#yokai watch iteration

[gafie1ds-crisis]

Just going post some doodles I showed on my TikTok page to here because uhh yes

I think I should go back to try to write lore for all my dumb Yokai watch literates

[flockofcrowsinaturtleshell]

Why I like Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

(my part of the letter from my last reblog)

Up until about three months ago, I disliked the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. I saw the trailer for the Bayverse live-action TMNT and quickly decided I hated it. The live-action designs and the turtles’ attitude towards April felt gross, and I suppose that I, a young teenage girl at the time, felt like I didn’t fit in the target audience.

Flash forward to four months ago. I’m scrolling through my Tumblr feed – looking for Ninjago fanart and completely disregarding the target audience for lego ninja – when I see something under the “For you” tab.

It’s a Rise comic, but I don’ recognize it as TMNT yet. It’s a drawing of a scruffy-looking teenage boy, with long black hair and a hockey stick. He appears to be underground, looking a little lost. He turns, and before him sits a giant robot, deactivated and covered in moss. It’s a turtle, I realize, but I still haven’t realized that it’s a TMNT comic.

Then the boy calls his Uncle Donnie, who’s a turtle in purple. It’s then that I realize; I’ve been tricked. I’m reading a TMNT comic and genuinely enjoying it. I begrudgingly give the comic a like and go on with my day.

Over the next few weeks, I keep seeing more of the comic. To my horror, I’m actually enjoying reading it. One month after discovering the comic, I give in. I go to the first page of the comic and read from the beginning. 

It’s the story of a family trying to survive in a world overrun by invaders. Their family is made up of four color-coded turtles who make up the nebulous concept of uncle-dad, their entirely human older sister, and the scruffy-looking teenager they-re all trying to keep alive. This family dynamic is one I quickly grow to love, and the comix earns itself a place in my heart.

And then I watch the Rise movie.

Skip ahead to the present. I just watched the Rise movie two days ago (it had me in tears). As I write this, I’m also trying to figure out a plothole in the seventh chapter of the fanfiction I’m writing. Just yesterday, I finished designing the skeleton of my yokai character (because why not. I love speculative anatomy). I’m still reading the comic, which just updated yesterday. I’m happy with my new interest.

I love Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles for the family dynamic. I’ve always been a fan of unconventional families, and I’ve grown a liking for color-coded squads. I enjoy how April is more like a sister than a crush for the boys to fight over. I feel a certain kinship with Donnie, as an autistic-coded middle child who loves to learn. I absolutely adore Raph, the person who’s had to step up to care for their siblings and yet hasn’t quite grown out of the stage of life where he’s just a kid. Mikey is so silly and adorable, and he reminds me of my younger sister; the youngest and somehow the wisest at times. Leo feels just like a character from the first show I ever had such an interest in (Lance from Voltron: Legendary Defender) and I think he’s pretty awesome. 

I also enjoy the show’s unique takes on some things. I find it cool how the turtles are all different species. I love how this iteration’s version of Casey Jones is an energetic young woman from a rival clan. I find it interesting how Karai is a loving ancestor instead of an enemy. I love the artstyle of the show, where each turtle’s design is unique (compared to other shows where the only way I can tell them apart is by the color of their mask). I think it’s cool how the backstory is different from some of the other iterations, how the turtles were mutated on purpose and how Splinter used to be a famous actor. I think the yokai are awesome, how they’re like mutants but were there long before. I enjoy finding the little references, like the pictures of other TMNT shows on Donnie’s conspiracy board, or the fact that the source of yokai power is a Kraang. 

I have so many questions left unanswered about the show, and I’m sure others do as well. I would love to see the return of Rise. I have no doubt that it would be awesome.

#unpause rise of the teenage mutant ninja turtles

– Crow

P.S. The comic I am referring to is by @somerandomdudelmao on Tumblr. I have no words to describe how much the comic means to me. Cass, if you’re reading this, thank you. 

[mira--image]

Meet Vrek (rottmnt oc)

[Masterpost]

Vrek's playlist

Mystical ability:

Internal— he can temporarily boost his strength and senses, which is represented physically with a sharper and more feral transformation (same as Gus).

External— none, he does not know any witchcraft.

Vrek works as medic in the Battle Nexus. He's aware of the brutality, and tries to help fighters in need. In Big Mama's Nexus, if you're not a champion, you're fodder, and many are sent out for back-to-back fights that they are less and less likely to overcome. When Vrek fears a fighter is too wounded to survive their next fight, he volunteers to fight in their place.

This can have dangerous long-term consequences, as his success in the arena inspires Big Mama to deliberately put fighters he is close with at risk.

Read more about my ideas for the events at the nexus below the cut 👀

The final member of the main cast appears!

Fun fact, Vrek was actually the first character I designed for this project!

The Battle Nexus is such an interesting place to me. How can such a place be a business? What does yokai culture have to be like for that to be okay? Well, it's the same culture that allows the existence of the perilous Minotaur Maze in a pizza restaurant, so perhaps fighting and death in battle are just part of the norm.

I adore how different fanfics I've read have portrayed the Nexus, from the non-lethal games nights in my favorite fic, @danzinora-switch's Mind Over Matter series, to the brutal bloodbath that is the Nexus in a_platypus' Mutant Ninja Midlife Crisis (@mutantninjamidlifecrisis). For my iteration, I imagine that there is a wide variety of events at the Nexus that cover both sides of the spectrum.

Allow me to introduce you to all my Nexus has to offer:

🥊 In addition to the main arena, there are smaller fighting rooms in a bar-like setting with platforms like wrestling rings for brawls. These can be for impulsive fights to test strength, settle a dispute, or cash in bets (organized by Big Mama's people of course). This is a good spot for casual fighting, burn off some steam, or dip your toe in the scene.

⚽️ If you don't want to watch a fight, the Nexus also hosts different yokai sports events, played by both professionals and the general public. You can sign up and pay for a spot in the public group games, which can range from elimination-style fights (either knock-out or steal-the-flag depending on the level of intensity) to group sports like the yokai equivalent of football or gladiator jousting. Paired with a trip to the Mystic Market, this is the usual itinerary for a fun day out among young yokai friends.

🏹 You could attend demonstrations of weapons masteries that don't involve fighting, like target practice or choreographed fighting. This is appealing to older, traditional yokai.

⚔️ But if you do want to see a fight, there are options. Yokai can fight against yokai in similar weight classes with similar skills, or battle against massive monsters. You can opt to see non-lethal fights, or fights where the loser is 'ripped limb from limbitty limb!' There are different kinds of people who participate in these fights: those who are there willingly, and those who are not. This includes glory-seekers, masters in training, desperate people hoping to make money fast, criminals serving their sentence, or people in debt to Big Mama or who have upset her. All these fights are usually scheduled over a few days, and people can buy day passes or tickets to specific fights.

💎 The crown jewels of fights are those fought by the Nexus champions. Their fights are seasonal and expensive, with advertisements, promotional events, opening shows— everything to hype up the battle and get butts in seats. Nexus champions are usually there willingly, having signed a contract and living a life of luxury and fame. A popular champion can stay on top for a decade, earning them a stone statue to immortalize their skills. Less popular champions tend to fall in battle before falling out of the public eye. Big Mama has to keep up the esteem, after all.

This is my last meet-the-character page, next up will be some bonus content for this series as i work on my next drawing for The Apprentice ;D

[battlekidx2]

Rise of the TMNT First Time Watch Thoughts

Rise is a series I didn’t get into right when it came out. It was released very soon after my favorite tmnt cartoon, 2012, had ended and I was going through a major transition in my life. 

I watched the first few episodes, but my schedule was jam packed and I fell off of watching it rather quickly. I still wanted to give it a shot but later when more episodes were released and I could binge it because I felt that this show deserved more than a fleeting shot. But I didn’t really get around to watching it in full until recently.

I do want to say right off the bat that the backlash against this incarnation when it was first announced was ridiculous. The show hadn’t even aired and people were rallying to cancel it. You can’t judge the quality of something before seeing it and changing something from past iterations isn’t necessarily a bad thing even if it is an adaptation. 

My rule for adaptations is that what’s most important for new iterations is that they understand the heart of the series and characters that they are adapting and I would say that Rise clearly understood the heart of its characters and series but it just chose to adapt it in a different way. And in my opinion that’s great.

And I’m not going to pretend that all the changes worked for me. Some changes just didn’t mesh with me personally and I found myself preferring certain iterations of the characters and their dynamics/arguments from past iterations more. It’s just a matter of personal preference.

I have spoilers below the cut but I want to say that if you haven't watched it I really recommend giving it a shot!

I want to get into my full actual thoughts on the series now that that’s out of the way.

