#why we love rottmnt

[annomalysstuff]

I made a compilation of references for the main tmnt characters from every iteration and I thought it would be helpful, so I’m posting it here :]👍

I brightened the saturation in some so it’s more readable

Also, this is so cute, I’m keeping this

Edit: I forgot about bay Donnie, updated version

[turtleblogatlast]

I will never be over Leo’s 4D chess play in “Many Unhappy Returns”. Like, just in general it is a spectacle to see this character who we’ve seen goofing around time and time again, who’s only sometimes decided to take things seriously, only to show him making a maneuver like that.

And here’s what gets me the most about his plan against Big Mama: he comes up with it on the spot. The second he sees that Big Mama has the solution they need, he’s already in game mode.

It is so satisfying watching the episode back when you realize his plan, because he literally sets the stage entirely for a decisive victory. He sees that the champion is a kraken, and comes up with both the solution to defeating it and a reasonable excuse to get that solution into the battle with them on the fly:

“Like your champ aaand those six guys. In fact, we don’t want this over too quickly. You should armor up those rookies. The whole shebang. Especially with these pointy helmets.”

And this is why giving him teleportation powers is perfect, too. He analyzes the battlefield and makes use of all the assets, moving pieces around to guarantee a win. It is honestly so impressive to witness and one of my favorite parts of his character.

[toitlselfindulgenz]

Big reptile and a little baby guy

[luxtoony]

S..so.. 👉👈 @somerandomdudelmao

I really didn't want my first fanart for Cass series to be angst but my hand didn't listen. The pose and atmosphere was so cool, I couldn't resist :(

Me showing up to my college after another (very very and that's two very's) late night dedicated to turtles.

(sorry for reposting but tumblr pranks me as always)

[goodforwho]

I've been drawing future leo for about 3 weeks now for an animatic. Today during class I thought why not do it in a more finished way (I love him so much)

[lizzylucky]

Draxum hadn't accounted for the fact that when he gave four hatchling turtles the DNA of a human being in order to give them greater intelligence, he would effectively be making himself a surrogate father to actual children, with wildly different needs.

When he sent his gargoyles to obtain a sample of DNA from Big Mama's prized warrior, the intention was to create his own. They were to be the prototypes for an army of simple creatures with just enough heightened intelligence to learn combat and follow commands, that he might defend Yokai kind with.

Instead, he quickly discovered the integration of human DNA had been a little over successful in allowing his test subjects to learn and think and feel in a civilized manner, going so far as to override some of their natural instincts as turtles that would otherwise allow them to learn to care for themselves. He had to feed them, by hand, with bottles.

Like infants.

They were easily distraught by unfamiliar things, and quickly became dependent on Draxum in every sense of the word. They babbled, they cried, they explored things with their hands, their tails, their mouths.

It was an unplanned adjustment needed to be made, but no matter. If anything, learning to understand the new hybrid emotions of these turtles would allow Draxum greater advantages when they grew enough to safely learn combat. Preferences, likes and dislikes, needs, diet, and so on, all became more complex areas of study.

Even a couple years in, he found himself continually surprised. Brain scans had shown that the turtles were more intelligent, still, than anticipated. They, truly, seemed more human in mind and function than anything else, with only some base instincts and behaviors left to influence their personalities. They retained many reptilian traits, but overall had the bipedal anatomy and function of humans and some Yokai. It had been an infuriating discovery at first, but Draxum had to admit that over time he became fond of it.

Each turtle had developed his own personality. The eldest, for example, had a love of plush toys, and showed a fierce protective instinct over the others. The youngest, Draxum had learned, was contrastedly reckless and excitable, not nearly so reserved or gentle as the first. Additionally, he was, decidedly, to be kept away from any and every writing utensil unless under strict supervision (unfortunately, this was learned a little too late, as was evidenced by the clear markings left in several work benches). Then, of course, were the slider and the softshell, who had the most bizarre relationship. They were constantly fighting with each other, but utterly inseparable, and each showed an incredible and unique curiosity, constantly exploring and watching and studying, with concentration filling their eyes in ways Draxum had never seen in other children so young.

Embarrassingly, it took another couple years before Draxum realized he couldn't simply refer to them by their species' names. It certainly was effective, but they were not the mild, simple creatures he had once expected them to be, and he knew that they never would.

Now, they were vocal, playful, inquisitive... energetic. By the gods, were they energetic. They never stopped moving, never stopped talking, never stopped eating, never stopped wanting or needing.

...This is why Draxum never had children of his own. It took all the time and energy he had to spare, and then some. Although it would be a lie to say he wished they were any other way.

They had so much capacity to learn, and with their emotional propensity could one day come to understand exactly why Draxum was doing this, which he knew would be an edge in their combative styles.

As he introduced them, slowly, to more of the world's culture and knowledge, he felt, in a new way, that their very existences were revolutionary. A perfect, synergistic unity between two entirely different families of genetic material, with numerous enhanced abilities. And they were children. They maintained all the properties of regular children, but had so much more in store! Such grand destinies! They would be, inarguably, the greatest warriors of their time when they were grown. They would be the compassionate, skillful heroes of all Yokai, the first of a new generation of super mutants, and the key to overcoming the evils of the humans who had overtaken the surface and posed such threat to all who lived below.

