#Raph is done with everyone’s bullshit | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

goldenspecter · 2 years

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Once again, I am wishing Rise fans can praise the movie without insulting/demeaning other iterations of TMNT. It's absolutely frustrating, as a fan of all the iterations plus Rise, constantly seeing people go "Rise did the Raph/Leo fight better than other where it's not just "Who's a better Leader/Leader" fights!" when not that's not the case. Rise didn't do it 'better' than the others, they just made it much more explicit, without using leadership as the framing of the fight, but the other iterations are not actually fighting about Leadership. (Hell, I would even argue I'll argue the others were very clear about it too, fans just didn't care to pay attention to the text of canon and just walked away from it as "Raph and Leo fighting about Leadership, again”) Let me explain what I mean, Raph and Leo in other iterations do fight quite a bit, yeah sure, but they are not fighting about “who should be leader” but the thing they are arguing about is painted with the framing of 'leadership/I'm the better leader.' Hell, Raph and Leo argue often because they are both the same people, but who have different approaches to the world, and the fact that one of Raph's roles in the franchise itself is to balance the team, especially Leo and call him out on his bullshit/hypocrisy. Ignoring the contexts of these fights and just trying to frame these fights as just being about “who the better leader” heavily negates the fact the importance of Raph's role and make it sounds like Raph is being an asshole and arguing just for the sake of it and ignoring the very valid points they made. Not to mention, it also negates that TMNT, as a franchise, has attempted to tackle bigger ideas for a long time and makes other versions sound juvenile and childish with these fights being incorrectly boiled down to "Who's the better leader." 2003 TMNT has a great, the best example of this, with the City at War. The context for those who don't remember/haven't watched it: because of the Turtles defeating Shredder earlier in the season, there is now a power vacuum with the Shredder being absent and various gangs/mobs are trying to fill that vacuum. Leo and Raph are split on what should be done. Leo believes they are responsible for innocent people being hurt in the crossfire of gangs vying for power since this was a consequence of them defeating the Shredder and that they should do something about it. Raph on the other hand, does not agree with this take, believing that they had done their part and they don't need to be involved any further.

Raphael: Are you out of your green gourd? We did the city a favor.

Leonardo: Did we? Did we really? [The other two turtles arrive.] Raph, don’t you see what’s going on up there? This city’s at war. Don’t you feel just a little bit responsible?

Raphael: No. It’s not our deal.

Leonardo: It is! Even if we didn’t mean to make things worse, we did. [Donatello and Michelangelo look at each other.] Don’t ask me to explain how, but it feels like our fault.

-City At War, Part One This facet of their fight continues for the rest of the 3 episode arc, with Raph constantly protesting that this situation they are now in was something they should never have gotten involved in, and Leo constantly upholding that this was the right thing to do. The idea of Leadership or who would be the better leader had never come up once during that arc. 2003 Raph just never cared for leadership. He had no reason to fight for it, however, the few times he does fight with Leo, it is not about leadership or who would be the better leader. It is their morality that is being put up for conflict and their ideologies/worldviews clashing. Regarding 2007, I am very certain many people forget that at this point in time, EVERYONE thought that Leo abandoned Raph, Donnie, and Mike. Like point blank period. Leo had no intention of returning; his brothers were seen to be lost without him and had no way to move forward without him. Especially Raph, who gets frustrated that Leo refuses to get to know the three boys who have CHANGED and GREW during the time he was gone and expected them to fall back in line as they did as younger teenagers. It became even more unfair and frustrating on Raph and the others’ end that Leo, who abandoned them, comes back and tries to upend something that no one else was doing, without refusing to understand WHY it was going on and refusing to share empathy. During the year that Leo was gone, they were all FORCED to grow up without a big brother by their side, in ways that drove them apart and it wasn't healthy for them, but they were still growing. Leo doesn't put in the WORK to get them back together so they can all work to grow together as a team, in a more healthy manner so I think Raph has every right to be frustrated with Leo at that point, who unironically expected them to regress to a version of themselves that he knew before HE left so he can lead them without being empathetic.

Raph: You are so smug, you know that? You think the world revolves around you, don't you? We couldn't survive without the mighty and powerful Leonardo to guide us through our problems. Well, I got a news flash for you: We got along just fine without you.

Leo: Oh, and this qualifies as "just fine"? Dressing up like it's Halloween every night? Risking the safety of our family? I mean, come on, what were you thinking?

Raph: Don't push it, Leo. You can't leave and come back....expecting us to fall in line like your little soldiers.

Leo: Hey, I was training. Training to be a better leader, for you. Why do you hate me for that?

Raph: And whoever said I wanted to be led? I'm better off calling my own shots now. Get used to it.

Leo: You aren't ready. You're impatient and hot-tempered. And more importantly, I'm better than you.

Yeah, Raph also makes mistakes(him being reckless, and possibly putting himself/the family in danger with the Nightwatcher persona), but Leo's are just as egregious. Yes, leadership is used as a way to frame this fight, but ultimately, that is NOT what the original fight was about. For the IDW Turtles: Raph has gotten onto Leo's case multiple times for things that could possibly endanger their family as well as Leo's hypocritical nature that Leo has. There are too many examples to pinpoint just one. For the Bayverse films, Raph and Leo don't even argue/have major arguments in the first one. Hell, Raphael is the one who encourages his two younger brothers to follow after Leo when Donnie is about to question Leo's orders.

Leo:Yeah. Let's play Buck-Buck.

Donnie: But why would we...

Raph No. We do what Leo says. Lead the way.

I'll focus on the second one. The fight here was not about "who would be the better leader," it was NEVER about that. This fight here, was about Leo's awful actions as both a leader *and* older brother, the MAIN thing being his deception to Raphael and Mikey about the purple ooze and how it could turn them human, how he forced Donnie to take part in said deception and not allowing them to have a say in the matter. Leo revoked both Raphael's and Michelangelo's autonomy to make such an important decision that affected all of them, as well as the fact he considered his own vote to be superior of them all.

Raph: Pop quiz. What are the three most important traits of the ninja?

Leo: Speed. Stealth.

Raph: And honor. Where's the honor in keeping secrets from your brothers? Leo: I don't know what you're talking about.

Raph: So now you're adding lying to the list.

Leo: If you're referring to what Donnie told me about the purple ooze, it's called "compartmentalization of information."

Raph: If there's even a chance that ooze can make us human...

Leo: We're turtles, whether you like it or not.

Raph: It's not about what I like, it's about what people up there are willing to accept.

Leo: True acceptance only comes from within.

Raph: Don't give me that fortune cookie muck! You should consult with us before you decide to do something like that!

Leo: I consulted Donnie. And we decided...

Raph: And what about Mikey? He don't get a vote?

Leo: There's only one vote that counts in this family! Mine!

This superiority and arrogance that Leonardo feels about himself has been called out not only by Raphael but also by Splinter and his other brothers, and had constantly proved itself to be detrimental to Leo at multiple times in the film. But again, this fight was not about ''who could be the better leader." The only time Raph really fought with Leo over leadership was 2012, and the fight itself wasn't even initially about leadership but rather the execution of a plan, but then actually BECAME about leadership/who would be the better Leader.

Leo: We'll take Snakeweed from above. Tie him up in the clotheslines. Come on.

Raph: That'll take forever, and we have to stop Snakeweed now! I mean, he's kidnapping people.

Mikey: Not just people, people who bring pizza.

L.eo: We take him from above. Let's move!

Raph: And the award for worst leader goes to-

Leo: How am I the worst leader?

Raph: If we did this my way, Snakeweed would be toast by now.

Mikey: Ugh. That'd be some nasty toast.

Leo: This way would've worked if you hadn't wasted time second-guessing my orders.

Raph: Don't give bad orders, and I won't second-guess 'em.

Leo: You know what, Raph? If you think you could do better, why don't you lead?

Raph: First good idea you've had all day.

There’s also the the S4 episode “Riddle of The Ancient Aeons,” where the fight is about leadership/has the framing of leadership, but was in truth about something much deeper, see here:

Leo:Bummer? Look what happened to their world. You have about as much sensitivity as a rabid dog.

Raph:Look, just because you're leader doesn't mean you have to get into everyone's face.

Leo:Don't start on that leader thing again, Raph. You've always been jealous of me.

Raph:Jealous?! [April and Casey hold him back.]Maybe that's because you were always Splinter's favorite!

[He lunged toward, sais in his hands. Leo urged him a deep hug which suddenly calm Raph down.]

Leo:Raph, I love you, bro.

Raph:Leo, I-I'm sorry. I don't understand what's going on.

Rise didn't do anything "Better" they just made the argument much more explicit without the "who would be a better Leader" thing as a cover, the frame, or the crutch for it. To constantly paint each an every fight that Leo and Raph have as "Who should be Leader/I'm the better leader" is disingenuous at best and downright deceptive at worst to the other iterations, especially when many have neither: a. seen the previous iterations, b. don't understand the actual context that was presented, or c. both.

Before anyone comes into my notifications and tries to argue with me that I'm saying ''you can't make comparisons to other iterations" when no, I'm not. You absolutely can make comparisons, but making comparisons and framing them to make it as though Rise was the first to do something is not fair to neither Rise nor the other iterations that laid down the stepping stones that built up to Rise.

#rise of the tmnt #rise of the teenage mutant ninja turtles #rottmnt #rottmnt movie #tmnt 2003 #tmnt 2012 #tmnt idw #tmnt bayverse #tmnt 2007 #tmnt leonardo #tmnt donatello #tmnt raphael #tmnt michelangelo #tmnt 2k12 #tmnt 2k3

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eveandtheturtles · 9 months

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Math joke

Another piece for Leo and his pun!loving reader partner. I know people who gonna especially enjoy this.

@thelaundrybitch @m1dnyt3-w0lf @sharpwindow @leosgirl82 @tinkabelle19 @madammuffins @pheradream-15 @kikithedreamerwriter @fyreball66 @raphsmuneca

It was a quiet moment right after the dinner. Everyone was lounging around. Donnie was fixing a game controller, Mikey was looking over his shoulder too impatient to play his favourite game. Raph was on a couch with Leo, watching a basketball match. You were sitting on an oversized armchair, scrolling on your phone.

"Hey, guys?" You called from your spot.

"Yeah?" Leo responded.

"What's 6.9?"

Raph immediatly whipped his head to you, narrowing his eyes. His bullshit senses were tingling. Donnie, too absorbed in his work started to reply.

"Well, it could be many thi-"

"A good thing interrupted by a period," Leo fired before he could finish.

Everyone stared. A beat.

"I'm fucking DONE!!!" Raph threw his arms up and stomped away while Mikey wheezed on the floor folding in half laughing. Donnie stared into the distance contemplating his life choices, while you and Leo high fived.

"God, I love you so much," you cackled, tears in your eyes.

"Likewise." Leo pulled you into his lap for a kiss.

#eve scribbles #leo x reader #leo x you #tmnt bayverse #bayverse turtles #tmnt #tmnt 2014 #tmnt fanfiction #tmnt 2016

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captainofthedauntless · 1 year

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Leadership Skills

Bayverse Leonardo x Reader imagine

Info + Warnings: Leo handles stress poorly. And emotional vulnerability. And apologies- basically, he's doing his best, and he's lucky Reader is so patient. No gendered language, pronouns, or Y.N used for Reader, but they are described as shorter than Leo. Friends-to-lovers type beat, with some bullshit as the catalyst. Set a few years after OOTS.

Commentary: Leo's kinda shitty with his emotions. This is mostly me trying to figure out how the fuck to write him. Written with Into You by Ariana Grande on in the background.

Your phone buzzed, and you knew who it was before you even looked.

You weren't sure if you were glad to be right, to see "Fearless" pop up in your notifications.

Can I call?

A small part of you wanted to say no. An even smaller part, angry and defensive and petty, wanted to tell him to fuck off.

Give me five minutes. Busy rn.

All but instantly, he sent back a thumbs up emoji. You leaned back in your chair, pushing your food towards the center of your small kitchen table and away from you, suddenly no longer hungry.

Five minutes didn't feel like enough time to gather yourself, but you also didn't see any point in putting it off. Under all of your leftover anger and hurt, you could remember the look on his face when you'd left the lair the night before- he probably wasn't any better off than you were.

He cared about you. You knew that. And he'd upset you and you knew he knew that- it wasn't like you'd been subtle- and knowing him, he was probably kicking himself harder than he really deserved.

Donnie had mentioned this exact behavior to you a while back; this tendency of Leonardo's to become overly critical under stress, to lash out and snap at people and say things he didn't really mean. It had been at Raph, then, pushing his buttons into a fight that let both of them blow off steam and get back to some semblance of normal.

With you, it was different.

It had been hours of frustration for everyone, poring over data from a string of robberies to try and find any sort of connection while Donnie ran some sort of cross-referencing software to double check your findings. Leo had been snippy with all of you; clipped answers, cold tones, and an abandonment of the basic manners that were his constant.

You'd slipped away to the kitchen on a drink run for the group, and he'd joined you a few moments later, visibly exhausted and tense.

"You holding up alright?"

He'd laughed, a bitter, empty thing, reaching past you for a container of leftovers. "Just peachy."

"I've got to stand here anyway," You had said quietly, nodding at the brewing coffee pot. "Captive audience, if you want it."

He'd looked at you, jaw working as he weighed his options for a beat, two, before he'd sighed and absolutely deflated. "I know I'm missing something."

"In the case?"

Leo had nodded. "I know there's a connection. It's- it's like it's staring me in the face, and I just can't see it."

You'd hummed quietly. "Yeah. It's a good thing we have so many eyes on this, because it's definitely a puzzle."

"Yeah," He'd grumbled, "Lot of good that's doing us."

"Hey," You'd chided. "They're doing their best, Leo."

"Well, maybe their best isn't good enough."

You'd shifted, pushing off the counter you'd been leaning on and crossing your arms. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"We should be done with this already. I shouldn't be chasing everyone around to get answers."

"You just said you weren't finding any, either."

"Whatever. I shouldn't have said anything."

"You didn't need to. You've made your disapproval crystal clear."

"And yet, nothing's changed."

"So, what, you want Don to magically find the solution you can't manage to come up with?" You asked incredulously, waving at the door. "I know you're angry, Leo, but taking it out on us-"

"I don't need you to tell me how to lead my team," He'd said sharply, the tension back in his shoulders. "I'm doing fine alone."