While Rise of the teenage mutant ninja turtles is a great series, it got off to a bit of a rocky start. The first half of season one, while fun and full of amazing action scenes, wasn’t the type of start to absolutely grip me like the first seasons of 2012 and 2003. It did, however, manage to set itself apart from the other iterations of the turtles and firmly establish the unique personalities of these versions of the turtles, Splinter, and April O’Neil. 

The show clearly had some issues finding its footing at first and I think one of the major issues was that the show itself had trouble figuring out how exactly to implement the changes it made to the lore and characters from past incarnations into the first season, which led to pacing issues and some mixed characterization that took a while to get used to from characters such as Splinter (he gets a lot better later on and I really grew to like him but at first I wasn’t that fond of him). 

But, while I didn’t personally love the first season as much as other iterations of the teenage mutant ninja turtles due to this slow start, once it established its lore and changes and firmly knew what it wanted to be the show really took off and could reach great heights in a way completely unique from the other interpretations. 

This shift occurs about halfway through the first season with ��The Evil League of Mutants” when the origins of Splinter and the Turtles and their connection with Baron Draxum finally get revealed (in a really good musical number I might add). This is where I really started to get invested in the new lore of this series and the changes the show made to the characters and backstory.

This is when everything that was slowly and sometimes awkwardly established started to come together and form a much clearer picture of what this series was trying to do. Those disparate pieces that felt a bit strange such as the new characters of Baron Draxum and Big Mama, the idea of the yokai, and the very different and at times kind of perplexing iteration of the foot clan finally interacted to hint at an endgame for this season and it worked much better than I anticipated.

I also was glad we finally got some development for Splinter, his relationship to the turtles, and his backstory. Up until this point he didn’t really work that well for me and the lack of any meaningful interactions between him and the turtles was a bit off putting, but starting with this episode so much new information was revealed about him that vastly improved the character and endeared me to him.

This continued development for Splinter leads to some of my favorite moments from the series.

For example, one of my favorite moments from the first season is when Splinter tricks Donnie and Mikey into going to a demolition derby with him. When Donnie discovers that Splinter lied he gets really upset and believes that Splinter didn’t really want to spend time with him.

It’s made clear leading up to this point that Donnie is really effected by the lack of attention and affection Splinter gives him and before now it was mostly said in a joking way that didn’t betray just how deeply it hurt him but he finally lets it out in a rare moment of vulnerability. And in response Splinter calls Donatello by his actual name for the first time in the series and apologizes. There’s a real and authentic moment of connection that wouldn’t have hit the way it did if Splinter wasn’t characterized the way he was early on. (I also absolutely love rise's version of Donnie.)

It’s not something that necessarily makes him more likable earlier in the series but that characterization early on makes his development and eventual connection with his sons heartwarming. 

The season’s momentum doesn’t stop with “The Evil League of Mutant” or Splinter’s development. It keeps building until it finally reaches the finale, which is a great culmination of all that came before, and ends with the shredder finally being formally introduced into the series and things feeling really dire for the turtles. 

This version of the shredder took him in a completely different direction from all the ones that came before and took a big swing by making him a man merged with a demon. One that’s thousands of years old that the Hamato clan was staked with keeping contained forever.

While this version of the shredder doesn’t have the depth of 2012 or the menace of 2003 they managed to build him up in a way that made his threat feel palpable. The desperation to keep the foot from collecting the dark armor paired with the revelations about the Hamato clan’s duty made it so that the inevitable confrontation felt like one that must be avoided at all costs.

This connection to the Hamato clan brought in an interesting conflict between duty and family for Splinter that we hadn't gotten to see before. When the turtles are captured Splinter is pulled in two different directions one that upholds his duty and one that preserves his family. Splinter eventually chooses his sons over his duty. (This carries over into the second season when they managed to combine the two and become their best selves as warriors and family.)

Another really fascinating aspect of the finale that I haven’t touched upon is how it subverts expectations by having Baron Draxum simply be a stepping stone for the shredder’s release. Up until this point Baron Draxum had been the closest thing to a big bad the series had. We had followed his plan step by step and believed he was the one pulling the strings only for the rug to be pulled out from under him at the last second when the turtles believed they had won.

This led to a cliffhanger that had me on the edge of my seat. It really felt like this was another turning point in the series like “Evil League of Mutants” had been…

But I don’t really feel like the second season carried that momentum over as well as it could have. The battle with the shredder wasn’t the tour de force I expected or the turning point in tone I anticipated. And there are things that were set up in the first season that, when finally seen, felt like anti-climaxes. This is most notable to me in the season premiere and the episode “Goyles, Goyles, Goyles” when we finally see the day that Splinter and the turtles were mutated.

With the premiere it was a weird split between things I absolutely adored– Leo finally displaying his excellent planning and leadership skills– and things I felt were anti-climactic compared to the build-up– the turtles’ fight with Shredder. 

I feel like the Leo stuff is self explanatory. Everyone knows that Leo is traditionally the leader of the turtles and up until this point Leo didn’t show much of that or have any significant development outside of a few select moments, but this was the episode that really showed his potential. 

It wasn’t just his ingenious plan that was really enjoyable to see come together, but also the fact that he knew his brothers well enough to trust in their skills and know exactly how they would be able to fend off and find the shredder. 

As a longtime fan of the turtles I loved this development. I had really enjoyed this version of Leo before now, but this was the moment that won me over to this version of him.

But the way the show handled the face off with the shredder didn’t really work for me. The biggest reason was that most of it happened off screen and then when we did get to see what was going on it was to show that the shredder was weak to tickling. 

After all that build up for the shredder and what a threat he will pose the way it went fell flat, especially considering how the first season finale ended with the turtles thinking they beat the shredder only for a much more powerful version to emerge from the smoke to face them down.

The ending with Big Mama set up some very interesting possibilities that I was excited to see come to fruition in the future (and eventually lead to a phenomenal season 2 finale) but it and Leo’s arc didn’t negate the disappointment I felt with how the shredder and his showdown with the turtles was handled.

Goyles, Goyles, Goyles felt like an intentional anti-climax, but even with that obvious intent it still fell flat for me. This moment was one of my favorite reveals of the first season. The way it was revealed in song by Draxum and his henchmen and the amazing still animation reflecting the words was a real turning point in just how much I enjoyed this series as I said above. And when we finally got to see exactly what happened… it was almost all a joke.

And this type of subversion is very common in Rise. It usually works better for me though because there isn’t as much build up and excitement towards them like there was for the shredder fight and the Draxum and the turtles backstory. 

In fact, there are plenty of moments in this series where this type of subversion works really well for me. In the season one finale the random reveal that the turtles cracked Splinter’s teapot as children and never told him being an important plot point was one that worked really well for me. 

The biggest difference between those subversions is that the one in the finale didn’t magically solve things or completely dampen the more dramatic and emotional moments. The teapot reveal didn’t retroactively make Splinter’s decision to put his sons above his ancestral duty any less meaningful and it didn’t magically save the day like they expected it to. It allowed things to still carry the weight they were meant to while still being funny and unexpected.

The show goes back to problem of the week episodes and as a result does fall into a few of the pacing and tonal issues that plagued the first season, but they were overall stronger and more fun episodes here than they were in season 1 due to the fact that there is a larger cast to bounce the characters off of and a lot more locations to explore. This allowed for some really interesting and unexpected character pairings that made some of the most entertaining episodes of the show.

The episodes centered on April and Splinter are a particular favorite of mine in season 2. 

I wasn’t expecting how much I would adore their dynamic, but it was easily one of my favorites in the entire show. I really liked Splinter’s unwavering faith in April and how they came together to better each other. 

Splinter very rarely has this type of relationship in any of the other shows. He’s mostly the one lifting others up and giving them wisdom and is rarely the one getting support in this type of way. April is able to interact with Splinter’s past in a way the turtles in this show can’t and it allows him to re-establish a connection to who he was in a healthier way than he had prior to her coming into his life.

It’s a great mutual relationship that finds a unique spin to what their dynamic usually is in turtles canon.

Now it’s time to talk about the final few episodes of season 2. These episodes showcase all the best aspects of the Rise show. They take what the series does differently from all the other interpretations and run with them, really showing what the show can do at its height.

These episodes gave me the shredder showdown I was hoping to see in the premiere. He posed the type of threat he had in many of the other shredder incarnations and served the turtles losses that they struggled to bounce back from.

This is the type of enemy shredder should be and the way they had this tie into Splinter’s past was amazing and moving.

The episode where the Baron Draxum sent the Turtles into Splinter’s mind was one of the most emotionally poignant episodes, showing the pain and emptiness of Splinter’s life before he mutated. It puts Splinter’s life before and after the turtles into stark contrast.

Splinter isn’t alone like he felt like he was before and he found a new family after the loss of his mother that gave him the strength and courage to accept the duty he had rejected because of the loss it brought him.

Splinter has grown from the character I was most disappointed with to one of my favorites of the series and this episode really hammered home just how great the writing for him in this series has been.