It was with great reluctance that he allowed himself to accept, however, that not all of mankind was evil. There were many forms of art, beautiful in different ways, there were some rare people filled with kindness, inventions that utilized resources in ways Yokai kind had never thought to. Perhaps he had been a little stubborn in his ways, a bias cementing over time that blinded him to some of the beauty that did yet exist in such a species.

Make no mistake, humans were a threat. Innocent families lived in fear, in hiding, of the governments and ruthless sciences designed to invade, to blaspheme the name of knowledge, with no regard for the safety of this people.

Draxum could live with being an outlaw to the Yokai if his experiments would lead to their salvation. He may be their villain in today's papers, but in history books he would be a hero.

Still, he wished to amend some of his practices. Even if only to his turtles, he would be known for his ability to change and understand. He would be fair, and he would be truthful.

And so it was that he told the turtles the nature of their existence. Perhaps he muted some of the details, to protect their minds until they had more understanding, but he would not lie to them about their DNA. He told them of Lou Jitsu, and their human genetics, and he begrudgingly allowed them access to the culture of the humans. He would let them choose their interests unbiased.

In the process, he came to know of some of the revolutionaries of human history. Though he wasn't particularly inclined to believe there were no evils involved, he was intrigued by the strange moral code that the humans boasted from their different time periods. The turtles, as well, were fascinated by the stories of war heroes and generals, seamstresses and inventors, artists and royalty.

Initially, when it came time to redesignate his turtles, Draxum had been inclined toward the names of those whose legacies persisted in the humans' culture even today- perhaps a president for the slider, a scientist for the softshell, a great general for the snapper, and an artist for the young box turtle. It seemed, somehow, clandestinely right; carefully considered to exemplify each of their personalities.

And although he had begun to get used to the possibility of names like "Monroe" and "Edison", his indecision on the matter seemed to be working against him. He was taking too long, and the boys were growing smarter.

It was a day in August, later that year, that he found his two youngest arguing over a Renaissance book, oddly enough. The elder two took to a game of knocking "secret patterns" on each other's carapaces, which he dismissed before he could allow himself the confusion that came with wondering why a five year old would want to knock on a spiked shell for fun.

After breaking up the fight and confiscating the book (which, as it turned out, the youngest only wanted because it had pictures in it, much to the chagrin of the other, who insisted that reading it was much better than just looking at the pictures), Draxum found himself idly flipping through pages of rustic images and rudimentary ideas, developed by people with strange names.

Maybe he was simply too tired to consider it properly, but, feeling defeated in his endeavor, he chose four names at random and assigned them to the young turtles, deciding it had been long enough.

It took a while to get used to, but soon "Raphael", "Leonardo", "Donatello", and "Michaelangelo" truly fit.

Over time, the boys grew... ravenous. They devoured everything- food, information, technique. They were learning quickly everything Draxum taught them. They practiced with Huginn and Muninn, leapt up, around, over, and through everything in the lab, and took special interest in action-filled films.

And Draxum grew fonder. He wasn't entirely surprised, of course; it's natural to develop some sense of sentimentality when caring for anything this long. Even if they had been the simple minded turtles he expected, he knew this was inevitable, to a degree.

What startled him was the sudden sense of fear that came with watching them train. The alarm that made his heart beat harder when one of them fell from somewhere high or any time they ran simple drills with weapons not blunted and made from wood.

He subtly began to intensify their defensive strategies, taught them where they were most vulnerable so they could protect those spots, insisted on perfecting their abilities to parry, block, and dodge before anything else.

And, over time, he found himself training them less often than before, thinking, "I must preserve their innocence and prolong their childhood experiences". After all, it was an essential part of development, was it not? If it were tarnished too much, they might become unwise or unjust as warriors. And, really, Raphael was only 8 years old, and he was the eldest; they were much too young to be exposed to the harshness of what their combative training was really for.

He told himself that, time and time again. He told them that, making certain they understood that their training was not a game. It wasn't untrue, certainly.

Really, he just wasn't ready. He wasn't ready to admit to what extent he cared about them, because it was too much. It was more than he could ever have been prepared for. It was more than that passion to protect Yokai kind ever was, and if he ever realized that, he might become the compromise to his own purposes, to the very reason these turtles exist this way to begin with, and then what? What was he to tell them, why was he to train them, who did they exist for if not the inhabitants of the Hidden City?

No. He couldn't do that. He simply would not allow it, not when so much was at stake.

And yet...

More and more often he desired simply to watch them. He was growing weary with worry, and with that tight feeling that arose in his chest each time one of his boys so much as frowned.

Raphael loved to carry his brothers on his shoulders. And he prided himself on being the big brother, in every way. He liked repeating instructions Draxum gave to the others, and tended to play caretaker anytime someone was sad, or had a bruised knee. He often played the "bad guy" in their made up games so the younger ones could "win", he was the mediator in big decisions, like what book they should read before bed, and he seemed always ready with an armful of stuffed animals when he wanted to express affection. So strong, incredibly strong, but soft spoken and sweet.

