#with both shredder and splinter

[turtledork02]

IS karai the only villain in you're au?

OH no there are plenty of other villains!! shredder and the kraang are the main ones. karai is a part of it, but she doesn’t appear until “later” in canon. i haven’t designed any of the foot yet, so she’s still a work in progress for Project Underground

[handfulofmuses]

Real talk, I love how in both moments he is more focused on Bradford than Xever.

It makes sense the first time. His greatest student was in charge of the mission and it failed, so he puts Xever in charge. When it fails for the second time, he does no even spare Xever a glance as he walks past him, his focus is on Bradford.

Whick makes sense too. Xever was in charge of the mission, but it's Bradford who is the head of the Foot Clan. It shouldn't have failed when he is around too. He is holding Bradford in high regard, meaning he has much more expectations of him.

He only adresses Xever directly when he laughed and would have ignored him otherwise.

You can even see how much the words affect Bradford. He can't even bring himself to look at Shredder, because he is ashamed.

[mimzaucracks]

Silly little Oz AU

I wanted to create something silly for Spooky Season, so I did.

(Click for better quality)

Leonardo is not Dorothy. The idea is that this would be like an actual episode of the show; he'd get Wizard of Oz'd into, well, Oz, and the episode would play out like an abridged and heavily toned down version of the The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (1900). Which in turn means that the others are not the other three Turtles, either. They are, however, styled after and voiced by the other three. So, instead of saying something like "Donatello", I'll either use "Donatello-as-the-Tin-Woodman" or simply "the Tin Woodman" (which of course also applies to the other two).

The idea of the Scarecrow, the most intelligent character in the main cast in the book, speaking like Michelangelo does in the show was too funny not to implement!

I imagine the dialogue in the scene where Leonardo and Kiki meet him would go something akin to:

“I'm going to the Emerald City to find the wizard to help me back to New York.” “You suppose that wizard dude could give me some brains?" "Yeah, I'm sure he can!" "Mondo tubuloso!”

Not sure if I want Leonardo to be outed as knowing the fact that the wizard is a fraud, though...

I put Leonardo in the silver shoes from the book, since I heavily doubt anyone would've cared for fighting MGM for the rights to use the ruby slippers. On Discord while sketching, we did joke that I could put him in silver Birkenstocks or ruby Crocs. Sadly, Crocs weren't invented until 2002 😔

I debated a lot who to cast who as. Leonardo in the role of Dorothy and Raphael as the Cowardly Lion were easy enough, but which one of the other two brothers to cast as the Scarecrow and Tin Woodman? Both Michelangelo and Donatello work for either, since the book characters' main traits are intelligence and empathy respectively, but I finally settled on the casting that I did. Like mentioned above, the Scarecrow with Michelangelo's speech pattern is absolutely hilarious, but I don't think that Donatello-as-the-Tin-Woodman's hilarity should be understated, either; especially since his canon name when he was human (turtle?) was Nick Chopper, which does fit Donatello's general strategy of repairing things in the TV show by hitting or kicking machines strangely well.

While sketching, I also joked that Raphael-as-the-Cowardly-Lion looks like Raphael just finished a Cats the musical rehearsal but hadn't told anyone and just got busted sneaking back into the Lair. I also accidentally coloured him piss yellow when I coloured the flats, which I suppose is fair. Yellow is actually a colour associated with cowardice (even though the Lion wasn't actually a coward at all, but we'll set that aside).

Speaking of colouring mishaps, when colouring the Tin Woodman's base colour, I decided to look up images of tin to find a good rough match. Well, it then hit me to double check whether tin actually does rust or not. And guess what, it doesn't. Thus, I got around the problem by making his bolts, screws and joints made of iron instead. He has to rust somehow; you cannot have a Wizard of Oz "adaptation" without [Dorothy] and the Scarecrow oiling him upon meeting him.

The Toto situation was a tricky one, since TMNT isn't really known for its prevalence of dogs. The only actual noteworthy canine characters I can think of in any iteration are Rahzar and Dogpound, and as funny as it would've been for me to cast Rahzar as Toto, truth be told I had honestly forgotten him and Tokka even existed in the cartoon. I briefly considered having April be Toto (somehow), but I refused to entertain that idea even more than I already had. Instead, I got around the Toto problem by just drawing a dog (here a Scottish terrier, like how I pictured Toto in my head) and then renaming it. And thus, Kiki! And I love her.

Also, fun fact, the Scarecrow actually wore blue in the book!

[erifin-alt]

Kinda inspired by tma- but I have this tmnt 2012 au where Tang Shen survived the fire only because she became a vengeful yokai who’s now seeking revenge on both Saki and Yoshi.

The tma inspiration is that Tang Shen is similar to how avatars of the desolation work, given that she died in a fire.

Now all of Karai’s parent are fucked up in some way

[tizeline]

TSAU Season 2 Finale - Part 2

Click here to get to Part 1

So Leo and Raph portal to Big Mama's hotel, Raph isn't very enthusiastic about making a deal with Big Mama considering Draxum has always warned them of how dangerous she can be, but it's not like they have a lot of better options. So while Raph is contemplating how to get BM's help without completely screwing themselves over, Leo immedietly jumps in as soon as they meet her and suggests that Raph can fight in the Battle Nexus in exchange for her help! Without consulting Raph about any of this first! Uh oh! So needless to say, Raph starts freaking out a little bit about this, which is made even worse when Leo just decides to reveal that the both of them were made from Lou Jitsu's DNA! UH OH!!