"I'm not trying to tell you how to lead," You'd shot back. "I'm only trying to get you to-"

"If you don't like how I'm handling this, maybe you should just leave."

You had blinked at him, an offended "Excuse me?" leaving you.

He hadn't even had the decency to falter. "You heard me."

So you had. You'd marched right out of the kitchen, right past his grimacing face, stopping briefly to grab your bag from by Don's computers.

"Woah, you alright?" He'd asked, watching you angrily collect your things.

"Just peachy," You'd hissed, pausing briefly to collect yourself- and put the venom back where it belonged, away from the innocent turtle in front of you, because you were not about to be a hypocrite- before continuing in a much softer tone. "I'm heading out. Let me know if you find anything, yeah?"

"Ye- yeah, yeah. Of course. Uh, thanks for your help."

You'd nodded curtly. "I'll let you know when I get home. Coffee's almost done."

His eyes had widened slightly, darting quickly to the kitchen and then back to you. You had been able to see the question on his face- your "home safe" texts went to Leo, they always did, so letting Donnie know was an odd move- but to your immense relief, he didn't verbalize it. "Alright," He'd said instead, "Travel safe."

Your phone rang almost exactly five minutes after the thumbs up, like he'd been watching the clock.

It almost made you laugh.

Instead, you took a deep breath and answered, voice flat. "Hey."

"Hey," Leo said, voice heavy and tired even through the distortion of the phone. "How are you?"

"Depends on why you're calling," You answered dryly, finger tracing the edge of your table.

He sighed quietly, and you could picture the eye rub that followed as clearly as if he was in front of you. "To, uh, to apologize."

"For?"

"The way I spoke to you in the kitchen. And the- the way I spoke to all of you last night, but- but especially you. You were trying to help and I treated you like shit."

"True."

"And you were right."

"Also true."

"And... I probably should have planned this better, I just- I'm sorry."

You hummed in acknowledgement, not ready to accept his apology, but also not wanting to make him feel worse.

He was quiet for a moment. "Don probably told you, already, but we found something. The suspect for the robbery on 18th has an uncle that runs with the Purple Dragons."

"He did. Think it's important?"

"I think it's the best lead we have. And I think you were right about the chemicals being the key to this whole thing. He- Donnie- says they could be pretty dangerous if they get combined with a few other key ingredients. We're gonna stake out a few Dragons locations, see if there's any movement."

"Tonight?" You asked.

"That's the plan."

You hummed thoughtfully, weighing his apology. Weighing how much you'd actually missed him in less than a day (which, you realized begrudgingly, was a lot).

Yeah, he was an asshole, but he was trying. An olive branch in return would be okay, right?

"Text me when you get home?" You asked quietly.

Leo let out a small huff of laughter, one you knew to be a sign of relief, and it was enough to replace your stubborn frown with the start of a smile. "Yeah. I can do that."

You sat quietly, listening to the sound of something moving on the other end of the call. You wondered what it was; it sounded like paper, or plastic of some kind.

Your unspoken question was answered a few moments later by the sound of a whistling kettle, signaling tea time.

"I'll let you go deal with that," You said.

"Yeah," He mumbled, almost sounding reluctant. "I probably should."

"We'll talk later, yeah?"

"Yeah," He said quickly, as though worried you'd rescind the offer if he waited. "Sounds good."

"Play it safe tonight."

"I- we will."

"See you, Leo."

"See you."

You hadn't expected to literally see him, but a few hours later, you got another text asking if he could stop by on the way home from their stakeout.

You said yes.

He knocked on your window not even five minutes later, a soft, measured rhythm you knew like your own heartbeat. You opened the window, pushing the curtains aside to let his broad figure slip through with a tired, tentative smile, and drew them shut again behind him.

"Hey," He said quietly, something raspy in his voice. "I'm sorry to drop by so late, I just..."

You leaned against the windowframe, watching him falter and trail off and meet your eyes for the first time since he arrived. "Probably should've planned this better?" You teased gently, repeating his comment from the phonecall.

Leo huffed a laugh, hanging his head and rubbing the back of his neck roughly. "Definitely should've."

You took pity on him, leading the conversation back to something solid and matter-of-fact instead of whatever he was flustered about. "The job go okay?"

"Yeah," He said, immediately loosening. "Yeah, Raph and Mikey spotted a truck at their location. Got the plate, saw it heading out of the city- Don's gonna do some digging, see if it's connected to anyone with any history with biology or chemistry. He thinks the Dragons are creating some kind of weapon."

"Sounds like some deep shit," You said bluntly, making him chuckle.

"Agreed."

"Good thing New York's got you guys to look out for us."

You'd said it lightheartedly, almost affectionately, but it made him grimace.

"What?"

"I just-" He cut himself off, pausing to take a quick breath before turning to look you in the eyes, shoulders squared and head held high. Textbook "hiding behind leadership" Leo behavior, not that you'd call him on it. (Even if you kind of- really- wanted to.) "You're an important part of this team. We need you, and I never should have dismissed your concerns. Or you."

Interesting. "Important part of the team, huh?"

"And, uh, of other things."

You'd known him for years. You knew when he was being evasive. You knew when he was holding something back.

Usually, you'd wait. He'd come to you when he was ready.

Today, your patience was a little thin.

"Other things?" You questioned, holding his gaze.

He said your name, carefully neutral, but his eyes gave him away- as always.

Fearless was nervous.

"No, no, you said it," You responded firmly, lips just barely tilting up into a smile. "I want to know what you meant."

Leo shook his head, looking away from you and being the very picture of exasperation.

"Don made it clear that you're a critical part of our group dynamic-"

As much as the mental image of Donatello giving him hell on your behalf was hilarious, there was something else going on, too. You really needed him to get to the point before that dangerous spark of hope in your chest caught fire.

"Leonardo."

"You're important to me!" He blurted, whirling back to face you before quickly softening his tone. "You're important to me."

"And that was that painful to admit?"

"No. Yes. I-" He groaned, running a hand down his face, and you bit back a laugh. "I-" He sighed, bright blue eyes finding the floor, before finally, quietly, "I don't mean as a friend."

You could feel your heart bouncing off your ribs, going about mach 3. "Like an advisor, then," You quip breathlessly.

He snorts. "Yeah. Like an advisor."

"Anything, uh, else?"

He studies you, not moving. "That... depends."

"On?"

"Like I said, you're important," He says carefully. "I don't want to ruin that. Especially not after... last night."

"I think you're going to need to work pretty hard to ruin this."

"I hear I've got-" He did little air quotes- "'A talent for being a fucking asshole,' so it might not take as much work as you think."

You couldn't help it- you snorted. "Was that a Donatello verbatim?"

"No comment."

"Well," You said with a smile, "Why don't we see what happens, huh?"

"Because-"

"Leonardo," You interrupt. "If you don't tell me, I might start to draw conclusions of my own."

"Blackmail. Classy."

"Evasion," You counter quickly with a snarky nod of your head, "Real brave."

He sighs, squinting at the ceiling for a beat. "This really isn't how I pictured doing this."

"Such is life."

Leo smiles, a weak little thing, before he brings his eyes back to yours and takes a deep breath. He says your name, soft enough to send your heart into acrobatics. "I have feelings for you. Deep, deep feelings, that seem to get deeper every time I talk to you, and I'm starting to feel like I'm going to drown in them, and I can't even bring myself to be upset about it."

Well, shit.

How the fuck do I respond to that? You wonder, staring at his sky blue eyes.

Increasingly nervous sky blue eyes.

Fuck it.

"Same," You breath simply. You nod once, twice, wetting your lips. "Yeah. I'm- the only thing you ruined was my chance of being coherent."

Leo's face slowly split into a grin, and a small chuckle escaped him. "I can live with that."

"You're going to have to. Damn," You mutter, smiling broadly. "Yeah, same. I- I have feelings for you, too. Deep as hell."

"Would you let me take you out on a date?"

You cocked a brow playfully, grin never faltering. "Are you telling me you already have a plan, mister?"

"I will very soon. This... was not how I expected my evening to go," He admitted sheepishly, taking a slow step towards you. "But I'll figure it out."

"I never doubted you," You said fondly, matching his step and meeting him in the middle. "Yes, Leo, I'd love to go out with you."

He smiled again- beamed, really, the kind of smile that dazzles you and threatens to melt you right down to the floor- and the little space between you was enough to make your head spin.

As though he read your mind and took it as a challenge, Leo leaned down slightly, eyes darting to your mouth before returning to your eyes.

"You sure you didn't plan all this out?" You muttered, tilting your head up in invitation.

"No plan," He said softly, bringing one hand to rest tentatively on your hip. "Sorry."

You hummed, reaching up to play with one tail of his mask. "The great Leonardo, master of both plans and improv. Impressive."

"Y'know, some people say the key to good improv is a good partner."

You giggled, you honest to god giggled, and you found you couldn't even bring yourself to be upset about it.

Funny how that happened.

He cleared his throat gently, gaze holding your own, nerves visible again. It was adorable, really. "I... just to be clear, may I kiss you?"

"At this point, I'll be a little offended it you don't."

Leo chuckled again, and he was close enough that you could feel it through his chest and the air against your skin, and despite all of your quips and want you found yourself frozen, waiting.

Luckily, he didn't leave you waiting long.

His lips met yours.

Your eyes slid shut and your grip on his mask tightened and you melted, gently pressing yourself into his space as his second hand found your hip.

It was sweet, and soft, and tentative. It was a little clumsy. His neck was so tense that you worried briefly that he might strain something.

And it was perfect.

When he pulled back a few moments later, it wasn't far. Only enough to meet your eyes, smile shyly, and bring a hand up to brush against your cheek.

"I have a plan," He said quietly, warm voice barely enough to bring your mind out of the warm-fuzzy cloud he'd put it in.

"Yeah?"

"After all of this Dragons stuff is out of the way, I'd like to do a movie night. I'll bring snacks, and we watch the one you mentioned the other day about the murder. Just us."

You pressed your lips back to his for a moment. "I'd like that."

Before he could respond, his radio buzzed, making both of you jump.

The disgust on his face was enough to make you laugh.

"Yeah?" He sighed, answering.

"I've got a hit on the truck," Donatello's distorted voice said. "If we hurry, we can make it to the warehouse I suspect it went to and be back by sunrise."

Leonardo hesitated, gaze flickering from the radio to you and back.

You stepped in. "The sooner this is over, the sooner you can get back to me safely and we can have movie night."

It earned you a conflicted look- somewhere between gratitude and remorse. You decided to focus on the former.

"Alright, Don, I'll be right down. Get the others ready to roll."

"Will do."

Leo sighed, hand falling from the radio. "I'll text you when I get home."

"Please." You stepped back reluctantly. "Be safe, yeah?"

"We'll play it smart," He assured you. "Get some rest."

"Sure," You said noncommittally. He raised a brow, but said nothing as he slid your window open. "And Leo?"

"Yes?"

"Thank Don for me."

He laughed, and disappeared into the night.

A week later, you were leaning into his shoulder on your couch. Unbeknownst to you, his attention was wholly on the feeling of your cheek on his skin instead of the movie.

He hoped he'd have other chances to focus on the plot. More chances to offer useful commentary on suspects and motives.

For now, he couldn't bring himself to be upset when he had no clue who the killer was.

"What a movie, right?" You asked happily as the credits rolled.

"I loved every second."

#leonardo #imagines #leonardo x reader #2014 #bayverse x reader #tmnt 2014 x reader #tmnt imagine #*writing

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eternalglitch · 11 months

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Hi! Hope this isn’t a bother, but do you have any tips on writing Raph? He’s the only one of the brothers I haven’t nailed down yet. You did really well with like- everyone so I wanted to turn to you first!

Yeah, sure! Raph is the hardest for me to write, but I can go over some of the thought processes I use to write him.

I tend to think of him as having pretty big ideas that have almost a bottleneck when he tries to translate them into words. He usually knows what he wants, but struggles to communicate it and that can get really frustrating for him. If he's not careful, he can't get the ideas out into communication fast enough and he can "explode" with frustration.

Most of his primary driving factor is protectiveness over his younger siblings, but he's also fairly hot headed and can get into trouble just like his brothers. Sometimes one upping them is fun for him - he's still a sibling, not a parent! This is shown a lot more when the stakes are a bit lower and he has room to breathe.

He also hates complicating scenarios; if something can be black and white, that's better for him. Why go over or under the problem when he can barrel right at it? This can end up wasting his time and energy because whereas Leo or Donnie would start to figure out how to approach a problem differently, Raph is more prone to keep trying the same thing until it works. He can be stubborn once he is decided on something.

Despite this, he can absolutely be emotionally intelligent and thoughtful. Not quite as much as I think Mikey tends to be (when the youngest isn't being silly himself), but more than Leo and Donnie are. He can also see the bigger picture and is able to focus on what needs to be done, and is a very trustworthy person for this.

Some key points in his dialogue are that he occasionally uses the third person, he's quick on calling out other's bullshit, and he can start trying to say something gently before quickly giving up and going straight to yelling. He doesn't enjoy hurting any of his friends or family's feelings, but he doesn't always succeed in communicating when he tries the more gentle and coaxing approach, which is where his exasperation kicks in.

#glitch answers #writing advice

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monkeymindscream · 4 months

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I feel like hopefully stirring up a discussion/inspiring people to share their own thoughts, so have some headcanons I have regarding the Krangs' fucked-up society/biology/etc:

—The Krang as we see them are basically a space-parasite that glommed onto the utrom species. The utrom scientists of yore poked Dimension X too hard (the dimension just past the prison dimension and right before the nothingness that sits at the center of all realities), and accidentally unleashed the eldritch horrors that existed within. i.e. The aforementioned parasites. The utrom ended up being completely overtaken, cordyceps-and-ants style, and countless lives across the galaxy were destroyed as a result of them not leaving well enough alone. Nice work, ya chucklefucks.

—Krang morality is… weird. They do understand there’s a separation between right and wrong, and as a group they tend to try to stick to the “right” side of the equation. And despite being just a shade away from being a hivemind, they can even have individual moral codes about what they personally view as acceptable and reprehensible.