Leonardo adored Raphael. Just as Raphael did Draxum, Leonardo liked to imitate and repeat instructions. He tended to take charge in many of their childish endeavors, and had a propensity for dramatics and heroism, often pretending to rescue his brothers. This seemed to irritate Donatello to no end, unless he was also playing the hero, and often times he was. The two were usually glued to the hip, though Leonardo liked to make a point to tell all his brothers about everything that went on, and would take a movie night with the three of them over a one on one outing with Draxum any day. He was exuberant and joyous, and very driven by the concept of justice.

Donatello, similarly, seemed to care very dearly about maintaining a bond with all three of his brothers, but he was peculiar, often more reserved and enjoying his alone time. That child read and read like he might never get a chance to again, and he absorbed what he read like a sponge. Quite a few times Draxum found him pulling apart whatever he could get his hands on, and though an effort was made, there was no hiding place the boy couldn't discover in his quest for Draxum's tools. In spite of his quizzical, sometimes stoic nature, Donatello was sensitive, and very thoughtful. He would spend hours talking about his books and his ideas- some of which were very clever- and he was expressive in secondary ways- sitting nearer his brothers even without interacting, crafting things out of paper as gifts. Even the little heart-shaped mark on the back of his soft shell seemed a fitting part of him- he wore his heart on his sleeve, so to speak, and didn't even realize it.

And Michaelangelo. There was an innocence and joy and goodness about the smallest turtle that had struck Draxum. Even when he was younger he always wore a smile and liked to see the good side of things. And he idolized his brothers. With him had grown his creative inclinations, filling every colouring book, drawing on every wall, and absolutely plastering the other turtles with stickers. They were a pain to wash off, but Draxum couldn't bring himself to mind it, especially given the elder three always loved their baths. Ironically, it seemed Michealangelo did not, enjoying it only under specific circumstances. Heat, bubble bath, and bath toys had quickly become a necessity. So too did bath crayons, the need to express himself coming through even when bathing. Everything about the ornate box turtle was bright and colourful.

Draxum... loved them. Dearly. Every facet of their personalities and growth. Every unique trait and behavior.

It was terrifying. He couldn't afford to love them. He couldn't afford to see any more goodness in the humanity they showed. He couldn't afford to change his goals right now.

So he continued disregarding the feeling, trying to reason that everything he did for them was to nurture their instincts as warriors, as science experiments, as specimen.

But a pained scream one day, different from any of the ones he heard when they were frightened as infants, when one of them tripped and fell, when a spat led to hitting, sent his heart into his throat and had him racing through doorways with more urgency than he had felt for anything before.

He had demanded an explanation, panic translating to perceived anger, and three of his boys looked up with teary eyes. Three, but Donatello remained curled up on the ground, wailing his little heart out without ever looking up, and it was one of the most heart wrenching, painful sounds Draxum'd ever heard.

Raphael sat not far from the smaller boy, looking over his shoulder seemingly at nothing, at Donatello, then up at Draxum and back again. Both Leonardo and Michaelangelo burst into frantic, panicked explanations, none of their words coherent enough to understand through their tears.

When Raphael stood, exposing red-tipped spikes on his shell and pointing frantically to Donatello's, it didn't take long to figure out well enough what had happened.

It became quickly a very long day. All four turtles were distraught, and though Draxum had more than enough first aid knowledge to address the situation, bile had threatened to rise the very moment he pulled out the suture kit.

The cuts were deep, and jagged. And poor Donatello cried the entire time, even after a numbing agent had been applied.

Draxum had never thought that in depth about Donatello's soft shell. Not like that. He chose a softshell for the experiment because it would provide greater flexibility, greater agility. It gave an advantage that the hard-shelled turtles did not have.

Now, here... The soft carapace, spongy and leathery and bloody...

It was an accident. Of course it was, Draxum never doubted that. He had to assure that none of his boys were in trouble, no one was in trouble, no one had done anything wrong.

But for the first time he had to be honest with himself. For the first time he couldn't deny how much he cared about the turtles. His turtles. His boys.

He wouldn't, either. If this was what it was, if this was something that could happen again because he insisted on making them into warriors, into fighters- if this could happen on purpose, if this could happen worse, if this could happen with malice and hatred in mind...

Draxum wasn't unused to physical affection, by now. All four boys adored hugs, although Donatello was usually more reserved about them. Now, Donatello clung like his life depended on it, sniffling and whimpering, having cried so long he had no more tears. Draxum clung back, idly smoothing over the edges of the bandages, holding the frightened, exhausted turtle to his chest, cradling.

He did so until well after Donatello fell asleep. He couldn't bring himself to put him down. He accompanied the others to bed, assuring them once more that things were alright, and then simply stood in the walkway, holding his boy tightly.

He couldn't do this. He couldn't go through with it. They were children, every bit as innocent and deserving as the Yokai he wished to avenge and protect. He could train them, prepare them to protect themselves, but he could never send them into battle, ask them to put their lives on the line, much less demand it.

How could he?

It took months of processing, of agonizing his way through the healing process with Donatello, of watching the other boys proving their humanity, their curiosity, and their innocence time and time and time again. His mind was constantly at war with itself, his heart constantly in turmoil and distress, worsened by the turtles' confusion at his sudden change in behavior.