Splinter isn’t the only one that gets an increase in focus, April also gets some spotlight and a unique and unexpected role in this finale.

April’s growth from human ally to the turtles to a member of their family was amazing to watch. Having that bond that had been cultivated over the course of the two seasons that culminates in these episodes where she becomes an honorary member of the Hamato clan, fusing with Karai and teaching the turtles the way of their ancestors, was such an interesting change from past iterations of the character.

It really felt like her arc and relationship to the turtles was coming full circle when April was the one to talk Raph out of his despair. It really hammered home how far all of them have come and just how much a part of this family April is.

April’s talk to Raph leads into a great moment where the brothers unlock their mystic powers through their connection and trust in one another. They aren’t alone in this struggle or the fight with Shredder. It doesn’t come down to just one of them but their whole family. 

The heart of the turtles and their various series, at least to me, has always been the Hamato family and their bond with one another and this moment shows just how much this show understands that.

There’s just so much about this finale to gush about but there were two minor issues I had. Those are the reveal of Cassandra Jones and Splinter naming Leo the leader.

Cassandra Jones felt like a last minute reveal. The series made a few jokes about Cassandra being called unnamed foot soldier yet had her as a recurring character so it felt obvious that she was going to be a legacy character in some way but having her be Casey Jones felt odd. 

I don’t really know a better way of putting it. I’m not mad or anything and I don’t believe the show butchered Casey like I’ve seen some people say (especially considering how they brought Casey Jones into the movie), but it felt like the most out of left field choice rise had made up until this point. (I do want to say that I feel like this could have turned into a very interesting interpretation of the character if the show was allowed to continue and flesh this decision out.)

And Leo being named leader was especially rushed considering just earlier in the finale (parts 2 and 3) the show really felt like it solidified Raph as the leader. He was the one who was able to make the tough calls and he was the one who learned to trust his brothers in a way he needed to be the best leader he could be.

Leo only really had the second season premiere to set up the idea that he would make a great leader and strategist if he really applied himself but that thread felt like it was dropped for the rest of the season and had no real buildup within the finale unlike Raph’s leadership skills.

These didn’t really impact my enjoyment of the episodes especially considering that they were such a small part of the finale and they were both fixed/expanded on in the movie.

Speaking of the movie. It was absolutely phenomenal. 

This movie focuses on Leo and his journey into growing into a leadership role for the team with the Kraang as the turtles’ adversaries. 

Right off the bat this movie is considerably darker than the main series with the opening alone showing blood and the deaths of both Mikey and Leo. It immediately shatters any possibility of past conveniences present in the series like the Kraang being ticklish or the turtles escaping due to incompetent sidekicks. 

There’s a palpable danger established by this shift in tone that carries on throughout the movie and creates actual tension and stakes to the sacrifices made later on. 

I can also say with full confidence that this is easily the most intimidating the Kraang have ever been in turtles canon. 

While the Kraang have been threats in some of the series and even beaten the turtles more than once I never felt like they were the overwhelming threat they are here. That the turtles were completely outmatched.

This amazing update of the kraang and the threat they pose is paired with a great arc for Leo where he has to confront the more immature and impulsive side of him that has been ever present in the series up until this point.

These flaws had been addressed at varying points throughout the series proper but they were never treated anywhere near as seriously as they are here. 

And it addresses these shortcomings through Rise’s interpretation of the classic Raph and Leo conflict.

Raph and Leo are almost always the two brothers that come into conflict the most often in every iteration of the turtles. Their ways of thinking are incompatible in ways that make it hard for them to see eye to eye. This was something the main series of Rise didn’t really address. For the most part the brothers got along well and any conflicts they did have were either resolved or ended on a joke which fit with what the series was trying to do with them before this point.

I’ve heard a few complaints about this because the conflict between Leo and Raph is something the movie makes it seem like is a recurring problem for them when in reality Leo and Raph don’t really get into any real serious arguments/conflicts throughout the series. In fact, Raph almost never gets angry the way he does at the beginning. Rise Raph’s anger is almost always aimed at himself rather than others. 

And I can understand that to a degree because these aspects weren’t really established in the series but I don’t think either of these inconsistencies really hurt the movie and are in fact explained rather well within the context and time frame given. The conflict itself is well written and has the two coming to an actual understanding that feels organic to both characters.

The movie’s take on Leo and Raph’s conflict has the two switching places from their usual roles. Leo is the impulsive brother that does care deeply about his brothers but makes mistakes due to his personal flaws that gets them in trouble, while doubting/going against the older brother’s wishes/orders. Raph is the older, more responsible brother with the weight of his brothers lives on his shoulders because of his position as the de facto leader of their family (at least before the season 2 finale).

It’s not necessarily a completely unique take on the conflict since the roles are simply reversed with a few tweaks to better fit their characters but it plays out in a way that makes Leo’s arc and journey of growing into his leadership role very impactful in a way that separates itself from 2003 and 2012 Leonardos.

Leo’s arc culminates in such an amazing and heartbreaking sacrifice that, while it obviously didn’t last, was the moment from Rise that hit me the hardest.

The way the movie managed to really hammer home the weight of Leo’s decision and the growth of his character in that moment through everyone’s reactions, the music, and the stunning animation and coloring was incredible.

Outside of Leo’s fantastic arc and the Kraang the animation is absolutely stunning. There’s a reason the fight with the Kraang leader was all over the place after this movie released. The animation for Rise has always been fantastic and here is no exception. I don’t really think I can add anything to this point that hasn’t already been said by anyone who has seen the film.

Honestly if you haven’t seen it yet you should definitely give it a shot.

I’m just really disappointed this movie is probably the last we’ll see of Rise of the Tmnt because from my experience watching the series for the first time this show just continually got better. It introduced and hinted at so many elements from past iterations of the turtles near the end that I really wanted to see their take on.

Overall I think Rise is a really fun series that has amazing highs and a finale and movie that are legitimately great but it is a bit inconsistent in terms of pacing and tone with a rocky start and contains some changes to the characters that didn’t work completely for me personally. 

At its best this show easily stands toe to toe with the heights of the previous series. And in many ways those heights are completely unique from all the other iterations because of how much it twists the previously established lore and characters to make them its own.

After watching this series I can completely understand why so many people love this iteration of the turtles and I do consider the show great. I will definitely re-visit many of these episodes and the movie time and time again.

Extra Thoughts

What is it with tmnt series and dark futures? There’s Same as it Never Was, Mutant Apocalypse, The Rise Movie, The Last Ronin, etc. The brothers can never catch a break and get a nice happy ending can they?

I really love this version of Donnie and I think he's the character that worked best for me in this series. Donatello has always been my favorite turtle and in early iterations of the turtles I was a bit disappointed with how underutilized he was in the series. The episodes focused on him were great, but until 2012 Donatello was easily the most underappreciated turtle with the least amount of focus and screen time of the four. 2012 and Rise finally gave him the attention and focus I always wanted.

I kind of feel bad for saying this but I prefer Rafael and Leonardo’s conflict in the 2003 show, 2012 show, and 2007 TMNT movie to their conflict in this series. I also prefer the Character interpretations of Rafael where he’s the hothead. Where he chafes under Leo’s leadership and is forced to grow and mature so that he can handle his anger in better, more productive ways. I’m not saying this version of Rafael is bad or that Leo and Raph’s conflict isn’t complex, just that I personally prefer different versions of these things. And I completely understand that that’s personal preference. I think that this iteration will definitely work really well for other people and I think that’s great.

I really enjoy this version of Mikey and I'm disappointed he is given significantly less focus than any of the other turtles in this series. All the rest of the turtles get episodes dedicated solely to them and their struggles even April gets more individual focus than Mikey in season 2. I think Mikey is a great character to bounce off of but I was disappointed he never really got much time in the spotlight.

While the lore grew to become one of my favorite things about the series, not all of it worked for me. It was actually mostly the mystic pizza joint and some of the yokai that didn’t work for me because Big Mama, The hidden city, Draxum, the battle nexus, and the shredder/foot all grew on me whereas that part didn’t. I think this had more to do with the fact that the episodes centered on this part of the world were my least favorite in the series than anything else.

This series made the interesting decision to move away from the more grounded tone of past turtles incarnations. The turtles, at least in the shows, had progressively gotten more and more grounded in “reality” with even Donnie’s inventions, while still being incredible, reflecting the limited resources they would realistically have when living in the sewers. This series abandons any tether it might have had to reality and has the turtles out in broad daylight with only hoodies/tops to hide in, Donnie's inventions are even grander than before, and there's a whole hidden city where the turtles can be normal. They also immediately get mystic power and rarely interact with street level crime like their past incarnations. In some ways this worked and made the series immediately recognizable and stand out from its predecessors but in others it made them feel very disconnected from their roots and what made them so relatable in the first place which unfortunately alienated some people.