It’s just that unfortunately, their definition of “right vs. wrong” is very different from the rest of the universe. That whole “we’re stronger which means we know better than everyone else” mentality.

—They genuinely think they’re helping when they assimilate planets. Uno wasn’t spouting bullshit when he declared “I am saving this WEAK planet!” Because, really, why would he bother to bullshit at that point? He’d thought his victory was assured, and that Leo would either die at Raph’s hand or be beaten down enough to get krangified himself. Why bother making that statement if he didn’t 100% believe it?

As far as the Krang see it, they are the strongest beings in existence. Only the strong deserve to live. By assimilating other lifeforms, they’re gifting them the strength of the Krang, essentially granting them the right to life. There’s a reason Uno described their goals as a “crusade.” If any other Krang had been around to hear him say he was “saving” earth, they’d have agreed wholeheartedly.

(The “I am a gift!” –line would’ve elicited some eyerolls, though. Not that he’d have cared – as far as he’s concerned he’s just stating the facts, but anyway.)

—What we saw of Earth’s invasion – both in the snippet of the future and present-day events – was far, far more violent and cruel than how Krang invasions typically go. (Example: At one point Casey mentions a “Krang labor camp.” Which, considering they have the ability to krangify whoever/WHATever they want, the Krang shouldn’t logically have a need for a labor camp. They made one anyway.) This is for two reasons:

First, there were only three true Krang doing the invading. We see mechsuits marching around in the future, sure, but we don’t actually see any Krang inside them. This is because it’s just empty tech the sibs built to enforce their will/probably just to deal with the tech Donnie built to combat them. Since the sibs couldn’t rely on numbers to take out their enemies cleanly, they had to utilize brute-force and make things messy.

Second, Uno says, and I quote: “The people of this planet will pay for what they’ve done to me.” The assimilation of earth was personal. He (+his siblings, I can only imagine) were fucking pissed, and putting the hurt on the creatures who took down his entire species was just as much the goal as conquering them was.

—Absolutely none of the chemicals that help determine humans’ emotions can be found in any of the Krang. As such, certain earthling emotional responses are literally beyond their comprehension when they’re functioning how they’re supposed to. They don’t feel anxiety, for example. They can feel fear, but there needs to be immediate danger present for them to get to that point. Which, considering their whole “strength is the end-all-be-all; the weak can get fucked” mentality, isn’t exactly something they would openly indulge in anyway, but you get it. In fact, most emotional responses besides all-out rage are considered the Krang equivalent of going clinically insane in their society.

(Like with humans who’ve been driven insane, these responses are usually brought on by trauma.)

—Bouncing off of this, they’re mostly incapable of feeling empathy or compassion. Not entirely, granted, but it’s essentially only towards members of the little packs they’ll form amongst themselves, and even then there’s limits. Frankly, if they start to exhibit too much of either, they’d be placed into the same “insane” classification above. Too much empathy/compassion will inevitably endanger the Krangs’ collective mission, so more often than not offenders are put down rather quickly.

Note: I really need to emphasize that instances of the above (Krang feeling empathy or compassion/displaying extreme emotional responses that aren’t rage) are not ever a “ooh this individual from an Always Evil species saw the light and now they’re a good guy!” –situation. Krang who end up like this tend to be extremely erratic, and not particularly lucid. Their brains are not functioning the way they’re supposed to if they gain access to this spectrum of emotions, and it’s abundantly obvious. When I say these things qualify them as being insane, I mean it.

—Krang do actually place importance on familial bonds, it’s just that said bonds aren’t usually based on any kind of genetic connection. Krang “siblings,” for example, are overwhelmingly not related in the slightest, and are completely family of choice. The deciding factors between becoming siblings versus just being comrades is that in addition to just being a pragmatic alliance, they actually like each other.

—It’s genetically impossible for Krangs to become inbred or suffer any kind of defects based on the relations of their parents, which plays a part in them not really needing to keep track of who they share genetic material with. Hilariously, though, mating with their chosen siblings is just as much of a taboo for them as sleeping with genetic siblings is for humans. Most would be utterly disgusted at the very suggestion. There is very little in common between human and Krang morality, but that’s one of the few places they overlap.

—Romantic connections are much rarer than the sibling packs they form, but not unheard of. Generally speaking, Krang usually just pair off with the most pragmatic match available during their mating period, and then don’t care if they never see each other again. But it’s perfectly possible for them to form a bond with one partner in particular, integrate them into whatever group they may currently be a part of, and then default to them during the mating period.

(The Krang: The only species where “You’re my default” is actually an incredibly romantic thing to say to your partner.)

—The Krang are hermaphrodites, capable of either inseminating or becoming pregnant depending on the situation. There are differences between males and females, just none involving reproductive organs: Females have heightened reflexes, males have a thicker hide (females have eight layers of skin, males have twelve). Baby Krang, being born fully cognizant (if much smaller and maybe a bit more naive than the adults), need to decide what their sex is the second they pop out, and are then responsible for producing the proper chemicals until they hit puberty to ensure their chosen sex.

(Note: Attempting to produce all the chemicals to try to get the benefits of both sexes will result in the Krang-equivalent of an autoimmune disease. This is highly unrecommended for this reason.)

—Tying in with the above, Krangs’ collective idea of “gender” boils down to like. Stats basically. Did you opt for speed or durability? Masculinity and femininity are completely foreign (and useless) concepts to them.

—The Krang mating process is a combination of several animals I’ve read about. They all have a hectocotylus tentacle (the middle one on their right sides, if you’re wondering), which one partner will remove and present to the mate they’ve decided will carry the new Krang. The babies gestate (Krang will carry between about 50-70 palm-sized spawn at a time), and then when the time is right the kids will eat their way out of their parent. Krang are a lot spongier than most species, so unless things go horribly wrong they’ll survive giving birth, but it’s every bit as agonizing as you’d expect it to be.

—When mating, it's the Krang who’s deemed the stronger of the pair who gets the privilege of carrying the children, considering how violent the birthing process is. Which like, that’s rough buddy, but eh I mean tradeoff they’re also the only ones who actually get any kind of pleasure from the process? Krangs’ hectocotylus tentacles are numb (and y’know. Not attached to the owners body by that point in the event) so it’s not like the ones donating are having any fun...

—There’s four different kinds of Krang within the species: Makers, Interrogators, Assimilators, and Footsoldiers, all categorized by the unique abilities they do or don’t have.

Makers are known for their ability to infuse the essence/power of the Krang into things. Think the flawless synchronization the three Krang we see have with their mechsuits, or hell – the Dark Armor. All made by maker-Krang.

Interrogators are characterized by their ability to literally burrow into people’s minds to collect information. We all saw how that worked.

Assimilators are the ones capturing things in meat vines and turning them into mindless zombies for the Krang cause. They differ from Makers in that, while their control is fairly superficial, all things considered, they can take control of near anything. It’s ultimately irrelevant whether they're controlling a living person or an inanimate object (like a friggin train, as we saw in the movie), but their powers are noticeably more effective on living organisms. Makers, though their connection/control of what they infuse Krang energy to is close to absolute, can only do this with nonliving items. Which then drain the lifeforce/essence/souls of any non-Krang lifeforms who were unfortunate/stupid enough to try to control them.

Footsoldiers are defined by the fact that they don’t have any special abilities. Two’s a Footsoldier, and this is actually why she’s so fuckin feral with “no character development.” It was either prove she was strong by constantly being the craziest motherfucker in the room, or slip down to the bottom of the barrel.

—Despite what you might think based on the clear lines being drawn amongst “types,” there’s no caste system in place. They value strength above all else, which could come from any type. (It’s just that unfortunately for Two, it’s a lot harder for Footsoldiers to prove their strength than the other three.)

—It’s not uncommon for Krang to keep “pets” of some of the species they assimilate. They can grow just as attached to their pets as they would towards any of their siblings/defaults, it’s just that unfortunately everything said pet used to be before getting Krangified tends to get wiped clean. If Leo hadn’t shown up to rescue him, Raph had been on his way to becoming Uno’s new pet.

—Two words: Environmental mimicry.

Prior to being infected by the Krang parasite, utrom were an aquatic species (amphibious technically, but semantics). They had a number of things in common with a variety of earthen cephalopods, octopi in particular. Octopi are really, really good at blending in with their environments, and can do everything from changing color to changing their texture. Utrom had a similar ability. Not so much to blend in with their physical environments, granted (though they could do that too), but blending in with other species. In short, they can shapeshift without a cloaking brooch.

This is very much a forgotten skill amongst the Krang, or at the very least no living Krang knows of it. Which, yeah, sample size of three, but the point stands. Krang are infinitely more aggressive than utrom were, and as such tend to (literally) tackle problems/adversaries head-on. They’ve had no need to disguise themselves for millennia, so over the years they collectively forgot they even could. Still, it remains something within the scope of their abilities, even if they never make use of it.

—Krang secrete mucus when stressed. Leo refers to the Krang as “slimeballs” in the movie, they're not actually all that slimy. Because looking at it from a biological standpoint, the reason why creatures are “slimy” (think amphibians and worms), is because their skin needs to be wet for them to absorb oxygen. The Krang, being aliens, might not even need oxygen, or if they do I question whether they’d process it the same as earth creatures. So there wouldn’t really be a need for them to be slimy 24/7. Instead, it's reserved for situations where they're in some form of distress. It makes them more difficult to grab in a potentially deadly situation, see, since Krang are most likely to feel stressed when faced with someone stronger who has murder on their mind.

#copy-pasting from my convos with Wig again #I come up with all my best shit talking to her what can I say #might share some more character-specific thoughts later if I can be bothered/people are interested #but in the meantime have this #rottmnt #muttering about turtles #krangcanons #krang rottmnt

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chop-zulyzulyyy · 1 year

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Throne and Sickle Ch.1

Chapter 1: Tell Me You Caught That

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Turtle bros x fem!parkour!reader

Summary: In which the turtles record their training one fateful night, and find the rooftops hold stories with a beginning....and an end.

Author Note: Helloo Hii! This is my very first fanfic that I’ve chosen to post publicly! I’ve written before, long ago in the time of dinosaurs 🦖 lol and over time I felt I lost my touch. I sincerely hope you enjoy this, and I’m welcome to constructive criticism! Please be as honest as you can, within reason of course. Thanks for being here on the start of my journey to becoming a better writer and fellow fan :)

Disclaimer: I don’t own ROTTMNT, sigh.

Genre(s): A bunch of stuff, really. You'll figure it out ;)

WARNINGS: Heavy topics NOT for the lighthearted; like seriously it’ll get dark in some parts. Mentions of s*xual assault, bl**d, sh*rp objects, and more. I will do my best to organize in a way that readers can identify the warning sign!

City lights, when viewed with naked eyes, seem to get a new life.. -Aishini.

Ah, New York. What a town. If its combination of musty gas, hot dogs, and mutants were on Us Weekly the headline would be ‘Mama Just Killed a Man’ with the sub-headline of the possibility of contracting an identity crisis being free.99. But alas, who knows. The fine art of bullshit was such a wide range that it left room for all kinds of adventures. For a group of four turtle brothers, this one was for the books.

The night was bustling with pedestrians, and the twinkling lights left little to the imagination of what Christmas was like even though it was February. Faint honking horns of angry Boomers could be heard, paired with the occasional loud radio stations blasting from stereo speakers. It seemed like everyone was outside of their homes tonight, and thus would be one of the riskiest patrol slash training sessions they’ve ever done.

“Aaaaand there! Hold still hold still~.” Donnie muttered. Nimble reptilian fingers only scientists and artists could applaud set up the inner workings of wiring miniature video cameras to multiple buildings, and somewhere in the back of his head was a small whispering voice claiming this was a dangerous idea as he reached up to the small device. It was, but the four of them agreed it would probably help in seeing their training mistakes via camera footage. Shiny, purple cubes were discretely attached to all buildings that were on their designated path tonight, and everything in between had been so easily hacked. He couldn’t be more positive that there was nothing short of a fruitful night out.

Sharpie eyebrows rose in smug satisfaction.

His dear brother on the other hand, wasn’t convinced. Donnie could tell by the way his hands continuously cradled his chin or crossed over each other in contemplation. Behind Leo were his other two brothers: Raph sitting down Mikey for a brief pep talk. As expected, really, for their youngest would attempt to showcase a new fighting move tonight. Each of them had one training session to present which was a pretty decent piece of advice given by Splinter. He mentioned along the lines of adapting to any kind of situation thrown at them- the need to be creative in order to defeat crime. (Or about pineapples and lime- couldn’t really understand with the disgusting mush that was ratatouille in their dad’s mouth). Anyway, at least one special move would suffice for now. They can regroup and share pointers but moving forward it would be commonplace to improve because staying at their current level of skill was just utterly unacceptable.

Raph was the first to come up with something and wasn’t afraid to show it off last month. Leo followed shortly after, but the blue-clad turtle scheduled his move during a rainstorm. Most would say it’s brave, others would say it’s stupid. But in the spirit of enlightenment; a kind elderly civilian had forgotten their laundry hanging outside in between an alley. Leo had plenty of time to rectify his maneuvering, the twat, there’s no way he did not have it coming. Donnie himself wouldn’t do his yet, but tonight was Mikey’s night.

Leo huffed, “I seriously doubt these little rubix cubes are going to help us stay on the downlow. If none of you remembered, we just had Meat Sweats get spotted by the cops-like have you seen the theories people are coming up with on the internet? Aliens. Cosmetic surgery gone wrong. Gwyneth Paltrow! I can’t afford being thrown outta town before basking in their praise. Donnie-bro-Donnie look at me does this look like a face that needs to be blacklisted?”

“Are you saying my tech isn’t enough as security, you little shit?”

“That’s exactly what I’m saying.”

A vein popped on Donnie’s forehead, fist trembling, “Well if you ran like your mouth, you’d be safe from being spotted.”

Leo’s eyes blew open, “Swing hermano-!”

Raph stumbled in between the brothers, “Don’t make me send your spiffy little butts on home! Let’s do what we came here to do, fellas. Leo, you’re right to be worried but Donnie wouldn’t give the green light if there was too much risk for us tonight. We’re here to help Mikey. Capiche?”

Leo sighed and waved a hand. Mikey turned to Donnie, “How are your cameras going to help us?”