What was even worse was that they would.

They would absolutely sacrifice everything they had for his approval, and for what they understood as "right". He could see them, easily, being willing to submit their very lives to a greater cause if he asked it.

But was he "right"? Even if this experiment had gone exactly as planned, was he right for ever considering putting these turtles into the station of a warrior? Even if they had remained turtles in mind, if they never expressed complex emotion, if they could not speak, if they did not have distinct and colourful personalities, would it have been right?

Was what he saw in them now what they would have been at heart, regardless of circumstance?

Or was it the humanity, that he stole from Lou Jitsu?

Perhaps... perhaps it was time to learn. To consider the root of his motivations.

He couldn't do this to them.

How could he?

[sunsetsandsunshine]

AAAHHH REQUESTS ARE OPEN!!!!

So proud of you for powering through your requests and wips of your own!!! You did SUCH A FANTASTIC JOB AT BY THE WAY!!!! oh my gosh!! Your creativity inspires me A HECK OF A LOT EMERY! 🫶🫶💙💙💙💙

I thought I'd might as well send you a request! (No pressure, and absolutely no need for a rush!)

Maybe something that is Halloween themed for rottmnt? Maybe they're decorating for Halloween and Mikey or Leo seems to have a disagreement with certain decorations that the rest of the Hamato brothers seem to have no problems with? Resulting in normal brother banter, but it soon turns into one of them declaring a "tickle fight"?

One of them could be like "how about we settle this with a tickle fight!" and since Mikey or Leo is the only one who has a disagreement with the decor, one of them just get ganged up on, and eventually it rules out to them loosing since it's literally a 1v3? 😭😭

I don't know! I just thought of it, but of course no pressure in writing it if it's too confusing! 🙏🙏

~ 𝙲𝚘𝚛𝚊𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚎 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚊 𝚙𝚞𝚖𝚙𝚔𝚒𝚗 ~

❤️💜🐢💙🧡 𝙵𝚒𝚌 𝚛𝚎𝚚𝚞𝚎𝚜𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚋𝚢: @saturnzskyzz ❤️💜🐢💙🧡

·̩̩̥͙＊*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚𝙰𝚆𝙴 𝚂𝙰𝚃𝚄𝚁𝙽 🥹💗💕💗💕💗!!! 𝚄𝚁 𝙲𝙾𝙼𝙿𝙻𝙸𝙼𝙴𝙽𝚃𝚂 𝙰𝙻𝚆𝙰𝚈𝚂 𝙼𝙰𝙺𝙴 𝙼𝙴 𝚂𝙾 𝚂𝙾 𝙷𝙰𝙿𝙿𝚈 𝚃𝙷𝙰𝙽𝙺 𝚈𝙾𝚄??? 𝙸𝚝’𝚜 𝚜𝚘 𝚏𝚕𝚞𝚜𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚜𝚞𝚛𝚙𝚛𝚒𝚜𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚘 𝚑𝚎𝚊𝚛 𝚖𝚢 𝚜𝚒𝚕𝚕𝚢 𝚠𝚛𝚒𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚒𝚗𝚜𝚙𝚒𝚛𝚎𝚜 𝚙𝚎𝚘𝚙𝚕𝚎 𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚗 𝙸’𝚖 𝚘𝚗𝚕𝚢 𝚗𝚘𝚠 𝚋𝚎𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚊 𝚜𝚘𝚙𝚑𝚖𝚘𝚛𝚎 𝚒𝚗 𝙷𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚜𝚌𝚑𝚘𝚘𝚕 😵‍💫🫶🏾…! 𝙰𝚗𝚍 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚛𝚎𝚚𝚞𝚎𝚜𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚜𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝙷𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚘𝚠𝚎𝚎𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚖𝚎𝚍 𝚍𝚞𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚕𝚎𝚐𝚒𝚝 𝚖𝚒𝚍-𝙹𝚞𝚕𝚢 𝚒𝚜 𝚓𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝚜𝚘…𝚢𝚘𝚞 😭👍🏾— 𝚊𝚕𝚜𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝙿𝙷𝙾𝚃𝙾 𝙱𝚁𝙾 𝙻𝙼𝙰𝙾?! 𝚂𝚊𝚟𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚂𝙰𝚅𝙴𝙳˚*• ̩̩͙•̩̩͙*✩＊·̩̩̥͙

𝙶𝚎𝚗𝚛𝚎: 𝙵𝚕𝚞𝚏𝚏

𝚆𝚘𝚛𝚍𝚜: 𝟸,𝟸𝟸𝟾

𝙻𝚎𝚎: 𝙻𝚎𝚘 🐢💙 

𝙻𝚎𝚛: 𝚁𝚊𝚙𝚑 🐢❤️, 𝙳𝚘𝚗𝚗𝚒𝚎 🐢💜 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝙼𝚒𝚔𝚎𝚢 🐢🧡

𝚂𝚞𝚖𝚖𝚊𝚛𝚢: 𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝙷𝚊𝚖𝚊𝚝𝚘 𝚋𝚛𝚘𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛’𝚜 𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚜𝚎𝚝𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚞𝚙 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚒𝚛 𝚗𝚎𝚠 𝙷𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚘𝚠𝚎𝚎𝚗 𝚑𝚘𝚖𝚎 𝚊𝚎𝚜𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚝𝚒𝚌 (𝚋𝚎𝚌𝚊𝚞𝚜𝚎 𝚒𝚝’𝚜 𝚝𝚘𝚝𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚢 𝙾𝚌𝚝𝚘𝚋𝚎𝚛 𝚛𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝 𝚗𝚘𝚠), 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝙻𝚎𝚘 𝚒𝚜𝚗’𝚝 𝚝𝚘𝚘 𝚏𝚘𝚗𝚍 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚌𝚑𝚘𝚒𝚌𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝚍𝚎𝚌𝚘𝚛.