This ended up working really well for me after things started to come together and I think it’s a bit unfortunate that this will be a roadblock for people getting into the series.

The backlash the character designs got is something that I never really understood. Each turtle looks completely unique and for most of them you can grasp aspects of their personality and what they like by looking at them. This is a mark of good character design.

[blueikeproductions]

So let’s talk Bakugan!

Boy what an odd ball of the Mon genre. I was in college when Battle Brawlers came out, but Mon Series are my jam so I’m obligated to still tune in to see what it was like.

Over the years in its so far three generations, it’s… pretty much the left over scraps of its contemporaries. G1 was Pokémon, Digimon, and Yu-Gi-Oh! smooshed together, and as it went along it felt like it skewed more towards Digimon and Zatch Bell, largely abandoning the Yu-Gi-Oh! flavor in exchange for Super Robot style evil empires. (I thought it was also funny that New Vestroia seemed to copy Beyblade’s Cyber Bit-Beast concept with the Mechanical Bakugan, which comes full circle with G3 Bakugan toys mimicking Beyblade with its new weapon gimmick.) The creature designs came off as as a mix of Digimon and Yugi, but having what I can best describe is a western monster flair that I think helped it stand out a bit more, and like Digimon, leaned into an anything goes approach from mecha, knights, Sentai aliens, dinosaurs and utter nonsense creatures like Goblinball and Wontu. G2 meanwhile asks the question “What if we smooshed Pokemon and Transformers together?” (Funnily enough, RiD15 had its own Bakugan adjacent gimmick in Cyclone Mini-Cons prior to release). Its creature design felt a bit conflicted. Initially all Bakugan were designed to appear fully mechanical, with a Bayformers/Aligned flair. However as the series went along, the purely mechanical aesthetic was dropped in favor of sleeker armored looks, that felt restricted as all the Bakugan were largely just giant animal robot. You had a few unique designs like Ryerazu, Spartillion, Auratoa, and several mishmash generics, but they felt too far between in favor of stuff like giant cat or giant shark.

G3 design wise seems to instead be a hybrid of its previous generations. The Bakugan largely return to being primarily organic beings as they were in G1, but largely sticking to the giant animal motif of G2. However because they’re not hindered by the mecha style, the designs feel more fresh and nostalgic, now closer to designs like Tigrara and Preyas again. The main draw back is the Bakugan are still rendered in 3D, so the more organic designs don’t work well in that style as they did for the purely mechanical ones. Also like G2, the generic designs are also surprisingly charming, and I like them a little more than the main Bakugan like the dolphin man, ankylosaurus, a Leomon looking fellow and some assorted dinos and dragons.

Bakugan, in its three major generations, have generally followed some general blueprints: the Bakugan are divided in color coordinated factions, the main villains are either evil Bakugan and/or corrupt human(oids), with most importantly of all: the leads are almost always new iterations of Dan & Drago. This consistency of using Dan and Drago is honestly kind of impressive, even though its technically different characters each time, but it's funny to me that in an era where Ash has been (for the time being) retired, Bakugan still relies on Dan, Digimon brought back Tai and now Davis, and Yokai Watch brought back Nate after experimenting with using his future children. Whether that remains in a potential 4th generation of Bakugan remains to be seen though...

The different factions concept is both interesting and kind of frustrating about Bakugan. A big appeal for Pokemon and Digimon is having these profiles that expand on what each creature does and what its like, allowing you to pick and choose some favorites based on that if need be. Bakugan... doesn't seem to have that for whatever reason, and I never understood why. Most guidebooks are largely reliant on what a specific species of Bakugan has done in the anime, with G2 being the most egregious, as the profiles are extremely limited and incomplete due to Battle Planet not even being half way done when the book was made. I tend to suspect part of this was due to the Elemental Attribute/Factions concept, as many Bakugan are quite literally a horse of a different color in the same species, and it was probably seen as simpler not to write how a Ventus Tigrara is different from a Subterra Tigrara. Not helped are characters like Preyas and Elfin, who are depicted as chameleons, who can freely change their Attribute colors, and in Elfin's case in particular, she gains a new design to correspond to each type, despite not changing personality (at least that I recall). It might actually have been fun to see different Dragonoids similarly have different designs based on attributes, like a Ventus Drago is more bird like, an Aquos Drago's wings are more like fins, just small things.... But part of the toy lines appeal is just getting the same guy in different colors, so that probably wouldn't make sense to sculpt the toys like that.

While individual Bakugan don't really have that much lore, it is fascinating to see how Bakugan's lore has evolved in the different generations though. In G1, the Bakugan are monsters that came from another dimension, Vestroia, which was divided into different dimensional planes comprised of the different attributes. When Bakugan enter other worlds outside their own, they assume their ball forms, implying it's not something their race were capable of doing originally, as well as being only able to attack when partnered with other beings by using cards. After series villain Naga was stopped, and the Cores of Vestroia were restored, the dimension was reshaped into a proper planet called New Vestroia. On top of Bakugan coming to Earth via dimensional rifts, similar to how it works in Digimon, the Bakugan also fell to other dimensions, and bonded with the human analogs there in Vestal, Gundalia and Nethia, with it being revealed the Bakugan are descended from an ancient force in the G/N universe called Code Eve, with all Bakugan descended from primordial versions of Dragonoid and Dharak. Bakugan are divided into Pyrus, Haos, Aquos, Ventus, Subterra and Darkus types, referring to fire, holy light, water, wind, earth and darkness. Bakugan don't seem to have an active government or form of civilization in this universe, and like most instances in Digimon, just seem to do whatever they like. This presumably is just to make it easier for them to partner up to humans, since that's the focus, lol. It does appear Bakugan do just adapt to Earth, Vestal, and so on's various culture anyway. Bakugan are capable of Evolution, like Pokemon and Digimon, though its not as ... impressive. Evolution mostly seems limited to a slightly modified version of the base Bakugan, and usually doesn't seem to progress beyond this secondary form. Drago is the only one that constantly evolves into multiple forms, though esoteric means typically, but possibly also due his lineage with Genesis Dragonoid. Dharak similarly seems capable of multiple Evolutions, though he's the only one to Evolve into a completely separate creature as Razinoid via other means. A form of Pseudo Evolution via Fusion in Mechtanium Surge is introduced, but it's not clear if all Bakugan are capable of doing this. While Bakugan don't appear to have their own technology, they make use of advanced Vestal and Gundalian technology to use special battle suits and vehicles suited to themselves. While primarily children are depicted as using Bakugan, older teens and adults are capable of bonding and using them no issue.

G2 meanwhile goes its own direction, but borrows fairly heavily from its predecessor.

Here, Bakugan are instead divided into Pyrus, Haos, Aquos, Ventus, and Darkus, where they're governed by the divine Golden Bakugan. Subterra was apparently retired as a faction as it wasn't considered popular, so Ventus is reworked to be more nature themed to make up for Subterra's absence. Haos is apparently still themed around holy light, but it feels a bit... forced when the Golden Bakugan are this too.

The different factions are said to have not gotten along in the past, though this mostly only comes up in Armored Alliance through the ancient, Earth bound Bakugan, as the present day Bakugan don't seem to have any beef with each other. Like G1, the planet is connected to special Cores that help keep Vestroia going. Somewhat confusingly, due to later retcons, its stated that Bakugan have a symbiotic relationship with their home planet, that requires them to constantly battle to give off the necessary energy to fuel the planet. Later on, it seems this isn't really the case anymore... Also, the Bakugan also benefit to this energy exchange, which made me think they don't require food like we do, but apparently Ventus Bakugan are the farmers, so they apparently do require food...? It's one of those world building things I never quite got. Meanwhile Bakugan naturally can assume ball form here as part of their evolution, so much so, the ancient Geogan are apparently primordial Bakugan specimens that assumed different shapes prior to the evolution to sphere forms. The series seems to be copying G1's idea that Bakugan only assume their ball forms while on other planets, but it appears to be more a form of convenience the Bakugan can control, as their giant forms aren't otherwise compatible with Earth. The aforementioned Cores were tampered with by the first antagonist, Tiko, who seems to be the stand in for Naga, creating a chain of events that see the Bakugan come to Earth similar to G1, only it results in Vestroia fusing with Earth, creating a sort of inner world concept where Bakugan can live freely within Vestroia, but through unspecified means, Bakugan will periodically be "born" on Earth, emerging in ball form via liquid sacks and bond with humans. Unlike G1, Bakugan specifically bond with children, but teenagers and adults aren't able to readily bond with Bakugan without using special Devices. It's not... really explained super well why this is that I recall, but its one of G2's most consistent ideas that lasts until the series finale. Bakugan aren't entirely welcomed by most of humanity, with several companies like AAAnimous capturing Bakugan and brainwashing them into obedience using mind control devices, though by Armored Alliance things stabilize, but Geogan Rising onward sees several wild Bakugan not happy at how humans treated them...