“I’m so glad you asked, little Angelo!” Donnie posed, flowers and stars flowing behind him as he stuck a tongue out at Leo, “These babies have been modified to detect thermal energy- heat emitted by humans and mutants would be caught on surveillance. If their trajectory path interferes with ours, S.H.E.L.D.O.N will capture it live and send me the real time feed. All of the other cameras I’ve hacked have been wired to follow along and save to file- there isn’t anything that we won’t see. Not to worry.” He placated as he quickly typed into his arm brace.

“And we are…set up to begin. Ready on your mark, Angelo.” Donnie perked, finger guns out.

A pat on the shoulder from Raph, and a thumbs up from Leo did nothing for Mikey’s nerves as his three brothers readied themselves on the building ledge in camera view. The orange clad box turtle took the biggest breath possible. They’re right, he thought. Things would be a-okay if they said so. Time to blow them all away!

Within a snap of a finger, four wisps of rising dust were left to be seen.

•.*.•

Things were not okay! He nearly killed three innocent pigeons- aww what kind of monster hurts little birdies they ain’t hurt nobody! Mikey panicked, dodging cable antennas as he sprinted across rooftops. It was only ten minutes since they started, and he’s tripped over cable cords and trash bins. Raph had a short two-minute melee with a gang of pigeon miscreants. How was he supposed to pull this off with things bumbling and tumbling like this?

“Mikey! Take a deep breath buddy you can do it!” Leo’s voice echoed on a building beside him.

“O-okay!” He called back. Cold sweat made him clammy all over now. What if the sweat made him slip on something?

Raph crouched down on the building before him, causing all brothers to halt in their place on different buildings. With a worried frown, his eyes bore into Mikey’s.

“It’s alright if you need to restart, little man. Take a second to get yourself together and then we can focus on simply getting from Point A to Point B.”

“Technically we’ll be facing inevitable discrepancies of the plan if we stop for even 5 minut- shutting up now.”

Mikey stood upright so stiff his muscles began to clench painfully. He didn’t understand what was getting to him. Maybe it’s because he didn’t get enough rest, or maybe it’s because he misplaced his favorite can of spray paint. He shook his head. No, that wasn’t it. Glancing to each of his brothers he noticed urgency growing in their voices. Their looks. Their postures. It’s been frustrating nearly losing most of their battles now that the Foot was searching for the armor. But no, it wasn’t that either, as much as it made sense.

Well…there is that one thing; Mikey thought back to yesterday when April texted them an article. A group of civilian ruffians skilled in parkour were making quite a bit of unrest on the police scanners. People talk, and if their kids are around, those chatterboxes would catch the entire human population’s attention. Rumor had it this group was the modern Robin Hood- stealing from the rich and giving to the poor, and as fast as they appeared, those guys were gone in seconds. Some pretty powerful organizations have been outed in result of these ‘Robin Hoods’ meddling into their affairs and a few riots too many have taken place. Ironically, authorities have been ordered by higher-ups to stop these Robin Hoods. Mikey could see the problem when their numbers coincide with the brothers. What’s worse, him and the others could easily be mistaken as those criminals if they were caught… but training was a time-sensitive priority now.

Add to the fact that the problem did not only affect the brothers but all mutants; villains and allies alike. The cards dealt were:

On one hand, remain in the sewers and halt training- leading to repeated losses in their war at their level of strength. But. They would be safe from risk of arrest and human police authorities can do their job without spotting them. On the other hand, get ahead in their skills while the enemies remain low- but play with the high chance of being mistaken as the Robin Hoods and take the fall.

Glancing down at his hands, Mikey studied his mystic chain whip in hand and thought back to when they first got the weapons. Mystic mumbo jumbo didn’t play a critical role in their upbringing, but it felt like destiny called the four brothers to come across Mayhem nearly a year ago for important reasons: to be the greatest ninjas out there. To be heroes. To keep the city of New York safe.

Mikey sighed; he wasn’t making things better by standing here. The orange terrapin tightened his grip. He had to do his best. Mikey was in no position to downplay his skill just because he was nervous that he won’t do it right before even trying. No matter what his family and him could handle anything. He could do this.

He took a deep breath once more, eyes welled up in renewed confidence as Mikey whirled to Raph, “Nothing to it! I’m ready to get this party started!”

A large grin spread across Leo’s face, pleased. “Alright, there ya go!”

As Raph sighed in relief Donnie huffed, unable to fight the lift of his lips. He tapped away at his brace.

“Alright, restarting the session in 3…2..1!”

Mikey took the lead once more, darting rooftop to rooftop as they were marked with cameras as feather-like footsteps followed him immediately. A flick of his wrist resulted in the chain whip unfolding, length exponentially increasing in its glowing glory until the chains made a large circle around him. Lights of buildings and lamp posts all around became blurs, and ahead was the infamous Grand Central Station: his chosen starting marker. It was time to get down to business.

“Donnie! I need you to send multiple shots at me from every direction while we run, think you can help me out?”

Battle shell expanded; Donnie bowed in mock politeness “But of course! Any range in particular?”

“Stick with mid to long range, thanks!”

“As you wish.” Donnie flew a few meters ahead and hid from view while Mikey turned to Leo, who perked up in attention with a smirk as they ran.

“I’m ready for a speed-off, Leo. How about you?”

“Oooooh count me in. What do you need?”

Mikey bounced off a passing apartment balcony and gave a toothy grin, “While Donnie sends attacks at me, focus on attacking my chains. I wanna try to use tempo and defense for my ultimate move.”

His brother gave a wink and disappeared into a portal to who knew where, but he’d be waiting for Mikey. Last but definitely not least, Mikey faced Raph. The red clad brother excitedly beaming down at him from the higher buildings he was jumping over.

“Big Red, I need you to do something really important. From here to the end, do your best to catch me or get me off balance.”

“You got it!”

Raph nodded and pulled back, positioning himself a few meters behind Mikey. Said turtle nodded to himself, apprehension causing sweat to roll down his scaly green cheek as he neared Central Station. About 300 meters left. The second he got there would mean his best chance of accomplishing his special move was to use his senses and by no means slow down.

200 meters. If he failed this, it wouldn’t really be failing. His brothers were crazy smart to understand his motive and still work together to come up with a similar battle strategy. Either way this was gonna be epic.

100 meters.

50.

10.

All at once purple, blue and red streams of mystic energy swarmed him much like a colony of bees. Donnie weaved around all brothers, neon laser beams whizzing out and Mikey wasn’t going to lie, those things hurt. A few stung his arms as Mikey maneuvered his hands waving high, swooping low, faking left, reversing right, gyrating around- all motion available to bend the chains to his will. Most of the beams were caught by his chain, the neon light merging into the golden glow before disappearing. Mikey wished he could see the flabbergasted look on Donnie’s face. Then he remembered this was all being recorded.

Okay, maybe he shouldn’t have laughed out loud at that because Donnie’s expression morphed from shock to annoyance in a snap. The purple turtles’ jet pack with guns grew even more guns- bro whAT-!

Now that Donnie kicked it up a notch, Mikey felt the rising energy in his chains orbiting around him begin to resonate a whirring sound when a blue crescent light sliced centimeters from his face.

“Eye focused, Mikey!” Leo’s shout echoed somewhere from the side, dashing into multiple open portals for his convenience. Uh-oh. Mike forgot about those. Swinging in between cellular towers, Mikey feigned directions just out of Raph’s mystic hands as he was too big to fit into those spaces like Mikey could. But it was working. His chains were intact around him at the speed of light but now he had to move them fluidly to his advantage. Donnie furrowed his brows in the distance, dodging laundry lines mid flight and began using the power of everything in his arsenal at his baby brother- only for the chains to keep absorbing his shots. Leo, Mikey could tell, was running out of options in keeping up with the chains. Instead of Leo’s attacks disrupting the circular movement as before, every time he tried slashing them from any direction the speed of the chains was knocking him in momentum of the weapon. Leo and Donnie were growing restless, dedicating further to their task and thus quadrupling their efforts. Not to say Mikey wasn’t breaking a sweat, everything was burning, but he couldn’t tell them that this was his plan.

However.

The chains gave a loud clang when Raph swat at the weapon in order to duck under and grab him.

“G-ah!” Mikey gasped, immediately dropping down along the length of a building and allowing gravity to swoop him through an alley. This was dangerously getting too low for them where civilians can see them. On the other side of the alley, luckily, was a drop off to a construction zone, miles wide where no lamp posts reached. Mikey could use that space for his move, though Raph would also have a better means to catch him without anything in his path. Passing the last of laundry lines and apartment bricks, the group dashed into the open in pursuit of the orange terrapin now basically floating with bright orange chains as his wings when he felt a large hand grip onto his ankle. Caught in a panic Mikey sent energy to coat his leg and swung it down to slice through Raph’s red mystic energy. Hearing a hiss of pain he dashed away, but his chains wobbled off balance. Leo took this second to strike slashing waves of blue energy to dent into the chains range of motion as Donnie shot more lasers from above. Gritting his teeth Mikey gulped.

He had to get this back in control.

Mikey stopped atop a dirt hill and swirled around to face them, catching them off guard for a moment before closing his hands into fists and slowly moving them towards the center of his chest. The chain orbit spun faster, and faster, and faster until all they could see was a white halo shrinking into layers that enveloped Mikey in a cocoon-like state. But it burned. It burned so much so close to his skin that it felt like he was being roasted alive. Sweat stung his eyes: he shut them too tight he began to see stars behind his eyelids.

“Mikey, what are you doing?! If it’s hurting you then stop!” He could hear Raph and the others shout at him.

Just a bit more.

“Mikey!”

Bringing his fisted hands together, Mikey felt the trembling of the chains coiled so impossibly tight that the energy soaked in them was beginning to overwhelm them. Like a tire being pumped with too much air.

Like the stars colliding to create-

“SUPERNOVA!”

Leaping up sky high with his limbs spread wide, Mikey grinned in the millisecond it took for the chain to explode into tiny little beams of light, flickering between blue, orange, and purple variations of energy. Metal once welded together became individual sources of his mystic weapon shooting out all around. To them, Mikey resembled a firework. Bright, striking in his display of light. They watched in awe as Mikey let out a breathless exhilarated laugh, an “it worked!” reaching their ears. Raph, Leo, and Donnie noticed the disbanded chain remained still in the air around him until Mikey slowly shifted a hand, a dozen pieces of metal shifting in tandem and each straightening out into miniature needle points.

“Now that’s what I’m talking about!” Leo cheered, followed by Donnie's whistles. The three turtles joyously cheered, celebrating this display of talent and execution Mikey put in so much effort on his own to showcase.

“O-okay, somebody please catch me!” Mikey sputtered, causing Leo to dart over and up as Mikey fell from the sky in exhaustion. Landing in Leo’s arms, the group of brothers circled around him, gasps of breath being the only thing he was capable of mustering. Donnie typed a million codes per second as Leo and Raph both spoke over each other- but Mikey barely registered most of it. He shakily lifted a thumbs-up. His mystic chain, now devoid of mystic power, swiftly returned to its original form, jingling to a drop on the dirt hill with a thump.

“I-I need a lot more kinks to work out *gasp* but this is good for us, r-right? It’s good?”

Raph gently shook Mikey’s shoulder, “It’s more than good. You did amazing tonight, big man. We can do a lot with this! But right now, we’re gonna get you to tip-top shape to be able to handle this strain on your energy. That’s first. Did you get all that, Donnie?”

Typing met his ears, “Yeperoos. Cameras remain functional, no damages, no alerts” Donnie mused, lifting his eyes from his screen with a smirk, “I say this was an exceptional showcase. Brava, Angelo. A well-thought-out plan of action.”

“Those baddies won’t know what hit ‘em.” Leo praised, then he grimaced, “But seriously, those chains sting like a mother-man my arms are gonna be sore for weeks.”

Mikey’s cheeks were beginning to hurt from his constant smiling and rested his head on Leo’s plastron.

“That’s great, guys. I’m just gonna…*yawn*I-Ima just… take a break...” He mumbled off, exhaustion quietly sending him off to dreamland.

“Poor champ’s all tuckered out.” Leo snickered.

Raph opened his arms to Leo, “Give him here, you open us a portal home.”

Gently handing Mikey over to Raph’s arms, Leo whipped out his odachi when Donnie’s wrist beeped. Donnie scowled, the light of his screen illuminating the tense frown lines on his face and causing Leo and Raph share a serious look. The camera cubes Donnie constructed were labeled along the path by numbers beginning with 0-1 and spaced out gradually by quarter mile, then to half-mile, and quickly to full mile on the account of the increasing speed they rallied throughout the path. The last camera cube designated to follow them was 5-0; about sixty meters from their position on the hill.

Camera 4-9 pinged.

“Get down.” Donnie muttered. In sync the three brothers crouch down and slowly, ever so quiet, shifted to the other side of the hill for cover. Donnie cupped a hand over his brace, dimming most of the light as Leo discreetly peered over the field in the direction of the apartment building they passed right before reaching the construction zone. Leo’s gaze hardened; with their mutated bodies, enhanced senses were part of the package. Although, it was easier to find the camera with no light sources obstructing his view. Immediately Leo spotted the smallest circle of red light from a camera lens on the roof, where a figure was still but… he couldn’t tell what they were doing. This wasn’t good. He crouched down beside Raph and leaned over him to meet Donnie’s eyes.

“We got a bogey on the roof.” The blue terrapin whispered. Donnie furrowed his brows in concentration, flickering between Leo’s eyes and the camera feed on his brace. A frame popped up, switching from thermal imaging to night vision. Raph, Leo, and Donnie found the figure to be female; petit in stature, and maybe around their age give or take a few years. Her figure was donned in simple athletic gear. Form what they could tell no weapons could be seen, no knives. No guns. She was angled to where they couldn’t see her face clearly, and from the way one leg was on the roof and the other on the ledge it appeared as though she had no qualms being on such a high altitude.

And how many times have they heard about humans being ‘comfortable’ around on rooftops? Thousands. On police scanners.

“…She’s gotta be one of them.” Raph whispered. Questions whirred up a mile a minute within each of them. What did she want? How long has she been watching them? Was this an ambush? The turtle brothers watched with bated breath when she slowly, not a sound made, turned her head over her shoulder straight at the camera cube.