(𝙰/𝙽: 𝙳𝚘𝚗’𝚝 𝚋𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚐𝚞𝚢! 𝚃*𝚌𝚎𝚜𝚝 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝙺𝚒𝚗𝚔/𝙽𝚂𝙵𝚆 𝚋𝚕𝚘𝚐𝚜 𝙳𝙽𝙸!!!)

T𝚊𝚐𝚐𝚐𝚜𝚜𝚜𝚜: @shut-up-jo @someone1348  @itzsana-kiddingmenow 

@giggly-cloud  @savemeafruitjuice  @rice-cake-teen10

@titters-and-tingles @veryblushyswitch @tmntalways  @mistyandsnow

𝚆𝚊𝚛𝚗𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚜: 𝚃𝚒𝚌𝚔𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚐, 𝚌𝚞𝚜𝚜𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚖𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗𝚜 𝚘𝚏 𝙷𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚘𝚠𝚎𝚎𝚗 𝚖𝚘𝚟𝚒𝚎𝚜 𝚕𝚘𝚕. 𝙸𝚏 𝚗𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚝𝚎, 𝚐𝚘 𝚏𝚒𝚗𝚍 𝚜𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚒𝚜 🕺🏾✨

＊*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚𝚂𝚙𝚘𝚘𝚔𝚢 𝚜𝚌𝚊𝚛𝚢 𝚜𝚔𝚎𝚕𝚎𝚝𝚘𝚗𝚜 𝚜𝚙𝚘𝚘𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚞𝚙 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚜𝚙𝚒𝚗𝚎 𝚘𝚛 𝚑𝚘𝚠𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛 𝚒𝚝 𝚐𝚘𝚎𝚜 𝚓𝚜𝚓𝚜𝚖𝚜𝚓𝚍𝚑𝚑 𝚎𝚗𝚓𝚘𝚢!!!˚*•✩•̩̩͙*˚＊·̩̩̥͙

“Move it to the left! No…your other left! …Donnie, I just said your other left!!!” Raph yelled. 

“I don’t have 'an other left!' Are you trying to tell me that you want me to use my right hand?!” Donnie asked, irritation abundantly clear in his tone. 

“NO! I KNOW WHAT I SAID!!! WHAT I WANT YOU TO DO IS USE YOUR OTHER LEFT!!” Raphael basically screamed.

“I. DON’T. KNOW. WHAT. THAT. MEANS!!!” Donatello screeched back. 

“Oh for crying out—“ The eldest sighed, “Give it here.” The taller turtle snatched the Coraline themed paper cut out’s from his younger brother, getting tape and sticking them to the wall. 

Raph stepped out a bit, looking at where he had placed the paper cut out’s before letting out a huff of satisfation, putting his hands on his hips, “See? Now was that so hard?” 

The purple banded turtle’s eye twitched slightly, turning to his older brother and giving him a quickly glare as he put the excess decorations away, “You used your right hand to place that decoration, dumbass.” 

The eldest blinked in confusion at his brother’s statement, doing an L-shape with both of his fingers as a small embarrassed blush appeared on his cheeks, “I see...” 

The young scientist rolled his eyes fondly, shaking his head as he threw away the remainder of the paper, “You see—”

“I aham stopping you right there. Please dohon’t Dhar Man lihife lesson me right now…”

“You see…” The softshell continued, his grin widening as he heard a loud groan come from his older brother, “You should always listen to your immediate younger brother because he is just so intelligent and just so far beyond the usual intellect of the average fifteen year old.” 

The red banded turtle nodded his head, trying his best not to laugh at his brother’s silly antic’s. 

It was currently October and there was lots of spookiness in the air. Although it was literally just the 1st day of October, there was still freshly new spookiness in the atmosphere.

More or less, anyway...

The turtle teen’s were setting their lair to be a…sort of Halloween themed aesthetic. 

Did their Dad know they were basically re-decorating the whole lair? No. But he’ll just have to deal with it. 

Last year they did The Nightmare before Christmas.

The year before that they did the Corpse Bride…

…And, well…you get the idea. The rat man should be used to this routine by now.

The two eldest turtle’s looked at each other for a minute before bursting out into small laughs, chuckling at each other’s ridiculousness, “Okahay…remind me toho never doho ahanother Dhar Mann impression.” Donnie giggled out. 

“Ahalright, Dhahar Mann fam.” The eldest snickered as the two youngest turtle’s entered the living room. 