So the reason why Draxum has always tried keeping his sons away from Big Mama is because just them being genetically modified super soldiers already makes it more likely that BM would wanna kidnap them and force them to become gladiators in her Battle Nexus. This possibility doubles triples quadruples if she were to ever find out that they're more or less biologically speaking Lou Jitsu's kids. Not to mention she might wanna take revenge on Draxum for stealing Lou Jitsu from her. All of this is to say, Draxum has always made it very clear to his sons that this is something they need to keep hidden from her. It's a big secret. A big secret that Leo just revealed to Big Mama. The one thing Draxum told them not to do? Yeah Leo just did it. What the fuck.

Listen, Leo's inital offer of having Raph fight in the Nexus wasn't quite enough to get Big Mama to agree to the deal, she needed an extra push, so Leo took a calculated risk and revealed their secret origins. From here on out it plays out basically like in canon, with Raph freaking out the entire time. They both get Lou Jitsu outfits cuz Raph is basically being marketed as "Lou Jitsu Jr". Then when the battle begins Leo also gets yeeted into the arena, it's revealed that he actually planned this entire thing, him and Raph defeat the enemies and Raph is confronted witht he fact that Leo may or may not be a tactical genius???

No one ever really realized just how strategic Leo can be, including Leo! Granted, he can also be very impulsive and reckless at times so it's not entirely their fault no one ever realized Leo's full potential. That being said, he can clearly be real clever with coming up with strategies and plans when he puts his mind to it, he just outsmarted BIG MAMA! No one outsmarts Big Mama! Raph had already started to learn that maybe he should trust Leo a bit more than he usually does when he found out that Leo was right about the whole Dark Armour thing, but this moment right here really cements it for him. But with this little side-quest over and done with, it's time to head back to Donnie, April, Splinter and Shelldon.

So what have they been up to this entire time? Well, again it's rather similar to in canon, they've just been fighting Shredder the entire time lol, April gets to kick ass using a crane! Mikey doesn't get to yeet that big boat this time tough :( since he's not even here. What does still happen is that Donnie almost gets his fucking shell ripped to pieces by Shredder (he's called that for a reason ig). Donnie's battle shell in the AU already isn't really armour and it leaves half of his shell exposed, and he's not even weaing it right now! THANKFULLY he has gotten good enough at using his Ninpō at this point so that he can use that to shield himself, cuz otherwise LEMME TELL YA he'd be fucking DEAD.

Finally they end up that alleyway where Donnie have managed to calculate that Shredder is supposed to appear in. That's when Leo and Raph return with the mystic collar they got from Big Mama, again the rest basically plays out like in canon, Shredder shows up and they manage to get the collar on him and he's finally defeated, yay! Big Mama shows up, sends him to some magic prison dimension and I'm sure this is definitely not gonna become a problem later on, yay again!

With that entire distaster prevented, everyone is now tired as fuck so it's time to go home. With all the drama going on in the Draxum family at the moment, Splinter suggest that Leo and Raph should stay at his and Donnie's home, if only for a few days if they don't feel comfortable going back to Draxum. Leo and Raph decline though since they feel a responsibility to make sure that Draxum and Mikey are doing okay, especially since The Hidden City authorites may or may not come after them now that all their crimes have been exposed. But Leo and Donnie promise to meet up again soon now that they're officially BROS!

Aaaand that's the TSAU season 1 finale! A lot of stuff is gonna go down in season 2, like all the Draxum family drama, Mikey's angsty teen arc, Shredder coming back and causing problems, Mikey maybe getting a cat, Donnie properly bonding with at least some of his brothers, and finding out wherever Casey disappeared to! So yeah, stay tuned for that!

Also bonus doodle vvv

[awzominator]

Day 13 Scars

the amount of effort I had to put into these and they still don’t look how I want is frustrating but alas time is not on my side

ramblings under the cut

Mikey: Gave Mikey Lichen Burns from that one time he got disintegrated and then reanimated via electricity. He died n got better and honestly it is one of the most violent injuries that I recall for him. Like he plays it off so easily cuz he has super powers and all that jazz but that’s so messed up. Also Raph yelling for him OOOFFFFF will never forget how filled w rage and hurt that dude was. He was ready to kill ❤️ Such a wild episode and I love how Mikey was so depended on in order for the plan to succeed. It was Mikey’s turn for the Self sacrificing bit and he crushed it

Leo: Get Shreddered idiot!!! The fucked up knee and throat from when he got beat up and thrown thru the window. This is def my fav event to happen which is a wild thing to say. It’s the most obvious thing to go for but I personally loved the farmhouse arc and Leo’s need for recovery. That dude is still not well and is repressing stuff but they don’t have time to heal. Their lives are too chaotic, too much is on the line, and Leo can’t afford to take the time to heal 100% none of them can tbh. I know a lot of ppl hate how 12 handled his knee injury but I loved it Bc it’s obviously not better but he’s a stubborn idiot who chooses to push everything down and out. He is the healthiest turtle for sure. I’m pretty sure in later episodes his knee gives out a few times don’t quote me tho it’s been a few years aha

Raph: His broken shell! After watching Lone Rat and Cubs and seeing where it came from, I always wondered if Splinter looks at it with loads of regret. A physical sign of his short comings that one time they almost got caught by the Kraang. A warning and a constant reminder they’ll never be safe, that splinter wont always be able to protect his babies no matter how hard he fights. I also like to HC he becomes the most hovering and overprotective of Raph while he’s still recovering Bc that shell broke so easy. Honestly seeing screen shots of close ups of Raphs shell is awesome to see both shell and plastron are broken.