Her face was concealed, a cloth type of material covering the lower half of the face and the breeze of the night shifted her hair over her eyes. But they felt her eyes stare into the camera. Into them. If they hadn’t gotten enough surprises, the next moment stunned them all into stillness.

A card was shown.

S.O.S

...

——————————————————

🤎🤎🤎🤎🤎🤎🤎🤎

Aaaaand that's a wrap! Please let me know what you think! Stay tuned for Chapter 2! Thanks for reading :)

Fun fact: An appendage on the alligator snapping turtle's tongue resembles a worm, helping this ambush predator lure prey 👀

🤎🤎🤎🤎🤎🤎🤎🤎

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tblsomedoodles · 1 year

Note

Got any wips of project you're wiling to show? I know you said some of the stuff eas kicking you're butt... maybe people seeing you're progress might help?

Yeah, i can share a couple : )

I'll share two things (mostly because the one is very self-indulgent and i'm not entirely sure i'm going to post it when it's done), and the other is just a bit of the seer twin fic i was working on

I'll put it all under a break just so it doesn't get messy.

Here's an excerpt of what i've been writing for the Seer Twins AU. This part is the very tail end of Leo's first waking vision, which i felt like i needed to write out before i could go into the talk (fight) they had the next day. (also that talk might end up being broken up? Mostly because they can't exactly talk to Donnie about hsi visions if no one else really knows he's having them. but that's besides the point.)

A decision was made and Donnie continued across the room, dropping to sit cross-legged in front of Raph and Leo. He hesitated briefly before prying one of Leo’s hands away from Raph’s arm to hold in his own.

Leo clung to Donnie’s hand like a lifeline, somehow more desperately than he still did to Raph’s arm. It had to have hurt, but Donnie didn’t so much as wince, instead leaning forward to mumbled something directly to Leo that even Raph couldn’t hear properly.

They sat like that for over an hour as Leo slowly quieted and stopped struggling. By the time the glow began to fade, Leo was limp in Raph’s arms, head laying against Raph’s plastron but his hand still firmly holding Donnie’s. His thoughts came stuttering into Raph’s awareness once again, it’s contents breaking Raph’s heart. Fear, pain, exhaustion, confusion; all sat forefront in his little brother’s mind even as he slowly blinked, taking in his surroundings for the first time since this began.

“Hey,” Leo’s voice was little more than a hoarse whisper as he saw everyone in his room. “If I had known there was going to be a party thrown in my room, I’d have cleaned first. Maybe.”

Raph was relieved as he hugged Leo close, Mikey and eventually Donnie joining soon after. Leo was hiding his thoughts behind humor again, but Raph was just glad he was aware enough to do so.

“I love the attention, really I do, but ow,” Leo said after a moment. They let go quickly, though Raph kept him in his lap propped up against his plastron. Leo was still shaky, his entire body feeling like achy Jell-O, his description, not Raph’s. Leo himself wasn’t sure if he could sit up right now, so Raph opted not to have him find out.

- The second thing is a very messy planning video for a Donnie VS the World video, that i never expected to make, but recently realized a song fit too well not to. I doubt it will be full length, or make any sense. Essentially i just had the thought of drawing one of Donnie's first encounters trying to get his brothers back. This is probably very ambitious of me considering im bullshitting my way through the animation process. (i literally do not know how to properly animate. It's all trial and error over here, plus some not-really-helpful youtube videos.) If it looks cool when it's 'finished' i'll probably post it.

This video is just Donnie breaking into a purple dragon warehouse because he heard they have Leo, only to find evidence he was there but actually finding him, and thus making that the purple dragon's problem.

thank you!

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clanofjones · 5 months

Text

Ghosts of Our Days: Chapter Sixteen

Chapter Sixteen: A Vigilante's Guide to Love and Murder

A/N: Aka... "Ouch, My Feels": The Chapter. @theosb0rnway and I peaked here in my opinion.

Enjoy the chapter!

Casey's POV

Casey had to find a bag for the head in order for it to stop dripping blood on her favorite pair of ripped skinny jeans. He hurried back to the apartment, a skip in her step, humming songs under his breath as he went. Raph would love it, she knew that, he was equally determined to destroy the Foot and Super Shredder. She unlocked the door, getting some blood on the key, before walking inside.

Drawing out his boyfriend’s name, he called: "Raphie! I've got a surprise for you!" Raph was on the ice box, to Casey’s surprise, and smiling at her and looking curiously at the bag. He sniffed and immediately wrinkled his nose.

"Oh god, how many people did you kill?? You smell AWFUL, babe! And that's sayin' something." Casey glared.

"Hey! Just one, but it was a MESS. Wanna see what I brought home as a little souvenir?" She winked and stepped closer, deliberately moving slower to piss Raph off.

"Yeah, sure, but then you need to shower, get all that shit off ya'."

"Only if ya' join me!" He smirked. Raph sighed.

"Anything for you, Case. Alright, let's see this big ol' 'surprise' you got for me."

"You're gonna love it, baby!" But before he opened the bag, however, she gave Raph a kiss, which turned into several kisses, which turned into the vigilante having to shove her boyfriend away in order to show him the surprise.

"Okay, okay, enough! Come on, let me show you!"

"Fine, but we're finishing that later."

"You know it! Alright, babe. One. Two. Three!" On three, she grabbed Karai's hair and pulled her head out of the bag. Raph screamed, scrambling back and falling on the floor, his semi-transparent leg slipping through the wall in his moment of panic. He turned away from Casey, trying to calm himself down, but it wasn't working.

"Raph? Babe? I know she's a little scary, I'm sorry-"

"What the fuck, Casey. I... I told you m-my family w-was OFF LIMITS." Casey looked at him confused, putting Karai's head down and sliding down next to him.

"Whaddya mean? She's not family, Raphie, she's Foot! Shredder's second in command!"

"She's my FUCKING SISTER, IDIOT." Casey reached out to put a hand on Raph's shell, but he growled and kept himself turned away. She was in disbelief. Karai wasn’t Raph's sister, was she? That couldn't be right.

"Raph, you're crazy, Karai isn't yer sister, alright-"

"YES, SHE IS! Hamato Karai! Or Miwa! WHATEVER!" He scoffed.

"It doesn't matter now, she's dead. Just like everyone else who crosses your fucking path." He stood up.

"Including ME." Casey's eyes widened, then turned into a glare.

"F— Fuck you, Raph. YOU KNOW WHAT, FUCK YOU!!" She lifted his hands up to the sky.

"You never said bullSHIT about her being your sister, and Splinter spews bullshit like that all the time, so how the FUCK-"

"DON'T TALK ABOUT MY FATHER THAT WAY!" Casey thought for a second and laughed.

"You remember that hockey thing I talked about when you asked me what my favorite team was or some shit? The Rat Trick? Well, guess what? Scott Mellanby found a rat in the locker room, so he killed the stupid thing with his stick. HE KILLED THE FUCKIN' RAT, RAPHAEL!!"

Raph screamed, launching himself at Casey, but he ran right through her.

Casey chuckled quietly, still in mild disbelief that this was even happening. Not just the fact that Raph was angry, or that Karai was angry, but that he was fighting with the ghost of her own boyfriend, something that should not even be remotely possible.

Raph was insulted. Casey, on her unwavering quest to avenge him and kill Super Shredder, had done just the opposite. He went out and killed his sister, beheaded her, came home covered in her blood, and thought that he would be okay with that.

He wanted to yell, scream, break down, and cry, but more than that, he just wanted to leave. He wanted to go home, see his family again, and be far away from the man he thought was his forever. The man he thought kept her promises. Turns out that was the biggest lie he ever fell for.

"I'm leaving."

"What?"

"You fuckin' heard me. I'm goin' home, away from all this shit, away from you and your stupid fucking one-woman crusade!"

"FINE! Go! Do whatever the fuck you want, not like you were ever tied here or anything! Not like I asked for this shit either!" They gave each other one last look from across the room, one of hurt and longing, wanting this all to be solved, but it couldn't be. Then Raph scoffed and walked right through the door, leaving Casey alone with the ice box, the plans, and Karai's horrified head still lying sideways on the floor.

"Hey babe, those weird losers above us just broke up-" Casey dropped down on the ground and screamed

"SHUT THE FUCK UP, ASSHOLE!!"

There was no more noise from downstairs after that.

Later that night, after all the blood had been cleaned up and Casey had very reluctantly taken a shower by himself, she lay on the ice box in disbelief.

What the hell was he thinking? Raph wasn’t out there, that was just an illusion that had eaten away at his brain! Raph was in the ice box, safe and sound. Well, rotting slowly, but still safe and sound. He kept that thought in the front of her mind, shoving all the other thoughts away and burying them deep down.

She had to focus on Shredder. After all, it's what Raphie would've wanted.

April’s POV

The occupancy of the Lair was at an all-time high, whilst morale was at an all-time low.

With over twenty New Foot Clan members, they were pressed for space, resulting in the dojo being jam-packed with the humans and their bedding, with the actual corridors of the sewers also home to a few.

April was under the impression that they had drawn up a rotation for who was to sleep outside each night.

Shinigami had only made herself known when the time came to speak to the Foot members and holed herself away almost all other hours. Although, to her credit, April recalled, she had allowed herself to be around April and the turtles.

Speaking of the turtles, Leo had taken on Karai’s role to an extent, helping Shinigami to manage all of them. Mikey had been on culinary duty, with the Foot members who knew how to cook, which was a decent amount, and, suffice it to say, they had been eating much healthier and fulfilling meals than smoothies, despite the glaring need for a grocery run. Donnie, on the other hand, had returned his focus to the hunt for Skullshot, much quicker than April would have liked.

(“He killed Karai, April. We have to go after him now.”

“I know, Donnie. But what the hell are we supposed to do with the Foot?”

“Not our problem. They chose to come here.”

“Shini asked them to.”

“Then it’s her and Leo’s problem!”)

April herself had spent a decent portion of her free time with Aria. The kunoichi in training was April’s age, and April couldn’t fathom how she’d never noticed her before. Granted, Aria had only recently begun in April’s school district, but nonetheless.

“How’d you join the Foot? I haven’t, like, fought you yet, have I?”

“No, I think I’d remember if you did. You’re not exactly forgettable.”

April felt a faint blush rise on her face, even if it wasn’t meant to be taken in such a way.

“But no, I didn’t join Oroku Saki’s Foot Clan. That one is a little too ‘eek’ for my tastes. Besides, not like he’d take me even if I was that stupid to want to join his cult.” Aria brought one foot up, her knee bent, and slung an arm over it. “Like, yikes, my dude.”

At that, April laughed. “Imagine staring down Shredder and saying that.”

“I would! I’d look at him, hopefully not die, and — have you seen him lately? Man is freaking nightmare fuel by now, and he ain’t getting better — and I’d go like this—” she hissed through her teeth with something resembling sympathy, and said: “‘Yikes, my dude. Take a chill pill. Or two. Or ten!’ And, like, yeah, sure, he’d try and kill me, but nobody has told him to take it down a couple of notches! Ever. It’s always ‘Oh, you tried to kill me? Me?? No! Fuck you! Die, you spikey bitch!’ And, yeah, that needs to be said too, but c’mon, man.”

April laughed again, and leaned back, her arms supporting her. She watched Aria and caught her watching her right back, and they both glanced away as if neither had been staring at all.

----

April talked to Aria a lot, to say the least. More than she did Donnie, but Donnie was growing increasingly difficult to talk to.

“How are you handling it?”

“What’s there to handle? There’s just adjusting.” Aria frowned, and April sat up straighter. “I— There’s nothing that can actually be done. One of my Sensei’s is dead. That’s that. We just need to make sure we stay on top.”

April thought she was being rather simple about the whole thing. There were emotions attached to loss, such as the ones she had displayed so viscerally when Leo and Shini had delivered the initial news.

“All we can do now is get revenge on the asshole that killed her. And that’s me being generous.”

April’s frown deepened. Something — completely unrelated to her powers, Donnie — was telling her that avenging Karai wasn’t going to solve much of anything. Not that she even knew where to find Skullshot if it even was their only option. The guy seemed to pop up out of nowhere, randomly, every time looking more and more like a Bizarro version of Casey Jones.

A short, stiff silence that had April twisting the hem of her T-shirt in her hand followed swiftly.

----

“So…” April began, and Aria looked at her, barely raising her head. “You never told me how you got into the Foot.”

Aria breathed out a soft laugh. “Yeah, yeah. Can’t keep anything from you, can I?”

April bristled cautiously, wondering if she’d gone too far.

“Dude, don’t worry, it’s fine. Nothing particularly traumatizing.” Aria readjusted her posture. “So, this is a little after the New Foot gets started up, yeah?”

April nodded.

“So, you guys seem to absolutely LOVE the alley that my window faces, and I see mystery ninjas all the time! Eventually, I said to myself, ‘What on Earth is up with these ninjas?’ and followed the New Foot for a bit.”

“How come they didn’t find you?”

“You guys aren’t as sneaky as you all think you are. You’re all loud as hell. I followed on the ground from a bit away and almost got caught a few times, but I think they thought I was a cat.

“I got caught for real when I was getting in. Or, trying to, I guess. I got caught in a bunch of old ropes and this flimsy ol’ ladder broke on me. Believe it or not, Karai didn’t have me leave, or killed or whatever. She had me interrogated but told me it was impressive I’d snuck up on them, and if I’d like a job in the Foot.”

“Just like that?”

Aria shrugged. “I don't think she would have been as forgiving if the New Foot hadn’t lost a ton of people after the incidents at Auman Chemicals, and all that. Either way, they needed recruits, I don’t think anyone was crazy about making the trek back to Japan.”

April frowned. “Well, I think you’ll be a great kunoichi.”

Aria looked at her and smiled. “Thanks. I was really nervous when I started, and then I didn’t even know about Oroku Saki. Not really, you know.”

“First-day jitters?”

“‘Everyday Fear of Ostracization’ is more like it. I was just lucky Sensei took something of a liking to me. Something about ‘all walks of life’ when I asked her.” she shrugged. “I couldn’t tell you.”

April leaned a little closer, keeping her eyes on Aria to watch for any adverse reactions. “Well, I’m glad she did.”

“Thanks, April.”