Bakugan are capable of Evolution here also, and like G1, it's mostly limited to a slightly modified version of the base form, with Drago and opposite Nillious being the only ones who can evolve into multiple stages at first. Evolution is apparently something not all Bakugan can accomplish and later on, Evolution was removed entirely due to Vestroia channeling the power post Tiko into special battle gear and fusion based abilities. Confusingly, Evolution returns anyway, where Bakugan can assume special speed and strength forms this time. Even more confusingly, it appears Evolution technically still happens in the five series of G2, as the main Bakugan assume different default forms in each series, with Nillious confusingly having Evolved into a robust, three headed centaur like dragon... only to revert back into his original bipedal two headed stage with no explanation after that. Evolution wasn't explained well at all here, though it was clarified only specific Bakugan are capable of fusion, and is otherwise something they can't typically do.

One detail I liked is the G2 Bakugan can apparently assume ball form to travel in space, which feels like a reference to the asteroid mode Bayverse Transformers assumed in earlier material. In this universe, Bakugan made contact with Earth in its prehistory, with some Bakugan apparently surviving long enough to interact with early man, as the present day uncovered artifacts related to the Bakugan made by humans. That said, Bakugan are apparently immortal to some extent, as fossilized Bakugan can be easily revived, while the Geogan apparently just exist in their own separate plane and can be summoned at will. Similarly, presumably to soften things for younger children at the time, villainous Bakugan don't die, when they technically should like Tiko, with Hanoj evidently being so absurdly powerful, he can't be killed or knocked into "stasis", and instead has to be sealed away in a nearby planetoid. Bakugan appear to have their own devolved civilization, something that was rather vague in G1, but here the Bakugan have various villages and cities that have a rustic RPG vibe I kinda dig. Unlike G1, where Bakugan can survive on other planets just fine, G2 era Bakugan are largely only able to survive on Earth due to their symbiotic ties to Vestroia, and once Vestroia is separated and becomes its own planet again, the Bakugan can't live on Earth anymore, and can only visit periodically in short visits. Interestingly, the ancient Bakugan on prehistoric Earth could survive just fine, but after stopping an asteroid collision, it still caused a shift in the environment that forced most Bakugan into stasis and later fossilization.

G3 is still going as of typing, but it takes the biggest departure, but replacing Elemental Factions with Clans. This instead refers to a Bakugan's species with Dragons, Beasts, Dinosaurs, Birds, Bugs and Aquatic types. Beasts seem to be the spiritual successor to Subterra, with Haos and Darkus being removed entirely. Somewhat confusingly, the Clans aren't really bound by specific colors, so Bakugan still come in Pyrus, Haos, Aquos, Ventus, Darkus, Subterra type colors, which makes me wonder if in some early stage of development, Bakugan were meant to still be divided into Attributes, but were segregated into Clans based on what animal they were, but the concept was dropped. Like G2, the Bakugan are space aliens again, but instead hail from the Vestroian System, which includes planets each Clan is native to: a planet of Dragons, a planet of Birds, etc. And like the South Park joke, all these different clans are stuck on Earth and forced to cohabitate. Unlike previous series, these Bakugan REALLY don't get along with each other, and largely stick with their own kind. Only the Misfit clan sees various Bakugan from other clans team up and become friends alongside their human partners.

In this version of events, the Bakugan are at war with each other, similar to the Transformers, with the opposing leaders being Dragonoid who assumes an Optimus Prime like role, while Nillious is... well he's supposed to be Megatron, but his personality and mannerisms evoke Starscream pretty heavily. Very little of Vestroian culture is seen, but the Bakugan do possess technology of their own that they use to fight each other. This being G3's version of battle gear, but this gear also doubles as a form of Evolution, with the Bakugan functionally Armor Digivolving. While Bakugan can naturally assume ball form like G2, they don't usually STAY in this form while on Earth, with the new idea being Bakugan base forms are roughly human sized, allowing them to interact with our planet better. This leads to humorous scenarios of them using public transportation and holding jobs when not with their human partners, making them more independent than they've usually been. They can still assume giant "evolved" forms, which seems to be treated as an ability Bakugan can't normally do until they partnered with humans, referencing older G1 concepts. Interestingly, Bakugan and humans are shown to synch upon meeting, with glowing eyes sealing a bond, something older series didn't do, which I find cool. G3 overall seems to be a more revised version of G2, with a slightly more engaging story, showing the Bakugan being embraced by humans, but Brawls being forced to go underground due to laws that restrict them. One company does capture and experiment on Bakugan however, but this doesn't appear to be as big of a problem this time, with humans and Bakugan getting along fine otherwise... However....

Most of Bakugan's villains tend to cycle from Evil Bakugan to Evil Human and so on. G2 largely operated on Evil Bakugan being the main villains, with humans being secondary when applicable. Usually a rival or main villain would be a teenager wearing a mask, starting with Masquerade, continuing with Spectra and later Magnus. G3's main villain revives it once more, with this teenager out for revenge against the Bakugan, as their sudden appearance caused the death of his parents. Using his parents' inventions, he created a G2 style control Device to brainwash Bakugan into a frenzy to initially frame them as a threat, but it later evolved into a desire to control them to take over the Earth in order to "set things right", due to the bad luck he perceived his family having. It's still a pretty unique take all things considered, and G3, if nothing else, has a better balance of humor and stakes, where as G2 often struggled with that post Battle Planet for some reason. Executive meddling I wager. I also adore that the Bakugan actually get to be characters in G3 again, as a major problem in G2 is most Bakugan didn't really get to talk or do much. Trox and Hydrous in particular suffered this, which to my surprise, G3 Trox not only gets proper dialogue, he has a very fun personality, sort of a eager beaver tourist Texan with nerdy interests that I really dig. Same with Nillious, though I admit I'm not sure if making him the slightly more competent Starscream works for him, but I still enjoy this direction. G3 is also interesting in that people seems to largely be on board with the anime, but the toys this time around are seen as a downgrade. The Beyblade style gimmick of the toys isn't really communicated at all in the show, with it being being questioned why it just wasn't more clip on G1 and G2 like Battle/Baku-Gear instead. The toys have a new phase coming out soon that seems to be another form of Evolution, as the package art shows Drago assuming a four legged beastial form, but how that works for the anime has yet to be seen. The toy sales of G3 aren't going so hot either, but as the series seems to have a cliffhanger atm, I hope the anime and toys aren't canceled before it gets properly resolved... Still, I'm not sure if we'll get a G4 atm unless the toy sales turn around, but I hope we get one, because the evolution of Bakugan as a series continues to fascinate me on how they spin it each time, despite still being the odd cousin of its Pokemon and Digimon relatives.

[4th-d-slipped]

Hovers towards you like an Earthbound Enemy. 3, 11, 16 32 for the oc askz …

(ask game) AUGH (encounter starts)

3 - typically "they came to me in a dream and i felt a strong need to make them real" or "i want to make a character around this certain media slash concept". pokemon ocs are especially easy for me to spawn out of very basic shit

11 - speak of the devil about pokemon ocs lmao. i have a pokespe oc named hon whos gone through like 3 design iterations.

first she was called opal, then fire opal, now honey opal. she was initially changed because she had a boring design super close to my mainstay oc mara and because of opal from swsh. the main patch note is she became a poc instead of a basic blonde white girl.

arguably the funniest part is hon is part of a duo with another oc named aven, and aven's design has changed like Zero Percent since conception. lol

16 - i do have a series of 2 collaborative au/crossover fanfics from early 2022 w/ my friend lati! theyre yokai watch X the mgai squad (some of my mother series ocs for those unaware).

they were super duper fun to write and we were supposed to publish them to ao3 and write a third installment, but now it's been so long they probably have to be rewritten entirely. and i still need to play ykw 3...

32 - oh i just mentioned these ones in the last question! i wanna make a mother fangame called mothergaia, and the characters from that, the mgai squad as i call them, have wound up being my main oc group :3

also i have another mainstay oc named kelo (who i've talked about) and itd be nice to make a series of animatics surrounding his story, but its not a priority

[cinnabarmawar]

My TMNT OC: Hiranur

Full name: Hiranur Omar

Nickname: Excorcist, Hira or Nur

Exits in tmnt iteration: TMNT 03, TMNT 07, and TMNT Monochrome (my own tmnt iteration takes place in tmnt 07 verse but also shares the same event with '12 and 03)

About her in general:

She also lost her parents in the triceraton invasions for both 03 and 07 iteration.

Nur is a drop out from school and works in flower shop and takes babysitting job and mortuary work as a part-time job from time to time.

She was once a temporary gang member. In 03 verse, she was with the turks but quitted a day after due to the ghosts haunting (telling) her to quit during a mission. In 07, she was with the purple dragon but a fail member of the gang and was kicked out when she couldn't pass the test.