Donnie: UGHHH THIS DUDEEEE !!!!! Literally had the hardest time Bc he goes thru a lot also but it’s more emotional and mental dude is fuked up in the head fr. I asked several ppl for help Bc I didn’t want to do another lichen burn thing from Karai’s trap. In the end I played around w the suggestions to see what would look most appealing to me. The scars on arm are from Slash (such a good episode thank you for the suggestion 🙌) as his arm was injured and in a sling at the end of the episode. The head scar def a big creative liberty Bc he does get injured there a lot ahah. I was thinking of Fourtrap again which lead to thinking about the time that Leo blew him up accidentally during is emo phase XD

[sweeneydino]

Okay, I love the idea of a 2012 AU where Tang Shen got mutated rather than Splinter. Kinda makes you think the backstory is more like Splinter was killed by Shredder while Tang Shen escaped with Miwa. Then she fled to the US to escape Shredder, knowing he likely wouldn't stop pursuing her.

Also did Karai become a turtle too?

Rat child.

Was debating whether she should be a turtle mutant or rat mutant… decided on turtle. Or if you want, just pretend shes both

[dreamweave01]

For your sep au what was Leo Raph and Donnies roigh timelines like? Also why does Donnie look shorter than everyone else (is he just slouching orrr)

Donnie has a problem with slouching, so it's mostly because of that.

But also because I may or may not have accidentally drawn him too low on the page

He's also now younger than Leo by a couple decades, so two much larger brothers made him look a lot smaller than I intended XD

The timeline stuff is a bit to explain.

So allow me to explain!

Leonardo's timeline was veryyy similar to that of the first five minutes of the movie. The Kraang invaded, the Resistance was formed.

And the Resistance failed.

One by one, the Hamato clan and friends fell. Raph died protecting refugees fleeing a Kraang prison camp. Soon after, Splinter succumbed to old age. Cassandra hung herself after being captured by the Kraang so they wouldn't be able to get important intel. A few years later, Donnie was killed in a freak lab explosion, and Mikey just. . . disappeared.

When the Kraang finally found the Resistance base, Leonardo was injured in battle, and April sacrificed herself to buy Casey Jr. enough time to get him and Leo to safety. Now, it was just the two of them struggling to survive.

Then the Kraang decided to leave Earth, assuming they had successfully concurred humanity.

So Casey and Leo set out to take down the Technodrome, determined in keeping the Kraang trapped on Earth to protect the rest of the galaxy or die trying.

And miraculously, they succeeded. But Casey died during the mission.

Alone for years on a planet now practically equivalent to the prison dimension, Leonardo only kept trying to survive because Casey Jr. made him promise to before the Kraang ended his life.

When the other Michelangelo found him, Leo was close to breaking that promise. Fortunately, he had held on for a little bit longer.

Raphael's timeline is almost the exact same as the events of the movie.

He was captured by the Kraang, infected and kraang-ified. His brothers came to rescue him and stop the Kraang.

But Leo wasn't able to get through to his big brother.

Something important to note is that Raph never stopped fighting for control. He was so determined to break free, because his brothers needed him. It was annoying for the Kraang, really. It's easiest to control broken spirits, and Raph wasn't about to break any time soon.

So the Kraang forced him to do the one thing that would shatter his resolve. They made him kill his own brothers, rip them limb from limb with his own bare hands.

It's an image likely to haunt him for the rest of his life, and is only one of the things the Kraang made him do.

Raph was under their control for years, both prisoner and soldier. He was quick to become the Kraang's favorite play thing, seemingly enjoying the torment they put him through; physically, mentally, emotionally, psychologically.

Over time, the Kraang infection within became a permanent part of him. Then Michelangelo rescued him, using his mystic powers to free Raph's mind, and brought him to his new home.

Now unlike the other two, Donatello never got the chance to meet the Kraang.

Mostly because he and his brothers never took down the Shredder.

They were going to of course. They went to rescue their dad, they had their Hamato ninpo. But things went terribly wrong.

Cassandra tried to free Splinter, just like in the show. But the Shredder ended her before she had the chance. With so much power coursing through him, there was nothing the turtles could do. Draxum was down next.

Without any backup, it was four against one, and the turtles weren't fairing too well. And in this timeline, they had never met April. The brothers did their best, but Shredder was just too strong.

During the battle, Mikey was critically injured. Raph and Leo gave one look at each other, and together held off the Shredder just long enough for Leo to portal Donnie and Mikey away to safety.

Donatello couldn't do anything as Mikey died in his arms.

Over the next year, Earth became a mafia state, with the Foot at the very top. Donnie did his best to keep a low profile, turning to a life of crime to scrape by. He's been betrayed by would-be friends, stabbed in the back more times than he can count.

He's learned that the best way to stay safe is to not get attached. Anyone who tries to be your friend is bound to hurt you.

Then, he was proven right.

Often times, gangs would hire him for his tech. On one such instance, the Purple Dragons managed to convince him to team up with them on a high pay heist. Donnie knew it was a bad idea from the start, but against his better judgement, went along with it.

The Purple Dragons obviously betrayed him, stealing all of his tech and research. And Kendra being. . . well, Kendra, she decided to take it a step further, to kill Donnie right there.

That's when the other Michelangelo arrived, rescuing Donatello.

To put it simply, these three have been through hell. They have a lot of issues, and a lot of stuff to work through.

[t-min-nie-t]

Does anyone else in the fandom think about how Raph and Mira hug?

Do we not think about the way Mira hugged onto Raph the same way Karai hugged Splinter?

When the scenario is both girls reuniting with their fathers after losing their families?

Twice in both cases, as Karai lost Tang Shen and the little family she had with Shredder and the foot. And Mira's whole clan was killed before she found her new family and they got attacked, and she thought they were all dead.

Doesn't help that they were both kidnapped from their families.