“Ew. Why did we choose Coraline as this year’s Halloween theme again?” Leo muttered, squinting at the choice of decorations in a disgusted manner, “I mean…the blue hair and pronouns girl? Love that. But can’t we just save that one for Pride month or something?” 

Raphael put a hand over his mouth, turning around and trying not to laugh as Donnie and Mikey looked at the red eared slider in confusion. 

“That’s Coraline, you idiot.” The box turtle muttered out.

“Wait…THAT’S Coraline?! What about the lady with the spider arms and looks like Jim Carrey from The Mask?”

Raphael loudly wheezed in the background at his brother’s genuine confusion, clutching his side and holding onto the kitchen counter for dear life as he laughed.

“That’s…That’s her Mom, man.” Mikey said. 

The slider blinked in awe before letting out a long sigh, “Whatever…”

The blue banded turtle went to the wall, taking off some of the Coraline cut out’s that Mikey put up and replaced them with Charlie Brown ones. 

“Charlie Brown? Really?” Donnie deadpanned as he crossed his arms.

“Yes!” Leo said, “It’s the Great Pumpkin! He rises out of the pumpkin patch—“

“We’re familiar with the tale, Nardo.” The second oldest interrupted, “But…just why? You seriously want to put up an imaginary pumpkin over Coraline…?”

“Yes. Yes I do.” 

The scientist just rolled his eyes, going over to help Raph who was currently dying of laughter on the floor, “You do you brother of mine.”

“Oho I beg to differ.” Michelangelo seethed, going up to his immediate older brother, “I worked hard on those Coraline paper cut outs! You can’t just…replace them with some pumpkin from the 1960’s!”

Leonardo looked at his youngest brother up and down, “…You bought these from the dollar store and just dumped glitter on it.” 

“EXACTLY! DO YOU KNOW HOW HARD IT WAS TO EVENLY DISTRIBUTE ALL THE GLITTER ON EACH CORALINE PIECE?!”

Leo hummed in acknowledgment, trying to take off more of the decorations but was basically jumped by Mikey to the floor. The two youngest playfully fought with each other’s arms, both of them trying to get the upper hand in the play-fight. “Hehey heHEY! Gehehet ohoff of me yohou overgrown frog!” Leo giggled out. 

“Oh dohon’t even, Leheheon. When yohou wear glahasses yohou look lihike that oddly proportioned 'brohother' of ours thahat’s aha disgrace to ahall turtle-kind.” The box turtle said smugly. 

“…ARE YOU COMPARING ME TO THAT UGLY ASS FRANKLIN GUY?!”

“I AM AND WHAT ABOUT IT?!”

“Oho you’re done. Done.” Leo growled, trying to get the upper hand but was pinned down by the youngest pretty quickly on the ground. The orange banded turtle grinned in triumph, brutally attacking the other by tickling his underarms.

Leo let out a loud squawk in surprise, pushing at his brother’s wrists as he clamped his mouth shut. He shook his head back and forth, trying his absolute best not to satisfy the youngest in his attack. 

Don’t laugh. Don’t laugh. Don’t laugh. Don’t laugh. Don’t. fucking. laugh. 

“Woah. We left for, like, 5 minutes tops. What happened?” The purple banded turtle asked as him and the eldest walked into the scene up-roaring in front of them. 

“Leo said my Coraline paper cut outs were cheap and ugly!” The youngest dramatically whined, wiping away a tear before skittering his fingers along the slider’s ribs. 

Okay, well first of all: Leo never said that. Did they look cheap? Yes. Did he think that the DIY decorations looked cheap? Oho absolutely. 

But the fact of the matter was he never said it out loud! He thought it but he never said it.

“Damn…he hasn’t started laughing yet? He would usually be squirming like a drunk mermaid right about now.” Raphael mused, poking Leo in the side repeatedly as the second youngest closed his eyes shut. “We know you wanna laugh, Leo~!” The eldest sing-songed. 

The second youngest let out a soft snort, continuing to shake his head as his legs kicked behind Mikey. Donatello raised an unamused brow, sitting down and lightly grabbing the slider’s right ankle as he tickled his heel.

“PFFTAHAH— *snort* dahAHAMMIT!” Leo screeched as he finally let out a laugh whilst stomping his free foot on the floor. The three teens tormenting their brother smiled at the long overdue flood of giggles and snorts that was escaping the slider’s mouth.

“There it is~!” Raph cooed softly, tickling under Leo’s chin as the second youngest blushed slightly at the tease. “GOHO *snort* AWAHAHAY YOHOU AHASS— *snort*!!” 

“GASP! Oh no you did not. Cussing us out now? C'mon, Nardo…you know better than that~!” The second oldest mused, using his spider arms to hold the blue banded turtle’s ankles in place as he tickled all over his feet. Leonardo laugh raised an octave at the sudden action, squirming underneath the youngest more frantically. 

The blue banded teen snorted loudly, his hands flapping on the floor which absolutley melted the other’s hearts, “GUHUHUYS S-STAHAP! IHIHIT— *snort* EHEHEHAH!!! IHIT TIHI— *snort*!!” 