Carries a red, sharp scissor as her self defense weapon

Once experienced a hysteria and is recuperating from it

She can see and talk to ghosts in all universe of tmnt that she's in. Through the ghost she learns of the turtle's existence.

Her hijab is sometimes missing(due to the turtles parkour) from the clothes line. Hence the prayer garment(which is an old and worn one) is an option for her to wear when she's following the turtles sometimes

How she first met the turtle boys:

At first she dosen't believe in them because their ghosts and can bother/posess you if you answer them until upon her first encounter with them she had a crisis of their existence but she believed in the ghosts fearfully.

With their guidance, she followed them from afar at night when they patrol the city with the shellraiser and would also toss them some notes telling them to stay away from the abandoned gang warehouses and other haunted areas.

The turtles sometimes catch a glimpse of her and it's mostly in her prayer garment the one on the right(long hijab-like that's all white) and it's mostly Mikey who saw it and get startled by it while blurting out horror tropes when he does.

The turtles meet her in one of the purple dragons abandoned warehouse. Found her unconscious mostly in the same white prayer garment but it stops here.

Her personalities:

Easily frightened due to her six sense but it's also the same for facing mutants and fiesty delinquents but ever since she met the turtles she became a bit braver bit by bit.

Cautious comes from her hysteria experience and her early days when she discovered that she hs 6th sense. Nur either end up makes good or bad decision. She brings a pair scissors all the time as a self defense weapon

Knowledgable on supernatural myths and stuffs, including biology on plants.

Kind but still dosen't hesitate to whack if needed. Whenshe was watching the turtles from afar, one of the old ghosts would tell her to whack their each of their heads in the dark just to confirm that their not demons and she did it even running away before they see her. Mostly she ends up whacking Raph's and Donnie's head most of the time.

Nur and the turtles relationship:

Mikey: Closest along Donnie. Team B's best friend. They freak out about ghost together.

Donnie: Closest along with Mikey. They have lots of conversation.

Raph: She was a bit intimidated by him but once she gots to know his soft side, she warms up to him.

Leo: She was most cautious on him the most until she realise had a crush on him in one unfortunate rescue and she's head over heels. She had a crisis on it but got over it and is choosing the right time to confess to him. She gets shy with him

I have difficulties of summing it up but that's all I got bcs in different universe how they meet and the interactions are slightly different. Could say that it's more to writing for my TMNT iteration. I'm thinking of adding the rise version of her just maybe rewatch of rottmnt for the yokais part.

Anyway, this my tmnt OC Nur so far that I've worked on at least.

[acespeon]

I watched the Rise movie before I ever watched the series (sounds backward i know) but I figured the reason they left out Draxum, Mayhem, Big Mama, Sunita, any mention of yokai or the Hidden City in general, only “included” Cassandra at the very end, was to not alienate watchers who were only familiar with other iterations of TMNT

it’s very formulatic. you have Raph and Leo arguing for the most part, Serious Splinter, April acting like a reporter like her ‘87 and 1990s movie selves, the Krang, etc. To any of us familiar with the most basic of TMNT, this is normal.

the only thing that threw me for a loop was the whole ninpo thing, and that got explained to me when I watched the show canon after and went ‘ohhh that’s what that was’.

it makes sense from a marketing standpoint. you get the barest glimpse of Todd in the background as Casey is hauling Leonardo up the hill and you wouldn’t know to look for him unless you knew canon. Casey Junior is implied to be male because we’re used to a male Casey, not the twist at the end of the second season that told us Foot Recruit was that universe’s Casey Jones.

why alienate half of your viewing audience by introducing things to the movie from the series that they wouldn’t understand?

[jocelynships]

Okay so I know I got the ghostbusters/80s media brainrot atm, but I can’t help but think about how funny it would be if Joce showed D.raxum all these movies. More ramblings under the cut!

So this is a fic idea I’ve had since I started shipping with D.raxum, TMNT Joce is a pop culture nerd through and through in each iteration, the Rise iteration of her especially. And bc I like to project my interests onto my S/Is in other universes, she’s obsessed with 80s media as a whole (very much like me)

But I highly doubt D.raxum watched any human movies the whole time he’s been alive. We don’t know how old he is but he’s an old man, well, in his prime for a yokai as he’ll tell you, but he was definitely alive throughout the whole 20th century, but has not paid any mind to the creations of mankind bc he kinda. ya know. Hated humans until now.

So Joce makes her silly movie references and is constantly quoting films from the 80s to respond to stuff, and she does it so much with D.raxum he starts losing his mind bc he does NOT understand what she’s saying half the time. What the fuck does “Goonies never say die” mean. Stop shouting “ghostbusters” when someone asks who to call. Why do you say “feed me Seymour” whenever you’re hungry. What are you SAYING.

And Joce just pauses. And she realizes

“Oh my god. You’ve never seen an 80s flick in your life have you”

“What on earth is an ‘80s flick’. Cooper what are you saying.”

“Oh my god. OH MY GOD. I am about to show you the greatest movies known to mankind.”

Poor D.raxum has no idea what he signed up for. Next thing he knows she’s showing him all these movies that I’m too lazy to type out rn bc I personally love so many movies lol and he’s so confused and understands NOTHING. He finds all these movies ridiculous and honestly he doesn’t get the appeal of any of them. But he’ll admit he did find the original ending of Little Shop of Horrors where Audrey II eats everyone and takes over the world amusing.

But. Joce loves these movies. She’s singing along to all the songs, quoting scenes word for word, and she’s got this sparkle in her eyes he doesn’t understand why he likes so much, but he loves it.

And for that? He’ll sit through whatever movie she wants to show him.

[sugarpasteltmnt]

"no one asked" TOO BAD !!!!! !!

(btw, this is NOT Neon Void related—this is just me Being Insane For Fun)

First off, I want to preface this by saying how much I LOVE the fun and unique spin Rise gave with all their characters. While I know some TMNT fans weren’t so stoked on such drastic changes, it’s actually what got me into TMNT. And afterwords it got me invested in watching the older iterations of TMNT and I got to enjoy those too because of Rise!!!

That being said, I wanna celebrate the unorthodox approach Rise took and throw some extra fun flare with our modern-day, Hidden City/New Yorker Usagi.

Introducing…

Usagi Yojimbo (“Jimbo”) Jr.

A descendant of the OG Usagi Yojimbo and Usagi Yuichi; he was named after Yojimbo which is a bit of a tradition in his family.

Doesn’t like to be called ‘Jr’ or by his full name—but he doesn’t mind being called Usagi, Sagi, or his other nicknames

He earned the nickname ‘Jimbo’ (as a play on joke of his full name that sounds like “Yo Jimbo”) from a shopkeeper in New York. He doesn’t mind being called that, but it does make him a bit bashful.

After earning that nickname, his clan/family sometimes teasingly calls him JJ (combining ‘Jimbo’ with ‘Jr’)

His Clan/Family lives in the Hidden City, but Usagi is adventurous and likes to go topside to New York often in disguise (does not own a cloaking broach, or rather, doesn’t like using them)

Is trained to be a swordsman and in other Japanese traditions, but he is very casual. He prefers wearing comfy/casual streetwear rather than traditional garb.

Though he’s a great swordsman he’s also been trained to use a mystic yo-yo like Yuichi.

Loves hip-hop (yes this is a pun)

White fur but has a bit of light gray freckles (cute)

But his most noticeable trait….?

Bro is built like a motherfuckin’ brickhouse.

Biggest Physical Trait…. HE BIG!!!

In most canon TMNT and Usagi mashup media (that I’ve seen at least), Usagi is around the same size/height as the turtles— but Rise took a fun spin on the brothers by making them different sizes and species…

So, for your consideration…

…what if Usagi was fucking HUGE???

Pictured: Flemish Giant rabbits – aka the LARGEST rabbit breed in the world.

And I don’t just mean “tall”. I’m talking a full Uno Reverse-Card on his classic design and making him Raph-shaped or Hunk from Voltron shaped.

And because this is Me™ you know I’m insane for details so BEAR WITH ME HERE:

Design Concept/Ancestry  

OKAY HEAR ME OUT

With the OG Usagi Yojimbo in mind as an ancestral reference, and the fact that the setting is Rise is primarily New York (the melting pot hub) —I love love love the idea that Rise-Usagi might not be solely Japanese.

Usagi’s design is inspired by the Flemish Giant Rabbit (BIG!), but that breed of rabbit originated from Belgium. And the only native rabbit to Japan is the Japanese Hare (smol).