So it becomes harder hitting when you think about how both girls are reuniting with their fathers, and they think they are all they have left of their former families.

The fact that Raph is essentially living Splinter’s life in the apocalypse and this moment is where he believes everyone in his family is dead. Except for his daughter, who was taken from him.

And the moment they reunite, she's the first one to hug him.

And like his father before him, he was the one to be taken aback by the sudden embrace and acceptance of his daughter.

Where both pairs understood they were all they had from the life they knew before.

And then there's the fact that both dads hold their daughters in THE. EXACT. SAME. WAY!

Holding them by their backs and heads to keep them as close as possible. And giving them love in their darkest moments after everything's changed for them.

Does anybody else think about that?

No?... only me...?

Okay, that's fair.

[our-happygirl500-fan]

Something that I have kind of noticed is that Leo often sometimes seems to be the one trying to keep his family on track with whatever task they are trying to accomplish.

Leo: So where’s the dog thingy?

Something that I kind of noticed was that as early as the first episode of Rise 'Mystic Mayhem', Leo has sort of been the one that seems to try to keep his family on task, with Leo asking about Mayhem when April & the Turtles first discovered the Hidden City as helping Mayhem was one of the reasons for the Hamato Clan's first adventure in Rise.

Leo: Yeah, yeah. Mistakes were made. Lessons were learned. We got a video game to play. So vamos hermanos.

It also kind of seems that Leo seems to try to keep his family on track even in the Turtles more 'day to day' adventures as during the episode 'Hot Soup: The Game', when Mikey & Raph are clashing over Raph's over protective nature & Mikey's need for independence, Leo interrupts their argument by pointing out that they originally all just wanted to play a video game in the first place.

Leo: Hey, so Gram Gram, it is Gram gram right? We thought we were getting a weapon from the Twilight realm and not a... you?

Something that I kind of wonder about is if Leo's tendency to try & keep his family on track might possibly be a kind of form of compartmentalisation as during the episode 'Shreddy or Not' even when Leo is reacting to Karai's sudden appearance in the lair with the rest of the Hamato Clan & asking if Karai being their ancestor makes Karai their 'Gram Gram', Leo also seems to be the one to remind the family that they had originally been trying to find a way to defeat the Shredder before Karai appeared.

Leo: Hey April, cool if you don't, but do you still have that orb with all the people of New York in it?

Something that I have also kind of been wondering about is that Leo sometimes being the one that seems to keep his family on track of whatever task they are trying to accomplish might possibly have something to do with Leo's ability to keep track of multiple different things happening around him at once, that we usually see when Leo uses his portals in battle, as during the episode 'Anatawa Hitorijanai' even though the Hamato Clan had to deal with the fact that both Draxum & Splinter had been captured & also had to deal with trying to figure out how to defeat the Shredder, Leo also took the time to ask if the people of New York were still okay as well.

[iscdisc]

Whiteboard doodles for today !

Tang Shen supremacy 5ever- 🫶

I desperately want a 2012 timeline to exist where Shredder gets redeemed (At least, as much as he can realistically speaking-) and Tang Shen never passes away- But I know it's kind of impossible for both those things to exist at the same time,, 😭 Lmao

But imagine if Yoshi (Splinter) acknowledged Saki's (Shredder's) deteriorating mental health (Which is canon. Have you seen this man in Season 4? LMAO) and tries to reach out more. Despite knowing how much his brother wants his dead. Despite knowing he's the reason his wife is gone and his daughter didn't know he existed for years / painted him as her Mother's murderer.

Because if you really dissect Saki as a character, he's kind of an understandable / "relatable" antagonist-?? His biological Father (Honestly whole family I'm sure-) was murdered by his new adoptive Father (Yoshi's), his entire clan was taken out and he was swiftly indoctrinated into the Hamato Clan as an infant, I'm sure he practically got the Naruto treatment from the Hamato Clan (Always being judged for descending from the Foot Clan, like he asked for that or something-), Yoshi presumably was treated significantly better than him + was most definitely the favorite child between the two of them when it came to their Father-

This is getting a little theoretical here, since we don't exactly know the timeline between Tang Shen and Yoshi & Saki, but my personal opinion is that:

Saki met Tang Shen first- He had a very surreal connection with her and finally felt understood by somebody / wasn't treated differently because of his bloodline connections, right. Probably because he still has a lot of growth to do as a person, they had a falling out and the relationship ended (Tang Shen absolutely being the one to call it off-). Then after some time she ends up being in a romantic relationship with Yoshi and stays with him. To me, this is the most logical course of events considering what we see in the S3 episode, "Tale of the Yokai"-

But the reason I explained all this is because I feel like this is yet another thing that Saki feels the Hamato Clan has stolen from him. He has nothing, everything that he did have was taken from him, and he's treated as some sort of vile creature that needs to be "shown the proper path". I also want to throw out the possibility that their Father (Yoshi's Father-) being an unreliable narrator, since we don't get a lot of context behind the Foot Clan and whether or not they were actually bad people- I know historically speaking, the Foot Clan has always been the villains in this franchise, but for 2012 specifically we never truly got any proof of that (in my opinion) prior to Shredder's reign as head of the Foot- You know what I mean? (Though I know this is yet another thing that can be chalked up to poor writing / world building-)