“Awe…it tickles? Is that what you’re trying to say~?” Mikey asked mischeivously, pinching Leo’s hips mercilessly. Raphael grinned, holding the slider’s arms up as he tickled his stomach and sides. “Does iiiiit…tickle here? Orrrr…what about here? Here? And heeeere~?” The eldest asked as he unpredictably switched from tickling the blue banded teen’s stomach to his sides, definitely making sure to leave the leader in blue in stitches.

“Y'know, Lee…you could get out of this situation more easily if you just apologized.” The young scientist commented.

“FAHAH— *snort* FOHOR WHAHA— *snort* WHAHAT?!” Leonardo asked through his laughs.

“What do you mean 'fohor whahat?' For insulting Mikey’s precious art and calling it cheap!” Donatello said as if the answer should’ve been obvious. 

“BUHUT IHI DIHIHIDN’T!!! HEEHEE’S A *snort* LIHIHIAR!!!”

All the other turtle’s gasped dramatically, ceasing their attack momentarily as the box turtle glared at his brother playfully, “Oho I’m sorry…I didn’t quite hear you. What did you just call me?”

The lime-green eyed teen’s heart dropped at the fake sweet tone his younger brother was speaking in, he hugged his middles as more frantic giggles poured from out of his mouth, “N-Noho— *snort* NOHO! Ihi— *snort* I-Ihi dihidn’t meeheean IHIT! M-MIHIKEY WAHAHAIT!”

“And now you’re laughing at me. You must think this is funny, huh?” The orange banded turtle asked as he effortlessly pushed Leo’s hands aside as Raph casually held them up again. The eldest used one hand to hold Leo’s wrists together but wiggled his free hand near the second youngest’s neck. 

The blue cladded teen’s eyed widened, silently praying to God that he wouldn’t go to the golden gates early because of what was about to happen to him. 

Donnie hovered his hands over Leo’s knees as Mikey’s hands innocently and gently traced over his immediate older brother’s sides. The lime-green eyed mutant gulped, glaring at Mikey as the youngest happily glared back. 

“Anything you wanna say to me, Leon? Anything in particular?” The box turtle asked. 

“F-Fuhuhuck. yohou.” Leo giggled through gritted teeth.

After that extremely rude remark, the brother’s wasted no time tickling the second youngest into oblivion. Donnie tickled underneath his knees, Mikey scribbled his nails against the slider’s sides as he blew raspberries on his stomach, and finally, Raph tickled his neck as he held up his arms.

A pretty smart tactic if you ask me. A mean one? Oh 100%, but at least it was effective. 

Leonardo let out a screechy vulture-like scream before falling into loud bubbly cackles. The slider shook his head back and forth once more, squirming as best he could in the position he was in. 

“Awe…” Raphael chuckled out, letting go of his brother’s wrists to let him flap his hands happily on Michelangelo’s arms. 

“STAHAHAP!! PLEHEHEASE *snort* IHIHIT’S *snort* TOOHOO— *snort* NAHAHAH!!!”

“Buhut Ihi want my apology!” Mikey giggled. 

“MIHIKAHA— *snort*!!! SHUHUT IHIHIT!!!”

“Don’t you dare disobey me, Coraline~!” Raph snickered, using both of his hands to tickle the crooks of the second youngest’s neck. Leo’s adorable laughter became wheezy as happy tears slowly started appearing in his eyes, “DAHAHAH— *snort* RAHAH— *snort* PLAHAHA *snort* EEEEEE!!!”

“IHIHI’M SAHARRY! IHI’M SAHA— *snort*! GUHUHUYS!!!” The slider snorted as he scrunched up his shoulders. 

Mikey hummed in thought, blowing a raspberry on his immediate older brother’s ribs, “Are you apologizing for insulting my crafts or are you apologizing for cussing us out?”

“BAHAH— *snort* BOHOTH! BOHOHOTH!!! PLAHA— *snort* GUHUYS!!”

“Okahay okay…” Michelangelo giggled, gesturing for his older brother’s to stop. The red eared slider mutant layed limp on the floor, curling in on himself as his brother’s sat next to him. The art loving turtle wrapped his brother in a tight hug which the second youngest couldn’t help but melt in through his tired giggles.

“Are you guys alright?! I heard screaming.” April quickly said as she walked into the lair, carrying a grocery bag full of candies and treats. The mutants almost immediately perked up at the sound of their sister’s arrival, going over and attacking her in huge bear hug.

The small human giggled at the gesture, hugging her brother’s back. “I’ll take that as a 'we’re fine and not dying a gruesome death.'” She concluded as she got out of the hug to put the candy bag down on the kitchen counter. “I mean…why was there screaming, though? I honestly thought you all were getting brutally murdered…”

Donnie raised a brow, looking over at his twin, “Wanna give April the inside scoop of what went down, Nardo?”

“I’m good.” The red eared slider said as he stuck a tongue out at his older twin, which the purple banded turtle had no problem copying back.

“Leo said my decorations were cheap and ugly.” The youngest said with dramatic flair, pointing at his Coraline cut-out’s. April’s eyed widened in shock, biting down her lip as he nodded, looking away from her youngest brother’s creation. “It looks great, Mike.” She giggled out, going to the kitchen counter to take out the candy as she was happily followed by Raphael.