So…. It got me thinkin—

Wouldn’t it be cute, if an Usagi clan ancestor—a petite but fierce Samurai Japanese-Hare-Yokai— fell for a titan of a Belgian Rabbit Yokai prior to the family coming to New York??? (Straight up pulling a Greg-Universe with a Giant Wife (#goals)). Making Usagi Jr of Japanese-Belgian-American descent

I LOVE the idea of Rise-Usagi being a different size/shape as his past iterations just like the turtles. And while his past iterations have been smaller/normal sized, I think it would be comedic gold if he was just a freaking BIG MAN. Somewhere between Leo’s and Raph’s height.

Personality

Still wears his ears in a top-knot, even when he’s dressed normally. In fact, he’s a little self-conscious of how he looks when his ears are standing upright.

Bro has a HUGE sweet-tooth. Playing off of the that gag from Usagi Yuichi, who always has syrup packets in his pockets, Usagi Jr LOVES sweets.

BIG action film fan. Like his ancestors who loved theatrics, Usagi Jr discovered Lou Jitsu movies and became OBSESSED.

Playing off of the “Space Rabbit” comics, Usagi Jr. also loves sci-fi. (lol nerd /affectionate)

Because he loves both Lou Jitsu and Jupiter Jim movies, Usagi decided to explore New York in secret. After his first trip he became obsessed with the city too.

Can and WILL carry Leo/Donnie/or Mikey like purse dogs if needed or the opportunity presents itself

Like the turtles, Usagi Jr is a goofy teenager. Though he shares traits like Leo and knows when to get serious, bro is just as Goofy as the rest of them

Is any of this coherent??? Probably not. Did anyone need this??? Nope. Did I need to go so in depth on the differences between Rabbit species and trying to make an explanation for his design??? Yes LOL. But he is Silly and the concept makes me Smile. If you made it to the end, thanks for coming to my Ted Talk LOL 🩵

.🐇

[gafie1ds-crisis]

AYYEEE DOODLE WITH MY SHADOW SIDE ITERATION MAIN CHARACTER/OC & MY NORMAL OC!!

[nerves-nebula]

In the teenage mutant neglected turtles au, I know you said that splinter didn't want them going out when they were younger (even though he didn't watch them to make sure they didn't) but is he the one giving them missions now, or do the turtles make those up themselves? How invested is he in them doing stuff on the surface?

I AM SO GLAD YOU ASKED. OK, here's the situation (keep in mind this is a new AU/TMNT iteration so I haven't ironed out all or even most of the wrinkles yet. im not even set on Splinters backstory)

BUT here's what I've been thinking. So as you know, when they're younger, Splinter would always lock them inside at night (or whenever he went to rest/sleep) because he didn't like the idea of them getting into trouble while he's asleep. But as they got older and he got more used to "taking care of" kids, that became less and less of an issue for him so he doesn't really worry about it anymore. He'll often ask one of the turtles where the other one is and either get "I don't know" or "Probably in his room" as a response and just not follow up on it, if he remembers to check up on his kids in the first place.

so by the time he realizes they've been to the surface he kind of doesn't give a shit anymore. he's like "eh, if they haven't gotten in trouble by now then they're probably fine." I mean, obviously he threw a whole rage fit at first but that was more because he'd been lied to/his rules hadn't been followed, than out of any fear or concern for the turtles lives. Once he cools down though he's like "well no reason to stop you since you've already been doing it for years"

he's also been training them since they could hold weapons because why not, right? Might as well make sure they can defend themselves when he's not around. and they've already shown they're generally proficient in what he's taught them so he's confident in their abilities (or i guess it's more like he's confident in his teaching. he's fully willing to demean them if they fail to meet his expectations though)

WHICH leads us to the turtles fighting ppl. I think at first they just kind of accidentally get into fights with humans/other mutants. mostly criminals or anyone they think is being a dickhead (cause they're impulsive teens who are highly skilled at fighting). obviously they don't tell Splinter about this, but he finds out eventually when they start to get into fights they can't get away from unscathed. By that point though, Splinter already knows they're going topside and is harshly like "Just be better and you won't get your ass beat. I swear I raised/trained you smarter than this" and all that jazz.

And this kind of escalates to them taking themselves very seriously as like, protectors of their little part of New York, right? Both to prove themselves to their dad and because it's the most freedom they have as a family unit. Like, they become wayyyy closer once they start fighting crime together.

SO for the most part they kind of just do whatever they want. but now that splinter sees them as a potentially useful task force who are (mostly) loyal to him he might start getting them involved in his past/grudges with, say, the foot clan :)

so I imagine Splinter sending them on occasional missions, either checking up on foot clan business or just like a fetch quest to get him something he wants. Naturally they trip over themselves for a chance to get a approval from him.

But for the most part they just do whatever they feel like, and give themselves missions/vote on which mission to do next.

sidenote: there IS a yokai Hidden City in this AU, or at least some kind of underground Yokai Society, maybe one more intertwined with New York than the Hidden City is in ROTTMNT but I've gotta figure it out a bit more first. so when they find that place they have a ball there too. eventually <3

sorry this kinda got ramble-y but i hope this answers your question :)

[eternalglitch]

With the new tmnt movie coming out, will that shift your interest in rise and cause a discontinuity of like father like son?

Also was this “.. Green staggered slightly, straightening back up as his eyes darted between the portal and Draxum. He dared not back away, but his breath caught in his throat as his heart hammered away in his chest loud enough to be heard.

“You’re lucky that I took an interest in you,” the yokai concluded. “Imagine where you would be if I hadn’t.”

There had once been a spot for him to come back home to, with people that wanted him. But he couldn’t remember exactly when he had realized he no longer was fit to claim that as his home, or why his family had even bothered to put up with him in the first place.

Draxum snorted, finding something in Green lacking. Green didn’t blame him; he could feel the hole within himself, too. “Go on, then,” he ordered. “We better get moving now if you hope to complete these tasks in an acceptable period of time. You first.”

Green didn’t wait for the collar to warn him; he almost tripped over his feet as he ran over to the portal, jumping through without any hesitation this time.

Anywhere was better than there, in that room.

Anywhere.”

Was this a dream or was it like reflected by something that actually happened?

So I actually don't hold much interest in franchises as a way to sell me on something. I might hold interest in specific creatives, but the general brand isn't that important to me. Hollywood is currently running on 80-90% of pre-existing material creation, as in reboots, sequels, spin offs, what-have-you. They do this because they believe they can count on a pre-established fanbase to make more profit with less marketing work, and I... usually want to make them work for my attention still lmao.

This is obviously a personal preference as to how I approach media, and if you are excited already about Mutant Mayhem I am really happy for you! But I don't consider myself a TMNT fan. I was a Rise fan, and Rise is exactly what I would want and I don't want to look for that within a show that was part of the reason for Rise's cancellation. That brings unfair baggage to it and Mutant Mayhem deserves to be looked at for what it is on its own rather than torn apart for being too similar or different to past versions. That happened to Rise, I don't care to do that to another iteration.

So far, all that Mutant Mayhem has really shown is that characters people recognize are being brought back a certain way. And that's cool, but ultimately holds little interest to someone who mainly cares about plot. I'll see how I feel when we learn more about what the movie will actually be about and how well the writing was done. ^^

tldr they have to woo me. And I play hard to get sometimes.

As for how this effects lfls... regardless of Mutant Mayhem, I've actually moved on from Rise three months ago and have already found a new show that I am watching all the time and talking about with my friends. It happens. I still currently plan to write more lfls and haven't changed my plans on that.

And for that particular scene... I'll leave it up to you. You can interpret it as a dream or as a memory. It does the same thing for the story either way.

[jadethest0ne]

TMNT: Once Human Masterpost

This project is currently in its planning stages. For now I only have character sheets, a smattering of comics and animations, and answers to various asks. I have gathered relevant info here for easy access to the links. Will update as I go along.

The Characters

Donatello

Leonardo

Michelangelo

Raphael

Splinter

Bishop and Draxum

Important Character info

Character Dynamics

Birthdays

Famato x TV tropes

Voice Claims

Fighting Styles

Orientation and Gender

Group Activities

Villains x TV tropes

Height Chart

Neurodivergent?

Plot and World-building

Setting and online buds

Plot Summary

Yokai world?

The Nine Realms and the Guardians

Comics, Art, and Animation

Inspiration Porn

Fashion bros

Stylin’ Donnie

Kidnapped

Sneaky Leo

Leo’s Poem [animatic]

Raph eats Pizza [lip sync animation]

Tol and Smol comfhurt

TMNT:OH x Pride Flags

Like Father Like Son crossover

Movie Night [animation]

Comfort doodles and hugs

Lots. Of. Angst. doodles (includes other incarnations)

Watch your language [animatic]

Beware the Nice Ones... [animation]

Development Info

Character Design 1

Character Design 2

Positive Masculinity

My favorite turtle?

Logo Design

Miscellaneous

Raph can knit

Malachi

Leo’s fave movies

Leo’s fave poetry

Mikey’s fave movies and models

Textures Donnie hates

Why Raph hates school

Flirting

Raph’s fave movies

Who would win

Questioning Raph

Favorite ice cream flavors

If they were Pokemon Trainers...