During the same episode, "Tale of the Yokai", we witness Saki openly call out Yoshi for not caring about Tang Shen enough and for not caring about him. This is something I'd also love to get into at some point, since I think this would've been a really deep and complicated Character Arc for Splinter to have potentially gone through ! Because in my personal opinion, I don't think Splinter doesn't care about the people that he claims to care about + love immensely, I just think he doesn't show it in the way that he believes he is showing it- He doesn't always understand how his actions are being perceived by those people, you know what I mean?? That's exactly why I say Shredder should have had a Redemption Arc and Splinter should have been a huge part of that, because at the end of the day you can understand why Saki is so upset as a person-?? All he wanted was somebody to genuinely love him for who he was and not try to change him or blame him for something he wasn't even alive for at the time. I think Splinter really needed to prove to him that he does love him. I also think Splinter should go through similar efforts with his sons first before making an attempt with Saki- Since I know a lot of people have issues with his parenting / feel he didn't love any of his sons except Leo (Which I half agree, half disagree- Also talking about Splinter's lack of self-awareness or situational awareness sometimes, I feel like that's why he never really addressed the favoritism with Leo.,, Because he was his Father's favorite child, so why would he have that kind of self-reflection when he didn't notice it between himself and his brother- You know? 😭).

The point is, I think Saki is just a deeply hurt / scarred man and because he was constantly left his own devices and quite frankly self-isolated, he just got worse and worse,, You can honestly see that deterioration throughout the series with how delusional he becomes towards the end- I promise I'll stop yapping after this, but can we talk about the moment that Shredder had during the S4 episode, "The Super Shredder" when he was describing constantly seeing Splinter in his nightmares and him having this condescending face all the time-?? 😭

[starshimmering]

What Now? | Poppy Playtime x Reader

Fandom: Poppy Playtime

Genres: Sad, Uplifting, Alternate Universe

Word Count: 1,786

Synopsis: You defeated the Prototype and managed to escape with both the children and the toys you saved. All of you escaped through the front doors before the factory exploded. As you all watch the factory slowly burn, one thought came to your minds: what now?

————————————————————————

The entire factory of Playtime Co. erupted like a volcano. Plumbing fire and smoke through the air, scorching winds roared forward along with clouds of smoke. Y/N ducked as hot air rushed over you. Some of the mini Critters and Huggies screamed from behind their bigger siblings. The roaring explosion tore through yours and everyone’s ear drums. A black fog of noxious smoke hung in the air.

Y/N shifted your gaze back at the factory. Peering through the building that was now engulfed in flames. Poppy was perched on your shoulder, her small frame contrasting with the explosive display in front of you; her eyes fixed into the burning building with a frown and clinging close to your neck. Kissy Missy stood beside you as she too watched the Play Co. factory burn ablaze.

Fragmented memories flashed in your mind as you watched the factory you thought you knew burn. All the employees you worked with during your time working there, the innocent people you befriended; the many laughs you shared with them. Knowing that they’re all gone and you’ll never get to see them again. It broke your heart.

You couldn’t find your employees and saved them.

But at least you saved all the toys and the children.

Y/N frowned as you stared straight ahead. No, you were wrong. Some of them couldn’t be saved. There were still hundreds of small toys in that factory, but you weren’t able to round any up. And of course, a much more notable absence was prominent. Ollie had betrayed you and Poppy. They turned out to be another splinter of The Prototype’s mimicry, and had died along with it.

Dogday watched beside you to your right. Bobby Bearhug, Craftycorn, Bubbaphant, Hoppy Hopscotch, Kickin, and Picky gaze at the dancing flames behind their leader. Doey observed the flaming factory with wide eyes, his giant hand placed over his chest. Boxy Boo was standing a little far from the others, keeping a safe distance from the group while watching their hell of a prison burn. Yarnaby watched the illuminating sight beside Boxy with a tilt of his head.

Mrs. Delight stood quietly next to Huggy. Her bandaged face is testament to the struggles she had endured. The absence of Barb weighed heavily in the air, a reminder of the bond they had shared amidst ten years of being alone. With a heavy heart, Mrs. Delight had relinquished the weapon, her decision fueled by the promise of freedom from the factory's oppressive walls. The memory of Y/N’s sincere apologies echoed in her mind; she had brushed them off, knowing that accidents happen in such a frantic environment.

But the pain in her back, a lingering reminder of the door that had slammed down upon her, was a constant companion. A supportive brace encircled her torso, a symbol of both her resilience and the trials she faced. Yet her spirit remained unbroken as she contemplated the future that awaited her outside those grim confines.

Mommy situated beside Mrs. Delight to the left. One of her arms had been ripped off, and her whole body would’ve been maimed had Y/N not yanked her from the shredder. She decided to help him after that; had she not been saved, she’d have been added to The Prototype’s body. The missing arm was replaced with a new one that Y/N made for her, although it wasn’t pink like the original. The new stretchable arm was black with a red hand (the one she took from Y/N) attached to it.

Catnap watched with saddened wide eyes. Compared to everyone else who knew that the Prototype was insane, Catnap genuinely believed that what he was doing was right. That staying in the factory was better now that the adults were out of the way, but then things kept getting worse and worse. Food became scarce, the factory, with no one to do maintenance, is falling apart. But he continued to cling to that hope that the thing that saved him will continue to protect him.

Then one ex-employee changes everything in one night. The tight control his savior had on his home began to wane and loosen, friends who became traitors joined his side, and yet he clung on to the false hope that his savior will protect him. Only for him to almost kill you too. It is because of the kindness of that ex-employee, revered an angel by the heretics, that he saved him, away from the grasp of the god that just betrayed you in your most vulnerable. It is that same night that the heretics win, his master has fallen, everyone is truly free.

The remains of the factory, a tormenting hell and yet...their home, burns ablaze. The sins of the evil adults cleansed by rightful fire.

But it was still his home.