Aria looked up at April suddenly, and her eyes widened for a fraction of a second. Then her eyes softened, the edges crinkling a bit as she smiled.

----

“She told me stories about you,” Aria said, one day.

“No kidding?”

The girls were in the kitchen of the Lair, having been tasked with coming up with a meal while Leo dragged Mikey off for training. So far, they had a small pile of protein bars, an ungodly amount of fruit snacks, and bread that may or may not have been alive.

“Yeah. You, Master Splinter, Leonardo, Michelangelo, Donatello. Raphael. And Casey Jones.”

“What did she tell you about the others?”

“She said that Leonardo was one of the best ninjas she ever knew, of skill and character. She said he was at her level.”

“Truth be told, Sensei Shinigami has told me more about Michelangelo than she did. But they agreed that he was one of the kinder souls out there. Sensei Shinigami thought he was funny. With focus, he could outrank any of us easily.”

“Focus? Not our Mikey,” April laughed, not unkindly.

“Really?”

“You just haven’t met him yet. You’ll see, trust me.”

“I’ll take your word for it. If you would believe it, she told me Donatello was the smartest person she ever knew, if a little tactless.”

“Yeah, that’s fair,” April nodded at the potshot.

“She said that Raphael had the spirit of a true warrior if a little rash. I didn’t hear many stories from her after the attack on Wolf Hotel, but I don’t think she was surprised he was injured. I think she knew he had it coming, one way or another. She also said he had a hell of a trash mouth.”

April laughed into her hand. “Well, she wasn’t wrong. That’s Raph for ya’.”

“Master Splinter… My Sensei never told me much about her, but what she did tell me was always positive. She said that only the most skilled of ninjas could have taught the turtles and that he was a lot of things, but inept was never one of them.”

April looked down and nodded. “Maybe it’s for the best that you never knew him. There’s been enough heartache already.”

“He was like my Sensei to you, huh?”

“I guess so.”

A beat of silence passed between them.

“What did Karai tell you about Casey?”

Aria’s shoulders bobbed up and down with silent laughter. “Jones… Sensei told me that Jones was always the most likely to kill a man with a smile. You know, in a good way.”

April smiled, her fears not completely dashed. “Here's hoping that serves him well.”

“You haven’t heard anything?”

“No. The closest thing has just been that Skullshot wacko.”

“That’s one way of putting it.”

“Do… What do you think? What do you think happened?”

“You’d know if Shredder got them, yeah? If anything’s happened to them, then some random guys off the street got them. Or the government. They could also be on the run.”

“One of them got stabbed before they ran. I don’t think Casey knows much about first-aid, but Raph could probably fix it up if they had the supplies. They could've bled out, or they could be dead, and we never would have known.”

Now it was Aria’s turn to have nothing to say on that. She looked down and fiddled with her hair, and the two girls continued regaling the other with tales of the past.

----

April hadn’t seen Aria all day.

All day turned into two days.

Two days became a week.

Distantly, April wondered if she had found Casey and Raph.

Or maybe, as cynical as it may be, she had met the same fate as them, and April would yet again lose everything she had fought so hard to keep.

A/N: Ah, yes. My four-course meal of pain which I co-cook and then throw at your faces as hard as possible.

I'll link everything later. It's 10:30 over here and I am exhausted.

#ghosts of our days #TMNT 2012 #2k12 raph #2012 casey jones #2012 rasey #sort of #you read the chapter you know how it went #2012 april #2012 raph #2012 donnie #tmnt 2012 oc #the others are only mentioned but they're there too #fanfiction #tmnt fanfiction #tmnt 2012 fanfic #tmnt 2012 au #fanfic

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bluebrainrot · 1 year

Text

Here's a ROTTMNT fanfic W.I.P I'm not going to finish,

it's 3k words long.

(TW/CW for injuries and feelings of guilt which result in reckless activity.)

oh god, he was so fucking bored,

Sure Leo had practically gotten his shit handed to him in a nicely wrapped up present with a tiny blue bow by the Krang a couple months ago,

and sure he ended up passing out for an entire week after the adrenaline passed which gave his entire family a heart attack,

but that didn't stop the numbness crawl it's way through his chest, the small prickling feeling of dread make its way up his neck, or the heavy pit that stayed in his stomach as soon as he was left alone.

Boredom, Yeah, it's totally boredom, it could literally be nothing else, not fear, or anxiety, or guilt that he was the reason his family and the entire world was almost destroyed.

No, he was just bored.

He picked at his bandaged arms, staring at the ceiling scheming, he would make his escape tonight

"Nardo, do not." Donnie had entered the med bay and went to check his vitals,

"I wasn't going to do anything?!" Leo shot back, giving his brother an incredulous look,

Even though Donnie swore that twin telepathy wasn't a thing (or that they were twins because "We are literally two different species' of turtles, Dum Dum.") Donnie always knew when he was gonna pull some bullshit,

"I mean stop picking at your bandages, Dum Dum."

"Oh," Leo mentally sighed and decided to fidget with his fingers instead.

The plan was still on.

"And don't even think about leaving the med bay." he said momentarily glaring at leo, after he finished checking Leo's iv,

Fuck.

"I- Me? Never. I'm out of commission, doc, you know that," He said faking a hurt tone, as if he was offended that Donnie would assume such a thing.

"I'm stuck here, I can barely stand," he pouted at Donnie, that was only partially not true. Leo had practiced hobbling around when everyone was asleep,

Donnie raised a drawn on eyebrow at him, to which Leo returned with a half grin half smirk,

There was a pause of silence before Donnie sighed,

"Alright," Donnie started,

Leo mentally cheered and smiled,

"but i guess since you're stuck here," Donnie paused for a second, "I'm sure you won't mind me keeping you company?"

Leo's face fell while it was Donnie's turn to smirk,

"I'm sure you'd love to have me, your older twin, stay with you." He continued with a smug grin, as he looked at Leo, who was busy looking half terrified,

Leo recovered and attempted to grin back,

"Yea, sure," He blinked taking a minute, before opening and closing his mouth in thought of what to say next,

"Great." Donnie said, "Now, if you don't mind, dear brother, I need to get somethings done before I join you." He said with a monotone flourish before he left the med bay,

as soon as he was out of earshot Leo cursed, sour that his dear twin brother managed to snuff out his plans, he laid his head back down on the pillow rolling his eyes at the ceiling,

his head was cramped with the thought of new york, how he used to run along rooftops with his brothers, fight crime, Go to "Run of the Mill" and annoy his second father figure Señor Hueso,

he mostly missed the sounds, the bustling alive streets that were never quiet, which felt like a stark contrast to the med bay,

where the only sounds were machines beeping signaling that Leo had somehow survived, dripping of sewer pipes buried somewhere within the walls, the hushed whispers and conversations that would happen infront of the med bay when his family thought he was asleep,

it all felt like too much, or too empty, sure his brothers would come in and talk to him,

or try to, atleast.

It would usually end in an awkward silence as if they had no idea what to say, because what do you say to your brother who had sacrificed himself, who resigned himself a fate with practically no chance of survival?

it was usually with Raph that conversations died fast, because there was always something else he wanted to say, always something that just died on the tip of his tongue, Leo often wondered what it was,

a part of him thinks it would be about Leo's stunt at the docks, how because of his inability to shut up they had been spotted,

how he had disobeyed Raph and went after the key on his own without a single thought or plan on how he would have gotten out on his own,

how Raph had to sacrifice himself for Leo and deal with the consequences which was forever memorialized on his face, an ugly scar over his eye, a reminder on how it was Leo's fault.

The sane part of Leo knows that Raph did not hold it against him, but it still was a terrifying, ugly thought that felt like hot coals were being shoved down his throat and burned smoke into his eyes.

with Mikey conversations flowed somewhat smoothly, Leo could sense he desperately wanted to bring out Dr. feelings but would supress it,

They would continue to talk about skateboarding or a meme Mikey got from April, but no matter the subject Leo's eyes were always led to his baby brothers hands and forearms,

They were painted with faint scars, jagged, thin and ran along his arms like dead tree branches, it was a show of Mikey's love and determination; a mark that shouldn't have to be there.

Leo knew that Mikey struggled, his hands were filled with tremors, he could barely hold a pencil or a paintbrush anymore.

Leo may have sacrificed himself, but Mikey? Mikey gave up his art, his ability to breathe life onto a blank page and Leo was the one who took it from him.

He had heard Mikey crying one night, from the darkness he could hear sniffles permeating through the lair, that reminded Leo of when they were kids and Mikey would skin his knees by tripping over his own feet from running too fast,

Leo hated hearing Mikey cry which is why he had found those old knee pads, but this, this required more than knee pads, a bandaid, soft words and cuddles.

Leo had asked him about it one night and to his surprise Mikey answered truthfully, he had told Leo everything, how even though he was glad that ge managed to save Leo, he missed being able to draw, to paint, to create.

That night ended in both Mikey and Leo crying, one with relief of finally unburdening themselves with pent up emotions, and the other with guilt.

Mikey was always so much stronger than him in that sense, he was so willing and open with his feelings.

He would never tell Mikey this, knowing he would most definitely break out Dr. Feelings, but It made Leo feel sick with himself, It was another weight added to his stomach, another way he could torture himself,

Another reason as to why he should have been left in the prison dimension.

Leo couldn't believe his baby brother felt the need to save him.

He didn't need saving.

He didn't want it, not at the expense of his family.

If Mikey hadn't saved Leo, he wouldn't had to give up on his art. Not for a brother that fucked everything up.

But with Donnie it was different, it was easier.

His twin was never one for feelings or emotions, and rather preferred to sit with you in silence, and usually used small touches; a hand on your shoulder, as a way offering his presence as an anchor, or to say I'm here.

Leo was grateful for that in many ways,

however, in this case, he wasn't.

Donnie had returned with some mush he called Leo's dinner,

Leo couldn't eat anything solid, Thanks to the Krang and his temper tantrum in the prison dimension, which in turn led him to have a diet of liquids and baby food.

Leo whinned as Donnie placed the plate of mushed up peas in front of him,

"c'mon Donnieeee" he dragged,

"I've been having shitty mashed peas for the past month. It's fucking disgusting and flavorless and boring."

Donnie gave him an unimpressed look, "Leon, you know very well why you have to eat the peas," Donnie sat down on the chair beside the bed, where for the past month or so, his brothers had been taking turns, to watch over an unconcious Leo.

The seat was, from what Leo had heard, had mostly been occupied by Raph. Donnie and Mikey being very close seconds.

"you're the team medic, and as team medic you know that your stomach pulled an AllMight and half of it got destroyed." Donnie crossed his arms as he talked and shifted in his seat.

"yeah, I know that, DonTron" he rolled his eyes, "I didn't ask 'why?' I just want something other than fucking peas, or atleast something with salt." He glared at the plate on his lap.

Donnie sighed, "Leon. Eat the fucking peas."

Leo frowned at Donnie then the plate of peas, then at Donnie, then peas, Donnie, Peas, Donnie, Peas, and grimaced.

he groaned before using the plastic blue spoon that kindergarden children were most familiar with, and took a bite of the room temperature peas, making a disgusted face as he swallowed,

He looked back at Donnie who was still seated next to him with his arms crossed, unimpressed with Leo's antics.

Leo scooped another spoonful, bringing it up halfway and paused, stared at the peas, and put it back down, turned to Donnie,

"DonDonnnn, my arm hurts," he pouted.

Donnie pinched the bridge of his beak and groaned,

Leo smirked,

"Nardo, I swear on the pizza supreme in the sky." He looked at Leo, borderline glaring at him.

Leo stared back with a blank face, before it contorted into one of pleading.

Donnie swore under his breath that his brother was going to give him an ulcer before they turn 18,

"Fine. Fine. I'll try and find something else."

Leo smiled back at Donnie. "Ohmigosh! Thank you, Thank you so so so much, Donnie, you are the greatest brother ever, have I ever told you tha-"

Donnie held out a finger to shut him up, "I said 'try'." He gave a tired sigh before he continued,

"and whatever I bring you have to eat it. no complaining, nothing. Got it?" He said eyeing Leo.

"Todd scouts honor." He said before drawing a cross with his finger on his plastron.

Donnie got up, narrowing his eyes at Leo as he got to the door of the med bay, before leaving.

Leo wait a few minutes before he grinned, sat up and stretched over to place the peas on donnies seat,

he swung his legs over the bed, using the iv stand to stabilize himself, before taking a few explorative steps,

Leo removed the iv from his wrist and used the stand for a couple more steps, before attempting to stay upright on his own.

he wobbled, and stuck his arms out like a tightrope walker to keep steady, his face focused, tongue sticking out as he tried his best not to fall over.

Leo took a few more steps before he could comfortably walk, more like limp, around the Med bay.

He started making his way through the med bay trying his best to quiet his foot falls, and leaned out the door to see if anyone was coming, after he was satisfied, he went back in and made his way to one of the vents,

he opened it and scurried inside, closing the vent behind him, his mind made an inkling thought of an among us joke, before he snickered and moved on.

Leo had memorized the ventilation shafts as a way to fight his boredom one night,

He made the necessary turns till he made it to his subway cart room.

He clambered down, and entered his room filled with Jupiter jim and lou jitsu posters and action figures, comic books sat in teetering piles near his unmade bed, as his twin katanas laid across his desk.

he grabbed his katana holders that was draped on his desk chair and struggled it over his carapace before taking one katana and placing it in the holder and using the other like a makeshift crutch.

he made his way to the back door of the subway cart and opened it,

Leo used this exit many times before, especially on quiet nights when his insomnia was acting up and drinking tea or rewatching jupiter jim or lou jistu movies weren't working,

he'd make his way out of the abandonded subway tunnels, up to the surface and wander around,

Leo did the same thing he'd been doing in the two years after Shredder had destroyed their first home, Before the krang Fucked up everything.

Except, now, he stumbled down the subway tunnels with his katana as a crutch rather than easily stroll like before.

Leo found his way to the surface taking a minute to stare at the sky,

The similar sounds flooded his ears. The people. The constant movement and chatter. The soft goan of a new city being rebuilt over an old one.

Leo felt at peace, he felt lighter, as he dragged himself out of the abandoned subway catacombs, and made his way up onto the rooftops with the help of an old fire escape,

he had at first decided to aimlessly wonder around to take in the sights and the feeling of his city.