Favorite Savory Meals

Favorite Media

OH! Turtles x TMNT Multiverse

Notes

This story is planned as a long-running comic; the start date is TBD.

I will not answer questions that involve plot spoilers.

April, Casey or other characters in the TMNT franchise may be major players in the plot and are therefore in the spoiler territory, and thus I will not answer questions about them.

I did not include all asks or notes I’ve got to this list since I left out ones I thought were irrelevant or repetitive.

I prefer the term “TMNT iteration” or “TMNT version” when talking about “TMNT: Once Human”. “TMNT AU” is okay, but please do NOT use “rottmnt au” as a way to refer to this iteration, since that insinuates that I have based it solely on Rise of the TMNT. I created this as if I were to create a new iteration of its own to add to the franchise. Rise certainly has it’s influences on my work and my style, but I have borrowed from various TMNT iterations and added my own spin to it to create this concept.

[captain-krow-drozdov]

So, since you've been enjoying the newest version of TMNT, I have to ask:

1) Have you seen the older Turtles Forever movie, a Turtles version of spiderverse.

2) Did you know there was a live action show of TMNT and they had a 2 episode crossover on an older Power Rangers show.

3) Also on that live action show they introduced a controversial female turtle. Which reminds me, I saw on YouTube that in a recent run of TMNT comics they brought back the 5th turtle as a possible clone/Frankenstein creation and in this comic, one of the Turtles loses their shell and had to get it replaced.

4) A thought that crossed my mind, how do you think the Turtles & April from "Rise" would react to a female turtle popping up?

Ooo~ Mkay So I'm A Hella Newbie To The Turtle Brain Rot So Forgive Me/Have Mercy On Any Lacking Knowledge

Answer 1: No But I Caught A Few Out Of Context Clips Of Previous Cartoon Iterations And Mortal Kombat Cutscenes (Mainly 2012 And 2003) Via Both YouTube And My Uncle Being The OG Turtles Fan In My Family. I Also Watched The First Bay-verse Film Cause I Was Into The Transformers Movies At The Time And Was Curious.

Answer 2: No I Didn't But Honestly It Tracks Considering All The Things TMNT Has Officially Crossed Over With (Wonder If I Can Find Any Clips Of That It Sounds Chaotic)

Answer 3: Every Time I Learn Something New About The Comics I Get A Little More Confused, Not In A Bad Way, But Like In A "Do I Have The Funds And Bookshelf Space To Support A New Comic Book Obsession?" Kinda Way

Answer 4: As For How The Rise Bois And April Would React To A New Chica Turtle Really Depends Considering The Whole ✨Hidden City✨ Situation Ya Know?

Option A: She's A Turtle Yokai And She Could Be Chill Or She Could Be Workin With Big Mama Who Knows Endless Possibilities!

If She's On Chill Terms With The Bois (And Let's Say She's Got The Badass Ninja Mojo Too) I Feel Like Her And The Hamato Siblings Would Have A "Friends That's Slowly Turning Into Cool/Weird Cousins Status" Type Relationship. Cause I Can't Really See Any Of The Bois Going The Romantic Route, Puppy Love? Maybe But I Don't See It Going Anywhere (But I'm Also Bad At Writing Romance Stuffs So... *Shrugs*)

Now If She's Working With Big Mama On The Other Hand... Leo Immediately Gives Her Draxum Treatment, No Doubt. Donnie Will Prolly Follow Leo On This One And April Will Usually Join The Twins On Stuff Like This, She's Keeping An Open Mind But Thin Ice Man Thin Ice. Dr. Feelings Senses A Possibly Redeemable Person And immediately Becomes Her Worst Nightmare, No One Escapes The Doctor... Raph Is On The Fence About Her But Family Comes First, So First Sign His Family Will Be Hurt By Her And He's Throwing Hands.

Option B: She's A Turtle Mutant! Which Is Fun Because It Can Also Go Many Ways! Was She Human First Or Turtle First? Is She A Hamato (Turtle Mutated By Splinters/Any Other Hamato Members DNA)? Was She Just A Turtle That Ate An Ooze-Squito? A Human With A Pet Turtle/Works With Turtles And Got Biten By An Ooze-Squito? Did Donnie Fuck Around And Find Out Via Cloning??? Who Knows! Either Way My Brain Says Chaos And Feels! + If She Was A Turtle First Then The Bois Get A Mutant Person Who Understands What It Was Like To Not Originally Be Human, Which Can Go All Sorts Of Angsty Ways.

Oh Dear This Has Gotten Long... Welp This Prolly Isn't Exactly What Ya Wanted On The Whole Reaction To A Female Turtle Mutant Front, Cause I'll Be Honest I'm Not Great With Keeping Characters In Character So It Turned Into A Bit Of A Rambling Fic Prompt Instead... My Bad.

[wickedbaggins]

Year End Wrap-ups

Why not. Here’s the first list. Games I played a lot of, but absolutely will not finish in the next week. Because they’re huge games.

cyberpunkdreams A Fallen London clone, i.e. a text RPG where the primary gameplay is clicking on storylets (i.e. "I am scouring the streets for resources") and slowly building up qualities and trading them for other qualities, i.e. a story-rich grind game. This certainly has a better balance of story-to-grind than the endless middle of Fallen London than I'm stuck on. It also does some interesting things with gender presentation and I'm not even 100% sure I hate how deliberate every major and many minor actions have to be (are you dressed appropriately to go to that place? Do you have enough bullets to do this thing?). It is, however, still a lot of grind and a lot of grind in a really aggressively unpleasant setting and a lot of grind in a game with permadeath. There's more than a seed of something really good here, but it's also kind of a drain to play in every way. Done with it again. Elden Ring Ah yes, the game that finally pushed me into the "oh, I can play difficult action RPGs" bucket and also, really, "I enjoy difficult action RPGs". I'm not great at playing on our PS5 and have just picked this up again on PC, the better to start it again with a somewhat-less magic-heavy build, and it's a fun and compelling game. Part of what makes it great is the horsie. Fantastic horsie. Fast as thought and jumps like a hare. Zipping across the map rather than careful, iterative progression is a joy and what makes this From Software game by far the most accessible. Kynseed A life sim more than a farming sim, and sort of a hodgepodge of systems at that. The narrative appears to be largely "uh, keep engaging with our systems and numbers will tick up", but it is enjoyable for all that. The combat is chunky and on the difficult side, and the pixel art is incredible and if you don't really feel like farming, it's a pretty small percentage of what you do. The mini-games -- well, they're trying to rebalance them. One day I may successfully make jam. Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild Second attempt's the charm, I guess. It's a marvelous game to wander around, but the horsie is not as good as in Elden Ring, which is a bit of a problem. On the other hand, glider. Wonderful glider. Get up high and go soaring over the landscape. There is also a plot which is engaging, it is, but I do honestly find any interruption to exploring the map a comparative chore. Monster Hunter Rise The ultimate kill-beautiful-monsters-to-make-pants simulator and it's a lot of fun with great designs. Some real pathos in killing these magnificent creatures, though. Humans-as-endurance predators. Sometimes hard to hear the frustrated, furious wail as I corner some great fur-or-feathered scaly thing in its den yet again. Nioh 2 Hard-as-shit, but more generous than a from software game in giving you tons of gear and anima-soul-bits. Colorful, too, palette of greens and reds, over-the-top storytelling that's still elliptical and hard to follow. You turn into a yokai but it helps less than you might think. :( A good time. Meditative in a strange way. Lots of weapon variety. also dress-up elements. Red Dead Redemption 2 The great cowboy life-sim and dress-up game where you do in fact have to shoot people sometimes and ruin your groove of dominos-playing, theater-watching, and sunset ambling. Should actually approach the plot again. Horsies are of course essential. Don’t leave home without one. Stardew Valley Finally dug into this 'un, but didn't quite complete a year of game time on the Switch. Gonna restart on PC with some mods to get the full-plus-extra experience now. I'm starting to sort of get the groove of farming sims, if I still don't understand why this particular one sits so high for so many people. Really like fishing mini-games, maybe?? Witcher 3 Wild Hunt I've played it before! Here I am playing it again. Turns out I forgot huge chunks of this huge-ass RPG with dozens and dozens of short stories appended to its main quest and it's a pleasure to revisit, even if I don't have any appreciation for the Bloody Baron storyline in This Year of Hells. Xenoblade Chronicles 3 I may still want it to be Xenoblade X, but I actually like this cast of 3, even if I do get less interested in the main plot as it continues (a common problem). The main antagonists are appealingly bonkers and making each settlement its own node with its own successive sidequests is a good touch. The landscape is beautiful and endless. I write about it and do want to go back to it. Perhaps after Harvestella??