Huggy was internally satisfied with what he was seeing. Sporting a bandage wrapped around his head, likely a result of an unfortunate encounter with a pipe. Like Kissy, he too was captivated by the Playtime Co. factory set ablaze. For ten years he was imprisoned in that hell hole. Following Leith’s orders with no way of fighting back his command, which extended to the Prototype.

But he didn’t have to worry about that anymore.

He was free.

This feeling extended to the bigger nightmare critters.

Baba Chops never thought this day would come. It was hers and her friends’ greatest dream: her along with every single toy in the factory, marching towards the exit; striding towards freedom that they have longed for decades. She had always thought a day like that would be nothing more than a pipe dream. Oh, how wrong she was. Had it not been for Y/N’s never ending kindness, she wouldn’t have gotten the chance to see the light of day as she is now.

“So…what do we do now?” Hoppy spoke up.

Y/N turned your head when Hoppy asked that. All the toys shifted their gaze towards you. Hope and wonder washed each toy’s countenance that extended to another. You took a deep breath.

“Well, calling a taxi is out of the question. There’s too many of you guys to fit in,” Y/N replied.

Y/N turned your gaze toward a building not too far away from the factory.

“There’s a train over to that station,” Y/N said, pointing at the faraway building. The toys followed the direction to which you pointed. “If we set it right, the tracks should take us to the direction of my home town. Once we reach our stop, we’ll have to walk to make it to my house. We’ll figure out what to do next once we get there.”

Y/N shifted your gaze back at the toys.

“I apologize if my house isn’t what you expected,” Y/N said, rubbing your nape with your hand.

"Don't apologize, Y/N. I'm sure it's not even that bad,” Poppy replied, forming a small smile. Kissy Missy nodded in agreement. “See? Even Kissy agrees with me!”

Dogday also nodded in agreement.

“Agreed. Nothing will ever be as bad as the factory, Angel,” Dogday added, smiling down at you.

Bobby stepped close to you with a happy smile.

“Dogday’s right. We’re all free now and you're here with us! That alone makes things a lot better,” Bobby chimed, her tone laced with genuine enthusiasm.

Y/N turned your head when you heavy thumps drawing close to you. You turned your head to see Doey approaching you.

“And wherever you go.” Doey stops in front of you whilst smiling down at you. “We are with you.”

Hoppy nodded in agreement. “All the way.”

All the toys surrounding you nodded in silent agreement. Y/N couldn’t help but smile at the amount of support he was receiving from your friends. You parted your mouth open, as to say something until you paused. The sudden reaction extended to the toys when all of you heard the sound of blaring sirens from far away.

“The police,” Poppy muttered under her breath.

You frantically looked between the train station and the flashing red and blue lights slowly but surely approaching your position.

“Everyone! To the train station, hurry!” Y/N shouted.

Y/N and the group surged toward the train station in a frantic dash for safety. You ran at the forefront as you propelled himself forward, arms pumping with urgency. Poppy was back perching on Kissy’s shoulder. Flanking them were the towering figures of Kissy Missy and Dogday, their immense forms a protective barrier as they cradled a little boy and girl in their arms. Both big and small toys added a whimsical yet desperate element to the scene, each one driven by an instinctual need to escape the authorities looming behind them.

Hoppy Hopscotch and Kickin Chicken sprinted behind the pair with urgency driving their every step. Hoppy cradled two unconscious girls in her arms, their small forms limp and vulnerable, while Kickin carried a little boy who appeared to be still asleep, his head resting against Kickin's feathered chest. Craftycorn, Bobby Bearhug, Picky Piggy, and Bubbaphant chased after them, their hearts pounding with a mix of concern and determination. The strong thumps of Doey’s feet echoed through the air, each clomp resonating like a drumbeat as he followed closely behind. The mini smiling critters, along with the mini Huggies, Scout, and Medic raced alongside the group, each of them pushing their limits. Trying their best to keep up with the fast-paced rescue mission unfolding before them.

Mommy Long Legs stomped heavily on the floor while keeping up the pace with Doey and the others. Bunzo Bunny clung tightly to her back, his heart racing as he fought to maintain his balance, every jolt threatening to send him tumbling off. PJ Pug-a-Pillar darted alongside them, his agile movements allowing him to nimbly speed past the spider toy. Yarnaby and Pianosaurus raced together behind the frantic trio, their breaths coming in quick gasps as they pushed themselves to escape the looming danger. The little nightmare critters found a precarious refuge on the vibrant, rainbow-furred back of the toy animal, clutching desperately as the world around them blurred with speed. Huggy and the bigger nightmare critters charged at the rear of the group, their determination evident as he matched strides with Cat-Bee and Candy Cat.

Mrs. Delight was also running at the rear close to Huggy. She pumped her arms and kicked her legs as she trailed after the others to the train station.

You didn’t know what future will be from here on out. But you and the toys you’ve adopted will face it.

Together.

[cupcakeslushie]

3am AU idea. As some of y’all might’ve seen, I’ve been doing a Buffyverse rewatch.

Now I’m thinking of an AU where we get to see our human characters shine. April as Buffy OBVIOUSLY. Kendra could be Willow. Casey or my Timothy either could be Xander, but Casey has her whole evil phase and she would also make a good Faith (also the gay Fuffy foil to the Capril pipeline is too good to pass up). Sunita could be Anya (they both have that Autism Queen swag).

A human Splinter could be Giles…just like Giles has his teen punk phase, Splints has his own crazy, pre-Watcher past to reveal.

I just don’t know what I’d want to do with the boys.

(Turtle?) Demons? Or maybe give them human designs and make them Vamps? Oooo like Raph and Mikey somehow got their souls back, and they go to the Slayer to try and get her to help them save Leo and Donnie??