It had been a long time. Way too long.

as he walked around he noticed that even though it was familiar, it was all so vastly different.

As the sounds of construction took up most of the air, there were more people than ever queuing up infront of food drives, and there were more crumbling and abandoned buildings than usual.

Leo's face hardened, as he realized that these were all effects of the invasion.

Of the catastrophic event that rocked practically everyones shit.

He felt the stubbling feelings of guilt prickle its way through his chest, as he stared down at his city, his home.

Leo shook his head, he was here to feel better, to not feel bored anymore.

That what he was going to do.

he pushed back the all encompassing thoughts and dread, all the way to the back of his mind, tonight is his night.

The only night he'll allow himself.

Leo needed to get serious; about his family, his city, and himself.

Because it was never about him, it was never supposed to be.

Leo looked back at the sky almost inky and dark, but dented with the city lights, proof to him that new york was healing and that it would all be ok.

Leo's stomach grumbled, as he was lost in his thoughts.

Leo hummed as if to let himself know that he recognized he was hungry.

a few mummbled thoughts went through his mind before he managed to pick one.

Run of the Mill. Señor Hueso.

He needed to check up on Hueso, and eat something that wasn't fucking flavorless peas.

Leo made his way across the rooftops till he reached the alleyway where Run of the Mill was hidden.

He opened the mystic door and sauntered in, putting an air of "I'm completely ok, the casts, bandages and sword i'm using to keep myself from falling on my face are a fashion statement nothing more."

Leo was greeted with the warmth, smells and sounds the restraunt usually had, and for a second his mind melted, it was so familiar, it was exactly as he left it, and Leo loved it.

Too many things had changed and he was so glad that atleast one thing was the same.

Leo with the same sauntering pace limped with his sword, up to the counter, flashing a grin to the waitstaff.

"Heeeeeyyyyyyyy," Leo had proped himself against the counter, leaning his sword next to him.

The yokai manning the counter was a type of humanoid black bear who wore a black button down, and had an annoyed snarl placed on their face as they looked down at Leo.

"Do you think by any chance you can get me Señor Hueso? you see he is like a really good pal of mine," He paused expectingly, waiting for the bear to go get Hueso, but they stood there, still snarling.

"we are muy close, super duper close like almost like a mentor/mentee type of deal or one could even say father and son?" Leo stopped, raising his nonexistent eyebrows, a small part of him wondering if he should just leave.

But he continued anyway "actually more like uncle and nephew, anywhizzle, I'm sure he would love to see that i'm doing amazing," Leo gestured to himself, which would more likely disprove his point rather than help it.

"after the entire almost end of the world thing at the hands/tentacles of chewed up bubblegum." He tried to give the bear a smile in an attempt to convince him,

there was silence as the yokai and Leo made eye contact for a solid minute, the bears ears flicking from time to time.

Leo broke first and groaned, "It's fine i'll just get him myself." and gave the bear a sarcastic smile, before peeling himself off the counter and hobbling into the bustling restraunt with his weight on his katana, towards Hueso's office.

The bear grunted as he did so, and greeted the next customer with silence.

Leo slowly weaved his way through the waiters and tables before making to the door of hueso's office, promptly knocking before he let himself in,

grinning as (humanely?) turtley possible, as he greeted Hueso with a "Heeeeyyyyy Boneman," and finger guns.

Hueso was on his office phone, his eyes, eyesockets? widened as he saw the turtle barge into his office,

He muttered a quick assurance to whoever was on the phone before cutting the line.

That's it! Thanks if you read this far ^_^

Here's a picture of my grand uncle's cat as thanks.

#unpause rottmnt #unpause rise of the tmnt #rottmnt leo #tcest dni #rottmnt fanfiction #fanfic #señor hueso #rottmnt shitpost #rottmnt raph #rottmnt #rottmnt disaster twins #rottmnt donnie #rottmnt mikey #long reads #rise of the teenage mutant ninja turtles #rottmnt movie #rise movie #rise of the tmnt #rise of the tmnt spoilers

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thedawningofthehour · 1 year

Note

I feel like every time a chapter is published I can hear Death whistling near me, let's go by parts.

1) poor Splinter, this whole situation is really getting to him, I wouldn't be surprised if he ends up aging another decade at the end of all this.

2) Mikey is attending Witch town, Neat! He may not find help with Donnie, but at least it's a start towards developing his mystical abilities.

Once again, Leo's impostor syndrome attack, es triste ver como piensa que incluso si Draxum los hubiera criado, este lo hubiera hecho aun lado por no tener un talento especial como sus hermanos, cuando en realidad podria llegar a superar a Draxum en astucia.

3) From a certain point of view, Draxum is quite pathetic. All that effort, all that planning for what he thinks is an utopia; all for nothing. Draxum is smart, but he's not that smart, Even if the turtles don't interfere, Draxum will lose anyway, and he'll have to witness it all firsthand. I almost feel bad for him, emphasis on almost. I will never forget that his relationship with Galois is based entirely on lies and manipulation.

4) Oh my god! Having to read Galois's thoughts on his relationship with his dad 🔪♥️ 🩸, especially knowing that he is unknowingly referring to Splinter! Argg!!! Draxum really stole a family album and put his face on top of all of Splinter's good daddy moments. If Splinter knew what his son was thinking at that moment a part of him that is already in agony would have died right there.

5) So Brattford evaded his destiny of being mutated by a radioactive Komodo dragon and instead succumbed to his 2012 fate.

Splinter has already aged so much, have mercy. He's at most like sixty right here, probably younger. His rapid aging was 15% trauma bullshit, 5% being a single dad, and 80% raising the disaster twins.

But yeah, he's so not having a good time. He is planning on seeing a therapist after all this is done and he has his paperwork in order, but getting his boys to a doctor and all this nonsense has taken priority. He's just fucking tired.

Once again, Leo's impostor syndrome attack, it is sad to see how he thinks that even if Draxum had raised them, he would have put him aside for not having a special talent like his brothers, when in fact he could surpass Draxum in cunning.

I'm actually surprised at how much I understood of that in the original Spanish, lol. Am I actually learning through osmosis? Is this how it happens for other people?

The disaster twins having self-esteem issues is a huge theme here. Not to say that Mikey and Raph don't have issues, but they're both confident in who they are and like who they are. Leo and Donnie both secretly feel like everyone is just 'putting up' with them and that they need to continuously earn their place, even if we're talking about their place in the family. I do feel like their twinship works against them there, since they're both such exceptional people who can't help but compare themselves to each other, because twins. And they're just exceptional in such different directions.

If Draxum had raised the boys-like, I still feel like Leo would be his least favorite, but more because his sense of humor would absolutely not mesh with Draxum at all. He'd find Leo's skillset very useful and impressive. He would spend a lot of one-on-one time training Leo and grooming him to take over Draxum's military position and eventually taking over as a political leader in the new world. Sadly I don't think this would alleviate his self-esteem problems, for the same reasons Galois is still dealing with his now. Draxum just isn't that good at reading people and probably wouldn't realize Leo felt that way until it was already cemented into his personality.

I mean, some of it's just straight-up lying. They were turtles first, not test-tube babies, Draxum didn't even lay eyes on them in person until they were a few weeks/months old. I doubt Splinter was able to give them baby formula and shit, he probably fed them whatever garbage he was able to get his hands on. (I am really amused now by the thought that Draxum must have had like...bottles and cribs and a bunch of Baby Einstein bullshit ready when he mutated the turtles, and the absolute worst baby-proofing measures around his house) Plus Splinter didn't actually teach Donnie to read-he just kind of figured it out by following along when Splinter read to them. Which probably really freaked Splinter out. Draxum would have likely realized early on that Donnie was flying through his cognitive milestones and would have actually taught him how to read.

I FORGOT WHAT ACTUALLY HAPPENED IN THAT EPISODE. For some reason I was thinking he was possessed but that was the basketball episode, wasn't it? Maybe I can actually work it in though. What was Rahzar supposedly mutated with the second time?

#doth #doth asks #donatello #leonardo #baron draxum #splinter

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whothefuckgavemeinternet · 1 year

Text

I'm a menace for my school work, but yeah.

So, you all see how everyone is convinced that Mikey - mainly Rise version but it could fit with the 2012 version too - is a soft babe with a little bit of a gremlin attitude but no more no less? Well, I'm pretty sure he's more of a gremlin than a babe. Man, he is 13 at the start of the series. You can't even begin to imagine how much of a pain in the ass I was when 13 hit me.

I used to do so much bullshit. My friends/family literally had to keep an eye on me every time we went out because I have these magic hands that managed to break everything I touched, no matter how damn hard they were.

My point is that Mikey is a natural disaster. Figures. But if he and his family were wearing tennis, boots or whatever shoes you like to put them on, and for script convenience they happened to be white, Mikey would get out of the blue, full speed to his siblings - yep, April is in the middle too - and stomp on their shoes as hard and fast as he can, screaming for his brothers not to do the same to him, even when he obviously deserves it.

Gosh, Mikey will be a hell of a nightmare. Imagine Leo just got his new pair of white super cool tennis shoes. He is super excited and is taking as much care of them as he can, rambling about how comfy and awesome they are to a so-done Donnie when out of nowhere he senses The Danger, The Imbalance in Force. Donnie feels it too and gets out of the room in a matter of seconds. Through the whole lair, a battle scream is heard. And out of the corner: BOOM; Savage Mikey Is On The Game, Babe!

We can tell that was the end of Leo's perfect, awesome, cool white shoes, and the start of one grand fight of Leo chasing Mikey, who is doing his best to hide behind Raph while laughing at full force as Raph tries to get Leo to not kill Mikey.

It could even be part of the lair games: "Last one with the cleanest shoes wins!" And even if Mikey doesn't win, he does get his brothers running all around trying to stay away from him and failing miserably.

If you didn't chase your friends to stomp on their new clean shoes, did you even have a childhood?

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obsidiancreates · 1 year

Note

I meant like tossed into thier world or maybe undertale already exists in thier world irl and they fell before Frisk.

:OOOOOOOOOOOOOO AH-HA I SEE

Okay so tossed into their world Rise Edition:

Leo and Donnie, as I said, FREAKING OUT AND LOVING IT! They actually don't turn many heads because they are Very Visibly Not Human but if they have April with them it for sure draws some attention. Not only is there a human but also four strange new monsters who help the human out all the time? Fascinating.

They'd have a tough time getting a True Pacifist Route done, let's be honest with ourselves here. It's the toughest challenge they've faced yet. They're all barely restraining each other, including April. Some aspects depend on who all go in besides April and The Turtles. Is Splinter there? The Caseys? Draxum? All of these would impact the progression of events in different ways (I'm sorry but if Cassandra is there they're getting a Neutral Run at best).

Leo challenges Sans to a pun-off at one point and Papyrus stands by the others as they all watch in unsurprised disappointment. The first time Papyrus offers them Spaghetti Mikey jumps to help with cooking lessons.

I'd say it an easier time for them than it was for Frisk but. Again. Real struggle to stick to a Pacifist Route.

Tossed into their world 2012 Edition:

A little easier, a little easier, Mikey is pretty good at reminding everyone to chill out. We'd have to set it around the late season 3 to season 4 era I think, for Undertale to have come out and they played it. Of course it was Mikey who did, I think he got his brothers to play some but he only showed them certain parts he thought they'd like most. So they're all kinda having a rough time and more trouble keeping emotions in check around this time, probably, except for Raph who's actually gotten better at that.

But yeah Mikey is leading here, April is second-in-command and tbh her main focus is keeping Donnie and Casey in check because BOY. Casey, we know why he's a problem, but DONNIE. Let's just say he's not taking too well to people constantly using the word "monster" to refer to him and he is high-strung right now. Every time another character questions "what a bunch of monsters like you are doing with two humans" he almost snaps.

Again, difficulty in getting a Pacifist Route. They don't even know if infighting will count towards Neutral Route, so they have to restrain from a lot of irritated shoulder punches and head slaps just in case and it's driving all of them nuts!

Leo wants to protect Papyrus so bad he reminds him of himself before All The Bullshit and Sans really appreciates Leo's looking out for his little brother. They bond over Big Brother Feelings and Being Blue.

#tmnt 2k12 #tmnt 2018 #tmnt 2012 #rottmnt

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void-inked-pen · 2 years

Note

Sainon strikes again!!

I grew up with tmnt 2003 so I’m biased too but I did like 2012 when it came out, but I didn’t follow it as much as I did 03

I completely agree with you on Donnie and Mikey’s characterization! I really loathed what they did to Donnie with the whole love triangle thing they wanted to do. I absolutely loved Donnie in 03 but 12 Donnie omfg. I blame a lot of my dislikes of the show on the writing itself bc I don’t think they wrote April very well either it’s odd idk.

I thought Donnie’s crush on April was cute, silly, and funny at first but they kept beating the dead horse with this and then Casey showed up, added to it, and I wanted to scream.

They ALL deserved better but how the writers treated mikey and his canonical adhd was TRASH.

This is just me very personally as well but when I was just a wee child I empathized with 03 raph a lot bc, even tho I never acted on it, I was just constantly filled with rage that’s a lie I swung a computer at my bully’s face when I’d finally had enough. I didn’t like how they treated Raph’s anger in 2012 especially during the episode where they specifically addressed it. Splinter basically just said “bottle it” and like kind of belittled him for letting things get to him. When they were insulting him for the sake for the exercise I think I realized that 12 raph has trouble seeing when people are being serious with their insults (like me lol). Those were his brothers, contextually he should’ve known they didn’t actually mean any of those things but that’s not how he takes it. And if slash SPIKE is anything to go by he actually thinks his brothers think a lot of bad things about him. He doesn’t open up to his brothers because he does not trust them with his emotions that he himself has trouble dealing with/interpreting

On a more positive note: I do love Raph and Mona’s relationship ship, it’s absolutely fantastic

12 Raph likes a woman that can kick his ass and I have to respect that

Writing characters with anger is a difficult slope and is often written badly. As someone who has anger issues but learned how to deal with them over time, when I see a character like 2012 raph, who has trouble handling and understanding his emotions, it both points out the issues and also makes it hard for me as someone who deals with the same thing, relate because it’s often demonized.

