohh yeeeah~ I still really love TMNT! only the big disappointment in the "RISE"-version made me leave the fandom… But, actually, I have an idea to return to the turtles just to complete the "multyTMNT" comic, because there there's still so much history left to be draw, heh! XD but I'm not sure what it will be in the coming months… because I have too many crazy plans for FF7!!!(✧▽✧) Ahahahah, sorry ^_^'

[virgilisspidey]

Hey bestie my Liege my Lord I just finished binge reading all of your Two Souls series (minus Meanwhile but I'm getting to that,,eventually/lh) and 1) thanks for making my tmnt obsession come back stronger than ever this fandom is pulling me in like a black hole everytime I leave till my last breath, and 2) jesus I almost cried in front of my salad too how dare you (/silly+pos, loved it thanks for beating my heart up I was getting complacent with fluff anyways)

Dont worry the tears add flavor

AJODJDKFJEKD BUT THANK YOU OMG I'm glad you like it so far!!

i really should fregin finish the chaoter goddamn

[taizi]

1. I stumbled back into TMNT and am watching rise for the first time because of you lol (its great!). I used to read your 2012 TMNT fics and saw how much you love rise so I wanted to give it a chance. 2. Do you have any opinions regarding antis and proshippers? Just wondering because lol I don't think I've ever been in a fandom wherein DNI is used so much in AO3 tags and I don't remember it being so common in the 2012 fandom haha.

i’m glad u gave rise a shot !! it’s so much fun

and i really don’t have an opinion. ppl are always just going to do whatever they want and i curate my online experience by ignoring/avoiding things that will upset the delicate coral reef inside my brain

[cosmoshard]

TELL ME ABOUT TEMPER TEMPER

IM SO GLAD U ASKED :3

This was my pet fic for years, I basically mapped the whole plot down in my notes app and just fixed it up from time to time. THAT BEING SAID, it is old and during my teen angst years so its a wee bit dark~

Its a whole episode of tmnt 2012 where i throw angst bombs at the turtles and force raph to face his trauma of his father dying right in front of him and being ✨The Forgotten Middle Child™️✨/lh

The turtles are in hiding when a mission that Raph and Mikey go on heads south as Shredder goes for the kill and captures Mikey as bait. Raph retreats to the lair to get his brothers but when Leo’s plan doesnt suit him, they part ways until first Leo, then Donnie turn up missing after a heated argument. Raph must seek help from past friends and family to rescue his family, before its too late and Shredder wipes the Hamato clan from existence, forever.

this fic is formatted as if its a lost tmnt episode, bad writing/j and angst material included. It includes his trauma about his father dying, a visit from said dead father CUZ HE NEVER GOT ONE IN THE SHOW,,, his new relationship with Slash, and other stuff. I will admit I didnt know his character well enough back then, so some things will be changed in the original to be more in-character while also giving him the justice he deserves from the fandom…grrhrjtkrgrgrgrgrgjrrhhtgrgrrrr