Instead of Shredder being a ninja clan leader, he would be like the ultimate Vamp. He’s the one that turned one of the boys and set him loose on the others to turn them. No idea which order would hurt the most. Thinking either Leo or Mikey. But Michelangelo would probably be more likely to want to change the rest of his family.

Idk. Just spitballing at 3am. I very much wanna draw for this, I hope I can find the time soon. I know I don’t need another au but omg I love BtVS so much lol

lol I did get an ask a while back saying I needed an angsty AU for Raph and Mikey to make the complete set. This could be Mikey’s. Turning your brothers into soulless monsters and damning them for eternity would be pretty good angst.

[blanceyblance]

I find interesting how their Hamato Clan trauma affected both Splinters in nearly perfect opposite ways.

2012 Splinter lost his family thanks to the Shredder, because of Tang Shen and because of what the Hamato did against the Foot, Saki's original clan.

So he became overprotective of the turtles to the point of sheltering them and forbidding them to go topside (and interact with anyone else) for 15 years. He still trained them througly and thaught them all he knew, including how he got them in their Mutation Day.

Rise Splinter was so embittered to the Hamato Clan and their traditions that for sometime he rid himself of the Hamato Yoshi identity and keep most of his teachings (i do believe he thaught them some basic stuff) heritage and the origin of the turtles mutation in secret. But he also gave them more freedom to be kids and go topside, giving them the chance to interact with humans and the city.

And through both shows we come more into a balance, with 12 Splinter letting his kids explore and learn and Rise Splinter learning to get his shit together and be more attentive to his kids.

Both are just heavily traumatized men doing their best to raise 4 kids with little resources or support.

[shantechni]

Related to your post about Mikey "accidentally delivering low blows when stressed" (Aug 2023) would you hc that it's related to his emotional awareness of his family? Like when he blamed Splinter for letting them go up to the surface, he would know Splinter was already questioning his decision to let them do that, or he calls Splinter out on not being affected by his mutated appearance (when Splinter looks uncomfortable being seen by humans/Shredder)? Basically, what are your further thoughts on it? Has he done this elsewhere?

The post in question for the curious cats

This compilation video as well because my big brain remembered me doing that and it's related to this topic and I meant to do a part 2

Oh, that behavior is 100% related to Mikey's emotional awareness. I'd hardly even call it a headcanon, it's just canon lol.

After not only botching their first fight above ground but failing to stop two kidnappings on their watch, the boys immediately start playing the blame game by pointing out each other's rash decisions and dumb mistakes that led to such an outcome. Obviously, the idea of Splinter's decision being yet another mistake of the sorts was hanging somewhere in the air waiting to be grabbed at, but no one readily went for it as something that needed to be acknowledged as a mistake. That's why it's so fascinating to see the writers establish Mikey right out of the gate as someone who isn't afraid to comment on Splinter's decisions and his emotional state when he's making those decisions.

He was certainly aware of their father's doubts concerning them going above ground for the first time because a comment like that doesn't just come out of nowhere.

Granted, this instance was him speaking his mind in the heat of the moment and only realizing how much his words would sting after the fact (especially since they're the ones who convinced Splinter to send them off with their begging), but this becoming a continuous trend of his throughout the series further proves the fact of him being more aware of things than a lot of people pegged him to be.

In Mikey Gets Shellacne, his remark about Splinter telling him not to fret about his appearance when he could hardly bring himself to do the same can be interpreted as a more apparent example of him knowing more than he lets on. It's made rather obvious from the start of the series that Splinter wasn't keen on roaming the streets looking like a giant rat, but that's more of a "show and don't tell" deal where both the audience and the characters are left on their own to pick up on such an important yet minor detail. Splinter never tells anyone about his insecurity, nor does anyone in the series talk about it amongst each other, so a moment like this can be a bit jarring when it's framed as Mikey calling out Splinter's opinion on his own appearance.

Though the intent of his comment was to simply call Splinter old, the underlying insult is there and Mikey regrets saying something like that to their father of all people.

Other than letting his frustrations get the better of him and unintentionally plucking at Splinter's insecurities, Mikey is greatly in tuned with the emotions of those around him and will usually pick up on any changes rather quickly. Take these two moments with, funnily enough, him and Splinter near the start of Serpent Hunt.

I previously posted the first clip as a funny little observation, but the scene is more intriguing than my jestful sentence made it out to be. Mikey's attention is split between hanging his goofy pieces of artwork on the wooden boards and listening to April as she announces how the restaurant is starting to look like a makeshift home. It's not until he turns around to joke with her about his drawings that he finally has Splinter in his sights, and his attention evidently begins to drift to Splinter as April is responding to his question (you can literally see his head following Splinter's movements while April is speaking to him😭). And just look at how taken aback he is by Splinter's melancholic expression being on full display:

While Splinter answers Mikey by stating that he's concerned for Casey, Leo and Raph because they've been gone for a while, it's pretty obvious that's not all he's bothered by, and him not being subtle about his troubled mind like usual had enough flags raising in Mikey's mind for him to hop up from his spot. Once the scene transitions to the second clip, Mikey lingers with Splinter in the front of the restaurant while April ventures to the back in search of Donnie to check on his progress with the retro-mutagen, as well as to see if the others made it back yet. Mikey and Splinter decide to follow April as soon as Donnie utters Karai's name, and Mikey is visibly bracing himself for another look of heartbreak on their father's visage:

Splinter moments aside, Mikey recognizes when something is up with his brothers and friends, as well as whether or not he should step in. Of course the prominent moments of him demonstrating his ability to calm Leatherhead and Raph down count among the times when he steps in, but the times when he chooses not to step in shouldn't be understated either.