Literally half the stuff they wrote in 2012 acted like they wanted to talk about heavy issues but it was written in a way that was almost mocking and demonizing with most of not all the characters. Literally it brought out the worse in everyone of these characters and it drives me nuts

April is the “strong girl who don’t need no man/turtle” but written insufferably, Donnie is the swooning brother who basically is an incel but also a genius who seriously deserves recognition for all he’s done (rest PLS), raph and his anger issues and lack of understanding his own emotions and the perpetuated “I’m tough, don’t feel emotion” manly bullshit, the terrible depiction of Mikey and his ADHD, and I’m not sure they did a very good job or not on PTSD with Leo and his whole focus on being the leader isnt… that great from what I know. And Casey… idk tbh??? He also had some “let me fight for the girl” dumb dumb stuff so he was meh. The love triangle with him and Donnie and April was also dumb because if those three just stopped that shenanigans, can you imagine how great they’d be as a dynamic???

Anyway, ye. There is definitely a lot they could have done better with all of them but I know that is more of a time thing~

Thanks for coming back Sai-Non!!

-pen

#pen talks #tmnt 2012 #writing discussion #discussion

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myunluckyjourney · 10 months

Text

Fame and Fortune as Incorrect Quotes

(1)

Cas: Hold on! I’m having one of those things… a headache with pictures. Donnie: What the fuck? Max: They’re having an idea.

•┈••✦ ❤ ✦••┈•

Leo: Who hurt you? Cas: snorting What, do you want a list? Leo: …Yes, actually!

•┈••✦ ❤ ✦••┈•

Cas: I’ve done a lot of dumb stuff. Mikey: I witnessed the dumb stuff. Donnie: I recorded the dumb stuff. Max and Leo: I joined you in the dumb stuff. Raph: I TRIED TO STOP YOU FROM DOING THE DUMB STUFF!

•┈••✦ ❤ ✦••┈•

Cas / Mikey: Am I a boy? Am I a girl? It doesn't matter. I'm going to burn your house down.

•┈••✦ ❤ ✦••┈•

Donnie: Can I have some? Cas, mouth full of cheesecake: It's really spicy, you wouldn't like it. •┈••✦ ❤ ✦••┈• Donnie: I have issues. Cas: Finally, you admit it! The first step to redemption is accept- Donnie: With you

ALT-

Cas: I have issues Max: Finally, you admit it! The first step to redemption is accept- Cas: With you.

•┈••✦ ❤ ✦••┈•

Max, to Donnie: When was the last time you let someone hug you? Donnie: thinking Donnie: 2012. Max: 2012…? Donnie: Yeah. I almost died and it really freaked Raph and Mikey out so I let them hug me.

•┈••✦ ❤ ✦••┈•

Cas: You are an absolute fucking dork. Syd, singing: Yeah, but I'm your dork! Cas: sighs Yeah, you're my dork.

•┈••✦ ❤ ✦••┈•

Donnie, ordering coffee: I’d like a light roast. Cas: You're kinda ugly.

•┈••✦ ❤ ✦••┈•

Max: I'm so happy, I could kiss you! Donnie: Um…Neat. later Donnie, lying face down on their bed: I said "Neat," Nardo. Who the fuck says neat these days? It's not neat to say neat but I said it anyways because I'm fucking stupid. Leo, reading a book: Don't beat yourself up too much, Donnie. Everyone gets nervous sometimes. Remember what I did when Cas confessed their love for me? Donnie: Didn't you thank them? Leo: closes the book and looks at the ceiling I fucking thanked them.

•┈••✦ ❤ ✦••┈•

✬BONUS CONTENT✬ Cas: telling a story about how they may have permanently damaged the nerves in their hand Everyone: concerned as hell Max: still concerned despite hearing the story before Syd: already has put up with almost 20 years of Cas’ bullshit and is desensitized to it.

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this-world-of-beautiful-monsters · 2 years

Text

did wander darkling in the eternal space

Title taken from the poem Darkness by Lord Byron (George Gordon).

Prompt: Dead of Night

TMNT 2012.

You can find the whole collection on AO3 here.

(tw mental health issues, identity crisis, self-doubt, suicide attempt, somewhat unreliable narrator, abandonment, past deception)

It's dark up here, April thinks idly, brushing a careful toe along the rooftops. She's in her fluffy socks, cool wood digging into her feet as she makes her way along the roof. Ninja grace means she doesn't have to worry about balance, but she lets herself sway a little anyway, just for kicks.

"April?"

The voice is small and soft, almost frightened. April tilts her head at the sound, wincing at the tender flare in her skull. She's still recovering from her battle with the beast Mikey so aptly refers to as the Mom-Thing.

"Hey, Raph," she calls, and instantly knows she didn't say it right. Her voice is dull and flat, almost a monotone; she thinks of the Kraangbots and shudders. But she doesn't know how to sound like anything else right now. She's far too tired.

"Ape, what are you doin' up here? It's the middle of the night." He climbs quietly, but she can hear his voice rising, joining her on the roof. Beneath them the rest of the house sleeps or pretends to.

If she wanted to, April thinks, she could feel exactly how many people beneath them had collapsed into exhaustion, and how many people were still bolt awake. If she wanted to, she could feel the shape of everyone's worries and nightmares, every terrible memory her not-mother had left behind. If she wanted to, she could--

She takes another, abrupt step, foot grinding against the edge of the roof. The trees rattle in the distance, and she tilts her head back, savoring the cool kiss of wind against her face.

"April?" Raph asks. He sounds nothing like his boisterous daily self, but April had learned that self was bullshit a long time ago. Or at least she thinks she learned it. Maybe she just reached into his mind and took it like everything else.

"It's dark out here," April says idly. A second, and then she adds, "Quiet, too. A lot quieter than the city."

"Yeah..." An awkward little shuffle. "Weird, huh?"

"Mm-hmmm." She lurks up into her toes, balancing like the ballerina she hasn't been in such a long time. "I never got to go out here as a kid, you know. My dad told me that Grandma and Grandpa didn't like him, 'cause they blamed him for Dad's death." She sways back and forth, just a little bit out over the edge.

"Ape--"

"But then I thought, couldn't they share custody with him or something? Get me on the weekends? They're old money, they could manage it, if they wanted. Unless they didn't want to. Unless Dad wasn't the one that they blamed."

Raph laughs with a tongue of nervous hysteria. "C'mon, Ape. That's crazy talk."

"Yeah." She smiles to herself. "Crazy." She closes her eyes, listens. In the distance she swears she can feel the soft spike of panic as a small animal dies to sharp claws, a slow bloom of misery of another creature bleeding out in a trap.

"Listen, April, why dontcha come down from there?"

"Why?" she asks, genuinely curious. "We've done wackier stunts from bigger heights, haven't we?"

"Yeah, but..." Raph shuffles awkwardly back and forth. "You--you've been actin' weird, since the Mom-Thing. We're worried, Ape."

"Does that scare you?" she asks. And then, because she feels like it's easy to be blunt up here in the dark like this, "Do I scare you?"

A sharp gasp. "What the fuck, Ape, of course not! We'd never be scared of ya!"

"Really?" She laughs, cold and harsh, the sound chewed up by the shadows and vanishing into the night. "That makes one of us, at least."

"Look, can we talk about this downstairs? I'm gettin' kind of nervous up here. Or I could get Donnie, Leo--"

April smiles to herself. "You can go whenever you want," she says pleasantly. "It's late, after all." She peers down into the darkness beneath her; she can't see now, but she knows that the fall probably isn't long enough to kill her. Not unless she was smart about it; not unless she aimed carefully.

"I'm probably going to turn in for the night soon," she says. "Monsters need their rest too, after all."

Raph takes a deep breath. "You ain't a monster, Ape. Ya hear me? You ain't a thing like the one you killed today."

"Well, I seem to have a habit of palling around with them," April replies. "This isn't the first time I've let a monster close, is it?" She keeps her voice calm, but the words stab all her tender wounds like knives. It's okay, though. She deserves it.

"You made a mistake, April," Raph protests. "Everybody makes a mistake. And you saved our asses both times, didn'tcha?"

"Right. I mean, who better to kill a monster than another monster?"

"That ain't what I--"

"I know," April says. She knows this because she knows Raph, not because of her power--at least, she's pretty sure that's how she goes. Or maybe the truth is that both possibilities overlap to the point that it no longer matters which is which. "You'd never think such a thing, Raph. You're a good person."

"Yeah, I am," Raph says gruffly. "And so're you. Ape, if anyone knows the difference between a monster and not a monster, it's us, and you're not a monster."

"Mom didn't agree with you," April says before she can think.

Raph doesn't ask what she's talking about, but April can feel him freeze anyway. She can taste the shock and confusion pulsing through the air, heavy on her tongue.

"I was in my grandpa's office," she explains. "After I got out of the shower." After she'd had to go clean her not-mother's blood and guts off of her while the others washed up downstairs. "I...I needed a distraction, but I wasn't sure what to do, so I thought I'd tidy up. Lucky, huh?"

"April..."

"I found something," and the words are spilling out of her, fast and relentless like a river unbound. "A note from my mom to her parents, talking about how she had to run, leave my dad, change her name and cut herself off from me and anything and everything she'd known. She told them that I wasn't--that I wasn't her daughter. That whoever she'd given birth to, wherever that child was, it wasn't me.

"She left, Raph." And the tears that have been haunting her since she found the note claw up her throat, choking her. "She didn't die or get kidnapped, she left. Because there is something very wrong with me."

A shocked heartbeat, and then Raph rallies. "Then she was nuts, okay? It happens. Or she was scared or confused or--"

"She talked about changelings, in the note," April says. "Like fairy tales, y'know? Like something came into her house that looked like her, but wasn't, and it left something in her house, something that called itself her daughter, and--”

"April--"

"And what if I killed my mom today?"

The words bust out of her before she can stop them, the one terrible thing she hadn't considered until now. "What if...what if that thing you wrapped up in trash bags and burned, what if that was my real mom?”

She’s rounding on Raph, heels skidding out over the edge, and gesturing to herself. "What if this is the lie? What if one day I'm goin’ to open up and a monster is going to come out and kill you or merge with you or something even worse?"

"Then it doesn't fucking matter," Raph growls, and his eyes are glowing bright, so bright against the dark. "It doesn't matter what you are, it matters what you do, and you, April O'Neil, would never do anything like that."

She wants to believe him so fucking bad, but-- "And if I'm just making you say that?"

"April, you'll drive yourself crazy with the what-ifs." There's such desperate love in his eyes that April wants to die. "We've all been there-""

"But it's not just a fucking what-if, Raph!" She's angry now, so angry at his refusal to understand, and she swears she can feel the tiles start to shift beneath her feet. "I don't know how these powers work, I don't know why I use them sometimes and why I can't use them at others, I don't know if I ever stop using them."

"Look, we can talk to Donnie about this--"

"Donnie?" April lets out a bitter laugh, twisted by self-loathing. "The one who loves me the most?"

"I don't understand...April, please." Raph takes a step forward and April lurches back, skidding even farther over the edge; he freezes. "Please, please just come down from there so we can talk about this."

"Is that you talking, or me?"

"What? I--"

"Because it could be me," April says, desperately. “Don't you understand? If I'm like that Mom-Thing, and if my mom saw that from the beginning, that means I could be anything, I could do anything, and I wouldn't even know, just like when I have a hunch and I don't know where it's coming from. I could make you forgive me for what happened today, I could make you forgive me for getting Leo hurt and your dad killed-

"Splinter ain't dead and it wasn't your--"

"I could make you take me back after I acted like a shitbag and left, hell, I could be making you let me win in sparring!" She lets out a half-hysterical giggle. "I'm a fucking decade behind you guys, how the hell do I manage to land so many punches? And I could make Donnie love me, without even trying, because I was made to enslave people just like that--"

"Stop it!" Raph’s yelling so loudly April can feel the others stirring awake beneath them. "Quit it, okay! You, you win fights because you're a badass and you work harder than anyone I've ever known, and we forgive you for shit 'cause that's what friends fucking do, and Donnie loves you 'cause he never fucking got over Beauty and the Beast!

"And I don't know why the fuck your mom left, but I do know there isn't a shred of real proof you've done anything like that to anyone. It's all just fucking DNA and shit."

"But we can’t be sure," and this, finally, is when her voice breaks. "We don't know, Raph, and isn't that the worst part? Because we could just keep on not knowing, and then I'll wake up and I'll have dragged you all into a fucking hive and then it'll be too late."

Raph's beautiful green eyes are wide and panicked, his stance tense like he somehow thinks he can drag her back from the edge. What would he and his brothers feel if she was gone? Would they cry, weep, scream? Or would they buckle with the same kind of relief she felt from them when she killed her (not-?)mother?

She turns away and looks out into the dark, dark world, dark as the space her creators crawled from. Dark and wicked and comforting in a way that few things feel these days. She takes a deep breath, lets the night air fill her lungs one last time.

"There's only one way we can both be really, truly sure of what I am," she tells the night, so quiet she's not certain Raph can hear it. "Only one way to know how the story ends."

She steps off the edge, into the black ocean.

From a distance she can hear Raph scream her name, but the sound is muffled and warped by the sudden whoosh of air. April twists, aiming herself like an arrow, mind drawn to the little clump of insects bustling underneath that one pile of nice, hard rocks near the house. She lets herself go, lets herself fall--

And is jerked by a halt when strong hands wrap around her leg. She screams, too shocked to try and twist free even though it's not the first time she's been grabbed like this by far. Raph hauls her up with a roar of effort, dumping her gracelessly onto the root.

The impact jolts April back into action and she launches upright, snarling. Raph jumps on her, pinning her down--and, and she should be able to knock him off, with her body and her mind, but she can't. She can feel the power building, the roof rattling beneath them, ready to send Raph flying, but she can't--it won't--she won't--

"Go on," Raph whispers, an inch away from her face. "You wanna make me do shit? Make me let ya die."

She can't breathe, can't think. Raph's eyes burn through her, so bright they make the darkness look pale.

"You wanna die so bad, you better be ready to take me with ya, Ape," Raph growls, fingers shaking as he clings to her like he might die if he lets go, while the others clatter up onto the roof. "Cause we ain't sayin' goodbye tonight."

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