“Woah woah!!! Get back here! I heard that laugh, Riri!” The orange banded turtle screeched, following along the elder siblings to the kitchen as he was followed by the middle siblings.

In all honesty…perhaps the Coraline themed Halloween decor wasn’t the worst idea’s Leo’s brother’s have had. 

Leonardo could always make a Great Pumpkin Halloween theme next year.

But that did not stop the leader in blue from sticking the pumpkin sticker he had on his pouch on the youngest’s shell without anyone noticing.

Well, besides Donnie— who chuckled lighlty at the gesture as the two twins made their way to the kitchen.

·̩̩̥͙＊*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚𝙵𝙸𝙽˚*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚＊·̩̩̥͙ 

(𝙿.𝚂.: 𝙸𝚏 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚎𝚗𝚓𝚘𝚢𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚏𝚒𝚌, 𝚙𝚕𝚎𝚊𝚜𝚎 𝚛𝚎𝚋𝚕𝚘𝚐!!!)

[satorisoup]

people will think im ordinary until they say one (1) thing about tmnt and all of a sudden im explaining the entire lore starting from the 1990’s movie & why donatello is the best turtle i fear… T^T

tag limit fights me… i must yap… please listen… SOB </3

[thisisadonaldduckblognow]

ik it’s probably a classic case of extrapolating way too much but... the way raph’s character design lines up w his whole arc and role and struggles...

like the fact that he is so so so much bigger than the others. raph is big, raph is strong, raph is steady and sturdy and he can literally pick up his entire family and carry them all at once. 

and like, when raph is so big and so strong and such a reliable thing. when raph is the protector, the one calling the shots on missions, the mother hen, the first point of authority. when raph is there, overprotective, when raph (for all that his brothers poke at him not being good under pressure) always always ALWAYS comes through at the end of the day when things are serious, ALWAYS gives it everything he’s got. 

his design and his learned role/behaviors in this family are just the perfect storm of why it took up to the season finale to drive home the issue.

so much of the series carries the default energy of “raph will handle it.”

raph will hold up the ceiling above you. raph will throw himself over you and take a hit and get back up and keep fighting. raph has a power that makes him even bigger and draws more attention and makes him able to carry MORE. raph will be the substitute parent. raph will be put into the mentor role through leo’s leadership arc. 

and raph is big. he’s built to carry heavy loads. raph is strong. raph is bold and loud and always ready to try to push on. even if he doesn’t know what to do or what he’s doing, he won’t give up and we’ll all pull together and things will turn out okay.

(his room is full of teddy bears. he dipped out on a mission to try to take a picture of a pigeon carrying a slice of pizza. he’s terrified of being alone.

he’s just as much of a kid as his brothers are. he’s just as new and inexperienced with the things happening to them as his brothers are. but for him, for some reason, there’s like this double standard where that becomes a huge glaring flaw.)

idk this got very sloppy and uncoordinated. i’m very in my feelings about raph right now though.

[alitteraladhdmess]

Hi I’m here to take your picture before the competition begins

Lee: Sure thing!! *herds in the others*

Angelo: Alright everyone say “Don’s a sociopathic serial killer who desperately needs therapy and Lee wants his will to live!!” :D

Lee and Don: wait what—

@tmntaucompetition

[ironinkpen]

I just have a lot of Big Feelings about the fact that Leo and Raph, on their first Real Serious Missions as Leaders (the movie and Bug Busters, respectively), both mess up in almost identical ways

They both ignore their brother’s advice to be more cautious (Raph ignores Leo’s warnings about Big Mama, Leo ignores Raph’s warnings to take things more seriously), have to then be bailed out by said brother (Leo saves the team from being thrown into the Battle Nexus, Raph saves Leo from getting impaled), get Donnie and Mikey captured/almost killed (trapped in the Battle Nexus, crushed in the Turtle Tank), lose an important item to villains (the oozequitos and the key) that releases monsters into the world (the mutants and the Kraang), and nearly get their brother killed (Leo gets thrown off a skyscraper, Raph gets taken over by the Kraang).

But then they both own up to their mistakes, unlock their powers, and save each other. Raph throws himself off that roof right after Leo without even thinking of his own life, and Leo throws down his weapons knowing Kraang!Raph might kill him. Because they love each other, are willing to die for each other, and now get what it means to be responsible for the team’s lives after seeing just how easily they can lose each other.

Rise said “the only way to truly understand leadership is to almost kill the one guy who’s looking out for you” and it hits me hard every time

[leona-draws]

Babe wake up, @ashwii ‘s comet!mikey design just dropped

[ID in alt text]

[turtleblogatlast]

Every day I’m haunted by the fact the boys happily swim in sewer water

Even if it’s filtered somehow there’s no way it’s not still nasty 😭 Bet they can defeat any of their villains just by accidentally giving them diseases I swear

[lotus-sunn]

About my absence and rottmnt wise

I'm actually cooked rn.

[everythingundertheskycomics]

Pretend.

Hippo Crush

2/4

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[writinandcrying]

One of the boys (whoever lost on the coin flip) having to convince Raph to stop hiding his room just bc y/n arrived with pizzas and his love stink went off rails