Take the pre-intro scene in The Cosmic Ocean for example, when April breaks the silence and questions where Leo ran off to. We understand where Raph is coming from when he says that it can't be healthy for Leo to confide in a simulated version of Splinter since it could just make him miss their father more than ever, but Mikey suddenly pops from his laid back position off-screen and joins the conversation:

He's knows as well as Raph that speaking with a simulation of their father isn't exactly ideal, but he also knows that Leo is used to coming home to confide in Splinter for advice whenever he feels his confidence as a leader beginning to waver. The whole gang knows all of this, but once again, Mikey's the only one to verbalize it. Sometimes people need to hear something so obvious outloud to really understand or remember its importance, and Mikey seems to know that best.

I don't really need to mention how his emotional awareness extends far beyond simply knowing when someone is down, or when he is or isn't in a position to help them, but it makes for a decent epilogue to this analysis so-

Him being the least (read: least) temperamental of his brothers automatically puts him in the position of a mediator when there's tension in the group, and it's common knowledge that he'd often go out of his way to ease that tension in his own ways. He sometimes makes jokes, both corny and intelligent, just to get everyone's minds off of the heaviness of a situation, even if that moment of reprieve only lasts for a minute. He attempts to break up fights before they get too far, which sometimes doesn't work because they're a stubborn bunch of turtles (literally the entire first five minutes of New Girl in Town lol), but his efforts are commendable and genuine.

He's exceptionally conscious of changes in the atmosphere and a swing in someone's mood, which could go hand in hand with his sixth sense for weird Kraang stuff if you think about it. But all of this comes together to paint an undeniably clear image of Mikey having a great amount of emotional awareness, and just all around being one of the most emotionally intelligent characters of the series.

[tizeline]

TSAU Season 1 Finale - Part 1

It's about damn time I go over the TSAU's version of the remaining season 1 finale, as well as episode 1 of season 2, so HERE WE ARE! I am too lazy to adapt the entire thing into a proper comic, especially considering several plot points remain rather unchanged from canon, so we're doing whatever this format is instead.

(You should read Cell Talk and Gearing Up before this if you haven't already)

But a quick recap, the Gearing Up comic ended with Draxum in the Dark Armour going up to the surface with Mikey to start with the whole conquering humanity thing. Raph and Leo have offically joined Team Good Guys and they, alongside Donnie, Splinter, April, Shelldon and Mayhem went after Draxum to stop his evil plans.

When they make surface, Draxum and Mikey have already started their rampage and are just kinda wrecking the baseball stadium. The Foot are also at the stadium, clearly still expecting The Shredder to show up or something. Team Good Guys (yes that's their name now) figure it's probably good to try to get whatever info about the Dark Armour they can so April and Mayhem teleport to where The Foot are to try to gather some intel that might help them in the fight against Draxum.

Meanwhile, the others start fighting Draxum and Mikey. Draxum is low-key kinda baffled that Raph just straight up switched teams lmao. Leo is one thing, but Raph has always been so loyal and responsible so it's real suprising that he's completely disobeying orders. None of the Draxum family members are really enthusiastic about fighting each other (except maybe Mikey he's kinda pissed at this point) but they engage in battle anyway. Donnie, Shelldon and Splinter are less hesitant about kicking Draxum's ass and don't really hold their punches lmao. Despite that they're kinda struggling considering both Drax and Mikey are so strong, but that's when April and Mayhem teleport back with that useful intel!

What April learned from her intel-gathering is that The Foot think there is some kind of flaw with the armour, like in canon, you know the deal. What differs from canon is exactly how that flaw occured. Turns out that Donnie when he was younger got a little bit carried away with giving Shelldon cool powerful weapons and Shelldon enced up accidentally shooting up the teapot to smithereens, oopsie! Donnie managed to reassembe it before Splinter saw, but with one of the pieces having gone missing he had to sacrifice his Atomic Lass figurine to plug up the final hole (he's still upset about that to this day btw). BUT POINT IS, like in canon this means that the armour has a obvious weakpoint and if they hit that it might be enough to knock Draxum out of the armour!

You know what happens next, they resume the fighting with this new strategy in mind and eventually they manage to get a lucky hit in and as predicted knocking out the Atomic Lass toy causes Draxum to get knocked out as well. Except YOU KNOW WHAT HAPPENS and you know it's not quite that easy. Lo and behold, the Atomic Lass figurine was the last thing keeping The Shredder from being resurrected, so now that it's gone? Yeah, the Dark Armour is finally completed, it slurps Draxum's life-force or whatever and then spits him out.

The Shredder is back.

... Except not entirely of course, like in canon he's acting like a wild animal attacking anything that moves, but regardless it's still a new threat they have to deal with. With Draxum being so hurt, Leo makes the decision to portal him back home, and to also send Mikey with him. Both because Draxum probably needs someone to look after him and also Leo doesn't really wanna deal with Mikey's attitude at the moment with everything else going on lmao.

From here on out the battle against Shredder begins. This too goes mostly the same way as in canon, Shredder kinda kicks all of their asses before suddenly teleporting away, and then that song and dance repeats a couple of times before Team Good Guys figure they need a better strategy. Splinter brings up how Big Mama would probably have a way to subdue Shredder, only problem is that it's BIG MAMA and he does NOT wanna go anywhere close to her. In canon Leo brought Splinter with him to BM anyway, but in the AU he kinda respects Splinter, or rather Lou Jitsu, too much to force him to come along. Instead Leo decides he and Raph will go to BM for help, while the others keep Shredder from completely wrecking New York.

The rest of the finale continues in Part 2!